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Skizlum Skallaglamm

Dark things

Skizlum Skallaglamm's Zargnoth Adventures

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Having just spent time exploring a few dark places, it's time to look into some other ones...

I equip that Great Dark Sword I was given, and make myself a few more White Lotus Elixirs, somehow suspecting that I'll be wanting them later, Having done so, I head south. Not much on the way, save one quickly killed Shotgun Serpent, and some convenient Umber Grass. I make my way to the Sunken Graveyard, and once there slide past the gravestones and down to the Collapsed Vault. Hmm- this looks interesting... I'm met at the door by a Boggler (one of the lesser Gargoyles), but I can't tell if he's trying to keep me out or keep something else in. "Why take chances?", thinks I, and I kills him. I creep down the stairs, into a large funerary chamber, and decide to check out a crypt- there's a Ghoul inside! I kill it, and another, and decide that the crypts are probably too much trouble. I do find seven White Baubles, though. Looking around, I find a locked door, but I quickly pull out my small lockpicks, unloch this obstacle, and slide on in. A small hall, with lots of burial urns, and odd holes in the floor. I start feeling around, and pull out- a Ghast! Yeech! I kill it quick, and smash a burial urn, finding a set of Ivory Iron Greaves inside. Hmm, what's this behind that urn? Another door- this time I try the Large Lockpick, and pass beyond. Yucck. Lots of imagery of very bad things on the wall, and some sort of ceremonial rune on the floor with a dead Furrcat inside. I'm shaken, and while I look, I'm attacked by more undead- a WuJu Zombie, some sort of transformed Ruk. Fortunately, it's not a great fighter, though. Steeling my resolve, I move on to the next door. Before I get there, though, I find treasure- a Jade Snake Ring. Operating under the delusional belief that I don't have room for it, I leave it behind. It's an unusual lock, but I can put together how to open it, and in I go. Beyond, I see another door, but that's it. I'm moving on in a hurry, but out of nowhere another Undead materializes- a Screaming Spirit! My sword is useless here- it passes right through her. I call on Shroud for aid, but I'm rebuffed. In extreme pain, unable to touch this spirit, I turn and flee the Vault. The Spirit seems to have woken up all the dead in the Vault, and I'm forced to flee from too many Ghouls and Ghasts to count. As I slide out, I see the Boggler I thought I dispatched has recovered, and he lets me past while keeping the Undead within. Nasty... The quickie summary- one hundred forty five action points. Seven White Baubles, a set of Ivory Iron Greaves, and an ignored Jade Snake Ring as treasure. One dead Boggler, four dead Ghouls, three dead Ghasts, and a dead WuJu Zombie. 191 Health lost (though much of this was mitigated by my White Lotus Elixirs). Utter rejection by Shroud, and the lovely knowledge that I can't do anything more in this Collapsed Vault until this island gets enough worthy Shroudovians together to rebuild the Zargnoth Temple. I spit in the general direction of the Vault, and retire to rest.

I HATE Gators. And I HATE the fact that there aren't enough Shroudies in existence to come out and help me rebuild my Temple so that I can equip my Mantle of the Dark. We'll get to this... But- a quick jog into the Sunken Graveyard itself results in several dead whatevers and a Silver Bauble. Then, it's off to unexplored territory. Wait, what's this? Two of my fifteen orders mysteriously disappear, and I'm dragged off course through territory I've already been through! Hey, look, it's another Feral Gator, in exactly the same spot as the one that destroyed my armor a few turns back. Looks like this new suit of armor lasted a grand total of two turns. You know, it it weren't for the fact that I have all this _great_ Shroudie equipment, I would have deserted long ago for a god who has more than one follower. I'm getting _so_ tired of being stranded out here (I think I'll start a count- I landed October 11th, 1996, this is March 12th, 1999, quick calculations, this is day 882. Now I'm really depressed.) Anyway, thrown wildly off course, I strangely finish up my travels by landing in a Tainted Hollow, right next to Reepicheep. Weird. So, now I guess that I spend a couple turns making new armor, and the Pond will wait.

Z-day number 891. As long as I'm here anyway, I transfer a few more things to Reepicheep (some Unreadable Scrolls, since I already have all the spells currently available from them). I move on. A Crocadowder, a Thawk, and a Rabid Crestcrawler fall quickly at my feet, followed by two Gators. I make camp near the second dead Gator, planning to find another in the morning.

Z-day 897. Okay, here's one more dead Gator. That's four. And, incidentally, a dead Smite and a dead Rabid Crestcrawler. Time to move on. Stop by a Cocopalm, let's gather some Oil. Stop by a Jute Vine, hey, let's make a new set of Gator Armor. Back to the Pond, stop, why not make five White Lotus Elixirs? Dig out the Rock Mushrooms, heave 'em in, and 'splash', in I go after! While that annoying Rockadile's distracted, I make a run for the Grotto. And I'm in! Okay, it's roach killing time! A Common Cave Roach. A Stink Roach. A Blood Roach. A Three-Horned Roach. A Spitting Roach. A Sabre-Toothed Roach. A Preying Cockroach. Yee-ha, that seems to be the last of them! Time to look around- fifteen yellow baubles in a little pool, and a Walking Dead in the next pool. Yucch. I kill it and take its Black Iron Helm, then nose around a bit- a Wooden Fuvah Statue! I carve my name into its forehead, and throw it in over my shoulder. Not much else left to see, so I head out, stopping only to put down that poor distracted Giant Rockadile. A _very_ worthy day's effort- lots o' treasure, eleven new blurbs, twenty-eight Monsterliness gained, twelve creatures killed. I retire for the night quite content.

Z-day 904. Streetcch... Another morning on the island. I taunt the Rockadiles goodbye, and decide to move on. I drop by the Rock Mushroom Patch for a few more for future use, slide by a Cocopalm Tree for some more oil, and pop in at an Ancient Graveyard that's on my path. Five trips in gets me, in order: a Zoingo Gold Coin, a Damaged Iron Helm and ten Oculars, ten more Oculars, a Damaged Silver dagger, and a Damaged Silver Knife. Moving on, I run into the first High Jungle I've ever seen. Finally, on turn 257, I run into the last known terrain type. Ditching my mount, I gamely enter, and stop to make camp in the dense canopy. Maybe that Graveyard wasn't such a great idea- I killed 17 creatures this turn (and gained 30 Monsterliness, for a total of 58 in two turns), but I'm up to 20 big items and 39 small ones, and I'm a loooong way from hitting a Far Structure again. Time to start throwing stuff in the air. Next turn: never before explored territory, going-where-no-monster-has-gone-before time again.

Z-day 911. There's always a problem involved in travelling through unmapped territory- nothing to do. I find: two Zinki Bushes, a Cocopalm, and a Lime Tree. No creatures to fight hereabouts, though. After I pass the Zinki Bush without collecting darts, I come to the realization I should start losing things, and start permanently ridding stuff. It's seems wasteful to be throwing things away, but what else can I do?

Z-day 919. This turn's discoveries: several Limes, a Cocopalm, a Heart Squash, a Red-Eyed Jungle Cat, and a Dragonbat. A Small Cave does turn up via spell at turn's end, which will give me something quick to do next turn. Of, yes, and DoL totems. Unfortunately, I passed them early in my turn, so it's not worth the trouble of erasing them. We'll let them keep their proud claim on that row of Heart Squash.

Hittin' the road again... I stop by that Small Cave, and pop in and kill three Roof Rats and add a Silver Helm to my helm collection. In addition to the King's Spiked Helmet I'm wearing, I'm now carrying that Silver Helm, a Damaged Iron Helm, and a Black Iron Helm. I'm considering opening a Far Haberdashery in the near future. In any case, further attempts to enter the Cave find it emptied, though I do notice a small iron gate nearby that I've never seen before. On my next trip through I'll have to explore it. I keep moving on (accidentally following a trail) and kill several more creatures, including a Tusker, which proves sufficient to single-handedly feed a small army of fatblobs. At turns end, I feast on 31 excess food (I got 42 off the Tusker) and plan on spending my first 100 APs next turn jazzercizing enough to be able to fit back into my haversuit.

May 10th, 1999, two years to the day since I started recording my travels on the internet. Also, just a shade under nine years since I landed on the island. Also, Z-Day 941. I quest for knowledge, and learn about Chaser-Plate Armor, something that would have been great use just a few turns back. Not much else to report. I kill a Giant Tree Squid, but have a Dune Ooze successfully flee after I missile it to near death. An Ancient Graveyard and a Large Cave show up as I travel, but I ignore them both and find my goal- the Shroud Temple site! At long last, I'm here. I kneel at the Temple doors, and await the arrival of my fellow Shroudovians.

Next up: Preparations for sanctification(?).

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These articles were taken from Skizlum Skallaglamm's Monster Island Page.
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