Showing posts with label Chapter Summary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chapter Summary. Show all posts

Monday, August 05, 2013

[Chapter Summary]: Silverwood

 Silverwood's Storyline
  
Wow, another chapter down! We're moving right along here, and I'm excited to finally get out in the world. A few things were hard to write in this chapter. The main thing was writing the Realm of the Fae dungeon. I couldn't decide if I wanted to include it into the story, make it into a side story, or just ignore it and then add a lore/gameplay blurb on it later on. Eventually, I went with making it into a special side story. I'll be doing the same for all the cult saga quests, and then giving each one it's own unique lore page after the chapter is finished. For the cult sagas though they are very long and each chapter of the quest list is given at different levels so I don't know exactly how I'm going to swing that one, but the lore and story behind it is just too much to ignore!
     I'm trying to keep Rae consistent as I go along, but she's so hard to write hehe. She seems to have a will of her own when it comes to interacting with others. And she's a bit sarcastic no? It makes her a bit fun to write, but also challenging! As always, below you can find the links to all the lore and story pages that were included under the Silverwood heading. Only those that relate to Rae are listed here. The lore and story pages that involve Kara are going to be on her own chapter summary page. I'm trying to keep as two separate stories with their own backgrounds. It's a pain, but fun too.
     If you'll notice, Rae got an update on what she looks like halfway through this chapter. I really liked the idea of her having green armor and a cloak, it made her look more foresty and elfish. As she get's more experienced (aka gains levels) the armor will change and be upgraded and different, thus the pictures will look different with her in it. :) Also, I'm skipping over most of the fights, since it's mainly just the same thing, slash and stab. Every once in a while, especially on the big fights, I'll give a detailed explanation, but other then that, it's all the same and meh, who wants to just keep reading the same thing over and over?
Chapter Two Archives:                                                        Chapter Two Story List:
 Archive I: The Vigil                                                    2.0: Into the Future!
Archive II: Fall of Port Scion                                        2.1: Battle On the Bridge
Archive III: The Guardians                                           2.2: The Holy Forest
Archive IV: Shyla Starhearth                                       2.3: Carrying the Light
Archive V: Bladedancer Soul                                           2.4: Message Delivery!
Archive VI: Quicksilver College                                      2.5: Investigating Quicksilver
Archive VII: History of the High Elves                            2.6: Spiders and Trip to the March
Archive VIII: Boglings                                                  2.7: Swamp Thing
Archive IX: Assassin Soul                                             2.8: The Aelfwar Problem
Archive X: Tavril                                                           2.9: Ties to Greenscale
Archive XI: UI Setup and Addons                                     2.10: City of Sanctum
Archive XII: Zareph Mathos                                          2.11: Wood of Silverwood
Archive XIII: The Fae                                                   2.12: Visions of Shyla Danced In My Head
Archive XIV: The High Elves                                         2.13: Among the Hedges
Archive XV: Realm of the Fae                                        2.14: The Mirror of Ages
Archive XVI: The Aelfwar                                              2.15: Scotty's Empowerment
Archive XVII: Goblin Titles and Aliases                            2.16: Tokens of a Dragon
Archive XVIII: Greenscale                                             2.17: Assault on Overwatch Keep
Archive XIX: Tactician Soul                                           2.18: Kongeegon
Archive XX: Sanctum                                                    2.19: Be The Hero
Archive XXI: Silverwood                                                                    
Side Stories:
Extras List:
The Story Thus Far:
     Raeslyn ends up 20 years in the future after witnessing the dire warnings of the Vigil. She does what she can to help the folks of Silverwood who are in trouble. She does this mostly because she loves her home and she doesn't want to see the creatures in it suffer more than a sense of duty to the Guardians, who are a relatively new faction of diverse individuals. She has joined these Guardians by default because of her Ascended status, but she sticks to her own beliefs and follows Tavril's view more than the entire Vigil as a whole. Raeslyn encounters many enemies attacking Silverwood, the most disturbing being her beloved Prince Hylas. She also finds out about a troubling invasion by the Fae from the Plane of Life. It seems that both Greenscale and Maelforge have made a move to take Silverwood for their own. She also learns that Silverwood has become the main focal point for the Gaurdians' efforts in repelling the invaders from the Planes and the various cults that seek to destroy Telara. She also has to contend with multiple goblin hoards.
     Raeslyn is successful in stopping the evil that has invaded her wood, but she has experienced death for the first time since her resurrection and is thankful that she doesn't remember it and that it apparently wasn't painful after the initial dying (which was very painful!). She's found several troubling discoveries along the way, including the fact that there seems to be something sinister stirring in the dark forest of Gloamwood through the mountains and that Hylas seems to have gone completely over to the Blood Storm. Was he tricked into it, or did he join happily with no looking back? She will have to find this out, as well as many other alarming things as she continues to travel Telara in her quest to keep it safe and take it back from the creatures of the planes.
For the list of quests I'd like to note that those with 2 **stars at the end of the name are CARNAGE quests. The ones with 1 *star are Cult Saga quests. There are a few quests that I'm not sure the co-ordinates of the objects, or what NPC gave the quest. All quests are given exactly in order of how I received them when I went methodically through the zone. All drop or clickable quests are located in the same area as the other quests listed! If you have questions leave me a message!
Zone Details:
  • Mob Types
    • Humanoid
    • Beast
    • Demihuman
    • Fae
    • Planar
  • Total Time Spent in Zone
    • 5-6 days approximately, I can't remember. There was SOOOO much to explore and check out that I spent so long there just doing that.
  • Level Upon Leaving Zong
    • 24- This was after I'd done the cult saga quests that were available to me as well as one run through of Realm of the Fae.
  • Extensive List of All Quests in Zone (as far as I can tell)
    • The Return- Messenger of the Vigil
    • Wanton Flame-Orin Bancroft
    • Divine Inspiration-Sir Andrin Kahn
    • The Art of Soul Binding- Ethain Melankis
    • The Planar Porticum- Ethain Melankis
    • Guardian of Ways and Means- Berthold Stronn
    • Minions of Maelforge-Flameweaver Totem-drop from Flameweaver Goblins (6259, 3329)
    • Introduction: Dimensions- Automatic quest gained at lvl 8
    • Introduction: Instant Adventure- Automatic quest gained at lvl 10
    • Introduction: Mentoring- Automatic quest gained at lvl 15
    • Ghastly Tinder- Extinguished Wanton Tinder- clickable item
    • Offworld Woes- Guardian Sigil- drop from Wanton Destroyers**
    • Out of the Hands of Evil- Corrupted Reliquary- clickable item
    • Recovered Notes- Scattered Stones- clickable item
    • Carrying the Light- Carwin Mathos
    • Singed Hives- Rudi Tanlop
    • A Tear in Telara- Dame Veira Connal
    • Agitated Wildlife- Flamebound Dust- drop from Vespid Hives**
    • Seek Out Argent Glade- Rudi Tanlop
    • Shrines of Tavril- Colten Feddel
    • Your First Fishing Pole- Molly Graysby
    • How to Catch a Fish- Molly Graysby
    • On the Verge- Goblin Head- drop from Goblin Scouts**
    • Immolation Avenged- Colten Feddel
    • Brougan Grote- Colten Feddel
    • Theoretical Absolution- Brougan Grote
    • Minions of Maelforge- Goblin Torch- drop from fire planar demons
    • Border Town- Bronze Beacon- clickable item
    • Midterm Mayhem- Alan Paton
    • Big Brother Hazer- Murbo Malm
    • Barrel Full of Goblins- Destroyed Barrel- clickable item
    • Required Reading- Misplaced Tome- clickable item
    • Trial of the Elements- Murbo Malm
    • Teacher's Pet- Thelliam Bedstraw
    • March Out to the March- Murbo Malm
    • Bug Off- Thelliam Bedstraw
    • The Perfect Specimen- Nora Glen
    • Anti-Intelligence Report- Furias Talwin
    • Saving the Spirit Guide- Thomas Penthas
    • Stolen Implements- Professor Nora Glen's Journal- clickable item
    • Ritual Reappropriation- Ritual Brazier- clickable item
    • The Altar of Reflection- Thomas Penthas
    • Dirty Stinking Marsh- Kelnin Malm
    • Further Exploration- Thomas Penthas
    • Beast of Burden- Barkeep Davek Anders
    • Thorn in the Side- Isilwyn Alra
    • Shipwrecked Guardians- Blair Rheese
    • The Aelfwar Threat- Faetouched Shard- drop from Aelfwar Scouts
    • The Priestess of Sanctum Watch- Isilwyn Alrai
    • High Priestess of the Vigil- Maris Telluria
    • Twisted Horticulture- Maris Telluria
    • A Secret Pact- Ramis Twistroot
    • A Breath From Beyond (Daily)- Darien Shale
    • The Holy City of Sanctum- Rhamm Dragonbane
    • The Caretakers (PvP)- Rhamm Dragonbane
    • The Abbots of Sanctum- Lila Medows
    • Secrets and Artifacts- Teldre
    • Thontic's Blessing- Cabalist Elsu
    • Source and Knowledge (PvP)- Rhamm Dragonbane
    • Mischief Unmakers- Dead Faerie- clickable item (6895, 2988)
    • Clearing the Forest- Imbued Sliver- clickable item (6801, 3147)
    • Fateful Vision- Maris Telluria (Saga of the Endless starts here)
    • The Mind's Eye- Dalin Erst (Cult Saga Quest Pre Requisite)*
    • Feeding the Mind- Dalin Erst *(Cult Saga Quest Pre Requisite)*
    • Tonic of Meditation- Dalin Erst *(Cult Saga Quest Pre Requisite)*
    • Lost in Solitude- Maris Telluria (Cult Saga Quest Pre Requisite)*
    • Vision of Danger- Spirit Guide (Cult Saga Quest Pre Requisite)*
    • The Prince's Betrayel- Maris Telluria
    • Lord of the Fae- Tristan Alecourt
    • Fae Invaders-kill Fae**
    • Shining Pests- Mila Darina
    • Rescuing Foresters-Forester Body- clickable item (6682, 2764)
    • Black Eyes and Bloody Claws**
    • Scouts on the Ridge**
    • Delivering the Hostage-Eukar Heln<Maddened Forester>
    • Back to Argent Glade- Tristan Alecourt
    • Twisted Truth Revealed- Guardian Skeleton- clickable item (6118, 2795)
    • Top Shelf Retrieval- Wine Crate-clickable item (6176, 2851)
    • Ask the Elders- Cerys Amare
    • Fall of the Aelfwar- Broken Altar- clickable item (5810, 2826)
    • Beckoning of the Blessing- Spirit Guide
    • Hope and Fear- Spirit Guide
    • Researching the Wretched Weeds- Cerys Amare
    • Professor for a Reason- Cerys Amare
    • The Snarebrush Talon- Professor Thellium Bedstraw
    • Skull and Bones- Fiona Lechtum
    • Hazers to Hazees- Murbo Malm
    • Crash Course In Blood Magic- Wanton Ritual Stone-clickable item (5918, 2637)
    • Rusty War Machines- Gutter's Plans- drop from Gutter the goblin
    • Power of the Vigil- Sacred Mark- clickable purple item (6017, 2742)
    • The Power of Life- Professor Thellium Bedstraw
    • Severing the Tether- Jerome Drift
    • The Angered Wood- kill Treants**
    • Unruly Faerfolk- kill Fae at Wayward Thicket**
    • Highlands Research-Remun Smorkor<Archeologist>-sends you to Moonshade Highlands
    • Your First Minion: Tutorial quest- Cheque Gui<Fanatic of the Ascended>
    • Elder of the Grove-kill Aldern (large wandering Treant) **
    • Dailies Given in Quicksilver College (gives you Quicksilver Scholars rep)
      • Ending the Mischief
      • Practical Application
      • Historical Recovery
      • Out in the Field
      • Raw Materials
    • Aelfwar Monstrosities- kill Aelfwar **
    • For Security's Sake**
    • To Understand One's Foe- Faetouched Vine- clickable item (6169, 2615)
    • The Overwatch Beckons- Professor Bedstraw
    • Overwatch Infiltration-Brougan Grote
    • A Violent Peace Offering- Loras Tivan
    • Rememberance of Things Past- Elven Artifact- clickable item (6312, 3138)
    • Kill Marshal Fianna- White Robed Mage target**
    • Marshal Ebur-Male Elf On Balcony**
    • Tete-a-tete- Vigoth Phar
    • The Vigil's Shield- Nialls Adnar
    • Remember the Chosen-Ancient Idol- clickable item (6580, 3104)
    • Clouded Contemplation- Zealot's Ring- drop from Greenscale Zealot (green robes)
    • Servants of Twyl- High Elf Scroll- drop from Defenders of Twyl (satyrs)
    • Kongeegon, the Glory of the Aelfwar- Spirit Guide
    • Dormant Power- Nialls Adnar
    • An Age of Darkness- Brougan Grote
    • The Deepening Threat- Tam Daggerborn (Realm of the Fae Dungeon quest)
    • A Dire Demise - Kill Kelgnaw**
    • The Source of Spiders-talk to Varian Lofte in Silkweb Pass (Gloamwood)
    • Predatory Panfish- Kill 8 Razormaw Fish (7291, 3018)
    • The Saga of The Aelfwar Chain Part 1 (Req. lvl 20):
      • The Meaning of Danger- Cardinal Fiach
      • Profane Priests- Cardinal Fiach
      • The Care and Imprisonment of Changelings- Cardinal Fiach
      • The Changeling Revealed
      • A Snake In Sanctum
        • The Coup- (dungeon quest: RoTF)
        • The Beastmaster- (dungeon quest: RoTF)
        • The Taking of Overwatch Keep
      • The Green Lady
        • The Crown Of Twyl
      • Hylas Aelfwar, Apostate, Outlaw
  • Locations of Note (With co-ordinates):
    • Peculiar Chest (7167, 3181)- holds item <Marauder's Bow of the Merciless> lvl 10
    • Laura <Bogling Merchant> (6618, 2627)- sells random things, plus some armor
    • "Puzzled At The Top Of The World" - Silverwood's Puzzle (6415, 3154)
      • To complete this puzzle, click on the plaque that sparkles on the wall behind Nialls Adnar. Once you've appeared on the rooftop, move to the right and click the first sparkling mark on the wall. Do this consistently until you reach the top spire of the tower. You need to keep moving to the right...this took me a while to figure lol!
    • "Cairn Do" - Cairn of Miron Sternhammer (6344, 2318)
      • This is a hump of stones located waaaaaay up high in the mountains on the border of Moonshade. Climb up there, explore, have fun!
    • "A High Point" - Right beside the Cairn from above (6331, 2311)
      • If you keep going past these two things and follow the mountain spine, you'll come across some interesting Defiant magitech devices and a gigantic weapon that the Guardians are attacking at (6168, 2364)
    • "Spelunking In Silverwood" - locate 4 caves spread around Silverwood
      • TongueChewer's Cave (6353, 3139)
      • Gutter's Cave (5883, 2604)
      • Spider Cave (6182, 3112)
      • Satyr's Cave (6443, 3195)
    • "So Much Fun I Did It Once" - Silverwood's Jump Achievement (7276, 3054)
      • Rewards title "Base Jumper"
      • This is tricky if you are Defiant by the way...
    • Other Titles/Achievements
      • "Meditating in Sanctum"- Explore all of Sanctum
        • Gives title "Of Sanctum"
      • "Silverwood Campaigner"- Complete all 13 achievements listed (including the artifact ones)
        • Gives title "Tavril's Champion"
      • "Unstable Silverwood"- Complete the list of Unstable Silverwood artifact sets
        • Gives title "Silverwood Stabilizer"
      • "Freshman Orientation"
        • Complete all of Scotty's quests leading up to "Hazers to Hazees"
      • "House Aelfwar Shall Fall"
        • Kill 150 Aelfwar in Silverwood (doesn't matter which)
      • "The Felling of Kongeegon"
        • Kill Kongeegon by completing the Overwatch Keep quests
      • "A Silver Lining"
        • Complete 100 quests in the zone of Silverwood
      • "Silverwoodsman"
        • Explore Silverwood
  • List of Rares (You only need 4 for the achievement):
    • Vengeful Spirit- (6350, 2650) - This creature spawns out of a clickable grave marker
    • Marlrog- (6812, 3200)
    • Pandora<Captain of the Anathema>- (7107, 3476) -located on a tiny island NE of Silver Landing. The island next to the one labeled "shipwreck" on the map. 
    • Werewolf- (5790, 2735) - He walks around in a line near here, just look for mist
    • Brod- (6445, 2921)
    • Mok- (7117, 3223)
    • Pentheus- (6585, 2585)
  • Profession Materials In Silverwood:
    • Ashwood log
    • Yew Log
    • Grieveblossom
    • Coastal Glory
    • Creeperbrush
    • Copper Node
    • Burlap Cloth
    • Cotton Cloth
    • Lean Bacon
    • Lean Steak
  • Other:
    • Puzzling Box-lootable chest underwater (7064, 3505)
    • Sanctum has clickable shrines, one for each Vigil god, that boosts your stats for 30 minutes. I can only confirm Thedeor as giving strength and dexterity.
Map of the Zone:
My Opinion of the Zone:
     I really liked Silverwood. It's so breathtakingly beautiful in spots, that you just can't help but stop and pose for a screenshot. There are many great mountain peaks to look out from, lots of trees to sit in or hide amongst, and the lore about the Aelfwar and Hylas is pretty neat too. Hylas and Shyla are two of my favorites in Rift so I liked reading about their past and how they fell apart and there's lots of lore on them and on the High Elves in general. The Rifts aren't as bad here either because there's always plenty of players in and out of the zone. Since they changed up the questing experience and added a few more Porticums into the zone it's been much easier and faster to get from one area to another, and the mobs are also easy enough to handle. There are still a few challenges of course, like the lvl 8 goblin at the beginning for the carnage quest that I can't seem to ever defeat until I'm higher lvl. But I like that they give you challenges or mobs that require teamwork to kill. I give the Silverwood zone a 5/5 as a starting zone for new Guardians fresh out of Mathosia.
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Tuesday, May 21, 2013

[Chapter Summary]: Terminus

Terminus Zone Summary
 
     I hope the first part of Karazhan's tale was an interesting read. It was often quite tricky to keep the two girls as two separate entities with their own traits, personalities and opinions. Karazhan is from a different culture, has different views on the world, and often has different reactions to things. It took a very long time to actually write up this section of my blog because I kept wanting to redo my character or look over a certain part of the storyline again after I'd already completed it. That's the frustrating part about redoing Terminus or Mathosia. You can't just go back and get more pictures, or re-read some dialogue, because its an instanced zone that you complete. So I have to delete and start over. Not that I mind because each time I do it, I find something else out that I didn't know before, which is really fun. Anyway, here's the summary of the Terminus story. Of course Karazhan's story is far from finished. In fact, it has only just begun, poor girl. Here she was hoping she'd get to rest when she made it to the past. Oh well, it will definitely make for an interesting read later on. Some things that I mention here, both on the summary page and in the actual chapters, will be inconsistent with a newer player's experience upon playing through the storyline due to Trion changing up the starter zones to be more streamlined for new players. A lot of the lore and story bits have been snipped out and replaced with tutorials and such, which I understand but it makes it just that much harder for lorehounds and roleplayers to really immerse themselves into the game or find story in the endless stream of quests.

*Quest update*: When I started this story, the setup for the starting zones for Rift were quite a bit different than they are now! For instance I'm sure if you did the starting zone now (I'm writing this update July 18th, 2016) a lot of the quests have been removed to allow for "a more streamlined questing experience". Which means that all quests that are fluff or are just lore or additional exp have been removed. Instead, we get tutorial quests and suchlike to help new players find their way around the crazy Rift mechanics and abilities. I understand why they did it, but I still miss all the race quests!
 
         Chapter One List:                                                          List of Lore Pages:
0.5: Defiant Introduction Letter                                      Archive I: The Price of Progress
1.0: Ascended of a Different Variety                               Archive II: History of the Life Factory
1.1: Apocalypse Now                                                     Archive III: Lastlight and Terminus
1.2: The Town of Lastlight                                              Archive IV: Asha Catari
1.3: Fanatics                                                                   Archive V: The Defiant (Defiant PoV)
1.4: Tempest Station                                                      Archive VI: The Failsafe Device
 
Off Topic Discussions:
 
 
 
The Story Thus Far:
     Karazhan, a Kelari mage brought back from death and accidentally placed into the body of a Bahmi, has been thrust into a future where the world has been all but destroyed by the dreaded Regulos the Destroyer, member of the Blood Storm, . Was it fate's design for her to be the one chosen for Ascension over the original host soul, or was it merely a fluke that she was given control over the soul matrix instead? Her soul was obviously a promising choice among many fished out of the Soulstream and given a new body, new abilities, and new immortality. Now she is a Machineborn Ascended, rival to the Guardian Ascended in power and ability. She is now a Defiant, a faction of heretics who believe the gods are useless. In the distant future she has become apart of, Karazhan learns that she is the last remaining hope of saving the doomed Telara. The minions of Regulos press upon the meager defenses of the last bastion of hope that the world has left. Through a series of short missions, Karazhan learns that the Defiant's goal is to enter a machine called the Failsafe Device and go back through time to the past, where she will have the knowledge and power required to stop the Blood Storm and their cults before the grim future that she came from happens. Along the way she meets many prominent members of the Defiant faction, helping out where she can with her small supply of Mage spells. As she leaves the Life Factory on her journey to the Rubicon to use the Failsafe, she learns more about her new abilities and her own determination, surprising herself with her resourcefulness and appreciation of her newfound life. Karazhan also learns of another faction of fanatics who have survived the end of days with their faith shaken so badly that they have lost all reason. The Guardians of this timeline believe that if they purge the Defiant from Telara that the Vigil gods will forgive them and forge a paradise for their faithful children. Fortunately the Guardians are few in number and disorganized and so pose no real threat. The undead and cultists are also easy to manage, as each seems to be out only for themselves. And the fiends and minions of the cults are little more than mindless drones, easily picked off by our Bahmi hero as she continues her mission. After many an hour struggling against the ilk of Regulos, Karazhan comes upon the Failsafe anchor machine, where Stavel Rosso, Sylver's assistant, awaits her. There, he spins up the Failsafe device, only to realize that the vast amount of sourcestone being used has drawn the gaze of Regulos himself, who sends one of his legion, Alsbeth the Discordant, to distract and slow down Karazhan until he can arrive and put an end to this petty rebellion. Asha arrives in the nick of time, able to divert Regulos's power and attention onto her own self using unique and mysterious magic. While Regulos is busy fighting against her, Karazhan makes use of the distraction and slips through the temporal stream that is created by powering the Failsafe device, finding herself lost in the temporal matrix, wondering if she'll even arrive at her destination in one piece. Only time will tell.
 
Zone Details:
  • Mob Types
    • Undead
    • Planar
    • Humanoid
  • Level Range:
    • 1-9
  • Total Time Spent in Zone:
    • 3 hours
  • Level Upon Leaving Zone:
    • 8
  • List of Questgivers:
    • Sylver Valis
    • Dacia Ultan
    • Koke Tegus
    • Vexa Ix'thla
    • Asha Catari
    • Kain Sunsworn
    • Rahn Chuluun
    • Ignacia Bulwart
    • Faceless Man
    • Raj Tahleed
    • Isach Undugar
    • Stavel Rosso
  • List of Quests:
    • Ascended of the Highest Quality-speak to Dacia
    • Trial of Ascension-kill 6 Telaran husks
    • Our Last Stand-activate 5 defense consoles
    • Thorn in My Side-kill 3 endless dominators/5 spectral harvesters
    • Gathering Power-collect sourcestone ore from harvesters
    • Flipping the Switch-activate the Temporal Flux in the Sinkhole cave
    • Paving the Way-kill 6 hulking phantasms
    • Bound in Blood-collect 6 essences of the Bahmi
    • Walking the Dogma-kill 2 guardian sergeants/6 guardian zealots
    • Turning the Knob-Replace the missing resonance capacitor part
    • A Matter of Training-report to Mistress Ashear at Tempest Station
    • Reduce, Recycle, Re-educate-use the soul reclamation device on Shyla
    • This Might Hurt a Little-use the soul cleanser on Shyla's soul
    • You Reap What You Sow-collect anima essence from soul callers and soul fragments from decaying/risen Telarans
    • No Quarter-begin the ascent to Rubicon
    • Into the Time Machine-speak with Stavel Rosso at the Failsafe
  • Locations of Note (by co-ordinates):
    • 1085, 1003-Soul Informer
    • 1073, 1008-Knowledge Collector
    • 1072, 996-Soul Informer
    • 1071, 1030-Soul Informer
    • 1069, 1047-Construct Components=green quality armor
    • 1067, 1021-Knowledge Collector
    • 1044, 1016-Soul Analyzer
    • 1037, 1049-Knowledge Collector
    • 1029, 1021-Book=The Price of Progress
    • 1016, 1014-Knowledge Collector
    • 894, 1030-Puppet Master <Priest of Regulos> (level 2 Undead)=white quality weapon
    • 864, 1024-Andretta the Hag (rare) =green quality weapon
    • 860, 988- Abandoned Belongings=green quality armor
    • 789, 973-Slave Driver (rare)= green quality weapon
    • 769, 942-Knowledge Collector
    • 764, 966- Knowledge Collector
    • 761, 963-Sourcestone Box=Buff, AP, health, armor, resistance
    • 740, 1048-Harvest Master (wandering mob)=white quality armor
    • 738, 1034-Forgotten War Machine (wandering mob)=white quality armor
    • 730, 1076-Offering to Regulos (altar) =green quality item
    • 699, 1084-Raging War Machine (rare)=green quality armor
    • 594, 1006- Knowledge Collector
    • 583, 892-Alaric the Fanatic=green quality armor
    • 556, 858- Captain Thrace=green quality weapon
    • 548, 941-Memloch the Inquisitor=green quality weapon
  • Map of the Zone:
 
My Opinion of the Zone:
     As I went about doing the Defiant starting zone, I made sure to catalog all the neat things I saw, which meant that I gained quite a few more levels than I would normally if I was just wanting to get through the zone. So that's why I stated that the max level of the zone was 9. I'd say the average player would leave the zone around lvl 6-7. Obviously if you really wanted to you could stay for even longer and keep getting more exp, but I was eager to move on to the next area, as the Terminus storyline is only the prologue to a very fascinating book! That's what I love most about Rift and Trion's efforts with it. It's the storyline! Even though it's quite obscure, confusing, and sometimes even backwards, the story IS there, you just have to be adept at looking for it and piecing all the little tidbits together into a greater picture. Which is mostly why I'm even doing this blog!
     Well, this starting zone certainly wasn't as engaging as the Mathosia storyline. There were so many interesting little things to discover in the Mathosia starter zone that kept my interest as I investigated and explored. For Terminus, you really had to go out of your way to search for the little gadgets and items. And the rares were very rare indeed. I found only 2 in the many times I was in the zone, and never did I see two in the same session. Also, the theme was darker and more grim and urgent. You definitely got the sense of the world coming to an end in this zone. And that actually lent a realistic flair to the environment that I rather liked. All in all, the zone wasn't that bad to play through and since I prefer the Defiant over the Guardians, I enjoyed myself running through Terminus. I would give the zone a 4/5 because of it's lack of engaging oddities like the Mathosia zone had as well as the removal of specific player race quests that would give a tiny bit of info on each race.


Back to the Prologue
Karazhan's Story Chapter 2 Summary

 
 
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Saturday, September 29, 2012

[Chapter Summary]: Mathosia

Mathosia Storyline     

     And here we come to the end of the first of Raeslyn's 'Tales of Telara'. I hope everyone who's read it enjoyed the story thus far, and I am quite proud to have actually kept it up too. I also learned a lot more about Role-play in general, and about Rift lore in particular while writing the blog! Of course, the story is far from over. After all, Rae has only begun her new journeys in Telara, and all them will be witnessed here! This entry is going to serve as a break between chapters, and as an easy to find index of the first chapter, with everything neatly arranged here for ease of access if I want to quickly check back to a particular lore excerpt or chapter piece.

Chapter One Archives:                                                           Chapter One Story list:
     Archive I: Prophecy of the Ascended                                       1.0: Chosen
     Archive II: City Record of Ardenburgh                                    1.1: Stirrings of War  
     Archive III: Ardenburgh Proclamations                                   1.2: Ardenburgh
     Archive IV: Ascended                                                           1.3: Defiant Wars
     Archive V: Cyril Kalmer                                                         1.4: Army of Regulos
     Glossary I: Battle Terms                                                        1.5: A Dim Dark Eye
     Archive VI: Coming of the Shade                                             1.6: Shade of Regulos

Extras List:
The Story Thus Far:
      So, Raeslyn has been resurrected from death by the messengers of the Vigil, glorious winged beings who are apparently quite powerful. She awakens in the Sanctuary of Rebirth, shocked and confused to find herself alive again. According to the messengers and the other devout followers of the Vigil, Raeslyn, along with other Ascended, have been chosen to help fight back against the tyrant Aedraxis after being heroically slain. She has been given unparalleled powers, blessed to be the Vigil's chosen warrior in the fight against the Planes and the Blood Storm and the various other corruptions and evils in Telara. Raeslyn is sent out on a mission to help the beleaguered defenders of Mathosia fight off Aedraxis's undead minions and to prevent him from bringing untold evil and peril into the world by opening a death rift. Along the way she meets Shyla Starhearth, the High Priestess of the High Elves and an Ascended as well, and Borrin Gammult, a Dwarf from Lord's Hall. She learns that the Dwarves no longer have a home to return to and that most of them died in battle against Aedraxis. Borrin was also resurrected as an Ascended, along with Cyril Kalmer, a prominent and heroic figure from the Mathosian kingdom. He loyally fights by the side of Prince Zareph. There are various other notable figures that Raeslyn has the fortune to meet along her quest to destroy Aedraxis and his evil minions. One of these figures is Carwin Mathos, who unfortunately loses his life when Raeslyn arrives too late to stop Aedraxis from opening the death rift. Aedraxis is able to sunder the Ward, thus allowing the rift through, bringing with it foul, planar death magic. To give himself the ability to defeat the array of Ascended who have arrived to challenge him, Aedraxis calls upon Regulos the Destroyer to take his body as an avatar. Regulos quickly possesses the body and kills poor Carwin Mathos, and than attacks the rest of the group. Eventually, working together, Raeslyn, along with Shyla, Borrin and Cyril, are able to defeat the monster and close the rift. In order to prevent Regulos's spirit from finding a new host and a new way back onto Telara, Raeslyn took a mighty hammer and shattered the Shade of Regulos into dozens of pieces. Shortly after this, Raeslyn was suddenly pulled from Telara and brought somewhere else, where she was given a warning and a message by the Vigil...or was it the messenger speaking again? She isn't sure. Because of this message, Raeslyn now knows that the world of Telara is forever changed by the events she just witnessed. The Blood Storm will awaken, all that the newly created Guardians stood for will crumble, and darkness will sweep the land. She knows that she has to do what she can to prevent this from happening. Something to note is the fact that Raeslyn doesn't know where the broken shards of Regulos end up. If only she'd thought about that, or remembered it...


There's also some really interesting cameos by important characters to the story of Telara in the Mathosia zone! Here's a list of the ones I found.
  1. Asha Catari-her body is found at the co-ordinates I listed below. It's cool that Trion kept the lore and included her body after she had fallen when she went to warn her lover Zareph about Aedraxis's treachery.
  2. Alsbeth Rothmann-you can find her standing innocently enough in Valor Hold, dressed in noble's robes. She looks "normal" and not like a death-infused cultist leader, so this must be before she completely went dark side, but I would imagine she had been heading down that path for some time. She may even be a plant here, just following the Guardians like a good little girl and waiting for her moment to strike. That moment ended up being Port Scion, sadly.
  3. Stanig Malm-Scotty's father is also seen! I loved that storyline in Moonshade Highlands and it's cool to see him alive, as he's only a ghost when you encounter him later in present day Telara. I would suppose that after he participated in the war effort against Aedraxis and the Ascended were swept up by the Vigil's prophecy, he ventured back to Moonshade to try and reclaim Hammerknell back from the Abyssal and met his death there. Poor Scotty had only been a mere babe at the time and didn't remember any of this, and his uncle never mentioned specific details about his father, only grand bedtime stories of heroism.
  4. Brother Jebiah-this fanatic of the Vigil seems to be everywhere in Rift. You can find in the alternate Defiant future at the end of the world, imprisoned by the Defiant and spouting nasty threats about the "heretics", saying the Defiant needed to repent and kill themselves in order for the Vigil to come and save the day and raise up the pious to take back Telara. Ya right, Jebiah, you nutcase. In present Telara, he can be found in various zones, usually with some right wing quest or comment. Still, it seems he's much calmer in present Telara. Of course, the end of the world always brings out the worst in people.
  5. Major Kain-I'm assuming this is Fredrick Kain, the guy who became famous for taking things just a liiiiiittle too far in his desire to keep the artifact of Regulos out of evil hands. He carried it for too long and got corrupted. But it's interesting to see him here, being normal and human and sane. Kind of feel sorry for the guy, actually. He did mean well.
  6. Orphiel Farwind-He's seen a few times in this zone actually, and it's interesting how he's viewed as a crazed heretical lunatic who's obsessed with technology to the point where he would doom Telara to get it, but at the same time, he's viewed at the opposite end of the spectrum in the Defiant alt future, so which view is the right one? Both, and neither, I say. I think they specifically made each opposing factions' NPC's specifically "evil" in the opposite zone just to give the players more of a reason to be against the opposite faction. Red vs. Blue thing. I could be totally wrong though, but that's just my guess. I also think that Orphiel knows way more than he lets on, and he's secretly playing with the grand scheme of events from the background in order to make sure Telara follows the path he wants it on. Whether he's doing it for the good of Telara or for his own benefits, or to specifically betray our world to some other, greater threat, we don't know yet, but as of the latest expansion: Starfall Prophecy, you're getting lots of interesting info on Orphiel! I won't spoil it though!
  7. There are several others, including famous members of the Icewatch, Dragonslayers Covenant, and other orders that swore to fight the dragon.
**Before I go ahead with details about the tutorial zone, I'd like to post here that when I went through this area, it was quite a long time ago, before all the streamlined changes and tweaks that Trion changed. So of course if you play through this zone today, it will probably be a bit different. Just in case you're confused.**
 Zone Details:
  • Mob Types
    • Humanoid
    • Undead
    • Construct
    • Planar
  • Total Time Spent In Zone
    • 5 hours (I took my time and explored everything)
    • 1-2 hours approx. if you don't want to dally
  • Level Upon Leaving Zone
    • 8 (killed all kinds of things just for fun and got lots of exp.)
  • List of Questgivers
    • Messenger of the Vigil
    • Sanctuary Warden
    • Fayne Daron
    • Orin Bancroft
    • Borrin Gammult
    • Shyla Starhearth
    • Brother Jebiah
    • Tam Daggerborne
    • Cyril Kalmer
    • Marshal Kain
    • Messenger of the Vigil (2)
  • List of Quests
    • Chosen-speak with a messenger of the Vigil
    • Ascended Allies-speak with Fayne Doran
    • Avenging Hand-kill 6 Ashen Defilers
    • Steel Reckoning-collect 4 imbued swords
    • Knight's of Aedraxis-kill corrupted knights in Hallowed Hill
    • Unholy Shackles-destroy 3 morbid infusers
    • Weakened Ward-collect 8 sanctified spheres from Ardenburgh horrors
    • High Elven Inquisition (race specific)- Pray at the altar of Tavril, kill 6 thralls
    • Uncivil War-speak with Brother Jebiah at the gate
    • Sourcestone-collect 3 sourcestone cores
    • Rifts Between Worlds-purge 5 construct corpses
    • Betrayers-kill 5 Defiant traitors and 4 Defiant thaumaturges
    • Brood of Regulos-Place the Warding Orb of the Vigil
    • A Nimble Art (Rogue specific)-Speak with Rovena Karn
    • Fields Run Red-Kill 3 of each deathbound mobs
    • The Pariah-disable Orphiel's corruptor
    • Rightful Owners-Collect 6 Mathosian remains from carrion flayers
    • Gathering Strength-cleanse a shadetouched horse and ride it back
    • Shot in the Back-launch a catapult, killing mobs in the field
    • A Dim Dark Eye-disable the rift pillars and reveal Aedraxis the Tyrant
  • Locations of Note (by co-ordinates):
    • 815, 1009-Rare mob-Road Warden Molnar
    • 815, 1009-Book-Acacia Nysyr: Inquisitor
    • 842, 1095-Book-Niyol Cliffswind: Sentinal
    • 852, 1089-Buff-Remnant of Mariel-Taun: Stamina
    • 872, 990-Asha Catari's Body
    • 888, 1165-Altar-Rare Mob-Shade: drops nice rogue costume
    • 922, 1059- Dead Soldier-Green leather item
    • 925, 921- Book-Acacia Zardonis: Nightblade
    • 931, 1136- Buff-Remnant of Tavril: Spell Crit
    • 931, 1144-Book-The Unholy Blight: Reavers
    • 947, 906- Rare- Gate Keeper Nurtullis-Green shield
    • 975, 902-Book- Vesseslav: Assassin
    • 976, 903-Blocked Barricade-Trapped Citizen: 1gold 4silver
    • 993, 880- Buff- Remnant of Thontic: Wisdom
    • 995, 941- Enemy Weapon Rack: 86silver
    • 1019, 1121- Rare-Frona Lykeria: Green bow
    • 1022, 1147 & 1167, 1058-Workbench with magitech tools. When approached, Orphiel Farwind appears and yells. He leaves behind a letter from Aedraxis.
    • 1022, 1056-Book- Amardis Mathos: Paladin
    • 1068, 1268-Book- City Record of Ardenburgh
    • 1078, 1204- Book- Durnes: Ranger
    • 1078, 1404- Book- Talos Roda: Purifier
    • 1093, 821- Buff- Remnant of Thedeor: Dexterity
    • 1130, 1107- Book- On Neddra the Warlock
    • 1130, 1384- Book- Journal of Zareph Mathos
    • 1158, 1059- Discarded Defiant Junk: 70silver
    • 1180, 1028- Buff- Remnant of Tavril: Spell Crit
    • 1162, 1218- Book- Elementalists: The First Mages
    • 1169, 1191-Book- Vachir Altan: Champion
    • 1173, 1196- Abandoned Crate: 26silver
    • 1216, 1300- Rare mob- Maurice Sullivan
    • 1219, 1236- Book- Phynnious Rothmann: Pyromancer
    • 1239, 1228- Dead Female Villager: Gray item
    • **Note that at least one Soul story book is missing, as pointed out to me by a friend on the Prime server. Necromancer for sure is unaccounted for**
  • Map of the Zone:
My Opinion of the Zone:
     I really enjoyed questing through the Guardian starting zone. Religious fanatics and bloodthirsty warrior types aside, the zone runs rather smoothly and pushes you along at a fast pace. It also gives you a good understanding of where your character stands in Telara, and what role your supposed to play (save the world). It's a pretty small zone, but there's a lot of information and other interesting little oddities packed into it. It wasn't until I had run through the zone and then subsequently deleted my "Raeslyn's" when I didn't like them, to start over again, that I began to notice curious little items and clickable things that I hadn't noticed before! Like those sneaky, out of the way items that belong to the gods and when you click on them, give you a buff. Or the dead bodies that give you an extra bit of silver, or a green item if your lucky! Also, the trapped citizen that you have to save was really cool. And the books will definitely make a huge asset toward creating future lore articles in my blog. All in all, I give the Mathosia tutorial zone a 4/5. I had no problem with it!

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Chapter Two: Silverwood Summary



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