Friday, November 5, 2021

Runes of Magic -- A Vampire in the Canyon

My Runes of Magic mentor, aka the infamous TessLove, was kind enough to point me towards Dust Devil Canyon as my next destination, so  . . . I do as I'm told! Dust Devil Canyon it is!

Cacti, high cliffs, and dusty roads

Dust Devil Canyon is exactly how'd you picture it. a lot of winding trails, high mountain peaks, cacti, sandstone, and scorpions. The zone is pretty much divided right in half by a wide canyon trench that sinks down low and has water in its base.  It's a great place for two things apparently: fishing and being bitten by poisonous giant dragonflies. In fact, one of the quests here is all about helping a dude find his fishing pole. What else would a 50th level vampire do here? Of course I'm going to help you find your fishing pole!

Danny, first I find your fishing pole, next, I make you my vampire minion, k?

For my first day in Dust Devil Canyon, I really just stayed on the southern side of the zone and helped out my buddies in the "Order of Dark Glory Garrison." It may sound grim, but they're an ok bunch. They are really just here to help and are having a heck of a time dealing with all the giant scorpions and fire lizards. That's where we come in, friends . . . so many giant scorpions and lizards . . . .

Thankfully the monotony of scorpions and lizards is broken up by there also being a big hive nearby that's full of "Kal Turok," aka Ant People! (Side note: when the Kal Turok ran at me full speed with their four arms raised for battle, I was reminded of the Tharks from John Carter. Am I the only person that actually liked John Carter?) I gladly went down deep into their cave system and killed a swarm of them (and their little larvae). Now THIS is what a 50th level vampire does! COUNT STINGITE'S CURSE BE UPON THEE!

Possibly the most distinct feature in the zone is the Obsidian Stronghold. It's the first really big city I've encountered on my journey outside of Silverspring. The folks inside the castle had plenty of quests that just involved running around getting to know the place. I think I leveled once just by making introductions here. 

It's kinda like the Las Vegas of Dust Devil Canyon, but with no gambling

By the time I logged off two days ago, I was level 50 on my Rogue, which meant it was time to switch back to my Mage and level a bit more. So, yesterday I decided to venture into the Northern part of the zone where I was introduced to my new favorite harpy NPC, Adley the Alcoholic.

It's Adley the Alcoholic or "AA" for short -- she's ready for her ten step program 

In fact, there's a whole quest line in Dust Devil Canyon that involves figuring out why exactly the harpies are so gosh dang murderous? As it turns out, it's because they're drunk on evil crow blood and fermented berries . . . at least that's what I gathered from the quest text. I may be off there, because at the same time, I was playing dress up as a legit vampire. 

Said mentor, LadyTess, mailed me some fancy vampire dudes, so I'm fully embracing the vampire now.  She even gave me the nickname "Fangs" in the guild notes . . . so I took it a step further, descended down into the Forsaken Abbey, killed the boss vampire down there, and assumed the title for defeating him: Count Hibara's Nemesis.  

I vant to level up

All I need now is a good bat pet, and I'm ready for a guest appearance on "What we do in the Shadows." 

 

So the end result is that I pretty much made little progress yesterday as far as leveling, I was too busy messing around, grabbing elite skills, flirting with murderous harpies, and re-equipping my woefully undergeared mage . . . but it's cool -- I leveled up my "charisma" instead. If I'm going to be a vampire, I gotta look and play the part as well.

"Happy Dueling!" - signed "Fangs" aka Count Stingite

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