Sheesh, Runes of Magic! Enoch already!

Over the past couple days I've had some time to quest through the next island of the Shamtaem Archipelago known as Enoch.  You know, Noah's great grandfather from the Bible.  Just kidding -- I'm sure the zone in Runes of Magic has no relation . . . unless for some reason this entire zone is somehow taken into heaven and never seen again because it's just that good. . . until then, no relation.

Nebula Woods Camp, in the Nebula of Enoch

No Enoch plays out pretty much in the same way that Tasuq and Korris did.  You start out by going to help Kerley Hill set up a camp yet again (which is already set up of course), and then uncover more nefarious plots by the Inexorable League. 

Kerley is again on the hunt to analyze the spatial transfer of the area. Right outside that first Nebula Woods Camp are hidden Angren "lionesses" known as Lurkers.  Invis mobs are a total pain to deal with, but after a few minutes you just come to accept that every 30 footsteps you're going to run into one until you're about 100 paces outside of camp.

Silent but deadly?

Angren are to Runes of Magic as Vah Shir are to Everquest or as Charr are to Guild Wars. You know . . . conflicted war-torn lion people.  The people in the Nebula Woods Camp are convinced their anger has something to do with the Inexorable League, so you know what that means . . . it's cat person killing time!

Don't worry, cat person killing time doesn't last long, instead it turns into cat person HELPING time. Just down the road from the Nebula Woods camp is the Jadefang Outpost where the friendly "Leonine people" of the Angren race are chilling. 

It's Angren vs. Angren out there! We must even the odds!

As it turns out this entire tribe of Angren was living in Northern Janost Forest (remember that place?), and they and a faction of Elves known as the Jyr'na were both transported to the island through some kind of magic.  When they arrived at Korris, the welcoming party there was . . . you guessed it . . . the Inexorable League.

Kadnis!  She's a plant demoness!

Kadnis from the Inexorable League cast a big nasty spell and now a good chunk of Enoch known as the Twilight Marsh is shrouded in Eternal Darkness. Half the of the Angren and elves fell to dark magic, and the other half are stubbornly good, which is good news for us since they will give us plenty of quests and gold to line our coffers in exchange for our assistance.

Twilight Marsh in perpetual darkness. Like my brain around 11pm, but all the time.

Eventually you'll make your way past another camp of NPCs, who send you into the Twilight Marsh -- it's scary in there, and then you end up in the Azure Lake area, which is a breath of fresh air.  There's another really stellar daily quest here where you capture "adorable mutant" flowers.  I also "won the game" when I found the cutest quest item the Runes of Magic offers . . . a little frog.

it's cute

Yup,  that's right. I can finally stop playing Runes of Magic, this frog has won the game for me.

The last stop off in Enoch is a terribly unforgiving area that's densely packed in with enemies called the Demon Bastion.  I've died here plenty of times just running around . . . just trying to talk to a quest giver even.

Why . . . just why?

Side note, listen up designers . . . never . . . NEVER EVER EVER . . . never put mobs next to a quest giver.  You may be thinking . . . oh! It'll be a fun challenge to get over there and talk to the NPCs with these two enemies just standing here right by them. DON'T YOU DO IT.  Just don't.  Ever.

A lot of the quests in this area simply have to do with trying to figure out what the Inexorable League is up to in the area and once again leads to a dungeon zone (as is the reoccurring theme in the Shamtaem Archipelago islands). 

Some day I shall visit the Sun Temple of Eternal Sleep, but for now it's off to Vortis, our next destination in Runes of Magic.

Behold the entrance to the Temple of Eternal Sleep. The very place my brain wishes to be at 11pm.

Happy Dueling!