Bio Ekdeberon

Eldeberon (Erudite Wizard) 1/11/02 INVENTORY

Despite what many think, I wasn't born into a wealthy Erudite family. My impeccable manners, and elegant clothing give a false impression. No, indeed, I was born into , dare I say it? a no account Erudin clan of little note. At my birth in fact, I had but two relatives, a pathetic knight of some sort living in Freeport, and I had heard rumors of a distant cousin, a dark elf called Islar no less, but those were only rumors. No, I was born with little means at all, but I excelled in the academy of the Crimson Hand and was soon kicked...I mean sent out with a dagger and spell book in my hand for clearly they could teach me no more.

As embarrassing as it is I actually got lost walking out of Erudin. The hallway out of the city was so dark I found myself trapped until a magician appeared carrying a summoned ball of light. I was relieved she appeared and told her so. In returned the woman summoned me my own ball, and even went so far as to give me an excellent backpack. No small gift I don’t need to tell you.

I hunted then, if you can call it that, vainly stumbling about in the near total darkness of the Tox forest slashing out blindly with my feeble dagger. Looking back, I must have seemed a dottering fool. Luckily few ever come to the Tox forest so my shame is still a secret. Reaching my 4^th year I returned to my trainer at the academy and told him of my growing depression and lack of decent progress. After three years I had only managed to scrape together 8 gold, not even enough to buy spells. My trainer instructed me to travel to Everfrost and fetch him Goblin beads, for which he would reward me. Looking back on it I suspect my trainer’s advice was not totally honorable. Sending a poor 4^th year wizard into the perilous frozen north, seems in all likelihood a death sentence. Knowing no better I took the boat to Qeynos.

THE FIRST QUEST

I was very impressed with the human city. Good opportunities, and more importantly, plenty of light. A kindly stranger bound me and then went so far as to escort me to Halas and bind me there. I don’t believe I would have made it without her help. I spent several years hunting the filthy goblins of the tundra, living with the barbarian people. I must say here and now, that while they are a hearty and often fierce people, their personal hygiene is below par. When I had gathered my beads, I bid farewell to the north. I was of 6 years then and I fought/ran my way back through the gnoll lair to Qeynos. I returned to my trainer, who was clearly surprised to see me…alive, and I demanded payment. I was given a Servant’s Staff.

Feeling successful, I returned to Qeynos I rented a small flat and looked for jobs as I was sorely low on money, spending any spare change on spell scrolls. I discovered there was need for a tax collector as the old one took sick. In this way I got to know the various shop owners (and got a free ten slot box!).

SARENIA

Then one day while I was shopping in the magic store, looking at the new robes the owner had recently gotten in I spied a young Erudite enchantress. She two was shopping for robes and we began talking. She did not have enough gold for the robe she wanted so I lent her the money and used the debt as an excuse to keep her with me. Her name is Sarenia Mindweaver and to this day she is my trusted partner (and RL wife).

I had my doubts that a wizard and an enchanter could team effectively, but as the years passed it seems clear they can.

We fought for a time at Blackburrow, and did several quests in Qeynos, hunted the sewers bagging Cubert, and even returned to Halas to hunt mammoths. It was there that I discovered an interest in cooking. Returning with packs of mammoth meat, I studied baking in Qeynos and can now say that I am a fine chef. This was back in the days of that terrible plague in the Karanas and the city of Qeynos was always on edge. We attempted to help the city doing some small jobs, but soon the tension was too much and Sarenia and I were looking for a vacation.

KUNARK

The court in Erudin was always going on about Kunark. It was all the rage in the upper circles. Anything from that land, or tale about the "lizard-people", was hot gossip, so Sarenia and I decided to holiday there. We took the piece of wood they call a raft and followed that with a ride on a wreck they call a ship, and arrived in the Outpost in Overthere. We were only in our 10^th year so we raced across the land slipping into the Field of Bone (heretofore unknown to us). There we discovered a great tower. We entered and fought all manner of skeletons there and met a few of the indigenous peoples. They seemed to find us amusing, and I found them, well, less than civilized. Still they did tell us of a legend of a wizard’s wand that was long ago lost in the bottom of the tower. I of course made it my life’s work to find this terribly elusive wand. I even went so far as to employ a local Iksar boy-lizard. A street urchin that clearly wouldn't amount to anything without my influence. His name is Zith, and I must say, that after my tutelage, he is growing into one effective tool. At first I only used him to buy and sell my loot at the nearby lizard village, but after a time Zith proved he had some fighting skill. Today he is a 17^th level monk, and he is still looking for the wand. Together with a female Iksar shaman named Slasis that Sarenia adopted, they are a team that we commonly refer to as "our Pets". Could you imagine the reaction if we actually brought them back to the Erudin court! But I digress.

Leaving the "pets" to hunt the tower, Sarenia and I returned to Anitonica and explored the Beholder’s Maze, and it was here, amongst the piles of looted clay that I began learning pottery, which dovetailed nicely with my baking. Soon we tired of the clay world and we set of to lavastorm mountains and the dark halls of Najena

STYG THE TROLL

Seeking new lands and bold adventures Eldeberon and Sarenia traveled to the Lavastorm Mtns. Nasty unnerving place. Quite disturbing from the bizarre music to the volcanic landscape with spouts of steam and lava. While exploring it we came to the entrance of Najena, a massive ruined underground dungeon. Here we met a gruesome looking troll named Styg. He was a powerful 25th level Shadow Knight. In one instance Styg was fighting two, very powerful beasts, and I saw his HPs down to below one quarter so I tried to help, only to have my spells resisted. I wanted to let him know I wasn't KSing, (not that I could) saying I thought you were in trouble. He replied that he had over 800 hit points and is rarely in trouble.

Not long afterwards I heard a shout from Styg saying he was in desperate need of healing. Sarenia and I searched for him. Sarenia went ahead when I saw Styg trapped behind a door by a mist elemental. I fired my most powerful spell at it, but just then Sarenia was attacked and I went to her aid and we ended up fleeing for our lives to the zone. Styg reached the zone limping with only 12 hit points. Sarenia and I immediately began binding wounds. (We both had skill levels in the seventies). Sarenia buffed him with breeze. Then Styg started thanking us.

"You guys are great!" he said, "I suppose you both have super high level mains."

"No, " we told him our highest characters are only 24th level.

"Wow!" he said, "then you guys are just really good! You are so organized and thorough. You two really rock!"

Apparently my well timed lightning bolt had saved his life, beyond that we couldn't determine what it was we had done so well as to impress him so much.

At this point Sarenia and I were starting to feel self conscious. Then Styg gave me a gossamer robe. Very nice AC 8, all white. Sarenia gave him a magic necklace she made. After this he was our devoted friend.

"Anything either of you want man, you just have to ask!"

We left Styg and joined up with two druids that were our level and fought. Najena is a very hard place to fight, sorta like a higher level Befallen. We worked our way in slowly. After an hour of fighting we had at last reached the actual gate to Najena. We paused to rest when suddenly there appeared a High Elf caster. The rest was a nightmare. We were all charmed. All except Sarenia that is, but that was ok, because all of us (including Sarenia's pet) immediately turned and attacked Sarenia! Before I even know what happened I had hit her with a lightning bolt. Sarenia died almost instantly, but the horror went on. All of us who survived were taken prisoner and in horror I watched as we were all marched down into the bowels of the Najena dungeons. Can you say: never see your body again? Down, down, down we went, turning and entering doors, deeper and deeper all marching in a single line, including Sarenia's pet. Then I lost my connection to the game.

Terrified, I logged back on and tried to gate immediately, but was attacked and killed. I appeared at my spawn point sullen and depressed. My body and possessions were gone forever. There was simply no way we could ever get down that far. Too many undead and living to use either type of invis spell. It was hopeless.

Then I heard a familiar voice, "what's wrong little buddy?" It was Styg.

I told him the tale. "Don't worry! I will help my little friends!" and off Styg went with my permission to drag our bodies out. When I reached the entrance to Najena I found both our bodies waiting there for us and Styg smiling above us. "You need anything else you just ask."

We thanked him, but we had had enough of Najena. Poor loot and too many deaths caused us to leave. We headed back west to the Realm of King Xxorb and camped his throne area for a short time before realizing it wasn't that good of a place for us, and we moved on. We had tentative plans to go to the Island of Kerra, when, while we were getting supplies for the journey, we met a halfling cleric named Silver (actually Silver something, but I always called him Silver). He wanted to go to the new zone of Stoneburnt Mts. but didn't know where it was. We had a good idea as to where it was, and a map, and since it was one of the places we intended to go (after Kerra Island) we decided to help Silver reach it. We had no idea what we were signing up for!

THE ROAD TO STONEBURNT

We boarded the ship bound for Erudin and brought Silver to Panieel where he was promptly killed by the guards. Oops! We gated back to him and escorted him again, this time invising him to get by. Stoneburnt is reached by going to the bottom of the Warrens. The Warrens is, as its name infers, a massive maze of burrow-like tunnels underground inhabited with armies of kobolds. We put invis on all of us and entered. Using a very confusing map from EQATLAS I began leading the group through the maze. We reached a round room where a door should be, but there was none. By sheer accident Sarenia discovered it--a secret door, hidden in the floor! We entered and reached a dead end. We searched for another secret door but couldn't find it. Feeling the pressure of the invis spells giving out, I gave up on this plan and decided to look for another way in, so back we went to the round room, where my invis did give way. I was immediately attacked by four kobolds. Sarenia and Silver foolishly tried to help and soon we had a score of kobolds on us and all quickly died.

Body fetching became a nightmare. My invis failed again, but I managed to escape the zone before death. Several other attempts were forced back. I was attacked again. This time the others stayed out of it and only I died. In another instance Silver lost his invis and Sarenia managed to use a group mez to contain the enemy while Silver gated out. Sarenia and I then gated together, but it was too late as the mez wore off and the kobolds attacked Sarenia. The frozen picture on my screen as I was gating was of the kobolds leaping at her. Each of us had died twice by the time we reached our bodies, and at this point I expected Silver to announce he was giving up, but he didn't, so I began leading the party to a new prospect. We went another way and eventually found ourselves in a gallery of hallways and tunnels. With all the switchbacks and turns, I lost our position on the map and we were moving blindly lost in the maze. At this most vulnerable point Silver lost his invis. It was a horrible moment. Lost, so that we couldn't even find out bodies, we were attacked by the hordes of kobolds in the area. We ran in vain, knowing there was no hope. I watched Silver's health dropping, as was Sarenia's and mine. I was cursing at the air when suddenly the loud growls and barks of the kobolds were silenced. I was momentarily confused at the loss of sound, and I was alarmed that I couldn't move, when I realized we had all, at long last, hit the zone to Stoneburnt Mts.

The other side was a like passing through the portal. Such a contrast to the excitement of the Warrens it was dark and very quiet. We were in a short tunnel that we could see opened out to a world of trees and hills unlike anything we'd seen before. The valley we entered was beautiful filled with green mossy hills and leafy trees blossoming with purple flowers. We were met immediately by kobolds as two camps were established by the vile creatures right at the tunnel exit. I blasted away killing one, but only wounding the other. Silver was then left to fight single handed as I sat to med. "Hang in there Silver, stay alive!" I got enough mana for another small hit and sat again. Silver was losing health, but holding pretty well, better than I imagined. Finally I got a bubble and let go a Lightning bolt and the beast dropped. "Close" I said. We rested and then walked out to explore.

All we knew about this zone was that there was supposed to be a city somewhere on top of a mountain. So Silver and I went off to search for it while we waited for Sarenia. We crossed over fields of flowers and moss, when the land began to rise steadily. We reached rock and still we climbed. We very nearly fell of massive cliffs several time as we got higher and higher. I thought we must be on top of the mountain by now, when I saw, rising before me, what I thought was a zone wall, instead it rose upwards until near the top I could see...snow! My god I thought! Now that's a mountain! We began to climb it and soon found ourselves entering into a fogged area. Visibility was greatly reduced and snow began falling. Higher and higher we climbed until at last we reached the summit.

"I'm getting a nose bleed." Silver told me.

"So where's the city?" I asked.

We walked around finding nothing, then as I inched close to a sheer cliff I could see, not too far below us a fortified city nested on a ledge of the mountain. Being very careful we repelled down the side of the cliff to the back gate and entered. Cat people lived here. Extremely friendly and pleasant they told us all kinds of tales of their persecution by the evil Erudin Heretics and the kobolds. We sold some of the items we pulled off the dead Kobolds and were paid 2 and three plat for them!

It was time to go meet Sarenia and we left the city by the front gate and wandered out into the mountains. We found a beautiful river and followed it down to the lake where the world turned green and flowery again and there we found Sarenia. The we began hunting the kobolds at the zone and did very well finding gems and bronze weapons and gaining great experience. Stoneburnt as it turns out seems, at least so far, well worth the trip. We will be here for some time, especially with the trip back trough the Warrens as a deterrent.

We fought in Stoneburnt from 16^th to level 22^nd, before trying to explore again. We visited Overthere, and the giants in Warsilk Wood, Lake of Ill Omen, and various other places only to be disappointed.

JOINING THE GUILD

At level 22, Eldeberon and Sarenia were a mess. They had no place they could fight with out frequent deaths. It seemed grouping would be the only way to advance. This was depressing as Sarenia had long waited to do many higher level quests, and discovered they were WAY too dangerous for casters alone. Eldeberon suggested looking into joining a guild. Eldeberon and Sarenia looked around and saw nothing we much liked. Then we returned to Stoneburnt and fought there in the far distant north at a remote kobold camp. No one was ever there but us. Then one day a bard named Steddy wandered into the southern reaches and I congratulated him on gaining a level. He hadn't shouted DING, I merely was checking who was in the zone and noticed his level had gone up. We started talking and he had been having a hard time soloing in the south, so we invited him north to join us. We fought all day and Sarenia did all the looting. He never questioned or complained, and we soon discovered he was a VERY smart, and competent player. At the end of the day, we told him not to leave and presented him with his fair share of the loot in plat which came to about 60pp. I think he was very impressed, and became a permanent fixture at the site and we often logged in to find him. We fought together many times and had many adventures.

Then one day when Sarenia had reached 30th level she left Stoneburnt to try some of the quests she had been waiting so long to do. She even persuaded Steddy to go with her--I was away getting spells and such--They went to Cazic-Thule where they died. I showed up and together we died twice more. This was not her first deaths that day either and she had also failed miserably at jewelry making and blown tons of money to no end. We tried another quest and died again. We had no choice it seemed except to play forever in Stoneburnt. As a result Sarenia fell into a black depression.

Just then Steddy showed up. I secretly explained the situation to him and he began sending Sarenia tells. She felt obligated to reply.

Eldeberon sent tells of his own to Steddy encouraging him to keep talking to Sarenia (typing very quietly). He did and told her that everyone goes through this phase, that at 30 the game changes. He also told her that his death wasn't her fault, which made her feel better. He then suggested we join his guild. Steddy is a member of the Dragonchow guild, and had asked us about joining before, but we had put him off. Now, however, I felt this was just the thing for Sarenia, and we agreed to join. As it turned out Steddy wasn't just a member, he was an officer in the guild and joined us on the spot. Immediately, we were inundated with scores of messages from all kinds of people welcoming us to the guild. It was really very nice.

Our first experience with the guild was when Steddy (who's guild main is a 52 level Shaman named Klothe), brought some of his friends to meet us. He introduced us to Astaldo, a (who looks like a very regal dwarf warrior with a long white beard and sparkling gem inlaid mail and a huge axe), who came with some other guild members to Stoneburnt to meet us. We fought with them for a while in a dangerous camp, and Steddy (after asking if I would like advice on how to play a wizard better), gave me a few interesting tips. Steddy hadn't played a Wizard before, but he had played with many, and knew the role of a wizard in a group far better than I, who had never group-fought before. Soon it was just the three of us, Eldeberon, Steddy and Brodda on this icy, snow covered hill in the remote north of the mountains slaying kobolds and it was really very fun hearing the old war stories between the two old friends, and having them tutor me on the finer points of group battle.

At level 30 Eldeberon received the power to port others. And using it I ported Sarenia to one last place she wanted to try a quest at. Guk. There lies the Ancient Croc, who drops special armor usable by casters. We crawled to the far depths of the place and found his lair and camped him. Or rather Sarenia did. Eldeberon bound there and then ported to North Karana where he discovered (after Sarenia suggested it) he could fight splitpaw gnolls. He would then port back when the Croc spawned. The croc was easy and gave good exp and loot. Eldeberon ported Sarenia to NK and they fought gnolls together as well. The gnolls dropped really good loot which lead to the discovery of an unexpected quest for gem in-laid gauntlets we could use and soon Sarenia was feeling much better about herself. She was getting loot and had several places now to fight.

TO THE MOON AND BEYOND

We then decided to explore the moon. We traveled to several of the nearby zones and discovered we could hunt easily in all of them. In one place we met a strange Belgium Ranger who spoke in broken English but was fun to play with. Leaving there we ported to the Dreadlands a 40ish zone, but were surprised to discover we could actually hunt there, not easily, but we could. You see, hitting 29, Eldeberon got a snare spell that a fellow wizard in the guild explained to him was the most useful spell he had. He was right. Hardly ever resisted, Eldeberon can (in theory) group snare several mobs and kite them, using area of effect DD spells to kill them. While I haven't tried this I have done one at a time to great success. We passed through the Dreadlands to Frontier Mountains and discovered it was just our level. We killed a few Hill Giants there and got a really nice belt (10 ac!). Then moved on to Warsilk Woods and our old hunting grounds at the forest giant camp. Here we discovered the giants were all blue, and easy to kill now (ten levels later!). We decimated many with ease. It was clear Eldeberon & Sarenia were not lost causes, they are now great and powerful casters!

THE BUSINESS OF MAKING MONEY

Being able to port I started my EQ business. I pop into zones and announce that I am porting for 20pp a ride. It is amazing how many people are willing to spend that kind of money happily. Very soon I had 500pp, soon after that Sarenia took it all and spent it on gems for her jewelry habit! Back to porting. Then I received a tell from a guy who needed a port. I asked if he had the 20pp it would cost him and he said no he was on a corpse run, but just at that moment I saw that he was a Dragonchow. Oops! "I port chows for free", I told him, and he was very pleased. He just only recently joined the guild himself. "I traveled from Kunark to Fay picked him up there and ported him to Tox, and asked if he needed help getting his body. He said no, and I let him know if he had any trouble at all, to send me a tell and I would port back to help him. He seemed very pleased with this and I felt like a good guild member.

THE GIFTS

A high level Chow member ran out of room in his inventory and asked if any intelligence casters wanted some of his spare things. He let us know first come first serve. I had the advantage of gating, and reached him easily. "What do you want?" he asked me listing several items. "I am unfamiliar with all of them, I will happily accept anything you think is good for a wizard." I replied. My trade window opened and he handed me three robes and a belt! All of them had incredible stats. Then he had the audacity to THANK me for taking them off his hands!

THE KNIGHT

I was hunting alone in NK , soloing splitpaw gnolls when I was buffed. I stood up and saw a 22nd level paladin who bowed before me. "May I be of assistance to you Milord?" I didn't know what was up. "Do you mean you wish to hunt with me?" Eldeberon replied. "Yes, milord if you deem it acceptable." I looked him over, I really didn't need any help, but he seemed so damn polite. "It's your neck Sir Knight." Eldeberon said falling into step with the role playing. "It is very kind of one so great as you to grant me this boon." he said. This guy was really into this. Then I looked up and saw...he was a Dragonchow! "A chow? You're a Chow!" I exclaimed. "Forgive me sir knight, I did not see your insignia. Yes, please join me and we will continue my research on these fowl and filthy creatures." From that point on we role played. He'd pull and I'd nuke, and we had a blast. "I have an older brother who is a wizard." he told me. Eldeberon raised an eyebrow. "Really? Perhaps there's hope for you yet." "And he is of your race Milord." "A mixed marriage eh? I can't say I approve, but it does explain your good manners." Shabotz, was the knight's name and he was a recent inductee into Dragonchow. We got along very well, and he is now listed along with Steddy, and the crazy Belgium in my friend's list.