May 2007

Library Renovation, Part I

A collection of teak and ash bookshelves with some lighting create the new library wall

The picture is a little difficult to see above, but that’s the new wall of my library. In the main room of Stargrace’ 5-room house (Located on Antonia Bayle, 4 Bayle Court if anyone wants to visit. It’s the first house on the right hand side as you zone into South Qeynos from Qeynos Harbor). It’s made with ash bookshelves (the smaller ones on the bottom) and then a row of burlap rugs (you can’t see them, but they’re on top of the ash shelves) then pushed back a bit is the row of teak shelves. The rugs create a counter top where I can place items. The shelves are pretty bare I admit, but that will be my project over the next little while, filling them up. I have about 30 or so books shown there so far, maybe a few more, difficult to count due to the size of the picture, probably closer to 40-50 books. There’s also some knick nacks on the shelves, which I’ll be moving as soon as I get the faction to purchse the display cases from the Ironforge Exchange. There’s a ship in a bottle from the Village of Shin access quest located in Thundering Stepps, some roses, the spires replica from aiding in their construction and a few other odds and ends. The larger books are along the top, since they don’t fit very nicely in the actual shelving. Qeynos homes (and freeport as well for that matter) are pretty dark, so there are two lights hanging low over top to give it a little more “poof” if you’ve got lighting on at least.

The problem with completing the book quests I’ve been working on is that so many of them are still dropped from mobs and that’s the only way you can obtain them. I know a great deal have been switched to second editions and do not take up any actual space in your house now, but the ones from Obelisk and a few select ones from Cazic Thul are mob dropped only. Means a level 70 has to mentor down in order to get their hands on it. There are some books in Varsoons that are the same way. I really wish they’d change this and make them body drop starters instead letting the level 70’s have a little bit more fun.

Since I want the main room of Stargrace’ home to have a display / museum feel to it, I moved the easel and piano upstairs, and set up a cobalt table downstairs with her statues of Lucan and Antonia as well as the Idol of Everling. No luck getting a baby dragon yet, I’m not willing to pay the 100p that they’re asking here on AB. Oh well.

So what’s on the schedule for today? Working the Lore and Legend quests that I’ve still got ongoing, as well as working those book quests. It’s raining outside and I absolutely love it. Not really in the mood to craft, or harvest too much.

A fairly quiet Monday

Stargrace sitting inside the Temple of Life, located in North Qeynos

It was a quiet Monday, and I love those sorts of days. I asked a favour of Cordanim and was able to use his 41 carpenter (now 42) to make myself some bookshelves. I redesigned the library in Stargrace’ house, taking up an entire wall with a combination of small ash bookshelves and larger teak ones. Spaced them with burlap rugs between two layers, giving it a bit of a lip. I’ll post some screen shots once I’ve added more books to the collection, because right now the shelves are looking slightly bare. Reminds me that I have 18 more L&L books to complete (groans). It was hard enough doing them on Silverstep (now renamed to Arysh). I leveled the little carpenter to 42 in order to make the shelves I needed, then of course promptly ran out of crafting supplies.

Tonight decided that I’d do a little farming, but quickly grew bored of it. I decided to do some guild writs for status. Now, I typically love writs. I have one large issue with them though, and that’s the down time between them. Because once you’ve completed them you have to go all the way back home to get more. If you’re not one of the lucky few classes who can odyssey or port themselves around, that’s a long way back home after 15 minutes or so of writ work. I’d love to get a lot of writs done in order to work my faction with each of the Qeynos sections, but at +150 a writ, and such a long wait between them, I find myself discouraged. Even if I just did 1 set a day I suppose that would be better then none. There are some nice unique house items if I only had the patience.

How Misako came to Freeport

(( An Rp story on how Misako came to Freeport, since I betrayed her some time ago from mystic to defiler ))

Misako glanced around her humble inn room in East Freeport and grinned at herself. She’d finally done it. After everything that had gone on in her young life she’d finally managed to save up enough coin to purchase her very own place. Her possessions were not many, but they were hers. She thought back to how she had come to Freeport to begin with, and her heart ached slightly.

It started with a boy, of course. Well, more like a man. His name was Farid, and he was everything to her. They’d met in the sewers of all places. Not exactly the most romantic of settings, but it was love at first sight, or well, it felt like it. They connected instantly. It was intense. Farid was a powerful sorcerer in Freeport, although Misako did not know that at the time. She only knew that she cared beyond anything she had ever felt before. He showed her things she’d only dreamt of, and whispered in her ears of power and promises that enticed her to give up her Qeynosian ways. After thinking on it for some time, she decided that Qeynos had nothing to offer her. She’d become bored with the daily worships of Tunare and the people who spouted off about the evils befalling them. Evils? Farid was not evil. Perhaps it was time she saw things from a different light. So she’d said goodbye to her family, to her twin sister Stargrace, and left for Freeport, promising Farid that she’d to anything in her power to keep him happy and that she’d one day make a good wife for him.

She should have known better. Before she left, Stargrace pulled her aside for one last sister to sister talk. Warning her to be careful and whispering to keep in touch. Stargrace had slipped a small pouch of coins into Misako’s pockets before dashing away down the street, tears streaming from her eyes. Misako’s heart had gone out to her twin sister, but this was something that she wanted to do. Something she had to do. Upon arriving in Freeport, Misako had gone off in search of Farid. Not knowing her way around she’d stumbled into a random inn, seeking shelter from an abrupt downpour that had caught the poor wood elf.

” We’ve no use fer your kind here… ” Sneered the barkeep, washing the counter tops with a dirty rag.

“I’ve got coin.” Misako slapped a silver piece down, making sure to look the barkeep squarely in the eye. She wasn’t going to let people push her around. “I’d like a mug of ale, and some bread.” She made herself comfortable.

“Big spender are ye..” The barkeep smirked and waddled towards the kitchen, scooping up the silver from the counter as he went. His girth surprised Misako, who could ever want to let themselves go like that.

A woman’s laugh from the back corner of the room drew Misako’s attention, and she turned to see who it came from. Her jaw dropped open, and her heart instantly cracked in half. Some common wench was perched upon Farid’s lap, grinding suggestively against him, he was whispering in her ear, his hands cupped a breast teasingly, and Misako let out a low gasp of dismay. His eyes widened as he glanecd towards Misako, the wench running her hands in places that were far better suited to a private room.

“How.. how could you!” She let the words fly out before gathering her belongings quickly and running from the inn. Her breath came in ragged hitches and her hands shook. She felt utterly betrayed. She should have known better. Stargrace had tried to warn her. She ducked down an alley, and leaned up against a wall, tears streaming down her face. Suddenly a dark shadow crossed in front of her. Farid.

“Get away from me,” she practically growled. “I do not want to see you.” She tried to control her words but anger seeped through every one.

“Misa, come on now.. she was nothing to me.. we can work this out..” His voice was calm and collected. Power radiated from him. He advanced towards her and a shiver of fear shot through Misako. His eyes flashed violet and she realized that this person was not the Farid she’d met a year ago. The power had claimed him as it’s own, he was someone else. Someone mean. It had to be.

“I..I.. I’m warning you!” she stuttered. “Pplease, leave me alone.” She was afraid now, of this dangerous stranger who crept up closer to her.

“You’ve no idea what you’re talking about,” he scoffed at her. “Silly girl. Forget this, and come back with me.” He reached out his hand and a blue spark danced along it.

“Get back!” Misako screamed, and pulled a small dagger from her boot, it wasn’t that sharp but it would do in a pinch. She brandished it before her with shaky hands. Farid laughed at her.

“What are you going to do with that, hmmm?”

“I warned you.” She hissed. He stepped closer again, and raised his arm. Murmuring under his breath, a gust of wind pushed her back against the wall in the alley, and held her there. She struggled against it but could not move.

“Warned me?” He laughed again, low and menacing. “You’ve no idea what powers you play with, child.”

Again the thought came to her that this was not Farid. That something had happened to him, something had changed. With her mind acting along it’s own violation, she closed her mind from him. She took a step forward. He lunged towards her, and her dagger came down and buried itself in his chest. Directly in his heart. The blue spark faided from Farid’s fingertips and his eyes returned to their normal hue. He sunk to the ground into a muddy puddle, and looked up at Misako with disbelief. He opened his mouth as though to say something, and all that came out was a gurgle of blood.

Misako stepped away from the gruesome sight, and shook herself into awareness. She’d just.. murdered.. someone. The dagger clattered to the street, what had she done. She’d killed Farid. She could never go back to Qeynos now. She’d had blood on her hands. What had she done. The words rolled over and over in her mind, like some nightmare that refused to end.

That was over a year ago now though. The events that took place. That night. Each day she lived in fear that Lucan himself would find her and drag her to the torture chambers to flog her alive for her misdeeds. Then she reminded herself that this was Freeport, not Qeynos, and another dead body in the streets meant nothing. She was sure the guards hadn’t even flinched. She had not bothered to contact her sister or anyone from Qeynos since the incident. She knew she’d marred herself and that no one from Qeynos would dare to speak to her had they known what had happened. So she’d made a life for herself in Freeport, selling her wares as a tailor. It was never much coin but it was enough to get by on. After a year of saving.. she’d purchased her new inn room, and there she was.

Taking a second (or third, or fourth) look at the Village of Shin

I bought the defiler a new inn room. Her small 1-room place was getting a little cluttered, so I moved her from Big Bend (where all exiles end up after first moving to Freeport) into a 2-room in East Freeport. There’s no bank (add one please!) in the zone, but there is a city merchant close by, a broker, and bells to the docks, as well as a carpet to the DoF zones. She had a lot of knick nacks, but no real furniture. Instead of purchasing a bunch of it, I decided to head to the adventure pack Fallen Dynasty, and do the simple (but very rewarding) Village of Shin quests. After spending about an hour in the zone, Misako came back to her home with no less then 13 house items to add to the collection. Now, 7 of those are books to add to the library, but I also got a nice new bed, a bedside table, a lamp, a candle with heart graphics floating around, and a new ornament for the wall. While I was waiting for the npc to show up for tower access, I decided to take some extreme quality screen shots. I don’t want to have to re-size them, so please click the thumbnails for a better view. This zone is one of my absolute favorites, besides New Tunaria (Felwithe). It’s probably due to the Asian theme, while I don’t like soga models for any number of the characters, I do like seeing it in the world of EQII.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

The view from the Tower of the Wind, just before the sun comes up in the Village of Shin.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

Looking up at the tower from the base.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

Looking out over the docks from the main land.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

Looking out over the fields, from the main land.

Hopefully a few more out there enjoy the view. I love taking screen shots in game, and love the fact that if I wanted to I could play on extreme quality settings. It does lag me slightly depending on where I am and who is with me (playing that setting during a raid would hurt after some time) but it reminds me of what a very pretty world Norrath is. I have over 600 screen shots in my EQII folder alone, not to mention my old EQLive folder, my Vanguard screenshots, and even some WoW ones. Be it a special occasion that you wish to remember, or just a pretty sun set, at times screen shots in MMO’s are no different them someone pulling out a camera to snap a shot.

As a quick update, defiler hit level 61. Also managed to get 69ap on her, she’s eating those up fairly quickly. Tulips hit 26 armorer. What a boring thing to level. Takes forever and barely any new recipes each level. I think last level she had three, and this level she has.. four? Maybe. Not as bad as Cordanim and his 2 recipes a level record, but I’ve already gone through that with the provisioner (and the woodworker!).

Defiler hits 60, and gains a few ap

The guild may be small, with only 7 members (and an army of alts) but we still have fun

Misako hit level 60 yesterday, I’m proud of that accomplishment. I’m already thinking about which character to finish leveling to 70 next. I think my conjuror (who used to be a necromancer) is going to betray back to a necromancer, and then I’ll concern myself with leveling her up. She’s sitting at level 53 currently, and while I do enjoy the call of the hero spell that conjurors get, I like the feign death and rez spells of the necromancer. Even better then getting level 60 though, was that I hit 66ap with Misako as well. It means that she’s almost done her regular shaman ap line, I’ve gone down the pet aoe prevention line (also giving group aoe prevention on pet attack for 6 seconds) and I’ve also gone down the int line, which is a debuff line. I love it, works wonderfully. It also gives the group some very nice magic resists. On the down side, I have about 6 buffs I have to cast + the dog before I even get to my regular buffs. I spend more time buffing and re-buffing then anything else I think. A small complaint of course.

Cordanim has been eating up those ap points as well as can be plainly seen from the screen shot. Shadowgeist, Cordanim, and myself (boxing Dasie and Stargrace) headed to the Crypt of Valdoons last night to see if we had any luck with some class drops. Of course since Shadowgeist doesn’t actually need a single piece of shadowknight gear, that’s what dropped for us. My EQII luck shining through like always. Dasie did get the new cuirass, it’s a slight upgrade to the fabled one she was wearing, both in power and in wisdom. Her old one had some heath regen on it which she doesn’t need as a templar. I have barely played her at all, and she’s so far behind in ap. Perhaps one day I’ll work on that a little bit. Or I could box her along with my necromancer while they quest together.

Off to do nest with the defiler now, hopefully she can get a few more ap points and complete the crafting quests inside the zone.