What followed was a time of reflection, of drawing upon past resources stashed away under the care of willing anonymous heroes.
The strength of my equipment grew, the mercenary hired from the rogue encampment received a upgrade in her equipment
Next day I found myself in Act 3, without any waypoints, in search of a party. Was plugging away at some mobs, with the damaging power of a highly versed healing hand, when o unlikely older acquaintance joined in, in a new deadly, more experienced assassin incarnation.
I happily followed along, providing my prayers.
Cain had told us that to get to the bottom of tings, we need to open the way to a place called "Durance". We needed to grab pieces from various places, put them together to make a flail, and destroy a special device.
We set up to do just that, first of, we had to dispose of a nasty poisoned spider. My assassin companion seemed to tear everything apart. We reached the lair of the spider.
The fight was long, the spider was proving to have a thick iron skin. Luckily, my prayer was strong, and aided by the holy cleansing power with occasional bursts of holy bolts energy infusion made the assassin a viable block wall upon which the spider found it's resting place.
With this obstacle cleared, we proceeded along to the next part, next piece of the puzzle was held in the clutches of a dragon! Drawing from past experience, I had stocked up on bottled mana. Expecting a fierce fight. I was left disappointed. My assassin companion was quickly damaging the monster, kept in good health by my strong prayer and occasional healing bursts.
Next part of the puzzle was in our clutches. Just then, 2 champions joined the game, one of which was of considerable battle experience, more Champollion joined in, of similar high battle experience.
They were speaking in strange tongues, we found it prudent to join up our forces. they shattered the controlling device, thus allowing us to stop the search for parts.
They were attempting to dispose of the Prime evil at the deep end of the Durance. Their lower experienced companion found he wasn't able to enter last portal to join in the fight. Obviously, his conscience wasn't letting him continue without ridding Kurast of the evil Council. I assumed they gathered up and killed the council members since the evil presence had suddenly subsided.
With the unlikely party formed, the assassin companion had gone in search of other opportunities, I was left to clear my way from the jungle of flyers. Then I see messages of a great evil, killing heroes left and right.
Even the higher experienced fell to Mephisto's wrath. For some reason, the assassin which was with me a while ago, came back. It then transpired that I was a follower of the healing ways, and my presence was wanted at their side to kill off the prime evil.
My mind started working fast, middle of jungle, lots of distance to cover...me and the assassin made haste. In the end, we reached the durance and found it open. I sped on the way to discover next level, and saw a stream of green crosses on the magic maps. This had to come from this area's waypoint.
I go in that direction, dodging hordes of monsters, kept in good health by my prayers. Upon securing the way, I head to the area where the green crosses were headed, and find the next level. The signs of a fierce battle were apparent, and a red portal was inviting me in. Alas, I could not enter it since I had not assisted int he death of the evil council. I left with messages of Mephisto being victorious, in search of a way to clear my name and be allowed in the portal.
A sense of urgency set in, a new game was made and more experienced help was soon to come. Council was made short work of, and I hurried in the aid of my former companions.
..Only to find there is no longer needed, their battle experience had prevailed. I left the game, and noticed another, aiming to dispose of the evil that had jut escaped me. I join and offer my healing services.
Immediately I'm accepted in, and I head over to assist in clearing the way from durance waypoint to the demon's lair. For some strange reason, the experienced companions from the prev. game, now joined this game in progress.
The more the merrier...we arrive at a monster called Mithya or something along those lines, she's a fire dealing monster with a cursed tongue. My prayer and healing bolts make this a easy fight. We enter the red portal. Mephisto is waiting, the higher experienced fighters assist us, but express the concern it will be hard. It was expected to be so, since the party had grown to 6-7 members. I was prepared, my mana was in good shape, and I had lots of disposable mana bottles at hand.
We have 2 heroes able to stand toe-to-toe with the prime evil. My bolts keep them up in good health. Mephisto soon dies, as soon as my last mana bottle gets used. We advance into the red portal twords HELL
Time is short, but we set up to increase of experience and gather the way points. The party makes good progress, killing monsters left and right, clearing HELL. We arrive at a river of fire, with a narrow pathway leading to the lord of terror's lair, we make our way through and secure the last waypoint before the demon's lair.
This concludes the journey for that day
Next day finds me in good spirits. There is a act 4 game up, and I see there is need for a healer in there. I hear from the angel we encountered after duriel fight, that there is a dark soul trapped in a demon. We are to free him, and my companions agree. We set up and go
We re joined on the way by a few older acquaintances. Our party is now solid and we make good way. Izual is at the bottom of a pit, we engage him.
Hilarity ensues
His attacks can't scratch any of our heath, and we are all with proper battle experience for this encounter save 2 who are higher but till need the kill. A few holy bolts to our more courageous companions staring him in the face, and soon, Izual is no more. We rejoice and set our sites to the lord of terror himself.
The party already has the last waypoint, and we meet up to clear the way. Everything goes smoothly, we reach the boss guarding the entrance to his lair. Everything is as it should be, boss barely scratches our health (save for one paladin who lacks experience and seems to be naked), we clear the way without much problems.
The mobs inside the chaos sanctuary were disposed off quickly, and the bosses guarding the seals were released. A combination of holy bolts+prayer aura kept us in good health for these fights.
Big D spawns, in a 7 player game. Nothing to scoff at. I find my simple prayer is not enough. We take half of his life, he kills us all after I die due to not enough self-healing power. We try again and it's a touch-and-go situation. I die a few times, and so do most. But he is kept from regenerating his life. The macabre dance continues, and he is DEAD!
Alas, the peoples who needed the event didn't receive recognition for it. And so we set up again. We find a act 4 game in progress and join it.its now a 8 player game. We cleared again to seal bosses, and I mention along the way that a Sol rune would make the big D fight much more manageable.
After a bit further explanation, one of the party members, a necromancer (bless his back heart), offers one! now I could increase my healing power! and the white scepter I had prepared for this occasion was at a ready! I make the powerful runeword and set upon again the big D fight.
A clear difference is visible, no tank dies under the power of my holy bolts, and the meditation and prayer aura together make non reckless companions stay alive. Finally big D dies and we are ready to move onto next act
the 2 people that had started the game were struggling with izual. After big D, we decided to help them kill it. The way was clear, and we quickly faced the monster. More hilarity ensues, as this time, not only Izual was unable to damage the party health, but everybody was eighter meleeing him or staying in his area of attack. Much fun was had and jokes were made regarding Izual's manliness.
After this we went to act 5 and started clearing away. We reached the place Anya was kept and found ourselves crossing the path with a frost dragon. Fight was a piece of cake, thanks to the power of a combined prayer+meditation offering heals all round and holy bolts keeping up the tanks without problems. Only tricky moments were when he blasted ice onto the poor healadin with 45 cold resistance. But soon, dragon was no more. Anya had been freed!
And this concludes the day's journey
A new day dawns!
I find myself in a place of meditation, along with a few others. There are a few possibilities open, a travel to LutGolein, a visit to Kurast, a sightseeing tour in Pandemonium fortress or a trek in the Crystalline caves of Harrogath.
While pondering, a letter written in green tint arrives...companions need help in LutGolein, some old foes were up and about again...an they needed to be put down. Aaa, LutGolein, the memories come rushing back. I set onto the journey, to find a mixed party of singer barb,traps assassin, windy druid, soon a amazon join our ranks as well.
First in the agenda is to dispose of a old and bold summoner. Armed with a arsenal of healing spells, multiplied in power by my attire, I arrive at the spot. LET BATTLE BE JOINED! I said, and my companions rushed to slaughter the defenseless beast, unphased by it's fiery and windy attacks. Some excessively daring companions meet a unfortunate end, but in the end it's a Victory!! We find the place of tal'rasha's burial and we set out. Inside it's moist, dark, and a persistent pungent smell lingers in the air. We fight off,room after room of creatures and make our way to a dangerously looking trap...guarded by the finest undeads.
Clearly, someone doesn't want us there. We press on.
We swiftly clear a seemingly endless maze and reach a sandy place. Danger tingles in the air. From below, a formidable foe appears! using poisons and elemental attacks to try to frighten us. But the power of the prayer is too great for him. Soon, a red portal, inviting us to proceed.
Aaa, last bastion of defense. Guarded by a worm like creature, with a freezing gaze. Duriel! We know the creature's power, but with the prayer in our back we show no fear.
The battle is long and arduous, many close calls leave my partners with a slither of health, only to be brought right up by the prayer. Duriel seems focused on our would be singing barbarian, and so he receives a holy power infusion to help him survive. Duriel is no more!
My task, for the moment, is complete. I retreat to my abode in Harrogath to rest and teach my mercenary a few tricks. My mercenary, bristling with energy and sparkling with enthusiasm was itching to try his hand against the foes deep in Harrogath's mountains. I obliged.
On the way I kept receiving reports of the progress of my companions in reaching mephisto's lair, they had prepared a magic flail to smash the hypnotic device. I hear them make haste. I'm not concerned, the party tearing up the jungle is now 6 man strong and making good progress.
They reach Travincal. I hear tales of success regarding the device's disposal, but also concern about powerful foes in a secluded location, acting as a council for the demonic forces.
The party goes ahead, I can sense, trouble ahead. Party's health is dwindling, it's not a good situation. My aid was needed and I make haste.
I arrive to the council's location to see a mortal combat in progress, my prayer stretches out and reaches the dieing heroes, healing up the wounds and mending souls. With a newly found courage, my companions surround the evil, taunting and laughing in his face. The deed was done, the council was no more.
I once again retreat to my abode and resume mercenary training. The party continues on it's way to mephisto.
Time passes
My heals are again needed! a winged foe, wielding fire and curse words stands in the party's way. That can't be good, Battle is joined! Strangely, it is apparent this foe has a deep aversion to fighting, as soon as we approach and engage her, she runs away...A long and enervating battle unfolds. FINALLY, she is dead, our way is open.
Mephisto awaits, we cautiously approach. Suddenly, a loud hiss, and a 'squeezed' laughter echoes...MEPHISTO! We engage, I let my holy prayers reach out to the party, while infusing our biggest life companion with holy bolts of energy.
Alas, Mephisto is cunning, for each attack we made against him, he counters our moves. I see a companion loose her life, another, and another, yet another... I shake my head in disbelief. Something must be wrong, no, prayers are working at full strength..this shouldn't be happening. But it is.
The remaining members hang on, we settle in for a long battle, chipping away at the fiend's health. Finally, he dies! the way to hell is open. We enter.
Pandemonium fortress, the last bastion of order. We start to make our way into the demon land. Tingles and sparks from the trapping assassin clear the monsters way ahead of us, we can only follow and mop up the remnants of the once mighty chords of mobs. I remember a old foe, Izual is close. Aaa, Izual, the love fool, I think he was seduced, and chose to serve the hell legions...foolish mistake. We approached his location with a deep thirst for action. As expected, his attacks can only tickle our health, we laugh a bit and continue to make our way.
River of lava, bridge of the damned, chaos sanctuary, we push or way through. Five seals, five seals between us and the lord of terror. We open them, one by one, almost each spawning a boss creature. But we are not afraid of them! they try in vain to do us in, no use.
Diablo! walks again in chaos sanctuary, with our past experience in hand, we know what to expect. It's a easy battle, we can win, we can win! ... not so fast...Diablo says, lemme test yer mettle! and test he did. A few heroes didn't make the cut, but we knew they'd join us for the fight after paying their resurrection fees. We chip away diablo's health, dodging his fiery attacks.
He dies!
Act 5 awaits. We start our journey in the bloody foothills of Harrogath. Monsters left and right, it feels like a hot knife slicing through warm butter. We make good progress, speeding along the way, glacial trail, crystalline passage, a vast tundra, ancient's way
We are approaching a difficult fight. 3 ancient spirits, they guard the entrance to the worldstone keep. We muster our forces and enter their domain.
The battle starts, companions die left and right, only the swift survive. We whittle them down while the fallen comrades pay their resurrection fees. They are no more! Our way is clear, we enter the worldstone keep. Good progress is made and a swift pace is maintained. Waypoint, worldstone keep level 3, and finally, the guardian boss!
The guardian fight seems a blur, killed some minions, then began the hunt for the elusive teleporting-when-touched boss. In a few minutes, he's dead and buried. No surprises were had, no health was lost in killing him.
We enter his red portal. Trouble begins, the creatures are obviously very experienced here, our going gets tough and the not so tough get killed and leave the game for good.
We are now a party consisting of multi-zon, light trapper, singer barb and healadin. It was going to be hard, the lack of dedicated tank hurt. A valkirie ally was there too, and helped alleviate the hurt, upon checking her combat prowess, she was found to bear elemental immunes, this may work to our advantage!
We grind our teeth and wiggle our way through the levels, worldstone golem king awaits at the bottom. His combat prowess is frightening. Our party can barely hold its own, we loose 1, 2, 3 members to the netherworld. But we keep coming at him. He dies!
The most fierce of battles was ahead of us. BAAL!
His minions were nothing to scoff at. They were beyond tough and only through our wit and healing power we succeeded. Glayssa, achmel, darkness and a host of minions tested us. We toughed it out and came out victorious! In the back of my mind there was a pressing concern...If it wasn't for the power of prayer healing and holy bolts infusions...we would have failed our quest long ago
At last, BAAL. We carefully entered his lair. He was hiding by some strange octopus like appendages coming out of the ground. We decided it was wise to lure the fiend out into the open. Reluctantly, he came.
Blow-after-blow-after-blow we exchanged hits, baal was tough and cunning, we retreated, healed our wounds and went back in, relentlessly. After what it seems like a year of continuous fighting...he died!
Tyriel was impressed, we were slayers of evil, bringers of justice, and also exhausted. We entered tyriel's portal and found ourselves in the rogue's encampment.
What was going on...? it seemed the worldstone's destruction caused a time-rip paradox to happen...we were our current selves...back in time...the world was a much harsher place and the demonic creatures were tougher!
Fresh with success we made a incursion, the den of evil outside the encampment was cleared of foes. We sped along the way traversing the mountain passes, dark woods, marsh, arriving at the rogue's former cathedral.
Along the way we found the smith, as expected. His damage was nothing to scoff at, but overall a few bolts were enough to make sure he doesn't kill anyone but the foolish. Jail level 1,2,3 Outer cloister and Mortanius awaited us. We set our sights on him, wailing him down, the holy prayer's power was great, we shook off his attacks and stole his meager treasures.
It was late in the night when we arrived at the boss guarding andariel. Our lack of supplies and tiredness was reaching us from behind. We made a few attempts at killing the foe, but we had to end our journey there. Ah, beefy tanks, where art thow?!
And that concludes the journey for the day
Last edited by hex on Fri May 20, 2011 2:34 am, edited 8 times in total.
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