Further to the adventures of Lake Superior's bumbling adventurer Elric the Blade in his continuing efforts to uncover the secrets of the Solen . . . . .
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General Description
"A witch!!!!" The young fellow fleeing down the Yew road was fairly screaming as he flew past me this morning. A witch?? Couldn't be, methought. They were stamped out in the last witch burnings some years ago, no? Puzzled, I wandered into the forest to the northeast of the road, my meanderings presently taking me to the old ruins south of the Haunted Forest with its accursed liches. And lo and behold! Yes! A witch!!! Standing in the ruins, stirring a reeking, bubbling brew. I spoke as politely as I could to the hag, and I must say her manners were, to say the least, sorely lacking, particularly considering all the favors she asked me. First she sent me off to find her apprentice, whom she had sent wandering up the road to the Yew cemetary to find ingredients for her latest foul recipe. Off I trotted up the road until presently a nasty little imp suddenly appeared, as did the charred remains of the hag's apprentice. And just as quickly as he appeared, the imp disappeared in smoke and flame.
I returned to the hag to give her the sorrowful news and, as might be expected, she flew into a rage, and begged me wreak vengeance upon the imp and retrieve from him a recipe it had taken from her apprentice. Now there's the rub. How to find an imp--one special imp--in all the wilds of Britannia. Hmmm . . . . Then it struck me--why, ask other imps of course!
Off I rode to the Hedge Maze, known to confine a number of the pesky critters, to have a small chat with them. Alas, I must report that the first three neither enjoyed nor survived my interrogation, but the fourth one finally confessed he knew the whereabouts of the imp I sought, and gave me a map to his hidey-hole, along with a special flute which he bade me play in the vicinity of the imp's hiding place. I puzzled over the map for some time, comparing it with my library of Britannian charts, until I was certain of the location pinpointed on the map. Once there I played the magical flute, and sure enough the foul little creature suddenly appeared, and after some "gentle persuasion" was glad to return the recipe to me, though he snatched the magical flute from my hands as he did so, and promptly disappeared again.
Brimming with pride I returned to the witch and handed her the recipe and turned to leave. "Not done! Not done!" she cackled. "Fetch me ingredients! There's a good lad." Ingredients? Harrumph! Five rabbits feet, a freshly cut red mushroom cap, and a "star chart". Aye, hours it took me to find them all (and indeed, to even determine how to find them all, but I was well rewarded upon my return to the hag--a vanquishing kryss, moonfire brew and something I had but dreamed of having in my home one day . . . .
Trotting back down the Yew road I chanced upon a fellow dressed in pirate garb, and quite obviously inebriated. "Been ta Haven yet, Elric?" "Why, no. Should I?" I responded. The fellow slurred a bit and ordered me straightaway to see Elwood at the docks there.
Presently I arrived at the Haven docks, and within the tavern there I found Elwood who collected many unusual items, and desired many more. And wouldn't you know, he decided I was just the person to gather them for him. So off I went, gathering rainbow pearls, a portrait of myself, the autograph of a famous musician, and last, but certainly not least, the portraits of four foul beasties. Upon my return to Elwood with all these things he presented me with a piece of obsydian and a shield of invulnerability (which went quite nicely with the vanquishing kryss the hag had given me that morn).
What might these be used for I pondered? On a hunch I returned to the ant's lair, and there, in one of their lovely gardens, stood a new contraption--a water purifier. I read the book lying beside it, and discovered that the witch's moonfire brew and the piece of obysidian were but two of the three ingredients needed to help cleanse the solen's water supply, tainted as it was by the Decay. Fortune smiled upon me, for I happened to have kept at my home the last ingredient--a plague beast lord core. I dashed to my home to retrieve it, then rode hard to the nearest ant lair opening. My exertions were rewarded when, with all three ingredients in my pack, I used the machine and received the message "The solen water is cleaner now." Proud and happy that I may be, nonetheless methinks it will take many such uses of the machine to finally and fully cleanse the water supply of our new-found friends . . . .
Specifics
Witch's Quest
Witch Location: In the old ruins straight downscreen from the lich forest
Map to Imp Location: Random. Of the two I got, one was south of Skara in the watermelon patch next to the pumpkin patch, while the other was in one of the farm houses outside Britain.
Brew Ingredients: Random. Rabbits feet (automatically fetched after killing a rabbit), chicken gizzards (automatically fetched after killing a chicken), mushroom cap (obtained by using a knife or dagger on a red mushroom), "star chart" (obtained by using a spyglass), "bones buried in a hallowed place" (obtained by using a pick or shovel on a grave in a cemetary), Captain Blackheart's Whiskey (dress your character in a tricorn hat and hold a cutlass in hand, then go to Buc's Den tavern and drink yourself silly with the old pirate til he finally talks to you and gives you a bottle of his whiskey).
Quest Reward: A bag with a magic weapon, 30 of each reagent, a treasure map, Moonfire Brew, and a cauldron (yup! Cauldron!)
Elwood's Quest
Elwood's Location: Tavern on the Haven Docks
Rainbow Pearls: Just fish off the docks right there in Haven
Self-Portrait: The artist's shop down from the bank in Vesper
Musician's Autograph: The musician is in the grand Conservatory in Britain. He will tell you to obtain his sheet music from a theatre in either Britain, NuJelm or Jhelom and return to him for the autograph.
Beastie Portraits: You will go to a toymaker at the Trinsic tinker's guild, who will give you "magic paints" to sketch the portraits of four random beasties of increasing difficulty. The four I was requested to sketch were a wisp, a bogling, a stone gargoyle and a juka mage. To sketch the beastie, simply double click the paints, then target the beastie. And RUN if need be . . . .
Quest Reward: A magic shield, some gold, and a piece of obsydian
Good hunting on the morrow friends!