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With the recent opening of the Stonebrunt Mountains zone, we were salivating at the thought of exploring a new part of Norrath. So Trystahnn
and I prevailed upon our stalwart friends, Goamok, the Ogre warrior, Sythkir, an Iksar monk, Tanzzir, a Wood Elf ranger and Gronj, a
Barbarian shaman. The objective was to explore the zone (for the first time, except for Goamok, who'd scouted ahead) and bring back lots of pelts for my
tailoring activities. I ported most of the group into Toxxulia, though Sythkir caught a ride with a friendly wizard. We bound everyone just outside the entrance
to the Warrens, near the underground pool. From there it was easy to make the run through
the Warrens, a wonderful low level dungeon, (stopping briefly to knock a few kobold heads).
Once in Stonebrunt, we paused to meditate and buff, but everyone felt overwhelmed by the many trains incoming to the zone. Things were quieter a little ways further into the zone, but there are a lot of wandering animals that readily attack. This would prove to be an ongoing problem during our evening's hunting: med breaks were usually interrupted by a wandering mob. Goamok also warned us of the difficulties of the region: high cliffs from which you could take a nasty fall and blind valleys in which it was easy to get lost. We promised to remain close. Once we'd gotten a bit of mana up, we began to work our way clockwise around the zone edge until we came onto some rocky highlands where Goamok assured us we'd find many animals worthy to hunt. Our party went immediately to work. Tanzzir, being level 38 and a ranger, was our designated puller for most of the evening but we'd often be jumped in the middle of a fight. Since our ranger was snaring, I concentrated on dots, heals and sow while Gronj focused on buffs and debuffs. Sythkir, Goamok and Trystahnn waded into combat tirelessly as we slew countless kejek tigers, pandas and granitebacks. The pandas, in particular, were intimidating: they towered over even mighty Goamok. We were careful not to anger the mighty Titan of the pandas, Giang Yin, but kept a respectful distance when he roamed near our party. Tired of the constant stream of wandering monsters laying waste to our meditating casters and hoping to see something other than grey rocky ridges, we prevailed upon Goamok to lead us higher into the mountains. Past the snowline we found a Highland Kobold camp where we spent a happy half hour killing the beasts. But experience was spotty for Sythkir and Tanzzir, so back down below the snowline we went again. A steady stream of pandas and granitebacks fell to our combined forces, but luck eventually failed us. Gronj and I were barely keeping up with our heals, pressing Trystahnn again and again into service to heal himself and the other fighters. My heals attracted the wrath of one violent graniteback gorilla who quickly dispatched me back to my bind point outside the Warrens. Dang! Goamok chivalrously dispatched himself in a duel to lead me through the sometimes confusing zone. We were stymied, however, when an AFK barbarian blocked access to the Warrens zone-in. A kindly high-level passerby solved the problem by shrinking Goamok, who then led me the long, torturous road back to our party. We killed another dozen or more beasts and Trystahnn happily announced he'd reached level 32, but the hour was late and all of us had grown weary of the nonstop pace. It was agreed I'd port us all to North Karanas, from where we could all make our ways to our final destinations. But tragedy was to strike our party two more times that night. As I ported us to North Karanas, Sythkir's invisibility slipped. He was immediately attacked by the druids and died within a stone's throw of the rings. We sat nearby while Tanzzir sought a cleric. Poor Trystahnn was then inexplicably attacked by a wandering rabid wolf, which brought the druids' wrath upon his head. Soon he too was waiting outside the Warrens zone. Finding a cleric who could resurrect was now doubly critical. Fortunately, a kind guildmate of Tanzzir volunteered and rezzed Sythkir and Trystahnn at the wizard spires. Sadly for Trystahnn, the level he'd just won was lost. I had many unkind words for my fellow druids, for bringing such catastrophe upon my friends. Nevertheless, the night was interesting for all and had happily landed my tailoring pack a heavy load of various quality cat pelts. |