Day 14
No, I'm definitely not strong enough. I spent some time getting myself smashed by the Troll Knight over and over. I have to figure something out. Maybe I should leave this place for now. Or... let Roppy tank the giant and run past? I have to think this through.
I left to check the Minor Erdtree and its Putrid Avatar in northwest Caelid. But first, I had some business with an invader, Anastasia, Tarnished-Eater near the Smoldering Church. Dealing with her was much smoother than I expected. I got the Sacred Scorpion Charm and continued towards my original goal.
Well, this avatar proved to be tough. It also inflicts scarlet rot and is resistant to it (there goes my strategy, sorry, Roppy), but all Erdtee Avatars are vulnerable to fire. So, I need to be able to do decent fire damage before I can face this boss again. Great.
Let's check something else on my wishlist: the Black Whetblade in the Siofra River region... After wandering around for a while, I realized that the knife is actually in Nokron, Eternal City, one level above the river, and the two are not directly connected. Great, again.
Anyway, while looking for a way into Nokron, I found a point of interest northeast on the map and tried to reach it while gathering runes and materials and lighting strange statues. It was another elevator, the Deep Siofra Well, locked by a gargoyle statue. It took me back to (drumroll) Caelid—great, mother of Godwyn.
Ok, something told me I should stay here and explore, at least gather the maps. I managed to do that after much running around and avoiding dangerous foes. Then I found some ruins with burning kamikaze zombies. I killed a bunch of them, avoiding the Flame Chariots, when I found the way underground to a boss arena, with a Mad Pumpkin Head Duo(!). OMFG! The first try went rather well. I killed one before the other finished me. This gave me some hope, so I kept trying and managed to beat them. My reward was a Visage Shield, which I can't use yet but is a nice shield.
I decided this was the right time to call it a day.
Day 15
So, I had some loose ends to tie in Limgrave. Let's start with the howling at Mistwood Ruins. Kalé told me to snap my fingers there. I don't know if it was necessary to kill the Runebear, but I did it anyway. It might have been sleeping there nice and peaceful, but it won't be nice or peaceful if I wake it up.
Blaidd, the half-wolf, was waiting for me in a dark corner of the ruins and asked for my help tracking down someone called Darrivil. Oh, I know that guy back from the Evergaol. I went back to find Blaidd there waiting for me. He said his thanks for my help with a Somber Smithing Stone (2), which I eventually used to upgrade the Bloodhound's Fang. It was about time.
I remembered some ruins nearby with a dangerous-looking plant. It looked scary before, so I kept my distance, but now I felt like giving it a go. On my way from the Evergaol, I saw the caravan, omg, two impaled trolls dragging a carriage followed by a dozen nobles, soldiers on foot and horseback. Another intimidating sight I was only watching from a distance before. Now, I decided to see what they were carrying. I have come a long way. Killing the whole entourage, including the trolls, only took a few minutes, and my reward was a Greataxe.
Now, back to Waypoint Ruins. I finished the plant. It was very similar to the boss version I fought before, but I was poisoned and used all my FP here and at the caravan, so when I entered the boss room, the Mad Pumpkin Head smashed me to a pulp. No matter. I rested at the nearby site of Grace and gave it another go. Now, it melted like butter.
And my reward: behind door number "only one," a lady was waiting among glintstone crystals. Sorceress Sellen was an academy dropout who offered her services to teach me sorcery. Well, only if I could use any. Who knows, maybe at a later time.
The next stop was the Coastal Cave. Well, look at that. I found a frail figure crawling up in a knot near the site of Grace—Boc, the friendly demi-human who was turned into a tree when we first met. I freed him a few days ago, and he told me about the bullies in his cave. Now, let's see about that. I cleared the cave and recovered Boc's Sewing Needle and some Tailoring Tools from the Demi-human Chiefs. The little guy finally has a purpose. I can alter some of my armaments. Or he can do it for free. Neat. (It turns out I summoned some Old Knight Istvan, but I didn't notice at the time.)
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Defeating them opened the way to a tunnel leading outside. I took that instead of teleporting back to the start and boy it was a good decision. I emerged on a nearby island with the Church of Dragon Communion on it. Here, I could learn dragon incantations in exchange for dragon hearts... but where could I get one? I remembered a dragon in Lake Agheel. He was on my list.
I tracked down the beast and gave him hell with Roppy and the Hookclaws. I was burned a few times pretty badly, but eventually, he fell, and I got his heart.
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A tunnel entrance was just a little north of where I defeated the dragon. I was in a similar tunnel before on the Weeping Peninsula, with many upgrade materials inside and a boss, a Stonedigger Troll. Beating it rewarded me with the Roar Talisman.
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I travelled further north and cleared a cemetery below Stormhill, while this wasn't the place I was looking for I found Godrick Soldier ashes. I took the wrong turn looking for Groveside Cave, just north of the Church of Elijah. In the cave, I beat the Beastman of Farum Azula to earn the Flamedrake talisman. This would have been useful fighting the dragon before, innit?
Back on the beach near the coastal cave, I encountered an invisible thing rolling around in a pattern, leaving golden marks on the ground. I saw a similar thing in Caelid, but now I managed to kill it. It was a "dung beetle" and dropped an ash of war. Now I knew I had to track down a beetle in Caelid. Maybe it was the same? I found the invisible beetle and managed to kill it, but it wasn't the ash I sought. So I kept searching further.
In the middle of the rotting lake, I was invaded. I managed to kill the invader but lost a bunch of runes, and at the moment of my victory, some big-ass soldiers appeared to finish me off... This place is hell.
Never mind. I stood up, found the beetle, and applied the Lifesteal Fists on my Hookclaws. Oh yeah. I found a misty cave entrance nearby and decided to open it. It was the Gaol Cave, imprisoned within a bunch of those kamikaze zombies, wardens and at the end a Frenzied Duelist. I beat him on the second try and left his room through a tunnel. I was greeted with the calming view of Limgrave. It was such a relief. And just in front of me, a new sword.
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I was tired and had to go back to Roundtable Hold and maybe tell people about my adventures. Hmm... something is not right. It's dark here. From my left, an invader came into view and sliced me up. What is happening!? Next time, I was prepared. Finishing him gave me some nasty fist weapons and turned the place back to its original state, but hey, the grumpy guy outside Grandpa's room was gone, and his Armor was lying around. So you were the one. I never trusted you.
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I felt restless, so I decided to look at the eastern side of Liurnia. I hate the soldiers with four hands. They shoot arrows like crazy, and when you get close, it feels like it's in a blender. Damn. I later figured these were magically animated life-size dolls, called puppets, that could malfunction. That is when they chop you up and fill you with arrows.
There are also a lot of wolves around here. And they are tougher. While escaping a pack, I stumbled upon a Tibia Mariner, the death creature with the boat. I had liked this fight in Limgrave before, so I decided to try it. It went well, and I got skeletal bandit ashes, too. It's a nice ending to a long day—time to rest.
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Day 16
I stayed around the eastern part of Liurnia. I found a statue that was leading me to the Cliffbttom Catacombs. So far, this was the most difficult dungeon I attempted. First, the obvious way does not lead to the lever. Oh no, it leads to traps, Imps, and Omens guarding a few materials and a scythe, which is not that bad, to be fair, but then where is the lever?
It turns out one has to jump down below, where one of the Omens stands guard. If you do it right, you fall into the bushes, and if you crouch immediately, it might not notice you. The other one is patrolling the circular corridor. There are bushes everywhere, so you can stealth around. Leaving through the only exit leads to a room with another big guy with a big-ass sword. I'm sure there is a clever way to kill it, but I didn't have much patience then, so I rushed past it. Finally a ladder, I climbed and there was the lever, but that thing also climbed up, what the hell. I pulled the lever, quickly grabbed some items on the right, and jumped down to the ramp. The thing did, too! It was following me, so I ran all the way to the elevator.
Finally, the boss arena was open, so after some rest, I went straight there. It was a watchdog, of course, but this one wielded a staff and used glintstone magic. No surprise, so close to Raya Lucaria. It took me two attempts. I melted its HP while Roppy tanked and was rewarded with the Kaiden Sellsword Ashes.
While rushing toward the lever area, I missed one item. I have to come back for it later.
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From here, I traveled west through the lake. After killing some creepy hunchback enemies, I found a girl and agreed to find her stolen necklace and also Patches. So, he set up shop here. Sitting beside him by the campfire, I thought about how difficult this day was.
Day 17
I left Patches' little camp south to check Laskyar Ruins. On the way, I had some trouble with Demi-humans and wraith callers, but nothing much. When I reached the ruins, there was a teleporter in the middle. Stepping close Wraith Callers started to appear and suddenly a Revenant. They quickly tore me apart. I tried a couple of times to kill it, but it was too aggressive, so I decided to go somewhere else.
I found a candle holder nearby and followed the spirit to the Lakeside Crystal Cave. Inside, I had to fight Demi-humans and crystal snails while jumping lower and lower. At the bottom, a Bloodhound Knight was waiting for me. I had to give this fight several tries, and the most annoying thing about it was that I had to fight through most of the cave to get there every time. I used this as an opportunity to practice guard counter with the Bloodhound's Fang. Ironic that I killed him with his own weapon. I got the Cerulean Amber Medallion.
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I left the cave through a tunnel that led me to the Slumbering Wolf Shack, where I met Latenna. She was the albinuaric that Albus asked me to find. She asked for some help in exchange for the other half of the medallion.
With a clearer head, I tried again to beat the Revenant. And after a few tries, I succeeded. I looted a smithing stone and some other stuff, but the most interesting item was underground—a wraith caller's bell.
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Now that there were no more enemies, I used the portal that placed me in front of the Raya Lucaria Academy gates. It's the same place I ended up a few days ago. But this time, I noticed the site of grace further toward the gate and also found a map with a meeting place marked. I decided to visit the place, but I only found a sleeping dragon.
Day 18
I've killed dragons... well, one dragon. So I can do this. This dragon, Smarag, was similar to the previous one, but instead of fire, it used glintstone magic, and besides the breath attack, it also fired a large projectile. I could bring down half of its health, but I usually fell off Torrent, and that's death. I retreated for now and started some research.
Smarag is most vulnerable to piercing attacks, and I happen to have a +8 Halberd. Also, Roppy is not the best spirit to aid me here... Banished Knight Oleg Ashes, which the Ulcerated Tree Spirit drops in Fringefolk Hero's Grave. This is it. I can't delay this further. I have to go back and face the damn tree snake... and the chariot.
Well, How about no. Actually, I don't have enough FP to summon Oleg or Einhall or... wait a minute, Latenna, the Albinauric woman, with the wolf. I can summon her. Someone said she is very good against dragons. Let's see.
I accidentally summoned Latenna at a random spot, but no worries, I'll fail better this time. The Halberd didn't work, I moved too fast with Torrent to land good hits. A couple rounds around the rock, and I was knocked off the saddle right in the middle of glintstone fire. You're dead.
Ok, this time I set up Latenna up on a smaller rock, so she has a clean shot on Smarag and probably safe from fire. I switched back to my good old Hookclaws, prepared some raisins for Torrent, and jumped into action. And it was great—another awesome dragon fight, another success, another dragon heart. The keys I came for I accidentalla looted during one of the previous tries, but no matter, killing the dragon was the real reward here. Yeah.
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So, full off ambition I trotted in the middle of Temple Quarter and hit the lonely guy in the middle... suddenly a whole village was cartwheeling toward me, and I'm dead. What the hell!? Next time I carefully removed every hiding enemy around the middle one. Now, when I attacked, only three small ones emerged from the water. It was much easier. Also I'm using the Demi-human group now, these boys are tough and aggressive. I like them.
After killing everyone, I looted a Frost Hatchet from a chest and called it a day.