BlitzerkidSix
09-30-2013, 03:09 AM
After failing with a very promising female hurthling merchant (YASD post coming soon... I promise), who advanced all the way to level 41, I decided I had to win with a merchant. I also kept the gender, but played a human (same initial letter; it made sense to me). Domino's long lost brother showed up again the night she was born. I should mention that this was a gift from a friend: we were each playing and he got "long lost brother", offered to let me roll a merchant because, well, they're merchants. Thanks, man. Domino specialized in potions.
Domino dropped by the small cave to see how tough the monsters were, and they were at least twice as scary as she was prepared to handle, so she decided to follow the quest given her by the village elder, to practice a bit. She found many pools as she explored, and sipped occasionally, which yielded teleportation powers. She wasn't able to control them until she found a blink dog corpse near the bottom of the caves. She learned to care for her wounds long-term from the nice healer, and built up some piety with Istaria, God(ess?) of Balance.
Domino then decided to save the cute dog, but retreated from the ants. She stopped in Lawenilothel on the way to the assassin's guild, and accepted Yergius' quest. She found the wand of teleportation (with one charge) and used it, in combination with a scroll of magic mapping, to safely cross the small cave. A good thing, too, for the staircases were as far apart as in, say, the animated forest. Domino found an altar, on average, about once every 3.2 dungeon levels. The unremarkable dungeon was fairly unremarkable. Domino finally found a shop on the very bottom of the dungeon, only to find out it sold... pets.
Leggot's shop held little of interest, but Domino began a habit of buying shops out nonetheless. She used her teleportation powers to avoid a stone giant lord, retrieve two scrolls, and the exit the village without exploring much at all. She got the courage quest and continued to the Caverns of Chaos. She found an altar on level two and then level four. The altar on level four was directly outside a goblin vault. With a little maneuvering and a lot of patience, Domino was crowned (at level 15) Istaria's Champion of Balance, immune to shock, and given a presumably very pretty iron crown, that of Havlor. She continued to sacrifice the grungy humanoids until she was again gifted with an artifact, this time the cursed Black Tome of Alsophocus. She decided she'd had enough with religion and proceeded to the big room (for herbs) and then Dwarftown. Domino sold excess items, like her brand new huge black book, to Waldenbrook; he was never once encouraged to restock his shop. She took two quests from the ancient dwarf, then explored until she found two down staircases and was unable to make a decision. She ascended to Dwarftown and used her teleportation powers to claim a ring of ice, a potion of gain attributes, and two potions of training from the dwarven mystic. She returned to the surface.
The barbarian asked for more kills, the master thief for more practice. Domino finished the puppy cave. She gave the girl the corpse, but was afraid spending time with her would be too nice in the eyes of Istaria. While in the puppy cave, Domino found a battle axe of devastation, which served her well for a long time. She went to her altar in the village dungeon and promptly blessed and rustproofed her new weapon. The undead in the Dwarven Graveyard had no chance. Even their master necromancer was only a mild challenge for well-equipped Domino. She advanced to level 16, and a good friend reminded me to hurry up and do the pyramid. I'm ashamed to admit I mostly teleported through the pyramid from memory :( I claimed Rehetep's artifacts and satisfied Thrundarr's other quest to kill a whatever-it-was.
Domino continued questing for Thrundarr, amassing loot as she went. She was learning to rely on her haggling, gold, and good looks to get whatever she needed to accomplish her aims. She stopped diving when she encountered a dying old man. She vowed to find a trinket or a bauble that could save Khelevaster, though she would, sadly, never be able. She went to the Tomb of the High Kings and trained missile weapons on her way down. She found arrows of undead slaying which came in very handy. The skeletal king was not nearly as much a problem as he could have been. Domino was having some luck. She returned to Dwarftown to sell and sacrifice, then dove deeper into the CoC for more adventure and more loot. She descended all the way to the wall of flames, finally allowing the old man to die as she passed. When Domino first encountered the water temple, the grues were too much for her. After training with her mighty axe and finding some very good [+0, +8] elven chain mail, she was prepared to claim the Water Orb on her ascent. Corruption had assaulted Domino's beauty full force, and finally there was a silver lining. The gills beneath her tentacled mouth allowed her to move with relative impunity, despite her meager swimming skills, as she fought the desperately confused Snake from Beyond. Seriously, he seems very, very vulnerable to potions of cure poison.
Domino returned to the surface and got a potion of cure corruption from the druid. The master thief demanded she practice more. Picking pockets was just so *boring*, and her commitment to neutrality forbade robbing shops. She was tempted, now that she was no longer beautiful. Domino explored Darkforge, but found no loot of particular interest. It was time to do the Tower of Eternal Flames. By strategically changing outfits, and exploiting her ring of ice, our heroine was able to overcome the Wyrm. She used her wands of digging to make a series of oddly intersecting hallways, through which she sent arrows and quarrels and a certain powerful potion to kill the Wyrm. Something about this victory made her feel extremely strong. Oh, yes, the Chaos Orb of Elemental Fire {St+10}. Domino remembered the old man's words as she passed his place of death on D:16, and hated to think she'd have to give up both her pretty (and useful!) orbs to maintain Balance. She kept going, past the wall of flames even. She marveled at the pretty lights in the casino, but merely bought water from the shop and continued. For some reason, the big casino guard followed her down to the next level and thus was never a problem in the future.
Domino experienced quite a scare on D:35. The cat lord was far too strong for her. She used many healing potions and even prayers, but managed a retreat to the stairs, then teleported away from the furious feline. She decided to go fight some bovines in the meantime. Yes, I decided to the minotaur maze with a merchant. She was level 28. Despite her wealth, Domino only had two scrolls of magic mapping. After much trial and error, she finally found a true path to the final level. While pacing around deciding on her outfit, she foolishly stepped onto a water trap. Her bundle of four quarrels of humanoid slaying rusted. Blessed oil did not fix them, so she trekked across the wilderness once again, and dove the ID until she found oil of rust removal. Frankly, I was happy to delay a fight with the minotaur emperor. During this dive, Domino found a broadsword of devastation (+0, 5d7+7).
The minotaur mages were the biggest problem and threat. The emperor himself was paralyzed early in the fight, and took severe wounds before finally panicking and running away. Domino used up many, many potions of booze and wands of stunning to kill the mages. The panicking emperor stumbled into a teleport trap, and finding him seemed to take forever. Never kill the emperor while he's panicking. He will get back at you, even in death. Domino claimed as her prize six potions of gain attributes, four of cure corruption, one of strength, and two artifacts, both cursed: the great bull's legendary axe, and the stupid unpronounceable gauntlets of peace. I still think the minotaur maze is absolutely worth it with the new rewards.
Domino returned to the CoC and managed to kill the cat lord with webs, teleportation, and missiles. She used mostly the three remaining quarrels of humanoid slaying, and True Aim, which she had purchased from the casino shop on her second shopping trip. For the Air Temple, Domino built an outfit entirely from artifacts and higher metal: her Iron Crown, ankh, Perion's plate, adamantium girdle, the bull's axe, rings of damage and slaying protected by the elemental gauntlets, and of course her awesome Fire Orb. She was suddenly unstoppable, with eight more points of strength and a weapon more devastating than any of devastation. Corruption became a concern. After claiming the Air Orb from puny Yulgash, our now-mighty heroine ascended to the surface and braved the rift. She was taking much time in her quest, and corruption terrified her. For whatever reason, Domino simply could not pry the weird tome away from its caretaker. She was, however, able to learn spells, which never really saw much use. She eventually left, frustrated and scared as ever. She helped the unicorn, and took solace to have such a favor in reserve.
The earth temple was easier than expected. Domino rushed along to her goal. The mana temple was tedious, but Domino eventually triumphed. She wore her ancient mummy wrapping, and a blessed amulet of death ray resistance. After the evil archmage summoned darkness, she switched from her crushing axe to her broadsword of devastation and a torch. Apparently, holding a torch in your hand is both a light source and a weapon. I quote:
You hit Nuurag-Vaarn, the chaos archmage, and critically wound him. You hit Nuurag-Vaarn, the chaos archmage, and slay him.
Wait, what, two attacks? Oh, the torch! I came to the satisfying conclusion that the extra 1d4 fire damage had done him in :D
Domino ascended the unreal labyrinth which held the mana temple, racing not against time, but corruption. On a whim, she sipped from a white pool, and received a wish! She of course demanded scrolls of corruption removal, and received two: one cursed, one blessed. What luck! She ascended further, to the nearest altar, to bless water and make preparations for her final assault. Domino pressed her luck, and got a ring of djinni summoning by exchanging rings. She decided a ring was more durable than paper, and kept it as a final back-up.
Domino dumped the orbs and descended to a frictionless, frozen cavern where she had to move by firing arrows. She tossed an otherwise useless potion and received Protector. A fine gift, but still she planned to use the mighty Axe of the Minotaur Emperor (this is actually not capitalized in the game). The final battle was nerve-wracking. Ghost lords caused a great deal of unnatural aging, and eventually broke through to the great central chamber by dying inside of walls (vengeance from the grave, again). Luckily, Domino was able to keep the breach sealed with a wand of door creation. She flipped the levers and teleported away until she had lured all the balors out. Even in melee, the ordinary balors could scarcely dent Domino's armor. Fistinarius must have been scared, for he summoned many obnoxious minions who served only as obstacles to the inevitable. Using True Aim, slayers, and finally her great axe, my female human merchant defeated the greatest earthly guardian of the Chaos Gate. It was a proud moment, to be sure. My witness can still scarcely believe a merchant win has really happened.
Domino claimed her favor from the great white unicorn, and quietly left the Drakalor Chain stronger, wiser, wealthier, and even, ultimately, prettier than she had set out.
Now for a Bard!
Name explained: This is like a prize at the bottom for whoever reads the whole post. Domino, the female human merchant comes from these thoughts. Female merchant is weak > get Hardy + PV talents > "Hardy" > What is my name? > Harvey? > boy name > girl merchant > Domino Harvey, the bounty hunter > Domino, the female human merchant.
Domino dropped by the small cave to see how tough the monsters were, and they were at least twice as scary as she was prepared to handle, so she decided to follow the quest given her by the village elder, to practice a bit. She found many pools as she explored, and sipped occasionally, which yielded teleportation powers. She wasn't able to control them until she found a blink dog corpse near the bottom of the caves. She learned to care for her wounds long-term from the nice healer, and built up some piety with Istaria, God(ess?) of Balance.
Domino then decided to save the cute dog, but retreated from the ants. She stopped in Lawenilothel on the way to the assassin's guild, and accepted Yergius' quest. She found the wand of teleportation (with one charge) and used it, in combination with a scroll of magic mapping, to safely cross the small cave. A good thing, too, for the staircases were as far apart as in, say, the animated forest. Domino found an altar, on average, about once every 3.2 dungeon levels. The unremarkable dungeon was fairly unremarkable. Domino finally found a shop on the very bottom of the dungeon, only to find out it sold... pets.
Leggot's shop held little of interest, but Domino began a habit of buying shops out nonetheless. She used her teleportation powers to avoid a stone giant lord, retrieve two scrolls, and the exit the village without exploring much at all. She got the courage quest and continued to the Caverns of Chaos. She found an altar on level two and then level four. The altar on level four was directly outside a goblin vault. With a little maneuvering and a lot of patience, Domino was crowned (at level 15) Istaria's Champion of Balance, immune to shock, and given a presumably very pretty iron crown, that of Havlor. She continued to sacrifice the grungy humanoids until she was again gifted with an artifact, this time the cursed Black Tome of Alsophocus. She decided she'd had enough with religion and proceeded to the big room (for herbs) and then Dwarftown. Domino sold excess items, like her brand new huge black book, to Waldenbrook; he was never once encouraged to restock his shop. She took two quests from the ancient dwarf, then explored until she found two down staircases and was unable to make a decision. She ascended to Dwarftown and used her teleportation powers to claim a ring of ice, a potion of gain attributes, and two potions of training from the dwarven mystic. She returned to the surface.
The barbarian asked for more kills, the master thief for more practice. Domino finished the puppy cave. She gave the girl the corpse, but was afraid spending time with her would be too nice in the eyes of Istaria. While in the puppy cave, Domino found a battle axe of devastation, which served her well for a long time. She went to her altar in the village dungeon and promptly blessed and rustproofed her new weapon. The undead in the Dwarven Graveyard had no chance. Even their master necromancer was only a mild challenge for well-equipped Domino. She advanced to level 16, and a good friend reminded me to hurry up and do the pyramid. I'm ashamed to admit I mostly teleported through the pyramid from memory :( I claimed Rehetep's artifacts and satisfied Thrundarr's other quest to kill a whatever-it-was.
Domino continued questing for Thrundarr, amassing loot as she went. She was learning to rely on her haggling, gold, and good looks to get whatever she needed to accomplish her aims. She stopped diving when she encountered a dying old man. She vowed to find a trinket or a bauble that could save Khelevaster, though she would, sadly, never be able. She went to the Tomb of the High Kings and trained missile weapons on her way down. She found arrows of undead slaying which came in very handy. The skeletal king was not nearly as much a problem as he could have been. Domino was having some luck. She returned to Dwarftown to sell and sacrifice, then dove deeper into the CoC for more adventure and more loot. She descended all the way to the wall of flames, finally allowing the old man to die as she passed. When Domino first encountered the water temple, the grues were too much for her. After training with her mighty axe and finding some very good [+0, +8] elven chain mail, she was prepared to claim the Water Orb on her ascent. Corruption had assaulted Domino's beauty full force, and finally there was a silver lining. The gills beneath her tentacled mouth allowed her to move with relative impunity, despite her meager swimming skills, as she fought the desperately confused Snake from Beyond. Seriously, he seems very, very vulnerable to potions of cure poison.
Domino returned to the surface and got a potion of cure corruption from the druid. The master thief demanded she practice more. Picking pockets was just so *boring*, and her commitment to neutrality forbade robbing shops. She was tempted, now that she was no longer beautiful. Domino explored Darkforge, but found no loot of particular interest. It was time to do the Tower of Eternal Flames. By strategically changing outfits, and exploiting her ring of ice, our heroine was able to overcome the Wyrm. She used her wands of digging to make a series of oddly intersecting hallways, through which she sent arrows and quarrels and a certain powerful potion to kill the Wyrm. Something about this victory made her feel extremely strong. Oh, yes, the Chaos Orb of Elemental Fire {St+10}. Domino remembered the old man's words as she passed his place of death on D:16, and hated to think she'd have to give up both her pretty (and useful!) orbs to maintain Balance. She kept going, past the wall of flames even. She marveled at the pretty lights in the casino, but merely bought water from the shop and continued. For some reason, the big casino guard followed her down to the next level and thus was never a problem in the future.
Domino experienced quite a scare on D:35. The cat lord was far too strong for her. She used many healing potions and even prayers, but managed a retreat to the stairs, then teleported away from the furious feline. She decided to go fight some bovines in the meantime. Yes, I decided to the minotaur maze with a merchant. She was level 28. Despite her wealth, Domino only had two scrolls of magic mapping. After much trial and error, she finally found a true path to the final level. While pacing around deciding on her outfit, she foolishly stepped onto a water trap. Her bundle of four quarrels of humanoid slaying rusted. Blessed oil did not fix them, so she trekked across the wilderness once again, and dove the ID until she found oil of rust removal. Frankly, I was happy to delay a fight with the minotaur emperor. During this dive, Domino found a broadsword of devastation (+0, 5d7+7).
The minotaur mages were the biggest problem and threat. The emperor himself was paralyzed early in the fight, and took severe wounds before finally panicking and running away. Domino used up many, many potions of booze and wands of stunning to kill the mages. The panicking emperor stumbled into a teleport trap, and finding him seemed to take forever. Never kill the emperor while he's panicking. He will get back at you, even in death. Domino claimed as her prize six potions of gain attributes, four of cure corruption, one of strength, and two artifacts, both cursed: the great bull's legendary axe, and the stupid unpronounceable gauntlets of peace. I still think the minotaur maze is absolutely worth it with the new rewards.
Domino returned to the CoC and managed to kill the cat lord with webs, teleportation, and missiles. She used mostly the three remaining quarrels of humanoid slaying, and True Aim, which she had purchased from the casino shop on her second shopping trip. For the Air Temple, Domino built an outfit entirely from artifacts and higher metal: her Iron Crown, ankh, Perion's plate, adamantium girdle, the bull's axe, rings of damage and slaying protected by the elemental gauntlets, and of course her awesome Fire Orb. She was suddenly unstoppable, with eight more points of strength and a weapon more devastating than any of devastation. Corruption became a concern. After claiming the Air Orb from puny Yulgash, our now-mighty heroine ascended to the surface and braved the rift. She was taking much time in her quest, and corruption terrified her. For whatever reason, Domino simply could not pry the weird tome away from its caretaker. She was, however, able to learn spells, which never really saw much use. She eventually left, frustrated and scared as ever. She helped the unicorn, and took solace to have such a favor in reserve.
The earth temple was easier than expected. Domino rushed along to her goal. The mana temple was tedious, but Domino eventually triumphed. She wore her ancient mummy wrapping, and a blessed amulet of death ray resistance. After the evil archmage summoned darkness, she switched from her crushing axe to her broadsword of devastation and a torch. Apparently, holding a torch in your hand is both a light source and a weapon. I quote:
You hit Nuurag-Vaarn, the chaos archmage, and critically wound him. You hit Nuurag-Vaarn, the chaos archmage, and slay him.
Wait, what, two attacks? Oh, the torch! I came to the satisfying conclusion that the extra 1d4 fire damage had done him in :D
Domino ascended the unreal labyrinth which held the mana temple, racing not against time, but corruption. On a whim, she sipped from a white pool, and received a wish! She of course demanded scrolls of corruption removal, and received two: one cursed, one blessed. What luck! She ascended further, to the nearest altar, to bless water and make preparations for her final assault. Domino pressed her luck, and got a ring of djinni summoning by exchanging rings. She decided a ring was more durable than paper, and kept it as a final back-up.
Domino dumped the orbs and descended to a frictionless, frozen cavern where she had to move by firing arrows. She tossed an otherwise useless potion and received Protector. A fine gift, but still she planned to use the mighty Axe of the Minotaur Emperor (this is actually not capitalized in the game). The final battle was nerve-wracking. Ghost lords caused a great deal of unnatural aging, and eventually broke through to the great central chamber by dying inside of walls (vengeance from the grave, again). Luckily, Domino was able to keep the breach sealed with a wand of door creation. She flipped the levers and teleported away until she had lured all the balors out. Even in melee, the ordinary balors could scarcely dent Domino's armor. Fistinarius must have been scared, for he summoned many obnoxious minions who served only as obstacles to the inevitable. Using True Aim, slayers, and finally her great axe, my female human merchant defeated the greatest earthly guardian of the Chaos Gate. It was a proud moment, to be sure. My witness can still scarcely believe a merchant win has really happened.
Domino claimed her favor from the great white unicorn, and quietly left the Drakalor Chain stronger, wiser, wealthier, and even, ultimately, prettier than she had set out.
Now for a Bard!
Name explained: This is like a prize at the bottom for whoever reads the whole post. Domino, the female human merchant comes from these thoughts. Female merchant is weak > get Hardy + PV talents > "Hardy" > What is my name? > Harvey? > boy name > girl merchant > Domino Harvey, the bounty hunter > Domino, the female human merchant.