Talia's diary

Ice Inferno is back!

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 08:44:29 -0800

I'm publishing my blog post a bit earlier this week, due to the excitement of having a new island to visit.

Well, it's not exactly new, but at the least, it's come back.

Ice Inferno was one of the first islands I visited upon first arriving in NEaB. However, overwhelmed by the numerous amounts of islands that there were to visit at the time, I only visited Ice Inferno for a short amount of time and then promptly forgot about it. When I did want to go back and visit it, I found that for some reason, the Travel Agency was no longer providing service to Ice Inferno. That was a bit of a disappointment to me (I had a quest for Hobo Finding open in my journal, and had alreay found two of them). There was nothing I could do about it (at the time I wasn't a very experienced sailor, either) and so I promptly gave up on it.

Over time, the Hobo Finding entry collected dust in my journal. One day, I woke up to find it magically erased. For some reason, however, the memory of Hobo-Finding never lost my memory. Perhaps there was something about the childish pastime of hide-and-seek that never got lost on me. I'm getting ahead of myself, though.

Anyhow, when I ventured into Castle Soupir last Sunday, I noticed on the Realm Newsboard that several players were finishing some new, unheard-of quests. At first I thought that perhaps the Land of Misery or Ratre Isle had come up with some new things to do. Then I saw it, near the bottom of the Newsboard: Someone (I forget who) had completed the quest "Hobos".

Upon closer investigation, I realized that, to my joy, Ice Inferno had returned. I immediately took the next ferry out of Soupir to wander around and reorient myself with this old island. Alas, I also realized that some changes had been made since I last visited; many high-level Boss Monsters had been implemented, and my dear Hobos were now at least level 250. Being able to see them again, however, has given me something more to look forward to as I continue to level up.

Tramping logs

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 07:37:53 -0800

Well, I visited the Iron Isles yesterday and was pleased to find that after a long period of stiff, unwelcome silence, its residents have finally taken to talking to me. Now I know every single one of them by name! I remember that I'd asked Kerrik, the manager of the Iron Isles, about the villagers' silence before, but hadn't recieved an answer for quite a while. I think I gave up a few months ago, but having visited the Iron Isles on a hunch that other adventurers were beginning to recieve warm welcomes from the villagers, I went back and sure enough, everyone gladly told me their names! I'm very grateful to the Iron Isles tourism board as well as Kerrik for this.

After that I decided to visit Elysia, but unfortunately, I found little remaining of interest. The first Lord of NEaB, Black_orchid, seemed to be in charge of it, but since he disappeared after stepping down from his Lordship, Elysia's been all but abandoned. There were a few small towns about the island, but I think the thing that intrigued me the most was the bridge on the far south of the island, leading off the Boundaries of Elysia. Upon crossing the bridge, I came into another land, which according to the Map was called South Elysia.

South Elysia was even more boring than Elysia, in terms of things to do. There was a castle, and a few caves (although they were so shallow that there was nothing to see in them), and there were plenty of acid slugs groveling around my boots. Still, it sparked some thought-what was Southern Elysia doing there in the first place? There was no sign of life from within the castle walls, yet it was hardly in ruins. The bridge connecting the two islands was long, stretching over the ocean, but it remained firm, its foundation submerged somewhere beneath the waters. And then, of course, how did all those acid slugs get imported onto the island? And why hadn't they spread to Northern Elysia?

Makes you wonder a bit, doesn't it?

Top 10 scariest places to visit in NEaB

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 07:45:04 -0800

There are two criteria that I seek to meet whenever I go adventuring:

1: To find a wild, happy crazy playplace with tons of quests and things to do.

2: To explore unknown regions that make my heart pound in my chest and my feet turn icy blue.

Now that I have explored every (available) island on NEaB, I have decided to make a comprehensive list for those two criteria in order to promote tourism to those places. The "top ten happy places" list will be written up as a gazette article, and hopefully you guys will be able to see it next week. The "top ten scariest places" list will be put here as my blog feature, as it allows more space for description.

Here, then, is the list. I wish all you fellow adventurers the best of luck on your travels. Just remember to keep your wits around you.

1: Naiades

This is one of the few places that really, REALLY made my feet turn blue in my boots. Naiades is not the small, boring-looking island that it seems to be. Whether they be underground, in the sky, or bobbing around in the ocean, there are many secret locations and quests that will send a chill through your bones. If you can manage to get access to the library, you'll find several tomes containing much history about the Island's clouded past...including one so vivid that it could even shake a rook. It is very important to keep a strong mind, as the terror of some of these places just might make you go insane.

2: Windberry

You may find a few humdrum places to visit, but do not be decieved. The terror of this place is not in its past, but in its future...

3: Ravensvalle

This island, tucked away in a secluded part of the world, is guarded by a proverbial "door of death". Out of many tries (and many deaths) I have only been able to open twice (and, due to lack of equipment, I could not venture much further than that). If you are stuck on a quest or would enjoy risking your life to seek treasures, you might want to risk checking this place out.

4: Stormholt Islands

Stormholt Islands could be described as NEaB's hive of scum and villany. There are some scary bosses, but rumors have it that there are several covert operations you could engage in, as well as a cursed funfair where you can go to enjoy deadly pleasures.

5: Blood Island

This place is primarily scary because of the bizarre nature of the quests and the high-level monsters that you are likely to find on your adventures. There are, however, some friendly, helpful characters (although they might be a bit addled as well...)

6: Rubyia

Whether they be mad mages, pirates, or shapeshifters, there will always be some shifty characters on this island, some of which will attack you, or challenge you, or whisk you away to the void. (And then, of course, there's always the chance that you could say something wrong and end up in hell).

7: Shara Ren

There are several interesting places to get lost in here, such as Treasure Isle, the Garden of Eternity, and several other places. Just watch out for the monsters, and keep a compass with you at all times.

8: Ratre Islands

The quests here are simple, but the places that you will visit stretch out long and wide. There is also an affination for random objects and pentacles, which might both dazzle and disorient the calmest of adventurers.

9: Haven Isles

If getting into the island itself doesn't intimidate you, then the quests that you will FIND on the island will. Not for the young (or the faint of heart).

10: Reunador

You have an uncanny power to make things happen on Reunador. Build houses up and watch them fall, run around catching crazy architects, dash your brains to bits attempting to solve puzzles...it's all up to you.