Interlude: Furious Forum Flames

Official Road to Purgatory-Beta Forum

-Kess, confirmed Beta-Account

For once, I understand the grievance of someone who wants to know how they died. Or maybe that’s why they died?

Either way, I’m trying to figure out if there’s an event going on that I missed, or what I’m missing, why was I ganked by some burning deer on steroids with a high-enough level to return only question marks when using Observe on it?

I’m in the fraggin’ starting area, so what’s going on there?

Tarrin, confirmed Beta-Account

Some more information is needed, maybe you stumbled somewhere you shouldn’t have, or it might, as cruel as that sound, simply have been a situation of wrong place, wrong time. Remember, Mundus is a living world, or at least Pantheon Entertainment did their very best to make it feel like one. If, in the real world, a mudslide takes out a road, there’s no agency behind it, only bad luck for everyone involved.

You might just have gotten caught up in some magical mudslide and there’s nobody actually to blame.

Marud, confirmed Beta-Account

Pics or didn’t happen, or maybe even a vid, so we can see what happened for our own. That way, we might be able to help. If not, Dhaha.

Kess, confirmed Beta-Account

Well, I guess, here’s the video. For context, I was just outside of Whitebridge-by-the-river, my starting town in the Human Empire, collecting some herbs for the local alchemist to complete a quest. You know, your bog-standard gather-quest that is basically infinitely repeatable, at least as long there ain’t enough player to swamp the area. I’ve done similar quests the last couple of days and never ran into anything more vicious than a fox that stole my lunch.

Stupid little bugger.

But see for yourselves what sent me to respawn.

[thehell.avi]

A young human female, dressed in sturdy-looking, brown leather armour is slowly making her way through the forest, using a long staff to push aside branches and vines that might otherwise block her path. Sheathed at her side is a short blade, while a crossbow is strapped to her back, partially hidden beneath a green cloak that lets her blend in with the surrounding pines.

For a few moments, nothing much happens as she pushes aside yet another branch, making sure that it doesn’t snap back and hit her face when a strange noise, somewhere between reeving car and angry bull is heard, coming from somewhere to her left.

Freezing, she moves into the space hidden by the branch she had just pushed aside, pulling her hood down to completely blend in with the tree, crouching in an attempt to vanish completely. Her cloak flutters a little, as she prepares her crossbow, her staff leaning against the tree next to her.

The noise becomes louder and she is staring towards it, trying to spot the origin, when suddenly, the forest ahead partially bursts into flames, some of the trees igniting like tinder, only instead of actually burning to ash, it looks more as if the flames animate the trees, turning them from stoic, enduring forest-giants into burning torches with an appetite for destruction. The trees start moving in the most unnatural fashion, burning branches waving back and forth, one of them even starting to move across the ground, carried by tendril-like roots.

“What?!” the female mutters, only to fall silent the next moment, when a giant deer, easily twice her size, struts into view, regal, red fur and, most eye-catching of all, a wide crown, its ten points all ablaze with flickering flames.

Focusing on the strange monster, the female instinctively raises her crossbow and in the shared log, a blue box appears, displaying the result of her skill usage.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

Radiant Stag, level ??

The stag, possibly disturbed by the Observe, focuses on the tree the female is hidden in and lets out a snort, a few flames shoot from its nostrils and suddenly, it becomes obvious where the earlier noise came from. Despite, or maybe because of, the abysmal failure of her Observe, the female raises her crossbow, intent to not go down without a fight. Sadly, there is no fight, the tree she is hiding in suddenly bursts into flames and while the flames don’t seem to bother the tree too much, it happily starts moving around, getting engulfed in flames most certainly bothering the female. Even before the tree branches between which she had sought shelter could bludgeon her to death, the heat and the flames had done her in, leaving behind nothing but a corpse that quickly turned to ash, even as her essence was drawn back into her sanctuary.

As the message of her death is displayed in the log, the video ends.

[/thehell.avi]

So, that’s what happened to me. A single look, a single snort and I was turned into ashes.

I don’t mind dying, okay that’s a lie, I don’t like it, but if I die, I at least want to know why, not just get smashed to death by randomly falling rocks or deer with a penchant for pyromania.

Tobiuno, confirmed Beta-Account

Not sure if it’s related to your situation, I don’t know all the small towns in the Empire, but there’s been a report about some major trouble in the east, near the coast. Nobody could actually tell me a lot and we in Highever are quite some distance away, so we only got the most basic information.

There was mention of Life and Sun-Astral Power in that missive we got, which could very well be what you saw. I mean, Radiant Stag sounds kinda sunny, if you know what I mean?

Doesn’t help you, but I think it might simply have been a case of wrong place, wrong time, but I’ll try to look into it, I’m curious.

Dean, confirmed Beta-Account

At least I’m not the only one who burned, pretty much the same happened to me. Only for me, it wasn’t a giant, burning stag that stared at me, it was a sounder of wild hogs, all of them on fire and even more ornery than ordinary hogs that happily trampled me.

I managed to get an Observe through on one of the smaller ones and the system told me that it was level 74, making me think that the rest of those things were higher in level. Makes my little, scrawny level 30 ass feel reeallly good, to get stomped by a gang of those things.

Additional Fun fact, I was a few days march away from Whitebridge, so it’s not even really localised, it stretches across at least a hundred miles, maybe more, who knows.

Not to be a bitch about it, but I’d like to have an explanation from Pantheon, it’s no fun to get murked by surprise-hogs, burning or otherwise. Low-level areas should be exempt from high-level events or your newbies will die off faster than they can join and soon, your game will be a graveyard.

-Kess, confirmed Beta-Account

Thanks, Dean, it makes me so happy to hear I’m not alone in getting burned to a crisp… Not.

Anybody in Whitebridge or one of the nearby towns and can share what’s going on there? Are those things only out in the woods, or did they light the towns on fire?

Tobiuno, if you manage to find out anything, I’d be grateful.

Dean, confirmed Beta-Account

You’re very welcome, trouble shared is trouble doubled, as me mum used to say.

Still hoping for an official statement, but getting some info would be neat, Tobiuno.

Tobiuno, confirmed Beta-Account

Well, I managed to get a bit of info from native sources but sadly not a lot, simply because there’s not a lot t begin with.

Day before yesterday, in the morning, a major event happened in one of the local Wild Magic Zones, from the reports it’s called Forlorn Forest. Danger-rating by the Empire is High, and outsiders are prohibited from entering, regardless of level, so what actually happened is unknown. The event itself was picked up by Imperial Diviners, looking out for such things and involved a major release of Life- and Sun-Astral Power, by some unknown mechanism.

The released Astral Power seems to have morphed the local Astral River and infused a wide variety of beasts, turning them into Monsters that, as one would expect, have begun rampaging, either fighting amongst themselves or getting forced out of the region, into the rest of the Empire.

Most towns have magical formations to withstand unless there’s some serious assault so the towns are safe but outside of the walls. The Eastern Empire has just become a much more dangerous place.

That’s all I can tell you, sadly it ain’t much, but it’s what I could gather. I’ll keep asking around.

Tarrin, confirmed Beta-Account

Why does that remind me of the situation in Kolyug not that long ago? Bunch of magically enhanced beasts, all hell-bent on raising the town because some cooky mage got a hate-boner for the city.

Anybody got an incredibly powerful, ancient witch sitting around in the Empire and could call them? Maybe that’ll help.