How the Chicken stole Bawkmas.

How the Chicken stole Bawkmas.
A Bawkmas Special

This is a legend of how some say... Bawkmas came to be...

In north field, many years ago, when Puddleby was just settled, there lived a great white chicken. The chicken was often witnessed strutting around and puffing his feather out. Straight back and keen eyes, the chicken would bawk at little children and rush predators like foxweirs, ferals, and panthers. He was the main protector of all the chickens of the north field and did his job with impeccable style.

Every four years, with the changing seasons and tides came great festivity in the new settlement. During this time the chicken would stand perched on a wooden fence looking townward, bawking all day and night at the loud noises and strange people in town. And one year, the year this legend was born, the chicken was so intent on bawking at the celebrations that he was unaware of predators killing the lessor of his kind in the north field.

"Baawwwk?" The chicken questioned as he saw feathers scattered about the north field. Did I mention that this chicken was the most intelligent chicken in the history of all chickens? He very well knew what just happened. Sadly and softly the great white chicken bawked at his fallen brothers and sisters. So sad was the great chicken that he could not go on. He failed to "bawk" the predators away.

And so the white chicken slowly and clumsily climbed to a perch on the tallest tree in north field. And with all his life the chicked bawked so loudly and hoarsely that it could be heard from the exile settlement. The celebrations stopped and all the exiles, old and newly born rushed to north field and saw the chicken standing on that tree bawking toward the heavens.

All the people could hear his grief. And at once, suddenly, a great gust of wind blew and lightning crashed. The flash of light blinded everyone temporarily and when they could see, they thought white feathers were floating down upon them, but it was snow! The chicken was gone and his tree covered completely and thickly in great fluffy snow. And they went to the tree and found a place of snow, it became called snowy grove.

They called this time of season Bawkmas to remember the great white chicken and his absolute grief which gifted Puddleby a very snowy place. They say that the snow are white feathers from the heavens and they gently touch everyones cheek as a token of protection from the white chicken. The people of town place colorful lights on the snow trees as representation of the fallen chickens he failed to save... that here he could protect them for all time. If you listen carefully enough, some say that you can hear a very distant, but still distinct "Bawk" from high, high above the snowy grove.

Merry Bawkmas!
-Thoom

Suspicious Darshak Activity on KI.

On a recent KI hunt we ran right into an elite darshak scouting party. We do not know what interest they have in KI but I decided to make this public as it might have a connection with the darshak on TI. We were very thankful for the natural land barrier that separated us. We killed a couple but didn't have time to finish them off as we almost all fell before leaving to north KI. Oh, I got lyfed again, joy.

-Thoom!

LEG: Trip 1.

Lugubrion Exploration Group (LEG), Trip 1 Report:

The team made our first exploration of the Western Keep today. The most important thing people will want to know is that we did not reach the end and we did not find anything of value. It was successful in that we reached further than before and managed to kill a significant amount of Watery Guardians, but along the journey we made many mistakes, one eventually significant enough to cause some departs and bring a end to the trip, followed by a short rescue.

When we first entered the Western Keep about 8 Thoom fell within a single minute. It was a bad start with a lot of water elementals at the entrance. Eventually we were chained to safe room 1 and more Thoom joined the team. In the history of Puddleby I can say with confidence this was the single greatest gathering and cooperative effort of Thoom recorded.

Once we got established, we cleared the first hallway rather quickly. Backspawns occur frequently, but not enough to overwhelm our team. After the first hallway we found a larger room with a lot of Watery Guardians. South we confirmed another hallway with what appears to be more safe rooms. In the larger room, after the first hallway, the group became split-up by a kudzu mistake (by me) allowing four watery guardians into our safe spot. And with backspawns taking a toll on the survivors a couple of us were left fallen in the large room with no chance of a rescue.

We learned a lot about future tactics that will lead to our eventual success. We are planning our next trip in two weekends, giving us more time to think, plan, and become stronger.

At the entrance of the western keep. Safe room 1 visible to the north. We got kudzu setup which allowed for a effective way to kill the guardians. Not pictured is fighter and runner, Scout, who lured the guardians away, allowing kudzu to be placed without distractions.

The room after the 1st hallway. Lots of Guardians. Here we faced a lot of icey lightning. This is as far as the team progressed. The big kudzu mistake is visible which allowed the guardians to come through and mark the end of our trip.

We came back to rescue Scout in a safe room, after some departs and portaling to town from the previous sketch. A parting team shot of a successful first trip to the Western Keep.

LEG trip 1 roster:
Healer: Another, Coriakin, Phroon, Xenos.
Fighter: Eden, Genmo, Patino, Scout, Vanusanguia (BBer).
Mystic: Kassaarh (apprentice), Org du Lac.

-Thoom!

My Trainers.

It is not very often that I have the opportunity to hunt with both of my trainers, Natas and Mujin-kun, so when it does happen it is something I do not pass. From about the 3rd circle I have trained exclusively with both of these fighters and have learned a lot from them in ranks and also in critical fighting tactics for some of the most popular hunting spots in isles. I have also taken practical advice on training that I will pursue.

To me, these two represent some of the most outstanding and skilled fighters in Puddleby, and they have pushed me further than I would sometimes push myself. Each has their own style, has acquired multiple ledgers and both passed the 8th circle fighter test. I tribute this entry to them, Natas and Mujin.

Thanks for pushing me to the extent of my capacity and being there to help me get stronger through many, many hours of hunts at MI, Valley, KI, and more. It keeps me coming back for more.

a thousand good karmas from your friend and trainee,

Eden
5th Circle Fighter
the Warrior Thoom

Santa Comes to Town.

Santa has come to town and he can tell who has been naughty or nice. In jolly cheer and wearing the festive colors of Bawkmas he had a gift to give to every little boy and girl. Whether small or tiny, or common or rare, no gift request was too small or too big for Santa to handle. With a mighty bag full of gifts he spread cheer to all.

This day was also full of fun and excitement in the badlands with my first ever game of Capture the Flag. My team won both games before the fun ended. Discussing tactics below.


Thoom!

Lugubrion's Keep and Scouting Party.

On 12/23/2007 a unplanned team of Thoom formed in Town Center to explore Lugubrion's Keep... In the recent weeks I became informed of Lugubrion's Keep, which was recently discovered and had Thoom only access. The western part of the keep had great danger and was left unexplored due to the difficulty of the monsters and the general lack of strong Thoom Fighters.

Anyway, our team set off to find the Keep and explore the western section. We did not have the power to fight the Watery Guardians (sketched below), so we ran through the hall. It was a success for what we had at the time but still caused multiple departs (the best and easiest departs I have ever had), but we learned a little about what we were in for in the western section...

Example of the proximity of safes room. This sketch is a little west after the entrance to the western keep. Safe room 2 and 3 visible in the sketch. Safe room 1 is a little bit further east and not quite as close as these doors are to each other.

Just north of the last sketch. Safe room 4 can be seen. After this safe room 5 and 6 are very close to one another to the west. Water Burst is visible attacking me while Patino and I attempt to hit a Watery Guardian.

This is west and south of the last sketch. Safe room 7 is visible and this is the first door the team encountered which was locked and caused me to fall. Not far south is safe room 8 which a team member successfully entered and confirmed safe. This is a far as we progressed.

Example of a safe room. Safe room 2.

Entrance to Lugubrion's Courtyard.

Entrance to Lugubrion's Keep.

Lugubrion's Library.

Lugubrion's Marsh Snell.

Lugubrion Exploration Group is an attempt to form a more organized and coordinated Thoom effort to successfully explore and map the western reaches of Lugubrion's Keep. We also will search for alternative entrances for non-thooms. Read more by clicking the link at the beginning of the paragraph.

Thoom!

It's beginning to look a lot like Bawkmas.

It is true that the celebrations have begun. Now open in north field is the Snowy Grove and as you read this, many snow ball are being thrown among the the fluffs of snow. Eggnog can now be purchased and there is a minor quest to receive mittens. Nothing else to report right now but I will be producing a bawkmas special, a story, "How the Chicken Stole Bawkmas." It will be up when I finish it. Ha!

-Thoom!

The journey of the fallen named Phroon.

*This entry includes controversial and maybe extreme measures to raise a fallen exile and is by no means a replacement for Horus training and the more tried and true methods of healing or departing for that matter. The acts performed within are understood perhaps by only a few or maybe none at all, but includes dealing with dark forces well beyond my understanding as a simple fighter. That said, what was done should only be considered as a last resort after all else has failed. May we all be warned and hope our actions have minimal consequences.*


To the extent of my knowledge Phroon had been fallen on Telebrion Isles for quite sometime with very little chance of rescue. The full mystic Wangah Rah, present at the bard field bawkmas celebration opened a portal and rescued the fallen thoom healer. Wangah shortly admitted afterword that he "forgot" to close this portal and as a result a variety of the lower end undine found a way to enter and interrupt the concert. It was nothing of high concern but Wangah fell after closing the portal due to the heavy amount of summoning required by his ability.

In town I watched as healers of all ages and abilities gathered around the fallen Phroon to save him. He remained PND, but still we waited. At one point, 21 healers were outside of the library (not all present of course but the majority were on Phroon). It was Wangah Rah who presented his Darkstone to us exiles. I am not trying to portray his actions as negative, for he waited along with all of us a significant amount of time and some healers were returning to the library in this hopeless situation. So we headed to Ash Isle.

Phroon was raised as a corpse and felled and was healed but not fully for his spirit was still detached though his abilities seem unaffected to the naked eye. I have heard of darkstones but have never seen one in use like today. Outwardly it appeared the Wangah Rah benefited in some way from this experience. I think this event was of the utmost extreme and should never be done in any circumstance.

-Thoom!

Metz and More.

It feels good to have a coin purse weighing me down once more. Today I hunted with Mujin-kun, who also began to train me again in Evus. We hunted KI Cove, MI passes and keep, and finished on Metz. I enjoyed Metz much more this time than all my prior experience. Not pictured above is the thoom healer, Xenos. I learned that I still have a lot of work ahead of me but it will be worth it and I am ready for the training.

My goals: Obtain Evus and Detha ledgers, buy a great axe, buy or/win chains, pass the 6th circle fighter test, become the strongest fighter thoom.

-Thoom!

What a day.

Soon after I passed the 5th circle test (read entry below) I became engaged in a wonderful conversation in the fighter hall with Tip'ii, Chrono, and Crunch. The topic of the night was one regarding the effectiveness of various trainers and the number of lessons to pursue. And like every exile, I expressed my opinion on the proper course of training. Soon after we found ourselves at the finale of what was probably a spectacular Jade Noids rescue.

A matter of concern right now is the alarming number of Darshak around the shores of Telebrion's Isle. A number of exiles have fallen, and while the rescues have required no great effort, the general concern for the fallens there has been of minimal interest to all but some of the most demanding exiles (many of whom like Little Oss single-handedly rescue a substantial number of these fallens at their own great personal risk).

Between these two events was quite a lot of activity in town center which took place after the Jades rescue. Drunken Zo's and Fen's could be seen falling to the slightest amount of alcohol in town center. We must be thankful that Puddleby is not paved for fear of worse injuries to these public disturbances. It was quite a day for me. And also of personal interest is that I have found another female fighting thoom, Squirm.

-Thoom!

5th Circle!

Yes, it is true. The Warrior Thoom (me) made her (mine) long due return to the streets of Puddleby by passing the 5th circle fighter test in traditional style (without any of that subclass nonsense). It was as true as test as one could have and thanks to a lot of dedicated Natas-Detha training I have succeeded with a fraction of life left.

This brings up interesting topics in which preferred method I will now dedicate my training. I think a healthy Evus-Detha-(Swengus/Regia) diet will satisfy my hungers. Oh, by the way, I bring good style to the red belts often seen on us 5th circlers. Good bye. Thoom!