i figured it was something new and fun. is this a bad thing?



since the townsfolk do not venture out of the rogue encampment, this was only a rumor. ever since i had started my journey in this world, i could see everyone's spirits raising the more i completed these tasks they were giving me. with watching my strength grow more and more by the day, their eyes sparkled with hope that i had not seen when i first started. with their hope at an all time high, they had the passed on this rumor to me with the hopes of it being true.

with more room in my personal treasure chest now, i was on my way back to see andariel again. it was an eerie feeling.. i found a lot of chests on the way back to the fourth level of the catacombs, and i opened them all. some had gold, others had small valuables that i did not pick up, but all the loot was different from when i was here last. one of them freaked me out, as a zombie jumped out!! but then, i found a very strange looking sword.



i did not want to have any more "good" blood on my hand, so i did not require any archers and did my fighting alone. this was all familiar, so it should be a piece of cake.
remembering a few antidote potions, i took andariel out by myself. i noticed a pair of gloves right away, and quickly identified them. bloodfist gloves, what a huge upgrade from what i was wearing before! warriv was right about the resurrection with different types of loot upon kill. i shall continue doing this to get some better gear!



i killed andariel several times. i searched around her body each time i killed her, and sometimes she would drop nothing worthy to be picked up, and sometimes i would find something nice. i had not been wearing any boots at all, and finally found a pair.

even though i re-killed andariel many times without finding something better for me, the rumor seemed to be true. the loot that she was dropping each kill seemed to not be bad, just not upgrade worthy for me. most of what she was dropping was a rare or unique item and not just a magical or non-magical item.

and then she dropped this. i put this beauty on so fast. i felt like i was a pimp wearing this bad boy.



these boots are very cool, and blue is my favorite color! i happily put these on right away, happy for the mana leech and some slick new blue boots that surely showed off my excellent sense of style.



gloves and bows seem to be a common loot from andariel. another set of bloodfists, but they were not as good as the ones i had equipped already.

...

Thumbs up

after killing andariel many many times, it was time to head to lut gholein. i seem to have some better gear and she tends to drop the same items, which i already have or are for the magic witch type.

i hired a companion to fight by my side so i didn't get so lonely. emilio came with me to help me on the quest to kill radiment. we walked into the sewers and were quickly getting overrun by undead creatures. emilio was terrifdied, even moreso than i was. i shouted at him to retreat to the narrow hall. we fought in this narrow opening, and were able to take on creature at a time.



we made it to the third level of the sewers and finally came across radiment's corner. with my experience of fighting the undead, i was aware they could get revived, and we would be in big trouble trying to fight our way to radiment. emilio and i made goofy faces at the skeletons and zombies and attracted them away from radiment. out of radiment's sight, we took down his minions, where they stayed slain.



we went back into radiment's corner and fought him 2-on-1, without worrying about being surrounded by zombies. his swings were pathetic, but his rancid poison breath was semi brutal. i had forgotten to collect some antidote potions, but i had plenty of potions to keep me healthy throughout the fight.

radiment's courpse lay on the ground, and i picked up my prize: book of skill! an unexpected extra prize was a shiny sword on the ground. i'm hoping that will give me some extra damage.



cain had followed me to lut gholein, and identified the sword for me. it was part of a set, and was hoping to see more as i was told i would receive extra bonuses if i had multiple pieces equipped. this new isnhart sword made me lose some of my mana leech, but i surely attacked faster as well as hit harder than my previous sword. emilio ran through the dry hills into the far oasis in search of the first fragment of the horadric staff.



we entered the maggot lair, and the smell was awful. this was the biggest maggot tunnel i'd ever seen. we came across maggots as well as more of those electric beetles. we were thankful for the narrow tunnel sections, as we could see dozens of maggots and beetles waiting for us in a bigger section of the tunnel. we were able to fight off one at a time and not get surrounded.

in the third level, we came across a room where the queen maggot rested. she did not flinch or try to attack us at all, but all her little ones were after us -- or rather us after them. they lay eggs while we were in combat with them, and they would hatch baby maggots very quickly that would come after us. we fought off the beetles in the room first, then went after the eggs, then maggots, then the queen.

the queen still did not move as we struck her. as she died, an awful sticky green substance -- her blood? -- exploded out of her. we claimed the staff of kings and headed back to town for a shower.



we made it through the lost city into the claw viper temple. we came across more undead creatures as well as snakes. ugh, i hate snakes!



in the claw viper temple level 2, there was a champion snake. he was green, and was lightning enchanted! he charged at me, and i was stunned for a second. his physical attacks did not hurt, but the lightning bolts did! even though i was getting hit by both the physical attacks and the lightning bolts and emilio was only getting hit by the bolts, he seemed to be getting the worst of it. we both survived the battle, and continued looking for the next piece -- the amulet.

i was taking down one of the guys rezing the minions, and the skeletons and zombies cornered me. so i LEAPED over them to get away and continue fighting the biggins. never have i ever jumped that high in my life!



we slayed them all! and came across the amulet of the viper at last!



after talking to drognan, he told us to go through the palace levels to find the arcane sanctuary. on the way there, we came across a blue ogre who was a strong little shit! emilio and i struck at him with all our might. he was stone skin and didn't take much of a beating. by the time we'd do more damage to him, he'd heal it back up, as if we didn't do anything. we ended up running away from him as that was a battle we would not be able to win.

we made it tot he arcane sanctuary, yet another eerie place. the search for the summoner, now!



it was on the top left side, the second place we went to. there were lots of witches and ghosts, but everything was slain that was in our way.

the summoner was no match for us. hi\e broke my sword though.



i made it to the canyon of magi, ready for the quest for andariel. i spoke with the townsfolk and they gave me some knowledge and i now know which tomb duriel rest in -- the one marked with the triangle.

emilio and i fought found the tomb marked with the triangle. we marched our way through the tomb slaying everything in our path. with my battle order and shout, we felt unstoppable. emilio had tunnel vision on small minions, and i would leap over them to kill off the bigger ones so the zombies and skeletons could no longer be resurrected. i killed off the bigg'uns and fought my way back to him but i was too late.. poor emilio fought to his death in the last room just before the chamber..

i put the horadric staff into the orifice and waited as the beams of light opened marked each symbol on the floor, opening the chamber.



i dare not go back to town and must continue to kill duriel. i entered the chamber alone and begun my epic fight against duriel.



many potions - red and blue - had dropped in the tal rasha tomb, so i was ready. i had also seen a few thawing potions which i had picked up. drinking the thawing potions helped much, as well as the extra health and armor from battle orders and shout. this fight was long, but i stayed pretty healthy. i continued swinging my glorious isnhart sword at the beast.