Under the Sea PART 3 (Atlantea)

(For those wondering, yes, I plan on doing the Crafting Quest, but not until I finish the Celestial Observatory, as we need 16 Sunstones to get all the Conga Drums made! Ouch! I do make note of it here. Also, I cleaned up Celestia before I started completing quests in Zafaria by cleaning up all the side-quests in Celestia as well as doing some Waterworks runs, so... yeah...)

(All of the girls are Level 70, which means that they are going to Aquila again for the second Immortal battle! I only detailed Sierra's journey there because Atlantea is about two levels from the most farmed dungeon in Wizard101... TARTARUS. I waited until after the Savannah to do this dungeon with Sierra because it is EVIL.)

(After this, I am going to take a little hiatus from Wizard101 to recoup, play Sims 3, and get the money to renew my pre-paid time for everyone. I am also going to do a screenshot Let's Play of Pirate101 for those who don't mind spoilers. I was inspired by the Might and Magic Let's Play on the Let's Play Archives, written by Thuryl to do this project. I will come back to the Three Heroes after a while, don't worry! I've already started the Zamunda updates!)

"Come into my hut," said Bheki. He saw our reactions. "What are you worried of?"

"It's a long story," I said, holding my head sadly.

Luckily, we were not ambushed and shared kola nuts and biltong, it was a delicious feast, I was famished after being burned to death by that Burning Lion.

"Are you okay?" asked Christina.

Msizi nodded and smiled. "I am fine, Young Wizards. Grace has good friends in you."

"Thank you," I said. "What about the others?"

"Rra Sunchaser and Prince Tziri were taken by the Umbra Queen, sadly," said Msizi. "But the remaining students fled through the caves. I told them to head to Zamunda, my home."

We felt bad that Morganthe had the Prince and Umilio but the two boys who were the remaining students were safe... I hoped.

"Then that is where you must go," said Bheki. He handed me a parchment with runes. "Take this writ to Idube Firedancer, the guard of the Zamunda gates. Tell him I sent you. When you reach the fort, give this writ to Szimi Sunchaser, the captain. She will help you."

"Thank you, Rra," said Grace. "At least the Savannah is safe now. We must go and see if the other places are safe... but..."

"If I know Morgie, they aren't," grumbled Christina. "She's a trip pooper."

I nodded. I had little belief that the other places in Zafaria were safe.

"Yes," said Grace. "Rra Firedancer, please let us through."

"Very well, safe travels," said Idube, opening the gates. But before I could go through...

Oh for the love of... I sighed. "I have to go, Professor Cy's calling!"

"We'll check out things here," said Christina. "You go and check out what Cyrus has for your homework."I cringed. I keep forgetting he's tutoring me. "I'll try to be quick." Little did I know I wouldn't be quick...

"Don't give me lip, Professor," I said under my breath.

"Well, I'm sure you remember the Immortal Games, hmm? I heard about your duel with Zeus Sky-Father," said Cyrus.

I gasped. It seemed like so long ago, I had totally forgotten about my adventures in Mt. Olympus. When had I gone there? After the Ironworks? Chelsea Court? I didn't recall, it had been so long!

"I have good news for you, Sierra," said Cyrus. "A messenger from Aquila came by and told me you are eligible to undertake the second trials of the Immortal Games. If you succeed, your winning strategies will be the discussion amongst the school. If you falter, we'll try not to make an example of you." I was used to his snide behavior by now. "Go speak to Romulus about the second trial."

I saw the fire phoenix fly over the commons. I smiled. It was the sixteenth anniversary of the founding of Ravenwood Academy. It felt like years ago when I had set foot, cruddy robe and hat, to begin my training as a Frugal Conjurer and Grace told me how she had started her detective business about this month. How time had passed. (Yep, at the time of this entry it's the sixth birthday of Wizard101! I love the celebration in the commons. Grace began adventuring a year ago around this time back when Powerpoint was valid. ^_^)

(For some reason, the music cut out here.)

"I am sure of it," I said with a false grin. "So what's this new challenge?"

"The second part of the Immortal Games is dangerous and fraught with peril," said the cyclops. "Very few have tried it, let alone succeeded! You will journey under the waves to the home of Zeus Sky-Father's brother, Poseidon Earth-Shaker. The depths hold many terrors!"

I laughed. "I've faced worse."

"I'm sure you'll do fine," said Romulus, laughing back. "Go to the Garden of Hesperides and talk to Silenus, he will tell you more."

So I was back here. I couldn't remember when I first came here to fight Zeus. I inhaled the clean air and spoke to the aged Satyr. But the Immortals still remembered the great battle I had with Zeus, they still talked about it.

"I don't remember myself!" I laughed.

"Go speak with my middle daughter, Vesper, by the shrine down the path," said Silenus. "She will regale you with tales of Atlantea!"

Vesper told the story of how Atlantea was once a bright island kingdom until they became filled with pride and blasphemy and how the Immortals dragged it into the seas. I shivered, this test would be far more deadly that the one in Mt. Olympus.

"I see you have spoken to Vesper," said Silenus when I returned.

"I had," I said.

Silenus wished me luck and told me to go to the Stone Pier to enter the ocean to find Atlantea. He mentioned another Immortal, Hermes Winged Wayfarer, who could aid me.

It was time to do this. I was ready. A stone staircase burst from the waters. I was chilled a bit with fear and excitement, but I walked down into the waters to begin my new adventure...

(I took the shots beforehand as I didn't want to be distracted while going through this area.)

"Hold it, you really think you are going alone?" said a familiar voice. I turned to see my friends.

"Grace! Chris!" I said.

"Cyrus told us where you going, under threat of humiliation," laughed Christina. "You're not going this alone. We're a team, remember?"

"That's true, Mma," said Grace, smiling. "I would have never gotten anywhere without my secretary. I will come with you."

I cried and gave a group hug. "Thanks..."

(You will find the Poseidon Grand Monument behind Hermes, it's a collectible housing item.)

"We just got here," I said. "So, I'm ready for the trial."

"Your path will eventually take you to the palace of proud Poseidon, but I'm getting ahead of myself," laughed Hermes. "The Voracious Legion guards the entrance to Atlantea. They are your first challenge!"

"Bring it," said Christina, cracking her knuckles.

"Ow ow! Not that hard!" she cried later. (Yep, expect to get hit with multiple Fire Dragons. The Voracious Legion are Fire anglers that have over 3000 HP. This is a big step up in difficulty.)

They got wrecked with Grace's Tempest. "Ow!" one said.

"We just want to enter the city," said Grace.

"What? Why didn't you say so?" said the anglers.

"Let tell Poseidon we were victorious," I said proudly.

"Well, that's not so hard," mumbled Christina. "Who's next?"

He pointed to a set of ruins. "That ruinous structure over there is known as the House of Lost Sailors. Lamia dwells within. You must get an Alabaster Sea Cow from her."

"Not too hard," I said.

"She has a bloodthirsty reputation amongst the sailors of the skyways," said Hermes. "Did I mention that she was a daughter of Poseidon?"

"'A' daughter?" said Christina. She whistled. "Whoa, he gets around."

"I don't want to muse on that subject," I said, blushing. "Let's just get the sea cow."

Well, I wasn't expecting a FRIENDLY reception.

 

(Lamia has 13600 HP and is Death. She is accompanied by Storm Sharks, which are, obviously, Storm elemental. I ran into two sharks and had to defeat them before I got to Lamia herself which is fine because I didn't want to deal with three Stormzillas at a time.)

(She is a gimmick boss - before the update, she usually put up a Death damage bubble which she replaced if somebody tried to displace it. Also, every three turns she interrupts with Scarecrow, so be careful about that. Other than that, she is a normal boss. This Pyromancer, Thomas Deathshield, helped us with this battle.)

(Tarnation? What is she, a distant relative of Yosemite Sam? :p)

We quickly grabbed the Sea Cow and got out of there before she got up.

I cringed. "What now?"

"You'll have to fly with an eagle's speed to the House of Fury before word spreads of your victory," said Hermes. "Ario Spiny Stallion dwells there. He is Lamia's brother and Poseidon's son. Face Arion and retrieve the Onyx Sea Cow."

(I apologize - I cut and pasted from Youtube videos because I messed up the shot - in this one, Ethan Mythsword triggered the cutscene and got me a nasty shot of nothing. :( )
 
"Thanks!" said Christina. "I hope you're not upset that we had to beat up your sister..."

"Christina..." I groaned. "Next time, KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT."

"Oops," said Christina, sweatdropping as the Forest Lord pummeled her to submission.

 

(Arion is a normal boss, he is Life-element and only has 12350 HP, but I ended up having to fight three Scaled Eques first, and with 3600 HP and Balance[thus forcing Christina to support], this was a long battle that drained a lot of resources. Christina had to leave to refill her potions. They also spammed their normal attacks a lot, but other than that, it's not too difficult. Death Wizards will have a field day here - remember, enemies have stopped using -80% Shields a long time ago.)

"Here we go," said Christina as she grabbed the second Sea Cow. "Let's scoot."

 (You can also find the Atlantean Arch housing item here.)

"Thanks," I said. "It's been a bit difficult, but we managed to get through it so far."

"You have done so well at upending the plans of the Immortals that I have little pause for your next challenge," said Hermes. "Go to the Hall of the Contriver. Akhelios is a terrible creature who lives for pain and torment. But he was not always that way. An Immortal put a curse on him for pride and vanity. If you defeat him in battle, you can break the spell."

"We'll do our best," said Grace. "I hate to see another tormented by a curse."

"Aphrodite, huh?" I said. "Did you... ah, nevermind, I'm not going there."

 

(Another normal boss, Akhelios the Contriver is a shark-man who is Myth and has 13200 HP. For some reason, though, once you weaken him he'll switch to using Balance spells like Elemental Shield[which is annoying because it covers his weakness to Storm] and Judgement. He tends to use Earthquake rarely so that's a small consolation. He also has Storm Shark mooks.)

(Just assume there is a dude there. :( )

"We're no thieves!" I said.

Suddenly the shark man turned into an eagle warrior. "The curse it is broken! Thank you, friends. You wish to challenge Posiedon? To reach him, you will need to enter the Temple of Sea Songs and go thruogh the Watery Graves." He handed me a key. "This key will open the temple for you. The Sirens who live there are crafty and cruel so be on your fins! I mean, wings! Sorry, I am still thinking like a fish! Good luck to you!"

Grace got ill and I knew why. This was where her 'secretary' came from.

"I have no fear you'll be able to tackle the next terrors, beautiful though they may be! The Sirens at the Temple of Sea Songs!" Hermes chuckled. "Enter the temple, praise the Sirens' voices, and they may give you a riddle to unravel rather than falling upon you."

"We will," I said. "We will try to avoid a fight."

I unlocked the temple with the key Akhelios gave me and we met the Sirens.

They spotted Grace. "You are the Wizard who has been taking care of our sister. She gives all the wealth you give her to our people."

"You overpay your secretary," said Christina.

Grace smiled. "She is not just a secretary, she is an assistant detective. I do not wish to fight you."

"Even still," said the mermaid. "We have been ordered by Poseidon to guard this passage to his palace and test those who come through here. If you wish to avoid a symphony of destruction, you will help us. Our organ is clogged with sea life - if you can unclog it, we will let you pass."

Grace sighed. "Very well."

"Ah man, this is going to be a struggle!" moaned Christina. I nodded. How were we supposed to unclog all of the organ pipes?

"Allow me," said Grace. She pressed a few buttons. "Sierra, pull that lever to play the organ."

"Well done," said the mermaid. "You may pass, give our regards to our sister. But beware the Drowned Maiden!"

"You are AMAZING!" I said.

"I am a master of perception, which makes me a perfect private detective," said Grace, smirking. "I saw which pipes lead to which buttons and pressed the ones which led to pipes clogged with life. When the organ plays, the pipes blew out bubbles that drove out the clogs."

"I am impressed," said Christina.

"My secretary told me that Teles and her group play the organ and she had the thankless duty of unclogging the pipes before she turned to the Secretarial School." Grace chuckled. "She has earned 97% on her exams, but I think she is capable of much more. Let's not tire our hostess's grace."

(By the way, if you flub this, you have to fight Teles and her mermaids. She has 12900 HP and is Fire... but she is RESISTANT to Storm so Grace would have been useless as the other mermaids are Storm-elemental. This battle will seriously drain your potions - don't flub the puzzle. :( )

We swam out of the back entrance and found another obstacle. "Grace, these goons remind me of Queen Calypso," I said.

"I know, you have told me the tale of helping the drowned sea pirates," said Grace. "But sadly these are not friendly pirates."

"Let's put this maiden out of her misery," said Christina.

 

(Needless to say, this fight cost us two potions. The Lost Maiden is Balance and has 12400 HP; Boatswain McGee has 2400 HP and is Life, and Chief Mate McGurk has 2560 HP and is Death. Expect Ra, Forest Lord and Bone Dragon.)

"You are the first challengers to have made it this far in a long time. Be proud of that and be not ashamed when we break you."

"Ha," said Christina. "You think you can break US? We'll break YOU!"

I wish Christina would stop boasting. It embarrasses me when she gets her butt kicked. :(

(Kid gloves are OFF - the Trierarches are the most ANNOYING bunch of bratholes in the dungeon! They are Ice, so they spam Tower Shield and Frost Giant, meaning you get stunned unless you spam Stun Block. In hindsight, I should have packed everyone's sidedeck with nothing but those spells, but I was stubborn. Worse, they spam Legion Shield which stacks with Tower Shield, so don't expect to be doing jack-all before they take you down. Shatter is pointless as they'll just recast their shields - I had Christina Ra them to destroy the shields and then used Earthquake and Storm Lord to damage them. Also, expect a Frozen Armor which negate all damage. They use Frozen Armor rarely, which sucks.)

After the guards went down, I quickly put the Sea Cows on the pedestals and the doors opened.

It was time.

(Why did he call you Transcendent Wizard? Because that's the title you get at Level 70.)

I still had burned into my brain the image of the father of the Immortals, Zeus Sky-Father. His brother was no less majestic. He greeted us.
"Thank you, Rra Earth-Shaker," said Grace. "You know we must duel."

"I do," said Poseidon, smiling. "Word of you three conquering the oceans of Celestia has reached my ears so I sent my messenger to invite you to test your skill against mine. Unlike my brother, I won't hold back... much. The challenge must be fair, no?"

I turned to my friends and we nodded. "Let's do this! Attack!"

And then he pulled out a Storm Lord. I facepalmed before I was electrified and paralyzed. Ouch.

(Yeah, this guy doesn't pull punches - he is Storm and has 20 THOUSAND health, and what's worse, he has a gimmick that destroy any single-target traps placed on him. You can't even use Vaporize as this gimmick is non-elemental, so it can't be negated. In other words, YOU CANNOT FEINT HIM. This means you'll have to stack every blade you freaking can. Oh, and since Prisms are classified as traps in the book, Grace won't be able to do jack-all with even Leviathan as he has an 80% resistance to his School. She did do a decent amount by using Infallible to cut that resist down to 55% but it was still not a lot - 3000 at most. Oh yes, HE always casts Infallible every four turns, which means he'll cut YOUR defenses as well.)

(And if you DO try to Vaporize him or put any trap or bad charm on him like Black Mantle...)

 

 (He'll use his second gimmick which is to unleash his normal 'wand' attack which HURTS. Add in that he's accompanied by three shield-spamming, Frost Giant lover Trierarchs which you cannot avoid fighting, and you will be wiped out in three seconds flat due to being unable to do anything due to Storm Lord stunning you and Frost Giants destroying the Stun Shields. If they get in Storm Lord and three Frost Giants, well, GAME OVER. Poseidon actually was granted a dang Frozen Armor which absorbed the first attack!!!)

 

 
(Needless to say, all three girls had to flee twice to potion up and recall and hurry back. I focused on the mooks to get rid of them with Ra and Earthquake[to dispel the shields]. This was a horrible fight and had I Fire Dragon, the Damage over Time would have dealt with the shields. Oh yes, if you can't stop him, Posiedon WILL Levy which can be bad - luckily, it hit Grace who had a bunch of worthless blades on her so it didn't ruin her, but she dropped to less than 500 HP once.)

(Oh, and did I mention he gets stronger later? Not in this battle, though, but LATER. ;) )

With a cry of pain, Poseidon fell to his knees. "Enough! I yield!"

We were on our hands and knees, overcome with exhaustion. Well, actually, we were floating listlessly, our power spent. Our potion bottles were filled with only sea-water now, they had all been drained. (Actually, I refilled bottles twice.)

"You have passed the test!" he said. "You were unmoved by the shaking earth and you survived the darkest depths! I will be kind and merciful to you, brave navigators. Return to wise Silenus and tell him to write a song to celebrate your names!"

"Thank you, Rra Earth-Shaker," gasped Grace. "You are indeed a powerful god, and we were struggling all the way, but we are proud to have such a challenge." She swam into the teleporter behind Poseidon and we saluted and followed suit, emerging in fresh air.

"Kneel, my friends," he said. We did so and bowed our heads. "I hereby name you Honorable Silver Archons." We got up. "When the time comes, you will be called for a TRUE challenge."


"I NEVER want to do that AGAIN!" groaned Christina.

"I fear there is a bigger challenge ahead," said Grace. "I have heard that Zeus and Poseidon had a brother..."

"I don't care right now," I mumbled. "Let's get back to your world and head to Zamunda. But first..."

"I have some battle trophies I wish to hang on my wall." I grinned.

(Because we fled a couple of times, Christina and Sierra only got the Poseidon trident, which is a cool looking weapon but pretty lousy in stats, only offering a minor amount of critical attack and the usual Power Pip gift. And they are same-school so they would consume traps and blades. Not worth it. Grace, though...)

(She got the Rank 2 Senator Togas for both Ice and her school! Of course, the Downpour Toga is not as great as her current Skyscream Cape - Waterworks gear is the best due to giving universal resistances, which is going to be more and more mandatory as we progress through the remaining worlds - enemies will be spamming high-level spells and getting hit for over a thousand damage is not good, any bit of resist helps. The toga looks cool though.)

[To be continued...]