Our first task as Knights of the Wyrd was to help Queen Gwendolyn forge pacts of alliance with the good faefolk in the Weirwood; that was easily done as the Fire Elves, Faeries and Leprechauns all recognized us and had been aided by us, so they were willing to band together against the vile Froudling hordes. ^_^
Then we had to create a magical defender to protect Dun Dara from the Formori and ghosts. We found a dragon skull on a hill...
And then we had to farm Death Seraphs and get their Necromantic Vigor...
I never want to fight these evil angels again! X( (Worst farming experience EVER. Their drop rate is a lousy 15% - it took four battles for Sierra, six for Christina and EIGHT for Grace - who nearly died trying to solo these jerks - to get the four Vigors. ARGH!)
If it was anyone else... *sigh*
The rest of the spell was easy to do, Aodh enchanted the reagents and we placed the skull in a magical runic circle, and a mighty bone dragon rose up to defend the fort.
"Thanks," I said modestly.
"Now I tarry here too long," said Gwendolyn. "Go to that chest and retrieve my arms and armor."
Why couldn't she get the chest herself? She had legs. Oh well. (Blame MMORPG logic - they can't animate NPCs to walk except in major cutscenes.)
"Good idea," I said.
We escorted the Queen back to Abbey Road and she led us to a chapel I had briefly visited. We bowed in reverence when we saw her in her battle garb - it wasn't mail but I was sure that there were mighty magicks on it to prevent any assault. "Your Highness," we said in unison.
"Thank you, Knights," said Queen Gwendolyn. "Now that the fae are with our cause, we must hold counsel and rally the Knights of the Silver Rose. To do that we need a symbol. In the past, we gathered around the Stone Table Merle Ambrose created... but recently a foul Bane Wyrm who lurks in a waterfall cavern in Caliburn stole it. Can you please go and fetch it?"
"We shall," said Grace.
The dragon was terrifying...
But he was quickly petrified. ^_^ (The Bane Wyrm got pulled into battle first, and when we defeat him the mooks all vanish. Odd. Oh, and if you were wondering where the Caliburn Black Crow was...)
(There you go, in Bane Wyrm's lair, so you can't get to it until this point. Frustration central.)
"Oh crikey," said Christina. "The Stone Table is smashed to bits."
"Let's take it back to the Queen, what's left of it," I sighed.
Of course, I got pulled aside by Sumner Goldfield, who asked me for... a shrubbery or two. I then had to find a shrubber. (Yep, for the Knights Who Say Ni, this is another reference to that crazy Monty Python parody of Arthurian legend. I had seen that film as a child and it was hilarious then. Come on, you can't have a Camelot-themed world and NOT reference the most infamous Monty Python film in existence! ^_^ Also, this is the quest I mentioned earlier.)
I found the others. "What happened?" asked Grace.
"I have to beat up some Handsome Formori to give safe passage to a shrubber," I said.
"What a coincidence!" laughed Christina. She told me that Queen Gwen had directed them to that guy who made the War Ostrich, but he couldn't repair it - it was too far gone. So they were looking for our old 'friend' Billy Brute the ettin to get a large rock slab to make a new Stone Table...
And they had to rough some some Formori to find out where Billy lived. How convenient.
(Look at the Handsome Formori lore spell's element. That is the element these guys are. :p)
Billy's second head was still a jerk, but the first head helped us stuff a nicely-sized stone slab he had 'just broke off that morning' into our hammer-space and we transported it to Wayland, who worked his chisel and tongs and crafted a beautiful masterpiece.
We took it to the Knight's Hall...
And I gasped as the Silver Rose we had gotten from Belle Regarde leapt into the stone and formed a beautiful emblem in the center of the table, making it glow with magic!
"You are a miracle worker!" said the Queen. "Now, we must rally the Knights. Go speak to each of them and tell them to meet in the hall."
We spoke to Pike Del Lago first, who praised us for our skill in rallying the knights to Caliburn. I smiled. "It was you we met when we first arrived," I said. "We aided you and saved your life, and you directed us to Perry to start our search for the Sword of Kings."
"I will meet you in the Knight's Hall," he said, smiling.
He also told about a knight Innes Idle sung about, an exotic knight who was in Caer Lyon. Sadly, Innes Idle is not a great reference for good advice and we discovered to our dismay that Sir Ruiz was rude and not willing to help us. Ah well, you win some, you lose some. (Yeah, minor sidequest - you have to fight a bunch of mobs. You get Cow Pie snacks for completing this quest. Yeah, another Monty Python and the Holy Grail reference if you didn't get it.)
We rallied forth the Knights of the Silver Rose. Pike Del Lago was right - it had been so long since we first met him and yet we gained so many followers! Sir Brennan, who we rescued from the Red Thorn Badgers; Sir Dursten, who we rescued from the White Owl Sisters; Sir Robin Bravely, who we rescued from eternal ice(and asked if there would be guards at the meeting - some knight he was! :( ); even the Black Knight we recently recruited!
We also stopped by Sir Perry's house and rallied him as well. Interesting how he didn't set up a tent in Caliburn, but I guess he wanted to ensure his house wasn't ransacked by the Red Thorn Badgers lurking nearby or the Froudlings.
We entered the hall and bowed deeply in respect at the Knights at the Stone Table and Queen Gwen. "Your Highness, we have assembled."
"Truly remarkable, I never thought I would see this day again," said Queen Gwen. "Now we can rally forth against the vile Pendragon." She paused. "It is time to go to Lake Nimue and speak to the Lady of the Lake. We need her aid to stand a chance."
"Lady of the Lake?" asked Grace.
"Aye, she is the guardian of Avalon," said the Queen. "She watches over all the land and knows what is going on. With her support, nothing can stop us. She lives in a stone tower in the Lake, but to get there, you must go the outer yard of Ganelon Keep, my former home. But now it is the home of the Horned Ones, the minions of Pendragon. The gate to the yard is locked by a Deer Knight. Go to the tower, defeat the Deer Knight, and you can make your way safely inside."
"We shall do this," I said, bowing again. As we left, we knew our adventures here had reached a new turning point... now we have the knights by our side, we must save Avalon!
[To be continued...]
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