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SWEETSPEARGIRL'S ADVENTURES - Chapter 11: Destruction Awaits
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Updated with Screenshots :D
CAST OF CHARACTERS
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SweetSpearGirl - level 75 Spearazon
Euyfura - level 75 Rogue merc
Miss FrequentCast 2004, the Ubiquitous Valk
Shenk the Overseer
Eldritch the RectumFryer
Eyeback the Unleashed
TAKE HEED AND BEAR WITNESS TO THE TRUTHS THAT LIE HEREIN, FOR THEY ARE THE LAST LEGACY OF THE HORADRIM...
On arriving in Harrogath, SweetSpearGirl had been barely awake enough to take the gold for the items Diablo had coughed up, before she fell into a sound sleep, wrapped up the bedroll next to her stash. As morning came, she awoke refreshed, and noticed approvingly that the stash and waypoint were right next to each other. Although she was slightly miffed that Cain was taking to hanging out in the town square with Qual-Kehk and Nihlathak. Oh well.
"Better him than me," she muttered. "Nihlathak isn't the kind of guy *I* want to hang around for too long."
She went to speak to Malah and Larzuk instead, who were far more personable. It was Larzuk who told her and Euyfura about the siege raging outside the town gates, about the catapults that Baal had deployed, and about the Barbarian warriors fighting and dying out there. She resolved to end the siege. Plus Larzuk had mentioned that if she did, he'd craft a socket into one of her items, and she hadn't yet found the three Thul runes she needed to socket her Cracked Sash, so...
Out in the Bloody Foothills, the trio encountered Death Maulers, Enslaveds, and Catapults. None were particularly troublesome, although they either had a lot of hitpoints or a high physical resistance since they took several hits each to kill. Barbarian fighters were useful distractions for large groups of enemies, and items were dropping here in higher quantity than back in Hell. SweetSpearGirl stuffed a plain Shako into her stash, thinking she could try and use Chance Stones to make a Harlequin Crest for Euyfura. Something also dropped an ethereal Superior Mage Plate and she held onto that, thinking that if she found some Eld runes she could set a couple of sockets in it and Smoke it for Euyfura.
About halfway up the Foothills, they encountered Dac Farren (cold enchanted mana burner with a shock aura), and in the process of fighting him and a pack of Death Maulers that were along for the ride, SweetSpearGirl levelled to 76. She boosted her Avoid skill to 16 and her Dexterity to 278; her to-hit percentage was still only 73% but she reckoned it was better than nothing.
"Better than yours, anyway," she grinned wickedly at the Rogue; Euyfura only had 184 dexterity and just rolled her eyes, firing off another volley of exploding arrows at a pack of Enslaveds.
"Least I don't need to run whenever I get Iron Maidened," the merc sniggered.
A chance stone - the first they'd seen in ages - dropped, and SweetSpearGirl idly mused that if she got another she'd be able to reroll that shako. Funnily enough, shortly afterwards her wish was granted, and she portalled the party back to town. Of course, the chance stones turned the shako into a chipped emerald instead, prompting a smirk from Euyfura and some swearing from SweetSpearGirl, but in the end the latter just tossed the chipped gem into her stash and headed back to the Foothills.
SweetSpearGirl and Euyfura worked their way up the eastern edge of the Foothills, with the Valk in tow as a sometimes-useful, sometimes-not, often-recast, tank. Soon they were fighting off Shenk's personal guard; SweetSpearGirl groaned, realizing that he was possessed of Stone Skin and thus physical immune! Suicide minions exploded all around as she struggled to get to him. Elite armours and weapons were dropping all over the place and she slung them into her Horadric Cube, before taking out three more Death Maulers and finding herself face-to-face with Shenk. His whip cracked and she found her was also extra strong and fire enchanted; she was glad of her phat purples as she set to work and in fact she went through her *entire* stash of them before he went down and had to supplement herself with reds and blues instead!
Finally, he went down. And he did drop a full rejuv for her, too! She portalled back to town, exhausted; getting repairs and healing and selling off the stuff she'd picked up. Larzuk eagerly socketed her belt and she plugged an Ith rune into it, figuring that fights with tough physical immunes would be much easier if some of the damage she took could replenish her mana!
Time to rest; but not for too long. Qual-Kehk wanted her to rescue some Barbarian warriors trapped in the Frigid Highlands, so that was what they went to do next. At the entrance they found a waypoint and also Eldritch the Rectifier (extra fast, cursed, mana burn), who was troublesome but not particularly dangerous, and who dropped a +36 to life grand charm which boosted SweetSpearGirl's life to 1259.
"Onwards and upwards," she said with a grin; her usual catchphrase, and Euyfura muttered something insulting under her breath. Their trip through the Frigid Highlands was beset by annoying teleporting imps, siege beasts and fortifications; all annoying, but not particularly dangerous. Back and forth across the Highlands they ranged, slaying all in their path. They found three pens of imprisoned Barbarians - weaponless and defenceless, penned up and tortured by demons; breaking down the pens, they freed them to return to town and when Eyeback the Unleashed (extra strong, extra fast, fire enchanted, cursed) at the entrance to the Arreat Plateau, yielded up a three-socket Embossed Plate, SweetSpearGirl threw it in her pack thinking about making a Lionheart rather than a Smoke for Euyfura.
The Arreat Plateau was crowded with Slayers, more imps, and champion and boss packs of Lashers; however, weary with the fight and needing sleep, SweetSpearGirl only killed the ones in her way and concentrated on searching for the waypoint. Eventually she found it near the edge of a precipice, took it, and twinked back to town. It would be time for more fighting tomorrow.
