When we left last time, we were descending into the musty halls of Old City to see what
we could see! We make our way through the narrow corridors, following the fairly
straight path before us. The first few encounters let us know that the enemies are most
certainly tougher down here, but the rewards they bring are also greater. At the end of the
first long hall, we come to a larger chamber that "reeks of death." Beyond the stench, all
we find is a gated passage way and three small antechambers. Tragic's keen eyes spot a
hidden switch in one of the alcoves, and beyond that a secreted room with a with a tasty
treasure chest waiting to be opened.

Liam does his thing and disarms the trap, and inside we find a small assortment of magic
potions and scrolls, as well as a key. Hmm... gated passageway, hidden key... I think we
know how this works.

Returning to the gate, we pop in the key and it swings open. Stepping into the next hallway, we are assaulted by a "stinking waft of putrid air" as a hoarde of oozes come pouring down atop us. This is one of the toughest battles we've had yet, not just on numbers, but because the tougher Puxic Oozes can both poison and nauseate us, as well as dealing some serious damage. With the assistance of Styos's powered-up Fireball spell, and Hito's constant healing, we manage to make it through, damaged but alive. At this point, out of magic points and in dire need of healing, we exit the dungeon and head back to Father Rulae for a sip from his magic fountain. We could've found a quiet corner in the dungeon and camped out, but resting too long in this game carries two threats: First, you are an easy target when you are asleep, and that's always a bad thing. Secondly, the world of Dark Savant is a dynamic one, and the NPCs you encounter are always on the move. They fight each other, they explore, and worst of all, they can get to the always-critical hidden Maps before you do. And if they get their hands on one you really need, you have to first hunt them down and then either take it by trade or by force. So early-bird definitely gets the worm in this case, and camping out for a few days to heal is not such a great option early on.

After a refreshing gulp or two from the fountain, we head back down for further exploration.
Pushing onward, Tragic once again spots us a hidden door, beyond which we discover another treasure chest full of goodies (and monsters guarding it, of course). As we are about to leave, our attention is drawn to additional hidden door out of this already-hidden room. Heading through that, we find a lone chest in a tiny room.



Cryptic, eh? But these maps will ultimately lead us to what we seek. How? I don't know,
I'm just along for the ride.

That ends Part I of our adventures in Old City, but there is still a lot of dungeon left to explore...

With the dank halls of the Starter Dungeon behind us, the party emerges back to the surface world. Before heading into the city, we take a quick detour down a forest path that leads to some tasty treasure. Liam tries his hand at disarming another trap.



Back on the main path, we follow the road along the stone wall beside us, we are shortly led to a stone path that can only be a sure sign of civilization. Moving forward, our spider-sense tingles as the narrator points out that this would be the perfect spot for... AMBUSH!

A throng of rat-men pour from the trees, looking like they haven't come to chat... We
identify them as Rattkin Bandits, and the battle quickly begins.

A tough fight, to be sure, but the rewards are quite hefty. Moving a little further down
the road, we enter an alleyway leading to the gates of the city. At the gate, we are
confronted by on the warriors of the Dark Savant; strange machine-like creatures of
great strength. He tells us that New City is under the control of the Savant, and asks
us what business we have in the city. Now, we could probably try and fight our way through
here, but these guys are tough, and it would most likely end with somebody dead. Fortunately, we found that flyer down in the dungeon that gives us a good excuse for coming to the city. We tell the guard "Palukes" is our destination, and he confirms it as valid. We are allowed entry.



Not to make liars out of ourselves, we head into the center of town and find Paluke's Armors relatively quickly. Paluke himself greets us and offers us a look at his meager selection. He isn't lying when he says he doesn't have much available, but we do manage to find a leather helmet for ZargonX, and a Feathered Cap for Tragic. Other than that, we ask Paluke a little about the city, but he doesn't have much to say. How very like a merchant.

Leaving the store, we set about exploring this large, twisting city. The streets are very maze-like, but Tragic's mapping kit helps keep us on track. We find a weapon shop, the Arms of Argus, but the rather large Umpani inside demands to know who sent us, to which we have no answer. In the center of town, a lone statue sits surrounded by a ring of water; it looks important, but attempting to swim out there now would kill most of us.

Adjacent to the fountain, we come across Thesminster Abbey. Kindly old Father Rulae welcomes us and offers healing for the body or guidance for the soul. Healing for the body gives us access to a health-restoring fountain (for a small donation, of course). Asking
for guidance, he tells us to travel to the city of Munkharama and find Brother Tshober.
"Slay not he that cannot hear" are the cryptic words we are told to repeat.

Elsewhere in the city, we find a series of Savant-controlled buildings that we decide
not to mess with. The red-marked buildings, though, are Savant Trooper barracks, and we
are strong enough to tackle those. A few battles later, and we've let the Savant forces
know that trying to have somewhere to sleep in this city will not be tolerated! We also
find a strange black wafer with the rather meaningless words "ETX:BYYR" on it. We
save that for later.

We let Liam try his hand at staging a bank heist, picking his way into the local bank. It
turns out the bank has been long abandoned, and the only loot we find is a single copper
penny. We tuck it away for later.

Near the bank, we stumble across what seems to be the only inn in town. We don't need a room for the night yet, but innkeepers are always choc full of information! Questioning
the innkeeper on several subjects reveals that war is brewing among the various races of
Guardia. We also find out that the Arms of Argus is rumored to be involved with the "black
market," so that could be some valuable info...

A little more exploration leads to an interesting encounter down a back alley...


This is probably important

Checking around the front of that building reveals it to be the Savant-controlled jail. We'll
hold off on that jailbreak for the moment...

Down the road a little further, we find a condemned area. The inside is, of course, full
of garbage-dwelling creatures that we quickly dispatch. A seeming dead-end has a faded sign that reads "Ol C y c ess." Well, since this is New City, I can deduce that "Old City"
is probably the first part of that sign, and the keyhole on the wall makes me think that
this is the area, perhaps, for "access." We have no key that fits, though, and the lock
seems unpickable. Someone out there has to have it...

Back towards the center of town, we try once again to enter the Arms of Argus. This time,
when queried about who sent us, we tell him "black market." That does the trick. He hurries us inside and gives us a look at his selection. Funds are a little tight right now, but
weapon spending is always valuable, so we get a bastard sword for ZX, and a shiny new
Rapier for Liam. (At this point, Tragic has also picked up a spear and a crossbow from
fallen enemies). There is also a shiny new katana that Ryoga could use, but we're going
to hold off on that for the moment.

On the far side of town, we enter Belcanzor's Magick Emporium. He has a variety of scrolls,
spellbooks, and potions available. We decide to pick up a Slow scroll for Styos, as that's
always handy to have around.



A stop by the local library leads us to find a book guarded by a silent, motionless Savant sentinal;we decide to leave that alone. We also find Prof. Wunderland, a nervous old Rattkin. Since there is never anyone better to ask about stuff than a professor, we question him about Old City. He also provides us with the access key, but warns us that someone else has been poking around the city...



Knowing that someone else is possibly ahead of us, we race back to the Old City access and get ready to begin the next stage of the adventure!

The adventure begins!

After landing on the strange new world of Guardia, our bold party decides to do what every proper RPG party does: go cruise through the starter dungeon. Breathing in the deep, wild air of this new world, we take our first brave steps forward. Not seconds later, we are approached by a strange woman on a magical flying device!



Welcome, indeed! She greets us as "travelers from the stars," and says that perhaps our coming is foretold. With that, she flies away, leaving us as alone as ever. I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of her...

Walking a little further down the road, we come to a fork; one way seems to lead into the nearby city, and the other leads to an innocent looking ladder leading underground. Of course we take the ladder.

The dungeon air is dank, and the hallways dark, but we push forward. Why, you ask? Because we seek the much fabled EXP. Trudging around the empty halls, we soon encounter our first chance to test ourselves in battle!



Lovely fellows, eh? A few sword strikes and fist bashes later, and they are soundly defeated. Our first victory, and we drink it in!

Moving further into the dungeon, we fight a few more battles, and find a fountain of healing (convenient!) Soon, in a plain looking room, our eagle-eyed ranger, Tragic, spots something on the floor:



The simple scroll turns out to be a tattered flier for "Paluke's Arms and Armors" in New City. We'll have to keep that place in mind...

A little more adventuring, and we come across the thing that excites adventurers even more than EXP: a treasure chest.



Moments later, our sneaky thief Liam takes a stab at disarming the trap on it and ends up getting himself killed. That's what we have Quit + Reload for! Another few attempts, and Liam finally gets it. Unfortunately, there is not much in the chest save for some rusty armor and a rusty sword, and a handful of what we think are Potions of Cure Light Wounds (we are not skilled enough to identify them yet).

Making our way down to the lower level of the dungeon, we fight more battles, and everyone manages to hit level 2, as well as generally improving their weapon and casting skills. A little while later, we come to a door that strikes us as most ominous...

Something tells me we've got our first boss battle on our hands. Let's see how it goes...



Victory, sweet victory! Levels are gained, treasure is found, and the starter dungeon lay defeated! With that, we return to the surface, confident and ready to start the game for real! Next stop: New City and, dare I say, adventure?

I've got the party fully assembled, and we're ready to begin the adventure! To save the time of me laying the groundwork of the story, I'll let the game speak for itself...



(No, that isn't our party, but the intro is the same.)

I'm going to run us through the first dungeon tonight, and then review the journey tomorrow!

For the record, the party came together thusly...

ZargonX - Lizardman Fighter (dumb as a rock, tough as a rock)
Ryoga - Felpurr Ninja (fast like lightning!)
Liam - Hobbit Thief (super sneaky, super lock pick-y)
Tragic - Elven Ranger (our super scout, ready to stick arrows in things)
Styos - Mook Mage (smarter than your average psychic alien thing)
Hito (Hitogoroshi) - Rawulf Priest (pious as the day is long)

In an effort to enrich the knowledge of others, as well as give myself an excuse to play more games, I've decided to embark on an adventure of playing through some of my favorite old games that I haven't played in a while, and of course sharing the whole experience with everyone else!



To start with, I've decided to go all-out and re-tackle Wizardry VII: Crusaders of the Dark Savant; a game I personally consider one of the best PC RPGs made. A lot of you may have never played this game, let alone even heard of it, and I'd like everyone to get a chance to see how great it was.

To help add a little interaction to this whole experience, I'm taking volunteers who'd like to see their namesake loaned to my party of adventurers. I, of course, will be leading, backed up my you intrepid volunteers. With the two volunteers I've already got, that leaves 3 slots on in our glorious party.

Slot 1: ZargonX
Slot 2: RHibiki
Slot 3: Hitogoroshi
Slot 4:
Slot 5:
Slot 6:

(And if more than 3 people volunteer, I'll do good ol random drawing to decide who gets in!)

So if you'd like to be a part of this grand adventure, just say so! You can also pick your racial preference from the wide variety available:

Humans (soft, squishy humans)
Hobbits (charming, weak hobbits)
Elves (snooty, magical elves)
Dwarves (hardy, slow dwarves)
Felpurr (Cat-people; fast and nimble)
Rawulf (Dog-people; pious and strong)
Gnomes (Smart and weak)
Lizardmen (Very strong, very tough, about as smart as toast)
Dracon (Tough and smart and breathe acid)
Faeries (Fast as all get out but weak as a kitten)
Mook (Big, hairy, alien psionic dudes. So, yeah.)

Let's get this adventure rolling!

With a topic such as this, it would be easy to quickly slip into tried-and-true negative territory and launch into a spirited discussion of how Halo 3 players are frat boys or how turn-based strategy gamers all live in their mother's basements (we do not). While that would indeed be easy, and probably fun, I think this is a golden opportunity to focus on a more positive aspect of gamers that is so obvious, yet so often overlooked.

Gamers play games; games of all types: Some like to role-play, some like to shoot, some like to manage the lives of faceless minions, wielding a god-like power over them that can be used for good or ill. Whatever their chosen gaming haunt may be, however, I have noticed that a vast number of gamers share something in common: the drive to create.

Gamers, when give the opportunity, seem to have an overwhelming desire to take the games they love and to change them, to enhance them, or even to recreate them in new and exciting ways. I know that personally, when I was younger, I would spend hours in school drawing out new levels and enemies and items for Super Mario Bros, yearning to find some way to put these concepts into action.

To be sure, it's true that any time someone finds a connection with something, regardless of the medium, they can often be inspired to emulate or improve upon it. In my experiences, though, there is something about games that drives far more people to make that jump from simply thinking about the act of creation to actually creating.


The real adventure is figuring out where he got that cloak.

Perhaps part of it is the availability of tools. Sure, in the beginning, if you wanted to make a game, you needed punch cards and a whole lot of caffine (the caffine part is mostly still true...). And the idea of taking someone else's game and changing it? That was just right out the window. Technology advanced quickly, though, and by the early 80's, anybody with an Apple IIe or a Commodore or whatever personal computer of choice you owned could sit down with the Pinball or Adventure Construction Sets and create a game of their own from start to finish with no more programming knowledge than was required to actually play the games. These types of games provided endless hours of amusement for my friends and I. One very industrious friend of mine created a full 10 level adventure in my honor! You could play as me, armed with a mighty spitball shooter, or you could play as the Punisher, armed with a minigun. Did I mention I hate my friends?


57.6!? Back in my day we had 14.4 and we liked it!

These early tools were great, and they gave many a gamer a creative outlet, but there was still so much more we wanted to give. As time marched onward, the tools just kept improving. Some game companies started including editors for their games with their software, graphics tools became more readily available, and home computers grew more powerful. The advent of modems and BBSs suddenly meant that one dedicated fan could put together a tool or game that could now be shared across the nation.

I remember my first experience in the world of mapping came from a shareware Wolfenstein 3D map editor I got from a local BBS. It was the easiest thing in the world to use; just pick a wall, place a wall. It even had a graphics editor so you could change any of the wall graphics to anything you liked, all with an easy to user interface! I put together a map of my middle school (something that would probably get me arrested these days...) and shared it with my friends. Because honestly, what could be more fun than gunning down Hitler in your own cafeteria?


SPOILER: No matter how many times you kill him, Hitler will keep appearing in video games.

Soon, modems and BBSs gave way to the wonder that was the internet, and with that it became even easier than ever to not only share the tools, but to share the results from those tools. "Modding" became a term that grew more and more common, and with that grew this new concept of the modding community. This idea of Community is key here since, when you get right down to it, gamers love to share. Sure, someone could sit in their basement for months, working on a Cheers total conversion of Command & Conquer purely for their own enjoyment, but that's highly unlikely. For more likely is that, the moment it was finished, that mod would be up on C&C (and Cheers) fansites around the globe. By the next morning, a gamer in South Korea would be marching hordes of Norms across the streets of Boston, gunning down young Woody Harrelsons.


You know you would play this game.

Gamers create, gamers share, because they feel a connection with the games they play. Gamers want to take something that has given them much joy (or sometimes, frustration) and add to it, improve upon it, to make it do something it was never intended to. And they do it a lot. Any cursory search of the internet will show you that for almost any game you can think of, someone has taken the time and effort to change it somehow. Time and popularity are no obstacle once a gamer gets inspired. Be it something as simple as recording silly noises for the monsters in DOOM to essentially rebuilding a flawed game like Master of Orion III from scratch, someone is doing it. I've seen someone take a game like Emperor of the Fading Suns, which wasn't that well known to begin with, and spend years recoding it into the awesome game they always knew it could be. Sure, maybe only a handful of other people in the world will even bother to notice, but that's all it takes to be worth it.

When gamers get an idea in their head, they find a way. When I was ready to try my hand at making maps for TF2, there were so many people out there willing to share their knowledge and experience to help out, it became a joy to learn instead of a pain. And even if I didn't have the skills, no doubt I'd be able to find other people with different skills that would love to come together and create something great. Look, for instance, at Project Top Secret, an experiment to bring together people of different skills and different ideas to try and make a fan-made MMO. Sure, some of those people are there to try and win the "prize," but the vast majority give their time and energy simply because they want to, and expect no reward from it. Sometimes gamers don't even need skill or knowledge, they just need other people willing to try something new. Was Civilization meant to be played as a cooperative, role-playing infused team game? Nope. Is it fun? Completely.



Two guys with an idea took Half-Life and made a whole lot of changes... see how that worked out?

Games beget gamers who beget more games. New games, changed games, games that they are ready to share with the world. Gamers have a drive to create, moreso than I have seen in fans of any other medium, and with time it will only grow even more. We play games because we love them, and we make games because we want to spread that love to others. Hardcore, Casual, FPS or RPG; it doesn't matter. This creative urge is an oft ignored but vital facet of gamers, and one that we should all be proud of.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go make fun of fighting game fans; those dudes are losers.