“Laughing all the way to the Bank”

It all began with the treasure map…

A Cyclopean Warrior lay dead on the floor, his body still smoking from the barrage of lighting blasts it suffered prior to uttering its last breath.  Here, in “The Valley” in the New Lands beyond Britannia, Cyclopean Warriors run rampant with giant Titans, wreaking havok towards any human that enter their territory.

Elrond the Great, the Helmsman of Souls of the Knights in Brilliant Blue gazed with curiosity at the hideous body, when he noticed a peculiar piece of parchment caught under the Cyclops’ arm.
“What the heck are all these lines and scribbles?” he asked himself.
Knowing little of the ancient art of Cartography , he turned to a good friend, Justin the Great for help.

Justin the Great,  a Grandmaster in Cartography, Lockpicking and Detecting Hidden, not to mention a masterful knowledge of mining ore, took the map and eyed it curiously.
“Pfff.  That’s easy.  It’s a MAP!  To what, I don’t know.  But there’s a little red pin stuck to it which means that there may be something hidden there.”

After more studying, Justin and Elrond determined the map’s precise location.  They believed it to be just south of Britain and west of the bridge across The Iolo River (no one knows exactly the river’s name, but “The Iolo River” sounds kinda cool).   Let’s call it that for this story’s sake.  =)

After packing a few lockpicks and a shovel from the local Tinker, the two men journeyed to the Iolo river. Soon enough Justin was quickly at work, digging and searching for what my be hidden.  It only took a few minutes before Justin noticed something fascinating.

“Look at this!” he cried.  “It’s a chest!”

(click to see larger image)

“Like I said, no problem,” Justin said again, this time pulling out a pair of LOCKPICKS from his pack.  After a bit of twiddling, the chest soon yielded to his skill…

Justin turned around to face a Lich, face to face, as he laughed and pointed his magical staff towards Justin.  The Lich’s laugh was followed by the battle cry of an Ogre Lord, then by the screeching sounds of two Dread Spiders that appeared seemingly out of the air.
“I’d love to stay and chat,” Justin began, “but I’m getting the HELL OUTTA DODGE!”
Justin sprinted to safety, barely escaping the Lich’s flamestrike and the Dread Spiders’ poisonous bites (not to mention their attribute-damaging spells.) Justin soon found solace under a big tree which he hid behind to regain his strength.

Hearing the familiar cries of the beasts, Elrond the Great prepared his reagents, tunes his harp, and rode off towards the sounds of Justin’s cries.
On his way to the scene, he came upon a small pool of water, where he glanced at the reflection of his face.
“In the name of Lord British, I must say. . . I look goood,”  he whispered to himself, just before winking at the  handsome image dancing within the shimmering puddle.  Without further hesitation, he looked up, smiled, and began the incantation.
“Corp Por. .  .   .    .”

(click to see larger images)

1. One important note:  when the monsters appear, THEY APPEAR.  FAST too.  And they begin their attack as though they were standing there for minutes waiting for their chance to kill – in other words, NO hesitation.
   If you know for sure that you have a level 2 map or better, be prepared.  You don’t need to worry too much about level 1 maps, because at worst, a Ratman or two will spawn as you open your chest.
2. The monsters seem to appear at various times.  I once opened a level 4 map with no spawn until I unlocked the chest.  Another time, the spawn occurred as soon as it was dug up from the ground.
3. Like I stated before, make sure your support group is a little bit off screen and hidden.  Why?  Because most of these chests are found in the middle of dense forests, with little or no place to run and dance around.
   The best technique would be for one person to trigger the spawn, then run immediately (if you can) to an open space nearby – usually the shore or to a clearing.  If possible, try to get a magical hat or cape of invisibility, which you can put on once you have lead the monsters to the clearing and are far enough from them.  DO NOT TRY TO FIGHT THEM IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FOREST where you can easily get trapped between trees and rocks.  After you kill the first set of monsters (it sounds easy enough, eh?), repeat the process all over.  Regroup everyone, make them hide then take one person back to the chest and start to take items ONE BY ONE. This is very important, because more monsters will spawn.

THE PRICE TO PAY

Below is the order in which the monster spawns appeared for this Level 3 map:

Justin unlocks the chest.
Spawn:  1 Lich, 1 Ogre Lord, 2 Dread Spiders
Elrond returns and removes items from chest.
Spawn:  2 Dread Spiders
Justin returns and removes one item from chest.
Spawn:  1 Ogre Lord
Elrond returns and removes almost all items from chest.
Spawn:  1 Lich, 1 Dread Spider
Elrond returns and removes almost all but 3 items from chest.
Spawn:  1 Fire Elemental.
Justin and Elrond feel another spawn is not worth the 3 scrolls left inside chest, and decide to call it a night.  =)

“Hey, no need for thanks, brother.   Besides, that resurrection spell I casted gave me an extra .1 magery!   *chuckle*”

THE END

Author’s Note

Justin and Elrond are professionals at what they do.   Long hours and months of preparation allows them to tackle Ogre Lords and Liches together, without the need of others (at least not for level 3 maps).  😉

Please, do not follow their example.  When treasure hunting, hunt in large groups, because it really is harder than it appears.   Remember, you are only going to gain some gold and magical items – and that is a small prize to be won when the hunt can be made into a fun even with lots of friends.

So when treasure hunting, invite all your friends, remember all the useful tips we have provided – and most of all, HAVE A BLAST!

“Nice going, brother,” Elrond praised.  “Although you can’t be too proud of blasting this thing while you were safe on that hill where he can’t touch you.”  *chuckle*

“Oh yeah, big boy?  YOU try and melee one of these things some time!  We’ll see if you last more than 10 seconds,” argued Asquith, knowing Elrond’s words were all in good fun.

“Hey look at this!” cried Elrond as he stood above the burnt remains.  “Another one of those maps!”

The two friends celebrated by dancing up and down like a couple of court jesters.

“Time to pay Justin the Great a little visit,” Asquith began.  Elrond then conjured up a brilliant blue gate, and when they walked through, they magically appeared at Justin’s doorstep.