Mack

"It's been too long since I've done real front line work," Mack muttered to himself as he stood near the great sun dial at the heart of the town of Inti on the twentieth floor of Aincrad. As the sun shone down around the town, and presumably the entire floor, bathing it in light Mack considered his options. He knew that several of the Knights of the Blood Oath, including the guildmaster Heathcliff himself, had taken off on a scouting expedition of the floor that had already taken up several days. Macradon and Hirru had also both gone on that foray, along with a few members of the Celestial Ascendants though Mack had not been invited along for the ride. No doubt because he had not been around the front lines for several months.

Grunting, the goliath swiped his fingers in the air and then pulled up the messenger function. With both of the Knights of the Blood Oath's major scouts already taking part in a search operation, there was only one other scout that the Vice Commander could think of off the top of his head. Tapping the name @Takao with his right forefinger Mack pulled up a blank message and quickly tapped out a short missive, beginning it in a way that recalled a recent day's worth of mini-dungeoning.

Mine Dearest Bard,

How have the recent months found you? Still alive, I see since your name is on my contacts list. If you're up for it, I could use someone with your dungeon sniffing abilities to help with the search for the labyrinth, and its guardian boss, up on the 20th Floor. The mobs up here are big critters and big bugs. No Gnolls. So no worries. If you're up for it I'll wait for the next hour at the giant sun dial in Inti.

Once we slay the beasties, drinks are on me.

-Mack

Giving the send button a quick tap Mack settled himself in a leaning stance against the sun dial and waited for Takao's response, whatever it might happen to be.

ID: 76184
LD: 20 (OF COURSE! NOW I GET A 20 WHEN I CAN'T USE IT!) [+1 Mat]

Exit Search: 1/3
Alert: 2/3
81/96 EN (+1 EN Out of Combat)

As he continued the tromp and stomp through the bandit hideout using his trademarked I'm not sneaky and I don't care approach to dungeoning Mack kept his eyes peeled for anything that looked like it might be worthwhile loot. As he moved down one of the many dark corridors that he had already prowled, feeling like a rat in a maze, the glitter of something shiny caught his attention. Pausing in the ruckus that he was making as he rampaged through the bandit's hideout Mack moved to the glittering item and picked it up. Examining it with a curious eye, Mack tapped it once with a finger and the name 'Glittering Ruby' was displayed along with the description 'Crafting Material'. Well, that was easy enough. Tapping the item a second time the ginger giant sent it into his inventory storage before continuing on his way through the bandit's lair.

Mack listened as Hirru explained the plans for the day and grunted his assent. Everything seemed to be in order as far as he was concerned when it came to this little adventure. Even if it was on the volcanic floor. "Well, then, let's get a move on," the Vice Commander rumbled in a deep voice. Crossing the open space to the wagon the hulking axe man hauled himself up and into the means of conveyance. Where, and how, Hirru had come up with the wagon and the horses to pull it in the first place was anyone's guess. With a grunt, Mack hauled himself up into the wagon bed and settled himself in one of the back corners of the simple wooden covered wagon, a spot from which he would be able to see any approaching mobs and be the first one out to deal with them if there was a need to. "The sooner we finish this up, the sooner we can leave for a more hospitable climate."

ID: 76182
LD: 5 (No Exit)

Exit Search: 0/3
Alert: 1/3
80/96 EN (+1 EN Out of Combat)

With two more materials safely put away in his inventory Mack rolled his shoulders around with a soft popping noise before drawing back the hood on his guild cloak and surveying the small cavern in which he found himself with storm grey eyes once again. Even as he took a long look at his surroundings, and the various junk items around the small cavern, he knew there was no way at all that he was going to locate either the exit or anything else in the cavern that held any kind of real value as either a crafting material or usable item. Muttering darkly to himself, the Vice Commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath shouldered his axe, Invictus and selected another passageway at random before tromping off once again.

Mack stood, still as a statuesque sentinel, near the fountain in the middle of the main plaza of the Town of Beginnings. For all the Vice Commander's taciturn moodiness his familiar, Chewie the Grizzly Cub, was the picture of rambunctious motion. With a growl the cub went hurtling by his master, leaped high into the air, and then splashed down into the fountain like a fuzzy cannonball. There was a titanic splash and, an instant latter, a fuzzy brown head emerged from the fountain as Chewie paddled around in the water making contented bear noises. Meanwhile, ignoring the bear's antics, Mack pulled up his menu with a swipe of the finger and then tabbed through to the quest log. After considering things for a few long moments he settled on a newly discovered quest called the "Dragon Hunter Anthology." Judging by the name this would be some kind of campaign quest that would take a good bit of time to complete and, since it was starting on the first floor it was likely to be tedious at the outset. Cupping his hands around his mouth, Mack stepped forward into the plaza and bellowed: "Who wants to complete the Dragon Hunter Anthology quest? Get over here now!"

ID: 76178
BD: 8 (7+3-2)
MD: 4 (3+1)
LD: 17 (+2 Mats)

Exit Search: 3/3 (Conducted after Combat)
Alert: 3/3 (ALERT!)
Mack: 990/990 79/96 EN (+1 Normal EN Regen, -6 EN Sword Art) (Lumber Jack: 3x1x19)
Bandit 1: 0/30 (3x1x19=57 DMG, 57-20=37 DMG)
Bandit 2: 0/30 (3x1x19=57 DMG, 57-20=37 DMG)

Rounding a corner in the underground lair of the Bandits Mack came within sight of another pair of bandit spearmen. Each of them had their backs to the axe man as he stood in the gloom of the caverns. Reaching back to the hood of his guild cloak, Mack pulled the hood up over his head and then rolled his head around on his neck, which produced a cracking noise. The bandits, for their part, continued their conversation as if they didn't have a care in the world. Obviously, despite the alarm that had been triggered, the bandits doubted that anyone could have made it to where they were. With a roar, Mack charged towards the two bandits and with a few quick swipes of his axe he had reduced them to free floating blue pixels. Grunting, the Vice Commander gathered the dropped materials from the two bandits and continued on his way.

Mack stood in one of the gates that led from the Town of Beginnings out into the frontier lands that immediately surrounded the area. His axe, Invictus, was unsheathed and the haft of the weapon was planted on the ground as the Vice Commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath leaned upon the top portion of the axe head and scanned the fields where low-leveled players liked to congregate for the purposes of leveling up. At his current level, the fields offered no challenge and the experience point return from slaughtering the creatures here was so pathetically minuscule that it would take a week, or more, to eke out a single level from killing them. So, what the man was doing down on such a low floor was anyone's guess. Nearby Chewie, the grizzly bear cub, was gamboling about just outside the main gate, occasionally scampering up to people as they left the town to try and beg treats off of them.

ID: 76067
LD: 1 (No Loot)

Exit Search: 2/3
Alert: 2/3
83/96 EN (+1 Out of Combat)

Growling oaths underneath his breath, using words that were certainly not kind or appropriate language for use around women or children, the red-headed giant that was a high ranking member of the Knights of the Blood Oath continued his prowling of the bandit lair. Warily, he kept his storm grey eyes focused on the environment around him in the hopes that there might be either some sign of an exit some kind of useful loot to make this little field trip worth his while. Alas, the environment remained unchanged and he continued to move through the bandit caves with his axe over his shoulder and the loud thudding sounds of his booted feet thumping against the solid stone floor.

Exit Search: 1/3
Alert: 1/3

ID: 76062
LD: 5 (No Exit)
82/96 EN (+1 Out of Combat)
(Full Health, Recovery out of Combat)

With Invictus slung against his shoulder Mack marched through the subterranean enclave that housed the bandits. For the moment there was nothing to be worried about in terms of attackers, given that he had just defeated two bandits. Continuing to keep his eyes peeled for the exit from the cave system the Vice Commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath wandered through the tunnels and caverns growing steadily more and more angry about the entire situation. This kind of a maze for such a low level quest was beyond stupid and it was one more reason to end the Game Developer's life when the jolly giant eventually tracked him down.

Exit Search: 3/3 - Conducted following Combat
Alert: 0/3

ID: 75922
BD: 11 (10+3-2) (Lumber Jack: 3x1x17=51 DMG)
MD: 5 (3+1+1)
LD: 18 (+2 Mats)

Mack: 988/990 81/96 (+1 EN. Normal Regen., -6 EN Attack Missed) (+ > 2 HP, Battle Healing)
Bandit 1: 0/30 (51-20=31 DMG)
Bandit 2: 0/30 (51-20=31 DMG)

As the spear waving bandits readied themselves for another attack Mack sprang forward at them, waving Invictus like a psychopath. As he closed the distance between himself and the bandits the axe man readied himself to launch a sword art fueled attack on the bandits. Within the space of just a few seconds it was all over for the would be jailers. A few swipes of the axe and they were reduced to nothing more than two rapidly dissipating groups of free floating pixels. Growling, the Vice Commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath shouldered his axe and continued to stalk through the corridors of the bandit hide out, his eyes peeled for the exit.

So, that was how it was going to be, was it? A vicious, unprovoked, attack and no gift of food? The sheer unmitigated gall. The instant Chewie found himself back on the ground the bear cub scampered back into the tent and then he waited. Shield would come in eventually and the bear could be patient, when the mood struck him, which was admittedly not very often. Still, these were special revenge motivated circumstances. The second Shield started filling out the order form, which left him unable to watch for Chewie, the bear struck. Rumbling out of his hiding spot like a fuzzy missile, Chewie sank his teeth into one of Shield's ankles. Quicker than anything that ate as much as Chewie had a right to be, he went haring off through the forest of legs until he spotted @Jazz. With a flying leap the cub struck the girl on one side and then scrambled up to perch on her shoulder with his fore paws on her head as he glowered at Shield.

Meanwhile, Mack turned his attention to filling orders as a few more order forms came in. Examining another one from the stack he moved along to a table of weapons and selected a two-handed sword that seemed to fit the bill. "Here, try this," the smith rumbled, passing the weapon to @Ignavus_veneficus. Next the ginger headed man considered the odd dagger request. Paralyze and Bleed seemed like strange choices to Mack, but he shrugged his shoulders and forked over a suitable dagger to @Jazz. Next came @Necryptonix's request for a weapon with accuracy and bleed. The blacksmith issued an ear splitting whistle, selected a spear from another table of weapons, and boomed out, "Who wanted the spear?"

-Black Iron Greatsword
-Gigglestick
-Scarlet Lance

The steady ringing noise of the hammer continued as Mack worked on smithing and filling the various item requests that he had. If there was one thing that was rather unfortunate about being a blacksmith it was that no one ever seemed to be interested in any items that were less than maxed out. Which, necessarily tended to mean that business was sometimes slow and that there was, nearly always, an enormous amount of unclaimed and unwanted items cluttering up his, and every other blacksmith's, shop. Beyond that, there was no way to break down those unwanted items into their base materials to try a second, third, or even fourth time to craft them into something someone might want.

Crafting Attempts - 26 January 2017:

OOC: We'll need to use the September Update specs for this fight, since we were NOT in combat before the update.

At the mention of the name Hikari Chewie's furry head exploded from the snow drift he had tumbled into and the bear looked around greedily. Did Hikari taste like a pork chop? Chewie didn't know, but the grizzly was anxious to find out. Sadly, as the cub peered about he quickly discovered that there was no sign of Hikari. Grunting a snuffling woofing noise, Chewie popped out of the snow drift, his mind already working on what he would eat for his four course meal. Obviously, there would need to be a fish course. And chicken. And pork. And beef. And ham. Probably some dragon. Maybe some unicorn. Was that more than four?

"Chewie does what Chewie is going to do," Mack rumbled, shrugging his broad shoulders as he pulled up the hood of his cloak. "I've given up trying to control him. And no, dealing with this quest's boss monster should not prove to be much of a challenge, unless it's stats have been changed." Reaching back over his shoulder, Mack drew his axe and held it in an easy grip against one shoulder as they exited the safe zone of the town in search of the monster.

Crafting for 25 Jan. 17

Name: Steel Helmet
Your Profession: Blacksmith
Your Rank: 8
ID: 75421
Roll: 10 (9+1)
Item Type: Heavy Armor - Helmet
Tier: 1
Quality: Rare
Enhancements: +1 Mit, +1 Regen
Description: Simple steel helmet.
Post Link:  Post

Name: Steel Tower Shield
Your Profession: Blacksmith
Your Rank: 8
ID: 75422
Roll: 10 (9+1)
Item Type: Shield
Tier: 1
Quality: Rare
Enhancements: +2 Mit
Description: Simple steel tower shield.
Post Link:  Post

Name: Steel Scimitar
Your Profession: Blacksmith
Your Rank: 8
ID: 75424
Roll: 10 (9+1)
Item Type: 1HCS
Tier: 1
Quality: Rare
Enhancements: +1 ACC, +1 DMG
Description: Simple steel scimitar.
Post Link:  Post

Name: Iron Dagger
Your Profession: Blacksmith
Your Rank: 8
ID: 75426
Roll: 7 (6+1)
Item Type: Knife/Dagger
Tier: 1
Quality: Uncommon
Enhancements: +1 DMG
Description: Simple iron dagger.
Post Link:  Post

Name: Iron Battle Axe
Your Profession: Blacksmith
Your Rank: 8
ID: 75427
Roll: 8 (7+1)
Item Type: 2HA
Tier: 1
Quality: Uncommon
Enhancements: +1 DMG
Description: Simple, if hefty, iron axe.
Post Link:  Post

Name: Scalemail
Your Profession: Blacksmith
Your Rank: 8
ID: 75428
Roll: 8 (7+1)
Item Type: Heavy Armor
Tier: 1
Quality: Uncommon
Enhancements: +1 Mit
Description: Simple iron scale mail.
Post Link:  Post

Name: Iron Shield
Your Profession: Blacksmith
Your Rank: 8
ID: 75429
Roll: 8 (7+1)
Item Type: Shield
Tier: 1
Quality: Uncommon
Enhancements: +1 Thorns
Description: Simple round iron shield.
Post Link:  Post

Name: Steel Long Sword
Your Profession: Blacksmith
Your Rank: 8
ID: 75430
Roll: 10 (9+1)
Item Type: 1HSS
Tier: 1
Quality: Rare
Enhancements: +1 DMG, +1 ACC
Description: Simple steel long sword with a three and a half foot long blade.
Post Link:  Post

CRAFTING FOR 26 Jan. 2017

Name: Black Iron Greatsword
Your Profession: Blacksmith
Your Rank: 8
ID: 75501
Roll: 13 (12+1)
Item Type: 2HS
Tier: 1
Quality: Perfect
Enhancements: +2 ACC, +1 DMG
Description: A two-handed double-edged blade made of blackened iron, surprisingly light and deadly sharp.
Post Link:  Post

Name: Steel Spear
Your Profession: Blacksmith
Your Rank: 8
ID: 75502
Roll: 10 (9+1)
Item Type: 1H Spear
Tier: 1
Quality: Rare
Enhancements: +1 DMG, +1 ACC
Description: A simple steel headed spear.
Post Link:  Post

Name: The Gimmick Stick
Your Profession: Blacksmith
Your Rank: 8
ID: 75503
Roll: 13 (12+1)
Item Type: Dagger
Tier: 1
Quality: Perfect
Enhancements: +2 Bleed, +1 Paralyze
Description: Just as the name suggest, this small dagger doesn't look like it would do much damage against the dangers of Aincrad, but focuses on supporting those that can through a few lucky tricks.
Post Link:  Post

Name: Steel Trident
Your Profession: Blacksmith
Your Rank: 8
ID: 75504
Roll: 11 (10+1)
Item Type: 2H Spear
Tier: 1
Quality: Rare
Enhancements: +1 DMG, +1 ACC
Description: A steel trident, suitable for ruling the seven seas.
Post Link:  Post

Name: Iron Dagger
Your Profession: Blacksmith
Your Rank: 8
ID: 75505
Roll: 7 (6+1)
Item Type: Knife/Dagger
Tier: 1
Quality: Uncommon
Enhancements: +1 DMG
Description: Simple iron dagger.
Post Link:  Post

Name: Iron Battle Axe
Your Profession: Blacksmith
Your Rank: 8
ID: 75506
Roll: 9 (8+1)
Item Type: 2HA
Tier: 1
Quality: Uncommon
Enhancements: +1 DMG
Description: Simple, if hefty, iron axe.
Post Link:  Post

Name: Scarlet Lance
Your Profession: Blacksmith
Your Rank: 8
ID: 75507
Roll: 13 (12+1)
Item Type: 2H Spear
Tier: 1
Quality: Perfect
Enhancements: +1 Bleed, +2 ACC
Description: A two-handed spear with a leather wrapped ebony haft and a sharp silver broad head inlaid with a ruby through the weapon's haft just behind the spearhead. When the spear causes enemies to bleed it's said that the ruby will pulse with a crimson light.
Post Link:  Post

Name: Steel Long Sword
Your Profession: Blacksmith
Your Rank: 8
ID: 75509
Roll: 11 (10+1)
Item Type: 1HSS
Tier: 1
Quality: Rare
Enhancements: +1 DMG, +1 ACC
Description: Simple steel long sword with a three and a half foot long blade.
Post Link:  Post

With a dull thump Chewie toppled over to the left and landed heavily on his side. At least he was no longer standing on his head though. Scrambling back, properly, to his feet, the bear cub hopped up on his rear legs and began swatting at Row with his clawed paws. Making entirely more noise than was necessary, and looking up at the girl with enormous begging eyes, the bear opened his mouth and pointed a clawed toe down his throat. It was his normal behavior around, well, everyone and it usually worked quite effectively at getting the bear what he wanted, which was namely being fed until he popped. Meanwhile, Mack retreated to the forge at the back of the tent and set to work seeing what he could do for filling some of the various orders he had.

Rolls for 25 January 2017:

OOC: Those of you that have placed item orders, in thread, and haven't received them yet please shoot me a PM. @Jazz I'll work on crafting your dagger next.

This. Was. Not. Fair. Tickling?!? WHO DID THAT?!? Growling, Chewie tried to wriggle around until he could sink his teeth into Shield's arm. But, that was not an easy thing to accomplish when the man insisted on keeping up an unending tickle attack. Making a very beseeching noise in @Necryptonix's direction the grizzly cub gave her a plaintive look with his big brown eyes asking for a rescuer to save him from @Shield.

Inside the tent, Mack grabbed up the next completed order form and scanned it momentarily. A two-handed sword and a set of heavy armor. Nothing he couldn't handle. Grunting, the black smith moved along behind the display tables that were piled up with various weapons and armor pieces. Selecting a sword the ginger man considered it for a moment with his storm grey eyes and then slung it against his shoulder before moving on to to a table with armor pieces laid out on it. Moving along behind the table, Mack considered several different armor suits before hefting one of them with the proper enchantments on it.

"Here," he rumbled in a deep tone, passing the armor and the weapon to @Alice. "These should serve your purpose."

-Xcalibur - Type 1 to Alice
-Fate - Type 1 to Alice

Exit Search: 3/3 - Conducted following Combat
Alert: 0/3

ID: 75414
BD: 3 (2+3-2)
MD: 6 (4+1+1)

Mack: 988/990 86/96 (+1 EN. Normal Regen., -2 EN Attack Missed) (30-84=1, 1x2=2 DMG)
Bandit 1: 30/30
Bandit 2: 30/30

No sooner had the gate shattered into a blue shower against one end of the tunnel than the pair of spear wielding bandits came charging around the corner. Holding Invictus across his chest, Mack readied himself for the assault from the bandit guards. Each of the ruffians jabbed at the hulking figure in the heavy armor, and they landed solid hits. Of course, they were also at such a low level that their attacks really couldn't do very much in terms of actually inflicting damage against the man that was the Vice Commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath. "That tickles," he grunted, swinging his enormous axe free and easy between his hands and readying an attack of his own.

OOC: Started this prior to the September Update. Will be using the UPDATED quest (and accompanying stats) from here on out.

Exit Search: 2/3
Alert: 3/3

ID: 75293
BD: 4 (3+3-2)
MD: 5 (3+1+1)

Mack: 990/990 87/96 (+1 EN, Normal Regen., -2 Attack Missed)
Bandit 1: 30/30
Bandit 2: 30/30

Growling a serious of obscenities that would have made a sailor blush, Mack hefted the gate onto his left shoulder for a moment. It was clear he would not be needing the regenerative properties of his gauntlets. Cycling quickly through his menu he removed the gauntlets and, in their place, activated a golden axe amulet that buffed his accuracy by three points. The ginger man assumed that would make it easier, and faster, to plow through the bandits and find the exit. No sooner had he completed this task then the next set of bandits arrived. With a roar like an enraged elephant, the axe man hurled the iron gate at the two spear wielding bandits. They swore and ducked out of sight as the gate smashed against the wall and shattered into a shower of pixels.

Exit Search: 1/3
Alert: 2/3

Mack: 222/222 38/48 (+20 HP, out of combat) (+1 EN, out of combat)

A long, low growl escaped from the throat of the crimson headed Vice Commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath. escaping from this idiotic little whole in the ground really should not be half as difficult as it was turning out to be. Sheathing his axe, the beaded giant moved to the fallen door of wrought iron bars that had served as the entrance to his cell, before he had broken it down. Crouching and wrapping his fingers through the barred gate, Mack grunted and heaved the gate up. Snarling, he stalked out of the jail area carrying the broken door with him. The next bandits he found were going to have a very bad day. A very bad day indeed.

"I don't think that should prove to be too difficult," Mack rumbled in response to @Row. At the sound of the girl's voice a dark nose appeared around the rounded bend of the forge. The nose was followed by a brown snout, two large chocolate eyes, rounded ears, an entire head, a neck, and then a wriggling mass of fur and paws as Chewie popped his head out. The bear bellowed out a loud greeting and came rumbling in the direction of Row. As he sped under one of the display tables in the shop one of his rear paws snagged on a table leg. The grizzly cub proceeded to roll head over heels in Row's direction, stopping with his back against her legs and his head and fore paws planted on the ground.

Daily Rolls:

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