The young warrior stood by the bar at Ogden’s Tavern, eyeing its occupants in the dim light. A
poised rogue caught his eye -- medium height, medium build, but the way she carried herself bespoke
an inner confidence. He liked that in a woman, and moved closer.

“May I buy you a drink?”, he intoned masterfully.

The rogue turned to face him. “Certainly.”

The young man gasped, then almost stumbled backwards. “I . . . I’m sorry. I’m mistaken. I thought
you were someone else. I . . . “ he began to stammer explanations.

But the rogue turned back to the bar and her drink, and a simple backhand wave dismissed the youngster.

Shaken, the fighter backed away and sat at the next nearest table. He didn’t notice that it was already occupied by a grizzled veteran.

“Something upset you? You look quite shaken.” the man inquired.

“No. It’s nothing. I just . . . .” the youth tripped over the words. He then whispered sidelong. “Do
you see the rogue at the bar? Did you happen to see her face?”

“Ah”, said the experienced man. “So, you met the one they call The Fell. And yes, I’ve seen her
face.”

“By the gods what happened to her? Was she born that way, or did some accident befall her?”

The oldster leaned back in his chair. “Hmmm, now that’s quite a story. She wasn’t born that way,
no. But no accident marred her either.”

“I don’t understand. You say . . . “

“That it’s a long tale. Can you stay and listen? The story is good, but quite lengthy. I wouldn’t
want to have you change your plans . . .”

“No, no. Continue.”

“Well, perhaps you have heard of the disturbances they were having in the West. In a small town
called Tristram . . . “

This is the tale of Roede_Orm, warrior, and Taoni_the_Fell, rogue. I met Roede through the
Dreams of the Sleeping God website, when he inquired about partners for playing ironman.
Although he hadn’t played ironman before, he had a thorough knowledge both of the site and of
Jarulf’s guide. I had played ironman before, and had defeated Diablo twice in ironman in single
player solo games as a rogue. I hadn’t had the time needed to complete the same in multiplayer.

We exchanged emails and basic info starting in mid-December. By mid-January we finally had each
other’s schedules set to the point where we could meet twice a week to game for about four hours
un-interrupted each session. We started our first ironman game mid-January, and got progressively
better. The following outlines our final ironman game with this duo, beginning March 13th, 2001
and ending April 5th, 2001. Before this successful venture, we probably played around 20 ironman
games, some good, some bad, but all were learning experiences.

General Notes: We played using pretty much typical “bait and trap” tactics, where the warrior stood
to the side of a door while the rogue scouted, attracted monsters, lured them back to the trap point,
and then lent artillery assistance. Any exceptions are noted in the text. As the rogue gets her
experience faster -- sometimes taking out opponents before they get into the doorway where the
warrior can strike them -- we often opted to change this tactic, and let the warrior roam solo on a
level.

In visiting Griswald and Adria we ended up with a cape AC 5, a small shield AC 6, and an Id scroll.
We opted to give Roede a head start on the experience points, and so our brave warrior went and
cleared levels 1 and 2 (except the Butcher) alone.

Level 1 -- The usual suspects: skeletons, scavengers, fallens, and zombies. They gave up a cloak
AC7, a cap AC1, a short bow, one book of charged bolt and one book of heal. Three res scrolls!!
Roede lupped to clevel 3.

Level 2 -- Skeleton Captains, Skeleton Archers, Fiends, and Devil Kin. The archers were a bother
and Roede had to use his first red here. (Author’s note: Better a poorly spent red potion than a well
spent res scroll.) Roede locates a falchion, a heal staff, and -- hurrah!-- a blood fountain! After all
level two except the Butcher is cleared, Taoni finishes her ale at Ogden’s and joins Roede. The
distance from the Butcher’s chamber to the stairs down is extremely long and tortuous (read, he’ll
probably get lost in transit) and the stairs are below the Chamber, meaning the rogue would still be
playing “ring around the rosie” should the warrior lead him there. As an alternate, right next to the
Butcher’s Chamber is a room with a long grate, running parallel with his path from his door and a
door leading into the room at its far end. We opt to use it rather than the stairtrap routine, so the
rogue patiently waits at the corner of the grating nearest the Butcher’s Chamber, while our robust
warrior opens the door.

Our first incident here -- as the warrior flees the Butcher pursues until he gets to the rogue’s area of
influence. Then, because I’m in the corner of this room, he doesn’t “turn the corner” and walk in
front of the grillwork. Argh! Send the warrior back out. The Butcher pursues, then falls back
around the corner again. I try to move the rogue away from the corner, to force the Butcher to
make the turn, and tell Roede to try again. At this point Mr. Murphy lends an unwelcome hand, as
the Butcher suddenly appears on the grillwork side, alongside our warrior, and between him and the
door leading into the safety of the rogue’s room! Yikes! A frantic minute spent running and
dodging, until the Butcher finally decides that the rogue is indeed the more attractive of the pair, and
he obligingly starts pacing in front of the grate. The warrior joins the rogue inside the room, gets out
his bow, and the Butcher is dispatched. Bah! All that work for an ax drop! We leave it. Roede gets
to clevel 7, Taoni still has zero exp. (BTW, did you know that the Butcher gives absolutely no
experience?) Two more res scrolls.

Level 3 -- As we need the rogue to level up in order to put experience points into magic for the Holy
Bolt book/staff we hope to find, we do our standard “bait and trap” routine on a rabble of fallens,
rotting carcasses, corpse bows, and burning dead. We cleared most of this level and came upon a
final door behind which was a telltale glow. As we had found neither HB in book or staff form, we
opted to go on to level four and return when better equipped. We came back when Roede_Orm was
level 9 and had a mace, and Taoni was level 3 and had learned holy bolt via a tome. After enticing
him from his archer horde, we retreated to a door trap we had previously agreed upon and awaited
him in trap formation. It took Roede one small red and Taoni two large blues of HB before Leo was
brought down. He dropped a two-handed sword! Useless! Other bosses included Gutshank (Fallen
-- dropped a large axe) and Goretongue (Rotting Corpse -- dropped a spiked club) and Skullfire
(skeletal archer -- dropped a quilt AC 9). Two more res scrolls!

Level 4 -- Corpse Captains, Burning Dead Captains, Burning Dead Archers, Glooms, Dark Ones,
Shadow Beasts and Bone Gnashers. Seven “different” foes! Thought you could only have five or
six at most?!?! Standard duo tactics make the baddies give up a warhammer, a claymore, a small
shield AC8, and a cap AC3. There are two rings drops on this level. At the end of the session,
Roede is level 10 and Taoni is level 8. Another res scroll! Total of eight!

End of first gaming session. Approx. playing time: three and 1/2 hours.

“Go on!”, encouraged the young man. “What happened next? You still haven’t explained her
marks.”

“Ah, all in good time. I told you it was a long tale. And telling the tale can parch a man’s throat,
don’t you see? You wouldn’t be willing perhaps . . . .?”

The young man impatiently waved to Ogden. “It’s coming. And then?”

The weathered soldier drew closer. “And then pair left the relative safety of the Church, and entered
the darker recesses of the Catacombs . . . .”

Second session on March 15th; the Catacombs.

Level 5 -- Dark Ones, Burning Dead Captains, Horrors, Blinks, Glooms, and Stone Goats. The level
was promising, with no ranged attackers, so after about 1/4 of the maze is completely, Taoni
stretches and decides to have lunch. Roede continues on, and with careful use of our blood fountain
completes the level without using a single potion. Rewards: a skullcap from Foulwing, a ring from
Wraithraven, Baranar’s Star from Shadowdrinker, and a staff of Firewall (with 27 charges!!!) from
Shadow Crow.

Level 6 -- Glooms, Familiars, Winged Demons, and Flesh Clan Goat Archers. Taoni has dessert
while Roede practices his goat chasing skills. Nothing of note on this level.

Level 7 -- Stone Clan Mace Goats, Fire Clan Bow Goats, Unseens, and Familiars. Because of the
mix, we decide to go back to teamwork and bait and trap.

However, an unforeseen glitch appears. Since Roede still has a very low to hit %, the Stone Clan
Goats have the nasty habit of walking right past him when he misses, and then either teaming up on
him 3- to - 1 or attacking Taoni!! After several VERY close calls, we decide to change our stance.
This time, after Taoni scouts for opponents and runs through the door on the return, Roede steps
directly in front of the door to block it more fully. Taoni has to run to one side and fire at the
doorway at about a 45 degree angle. This new formation works; very few goats slip by us now.

Important drop: Flamedart!

Level 8 -- Familiars, Horned Demons, Acid Beasts, Poison Spitters. Normal bait and trap with the
rogue getting lots of exp due to the dogs. A dog drops a ring, and then Chaoshowler drops a magic
blade. We haven’t ided anything yet (we are using educated guesses on the uniques previously
dropped), and we ponder whether we should identify this blade as Roede is still using a simple
Claymore. We decide that he needs a better weapon (the Stone Clan Goats from the previous level
weighing heavily on our minds) and use up our first id scroll. It’s a Gold Blade of Sorcery ! (+23%
to hit/ +18 magic) Argh! We decide this blade is too nice to waste on standard bad guys and wear
out (it has both nice to hit % AND is a good pair of reading glasses!) and so Roede sighs and puts it
in his inventory. He’ll save it for bosses.

Important finds: Eldritch Shrine and a Purifying Spring!

At the end of this level, Roede is clevel 15 while Taoni is 14. Roede will be entering the Caves
wearing Quilted Armor and using a Claymore. Taoni is using a Composite Bow. At this time we
have 8 id scrolls and 8 (!! count ‘em, EIGHT) res scrolls! No Glimmering shrine though.

Second session ends. Approximate playing time: four and 1/2 hours.

“So it was the acid from the dogs . . . ?”

“Nay, nay, ‘twas not. Yer getting ahead of me now. Another round if you please while I collect my
thoughts.”

“It’s coming. Get on with it!”

“Well, now the dungeon took on a look that showed no man’s hand had constructed it. Boiling lava,
jagged spires from both the floor and the ceiling, and only the most rudimentary of wooden fences.”

The third session on March 20th; the Caves.

Level 9 -- Gargoyles and Hellstones. Teamwork for 2/3 of the level, then the warrior soloed the last
1/3. Taoni to level 15; Roede to level 16. Drops of note: ring from a Hellstone, ammy from a
chest, and a plain Bastard sword.

Level 10 -- Toads, Mudrunners, and Poison Spitters. Teamwork for first 1/2; when Plaguewrath
was out of the way(he drops a Blade), warrior did the second 1/2 alone. Taoni to 16, Roede to 17.
Finally some armor shows up: plain chainmail AC18, a large shield AC 10. Other drops: ring from
a chest, ring from a Toad, and staff of TP from a Toad.

Level 11 -- Slayers and Pit Beasts.
If we hadn’t noticed it before, here our lack of decent armor and resistances was brought home with
a vengeance! We had to baby-step our way through this one, as even two Slayers were a
life-threatening experience! The staff of TP came in handy as we each set a TP, and then traded off
going through each other’s portals to the “blood fountain” as needed.
Our first casualty here: when the rogue accidentally activates three Slayers rather than two, the pack
proves to much for our warrior. Taoni makes them pay dearly for their single-minded attack,
however, and retrieves our first res scroll from town.
At this time we take stock: 8 id scrolls, 7 res scrolls, and 44 total potions. In order for Roede to
stand his ground and allow Taoni a chance to practice her art, he must drink potions in most
upcoming battles with two or more foes. Our stock of potions is being steadily depleted, Blood
Fountain or no.
Drops: Tower Shield AC12, Breast Plate AC21, Magic Helm AC6, Magic Long Battlebow, a short
war bow (finally some decent bow drops!), and an ammy and an elix of vitality!
Roede up to 18; Taoni up to 17

Level 12(part one) -- Lava Maws, Storm Lords, Flayed Ones
Any ironman team’s worst nightmare -- we are ambushed after we come down the stairs! There is a
long and FULL corral to our right, with all three opponents well-represented in numbers. In dodging
to the left to find an trap/set spot and get some range, we simply find more opponents. Before we
can even agree on what to do, we are in one hell of a fight. It doesn’t take Taoni long to size up the
situation, and she runs up the stairs back to 11. Roede fights gamely on, hoping to salvage a
hopeless situation. Seeing the black specter of Death waiting in the wings, Roede activates a TP
scroll and dives through it without a moment to spare! (life under 20!) Taoni joins him in town.

We confer. If we take the stairs back down, we almost certainly and immediately face four Storm
Lords, three Lava Maws, and three Flayed Ones, and near-certain death. It’s looking grim. With
much misgiving but also a sense of there being no alternative, we decide to skip level 12 for now and
take the crack down to level 13. At this point, seeing that the game may end all too soon, we decide
to id some jewelry in the hopes that we’ll get some resists. We use up seven of our eight id scrolls in
this effort (some of the ided jewelry stunk; read -- ring of thieves), and we BOTH wanted a full set
of jewelry on before we went any further. We ended up with an ammy of Jaguar (+12 life), Ring of
Jaguar (+20 life), and Raven’s (+17 mana) ring of Might (+10 strength) going to the rogue, and an
Ivory ammy of the wolf, ring of giants, and silver ring going to the warrior. No decent resistances!
Sigh We also decide to id Flamedart. No id scrolls remaining.

Level 13 -- Vortex Lords and Cave Vipers
Babysteps again, with us setting up the double town portals and multiple visits to the blood fountain.
Taoni scouts this level with her bow, shooting blindly down corridors, trying to activate single
opponents. For the most part she is successful. However, in turning one corner three Vortex Lords
make a surprise appearance, and Roede falls under a rain of sword blows and infernos. Taoni exacts
a harsh payment on the three, and we use our second res scroll.
The going is VERY slow! Multiple trips to the blood fountain; practically after every combat! By
the time we find the stairs up to level 12, the level is practically done. Gorefeast guards the stairs,
but by this time Taoni has learned Stone Curse. Two stone curses and multiple arrows and sword
blows later, the Bad Guy gives up a book of Bone Spirit! Gack! No way can we read this thing!
Other drops: full helm, gothic shield AC14, a ring, and book of Fireball.
Roede to level 19, Taoni to 19

Level 12(part two) --Lava Maws, Storm Lords, and Flayed Ones again
Coming up the stairs into 12, we notice two things: first, we are fairly close to the place we got
ambushed (bad) and second, there is a choke point facing it (good; very very good). With Roede
laying in wait and Taoni drawing in the minions with bowshots, we eventually dispatch the
ambushing horde. After that it is slow but steady work -- the Flayed Ones are no problem, but both
the Lava Maws and Storm Lords are trouble since we still lack decent resists. Flamedart does a
number on the Storm Lords, however. Again, a corner turned too quickly activates a group of two
Lava Maws and a Storm Lord, and Roede’s resistances (or lack thereof) can’t handle the pool of
acid he ends up fighting from. He succumbs a third time. Taoni blasts the attackers to ashes with
Flamedart and retrieves another res scroll.
However, while on a scouting mission down a long East/West corridor, Taoni activates three dogs.
As they pursue, they also fire. Unfortunately, even though I’ve clicked a position that will take
Taoni around a corner and to safety, she runs to it in a long straight path West/East to reach it.
During that time, blobs of acid/poison catch up to her, and each hit stuns/stops her. In the end, with
no resistance from their hits, she dies. It is up to Roede (who has the Ivory Amulet) to ambush them
at the corner and then res the rogue.
Taoni to 20, Roede still at 19.

Drops: a flail, a sabre, a ring, and an id scroll.
Third session ends. This was a marathon game, lasting over six and a 1/2 hours due to the ambush
on 12 and the slow going on 13.

The Fourth Session -- March 21st

Level 14 -- Vortex Lords and Hell Spawn.
We established a good trap/set point right next to the stairs, where an “invisible wall” / overhang
stops Hell Spawn shots while allowing our rogue free return fire. The Lords were brought as
carefully as possible one - by - one to our trap spot. After clearing 1/3 of the maze from this
vantage, we had to move and reset. No invisible wall/overhang now. We try a different tactic;
Roede waits at a corner in standard trap fashion while Taoni scouts. If a Vortex Lord is the
opponent, we deal with him in standard “bait and trap” fashion. If a Hell Spawn is the opponent,
Taoni runs past Roede and then turns. The witch follows closely, then sees and sets up to fire upon
Roede at the corner. Roede take a step back behind the wall, dodging the shot, and forcing the
witch to come forward to get him back into line of sight to fire again. While all this is going on,
Taoni is in the background, plinking away like mad. We can kill one witch this way without taking
any hits at all; two or more means some damage will be taken.

And indeed, when three witches and Mr. Murphy and the Lag Beast all show up at the same time,
it’s bad news.

We are dealing with the three witches, keeping them somewhat corralled in front of us and doing
standard damage when -- *lurch*-- the game desyncs and suddenly all three witches are BEHIND
our intrepid duo! Bizarre! When before Taoni lurked in the background while the witches targeted
Roede, now she finds herself at the center of attention of three Hell Spawn at close range! Despite
her best efforts, she cannot elude their fire and falls beneath a hail of bloodstars. It is now up to
Roede to play a game of “chase the witch” with three opponents, and if he loses this game, the
ironman attempt (our best effort yet) is over! Luckily he proves up to the challenge, and after only
one “blood fountain” visit, he defeats the three and resses the rogue.

Drops: scale mail, a kite shield, an ammy, and a warhammer from Stareye the Witch. Roede lups to
20; Taoni lups to 21.

Fourth session ends, and believe it or not, this ONE dungeon level took over 3 and 1/2 hours to
clear! We had to go so slow and the witches were so difficult to kill, it just ate up all our time!

The Fifth Session (March 22nd)

Level 15 -- Hell Spawns, Azure Drakes, Snow Witches

The stairs are in the Southeast corner and two broad corridors lead away from them. This provides
for lots of running room but no good set or trap points. The broad corridors allow for little cover,
and the “hanging corpses” (shish-kebobs) stop bow shots, so Taoni is forced to scout visually.

This proves fatal.

The first time three Azure Drakes and a Hell Spawn respond, killing Roede and leading our rogue on
a merry chase until she drops them all with Flamedart.

The second time it is 4 Drakes and one dead warrior.

The third time (to a snake and two witches) and it becomes apparent: this is NOT a warrior’s
dungeon. With the room to maneuver and no sets points, this level is obviously meant for an archer.
With only one res scroll remaining, Roede takes off his helm and goes topside to enjoy some
well-earned R&R. Taoni breaks out Flamedart and incinerates those who oppose her. A trip to the
Purifying Spring coupled with Stone Curse takes out Red Vex, Blood Lust, and Black Jade. Lazarus
proves to be a problem. Taoni finally has to call down Roede, who stands outside Laz’s chamber
near the top right corner, making Laz approach that opposite corner in response. Since Roede is
closer, Laz pays all his attention to him, doing the old “fade in and out” in the northeast corner of his
room. Taoni simply walks inside (to the Southeast corner) and begins shooting into the NE corner.
Every second or two she scores a hit, and eventually the Vile Betrayer falls.

Roede lups to 21; Taoni to 23.
Drops: crown AC12, field plate AC40, a second heal book, a 2nd staff of HO, a ring, an ammy, a
book of inferno from Jade, Chainmail from Vex, hard leather from Lusty, and a Staff of Flash
(PAH!) from Lazarus.
Just in curiosity, we sometime id stuff at Cain’s that we know we are leaving behind, to give us an
idea of what we should be doing (or NOT doing) in future ironman games. This time, we id a spiked
club dropped from a chest. It turns out to be a KING’s club! Sigh We have to leave it.

This session, for the single dungeon level, again lasted over three hours.

The Sixth (and final) Session -- April 4th

The Standard Foes -- Advocates, Blood Knights, and Diablo.
The layout, in my opinion, was one of the best -- a long East / West running corridor effectively
compartmentalizing each quadrant/room. We cleared the area around Diablo’s room first (the fourth
room, lower left), there being very few opponents present, and my rogue liking the idea of having a
circular track around which to run with opponents in pursuit.
The tactics were pretty much: use bow shots to activate single blood knights, and them team up on
them to kill them. We were intent upon having Roede level one more time, and he needed 74 kills to
do so. The Advocates were all Taoni’s department, with Flamedart’s +40 % fire resist meaning she
could stand toe-to-toe with any single Advocate and kill it before it killed her(barely). A trip to the
Blood Fountain, and repeat as needed. Only packs of Advocates proved a problem, but by using the
“reading glass” blade dropped by Chaoshowler earlier Taoni let loose a Golem which broke up the
formations. Then it was back to the one-on-one attacks. Sir Gorash required two Stone Curses, but
quickly fell to Flamedart’s fury and Roede strong arm.
We had cleared nearly everything, with the third room opened and only Advocates remaining. Roede
needed only two more kills to lup, and there were only three more Advocates left. Taoni lent Roede
a bow, and stoned the first wizard, which Roede was able to dispatch. Then, due to
miscommunications, Taoni stoned a second Advocate, but when Roede entered to fire upon it the
third returned fire on Roede, and then teleported out beside Taoni! By the time Taoni had danced
away from this opponent, the second one became “un-stoned” and began firing too. With no more
mana to stone curse and Advocates teleporting everywhere and bow shots flying about, it was quite
a melee! The long and short of it: two dead Advocates, Roede lupped to 22, and Flamedart broke!
ARGH! Dangnabit!
Drops: A gothic shield AC16, a long war bow(which I cannot use), and a Quilted Armor from Sir
Gorash. What crap!

We went back to town, repaired all, potioned up, and picked up all our stuff. In gearing up, we go
through a small comedy routine of “Do you have the Firewall staff? I don’t have the Firewall staff,
so you MUST have the Firewall Staff! No, YOU must have it!” Anyway, it’s gone! On one of the
session’s ends, we must have gotten careless and left it behind. Lordy! Those 27 Firewall stacked
on top of each other sure would have helped. Ah well. We also use our last id scroll, and Roede
chooses a magic gothic shield. It’s a Lapis shield. Dang our luck sucks!
We chose a point in the outside corner of the Southwest corner of the “cross” room to set in. Using
an infravision scroll, Taoni determined the Big Guy’s position inside the fourth room and marks the
spot outside with some gold. Then Roede got set, and Taoni threw the levers.
A small note here: Taoni needed only two more kills and she would have leveled also. Rather than
bring out and destroy two Blood Knights using her bow, however, I decided that the five points into
str/mag/dex just wouldn’t matter that much in the game, compared to the potions we might use in
trying to defeat the knights (we were down to our last 13 potions -- 12 yellows and one small blue.
Roede had eight yellow in his belt, Taoni the other in hers.) Also, even this session is taking a
LONG time, so rather than continue it, I decide that we should just go to the finale.

Stats on Taoni(level 23 rogue):

Str 32 AC54 Scale Armor(AC 26)
Mag 32 To Hit 95% A Crown(AC10)
Dex 90 Damage 19-23 Short War Bow
Vit 48 Resists: All ZERO

Life 154
Mana 100

Ammy of the Jaguar (+12)
Ring of the Jaguar (+20)
Raven’s (+17 mana) ring of Might (+10)
Firewall is level four, costs 16 mana to cast
Belt has two small yellows, one small blue, one heal scroll, one firewall scroll, one infravision scroll
(used) and two large yellows. No backups in inventory.

Stats on Roede(level 22 warrior):

Str 81/99 AC 79 Field Plate AC40
Mag 23/41 To hit 121% Crown AC11
Dex 60 Dam 24-29 Lapis Goth. shield (+38 lightn res)
Vit 30 resistances 39/0/38
Gold (+23%) Blade of sorcery (+18 mag)
life 158 Ivory (+39 mag res) ammy of the wolf (+36 hp)
mana 62 Ring of Giants (+18 str)
Silver ring (+18% to hit)
Belt had 3 small and 5 large yellows. No backups in inventory.

A swift Holy Bolt down a path predetermined to lead to Diablo (from using the infravision scroll
earlier, and marking it with dropped gold) and Taoni takes off running. Oddly, the is no confirming
“grunt” of Diablo taking the hit. I’m in position beside Roede(who is already swinging madly) and
I’m wondering if I missed. I’m about to type in a message saying I’m going to try again when the
Big Guy turns the corner! Taoni begins stacking Firewalls while Diablo stands in front of
Roede(making like a Cuisenart) and swings at Taoni (game creator). Ouch! Those claws and the
occasional Apocalypse sure do hurt! Taoni is cool under fire though, and drinks yellow after yellow
while laying on more Firewalls. After going through four yellows and the blue, and laying down at
least 14 firewalls, she starts with the bow. Diablo concentrates his efforts on her, and I watch with
grim fascination as, her final potion gone, her health drops. Roede and I have both previously
agreed: here we stand, here we fall, and fall she finally does, in about four claw hits. Diablo remains
standing in the fire, however, and turns his attention to the warrior. After only about four full
seconds(and three yellow potions, Roede tells me), the screen freezes and then changes to the “blood
spewing fiend” screen. We go through the ending cinematics, and get booted out to our chat
channel, both sporting dots. Roede survived; Taoni did not, but since we had one res scroll
remaining, we consider it a victory for both of us as Roede could have ressed her afterwards.
Hurrah!

Total game time this session: again, over three hours.

Final notes:
We did not record shrines, but we hit a number of very favorable ones (read: permanently adding to
statistics). No Glimmering Shrine, however, and that HURT.
We were not able to id numerous rings, ammys, and found armors and weapons. We choose not to
use any goat shrines we found, and the lack of a glimmering shrine hampered us a bit. Plus, using up
all our id scrolls before level 13 (when we thought the game might be ending anyway) really hurt us
in the long run. We ended up being able to identify only ONE item from levels 12 through 16! At
the time, we had no choice, in our opinions.

We found no telekinesis book or staff. As we had to open the fourth room anyway, in order to get
the exp for Roede to lup, this became a moot point. However, it was a disturbing omission.
We found no book of heal other. We found two STAVES of HO, however. Still, since we had the
purifying spring, a book of HO would have been nice, to have been able to cast HO freely from
Taoni onto Roede during combat. Might have spared us a res scroll.
The Blood Fountain and Purifying Spring were incredible pieces of good fortune to find in the game.
Seriously, I do not see how and Ironman team could be successful without finding either one or the
other in a game (unless you let the rogue go solo and hog wild on the last four levels). You just go
through potions so fast!

A nit/note to Blizzard and all rogues. I really HATE the coding in Diablo for movement in that it
forces your character to make long straight runs before finally turning a corner or obstacle when
retreating. This sets them up to take all kinds of ranged attacks in the back before they reach a place
of safety. And if you move in short bursts to the diagonal to foil this, your slow movement allows
your foes time to catch you. Sigh We’ll just have to deal with it, as Blizzard is probably putting
it’s efforts to more lucrative pursuits than re-writing old code.

Finally, don’t wait for items to become RED before you repair them. The durability you lose from
repairing at three or four doesn’t begin to compare with the durability you lose if the item BREAKS!
I still mourn the loss of Flamedart; that bow kicked ass even on levels 15 and 16!

“Ah, so that’s how she got . . . “

“Yep. Her bravery cost both her life and her fair face. But many would say that she bears her scars
proudly, and that the beauty of a courageous heart outshines any physical scar.”

“Hah! Spoken as only one growing old can believe! She would be lucky now if . . .” The younger
man paused as he saw the older man tense, and then felt a presence behind him. Leaning past the
youth, Taoni_the_Fell spoke.

“Ready to go?” Her “good” side faced him, “Thank the gods”, he thought.

“Yep. Finishing up my drink with my new friend here. Thanks for the beer, and listening to an
elder’s tale.” He pushed away from the table, joined the rogue, and together they made their way to
the door.

The youth politely stood too, and walked over to settle accounts with Ogden.

“Four ales for me, and four for the old man with the tale to tell,” he called. “And you would not
believe the yarn he wove! Claimed that he took on the Lord of Terror without . . . hey, what’s this?”

“Your change, good master. I only need charge you for four ales. The ‘old man’, as you call him,
drinks for free.”

“Eh? And why’s that?”

“Why, everyone knows that Roede_Orm freed the town of Tristram from its dark shadow! He’s one
of the greatest living warriors in the West! He’ll drink here for free all long as I do business here.”

The young man gaped at the backs of the two receding heroes.

On tap for the future: rather than attempt Nightmare -- seeing as we have TERRIBLE resists and
weapons and armor-- we’ve opted to start a new team of two. This time it’s a warrior/ mage
combo. Levels 1 -4 were a breeze; we’ll see about the deeper ones.

Roede_Orm level 22 IRONMAN warrior
Taoni_the_Fell level 23 IRONMAN rogue

Posted April 6, 2001

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