An Amazon of Limited Means

Day 5

"Yo, Charsi!"

"Hey, Kits. What can I do for ya?"

"How about a kickbutt long bow with dual leeching, massive damage and prismatic resists?"

"No."

"Oh, okay. Say, about this Orangic Bollux you left in the Monastery…"

"Horadric Malus."

"What?"

"It's my Ho-rad-ric Mal-us. You want to get your ears checked, girl."

"Anyway, I'm going to see if I can hunt it up today. Anything to watch for in particular?"

"Well, there's this Smith…"

"Yeah? You're a smith."

"This is a demon Smith. Don't worry—you won't have any trouble."

Kitsilan wasn't so sure about that, but it wasn't like she had anything else to do. She checked with Kyle about their plan of attack—take the waypoint straight into the Outer Cloister or go in from the Black Marsh? The OC waypoint was likely to be trapped with Razor Spines shooting clouds of darts, and Kyle felt her chances of surviving the initial barrage to be pretty low.

In the end, that decided it. They knew the Black Marsh waypoint wasn't trapped, and the hike across the Tamoe Highlands would just serve to warm them up before tackling whatever's in the Monastery.

On a whim, Kits traded her Beryl Chain boots for Heavy Boots of Stability, thinking the Fastest Hit Recovery would come in handy against Dark Lancers and dart-tossing beasties.

The hike to the Monastery proved a good warm-up, as Kits leveled to 14, and learned the Avoid skill as a complement to Dodge. Blight Grumble the Axe, a fire-enchanted boss Dark Lancer surprised them just inside the entrance to Tamoe. ("Yesterday it was Gut Grumble. Today Blight Grumble. Wonder if they're related?") They had barely time to deal with her when Foul Ripper, a mana-burning Returned Mage, clanked into view. Kitsilan didn't need any particularly fancy moves to handle them, but did use her entire store of mana. They continued north, in a criss-crossing pattern designed to wake up as many monsters as possible so that Kitsilan could be certain none would sneak up behind them when they entered the Monastery.

As expected, approaching from the Black Marsh and through Tamoe meant the monsters of the Outer Cloister were more spread out, and Kitsilan and Kyle had little trouble eliminating them. Though Kyle did keep opening all the doors she passed.

"What is wrong with you?" Kits demanded. "Don't tell me you're claustrophobic."

"Sorry. Just habit."

"Try to control yourself. Think. Now, see, we're passing this door and we just want to pause and listen before we—Hey!"

"Oops."

Kitsilan found also that she took more damage on the whole from kicking trapped barrels than she did from most monsters, due, no doubt, to the 6% life steal of her bow.

With the Outer Cloister secured, Kitsilan allowed Kyle to open the door to the Barracks. Charging full speed ahead, Kits raced in, dashing behind the stacked barrels and boxes to flush out the Devilkin Shamans and cut them down before they could raise too many Devilkin. Kits opened the next door for herself, just for the experience, and was charged by Black Rogue minions and their boss, Foul Wound (spectral hit). Kitsilan is still wondering what a spectral hit is, as none of them have lived long enough to spectrally hit her.

Returning to the camp for repairs, Charsi asked how they were progressing. Kitsilan told her about running into Foul Wound.

"Foul Wound? I remember her," Charsi remarked.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, we were in lance class together. Her name was Wild Fowl then, of course."

"How, um, nice for you."

"Not really. She was a bit of a bully."

"Huh. Hasn't changed much. Her minions looked pretty brow-beaten."

"So, she's dead now, is she?"

"Yeah. Till tomorrow, anyway."

"If you run into her again, tell her 'hi' for me."

As they portalled back into the Barracks, Kits turned to Kyle and said, "'Tell her hi for me'?"

"Some of us haven't adjusted to the world being being overrun with monsters, and our friends and families turning into hostile undead things."

"Oh. How are you doing?"

"Me?" Kyle blinked. "I'm fine. I grew up in Tristram. 'Ware Bone Archers!"

Archers, Mages and Shamans were packed into the rooms they were now entering. Night Clan goat boys trotted in while Kits and Kyle were hashing through a particularly dense pack of Devilkin, accompanied by Fire Eye (fire enchanted, natch). Due to someone's door-opening fetish, even more Mages and Archers joined the fun, so that it was a while before Kits could even check the floor for his drop.

Kitsilan then decided to check the southeast corridors and clear them out, thinking the Smith was likely to be north of where they were. "Well, can't get much more wrong than that," she thought as she heard the mellifluous sound of his invitation to do something unspeakable ringing hollowly against the stones.

She raced back into a cleared room, bouncing off stacks of crates and barrels. Kyle lagged behind, causing Kits some anxiety as she struggled to raise a getaway portal. The portal up, Kits spotted Kyle and then the Smith, and began shooting, firing point blank at his ugly belly. For some reason, she positioned herself between the Smith and Kyle. On purpose. To protect the Rogue. Funny, the tricks one's mind can play on one in the heat of battle.

Of special note is that Kitsilan took the Smith down with only Magic Arrow. No normal arrows needed, and her mana lasted till he was dead.

However, Kyle emerged from this encounter whole and sound, nary a scratch on her. Back to the Smith's forge they went, mopping up straggling Devilkin and Bone Archers, and there was the Malus, with "CHARSI" scrawled on masking tape around the handle.

Charsi was thrilled to have it back and made a standing offer to Kitsilan to imbue any plain item she likes with magical powers. That suits Kits just fine, she wants a fancy bow—long bow now? or wait for a better bow? Hm, choices, choices…

Well, for the moment her bow is working well, so no need to imbue right away. Meanwhile, there's the rest of the Barracks…

Before Kitsilan could return to the Barracks, however, Cain wanted to tell her all about Andariel and then maundered off into a discourse on the Three Prime Evils and some war fought a long time ago. Kits listened as patiently as she could, and took the first opportunity of slipping off. She figured she'll find out all she needs to know about Andariel when she meets up with her.

Kitsilan finished clearing the Barracks with little fanfare. Not much left, really. They found the stairs to the Jail and walked down. Kitsilan carefully paced the dimensions of the large room at the foot of the stairs. A few Death Clan goat boys lurked in the shadows, but they were no problem. Especially since they usually hung around inside of barred cells, without the wit (unlike Kyle) to open the doors.

What weren't so easy were the Wraiths. As Kits and Kyle walked down the southeast corridor, Wraith minions suddenly poured from every niche. Shadow Grumble the Jagged (cursed), (distant cousin of Gut and Blight?) melted into the pack and then laid a large dose of Amp Damage on both Kyle and Kitsilan. Seeing that Kyle was down to a bit of red bar, then a red sliver, Kits broke off contact and backed up to cast a portal. They emerged in camp with no points to spare, but a word from Akara and all was well.

Back they went, and this time Kyle stayed behind a convenient barred wall and helped as Kitsilan separated the Wraith stack and took them out singly.

With a full pack, Kitsilan found the waypoint and nipped over to camp. Gheed offered her a Studded Leather of Warding to replace her Hard Leather of Warding, which seemed a decent idea and certainly looks a lot better on her.

On the way to the stairs down they found the other boss of the level, for a change not one of the Grumbles, but one Wrath Hack the Shade (stone skin), a Mage who specialized in lightning. Making sure Kyle hung out of immediate range of the boss but where she could target a minion, Kitsilan settled in just inside the doorway and opened fire. She noticed that she was taking a bit too much damage from his minions, so she switched targets and took them out. Once they were out of the way and not distracting her, Wrath Hack went down easily.

Kitsilan was wondering just how much longer Kyle would be with her, and with good reason. They entered the second level of the Jail and found Foul Dog the Destroyer (cursed, cold-enchanted) waiting for them in the third corridor they passed. A Disfigured with minions, the combination of the lightning plus curse plus his death nova was too much for Kyle. Overcome, not to mention chilled, Kitsilan barely contained her grief long enough to dispatch her killers.

Alone again for the first time in days, Kitsilan went through the motions of downing monsters and robbing the dead. She found a secret room and filled her pack with Superior armour and gold, then portalled back to town.

Cain peered myopically at her as she approached the fire. "Hello, Kitsilan! Say, where's Kyle?"

"I don't want to talk about it. What kind of sword is this?"

Breaking away from Cain, she dashed to the forge to unload. Charsi stepped out and paused. "Hi Kits! Where'd Kyle go? I fixed her boots."

Kitsilan shook her head. "She won't be needing them. What can I get for this armour?"

"It's not Kyle's, is it?"

"What do you take me for? Sheesh!"

"Okay, okay, sorry."

She stopped by her stash to put the gold away, and then turned to find Kashya at her elbow. "All right, Hero. Where's my Rogue, then?"

"Um…"

"Let me see if I've got this straight—you're standing in the Rogue Encampment with not so much as a hangnail, and Kyle, my best warrior, is now a crumpled lifeless shell on some dungeon floor?"

"Yeah, that's about it," Kitsilan responded. "Do you have anyone that shoots cold arrows?"

"You mean, with a death wish?"

"That would probably help, yeah."

The Rogue captain rubbed her temples and sighed. "Okay, try Liene."

Liene bounced up, bright, frisky and alert. Kitsilan looked at her and frowned. Cold arrows or not, it just wasn't the same. Kyle had had a certain something that made her more than just another merc. However, done is done, and Kyle's dead. At least until tomorrow.

Gheed pulled out a Strong Studded Leather of Warding, and having more gold than she needed, Kitsilan was agreeable to the change. This put her to-be-hit percentage at 56, which is not too bad for indoor work.

Liene lasted through one and a half encounters on Level 3, and her a 60/45 Rogue. The first encounter involved two boss Death Clan goat boys, each named Sin Horn the Hungry. One was cursed, the other fire enchanted. Kitsilan was so bemused by their family resemblance that she forgot to shoot for a second and had to backstep into the room they'd just cleared. Following this was the encounter where Liene bought the farm. They would never have touched Kyle, but Liene couldn't take the heat of a barrage of Bone Archer arrows. Somewhat appalled at how quickly a new Rogue could go down, Kitsilan was no longer inclined to hire any more.

Having disposed of the two bosses so early in the level, the rest was routine. Bone Archers and Mages, a few Wraiths and the next stop was the Inner Cloister.

A lightning-tossing Returned Mage met Kits at the head of the stairs, and another as she opened the southwest door to the Cloister garden. She chose that door as she'd heard the Razor Spikes in the garden generally stayed in the north end, and it was true. She managed to take out Flame Spike's minions before they knew she was there, almost, and then Flame Spike's curse was just another headlamp. Step on waypoint, blink to camp and a much-needed shampoo.

Kitsilan wanted to call it a night, but seemed everyone in camp thought that going after Andariel was really important, and she should focus, and drink this nice coffee. Kashya promised to turn a blind eye to the life span of Rogues hired to Kitsilan, and Cain promised to shut up about the Three Prime Evils, a promise which Kits took with a grain of salt.

Kits opened the door to the Cathedral and immediately dropped two Wraiths and a Dark One Shaman. She whipped up into the western side hall, took out another Wraith and slipped into the upper section, where she met Bone Ash (magic resistant, extra strong, cold enchanted). As she'd just leveled, she was ready. After he went down, only the odd Dark One plus Shaman remained. Then Kitsilan took the waypoint back to camp to ponder her stat/skill assessment. Her notes said for her to learn the Inner Sight skill, so after picking that up and disposing of her loot, she headed back.

Into the Catacombs, and it seemed the monsters were a touch above the ones on the surface. Kits ran into two Rat Man bosses who were both extra fast, a needless enhancement, she thought, given the natural adrenalin levels of Rat Men. They plus a boss Dark Shaman (Dire Poison, cursed) convinced her she either needed to use her imbue or try a gemmed long bow. Gheed had a socketed long bow, so she installed a flawed sapphire, a chipped sapphire and a chipped ruby, gaining 3-6 cold damage and 3-4 fire. She put her regular bow in her stash, and hoped she could get on without its life steal.

Level 1 was done, time for Level 2.

Almost the first thing Kitsilan noticed about Level 2 was the presence of spiders. Big ones. With biting scissor things. The second thing she noticed was that some of these spiders were minions. The third thing was Doom Slime (lightning enchanted). She ran, er, fell back to a cleared room from whence to fire volleys at Doom Slime yet stay out of reach of most of the charged bolts.

More Dark Ones, more Shamans, oh, look, a boss Shaman with multiple shot. Just what Kitsilan needed, three fireballs in her face. She got rid of him as fast as possible.

Inner Sight was proving a useful skill in this area, as it enabled Kitsilan to target monsters before she opened the doors. Even in open corridors, as it also weakens the beasties to some extent. However, she still got in a spot of trouble through inattentiveness to where she was and where she'd been, as a pack of minion spiders led by Star Vex the Unclean (extra strong) surprised her in a corridor and she took a wrong turn trying to line up her shots and found herself surrounded by spiders and under fire by a Shaman as well. Several seconds were spent getting clear of that mess, and several potions drunk.

At least Star Vex dropped a 15% fire resist ring.

That was the last fight for Level 2. She located the waypoint shortly after and then the stairs down at the opposite end of the level.

Level 3 was not the worry 1 & 2 had been, simply because while Banished are fast, they're also fragile. Ghouls are almost as fragile, but they're slow. Kitsilan only had to deal with one Ghoul boss (Bane Touch, stone skin) and a pack of Ghoul Champions.

With Level 3 cleared, all that was left was Andariel. Though first, of course, Kitsilan had to clear her anteroom. Time to hire another Rogue—Annor, whose defense isn't so hot but who could shoot fire arrows.

They hit Level 4 all alert for trouble. A few Ghouls, a Disfigured, and the little outer room was clear. Kitsilan kicked over all the barrels, just in case they might get in the way of her shooting. They hung back then, and let three Ghouls shamble in from the anteroom. When no more seemed forthcoming, Kitsilan jogged in, took a few potshots at Dark Ones, brought down a Shaman, and nipped back into the smaller room again to see what that would produce.

More Dark Ones followed her, and she and Annor popped them easily, as they were too far from the remaining Shamans to be revived. When a lull appeared, Kitsilan once more dashed into the anteroom, this time all the way to the back, where the other two Shamans were hanging around. She ate a few fireballs, but they ate her magic arrows, so that was all right.

The anteroom cleared, and Annor healed, Kits once again went round the room, opening or destroying anything that might catch her arrows. Then she opened the door to Andariel's throne room and sent off a couple random shots before moving away from the door.

A good thing, as a boss Ghoul (Viper Someone, lightning enchanted) and his minions were the first to come out and play. The lightning caused Kits a bit of trouble, and Annor more than a bit, but they had plenty of room to lead the Ghouls on. Viper Whosit dropped a blue studded leather, which (as there was again a lull in victims) Kitsilan took to camp and sold. She also healed Annor again, marveling that she was holding up as well as she was. Not that she cared; she was through caring about mercs.

Back in the anteroom, Kits took the precaution of casting a portal about a third of the way from the hall door, and near the wall opposite the big door to Andariel's throne room. If there was trouble, her plan went, she'd be able to get to that portal easily and return via the waypoint on Level 3.

It took a bit of teasing, but Andariel finally came out. Kitsilan didn't notice her poison nova and isn't sure she even got it off. Kits led her directly into Annor's fire, and though Annor went down from a single blow, she may have distracted Andariel beyond the moment when she could poison nova. The chill effect from the sapphires in Kitsilan's bow slowed Andariel to where Kits could dance rings around her, shooting volley after volley of Magic Arrows.

Andariel went down faster than Star Vex on Level 3. No potions or arrows needed. All Magic Arrow, using a gemmed long bow.

Quick dash through the throne room to mop up stragglers and pick up goodies, and Kitsilan's back in camp, ready to celebrate, nap a bit and head east to Lut Gholein. Kashya wanted her autograph and Cain tripped over himself trying to keep her mind on the Big Picture ("Diablo! Prime Evils! Mephisto!").

As she drowsed off that night, her last thought was to hope that whoever hired Kyle next would at least take her through one level-up, just so the kid could get out of camp for a while.

She is currently level 15, going on 16.

Stats:

strength: 34

dexterity: 52

vitality: 44

energy: 20

Magic Arrow damage: 15-30 (70% to hit)

Magic Arrow Attack Rating: 180 (56% to be hit)

Defence Rating: 85

stamina: 122

life: 150

mana: 44

fire resistance: 30

cold & lightning resistance: 0

poison resistance: 16

Skills:

Magic Arrow 6

Critical Strike 6

Dodge 1

Avoid 1

Inner Sight 1

Equipment:

gemmed long bow (flawed sapphire, chipped sapphire, chipped ruby)

strong studded leather of warding

sturdy heavy gloves of readiness

light belt of stability

heavy boots of stability

jade skull cap of health

iron ring

crimson ring of energy

crimson amulet