Our first visit to the plains

My fellow swarthy shipmate and I recalled the recent (but unnecessary) double downing of the Elder, the building of our defensive expanse of a base on the new elder continent, and our completion of a portal network that would put the Stargate franchise to shame. This ship had served us well in our journeys and we knew we had great adventures ahead.

We decided to take a moonlit sail down the coast in search of new land to maybe call our home. Little did we know the fog was rolling in and the seas would be rougher than normal. From the safety of our sailboat, we watched the shore to our left as we sailed south, for any signs of life. Perhaps a princess would be visible and in need of our special talents? Maybe a new beast would offer a challenge to our skills? First, we saw the familiar black forest to our left. Next, a swamp like area likely full of nasty creatures. I asked if we should stop and my shipmate said "nay, lets keep going"… so we did.

Soon the shoreline changed from a swampy look to more of a mixture of trees and open fields. A voice in the back of my head said "those look like the open plains where a farmer could put down some roots". At the same time I saw a large stone feature rising up from the earth, my shipmate yelled "skellys". It looked to be a building but it was difficult to see through the fog at night… but I could see the movement near it. Having felled many skeleton creatures across the land and knowing our skills are soon to be tested again, I aimed the boat towards the shore and yelled out "we're going in"!

My shipmate jumped out faster than I could put the sails up and he hit the beach like a berserker from the tales of yore. Before he made it to the closest shadowed creature, he let out a cry. "i'm dead" he said, continuing with some statement about a bee or flying creature having "one shot him". With fear of my own life being taken I attempted to pull the sails down and reverse the ship as it would take too long to turn around completely. My friend was dead and there was nothing I could do but live to fight another day. The winged creature turned it's attention on me and attacked my boat several times. Due to the wind not being in my favor (as typical whenever the need is urgent) and me being in reverse… the creature followed me for what seemed like minutes and attacked until I fell as well.

So now our ship is out in the ocean and we are both naked and hungry at our main home. I had previously mentioned that if a situation like this occurred, I am done with this thing. Still, my body and our boat was far off shore and could likely be recovered if the thing didn't stick around. My friend's body… might be lost to us. So we build a raft and slowly sail back to the boat. Sure enough, all my stuff is there and I am ready to return to the fight. We swap to the boat and nestle among some small land patches just offshore. My shipmate tries to hop over and grab his gear but dies again in a second. As I was already in the boat, pointed the right direction, and wind to my back… I sailed away before his body hit the ground. Memories of my past life confirmed I was doing the right thing.

I head back to the base and pick up my friend for round 3 during the daylight. This time, we head to the same land patches off shore, but I use the level 3 fine bow to snipe a goblin creature and kill him as he made his way to us. Meanwhile my friend watches the area for the flying creature and soon spots it fluttering about. We came to realize it looks like a giant mosquito and not a bee. With marksman precision, I shot the thing out of the sky and we both cheered. Our attention was soon directed at the remaining visible goblin on the beach… apparently herding two lizard bison around. He was too far to accurately shoot with the bow and all failed attempts resulted in him running around for a while and one of the bison creatures doing the same. Soon a troll appeared to our left and was dangerously close to noticing us and causing a whole new set of problems, so I pulled out my axe and shield while running at the goblin and yelling for my shipmate to grab his gear from the ground.

Upon blocking most of the first incoming goblin attack, I swung my axe once… twice… and quickly found these things took far less damage from this than from my arrows. Having realized my mistake I yelled for retreat as my cohort had obviously had enough time to recover his goods. Well, his efficiency in doing that was thwarted by the fact he was carrying several items already, forcing him to have to labor in transferring his gear from the ground to his bags one at a time. I died almost instantly… perhaps to the goblin, his furry friend, or both. I yelled to "get to the boat, I am dead" but my friend lasted only for a few more seconds. "Why didn't we continue with the arrow sniping approach that had been working?", I asked myself.

Certainly this was the time to stop playing this damn game for good. I could be shooting people in warzone and there are no flying mosquitos or lizard buffalo ambushing me. I was definitely second guessing my life choices for the last few days.

Suffice it to say, we took trip 4 down to the same area soon after. We took it slow with the final goblin from far away with a level 1 fine bow I had built. I noticed the arrow drop is significantly changed as you level it up. While my friend watched for mosquitos and other creatures, I ran and got my stuff. After I healed up I watched for him to do the same and he went for it. A mosquito did come out of nowhere but he handled it quickly using his temporary axe, dropping it and everything else on him so he could slurp up all his gear in one shot… and he did.

We did cheer as we sailed away (quickly) and were humbled from our previous overconfidence. It was probably about 2 hours of our lives… gone.

TLDR; Plains sucks, rafts suck, mosquitos suck, this game doesn't suck (but it did for a couple hours).