SWEETSPEARGIRL RETURNS

Chapter 15
The Stupidity Of Anya

Cast Of Characters:
- SweetSpearGirl, the Mighty Jabazon, aiming for Lycander's Flank
- Euyfura, the Crazy Merc, now equipped with a Zephyr'd Edge Bow
- The Ubiquitous Valk

TAKE HEED AND BEAR WITNESS TO THE TRUTHS THAT LIE HEREIN, FOR THEY ARE THE LAST LEGACY OF THE HORADRIM...

After some trading, SweetSpearGirl had managed to garner a couple of runes, a two-socketed Edge Bow and a Shaftstop for Euyfura. Plugging the Ort and Eth in place, she haded her Rogue the new weapon and watched the grin spread across Euyfura's face as her damage soared. SweetSpearGirl had also solo'd her way to the Glacial Trail waypoint during a sleepless night, and now she donned her battle gear again.

"We hunting up Anya today or what?" Euyfura asked.

"Oh, if we must," SweetSpearGirl said. "But if she insists on desecrating my gear like she did with that shield, I won't be held responsible for the consequences!"

Blinking into existence at the Crystalline Passage, it wasn't long before they ran into trouble. Moon Lords, backed up by Stygian Harlots and then a moonie boss pack hove into view. Moon Ripper the Sharp was lightning-enchanted and hit hard to boot; Euyfura went down for the first time in ages and SweetSpearGirl had to recast the Valk as she grimly ploughed her way through the enemies who surrounded her, until finally they bit the dust (with a little help from Decoys and a resurrected Euyfura).

Round a corner - WHAM! - they were met by Champion Moon Lords who surrounded them! SweetSpearGirl had to quickly down a mana potion, throwing up Decoys here and there - and then there were no more moonies and the intrepid trio entered the Frozen River. Beset by Rot Walkers ("I wish they'd just Rot and stop Walking!" SweetSpearGirl said as she put one down after it got up for the third time) and Blood Temptresses, the experience bar rose steadily... Abominables barred their way and SweetSpearGirl levelled to 32, finally maxing her Jab and laying the smacketh down on another pack of badly behaved beasties. They slew Seethe Pox (cold enchanted, cold immune) and his pack of Frozen Terrors; swiftly followed by some Blood Temptresses led by Haze Rend the Unholy (extra fast). Out swarmed big packs of monstrosities across the narrow bridges, swiftly punctured by Euyfura's arrows and SweetSpearGirl's speartip. Selling off the loot back in town, Cain expressed his doubts about Nihlathak - who seemed to have conveniently disappeared!

"No more Special Brew then!" SweetSpearGirl said.

"And that's a BAD thing?" Euyfura exclaimed as they portalled back to the battleground.

"I don't know, I don't remember much after we started drinking the stuff last time!"

Frozenstein (cold enchanted, mana burn) guarded an icy platform where Anya, frozen in an ice-block, shivered. "N-N-Nihlllaththak..." she said between chattering teeth. "M-m-mal-lah..." SweetSpearGirl and Euyfura were a little busy slaying beasties at the time, but once they'd dispatched them, it was time to unfreeze the frozen. Malah had something whipped up specially.

"Wonder what amazing 'gift' the little witch has for us this time!" SweetSpearGirl snorted.

"Uh huh. At least you get that resistance scroll from Malah, eh?"

"True. I could use a resist boost. As always."

SweetSpearGirl was in fact happy to see her resists boosted to a healthy level (all except poison, which didn't matter so much for now anyway). As predicted, however, Anya's gift was suitably dire. She read the stats off the weapon for Euyfura as they sat with their backs to the stash.

"Carrion Dart
Maiden Spear
Required Level: 15
5 Chance to Cast Level 3 Fire Bolt on Striking
+1 to Javelin and Spear Skills (Amazon Only)
+1 to Minimum Damage
Fire Resist +10
Repairs 1 Durability in 33 Seconds"

NB. won't let me use percentage signs for some stupid crazy reason, so the stats on items won't show up properly! Grrrrr...

Euyfura was incredulous. "WTF?" was her response. "That's even worse than usual!"

"Uh huh. You gonna thrash her, or shall I?"

"Wait a while and see if she's gonna repeat the shield incident too," the Rogue replied. "You know, Shikha and Kyle still gossip about it."

"I'm not surprised. I really ought to catch up with Kitsilan one of these days. Last I heard, she was haranguing Tyrael over the Worldstone and his portal thingy."

"Nothing changes much, eh?" Euyfura remarked.

"You said it, Rogue!"

SweetSpearGirl sold Anya's weapon to Larzuk for a couple of thousand in gold. Tomorrow there'd be plenty of time to hunt down Nihlathak and smack him around for not making any more of his Special Brew.