Level 14 - Fire totem a-plenty

Spent a few hours finishing off quests in Tirisfal Glades and quickly levelled up to 13. Excited, I ran back to my shaman in the Razor Hill, only to be bitterly disappointed as he simply shook his head and said he had nothing to teach me. Bastard.

I heathstoned back to the undead world and wandered over to Sepulchre(?) which was a pleasant (but long) run past wolves and bears. The mini town itself is full of kill-me-ten-demonic-onions kind of quests, which I did a couple of before deciding to head back to my shamanic quests, which I'd been putting of, as it meant running about the desert again for long periods.

Anyway, I search for the cave with the evil thug people I must kill for an age before finding it, and am happy to discover that I can despatch the bad guys without too much trouble (one at a time that is). I make it to the end of the cave only to realise that what I needed I had in fact picked up at the very beginning. There wasn't even any treasure at the end. Damn it. I ran back through the cave and shot out of it followed hotly by about six spellcasters, all flashing my heels with thunderbolts.

I jump off a cliff and land on a ledge, which they don't seem able to get to. Escaped.

Part two of the current shamanic quest is to get some tar from some quill beasts in the barrens which is (you guessed it) a long, long run away. It is about this time that I discover the Num Lock key - auto-run. Press it and you'll run in the direction you're pointed until the end of time.

I point myself towards the barrens and turn it on, then go and make some tea. When I get back I'm being pursued by a selection of scorpions, lizards and crocolisks. I cast a taunt totem and they all attack that as I run away. Useful, that.

I find the quill beast creatures fairly easily and the first one I kill has the tar. I'm about to run away when another shaman runs up.

'Where's the tar?' He asks.

'Here.' I say, 'I just got some from that guy.'

'Can I have it?'

'No.' I say, as I run off.

Auto-run for 5 minutes to the base of the mountain, then manually run up up. Shaman at the top is waiting for me. Ah good, he tells me, good show, what. He gives me some kind of horn which I use at some big monolith which makes a brace of fire demons appear at the top of the hill nearby. I run up and kill one of them easily, the others just seem to dance around and leave me alone.

I put the demon's embers with the horn on the brazier neaby and, ta-da! I have a new thing. I take the thing back to the shaman, and guess what? Yes, take it back to the other bloody shaman back where you came from.

Bastard.

Still, I level - level 14.

Excited at this point I fall off the cliff.

It's quite a long drop, and, oh, yes, I'm dead. I re-appear as a ghost miles away and auto-run back to the cliff base. No, not quite close enough to reincarnate from the river, I have to climb the mountain and hurl my ghost off the top in order to get my body back.

I have a brief panic when I can't get out of the hole I'm in, but manage it in the end. I sneak through a gap in a rock and see life and a plain. Excited, I think, hey! New valley! But, no, in fact, it's the starting point of the game for trolls and orcs.

Oh balls.

I can't face running all the way back round, so I go to the 'secret path' and jump off the cliff into the sea there, and survive. This takes me to the merchant coast, which is close enough to the barrens to make it a possible shortcut, so I think. I put my head under the water and see that I'm surrounded by a collection of level 19 sea beasts...

I leap out of the water and run, slipping, round the edge until I find land (via a crate with a large gun in it, which I later sell). The land in question is a village of small irritating people, filled with more quests. I have no time for this, and push on back to the barrens and the crossroads (where I finish another random quest), then on to the original fire-totem shaman, who seems amazed that I've approached from the direction I did so.

Bright light, ta-da! Here's a fire totem and a couple of new spells for you.

I run back to the crossroads and take a bird flight to the orc capital. My first flight, it is impresive, and to my surprise, takes me into the capital via a side route I didn't know existed...