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Visit the quest section for the Invoker write-up.

Confucius of FF's Story!

Hi Maggie,

Anyway, so far today I tried the quest 3 different times. Basically this is what I could gather from it. The quest is in 3 stages, which are listed below. When gathering a group, a successful team will have at the ABSOLUTE VERY LEAST 10 people in each of the 4 groups (levels 50-59, 60-69, 70-79, and 80+). Most likely you will want 20 or more in each group, though the strength of numbers can complicate communication. Make sure you have a quest leader assigned and that everyone knows who he or she is. Also make sure each group has their own leader who will communicate with the quest leader, and who can communicate with each of the fellowships in their group. Coordination and communication are the keys to success. Try your absolute best to keep non-essential chatter to an absolute minimum, as it's hard to filter through a whole lot of spam.

Preparing for the journey:
- Mule ALL your valuable, droppable items (except death items). You most likely will die in here, no matter HOW uber you think you are.
- Bring lots of stamina and health elixirs, but don't bother with debuff gems. You'll just be wasting them here, as the moment you remove all your debuffs, you'll get debuffed again 5 times over.
- Bring PPGSx or NeoGSx... no droppable armour. You will most likely not be able to recover your body if you die.
- Get as MANY PEOPLE as you possibly can for each level group. Many, many people will die, but the more you have, the better the chance that SOMEONE will get thru to open the doors for other groups to progress. If one group is wiped out, the whole quest goes belly up.

STAGE 1:
The portal is at the Aun Tumerok Settlement at 82.7N, 21.1E (fastest way there is to use a Celdiseth's portal gem).You are able to go into the portal ONLY IF you have crafted a Buadren (though there are other ways in... see the cheat below). The entryway consists of a bunch of portals that you jump down to (and stand on, surprisingly enough). The first jump down is the level 80+ portal, the 2nd is the 70-79, the 3rd down is the 60-69, and the 4th down is the 50-59 portal. When you enter the appropriate portal, you are teleported to the bottom of the room to a corner with all the others in your level group. Each corner has a door and a lever: the level 50-59 side has a lever that opens the door for the level 60-69 side, and all the way up to the 80+ side that opens the door on the 50-59 side.

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(This part is written from the perspective of the level 60-69 team, as my main is level 69; directions may vary for other groups.) Upon the opening of their door, the group should run down the ramp and stay left... they'll pass through a room and into a hallway, and if they stay left, they will run into an INVISIBLE portal that takes them to a common room where the other 3 level groups wind up. Do NOT kill the Virindi Energy Clusters (VECs) and Quiddity Rifts on the way, it's not worth the trouble! At this point, you're in a relatively safe room with a red energy door that you can close so everyone can buff.

STAGE 2:
When you open this red door and run out, you'll be facing more VECs and Quiddity Rifts... most people choose to fight them, but this breaks down the organization and throws the quest into chaos. If you want to, you can find a ramp up to the 2nd floor of this area where you can see Lilitha in her cage floating above the fray (but don't get near the blue crystals, which will cast Ring Spells at you). In this area (on the ground floor) are 4 different level restricted portals, where the groups will go in... this actually takes them back to the same hallway area where the invisible portal was, except lower (into a spot that's usually safe, as long as everyone stays put and doesn't move). At this point, they should coordinate their efforts, because the rest of this part is a nightmare! The level 80+ group goes first... they should run to the bottom of the hallways into a big room at the bottom, trying to stay alive and not fighting anything, until they reach the bottom room with a door and a lever. This leveropens the door in the room at the bottom of the 50-59 group's area. The 80+ group has to stay alive long enough to let the 50s go down and throw the lever in their room... the 50s lever opens the door for the 60s, who have to go down and open the door for the 70s, who open the door for the 80s. Each group can go thru the open door into the portal once they've opened the lever for the next group (though this part is unconfirmed).

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ALTERNATE STAGE 2:
Instead of taking the invisible portal to Lilitha's area, you can just run madly down the hallways (staying mostly right) and you will wind up in the big room at the bottom with the 2nd lever and 2nd door. This might be easier, as you bypass the Lilitha room and the chaos that always ensues in there. The important thing is that groups should NOT go until the previous group has opened the door for them, as the bottom room is chock full of the absolute worst critters in the game (level 190 VECs and Quiddity Rifts) and you just can NOT camp it unless you have at least 40-50 people in your level group.

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STAGE 3: -- Unknown --
Now the mystery is, what is beyond the doors? Do the groups meet up again to do the last part as a big team? I don't yet know, and don't know of anyone who does. The reward for this quest is still a mystery, and I can say with near certainty that there's no way in hell that it could be worth all the trouble.

The reason this quest is so difficult and that formerly-uber characters keep dying by the dozens is that 1) the VECs are immune to war magic and drains... mages have to vuln them and let melees kill them. 2) Melees can't kill the VECs unless they're debuffed by the mages, as their natural armour and melee defense is very, very high. 3) The Quiddity Rifts are different from their Singularity Caul counterparts... they're level 180 instead of 200, and do an "undefined" kind of damage that you can't protect against: when they hit, it just says "Quiddity Rifts hits your chest for 20 points of damage!" (with 2 spaces between the "of" and the "damage" where a damage type would normally go -- a bug?). And since the dungeon is designed for you NOT to fight (insane respawn rate, tough critters that take a long time to kill, and always having a full spectrum of level VI debuffs), a lot of time is spent running around like headless chickens.

CHEAT:
Apparently there's a way to tie to a Lilitha Room portal... this can only be done by someone who has no tie. I'm sketchy on the details, as I wasn't the one to do this. However, if a character can get a tie to this portal and summon for people waiting outside, each character can tie to this portal and recall to Stage 2 whenever they want! These characters don't even need the Buadren, as only the top portal has the Buadren flag! The only caveat here is that the characters without Buadrens may not be able to participate in whatever reward is at the end of this quest (of course no one knows what it is yet!) But at least you'll be able to pull in members of your allegiance and friends who don't have the Buadren yet to die at your side :-)

Hope this helps!
Confucius of FF
 

Lilitha's Sayings!

Lilitha tells you, "Does that one see the hand? It is not the box's hand. They took that. They put it in a glass bubble and it turned into fog. They attached the box to this one later. Sometimes the hand talks to the box."
Lilitha reaches toward you, and absently gropes her own face. She seems confused.
Lilitha tells you, "That one is... The box hasn't seen flesh poison in... in a long time."
Lilitha tells you, "Person. The box meant person."
Lilitha tells you, "They took the box outside in a cloud. It's nothing but purple. You could fall forever, and everything was bent this way and that. But in some places there were blue ribbons that crackled and danced."
Lilitha tells you, "There were things around the ribbons. They looked like glowing water and trailed strings of jelly. They turned as the box went by and poked each other with the jelly-strings. They were the size of houses. Maybe. Size doesn't work right outside."
Lilitha tells you, "Temenua. That one caught the box as it slept. It brought the box to a child, and the child gave it to these things."
An angry blush colors Lilitha's cheeks, and an unexpected gleam rises in her eyes...
Lilitha tells you, "It BOUND me. No one EVER --"
... but a faint, glissando shriek comes from her head. She flinches, and the gleam dies as quickly as it came.
Lilitha tells you, "The box attends the master."
Lilitha tells you, "Attentive."
Lilitha blinks at you uncomprehendingly.
Lilitha tells you, "Why is that one on the other side of the wall?"
Lilitha tells you, "They took the box apart twice. First they looked for what was inside the box, but they said it was empty. Then they wanted to know what made the box go."
Lilitha tells you, "They did it with blue lights. They drew lines on the box and it fell to pieces."
Lilitha tells you, "They wouldn't let the box move. The box watched it happen, until the light reached its eyes."
Lilitha tells you, "It... hurt me..."
Lilitha abruptly falls to her knees and begins to retch, hugging herself tightly. Lilitha tells you, "Does that one see the hand? It is not the box's hand. They took that. They put it in a glass bubble and it turned into fog. They attached the box to this one later. Sometimes the hand talks to the box."
Lilitha blinks at you uncomprehendingly.
Lilitha tells you, "Why is that one on the other side of the wall?"
Lilitha tells you, "They brought a man here once. They split him open and scooped out his insides. They made a pile, like sticky fruit. Then they put other things inside him that glowed red and purple."
Lilitha tells you, "One of the Masters said they learned how to do it by studying the box. It said the man's name was Martine."

Yalaini Female:

Your vision swims. For a moment, you seem to be sitting before an orb wreathed in sourceless, clean blue flame. Across from you sits a young man, his hands knotted in anguish, his golden eyes flaring with anger. He speaks, the words flowing like the musical speech of the sea peoples of Ispar. Like an afterimage, the words come again a moment later, in your own tongue. "Someone has to do something. They say we may only watch. But the things we see! You cannot believe what she subjects these people to. This mad queen should be cast down!"

You hear words, as if from your own mouth, saying, "But what can you do?"

"I can do what's right. I'm going back with the next study group," he says, looking at you carefully. "Maybe. for good."

"How could you stay without being found as something. other?"

The man laughs, a bitter thing. "The same way we take our smug notes. We don't hide away in hunting blinds, you know. The life masters create flesh glamors for us. I've strolled through the markets, smelling the crops." He rubs his head, chin ducking with some faint embarrassment. "Being that short takes some getting used to."

Your vision swims. A wall of arid heat slams into your face, nearly knocking you back. You blink, eyes dry and stinging.

You stand over a raw lava flow. The craggy walls are black stone, scarcely lit by the damask shadows from the liquid earth that rolls and flops beneath you. Down in the flow, figures are moving; constellations of stone, burning white from their inhospitable wading pool.

Your vision swims. For a moment, you stand upon a crest, a frigid wind blowing icy knives through you, the land dropping away from your toes. You stumble back a step back from the precipice, dazzled by the light that skitters and skips across the snowy ground. Squinting, you raise a hand against the light of the dying sun to see.

Mount Esper. But not as you know it. Heat haze causes the sun to dance a jig as the cinder cone's lake boils white. On all sides, people and golems move about. A floating stone pallet is loaded with bars of greenish gold metal; a white-hot golem illuminates the entry shaft it trundles out of, the the echo filling the crater with the sound of a mountain falling down.

You turn to your left. An distinguished elderly woman looks to the west, the clean white light of the sun sharpening the crags of her cheeks. One hand rests on a platinum cane inscribed with fine, elegant calligraphy. Impossibly, you know her friend Ejan made it for her. And impossibly, you find yourself speaking words you cannot guess the meanings of; and you seem to hear it in Roulean. "Shaura... All these things... the great books, the monuments... The Cathedral that stood for eight millenia. What will happen to our works? They'll fall to dust if we're away so long."

"Time will come when these things will be again," the old woman smiles, her silver hair glinting in the waning sun. "Don't worry, my dear. When all has fallen down, you and I will be there to rebuild it, won't we?"

Her storm-grey eyes turn away to the west again, like ship sailing over sea. Distantly, she murmurs, "He's a good boy, Resanne. I believe in him. Unlike that daft Emperor who has us make him coins as the olthoi approach."

Your vision swims. For a moment, you see a group of men and women in white and purple. Somehow, you recognize the pattern of the robes; the colors of the Knorr Lyceum. The fabric is torn, sweat-stained, the anonymous faces floating above them white with fatigue. You are jostled and shoved into a group. You blink into the shadows. What.? The adepts raise their hands. Their eyes fill with radiance, growing blinding, growing until you can see the shadow of their skulls.

You fall into the silvered tube of portalspace. It snakes and writhes, following safe courses through dimensions no eye can see, and magic can scarcely chart. And then...

The tunnel does not collapse as it always does. It peels open. You are weightless, formless, tumbling through an empty violet abyss. So tired. Sleep.

And something, somewhere, tears a little more.

Your vision swims.
Violet light.
Violet light.
Violet light.
Crackflash.
Violet light.
Violet light.
A column of blue light, vague as smoke, shimmers briefly in the distance.
Violet light.
Violet light.
Violet light.
Am I awake? He said we would -
Violet light.
Crackflash.
There's something moving in the light.
Violet light.
Violet light.
Violet light.
SLAMRIPTEARINGSHUDDERBLEEDBLEEDAWFULOHSWEETLIGHT
ITHURTSTOPITSTOPITMOTHERSTOPITSTOPITSTOPITSTOPITSTOPIT
STOPITPUTMEBACKINTHEAIRLIKEKNIVESFORGOTHOWTOBREATHE
VERYTOUCHBRUISESLIGHTLIGHTBURNINGTHROUGHMEBURNING
THROUGHEYELIDSMOTHERSTOPITSTOPITSTOPITSTOPITSTOPIT
STOPITSTOPITSTOPITSTOPIT-

The vision releases you abruptly, leaving you trembling and breathless.

Yalaini Male:

Your vision swims. For a moment, your vision dims. Great wooden doors, intricately carved and glowing faintly green, creak open before you. Before you is a long, wide hall, its cloistered ceilings lit by false stars that mime the constellations of the sky outside. Niches along both sides are lined with candles. No. not candles, but simple silver rods, tarnish blackening the hollows of their fine reliefs. Over the apex of each rod floats a waterdrop of arcane light, rippling as it spins in place. The light colors alternate, azure and violet, casting shadows as faint as wind.

Musical, incomprehensible speech calls your attention to the end of the great hall. A figure stands there, backlit by a roiling white inferno as blinding as the sun. A long shadow, unleavened by the waterlight from the silver rods, paints the marble at your feet. Like an echo, the meaning of the words comes back at you.

"Raen Ameranten. Chevaird of the Ialarchess. Child of Atermore, the Alabaster Fortress that Rises from the sea; the Rock which guards the eastern ways of the glorious Imperial Archipelago. You are here required to swear the Rule of Life. Will you walk upon the path of a righteous life, in fear of and in service to the clear Light? Or will you turn aside to darkness, as have others of your order? Speak now, and be cautious; for if an unworthy or insincere tongue dare speak the Rule of Life, it shall be burned from the mouth by the radiance of its holy truth."

Your vision swims. For a moment, you seem to be on the deck of a ship. A ship? There are no. Over the rail you can see docks carved from alabaster and chalcedony. Where? A crowd that roars. Shrill. The clouds recoil over the glittering spires of the city, and black rain descends on buzzing alien wings. The deck lurches - you find yourself clutching the wall of the dungeon.

Your vision swims. For a moment, you seem to stand in creaking jungle. You are running, swinging a sword wreathed in astral flames. A hundred men around you roar as one. There! At last, the ornate blue spires rise before you. Ridiculous lizard-men flap towards you, their eyes glowing. Women dressed in the skins of animals raise their hands, and the ground erupts. You swim forward, wading through a rain of earth and a razor wind of flying thorns. The noise of falling water becomes deafening.

Your vision swims. For a moment, you seem to be staggering up a flight of stairs. A fetor rises from the room below, the stink of the slaughterhouse. They never made a sound. None of them, not even once, not even when the blades began to hew. Men follow you up, slapping each other on the back, laughing too much as they adjust their campaign cloaks. The air is no cleaner above, though. Here the smell is of burning. You sidestep a fall of blue marble. A drunken warrior shouts apologies from the loft above, a purloined silver icon clutched in his stained fist.

Your vision swims. For a moment, you seem be running down stairs. Men lining the walls grin at you, bowing as you pass. They smell of sweat and blood, their white, star-branded campaign cloaks stained a lurid incarnadine. Their nostrils are flaring. Lips pull back from grey and brown teeth. You hold the torch above your head.

The women huddle together in the center of the blue stone room, watching the men with cool, detached defiance. Is that how it is? We'll see how long that detachment lasts. You nod to the men. One steps forward and wrenches a heretic girl out of the group, bending her arm a way it is not meant to go, driving her down to bruise her knees on the stones of the floor. She does not scream. The beads woven into her hair clack like teeth coming together. He grins, and rips away one sleeve of her vesture with a languid hand.

The room is silent but for the snapping of your torch. A lone bird cries in jungle outside.

The Invoker!
Wintersebb Has completed the drum quest!, thanks to the great efforts of all the people contributing the lvl 50-60 61-70 71-80 and 81+, we have accomplished this great feat through the leadership and the organization of Drache.

The result is the Invoker, which shoots a spell that does 160-200 Slashing damage with a spellcraft of 320 and only requirements are 200+ lore.

Here are some of the screenshots

-Krusher, Wintersebb Server

Thanks also to Absolution of FF for screenshots and stats!!

Aun Tanua slowly turns towards you, surprise barely flickering across his careworn eyes. He almsot reaches out to touch your arm, but conditioned imprints of lightning-pain, years of throwing his fading body against electric walls, jolts a recoil through his frame.
Aun Tanua tells you, "A face. I see a face. Not Tonk. Not Atua ngamaru. I see a face."
Aun Tanua tells you, "Atual arutoa?"
Aun Tanua sharts shivering uncontrollably and shrinks within himself.
Aun Tanua tells you, "Not here. Not here. Not here."
You give Aun Tanua Akiekie Ember.
Aun Tanua gently cups the ember in his clawed hands, and as its glow warms his skin, his past gradually seeps into memory. For the first instant in an endless monotony of time, he remembers. Ezheret. Palenqual. Timaru. Home.
As determination and strength return to the old warrior's stance, he turns to you once more.
Aun Tanua tells you, "I have no knowledge of how long I have been imprisoned here. Endless half moments on moments, my memory failing, my own keh draining away...All I know is that I cannot leave, for the Atua ngamaru have me caputured inside these walls of light."
Aun Tanua tells you, "My own Timaru is far from me, but you have brought me an ember of her heart, and once again my people are with me. You must have been sent with this gift by one of my brethren, and for that I thank you."
Aun Tanua tells you, "There is but one way to let my brothers envision my fate, and I must ask one more favor of you."
Aun Tanua lifts the akiekie ember to his face and softly blows across its faintly glowing surface. As his keh suffuses the ember, it suddenly fans into a flame. He holds it a moment longer, then relinquishes it to your care.
Aun Tanua gives you Burning Akiekie Ember.
Aun Tanua tells you, "Give this to the one that sent you here to me. He will understand its intent and what should be done. Go now, and if you ever tread upon the shores of Palenqual, let her know I am with her."

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You give Aun Aulakhe Burning Akiekie Ember.
Aun Aulakhe carefully lifts the glowing ember from your hands and gazes into with awe.
Aun Aulakhe tells you, "Aun Tanua was unable to return with you again, but look! He has infused this ember with his own keh. I wonder..."
Aulakhe kneels down and carefully adds the glowing ember to the encampment's fire.

Aun Aulakhe tells you, "This is a triumph, for even though he remains in captivity, Aun Tanua's spirit can now dance with our ancestors in the akiekie fire. For this I must reward you, for you have done the Tonk of Timaru a great service this day. Give me the magic Buadren that Tikakhe instructed you to make, and I will add to its medicine."
You give Aun Aulakhe Buadren.
Aun Aulakhe takes your Buadren and carefully leans into the heat and smoke of the fire. He slowly starts to beat the drum, infusing it with the heat and magic now emanating from the fire's warmth. As he drums, the fire's glow coalesces around the drum with a shimmering intensity. When it seems as if the Buadren itself will catch fire, Aulakhe removes it from the flames.

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Aun Aulakhe tells you, "You have done the Aun of Timaru a great service today, and for this I shall reward you. I have attuned this Buadren to Aun Tanua's own key, so you may carry it against your enemies. In your time of greatest need, invoke him, and he will come to your aid."
Aun Aulakhe tells you, "My own mission here is not finished, for I shall not walk through the gates of Timaru until the day when Aun Tanua himself may walk beside me. If you would like to brave Aun Tanua's prison once more, come to me in a month's time, when I will have regained the strength to stabilize the Lightning-Sea. At that time, I will not be able to create another Invoker for you, but I will instead reward you with experience."
Aun Aulakhe gives you The Invoker.
 

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