I have not spent much time in The Enchanted Lands since I rolled back in with Echoes of Faydwer. It has never really been one of my favorite zones. I did some Runnyeye adventures a while back, but I have mostly left EL alone in favor of fun in Faydwer and Zek.
But now JBoots quest had brought me here. It was time for another run.
Still, so far I had not made a mistake. Each run I did right the first time. I was cocky.
So, of course, I screwed it up on my first attempt.
I went to Banoo Corest outside the granary in the field that dominates the entry to EL. The last time I did this run our ranger forgot that her evac cooldown had not yet expired, so we did it without evac, just a straight run. I decided I would try that again. Of course, when we were doing that run, I was following somebody who knew the route precisely and my map was not completely blacked out.
I hailed Banoo, got the update, and off I went, 8 minutes on the clock.
The first stop, the Runnyeye Ward, was easy enough to find, you can almost see it from the granary. After that I was running on memories and instinct. Still, I was confident.
Tagglefoot Farm I knew I could find. I just cut right from the ward, followed the fence, went through just south of Chomper’s pond and followed the river. As I got the update I even stopped to pick up “Foomby’s Stolen Goods” from Foomby, who stands right at the near corner of the farm.
Now I was a bit lost. I knew I just had to veer left to hit Camp Ghobbler, the tower with all the nightbloods hanging around it, but how far left was in question. I altered course by about 120 degrees. It appears that about a 70 degree shift to the left is actually optimum, because I ran right past the tower, saw it off to my right, then had to loop back to get the update.
Then I turned to the difficult bit, navigating my way from the tower to Goblin Pass. I know where it is on the maps, that pass between the two mountains just southwest of Runnyeye, but with a blacked out map I was trying to navigate by landmarks.
I ended up running through crowds of aggros and picked up quite a parade of followers. The clock was running down as I zig-zagged looking for a landmark. Finally I saw the mill on the river south of Runnyeye and knew I was way off course. I tried to get a direct route to the pass from there, but I picked up several casters, got rooted, and died.
Thus ended my first attempt. My first failure on the quest.
But, since I had not used evac for the run, I would not have to wait for the cooldown timer to expire before I could start again.
Back to Banoo I went. I arrived with less than a minute left on the clock, so as that ran down I buffed up again and was ready for my next attempt.
Since my cross country experiment failed so miserably (at level 37 a lot of mobs were still yellow to me) I decided to go with the more traditional run that includes an evac part way through.
I got the quest update again and off I went. I followed the same route to the ward and then to the farm, but this time I went directly to Camp Ghobber and evac’d the moment I got the update.
Evac puts you back on the docks in EL. I ran down the dock, did a fae glide over the water and headed straight to the Runnyeye Ward again. From there I followed along the road, keeping as clear of aggros as I could. Fortunately, on my last run, I had gotten close enough to the pass that the southern mountain that forms the pass was visible on my map. I bore along, skirting the western edge of that mountain, following it around until I got the Goblin Pass update. No problem this time.
I reversed course and headed for Lookout Stump, the next update required. I was a bit worried about this stop because, in the pass, it has been one of those locations with which people have trouble getting the update. This must have been fixed since I last did the EL run, as I got the update for the stump before I even touched it.
I veered around the stump and headed for the hole in the barrier wall that has the stream running through it. A splash in the water and out I came just south of the Runnyeye Ward again. From there it is just up the river bank and to the granary. I finished with two minutes left on the clock. I could have stopped for a sparklie, had I seen one.
I ran over to Banoo and got the quest update from him, plus the Amulet of the Far-runner.
Seven levels to go before I can wear it. But I did get a lot of discovery experience on the run, almost enough for another AA point.
And now I am set for the final stage of the quest, the run through Feerrott. Another blacked out map to face. Another zone where I seem to lose my bearings.
