jeudi 21 janvier 2016

[Utility]: Urn of Sorrows

Introduction

Urn of Sorrows is a special utility function which is obtained via a quest. It receives a User Interface (UI) icon next to the Soulshots/Spiritshots/Beast Soulshots bar, as demonstrated in Figure 1.


Figure 1: Urn of Sorrows UI

The story of this feature is linked with the art of Necromancy and its utility is based on this concept.

The Urn of Sorrows allows you to capture the souls of slain monsters (either slain by you or your party), with a fixed rate. You may capture both a regular monster's soul and a raid boss's (the latter being harder to capture).

Note: Regular monsters do not include: Quest monsters, NPC monsters (monsters summoned by NPCs for quest purposes), summoned creatures from other players, and monsters below Lv. 67.

The souls of the monsters are automatically captured (there is no action needed to be taken by the player) once slain, as long as the player has enough slots to store the soul (Figure 2).


Figure 2: Chat notification of a soul's acquisition.

Note: You may not capture a monster's soul twice.

Once captured, the soul can either be registered on the Urn of Sorrows, so as to obtain the monster's stats (Figure 3, & Figure 4), or it can be stored into a Bottle of Souls, thus rendering the soul exchangeable among players (Figure 5, & Figure 6).


Figure 3: A captured soul, not yet functional.


Figure 4: A captured soul, registered and functional. The player receives bonuses, depending on the captured monster.

Figure 3 displays three buttons on the interface. These buttons entail the following functions:
  • Assign (registers the soul in order to make it functional - the player will eventually receive the bonuses)
  • Store (stores the soul in a Bottle of Souls (requires you to possess at least one Bottle of Souls in your inventory)
  • Remove (completely removes the capture soul - obtaining it back requires you to kill the monster anew)


Figure 5: Bottle of Souls containing a monster's soul. Can be exchanged among players.

Figure 6: Bottle of Souls containing a raid boss's soul. Can be exchanged among players.

The player receives a visual upgrade once they gain access to this feature of the game. A floating urn, with chains attached on the character's back, lit in two colors: Blue (if your captured monsters are regular) and Red (if at least one of the captured monsters is a raid boss) (Figure 7, & Figure 8 respectively).

Bonuses affecting the player depend on the monster captured. The engine should get the type of resistances and buffs the monster has and apply a fixed amount as a bonus for the player. If, for example, the enemy has Vulnerability to Fire Attacks, the player receives a bonus in Water Resistance. Additionally, if the monster is known to launch an earth attack, the player receives increased Earth attack attribute.

It is in the player's perception to acknowledge which monsters' attributes and abilities are suitable for their character and the way they play. One might want to grasp the opportunity of advancing specific attributes which are hard to obtain with regular armors and jewels, or to further increase their current stats.


Figure 7: Urn of Sorrows containing regular monster(s)' soul.


Figure 8: Urn of Sorrows containing at least one raid boss's soul.


Obtaining the Urn of Sorrows

Level: 67+
Starting NPC: Lahm, Blacksmith of Power
Location: Parnassus


Quote:

Shilen's armies amass from all parts of Aden and dimensional portals. Villages are still being plundered by dreadful creatures and innocent souls are lost.
This act is not purely vengeful, it is evil disguised in the shroud of our mythology. It is not her fault though, she was fatally injured by the malevolence of her father; however, she should be able to restrain such destructive desire. Us, mortals, cannot fathom the lunacy of a god.

Chat option: I, for one, fight against her minions. What exactly is your contribution to this war?
Quote:

Your pardon, warrior, but I am not trained to battle. Fighters travel across Aden to have their armors enhanced... even sorcerers entrust me with their delicate robes. My craftsmanship outweighs the knowledge of the so-called legendary blacksmiths.

Chat option: Allow me to mistrust your claims, old dwarf. Based on your services, you do not seem to have any special skill.
Quote:

I am being offended by your audacity and ignorance. There is some craftwork only a few selected of us can produce.

Chat options: Such as?
Quote:

It is a lost branch of necromancy, which I do not plan to reveal to you. Some powers were sealed, magical arts were banned and others remained well hidden, because the majority of the wizards could not interpret them. What makes you so special?

Chat option 1: Do you know Hermuncus? He gave me the Scroll of the Afterlife. Its powers lie within me.
Chat option 2: I wish to obtain the Giants' powers, but I have a lot of work ahead of me.


Warning: If you are awakened, you can directly go on with the quest (Chat option 1). If you are not awakened, you will have to complete some other tasks (see bottom of the page).
---- Awakened Characters ----


Quote:

You...! You have acquired the Giants' powers?! Forgive me, I had no idea you were not an ordinary warrior. You are of a rare breed, friend. Pitiful warriors are being rude to everyone and they can barely swing their sword.

Chat option: Thank you, and excuse my tone. Many boast about their achievements and yet they do nothing notable in this war. So, can you tell me more about that lost branch of necromancy?
Quote:

Although you seem to be a trustworthy person, we really are talking about dark arts. I am sure you have been exposed to many magical energies and know how to defend yourself – you might have even used some in your journeys. This branch of necromancy is a faded chapter in the history of this magical art. Necromancers themselves are not proud of their ancestral greed.
Six hundred years ago, dark sorcerers were banished from Aden by the blessed guards of Einhasad – lovely, winged creatures, glowing with the light of their goddess. My memory might fail me, but I believe they were sealed in alternate dimensions, in fear that those sorcerers would find their way out of regular prisons. This punishment gave birth to the saying "What's prison if it's not dimensional?" - and only a few know its true meaning.

Chat option: Interesting...
Quote:

To be fair, the prisoners were treated like animals – cluttered in small cages without any food or water until their last breath.
As we know, necromancers draw power from death and decay. One of them committed an unprecedented sin: he manipulated the souls of the deceased prisoners. Taking advantage of another necromancer's soul is a vile act in their culture. In order to store the souls, he gathered dust from the atmosphere and fused it with blood, so that he makes the container's mold. Finally, he enchanted a handful of teeth, which he extracted from the corpses, to prevent the souls from escaping when they were exposed to light.

Chat option: Creepy. What happened next?
Quote:

Drawing power from the other necromancers, he managed to break the seal of the dimension and escape back to Aden. He exposed himself by narrating the story to ghosts of slain wizards and he suffered the worst punishment – forceful extraction of his soul. Ghosts are generally the best secret keepers, but when they are bound to a master, they mindlessly reveal their past life. Thus, when one of them was imprisoned by a wanderer, it divulged everything. This is what Baium also did.

Chat option: Wait... Baium was a necromancer?
Quote:

Wasn't he? I think he was.. or was that Lilith? Regardless, I am an old man, I tend to entangle memories in my head. You can understand that this power is lost and forbidden. However, while I was telling you the story, I thought it would be interesting if we could fashion such a container, like an urn, able to hold souls of Shilen's minions. Eventually, we will be using her powers against her. Sometimes we needlessly look for innovation and new powers, when history has a lot in store for us.

Chat option: So what do you propose?
Quote:

Seek out the Lich King Icarus in Hardin's Academy and tell him that you need an urn. Since he teaches necromancy, he should have many of them.

Good luck and let me know how it goes!
---- End of Lore, Beginning of Quest ----


Quote:

Lich King Icarus
Quote:

Lahm, you said? Do you mind me asking what you need it for?

Chat option: We wish to craft an artifact. Its purpose should not concern you.
Quote:

Oh good, you wish to receive free stuff and yet you won't let me know. How commendable. The reason I am asking is that there is a great variety of uses in urns and they have to be magically enhanced for each different purpose.

Chat option: I wish to store ashes of monsters.
Quote:

Oh, this is... peculiar, though it does ring a bell. This type of an urn would require a binding contract with necromancy. I am not familiar with your background, but the contract is made with Necroplasm. Do you have any idea where to get that?

Chat option: Wesley?
Correct. You need 10 Blood Roots and 10 Rotten Bone Pieces to acquire it. Once you have it, we will proceed with your request.

(Note: In order to advance the quest, you need to take the quest "Supplier of Reagents" from Weasley in Ivory Tower.)
<Necroplasm acquired>: Back to Lich King Icarus

Quote:

Good. Now we need to pour the Necroplasm on top of the vessel, but, due to its slippery nature, we need to mix it with synthetic glue. You need to obtain 3 Red Glue(s) from Wasp's Captain in Beehive, 3 Blue Glue(s) from Stinger Wasp in Marshlands and 3 Golden Glue(s) from Honeybee in Whispering Woods. Hurry up, I have other things to do!
<Red, Blue and Golden Glues acquired>: Back to Lich King Icarus

Quote:

We need to assemble the urn you are looking for. This requires the actual crafted ingredients. The binding contract I was referring to earlier requires you to attach the vessel on your body – do you agree with that?

Chat option: Absolutely, I will not back down now.
Quote:

Very well. You need to collect 2 Hooks, 2 Chains and 1 Urn. For the hooks, pay a visit to the Pavel Ruins and hunt Cruel Pincer Golems. Dr Chaos enhanced the steel they are made of and it is highly resistant. For the chains, hunt Behemoth Zombies in Forest of the Dead. Finally, for the Urn, you need to ask Creta the Astrologer in Floran Village. Once you have every material, bring them to me and the urn will be almost ready.
<Hooks and Chains acquired>: Creta the Astrologer, Floran Village

Quote:

What happened to people nowadays? They ask for urns as if they are toys for children. What is your excuse?

Chat option 1: I need the urn for the ashes of my beloved. Will you deprive me of that?
Chat option 2: I wish to craft an urn for storing souls of monsters.

(Warning: If you give her the real reason (Chat option 2), she will deny giving you the quest item and the only way to claim it will be either to abort the quest or to transform yourself (transformation of Akamanah and Zariche are not considered). If you tell her that it is destined for the ashes of your beloved, she will gladly give it to you, given her romantic personality.)

Quote:

Response 1: How beautiful! I will definitely give you one. Here you go and I am so sorry for your loss.

Response 2: What? This is outrageous! I know these creatures are dangerous, but this does not give you any right to act like you own them! Get lost before I call the guards.
<Assuming you go with Chat option 1, she gives you Unrefined urn>;
<Hooks, Chains and Unrefined Urn acquired>: Back to Lich King Icarus

Quote:

What is this terrible craftwork? I can find better ones from vendors in the city.

Chat option: This is what she gave me. I need to obtain the urn as soon as possible, is there anything you can do about it?
Quote:

Hm, the problem is that it will not be able to sustain a soul in its current state. You can go to the Reliquary of the Giants and bestow some of their powers on the urn. The necroplasm will act as an absorbing substance; once the energies are fused within, it will become solid as a rock. By that point, you will have sealed the Giants' power.
Go now, warrior, and place the urn on the ground. Note that you have to wait for half an hour for this process to be completed.

Chat option 1: I am on my way then!
Chat option 2: I have to run some errands of great importance. Shall we ask a trusted person to do that for me?

Quote:

Response 2: Well, I do have a student whom I trust. However, I would like it if he gained some income out of this. Give me 370000 adena and you will have your urn in half an hour as we agreed.
(If you go with Chat option 2, you will, in 30 minutes (real-time), be sent an in-game mail that the urn is ready to be collected from Lich King Icarus)

<Chat option 1 selected>: Reliquary of Giants

Place the Unrefined Urn on the ground, close to any statue and wait for 30 minutes. The urn is targettable only by your character and cannot be destroyed.

<Lich King Icarus gives you the Assembled Urn of Sorrows>

Quote:

Here is the urn. Hope you have a good use for it. This item is not functional yet. In order to activate it, you need to go to the Monastery of Silence. The monks there are experts in ethereal energies. Such an energy must be bestowed on the chains, so that it channels energy between you and the urn.
<Refined Urn acquired>: Monastery of Silence

(With your current quest status and an unequipped weapon, you can talk to any monk monster like they are regular NPCs. Should you equip your weapon or abort the quest, you will again be treated like an enemy. In the case where you have equipped your weapon, in order for them to forget that you are an enemy, you will have to go back to town and teleport back.
Monks in this case work like the priests in an earlier step of the quest (for pre-Awakened characters), although the chance of finding a cooperative monk is much higher. Once a monk agrees to help, you will witness a gathering of various monks in a circle. In that case, you must remain seated on the ground (/sit). If you are not seated or decide to stand up, there is a great chance that the gathering's verdict will be unwillingness to assist you with your request.
If the monks decide to help you, one of them will approach you, you must take a stand, talk to him, and he will give you a "Bottle of Ethereal Energy".)

<Bottle of Ethereal Energy acquired>: Back to Lich King Icarus

Quote:

Uh, I need to concentrate on my spells and you keep interrupting me. What do you need this time?

Chat option: Forgive me, but the monks gave me a bottle containing the energy. What do I do with it?
Quote:

Actually, I am not familiar with that either. Lahm on Parnassus specializes in magical craftwork. You should go ask him.
<Bottle of Ethereal Energy and Assembled Urn of Sorrows>: Blacksmith of Power Lahm, Parnassus

Quote:

Dear Maphr! You really did make it! Right..., ethereal energy... Such a rare thing to see up here.

I hope this thing works. If it does, we need to assemble more warriors like you who make use of it. Imagine an army of awakened heroes, all of them holding souls of monsters and feeding their power to theirs!
(At this point, the interface icon of Urn of Sorrows is added.)
---- Non-Awakened Characters ----


Quote:

If you are not awakened, you will be asked to kill any monster that bears the following skill-type:
  • A humanoid
  • An angel
  • A demon
  • An undead

In order to kill them as intended, he gives you a fire trap, which you need to set near the target monster. You can then either lure the monster to step on the trap or attack with your bear fists, so as to force it to follow your path on the trap. For this purpose, he gives you 4 traps, for each type of monster, and each trap lasts for 1 minute after activation. If you fail to incinerate the monster(s) with the trap(s), you will have to go back to Kolper and ask for more.

Each time a monster steps on the trap, you receive a quest item called "Ashes of a trapped soul", whose name hints the quest's reward. Once you collect four quest items, you will have to go back to Kolper to hand in the requested items. This is the first part of gaining his trust over your capacity to sustain the power he speaks of.

The second part comes in scattered pieces of information. Thus, he sends you on three trips, in order to profoundly comprehend what you are about to deal with, once you obtain the quest's reward.
The temple of Schuttgart: Due to the niveous lands it is located in, the corpses of the deceased remain well-preserved for years. You are asked to obtain information from the High Priest in the temple.
The High Priest tells you that, in order to conceive such knowledge, you need to witness it on your own.

At first, he sends you outside of Schuttgart town, on the north-west entrance, where a tomb is kept. However, you find out that the tomb is empty and your confusion inclines you to pay a second visit to the High Priest.
Secondly, he acknowledges that the tomb is empty and he tells you, supposedly, that he had already told you to go to the Cemetery and watch the decay of a body.

Once you go to the cemetery, there is a male human standing at the entrance. After you talk to him, he becomes all furious, mistaking you for a man who he recently had a conflict with. His anger leads him into the cemetery where the closest monster attacks and kills him. Once he dies, he slowly decays and your camera must always point towards the corpse, so as to acquire the quest item "A man's bones". Failing to constantly point to the corpse will revert the quest back to the step where you visit Schuttgart's outskirts, after having talked to the High Priest.

After you successfully obtain the bones, you need to show them to the High Priest. He then tells you to go to the empty tomb and bury them. Clicking on the bones whilst being near the empty tomb will visually cover the tomb in dirt. At this point, you are given no further clue. If you go back to the High Priest, he gives you no hint on how to proceed. Thus, you go back to Kolper, in Parnassus, explaining what happened.
Kolper laughs and tells you how misleading and mysterious priests are. In order to continue, he explains that the corpse must be sanctified, as tradition dictates. This brings you to the second part of Kolper's mission: the Kamaels, who are experts on soul extraction.

(Not required for a Human Necromancer/Soultaker or a Kamael of any class) Forest of the Dead: This is where you meet a Kamael NPC, Beryon, who explains the process of soul extraction. He asks you to go back to a village and obtain one Bottle of Souls from a Grocery Shop (he gives you some adena, which is apparently not enough for the bottle). Once you go back to him, he is surprised that the bottles are this expensive, but he forgets to give you the money back.

In this case, you have to kill any creature that is not of type "Spirits" or "Undead". Once you kill it, you need to double-click the item in your inventory (or your skill bar) to retrieve its soul. Due to your learning curve, you fail multiple times and you eventually succeed in the 10th time (this does not randomly occur, it will happen to every player).
You bring the bottle back to Beryon and he congratulates you for having succeeded with a task only Kamaels and necromancers seem to understand.
The third task (or second for Kamaels and Human Necromancers/Soultakers) is to ask any priest (High Priests included) from any town, of any race, to help you with the corpse's ceremony. This is a randomly occurring shot and asking the same priest will not enhance your probability of convincing them. Once you fail to convince a priest, you need to ask someone else. This is a potentially time-consuming part of the quest, but it is definitely worth your struggle, given the bonus you receive pre-Awakening.

Once you find a priest, he will send a delegate to perform the ceremony. Thus, you will have to follow an NPC who appeared next to the priest all the way to the empty tomb. You must be patient, since the walking priest is rather slow. If the priest was found in a town other than Schuttgart, simply teleport to that town and the NPC will be waiting next to the Gatekeeper.
When you go to the tomb, he will finally perform the ceremony and you will see the slain man's soul rising and fading into thin air. Now, you shall proceed to the next step of the quest, just like you would do if you were already awakened.


[Utility]: Urn of Sorrows

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