Katie's Log: All About Lydia

Hi! My name is Katie Raven-Petal! I hypenate my last name as it's cooler. :)

I am a student of Ice Magic, a Thaumaturge. Everybody told me that I was sick to work on a lame school like that and that I'd be switching schools in the first week, but what do they bleeding know?

Ice is a really cool school(no pun intended, lolz) and it is the toughest of the bunch! When you become a wizard, you have to admit that you, well...

You basically suck at taking damage. Two or three nasty spears to the gut like this and you're sent back to the Commons on death's door!

I bet you are saying "Gosh, why did you become a wizard? Why not become a warrior and get to wear armor and use swords instead of being weaker than wet toilet paper?" Well, Ice students are a bit of an exception. We can take the damage more than any other school, our physical health is extreme to the max and we get spells and gear that mitigates all damage! :D

You wouldn't expect a school where you are a literal barrier to damage to be taught by a tiny fairy woman but don't you DARE diss Lydia Greyrose! She may seem like the kind old grandmother who would bake cookies for you on the holidays, but under that Christmas-time exterior is an old soldier. Grace told me that she was one of the group that the Headmaster formed, the Council of Light, who had fought in Zafaria and taken out Morganthe herself! ;)

So I decided to tell you how I trained under her and became what I am today. For the record I will try not to use technical terms, but I can't promise you anything!

Quest gotten at Level 7

After completing Triton Avenue, I was tasked by Lydia to get my blessing from The Giants, the great titans of Ice who once ruled the skies of The First World in their cloud castles. To do this, I had to get a bottle of water from the Commons pond(though why it was pure despite all of the fish in it is beyond me) and then I took it to our Tree, Kelvin, who froze it into a shard of ice as I poured it out.

I showed the ice shard to Lydia, who sent me to Elik's Edge, a balcony in the shopping district, and I threw the shard into the abyss. (I wonder whether anything is under this world!) One of the Giants rose up and gave his blessing, then smacked the hammer down and showered me with frost flakes.

I went back to Lydia, who gave me the spell card of Ice Trap.

Quest gotten at Level 12

For my next task, which I was called in for after defeating Lord Nightshade, I had to get some more water, this time from under the water mill at Triton Avenue. Then I had to take it to Mindy Pixiecrown (who is still in Colossus Boulevard, watching the Gobblers carefully to ensure they don't break their promise not to eat the city) and she formed a water athame from the water. It was still liquid so I had to battle an Ice Colossus as a test of worthiness(he was weak and I had a Sunbird spell on my hat that took him out) and the Giants froze my athame into an Ice Athame.

After speaking to Kelvin again I returned to Colossus Boulevard and an Ice Bird appeared and gave me the Words of Power which I chanted to create my next spell card, Ice Prism. Thank you, Bartleby! Now I was able to reverse the elemental power of Ice to do damage against those pesky Ice Foes!

Author: The Ice Colossus has 235 HP and Katie had gotten the Dunestrider's Hat from the Mirage Raider's Bundle which gives two Sunbird cards - I transferred everything from my deleted life wizard on that account save the mount, which was probably a mistake at the time as Katie didn't have a permanent mount yet.

Quest given at Level 18

Midway through Krokotopia, I got the call from Lydia again - this time I had to fight an Ice Colossus. After talking to Kelvin and Niles, the Balance Tree near the Krokosphinx, I was directed to a door in the Hall of Champions where I fought yet another Ice Colossus, this one tougher than before.

It wasn't too hard though, and I got a cracked amulet. I admit I was a little rough and damaged the thing, so I had to be sneaky and fix the amulet before showing it to Lydia - she would have flunked my @$$ if she had seen the damaged goods. Luckily, Niles told me the water in the Entrance Hall would fix it just fine. After that, I went to Briskbreeze Tower's gates and an Ice Wyvern emerged and challenged my worthiness. I flashed the amulet before him and he gave me the words of power.

For my hard work, Lydia gave me the spell card for Ice Armor, which was well worth it in the beginning, absorbing a lot of damage.

Author: The Frost Colossus is a bit tougher, having 510 HP, but you still fight one-on-one, so it's not too hard, especially since Katie had Elemental Trap to boost the power of her Item Card Sunbirds.)

Quest given at Level 28

As I was wrapping up stuff in Marleybone, Lydia called me again, this time to give me the quest to prepare a ritual for my first Ice Minion. Mayor Pugsby of Marleybone was very helpful in directing me to the Skeleton Key for Lydia's special spell chest, which was held by a nasty banshee called Nimah the Wicked. This was my first real challenge but I got through well enough.

I went back to Colossus Boulevard(yes, I know I've been sent here, but this is the only place where Ice Magic is strongest in Wizard City, so lay off) and as soon as I set foot inside a Snowman appeared and gave me his essence to summon my own Ice Guardian colossus!

Author: All quest spell battles must be done solo - you cannot have other Ice Wizards join you, you have to do this on your own w/ minions or henchmen. Now that Monstrology is an option, Katie might be using that to create summon cards which can help her out.

Finally, as I was clearing out the undead in Mooshu, I was summoned by Lydia again and asked to go find a Mushroom of Confusion, which led me back to the Crimson Fields I had explored earlier. I was forced to defeat an death ninja called Udo Jin-E, but I knocked him out and grabbed my mushrooms, then took it to Niles to get it purified. He gave me one of his leaves and I purified the mushrooms in the Well of Spirits at the Tomb of Storms. Then it was back to Colossus Boulevard where I approached the Gobbler King's Castle...

Ouch! Glitch!

Needless to say, being violated by a Colossus isn't fun. :(

Still, at least I finally got my own school blade! It is so not fair that I got Ice Blade later than anyone else! Oh well, Ice teaches one thing - PATIENCE.

Author's Note: Two things to note here...

1. This is the only quest spell I know of which is an exception to the above rule - Udo Jin-E is a boss that is on the overworld, so he's the only spell quest boss you CAN use allies on! This is probably the only boon to playing an Ice Wizard. (Yes, I know that some of the spell quests also have required fights that can allow allies, but these are just re-fights of instance bosses - the Onis for Death and Life Level 38 and Krokohamen for Storm Level 28. I am talking about a battle against a character created for the quest itself.)
2. WHY does Ice have to wait until Level 38 to get Iceblade? I know that someone has to get their blade last but having to complete three worlds is so annoying. Having to rely on TC Iceblades is a slap in the face for anyone who wants to play Ice. :(

So there you go, that's how far I am right now. I hope to write more later. Cheers! :)

Chapter 0.25: Katie's Adventures, Volume 1

My name is Grace Rainsmith and I am a rising wizard-detective who is currently training a Thaumaturge called Katie Ravenpetal. Recently I helped her out when some gardeners got trapped in the Haunted Cave after unearthing an ancient evil... I was stunned to see what it is; a vampire rabbit.

Author's Note: Aye, completed the Halloween instance. Nosferabbit is one of my favorite comedic characters because he's such a paradox and a nod to the kid's book Bunnicula. ^_^

I wanted to drain a lot of his animus and have him be a butler but sadly I didn't have enough time to go through that stupid dungeon fifteen times just to get 30 Nosferabbit Animus. :(

We went through Krokotopia only to discover, to my horror, that all of the enemies me and Rra Sierra had slain had risen from the grave, totally alive and angry. This was clearly Morganthe's work.

Even the Spider Queen in Savarstaad Pass was alive and well which bothered me. Could this be the work of our mutual enemy and her dark magic?

Author's Note: I had to explain why Katie was doing the same quests Grace did years ago. ;)

Katie is coming along. She has managed to accrue quite a bit of new spells from doing tasks for Mma Greyrose. I feel a bit left out but Katie treats me like a coach and mentor.

It does help that I carry her in mob fights. I have returned back to my Storm Lord for the time being, but my friend, Sierra, showed me a new spell and I feel like I will get one from wherever my friend has gotten her spell, one just as powerful if not more so.

Author: I love Sirens, yes I do, but the original Sirens cost two pips too much and take a long time to do their thing. The pet Sirens is cheaper but weaker, so I decided to stick with Tempest and Storm Lord until we get Squall Bugs.

Katie and I toured Marleybone and dealt with a revival of the O'Leary gang, and while we explored, Katie told me of an amazing adventure she had before coming to Ravenwood, one which convinced her to become a wizard...

She had told me that she traveled with a penguin from a world called Polaris. I recalled Polaris, it had been the home of Napolenguin, the rebel who declared war on the Spiral... a war which ended very badly for him. Katie told me about the much nicer penguin she traveled with, a deep sea explorer called Jock Coosto, and their adventure traveling to the Data Atoll to find a rare species of fish called the Micro Fish, which stored all of the data of the Spiral on its scales.

She told me about the amazing creatures she fought...

And the leader of the creatures, a crab called Dewey Decibel who was using the Micro Fish to study the Spiral. I was amazed that she fought them all off with only a rusty blade her father had given her as a memento. Even without magic, Mma Ravenpetal was an amazing warrior.

"It all turned out okay," she said, beaming. "Jock and I made a truce with Dewey and managed to set the Micro Fish free..."

"But I caught one for my own home!" she giggled. She then got serious. "I learned so much about the Spiral, and I know all about Azteca from the Fish. I'll help you out, I just need a lot of training in the ways of Ice Magic."

Katie was extremely tough, brash and smart, no wonder she was doing so well.

She even showed off a live electric eel she used as a weapon. "Jock gave it to me and taught me how to hold it so it won't hurt me," she added. I admit that anyone who can attack a monster with a living electric eel, much less hold it without getting harmed, was amazing.

Author's Note: Yep, goodbye food money. But the Fantastic Voyage Bundle is worth the $40. Barring all else, completing the Fantastic Voyage instance gives you a fishing spot where you can catch Micro Fish - this is the only place you can get these fish - and a free 33%+ fishing luck elixir for one hour! This is just amazing. And the eel whip is a super-cool weapon. It's a shame I will have to get rid of it once we get much better weapons. I might give it to my set of wizards I plan on doing video walks of.

Katie was invited to the Immortal Games and while I was worried about her fighting Zeus and Ares, she managed to pull through just fine.

Author's Note: Ares used his normal attack on Katie THREE TIMES IN A ROW. WTH?!!?! X(

She told me that she was good friends with my cousin's love. Yes, I had finally gotten the items and crafted the first of many Monstrodomes for Rra Fairy. He supplied the monsters.

Author's Note: FINALLY. I got the Wizard City Monstrodome up. It has Lady Blackhope, Sergeant Skullsplitter, Bastilla Gravewynd and Lord Nightshade in it. Katie popped in to break it in and lost half of her health. I admit, even the Wizard City Bosses are no slouch when they get together!

Sadly, Chris and Grace are going to be AWOL in December as I intend to only fund two accounts to save money for the holidays. I deleted Sabrina Starsong and will probably delete Chris Fairy if I decided to renew Grace. I have enough time to get Katie through Azteca.

Then we visited Wysteria and Katie signed up for the next Spiral Cup Tournament. I recalled me and Sierra fighting in that tournament last year and winning the actual Spiral Cup. The final battle was me against her and she beat me despite my defenses. Of course, the prize was not the real Spiral Cup, just a finely made replica, but Katie appreciated it anyways...

Especially after kicking the pork rinds out of Spellshine and humiliating him again.

Author's Note: Finally got to use this TC - an Ice-based Sabertooth is pretty nifty. Unfortunately, power pip chance is very low for Katie at this level. Also, had to explain why people get multiple Spiral Cups even though there is only supposed to be one.

We then visited Grizzleheim and Mma Ravenpetal extracted something called 'animus' to make some party guests for her campsite home. She told me about Monstrology and we visited the fox-woman Mma Burke, who gave me a spell to steal the essence of undead by using my attacks. I used this to get the special treasure cards Rra Fairy wanted for his next Monstrodome.

Author's Note: I transferred the Mirage Raider's camp bundle and everything in it over to Katie before deleting the other character I had on this account. Also, Katie spent all of her money on the Extract Pig spell which I plan on using to extract animus from the Spiral Cup Gauntlet bosses. ;)

I had to go home to compile a report of my progress but when I got back Katie was flush with glee.

"Grace! Grace!" she cried. "Guess who helped me out with clearing Mirkholm Keep!"

I was curious. "Who is this nice wizard?"

"She claimed to be your old pal!"

My jaw dropped. No, it couldn't be...

[To be continued...]

Chapter 0: Spoilers Ahoy!

Azteca has an interesting history. The Aztecosaurs were actually the first residents of the Spiral, who lived before the Sundering, when The Spiral had been a whole world, before the mad war between the Great Titan Lords that destroyed it. Bartleby sang a song that rescued the various pieces of the world and created The Spiral of Worlds from it. The ancestors of the Aztecosaurs learned that song and took it with them as they settled on one of the worlds, Azteca.

Bartleby didn't create the Spiral alone. He had the aid of Lady Nightstar, known to all as Grandmother Raven, who gave the great tree his two eyes.

However... I have learned that when one woman is called Grandmother, there is a man called Grandfather, and I have seen Grandmother Raven's Grandfatherly counterpart...

His name?

Grandfather Spider.

In Krokotopia, spiders prowl the Krokosphinx as heralds of the goddess of destiny, as their webs are said to be tools of fate.

In Aquila, tales are told of a woman called Arachne who challenged Athena Battlesight to a weaving competition and wove a very lurid picture of her defeating Poseidon. This angered Athena who cursed her to become an insect with many legs, forced to spin cobwebs in dark dank corners. Of course, with the Aquilan Eagles and their drunken storetelling, it's hard to separate truth and fiction. But, if my suhubi Sierra is to be believed after her adventure obtaining Medusa and the tale her school's tree, Ivan, told her, Mma Battlesight is one Immortal you do not want to provoke with arrogant boasting about you being better than her.

In my homeland, Zafaria, artists worship a god called Anansi, who is said to be a mischief maker. Before Morganthe appeared, spiders were regarded as pests who caused trouble. Tales of Anansi were told by grandmothers to their grandchildren as fables to teach them a lesson about life. I had heard such several such tales from my daddy before he passed away.

At the end of each story, these words were spoken: "If yuh cyaan ketch Kwaku, yuh ketch him shut." It means "Brother Death always chases after Anansi to claim him." It means that the target of revenge or mischief will always be someone close to the target, nobody is safe. That is why I never try to get revenge when I am wronged, though the only wrongs I have suffered have been at the hands of another spider-lover, Morganthe. However, she is now...

Author Note: I paraphrased all of the above from Wikipedia. Please do not sue me.

But I am speaking too far in the future. All I will say now is that, just like Grandmother Raven is kind and good, Grandfather Spider was the exact opposite, cruel and evil. I saw him myself and knew this to be a true fact and now we are fighting to save The Spiral from him.

I have also learned much about Malistaire, more than any student of Ravenwood who remains in Wizard City will ever know. Poor Mma Dreadful... she had hoped to study under the same school as her parents, but alas, she will never get to see Malistaire Drake, for he is now late. I have visited his homeland and found it to be a place I had never expected Cyrus or his brother to be born in.

But that is yet another story. All you need to know right now is this:

1. We found out who was responsible for Azteca's time of crisis.
2. We saw the prophecy we had been hounded by come true in full force.
3. We finally confronted Morganthe in a world oppressed by her dark magic.
4. We unleashed an ancient evil.
5. We graduated from Ravenwood and are now studying in a more advanced academy.
6. We visited a place I had heard about from Catbeard but never expected to visit myself.
7. We recovered the Eye of History Malistaire had stolen and returned it to Bartleby.
8. And now we are fighting for our lives to rescue a good friend we had made.

No, I will begin at the beginning... Azteca.

Author's Note: Okay this is the last post for a while, but I have learned not to post entries without finishing them. :) Anyways, I know I spoiled a bit of the Third Story Arc but everyone who plays Wizard101 (and reads this blog for entertainment) already knows the story.

Also, I'll put in a couple of entries before the main event to detail Katie's progress.

A brief introduction by Grace Rainsmith

My name is Grace Rainsmith, I am a child of Zafaria, trained to be a powerful sorceress of Storm. This picture above is not of me, but of my cousin, a Necromancer-in-training by the name of Sabrina Starsong. I questioned her about creating a surname moniker that clashed with her skill in undeath, but she told me that she wanted to dispel some of the bad juju surrounding Death Magic. I applaud her determination but realistically know that working with the undead does not make you popular.

She has a boyfriend called Chris who has been collecting something called "animus" from the undead and using it to create clones that inhabit his house. He's been asking me to craft something called a Monstrodome, but I am having issues finding enough brass. Being a member of the Balance school, he yearns for all sorts of challenges.

I traveled with a Conjurer, my best friend Sierra Fairyfriend, for many years, exploring and saving the realms of the Spiral from Wizard City to Avalon, Rra Ambrose's homeland.

Recently, she had paid a visit to Edward Halley, a scientist who was studying information about some race known as the Aztecosaurs... but he didn't realize that I had seen these creatures a long time ago...


I was helping out the pirates of Skull Island, at least one of them by the name of Agnes, and she had stumbled upon a place in the depths of the Blood Shoals where these creatures had emigrated too. They mentioned a dark-haired witch speaking lies, and I realized that only one woman fit that description...

Morganthe.

This evil sorceress, we had learned, had been a student of Ravenwood a long time ago. From the way she acted and how she had attacked Gamma, it seemed like she had a grudge against the school. I have a feeling that the only way a student could leave Ravenwood with such hatred was if she had... been let go in shame. It was the only explanation.

Me and my friends were going to learn more and explore Azteca together...

The strange thing was... my friends, Christina Dawnblade and Sierra Fairyfriend, are gone.

I don't think they are dead, but I had informed them of my last time with Ethan, Sierra's former boyfriend. Since then, rumors had bubbled about something terrible happening to him and he was now... late. (In other words, dead.)

They disappeared shortly thereafter, with a note and the key to Azteca that they got. It only said this: "Investigation of our own. Check Azteca out."

I have taken the key that the Quetzal gave Sierra and have visited Azteca as they have asked. The place is worse than I had expected. It is a savage realm shadowed by a comet that makes me shake with fear... a world filled with undead. I sense foul necromancy... but could Morganthe have the power to raise so many undead? No...

I have my suspicions, but I will not verify them yet. However, I know that to solve this mystery I need an ally, and with all my allies gone, I need to make a new ally, just one. One strong enough...

I have since found such an ally. Her name is Katherine Ravenpetal, but everyone called her Katie. She is a promising student of Ice. One of Mma Greyrose's fold! Yes, she will do... those who study the ways of The Cold are said to be very buff and have armor that can withstand any attack.

But there is a problem... she is still a young student just fresh out of Wizard City, and has just gotten the keys to Krokotopia. I have decided to extend my friendship to her and aid her in her studies so that she can be at my power level.

New Entry, December 17:

I have apologies for not writing after that last entry. I have been too busy to write. Katie... she is very strong but her power is weak. She needs me to carry her through battles because she spends Crowns like water and is unlike Sierra, who conserves her money. She barely squeaked by her spell quests and I have had to be there for her to do most of the damage to our foes, as her spells are too weak. However, I have supported her with buffs as I have spells that can improve both Storm and Ice. That is neither here nor there as we've solved the mystery of Azteca and... well... it's time to explain.

This is the story of our adventures through Azteca and beyond, into the heart of darkness.

Author's Note: Yes, I made a dark-skinned Necromancer, I am not racist. The Sorcerer is on Grace's account and so she is helping craft Monstrodomes. I had hoped to make a rogue's gallery of Monstrodomes for each world but I can kiss making the Monstrodome at all goodbye because 50 Brass is rarer to farm than the ultimate gear from Darkmoor. Please, KingsIsle, I love Monstrology but please create a %@*#*%@ Transmute Brass spell NOW!!!!! *angry scream*

This blog won't be updated for a long time. I will try to play every day and get through The Spiral but I am busy working on better real-life housing so I don't have all the time in the world. As of this first post, I have gotten Katie Ravenpetal, my Thaumaturge, to Level 18 and am in Krokotopia now.

The next post will start the story of Katie's Azteca adventures. Ciao for now! ^_^