Agents of the Void sighted in Britannia

[Hale]

Hello, fellow druids and other good folk!

It would appear that our beloved Britannia once again faces a threat: Agents of the Void have found their way to our world and the nature itself is being corrupted!

It all started when I was out hunting with my dragon companion, friend and mentor Myndon the Great. We were in Despise when I got this growing feeling that something was not right with the ground. Britannia itself seemed to be calling for help and directing me towards Yew, so Myndon and I decided to leave hunting for later and head that way.

As I emerged from my gate to the abbey, the nature's call for help grew clearer. It seemed to direct me towards the moongate, and sure enough, in a clearing near the moongate, amid a herd of diseased animals, we found an Agent of the Void and a blotch of soil infected with blight. We managed to take down the creature, and since the animals had been driven into a bloodlust by their disease, we had to put them down as well. I myself had never had to cure blighted soil before, but was able to remember enough of my training and the stories I'd heard to recall the power words "Nigh Tir", and was able to dispose of the blight as well.

However, I could still sense something wrong in the direction of Serpent's Hold, so we headed that way next. In the NW corner of the northen island we were attacked by more diseased animals, and even some of the trees had turned into evil ents and reapers, attacking us with their branches and spells. In the middle of it all were two Agents of the Void and some more blighted ground. As we were fighting the creatures, a lighting storm seemed to appear from nowhere, building up faster than any storm I've ever seen. Between being blinded and turned into a toad several times during the fight, Myndon and I had a couple of close calls, but in the end were able to defeat the creatures and cure the ground. As the last of the blight disappeared, so did the storm.

I could no longer sense any immeadiate threat to Britannia, so I decided to confer with Myndon. He and I agreed that it hardly seemed like something which would remain an isolated incident, and decided we should bring it to the attention of the general public. So, friends of Britannia, I suggest we keep our eyes open for these Agents or any other creatures of the Void. I doubt any of us wants them roaming around freely. Also, should you need any assistance dealing with these creatures, don't hesitate to call on me or any other member of the Hale extended family.

Yours,
Daeron Hale

[Mack]

You are not the only one to encounter these things I recently fought and slayed a agent of the void a few days ago in vesper while hunting vampires. Was not what I was expecting to fight and was more annoying to fight then I was expecting. The blindness spell is so bothersome. Luckily their was no blight that I saw which is good since I am no druid.

[chuxton]

I have also been involved with one of these incursions, but only in a minor way. I am frustrated by the lack of information, although I never seem to know what is going on when one of these emergencies occurs. I was farming when I got the call from Azzo that agents of the void were about, including a blight. I asked him for more information, but he only advised me to meet Winslow at the bank. I got there as quickly as I could, which is not terribly quick, as I avoid magical transportation. Winslow was there with his dragon and openned a gate. We went to a location that I recognized as the East coast of Britannia between Britain and Trinsic- the section with two beaches just South of the River. There was indeed a blight there, which Winslow quicky dispatched. There were also crazed animals and trees, which I tried to help to fight, but Winslow's dragon made my presence more or less irrelevant. We rode around looking for other problems but all I found were titans, one of which killed me, which pretty much knocked me off schedule for the day.
I would like to do something to help with the problem, but I need more information. How did those who have encountered these creatures of the void become aware that something was amiss so that they could find the blights? What is a "creature of the void" and how did you know that was what it was? Is it animal, vegitable or mineral? Tall or short? Does it resemble a tentacle monster or a lich? How did you kill them? Please share your stories in more detail, that the rest of us can do more than just panic at the sound of thunder.

Ajax

[Mack]

I was hunting ghosts and the occasional shadow dragon on Moonglow island and all of a sudden a agent of the void popped up and then another. I wisely retreated not wishing to engage both at once especially since my buffs had just dropped as they popped up. One fire later and my buffs restored I pulled the first back and after a short battle it laid dead with just a cloud left as its corpse on the ground. Unfortunately the second one was more dangerous I engaged it along with a reaper and some diseased animals. This battle took longer and I had to retreat with very low health (25) behind the Fence around Moonglow while poisoned. Eventually I won out though and shot the agent in the back with a bolt from my crossbow as it tried to retreat away.

On further exploration their were four blights next to each other in addition to reapers, ents and the various diseased animals. I was able to cull the animals and the evil trees. Sadly I am no druid and was unable to cure the blight and no other druid was on. Hopefully a druid will be able to take care of it, just go north/north east from the Moonglow moongate.

[Azzo_Ranar]

Have there been any other sightings? I have been scouring the lands for signs of them but to no avail, it would seem they are considering their position a bit more cautiously. Be wary my fellow travelers, I do not trust this lull!

[Mack]

None that I have seen but I have not been hunting much lately.

[Hale]

Well, mr. Ranar, it seems your instincts were right on this. A bunch of these blighters (if you'll pardon the pun) made an appearance yesterday in and around the Britain graveyard. Thankfully several people showed up to fight them off, and although Daeron managed to get himself killed during the process, the creatures were beaten back for now. However, I doubt this was the last we'll see of them, and such an invasion right outside the capital seems a bit too close for comfort to me...

[chuxton]

This posting will also serve as my latest obituary, as I was one of several who perished in the most recent and most dispiccable incursion of the void into our fair land.
I was alerted to the attack by the scout Smudge, who in turn was informed by a Ranger/Messenger who happened upon him while Smudge was doing some locksmithing for reptilian clients in the Covetous district, The messenger said that the Druid's Grove itself had been occupied by the evil forces of the void. He also informed Ajax Mayflower, who is the roomer at Fellowship Hall most involved in the Druidry arts. However, it seemed reasonable that, given the chaos that we expected to encounter, it might be best for me to go first and deal with these agents of the void before Ajax attempted to heal the reported blights. It seemed likely that whomever answered the call was going to get himself killed and, as most everyone knows, that is my specialty.
Before I had completed my preparations for the trip, a summoning gate appeared to me. As is my usual policy, I leaped through it without really thinking things through. There was a considerable crew of heroes already on the scene, including (to my surprise) one of our newest, Elzo Ranar. I arrived on the coast Northeast of the Druid Circle where the six or so other heroes were gathered. As usual, I was a bit confused as to what was going on (other than a basic plan that we would all run around killing things and being killed until the agents were defeated and then the blight healed).
Someone suddenly launched to the South, which I took for a command to charge. Then the chaos commenced.
Until now, the accounts of these blights and the agents that attend them have been pretty sketchy. I will try to help amend that a bit. There is no doubt we have not seen the last of these forces, so I'll share as much as I learned so that whoever is involved in the next combat can be better prepared. The Druid Circle was entirely filled with blights- at least six of them, perhaps more. The grove was circled by forces apparently placed to defend the blights and prevent druids from healing them. The inner circle of these defences were made up primarily of Reapers and Agents of the Void, with a few ents mixed in. Animals infected with the disease of the blight surrounded this inner circle. The deseased animals were mostly a nuisance to the experienced warriors among us, except that all of them had the ability to poison when they attacked, even those who were not normally poisonous. The biggest problem (for me, at least) was dealing with the concentrated magical energies of so many reapers placed close together, while dealing with the poison animals and the power of the agents of the droid, plus summoned elementals, vortices and blade spirits. I'm a hit-and-run type of warrior who likes to whittle down his opponents before wading in with brute force. This methodology always works well for me, except for the 2156 times it got me killed. Okay, you know about reapers and ents and poison critters (by the way, the poison seemed relatively moderate, except that there were dozens of creatures running around inflicting it).
What, however, do you know of the Agents of the Void if you have not fought them? I managed to isolate such agents a few times during the battle (and finish off a couple in the process), so let me tell you a bit about them. They have the appearence of black elementals. I suspect that is, in fact, their nature- they are Nothingness Elementals. They seem to have but one magic power- blindness. Their strength otherwise is their great toughness and melee power. They can be hit with ordinary weapons- I do not know if silver weapons would be better yet. But they are hard to hit and harder to kill. On the other hand, they hit very hard and persistently. I could not kill one standing toe-to-toe with it and hacking while healing. I had to break loose and heal up at least twice in order to defeat one. However, two good warriors ganging up on a single Agent of the Void without interference of reapers should be able to dispatch it every time. The thing that makes these incursions so dangerous is the multiplicity of threats to be dealt with simultaneously. The darkness spell they cast is primarily psycological in effect. I discovered that it is easily dispelled by drinking a nightsight potion. I don't know if a nightsight spell works just as well, because once I found I could use a potion, I stuck to that.
I was lucky for quite a while during the battle. Time after time, I broke off contact with my life hanging by the smallest thread. The tactic I employed was to use archery to draw out a single reaper or agent where I could engage one-on-one and fleeing to a clear area to the West whenever my health and healing got very low. Unfortunately, this tactic made me nearly worthless to my fellow warriors. When possible, I attacked agents and reapers that were attacking the others, but I seldom had the luxury of selecting my opponent. I particularly regret that I was of no help at all in protecting the newest warrior, Elzo. I caught a glimpse of him through the haze of combat a few times, but was not of much help.
Toward the end of the battle, my luck ran out. I was caught in the crossfire of a couple of reapers when I my health was already low and I was killed. My fellows resurrected me and I had no difficulty recovering my stuff, although I got a lot of unmarked Ranar equipment with my own and had to spend some time afterward sorting it out.
The blights were healed at the end, but virtually every hero there was killed at least once and suffered losses of one kind or another. In that, I was again lucky. Even when I was killed, my steed Ghost managed to stay alive. As far as I can tell, I lost no equipment. I did very little looting, so I lost a good deal of money on the death tax, but that is a minor inconvenience. I did get one moderately useful magic item in loot.
Looking back, we'd have done much better with a strategy as follows: We should have created a "kill zone" on the coast where we first assembled and drawn the stronger enemies, one or two at a time, into that zone. Maybe someone was trying to do that, but there was no communication. I am terrible at coordinated action in those situations, as I am so used to hunting alone. I apologize to the other heroes who were present at the battle (especially brave Elzo) for not being of more help. I did not find an opportunity to rez or heal during the entire encounter, and that is probably because I was too absorbed in my own corner of the conflict.

[chuxton]

This is also my 2158th Obituary.
I was in the North Mines area with Keelarr Ranar. Azzo had been killed deep behind the troll front lines and we were attempting to recover his body and possessions, which had been largely stolen and divided up among the trolls. I had already been at it for hours, since I had to work alone for quite a while and the task involved basically killing every troll between Minoc and the mountains. I love to kill trolls, but even ice cream can become tiresome once you eat enough. We had cleared the isthmus and a large area in the center of the valley and were working our way South and East when our hunt took an unexpected turn. It was pretty clear by then that Azzo’s corpse was gone, but I kept checking the signs in the area in the slim hope of a recovery. During such a check, I came across the corpse of a diseased bull.
My companion said he had killed it and I commented “I hope that doesn’t mean what I think it means.” But it did. We soon encountered a line of reapers and an Agent of the Void. We withdrew to consider. We were out of contact with most of the citizenry of Britainia. We needed the services of a druid. We felt we could locate Winslow Ranar and Ajax Mayflower, but Ajax has only limit druid capability and Winslow was not entirely recovered from recent injuries. Nevertheless, we felt that Winslow was the best bet. Then Chelsea Duklain appeared on the scene. She told us that she had found the incursion the previous day and had healed the blight but had been unable to finish off the Agent of Void. Chelsea modestly suggested that she would most likely just get killed and get in the way, so I had to remind her that that was my specialty. Now, I wish I had wagered a few gold pieces on it.
We waded into combat. While I fully expected to die, I was surprised at how quickly it happened. I was in fairly good health and I liked the spot I had selected for pouring arrows into the agent. I think he was offended by some of the things I wrote about him in my account of the Druid Grove blight. I mentioned that the agents had limited magic power other than the theatric but manageable darkness spell. I think maybe he has stayed up late studying arcane texts to come up with new tricks. That’s speculation. All I know for sure is that one minute I was alive and the next I wasn’t.
I quickly gathered my stuff. Chelsea and Keelarr went back to killing reapers and pursuing the agent and I got in their way the best I could. Eventually, the Agent was isolated from the others with all three of us focused on him. Chelsea was the one slugging it out with it, while the other two of us were in support, and she prevailed after a long struggle (for Chelsea, the duel had covered two days) with a cry of “Yay!”
So what did we learn about the greater threat? Not much. We need some clues about what we can do to track down the source of the danger, rather than just wait for the next attack. So far, there are no such clues to ponder and nothing that adventurers can do between blights. One thing we need is information sharing. All adventurers who have a blight or Agent of the Void encounter need to report it here, so that we can pool our knowledge. In this most recent incursion, there appeared to be only one Agent of the Void involved, but it was very purposeful and cunning. At the Grove, there seemed to be several, but they appeared to have only animal intelligence.

[Mack]

I have encountered three total, one in vesper near the vampires who I suspect must of been a scout since their was no blight to accompany it. The other two were as described in between Moonglow and the Moonglow graveyard with blights to accompany them.