🚀 go-pugleaf

Okay, so entering act IV at level 25 may not have been the best idea.
Amarice remembered her older sister, Kheperkare the Younger, who had
been slain by a pack of Abyss Knights at level 24 some years before*.
But she had defeated Mephisto, and even Paige had survived the fight.
How hard could it be?

She was about to find out. After replacing her two-socket Stag Bow with 
a rare, she had given up all her mana leech, so she could use no attack 
more powerful than a normal arrow - not even her level 1 Magic Arrow, 
which drained her meagre mana reserves in only a couple of dozen shots. 
Doom Knights, Venom Lords and Flesh Spawners menaced the two of them in 
the Outer Steppes, backed up by a boss pack of Doom Casters, but they 
slowly persevered - the damage they were doing, thankfully, was 
sufficient to slay most of the demons at a distance - and eventually 
they full-cleared the Steppes and headed out to the Plains of Despair.

"I hear this Izual fellow we're supposed to look out for packs quite a 
wallop," Amarice commented.

"Well just keep shooting," Paige advised. "Maybe my cold arrows and 
those cold damage charms you're carrying will slow him down enough for 
us to puncture his scaly backside?"

"I hope you're right," Amarice replied. "Because these - ouch! - Abyss 
Knights are pretty nasty! I wish I had better lightning resist, I tell you."

"Stop complaining, at least your fire resist is up to the max!"

"True," Amarice said, and shot a Corpse Spitter in the - well, I suppose 
you could call it a face.

Up and down and around the Plains they went, shooting everything that 
threw elemental projectiles, spat corpses or sent streams of lightning 
their way. (Yes, the Burning Souls were out in force today, and boy did 
they hurt.)

"I thought the swamp ghosts back in the jungle were bad enough," Amarice 
muttered as a glowing red Soul sent a searing lightning bolt straight at 
her that sizzled over her ring mail.

"You need some lightning resist charms," Paige said.

"They're not exactly growing on trees. Even if there were any trees in 
Hell. Which there aren't."

"I know, but if you replaced that 1-6 lightning damage grand charm with 
three 8-10% lightning resist charms, you'd be a lot happier."

"Oh sure, can we just ask Izual to drop them for us?" Amarice shot back; 
she was in a bad mood, thanks mainly to the poison-slinging Abyss 
Knights and the Burning Souls.

"Hey, don't take it out on me," Paige said. "I'm just making suggestions."

"I know, but I haven't seen any worthwhile charms in forever. The last 
time anything even dropped a charm was back in Travincal and that was a 
+6 to defence large charm." She shook her head. "Demons have no taste in 
equipment."

"You ain't kidding," the Rogue agreed, and shot an Abyss Knight whose 
cold projectile narrowly missed them.

Finally, Izual - looking like a cross between a big blue lizard and your 
worst nightmare - hove into view. He shot a blistering Frost Nova which 
chilled the duo almost to the bone, but Amarice remembered her Decoy 
just in time and cast a few in sequence to distract the big bugger while 
she and Paige filled him with arrows.

Finally, his body collapsed and his spirit wafted away.

"Oh look," Amarice said, poking his remains with her foot. "Four hundred 
gold pieces, give or take, a blue spear, and a yellow War Axe. No charms 
whatsoever."

"Just our luck," the Rogue said.

"No kidding. I guess it's a few more gold though."

Amarice spent Tyrael's appreciative reward of two skill points, putting 
them both into Strafe in the hope that one day she would have mana leech 
again and could use it.

Then onward they went, heading into the City of the Damned where big, 
black Corpse Spitters loomed, more Abyss Knights fired away at them, and 
Pit Lords seemed to emerge from every dark corner. Finally after a lot 
of shooting and dodging, they found the waypoint, and the stairs down 
into what Cain assured them was the River of Flame, where lurked the 
vile demonic smith called HeyFatso the Arserer (or something. Amarice 
could never get half those names right the first time). She decided to 
delay that venture for a while, instead focussing on trying to get 
herself some better gear. The stuff waiting in her stash wouldn't be 
usable until level 30 at the earliest, and she wanted something before then.

Sadly, all she was able to turn up at Jamella's gambling establishment 
was a +11% to poison resist plated belt, and she gave up, figuring the 
rest of her gold might well be needed for healing potions and Rogue 
revival if HeyFatso proved too tricky.

Finally, they took the waypoint back and descended into the River of Flame.

To be met by venom-spitting maggots that spawned their young so quickly 
and in such numbers that it was very easy to be swarmed!

"This is disgusting," Paige commented, shaking poisonous slime off her 
shoes.


"I know," Amarice said. "I hope these things don't swarm us. They spawn 
so much!"

They persevered through the maggots, the Pit Lords and yet more Abyss 
Knights and oh look, more maggots, to say nothing of a boss pack of Maw 
Fiends which lumbered out to meet them, until finally, the River 
waypoint lay beneath their feet. Two paths branched off from it, one 
straight ahead towards a towering black edifice that had to be Diablo's 
Sanctuary, the other leftwards along a precarious ledge.

"That must be the way to the Hellforge," Amarice guessed. "We need to 
give this Fatso guy what-for and then smash Mephisto's stone."

"Do we have to?" Paige asked. "Can't we just go and whack Diablo and be 
done with it?"

"At level 26?" Amarice shot back. "I doubt it! Let's at least try and 
make 27 before we make the attempt, all right?"

"Okay," Paige said. "I just didn't like the sound of the Fatso guy."

"You like the sound of Diablo any better?"

"Not really."

"Well then, let's go this way."

She led the way along the narrow path towards the Forge. Maggots spat at 
them, Knights flung projectiles. A pack of Pit Lords tried to breathe 
all over the two of them, but were swiftly put down.

Oddly enough, despite his fearsome appearance and the big Malus he 
lugged around, Mr Fatso was more easily dealt with that the Abyss 
Knights and maggots clustered around the Forge, and soon he gave up the 
ghost. The gems the Forge spat out as Amarice smashed the Soulstone 
included a pleasant surprise for once: an Amn rune, which she stashed, 
and a flawless skull which, Amarice knew, she could pass to the family 
retainer, a young in-training Sorceress, who would combine it with two 
others to make a perfect skull.

"That'll give me back my mana leech if I ever get to socket that 
Endlesshail bow in my stash," she said.

"That's twelve levels away, can you really do without till then?"

"I can try," Amarice said. "I can at least kill most things with a 
normal arrow right now!"

"Right now, sure..." Paige said, leaving the ominous thought unfinished.

Back to the waypoint they headed, following the Angel Hadriel's 
direction onward, battling their way through more maggots and Knights.

The gates of the Chaos Sanctuary beckoned...

TO BE CONTINUED...