Over a year ago, when I was in my 30's, I leafed through all the items that
could be used by a cleric that added WIS. I came across the Aegis of Life.
This was a shield that could also be equipped as a cloak. 12 AC, WIS +10,
Save Disease +25. Man, that was uber. And all you needed to do was kill
two mobs and get to ally with the Priests of Life in Qeynos. Easy!
Well, it took a few weeks of camping the placeholder in South Karanas.
Eventually, though, I got the live and undead forms of Grimrot to spawn, I
looted their drops, then I went and had an alt kill fish so that Monual
could turn in fish corpses for faction. (I've heard that they've since
nerfed this, and that the fish corpses rot quite quickly to prevent you from
logging off your alt and logging on your main.) But, finally, I did the
turn-in, and voila! Aegis of Life. On top of everything else, it was a
major light source, which was a major advantage to a human like myself.
As I progressed in levels, the Aegis stayed on my back. Simply put, nothing
was better. When Shadows of Luclin came out, I did the Cloak of Truth
quest. But I was after the +6 WIS mace the final mob drops; the cloak
itself I sold.
Last night, our alliance of guilds (my guild, Winter's Light, and Crimson
Twilight are in a more-or-less permanent alliance) decided to give Emp a
try. Our server's resident uber-guild had had a stranglehold on the Emp for
months. We finally had enough people keyed and baned to give the Emp a
serious try. So we raced them to the Emp - "race" meaning who could log in
more people. Finally, we had 54 folks and moved in. They had 40 folks, saw
us moving in, and moved in themselves. After a tense face-off and a GM
intervention, we agreed to a rotation. We'd let them have this pop, and
they'd let us try the next time Emp spawned. I saw this as a victory for
us, since we'll now get our fair shot at Emp without having to feel rushed.
So we decided to clear out the rest of Ssra. We did the Cursed cycle, took
a break to wax the Avatar of War, then ran back to do the Creator and the
High Priest. Drops were pretty good for the most part, but a curious thing
happened: our loot council started having problems giving away loot. As in,
no one even wanted some of the stuff that dropped. They actually had to be
cajoled into accepting items. (This was indicated by the way one of our
officers awarded a drop: "Grats Rahan on Ring of Impossiblus to
Giveawayus".) I guess we really are ready for Emp and, eventually, Vex Thal.
The High Priest didn't drop a Shield of Ssraeshza, which a lot of folks
could use. He did drop a nice weapon, and also a shoulder piece and a back
piece. I eyeballed the back piece - Shroud of Emerald Vines. AC 17, STR 8,
STA 12, DEX 8, WIS 8, Save Cold 10, Save Poison 15, HP +90, MANA +90. My
Aegis of Life had more WIS, but with KEI or Tranquility my WIS was maxed
anyway. I'd lose some significant disease resist, but gain other resists in
compensation. And the STR would be somewhat useful for my current smithing
obsession, as I tend to lug around heavy bricks a lot. Still, it was only a
mild upgrade at best, so I didn't ask our loot council for it.
Well, the same thing happened. No one wanted it. Our loot council kept
asking if anyone could use it. Listlessly I mentioned it would be a small
upgrade for me, nothing more. As quick as that, it was awarded to me. One
of our officers assured me that it wouldn't count against me when other loot
dropped, so that was good.
I looted the Shroud, equipped it, and stared at my Aegis of Life.
Incredible how long I'd had this particular piece of armor. This wasn't a
utility piece, something I equipped when I wanted to use the effect or
needed the resists or something. This had been an everyday, always-equipped
item for thirty levels and over a year. Amazing, when you think about it -
how many items could you say that about?
Usually I destroy no-drop equipment that's been upgraded - I need the bank
space for my tradeskill stuff. But this piece I just couldn't bring myself
to destroy. I put it in the bank. Already I miss it - I ran through Neth
Lair and could barely see. I need to get ultravision potions or something.
Ugh.
But more than the light source, I miss the one piece of equipment that ties
me back to when Everquest was still relatively new. The Aegis of Life had
been my first major quest and the first truly significant "uber" item I
owned. It was the first item I owned that I'd right-click on it and stare
lovingly at the stats.
I'm going to miss having it equipped. Strange, innit?
-Richard
Monual Lifegiver
High Priest of Rodcet Nife
Winter's Light
Drinal server
This page is Copyright by Skaarak; Everquest (TM) is property of Sony Online Entertainment
All stories and art work are Copyright@ by the origial owner/writer.
Most, if not all stories, were taken from newsgroup alt.games.everquest (AGE), I recommend that anyone who gets a chance to read it should!