Fortunately, they were spread out roughly south to north in the forest just southwest of Wrong and I encountered one after another as I moved upwards. I greeted them all with my usual "Hi there big ugly!" which usually has the effect of enraging them, not that such a demeanor is unusual for them.
I finally exited the forest at the top and battled valiantly for a few moments against some headless and giant rats before pausing to catch my breath. Just at that moment, Thomas hailed me via the mystical MSG skill.
He asked if I would be interested in attending a beach party at Magincia. Wow, would I ever! I was somewhat fatigued from battling all the OLs and somewhat nauseous from close proximity to their horrific BO, so fresh sea breezes and sun and fun sounded great to me.
Angelica summoned me and I stepped through the glowing green gate just south of the actual beach in Magincia. Dead bodies of sand dwellers were lying about in disarray all over the sidewalk. I looked sternly at Thomas and he grinned, "Well, it IS a party of sorts."
Angelica summoned Lorien as well, a druid/tamer I had not met before. She brought along her trusty dragon "darkfire" and was dressed flamboyantly in bright red! We all said hello back and forth endlessly until we startled giggling and then had to make serious faces as we turned to face the beach.
Darkfire gave one more draconic giggle but stopped when Lorien smacked him with her druid staff. "Behave.", she said, "Just follow me." Darkfire sighed and grumbled as we moved cautiously forward.
An unorganized platoon of sand dwellers spotted us immediately and attacked with maces, poisoned kryss's, surfboards, swords and other dangerous objects. We stood firm and battled the sandy foe until they too littered the boardwalk with their crumpled corpses.
Another wave of sandies swept down upon us! We battled them and Darkfire joined in as well, stepping on Darlin's toes (yes, horsies have toes!) in the process. I could't see what I was swinging at but the rhythmic thud of my mace and the impact shock that trembled my arm assured me I was doing something useful.
Thomas fought with methodical yet unrelenting fury and Angelica simultaneously healed and struck out with blasts of withering magical force. Lorien alternated healing and offensive spells and struggled to keep her dragon safe. Suddenly, a couple sand dwellers glared at her and broke past Thomas and I! Lorien ran off to the south, Darkfire and a couple angry sand soldiers after her. Before we could react, her death cry sounded!
We finished off this last group, yoinked their sandy l'il bodies and retreated a bit to ress Lorien and her defunct dragon. Everyone took a break, had some SANDwiches and fruit juice and then moved forwards again.
Unbenownst to us, Lorien hadn't buffed up and when the next wave of attackers swept over us, her death cry sounded once again. We beat the sand outta the attackers and cursed the sons of beaches that had killed her. No respect for ladies at all, those brutes!
I am afraid I was too close to her poor, dead body when I started looting sand dweller corpses and ended up looting her as well! I blushed with embarrassment as I involuntarily stripped the very clothes off her corpse and apologized effusively. Not everything was .owned and it took awhile to sort it all out of my loot bag but she got everything back!
I think you get the idea. This went on and on. Darkfire took it into his head to venture out alone on the beach and died, oh, three or more times during the protracted battle. However, he did helpfully stir up multitudes of sand dwellers who were hiding from us.
Lorien summoned treants to give us shade as we battled the sand dwellers which was helpful because the sun was low on the horizon and cast an awful glare into the visor of my helm! The twiggy allies also barked ferociously at the sand dwellers and tried to kiss 'em to death.
Eventually, the beach was clear. We all brushed off the sand, sighed with fatigue and headed to the Britain bank where Thomas made his usual expert split and we all relaxed on the hard, wooden benches near Chava. No quest items or notes were found but we all received sand, gold and a random magical item!
We all thanked one another and bid adieu for the eve. I was so thankful to have been included in such a lovely, relaxing beach party and look forward to more in the future!
