EverQuest: The Buried Sea

Overview

Now that the dragon curse has been dealt with in the Serpent's Spine Mountains, Norrath's adventurers have now returned their attention to searching for Mayong Mistmoore. Recently, the sky has turned a deep red color, even at high noon, and undead have begun appearing all over the world. Sailors around the globe have warned everyone of something unnatural about the seas just southeast of Odus. Several small islands have become a hotbed of investigation by many brave Norrathians.

Rumors of an underwater metropolis are running rampant throughout the area. It is called Katta Castrum, and the magical power that keeps the dome over the city is failing. The power is drawn directly from the Plane of Sun, the realm of Solusek Ro. It doesn't take long for one to realize that after taking over Ayonae Ro's Plane of Music, that Mayong Mistmoore would move on to her brother's realm. That would also explain the red sky and withering sunlight all around Norrath. It's time to end Mistmoore's trail of corruption forever.

The thirteenth expansion to EverQuest brought about several new changes and enhancements to the game. Highlights include:

• Guild Banners: Guilds can now create banners using their own design of logos and colors. With 18 members in a zone, a guild officer can plant a banner in the ground, allowing other members to immediately teleport to the banner from the Guild Hall for a small fee.
• Fellowships: Acting as a guild within a guild, up to nine players can form an alliance within a guild, share a common chat channel, create a campfire, and obtain the ability to teleport to another fellow's location.
• Energeian Items: A new inventory slot has been added for Powersources. Items that have a Purity statistic will automatically pull power from the powersource equipped at the time. The energeian items can be purchased, crafted, or found as loot.
• New Missions: 60 missions are available throughout the expansion. The value of their experience and loot is based on the popularity of the mission on the server. The least popular would yield the highest reward.

Geography

Traveling to the Buried Sea is made possible by a newly opened tunnel from Toxxulia Forest that leads to the beaches of the Barren Coast on the eastern side of Odus. In the sea, there is a circle of seven small islands that surround a massive whirlpool known as the Mouth of Prexus. The funneling water leads to Katta Castrum, an underwater city that, until recently, safely houses some of Norrath's endangered races. Pirates have swarmed the area, taking advantage of the less experienced seafaring adventurers among the islands.

The Barren Coast is a beach along the eastern edge of the small continent of Odus. Until recently it had not often been tread upon by anyone other than pirates and periodical patrols by the Deepwater Knights of Erudin. A series of docks now jut out from the shoreline, each with their own dockmaster who sells tickets to the various islands in The Buried Sea. The four ships (Bloodcrest, Isabeau, Ravaging Death, and Wind Dancer) all carry adventurers to and from the islands. Although the islands are not very far away, swimming is not a smart option given the amount of sharks in this part of the ocean. The Blacksail Smugglers have set up an outpost along the coast, selling supplies to just about anyone carrying platinum. The coast is not entirely safe though, partly due to the rise in wandering undead that have plagued all of Norrath. But there are also indigenous creatures, such as snakes, crocodiles, and basilisks that scurry through the sand.

Blacksail Folly is the northern most of the Buried Sea islands. Many believe there is buried treasure here worth millions of platinum. No one here should be trusted.

Deadbone Reef lies in the northeast portion of the ring of Buried Sea islands. Treading on this island would be highly unadvisable, for there is a clan of cannibals that live here preying on lost or shipwrecked adventurers.

Jardel's Hook is a horseshoe-shaped island west of the Mouth of Prexus. A powerful shadow woman resides here commanding a troup of golems.

Jewel of Atiiki is home to the Sphinx of Norrath. Here they have been preserved and saved from extinction. Many adventurers speak of a strange pair of Sphinx hidden in the Rathe Mountains, but they are so rare that many believed the creatures to be a myth. The city was crafted by the Combine Empire in order to resemble the Sphinx' true habitat. Atiiki is essentially a desert dotted with pyramids and a small oasis. Most of the Sphinx are friendly to newcomers and offer many quests and rewards for those that help them. The efreeti and overgrown insects though, are not quite as accepting of visitors. The various pyramids are all sites of missions that can be tackled by a group of formidable adventurers.

Katta Castrum was originally built as a safe haven for the poisoned leader of the Combine Empire, Tsaph Katta, to recover. He was poisoned by Seru, the leader of a separatist faction of the Empire, and many presumed Katta had died. This led to the fall of the once great Combine Empire. Katta's wife, Lcea, received a vision from the goddess of shadow, Luclin. Those loyal to Katta devised a way to travel to the moon of Luclin in order to escape Seru's followers. Seru, knowing that Tsaph Katta survived his attack, assumed that Lcea was taking Tsaph to the moon as well. But the Druids who preserved him while a cure was devised had actually moved him to the floating city of Katta Castrum in the middle of the sea. Over time, the city became a haven for species on the verge of extinction including Shissar, Sphinx, and Kedge. While the Combine Loyalists sought to preserve the endangered species, Prexus, the Ocean Lord, saw the experiments performed on the Kedge as sacrilege. The god of the sea let his anger be known by sinking the city to the ocean floor. Unbeknown to even Prexus though, was that the city held a magical artifact that protected the city with dome that kept it from flooding. It wasn't long though before the Shissar began to see the Loyalists as guards to a prison. The Shissar have launched attacks on Katta Castrum, and the Loyalists have held them back so far, but they require help. To make matters worse, the artifact keeping everyone alive is losing its power. This is because it draws its power from Solusek Ro's realm, the Plane of Sun, which is currently under attack from Mayong Mistmoore.

Maiden's Grave is a rocky island in the Buried Sea and is the closest to the Barren Coast of Odus. It may be a beautiful paradise of an island, but it is mostly a deadly trap laid out by the sirens who live on and around it.

Monkey Rock is the farthest island away from Odus and it is the site of an experiment gone horribly wrong. The wildlife here consists of jaguars, raptors, gorillas, sea turtles, and snakes; all who have been plagued with an awful disease. The people who once resided here now haunt the island as undead.

The Open Sea is a dangerous place for anyone to go alone. There are several bands of pirates that profit off of the influx of ships and travelers in the area. Banding together with friends and foes in order to protect the ship is the highest priority out here.

Redfeather Isle is the southern most island in the Buried Sea and is home to a powerful breed of Aviaks. While many adventurers have fond memories of hunting the aviaks in South Karana, this flock is not to be taken lightly.

Silyssar, New Chelsith, is a secret haven that the Shissar have built for themselves without the Combine Loyalists knowing. They are led by Emperor Zaarisz, likely unaware of the survival of the Shissar who live on the moon of Luclin. The Shissar once dominated the continent of Kunark, using the Iksar as slaves. They were driven away by a plague granted to the Iksar as a weapon by Cazic-Thule, the creator of the Shissar and Iksar too, after being angered by the Shissar's excursions into the lesser planes of various now unknown demigods. The Shissar remaining in Norrath have used Silyssar as a site for experimental magic and technological advancements. They are now poised to destroy the Combine Loyalists, and potentially make their influence known on the surface of Norrath once again.

Solteris, the Throne of Ro, is the proper name for the Plane of Sun. It is the realm of Solusek Ro, one of several gods that is well known to almost all Norrathians. While most gods do not meddle in the affairs of mortals, unless provoked, Solusek Ro has a history doing exactly the opposite. This makes saving his realm from Mayong Mistmoore quite a predicament, for most of Norrath hates Ro as much as they despise Mistmoore. Currently though, the larger threat is Mistmoore, for if he is able to destroy the sun, then his undead minions will completely swarm the surface of Norrath; an army of vampires with no daylight. Solteris is now a mixture of Mistmoore's minions along with corrupted followers of Solusek. Adventurers must begin their assault by taking on the same three sisters they met previously in the Demi-plane of Blood. Then there is Ur-Floxiz Lochmaul, a monstrous orc, and Aprosis the Fourth Confidant behind him. The third task involves defeating a towering golem that splits himself in two when dangerously low on health. The fourth encounter is with Astire the Lunar Eclipse, a highly powerful werewolf, and his guardians. Up next is Irrissa the Seer, a frighteningly large drachnid, and his summoners. The final line of defense are the eight fire demon giants that must be slain simultaneously, for if one becomes more injured than its brothers, the others become exponentially stronger. When the eight have fallen, Commodus the Solar Construct steps forth. After Commodus has fallen, it is onward to Solusek's chamber. It is here that Solusek Ro and Mayong Mistmoore continue their battle. Mistmoore, as a new god, struggles to overpower the sun god, but for every moment that passes, Ro becomes weaker due to Mistmoore's minions that continue to pour into his plane and corrupt the realm. Upon being interrupted by mortals, Solusek escapes to leave Mistmoore to deal with the intruders. As Mistmoore dies, Solusek returns claiming that the mortals did not seek to save his realm, only to loot and plunder his plane as they did throughout the Planes of Power. During the battle with the Burning Prince, Mistmoore finds a second wind and thanks the mortals for weakening Ro for him. The only answer for the sake of Norrath is to slay both gods without allowing either to get an advantage over the other. As both gods fall to the ground, the darkness enveloping Norrath is lifted. Mistmoore's body withers away quickly as if rapidly aging. Any adventurers who accomplish this monumental task of saving Norrath from guaranteed destruction are granted with the title of Daybringer.

Suncrest Isle is a rather large island compared to the others in the Buried Sea and it is the farthest east in the ring. The island is contested by two tribes of goblin, the Sunstone and the Tidewater.

Thalassius, the Coral Keep, was built to preserve what was left of the Kedge after the careless actions of Phinigel Autropos. They were thought to have all perished in the blast, but a few did survive, and their population has grown once again thanks to the refuge of Thalassius. Much like the Shissar, the Kedge do not welcome visitors to their city. Visitors are not to be trusted, partially due to the experiments performed on the Kedge by the Combine Loyalists. It was these experiments that drew the ire of the Ocean Lord himself, Prexus, who sank the Katta stronghold to the bottom of the sea. The Kedge are a highly intelligent race of people, making them some of the most powerful wizards in the world. Several other aquatic creatures help protect the Kedge from further exploitation. Many of the higher ranking Kedge here are survivors of the experiments, and therefore are even more powerful than they naturally would be.

Zhisza, the Shissar Sanctuary, is the city built by the Combine Loyalists for the Shissar. The humid, jungle setting is reminiscant of Kunark and exactly what any Shissar would desire, but they are not easily pleased. Despite surviving the Greenmist and being given a safe haven, these Shissar see the Combine Loyalists as prison wardens. Anyone entering Zhisza is likely to be met with hostility. The Shissar are hiding something here, and they are preparing for war. Rumors of a hidden city of experimentation beyond Zhisza have been heard within Katta Castrum. Those willing to help the Loyalists, and those on a quest to find Mayong Mistmoore, are on a collision course with Emperor Vaakiszh.