Burnbones - Halloween 2016
From Istaria Lexica
Storytellers whisper the tale of the Legend... A dragon so notorious that long after he was put away, his name remains... Time has a way of distorting the truth and turning it into a mythic legend.
But...what if the truth... isn't merely a Legend?
The Burnbones - Halloween 2016 event was an event held on October 29th, 2016 on the Blight server only. It was a two-day event, with the first day having all of the story and main events taking place and the second day doing final boss re-runs for players who missed the initial event.
The initial forum post was posted 5 days before the actual event by Frosthide, teasing the event's contents with a short teaser video showing a fiery dragon rising from lava, presumably Burnbones, the event's main boss.
Course of Events[edit]
(All screenshots taken from the community site)
The event began on the live servers in a way with the environment changing to a reddened sky and dark lighting with leaves drifting down for a few days prior. The developers also messed with players, putting them into random costumes depending on their race. Otherwise, nothing truly happened on the live servers.
On Blight, the event truly began when a small brown hatchling with black stripes named Vraktar appeared in Dralk in front of many players. He was seen with an obsidian sphere jammed into his claw socket that was later revealed to be a mind-control device used by Burnbones.
He claimed he was researching a spell and required components from the Gifted to finish it. He spoke in riddles, testing the Gifted, telling them to claim a prize from the 'four maws of the earth', which ended up being a hint towards volcanoes. The correct answers ended up being loot from monsters in Katja, Drakul's Heart, Kion Volcano, and the Island of Fire. The correct components offered were an Obsidian Boulder Golem Chip, Flame Essence, Fire Opal Golem Chip, and a Ravager Heart. Vraktar then combined these components into a mysterious faceted gem.
The hatchling then summoned a Ritual Spirit, who refused to complete the magic needed for his spell until he received offerings. The GM controlling the spirit then teleported out to each of the magic towers in Istaria. It requested an item that corresponded to the tower it stood at. For example, the Tower of Sorcery could have been cleared via a Mind spell usable by Sorcerers. Once it received a proper offering at each other (and killed those who gave wrong offers), it reappeared in Dralk by Vraktar and demanded an offering of Primal. It received it, to its pleasure, and enchanted the gem to become a crystalline skeleton key.
Vraktar then requested the Gifted to find the 'Hidden Flame' and suggested they ask a historian for the meaning. Karane the Historian was questioned, but instead her assistant, Lanithai (another GMPC), appeared and gave the names of the dragons who made up the Hidden Flame, which was a collection of dragons who bound Burnbones to his tomb through magic, which spread through the bloodline to keep the lock secure.
Vraktar, after receiving the names, left Dralk suddenly. Soon after, Aberrant Azulars appeared nearby all the aforementioned members of the Hidden Flame, slaughtering them and breaking the last seal on the tomb of Burnbones.
Lanethai lectured the assembled Gifted on trusting random hatchlings who spoke of things way out of their league before educating them on what the Hidden Flame meant and how Burnbones was captured. She requested for the dragons nearby to give her large offerings of hoard, meant to draw Burnbones out so they could defeat him and reseal him in his prison.
She then led the Gifted far to the south of Dralk where a large lava pool lay. Nearby the pool was the empty shell of Vraktar, dead and mindless. Lanithai roared the old summoning chant, offering the millions of hoard she was given. Burnbones then appeared, using a unique emote, only to be tricked; Lanithai stole away the hoard and vanished, leaving the Gifted to defeat the ancient beast.
Burnbones fought ferociously, a monster played by a GM, though large amounts of lag struck and caused issues with the battle. He did manage, however, to fire off his master spell Gold Nova, a massively damaging burst of energy fueled by the thousands of hoard he siphoned off of players nearby using Hoard Siphon.
Once defeated, he was then sealed away forever, leaving the Gifted victorious.
