12 Days of Gaming: Seven Memories of Norrath

New memories are forged every day and those made in Norrath burn brightest of all.

Norrath is a magical place. It has endured so many people and changes. It has stood the test of time and has left a plethora of dedicated, fanatical gamers in its wake. Not everyone has stayed through all the years, but even those of us who have moved on have many fond memories to look back on.

Though I’ve kept an active EverQuest account and pop in to chat with friends and dink around from time-to-time, the last time I seriously buckled down and played was during the Seeds of Destruction era. Over so many years I’ve forged more memories than I can recount in a single article. While reading through the many great stories of people talking about their favorite places in Norrath for the recent EverQuest Franchise Contest (which ends tonight!), it kindled the fire to share some of my memories of the game with you all as well.

Sadly, many screenshots of my early memories are lost to time, but I did finally settle on my seven memories of Norrath!

#7: Ronaneb, the Best Enchater of E’Ci

Ronaneb was quite the terror for some time during the early years of E’Ci. He was well-known for not only being a ninja looter (and unwelcome in most groups), but also for his nearly incomprehensible forum rants. After a huge ordeal where he purportedly ninja looted a Shiny Metallic Robe in Lower Guk, he posted the below (censored) rant, which I am so thankful I immortalized, to still giggle over years later. If Ronaneb was all an act, then bravo to you, good sir.

#6: Looting the Magician Epic Earth Staff

Between having kids and only being in casual raiding guilds, it took me over two years to complete my Mage Epic 1.0. I was terrific at losing rolls on every Mage Epic piece, or for having tragic luck, such as the Pegasus Feather Cloak dropping when I was helping a friend in the early epic days, but then never seeing it drop again even after months of camping Quillmane, or being in a raid that only had enough time to clear the 7th isle in Plane of Sky once and zero Crowns of Elemental Mastery dropping. To double that PoSky tragedy, I refused to leave the zone for days, and a second raid came in and promised me a crown drop if one happened when they got to 7th isle... then they wiped on the 6th isle several times and ultimately chose to abandon the raid. I then got bored and tried to use an Eye of Zomm to see the 8th isle, and the Hand of Veeshan eventually death-touched me, ending my protesting camp of the 7th isle. In the end, I purchased the crown in the Bazaar, and a kind soul who heard that the Pegasus Cloak was my last piece came and multi-quested it with me.

Well, that got slightly off topic! Two years after I started my Magician Epic, I finally won the roll on the second-to-last piece in completing the quest, the Staff of Elemental Mastery: Earth. One of the first things to happen? Someone offered me 50K to multi-quest it.

#5: The Temple of Veeshan Pileup

I joined the raiding guild Tribal Faith in many of its Halls of Testing raids in Temple of Veeshan. We did some amazing things back then, like one-grouping the trash back when that was deadly and dying over and over to Dozekar. The only screenshot I could find was one of my fondest memories of these raids, when a drake died high up on the wall and the entire raid piled up on each other trying to get someone high enough to loot it. Sadly, it rotted, so its contents went unknown!


Continue reading on page two for more memories of Norrath!

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ronaneb
# Jul 26 2016 at 11:25 PM Rating: Decent
Just posting because I'm being nostalgic -
Ronaneb was never the same person. I'm not the real Ronaneb but the real one would ALWAYS let people use his account so he could keep his place on camps. I personally camped the FBSS for Ronaneb back in the day. Of course, I was like 13 years old playing and ended up losing him a level and a half when he was level 53...

Karma caught up to him - his stuff got stolen many times. And by people I know.
I loved Veeshan
# Dec 31 2013 at 10:04 AM Rating: Good
Ah, the Void. Seeing Veeshan floating in the air like that was really amazing. I never played back in the days, but visited sometimes with a 57 necro. The graphics and animations are outdated now, but EQ is still a great game.
changing history
# Dec 29 2013 at 10:39 AM Rating: Default
21 posts
I was there and was in on the debacle we called Unnamed.Yes EQ was fun but lets not forget the crazy that came with all that.It was a different time and no doubt we all all grew up a bit but PLEASE don't forget history or it just repeats itself even out of game lol
Great article
# Dec 29 2013 at 9:29 AM Rating: Excellent
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4,580 posts
I wasn't smart enough to take screenshots and mine would mostly have involved my dead enchanter corpse anyways.

your trip down memory lane was a great read. You've done higher/harder things in era than I ever got to, but are bang-on that it's the friends you did whatever you did with that made (make) EQ amazing.
The Everquest Annual tradition called "Nillipus' Slaying"
# Dec 27 2013 at 2:48 PM Rating: Excellent
2 posts
This story goes way back to 1999 when my guild mates the "Bone Thug Clan" and I travelled to Rivervale in search of quest items for the almighty travelers bag. A 4 slot bag that reduced weight by 10%. We needed something called Jumjum stalk which was on Nillipus the Brownie in Rivervale. Being new to the game at the time we were not prepared for the slaughter that ensued. At the end of the quest we were supposed to kill Nillipuss and loot his corpse. What happened is almost to graphic to describe but I'll try. We had a full group of 6, all around lvl 7 to 8. Two Warriors, one Cleric and Rogue, a Magi and one Ranger. The Warrior went up to Nillipuss being confident and tough, "taunted" and went down in a heap of armor and blood, next was the Cleric who was trying to heal, then chaos ensued. The rest of us doing our best, "RUN! for the zone". He tracked use down one by one and killed us all.
This is were the tradition began. Now every year at Christmas (Frostfell) we log in and try to be the first one to "Slay Nillipuss" and take a screen shot with his warm corpse. Then share photo with the group. Here is what the victim looks like in his glory.
http://zam.zamimg.com/images/i/d/id4237.png
The Everquest Annual tradition called "Nillipus' Slaying"
# Dec 27 2013 at 3:26 PM Rating: Excellent
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2,350 posts
Awesome! Nilipuss is one of those mobs that deserves it, anyway. :D
____________________________
Cyliena Velnarin | @Cyliena on Twitter

The Everquest Annual tradition called "Nillipus' Slaying"
# Jan 27 2014 at 7:05 PM Rating: Good
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309 posts
Cyliena wrote:
Awesome! Nilipuss is one of those mobs that deserves it, anyway. :D


I, Baeddon, am running for Mayor of Rivervale. I've spoken to a great number of her citizens and they have all expressed their concern of this nuisance. If elected, one of my first actions as mayor will be to once and for all end Nillipus's crime spree and terror. The current administration has sat idly by for far too long. We need a halfling who loves Rivervale as much as her citizens and will not tolerate this lawlessness, let alone from a brownie. Please vote Baeggus this season and thank you for your time.
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