Undergrowth of Bittermere Woods

Deep in Bittermere Woods lives a witch who once walked Elanith as a priestess of Niima.  She discovered something so unique and powerful that the forces of Lornon sent assassins after her, ending her life in one swift stroke so that her discovery could not be shared with the world at large.  However, even in death, the Arkati fought over what to do with her soul.  Gosaena recognized that she was removed from Elanith before her time and thus would not ferry her to oblivion.  Lorminstra demanded she be returned to her body, a deed for a deed.  Luukos wanted her for his own designs as payment for her discoveries.

Unable to go to silence, warred over by winter and hiss, Naidem took her.  For years, decades, centuries, she was among the forgotten in the landscape of the land between.  Not really knowing who she was, but merely a fleeting memory with a single burning desire to rediscover what was lost.

And so, she moved away from the others and into the woods.  She tended to a garden, one that was so different from what she knew in life.  And created her trinkets.  These little things, these forgotten things, and slowly, her past life began to inform her hands, and the old, forgotten discoveries returned.

Haunted by the resurgence of how she expired, the witch was uncertain what to do with these things, these bits, this knowledge, and as such she decided to test those that found their way to her garden.  Maybe, if she could trust them with the beginnings of her discovery, have them prove through trial their mettle, then maybe, just maybe, she could trust them with the rest.

General Information

NEW GAME

Venture into the Undergrowth of Bittermere Woods and discover the Witch’s Hut and her garden.  When you meet her, she will provide you with a single task at the cost of 1 cube.  Upon accepting your task, she SHRINKS YOU DOWN to the size of a mouse and sends you through a mousehole into her garden.

The tasks are varied and include things like making candles, mulching mushrooms, harvesting fiddlehead ferns, replacing the gourd guard, etc.  The tasks are designed to take as long as a full run in the Arena of the Abyss and offer the same rewards as a single run with one very big difference.  Instead of finding the Necrotic Ring, you can find the Lightweaver's Ocarina.

Playable like the ones sold in Nereid’s Voice, this ocarina is special.  It has access to 6-fluff verb traps, can be worn, and has an ability called Aura of the Nereid.  Next year, the ocarina will be expanded to have other features that will require charges to use.  Fortunately for you, if you run the game this year, you can store the charges for later use.

BE WARNED!

Much like the Arena of the Abyss, the Undergrowth of Bittermere Woods also has its hazards.  An imp, all the larger now that you are small, may find you in the garden and remove you from his precious fiddlehead ferns!  This hazard has the same effect (without killing you) that the lightning strikes do in Arena of the Aybss.

Aura of the Nereid

This is a toggle-able feature on the Lightweaver’s Ocarina that allows you to cycle through 7 different illusions.  This illusion shows up ABOVE your character’s description and is in monster bold.

Prizes

• Experience
• 30 Soul shards per run
• Fusion Shaman Tokens
• Shimmering Green Orb - Experience modifier
• Breakable Items
• Lightweaver’s Ocarina

Location

The Undergrowth of Bittermere Woods can be located in the southeastern portion of Evermore Hollow's outer ring, through the passage and northeast a few times.

NPCs

NPC 1 - an old witch

You see an old witch.  Cursed with a perpetual malevolent countenance due to the devilish grin across her ever-pursed mouth, the deep, extrusive wrinkles that mar her face, and her piercing sage green eyes that flicker with a burning flame, the old witch presents a mildly comforting but contradicting comportment.  Her body remains in a hunched over posture, and her dowager's hump protrudes beneath her black cotton cape, where wiry strands of grey-black hair spill out from the edges of her hood.

ask witch about entry

"Interrrested in seeing my garrrden, arrre you?" the witch asks curiously, with her profoundly and heavily rolled r's.  "I rrrequire just one enrrruned stone cube to allow passage, and if you want to venturrre in, you can just PAY while here in my cottage."

ask witch about imp

Sheepishly an old witch says, "Imp?  Why, I have no idea what you arrre talking about..."

ask witch about ocarina

ask witch about pay

ask witch about task

ask witch about will-o-wisp

Help

When you are in the room with the witch, you can type HELP.

~~  Welcome to the Undergrowth of Bittermere Woods  ~~

The following are possible tasks that you could be assigned and information on completing each one.

* Eyes of the Unliving: The witch needs will-o'-wisps to help illuminate her cabin.  You will need a lantern and a spyglass to complete this task.  The lantern is in the witch's cottage, and the lantern is out in the witch's garden.  PEER through the spyglass to see through the veil that conceals the wisps and then capture five of these light sources.  Return them one at a time to the witch.

* Wards of the Old Ones: Torches surround the perimeter of the witch's garden.  On occasion, these torches are extinguished and must be reignited.  Find an appropriate light source to relight five of these extinguished torches.

* Tallows Tails: Head to the candle making workshop below the witch's cottage and make five candles.  Drop a cube of wax in the pot to melt it, color your candle with some dye (you have lots of color combinations to play with), and then pour out the wax into the canister.  Each candle must be deposited in the white birch crate located near the witch's cottage.

* Decorating the Gourd: Decorate five fresh gourds which can be found in the painting workshop below the witch's cottage.  Each gourd must then be deposited in the appropriate collection box located nearby.

* Gourd Guard: Replace five rotten gourds located around the perimeter of the witch's garden with newly decorated gourds which can be retrieved from the gourd collection box located near the witch's cottage.

* Harvesting the Fiddleheads: Use SENSE throughout the witch's garden to locate fiddlehead ferns that are ready for harvesting.  You will need to reach the fronds that are at the top of the ferns.  Once you harvest one, take it to the nymph near the witch's cabin, who is collecting them for soup preparation.  You will need to collect five fresh fronds.

* Mulching the Mushrooms: You must find some mulch near the witch's cottage and OBSERVE the areas around mushrooms and toadstools.  You are tasked with mulching five that are in need of some gardening care.

Additional Information

EVENT STAT

Similar to other pay events with various activities, starting in 2022, stats started being tracked and allow participants to view their individual stats between the various activities with EVENT STATS.

>event stat ebon
              Ebon Gate Data
 --------------------------------------
  Herb Hunt Entries:                 0
  Number of Toadshades Found:        0
  Number of Mandrakes Found:         0

  Trick-or-Treat Entries:            0
  Tricks Found:                      0

  Arena of the Abyss Entries:        0
  Arena of the Abyss Kills:          0
  Arena of the Abyss Wins:           0
  Lightning Strikes:                 0

  Newcropolis Entries:               0
  Newcropolis Spawns:                0
  Newcropolis Mini Bosses:           0
  Newcropolis Final Bosses:          0
  Newcropolis Secrets Found:         0

Undergrowth of Bittermere Woods Info
  Eyes of the Unliving:              0
  Wards of the Old Ones:             0
  Tallows Tail:                      0
  Gourd Guard:                       0
  Creating the Gourd:                0
  Harvesting the Fiddleheads:        0
  Mulching the Mushrooms:            0
  Imp Grabs:                         0

See Also

• Ebon Gate Festival
• Saved Posts