Deep Sea Diving
Deep Sea Diving premiered at Ebon Gate 2017 as a supplemental SimuCoin activity. Diver's Licenses granted access to the area.
Dive into adventure, and search the Abandoned Waters for buried treasure! While the search for unique artifacts is a well-known pastime, diving expeditions are new for 2017. Will you search the shallow waters, or will you take a risk and dive to darker (and deeper) territory? Beware... Evil lurks at the bottom of the sea, and diving in these areas will require quick thinking (and perhaps use of some handy items) on your part! Premium accounts have access to an exclusive area where heightened awareness could land you a secret cache! Diver's Licenses can be purchased in the SimuCoin store.
How to Dive
Upon entry to the Abandoned Waters, (and with the appropriate diver's license from the SimuCoin Store) you will be suited with a gnomish air helmet. This helmet will last for 30 minutes. During that time, you have up to 10 searches within the sea. This number is based on where you are searching. If you are searching in the shallow waters (we'll call this level 1), then you have 10 searches. If you are searching in deeper waters (we'll call these levels 2, 3, and 4) then you have 5 searches.
On Level 1, there are no obstacles. On Levels 2 and 3, there are obstacles that you will need to counter. (IE: jellyfish, squid, etc.) These obstacles can be countered by using an appropriate item (harpoons, bellows, and fishing nets); these items can be found while playing any game - digging, mini-games, Deep Sea Diving, and fishing.
Levels 2 and 3 provide an initial bonus, but in order to maintain or improve that bonus, you must appropriately counter those obstacles. Failure to do so will drop this bonus slightly, though it will never drop to zero. You can LOOK at any obstacle (or counter item) to get information about it. You have a limited amount of time to initiate a counter.
Level 4 (which is a Premium only area) provides a bonus without obstacles. In addition, there are seashell caches to be found in this area. There are no caches on Levels 1, 2 or 3.
You need to keep your body moving while you're in the deeper areas of the sea. The bends are unpleasant and will result in scrambling back to the shallower waters, which will also remove any bonus you may have accumulated.
Items needed for the 2017 Quest can be found primarily in Deep Sea Diving.
Ebon Gate 2018 Quest
The 2018 quest is a progressive quest that will require participation from many players.
This year's quest items are crude talismans. Once you find a crude talisman, take it to one of two NPCs. If you wish to oppose Ghezresh, take the talisman to the warden (an NPC who wanders around the second level [same level as the Bank [Map Room 48, Lich #26477] which is accessible by means of either windy vortex). To exit the second level, go to the room one north of the Bank [Map Room 47, Lich #26453] and GO TUNNEL.
If you wish to support Ghezresh, give the talisman to the Ezreshi [read: priestess of Ghezresh], who can be found if you go to the Northeast Vantage of Caligos Isle (Map Room 29, Lich #26527) and GO MOUTH, GO PATH, DOWN. She wanders about in the caves, so you may have to look for her.
Both the warden and the Ezreshi will change the crude talisman. For example, the warden will change the crude talisman into a shield-etched driftwood talisman. They will then return the altered talisman to you.
You must then GIVE TALISMAN TO a VILLAGER. This will affect how the villager thinks of Ghezresh and will help determine the fate of the island (whether the people will be dominated/controlled by Ghezresh or freed from his influence). It will also earn you favor (not to be confused with Voln favor).
If you want to find out how much favor you have, go to the altar of the Granite Temple (Map Room 65, Lich #26556) or enter the jagged fissure in the fishing village and PRAY. You will then get the following message:
You kneel onto a cleared spot along the floor and murmur a few words to yourself.
A wave of silvery mist rolls across the floor and begins to swirl around you. You hear a voice speak, but you are quite certain the words spoken are not your native tongue. However, you are able to gain an understanding from the dialogue and determine that your total contributions have yielded approximately XXXX favor.
In addition, you sense that the number of villagers in this area is somewhere around XX.
As for the ghosts wandering the island, waving a driftwood shard from the fishing village (follow the sandy trail in the Northern Passage, Map Room 30, Lich #26523) at them will make them explode. It is not known (as of October 9, 2018) if this frees them or aids Ghezresh. They will attempt to speak to players, but all we can hear are wet, watery sounds.
It is known, however, that at least one type of ghost--a shambling desiccated elf--is Ashrim. His description reads:
Transparent in form, the elf appears to be the haunted remains of an Ashrim, decades in the grave. Antiquated clothing, draping from his gaunt form in tattered strips, hints at a time long lost, while ethereal jewelry clings to his skeletal wrists and fingers.
Ebon Gate 2017 Quest
The 2017 quest is a progressive quest that will require participation from many players.
The quest is broken into 4 phases and is currently on Phase 1. In order to move the quest to Phase 4, players will need to participate! Once everything opens up on Friday (10/6), the "how" should become apparent. Some may have already figured this out based on NPC responses. There is an individual cap on participation, but continued participation beyond that cap still progresses the quest as a whole. Quest components will drop primarily in Deep Sea Diving and can be traded/sold to other players.
Sometime after the quest reaches Phase 4, a reward item will become available to all players. This item does not require a Pass (Games, Services & Raffles, or Shopping) to obtain, but it will attune to your character. In addition, it carries a silvers cost of 250k. In its base form, it is a zesty item that anyone can use. For participants who are at the individual cap for the quest, it will provide some mechanical benefits that will progress over the next 5 years based on quest participation in this and subsequent years, similarly to the Heart item from the Necropolis at previous Ebon Gate events. And finally, for those who choose to convert to the new deity, there is a third mechanical benefit.
Note that in order to access the Tier 3 benefit, you must be converted to Ghezresh AND you must have participated to the full extent in that year's quest.
Earning quest favor (not to be confused with Voln favor) is dependent on the current phase of the quest. Your efforts will yield greater results on the front end rather than the back end, but someone who begins participation at the end can still achieve the same amount of favor as someone who participated at the beginning -- it will just take slightly longer.
Quest item turn in can be done in the temple. There's several rooms (approx 5-7 rooms) that you can drag and drop the items for. You may have to move rooms after so many drops or so many duplicate drops. Pray in the northern most room to check your favor. 1000 Favor is the amount needed for the quest. Each quest item is currently 50 favor.