Iksar Monk Guide

"Welcome to pain, young Swifttail..." -- Master Niska

Introduction

The Swifttail Caste of the Iksar holds a powerful place in Iksar history. They, along with the warriors that now make up the Troopers of the city of Cabilis, are the oldest caste of the Iksar, far predating the Necromancers who now control the city through fear, and the Greenbloods and Scaled Mystics, who use their religion to bring unity to the people.

Unlike these groups, the Swifttails, the Monks of the Iksar, provide a foundation for the Iksar. Their ways have remained unchanged for centuries. They still believe, as is written in one of the most ancient Iksar texts, that through pain and self-sacrifice, a Swifttail can achieve higher personal strength and, through that strength, help all Iksar.

Even today, the Swifttails remain, in many ways, separate from the rest of Iksar society. Being reborn into the caste means that you forsake all your prior personal history. You are no longer known by your birth name, but instead by one you choose for yourself, one that symbolizes your inner strength. They don't engage in the political struggles that the other castes engage in for the control of Cabilis. The silence of Grand Master Glox is all that meets the other castes' messengers.

Why are you Superior?

"You feel that? The pain you feel now will one day lead to strength." -- Master Raksa

The Swifttail is one of the most feared warriors in Kunark and in the world. They have no fear, and in fact relish pain as the path to greater strength. They have all of the strengths of their human counterparts, but have two additional ones that the humans don't possess. One is regeneration. With regeneration, the Swifttail can recuperate quickly from a battle and fight more. The other is infravision, which allows them to see at night and in dark places that the humans can not. They are also able to forage, which allows them to go far afield for extended periods without needing to return to society. Indeed, there are many legends of ancient monks who were lost in battle, only to be found years later alive and well.

Your Weaknesses

"Know your weaknesses more than your strengths, as they will more likely be the end of you." -- Master Bain

The Swifttails have few weaknesses, but they are important to note. For one, all Iksar are shunned by almost every other creature in the known world. Our kind is deemed unnatural to the races from Antonica and Faydwer, for they see our scales as meaning we bear kindred to their feared snakes. The inhabitants of our own continent hate us, as most of them have ancient, inbred fears from our domination in times past. Walk with an eye to the horizon, for most that you see there is your enemy.

Our other major weakness is that, due to the nature of our skin and our need for heat radiation through it, we are unable to wear armor that most other beings find tolerable, that made of plates of solid metal. We are able to wear, at most, armor made of links that allow air to move through them, or else we overheat readily in the jungles and swamps.

Your First Day

"You look like a whif to me..." -- Master Raska

When you are reborn into the Swifttails, you are told to report to the Court of Pain for an audience with Grand Master Glox. His brief wakening from silent meditation at your hail marks your first step down the long path to becoming a Grand Master yourself. Follow his instructions to Master Bain, who will direct you on your path as well as give you your first Shackle, the Shackle of Dust. With this Shackle all will know of the sacrifice you have made.

Now for my advice. Begin by gathering as many bags for free as you can from your surroundings in order to carry the spoils of your foes. These include the quest bag that you will use for your First Rite, the quest bag used for the Curscale Armor Quest (more on that below), and the bag for the Leech Husk Quest. You can earn good money and experience at lower level, when your underdeveloped skills aren't markedly affected by carrying too much equipment around.

Then proceed directly to the Field of Bone. Do not train in anything except for skills you might find useful, and Dodge which is required (I usually spend it all on Mend, to give me a boost in this slow-growing skill). When you arrive at Field of Bone, proceed to the nearest scorpion. Kill that scorpion. Yes, these scorpions are gamble to you. However, they are by far the easiest creatures to kill in this area, and are far weaker than their level. This means that you can kill gambles and make almost a whole bubble for every kill. I died about once out of every three times doing this, but you spawn about 30 feet away, so it was much quicker. Once you hit second, continue doing this until you hit 3rd. Sell the Scorpion Pincers to the nearest merchant (they go for about 8 silver each) and make a good profit. You can also turn them in to Warlord Zyzz for a some good faction, although less money. The other side effect of doing this is that you increase your skills very quickly by fighting gambles. That's why I said not to train. Save those skill points for later, when you actually need them.

On Curscale Armor

"All the young Swifttails fit right in out here, they stink like Scaled Wolves..." -- Trooper Taer

Now is as good a time as any to mention an important quest in the lives of young Swifttails, the Curscale Armor Quest. This quest is important for two reasons, one is that it is an incredible source of experience, and two is that it is the only known way to create the coveted armor of the Swifttails. Known for its lightness and strength, a full suit of this armor is very useful to a young Swifttail. Eventually, most will obtain armor made from the cured silks of the bonecrawlers, but this armor is less expensive and easier to attain. (Note that Cured Silk armor appears the same on us as it does on our Grand Master). Please refer to the Curscale Comparison Chart for further information.

At low levels, I would recommend hunting Scaled Wolf Pups almost as much as you do the Scorpions. They provide the pelts needed to get the Curscale Armor. The only downside is that they weigh a large amount. This is not such a drawback at lower levels when weight doesn't matter as much, but as you improve and need to keep your weight to below 15, this is a problem. I worked with it by making a point to *not* hunt them while I was heading out. Then, on any given return trip to the city, I would hunt them until I found enough skins to fill the pack and do the quest, and get my prize...

The First Rite

"All things around you grow stronger from your spilled blood. Now, you grow stronger from theirs." -- Master Raska

Hunt as you see fit through the lower levels, but upon attaining fourth level, it is time for you to complete the Swifttail's First Rite. This is where you acquire your second Shackle from Master Raska, the Shackle of Clay. First head to the Lake of Ill Omen, where you should hunt near to the safety of the outpost buildings. Seek out the Cubs and Scouts that are not gamble to you to acquire what you need from them. After you do so, move to the Swamp of No Hope, where you need to seek out froglok skippers. While there, take a peek around for any escaped frogloks, as you need their shackles for the Monk Training Bag quest.

Then return to the Field of Bone. Move southeast along the edge of the ancient reservoir to an area outside the ruins of Kaesora. Here you will find many large scorpions, but be careful of the other creatures that you might find here as well. Hunt large scorpions until you find what you need.

At this point, you should be nearing 5th level, return and get your next Shackle, and stop and kill a few wolf pups on the way...

Becoming Stronger

"You think that you are strong? Go tell the Grand Master. I haven't seen him kick someone clear into the canals lately..." -- Master Bain

Over the next few levels, it is important to make yourself even more powerful. By now you should be restricting yourself to less than 15 weight at all times, as it will begin to affect your fighting. Train in all your skills, including Mend even when you don't need to, in order to be in a good position later on. Fight mostly even creatures now, or many many blues. Always get another piece of Curscale on your way back into town...

Practice Safe Fall the easy way. Go to the ramps in the reservoir and run up the sides of the ramp entrance. Then turn towards the ramp and run off onto it. Note that the sharpest point that sticks out is a rough guide of where you'll take minimal damage with a Safe Fall skill of 20. Be very careful of your approach, however, for if you are running towards the reservoir when you go off of that point, you can take much more damage than if you are running the other direction. Give it a try, you learn from that pain while you sit and heal...

When you hit 8th or 9th level, you can consider performing the Monk Task of Cleansing. In this quest, you need to seek out Iksar Bandits to get two masks to them and prove your devotion to the Swifttails, prove that you will not sway. These bandits range anywhere in power from 8th to 10th level, and are very strong at fighting, as well as rarely found wandering the open lands. I decided to hunt until I hit 9th before searching them diligently, as they were rarely of equal power to me at 8th level. If you have a group, however, this changes everything, and you will be able to take them out much earlier. When you acquire two Bandit Masks, you can turn them in, along with your Shackles of Dust and Clay, to get the Shackle of Stone. Note that you can now reperform the First Rite to obtain another Shackle of Clay for your empty wrist, but you can't reperform the Task of Cleansing ever again, as you no longer have your Shackle of Dust.

Conclusion

"..." -- words of advice from Grand Master Glox

At this point, there is not much more for me to tell you. You have all the tools that you need to proceed on with your training, and are now strong enough to go further afield in search of your fortune. Most young Swifttails receive some basic instruction in the talent of Tiger Claw, and then vanish in the wilds for a time. You will likely have found allies from among the other clans who, although they don't share your devotion, can assist you in finding what lies within yourself. And that is where the truth in the Grand Master's teaching lies...