The Exiled Lands

First topic message reminder :

Welcome to the wonderful world of Conan Exiles. I won't be bringing my old story stuff over from the old forum. I'll be giving you new stuff once I get playing again. For those who like to see all the old screenshots, don't worry - they're all here in my album:  https://ibb.co/album/zXk4G9

You know the drill, click thumbnails to see the fullsize screenshots. I will shortlink screenshots I cannot thumbnail here due to their nature. Have fun and enjoy.

Zamira's party found the route into the volcano...



It was quite a shock, going from near freezing cold to sweltering heat. They dashed through the volcano area until they were back in the cold. And here they discovered the Ruins of Xullan...



They found the entrance to the Black Keep and the obelisk, but the party wasn't prepared to explore deeper. And without a map room, the obelisk was of no use to them. 

They continued making their way home, across a great bridge and through some unique rock formations...
Finally back at base the place was attacked by a cackle of hyenas...

Soon after the Purge, Zamira led another expedition into the North. This time she followed the directions of her Cimmerian follower...



Zamira was right, putting her trust in the Cimmerian woman. The expedition found what they had come for -- black ice.



They passed the Mounds of the Dead. A tribe of Cimmerians had made it their home, fiercly defending it against outsiders. The place was also plagued by undead, the place teeming with wight. 
With the black ice, they could finally build a preservation box to store their food. The base was also expanded with a few more workstations and some planters. They built a second animal pen and before soon they had a rhino and an elephant who could help them carry even more goods between the base and the outpost. 
The base and outpost was also outfitted with cages. They had captuted a few Darfari females alive. The prisoners were stripped, shackled and quickly turned into pleasure slaves.
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During the next expedition it became clear that the wooly mammoths and the bears were no friends. It was much easier to hold back and let the beasts kill each other, then go in for the kill on whoever survived...



There were frost giants camped all over the area. The big brutes were tough, but vulnerable to polearm attacks from beneath them. And they had a few goodies for the party to plunder...



They had been wondering for some time now, where the ghost expedition was leading them. Zamira's party found out it ended catastrophically beneath the ice of Eyelet Lake...

There was a sudden loud noise behind them...



A starfall.



Zamira's expedition discovered the location of the Temple of Frost. It was crawling with frost giants, so they avoided it for now, satisfied to gather more black ice in the area. And now they had the obelisk location as well, though they still lacked a map room. 



On their way back from the Temple of Frost, they found one of the meterorites. Using a few grease orbs and a demon fire orb, Zamira broke through the outer shell. Now she could harvest the star metal.



It took a few days for the taxidermist to finish the job on their latest trophy -- the mammoth head.

"I smell you, human. The stench of your kind has not improved throughout the aeons. Ashes and dust, human. Ashes and dust. All that remains of what once were. An echo of an echo. In my mind, I still walk the streets of our city. The iron scent of blood as I pas the temple of the old serpent. The thrumming power in my veins as I chant the ritual of summoning. The intoxication and extasy of knowledge. Ashes and dust. When the world was shattered, your people came to us as refugees. We were generous, we gave them the wild north. They built a city there amongst the trees, and practiced weird sciences and worshipped their demon gods. For a thousand years, there was peace and trade among our peoples. But your kind is ever-seeking, ever-grasping, ever-multiplying. War was inevitable and when it came, it was terrible. I see that you wear the bracelet, human. When the war between our people began, we created such to bend the prisoners of war to our bidding. My kind are long lived and slow to replenish our numbers, and as we dwindled in the war, we increasingly came to rely on human prisoners to provide us with labor. To that end, we created the bracelets, to bond your kind, to control your movements, to allow you to understand our language and to prevent your kind from escaping. But that was an aeon ago. To what purpose they have been attuned now... I cannot say. I was once of the triumvirate that ruled this land. The Archivist concerned himself primarily with the collection of knowledge and the Priestking had dominion over our spirits and the rituals of our faith. My people called me the Warmaker, for it was my duty to keep them safe. And for a while, I did my duty. I held the northern passages against the humans. Together with the Archivist, I established the watch towers to warn us of the coming of the humans. They burn still, human. When the colour changes it is because those of your kind have crossed the borders of our kingdom with the intent to slay, burn and kill. In the end we were betrayed. During a skirmish in the north, the humans revealed a new weapon forged of their strange science. It smashed through the ranks of my troops, turning those captured in its blast into solid stone. Those who survived fled south to lick our wounds. During this moment of weakness, the Priestking came to me with a proposal. A new ritual to counter the human sciences, a powerful magic to scour the landscape and drive them from our lands. In desperation, I agreed. Do you understand, human? In ages past, this was the most fertile land in our empire. And then I unleasehed the Sandstorm. I lost control of it. I betrayed my people to a slow, dwindling doom. I have been alone in the darkness for a long time, human. Few have come to me over the aeons. But there was a man who came here, years ago. I had not spoken with another being for thousands of years and there was a hunger in me for conversation. He did not wear a bracelet, as you do, so he learned my speech. And he listened to me talk of this city and what once was. And for a while, as I described it to him, it lived again in my mind. Perhaps I spoke too much. When I told him of the greatest artefact of our religion, the

Zamira and her companions left the Warmaker. They made their way through the Spawning Pools, slaying several dragons including the Red Mother. They got away with some good loot, including the Bow of the Red Mother...



On their return journey they stumbled across a campsite...



Jakkad is gone. Swallowed by the darkness and desolation. A winged demon screeches a haunting dirge as it flees with my companion towards the stars.
Ever since we took our first steps into this city, we knew that something was waiting for us. The darkness is a tide, lapping at the shore of my sanity, eroding it. Blood seeps from wounds I didn't know I had.
The ruins cast insane shadows on the landscape and they cast a shadow on my mind. The past and the present run together in my mind and--
I am slave rushing to help my master and--
I am a woman screaming in the ruins and--
I am a god planning wars and wickedness and?
I am a sandstorm scouring the lands and-
I am...myself. Alone. Exiled.

It seemed the vengeful undead followed them back to base. The defense against the Purge was going well - until...

A wave of enemies appeared behind them. And then the great undead dragon appeared, breathing fire at them. In the end, the defenders defeated the Purge, but the base suffered some damage. They lost all their planters and sail cloth they had recovered from the Black Hand was reduced to ash. Not someting they couldn't replace, but anyway. It took some time to recover and lick their wounds.



The trophy of the red dragon was proudly hung from the wall of the base.

It was a rainy day in the North when Zamira's expedition set out...



They passed by River's End and continued toward King's Niche...



Fellow Traveler!
I am Raknys - Ultimate Warrior and Conqueror of the World! Legend of the Sword and Battlemaster of the Gods!

This place is too hot. I will travel north tomorrow towards the settlement I see in the distance. There, I will make everyone bow to my fists!




After defeating the undead soldiers, very much reminding them of the ones they'd seen at the Ruins of Xullan, and defeating the undead king, all the spoils of war were theirs -- Several chests with gold and silver and a legendary mace.
While they had been gone, members of their outpost at the Shattered Basin had delivered a couple of prisoners they had captured in the North.
Meanwhile, a major construction effort in the east had been undertaken and it had come a long way...

Baker, square and workshop...



Tanner and carpenter shack, Alchemist and taxidermist workshop...



Tavern...



Barracks...



Under construction residence...

Zamira formed another expedition. They moved into the North, crossed the Bridge of the Betrayer and entered the Ruins of Xullan...



The undead soldiers of the Silent Legion tried to stop them...



In wartime, there is enough blame. Who struck the first blow? I cannot say. They enslaved you, twisting the bracelets to their corrupted ways. We retaliated by destroying their aqueduct. We established an outpost, Xullan, in the North, to watch the serpentmen and prevent them from joining with their allies. And I began to formulate a powerful sorcery to ensure the safety of our people.

The expedition entered the Black Keep...

The Black Keep was built like a maze...



Working their way upward, though, Zamira's expedition found their quarry...



With the Kinscourge defeated, they could now learn all the secrets of the Silent Legion...



All that remained was to exit the black Keep.

The first sets of Silent Legion armours were crafted...



Construction in the jungle continued...



The residence was still not completed, but it was good enough to move into. Zamira gathered the valuables and with her escort she set off...



It was dark when they arrived and they all could do with some rest...
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Additional reinforcments arrived a few days later. The residence had a bath for the guards to enjoy...

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The construction on the residence was completed...



Then, the horn sounded -- Incoming Purge...



The apes kept coming...



The apes regrouped again and mustered one last assualt...

A shrine to Mitra was built and work continued on the residence. The area behind the building was decorated with fountains and statues...



As time passed, the followers of Mitra worked hard...

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The next religious building to be constructed by one of Zamira's protege's was a bower to Jhebbal Sag...



The priestess sent Zamira out to seek the Child of Jhebbal Sag...



"Come, come to me. You have nothing to fear of me, human. I am simply lonely as I await my return to the misty lands. I would like to talk. Is my appearance repellent to you, human? Your kind find no kinship in the unnatural. My bother, Impisi, summoned me from the misty lands. We are bound by flesh, blood and our kinship with Jhebbal Sag. But Impisi asked of me power that could not be given. He took my silence for disobedience and drove me forth from his camp in wrath. I simply wish to return to my realm, but Impisi will not allow it because he thinks I am withholding information. If I could simply kill Impisi to secure passage to my realm, I would do it. But the incantations that he spoke bind us as one, tied together by invisible threads. His thoughts are my thoughts; if he is struck, I am bruised. If I am cut, he bleeds. There must be a severing of ties, if I am to find my way back. Do you know of Jhebbal Sag, human? Once all living things worshipped him. When men and animals spoke the same tongue, he would walk among tthem in any form that he chose. He would mate with females of all races and from those unions would birth half-divine children such as I. Such as Impisi. Most men have forgotten the tongue they shared with the animals. Only some few animals remember. Would you learn to speak with the animals, human? The realm that I come from is volatile: a world of shifting energies and elemental forces. By contrast, I find your world to be... tranquil. But I suspect my nature makes me more sensitive to the undercurrents that run beneath this strange land. Take this grove for instance. These trees were once something else. Not human, nor any other creature that I have encountered in this place. And they are screaming. Endlessly screaming. Have you seen my brother, Impisi? H is more animal than man, lost in the mad-scented lust of the hunt. When he summoned me, he sought the power to become a beast for a period. When I refised him and was outcast, he turned to darke powers. I fear that a bat has flown over the Mountains of the Dead bearing his request to the Four Brothers of the Night. What the gods of darkness have replie, I do not know. But strange beasts stalk the night now, and once, I saw the shadow of the Children of Jhil passing over this place and into the mountains. I fear what he has unleashed."

They bought a Potion of Midnight for five scraps of feral flesh each. They quafferd their potions and...



Their adventure began...



They fought through beasts and men...



... until they reached a closed in circular arena. The green doors changed to red and they were locked in...



A greather black panther challenged them, the first of the Four Brothers, the Brother of the Night...

The path split in three. Confronted with the choice of going straight ahead or to go left or right, Zamira picked the left path...



Their choice would turn out to be the correct one. After fighting through many bears and cultists, they reached the secong challenge...



The Brother of the Moon - a great silverback gorilla - fell before them.

It wasn't long before Zmira's group found the third brother -- the Brother of Mists...



The great bull defeated, the last brother was just a stone thow up ahead...



They defeated the Brother of Blood - none other than Impisi himself in his werewolf form...



Jhebbal Sag made an appearance, congratulating them and encouraging them to consume the flesh of the fallen werewolf - raw...



They did as they had been told and thus learned all there was about the religion of Jhebbal Sag. Now to get out of here...