Niami DenMother was up to her eyeballs in alligators when she heard rumors of the newly-rediscovered land -- and the alligators were fighting back! She was also trying to deal with a lovelorn ogress, who had just suffered another Erollisi Day rejection. Much as she wished to go check for new crafting techniques and products, she just didn't see how she was going to fit everything into her already-busy days. Unless ...

Cautiously, she backed away from the medicated Ykeshan alligator, blue eyes alert in case of trouble. "All right, Ngranna-lass. That be th' last o' them. Hopefully that will help them fight off whate'er's been ailing them. I'm still nae sure why th' trolls couldnae do this themselves, but at least it be done now."

Ngranna clambered off the back of the groggy gator with none of her usual bounce. Even her green mohawk was drooping, and tears were once again leaving large streaks down her muddy green face. "Dey jus' wanna see 'Granna all muddy, to laugh at her. Everybuddy laugh at secksi ogress," she said sullenly.

Yep, definitely time to give Ngranna a project to distract her. The last time she got this distressed, everyone in the neighborhood had resorted to earplugs for a week, due to her extremely loud wailing and moaning.

Thinking about all that wailing, Niami spoke quickly, trying to forestall another round. "Now that I'm done helping ye, lass, I'm wondering if ye could help me a bit. It seems we've found a way back tae Velious after all this time, an' I'd like th' crafting checked out."

Ngranna nodded, lower jaw jutting out as she mumbled, "Sure, Mum. Not like 'Granna has hot date now."

"Och, lass. Think o' all th' new folks ye could meet while there. I'm sure, being cut off like they have, they've ne'er seen th' likes o' ye. Ye're a skilled jeweler, an' a fine figure o' an' ogress!" Mum coaxed, appealing to the large woman's wounded vanity.

Ngranna perked up a bit, lifting a meaty green hand to primp at her drooping hair. "Dat true! 'Granna go clean up, den will head out. Will send back report soon!" With that, she stomped off through the swamp, making a big enough splash as she did so to thoroughly coat Mum in mud and swamp goo.

"Och!"

~~~~

A couple days later, just as Mum was getting worried that she'd heard nothing from Ngranna, a package arrived containing a battered travel journal.

Quickly, she flipped through it, a frown growing on her face as she read. As usual, Ngranna's habit of hiding her true self was strong, and she loosened her "dumb ogre act" only a little when she wrote ... at least for the first several entries.

Giant turtle too old and stringy to make good stew. Fish have possibilities.

'Granna no want food that talks back, so left otter-men alone. Had nice crab stew snack, though.

Preserved parsnips ok, but 'Granna wonders about candied gnoll ears.

Would dwarves get mad if 'Granna snacked on spy-bird? Goat-man got angry about wooly spiderling crunchies, so 'Granna not want to risk it.

Brontotherium steaks! Dat hit the spot!

"Och! I should ha'e packed her a picnic basket afore she left. She's thinking wi' her stomach again!" Mum shook her head ruefully as she tucked a loose strand of red hair back into her braid and continued reading.

Suddenly, her eyes widened as she read the next, clearly-written entry.

I found a group of gnomish pirates on the docks of Thurgadin, and amongst them, one who called himself a gnome, but was as large as I was. Oh, his green muscles, how they ripple as he works. Such a thoughtful frown on his face as he concentrates on his "inventions." I yearn to learn more of this mysterious Oomba, and think I may stay here a while, making myself useful. (See enclosed picture, Mum - isn't he a cutie?)

"Gnomish pirate? Um, riiiiiggggght. An' distracting enow that she forgets tae act dumb? An' what about th' non-food crafting? Either she's been taken wi' snow-sickness, or she's in love ... again."

With a heavy sigh, Mum started mentally rearranging her schedule so that she could travel out to Velious for herself. Once again, she was reminded that, if she wanted something done right, she had to do it herself.

Next week marks the release of the first Velious expansion for EQ2, Destiny of Velious, on January 22.

The non-disclosure agreement was finally lifted - for most stuff, and I can finally talk about all the crafting goodness coming our way. Unfortunately, the "most stuff" doesn't yet include the crafting eye-candy that everyone eagerly awaits, and I am waiting for image approval before I put any screenshots up. ((Edit: approval was received after this article was published - thanks Amnerys and whomever else made this happen!)

In the meantime, consider this a placeholder -- I will be dropping in lots of preview information here as time permits over the next couple of days. There's a huge amount to cover, and I am still trying to get it organized into something semi-coherent. As I get things ready to read, I'll drop links in here at the bottom of the page, so you don't have to go hunting for it all.

Updates

• 16 Feb, 1:00 p.m.: Added DoV carpenter furniture gallery
• 16 Feb, 1:30 p.m.: Fansite approval for posting images received, DoV carpenter furniture page now has eye-candy!
• 16 Feb, 5:50 p.m.: DoV General Crafting Information article is now in place. There's still lots more to come in the next day or two!
• 16 Feb, 8:30 p.m.: As has happened with every single preview I've ever written for the site, I forgot something in the DoV General Crafting writeup. I've added a quick paragraph near the bottom of it, regarding red glowies. (New collection, and no longer needing to equip the solstice earring, only own it.)
• 17 Feb, 2:30 a.m.: Fixed the General link above.
• 17 Feb, 12:05 p.m.: Added in DoV Recipe Book Rundown which includes a bit of eye-candy!
• 17 Feb, 6:40 p.m.: More eye-candy. Added in pics of some DoV vendor-sold and adventure-quested furniture
• 18 Feb, 12:08 a.m.: My brain is leaking out my ears, and the "brief" DoV Crafting Quest Overview is the biggest DoV article yet. And it is just the overview!! The individual quest writeups are going to take a bit. Once I sleep, and find my way out of my straightjacket again ...
• 18 Feb, 3:20 p.m.: The Return of a Gathering Obsession quest writeup has been written and linked into the DoV Crafting Quest Overview page.
• 20 Feb, 3:20 p.m.: Dropped in the first part of the Iceclad Ocean Crafting Quests detailed writeup. Will complete it later today, I hope.
• 21 Feb, 1:32 p.m.: One grumpy, achy, redhead, reporting for more writing duty. Tackling the rest of the Iceclad quests, then seeing how far I can get on the rest.
• 22 Feb, sometime after midnight: editing was delayed due to a 6+ hour site crash, but the Iceclad quest series is now all documented. Depending on sleep, downtime and stuff like that, I may or may not get to documenting the Thurgadin quests, the crafter flying mount quests, and the Coldain prayer shawl quest in the morning. I'm pretty well done for. :(
• 22 Feb,~1 a.m.: Since I forgot to include the image anywhere else, the Thurgadin red glowie reward thumbnail went directly onto the Red Glowie page
• 22 Feb, 10:00 a.m,: I was typing like a madwoman while listening to the live launch webcast this morning, and I have a goodly chunk of the Thurgadin Crafting Quests written up. I need a stretch break, but will be back at the edting shortly if the servers aren't ready yet. (There was some technical issue that delayed launch a bit, at last check, there wasn't an ETA, but they hope it will be "soon")
• 22 Feb, 10:12 a.m.: While I am thinking of it, SOE is doing a special 12 Days of Velious promotion. Today, every alt that you log on can hit up the marketplace to claim a free 50-charge othmir illusion potion - you do not need to have purchased the expansion, just remember to log on each alt and snag it!
• 22 Feb, 1 p.m.: While SOE is beating yet another issue into submission, I'm beating more documentation into submission! The Crafter Flying Mount Quest is now up!
• 23 Feb: The Thurgadin Forgemasters faction merchant now sells some Thurgadin-themed counters, stools, benches and banners at the 10,000 faction mark! I don't have pictures yet, but will try to get some "soon"
• 24 Feb, 10:00 a.m.: Loremaster Verdandi and the scrolls for "What Dreams May Come" (Blessed Coldain Prayer Shawl) have moved from the library on the Thurgadin docks, to the more climate-controlled library in Brell's temple in Thurgadin. Verdandi is at 473, -211, 255. The scroll that you need, as well as the extra recipe scroll for armorers and tailors, is at 475, -211, 237, on the second shelf from the bottom.
• 24 Feb, 11:23 a.m. The start of the What Dreams May Come (Blessed Coldain Prayer Shawl) quest writeup is now in place
• 26 Feb: The reward for the crafter version of the flying mount quest is awry right now and requiring 85 adventurer to use. This is a bug, and has been reported in.
• 28 Feb: Updated the DoV Recipe Book Rundown with information on the gem refining book for DoV shard armor. Updated the DoV vendor-sold and adventure-quested furniture page with a new image of the souvenir snowglobe, which receive an art change after our screenshots were done in beta. In addition, you'll find the bottom of the Iceclad Ocean Crafting Quests page has been updated (daily) with the currently-known Forgemaster faction daily quests.
• 28 Feb: Added another large chunk to the What Dreams May Come (prayer shawl) writeup for those who want to read ahead while working on the needed faction.