Apocalyse Now & Then (Pt. 2)

Continuing this weeks theme of posting Part IIs, here are some comparison screenshots of Azteca before and after the apocalypse occurs. Don't worry, this post will be a little shorter ;)

Cloudburst Forest - Before

Although the quests are tedious as usual, Cloudburst Forest is my personal favorite area of Azteca. Not only is the music theme wonderfully orchestrated, but it is screenshots like this that become my laptop background.

 Cloudburst Forest -- After

It's rather difficult to see the effects of the apocalypse unless you glance at the forest canopy. Then a piece of comet comes hurtling toward the Tehuano Spirits.

Alto Alto -- After

Apparently I was too lazy to gather some 'Before' shots for this one. Just imagine those two flashes wrecking havoc on toucan houses aren't there.

Being higher up in the forest, it's a little more apparent that the apocalypse is nigh.

 Floating Mountains - Before

Just a nice little shower next to a huge electricity source.

Today's forecast: A few flurries with a 30% chance of impending doom.

Floating Mountains -- After

It's raining too hard to see any comets, but the sky tells the story.

The lava pool's probably safe considering it melts dirty ice in a heartbeat.

Can't say the same for way up in the Islas Nevadas, though..

Twin Giants - Before

I think I know what area will be the first to go :P

 ... On second thought ...

Going into Xibalba to trigger the apocalypse, what fun. On that note, I wrote parts of this post while my Storm and Ice wizard reached Khrysalis. Yay alt leveling!

Twin Giants -- After

A look back at the Floating Mountains, and what is now a scary death spiral.

Not a great time to go flying, I think.

Xibalba remains open, but going there is essentially fruitless. And thus marks the end of Azteca's saga. A picture is supposed to be worth a thousand words, so this post might as well be a 17,000 word chronicle.

A tale of two Aztecas is indeed a sad story, but it is one of the final steps towards Morganthe's defeat. The end of this world is indeed the end of the world, which is unique as it goes.

Hope the screenshots were enjoyable,

Happy Adventuring!

Apocalypse Now & Then

Top Layer: Apocalypse Azteca
Middle Layer: Normal Azteca
Bottom Layer: Azteca... at dusk?


Once the inevitable has occured and Xibalba has hit Azteca, the world just doesn't disappear for us. It's still there to visit, but drastically different. The sky color is eerily similar to Khrysalis, icy bits of comet rain down every which way, the "Song of Creation" riff plays its endless hums.

Whenever a wizard quests through Azteca, every area they encounter will be different once the sky has fallen, so to speak. Here's a comparative look at certain scenes, before and after the apocalypse. Even if tedious, many parts of Azteca are very vibrant and great to explore, but they all end up undergoing this significant change.

** Note: This post won't exactly be text-heavy, but will indeed be very large in pictures. Remember, click to enlarge! **


Three Points - Before

A tranquil marketplace set against the forested backdrop. But a look from the other direction isn't quite as serene..

Perspective changes things, folks :P

It gets worse, though.

Apocalypse loading, aaand...

Three Points -- After

 General calamity, multiple pieces of comet crashing into buildings, three shades of color in the sky. Basically your everyday apocalypse.

"As you can see to the left, the prophecy is indeed coming true, my cold-blooded friends."

Cenote - Before

Mycin, just now coming upon the end of Azteca, checks out the still-tranquil sky while prowling zombie dinosaurs lurk nearby.

Cenote -- After

If not for the overhanging plant life, Arlen might as well be at the center of a pitch black zombie apocalypse. No specks of comet around, though.

Mangrove Marsh - Before

Similar to the Cenote, just some weird purple wisps.

Open air, a plaza, plenty of water - no wonder the reptiles wanted this area back from the avians.

Mangrove Marsh -- After

Unlike the Cenote, the apocalypse feels free to disturb the din.

Conflicts just seem petty now that the air is cloudy and the plaza will become rubble.

Saltmeadow Swamp - Before

Why search for a Fountain of Youth when a comet will kill you? :P

A nice summer shower is usually a good thing...

Saltmeadow Swamp -- After

Sky and swamp turn the same color (and so will the Monquistans when they see what happened)

...Unless you have a comet raining down.

Zultun Dock - Before

The avians tend to pick out good spots, complete with treehouses that look like faces.

Zultun Dock -- After

You guys can fly, right?

There's the differences in the first half of Azteca. Rather similar only if you don't look up or notice crashing pieces of ice all around. I've somewhat warmed to the atmosphere of Azteca while questing, but going there after level 90 is rather gloomy. Hearing the depressing "ah, ah ah ahhhh ... ahhhah uhhh" Apocalypse Theme doesn't help that feeling :P

The other installment (Cloudburst Forest - Twin Giants) will come in a few days. Better not to make one huge post of pictures in this case.

Happy Adventuring!

Arbor Day Collection

Happy Arbor Day!

Although this holiday is largely overlooked, especially being three days after Earth Day this year, I figured I would compile all of the trees I could find on Wizard101. There were more than I thought, and I probably didn't even find them all.

Cue the slideshow... or scroll down... or whatever.

I didn't even include the split or felled trees here, either. All the normal tree trunks were a maze to walk around in the first place :P

I'll be back to post Khrysalis Part 2 updates later this weekend ---

Have a tree-rific .. nah, that's a lousy pun.

Happy Questing!

Another One Bites The Dust

*Sorry, my band references are going further lately :P (Title)*

Without doing side-quests, my progress is going very far these past couple days!

After trying to 'Stop That Cat!', I cruised through MB and started on Katz Lab bright and early (ok, 2AM.. my Summer sleeping habits are wacky, lol) today, plus the Counterweights, before napping through the 3 hour maintenance. Oh, and the night before..

Judgement time! ^.^

Gah, it won't let me delete this pic --- ignore it (although a Mander can use Sandstorm!)

After some running around, I bumped into Reed Treever, who gave me the whereabouts for the Omnibus..

.. and ran into this cute little rat.

You can see what I'm up against. Thankfully, it let both of my Duo in together, so no soloing these baddies.

So, soon afterwards, I summoned a little Sandstorm for some final lesson.

Pretty big, no? And, is this yoga, by the chat? "And the more relaxed you allow yourself to be.."

Since I got Judgement, I figured, why not Adept PvP? It went better than I thought - started 9-1 :D here's my deck setup, treasure cards on top. (Once Tristan gains more Training Points, he can get Tower Shield for real)

Forgot to crop this - but if you zoom in, there's my school deck, plus shields at the go if I can tell what school the opponent is before clock runs out.

First I switched to dye-ing in Death style, but then remembered my many KIFG transformations. HERE'S where they come in use! And, posing above, I bought a Myth Imp as you can see ^.^ So, I posed as a Death wizard. Camouflage isn't required, but can be very helpful.

And here's the final count after a while. Figure I'll try to get as a Warlord once Tristan hits Legendary, maybe? I really like Balance as PvP. Judgement isn't everything, but I bring it out a bit. Actually, Spectral Blast can be underrated.

Watch out, horsie o_O

And, later this morning, Big Ben.

And shiny gear/badges! As I write this, I just Blasted the Plague Oni (hey, he's Balance, this is what Spectral Blast is for again!) out of the way, and soon head to the Ancient Burial Grounds, with both wizards at Level 35. Already? Like I said, its surprising how far you can get on a boring Summer day without doing side quests. 2/3 of the way through Mooshu! :)

Hopefully the duo will be mid-Dragonspyre, more or less, next time? We'll see. And about the Fiction, the quest to kill Meowiarty is aptly named 'The Last Meow' - the name of my story - and I didn't even recall that fact. All the better, then! Anyways, I'll post that when I'm low on material, sorry, don't want to make this post too long!

Happy Questing!