Hail friends,

My inquiry today has three parts:

1) I am a lvl 8 bard from Freeport. What are the general directions to get to Kelethin? I know the boat to Butcherblock part but from there on I am lost.

2) Also as a lvl 8 bard, what should I hunt to get the most loot? I have been grouping in E. Commons but it is getting rather crowded and there are very few "good loot" monsters besides Darkweeds and Centurions, neither of which I like to take alone. You see, I spent the vast majority of my cash on leather armor (cap, tunic, leggings, shoulderpads, and neck armor). I know it will cost me to get the lvl 8 song and I'd like to get the lvl 9 song while I'm there. How much cash should I take?

3) How dangerous is the passage to Kelethin? I'd like to not die on another continent if at all possible.

And now for my gripe of the day:

How much trouble does everyone else have with lvl 3-8 parties attempting to take things like orc camps? My party today (me, 2 dwarf clerics, 1 monk, and 2 paladins all lvls 7-10) spent about 3 hours camping one of the orc camps near the Hidden Inn in E. Commons. After the first hard battle, we took them one or two at a time. It worked out quite well and nearly got me to lvl 9. When we disbanded, I moved along to the Hidden Inn to pick up another party. Within 15 minutes, I had died 3 times from people training Centurions and Legionnaires to the inn from the other orc camp. For some reason, I feel obligated to help these morons out every time and it tends to cost me quite a bit of my xp. Needless to say I am 1 1/2 bubble away from 9 now. Does anyone have any thoughts on how I should handle these types of situations? From what I understand from this list, the lvl 8 song would be a great help.

Thank you in advance for wading through my novella here,

Weiland of Freeport

P.S. Maybe a rumor, but does killing Bixies really cause Griffins to spawn. There were three in E. Commons today.