We have a Class 2 infection! Zombies, Forean Zombies!

by: Taea

There's a problem in the world of Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa. In a quiet corner of Valverde Plateau lies an entrance to a haunted place. Something horrible occurred there, so terrible that refugees cry for it to all be burned and utterly destroyed. What has happened to the peaceful Forean Sanctuary of Velon Hollow?

An infection, some kind of plague has taken over the minds of the poor souls who live there. Losing control of themselves, the Foreans have turned into hostile creatures. Try as they might, neither the AFS doctors nor the Forean Shamans can find a cure. The infected must be killed and put out of their misery. A monastic order of Foreans are stuck inside this quarantine zone, guarding the relics and ancient teachings of Velonar and the Eloh. Will you save the relics and their protectors?

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The Velon Hollow Instance is found just south of Camp Resistance in southwest Valverde Plateau. Before traveling down there, visit New Velon Village, the Forean encampment just North of Wedge Rock Outpost. You'll find the prerequisite missions here that will eventually lead you to enter the instance.

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Velon Hollow is a cave system with plenty of long and winding tunnels. Travel time is extensive here, making portable waypoints a must. It's good practice to drop down several waypoints throughout your travels, to facilitate a quicker return if you should die. And die you will, with 10 plus Boss Mobs, infected Foreans, Kael, Machina, altered Mox and Miasma, and much more clambering for your blood. You aren't alone, though. You'll run into a few Foreans that you can rescue and team up with throughout the instance.

Not all of them are so lucky. As the infection hits and takes over, the Foreans slowly lose their awareness. You can be talking to them one instant, only to have their control fail, making them aggro. They know it's coming, as they cry, "Kill me... make the pain stop." One group of infected try to fight it. You'll see their mantra flash on the screen. "This flesh is only a vessel. The pain is an illusion. My spirit is my strength. The shadows cannot touch me." Nice thoughts, but it doesn't work. They too will fall to your attacks.

This is an instance where you want to pay attention to the on screen conversations. Much of the lore or what's happening is only passed on via words on the screen. These conversations do not appear in your chat window, and are usually not repeated. The final fight especially needs close attention paid to what is said in the room.

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You will soon discover the source of the infection is not natural, as you come upon a Bane facility deep inside the zone. The bubbling green liquid in those tanks looks suspicious. Perhaps you'll have a chance to destroy them?

Completing the instance will leave you with a moral dilemna: Do you return the precious artifacts that you recovered to the Foreans who treasure them? Or will you deliver them to AFS Command so their secrets can be picked apart and studied? The choice is yours.

Want to see more? Take a look at the screenshots taken inside Velon Hollow. Currently on the Test Server, the instance is set to release to Live servers with Deployment 10.

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Tabula Rasa
Velon Hollow Screenshots:

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