BURNING to DEATH!

After Willow extinguishes herself in the river, she returns to the police station to find what looks like four remains of sims, albeit no names are attached to these lumps of charred bodies.  Confused, Willow decides to travel to the local school, somewhere she hasn't been before.  New places always hold excitement for Willow.

She proceeds to cast a few fire blast spells around the main door of the building and before long, a few sims gather, screaming and shouting and waving their arms about as usual.  Willow is having a lovely time casting spells and consuming Essence of Magic Elixirs in-between.

Just lately however, Willow isn't really paying attention to where she stands.  She seems more content in casting fire blast spells and tends to stand in the midst of blazes whilst she casts the next spell.  This really isn't a good idea but Willow being Willow does what she wants.  To her own detriment I might add.

This occasion is no different.  Willow casts yet another fire blast spell in the midst of an inferno and catches herself alight yet again!

This could be the end for Willow.  There is no water around apart from a fountain that is unusable and she isn't able to put herself out.  The only water she can see is a river quite far away.  Willow jumps on her broomstick and makes her way around the roads to the river.  Running across the field and up the mountain, she decides it would be better to turn around and make her way to a swimming pool.  

Screaming and waving her arms in the air, she finally arrives at the sims house, only to be saved by the householder who happens to have a fire extinguisher.

Willow goes home to freshen up and as she is a bit of a sucker for punishment, she decides to return to the school where various sims are still there shouting and screaming and a couple of fires still burn brightly.

Willow again proceeds to light a few fires and catches a few sims alight.  It seems her aim is getting better.  She decides to stand and practice some magic while all mayhem breaks loose.

Not one, but two sims burn to death in this blazing inferno that Willow has created.

Once the Grim Reaper has reaped the souls of these two unfortunate sims, Willow proceeds to show him an internet cat video.

- Minicart (Jules)

Willow CATCHES ALIGHT!

 

In the last episode of The Evil Witch of Dragon Valley, Willow created an inferno at the Police Station and then went on to the Bistro to see what mayhem she could cause there.

Quite a lot of Sims turned up to this spectacle of fire, even bringing their children and babies, which they left on the grass with a bottle while they jumped around, waving their arms in the air and screaming at the sight of the blaze.  With babies crying and children screaming, the Bistro turned out to be quite a mess of flames and burned Sims.  However, this didn't deter them from asking Willow if she would pose for a photograph in between the fires going out.

Willow, being an evil Sim, takes great pleasure from seeing others suffer and she tends to take her time with casting fire blast spells as she is very busy heckling other Sims and laughing maniacally at the suffering she bestows upon them.  Because of this, unfortunately no-one died so Willow decided to return to the Police Station to see if she will have better success there.

She casts a few fire blast spells but unfortunately no-one turns up.  Maybe Sims are getting more wise to Willow's antics and have decided to stay away.  I suppose you can't blame them really but I'm giving them too much credit as, whilst Willow returns home to feed her beloved familiar cat Tabitha and of course, the cow plants, a Sim turns up at the Police Station to do the usual jumping about and screaming.

Willow decides to go back to the Police Station and cast a few more fire blast spells.  A couple more Sims turn up, much to Willow's delight, and she casts a few fire blast spells at them as well.

I have said this before, if you live by the sword, you die by the sword and this could be very true in Willow's case with regard to fire.  Willow tends to stand in the midst of blazes when she casts spells sometimes and this time is no exception.  Whilst casting her final fire blast spell in the midst of a blaze, she catches alight.  There is no option to "extinguish self" and she just stands there with fire billowing from her back.

Is this the end of Willow Mendip?

- Minicart (Jules)

Police Station INFERNO!

As we all know, Willow is very fond of fire.  There are a few places in the little town of Dragon Valley where she has lit fires and killed quite a few Sims.  However, there are some places that she hasn't experimented with, one such place being the Police Station.

Now, one would think that lighting fires outside of the Police Station would be a very silly thing to do.  But, we are talking about The Sims and Sims police aren't the brightest of bulbs in the pack.

So, after playing with Tabitha for a while and chatting with the butler, Willow makes her way to the Police Station.  

After lighting a few fires outside, quite a few Sims come running, waving their arms about in the air, jumping up and down and screaming, as per usual.  Willow continues to light fires about them, consuming Essence of Magic magical elixirs inbetween to fill her magic bar until she receives a telephone call from her agent.

An opportunity of a radio commercial is being offered for simoleons and fame.  Willow accepts.

She then continues to light more fires at the Police Station, setting Sims alight and fire blasting bushes and dead leaves with the fire blast spell until the area looks like a blazing inferno.  Leaving these poor Sims to get on with putting out the fires and/or burning to death, she then pops along to the Business Office to record the commercial.

Unfortunately, no-one dies at the Police Station so after recording the commercial for Llama Musk perfume, Willow decides to venture to the Bistro.  Another venue she hasn't tried out yet, but she won't be eating there...

- Minicart (Jules)

For WHOM the BELL TOLLS!

 

In the last episode, we left Willow at the Day Spa, casting fire blast spells and generally having the time of her life.

Now while Willow is having so much fun with her fire blasting shenanigans, she doesn't even think if the Sim she is setting alight is even a friend or maybe the spouse of a friend.  In fact, she doesn't seem to care.  She just casts these spells haphazardly, one after another, consuming Essence of Magic elixirs inbetween to refil her magic bar.

As I have mentioned before, the term "sitting duck" is prevalent in these situations and this day is no different.  One Sim decides to pass out.  Obviously passing out is not something that one chooses to do, it just happens.  So, if you have a weak stomach, you really shouldn't be in the vicinity of fires started by an evil witch.  This particular Sim however doesn't take heed to such advice and becomes another "sitting duck", or in his case, a "sleeping duck".

Luckily for him however, a do-gooder proceeds to extinguish the fire which engulfs the poor Sims body, not realising that he himself is burning alive as he tries to help the poor soul on the ground.

Whilst the fires are burning, Willow decides to practice some magic with apparently, not a care in the world.

As the fires are extinguished with the presence of the Grim Reaper, Willow realises that she has killed one of her best friends and fellow witch, Suzy Sackholme, along with her partner.  For once, this causes Willow to mourn, which is something that is very rare.

Maybe we should take pity on Willow or maybe she got what she deserved.  

- Minicart (Jules)

ENGULFED in a BLAZE!

 

Having killed one Sim at the Day Spa, Willow is feeling a little chilly so heads home to warm up.

Greeted by her familiar Tabitha, her beloved cat, she decides to better her relationship with her by giving her treats and playing games.  Willow also takes this time to practice some magic in order to progress to the next level of "wand" spells, thereby gaining strength and notoriety as a witch.

Now Willow, being evil, loves starting fires and causing misery to other Sims so it isn't long before she decides to return to the Unity Day Spa to cast a few more spells and generally cause havoc.

After casting a couple of fire blast spells, a couple of Sims turn up to shout and jump about.  As we know, this is the worst thing a Sim can do, especially with an evil witch on the lot.  The best thing a Sim could do is to just stay away unless of course they want to help by putting out the fires or other Sims but even this, as we have seen in the past, can turn out to be fatal.

Of course, you always get at least one do-gooder join the party, ready with fire extinguisher in hand, standing in one space for a period of time.  And that's the problem.  For them anyway.  Standing in one spot for a period of time can only mean one thing.  The evil witch has time to cast a fire blast spell at your feet, causing a terrible blaze that can engulf you and lead to your demise.

So whether you are a Sim trying to extinguish fires or just standing jumping about and screaming, you're a sitting duck where Willow is concerned.

And that's exactly what happened at the Day Spa on this particular day.  One do-gooder and plenty of other Sims jumping up and down, waving their arms in the air and screaming.  Willow has a field day!

But, will anyone die?

- Minicart (Jules)

Unity Day Spa INFERNO!

 

Willow tends to have her favourite spots in Dragon Valley to light fires, such as the graveyards, park and grocery store.  She has killed many Sims in these places and seemingly enjoyed every minute of it.  One place that she hasn't been to for a long while is the Unity Day Spa.  She had forgotten that she had great success in killing a Sim there quite a while ago and so decided to give this community lot another shot.

Willow was going to take Tabitha with her but decided against it as Tabitha was quite tired and needed to sleep.  Besides, she didn't want Tabitha getting hurt.

After lighting a couple of fires, not surprisingly, a few Sims turned up on the lot to shout, scream, jump up and down and wave their arms around.  Sitting ducks, (which is a phrase that I use quite often these days), Willow lights a couple of fires very near these Sims to see if she can catch them alight.

As is quite normal in these situations, the Sims just carry on jumping around and screaming.  Sometimes they run off still on fire and return to their homes where you can see the flames emanating from them through the windows.  But not today.  Today they are sitting ducks.  One Sim passes out as the Grim Reaper returns to the realm of the living to reap yet another soul.

- Minicart (Jules)

Overcoming the Fire Traps

After finding and retrieving the Ancient Writings of Qin Shan Hu, John decides to venture further through the dungeons of the Resolute Fist Retreat.  

There are two more doors that he hasn't been through.  One is open which has a long corridor leading to another door but is full of fire traps.  The other door also contains corridors with fire traps but there are holes in the walls that John can inspect.  Maybe these will disarm the traps, enabling John to get through.

Our hero proceeds to inspect the holes and does in fact disable a few of the fire traps.  However, not all are disabled (again due to the players 'misunderstanding' of the message on the plaque by the door) and so John attempts to cross these traps.  As John is proficient in the martial arts skill, he does this with ease, rolling through the flames like a ninja.

At the end of the corridor another door awaits him which leads to a small room containing yet another treasure chest.  John collects the loot and safely packs it into his backpack.

Carefully looking around, John finds another secret door which he nearly missed.  Using his strength to open it, he finds himself in yet another room containing treasure and ancient coins.

But John isn't done yet.  There is still the long corridor containing deathly fire traps with a door at the end.  Will he manage to defeat the traps?  If he does, what will he find?

- Minicart (Jules)

Death at the Fall Festival

 

In this episode of The Evil Witch of Dragon Valley, we see Willow up to her old tricks again.  In fact, she never really stopped.  Being evil is Willows speciality.  Not only does she annihilate Sims, she laughs at their misfortune and demise.  It's a wonder that Willow has any friends but of course the Friendship elixir helps with that.  Being a friend of Willows means that you stand less of a chance of getting burned to death.

As it's Autumn in Dragon Valley, the Fall Festival has come to town.  Full of Halloween fun things to do such as pumpkin picking and the Haunted House, the Fall Festival is also a great place to start fires.  Especially near the haystacks which lay conveniently by the Haunted House attraction.

Willow, being evil, takes advantage of this and proceeds to light a couple of fires.  Four in fact.  Just little ones which turn into an inferno.  A few do-gooders come by and try and put out these fires to no avail.  Even a ghost tries to help.  However, Willow has got this!  And before long a poor Sim who just happened to be in the vicinity of an evil witch perishes by the blaze.

Another Sim therefore bites the dust and the flames are put out with the grand entrance of the Grim Reaper.

The Grim Reaper reaps very quickly in The Sims 3 and with a wave of his scythe, he is gone in a puff of black smoke.

So Willow has struck again and goes on to create more devastation.

- Minicart (Jules)

The Ancient Writings of Qin Shan Hu

At the Resolute Fist Retreat in China, John is on a search for the Ancient Writings of Qin Shan Hu.  He has been given a keystone which unlocks a door in the depths of the retreat and is faced with a large room containing stone statues and yet another locked door.  There is however another door which is unlocked so John proceeds to venture through this one first which leads him into a corridor with many doors which, one by one, he enters into. 

After finding a secret door and taking what treasure he could find, he decides to advance further into the depths of the Retreat by entering the other, previously locked, doorway and descending the stairs.

John is now faced with a dive well and three more doors, each with a plaque which contains a helpful message.  John decides to take the middle door.

Now, as a player, you can place your cursor over things that, if there are secret doors or traps, will give you a little starry thing to let you know that something is there.  This room contained many traps but only on the dark tiles of the floor, not the lighter coloured ones.  However, John doesn't know where these traps are and I, as the player, didn't want him walking into them so I decided to let him inspect them one by one, just so that he knows not to walk into them, after all, they were fire traps and could kill him.

Well, there was an easier way.  I could have just guided John over the lighter coloured tiles to lead him to the statue which he could have pushed to the tile in the middle of the floor, breaking the traps on the way.

I should have done that.

Burning to death, John's quick thinking of using a shower in a can puts out the flames, only to be consumed again by more fire which rages up instantly about him.  Ignoring my instructions to walk away, I lost count of the amount of shower in a can's that he used.  Luckily, I was able to cancel out the use of these shower cans and get him to safety.

Looking back, this was quite an easy quest, made harder by the players inability to take note of the writings on the plaques by the doors.

John now enters a room behind which houses a treasure chest containing the Ancient Writings.  John takes them and puts them in his backpack.  However, this adventure isn't over.  There are more rooms to enter and possibly more treasure to find so John stays and searches further before returning the Ancient Writings.

- Minicart (Jules)

Tabitha

 

I haven't posted in a long while about the Evil Witch of Dragon Valley, so I thought it was about time I started again.

A great deal has happened in the little town of Dragon Valley since the last time I wrote.  Willow has become more skilled and proficient in her witchy abilities, so much so, that she has started more fires and killed more Sims than I care to remember.

In this episode, Willow decides to get a cat.  Now this is no ordinary cat.  This is a witches cat, or a "familiar", as is more commonly referred to.

Willow has named her Tabitha (from the old American TV series "Bewitched").  A befitting name for a cat who is a witches familiar.

However, as I found out, there is more than just creating a cat in CAS.  Once you have the pet in your home, there is so much more you need to buy such as a pet bed, toys, feeding dish and litter tray.  And of course, as Willows house is quite large, these things need to be purchased more than once to be placed on each floor of the house.

But, it's all worth it in the end as Willow feels stronger with her familiar around and Tabitha seems happy too!

- Minicart (Jules)

Resolute Fist Retreat

 

In this episode of The Sands of Time, John continues with his adventure to the Resolute Fist Retreat to search for the ancient writings of Qin Shan Hu.

This monk retreat is situated at the top of hills in China and John has to climb a fair way to get to it.  Once he arrives, he proceeds to climb the many stairs to a room which contains a kitchen and bathroom to the side.  More stairs take him up to bedrooms, more like dormitories, on the top floor.

John has been given a keystone and he searches high and low to see if there are any secret doors but alas, there are none.  He wonders if there are any trigger items, such as flushing the toilet that would open anything but after trying, nothing works.

After looking around outside and the surrounding grounds of the Retreat, John notices a floor plate at the bottom of the steps which he had run right past when he arrived.  However, as he was getting tired, he decided to sleep in one of the beds and start afresh in the morning.

After getting a good nights sleep, John proceeds to return to the foot of the Retreat and step on the floor plate.  A stairway opens up and he cautiously descends the steps down into the depths of the retreat.

Luckily no traps await him, just a couple of rubble piles and a locked door.  After clearing one pile, John notices a hole in the wall which after inspection, opens a secret door that leads to a treasure chest.  The other rubble pile reveals some more treasure.

Now, the only thing that remains is the locked door...

- Minicart (Jules)