Tale of Diep:Toil Ridge

Toil Ridge is one of the ten areas of of. It is the fourth area, and third hostile area. It is more difficult than either of its predecessors, and. It is recommended for players that are Level 16 through 23 to enter this area, meaning they have at least upgraded once. Keep in mind leveling for as used in story game modes is a lot slower.

Location
Toil Ridge is at the heart of the Realm. It touches nearly every other area on the map, being a massive rocky mesa that runs east to west through nearly the entire realm. Melancholy Forest borders it from its east, Paradigm Dunes runs along its south, and Vallard Wastes and Wintercrest share its northern border. Neverest Mountains meets at its west.

Overview
Toil Ridge is likely the second or third area players will wander about that is hostile to them. The ridge is known for its rough terrain, full of ridges, chasms, and cliffs of rock and clay. Toil Ridge is much like a mesa, sparse of vegetation, rocky orange earth, and many ridges and formations of stone and clay jutting from the ground. Toil Ridge is known for the massive fault line that runs east to west at its center, dividing the core of the Realm in two, and separating northern Toil Ridge from the south. The Sect of Andromeda, a local religious order, have found a way around this through Teleportation Shrines.

The large crack in the center of the area is believed to be a gateway to the underworld, and not many venture too deep into it for exploration, or even resource collection reasons. Not even the City in Darkness, a civilization of tank explorers who settled the underground tunnel network during The Old Era, wish to see the bottom of the massive fissure. From this giant crack, branches of smaller chasms break off, and even then can split further across the lands. Beneath the ridge is a massive network of tunnels, which not just lead between each other, but supposedly one of them enter the City in Darkness... no outsiders have ever found their way though. Tunnels sometimes open into the faces of deep ravines they come across, forming an end drop.

Local inhabitants of the land include the Sect of Andromeda, a fanatical group of tanks who worship and praise the cosmos above. They are generally friendly and neutral in the war between the Tank Empire and Cult of Panzer, but if disturbed or members are killed, they will fight and take action. Also, are the City in Darkness, an underground city founded in the Old Era, isolated from the outside world. They escaped the Dormancy Period, and were unaware Panzer had been locked away, as they were too far underground to be effected in any way. They are hostile to those who try to enter their city or the many underground tunnels that lead into it. The most powerful resident of Toil Ridge however, is, the Disciple of the Heptagons. He resides within his Heptagon Fortress, which descends partially into the rift, building down into its northern side. It is from here he oversees all Heptagons, and entities related to them, in the land. He and the Heptagons have very close relations with the City in Darkness, and they mutually benefit each other through trade and military assistance.

NPCS


More will be added eventually.

Sect of Andromeda
The Sect of Andromeda praise the Toil Ridge as the perfect landscape to hail to their lord, the cosmos. The nomadic tribes dot the landscape, and the Sect have built many structures and ritual sites devoted to perfecting their arts. Within each group lies a clergyman responsible for bearing the staff, holding it up to the stars and gathering its power for their people. Kill the staffbearer and awaken a fire hotter than the stars themselves. Groups of Sect of Andromeda enemies will sometimes spawn with a Teleportation Shrine next to them. They will attack anything that attacks them first, be it tanks, polygons, or more.


 * Nomadic Staffbearer: The heart of every Sect of Andromeda gathering, the Staffbearer resides at the center of the ritual circle. The Staffbearer looks like a pale tan tank with two black eyes, short arms and hands holding a long staff with an orange crystal and axe blades at the end. It has an orange wizard hat looking item atop its head and orange over the bottom half of the tank body like a mask. Staffbearers stand immobile, raising their staff upward to the stars, which flashes orange. They have four to six random other Sect of Andromeda enemies listed below circling around them at random distances from two to seven tiles. The Nomadic Staffbearer has 1500 HP. When it or another Nomad around it is attacked, its eyes will glow orange, as its staff's crystal begins flashing white. The Staffbearer will then begin slowly moving toward the player at a speed of 2.5 tiles per second, stopping every few seconds to release one of two attack types. These attacks can be a cone of four layers of bullets in a directed attack, or a spiral of bullets outward in five directions. Every few seconds, one of the Nomads circling the Staffbearer will break off to attack the closest player. When the Staffbearer dies, all Nomads alive that were circling it will get the Frenzy buff until death.
 * Nomadic Starfighter: Nomads whose blades are believed to enchanted by the star energy gathered by the Staffbearer. They are skilled swordsman who guise behind a mask of false ineptness. They look almost identical to the Staffbearer, but are smaller, dont have arms and just hands, and a lance with a crossguard extends from their left hand. Their hat and mask are also more slightly rounded. Nomadic Starfighters have 700 health, and will run after players at a speed of 4 tiles once provoked. They will alternate between approaching a player and swiping their sword, or stopping to quickly jab at them with a lunge. Both attacks deal 10 damage.
 * Nomadic Summoner: Nomads who use summoning magic to bring star orbitals to life. Nomadic Summoners look exactly like Nomadic Starfighters, but instead of a sword, they have a small artifact that looks a necklace of tiny circles in one hand. Every few seconds, the inside of this charm will glow orange, and four streams of yellow particles will fire out in random directions about five tiles away from the Nomadic Summoner. At the end of each of these streams, a Star Orbital will spawn. Their behavior is detailed below. Nomadic Summoners have 420 health, and will back away from the player at a speed of three tiles when provoked. They are commonly the last type of enemy to break formation from the Staffbearer's ritual. Nomadic Summoners will not summon Star Orbitals until provoked, and can have a max of eight at one time.
 * Star Orbital: Spawned by Nomadic Summoners every few seconds. Star Orbitals once summoned, will slowly move toward the closest player in short bursts of three tile movements, firing a ring of orange bullets that deal 6 damage and inflict Burning for 3 seconds. These bullets travel only a mere four tiles. Star Orbitals do not deal contact damage, but since their ring is fired from their center, sitting on them will deal a massive 48 damage and inflict Burning. Star Orbitals have 50 health, but will vanish after 12 seconds if not killed.
 * Nomadic Champion: Nomadic Champions are powerful Nomads that spawn both as part of rituals but can also spawn alone throughout the Toil Ridge. Nomadic Champions look almost identical to Nomadic Starfighters and Summoners, but have regular barrels on both hands. Nomadic Champions have 700 health. When provoked, either by interrupting a ritual while at one, or by getting within 20 tiles of one when alone, the Nomadic Champion will attempt to chase the player at varying speed depending on their current attack pattern. They will alternate between firing both bullets at the player for 7 damage each, and aiming both turrets outward and rotating, releasing four bullet wide spreads from each barrel, with bullets dealing 4 damage each. They will change patterns every 5 seconds. When focusing a player they will move at just under 4 tiles a second, and while releasing their spiral spread, they will move at 2.8 tiles a second.
 * Nomadic Scavenger: Nomadic Scavengers are the members of the Sect of Andromeda who go out in search of resources for their tribes. They are commonly found independent of rituals, out hunting for unfortunate adventurers left alone, ready to snipe them down and steal their belongings. They can sometimes spawn with a Staffbearer. The Nomadic Scavenger looks almost identical to the Champion, but instead of a barrel on each hand, it has a setup on its right circle. Like a Ballista, it fires arrows that have a chance of doing 2x damage. Nomadic Scavengers have a long range of 25 tiles, and will back away if approached at a speed of 3 tiles per second. They fire once every 2 seconds, and the bullet does 6 damage, which a 50% chance of doing 12. The Nomadic Scavenger has 420 health.

The City in Darkness
Long before, and before even the Dormancy Period, tank explorers during their journey into shelter at the dawn of tried to cross the impossible landscape of Toil Ridge, but to no avail. So instead, they buried underneath it, and established a society that met at the center, using a labyrinth of tunnels to travel beneath the hills, breaks, and canyons of the troublesome decrepit mesa. It is here a colony of tanks survived the Dormancy Period without even knowing it happened. Now, the City in Darkness is a hermit kingdom, hating outsiders and slaying them. It has been so easy to hide away from the Sect of Andromeda, who never dare leave the watchful eyes of the cosmos and head underground. Isolated and unaware of the war between the Cult of Panzer and the Tank Empire, the City in Darkness fights for their own survival, and will kill any who dare impede on their land. They have, however, made peace with and the heptagons residing in the area, and they benefit each other, working together. Polygons can be seen working alongside the City in Darkness.


 * Excavators: Members of the land beneath that burrow their way to the surface on short missions to scavenge for resources. The Excavator is a pale white tank with a horned helmet, and gray metallic hands with large drills on each of their fronts, and small barrels on the backs. The Excavator is relatively simple. Its immobile above ground, but when approached or done attacking, it will burrow underground to a new location. As they drill underground, a line of dirt particles shows their location on the surface. They burrow at 8 tiles a second, and quickly resurface. When emerging, they spin out of the ground, and flip their hands over to their gun sides. It will stand immobile and fire four shots at the closest player, each dealing 8 damage, alternating between the left and right gun. Afterward it will burrow and repeat until death. Can spawn above and under ground. The Excavators have 1400 health.
 * Tunnel Watcher: Guards of the entrances to the City in Darkness, two of these soldiers of the city protect the tunnels that feed into it. They spawn at the surface, only found at the entrances of tunnels that lead into the underground portion of Toil Ridge. Each one looks like a pale tank with a helmet, and metal hands like that of an Excavator. The left hand has a long spear like extension off the front, and the right hand has a shield. Tunnel Watchers charge at the closest player when the tunnel is approached, rushing with their shield held forward. They run toward the player at 6 tiles a second, and at 8 tiles a second when their shield is broken at half health. Tunnel Watchers attack with a spear stab attack from a small range, and if the distance is between 8-14 tiles, they will do a lunge attack that inflicts Broken for 1 second and releases four bullets like a when initiated. When the Tunnel Watcher hits half health, their shield breaks, giving them the Broken debuff until dead, but increasing their speed and attack speed a bit. The swipes do 14 damage and are done in a quick flurry, and the the lunges do 35 damage. Tunnel Watchers have 875 health.
 * Ridge Laborer: Ridge Laborers are miners in the tunnels searching for precious metals to trade to the Heptagons or can be put to good use for the city. They are pale, look weak and pitiful, and have a pickaxe like extension on one hand. When found, its usually in packs, smacking against the wall with their pick. They will usually ignore players, but not always, and if one does attack and the player fights back, they all will. Ridge Laborers are simple. They run and try to strike with their picks. This does 12 damage, occurs every 1.7 seconds, and has a 20% chance of inflicting Stunned for 4 seconds. So RUN. You will be bashed down by the horde, as they usually spawn in groups of four to TEN. Always spawn in the underground. Have 450 health.
 * Wedge Turret: A mounted turret that can appear both on the surface and in the underground, usually at the end of tunnels. Wedge Turrets are mechanical, slightly smaller Dominators with a hole in the top. The body of a tank that looks similar to a Tunnel Watcher, but with a drill hand instead of a spear, sits inside of this hole, at a control panel. Wedge Turrets spawn in two variants. Bullet and Trap. Bullet Turrets do 4 damage but fire one bullet every 0.2 seconds in a short range burst, and Trap Turrets release 16 damage traps every 0.8 seconds that create a wall between them and the player and make melee tanks have trouble fighting through the clog. Wedge Turrets have 1600 health. When the Turret reaches 250 health, it will flash red slowly, and get Frenzy until death, as the soldier inside jumps out, burrows underground, and re-emerges behind the player, becoming a separate entity, the Turret Soldier. The Turret remains alive until it is either killed, or ten seconds pass, where it will explode into a ring of eight Destroyer bullets that do 45 damage.
 * Turret Soldier: Spawned behind the player closest to the Wedge Turret it manned after burrowing. They look like a Turret Watcher, but have a drill hand instead of a spear. They do simple strikes that deal 10 damage and have a 5% chance of Paralyzing for 3 seconds, attacking every 1.8 seconds. Nothing special. Have 500 health. Move slowly as well. If a player runs 10 tiles away from it, it will quickly burrow at 10 tiles a second to get behind them again. Unlike Excavators, Turret Soliders do not leave dirt trails as to where they will appear.
 * Admiral of Darkness: Well armored tanks of the City that are among the highest in their ranks. The Admiral of Darkness can rarely be found throughout the tunnels. They never appear on the surface. These enemies look like well armored tanks with spiked armor shoulders, and a sword-like lance emerging from each hand. A red rally flag rises up from behind their back. Admirals of Darkness are ballistic when provoked, and when idle summon Knights of Darkness every minute, with a max of five. Admiral of Darkness charge with lightning speed at the player, swinging their dual swords, one in each hand. Once they firmly plant themselves in a player horde, they will flash green as they go Armored, and begin quickly releasing shotguns of five bullets from their center that each deal 6 damage and inflict Slowed for 2 seconds. Afterwards, it will dash away again, spreading its swords apart and dealing 12 damage to those hit. Meanwhile, the Knights of Darkness do their thing. Admirals have 2800 health.
 * Knights of Darkness: Summoned by the Admiral of Darkness in its idle phase. When summoned, they stand evenly spaced around the Admiral, ultimately forming a pentagon when all five have been spawned. They look like simple knights, completely covered in dark armor, with a heavy visor at the front. They wield a single longsword, on their right hand. When the Admiral is provoked, the Knights will scatter and attempt to smash players from afar, their swords flashing red when swung and releasing two bullets spaced 5 degrees from each other. Each shot does 7 damage, and one pair is fired every second. Knights of Darkness have 600 health.

Bosses

 * (Random throughout, mainly North)
 * (South Toil Ridge)
 * (South Toil Ridge)
 * (More Frequent North)
 * Tri-Seeker (More Frequent North)
 * (Random throughout Ridge)
 * (Random throughout Ridge)
 * (Random throughout Ridge)
 * (Random throughout Ridge)
 * Excubitor (More frequent Mid-Ridge)
 * (Mid-West Toil Ridge)
 * Earthquake (Tunnel Systems/Surface nearby Caves)
 * Lurk (Tunnel Systems)
 * Barricador (Near Melancholy Forest)
 * (Near Melancholy Forest)
 * (Near Melancholy Forest)
 * (South Toil Ridge)
 * Spartan (Rarely, South Toil Ridge)
 * (Mid-West Toil Ridge)
 * (Heptagon Fortress)

Trivia

 * The Sect of Andromeda is the opposite of the Freshwater Grovelers, in.
 * The City in Darkness may or may not be an accessible location. All that is known is that no outsiders have found in yet, and no members of the City tell its location under any circumstance.
 * The has tried many times to gain access to this sacred, treasure filled, wealthy city due to its trade power, but never has he gotten enough information to deduce its location.
 * Only the highest ranking of Heptagons in Septaur's sphere of influence know the City's location.
 * Also proving Toil Ridge and Somber Falls are opposite, while Somber Falls has large expansive mountain caverns, Toil Ridge has a network of thin, long tunnels that reside under it.