Hunting the Metamorph
by Xaaxacus

The price of reclass coins has been steadily rising since the recent changes to the catacombs, which now allow the Metamorph to wander throughout every level of the vast subterranean caverns. As a result, the shapeshifting resident of the catacombs has become much harder to find. He used to be cornered and killed within an hour of every time the catacombs repopped; now, he often remains untouched for the entire time they're around.

Bored and running out of room for more eggs, the members of Altus Fidelitas decided to change that. Moving as quickly as I could past the hiding spots of sprites and mephits, I scoured three floors of the area until I finally found him, two levels above the bottom of the catacombs. Summoning several of my trusted companions to my side, we lured the creature, past hordes of chimeras and banshees, to a tunnel whose rock formations increased our magical abilities and trapped him in the room.

We first cleared the area of other mobs, then prepared to engage the trapped monster in battle. One of our friends remained unengaged, to recast spells on us and heal our wounds, while the rest began the assault. This wasn't your everyday battle, though: unlike most of the creatures of Medievia, the Metamorph possessed the ability to change his shape and abilities at will - bashing us one round, sending shockwaves at us the next, then healing himself.

We were left with no choice but to constantly adapt our fighting style, bashing and muffling him when he tried casting spells. Five minutes later, after many, many attacks, our opponent fell. Our reward was a shiny new smallish brass coin, which quickly sold for 35 million gold coins. Not a bad reward for half an hour of work, we decided, and vowed to repeat the adventure the first time we had an opportunity.