I am going to attempt to beat Standard with some very, very stupid rules.

I returned to town after slaying the Brute, and was rewarded with a Glacial Cascade gem, and information about the next point in my journey: Siren's Cove, reportedly home to a sailor-murdering siren by the name of Merveil, mother of the squids I had encountered in a cave on my way to the prison. On the way, I stumbled into another cove, and found a young girl - dead, of course, like almost everything on this continent - huddled around a lantern. I later found via conversation with a stranded Captain Fairgraves that this lantern was "his Allflame." He then attempted to kill me over it; I still don't understand why. Regardless, he paid for the attempt with his life. Upon hearing that the esteemed Fairgraves had died, Bestel gave me a book of his scribblings. Quite kind of him, for an insane man.

I progressed toward the Cave, slaying more and more of the Siren's children. I still wonder exactly how the Siren managed to birth this many monsters - they seem to be almost pouring out of the walls. Some of them, larger than the others, would summon others who would explode with no regard for themselves; a destructive strategy, to be sure.

Eventually I made my way to the lair of the Siren, guided by images she seemed to be projecting to me. A shame for her that I am no mere sailor, and that I had no interest in her riches; if I did, I would likely have lost my life while scrambling for all the gold in her lair. Instead, I slayed the Siren, only for her to reveal her actual form and summon a horde of her children. But I am not swayed by hordes, and neither am I swayed by the song of sirens; the monster lies dead in her cove, and a door to a nearby forest has opened.

A change of scenery should be nice.

Current Level: 15

Dealt with the latter half of act 1. It's still pretty easy, although Merveil's first form tanked a surprising number of Storm Calls.