Might and Magic (Ch. 5)

My ongoing blog of Might and Magic: Secret of the Inner Sanctum


Chapter 5: Beneath Sorpigal

We continued our swath of 'Justice' around Sorpigal. With time, we saved enough coin to purchase the best that the town smithy had to offer. Betty June, Sam and myself were guarded with sturdy chainmail. Finn and Faulkner made do for now with leather. Alicia was satisfied with just her padded armor.

And more besides, we had pillaged a couple fine items from our patrolling vigil. From the treasure hoard of a group of gremlins I retrieved a fine silver shield and broad sword. Occasionally we would find other such treasures that could be sold to pad our purse. The occasional gem was also welcomed. Magic gems are of little intrinsic value to one such as I but are a necessary reagent for some of the spells that Alicia and my brother will be using.

At some point, we had gained enough skill and coin to return to the guildmaster for more training.

Faulkner and Alicia both came away from their training with new knowledge gleaned from the old masters of the guildhall. Their knowledge of magic had reached an entire new level.








Clerical Spells: Level 2

2-1: Cure Wounds - A more thorough kind of first aid that mends broken flesh and closes wounds slightly. Heals 15 HP. (Costs 2SP)

2-2: Heroism - Bestows a character with a bonus 6 HP and 2 experience levels for the duration of battle. Useful in a difficult fight both as a minor heal -and- as buff at the same time. (Costs 2SP + 1 Gem)

2-3: Pain - A curse from the dark Almighties wracks a foe with crippling pain, causing 2-12 points of damage. Has little effect on the unliving and undead. (Costs 2 SP)

2-4: Protection from Cold - Increases the party's resistance to freezing spells. More effective with each level. (Costs 2 SP)

2-5: Protection from Fire - As above (Costs 2 SP)

2-6: Protection from Poison - Zzzz... (Costs 2 SP)

2-7: Silence - Status magic is nigh-useless in Might and Magic.  (Costs 2 SP)

2-8: Suggestion - Coerces monster into refraining from attacking unless attacked first. Like the sorceror's level 1 sleep spell except only targeting one enemy at a time. And equally useless. (Costs 2 SP)

Sorceror Spells: Level 2




2-1: Electric Arrow - An ethereal arrow packed with electrical energy slams into a single foe. Causes 2-12 damage. A slight but nonetheless useful upgrade from the level 1 Flame Arrow. (Costs 2 SP)

2-2: Hypnotize - Causes one enemy to be paralyzed unless attacked. Just like the Cleric's level 2 Suggestion spell and equally useless. (Costs 2 SP)

2-3: Identify Monster - Displays information about a single enemy in combat. Of limited use. Can tell you how much HP a monster has remaining but little else. Can tell you if a monster has a special ability but does not detail what -kind- of ability. (Costs 2 SP + 1 gem)

2-4: Jump - A hand of power brushes the party up into the air, sending them two squares forward, provided there are no obstructions in the way. Marginally useful for avoiding traps. If you already know where the trap is. Rope and Hooks has the same effect. (Costs 2 SP)

2-5: Levitate - Raises all characters slightly above ground level until the next Rest. A very handy buff for avoiding pitfall traps. (Costs 2 SP)

2-6: Power - A word of power fills a character with 1-4 might for the duration of battle. Can help in a pinch when combined with the Cleric's heroism spell. (Costs 2 SP)

2-7: Quickness - A word of alacricity fills a character with 1-4 speed for the duration of battle. I find speed buffing less useful than might buffing. A character with slow speed will still act once each turn. (Costs 2 SP)

2-8: Scare - Fills a monster with terror, reducing it's chance to-hit. YAWN. (Costs 2 SP more than its worth.)

 Finn urged our group to use some remaining coin to pay a visit back to the Olde Hogge where Faulkner and I first began. We were reluctant at first for fear that we would be recognized for the trouble we caused earlier, but the dwarf was insistent. We arrived just as another brawl was dying down and the local drunks were crawling back into their corners. It seemed our worry was not founded after all. Fights broke out so often in this hole in the wall that they had probably forgotten who we were the moment we'd left.

I have a slight allergy to alcohol and can't stand the stuff myself. Faulkner and Finn got to work right away swilling cheap beer and plying the bartender and other drunken louts for any useful information.

"The Ice Princess" has the key. We didn't know of any ice princesses. The drunk's words had little meaning to us, but it was something we would keep in mind if we every happened across any such person.


Another patron offered up a lead for work, if we were so inclined. Apparently in the drainage tunnels under Sorpigal, some old mage hermit had set up an office in one of the disused chambers. The Almighties only know what sort of mad experiments or pasttimes he engages in down there. But apparently word had reached the city that he was looking for traveling adventurers just like ourselves. We wasted no time in preparing for our spelunking.

The passage down was easy enough to find near the gate that led to the overland. It was very dark under there, but between Faulkner and Alicia, spells of light were in plentiful supply.

Faulkner consulted his book of magic maps and informed us that the stairs that heralded our passage here were marked with the '1' in the southeast corner. Judging by the heavily guarded hall to the west, we reasoned that the wizard we sought had set up home there and was using his summoned monsters as guards. In the far northwest where the '3' was marked, local bloodthirsty peasants from Sorpigal above had erected a small arena where we could choose to fight if so inclined. There was no tangible reward for doing so, so we steered clear of it.

We took a wrong turn somewhere along our path and hit a dead end. But before we turned back, Sam noticed a scrawled message on one of the walls. Alicia leaned in closer with her magical light and read aloud for us:

"Dont....turn....around." she intoned curiously.

So naturally, we did just that.



A trap laid by gremlins! And with two tamed Dinolizards in tow. Although tough and resilient, Finn and Betty June were able to pick off the gremlins at range while Sam and I dealt with the reptiles. In the future, we could avoid such ambushes by backing out slowly from such dead ends without turning around. Apparently, the gremlins would only be amused by such tactics if it favored their strange sense of humor.

Above ground, Harpies can be a pernicious, highly mobile enemy. In the cramped quarters of these tunnels they fared no better than an average orc or town guard.








Strange reptillian demihumans occasionally blocked our way. Although tough for their natural scale armor, their tactics were primitive and not difficult to overcome.







Guarding the hall outside the office we sought was a horde of magically fortified fire ants. These were a worthy adversary. Able to attack multiple times with their many arms and capable of breathing a gout of flame from their mandibles that can reach as many as three or four of us at once. Faulkner's protection from fire magic saved us here.





Once again Finn proved his eminent value to our group.

At last, we found the old codger that the drunk in the tavern had mentioned.  The wrinkled old man flashed us a toothless scowl with rancid breath that set us back a step slightly. He wasted no time with pleasantries but got right to business. He wanted us to deliver something for him to another city.






He handed me a sheet of vellum. There was nothing obvious printed on it--a mage's note, enchanted for privacy most like. Only a mage who knew the specific counterspell would be able to read it. He gave us no coin up front but urged us to take the thing across the overworld to the city of Erliquin in the B1 sector.




 There was no point in dallying. At the very least we might pick up some clues along the way. So, leaving Sorpigal from the part marked '1', we travelled to the north, from Sector C2 into C1.

Arriving from the south, our next route should be to head west into the B1 sector where Erlequin lay. As we crossed through the middle of the sector, the smell of burnt ashes was heavy in the air. However, it was no mere forest fire.

A cluster of wagons from the local caravans looked like it had met its end here, overrun by bandits or monsters. The wagons left behind looked like they had already been picked clean by looters. However, since we were passing through the area anyway we decided to have a look inside some of the more intact ones just to see if there was anything worth taking.




We stumbled upon a pair of large, ferocious ogres making their den in the remains of the wagon. These monsters were fierce and strong and capable of rendering even Sam or myself unconscious within one or two good blows. With Faulkner's healing magic and Alicia's might-fortifying spells, we were able to outlast them in mortal combat. Now that was a feat of strength that filled us with glory.



The gold had already been long ransacked from the wagon. However, among the empty sacks, Finn came up with a small square of silver metal, stamped with Alamar's seal. It was a merchant's travel pass and Finn was excited to have it. With this, he explained--we could invite ourselves into the castles of the local regnal lords, of which there were three scattered around Varn.

The closest one was Castle Blackridge, a massive divided castle seated atop the cold mountains near Erlequin to which we were now headed. There, Lord Hacker made his home in the southside fortress, and Lord Inspectron in the northside. At one time the regnal lords were important figures in maintaining the local law and order. However, since the time Alamar changed and the whole world fell into chaos, the regnal lords themselves has similarly mostly gone into more insular pursuits and rarely make contact with the outside cities. Still, it might be worth pursuing a course to Castle Blackridge later, to see if we could glean anything behind those cloistered walls.

Coming in from the northeast, we arrived at the cold snowy hills of B1. Down in the southeast, where the '1' was marked, Faulkner said the cave leading to Erlequin lie. Atop the hills all along the southeast, Castle Blackridge lie above the hills in all it's glory, with a north entrance at '3' and a south entrance at '2'. Making our way across the long-travelled path around the hills, we made our way to the southeast.






Finally, we had arrived. We were glad to be in out of the cold and took a moment to warm up. It appeared as though the town of Erlequin fared slightly better than Sorpigal. The streets were a little cleaner and it looked like there were fewer monsters and vandals roaming about openly.






Well, it fared -mostly- better than Sorpigal. It looked like the plague had taken hold here. Most sane and civil townsfolk kept themselves locked indoors while the infected mostly kept to the alleys, occasionally wandering out and causing trouble. We had to be careful around such as these, lest we catch the plague ourself. We would do well to find the wizard we were sent to find as soon as possible.