Playing Might and Magic (Ch. 6)

My blog of Might and Magic: Secret of the Inner Sanctum
Chapter 6: Erlequin and Lord Hacker

 Other than the wandering plague victims, there was little of note in Erlequin. The city didn't have quite as many winding alleys as Sorpigal and was a little easier to navigate.

Treasure! Large hoards of it were gathered in treasuries in the corners of the city, sitting in plain view. Diamond golems patrolled the treasure room menacingly--they were a force far too mighty for us to contend with. Slipping in and nicking a few coins was out of the question anyway--not only was Sam opposed to idea, but Faulkner and I discovered that the chests themselves were guarded by some kind of invisible barrier. We explored the rest of the town and I was excited to see some better arms and armor in the Smithy. I traded in my shield and chain mail for a set of sturdy splint mail and a two-handed flamberge. As we saved more coin we would eventually come back and outfit the rest of ourselves with the best we could buy.

We eventually found the wizard Agar behind a hidden door in the back of the local Inn. The moment he laid eyes on us he detected the scent of the magic vellum we had in our possession and took it from us eagerly. Adding a few runic signs to it, he returned it to us and bade us take it further to his colleague Telgoran, in the dark town of Dusk.





We weren't eager to go there straight away. The town of Dusk is largely abandoned. Corak is said from his statue in Sorpigal at least to have 'rediscovered' it....and the merchant caravans still go there regularly. But wild rumors and hearsay from the taverns talk about a town that was ravaged by some kind of apocalyptic event. Retired guards and caravaneers talk with maddened eyes about firey brimstone and legions of the undead that come back to stalk the living.

We're no stranger to the undead ourselves, having dispatched a ghost and skeleton and zombie here and there in our journey from Sorpigal and in the underground. But the journey to Dusk was much farther than the journey to Erlequin. We would have to put the wizard's quest on 'hold' and come back to it after we had gained more skill.

We came to a consensus to explore C2 more first before journeying too far. But on our way back, we stopped at the nearby South Blackridge with our newfound Merchant's Pass buying us safe passage through the nearby access road.







These majestic old castles have aged well and still stand proudly in comparison to the way the five cities has slowly been driven further and further underground. I was disgusted with the greed and self-serving nature of the fat noblemen who made their homes in places like this, but held my tongue. Sam has a more charismatic way with words in situations like these and he quickly scored us an audience with Lord Hacker, who apparently had need of adventurers.

 The place was extraordinarily well guarded. Although I felt confident our group could take any one of these small trained animals or mercenaries, their were so many of them that the thought was pushed from my mind. Whatever treasure Lord Hacker was hoarding in his home wasn't worth the risk.

DEFINITELY not worth the risk. I caught a glimpse of these shackled, apparently domesticated beasts and was quick to turn away from THAT hall and rejoin my group quickly.

Here in his private reception area, Lord Hacker was guiding some alchemists in brewing a potion in a large cauldron. Acrid smoke and a repugnant scent filled the room as they took turns attending to the bubbling elixir. Hacker barely spared a moment's gaze away from the mixture to speak to us. He said he needed more ingredients to finish the foul brew and asked if we could assist.




Might and Magic only allows you to accept one 'quest' at a time. One we take a quest from Lord Hacker, or any of the other Lords, we can not accept a quest from any other lord until the one we've taken is complete. There is a spell that lets you weasel out of this at higher levels.

 Garlic is easily found from the gardens they attend to in Sorpigal. In fact, they sold it at the Smithy there and Alicia still possessed the bulb she had purchased earlier. She gave it up with little fuss--it would be a trifle to buy more if needed since we were heading back there anyway.

Hacker took the bulb without even a word. Turning to his alchemists, he carefully selected a few cloves and placed them in their hands before throwing the rest of the bulb over his shoulder carelessly where it was cleaned away by a sniveling servant.

Finally, he turned back to us and thanked us profusely, and awarded us with his blessing, filling us with newfound skill.



Hacker still had more ingredients to obtain, and when we accepted another quest he bade us to bring him a sample of Wolfsbane. We had no such herbs on us, but Alicia mentioned seeing some at the Smithy right here in nearby Erlequin. It was only an hour's jaunt back to the town and back to present Hacker with the herb and receive another reward from him. At this addition, the solution in the cauldron roiled and seemed more fulminant than ever.

The next herb Hacker requested was Belladonna. We did not know from which town we might find a grower of this particular herb, but we added it to our list of things to watch for and bid the lord farewell.

In the meantime, we found that our newfound skills made us eligible for more training. On our next visit to Otto's in Sorpigal, Alicia and Faulkner learned more spells to add to their repertoire.

Cleric Spells: Level 3

3-1: Create Food- Creates 6 units of food, which can then be shared--1 for each character. This is not really a gem-effective use of magic since 6 units will only carry everyone through one 'rest'. However, it can be handy if you're far away from town and can't restock easily. (Costs 3 SP + 1 Gem)

3-2: Cure Blindness- Restores blindness from magic and enemy abilities. Not that useful--blind status doesn't seem to cause characters to miss much more than they already do. (Costs 3SP)

3-3: Cure Paralysis- Paralysis is an extremely nasty status effect because while you can Rest to cure it, it does not wear off naturally while in combat, where it is most dangerous. Furthermore, monsters that use paralysis attacks tend to cast it on multiple characters at once. So cross your fingers that your healers aren't the ones hit with it! (Costs 3SP)

3-4: Lasting Light: Bestows 20 light factors on the party. This is a useful spell for exploring nooks and crannies that drain light with each step. (Costs 3 SP)

3-5: Produce Flame- Smites a cleric's foes with a gout of divine flame, causing 3-18 damage. Useful for a level or two when you first get it but becomes outclassed quickly. (Costs 3 SP)

3-6: Produce Frost- Burns a cleric's foe with soulfreezing cold, causing 3-18 damage. Effectively the same as above. More useful on enemies that resist the above, and vice versa.  (Costs 3 SP)

3-7: Remove Quest- Being given the mark of a Lord's quest carries a heavy burden on the party that prevents them from taking any other quests until their current one is finished. With this spell, the Almighties will take pity on a party and remove them from their commitment. (Costs 3 SP)

3-8: Walk on Water- Creates a roving sand dune upon the water that moves with the party, giving them a place to walk across the deepest oceans for one day. (Costs 3SP + 1 Gem)


Sorceror Spells: Level 3
3-1: Fireball- Conjures an explosive ball of flame that strikes 1-5 enemies, dealing 1-6 damage per level of the sorceror. The first 'area of effect' spell and very useful for thinning out large groups of enemies. It should only be cast on enemies that are out of melee range--if an enemy at close range is struck, it causes some damage to reflect back upon the party. (Costs 1 SP per level + 1 Gem)

3-2: Fly- Confers the party with limited flight, allowing them to travel instantly to any sector on Varn. Ridiculously useful for traveling back to town in a hurry while on your excursions. And useful still for flying back to the sector you left from if you want to continue again. (Costs 3 SP)

3-3: Invisibility- Turns the party invisible, making it harder to be struck in combat. A decent buff. More useful in long, protracted battles. (Costs 3SP + 1 Gem)

3-4: Lightning Bolt- Generates a shock of lightning from the caster's fingertips, smiting 1-3 enemies for 1-6 damage per level. Similar to Fireball, except it only strikes up to 3 enemies instead of 5. It can also be cast on close-range monsters safely, which makes it more useful in some conditions. (Costs 1 SP per level + 1 Gem)

3-5: Make Room- Expands a part of the battlefield into the astral plane, giving both sides more room to maneuver. Opens up 'melee' range to include more character on either side. Not as useful as it sounds. Archers and robbers already have missile weapons, and sorcerors and clerics are too fragile to spend long in melee anyway. (Costs 3 SP)

3-6: Slow- Halves the entire enemy group's speed, pushing them further back in combat order. Not that useful. Even slow monsters and characters still get a turn each round. (Costs 3 SP)

3-7: Weaken- Draws strength from the enemy army, reducing all their hit points by 2 and their AC by 1. For a level 3 spell, this is utterly weak sauce and worse because its a Gem spell. It would have been a much more useful minor debuff as a level 1 spell. (Costs 3 SP + 1 Gem)

3-8: Web- Generates a sticky web that ensnares 1-5 monsters, preventing them from acting until they escape. Moderately useful because it seems to have a slightly better success rate than the first level Sleep spell. (Costs 3 SP)