Might and Magic 2 (Ch. 10)

Ongoing blog of Might and Magic 2: Gates to Another World


Chapter 10 - Lord Peabody Pinehurst + Slayer Hillstone

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Pinehurst was located a little further west of Middlegate, closer to the snowdrifts that lie between the frozen sector around Tundara and the watery sea around Atlantium. Luckily, it was on a main road so we didn't have to worry about navigating any perilous areas.

Of all the castles, Pinehurst is probably the most confusing to navigate. The myriad doors at the entrance all seem to 'funnel' traffic into one or two circular hallways at the very end, although many of them take long, meandering routes to get there.

Lucreto, who was more attuned to such fluctuations of energy in the world--licked a finger and tested the air. Declaring that something was amiss in the fundamental material plane of the castle and that we had best watch for traps.

It was hard to know exactly what kind of disturbances Lucreto was aware of until we stumbled headlong into one. In one of the circular halls we explored--we suddenly seemed to enter a kind of 'ripple'. The effected area was only a few yards long--and yet, the moment we stepped into it, everything around us seemed to move faster and faster. The occasional rat or soldier moved by in a near-blur. A snacking Page dropped a meat pie, which before our eyes was torn apart by vermin and then slowly dessicated and dissolved to dust in the span of a few seconds.

When we stepped through the other side of the 'ripple', Ruce and Lucreto both examined our surroundings and ourselves -- declaring that in this material continuum, a full year had passed.

(The game starts in the year 900. Warnings in castle Pinehurst ominously declare to be wary of the time-traps, for the world is doomed to end in the year 1000. However--experimenting with repeatedly activating the traps does not seem to substantiate this. I was able to continue playing in the year 1006 with no noticeable effect other than most of my party members dying of old age.)

 Before coming here, we made a point to purchase some yellow tickets from Sansobar and win the Yellow Triple Crown. The Bishop of Yellow Battle was imprisoned here in Pinehurst--an unfortunate victim of disagreement with the castle guards over arena preference. He urged us to seek out his brother in trade--the Bishop of Red Battle, who was being imprisoned by Lord Slayer over an argument regarding the supremacy of might over magic.

Lord Peabody was once an apprentice of Corak the Mysterious. There was much we could learn from him regarding the current events happening in Cron, but before he would receive us--he quested us to find and return his boy, Sherman--who went on an expedition to the south and never returned.

The island just off the coast to the south was filled with crazed natives who could work themselves into a dangerous frenzy and attack with the strength of ten men. At the center of their gathering were a cluster of their leaders--the tough amazon warrior-women. Although less prone to frenzying, they were made of slightly sturdier stuff and took longer to defeat in battle. Under the outdoors though -- we had more powerful magics available to us such as Lucreto's Sandstorm.

Sherman and his hired hand, the ninja Nakazawa were still alive in the prison tent of the Amazon. They returned to the Carriage Inn in Atlantium where we could contact them again if needed. We had no need of their services as hirelings, but we did hire Sherman anyway, just so that we could bring him back to Pinehurst.

Lord Peabody was extremely grateful to have his boy returned safely to him. He told us what he knew and gave us permission to use the curious device he kept stored away in the rear antechamber of his throne room.

As he explained it -- A terrible 'force' whom he could not identify but whom we suspected strongly was Sheltem--had arrived suddenly in Cron just before the year 900. And it was then that Corak began working feverishly in his workshop, frantic that the world was 'out of alignment' and disappearing into his study for days or weeks on end.

What Corak discovered--and which Peabody shared with us, is that Sheltem had interfered with the natural history of Cron. The reason King Kahlon used his magic orb to defeat the Elemental lords and construct the Claw -- but then had neither when he confronted the Mega Dragon -- was because Sheltem had driven the artifacts away from him sometime in the interim.

Without the Orb and Claw, King Kahlon stood no chance against the Mega Dragon and was destroyed. A loss that prompted the last hundred years of total anarchy. A hundred years of anarchy where Sheltem spent the whole of it plotting some greater nefarious purpose, uninhibited by Kahlon and Corak both.

Corak had eventually realized what Sheltem was plotting--and with the full force and power of knowledge of the Ancients he carried with him, he had constructed a machine that would allow him to take short jaunts through different 'lynchpins' in Cron's history. To the time of the first bits of recorded history when the Elementals in turn subjugated each other. From these eras, Corak could find the talons and construct a new Claw. And also one more setting at the year 800, where Corak had hoped to intercede on the day Kahlon was killed, providing the Orb and Claw back to that old king and restoring the natural history to the way it was meant to be.

Only -- Sheltem had caught on to what Corak was attempting and slew him with a magical spell from his hiding place somewhere in the present.

Peabody recovered Corak's machine and kept it safely here, in Castle Pinehurst. And we were now free to use it...but we were not quite yet ready. Without having the Orb in our possession, we were leery of experimenting with such forces unknown. The fewer times we had to use the infernal device, the better.

(There is no penalty for using the time machine. It just fits better with the narrative I'm trying to build here to not use it right now.)

That answered one important question for us. But we were still missing some pieces to the puzzle.

[X] Discover what Corak was trying to accomplish, and finish it if we can!
[  ] Collect the elemental talons to construct a new Claw. And find the missing Orb. Return both to King Kahlon before he is slain by the Mega Dragon.

[  ] Sheltem didn't just set this into motion for kicks. He obviously meant to distract everyone in Cron so that he could set his greater plot into motion and we must still discover it. And stop it if possible.

[  ] Visit the jurors of Mt. Farview and become Chosen, that we may be allowed to see Queen Lamanda.


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Lord Slayer Hillstone just to the south and west of Sansobar had a quest for us as well, but it was not as vital to the future of Cron. Still -- we undertook it for the experience in battle it would give us.

Lord Slayer is renowned as a merciless, but fair man. Equally savage to his fellow man as to any beast -- and yet willing to harbor a deep respect for both.

"The Zoo"

Slayer's love was for the thrill and truth and might that comes from bloody combat. And from those beasts near the Quagmire where he lives that he did not slay, he captured and made into a living exhibition in his castle walls where all visitors were invited---nay--encouraged, to test their mettle against any and all of them.

Even the undead and underwordly demons alike were no match for Lord Slayer. Any creature living or undead might be found within these cells, and -- paying our own tribute of sorts to the lord of this castle, we engaged a few of them.

We also took the opportunity to visit the Red Room and free the Bishop of Red Battle. With a motion of gratitude, he directed us to free his last brother in arms -- the Black Bishop who was currently being held in none other than the Luxus Palace Royale. For he had been spotted making an obscene gesture to Queen Lamanda and was being imprisoned for it.

Lord Slayer tasked us with fighting three terrible monsters whom he collectively called the Envoys of Evil. Great beasts that terrorized the nearby sectors in D1, E2, and E3.

In E3, we met the Slithering Envoy of Evil -- a terrible Serpent King who's mere bite could cause the curse of living stone. In a mighty battle, we worn the great serpent down and ultimately beheaded it.

In E2, the Crawling Envoy of Evil attacked--an enormous and magnificent Queen Beetle. Regrettably, this battle was nowhere near as glorious. At seeing the six of us chasing it down, the thing ran away and burrowed under the sand immediately -- never to be seen again. Still -- we claimed it as a victory of sorts. And it seemed to be sufficient enough for Lord Slayer.

The last was the Winged Envoy of Evil -- a terrible Dragon Lord who set upon us with fiery breath so powerful any one of us could scarce bear it without fainting unconscious right away. Between Samuel and Ruce taking turns reviving us though -- we ultimately prevailed, though close the battle was.

Now this was quite a prize to take home from the Dragon Lord.

The massive currents of energy housed in the Photon Blade enhanced the strength of any who wielded it. Although I usually prefer two-handed weapons like my trusty flamberge--I was highly tempted to take this blade for myself. However--I decided it would best be left for Sam, since he would be able to put it to better use with his great shield in his offhand.


"Passing -up- treasure, Volkmeir? You've changed a lot since Varn."

"Shut up and take it, human. Before I change my mind."

The reward from Lord Slayer was generous enough in itself. With this, we were prepared to return to Atlantium for more training.










Clerical Spells - Level 6
6-1: Earth Transmutation - Allows travel into the plane of Elemental Earth. 6 SP + 6 Gems
6-2: Rejuvenate - Trims 1-10 years off of a character's age. If the spell fails, the opposite effect is induced. 6 SP + 6 Gems.
6-3: Stone to Flesh - Reverses the curse of living stone. 6 SP + 6 Gems.
6-4: Water Encasement - Encases the target in elemental water, immobilizing them and dealing 20 damage per round until they are attacked or overcome the spell. 6 SP + 6 Gems.
6-5: Water Transmutation - Allows travel into the plane of Elemental Water. 6 SP + 6 Gems.


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Sorceror Spells - Level 6
6-1: Disintegrate - Deals 50 damage to up to three enemies, with a chance of insta-kill by disintegration. Awesome spell. Has a fairly decent success rate too. 50 damage is a little weak at higher levels though. 6 SP + 6 Gems

6-2: Entrapment - Surrounds the battlefield with a magic barrier, preventing any ally or enemy from fleeing combat. Why would you bother? Any enemy weak enough to run away is one that you wouldn't really bother wanting to kill anyway. 6 SP + 6 Gems.

6-3: Fantastic Freeze - A crystallizing ray of fantastic cold strikes up to 3 enemies at long distance, dealing 10 damage per level of caster. Decent damage, but is harmed by being long-range only. 2 SP per level + 6 Gems.

6-4: Recharge Item - Attempts to add more 'uses' into items with limited uses, such as ray guns. Most items though come with a fairly high amount of charges if you aren't using them all the time. If the spell fails it destroys the item. 6 SP + 6 Gems.

6-5: Super Shock - A bolt of intense lightning shocks a single enemy for 20 points per level of caster. High damage and spell cost, but only targets one enemy. 2 SP per level + 6 Gems.