Might and Magic 2 (Ch. 13)

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

Chapter 13 - Sorceror's Tale + Cleric's Tale

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Hrmph.

I was a little more wary adventuring out on my lonesome like this. This is a sad age! There are brigands and monsters and horrible things that would kill me around every corner!

But if this is what those Jurors want, I am happy to oblige. Naturally, a sorceror as powerful as I has nothing to fear.

I was on the Isle of the Ancients. At the neutral zone. Pah. Petty neutrality. I wasn't going to have any of it.

 Naturally, I went to the dark keep in the Evil Zone first. Although the jurors tasked me with freeing both the Evil -AND- Good archmages, there was clearly no need to rush on the latter.

An unusual winding pathway, this dark keep. The hallway was often cramped and narrow and would end only in rooms with multiple doorways out, just like this one. In this first chamber, I had to choose between Door number 1 and Door number 2. With a shrug, I picked 2 simply because it was slightly closer.

GAH! MY ONE WEAKNESS! Lepers coming to rub up all over me! Back! Back! Away with you, shoo shoo shoo! Fireball fireball fireball!









Covering my retreat back into the antechamber with a load of fireballs, I paused to catch my breath and then opened door number 1 instead. And yet, even though they clearly both led into the same room--all of the lepers that were inside just a moment ago were now gone.

Curious....

In this next chamber were three doors. Examining my surroundings more carefully---I spied an engraving on a nearby wall. "It is one."

Ah-ha! A test of my perceptive skills eh, archmage? I boldly opened door number one into the next chamber...

GAH! MY OTHER ONE WEAKNESS! HORDES OF SCANTILY CLAD WOMEN!

Away with you! Shoo! Shoo-shoo-shoo! Fireball! Fireball! Fireball!







Well, clearly this wasn't working out.

Covering a hasty retreat back to the entrance of the tower, I noticed another engraving here which I had heretofore missed due to my excitement in plunging straight into the hall right away.  "All that are even are less odd. All that are odd become more odd."

OF COURSE! As the archmage of evil, he would have an affinity to that which was basally 'odd', or not in congruence with natural order! Such thaumaturgic rhythms are often seen in many magical sciences unrelated to geoseismic and pyrogenic phenomena. Not to mention the similar triangulations seen in upright (not canister) enchantment and softcore neuromancy.

It's basic arithroturgy. Look it up sometime, peasant.

"Larger than one, but less than a crowd."
Well, if three is a crowd, than the answer must be two. But because in this tower all that is even must be less and odd, clearly the answer is one.

And if subsequent clues led me to believe an odd number--7 for instance, then the odd must be the next greatest odd, and I would pick door 9.




AHA! I knew it would work! I got through the rest of those chambers untested. You'll have to do better than that to trick me, archmage!

Ohh... "Death's Doorway" had a certain ominous ring to it. I was so terrified, I may have soiled a pantaloon. NOT!

A trio of iron wizards similar to the ones we'd seen in the Queen's castle were waiting here as some kind of guard. But with all the effort it took to lift a finger I reduced them to ashes instantly. It was moments like these I simply didn't understand why the goody-two-shoes and his pet half-orc went through all the trouble of that armor and bladery. No finesse! No orgasmic release of energy! They simply didn't understand. The fools. They would be helpless without me.

The archmage Ybmug! You evil old bastard! Run afoul of some Ancients technology, did you?

Well, this was simple enough at least. The clue to the access combination had been engraved in a few places in our adventures around Cron. Not the least of which was the statue right in Atlantium. Just punch in 23 on the left side and 46 on the right...

Pah! Feeble old fool. Where is your pride as the Cron aspect of evil? Equilibrium, my foot!

Nonetheless, the Juror's conditions were clear. And I had no desire to flout them. Being recognized as a Chosen one is no easy task and would bring me great power and opportunity. Perhaps, someday, I may even come back and -TAKE- the title of archmage from you, Ybmug. If that IS your real name.

Ugh. Just being in this half of the isle made my skin crawl. The ancient fortress here housed the evil archmage's counterpart, the so-called 'good' archmage.

The 'trick' of the doors in here was predictably similar but opposite to the ones in the evil tower. Except with even numbers favored over odd. Again, any fool with a shred of arithroturgical upbringing could see it a mile off. Even the iron wizards guarding the final doorway looked unoriginal.

I suppose it isn't all bad. The good archmage will have to forever live down the knowledge that it was I, the future archmage of evil, to whom he owes his continued life. And that is a kind of delicious schadenfreude I'm willing to remind him of to the end of all days! Har!

Plugging in 32 on the left and 64 on the right and the goodly man himself was now free. Congratulations, Yekop. You'll pardon me if I don't stick around and make myself comfortable.


Well, that was quite an eventful day. I think I shall Fly off to Mt. Farview and take my well-deserved '+'. And then return to Middlegate and await the rest of my Adventuring Equipment. Err -- comrades, that is.
               -Lucreto

Sorceror Spells: Level 8
8-1: Incinerate - Engulfs a single enemy with the heat of a thousand fires, dealing 20-40 damage per level. 5 SP per level + 8 Gems. Awesome single-target damage for the enemy that just won't die.

8-2: Mega Volts - A blast of chain-lightning strikes up to 10 enemies, dealing 4-16 damage per level. Awesome multi-target spell for middling to hard groups of enemies. 5 SP per level + 8 Gems.

8-3: Meteor Shower - Summons fiery death from the heavens, dealing 5-50 damage to each monster. Outdoors only. Not that useful, really. The damage is nothing compared to Mega Volts. But meteor shower can potentially hit -more- enemies, as it targets ALL enemies limited only by spell points. Costs 8 SP + 1 SP per monster. And 8 Gems.

8-4: Power Shield - A magic barrier cuts the damage that party members take from physical attacks by 1/2 for the duration of combat. Good for protracted battles with enormous groups of enemies. 8 SP + 8 Gems.


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 Dear me, what a dreadful sight. The forest near castle Woodhaven was absolutely infested with undead pests. This was precisely where the clues pointed me towards to find the location of Corak's soul, too. Although I didn't recognize it among the spirits here.

 Let this be a lesson to anyone reading -- accept no substitutes. Good clerics claim to have the authoritative rulebook on exorcism...Volkmeir says his brother was pretty good at it with Evil cleric incantations, but there's no substitute for a dedicated neutral prayermaster like myself.

Yessiree, a dab of the old holy symbol--a good square agreement with one of the neutral Almighties, and the only ghost you'll smell is the ectoplasm when the door hits their ass on the way out. You get yourself one of those holy rollers and they'll end up driving the ghosts so deep into the boards under the carpet it'll take WEEKS to get it out.

And evil clerics? Pssh. No offense, Volkmeir--but I haven't seen one yet who could get a beer out of an icebox. Let alone a ghost out of anything.

Where was I?

Oh! There it is. Sorry, old sage. I got so carried away I almost Turned you, too. Good thing you took shelter in this tree.

Corak's Cave is right near Middlegate, so it wasn't too far a walk for these old legs of mine. This cave was once a kind of study for the old sage. A home-away-from-home for the one he had in the Palace, I suppose. Now, it was a kind of mausoleum for the undead. A place they were rounded up and kept for their own safety, more than anything.

For the most part they were secure in the zombie storage rooms and sarcophagus warehouses. But every now then a minor leak would send them wandering through the halls. Sloppy work, Lloyd. That's Lloyd Beacon, by the way. Ever heard of him? He's a former apprentice of Corak and author of the Lloyd's Beacon spell. And shoddy superintendent of Corak's Cave, I might add.

Huh. You know, there was a time at the start of this adventure when I had to be more careful around large groups of undead like these. But now I wasn't afraid at all. They say that's the worst mistake a dedicated neutral prayermaster can make when they're faced with a pest control problem, but I'm getting a little long in the tooth and such things make no nevermind to me. I used my hammer and rounded these lost boys up and shooed them back into their pens. I'll charge Lloyd for it later.

The revenant at the door took my ticket and ushered me into the 'main event' here at Corak's Cavern...

Hrmph. Corak's coffin lay on display, but a barrier was still up--I guess to protect it from any gawkers or robbers.

I could see the body, at any rate. Strange stuff, that Corak. He'd been dead awhile now but his body didn't look like it decomposed or aged a day. Pale green skin. Like a half orc--a little bit, except with no scaling in the skin. The parts that were damaged didn't have any blood stained around them. At least not the kind of blood that I recognized. Old blood turns red and then black with decay. But the stains around his clothing were more violet. The bones visible under the parts where the 'flesh' had been scorched away had glint of metal about them.

Sam and Volkmeir tell us that he's a herald of the Ancients. I can believe it. Nobody can wield as much knowledge and power as that man did in his life and be humanoid.

But he wasn't a golem either, that's for sure. Only a living being can leave behind a soul. And any soul that's persistent enough to hang around can be used to revive them.

I griped at one of Lloyd's boys to lower the barrier and let me in. Embarrassed at being awoken from his nap, the lanky teen turned some switches in a hurry and let me in.

With the soul in hand I set to work. And as sure as the Almighties--they smile on a favorable bargain--the soul and body were reunited, and Corak's severely damaged body began to stir.

"Varnlings!" the great sage opened his eyes and called out suddenly with a pained gasp.

"Varnlings...? Oh--Sam and Volkmeir. They aren't here. It's just me."

The great sage sat up in his coffin and, with a grimace of intense pain, turned to look at me. His eyes had a strange, slightly bulbous quality about them. It was the color. Solid black. But I can read eyes as sure as one can read anything. He looked confused. In pain. And extremely grateful. A nasty-looking scorch on his shoulder began to weep slightly violet 'blood', and I tried to work a Power Cure spell on him, but it wouldn't take. His physiology was too different. Even for the Almighties.

"It's all right..Ruce...is it Ruce?" Corak asked.

"Aye. And those are some right solid injuries you've got there. You're not going to go dying again on me, are you?"

"No. Not anymore. Thank you---it's going to take me a -long- time to repair myself. Can you help me get back to my study at the palace?"

"Aye. But first....,"  I handed him a piece of paper on my own customized woodstock.

"T...this? What is this?" the great sage asked curiously.

"Invoice for services rendered. Resurrection ain't paying for itself, you know."

And then, startling me slightly because I wasn't expecting it, Corak laughed. Later, at the Palace, he paid my fee in full.

 A+. Would resurrect again.

                      -Ruce


Clerical Spells: Level 8
8-1: Fire Encasement - Encases an enemy in a prison of elemental fire, dealing 80 damage per round and immobilizing them. 8SP + 8 Gems.
8-2: Fire Transmutation - Allows travel to the elemental plane of fire. 8 SP + 8 Gems.

8-3: Mass Distortion - A crushing gravity field is generated within up to 2 monsters, falling them to crush inward on themselves and lose half of their hitpoints. This spell is absolutely essential for defeating the optional uber-bosses, but is not that important otherwise. 8 SP + 8 Gems.

8-4: Town Portal - Opens a direct teleportal to any of the five cities in Cron.