Ongoing blog of Might and Magic 2: Gates to Another World
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We also visited Corak in his study. The rooms still covered in a thick layer of dust. He was at rest in a back room and looked as though he would be unable to adventure out for a long time. It was a pity, we would have welcomed his aid eagerly.
"Varnlings! Friends!" The great sage eagerly received us despite the horrid condition he was in.
It was an odd feeling of familiarity. For Sam and I, it was almost like we -knew- him already, even though objectively we knew this was not so. On VARN-4, we had only followed in his footsteps and seen his recording while trapped in Sheltem's Soul Maze. Here on Cron, we had similarly only seen evidence of him--and not actually met him ourselves until now.
It was here that Corak taught us more about the nature of this world. He showed us a glimpse of what Cron may look like as the eagle flies.
"Central Research Observation Nacelle. This is your CRON.... The Ancients did not create the Elemental lords, but they -did- utilize their war amongst each other over the past 1000 years to guide and shape the creation of the landmass on this worldship..and then, granting Kalohn the Element Orb, they were subjugated and anchored to these four corners..."
Corak we could tell was uneasy at sharing the fuller extent of his knowledge about the Ancients and the nature of the world. But he was injured and needed us to finish the task he was trying to accomplish.
Sam and I were less fazed by the realization of Cron's nature. We had already uncovered the secrets of the Inner Sanctum on Varn and had suspected that the benevolent hand of the Ancients was at work on this world, too. Deanna, Sofia, Ruce, and Lucreto were awed as they watched the demonstration.
"Middlegate represents the core of this world--and each of these four corners a kind of constituent VARN. Much like yours, Sam--Volkmeir. Though a bit smaller. Together--this CRON and its VARNs are en route to a long journey to a new world----Terra. A land of oceans and seas as far as the eye can see...but Sheltem has broken into the core and thrown the world out of alignment..."
He illustrated this by showing us a vision of Cron's sun. That glimmering orb that had been shining brighter and with longer days it seemed with each passing week...and suddenly, the horror of what Corak meant when he said 'Out of alignment' dawned on us.
"In one hundred years time...Cron will enter the sun, and this world as you know it will burn to ash...."
"But...but why?" I asked--dumbstruck at the thought.
"Sheltem is the guardian of Terra--and a herald of the Ancients...it's a long story, friends..."
And then, Corak revealed to us the story of how Sheltem was confused. Damaged. Untrusting of all humanoids and especially of the Ancients--how he guarded Terra jealousy and did not want to see Cron complete its journey. Of Corak's subjugation of him--and his later escape on VARN-4.
"I attempted to stop him...I created the WABAC device that now rests in Lord Peabody's hall. But Sheltem discovered what I was doing and....he got the first strike. I damaged him severely in return--but he escaped into the core of CRON before I could finish him..." he gestured to his grevious wounds.
"He's locked himself in there. His ability to manipulate the events in history is now lost to him, but the events he has set in motion must be undone. Only King Kalohn when he was entrusted with the Orb has the access key to the Core."
"Then we must use the machine to rescue Kalohn from his fate! We have the Orb!"
"No...not without the Claw. With the Orb, Kalohn's mastery over the elemental lords is absolute--but only with the added power of the Claw can he defeat the Megadragon. Use the machine to go to each of the times of elemental supremacy...retrieve the Talons and we'll build a new one."
And, with the great sage's aid, the most powerful of magics were made known to us to help us in our quest.
Clerical Spells - Level 9
9-1: Divine Intervention - A once-per-battle ultimate healing spell that refills all party hit points and cures all status conditions EXCEPT 'Eradicated'. The strain is so intense that the cleric ages 5 years when using it! Costs 10 SP + 30 Gems.
9-2: (Un)holy Word - Secret dealings with the Almighties provide the cleric with a divine word that instantly eradicated all enemy undead. Costs 10 SP + 10 Gems. The manual states that this spell ages the cleric by 1 year, but this does not seem to be the case in my version of the game.
9-3: Resurrection - Reconstructs the eradicated ashes of a party member, reviving them at the cost of one Endurance point. The strain ages the cleric by 1 year to use it! Costs 10 SP + 10 Gems.
9-4: Uncurse Item - A spell that attempts to uncurse any cursed items. There is one problem with spell. I have not yet seen a single cursed item in MM2. Programming oversight? 10 SP + 50 Gems.
Sorceror Spells - Level 9
9-1: Implosion - Creates a minute singularity within a single enemy for a brief nanosecond. The physical strain is enough to tear most enemies apart instantly. Causes 1000 damage to a single target--or 500 if they resist it. Really useful for encounters with one or two really tough enemies. Costs 10 SP + 10 Gems.
9-2: Inferno - Unleashes a heat of a thousand hells on up to 10 enemies, causing 1-20 damage per level. 3 SP per level + 10 Gems.
9-3: Star Burst - Showers the enemy party with the deadly cinders of a dying star. Causes 20-200 damage to ALL enemies (limited by spell points.) 10 SP + 1 SP per monster + 20 Gems.
9-4: Enchant Item - Attempts to strengthen an item, increasing it's "+" modifier by 1 permanently. In some versions of the game, the spell cost is broken and can be used to pump items up to their +63 max modifier with little effort. Alas, in my version of the game it regrettably works as intended and I can only get items to about +10 or so. Costs 50 SP per '+' rating, and 50 Gems!
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"Of course, of course! Don't disturb me, Peasants, or you'll interrupt my..."
"You idiot!" Deanna gave the elf a kick, "We're not ready to come here yet! Send us back!"
"I can't! The machine doesn't travel with us!"
"Then how are we -supposed- to get back?!" I asked with a certain reticence as I watched the scene of Kalohn's last stand unfold just ahead across the flooding savanna.
"Just wait awhile! The continuum doesn't like foreigners poking around in it. It creates a kind of spatial tension." the elf explained.
Ruce piped in to clarify, "I think what he means is--the longer we hang around here--the more strained the 'timeline' gets...until 'pop'. We snap back into the 10th century where we belong.
"Come on, we can take him!" Deanna shouted.
"Idiot! Run away!"
"Ahhh, run for your lives!"
"We got him where we want him!"
"AieeeeeEeEe!!!"
Suddenly--writhing in agony as we were---we came to a slow stop and opened our eyes. We were back in Middlegate, near the Inn. And the townspeople walking about were eyeing us with quizzical looks on their faces.
We got to our feet and dusted ourselves off. We all glared icily at Lucreto except for Sam who was offering a breathless prayer to the Almighties.
With enough cheesing, it -is- possible to defeat the Megadragon. And it's even worth a ridiculously huge amount of XP. However, there is no other reward for doing so and I don't want to spend the time!
One easier way, though it requires a lot of luck, is to abuse the Frenzy spell. Frenzy in some versions of the game--including mine, has an interesting glitch which, when the spell is finished, causes all enemy magic resistances to be nullified. If enough of your party can survive the first two rounds of combat, it's possible to open up with a Frenzy and then follow up with either Disintegrate or Fingers of Death and hope for an insta-kill.
In the first century of CRON, the Water element reigned supreme. There was nothing but ocean as far as the eye could see.
Ocean, and elementals of course. Water elementals did not take kindly to our presence here and they trained and kept Elemental Hydras with them. We would later see such hydras in all the Element planes--it seemed they were something of a favored pet of the respective lords.
In the heart of this aquatic plane we found what we were looking for. From under the rolling waves arose a modest pedestal--a shrine of power. Clearing the hydras and elementals away, we were able to secure it and retrieve the Talon within, though not without drawing the attention of the local 'law'...
The elemental Discs used to take the talons are found in the 9th century, in the still-standing Castle Xabran near Middlegate. However, other than the discs there isn't anything terribly interesting there so I kinda glossed over it.
"Intruders! You....you...what are you?"
It was Lord Acwalandar, the ruler of the Water plane. In 700 years, he would be instrumental in summoning the Mega Dragon. But for now, he was the undisputed leader of this world.
"We're your worst nightmare." Sam grinned maliciously to the elemental. I cocked a quizzical look at him. Such a display was unlike him, and when he saw my stifled glance, he stammered.
"Letting my photon blade get to your head, are you human?"
"Shut up, orc."
We engaged the Water Lord in glorious battle--our victory was assured from the very beginning. With no other elements to challenge him, the Water elements had grown fat and weak. We slew them and set the rolling ocean into a calm placid stillness all around us. We could not truly 'kill' an elemental aspect of course. But he would be weakened for some time. We had already 'snapped' back into the 10 century long before Acwalandar came around again.
Thus, the water elementals had their supremacy challenged and their pride wounded. Sensing their weakness, the Air elementals invaded and named themselves superior.
In the second century of CRON, the Air Elementals reigned supreme and the world's water plane had been subjugated. Mingled together, the passive water gave the world the appearance of being composed of thick, icy clouds.
Lord Shalwend was much swifter than Lord Acwalandar and fell upon us before we could find the Talon. He and his elementals were swift and difficult to land a blow on--but their speed and incorporeal nature could not protect them from Lucreto and Deanna's magic. With raging infernos and fireballs, the air was consumed with ferocity until, left suffocated, they melted into the icy water below.
We helped ourselves to the Air Talon, and then before long, we found ourselves in Middlegate again.
Thus, with the air elemental's weakness exposed, the princes of the plane of Fire watched the battle unfold and realized through our sorceror's magic the potential of their might.
Not long after we left, the lords of elemental fire invaded, taking advantage of air and water's weakness and dominating both.
In the third century of CRON, the world was bathed in fire and flame. Even with our spells of protection, the heat was so brutal that a trip to Tundara sounded pleasant. Striking back at the fire elementals and their pet hydras, we approached the pedestal once more and took our Fire Talon.
Lord Pyrannaste had put the other conquered elements of air and water to good use, enslaving them as his army of cursed slayers. The Fire Lord's superior numbers offered a new challenge for us--but not even the Fire Lord himself could survive our onslaught.
Defeated, the flames that covered the world abated a bit and died down. The defeated planes of fire, air and water mingled in a steamy, slurry broth, fertile with possibilities...and after we 'snapped' back to Middlegate, it was not long before muddy Earth began making inroads into the murky brine. Thus, did the lords of Earth stake their claim and declare ultimate supremacy in the world...
Defeated--the quaking, violent earth began to calm and slow to a serene stop. With all four elementals weakened--the earth cracked and babbling brooks and seas were born. The air began whistling freely through the crags and clefts--and from deep under the sea great fires and magmas began to shape the land of Cron.
It would take hundreds of years for the Elementals to recover their strength. And by then humanity will have populated the world--with King Kalohn there to banish them to the four corners.
Thus, we recreated the Claw. And in so doing, unknowingly played a role in the Ancients' grand scheme to shape and mould the world of Cron into what it is today.
And unbeknownst through the ages, did the great sage watch our progress from his craft in the stars above as we prepared his future charge for him. And as he did so, Corak rubbed his cheek and smirked.
"Funny. I remember when all this will happen again."
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