Might and Magic 2 (Ch. 4)

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

Chapter 4 - Under Middlegate

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With a spell of magical light from Ruce, we began our exploration of the sewer underneath Middlegate. Right away, an advisory sign was posted near the entrance, warning us to beware of the danger.

Well, we certainly hadn't come down here for the scenery.

Foul things lurked in these underhalls. The Dancing Dead were the embalmed and necromantically reanimated remains of whatever poor humanoids had perished down here. Their tight bandages gave them a jerking, dancing gait, but they were not much more dangerous than skeletons. Low-life burglars occasionally prowled the halls as their hideout from the city above, and they were capable of grabbing a few coins if they got too close in melee. Occasionally, we also came across some Nasty Witches, who tried to distract us with their charms before casting spells of great pain.

 The goblin lair was tucked away in a corner of this place. It was actually prominently labeled. That was quite polite of them. We heard the sound of much movement and murmuring on the other side of the door, so we gathered our strength and busted through!

 Goblins are not particularly threatening in battle. These ones had bolstered their presence though with a handful of orc mercenaries being led by a magic user who looked a little out of his league. At our sudden intrusion, they readied themselves and met us face-to-face in battle.

Taking out the wizard first to mitigate any spells he might use on us, the rest of the demihumans fell swiftly to our combined forces. Tucked away in a corner of this foul-smelling place we found Nordon's golden goblet.

Nordon rewarded us handsomely for returning his precious cup. We gained a great deal of experience and a lump sum of 1000 gold! And a request to visit the mage's sister, Nordonna.

It seemed we were not yet finished plumbing the depths of the sewer. Nordonna's sons, Drog and Sir Hyron, were still somewhere underneath there, being held by the goblin's rival kobold clan. Up to the challenge, we returned to the sewer straight away.

 A puddle of stagnant water in one corner briefly beaded itself into a cryptic message. A water Disc rested at 15,0 at Castle Xabran. Castle Xabran? That was once a great library with the collected works of Cron's scholars. In the war of the elements it had been razed to the ground and scattered to the winds nearly a hundred years ago. We noted the location of the Disc regardless. Perhaps this elemental Disc had a connection to the elemental artifact that played a prominent role in that war.

"Seek Earth Encasement at 14,1 in the proper plane." -- Earth Encasement was not an artifact, Lucreto informed us--but a powerful spell. Used to encase an enemy in stone and damage them over time. There were other Encasement spells for the other elements as well--each perhaps most likely sequestered away in their respective planes.

 "Win the Blackest Battles and you are halfway to an audience with Queen Lamanda". With Corak's apparent death, Lamanda--the daughter of Kahlon, isolated herself in the palace for her own safety. Only winners of the black ticket battles in the three arenas, becoming the so-called Black Triple Crown winners, would be considered for an audience.

Considered, that is. For there was another requisite we learned before long. The aged mystics of Mount Fairview, the so-called Jurors--would give us many difficult quests to earn their favor. And only with their favor -and- with the proof of the Black Triple Crown would we be allowed to enter Lamanda's private chambers.

Kobold Headquarters was almost in the opposite corner form the goblin HQ. The hall outside was blocked with many kobold sentries--but they either fled or perished from our onslaught. The captains inside were made of slightly sturdier stuff, but it was hardly a challenge.

We freed Drog and Sir Hyron from their manacles and they fled immediately for the stairs upward. The fools probably were embarrassed to be captured by enemies so frail as kobolds.

 Nonetheless--Nordonna was grateful to have them back in safety again. The two brothers--having little in the way of monetary reward to give us, instead offered their services as mercenaries. For a mere two gold per day they would fight alongside us if we wished.

Hirelings are a new addition to MM2. Most of them need to be found, as with these two here. They then make their way to a designated inn and hang out there until hired.

You can hire a max of two hirelings, bringing your possible total party members up to 8. For the most part, I don't care to bother with them. But there are a couple places in the game where having the right hireling is necessary to progress.

Nordonna herself had information for us about the curious Feldecarb Fountain here in Middlegate--its reward would be ours, she promised--if we visited each of the five cities in Cron and donated generously to each of it's temples.

We decided to start here, at the temple in Middlegate. The clerics here were the least demanding of those in Cron and the cost of donation was not as dire as it was in the other cities. However, we had amassed quite a small fortune by now--through careful plumbing of the sewer and by winning Green Ticket battles in the arena. We decided to make a quick circuit of the cities our next goal. Each city had a low-cost portal to a neighboring city, and vice versa--going in a circuit through all four corners of Cron and then back to Middlegate. With caution, we could visit all of the towns with minimal danger involved.