Might and Magic 3 (Ch. 4)

Ongoing blog of Might and Magic 3: Isles of Terra


Chapter 4 - Goblin Valley

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The problem of course, with any travel outside of Fountain Head was that there was still an army of goblins besieging the city.

Fortunately for the helpless citizens of Fountain Head, goblins are about as cowardly and weak as demihumans come. Once they were face-to-face with Lydia and myself, two adventurers out to present a -REAL- challenge, the little squirts turned tail and ran.



We were currently in the A1 sector -- the so-called "Hidden Valley", according to Corak's notebook. But in the interim since that nominym was first given it had understandably been called Goblin Valley. To the east, across the river lay the more unsettled meadows that marked Druid's Hold. But I wasn't quite willing to go venturing away from the main road yet. We decided to head further south--and in so doing dispatched more petty groups of goblins until they were reinforced by primitive groups of orcish tribesmen.

My stomach curdled at their presence. It wasn't that I was self-hating about my ancestry, but rather that I was embarrassed with their lack of organization. Of planning. Even underequipped as these primitive ones were--they still marched to the beat of the wardrum in a hopeless campaign. If Lydia and myself could handle their pitiful assault (and we could), they stood no chance at all against the magics of the guardian spirit Morphose at Fountain Head. And yet they marched on regardless.

Dotted here and there throughout the high grasses were covered wagons. Remnants of the Zingaro travelers. Occasionally--they contained Zingaro merchants themselves peddling wares like potions of strength or a Wizard Eye blessing to help us visualize the surroundings. I availed myself to both.

In one of the abandoned wagons--we stumbled upon signs of recent use. The goblins hadn't even constructed their own barracks and were using these simple wagons as their staging area. How pathetic.

Lydia and I scattered whatever makeshift materials we could find in the cablin about as jury-rigged kindling and then set the wagon ablaze. With no ready-made headquarters here to assist them, the goblins would likely leave and settle elsewhere far away from the Hidden Valley. The people of Fountain Head had better be grateful.

We came upon thicker patrols of orcs as we explored closer to the coastline, and eventually similarly wound an Orc outpost set up in another covered wagon. Between the two of us, we wrecked the place to bits and sent the orcs packing further south.

In the so-called "Orc Meadow" further to the south, we found more permanent signs of the pitiful orcs inhabitance. If we were going to travel across Terra, there was no harm in helping ourselves to a little pillage and plunder as we went. By the time all the orcs and goblins were chased away from A1 and A2, we had come away with tens of thousands of gold and many pilfered pieces of gear. Most of it useless to us, but worth a fair bit from the vendor.



Terra is a little bigger than CRON and VARN. There is now an additional 'column' or sectors--making a world that is divided from A1 to F4. (Up from A1 to E4 in previous games.)

 Not far from the main road, nestled among the mountains we saw the white granite and flapping banner of King Whiteshield. Curiously, Lydia and I ventured closer--but the guard on the rampart turned us away, shouting that only Crusaders may pass the gate.

"What's a crusader?" Lydia asked.

"Someone who thinks they're right all the time." I muttered back to her, thinking of Samuel.

I didn't want to leave the lord's castles unexplored just on account of not being a crusading paladin. I would have to return when I found a way to prove my 'nobility'.

At another simple peasant's hut in the meadow, the interior was completely barren except for the muddy shelves that served as large perches. In this strange hut, thousands of tiny sparrows fluttered their wings in measured harmony and 'spoke' to us through the sound of the flapping.

"Icarus, the unicorn lies entombed here--but years before his proper time. Only when his taken golden alicorn is returned to this place may his rightful life be restored. Will you seek it?"

Lydia nudged me and spoke up, in that slightly sullen flat tone I had come to expect from her.

"Is there a reward?"

There was no response from the hut full of birds.

"If there is, good. If not -- it doesn't matter. We're going to be doing a lot of exploring--if we find it there's no harm in bringing it back." I explained to her. She only scowled in response--perhaps thinking me a bit too soft-touched. She may have been right.

Flapping again, the birds informed us that the alicorn should be somewhere across the sea--on the swampy isle where Swamp Town made its home. It would be some time before we ventured that far.

"Pyramid...."

Lydia looked at me quizzically after I had uttered the word.

I was remembering something from the vision I had experienced of Corak. He had told me to seek the pyramids.

"Is there a way to get in?" I asked, as I made a scene of searching the strange monument all around.



"Naw. There's a lock--but I've never seen a pick that would work on something like that. Some burglars say old rich kings are entombed under them. Probably nothing in 'em, really." Lydia explained.

"How many -are- there?"

"I hear tell of three. But a fence once told me that there's one on the Isle of Fire, too."

"Isle of Fire?"

"'s a dangerous place. Can't set foot out of the Heights without getting burnt to cinders. Though--your kind might have a prayer that could protect us. Lots of devils and demons make their homes there."

Hrmm...I rubbed my chin.  "Maybe someday. But not with these meager weapons."

As we wandered a little further south, I spotted something emerging from the trees ahead.

"What the...? What is that? A head?"

Lydia froze in cautious fear and then immediately drew her crossbow and fired a shot, however -- the bolt missed.

Ugh---it looked like an undead creature. A bloodily disembodied head, reanimated by some kind of magic. Only--my clerical intuition didn't register the thing as undead. It smelled strongly of the Energy plane. A manifestation of magical tension, perhaps?


Lydia was impatient with my inquisitve observation - "Hey. HEY! We need to leave -now-!"

Opening wider than any physical being should be able to stretch--the head loosed with a piercing wail that almost made me drop my cudgel as I threw my hands up around my ears in pain. Lydia, who had been expecting the dreadful litany, seemed to have done a better job of guarding herself..but me...

It was like the echo of the creature's hideous shriek echoed in an out throughout my ears. Even after Lydia shot the thing and destroyed it--it was as though I could still hear that hideous tone surfacing, fading, and resurfacing in my ears.

"W.....ne....ack." I saw Lydia speaking to me but couldn't focus on the words without getting distracted by that maddening thrum in my eardrums.

I nodded to her. I didn't quite understand what she was saying--but she wasn't leaving me behind. Taking her by the hand I let her drag me back north whence we came.

Just along a little access road we had missed somehow before--Lydia led me to a bustling port down just ahead on the ocean. The sign I could at least recognize the writing on, though it was difficult to focus enough to read.

"Welcome to Baywatch."

Why had we bypassed this road earlier--and why had Lydia not mentioned its existence?

Just inside the city gates--we were beset on all sides by a small group of reanimated skeleton warriors. And far off in the distance--I could hear the shuffling and moaning of zombies smelling fresh meat on the air.

The was was overrun with the living dead -- and we were their first visitors in a long time.