Might and Magic 3 (Ch. 14)

Ongoing blog of Might and Magic 3: Isles of Terra


Chapter 14 - Western Pyramid


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South of Piranha Bay, in the waters not far from Arachnoid Cavern lay an unusual, tiny rock island floating on the waters--on top of it lay a single lone shack, unassuming in its outward appearance. Yet, the item that lay within was of paramount importance in our quest.

"This -must- provide access to the pyramids." I pointed out the engraving visible on the card through the glass. "Why would this just be laying out here? There's nothing stopping anybody from just taking it."

"Yeah--except the glass. Watch this." Lydia smirked. Speaking with the voice of somebody who had attempted to liberate the card sometime in the past.

Bringing the hilt of her sword down with all her might, the glass deflected Lydia's hands with nothing more than a dull knock.

"I've read that glass can be tempered in ways to make it very strong." Bernadene thought out loud, "But no glass is unbreakable. If you can break through even just part of it the rest should shatter away."

"All right--Knell, give me a hand here, we'll strike together at once. On three..." I schemed--Knell and I were the strongest of our group.

*CRACK* -- *CLOP*

"Ow!"

"Wait--did ye mean 'on three' or 'after three'?"

"On three! Let's try it again..."

*crash!*

Once we'd managed to make a chip on the edge of the glass--the rest of the incredible tension that had been holding the tempered glass together gave away under the strain, sending it exploding inward in a shower of small pieces.

Only a character with strength greater than 50 can break the glass--this prevents any freshly rolled characters from being able to do it. Although if you splurge on strength potions from the zingaro trader near fountain head you can easily get enough of a temporary boost to do it.

With our prize in hand--we went back to the Orc Meadow, near where the unicorn Icarus's shrine lay. The pyramid we had seen here before was closed off to us the first time we'd examined it--but with our keycard we could now let ourself in.

"In my vision of Corak--he implored us to come after him. To check the pyramids. This could be really dangerous--Sheltem could be somewhere within. Stay close."

"Gods with me strength...," Stella whispered as we exited the strange tubular entryway and found ourself in this strange hall, filled with blinking lights and glowing walls. Every last surface seemed to be constructed out of sheeted metal.

"This....what -is- this place?" Lydia and Bernadene jumped at almost every strange glimmering light. Knell looked filled with a tense pressure--shrinking in and gripping her pike with all her might.

The only ones who did not seem to be perturbed wholly by our surroundings were Alicia and myself--because we had seen chambers like this before. The Inner Sanctum on Varn was one such place.

"We are in the core of Terra. That heart of the world that was constructed by the Ancients themselves...," I explained.

There were signs of battle nearby. Scorch marks marred some of the surfaces of the metal walls--other sections looked broken in entirely as though a fierce battle had been waged here.

"Corak and Sheltem...come on! Maybe we're not too late to help!"

We weren't alone in these halls. Orb-shaped guardians with semi-sentient faces swarmed over us in great numbers, showering us with strange magical spells.

"My spell power...it's..it's all gone!" Alicia warned. Doing a quick inner inventory, I realized that my mana had waned as well. These "Mystic Clouds" were like magic batteries--no spell could touch them, and their magic in turn drained all of our mystic reserves.

"Let's see how it likes -this-!" Lydia pulled her steel crossbow and sent a flying quarrel into the cloud in front, which dissipated in a puff of magic.

Although dangerous to spellcasters, the mystic clouds weren't quite capable of deflecting or absorbing physical blows from our weapons.

Places carefully in various alcoves around this gleaming place, large crafted gems stood in sequestered altars. As we neared them--we could hear faint whispers coming from within.

"..Tired....sleep...let us rest." Alicia mouthed, more sensitive to the innate magic than the rest of us.

"Corak's notes from the elemental war on CRON described 'Sleepers of Sheltem'." I recalled for our group, "The dark one can draw humanoids to him like a shepherd...and then he takes command of their souls and bends them to his will. Either to use as sentries or for...whatever these are."

"A kind of fountain of souls. Of knowledge." Alicia mused, "The collected lives and knowledge of lost adventurers--preserved here like a battery. We can set them free."

Alicia leaned in and made some gestures over the crystal---a loud moan sounded throughout us as the air filled with the dense energy of the magic leaving the crystal and dispersing all about her. For a few brief moments--Alicia glowed all over as the experience and skill of adventurers long past swirled throughout and within her, enhancing her attributes in every way. And then finally--with a sudden shock the presence was gone except for a voice lingering behind

"....thank you...," it whispered, and then it was gone.

The gems and crystal formations in the pyramids can raise stats permanently by a pretty decent sized amount. Some of them even grant experience levels, which can push you over the level cap if you had already maxed out your levels first.

Many of the doors in this place were guarded by electrical barriers erected by whomever had passed through them last. The energy in this place was very potent--and even my prayer of protection could not fully protect us from the shock. The locks themselves were also very tricky and difficult for Lydia to pick--in many cases it was simply easier to break the things down.

Other "sleepers of sheltem" took the form of monolithic heads and altars that no longer housed the preserved souls of the lost but merely their repository of knowledge. Most of the information we could find from them made no sense without more context--but some of them were more familiar to us.

This is where you can find in-game spoilers to a lot of puzzles in the game, if you are stuck otherwise.

Kranion, after he had taken more of our sacred silver skulls--told us of a secret he had unlocked from their power. In the Piranha Bay there lay a fountain dedicated to the power of Nayrah, the spirit of youth and vigor. Although he did not know how to raise the isle--he did tell us that the word YOUTH held a special meaning.

With the hum of power being routed somewhere from this strange altar--we knew it had accepted the password now. We would have to check the bay after we had left this place.

*WHRRRRR*

Rolling from down the halls in groups of two or three at a time, we were attacked by metal golems armed with some kind of spellcaster in their barreled arms. With one flash of light after another--they could cast multiple energy blasts at us from either close or long range faster than any living mage could possibly use a spell or wand.

"Take cover behind me--I c'n take it!" Knell used her considerable endurance to shield us from most of the powerful energy blasts. I had no prayer for protection against energy--and Alicia's power shield similarly would only work on purely physical blows.

Instead--we had to make a strengthened offense--my prayer of Heroism allowed Knell, Stella, and Lydia to get more direct blows in on the Iron Wizards, while Alicia's powerful fire and electric magic could target whole groups of them at once and send them reeling in sparking heaps of smoke.

"There's something going on up ahead!" Bernadene called, using her keen archer's sight to peer further down the hall past the wreckage we were creating.

"Sheltem!"

I caught barely a glimpse of two humanoid figures locked in magical combat. But before I could make out who was winning and come to Corak's aid, I saw them retreat through a tubular exit.

"Damn!" I shouted in exasperation as we caught up to the tube and found it no longer operating--instead falling quiet in a shower of sparks.

"This place is bigger than I think we realize." Alicia offered, "The pyramids must be connected to one another. If we can get into the other ones we might be able to catch up with them."

"-Those- were the guys you were looking for?" Lydia paused to catch her breath, "I've never seen this much magic in one area. They -can't- be normal wizards."

"'Normal' is about as far as you could get from those two." Alicia replied, "On Varn--Corak was whispered of in legends as a herald of the Ancients. And Sheltem....well...you've -seen- what he can do to people with his power.."

"Look what I found!" Knell called for us from a nearby room.

"Is that...what I think it is?" I asked our barbarian friend.

"It matches the description that we've seen on the reward offerings. Any one of the three lords of alignment would pay handsomely for one of these!" Lydia was ecstatic with glee.

"But -which- lord?" I asked.

"King Zealot, of course. He's the only one with the good of Terra in mind." Bernadene replied immediately.

"Hah! The only one interested in keeping everyone else in line!" Lydia scoffed, "King Malefactor would probably pay more for it."

"King Tumult is probably the most sensible choice." Alicia mused, "He's the one most likely to just leave the other towns alone."

"We can decide later." I decided, "We can't just leave it here for any other stragglers to seize. We'll hide it away in Zahab's vault until we decide what to do with it."

"What's to decide?! You can't be seriously considering giving it to that Malicious madman!" Bernadene complained.

"LATER!" I emphasized--taking the orb from it's pedestal and securing it in my pack. I was filled with a sense of unease at the sectarian argument that was starting to divide my group.

"Grr....fine. Later." Bernadene flashed an angry glare at me. I shuddered and was reminded of the story I'd heard about her most recent deceased husband.

Retracing our steps back to the entrance--we discovered that an island had indeed risen on the Piranha Bay near Baywatch. The fountain of Nayrah's waters were blessed with the vigor of all things youthful and healthy...had we ever been aged unnaturally by the magic of the undead, we could regain our vital life forces here.

Discovering a way into the pyramids was a promising new development in our journey--but without exploring more of the islands we would never be fully prepared for what we would find deeper inside. And our gold reserves were getting dangerously low from regular repair bills. We regrouped in Fountain Head to rest and gather our resources and pick the next place we would investigate....