Might and Magic 3 (Ch. 9)

Ongoing blog of Might and Magic 3: Isles of Terra

Chapter 9 - Land of the Gargoyles

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What a misnomer. The so-called "Land of Gargoyles" north of Wildabar didn't have any gargoyles at all. Instead, these large insectoid beasts lumbered after us, using their enormous pincers as blades. Knell called them "Bugaboos" and declared them a worthy challenge.

Corak's notebook described how the gargoyles were forced out even from this more distant region in B3 and were said to have resettled elsewhere on Terra. The main culprit for their removal was the Temple of Moo, who had erected their Cathedral of Carnage here. We could have invited ourselves in with our blue unholy key--but I decided this would be unwise for now. We were having a difficult enough time just dealing with their ravenous ghouls that patrolled this section of the isles.

In some shallow graves--the restless undead within still struggled against the charms of the Moo cult and had clues to give us. The first corpse offered up a riddle--The more of it there is---the less you see.

"Fog." guessed Lydia. No response.
"Illusion." guessed Stella. No response.
"Falsehood." I guessed. It was no go. The corpse looked irritated.

"No, no, no you sods! Think more simple!"
"Darkness?" guessed Knell. The corpse's rotting face lit up with a smile.
"Ding ding ding! I shoulda known there wouldn't be one simpler than a barbarian!"

If Knell took this as an insult, she did not have time to fully absorb it. The corpse offered us a clue in return.

"Greywind the Illusionist, Blackwind's rival--married the great mermaid Anathema on Day 50."

With that, the corpse fell silent again as it continued to resist the Moo cult's spell.

"Huh...," I thought to myself, "That was oddly random. But we'd better make a note of it anyway."

In another foothill in the same area, we found a second corpse mouldering in it's shallow grave.

"What is too much for one, enough for two, but nothing for three?"

"A bowl of goblin gruel?" I guessed. The corpse grimaced, and before any of the rest of us could take a guess the corpse scowled.

"Oh, forget it. I heard you guessing at my neighbor's grave and this one 'd take all day. It's a Secret. 'Secret' you doofus. Get it?"

"Oh...yeah--that's pretty clever."

"-snort-, the living today. Got no imagination anymore, do ya? Now back in the days of Lucreto and the Archmages of good and evil...those were the days when adventurers had more spunk..."

"You knew Lucreto?" I asked--remembering the name from Corak's account of my brother's adventure on the CRON platform. "Wait--that doesn't matter. Have you got a clue for me, dead old man?"

"Oh. Oh yeah--anyway...the Spellbinder Blackwind--rival to the illusionist Greywind--also married the sea mermaid Anathema...on day 60."

"They -both- married Anathema? But..they were rivals!"

"Exactly, son. Sounds to me like neither of 'em were too bright at figuring out where Anathema's loyalties lie, did they? She played them 'gainst one another like fools and made off with both their treasuries. -those- were the days...."

"We'd better make a note of that day too. Thanks, dead old man. Is there anything I can do to ease your pain?"

"See that large worm-looking thing on the next grave over? That's a lamprey, son. The Moo cult uses them to bring us back 'gainst our will. Be a pal and shoo it away, will you? Let us rest in peace."

Crushing the sickly white worms underfoot--we cut off the source of the undead infestation in the land of the Gargoyles. No more ghouls would be rising anytime soon.

At a shack near the Pirahna Bay, closer to the A3 sector--Captain Squib had set up a shack overlooking the waters. Entire shelves filled with charts and compasses dotted every corner as the captain himself took himself away from his astrolabe to squint at us.

"'ello, mates. Come to set sail for Swamp Town, eh? There's a ship that comes to call regularly through here--I can sign you up for 2000 gold."

"Swamp Town? Is that all the way across the ocean?"

"Aye. It's all here--you can have a copy of this atlas."

We eagerly took a copy of the generous navigator's map and filled in some of the smaller details that we had already learned. There were the lords of alignment--Zealot reigned in Whiteshield for the Good, Tumult in Bloodreign for the Neutral, and Malefactor in Dragontooth for the Evil. The rival magicians Greywind and Blackwind were on the sandy isles to the south...and we could even make out Rainbow Isle--where, if brother Zeta was to be believed, we could gather Shells of Serenity once a year.

There were also the cities, of course. The only two we hadn't visited yet were Swamp Town--where the next ship was headed--and Blistering Heights, which Lydia filled in for me on the Isle of Fire in the center.

"We could use a Walk on Water spell to get across the isles ourselves." Stella offered.

"A sensible idea--but I would rather we acquaint ourselves with the isles a little more first before we go roaming on the open sea. There is much danger in the deep water and I can not afford to lose any of you."

As we paid the fare and sailed on the sea--Lydia, who had travelled a little more extensively than any of us, told us what little she knew of the swampy isle.

"It's a muddy, dangerous place," she warned, "The region where Swamp Town lies is called the Evermoors. The ground isn't safe to walk on--quicksand can gather under you and suck you away to a fast death before you even have a chance to react. I've seen it happen before. Only the local rogues with their light steps can traverse it safely..."

"Hrmm...unless we can use a levitation spell. That would also work." I mused, "Neither Stella nor myself can use such sorcery, though. We had best not wander far from town."

Stella suddenly had a question--

"The war of alignments has created a break in normal city law. Fountain Head, Baywatch, and Wildabar were all under the control of various hostiles of one form or another. Have you heard any news from Swamp Town lately about what might be happening there?"

Lydia shook her head, "No..but I've been out Fountain Head ways for years now."

Finally--as the ship docked--we made our way into Swamp Town with all our wits about us, prepared for the danger we knew would probably be waiting just within...

But what we found was....

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

There was not a soul to greet us at the gate, nor the sound of any activity through the square.




"What the hell?"