Might and Magic IV/V (World of Xeen) - Part 7

                    By Alex van Kaam

@~Continued from Issue 32

Note: This solution follows on the Clouds of Xeen one, as in
Clouds of Xeen not all the sub-quests will be played but you will
be able to finish the game this way.  To get more out of the game
however I recommend you also play all the sub-quests that you
encounter now and after this solution.
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Well, there we were, outside Castle Burlock with the best wishes
from King Burlock.  What next........????  The king did say that
our destiny was on the Darkside so why not go there......

We first went back to New Castle, where Ebenezer greeted us and
handed us our first taxes, 50,000 Gp. in total, then we got some
food and training, we all reached at least level 15.  We got our
weapons and armor repaired and we went to the city of Vertigo, in
our pockets we had 290,000+ Gp. and 2600+ Gems.  Outside the city
we saw a small pyramid, since the moons were now aligned we could
pass, so said so done.........

Darkside of Xeen as told by Aragorn Dragonslayer

           --------> A bit of Castleview <--------

As we stepped through the pyramid we were greeted by Zelba the
Herbalist, she told us that she had found an orb and she thought
that we were the right ones to give it to.  We took the orb, Zelba
told us that we should go to Ellinger and gone she was.

We looked around, saw some doors to the east and west, a tent to
the south and another pyramid to the north.  We decided first to
go to the tent, as we headed that way we were attacked by a
Goblin, he was no problem and we soon reached the tent, inside we
were greeted by Nadia the Hoarder, she told us that some sewer
rats took her necklace and that she had to get it back.  We, being
noble adventures without a quest, of course agreed to get it back.
We left the tent and we soon found a grating to the east leading
down into the sewer.....

  -----------> The sewers underneath Castleview <-----------

As we entered we were attacked by a Sewer Slug, he was easy to
kill and we headed north.  We soon came to a small area with a bed
and a chest, in the bed we found Valio the Simple, he told us that
if we could kill the Queen Rat he would reward us. The Queen Rat
probably had the necklace so we agreed.

The chest belonged to Valio so we left it alone and we headed
west, soon we came to another small area with some rubble in a
corner, the rubble contained nothing special so we headed north.

We followed the sewer north and west until we came to a
T-junction, west led through a wall we could bash in and past some
Slugs to a ladder leading up into the city.  Since there was no
use in going back into the city yet we continued south.

Here we came to a crossroads, we first headed east to a sewer
drain, here we found a ring and we headed back to the crossroads,
we then headed west until we came to another T-junction.

We decide to go north and after following the sewer we came to a
small area with four barrels, a desk and a ladder.  The ladder led
back into Castleview so we didn't use it, in the barrels we found
a red liquid, which after drinking gave +5 might and it diseased
its drinker.  We checked all our attributes and the one with the
lowest might drank from the barrels, and Nomad cast a cure disease
on all who drank from the barrels.

At the desk we found Felix the Thinker, he offered to teach us the
use of a compass, since we already knew that we left and we headed
back to the T-junction.

Here we followed the sewer south, west, through a bash-in wall,
west, south, past a ladder, south, east, north, east, through
another bash-in wall, east through a door which led to another
crossroads.  North brought us back to the first crossroads, so we
headed east until we came to another sewer drain, here we found
again a ring, we took it and we headed back to the crossroads.

Next we headed south until we came to a T-junction with a ladder,
the ladder brought us outside the city but since we hadn't yet
explored the whole city we headed back down the sewers.

We decided to first head west, we followed the sewer until we came
to a large room full of rats, we killed them all and we examined
the bones we found in the room, at one of the piles we found
another ring, we took it and we headed back to the T-junction.

We then headed east until we came to a small area with some rats,
which we killed, a ladder in a corridor to the east, which we
ignored, and a door leading north.

We went through the door, this room was also full of rats and the
Queen Rat, we killed them all and we examined the room.

We found six barrels with a green liquid which raised Endurance +5
and poisoned the drinker, and in the north we found the onyx
necklace.  We took the necklace, and the ones in our party that
had a low endurance drank from the barrels.  I cast a cure poison
on the drinkers and we left the room.

We first went back to Valio, he gave us 25.000 Exp. points, we
then headed back up the first ladder and from there to the tent of
Nadia, she gave us 100,000 Exp. points and the key to Ellinger's
tower.

          -----------> Back in Castleview <--------

We left Nadia's tent and we examined the rooms to the west, inside
we found some beds with some items, we took them and we entered
the east room near Nadia's tent.

Here we met Miles the Cartographer, he gave us a riddle which we
solved using our big paper map, the answer was Sandcastle.  In
return he gave us 100,000 Exp. and an award.

We then headed to the room north of Miles, here we found Lydia the
Cartographer, she offered to teach us this skill but since Gandalf
already knew it we left.  We headed north past the pyramid,
killing some more Goblins until we came to two doors to the north
and a tent east of them, in the tent we met Goldur the Ranger, he
offered to teach us the pathfinding skill for 1500 Gp. but we
already had that skill so we left.

We then entered the first north door, here we met Joe the Map
maker, he offered us a treasure map for 1000 Gp. we bought it but
after examining it we saw it was a fake !!  We tried to go back to
Joe but he was gone, we kept the map and we entered the next north
door, here we found Jojosh the Taskmaster, he offered us a job for
a week paying 50 Gp., since we had more than enough gold we
refused and left.

To the west we also found a tent, in it lived mayor Snarfbald, he
asked us if we could get rid of the Gremlins for 10,000 Gp., we of
course accepted and we left.  Across from the tent of the mayor we
found another one, in this tent lived Jethro the Mapmaker, he told
us that his brother Jasper was in jail because he stole something
from Joe the Mapmaker, but Jasper was innocent and Joe was a
crook, at least that's what Jethro told us.  He asked us if we
could free Jasper for him, since that map from Joe was a fake we
agreed and we left his tent.

We then headed north into the corridor, we soon came to a wall but
thanks to Gandalf's Wizard eye spell we saw that it was a fake
wall, we bashed it in and behind it we found a chest with 3000
Gp., we took the gold and we headed back to the mayor's tent and
from there west through a gate into the main street of the town.

We killed some Goblins and we headed west through another gate
until we came to the guild of the town, inside we met Metta the
rosterkeeper, she signed us up and we went to see the teacher of
the guild.  Since we had 290,000+ Gp. we decided that we all
bought every spell that was available, it cost us about 30,000 Gp.
but hey, we could miss it.

We left the guild and we headed south until we came to the jail,
we entered and we soon found Jasper, we freed him and we went to
see Jethro.

He thanked us and he gave us 10,000 Xp. and if we needed any help
with maps he would help us, we showed him our fake map and he gave
us a real one.  We left him and we headed back to the jail, from
there we headed south, pass the tent of Oranda the Swimming
instructor until we came to a large open area.

To the east was a gate into the main street and to the south was a
gate to a green field.  We headed south and through the gate,
south was another gate and to the west were eight trees with gold
in them, we got the gold and we headed south through the second
gate.  Here we found a green field with three doors leading south
and a tent, in the tent we found Dyson the Puzzle master, he told
us something about some chests, we wrote it down and we left.

We then entered through the east south door, here we found 9 open
chests, it seemed we had to close them, we kept trying until they
were all closed, the north/east one last.  As a reward we got
50,000 Exp. points.

We left and we entered the middle south door, again we found 9
chests, this time they were all closed, it took a while but in the
end we had them all open, the middle one last.  As a reward we got
a staggering 250,000 Exp. points.

Again we left the room and we entered the west south door, in this
room we found one chest, but every time we tried to get it, the
chest moved away, we tried a while but we didn't succeed.

We left this room and we went back north, passed the jail and onto
the guild, here we went east into the main street.  We headed
south until we came to the tavern, we entered, talked to all the
people and we left.  Next was the smith to the west, again we
entered, examined his weapons, nothing useful, so we left.

Next was the training school, we did some training and Roodhaar,
Rak*el and Gothmog gained a level.  After that we came to the bank
on the east side of the street, we didn't enter the bank but we
did enter through the gate just south of the bank.

We soon came to a large green field, we killed some gremlins and
we entered the tent that was on the field.  Inside we found
Gettlewaithe the Gremlin King, we asked him two times very
politely to stop the vandalism, after the second time however he
called his guards, we took care of them and we went to the king
for a third time, this time he was willing to talk but we weren't.

We killed him and in his tent we found 3 energy disks, we took
them and we left.  Back in the main street we headed south, here
we found the temple of the city, we entered, examined everything
and we left.  Thanks to Gandalf's wizard eye we saw that there was
an area to the east of the temple.  We couldn't find an entrance
so we headed down the first grating we found and we went to the
room where we found the onyx necklace.  To the east of this room
was a ladder leading up, we used it and we came to an area full of
goblins and gremlins, we killed them all and we found a chest with
a lot of gold.

We got the gold and we went back down the stairs, into the sewer
and from there back into the town, we then visited the mayor, he
gave us 10,000 Gp. and 50,000 Exp. points.

We thanked him and we went back to the temple, from there we
headed west to a large tower.

Oh yes, before I forget, there were also about four tents with
some monks in the main street, they were all talking rubbish so we
took no notice of them.

         -----------> Ellinger's tower <-----------

As we entered we saw a mirror to the west, we tried to approach it
when suddenly we were asked a question, we could choose from three
answers, we of course choose for the honourabe answer and a wall
to our south was removed.  We examined the mirror, but it didn't
seem to work so we went south, here we found two pairs of boots
and a button behind a tapestry, we pushed it and a wall to our
north was removed.  We headed north and we soon saw a staircase
leading up.  We took the stairs and we came to the second floor,
here we saw 5 buttons and four pieces of lava floor, we pushed the
four corner buttons and the four pieces of lava were gone.

We first went into the north corridor were we found another pair
of boots, a book of electricity and a button.  We all read the
book and we gained +20 electricity resistance, next we pushed the
button, took the boots and we headed into the south corridor.

Again we found a pair of boots and a book, this time we gained +20
fire resistance from reading the book, we all read it and we took
the boots.  From here we could go north and we found a staircase
that took us up to the next floor.

As we entered this floor we saw another staircase leading up, we
took it and we were now on the fourth floor, again we found some
boots and yet another staircase leading up, we took it but we were
now outside the tower on the clouds.

Since we didn't had anything to do here we went back down to the
third floor, here we found two buttons which we pushed and a
staircase leading up to the fourth floor.  As we entered we were
asked who we were looking for, we answered Ellinger and we were
allowed to pass.

We were now in front of Ellinger, we first examined the room and
we found two books, one book of boots and one book of sorcerer's
knowledge, Gandalf read it twice and he gained +50 intellect.  We
then talked to Ellinger, he told us that the orb we got from the
old women was from the Dragon Pharaoh and that we had to take it
back to him.

But first we had to help him to get Castle Kalindra back, it
seemed that an evil person named Almar moved the castle out of
phase and kidnapped the queen.  To get the castle back Ellinger
needed 20 energy disks, 5 at a time, he however didn't know where
we could find them.  What we heard about this Almar made us very
sure that he was the person behind Lord Xeen, so we agreed to help
Ellinger.  Ellinger in his turn gave us 250,000 Exp points and he
would order the walking treasure chest in the town to stop long
enough for us to grab it.

We went back into the town, went to the chest and we got 200,000
Gp. and 500 Gems, next we went to the Ogre foundry and we sold all
the items we didn't use.

Since we'd already found 3 energy disks we only needed 2 more to
get the first part of the castle back.  We'd completely covered
the town so we decided to leave and see what we could find
outside.

        -----------> Outside Castleview <-----------

Outside the town we saw a tent, after entering we met Justine the
Thief who offered us a pass into Castleview for 1000 Gp., we took
it and we left.

We could now follow the road north or east, we decided east and we
soon came to a hut, inside we found Nibbler the Monkeydog, he told
us that he loved Manga melons but that they only grew in the south
region of meadowland and that there lived Electropedes, he asked
us if we could get one for him and we agreed.

Looking at our big paper map we didn't see any meadowland but we
did see a large centipede drawn just south of where we were.  So
we headed south, across the river into a green meadow, we soon
found a manga melon and some Electropedes, we got the melon and we
killed the Electropedes.

We decided that since we were here now we could search the whole
meadow, so said so done, we headed south and we soon came to a
well, after tossing a coin in I received +100 luck for a day.
From here we went west until we came to another hut, inside we
found Falista the Unicorn.

We saved her alicorn from the witches of toad meadow on the other
side of this world, she thanked us and she restored our magical
energy.  Next we headed west and north until we came at a tent,
inside we found Brother Regar, he asked us what the monks in
Castleview were teaching, when we answered rubbish, he got a
little angry and he send us away.

From the tent of our great friend Regar we headed north until we
came to an old boat, inside we found a lot of gold, we took it and
just as we left the boat it sank.  By now we covered the whole
meadow so we headed back to Nibbler, we gave him the melon and in
return he gave us 10,000 Exp. and he told us to check out the
dungeon in spirit forest.

Looking at our map we saw that the forest was just east of
Nibbler's hut, so we left and we headed east.  The forest was full
of Medusa sprites, little yellow huts and Troll holes.

The Medusa sprites were easily killed, the yellow huts contained
some kind of fruit, sometimes it was poisonous sometimes not, the
Day of sorcery spell from Gandalf always helped here.  Where this
spell also helped was with the Troll holes, if we didn't use this
spell we would fall down into the hole and break all our armor.

Anyway, we always checked out all the huts and holes, the fruit of
the huts sometimes helped raise all attributes +1 and in the holes
we always found a chest with gold.  So I won't mention these two
things again, we just entered them all, in this journey and in
others to come.

We soon found the dungeon but when we tried to enter the guard
refused to let us in, we quickly headed back to see if Nibbler had
the answer to this problem.

When we entered Nibbler's hut he was again moaning about those
melons, so we went back to the meadow, got one and we returned to
Nibbler.  This time he was laughing and he said that we didn't
have the key to the dungeon but he would give it to us for another
melon.  Again we left, got a melon and we returned back to
Nibbler, he gave us the key and we quickly left.

We headed back to the dungeon and just as we wanted to enter
Gothmog noticed a tree house to the east of the dungeon, we
entered the house and we were greeted by Sharala the Sprite, she
told us that the priests of the temple of Bark kidnapped her
sister, we of course offered to help her.

We left the tree house and we entered into ...

        -----------> The temple of the Bark <-----------

We entered in a large hall, near the entrance we found two books
about the Bark and their religion, we did read them but to us it
was just some religious nonsense.  We headed east until we came at
three doors, one east, one south and one north, we entered through
the north door and we came to an area with two levers and another
religious book, we read the book and we pulled the levers.

We headed back into the main entrance hall and we saw that the two
other doors were open, we decided to go through the south one
first.  Here we encountered some Orc Guards, they were no real
threat and we quickly took care of them, in the room we found two
wells and two cages, the cages were empty and the wells were
nothing special.  To the east we also found a door, we entered and
we found four cages, in two of them we found a prisoner, we freed
them and they thanked us with 25,000 Exp. points and a tip on
Orcs, they can't jump!

To the east we also found a lever, we pulled it and we headed back
into the main entrance hall, next we headed north and we came to a
large room with some Orc Guards, two potions, a lever, four books
and a staircase leading down.

We drank from the potions, the blue gave +5 personality and the
red +5 might.  The books were again a lot of religious talk, the
lever we pulled and the stairs we descended.

             -----------> Going down <-----------

We entered into a large corridor which led west, as soon as we
headed into that direction we were attacked by some Orc Guards and
a Orc Shaman, we easily killed them.  After a few steps west we
heard a sound to our north and south, as we looked into these
directions we saw that two walls had vanished, as we tried to go
north through this new opening it closed again.  We stepped back
and yes it opened again, the solution was easy, Roodhaar cast a
jump spell and we jumped into this new north corridor.

Here we found two potions, an orange one for +5 intellect and a
green one for +5 endurance, those who needed it drank from it and
we headed back into the main corridor.

Next we jumped south and we came in an area with four more
potions, a red one for +5 might, a yellow one for +5 accuracy, a
purple one for +5 speed and a white one for +5 luck.

@~To be continued next issue






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