Floor 1, Part 2
The "my fate is as always, Fading away" part in Mendalick's speech was a clue, by the way, which we're going to need later.
We backtrack to the main intersection and head west this time.
We go all the way east and enter the central door.
No true RPG can go without having you fight some rats on level one of the dungeon.
Those weird-looking things are actually scorched curtains. Who would've thought.
Exploiting the randomness, I save and then reload until we find some worthy loot inside one of the chests. A Halberd, hell yeah!
Halberd: This weapon evolved as a lance-axe. It served the purpose of a long polearm, while also acting as a
battle axe. Most versions of the halberd have an axe-like blade with a lance-like (large spear) tip as the head of the weapon. This weapon is the preferred weapon of a Knight when confronted with powerful opponents.
Finally a suitably powerful weapon.
Backtracking to the previous screen, let's explore the room to the south.
The room is unguarded, and we find lots of gold in those chests. No HP increase, but whatever, I don't want to be exploiting the game
too much.
The northern room has two slimes.
Slime: Creatures without form are very difficult to kill. You must actually pulp the thing so much that it can no longer ooze in one piece. They aren't very dangerous, as even leather armor completely negates any danger they pose. They're still obstildes in any case, and they can be a nuisance to get rid of.
Interestingly, slimes don't deal any damage to an armoured knight. They are there just to annoy you. So we waste some time pulping the things till they can no longer ooze in one piece.
And we are rewarded with a unique kind of key.
Even more doors await us to the east. We brave the southern one first, trecking through a long corridor
By the way, I failed to mention there are random enemies sometimes spawning in corridors. They aren't too tough anyway, though.
This is another totally destroyed room, inhabited by skeletons.
Skeleton: These are simple beasts conjured by wizardry to serve their masters. Their purpose is usually simple, such as to kill all who enter a specified area. They offer no other ability.
We find a clue to a puzzle in here:
In the dark of night at 12 Midnight the skull will light and the clock will strike. The pendulum case harbors the face, which shows the key near the fireplace.
The puzzle is a tricky one, as we're about to see.
Done here, we backtrack and explore the room to the north.
After dealing with some Fuzzy Humanoids, we gain some more HP. Great!
The puzzle room is a bit to the west from here, marked by a red exclamation mark on the map. There's a clock and a fireplace in here. The clue we got earlier tells us the clock will strike at midnight, revealing a key in the fireplace.
The puzzle is tricky because the in-game clock directly corresponds to your
system clock! Meaning you must set your system clock to midnight or noon to solve it. That's just... nasty.
And now we should examine the fireplace.
We have the key now.
Two keys in our inventory, woohoo!
Time to explore the rest of Floor 1.
Judging by the hammer in that creature's hand, it must be a Repair Zombie.
Repair Zombie: These are not ordinary zombies, for they are believed to be immortal. They are never killed, though they are temporarily dispelled (banished). They dean up and maintain the Tower, and protect it against invaders.
There are chickens and humanoids attacking us in the chamber to the northeast. We deal with them and discover a large strength potion in one of the treasure chests.
We have 2000 HP now!
Oh the magic of save-reload.
The iron door is opened by the gold key we're carrying.
More easy enemies to slay.
"Mammoth expedition"?
The corridor curves to the south.
An off-shoot corridor leads to the east. I wonder what's there.
Naturally, despite the explicit warning, curiosity takes the best of me. (But I save the game first.)
Oops. It's a trap!
Placing a lava pit trap on floor one is probably meant to demonstrate the game won't be fooling around. Its intentions are serious.
The room to the west a bit further down the corridor just isn't worth it.
It has three hell hounds.
Hades' Hound: These creatures belong to Hades, serving as bringers of death and destruction. They breathe fire, just as the demons throw it, at their intended victims. Their sole purpose is to destroy!
They're throwing fireballs at us, and defeating them costs us ca. 300 HP. All that for a measly treasure chest? Not worth it. So I reload and avoid the room.
Another room has a mimic, called "Guiser" in this game.
Guiser: This creature must be considered one of the most adaptable beasts of Myraglen, for it assumes the appearance of its surrounding, surprising its intended victims. Most often, the creature appears as a chest.
Again, not worth it. The game always makes you measure your greed for loot against the HP cost of obtaining it. That is deliberate and part of the game's overall message: greed isn't good for you.
It doesn't say anything about greed for HP, though.
We crawl through the southern corridor, which then turns north, and enter the first room, marked with "?" on the map.
This is, of course, a test room. You
shouldn't take those gems. Otherwise...
It transforms into a giant snake!!!
The old man yells, "You are no better than a common thief, stealing the beauty from life. You shan't have my statue for the injustice you have done, but I shall have your life!" The man fades until he is no longer discernible.
And a snake appears in the old man's place. It's going to cost us a shitton of HP if we fight it, so I'd better reload.
The next room to the north contains a passage to the southeast.
Another vision
of Mara of Mendalick awaits us.
"Behind an end stand the steps you must ascend. Once at the gate whisper my fate and you'll avoid a fray which may make you run away." The apparition slowly fades away.
"Whisper my fate", eh? That's easy, if you've been paying attention.
The room to the north looks abandoned, but it's an illusion, as the bearded man himself is kind enough to tell us:
"Illusions may stand before you, but don't let them bore you. Just remember that beyond this end stand the steps you must ascend. So simply go straight as if the passage did not end." The apparition slowly fades away, leaving only the wall behind him.
We grab some more HP from the chests and bravely bump into the eastern wall, revealing a secret passage.
Floor two, here we come!
?
