FurryAngel

[Foucter]

Level 10: THROUGH THE TIKZARN TUNNELS

1) Heading south from the Quartermaster’s Office, Morgan entered a squarish room.  Stepping up to the barrels, she noticed several boxes beyond the stone wall with a low hole too small for her to get through.  Must be some other way to reach them.


2) Continuing through the connecting corridor, she came to a locked chamber with blue wasps inside.  Throwing the nearby lever, Morgan tried out her Bend of the Wind with spectacular results as shock wave of her arrows threw the wasps back, killing them.  With so many wasps locked in rooms, Morgan wondered if the Lizardmen ate them for food?


3) Backtracking to the Quartermaster’s Office again, Morgan walked around to the western doorway, which lead into the rest of Level 10.  A band of Red Lizardmen ran to attack her, much to their demise.


4) Resisting the urge to continue west towards the “tinging” sound, our adventurer went through the north door, finding another wasp room.  Pulling the floor switch, she dealt with the winged pests, and sacked the room, being careful of the acid pools.  Well, almost careful!


5) The east door opened into a wide corridor to the north.  After battling some Green Lizardmen for admittance, Morgan found a passage hidden in shadow.  She wonders where this could lead?


6) Through the short passage, Morgan stepped into a rough hewn, narrow tunnel, winding off to the north and east.  (Designer’s Note:  Thus far, I don’t think I have mentioned how Level 10 was initially created.  I had built the custom rooms for the random dungeon that was Level 9.  So, I decided that for Level 10, which was to be a custom dungeon, I would base the layout on Darkstone’s version of Level 10.  On my next playtest through Level 9, I took the stairs down to see what Darkstone would generate.  With pen and paper, I drew out the entire level, and used it for the basis of my Level 10.  In keeping with the history Melan the Sage, you can see how the Lizardmen dug tunnels all the way around the original level of the wizards, enabling them to enter the interior from several access points.)


7) Taking the north passage, Morgan continued into the dark, Tikzarn made tunnels, fighting the occasional Lizardmen, while avoiding the damaging acid pools.  Angling west, and then south, she came to this storage area; lots of breakables here!


8) A short distance later, the tunnel ended at a small room, where a Red Tikzarn called “Keeper of the Other Eye” stood guard.  He regarded her indifferently as she approached, but did not attack until she shot him.  Then he attacked!


9) When he died, the “Keeper” dropped the “Eye of Something Else”, which had half of an inscription on it.  (Designer’s Note:  As with all game designs, not everything goes as planned.  Originally the Lizard Tunnels had a purpose.  A slight purpose, but still a purpose.  But as the level changed, and some unnecessary areas were deleted, I realized as I played through the level, there was no reason to enter the Lizard Tunnels.  It was a historical part of the dungeon, but not an essential part.  Unless you enjoy finding and sacking every single box, barrel, and jar!  So, set about to change that by adding the Keepers, and the Eyes that they carry.  These are the keys that unlock a very special secret area on Level 12.  As with many of my secrets, you will see sights that are found nowhere else in the game.  But I’m getting ahead of myself!  We’ll see if Morgan’s up to the challenge when we get there, which is down the road a bit.  I did happen to mention that what it unlocks is quite . . . deadly?!)


10) Backtracking to the entrance tunnel, Morgan followed the tunnel eastward.  She found a side tunnel with two chests.  Hey!  Isn’t that the corridor outside the first wasp room?


11) Winding east, Morgan picked her way past more acid pools, cutting down any Lizardmen who crossed her path.  As the tunnel turned south, she spotted the stairs to the Upper Caverns.


12) As the tunnel ran south, the Thief encountered another Red Knight with companions, but they were no match for her Bend of the Wind.  Running the width of the level, the tunnel turned west, splitting into another alcove where Morgan finally found those boxes she saw beyond the wall.  Humm, nothing in them?!


13) Continuing ever westward, Morgan found more alcoves with breakables.  One was outside a room full of Grey Tikzarn running about; neither could attack the other, so she moved on.  In another, Morgan could catch sight of a Turquoise colored Tikzarn, waiting in front of a door generating these spinning beams of light.  What could that be?


14) Only a short walk later, the tunnel ended at a second small chamber, guarded by a Red Tikzarn named “Keeper of the Eye”.  He too didn’t move until she attack him.


15) This “Keeper” dropped a second red gem called “Eye of Something”.  With both gems, the inscription read, “To the left of where the Sacred lies, pass through the fiery head to your destiny or demise.”  Obviously some place she hasn’t been yet.

[Foucter]

Level 10: PASSED THE GLITTERING MAZE


1) Backtracking to the room where she first heard the “tinging”, Morgan headed through the west doorway, finding a warning sign, and the entrance into the Glittering Maze.


2) Not ready to brave the glittering spikes yet, Morgan turned north, discovering a narrow tunnel hidden in the darkness.


3) Following the dark passage west and south passed a couple of acid pools, it finally ended at a lever.  Forever wondering what it was there for, Morgan used it, noticing that the nearby spike doors were now open.


4) Also, sitting next to the lever, Morgan found this small pot, and remembered her current Ring Riddle, "Beyond the path that glitters, near the arm that opens, pay your alms that your quest may continue."  Putting some gold (paying alms) in the pot, she heard the voice of J.R. Riddler congratulating her for completing the riddles for the First Ring.  He told her to remember this color combination: Red, Yellow, Green, and Cyan; should we ever find the Chamber.  He lastly gave Morgan the next riddle, "Ashes, smolderless.  I am surrounded by rock, save the sky above, if you wish to succeed, then bring me my love."  (Designer’s Note:  It should be noted that the color combinations are directly tied to the appropriate Virtual Object, which Morgan received when she solved this third riddle.  It is possible to find the Chamber of the Three Rings without doing any of the riddles, but without the VO present, the color combo is worthless, and will not function.  Stick with Morgan, and we’ll not only get there, but get all the rings too!)


 5) Returning to the entrance of the Glittering Maze, Morgan was attacked by more Lizardmen, and decided to clear the area south before proceeding inside.  All fell to the fury of her bow!


6) Approaching the first set of spikes, Morgan debated on whether she should try running passed the spikes each time they lowered.  Instead, she discovered that if she shot at them when the spikes were up, she could destroy them permanently; once Morgan found the right spot to shoot at, of course.


7) Working her way through the Glittering Maze, she finally reached the open spike-door tunnel on the far side.


8) As Morgan continued forward, she realized that she had reached the chamber with the turquoise Tikzarn she had glimpsed from the outer tunnels.


9) Surprisingly, he didn’t attack her, but waited patiently for Morgan to approach.  Speaking in broken Common, the Tikzarn greeted her, asking if she was the Avenger.  He further spoke that Selonn had asked him, Prince Thisslarr, to meet her here, saying that Selonn had implied that Morgan would bring the Tikzarn peace.  What have you got me into now, Selonn?  Thisslarr believed that Draak had sent the Amazons, who in turn stirred up trouble with the Trolls.  The Tikzarn long for peace, so the Prince agrees that if Morgan could bring back proof pointing to the cause of the Trolls attack, he would help her get the Tikzarn’s Sacred Crystal, which they took from the Nimduin Wizards.  Lastly, Thisslarr confides that the Tikzarn do not have the Key to the Wizard Seal, so to be on the lookout for it.  (Designer’s Note:  One of the interestingly funny things about the graphics used for the Lizardmen is that they are completely backwards!  Take Thisslarr for example.  I created the state machine for his responses, then chose the graphic for him, placing him into the dungeon.  He looked alright . . . in the Editor, but inside the game he was facing the opposite direction!  So every time I used any of the Lizardman graphics I had to make sure they were tails forward!  Also in this same area I use what I call “Kill Glitter” beyond the Wizard Seal, so trust me, you don’t want to teleport inside there.  Doubly secure, in the picture below you will notice that the stairs down are also sealed.)


10) Morgan briefly searched the area passed Thisslarr, but found the area inaccessible, protected by some other type of glittering force that covered the floor.  She decided to leave it alone, and concentration on finding that Key instead.

11) Porting to Town, Morgan dropped the Eyes of Something and Something Else, the Filament of Hope, but held onto the Keepers, and made sure she had her Trusyt Torch and a plain torch.  Sufficiently lighter, she returned to Level 10.

[Foucter]

LEVEL 9: REVISITED & THE KUGNOG ROCKS


1) Realizing that she had never returned to the Wizard Library after recovering the Senav Keepers, Morgan headed there after exiting her portal.  Inside the outer foyer, she found the first plate, and dropped a Keeper on it.  Immediately she saw that the Door of Truth had opened.  (3 Rings Area: "If the keepers open Wisdom and Knowledge, then the access to Truth is within your grasp.")


2) In the small room beyond, Morgan used the second Keeper, which opened the Door of Knowledge.


3) Returning to Truth, Morgan picked up the Keeper, using it on the final plate, which opened Wisdom.  With all three rooms sacked, Morgan recovered the Keepers, and then headed for the surface.


4) Trudging back to the entrance of Level 13 within the Kugnog Rocks, Morgan noticed the fire pit.  Her latest riddle; wasn’t it “Ashes, smolderless . . . surrounded by rock”?  Certainly seems to fit the picture here.  Pulling out her plain torch, she touched it to the fire pit.  Success!  Her next riddle was "Though you may read my crude warning, douse me with blue, and I shall read something new."


5) Remembering that Jairith had said something about a secret switch that the Trolls used to open the Mine Entrance, Morgan did some looking.  She found the pressure plate nestled in among the rocks to the east.  Pressing it, she heard the entrance open.

 
6) Walking passed the flaming fire, Morgan took the stairs downward into the Troll filled mines.

[Foucter]

Level 13: OF TROLLS AND ANCIENT MARKERS


1) Stepping away from the stairs, Morgan immediately encountered a series of rooms filled with Trolls.  Surprise.  After clearing them out, she explored the general area, finding the skeletons of many slain miners.


2) Inside one of the barrels, Morgan found the Path Book.  Must be worth 10,000 gold to someone!


3) Having thoroughly explored this large area, Morgan found it was called “Enlightenment”.  Perhaps another secret area?  She got the feeling that she wasn’t ready to solve this particular puzzle yet, so ventured through the upper doorway instead of wasting time here.


4) Not far beyond she encountered an area populated by rows of flat stones with torches, surrounding an empty green lit floor.  Morgan puzzled over the seemingly meaningless arrangement, and moved on.

 
5) To the left of the Flat Stones, our adventurer discovered a room called Pole Marker Do, and was attacked by Red Skeletons and Chief Ratmen.  Hard to see in this picture, Morgan didn’t have her light on!


6) Inspecting the Ancient Marker, Morgan noticed an inscription written upon it, the words of an unknown language.  (Designer’s Note:  This is the first time you will encounter the language of the Torzians, which we first learned about in the Wizard Sanctum.  This mine originally belonged to the Torzian race many hundreds of years ago, who had abandoned it long before men came to occupy it.  Think of this as “baby steps” in learning Torzian.   You yourself won’t be learning it, but your character will be in a sense.  You might be asking, “Why the language?”  I have always been fascinated by archaeology, and the discovery of ancient races.  So I decided to put some that sense of uncovering that which was lost into the game.  Come on, here we are, an adventurer traveling to lands we’ve never been before, delving into dungeons and ancient, forgotten places, and we expect them to have spoken our language?   In the real world?  Not a chance.  In this world of Darkstone?  The Land of Ormar mostly.  Don’t worry, there is something that will help you, but I’m getting ahead of myself.)

 
7) Continuing passed the Marker, Morgan entered an area containing a Locked Storeroom.  The green doors needed a key she didn’t have, so she moved on.


8) Backtracking to the Flat Stones, Morgan headed right, and was assaulted by many more Red Skeletons.  She smashed them to bits.


9) Further right, she found another oddly pointless area; four archways in the shape of a “plus”, bathed in a red light.  Whatever.


10) Down from the Red Plus, Morgan discovered the darkened shape of Pole Marker Na.  It too had a strange alien inscription upon it that she couldn’t read.

11) Her pack full, Morgan returned to Town, shedding her excess potions, dropping the Senav Keepers, selling stuff to Master Elmeric, who had an amulet +6 to all attributes.  Yeah!  She bought the +3 too!  That put her Magic high enough to use Night Vision, Reflections, Haste, Telekinesis, Food, Berserker, and Magic Door from her Book Cottage!  Lastly, she handed Ray the Path Book, and got her 10,000 in gold.  Back through the portal!


12) Exiting the portal, Morgan traveled right and up from the Red Plus, and found Pole Marker Vi.  Once again, the Ancient Marker bore an unreadable inscription.  Having explored this level completely, she took the stairs to Level 14, which in this game was right next to the Locked Storeroom.

[Foucter]

LEVEL 14: FINDING THE REMAINS OF PA

1) From the staircase, Morgan ventured out into the darkness, only to find a room packed with Blue Trolls, who rushed out to greet her.  Tucked in the corner, she cut them down as they rounded the wall’s edge.


2) Moving inside the series of rooms, she happened upon another chamber filled with dead miners.


3) As she continued to search the area more Blue Trolls attacked!


4) After slaying several more Trolls in many of the smaller rooms, Morgan realized that she had uncovered a second “Enlightenment” secret, housed in this gigantic chamber.  She couldn’t do anything about it yet, so she moved on.


5) To the right of “Enlightenment”, Morgan found the remains of Jairith’s Pa in a small room.  Searching the bones, she found a strip of parchment with the words “Beware the left eye of Kugnog” scribbled across it, and a small silver key.  She didn’t know what the warning meant, but Morgan had a good idea where to use that key!

[Foucter]

LEVEL 13: TRANSLATING THE ANCIENT MARKERS


1) Heading back up the stairs to Level 13, Morgan used the Skeleton Key to unlock the Storeroom.


2) Inside, Morgan found Pa’s Diary.  It was interesting reading.  Something about searching the mines for words; enough to read the poles?  The poles were the secret to the Lever Room?  Sounds dangerous.  The book crumbled to dust anyway.


3) Using the Skeleton Key, she opened the right-hand cabinet.  Morgan discovered a glowing, golden band wrapped in a worn parchment.  What does “The light brings fire to show the way” mean?  Pa didn’t seem to know either.  (Designer’s Note:  The Glowing Band was a device I had put in during the first redesign the mines, and though you find it here, its initial purpose is used much deeper.  It was interesting that one of my playtesters thought that it wasn’t needed, once they found out what the Glowing Band was used for.  I’ll let you be the judge of that for yourself.  But in response, I decided to broaden its usefulness, which you will see shortly.  It is a Torzian artifact after all!)


4) Inside the left cabinet, Morgan recovered Pa’s Leather Book, which appeared to be a dictionary of sorts.  A dictionary?  Maybe that’s what Pa meant . . . he had collected enough words to translate the language of the Pole Markers!  She decided to try it out.


5) Racing to Pole Marker Na, Morgan pulled out Pa’s Leather Book, and used it on the Ancient Marker.  She was able to translate the words to mean, “Lever One Before Lever Six.”


6) Returning to Pole Marker Do, Morgan again using Pa’s Leather Book to translate the ancient inscription.  It read, “Lever Two Before Lever One”.  In our first visit to this particular Pole Marker, I forgot to mention that Sumon’s bones, and the Mysterious Ring can be found here.  Look around, if you haven’t found it yet!


7) At Pole Marker Vi, the book translated the words to read, “Lever Three Before Lever Four”.  Judging that there must be at least six levers involved in this Lever Room that Pa spoke of, Morgan surmised that more Markers must exist deeper down.  But first, she wanted to gain some Enlightenment!

[Foucter]

LEVEL 13: SEEKING ENLIGHTENMENT


1) Backtracking to that large area at the entrance of Level 13, Morgan first noticed this room with three broken chests.  Shooting the right-hand chest next to the torch several times caused it to poof out of existence, but what did it do?


2) In this room, littered with skeletons, Morgan found a drop plate, so she placed a potion on it, hearing the distant sound of moving stone.  Also in the room was a small stool that looked out of place with all the chairs around.  She shot it a few times, and it did indeed burst into dust.  Perhaps another drop plate somewhere?


3) Back in the Chest Room, Morgan located her second drop plate.  Placing another potion on it, she again heard moving stone.


4) Leaving the Chest Room, our Thief headed down the corridor, and discovered this stone spike jutting out of the wall.  She was pretty sure that it had not been there before!  But what is it for? A mystery.


5) A mystery?  Pa said this place was full of them, which lead Morgan’s thoughts to the Glowing Band.  Pulling it out, she slipped the Band onto the spike, watching the stone suddenly change color with roaring sound of fire!  Three more to go?!  Morgan retrieved the glowing Band, noting that the spike did not change back.  Now to find the other three!


6) Walking around the exterior of the Enlightenment area, Morgan found more stone spikes in these places.


7) Activating the final stone spike with the Glowing Band, access to Enlightenment was finally open.


8) She found the entrance outside the Chest Room, and peering in Morgan saw several stone chests with skull shaped engravings on them.  (SAVE)

 
9) Carefully opening each stone chest, Morgan found potions, food, and having incredible luck, Scroll Fragments 1 & 3!  From her time in the Wizard’s Sanctum, Morgan remembered reading about a scroll, written in Common, which revealed how to reach the Lair of Bithol.  Now, she had two pieces of it!  Using the Elixirs, including two Elixirs of Youth, which brought her age back down to 21, Morgan packed up what she could, and ported to Town.


10) Doing her usual potion dropping, selling, and repairing, etc.  Morgan placed the Scroll Fragments with her other special items, retaining the Leather Book, the Glowing Band, and the Skeleton Key.  Now much lighter, she ported back to Level 13, and headed down the stairs to 14.


11) Returning to the Enlightenment area on Level 14, Morgan found that these two items activated drop plates after shooting them. 


12) Finding and using the two drop plates, revealed four more stone spikes at these locations.  Using the Glowing Band on each, Morgan easily unlocked the entrance to Enlightenment.


13) The transparent opening, oddly enough, was in the small chamber filled with skeletons.  (SAVE)


14) After a few saves and reloads, Morgan came away with a bunch of Elixirs, potions, and . . . Scroll Fragment 2!  Yeah!


15) A Magic Door to Town, Morgan used the Elixirs, and gathered up the other Scroll Fragments.  Together they read, “To reach the Lair of Bithol, place the scroll on the plate; “Stand on the plate in the chamber, placed on the . . . third dark, in the black earth.  Use your bow to the west, and to the east.  Where the  . . . plates appear place Prime west, and Power east to unseal the way to a dangerous evil.””  Morgan wondered what a “Prime”, and “Power” was?  Obviously something she didn’t have, so no running off to the Lair of Bithol yet!

[Foucter]

LEVEL 14: TRANSLATING THE ANCIENT MARKERS PART TWO


1) Reappearing back in the dungeon, Morgan retraced her steps to the small chamber where she had discovered Pa’s remains.  She continued right and down, coming within sight of another Pole Marker, but was attacked by more Trolls as she approached it!


2) She found this Ancient Marker surrounded by barrels.  Though it looked inaccessible at first, Morgan discovered that the light brown barrels could be broken, so she cleared a path to the Pole.


3) Named Pole Marker Lim, our adventurer once again pulled Pa’s Leather Book from her pack.  The words translated, “Lever Six Before Lever Three”.


4) After searching a few troll infested rooms to the south, Morgan found a welcome sight just north of the Ancient Marker.  Mana wells!  Yeah!  Ah, much better.


5) Heading right from the Mana Wells, she found Pole Marker Nu with acid pools dotting the floor around it.  Careful where she stepped, Morgan maneuvered over to the Marker.  Book in hand, she translated the inscription to read, “Lever Five Before Lever Two”.  (3 Rings Area: "Where the ancient pole stands, surrounded by pools of emerald; add magic to the one, in stillness lies.")


6) Coming back around the upper end of the Mana Wells, green Scorpions hurried out to meet her.  Morgan made a swift end to them.

 
7) Walking up and left, Morgan came upon another Ancient Marker, and more scorpions!


8) Surprisingly, this Pole Marker, called “Re” was bare of garbage, barrels, or pools of acid.  Only a single bucket and a shard of pottery lay nearby.  The translation of this Marker read, “Lever Four Before Lever Seven”.

9) So, to sum up!  Have you been keeping notes?  Morgan has!  With the translation of the poles, and following what lever comes before and after . . . the sequence should be 5,2,1,6,3,4,7.  Don’t know what it means yet, but Morgan’s sure she’ll know it when she sees it!  (Designer’s Note:  In case you didn’t notice, you have already learned a few words in Torzian.  You can count from one to seven; Na, Do, Vi, Re, Nu, Lim, and Tena.  That Miosh means “lever”, and Venath means “before”.  You’re becoming quite the linguist, but we have only just begun to learn all that you’ll need to know, if we’re to solve the secrets of the Torzians.  Don’t worry, the Book does most of the work!)


10) With Level 14 being clear, our intrepid adventurer headed for the stairs down to 15, wondering what awaited her below!

[Foucter]

LEVEL 15: THE ROCK PILE MAZE


1) Emerging from the staircase, Morgan immediately noticed the change of scenery, and noted the Mana Pool by the stairs.  There must be something special about this area she thought, also noticing the cylindrical shaped torch pole nearby.


2) As Morgan traveled north along the wall, she began to fathom the largeness of the chamber in which she stood.  Finally reaching the end of one side, she continued east along the top, but was interrupted by a Skeleton Captain, who wandered through a nearby doorway.


3) Following the wall east and south, more Skeleton Captains molested her from a side chamber.


4) Checking her map, Morgan realized that she was right!  There was a room hidden among the jumbled pile of rocks!  Pile of rocks?  What did Jairith say?  “I even seen the great rock pile 'bout three levels down!   Pa said it was there even before men came to the caves.   Hidin' something even Kugnog's greed can't touch!”  So, she’d discovered the Rock Pile Maze!  Now, she had to figure out how to reach that room.


5) What’s that?  Morgan spied this plate on the east side of the Maze.  Can she reach it?


6) Entering the rocks on the north side of the nearby Torch Pole, Morgan came to this stone, which blocked her path.  But she found that if she attacked it, the stone burst apart clearing the way.  Turning west and then south at the next stone (she didn’t have to shoot it), Morgan cleared three more stones to reach the plate.


7) Stepping on it, as the picture shows, Morgan heard something to the southeast, back towards the stairs up.  Of note: The blocking stones reappear after a time.


8) As she backtracked toward the stairs, Morgan discovered this.  Is it any coincidence that this large pyramid is made of the same blue stone as the spikes you found in the Enlightenment areas?  Morgan doesn’t think so!

 
9) Retrieving the Glowing Band from her pack, Morgan slipped the circlet onto the top of the pyramid.  A burst of swirling light beams began surging from the top of it, and northward, Morgan caught sight of a trail of flames.  That’s what “The light brings fire to show the way” meant!  It shows the way through the Maze!  (Designer’s Note: OK, there you go.  You have now seen the original use for the Glowing Band.  For those that cringe at the very sight of the word “maze”, you can see for yourself that I was thinking of you.  From the Torzians point of view, they took great pains to hide what’s in there, but at the same time would have made it easy for the “rightful” person to reach it.  That was my thinking anyway.)


10) On the west side of the Rock Pile Maze, Morgan found the start of the flaming trail.


11) Shooting her way passed the blocking stones, Morgan reached the center of the Maze, but the opening was, to her disappointment, sealed by several heavy duty spike doors.  Knowing how to get there had been half the battle, so it’ll be easy to return once she’s learned how to open those doors.


12) Blasting her way back out, because the stones had reformed, Morgan removed the Glowing Band from the pyramid, watching the flames fade as she stuffed the circlet into her pack.

[Foucter]

LEVEL 15: GETTING A LEVER ON THINGS
 

1) The only way out of the chamber was through the northern door where that first Skeleton Captain had attacked her.  Oh, big surprise.  More of them rushed to greet Morgan as she passed into the next room.  Oh . . . and spiders too!  She hates spiders!!  Die you things-with-too-many-legs!!!


2) Morgan continued north.  What is this?  The Pot Room?  Don’t know.  She smashed everything, and moved on.


3) East from the Pot Room, Morgan discovered another one of those “pointless” areas.  Dragon bones?  If it is, it’s a poor one!  Only four chests, and a light show.


4) Well!  I guess it wasn’t as poor as I thought!  Morgan found the Stone of Souls in one of the chests!  It’s at least worth, ah . . . 10,000 gold to somebody.


5) Oops!  Too full to pick up that last potion!  So Morgan ported to Town, dumped her potions, sold her scrolls, repaired her gear, and gave the Stone of Souls to Basil for the usual price.  With her money in the bank, she returned to the dungeon.


6) North of the Poor Dragon, Morgan peered through the small window, catching sight of another of those cylindrical Torch Poles.  Doesn’t it just scream, Special Area?


7) Opening the door, our brave adventurer approached the outside of the room ahead.  The Lever Room!  There was no mistaking it.  Look at the treasure!  But what are those flashing lights on the floor?  Of course, her eyes didn’t miss the skeletons littering the floor either.  (Designer’s Note:  Here I left you a visual clue.  Don’t try teleporting passed the locked doors!  Originally, the traps were invisible, though the damage to anyone foolish enough to teleport inside was quite apparent.  After several changes and iterations I finally settled on the obvious, flashing mine look.  It works!)


8) Morgan crept along the wall cautiously, but just as she had sighted a group of Kugnog Guards, they smelled her, and attacked!  These were a bit tougher than the normal trolls, taking a few more hits to vanquish, but still Morgan’s Bend of the Wind laid waste to them.


9) Outside the spike door where the trolls had stood guard was another Ancient Marker.  Whoa!  That was a lot of words!  She wondered what they meant as Morgan reached for her Leather Book.  OK, let’s not be careless!  Flipping the lever, left of the door, the spikes retracted, allowing her inside.


10) Eight levers?!  The poles only mentioned seven!  Maybe the eighth one is free?  At least Morgan noticed that each one is marked.  (SAVE)  (Designer’s Note:  One of things I attempted to do throughout the Avenger was to change out the graphics whenever possible.  The Lever Room is a good example, though some of it is rather subtle.  The levers themselves are an obvious change from the normal rectangular, wooden handled levers; think the lever rooms on Levels 5, 6, and 7.  The components?    The base is actually a resized version of the top from those bluish pedestals near Chronofly Pool on Level 5, and handle came from an original graphic called COLONE1; retextured and made really, really small.  The stone chests are another obvious change, though the lids are not hinged, but slide sideways when opened.  A more subtle change is the spike doors themselves.  Based on the originals, notice in the picture above that the nubs of the open door actually retract onto the doorway’s sides, instead floating in mid-air like the normal ones.  I notice these things, so I fix them whenever I can.)


11) For the curious who asks, “What if I pull the wrong lever?”  Morgan pulled level 1, and got hit with an explosion for 71 points of damage. Ouch!  Reloading, she tried Lever 2 . . . oh, she’s dead.  Well, you get the point; better stick to the sequence!


12) Making sure she was selecting the correct lever by highlighting the name, Morgan flipped Lever 5 . . . Lever 2 . . . Lever 1 . . . Lever 6 . . . Lever 3 . . . Lever 4 . . . Lever 7, and lastly, Lever 8.  She breathed a sigh of relief as the doors opened, and a voice said the security measures had been deactivated.  Jumbled Strata Room?  That must be the Rock Pile Maze room!


13) Treasure!  Morgan found scrolls and potions in the barrels, though sometimes they blew up instead.  The stone chests each had a spellbook inside, and of course there was the gold to pick up!  All considered, Morgan recovered 2 Elixirs of Magic, 1 Elixir of Dexterity, Books of Fireball, Magic Missile, Magic Door, Haste, and about 60,000 in gold!  Full, she headed back to Town, selling her excess books and scrolls for another 40,000 gold.


14) Back in the Lever Room, Morgan remembered that the voice had said the “Jumbled Strata Room” had also been deactivated, so she headed back to the Rock Pile Maze.  Reaching the Blue Pyramid, she put the Glowing Band back on it to reveal the flaming path.  Blasting the blocking stones in her way, she found the entrance open, a greenish light coming from within.


15) Inside, Morgan found a black stone, which burst apart when she attacked it.  In it was the Filament Crystal of Dark!  Two Filaments down; three to go!


16) The secret of the Maze now hers, Morgan shot her way back out, and collected the Glowing Band again.


17) In a collection of rooms east from the Dead Dragon, Morgan found the stairway down to 16.  Remembering her mission, she realized that Kugnog the Troll must be close, and hopefully the reason for his attack of the Tikzarn.  Time to ask him, she thought as Morgan headed down the steps.

[Foucter]

LEVEL 16: OUT AND ABOUT KUGNOG’S LAIR


1) Outside the small room where the stairs had led her, Morgan spotted the now familiar torch pole nearby; meaning a room of interest must be close.  Surprisingly, there was no one to greet her!


2) Walking passed the pole, Morgan found the entrance to what must be Kugnog’s Lair, but the place locked up tight with thick spike doors.  She also spied a group of Guards inside.  There must be some way to open those doors elsewhere, so she moved on.


3) Following the wall north, she was attacked by Red Skeleton Archers pouring out a side room.  Morgan pounded them into dust!


4) As Morgan continued to scout around the outside of Kugnog’s Lair, she found this room full of the bones of miners past in the northwest corner of it.  Somebody needs to do some avenging around here!  Lucky Morgan’s in the neighborhood.  (For those still looking for Sumon’s bones and the Mysterious Ring?  Here is another place they can be found.)


5) Along the western wall, our Thief caught sight of Kugnog Trollchief, and his two lieutenants, Saknar Bonebreaker, and Gorkor Bloodeater.  Nice names!

 
6) Looking at her map after going full circle, Morgan saw that the closed entrance was the only way into the Lair.  There were two other exits, north and east; time to starting searching!


7) To the east was a single room with a single chest.  North then!


8) through the north doorway, Morgan discovered a second Dead Dragon room, and, ah . . . ugly, green company!


9) After looting the dragon’s treasure, it was time to lighten her load as Morgan ported back to Town.


10) Do you think we get enough potions in this game?
 

11) Morgan dropped the Dark Filament next to Hope, and the Glowing Band.  Not needing Pa’s Book for the moment, she put it next to the Band, along with the Wizard Key, but held onto the Skeleton Key.  Selling her excess scrolls, Morgan found a 19% to All Resistance Ring to her liking.

[Foucter]

LEVEL 16: A LITTLE LEVERAGE


1) Back in the dungeon, Morgan walked east from the Dead Dragon, finding snakes and Trolls.  Especially a lot of Trolls and Skeletons behind this door!


2) Two rooms north of Dead Dragon, and a bunch of dead Trolls, snakes and Skeletons later; Morgan discovered this Bone Yard.  Interesting.  But since it’s not a plot point, she moved on.


3) Finally!  Something!  Why would these four Kugnog Guards be surrounding this torch pole?  Morgan decided to introduce them to a little “Wind”!
 

4) Oddly, them ignored her until she got too close, then they attacked!  She blasted them!


5) Stepping up to Torch Pole Tu that the Trolls were guarding, at first Morgan didn’t see anything different about it, until she noticed this particular torch.  Pulling it down, it said that the Northern Spike Door was now retracted.  Now, to find the others!


6) Well looky there!  Morgan found Torch Pole Wun just north of the Bone Yard.  Again, the Guards didn’t attack until she got close enough, along with a bunch of other Trolls from the surrounding rooms.  Using the torch lever, it said she had opened the Eastern Spike Door.


7) Searching for that possible third torch pole, Morgan checked the rest of the rooms to the north, but couldn’t find it.  Backtracking, she found that she had missed discovering Torch Pole Thrre, because it was west of the Dead Dragon.  While dispatching the Guards Morgan hit Level 30!  Approaching the Torch Pole, she retracted the Western Spike Door, thinking it’s high time to pay Kugnog a visit!

[Foucter]

LEVEL 16: ASSUALT ON KUGNOG’S LAIR


1) At the entrance, Morgan was pleased to find the doors wide open!  But stepping inside, she discovered the door south was still closed.  Humm, there must be another lever nearby.


2) Heading through the north opening, Morgan entered an elongated room with chests, jars, and two torch poles.  Inspecting the torches, she found two levers!  One on each side!


3) Before Morgan made a hasty decision, she suddenly remembered Pa’s warning!  “Beware the Left Eye of Kugnog!”  Pulling up the map, she could see, with a little imagination, that this room sort of looked like a head, and the poles were the eyes.  Thoughtfully, Morgan used the right torch lever, which opened the Southern Spike Door, then she carefully sacked the room.  ( Three Rings Area: "Cure the Left Eye of Venom, then may you use it to see clearly.":


4) Again, for the curious ones!  Here is why you should avoid the Left Eye!  Why did it have to be snakes?!


5) Passed the Southern Door, Morgan encountered three Kugnog Guards muttering to each other.  They, of course see her, and attack!  She spattered them against the walls in short order!


6) At last, Kugnog himself!  Stepping into the room, Kugnog addressed her with colorful threats, seeming to know who she was.  As usual, the talking gave way to “Now I’m going to kill you!”


7) As Kugnog and his chums charged her, Morgan quickly saw that spikes now blocked the only exit.  Deciding to use them against these lumbering hulks, she fell back, putting the spikes between her and the Trolls, letting the arrows fly!  Oops!  There goes Kugnog Nochief!


8) After slaying Kugnog and his lieutenants, Morgan recovered a Troll Claw from each.  Not sure what to use them for, but because of their large size, she quickly popped off to Town, and dropped them in her component area beside Cottage #2.  Also, because she had reached Level 30, Master Dalsin was able to take her skills to Level 6!  Yeah!


9) Back at Kugnog’s Lair, Morgan helped herself to the 60,000 in gold just lying around.


10) Wait a second!  There’s nothing but gold here!  Inspecting the room, Morgan discovered another torch lever.  Pulling it produced an odd booming sound, and as Morgan watched, a stone chest appeared.  Oh, and the spikes retracted too!


11) Inside, Morgan found the Filament Crystal of Death, the Key of Nimduin (which I just learned, now years after the fact, was misspelled “Numduin”), and an incriminating piece of evidence called Kugnog’s Note.  Time to show this to Prince Thisslarr; seems he was right!