Dark Messiah Might and Magic – Part Five

Back on track today.  I thought there was a chance I could complete the game today, but I had forgotten a pretty large section, so it will take a few more days.  But then that’s the point of this exercise.

Quick re-cap, Arantir took the Skull of Shadows and killed me.  Xana managed to save my life after the orcs dumped my body into a pit, I must find a way out so that I can stop Arantir.

You may remember from Part Four that when I was collecting the crystals for the Spider statue I started seeing Xana, well what it was doing was bringing us closer together.  As a result I now have access to some of Xana’s powers.  Since I’m playing a good character I decided I shouldn’t really use them, I made the same choice before, I guess I’ll have to create another character someday and make them evil so that I can try them out.

Chapter 7

I’m at the bottom of this dank pit, orcs are somewhere up top and I don’t have my equipment.  I do a little exporing and find that a lot of this area is flooded, I decide to have a swim around, not daring to think about what might be in here.  My first route takes me right back to the start, the second however leads down a tunnel and soon I find a possible way out in the form of this wooden structure:
I scale up to the top and leap across to a rock ledge, I look down and see an orc standing guard.  I wait a while but he doesn’t move, as soon as I drop down he will spot me as there are no shadows to hide in.  Seeing no other option I jump down and start running, I soon run into more guards but I keep on.  The tunnel goes up and then opens out over what looks like a guard room, I leap in and frantically search for a weapon.  I find a chest and look what I find inside:

I draw my weapon and finish off the guards who were still following.  Rather than head back to finish of the others I just decide to move on, the locked gate is easily bypassed with my trusty Rope bow and I’m free.  Xana’s dialogue starts to change around this point, she speaks often of ruling the world with your father, or without…  In the chest with my equipment was a gold looking metal bar, and nearby is another forge, this is a chance to get a better weapon.  I follow the process and forge myself an Earthfire sword, as well as a nice damage modifier it also does extra damage to being suceptable to fire attacks (such as spiders).  Moving on I soon come across another pair of orcs who are discussing a cyclops, I take them out and then I see a large cavern up ahead.  There’s the cyclops, this could be tricky.  I try to sneak around but it spots me, remembering it’s weak spot from the start of the game I draw my bow and start firing.  I manage to get a few hits but it’s size does not mean it’s slow, only in a full run can I get ahead.  I hide in a small crevice, and the cyclops grabs the rock and moves it aside.  I notice another hiding place and make a run for it.  The cyclops peers in, giving me an excellent shot at his eye.  After several hits he crouches down, time to switch to my sword.  I miss, I’ll have to be quicker next time, if there is a next time…  Which there is, a quick swipe with my new sword and in typical gory fashion that’s the end of the cyclops:

I raise the gate and make my way through.  Then it’s another vertical ascent, nothing to grab onto so I guess I need two ropes.  When I reach the top  however it’s too far for me to jump, there was a ledge back down near my first rope so I land on there and shoot another, this time I make it.  A series of tunnels, and a few encounters with spiders, leads me to this huge cavern with a building in the middle.  There are rope carriges that lead from one side to another, inside I find lots of goblins and even an Orc prisoner.  He seems a bit more cooperative than the ones I met earlier, although since I’ve already taken care of the goblins he just wanders around aimlessly.  A winch lowers one of the lights allowing me to climb up the chain.  I come out on the edge, a series of leaps, including a Lord of the Rings-style wait for the pillar to topple then leap, leads to the central complex and this humungous beast: I hide in a crevice and it blows in a poisonous miasma.  Next is a run similar to the crystal chase earlier in my quest, although this doesn’t flow nearly as well.  I make it round the side of the building however and then up into another series of tunnels.  Then there is yet another vertical ascent (someone really needs to have a word with their interior decorators) this time much bigger with spiders crawling down the walls.  There is a goblin at the bottom all alone until the spiders pay him a visit…  He fights bravely but eventually falls, I set about the spiders and soon the room it clear.  Somehow I’ve got to get up to the top, I find a nearby lever and pull it, the room starts flooding.  Standing on a wooden platform we start rising to the top.  I climb up a wooden support structure and then go through another series of tunnels.  Once again I come out near the central tower building, no sign of the Giant Worm.  This section was also featured in the demo, a small orc encampment.  It doesn’t take long to get through and soon I’m off through more tunnels.  The next part of the game however has one of the best traps used in a game before.  Speeding through I round a corner and start ascending the stairs, at the top a large and heavy looking barrel starts rolling towards me.  I turn around and run back down only to find that the floor has disappeared, there is a small ledge on the other side and I leap for my (digital) life.  I land and turn to see the barrel fall down below:  Then I finally make it outside again.  I’m still pretty high up and a series of ledges work their way down the cliff, at the bottom I see the boat with a wizard waiting for me: A few quick jumps, and some use of my Rope bow and I get to the bottom.  Off in the distance I see the ship and I then have to break the bad news to the wizard and Duncan (that sounds like a good idea for a television show…)  Off we set to get back the Skull and avenge Leanna.

Chapter 8

Back at the docks sewer I head back towards Arantir’s hideout.  In the main chamber I see the empty cells that used to contain prisoners (tehehe) and a few guards hanging around.  Compared to the challenges I’ve faced they don’t worry me at all, I don’t even break my stride when I discover a necromancer among them.  With the room clear I head over to the portal, before it was just a metal frame now a red surface ripples like water, deep breath…

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