The Black Citadel
"Vandil!" says Zirder jumping up from the cushions, "I knew you were still alive."
"Mathayus found me a bloody mess lying in the morning snow in Darkwood. It's good to see you again Zirder, Mathayus told me everythingÂ…" says Vandil.
"From the looks of it, you still need to recover a little more after your meeting with Wiculoth's dark ones. Here, let me help you," says Zirder.
She whispers a spell and thin blue waves of light float out in front of her, wrap themselves around Vandil healing him and then disappear. She continues,
"I've now almost recovered my full strength, and fortunately, I no longer have any of those dark powers I had before. It was lucky for you Mathayus that you were able to realise that the black clasp around my neck was the source of Wiculoth's control over me. The clasp was able to keep my true nature locked away and another side of myself, a weak but destructive side, to gain control of my thoughts and actions. And in such a state, Wiculoth was able to feed me with his dark power. His torture of me before was meant to destroy my true nature, but he wasn't able to so instead he designed the clasp to keep it at bay."
"Zirder, what was your purpose? Well what I mean is, why were you being controlled in such a way by Wiculoth," you ask.
"Well I was one of the guardians, the third guardian, and my purpose was to carry and protect an important stone, clasped on a necklace like the other two guardians. You probably assumed that I was carrying this before Mathayus, when we fought."
Zirder pulls out a necklace with a stone attached to the end of it to show Vandil and yourself.
"Earlier when I originally faced Wiculoth, these stones didn't exit. They now exist as a result of me and my failure against Wiculoth. After my imprisonment, Wiculoth had three stones along with a large door that leads up to the inner sanctum of the citadel made in order to strengthen the spire's inner defences. The stones are in fact three keys, and only when they are used together, can they unlock the sealed inner sanctum door. And now we have the three keys, we can all proceed up to the inner sanctum to face Wiculoth and his remaining dark ones."
"How many dark ones are there Zirder?" asks Vandil
"There are thirteen in total," Zirder replies. "I defeated five of them on my way to face Wiculoth. But as soon as any of their number is killed, Wiculoth creates another undead guardian mage to replace the one that died. I'm not sure how many you have both slain so far between you, but I'm sure it's too soon for Wiculoth to have reincarnated any dark ones yet."
"I estimate there could be five or six of them remaining," you say.
"Well if that's your estimation, we better go in well prepared. They're all the more deadly when they fight as a group.
"Is a sword and a shield enough to stop them all? As long I can hack at something I'm a happy man," says Vandil with a smirk.
Zirder smiles and replies, "We'll get you into full armour Vandil, and Mathayus, we'll both be needing some stronger magic."
You and Vandil follow Zirder over to the far wall in the room where you see a large statue of a lion. Zirder places her hand inside its mouth, pushes something down, and a door opens in the wall to reveal a small room. Inside you see an array of different types of armour, scrolls and crystal balls.
"This is the dark ones' main store roomÂ…" begins Zirder,
"and we have full access," you end.
While Vandil suits up in some new armour, Zirder takes something from a high shelf comes over and gives it to you.
"This is all the magic you'll probably need apart from your base magic," she says. "We shouldn't take any scrolls or use them because they're too cumbersome and slow."
You look into your hands to find a *golden leaf.
You take out the current leaf and insert the shimmering golden leaf into the head of the staff. First there is only a crackle of electricity, and then a blue sphere with a crackling white electric current quickly forms around the golden leaf until the leaf disappears inside the newly formed globe. You now have the following globe with all the spells it contains:
Globe of the Eyridan
Spell of Strength
Spell of Protection
Spell of Frozen Touch
Spell of Lightning Storm
Spell of Stone Touch
Note: (Each spell can only be used once. Then they need some time to regenerate again).
Note: (If you discover another type of globe, the existing one in use can be removed and the new one inserted at any time, except just before or during a battle. Any extra globes are counted as backpack items).
Before you leave you may take a *plated-belt (+1) if you wish. However, you'll have to leave your shield here (if you have one), because you'll be using both globe and base magic, perhaps casting either in quick succession, so you'll be needing a hand free for casting your base magic. The three of you head up to the black door, the entrance to the inner sanctum.
Erase the password "vandil".
Receive the password "wiculoth".
"Mathayus found me a bloody mess lying in the morning snow in Darkwood. It's good to see you again Zirder, Mathayus told me everythingÂ…" says Vandil.
"From the looks of it, you still need to recover a little more after your meeting with Wiculoth's dark ones. Here, let me help you," says Zirder.
She whispers a spell and thin blue waves of light float out in front of her, wrap themselves around Vandil healing him and then disappear. She continues,
"I've now almost recovered my full strength, and fortunately, I no longer have any of those dark powers I had before. It was lucky for you Mathayus that you were able to realise that the black clasp around my neck was the source of Wiculoth's control over me. The clasp was able to keep my true nature locked away and another side of myself, a weak but destructive side, to gain control of my thoughts and actions. And in such a state, Wiculoth was able to feed me with his dark power. His torture of me before was meant to destroy my true nature, but he wasn't able to so instead he designed the clasp to keep it at bay."
"Zirder, what was your purpose? Well what I mean is, why were you being controlled in such a way by Wiculoth," you ask.
"Well I was one of the guardians, the third guardian, and my purpose was to carry and protect an important stone, clasped on a necklace like the other two guardians. You probably assumed that I was carrying this before Mathayus, when we fought."
Zirder pulls out a necklace with a stone attached to the end of it to show Vandil and yourself.
"Earlier when I originally faced Wiculoth, these stones didn't exit. They now exist as a result of me and my failure against Wiculoth. After my imprisonment, Wiculoth had three stones along with a large door that leads up to the inner sanctum of the citadel made in order to strengthen the spire's inner defences. The stones are in fact three keys, and only when they are used together, can they unlock the sealed inner sanctum door. And now we have the three keys, we can all proceed up to the inner sanctum to face Wiculoth and his remaining dark ones."
"How many dark ones are there Zirder?" asks Vandil
"There are thirteen in total," Zirder replies. "I defeated five of them on my way to face Wiculoth. But as soon as any of their number is killed, Wiculoth creates another undead guardian mage to replace the one that died. I'm not sure how many you have both slain so far between you, but I'm sure it's too soon for Wiculoth to have reincarnated any dark ones yet."
"I estimate there could be five or six of them remaining," you say.
"Well if that's your estimation, we better go in well prepared. They're all the more deadly when they fight as a group.
"Is a sword and a shield enough to stop them all? As long I can hack at something I'm a happy man," says Vandil with a smirk.
Zirder smiles and replies, "We'll get you into full armour Vandil, and Mathayus, we'll both be needing some stronger magic."
You and Vandil follow Zirder over to the far wall in the room where you see a large statue of a lion. Zirder places her hand inside its mouth, pushes something down, and a door opens in the wall to reveal a small room. Inside you see an array of different types of armour, scrolls and crystal balls.
"This is the dark ones' main store roomÂ…" begins Zirder,
"and we have full access," you end.
While Vandil suits up in some new armour, Zirder takes something from a high shelf comes over and gives it to you.
"This is all the magic you'll probably need apart from your base magic," she says. "We shouldn't take any scrolls or use them because they're too cumbersome and slow."
You look into your hands to find a *golden leaf.
You take out the current leaf and insert the shimmering golden leaf into the head of the staff. First there is only a crackle of electricity, and then a blue sphere with a crackling white electric current quickly forms around the golden leaf until the leaf disappears inside the newly formed globe. You now have the following globe with all the spells it contains:
Globe of the Eyridan
Spell of Strength
Spell of Protection
Spell of Frozen Touch
Spell of Lightning Storm
Spell of Stone Touch
Note: (Each spell can only be used once. Then they need some time to regenerate again).
Note: (If you discover another type of globe, the existing one in use can be removed and the new one inserted at any time, except just before or during a battle. Any extra globes are counted as backpack items).
Before you leave you may take a *plated-belt (+1) if you wish. However, you'll have to leave your shield here (if you have one), because you'll be using both globe and base magic, perhaps casting either in quick succession, so you'll be needing a hand free for casting your base magic. The three of you head up to the black door, the entrance to the inner sanctum.
Erase the password "vandil".
Receive the password "wiculoth".