There was a small part of the desert that wasn’t mapped yet, so after writing down the message Aleen deciphered, we asked her to fly us there. This was a mistake.Continue reading

It’s been a year since we arrived to Cron and the New Year’s celebrations took over our last few days. With a new year, it was time for new efforts.

Year 901, Day 1 – To the Swamp!

We went back to the swamp, or at least, we intended to. We flew to the western edge of it, but the first step into the marshes got us into a sinkhole. Moments later, we were surrounded by dust and dirt.

A brief look around the area told us where we were. This must have been the entrance to the Plains of Earth. There were mountains to the northwest, so based on our previous experiences, we concluded this was the south-eastern edge of the material plane of Cron.

Since we were here now, we decided to make the best of it and figure out some spells before we flew back into Middlegate. Alana and Priscilla meditated together for a while and it soon bore fruit. They constructed a prayer to the elemental forces to encase them into the very elemental force of earth.

Year 901, Day 2 – To the Swamp! For Real!

We ate lunch at the Slaughtered Lamb tavern before Aleen flew us back to the swamp.

The western part of the marshes was far more unstable, with sinkholes and quicksand forcing us to fly back and forth constantly. One should never get used to death, but it certainly seems we’re getting used to our own.

That being said, we mapped out most of the swamp and concluded there is nothing left there to look for. We know of the cave in the middle of it as well as some dangerous creatures in the south, but that’s it. It was time to redirect our efforts.

Year 901, Day 3 – To the South!

We could hear the ocean west of the swamp, but a thick forest was blocking passage. Instead, we opted to move in from oaken grove, were the druids already began to move back into the area. It seems the creatures of Cron are extremely persistent.

The south was mostly covered in water.

The first thing we noticed was the artificial peninsula with the sign marking the “Evil Zone” wasn’t a peninsula at all. The narrow strip of land was actually connected to a similar flat area to the south, this one marked the “Good Zone”. On both of these, a small fortress was built. No guard were in front of either – only a sign proclaiming “Sorcerers only”. It seems Aleen will be able to decide on her allegiances soon.

To the south of this strange geographic construction was another island. This one was of natural origin, but obviously cultivated. It was owned by a name named Murray, who transformed it into a resort.

Each tile on the island gives you an option to use it in some way (have a drink, take a mud bath, etc.). The effect is different for every tile and it can go either way. One of them requires me to buy a ticket from one of the cities (paid customers only). I’ll try and see what I get from it later, but I’m not really interested right now.

Year 901, Day 11 – The Plains of Water

We were already at the entrance to the Plains of Water before, but now, thanks to our experiences, we knew exactly where the portal was. We soon approached the mountains dividing the southwestern corner of the material plane and the elemental plains and started scanning the horizon.

Something caught our eye. It looked like a crumbled roof, peering out of the mountain tops.

We marched towards it and soon discovered an old ruined tower, belonging to what was obviously a military garrison. In one of the rooms, affixed to the table at the center, there was an old scroll, barely holding together. Aleen took a look at it and gasped.

It was a spell scroll containing instructions on how to cast the clerical spell of Water Transmutation.

To the north of the mountain range, there was also, of course, the city of Atlantium. We decided to pay a visit to it on foot for the first time and took another look at the various shops and establishments.

Now that we had money, it was easy to spoil ourselves with the finest meals at the local tavern, but far more important was that the smithy was selling magical rings of defense. At 9000 gold a piece, they did not come cheap, but the protection they provide to some of our physically less hard members is priceless.

Rings of Defense +2 apparently add four armor class, so I bought them for anyone who has a free slot, which included Alana, Aleen and Robin. Alana now has an armor class of 32, which is absolutely amazing.

Year 901, Day 13 – To Sandsobar!

The Sandsobar region was quick to explore. It’s located in the southeastern corner of the material plane, right next to the elemental Plane of Earth, where we already were.

Aside from the city itself and the famous healing fountain to the south of it, there was nothing of note.

Year 901, Day 14 – North of Sandsobar

We were back at the southern edge of desert.

Cron’s elemental origins are constantly apparent, especially in instable areas such as this one. Frequent earthquakes would trigger avalanches and landslides, inflicting pain and exhaustion upon our group, forcing us to frequently return to Middlegate.

Eventually, we mapped a large part of the desert and found that there was an oasis at the center. Hoping to find something magical and amazing, we stumbled onto a pull. Against our better judgement, which must have been just as exhausted as the rest of us, we decided to step into it.

As we got out, our bags contained nothing but ooze, with small pieces of their former content. Some strange liquid completely melted everything we had.

Year 901, Day 23 – Bags Restored!

It took as a week of flying, teleporting and portal travel before we finally had our most important items back – the castle key, the different colored keys we bought at the locksmith’s and the strange tickets the blacksmiths were selling.

That’s a week of our lives completely wasted, all due to carelessness.

Still, the southern desert region was explored.

Year 901, Morning of Day 24 – A Message

Aleen was up all night, trying to decipher some code, bits of which we found written in green lettering throughout Cron. She was fiddling with the cipher for a while now, but last evening, she seemed to have hit a breakthrough and did not sleep until she was done.

It turns out, some other random text that only Rax knew about, but wrote down just in case, was the cipher key. Once she realized that, it was just a matter of time before the cipher was broken and the hidden message was revealed:

For each individual to become true, see the jury which resides at Mount Farview. Travel in groups of appropriate class. A Robber can aid all others with their task.

None of us is completely sure what this means, but Corak did leave use notes back in Varn, which turned out to be extremely helpful. Perhaps he was prepared for what would happen in Cron as well, so he decided to aid us before he passed away.

In any case, we have already seen things related to our individual professions, so there’s a strong chance that all of this is somehow connected.

It definitely is. The game isn’t big enough for there to be anything else. I’ve seen special areas or characters connected with most of the game’s classes up to now. It looks like I’ll be able to take a robber along with one of the characters to each of these.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We’ve been to three of the four corners of the material plane, and we would like to visit the fourth. The problem is, there’s a volcano blocking our way.

Side Note: Party Progress

As usual, here’s where the valorous group of adventurers is currently at…

Lorelei, Level 11 Dwarf Knight

• Iron Helm +1
• Quiet Sling +2
• Dark Trident
• Hero Medal +2
• Mgt Gauntlet +1
• Plate Mail +4

Lorelei received absolutely no upgrades this time. Some nice items dropped, but the alignment requirement was sadly wrong, so I was forced to sell them.

Priscilla, Level 11 Human Paladin

• Iron Helm +1
• Hero Medal
• Shaman Pipe +7
• Magic Charm +1
• Plate Armor +2
• Ice Sickle +3

No upgrades for Priscilla either, but she did get up to spell level 3, meaning she can now cast Walk on Water as needed, as well as Cure Poison, saving up Alana’s spell points.

Rax, Level 11 Half-Orc Robber

• Crossbow +2
• Thief’s Pick +2
• Blazing Axe +4
• Silent Horn +3
• Great Shield +2
• S Chain Mail +4

No upgrades and no additions to Rax, sadly. A nice set of Thief’s Picks dropped, but again, they were of the wrong alignment.

Alana, Level 11 Gnome Cleric

• Hero Medal
• Quick Flail +2
• Large Shield +3
• Helm +4
• B Splintmail +4
• Defense Ring +2

Alana got a Defense Ring +2 since last time, bought at the shop in Atlantium. Her Armor Class is now 32, the highest in the party.

Robin, Level 11 Elf Archer

• War Hammer +2
• Hero Medal +2
• Ray Gun +1
• Chain Mail +4
• Defense Ring +2
• Great Bow +5

Robin also got a Defense Ring, since she had an empty slot. She also reached spell level 3, so I now have two transport services in my party. She can now cast all the extra costly spells, so Aleen can finally dish out some serious damage.

Aleen, Level 11 Elf Sorcerer

• Dagger +4
• Magic Charm +3
• Silent Horn +1
• Padded Armor +2
• Defense Ring +2

Aleen also got a Defense Ring, but more importantly, she got to spell level 6. Disintegration, Super Shock and Fantastic Freeze sound awesome.

The desert was large and dangerous. The result of our exploration was not matching our efforts. There was a dangerous cave and there was sand; nothing else. Within a few days, we were back in Middlegate.

To the Goblin Lands

To the northeast, there were the goblin lands. A few weeks ago, we went there, hoping to find Vulcania, but gave up after several goblin ambushes. We were stronger now.

We were much stronger now.

The goblins posed no threat at all. Even their orc leader could barely put a dent in our defenses.

In fact, they were pathetically week, to the point where we took pity and them and decided not to raid their villages.

There was a reason he goblins settled there, though. Dragons don’t bother with pathetic creatures and goblins don’t bother with pride, so the nearby dragon flight served as convenient, though slightly dangerous protection.

For us, the flight served as a source of gold and danger for a while, but not for too long. They seemed far to organized, so we did not want to risk meeting the brood mother (or –father, we do not discriminate).

The area near the road in D-1 had frequent goblin ambushes. Goblins are weak, but they attacked in scores here, so it was a bit annoying to fight them. There were also a few goblin villages where the game gives the choice to raid or ignore them. For now, we ignored, but they probably reset anyway.

North of the road, you mostly fight Cloud Dragons and Earth Wyrms. Both can be defeated, but with some bad luck, both encounters can be extremely dangerous. The biggest danger, though, is the fact that one of the encounters, which seems to be random, is against an extremely dangerous opponent whose name I forgot. What I do know is that can do several hundred points of damage to everyone in the party, so there’s no chance in hell I can defeat it right now.

At the far end of the dragon infested area, there’s a cave called the Dragon Dominion. Suffice to say, I got in and immediately went out.

At the far east of the road, in a small canyon, there’s a fixed encounter against a large group of orcs and their leader. As with goblins, orcs are weak. Their leader can pack quite a punch, though, so it’s important to kill him first. The encounter provides decent experience for the effort, but not much else. It might be quest-related or something.

Vulcania

Further east, we realized how close we to Vulcania when we gave up a few weeks ago. “Just around the corner” would be a very appropriate phrase here. Unfortunately, the name of the city is Vulcania for a reason. It was built near a volcano, and the volcano is active.

Getting murdered by falling debris did not interest us so we returned to Middlegate, as we always do.

Vulcania is at the very edge of E1. A few steps past the city, you get a chance of randomly being hit by eruption debris and outright killed, so there was no point in trying to explore the place for now. There’s also an alternative route into E1 in the northern part of D1, but the same thing happens a few steps in.

The Southern Marshes

We’ve been to Sandsobar, but we are still not familiar with the lands between it and Middlegate. We knew there was the castle Hillstone along the way, but that’s all we knew.

Instead of visiting Hillstone and getting another, undoubtedly pointless task from the local madm… err, lord, we decided to explore the nearby marshes. Certainly, there would be poison and disease, but there’s bound to be treasure as well.

First, we took a walk along the edge of the marshlands, simply to get an idea of how large they actually are. The walk took us several days, so it’s safe to say the marshlands are large.

Several days later, after some preparation with items and spells, we stepped into the muck, starting from the eastern side.

Mostly, it was empty and flat. Packs of aggressive swamp dogs roamed freely, but they posed no threat to our experienced group.

Several large rocks decorated the landscape, with bright lights floating around them. It was a thing of beauty from a distance. From up close, it was pain and death for the careless – lightning bugs.

There was a cave in the middle of the marshes, with signs discouraging random adventurers from entering. For now, we decided to take heed, but soon, we would be back and ready to loot and pillage, or more likely, carefully map and explore.

As I said, the two swamp areas (D4, C4) were mostly empty. A few cliffs have fixed encounters against lightning bugs and you get attacked by swamp things, acidic blobs or random low level swamp-themed enemies. Other than that and the cave, belonging to a person named Dawn, if I remember correctly, there was nothing else.

The Circus

Keeping up with our tradition, we went back to Middlegate and decided to return to the western regions, to fight orcs, corrupt merchants and gryphons, but with no intention to try and explore the snow wastes.

As it turns out, the Circus was in operation. The last time we were in the area, the season just ended, so all we found was empty ground.

It was entertainment for the common people. Our party would easily be able to handle the various tests and games, so we opted out, for the sake of giving the common folk a chance. Lancelot took part in the strength challenge once, just to get a single cupie doll as a souvenir and we moved on.

Instead, we went and took care of the orc army camped nearby. Within hours, several hundred orcs were no more.

We also took the secluded path behind the Circus grounds, where we knew wild Gryphons roamed. There were more than we expected, and the path was far longer than we thought, but after a while, we found a clearing, where the Archer was waiting.

The Archer?

In Atlantium, several inscriptions told legends of famous adventurers, each mastering their own craft. We already met the Jouster and the Guardian, who we’ve failed to mention in this journal. This one was the Archer and we wanted to talk to our own archer, Robin, in private. Our issue with that was that our own archer was not able to get here on his own yet, so we told the legendary adventurer we would be back later.

I already mentioned Atlantium in one of these side notes. I found the Jouster, which is supposed to be the knight, in B3. The Guardian, I’m guessing the paladin, is in C3 and apparently, the Archer is in B2. I have no idea what I need to do with these guys, but the Archer seems to require me visiting him with only Robin in my party, which I can’t do, since I would have to fight a bunch of gryphons on the way to him.

The circus provides a bunch of challenges you can take part in, but all you get for winning are cupie dolls, so there’s no point. I remember a random NPC asking for one of those, though, so I took one with me, just in case.

The Cold Northwest

After hundreds of orcs, corrupt merchants and gryphons slain, the cold northwest suddenly seemed very alluring.

This was where Tundara was geographically placed. An information such as this is something your average city-dweller does not possess, since portal travel is the standard in Cron and moving about the world on foot, by carriage or on horseback seems far too dangerous.

The snow did not hide much, but it wasn’t all for nothing. On the southern edge of the plains, just slightly north of Pinesworth Castle, an abomination of a spider had its lair. It was the size of a comfortable mansion and it seemed hungry.

Then it spoke!

What has Mark lost?

It gave us a riddle. We are to guess what Mark lost, or it would devour us. How this is a riddle, we had no idea, but we met Mark already. His camp was south of Woodhaven and every traveler knew he lost his keys. This was our answer and our reward. The Death Spider, was it called itself, gave us Mark’s keys. How the creature had them in the first place, no one is likely to ever know.

We brought them to Mark and returned to the snow plains. The area around Tundara was highly unstable and after a few days of exploration, an avalanche pushed us past the mountain barrier, into the icy area beyond.

We’ve been to a similar place before, to the south. Down there, a whirlpool pushed us to the very edge of the elemental plane of water. This, on the other hand, was obviously the elemental plain of air. Taught by our experience, we set up camp and spent some time in the area.

A few days of meditation was enough for Alana and Priscilla to create a new spell – Air Encasement. With that, we took flight and returned to Middlegate before some powerful creature would destroy us, together with the camp.

The ice plains cover almost four entire map regions, but the A1 and A2, which I explored this time, had almost nothing in them. There was the Death Spider in A2 and there was Tundara itself in A1, but other than that, there wasn’t anything of importance.

Of course, half of A1 was part of the Air Elemental Plane, though I don’t really understand how that works. On one hand, there’s a portal leading to the Plane in the area, which would imply that this wasn’t the Plane yet, but on the other hand, the message about learning the Air Encasement spell was written like this was the Plane already.

Giving Mark his keys gave us 10.000 experience points, which isn’t a huge reward, but it’s repeatable, so it could be a good source of early levels. For me, flying back and forth 20 times for a single level doesn’t sound like fun.

The air elemental area, of course, has encounters with air elementals. They hit the entire party for over 100 damage per character, so they’re beyond me for now.

Side Note: The World Map

The World Map in Might and Magic Book Two wraps, which I don’t think is something that happened in Secret of the Inner Sanctum. In the first game, the area map wrapped if you used Teleport or Etherealize, but that’s it.

It wraps in a weird way to, like it wasn’t supposed to. Snow suddenly cuts off in A2 and the desert from E2 starts in a straight line. The elemental plains are even weirder, since there’s one in each corner of the map. Basically, you move from ice to fire in a single step.

It also wraps in the north and south, so it isn’t simulating a sphere either.

I’m thinking it might be some sort of side-effect of the game engine and not something intentional. For the sake of being able to write a story, I didn’t use this to enter the fire and earth plains yet.

Side Note: Party Progress

As usual, here are my characters, and here’s where they’re at…

Lorelei, level 11 Dwarf Knight

• Iron Helm +1
• Quiet Sling +2
• Dark Trident
• Hero Medal +2
• Mgt Gauntlet +1
• Plate Mail +4

The Might Gauntlets provide 7 strength when worn and another 11 or so when used. The using part isn’t important, but the constant extra 7 to strength provided a nice boost to Lorelei’s damage.

Priscilla, level 10 Human Paladin

• Iron Helm +1
• Hero Medal
• Shaman Pipe + 7
• Magic Charm +1
• Plate Armor +2
• Ice Sickle +3

Priscilla recently reached spell level 2, so she’s more useful in that department as well, being able to take over protective spells from now on. The Ice Sickle +3 dropped randomly, which pretty much proves that the Ice Sickle +2 I got in the snow area wasn’t some special artifact.

Rax, level 11 Half-Orc Robber

• Crossbow +2
• Thief’s Pick +2
• Blazing Axe +4
• Silent Horn +3
• Great Shield +2
• S Chain Mail +4

The chain mail and the shield were Rax’s upgrades this time. Her thievery is at 72%, but we still get hit by traps very often. An important change in Might and Magic Book Two is that traps are now able to hit twice, it seems. This means that traps can kill you if you’re low on health in Gates to Another World. In Might and Magic Book One, traps would only hit once, meaning that as long as you have at least 1 health left, no trap can ever kill you, only knock you unconscious.

Alana, level 11 Gnome Cleric

• Hero Medal
• Quick Flail +2
• Large Shield +3
• Helm +4
• B Splintmail +4

Alana got the helm, the shield and the splint mail this time, so things went well for her. Her spell level also went up to 6, so she can cast strong spells. The only spells I know right now are Rejuvenate, Water Encasement and Stone to Flesh. I hope to learn more soon, but I guess I should start exploring dungeons for that.

Robin, level 10 Elf Archer

• War Hammer +2
• Hero Medal +2
• Ray Gun +1
• Chain Mail +4
• Great Bow +5

The Great Bow is the obvious upgrade this time. Compared to a regular old Long Bow +1 (I think that’s what I had), this was amazing. Robin also reached spell level 2, so she took over Eagle Eye and Protection from Magic, allowing Aleen to conserve her spell points.

Aleen, level 10 Elf Sorcerer

• Dagger +4
• Magic Charm +3
• Silent Horn +1
• Padded Armor +2

I don’t think Aleen got any upgrades this time, except maybe Padded Armor +2. She used to wear a normal padded armor, but I can’t remember when she replaced it. There’s no level 11 for Aleen yet either, which means there are no level 6 spells.

 

 

We gained access to a cave that used to be guarded by crazed druids. Barging into random caves is no way for an intelligent adventurer to act. We needed a plan and for that, we needed to know the lay of the land.Continue reading

Spending a few days in Tundara was enough for us to realize we were just wasting our time. Fighting any battle in the magically protected outer walls of the city was more or less impossible. We decided to move on, by taking the portal to Vulcania.Continue reading

I lied last time. I actually did leave Middlegate for a few moments, just to check how to Location spell works in the overworld. In those few moments outside, something strange happened.Continue reading

Might and Magic Book One is light on the story, but from what I can tell, Book Two aims to remedy this, at least to a degree. Even the manual starts with a story about Corak.Continue reading