Realms of Darkness/Scenario III

The guard says: "I have recently heard that there is trouble beyond the river".

Sitting on a rock near the river bank is an old man fishing. The old man says: "If you value your lives, do not go beyond the river because Gorth rules the land with an iron hand".

Map of Gorth's territory. The dungeon and a weapons dealer are in the west portion.

Before entering the next dungeon, purchase long swords from the weapons dealer. Note that only five classes can use this weapon.

Gorth's dungeon

• Maps legend:
  • Red arrows: stairs
  • Blue tiles: encounter (use text parser)
  • Red tiles: fixed fight
  • Grey tiles: unaccessible solid walls
  • Orange lines: regular doors
  • Red lines: locked doors
  • Grey lines: hidden passages, one-way passages
  • Triangles: teleporters; upwards is the departure, downwards the destination
  • Grey-and-red arrows: pit traps
  • Two-way arrows: "spin doors" that turn the party back

Floor 1

Map of the first floor.

Map of the pits of the first floor.

There are four pit traps in the middle of the stage. Three of them can be easily accessed, but the north-west one requires a longer detour or to pass through one of the others. Therefore, that one should obviously have some special relevance. In fact, the stairs downwards are hidden there.

Gorth is invincible: run from it!

With reference to the map:

• The south-east pit leads to a completely optional area.
• The south-west pit leads to an area where a plot item can be found.
• The north-east pit leads to a larger area. Talk with the elf for a clue. Pull the rope for a blessing. Remember the locked door for later.
• The north-west pit leads to the largest area. The stairs to the next floor are hidden; the clue on the sign is cryptic. Consider the other clue heard on the main part of the floor, and the initials of this one.

Floor 2

Map of the second floor.

Nothing relevant here. Just be warned that a "teleport door" simply turns the party backwards.

Floor 3, main

Map of the third floor.

Map of the garden on the third floor.

The first room on this floor has four doors. One of them, close to the stairs, leads shortly to a dead end.

Another door opens up to an underground garden, where you can obviously guess the use of an item found on the first floor. You will obtain the key, and it can also open one locked door on the north-east pit of the first floor.

The third door is the one in the alcove. In that larger area you can find a cursed jewel and a laboratory with a plot item. You can also find the stairs down to the small fourth floor.

Floor 4

Map of the fourth floor.

If you found the key on the previous floor, you can enter the storage room and get one item.

Floor 3, north-east

This portion of the floor is blocked off by a demon. An item found on this same floor has the solution to pass by it, but you also need the item from the deeper floor.

After pressing a button, the door to a teleporting maze will become visible. A skeleton in there reveals the solution to navigate this area. The last few rooms converge towards the control center of Gorth. The final solution should be obvious, once you read the text.

• Trivia: The reference to the Personal Computer Junior may be wanted. Realms of Darkness was released in 1987 for Apple II and Commodore 64. Three years before, the aforementioned IBM computer was presented as a new competitor to the latter two, but it was a commercial failure, and it was discontinued after just about one year.

Epilogue

The guard in Grail will thank you, and introduce to the next quest.