From TES issue 14 (March 2002)
Series 1.
Quest: Squiredom.
Dungeoneer: Richard Wood. (Richard I.) Advisors: Jonathan, Paul and Edward.
Home county: West Yorkshire.
Team score: 6 out of 10.
 
This was the first quest to really show any chance of winning, but it ended up failing miserably like so many others.
  Level One: In the first room, Richard has to walk on a bridge symbol on the floor to make an iron grille bridge the pit so he can reach the exits. Another walking-on-things challenge follows, where he has to unlock a door by treading on a symbol of the Holy Grail. In the clue room the team score three out of three with Granitas, and gain full information from him. They take a bar of gold and a block of soap from the table. After dashing past a slithering snake, Richard meets Lillith. Her magic causeway is broken so she has no time to talk to her uninvited guest. Things look pretty dangerous for Richard because the causeway keeps appearing and disappearing of its own accord. Lillith tells him he will just have to cross and hope for the best. As the causeway reappears, the advisors send Richard on a mad dash across it. As he reaches the serpent's mouth, he gives the gold to Lillith as his toll. Next is the challenge of the monster's stomach. Richard has to rub the soap on the ground to make the monster burp, which catapults him into the [Great Corridor of the Catacomb]. After a quick escape, Richard meets Folly in the wellway room. There is no well to be seen, but Folly gives the team a WELL spell when they answer a riddle correctly. Once this is cast the well appears, and Richard is sent tumbling down it, into level two.
  Level Two: A bit of precision guidance is used to snitch a pie from under the nose of a fearsome catacombite. Cedric's room follows, where Richard has to challenge the mad monk to pass. The expected riddling contest does not happen, however, as Folly arrives and challenges Cedric to a battle of insults. Once the jester has worn down the overconfident monk, he commands him to help Richard before scurrying off. Cedric gives the team a password: Cyclops. The Hall of Spears follows. After a bit of panicking, the advisors safely direct their dungeoneer through. In the clue room, Richard picks up a bell and Casper the talking key. There is a locked door in the next room. Casper complains how easy it is to open as he unlocks it. On the other side is Merlin's chamber. Casper directs the team as they use their voices to guide a letter M that is hovering about into Merlin's chair [SEE: listening key]. This causes the wizard to appear. He asks Richard three riddles. The team score two. Merlin rewards them with a SHIELD spell. Richard leaves Casper with Merlin before moving on. In the wellway room, he is able to give the password to a grumpy guard [Gibbet] and earn passage to level three; the first dungeoneer ever to do so.
  Level Three: As Richard stands in a cave littered with bones, Treguard warns the team that level three is very dangerous. After a skeleton stands up, the advisors quickly direct Richard out. In the clue room, they are faced with the choice of a dagger, a bottle labelled sniff and a horn. Victory is being handed to them on a silver platter but they just don't see it! They reject the horn in favour of the dagger, thus sealing their fate. They then use the sniff potion to confuse some hungry cavernwights, and cheer up the depressed gargoyle, but when they reach the Wall of Jericho they are unable to pass without the horn. Treguard explains their mistake before dismissing them. Once they are outside the castle, he tells them that they are the champions because their quest has been the longest so far. This event brings the end of the first series, so Richard and friends are to remain the Knightmare champions. Well, for a while at least.
Summary: A promising if disorganised team who stupidly passed up the chance to win by forgetting one of the most important rules of the quest: do not take weapons![Previous team: Team 5 of Series 1
Next team: Team 1 of Series 2]

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