From TES issue 23 (September 2003)
Series 8
Quest: The Cup that Heals.
Dungeoneer: Nathan Coppen. Advisors: Karen, Steven and Catherine.
Home town: Southampton.
Team score: 9 out of 10.

There were several very good teams in the blink-and-you-miss-it series 8, and Nathan's attempt was, in my opinion, much more deserving of a win than Dunston's. Still, let's not get started on that again...

Level One: Nathan meets Stiletta in the dwarf tunnels. After ascertaining that he is not an intruder, Stiletta tells Nathan that he needs to buy something from Honesty Bartram to escape the level, but not to trust Bartram's wily ways in bartering. In the clue room, Nathan has to avoid some fireballs that are shooting out of the wall at him as he picks up a bar of gold and a potion of invisibility. Through the spyglass, the team see Lord Fear conversing with Honesty Bartram. Fear has apparently given the tradesman two doctored potions, and he is adamant that Bartram should not sell the one called risky.
Next the team successfully negotiate Fireball Alley before meeting Honesty Bartram in person. Although he wants to sell them a potion called trapdoor, Nathan manages to persuade Bartram to part with the risky potion in exchange for the gold. The rune lock challenge follows this, but the team quickly realise that the reach wand is required and that the tiles are numbered in order from one to six. Once past this challenge Nathan reaches the trapdoor chamber, where a skeletron is on guard. Taking the invisibility potion allows Nathan to pass the skeletron and reach the trapdoor, where he swallows the risky potion. This causes the trapdoor to open up and Nathan to float safely down into level two.
Level Two: He lands at the entrance to the Sewers of Goth. Here Snapper-Jack appears and poses three of his riddles. The team manage to get two right so Snapper-Jack lets Nathan pass. In the clue room, he picks up a feather and a sight potion before looking through the spyglass. In Marblehead, Lord Fear and Lissard are admiring a Sidriss-replica that Fear has created from a skeletron. He plans to use this to get close to Hordriss the Confuser and then stab him with a dagger. Armed with this knowledge, Nathan moves on to Play Your Cards Right, where the sight potion is used to allow him to see what he is doing. Despite getting stuck when the hearts run out, the team manage to solve the puzzle and Nathan exits safely. He emerges into a large room that has an oversized black cat in it. Treguard and Majida subtly let the team know that this is Hordriss in disguise, and Nathan has to get the mage to return to his true form by telling him that he has some information about Sidriss.
Hordriss turns back and asks Nathan what he knows. Nathan explains about Lord Fear's plan and Hordriss decides to accompany him until they can find the murderous Sidriss-replica. It is waiting for them in the next chamber. The team warn Hordriss but he is reluctant to believe them. He uses a true-seeing spell and turns the skeletron back into its true form before disintegrating it. Hordriss gratefully leads Nathan to the trapdoor to level three and tells him to hold onto the feather. Hordriss opens the trapdoor with his magic and Nathan falls slowly and safely down into level three.
Level Three: Nathan lands in Linghorm and has to avoid a mireman in the tower's long majestic corridors before reaching the palace of Maldame, the mysterious sorceress. She tasks Nathan with delivering an amber globe to Lord Fear in Marblehead, which is presumably designed to harm him in some way. Unfortunately the team seal their eventual fate by failing to gain a reward for this task, and Majida is quick to point out their folly. Nathan then sneaks past another mireman onto the Golden Galleon, which is bound for Marblehead. Below decks, Nathan finds Maldame's globe as well as a bar of gold.

Through a spyglass, Lord Fear has a confusing conversation with the red dragon Bhal-Shebah and his two personalities, which results in the schizophrenic reptile being taken off guard duty. Fear then tells Lissard to recruit Snapper-Jack to guard the Cup for them. When Lissard points out that the kidsies might be able to guess his riddles, Fear suggests that Jack base them on Greek mythology. At the docks of Marblehead, Nathan meets Honesty Bartram again. In exchange for the gold, Bartram sells Nathan a talking book that will apparently answer questions on any subject. He assures the team that it will easily do Greek mythology for them.
Just before entering Marblehead, Nathan sets down Maldame's glass globe when it starts to glow. Through some more passages, Nathan arrives in a green chamber where fireballs are coming at him from both the far wall and the ceiling [SEE: Raining Fireballs]. As he is attempting to reach an item of food, Nathan tragically blunders through a hole in the floor and the quest is brought to a cruel and tragic end in its final stages. Treguard reveals that they needed a spell from Maldame to help them get through the final fireball challenge.
Summary: A likeable team and a brave attempt, but the lack of magic and a tragic error of timing at the final hurdle foiled their attempt to beat the Knightmare challenge.[Previous team: Team 2 of Series 8
Next team: Team 4 of Series 8]

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