From TES issue 32 (March 2005)

Series 2/3. Level 2.
THE BRIDGED VALE

This was a long, narrow wooden bridge between two mountains, which many series 2 and 3 dungeoneers had to cross during their journey through the second level. Although the bridge was narrow, you might think that there should have been nothing too hard about walking across it, but there were many additional challenges to menace the teams.

When Scott entered the vale in series 3, he met two skull ghosts. One of these damaged his life force, which may have hurried him to his downfall in Merlin's chamber. Other than that, there were no deaths.

The bridge would often be guarded or blocked or by characters. In series 2, Mark had to give Olaf a ruby in order to pass, and Steven had to give Gumboil a bar of gold. The bridged vale was also the setting for the famous "sorcerer's stone" scene between Folly, Gumboil and Julian. Far more dangerous than these encounters was Neil's meeting with Mogdred in the bridged vale, where a SHROUD spell left the team lost in confusion for several minutes until Treguard told them how to get out of the situation, despite the fact that he was supposed to be spell-trapped.

In series 3, Hordriss challenged Leo's right to use the bridge, but was persuaded to withdraw - after some considerable indecision - with a SWORD spell.
Sometimes there were challenges that did not involve characters. Karen found the bridge broken in the middle, and had to use a FLIGHT spell to cross the vale, while Chris and Jamie [pictured] had a writhing mass of worms beneath them as they crossed the bridge. In these cases, however, there was no real threat to the continuation of the quest, unless the teams had been particularly stupid.

There was also the hazard of being chased across the bridge by the Automatum. Jamie had this to hurry him over the worms, while Tony had to lie down on the bridge and pick up a quest piece from below before dashing quickly away from the Automatum. Very awkward for the poor chap!

Difficulty: 5 Depends on the obstacles, and a precarious walk regardless.
Killer Instinct: 4 Hurried Scott to his downfall.
Gore Factor: 6 A nasty drop.
Fairness: 9 Nothing that should have been too much to deal with.

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