From
TES issue 20 (March 2003)
Series 1/2/3.
Level 3.
CAVERNWIGHTS
These were small brown carnivorous creatures that roamed level three on the lookout for fresh meat. They were created by dressing a couple of extras in some brown sacking and having them shamble about, yet still cavernwights are among Knightmare's most infamous threats. The wights had long snouts for sniffing out their prey, which they needed to do because they were all completely blind. When a dungeoneer met a cavernwight or two - usually in a cavern - the creatures would start to drift slowly towards their next potential meal.
Treguard informed the
team that their
dungeoneer was being hunted by smell, and that any contact with the wights was deadly. It was often the case that some speedy guidance and a quick exit was all that was required to escape the wights, as they were slow and disorientated. They might pop up at any point in level three, but were mainly used to scare rather than to try and kill. There was sometimes an additional challenge involved, though. In the final episode of series 1 - during the wights' first appearance - Richard had to open a
sniff bottle and set it on the floor so that the wights would become confused by its scent mixing with his own and he could pass them safely. Treguard gave some information about the wights' origin during this encounter: "The wights were once human but now have no sight, speech or hearing." - Treguard. This tells us that cavernwights are not just blind but deaf as well, yet in series 2 and 3 Mark and
Leo were instructed to be "dead quiet" when they each encountered a pair of sleeping wights. Mark had to sneak past the wights and reach an energy tree without waking them; Leo had to do the same, with the additional task of retrieving a piece of the
Chalice as well. Surely they should have been able to make as much noise as they liked if the wights were deaf, and yet they both had to tiptoe around while their advisors whispered at them. Ah well, never mind. Cavernwights are a classic threat, and will always be well remembered.
Fear Factor: 7 They were clearly people in sacks, but still quite unnerving.
Killer Instinct: 1 They were always sniffing for
food, but never found any.
Humanity: 6 Apparently they were once human, but not anymore.
Gore Factor: 8 Poor lost souls driven blind and deaf by the never-ending
darkness, forced to sniff out their prey... it doesn't bear thinking about.