From TES issue 32 (March 2005)
Series 5
Quest: The Crown.
Dungeoneer: Sarah.Advisors: Keighley, Helen and William.

Home town: Northampton.
Team score: 7 out of 10.

Level One: The quest begins with a boat ride courtesy of the cowled [boatman]. In the Wolfglade, Sarah finds a clue table near the charcoal-burner's hut. The team choose a bag of silver and a bottle of poison, rejecting a green arrow and a knife.
A meeting with Julius Scaramonger follows. He has been poaching some venison, and is acting very suspiciously, dragging around a brown sack. The outcome of the encounter is that Scaramonger gives Sarah the password for level one - frightknight.

Sarah is then accosted by Gwendoline, who accuses her of killing the deer that Scaramonger has in his sack. Sarah protests her innocence and is able to describe Julius Scaramonger as the real poacher, but Gwendoline is unconvinced because Sarah is carrying poison instead of the green arrow, which is the token of the green wardens. Gwendoline accompanies Sarah into Wolfenden, where the team are able to point out Julius Scaramonger to the greenwarden. Gwendoline trusts Sarah now, and tells her that the password for level one is greenwood.

In some castle ruins, Sarah looks through a spyglass. From Lord Fear's musings, the team learn the causeway route - the path of defence. The blocker's chamber follows, and the team have to decide whether Julius Scaramonger or Gwendoline has told them the correct password. The choice is easy enough, and with greenwood proffered as the password, the blocker shoots off.

The causeway follows, and is completed with no problem. Sarah then arrives on Smirkenorff's back. Elita turns up and explains that Smirky is one of the new ways to level two, as long as Sarah can pay for her ride. Elita eventually accepts the bag of silver - with bad grace, of course - and then Sarah becomes the first dungeoneer to change from level one to level two by flying on Smirkenorff.
Level Two: In the clue room, Sarah picks up a bar of gold and a white statue of a knight. This transpires to be a chess piece, which is part of the set that Brother Mace has set out in the next room. Once Sarah has returned his knight to him, the monk charges her with finding the key to Merlin's magic box, which is apparently in the care of Sylvester Hands.
In the greenwood, Sarah meets Sir Hugh. She manages to persuade the spellbound knight not to rescue her as he would like, but to escort her on her way. Sir Hugh leads Sarah to a farmyard, where there is a spyglass on a barrel. Through the spyglass, the team see Lord Fear attempting to contact Hands in his crystal ball, telling him in no uncertain terms that he wants the key that Hands has purloined. A goblin horn is then heard, so Sir Hugh stays behind to fight the goblins, while Sarah enters the farmhouse. Sylvester Hands is having a meal inside, and Sarah manages to buy the key from him in exchange for the bar of gold.

A quick trip across the Earth, Fire and Water causeway follows, then Sarah finds Merlin's magic box. It is guarded by a skull ghost that damages Sarah's life force, but this soon disappears. Inside the chest there is a scroll, which gives the team the spell PIXEL.
In the next chamber, Skarkill and his goblins turn up to threaten Sarah. The team cast PIXEL, and the little pixie appears. She soon gets rid of Skarkill and his underlings by biting them, allowing Sarah to progress to the Gate Tower. The Gatemaster is on guard, and he sets the team a challenge as he introduces them to the Descender: "Level three lies five levels down, six levels up, and then two levels back down again." - Gatemaster. Sarah and friends are quick to spot that this is really just one level down, so they reach level three with no problem.
Level Three: Treguard summarises the team's achievement upon reaching level three: "All that has gone before has prepared you for this; let's just hope it's prepared you properly." - Treguard. Unfortunately, it hasn't! After equipping themselves with a red gem, a key and a spell called GHOST, the team have a second encounter with Elita. She wants the red gem, but the team spend far too long deciding whether or not to give it to her. Eventually Sarah hands it over, but Elita dashes straight off without giving any help in return. The doomed quest is then brought to an end in the next chamber, which is the deadly Corridor of Blades.
Summary: They were a very good team who were sharp and intelligent, despite a couple of silly blunders. They could also be criticised for being virtually a one-advisor team - Helen did most of the talking and decision-making. However, only one other team reached level 3 in series 5 - the winners, Ben & co. - so to all those of you who think series 3 was tough...

[Previous team: Team 2 of Series 5
Next team: Team 4 of Series 5]

login to vote