From TES issue 49 (January 2008)
Series 3
Quest: The Shield.
Dungeoneer: James Walker.Advisors: Philip, Pulok and Jamie.

Home town: Ipswich, Suffolk.
Team score: 3 out of 10.

A classically poor attempt to conquer the Dungeon this time, I’m afraid. Following hot on the heels of Leo’s exciting, epic quest, James and his Suffolk crew had a lot to live up to. How did they fare? Well…
Level One: After rolling the die and exiting through the left-hand door, James ends up beside the pool of purple water. There is a door at the far end of the causeway, so escape is not a problem, but Treguard warns the team to hurry, as something is stirring beneath the water. Sure enough, a haunted sword rises from the depths as James hastily makes his escape. In the clue room, Golgarach is on guard. With two out of three questions answered correctly, the team learns enough information to take a bar of gold and a horn from the clue table.
As James approaches the Dungeon Valley, he is chased by the Armoured Behemoth. The marauding knight follows James through the entire length of the winding, green-lit valley, and into the Vale of Vanburn. Treguard tells the team that there is no escape from their warrior foe, and instructs James to sound the alarm. James blows the horn, and Velda turns up. She shoots the knight with her crossbow, knocking him to the ground, and tells James to follow her to safety. James travels through a dwarf tunnel, to meet up with Velda in what is usually the spectral scorpion’s chamber. Velda demands that James give her the horn, as she does not like to be summoned without permission, which is a theme explored in more detail later in the series, during Scott’s quest. Once James has handed over the horn, Velda is happy to leave him to continue on his way.
The next room is the Dungeon Kitchen, where Mrs. Grimwold is sitting at the table. (By the way, this is Mrs Grimwold’s one and only appearance in the kitchen, which reportedly belongs to her in this series.) Festus is with her as usual, and he is apparently feeling a little playful: ”Festus has been known to get a bit playful with strangers. Usually he likes to play with their livers!” – Mrs Grimwold. James presents the old witch with the bar of gold, in exchange for which she agrees to let him go without sending Festus to fetch him back! Before leaving the kitchen, James just about manages to pick up an obscurely placed pie. The next challenge is the Lion's Head and the Broken Path. The first section is negotiated without issue, but when James reaches the point where the safe paths are at opposite right angles, the advisors make no attempt to guide him with sufficient skill or care. James sidesteps right off the path, and plummets into the darkness below.

Summary: This was an incredibly dull and boring team, who were never likely to produce a truly classic quest. They coasted through level one with no problems (and no excitement or enthusiasm either) until a simple guiding error brought the quest to a very sudden end. Was anyone bothered? I don’t think so!

[Previous team: Team 4 of Series 3
Next team: Team 6 of Series 3]

login to vote