From TES issue 45 (May 2007)
Series 3.
Quest: The Chalice.
Dungeoneer: Scott Evans.Advisors: Nathan, Jeremy and Ian.

Home town: Ash Vale, Hampshire.
Team score: 4 out of 10.

This was a very amusing quest that was full of blunders, misunderstandings and missed information. Hardly high-quality dungeoneering, this, but great fun to watch!

Level One: After rolling the die and exiting under the symbol of the Chalice, Scott makes a very early visit to the [Vale of Vanburn]. The advisors take ages to direct him down the path, but they eventually reach the [far end], where Scott picks up an item of food from beneath a spectral sword. The clue room follows, where Golgarach is on guard. With only one riddle out of three answered correctly, the team earn no information from the wall monster. However, they have no difficulty in choosing a horn and a key from the clue table, leaving behind a dagger.

In the next chamber, Mrs. Grimwold attempts to persuade Scott to trade the horn for a map of level one, but the team wisely decide to decline the witch's offer. Panic abounds at the Lion's Head and the Lasers, but Scott makes it safely to the Dungeon Kitchen, where the Armoured Behemoth is on guard. After some serious prompting from Treguard, Scott blows the horn and summons Velda. The elf warrior dispatches the guard and takes the horn, then has a go at Treguard about being called yet again by a dungeoneer, before flouncing off.
Scott next visits the Corridor of the Catacombs, where the knight is on guard yet again! However, a speedy exit through the right-hand door leads to the wellway room. Unusually, there is no well this time, but a trapdoor instead! There is a spectral golden keyhole flashing over the trapdoor, which Scott unlocks with the key. The trapdoor opens and Scott falls into level two.
Level Two: As usual, the first task is to leap off the Spindizzy. Unfortunately, Scott manages to miss the door with the Chalice over it, so the team is presented with an extra challenge in level two. The screen is bricked off (in the same fashion as THE MAID from Ross's quest and SHIELD from Chris's in the same series) with pictures of the team and Treguard printed on the bricks. Treguard explains that the challenge is to choose two windows to look through in order to guide Scott out safely.
Unfortunately, the advisors don't seem to realise that they are supposed to choose the windows based on which ones will help them get the best view. They just tell Scott to choose two at random, despite Treguard's useful hint: "Which will help you the best?" - Treguard.

Scott chooses Treguard, which really doesn't help that much. Fortunately enough, Jeremy then gets the idea and tells Scott to pick Ian, which allows the advisors just enough of a view to guide Scott to the right-hand corner of the room and out through a door. In the level two clue room, Scott listens to the Oracle. Amongst its ramblings, the team hear that the second step is the cradle.
The third step - ghastly goblins - is picked up in the next room, where the crow is talking to itself (in one of Tom Karol's voices, I think) on its perch. A quick trip across the Bridged Vale follows, where a skull ghost touches Scott and severely damages his life force. Merlin's chamber follows but, as Treguard points out, they have missed the first step, which they should have got from either Golgarach or Velda. (There has been some debate about this little detail in the past - personally, I think Golgarach would have given it to them if they'd had just one more correct riddle answer.)
In one of the most famous death scenes in Knightmare's history, Scott calls up the second and third steps and then attempts to jump the gap where the first step should be. Unfortunately, he stands far too far back from the pit, and doesn't quite jump in a straight line. At first, it appears that Scott has made it, but when he begins to stand up, he stumbles off the edge and falls into Merlin's pit, bringing a sudden end to a bumbled quest. (By the way, after due thought and consideration, my sister and I have concluded that Scott would have done better to step over the gap rather than try to jump it, a la Julie, Barry and Nathan on Play Your Cards Right.)

Summary: A team of doubtful skill and/or intelligence, but their quest was fun to watch, and they got a lot further than they really should have - this was the only team in series 1-3 to reach the end of level one with no clues at all from their wall monster.

[Previous team: Team 8 of Series 3
Next team: Team 10 of Series 3]

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