From TES issue 13 (January 2002)

Series 5/6/7. Level 1/2/3.
THE DESCENDER.
  This was a lift-like device designed to help dungeoneers change levels. The great metal contraption would rattle down a lift shaft, passing various doors and windows on its way. Although it had a few appearances in series 6 and 7, the Descender only presented a challenge in series 5, when it was voice-activated. The dungeoneer would have to shout "DOWN" to start the device, and then call "STOP" or "HALT" to stop it in the right place. Usually this involved counting levels (doors and windows) as directed by a character or scroll. Sometimes the challenge was slightly different. Winning dungeoneer Ben I, for example, was told by Gwendoline that it was winter in level three. The advisors had to look at the scenery through the windows and tell Ben to stop the Descender when they saw a wintry landscape [a.k.a. Winteria].
 
Earlier in the series, Sarah had been told by the Gatemaster that level three was five levels down, six levels up and two levels back down from her current position. As the Descender does not go up, however, the team had to work out that this was the equivalent of simply one level down. Once the challenge was complete, the team could choose their door - often avoiding the one with a frightknight logo above it - and proceed onto the next level. Failing to stop the device in the right place would result in a very swift and unpleasant end to the quest, as Duncan found out when he failed to pluck up the courage to shout out when he was told to. He emerged from the Descender into the Corridor of Blades, where he was immediately sliced in two. (Treguard: "You missed your station, and now Duncan is missing parts of his body.") The Descender stopped and started itself in series 6 and 7, and was used mainly for travel between levels two and three.
  Difficulty: 5 Counting windows shouldn't be too difficult.
Killer Instinct: 4 One victim in one series.
Gore Factor: 10 As it was the Corridor of Blades on the other side.
Fairness: 7 A small challenge between levels.

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The descender is the inspiration for the screen name of Knightmare Discussion Forum poster dark Descender (who originally registered with username Dark Descendor). Real name Marc, he joined the forum in June of 2004, and has since made over 497 posts. Over 90 of these are trademark 'knewbie welcomes', consisting of a familiar pattern with witty variations that often hint at personal details, pop culture references or a sense of the surreal. Here are some examples:

'yes, hello and welcome. I am dark Descender, romanticist, femenist and walking back to happiness, whoop-ah, oh yeah. Enjoy yourself.'

'Yes, hello and welcome. I am dark Descender, romanticist, femenist, and a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain. Enjoy yourself.'

'Yes, hello and welcome. I am dark Descender, romanticist, femenist, and I can count all the way up to five in Japanese. Enjoy yourself.'

'Yes, hello and welcome. I am dark Descender, romanticist, feminist, and I'd make a lovely rug. Enjoy yourself.'

'Yes. hello and welcome. I am Dark Descender, romanticist, feminist, crackpot extraordinair. Enjoy yourself.'

'Yes, hello and welcome. I am dark Descender, romanticist, feminist, alchemist. Enjoy yourself.'

'Yes, hello and welcome. I am Dark Descender, Romanticist, Feminist and recently assimmilated by the Borg. Enjoy yourself.'

'Yes, hello and welcome. I am Dark Descender, Romanticist, Feminist and I'm the firestarter, twisted firestarter. Enjoy yourself.'

'Yes, hello and welcome. I am Dark Descender, Romanticist, Feminist and a secret lemonade drinker. Enjoy yourself.'

'Yes, hello and welcome. I am Dark Descender, Romanticist, Feminist and Skarkill and I are very much in love. Obviously not with each other, but still very much in love. Enjoy yourself.'

'Yes, hello and welcome. I am dark Descender, romanticist, femenist....










.....No. I got nothing. Enjoy yourself.'

dark Descender's posts also include filks and entertaining episode summaries. He joined the Castle Anthrax roleplay forum, but has not posted there.

In 2004, he published the first chapter of a Knightmare fanfic, The Other Side Of The Greater Game, in which Treguard is a drunkard, Rasputin is a dungeoneer, Lord Fear and Barry are romantically involved, Hordriss is under a cast locked NOSTALGIA spell, a number of Discussion Forum members appear, and Pat Sharp takes over Marblehead. In 2012, he reported that he had deleted the fanfic, of which he was 'very ashamed'.

In terms of features of Knightmare, dark Descender is known to be fond of the device after which he is named (having remarked 'love that descender' at least three times in forum posts), Skarkill (at one point posting that he planned to have his hair cut to match the character's), the Gatemaster's voice and Pickle, but not of KM's seventh series ('I just really don't like series 7. It's probably because all my fave characters ... were removed and replaced with utter crap. (Lissard, Raptor, Majida)').

[Earlier version: 2008-10-30 18:05:05]

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