Part 19: The Sphere Generator

We dropped our flying carpet off in Britain and used the moongates to reach Yew. Nicodemus was a different person, as we had hoped. In a matter of moments we had our enchanted hourglass.

I then used the fourth circle spell Recall on the white virtue stone Jaana held in her backpack. Remember, we cast "Mark" on this same stone just outside the Sphere Generator in Dungeon Despise. In an instant we were back outside the generator.

I walked through the external defense mechanism (the outer gate) and into the generator. Inside, the inner defense mechanism was a puzzle:

On each platform you have to pick to go through a red or blue moongate. You have to pick correctly several times in succession in order to get to the centre. This was not a challenge for me - after two decades I can still remember the solution which is "red", "blue", "blue", "red". And just like that we had the prism in our reach:

I grabbed it and the Sphere Generator exploded before us. The Time Lord appeared and delivered some grave news - he is now free, but The Guardian engineered the generator so that if it was destroyed it would permanently disable the moongates. This means that I (The Avatar) cannot travel home to Earth via moongate as I have so many times before. The only chance I have to return home is to use The Black Gate.

The Time Lord informed me that before I locate The Black Gate there is one more generator which needs to be disabled. This generator allows The Guardian to speak to the people of Britannia and hold influence over them. He suggested I search around Serpent's Hold to find it and that it will be in the shape of a cube.

Finally, the Time Lord informed me that when I destroy the Cube Generator that I am to travel to Buccaneer's Den to find the location of the Black Gate. I can also now summon the Time Lord at will by using my enchanted hourglass.

Before we left there were some areas of Dungeon Despise that I had skipped past earlier. I ventured to the east to explore them. At one point I had to cast Unlock Magic three times in a row to reach the lair of a mad mage. Inside we found reagents and magic wands.

From memory, Despise is a pretty big dungeon with secret areas that teleport you around the place. I decided not to pursue this exploration for the meantime, I have ample gear and supplies and I don't feel the reward would match the effort.

After casting Help and returning to Britain we jumped on our carpet and flew to the place nearest to Serpent's Hold that is most likely to house the Cube Generator - the Fellowship Meditation Retreat.

The Meditation Retreat was a complete bore. If you remember, the one thing Ian said I was not allowed to do is enter the cave at the back of the retreat... so that is exactly what I did.

Inside we met the warrior Gorn who I have apparently met in previous games. Gorn hears the voice of The Guardian but thinks it is his mentor Brom. He followed the voice to this cave as it gets clearer the closer he gets (to the Cube Generator). And then, mid conversation The Guardian spoke to him and told him not to trust me - and that was the end of that conversation!

I ventured deeper into the cave and a battle-scarred old female warrior name Iriale Silvermist stopped me. She told me that Ian will be most displeased that I broke the rules and did not believe me when I told her I was The Avatar. She gave me one chance to turn around and leave, The Guardian speaking to her as she spoke to me. I refused to go. She attacked, and we slew her with one swipe of our weapons.

Avatar, you are not welcome here.

... spoke The Guardian as we approached the Cube Generator. But as we got close a piercing noise smashed into the party, damaging us heavily, and making each of them scream out in pain.

Not knowing how to proceed we use the hourglass to summon the Time Lord. We told him about the noise that prevented us approaching the Cube Generator. He suggested we build special helmets which will block our ears using a special mineral named Caddellite that comes from meteorites. He told us to visit Brion at the observatory in Moonglow to find out how to obtain them. He also warned that once inside the generator The Guardian will try and influence me and I must not listen to him.

We left the cave and flew to Moonglow to see Brion. Brion told me the last known location where meteors struck was to the northeast and that there are rumors of a mythical island in that direction that his brother at the Lycaeum might know more about. He also mentioned that the blacksmith Zorn in Minoc would be the right man to fashion us helmets if we managed to obtained some Caddellite.

His brother, Nelson, was no help but directed us to Jillian. Jillian told us about the long lost continent of Ambrosia. Meteors struck the continent and laid waste to the primary city. She guessed the ruins of the city would lie under the rubble.

With that brief information, we decided to fly to the northeast in search of the mythical island of Ambrosia!

Next time we will find some Caddellite, get some stylish helmets made, and uncover the secrets of the Cube Generator.