While the crew was in the Tavern, disaster struck.

Literally.

A hurricane blew through Llylgamyn, laying waste to the entire city. When it subsided…

Nyperold: “Guys? Guys? …where is everyone?”

Nyperold scanned the city, but found no one. His companions, the citizens of the city, they weren’t there. There were no bodies, they were simply….gone.

Nyperold: “Guess I’m….alone.”

(LIVEBLOG NOTE: I turned on the game and, whether it was due to an old battery, or just a fidgety NES, Nyperold was the only character not simply erased from existence. This after some strange visuals, which makes me think it was the NES and not the battery.

So, I leave my next move to you, the viewers. Make new clones of the characters who aren’t Nyperold? Create an entirely new party? Or just give up (I really don’t wanna do that one)? Make your selection…now!)

Mega-Cool Bonus Commentary!
To quote Joe Elliott, “This was not on the agenda.”

More specifically, if I remember what happened correctly, the first time I powered the game on, there were 3 characters still there, but two of them had wacky stats and levels and stuff, with gibberish where you’d expect numbers to be. Powering off and back on a couple times yielded Nyperold as the only survivor.

From a gameplay perspective, this really sucked–there was a not-inconsequential amount of time I had spent building up this party that was simply lost when most of the characters up and disappeared. Nonetheless, from a storytelling perspective, as we’ll see later on, this probably helped me out quite a bit–this was an unexpected development that I would have to write around, and quite honestly, probably made the narrative better than it would have been otherwise, especially regarding the Nyperold-centric parts.

Woo-hoo, a fan! :D

Part 6: In Which Nothing Much Happens

The group returned to the first floor, and kicked the crud out of Murphy’s Ghost, repeatedly, for what seemed like forever. The main effect of this was to increase Emptyeye’s level. Rocky and mahel042 also leveled up.

After the three warriors purchased Gloves of Copper, the party conferred at the Tavern once again.

Emptyeye: “Hey guys, have you noticed that I seem to be advancing slower than the rest of you?”

Nyperold: “Sort of, but really, besides you, Xanatos and Zudak don’t seem to be advancing as quickly as mahel and myself.”

mahel042: “Not only that, but relative to his actual strength, it seems like Rocky is advancing more quickly than any of us!”

Rocky: “What can I say? It must be the additional training I do in the snowy mountains during group downtime.”

Emptyeye: “…right. But I think I may have a short-term solution to the problem, in as much as it is a problem. Hey, Willy, come here for a second.”

Willy: “Yes? Got more stuff you need me to identify?”

Emptyeye: “Actually, no. But I think you’ll like this anyway. We’re taking you into the dungeon with us. We’re gonna go to our favorite strength-building spot.”

Rocky: “Mount Midoriyama?”

Emptyeye: “No, the southeast corner of…wait, what?!”

Rocky: “You thought I was joking about that mountain thing?”

Emptyeye: “I…but…I…gah! Anyway, Willy, you’re coming with myself, Xanatos, and Zudak down to the first floor of the dungeon. mahel, Nyperold and Rocky, you guys can relax for awhile.”

Willy: “Awesome, thanks!”

(LIVEBLOG NOTE: The actual reason for the discrepancy in experience is that some classes need less experience than others to go up levels—Thieves need less than anyone, followed by Fighters, Clerics, Mages, Wizards and Samurai [Who have the same requirements], and finally, Lords, then Ninjas [To say nothing of the experience required to get enough stat boosts to be able to upgrade to Lord/Ninja in the first place]. But that’s no fun to narrate. Also, I found out that the fighting classes [Fighter, Samurai, Lord, Ninja] get additional combat hits every 4 levels. I had some idea of this, but wasn’t sure of the exact mechanics.

..and yes, I know “Mount Midoriyama” is not a real mountain, nor is it located in Llylgamyn.)

The newly short-handed crew trekked down to Murphy’s Ghost’s resting place…

Zudak: “Hey Willy, look around that statue, you’ll like what you find.”

Willy: “Okay, let’s see what’s arrrrrAAAAAH!”

Murphy’s Ghost: “ROOOOOAR!!”

Zudak: “Ahahaha, that was priceless!”

Willy: “…”

Emptyeye: “Okay, yeah, that was amusing, now can we kill him…err, re-kill him and increase our power?”

Xanatos: “Good idea.”

And the group did so, roughly 20 times. This was good enough to further increase the spellcasting abilities of Xanatos (Who could throw blades at an enemy, oddly enough) and Zudak (Who could attempt to suffocate enemies, and instantly destroy any group of undead foes), as well as grant Willy Cleric spells, plus some more Mage spells. He also made enough money to purchase a suit of Padded Leather.

Willy: “Despite your apparent love of practical jokes, I have to admit I’m liking this increased power.”

Emptyeye: “I knew you would.”

Next Time: More Fourth Floor!

Awesome Bonus Commentary!

Typo Alert! I misspelled “trekked” as “treked” initially.

Xanatos is pretty silent here, as this is more of a half-chapter, to be frank. Something I don’t mention here at all is that Willy’s Identification ability improves as his level does, hence why I took him down here in the first place. In-story, Zudak was quite happy to spring the Murphy’s Ghost surprise on someone else. Out-of-story, one of the more annoying things that can happen is that Murphy’s Ghost can surprise you and get a free round in battle. It doesn’t really make the battle any harder–my party is long past the point where the Ghost is a threat–but really, I’ve searched that square hundreds of times by now…there is no way I should be surprised that he’s there.

-EE

Part 5: Third Floor’s The Charm?

mahel042: “So what awaits us on the third floor?”

Emptyeye: “Actually, um…not a whole heck of a lot if this is anything to go by. There’s that elevator again, but other than that..looks like whoever made this map didn’t even finish this floor.”

(LIVEBLOG NOTE: In Wizardry I, the only floors you actually have to visit are 1, 4, 9 and 10. The main reason for exploring the others is to get sweet loot, specifically weapons. The further down you go, the tougher the enemies; the tougher the enemies, the greater the potential prizes.)

Rocky: “Awesome! We can be potential celebrities for finishing this map!”

Nyperold: “And killing stuff! Don’t forget that!”

Emptyeye: “Nyperold…I have to admire your focus on your goal, if nothing else.”

The group made their way to the third floor, and were set upon by Were Bears. Nyperold was the first to feel their wrath.

Were Bear: “ROAAAAAARGH!” *Swipe*

Nyperold: “Gack!….hnnng….at…”

Xanatos: “My God man, he’s poisoned and paralyzed!”

The battle was eventually won, but not without Emptyeye being poisoned as well.

Xanatos: “Dialko! Latumofis! Latumofis!”

Nyperold: “Whew, thanks. That was…not all that much fun.”

Xanatos: “Tell me about it. I have my answer to ‘What can I do on the front lines?’ And the answer is ‘not much’.”

(LIVEBLOG NOTE: The three warriors of the group consistently hit an enemy two to three times per round. Xanatos gets only one hit per round, at least for now.)

The group continued exploring the floor…

All: “Ahhhhhh! Uhh!”

Emptyeye: “That pit hurt.”

Rocky: “At least it wasn’t filled with Deadly-poison-tipped spikes.”

Emptyeye: “True enough.”

More exploration commenced, and the group retreated from battle for the very first time.

mahel042: “That is an absolutely huge group of Were Bears. And Vorpal Bunnies? I want no part of this.”

Nyperold: “But…”

Everyone Else: “NO!”

Exploring and filling out the last parts of the map, the group came upon a nasty surprise…

Ninjas: “Surprise! Hiya! Huah!”

All: “Ahhh! Ouch! Gah!”

In the end, the group all survived, though not without two of its members being poisoned again. They made sure to not give the Ninjas another chance to kill them.

Back in town, Zudak made another shopping trip…

Zudak: “Guys, check out my new staff! It’s STUDLY!” *Flex! Pose!*

The rest of the group hemmed and hawed at the purchase.

Emptyeye: “Look, I’m happy that you like your purchase and all…”

mahel042: “…yeah, we don’t wanna dampen your enthusiasm or anything…”

Zudak: “…but…?”

Emptyeye: “…well, it’s just that…you do realize you’re not really suited for frontline combat, right? That if you’re ever actually in a position to use that staff…well, we’re probably screwed?”

Zudak: “But….but it’s STUDLY!” *Pose!* *Flex!*

Nyperold: *Amused sigh*

The group then made a quick excursion down to the fourth floor. Quick as in “one battle”, since half the party, including Xanatos, ended up paralyzed at the hands of fourth floor foes. This necessitated a trip back to town and the Temple of Cant.

(LIVEBLOG NOTE: The Temple of Cant is one area of Town I haven’t talked about yet. It’s where you can do to get various status effects cured for a fee that’s dependent on your character level. These include Poison, Paralysis, and Death. Maybe. Hopefully I’ll never have to speak of that last one again though.)

After Xanatos was cured…

Xanatos: “Dialko! Dialko!”

Emptyeye: “Well, that was…interesting. I suppose we should just be grateful we’re all alive. Maybe more training is in order?”

Finally, Willy managed to get some decent coinage from castoffs at least.

Willy: “That, my friends, is a fine suit of Body Armor!”

Emptyeye: “Cool..but do we actually need it? I’ve already got something better.”

Nyperold: “I’ve got Plate Mail, which is comparable.”

mahel042: “As do I.”

Xanatos: “I already have some Body Armor.”

Rocky: “And I can’t wear it.”

Zudak: “Me neither.”

Emptyeye: “Looks like it’s yours, my bespectacled friend.”

Willy: “Well…I can’t use it either…guess I can sell it off.”

And everyone went their separate ways to rest.

Next Time: Who knows?

Bodacious Bonus Commentary!

• I have no idea what I even meant with this sentence: “Finally, Willy managed to get some decent coinage from castoffs at least.” My first thought is that I typoed the last word and meant “At last”, and the more I think about it, the more I think that’s what I wanted to say. At first, I didn’t think it was that, because “at least” would have been made redundant by “finally”, but I then realized that I meant “Finally” as in “lastly”, rather than “at last”.
• Whether I consciously intended it or not, mahel042 is emerging as the level-headed one of the group–here, he prudently decided that a Were Bear/Vorpal Bunny combo is not worth fighting.
• From a gameplay standpoint, I was really lucky that being surprised by Ninjas only resulted in two people getting poisoned, rather than killed outright.
• On the third floor–which, again, there is little reason to visit except to try and earn items–there are signs at the intersections saying “Turn right”, “Turn left” or “Turn around.” These all, ultimately, lead into a pit, which drops the HP of your group. There’s also a little Burma Shaveesque set of signs that lead into a pit. The Nethack link in the part right after the group falls into a pit is a reference to a particularly nasty part of Nethack. Nethack is a Roguelike, and the primary characteristics of Roguelike are that you only get one life through the game, and pretty much everything is randomly generated. Thus, at any new step you unlock (Including your first), if you’re unprepared, you can potentially come across “You fell into a pit! The pit was spiked! The spikes were poisoned! The poison was deadly…” and you die. Wizardry is, at least, marginally more merciful than that.

Part 4: Second Floor, Same as the First?

The group returned to the dungeon and made their way to the stairs to the second floor.

Zudak: “So what can we expect to find on this floor, Fearless Leader?”

Emptyeye: “Well, let’s see…the way we came down here, it looks like there are a couple statues, plus a third key. Huh, that’s interesting..we could also have arrived here by elevator. Doesn’t look like there’s much of interest on this floor going the elevator route though.”

mahel042: “So where to first?”

Emptyeye: “Let’s try for those statues. Then we can head for the key, and if we’re still feeling good, maybe explore the rest of the floor to make sure the mapmakers didn’t miss anything.”

So the party made their way to the first of the statue rooms. Along the way, they passed something on the floor, but they didn’t know exactly what it was.

Emptyeye: “This must be what we needed one of the keys for. Damned if I know which one, though.”

(LIVEBLOG NOTE: On “important” dungeon squares, you’ll see a square outlined on the floor, be it flavor text or some kind of barrier. If you already have the item needed to pass, you’ll see the square, but nothing else—and if you get the item before you ever encounter the barrier, you’ll forever be left wondering exactly which item lets you through)

Continuing on, the group came across a statue of a bear. The sign near the statue said “I’ve got a million of ’em!” Zudak took the statue, and the group was immediately beset by…friendly Zombies.

Zombie: “All we wanna do is eat your brains!”

Emptyeye: “Hmm. You know, I kinda like my brain, but maybe we can compromise here.”

Zombie: “Okay, how about this. You turn your backs to us….and we eat your brains.”

Nyperold: “Compromise rejected! Die, monster!”

Emptyeye: “Okay, I must admit Nyperold, you had the right idea this time.”

As it turned out, the battle was difficult—joining the Zombies were a group of Creeping Cruds. Nyperold paid for his bloodlust, getting first poisoned, then paralyzed, which moved him to the back of the group.

Xanatos: “Whoa…now’s my chance to show what I’m made of!”

It happened that Xanatos’s assessment of the situation was incorrect—Emptyeye quickly cut down the last of the monsters before anything including Xanatos could react.

Xanatos: “Oh well…Dialko!”

And Nyperold was cured of the paralysis.

(LIVEBLOG NOTE: Floor 2 is the first difficult floor [Relative to the rest of the game, anyway]. The near-constant threat of being poisoned is probably the main reason, but it isn’t the only one.)

After a Potion of Neutralizing, the group made its way to the next statue, again passing a place where one of the keys allowed them access. It was a statue of a frog wearing a red and blue cape. The statue was strangely animated, and shook its legs while yelling “Yeah…yeah…” Rocky took this statue.

Emptyeye: “Okay, one more thing on this floor…the Key!”

On their way to the statue, the party encountered some Level 1 Clerics.

Clerics: “Badios!”

Xanatos and Rocky: “Ow! We’re supposed to be safe back here!”

(LIVEBLOG NOTE: You also meet enemies that can cast magic for the first time on this floor, meaning your back three members are no longer totally safe in battle.)

Fortunately, the Clerics posed little threat to the front lines, and, after going through two more mystery squares where, by their best guess, they were allowed through thanks to possessing the two statues they found on this floor, the crew made their way to a statue identical to that found by the Bronze key.

Xanatos: “Yep, it’s another key all right. We should probably go back to the surface and replace those Neutralizing potions we lost.”

Zudak: “Good idea.”

Emptyeye: “Yeah, let’s go.”

Back on the surface, the group took their wares to Willy.

Willy: “Yep, those are Frog and Bear Statues all right. Also, this is a solid gold key you have here!”

Emptyeye: “Cool.”

After that, the group replaced their potions and headed back down to explore the rest of the floor. This was difficult, though—one person or another was being poisoned at seemingly every opportunity. The enemies were indeed more difficult than they had been on floor one. Shockingly, the threat of poison wasn’t even the most worrisome thing on the floor.

Emptyeye: “Holy crap, Ninjas! I’ve heard about these guys…they can flip out and kill people!”

(LIVEBLOG NOTE: Hey, remember way back when I wrote that Ninjas were super-powered fighting machines with a chance of an insta-kill attack? That applies to enemy Ninjas too. Yeah, this game is difficult.)

Zudak: “Hey Emptyeye, remember when you had wanted me to make people’s heads explode? Well, it’s not quite the same thing, but I think a column of fire would be a decent idea right about now.”

Emptyeye: “Yes, fire, good idea. Nyperold, mahel and I will take the smaller group of Ninjas, and you fry the bigger group.”

The strategy worked brilliantly; when the round of combat was done, 8 Ninjas lay dead at the feet of the group, having never even gotten a chance to attack.

Rocky: *Whew* “That could’ve been ugly.”

After the last excursion into the dungeon, Zudak went to Boltac’s and purchased a Rod of Iron (The last one in stock!). Emptyeye, Nyperold, mahel042 and Xanatos all picked up Iron Shields, while Rocky bought a suit of Padded Leather.

Emptyeye: “The risk-reward ratio of that floor doesn’t really seem to be worth it. Let’s check out Floor 3 next time.”

Next Time: The third floor!

Intense Bonus Commentary!

• Originally, the part about the poison not being the most dangerous part of floor 2 began with “indeed” (sic). I took the opportunity to correct the misplaced lack of a capital letter by simply replacing the word with “Shockingly”–poison is pretty dangerous, so anything more dangerous (Like the Ninjas that have a chance of instantly killing you) is obviously nothing to be trifled with.
• Speaking of the Ninjas, I wrote that they were super-powered fighting machines in a post before the liveblog proper. The full writeup on Ninjas was: “Ninja: Super-powered fighting machines; they fight best with no equipment whatsoever, gaining natural Armor Class bonuses for fighting without armor as they gain levels. Can insta-kill enemies (The Wizardry I NES TAS uses this amongst other things to finish the game in under a minute). Must be either class-changed after meeting the (ridiculous) stat requirements or made via a Thief invoking the power of the Dagger of Thieves. Also disarm traps as well as Thieves do. Evil only.” great in your party if you’re patient enough to build the stats; unfortunately completely impractical for most people.
• I love the massive run-on sentence that begins “Fortunately, the Clerics posed little threat…”