Part 65: Level Three: Over The Edge, Into Madness

Level Three: Over The Edge, Into Madness

So. The Invisible Maze. We can go anywhere we like, but go the wrong way and...



The confusing thing is that doing this does not change our orientation within the maze; it's just considered an illegal move. Keeping this in mind it's possible, if a bit difficult, to slowly work our way through.



Fortunately, you don't need to do this, as I already have. This is the Invisible Maze, and it's fairly pedestrian outside of its gimmick. The only thing to note is that pseudo-PoP toward the end; when we step into that, we fall into a pit.



It takes a couple moves to get out of the pit, but there is no other effect. Seems to be there just to confuse you about how many steps you've actually taken, and it might've been effective at that had there been more than one pit on the map. Just past that is the end of the third level. Literally.


The end of EVERY level, when you think about it.



Welp. That certainly is the edge of all creation looming before us. Any idea, guys?



The bass voices are having a fine time humming away, but don't seem to be too interested either in using magic or enlightening you just now. They don't seem too perturbed by the possibility that you may be plunging to your death in a few minutes, though. Of course, they're already dead, so what do they have to worry about?

Gee fellas, thanks a lot. We can choose to say something, much as we did the last time we were at the edge of the world, but no matter what we say...

Your words echo out over nothingness. There is no response.

Only one thing to do in this situation. Geronimo!



This killed us last time, but we're a lot closer to the Moon of Madness then we once were. Perhaps now gravity -- or something -- will work in our favor?

You fall -- through the cloud layer. And beyond it, there are only stars. Iggy plummets through space with you. But there, there in the sky -- is the moon, the moon where Madness lies. And you are falling toward it. It spirals toward you, growing huge in your sight. You plummet toward a gaping hole in the surface, a crater, its bottom in darkness. What lies within is unknowable. The surface whips past you, and you fall through the darkness.

I'm not sure how we're expected to survive this. But we do, somehow:

The impact is surprisingly light. You are dazed but unharmed. Iggy is nearby. You pick yourself up, and...



Another hole in the ground, eh? Time to see what lies beyond. Note that "Ahead" and "Down" go the same direction here, as you'd kind of figure.



Well, it's not the same maze style we've been going through all game, that's for certain.



Is it me, or are these walls... not straight?

Alternate Solutions & Deaths

When I said this was the point of no return, I may have been lying a little bit, but I completely forgot that this interaction was here. There is an alternate solution of a sort, though it's not strictly necessary: We can climb.

"Forget it, chief. Maybe you can manage it, but I ain't as spry as I used to be."

Awww c'mon Iggy, it can't be that bad.

Iggy won't give in, but at last you simply begin to climb down the cliff. After dithering for a while, he follows you. It seems like a normal rock cliff; there are handholds and footholds from time to time, though you wonder how you can possibly hope to climb down the leagues for which the cliff extends. After you've gone a few cubits, however, you realize that you're much lighter. You feel as if you weigh only a few ounces.

We can let go, which brings us to the Moon of Madness, or we can keep climbing. Let's do the latter.

For hours, you pull yourself along the rock, Iggy clambering along behind you, muttering imprecations. Something very weird is happening to the gravity. It lightens, then it increases again. After a long time, you begin to realize that down is now where your head is. That is, the direction of gravity has reversed.

Again we can let go, or backtrack, but let's take the third option of turning ourselves over and continuing on in the same direction, in spite of gravity's little switcheroo.

You are climbing up, when previously you were climbing down; but you are still moving in the same direction along the cliff face. You think. Gravity begins to increase once more. And after a great deal of time, you see that the lip of the cliff is above you. You are climbing up toward it.

The lip of the cliff? How could it be above you? You've been climbing away from it for hours. You turn around to tell Iggy the news -- and he is gone. Did he fall off somewhere along the way? You climb over the last few feet, draw yourself over the lip, and find yourself...

Hey, remember that time we flew a pterodactyl and ended up at a door in a cliff? Y'know, the last time we were at the edge of the world? That's where we've ended up; hence Iggy's disappearance, since he wouldn't be with us at this point in the game. Should we make our way back to the Prime Mother's Lair, he'll be waiting in the cell for us as if we never met. Guess he has a short memory too.