Part 100: The Gong Show

Update 54: The Gong Show



Darkstone Tower is in the southwestern part of Cloudside, a short distance to the west of the Tower of High Magic.



"You'd think now that the Dragon Pharaoh's got his powers back, he could just take care of all these monsters for us."

Onyx Golems have 10,000 HP. Their attack only does 2-500 Magic damage to the party, but it has a chance to reduce characters' spell point totals to 0. Luckily, they're immune to everything except physical damage so there's not much point using magic on them anyway! Just apply the standard set of buffs before entering the tower and beat them up.



"What a weird thing to put on a statue. Think it's a secret code?"
"There are four of them, all with a different message. Perhaps if we arrange them like this..."

"New World thanks you for playing Might and Magic? You are most welcome, anonymous stonemason!"



"Maybe if we yell really loud, it let us go up?"
"I fear it won't be quite that simple."



"This sure looks like it's gonna make a sound. Here goes nothin'."



"Whoaaa, that was loud. Looks like it attracted some attention, too."

Striking the gong does 500 Magic damage to the entire party and summons an Onyx Golem. There are two gongs on this floor and we have to hit them both to proceed upstairs.



"More statues on this floor. Put together messages same way as last time, Flench guess."

"So ends the saga of Corak and Sheltem! It sure did. They're about as ended as anyone can be."



"Ugh, another gong. Let's get it over with."



This time the gong does 1000 damage to the party, and summons two golems instead of one. At least there's only one gong on this floor, and after hitting it we can proceed to level 3.



"1994 begins the next Might and Magic saga! ... Strange message. Some kind of clue?"

Historical note: the next game in the Might & Magic franchise was Heroes of Might & Magic, which actually ended up being released in 1995. The main series took a bit of a break after World of Xeen; Might & Magic VI didn't come out until 1998.



"The way things have been going so far, this will be the loudest and golemest gong yet. Do not be unprepared!"



2000 magical damage plus three onyx golems. Kind of a dick move there, game -- magic resistance is even harder to come by than energy resistance, and magical damage is rare enough that you probably won't have hoarded any resistance items you did manage to find. There are two gongs on this floor, too.



"At this rate the gongs on the next floor are going to make us all spontaneously combust."



"Type 'computer' on level 4 of the dungeon of Death... see ya soon! Hmmm..."

I don't know why these statues are numbered in the order you have to arrange the messages and the ones on the lower floors weren't.



"Guess there's somethin' more we gotta do before we get this treasure. Kinda hoping it doesn't involve more gongs."



"Pinnipeds: our eternal foes, obstructing our path to glory once again."



"Now that I am looking at this map, these walls are like an E. And if we are paying attention to the lower floors..."





"3, 4 and 2. Add up to 9, like skull says. Probably on right track here."



"Two gongs on the first floor, one on the second, two on the third -- that's five. Three times four times two times five... 120, right?"



We don't get eradicated or anything for giving the wrong answer, but we have to get it right to proceed.



"Wooo! Fubar is officially very important person!"



"Since we still have no idea how to ascend these stairs, I suppose there's nothing for it but to return to Castle Alamar's dungeon and hope this card is the last one we need."
"Is Prince Roland even gonna be alive any more? He's been down there for ages now, and it's not like there's anyone still around to look after him."



As before, the ID card opens a passage to the next room in the dungeon.



"Ooh! Power is Fubar's second favourite juice flavour, after orange-mango!"

There are two more bottles of Xeen Power Juice here with three doses each, for a total of 30 bonus levels. Of course, being this close to the end of the game kind of limits how much use we'll get out of those levels.



"I knew it. Time to get my resurrecting muscles warmed up."



"... toward the goal of securing Xeen's future more than anyone else, there is still work to be done. Queen Kalindra and I are destined to marry on the cloud world above Darkstone Tower. You hold the key to the Tower, but you will also need a key to open the way to the cloud world above the Tower. That key can be found in the Southern Sphinx on the other side of the world. I have here the Amulet of the Southern Sphinx. Take it -- it's yours. I must return to my brother and prepare for the wedding. Once again, thank you, and good luck." (+5,000,000 experience)

"Aw, I got all prepared for nothing. Anyone want to volunteer to be disintegrated so I can resurrect you? No? Well, no harm in asking."



"Another step to making history!"



Next time, the party explores the Southern Sphinx! We're getting very, very close to the end now.