Last time, I promised goblins. And goblins we shall slay!
First, a little fantasy geography. New Sorpigal sits near a bay, opening east into the ocean, formed by two peninsulas. Each of these peninsulas has been overrun by a different group.
The northern peninsula is filled with goblins, and the southern peninsula has a group of rogue mages. All of which would love to kill us, and all of which we are going to try our hardest to kill.
North one first then, since goblins are more fun. This fight is going to be a common feature in most of the later game...pitting the party against a small army (or in some cases, a large one) of enemies. Later on, once we acquire more area of effect spells, said fights will be fairly easy. As for now...we just have Ring of Fire.
However, we also have turn-based mode and bows. Against the goblins, who are scattered about and lacking in ranged attacks (except for a pair of shamans), this is a winning combination. We clear out the goblins in short order, and hit their camp.
The camp has three crates containing odds and ends (including some mildly enchanted boots of Magic), and a cookpot with a little food left in it. (Apparently goblin cuisine is close enough to human cuisine for our party not to care.) We pick up the loot, and head for a single house that sits at the end of the peninsula. It's untouched despite the fact that goblins surrounded it.
Inside the house is a drooling man named Igor. He tells us that if we were to find a weapon from the "Age of Wonders" (nothing to do with the actual games called Age of Wonders, I hope), he could teach us a few tricks (aka Expert training). Igor finishes by saying "Really! I'm not crazy!" Did I mention he was drooling?
Leaving drooling man behind, we leave the northern peninsula. The next stop is the southern peninsula.
This will not be nearly as easy. As you might guess, mages throw spells at you. The whole shoot and scoot method we used against the goblins will not work. Thus, we have to play this one like a shooter game. That's right, we've got your Doom in our Might And Magic!
The southern peninsula is blocked off by hills, through which leads a narrow pass. We can go along the coast, go over the hills, or take the path. Several mages have set themselves up on the path ahead...mostly apprentices. We take the high ground, and beat them back as they try to climb. Typical squishy mages.
Having cleared the pass, now for the peninsula itself. A small pond sits in the middle of it, and most of the mages are on the other side.
There's no simple way about this. We have to go head to head with the mages. Here we go!
(I really wish I could provide some epic fight music for this part, but I can't think of any, so supply your own.)
After much running back and forth, pumping out of arrows, and us eating more than a few spells, the mages fall before us. We loot their bodies and hit their camp. Four crates and more food, but nothing special at all. You'd think a group of mages would have more magical items then a group of goblins, right?
At the end of this peninsula stands another house. However, the resident of this house has slightly more sanity...because he's Falagar, the sage who saved us and trained us as adventurers. Gee, what's he doing out here?
Whatever it is, he does have advice for us, which is pretty much what I already told you: Gain High Council approval...which is required before you can consult the Oracle, whatever that is. Only the Oracle knows how to deal with the devils.
Now that we've taken care of the two peninsulas...wait, I remember seeing something on the way to deal with the mages...were those goblins I saw on the coast south of New Sorpigal? Yep...time to kill them!
There were two bands of them. I use the past tense because I already killed them. What can I say, I work fast.
With the money we've earned, our next stop is...shopping for spells! How exciting! So exciting, we'll put it off until later.
