Erstam
will be ecstatic with his new creation. He will give the player a key to his
“storeroom” and will say that the artifacts he needs are there. This key
unlocks the steel door outside, which leads into a different dungeon than
before. This dungeon, after a series of poison caltrops and flame eggs,
teleports the player back to the northern island, into the range of mountains
around the circumference of the island. This dungeon contains a few of Erstam’s
failed experiments: animating body parts (hands, arms,
legs) which attack. Once the player is past these creatures, the end of the dungeon
teleports the player once again back to the south island, into yet another
small section of the dungeon, which finally empties out into the storage room
which the player could see into from Erstam’s house. (It is actually part of
his house, on a different level, so the path to get there is quite maddening!).
Luckily, there will be crates and tables with which to stack items so the party
can climb out of the room to the balcony above.
Erstam
will be so impressed with the Avatar’s ability to get the jawbone that he will
give him three of the teeth that go in the jawbone (Monk Isle, Mad Mage Isle,
and Moonshade), but will refuse to give instructions on how to use them. “Thou
hast proven thyself intelligent— figure it out thyself!”
Boydon
will express an interest in joining the party. He will be able to do so, and
will possess an unusually high strength. However, his dexterity is not so
great. Boydon can join the Party
during any visit of the Avatar, pre- or
post-Madness.
When
the banes possess Iolo, Shamino. and Dupre. Boydon (if in the Party) will be destroyed by lightning,
although his head will still talk. Boydon cannot be reassembled (‘the Phoenix is gone when the Avatar returns), but the head can be carried
around and spoken to. Boyden also falls apart if
“killed” (if he loses all of his hit points).
While
Boydon is in the party, the other Party members will occasionally make
comments about Boydon’s smell, but will generally appreciate his presence.
GEOGRAPHY
Erstam’s house is built on the southernmost island, on the north shore.
Outside Erstam’s house is the entrance to a dungeon, and a locked steel door on
the side of a mountain,
All
of Erstam’s magical artifacts are hidden in a special storeroom connected by
dungeons which exist on both islands. The player can see this storage room from
the 2nd floor balcony of Erstam’s house, but one cannot get to it on the
surface. It is like the “medieval room” in Richard Garriott’s house--you can
see it from the balcony and look down into it, but there is no visible way to
get there. The entrance to Erstam’s dungeon is outside Erstam’s
home, on the southern-most island. There is a Serpent Gate on the island —its
location is not plot-criticaL
BACKGROUND
Erstam, the mad mage, is 300 years old, and lives with his servant
companion, Vasel (Erstam is from Britannia, Vasel is the latest in a long line
of young apprentices from the Serpent Isle). Erstam has been working on spells
of immortality, then experimenting on his servants. The spells usually end up
killing the servants, but certain body parts live on. Hence, he will call a
moving arm or leg by the name of the former servant it belonged to! An item
which is a talking head has a conversation. His name is Boydon.
NEW CHARACTERS
Name |
Description |
Townplot |
Portrait |
Shape |
Cony? |
Erstam |
The Mad Mage |
MadMage |
1st Pass |
? |
Yes |
SERPENT ISLE:
MadMage Town Plot MADMAGE.DOC
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