It was time to explore outside of the town and see what kind of trouble I could get myself into. I’d be on the lookout for quests, the sky bridge, and the dungeon I have a key for. Along with a whole lot of I have no ideas yet kind of stuff.

To see things are a bit strange on the dark side of the game is being kind. It did not take me long before I found my first castle. That castle was also “out of phase” and I could not enter it. I’d later learn I needed to collect disks of power and those could be used to slowly turn parts of the castle back into phase.

I also found a few quests along the way. I noticed a floating bottle in a river. In it was someone asking for help as they were trapped in a castle. Another person wanted some kind of password. Then I found someone who needed me to retake their tower back.

It’s a shame I could not go into it. I can only guess it’s called West Tower as there was a sign pointing at it. Usually when an NPC is asking me to go into a place like this, they slip me a key. The NPC I talked with however told me they had been locked out.

The NPC also told me about the Skybridge. While I had not been long on the dark side this was not the first time being told about the Skybridge either. It appears to be a way to get into towers if you lack the key. As no one ever locks the door on the roof of these things.

A couple of steps later almost like you suppose to. I found a strange rope in a hut that took me up. Up into the sky and there I was on the bridge everyone was talking about.

Going in one of the directions was a quick and rather painful death. I had no chance whatsoever. I even made a couple of attempts. I guess I'll need to gain some levels and better gear before going that way.

The other direction was at least easy to clear. It also took me to a ladder down into a tower. I found it a bit funny it happened to be Ellinger’s Tower. The very tower I already have a key for.

It also felt rather odd starting a dungeon on the top floor. I’d soon attempt to work my way down to the bottom. That was not the only odd thing about this place either. Any of the boxes I'd open up contained wooden shoes or just blew up on me.

It also looked like there were further wooden shoes locked behind gates I could not get open. I even attempted with each of my characters. Someone sure loves boots and I'd later find an entire little book some insane person wrote about boots on this very floor.

It would turn out the fourth floor and could kind of tell. Had a partition down the middle of it. I tried to use teleport but that would not work in this tower. I’d have to go down a floor and find a way back up to the other side.

Another strange thing about this tower was the lack of things needing to be cleared from it. As it would turn out the tower was sealed by the owner of it. He ended up keeping out anything fun for me to hunt. Before I found him I ended up going down to the tower floor.

I should have known things were just being too easy. I was hoping to just walk right out of this place since I had the keys to know where it was on the map. There were however walls I could not get past. I would much later after finding this tower again find out there was a puzzle I had to solve to get the wall to move.

It seems like this entire place was meant to be found via the Skybridge and then to deny you the enjoyment of walking out of the front door of the place. That is quite evil.

So, I ended up turning around and going back up to the third floor. There was a second set of stairs to the fourth. While it would take me into the section on the fourth floor, I could not access it. It required a password.

I had no idea at the time what the password could even be. I attempted to just type a few random bits of words here or there from past clues I've already gotten in the game. None of them worked and I was not shocked by that. In one last attempt, I typed in Ellinger since that is the name of the tower, and sure enough, it worked.

In there, I had the world's longest-ever Might and Magic conversation. I consider trying to find a window to jump out of to save myself from the horror of it all. At least I got a cool 250k experience. Along with a lot of lore and a quest.

Having explored what I could have of the tower. I returned to the top floor and left for the Skybridge. From there I had to jump down and take some damage landing near where I climbed up a rope to get up there.

I then started to explore some of the zones around that area. I ended up finding some strange mines where I could collect gems. I also found some tents with people wanting to trade these gems for weapons and armor. I have no idea if or what I should even get. So, for the time being I'll just be holding onto the gems for a bit.

I could tell from the map after I entered into a couple of these miens that I was just exploring one large dungeon. Most of mine from the best I could tell did not connect. There was an exception for one of them.

While I tried to use my robber to mine the gems. I kind of knew that would not end well and sure enough lots of group damage. I then used my highest might stat character and there was a lot less of an issue collecting from over six different mines that I went into.

I ended up finding rubies, diamonds, sapphires, and emeralds. From the best I could tell I needed five of each. I have no idea if I then have to get them processed or if the NPCs, I've found will take them raw. Since I don’t want to spend any of them yet that will just have to be another unknown for the time being.

In one of the mines, I ended up finding their ruler. The God OF Minerals. Kind of a shame there was no option to fight him. Instead, he told me for 250k gold I could get all the mines to respawn their gems back. Since that is a lot of gold and I feel like there are some mines, I've not found yet. I declined his offer. I did however find some further gems in the cave he was in.

Final Thoughts

Just when I thought I knew most things about a Might and Magic game. This thing throws me a twist. Looks like I'll have to explore the end of the Skybridge I got killed trying to use in the future. Along with finding another way into the tower, I have a quest for.

I’m now also on the lookout for further mines to gather even more gems. I'm sure at some point I'll be unable to refuse the idea of spending some of the gems to see what kinds of weapons and armor I could get for them. For now, I'm being cheap and saving my pile of gold.

Information

Screenshots were taken and content was written by @Enjar about Might And Magic IV And V World of Xeen.