ELEVEN
"Oh, hello dungeoneer." said Kully. "Welcome to Level 1, Arrow Wood. Sorry about Motley, he lost his jester's stick whilst we were getting the level established."
"I treasure that stick." moaned Motley. "Can you help me find it, dungeoneer?"
"Yes, I will." said Nigel.
"Excellent." smiled Motley. "Kully, you look that way, I'll look this way, and dungeoneer, you search ahead. Just shout my name when you do find my stick. Bye for now!"
"Good luck dungeoneer." said Kully as herself and Motley left, leaving Nigel to be guided onwards by Terry.
The next place Nigel came to was a clearing with a table on it. He had found the Level 1 Clue Room. Near the table was a hutch with a rabbit in it. Nigel went up to the table when the rabbit began to speak.
"Hello to you, my dashing young man!" it said. The rabbit was clearly the transformed Jeremy Gaylord, so Treguard advised the team to tread with caution. Nigel saw some gold, a dagger, a potion with the label 'Big', a pie and a carrot.
"I'd be careful, if I was you, my precious dear." said Jeremy. "Weaponry will only stab you in the back. Now, if you would be a real sweetie and feed me that carrot, I'll give you an extra clue. It could be me, or it could be you!"
"Feed him the carrot Nigel." insisted Duane. Nigel picked up the carrot and carefully put it through Jeremy's hutch, where the rabbit consumed it with great pleasure.
"That's awfully nice of you." replied Jeremy. "Now, listen to this carefully: Don't trust a deal."
Nigel thanked him and went back to the table. Taking note of previous advice, Nigel placed the pie in his knapsack, and took the 'Big' potion and the gold. Treguard then urged them to continue with their quest.
"Wait my prince charming, there's so much more I can tell you!" pleaded Jeremy Gaylord. Ignoring the rabbit's cries of "Don't Leave!", Terry guided Nigel into the next area.
Nigel then arrived into a merchant's area, where Ingard and Drassil were engaged in fierce competition.
"There you are, dungeoneer." said Ingard. "Come over, I have something important for you!"
"Not so fast." exclaimed Drassil. "Hello wayfarer, if it's quest items you need, the Drassil's your man. You know what they say, be on your guard against Ingard. Now, I have here this potion of invisibility formulated by the great Edward Deal, and if that can't help you in a quest, then nothing will."
"Don't trust that wheeler-dealer!" protested Ingard.
"Nigel," hinted duane, "remember what the rabbit said. I think Drassil may be trying to trick us."
"You're quite right." repied Nigel. "Here is some gold, Ingard."
"Wise choice, dungeoneer." smiled Ingard. leaving Drassil fuming. "In return for your payment, here is a spyglass. Just don't uswe it here, there's a clearing in the next area, there's a next area where you can use it."
"Thanks Ingard." replied Nigel as the apothecary bid them farewell. Drassil sneered at Nigel with contempt as Terry guided his dungeoneer on his way.
Into the next clearing, and the team agree to use the spy glass. Through it they saw Lord Fear talking to Lissard.
"So great to have a quest going on after 10 years." smirked Fear.
"Yessss Lordnessss," replied Lissard, "but when are you going to start halting that dungeoneer?"
"All in good time." assured Fear. All of a sudden, one of the screens in Marblehead came to life, and on it appeared the female elf attempting to track down Kully.
"And what can I do for you?" asked Fear.
"My name is Saie, and I wish to track down and finish Kully." the elf replied. "If you are Lord Fear, then I believe you'd be willing to assist me."
"If it involves a memeber of the Powers That Be, then most definitely young lady." said Fear. "If it's any help, the causeway code is simply 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, but the numbers are all in dice form. I trust that's pretty easy."
"Thank you, Lord Fear." replied Saie, "I won't disappoint you."
"You better not do." warned Fear as Saie disappeared off the screen.
Treguard insisted that the team had seen enough so Nigel put down the spyglass.
"We must warn Kully as soon as we can!" urged the dungeon master. But before Nigel could move on, he was suddenly ambushed by Sylvester Hands" Worse, Sly had Motley's stick in his left palm.
"Oooh look, a dungeoneer!" said Sly Hands, talking to the jester's stick. "Now stay there dungeoneer, while we get Sly's magic rope. That way we can take you to Lord Fear - he's such a nice bloke you know...."
"Team - do something before he gets you!" yelled Treguard. At once Nigel drank the 'Big' potion, and with immediate effect, he grew to a height five times that of Sylvester Hands.
"Aaargh!" shrieked Sly in disbelief. "I had no idea you was actually a giant. What do you want, don't hurt me!"
"The jester's stick." replied Nigel.
"Here you are then!" said Sly Hands, dropping the stick before hurriedly running off. A few second later Nigel went back down to normal size. He then picked up Motley's stick and proceeded to a curtyard that had been spotted by the rest of his team.
The team had come to the Level 1 causeway.
"Be careful here." said Treguard. "One false step can lead to your doom."
Remebering the code of dots given to them via the spyglass, Duane, Terry and Andy guided Nigel over the causeway steadily but surely, and promptly, they had negotiated it safely and through the portal on the other side.
At the castle hall, stood Kully in front of a gate.
"Well done dungeoneer." clapped Kully. "You've reached the end of Level 1."
"Team, urged Frego," remember Kully is still in danger."
"Kully," warned Nigel, "there is an elf called Saie who is determined to kill you."
"Saie?" said a worried-looking Kully. "No way, she can't be...."
"Yes, she is" snarled Saie as she approached the castle hall, "and this time I've finally got you, Kully!"
"Quick dungeoneer!" screamed Kullyy. "I can't defend myself, you must do something!" With no hesitation Nigel raised Motley's stick, jangled it and called out the jester's name.
"The jester's back in business!" smiled Motley as he appeared before Nigel, Kully and Saie. "Now, what do I do here? Oh yes, this is what I do!" At once the jester took a ball out of his pocket, and threw it at Saie's feet. The ball exploded, and Kully's assasin screamed as she disappeared without trace.
"There you go," nodded Motley assuring to Kully, "she won't be troubling you again."
"Thank you for saving my life, dungeoneer." smiled Kully to Nigel.
"And thank you for retrieving my stick." said Motley as he took it out of Nigel's hand "Oh, how great it is to have this back with me again. I think there's only one more thing left for this dungeoneer to do in Level 1."
"I couldn't agree more, Motley." replied Kully. and with a click of her fingers, the gate in front of them opened to reveal Smirkenorff.
"Smirkenorff will give you a free ride to the next level." said Kully as she led Nigel onto the dragon's back. Nigel thanked Kully and Motley, and wished them both well before proceeding on to the saddle provided by Smirkenorff.
"Greetings dungeoneer, and welcome to the Level 2 express - hold on tight now!" said Smirkenorff. Within seconds the great wyrm had taken off, as he set about taking Nigel to the next level....