Bard’s Tale I walkthrough part 3: the catacombs

(if you missed it, go back to part 2)

Having finished your first “trainer” dungeon and reached the dead end that is the stairway to Mangar’s it’s time to visit the Mad God’s catacombs. Go into the Temple of the Mad God in Skara Brae (see part 1 for location) and answer “Tarjan” to the priest. This will give you access to the catacombs and you won’t need to answer again. The priest remembers.

Level 1 will be uneventful unless you have decided to skip the first dungeon and go straight to this one. It’s a high risk strategy and you’ll probably die. But you might not!

stairs up (N0 E0): this takes you back to Skara Brae

stairs down (N15 E16): takes you down to level 2

Level 2 contains a number of nasty traps and other inconvenient features. You also get to fight the High Priest and steal his treasure (or die trying!)

stairs up (N15 E16): takes you back to level 1

stairs down (N8 E11): takes you down to level 3

One-way door (N17 E19): the door at the north point of this square only swings one way. While you’ll encounter plenty of these on your travels, this one leads you on a one-way trip to encounter the High Priest, so open it carefully. If you already have the Phase Door spell at this point the one way won’t trouble you.

High Priest (N12 E10): The High Priest himself is not difficult to kill, but he can summon nasty beasts who stick around after his death.

Stasis chamber (N0 E0): Stay away from this room as the Stasis chamber will trap you forever! Well, maybe in legacy mode. Here it’s more inconvenient than anything else, but there’s nothing to be gained from going here.

Level 3 is the final level here and there’s an order to to things. The southern half of the dungeon is worth exploring only if you are in need of experience and treasure.

stairs up (N8 E11): takes you back to level 2. Note you can Apport Arcane out of but not into this level.

Teleport (from N21 E15 to N13 E17): This teleport takes you to an otherwise unreachable part of the level, to encounter the undead king.

King Aildrek (N19 E20): Defeating the boss gives you an Eye. You’ll need this item in Baron Harkyn’s Castle.

Message (N20 E16): You won’t find many messages in this walkthrough, as I found them more cryptic than helpful back in the day. This one is clear though, telling you to go to Harkyn’s Castle next.

Here’s the group after completing the three level catacombs