REMEMBER HIM?

Series 5/6. Level 1/2.

JULIUS SCARAMONGER.

This trader and stallholder was introduced to us by Brother Mace as a leading citizen of the town of Wolfenden, which dungeoneers usually passed through as part of level one in series 5 and 6. Rayner “Skarkill” Bourton wore Julius’s red and cream clothes and blond wig, which offset a character who lived and worked exclusively for his own personal material gain. Julius relied on his bartering skills for this, which were undoubtedly considerable as he proved himself capable on several occasions of flogging just about anything. (“Wasn’t he responsible for selling his own mother to Count Brinkator as a washerwoman? – Pickle.) It was in this capacity that he dealt with dungeoneers in series 5, giving them spells, objects and information in exchange for gold or silver. The teams had to be careful, though; such was Scaramonger’s desire to make a profit that the dungeoneer might easily be fast-talked into purchasing a useless object if the team were not on their toes.

Early in the series winning dungeoneer Ben I managed to persuade Julius to part with a useful green stone instead of a useless red one, but later dungeoneer Chris III was less fortunate. As you may remember from a recent Classic Quest, Scaramonger sold Chris a spell that turned him into a goblin! Julius’s bartering skills combined with his position of constantly bartering with dungeoneers inspired Lord Fear to ask the merchant to join the Opposition towards the end of series 5, but Scaramonger elected to remain neutral, much to Fear’s scorn. (“Like all good middlemen; and take money from both sides!” – Lord Fear.) However, Scaramonger could often be found working for Fear in series 6, principally because the opening of Ah Wok’s stall in Wolfenden was robbing Julius of most of his trade, particularly in the case of passing dungeoneers. Ah Wok robbed Julius of the trade of dungeoneers Matt and Ben II in Wolfenden, sending Julius over to the dark side. After striking an unsuccessful deal with Lord Fear to assassinate Ah Wok, Julius became instrumental in importing Lord Fear’s red dragon into the Dungeon with a dragon caller. Fortunately, Elita and dungeoneer Sofia put an end to this. Julius became much more difficult for the teams to deal with as he became more of an ally to Fear. This came to a head at the end of series 6 when a drunk Scaramonger had to be bashed on the head by Chris IV with a magic hammer before he would take part in any bartering. After this, Julius left the Dungeon, depressed and broke.

Fear Factor: 3 Often friendly, but occasionally threatening.

Humour Rating: 4 Mostly a very down-to-business type of fellow.

Killer Instinct: 2 He made a profit at the fatal expense of Chris the goblin.

Oscar Standard: 8 Very convincing, and a memorable character.