Series 2, Quest 5. Tony and team get advice from Treguard as they face the Combat Chess trial.

Series 2 Quest 5

By Keith McDonald

Team 5: Tony, Craig, Tony and Dean from Ashford, Kent.


The fifth quest of Series 2 was for the Crown and lasted 25 minutes.

Knightmare Series 2 Team 5. Tony, the dungeoneer.

Level 1

Tony leaps straight from the Wheel of Fate into the Level 1 clue room. Treguard is impressed.

Treguard: "Well done, team. Fate has been kind to you. You've avoided much peril and jumped straight to the Level 1 clue room... Your first trial is imminent."

The clue room is guarded by Olgarth (score: 2). Tony must find the Maid to discover his quest. He takes a bar of silver and a jar of bats' wings.

Knightmare Series 2 Team 5. Clues in the Level 1 clue room include a jar of ground bats' wings.

Into a room with a giant Scorpion. They can avoid its sting at the right wall, so they guide Tony to safety.

A room with five doors. Three are locked, one shows a playing card, and one shows a knight.

Treguard: "It seems you're being challenged to a game of luck or a game of skill."

They choose the knight path, and emerge on a large chess board. Treguard terms it 'Combat Chess'.

Knightmare Series 2 Team 5. Tony plays Combat Chess against the opposition bishop.

On our first day in the dungeon, Tim Child enters the green room, asking if any of us play chess, to which we reply 'yes'... We chose skill and in the next room discover a giant chess board.

Tony Williams

Treguard: "Remember, Tony, yours is the knight's move... The trouble here is that the enemy bishop is deadly and you are quite vulnerable."

They survive Combat Chess, though they have to backtrack at one point to outfox the Bishop.

In the Lion's Head room is a table with a whole chicken. The beams start firing as Tony reaches for the food.

Knightmare Series 2 Team 5. The Lion's Head fires beams at the path.

At one stage, the camera cuts away as Tony gets dangerously close to the edge. Were they let off?

You can see it in my reaction... Dean puts his hand over his mouth and Craig says 'Oh God'... Maybe they gave us a break. Or maybe we corrected quickly, before the computer programmer could end the game.

Tony Williams

Mildread and Gretel are working on an everlasting beauty spell for the Maid, much to Mildread's annoyance.

Mildread: "It's not beauty she needs - it's a brain."

Knightmare Series 2 Team 5. Gretel helps Tony to deal with Mildread the Witch.

Tony offers the bats' wings. Mildread says they won't help with Gretel's spell, but they could help create a wellway.

Gretel informs Tony that his quest is for the Crown. She also gives him a DOWN spell.

Into the well, but it's a trick from Mildread. Tony ends up in a monster's stomach!

They use the DOWN spell to escape.


Level 2

The first room of Level 2 is unguarded. A flagon on the table summons the spirit of Merlin, but it's very faint.

Merlin: "Beware Mogdred. And whatever else you do, for goodness sake, don't..."

The connection is broken.

Knightmare Series 2 Team 5. Tony encounters the Oracle of Confusion.

The Level 2 clue room. A veiled spirit lingers in the background.

Treguard: "Caution, team. Present here is the Oracle of Confusion. It knows much but there is no order to its knowledge. It is sometimes better not to question it, but who knows?"

Tony shuts his eyes and lifts the Helmet of Justice to hear the Oracle speak.

Soap will cleanse, but not the spirit. Accept the challenge. Take the word but do not read it...

Oracle of Confusion

Knightmare Series 2 Team 5. The clues in the Level 2 clue room include soap and a gauntlet.

They decide to take a block of soap and a scroll, leaving behind a gauntlet.

Onto the Bridge over Mogdred's Vale. The advisors initially fear it's on fire, but the graphic is the first part of the Crown. Tony has to lie flat on the bridge to reach it.

Treguard: "Beware the mindless threat of the Mechanical Warrior!"

The automatum enters and almost reaches the prostrate dungeoneer. Tony scrambles to his feet and away to safety.

Knightmare Series 2 Team 5. Tony is pursued by the Automatum as he gathers a quest piece from the bridge.

Tony encounters the Catacombite.

Treguard: "You needed the gauntlet to subdue this monster. It was the challenge you were told to accept, but of course, you declined it."

This is the hardest time for us because we know we are not going to win; that our 'death' is in the next room, but it still has to be filmed. Needless to say, we are all gloomy waiting for our execution.

Tony Williams

Death

With nothing to stop the monster, they quickly exit into a dark room where all the doors are sealed. Mogdred appears.

Knightmare Series 2 Team 5. Tony's quest ends at the hands of Mogdred in one of his 'play-pens'.

Mogdred: "Welcome to one of Mogdred's little playpens, dungeoneer. Play a while. Play forever!!"


Captain's word

Team captain and advisor Tony Lee Williams wrote an article for his website (archived) and a follow-up article for Gollancz.

He also provided this photo showing the team with his certificate.

Tony Williams and team (Series 2, Team 5) with their Knightmare certificate.

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