"Copyright 1998 in whole or in part Bungie Software Products Corporation.  Created with Bungie's Fear and Loathing by: Hector Serpa, gzephora@aol.com"


Throne of the Lich King


For over 20 years I have been a fan of Dungeons & Dragons.  I have also had a wish to make a video game based, loosely, on the D&D concept.

Thanks to the folks at Bungie, I have come close to realizing that desire.

Although "Throne of the Lich King" is not a video game, per se, it does represent an aspiration I've had in particular:  to bring to life the hunt of one of, if not the most deadly monster in the D&D game, the Lich.

Withing the realm of reason and the tools available, I have done my best to make this a memorable encounter.

The Crypt******
One thing you will immediately notice about Acerak's crypt are the unusually large chambers it houses.  The reason for this is quite simple:  Liches, being magic users, need plenty of room to kill you from afar.  The further away you are at the inception of an encounter, the less like you are to actually get to the Lich to engage it in hand to hand combat, at which they are not very apt.
The crypt is also full of deadly traps for the unwary; running around carelessly will spell your doom.

The Heroes******
Three heroes dominate the limelight in this map:  Blade Goldwing, a Knight of Law, Jaden One Arrow, a Ranger Lord
Khellek, a Fire Warlock
All three were major players in the campaign I DM'ed; a campaign that spanned 4 1/2 REAL TIME YEARS!!!

Blade is a Paladin of sorts.  In this map he is very tough and represents the leader of the "Qe'Rubin Guard".  He can pick up the "scarabs" (the staff head of the Warlocks) laying about the crypt and turn them into a deadly shock wave of energy, with himself as the epicenter.  Pick up the "scarabs" and use the special attack.  Beware of nearby friends.

Jaden One Arrow is a traditional ranger, albeit of a very high level.  In this map, he is also hardy in battle, although not as tough as Blade.  He carries with him six artifacts:  Arrows of Slaying, which are devastating to all but the most powerful of monsters in the crypt.  Use them wisely.  (Jaden's fellow archers can also pick up the "scarabs" to enchat one of their arrows to be an Arrow of Slaying.)

Khellek is a Fire Warlock.  He represents the non-player character that I played in the D&D campaign I DM'ed.  He also is much tougher than the "normanl" MythII warlock.  Although the title means little in the context of this map, I included it for sentimental reasons.  I gave Khellek the ability to cast seven different spells:  Flamestrike (column of fire from above), Ice storm (raining hale), Lightning (as in "bolt"), Fireball, Cloudkill (a deadly, rolling cloud of poisonous vapors), Teleport (attack the ground location at which you wish to arrive) and Coldblast (a cone of devastating cold vapors).  Each spell has it's strengths and weaknesses.  Some do massive damage, but only to a target or two.  Others do less damage but to a larger area.  Some are absolutely necessary in certain areas of the crypt, in order to advance or to avoid "impossible" odds...to choose between the different spells, use the taunt key and look at the menu bar to see which one you have selected.

Khellek can also reanimate the undead monsters that are destroyed in battle.  To do this, you must NOT have a spell selected (if you do, hit the special key, and Khellek will discard the current spell).  You must pick up the head of the monster and then, whenever you decide (you can carry the head around as long as you wish), use the special key.  Khellek will then throw the head to the ground, cast his spell, and within seconds the reanimated monster will appear ready to serve you.  The monsters draw energy from Khellek, however, and after ten monsters have been reanimated, no more monsters can be brought back to life until some of the existing ones are destroyed.
These reanimated monsters not only add some desperately needed bodies to your group's rank, but can also be very helpful with their unique abilities.  And, although Khellek is a very powerful necromancer, he can only reanimate a certain number of monsters in one day, before this ability is totally drained until he gets some rest.

The rest of the Qe'Rubin Guard are standard Myth II units.

The Lich King******

Legend has it that Acerak was an ultra-powerful Mage from the school of necromancy.  Seeing how efimerous life was and how much knowledge was still to be acquired, he made a pact with Orcus, Demon Lord of the undead, for "everlasting life".  The evil Demon Lord prescribe a ritual that promised to deliver what Acerak thirst for; it was a trick.  Trusting a Demon Lord proved to be Acerak's bane, as the ritual killed him...sort of.  Thus the first Lich was born.

After millinae of research and experimentation, Acerak has developed a deadly arsenal of spells and protections which no sane being would wish to confront.  Now, he has also acquired the Crown of Chaos; a dark artifact fashioned by the Elder Gods that bestows upon it's owner unimaginable power...

Your mission, should you wish to accept it, is to invade the "Throne of the Lich King", recover the Crown of Chaos, and destroy Acerak, the Lich King...

Credits******

As usual, many, many thanks to the folks at Bungie for making this awesome game and the tools with which we all have been able to express ourselves through Myth.

The "Lion Throne" scenery was made by Pope of Creation.  Many thanks also to this elite map making clan for their constant flow of work, which they share with others and for the permission to use the Lion Throne wich adds the finishing touch to a map whose title is "Throne"!

Color map:  Khellek, Ghost (awesome crypt entry)
Shadow map:  lank (masterful job!!!), Khellek (very, very minor adjustments to taste)
Concept:  Khellek, Ghost, lank
Map design:  Khellek, Ghost, lank
Story:  Khellek
Scripting:  Khellek (with idea contributions from lank and Ghost)

The textures used to create the color map were acquired over many months from different sites on the net.  At the time, I had neither ideas nor intentions of releasing a map to the Myth public, hence, I did not bother to log the sites or creators of these textures.  Should anyone recognize any of these and know the authors, please let me know so that proper credit can be given.

The pregame image is from the cover of an old D&D module called "The Gods of Lankhmar", but the inside cover (which is all I have) is blank, so...Thanks to the artist of this great ilustration.

The pregame music (once again) I got from a disc that a fellow worker gave me about 4 months ago.  The disc was given to me for it's graphic editor contents, but it contained 5 pieces of music (he is Russian and I suspect these are some "home town tunes"), which I have NO idea where they originated.  So, if you recognize the music or know the creator, please let me know...

We hope you enjoy "Throne of the Lich King"

Knights of the Pentacate
