Went into the Chasm at level 15 and emerged at levels 17-18, going in only to snag the Lich Instructions.

Spoiler ========== The trick with the Ghosts along the rim seems to be facing them one at a time and never letting them build a team of two or more. Sleep and save after every kill. With two casting Turn Undead and two casting poison, then switching to arrows when they turn away, even the weakest Turn Undead spell is effective. But it takes time. The skeletons and mummies on the inside are not too bad after that, but we avoided side rooms knowing we’d be back when we were stronger. Once the Instructions are plucked from the pedestal, cast Fleet Foot, turn tail and run! The instant you get a green light use Town Portal. ==========

Both Mages are now Expert in Armour, with AC of 40-44 each. The Scholars don’t seem to advance in this skill without the second promotion, but they each have 4 points plus reasonable armour, putting their AC between 32 and 35. Only three have Meditation, however, so one Lich is always running out of magic. Gave her a bow with knock-back which kicks in spot on.

Ran about getting enough experience to level up the Mage’s skills and find better spells so they could face the Lich Lab. Did the Ta`Sar Academy and a couple more passive quests, opened the Mountain Passage between Thronheim and Thjorgard and then took a deep breath and headed for the passage to Yorwick. It was kill two, back up, sleep 8 hours, go forward, kill two, repeat. If I never see another Dagrell again I will be quite happy. Turn Undead is now my best friend, but the newness of my shiny toy is beginning to rust in this long, arduous, smelly place.

Hint: ========== Save before exiting the Connecting Tunnels, making certain there are no Dagrells hiding in the shadows to interrupt your sleep. ==========

Four magic players, each casting Turn Undead should be enough to carve a path between the entrance to the passage and Yorwick itself. One would think. Every evil thing living on these plains is susceptible to Turn Undead. It looked so good on paper, too! But…

Spoiler ========== The first time we tried this tactic, we made it into town with two dead adventurers and one in a coma. Not too bad, I thought, until I realized 6 Ghosts and three Evil Sorcerors had followed, and the first person we bumped into was this little girl whinging about her sheep whilst lightning bolts and fire bombs flew overhead. We ducked into a house, shut the door and while no evil thing followed, they surrounded the place and you could hear them groaning. It was quite annoying. The light remained flickered between red and yellow so there was no way to teleport out. Neither was there a Temple in which to take refuge. Bugger. [F9] it is. Spells were set to two Turn Undead and two Poison. Using magic when they were coming towards us, and arrows when they were turning away, we slowly made our way through the Ghosts and Sorcerors into Yorwick. ==========

We were exhausted. Never have I ever been in a melee fracas that was so exhausting - which is why I am not prone to using magic in the first place. This game thing is supposed to be relaxing. Ha!

We set a beacon in Yorwick, teleported into Frosgard for training and supplies, then went back to face the Lab. By the time we made it to the front door, we were levels 24, 25, 24 24.

Spoiler ==========

The main tactic to use when your party is absolutely NOT physically ready to be in a particular area is to avoid eye contact with an enemy at all costs. Huddle next to pillars. Don’t open any door unless you need to go through it or get something from the other side. Turn Undead turned out to be a double-edged sword in the Lich Lab as the Skeletons and Dagrells frequently ran away from us and straight into a double door alerting even more enemies to our presence. If you think fighting 2 Dagrells with weak spells and low hit points is hard, try 6. Then toss in a couple of self-resurrecting Skellies, a nasty-looking purple Lich and giant Eyeballs with tentacles.

Hint: Sneak. Sneak. Sneak. At the end of every corridor, there are little columns in the shadows. Tuck yourself into one and save your game. Wait for the patrollers to walk almost completely away and out of sight then lob an arrow or two. As they turn and approach, you can get at least three or four volleys of arrows into them before they get close enough to do you any damage, then cast Turn Undead and Poison. Let them run off. Don’t follow. Wait for them to come back and start it again. It’s slow, but it works.

The entrance to the Transformer Machine is a big room with two easy-peasey chests. The chest closest to the door leading to the Transformer, and not the chest by the hallway, turns out to be a place where your enemy-sonar is on hols. I found this to be a nice little sanctuary where I could save my game, catch a quick 8 hours snooze, rethink my spells, etc. It was from this corner that I began experimenting with ‘how to turn into a Lich and still get out of there alive’ strategies.

I thought I was *so* smart. I’d cast Fleet Foot on all of us, jump over the railing, rock into the unit, pull the lever and watch the door close on all the enemies. And the first time, that’s exactly what happened! Only one little teensy problem - I’d neglected to activate the machine on the upper level first!. Bugger. [F9]

Next time we went in shooting off Turn Undead at anything that moved. Made it to the top lever. Pulled. Jumped down and rocked into the unit. Pulled that lever. Watched the throng of baddies trying to bust through the glass. The Eyeballs tentacles kept trying to pry it open. My two Liches were successfully transformed, but now we were all trapped. [F9] it is!

This wasn’t going to work. There were just too many of them all in one place. But after a small rest, another plan hatched.

Magica and Magim set Turn Undead and Licha and Lichim set Paralyze. At the ready, Magim cast Fleet Foot and we ran into the Transformer room. We circled the top level, pulling the lever as we flew by, then jumped down and circled the bottom level. It was just like the Pied Piper watching them all get behind us. When we were pretty sure they were almost all on our tail, we flew up the ramp and into the hall. Down the corridor we raced, up the stairs and around another corner. Then we spun around, cast Turn Undead and Paralyze on the lot and in thattiny instant where they were fleeing we raced back to the Transformer. Over the railing we bound, into the unit, pulled the lever and watched the door close on the only one sorcerer left in the room.

Licha and Lichim emerged fully transformed and looking uglier than ever. It was a beautiful sight. We made our way around the other side of the building and set a beacon at the front entrance. Then we went back into town, trained up and took the boat to Lindisfarne to collect our coveted GrandMasters in Learning.

We achieved Lich transformation at levels 26, 27, 26, 26 on 10 October 521, and were made GrandMasters in Meditation the day after.

Now for a nice relaxing stroll around Chedian. We still have almost all the quests to do, after all