Draft:Archmage's Castle

Omega 0.90.4

The Archmage's Castle is the sixteen-level dungeon at (6, 1) in LOCUS's northwestern mountains. Its deepest portal leads to the magical court, the Archmage and the Throne of High Magic. It is distinct from the Duke's castle in Rampart.

Court map

The castle dungeon floors are randomly generated. Its court is a fixed 64 by 24 scene and is mapped here in full. @ marks arrival at (32, 2).

These are spoiler maps. Coordinates are (column, row), starting at zero. Letters and highlighted symbols are article keys for sites and initial placements, not a literal game screenshot or a promise that a creature remains there.

0000000000111111111122222222223333333333444444444455555555556666

0123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123

00 ################################################################

01 ################################.###############################

02 ################################@###############################

03 ################################.###############################

04 ###############################G.G##############################

05 ###############################...##############################

06 ###############################...##############################

07 ##############################G...G#############################

08 ##############################.....#############################

09 ##############################.....#############################

10 #############################G.....G############################

11 #############################.......############################

12 #############################.......############################

13 ############################G.......G###########################

14 ###########################..e.....e..##########################

15 #########################....e.....e....########################

16 #########################....e.....e....########################

17 #########################.....n...n.....########################

18 ##########################....n...n....#########################

19 ###########################.....5.....##########################

20 #############################..T.T..############################

21 ###############################.<.##############################

22 ################################################################

23 ################################################################

Map key

Key	Meaning
#	Wall
.	Floor or open ground
5	High Magic throne, initial Archmage and Sceptre
<	Return to the countryside
@	Arrival point, not the current player position
G	Court guard
T	High Thaumaturgist
e	Enchanter
n	Necromancer

These are initial placements. The court loads only the first 24 rows of its file; the extra trailing wall row is not part of the scene. The throne, carried key and ground Sceptre have different interactions.

Approach and descent

The castle initially looks like ordinary mountains on the world map. Search near its fixed position to discover it; Thaumaris, at (7, 6), is the nearby village to its south. Despite the Archmage's spoken direction "North-East", the supplied world map places the castle in the northwest.

Entering crosses the drawbridge and releases a ridden horse. All sixteen dungeon levels use generated rooms on a 64 by 64 grid, with traps, treasure and a population that grows more dangerous with depth. The castle adds extra inhabitants to its ordinary level population, including a depth-dependent spellcaster or elemental selection.

On level sixteen, find the special downward stair and accept the magical portal's invitation. Entering this portal records castle completion for the Oracle, without requiring the Archmage's death. Once earlier Oracle stages are complete, this unlocks her offer to enter the Astral Plane.

Magical court

The court is a separate 64 by 24 scene. Arrival is at (32, 2). It contains the throne, the Archmage, eight guards and twelve other spellcasters: six enchanters, four necromancers and two high thaumaturgists. These occupants are placed without initial hostility.

Talk to the peaceful Archmage to make him leave the throne. He warns about the Sceptre of High Magic, which lies on the throne square if it has not already been taken. Decline the invitation to sit until you have collected it. The Archmage's carried Kolwynia is a different object; his conversational departure does not drop that possession.

Provoking an occupant with the court retaliation action can turn the whole court hostile and unleash a coordinated storm of spells. A peaceful audience is therefore a very different undertaking from fighting for the throne.

Throne of High Magic

The throne checks possession of the Sceptre in accessible inventory or backpack; it does not require wielding it despite the spoken warning. Sitting without it erases known spells, sets current Power to 3, mana to zero and HP to one, then invokes hostile dispelling.

Successful throne use	Reward
First through sixth	+5 current and maximum Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Agility, Intelligence and Power, in that order
Seventh through seventeenth	Learns wishing if not already known; a use still counts if the spell is already known
Eighteenth	The throne shatters and one Sceptre is consumed

Only one successful use is allowed per calendar date. The Sceptre's own portal activation consumes the same day's availability, even if its portal is declined. A tavern bed's clock jump does not necessarily advance that date. Subsequent throne attempts on the same date provide no additional reward. The initial use marker is 0, so a character whose randomly selected starting date is 0 must first advance to another date.

Return and strategy

The court's upward stair is an escalator directly to the countryside at the castle entrance; it does not make you climb all sixteen levels again. Normal dungeon floors can be revisited while this remains the current dungeon, but switching to another dungeon discards them.

Plan the descent for survival and the court for conversation. If seeking Kolwynia by theft, resolve that before dismissing the Archmage and account for the court's retaliation if caught. Becoming the Collegium's Archmage instead requires the Eater of Magic's heart and the college's rank and level requirements; occupying this throne does not grant that office.

Older advice recommends wielding the Sceptre and reports +3 attribute rewards. The current possession check and +5 sequence above come from 0.90.4, not that older report.