Phoebus

Home of Mystalvision, the High Priest of the Temple of the Sun and chief Sun Mage.

This is one of the odd examples of a map whose size is inexplicably larger than it needs to be. Yes, there’s technically ocean to the north and west, but you can’t see it (D:Soften Stone doesn’t work here). And the “exiting the map” code will stop you as soon as you move south from (08,01).

You’ll find random encounters (1 in 100) with Stosstrupen, Soldiers, and Sullen Citizens.

Exits

The southern exit (08,01) from the city drops you back on the Isle of the Sun (05,10).

There aren’t any other proper exits, although the fight with Mystalvision will dump you into the Phoeban Dungeon, and eventually you’ll come back up from the dungeon at (02,14). (Technically, you come up at 02,13, read a paragraph, and then are pushed to 02,14, but that’s all transparent to the player.)

Places of Interest

Buck Ironhead’s Enlistment Office (14,02): Buck tries to enlist you in the Kingshome army that’s currently sieging the city of Byzanople on King’s Isle. If you agree, you’re sent to the Siege Camp. If you refuse, he charges you a draft-dodging fee of $50 per party member. You can use this as a route to travel from Phoebus to the Siege Camp as often as you want, even once the War of Byzanople has been resolved.

The Barracks (06,09): A nasty fight with ten Stosstrupen. Don’t go in here unless you really know what you’re doing.

The Chest of Scrolls (01,10): Fight off a bunch of Thieves at (01,11), then open this chest (difficulty 2) for scrolls of H:Poog’s Vortex, S:Sun Stroke, D:Death Curse, D:Create Wall, and S:Mithras’ Bless.

The Armor Cache (01,15): Fight your way through some guards at (02,15), then open this chest (difficulty 1) for a suit of Plate Mail (+10 AC, -5 AV), a Magic Shield (+4 AC, STR 10), the Tri-Cross (+1 AV, 30’, burst fire) and some Bolts (1d4), and seven Dragon Stones.

The Ominous Fellow (03,14): Completely harmless; he delivers a message from Mystalvision and then runs away. And he’s got 255 DEX (no that’s not a typo) so he’s gonna go first. His message doesn’t make any sense until you come back up from the Dungeon below, but there’s no reason you wouldn’t explore this corner of the map before that.

The Other Armor Cache (11,15): Fight your way through some Dirty Rats at (13,15) and then some Mad Dogs at (14,15), then open this chest (difficulty 2) for a suit of Magic Plate (+10 AC, -2 AV), a suit of Mage Cloth (+3 AC, L:Mage Light, requires Low Magic 1), and the Fire Spear (1d12, +2 AV, 50’, DEX 14).

The Icarian Triumph Tavern (15,15): Ulrik is here to be recruited. If you’re coming back after going through the Dungeon, Berengaria isn’t actually here but the barkeep tells you to meet him at the Cavern Tavern in Yellow Mud Toad instead.

Mystalvision’s Temple (08,13): First, fight off a few Stosstrupen. Then circle around to the N and fight off some Soldiers. Enter the temple and meet Mystalvision, who eventually attacks with a bunch more Stosstrupen. Regardless of whether you win or lose this battle, you’re knocked out and dragged down into the Dungeon (12,03).

If you’ve already been to the Nisir and killed Mystalvision there, he’s not here, which means you can’t get into the Dungeon. Otherwise you can repeat this as often as you like.

Bestiary

	STR	DEX	INT	SPR	HP	AV	DV	Speed	XP
Dirty Rats	08	19	03	03	1–6	+2	+0	30'	50
	4d4, flee
Mad Dogs	12	22	03	05	7–27	+2	+0	30'	70
	3d8, 3d8 health, flee
Ominous Fellow	10	255	10	10	1–4	+2	+0	10'	1
	flee
Soldiers	15	15	09	10	7–27	+2	+0	10'	180
	4d8, 6d8 stun, 3d8, call for help — awards gold
Stosstrupen	20	22	20	02	13–48	+2	+0	50'	200
	8d8 stun, call for help
Sullen Citizens	10	10	10	30	5–15	+2	+0	10'	130
	flee
Thieves	05	11	05	05	2–7	+2	+0	10'	30
	3d6, call for help, flee
Thieves	10	18	12	14	7–16	+2	+0	20'	100
	5d4, 1d4 x ¼, flee

While it is possible to defeat Mystalvision (and his Stosstrupen friends), the game cheats and throws you in the dungeon anyway.

	STR	DEX	INT	SPR	HP	AV	DV	Speed	XP
Mystalvision	10	20	30	100	16–100	+4	+0	10'	400
	S:Inferno@4, flee