Chapter 5

Chapter 5: the Thief’s Key, the Nameless Ruins and Craggy Cave

A swindler, a robbery and a cave with two boss fights. 1 Mini Medal, 2 scrolls, 2 bosses.

15 items to collect

Your progress here0 / 15

Tick the coloured tags as you pick things up. Progress is saved in this browser.

The Thief’s Key isn’t where the king said, and the chase leads from Galenholm to the Roadside Inn and on to Craggy Cave, a two-floor dungeon where a band of thieves is hiding. Inside you’ll beat their leader, agree to a favour, and fight a Sorcerer in the depths before the key is yours. Craggy Cave’s monsters (Fightgeists, Skeletons, Morphean Mushrooms, Shades, Drohl Drones, Legerdemen, Healslimes and Drackymas) are a step up, so around level 14 is comfortable.

Checklist

Treasure	Where	Contents
Nameless Ruins hidden item	Inside the northern house, on its left side (enter from behind).	Ruby Wristband
Craggy Cave chest 1	B1: south of the boss spot, the left path, then north into a dead end.	340 gold
Craggy Cave chest 2	B1: east, then north, then east to the end.	Boomerang
Iron Axe pot	B2 (first stairs): the pots on the right of the dead-end room.	Iron Axe, Strong Medicine
Craggy Cave chest 3	B1: south side of the room east of the boss spot.	Ten Ton Toupee
Craggy Cave chest 4	B2 (last stairs): east at the first fork, to the end.	Bronze Shield
Craggy Cave chest 5	B2 (last stairs): down the hallway south, then left.	Magic Water
Sorcerer’s chests	B2: the room where you fight the Sorcerer.	Choker, Zombie Mail

Mini Medal	Where
Craggy Cave medal	B1: the small room just north of where you fight Robbin’ ’Ood, on the right.

Seed	Where
Seed of Stamina	B2 (last stairs): the barrel in the western dead end.

Scroll	Where
Muster Strength Scroll	B2, reached by the north-west stairs: the only chest in that room.
Nose for Treasure Scroll	B1: the east end of the room east of the boss spot.

Boss	Where
Robbin’ ’Ood	B1, across the wooden bridge near the entrance.
Sorcerer	B2, at the deepest point of the cave.

Key item	Where
Thief’s Key	Robbin’ ’Ood hands it over once you’ve beaten the Sorcerer.

Following the key

Warp to Galenholm and cross the entrance bridge. The group from Erdrick’s Hollow is there, and so is a swindler selling a “Thief’s Key” for a million gold. Someone is watching from behind a tree.
At the fountain, the group’s priest gives you the one useful fact: the Thief’s Key opens the red doors.
Warp to the Roadside Inn and walk to the room with the marker. The swindler is on the floor — a thief called Robbin’ ’Ood has taken the key. The marker now points south.
Leave by the inn’s south door and cross the forest. A signpost in the open field says Craggy Cave is to the east.

The Nameless Ruins

Head east a little until you see a poison marsh. The Nameless Ruins are on its south-west side.

Inside:
1. The pot on the left of the northern house has 274 gold.
2. Walk round behind that house to get in. Its left side hides a Ruby Wristband.
3. Zalen is standing in the open nearby; talk to him for another scene.
4. South of Zalen, turn left at the signpost: a barrel outside the ruined house has a Strong Medicine. An old woman stands on the east side.
Back outside, go north-east past the marsh and follow the ravine east to Craggy Cave.

Craggy Cave: Robbin’ ’Ood

There’s a save point near the entrance — use it. Then cross the wooden bridge to the right to meet Robbin’ ’Ood and his gang.

Move	What it does	How to handle it
Robbin’ ’Ood: attack	About 18 damage, his main threat.	Heal before you drop below two hits’ worth.
’Oodlum: attack	About 8 damage each.	Clear them first.
’Oodlum: Sizzle	About 13 damage. Rarely used.	Not worth reacting to.
Assess the situation	Robbin’ ’Ood spends the turn looking around.	A free turn for you.

Spend your first two turns casting Sizzle on the ’Oodlums to wipe them out, heal if needed, then hit Robbin’ ’Ood with normal attacks until he falls.
He begs for mercy. Answer Yes — saying no just makes him beg again. He’ll give you the key, but only if you rescue one of his men from deeper in the cave. Agree.

Craggy Cave: the side rooms

B1 has three staircases down. Two lead to small dead-end rooms with loot; the third goes on towards the man you have to rescue. Clear the floor and both side rooms first.
From the boss spot:
1. Head south along the left-hand path; at the bottom, a short dead end to the north holds a chest with 340 gold.
2. Then east, north by either path, and east again to a chest with a Boomerang and a barrel with an Antidotal Herb.
3. South of there, stairs lead to a dead-end room on B2. The pots on its right side hold a Strong Medicine and an Iron Axe — a big upgrade. Climb back up.
Return to the boss spot and go north. The small room on the right has a chest with a Mini Medal.
Continue north and take the north-west stairs. That room on B2 has a single chest with the Muster Strength Scroll. Back up again.
Now go right by either path into a wider room:
1. South side: a chest with the Ten Ton Toupee.
2. North side: a barrel with 26 gold.
3. East end: a chest with the Nose for Treasure Scroll.
Return to the room before, head south and take the stairs down.

Craggy Cave: down to the Sorcerer

Go east to a fork and take the east branch to its end for a Bronze Shield.
Back at the fork:
1. Go north, then left along the top path. At the next fork, skip the left branch and head south down the hallway; turn left as soon as you can for a chest with a Magic Water.
2. Keep south. At the next fork, a quick detour east finds a Strong Medicine in a small room.
3. West of that fork is a dead end with a Seed of Stamina in the barrel and a little gold in the pot.
Then go south and follow the long hallway round to the bottom of the cave.

Boss: Sorcerer

Move	What it does	How to handle it
Attack	About 12 damage.	Light; don’t over-heal for it.
Sizzle	About 40 damage.	Never let your HP fall under 60.
Fizzle	Seals your spells.	The reason to stay above 60 HP: you may not be able to heal.
Kabuff	Raises its defence.	Use Muster Strength to punch through it.

Open with Defending Champion, then Dodgy Dance to raise your evasion, and only then start attacking.
Muster Strength (the scroll from this cave) charges your next hit: a normal attack that did around 50 damage can top 130 after it. Alternate charging and hitting and the fight ends quickly.
Afterwards, two Faeries thank you and ask for help finding their leader. Open the two chests here for a Choker and Zombie Mail.
There’s no shortcut back: walk up to Robbin’ ’Ood, who finally gives you the Thief’s Key.
The next marker is the cave at the end of the poison marsh, to the north-east. Before going there, though, the new key opens a lot of doors you’ve already seen — that’s the next chapter.