Team 1: Matt, Razar, Ben and John from Bath.
The first quest of Series 6 was for the Crown and lasted 33 minutes.
Treguard: "What lies before you is quite beyond belief, so I advise you not to believe it."
Level 1
The quest begins in a dark passage, which turns out to be a dwarf tunnel - the first time these have been used since Series 3 (1989). Pickle is immediately concerned.
Pickle: "These are dwarf tunnels, master! This isn't the way to go!"
Lord Fear has seized the advantage, and now even Level 1 is patrolled by his minions. These mine-workings go deeper and bypass his first line of defence.
The team reaches the Hall of Choice, and opts for the Crown.
The quest continues outside the dungeon. Treguard provides further context to the new environment.
Treguard: "This, I think, is Holmgarth - a border post that guards the way between fair paths and foul."
Level 1 clues: a bar of gold, potion, crossbow bolt and a mallet. The scroll reads: "To unfreeze, cry the reverse of EPACSE. To cross, take the uneven path."
Spyglass: Lord Fear mocks Skarkill's inability to control his new hobgoblin.
Skarkill: "How about a loan of that ruddy great metal warrior you just had built?"
Fear monitors the team's progress and casts a spell upon Matt. He introduces the Dreadnort and warns the team that it's off to collect their dungeoneer.
The team unfreeze Matt by spell-casting ESCAPE. They decide to take the gold and the bolt.
Some sort of mechanical device, powered by magic. Quite illegal, of course. I've warned him until I'm blue in the face about creating paradoxes and anathema - but he won't listen.
Matt arrives in Wolfenden. The incumbent trader, Julius Scaramonger, and a rival Asian store holder compete for his attention.
Scaramonger tries to sell Matt an invisible sword. Instead, Matt negotiates the password and a dragon mint from Ah Wok.
The Level 1 causeway. The sequence is now numbers, rather than colours, symbols or elements (Series 5). There is also a new frightknight timer above the causeway.
This is one of Lord Fear's nastier innovations. When the sword of the frightknight reaches the red dot, parts of the causeway will fall away.
The team directs Matt across using odd numbers.
Matt collects food, which triggers a blocker. The password from Ah-Wok gains him passage.
At the portal to Level 2, Matt meets a troubadour.
Troubador: "I am called Ridolfo by my friends. And by my enemies, I... I am also called Ridolfo."
He agrees to help in exchange for news. Matt tells him about the Dreadnort. In return, he plays a chord on his lute which opens the door.
Ridolfo: "What you need is the right key. Play the right key..."
Smirkenorff awaits. He now speaks to the dungeoneer (normally to ensure that they offer him payment).
Smirkenorff: "Dragon mint, ey? Most acceptable!"
He sets off to Level 2.
Level 2
Matt arrives in a courtyard, where he finds clues and a number 8 on the back wall.
The Level 2 clues: a firestone, a bottle of Moondust, handcuffs, and a sword. The scroll reads: "She makes magic. He sees red."
They take the firestone and Moondust.
Matt arrives in an undercroft vault, where Motley the jester is helping a lady to perform a ritual.
She introduces herself as Sidriss, the daughter of Hordriss the Confuser.
Sidriss: "My father's a mage, you know? Well, he used to be a wizard, but now he's a mage... He says I should be called 'Sidriss the Confused'!"
She tries again to evoke a brownie, but a pooka appears! Matt sacrifices his Moondust to get rid of it.
Sidriss offers a SAMURAI spell in return.
Spyglass: Lord Fear is trying to negotiate an alliance with the Witch Queen, Greystagg.
Greystagg: "We need access to the Amber Forest, that I concede. Yet, I'm not wholly convinced by your arguments, my lord."
Fear is furious at the reluctance. He spots Matt spying and puts his hand into the Pool of Voracity to grab him. Matt runs off just in time.
The team encounter Sylvester Hands, who tries to reassure Matt before tying him up.
They spell-cast SAMURAI to frighten him. Matt then pressures Hands into a bargain before they dispel.
Hands offers witch-amber and the password to Level 2 in exchange for the firestone.
In the next chamber, the Dreadnort marches in, which panics the team a little. It demands the password.
Dreadnort: "Pass in my master's name. Live in Fear."
Another courtyard, but the exit clearly marked with the Crown is above ground level. Fortunately, help is at hand from a witch who flies in haphazardly.
Pickle: "It's Heggatty the witch. Peggatty's sister. Still using that antiquated broomstick - never could point it in the right direction."
In exchange for the witch-amber, Heggatty casts a charm so Matt can fly to the upper exit.
Heggatty: "Bye bye, birdy!"
Death
Level 2 causeway. They have learnt the combination from all the rooms they have survived so far.
But they stray too close to the edge. Matt takes a tumble as the tiles fall away.
Treguard: "Ooh, nasty."
