ToME WikiArvedui's Galleon is a SpecialLevel on DungeonLevel 35 of the dungeon Helcaraxe, created by Lord Dimwit.
Original comments: This large level is a variation on the classic ghost ship theme; the ship was caught in the Helcaraxe and everyone on board died. The polar waters surrounding the ship contain some unpleasant surprises for inquisitive and unwary adventurers -- the hardest monsters on the map are actually there.
A few faraway Eye druj surrounded by traps will kill you QUICKLY if you don't have a ranged attack or spell. Area spells especially useful since in here eye druj come in pairs...
Detect & avoid traps and monsters if you can. Or take them out -- but be sure to only catch the attention of a just a few at a time -- they will be more than enough (but it IS possible to clear out the whole level). There are no breeders here, so bring plenty of food and take your time. If you can disarm traps with a spell or stick, consider bringing and using that tool -- your hands may well be shaking and your heart thumping in the Galleon at certain points when you see your @ go to a 2, so don't count on always just going around a trap you've detected -- you literally may physically fail the task.
Be prepared for a challenge that is very out of depth relative to Helcaraxe as a whole. For this reason, if you actually care about the reward, wait until you yourself are "out of depth" for Helcaraxe until diving deep enough within it to hit the Galleon (10 levels? not sure) -- you don't want to lose out because you had to run away.
This is a no-teleport special level. Bring a method of zero-fail LOS breaking, be it stick, spell, 'U'se ability, mimicry, or thaumaturgy. You will be very glad you did. Bring healing, but be aware that there are some problems here healing alone won't solve very effectively. If you have non-LOS-breaking anti-summoning tools, you might want them tool.
There are ice walls which will block your progress. Unlike normal granite walls, they cannot be removed with the Dig spell. You'll need an actual pick or shovel, or some other means of removing ice walls....
There is one guaranteed artifact on this level, the Mage Staff of Forochel.
Comments
LordDimwit: Having written the Galleon, and having run through it with a couple of characters since, I think I can confirm that yes, it is extremely difficult... likely too difficult for its depth. However, I think that it's designed to do two things: firstly, to compensate for the lack of difficult special levels in the midgame (and thus prepare the player for the later ordeals of the Crypt / Dim Gates / Nameless / Mount Doom) and to punish a specific sort of character, namely, the powerful warrior who lacks flexibility (distance attacks, LOS disruption, and the like). A strong, strategic spellcaster should be able to get through it without too much trouble, and even most Priests or Loremasters should be able to cope. Thus the abundance of traps, strong immobile spellcasters, and the like.
Given that, I think that the primary problem with the Galleon is that there's no real warning about its presence; if you come upon it unawares and unprepared, you're likely going to suffer for it.
Needless to say, I'm not at all averse to having it changed or toned down; that's what new versions are for 