The Odyssey: One Step at a Time

My map of the dungeon so far. Click to enlarge. This entry concerns the dungeon map at the top of the screen. It's large, but not enormous, right? In a typical RPG, say The Bard's Tale, a level like this might take 30 or 40 minutes. But in The Odyssey, which has a completely different design philosophy, this partial level took me about six hours. Let's break it down: I arrive via a ladder at Point 1 (northwest corner). Door 2 is a rare unlocked door. In the chamber beyond, I find a statue of a beautiful woman (3) and a ghost moping around it (4). I talk to the ghost. He introduces himself as Antiphos. He mourns for his lost love, Julia, the woman depicted in the statue. "Once I was a proud warrior, one of the strongest in the land. And she was queen of one of the Thebikan cities." Julia agreed to marry Antiphos after his battle against "the Derondae," but he died in the battle. His spirit cannot move on without knowing whether Julia truly loved him. He asks me to bring him some proof.…