The Sanctum

*For information about the characters and lore, see Orpheus & Erudyce.*

**The Sanctum** is the final level of the Citadel in *Barony*, found on the thirty-fifth floor of the dungeon where the player confronts both Orpheus and Erudyce to thwart their plans at conquering the realms with their demonic strength.

## Description

The Sanctum is a massive arena dotted with several pools of lava and water, with several pillars inside the arena to use as cover. The arena itself uses most of the Citadel theme, with a lot of emphasis on teals, blues and brass colors across the whole of the arena, topped with an open stormy sky above. The players begin the floor outside the main arena, on a long and narrow bridge leading to the battle proper.

There are also two small off-shoots on both sides of the arena near where the battle commences, filled with bookcases and pistons. These areas are largely unimportant and used mostly for aesthetics. To prevent players from getting stuck once the walls of the arena shut these areas off, a portal can be found in each to teleport the player into the arena.

The room itself is protected from pickaxes and spells of digging, as the walls are immaculate and perfectly resistant to breaking in order to prevent cheating by expanding the arena unnaturally or to accessing the end portal before the fight itself is over. Similarly, Teleportation of any kind is restricted for the same reasons.

## Strategy

Once the player enters far enough into the arena itself, the walls behind the player close off and the archmagisters Orpheus and Erudyce begin their attacks on the player.

Like Baron Herx during his battle, both Orpheus and Erudyce float across the arena, ignoring the large pit in the center and the pools of lava and water. They will dash across the field when the player attempts to flee from them, often returning to a normal pace once they enter a suitable distance from the player. They can also use this dash to escape the player if they end up being attacked too quickly. Both liches are permanently protected by magic reflection of each other’s attacks, with player-cast spells registering as normal.

As their health depletes, both liches have the ability to teleport away from the player and begin to unleash a barrage of magic attacks from a set position in the arena. While attacking, the casting lich will be protected by a ring of bloodletting spells, dealing high amounts of damage if a player enters its circumference. Orpheus teleports randomly to one of the three lava pools on the outskirts of the arena, while Erudyce will always teleport to the center of the arena.

### Orpheus

Orpheus attacks the player with his crystal sword for heavy damage with a chance to inflict bleed on the player, frequently swarming their target in close quarters combat and preferring to stay very close to the player when using dashes. When the player is close but out of melee range, he can cast some spells when chasing the player. Fireballs and bloodletting are the attacks of choice, also able to cast Vampiric Aura once Erudyce has been killed.

He can charge up several attacks when close enough to the player, either unleashing a small rain of eight fireballs in a circle around his position, or a heavy cleave with his sword to deal high damage to his target.

When in casting mode, Orpheus can fire off fireballs in several distinct styles. He can fire off a single fireball, a volley of two fireballs, three fireballs simultaneously with the additional fireballs angled away from the direct shot, and a rain of fireballs which land in a straight line towards the player. He can also fire off a single bolt of bloodletting, as well as ending the casting with a short ranged ring of falling fireballs. If Erudyce is dead, this ending can instead be a casting of Vampiric Aura to start melee combat with.

### Erudyce

Erudyce attacks with her staff of cold, slowing down the player and chipping away at their health from a safe distance, making good use of her dashes to keep out of range of the player’s melee for most of the fight.

She also has an arsenal of spells that she can use to be a greater source of damage, using a three-bolt cluster of Magic Missile shots that she casts above her head. This attack is given a visual cue of large pink particles around her, able to hit the player with one or all of the bolts if they are close enough, but the downward trajectory effectively limits the attack’s range. She can also cast Slow, and single bolts of Drain Soul to regain health.

Like Orpheus, she can charge up an attack when the player is in close proximity, launching a ring of eight bolts of cold outwards. When Orpheus is gone, this attack is upgraded to use bolts of drain soul instead.

When in casting mode, Erudyce begins casting a barrage of magic missiles towards the player. These attacks are best dodged at a distance, or by standing behind a pillar as cover, as the missiles are very accurate due to Erudyce’s ability to mix bolts aimed directly at the player with bolts that aim where she expects the player to move.

### After Defeating one Lich

Once the player defeats one of the two liches, the surviving lich will become enraged, saying a line of dialogue and continuing to battle the player. Some new spells open up to the surviving lich, allowing them to heal off damage with Vampiric Aura or Drain Soul for Orpheus and Erudyce respectively.

Every time a lich teleports to begin firing off their spells, they can also summon several Corrupt Automatons to assist them in battling the player. These Automatons are initially hostile to the player, equipped with steel boots of levitation, a red cloak, and a weapon with appropriate offhand items to create three possible variants.

* A melee variant equipped with a crystal spear and a steel shield.
* A ranged variant equipped with a shortbow and piercing arrows.
* A magic variant equipped with a staff of lightning and a crystal shield.

Each Automaton’s weapons are prone to degrading, so an automaton with a staff will eventually be wielding only its shield. The items equipped by these Automatons will not drop upon their death.

### Aftermath

Once both Orpheus and Erudyce are defeated, the back wall of the arena will be destroyed, revealing a portal for the player to walk through. Any remaining Corrupt Automatons will also be instantly destroyed. Interacting with the portal will congratulate the player with the ending of the game, saving their statistics and deleting their file.

## Gallery

Both lich sibblings Erudyce (left) and Orpheus (right).The three types of Automaton fought after one of the liches has been defeated.Orpheus charging up one of his attacks while chasing the player.Orpheus casting fireballs towards the player.The wide-spread fireball rain after Orpheus is defeated.Erudyce charging up one of her attacks while chasing the player.Erudyce casting spells of Magic Missile towards the playerThe eight-shot spread of Drain Soul bolts after Erudyce is defeated.The Sanctum as seen through the Barony Editor named "sanctum.lmp"
## Trivia

* When defeated, Orpheus and Erudyce will drop their weapons and 100 Gold each, the crystal sword and staff of cold also being heavily cursed to level -5.
	+ If a Corrupt Automaton has burnt through their staff of lightning, or broke their crystal spear on the player, they can end up picking up either of these weapons off the ground and begin using it against the player.