Obsidian Fortress

The Obsidian Fortress in Daemon's Crag, surrounded by the Lava Lake and a co-creation of Pyros and Lithos, is both, the main testing ground for ongoing Sorcerers and the home of the master sorcerer, Malchir.

Once a novice enters the fortress, and passed the first rooms, the maze of four spells opens to him/her, where in each section a different spell has to be used to get a test symbol:


 * Test of Extinguish: the Sorcerer has to extinguish a fire.
 * Test of Flame Shield: the Sorcerer has to withstand fire attacks.
 * Test of Heat Shield: the Sorcerer has to walk through lava.
 * Test of Flash: the Sorcerer has to teleport over traps.

Once these symbols are gained, a novice is teleported to Malchir, who will conduct the final test. Should there be no test, the teleporter will always lead to Malchir's sanctum, which is forbidden territory for everyone else outside of tests.

The Avatar also went through the tests in Ultima VIII. Later, he/she returned to speak with Malchir. But Malchir, offended over this intrusion, attacked, and the Avatar was forced to kill him. However, inside the Obsidian Fortress, the Avatar finally found the answer how to leave Pagan.

Trivia

 * Multiple parts of the complete magic armor can be found here.