My Necromancer has a rank of 20 in Alchemy...should be enough I'd have hoped....but its all been in vain.
Oh well, disbelieving Riki's 'too many guards' theory, I took a tour of the first couple of levels in the War Tower, cleared the Cleric Tower, then rested on the final level. I then returned to the guards on level 3 and gave them some whoppo.
First I used Acid Fog in combination with Web, warded the entrance, then summoned a Scrag to take any who make it to entrance. A couple of fireballs and flamestrikes and frantic missile work from distance and I was surprised at how well my party was looking. They had reinforcements however, which sprung at us from the corridor - one of the Ruinlords and friends. My party had to retreat and go into solid melee formation but eventually overcame them. This was a relatively easy battle compared to claustrophobia of the cleric tower!
Tempted to get no sleep at all and keep playing, but perhaps I'd best savour it whilst it lasts. [img]smile.gif[/img]