Magus's Lair

General Information

Chrono Trigger

Era: 600 A.D.
Music: Battle with Magus, Confusing Melody, Magus's Castle, Mystic Chant
Items: 1 Barrier, 1 Dark Mail, 1 DoomFinger, 1 Lapis, 1 MagicScarf, 2 Magic Tabs, 4 Mid Ethers, 2 Mist Robes, 1 Revive, 2 Shelters, 1 Slasher, 1 Speed Belt
Enemies: Decedent, Flunky, Grimalkin, Groupie, Hench (Purple), Juggler, Omnicrone, Outlaw, Roly Roly Bomber, (Save point), Sorcerer, Vamp
Bosses: Flea, Magus, Ozzie, Slash

Magus's Lair is an dark tower that houses the Mystics' leadership, including Magus and the Mystical Knights. Set upon the continent of Medina, it is an imposing structure adorned with a huge gargoyle at the top. A shady forest surrounds it, and access is limited to passage through a Magic Cave to the west. Inside, arcane magic is refined and practiced, and dark rituals are performed for the war effort. At the top of the structure lies a huge summoning room, complete with an occult figure at the head and a large seal upon the floor. It is here that Magus summoned Lavos in part, resulting in the annihilation of the lair and his own destruction. Crono and his friends assaulted the lair and confronted several illusions and formidable enemies such as Flea and Slash. The party endured a long ascent to the top to battle Ozzie, who set traps for Frog and his friends. After his defeat, the party confronted Magus, and the resulting battle interrupted the spell to summon Lavos. This created a huge distortion in time that threw the party to 65000000 B.C. and Magus to 12000 B.C., where he would become the Prophet. The lair was subsequently wiped off the face of the planet, though the Mystical Knights escaped to Ozzie's Fort. Their comments and the notes of Guardian knights suggest that human warriors were responsible for bringing down Magus's Lair after Magus disappeared.

Summoning Circle

The design of Magus's summoning circle is interesting, considering most RPG and anime summoning circles simply feature geometric designs and random runes.

The circle in Magus's Lair is distinct in comparison. Four fire-breathing creatures seem to adorn the quadrant borders. The circle is segmented seemingly to represent a compass, with four cardinal directions. The border contains four additional diagonal directions.

Altogether, it sort of looks like a Mandala, a Buddhist emblem. maggiekarp speculates that the four sections merely represent the four elements of magic in the Chrono Trigger universe. Another interesting design note, often missed, can be found in the architecture around the windows. Sculptures of two women hold up the pillars around the curtain rod (they're tiny, so look hard):