from: the Asimov collection SORCERER (Infocom) Well, you took care of Krill and returned to the Guild Hall in triumph, but things don't look good for you at the moment. Not when you're standing there facing the slavering jaws of a vicious hellhound! Fortunately for you, this time, it's only a dream, so just wait, and you will wake up in your room in the Guild Hall. Whew! However, it's a bit dark in here, so Frotz your spellbook, get up, and head West into the hallway. Read the note on your door if you like, although it's not all that important. It just lets you know you are here alone. Now's a good a time as any to tell you that not all the spells you know will be useful in the game, nor all the potions you will find. So unless you're told specifically to take an item, you can safely ignore it. Now, head along South down the hall until you reach the Lobby. Go West into the Store Room, and pick up the Ochre Vial and the matchbook. Open the vial and drink the potion, which will prevent you from becoming hungry and thirsty. Drop the now-empty vial. Read the matchbook if you like, then return East and place the matchbook in the receptacle. Moving North twice, and West once, brings you to Belboz's quarters. Listen to the bird as you lift the wall hanging, revealing a key. Now examine the desk and open the drawer. Inside are several items, but the only useful one is the journal. Use the key to unlock the journal, then read it. Make CAREFUL note of the day's code!! Go East to the hall again, South once, and West into Helistar's room. Here you will find a scroll of Gaspar. Take and Gnusto the scroll, then head back to the hall, and South to the Lobby. By this time, you've probably heard the doorbell chime, which means the mail's in. Open the receptacle, and inside is an issue of Popular Enchanting and an Orange Vial. Get the vial, then go East into the Library. There is a scroll of Meef here. Get and Gnusto that one. Now, it's time to leave this place. If you've played the game before, you know that if you try going out the main entrance, you will be stopped. You may also know that if you DON'T get out, you will eventually fall asleep and find yourself in the Room of Living Death, which is MOST unpleasant, and from which there is no escape. So, now's the time to get a move on! Head down into the Cellar, where the trunk is. There are five buttons on the trunk, and each one is a different colour. The sequence to open the trunk is keyed to the code of the day in the journal, and will change with each game. The code itself is the colours of a monster from the Infotater. Whatever monster was noted in the journal, look it up on the Info- tater, and make note of its colours, and what order they are in. Save the game (just in case, because if you make even one little error, you will not be able to open the trunk!!), then press the buttons in the proper order as given in the Infotater. If you've done it right, the trunk lid will spring open by itself after you push the last button. If the trunk does not open, restore the game and try again. Ok, so now you have the moldy scroll of Aimfiz, which is one of those complex ones that you can only use once. Actually, you only need to use it once, so that's no problem. All you have to do is figure out which person you want to exchange places with. Since there aren't too many choices, it won't take you long to discover it's none other than Belboz himself. So, Aimfiz Belboz, and you're out of the Hall and on your way to visiting Jeear! Ok, so now you're out of the Hall, but look where the spell took you: to the same forest you were dreaming of at the start of the game. And there's the Hellhound, too! And this time, it's no dream! You better not wait around this time, so immediately head Northeast to the Forest Edge. Here you will find a Snake Hole, as well as paths North and East. The North path is mined with magical mines. This is a red herring in the game, as there is no way to go safely along the path. You can ignore it without fear of missing something important. The Snake Hole is another matter, so climb down into it, and then down again to the Slimy Room, and South from there into the Crater. Go West to the Chasm's Edge. You can't jump across the chasm, but flying over is no problem. Learn Izyuk twice, cast it on yourself once. Now just go West twice and you will be on the other side. Go North, and you will be in a room with what appears to be a tree of coins. However, that's an illusion, and you will only be able to get one coin. Take it, return to the Chasm Edge, then Izyuk and fly back across. Now go back the way you came, all the way to the Forest Edge. This time, go East to the Meadow (don't stop to admire scenery; those are MEAN locusts on the horizon!), then Northeast to the Riverbank. Learn the Pulver spell, then Pulver the river. It will dry up, and you can move East into the river, where you will see a small cave to the Northeast. Go there. Inside, you will find several items. Get the scroll with the Fweep spell, and Gnusto it. Then get the bat guano, but leave the vial; it has no use in the game. Now go down the hole, and you will be at the Pit of Bones. If you go South, you will find the Torture Chamber, which has another useless potion, so go Southwest into the Dungeon instead. From here, go up into the Ruins. Learn Izyuk again, then go West across the drawbridge (careful, don't fall in!!), then West again to the Meadow, where you now cast Izyuk on yourself. You have time to do that and move before the locusts arrive. Once you're flying, go Northeast to the Riverbank, and this time, Southeast to the Fort Entrance. You need to use Izyuk because the river bank has a distressing tendency to crumble after the first visit. Around about now, you're probably feeling sleepy. Don't worry about it, just lie down and sack out for awhile. You may or may not have a strange dream. Ignore any dreams, as they are just "for show", and have no important clues to the game. When you waken again, go East into the Parade Ground. There is a flag at the top of a tall flagpole; lower the flag and search it. You will find an Aqua Vial. Take that, it will come in handy later. Now, go East again, and you will be at the cannon. If you look inside, you will see what appears to be a pile of scrolls. Actually, they are not scrolls at all, but a group of Yipples, peacefully sleeping in the barrel. However, there IS one real scroll in there, and you will need it later. So, drop the bat guano into the barrel, and the Yipples will take off, leaving the real scroll, with the Yonk spell for you to take. You are now just about finished above ground. Return to the entrance, learn Izyuk twice, and fly Northwest to the River Bank, and Southwest to the meadow. Here you should Izyuk again (the drawbridge is like the river bank) and go East twice to the Ruins. From the Ruins, go down into the Dungeon, down again to the Highway, and then East to the Toll Gate and the sleeping Gnome. Wake him up and give him your Zorkmid. He'll open the gate, then promptly fall asleep again. Go East through the gate. Ignore the store; that's another red herring in the game. Continue East to the End of the Highway. There's a hut here, but we won't be looking in there just now. Instead, go North to the Entrance Hall, and then North again to the Glass Arch. You are about to enter the infamous Glass Maze. Getting through it the first time is quite easy; getting out again is quite another matter. There are two ways back, the long and hard way, or the quick and dirty way. If you want to go the easy route, learn Gaspar once and Fweep once, then Gaspar yourself right now. If you want do to it the hard way, learn Fweep three times. Ok, drop everything here, go East into the Maze, and Fweep yourself. Now fly along the following route: North, East, South, South, West, Down, East, East, North, North, Up, Up, South, East and you're now at the Hollow. Here you will find the Swanzp scroll, but you can't do much until Fweep wears off. So wait around until you're human again. As soon as you pick up the scroll, the maze layout will change. Oops! Now what? Well, first, drop the scroll down the hole (it's the chimney of the little hut). Now what you do next depends on how you decided to get back out. If you opted for quick and dirty, walk West, West, South, East, and you will fall through the Maze and splatter. However, the Gaspar spell will activate, and your Guardian Angel will restore you to life at the spot the spell was cast, which in this case was the Glass Arch. However, if you want to do it the hard way, then here's how: Fweep yourself, then fly the following route: West, West, South, Down, Down, West, West, Up, Up, North, North, Down, East. At about this point, the spell will wear off. Fweep again, and continue: South, East, North, Down, West, South, West, Up, West, and you're back at the Arch again. Whew!! Again, wait around till the spell wears off, then pick up everything and go to the hut. In the fireplace, you will see the Swanzo scroll. Gnusto the spell, and then take a nap, because by now you're tired again. Awakening refreshed, leave the hut and head on back to the Toll Gate. The Gnome is still here, and still asleep, so now's your chance: search him, and you will find your Zorkmid! All right! Now, keep going West until you come to the Bend, where you head Southwest to the Edge of the Crater, then Down into the crater itself. From there, move along South into the North/South tunnel, and the Southwest to the Amusement Park Entrance. Try to go West, and a Gnome will appear and demand a Zorkmid. Give him your coin, and then proceed West into the park. Of all the places here, only one is important: the Arcade. Everything else is pretty much for show. So, keep on West until you reach the end of the Midway, and then go South into the Arcade. Open the Aqua Vial, drink the potion, then drop the vial. You are now dexterous enough to win a prize, so take the ball and throw it at a bunny. POW! Direct hit! As the bunny goes flying, the hawker will give you a glittering scroll of Malyon. You don't need to Gnusto this one, as it will be used only once, and very soon. Now leave the park, and once back in the tunnel, go south and you will be in the Carving Room. One carving looks like a dragon, and that's the one you want. First, Yonk Malyon. Then, learn Malyon. Finally, Malyon Dragon. The souped-up spell brings the Dragon to life! Good thing for you it's not permanent, or you might have been fried to a crisp! In any case, there is now a passage South through the wall. Take that into the Sooty Room. Now you're about to enter the most bizarre part of the game. Open the Orange Vial. Frotz yourself. Go East into the Coal Bin room. There will be a cave-in behind you, so you can't go back now. In addition, you're having some some trouble breathing, so drink the orange potion and drop the vial. Suddenly, your Older Self appears, sliding down from the Upper Chute! Listen carefully, and your twin will tell you a number. Make careful note of it! Now, hand your spellbook to your Twin, who will take it and dive down the Lower Chute. Go East to the Dial Room. There is a dial on the door, which can be set to any number from 0-873. Set it to the number your Twin just gave you. This is also a variable number and will change from game to game. Then open the door, and go into the Shaft Bottom. Get the rope. Make sure that you have nothing with you now but that rope. If you have anything else, drop it. Climb up to the Shaft Top. Go Southwest into the mine. A timber is here (doesn't that bring back fond memories of Zork?). Tie the rope to the timber, then continue on Northwest and West. You are now at the top of the Upper Chute. Put the beam across the chute, then drop the rope down the chute. Finally, climb down the rope, and you will be in the Slanted Room. There is a scroll here, and also an opened lantern. Get the scroll, and Golmac yourself back in time. Now open the lantern, and get the Vardik spell. Time is running short, so go East down the chute into the Coal Bin room, where you will see....your Younger Self! Now, most important: you must do as your twin did before! Tell your Twin the combination to the Dial Room door. Now your Twin will give you the spell book, just as you did earlier (really one of the neater parts of this game!). As soon as you have the book, go down the Lower Chute to the Lagoon. Ah, air again! Take a deep breath, then sleep awhile, because you're probbaly tired again. Now learn Meef twice, Swanzo, once drop the spellbook, and go East into the Lagoon. Dive down to the bottom, and Meef the Spenseweeds, revealing a crate. Get the crate and return to shore. Drop and open the crate. Inside, among other things, is a can of grue repellant. Get that, and walk Northeast along the Ocean Shore and North to the Mouth of the River. There is a cave to the West, it's entrance covered by nasty- looking vines. Meef the vines, and Vardik yourself. Now, spray the repellant on yourself and enter the cave. Wow! Grues are everywhere, and they don't fear the light!! Fortunately though, the repellant still works. However, I wouldn't advise staying around! So, move along West and you will come to three doors. Two of them lead to VERY unpleasant circumstances. You don't want those, so open the white door. Inside the room is Belboz, who is possessed by the demon Jeear. Swanzo Belboz, and the demon will leave him, and attempt to enter YOUR mind! But the Vardik spell will keep him out, and, with no host available, he will vanish! Belboz will now regain his senses, and will magic the both of you back to the Guild Hall. Here Belboz announces his retirement, and names you as the new head of the Circle! Congratulations, Sorcerer! ********************************************************************