                        C I T A D E L  of  V R A S
                        --------------------------

                                   by

                            Sarv. Engelhardt

                              Released by

                                MYSTIX

     Near the outer rim of the Galaxy, at the fringe of the Galactic
   Federation of Planets, the legendary planet of Vras and its
   companion moon Nigris circle a faint red star. According to ancient
   space-lore there existed in bygone millenia a race of beings, the
   Old Ones, who had left their physical bodies in order to join forever
   the all-pervading cosmic intelligence. Before they did so, they left
   behind a way for others to follow them, a talisman of immense power
   hidden somewhere amongst the ruins of their civilization. A vast
   structure on Vras known as  the Citadel is rumoured to  house  the
   Talisman of Truth, as it came to be known. For thousands of years the
   Talisman has attracted adventurers from all parts of the galaxy.
   Many intelligent life-forms, driven by greed or lust for power, still
   roam the endless passages of the Citadel, hoping to discover the
   treasured Talisman.  Lately it is said that the infamous space-pirate
   Sarkov and his band of evil Graids from the planet Salutè have taken
   over the Citadel. They have set up an impenetrable force-field around
   Vras, barring entry to all space craft.
       Your mission starts on Nigris, the large moon orbiting Vras,
   where you will assemble a group of dedicated adventurers pledged
   to keep the Talisman from falling into evil hands.  And, of course,
   to find out the Truth for themselves!



   Getting Started
   ---------------
   You must create five adventurers, choosing from the six types:

    1 Jedi Knight
    2 Arcturian Giant
    3 Horb Ant-Warrior
    4 Denk Mentat
    5 Lamian Elfin
    6 Sirian Lizard-Man

   Up to 15 characters can be created (and saved when the game is saved),
   but only the first five can be active. The rest are kept in 'storage'
   and can be retrieved if needed.
   Each type has its own special attributes, a combination of physical
   and psychic factors. Study the table of Psychic Powers available
   to the various types. There are five basic qualities:- Weapon Skill,
   Intelligence, Dexterity, Constitution, and Luck, which are set at
   the time of creating the character. In addition, the characters
   life force (hit-points) and psychic energy (p.e. points) depend on
   the type and level of advancement. A character needs to gain a certain
   amount of experience points by combat before being eligible for
   advancement and training in higher psychic powers. You must find
   the Bureau of Advancement on Nigris, located near the Spaceport.

      Jedis are natural leaders, combining good fighting
   skill with strong psychic powers, especially at higher levels. It is
   essential to have a Jedi in your party, as you will need his abilities
   to get through some parts of the game.
      Arcturians and Ant-Warriors are great fighters, with high weapon
   skills and good constitutions. Their powers develop slowly with
   experience.
      The Mentat is highly intelligent and psychic, but weak in weapon
   skills. His psychic powers amply compensate for this, however. A
   tough little character, not to be taken lightly.
      Lamian Elfins are fragile, highly psychic creatures, famed through-
   out the galaxy for their healing powers. A must for your mission.
      The Sirian Lizard packs quite a charge in his electrical cells!
   A good fighter with many psychic powers. Very handy.

   As characters are advanced they gain points in some  qualities,
   and may strengthen  any weaknesses they may have started with.
   Also their abilities to use certain weapons may change as their
   experience increases.
      During the game you may find many items, either won in combat
   or otherwise, which you can use or sell. A weapon or shield is
   not useful until it is "equipped" by the character. The same is
   true for spacesuits, always necessary because the atmospheres on
   Nigris and Vras are unbreathable by all members of the party.
   Only one weapon and one shield can be equipped at a given time.
   Certain special weapons can only be used (equipped) by the right
   character type, for example the light-sabre by the Jedi Knight.


   Combats
   -------
   You will encounter many different kinds of creatures in your travels.
   Some can be greeted, with a good chance of avoiding combat. Others
   are too hostile or evil or mad and never respond to a greeting. Some
   will attack you first without warning or provocation, although not
   predictably. Certain beings attack physically or with weapons, others
   blast you with psychic forces. As you advance in the game the beings
   you will meet get more powerful and numerous and you will need careful
   strategies to overcome them.
      If you decide to attack there are three options - physical attack
   with weapons, using a power, or defend. The 'defend' option is very
   useful to protect a weak character, since it greatly reduces the
   severity of damage from an opponent's hit. It also becomes more
   effective as the level of the character increases.
      When one of your characters uses a power it becomes active
   immediately and cannot be revoked. Only the first three characters
   can be attacked physically, but should one of them die the next one
   down becomes vulnerable. All characters are susceptible to psychic
   attack at all times.  Powers that shield last throughout the whole
   encounter. If you meet an unknown group of creatures its a good idea
   to use a gut-wrench or psychic-shield before they hit you. Note
   that many of the powers become stronger as the character's level
   increases, although this is compensated by the more powerful enemies
   you encounter. Each power uses up a certain amount of the character's
   psychic energy (p.e. in table). Hit points and p.e. points are
   regenerated with time, at a rate determined by the character's
   constitution and intelligence, respectively. This rate may be increased
   if the character possesses certain objects to be found in the Citadel.
   Hitting an opponent creature depends on weapon skill, dexterity,
   and luck, but beyond a certain skill level luck and dexterity are
   no longer needed. Finding objects depends on intelligence and luck.

   General Hints
   -------------
   There are nine mazes in Citadel of Vras, each is 20 x 20 squares in
   extent. You need to search every room to find all the clues and items
   necessary to complete the game.
        Items can be bought and sold at the Spacefarer's Store on
   Nigris, located not far from the Spaceport.
         When certain items or powers are in use you will be
   notified by small icons appearing between the text and graphic
   windows.
         Fleeing from an encounter has a better than even chance of
   succeeding. It will always succeed when you are invisible or have
   put the foes to sleep!
         Fighting a large group of monsters requires careful strategy,
   using the available powers and weapons in the most advantageous
   way. A wrong move here can easily get your party wiped out!
         Getting back to Nigris to advance your characters can be a
   problem - remember there's always a reasonably short route, you
   only need to find it!

   Playing Instructions
   --------------------
   The "Citadel of Vras" diskette must be in df0:. This will
   load and start the game automatically. To restart the program
   after quitting, enter from CLI :-
     makedir ram:bobs
     Citadel

   The game can be controlled from mouse and/or keyboard.
   The cursor keys control movement :-

    /|\  move forwards.
     |
    -->  turn right.
    <--  turn left.
     |
    \|/  turn around.

   Options available only at Nigris Spaceport are:-

    C  create a character.
    N  rename a character.
    O  order the party.
    A  add a character to party from storage.
    R  remove a character to storage.
    D  delete a character.

   Options available at all times are:-

    Q    quit the game.
    S    save the game to disk (any formatted disk in df0:)
    L    load a saved game.
   1-5   view character 1 to 5 (or click on character table)

   Options available only outside Nigris Spaceport are:-

    P    pool credits.
    Z    use a power.
    I    use/equip/drop/trade an item.
    T    set text scroll speed for combats (must be set before
         combat starts).

   When the option "Continue" appears throughout the game, press
   the space-bar or click left mouse-button on the word.
       At the beginning of the game you will be prompted to load the
   graphics into ram: disk. This speeds up the game but requires
   an extra 200 K available memory.




                             THE POWERS
                             ----------

Character Type    Power      Level  P.E.    Description
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jedi Knight       Panic Fear   2    3       Good chance of causing 1-8
                                            creatures to run away.
                  Freeze Foes  2    5       Paralyses a group of foes,
                                            causing them to miss one
                                            round of combat.
                  Invisibility 3    10      The party becomes invisible for
                                            a number of combat rounds and
                                            cannot be attacked.
                  Gut Wrench   3    7       The attackers are weakened for
                                            the duration of combat.
                  Levitation   4    8       Levitates the party for one move.
                  Healing IV   5    18      Restores one character's hit
                                            points to full value. Also
                                            cures poisoning.
               Glance of Death 6    24      Instantly kills one opponent.
                 Resurrection  7    30      Restores one Character to
                                            life with 1 hit point.
               Psychic Shield  8    14      Reduces severity of psychic
                                            attack by a factor of ten.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Denk Mentat     Illusions      1    2       The attackers become befuddled
                                            and miss one combat round.
                Mind Mash      1    3       Delivers a psychic blow of
                                            10-30 pts on one foe.
                Sleep          2    8       Sends a group of creatures to
                                            sleep for a number of rounds.
                Location       3    2       Gives the party's location
                                            in terms of coordinates.
                Madness        3    5       Excellent chance of a group
                                            1-8 foes to flee in terror.
                E.S.P.         4    5       Extra Sensory Perception
                                            of unusual objects or dangers.
                Mind Blast     4    8       Blasts a group of creatures
                                            for over 70*level points.
                Levitation     5    10      Levitates the party for 1 move.
                Brain Block    6    20      Kills one opponent instantly.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lamian Elfin    Healing I      1    3       Restores 5 points to one Chr.
                Healing II     2    5       Restores 15 points
                Healing III    3    8       Restores 30 points and cures
                                            poisoning.
                Suspend Breath 3    5       Protects in case of loss of
                                            spacesuit for about 20 moves.
                Healing IV     4    12      Restores full hit points
                                            to one Character and cures
                                            poisoning.
                Energy Drain   4    8       Drains a creature and weakens it.
                Resurrection   5    20      Brings one Character to life
                                            with one hit point.
                Blindness      6    8       Afflicts a group of creatures,
                                            causing them to miss a number
                                            of combat rounds.
                Heal All       7    30      Restores all Characters to
                                            full strength and cures all
                                            afflictions.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arcturian Giant   Pulverize    5    10      Smashes up to 600 points of
                                            damage to one creature.
                  E.S.P.       6    14      See Mentat's powers.
                  Levitation   7    18      See Jedi's powers.
                  Brain Wash   8    20      Numbs a group of creatures
                                            for over 70*level points.
               Suicidal Gloom  9    30      Fatal depression for one foe.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Horb Ant Warrior  Poison Strike 5   10      Over 400 points damage to one
                                            creature plus drains a level.
                  Blindness     6   14      See Lamian's powers.
                  Location      7   10      See Mentat's powers.
                  Paralysis     8   24      Halts a group of creatures
                                            for several combat rounds,
                                            regardless of their strength.
                 Sting of Horb  9   30      Kills one opponent instantly.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sirian Lizard     Nerve Pulse   2    3      Inflicts 10-30 damage points
                                            to one opponent.
                  Inner Fire    3    6      Roasts one foe for up to
                                            220 damage points.
                  Lightning     4   15      Blasts one opponent for up
                                            to 600 damage points.
                  Location      5   12      See Mentat's powers.
                 Electrocution  6   20      Kills one foe instantly.
                Shock treatment 7   25      Shocks a group of creatures
                                            for over 70*level damage.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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