                            DEATH BRINGER

THE STORY

Two hundred years ago, the evil wizard Azazael challenged Zator the
Mighty to a duel for control of the land of Mezron.

Azazael was a very powerful sorcerer and was sure he had the upper hand.
But there was a secret he didn't know: Zator had in his possession five
magical gems. Each of these gems offered great power to whoever wielded
it; but when brought together, the gems bestowed on their holder powers
beyond all mortal comprehension.

Azazael found himself in the midst of the most ferocious and desperate
battle of his wicked career. For three days they fought, both suffering
grievous injuries. On the third day Zator, with a grim smile of triumph,
called upon the power of the gems. Azazael screamed in fury and fear when
he realized he had lost. The lightning bolts from the gems repelled all
his magic and sapped all his strength until, with one blinding flash,
the wizard lay dead.

Once he had recovered from his wounds, Zator settled in the ancient
royal palace in the fair city of Secnar. Under his rule, the entire
realm of Mezron prospered and the people were happy.

After many years, when Zator knew his life was nearing its end, he
realized that the power of the gems he held was too great to fall into
evil hands. So, he called for five of his most trusted warriors,
speaking with each one in secret. He gave each man one of the wonderful
gems and instructed him to hide it in the most inaccessible place he
could find. The men were to tell no one (not even Zator) where they hid
the gems. Four of the warriors travelled far and wide and had many
adventures before they found hiding places for the precious gems they
carried.

The fifth warrior believed that at least one gem should stay in the royal
palace, as sort of talisman for the kingdom. He braved the dank depths
of the castle's dungeons to find a secret place for the gem until he came
face-to-face with a hideous lich. The lich attacked and the ensuing
battle was dreadful. For a time the warrior prevailed, as he still had
possession of the magical gem. But as he fought, the gem fell out of his
cloak and rolled across the moldy floor. The lich saw this and knew its
chance had come. In a few seconds, the fearless warrior lay dead on the
cold stone floor, and the gleeful lich took possession of the gem.

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The kings who rose up in the decades after Zator's death were not as wise
or mighty as he, and Mezron eventually fell into a state of decay.
Finally, King Rohan took over the throne and began efforts to restore
the kingdom to its former glory. But there were evil forces at work in
Mezaron, and the worst of these was the cult of Azazael. These
necromancers worshipped the memory of the wicked wizard and were constant
in their efforts to revive their long-dead idol.

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One dark day, King Rohan received news that Azazael had been re-animated
and was waging a campaign of terror unequaled in the history of Mezron.
The DeathBringer, as Azazael was known as, was searching the land for the
five gems of Zator. Once he had the gems, the DeathBringer would be
undefeatable.

Realizing that the only hope for the land of Mezron was to prevent
Azazael from possessing the gems, Rohan sent out a decree offering great
honor and reward for the hero who could find the gems and bring them to
Secnar.

You, a barbarian warrior from the far north, arrive at the palace in Secnar
to offer your services to King Rohan. Along the way, you were ambushed by
bandits and have arrived weaponless and empty-handed, but full of
determination to make a name for yourself in Mezron.

King Rohan grants you an audience and tells you that each of the five gems
is held by a powerful creature. Azazael knows no more than you do about
where these creatures can be found, so you do have a chance to get the
gems before he does.

The king gives you a dagger, a lantern, a healing potion, and a loaf of
bread and bids you to return to him with the five gems of Zator.

THE GAME

You need a mouse and one disk drive to play DeathBringer. The game does
not use a joystick or a second drive.

Note: Format a blank disk for saving games before loading DeathBringer.

LOADING INSTRUCTIONS

   Turn on computer and monitor, Insert Disk 1 at the Workbench prompt
   and the game loads automatically. When prompted, remove Disk 1 and
   insert Disk 2.

STARTING THE GAME

   You begin the game in the throne room of the Castle of Secnar. King
   Rohan himself gives you your quest. When he has finished speaking,
   you may begin your quest.

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MAIN MENU SCREEN

   In these instructions, when you're told to "click," press once on the
   left mouse button (unless you are told specifically to click the
   right button).

The Action Screen displays the game's graphics.

The Message Window shows any communications from characters you meet,
and any other game messages.

The Commands Screen displays all the possible interactions you can
have with the game. The up and down arrows directly to the right of the
Commands Screen let you scroll the screen up and down when there is
more text to see.

The four arrow icons at the far right of the Commands Screen are for
moving around in the game. Click the up and down arrows to move forward
and back. Click the left and right arrows to turn left or right (you can
also move using the arrow keys on the computer's keyboard).

The six icons at the left of the Commands Screen are the Compass and
the Menu icons. In the center of the top row is the Compass (N), which
lets you see which direction you're heading at all times. Click on the
Menu Icons to select the menu you want to use. The menus are: Combat
(sword); Potions (bottle); Fitness (heart); Commands (C); and Spells
(scroll).

Note: You can also use keyboard commands to access the menus:

Comabat Menu        F1     Potions Menu     F2     Fitness Menu     F3
Commands Menu       F4     Spells Menu      F5


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Combat Menu - Click the sword icon. This presents a list of the weapons
   you have available. To do battle with a creature you see, click on
   the name of the weapon you want to use, then click on the picture of
   the creature you want to fight. Each time you click on the creature,
   you strike it with your weapon (it will fight back, of course). Keep
   clicking until it is dead (if you want to retreat, select RUN from
   the Commands Menu). When you defeat a creature, you can collect any
   items it was carrying (see The Inventory Screen, page 6).

   Caution: Weapons will break during use, so it's always good to have
   a backup weapon handy. If you fight with a person or creature who is
   accompanied by others, they will all join the battle against you.

Potions Menu - Click the bottle icon. This presents a list of the potions
   you're carrying. To use a potion, click on the potion's name. Some
   potion bottles contain more than one dose; click on these several
   times to imbibe the contents. When a bottle is empty, its name
   disappears from the menu. Some potions have time-limited effects;
   those limits are noted in real time.

   Healing improves your health.

   Strength improves your strength (for two minutes).

   Poison decreases your health. Poison potions are often disguised as
      Healing potions. But poison comes in black bottles.

   Invulnerability builds up your armor (for two minutes).

   Extra Healing improves your health twice as much as regular Healing
      potions.

   Stamina increases your stamina.

Fitness Menu - Click the heart icon. This brings up a display of your
   physical status: health, stamina, and strength.

   Health shows how much "life" is in you; if it goes to zero, you die.
      Health decreases when you're attacked or drink poison. Drink a
      healing potion or buy healing from a cleric to restore your health.

   Stamina reflects your reactions and ability to move (in other words,
      your "speed"). Stamina decreases over time, and can be increased
      by eating fresh food or drinking a stamina potion.

   Strength determines how effective you are at wielding weapons in
      combat. Strength decreases as you wander around and when you do
      battle (even if you aren't hit). Increase strength by eating
      fresh food or drinking a strength potion.

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The Fitness Menu also lets you see if there are objects or characters
in your vicinity. Indicators light up next to the word OBJECTS or
CHARACTERS, and point in the direction the objects or characters are
located. For example, if there are objects or characters to your right,
the indicator looks like >> .

Commands Menu - Click on the C. This brings up a list of commands.
   Click on the name of a command to use it.

   OPEN/CLOSE  Click here to open (or close) an unlocked door.

   LOCK/UNLOCK  Click here to lock (or unlock) a closed door.

   TALK  Click here, then on the character onscreen. Messages will
         appear in the Message Window.

   RUN  Click here to backtrack your last few steps (if you come up
        against a locked door, you'll stop).

   BUY ALE  When you're in an inn, click here to buy ale from the
            barman. This refreshes your stamina.

   HEALING  Click here to buy healing from a cleric; this restores
            health.

   TELEPORT  If you have the right item, click here to teleport to the
             safety of an inn from anywhere in Mezron.

   SAVE/LOAD  Click here to save a game or load a saved game (be sure to
              have a formatted disk ready for saving games). Follow the
              prompts. You can save only 1 game on a save-game disk.

Spells Menu - Click on the scroll (spells are written on parchment
              scrolls). This brings up a list of the spells you have
              available. To use a spell, click on its name. Once a spell
              has been used, its name disappears from the menu. Some
              spells have time-limited effects; those limits are noted
              in real time.

   Fireball causes damage to all creatures in your location.

   Poison Cloud causes damage to all creatures in your location,
      including yourself!

   Shield builds up your armor.

   Light illuminates a dark room for two minutes.

   Strength adds points to your strength for two minutes.

   Firestrike causes heavy damage to all creatures in your location.

   Death kills one creature in your location (selected randomly).

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THE INVENTORY SCREEN

   Click the right mouse button to call up the Inventory Screen. This
   screen shows an illustration of a barbarian warrior (that's you). If
   you have previously selected a weapon to use from the Command Menu,
   that weapon is displayed in the lower corner of the screen.

   The Inventory Screen has two bars at the top, titled YOU and HERE.
   Click on one of these titles (left button) to pull down an
   inventory window. The YOU window shows icons representing the items
   you are carrying. The HERE window shows icons representing items in
   your current location. Up and down arrows at the right of the windows
   let you scroll the screen up and down when there are more items to
   see. Click on the title again to close the window.

   The name of any item you click on is shown at the bottom of the screen.
   Collect items by transferring them from HERE to YOU. Drop items by
   transferring them from YOU to HERE. Drag items to transfer them from
   one window to the other.

   Click on an item and hold down the mouse button to drag the item from
   window to window.

   At the right side of the screen is an icon for gold. When you possess
   any gold, a number next to this icon shows how many pieces you have
   (each "bag" of gold you collect represents one gold piece).

   When you collect genuine gems (other than Gems of Zator), their value
   is automatically converted to gold. As you collect Gems of Zator,
   icons representing those Gems appear beneath the gold icon.

   To eat, drag the food icon over the mouth of the figure at the left
   of the screen. To wear an item of armor, drag the selected icon over
   the figure.

   When you defeat a creature in battle, the HERE window will depict its
   dead body. To search the body for treasure, double-click on it.
   Anything that creature was carrying will then show up in the HERE
   window.

   Weights - You can carry up to 40 units of weight. This is important
      when deciding which items to collect and which to leave behind.

      Bags and chests make it possible for you to carry more weight. A
      bag can carry up to 3 units, but it still only weighs 1 unit! A
      chest (which weighs 10 units) can hold up to 10 units without
      increasing its weight. A magic spell book holds up to 7 scrolls
      and always weighs 1 unit.

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      Open these containers by double-clicking on them (the title above the
      window changes to BAG, CHEST, or SPELLS). Drag items to move them in
      or out of the containers. Click on the title to close a container.

   Exit the Inventory Screen - Click the right mouse button to exit. If
      you are inside a building, forest, etc., this action takes you back
      to the Main Screen. If you are outdoors, you go directly to the
      Map Screen.

TABLE OF WEIGHTS

   The chart below shows some of the items you can find and their weights.
   The weapons are listed in order of their effectiveness, from most
   powerful, to least powerful.

           Weapons                         Other Items

Wand..................  1              Bag..................  1
Magic Halberd......... 10              Chest................ 10
Magic Sword...........  4              Magic Book...........  1
Magic Longsword.......  6              Lantern..............  1
Longsword.............  6              Food.................  1
Halberd............... 10              Scrolls..............  1
Magic Mace............  4              Gold.................  0
Magic Shortsword......  5              Gems.................  0
Magic Rapier..........  6              Armor (if worn)......  0
Mace..................  4              Potions........1, 2 or 3
Shortsword............  5               (depends on how many doses)
Rapier................  6
Ritual Dagger.........  1
Magic Dagger..........  2
Dagger................  2
Scimitar.............. 10

THE MAP SCREEN

   This screen shows you a map of Mezron. Your location is marked by a
   cross (+). You can't move around on this screen, but it's very useful
   for determining which direction you want to travel.

   To exit the Map Screen, click the right mouse button. This takes you
   back to the Main Screen.

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LOCATIONS

   To complete your quest, you must travel throughout the land of Mezron.
   All these locations appear on the game's Map Screen (except the
   Labyrinth, which is visible only when you approach it). You have to
   explore most of them to discover which is which, since their names are
   not announced when you enter.

   Palace of Secnar - The royal palace, this is the residence of King
      Rohan and his courtiers, as well as of many dark and mysterious
      creatures.

   Inns - These are friendly places where a weary traveler can find
      conversation and refreshment.

   Cottages - Four little cottages house enemies of the DeathBringer.

   Caves of Doom - A legendary race of dwarves lives and mines gold in
      the depths of these caverns. It is rumored that a hideous, violent
      rock monster, created by the DeathBringer, also lurks here.

   Forest of Light Elves - This forest is the haven of the elven race.
      They, too, are at war with Azazael, and they may be able to help
      you in your quest for the gems. But be cautious, since their goals
      are not the same as yours.

   Forest of Dark Elves - Beware! The elves who live here are always on
      the alert, prepared to attack all who enter.

   Forest of Doom - Residents of Mezron avoid this foreboding lair,
      since the gnome inhabitants engage in bizarre rituals that often
      include human sacrifice.

   Assassins' Lair - This gloomy hideout is said to be in one of Mezron's
      cool, green forests. Members of this secret society are
      recognizable by their green clothing and poisoned weapons. They are
      in league with the DeathBringer himself.

   Assassins' Outpost - Deep in this forest, a group of assassins is
      plotting to invade the Royal Palace and poison King Rohan and all
      who are with him.

   Labyrinth - This dangerous maze is invisible on the Map Screen, but
      you'll see it if you approach its gates. The labyrinth is the lair
      of the evil Meduasal those who gaze upon her countenance turn to
      stone. Minotaurs stand guard to keep intruders from Medusa's main
      treasure room.

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   Temple of Set - The followers of the snake god, Set, practice their
      forbidden rituals here. They practice human sacrifice and are
      thoroughly evil. The high priestess can transform herself into a
      demon to devour her enemies.

   Tower of Lord Thull - In days long past, Lord Thull was King Rohan's
      best knight; but he plotted to usurp the throne, and was banished
      to this dark tower.

   Tower of the Ghost - A mysterious wraith dwells in this tower. He
      attempts to lure unwary travellers into a bizarre quest for his
      remains.

   Towe of the Demon Master - The conjuror who lives here has the power
      to summon demons from the pits of Hell (or so the story goes).

   Tower of the Necromancer - This is the dwelling place of the high
      priest of the cult of Azazael. Legend says that everytime this priest
      is killed, he rises again to take revenge on his enemies.

HINTS FOR GAMEPLAY

Your goal is to find the gems of Zator and return them to King Rohan in
the Palace at Secnar. This is the only way to defeat the forces of
Azazael the DeathBringer.

Keep a map of the land of Mezron and the floorplans of each location you
visit. The game's Map Screen gives you a good overview, but does not
include details you need in order to complete your quest.

A great place to start your explorations is in the palace itself, since
there are many people and creatures there who can give you extremely
valuable information about your quest.

Don't attack anyone unless he has an item you need and won't give it to
you any other way. Naturally, if someone starts attacking you, you
won't gain anything by trying to engage him in conversation.

There are certain items you must possess in order to defeat each of the
creatures that holds a gem.

Note: If you die, it is necessary to reload the game. Be sure to save
often.

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       Complete manual provided by  THE HELLION  &  THE CORSAIR
                             PARANOIMIA

