 ARTHUR: THE QUEST FOR EXCALIBUR

 Bob Bates is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. His first effort
for Infocom (SHERLOCK) was so rich in atmosphere and so well written, the
player found himself immersed in the England of Sherlock Holmes. ARTHUR has
the same power to draw you into the story and make you believe you're about
to become the famous King.

 You find yourself in the Graveyard, attempting to draw the legendary
Excalibur from the rock in which it has been embedded for so long. Just as
you feel the sword start to give, Merlin appears and tells you the true
story of your birth. He tells you that before you can ascend to the Throne
of England, you must prove yourself worthy. Then he vanishes, leaving
behind only a torque: The Quest for Excalibur has begun!

 GET TORQUE THEN EXAMINE IT. You will find that a torque is a kind of
necklace, and this one has strange crystals embedded in it. EXAMINE
CRYSTAL. Merlin will appear and tell you that by looking in the crystal you
can obtain help from him (hints). However, you can also take temptation out
of the way by typing HINTS OFF, which will remove the hints until you
re-boot the game. Now WEAR TORQUE, so you don't lose it.

 We'll assume you don't need a hint yet, so let's proceed. You've been
assigned a Quest by Merlin, and every knight knows there's one thing you
must do before setting off on a quest. Go east into the chapel, then PRAY.
Now, go west and you'll hear voices approaching the graveyard. (If you
don't, go south and OPEN GATE; you'll hear the voices then.) You can still
be arrested for a curfew violation, so HIDE BEHIND STONE. You'll be a
witness to the theft of Excalibur, but there's nothing you can do about it
now, so just WAIT. You'll soon fall asleep. When you wake up in the
morning, you hear Lot telling the people a cock-and-bull story about you
being dead, his being in possession of Excalibur, and the rightful King. He
plans to hold his coronation in three days, so you don't have much time to
foil his plans.

 GET UP, then go out and south, and you'll find yourself in the Village
Square, face to face with the Village Idiot. He'll tell you to "Beware the
Invisible Knight." ASK IDIOT ABOUT INVISIBLE KNIGHT and he'll give you a
clue which you really won't need if you play your cards right. Since it's
not very chivalrous to keep referring to him as an Idiot, ASK IDIOT ABOUT
HIMSELF. He'll tell you that his name is FLOYD and reveal that he's not
quite as stupid as people might think. THANK FLOYD for some extra chivalry
points. (It pays to be polite!)

 You suddenly remember that Merlin told you to come and see him beyond tle
Meadow, so you'd better go do that. Go west twice to Outside the Town Gate,
then southwest. Uh-oh! Guess Floyd wasn't kidding about the Invisible
Knight! And guess what? He'll steal everything you're carrying every time
you go through the Meadow. But we'll deal with him later. Right now, just
continue northwest twice where you'll meet up with Merlin.

 Merlin will go into a lengthy explanation of how he's going to give you
help (but not too much!). Read what he says carefully. You should probably
jot down the five animals you can become. When it's time to use the spell,
it should be obvious which one will be better for that particular task.
Also make note of the restrictions. His warning about people becoming upset
doesn't apply to Floyd; Floyd is not impressed by magic.

 Go north into Merlin's cave. GET BAG, then LOOK INTO CRYSTAL BALL. This is
the source of power for the crystal you're wearing. Go south, then
southeast twice. Oh, well. It was a nice bag while you had it! Don't worry,
we'll get it back pretty soon. Go northeast and east twice to the Village
Green. Somewhere along here your stomach should begin growling, and we must
do something about it. Go south into the Tavern, then south into the
kitchen. You'll see some cheese and a bird. The bartender won't let you get
the cheese; for now just EXAMINE BIRD. You'll find that he's jumping up and
down in the cage and apparently trying to communicate. If only you spoke
BIRD! Well, just WAIT until the cook is called into the tavern. You don't
have a second to lose! CYR OWL, and you'll be able to understand what the
bird says. Now, CYR HUMAN, OPEN CAGE, GET KEY, UNLOCK CUPBOARD, THEN OPEN
IT.

 TAKE BOTTLE AND CHEESE. The cook may come back just as you're getting the
cheese and bottle, but just go north, and you'll escape with your booty.

 Once back in the tavern, EAT CHEESE, then LISTEN for some interesting
clues about getting in the castle. Keep listening until they lower their
voices. Then, go north, east, and south to the Smithy. EXAMINE HOLE and
you'll find that it looks like a badger hole. Ring any bells? CYR BADGER
and go DOWN to his den. See those old stones in the castle wall? Piece of
cake! PUSH STONE, then go east into the cell. CYR HUMAN (the prisoner is
chained and he can't attack you). ASK PRISONER ABOUT GUARDS, and he'll tell
you they come when he calls them. GET STONE, then HIDE BEHIND DOOR, and
CALL GUARD.

 You may have to WAIT once for the guard to enter the cell. If you do, read
the description of what's happening carefully. When you see that the guard
has his back to you and is looking at the prisoner, you'll be asked if you
want to continue waiting. Say NO, then HIT GUARD WITH STONE. GET HELMET AND
KEY, UNLOCK PRISONER WITH KEY, and GIVE HELMET TO PRISONER. Now, go north,
and east twice; MOVE TAPESTRY, and go east again. Go north twice and you'll
be behind the throne. WAIT FOR BELLS. The King will divulge the new
Password. He'll give a Verse and Line number referring to the poem that
came with the documentation. Stop waiting and go south four times. This is
a good place to save your game. You're about to do something dangerous;
besides, you want to LOCK IN the password because it's variable with every
game.

 This is a fine kettle of fish! You can't go back, and there's a fire in
front of you. How can you get through the fire? Didn't you ever read
"Fahrenheit 451"? Simple! CYR SALAMANDER, and go west through the fire.
(You'll drop the key and stone, but you don't need them any more.) Once in
the Kitchen, you'll see a pumice stone and a barrel. CYR HUMAN. LOOK IN
BARREL, and you'll discover there's water in it! It's too heavy to lift,
but if you PUSH BARREL, the fire will be quenched. The prisoner will join
you. You never know when a polishing stone will come in handy, so GET
STONE, then OPEN DOOR, and go northwest.

 Go south into the Armoury. Ah, just what a Knight needs! WEAR ARMOUR (you
can spell it the American way if you wish), and TAKE SHIELD. A Knight can't
be seen with a tarnished shield! POLISH SHIELD WITH STONE, then DROP STONE.
Go north and west. The guard will ask you for the password, so type SAY
"xxxxxx xxxxx xxxx xxx" and you'll find yourself outside the castle where
the grateful prisoner will tell you where you can find a hidden sword. At
this point, he'll leave.

 Before going after your sword, you'd better retrieve what you dropped when
you became a badger. Go south and GET BOTTLE. Then go east twice to the
Village Green. CYR BADGER (handy little creature isn't it?) and DIG IN
ROOTS. Aha, there's the sword! CYR HUMAN and GET ALL. Go west, north,
northwest, and north to the Edge of Woods. You'll see a Knight's pavilion
there. KNOCK ON DOOR. (For an amusing sidelight, instead of knocking on the
door, BLOW THE HORN to see what happens. Actually, a Pavilion is a tent, so
I don't know how you could knock on the door, but who am I to argue?)

 A Knight will appear and invite you to a joust. He'll tell you to mount
up, so MOUNT HORSE, and he'll offer you your choice of lances. It doesn't
matter which color you choose. Just type COLOR (whichever you want), and
he'll give you that lance. You'll receive a series of questions about what
you want to do. Remember that a joust is a chivalrous event. Nobody is
supposed to get hurt. A good Knight will never aim at an unprotected part
of his opponent. Since neither of you is wearing any leg protection or a
helmet, always chose the option to PROTECT YOUR BODY and AIM AT HIS BODY.
After about three sorties, he will fall from his horse (and so will you,
but he goes down first). He will declare you the winner, present you with
an ivory key, and leave.

 Now, go north three times. Here's a beautiful Ivory Tower. Any idea how
you might get in? Right! OPEN DOOR WITH KEY, and you find yourself in a
circular room. Go down, and you notice that it gets very dark down below.
Who can see well in the dark? Ah, you're getting very wise indeed, Arthur!
CYR OWL. Go down into a dark room with writing on the wall. READ WALL and
write down what you see there. (I'm going to make you do a little work
here, even though it's a walkthru!) Go up, CYR HUMAN, and GET ALL BUT KEY.
Go up three times, and you'll see an intriguing crack that's too small for
you. CYR SALAMANDER, go west, and write down what you see on the wall. Go
east back to the stairway, and CYR HUMAN. Leave your stuff; for now, just
OPEN DOOR.

 You'll see an old man who says he'll reward you if you guess his name. You
don't have to guess! The words in the Abandoned Room are a cryptogram of
his name. The two lines in the cellar are the key -- a substitution code.
Every letter in "RIOTHAMUS" appears in the words in the Abandoned Room. The
letters above "RIOTHAMUS" are the substitutions. In other words "S" appears
above the "R" in "RIOTHAMUS" so every time you see an "R" in the cryptogram
substitute an "S" for it, and so on. Once you've figured it out, type "SAY
xxxxxxxxxxx".

 Voila! He'll give you a ring, instructions on what it does, and how to use
it! THANK OLD MAN, OPEN DOOR, GET ALL from the Landing, go down twice, OPEN
DOOR, and you find yourself back in the Clearing. Going south twice will
put you at the Enchanted Forest. Go northwest twice, then north. When you
try to pass the horse chestnut trees, they'll start pelting you with
conkers! You better act quickly or you'll be pelted to death. CYR TURTLE,
then PULL IN HEAD AND FEET. Now, WAIT and continuing waiting until you are
told "the hail of conkers ceases." CYR HUMAN, and GET ALL. Going north will
take you to the Glade where you'll see some tiny footprints.

 Aha! The Little People! This might be your chance to get some gold! Since
they obviously pass this way, maybe you should hide and wait. HIDE BEHIND
ROCK. You'll hears some sounds, so LISTEN, and you'll hear someone
complaining about the flatness of the food. Maybe that bottle you picked up
will come in handy after all! Go OUT, DROP BOTTLE, then HIDE BEHIND ROCK
again. WAIT. The leprechaun will soon appear. Keep waiting until he is
engrossed in the bottle, then stop waiting, and GRAB LEPRECHAUN.

 Oh, well, you didn't get your gold, but you did gain some points, and who
knows when you might want a good, stiff drink? Go south, southeast, then a
quick trek north. Take a look across the chasm. Wild Boars are very
dangerous. Your first problem is getting over the Chasm. Well, that's easy,
but you'd be over there without any weapons! Better think about this for a
while. Meanwhile, let's deal with that pesky Invisible Knight. The way back
is south, southeast, south twice, southeast, south, _and_ southeast.

 Oops! You've lost everything again. Well, not to worry: We'll soon fix
that! RUB RING. Voila! The Invisible Knight is no longer invisible to you!
Go east into the Pavilion and confront the Knight. He'll hand over all your
stuff voluntarily, then he'll ask you if you want a brass raven's egg.
Since you like oddities, answer YES, and he'll pose a riddle. The answer is
fairly obvious if you think about it long enough. The first part of the
sequence he's giving you is firST, secoND, thiRD, fourTH. The answer is
obviously SAY "TH". He will give you the egg. PUT ALL IN BAG. (Some things
won't fit, but it's easier to do it this way. By the way, the bag can't be
filled.)

 Now go west, then southeast to the Field of Honor. Go east, and the Red
Knight will give you a list of things you must bring him before he'll let
you pass. Go back west and south into the Shallows. Since you're not a very
good swimmer (especially in chain mail!), you'd better use some magic.

 CYR EEL, and go south. Going east will take you to a window in an
underground chamber. LOOK THROUGH WINDOW, and you'll see a beautiful woman.
This is Nimue, the Lady of the Lake. Nothing you can do about her now, so
go west, then southwest. You'll see a Kraken and a sunken rowboat. EXAMINE
KRAKEN, and you'll see an interesting bracelet on its tentacle. EXAMINE
ROWBOAT, and you'll have proof that Lot lied about Excalibur!

 That bracelet looks valuable: Let's get it! (You might want to save here,
first.) ZAP KRAKEN. He'll be unimaginably mad! Quickly go northeast, then
north into the Shallows. CYR HUMAN, then GET SWORD, and CUT TENTACLE WITH
SWORD. You're safe, but unfortunately, the bracelet has gone into deep
water. Not to worry. CYR TURTLE, then go south where you'll see the
bracelet. SWIM THROUGH BRACELET, and go north. If you try to become human
again, you'll choke, so PULL IN HEAD, and CYR HUMAN. GET BRACELET, then
WEAR BRACELET.

 It's time to resume our journey, so CYR EEL again, go south, southeast,
and northeast, and you'll see a slow minnow. Don't bother to try to catch
it now, but remember it for later. Continue north three times. Along the
way, pay attention to which way the river flows -- it's important. When you
reach the Ford, CYR HUMAN. Go east, northeast, and up to the Dragon's Cave.
If you try to go north into the cave, the Dragon will say something that is
a hint as to how to deal with him. If it doesn't ring a bell, try to go
north again for an even broader hint. (The first was a quote from W. C.
Fields, a drunk.) If only you could have brought the jug with you! Oh,
well, for now, go down and southwest. GET APPLE from the tree, and EXAMINE
APPLE. Looks pretty toxic. Might come in handy. Go west to the Ford.

 If you go west from here you'll pass a Black Knight, and he won't let you
go back east without a fight, for which you're not equipped. You can't go
any further west from the Knight because of a bog in which you'll get lost
and drown. The only way back is BACK. But how can you carry an apple when
you're an eel?

 Remember, I told you to pay attention to the flow of the river? It flows
from north to south! CYR EEL, you'll drop the apple, and it will float away
toward the south. Go south three times (ignoring the minnow again),
southwest, northwest, and north. Lo and behold! There's an apple floating
here! CYR HUMAN and GET ALL. For some reason the bag doesn't like the
apple, so you'll have to carry it.

 Go north, northwest, northeast, north, northwest, north twice, northwest,
and north to the South Edge of Chasm. Time to deal with that boar
(remember, the Red Knight wants a tusk). THROW APPLE AND SWORD ACROSS
CHASM. The boar will eat the apple and fall over dead. CYR OWL and go north
across the chasm. Once on the other side, CYR HUMAN, GET SWORD, and CUT
TUSK WITH SWORD. Now, THROW TUSK AND SWORD ACROSS CHASM, CYR OWL, south,
CYR HUMAN, GET ALL, and PUT TUSK IN BAG.

 We're off on another adventure. Go south, southeast, and northeast twice
to a tall tree. You can't climb the tree, but it looks interesting, so CYR
OWL, then go up. You'll see a raven's nest with an egg in it. One of your
Quests! The raven is circling around, and you can't get the egg with it
here, so LAND IN GROVE. CYR HUMAN, GET BRASS EGG, then DROP BRASS EGG, CYR
OWL, and go up again. The raven will swoop down to investigate the brass
egg. LAND IN NEST, CYR HUMAN, and PUSH EGG FROM NEST. CYR OWL, and the
raven will chase you from the nest. LAND IN GROVE, CYR HUMAN, and GET ALL
THEN PUT EGG IN BAG. (We could have done this directly without first
investigating, but how would you have known the nest was there? Besides, by
going directly from point to point, we're going to have waste a lot of time
somewhere along the line.)

 Go southwest twice, south twice, southeast, and northeast where you'll
find a cabin. OPEN DOOR, and you find an injured peasant whose fire is
about to go out. OPEN DOOR again, and you'll be outside. A crutch and a
slean are here. If you EXAMINE SLEAN, you'll discover it's a device for
cutting peat (a great fuel for fire). Go northeast, and you'll see a sign
warning you not to proceed, but the peat here is dry and firm. So, CUT PEAT
WITH SLEAN, then DROP SLEAN because you've broken it. Go southwest, GET
CRUTCH, then OPEN DOOR.

 PUT PEAT ON FIRE. The peasant will wake up and thank you for your
kindness. GIVE CRUTCH TO PEASANT. He'll thank you again, then you should
ASK PEASANT ABOUT BOG. He'll give you directions. You should immediately
save the game because this is a variable. THANK PEASANT, then OPEN DOOR to
leave the cabin. Now that you have directions, go back northeast to the
Edge of Bog, and follow the directions you were given. (If you're using the
MAP feature, the entire map through the bog will appear after you make the
first correct move.)

 Well, _this_ guy looks familiar. I think you're ready to fight him now, so
try going east again, and he'll tell you you have to fight him. FIGHT
KNIGHT, and watch the descriptions. Use "G" (for again) to keep fighting
him until you see he's lost his sword. CUT MEDALLION WITH SWORD, and the
Knight will vanish, leaving his armour behind. It's useless, so ignore it.

 Now we can deal with the dragon, but for some reason Merlin's bag is not
welcome East of the Ford; we'll have to carry what we need. GET JUG then
DROP BAG. Now go east twice, northeast, up, and GIVE JUG TO DRAGON. WAIT
until the Dragon passes out, then stop waiting. You probably should save
the game here. Go north into the cave, then northeast. When the Basilisk
starts looking for you, POINT SHIELD AT BASILISK, and he will turn to
stone.

 Go northeast and you'll find yourself in a very hot room. And it's getting
hotter by the minute! A demon will tell you you have to give the password
to pass; he will even tell you the password! If you try to SAY "NUDD,"
you'll find you can't speak. You're about to boil, so go back southwest to
get out of the heat. Go southeast, then northeast, and you'll be in a room
where you can see your breath freeze!

 Quickly SAY "NUDD," and then, as your words freeze, GET BLOCK, and go
southwest before you freeze. Ignore the ghosts. Quickly go northwest and
northeast where the block will melt, and the password will be said. The
demon will usher you north into the Hall where a girl is manacled. She's
sitting on the Golden Fleece that you need for the Red Knight, and she
makes you a very attractive offer if you'll free her.

 KISS GIRL, and as you approach you see she has some very strange features!
Suddenly you realize who she is. Type HELLO NUDD. The monster will reveal
itself to you and try to strike a bargain. If you unlock the manacles,
you'll get the Golden Fleece you need. But as the future King, you cannot
let this evil creature loose in the world! If you don't agree to do it, you
won't get the Fleece! Wise Knight that you are, you conceive a plan. AGREE
to release her. She will drop the Fleece. GET FLEECE. Then GET KEY from
around her neck. Now, follow your part of the bargain: UNLOCK LEFT MANACLE,
LOCK LEFT MANACLE, UNLOCK RIGHT MANACLE, and at this point, Nudd will catch
on to what you're doing. You have fulfilled your part of the bargain, but
the demon won't be free! Nudd will put a curse on you, and expel you from
the Hall.

 You'll find yourself at the Dragon's lair again. CUT HAIR WITH SWORD, and
you have the final object you need to deal with the Red Knight! Go down,
southwest, west twice, and GET BAG. Then PUT FLEECE AND HAIR IN BAG. Go
back through the bog.

 From the Edge of the Bog go southwest twice, south, southwest, southeast,
and east to the Red Knight. Now GIVE TUSK, HAIR, EGG, AND FLEECE TO KNIGHT.
He will let you pass. Go south twice to the Silver Door. Ring any bells?
UNLOCK DOOR WITH SILVER KEY, and go down. You are now in the chamber where
Nimue is being held captive. If you've read Merlin's warning in the
Instruction Book, you'll know how to revive her. But right now you just
need to kill some time.

 Type WAIT UNTIL CHRISTMAS EVE, and keep waiting until you are told you're
getting sleepy. Now, stop waiting and SLEEP. When you wake up, you will be
hungry and will have dropped everything, but don't worry about it. Just go
up, north twice, west, and south twice to the shallows. CYR EEL, then go
south, southeast, and northeast to the minnow. EAT MINNOW. Go southwest,
northwest, north, and CYR HUMAN.

 One more item to get. Go north, northwest, northeast, east three times,
and south. CYR BADGER. I'm going to give you directions through the maze,
but just so you'll know how, the way to map the maze is to DIG IN DIRT each
time you enter a new room. Dig ONCE in the first room, TWICE in the next
room, etc. That way every room will have a unique number of scratches, and
you can find your way through the maze.

 From the Smithy go down, south, up, down, up, and you'll find yourself on
Thorny Island. A thorny sprig has fallen from the bushes. GET SPRIG, then
go down, north twice, up, and CYR HUMAN. GET SPRIG again, and go north,
west three times, southwest, southeast, east, south twice, and down.

 Nothing to do but kill time now. If you read Merlin's warning in the
documentation, you know how to wake Nimue. Type WAIT UNTIL CHRISTMAS. When
you become sleepy, stop waiting, and SLEEP. When you awake, GET ALL. When
conditions are right, take the appropriate action to wake Nimue. Pay
attention to what she says. After she vanishes, GET GAUNTLET, and go back
to the castle. Now, go up, north twice, west, northwest, northeast, and
east twice to Floyd. When you woke up you were hungry. You can finish the
game before starving to death, but for the maximum points you should eat.
GIVE RED GLASS TO FLOYD. He will give you the dead mouse. It's not
appetizing, but to some creatures it might be a delicacy! CYR BADGER, EAT
MOUSE, and CYR HUMAN. GET ALL, and proceed east three times to the Great
Hall.

 In the best tradition of Knighthood, SLAP LOT WITH GAUNTLET. You will be
immediately escorted to the Field of Honor where you want to FIGHT LOT.
Since Lot is quite a bit more experienced than you, he'll probably beat
you, so you're going to distract him. DROP BRACELET, then FIGHT LOT again.
Being a true chivalrous Knight, you should SPARE LOT. He will swear eternal
allegiance to you, but I wouldn't trust him for a second!

 CALL NIMUE as she instructed you to do, and whes, 101 Experience points,
and 100 Quest points. Congratulations!

 When prompted for a last wish, you can learn a lot by asking for HINTS,
and reading the Notices and Bibliography.