                       ARTHUR - The Quest for Excalibur

Typed in by MR PMA.  Edited by PARASITE.


                                   Greetings

                         My name is Merlinus Ambrosius
                            but men call me Merlin.

                 Aye, I live still, even unto this present day.
           And I shall live on into worlds which you do not dream of,
                            but which I already see.

                                Legends tell you
         that I was beguiled into a trap, imprisoned in a hollow hill,
                  a dodering old man blinded by misguided love
                      for a beautiful yet evil sorceress.

              Imprisoned I am, but not blinded - not now, or ever.

                       But let me tell you of those days.
                        In a time almost before memory,
                       there was a battle among the gods.
                  The evil demon Nudd was defeated and chained
                      to a golden throne below a mountain.
                Manacled though he was, his evil still extended
            beyond the mountain, making the surrounding land barren,
                      and polluting everything it touched.
             The enchantment he had cast over the Lady of the Lake
                      had such strength that even my gods
                          were powerless to break it.

                       Then a new god came into the land.
              His power was so great that the spell over the lady
            could be broken by the mere touch of the hawthorn flower
                that was holy to him, the one that bloomed only
                        on the aniversary of his birth.

                             When Arthur was born,
                he learned to embrace the power of the new god.
          But he also knew that the old gods, my gods, were not dead.
                    Only thus was he able to gain the sword.

                           So look now at those days
                          through the eyes of the boy.
                        Learn of England's need for him
                  and how he came to write his name in legend.
              I say to you, that the day shall come when the world
                    has need of him once more.  On that day
              shall I break these icy bonds and rise to my destiny
                  - to bring new life, through fire and glory,
           to the bravest and truest knight the world has ever known:
                     to Arthur - the once and future king.


PREFACE TO THE STORY
        It has been many years since King Uther has died, and his
        once-proud kingdom is in danger of coming apart at the seams.
        No one has been able to draw the legendary sword from the stone.
        No one has been able to unite the country against the invasion
        of the Saxons.  The people grow weary of life without a High
        King, and they are ready to accept a usurper on the throne, even
        though they know he not the rightful heir.

        In Arthur, you play the role of the young king who has grown up
        in ignorance of his heritage.  The time has come for you to draw
        Excalibur from the stone and rise up to defend Britain.  But
        before you can do so, you must prove to Merlin that you are
        ready to take up the burden of kingship.  As you progress
        through the game, you must earn the wisdom, experience, and
        chivalry points that will demonstrate to Merlin that you are
        indeed ready to claim your birthright.

ABOUT ARTHUR

USING THE NEW INTERFACE
        We've developed a new look for the screen to make out games even
        more enjoyable.

        The lower part of the screen contains the commands line and the
        traditional written account of what happens to you during the
        game.

        The upper part of the screen contains your choice of any one of
        the following six windows.  (Use the function keys specified to
        bring up these windows.)

        F1 - Graphics:
        This is the default setting in which the game will start.  No
        matter how far afield you roam, you will always be able to get a
        picture of where you are.

        F2 - Map:
        This feature maps the environment for you as you move through
        the game.  The darkened square marks the room that you are
        currently in.  The empty squares are rooms that you have
        previously explored.  The compass rose displays all legitimate
        exits from you current location.  You can use the mouse to move
        around the geography by clicking on an adjacent room in the map
        window, or by clicking on the appropriate point on the compass
        rose.

        F3 - Inventory:
        This window will display a list of things that you are carrying.

        F4 - Score:
        Your level of accomplishment is represented here, both in bar
        charts and in numbers.

        F5 - Room Description:
        This is useful if you want to take a quick glance at your
        surroundings without "wasting" a turn.  The window displays the
        same information you would get if you typed LOOK.

        F6 - Text Only:
        For the hard-core, give-me-text-or-give-me-death gamer who would
        rather die than look at a picture.  Return once more to
        yesteryear - when men were men, text was text, and graphics got
        eaten by grues.

HINT
        Arthur contains on-screen hints!  If you ever get stuck, simply
        go to Merlin's cave and look in his crystal ball (or look into
        the crystal of the torque that Merlin drops on the ground at the
        beginning of the game).  Then follow the instructions on your
        screen (you can use your mouse to navigate through the hint menu
        and to select hints).  The hints generally progress from a
        gentle nudge to a complete answer.  Sometimes you will be told
        that there is an object or piece of information that you haven't
        yet discovered.  When that happens, return to the story and try
        another approach - sometimes a puzzle cannot be solved until you
        have solved another one first.

        The hint system tries to be smart about where you have been and
        what you have seen.  If you haven't seen or heard about the
        Bottomless Pit of Despair, then it will not show up as a hint
        topic until you do.  This is to prevent you learning about
        something's existance inadvertantly when you consult the hint
        system on another matter.  Thus, when you start the game, the
        list of topics in the hint system will be very small.  But don't
        panic!  As you progress, there will be more and more things you
        can consult the hint system about.

        Despite the above, we strongly recommend that you look only at
        one hint at a time.  Avoid the temptation to use the hints too
        often; this inevitably spoils, or at least lessens, the fun of
        solving a puzzle.

        I you don't have the willpower to stop looking at the hints, you
        can type HINTS OFF.  This will deactivate the on-screen hints
        (unless you RESTART or RESTORE to an earlier point).


                         Excerpt from the BOOK OF HOURS

                         No worthier warrior was before
                        Lot became Lord of all the land:
                 with sword so sharp and shield that shines...
                         proud Paladin beyond reproach.

                     He husbands heavy chests of treasure,
                        the envy of every earl and king.
              His soul is strirred by precious stones and silver,
                 and gleaming gold which daily he doth gather.

                                No king so fair
                                 by maid begot
                                 was ever there
                              than good King Lot.

End.
