Introduction
Richard's champions
Gladstone castle
Southland
Draracle caves
Pod room
Caves: level two
Caves: level three
Caves: level four
Opinwood forest
Richard's cure
The pyramid keys
Gorkha swamp
Upper opinwood
Urbish mines
Urbish mining company
The mines: level one
The flooded stairs
Mine keys four&five
Level two-four: The piece of coal
Paulson & the shroud key
Bloodstone, rusty key, water pump
Scotia's barriers
Yvel city
The white tower
White tower: level one
White tower: level two
Level two: pit room
White tower: level three
White tower: basement
Yvel city revisited
Dac attack
Catwalk caverns
Catwalk caverns: level one
West passage
Yellow key
Knowles xeobs
Scotia's castle
Scotia's castle: level one
Room with no map
Scotia's castle: level two
Scotia's castle: level three
King richard
Showdown with scotia
 
 

Introduction

Game play can proceed in a non-linear fashion in many places, where the map may lead to different destination. Unfortunately there are some dead ends from which you cannot recover unless you have a recent saved game-- so save frequently. Manual maps and mapping are unnecessary, except for a small room in a final castle, where the map is temporarily taken from you until you successfully complete the room. Since the magic map system is so good, you should walk everywhere so you can take full advantage of it.

Richard's champion

The first task is to pick the main character. Many players choose Conrad because he is a balanced character, but each character has advantages and disadvantages. These strengths and weaknesses impact on your style of play more than your character's power. Spells play an important role, leading many to pick a spellcaster.

Gladstone castle

Explore the castle thoroughly. Go to Victor's armory (weapon-smith) and the herbarium in the castle to price their goods. Walk everywhere, mapping out all important locations. The King will give you the task of seeking out the ruby of truth in the Southland. Get a writ of passage from Geron Arbroath, the Royal Chamberlain, before leaving the castle. Get the magic map from the royal library by right-clicking on all the books in the library. Buy a mace. Search the area around the castle carefully; pick up everything and return to sell unwanted items to the castle's weapon-smith. In the woods west of Gladstone castle is a thug's cave with useful artifacts and loot. Be sure to get the lantern for exploring underground later, and lock picks. After searching and looting the area around Gladstone and selling surplus items, go to the marina, present the writ, and travel to the Southland.

Southland

After the boat trip, go directly southeast to the Grey Eagle Inn and get Timothy to join the party. Click on the door to the right of the bar to get the compass. Save the game after getting the compass and Timothy. You can rest in relative safety just outside the inn. West of the inn is Buck's Skins, where you can purchase a bow, a buckler, some boots, and healing salve. Make sure you have at least 200 gold left over to book passage back to Gladstone. West of Buck's is Roland's Manor, but you will need to defeat hordes of regenerating Orcs before you can get to the manor house. Defeat all Orcs except those in the northeast corner of the manor. Rest and save before this encounter, and try to beat this Orc in battle for more experience. This room conceals a secret room and chest. Click on everything. The fireplace hides a burnt scroll that says, "Richard, my research indicates that it is imperative that your ring of truth be joined with the ruby of truth to combat the effects of the Nether Mask". Once you have fully searched the manor, go back and fully search the forest, looking for items in the "wall decorations." There is a lot of treasure in Southland. You will never be allowed to return to Southland once you leave it, so satisfy yourself that you have done everything here you want. Once you have searched enough, book passage back to Gladstone. In Gladstone, visit the weapon-smith and sell all unwanted items. Strip Timothy of all his equipment before you go to the King's chambers. When you leave the council members, Timothy will be replace by Bacatta, a first-level fighter and rogue, and a third-level mage. Bacatta has four arms and can wield two weapons and two shields simultaneously. Bacatta will quickly become your most powerful fighter. To Bacatta, give Timothy's leather armor, boots, shields, and the best weapons that you removed from Timothy prior to entering the king's chambers. After Richard's poisoned body is encased in the shield, click on each of the advisors for information. Your next quest is to procure a healing potion for Richard from the Draracle, a mysterious being who lives in a cave in Gladstone woods.

Draracle caves

These caves are just east of Gladstone, at a rock you will find when exploring the Gladstone forest. They can be completed in several ways. Until you complete this area, one-way passages prevent you from returning to the castle after a certain point. You will also pick up another temporary party member here. Right-clicking the wall decoration on level one opens a secret passage leading to the Rat Men, who can poison your group. Past them are the red-green-blue buttons and some pits. Past the pits is a dead end that blocks your way until you retrieve a weapon that can crumble the cracked walls. To reach level two, you can either jump down the pits near the red-green-blue buttons, or push the buttons in any order (RGB or BRG). This closes the pits, allowing you to pass into the next area. If you stand on the pressure plate, you will fight three bandits for treasure. Bypassing the pressure plate brings you to more rats. Get the emerald eye treasure from one of the rats. Weight down the pressure plate, then back up quickly and side-step back around the bend in the corridor to avoid the darts activated by the pressure plate. Once the monsters in this section are defeated, you have no choice but to go back to the pits near the red-green-blue buttons and jump down a pit. You will then find a small room with two hidden buttons, which leads to a stairway down and a ladder to a trap door. This brings you up to level one, near the entrance. Kill the scavenger in the room and pick up the sledgehammer from the floor.

Pod room

One of the hidden buttons in the small room opens a stairway that leads down to the pod room. Cut the right pod and Lora will join your party. Give Lora armor, weapons, and perhaps the sledgehammer. The other hidden button reveals a ladder back up to level one near the entrance to the cave. Go back to the colored buttons and push them to close the pit. Return to the cracked wall beyond the pits and hit the wall with the sledgehammer to open a passage.

Caves: level two

At the west end of an east-west corridor in the southeast part of this area, you will eventually come to a pit that descends to level two. This is a one-way trip. Once you jump down this pit you will emerge on a different part of level two, and you will not be able to leave the caves until you find the Draracle and get the recipe for Richard's poison cure. Make sure you are ready to jump before you do so. Beyond a spinner northwest of the pit, you will find a treasure chest with the sapphire eye. Put the eye in the eye socket of the dragon mural to the north. Find the chest and two-way secret passage to the northeast. The secret passage leads to stairs down and a pit with a switch over it. Throw an item at the switch to close the pit, then retrieve the Worn Key from the alcove over the closed pit. Pick the locked chest to get the freeze scroll and silver goblet. Go down the stairs to level three, or go back and use the emerald eye on the east dragon mural eye socket to open another passage that leads to the jeweled dagger.

Caves: level three

Go to position 32. The pit to the east is an illusion. You can walk over it and pick the chest at position 33 for some items. Also,
if you don't already have some empty flasks, pick one up at position 56. You will need 3 of them, so pick them up whenever
you can. You can get the iron key from position 34 (I still haven't figured out what it's for). At position 35, you can push the
button to make a niche with a dagger and aloe appear. Go to position 36. Push the button to open the wall at position 37. Pick
the chest at position 38 and get the red key. Open the red lock at position 39 with the red key. Go down the stairs at position
41!

Caves: level four

Kill the armor-dissolving slugs quickly and from a distance. There is a cracked wall in the north and a passage with fireball generators that are activated by floor plates. Weight down the floor plates with rocks before you step on them from the side, where the fireballs cannot hit you. This deactivates the fireball generators. There is some treasure in the fireball area, but it is basically a dead end. The cracked wall in the north, once crumbled, will open the way to the stairs that lead to the Draracle. Before going up the stairs to the Draracle's room, take all of Lora's equipment, especially the sledgehammer, weapons, and armor. Once in the Draracle's room, right-click on the altar room. In the altar room, place either the silver goblet or the jeweled dagger in the tabernacle at the center of the altar. Return and talk to the Draracle, who will identify the necessary potion as the Elixir of Tybal. He will give you the potion formula, answer questions about the potion riddle, and give you the riddle scroll. The Draracle will direct you to a passage way back out that leads directly to the entrance of the cave, saving you the trouble of fighting your way all the way out again. Save and rest before leaving the cave, for Orcs will ambush you as you emerge.

Opinwood forest

Timothy will inform you of the attack on Gladstone castle and danger for you there. Go to Lake Dread, where you will find Victor and get passage on a boat to Opinwood forest. Opinwood forest is another place where you can pick and choose what to do next. In the east is the entrance to the Urbish mines. If you go into the mines, do not open any doors inside, or you  will confront a slug that can only be defeated by a green skull. Until you find the green skull, do not open the inner door of the mines; you can use the mines as a passage from the upper and lower areas of Opinwood. Northeast of lower Opinwood is the Gorkha Swamp, which holds many necessary artifacts.

Richard's cure

Now you need to get the four keys to Richard's shield and the four components of the Draracle's potion so you can free and cure Richard. The quest appears to be nonlinear, with the freedom to explore anywhere--but this is not the case. Certain actions will create dead ends, requiring you to restore a saved game. This summary points out which areas to avoid until you have performed essential tasks and obtained vital items. The four components of Richard's cure are swamp water from any sinkhole in Gorkha Swamp, Giant Hornet's Honey from any nest in Upper Opinwood, the heart of one of the rock creatures from the depths of the Urbish mines, and the earth powders from the herbalist in Yvel City. Yvel City will remain closed to you until you finish the Urbish mines and retrieve council member Paulson, who is in the mines down on the fourth level. When you have all four components, you must mix them in the White Tower in Yvel woods.

The pyramid keys

Get the four pyramid keys to Richard's shield from each of the four council members. Darn and her key are in a wagon in the center of  Lower Opinwood, but you can talk to her only after retrieving the Ruby of Truth from the Gorkha king in the swamp. Paulson and his key are in the Urbish mines. But you must talk to Dawn before finding Paulson, or you will not get the Vaelan's cube, which removes Scotia's bafflers in front of Yvel woods and Yvel city. Geron's key in the Catwalk Caverns, which can be entered only after mixing the potion and returning to Yvel city. The entrance to the caverns is in the tavern, but the door will not open until Scotia's forces attack Yvel city, and your party holds off these forces until they retreat. After completing the Knowles and Xeobs quest in the level after the Catwalk Caverns (see below), you will be awarded Nathan's pyramid key, the fourth and final one.

Gorkha swamp

Go immediately to the north end of the swamp and talk with the chieftain, who asks you to fight the Treants and retrieve the Gorkha ceremonial brass mask. The mask is in the possession of the Treant southeast of the fletcher and the chieftain, just beyond a sinkhole. Freeze the sinkholes with a third power freeze spell, but be sure to cross the hole before they thaw out. Once you retrieve the mask, return it to the chieftain for the ruby of truth, which you can equip like a necklace, and a named trident, which you should equip as your best weapon. Gorkha swamp is home to a Gorkha witch doctor in the south-central portion of the swamp, to whom you can pay 100 gold to solve riddles. Show him the riddle scroll, and he will give you hints about the four ingredients of the Elixir of Tybal. The Gorkha swamp fletcher in the east-central swamp will sell bows and buy weapons, artifacts and armor. Visit him and sell off surplus items. Retain one extra shield and leather to five to Paulson when he joins your party as the third permanent party member in the Urbish mines. Before leaving the Gorkha swamp, right-click an empty flask over a sinkhole to collect the magical swamp water element needed for the elixir. After obtaining the ruby of truth and the vial of magical swamp water, return to Opinwood and talk to Dawn. Once you have the ruby of truth, Droek will allow you to speak with Dawn. This essential step enables you to collect giant hornet honey, get Dawn's pyramid key to Richard's protective shield, and get the Vaelan's cube when Paulson joins your party on level four of the Urbish mines.

Upper Opinwood

Upper Opinwood can be entered from the southwest exit from Gorkha swamp or by going through lower Opinwood's southwest exit to the Urbish mines, through the Urbish mines north to Upper Opinwood. Do not open any doors in the Urbish mines until you have one of the three green skulls needed to kill the powerful giant slug guarding the stairs down into the mine. Searching the chests and the "wall decorations" in upper Opinwood should yield at least two green skulls, the Valkyrie crossbow, and at least one emerald blade. The emerald blade is effective against the ghosts and the wraiths found in the White Tower in Yvel forest, and later in Scotia's castle. The lightning scroll is found in a chest in northeast Opinwood. The jade necklace, which adds one level to rogue skills, is found in a chest in northwest Opinwood. The Valkyrie crossbow and Dwarvish chain armor are found in a chest in the far northeast of Opinwood. There are several wasp nests in upper Opinwood. Put a vial in your cursor hand and right-click it on a wasp nest "wall decoration" to harvest a vial of honey for the second component of the elixir.

Urbish mines

Read the section on "Lore of the Lands" in the manual for background on the Urbish mines and the Vaelan's cubes. The Invincible Lahrkon Slug is behind the closed door on level one of the mines. Be sure you have one green skull before entering the mines and taking on the slug. Or is you stay by the entrance keep throwing an axe at it then leave and heal then re-enter. Equip the skull in your cursor hand and right-click it on the character face icon. Kill the giant slug quickly, since he can dissolve your armor. Remove your armor prior to fighting the slug to prevent their destruction. Using the skull will consume magic points, so keep using it until all the points for both characters are gone or the slug is dead. If you exhaust all points and the slug is still alive, leave the mines, rest to restore spell points, and return and repeat the process. The mines are dark and require that you keep loading the lantern with oil. Occasionally the lighting will become to bright or dark, or the screen image will break up, making it difficult or impossible to see, requiring you to save and reboot the game to correct the lighting problem. (Sleeping with a full lamp consumes oil in the earlier versions of the game, but not in the later versions, so be careful not to sleep all your oil away. Another trick to brighten up the mines when oil is gone is to use the brightness knob on your monitor.) Your first goal in the mines is to get a bloodstone, a heart-shaped rock acquired by killing rock creatures on level four. Rock creatures can only be wounded by bashing weapons, which are almost ineffective, but are highly susceptible to level three freeze spells. Level four freeze spells, which form a large block of ice blocking a passage often cause no damage to monsters.

Urbish mining company

The area with the Lahrkon slug, including the area down the stairs from the slug to the west, is shown on the magic map as the Urbish mining company. The mine clerk in the north-central area has a pick and helmet. Click on the pick and helmet. Use it like the sledgehammer to clear away piles of rubble that block your way. The pickable chest on this level holds the "bouncer" mace and the Silver Key, which opens a door on this mine's level one. The route is guarded by a double door. You must close the outer door for the inner door to open. (This pattern of closing one door to allow the second door to open will be repeated elsewhere.) Many teleporters in the mines will return you to a spot just west of the stairs on the Urbish mining company level. Save the game before teleporting, so you can reserve the chance to take another route. Many teleporters are reached by jumping down pits, in which case you should always save before taking the plunge. Be sure to see the water pump in the southwest portion of the level. To pump water out of the staircase on level two and clear the way to a portion of the mines, place a gear on one of the spindles near the belts on the lower right side of the water pump. A lump of coal must also be placed in the bin on the left of the machine, and the lever in the upper left of the machine must be pulled. The fireball scroll is in the south-central portion of this level. Parts of the mines have a large number of two-headed flying snakes that are quite deadly. Find their nests in the walls and destroy them. Cast a fireball at the nests from a distance of two squares, preventing the regeneration of more flying snakes. The snake areas are not essential to the mine quests and can be avoided.

The mines: level one

There is little of interest here. Expore it thoroughly, or take the mine express down to level three, where you can get the piece of coal, and level four, where the water pump gear is hidden. Other parts of level one are accessed by coming up from level two and will be discussed later. The door to the east of the stairs on level one is opened with the Silver Key from the chest on the Urbish mining company level. Proceeding down the corridor to the east of the silver door, you will come to two wheels on the walls of the passage and a secret button on the west wall around the corner to the west and south of the wheels. One wheel is on the north side of the passage and one is on the south side of the passage. From this point you have a choice of completing two quests, both described below. Go for the Rusty Key and the water pump components first, then return for the Shiny Key.

The flooded stairs

Turn the wheel to the north once to activate a teleporter further along the passage to the southwest. Enter the teleporter, and you're teleported to a room with four secret passages--called the "starting room" for the purposes of this situation. It's on level two. This part of level two is a very lethal area. The second floor teleport destination or starting room has four secret doors that open to the north, south, east and west. Going in any direction takes you to a short corridor with two hidden buttons on each end of the corridor; these buttons open doors to passages that lead further into the level. In the northern area, the east passage leads to a chest with the lightning spell scroll. The west passage in the north leads to an area with a large number of jellyfish creatures that use lightning bolts, a chest with bracers and a three-wheeled puzzle that should be avoided. If you decide to go down the west passage in the north, wait until you have completed the more difficult parts of this area. As with most monsters in this quest, you are better off killing them one at a time while they are coming around a corner in a narrow hallway and cannot surround you. You'll get to take several free shots at them before the monsters turn to engage you. If you use spells that can hit any monsters in front of you, be sure to fire when there is more than one monster in your killing field. Melee weapons only hit one monster at a time, while spells hit everyone immediately in front of the group and within the spell's short range. Melee weapons work fine against the jellyfish.

Mine keys: four & five

From the starting room (see first paragraph of the preceeding section), follow the west passage to obtain Mine Key Four. West of the starting room, the two passages to the north and south are opened by Mine Key Four. The north passage leads to a staircase that can be opened with Mine Key Five, which is obtained in the passages east of the starting room. The south passage leads to the flooded staircase, which is opened by activating the water pump on the Urbish mining company level. Once the water is cleared from the staircase, you can find the Shiny Key, which is one of two keys needed to open the door to Paulson's room on level four. The mine door opened with Mine Key Five leads to a stairway up to level one. Going through the room to the east leads to a secret passage to an area with a chest beyond one pit, and a niche with Mine Key Two beyond another pit. (Obtaining the Mine Key is optional and simply opens the secret door through which you just came.) If you drop down the pit in this room you will end up in an enclosed area. Put a disposable item on the plate and step into the transporter to be teleported back to level one near the staircase on the east side of the level. In the east of the starting room, the north passage leads to a fire-ball gauntlet passage with pressure plates. This passage leads to a fireball wand, a powerful magical artifact that may prove useful later. East of the starting room, a south passage leads to a dead-end corridor that smells like gas. Back up several paces down the corridor and throw a fireball at the gas filled dead-end to open up the corridor to the rooms beyond. Once opened, the gas corridor leads to many jellyfish creatures. Charging right into the midst of these creatures is lethal. Draw them out and eliminate them one at a time. They do regenerate, but at a much slower rate than you can kill them, so you can clear the room of them. Use melee weapons, with fireball spells as a back up. Within the last room in this passage can be found Mine Key Five, in a niche. Get the key and get out quickly.

Levels two-four: The piece of coal

On level one, push the secret button in the east twice to open a pit to the north. This descends to level two. Push the button on level two, and you will drop down another pit to level three, where you will find a Silver Key in a niche. The key opens the door to the room into which you have fallen. This part of level three is important, because it leads to a mine cart that goes to a room with a pickable lock, within which you will find the stairs down to level four and the lump of coal. Most monsters in this area are susceptible to freeze spells. A coal cart railway leads to the other areas. To use it, place a gold jewel in the square opening to the left of the cart. The car's three destinations are controlled by the levers on the wall to the right of the cart. When both levers are up, it takes you to a corridor which leads to an apparent dead-end. The dead-end will have a dark vein of rock, and the companions will remark as to recent drilling and that a piece of coal could be broken off. Use your pick to get a piece of coal, one of the two components needed to activate the water pump that opens the flooded staircase on level two, which leads to the Shiny Key.

Paulson & the shroud key

Moving the right lever up and the left lever down will cause the cart to turn right at the intersection and take you to an area leading to a room with a pickable lock. Within the room is a staircase to level four. On level four, push the secret button and enter the teleporter, which takes you further into this level. Keep pushing buttons, and you will come to a south passage leading to a door with two locks (the Rusty Key and Shiny Keys will open them.) Within the room is Paulson with his Shroud Key. He will lead you to a secret cache of weapons, armor, and artifacts. (Unfortunately, you cannot get to Paulson the first time you get to this room. You must return here later when you have both keys.)

Bloodstone, Rusty Key, Water Pump

Northeast of Paulson is a spinner at a four-way intersection. The intersection leads off to eight passages (two for each compass point), similar to the "starting room" mentioned in the preceeding quest. When you encounter cave-ins on this level, use the pick. At the end of one of the eight passages, search Orin's bones twice to find the Rusty Key to Paulson's door. Search Hank's bones, found in one north passage, to obtain Hank's note and the water pump gear. Read and discard Hank's note. Killing the rock creatures on this level will five you the bloodstone, which is one of the components of the Elixir of Tybal. You need only one heart. Take the teleporter on the north side of the east passage back to the Urbish mining company level. Once you have both keys to open Paulson's door, return to this area to get him. Be sure you have talked to Dawn after retrieving the ruby of truth (prior to picking up Paulson). Be sure to take the pyramid key from the animated graphic. Paulson will lead you to a cache of weapons, armor and artifacts, which includes a Vaelan's cube and a Mine Key that opens the door south of the teleporter and east of the spinner intersection. After exploring this opened door and retrieving the cache, leave the mines.

Scotia's barriers

Go to Scotia's barrier in the north-central portion of Upper Opinwood. Just south of the baffler, equip the dark Vaelan's cube in the cursor and right-click on a person. It will turn white, right-click it again on a person and the baffler will dissappear. Go north and find the passage to Yvel woods, which looks like the Draracle cave entrance. Kill all the bad guys in this area until you find another Vaelan's cube from one of them. Then go back to where you entered the woods. Follow the passages in the woods to the west, keeping to the left wall of the maze until you come to another Scotia baffler. Dispel it like you did the first. Go west to the edge of the map, then north, and enter Yvel city.

Yvel city

Yvel city has a weapon smith (Victor), a herbalist, a fletcher, a tavern, and the council chamber. You can sell and buy weapons, armor, and herbs here. At Victor's, do not buy the jeweled dagger. The great sword is quite good. Sell any surplus artifacts and anything found in the city to the shops for money, then stock up on items. If you helped the begger in Opinwood, be sure to visit him in Bruno's tavern in the far northeast portion of the city. You can sell the beggars useless gift to Victor for silver crowns. There are many boarded up doors that cannot be opened. On the far east side of town, on the east side of a north-south street, you can pull the boards off a boarded up door with red brick outlined with tan stucco on both sides. Within the room of the boarded up door is a hand of fate scroll and a speckled key that fits the lock of an unpickable door in the north part of town. Behind this door is a jade key that fits an unpickable door in the west of town. Two other locked doors in town are pickable. Many items in town are the best weapons and armor in this part of the quest. Equip every weapon, armor and artifact for might and protection. Weapons with the highest might and the armor with the highest protection should be kept. Those with the lowest values should be discarded if you need room. Show the riddle scroll to the herbalist and get the earth powder, which is the fourth and final component of the elixir. Talk to Geron in the council room, then look for the white tower. Do not give the shroud keys, elixir components or elixit to Geron or Dawn. If asked for them, argue. Follow the path back to where the baffler was, and work your way north from the area where you entered the Yvel woods. Check out all passages to the west. The tower is just west of center about one-fourth of a screen north of the south end of the map, at the west end of a short east-west passage.

The White Tower

The goal in the tower is to seek out the crucible of faith, place it on the broken pedestal on the altar in the level one altar room, mix the elixir ingredients and take the head with the ingredients back to talk with Geron and Dawn. The Mystic Keys on the first level lead to a Mystic Key on the second level, which in turn leads to the Ivory Key on the third level. The Ivory Key opens up the basement level of the tower, where you solve a riddle to get the crucible of faith.

White Tower: level one

This level is inhabited by Amazons and archer slugs. The Amazons do not regenerate. The archer slug regenerators can be shut off by closing the two grates found at the base of the wall in the far northeast and far southwest portion of this level. Once you close both grates, the slugs will not regenerate and the level can be cleared of monsters, making it a safe place to rest. Just slightly west of the fireball generator, in the central portion of the level, is an inner and outer door puzzle. The inner door connot be opened until the outer door is closed, and vice versa. Once the outer door is closed and the inner door opened, this is a safe place to rest, since the Amazons cannot open the door by pushing the outer button. In the room to the west of the entrance is the Copper Mystic key, which opens a door in the far southwest of this level. Opening the copper door yields the Grey key, which opens a door in the northeast of the level. The door that is opened with the Grey key leads to another grey key. This grey key and a secret button to the south of the grating open a grating within the grey key room. Beyond the grating is Lyle the thief. After releasing or killing Lyle, find the secret button that opens the niche with the amber ring on the north wall of his cell, near the shackles. The amber ring is placed on the "ring for admittance" niche just north of the entrance to the tower. Defeating Jana, the Amazon chieftain, produces another copper key, which opens the door to a room on the third level, where you find the ivory key. Open the passage to the west of Jana's room and go back and retrieve the amber ring from the niche. Go up the east staircase to level two and get the blue silver key.

White Tower: level two

The goal on level two is to obtain the Ivory Key that opens the way to the basement of the White Tower, where you can obtain the crucible of faith needed to mix the elixir. Level two is inhabited by flying fireball chickens who throw fireballs from a distance; attack at close range. They regenerate constantly, making level two dangerous. West of the stairs to level one, push the door button and open the fireball room. A Mystic Key is found in the northwest corner. This key opens the altar room on level one. The room will throw fireballs at you if you face a fireball generator and take a step. If you face a blank wall or doorway, no fireballs will hit you, so plan your route through the room carefully. East of the stairs, beyond a pickable lock, is the pit room. It contains a Mystic Key that opens a door in the southwest portion of level three. Enter the pit room and go north, east, east, north, north, west, then west from the entrance platform to get the key. Push the button on the wall, then return east, east, south, south, west, south, then south and push the wall button. Then go north, north, east, north, north, east, then north through the secret door to retrieve the helm "Prentis". The area beyond the door houses a minotaur with a club. He is very difficult to beat and can only be reached by dropping down a pit from level three, or by solving the riddle of the switches in this passage.

Level two: pit room

A map is provided for this tricky area. To obtain a jade necklace and dwarven great helm, walk north from the entrance square of the pit room. Pick the lock to the chest in the room, retrieve the items and come back  up the stairs to finish level two. Other pits in the pit room lead to rooms you can explore if desired. The dark room to the east of the stairs yields a Shiny Mystic Key when you close the door to the room and press the secret button. Once finished here, use Jana's Key to open the door to level three in the south.

White Tower: level three

Use whatever weapons you have that are the most powerful. The green swords work pretty well in this area. or the bigger swords that you got from Yvel city. The top level of the tower (level three) is inhabited by apparitions and wraiths. These monsters constantly regenerate and are susceptible to the Hand of Fate spell, emerald swords, and the great swords. Save before going up the stairs or fooling with your weapons. The snakes here are actually long-range spells cast by the ghostly inhabitants of this level. The spirits regenerate, requiring you to quickly complete your mission on this level and return to the safer, lower depths. Level three holds several treasures in pickable chests. Two chests are beyond a door that will not open until you have obtained the crucible of faith and mixed the elixir so do not bother trying to open this door in the east part of level three until you have done so. If you return to the chests, save your game before opening a chest, catalog the items. Then restore your game, open the other chest and catalog the items. Restore the game and open the chest with the best items first. Go into the room to the east of the stairs down to level two. Press the floor switch, take the Mystic Key from the niche, and use the key to open the door to the north. Open the next two doors, going east and then north. Take the east fork, go north, press the button on the west wall and go east through a new passage that opens. Go north to a dead-end, then east through the illusory east wall of the room. Go north, then follow the corridor until you come to a pit. Throw an object(like a dagger or rock) across the pit to activate a wall button, then push the button on the wall on this side of the pit, and the pit will close. If you jump down the pit you will end up in the minotaur room on level two. Continue along the corridor until you see a secret passage to the south that leads to a chest with another Mystic Key. Return to the secret door and go north and east until you find a push-button door to the north. Go north through the door, then go west and use Jana's Key to open the door to the room to the west containing the Ivory Key. Get the Ivory Key and return to the winged lock in the in the southwest portion of level one.

White Tower: basement

Go down the stairs and move counter-clockwise on the floor around the circular corridor until you find four items. pick up the items and place them in the four niches on the walls aroung the circular corridor. Proceed deeper into the level until you get the full-screen illustration of an old woman who asks you to look up a word in one of the manuals that come with the game. Do so, and she will give you the crucible of faith. Pick up the death wand from the shelf of four items on your way back up to level one. Put the crucible of faith head ont he neck pedestal on the altar in the altar room in the north portion of level one. Open the altar room door with the fireball room Mystic Key from level two. Mix the elixir ingredients in the order shown on the riddle scroll. Once mixed, pick up the crucible. You can now go back to the crucible of faith door on level three, finish exploring the tower or return to Geron in Yvel city.

Yvel city revisited

After speaking with Geron in the council chamber, go back to find Dawn. You will meet Scotia, using the Nether mask to disguise herself as Dawn, in the Yvel woods north of the passage to Upper Opinwood. Argue and refuse to give her anything. Scotia will turn into a giant lizard, which you can defeat quickly with the Hand of Fate spell or the Death wand from the White tower basement. If you return to Dawn in Opinwood, you will find Dawn missing and Droek killed by Scotia. Returning to Droek's wagon is unnecessary; you can go straight back and talk to Geron in the Yvel city council chamber.

DAC attack

When you return to Geron you will learn that the city is under attack by great Orcs and Cabal warriors. The doors to the Yvel city shops will be closed to you from now on, making money totally useless. Geron gives you the task of keeping the invading Dark Army at bay, since the Yvel militia has been defeated. Fight the Dark Army until the retreat horn sounds. There is no way to clear the area, since the monsters regenerate in the fog at the ends of alleys. The best way to fight is near a doorwayon a narrow street or in a short dead-end passage, where you can retreat to rest, heal and gain spell points, but where you cannot be surrounded or where the enemy can get behind you. Once the invaders in the near vicinity are defeated, you can duck into an open doorway and rest unmolested. You need to fight your way away from the council chambers, since a note needs to be placed on the door, which cannot happen if you are near the door. Once the retreat horn is sounded, return to the council room door and read the note:"Dawn, Yvel is under attack! Someone has stolen my pyramid shroud key. Go to Bruno's tavern in the northeast part of Yvel city and go through the passage on the back wall between the casks and the bar and enter Catwalk Caverns.

Catwalk Caverns

In the small room in the back of Bruno's are four great Orcs, so rest up first. A secret button opens the way to the caverns, which are crawling with Cabal Warriors, so rest before entering the caverns proper. Follow the right-hand wall around to the northwest and fight the leaders of the Dark Army in their war room. You will be forced to fight these leaders when you refuse to join them. Spells are the quickest way to dispatch them. Defeat the leader of the Dark Army, and you get his Dark Gauntlet, Geron's pyramid shroud key and a statue. Put the statue on the pedestal on the north wall (to the east of the war room), which opens a passage to yet another double-locked door to the next part of the Knowles and Xeobs quest. The Dark Gauntlet can be equipped as a weapon and used to herd the invisible lightning creatures that drain spell points and mana quickly. It will also open walls if you put it in your hand cursor and hold it up to the gauntlet-shaped depressions in the cave walls. Use lightning spells on the lightning creatures, since they seem to work best. Use the spells quickly to prevent loss of mana. There are several bottles of Bannon's Reserve and an Ace of Infinity, both of which restore depleted mana points. The first gauntlet depression is on the west wall in the northwest portion of the first room you entered. Use the Gauntlet and follow the corridor until you reach another gauntlet depression. Search the wall north of this one for another gauntlet depression. At this point you have a choice of whether to use the gauntlet, go west or go north.

Catwalk Caverns: level one

The north passage leads toward the northeast of the map, going through a series of one-way secret doors in a central section of the map. Eventually on the east side of the secret door section, you come to a door that is opened byt he dark gauntlet; this door leads northeast, and then south. In the far southeast portion of the map are the chest (with the small key that opens the double locked door on this level to the Dungeons, where you fight for the Knowles or the Xeobs) and the Cabal warrior (who has the small key that opens this chest). The key in the chest opens the double-locked door to the Knowles and Xeobs Dungeon level below Scotia's castle. The Cabal warrior with the small key to the chest is originally found in the southeast portion of the level near the chest with the small key to the double-locked door. The Cabal warrior is free to run around on the level from the moment you enter the Cabal caves. Therefore, go north first and find the Cabal warrior before he wanders too far from the chest, making the warrior and the needed small key hard to find. The chest cannot be bashed open or picked. Many secret passages in the north passage are one-way, which may force you to backtrack. The magic mapping system does not show the polarity of a secret passage, just an "5" to show the location. You may need to take notes or to draw a manual map to prevent wasting time here. Go north first, and later use the east secret passages for the most direct route. The passages go around to a corridor that leads north through a door opened with the gauntlet. The passage then turns east and south to the area with the chest. You must continue to kill Cabal warriors until you encounter the one with the blue key to the unpickable chest. Then you are free to open the chest, get the little key and find the one-way secret passage that goes south into the double-locked door room. Use the key in the south lock and return to take the west passage or open the door.

West Passage

Take the west passage around the west, then go north around the edge of the map from the southwest to the northwest corners. You will encounter about six lightning creatures. They are depicted by a small yellow and white dot in the middle of hte space in front of your characters. Use lightning spells quickly to prevent loss of spell points. In the northwest are two foot plates, one wall switch and two teleporters that must be used to open the door to the east of the room. This door leads to the pickable chest containing the yellow key that opens the double-locked door.

Yellow key

The teleporter to the east teleports you beyond the east door to the room, and you can either open the door or continue east. Take the first corridor south off the corridor as you continue east, and follow around south and east. Stay north of the chamber until you find the pickable chest with the Mist of Doom spell scroll, the Yellow Key and the Axe Master, which adds one level of thief proficiency when equipped. Keep Axe Master, a poor weapon, for later, when you will need a good thief. Just east of the chest with the key is a duplicator that will duplicate any item in your inventory only one time. Use the Gauntlet or a spell to trap three lightning creatures in the chambers to the east, west and south of the duplicator room, then place the item on the altar and push the button. (This exercise is very tedious, time consuming and unrewarding, so you may want to bypass it.) Follow the passage back to the corridor and continue east, then south and west until you find the secret passage north into the double-locked door room. Open the door and you will find the Knowles and Xeobs.

Knowles & Xeobs

The Knowles and the Xeobs live in the basement of Scotia's castle and invite roving adventurers to help kill off one or the other race. You get to choose which race you wish to exterminate, but must wipe out one of them to obtain the Knowle or Xeob Key that opens the unpickable door on the east side of the east-to-west diamond corridor in the central part of the level leading to the stairs up to Scotia's castle. Monsters don't regenerate here. Kill them all, then use the teleporter in the east part of the level. The other race will reward you: the Knowle or Xeob Key, one more level of spell proficiency for all characters, Death stick, Bannon's reserve, and Ace of Oblivion. The Xeobs can dissolve armor and are very tough to kill: use multiple Mists of Doom spells. You need to find a place to rest. Most chests are pickable, but some require the keys lying nearby. The copper key in the southwest opens a door in the central-east portion of the map, which leads to a teleporter that sends you to a part of the level where more Xeobs can be killed. The Xeobs are physical beings who are tough to kill. The Knowles throw powerful spells but are easily killed. Before leaving the level, you need Nathaniel's pyramid shroud key from the far north-central portion of the map; it's in a western passage that's opened by a hidden button. Just west of the center of the map, on an east to west corridor entered from the northwest of the level, pick up the diamond, which is needed to free Dawn on level one of Scotia's castle. In the east-west corridor where you found the diamond, try to open all chests before throwing switches; then throw the switches and try the teleporters. One chest in the southwest of the corridor will teleport you to another part of the level with pickable locks and a useless Ebony Key. A teleporter takes you back to the other part of the level. An additional teleporter in the southeast will take you back to the Catwalk Caverns to rest and recuperate.

Scotia's Castle

This place is very frustrating. Pushing buttons could result in your being dumped into the Xeobs/Knowles level, requiring you to walk back up. Objects placed into alcoves will often disappear, but you get nothing in return. Monsters are of the undead or physical type and regenerate, except the Giant Toads on level three. Many areas lead nowhere, and traps are everywhere. Your goals are to free Dawn on the first floor by using the diamond from the previous level; to free Richard with four figurines, four pyramid keys and the elixir, and to confront Scotia with the whole truth, which will disable the Nether Mask and make her helpless. There are four figurines: a cobra, unicorn, dragon, and human, that must be obtained to purit Richard's shroud before it can be opened. There are keys that must be obtained to open the way to the third level, open Richard's door, and to open the door on the third level to Scotia's room.

Scotia's Castle: level one

Monsters consist of ghosts, Cabal warriors and flying axes. Axes can be dispatched with spells such as freeze, Mists of Doom or Hand of Fate. Ghosts can be dispatched with the same things used in the White tower. Ghosts are the greatest threat. But axes cannot enter rooms, so they can be used for resting. Save before climbing the stairs to the castle. You may need to restore several times. Go west, past a corridor to the north, and then north. Open doors and inspect walls until you find a room with two buttons. Pushing one button opens a niche in the wall containing the cobra figurine. the other button opens the door to the room. Go back through the corridor to the north and on the east side look for a room with outer and inner doors. Close the outer door to open the inner door. In the center of the room, click on the crystal ball. When the graphic comes up, take the diamond from the inventory in your cursor hand and click it on the globe to free Dawn, who will reward you with a beautiful animated sequence of her escape. Jump down the pit to the easy-to-find room and push the button that activates a teleporter. The teleporter will take you to an area in the southwest, where the magic map will be taken away from you for a short time. Walk directly west through the door and leave the switches alone. The invisible teleporter will teleport you to the dead center of the room. The map that follows should help you to get through the room.

Room with no map

A map is provided here, since you lose the auto-map when you enter this area. The four pressure plates on the floor should be weighed down with surplus items to open the corresponding pit. Passing over the now closed pit gains access to the next plate to be weighed down, and so on. After weighting down the fourth pressure plate, save the game and proceed directly south to the Dragon figurine square. Push the hidden button on the east wall to open the niche on the west wall with the dragon figurine, and close the wall to the north. Put a disposable item on the shelf and push the south button to open the wall to the north. Exit the room via the door through which you originally entered. Save the game and walk up the stairs. Your magic map is restored just before the stairs going up to level two.

Scotia's Castle: level two

Flying eye buzzsaws and four-legged purple and white bugs with large white jaws inhabit this level. The Mists of Doom or the Hand of Fate are the most effective in dispatching the eyes, while the bugs succumb to melee weapons or spells. Bugs can stun your warriors but otherwise cause little damage. The monsters on this level regenerate. The goals on this level are to find the Carrion key to open Richard's chamber, to find the Noir Key, which opens the passage to the third level steps, and to find the Unicorn figurine. From the stairs down to level one, follow the passage to the east and north to a pickable lock on the east side of a north-to-south passage, with a door directly south of the lock. Upon entering the room, go directly south and throw the wall switch in the center of the south wall. The niche will open up in the northwest corner of the room, revealing the unicorn figurine. Go north from the unicorn room and note the passage to the west off the main passage going north, the one with an ornate, unpickable noir lock in the north wall of the passage. South of the lock is a door that will open when the Noir Key is used on it. Pass north and note the ornate pickable lock on the west side of the passage going north, just before a t-section with a passage going west and just north of a door in the west wall. This lock and door are opened by the adder key. The chest to the west can only be picked by a character with level seven thief skills. Go down the corridor to the west until you reach a dead-end. Push the button on the south door and open the north passage. Go north, then west to another cross shaped dead-end. Push the wall button in the north to open the niche with the adder key in the south. Return back the way you came and go to the adder key lock. The chest contains a Westwood stick, which kills with one blow for a short time. Go back to the first dead-end, push the button on the north door, and open the door to the south. Go south and west to a room where the noir key is in a niche. Just east of the noir key, in another corridor going south off the main corridor, is a dead-end and two buttons. Push the button in the west wall and a passage will open up to the east and to the south. The south button will drop you into the Xeobs/Knowles area -- do not push it. Go south and past the locked door to the east and lock to the north, which are the Carrion lock and door. Push the button to the south to open to open the door to the south, then follow the passage south and east to the Pit room. You can stand with a pit to the south and one to the east. Throw an object over the pit in the east to activate the button on the other side of the pit. Throw an item into the teleporter, which will appear across the pit to the south. When the pit to the south closes, walk into the teleporter there. You will teleport to the other side of the east pit, where you can retrieve the carrion key and the items you threw over the pits. Put a disposable item into the niche, and the pit (which is now to the west of you) will close. Return to the carrion door and lock and open the way to Richard's chamber with the key. You will need the Human figurine from level three to free Richard from his shroud and cure him. Return to the Noir lock and door and open it. Go south into the room opened up by the noir key, push the wall button to the west and be teleported to an area near the stairs up to level three.

Scotia's Castle: level three

The goal on level three is to get the human figurine, the silver key, gold key, and the dull key that opens the chest containing the silver key. The silver and gold keys open Scotia's room, just to the east and north of where you entered level three. Once you have the fourth figurine, you can go back down to level two by jumping down a pit, revive Richard, and make the whole truth medallion to return for Scotia later. The monsters on level three are huge green and tan frogs or toads with prehensile tongues. Toads bash the ground, disarming everyone. The toads do not regenerate, and are susceptible to Mists of Doom spells. First obtain the human figurine by solving "the sum must be correct fiddle". On the south part of the magic map, the walls make up the numbers and signs of a math problem. When you arrive on the level, the math problem says "1+1=3". If you go to the east side of the 3, you will find a wall button in the lower part of the number one block up from the south. Pushing the button moves this block to the west one space. Pushing the button again with the block in its new position will move it again to the west. Now the equation says "1+1=2" and the sum is correct. Go north and east to a door leading south. Enter the room and go south until you reach a room with a button in the east and one in the west. Push both buttons, get the human figurine from the northwest niche, put an unwanted item in the niche and leave the room. You can now return to level two and save Richard.

King Richard

Save the game. When viewing the full-screen graphic, click on the pedestal to the far left. Put the figurines on the pedestal until one reflects the ray of light up and to the right. Escape and keep placing items until the light is bent to pass over the next pedestal. When each of the four pedestals has the appropriate figurine, the light will amplify as it continues in a counter-clockwise circle around Richard, purifying the shroud. Once the shroud is purified, place the pyramid keys once at a time until they fit correctly and the shroud opens. After the shroud is removed, take the crucible of faith in your cursor hand and click it over Richard's head or mouth. Richard will sit up. Take a disposable weapon from your inventory and give it to Richard, and he will give you his ruby ring of truth. Put either the ruby ring or necklace of truth in your inventory and the other item in your cursor hand. Click the one over the other, and they will form the Whole Truth Medallion, which cannot be equipped.

Showdown with Scotia

Now get the two keys to open Scotia's chambers. The gold key is in the center of the equal sign in the equation in the south of the level. Simply walk south and between the two long walls, push the wall button to the north, opening a niche to the south with the key, and turn around and get the key. The silver key is in an unpickable chest ont he north-central edge of the map. The dull key, which opens the chest, is obtained by solving the "leave items here riddle" in the room in the far southwest of the level. You must place four items: armor, weapon, medicine and jewelry, one in each appropriate alcove, to make the dull key appear in an alcove to the south. Medicine can be a bezel cup, aloe, ginseng, or salve. Jewelry is a jade necklace. A weapon is any melee or distance weapon. Some pickable chests on this level yield interesting items, and there are several keys with no apparent function, such as the oily key. The gold and silver keys open the double lock to Scotia's chambers. The room where she waits for your group is beyond a button door in the west. Save your game. Put the Whole truth in your cursor hand, ready to activate before she transforms. The whole truth deactivates the transformation abilities of the Nether Mask. Scotia has three forms and the third is invincible. It takes Guardian spells and lots of Mists of Doom to kill her, even in her human form.

WEll I hope you enjoyed your stay here and that this walkthrough helped you through the rough spots of LOL I. If not well then better luck next time. hehe. To return to the LOL I page just click on the water mark to the right of the screen. Later.