Ultima IX, Ascension

8/17/2019 Ultima IX, Ascension

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ULTIMA IX - ASCENSION

RPG by Origin

A solution----------

by Lu Richardson

GENERAL TIPS

These refer mainly to actual gameplay, not the introductory phase.

Movement:

My first tip is: get well used to the interface and to controlling thecharacter. The middle of a combat is not the best time to learn.

Because of the changes in perspective as you move, you can easilylose track of where you are and miss important items, so be veryobservant indeed.

Exploring indoors:

Watch out for secret doors which blend into the stone wall so that you wouldnever suspect they are there. Look at the walls from different angles as you go past, you might spot the tell-tale lines. There are also subtly hidden switches (bricks slightly different to the others) and levers (behind bushes, etc.).

Exploring outdoors:

Keep your eyes on the landscape near and far and look for hidden caves. Try to

swim around the coast of each location to see if you can spot items andunderwater caves.

Items:

As to items, you are going to find such a lot, and you have suchpoor carrying capacity, that you are going to have to be ruthless.Either that or come back to the shops frequently to sell thesurplus, which is not always easy. Doubtful items can be left inyour room at the Castle; indeed, leave everything you can there.

As you explore, move/smash barrels and crates, sometimes they hideor contain items. Always have with you a couple of healing and cure

poison potions, at least. If you need room for more items and don'tknow what to get rid of, eat whatever food you are carrying. As ageneral rule, don't cart reagents about with you. They are usuallyfound near a lab or binding circle where they will be used, so leave them theretill you need them; alternatively, buy them in the shops nearby.

Whatever you drop, in this game, you'll find when you come by later on. So, ifyou must to make room, drop things in accessible places and not in the depths of dungeons... and remember where you left them!


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Maps:

The maps are pathetic and exploring is a veritable nightmare. Ifyou keep to the paths you'll miss a hell of a lot. So try coveringa bit of ground at a time and don't be tempted to go that little bitfurther away which will only confuse you. Be very thorough. The idea is to get to know the terrain and where everything important is located. Theplay area is huge, so you have to be careful. It is the devil tofind the places you are meant to go to and you can very easily getlost.

Sights:

Always click on the blue "magic balls", which you will see in many locations, to get glimpses and clues of other places. Use all telescopes you find - some ofthem can be used twice to see other places.

People:

Talk to everybody more than once, particularly both before and after you'vecleansed a shrine in the neighbourhood. You will be given lots of mini-questswhich you can solve on your way to the main ones - but don't be too sidetracked.

You will be told at an early stage that doing the decent thing at all times will make life a lot easier for you. Don't kill ordinary people nor steal from them- keep that for the dungeons. Instead, try to help them if you can, doing soearns you karma. You need it.

Combat:

As to combat, it's always best to fight from a distance, if you can - soget a bow as soon as possible. Unfortunately, more often than notyou find yourself at close quarters with the nasties, so it isadvisable to go around (in running mode) with a sword or something equipped so

that you can go into action at once, and change to the bow whenever youare at a sufficient distance from the target to do so withoutdanger. When you've killed the beasties, change at once to a handweapon. And don't forget to collect the valuables off the deadbodies!

Additionally, I found that when fighting hand to hand it is best to turn thecharacter slightly to your left rather than place him square on. For somereason this dispatches enemies quicker with practically no loss of hit points.

Armour:

Although the best to be found (usually well hidden) is made of blackrock, it has

the inconvenient effect of making you sink when you swim. The next best isplate, which can be bought at Trinsic. However, there are pieces of magicarmour (also well hidden) which, although they don't protect you as much, arewell worth wearing for the benefits they confer. Read the book on the counterat the smith's in Britain to find out what some of them do.

Weapons:

You will find progressively more effective weapons as you go along. I found the


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firesword invaluable for the light it gave. The lightning sword was hard tobeat, and the blackrock one the Trinsic smith will make for you is the best ofall. However, you will have to see for yourself which weapon is best for whichnasty. The skeletons, for instance, require a heavy weapon like an axe, hammeror sword - the firesword wouldn't make a dent.

Light:

The annoying thing in this game is that is almost always dark. There seem to be only 8 hours of light a day; even then, the sky gets cloudy, it rains and youcan't see a thing. Not very good for your eyes when you are trying to examinethings carefully. Therefore, travel abroad in the dark only when you are goingdirectly into a dungeon, because then it doesn't matter. If you wish to seewhere you are going, sleep on the nearest bed until daylight, otherwise you will miss all manner of important things. Needless to say, you must bind the spellLight as soon as you can, otherwise you have to use a lot of lanterns and theytake up a lot of room in your inventory.

Keys:

You will find a lot of keys which are necessary to progress through the

dungeons, but also a great many other keys which either open chests/doorselsewhere or have no function at all. I ended up carrying 12 of them for whichI found no use. However, you might as well play it safe.

Treasure:

You will find hidden here and there "treasure" maps (apart from those of towns)and you might like to take time to have a look and see if it is worth yourtrouble to follow them up (i.e., save before you set off - you can alwaysreload). Basically, you can't really do that until you learn to control theship half-way through the game.

Training:

Talk to people time and again to find out who is offering training. You have to go through certain stages and that means being trained by certain people in acertain order. For instance, after Despise, you will find Iolo in the house atthe crossroads where the knight hailed you on the way to the dungeon. However,Iolo won't train you until you are proficient with the bow, so you have to betrained by others first.

Finally: Save A LOT.

Introductory play

-----------------

The first bit at the house is just to get you used to the interface,so follow instructions and do your own thing. So long as you getthe essential items, the rest is window dressing. One word, though- while training outside, mind you don't kill the nice doggie by mistake,he does get in the way. Once you've had enough of exploring andtrying things out outside, you will be ready to go to the gypsy.You will be asked 7 questions which will determine what you willplay as. For instance, if you show too much compassion, you will end up as a


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Bard, with dexterity but very few hit points. If you go for honour,on the other hand, you'll be a lot beefier. Spirituality, of course, will makeyou a better magician. Up to you, really, butI went for beef - you can't survive long without a decent amount of hit points.At the end, when you go to the gate, you willhave to fight a Gazer which drops a lot of cash. Don't bother topick it up, you lose everything you are carrying when you hit...

Britannia---------

In the starting bedroom, read all the books (take the one on potionswith you, if you like, or write the info down), take everything in the chest and anything else you want (for paladins, there is a short sword in the corner).Then go around the corner and pick up the spell book. This section is intendedto get you used to the sort of thing you are likely to encounter in thedungeons, so click on the ankhs which will appear to find out what you have todo. In the first instance, after you've picked up the spell book, cast Igniteon the torch to get through. Click on the next ankh and move to the edge tojump onto the near ledge (make sure the green cursor is onit). Turn to the rat and cast Stone (make sure you are closeenough). Jump, pick up the cash and pull lever. Jump all the way

back to the stairs, pick up the coins on the other side and godown. Have a look around and get the red potion. Go through thedoor and get what's in the chest. At the next door, cast Gust onthe vase. Go in, step on the lift and push the button. Use thevalve on your right, jump down, get the cash and push the bluebutton. Steps come out at the side; climb up to the other side andgo down the stairs. In the next room, read the plaque on the wall, staying offthe tiles. Take the middle row and cast Douse on each tile till you get to thetwo braziers - cast Douse on them, too, then leave this room.Just click on the door to get out.

OK, go to your left and try to avoid fighting altogether - it can bedone. Go through the arch and talk to the guy. Stay well away from

the teleporter. Kill him and get his scimitar - you won't get abetter weapon for a while. You can now go out and fight/look for useful items,if you like, or step onto the teleporter and go to...

The Castle----------

Talk to the guy with the fetching green frock. Turn a little toyour left and open the door, then walk in to Lord British. Talk tohim and, of course, agree to get him out of another fine mess. Headvises you to go to Dungeon Despise first. Turn right around andtalk to the Gargoyle. Agree to try to find the lens. Now go up the

ramp and turn to the right, which leads to where your bedroom is.Pick up everything you want and sort out your backpack. You canleave anything you don't need just yet here (though you should sell whatever you are not going to need at the shops, since you could do with the cash). You aregoing to need a lot of room for oodles of items.

Leave and go down the ramp to the first level and talk to the girl.Then go up the ramp to Lord British's quarters. Read the books andexamine everything, but take nothing. If touch the mirror in the bedroom, it


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will break - but you will get a revealing movie. Step on the teleporter, talkto the mage and get the potions but leave the spell. There is no point ingetting the reagents, either - better to leave them here for when you want tomake your own potions or, more likely, bind spells. You should bind as many asyou can as soon as you are able.

The fountains here, by the way, restore your mana and hit points.When you've finished, use the teleporter again to go up. Leave andgo down and out of the Throne Room. Turn to your left and enter thedining room. Here you are encouraged to take food with you. If yougo through the secret door behind the woman and into the kitchenyou'll find a great deal of food and drink - however, you shouldtake only a couple of items since it is better to leave it all here andreplenish your supplies later on, should you need them at all.

Leave the dining room and walk across to the armoury. Talk to thechaps, pick up the short sword and the club from the rack, we aregoing to sell them. The lift in the corner takes you down to thejail, but you needn't go there if you don't want to.Find the hidden doors and have a look around. Leave when you are ready, goto the courtyard with the fountain and leave the castle.

Go to your right to find the Mayor's house. Meet his sick daughter. In theStoreroom, meet Killigan - you'll be coming back here later on.

Near by here is the maze, which contains a lot of good stuff and, in the centre, a flaming sword.

Leave the castle grounds and start walking around the town talkingto everybody. Speak with the Mayor. Visit the Cathedral. Enterthe Museum, talk to the curator and examine everything. Find the shops - at the smithy, sell your surplus stuff and buy whatever you want. I shouldn't bother,you'll soon find plenty of better things. If you can afford it, buy a sextantat the supplies shop, though it's not essential at the outset.

When you've finished searching and talking (and got a long list of requests),leave town by the East gate. Along here you will meet a lady who will tell youabout the shrine. Follow her directions and, on the way, speak tothe lighthouse keeper. Then go on to see the shrine. Get back onthe road to Despise and look out for assorted nasties. I'm sure youwill find the entrance without any trouble, it's next door to thebig column.

Dungeon Despise---------------

Cut the web and pull the lever, go to your right, open the chest and

get the key. Listen at the door and then open it. You get to knowabout the Kiran Stones. Leave and go to the door opposite; to openit, cast Ignite on the torch to its left. Go in, look about you,find a couple of potions. Climb the smallest pillar and then jumpto the next higher and so on till you land on the tallest. Get thestone key and jump to the pillar on the other side - press the bluebutton before you jump to the ground. Go through the new door.

Jump across the gap. Go through the door and read the book. Toopen one of the doors at the bottom of some steps, click on the


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floating ball above. Continue to the pool room. Go to your leftand get the full bucket. The fountain will dry up, but you can goto the other side of the room and put the filled bucket on thedais. This opens the next door.

You will have observed that by the dried up fountain there is asecret door which cannot be opened from this side. Go back to thegap, jump in, follow through, jump over the crate and get the moneyand the potion. Continue to the room with the Fountain. If youclick on the portrait it changes and you could get an armour -don't, it's cursed. Continue to the next room and pull the lever.You come out at the pool, by the dried up fountain.

Continue through the door you opened with the bucket of water(though note that in the fountain in the middle of the pool there isa potion to be had, you could climb up and get it).

In the next room, move a crooked shield to open a secret door.Inside, a Fountain will heal you. Go back to the main room, pastthe locked door and into a little passage. A lever will open it.Go through and, when you get to the Fountain, don't touch it. Itwill poison you. Look about the dead man and get a fine armour anda message. Read it and leave it there.

The next room contains a lot of goodies, including a key in thenest. Also a large rat. Go on through. In the Training room,collect a lot of arrows - destroy the web to get some leggings. Toleave, shoot at the target above the door.

You are at the dinning room. Pick up the key off the wall by thetapestry. Go up the stairs on your right and stand on the plate.The wall opens. Go through and stand on the other plate. You getteleported elsewhere. Negotiate the spikes by walking on the holeswhen they are down and stepping into the gaps when they come up. Onthe other side, pull the lever and enter the next room. Youautomatically go to the circle and a lot of flames come up. CastDouse to put them the braziers out and collect the stone. Leave the

way you came. Go to the dinning room and continue through.

No problems here opening the door, just push the blue button and gothrough, cut the webs, fight the spider, move on. At the nextFountain, kill the rat, look around, not forgetting the rat's nest,climb onto the platform and collect what you want, read the books,etc., and finally pull the lever under the platform. The fountaindisappears revealing a secret door. Open it and push the button toopen the next door.

Go in and read the book. Get the broom and place it against therailings. Climb it and jump in to go to the lever and pull it. Getthe broom and place it this side of the railings to climb it and get

out. Move on and you will find the key inside the little pool infront of the door.

Inside the chapel, read the book on the altar and cast Ignite on the candles onthe altar (the rainbow beam will restore you). Pick up the gold key(I could not find a use for it here) and go through the door. Assoon as you go in you'll hear a cry for help, so quickly pull thelever on your left. The person you have saved will give you anotherstone. Don't mess about here. Clicking on the shield or the boxwill get you killed. Move along the corridor.


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Look at the locked door on your left - there is a key on a table butyou can't get at it. Enter the door opposite, walk around the pedestal with the ball and press the button at the back. It attracts the key, which you can nowget and use it to open the last door. Go to the pedestal and read the book.When you've done, go to the back of the room and go through the newly openedpassage. Go and press the blue button on the fountain. This opens up anothersection to the right - there is a rat and a chest. Kill the chest and open therat, whichever. Get the arrows by the chest.

Move on and swim under the arch, ignoring the waterfall for now. Asyou come up a sort of bridge, you will meet and odd guy who isanxious to see your insides. Fight him, but when he reveals he isIolo and asks for quarter, have mercy and don't kill him. Push pasthim and get the glyph. Get back in the water and go to thewaterfall. If you look down to the right of it you will see alever. Pull it and the last stone key is revealed. Get it (and thesack), go to the stands and place the correct coloured gems onthem. You get the shield. Easy peasy. Take the stones with you tosell them.

This exercise was just to soften you up for what is to come, youknow.

You can leave Dungeon Despise, but when you come out you will be metby Raven who will ask you to perform yet another task.

At this point you should go back to Britain and get yourselfsorted out, leaving items you might need in your room, selling therest, talking to people again, etc. Speaking to Lord British willdo you no good, he is not about to tell you what to do next.Indeed, indeed, it's up to you.

OK, you've done Dungeon Despise (only another 7 to go, ain't youlucky), you've got the glyph. And you don't know what to do with it(no rude suggestions, if you please).

However, if you spoke to Sarah just as you came over the bridgeafter leaving Britain by the E gate, and if you went E from here(no visible path at first) and went to the shrine, and said "MU",just like any well-behaved cow would, you will know what to donext. By the way, don't mistake the "Stonehenges" for the shrines,like I did!

Paws----

If you've spoken to the carter in town you will know how to get there by the SWgate. Talk to the gypsy. There will be a little diversion at the first houses.

Save the boy by placing one of the buckets of water on the fire at the door. He will ask you to rescue his mother. Turn back and take the path to your left.You will walk past a house and onto a cave. In this cave, fight the goblin,look around. You will see a plaque on the wall, read it. You will find ascroll on the ground, read it but leave it there.

Go back out of the cave and find the house. Find a hidden lever and pull it.The guy in the house will fight you, so you'll have to kill him. Go around the


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house and through the passage, which shuts behind you. Don't cross the bridgebut go to your left, fight the bandits and rescue the woman. Read the journaland look through the telescope. Now cross the bridge and go up the path. Fight the wolves if you meet them and go left. You will enter a cave. Explore around here and take what you want and exit to the lake about the waterfall. Kill thetwo bandits and walk to the waterfall. Before you jump in to find theunderwater entrance to the cave, shoot all the fish. Swim around till you findthe entrance and dive into it. You'll get a lot of cash. Go all the way backto the two houses and talk to the boy.

Go on to Paws (mind where you step here, you can easily get poisoned), findthe Mayor in one of the houses and undertake to save his daughter.Follow directions and go SE and, in a grotty house, you will find asingle goblin, which you must slaughter - a sickly cough will directyou upstairs, where you can liberate the girl by fighting a coupleof nasties. Collect the war hammer and what-have-you and go back tothe Mayor to get the Heart of Compassion. Now you can talk at thewomen by the mill, go towards Britain, kill the goblin andretrieve the valve from a chest in the cave and then return to themill and place the valve in the hole, talking to the womanafterwards. This gives you karma.

Then go to the shrine and place the Heart and the glyph onthe altar, say Mu and everything will be ticketty-boo. You will be allowedto choose how you progress. Because I was a paladin and I was shortof it, I chose dexterity, but it's up to you.

Retrieve both the items and go to your room, first, and sort outyour backpack. Take the minimum, but you are going to need yellow,red and blue potions (lots). Leave the runes and sigils here as you collectthem, but take the first one with you because you need it to show to Raven.

You can also try your hand at binding spells in your spellbook, allyou have to do is use Lord British's teleporter. All theingredients are there (move the barrels to find more) and one of those

pentagrams, too. Please note you can now be trained by the swordsman at theCastle, the boyer in town and Peg Leg at the house in Pawns where you saw theMayor. Best to take the trouble to do that. And by the way, N of Paws (29degrees S 34 degrees W) you can go up a lift and get a levitation spell forfree, it's on top of the bookcase with the instruments.

When you've done, find the Silver Hart at the docks, jump onto itand speak to Raven. You have, after all, a decent rune.

You will end up in...

Buccaneers' Den

---------------

Talk to Raven before you jump onto the deck; don't talk to the two men you willmeet. If they do ask you for money, give it to them. Take a diversion here and go to the shop. Buy a sextant, if you haven't before - now youwill be able to see where you are in the main map, plus get abearing. Buy also the treasure maps he will offer you on different occasions.They are no such things, but useful maps of the Den with the entrance to caves.


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Learn to fight bare fisted (left of the Tavern). Come back here when you havecleansed more shrines and made more money - this is the only place where you can get to be a Master in this particular skill.

You might like to explore around the island and talk to various people on theNorth side. Buy the "slave" to save her, then search the house. Save the guywho is being beaten and talk to him. Another guy will sell you a special dagger for half your gold, so if you've only got a small amount (all I had was 2 goldcoins) buy it by all means.

If you take to the water, don't enter the cave with the ship from the sea, enter it by land; and wait until you've been able to visit the Guild. To the NW youwill find the Gauntlets of Fury (60 degrees S 4 degrees W) if you fish around in a cave, high up, barred with wood strips.

If you have the treasure maps you will see a hole in the ground, actuallybetween Samhayne's house and the sea. This leads to a small cave with a cellwhich you open turning a valve.

When you've done exploring, get back to the docks and take the ferry (jump intothe boat) to the other side. Go through the tavern and up the platform (get onit) and go to visit Samhayne.

Go down to the pub and talk to people. Buy a bottle of rum. Go tothe shop and ask the cartographer how to get to New Magincia. Talkto Raven to get the password (if you don't know it already).

You can now explore the south part of the island; you'll find one of the lensesfor the lighthouses in a cave roughly 78ø S 9ø E. Find the lighthouseand, before you get into the caves, talk to the ghost. In exchangefor the rum he will tell you where the Ghost Ship is to be found. Don't botherwith that just now, it needs to be nighttime anyway. Enter the caves and say

the password (keelhaul). Go all the way through to...

Magincia--------

As you come out of the cave, turn to your right, find the path andfollow it, cross a "bridge" and to the only house left standing,roughly in the centre of the island. You'll have to fight thewolves along the way. Talk to Katrina. Go back the way you came -you can jump from slab to slab inside the tower to get to a chest.But what you are looking for is a fallen column leaning against ahigh rock. Climb it and cast Ignite on the campfire. That's sorted

the vultures out.

The alpha wolf is to be found inside a house in the SW tip of theisland, roughly 74ø S 23ø E.

Go back to Katrina, get the Crook, follow her instructions and findthe large slab behind her house. Stand on it and you will see theshrine popping out of the water. Swim to it and do your stuff. Youwind up at...


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Ambrosia--------

Talk to the Wingless leader. Go down a ramp and talk to asympathetic gargoyle. Leave and go up a ramp with three stands,read all three books then the fourth which will appear, and you geta green cube of power. On your way out you will probably beattacked by a winged gargoyle. Kill it, of course, but try to stayout of trouble. Find the Headquarters. Talk to the gargoyle andkill him. Collect the crystal by the door.

Leave and go rightish, find the empty holder, place the crystal init and go into the jail. Talk to the inmate, get out of the way andthen follow him. Go through the wall. Below you'll find a guy in alittle cave who will sell you potions. A little further on to yourleft as you come out of the cave, find the dead body, get the bootsand wear them and read the instructions on the scroll.

Now you've got to fly around finding out where everything is andavoiding the gargoyles if you can. In a house you will find a pylonwith an indentation under one of those crystals. If you put thegreen cube of power in the indentation you get an amulet and a dooris opened elsewhere.

Find the room with the tools where the gargoyle Wislem will give youa red cube of power. Leave and go up to the centre of the domewhere the statue is hanging. Find the one pylon with the emptyindentation and put the red cube in it. Oops!

Now go carefully down to ground level and talk to Wislem. This time he givesyou a crystal and instructions. Go back to his workshop and put the crystalinto the empty holder. You get a yellow cube. Go to the room below wherethe statue was, save and place the cube in the indentation. Thefloor opens and you fall down below.

You find yourself in royal company; kill the queen and get two of the large eggs

which were behind her. Explore the othercorridors. You will find a glass sword. Take it but don't use it,it only works once and then it breaks. It has a useelsewhere. Go to the teleporter and place an egg on it, remove theflying boots, and jump onto it. You are transported to...

Dungeon Hythloth----------------

First walk along the water to the end and you will see a colouredstatue on a coloured stand (hard to tell what colour, it was sodark). Go back a bit and climb up the stairs and into the sewers.

As you walk about here, you might get held up by cobwebs - cutthem. Look out for spiders. Keep to the right; in the room withthe steps press the button on the wall, go in, open the chest andget the green statue. When you come out, and bearing in mind thatlanterns and torches (if you are using them) go out when you go into the waterwith them so you must put them away, go down the stairs and move the valve onthe wall. Watch. Go up the stairs and continue to a large room full ofsewage. Now, be very careful here and save before you go in.First, swim to the left and climb onto the ledge. A chest containsSwamp Boots which will prevent you being poisoned while walking/swimming


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around. Before you get back into the mush, see if you can shoot asmany fish as you can with your bow - they are deadly. Then take achance and swim to the other side to open another chest, though thisis not essential - all it contains is another light spell. Finally,get on the platform and you go up automatically. Up there you willsee a yellow stand. Pull the lever on the wall and another doorwill open elsewhere.

Go down via the platform and leg it to the newly opened door.Again, keep right and stick to it so that you don't miss anything.

Basically, here you have to explore each room searching for statuesand finding out where the different colour stands are. Placing thestatues on the correct stands opens new doors. Look out for leversand valves. In the room in which there are a pair of leggings on agrate, when you pick them up the walls begin to close in - runthrough to the other side to avoid getting squashed.

There is a room full of mud with two ramps, opposite one another, inwhich you have to turn a valve to get the yellow statue in the mud(be quick). If you turn the valves on the other side, you are able to go downin the brown waters and enter another corridor, but it won't do you any goodbecause the next set of gates is closed as yet.

There is a room with pillars to jump on. Note their arrangementbefore you start jumping about. You will observe that the onefurthest away from you and nearest to the platform with the greenstand is the one you should be left standing on. So start jumpingon the various pillars until you can. It's not so difficult (in fact, you findthe solution on a scroll somewhere in the sewers) and, ifyou fall in, you can easily get out and start again. When you makeit to the ledge and put the green statue on the stand, another pathis cleared for you. Move the valve and the locked door in this roomwill open. Jump to it from the door which was open, go in, open thechest. Mind the spiders.

You will find a room with one of the wyrmguards who will fight you.

After you've killed him, swim to the next platform in front of youand climb out. Swim on to the next one and so on until you are infront of the column. If you have one, place a lantern on the floorand equip your bow. Offer yourself as bait by standing very closeto the water (sorry, sewage) and kill as many fish as you can. Walkabout if you need to so that you get at them from all sides of theplatform. When you think that you've cleared as many as you can,swim around the column - there is an entrance under the sewage into it comingfrom the E. Dive in and climb up the hole to retrieve the glyph. Leavethis room, preferably alive.

By the way, in the various places with water/sewage you will seebubbles bursting on the surface. That means that below there is a

hole without a valve - if you stick your head over the hole whileunderwater, your air gets replenished.

OK, carry on, continue searching, finding statues and placing themin the proper stands. You'll find the red one in the room next tothe red stand, where there is a hole in the ground. Save, jump inand go underwater to find the statue - turn the valve so that youcan swim out of the hole.

When you've placed the red statue you will go through to a section


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which seems to be made of glass and you are under the sea. The keyto the locked chest is in a room behind the other chest, which youcan reach via one of the two doors either side of the chest whichcan be opened. When you unlock the chest, pull the lever to oneside of the winch and the door opposite will open.

Now, this is a very tiresome bit. Go into the room with theteleporter; if you were to use it, you would swim down a hole. To the left, alocked gate and one of those air holes. To the right, you could swim towards ablank wall, look up, swim up a hole and find yourself at the Magincia shrine,thus completing your task. However, you can elect to explore the sewage systemfurther.

If so, in the teleporter room, turn the valve to get a key. Walk along to theend of the corridor in this section and, at the blank wall, look to your rightfor a box. Open it with the key and visit the next section. Save before youactually enter it.

Walk all around looking for valves on the walls, but don't touchthem yet. Go back to the entrance. Now imagine that you have asquare in front of you, that you are facing N, and that there arevalves at the S on your left (A), to the W (B), to the N on yourleft (C), to the N on your right (D), to the E (E), to the S on yourright (F), in the centre to your left (G), in the centre to your

right (H). If you turn them in this order: H, D, F and E, and G,C, A and B, all the lights will come one and both the locked doorswill open. Two other doors won't open until you place the orangeand brown statues on the correct stands.

Going through the other door, you'll come to a corridor full ofwater, swim quickly to the other side and, when you come out, equipyour bow and kill the fish. Continue and you'll come to a sort ofbridge. Save. Jump down. I examined this room most carefully, butall I could find was a birdbath - touch it and you shrink, so thatyou can go through the circular opening. In there, turning a valvewill flood the whole place - get out quickly, swim to the bridge andclimb out. Again, kill all the fish. Swim back to the room with the brown

stand, looking for a hole in the roof which takes you to a whole new section.Here you explore around and find the stand for the purple (or pink) statueyou were carrying around and find another statue (bluish) by somerocks which frame a door.

In a room with four valves by the door you turn them, and another onthe wall if you jump on the platforms to the right, to reach anotherdoor on the other side. Doors open and you can explore further,going into the water and swimming around looking up to find moreholes into other rooms.

Under an upside down jar there is another statue. In a room (alsoreached through a hole) with a chest, the last statue hovers under

the ceiling. You have to pull down the semitransparent slab onwhich it is standing in order to reach it.

Having gone all around and placed 7 statues on the proper stands,number 8, the last one (the orange one hovering under the ceiling)caused a slab to move in a room nearby. Diving in (after killing the fish) andturning a valve, all that happened was that the dooryou could also reach via the teleporter opened, which didn't get usany further at all. All that effort for nothing... unless I missedsomething vital, which I doubt.


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At any rate, once you are here replenish your air at the hole and swim to theend to a blank wall, looking up to find the entrance to a well which will takeyou to New Magincia. You emerge at the shrine. Do your stuff with the sigiland the glyph then go and find Katrina. Once you've spoken to her,find your way back to the tunnel and to...

Buccaneers' Den---------------

When you get there, climb out of the caves and, to your right,jump down to the boxing ring. Try your luck there andimprove your bare-fist fighting skills. In any case, move on to thetavern (people are pleased about your good work) and upstairs and tothe platform. Get to Samhayne's house - but as you come into it,wet, hungry, exhausted, very, very fed up and wanting to get to bed,you suddenly find yourself in jail. Here, what's up? And where isall my stuff?

Don't worry, there ain't a computer jail that can hold LuRichardson. I'll get you out. Click on the pillow and examine thewalls - you'll see a secret door. Go through, follow the passagewithout stopping, the walls are illusionary. Touch the phase spider

(clicking on it changes reality) and go back to your cell - now youcan walk through the door and press the button beside it to openit. Open the other cell door by pushing the button. The normaldoor is locked. Go back to the spider, touch it again so thateverything is solid and go out of your cell and to the desk, whereyou can pick up a key. Go to the other cell to get the potions.Move all the barrels to find armour. Go to the locked door and openit. To cross the last barrier you have to go to the spider again tomake things unreal, walk through the locked door (the passage isblocked in front of you), turn around and press the button to openit, go back to the spider to turn everything solid again and then goto the blockage. On your left there is a secret door. Go throughand DON'T touch the chest.

Press the button by the door. When the statues face towards thedoor, you will be able to open it. Go through and to your right.Press ONLY the red button and you will get an idea of what comesnext. Actually, I don't know how we got into this.

OK, leave the room and continue till you get to the room full oflava. Walk along the funny path to the tapestry. Click on thebutton to the left and a lift should appear. Get on the lift andwatch it, on the way a statue will shoot fireballs at you. Get onthe platform and click whatever buttons you like, it didn't seem tomake any difference, until they all disappear and steps appearbehind you. Climb up and press the button. Get on the lift and go to the

tapestry.

Ride it to an statue and six buttons. Pressing the red button in the middlecauses the statue to fire a ball. Press the button to the right to move thestatue to the right - keep firing as you turn it and it shouldeventually shoot away a switch which frees the teleporter in thecentre of the room. When that happens, turn the statue the otherway, firing away, until it hits a mask and a lift appears. On theway back to the platform with the tapestry, see if you can press apurple button on the centre block.


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If you continue to the tapestry, press again the button on the left, ride thelift to the stairs, press the button, ride the lift and click on the blue button on the central block to get to the teleporter.

Oh, great. All I wanted was to go home and here I am, in anotherdungeon. Ah, well. First walk along the platform to the right asyou face the pedestal. Click on the glyph you'll see on a pedestaland it will fly away. Press the blue button now revealed. Jumponto the other platform and click on the crystal ball. You'll seewhat is supposed to happen next. Save your game. Note the cube below you onyour left and press the buttons to bring it a bit towards you and raiseit. Now go back to the pedestal where you started, change to runand go along the other platform dodging fireballs. Watch carefullyas you click on the statue and it will shoot at the cube youraised. If it misses, run back and move the cube so that the statuehits it next time (or reload and move the cube more accurately). When thestatue hits it, run to the pedestal and get on the lift which will haveappeared.

This takes you to the first teleporter. Step on it and, at theother end, jump down and fight the spider bare-handed. Then go tothe statue and click on it to get some arrows. Don't touch the

mirror; go to the other side and touch the mirror twice and a bow will appear(afterwards, this mirror heals you). Equip the bow, climb on the table andshoot at the mask on the block opposite the one with the teleporter. Stairswill appear - climb them, step on the plate on the floor and shoot the mask over the teleporter - run quickly to it. Fine, you are going to need thebow and arrows. Get on the lift and it will take you to the firstpedestal. Walk along to the right and shoot at the mask you willsee on your right. This extends a platform - run along it and jumpto get at the valve. This lowers the level of the lava.

Go to the first pedestal and jump down to click on the crystal ballyou'll see. Get the idea? OK, get on this lift which will take you

up to the other one. Ride it to the first teleporter, but this timejump down and click on the tip of the pylon sticking out of thefire. This drains the lava momentarily so you can get at the otherteleporter.

When you get into the room, open the chest and get the potions, thenpress the blue button on the pedestal, equip the bow quickly andshoot at each target as it appears, turning fast to face the nextone. If you are successful, you'll get a globe. Step on theteleporter and click on the pylon again to lower the level of thelava; run to the nearest empty holder and place the globe in it.Aha! A new path is being created.

You know what to do now - keep clicking on pylons and don't getcaught when the lava raises. Find other teleporters and collectmore globes. You should find one in a chest. Since I don't knowwhich way you will head, I'll just tell you about the rooms you'llreach.

In one, you will see two chests and to archer statues. DON'T touchthe chests. Just shoot at a moving mask till you get the globe andget out.


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In another, you'll find yourself in a small maze. Keep your eyesopen for a war hammer, you are going to need it. Try and rememberwere you are at all times. You will see a cube with a button.Pressing it you will see a mask appearing over a chest. The idea isto rush to the chest and shoot the target before it disappears. Youhave to do this three times, in different places, to get a globe onthe cube. Now you can go and place the last one.

Get to the first pedestal where you landed were you arrived; withthe last globe placed, you can now walk along the new path and stepon the teleport.

NOT the best of places to be, but it could be worse. As soon as youcan, equip the war hammer and deal with the beast sent to attackyou, which drops a ruby, thank you so very much. Save your game.

Now, I jumped from stone to stone to face the nasty on the otherside and it turned out that she had company, so I was dispatchedbefore I could catch my breath. Next time, I had a cunning plan. Ileapt to the big rock, but instead of jumping on to the land, I shotthe woman with my little bow. It worked. I was able to jump ontothe land unimpeded and found a lift which took me to a column, whereI got a glyph I wasn't actually looking for in the first place.Heck, I didn't even know where I was.

I soon found out. Coming out of the column, I took the lift whichthis time took me to a teleporter. I used it, got out of the caveand there I was, in Moonglow. I didn't want to come here, and Ididn't want any trouble with the guy outside (keep insisting youdon't have his dagger and talk to him - don't fight him). AND Iwant my stuff back!!!

Moonglow--------

Well, here we are.

After talking to Duncan, turn around and read Raven's message by the entrance.She is darned-tooting right, I am very cross indeed. In fact, I'm hopping mad.

Swim across to the fire. By it you will find a map of Moonglow and much goodmight it do you.

Go into town and talk to everyone, only don't believe a word anyone says. Start on the first house on your left - just walk through the door. This empty housebelonged to Mariah. You will notice a door with a magic field across. There is a bed in one the rooms, where you can sleep if you need to.

Leave and go to the next house, again just walking through the door. The boylives here.

In the next house you will find Batista. She has the sigil but wants a shield.

Go back to Mariah's house - the magic field will have gone. Enter the kitchenand look at the floor. Open the trapdoor and go in. Another magic field across a door. Facing it, you will notice that, on your right, there is a secret door.


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Move the barrels and go in. Place a barrel on the plate on the floor. Thisremoves the magic field. Go back to the other room and find the secret door onthe other side. Move the barrels as before and place a barrel on the floorplate. This removes the protection around the shield. Go and get it and takeit to Batista. Insist that she does something for Mariah before you give herthe shield. In the end, you get the sigil. All you need now is the mantra.

Move on to the next house, nothing very interesting. The next one is a shop and you can buy potions or get healed for free.

At the next door, press the blue button and go in. Meet Tydus. Ask him aboutthe Lyceum and oracle and he sends you on an errand. Leave town by the S gateand go hard left, without crossing the bridge. Run to avoid the arrows whichwill be fired at you. You will find the cave along here. Enter and be ready to fight the two bandits. When you've killed them, rummage around. Hit the crateto the left, under the one with the jars, and remove the debris to get a nicescroll. Get Duncan's dagger off the floor. You can use the bed if you are lowon hit points and you don't have many health potions.

Get a lantern and move along the other corridor, hitting crates as you go andlooking in. At the end of the tunnel pull the unlit torch to remove the

barrier. Leave the lantern and step out, swim to the boat, climb in, climb upthrough the hole by the crate and kill the nasty. There is an iron key by thechest which will enable you to open it. In it, magic arms. Wear them.

Leave the boat, enter the cave again and exit the way you came in. You can't go to your left because the road is blocked, so go to your right, climb above andaround the cave and find your way back to town.

Go first to the N and give Duncan his dagger - he will train you for nothing.Go back to town.

Speak to Tydus and he will send you on another errand. Leave town by the N gate

and turn left, then right and along here to the cave. Have a look around andwhen you get to the Daemon, talk to him. Trust him and he will leave. Grab the Heartstone. Inside the mouth of the Watcher there is a key which allows you toopen a chest. I couldn't find another key, and the gold one I found later wasno use. Stand on the teleporter to get out of the cave.

You'll meet the boy yet again. This time take him seriously and go to hishouse. Fight the bandits and save the father. By way of thanks, he asks you to find his journal. Great. Might as well do it now - well, honestly, I'm forever

going backwards and forwards doing people favours and what do I get? Zilch!Talk about being taken for granted...

Ah, well, it's all part of the game.

Leave town through the S door, go over the bridge and then hard right to thedocks. Enter the lighthouse and have a look around. Then walk to the docks and fight the nasty (please don't hurt the nice doggie), then enter the hut andfight an even nastier nasty. Here you will find the journal. Take it to the


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sage and he will give you two useful spells.

Make sure it's night time. If not, sleep on a bed till it is.

Now for Tydus. Say you will swap the Heartstone for a visit to the Lyceum.When the talk is over, press the blue button on the wall and a lift will comedown. Get into it and wait till it gets to the top. Leave it and save. Jumpon the boat (don't miss). You get a grand tour of the town. You don't need toleave the boat at all, only if you wish, until you get to the Lyceum. Jump inand you will be given a cryptic message. Well, not so cryptic. Use thetelescope to see the mantra. Next, click on the book. Admit it's all yourfault. You get the book.

Leave. Now it's time to go to the shrine. Leave town by the S gate, cross thebridge and keep to your left. Avoid the cemetery by walking around it(otherwise a couple of skeletons are sure to do you in). Hard by there is acave. Go in, ignoring the entrance to the left, to the end of the tunnel. Getwhat you want and go back to that entrance. Cut the cobweb and fight thegoblin. Have a look around here. There is a little corridor to your left where a mess of garbage contains a dead body and a gold key. Coming out of thischamber you will see another corridor - this leads to the shrine. Before you go on, click on the crystal ball to open a secret door. Inside, a healing

fountain, an Invisible potion and an armour in the crates. Leave the room andhead for the shrine. Save before you do (there is a bug here which leaves youwithout the bars at the bottom of the screen). Then have a go and, when you'vedone, collect the stuff from the altar, as usual. When you do, you will beasked if you want restoration. Well, you do, really, but you don't know thewords.

At this point you can go on exploring, if you like, or you can get on with itand go to the docks. There you will find Raven. Try not to strangle her but be understanding. I think she fancies you. She will ask you where you want to go. Me, I needed a rest and went for Britain.

There is much for you to sort out there, such as selling your surplus, polishing gems, binding spells, and so on. But mostly, you need to talk to Lord Britishand find out how to get to Yew.

So, when you are good and ready, we'll follow his instructions and get throughthe caves and on our way. You will have many adventures and no doubt you'll die several times because you weren't ready for what there was around the corner,but let us assume you made it to Yew eventually.

Now, you could be forgiven for wandering about, quite lost, looking for the

inhabitants of Yew and, indeed, Yew itself. Well, you see, Yew is mainly builton treetops, so you could walk past it and never know. Particularly if it isnight time, which it always seems to be in this game. No matter.

When you find a bridge with a signpost saying Yew, you are nearly there. Goingto the pub is a good move, if you can make it there. Because the serving wenchwill tell you were the Courthouse is. Of course, I can obviate that by tellingyou to head NE from of town.

Should you find the Courthouse, just watch Raven being condemned to death.


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teleporting to this room later on, so it's as well to remember its position.Continue and you'll end up in another cell, place the dead body on the plate toopen the door and you'll come to a corridor. There is a door almost oppositeslightly to your left. Go in and get your backpack and a key, leave this roomand go to your left, use the key on the box on the wall and go down the stairs.

You've got the idea, so I'll leave you to explore looking for levers, secretdoors, buttons on walls, boxes with levers, etc. By the way, when you find arack, pull the lever on that to open the way out. Ignore the wolf and don'tbother with a key you will see in a flooded room, you can't put it in yourinventory. You will come to a mock Raven which turns to a zombie - make sureyou chop it to pieces. In this room, a book on the floor will give you theorder in which you have to push 5 skulls to open the door to the real Raven,which you will come to by and by. When you do, go in, turn the valve on theleft to turn off the flames, turn the valve on the right and she will come up.You have a chat. Well, yes, we knew we had to get all that, lady.

Carry on here. Raven's key opens a door; to your right, another door can onlybe opened by pressing the red buttons on a green tapestry. Don't bother. Bearleft and go down the stairs. At the desk remove the inkpot and press the redbutton. Go in and carry on. At a room with three buttons and a chest, pressthe first on the left (blue) to open the door to the dungeon proper. Press themiddle one (red) to get out of here but don't press the one on the right (green)

because you will wind up in jail.

Find the door to the dungeon and go in. Here, look for switches low down on the walls and free prisoners. You will come to a flooded room with a corridor inthe middle. See if you can kill the fish before you run across, because thebridge will sink. In any case, you'll have to dive to a tunnel to the right,where a valve will open the other door. Carry on through and you will come to a room with a revolving column. Leave this for now and go along the othercorridor. You will meet Jaana. After you've spoken to her by choosing thesecond and third lines, throw the lever on the winch on your right and she willbe caged. She'll ask you to free her so, if she promises to be nice, do so.

She attacks you and you have to kill her. The door will open now, and you canget through and get into the column, behind the rocks, to retrieve the glyph.

Now go to the room with the revolving column, look for a switch and a teleporter will appear. Equip your weapon, step on the teleporter and kill the spider atthe other end. You will know where you are, so leave Wrong and get back to Yew.

The shrine is NW of town, so do your bit with the glyph and the quill then goback to the Courthouse. Now that everything is sorted out, you might like totake time to go to the mountains to the NE of town and find the ruins of theabbey. Talk to the brother then find the braziers at the back. Cast Ignite on

everything in sight and you will be able to get the Candle of Love.

Go back to...

Britain-------

It's a good thing you have to get back to Britain, since no doubtyou have much to do in the way of selling/leaving stuff in your


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room/binding spells/sorting out your pack, etc.

You are going to need plenty of health (yellow) and mana (orange)potions, and the odd invisibility one - but leave plenty of room inyour inventory. If you still have it, take the crystal sword withyou; it could make all the difference. If do you have it, then takealso the magic shield you got earlier on in the first dungeon.

When you have sorted yourself out to your satisfaction, go to theDocks and jump into Raven's boat. You will be asked where you wishto go. I took a small detour to place the lens in the Moonglowlighthouse. This is a good place to buy potions anyway. Cast a"Light" spell before you go to...

Minoc-----

You will notice your mana points start to drain straightaway; thisis the effect of the Light spell, which will continue operationaltill you either sleep or run out of mana. Bearing in mind youcannot cast spells here, don't sleep. Furthermore, once you enterthe dungeon, neither your potions nor your magic will work. Sinceyou must maintain your Light spell going, top up your hit and mana

points with potions while above ground.

Head mainly N. First visit the shop and get a bit of info. Go onN, and to the right of the big house, stand at the window of theprison to hear a plea for help. Bribe the guard by the front doorand talk to Raxos. You will have to kill him to get the key to thePrison, so get tough. Free the guy inside and he will give you ahandy orb.

Outside, talk to the bold guy, paying for the answers to yourquestions. If you are short of cash, save first and find out whatanswers you'll get, then reload and ask only those relevant to yourneeds. Remember, in this game you have to "know" things (i.e., they

must be inscribed in your journal) in order to do something aboutthem.

Walk across to where there is a spooky house. Upstairs, a ghost (beaware it is only there at night) asks you to find her doll. Leavethe way you came and keep going N. You will come across the gypsiesand will witness an ugly scene. Talk to the Gypsy Leader, who willhelp you if you help him. No probs.

Talk to Morganna, get all the info and you will find out themantra. She up and dies on you. Oh. Carry on talking to people and go through the waterfall to find the

ghost's doll. Might as well take it to her (if it's night time,which it usually is). Avoid the cemetery behind her house at allcosts. If you enter it, a ghost attaches itself to you and, whilstit doesn't harm you, there is no getting rid of it.

Anyway, to save on shoe leather, jump into the water by thewaterfall and swim under the cave at the other end of the pool,looking out for a high ledge where you'll find a special sword.

When you are ready, walk up the hill from the magic shop and kill


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the ghost (if it's night time - he's off duty in daylight hours).Carry on up and dispatch the two bandits and the two skeletons.

By the way, the skeletons you kill will pull themselves together ifyou hang around. Sometimes, if you take their ribcage into yourinventory (leaving it elsewhere later) or place it as far away fromthe other bones as you can, they can't do it. So, either run or, ifyou must hang about, take their ribcages and hope for the best.While we are on the subject, don't forget that zombies must be hitagain once they are felled, till they disintegrate. Ghosts aretougher to "kill"; I found the Gringolet sword quite useful, though mostly Itried to avoid them.

Back to business.

Go through the caves. Fight your way through and, outside, go downand enter the mines. You will see now why you had to cast "Light"before you even reached Minoc. Gee, it's dark in here! Read thebook on the floor a little way in. Follow the railtracks till youenter the main cave.

Either now or later, you might like to use an invisibility potion (though youhave to drink it outside the cave) and run to your left collecting lumps ofblackrock. You need four lumps.

When you are ready, at the entrance turn to the right and climb up some ramps to the top of an elevator. Pick up the oil can and click on the drive mechanism(the bits which stick out either end of the hole in the ground). Thislubricates the gears.

Go down and to your right and follow the railtracks. Before you gotoo far in, equip the Gringolet sword, a shield if you have it, andcarry on. Speak to the Sword Wraith and get all the info. Fighthim and quickly retrieve the key he was carrying. Go open the chestby the elevator and press the blue button. Jump on the elevator andpress the second button from the top (blue).

You are now on the second floor down. It is imperative that youfind the green pools that restore your health points, otherwise youwill never make it.

OK, follow the tracks. When you come to a wagon, push it to getthrough. Go left and a skull asks you to take him. Refuse atfirst, then take it. With your back to the skull pole, go left,climb over the rocks and you will find a green pool (fountain); useit to heal yourself. Carry on along here and you will find the nextkey in an open box, at the back of the column.

Go back to the fountain and climb over the rocks, then go back to

the elevator, do as before and move on to the third floor. Here,follow the tracks and, when you have gone over the chasm and getinto a chamber turn to your left. Walk along here and you will seea rock almost like a wall, with a green shine behind it. Jump ontoa box and then onto the "wall" and in. You will find, not only afountain, but a helm of radiance in the rubble. Wear it to seebetter. Walk around here till you find a tunnel and follow it.

(By the way, blocked tunnels can be opened up by clicking on the dynamitebarrels in front of them.)


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When you reach the end, you will have found the skull's tomb. Placethe skull on it and you will get the next key. By the way, in thechamber before the tomb I found Skully's skull. I took it with mejust in case. Back to the elevator, you know what to do.

This is the fourth and last floor. At the back of the elevatorthere is a tunnel which leads to a chamber with a lot of preciousstones, if you want them. From the elevator, follow the tracksuntil you get to the flooded section.

Save here because what is coming next is a bit of a nightmare. Inspite of the Helm of Radiance and your Light spell (still going, Ihope), it's pitch dark and you will find it doesn't help that therocky walls of the mine are invisible, nor that the water itself hasvarious levels. The changes of perspective as you move about willconfuse you while you are groping in the dark not knowing where togo. Come too near the lava field and your hit points will drainaway without you knowing why. The fact that there is a heavy fightahead and that you are unlikely to find a fountain here tends tofill you with dread. Will you be able to complete this section?Ah! Read on...

Get into the water and head straight N. Come up as soon as possible

so that you don't drown. Swim on N till you hit a huge, black,round rock (the column itself?). If you look down, you will see a greenfountain underwater, not that it will do you much good. Forget it.

Turn W and swim to the wall. Find an entrance, dive and swim alongthe tracks till you come up into another room. Run in and kill or avoideverybody then head left, change to whatever weapon is best forskeletons and, in running mode but not in fighting mode, jump overthe stones to get to the other side. Don't bother to fight, justrun to the door, open it and rush in. Be prepared to fight askeleton immediately, then place the Gringolet on the plaque (if youhave the crystal sword, equip it now, together with the magicshield; if not, your best weapon) and go through the door. Here you

meet the Lich. Kill it (one hit of the glass sword) and all his minions (withanother weapon). I know, easier said than done.

When you are free, click on the ball in the centre of the burningcircle. A door opens. Don't press the button on the wall. Runthrough and open the wooden chest to get the Blackrock crystalball. Now, turn right around. On your left there is a cave were afountain is to be found, and I'll bet you need one badly by now.Inside there is a stone guard - I haven't been able to kill one yet,so I have to suppose you can't. However, us cowards can outrunanyone, so I just tended to rush around and avoid them. Try ithere. It can be done.

When you've finished, run out of the big door, again avoidingfights, and to your left, where you can leap across and get downinto the water and away from here. Swim to the black circular rock- this time we are going N, so swim around it till you are facing N,get to the wall and look for the entrance to the tunnel. Dive inand, again guiding yourself by the railtracks, reach the other side.Don't rush out of the water. You are now going to run straight onavoiding the stone guard. Wait till he has his back to you and isout of your way. Go!


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You'll find the column and a pool. Jump in, swim around the columntill you see an entrance. Dive, walk up and collect the glyph. Nowall you have to do is run past the guard, into the water, swim S andfind the tunnel through which you entered. At the other end, findthe elevator. By the way, if you've had the odd encounter withskeletons and you are low on hit points, the fountains won't healyou. You can only use them once. Nice touch, that.

(You could have swam to the E, there is another entrance underwater, but I gotkilled so many times trying that I gave it up. It really wasn't necessary,anyway.)

Once on the elevator, press the top button (blue), then the redone. Face the exit and be ready to jump out when you get to the topfloor - the elevator perversely goes straight down again. Once onthe top floor, don't stop to smell the roses but run like hell forthe exit, avoiding the skeletons if you can. As soon as you get tothe entrance you can heal yourself with potions.

Now go to the Gypsy leader and talk to him till he agrees to look atthe Blackrock crystal ball. Afterwards, collect the key, go to thewagon nearby, open it and get the lens on the bed and the sigil,which is in the chest.

Next, head for the shrine and do your stuff. OK, collect the itemsoff the altar and go to the boat, where you join Raven. Shesuggests you go to Buccaneers' Den - however, you get diverted andtaken to...

Terfin------

Jump off the boat and go straight on till you come to a group ofthree statues. Click on the first one. If you try to go throughthe gate behind them perhaps you won't be able to. Leave this corridor andcome back again - now you can go through.

Nothing very special here. Just walk along having a look, expectingthe odd attack and picking up anything you need - you willinevitably arrive at the Guardian. Watch what happens. TheGuardian gives you a warning, but he doesn't kill you (even thoughyou could do nothing about it) because that would be the end of thegame. So you go back to Raven - up to you to tell her Samhayne washer father or not.

Here you get the chance to get back to Britain and get yourselfsorted. All you have to do then is get back to the boat for thenext bit.

Now you sail to Buc's Den, where you buy a map from the

cartographer and go to Raven's house. Enter, sit on the chair and watch.Afterwards, don the clothes that Raven leaves for you and afterwards visit theThieves' Guild (above the ferry). You get the chance to buy some interestingstuff. Make sure you get everything you need because after what we are going to do, you won't be allowed to buy anything else.

OK, go to the N part of the island and explore around the high ground till youfind the hidden entrance to the cave (marked on one of the "treasure maps"). If


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you get caught between two sets of gates, press the protruding rock on the sideof the cave to get through. Fight the two nasties you'll find at the end of the cave by shooting at them and then shoot the target to get across to the snake.Click on the base of the stand on which the snake is to free it. Collect allthe serpentwyne there is and move the barrels around at the foot of the stairsto get other interesting stuff. You can leave by swimming out or the way youcame.

[Next time you are in Britain, visit the Cathedral and talk to the SerpentKeeper, who will than you for restoring the serpent but will ask you to retrieve the funds. Go to the Mayor's house and the Storeroom. Talk to Killigan andthen walk through the tapestry opposite him. Under a table, find the funds andtake them back to the Cathedral for some more karma.]Anyway, you then go to the docks and meet Raven again. I decided togo to...

Trinsic-------

When you land here on the docks, go straight ahead and up thestairs. Talk to the guard and take heed. Save. If you enter the

Bastion you are a goner - yet you must, and reach a room where a reasonableghost will give you a clue. The best way to do it is to run all the way thereand to get out quickly by the nearest door.

Explore the town and talk to various people. Be careful not tofight the people themselves, but look out for goblins.

This time nobody volunteers info on mantras, sigils or what haveyou. All you are told is that a chalice is missing.

Make sure, by the way, that you buy plenty of arrows while in town.

There is nothing for it but to investigate the island in search of

someone more forthcoming. You have to head to the shrine, to the S,and speak to the woman there. Next, you have to go to the centre ofthe island, where a ruin guarded by a couple of gazerscontains Dupre's. Kill the nasties, go in, open the coffin,get the urn and leg it to the shrine. Place the ashes on the altarand Dupre will tell you what to do.

Depending on how you feel about it, you could now do someexploring. In a sunken ship on the NW coast of the island you willfind another lighthouse lens. In a cave on an island reached by abridge (not far from the shrine), you will find the Star ofBritannia, whatever that is. In another cave guarded by goblins,you will find the Staff of the Dead, in a small pool. This could be

quite useful. Also, not too far from where you got the ashes youwill find the spy in a tent. Kill him and read his diary.

At any rate, find your way to the dungeon, guiding yourself by themap: head towards the skull symbol on it, which marks theentrance. You will have to fight hellhounds on the way. If notworse.

As soon as you enter the very first room, you will realize you arein for a bad bout of puzzle-solving. I don't know what's worse,


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fighting against impossible odds or this.

Equip your bow. Open the wooden door.

(Save every time you've solved a puzzle. That way you can go in tohave a look at the next, laugh heartily while you get killed andreload to do it properly.)

First room: press the red button on your right (a ball from theright will hit the mask on the left and the field will disappear)and quickly shoot the arrow before it shoots you. Walk against thegate and it will open.

Second room: a couple of annoying Watchers follow your everymovement, and open gates shut the moment you try to go throughthem. The answer is: go to the tapestry, turn right around facingthe target above the watchers, shoot at it to attract theirattention and walk around them, right up close, placing them betweenyou and the tapestry. One eye will be looking at you, the otheraway from you. Now you can rush to the right and get in.

Have a look: there is an eye in front of you, a mask to your leftand three shields on your right. Normally, a fireball is shot atyou (dodge), followed by a blue ball. The idea is to attract the ball to the

mask by placing yourself in front of it and moving at the last moment. If itmisses, then it's back to the fireballs and you have to wait for the blue ball.

Eventually, the blue ball will hit the mask and the wall will open to let youthrough.

This time there are suits of armour to your right and left and astatue in front of you. Click on both of suits and two masks willappear, to the left and right of the statue. Again, you have tododge fireballs but direct blue balls to the masks, mainly dodgingthe former and attracting the latter to the target by offering yourbody as bait. Do first the mask to the right of the statue and youwill get some potions (be careful not to touch the green one). Then

try the other one and go through to the next puzzle.

Start by shooting the arrow before it shoots you. Look: there aredifferent coloured statues on all but one plinth. Press the buttonon your right and you will get a clue - a BLACK statue. Press thebutton on your left and the statues will start changing colour. Youwant to turn them all black by clicking on them when they are thatcolour. When they are all black, a new statue will appear. Justclick on it and a chest will materialize in the middle of the room.Open it and get the orb.

Get back to the starting room, the one with the tapestry, the maskand the two watchers. Again, with your back to the tapestry, shoot

at the mask to draw their attention and then walk right up close tothem; while neither of them is looking at the doors, dash throughthe door which is now to your right.

In the next room, avoid the floor to the left (a plate here wouldfry you) and head straight for the table with all the buttons andstand in front of the red one. Looking at the array, I will namethem thus:

A


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B C D E

F G R H I

R stands for red button. What you do is: press A, press R. Waittill the ball hits the mask then press F. When the ball hits that,press G. The rest of the sequence is H, I, B, C, D, E. At the end,a door opens. Don't rush out.

You must not land on the red portions of the floor. Start byjumping out of the room onto the grey bit. Look to your right andpress the blue button to get rid of the field, you never know.Carefully walking on the grey floor only, keep an eye on your left.When you spot a mask, shoot at it. You are shown an open way to thenext room. Yet, when you carefully approach it, a field shuts it.The reason is that the watcher has its beady eye on you. Follow thegrey path and look to your left. You will see a red button on thewall. Watch how the red strip on the floor moves. You have toreach the red button avoiding that strip - it's just a matter ofjumping at the right moment, and be sure the cursor is on the greypath before you do.

Now, when you reach that button, be aware of what it does. When you

press it, it turns the eye towards you and away from the open way,so that the field disappears. The trick is to press the button andget quickly to the next room before the eye gets back to itsoriginal position. Good luck.

In the next room, you will see a lot of paintings and a lot oflevers. Start by pushing all the levers back. Now, the eye here isturning slowly and continuously. If you pull a lever (it turnsgreen) and the eye is facing it, it will go back. Therefore, youhave to wait till the eye has just turned past any lever and pullthem all following the eye around so that it is only looking atlevers laying back; you have to pull them all before the eye gets tothe first one. If you are not quick enough, all the levers you've

pulled so far will go back. However, after a few tries and a lot ofcursing, you should complete the circle faster than the watcher andpull all the levers green. This opens another door in the room withred/grey floor.

Go back to it (carefully) and enter the new room. You will see apedestal. Place the orb on it and stairs will be created. Go upthem and look for a blue button on the left. This calls a liftwhich takes you to a large black statue. Sheltering to the right ofit, have a look around.

First, you have to go left and jump to a murderous watcher whichshowers you with fireballs. Press its red button. Jump to the red

"star", walk through it and you will turn red. Jump back to thestatue and click on it to turn it red. Now, dodging fireballs, findthe blue star; standing by the statue, it is ahead and to theright. Walk into it so that you turn blue and then click on thestatue to turn it purple. Next, you have to get to the yellow star- which is a bit difficult since there is no obvious way to get toit.

Go down some stairs above the statues puzzle andover a polar bear rug to get to another button. When you press that, a new


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lift appears - go to it, travel to the last "star", turn yellow, goto the statue, click on it and it will disappear leaving behind ateleporter. Use it.

You will be in front of a glass wall. Hit it with your weapon andyou will be asked the mantra, which you now know is SUMM. The glasswall disappears. Jump from slab to slab to the entrance of acave. Follow this through and you will have an encounter. Don'tgive up the lenses. The chalice is destroyed. As you leave thecave, Dupre will appear and tell you to get another one (do so) and toconvince the people they should mend their ways. That's all verywell, but.

Anyway, come out to the slabs and jump to your right, where you willfind a very fine sword. Observe, too, the teleporter. Go and facethe guard. Now, this is a tough one, so I found that the only wayto kill her was to dodge around the fire till she stepped on it toget at me - with the new weapon and her losing hit points because ofthe fire, I found it quite easy to dispatch her. When she bites thedust, the column opens and you can go through to get the glyph. Usethe teleporter to get back, drop down to the room with the twowatchers and leave the dungeon.

Go back to town and to the Bastion. With the new sword, killing the

ghosts is dead easy (excuse the pun). Just go around hitting themall even as they speak. When you have finished them off, go to thefront door and talk to the guard. He tells you about someone at theInn. Go there and talk to the woman. You find that she has aguest. I think you have to leave by the N door, but anyway nearhere there are two rooms which were previously locked. Go to theone to the left and meet a guy who needs help. Agree.

Go to the last paladin, on the floor above the smith, and ask forhis help. Call him a coward. Dupre's ghost appears and talks tohim. Lucero will finally pull himself together. Follow hisinstructions and go to the island S of here, which you reach by thebridge. At the house, lend a hand killing spiders and, after a bit,

it will all be over. Lucero, though, is in bad shape. Nothing youcan do.

Go back to town and to the front door of the Bastion. Place the cupat the foot of the statue and watch. Go to the guard and he willtell you to take the chalice. Do so, go to the shrine and place thechalice and the glyph on the altar. At the end, go back to the boatand Raven.

It would be a good idea to go to Britain because of the lighthouselens.

Also, if you have three lumps of blackrock and 7000 gold pieces, you can ask the

smith to make you a blackrock sword after you've cleansed the shrine. Talkingto the two fisherman then gives you more karma.

Britain-------

Make sure you talk to everyone again and you will find that someone has beenimpersonating you. Go to the crossroads to Despise and the knight will tell you


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where to find the offending party. Go to him and tell him to mend his ways.More karma for you.

OK, after you've done all else you had to (making sure you bind the spellFireball before you leave Britain) and have taken a detour to Buc'sDen to place the lighthouse lens, talk to Raven and ask to go toValoria.

When you get there, follow the sign and go up to the rock all infront of you and then left and you will meet a dying guy who willlumber you with a shield. Continue along here and you will see twohuge heads. Click on the yellow eye to open the barrier and walkstraight on till you get to the sergeant. Agree to bring a dragon'shead (are we nuts?).

Leave and head for the ship, get rid of the zombies, get in andexplain you have to get to Destard. Raven takes you to Britainagain. If there is anything else you need to do, now it's the timeto do it. Make sure you have plenty of orange potions, a fewhealing potions for emergencies and, very important, at least twoinvisibility potions plus an infernal armour one... but otherwiseleave plenty of room in your inventory.

Start by going to Paws and, guiding yourself by the map, follow the

path which will take you nearest to the skull which marks theentrance to the dungeon. Eventually you will come to somehellhounds and you will know you are near the column. It took meHOURS to find the entrance to Destard, and since this is difficultto explain, I wish you a lot of luck.

What you do is jump, or climb, from rock to rock heading N till youhit the village of Dawn (the other alternative is to go to Yew (using themoonstone) and walk SW till you get to Dawn), which is where the blockedentrance to Destard is. In one of the ruined houses a woman willtalk to you. You still haven't a clue where the other entrance isand I'm willing to bet it's either night or very dark because it'sraining, and you can't see where you are going.

Climb up to where you see snow and where you'll find an ice hound.Hard by, within sight of the column, you will see a kind of squareof ice with a dead body on one side. Stand on the square and castFireball four times - the ice will melt and you will fall into...

Dungeon Destard---------------

Head N to the Lava Room and stick to your right. The first thingyou will find is a white magic field closing off a chamber. Also, ademon will probably materialize and call up a fire hound. Always

attend first to the hound and then to the demon, though if you areable to attack the demon quickly, he won't have time to call forhelp.

Next you will come to a room full of rats, kill them all and come upright close to the guy to talk to him. Get all his info and thenagree to find the key. It is right behind you, on top of a flatrock. Go back to the man and free him.

Move on and there should be, on your right, a lava field. Jump from


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rock to rock, deal with the guard (he might beg you to spare him if you arepushy) and go on to get the glyph. Get back. Next, you will see someinteresting light effects on your right. That's a teleport you will be usingpresently, but first talk to a ghost nearby. Ask her where the dragon is and,when you know all that, get the rest of the info and promise to help. Sheasks for news of her husband. Now, with your weapon at the ready,go to the teleport and use it.

Here is where the dungeon proper begins. Kill the guards and, thistime, keep to your left. Be careful that you don't miss any rooms,since you can easily walk past them. Also, examine the wallscarefully since there are secret rooms all over the place. Asalways, I will only mention the important points, you do your ownthing, OK?

As you walk along, past a healing fountain, you'll come to a roomwith a bowl in the middle which contains a gold key. Be careful how you get it, you might prefer to leave it where it is.

Nothing very exciting, just keep looking around. It is important,though, that when you come eventually to a door in which there is askull in the middle, you look to the right to find Darin's journal.Click on the skull to go on through (this doesn't happen right now,

I just want to you be on the look out).

You should come to a large chamber with a fountain in the middle.Take the tunnel to the left. In the room with the locked chest,smash the crates and find the key. Inside the chest, a red candle. Take it.Go on to speak to the miners, if you like.

The next tunnel leads to the proper entrance of the dungeon - a headwill ask you for the Word of Power, which you don't know yet.Remember where this is because it's the way home.

In a room with two black spiders you will find a piece of the magiceggshell.

If a door closes behind you when you enter a room with another dooropposite, a switch on the wall between the two doors, on the left,will open them. At the mausoleum, you will find the key you need inan open crate under the stairs. Inside that last room, fight thenasty and open the coffin to get another eggshell bit. Not muchelse to do around here, but do look around, you never know whatyou'll find.

When you come to the room with the plates on the floor, don't pressthe red button on the wall. The doors will close and zombies will appear. Kill them and push the button on top of the stand which will materialize. This opens

the doors.

Carry on. You will presently come to two pillars with a buttoneach, either side of a magic field. Press both buttons so that agreen dome appears above them then enter the rooms either side andpress the buttons above the door. This gets rid of the field.

Enter the "church". The first door to the left is locked, don'tworry about in because we'll get in another way. Go to the altar


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and read the book. So this is what the red candle is for!

The door behind the altar is locked, but we'll get the key later.There is a lever in the corner as you go to the other side of thechurch. I think it's for stopping the stream of fireballs you startoff if you press the red button on the wall I asked you not topush. But pull it just in case I'm wrong and it does somethingelse.

OK, through the only open door. Have a good look around; you willfind the flask of blood amongst the other ones; take it.Particularly, click on the crystal ball - remember what you see. Ifyou have spells which you are anxious to bind, open the chest andget what you need.

Go up the stairs, through the door to the right when you get to thetop and go open the chest and get what's inside. Go back to thestairs and go down the other way. You will meet an obnoxious womanwho will fight you and you will have to kill her. Have a lookaround here and then click the painting which is askew to get akey. Go through the door which opens and have a field day. Get thered globe. OK, you can leave. The locked door is the one which wecouldn't open from the church.

Leave the church and, instead of going left, enter the roomopposite. This is where you place the red orb, the red candle, thered skull and the flask of blood, in the four stands around theroom. And the severed head in the middle. You can place whateveryou have on you, in any order.

Now take the path you should have taken and look for a red pentagramon the wall to your right. On your left there is a secret doorwhich contains the key to open the door behind the altar. That roomcontains a pentagram for binding spells, if you need to. There aremore reagents by the pentagram. No nightshade anywhere, though.Nevertheless, go to that room. Inside, push the dragon statue andyou will reveal a door. Inside that, the severed head.

Continuing along the corridor with the red pentagram on the wall,you will eventually come to the room we saw in the crystal ball; youwill have to dispatch two nasties before you go and click on the redpanel - the bookcase slides away and you'll see a door. Inside, achest with another eggshell piece. There is also a secret door inthis room. Carry on searching and, when you leave these quarters, acell on your left, which can be opened with a lever, contains acouple of rats and the red skull. Also yet another golden key.

A corridor leading to stairs somewhere along here takes you to alava room in which you will meet a demon and a hound. In a booknear a dead body you will read a single word: Inopia. That's the

Word of Power.

Go back to the room with the large pentagram, place the four redobjects on the stands and the severed head in the middle - ademon/hound team appear, kill them. You get a Summon spell.Collect the red candle before you leave.

Make your way to the teleporter and leave.

Keep right, now. Talk to the ghost and she will give you her piece


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of eggshell because you found her husband's journal. Carry onexploring.

You should come presently to an entrance with spikes in front. Easeyou way in and jump to a chest. Kill the nasties and weigh downwith something (you can retrieve it later) the plate you will seenear the chest, making sure it is depressed. Keep jumping alonghere till you see another tunnel. Save, change to running mode anduse an invisible potion. Jump to the tunnel and run to the N, whereanother short tunnel will lead you to the last eggshell bit. Useanother invisible potion and rush out.

Now for the Lava Room. Find the closest place to jump at the roundplatforms with the pedestals. As you near each one you will changecolour to give you a clue as to what piece of eggshell to place oneach pedestal - in any case, if you use the wrong one nothing willhappen and you will know to try another one.

When all the pedestals have disappeared, go to the place where thered field was and enter. It wouldn't be a bad idea to be in runningmode. When you get to the dragon, have a chat with her and, ofcourse, refuse to join her. When the fighting starts, cast InfernalArmour, run and jump onto the ledge she is on and bash away, keepingyour eye on your health. It's actually quite easy, I thought it

would be a great deal worse. OK, get the head and anything else youwant and you can now visit, if you like, the room which had themagic white field across the entrance. A lot of goodies to be hadhere (the Troll's Chest, for instance, restores your hit points slowly) butwatch out for hellhounds and mimics. A Fireball spell works wonders with themimics.

When you've had your fill of Destard, go to the proper entrance tothe dungeon and speak the Word of Power to get out. The bad news isthat you have to

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Ultima IX, Ascension

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