Castle Of Naurios

As a citizen of Dargeth, the bane of your existence is King Naurios. The evil and jealous ruler governs the kingdom with an iron fist and no one escapes his wrath. Naurios gained control after forging a powerful and magical sword, which he used to conquer the countryside and to enslave the people. The king carries the sword with him everywhere as the symbol of ultimate authority.

Anyone foolish enough to look at him the wrong way is in danger of being beheaded on the spot. Among those decapitated personally by the monarch was his own wizard and counselor, Mizagorn, who wanted to save the people from Naurios' wicked ways. Mizagorn had been Naurios' tutor from childhood and had attempted without success to instill good qualities in his student. The wizard knew the situation was hopeless when, one day, Naurios turned on him and ridiculed him for his "weak heart and mindless do-gooding."

From that day forward Mizagorn plotted the overthrow of N aurios. Secretly meeting with some carefully· selected citizens on a regular basis, Mizagorn warned that Naurios eventually would lose his sanity and cause the complete

destruction of the kingdom. The real problem was that with the sword, Naurios was practically invincible. After several meetings Mizagorn decided that the citizens needed a weapon to counter the sword.

Mizagorn disappeared for several days into the enormous forest surrounding the castle. His mission: To create a magic spear that would eliminate Naurios! Mizagorn knew the formula because he had assisted N aurios in creating the sword. Upon his reappearance, Mizagorn was seized and immediately taken to the king. The king called a public meeting of all the citizens to witness the slaughter. "Let this be a warning to you," Naurios told them. "Anyone who challenges my rule will not be so fortunate to die as quickly as Mizagorn. You will suffer a slow and agonizing death in the company of your family and friends."

Shortly after the debacle, however, Naurios falls into a deep trance. Mizagorn had cast a temporary spell on the king before his death. The citizens secretly rejoice. They are so intimidated by the king that they do not recognize his illness as an opportunity. You do, however. As Mizagorn 's nephew, you are incensed that he would be slaughtered by someone he had tried so much to help. Before his capture, Mizagorn revealed to you the location of his magical spear. It is up to you to rid the kingdom of Naurios !

Your mission is to retrieve the sword. To get the sword, you must kill the king. But there are some steps required before you can accomplish the act. First, you must find 10 treasures in the castle and deposit them at the front gate. Then you must select the correct wearing apparel, go to the king's chamber in the catacombs, and stab Naurios with your spear as soon as you see him. If you hesitate, even for a moment, the spell will be broken and your head will belong to the king!

For this Adventure, you will use a verb and the verb/ noun command sequence. In all but one case (you'll have to figure out which), you need only to type the first four letters of a word. Only one letter is required for directional commands.

Type SCORE to check the number of moves you have made, for the amount of fuel left in your lantern (one move uses a unit of fuel), and the status of your current strength (on a scale from I to 25). If you are weak, you usually can move around to regain your strength.

There will be occasions when you will want to converse with inhabitants of the castle. Just type ASK (person) and, depending upon the situation, you usually will receive an answer. Because of its mysterious elements, one of the objects you may collect is potentially harmful, perhaps even fat al if in your possession very long. It is wise to check your strength periodically if you suspect that you have this "treasure" in your possession.

If you find yourself in a dangerous situation, you may receive some-assistance by typing HELP. The scoring is 10 points for each treasure collected, plus 10 more for dropping them at the main gate. There are 11 treasures, including the sword. You will lose 10 points every time you are killed, up to a maximum of three lives.