The Amulet

Your great aunt, Mathilda, recently passed away at the astonishing old age of 143 and you and the other family members are gathered for the reading of her will. Everyone is aware of the fact that her assets will be liquidated and the money, as well as her cadaver, donated to medical research. Nevertheless, the one item that everyone would love to own, her rare, golden amulet containing five precious gems (diamond, ruby, sapphire, emerald and pearl), will be left to someone in the room.

Who will be awarded her most illustrious possesion, you wonder? You and she were pretty close. Could you possibly have a chance? The room becomes silent as the attorney begins the reading....

"For years I have been recognized for my phenomenal health and extended life. I have shattered the record as the longest-living human being and everyone has been mystified by my secret of longevity. Well, the time has come to share that secret and pass the good fortune on to one of you.

The exquisite amulet, which you have all admired, is much more valuable than its monetary worth. You see, the radiant charm was left to me by my great grandmother when she died at the age of 115. For reasons which surpass scientific explanation, when all of the mystical stones are placed in the amulet's golden setting, the bearer is protected from evil, danger and disease and is granted an additional 100 years of existence.

Since it is hardly possible for me to decide which of you is most deserving of the good luck charm, I have devised a scheme to let one of you earn it. The individual pieces of the fabulous heirloom have been extremely well hidden in different locations around the estate." The attorney continues reading.

To win the cherished prize, you must search the old home and surrounding grounds to find the amulet and each of its jewels. Of course, all of you may not receive the opportunity, since the order in which you may individually pursue the hunt will be determined by drawing numbers. If you do get a chance, however, be forewarned -the task will not be easy.

If, and when, your turn arrives, you must be prepared to make great sacrifices, for all of your time must be devoted to the expedition. If you leave the property for any reason, or if you fail to totally complete the mission, all rights to the inheritance will ·be forfeited and the family member next in line will receive the same opportunity.

During your adventure, be sure to carefully examine each clue, look at everything and avoid catastrophe. If you are lucky enough to locate all of the stones and place them back into the amulet, you will earn the treasure as your

inheritance.

To the rest of my family, I leave my best wishes and hope you will never forget that things are not always as they seem.

Goodbye, Aunt Mathilda."

The lawyer folds the will and passes around a small wooden box containing sealed envelopes. As you immediately tear open your selection, you are flabbergasted to see the number' l' on the paper contained inside. You graciously accept the key to the house and dash from the office laughing with joy. Disregarding speeding laws, you race to the old mansion on the hill. The estate looks monstrous, with its acres of grounds and many surrounding buildings. Weeds have overgrown the place, paint is peeling badly from the exterior walls, and with darkness setting in, a kind of eerie feeling comes over you.

But, once at the front door, pleasant thoughts of the amulet return. You insert the key into the decrepit lock and turn the doorknob. Voila! The door slowly creaks open ... and the Adventure begins. Before loading the program, type PCLEARl to allow for memory requirements, else an OM Error will occur.

You begin the game with a sack in your possession and are only allowed to carry three items in your hand and seven in your sack, so travel light. To travel through the estate, use the following single-key directional commands: N (North), S (South), E (East), W (West), U (Up) and D (Down). The commands LOOK (examines the room for objects), INVENTORY (lists the items you are carrying) and VERB (displays a verb list) may also be abbreviated by typing only the first letter of the command. The standard two-word commands (a verb followed by a noun) may also be entered in abbreviated form by first typing the verb and only the first three letters of the noun.

For example: Type, LOOK SHE instead of LOOK SHELF. And, to speed game play, the commands GET ALL, DROP ALL or EMPTY SACK may be used. The Amulet consists of 21 different locations and can be solved in as few as 40 moves. Points are displayed at any time by typing SCORE and a maximum of 3,000 points are possible.

A game save feature is also incorporated into the program. To save a game, type the command SAVE when you reach a desired starting point in the Adventure and simply follow the prompts. To load a saved game, type the command LORD after running the program, follow the prompts and you will start the game in the room that you previously left off in the Adventure.

Be sure to ask for HELP if you need it!