Scepter of Kzirgla

You are walking down a dim, dank hallway. You can hear your footsteps echo off the rough stone walls and feel the rapid pulse in your chest. Your armor is heavy, and beads of sweat stand out on your forehead. Then you catch a fleeting bit of movement ahead and grasp the hilt of your massive sword -- the cold, hard steel giving you a sense of security known only to the most fierce fighters.

But no, there is nothing there; it must be the light. You go on. You round a corner and suddenly you are face to face with a grotesque creature that is half man and half lizard. The lizard-man attacks first with his mace, but the blow bounces off your breastplate and does only minor damage. You start exchanging blows, but it is soon evident that you have the upper hand.

Then, a gremlin appears beside you and mounts an attack and is quickly followed by a zombie that comes up behind you. The attack is coming from three sides now, and soon you start losing. Then the blow that every warrior dreads finally arrives as the zombie deals a fatal thrust and disembowels you. Your body sinks to the stone floor into a pool of your own blood. The motley group of creatures then divides your belongings and scutters off into the darkness.

Well, you died again; but, fortunately, coming back to life again is as easy as pressing a key on your Color Computer. Of course, you have just been playing the new game from Rainbow Connection Software: The Scepter of Kzirgla. In this simulation, you are in a world where electricity and atomic energy have never even been dreamed of and magic and strange creatures are a reality.

Kzirgla is just one kingdom in this world, but it is one of the largest. The rulers for the past 200 years or so have driven off all attackers primarily with the aid of the Scepter. The Scepter is endowed with powerful magic which makes its user almost invincible. But one night a clever, evil wizard crept into the castle and slew the king and his family and usurped the kingdom. He quickly found out, however, that the Scepter would not obey him. He knew he could control the kingdom without its help, but in the wrong hands it could be used to overthrow him. So, he placed it in the deepest of the 13 levels of dungeon of an old ruined castle and filled the dungeon with all sorts of terrible creatures.

The person that can venture into the dungeon and reclaim the Scepter will have the ability to use it to overthrow the evil wizard and be the king. It is also rumored that the closer you get to the Scepter, the stronger you will become.