Fairy Tale Adventure manual

                       THE FAERY TALE ADVENTURE

HOLM:
Need You'll more than might:
To quest for the Light:
Make haste, but take heed:
Scorn Murderous deed:
Summon the sight:
Wing forth in flight:
Hold fast to your Creed:
From Illusion be freed:
Defy ye that blight:
In black Darker than night.

     Once upon a time in a land far away, there lived three young men. 
 Brothers they were, and they lived with theit father who was their 
 tiny village's Master at Arms.
     Once their daily duties were accomplished, each young man would 
 pursue acourse of relaxation according to his nature. However, they 
 each knew the time would soon come when relaxation would give way to 
 training for their live's ambitions.
     Julian, the eldest, would pursue games of battle by fancying 
 himself as a great warrior, or an admiral on the high seas engaged in 
 fierce combat against fearless maruading pirates. He would run and 
 shout as he zealously defeated one imaginary foe after another. Within 
 a year, Julian would begin his training as an apprentice under his 
 father, learning the skills of swordsmanship and strategy.
     Phillip, the second brother was often found engaged with the 
 townsfolk, either trading sharp wit, or gambling at dice, a game with 
 which he had great skill and a sharp eye. He had a knack for always 
 getting what he wanted, which made people seldom trust him. His 
 apprenticeship would begin in two years, and it would be to the 
 village falconer, who trained the fierce hunting birds.
     Kevin, the youngest, found delight in wandering through local 
 fields and glens. His head would be filled with fanciful stories, and 
 vivid imaginations. Through his wanderings, he carried a pouch full of 
 bread, crusts, and animals would follow after him to eat from his 
 palm. Kevin's future was uncertain; this gentle young man had yet to 
 decide what direction his life's ambitions would take him.
     However, an extremely long and harsh winter that ended in a 
 feeble and erratic spring changed the futures for the brothers. There 
 were many crop failures in the land and food was scarce all over, yet 
 this was not all, there were greater tribulations yet to come. The 
 King's Rangers, wardens of the forest and wilderlands, had reported 
 mass migrations of orges and goblin men from the far northern 
 mountains. They traveled south towards the central lands, scouring the 
 land for food, destroying all in their wake.
     Then, one night as the village lay asleep, a strange, mysterious 
 thing occurred. An eerie chill passed through the timbers of the small 
 town, and people shivered in their beds unexpectedly as a long, 
 inhuman wailing was heard coming from the street. When the townspeople 
 peered from their windows, they saw a dark, hooded figure, apparently 
 floating above the ground as it moved through the middle of the 
 village. As the folk watched, a cold seemed to pull at their spirits, 
 draining away their vital energy. Behind the dark the dark figure, 
 marching in ranks, was an army of dead corpes, and animated skeletons. 
 Armed with swords, amd maces, they began forming some hideous ritual, 
 which lasted till dawn.
     That morning, a meeting of the townsfolk was held. The mayor was 
 puzzled over the night's events, because for many years the village 
 had kept within their tiny shrine a powerfull talisman against such 
 evil spirits. This talisman was a smal carving of a bull which was 
 believed to have a spirit that was too strong for any undead creature 
 to endure. The question was soon answered, however, when it was 
 discovered that the talisman had disappeared. It had been stolen from 
 its shrine. 
     The next afternoon, a band of goblin raided the village. 
 Untrained in combat, the villagers put up a slipshord defense that 
 resulted in the slaying of many by the goblin's wickedly accurate 
 bows.
     The mayor faced the father of the three boys and said "As master 
 at arms, you must get help. Go swiftly to the city of Marheim and 
 request aid of the King. If the King cannot help, seek the  guidance 
 of the Red Knight; he is the protector to our land and will be able to 
 defend us."
     A week passed, and the master at arms did not return. The village 
 was decimated by repeated attacks by the goblinmen.
     Eventually, he did return, staggering into the town, barely able 
 to keep his feet. He had taken a serious belly wound, as well as blows 
 to the head. The brothers helped their father into the cottage and 
 onto his bed to nurse his wounds.
     "My sons," he said, "I have little time left, and much to tell. 
 An evil Necromancer has threatened to destroy all unless we submit to 
 his will and pay tribute. The King cannot help us; his daughter has 
 been kidnapped and he is afraid to act, lest she be tortured and 
 killed."
     "What of the Red Knight?" asked Julian. "The Knight of Vermillion 
 cannot be found. It is feared he is slain. The Necromancer streches 
 his fingers over the whole of this land, while dark wraiths wail into 
 the night with their skeleton servants, unchecked by any hero. Goblins 
 and ogres are a constant menace, and doom is upon us."
     "Please don't die, father, what can we do?" asked Kevin. "I'm 
 afraid I cannot grant your first request," whispered the father, "I 
 can do nothing, but perhaps you can. There may be a way, a dangerous 
 way, but possible. Many centuries ago, events similar to these were 
 prophesied by Malbareth the Seer. The prophecy describes seven quests 
 that must be completed in order to defeat the enemy. You must find the 
 weapon that will destroy him. You must find his stronghold. You must 
 pass the barriers, each of which will require a special token. You 
 must retrieve the Talisman, for I know now that he keeps it with him 
 at all times. There is more than that you must do, but I know it 
 not...perhaps you may receive the advice along the way. 
     "There are things you should know. I had hoped that I could teach 
 you these things in their proper time, but now...I grow weak. Come 
 closer...quickly...I must expalin. There are many artifacts, magical 
 charms left over from the ancient days. You will find them on your 
 journey...everyone who travels in this land finds at least one or two. 
 Each token can be used only once, some are for transportation, some 
 for navigation. For example, gold rings control time. Some allow you 
 to see in the dark, others allow you to see what is hidden. Glass 
 vials contain a powerfull restorative elixer. At least one token is 
 associated somehow with rocks, and one is a powerfull spell od death 
 for all lesser creatures."
     "There are other kinds of ancient artifacts as well. These you 
 must find. They have no powers of their own, but rather entitle the 
 bearer to certain privileges. Who is to execute these privileges I 
 don't quite understand...but enough, go to the chest near the bed, 
 there are some gold coins; divide them amoung yourselves...now I must 
 say goodbye my sons...may you have food, fortune and a good life." 
 When the master at arms finished these sayings, his spirit departed. 

PLAYERS INSTRUCTIONS:

THE GAME:
     Once the disk is loaded the first thing you will see is the 
 credits page, and then the introduction screens. These may be skipped 
 over by pressing the space bar.
     Once the introduction is complete, a screen will be displayed 
 requesting you to answer three questions. The questions all refer to a 
 magical prophecy, which has been inscribed in the border design of the 
 supplied playing map. Once the questions have been answered, it will 
 take a few seconds to load in the game data. After that, play begins 
 immediately.

MOVING THE BROTHERS:
     To control your character, use either the mouse, joystick or 
 keyboard. You can use any of these at any time; no command is needed 
 to switch over.
     On the bottom right corner of the display there is a compass with 
 eight points. These represent the directions you can move your 
 character in.
     To use the mouse, place the pointer over the compass point that 
 represents the direction you want to go. Hold down the left button to 
 start the character walking. Release the button and the character 
 stops.(I have found that when you release the button your !@#$%^^&*() 
 character runs due north). You can move the mouse while holding the 
 button to change direction.
     To use the joystick, press the joystick handle in the direction 
 you want to go. The character will move in that direction.
     To use the keyboard, use the numeric keypad on the right side of 
 the keyboard to control direction. Ignore the numerals printed on the 
 keycaps; use the physical position of the keys only. For example to 
 move towards the top left, press the top left key on the keypad (the 
 '7' key). Only the keys 1-9 are used in this manner. Release the key 
 to stop the character.

COMBAT:
     You can attack in the same eight directions as you can walk. If 
 you are using the mouse, hold down the right mouse button to attack. 
 If you are using the joystick, use the fire button to attack. If you 
 are using the keyboard, the '0' (zero) key on the numeric keypad is 
 used. Note that attacks are directional; you must be facing towards 
 your opponent to hit. Direction of attack is controlled the same way 
 as movement.

NARRATION:
     On the bottom right of the display you will find the narration 
 scroll. This provides a running commentary of what is happening in the 
 game. It also displays the character's current scores.
There are five scores:
*Bravery (Brv) represents a measure of the character's courage, and 
 contributes to the character's prowess in battle.

*LUCK (Lck) helps to save the character from an untimely death. If a 
 dying character has enough luck, a good fairy will come and heal him 
 and transport him back to the last safe place he was at.

*KINDNESS (Knd) helps the character communicate with other figures in 
 the game. If the character has a low Kindness score, they may refuse 
 to speak to him.

*VITALITY (Vit) is a measure of the health of the character. When this 
 score reaches zero (as it can through wounds or drowning) the 
 charcater will die.

*WEALTH (Wlth) represents how many coins the character has in his 
 pocket.

OTHER COMMANDS:
     Between the narration scroll and the compass you will find the 
 command menu. This can be activated by the mouse (by clicking on the 
 appropriately labeled bar) or by pressing an equivalent key on the 
 keyboard.
     The first five options (in blue) can select which of the five 
 different command menues you are looking at. Below is a list of all 
 the menues. After each menue, in parenthesis, is the equivalent 
 keyboard command.

ITEMS:
*List (l) show a list of all items carried.
*Take (T) take an object lying on the ground or off a dead character's 
 body.
*Look (?) look for hidden items.
*Give (G) give an item to someone else.
*Use  (U) goes to a sub-menu which asks which of the following items 
 you want              to use:
          DIRK (1) put away current weapons and draw dagger.
          MACE (2) put away current weapon and draw mace.
          SWORD(3) put away current weapon and draw sword.
          BOW  (4) put away current weapon and draw bow and arrow.
          WAND (5) put away current weapon and draw magic wand.
          KEY  (K) use a key. Goes to a key color sub-menu.
                   (K1)-use gold key      (K4)-use red key
                   (K2)-use green key     (K5)-use grey key
                   (K3)-use blue key      (K6)-use white key
MAGIC:
     There are seven different kinds of one-use magic items that you 
 will find. Selecting an option under this menue will use up one of the 
 selected kind of items. It is up to you to figure out what each item 
 does. The function keys are used as keyboard equivalents.
  Stone (F1)-uses a blue stone.     Totem (F5)-uses a bird totem.
  Jewel (F2)-use a green jewel.     Ring  (F6)-use a gold ring.
  Vial  (F3)-drink a glass vial.    Skull (F7)-use a jade skull.
  Orb   (F4)-use a crystal orb.     

TALK:
     The options are Yell (Y), Say (S), and Ask (A).

BUY:
     These commands will only work in the presence of a character who 
 is selling something. The options are:
                  (O)-Buy Food           (W)-Buy Sword
                  (R)-Buy Arrow          (B)-Buy Bow
                  (8)-Buy Healing Vial   (E)-Buy Bird Totem
                  (C)-Buy Mace
GAME:
*PAUSE (Spacebar) pause the game.
*MUSIC (M) turn off or on the music.
*SOUND (F) turn off or on the sound effects.
*Quit (Q) quit or save game-goes to sub-menu asks if you want to exit 
 or save              the game. If you choose save, it will ask you to 
 select a save area
          (SEE LOAD BELOW).
*Load (L) load a previously saved games goes to a sub-menu of 8 saved 
 areas, labeled A-H. Click the mouse on the area you wish to save the 
 game under.

HOW TO WIN:
     To win the game, you must defeat the Necromancer and recover the 
 tailsman. To do this will require that you perform a number of great 
 deeds. You will need special magic and help to accomplish your goal, 
 and these will be discovered in the course of your adventures. Clues 
 can be gained by conversing with the various characters you meet 
 throughout the game. You can converse with monsters, however their 
 conversation tends to be limited and not at all interesting.

SOME HINTS:
     Don't be discouraged if you don't seem to be getting anywhere at 
 first. The playing map is huge (144 screens tall by 100 screens wide) 
 and it will take you a long time to explore all of it. There are a 
 number of very interesting places on the mao, but it may take you a 
 while to find them. Roads will generally lead you somewhere, however 
 there are a lot of buildings and other important places that are not 
 near any road. 
     If a character you meet does not immediately attack you, it's 
 possibly friendly. Probably, Another thing: don't be fooled by 
 appearances.
     There are a couple of magical animals that you can find that will 
 help you as well, in certain cases.