A.C.E. 2

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Text File | 1994-11-27 | 8.9 KB | 191 lines

ENLIGHTENMENT Typed in by UNISTAR. Edited by PARASITE. One hundred and three years pass . . . One hundred and three years after Acamantors expulsion from Belorn, he has returned. Hasrinaxx the Druid was in the forest of Argoth searching for fresh mistletoe which was to be used as a component for a new spell he was preparing. In the distance he could just make out a blossoming bush and started towards it. He flinched suddenly as he crossed the small patch of open grassland in front of it. Was he seeing things or did the bush really jolt suddenly? There it was again. All too late he saw the wild boar come rushing out towards him. He staggered back and yelped in agony as the boar nuzzled its way under his robes and bit into his now thrashing leg. Hasrinaxx quickly pointed a ringed finger at the boar and uttered two short words of mystic Druid chant. A small electricity bolt shot forth from the Druid's finger and discharged itself into the boar's back. The animal squeeled in agony and disappeared into a maze of bushes. "How stupid to be caught unaware, like that!" the Druid thought. "I've spent too much time living in the safety of my village. Gone are the days when I sent Acamantor's demon princes back to the dark planes from whence they came. Over one hundred years have past since then and although my magic has grown stronger, my spirit has grown weaker. I have been expelled from my Druid sect for experimenting with dangerous magics. I have become seperated from nature and the elemental Gods of the Earth, the Wind, Fire and Water. And now age is slowing my wits. What is left in life for such a failed Druid?" If only Hasrinaxx knew the adventures that were to follow. Hasrinaxx cast his mind back to the wild boar. "Strange for an animal of the forest to attack a man. And a Druid at that. A friend of all animals and indeed of nature itself! Perhaps it was a sign from the Gods. Mother Earth herself was trying to tell him that he was slacking as one of the few Great Druids left". "No! That doesn't make sense" he thought. "The Gods would never use animals to do their fighting. That would be against the sacred laws of nature. He asked himself again, why should a wild boar attack him? It seemed to be frightened. Running. But running from what? What could possibly scare a boar in the forest of Argoth? Men?" "No! Hasrinaxx could sense if there were men nearby. But he could sense something else though. It seemed almost Ethereal. A feeling he hadn't felt in a long time. Not since he'd vanquished the demon princes from Acamantors tower. But that was many years ago. The wounds that opened the dark planes to this world could never be opened again. The Great Druid sects had closed them soon after the demon princes had been expelled, with strong and mystical magic". Hasrinaxx cast his mind aside and set about tending to his wounded leg. Nothing a small poultice of woundwort couldn't fix. It was as he stumbled along the well beaten track to Ishmar that he saw Ederyn, his faithful young apprentice. Like all apprentice Druids, Ederyn was too impatient in learning his magic and would very often make mistakes. Most of the time he would use the wrong herbs or speak the wrong Druid chant when casting a spell. But he would learn, as all wisened Druid's did, with age. Something seemed strange though. Ederyn's face seemed almost expressionless, his eyes bulging. Saliva dripped from his mouth and his skin seemed to have a blue tinge to it. Hasrinaxx commanded him to halt. For a moment, he thought he saw a sign of recognition in his young apprentices face, but this instantly disappeared as the apprentice moaned deeply and continued to stagger forward. As he grew nearer, a piercing stench came over the Druid which seemed to instantly draw him out of his trance. The stench was unmistakably that of death - or rather the undead - of souls denied an existence in the afterworld, and condemned forever to remain on the Earth, as the walking dead. Hasrinaxx raised his ringed finger, his hand shaking, and pointed it towards his oncoming apprentice. "I'm sorry Ederyn!" he said softly and then uttered two words of mystical Druid chant. Strident long bolts of electricity shot from his fingertips and discharged themselves into the apprentices chest, sending him reeling to the ground, his chest smouldering but his face still expressionless. The body lay there, twithing and slowly sinking into the earth as if Mother Nature herself were calling the body back into the ground. But Hasrinaxx knew that the soul had not been vanquished to the afterworld and that it would rise again from this temporary grave in only a few hours. His head suddenly shot up. His senses were now keened and he could see all around him, coming from every direction through the bushes and between the trees. The undead were everywhere. Once living people, the proud villagers of Ishmar, many were friends of Hasrinaxx. Now reduced to the walking undead. Reduced to attacking the living - jealous of those that still hold life. Hasrinaxx pitied their poor souls. He heard a thunderclap, and in the distance he could see that the clouds above the once peaceful land of Belorn had formed into the face of a dark, evil looking mage. He knew this was the work of Acamantor and his demon princes. He would return to Ishmar and from there, seek revenge and finally put an end to this evil - and destroy the Dark Mage himself! He searched his small canvas bag and found the object that he required. He lifted the small silver crucifix high in his right hand. The sun gleamed from it. Instantly the undead backed into safety of the darkness and away from the gleaming holy symbol the Druid held in his hand. Hasrinaxx spoke a deep Driud chant and started to walk forwards, along the beaten track to Ishmar... COMMAND KEYS Cast Spell ................. Numeric Keypad - 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 Take Spell ................. "ENTER" (on Keypad) Discard Spell .............. Numeric Keys - 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 Command Elemental .......... "HELP" Pause/Unpause Game ......... 'P' Quit Game .................. 'ESC' Music On/Off ............... 'M' Sound Effects On/Off ....... 'S' Elemental Mode Toggle ...... 'Delete' or 'J' The 'P' command in the original docs for Pause/Unpause game is incorrect. You hit 'P' to pause and to Unpause the game you hit the FIRE BUTTON on the joystick. CONTROLLING THE DRUID Use a joystick in port two. CONTROLLING THE ELEMENTAL Whenever you create an Elemental to help you, he can be commanded with the 'Command Elemental' key to toggle between WAIT, FOLLOW (the Druid) and SEND (the Elemental in the direction the Druid is facing). Alternatively, a second player can control your Elemental using a joystick in port one. To switch between manual and automatic Elemental mode, press the 'DELETE' key or the 'J' key. The 'DELETE' key is shown also as the 'BACK SPACE' key. THE DISPLAY The constitution indicator displays the current constitution of your Druid. This will run down whenever you are attacked or when you walk though fire or water. The game will end and you will die if your constitution runs out. The Spell Windows indicate the spell currently selected. Whenever your Druid walks over a spell, you will be told what the spell is in the message window. If you want to take it, you can store it in your spellbook which can hold up to eight spells. The Elemental display, shows the status of your Elemental (if you have one). Firstly, you are shown what type of Elemental you have and what direction it is moving (useful if he is off screen). The Elemental Command mode shows you either what command the Elemental is currently obeying or that the Elemental is in manual mode. The bar next to this indicates your Elementals strength. The green rating bar will grow as you progress through the game to give you an idea of how well you are doing on your way to enlightenment. GREAT DRUID RATINGS As your Druid progresses through his adventures to Acamantor's domain, the green rating bar will grow in length. This shows how well you have done in the game. When you die (or win!), you will be given a rating which describes the title best suited to your Druid. Of course, the best title is that of OVERLORD but only the best Great Druid's will ever become so honoured. The ratings in order of worst to best performance are: - 1 -> Orc Breath 6 -> Earth Lord 11 -> Druid of Realm 2 -> Earth Shaman 7 -> Air Lord 12 -> High Adept 3 -> Air Shaman 8 -> Water Lord 13 -> A-Sanach 4 -> Water Shaman 9 -> Fire Lord 14 -> Overlord 5 -> Fire Shaman 10 -> Keeper of Order HIGH SCORE TO SAVE TO DISK. If you leave your write protect tab off of your Enlightenment disk (ie the black tab should cover the hole) then your great druid ratings will be saved to your game disk for all eternity.