DEATHBRINGER: THE SWORD OF ABADDON Archmagician Nephros, acting Grand Commander of what remained of the Society For Creative Armageddon, stood silently watching the faces of the assembled sorcerors. "Fellow masters of the uttermost circles of enchantment", he began. Someone sneezed - Jarkad Thorn, necromancer-general from the League of Exceptionally Evil Wizards. Nephros glared at him, and made a mental note that as soon as it was politically possible he would turn the rake-thin Leaguer into something unspeakably nasty - preferably several miles under the ground. He started again. "Fellow masters, as we are all well aware, times are not what they were. In recent years we have witnessed the complete destruction of such noble enterprises as the "Alchemists' Anti-Environment Alliance", "Thaumaturges Against Justice", and even the "Curse of the Month Club". Our own activities have been thwarted to such an extent that we are compelled to join forces - a situation unprecedented in the annals of both Society and League. And all this - this mischief, has been caused by one man - KARN THE BARBARIAN!" Nephros paused dramatically, and listened with satisfaction to the murmur of agreement that ran round the Wizardly throng. "Kill him!" shouted one of the Leaguers. An idiot, thought the Archmage. His eyes met those of his second-in-command. "Yesss... he should die. But not quickly," said Melizon the Cruel. "Fellows," smiled Nephros. "Fellows, I understand your frustration - believe me, I share it - but this Karn leads a charmed life. It will not be as simple to destroy him as you seem to think." "Do you then propose that we give up our ways and become merchants?" said Jarkad Thorn, contempt in his voice. "Not at all," said Nephros, still smiling. He had been preparing this speech for some time, and was proud of it. He reached into his pocket for the all-important letter. "Fellows, I have just returned from East Thrasnia. I spoke to the king who made his position quite clear." He raised the letter. "I have in my hand a piece of paper which guarantees Armageddon in our Time..." * * * A week had passed. His ritual impurification complete, Melizon the Cruel, demonist extra-ordinaire, strode into the chamber. This was his big moment; the Archmage might have pulled the rabbit from the hat with his Grand Design for Vengeance, but it was Melizon who had to nail it to the wall. King Aelfric was in for a surprise. He wanted a magic sword to help him in his bid for world conquest, and that he was certainly going to get; but a great lord from the Netherworld would demand a high price for allowing himself to be bound into weapon form. Melizon was the only demonist alive who could arrange such a transformation, and he, too, would receive his fee... The imposing figure walked slowly round the chamber, inspecting the complicated pattern painted on the floor. It resembled nothing so much as a rat's lower intestine, thought Melizon...which meant that Nephros was standing exactly where he belonged. Everything was in place. He strode up to the altar, raised his arms wide, and whispered, "Bring in the ssacrificesss..." In they came. Seven virgins, being carried by a mule; a baby pig; and, of course, the side salad. It was amazing how many lesser demonists ignored the trimmings - it was one reason there were so few left. Melizon began chanting: "Yarva demonicusss Abaddon, ofano, oblamo, osspergo, great lord attend!" All the mumbo-jumbo was for the benefit of his audience - Melizon had privately arranged the manifestation with Abaddon's secretary two days previously. Still, it got the others good and frightened, and he was enjoying every second. * * * Ten minutes passed. The sacrifices had been drugged to keep them quiet, but one was beginning to recover and was feebly licking at the barbecue sauce which had trickled down her face. That's odd, she thought; it feels as if something's licking my hair. I didn't think my tongue was that long. As last thoughts go, it was at least unusual. * * * "Mmmm, I loove barbecue sauce", said Abaddon, as he carefully wiped up the last remnants of blood and sauce with a piece of lettuce. "A spread like that must have cost you a pretty packet. Tell me again about this DemonSword concept of yours, Archie." Nephros was visibly sweating. Abaddon had already supplemented the sacrificial offering with three of the lesser wizards, and the Archmage was beginning to suspect that Melizon had not been entirely truthful when showing the rest of them the "safe points" of the pattern. "Fourscore and seven years ago, King Aelfric's father brought forth upon this land a new nation..." "Okay, okay, skip the speeches, I'm a busy demon. The way I understand it, you want me, acting as a sword, to kill, maim, rend, tear, hack, and slash for this Eelface character, and in return I get all the souls I can drink. So where's the catch?" Nephros couldn't understand it. This wasn't the way he thought a Great Nether Lord would act! All his carefully prepared speeches had been shouted down; he didn't know what to say. "There is no, erm, catch, your demonic excellency. All I ask is that you do nothing to harm myself or my fellow wizards, and that when the barbarian Karn - who will certainly try and stop your campaign of carnage and slaughter - erm, that when he has been slain, you should return to your own domain forthwith." "Well, why didn't you say so at once?" Abaddon seemed immensely pleased. "Let's stop putzing around and get this down on parchment before you guys change your mind." There was a dash for the doors, as several wizards decided they ought to get out - and, er, get the parchment, of course. Most paused a fraction of a second after stepping out of the painted pattern, realizing what they had done; Abaddon merely smiled at them. Soon the contract was signed and sealed; the chamber had mysteriously emptied, until now only Abaddon, Nephros, Melizon and Jarkad Thorn remained. The demon breathed an immense sigh. "Right, that's that. Stand back, and watch me go!" Abaddon took a deep breath. His face contorted into the most ludicrous expression of effort the Archmage had ever seen, and then the demon began to change. "Dith ibn't ab eaby ab it ookth," groaned Abaddon. He took another deep breath, and completed the transformation. A huge, glowing sword fell to the ground. "Allow me," said Jarkad Thorn. With a twitch of his hand he summoned a flying servant, who snatched up the sword and carried it away towards King Aelfric of East Thrasnia. * * * The wind howled. That suited Karn the barbarian; it stirred the blood, and anyway he was used to it. Just like the mysterious thunder which so often seemed to come rolling across clear blue skies for no apparent reason. The Wise Woman Heggra always said it was a poor-tent, but it wasn't a tent at all, so she was obviously just trying to be mysterious. The mighty-thewed barbarian sat on his horse and concentrated. This was something he always found difficult, and his little friend, the Black Ratter, wasn't helping by singing some pathetic sort of song. "Bar-bar-bar, bar-barian," went the little man. "Bar-bar-bar, bar-barian... oh with a sword, in my hand..." "Sssh!" said Karn. "Karn is thinking." "Anything good?" The Hero didn't bother to answer. Something was wrong, he could feel it in his belly. But what? There was something... yes. "Dinner! Karn is hungry." "Again?" asked the Ratter, amazed. "Ah well, I'll just have to see what I can rustle up." He unslung his bow, and looked around. "There! Look, that's a mighty big bird just to the north. Hope it's in season." In one practiced motion, he fitted an arrow to his bow and let fly. The bird dropped like a stone. "Come on, old friend. Let's get you fed." A short ride later, they found the body. Whatever it was, it was not a bird. "I don't know about you, Karn, but I certainly don't fancy eating that!" said the Ratter. His big friend wasn't listening; he had spotted the glint of metal in the undergrowth. Drawing his own sword, he crept carefully towards it. A sword. Big. And unowned. With a glad cry, the barbarian tossed away his worn blade and took up the new. Energy coursed through his body, making his blood sing and his muscles pump. "Hah! See, Ratter! Now Karn has even bigger sword!" He swung the blade to get the feel of it; time slowed, the swing seemed to go on and on, and Karn watched in horror as the weapon in his hand sank deep into the body of his one true friend. There was a sucking sound, and then, with an anguished look of betrayal on his face, the Black Ratter sank to the ground, dead. "Who?" screamed the barbarian in anguish. "Who makes Karn kill his friend?" "The League of Exceptionally Evil Wizards and the Society for Creative Armageddon," answered a voice. * * * Nephros was trying desperately to separate the other two wizards. Melizon was attempting to shove his shoe down Jarkad Thorn's throat, while the necromancer raked his skeletal fingers across his rival's face. "Fellows, fellows, what does it matter whose fault it is? We must make the best of the situation. At least the sword can do nothing to us - that's in the contract." Nephros gestured at the crystal ball, wherein could be seen Karn staring round him in confusion. "Who speaks?" grunted the barbarian. "Alas!" said a voice. "Alas, I am but a poor otherworldly spirit, doomed to a torment of horror and violence. I have been cursed by those dreadful sorcerors of the Society and League, cursed so that I must take life after life." "Where are you?" said Karn, frowning in concentration. "In the sword. My spirit cries for vengeance!" "Sorcerors are Karn's enemies, too. Come!" "Wait!" cried the sword, just as the barbarian was turning to go. "I can do nothing to harm the sorcerors." It paused. "Oh, what the hell. After all, they didn't insist - they only asked me not to. Stupid of them." Nephros stared in horror at the parchment in his hand. It was true. "But that wasn't what I meant!" He cried. The others looked at him. "Erm, the Society and League expects that every mage this day shall do his duty..?" Without a word, Melizon and Jarkad Thorn jumped him. * * * The Sword hummed happily to itself as Karn rode along the path that led them towards the Valley of the Trolls and the first stage of their journey. It was amazing, really, how a body as big as the barbarian's could keep going on so little brain... An old woman stepped out into their path. "Hail to thee, Karn," she said. "Come into my hut, and I will read your future in the stones." This must be Heggra the Wise Woman, decided Abaddon, as the barbarian, grunting assent, dismounted and bent to enter the hovel. I hope for her sake that this does not take too long, thought the Sword. I'm feeling rather peckish... * * * Meanwhile, deep in the subterranean tunnels where the remnants of Society and League had set up their command headquarters, Nephros was embarking on his most ambitious speech yet. He puffed himself up, looked seriously at his fellows, and in a strange voice began: "We will fight him on the beaches..." ============================================================================= Deathbringer - The Sword of Abaddon GAME CONTROLS : ------------- - Controlling Karn We have tried to make controlling Karn as easy as possible while still giving you a wide variety of different manoeuvres. So , although there are only three basic strikes with the sword , you can ( for instance ) jump into the air and swing. The three strikes takes different lenghts of time to execute , and do different amounts of damage accordingly . The diagrams below show Karn facing right. The controls work in exacly the same way when you are facing left, except that left and right are reserved. - Moving KARN (fire not pressed) UP jump streight up UP+LEFT UP+RIGHT turn & jump jump forward \ | / LEFT - O - RIGHT turn walk / | \ DOWN+LEFT DOWN+RIGHT turn+crouch crouch DOWN crouch - Moving KARN (fire pressed) UP overhead cleave UP+LEFT UP+RIGHT overhead cleave overhead cleave \ | / LEFT - O - RIGHT no action jab / | \ DOWN+LEFT DOWN+RIGHT underhand swing underhand swing DOWN underhand swing - keyboard controls The key boards controls for the AMIGA are as follows PAUSE = H or HELP QUIT = ESC - WARNING The quit key also exits from the programm when pressed on the little screen . In the case , you will be asked whether or not you are sure you want to do this. Pressing any key accept 'n', backspace , DELETE will quit the program. GAMEPLAY : -------- - Health and souls for lord Abaddon If you are woundered, your heath will decrease. This is represented as a level of fluid in a crystal ball displayed on the left-hand side of the status panel, at the foot of the screen. If this level is reduced to zero, you are DEAD. The sword is hungry for souls all the time and the amount of soulpower in the sword at any time is shown as blood on the sword- the more blood the more souls. These souls are gradually used up, maintaining Abaddon presence on the earthly plane , and must be replayced by killing things . Be warned , however, some creatures such as the warned, however, some creatures such as the undead HAVE NO SOULS, and will not replenish the sword. If the sword is filled with souls, it will give you extra power to heal you wounds.This is the ONLY WAY you caan regain lost heath, so skill in combat is of the utmost importance. Furthmore, if the level of souls approaches zero, the sword will go berserk , and you may lose control of you own actions. Once the sword has been completely drained of souls, it will start to DRAIN YOU HEALTH, and may eventually destroy you. Finding your way to the Wizards inner sanctum : --------------------------------------------- The route to the Wizards' inner Sanctum is trought with peril, and is not straightforward . At the start of each level, you can choose to fight your way to the right or the left, and each choice will lead you down different path. Some of these path are longer than others and some even loop back into regions you may already have traveled ! There are no route which is the right one , the longer path tend to be easier , and looping back enables you to remember the path (for draw a map) and decide which way you want to go. Some routes concentrate more on combat , others require skillful avoidance of traps. HAVE FUN .....