G A L D R E G O N S D O M A I N ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ --------- THE STORY --------- The legends surrouding the five gems of Zator were well known. Each of the five gems gave magical powers to their holder, however, the power of a gem could be used for evil as well as good. It was also known that if the five gems were brought together the holder would possess powers beyond all other mortals. In Galdregons domain you play the part of a freebooter barbarian, a northlander whose bravery and skill in combat are renowned. You have travelled south to the city of Secnar to seek fame and fortune. It has been a long and arduous journey through the lands of Mezron, after many days you reach your destination, the castle of King Rohan. Granted an audience with the king, you are ushered into the main hall. King Rohan, The Usurper, sits among his courtiers, he looks greatly troubled. He orders you to be seated then recounts his story. He tells you that the high priests of Shool, the diabolic sect of the accursed, have once more resurrected the long dead arcane wizard, Azazael. He who once brought chaos to the world has risen again to seek vengeance on mankind. One moon ago king Rohan sent out spies, to search the land for Azazael and discover his evil plans. All the spies met with slow, painful, agonised tortured deaths. However, one lived lond enough to report that Azazael plans to retrieve the five gems of Zator and thus enslave mankind. Only the location of one gem is known, it lies deep within the catacombs of the castle itself. The gem holder, an evil Lich, rules over the ancient crypts, inhabited by an army of undead zombies and skeletons. The King sent a dozen of his bravest knights together with his most battle hardened troops into the crypts but all have perished. He suggests that you first search for the other gems before taking on the evil crypt dwelling denizens. He hands you a dagger, lantern, healing potion and a loaf of bread and bids you return with the five gems of Zator. -------- THE GAME -------- You take on the role of a barbarian hero, who is unequalled in combat amongst the men of the northlands, however this quest will be, by far, your toughest trial. To play Galdregon's Domain successfully you must not attempt to kill all the creatures, human or otherwise that you meet, although your strength in combat is generally much greater than your opponents you cannot possibly take them all on and win. You must employ stealth and cunning to outwit your opponents. It may be necessary to run from a tribe of Hobgoblins so you can sneak around them to steal a gem. The basic aim of Galdregon's Domain is to recover the five gems of Zator and return them to King Rohan. Each gem is known to be held by one of five powerful creatures. You can be sure that the gam holders will be no push over, so before you attempt to take them on, try to gain some knowledge of their strengths and weaknesses. The best source of information will be the local inns dotted about the countryside. There are many objects in the lands of Mezron that may aid, or hinder you in your quest, weapons such as the Great Two Handed Sword as wands and cloaks will give you great power over your enemies and when the going gets tough casting a fireball from a scroll will give a decided edge. Potion bottles can also be found, some of which increase your strength others may contain poison. Other objects include plate metal armour and food. Do not expect to complete Galdregon's Domain in one evening, there are thousands of locations and hundreds of characters with which to interact. If you find the going too tough in one dungeon, search another area, you can always return later in the game. Fear not brave warrior your fate awaits you. ------------ MAIN SCREEN ------------ +----------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | ########################################################## | | ## ## | | ## ## | | ## ## | | ## ## | | ## ## | | ## ## | | ## 1. ## | | ## ## | | ## ## | | ## ## | | ## ## | | ## ## | | ## ## | | ########################################################## | | ---------------------------------------------------------- | | ------------------------------8.-------------------------- | | _ _ _ --------------------- _ 9. | 10. | | |_|4.|_|3.|_|2. 11. | |/ ___|___ | | _ _ _ |_| | | | |_|5.|_|6.|_|7. --------------------- | | +----------------------------------------------------------------+ 1. Your view of the action 2. Potions icon 3. Compass 4. Combat icon 5. Status icon 6. Command icon 7. Scrolls icon 8. Message window 9. Up and down icons, used to scroll the commands menu 10. Movements icons 11. The commands menu -------------- THE MAP SCREEN -------------- To access between the map screen, the inventory screen, and the main screen, click on the right mouse button. As you move around the lands of Mezron your position will be shown, on the map screen, as a flashing cross. You begin your quest inside the castle of Secnar in audience with King Rohan, when you leave the castle your cross will be displayed just below the castle, on the map. You will need to visit most of the places shown on the map in order to recover the five gems of Zator. Visiting the regions many inns and taverns may yield useful ckues to aid you in your quest. If you enter a building or confined space, you will not be able to use the map screen. -------------------- THE INVENTORY SCREEN -------------------- You may access the inventory screen at any time during the game just click on the right mouse button until it appears. When you enter a location which contains objects, the OBJECT indicator on the status screen will be highlighted. The inventory window will allow you to access two pull down menus, one for your character and one for your current location. Objects may be exchanged between the two windows, placed in other objects or used. To move objects between the two windows just click on them and drag them into the adjacent window. To place an object in another object first double click on the container object to open it, i.e. double clicking on a bag would reveal its contents. The title above the window would also change from LOCATION to BAG, you may now remove objects from the bag or place objects into the bag, the bag may be closed by clicking on its title. You may now wish to move the bag or put it in a larger container i.e. a chest. The manipulation of objects may at first seem complicated, however, everything works logically, taking a few minutes to practice moving objects around will show you just how easy it really is. FOOD By placing a collected food icon over the mouth of the barbarian will cause him to eat it and so increase your stamina level. Stamina will effect how fast you can fight your opponents. ARMOUR By placing a collected clothing item over the barbarian will cause him to wear that item. Such items of clothing include chainmail and shields, all of which will increase your armour. WEAPON The currently held weapon will be displayed in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. This is the one you selected in the main screen. ITEM The currently grabbed object name will be displayed at the bottom of the screen. ------- CONTROL ------- The action in Galdregons Domain is controlled via the mouse. The right mouse button is used to toggle between the map, inventory and the main screens. The left and right icons, allow you to rotate around ninety degrees to face in any of the four compass point directions. To move forward just click on the up icon. Clicking on the down icon will cause your character to walk backwards, but still remain facing the same direction. The compass displayed on the main screen is constantly updated. An alternative method of moving around is by use of the arrow keys. The icons on the left of the screen are selected by clicking on them, with the left mouse button. Alternatively you may use the function keys. F1: Combat menu F2: Potion menu F3: Status menu F4: Commands menu F5: Scrolls menu ------ COMBAT ------ Clicking on the weapon icon will bring up a display of the weaponry you have available to you. Clicking on the name of that weapon will select it for use. Unfortunately in harsh combat situations weapons have a short life and will often break just at that critical moment. Be sure to have a second weapon ready just in case. Once a weapon has been selected, combat is initiated by clicking on the character you wish to attack, continue clicking on the character until it is eventually dead. Almost all the creatures you attack will retaliate. When a character has been killed you will be given the opportunity to search the body for useful objects, just access the location inventory window to examine any items in your vicinity. ------- POTIONS ------- The careful use of scrolls and potions, are vital to the success of your quest within the domain. Potions contain a magical brew of deadly substances, mixed together they form a liquor of great power, the affects of which range from the healing of major wounds to the strength of a giant. When you pick up a potion and place it in your backpack its type will be displayed on the inventory screen and on the main window in the potion box. To access a list of all the potions stored in your backpack just click on the potion symbol on the main display panel. To use a potion, simply access the potions menu and click on the one you wish to use. Some potion bottles contain more than one draft, you may wish to click on it several times to imbibe its contents. When a potion bottle becomes empty it will disappear from the inventory screen and the potions menu. (The empty bottles are discarded.) ------ STATUS ------ Clicking on the Heart Icon, will display your current status. Your Barbarians health, stamina and strength are all displayed in the commands window. Combat, eating mouldy or poisoned food, all have a detrimental effect on your status. Drinking strength potions or eating fresh food will improve your various status ratings. If your stamina becomes too low your reactions will slow down. You will find it difficult to move and fight. As you status is constantly updated, it may well be worth while accessing the status display, just before you engage in combat. If your health rating reaches zero you will die. The status window will also inform you if there are any objects in your location. If the OBJECTS indicator is highlighted you may access the location inventory window to view any items in your vicinity. If there are any characters in your location the CHARACTERS indicator will become highlighted and indications to the whereabouts of the characters will be given. -------- COMMANDS -------- Clicking on the command icon will display a list of available commands. These include talk, open door and the game save features. Simply click on the command you wish to use. Not all of the commands are displayed at once so you may need to use the small arrows next to the movement arrows to scroll up and down the window to reach the command you wish to use. The specialist commands include. OPEN/CLOSE: This will open/close an unlocked door. LOCK/UNLOCK: Providing you have the correct key you may unlock or lock a closed door. TALK: To communicate with a character click on the talk command then click on the character you wish to communucate with. RUN: In a tricky situation use this command to retrace your last movements, you will be forced to stop if you come up against a locked door. TELEPORT: With the right magical item you can use this command to teleport you back to the safety of an inn from anywhere in Mezron. BUY ALE: When your stamina gets low, go to a local inn a buy ale from the barman. BUY HEALING: Many clerics roam the lands of MEzron, selling their healing powers. To restore your health click on this command. LD/SV: Load/Save, you will be presented with a separate menu listing the disc commands. ------- SCROLLS ------- At one time powerful magic spells were the sole province of the arcane wizards. However, mortal men wanted their own magic. The wizards endowed their awesome powers onto parchments fashioned from human flesh. Such scrolls gave the holder magical powers equal to those possessed by the wizards themselves. When you pick up a scroll and place it in your backpack its type will be displayed on the inventory screen and on the main window in the potion box. To access a list of all these scrolls stored in your backpack just click on the scroll symbol on the main display panel. To use a scroll simply access the scrolls menu and click on the one you wish to use. When a scroll has been used it will diappear from the inventory screen and the scrolls menu. (A scroll will disintegrate once read.) ----------------------- THE CHRONICLES OF ZATOR ----------------------- Great legends of the lands of Mezron were once enscrolled by Zator and some of these have been enclosed within tomb. THE LABYRYNTH Known to be the lair of an evil Medusa, whose merest gaze turns all to stone. Her labyrynth is littered with the pertrified bodies of those who entered her lair. Many powerful minotaurs keep intruders out of her main royal chambers where great treasures are thought to be hoarded. THE CAVES OF DOOM Here a great race of dwarves live. They mine gold within the myriad of passages and jealously guard their treasures. It was once rumoured that Azazael created a huge rock monster within the caves to extend the mines. THE FOREST OF ELVES The last real haven for the shy race of elves. They too are in battle with Azazael and may prove valuable allies in the quest for the gems. THE TEMPLE OF SET Here the followers of the snake god worship. They are all evil and those who do not follow their cult are sacrificed. Many peasants from the surrounding lands have been taken for their foul rites. The high priestess of Set is known to be able to change into a demon form at will to devour her enemies. THE ASSASINS GUILD Suspected of being in league with the evil Azazael, they can be recognized by their green garb and poisoned blades. Few live long enough to tell of their hideout. THE TOWER OF THE NECROMANCER The place where an evil cleric of Shool raises the dead to do this bidding. It is said that once killed he will rise again and again to do battle. LORD THULL'S TOWER Once the kings champion, he is now banished to this tower for plotting to usurp the throne of Mezron. THE TOWER OF THE DEMON MASTER He who lives here is rumoured to be able to conjour demons from the pits of hell. None dare enter the tower for dreadful screams can be heard from within. --- DONE BY THE TWINS OF TRILOGY ---