Knight Orc - Rainbird/Level 9 (Part 2) 
 
              Sent in by John R. Barnsley 
 
@~Continued from the last issue where you had just learnt the EYE
@~spell....

Go east and then south. Save your game here because there's a 
lot to accomplish in this room, and you're likely to be 
interrupted by the adventurers. The mouse enjoys this room, and 
if you look under the bed, you'll see his favourite hiding 
place. Cast the EYE spell and tell the floating eye to enter 
the hole. From inside, you'll see a strange card.

Take it, put something else (perhaps Oink's helmet) inside the 
hole, and close the door. Try to catch the mouse -- he'll try 
to hide in his hole, but you've prevented that; he'll hide in a 
crack in the wall. When he emerges, put something in the crack, 
such as the garlic. Try to catch him again, and he'll hide in a 
crevice in the wall. When he emerges from the crevice, put 
something (such as the knife) in the crevice. Drop the sack and 
try to catch the mouse again. Now you've done it! No place to 
hide so the mouse runs right in your sack. Pick up the sack and 
anything else (the garlic, etc.) you used to plug up mouse 
hiding places. You should have the mouse now, though you have 
not yet "recruited" him.
 
Leave the room by going north. You should now wait for or find 
the ghost. Follow him for a while, and eventually he'll take 
you to another bedroom in the house and show you a secret part 
of this room which contains some old bones. Take the bones then 
drop them. You've just learned the SLOW spell. And perhaps 
you've noticed how the mouse is trying to communicate with you.
CAST SLOW ON MOUSE and he'll teach you the DEATH spell (overuse 
of which will cause you to be evicted from the game). Even 
though the mouse will pay attention to you, he is not yet 
recruited. Mouse in hand, go to the dragon.

A terrible beast, he has only one vulnerable spot on his lizard 
body. Too small for you to reach, but no problem for the mouse. 
Once again, you've stopped a belligerent creature, but not yet 
recruited him. Go back past the dragon, and follow the halls 
until you come to his hoard. Don't bother with the gold, just 
take the piece of dragon-scale.
 
You must now encounter the troll, a hideous woman interested 
only in wealth. You will need some treasures for her such as 
the silver plate, silver fish, silver moon, silver sixpence, 
silver candlestick, silver sliver, silver salver, silver fox or 
many others which you will find in Middle Earth. Take advantage 
of this unusual parser and ask it to find the various treasures 
you've seen lying around, then put each one in the flour sack 
where they will not be stolen. When you have at least seven 
treasures, GO TO TROLL. Save your game here! Thousands of 
things can -- and will -- go wrong before it all works out the 
way you want.
 
Remove your treasures from the sack while standing next to the 
troll. Wait for her to steal something from you. When she does 
start moving away from her bridge. Go west if the bridge is to 
the east, or go south if the bridge is to the west. She'll 
follow you (though you may have to wait a bit) and, taking her 
time, will steal another treasure. Move another step away and 
wait for her again to show up and steal another treasure. 
Repeat this process until you are about four or five moves west 
or south of the bridge where you found her. Then drop the 
remainder of your treasures and GO TO BRIDGE. There is a door 
on the bridge leading north which is locked by three bolts. The 
command, OPEN DOOR, will have to be given three times before 
you can enter the troll's secret room...IF you have led her far 
enough away and left her with enough treasure to distract her. 
Once inside the room, grab her wallet. She'll show up and beg 
for her wallet back. Don't give it to her, not even if she 
bargains for it. Not until she admits defeat are you ready to 
recruit her.
 
Recruiting in Middle Earth is no easy chore. In fact, you were 
never meant to recruit anyone in the first place. Have you died 
yet? There is no permanent death (well, almost none) in Middle 
Earth. Like Viking warriors, you're scooped up from the 
battlefield by the ever-vigilant Valkyrie and dropped into 
Valhalla, where you experience resurrection and re-emerge back 
into the game. At the instant of death, all of a player's 
equipment, except those being worn, are dropped on the ground 
where they can be recovered after the adventurer has been 
raised from the dead. As a robot, however, you discover that 
Valhalla is, appropriately enough, a repair shop where a useful 
item is kept which will affect other robots.
 
First, you must find a dead character. The adventurers fight 
among themselves, so you should be able to find one of their 
fallen. Or, if need be, kill one yourself. Whoever it is, give 
that character the glittering card you found in the mouse hole. 
Now wait for the Valkyrie. She'll be there soon. When she picks 
up the courier-carcass, follow her or go directly to the 
glittering gates. Once you see the Valkyrie enter the gates 
with your deceased card-carrier, remove the visor and cast the 
DEATH spell on yourself. You're dead. Look around Valhalla and 
pick up the glittering card, which you can now see is a 
magnetic access card. Open the closet in Valhalla (which would 
not be visible if you were wearing the visor), and take the 
device inside -- the reprogrammer -- the recruiter. Once you 
emerge from the pearly gates, you'll find the objects you 
dropped when you "died." Take everything, and once again wear 
the visor.
 
Make sure you have the garlic and the mouse (remember you can 
use the "find" command should anything be missing), and go to 
the Graveyard. You should now RECRUIT MOUSE. South of the 
Graveyard is a tomb which you cannot yet enter. South of that 
is a vampire. He'll drink his fill from the mouse (the garlic 
is protecting you) and then teach you the KNIVES spell. Take 
the half-coin which is there and go north. You may wish to heal 
the mouse with your CURE spell or the Valkyrie will do the job 
for you. Find the troll and, using the recruiter, recruit her. 
Have her follow you to the tomb, then give her the half-coin; 
tell her to go north then insert it in the recess in the 
Gravestone. She'll go north, and shortly the tomb will open to 
reveal the DETECT spell. Find the troll again and instruct her 
to follow you to the apple tree in the Garden.
 
Tell her to catch an apple while you shake the tree. Examine 
the apple to learn the EMPATHY spell. Again, with the troll, 
return to the bridge. There's a piece of slippery rope hanging 
from the bridge. Instruct the troll to pull the string, while 
you do the same yourself. As a result of your combined efforts 
a ring will be recovered from the water. Don't waste time 
examining it at this point. Go back to the fireplace (in the 
house) and throw the ring into the fire. Then examine it to 
learn the EXORCISE spell. (This last one was a trick question 
unless you had read THE LORD OF THE RINGS previously. If you're 
upset, blame the authors). Now find the driftwood (which also 
defies reading), and cast the EXORCISE spell on it. Here is the 
all-important FLY spell. Once more, with the troll, find the 
plaque in the Marsh. Instruct the troll to clean the plaque 
while you do the same. Only through the efforts of both of you 
will the plaque become clean enough to read the FIREBALL spell.
 
Return to the Garden and cast FLY on the statue. Look under it 
to find the SHIELD spell. You are now ready to enter the 
Castle. Go to the Castle and cast the KNIVES spell on the ropes 
which are supporting the door. Cast the SHIELD spell on 
yourself, and boldly go south through the front door. Cast FLY 
on yourself to go over the pool of acid. While you are over it, 
notice the button at the bottom of the pool. Cast the SWORD 
spell and use the resultant broadsword to push the button. 
Continue south. At the end of the hallway, go west and then 
north. Here is a guard who quickly attaches a ball and chain to 
your leg. Don't worry about it (But make sure you have it 
strapped to you before leaving!), and go north until you find a 
suit of armour and a dagger in a scabbard. Wear the armour and 
take the scabbard, then return south.
 
Go east, past where you entered the hall, until you come to 
another door. Open it. (Without the ball and chain, as well as 
the armour, you would quickly be fried.) Go north and you'll 
encounter a monk who is most unhappy to meet you. CAST FIREBALL 
and instruct it to attack the monk's spell scrolls. Go north 
again and read the panel to learn the LIGHTNING spell.

Return south to the hallway, then west to the entrance. You can 
now cast GROW on the ball and chain in order to leave it 
behind. Go north until you are out of the Castle. Find the 
troll (who will not enter the Castle) and give her the 
scabbard. With her holding the scabbard you can remove the 
dagger which contains the TELEPORT spell. Have her go with you 
to the Rainbird. Instruct the troll to kill all the ants around 
the anthill, while you do the same. When the number of ants 
reaches zero (only for a second!) take the piece of amber from 
the anthill. Examine it to learn the MAGICIAN spell. Cast it on 
yourself, and if you've learned the other 20 spells, you can 
recruit the Rainbird.
 
Go to the dragon and recruit him. Give him the small piece of 
dragon scale and escort him to the main exit. Once there go 
south, and watch the fire alarm go crazy. Go back and get the 
Rainbird, the mouse and the troll. (This trio tends to wander 
around a bit, particularly the troll, so keep an eye on all of 
them.) Bring the three of them down to the exit hallway (where 
the fire alarm is), and lead them all west. Instruct the troll 
to open the Maintenance Hatch. Give the mouse to the troll, and 
have her put the mouse in the hatch. You can now continue west 
to examine the Kiosk.

Instruct the Rainbird to enter the Kiosk. You've escaped! 
Wonderful!...or is it?