The Lost Stone Mansion - Paul Merkley/AGT
     (Text adventure for ST (PD341), PC (PD342), Amiga)
         Reviewed by "Kedenan" on an Amstrad PC1512

This is a first class adventure, one of the best Public Domain
adventures that I have ever played. It is a credit to the author
and, in my opinion, as good as any Infocom Adventure.

INTRODUCTION.
You are on a hiking holiday in the German Tyrol and the mountains
become more formidable as you walk and you are soon surrounded by
forest.  You wander into a deep valley and as you meander up a
twisty trail toward what you hoped would be a way out of the
imposing forest, you see a flagstone path leading through a thick
stand of cedars and cypresses. Is there a dwelling nearby?

Cautiously making your way along the stone path, you notice a
structure.  A massive dark stone mansion with prominent woodwork
sits perched ahead of you. This strange inhabitance is surrounded
by enormously tall cypresses extending vertically for hundreds of
feet.  You gaze up at the dark verdant evergreens, then plod up
the monumental porch stairway and you rap on the huge iron knocker
on the front door.

No one answers your knocking, so you cautiously open the door
accompanied with a deafening creak! Inside you find a stone
entryway, a bookcase and a large ancient chair. As you walk past
the chair, you find yourself well into the entryway. Suddenly the
big door slams shut with a deep thud! Whirling round your eyes
adjusting to the subdued light, you notice a large single stone
set into the wall of the entry way. This stone seems to be a
narrow secret doorway, which is normally hidden by the bookcase
now moved aside.  You push hard upon the stone door. Using all
your weight you manage to open it enough to squeeze through the
strange doorway and you now stand in a large dark hallway.

The secret door just closes behind you with a soft thud.  You
continue to search around, finding odd items and encountering
various creatures, some of which are very dangerous. You try to
find your way out of the mansion alive.

While exploring the mansion and its dark subterranean reaches,
you discover a mystery. Apparently, treasure is hidden somewhere
in the big house. You discover something else: there seems to be
evidence of experiments, or hidden knowledge, concerning rare
gems.  It appears that something is occurring, or has occurred in
the past, in the mysterious chateau regarding "Photogenerative
Properties of Rare Gems", that is, the creation of light from rare
gems!

Your mission becomes twofold: escape with your life and solve the
mystery about the gems. There seems to be no way to return to the
front entryway of the mansion and depart the way you came in.  Or
is there?  You try to solve the riddles of the spooky old estate.
Soon the riddles grow. There seems to be evidence that someone
else is keeping a watchful eye on you and wandering through the
mansion with you!  Or at the least, someone was in the house
recently, as you soon find fresh food and drink. You strive to
solve the puzzles.

At each turn of events, the mystery grows. Why is there a secret
part of the mansion anyway? How can you get back to the original
entrance?  What sort of treasure is hidden in the chateau?  What
is the secret about the gems?  Who else is wandering about the
house and are they friendly or menacing?  Are there really
dangerous animals in the mansion?  Why are there so many curios in
the house?  Who owns this mansion anyway?!

These and other questions haunt you as you manoeuvre through the
big chateau.  Fare thee well, fellow traveller. I wish you great
success on your fated quest - into the unknown - of the Lost Stone
Mansion.

STARTING THE ADVENTURE.
You are in a secret hallway of an ancient mansion. Gossamer gently
floats in the stale air, thick tufts of cobweb clinging eerily to
several old paintings. There are five large portraits on each of
the long walls. The oil paintings have large ornate gilded frames,
a couple of them cracked and splintered. All that is left of the
images in the paintings are shadowy figures in showy outfits.  You
can't even make out their features. A small sign is located near a
highly decayed painting, which reads:-

           Ah, bigger and sligger, my lost arrow figure,
           Venture forth you must, in this land of much dust,
           Pull forth with your might, all the land's offer bigger,
           And find, take the treasure, before you are crushed.

           Ah shigger and fligger, my lost arrow fire.
           Come -- venture you must, to a land of much dust,
           To a time immemorial, a place indecipherable,
           A very fine journey of fine, ornate treasure.

There is a flashlight lying on the ground nearby, which will be
useful in the dark reaches of the mansion. There is also a door
slightly open to the north, so you open the door and go through
into the Yarn-spinning room.

This tiny circular room has a ceiling which seems endless. Looking
up, you see more cobwebs lining the dark wooden walls.  The
gossamer webs slowly waft in the stuffy air of the room.  The
ceiling rises fifty feet to a tiny window in the centre of a
highly ornamented and sculptured wooden ceiling. Swirls of curving
shape adorn the woodwork, an earmark of mansions in the romantic
era.

In a corner of the scuffed wooden floor of the room sits an
ancient spinning wheel, having bits of fabric, probably cotton,
attached.  At the other end of the crude machine, string-like
cords are wrapped around a large spool. You try to imagine the
finished product from such a wheel.

A short distance from you stands some clear water in a tall glass,
and a short hard stick. I don't think it's a baton to conduct a
dance band, yet later on you will come across a couple of
skeletons sitting on overstuffed chairs wearing dance clothes.

As a bat hovers near you, you notice an open doorway to the north,
only four feet high and narrow, also a larger doorway to the west.

So you decide to go west, into the massive dining hall with a
table extending fifty feet into the room's centre. The large table
is set with empty china, and twenty lit candles span its length.
Above the table, a chandelier glitters with hundreds of candles
set into crystal.  The chandelier softly sways. You squint a
little in the bright light and a short distance away you see a
pile of golden coins, I would get them whilst you have the chance
as a large possum is approaching who may not prove very friendly
in bright light, as he should be sleeping. So you beat a retreat
to the north.

Here you meet the skeletons dressed for a dance and a large stone
nearby. At the far end of the room a giant lizard is moving
towards you.  So get that stone quickly, and throw it at the
lizard!

The stone soars through the air towards the lizard. It's a direct
hit!  The lizard writhes in agony as it fades away in a cloud of
green smoke, ----- and so do I!

If you play this adventure, later on you will find some calming
brandy, and you could do with it! A small crossbow, a sword,
dagger, a longbow and a quiver full of arrows. Much more useful
than a little stick to attack the other fierce animals you will
come across.

Don't forget to go back and go north through the small door into
the Tub Room and see what you can find. Examine the libraries, you
might find a few very interesting books! Watch what you are doing
when you get into the boat!  Fire crossbow at leopard.

You can lose your life if you make a wrong move, so it pays to
save and restore often, to avoid a start at the beginning again.
There are 77 locations to visit and the adventure gives you your
score as you proceed out of a possible 12000.

The Lost Stone Mansion is a great adventure and can be obtained
from the "Syntax Public Domain Library" on PC 3.5" or 5.25" discs
and ST (Amiga version due soon).  Price only œ2.50.