CERCLA
     A Text Adventure for the PC on SynTax disk PD 672
                  Author: Jeffrey Robinson

                   Solution by Bev Truter

Starting in your office, read the memo - it tells you to attend a
meeting at the EPA, with 4 vital documents. E-N-N-N to your Boss'
office. Get the booklet and read it - it explains how to deal with
Dwarves, Redcaps, Torreds and Trolls. It also details what to do
when confronting the final enemy, The Fool - you must be wearing a
piece of the True Cross, and throw some Holy Water at him, to
prevent him disappearing with some crucial documents. S-E-E-N to a
Storeroom. Get flashlight, and read the sign - to reach The Fool,
you first need a WORD to open the way to Cercla, the final
location where you confront The Fool. S-E-N-D-D-S to the Lunch
Room. Get silver cross. N-U-S-W-W-W-S-W to the Library. Get
folder, X folder.  It contained 4 documents, but they are all
missing from the folder.  A piece of paper in the folder informs
you that the documents were the QAPP, HASP, WP and RIR.

E-S-S to Reception, where you see a thin booklet lying on a table.
Do not take the booklet, or you will be thrown out into the
Parking Lot. Read booklet - it claims that the world is still full
of mysteries, and some folk believe fanciful creatures walk the
earth.  S-NW to McGillicudy's Pub, where you see a vial of Holy
Water lying on the counter. Get vial, SE-SE-N-W-W to the Kitchen
of a rather messy suburban home. Open drawer, look, get knife.
S-W-U-NW to the Master Bedroom, where you see a closed box. Open
box, and you find a pile of jewels inside - and here's the bit I
like - it makes absolutely no difference to your score if you take
them. (Nice touch!) SE-NE to a child's Bedroom, where you find
some chocolate coins covered in gold-coloured foil. Get coins,
SW-D-D to the Cellar, where something about the East wall is a bit
odd. X wall - it feels cold to the touch and you hear the sound of
receding footsteps behind it.

Push wall, and you find yourself in a Secret Room behind the wall,
where you see a photo badge lying on the floor. Get badge and X
it, but do not wear it. (Amazing! It has your name and photograph
emblazoned on the front). It is an E.P.A. Identity Badge, and you
will need it to enter the EPA building South of the Parking Lot.
West to a cave, where a message in the moss reads "Don't eat
anything in Elfland". There is a stone table here, with a stone
containing a sword on it. Try to get the sword, and the response
is "Who are you kidding? Do you think you are King Arthur?". This
is a clue to the word you need to enter Cercla, which is an
anagram of all the letters you will find in the 4 documents.

W-N to a Stone Tower where you find a Redcap. Show silver cross
and the Redcap disappears, leaving behind the Remedial
Investigation Report. Get RIR and read it - it contains the
letters LI. S-W-D to a Dry Creek Bed near the bridge. You see a
Troll in the dark area beneath the bridge to the North. Drop
coins, and the Troll ventures out into the sun to get them. He
drops the chest of gold he is carrying, and the sunlight turns him
to stone. Get chest, U-E-S to a Cave, where a small Dwarf is
mining for gold nuggets. Drop chest, and the Dwarf dances with
glee, points to the back of the Cave, and disappears. Look, get
QAPP and read it - you see the letters AC.  N-W-W-W-W-W-W-W to a
Quiet Grove. Look, and a small Torred appears.  Show knife and the
Torred slinks away, leaving behind the HASP. Get HASP and read it
- XE. W-W to the Chapel. X cubbyhole, open cubbyhole and Look -
you see a sliver of wood. X wood - it's a piece of the True Cross,
attached to a chain. Get true cross, wear true cross.
E-E-E-E-E-E-E to the old McArdle Farmhouse. N-N-N-N-N-E to the
Eastern Shore of a lake. You startle a racoon, who scuttles away,
and drops something. Look, get key. S-E-D to the bottom of the
Test Pit, turn flashlight on. This is the beginning of your trip
through beautiful Elfland.

West to a Dim Grotto - read the sign and take the Harp. Follow the
directions through Elfland, and don't eat the food set out on the
tables. When you reach the Treasure Room, unlock the chest with
the key, open chest, Look. Get volume and read it - it's the WP,
and contains the letters BUR. If you noticed the hand rising from
the lake, and the Arthurian references, you've guessed the anagram
from the letters in the documents forms the word EXCALIBUR. NW to
a room of Elves. Play harp to escape to the Sixties, W-SW to a
Musical Room, where you see a vacant space for the harp and a peg
to hang it on. Hang harp to increase your score. S-SE to a steep
mountainside where a funicular trundles up to you. Read flyer,
type RUCKELSHAUS to enter the car, and you are transported to the
Dim Grotto at the start of Elfland.

E-U-W-W-S-S-S-S-W to the Parking Lot. South to the entrance to the
EPA, where a guard is sitting. Show badge and he will allow you to
enter the EPA building. SW-NW-W-NW-SW-S-S-S-S-S-E-E-S-S-S-S to a
large Circular Room. NW, then type EXCALIBUR to enter the CER Room
(This is the CERCLA from the title, but the full location
description is too long to fit on the status line). The Fool
appears and starts towards you, but you are safe if wearing the
true cross.  Throw vial at Fool and he disappears without being
able to snatch the documents on the table. Little folk emerge from
the walls <really!> and carry you off to the Virgin Islands for a
well-deserved holiday in the sea and sun.....



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