QUEST FOR THE BLACK PEARL A Text Adventure for the PC on SynTax disk PD 559 Author: Ralph Varble Getting Started (....and Finished!) by Bev Truter on PC Starting from the Clearing, X sign, read sign, get tube, X tube, read tube. E-NE to the Ruined Village for an extra 5 points on your score, then SW-W back to the Clearing. W-SW, enter castle, get pail, X pail, leave castle. NE-W-S-S to a small grotto, enter pool, D, get key, U-E, unlock door. (It swings open, you go east to a glowing cave, and the door slams shut behind you.) E, drop key, get lamp, light lamp, N to a locker room. X locker (one of them belongs to Davy Jones and has a combination lock on it.) S-E-S-E-N-E-E-S-W-S-SW to a Granite Chamber, where you find the Professor's skeleton and a stone polisher - you will lose points if you try to start it. X polisher (you see writing on the casing), read writing, and use the Model number to open the locker. (L9-R13-L60). The paper in the skeleton's hand is a map of the exit route if you reverse the directions. U-W-S-W-S-W-W-SW-N to locker room. Turn dial - Left or Right - Left - What number between 0 and 70? - 9 - click. Repeat twice with remaining Model numbers until the locker opens and a pair of oven gloves falls out. Get gloves, wear gloves. S-S-S-W, X sign (you can't carry more than 70lbs when crossing it), cross bridge, W-W-S to a Hot room where you find a metal box. Get box, N-N to the Noisy Room and a puddle of cold water. Drop box in puddle, the sudden immersion in cold water smashes it and an amulet falls out. Drop gloves, get amulet, X amulet. (It's shaped like a scallop shell). Save a game at this point, as entering the volcano in the next bit can be hazardous. S-W-W-U to Midway (in the volcano), where you see some black ash lying in a carved recess. Get ash (you put it in the pail), D-S-E-E-E to West of the Bridge. S-SW-SW-NW (read sign here), W-N-NW, get card, X card (it's an access card). Pull plywood to enter the Prop Room, read the sign and the memo, but don't touch anything. Push plywood to return to the unused space, SW-S-W-N-D to the bottom of the stairs. X slot, insert card in slot - you enter the Games Office, taking the card with you. Read magazine for extra points, then W to the Programmer's Office where you get more points for turning the computer on, choosing option 3 to exit and save all files, then turning the computer off. E-N to Staff Room, get staff, X staff, S, insert card in slot, drop card. U-S-E-N-NE-SE-S-E-SE-SW-W-W to the Stalactite Room. Slide down stalactite for extra points, SW-S-W-NW to the Kitchen. Get the chalice and examine it. (The engraving on the chalice depicts an oyster sitting on a bed of seaweed, open and eating something). NE to the Pantry. X box, open box, get book and read it to discover 3 spells - you need the ZIVKKY spell and the XANORD spell for future use - (the WRESTO spell has already been used on the tableware in the Dining Room). SW-SE-E-N-NE-NE-E-NE-NE to the Craggy Place. Pour ash into the chalice, drop pail, then go D-S-E into the Temple. Examine the altar, then open altar and get the knife. YKKVIZ , and the knife will glow a pale aqua colour briefly, protecting it from the ZIVKKY spell at a later stage. Exit-W to a blank wall with a small relief in one corner. X relief -(it looks like a scallop shell). {For this next bit speed of action is important - your watch will probably beep about now, signifying you have only one hour left before meeting the helicopter in the Clearing. If you meet up with Smythe (the baddie) in the Basin Room, it's probably too late to be rescued. Restore a saved game a fair number of moves before your watch beeped, then race through to the Basin Room as quickly as possible}. (At the blank wall). Put amulet in relief, and a section of the wall crumbles away, leaving a gaping hole to the West. Go West to the Entrance to a Strange Place, where you find two opposing holes in opposite walls of the cave. Put staff in holes to prevent the walls from sliding together and squishing you to death. Open tube of sunscreen, wear sunscreen, then drop everything except the amulet, book, knife and chalice. W-W-S to the Basin Room, where a gigantic oyster sits on top of a pile of seaweed. Without the sunscreen the seaweed kills you and the oyster manages to gobble you up - despite its toothless condition. You can just make out a huge black pearl nestling inside the slightly open shell of the oyster.......... Feed oyster - you are asked "sand or ash?" Type ash , the chalice glows briefly as you feed its contents to the oyster, and as the oyster opens up to eat, it spits out the black pearl which rolls to the floor. Get pearl, XANORD (you might have to repeat this a few times if it is too early for the helicopter), and you find yourself back in the Clearing where you started. The helicopter arrives, Enter - but before you can get in, Smythe (the stereotypical baddie) steps from the shadows to confront you, waving a gun and threatening to shoot. ZIVKKY to make his gun disappear; but your problems are not over yet, as he threatens to kill you with his bare hands. Kill Smythe with knife - you throw it and both he and the knife disappear. Enter helicopter. You take a last look over the island as the pilot takes off, seeing lava engulfing the grotto you were in... Luckily for you, you are now on your way back to civilization, with the famed Black Pearl in your hands. Congratulations, you've won the game. - o -