Kentilla
An interactive text/graphics adventure by Derek Brewster for 48K Spectrum. GRAKO had grand designs in CARALAND. It could be a perfect playground of hate, torture, walking dead and eternal darkness. The inhabitants of the land, however, had other ideas. Making his castle on the central plains of Caraland, Grako grew in power, turning the once fertile plains to scorched dust. But being so far from his place of power he was unable to maintain his demonic influence. Grako was finally defeated by the great warrior ASHKA and was returned in shame to the tortuous fires of the Abyss. As the world rejoiced, other sinister plans were afoot. VELNOR - the evil sorcerer long-since vanquished for the black arts he practised (see VELNOR'S LAIR from Quicksilva) - was planning revenge. Hidden within the labyrinth beneath Mount Elk, Velnor had found the nefarious Tomes of Grako. The power of eternal life and sovereignty over all he hated was in his hands. Velnor could become a true demon on Earth. Born of Earth and not of the Abyss, his power would be supreme. Unknown to mortal man, this was all part of Grako's plan. The spells were flawed, and during metamorphosis Velnor's powers were weakened. His traps were cunning and his guards loyal and fierce, but a wizard by the name of TYLON was equal to the challenge. In a mighty battle of magic in the central chamber of Mount Elk, Velnor was slain and his soul dragged through the void to the flames of the Abyss. For a few faint seconds a corridor was open and Grako made good his escape to breathe hate once more on the free plains of Caraland. And now Grako's power could be supreme, for no longer did he have a rival and he now had within his grasp the source of all Velnor's power: the MOONSTONE OF ALGRATH. Here starts the second tale from the myths and legends of CARALAND. To load press J key and, holding down red SYMBOL SHIFT, press P key twice. Screen should show LOAD "". Press ENTER and start playing the cassette. KENTILLA is recorded twice on one side of the cassette only. KENTILLA has a sophisticated input editor to ease command entry. CAPS SHIFT 0 - Delete character to left of cursor. CAPS SHIFT 9 - Insert a space at cursor. CAPS SHIFT 8 - Move cursor right. CAPS SHIFT 5 - Move cursor left. CAPS SHIFT 1 - Recall last command. This must be used before any other input is made. It is useful for lengthy battles, correcting mistyped commands or conveniently altering a command (eg. after KILL URGA you might want to EXAMINE URGA so just recall the last command and over- type KILL with EXAM). Single word commands NORTH, N, etc. Move in specified direction INVENTORY, I List carried objects LOOK, L Redescribe location SAVE Save game present position LOAD Load saved game QUIT End game; start again SCORE Check % progress through game WAIT Do nothing The following are some of the more important verbs which are accepted. There are many more which you will have to find for yourself. GET TAKE DROP EXAMINE SEARCH KILL ATTACK ENTER LEAVE SAY CLIMB TIE, UNTIE THROW WEAR REMOVE OPEN UNLOCK LOCK GIVE PULL PUSH LOOK EAT LIGHT TURN HIT PUT CAST EXTINGUISH ALL can be used with the verbs GET and DROP to pick up everything in a location or drop everything carried. It will ignore hidden objects, etc, and dead characters. LOOK is used for seeing into containers; eg. LOOK INTO CHEST. It can also be used to look at adjacent locations; eg. LOOK EAST will tell you what objects and creatures (except hidden ones) are there. GIVE: When giving an object to a character, it must be done in the form GIVE (object) TO (character); eg. GIVE SACK TO ELVA. Talking to other characters To talk to another character you must mention the character and use quotes; eg. SAY TO OGERON "GIVE ME SWORD". Friendly characters will usually cooperate if they can - others not necessarily! Sentences are not limited to VERB/NOUN, although this is sufficient in many cases; eg. GET SHIELD or GET THE LARGE SHIELD. In many cases longer sentences are necessary, eg. PUT SWORD INTO CHEST or UNLOCK RED DOOR WITH LARGE KEY. Many objects are described by both noun and adjective; eg. LARGE KEY or NASTY KNIFE. If you want to get the large key you could try GET LARGE, GET KEY or GET LARGE KEY. The first two might be accepted, unless there are other large objects or keys around - this would cause confusion. Abbreviations Most words can be abbreviated to two letters, and some to one; eg. OPEN DOOR can be OP D. Ambiguity can arise, though; eg. LOOK IN CHEST as LO CH will be taken as LOCK CHEST - LOO CH would work. HINTS KENTILLA is a richly devious adventure. Collecting objects is not an end, just a means to it. You may have to revisit some locations a number of times in order to make overall progress, and time may be of the essence. Much is hidden, and not revealed at first examination. The pictures might sometimes hold clues for you. You may befriend some enemies. Apparently useless things might have curious effects on those who threaten you. The very title of the game is of great importance in its playing ... but you will find that out ...