THE CITY OF 'EHDOLLAH A LUST FOR TREASURE BROUGHT YOU HERE - BUT WILL YOU EVER RETURN? DON THOMASSON GOLDSTAR "WE ARE ON OUR WAY TO EXPLORE THE RUINED CITY OF 'EHDOLLAH. LIKE MANY BEFORE US, WE SEEK THE SACRED RUBY OF THE TOGGALIDS. UNLIKE OUR PREDECESSORS, WE HOPE TO RETURN ALIVE. WE HAVE FOOD FOR NO MORE THAN SIX MEALS,SO WE HAVE LITTLE TIME." Though others have tried and failed, you know you'll succeed. Didn 't that crazy old Morcran you met in mysterious circumstances on the Sendal Plain fill your head with visions of the death of the malevolent wizard, and you as conqueror of the last of the Toggalids holding the Sacred Ruby in your hand? Didn't he whisper of how the wizard could be defeated, and the spells and items needed to achieve it? Haven't you known from birth that you were born for a great destiny? Here then is where your duty lies -to fulfil that destiny by vanquishing Meglin the Wizard and capturing the Sacred Ruby. Then will you be acclaimed throughout the known universe as Supreme Galactic Adventurer! THE CITY OF 'EHDOLLAH Once this was the fabled seat of noble kings and great priests. Its loveliness boasted no rivals and its inhabitants, the Toggalids, were envied throughout the universe for the serenity of their lives. They existed only to do good works and to add to the store of beauty in the world. 'EhDollah was famed for the magnificence of its architecture, the vastness of its qardens. and not the least, for the many unparalleled riches it contained. THE SACRED RUBY Among the many extraordinary treasures the city contained, none was greater than the Sacred Ruby. Brought to 'Ehdollah countless ages ago by its founder, Cellini the First, the ruby was the embodiment of the ancient alchemists' eternal yearning - it could turn any based metal into gold! Entrusted to the care of priests and priestesses dedicated to its safety, it supplied the currency on which the city depended. The doing of good works did not otherwise bring in much money. THE CITY'S DESTRUCTION Such goodness in the world does not go unenvied, and the Federation of Sur, a loose arrangement of totalitarian states dedicated to mayhem, misery and madness to achieve its ends, launched a deadly attack against the city. Poisonous gases and atomic wastes penetrated the city's protection and left in their wake death and debilitation. The Toggalids died out and their great city lay neglected for hundreds of years - overgrown and taken over by the unrestrained forces of nature. lts planet, Chiron, became a wasteland and was only of interest to scientists, now able to study the effects of such devastation. MEGLIN, THE MALEVOLENT WIZARD the calamity which overtook the city killed all its inhabitants save Meglin, the Keeper of the Sacred Ruby. He had sworn as a young boy to guard the jewel with his life, and created the spells enabling him to forsee the doom that awaited 'Ehdollah and what he had to do to survive. Such strong magic, however, caused him to lose his virtues as a Toggalid, and he adopted the demonic powers of a sorcerer. Where once he contemplated the divine, now all he dreams about is devilry... and the death of anyone who disturbs him. Alone save for the monsters he has conjured up to keep out intruders, he passes his days in the pursuit of evil. MANAGING THE QUEST THE ADVENTURER'S VOCABULARY The game posseses a large vocabulary, over 100 words in all. Much of the fun of an adventure is discovering those words which mean something and those that don't. If the command system cannot understand your instruction it will tell you; just try phrasing the cornmand in another way or use an alternative wording. Many words are included as synonyms; TAKE and GET, for example, have the same meaning as far as the game is concerned. Several examples from the vocabulary have been given below, whether they work or not is for you to discover! The cornmand language is structured in the usual way. That is, it understands verbs and nouns. To issue a cornmand you need to phrase it in these terms: GET SWORD, DROP LAMP, GO DOOR. While this may seem restricting, it is surprising just how complex your commands can be. The single most powerful cornmand is PUT which requires that both the object and the location be specified; this is not the same as DROP which simply means discard. The exception to this structure are the system commands. All the directions may be given as their initial letters; N, S, E, W, etc. Major commands such as SAVE, LOAD, QUIT, LOOK and INVENTORY can be entered on their own. COMBAT One of the major innovations of 'EhDollah is that it contains a combat system. Your strength and stamina are based on the amount of fighting that you have done. Injuries reduce both amounts, eating boosts both amounts. Keeping your strength up is essential and choosing where and when to EAT is a crucial matter. If you meet a monster you can retreat, if you want. However, you will need to remember the way out! Combat cannot be avoided on all occasions because many of the monsters guard vital objects which will appear only when they have been vanquished. PRESERVING YOUR CHARACTER As the game is both very long and very complex it is quite unlikely that you will solve it in a single attempt, or even several dozen, come to that! To prevent frustration at having to replay sections again and again there is a facility to store and recall your character' s current position and status from tape. To save the character type SAVE as a cornmand. If you are using a cassette system make sure you have a fresh tape in the cassette recorder, DO NOT USE THE PROGRAM TAPE!!! Instructions will be displayed on the screen just as for any normal SAVE or LOAD operation. To load a saved character back into the memory simply enter LOAD as a command. The character will now be loaded back into the game and all the necessary location and object information will be updated. If you are new to Adventuring it is worth saving your character at regular intervals. Although it uses a lot of tape it does help in solving the harder problems. HINTS FOR BEGINNERS Plenty of paper is necessary, or a supply of Goldstar Maze Masters, as building an accurate and comprehensive map isessential. Dying is educational! Unlike many adventure games 'EhDollah is often informative about how you died. Solving the riddles is just part of the game. Use logic. 'EhDollah is always logical, except when you're stuck in a maze, so a clear head for direction is an absolutemust. Try it! If you can think of a command that sounds sensible, 'EhDollah will always try to give you a sensible answer. AIDS FOR ADVENTURERS Goldstar offers a comprehensive range of material to help you in your quest. Maps, Maze Masters and Hint Sheets are all available for a small fee upon request to Dorling Kindersley Software, 1-2 Henrietta Street. London WC2E 8PS. ISBN 0-86318-063-9 ©Dorling Kindersley Software 1984, 1-2 Henrietta Street. London WC2E 8PS All rights reserved Goldstar is a registered trademark of Dorling Kindersley Software. No paRT of this computer program or the graphics screened during its use or the associated user's manual may be reproduced, adapted. stored in a retríeval system, or transmítted, in any form or by any means. electronic, mechanícal. photocopying, recording or otherwíse, other than for the private enjoyment or education of the user without the prior written permission of Dorling Kindersley Software. GOLDSTAR SOFTWARE THE high-quality software designed to achieve new editorial and graphíc standards. Welcome to the world of Goldstar Software! Our products have been created with our users' needs in mind and as such they not only can transmit information and provide guídance. but also deliver hours of fun. THE GREEDY DWARF by Simon Ainsworth Only the bravest of the brave wear the King's goLd; join them if you dare! For BBC, Electron, Dragon 32, ZX Spectrum (48K). Commodore 64 TINY TOUCH 'N' GO 24 Hours to Keyboard Mastery Why type with two fingers when you could type with ten? For Dragon 32, Commodore 64, BBC, Electron SKETCHPAD by Gary Atkinson Hours of drawing fun on the ultimate of electronic easels! For BBC, Electron LEARN ABOUT WORDS Spelling fun with Fred the Flea for 5-10 year olds By Robin Norman and Daphne Bell ForBBC LEARN ABOUT SHAPES Maths fun with Fred the Flea for 7-10 year olds By Robin Norman For BBC, Electron