Plunge Into Darkness

It was no use - Bernard just couldn't take any more. He was reduced to a sprawled heap clinging to the bar as Malcolm downed his seventeenth pint. Bernard had lost his bet and now regretted challenging Malcolm to a beer drinking contest. The price of his defeat? Exploring the local "dungeon" - a dark and dangerous place, off limits to the public due to the profusion of orcs seen to emerge from there. But Bernard Brainbeater was not going to back out, and with this decision he lost the fight to stay upright and slumped to the floor of the pub ....

The Awakening

Bernard arose early the next morning, the way adventurers are supposed to, but the hangover and a brief, but terrifying. look in the mirror served to convince him to stay in bed for a while longer.

A few hours later Bernard made a second, successful attempt at waking up and although the headache had receded somewhat he could not bring himself to eat his usual fried breakfast, settling for a bowl of something with an "amusing" pun on the word "wheat" in the name. Nearly suitably refreshed, Bernard set about equipping himself ...

The Hunt

After rummaging through drawers for some time Bernard found the object of his search - his "Adventurer's Checklist". He scanned the list and started the hunt for the items it recommended: backpack, sword, shield, lantern - although finding these proved an adventure in itself, said objects not having been used for quite some time. However, after searching around in the shed he soon had all he required, also finding a small penknife he'd owned since he was a boy scout. This last he placed in his backpack and after positioning his pipe and slippers where he could get to them immediately on his return he left the house ...

Journey To Doom

A leisurely stroll took him through the village and most people greeted him with a cheerful "Good luck, Mr Morris!" ("Brainbeater" was only his "stage" name) and Bernard thought that being the object of attention, even admiration, was at least one compensation of this "quest". Passing the weapons shop, a polished blowpipe caught his eye and Bernard bought this with the change he'd found at the bottom of the backpack, never noticing the "Blowdarts not included" sticker. Leaving the town, Bernard saw fewer and fewer people and the surrounding wilderness became more and more inhospitable (although Bernard had to admit that any wilderness was inherently inhospitable, so he didn't bear it a grudge). He eventually approached the dungeon entrance and saw what was to be the first of many problems - how to get in past the royal guards? ...

The Adventure

The adventure accepts the usual commands - RAMSAVE, RAMLOAD, GET ALL, EXAMINE (and X), AGAIN (and A), and also has a SAY TO command which can give any willing and obedient servants that you may meet up to five commands at a time, such as SAY TO HAROLD "GO NORTH. BUY THE PAPER BUT DON'T READ IT. SOUTH AND TAKE THE DOG FOR A WALK." (although these commands may not be necessary when in the dungeon). Also SAY TO HAROLD "FOLLOW" and "STOP" to stop him following will also work (Harold is used here only as an example and won't be coming on the adventure with you). The commands "GRAPHICS" and "TEXT" switch the graphics on or off respectively. LOOK will redescribe the current location, and HELP ... I'll leave you to work out what that one does.

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