Introduction

As a local historian, you had been allowed into the great library of Karoway Manor. There, between the pages of an ancient book, you found a seemingly much older sheet of paper. It told of a stone gateway to the mythical land of Karos opening only at midnight on the summer solstice. Were it not for the majestic stone arch in the centre of the manor lawn, and that it was by then dusk on Midsummer's Day, you might have replaced the page without a thought...

This is a vast and fascinating adventure with the accent firmly on intrigue and ingenuity. There is more than one route to many of the treasures on the island of Karos but, whichever path you choose, you will be beset by treachery. Even the recovery of the Talisman of Khoronz - of which you will learn on your travels - will be no guarantee of a safe return nor proof against the wish that you had remained a historian in some quiet manor library.

Background

While searching through a collection of old books, you find between the pages of one of them what appears to be a leaf from a much older volume. The contents of this loose page, with its references to dragons and magic, lead you to think at first that it is a fragment from a work of fiction. Suddenly your eye is caught by a familiar name. It is the name of an abandoned and decaying house only a few miles away. You read on. From the description the unknown writer seems to be speaking of the same house. You know it well, and also know the enigmatic stone structure which stands in an overgrown corner of the garden: three rough stones forming a gateway to nowhere.

Your interest now quickens, for it seems that the mysterious paper is hinting that this apparently purposeless structure is indeed a gate - a way into what science fiction writers often call a 'parallel universe'. The world into which it opens was, says the author, the stage on which was enacted a great battle between the powers of light and darkness. The former were led by a mighty wizard called Khornoz, wielding a powerful object called the Talisman of Khoronz. What this article is the author does not say, only that it survived the fall of its master and that it is still there, on the island of Karos - through the gate.

You glance back up the page: "At sunrise on Midsummer's day the gate may be passed." Can it possibly be true? Do such things really happen in the 20th century? It can do no harm to take a look, and tomorrow is Midsummer's day...

As in most adventure games the computer is your eyes and hands. It will describe your immediate surroundings, together with any objects which may be there. It will tell you what is happening around you. You must tell it, in return, what to do by typing in instructions. In most cases, one or two words will suffice, although in some cases three words will be needed. The computer is able to distinguish these words when they are embedded in a compelte sentence, e.g. PLEASE GET THE SPADE FOR ME and GET SPADE are identical to the computer. This ability to interpret a complex command is useful when you are unsure what words will bring about the desired effect. Note however that each command is only capable of bringing about one thing. GET THE BOTTLE AND FILL IT WITH WATER will perform only the first part of the command.

Locations

Gateway To Karos includes 250 separate locations. Many of these locations are out in the open, e.g. on moors, in forests or at sea. When in open country it is possible (unless there are obstructions) to move in any of the eight principal compass directions. Moreover, such movement is usually self-consistent, so that successive moves NORTH, EAST, SOUTH and WEST bring you back to your starting point. There are a few deliberate exceptions to this - where the terrain is confusing or magic intervenes.

Objects

There are 62 objects and the description of some of these objects changes when they are put to certain uses. Many of the objects are valuable treasures and one is the Talisman of Khoronz itself. You need have no doubts that you will recognise the latter when (if!) you find it. Some objects have no immediate obvious use, but don't be deceived, everything is either valuable or useful or both.

Useful Words

Many words are recognised by the program, and synonyms may often be used, e.g. GET COINS has the same effect as TAKE THE MONEY. A complete listing of the program's vocabulary would spoil the fun, but here are some useful words:

NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, WEST, UP, DOWN, ENTER, EXIT, NW, SW, NE and SE are the words normally used to cause movement. The first six of these may be abbreviated to their initial letter.

INVENTORY (abbreviation I) will list the objects carried or worn by you.

LOOK or DESCRIBE will repeat the description of your current location. This is useful since a sequence of commands may scroll the description off the top of the screen. You may use L as an abbreviation for this command.

Some of your travelling will need to be done by boat. A boat may only be landed in certain places - the text describing the location always gives a clue. When landing the boat, you must use the word LAND. Using a direction word in such circumstances will often lead to your being wrecked! To set off in your boat you must use LAUNCH or SAIL.

QUIT (abbreviation Q) may be used to stop the game. The computer will display your inventory and score, and then give you the choice of starting a new game or carrying on with the old one.

To exit from the program press the BREAK key.

SAVE enables you to record the game position on tape for later.

Score

During the game you can display your score at any time by entering SCORE and pressing RETURN. It also displays a number representing your physical condition. This number will be 1,000 at the beginning of a game, but it falls as the game progresses. When it reaches zero, you are dead! Food and water may be found and will, under certain circumstances, boost your condition. Encounters with wild beasts and contact with certain places and objects have alarming effects on your condition, so watch this number carefully.

Your Objectives

1. To find the Talisman of Khoronz.
2. To bring the Talisman and all the other treasure of Karos back through the gate. Once you enter Karos and move away from the gate you may have a little trouble finding it again. Even when you do find it, you won't be able to pass through it automatically. The maximum score is 1,700 and to achieve this you must return carrying 14 objects and wearing another 12.

Note: You will soon find that you are not alone in this fantasy world. Not only are there hostile beasts, but there are people too. It is worthfile trying to get information from them concerning persons, places or things and to do this the words ASK and qUESTION are useful. The information varies in the ease with which it is obtained and also in its reliability! You may also try putting direct questions to these folk, e.g. WHERE IS THE TALISMAN? (but don't expect a helpful answer to that one!)

Good luck!

Hints And Answers

Here is a list of commonly asked questions about Gateway To Karos, together with a set of hints and answers.

The wolves get me whenever I venture into the forest.
Hint: 9
Ans.: 16

I keep sinking in the swamp.
Ans.: 17

I can't read the ancient book.
Hint: 28
Ans.: 82

The book isn't worth any points and I can't drop it.
Hint: 67
Ans.: 97

What happens in the forest clearing?
Hint: 72
Ans.: 57

I can't open the steel cylinder.
Hint: 90
Ans.: 66

What do I do at the mound on the tip of Vorkness?
Hint: 36
Ans.: 57

The card-players in the inn won't tell me anything.
Hint: 98
Ans.: 29

I can't get any useful information out of the witch.
Hint: 18
Ans.: 35

There doesn't seem to be enough money to buy everything I need.
Hint: 38
Ans.: 85

I die soon after visting the witch.
Hint: 18
Ans.: 35

Buying a drink seems to cost an awful lot of money. I've hardly anything left!
Hint: 102
Ans.: 93

The ladder breaks when I try to descend/ascend the mine.
Hint: 44
Ans.: 12

I can't get up the shaft in the ceiling of the square room.
Hint: 1
Ans.: 39

The kobolds keep stealing my lamp.
Hint: 10
Ans.: 79

I fall to my death in the kobold room.
Hint: 58
Ans.: 2

I can't find the entrance to the Hidden Valley.
Hint: 73
Ans.: 31

I can't get past the undergrowth.
Hint: 62
Ans.: 55

A great rock falls on me when I try to go north.
Hint: 3
Ans.: 86

I can't get the harp into the Hidden Valley.
Hint: 47
Ans.: 69

I need the harp for my collection of treasure, but I can't get it out of the Hidden Valley!
Hint: 56
Ans.: 92

Stalactites fall on me in the pool cave.
Hint: 32
Ans.: 23

I can't escape from the Black Grove. My strength just drains away and I die.
Hint: 96
Ans.: 43

I keep wandering around the Stone Web until I die.
Hint: 51
Ans.: 48

I can't unlock the mountain door. Ans.: 42

I can see a key in the well but can't get it.
Hints: 4, 60
Ans.: 63

Eating and drinking don't seem to renew my strength.
Ans.: 68

I can't get the treasure out of the dragon's cave without being killed.
Hint: 24
Ans.: 49

The dragon is dead but I still can't get the treasure.
Hint: 45
Ans.: 5

I keep getting shipwrecked.
Ans.: 101

I get lost on the open sea.
Hint: 41
Ans.: 100

The Kraken keeps destroying my boat and killing me.
Ans.: 27

I come to grief in the Needle Rocks/Whirlpool.
Hint: 14
Ans.: 71

I keep losing my way in the mountains and falling over precipices.
Hint: 34
Ans.: 95

Is the carpet a magic one? I can't get it to fly.
Hint: 40
Answers: 99, 104

I can't cross the pit in the passage.
Hint: 7
Ans.: 20

Even with the plank I can't bridge the pit.
Hint: 89
Ans.: 13

I can't get past the griffin.
Hint: 80
Ans.: 6

I can't get past the serpent.
Hint: 70
Ans.: 86

I can't turn the iron wheel.
Hint: 87
Ans.: 94

My lamp doesn't last long enough.
Hint: 25
Ans.: 103

The lamp won't light.
Hint: 19
Ans.: 88

I can't refill the lamp with ooil.
Hint: 33
Ans.: 81

I've explored the lake cavern but think I must have missed something.
Hint: 8
Ans.: 46

I get in sight of something interesting then get electrocuted!
Hint: 15
Ans.: 26

What does the mirror do?
Ans.: 54

I can't get beyond Khoronz's laboratory.
Hint: 22
Ans.: 74

The door of the room east of the laboratory won't open, even though I have the key.
Hints: 61, 76, 65
Ans.: 37

I can't raise the stone slab in the small room.
Hint: 21
Ans.: 30

The volcano erupts and kills me.
Hint: 75
Ans.: 91

Sometimes my condition starts dropping very rapidly. It doesn't seem to depend on where I am particularly.
Hint: 11
Ans.: 84
(See also Hint 77, Answer 50)

I can't find the Gate again. It seems to have vanished! Ans.: 53

I can pass through the Gate but it doesn't take me anywhere.
Ans.: 64

I don't seem to be able to carry all the valuable objects to take them back through the Gate.
Hint: 52
Ans.: 78

Answers

1. Find something to stand on.
2. Don't try to move in the dark.
3. How can you precipitate an avalanche while standing clear of it?
4. It's an iron key. Does that suggest anything?
5. Wear the gloves.
6. Throw the metal sphere at him.
7. You need something to serve as a bridge.
8. Very probably. Have you investigated the waterfall?
9. Find yourself a weapon as soon as possible.
10. How can you scare them off?
11. Certain objects, although precious, are highly inimical until you get them home. What are you carrying?
12. Remove your armour.
13. Break the big jar. This can only be done with the hammer.
14. Stay clear!
15. One of Khoronz's infernal devices! However, there's nothing magical about this one. How can you render it harmless?
16. Either buy something in Thwil, search the eastern cliff-tops or make a quick dash for the forest hut and get the axe.
17. Although it is possible to get out using a fixed sequence of moves, it's best to stay out altogether. There's nothing interesting in there.
18. Take her the things she requests.
19. If you've already had it lit it's probably empty. If not, remember it isn't an electric lamp that can just be switched on.
20. Put the plank across it.
21. A lever is useful.
22. Buttons numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Now where have I seen numbers written before?
23. Make your music with a quiet instrument.
24. Either poison the creature or trick him with magic.
25. Don't waste it.
26. Short circuit the current by connecting the plates with the wire.
27. He's a large and powerful beast. You need to be very well-armed to fend him off. Furnish yourself with all the weapons and armour you can find.
28. You need to be wearing a certain magical object.
29. Buy them a drink.
30. You need the iron bar.
31. Go north from the hermit's cell, then north-west.
32. You're making too much noise!
33. Is it wise to pour oil into a lighted lamp?
34. This is confusing terrain: it all looks the same. How can you make the places look different?
35. Drop the green fern and the red-flowered plant in the cottage.
36. What would an archaeologist do?
37. The words required are Arcana Tenebrae.
38. There are three separate hoards of coins and the total amount is sufficient.
39. Bring the anvil into the room, stand on it and climb up.
40. Yes it is, but you can't use it while carrying it and you must command it explicitly or it can be dangerous.
41. Navigate more carefully! But if you do get lost, try the usual things with magical objects (waving, rubbing, ringing, etc).
42. Not without the key you can't! Keep looking!
43. Either wave the wooden rod or ring the bell.
44. Make yourself lighter.
45. Protect your hands.
46. Go behind it. (But go south-east to get out safely again.)
47. This is where a rope comes in handy.
48. Go north from where you found the rod. South-west from here will take you out of the Web. Waving the rod here will also take you out, but beware!
49. Drop the berries for him to eat, or wear the cap of invisibility.
50. Only honest adventurers can succeed in the quest, and you know very well what I mean!
51. There is a fixed move sequence to take you out. Magic may be used too.
52. Are you wearing absolutely everything wearable? Have you discarded everything which can't be worn and isn't treasure? (The bag is an exception.)
53. It's a weird object. It can only be approached from the west side. To take two examples: If you go south from the marshy hollow you will see it on a hill to the east. If you go north from the ore-washing mill, then keep going east, it will come into view in the same way.
54. Nothing (at least not in this adventure), but it's a valuable treasure.
55. You need the axe from the woodcutter's hut.
56. The method for getting it in can't be used to take it out. Have you brought the carpet with you?
57. Dig: but find the spade first.
58. What can you expect when the floor is full of pits and shafts?
59. Magic can only be countered by stronger magic. What have you just found?
60. Has there been anything to suggest that one of the objects you are carrying might be magnetic?
61. The key is useless here. The clue you need is in the ancient book.
62. You'll have to cut it down.
63. Wear the iron circlet, then try launching your boat.
64. That's right: it will only take you home if you are wearing the Talisman (and that's another hint!)
65. You need a two-word phrase. It was once carved over the gateway at Skarp castle, but some of the lettering has crumbled away. There are two anagrams of the complete inscription to help you piece together what remains. Have you found these yet?
66. Unscrew the end with the screwdriver.
67. So don't pick it up!
68. They do: but only when your condition falls below 256.
69. At some stage tie the rope at the top of the vertical shaft in the Valley. When you get the harp, sail into the Dogshead tunnel and tie the lower end of the rope to it. When you next visit the Valley, pull up the harp.
70. He hates loud noises.
71. You are given sufficient warning of these hazards to avoid them if you are alert.
72. What does a patch of disturbed soil suggest, and what can you do about it?
73. The hermit was referring to a place quite close to where he lives.
74. Rub the crystal. The secret combination will then be revealed.
75. Make adequate preparations before taking the harp.
76. Words alone unlock the secrets of the dark. What magic words have you seen recently?
77. Entirely your own fault! It's dangerous to double-cross a witch!
78. There are 12 wearable objects, most of them treasures and some of the others (such as the sword and mail) quite valuable. (Yes, you can wear the sword, provided you are wearing the belt.) The objects which must be carried rather than worn number 14. All of these (except the essential bag) have a high points value. Objects such as the lamp which are neither valuable nor wearable should now be discarded.
79. Pull the lever on the copper tube, and do it as soon as they appear.
80. There is a certain missile which will kill him.
81. Turn off the lamp, then fill it.
82. Wear the iron circlet.
83. Tie the string to the black stone (which is a piece of magnetite), then lower the stone down the wall.
84. Don't walk around more than you can help with Vork's crown and cup. Use the magic carpet to fly them to the Gate.
85. You don't actually need every single object on sale, but you can buy them all if you wish. There is enough money to do so, but it won't leave you anything to soften up the card-players.
86. Blow the horn loudly.
87. How do you free a rusty wheel?
88. You need the tinder box to light it with.
89. Put out the fire. You need water. Lots of it.
90. It has a slotted end.
91. There are several ways of escape. If you leave your boat at the beach on Pykon Bay then acquire the means to deal with the serpent and the griffin before taking the harp, you will have enough time to be safely at sea when the climax oof the eruption occurs. Experienced players will find other (magical) ways of escape which are faster and less error-prone.
92. You can fly out of the Valley on the magic carpet, taking the harp with you.
93. Make your other purchases first, then visit the inn.
94. Oil it with some of the lamp oil from the flask.
95. Drop objects and map the mountain passes. Be prepared to save and continue quite a few games before you find all the moves which lead to precipices.
96. Only magic helps here. What do you have that you could wave, rub or manipulate in some other way?
97. Like the famous grimoire of Albertus Magnus, once you have it you can't get rid of it. You can read it without picking it up. (And it gives more than one message.)
98. Try to make them more friendly. You're in a tavern, remember.
99. Drop the carpet, stand on it and command it to fly to a named place.
100. Don't sail directly away from the coast. but if you do get lost, either wave the wooden rod or ring the bell.
101. Read the descriptions of your surroundings with great care and sail parallel to the coast.
102. So take very little in there with you.
103. Turn it off when you're not in the dark. You can also refill it from the oil flask.
104. Gate, Kuklos, Skarp, Vorkness, Thwil, Pykon, Acris. Omitting the name is risky!

Loading

CHAIN"" (RETURN)

Should you decide to "save" a game with the intention of returning to it later, you can type, from within the game itself:

SAVE (RETURN)

You may save a game as many times as you wish, but since it is always saved as a file called "AD", you will need to keep a note of which recording is which.

When you want to start a game from a saved position, first load the main program as usual. In response to the prompt type the command CONTINUE (RETURN)