Evil Reigns and Evil Shall
Untill the Hero, pure of Heart,
With Charmed Stone
and Bold Sword Arm
doth vanquish horrors bane.

A long time ago in the ancient land of Lamhar, a cosmic path was created which joined Earth to the stars. Down this path there came Methzat, a goddess of evil. With her extreme beauty, she won over the hearts of men and in less than a decade she united all the tribes of humans in Lamhar into one fighting force. Her domination of Lamhar would have been complete but for the armies of the elfin Lord Fendhal, who defied her; so she sent men to make war against the elves. Their armies were well matched but the elves knew the secret magic of the ancient one who visited Earth long before the birth of the first man. Methzar was defeated and she fled to the Northern wastes. With Methzar gone the spell she held over men dissipated and peace prevailed over the land.

Methzar grew bitter and she vowed that she would not return to the stars until she had her revenge on the elfin people. She joined forces with the Snow Queen and her army of ice giants, and an alliance of evil was formed. Into this alliance came Magra, the witch of the Black mountains, whose cannibalistic nature and uglyness made her the most feared witch in all the lands. Together they planned their strategy and over two years formed an army of the most grotesque creatures ever to walk the earth.

First they attacked the home of the Dwarf King Rindell, an extinct volcano in the heart of Lamhar. This they made into a fortress guarded by evil monsters and from this volcano, Methzar launched her attack on Fendhal's people. The volcano was surrounded by the forest of Fenwood. It was a place held sacred by all the elves. Here grew the Earth's first botn; mother of all the trees of all the lands of the world. On its branches grew the seeds of life. Methzar's army laid waste the forest and using her unearthly powers she destroyed the first tree. It seemed that all hope had vanished for the creatures of the Earth. The seeds of the first born must always remain connected to the soil or disease will lay barren all the Earth. Unknown to Methzar her plan failed for the princess Edora rescued some of the seeds and fled into the wilderness. It was no use planting the seeds until Methzar was defeated so the princess placed the seeds into a small cask and hid them in a cleft in the volcanic rocks. She then made for the false sanctuary of King Rindell's volcanic home. The princess was captured and taken with other prisoners into what is now known to elves and men as the Volcanic Dungeon. The evil trio placed the princess into a timeless sleep and sealed her in a crystal coffin. With their Royal hostage they hoped to lure Fendhal to his death. However, time was not on their side. They posed a threat to all the sons and daughters of the Earth, to all the free creatures of the sea and sky. Because of this, the World witnessed the greatest alliance in its history. Eagles in their tousands, Lions and Tigers, Unicorns and Elephants, all the free creatures of the Earth rallied round Fendhal for the decisive battle. The World was united against evil. Kings from many lands sailed ships into battle and the wise White Dragon of the West came out of solitude to lead their attack.

The armies of evil were also massive and powerful. A legion of demons, each astride a winged fire-breathing horse, led their attack. Behind them marched an army of corpses that outnumbered the living by three to one. They were followed by Trolls and Goblins and foul creatures that shy from the sun and haunt the night. It is said that the battle lasted three days and three nights, and on the morning after the third night Lord Fendhall held Methzar's head high upon his spear and showed her to his triumphant army, before throwing her head back into the cosmic gate.

The battle was won but evil had struck a painful blow. Valleys were created and destroyed. Lands sunk forever beneath the sea. Kingdoms were lost and races wiped out. Gone forever were the beautiful Unicorns and the mischievous but peace-loving centaurs. Slain were great Kings of men and elves. From his stand on mount Arnes the great White Dragon fell in a blast of Hell fire but he took with him one thousand legions of Hell. From his home beneath the sea Neptune rose and confronted the Snow Queen. He robbed her of her beauty and then cast her into the sea to become a prisoner forever in his underwater palace. Magra escaped, with some of her army, back into the Volcanic Dungeon. It proved impossible for an army to force her out. Without the seeds of life disease and death slowly spread across the face of the World. Many heroes have tried to rescue the princess Edora from the dungeon but none have returned. Lord Fendhal is near to death from a wound he received during the battle. You are his last hope of ever seeing the princess Edora again and of knowing the curse is lifted from the land.

When the game begins you will find yourself in the top left cavern; East of the secret tunnel. You have a sword (see treasures) and a magic ring (see ring). You must attempt to free the Elfin princess, imprisoned in a crystal coffin deep within the dungeon, and then escape with her back through the secret tunnel.

You have been given this map by the dwarf race that excavated the dungeon. Use it to keep careful track of your movements. It could save your life. Each move you make will place you in a cavern or at a tunnel junction. If you accidentally bump into a wall you will not move from your last position.

These are not marked on the map but their location remains the same each game. When you come across a pit you may find it useful to mark its location on the map yourself. Falling into a pit will not kill you if your strength is high. You use one hundred units of strength climbing out of the pit.

All the waterholes are marked on the map. When you reach a cave with water and no creatures, your water count will rise back up to 100. If the cave is inhabited by one of the creatures you will have to fight and win to gain the water.

All fiery caverns are marked on the map. These are no go areas. If you stray into a fiery cavern it means instant death.

This was given to you by the Elfin Lord Fendhal, to help you on your question. The elfin ring has magical properties. For you it has two functions. First, it is this ring that enables you to absorb strength from your dead foes. Secondly, the gem imbedded in it is a stone from the Black Mountains. This stone measures the ebbs and flows of the cosmic force that gives the evil witch her power. When the cosmic forces are weak the stone is invisible. When the witch is strong the stone turns black. The ring is represented graphically on the status chart on the top left of your screen. Use its changing shades to plan your attack on the witch.

This takes the form of enchanted weapons and defences. You can only carry a certain amount of treasures at any one time. Experience will show you which weapons/defences are most useful. The computer keeps account of your treasures and displays them in the status chart as code letters. (See Single Key Entry.) If the computer informs you that a treasure is damaged you cannot use it again. It will then be omitted from your list. Certain treasures can only be used once and these are: Hydra's Teeth Forceshield Magic Potion (turns you invisible) Dragon's Tear Flying Potion Using a treasure you no longer own for attack will waste a move. Using a treasure you no longer own for defence will prove fatal. The treasures are carried through the dungeon by mischievious spirits who drop them in the tunnels and caverns where you can pick them up.

There is no need to press ENTER during the playing of this game, nor are there any words to type out. The treasures have been given a code letter and to use a particular treasure just press the key representing its letter. For example: Sword has "S" as its code letter. To use the sword you would press S on the computer keyboard. Other instructions you will use are:

Y/N - Yes/No
N/S/E/W - North/South/East/West

A list of treasure code letters will be found beneath your map.

There are many ways you can be killed in Volcanic Dungeon. You may stray into a fiery cavern, die in battle with one of the dungeon's many monsters, die of exhaustion or die of thirst. If you are killed, the computer will ask you to reload again. This is only necessary if a bridge has collapsed. If not, or you don't mind bridges being down at the beginning of the game, then type in GOTO 1 and then press ENTER. The computer will reset the dungeon and a new game will now begin without the trouble of reloading.

Alternatively, restart the game using the RUN command.

1. If you enter a cave or tunnel occupied by a monster, do not try and leave by the far exit. Escape back the way you came or by one of the side exits. Failure to do so might result in death.
2. Make sure you have a good number of strength units available before releasing the princess. The act of opening the crystal coffin will result in a dramatic loss in strength.
3. When you have released the princess from the coffin your water supply will decrease twice as quickly as before.
4. Clip your map to a board and overlay it with a sheet of tracing paper. Now you will be able to mark your position without spoiling your map.

CLOAD (ENTER)
RUN (ENTER)

1. The competition is open to all players of VOLCANIC DUNGEON, with the exception of the following:
   
   
   1. All employees of Carnell Software and their relatives.
   2. All business associates of Carnell Software and their relatives. In addition Carnell Software reserve the right to disqualify any entry deemed unfit, illegal or improper and no correspondence shall be entered into regarding such disqualification.
2. Entries must be on the competition form supplied, except where such questions may require lengthy answers. In such cases answers may be accepted on a separate sheet.
   
   Guidance Note: All the questions should be attempted. However, do not be put off it this proves too difficult. Places in the final are awarded by a points system and points are gained for each correct answer.
3. Ten finalists will be selected to play in the championship final at Earls Court Computer Fair, June 1983. Places will be awarded to the ten highest-scoring competition forms (See above). In the event of a tie, places shall be selected on the wittiest answer to question 17, "Assuming the princess had a sense of humour, what do you think she may say upon being awakened from her eternal sleep?"
   
   The judge's decision on this shall be final. In addition to the finalists, Carnell Software reserves the right to call upon "reserve finalists" in the event of an official finalist being unable to attend.
4. All finalists shall be available to compete at the given time and date, to be announced, the venue of which will be Earls Court, London. Finalists shall be expected to make their own way to this venue. In the event of a finalist being late for the event, they shall be disqualified from entry.
   
   Guidance: Unless otherwise notified, the final shall take place on Saturday, June 17th 1983 and finalists should be ready at least one hour before the start.
5. The winner shall be the person who rescues the princess first at the "Championship" and so proves to be the best VOLCANIC DUNGEON player.
   
   Guidance: The championship shall be played on Spectrum computers.
6. The Prize consists of a "two centre" holiday in Florida, USA as advertised in the current Wings holiday brochure and is being supplied by Wings holidays Ltd, Broxbourne, Herts.
   
   The prize is not exchangeable and is subject to the Standard terms and conditions as outlined by Wings Holidays.
7. Carnell Software cannot be held responsible for any delays and cancellations, nor can they be considered responsible for complaints directly concerning the holiday.
8. The winner undertakes to abide by any terms and conditions outlined by Wings holidays and accept a holiday booking subject to availability, within one year of the competition. Furthermore, it will be fully understood that the winner shall be personally responsible to ensure that he/she has all relevant travel documents, passports and visas as required.
9. In the event of the winner being under the age of eighteen years of age, a responsible adult will be required to accompany the winner on the holiday.
10. The value of the prize shall not exceed the cost of two adult return trips to Florida, Orlando with accommodation as described.
11. Full details of the holiday are available upon request.
12. The Judge's decision is final and no correspondence shall be entered into.

1. Name of the King of the Dwarfs
2. Name the Princess imprisoned in the Crystal Coffin
3. Name a Treasure/Weapon, not made of silver, that will destroy a Werewolf
4. Write down the names of four treasures that can only be obtained by killing a Monster
5. How would you defend yourself against a Gorgon?
6. How would you kill the Hydra?
7. How would you defend yourself against a cave filled with snakes?
   
   1 - Torch
   2 - Silver Staff
   3 - Sword
   4 - Stake
   5 - Saintly Staff
   6 - Spear
8. Listed above are six Treasure/Weapons. Assuming you could only use Each Treasure Once which of the above Treasures would you use against the following Monsters:
   
   1 - Demon
   2 - Vampire
   3 - Dragon
   4 - Statue
   5 - Skeleton
   6 - Scorpions
9. Write down, in detail, how you rescued the Princess from the Crystal Coffin
10. You move south into a cave with four exits: North, South, East and West. The cave is filled with snakes. You have no treasures so you do not fight. In which directions could you move to leave the cavern?
11. If your Treasure list reads: S H J B L V
    1. Which Treasure could you use to destroy Zombies?
    2. Which Treasure would defend you against Zombies?
12. Why is it not possible for your Treasure list to read: ESHOUGIMB?
13. Why is it not possible for your Treasure list to read: MFLWSFDJBGPHXZRC?
14. If your Treasure list reads: THRFELADCH, which Treasure could you not drop and why?
15. If your Treasure list reads: XGPHBCSJWZ, which Treasure could you not drop and why?
16. What is your fastest (average) time to complete the adventure?
17. Assuming the Princess had a sense of humour, what do you think she may say upon being awakened from her eternal sleep?
18. Please give your Age, Name and Address.
19. Signature of Parent or Guardian if under 18 years.

CLOAD (ENTER)
RUN (ENTER)