Sorcerer of Claymorgue Castle Part One This is one of the trickier games from Adventure International. Several of the problems in the game have more than one solution, but in each case, there is only one right way to solve the puzzle. Also, some of the events have a random nature to them, and you'll be warned about them as they happen. As with all games, it's best to save every now and then, in case you make a mis-step along the way. The object is fairly simple: you're supposed to explore a (somewhat) deserted castle and its environs, and find 13 magic stars. You have some magic spells to help you, and you will come across others as you progress through the game. Most of the spells are necessary, however this walkthrough makes using two of them optional. More about that later, let's get started! You begin in a field in front of a castle with a raised drawbridge. You'll be going inside soon enough; right now, it's time to collect your first stars. Just dig where you're standing, and you'll find the first one. Note that the game will not always tell you what you've found; sometimes all it says is "got something". In this case, the "something" is a star. Now go West into the Enchanted Forest. No matter which way you go from here, except East, you'll always be in the Forest. That's not important, since you can do everything you need right where you are. At the moment, you're about to get on Smokey the Bear's hit list, by burning down a tree. Cast your fire spell at a tree, and it will be come a pile of ashes. Look at the ashes, and you'll get another "something", your second star. With that in hand, go East to the field again, and then go into the moat. Leave sleeping moat monsters lie, hold your breath, and swim down twice. A soggy towel is floating around here; get that, and swim once to the East. Aha! You're in a pool of dirty water, facing a cabinet. Breathe again, and open the cabinet, to obtain yet another mysterious "something", this time the Bliss spell. Ok, everybody out of the pool! Now you're in a kitchen with a crate standing on the floor. Grab the crate, and go South to the Courtyard. Here you'll see a pretty Magic Fountain (more about that later), along with some fire bricks and another spell, Permeability. Drop your stars and the Wicked Queen's spell here. The Queen's spell is one of the optional spells, and you don't really need it (when you have the broken glass from the chandelier, casting the Queen's spell forms the glass into a magic mirror). Walk South into the Plain Room. There is nothing more suspicious in an adventure game than a completely empty room, so of course there must be more here than meets the eye. Pull on the West wall. Sonuvagun! The wall moved and now you're in another room, with the Methuselah and Unravel spells. Take those and go East in to the Plain Room, then push on the East wall. Aha! That one moved too, and now you're in the Dusty Room. You'll be coming back this way again, but for now, all you need to do is cast the (Open Sesame) Seed spell on the door. This is to save you some time later on when you return here. Now that the door is open, go back the way you came to the Courtyard. Drop off the Methuselah spell here, and go East to the ballroom. Isn't that a pretty chandelier? I wouldn't be surprised if something was hidden there, not to mention higher up in the loft you can't reach. But, there are ways around that! Cast the Unravel spell on the rope, then get out fast! Sometimes the rope comes apart right away, and sometimes it takes a few moves (one of the random events). Either way, you don't want to stay around for the big crash, and besides, you have other things to do! Sorcerer of Claymorgue Castle Part Two Leave the Ballroom, and go back to the Plain Room. This time, push the South wall, and you're at the top of the condemned stairs. Pick up the star, then go down. Rats!! Nasty-looking, too. Fortunately, there's way of dealing with them. Cast the Lycanthrope spell, and you will turn into a ferret. The rats will scurry away into a hole. Now it's your turn: go into the hole as well. You're under the stairs, and there's another star. Grab that, and go back through the hole again (don't waste time, or you won't be able to get back out when you resume human form). Now walk up (important to say "walk" here!) the stairs and back to the Courtyard. Drop off the stars, then go West. Here you're at the raised drawbridge. Pull the lever, and the bridge will lower over the moat. The lever will also break off in your hand. That's nothing to worry about. You can drop the wood, because there's no use for it in the game, and then go out onto the drawbridge. Now comes the fun part. From now, until the time you come down from the loft in the ballroom, your movements *must* be exact. The Bliss spell, which you are about to use, will last long enough to get everything done, so long as you don't waste time. You may want to save the game at this point, in case you don't manage it all the first time through. Ok, into the moat! Once again, hold your breath, and swim down. Keep swimming down until you reach the bottom. Look at the bottom, and, sure enough, you pick up a "something" (another star). Of course, by now you're just about out of air, so cast the Bliss spell, and you will be propelled right out of the moat, into the field again! Whew! Take a deep breath, then go back over the drawbridge into the castle. From there, go straight to the Plain Room, push the East wall, and go through the open stone door. Then it's down the stairs to the lava stream. Remember that soggy towel? Well, here's where we get it all nice and dry. First, wring the towel. Then, go into the lava stream (you're protected by the Bliss spell), and drop the towel there, and after that head South, into the grotto. Take the star and the Dizzy Dean spell, then go North to the lava. Pick up the now-dry towel, and continue North to the bottom of the stairs. Head up the stairs, through the Dusty and Plain rooms, into the Courtyard, and back into the Ballroom. By now, the chandelier has fallen, but it's still pretty much in one piece. Climb the chandelier. Be careful not to cut yourself on the broken glass, and ignore the star for now. Cast the Light spell, and the chandelier will rise straight up. How about that? Now you're high enough to get to the loft. Of course, as soon as you're in the loft, the chandelier will fall, but don't worry about it. Get the potion, and now throw the crate. Crash! Must be a long way down. Speaking of down, the only way to get there is to jump, so do that little thing. Whoosh! Good thing the Bliss spell is still working!! Now you can get the star from the chandelier, and then climb onto the crate. Aha! The fall from the loft broke the crate, and now there's a hole in it. Go into the hole, and take the piece of metal that's there. What could it be? As a matter of fact, it happens to be a can opener, which you'll be needing pretty soon, so go back out the hole and jump off the crate. Sorcerer of Claymorgue Castle Part Three Now, it's back to the Courtyard again. Drop off your stars, and return yet again (talk about deja vu!) to the Plain Room. This time, you're about to check out the floor, but you need a little something first, so go into the Dusty Room, and get some dust, then return to the Plain Room. Take a swig of the potion (it makes you invisible), then push on the floor. Oops! You just fell into a dragon's lair! Good thing he can't see you! Grab the star, then look at the dragon. Sure enough, you get another "something" (a star, what else?). Time is growing short, though, because the potion won't last forever. Throw the dust, and the dragon will give a mighty sneeze, moving away from a hole in the wall. Go through the hole, and you'll be in another room, where you'll see a star and the Firefly spell. The Firefly spell is the other otpional spell; take it or not as you please, just make sure you get the star. And then it's through the hole and up again to the Plain Room, and out to the Courtyard once again. Take the firebricks, and look up at the battlements. By gosh, there's a tin can up there! However, I doubt that you have what it takes to make an accurate throw with the bricks. So, now's the time to cast the Dizzy spell. And here is another of those random events. You have to throw the bricks at the can to knock it down, but you don't always manage it the first time. If you miss, just go out to the drawbridge, and you'll find the bricks. Pick them up, and try from where you are to knock it down again. Sooner or later, (hopefully sooner), you'll get the can. Open it with the piece of metal, look inside, and, yes friends, pick up a "something"(bet I don't have to tell you it's a star). Drop the metal and the can, and make your way back to the Courtyard. All right, you are getting near the end now, and it's time to start storing away some of those stars (no littering allowed in castles!). Drop everything you may be holding except the stars and the Yoho spell. Get the Permea spell, and as many more stars as you can carry. You ought to be able to hold eight stars, plus the Yoho and Permea spells. Now, leave the castle over the drawbridge, and go into the Enchanted Forest. If you took the Firefly spell, now's the time to cast it (you'll glow like a firefly, thus providing light). Cast the Permea spell, and you'll pass through the tree into an opening inside it. Written on the wall is the note: "Drop stars here". So, drop all the stars you have, then cast Yoho. It's the only spell that works twice, and it a very odd way. The first time, it takes you from wherever you are, and leaves you in front of the castle. The second time you use it, it takes you back to the place where you first used it. Which means, the next time you use Yoho, it will take you back inside the tree. Whew! Ok, now it's time for the hard part. Back to the Courtyard, and pick up all the remaining stars, as well as the towel and the Methuselah spell. Here is another good place to save the game, since what follows also has a random nature. Now, you've probably been wondering about that fountain. There's a star in there, all right. However, that fountain ain't called "Magic" for nothing! In fact, it's a Fountain of Youth, and as soon as you step into it, you start growing younger! And younger, and younger until there's no more of you to speak of. Good thing for you that you have the Methuselah spell. All right, lets get this over with! Go into the Fountain, take the star, and climb the centerpiece. When you get to the top, dry yourself off, and cast the Methuselah spell. Don't waste any moves here, or it will be too late. Now, go down the dark shaft, into the dungeon. There is a star here (whether you can see it or not); take that, and cast Yoho. Now you're back in the tree. Drop all the rest of the stars, and say "score". Ta-da!!! You did it!! (Ok, so you had a little help, you still deserve congratulations for getting through this one!).   Ta-da!!!