CAWDOR/HINTS.DOC

You've trudged all over Cawdor until your boots are worn thin and
your modem is overheated.  And still you're stumped by the fiendishly
clever, diabolically intricate, and self-promoting puzzles I wrote for
this game.  Have no fear, for here in your hands is a walk-through to
solve the game as quickly as possible.

This walk-through is written room by room, to allow you to look up the
solution you need without any further help.  But be warned: this is a
thorough walk-through, and careless reading may eliminate some of
the fun of Cawdor.

CHARACTER GENERATION:

So you've just created your character.  A word of advice.  At the low
levels of the dungeons, the most valuable statistics are initiative
(do it to them before they do it to you) and strength (do it to them
harder than they do it to you).  For spellcasters (I know everyone in
Cawdor gets spells sooner or later, but for this walkthrough I mean
Thieves, Clerics, and Wizards) initiative should be raised quickly.
For fighters (everybody else) strength is probably best.

What guild should you play?  That is answered elsewhere.  What species
should you play?  That, too, is answered elsewhere.  But in general
ask yourself the question:  what good is a strong Wizard?  At higher
levels your troll Wizard might be the strongest Wizard on the block
but wish she was a tad quicker, like a gremlin.  However, even a
troll Wizard will start with extra strength at low levels, keeping
her valuable even when she runs out of mana.  I personally prefer to
play a character who will be more valuable at high level, and hope I
survive long enough to enjoy those benefits.  Sometimes I do.

Finally, what do you do when you go up levels?  I recommend not
spending all your points at once, especially your spell points.  Woe
befalls the character who puts too many spell levels into a high cost
spell and suddenly learns that he cannot cast even one of them at his
current level of mana!  Take a little longer to increase your spells
one or two points at a time, enter the dungeon, and check the casting
costs.  Also, you never can tell when you might suddenly learn a
valuable new spell or skill and wish you had more points left from
the last level.  Think of character improvement as a game within a
game.

NOTE TO SCOTT/GANO: I can include a casting cost/level table here and
slightly rewrite the above paragraph if you think it is valuable.

SHOPPING:

Items in Cawdor are essential to win the game.  But keep in mind that
some bulky armor may slow you down.  A Wizard without mana is a Wizard
without spells.  So always make sure that you have plenty of mana
recharging and healing potions available.  On the other hand, some
items are too expensive for you.  It does no good to spend big bucks
for a potion that will restore 800 hit points when 52 points of damage
will kill you.

I recommend buying the best shield and helmet you can afford as soon
as possible, regardless of the character class.  The lower level
battles have less magic and they can provide good protection.  Next,
I buy better weapons and armor.  But my rule of thumb is: if I can
adjust my money to upgrade two items instead of one, then I do so.
When your character learns combat skills, then buy an item that will
work with that skill.

Those of you with a streak of major generalship about you (solving
problems quadratical) will get the sales price on the items you
intend to replacing before checking the purchase price on what you
can afford.  Then sell what you must sell before buying.  And stock
up on spare potions with any excess change.  The truly avaricious
will pick up all loose booty in the Ruins because they can all be
sold at Scrapiron Sam's.

Cawdor is a friendly game and the truly important magic items will
neither be sellable nor tradeable.  And as your character gains
levels you will learn that the best equipment is found by clashes
at arms, not caches of cash.  Although there are one or two items
at Scrapiron's that are worth their weight in gold.

NOTE TO SCOTT/GANO: I can include an item cost list here if you
think it is valuable.


THE FOYER OF CAWDOR:

The first thing you should do every time you enter the Foyer is
look at your character.  Did you buy a new bow?  It won't do you a
lot of good sitting in your backpack!  So equip your character.

There are three main things to do in the Foyer.  First of all, around
the edges of the main paths you can find some of the wimpiest
critters ever to bother a Barbarian.  But even those battles may
prove too dangerous for a low level character who forgot to put on
her shield and helmet.  Secondly, repeated entrance into the Runed
Fountain will cause the Rune MerWizard who lives there to teach your
character the Rune Reading skill.  Once you've learned that skill,
continued entrances into the fountain will likely kill your
character.  Finally, the Foyer serves as a place to form parties and
go exploring, at least on this level.

Once you have the Foyer fully mapped you will know the quick paths
to the other rooms without being bothered by the small diseased
creatures that inhabit the Foyer.  Once you have learned the Shield
spell you will be able to climb the stairs on the south wall quite
near the main entrance to explore the higher, more difficult levels
of Cawdor.

There are two rooms that are "safe" to visit first: The Stables and
The Runed Room.  The Stables are accessed from the eastern side of
the south wall.  The Runed Room is through the hallway on the
southern side of the east wall.  Then there are the six "guild"
rooms, once for each Cawdor guild.  I recommend you enter your
guild room first, because the rewards for each guild are highest
in their native guild room.  But it's always safer to be in a
party, even if you have to go into your guild room later.  There's
nothing like having a nice well-armored hunk to hide behind!

Throughout this manual I will refer to battles.  These will be "set"
battles, battles that will recur every time you enter that room.
They occur at good spots for lairs.  Every set battle in Cawdor is
associated with a text message saying something about the battle, so
it will be easy to distinguish a set battle from a wandering monster.

THE STABLES OF CAWDOR:

There are more relatively small mildly diseased creatures in the
stables.  No, I don't mean your characters!  However, of greatest
value is the smith, Braddock.  If you walk through the wall (it's a
hidden swiveling door) into his smithy area, collect the right tools,
and also have the right raw materials, he will make you anything.

What good is anything?  Well, do you want to win the game?

This is a major spoiler: you have been warned.  If you take the saw
upstairs to the Conservatory (and that's quite a way up), and use the
saw on the nastiest most intoxicating plants in the Conservatory, you
will obtain a shrubbery.  Take the shrubbery and the carding brush to
Braddock and he will give you rope!  Wander around until you have
three horseshoes and the tongs.  Take three horseshoes, tongs, and
rope to Braddock and he'll make you a grappling hook.  Take the
grappling hook and a file to Braddock and he'll give you a sharp
grappling hook.  What good is a sharp grappling hook?  Wait until you
get into the Nasty Little Maze.  You will find out.

There are some minor battles in some of the stalls in the Stables,
but except for a few experience points they are not critical.

THE RUNED ROOM:

Galatea has left you a series of messages obscured from her sisters
in the Runed Room.  Use of the Rune Reading skill will give you at
least the first level of decryption on these messages.

These messages are all in quatrain form, four lines to a verse.  And
each message begins with a letter and a colon (A:) to better assist
you in putting them together.

That doesn't sound like much fun, does it?  You just have to get
enough experience, boost your Rune Reading skill, and you'll be
able to decipher everything!  Well, Cawdor is a value added game.
Besides, these messages are very secret indeed, kept thoroughly hidden
from Cassandra and Deirdre.  So they are scrambled as well as
hidden through runes.  The easiest verses are identified by letters
near the beginning of the alphabet.  They may have each word
an anagram of what they should be.  The harder verses make anagrams of
each line, with spacing and word length visible.  Still harder
verses may make an anagram of the entire verse.  And the hardest
verses of all require you to complete a substitution cipher (that's
Rune Reading without the skill) and unscramble them!

Does this sound like too much work?  Take heart, for these verses
are just hints.  They are not required to complete the game, although
they may save you some time.  And you can always use Alcuin's Cap to
decipher the runes.  But be careful: Alcuin's Cap has only so many
charges before it goes away!

NOTE TO SCOTT/GANO: I can include a complete translation here or
at the end of the manual.

At the end of the Runed Room, on the southern part of the the east
wall, you will find locked doors.  They will never open for you until
you defeat Macbeth's ghost in The Aerie.  That will scare the sisters
and they will flee through those doors, down the stairs, and into the
Bestiary.  If you haven't defeated Macbeth, ignore those doors.

The inhabitants of the Runed Room are somewhat tougher than those
in the Foyer or Stables.  Some of them are characters and may even
use spells against you.  The Runed Room is a good place to gain some
experience as well as knowledge.  You will probably want to be at
least sixth level before tackling the rest of the first floor.

THE GUILD ROOMS:

In all the guild rooms when you complete the last of the six
guild rooms (usually by meeting Galatea) you will be taught the
Shield spell, which is essential to gain the higher levels.

There is no preferred order to the first floor guild rooms.
However, the rewards for each character are generally highest
in that character's guild's room, so there is some small
benefit from completing that room first.

THE SKULKATORIUM:

This room is designed for Thieves.  If you don't have a Thief, or
the items that emulate thievish abilities (crystal ball, skeleton
key ring) then you will not be able to finish this room.  In fact,
if you don't have a Thief, or someone who has been here already,
you won't even be able to enter this room!

In a nutshell, there are many locked doors here, many secret doors
here, and a few locked secret doors.  If you assiduously practise
your command of these skills, you will eventually be able to map the
entire rooms and meet Galatea.  She rewards Thieves with the Reverie
skill.  Non-Thieves receive a Binding Talisman.  Talismans will help
your combat abilities if you put them outside your character's feet.
The Binding Talisman also has the skill of Binding, which can heal
you or a comrade during combat.

There are hints to be had by encountering the inhabitants of the
Skulkatorium.  Of course, those same hints, more plainly spoken, can
be found in this manual.  There is also the Thievish Hall of Fame.
Some people find it amusing.  There is also one of the many dragon
jokes to be heard.  Remember the old adage: laugh, and the wyrm
laughs with you.  Cry, and you're toast.

THE TROPHY ROOM:

This is the room for Rangers.  You complete it by finding and
defeating several monsters in one fell swoop.  In order to do that,
your Ranger must use the Tracking skill to surprise many of the foes
before they run away.  Again, items such as the Hawk's Eye can be
purchased to compensate for a shortage of Rangers.

There are six main tracking areas.  They are in the bottom right
corner, the middle of the bottom wall, the southern part of the
western wall heading diagonally northeast, the top left corner, the
bottom of the middle room on the top, and the top left corner of the
large room in the middle of the Trophy Room.  Defeat all six battles
and enter the horseshoe shaped area in the center room and Galatea
will reward you.  Rangers receive the Binding skill.  Everyone else
receives a Trance Talisman.  That Talisman can be used to restore
mana or to improve your skills by equipping it outside your feet.

Another dragon joke can be heard here.  At least you won't be caught
unawares.

THE THAUMATURGIUM:

The is the guild room for Wizards.  Wizards can learn the Reverie
skill here.  Wizards will learn the Detect skill here.  And everyone
can learn the Resist Spell here.  Everyone else can pick up a good
chunk of cash.  The biggest chunk of cash is the large letter of
credit.  If you earn it once, you had best leave the room immediately
to cash it in, or that darned dragon may lift it from you.

How do you solve this room?  Simply solve the old Wizard's riddle
(widow's shins) and going widdershins (counterclockwise) at every
opportunity.  That means every opportunity, including after the
teleports.  When you get close to retracing your steps, use the
newly earned Detect skill, or an item such as the Crystal Ball, to
find the doors to complete the room.  If you walk from beginning
to end always choosing a counterclockwise direction, and then walk
all the way out again, you will receive all your rewards.  Walking
out isn't so hard, since a convenient door to the north provides
a major shortcut.  Of course, the denizens of the Thaumaturgium
may have a comment or two about your passage....

THE CHIVALROUS ROOM

This is the room for Knights, and as you might expect, it is through
passage of arms that you must complete this room.  Knights who enter
here will be taught the Deflect Magic skill.  Anyone who completes
this room will be taught the Teleport spell.

There are numerous battles here.  They can be fought in any order,
except that the battle in the room in the bottom right corner, must
be fought last in order to receive the greatest rewards.  And you
will have an easier time of it in that room if you use a lockpick or
skeleton keyring to open the door quietly.  This door in can be
opened by any character using any lockpick.

There is some gold to be found, if you are good at detecting hidden
things, in the commander's bath room.  That's the smallish room near
the top, second from the left.  Some people will be amused by the
messages if they try to take a bath in the room in the upper right.
There's no accounting for taste.

SANCTUM SANCTORUM

This is the room for Clerics.  And be warned: unless you have a Cleric
with you, along with the Dissipate spell that works so well against
undead, this room will be difficult indeed to survive.

Clerics in this room will be taught the Hail spell.  Clerics who
complete this room and walk out will learn the Binding skill.  Anyone
who completes this room and meets Galatea will be taught the Heal
spell.  Meeting Galatea takes place in a room that runs perpendicular
from the left wall about halfway up.  The door to that room is in its
south wall, and like the chivalrous room, this door can be opened
quietly by any character using a lockpick.

The fixed battles are in the upper right corner room, in the upper
left area, in the lower right corner, in the two passages leading
east and west in the bottom half of the center section, and in the
corridor leading towards Galatea.

There are two prizes to be found here.  The gold is found in the
absolute top left corner.  The more valuable is found along the
bottom wall four squares from the left.  Using the Detect skill or
True Seeing spell there, or any item that grants those abilities,
will uncover the Gaelic Garlic.  This pungent bud is very useful
against undead, and can be helpful even to characters capable of
surviving two or three floors higher.


UNCIVILIZATION:

This is the Barbarian's room.  As you might expect, it's a silly
place, filled with noise and combats.  Barbarians who complete this
room will learn the Stamina skill when they visit Galatea in the far
upper right corner.  The battles that must be fought to earn those
rewards are along the top wall near the middle, in the center of the
huge battleground directly in front of the entrance to the
battleground, near the center but a little to the upper left, just up
from the bottom a little left of center, in the bottom right room,
and along the right wall near the top.  All characters can earn small
letters of credit (Barbarians can't count high enough for larger
letters of credit) if they meet up with Galatea.  Some of the best
magic items on the first floor can be won as booty here.  Of course,
their owners may have something to say about that!

Also here is the quest for the Doormat.  If you find the Doormat (in
the upper left corner of the room) by using the Detect or some such
skill or spell, and return it to the gnome Barbarian at the entrance,
you will have made a friend for life.  Not only will you get rewards
here, but later on he will help you once again.  However, since
you're reading these hints you don't really need his help, although
the Volley Scroll and experience points are both quite nice, really.


THE GALLERY:

This is the first of the third level (second floor) rooms.  Things
are tougher up here, and although rewards such as spells and skills
will be increasingly rare the higher you climb, Galatea begins by
giving Thieves the Archery skill, Barbarians the Martial Arts skill,
Clerics the Staff skill, Knights and Wizards the Bard skill, and
Rangers the Furtiveness skill.

The main focus of this room is to fight Fleance's ghost, which will
earn you the Crown of Crimson.  If you win, keep the Crown; you'll be
glad you did.  Unfortunately, you cannot enter Fleance's lair from
this room.  You must either proceed north into the Pantry, or west
into the Brewery. If you go west, you will eventually be able to go
south from the Pantry into Fleance's lair.  If you go north, you will
eventually be able to go east into Fleance's lair from the Brewery.
In order to enter the Pantry you must either be led by a party leader
who has already been in the Pantry, or have a Thief and a Ranger in
the party (panTRy).  In order to enter the Brewery you must either
follow a party led by someone who has already been in the Brewery, or
have two of the three acronymic guilds (Barbarian, Wizard, Ranger) in
your party.  This pattern of needing to form and reform parties will
continue for the next two flights up.

Fleance himself will be the toughest monster you have faced, so far,
and he will be even tougher if you do not move very quietly and
use an adequately high Tracking skill.  After you kill Fleance you
will receive the Crown of Crimson, which will be very useful soon.
You will also be able to climb the stairs up to the next level.

The central part of the gallery contains many messages about artwork
that some people of low birth may find amusing.


THE PANTRY:

The Pantry is filled with foodstuffs.  There are many vicious battles
here.  As in many of the rooms on the next level down, if you defeat
all seven foes in one sitting, you will earn the Crack of Doom.  The
Crack of Doom is tremendously useful, at least against Fleance, and
well worth the effort.  If you have a high enough Detect skill, or
some other magical equivalent, in the room in the upper right corner,
the wine cellar, you will be able to find a dragon flagon.  It will
be a long time before you find another, so use it wisely.

Obvious doors on the south and west walls lead back to the Gallery or
over to the Lesser Hall, respectively.  A well hidden locked and
secret door on the south wall some three squares to the west of the
obvious door will lead you into Fleance's lair.  Be ready to rumble
if you go down there!


THE LESSER HALL:

You can leave the Lesser Hall south into the Brewery or east into
the Pantry.  The Lesser Hall does not hold lesser foes, by any
means.  In the center of the major hall, on the altar, will be a
foe tougher than any on this level save Fleance himself.  There
will be piles of regenerating skeletons.  There are hidden
doors and locked doors and, oh gosh, this just ain't a fun place.

But it does work well for softening you up before fighting Fleance.

If you like combat, you'll like The Lesser Hall.  If you don't like
combat, what are you doing in Cawdor?  I originally programmed a room
where great lords and ladies paraded in a stately gavotte, where the
champagne was always chilled and the meat was never moldy.  But that
idea was struck down unanimously by our crack testing unit.

So keep your weapons ready and your potions well at hand.


THE BREWERY:

This is more my kind of place.  Here in the brewery the ales are
all real and the lagers don't wear plaid shirts (sorry).

Of course, you focused hint seeking dungeoneers want to know how to
enter Fleance's lair back in the Gallery.  Well, if you've defeated
all the foes in The Lesser Hall, or if you've wandered around and
defeated all the foes here in the Brewery, then when you go into the
top row three squares from the right, lo and behold!  You'll be able
to enter Fleance's lair to the east.

In order to defeat all the monsters that live here, you must first
learn how to enter The Raging Boar Inn, one of the pubs that can be
found inside Cawdor Keep.  I say it is a civilised dungeon that has a
choice of pubs within its walls.  But I digress.  In order to enter
the Raging Boar Inn you must first find the tracks that show you
where the secret door is.  The top leftmost vat can be entered from
the east if you track something up to it and then use an adequately
powerful Detect skill, True Seeing spell, or some item that grants
either of those two.  The entire left wall, top to bottom, conceals
the Raging Boar Inn.

The other very useful item that can be obtained in the southernmost
portion of the Inn is the Milk of Human Kindness.  Speak to the
dairy man, buy a great letter of credit, and bring it back here to
him (I know that that can be painful, dangerous, and time consuming)
and he will sell you the milk.  It is the second most powerful healing
item in the game, more powerful than any of your spells, and it will
heal everyone in the party during combat.  You can only have one at
a time, but it's worth remembering; this is, in the game designer's
humble opinion, the most cost effective item you can buy in the
game.  Of course, getting here is not easy.


THE BALLROOM:

The Ballroom is filled with a large central area for dancing, and many
private rooms, boxes, or alcoves surrounding it.

Your first time in here Galatea will reward you.  Wizards and Thieves
learn the Deflect Magic skill.  Barbarians learn the Binding skill.
Clerics learn the Deep Trance skill.  Knights and Rangers learn the
Athletics skill.  Everyone who has both learned the Rune Reading skill
and fully explored the Runed Room will be given a large experience
point reward as well.  Everyone is told about the Library, a room on
this level, and about Malcolm's Ghost, who will be slightly tougher
to defeat.  Finally, everyone who has not done so will learn the
Blast spell.

You will not be able to ascend to higher levels until you have defeated
Malcolm's Ghost, either by yourself or in a party.

To enter the Library for the first time, at least from this direction,
you must be in a party with a Barbarian and a Ranger, or be following
a party leader who has already entered the Library.  To enter the
Music Room you must have a Magic User (Wizard) and a Cleric in your
party, or be following someone who has already entered the Music Room.

There are seven main battles in the Ballroom.  If you successfully
conclude all seven without dying or being forced to leave, and then
enter the site of any of the seven a second time, Galatea can return
to you once more.  If she comes back she will heal you, give you an
experience point reward, and give you Mannanan Mac Lir's ring, which
will prove useful in the Library.

Shakespeare fans might enjoy meeting Hamlet's Father (the ghost) and
Yorick (the skeleton) in the Ballroom.


THE MUSIC ROOM:

You can leave the Music Room to the Cloak Room to the north if your
party has a Cleric and a Knight in it, or if your party leader has
already been in the Cloak Room.  You can also return to the Ballroom.

The major battle on this level is Malcolm's ghost.  He is found
behind a locked door on the upper right side of the large central
room.  If the party leader has the Crown of Crimson when you rush
through that locked door you will have a much easier time defeating
Malcolm's ghost.  If you defeat him, you will find the Orange Banner
very useful against Banquo's Ghost.

The second major battle in the Music Room is to
the north through the door that mirrors Malcolm's on the upper left
side of the large central room.  If you have an adequate Tracking
skill, and use it just through those doors, you will find that
battle much easier to survive.  If you survive that battle, in the
corner at the end of this room you can encounter Mannanan Mac Lir,
the Celtic god of the sea.  He is willing to assist you only if you
can prove your mettle by solving his riddle.  The riddle is solved
in The Library.

None of the other battles in here is critical, although they pay well
and will help you gain some good aerobic exercise, if you survive.
But if you use a high enough Detect skill on the pipe organ against
the northern wall, you will get some good news and some bad news. The
good news is you will find (once, and once only) some Succubus Pipes,
which will enable you to cast the Control spell, so long as they have
charges remaining.  The bad news is that you will be poisoned by
a spider's bite.  So it is wise to have some ability to cure poison
before digging in a spider's nest.


THE CLOAK ROOM:

The Cloak Room is the hangout for the Thieves in Cawdor, and by that
I mean the bad guys, the Thieves who are cooperating with the Wyrd
Sisters.  They know you're coming, but they don't know who you are
or what you look like (no survivors is a big help there) so you can
go through here safely.

You can leave the Cloak Room to the south to enter the Music Room if
you have already been in the Music Room or if your party contains
both a Wizard and a Cleric.  You can leave to the East to enter the
Library if your party leader has already been in the Library or if
your party contains both a Barbarian and a Ranger.

As you would expect of a thievish room, there are secret doors,
locked doors, and locked secret doors.  As you might not expect,
these doors are just a tad tougher, and you may find your wooden
lockpick inadequate to the task of getting them open.  The main
thievish hangout is in the pub, 'The Cat Dragged Inn.'  But nobody's
likely to buy any strangers any drinks there.  The back room of
the Inn is where the top Thieves are meeting.

You don't have to fight the master Thieves.  You can win the game
quite easily without fighting them, and no future puzzles depend on
anything you earn in the Cloak Room.  You can wander around and
eavesdrop on many useful hints here and there.  Since I will tell you
everything you really need to know here, you don't have to do all
that.  However, if you want to finish every quest in Cawdor, be sure
to move quietly and track frequently, because there are many ambushes
here.  If you do successfully defeat all the Thieves, and manage to
enter their well warded closet, you will earn Lugh's Spear, which is
much better than a kick in the head regardless of your guild.


THE LIBRARY:

Now don't go spreading this around, but the Library is full of books!
That's right, a whole room devoted solely to the pursuit of
knowledge.  There's never any combat (well, hardly ever) and if you
are not the studious sort you might as well return to the Ballroom to
the south or, if your party leader has already been there or if your
party contains both a Cleric and a Knight, enter the Cloak Room to
the west.

On the other hand, the information can be very useful.  Every special
property of every item in Cawdor is detailed herein, if you have
enough of a Rune Reading skill to decipher them all.  The Library
also contains a fair amount of the historical research I conducted in
preparing to write this game.

The item of greatest interest in the Library is the redemption of
Mannanan Mac Lir's ring.  His message told you to start at the place
where his message is.  This is in the second room from the top, third
room from the right.  If you deciphered the encrypted runes in the
Runed Room, then you can replace the O, C, N, and W on the plaques
over the doors with their decrypted values.

However, since this is a walkthrough, I'll tell you simply enough
that you should wind up in the upper right hand room.  In the lower
left corner of that room, if you face north or east (away from the
wall) then you will be given Mannanan's Ring if you don't have it
and have already spoken to him and have not yet received his reward.
If you have the Ring already, then you can use it.  Mannanan Mac
Lir will give you Ohthere's Dagger.  Ohthere was a great sailor,
the first man recorded to have sailed to the White Sea.  Later on,
you will be able to equip Ohthere's Dagger to survive the Dissolving
Pool, since it gives you the ability to walk on water.  He also
gives you some other items appropriate to his realm, and a lot of
experience, and disappears.

Since a sufficiently tough character can survive the Dissolving Pool
without Ohthere's Dagger, the Library is entirely optional.  But
believe me, it's a lot easier with the Dagger!


THE CHAMBERS:

Once again, Galatea rewards you.  Barbarians and Thieves are taught
the Furtiveness skill.  Wizards and Clerics are taught the Intimidate
skill.  Rangers are taught the Detect skill.  Knights are taught the
Stamina skill.  Everyone is given Ethelbald's Buckler.

The main portion of the Chambers is the Minotaur's Labyrinth, the
central area filled with bulls and secret doors.  You enter the
Labyrinth from the south west corner, going north through the
secret door.  To complete the Labyrinth from that room, keeping in
mind that many of these doors are secret, you will want to go east,
east, north, east, east, north, west, north, north, west, west,
west, south, east, east, and south.  If you complete the butchery
(sorry) then Galatea will teach you the Death Darts spell.

There are lots of other battles here.  If you complete them all,
which should be more difficult and time consuming than any other
room's battles, and if you do not have Ohthere's Dagger, then
Galatea will give you Ohthere's Dagger.  However, you already earned
it back in the Library, didn't you?

From the Chambers a party that contains a Cleric, Ranger, and Thief
can go north into the Conservatory, or a party that contains a
Knight, Cleric, and Thief can go west into the Kitchen.


THE KITCHEN:

Ah, the pleasant memories of your childhood's kitchen.  The aromas
of baking cookies and the pleasures of licking the bowls.  It was
the place where you got hot cocoa on cold winter days and a cold
popsicle on hot summer days.

Nobody has pleasant memories of Cawdor's Kitchen.

The freezer in the bottom right corner can kill you.  The fires from
the ovens can kill you.  And the dishwasher, well, let's just say
that Banquo was always the smartest general in Macbeth, and he knew a
last line of defense as soon as he saw it.

The most critical quest in the Kitchen is passage through the
Dissolving Pool in the upper left corner.  If you have Ohthere's
Dagger equipped (not merely possessed) you will walk atop the waters
of the pool.  If you don't, each step will do you 2,000 points of
damage.  Sure, a rough tough hero like you can survive that,
especially since you have potions and know the Heal spell.  However,
the last couple of steps in the pool are so nasty that they crack all
your potion bottles.  So the best thing to do is to have Ohthere's
Dagger in your hand.  The next best thing is to have a wizard or
cleric with a high level heal spell and lots of mana potions holding
Ohthere's Dagger, so at least you'll be healed when you finally
encounter Banquo in the Cabinet.  And there's no way to encounter
Banquo's Ghost without going through the Dissolving Pool.

By the way, it may be a good idea after you are in the last square of
the Dissolving Pool to switch your equipped weapon from Ohthere's
Dagger to something a little more useful against Banquo's Ghost.  The
next step you take will be into battle.

In the cupboard in the bottom left an extremely high Detect skill or
a charge from Alcuin's Sticks will enable you to find some of the
legendary Prunes of Cawdor, which will be useful elsewhere.  In the
bottom left square of the room second from the right on the bottom if
you face south and Detect well enough you will find a bottle of Woad
Wine.  In the salt bins, on the far left, fourth from the bottom, you
might Detect a Palace Chalice.  All are worth obtaining.

At various places on the south wall of the wide central room you can
probably detect and find about six gold pieces worth of silverware.
But that disreputable deed will cost you far more in experience.  You
can decide for yourself how much six gold pieces are worth.

In the room next to the Dissolving Pool you can fight a lot of
skeletons.  They don't have much worth taking, but in a room that hot
you'll have no trouble working up a sweat.  The heat is used to warm
the waters of the Pool to the left and to heat the ovens to the
right.  Those areas will all damage you for no reward.

The spice room, in the upper right, will take away one of your buds
of Gaelic Garlic.  Other than that, it's an uninteresting place.

If you have a Cleric, Barbarian, and Thief in your party, you will be
able to enter the Cabinet to the north.  You can also return to the
Chambers to the east.


THE CABINET:

There are three ways into the Cabinet: through the Dissolving Pool
into Banquo's lair; north from the Kitchen; and west from the
Conservatory.  There are three exits from the Cabinet: south into the
Kitchen if you have a Knight, Cleric, and Thief in your party, east
into the Conservatory if you have a Cleric, Ranger, and Thief in your
party, or jump down the pit in Banquo's area to land, awkwardly and
painfully, in the Clock Room.  Of course I high level hotsy totsy
adventurer like you is simply teleporting out of all these places
instead of wearing out shoes.

The main purpose of the Cabinet is to find and defeat Banquo's
Ghost.  However, there are a few items hidden here and there.  You
can find Alcuin's Sticks in the second room from the top third
from the left if you face north and use a high enough Detect
skill.  Unfortunately, you may need Alcuin's sticks to find Alcuin's
Sticks!  There are many battles findable here with some good stuff
to be earned, but

If you do defeat Banquo's Ghost (and lots o'luck winning the game if
you don't!) keep the Cup of Drowning.  You'll need it against Macduff.

There are lots of amusing things and beings in the Cabinets, such
as Cawdor Tunics and Jimmy Hoffa, but they won't help you win the game.


THE CONSERVATORY:

The Conservatory is the home of many plants.  Some are friendly. Some
are so friendly that they will never let you go home again.

The most critical portion of the Conservatory is the far upper left
room.  In order to get into this locked area (locked purely for you
own safety, I assure you) you must pick the lock on the door on the
eastern side of this area.  In the northern portion of this room you
can use the Handsaw (obtained in the Stables) to cut away some of this
fine hemp plant (A Shrubbery) which in turn can be carded into rope,
as was explained in the Stables writeup.

Lady Althea Cadbury, who stays near the entrances, often has pithy,
even amusing remarks to make about the Conservatory.  One can leave
the Conservatory south back into the Chambers or, if your party has a
Cleric, Barbarian, and Thief, west into the Cabinet.


THE GREAT HALL:

There is good news and bad news about the Great Hall.  The good news
is that the first time you enter here, Galatea slips you 2,000,000
experience points and heals all your wounds.  The bad news is that the
next step you take Macduff's Ghost jumps you.  So after you die and walk
back up here, you can take advantage of his inconstant wariness, form a
big party, and pound on him through the first door on the right as you
enter the Great Hall.  And he will be a lot easier to pound if your
party leader has held on to the Cup of Drowning!

Actually, there is more good news.  There are no more rooms that require
you to form a special party to enter.  So you can walk west into the
Nasty Little Maze or north into Astrologia, as you desire.  Actually,
going into the Maze will be the fastest way to finish the game,
especially as the hint section below provides all the reasons for
entering Astrologia.

Although there are the normal numbers of combats, including one that
requires the Tracking skill, and secret doors, the item of greatest
interest here is the Rogue's Gallery.  There are a series of wanted
posters, where you can learn the crimes of some of the most dastardly
devils that ever were involved in creating a role playing game.  Some
of the crimes and names are historically accurate.  See how many of
the people listed in the Cawdor or INN credits you can recognise from
their names and crimes here!


ASTROLOGIA:

If you are reading these hints, then Astrologia is not very important,
because it is mostly obscure hints and predictions of your future.  For
example, you are told that by collecting the three items with Aldhelm's
name on them, you will find that it will help you a lot in the last two
rooms of Cawdor: the Bestiary and the Crypt.  Similarly the three Alcuin
items and three Alfred items will help.

Aside from that, some of my funnier jokes, especially the two part
jokes where you might have to wander around a long time to see the
sequel, are to be found here.  You can leave Astrologia to the
Parapets to the west and to the Great Hall to the south.

There are numerous bottles of Woad Wine scattered about Astrologia
for those who find that they are low on mana.  Many of them have not
yet expired, either!

THE PARAPETS:

From the Parapets you can go south into the Nasty Little Maze or east
into Astrologia.  There is yet another dragon joke to be heard here.
The Warriors Hall of Fame is also here, as are large quantities of
excellent booty and nasty battles.  However, none of them is
directly responsible for finishing Cawdor, so if you don't like tough
battles you can avoid the Parapets entirely.

You're still reading.  You must like battles!  Okay, here's the
scoop.  There are four square areas in the Parapets each consisting
of four smaller squares.  The nastiest battle in the lower left
square occurs when entering the lower left square of that square.
It's a lot easier battle if your party leader has the Gall of Goat.
The upper left square's battle is a lot easier if your party leader
has the Tooth of Wolf.  The upper right area depends on the Tongue of
Dog.  The lower right area depends on the Blindworm Sting.  But just
entering the lower right area is highly dangerous, unless you have
the Scale of Dragon.  Finally, the lower right small square of the
upper left's large square, entered via an obvious door on the eastern
wall, leads to one of the most difficult battles in all of Cawdor.
If you beat that battle, then you can well and truly claim to be a
hero.  I've only beaten that battle by using the Healing Locket,
which you won't find until after you defeat Macbeth's Ghost in the
Aerie.  Good luck, and nice knowing you.

Why, you might ask, did I make some battles that are not essential
and virtually impossible?  Well, enough testers complained that the
battles were too easy.  On the other hand, many testers complained
that the battles were too hard.  So to satisfy those finding Cawdor
tough slogging, I made these "unbeatables" optional, purely an
exercise in tactics for the power gamer.  See, I do try to give you
what you asked for!	 I want winning the game to be a challenge for
all players, but not a chore or an unbeatable challenge.  If you
consider yourself a true Warrior, then you haven't really won the
game until you've defeated everything in the Parapets.  The rest of
us (and that includes me!) will buy the Warrior (or the Warrior's
memory) an ale in The Rampant Cat Inn.


THE NASTY LITTLE MAZE:

Every game designer is allowed to be particularly proud of some
elements in the game.  One of these elements, for me, is the Nasty
Little Maze.  Simply put, it is designed to frustrate the heck out of
you.  But there are many hints scattered throughout Cawdor; I don't
mean unfairly frustrate.

If you found and returned the Doormat way back in Uncivilization,
then the Gnome Barbarian, Percy, will give you excellent advice
here.  But you, the reader of this section, won't need his help.
You've already gotten the Shrubbery, had it made into Rope, gotten
three Horseshoes, and had them and the Rope made into a Grappling
Hook.  So you won't get almost through the maze and then discover
that you need the Hook sharpened in order for it to grip the last few
trapdoors.  You won't have to walk all the way back to the Stables
and then back up here.

As a friendly designer who knows that many of you will be coming
through here on your way to fight Macbeth's Shade again (having just
been dragged out of here, dead) I thought to make your passage just a
little easier.  You enter the Maze and are in an upside-down "L"
shaped area.  The door into the Maze proper is on the south wall of
the one square wide section of this L.  Let's save yourself some
time.  Go through that door.  Face west.  Go through the swivelling
wall.  Go through the next swivelling wall that is now directly in
front of you to the west.  Turn right.  Follow this corridor to its
end; two squares north, one east, and one south.  Use your Sharp
Grappling Hook.  You are now ready to leave the Ruined Room upstairs.

Without this process, you will find that the Maze and the Ruined room
form a three dimensional maze where you must climb repeatedly from
one to the other in order to finally get out of the Ruined Room
upstairs.  And if you are fond of combat, there are some truly
nasty battles in the lower left area that will be mitigated somewhat
if your party leader possesses the Adder Fork or Eye of Newt.  In the
upper left corner, similarly, the Howlet Wing will help.  And in the
second row from the top, near the center, there is a similar battle
made easier by the Lizard Leg.


THE RUINED ROOM:

Well, as you just read about the Nasty Little Maze, the Ruined Room
exists primarily as part of a three dimensional maze to make it
difficult to leave from here.  Once you've made it into the upper
right section, you can proceed east into The Attic.  Once you've
cleared the rubble blocking the door to the north by entering from
the Aerie, you can go north into the Aerie, but that requires
traversing much of the main maze.

There are two particularly nasty battles scattered about.  They will
be made easier if you have the Wool of Bat, or Witches Mummy,
depending on whether it's the battle near the right side of the room
or near the left side.

Also herein is the drunk tank, where people who spent just a little
too much time in Alchemia are taken to sober up.  As with most drunk
tanks, if you make too much noise you are likely to start a fight.
And since everyone who can survive Alchemia is gnarly, it won't be
an easy fight.  A word to the wise.


THE ATTIC:

Yes, it's an attic.  What inhabits an attic?  A lot of stuff nobody
cares enough to store someplace that the bugs won't get into it.
Of course, on the top floor of Cawdor the bugs are likely to be
dragons, or worse (naw, there's nothing worse than dragons), so you
should tread lightly.

There are three potential battles near the southernmost wall of the
attic; no doubt "things" get in there since it is an outside wall.
Careful use of the Tracking skill will help you to defeat them, as will
possession of the Toe of Frog or Fillet of a Fenny Snake.

In the second row from the bottom third square from the left, if you
have a Blueberry Brew, Elderberry Elixir, or Woad Wine, you can
exchange it for a Milk of Human Kindness.  It won't hurt to have
that, especially if you haven't fought Macbeth yet.  But be careful;
some muggers are keeping an eye on people who walk away with the Milk
and you might find yourself having to fight off dairy addicts.

I make no apologies for the bad jokes in the Attic.  Many testers
asked for more, and I've already told you to just walk north until
you are at the top and then east until you reach the door into
Alchemia.  That way you'll avoid most of the toxic humor.


ALCHEMIA:

It's not the humor that's toxic here (okay, it's not JUST the humor
that's toxic here) but if you want to face Macbeth you must go
through here.  You can leave Alchemia to the south to the Attic.  You
can also proceed into the Aerie in the upper west wall.  But to get
into Macbeth's fortress, you must solve, er, uh, read how to solve
the riddle of entrance into his fortress in the far south section of
the west wall.

There are many bottles of Juniper Juice scattered about Alchemia.
Feel free to use them.  The Alchemist's Guild would rather keep it's
potential paying customers alive.

Let's ignore all the battles, the lectures, the jokes, both one and
two part jokes, that you can hear wandering around here.  The most
difficult puzzle of Alchemia is entrance into Macbeth's lair.  The
first time you attempt to enter, you will have to have an awfully good
lockpick skill with a good lockpick, or must use a Skeleton Keyring,
else you won't get through.  But just getting through won't be enough.
On the other side, you will hear a "click" in some direction, and the
door in front of you won't open.  You must remember where the last
click is (it will be on one of those three doors) and then exit the
Aerie as swiftly as possible, reenter Alchemia, heal up, and then
go to the door in Alchemia that corresponds to that click.

Did I mention that Alchemia is an unpleasant if not downright
poisonous place?  Well, I should have.  Enjoy!


THE AERIE:

Macbeth's lair is in the lower right corner of Alchemia.  All
approaches to it are guarded, at least so long as Macbeth lives to
rally his troops.  The first time you leave his fortress area you
will learn full well how well guarded his lair is.  It is safest to
proceed due north, to get away from the arrow slits, and then west
along the wall to the door.

If you defeat Macbeth's Ghost you will receive the Healing Locket and
the Leaden Dagger.  If for some reason you do not retain those items
when you attempt to walk out either the east door back into Alchemia
or the south door back into the Ruined Room, then Galatea will appear
and give them to you.  Even if you do have one or both of those
items, she will still give you a very substantial experience reward.

There are many windows in the Aerie.  Things that can fly can use
them fairly safely.  You don't fly.  If you are fond of life, you
should not lean too far out any of the windows.  There is a large
room in the upper left hand corner.  Inside live many dragons. Inside
that room is a smaller room with, yup, you guessed it, still more
dragons inside it.  There is also a smallish room in the upper right
corner where lots of imps can be fought, and another smallish room on
the left wall just below the dragon's dormitory where you can fight a
flock of harpies.  I'm not saying you should fight any harpies.  I'm
just saying they're there.

Defeating Macbeth's Ghost brings you to the end game, the final two
rooms: the Bestiary and the Crypt.  You enter them from the very last
double doors in the Runed Room way back on the first floor.  But to
ensure that you get all the rewards you deserve, you should walk out
of the Aerie before teleporting anywhere.


THE BESTIARY:

At the end of the Runed Room you will find that, true to her word,
Galatea has left the doors ajar.  You can descend a narrow stairwell
single file, and, well, and I'm not sure yet.  If you heeded the good
advice you heard in Astrologia, you will have accumulated the three
different Aldhelm items.  If so, when you descend, Aldhelm will take
you by safer but secret paths into the main Bestiary area, which I
will call the zoo henceforth.  If you don't have the three Aldhelm
items, you must walk the far more dangerous and difficult path.

I must also let you know: sometimes the needs of the story must
override the desires of the audience.  Yes, Rory has entered the big
sleep (hmm, there could be a book in that name!) and nothing you
could have done would have saved his life.

Also, the Bestiary is the first room in Cawdor you've entered that
has been belowground.  You know what happens in a basement room
without windows?  It gets dark!  So you had better obtain a light
source, such as a Lantern, before you get eaten in the dark by
something that ate more carrots than you did.

Eventually both the safe path and the dangerous one conjoin again at
the door into the zoo.  There Alcuin can begin to fulfill his
prophecy.  If you have his items, then he will teleport you to the
first step of the Incantation's Path.  If not, you can enter that
path by walking south eight squares (including going through this
door) and east one square, and then walking west, north, west, west,
south, south, south, and west.  You will now be able to pass through
the door to the south.

In the zoo, all battles are with the creatures whose pictures are
on the doors you walked through except for those battles on the
path.  The path conforms to the old rhyme, hinted broadly throughout
the ruins, "Thrice the brinded cat hath mewed; thrice and once the
hedgepig whined; harpier cries 'tis time 'tis time!"  In other words,
if you start at the only place in the zoo where you can fight three
cats in a row followed by four boars and ending with a harpy, you
will have walked the path.  Fortunately for you, you know the starting
point and won't have to explore the zoo to find it.  Even more
fortunately, you are following a party leader with all the Alcuin items
and so you start on the path.  And just to make it dreadfully easy on
everybody, every battle in the zoo gives a Dragon Flagon and a Chalice
Palace as a reward.

If you have the Leaden Dagger you will find Lady Macbeth's Ghost much
easier to defeat.  And once you have defeated Lady Macbeth, Alcuin
will teleport you to the end of the path rather than the beginning.
You will still have to fight her again, but you are saved some shoe
leather, not to mention connect time.  Of course, you only need to
come here twice if you are killed by something further on, such as the
Weird Sisters.

Once you leave the zoo you will find regular torches.  At the bottom
right corner you can leave the Bestiary and enter the Crypt, the last
room in Cawdor, assuming you have killed Lady Macbeth's Ghost.  If
your party leader has all three of Alfred's items, he will give you
a big boost in your teleportation into the Crypt.


THE CRYPT:

This is a hard room.  Every step you take you have a significant chance
of having to fight a deadly random monster.

This is an easy room.  If you make sure your party leader has the
three critical A-list items at the right time, you can teleport past
almost everything in here.

This is a medium level room.  At the sixth square from the left on
the north wall of every other corridor a level twelve Detect skill
will find a secret door, and a level twelve Lockpick skill wielding
an Adamantine Lockpick can unlock that door, dramatically reducing
the distance needed to travel through here.

But let's assume you want the easy path.  The first three checks are
on the leftmost wall.  The one five squares from the bottom will
teleport you further along if your party has the three Alcuin items.
The next one, nine squares from the bottom, depends on the three
Alfred items.  The third one, thirteen squares up, depends on the
three Aldhelm items.  If you have none of the three Aldhelm items,
turn around and go get at least one of them.  They are all given as
booty in The Bestiary, so you don't have far to walk.

After the Aldhelm teleport, you are on the top row.  Go west three
squares.  A level twelve Tracking skill will find some tracks.
Continue Tracking each step to the west.  You are now in front of
a door.  Be sure to Track once more, if you have that skill at
level 12.  Then charge!

If you are Tracking, then you will have a much easier time with the
Weird Sisters.  If your party leader has the Healing Locket, you will
also have a much easier time of things.  Only McStudburgers will
choose to go through this door with neither tracking nor the Healing
Locket.  Only True McStudburgers will survive.

You will now have the ultimate battle.  Good luck.

If you survive, proceed west.  In the last room you are given your
reward sequence.  On the desk to the north is a potentially humorous
book.  Anyone with any Detect skill or True Seeing spell can read it.

Your name is scribed in the Hall of Heroes!  You walk out of the
dungeon to clamorous applause!  And, by the way, you can now usher
other characters through every non-narrow	passage in Cawdor, assuming
that you're that kind of helpful hero!  But you'll probably have more
fun by creating a new character of a different guild and starting
over again to see some of the things that this character missed.

Thanks for reading about the Ruins of Cawdor.  But trust me: it's a
lot more fun to play than to read about!





THE FOYER OF CAWDOR:

This is the file of on-line hints for Cawdor.  The format is as follows:

CAPITAL LETTERS:  A Major topic; major topics are delineated by lines.

CAPITALS:  A room under that major topic

Upper and lower case:  A specific Topic.

====================================================

THE SAFE ROOMS:


THE FOYER OF CAWDOR:

The Fountain:

The Runed Fountain in the Foyer contains the Rune Wizard.  If you
bother him long enough by entering his fountain, he will grant you
the Rune Reading Skill.  If you continue to bother him, he will
harm you, or worse.

Doors:

Any door that opens for you will let you through.  The doors that
won't open for you give you clues as to what you might have to do
to enter them.  Most of those require forming a party with the
right mix of guilds.

Encounters:

Many of the encounters in Cawdor, especially those that just give
you clues or add to the flavor, will only occur once, or perhaps
once per entry into the room.  So if someone says something you
think might be important, write it down; it could save your life!

Gaelic:

Two phrases of Scots Gaelic are in a message you can see in The
Foyer.  Latha math, pronounced roughly LACH-a mach, with a guttural
ch as in German, means good day.  Beannachd leibh means good-bye,
and is pronounced BE-ann-och-k leev.

Huh?  What'd he say?:

Many of the characters in Cawdor have a long list of messages they
say.  It adds flavor to the game, or, to put it a different way,
it's an easy way for me to add more jokes.  If you like it, repeat
actions that cause speech, like entering the Fountain.  But I assure
you, none of the repeating messages are meaningful.

Non-repeating messages:

Okay, you got me.  A very few characters say different meaningful
things to you based on prior encounters and accomplishments.  Galatea
is one, as is Rory Applebush and the Gnome Barbarian.  See encounters
for advice on what to do with messages.

THE RUNED ROOM:

Reading Runes:

If you don't have the Rune Reading skill, many of the runes written
here (and elsewhere) will be incomprehensible to you.  You can learn
that skill in The Foyer.

Really Reading Runes:

Just for fun, some of the runes are written in anagrams, from A (easiest)
on up (harder).  Try rearranging the letters in A within each word
(by the spacing) to decipher these.  The higher letters are more
complex anagrams.  Read Macbeth (the play) if you need hints.

No, Darn it!  Reading Runes!:

Just for fun, the toughest anagram, lettered I, are encrypted with a
simple substitution cipher.  That means that all the letters "y" in
the cipher should be replaced by the letter "g" to read the message.
The other letters are left for you to decipher <wicked grin>.

But I HATE puzzles!:

Just think of all the off-line hours you can spend playing Cawdor!
But seriously, you can win the game without solving these clues; they
are hints.  And Alcuin's Cap can decipher the toughest clues for you.
But there aren't many charges on it, so use it wisely.

The locked door:

If you haven't defeated Macbeth up in the Aerie, that door will
remain locked.  Don't worry about it, but remember it for later.
Much later.


THE STABLES OF CAWDOR:

Cawdor's stable?:

Cawdor is tectonically very stable.  Only its designer is unstable.
But seriously, the important part of the stables is Braddock Smith.

Braddock Smith:

Braddock will let you snoop through his tools, borrow them, take
them with you.  He will even make things for you if you bring him
an understandable combination of tools and raw materials.

Fishing poles:

No, there are no fishing poles needed in Cawdor.  In fact, the game
is so close to the edge of capacity that there are darned few red
herrings.  Almost none.  So if you don't get it here, you probably
don't need it.

Braddock's tools:

Some of Braddock's tools are available only some of the time,
especially when you have the raw materials that call for that tool.
It's a way of making the game easier.  If you think the game is TOO
easy, stand on the right with the other guy who thinks so.  There are
now two of you.  But if you really think Cawdor's too easy, why are
you reading the hints BBS?  Hmmm?

Implements of climbing:

I guess this is the hints boards so I have to tell you.  Take a tool
upstairs to a place where there are the raw materials of rope.  Take
the raw materials and another tool to Braddock to get rope.  Take rope,
yet another tool, and three horseshoes to Braddock to get a grappling
hook.  Take the grappling hook and still another tool to improve
the hook's ability.

===================================================================


THE CHARACTER ROOMS: