D R A G O N S L A Y E R 
          

Dragonslayer  is yet another R-rated game from E L Cheney, the introduction
to the game reading thus:

"Oh Scourge of a thousand women's tents! Oh slayer of Monsters! Oh thief of
Allah's  treasures!  You have finally been brought to the Sultan's justice.
Surrounded  by  a crowd of your betters you have been brought to the Palace
of  the  Sultan  to  receive  your judgement. No escape shall you have, nor
shall  the  evil  Sultan  do  more  than punish you justly for your crimes.
Except  to Kill you with the death of the 56 rooms. Go now and receive your
reward.

Unfortunately,  the  original game, as well as containing numerous spelling
mistakes  and  typos, had a serious bug. A large marble stone in one of the
early  locations  which  has  a cut in it should contain a sword. Sadly the
author  forgot  to  OPEN  the  stone  so  the sword doesn't appear. You can
complete  the  game but not with full points and you also can't explore one
room,  which  contains  numerous  clues, because the sword is the necessary
light  source!  The  SynTax version has been amended though you still can't
finish with full points because you can't carry all the scoring items.

START: On the Street of Beggars, carrying nothing.

Get  scroll - pull cord - (you slip into the Gatehouse; there's a trash can
here)  - open can - look in it - get meat - read scroll - (cryptic hints) -
E  -  (A  Courtyard; you see a sword with a stone in it. There's writing on
the  stone)  -  read stone - examine sword - (there are runes on it) - read
sword - (pull it from the stone) - pull sword - get it.

D  -  (An  Underground  River  by a grating) - examine grating - (there's a
dragon symbol on it) - E - S - D - (there's a valve here but a slasher fish
attacks)  -  throw  meat  at  fish  - (it's gone) - turn valve - (the water
drains;  you  see  a  dragon key and a lever) - get key - pull lever - (the
room fills with water again) - U - N - W - U.

E  -  (A  Throne  Room;  a wizard attacks) - throw scroll at wizard - (he's
gone)  -  get  scroll - S - (A Gallery with lots of paintings; the sword is
your  light  source)  -  examine  paintinga  -  examine paintingb - examine
paintingc  -  examine  paintingd  - examine paintinge - examine paintingf -
examine paintingg - examine paintingh - (each gives a clue) - N - N - U - U
- (A Battlement; there's a plate here) - get plate - examine it - turn it -
(for  a  hint)  -  E - D - D - E - (A Torture Chamber) - get torch - E - (A
Dungeon  with  a  prisoner)  -  get drum - W - S - (A Dungeon) - get gong -
examine it - get chime - read it.

N  - W - U - U - N - (An Armoury) - get spear - get crossbow - examine it -
S - D - S - E - (Entrance to Harem, blocked by a eunuch) - kill eunuch with
crossbow  - (he vanishes) - play gong - (the doors swing open and you enter
the  harem  -  (There's  a  scimitar  here and a girl wearing a veil) - get
scimitar.

(Now  for  the  R-rated  bit  which  we  will  get  through  as  quickly as
possible.)

Pull veil - push pillow - turn body - read breast - play breast - pull hips
- read girl - (she's now a light source ...)

(Back to the story.)

Get  girl  -  turn knob - (you both fall into the river) - W - (back by the
grating)  - turn key - (the grating opens, you are carried through) - W - N
-  W  -  S - S - W - N - W - (to a pure, white Beach) - S - (A Beach with a
skeleton  and  a shin bone) - examine skeleton - examine bone - (it reminds
you  of  a  weapon!) - turn bone - (you see a small mechanism and a hole in
one  each  of it) - get bone - N - N - N - U - (A steep Footpath) - U - E -
(A  Rest  Stop;  there's a fire here and from here you can see a gap in the
path  above) - examine fire - (you see letters in the flames) - read fire -
(for  a  hint) - push sword - (through the flames; you are transported to a
ledge  where  a  dragon  is  about  to devour a chained princess) - examine
dragon  -  (he moves towards you) - kill dragon with bone - (good grief, it
is  a  weapon!  The  dragon  vanishes)  -  touch  chains - (the princess is
released;  you see a note) - get note - read it - (it says to take her back
to  the courtyard but not to touch her until then, but, strangely, you next
have  to)  -  get princess - (you can't carry her with your present load) -
drop spear - (that's 5 points gone) - get princess.

D  - (there's a gap in the Footpath here but a tree trunk lies conveniently
nearby) - push trunk - (you cross the gap using it) - D - D - D - D - S - E
(back  into  the  River) - S - E - N - N - E - S - E - E - U - (back to the
Courtyard)  -  touch  princess  -  (she runs to the Gatehouse and opens the
gate) - W.

As  you  pass  through  the  great gates they majestically close. The great
locks  slam  shut.  The throng of peasants surrounds you with greetings and
touch  you  and  your  treasures. You have won the game! Unfortunately they
become  so  enthusiastic  that  you  are  trampled  in  the melee! You die,
however, with a smile on your face.

                   Score 253/258 (shame about the spear)

NOTE:  If  you  have the original version of the game where the sword isn't
visible,  you  can  reach  the ledge by going west from the rest stop, then
dropping and pushing the spear to cross the gap.

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