Kentilla

An interactive text/graphics adventure by Derek Brewster for 48K Spectrum.

GRAKO had grand designs in CARALAND. It could be a perfect playground
of hate, torture, walking dead and eternal darkness. The inhabitants
of the land, however, had other ideas. Making his castle on the
central plains of Caraland, Grako grew in power, turning the once
fertile plains to scorched dust. But being so far from his place of
power he was unable to maintain his demonic influence. Grako was
finally defeated by the great warrior ASHKA and was returned in shame
to the tortuous fires of the Abyss.
As the world rejoiced, other sinister plans were afoot. VELNOR - the
evil sorcerer long-since vanquished for the black arts he practised
(see VELNOR'S LAIR from Quicksilva) - was planning revenge. Hidden
within the labyrinth beneath Mount Elk, Velnor had found the nefarious
Tomes of Grako. The power of eternal life and sovereignty over all he
hated was in his hands. Velnor could become a true demon on Earth.
Born of Earth and not of the Abyss, his power would be supreme.
Unknown to mortal man, this was all part of Grako's plan. The spells
were flawed, and during metamorphosis Velnor's powers were weakened.
His traps were cunning and his guards loyal and fierce, but a wizard
by the name of TYLON was equal to the challenge. In a mighty battle of
magic in the central chamber of Mount Elk, Velnor was slain and his
soul dragged through the void to the flames of the Abyss.
For a few faint seconds a corridor was open and Grako made good his
escape to breathe hate once more on the free plains of Caraland. And
now Grako's power could be supreme, for no longer did he have a rival
and he now had within his grasp the source of all Velnor's power: the
MOONSTONE OF ALGRATH.
Here starts the second tale from the myths and legends of CARALAND.

To load press J key and, holding down red SYMBOL SHIFT, press P key
twice. Screen should show LOAD "". Press ENTER and start playing the
cassette. KENTILLA is recorded twice on one side of the cassette only.
KENTILLA has a sophisticated input editor to ease command entry.
CAPS SHIFT 0 - Delete character to left of cursor.
CAPS SHIFT 9 - Insert a space at cursor.
CAPS SHIFT 8 - Move cursor right.
CAPS SHIFT 5 - Move cursor left.
CAPS SHIFT 1 - Recall last command. This must be used before any other
input is made. It is useful for lengthy battles, correcting mistyped
commands or conveniently altering a command (eg. after KILL URGA you
might want to EXAMINE URGA so just recall the last command and over-
type KILL with EXAM).

Single word commands
NORTH, N, etc. Move in specified direction
INVENTORY, I List carried objects
LOOK, L Redescribe location
SAVE Save game present position
LOAD Load saved game
QUIT End game; start again
SCORE Check % progress through game
WAIT Do nothing

The following are some of the more important verbs which are accepted.
There are many more which you will have to find for yourself.

GET TAKE DROP EXAMINE
SEARCH KILL ATTACK ENTER
LEAVE SAY CLIMB TIE, UNTIE
THROW WEAR REMOVE OPEN
UNLOCK LOCK GIVE PULL
PUSH LOOK EAT LIGHT
TURN HIT PUT CAST
EXTINGUISH

ALL can be used with the verbs GET and DROP to pick up everything in a
location or drop everything carried. It will ignore hidden objects,
etc, and dead characters. LOOK is used for seeing into containers; eg.
LOOK INTO CHEST. It can also be used to look at adjacent locations;
eg. LOOK EAST will tell you what objects and creatures (except hidden
ones) are there.
GIVE: When giving an object to a character, it must be done in the
form GIVE (object) TO (character); eg. GIVE SACK TO ELVA.

Talking to other characters
To talk to another character you must mention the character and use
quotes; eg. SAY TO OGERON "GIVE ME SWORD". Friendly characters will
usually cooperate if they can - others not necessarily!
Sentences are not limited to VERB/NOUN, although this is sufficient in
many cases; eg. GET SHIELD or GET THE LARGE SHIELD.
In many cases longer sentences are necessary, eg. PUT SWORD INTO CHEST
or UNLOCK RED DOOR WITH LARGE KEY.
Many objects are described by both noun and adjective; eg. LARGE KEY
or NASTY KNIFE. If you want to get the large key you could try GET
LARGE, GET KEY or GET LARGE KEY. The first two might be accepted,
unless there are other large objects or keys around - this would cause
confusion.

Abbreviations
Most words can be abbreviated to two letters, and some to one; eg.
OPEN DOOR can be OP D. Ambiguity can arise, though; eg. LOOK IN CHEST
as LO CH will be taken as LOCK CHEST - LOO CH would work.

HINTS
KENTILLA is a richly devious adventure. Collecting objects is not an
end, just a means to it. You may have to revisit some locations a
number of times in order to make overall progress, and time may be of
the essence. Much is hidden, and not revealed at first examination.
The pictures might sometimes hold clues for you. You may befriend some
enemies. Apparently useless things might have curious effects on those
who threaten you. The very title of the game is of great importance in
its playing ... but you will find that out ...