SHADOWGATE FAQ for the NES system.
Written in full by Zack Culver ([email protected])
All rights reserved.

===================
Table of Contents
===================
- Disclaimer
- Overview of controls/game
- General Tips
- Walkthrough
- Acknowledgements


============
Disclaimer
============
First and foremost, this walkthrough is for educational purposes only. It may
not be reproduced, copied, or used in any shape, form, or fashion for any
personal gain. It may not be used or quoted in any instance or example, unless
my consent is given. That being said, let's begin the walkthrough.. =)

This is the first FAQ I've written for any game, so it may lack in some areas.


===========================
Overview of controls/game
===========================
* The D-pad functions like it does in any other game. Up moves your cursor up,
left moves it   left, right moves it right, and down moves it down.
* The A button is the "confirmation" button. It is used to make selections,
speed up the      text moving on screen, etc.
* The B button is the "cancel" button. It cancels selections when made.
* Start and Select buttons are used to offer hints to you when you get stuck in
situations.   The game may not always provide you with clues, however.

There are nine basic functions in the game:
* MOVE tells your charager to go through an open door or pathway.
* LOOK allows your character to examine objects or surroundings.
* TAKE command lets you pick up items and objects found throughout the game.
This is the      single most important command in the game, as the basic premise
of the game is using        objects you find at the right spot at the right
time.
* OPEN lets you open doors, boxes, bags, or passageways.
* CLOSE is the opposite of OPEN--it shuts objects that are already opened.
* USE lets you use one object on another, or to use objects not in your
inventory that you    may find in the room at the time.
* HIT is exactly what it says--your character will punch an object with all his
might.        Useful in revealing or opening loose or hidden objects.
* LEAVE lets you drop items that you may not need.
* SPEAK lets you attempt to strike up a conversation with an object or creature
nearby. It    is also used to chant any magic spells you learn through the game.


==============
General Tips
==============
There are a few things to keep in mind while playing this game. First, pick up
every object you can that isn't nailed down! Chances are it will come into play
later in the game, or it may not at all. Still, there's no limit to the
inventory you can carry, so you might as well keep everything you see.
Second, there are torches scattered all throughout the game. Your torch is your
basic source of light--keep an eye on the two burning torches on the top of your
inventory screen. When the torch is about to burn out, the flame grows weaker,
and you will hear some "panic" music. When this happens, USE a torch
immediately! Otherwise, your character will stumble around in the dark and kill
himself, ending the game for you. Always make sure your torches are well lit,
but try not to waste them.
Open every door and explore every passageway, but be careful. Some passageways
in the castle were never designed for you to explore; there is simply no way to
reach those. Others are death traps where you fall through pits or get caught in
traps and die. Always save before going into a path you think is suspicious.


=================
The Walkthrough
=================
Your journey begins as you stare at the door leading into castle Shadowgate.
After the brief explanation of the Warlock Lord and your vows to destroy him,
you are in control of the game. Before you go venturing off into the castle,
OPEN the skull right above the door to reveal Key1. Take it, then OPEN the door
and MOVE inside, or just click on the open doorway and you will go in. You are
now in a room with two doors. You'll see some eerie eyes looking around, and the
Warlock Lord will taunt you. TAKE the two torches from the sides of the room and
USE Key1 on the door in front of you. It opens! Go through to a room with a
winding passageway and a book on the ledge. Take the torch and the "special
torch," it will come into effect later. OPEN, do _NOT_ TAKE the book on the
shelf. Taking it will cause the floor under you to open and you will fall and
die. After the book is open, TAKE the Key2 hidden in its pages (you can be a
good samaritan and CLOSE the book afterwards, but it's not necessary). Before
moving on, go back one room and USE Key2 on the door to the right, and enter.
You'll be in a small room with a sword and sling in front of you. TAKE both of
them and head back to the winding passage, and MOVE to the upperright. You'll be
in a room with 3 doors--one north, one east, and one west. For now, OPEN the one
to the east and go through. You'll be in a room with a large pool. Notice the
skeleton on the far side holding a key. Nothing you can do now, so OPEN the door
and continue through. You are now in a room with a large waterfall. Notice the
stones lying about the ground--TAKE one of them. See the stairway blocked off by
a landslide? There's no way you can get in there.. forget about it. Instead,
MOVE behind the waterfall by clicking on the thin shadow behind it. You'll be in
a small dead-end cavern. HIT the obviously large rock on the wall; it will fall
away and reveal a bag. TAKE the Bag1 and then OPEN it to find 3 large gems. TAKE
all 3 of them then CLOSE Bag1 to eliminate an extra menu in your inventory.
Backtrack to the 4-way room and OPEN the west door and go through. This room "is
cold and smells of rotten meat." Notice the hole in the wall. USE the WhiteGem
in the hole and a Sphere will magically appear on the stand. TAKE it and OPEN
the door. Ignore the hatch in the floor; it will lead you to death. In the next
room, you'll notice an eerie pair of eyes staring at you. Before you do
_ANYTHING_ in this room, TAKE the Shield. When you pick it up, the dragon will
spew fire at you, but since you have the Shield you will block the flames. It
won't last forever, though! Grab the Spear, Hammer, and Helmet, then get the
heck outta there! Forget the torch, your shield can only withstand 4 blasts
before it melts away. Return to the room with the large pool and the skeleton
holding the key. USE the Sphere on the water; it will freeze the pool allowing
you to TAKE the Key3. You'll need your Sphere back, so USE one of your burning
torches on top of your inventory and click it on the ice. The Sphere will float
back up and refreeze the lake, but you can TAKE it back now. Backtrack to the
room with the book that held Key2. Notice that oddly colored stone on the wall?
HIT it to knock it away and reveal a passageway. Proceed through and you'll be
in a room with an arrow, two torches, and a high ledge. TAKE the arrow, but you
can't grab the torches. Bummer, eh? An attempt to go through the upper doorway
will be futile too, as the ledge will break and you fall on your rear-end.
Instead, USE the torch on the left side to reveal a doorway. Go through and
you'll be in a room with two bridges--a sturdy one on the left, and a less
stable looking one on the right. Proceed up the left bridge for now; you'll come
back here later. When you enter the next room, you'll see.. gasp! A wraith!
Whatever are you to do? Kill it, of course! USE one of your burning torches on
that lone, special torch you picked up earlier. Your character automatically
lights it and throws it at the wraith, who goes up in flames. You are now free
to TAKE the torches and the Cloak hanging on the wall. Make sure you USE the
Cloak on SELF so you'll put it on, you need it later. Notice the path going off
to the upper right? Another one you can forget about. OPEN the door and go
through into what seems to be a dungeon room. First things first, LOOK at the
sign on the wall that reads EPOR. LOOK at it a second time and you'll learn the
magical spell of EPOR. TAKE the Scroll1, Bottle1 and Bottle2, as well as the
torch. OPEN Scroll1 to learn about the 5 objects you'll need to conquer the
Warlock Lord. While you're at it, if you look at the far wall hard enough, you
can just make out a rectangular frame. OPEN the wall to reveal a secret cavern
with a gem-shaped hole in the floor. Pop your BlueGem in the hole and an image
of a wizard appears and offers more hints on the five objects needed to win.
When the wizard leaves, he also leaves behind a scroll! TAKE Scroll2, OPEN it
and you'll read it and learn the spell of Humana; you'll use it later. Go back
one room and SPEAK/USE the spell of EPOR. The rope will rise, allowing you to
climb up it. You're now in a room with 3 mirrors. USE the Hammer on the middle
mirror, revealing a door. Death awaits you behind the other two mirrors. Before
you go through, however, pick up the Broom and torches, and MOVE back one room
to a room with coffins lining the sides. OPEN the first two on the right closest
to you to reveal a mummy, and a bag. USE one of your lit torches on the mummy to
burn it away and reveal a scepter--TAKE it. You don't really need what's inside,
but TAKE the Bag2 as well. OPENing it reveals 3 Copper Coins, which you won't
use later. Proceed back to the mirrors and USE the Key3 on the door to open it.
Proceed through and you'll be in a room with flames galore. OPEN the door and
you'll be knocked back by a Firedrake. What to do?? Remember the Sphere? USE it
on the flames in the room and they'll vanish instantly, along with the creature.
Go through the door and you'll be on a bridge. Attempt to cross the bridge and a
troll pops up and demands a gold coin as a fee. You can give him a CoppCoin, but
then he'll raise it to two coins. Give him a second coin and he realized it's
not gold and yanks the bridge out from under you. Instead of dying, USE the
Spear on the troll and he'll get knocked off (but you don't hear him crash
below). Proceed through to enter..

The Courtyard! I mark this as the halfway spot of the game, though there is much
to do to defeat the Warlock Lord. Before you stands a cyclops. Any attempt to
kill him results with him smashing in your head, so you need a long range
weapon.. ah hah! The sling! USE the stone you picked up earlier in the sling,
then USE the sling on the cyclops. You'll throw the stone at him, knocking him
out cold! To make sure he doesn't wake up later, USE the sword on him to see a
gruesome death message for the cyclops. Notice that well right next to you? USE
the handle, not the rope (or you'll fall in and die). The bucket will come up.
so OPEN it to reveal the gauntlet! TAKE it and USE it on your SELF to wear it.
OPEN the door and proceed back inside the castle. You're now in a room with 3
paths. First, grab the torch and then go through the door on the left closest to
you to enter a library. Lots of stuff in this room! TAKE the Map, the Skull,
then OPEN the Desk and TAKE the Scroll3, Scroll4, Key5, and the Glasses. OPEN
the scrolls to learn the spells of Terrakk and Illumina. USE the Glasses on SELF
and LOOK at the book to read it and learn the spell of Motari. Next, USE your
RedGem on the hole in the wall to reveal a path; go through to enter a small
room. TAKE the Cup, Bellows, and the Poker. SPEAK the spell of Terrakk to crack
the globe. OPEN it and TAKE the Key6 and Bottle5. For added affect, you can USE
one of your lit torches to start up the fireplace, but it doesn't make a
difference. Return to the branched hallway and go in the next room on the left.
TAKE the Horseshoe and all the bottles on the shelves, then USE the handle on
the stone in the floor. The stone rises up, revealing a Bottle for you to grab.
_DO NOT_ open that little cage! Doing so releases a mutant dog which will rip
you to shreds. Go through the small staircase on the right side of the room to
enter a garden with an beautiful fountain. TAKE the Flute. If you forgot to put
the gauntlet on, you'll get a nice shock from the acid as it burns your hand.
When you have the Flute, USE it. Magically, a hole appears in.. the tree?!?
Odd.. but TAKE the Ring there. You're done here. Backtrack to the branched
hallway again, and OPEN the door to the north and enter. You'll find yourself in
a large room (the game calls it a banquet hall, but where's the table and food?)
TAKE the Mirror and Crest, then for fun, torch the tapestry hanging on the wall.
Since you're being a pyromaniac, torch the rug on the floor as well to reveal
Key4. Now.. you have 3 unused keys, and 3 locked doors.. hmm.. USE Key4 on the
bottom door, Key5 on the upper-right door, and Key6 on the upper-left. First,
proceed through the upper right door. You'll be face-to-face with a Sphinx.
Notice the drawings on the staircase? Remember it for later. The Sphinx is
unreactive to anything you do until you try to go up the stairs. He'll ask you a
riddle and you must bring him the proper item to pass. Failing to present the
correct item will result in the Sphinx teleporting you to a random room in the
castle. Here are the Sphinx's riddles and answers that I know of.. he wouldn't
ask me any others than the ones listed below:

"It has towns, but no houses. Forests, but no trees. Rivers, but no fish." Show
him the MAP.
"I've no eyes, but once did see, thoughts had I but now I'm white, and empty."
the SKULL.
"First burnt and beaten, drowned and pierced with nails, then stepped on by
long-faced animals." Mr. Ed wouldn't appreciate that term! Sphinx wants the
Horseshoe.
"Long neck, no hands, 100 legs, cannot stand. Born of forest nest, against a
wall I rest." I like this riddle.. it's nifty. Answer: the Broom
"You look at me, I look back, your right hand rises, I my left. You speak, but I
in vain." Pretty self-explanatory, I think.. the Mirror.
"I'm a fire's friend, my body swells with wind. With my nose I blow, how the
embers glow!" Another easy one.. the Bellows.

Once you've successfully answered the Sphinx's riddle, you'll proceed upstairs
and find yourself in an observatory. TAKE the Scroll6 and the Star on the map
against the wall. Scroll6 is pretty much useless, but OPEN the map where the
star was to reveal a Rod. TAKE it. Climb the ladder to find.. a beautiful woman
chained against the wall! Don't get any ideas about putting the moves on this
chick, however.. rude behavior results in her transforming into a werewolf and
disposing of you quickly! Instead, USE the arrow on the poor lass to kill her.
TAKE the Blade sitting there behind her. Oooh! The Blade! One of the 5 objects
you need to kill the Warlock Lord! Return to the "banquet hall" and proceed
through the upper left door. You'll be in a room with two braziers and a horn
sitting on the ground. An attempt to pick it up results in a hellhound popping
up. USE that Bottle of holywater on him and send him back where he came from.
You're now free to TAKE the Horn. LOOKing at it reveals it's made of platinum..
perhaps the Platinum Horn spoken of in the scrolls? Climb the ladder and you'll
be on a balcony, confronted with a large blue wyvern. Don't be hasty to grab
that Talisman yet.. the Wyvern will make short work of you. USE the newly
acquired Star on him to blow him to pieces, then TAKE the Talisman. Wow, 3 vital
objects in a row! We're on a roll now! Back to the banquet hall to proceed
through the lower door. You'll be in a room with two archways--one going left
and one going right. Grab the torches and head left. You'll be out on a balcony
with lighting going off in the background. See that little hole on the balcony?
USE the Rod there. A skeletal hand rises up out of the floor and offers you a
Wand.. TAKE it and the hand disappears. Before heading back inside, go further
left to the edge of the balcony. TAKE the Bag3. If you're greedy and try to TAKE
the pot of gold, the balcony gives out and you fall to your death. OPEN Bag3 and
TAKE the BigCoin and 3 GoldCoins. Now, time to do some big backtracking!
Remember the room with those two bridges, the sturdy one and the not-so-sturdy
one? Make your way back there. Before you try to climb the crappy bridge, USE a
Bottle2 (you should have several by now) on yourSELF and you'll magically start
to float. Now climb the bridge and enter a room with.. a giant snake! Yikes!
Actually, if you examine it, you realize it's just a statue. Anyway, USE the
Wand on the snake. It shrinks away and leaves behind a Staff. TAKE the Staff.
Could it be the Staff of Ages spoken of in your scrolls? Now, go all the way
back to where you just left, the room with the two stone arches. When you get to
the bridge, however, the Troll pops up--only this time he's carrying your Spear
you chunked at him earlier! You can give him a GoldCoin this time, but then
he'll raise his price to two coins. Give him another one and he changes his
mind.. he doesn't want you to cross! He'll yank it out from under you and you
fall and die. To avoid this predicament, SPEAK the spell of Humana when he pops
up. You'll become invisible like the wind and go right across the bridge. When
you get back to the room with stone arches, head right and you'll find a dead
king sitting on a throne. Looks royal even in death, eh? Anyway, USE the Scepter
on him and a hole will open up in the wall. USE the ring there and the throne
will magically rise, revealing a secret passage! Go down it and you'll be in a
stone passageway. TAKE all 4 much-needed torches, and avoid that left passageway
like the plague. Going there results in the giant stone slab to fall and crush
you beneath it. Head north and you'll find yourself in a cave with two gargoyles
as guardians. Attempting to sneak by them results in them springing to life and
tearing you to shreds. Get by them by blinding them--SPEAK the spell of
Illumina. The cave will flash and blind the gargoyles, allowing you to get by.
Head through the upper-right passage first. Yikes! You're in a room filled with
lava, and a large statue. You can see a staircase in the distance.. but how to
get there? SPEAK the spell of Motarri, and the statue will sink away and create
a bridge to the path beyond. Go through and you'll be in a large cavern with 3
switches on the right. Remember that pattern on the stairs in the Sphinx's room?
USE the levers in the following order to open the cylinder: Right, Middle,
Right. The cylinder opens with a flash and reveals the Orb. Yay! You now have
all 5 items you need to win the game! Get out of there and return to the
gargoyle room. SPEAK Illumina again and head north this time. You're in a room
with a large well. OPEN the top of the well and USE the BigCoin in it. You'll
stir up a large gust of wind! MOVE inside the well and you'll be carried to the
bottom. You're now at the foot of a large river (River Styx? River of Life? IN
SHADOWGATE CASTLE? whatever...). USE the mallet on the drum that is conveniently
placed there and you'll summon a ghostly ferryman. USE a GoldCoin on him (he's
gotta have money to haul you!) and MOVE onto the raft. You're almost to the end!
You're now in a room with a large skull doorway to the left, and 3 Talisman-
shaped holes in front of you. Think back to your scrolls you read... "Where the
sword is hung, he must place the key." USE the Talisman on the far left hole,
underneath the picture of the sword. Now, USE the Horn and the skull doorway
will slide open, allowing you access into.. THE WARLOCK LORD'S CAVERN!! Before
you can even do anything, the Warlock Lord summons the giant, massive Behemoth
from the depths of the cavern. Your character gets nervous at this point.. how
the heck are you supposed to kill this giant thing? Time to bust out your Staff
of Ages and clean house! USE the Blade on the Staff, then USE the Orb on the
Staff. Now that the Staff of Ages is fully assembled, USE it on that big ugly
pink Behemoth to blast it with a powerful fireball. The Behemoth thrashes its
head in pain, then grabs the Warlock Lord as it descends back into the depths of
the cavern. Congratulations! You're a hero! You're ushered back to the King's
room and offered the Princess' hand in marriage! Well done, warrior. You're
overdo for a long break after completing this mission.


==================
Acknowledgements
==================
Um.. well.. I don't really have anyone to recognize here.. I guess I should
commend my dad on wanting to hook up the NES again and playing through every
game we own. Thanks to him getting stuck on every game, I got to play through
them again and figure out all the secrets. Other than that, there really is
nobody else..

Ah well... until the next FAQ, then..

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