by Jon Thackray, David Seal
and Jonathan Partington
Written by Richard Bos
A few notes, first.
One, and most importantly, this is a rotten hard and often unfair game. You can
die easily. You can lose or destroy a necessary tool just as easily. This
should not be seen as a fault, as such, in one of the earliest adventures ever
written, by mathematicians for mathematicians; but Acheton is not only larger
than nearly all other games, it also does take harshness to extremes at times.
Making a typo does nothing, but in the Topologika version _does_ cost a move,
and this can cost you dearly at certain points in the game. Save often, and
keep _all_ your save files until you've finished the game. And choose carefully
where and when you save, because saving itself costs a move in the Topologika
game, as well.
Two, the parser is limited, but good. I have not found any place where using
prepositions or indirect objects ("hit tree with axe") is necessary or even
possible. By contrast, the game is good at giving you less to type. If there is
only one object, simply "get" will take it; if there are several, it will
assume the first one listed. Ditto for "drop", which will drop the first object
in your inventory; and ditto for several other verbs. Turning your lamp on and
off can be done using more elaborate phrases, but a plain "on" or "off" also
works. "Get all" is provided; in the Topologika version, even "drop all but
lamp" is.
Third, if you're playing the Topologika game, before you resort to reading this
walkthrough you might want to consult the in-game hints. There is a zip file
which contains documentation for all the Topologika adventures, including
Acheton. The main part of these is an index of hints available in the game. You
look up the problem you're stuck at, find a number, type "help" and that
number, and you get a (varyingly subtle) hint. What that file doesn't tell you
is that you can also ask for hint 166, which tells you the purpose (or
purposes!) of an object, or for 167, which can tell you in which direction you
should explore next. If that is not enough, you can also try Marco Cavagna's
most excellent, illustrated and annotated maps of the game. Both of these
resources can be found at the Interactive Fiction Archive (as can the game
itself).
Finally, these notes are for the Topologika MS-DOS version which is available
at the IF Archive, and for the ZCode version generated from the original
Phoenix source, now also to be found there. I do not know whether it works for
other versions, as well, or even if any exist. However, I _do_ know that, while
they're mostly the same, there are some subtle differences between these two
versions - and a few not so subtle ones. For example, you will need to collect
all the endgame weapons in the Topologika versions; in the Phoenix version you
get them once you're there. Where these differences occur, I will annotate them
using remarks between [square brackets], often for either the [TO: Topologika]
or the [PH: Phoenix] version, sometimes for both. There is also a version for
the BBC B available elsewhere on the internet, which - being also published by
Topologika - appears to be identical to the MS-DOS version except for one
single detail, which is noted in the second paragraph below.
So, let's be off, then.
Go north into the farmhouse, get all. [TO: Go northwest. Light your lamp, get
the axe, turn off your lamp, go southeast.] Go south. You might as well go
south now, unlock the grate, and go north again. Go east twice. You are in an
enchanted forest, and no normal movement will get you out. Climb a tree. You
are asked which tree to climb. Later on, we will climb another tree, but now
choose the southern one, and go back down. You are now at a hole in the ground.
Go down it. Well done, you're inside the cave.
Go east twice, turn on the lamp, east another time, get, west, off, w, n. [PH
_and_ BBC: turn your lamp on again. This is the only place I've found where the
BBC version differs from the MS-DOS one.] You will notice that we're trying to
conserve our lamp as much as possible. I do not know whether this is strictly
necessary, but given the size of the game, I'm not going to risk finding out
that it is... Anyway, open the casket and immediately get the coat. [PH and
BBC: turn your lamp off.] Drop the casket. Go s, e; on; s. Fill your bottle,
and go south to the Slab Room. We'll make this our base of exploration, since
it's more or less central to the other areas.
Empty your pocket, then drop all except the lamp. [PH: That command doesn't
work in the original version. You'll have to "drop all", then "get lamp"
instead. Ditto passim.] Go north thrice to "J4". Do _not_ go northwest and take
the idol's eye right now. Instead, go ne, n, sw. Note the magic word on the
wall. We'll use that later, but we had to see it here or it won't work. Go
south, get the sapphire, [go n for TO, nw for PH], n, nw, w. Get all, and go
east twice, south twice, west, south twice.
There is already a list of objects here, and we'll gather more. To reduce the
clutter a bit, we'll keep everything which we'll only need in the end game
somewhere else. [TO: Take the axe.] Go northwest. Notice the star. You'll see
more of them. For reasons that will become clear then, this is where we'll drop
our end game treasures and weapons. Drop the sapphire [TO: and the axe]. Back
se, and drop all but lamp again.
Take your keys. Go south and southwest... or try to. Unlock the manacles and
get them. Go north, drop your keys, and back south. _Now_ go sw, then s. Dig
here, and get all. Throw the manacles. Go se, e, get, w, s, get, n, w, u. Turn
off your lamp, and go west. Drop everything. Jump. You can make this jump
carrying just one object, but that would be of no use, because you want to get
the violin at the other end and jump back. That done, get everything, go south,
and turn your lamp on again. Get the matches, and go back to the Slab Room: d,
ne, n, ne, n. Go nw, drop the [TO: mace, dagger,] statuette, and pearls, back
se, and drop all but lamp. Note that the violin _is_ a treasure, but it's also
a useful object that we'll be needing later.
Next, we'll take a trip to the sea, a rather tricky area where you'll need
exact timing, and one which we'll visit twice, once swimming and once sailing.
We're off for our swim first. Go ne, e, and s to the ningy room. No, I didn't
remember what a ningy was, either, until I did a websearch. Climb the ningy. Go
north and northwest. Leave the scissors for now; you can take only one object
on your swim, and we need it to be the lamp. You'd think that it wouldn't
survive a swim in strong sea currents, but it does. However, turn it off now.
Then go east twice.
Here comes the first tricky bit. We are about to enter the sea, but there's a
current there which drives us steadily west. From the West End of the Beach, go
northwest three times. _Do not_ dawdle on the way - any lost turn will run you
into the maws of Scylla or Charybdis, and unless you're very careful, a move in
any other direction runs the risk of dashing you onto the rocks. [TO: And take
care, because any typo does, unlike in most adventure games, waste a move.]
You arrive in a cave. Go north, and turn your miraculously preserved lamp on.
Now e, take the tiara, w, nw [TO: sw, take the spear, back ne,] and go w, n, n.
Take the fish. Go up, s, and sw. Throw the fish, and go south. You are now back
in the main dungeon. Go s, s, sw, s, w, w and w; you're back in the Slab Room.
As usual: nw, drop all but lamp, se.
Now we go sailing. Take the cloth and the matches. Go back ne, e, s to the
ningy room, climb, and go north. This time we take the other fork: ne and e.
Get the pot, and go back west twice to the fork, then northwest, and this time
we do take the scissors. Turn off your lamp, and go east three times to the
other end of the beach. It says "Middle", but don't be tempted - to the east is
nothing but quicksand.
Enter the dinghy, and sail it. Now sit back and wait, until you see white
water. Then jump. If you jump early, you end up in the sea; jump late, and you
crash. Jump at the right moment, and you'll end up on the south beach of a
coral island. First go northeast, then get the driftwood and drop it again.
This creates a pile, which will come in useful later. Go west.
We're at the centre of the island, with caves in four directions. While you're
here, you may see a ship sail by. When, precisely, depends on the timing of
your moves, so keep your eyes peeled. If this ship bears a white flag, ignore
it for now. However, if its flag is black, guess whose it is? Right, pirates!
They're bad news, and if they catch you they'll kill you; but in the Topologika
version, they also bring another treasure. If you see their ship, immediately
go back to the centre of the island, climb the tree, and wait there until they
leave before climbing down and going back to what you were doing.
We're going to visit some [in TO: all] of the caves, but the order is somewhat
important. The cave northeast must be done early [and in TO the southeast one
late]. So: go ne, on, dig, get the doubloons, off, n; nw, on, get emerald, n.
[TO: sw, on, get the keg, off, n. By now the pirates should have landed and
left again; if not, wait up the tree until they do. Then go southeast, on, dig,
get the coins, off, and go north.]
Now go east, and there wait until you see the white-flagged ship approach - if
it happens to be sailing off right now, wait until it returns (not forgetting
to hide up the tree if the pirates appear again). Once it does, light a match
and then light the fire. (Use the word "light". "Burn match" won't work.) This
will attract the ship; unlike the pirates, its crew won't land unless you
attract it.
The ship will deposit you in a harbour cave with a single exit, so go northeast
and turn your lamp on, and what do you know? You're back in the Slab room! Drop
your matches, scissors and pot, and then do the usual tour of nw, drop all but
lamp, se.
Two detours, now. Go east (you've been here already) and get the marble. Last
time we came from the northeast; this time we're taking the southeast route.
You can get where we're going both ways, but this is one move shorter. So, go
se, leave the orb here, se again, e, ne, n (and no, that exit isn't listed) and
e. Get the crown and turn your lamp off. Go north.
You are now in the giant's prison, and if you're not careful he will, quite
accidentally, crush you. Wait until the giant is in the southeast corner, and
then go east three times. [TO: turn your lamp on.] Get everything. Wait
(although you may not have to) until the giant is near the south wall of the
prison, then throw the marble. [TO: turn your lamp off.] Go west, retrieve your
marble, and go west twice and south.
Turn your lamp on again, and go w, s, sw, w, w. Drop the crown here; we'll be
back later to use it. Go nw, w, nw, drop the beryl, se, and drop the plate (not
just the salt - use the word "plate").
The second detour is not to retrieve something we need, but to use something
we're going to lose later. Get the pillow, the keys, the matches and the bottle
(which should be full of water). Go west three times, then north; don't worry
about the door. Go east and down, get the wine, go up and drop your pillow. Go
west twice.
Something may chime nearby. If not, it will if you wait a while (but don't
bother doing so). There must be a clock nearby, even though we can't see it.
Take it. Go up and nw twice, then turn off your lamp. Go west.
This is a maze, but not a normal one. You won't get through it on your own.
Listen to the clock. It chimes, apparently randomly, each turn. If you picture
a clock face and a compass rose superimposed, with 12 being north, you'll see
that each chime is such that the hour hand would point precisely at a compass
point. Go in that direction. For example, if it chimes half past seven, go
southwest.
Repeat this until you find a horn, floating in mid air. The latter is
important: you can find the horn at other times, even stumbing about randomly,
but it will be an illusion. You can only take it when it is floating. Do so. To
leave the Hall of Mirrors, now go in the opposite direction of that indicated
by the clock (so, if it chimes half past seven, go northeast).
Turn your lamp on, and go southeast. Notice the star. Drop your horn, clock and
wine here. I'll explain why in a couple of paragraphs. Go northwest and north,
turn your lamp off, and go southwest. Ignore the gnome. Instead, go south
twice. Another maze, but this is (for now) a normal one.
Go west (or east; it's symmetrical), south twice, and north. Get the turban. Go
e, e, n, n. There's another treasure in the maze, but we're going to have to
resort to vandalistic pyromania to get it. Light a match, then light the maze.
Go s, s; get the fleece; then n four times back to the lawn.
Go east twice, then south and east. Water the plant. Go north, west, and east
to the greenhouse. Get the spices. Go west three times. We can't visit the
western branch of the garden safely right now, so go north, turn your lamp on,
go s and se - you should be at the magenta star.
This is where I tell you what that magic word meant, and what all those stars
are for: they transport your treasure. In fact, they transport everything that
lies on the ground. There's another hint, which I haven't taken you past yet,
which says that you need darkness for this. What you do is drop your treasure
where there is a star, turn off your lamp, and type "zooge". Anything which is
on the ground (except you, of course) will be moved to a safe.
Why am I telling you this? Because you won't be able to carry all the treasure
you've collected here. So turn your lamp off and drop the spices, fleece and
turban; and then enter "zooge". There should be a >>SNAP<<. You'd think that
all treasures have been transported, but not so: that clock keeps being a pest.
We'll come back for it later, though. For now, turn the lamp on, go se, d, e,
open the door, go s, e, e, e. Drop the matches and keys.
Next stop, the desert. Get the pot, thread and can (and you should still be
carrying the marble, bottle and lamp). Go ne, e, s to the ningy room. This
time, try and get the ningy. You won't succeed, but you'll open another passage
east. Go east, take the rod, and go e, d, and nw.
The portrait you find here won't fit out the door. You'll have to magic it out.
But there's no star here, you'll say. Correct, but we can make one: we have a
can of paint. Paint a star, turn off your lamp, zooge, drop your can, and turn
your lamp back on. Go se and up, then east twice.
This is the time to consider your pot. If you don't know what "London Dry"
means: it's a type of gin. If you try to jump off the cliff, you'll break your
neck, but being drunk will make you miraculously elastic. So: drink gin, jump,
and jump again. Go north (notice another star), turn your lamp off, and go
west. Drop the lamp, pot and rod here.
Going into the desert unprepared is never wise, and it's no different in
Acheton. We need to establish a water supply. Drink some water from the spring,
then fill your bottle. Now go north, northeast and northwest; fill the barrel;
go back se, sw, s; drink some water, and refill your bottle. You'll have to do
those two in that order!
Well prepared, we now go into the desert. Make sure your bottle is filled, and
that you've just drunk some water. Go n, ne, n, nw, and w. Drink. Go sw, w, nw
and n. Drink, fill your bottle, and take the rug. Go s twice, e, ne, and s.
Drink again. Go east, get [TO: all], and go n, d, se, s and nw. Good thing we
prepared that barrel - you wouldn't have made the spring without it. Drink,
then go back se, sw, s. Go east, drop the [TO: vial,] flask and rug, and go
back west. Drink and fill your bottle again, then go back to the oasis just as
we did above: n, ne, n, nw, w, drink, sw, w, nw, n.
Drink one last time, and drop your bottle. Go east twice. Check your inventory:
you must not be carrying anything except the marble and the thread. Read the
inscription around the cactus - it actually says: "I am edible". Do so: eat the
cactus. Note the change in your possessions. Go down.
Your palantir will be glowing. Go east, and continue to go east as long as it
glows dimly. If it starts glowing brightly, wait; if very brightly, go west.
Meanwhile, note the letters on the south wall. When you reach the letter "Q",
go east even though your palantir is bright. Take the scarab, and say the
letters you found on the wall, in the correct order (they were on the south
wall!): QYWINROL. You're back at the stalactite room.
Go down, and get the helmet. Go south twice. Wait here, if necessary, until you
see a mummy leave to the northeast. Then go south four times. You are now in a
maze full of snakes. This section is rather differently laid out in the two
versions of the game, although the essence is the same. We will find an altar,
and we're going to sacrifice some treasure - but don't worry, we'll get it
back. This serves two purposes: it frees our hands, and it wakes the snakes. If
that sounds dangerous, that's because it is. In the next paragraphs, timing is
of the essence. One missed turn [TO: and in this game, that means one typo],
and you're probably dead. So be careful.
[TO: Get the bracelet, go west and south, get the carbuncle, and go w, n, e, n.
Sacrifice the carbuncle, the bracelet, the scarab, and the palantir. You'll
notice that the walls have started changing colour. This is important. Wait
until the wall is yellow. Then go s, e, s, wait, w, e, s, get the silk, and go
n. The wall should be red, now. Go w and e again, then e, w, w, n, e, n. We're
back at the altar. Wait (two turns) until the wall is red, then go s and e, get
the candlestick, and go w, w, n, n.]
[PH: Go east five times, then north. Get the carbuncle, then go west, north,
and west twice. Sacrifice the carbuncle, scarab and the palantir. You'll notice
that the walls have started changing colour. This is important. Keep entering
"look" - unlike in the TO version, you won't be told the change in colour if
you merely "wait" - until the wall is violet. Then go e, n, n, n, take the
candlestick, wait, n, w, get bracelet, s, wait, e. The wall should be blue. Go
e, e, w, e, w, e, w, e - the walls should be indigo - get the silk, and go w,
s, w, s, w, w, n.]
Whew! We survived the snakes. And both versions of the game are together again.
But we need some more precise timing. Remember that mummy? Go north. Wait until
he appears and leaves again, then go after him straight away. North once, then
northeast and southeast. Get the torque. Go southwest, northwest and north -
just in time to evade him. Ok, _now_ we can relax for a while.
Go north and west, get [TO: all], and go east thrice. You are at a mushroom. Go
north and back south, and eat mushroom. Note letters. Go e, w, eat mushroom.
And go s, n, eat mushroom. You must do all three, or Isis will not be pleased.
Go west twice, back to the gate, and type the word that was revealed to you:
first the single letter, then two, then four [PH: or three]. In the TO version,
that is always ULIMOGA. In the original game, it varies.
You're back in the desert. You might as well drop your helmet here. To get
down, tie the rope (you don't have to say what to), and then go down. Go north,
east and south to find yourself back at the spring. Take a swig. Go east, drop
everything you carry, and go west. Go north and southeast - there are your
treasures! Retrieve the lot, then go back nw and s and take your final drink of
water. Get your lamp and the rod, and go east.
We can't carry all those treasures - the ones we're carrying plus the ones we
dropped here previously - to our base, but of course we don't have to. Drop the
[TO: bracelet,] carbuncle, and scarab, but _not_ the palantir, as we'll need
that for the next bit. Zooge. Now turn your lamp on. Go north and west to find
yourself back in the ningy room, so go n, w, sw for the slab room and drop the
rod and palantir.
If you've been taking more turns than necessary, you may have noticed that your
lamp is growing dim. If not, it is still quite close to running out of power.
Don't worry: we're going to do something about that now.
There is one obvious exit from the Slab room we haven't taken yet, and that is
the southeast one. Make sure that you're carrying nothing except your lamp, and
go se, s - don't worry about the boulder - sw, se, s, se, e, e. You should be
in the Timeless Cavern. For some reason, your lamp is recharged here. Wait
until it starts shining "very brightly" (i.e. not "with its usual brightness"),
then immediately go east. Don't wait one turn longer, because your lamp's bulb
will burst if you do, and it can't be repaired.
Get the ornament, then go east, up twice, [TO: up once more, get the crucifix,
and go down] and west. If you read the writing on the wall, it says "OFF", [PH:
"MOAN"] "WAIT", "EXAKCIP". As far as I can tell, you only need the latter, but
let's play it by the book: enter those three [PH: four] words, in that order.
Something is "Done!", but we can't tell what. In fact, a treasure has appeared
quite a distance away. We'll get it later; for now, just turn your lamp back
on.
Go e, d, d, w, s, sw, get the chess pieces, go ne, w, w, and nw to the pillar
maze. This is a small but normal maze. Go west and up. [TO: go south, get the
stake, go north.] Go east and northeast. We're back in the colossal cave. It
really is colossal, but it isn't a maze in the proper sense - it's all
consistently and logically arranged, there's just a lot of it.
Go southeast twice, get the pendant, go northwest, then west and southwest (or
southwest and west), and southwest again to a room full of stars. This is very
convenient, because we need out hands free for the next bit. Turn your lamp
off, drop everything but the lamp, and say zooge. Turn your lamp back on, then
go ne, e, n; nw, e, se; e, s, s.
Make sure you are carrying nothing except your lamp, then go down the slide.
You are now in another maze, this one very real and rather large. The trickiest
bit is that there are seven objects [six in the Phoenix version] spread through
the maze, but at random places. Even if you map it, you will know what the maze
looks like, but if you play the game again, the objects in it will be in other
rooms. The only way to make sure you get them all is to visit every room in the
maze.
Luckily, it is a well-constructed maze, and there is in fact a path that visits
all rooms exactly once. (Even more luckily, it appears to be the same maze in
both versions; in any case, the same route does work for both, saving yours
truly a lot of tedious mapping.) Therefore, take the following tour, and when
you find any object along the way, pick it up. There should be seven of them:
four treasures, one weapon, and two seemingly worthless objects that we'll turn
into treasures later. Starting from the bottom of the slide: n, s, e, se, n, e,
s, ne, n, w, n, sw, d, n to a dead end, back s, s again, e, sw, u and back d
for another dead end, e, sw, nw, and finally s.
That's it: you should be carrying eight [PH: seven] objects, counting your
lamp. Go sw to the infamous lodestone room. This is one of those rooms where
your compass doesn't work and any exit leaves you in a random choice of a set
of rooms, like the Round Room of Dungeon or the Carousel Room of Zork II.
Unlike those, however, the lodestone room cannot be stopped or remedied. Just
go in any random direction. If you wind up back in the lodestone room, try
again; otherwise, follow these directions back to the slab room:
Crystalline chamber w, w
Long wide chamber s, w, w, w
Cavern with glossy walls w, sw, w, w, w
Secret east-west canyon w, w, sw, w, w, w
Nondescript cave w, nw, w
Large chamber e, w, nw, w
Sponge room sw, w, w, nw, w
Bend in the passage n, sw, w, w, nw, w
Go northwest, and drop the brooch, [TO: broadsword,] opals and earrings; go
back southeast, and drop the lead, amulet and quartz. Keep your lamp.
We suffered extreme heat; now we visit the extreme cold. Take your mink coat,
violin, tongs, palantir, and the plate of salt (not just the salt - the entire
plate). Go up and north. Play the violin, then go east. Get the salver and drop
the tongs. Go west, and north four times.
You are now on a melting ice floe. Moving here without knowing where to will
eventually land you in the water, but you are carrying the solution. Type
"look". Your palantir should grant you a vision. Go in the direction whose
scent track corresponds to the course the banqueters are eating - for example,
if they're eating the fish course, move in the direction that smells of sea,
which is southeast.
Get the necklace, and move in any direction, then back south off the ice floe.
The floe melts, but we have what we wanted, so go east. Drop the salt - just
the salt, this time. Go down and se, get the ring, and go back nw, u, nw, then
s, se, s, s, d. Go nw, drop the ring, necklace, salver, plate, violin and
palantir, but keep the coat (and lamp, of course), and go se.
Get the thermometer. Go up, north three times, then west. The next part is a
bit picky, but at least it's a matter of paying attention rather than
single-move timing. You can afford to make a typo here.
Each of the following rooms has one exit back north, and two exits forward -
southeast and southwest. One of these, in each case, leads to a room where your
thermometer indicates four degrees below zero, and one at ten degrees below. If
you are in a -4 room, any step forward is lethal, and you can only safely go
back north. In a -10 room, you can go in any direction. However, one of the -4
rooms contains a treasure, so you should visit them all until you find it; and
which exit leads to which temperature room is randomised per game. You could
also count them, since it's always in the same room - the sixth room at minus
four degrees - but what with all the back and forth, I found it less confusing
to just be methodical.
So what you do is, go southwest. If you're at -4, get the sceptre if you've
found it, and in any case go back north and then southeast. However, if you are
in a -10 room, go north, southeast, get the sceptre if found, and then go back
north and southwest. Repeat this, moving south only from -10 rooms, but
inspecting each -4 room as well, until you do find the sceptre. After that,
just follow the -10 rooms al the way to the end.
Get the gloves, and go back north to the fork, and north once more to the ice
junction. You can drop your thermometer here. Go west and take the habergeon;
then go e, s, se, s, s, d. Drop the sceptre; store the gloves and coat in the
purple star room.
Let's go rob the wizard of his last treasures. Take your keys and the amulet,
then go west three times. [TO: Open the door.] Go n, w, u, nw, nw, n; off; sw,
w, w. Get the moonstone, go east, turn your lamp on. Now we need to get a move
on. Go n, e, n. Don't be tempted to explore, because those roc eggs will hatch
and it won't be safe out there.
We can't kill the roc fledglings, but we can have something else kill them. See
those creatures in the cage? They're quite deadly to us, but also to the rocs.
Open the cage, turn your lamp off, then wait at least ten turns to let nature
take its course. Turn the lamp back on. Go west, west, south and east. Get the
diadem.
Go west and south - note along the way how our enemies have disposed of one
another for us - then s, e, e; off; d, e, e, e, n; on; s, se. Remember that
clock? Wave the amulet. There it is! The amulet makes visible objects on the
floor visible, and vice versa. We'll make use of this again. Turn your lamp
off. Drop the diadem, moonstone, and habergeon. Zooge. On. Go se, d, e, n, n.
Remember the word the wizard speaks; we will use it shortly.
You are now in a cell, and a magical cell, at that. You'll get out, but you
will end up in a maze. This is another maze with a difference: you are about to
create it yourself. In this cell, you can move in any direction, but for some
time you'll get nowhere. The directions you try will be remembered, though, and
when you end up in the dungeon maze, those will be the right way out of there.
As an added complication, you can use each direction only once, so you can't
just go north until you're out.
You can try any route you find convenient, but my suggestion would be to just
follow the compass rose until something happens. Therefore, go n, ne, e, se, s,
sw - remember _that_ magic word, as well - and w. Now you're in the maze, so
start over: n, ne, e, se, s, sw.
Here is another treasure: a scroll. We won't be able to take it out as it is.
Wave your amulet, then get the scroll. Go east. From here, the games diverge
again for a bit; the original Phoenix version has an extra maze.
[PH: Go down, east and up. Wave the amulet, then take the coins. Go d, e, u
again. Wave amulet, get stamp. Go down, west and up.]
Go east twice. If you'd been carrying that treasure while it was visible, those
lions would have killed you. Unfortunately, if you leave the house while it's
invisible, you die as well. So we do a bit of an object dance, which, because
of the differences we've just had, is different in detail as well for both
versions, though identical in intent:
[PH: drop stamp, drop scroll, drop coins, wave amulet, get all.]
[TO: get the stamp, drop the scroll, wave amulet, get scroll.]
You can't open this door normally, but the magic words you heard before will
work here. We need them both: enter "nerku ukren" (or "ukren nerku"). You are
now in a large chamber; in fact, it is the same large chamber in which you
could have ended up from the lodestone room, so go e, w, nw, w, nw to the
purple star room. Drop the [PH: coins,] scroll, stamp and amulet here, and go
back se to our slab room base.
It's time to tie up a couple of final loose ends. And yes, that means that
we're getting near the end - hurrah! Take the rod and the scissors. Go north
twice, turn off your lamp, and go west twice, then up. We're back in the
forest. Climb a tree, and this time choose the northern one. Go down to find
yourself in the field, and go west thrice.
Remember that magic word "exakcip" in the mines, which did something but we
couldn't see what? It deposited a diamond here. Get it. It is a great treasure,
but we can make it even greater, using the scissors. Cut the diamond.
Miraculous scissors, aren't they? You ain't seen nothing yet. Cut the diamond a
second time. Now _that's_ a miracle! Get the sculpture, then go east twice and
south.
Here's something else unusual: in Acheton, you _must_ die once to get all the
treasures. Well, this is as good a time as any. If you haven't unlocked the
grate, right at the beginning, do so now. Go down the well. You will die. When
asked if you want to be reincarnated, say no. You end up in Hades. Wander
around in random directions, taking in the scenery, until you come across a
crystal skull. Take this, then say "anon" [TO: or "dante"]. You're back at the
well, with your possessions lying about - and you're still carrying the skull.
Retrieve everything except the keys.
Wave the rod, then go down again. Go east, turn your lamp on, north, get the
sovereigns, off, up. You end up in the forest. This time it's normal forest,
not enchanted, but it is confusing. Go in any direction, and continue to do so
until you reach somewhere that is either the enchanted forest, or not a forest
at all. If you end up outside the forest, find your way back to the field and
then the enchanted forest.
Climb a tree again, choose s, go d twice, e twice, on, s twice, nw, drop the
diamond, sculpture, skull and sovereigns, and go se.
Take the sceptre and the lump of lead. Go e, ne, e, n, w. Drop the lead and
take the stone. Note that it's described as the Philosopher's stone - and if
you don't know what the Philosopher's stone is supposed to do, there's a clue
in the book that's sitting on the shelf. (You can't read the book, by the way.
It will disintegrate. The title is the entire clue.) The stone will transmute
lead into gold, but only if you're holding the stone and the lead is on the
ground. As that is the case now, enter "transmute". Drop the stone and get the
gold nugget.
Go e, s, w, w, se. Get everything. Note that you're now holding the full
regalia. Go south twice. A treasure chest has appeared here; if you had been
here before, without the "King's Combination", the room would have been empty
then. Take the chest, then go n, n, nw, w.
Get the quartz crystals, go southeast to the toll hole (but no further!), and
drop them there. Get the ankh that appears. Go northwest twice, and drop the
ankh, chest, orb, crown, sceptre, and gold.
Now is the grand moment you've been waiting for. Well, the first grand moment,
anyway. All that treasure which we've been collecting so meticulously, near
this star: it's all going to the safe. Turn your lamp off. [TO: Look at your
score, in the status line above the main text area.] Zooge. [TO: Look at your
score again. If that isn't a lot of points for a single turn, I don't know what
is. The difference is less spectacular in the Phoenix version; we will soon see
why.]
And so, at last, we come to the end game. Turn your lamp on. Go se, n, n, n.
[PH: Go ne, n, nw, w, u. See all that treasure? In the Topologika version,
those would all be inside the safe. We have to do all the grunt work ourselves.
Enter "score" now. Get all, e, drop all, w. Get all (this works fine in the
dark), e, drop all, w. Repeat until there is nothing left to get. Ask for your
score again, for an even greater difference than in the TO version, but we
deserve it: we've had to work harder for it. Go east, get the rod and the lamp,
then go w, d, e, e, s, s.]
Go northwest. Take the idol's eye. It will now start searching for you. I don't
know how it finds you, but I do know that the later in the game you take the
eye, the less chance that you'll be caught. In fact, the chance is not quite
zero even this late, but it's very small.
Go se, ne, n, nw, w, u - you can read the inscription if you wish, but it tells
you something I've already revealed - and e. [TO: So that's where all your
treasures went!] Drop the eye [TO: and take the cane]. Go west, close the safe,
and sit back to listen to the counting.
[TO: The objects thrown out of the safe are all the end game weapons. Because
the cane is tipped with silver, if you'd left it in there, it would have
counted as half a treasure, and been lost. Since we're going to need it in the
end game, it was necessary to remove it ourselves. Get everything except the
lamp and the axe.]
Wave the rod. [TO: Common sense would tell us to drop the rod and get the axe
now, but we're going for the Last Lousy Point, so don't do that. Instead, go
east twice.] [PH: Go east, obey the notice by dropping everything, and go east
again.]
Notice two stone discs. Go north. Another stone disc, of another size. North
again, and we find yet another stone disc, of yet another size. Could it be?
Yup, it _is_ a Tower of Hanoi. Luckily, it's only a four disc one, and you
don't even need to move the whole thing.
Get the small disc. S. Drop the disc. S. Get disc. S. Drop disc. S. Get disc.
S. Drop disc. N. Get disc. N. Drop disc. N. Get disc. S. Drop disc. N. Get
disc. Hey, a hole! We can't go down carrying the disc, so go north, drop it,
and go back south, save your game one last time, and go down.
You're now in a gladiator fight with several monsters and fighters. [PH: you
will be presented with the same weapons as in the TO game, without having had
to collect them yourself.] To defeat them, you need to use the correct weapon
on each. The order in which they appear is random, except that, as far as I can
tell, the dragon is always last in the TO version and the orc in the PH one.
Obviously, when asked if you want to quit when you've killed a monster, answer
no. You want to get the whole lot. The weapons to use against each monster are:
Cyclops spear
Knight axe... oops, we left that behind. Well, none, then. As it happens,
if you kill the knight with the axe, you do get to the end alive,
but with only 997 of the 1000 points. Using your bare hands bags
you the full score, and the win. [PH: we _do_ have the axe in this
version, but you should still choose "none", for the full score.]
Minotaur mace
Orc dagger
Scorpion vial of gas
Serpent sword
Spectre crucifix
Vampire stake (what else?)
Wolf cane [TO: told you we'd need it!]
Dragon keg
And that's it! You've won Acheton, with the full 1500 points in the original
version or 1000 points in the Topologika one, and are declared Grandmaster
Supreme and elected to the Ruling Council of Acheton. (This means that you're
now part of a mysterious body - whether that is an honour is a judgement I
leave to you...) Hope you enjoyed yourself - I know I did.
