Druid 2 - Enlightenment

One hundred and three years pass...

One hundred and three years after Acamantors expulsion from Belorn, he
has returned. Hasrinaxx the Druid was in the forest of Argoth
searching for a fresh mistletoe which was to be used as a component
for a new spell he was preparing. In the distance he could just make
out a blossoming bush and started towards it. He flinched suddenly as
he crossed the small patch of open grassland in of it Was he seeing
things or did the bush really jolt suddenly? There it was again.

All too late he saw the wild boar come rushing out towards him. He
staggered back and yelped in agony as the boar nuzzled its way under
his robes and bit into his now thrashing leg. Hasrinaxx quickly
pointed a ringed finger at the boar and uttered two short words of
mystic druid chant. A small electricity bolt shot from the Druid's
finger and discharged itself into the boar's back. The animal squeeled
in agony and disappeared into a maze of bushes.

"How stupid to be caught unaware, like that!" the druid thought. "I've
spent too much time living in the safety of my village. Gone are the
days when I sent Acamantor's demon princes back to the dark planes
from whence they came. Over one hundred years have past since then and
although my magic has grown stronger, my spirit has grown weaker. I
have been expelled from my Druid sect for experimenting with dangerous
magics. I have become separated from nature and the elemental Gods of
the Earth, the Wind, Fire and Water. And now age is slowing my wits.
What is left in life for such a failed Druid?" If only Hasrinaxx knew
the adventures that were to follow.

Hasrinaxx cast his mind back to the wild boar. "Strange for an animal
of the forest to attack a man. And a Druid at that. A friend of all
animals and indeed of nature itself! Perhaps it was a sign from the
Gods. Mother Earth herself was trying to tell him that he was slacking
as one of the few Great Druids left".

"No! That doesn't make sense" he thought. "The Gods would never use
animals to do their fighting. That would be against the sacred laws of
nature. He asked himself again why should a wild boar attack him? It
seemed to be frightened. Running. But running from what? What could
possibly scare a boar in the forest of Argoth? Men?"

"No! Hasrinaxx could sense if there were men nearby. But he could
sense something else though. It seemed almost Ethereal. A Feeling he
hadn't felt in a long time. Not since he'd vanquished the demon
princes from Acamentors tower. But That was many years ago. The wounds
that opened the dark planes to this world could never be opened again.
The great Druid sects had closed them soon after the demon princes had
been expelled, with strong and mystic magic".

Hasrinaxx cast his mind aside and set out about tending to his wounded
leg. Nothing a small poultice of woundwort couldn't fix. It was as he
stumbled along the well beaten track to Ishmar that he saw Ederyn, his
faithful young apprentice. Like all apprentice Druids, Ederyn was too
impatient in learning his magic and would very often make mistakes.
Most of the time he would use the wrong herbs or speak the wrong Druid
chant when casting a spell. But he would learn, as all wisened Druid's
did. with age.

Something seemed strange though. Ederyn's face seemed almost
expressionless, his eyes bulging. Saliva dripped from his mouth and
his skin seemed to have a blue tinge to it. Hasrnaxx commanded him to
halt. For a moment, he thought he saw sign of recognition in his young
apprentices face, but this instantly disappeared as the apprentice
moaned deeply and continued to stagger forward.

As he grew nearer, a piercing stench came over Druid which seemed to
instantly draw him out of his trance. The stench was unmistakably that
of death - or rather the undead - of souls denied an existence in the
afterworld, and condemned forever to remain on the Earth, as the
walking dead.

Hasrinaxx raised his finger, his hand shaking, and pointed it towards
his oncoming apprentice. "I'm sorry Ederyn!" he said softly and then
uttered two words of mystical Druid chant. Strident long bolts of
electricity shot from his fingertips and discharged themselves into
the apprentices chest, sending him reeling to the ground, his chest
smouldering but his face still expressionless. The body lay there,
twitching and slowly sinking into the earth as if Mother Nature
herself were calling the body back into the ground. But Hasrinaxx knew
that the soul had not been vanquished to the afterworld and that it
would rise again from this temporary grave in only a few hours.

His suddenly shot up. His senses were now keened and he could see all
around him, coming from very direction through the bushes and between
the trees. The undead were everywhere. Once living people, the proud
villagers of Ishmar, many were friends of Hasrinaxx. Now reduced to
the walking undead. Reduced to attacking the living - jealous of those
that still hold life. Hasrinaxx pitied their poor souls.

He heard a thunderclap, and in the distance he could see that the
clouds above the once peaceful land of Belorn had formed into the face
of a dark, evil looking mage. He knew this was the work of Acamantor
and his demon princes. He would return to Ishmar and from there, seek
revenge and finally put an end to this this evil - and destroy the
Dark Mage himself!

He searched his small canvas bag and found the object that he required.
He lifted the small silver crucifix high in his right hand. The sun
gleamed from it. Instantly the undead backed into the bushed and the
trees from whence they had come. Into the safety of the darkness and
away from the gleaming holy symbol the Druid held in his hand
Hasrinaxx spoke a deep Druid chant and started to walk forwards, along
the beaten track to Ishmar...


Playing the game
================

Command keys
Spell Selection - U, I, O, P (upper arrow), H, J, K, L (lower)
Take Spell - Caps Sh.
Cast Spell - Space Bar
Command Elemental - A
Pause/Unpause Game - Enter

Controlling the Druid
Use a joystick or define keys (up, down, left, right, fire).

Controlling the Elemental
Whenever you create an Elemental to help you, he can be commanded with
the 'Command Elemental' key to toggle between WAIT, FOLLOW (the Druid)
and SEND (the Elemental in the direction the Druid is facing).
Alternatively, a second player can control your Elemental using the
joystick. To switch between manual and automatic Elemental mode,
pasuse the game press the 'Command Elemental' key and unpause the game.


The Display

The Constitution indicator displays the current constitution of your
Druid. This will run whenever you are attacked or when you walk
through fire or water. The game will end and you will die if your
constitution runs out.

The Spell windows indicate the spell currently selected. Whenever your
Druid walks over a spell, you will be told what the spell is in the
message window. If you want to take it, you can store it in your
Spellbook which can hold up to eight spells. The spell will always be
placed above the spell indicator unless the currently selected spell
position is already full, in which case, the spell will be placed in
the next vacant spell position.

The Elemental display, shows the status of your Elemental (if you have
one). Firstly, you are shown what type of Elemental you have and what
it is moving (useful if he is off screen). The display to the right of
this shows you either what command the the Elemental is currently
obeying or that the elemental is in manual mode. The red bar indicates
your Elementals strength.

The Electrical Bolt indicator, shows the current change of the Druid's
electrical bolts. The more quickly you fire, the faster this runs down.
As your electrical charge runs down, so fireing rate will decrease
until you can fire no more. You will then have to wait to recharge
your electrical energy.

The Green rating bar will grow as you progress through the game to
give you an idea how well you are doing.
�
Great Druid Ratings
As your Druid progresses through his adventures to�Acamantors domain,
the green rating bar will grow in length. This shows how well you have
done in the game. When you die (or win!), you will be given a rating
which describes the title best suited to your Druid. Of course, the
best title is that of Overlord but only the best Great Druid's will
ever become� so honoured. The ratings in order of worst to best
performance are:
�
Orc Breath
Earth Shaman
Air Shaman
Water Shaman
Fire Shaman
Earth Lord
Air Lord
Water Lord
Fire Lord
Keeper of Order
Druid of Realm
High Adept
A-Sanach
Overlord


Druid Spellbook
===============

Spell: Conjure Earth Elemental
Type: Summoning/Protective
Duration: Special
Area of Effect: Around elemental
This spell is the first of the four major elemental spells. When cast
on open ground, a clay golem is summoned from the Earth Elemental
Plane and will remain as the Druid's servant until its strength is
depleted. he can only understand the three simple commands Wait,
Follow and Send. The Golem is resistant to all forms of natural attack
and is very strong. However he is slow and cumbersome and on occasions
may prove a hindrance.
�
Spell: Conjure Air Elemental
Type: Summoning/Protective
Duration: Special
Area of Effect: Around elemental
As the conjure earth elemental spell except an air wispe is summoned
from the Air Elemental Plane and will remain Druid's servant until its
strength is depleted. The wispe is very fast but also very weak. The
great Druid 'Runewort' was well known for using Wispes in fast
sweeping attacks on large amounts of weak foes.
�
Spell: Conjure Fire Elemental
Type: Summoning/Protective
Duration: Special
Area of Effect: Around elemental
As the conjure earth elemental spell except an fiery phoenix is
summoned from the Fire Elemental Plane and will remain Druid's servant
until its strength is depleted. The Phoenix is reasonably fast but
loses his strength fast when in wet or moist areas.
�
Spell: Conjure Water Elemental
Type: Summoning/Protective
Duration: Special
Area of Effect: Around elemental
As the conjure earth elemental spell except an water kraken�is
summoned from the Water Elemental Plane and will remain Druid's
servant until its strength is depleted. The Kraken is reasonably fast
but loses his strength fast when in hot or arid areas.
�
Spell: Wall of Fire
Type: Obstructive
Duration: Semi-permanent
Area of Effect: 40' in direction cast
When cast, deep red flames erupt from the ground in the direction the
caster is facing. The flames will continue for forty feet, unless
hitting some solid obstacle or significant feature of the landscape
(see "Kaled's book of universal constants" for more on this). The wall
will only destroy fire fearing foes and remains a permanent feature of
the landscape until the Druid leaves the present land.
�
Spell: Wall of Water
Type: Obstructive
Duration: Semi-permanent
Area of Effect: 40' in direction cast
When cast, deep blue water spurts from the ground in the direction the
caster is facing. The spell is much the same as the wall of fire spell
except that it will only destroy water-fearing foes.
�
Spell: Death Touch
Type: Offensive
Duration: Short
Area of Effect: Creature touched
When this spell is cast, any creature touched by the Druid will
instantly die. However, a few, more powerful creatures cannot be
harmed by this form of magic.
�
Spell: Deathlight
Type: Destructive
Duration: Short
Area of Effect: 40' in radius about Druid
This spell will destroy all creatures within a forty foot radius about
the Druid for a short duration thus giving him time to gather his wits
or pass through dark and eerie lands. There're some powerful creatures
who are immune to this form of magic.
�
Spell: Deathland
Type: Destructive
Duration: Medium
Area of Effect: 40' in radius about Druid
This spell is exactly the same as deathlight except that is lasts much
longer. Great Druids always warn their unenlightened inferiors to use
this form of magic sparingly.
�
Spell: Finger of Lightning
Type: Offensive
Duration: Short
Area of Effect: 40' in direction cast
When cast, bolts of lightning shoot forth from the Druids fingertips.
These bolts are ten times more powerful than the normal electrical
bolts that Druids usually fire.
�
Spell: Recharge
Type: Replenishment
Duration: Immediate
Area of Effect: Druid
The spell replenishes the Druids electrical bolts so that he can fire
at the maximum rate possible.
�
Spell: Slow
Type: Obstructive
Duration: Short
Area of Effect: 40' in radius about Druid
The curious magic causes all normal creatures within a forty foot
radius of the druid to become lethargic and slow thus letting any
nimble Druid pass between them quickly.
�
Spell: Fireshield
Type: Protective
Duration: Short
Area of Effect: Druid
When confronted with pillars of flame, a wary Druid need only cast
this spell. It will make his robes and sandals like tough dragonscale
for short while and thus he will become impervious to all forms of
natural heat.
�
Spell: Invisibility
Type: Concealment
Duration: Short
Area of Effect: Druid
This well used spell is still one of the most useful that a Druid can
carry in his spellbook. the Druid will be rendered invisible to all
creatures of normal sight. However, some creatures do not see with
their eyes but instead use heat or magic as a source of seeing.
�
Spell: Armour
Type: Protective
Duration: Short
Area of Effect: Druid
When cast, this spell turns the Druids robes to strong steel for a
short while, thus rendering the Druid less vulnerable to attack.
�
Spell: Turn Away
Type: Repellent/Illusion
Duration: Short
Area of Effect: 40' in radius about Druid
This spell makes the Druid appear to be an abhorrent, powerful
creature. This is of course, an illusion, but any unintelligent
creatures in close vicinity to the Druid will immediately panic
and try to run away. In time, the spell will end and the illusion
will crumble away.

Spell: Teleport
Type: Ethereal travel
Duration: Immediate
Area of Effect: Druid
This spell is fairly mystical. Great Druids have only managed to
discover that when this spell is cast within a magic symbol, the
caster is sent to another plane (the type of plane is decided by
the magic symbol).
�
Spell: Infra-vision
Type: Visionary
Duration: Short
Area of Effect: Druid
This magic is useful in darkness. It makes the Druids eyes sensitive
to heat as well as light. However, this power will only last a short
time and then you will be left back in the dark.
�
Spell: Resurrection
Type: Resurrection
Duration: Special
Area of Effect: Special
This spell was originally created by the Necromancer Grobblar in a
clever attempt to cheat death. Of course, Druids everywhere realised
the value of such a spell and soon it was circulating amongst the
higher ranks of the Druid sects. When cast, a grave is created. Should
the Druid now bear the misfortune to die, he will gain new life and
full strength and rise from the very same grave that he created. But
be warned, you can only create one grave. If you cast another
resurrection later, the grave created by the first resurrection will
be destroyed.
�
Spell: Doorblast
Type: Destructive
Duration: Immediate
Area of Effect: 5' in radius about Druid
When the Druid casts this spell, a mighty explosion can be heard about
the Druid and all doors within a five foot radius of the Druid will
shatter into a thousand pieces. Any foolish creatures within forty
feet of the Druid will collapse in agony at the sound of the explosion.

Spell: The Seeing Eye
Type: Visionary
Duration: Short
Area of Effect: 80' in direction cast
This spell enables the Druid to see what is ahead of him. When cast,
the Druids mind is allowed to follow the land in front and see what
dangers await.
�
Spell: Sage
Type: Legend Lore
Duration: Immediate
Area of Effect: None
When this spell is cast, the Grand Druid Klaven Marr will give you a
short clue depending on where you are. This should aid your Druid in
his quest for enlightenment.
�
Spell: Strengthen
Type: Replenishment
Duration: Immediate
Area of Effect: Elemental up to 160' from Druid
This spell will make you elemental stronger and thus prolong its
return to the elemental planes.
�
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Speccy adaptation done by Aleksandar Lukic, in November 2003.
Original document was found on an Hungarian site dedicated to c64 :)