Producer: C.C.S.
Memory Required: 48K
Retail Price: £5.95
Language: Quill
Author: M.J. Gearing

You are the apprentice of Zaranol, the Master Wizard, who stumbles upon one of the old Master's spell books while he is away at an annual general meeting. Calling Lan, your friend and helper, you decide to try one of the spells. Unfortunately all does not go well. During the spell a demon appears and none of your spells of banishment work.

Eventually it speaks, 'I curse you weakling,' and with those few words it is gone. Mortified, you look to Lan for reassurance. Lan chuckles and says first you must find the demon's name and the nature of the curse. Then in order to banish the demon you must use the great staff of Zaranol and the tooth of a dragon. Finally, and most difficult of all, find the Master's secret room because only there can you create the spell needed. Promising to help if called, Lan disappears.

The challenge of this game does not lie in the small number of locations (45) but in the complexity of interpreting the trail of the various dues available. It is well worth setting off with I for Inventory as you will find the object that gets you out of your first predicament does not lie in or about the table, chair or old chest. As is suggested in the blurb it will pay to call Lan to help when your own attempts come to nought. If you are doing well you should soon be greeted with the 'Arthame... with this safely in your hand, draw a circle where 'er you stand!' And you would be wise to do exactly as instructed. Hence, 'the room shudders, your vision wavers...' and it's by way of magic and not by stealth as such that you escape the confines of the first location. This method of advance is repeated often throughout the adventure, magic used with craft imparted by the books, scrolls, robes and staffs providing your means of progress and thereby reducing the parts played by lengthy, involved reasoning which is typical of, say, an Artic adventure. Indeed it is difficult to recall any great number of real problems posed throughout the entire adventure; progress is mostly assured by simple exploration and examination of everything about you.

The Staff of Zaranol is easily mapped, has magical problems that are quite easy and creates a good atmosphere as you move around the Master's Castle. The dictionary of recommended verbs and special verbs provided at the very beginning are very useful and this along with the game's fundamental simplicity will introduce a beginner to the delights of adventuring and perhaps show, once again, just what a great program The Quill has turned out to be.

COMMENTS

Difficulty: quite easy
Graphics: none
Presentation: location descriptions in capitals and a little difficult to read
Input facility: as all Quill games

IT'S NICE TO HAVE FRIENDS

MAKER: CCS
FORMAT: cassette
PRICE: £5.95

Friends of CCS's excellent text adventures with all the advantages and disadvantages of Quill generation. As apprentice to the might Zaranol - who's off at a sorcerer' convention - you find yourself in dire straits, cursed by a demon, and must round up five items to get out from under. There are only 45 locations, but the puzzles, if not the most difficult around, are well conceived and fairly unusual. One radical departure is that the two different Help functions (one summons a friend, the other is a straightforward appeal) both work quite often. Just as well, because a mere novice like yourself isn't too hip to the high level magic that's going down. Crisp, clear and fun.

SKELETON STAFF

MICRO: Spectrum 48K
PRICE: £5.95
FORMAT: Cassette
SUPPLIER: Cases Computer Simulations, 14 Langton Way, Blackheath, London SE3 7TL

The Staff of Zaranol is a fascinating new Quilled adventure from CCS. At first sight it appears to have the usual boring "you are the wizard's apprentice" plot - in fact this is far from the truth.

In your master's absence you have stumbled on an old spell book and, a little too eagerly, have summoned an entity who seems more than a tiny bit miffed at being disturbed and curses you to die within one pass of the moon. As part of the game is to discover the demon's name, I'll only mention that you couldn't have picked a nastier opponent if you'd tried!

Fortunately, you are not alone; your friend, Lan, will come whenever called to give what help he can. He even tells you the five steps you must make to banish the demon - it's performing them that's the problem! Lan doesn't seem to share your view of the seriousness of your predicament and his wry chuckles become a bit tiresome after a while - he's too useful to be dispensed with though.

The adventure is not too large, with just over forty locations - but time is short and there are plenty of puzzles to keep you absorbed. HELP works sometimes and your reference book seems essential at all times.

The game is mainly concerned with obtaining and working out the clues scattered throughout the adventure, which makes it different enough to be very enjoyable. There are plenty of objects to manipulate and a few other characters to 'interact' with. This is aided by an extensive dictionary of special and 'action' verbs printed on the cassette inlay which helps the flow of play and prevents a lot of lost time in searching for the correct word - more manufacturers could learn from CCS here.

From the first move of the game you are beset with problems, not the least of which is moving from the first location! Once this is achieved, you can explore something like half the locations, picking up clues to the remaining steps required in banishing the demon.

Among the challenges you'll encounter are a deadly torture chamber, a rather intolerant bat, a greedy trader with an item you need desperately and an altar with a certain fatal attraction.

In summary, The Staff of Zaranol is a good, reasonably priced adventure providing plenty of puzzles and an interesting plot. A pleasantly different challenge for adventurers of every skill level.

48K Spectrum
£5.95
CCS (Cases Computer Simulations)

In this Quilled text adventure, you play the part of a junior wizard. While your mentor is away attending the Sorcerer's annual binge, you meddle with his spells and inadvertently conjure up a demon. All your efforts at banishing the creature fail. Happily, the demon decides of his own accord to push off - less happily, he curses you as he evaporates.

You've got it all to do now. Here's the shopping list: discover the demon's name, find out the nature of the curse, seek out the Master's secret room, and finally banish the demon by using a dragon's tooth and The Staff of Zaranol. Tall order, eh? Serves you right for messing around with the sorcerer's spell books.

As if you hadn't enough woes, although your brain is telling you to get cracking, your legs have turned to lead. There you are in your own room, an open door and an interesting chest beckoning, yet your walking gear has gone on strike. At this point you'll probably be wishing you'd taken up banking, instead of wizardry, as a career.

Don't despair, help is nor far away. A necromancer called Lan will appear whenever you call. Try summoning him to open the chest. He will do so, remove a knife from therein and advance towards your paralysed self... You begin to think this is going to be one of those days.

The adventure is atmospheric, there are plenty of puzzles and objects to savour and the plot is engrossing. Staff of Zaranol should keep you enjoyably engaged.