ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ DeCaDe DoCs DiViSioN ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ Baser Evil & Maker Present Legends of Valour - Full English Documentation NOTE: Okay these docs are released fairly late behind Loons, but time has been short and it wasn't a matter of not getting them done, as we had them 100% done 3 days before Loons ever released there TOTALLY INCOMPLETE version - we just didn't have time to release them! Well we now present - a bit late - but who cares anywayz - the full 100% and final Legends of Valour docs, with all texts! _________________________________________________________________________ ----- TABLE OF CONTENTS ----- Introduction .......................................................... 1 A Letter From Your Cousin Sven ........................................ 3 The Mitteldorf Post ................................................... 5 How to Play .......................................................... 13 Getting Started ............................................... 13 Character Generation .......................................... 14 Loading and Saving Games ...................................... 17 Out on the Streets ............................................ 18 Game Management ............................................... 23 Getting Around ................................................ 24 Time .......................................................... 26 Chatting With the Natives ..................................... 27 Combat Etiquette .............................................. 29 The Last One Standing is the Winner ........................... 32 A Visitor's Guide to mitteldorf ...................................... 34 For Starters .................................................. 34 Where to Stay ................................................. 36 A Night on the Town ........................................... 39 Trading, Buying, and Selling .................................. 41 Finders, Keepers .............................................. 43 Making a Living ............................................... 45 No Pain, No Gain .............................................. 47 Picking Pockets ............................................... 49 "That's Magic!" ............................................... 51 I Believe! .................................................... 53 Miracles and Other Daily Events ............................... 55 Not Guilty, Your Honor ........................................ 56 Doctor, Doctor ................................................ 58 Tourist Attractions ........................................... 60 Monster Horrendum .................................................... 62 _________________________________________________________________________ ----- INTRODUCTION ----- WELCOME TO MITTELDORF! You are about to embark on the greatest role-playing challenge of your life! You have arrived in the city of Mitteldorf, which occupies the slopes of a volcanic island called Wolfbrood. The opportuinities for a lively young adventurer to turn a coin and find glory seem endless. Somehow, you have to keep body and soul together while you search the streets of Mitteldorf for adventure, wealth, and fame. The city brims with life in its many taverns, inns, and shops, and the people are just begging to talk to you about their quaint customs, interesting folk rituals, and trading opportunities. Of Course, there are always going to be a few malcontents in any town. In Mitteldorf we call them the City Watch. Yes, this is a town of law and order, where decent family values are upheld, or else. The Watch doesn't hold with vagrants, n'er-do-wells, or foreigners, and you probably qualify three for three. Try to avoid upsetting the Watch. Also, try to avoid dying of thirst, starvation, large blunt instruments, vampire bites, or tax avoidance. It's pointless trying to warn you off gambling, brawling in the streets, and chasing off after treasure and glory, _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 1) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ I supose? Thought so... I mean, you're an adventurer, why else would you be here, right? Now that you've arrived, this might be a good time yo check that you have all the equipment and essentials you need to enter Legends of Valour. In addition to this player's guide, the box your friendly retailer supplied you with should contain: * four disks * a data card * a map of the city Check out the letter; this is the starting point of your quest. You have come to Mitteldorf to track down your wandering cousin, Sven. This is his last letter, which arrived some time ago. The family is very worried, so someone has to find out what had happened. You, of course, were the one prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice of leaving the farm, and giving up a life of pig-rearing to come look for him. Your family will live you for it, if they ever see you again. Sven makes Mitteldorf sound to good to miss! And just who are you? Well, if you want to get esoteric and philisophical about things, maybe it's time we started playing. The Data Card tells you how to load Legends of Valour onto your computer, including hard drive installation. Do what you need to do, and we'll meet up at the "Getting Started" section on page 13 in, let's sy, twenty minutes, OK? _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 2) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ Dear Cousin, Yep, it's me! Bet you thought I'd be swallowed up in the Wastes for good! Well, you lose that bet. I can't begin to tell you what a great life I have foudn here in Mitteldorf! When I left our village, I confess, I wasn't sure if I had done the right thing. You know what my father says - "There's no crop sown from wandering seed!" Well, I'll tell you now, I've seen more sights and done more things in three months than I would have seen in a lifetime back in Wheatdale! Tell your uncle he can give my share of the pig to my sisters - I'm gonna make it rich on my own! No word of a lie, Cousin, you can make money just walking the streets of this great city! I swear on my mother's grave, I never saw so many rich people, with their own boots and all! Mitteldorf was built on a dead volcano years ago. You can see the mountain just outside town - it's like living under an enormous storm cloud! The town has girt big walls, and buildings stacked on top of each other. I been staying in a place called the Boardins - can you believe it? I got my own bed and a change of linen every month! It is warm here, and there's plenty of good food. They serve a better rat on a stick here than your mother ever skewered! And the people, cousin! So many of them! Many merchants call here, for Mitteldorf is known as a rich trading town. The King's bodyguard keep a stern peace, and the Guilds crack a few heads likewise. You're a fool to get into trouble here! On my third day I was hauled off to prison for the night. All I did was peek through a window! And the women, cousin! They hurt your eyes just to look at them! They say the most beautiful was Queen Jocasta - She was married to Wilf, the King's brother. She lives back on the mainland now. She and King Farley never did see eye to eye, so they say. Oh, yes - I know everything going on here. No mistake! _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 3) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ Tell my father and my sisters I'm well, but tell them I'm not coming home. Hilda will find herself a good husband to run the farm. I'm stayin here to make my fortune! There are a dozen ways to make money in Mitteldorf - I know, I have tried them all! But fear not, for I have met up with some fellows who say that we shall all be rich by Midsummer! How? I'll tell you! Beneath the City there are these caverns, hewn from the rock. They are cursed by fell night-creatures, who swarm like rats in a barn. They steal and murder, and everyone would have them slayed. Well, one merchant we heard of was robbed of a precious jewel, and my companions and I shall fethch it back to claim his reward! Fear not for my safety, for my companions are famous heroes, who have no fear of goblins or lizard men! Nor I! And see here, one of them sold me this book. T'was written by some old adventurer, and it tells of the creatures he says he battled. But I rekkon it's only fairy stories! Hobgoblins and spooks! Hah! Anyway, I thought I'd send the book to you, so you may have a souvenir of my success! Better than that, why don't you follow me! Leave the valley behind, and get rich! Find someplace to stay, then seek word of me. I often take an ale in The Snakes, watchin' the Roach races. I'll leave a message there. You can find work on the notice boards, and the Town Gazette too, while you find your feet. I swear, cousin, I'll never regret the day I came here. When the merchant's jewel has made me rich, I shall send money home, but I'll not come back. Rather, t'is you who should come join me! Well, I'm off now to wer my whistle before we go a hunting goblins! I've grown right partial to ox-blood this last week. Don't know why, I suspect I've got the taste for the finer things in life now! Your cousin, SVEN _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 4) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ THE MITTELDORF POST ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 1 Satursday, twelfth of the Hawk, Month of the Pig ------------------------------------------------------------------------- TROLL EATS TWO MORE PIT BULLS Citizens of Mitteldorf were shocked today as two more lovable friendly house pets were eaten in BROAD DAYLIGHT by a roaming denizen of the underworld. Ogreus Maximus, the common Troll. WHEN WILL THIS STOP? One would have thought that in a city filled with ADVENTURERS, MERCENARIES and FIGHTERS, this kind of public menace could be eliminated before it goes any further. Already, various bones found in caves around the town would suggest that this creature is capable of eating MORE THAN DOGS! Who knos what COULD BE NEXT? THIEVES GUILD STRIKES AGAIN UNSPECIFIED GOODS to the value of 200g were stolen last night from a sealed room in the Wetland Wynds area of town. Although guarded, the goods "just disappeared" shortly before midnight last night, prompting calls for a complete investigation into the Thieves Guild by the Palace. A Royal Spokesman said "Until we THIEVES cont. on page 4 _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 5) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Satursday, twelfth of the Hawk, Month of the Pig Page 2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- A-MAZE-ING THE NEW labyrinth underneath the market area is becoming almost too popular an attraction to the city residents. The Minotaur-stocked maze is designed to allow shoppers to leave their children in an exciting enviornment whilst they go about their business, and to give them the option to have the burden of parenthood removed from their shoulders forever. Unfortunately, the Minotaurs are proving to be rather more effective than planned. The latest census shows that children now make up only one tenth of the population, and the King has had to issue a special edict demanding that people have more children. VAGRANCY RATE UP IN CITY THE NUMBER of people arrested for vagrancy, suspicious behavior, begging and other minor offenses has increased by a factor of five ever since Gracious King farley was asked to take over the throne by his grateful subjects. Over six hundred people - almost two a day - were tried in the past year, compared with fifty people in the Year of the Goat. Of those six hundred, five hundred and eighty were found guilty and sentenced, with punishments ranging from 10g fines to three days in prison. A Palace spokesman said "This magnificent clearing of the streets is a necessary part of the King's modernization scheme, and is in keeping with the spirit of justice that prompted the King to take the throne from his unfortunate predecessor." WE'RE SICK OF WEREWOLVES! THERE HAS been a marked increase in the number of Lycanthropes wandering the streets at night, according to the Mitteldorf Residents' Watch. A spokesman, who preferred to remain nameless, said "Why does the Town Guard not arrest these beasts? What are they scared of?" Legend has it, that when the moon is in the right phase, werewolves continue their age-old search for the Spirit of Skoll, one of the first werewolves. They try to recruit as many people as possible for thsi by infecting them with lycanthropy. This is the reason that so many of the werewolves carry pocket spirit diviners. One place that is now virtually off-limits to the guard at night is the Dwarves Ghetto, in Nidavellir, where up to ninety percent of the population is reported to be sufereing from this bizarre condition. _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 6) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 3 Satursday, twelfth of the Hawk, Month of the Pig ------------------------------------------------------------------------- GUILD NEWS The MEN-AT-ARMS GUILD has been on a recruitment drive recently, having lost a number of their members in a series of mysterious accidents. The Men at Arms, based at the barracks in the Squatters Quarter, are looking for "strong lusty lads and lasses who don't mind a bit of banter, fighting, and dying in mysterious curcumstances" according to their Sergeant at Arms, Gort Wineskin. "Our entry requirments are quite simple, involving just a few easy tasks and a small amount of money. And just think - one day, you could become a Templar! The THIEVES GUILD, operating from its secret headquarters, has been incresingly active in the city (see front page) prompting calls for a restriction of its permits. Although unavailable fro direct comment, members of the guild are believedto regard these calls as 'merely an exaggerated response to the seasonal fluctuation' in robbing, burglary, mugging, and pick-pocketing. The landlord of the Snakes Inn (a tavern in the South of the city) believed by some to be connected in some way with the Guild, denied any knowledge of the Thieves' activities, and our intrepid reporter had it made extremely obvious to him that it was in his own best interests not to pry any further into the landlord's private affairs. The Post hopes that thsi increase will not spark off more of the inter-guild rivalries seen last year, just before Nasty King Wilf left the scene. The MERCENARIES GUILD is having its annual barbecue at its headquarters in Witches Meadow, near the Roach and Rider Casino, next week. The occasion promises to be a fine one, with an assortment of meats and plants, and many games and pastimes. All are welcome, so long as they bring lots of ale, food, and money. 'Come and try throwing fireballs at your friends - you might like it!' is the message from the ANCIENT AND REVERED FELLOWSHIP OF THE ASEGEIR this week. The Fellowship is having an open day, in which members of the public can come an try out those difficult spells under expert supervision. The day promises to be filled with excitement and laughter (and a few surprises!), and the fellowship is hoping to spot potential talent from the crowds. The Fellowship is based in the Newtown territories, just by the castle wall. For further details, ask any Guild member. GUILD NEWS cont. on next page _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 7) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Satursday, twelfth of the Hawk, Month of the Pig Page 4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- COURT NEWS KING WILF Nasty old King Wilf in in the news again this week, following new revelations about his love life, and his incredibly terrible fiscal policies. Palace spokesman refused to confirm or deny stories about the ex-King's close relationship with a hamster called Gerald, calling them 'mere suppositions that might have a grain of truth if you known what I mean squire,' but surviving sevants of the ex-monarch have mentioned 'funny squeaking sounds' in connection with the dposed king's night-time activities. On the taxation front, it was revealed by the Supreme King farley today that Wilf was planning an underwear tax. "This is just one more example of how this repressive King meant to fleece his loving population" the King said. "It was a good job that I stepped into the role of Supreme Protector when I did" he continued. RUMORS Rumors reach the Post of a very close relationship between our beloved King (Odin Preserve Him) and a certain member of the court, a Lady Olga Inbred. Neither party was available for comment, but a Palace spokesman told us that a statement would be available next week regarding the affair. Will this be the Big One for Farley? Watch this space for further details. JUSTICE DAY This year's Justice Day, when any of the populace involved in any sort of dispute can have the matter settled by the king in person, has been cancelled. "This is due to lack of public interest" said the palace, "and nothing at all to do with the King's regard for this custom." * GUILD NEWS continued The BROTHERHOOD OF LOKI seem to be having problems with their public relations staff at the moment. Rumors that twelve employees were turned into various amphibians for their 'stupid press releases' were vigorously denied by the dark Brotherhood district-based management. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- * THIEVES continued have evidence that the guild is stealing more than its quota, our hands are tied." The landlord of the Snakes, a public house in the Wetland Wynds, denied any knowledge of the thieves Guild. "Why does everybody come round 'ere for a quote?" he asked our reporter. Also found last night was the body of Bolvic 'Fingers' Knudsson, the well known dyslexic 'replica manufacturer', long suspected to be an associate of the Guild. He had been stabbed eighteen times, then hung upside down from a rafter with a sack on his head. The town guard are treating the case as a suicide. _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 8) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 5 Satursday, twelfth of the Hawk, Month of the Pig ------------------------------------------------------------------------- SPORTS NEWS HUNTING No. 4 - The Goblin By Erik the Wolf, famed adventurer and consultant to the Mitteldorf Small Creature Hunting Association. Your average goblin is a tricky little critter to hunt, mainly because he is so small and fast. Goblins tend to hunt in great packs, in dark dank tunnels and cellars under the city and so finding one on his own is a rarity. They have a very keen sense of smell to make up for their poor eyesight, and so any budding hunter should take care to disguise his body odor with a proprietary brand of masker, such as 'Erik's Finest rat Rater.' Once caught though, a goblin is easily dispatched with a mighty swipe to anywhere except his peculiarily hard head. For more details, see my publication, Monstrum Horrendum, Denizens of the under0City 'neath Mitteldrf, out now. _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 9) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Satursday, twelfth of the Hawk, Month of the Pig Page 6 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- SPORTS NEWS MUD-IN-THE-EAR SHOCK Local Mud-in-the-Ear team, Set's Streakers, were accused on Thor's Day of using ringers for their match last week against the Dorf Dragons. the Dragons, having lost by a spectacular 35-6, put in a complaint against one of the Streakers, claiming that he was a "lot larger and a lot greener than most of the humans we know." Team captain, Grot Onetooth said in a press conference later that his team were "not mentioning the 'tr' word, but we feel this matter should be investigated by the authorities." An adjudication is expected next month. BEER RACING The finals of the Mitteldorf all-comers Beer Race are to be held in the renowned Seahorse Tavern next week. There are five finalists, out of a total of seven hundred and twenty three entrants. They are: Ulric 'The Paunch' Torrson - the favorite, a winner of three out of the past six competitions. Helga 'Little Lady' Ormsdottir - the only female contestant. Harald "Big Boy' Bloodeye - a finalist three years on the trot. Harald 'Little Boy' Bloodeye - son of Big Boy - twelve years old bu already eighteen stone - one to watch for the future. Sven Forkbeard - big, blond, and stupid. This year's competition promises to be the closest one yet, with such strong fiend, so get down to the Seahorse, drink some ale and have an exciting evening. More power to your elbow! SURPRISE WIN FOR STOATS In a stunnign game of One-eyed Jack last night, Nidavellir Stoats tooks the coveted Dacre Trophy from the Wetland Unicrons with a score of 20-12. The Unicorns, having won their last seven games, were clear favorites to take the trophy for the third year running, but after a two hour match, the Stoats scored eight points in the last dig to consolidate their earlier two point lad. King Farley was present at the match, and presented the trophy to the Stoats, along with the 250g prize money. As a traditional in the dacre Trophy, the losers suffered the loss of their little fingers, though with such an experienced team as the unicorns, very few of them had little fingers to lose. The Stoats next match is a 'friendly' one against the Newtown Furry Animals. _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 10) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 7 Satursday, twelfth of the Hawk, Month of the Pig ------------------------------------------------------------------------- * SPORTS NEWS continued WITH YOUR FEET? Word reaches this column of a strange game being played on the mainland which is spreading fast. It is called Footyballs, and has something to do with valls, feet, and kicking things. Sounds like a game for Trolls to me, if you see what I mean! BADGER IN THE BAG In only the third game in the season to feature a full knock-up, the Mitteldorf Monsters, currently second in the league, scored a maximum this Day of the Moon last against the Mountain Goats. Team coach Olaf Pizzlebrain called the result "a triumph for the lads, proving that we can match any bags on the island." Dejected Goats, who only won two games last season, promised that this season would turn to ther favor after 'destroying' the Screaming. DWARF TOSSING The Mitteldorf Dwarf Tossing season starts again next month, but with some slightly altered rules. The number of Dwarves in a team is now limited to four, and the 'tossee' has to weigh a minimum of twelve stones. This is to prevent a repeat of last year's bending of the rules, when the 'lusty warrior to be tossed' specified in the rules turned out to be a six feet high balsa wood figure with an animation spell cast upon it. Captain of the Nidavellir Knights, Festiv Tenton, said 'this should make everything a lot fairer, and we certainly are hoping to be ready and fit on the day.' SERVICES The Men-AT-ARMS GUILD are currently offering basic weapons training in swordsmanship and axe handling at a very modest price - only 5g per week - very good value for you young bloods out there! ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The ANCIENT AND REVERED FELLOWSHIP OF THE AESGEIR are still having a 'special offer' month on their magical item identification service, with prices slashed to only 10g per item. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The BROTHERHOOD OF LOKI are also offering the identification service - prices vary per item, depending on whether they like your face or not! ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Train in all sorts of hand to hand combat and weapons theory with the MERCENARIES GUILD - only 10g. Healing is still being offered by the temples of FREYA,ODIN, AEGIR and SET at reasonable prices - good if you can't wait for Rusty to open. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 11) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Satursday, twelfth of the Hawk, Month of the Pig Page 8 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- CLASSIFIEDS Attractive Male Dwarf with few shortcomings but small prospects seeks female for good times, parties, etc. Write to Eric, Box 19. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cousin - where are you? Contact me at the Mermaid - Sven. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Landlord of the Snakes tavern would like to announce for the last time that he has absolutely no connection with the Thieves Guild. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- For Sale. Large collection of weapons - second hand, slightly bloostained. Good little chopper, etc. Apply to the Men-At-Arms guild, the Barracks. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bored with life? Join the Mercenaries - the professionals who get paid for pain. You'll love it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wanted - Your money. Taxation day is coming soon, so don't forget to pay a visit to me, or some men may not forget to pay a visit to you. Lot's of love, Haakon. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Out now - Monstrum Horrendum - the Denizens of the under-city 'neath Mitteldorf, by Erik the Wolf, famed adventurer and writer. For copies, apply to this newspaper. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Stuffed - For all your embalming needs, see me, Lamont the Embalmer, Purveyor of mixed pickles. Wanlock Tombs, by the West Wall, Nidvellir. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get down to the hanged Man - just next to the Standing Stones. Cheap food, cheap beer, and service with a smile. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Don't laugh at Olaf - he's got the best goods at the best prices. Olafs Emporium - next to the theatre. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This space could be yours for a very small fee. Contact the Editor for a reasonable quote. Not much more for a box! ------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'll keep you in stitches - Rusty Cutlass MH, DDC, FRCL can hadle anything from minor scratches through amputations. Leech technique a speciality. Balms, salves and nostrums always in stock. Just South of the Standing Stones, and West of the Travellers Inn. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dungeon cleaning service - remove all traces of rot and infestation from your underground places. regain that just-bought look. Contact Kristeena Urskin, Box 21. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Talented Sackbut player into elven folk/fusion searching for like-minded musicians to form troubador band. Contact Elvis of Gracelands. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wailin' Maylin Children's Entertainer. Parties, etc. a speciality. Good time guaranteed for all. Box 12. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- We Don't Sell This! (But we do sell very good Beer) The Travellers Inn. You know where it is. You know why you drink there. CULT CORNER What has been happening over at ODIN'S place, in the center of the city? Strange rumblings have been heard in the dead of night, suggesting that the Valhalla Varlets are engaged in more than just idle prayers. Watch this space for further news. The Loony ladies of the TEMPLE OF FREYA are on the march again. reports reach us of bands of roaming women, demanding something called eekwill rites. How these differ from normal rites your correspondent is unsure, but will keep you posted. Now I like a good ritual as much as anyone. But I think that the TEMPLE OF SET has been anyone passing at midday can testify. Those screams are not just of good olf traditional pain - know what I mean? _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 12) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ ----- HOW TO PLAY ----- GETTING STARTED Great, you're here already. OK, switch on, load up, and let's go! After the title sequence, you will presented with the following options: * PLAY * PLAY NEW GAME * DESIGN CHARACTER * QUIT LEGENDS OF VALOUR is entirely mouse-driven. It does not supprt joysticks. You can play from the keyboard, but the game only delivers its full potential under mouse control, some options just can't be accessed from the keyboard. When presented with a menu like this, just aim the pointer at your selection to highlight it and left-click 9which just means click the left mouse button). Note also that right-clicking normally clears any menu. As you might guess, the first two options actually pitch you onto the path to adventure in Mittledorf. But, since you're new in town, we'd better look at Character Generation first. _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 13) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ CHARACTER GENERATION To answer the queston "Who am I?", this is where you start. Those of you familiar with role-playing games in their many forms will understand what goes on here. We are about to create a role-playing adventurer, the hero you will guide through the perils of Mitteldorf. Honestly, it's not a place to visit personally.... When you select the DESIGN A CHARCTER option, you are presented with a screem something like this: On the left, there is a full-length picture of your character, and a close-up of your face. On the right, there is a stone slab with a picture of a face. Below this, are several button, and the 'raw data' about your character. Characters are defined by four statistics: Strength, Intelligence, Speed, and Health. Strength is a broad measure of your Character's physical power. Primarily, this helps you in combat. Intelligence defines your reasoning powers, which can help you in various ways duuring the game. Speed covers your agility, dexterity, amd reactions - this also affects combat, and some other areas of the game. health measures your physical robustness. These four statistics are randomly created for a new Character. If you generate a particularly feeble Character, you can left-click on Exit to start again. Don't get hung up on these statistics, though. there are plenty of ways to improve your hero during the game. You must now make some choices about your Character. First, click on the race buttons. Choose between human, elf, and dwarf. An elf is more likely to be Intelligent and Speedy, but they're a bit feeble in the health department. A dwarf gets _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 14) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ bonuses to his/her Strength and Health, but loses out on Speed. Human Characters are average on all counts. Next, choose whether your Character is male or female. Gender has no effect on your statistics, but will affect how you are treated by people you meet in Mitteldorf. Having broadly defined what you are, you can now perform radical surgery on the way you look using the Stone Tablet. By left-clicking on one of the facial features, you can change the way it appears on the Character portrait. Try changing the hair color first. For each option, there are several different styles, allowing you thousands of different looks. Once you have completed altering your facial features, click on the runes at the bottom of the stone tablet. You are asked if you are sure about this Character. Click on Yes to continue Character generation (or No to go back to start the process). The view changes to show your home village. Brings a lump to the throat, doesn't it? Across the message bar, you will be told your father's name and occupation, and you are then asked to type in your own name (maximum of 16 letters). This is also your chance to pick up some useful equipment. If you click on the various "buildings" in your village, you are told what each is. Most are shops, places where you can obtain goods for trade. You have a finite amount of money to spend, so take your time, and look for the best bargains. Left-click on a shop to enter it. You can now see your Character, the interior of the shop, and an item showing various goods for sale. Left-click on any item and you will see a more detailed picture of it, along with its name and price tag. If you want it, click on the Buy button. The item will be transferred to the picture of your Character and the price will be deducted from your cash. _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 15) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ If you don't want that item, click on another, or on the Exit Shop button. You don't have to spend all (or any!) of your money. There may be better bargains in the great city of Mitteldorf. When you have finished equipping your Character, click on the horizon to end the Character Generation sequence and you return to the original option screen. You can create more than one Character before starting play. Up to 8 Characters can be in existence at any time. It's important to remember that your role-playing Character is your most important asset in the game. Create one you are happy with, and then do everything you can to keep him or her alive. When you save the game, you save the Character alongside of it. In fact, the Character's name is the name of the save file. if you want to play with different Characters, they have to start at the beginning. No Character can just jump in half-way through! After all, these are the LEGENDS OF VALOUR we're talking about here, not the Legends of a football squad of guys, one of whom made it to the end.... So look after your best Character... true heroes are hard to find. Word has it that's because most of them are dead. _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 16) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ LOADING AND SAVING GAMES Having created your Character, you can now start the game for real. When the Start Options screen reappear, select PLAY NEW GAME. You are asked to select which Character you wish to use. When your return to play LEGENDS OF VALOUR again, you can load your last saved game by selecting the PLAY option. Follow the on-screen instructions. To play an earlier saved game, select PLAY and then select LOAD GAME from the system menu. As previously mentioned, you can have p to 8 characters and games saved. the Saved Game screen has eight Chronicles listed, one for each of up to eight Characters. Each "slot" on your saved game disk can be over-written - be careful! Just click on the Chronicle you wish to Save/Load. The game continues automatically. You can only save a game while your Character is in an inn, tavern, or hostel. The inns of Mitteldorf are where the LEGENDS OF VALOUR are first told. Your hero will, modestly, describe how he mopped up a few goblins and found some minor treaure. the story is picked up by the bards, and by the end of the night, the opposition was thirty trolls, you found a thousand groats and a magic sword, and the King aksed you to marry his first-born child. That's fame for you! _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 17) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ OUT ON THE STREETS Having selected the PLAY NEW GAME option, you will find you have arrived at Mitteldorf's Main Gate. You are now faced with the main screen display. It'll look something like this: The Unique Magic Item boxes are empty. That's because you haven't found any. These displays will only be filled when you're lucky enough to find one of LEGENDS OF VALOUR'S three special magic items. That's when you know you're really arrived. The Examine icon allows you to inspect items you find. If there is an item displayed in the Floor window, click on Examine. You won't always find out very much, but it's worth a try. The Floor window shows items encountered as you wander round town. If your Character gets close enough to a portable _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 18) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ object, it will be displayed here. If you want to pick it up, left-click on the item and it is transferred to the Right Hand window if that is empty or tha backpack. Cash and Commodities automatically go into your Pockets (see below). The System icon allows you to save game, or load from previously saved positions, or alter one of the basic parameters of the game. See the section on Game Management. The Character Status display shows all the facets of your Character's state of mental and physical health. From the left, the seven bars show: * General Health * Energy * Combat Injuries * Appeal * Hunger * Thirst * Sleep In each case, the higher the bar, the better for your Character's well-being. Many of these status displays are interwoven. For example, when you get hungry, it's obvious that you'll become exhausted more quickly. You need more sleep if you are injured, and so on. See the "Doctor, Doctor" section to find out more about staying healthy in Mitteldorf. There is a Timer Bar under this display which has various functions. You'll find out about them later. The Movement Controls allow you to to move your Character around Mitteldorf. We'll discuss this more in a moment. However, one of these icons *Rank) accesses the Character Screen. _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 19) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ Click on this now to take a look. The Character Screen shows a portrait of your Character, which Rank he'she holds in various Guilds and Temples, and other specialinfromation which unfolds as the game progresses. It's worth checking this screen from time to time. There's more information about Guilds and Temples in later sections. The Action Display has several icons to access different actions. The first three are Combat options - Crsh, Thrust and Slash. Your Character uses whatever weapon he'she has to hand, or bare fists otherwise, against whatever opponent they face. Depending on your opponent, different combat styles may be more or less effective. Experiment. The second row of the Action Display also features three icons. The first of these accesses the Mitteldorf Map. This is a smaller version of the map you have been provided with, and lacks much of its detail. Most usefully, you can always find out where you are, since a flashing light will act as a "You Are Here" arrow. The map function can also be used in Mitteldorf's dungeons. However, in these locations it functions only as a "trail of breadcrumbs;" it only records the places you visit, showing you the way back to the entrance. Once you leave the dunegon, the map is lost, so make a copy before you leave the dungeon if this is a place you might want to visit again. The next two icons allow you to cast Magical and Priestly spells. We'll come to them again later. The final row features three more icons. Select the Rest icon to take five wherever you are situated. A Small Menu Will pop up, asking you to select 0,2,4,8 or 12 hours rest. Select the length of time you want, and catch some Zs. _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 20) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ The Use icon will allow you to make use of whatever your Character has in his/her hand - assuming the object has a use.... The Hail button allows you to attract the attention of passers-by. Use this to start a conversation with someone in the street. Do not use it to chat with Trolls. The Compass allows you to see which direction you are facing. You can also use it to change direction. You can click one of the compass points around the rim to select that direction, or drag the compass pointer around. Beside the Compass is the In Hand Display, which shows which (if any) item your Character has in hand. Above and below are two buttons, allowing you to Throw or Drop the item. The Backpack items display can hold up to six items of readily accessible gear. To swap an item between your hand and backpack, just click on it. The Pockets display shows the quantities of merchandise your Character is toting around. Mitteldorf is a trading town, and the six major commodities it likes to deal in are Gems (measured in ounces), spices (lbs), pigments (pints), ore (cwts), hide (by pelt) and tar (kegs). It doesn't necessarily mean you have several tons of merchandise in your pockets, some of your goods may consist of letters of credit, bills of lading, that kind of thing. _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 21) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ Immediately above this is your cash wealth in Groats. However, if you click on one of the commodity items and hold the mouse button down you can see how much of that commodity you possess instead. By all means speculate. Trading is a great way to meet people, and to come to greater understanding of their ways and customs. Try complaining to a Mitteldorf merchant that he charged you an unfair price for his goods, for example, and you'll find out why the symbol of the Merchantile Guild is a sock full of rocks.... There's more information on Trade in the section "Trading, Buying, and Selling". Finally, the main display shows your window on the outside world, and a small message display. This will be where you see what Mitteldorf people are like, and what they think of you. _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 22) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ GAME MANAGEMENT Various game settings can be altered by left-clicking on the System icon. You can toggle Auto Combat on or off. With Auto Combat on, the computer controls your Character in combat, relieving you of the necessity of clicking on the Combat icons. This isn't going to make you Superman. You can also toggle Sound on and off which allows you to get rid of the music and sound effects. Click on About... to find out a few facts about LEGENDS OF VALOUR. The next three icons allow you to change viewing parameters, which can have an effect on how fast the game plays on a slower machine. The Floor icon allows you to toggle from texture-mapped to "plain" floors. The (middle) Horizon icon moves the viewing horizon nearer or further away. the nearer the horizon, the faster the game plays. Finally, the Window icon can be used to shrink the size of the viewing window. On the bottom row, there are icons for Saving and Loading the game (which we have already discussed). Remember, you can only save the game while your Character is in a tavern or hostel; elsewhere, this option is disabled. Finally, there is an option to Exit The Game if you have to ask what that does, you've done well to get this far.... _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 23) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ GETTING AROUND In the center of the main Screen is your immediate view of the sights of Mitteldorf. Through this window, you can see the wonders of the city in all their glory. Hey - you're a tourist, feel free to stop and gape. At regular intervals, you will also see large creatures with sharp implements. These are less scenic close-up, and should be evaded or pummelled senseless. Once you get tired of this immediate view, you might want to alter it, or "move along" as the City Watch like to put it. There are three ways of doing this. First, you can use the cursor keys. Press the up arrow to walk forwards, or the left/right arrows to turn. The second method is to use the mouse to select icons on the Movement Display. Left-click on your choosen icon. The icons on the Movement Display are as follows: As mentioned previously, you can also change direction by using the Compass Display. Finally, click the RMB (right mouse button) once to enter Hustle Mode. Now you're cooking! Moving the mouse left or right turns you in that direction. Now press, left-click, and you move forward. This is the fast way to get around town (short of getting a taxi, and Mitteldorf is notorious for not having enough of these...). Once you have mastered walking, you can speed things up even more by pressing the Space Bar as youmove. This works with whatever style of movement you're trying. Try to get the hang of moving around in Hustle Mode, because you can't expect to be respected in this town if you only change direction when you are standing still. _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 24) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ OK. Now we've mastered walking, let's try something a little more advanced. This is called Walking Through Doors, and it's a must. Take a look arund, and find a door into an attractive and culturally edifying-looking building (or inn, as they are also known). Now aim your Character towards the door and walk. If it pens, revealing the patrons and folk pastimes within, you know you've made it. If nothing happens, you've walked into the door frame, which is not to be recommended for improving your street credibility. Of course, some doors are locked, which just goes to show that there's a lack of basic trust in this town. The Message Window will inform you that the door is locked. If you have the means to batter the door or pick the lock, this will be tried automatically. If the word "secure" appears in the Message Window, the door is magically barred. You need magic - or a key - to get through here. Use the same walk-up-and-see technique to climb or descend stairs. If the view chanes, you made it. If nothing happens, pretend you had something in your eye and try again. You may even find it possible to get through windows in more or less the same way. members of the Thieves' Guild get taught the art of sidling up to a window and opening it by hitting Enter. A Portal spell may also let you in. However, there is a school of though in Mitteldorf, mostly held by officers of the Watch, that law-abiding citizens always use doors, and that window-inspired entrances are a sign of nefarious intent. You can try pleading that you lost your keys, but these guys never listen. Fine. So, now we're walking round twn and through doors and everything. You will soon catch on that an awful low of the other citizens of Mitteldorf have mastered these same skills. By the time you've wandered around a bit, you will also have noticed that it seems to be getting darker. From the moment you set foot in downtown Mitteldorf, the hours and days start flying by.... _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 25) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ This is probably a good time to find out what you need to do to stay alive. After all, from the moment you stepped through the gates of the city, you were faced with those age-old problems - what can I drink, how do I eat, and where do I sleep? Time passes rapidly in a strange city, and there are few cities stranger than Mitteldorf. As the clock ticks on, your Character will feel hungry, thirsty, and tired, as shown by the Character Status Display. As each of these bars falls, your Character will feel less and less like a Hero, and more like a quarterback whose offensive line is holding out for better terms. It is actually possible to starve to death, or to be so bone-tired that old crones beat you up in the streets. Look after yourself. Early to bed and early to rise keeps you healthy, wealthy, and out of the clutches of nasty things which wander the streets at night.... "A visitor's Guide to Mitteldorf" has all the information a tourist could possibly need about where to stay and where to eat in Mitteldorf. Check out the sections on "Where to Stay" and "A Niht On The Town," and you too could survive more than your first couple of days in this fascinatin, historic town. It also has some stron tips for earning the currency you'll need to make it much beyond a week or two.... _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 26) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ CHATTING WITH THE NATIVES You don't have to live in Mitteldorf for long to come to love the native wit and good-humor of its citizens. Mitteldorfans love to exchange gossip and bante with starngers. In shops, inns, or other commercial establishments, you can converse with the owners or their patrons by selecting a response from a menu of suitable phrases. their replies are displayed in the Message Area. Elsewhere, the customary method for indicating your desire to communicate with a citizen in the street is to greet them with the greeting "Hey!". Left-click on the Mouth icon of the Action Display while facing the lucky citizen you have choosen to chat with. If they are attracted by your call, they approach you. You can now swap banter, selecting quips, questions and snappy one-liners from the menus presented. The standard Conversation Menu consists of the following: * Where... * What is... * Pick Pocket * Insult * Attack * Exit Selecting Where... and you bring up a list of places and/or objects. This list may be rather long, so move the mouse pointer to the top or bottom of the display to make it scroll. Click on an option to select that question. If the person has the vaguest idea of the answer, they will reply through the Message Area. For example, you could ask "Where am I?" Over 45% of Mitteldorf's citizens questioned in a recent poll where able to get that one right. _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 17) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ What is... operates in a similar way. You can ask the time (don't ask a policeman...), or the date, or even "What is your name?" Mitteldorf has several famous citizens.... Pick Pocket allows you to try a different conversational gambit, namely talking gibberish while rummaging through the pockets of your conversational partner, or "mark," as they are also known. You'll soon find out how successful you've been. Have we mentioned this may be illegal? See the section titled "Not Guilty, Your Honor" for the latest news about rules and how to break them. Insult allows you to sharpen your banter. Ah, what a rich language the people of Mitteldorf speak... and you're no slouch either! Of course, more often than not, these debates can decline into some ugly fistfights. if you want to bypass the debate and just slug the other guy from the outset, then click on Attack. _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 28) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ COMBAT ETIQUETTE Now that you are interfacing meaningfully one-on-one with the wise and patient people of Mitteldorf, it probably makes sense to acquaint yourself with self-defense. Or, as the good people of Mitteldorf call it, predictive response. Very few citizens of Mitteldorf resort to violence unprovoked. This has been conditioned in them through fear of picking a fistfight with a vampire. However, sometimes a fracas develops, often over simple misunderstandings about just who you were calling "goblin-ears," and you'd best know what to do about it. First off, it's a smart move to equip yourself with well-made armor and a variety of blunt and sharp objects. You really should have bought some armor back home in the village, shouldn't you? Perhaps the nice minotaur will wait while you go back and get some? Next, make sure you have your weapon in hand Click on any item in your backpack to transfer it to your right hand, and vice versa. Do this before you have to. You're not allowed to rummage through your lugage for a weapon once a fracas is in full swing. If you must provoke trouble by wandering the streets with a book in your hand, you ought to know that any non-combat item in your right hand when a fight breaks out is automatically dropped to the ground. How will you know when fistfights have started? Well, the person you are facing will stop insulting you for one thing. Secondly, your Character Status Display will flash, and various bars may start moving down, particularly the Combat Injury bar. Are you going to take this lying down? _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 29) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ OK. To fight back, click on one of the Combat Icons. Remember those? This would be a good time to memorize just where they are and what they look like: Crush is a downward blow, very effective with blunt weapons like maces or chair legs.... If you don't have a weapon in hand, this icon activates your left hook. Slash in a side-on attack, using the weapon's edge, so this is good for swords and stuff. Again, if you don't have a weapon, this is a right jab. Thrust is a point-first attack with a weapon, or a combination with your bare fists. Yeah, give 'em the ol' one-two. Click on the Combat icons as often as you like, in whatever combination you like. There's no "buffer;" the computer knows when you have completed your last blow, and looks for the next icon you click on. Ooops! Forgot to mention that you shouldn't experiment with this in the street. If the people of Mitteldorf see you prcticing, they'll assume you're no good at it, and someone will take this as an invitation to come over and splatter you all over the place. When you hit someone (or something...), you'll see some satisfying red 'splats' on the screen. Now check out the Timer Box, under the Character Status Display. During a fight, this shows a red line, giving a rough indication of how healthy your opponent looks. It decreases as you wear him/her/it down. Weapons do more damage than bare fists. You can also put together combinations of blows against certain opponents, something like Slash-Slash-Crush, which are extremely effective. This is trial and error stuff. Finally, you can also throw things at your opponents. All kinds of objects can be thrown, from swords and axes to stones and _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 30) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ furniture. The heavier the item is, the less distance it can be thrown, but the more damage it does when it arrives. Let's suppose, though, that you've tried all this against an opponent who refuses to accept defeat. Worse, let's assume this miscreant is beating the life out of you. What can you do about it? Well, there's the short-term option and the long-term option. The short-term option is to initiate an alternative combat posture, namely runnin away. Press the Spacebar, and you'll turn 180 degrees. Now move away as rapidly as you can. Assuming you are faster then your opponent (and assuming it only has 2 two legs), you'll be able to retreat with no more than your pride devastated. The long-term option is to smarten up your combat abilities. The various warrior guilds around town offer rudimentary but effective training regime to sharpen up your fitness, skill, and fortitude. If the training doesn't kill you, it's a safe bet you're ready to go back out on the streets. _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 31) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ THE LAST ONE STANDING IS THE WINNER OK - that's all the basics. You've learned about walking around, opening doors, talking to people, smacking them over the head... what more do you want? Now it's up to you. Read through the following entries from "A Visitor's Guide to Mitteldorf" for some hot tips on where to go for rest, relaxation, and riotous good times. But the most important thing to do is to explore. In Mitteldorf, you don't have to go looking for adventure, it'll come and find you.... What's that? You want to know what you're supposed to be doing? Do you think this is one of those Kill-The-Sorcerer-And-Rescue-The-Princess role-playing games? The King hasn't even got a daughter, and the Sorcerer - well, you're better off not knowing too much about him. Look, just concentrate on staying alive, OK? If there is anything more to Mitteldorf than meets the eye, well, you're bound to run across it sooner or later.... _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 32) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ ----- A VISITOR'S GUIDE TO MITTELDORF ---- FOR STARTERS... First things first. Money. You have got some, haven't you? You'll find that nothing - except a good beating from the Watch or an irate stall-keeper - smoothes the discourse of society like coin of the realm. The currency in Mitteldorf is the standard Groat, preferably one with his Impeccable Highness, King Farley featured on one side. None of your foreign brass here, thank you very much. Mitteldorf is awash with exciting ways to reduce the heavy burden of carrying too many groats around. Some light-fingered types might try to remove money that you pinched yourself not half and hour before. You can secure money in your lodgings. This is 100% safe. You have our word on it. Many of the more legitimate methods of parting a fool (ie, your Character) from his money are featured on the following pages. Note that there are wide discrepancies in prices in different parts of town and at differant times. Shops are open from about an hour after dawn to an hour before dusk (though they're closed on The Day of the Sun). The inns open from midday to midnight. How do you know what time it is? Well, you could try asking one of Mitteldorf's charming citizens. Or keep a track of the falling and rising of the sun. Better yet, buy an hourglass. My _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 34) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ cousin knows a man who knows someone with a consignment of time-pieces... very reasonable... it's an insurance sell-off.... Each day in Mitteldorf is 24 hours long. If you ask the time, the citizen will probably give you a rough guide along the lines of Before Dawn, About Dawn, Early Morning, Mid-Morning, Noon, Mid-Afternoon, Evening, Midnight. The city operates on a seven-day cycle from Moon Day, through Tyr's Day, Wooden's Day, Thor's Day, Freya's Day, Satyr's Day to the Day of the Sun. You'll also notice the seasons change, with the days drawin shorter in the fall, and lengthening in the spring. LEGENDS OF VALOUR isn't unduly time-sensitive, but there are going to be occassions when the hour of the day matters. Like when a member of the Watch says "I'll give you five seconds to get out of here...." Once you enter a Guild, you'll soon become very keen on payday, for example. Nearly every building in the city is open to be explored. Each district has its own unique charm and Character. Once you've been mugged in The Ginnels, you'll never want to be mugged anywhere else. _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 35) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ WHERE TO STAY One of the first things you need to look out for in Mitteldorf is somewhere to call home. You can curl up for a nap anywhere, but nothing recharges the old batteries like a lon night in warm, clean, uninfested sheets in a quiet room. Sleeping on the streets has two major disadvantages. First, the Town Watch will arrest you for Vagrancy. Second, members of the Thieves' Guild will mug you (although during certain religious festivals they swap jobs, the effect is the same). So, look out for one of Mitteldorf's friendly and welcoming hostels. You can recognize these by the sign they'll display somewhere outside. Several are marked on your map, and others may advertise their services from time to time. Among these we would recommend is the Travellers Inn, which is the closest to the Main Gate. Our least favorite is the Castle Dungeon, which serves a terrible breakfast and doesn't operate room service.... When you enter a hostel, you'll see a reception area. Walk forward until you 'bump' into the desk, and the display changes to a picture of the landlord, a sin ivin the hostel's name and three icons. The landlord may also have some wisdom to pass onto you, which you can read and inwardly digest (if the message is followed by an arrow sin, use the cursor keys to read the rest of his welcoming speech). Click on Room and a floor plan of the hostel is displayed. Click on any room and the price of a week's rent is given, along with a dialo box offering you the chance to take the room or turn it down. If you take it, a week's rent is deducted from your cash (assuming you have enough...). Do not ask for credit, as a Hostel Owner often offends. _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 36) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ The room is yours for as long as you're in credit. You can pay for more than a week's rent in advance, if you're filthy rich (some hope!). Anything you leave in the room is 100% secure. You betcha. On the other hand, if you get behind with the rent, the hostel keeper will seel your belongings, and it'll do you no good coming back later complaining about how there were 10,000 groats in there, and how you would have been back last Satyr's Day if the Watch hadn't framed you on an Excessive Snooping charge.... To leave things in your room, walk up to the Basket you will find there. It will appear in the Floor window. Click on it, and two windows will appear, one showin Cash and Commodities, and the other items. Click on a Cash or Commodity window in your Pockets display to transfer stuff to the basket, or click on a window in the Basket display to pick stuff up. With items, click on an empty Basket window to switch an item from your riht hand to the Basket, or a full window to pick the item up. Click the RMB to exit. Restin in a Hostel Room refreshes a Character like no other form of rest can. To sleep, all you have to do is select the Sleep icon while in your Room, and then click on the number of hours you wish to pass in restful repose. This isn't an exact measure of time, though, and you may wake up a few hours before or after your choosen time. No hostel we know offers to ive you an early morning call.... The second option in a Hostel is Feast. You wouldn't believe some of the delicacies you can buy cheaply in Mitteldorf's Hostels. If you have an eye for Cyclops Stew, or a mind to eat Zombie Brains, you'll find them at one or more of these fine establishments. Click on the Feast option and a selection of food and drink appears to whet your appetite. Click on a dish to find out what it is, and what it costs. You know have the option of enjoying that sumptuous dish, or giving it a miss.... _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 37) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ Eating will stave off Hunger, and Drinking quenches Thirst. As you know, not doing either of these has a bad effect on your health. So, click on the "Yes" button and enjoy your meal. Your Hunger or Thirst bar (on the Character Status Display) will go up, your cash will go down, and everyone will be happy for a few hours. Your final option at a Hostel Reception is to Exit. Your loss, pal. At any time while you are being tempted by a Hostel's facilities, you can exit a screen by clicking on the RMB. Mitteldorf has some fine residential establishments at very reasonable rates. Many are advertised in the Mitteldorf Post. Track one down, and enjoy a luxurious and relaxing night, far away from the Watch, Werewolves, and Winos.... _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 38) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ A NIGHT ON THE TOWN Mitteldorf prides itself on its hospitality. "Never let a (paying) guest go hungry" is the battle cry of every innkeeper in the city. If you're looking for fine food and convivial company, a tavern is the place to be! You'll find several excellent inns scattered the length and breadth of Mitteldorf. Each has a distinctive sign outside. As with a Hostel, when you enter an Inn, you will see a counter. 'Bump' into the counter to bring up the options screen. You'll meet your host, discover where you are (always useful, this...), and be offered several easy ways to reduce your cash balance. The first is Feast, which works just the same as it does in a Hostel. The menu may be very different however. Each inn has its distinctive specialities, particularly in the drinks department. Taverns are also great places to catch up on what's happening around the town. Click on Notice and you'll bring up a notice board with two items, General Info and Work Available. Click on either of these to see the notice (the RMB cancels the screen, as always). The General Info notices will steer you towards the various sights and activities in Mitteldorf. You can't afford not to check these regularly; all the best deals and action in the city ends up promoted on the notice boards. The Work Available notices provide opportunities to earn a crust doing low level, menial jobs for other people. Just follow the instructions. The third option in an inn is Gamble. Now, this is how a real Hero makes money! Card games, shell games, racing cockroaches... Mitteldorfans will gamble on just about anything. _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 39) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ Most games require you to gamble a groat at a time. In the shell game, select which cup you think the pea is under; if you guess correctly, you win 2 groats. Not fast enough for you? Try roach racing at the Hanged Man. The odds are on the notice board. If your long shot comes in, you might be able to afford to eat there.... Different taverns run different games, and there are some variations according to the day of the week. Keep a few notes - you wouldn't want to miss a hot roach race, now, would you? _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 40) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ TRADING, BUYING, AND SELLING One of the most memorable things about a stroll through the streets of Mitteldorf is the sound of its traders earning their daily bread. The merchant's street cries are famous. Who can forget "Touch that again and you die, kid!" or the poetry of "If this is counterfeit, pal, you'll need a wooden leg on your arm." There are wonderful shopping experiences to be had in every corner of Mitteldorf, from the surly brutality of the Custom House, to the bargain- hunter's paradise at Dirty Daglish's. Stroll in, look around, then 'bump' into the counter. The three options are Notice, which works identically to Notices in an inn, Trade, and Exit. If you click on Trade, you'll see a column of icons representing the six tradable Commodities (gems, spices, pigments, ore, hide and tar), and four more boxes, which may be empty, or may have an item displayed. If you click on an empty box, the storekeeper asks if you wish to sell an item. Answer Yes, and a display of the items you are carryin is shown. Click on any item, and you are offered a price for it. It's up to you whether you accept or not. Click on a box which contains an item, and the storekeeper will tell you its price. Again, you choose whether to deal or not. Of course, these places like to turn a small, reasonable profit, so you may find that an axe you sold for 7 groats yesterday has been marked up to 10 or more the day after ("yes, but look at the work we had to do to it, sir..."). Also, there's no guarantee that an item you sell to a shop will be there long. Mitteldorfans love to shop! If you click on one of the Commodities, the display shows the buyin and sellin prices, how much of that Commodity the shop has in stock, and how much you are carrying. There are _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 41) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ also buttons to Buy, Sell, and Deal. Click on the appropriate button to buy or sell Commodities in their appropriate units. When you have completed the transaction, click on Deal and the stock and cash changes hands. Remember, you can see what cash and Commodities you're carrying by looking at the Pockets display. The top window shows your cash wealth. However, if you click on one of the Commodity windows, you can see how much of that Commodity you possess instead, measured as follows: Gems - Ounces Spices - Pounds Pigments - Pints Ore - Carats Hide - Pelts Tar - Kegs _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 42) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ FINDERS, KEEPERS Of course, not everything in Mitteldorf has to be paid for. Just anything necessary. However, there are some real bargains to be had in dungeons and other out of the way retail establishments. While you are strolling around, if you see an item on the floor or on the table, stroll over. If the item appears in the Floor window, it may prove to be somethin you can borrow on an extended basis.... Of course, not everything is a bargain. If paranoia ets the better of you, try examining the item first, by clickin on the Examine icon. Whatever you can tell about the object from a cursory and ill-informed look will be displayed in the Message Window. Certain items, however, can be given more than just a cautious prod with a sword-point. For example, a book is a book - what you need to know is what kind of book, riht? So, place the item in your Character's right hand and (repeat after me) click on it. So... minotaurs read those kinds of book, do they? Scrolls, potions (the label on the bottle) and some devices can be checked out in the same way. The information appears in the Messae Window. What if there is more than meets the eye? Well, you could have the item properly examined by the experts at a Magician's Guild, who will offer their considered wisdom on the item. They have a reputation for unscrupulous honesty. They say. Before all this is possible, however, you do have to pick the item up. Still, not everything can be covered in contact poison, right? Still interested? OK, click on the item in the Floor window and it will be transfered to the Right Hand window (if that is empty) or the Backpack. _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 43) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ From now on, you can switch items between your hand and the backpack just by clicking on it, or by clicking on a vacant window in the backpack. At the same time, whatever you know about the item will be shown in the Message Window. You can drop or throw an item in your hand by clicking on the appropriate button. Or you can see if it has any hidden purpose ("what does this button do?") by clicking on the Use icon. Try not to do this kind of experiment in a public place, OK? _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 44) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ MAKING A LIVING If your stay in Mitteldorf is likely to extend beyond a few hours or days, you'll have to find some work. It's physically impossible to carry enough groats to be able to just arrive in town with cash for food, lodgings, entertainment, and unsolicited contributions to muggers. And only millionaires and eight-foot tall barbarians from Mangle get credit. So, you need to make a few groats each day just to keep the werewolf from the door. As previously mentioned, there are all manner of odd jobs to be done. Keep an eye on the Notices in taverns and shops. Most of these involve running errands from one place to another. While you get used to moving around town, getting lost every block, it may be that by the time you complete the errand, that part of town has been redeveloped. Stick with it, you'll get better. Odd-jobs are OK, but you'll find better rewards await you in the service of one of the town's Guilds. These are important organizations, with plenty of influence and money which can filter down to guys at the bottom of the ladder. That's you. There are five Guilds: The Fellowship of the Asegeir and The Brotherhood of Loki are for magic-practitioners; then Men-At-Arms and Mercenary Guilds are full of very large gentlefolk who bench-press buildings, and the Guild of Thieves is an organization devoted to the ordered redistribution of wealth. Walk in, stroll up to the counter, and the following three options are given to you: Business, Service and Exit. Click on Business and you will be offered a place in the Guild, unless - for some inexplicable reason - they don't like the look of you. There is a little rivalry between some of the Guilds and Temples, so membership of one can bar you from joining another. If you agree to join, there is a very reasonable initial membership fee and a challenge to be faced. You can still back out, y'know. _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 45) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ The Challenge will probably involve some trifiling errand and a time limit. You may be given some additional info or help to achieve this task. If you pass the challenge, you are accepted into the Guild with open arms. You can even try rising through the ranks a little. If a brother or sister of the Guild clicks on Business, they are offered the options of trying for the next rank or resigning. To be honest, the Guilds don't offer much in the way of a weekly wage. However, they're pretty hot on the bookkeeping, and every time you visit the Guild counter, your pay gets handed over with all arrears. More importantly, Guilds are an indespensable part of living in Mitteldorf. There are three kinds of people in this town. Kings (only one vacancy ever arises), Guild Members, and people to be ground under foot. We're talking about respect. Nobody ever writes Legends of Valour about people whose application forms for Guild membership were lost in the mail. To see how far up the ladder you have climbed, click on the Rank icon. This shows the current status in each of the Guilds you have joined. The further up the Guilds you climb, the more access you have to their Services. Each Guild offers various Services, which can range from evaluating the worth of an item found in a dungeon to training in the arts of window-entry. The Services vary from Guild to Guild, but there are always advertisements for them in the Mitteldorf Post. Members pay less for these services than non-Members. There are other benefots that come from Guild Membership, and from rising higher through the grades of a Guild. Fighting men get better at fighting, thieves improve their sleight-of-hand, that kind of thing. _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 46) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ NO PAIN, NO GAIN One Guild it pays to keep on the right side of is the Mercenaries Guild. These are people who slice up other people for money. When they're off duty, therefore, they like to relax by slicing up other people for free. However, if you produce your Mercenaries Guild Gold Card at the critical moment (ie, while you still have fingers), you can be exempted from a lot of this pain and agony stuff. The Mercenaries hang out on the west side of town. A lot of them like to gample at the Roach & Rider Casino. They're the large gentlemen betting the long odds who seem to be able to get drunk, cause a commotion, and abuse the staff without getting thrown out by the bouncers. That's because the bouncers are all Mercenary Guild members too. Starting off at the lowest Rank, these are the grades you can rise to in the Mercenaries Guild: * Bodyguard's Apprentice * Hireling * Bounty Hunter * Mercenary * Guildmaster _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 47) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ The Men-At-Arms are a more sober-minded bunch, though they're as tough as old nails. They hang out in an office inside the large barracks area on the east side of town. If your face is on any wanted posters, this is a good place to avoid, because the posters are printed here.... The Men-At-Arms are said to be in good standing with King Farley, and enjoy a more comfortable reputation around town than the Mercenaries. It seems a little unfair, since they're just as keen on cracking heads, but perhaps they do it with more style. The route to the top of the tree in the Men-At-Arms Guild runs something like this: * Grunt * Trooper * Weaponsmith * Captain * Templar Both Guilds offer excellent weapons training among their Services. This improves your ability to stay alive in a fight. The Warrior Guilds place a high value on that kind of thing. _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 48) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ PICKING POCKETS Some say the simplest way of earning an honest coin is to steal it from someone else. However, odds are that someone else stole it from someone else in the first place, so this idea probably doesn't apply to Mitteldorf. Still, if all else fails, you can always earn a dishonest coin by pinching it. There are several ways to do this, but, in the end, they fall into one of two categories - licensed and unlicensed. After all you have read about how tough the law is in Mitteldorf, it may surprise you to know that there is a thriving Thieves' Guild in the city. They may operate under another name, but that's what they are. OK, nothing unusual about that. Several cities have a Thieves' Guild, a brotherhood meeting secretly in tiny, darkened rooms to plan great crimes. In Mitteldorf, though, they operate out of a great big building, and their letterhead proudly announces that the Guild has won "King Farley's Award For Export" three years out of the last four. Oh, they're still secret, but not so secret that they don't advertise. Check the noticeboard in the Twin Snakes Inn, down by the harbor. The key thing to remember about the Thieves' Guild is they exist to prevent robbery. Unlicensed robbery, that is. The Guild has a quota of items it is allowed to filch, and it doesn't allow non-members to muscle in on its share of the take. _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 49) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ So, if you're going to make a career out of currency exchange, a place in the Thieves' Guild is a must. These are the various grades within the Guild: * Beggar * Pickpocket * Graverobber * Thief * Godfather The Guild's Training Service allows you to improve your skills at Picking Locks, Pockets, or easy targets. You also learn how to dodge, a useful combat skill. Finally, as a member of the Guild, you are made privy to the ancient secret of opening windows and climbing through them. Once you have this skill, if you 'bump' into a window and press Enter, you should be able to get into all kinds of interesting buildings.... _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 50) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ THAT'S MAGIC! The two Magicians' Guilds in Mitteldorf are the Fellowship of the Asegeir and the Brotherhood of Loki. They operate in the same way as other Guilds. They offer Services most notably identifying magical items. Or you can apply for membership in the usual way - go in, pay an initiation fee, complete some errand to prove you're worthy, and they let you in on the Guild secret handshake. Moreover, as an initiate of a Magician's Guild, you are taught how to splat people before they can even think of calling you a degenerate halfling. As you achieve each Grade of your Guild you are taught more and more powerful Spells. These are stored in your Spell Book, which you access by clicking on the Magic Spells icon. All the spells you can learn are shown, although low-grade adepts are not able to cast them all. To cast a spell, click on its icon. Some Spells last for a period of time, which is shown by the Timer Bar. Casting a Spell uses Energy, although the amount decreases the higher up you rise through the Guild. These are the equivalent Grades in the Two Guilds: ASEGEIR LOKI --------- ------ Spellbrewer's Asst - Mystic Scribe - Sorcerer Spellcaster - Spellbinder Wizard - Wizard Wizard Master - Warlock _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 51) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ These are the Spells mages can learn: Portal - this lets youw alk through locked doors and windows. The Spell has a limited duration, but while it is active you can pass through locked doors, portcullises, windows, and all manner of other barriers.... Fireball - Use this Spell to blast targets in front of you. For as long as the Spell endures, you can unleash fireballs from your fingers using the Spacebar. Create Food - This Spell creates Food. Your Right Hand must be empty before you start casting. Once the Food appears, you can eat it at once (click on the Use icon) or save it for later. Create Drink - This operates in much the same way. Warp - This Spell teleports you out od danger back to the Standing Stones. Heal - This restores your Health bar to maximum. Power - This increases the damage you can disk out in Combat. Some Monsters just won't fall over without it. Protection - This decreases the damage you take in Combat. _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 52) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ BELIEVE! By now, you will have realised that Mitteldorf can take care of all your physical needs while robbing you blind. But did you know it could take care of your spiritual needs while robbing you blind? Read on! There are four major Temples in the city. These are the Temple of all-father Odin, which operates by Royal Appointment, the Temple of Freya, a women-only club; the Temple of Aegir, which goes in for a lot of meditation and incense, and the Temple of Set, an ancient snake god who has the blood-stained altars and sacrifices concession. Temples operate much like Guilds. You stroll in, night or day, 'bump' the counter and they offer you three options - Business, Service, or Exit. If you select Business, they offer you membership of their Order. Just like a Guild, there are fees and Challenges to be met. However, unlike joining a Guild, you don't just get your membership button and a discount voucher, you also get a Spell Book! Priest Spells work just like Magic Spells (although the Temples would never admit it), only you access them through the Priestly Magic icon. They are described on the following page. You can rise up through the ranks of a Temple just like in a Guild, by returning and selecting Business again. The higher you rise, the greater the magic you can cast. There are some other perks too. _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 53) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ The second option at a Temple is Service. Being responsible institutions, Temples run free health checks for all zitizens and tourists. The Healer will look you over, and recommend treatments for any ailments you may have, from dehydration (a visit to a tavern is cheaper!) through combat injuries to tomb rot, vampirism, and warts. These cures aren't cheap, but they're effective! And members can operate on a "severe injury discount" basis, which keeps the costs very reasonable. The Temples has their own hierarchies, which rise as follows: ODIN Freya ------------- ------------ * Neophyte * Flirt * Magus * Coquette * Theurgist * Temptress * Spirit Exorcist * Seducer * High Priest * High Priestess Aegir Set ------------- ------------ * Novice * Wriggler * Theologian * Hisser * Divine Mediator * Crusher * Cleric * Striker * High Priest * Venom Master _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 54) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ MIRACLES AND OTHER DAILY EVENTS Now that you're a Priest, you can expect to be pestered all day by people expecting you to perform miracles. Since this can put a severe strain on your social life, it's probably an idea to learn a few Spells which you can show off to the guys down at the Jug of Ale tavern. These are the Spells from the Priests' Spell Book: Portal - This allows you to walk through locked doors and windows. the Spell lasts for a limited duration, but while it is running you can pass through all manner of obstructions, including windows and locked doors. Lightning Bolt - Amaze your friends! Cast powerful bolts of lightning at your enemies! For as long as the Spell endures, you can fire lightning from your fingertips using the Spacebar. Create Food - This Spell creates a tasty, vitamin-packed meal for one. Eat it now or save it for later. You must have your Right Hand empty before you start casting. Create Drink - This operates in much the smae way, creating tasty beverages. Sactuary - If you cast this Spell, you are transported magically to your Temple. Faith Heal - This restores your Health to maximum. Power - This increases the damage you can dish out in Combat. Some Monsters just won't fall over without it. Protection - This decreases the damage you take in Combat. _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 55) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ NOT GUILTY, YOUR HONOR Sooner or later, you are bound to make the acquaintance of the Town Guard. the fact is, Mitteldorf has a highly complex and detailed legal system, interpreted on the streets by goons with single-digit IQs. There are many offenses you can commit. There are also quite a few you can be arrested for whether you commit them or not. After that, the course of justice in Mitteldorf runs straight and true. You'll be run straight off to the Halls of Justice, and the court will believe that everything the arresting officer says is true. Good King Farley hears all cases in person. After you've been arrested for the tenth time in a week, you might start thinking that this would mean he'd spend about 72 hours a day in court. Well, the lawyers have got round this by removing all time-wasting procedures like juries, pleas, evidence - and lawyers. Within about ten seconds your fate will be decided. Punishments rise from fines for minor misdemeanors to long-term accomodation in one of the city's five minus-five star prisons. If our illustrious Monarch and the lovely Queen Jocasta have had a fight, of course, sentences tend to be rather more severe than otherwise. Even the King can have a bad day. _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 56) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ Here, to help you stay on the straight and narrow, is a list of the kind of offenses most commonly commited by Mitteldorf's citizens. * Acting Suspiciously * Vagrancy * Excessive Snooping (1) * Attempted Robbery (2) * Beastly Behavior (3) * Drunk & Disorderly * Assaulting An Officer (4) * Rent Arrears * Gambling Debts * Handling Stolen Goods (5) * Threatening Behavior (1) This law was brought in after the introduction of the Window Tax. Since the window owner had paid the tax, it was decreed that only he had the right to look through it. So, in Mitteldorf, unlicensed viewing through other people's glass is an offense. The Thieves' Guild has a special license to allow them to avoid prosecution. So does the Guild of Glaziers. (2) The Thieves' Guild are very hot on prosecuting such cases. Attempted Robbery, indeed... why didn't you get away with it? (3) Such as turning into a beast. (4) Actually killing one isn't just a crime, it's blatant stupidity! (5) If you think about it, just about everything that exists belonged to someone else at some time, right? _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 57) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ DOCTOR, DOCTOR Staying in Mitteldorf is not unhealthy. This needs to be made clear from the start. Most citizens manage to spend their whole lives without contracting vampirism or having their legs sawed off by trolls. On the other hand, most citizen's don't go wandering around dungeons looking for "adventure." So, because you are the foolhardy type, you'll need to know what to do when bits of your body aren't functioning properly, or aren't attached to the other bits. Hypochondriacs will be pleased to know that a large amount of the Main Screen Display is given over to measuring how sick they are. The Character Status Display measures seven key indicators - Health, Energy, Combat Injuries, Appeal, Hunger, Thirst, and Sleep. The higher those bars are, the better off your Character is. But what does it mean when they start to fall? Specifically, Health is an all-round measure of your physical state. If this falls, something is seriously wrong. If the cross turns green, then you have caught some unpleasant disease (or two...). Energy measures how much get-up-and-go your Chracter has. The lower this gets, the more likely you are to succumb to illness. Energy gets burned up if you spend every minute of the day fighting monsters and casting Spells. Combat Injuries really take it out of you. they need the attention of a healer and lots of rest. Appeal shows what impact you have on the rest of the population. A healthy, upstanding member of the community will have high Appeal. An infested low-life will have none. Guess which extreme you start nearest? Hunger, Thirst, and Sleep are measures which show when you need food, drink, or a decent night's sleep. _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 58) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ To stay healthy, eat well, drink natural products, sleep in a hostel, and avoid the business end of people's wepaons. If you fail in any of those areas, you have four options. You could see the Town Surgeon. Check notice boards or the yellowing pages of the Mitteldrof Post for details. She's new in twn, so her prices are reasonable. Or you could visit a Temple. A check-up is free, but they charge the earth for treatment. Or, if you have the necessary Magic, you can always practice some DIY (Do-It-Yourself) surgery. The fourth option is to keel over. Death is, as the philosophers would say, the "end of the game." It's back to Character Generation for you! _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 59) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ TOURIST ATTRACTIONS Finally, since you're going to be staying in Mitteldorf for a while, why not seek out some of its more unique attractions? Culturally speaking, the highlight has to be the Theatre. There are often crowds of people milling around trying to get tickets, and some of the fights that break out over the best seats are just as entertaining as the plays! If you are tempted to go inside, be prepared for a bit of audience participation. Because the city's actors haven't learned the art of fake swordplay, there is a shortage of quality actors. Just turn up, and they'll give you a part. If you survive the first performance, they'll probably make you a star! If you prefer more restful entertainment, seek out the Museum, which contains many relics of the glorious history of Mitteldorf and the island of Wolfsbrood. It is here that, one day, you might hope to find a written copy of the chronicle of your life, the legend of Valour. Of course, you'll be dead by then, but this isn't a complete hinderance to visiting the Museum, as you will tell from the staff (who are all Zombies...). Of course, gaping eye-holes and no ears makes reading or listening to your own life story a bit difficult, but you can still soak up the atmosphere. Finally, mention must be made of the Zoo, which is down on East Side, not far from the Main Gate. This houses the greatest collection of mean and nasty creatures anywhere in the world, and all collected from the dungeons under the city (which saved a fortune in transportation costs). This has to be worth a visit before you begin adventuring. Isn't it better to get a close look at a minotaur behind bars before you meet one in a dark cavern somewhere? _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 60) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ MONSTRUM HORRENDUM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DENIZENS OF THE UNDER-CITY 'NEATH MITTELDORF by Erik the Wolf I've added some of my own thoughts, Cousin, to what the old man has to say. He's only a lush these days, and it's been a long while since he stalked anything more lively than a boiled ham! Don't let all his warblins put you off - i've ne'er seen anything i'd be afrighted of! _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 62) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ ----- DEAR READER ----- I write these words in the vain hope that you may avoid the fate that has befallen many brave and foolhardy souls. My name is Erik. You may have heard of me - once men called me Erik the Wolf. I fought in the Great Northern War, and destroyed King Peotr's fleet. Aye, all that and more before my fiftieth year. Then came I to Mitteldorf. I have battled many fell creatures in my time, yet even I was unprepared for the numbers that dwell 'neath the streets of this town - aye, and who even walk those streets, when the moon is full, or the heat of the summer drives them from their lairs. They're no different to the night-creatures that haunt many a tower in this world - there are just so many of them! The people of this town paid me well to walk the dark passages of the Under-city. I shed much inhuman blood. I also saw plenty of human blood spilled, friends of mine who died for a purse so small it would scarce buy a room and a flagon of cheap ale. Pah! Whose fault is it that the Under-city crawls with such vermin anyway?! Why can't they just be left alone?! What extra coin does a merchant require that he must send men to kill beasts 'neath the earth? Ah, but you do not want to know this, do you, my new-found friend? You bought this information because you too are a sword-for hire, and you hope the investment of a few coins will grant you an edge. I shall not disappoint you. You have chosen to enter the Under-city in search of adventure. I can promise you plenty. They say "forewarned is forearmed." Well I say, be forewarned, and then be well-armed as well. The creatures who inhabit the under-realm care not a fig for thy knowledge, but they respect a mighty sword-arm or a well-crafted spell, sure enough. So, I share my wisdom with you. I bid you heed it. What a grim joke! I wonder how many copies of my work have ended up in some monster's den, looted from the corpse of he who bought it? I pray you own this publication for rather more years than some. _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 63) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ BAT Bats - the caverns are full of these accursed creatures. They are a grave nuisance. Not only are they almost impossible to hit while they wheel through the air, but they have fierce teeth and sharp talons. You need your wits about you, and stout armor about you even more! You can't avoid them, should you need to pass their lairs, since they "see" in the dark better than you or I see by day. Their wings make no sound as they beat, and the first you shall know of them shall be the close grip of their claws, and their sharp bite! Keep them at bay with your missles! If you must melee, remember that in vast caves, the advantage is all with them. Therefore, draw them into narrow spaces, with low roofs, where they cannot easily get behind you. And be warned - the other dwellers of the Under-city are better attuned to the bats' strange squels than are human ears. Disturbing a colony of bats might not only unleash a winged terror upon you, it might also bring curious goblins or lizard-men to discover what has caused the alarm.... BEAR In days long past, hundreds of bears lived in the woods that covered the lower slopes of the mountain and the plains of this fair island. Now that so much of the land is inhabited and farmed, and the forests are cleared, the survivors have vanished into the Under-city. In their natural state, these beasts are shy, and fight only to protect their young. Those that lurk in the Under-city have been afflicted by a dangerous madness, however. They attack without warning, ambushing from the shadows. They possess a terrible cunning! I'm told they eats people! Leastways, that's what Monkey-Mad Marten says, an' he lost an arm fighting one. He says he wouldn't have been able to get away, if it hadn't stopped to take a bite from what it had ripped off.... - 1 - _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 63) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ The most fearsome of these creatures is the Giant Red Bear. Some curse must have been laid upon this creature, for it is of monstrous size, and fearsome strength. There is no secret to fighting them; just do not let them grip you in their powerful arms! Aim for the body, where their thick pelt is less protecting. CYCLOPS Several massive beasts inhabit the Under-city, and I would sooner walk barefoot across hot coals than meet any of them. One of the most hideous is the Cyclops. These things - for I believe there is more than one of them - stand seven or eight feet tall, and wear no more than a simple loin cloth, though the air 'neath the City can oft' be as cold as a winter night. Their skin is as hard as marble, and you'll blunt the finest blade in Mitteldorf before you ever slay the brute. But the most fearsome aspect of the Cyclops is the single eye in the center of his brow, a wide, bloody, staring thing, as lifeless as a snake's, and capable, they say, of great magics.... I swear that must be the only thing - i'm told they cut their hair with a battle-axe.... So, keep clear, and throw rocks or other missles at it. Best of all, the troll-like harridan who cooks for old man Skiold the Provisioner makes a meatball which is perfect for the task. Hey, Cousin! Why are cyclopses always a fightin'? Cause they don't see eye-to-eye! - 2 - _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 64) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ DEMON This horrid creature may never trouble you. If you are wise (and not all adventurers are stupid, though this condition is quite common) you will never dabble in the darkest forms of magic, nor will you associate - even at sword-point - with the acolytes of Demonology. Sadly, I have never knows men and women of lesser wisdom, who have spoken of the ultimate power and victory to be obtained through summoning elementals of great power. I have no idea where they are now; some dark dimension, I suspect, or limbo.... Demons only agree to one pact; one service in exchange for one soul. I beg you, even if you never heed another one of my words, have no truck with Demons.... DRAGON Dragons are enormous, powerful winged creatures, If you have never seen one, take a visit to the south side of the island, where the King has set aside the rocky promontory beyond his hunting lodge for their nesting grounds. Through very unintelligent, dragons adore gems of all kinds, and their nests are decorated with wonderful treasures. They hoard gold, silver, weapons, armor, and many other items as well. I'm sure all thsi talk of gems and other treasure has whetted your appetite. And, I can tell you, some dragons inhabit the Under-city, hatched from eggs stolen by the goblins. So, let me prepare you for what will follow when you enter their lair. The dragon is armored from head to tail-tip in tough, flexible scales. Its internal organs are deep within its body, and the It's a pity he don' say where he's seen one! - 3 - _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 65) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ brain encased in thick bone. It has talons on its forelegs like butchers' knives, and its vast may elcoses rows of needle-sharp teeth. It can breathe fireballs which can roast a man faster then pig on a bonfire. These are truly deadly beasts! GHOST I have heard tell of terrible spirits who stalk the Under-city also. I have never seen one myself, although once I felt a chill on my back and, whirling, I thought my sword passed through something before the blade crashed into the wall. What I want to know is, if they're invisible, how's he drawed a picture of one? The only wise priest I ever knew told me that ghosts are tortured souls, the wraiths of men and women who have died through betrayal. Vengeance drives them. They haunt a particular place, or pursue a vendetta against the individual who robbed them of life. They suffer no distraction. For some, though, that vengeance never comes. Their enemies are taken from them by some other cause. These ghosts, my friend told me, wander eternity in search of the revenge they have been robbed of, resenting all living creatures. They rest for aeons but - if disturbed - attack with ultimate hatred. No ordinary blade can touch them. The magics which can dispel them are costly, but there can be no better investment.... not even life insurance. - 4 - _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 66) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ GIANT SPIDER I curse these venomous spiders almost more than any other, for I have seen many a companion yield to their vile poison. Watch you well - the bite of these beasts is deadly. In almost any lair, you will find these great beasts. As long in the body as a great hunting dog, with great long legs bent up high, and vast maws dripping venom - I have seen brave men become gibbering fools just at the sight of them. Clever sword-play will avail you nought. Strike hard at the eyes! They trap their pray as normal spiders do, building fantastic webs in dark places, or hiding in small side passages to trap passers-by. The goblins provide them with much of their diet... those pathetic creatures cannot resist their iron grip. A full-grown man, if he be strong enough, can pull free. And mark you well! If you are bitten, keep a close eye on your health and well-being. Should you feel sickness, or should your strength begin to fail you, 'tis a sure sign of the poison! Seek a remedy at the Temples, or from the leech. Otherwise, magic is the only cure! GOBLIN Goblins - these cunning little curs pollute the Under-city, like rats in a sewer. They are of little consequence individually, being quite small though hard-headed, and very weak. They have very little skill with weapons. Do not waste your magics upon them, for a good blow from even the least - 5 - _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 67) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ capable warrior should subdue the beasts. That said, they do hunt in great packs, and they have that peculiar bravery that comes from deep stupidity and cruel greed. It pays to be wary when there is no reason to believe a lair is close at hand. In large numbers, they can overwhelm even the most steadfast warriors. In Neustadt, they say, similar creatures massacred Prince Wolfram's whole guard in their camp during the march back from the siege of Pfalzmarkt. Goblins have poor eyesight, but they do have a keen sense of smell. If there is any difference between the female and the male, i've never noted it, for they are all berserk fighters. They speak some guttural tongue amongst themselves, but I know no-one who can understand half a word of it. Small matter. When you invade their world, you will have no need of words when they seek to reclaim it. Just last week I had a run in with a whole hob of goblins! We slaughtered 'em! They're even weedier than he describes! GORGON They say that the women of Mitteldorf are the most beautiful in the world. I would not disagree, though I have traveled far. There are some, though, whose beauty is deadly.... Women of terrible splendor haunt the Under-city, women of whom it is said that the sight of can freeze a man to the spot, while their touch can turn his heart to stone. The gorgon is difficult to kill but - fortunately - does not have the power to deal death by force of - 6 - _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 68) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ arms of its larger brethern. Avoid her touch, and all should be well. Should you fail, the Temples may have some aid for you, though I never knew a priest who understood affairs of the heart. As if the ole fool did. I dunno what this is all about, Cousin! I seen some lovely women since I came to this town, but none as made me turn to stone. LAMIA Akin to the gorgon, the lamia has the body of a woman, but deformed by evil magics! The curse of the lamia is that she be part-woman, part-snake. They are carnivorous, and drink blood. The most adept seem to possess some mind-sapping magics that shred a man's mind. The lamia is an Amazon, and revels in battle. Like a Black Widow, she seeks to defeat and devour the male. Another part-woman! I thinks the old boy has some kind of problem.... LIZARD MAN The lizard men lived on this island before Mitteldorf was more than a collection of rude huts on the shore. I have seen their colonies all over the world, connected by tunnels and volcanic shafts 'neath the ground. They are shy creatures, who keep well away from the by-ways of men, and with good reason. The colony here on Wolfbrood inhabits the warm beaches on the north of the island. They hunt and fish in the sun by day, and retire to their caves by night. They are col-blooded creatures, and warmth is as precious to them as bread and water to you and I. The hot volcanic springs 'neath Mitteldrof warm the steamy tunnels they inhabit. They speak in a rasping, aibilant language which I understand not a dozen words of. You'll find they will rarely offer to communicate, even to trade. They have few precious possessions - 7 - _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 69) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ save their families, and fight only when cornered. If left alone, they pose no threat to anyone! I swear, Cousin, the old man must be some kind of reptile-lover! The snake-men are cold-blooded, right enough - cold-blooded killers! They attacked the town's fishmen, and killin merchants who went among them to trade. I'd burn their vermin-ridden lairs and slaughter them all, young and old alike! See how they like the heat then! MINOTAUR Another of the great beasts is the Minotaur. Like all of them, he loves the taste of human meat - and Elven too, i'm told. I once saw a Minotaur refuse to eat a dwarf, but he had dined on five stout warriors already by then, and he may have had his fill. They stand about seven feet tall, and have massive heads, crowned with sharpened horns. Given room, they will charge with their heads lowered, trying to gore their enemies. Attacked from the side or rear they are less dangerous, though still fearsome. There si no reasoning with such brutish creatures. They are the most animlistic of creatures, though, and fear fire. A torch, or magical fire can do much to harm them that a sword cannot. I haven't seen one of these face-to-face yet, but One-eye Dorbson, he says he's seen plenty, and that they're a lot of bull! MUMMY Before burial was outlawed on Wolfsbrood, priests, mages, princes and other worthies would be embalmed upon death - that is, they would have all their innards removed and drained, and then they would be close-wrapped in cloth soaked in special preserving brines. The corpse would then be encased in a stone sarcophagus and buried deep 'neath the city. From what I have observed, then, even the tombs of the mighty have been defiled! For these mummies have risen! - 8 - _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 70) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ Mere zombies cannot compare with these horrors, for they can retain the powers and might they had a life, amplified by the long solitude of death. They have one weakness - they fear fire, for the wrappings that bind them are usually paper-dry, and the things can be destroyed by torch or magic spell. If you have no such means, then you must take great care, and break every last piece to atoms, lest the whole rises again! SATYR These creatures escaped from the King's dungeons, it is said, wherein they had been incarcerated since the fall of some great wizard-warlord. They stand as tall as a man, horned-headed, and with shaggy pelts, particularly on their heads and legs. They are canny fighters, difficult to overwhelm. But some have also the gift of magic, and can cast minor magics at will, though I believe only their clan-chiefs can cast greater spells. They are rumored to possess great treasure, and at least one merchant is supposed to have traded with them for pearls and diamonds. I have never had dealings with them, so I cannot claim to know their language. Gold, apparently, is one word which is sounded the same in their tongue as in ours.... Oh really! If this is a satyr, I don't think it's funny! - 9 - _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 71) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ TROLL If ever creatures were worth avoiding, trolls are they. Huge, man-shaped creatures with skin like stone and the strength of ten! In far-off Anname, the warlords of that land train these beasts from when they are first born to fight in their armies. I saw five of the beasts break down the walls of Herio-ai and slaughter all its defenders, while a neighboring prince and all his army stood by drinking rice wine and waiting their moment to loot. They are flesh-eaters, and have little discrimination in their diet, although I have observed that they bore quickly of goblin-meat, and enjoy a delicacy such as an elf or a man. They also seem to find great pleasure in wearing the bones of their victims as jewelry. The females wear skirts made from femurs, and the chieftains wear skull necklaces, and stud their gigantic clubs with teeth. You will also find their homes decorated with broken armor and shields. What peirl, then, for Mitteldorf to have such monsters below its streets? Well, I tell you this; the trolls 'neath this town inhabit the darkest corners of the tunnels and caverns, living in small groups away from the more active goblin colonies, though close enough to hunt them. They shun the light, so the King's Guard has always found defenses to keep them at bay. But what need have the - 10 - _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 72) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ trolls to attack, eh? A steady diet of rare meat finds its way to their lairs in search of treasure and adventure. They can be killed, but it takes more than some street-bravo with a sword to defeat them. Their belly is their weak point, but you must first keep clear of their clubs and fists. Disarmed and broken-limbed, they are much less of a threat. Ah! But the tales I could tell you of the treasures they horde! The old fool always leaves out they best bits! VAMPIRE You might wonder if I am not a little befuddled to speak of vampires. Who in Mitteldorf has ever seen one? What evidence is there that they exist? You must have heard the legends of these fiendish ever-living creatures; how they drink the blood of living creatures to preserve their sinister beauty, and how they shun the cleansing purity of running water, garlic, and sunlight. They are the essence of evil. I am one of those who shares the opinion that it is an ancient vampire who is responsible for raising the zombies from their graves. Many others have been afflicted with the curse since then. For, though the authorities deny it, I am sure many lesser vampires stalk the streets of the city at night, victims of the greater evil. When an ancient Vampire does not wholly drain the blood of a victim, he infects the victim with the curse. Vampirism is a contagion, a disease. In the early stages, the victim appears much as before, though the color soon vanishes from their skin, and they develop a tatse for raw meat. Later, they will develop a taste for hot blood. It takes some time for the full grip of vampirism to take place, when the taste becomes a driving hunger. A madness then takes over them, so that they do not even know the time of day.... - 11 - _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 73) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ Vampires develop unnatural strength, and - in time - they are said to be able to turn their flesh, which can be burned by sunlight, into a cold vapor. They become ever more beasutiful to behold, which is one clue to their identity. Of course, if you drive your blade into the heart of every attractive citizen you meet, you will soon be hunted by every wtachman in Mitteldorf! If you ever listen to this old fool, he'll have you believin' every other man in Mitteldorf is vampire! Heck - i'm parcel to a sip of Ox blood myself, and i've never been near no undead. WEREWOLF In amuses me greatly that so many adventurers pass into the Under-city to seek out werewolves, for its surely well-known that many openly walk the streets of Mitteldorf by night. Ask yourself this; who have I encountered in this place who, for one full week in each month, rises not in the day, but breathes the clearer air of night? Better yet, save yourself the trouble of seeking out the were-beasts, and sleep openly in the street. If you are wakened by a sharp point and a growling wolfish voice, then 'yis only a member of His Majesty's Town Guard. If you wake not at all, then you have found your werewolf. Why, you ask, do the authorities, who police the streets of many other misdemeanors, not stir themselves to burn out the contagion? Ask yourself again; if you were a watchman, to whom would you sooner explain the King's justice? A drunk sleeping in a doorway? A man peeking through another man's windows? Or a seven-foot tall, steel-muscled man in wolfshide, whose talons can shred armor like shears cut through silk? On the whole, werewolves are to be avoided. Of course, you can put your faith in the charms and gew-jaws carried by credulous aimpletons, or arm yourself with silvered - 12 - _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 74) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ weapons, spells, and wolfsbane. Certainly, these provide greater protection than normal weapons. For all the good they do, you might just as well carry a dog whistle. One more thing. Do your fellow citizens the coutesy of taking a hard look in a mirror before you venture out at night. Lycanthropy, the disease of the were-folk, is highly infectious. You may congratulate yourself for having slain a werewolf and having taken scarce a scratch, but you will be premature to do so. Within the month, you woo will know the joys of running padded-foot through the streets with your clothes in rags with a rancid taste in your mouth.... ZOMBIE You search in vain for a graveyard in Mitteldorf. The dead, when their remains require disposal, are burned in the Temples, or carried out to sea on funeral ships. Of course, the latter is the only fitting one for a warrior or king, but I have never known another city where the common folk aren't tumbled into a hole in the ground at the edge of the fields they have worked all their lives. Mitteldorf is different for a reason. In times past, burial was a regular here as in any other city-state. There was a cemetary 'neath the Dwarven Quarter, and another near East Side. Many others were interred beyond the city walls. Then, as the City grew, came reports of disturbances in the graveyards, of tombs opened and recent burials dug up. Guards were placed to prevent - 13 - _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 75) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ their trade. The guards disappeared. Then the guards reappeared, slack- jawed and loose-fleshed, shuffling through the streets. Mitteldorf discovered it was plauged by the risen dead. Many were suspected of necromancy. Women were burned by Witchfinders, and men tortured by our energetic priesthood. All this was to no avail; the dead continued to return. Finally, the King outlawed burial, and the Temples opened their sacrificial chambers to more mudane business. I mention all thsi to make the point that the undead of Mitteldorf are ancient beings - although I suppose a few are recent victims of the aeons-old. They have a great and grisly wisdom, a hungry cunning. They stalk the living with a cold passion. They have no vitals in which to thrust your blade, nor any brain to smash. The only way to defeat them is to reduce their bones to dust and fragments. Crippling their limbs makes them less dangerous, but I have seen a single finger drag itself along in pursuit of flesh. They are horror incarnate, and their black talons inflict flesh-rot. There are charms and magics which to repel them, but nothing succeeds better against these abominations than crushing force of arms! - 14 - _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 76) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ ----- CREDITS ----- U.S. GOLD ---------------------------------------------------------- Game Design Kevin Bulmer, Ian Downend IBM Programming Ian Downend Amiga Programming Graham Lilley, Paul Woakes Graphics Kevin Bulmer, Nigel Bunegar, Steve Drysdale, Mo Warden, Kate Copestake Audio Martin Walker, Ben Daglish Development Management Tony Brickley, Tony Porter Manual Paul Cockburn Additional Documentation Ben Daglish Monster Illustrations Kevin Bulmer Public Relations Danielle Woodyatt Sales & Marketing Robert Malin Testing Ben Daglish, Sarah Bradnock, Martin Smith, Tony Bourne, Ashely Downend Strategic Simulations, Inc. ---------------------------------------------------------- Rule Book Editors Eileen Matsumi Andre Vrignaud Producer Nicholas Beliaeff Associate Producer David A. Lucca Playtesters Mike Gilmartin, Sean House, Steven Okano, Matt Vella, Chris Warshauer, Christine Watson Test Support Kym Goyer Graphic Design and DTP Louis Saekow Design: David Boudreau, Leedara Sears, Kathleen Lee Printing A&a Printers and Lithographers, Inc. _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 77) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ STRATEGIC SIMULATIONS, INC. LIMITED WARRANTY Strategic Simulations, Inc. ("SSI") warrants that the diskette(s) on which the enclosed program is recorded .... oh screw it! _________________________________________________________________________ - Legends of Valour (Page 78) Legends of Valour - _________________________________________________________________________ Da End! Well I hated to type this doc, more than any other... but it's done so have fun with it and this cool game. Everyone who knows me, knows I wear out the keyboard all the time, so if I missed a character or two, sorry! but it couldn't be helped. -baser Regardz to the Best: Rygar, Scooter, Skid Row, Loons