The Breath of Life¢------------------¢¢Written by John E. (TEBSF)¢¢PLEASE NOTE: This adventure is in two parts and the password will be required before you can start part 2. Part 2 will appear in a future TGR.¢*¢The last few days seem to have happened so quickly. Firstly the Princess Pethal, your future wife, fell into a deep sleep from which there was no awakening her. The King's Mage, Sartan, claimed that evil work was ado, the reason being patently obvious. The King himself was deadly ill and the Princess is the only living heir to the throne. The holy scriptures quote that if there is no-one to rule over the land then the dark days will return. You remember your conversation with Sartan.¢ "You do know of the dark days, Haplo?"¢ "Of course", you reply. "The Legend of Prince Shaka and the Battle for Deamorc are stories I learnt when I was very young".¢ "What about the Elltears?"¢ Your mind sifts through the legend.¢Prince Shaka was being chased for miles by three hell-hounds. His last hope was to scale a tree at the summit of a hill. He made it up the tree with only a few seconds to spare.¢ Shaka took an inventory of his belongings. The only weapons he had was his bow and an extremely blunt knife, there were no arrows for the bow.¢ "The Elltears is the tree that Shaka climbed up to escape the hellhounds."¢ Sartan nods. "The hellhounds stayed at the bottom of the tree for 3 days and 3 nights. None seemed to feel hunger or thirst and they had only eyes for the Prince."¢ You continue the story. "So the Prince made some arrows out of the wood of the tree, knowing it was his only, extremely slim, chance."¢ "The Prince made three arrows and as if by magic all found the heart of a hellhound when fired. The Prince claimed the makeshift arrows were so blunt and warped that they would barely pierce a new-born child's skin and they had no flight path. The fight with the hellhounds was the turning point of the whole battle. The land would have fallen without the Prince to lead the attacks."¢ You pick up the story again. "After the battle was won, the Prince declared the tree sacred and named it 'Elltears'. Since then it has been forbidden to harm that tree."¢ Sartan nods. "You know the story well, Haplo, but you may be wondering what all this has to do with the Princess. I will explain. The gift of the Elltears is the gift of truth. The reason each hellhound was killed when touched by the wood was because, in reality, the hellhounds didn't exist. They were created by an evil mind, they were an illusion of depth. An illusion of the mind. There is a similar problem with the Princess. She is under a deep and dark sorcery, much, much powerfuller than mine, I'm afraid. Although she looks as though she is in a deep coma, she is in reality, awake and well. The Elltears will tell her this. She will be given back the breath of life."¢ "So you want me to go and get some wood from the Elltears?"¢ "NO!" The Mage shouts. "That is forbidden. You must never harm the tree. Never! What you must do is find the cave in the hill, staight underneath the Elltears. In that cave you will find a small pool of water, this is normal rain water which has passed right through the heart of the Elltears and absorbed some of its power. Be warned, Haplo. Do no let this water touch your skin or it will tell you the truth! That may not sound so bad, but reality can be an extremely strong enemy."¢ "I will find this cave", you vow. "I will return the Princess to me."¢ "Go now and pay a last visit to the Princess. Time is not on our side, Haplo."¢¢and so the adventure begins! The adventure uses most recognised verbs, including LOAD and SAVE, but if something doesn't work, try it another way!¢
