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Inside the Iron Ring Guild.
The following hints and tips do not cover everything in the game, only what is essential in order to win. There is much more to explore. You may have to install the patch available on Westwood's website to trigger some of the advanced guild quests. Look for parts two and three of this walkthrough in days to come.

Along Came A Spider
Your alter ego is named Copper, the sixteen-year-old bastard nephew of Arthur, King of Gladstone. You were fourth in the line of succession, with your father Eric, and your two half-brothers ahead of you. However, while hunting Wild Boar together in Gladstone Woods, the first three are killed by spectral hounds which have slipped through portals to Gladstone from malevolent worlds. You must find the portals, close them—and find your soul.

There's a detailed Getting Started walkthrough on pages 4-7 of the game manual. After Copper picks up his knapsack, knife and journal while heading north through Gladstone Woods, and defeats a Giant Spider, he is taken to Gladstone Keep.

Picking up the Draracle's Golden Sigil.
To Guild Or Not To Guild
Completing all (or any) of the guild quests is not required to win the game. Playing the game is easier, however, if you join at least some of the guilds and finish some of the quests.

There are four Guilds within Gladstone—The Order of the Finch (Cleric Guild), the Talamari (Mage Guild), the Iron Ring (Fighter Guild) and The Bacchanal (Thieves Guild). The first three are easy to find, just follow the signs in front of the Keep. The Bacchanal, not quite so obvious as the others, is past the Fighter Guild, down some steps and through a small grating in the wall (crouch to get through it and into the Sewers). Turn right beyond the grating, go to the wall, turn right, go to the end of the hall and then turn left. Keep following this hall, turning only when a corridor is marked with a circled key symbol.

Each Guild offers a different Familiar for your companion. This article is based on choosing Griselda, and joining the Talamari, Iron Ring, and Bacchanal.

Complete the first Talamari quest by following the Draracle's Cave signs in Gladstone Woods. Enter the volcanic cul-de-sac along the way and to the right. Climb the volcano and click on the green ball of vapor. Your cursor will automatically change into the magic wand Copper was given to fulfill the quest.

Island hopping in Volcania
To complete the Iron Ring quest, use the key Copper was given to open the Warehouse (follow the signs in the Woods) and kill all the rats.

To join the Bacchanal, pick up the knife on the table and give it to Jadin after being assigned the Quest.

Give The Order of the Finch a pork chop from a Wild Boar, the coins they ask for, and kneel in front of the altar to join.

Counting Crows—er, uh—Coins While searching for the guilds you will find various items hidden behind bushes, in corners, fountains, and in barrels. Smash every barrel you find. Search every tree hole in Gladstone Woods. Search the bodies of everything you kill.

At first, use your Silver Crowns to buy a Light Crossbow, Battle-Axe, Shield and whatever armor Copper can afford. Buy the Lesser Light, Healing and Spark spells from the Talamari.

Explore Lower Gladstone to pick up more coins and items. The main entrance to Lower Gladstone is outside, in Gladstone Woods, but various ladders in the Sewers take you into Lower Gladstone. Here there are many Cutthroats and Rats to kill and loot as well as Shops to sell and buy items. There is also an Inn where you have a room on the second floor. Pay the Innkeeper the rent due and then go upstairs and take the items you find. Do not store anything here. It disappears.

Sell most everything you find except for items that heal such as Aloe, Cave Aloe, Black Lichen, Spider Silk, Healing Scrolls and Geldenberry. Keep Mana Pods; Mana Foil, Manastone and Silverleaf to restore spell points (Silverleaf combined with Rainbow Sulfite makes more Mana Foil).

Map of Volcania
Other useful items include Vel's Fruit to counter Lesser and Greater Poisons (not necessary while wearing Stone Bracers), Ivory Chips which increase your number of spell points when equipped and Stroke Daggers which become triple-strength lightning bolts when thrown.

Save the rest of your coins in order to buy the Greatbow Shift, Platemail Breastplate and Stone Bracers. After that, buy spells as you can afford them. You need not buy better swords or shields. You will find, or be given, the best of these free of charge.

The Draracle and Sigil
Once you have fulfilled your first guild quests, and explored both Upper and Lower Gladstone, it's time to talk to the Draracle about your soul. Follow the signs in the Woods to get to the Draracle's Cave. Deep within—after travelling along a path with a series of doors—is Jakel and a puppet Draracle.

Return to the woods, go to the volcanic cul-de-sac again and enter the portal to Volcania. Follow the path to talk to the real Draracle and then step into the teleport which materializes. It takes you back to the Draracle's Cave. Turn right, walk through the door and follow the corridor around the bend to talk to Jakel again. Open the door behind him to get to the Draracle's chambers, where you'll find the empty mirror frame that once was the Shining Path.

Exit past Jakel to the corridor and open the other door. The Draracle's voice tells you to follow the path ahead. It leads to a gap too large to jump across, but there is a wall button nearby that summons a series of bridges and a path that takes you to a large mound in the center of a room. Take the Golden Sigil from its platform on the mound. You are teleported. Use your automap to get back to Gladstone.

A Hot Time In The Old Town
After checking into your guilds to spend your coins (make sure you buy the Greatbow Shift), once again trek back to that volcanic cul-de-sac and go through the portal to Volcania. Your objective is to kill Morphera, the queen of the dragons, while she is in her lava lake lair in Dragon City.

To get there, follow the path past lava pools to a large cavern with two tunnels leading out. Travel down the tunnel on the left. At its end, plug the steam vent (shoot down the overhanging stalactite). Return to the large cavern, and plug another vent. Now, skip through the tunnel on the right. Walk along the right wall ledge. Ascend the steps, kill the Lesser Fire Drake and walk to the stone pillar which moves up and down.

Ride the pillar to the bottom of the cavern, and head through the large tunnel entrance there. Plug another vent and walk across the now-solidified lava pool. At the end of the tunnel, jump from ledge to ledge and platform to platform. Kill all the Fire Drakes you see, jump to a ledge and follow it around to enter another tunnel.

Do not kill the next Drake you see! Follow it through the tunnel to another cavern. Jump to the other side of a crevice in your path. Walk to the right and jump to the catwalk. Cross a stone bridge to find a spiked iron shield.

Return to the ledge and continue walking. A low ledge to the left takes you to another tunnel. Continue to plug all the vents you see by shooting down the overhanging stalactites.

After you meet and talk to Morphera for the first time continue through more tunnels to a narrow staircase that takes you to the top of a mountain where you see there are two nearby stone pillars moving up and down.

Climb back down the staircase to get closer to the second pillar. Jump over, ride it up and jump to the tunnel. At the end of this tunnel is a large lava lake with stepping stones. Cross the lake, jump to a low ledge and climb the path into another tunnel. It leads to Dragon City.

The doors in Dragon City open by standing on pressure plates that have dragon footprints. Go through several doors to get to a circular room with a large platform in the middle and three possible exits. The first door to your right leads to a final confrontation with Morphera in her lava pool.

To defeat her you must first plug up the three vents spilling lava into her pool (as always, shoot down the overhanging stalactites). Otherwise, she resurrects herself each time you kill her. At the bottom of her lava pool lies all her gold and a Shard. Collect the gold first, then click your cursor on the shard (the cursor automatically becomes the Sigil).

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Page Updated Mon Feb 28, 2000 8:25pm EST