SMUGGLERS COVE by John Keneally The day has come at last: I can delay no longer. Perhaps the worst thing about the situation is that my story is simply laughed at in this so-called age of reason, the closing decades of the 20th century. So I am alone: only by my own efforts can I rid myself of this terrible burden. Today I must set out on my perilous journey, but in case I don't return I have used the technology of this age to record the facts. Though to most it may appear to be simply a game, perhaps a few will come eventually to believe the incredible truth. It started innocently enough, with the Bottle. Encrusted with the salty upwellings of ancient oceans it was, and scarred by the breath of great storms. I would have passed it by if my eye had not caught the glint of it amongst the flotsam at the water's edge. Who would have believed it would contain what it did: the curse of some long-dead pirate abandoned by his shipmates on a barren island, slowly starving to death. The faded writing was still legible: 'Upon ye who readeth this I place this quest. Deal vengeance on the Blackguards who left me here and recover the treasure they stole from me. By the Black Soul of the Skull I do place this curse upon ye, to die as I have died unless ye do as I have bid. The name was unreadable, but there was a map showing how to enter the caves where the treasure was hidden. Of course I laughed too at first, and that was my first mistake. Whatever the cause, I am slowly wasting away, getting weaker by the day. I know not whether recovering the treasure will rid me of the curse if curse it be, but what choice do I have? So, by the end of this day I shall be far from the sun's warming rays in a land of unknown terrors and dangers. You who read this, remember me! To probe the secrets of the caverns you can use sentences such as 'Get the rope and throw it, then move north', or 'get the rope, ladder and barrel'. Some verbs to help you are: take, get, search, drop, light, float, throw, pull. These will help in the early stages. As you progress many others will be needed. Score, inv (inventory) and look are also recognised, as are single letters (n,e,s,w,u (up), d (down). You can use multiple moves separated by commas or ' and ', e.g. 'n,n,e,s and s'. Remember you can be entering commands while the graphics are being drawn, though you won't see them until the picture is complete. Save and load are used to save a partly complete game. Your objective is to find the treasure and then find a way out. All rights reserved. No part of this program should be recorded, duplicated or transferred in any form onto any media without prior authorisation from the owners of the work. Hiring and lending of this programme is prohibited unless written permission is given by CRL Group PLC, CRL House, 9 Kings Yard, Carpenters Road, London E15 2HD.