[Complete Fellowship of the Ring Documentation] Typed By: Otay and Beowulf /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ INTRODUCTION Welcome to Middle-Earth. You are about to begin a journey into the land of hobbits, wizards, and dwarves, of Gandalf the Grey, Sauron the Great, and the Rings of Power. This is the Magical world of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring. This is the story of Frodo Baggins, Bilbo's heir and now the possesser of the One Ring. In the Fellowship Adventure, you you play the part of the hobbit Frodo or any of his hobbit companions, Merry Pippin, or Sam. Your mission is to keep this Master-Ring from the Black-Riders, servants of the Dark Lord Sauron, as you search out the woods of Loth Lorien, the goal of the first adventure in the series. But you journey is a perilous one, fraught with danger and adventure. Each time you play the game, your path may lie in a different direction bringing new mysteries at each turn. The fate of Middle-earth is in your hands, Frodo, but don't let that worry you. Good luck, and may you return home to tell the tale! BRINGIN TOLKIEN TO THE COMPUTER In playing this adventure game, you will assume the roles of the characters from J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy world. You must specify the actions and movements you want to perform, and the computer will react accordingly. In producing the Fellowship of the Ring Adventure, it has been necessary to expand beyond the scope of the original book. It was not possible to follow the book precisely and still allow players to make their own decisions or to tread paths the characters never walked in Professor Tolkien's novels. To limit the game that way would leave you little reason to play; you could simply read the book and save yourself a great deal of trouble. As it is, you, the player, will be faced with situations that are entirely unfamiliar - even if you are deeply versed in The Lord of the Rings - but that are totally in keeping with the fantasy world created by Tolkien. Even Familiar situations can prove to be dangerous and challenging. Fans of the books may be in for a nasty surprise if they plunge confidently into the depths os dire (but expected) encounters, secure in the knowledge that familiarity with the books is enough to ensure easy victory. To those unfamiliar with Professor Tolkien's works, the game is readily playable. At no point of the game is a knowledge of the book assumed, although it is recommended that the book be read, if for no other purpose than to become more familiar to Middle-earth and its inhabitants. So play well, have fun, and if the wargs get you, just remember: you knew the job was dangerous when you took it! A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE RING WARS In the middle years of the Second Age of Middle-earth, Sauron the Great, master of the evil realm of Mordor, beguiled the great Elvin Smith Celebrimor of Eregion to teach him the craft of making Rings of Power. Three rings were made to grant the Elf lords their powers of wisdom and magic. Then Sauron and Celebrimor labored together to create the Seven and the Nine, which were given to the great lords of Middle-earth. Unknown to Celebrimor, Sauron had betrayed him. Deep within the bowels of Mount Doom, Sauron constructed the Ruling Ring, a ring that could enslave the wearers of other rings to him forever. So powerful was the spell that Sauron bound much of his power into it, forever linking his fate with that of the ring. When Celebrimor realized that Sauron had betrayed him, he hid the Three Elvin-rings from him. Over the ages, the Dwarven rings were nearly destroyed by the Dragons, but their wearers were even so brought into all-consuming greed and folly before they fell. The Nine-Mortal Lords "faded" from use of the rings and became the Nine Ringwraiths, forever enslaved in Sauron's will. A bitter war took place, with the prize being the fate of Middle-earth. At last Sauron was over-thrown, and the ring was cut from his finger by the human King Isildur. Isildur was in turn slain by orcs in an ambush many years later, the ring slipping from his finger as he tried to swim across a river to safety. Several millenia later, the ring was plucked from the river by a hobbitlike creature named Deagol. Deagol was tricked into giving up the ring by Smeagol, a skulking character, who saw the ring and coveted it. Smeagol was soon corrupted by the ring and eventually fled with his prize to the heart of Misty Mountains. There he hid himself in the darkness, and became to be known as Gollum. The ring sustained his life force for many dark centuries before it sensed its master stirring once again. Many years ago, Bilbo Baggins found the ring in a goblin's den, where it lay falling from Gollums finger. After many adventures, Bilbo returned at last to his home in the Shire. (much of this background material is covered in the book The Hobbit.) The ring has now passed onto Frodo Baggins, Bilbo Baggins heir, Bilbo having long since retired and and moved to Rivendell. In recent times, Gandalf the Wizard (an old and trusted friend) has told you of the ring's dark history. The servants of the enemy even now are seeking the One Ring, and the hobbit Baggins who possesses it. Gandalf tells you to take the ring to Rivendell, far to the east, and there to seek Elrond, who will advise you what to do with the now dangerous treasure. As the Enemy is watching the roads he advises you to travel by circuitous routes, and to adopt a psuedonym for the time being. To aid you in your quest are your three hobbit companions: Merry, Sam, and Pippin joining you at the Bag End, your comfortable home in Hobbiton-on-the-Hill. Merry awaits the group at the house in Crickhollowm to the east of Hobbiton, by the western bank of the Brandywine river. A quality inherent in the ring is that it makes the wearer invisible to all but the most powerful creatures. Gandalf has warned you not to make use of the ring yourself, lest you also "fade" and become a Ringwraith. Gandalf will aid you as much as he can, but he has many tasks to perform to make the passage to Rivendell as safe as possible for you. For all intents and purposes you are on your own. COMMUNICATING WITH THE PROGRAM The Fellowship of the Ring includes a very sophisticated communications program called Inglish. Inglish will allow you to enter commands and converse with other characters in familiar sentences. Those of you who have played the Hobbit Adventure will find that the Inglish language has been enhanced in this program. More details are given later about the power of Inglish, but the important thing is that you can enter your commands in simple, everyday langauge, instead of computer terminlogy. The Fellowship of the Ring has a very large vocabulary, so you should have little difficulty expressing your ideas and commands. Commands will usually take the form of actions, and this guide contains and abreviated list of some of the actions you can use. The list, however, includes only some of the most common commands and words; the program actually knows over eight hundred words, and hundreds of these are available to you in playing the game. The best thing to do is to try a word. The computer will tell you if it does not know it. In some cases, if the computer does not understand your command, it will ask for a clarification. THE SCREEN DISPLAY The Fellowship Adventure screen is divided into two windows; the description window and the communications window. The adventure descriptions-the text that describes your surroundings and the activities around you - appear in the description window at the top of the screen. Whenever you enter a new location, the computer will give you a full description of the area, the objects that are in plain sight, and a list of exits that are visible. The second time you enter a location, the computer will give you only a brief description of the location. If you wish to obtain a more complete description, simply enter the command, LOOK, and the computer will reply the lengthy text. The description window is also the area where the location graphics appear. The picture will appear the first time you enter a location, each time you use the LOOK command. The graphics provide you with pictures of the immediate location, though no characters will be pictured. These are left to your imagination. Below the adventure script, and arrow indicates the communications window, or the space in which you type in the actions you wish to perform. These action commands will appear on the screen in capital letters. Once you have type in and entered your commands, the computer will perform and otherwise acknowledge your action, or inform you that it does not understand the command. Once the computer has acknowledged an entry, it will print any new text that results from your actions, and then indicate that it is ready to receive a new command. ROLES YOU CAN PLAY One of the most fascinating features of the Fellowship of the Ring is that it offers you the opportunity to play any one of seven roles withing the game, and even switch roles while playing. This not only allows you to "be" hobbit characters throughout the game, but it also allows up to four people to play the game simultaneosly. SINGLE-PLAYER GAME When you first load the Fellowship Adventure one of the questions you will be asked is: WHICH HOBBIT CHARACTERS DO YOU WISH TO PLAY? Frodo, Merry, Pippin, or Sam? At this point you will chose all of the characters you might like to be during that session of play. If you are playing for the first time, it is a good idea to choose only the role of Frodo. The first character you enter is the first character you will "be" in the game. Whenever you chose to play just one character, the computer will take control of the other three characters and ensure that their actions are in keeping with their personalities. It also means that whenever you wish these characters to perform specific actions for you, you will need to instruct them by talking to them directly, using the SAY TO command (see the section of the Inglish language). When you play more than one character, the computer will look after the characters you are not controlling at the moment, but only in situations where you have not instructed them to do anything for a while, or when the entire party moves somewhere else. This means that you will need to instruct each character much more carefully than if you had chosen only one character for the same session. When you are ready to change characters, simply enter the command: BECOME (name) and you will be playing as that character. You may also change characters by entering: I AM (name) or omit either command and simply enter the name of the character you wish to become, as in: PIPPIN Once you have changed characters, it is a good idea to enter the LOOK command, since you may very well find yourself in a different place and situation. MULTIPLE-PLAYER GAMES The easiest way to play with more than one character is with a friend or three, each of you controlling one of the hobbits. In this way, you can help eachother throughout the adventure, and the human interactions on top of the computer will make the game that much more fun. The initial selection of characters and the commands to change characters are the same for a multiple player game as for a single player game. You select all the characters you want to play at the very beginning of the game. To change characters use the BECOME or I AM commands, or simply enter the name. By using these commands, you and your friends can "take turns" playing the different characters you have selected. THE INGLISH VOCABULARY Included here is a llist of actions you can use when playing The Fellowship of the Ring. Please note that this does not include the "magic words," or special verbs for actions that can be used only in certain areas and at certaing times. Finding out what these words are and how to use them is all part of the fun of the game. Remember that this is only and abbreviated vocabulary list. You can always try a new word to see if the program will understand it. MOVEMENTS North (N) Northeast (NE) Northwest (NE) South (S) Southeast (SE) Southwest (SE) Up (U) Down (D) ACTION VERBS ATTACK GO THROUGH SHATTER BLOW HELLO SLASH BREAK KILL SLICE BUY KNOCK ON SMASH CARRY LIFT SMOKE CLIMB LIGHT STRANGLE CLOSE LOCK STRIKE CROSS OPEN SWIM DRINK PAY TAKE DROP PICK UP THANK EAT PULL THROW EMPTY PUT ON TURN EXAMINE PUT OUT UN LOCK FILL READ UNROLL FOLLOW RUN WAIT GET SAY TO WEAR GIVE TO SPECIAL COMMANDS BECOME LOOK SAVE HELP NOPRINT SCORE INVENTORY PRINT LOAD QUIT -END PART 1 OF 2-