Demongate
| Demongate | |
|---|---|
| ◄Eamon adventure #213► | |
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| Author | Hoyle Purvis |
| Released | December 1991 |
| Revised |
17 November 1991 (DOS) 15 May 1994 (ProDOS) |
| EAG number | 213 |
| EDX number | 17-07 |
| EDX set | Classic Eamon Adventures, Vol. 5 |
| Native format | Apple DOS 3.3 |
| Files |
Eamon 213 - Demongate.dsk Eamon 213 - Demongate (ProDOS).dsk |
Demongate is an Eamon adventure written by Hoyle Purvis and released in December 1991.
Background
Demongate is the fifth of eight adventures by Purvis and was announced in the December 1991 issue of the Eamon Adventurer's Guild Newsletter along with four others by Purvis: Apocalypse 2021, Return of Ngurct, Lair of the Marauders, and Haunted Keep. Club president Tom Zuchowski described Demongate as the best of the group.
Premise
On your way back from an adventure you stop at the Abbey of Light to visit your old friend Lorin, who tells you that the abbey's brothers are guarding a magical ankh capable of opening a gateway to a demonic realm. The Darklord has attacked the abbey several times trying to seize the ankh, but has so far been unsuccessful. Lorin believes the Darklord is amassing his forces at an abandoned abbey to the north, situated beyond a vast and shadowy magical wall, and may attack again soon. You stay to help the brothers prepare, but when a force of undead beings invade the abbey, you stumble and fall into the courtyard well and are knocked unconscious, only to awaken after the battle is done.
| Full introduction |
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On your way home from a distant adventure, you decide to stop and visit your old friend Lorin, a cleric at the Abbey of Light. You arrive at the Abbey to find a busy scene, with people cleaning up debris and building new fortifications. There are many soldiers about, too, some of them wounded. Lorin explains that a few weeks earlier, a visiting wizard left a golden ankh at the Abbey for safe-keeping. The wizard said that the ankh is the key to a gateway from our world to a demonic realm. Recently, the Darklord had used the gateway to summon a powerful demon, which wreaked havoc before the wizard could finally defeat it with the help of a band of adventurers. Since the ankh's arrival, the Darklord has concentrated a large force of his minions against the Abbey. In the last three days, there have been several attacks which left many brothers dead or wounded. Lorin takes you up on the walls to show you a terrifying sight: a great wall of darkness looming over the forest a mile north of the Abbey, shot through with swirls of eerie colors. "That is the Shadow Wall," he explains. "It appeared a few years ago, when the Darklord began his reign of terror, and it has become stronger since the arrival of the Ankh. "There is another abbey beyond the wall, which has been abandoned for years. The armies of orcs and undead always come from that direction. We fear that the Darklord's army is rebuilding and is stationed there. There might be another attack is coming at any time!" You decide to stay and help the soldiers prepare for the coming battle. Later that day, as you cross the courtyard to fill a bucket of water, you hear a warning. 'Behind you!' a woman's voice yells. You spin and confront an approaching zombie. You glance around but see no sign of the woman who warned you. The zombie presses closer toward you, a spear clutched in its rotting hand. You dodge the spear's thrust, but the spear becomes tangled in your robe! Jerking yourself free, your feet slip over the edge of the well. You fall. As you hit the stone wall of the well, there is a loud crash from above, and a brilliant flash of bright colors. Then, darkness and silence. |
Walkthrough
Throughout the adventure a mysterious and disembodied voice will give you guidance and instructions as you progress, and will let you know if you're on the wrong path or reach a dead end. The journey from start to finish is nearly straight north, beginning in the Abbey of Light and ending at the ruined abbey north of the shadow wall. Be aware that not all obtainable artifacts are explicitly called out; some are identified only in the descriptions of the rooms they occupy.
Abbey of Light
As the adventure opens you're lying at the bottom of the abbey's well, with the mysterious voice telling you to wake up. Climb up the fallen beam to reach the courtyard, where signs of a recent battle surround you.
- Go into the eastern courtyard; you'll find the body of your friend Lorin, sadly cut down in battle, along with some silver armour.
- Return to the well and go south to the temple, defeating the undead beings lurking there, then collect the mace, chalice, candles, and torch.
- Go back north, past the barracks and stables and out the doors of the abbey. Continue north through the forest until you reach the shadow wall.
Shadow wall
- Enter the murky shadow wall to find paths leading east and west. The west leads only to a dead-end, so follow the east path which will turn north as it curves around a rocky outcropping.
- In a clearing you'll find a woman named Lila battling a pair of orcs. Dispatch the orcs and Lila will accompany you.
- Go north to a fork in the trail. Both the east and west paths are dead-ends with spiders, zombies, and orcs along the way; if you follow them the voice will tell you you're on the wrong path and direct you back. The north path is the way forward.
- Follow the trail north, past a pair of evil harpies, then to the graveyard outside the dark abbey.
- Enter the east section of the graveyard and you'll encounter a spirit who instructs you to "destroy the wall of runes."
- Return west and go north to reach the abbey entrance.
Dark abbey
- Enter the abbey and fight your way north through an entry tunnel guarded by several animated skeleton.
- The abbey's courtyard has barracks to the west and a stable to the east. The door to the stable is blocked, but attacking it will break it open and inside you'll find a piece of bent wire.
- Press north through the courtyard and battle the waiting ghouls.
- At the doors of the temple, use the piece of bent wire to open the doors.
- You'll now be in the abbey's temple with exits east and west. Collect the candles, then open the coffin to release the mummy within. When you defeat the mummy, collect the scroll it drops: it shows a magical incantation used to trigger earthquakes.
- Take the west door first and light your torch. Collect a book from the library to the south, then go west and down some stairs to the abbey's wine cellar where you can kill a drunken orc and get a bottle of wine. The cellar has a suspicious-looking section of wall, but it can't be opened.
- Return to the temple.
- Take the east door into the chapel and fight the skeletons there.
- Go north and collect the silver and gold coins.
- Continue north until you reach a small chapel, designed as a trap. Blast the wall to find a hidden exit north.
- Follow the tunnel down, then go east where some large spiders lurk.
- Continue east to reach your goal: a large chamber lit with eerie green light where a priest is preparing to use the ankh to open a portal in a rune-covered wall. Defeat the priest and take the ankh (as well as his valuable Ring of Fire), then use the scroll to summon an earthquake that destroys the rune wall.
- Follow the secret passage north and you'll emerge in the moonlit forest north of the abbey, happy in the knowledge that you've dealt a major setback to the Darklord's plans. Exit east to return to the Main Hall.
Location
The location of the rocky, forested region containing the abbeys and the shadow wall is uncertain. The final room says that "the trail back home is east", which may suggest that the area lies somewhere west of Evenhold.
Trivia
- The adventurer returns to the shadow wall in Purvis's 1992 adventure Return to Pendrama.
External links
- Eamon Adventurer's Guild Library Master List
- The Interactive Fiction Database: Demongate
- Interactive Fiction Reviews: Demongate
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