The Senator's Chambers

The Senator's Chambers
◄Eamon adventure #22►
Author	James Plamondon
Created	1982
Released	c. 1982
Revised	18 August 1995
EAG number	22
EDX number	13-06
EDX set	Classic Eamon Adventures, Vol. 1
Native format	Apple DOS 3.3
File	Eamon 22 - The Senator's Chambers.dsk

The Senator's Chambers is an Eamon adventure written by James Plamondon.

Background

Plamondon completed The Senators Chambers and his other adventure The Temple of Ngurct in the summer of 1982 when he was 22, just after his graduation from Oregon State University. Plamondon was an aspiring computer programmer and Dungeons & Dragons aficionado and drew inspiration for his adventures from D&D.

Premise

The adventure gives the following introduction:

The senator has been in politics for a long time, and has thereby amassed a small fortune. His chambers are quite well guarded, though he does not really believe anyone would ever invade his stronghold.

Rumour has it that the senator has kidnapped a number of his political rivals (of which there were once many; now there are few). It is now thought that the person most likely to still be in the senator's foul clutches is the good Sir Charles of Aknor, former counselor to the King.

You stand before the senator's house. It is a lonely edifice far from other buildings or people. It is almost midnight, and the house is still, though a few lights still burn. It is time to begin.

Good luck!

A hand-drawn map at EAG Online offers this shorter synopsis: "Rescue the senator's political enemies to save the nation."

Walkthrough

The senator's house is arranged roughly into two wings: an east one containing the kitchen, dining room, and servants' quarters, and a west one where the senator lives in his opulent chambers. As you begin you're standing on the south side of the house in front of the only entrance.

Map by Frank Black

Map from EAG Online

The house

1. Go north through the strong oak door, which will close and lock behind you. From this foyer, exits lead in all directions.
2. Start by going east into the kitchen where you'll find a cook who despite his menacing appearance may be an ally.
3. Go north into the dining room, dispatch the guards, and take the loot.
4. North again and you're at the east end of a hallway.
5. Take the north door to explore the servants' bunkroom and bathroom. Alfred, the guard bathing in the tub, may join your party. Return to the hallway.
6. Follow the hallway west. A north door leads to the laundry where you'll find the senator's friendly maid.
7. Go west again and you'll be at the house's central intersection with hallways leading off in all directions. You've done the east wing, and the north hallway leads only to an empty closet, so next do the south.
8. Going south you'll find a room leading west, which turns out to be the senator's library. Befriend Alphonso and take the valuable Gutenburg Bible.
9. Exit south into the parlor and take the Van Gogh painting.
10. Exit west and you'll be at the south end of a long empty hallway. Follow it north and then east until you come to a door in the north wall.
11. Go north and you'll be in the master bedroom where the senator himself is in bed with a beautiful young woman named Elizabeth Ray. Defeat the senator and take his sword. In the bathroom to the east you can pick up a bottle of perfume.
12. EXAMINE the bedroom and you'll find a secret exit under the bed which leads down.

The dungeon

1. The secret room under the bed contains some valuable furs and (mostly importantly) the key to the front door. EXAMINE the room and you'll find another secret door leading south.
2. Go south down a very long brick tunnel to the guardroom where several guards will engage you in combat. When they're defeated, EXAMINE the room to find a secret exit east that leads to a treasury full of riches (guarded by a giant).
3. South is a dungeon lined with cells. Kill the guards, befriend Buford, and explore the five cells:
   • A deranged priest is in the northwest cell.
   • The obsequious Uriah Heep is in the southeast.
   • A man named Chuck is in the south.
   • Sir Charles, the object of your quest, is in the southwest.
4. Retrace your steps to the front door, unlock it, and you're free to return to the Main Hall.

Reviews

Reviewer Tom Zuchowski considered The Senator's Chambers "a solidly-crafted member of the 'hack'n'slash' genre and a pleasant play." Noting its relative simplicity and short playing time, Zuchowski gave the adventure a rating of 5/10, with a 3/10 for difficulty.

"You see a rather crude painting of a country road through a cornfield, signed 'Van Gogh'."

Trivia

• The good Sir Charles is again held prisoner in James Plamondon's other adventure The Temple of Ngurct.
• Elizabeth Ray was the central figure in a 1976 sex scandal involving US Representative Wayne Hays.
• Uriah Heep is an obsequious character from the novel David Copperfield by Charles Dickens.
• Wheatfield with Crows (1890) is likely the Van Gogh painting hanging the library.

External links

• Eamon Adventurer's Guild Library Master List
• The Interactive Fiction Database: The Senator's Chambers
• Interactive Fiction Reviews: The Senator's Chambers