                         Ishar: Legend of the Fortress
                               Hints and Tips
                             By: The DragonLord
                         Maps done by The DragonLord
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The Ishar survival kit

These are just a few tips on certain areas in the game, places, things and/or
people that may be dangerous or otherwise might affect your party in some way.
This text file is not designed to help you play the game better so much as it
is just to warn you of places, people, things and events of importance in the
game.  Since I havn't yet completed it as I type this file I can't comment on
the much later stages in the game, but I can tell you of anything in West and
Middle-east Kendoria.  The map of East Kendoria in the Survival kit tells
briefly of some tips, but this text file will go into somewhat greater detail,
and offer extra hints and tips in general.

The Survival Kit and all the maps were done by me, and all pictures are in
CrackArt 1.25 TT+ .CA1 format, should you care to know.  My Ishar: Legend of
the Fortress character editor v1.2 has also been supplied in this archive, in
case you don't already have it.  Since the docs for said character editor got
destroyed when F-Copy PRO did in my E partition, I will reprint some brief docs
in this text file, also.

Ishar tips

o You can not make potions until you've completed East Rhudgast dungeon; the
  magic flask used to make potions in is found there.

o Medics are of some use, but only if you've been infected with diseases like
  Lycanthrope, or have been poisoned.

o Teleport gates (displayed as a red mesh fence supported by white posts on
  either side) are quite useful for quick travel.  You can also control your
  destinations by using the direction keys (1-3 and 4-6 on the numeric keypad,
  or just use the mouse) after you enter a gate.

o Getting over to East Kendoria island and into Fhulgrod and Valathar is
  achieved by the abovementioned teleport method, using the teleport gate found
  on the easternmost portion of Elwingil.

o You must use a Cure Blindless potion (1 dose/Salamander Oil, 1 dose/Trapdoor
  spiderweb, 2 doses/Dried Mistletoe and 1 dose/Rat Brain) in order to be able
  to see in the area of Gil-Aras.  However you can forego the bother and the
  waste alltogether.  The rune tablet in this area is located near the southern
  point of Gil-Aras.  You can see it if you travel along the border of there
  and Uldonyar.  Travel south along the border while facing West.  You will
  eventually see it in the distance.  Simply travel straight towards it, and
  pick it up when you're forced to stop moving, then back out.

o Cities can be dangerous.  There are sometimes large creatures (assumedly
  Ogres or something similar) walking the streets who'd love nothing better
  than to pound you into the ground.

o There are powerful guardians barring entrances to West Rhudgast village,
  the bridge to Silmatil and the Helm of Light in the shrub maze of Northern
  Osghirod.  There is also a powerful guardian found guarding one of the
  wings of East Rhudgast dungeon.

o If you're planning to rescue the Princess found in Elwingil City, you had
  better be prepared to sacrifice all the male characters in your party before
  returning her to her Father, the King, in the Village of Halindor.  The
  princess is ... shall we say ... extremely promiscuous.  (She's a slut,
  okay?)  She'll have her way with every one of your male characters.  Your
  male characters, seeming to be highly nave, think they're in love with her,
  and by the time it's time to return her to her father, each one will announce
  that he and the Princess have made big plans, and would rather die than see
  her go.  Guess what choice they have.  How unnecessarily cruel...

o The Ygwen Tortoise, found in the northern peninsula of Silmatil, can be
  exchanged for Turtle Slobber by an aquatic potion specialist found almost
  spot in the middle of Zendoria.

o Fimnurih is very boring.

o There's an especially nasty creature found in Urshurak who has a habit of
  tossing fireballs at your party anytime you're within a straight line of him.
  He's a nasty kill, too.

o There's another especially nasty creature found almost guarding the Ygwen
  tortoise.  He's another bugger to off.

o The "Sword in the Stone" can only be retrieved by a very strong and very
  experienced adventurer.

o Fimnurih is very boring.

o The Forbidden house may seem innocent enough, and it does contain a vital
  Rune Tablet inside, but shortly after leaving, it's almost a sure bet that
  one of your characters (I think it's the most recently joined) will die
  suddenly and unexpectedly.  Don't keep anything valuable on him.

o The Helm of Light allows you to see invisible creatures.  Oddly enough, I've
  never come across any.

o Enter every tavern you come across.  It's a good bet you'll hear something
  interesting if you listen to the conversations.  There are also some good
  prospects for potential party members found there, too.

o Don't sleep at a tavern unless you have to.  Party members have a habit of
  leaving on you in the middle of the night for no apparently good reason.

o Fimnurih might have been interesting were it not for the fact that it's so
  damn boring.

o The food in the Village of Lotharia is particularily bland.


A list of places and items of note and where they're found

West Rhudgast Village: Middle of Rhudgast, on a floating pier on the east
                       lake.
Angaran Village      : Middle-western portion of Angaran
Lotharia Village     : North-western section of Lotharia, near water.
Urshurak City        : South Urshurak; can't miss it.
Halindor Village     : North-western Halindor, near the north water right on
                       the border to Zendoria
Elwingil City        : South-eastern Elwingil, right next to the river.
House with money     : Immediately to the south-east of Angaran Village.
House with Man #1    : Mid-western Osghirod.  Man warns of invisible creatures,
                       and tells of the Helm of Light found to the north.
House with Man #2    : North-western Kandomir, under the arm (in the armpit?)
                       of the river.  This one tells more on the plot of the
                       game.
House with Man #3    : In Halindor village; the King tells of his kidnapped
                       daughter, the princess (the slut), and how she is being
                       held in Elwingil city.
House with Man #4    : Angaran villgage.  Tells some of the plot of the game.
House with Man #5    : In Urshurak City; proclaims his abstainence from
                       violence, and tells of his sword.  (Yes, the one in the
                       stone)
Princess             : Elwingil city, north-west corner in an unmarked house
                       in a courtyard.
Sword in the Stone   : North-eastern portion of Baldaron.
Ygwen Tortoise       : Northern peninsula of Silmatil; directly opposite the
                       sword across the water.
Man with Horse #1    : Northern Aragarth.  Sells a rare potion component -- and
                       his price is quite high.
Man with Horse #2    : Middle of Zendoria; trades the Ygwen Tortoise for the
                       potion component Turtle Slobber.
Starting Point       : North-Western Fragonir.
Rhudgast Dungeon     : South-middle of East Rhudgast.  Follow the river facing
                       north; you'll see it.
Helm of Light        : In the shrub maze located in Northern Osghirod, just
                       past the middle of the two lakes.
Medic #1             : South-eastern Osghirod, near the river.
Medic #2             : Northern Halindor, just outside the village.
Forbidden House      : North-Eastern Zendoria, just east of the Village of
                       Halindor.
Runic Tablet         : Southern Gil-Aras, right against the river to the east.

Redundancy Dept.
Redundancy Dept.
Redundancy Dept.

Using the Ishar Character Editor:

It's quite simple, really.  The only things you really need to know are:

o Escape gets you out of edit mode.

o The program will automatically assume .SAV if no extender is supplied when
  loading or saving a saved game.

o The program will ask you if you want to overwrite, rename or abort if you
  save the edited game to an existing filename.  Renamed games will have a
  .BAK extention if rename option is chosen.

o It's suggested that you do NOT give your character more than 75 strength, or
  more than 50 in any of the other attributes.  The reasoning is a long
  explaination, but sufficed to say, your proficiencies will get royally
  screwed.

o Not that I should have to tell you this, but do not edit empty character
  slots.  It's a silly idea that will only cause the game to sieze up.
  Likewise, don't edit dead characters.  The same thing will happen.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Gratuity

  If you enjoy this kit and feel it's worth something, then perhaps you might
also enjoy sending a small donation this way of whatever you think is 
appropriate.  I have spent a considerable amount of hours compiling all the
information, doing the maps (on paper and computer), figuring out the save
game format (which was done a bit oddly, I might add) and writing the character
editor, and it would be nice to see a wee bit of support from those who enjoy
this package.  Should you feel so inclined as to play the saint and send money,
swiss bank accounts, gold bars, Porches (That's the car, not the house
ornament), or anything that won't blow up in my face, I'd be more than grate-
ful.  That name and address is:

                                 Eric March
                                 51 Wyndale Dr.
                                 Toronto, Ontario
                                 M6L 1G1

  In return, you'll recieve my everlasting gratitude.  If you absolutely
require it, I'll also send a picture of me grinning profusely and an
autographed picture of Buzz Belmondo.  (Hurry, supplies are limited!)

  Sorry.  The Gunsu steak knives are all gone.

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The End

Or ... IS IT??

