Dragon Wars stuff

Dragon Wars from Interplay is a fun game! It is a large computer fantasy game of similar scale as Magic Candle (Mindcraft) and the Ultima series (Origin). Nice graphics, ease of play, and good documentation all play their parts in making this an enjoyable game. Of particular delight to me, given the games I have been playing of late, was the fact that Dragon Wars is free of bugs! Frankly, I admire a game company that takes the time to give their market a quality product and Interplay has certainly done so with Dragon Wars!

Installing the game is a simple process. I played on a PC 386 clone with VGA and hard disk. After making a directory for the game, I just copied the files and ran a quick install to set the game for my graphic capabilities. That done, you fire up the game. The game provides pre-built characters but also supports characters from Bard's Tale I, II, and III. Since I had saved characters from a Bard's Tale game, I decided to use them to play Dragon Wars. A word of advice on using Bard's Tale characters: first examine the pre-built characters that come with Dragon Wars, and write down their statistics and skills, then create characters from your Bard's Tale game and do the same. Compare the two sets of characters closely, paying particular attention to Magic skills and spell knowledge. There are five types of magic in Dragon Wars: Low, High, Sun, Druid, and Miscellaneous. Ideally you'll want your party to have knowledge of the first four magic types, or as many as possible. Choose the character group that has the best representation of knowledge in magic. Try to cover all the other non-weapons skills (Tracker, Lockpick, etc.) by having one character at level 1 in each. All should have 1 in Fistfighting (because it's all you will have at the start of the game) and possibly 1 in an appropriate weapon type. Weak magic-using characters should concentrate on missile weapons and stay in the back of the party, and leave the hand-to-hand weapons to the stronger front fighters.

AUTOMAPPING:

Dragon Wars has an automap that is viewed by pressing "?". While this is intended to remove the need to map the game areas on graph paper and is wonderfully useful, I still mapped the game out on paper. The deficiency of automaps is that you can take no notes on them, nor mark spots that have a particular importance. While it was time-consuming for me to draw out the maps, it was time well spent. I advise you to do the same. If nothing else, the automap feature will ensure that your drawn maps are accurate. Restarting the game will erase all automaps.

NOTES ON THIS FILE:

Except for the beginning of the game, where you go and when is completely up to you. My notes are arranged, after discussion of PURGATORY (start game area) and the MAGAN UNDERWORLD (great place), in alphabetical order, and end with SALVATION and DEPTHS OF NISIR which are the end game areas. The notes listed in alphabetical order are by NO means a recommendation of when you should do what. It is merely an effort on my part to make this file easier for you to use. There are some areas that have required or suggested pre-requisites; these should be made plain in each area that needs them.

SAVING YOUR GAME:

Dragon Wars has a simple and fast save feature. To protect yourself, though, you should exit the game from time to time and copy the file DATA1 to another (SAVE1 or LANSK or whatever name reminds you of the point of save). These files are HUGE, being close to 300K in size, but potentially worth their weight in gold!

PURGATORY - start of game

Upon starting the game, you find your characters in the city of Purgatory (catchy name, wonder how they thought of it) with absolutely no equipment, money or clothes. Fortunately this sad condition is easily remedied. In the middle of the north end of Purgatory there is an arena anxious for new victims for their gladiators. "Fight gladiators barefisted and bare bottomed!?" you think. Not to worry, the arena will offer to equip your characters. They offer a range of low end equipment including leather armor, maces, swords, and all of it free for the fighting. You're going to lose the fight, I'll tell you that now, but in most cases you are not going to die. So while you'll be thrown out of the arena a little worse for the wear, you will have some equipment. I recommend that you save your game before entering the arena just in case one of your characters should bite the dust. The Arena is not a free lunch: if you take the equipment and lose or run away, your characters lose all their cash! If you enter with equipment already, you won't get any (or much) more! So, do the Arena early.

Now that your characters have basic equipment, it's time to explore your new prison, I mean home. There are such lovely things to do in Purgatory. You can sell yourself as a slave in the slave market, join the thieves' guild, listen for rumors in the tavern and even ask for a volunteer! Seriously, do ask for a volunteer in the tavern in the northeast portion of the city. You'll pick up a volunteer named Ulrik who has skill in Cave Lore and Axes. He's not a great character, but he's better than nothing.

ULRIK:
Str 20, Dex 17, Int 8, Spr 14
AV ?, DV ?, Lvl ?, AC 0
Hlth 15, Pow ?, Exp 0
no items
Skills: Cave Lore? Axes? more?

There is a magic shop in the west side of Purgatory. For any characters who have Low Magic, this is a great place to pick up all the spells for that magic and they are FREE. You can also (tediously) accumulate cash by selling scrolls at the Black Market for 1 gold each.

Another way to generate cash is to find a tough encounter (mine was 6 Jailers just southwest of the Black Market) and NOT win. If you kill 5 out of 6 monsters and run away, you will get experience and cash for 5/6 of them and the encounter will stay in place! Once I realized this, I was able to get up to 80 experience and 10 to 25 gold each time. Unfortunately, this involves trekking back to the southeast corner magic pool each time, because the combat was never without damage to the characters either, and rarely they would lose!

Don't join the thieves' guild in the southwest portion of the city. Here you should stoutly maintain your honor. Doing so will give you a mini-quest to defeat the Humbaba monster in the northeast corner of the city. When you do defeat the Humbaba, return to the guild and you receive 1000 gold pieces for your efforts!

Along the north wall (west of the arena) is the Black Market, a good place to buy some better equipment with the 1000 gold you obtained from the thieves. Probably the best use of your money at this stage is in better armor. Do not buy Dragon Stones at this point. They are expensive, and unnecessary within Purgatory. On the south side of the city is a magic pool that restores Power.

SKILLS, POWER REGENERATION and INVENTORY:

Logic might dictate that this paragraph belongs before actually getting into the game itself. I choose to include it after basic notes about Purgatory because you need to have a rudimentary understanding of how the game works to appreciate and understand the advice I will give here. Dragon Wars is a skill-based system which means that when your characters advance a level you have to decide from three menu pages where you're going to put your "two cents". The documentation that comes with the game advises that you spread the knowledge and skills around among your characters. This is good advice. There are so many options, there is no way within this game that you can make one character completely skilled, so DON'T TRY. Decide which character will specialize in certain skills. You might want to make one concentrate on Lore (Arcane, Cave, Mountain, Forest, Town) and another on thief skills (Pickpocket, Lockpick, Hiding). Get all the skills covered one way or another, but spread the "workload" over all your characters.

My only great complaint with Dragon Wars concerns the skill-based system. When a character advances a level, you only get 2 points to improve skills and attributes. It is very difficult to know how to spend these 2 points wisely. Many skills and attributes cost 2 points to increase 1 point. Getting Low Magic, which every character needs before trying to get any of the other types of magic (High, Druid, Sun), costs 5 points. Obtaining a new magic knowledge after Low Magic costs 10 points! My characters at end game were around 14th level and they did not begin the game at 1st level (because I transferred characters from Bard's Tale). That's a lot of level advancements in which I could make no improvements on characters because I wished or needed to obtain a new magic knowledge.

The amount of experience to advance a level increases to 1500 at levels 5 and 6, to a maximum of 6600 for levels 11 and above.

It helps for you to know now that you can get through the game with most skills at 1, except for Lockpick 4 (needed at one door in the Sunken Ruins), although there is another (optional) door in the Lansk Undercity that opens with Lockpick 5. The highest attribute values required by the game are Strength 24 (to move rocks in Byzanople and Tar's Ruins, and a statue at Old Dock), and Dexterity 18 (for several weapons). Only one character needs to have these maximum values. Note that the game suggests that you keep one or more spell casters at low Dexterity, so they can cast spells that go off at the end of a round, such as healing. Everybody should otherwise spend points on Health, Spirit, and magic skills. You should therefore have a party with Lockpick 4 (5 wouldn't hurt), Climb 1, Bureaucracy 1, Bandage 1, Tracker 1, Hiding 1, and all Lore skills at 1. Individuals should each have Fistfighting 1, Swim 1, at least one weapon skill at 1, and as many magic skills (starting with Low Magic) as possible. Fighters should have high Dexterity and Health, and specialize in hand-to-hand weapons. Those after the first 4 characters are in the back, and are spell casters and missile weapons specialists, so they should have high Spirit and specialize in Bow, Crossbow, or Thrown Weapons.

The Bandage skill only has to be at 1 to get through certain puzzles, but I've never been able to get it to heal any damage, even when up to 6. Swim is useful to avoid taking damage when you enter water, such as swimming out of Purgatory, or in Mystic Wood. Characters with low Swim (2 or less?) take damage, those with higher Swim take none. Only one character needs Climb, Hiding, Tracker, Lockpick, Bureaucracy, Pickpocket, or any Lore skills.

To cast spells you must have Power. Every time you cast a spell some Power is drained. There are two ways to regenerate Power. One is the use of Dragon Stones or Eyes, and the other is to find a magic pool that restores Power. Dragon Stones restore 20 points of Power and Dragon Eyes restore 30 points. Magic pools restore all Power points and have the added advantage of being free! You may find Dragon Stones as treasure, or they can be bought in many locations throughout Dragon Wars for 250 gold each. Dragon Eyes are only found as treasure. Magic pools are few and far between, but fortunately there are some in excellent locations that you can take full advantage of during the game. There is a magic pool in Purgatory in the southeast corner (there are actually two corners in Purgatory that you could call southeast, the magic pool is in the southern-most one of the two). Make good use of this pool to restore your magicians' Power and allow you to heal your characters as you explore this city.

Inventory is the other area where I experienced frustration with Dragon Wars. Your characters can only carry so much (12 items plus gold), which in and of itself is acceptable. The problem arises when you run out of space. Dragon Wars does not provide any means of storing items in a location for use later. Also, some treasure chests will disappear if you leave the area and return, so if you were unable to take all the treasure, it will not be there when you return. This is not true of ALL treasure chests, but being true at all can cause problems. Some treasures are unique and needed to solve the game. It is not always clear which items are important and which are not. Some locations have numerous treasures available and your characters are soon out of space. I managed to avoid problems related to inventory in my own game, but it is worth noting so that you manage your own characters' inventory with care. You will find lots of weapons in this game. Examination of an item at a store tells you what Strength or Dexterity or skill is needed to use it. Examination does not tell you the kind of damage the weapon is capable of inflicting. To estimate the power of a weapon, look at its value on the Sell menu at a store. The more valuable an item, the better it is. Some items can cast spells. Some of these are worth keeping in your inventory, but avoid carrying around a lot of items for which you have no real use. Sell those for the money.

Items bought at stores or found as treasure sometimes have "<##>" in their entries. This means that the given number of the item are bought or found as a group. This works for ammunition such as arrows, but Dragon Stones are shown as a group but appear in inventory as individual items (which wastes a lot of space!). For magical items, the number of uses left is shown in the same manner.

Stores buy items at 1/2 the selling price, and charge 100 gold to examine an item, except those listed as "Priceless" (shown as "-") can't be sold and are examined for free. Even items found as treasure are listed with prices if known, not just those at stores.

Now back to the game!

Still in PURGATORY

The slave market is one way out of Purgatory but there are others, and there is nothing of great importance to find that way. There is a secret passage in the northwest corner of the city that puts you inside the outer wall. You could also fight your way out through the main gate to get to the outer wall. There are many encounters in the outer wall area with guards that can slowly generate additional cash as you explore. In the southeast corner of the outer wall there is a gap in the stones leading to the waters below. Use Skill Ability Swim if you decide to use this exit from Purgatory. You can also exit Purgatory in the southwest corner of the outer wall. If you don't want to do as much work, you could even be heaved over the wall by concealing yourselves in bags of corpses at the Morgue. I suggest the Magan Underworld as the best route for leaving Purgatory.

You enter the Underworld by making a sacrifice at the statue of Irkalla on the west side of Purgatory first. If you get the message "Irkalla is pleased," you can enter the Apsu Waters nearby to get to the Underworld. You only need to sacrifice once per game. Weapons work best. I suggest you use an extra one from the Arena.

Paragraphs for Purgatory: 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 14, 67, 77, 94

MAGAN UNDERWORLD

On the west side of Purgatory there is an entrance to the Magan Underworld. The Magan Underworld is one of the largest single areas in the game excluding the above-ground world. It's a wonderful place and accessible to many of the other locations in Dragon Wars. The Magan Underworld is a very important place within the game. There is so much here that it is difficult to know where to begin telling you of its wonders. Since this area "wraps" upon itself, it is almost impossible to tell you where you will find what in this area. If we use your point of entrance from Purgatory into the Magan Underworld for reference, we can get a general sense of direction. Place this point in the center of your graph paper if you do decide to commit a map to paper.

To the north of your point of entrance you will find two buildings. The smaller of the two contains stairs that will lead you to the Lansk Undercity (a tough place for beginning characters, but has an armory, healer and weapons shop not far from the stairs). The larger building of the two, while located here, is only accessible from Necropolis and contains the only means of resurrecting your characters within the game.

Also to the north are a small river and lake. On the southern side of the lake there is a magic pool that restores magic power. This particular pool provided me with endless use, so it's handy to know exactly where it is. In the center of the lake there is a small island called the "Isle of Woe." You won't be able to reach this island until later in the game, when you get the Golden Boots from Mud Toad's Priests, but it is a very important location. Go there with the Silver Key (from Nergal in the Necropolis) and free Irkalla. She will give you a Water Potion needed for the Sunken Ruins. That should lead you eventually back here to get the Sword of Freedom.

There is a doorway that leads (on the north side of the larger of the two buildings) to the area where you can see the location of the Isle of Woe. This area is bounded by water and pits. IMPORTANT: The second pit square to the east of the door in this area is safe to walk upon. Doing so will result in 5 points for character development. Don't miss this! You cannot fall into the pits in THIS area (not true everywhere else) so check around until you locate this square. 5 points are too much to pass up.
***** Wyvern apparently missed the major cheat for this game: You can enter the pit repeatedly to boost your characters to ridiculous skill levels! See the spoiler for more information. *****

West of your entry point are stairs leading to the Mystic Wood. To avoid any confusion, the means of returning to the Magan Underworld from the Mystic Wood is to Use Skill Ability Climb. I didn't realize this when I was first playing the game and it caused me to restore the game to an earlier point. You can avoid my difficulty by knowing this.

3 squares south and 3 squares west of the stairs to the Mystic Wood is the first of two treasures found in the Magan Underworld.

East of your entry point are stairs leading to Tar's Ruins Underground.

South of your entry point is an area with many fires. Each of these fires causes damage to your characters. The second treasure in the Magan Underworld is found in the north part of the fires.

Also in the fire area is the entrance to the Dwarf Clan Hall. Early in the game you do not need to access this area.

To the east of the fire area are a large pit and a path leading south. This path forms a cross-shaped area with an entrance to Salvation. Along the path you will encounter Bad Fairies that will ask if you are willing to sacrifice a life to continue. Replying "yes" will reduce your party to minimum life force. While there is reason to use this path near the end of the game, you need not explore it before then.

Paragraphs for Magan Underworld: 127, 137, 138

OTHER AREAS LISTED ALPHABETICALLY:

BRIDGE between Isle of the Sun and Forlorn

You need Citizen Papers to cross this bridge, or you can fight some guards. If you remain on the bridge, such as by repeatedly saving the game or trying to enter the water, Rats keep appearing. There is a treasure on the east side, just south of the water. There's also a message in this area about the pieces of Lanac'toor.

Paragraphs for Forlorn Bridge: 12, 13

BRIDGE between Isle of the Sun and Lansk

Pikemen here will ask to search your packs, and if allowed to do so will ask a percentage in gold of what you are carrying to cross the bridge. Refusing to pay results in an encounter with 3 Pikemen. This is not a difficult encounter and better than paying the fee. The building on the south end is a Barracks full of sleeping soldiers. You can pillage a locked chest here unmolested if you don't bump into the walls, or play with your treasure, until you leave the building.

On the north end of this area is the building containing the Armory. Enter the building once and you are thrown out. Enter twice and you can fight it out with the guards. If successful, you can reach the Armory (there is a pit in the room before it that will cause damage to your party) and reap the following:

No paragraphs for Lansk Bridge.

BRIDGE between Lansk and Quag

See QUAG BRIDGE.

BRIDGE OF EXILES

See OLD BRIDGE.

BYZAN DUNGEON

Accessible from Byzanople. This small area is filled with a number of encounters until you reach the northwest area where you will encounter the Princess. Surrender when she asks you to do so. You will meet Prince Jordan and given freedom to roam the dungeon area until it is time to defeat the forces in the Siege Camp. Do not take the stairs leading up until you have explored the rest of this area. You will find the first treasure in a room on the northeast:

On the west side there is a door leading into the ancient crypt. There are many encounters here with zombies. The second treasure is in the furthest southwest corner:

After exploring this area, take the stairs up. Jordan tells you that it is now time to attack the Siege Camp and you are moved to an area outside the Siege Camp walls.

Paragraphs for Byzan Dungeon: 108, 110

BYZANOPLE

Located on King's Island, the city of Byzanople is only accessible from the Siege Camp. As you enter this area for the first time, you will be on the outside of the walls. If you get too close you will be hit by a lot of arrow fire. Directly north and 1 square to the east of where you enter are stairs leading down. Alternately, there is also an entrance in the southeastern area. Here you will need to move a rock (Strength) to reveal an opening. Both lead you to the Byzan Dungeon. You will not obtain access to Byzanople proper until after you have completed Byzan Dungeon. In the city there is a healer, an Armorer, and a Weaponsmith:

Paragraphs for Byzanople: 33, 34

DECAYING CITY

See SNAKE PIT.

DILMUN

Dilmun refers to all the islands above ground, including King's Island, Rustic, Isle of the Sun, Forlorn and Quag, plus some areas not shown on the map provided with the game's documentation. These include Eastern Isle, Freeport and Nisir.

No paragraphs for Dilmun.

DRAGON VALLEY

This area is accessible only from Eastern Isle (Sunken Ruins) with the ship from Smuggler's Cove. This is a dangerous place and you must have the Dragon Gem from the Lansk Dragon before you can complete this area. In the south you will find a Dragon's Tooth (considered a sword).

In the southwest corner you will find a Dragon's Nest:

In the northeast corner you will find a treasure:

In the northwest area of Dragon Valley there is an encounter with the Queen Dragon. Use the Dragon Gem (from the Lansk Dragon) to escape death.

Paragraphs for Dragon Valley: 120, 134

DWARF CLAN HALL

The western-most part of this area can be reached from the Magan Underworld. In the western portion is the dwarf forge, which is needed to create the Sword of Freedom once you have found Roba's Skull in the Sunken Ruins. After giving the skull to the master dwarf smith, you are told that the sword will appear on the Isle of Woe in the Magan Underworld. There is a crystal barrier blocking your path to the east. You can remove this barrier with the use of Soften Stone. The eastern portion of this area is also accessible via the Dwarf Ruins on King's Island if you have the Jade Eyes (found in the treasure chest in Smuggler's Cove after defeating the pirates). Exploring this area will reveal that the dwarves have been turned to stone. Use of Soften Stone will restore them to normal. There are 3 treasures in the Dwarf Clan Hall. The treasures are guarded by Automans, which are fairly difficult to defeat. Suggest you restore the dwarves first.

Paragraphs for Dwarf Clan Hall: 38, 118, 119

DWARF RUINS

Located in the central area of King's Island, there is little here except a statue and a small building. There is a locked chest one southeast of the northwest corner of the area, but it disappears after you use the Eyes. Use the Jade Eyes (obtained from the encounter with the pirates in Smuggler's Cove) on the statue to open the small building. This will give you access to stairs leading down to the eastern side of the Dwarf Clan Hall.

No paragraphs for Dwarf Ruins.

EASTERN ISLE

This small area accessible with the ship from Smuggler's Cove contains the entrances to the Sunken Ruins and Dragon Valley.

Paragraphs for Eastern Isle: 46

FORLORN

This area of Dilmun contains Purgatory, Slave Estate, Tar's Ruins, Slave Camp, and a treasure. The treasure is almost due south of the Slave Estate, and will remain if nothing is taken from it. The southern-most section of this landmass (past the Slave Camp) has a magical pool that will restore Health and Power to maximum. After exploring the southern tip, you can see that the automap wraps around north to south.

No paragraphs for Forlorn.

FREEPORT

Accessible only with the pirates' ship from Smuggler's Cove. This city has numerous shops.

On the east side of the city you will find the Order of the Sword. An encounter here will allow you access to the following treasure:

At the Brew Brothers you will find the volunteer Halifax, who is a better addition to your group than Louie from the Slave Camp.

HALIFAX:
Str 21, Dex 18, Int 14, Spr 14
AV 0, DV 4, Lvl 6, AC 10
Health 23, Power 0, Exp 0
Long Mace, Large Shield, Chain Arm.
Arcane Lore 2, Cave Lore 3, Climb 1, Swim 2, Maces 3

In the southwest portion of the city is an island that you can reach using the Golden Boots obtained in Mud Toad. Upon the island is the "Freedom Sword." Don't you believe it! Save your game first. Cast Reveal Glamour, Sense Traps, or Disarm Trap to show that this is really a trap set by Namtar. Not doing so will kill one of your characters if you take the false sword. Casting one of those spells will turn Freeport into a ghost town forever if you later walk onto the northwest part of the island, so be careful!

Paragraphs for Freeport: 27, 45, 51, 52, 56, 57

GAME PRESERVE

Accessible from Rustic, the Game Preserve is in the northwest section of Rustic. There are many snare traps set about here which are easily removed (should you get caught) with the use of any weapon or Strength. On the southwest near the river is the home of the Game Keeper. Use the Signet Ring with the Game Keeper and he will give you a Magic Bow. On the southeast is a treasure:

Paragraphs for Game Preserve: 74, 91, 92, 96

ISLE OF THE SUN

This area of Dilmun (see map in documentation) includes the city of Phoebus and an entrance to the Mystic Wood. Two bridges connect this area with Forlorn and the portion of Dilmun that holds the city of Lansk.

No paragraphs for Isle of the Sun.

KINGS ISLAND

This portion of Dilmun (see map in documentation) contains Kingshome, Byzanople, Siege Camp, Old Dock, Old Bridge, Ruins, a Decaying City known as Snake Pit, and a teleportation Nexus. Encounters on this island are too rough for beginning characters. There is an Ambush area on the northeast coast that will result in you being thrown into the dungeon under Kingshome.

No paragraphs for Kings Island.

KINGSHOME CASTLE

Accessible from the Kingshome Dungeon (once only) and from King's Island (if you have the Signet Ring from Snake Pit). If you came up from the dungeon you will have a peaceful encounter with Namtar in the north central area of the castle. Exiting his room will cause the door to disappear forever. Doors in the north will lead you into the wall area. On the west side are a gallery and a closet full of Pilgrim Garb items (needed to take Pilgrim's ferry to Pilgrim Dock on Nisir). On the east side are a treasure and a library of rare books.

This treasure chest will disappear when you leave whether you took everything or not. The exit to King's Island is in the center of the south wall.

Paragraphs for Kingshome Castle: 15, 130, 131

KINGSHOME DUNGEON

Accessible by being ambushed in the northeast of King's Island. Not for beginning characters, be prepared to do everything at one time. You will not be able to return here once you leave. You start in an unlocked prison cell. To the south are guards just waiting to beat you up. If you survive that, to the east is a door that leads to stairs going up. Don't take them until you have continued all the way east and north to the last door in the hallway. There are some big encounters here, but this last room contains the King's Armory:

After collecting this treasure, return to the stairs that lead up to Kingshome Castle.

Paragraphs for Kingshome Dungeon: 53, 65

LANAC'TOOR'S LABORATORY

Accessible only after restoring Lanac'toor's statue in Mud Toad. You need the Soften Stone spell to successfully complete this area. The map wraps upon itself both north to south and east to west. Northwest of your entry point is an entrance to the Magan Underworld, but it is a one way trip. Northeast (or southeast) of your entry point, through several walls, is a large room with three treasures:

Paragraphs for Lanac'toor's Laboratory: 107

LANSK

Accessible from Dilmun (outdoors) or the Lansk Undercity (no way back to Undercity though), this is a bureaucratic nightmare. The officials here will have you running all over the city to get paperwork done. This is easily avoided by making use of EZ Paperwork in the Lansk Undercity.

In the northeast area of the city, you will learn in the Quarter-Master's Office that Mog the Slave Owner has left his estate on Forlorn to you. The Quarter-Master doesn't know why Mog did this and neither do I!

Encounters in this city are nasty for beginning characters if not impossible. They can and should be avoided until later in the game.

There is one treasure on the west side of the city:

Paragraphs for Lansk: 35, 64

LANSK UNDERCITY

Accessible to the Magan Underworld, this place was very useful to me. Encounters here are rough for new and middle characters, but you can do a lot of exploring here if you are careful.

There are four shops and a healer in this area that are all useful. The armorer, weapon and healer are all on the east side of this area. EZ Paperwork and the Magic shop are on the west. The magic shop is through an easily found secret passage.

The Governors Pass is needed to cross a bridge between Quag and Lansk. The Kings Ticket is needed to take the ferry to King's Island (and another one to return, so buy 2!). The Citizen Pap. are needed to cross the bridge between the Isle of the Sun and Forlorn.

On the north of this area is a ferry to Old Dock on King's Island. Use the Kings Ticket for passage (not recommended for early characters).

In the center of this area is a dragon (he won't kill you). To access the dragon's area, you must use a secret passage on the east side of the center building. Rumors heard elsewhere hint that the Lansk Dragon conceals a gem. To get the Dragon Gem, you must Use an Ankh that can be purchased in Mud Toad, or you can just Cast any Heal spell. This can be repeated, but you need only one Dragon Gem. On the west side of this center building are stairs leading up to the city of Lansk. They go up, but they do NOT come back down. Go this way only if you have saved your game and are certain that you don't wish to return. Lockpick 5 is needed to open one locked door in this area.

Paragraphs for Lansk Undercity: 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126

MAGIC COLLEGE

Located on the island of Rustic. You will need the Spectacles from Lanac'toor's Laboratory located under Mud Toad before you will be able to enter the college. The college consists of a number of tests. In the first room, use any Ice spell (Ice Chill, Big Chill). In the second room cast Reveal Glamour and then any Fire spell. In the third room cast Cloak Arcane. In the fourth room use no magic, just fight it out with the Philistine. In the fifth room cast Disarm Trap (or Sense Traps?). In the sixth room, walk north ignoring the comments (paragraph 145). In the next room Utnapishtim will reward you with the choice of the Soul Bowl, the Laugh Staff, or the Sing Ring. Choose the Soul Bowl, which you Use at Zaton's Marker in the Mystic Wood.

Paragraphs for Magic College: 141, 142, 143, 144, 145

MUD TOAD

Located on Quag, this city is sinking into the swamp. You will probably be making many visits to this city during the course of your game. Almost in the center of the city is a broken statue. You will find parts of it in other areas in the game. You must bring each part back to this location and "Use Item" to restore the statue. Doing so will finally reveal a latch that will allow you access to Lanac'toor's Laboratory. Also of interest is the temple in the northwest corner of the city. Talking to the priests there will indicate that you need to seal up the source of the water ruining the city (Create Wall will accomplish this nicely). After doing so, the priests will give you a pair of Golden Boots, which will allow you to enter places where you could not previously go, such as the Isle of Woe in the Magan Underworld, or the island in the Mystic Wood. There is a shop in the southeastern portion of town:

There is a tavern in the northeastern corner of town where you will meet Berengaria after you have confronted Mystalvision in Phoebus and escaped from the Phoeban Dungeon. Berengaria will give you the following spells:

Within the city walls, which you enter by using Climb, you will find a treasure beyond an encounter with the city militia.

Paragraphs for Mud Toad: 17, 20, 29, 30, 32 and 113

MYSTIC WOOD

The Mystic Wood is on the west side of the Isle of the Sun, near Phoebus. From the Mystic Wood you can go to the Magan Underworld, King's Island, Quag and the Isle of the Sun. There are several interesting and important things to find and do here.

Near the northwest corner is a statue of Enkidu, at the foot of which you will find a Beast Horn. The Beast Horn has 10 charges initially. If you Use it at the spot where you found it, Enkidu will appear (paragraph 73), and a character can wrestle him. With 19 or greater Strength, you are worthy, and that character is granted some Druid Magic spells (seems to be all except Brambles, Soften Stone, and Invoke Spirit), full Power, and is "safe from beasts" in this area. Anyone can use the horn, but after one appearance by Enkidu it just casts Beast Call (to summon a Beast) no matter where it is used.

On the northeast side are Mushrooms needed for Nergal in the Necropolis. You need only 1 Mushroom, but you can get as many as you like.

On the east side is a shrine on an island. You can try to reach the shrine by swimming but that will result in encounters with some very nasty water creatures. An easier way to access this island is to use the Golden Boots that you can get in Mud Toad. On the island you can get the Enkidu Totem that you might need to cross Scorpion Bridge. To get a Totem, you must Use one of your weapons.

In the southwest corner there is a treasure (1) in a locked chest. Treasure 2 is in a guarded locked chest on the west side, directly west from the Teleportation Nexus. In the south portion of Mystic Wood is a marker for Master Zaton. Use the Soul Bowl, which you can get after completing the Magic College, in this spot and you will get treasure 3.

Paragraphs for Mystic Wood: 6, 70, 72, 73, 79

NECROPOLIS

This island to the northeast of Quag is accessible from Smuggler's Cove. The entrance into the Necropolis city is on the northwest side. You will experience many encounters with undead here, so come prepared. There is a treasure in the middle of the first room:

On the west side are stairs down to the large building in the Magan Underworld that you could not enter from there. In this building is the well that allows you to resurrect dead characters.

On the east side you will find a door leading to an area described as being covered with webs. There is an encounter with a giant spider for every square in this room but the reward at the end is a teleporter that will get you off the island.

In the center of the city is a large building. On the south side there is a secret passage leading inside. Following this passage will lead you to an encounter with the god Nergal. Defeat his undead minions and Use a Mushroom that you obtained from the Mystic Wood to get the following items:

Paragraphs for Necropolis: 12, 43, 93, 114, 115

NISIR

An island that holds the Pilgrim Dock and the mountain Salvation, leading to the Depths of Nisir (and the beginning of the end of the game). [I put in this area just as a container for what's mentioned; I may be wrong as I can't check against the game.]

No paragraphs for Nisir.

OLD BRIDGE

This bridge (also known as the Bridge of Exiles) on King's Island is a one-way route to the Decaying City (also known as the Snake Pit). There is nothing of importance on the bridge itself, only note that the gate, once you pass through, disappears forever. Don't worry about that, there is another exit within the city.

Paragraphs for Old Bridge: 50

OLD DOCK

Located on King's Island. This small area is accessible from the island and from the King's Ferry (need a Kings Ticket) in the Lansk Undercity. Passage to Lansk Undercity costs 500 gold, so remember to bring a second ticket from Lansk Undercity. Wearing Pilgrim Garb (obtainable in Kingshome Castle) will allow you free passage to the Pilgrim Dock on Nisir. In the southwest corner is a statue that can be moved by a strong character (Str 24 needed).

This treasure will disappear after you leave the area.

No paragraphs for Old Dock.

PHOEBAN DUNGEON

Accessible only by confronting (and losing to) Mystalvision in the north section of Phoebus. This is one of those areas where you must be prepared to do everything at one time or not at all. There is no way back here once you exit. You start in a locked cell that your thief character will not be able to unlock. Patience (9 days worth) will result in Berengaria leaving the door unlocked so that you can begin your escape. Exploration of the other prison cells will reveal that the "druid is being tortured." Where you see paragraph 102, Use Skill Ability Hiding to get past the guard, or you can just walk out and fight. You may go either north or south once past the guard.

The southern route is through a secret door. Follow the passage until you see the message that you hear voices to the north. Go north through another secret passage. One square west of where you hear the voices is a cave-in. You can pass it with the Climb skill. That leads you to stairs back to Phoebus. Remember the stairs for later.

Go north and explore the rest of the Phoeban Dungeon. In the northeast section you will find a hunchback trying to feed a prisoner to a dragon. Stopping him will result in the destruction of Phoebus!

West of that you will find torture chambers and the druid. Use Bandage on the druid and he will tell you that the password is "HALIFAX." To the north of the druid is another encounter with Mystalvision. It's a tough one, and Mystalvision will slip through your fingers again, but leave you the following:

To the northwest of the area where you heard the voices are two treasures. The second treasure requires the password to reach it or exit. After searching the rest of this level, exit back to Phoebus.

Paragraphs for Phoeban Dungeon: 89, 101, 102, 104, 106

PHOEBUS:

This city on the west side of the Isle of the Sun is not easy for beginning characters. You may be able to get through some of the encounters to access treasure, but there is a big encounter in the north that should not be attempted until later in the game. Mystalvision will run away, and you will end up in the Phoeban Dungeon.

There is a tavern in the northeast portion of the city where you can find the volunteer Valar. Valar has knowledge of both Low and Sun magic. He's a good addition to your party, but keep him at the back, as he is rather weak and vulnerable to attack.

VALAR:
Str 11, Dex 14, Int 18, Spr 16
AV 3, DV 3, Lvl 2, AC 0
Health 19, Power 32, Exp 0
no items
Low Magic 1 (all Low Magic spells), Sun Magic 1 (4 spells)

On the southeast side of town are parade grounds. Within the parade grounds is a building. Entering here will get you drafted into the army and removed to the Siege Camp south of the city of Byzanople. I recommend avoiding this automatic draft until later in the game. There are 3 treasures in Phoebus: two on the west side (1 and 2), and one on the northeast (3), all in locked chests.

Paragraphs for Phoebus: 25, 26, 28, 66

PILGRIM DOCK

Located on Nisir, this dock is accessible from the Old Dock on King's Island, provided you are (all?) wearing Pilgrim Garb (available in Kingshome). Remember to remove the garb and wear better armor before going on. Passing through the door in the south of this small area results in a nasty encounter that is beyond the ability of beginning characters. After successfully defeating these monsters, you will find a prisoner and a secret passage that leads you to the mountain Salvation, close to the end of the game.

Paragraphs for Pilgrim Dock: 82, 83, 84, 98

QUAG

This part of Dilmun includes a Nexus in the north to the Mystic Wood, the city of Yellow Mud Toad, and Smuggler's Cove. Murk Trees live in this area and are dangerous monsters capable of killing party members without much difficulty. Proceed with caution. Necropolis is northeast of Quag, but not connected to it. A bridge leads to the part of Dilmun that includes Lansk.

No paragraphs for Quag.

QUAG BRIDGE

You need the Governor's Pass to cross, or you have to fight some guards. The pass is obtainable in either Lansk or Lansk Undercity (easier). This bridge separates Quag from Lansk.

Paragraphs for Quag Bridge: 47

RUINS

See TAR'S RUINS (above ground).

RUSTIC

Accessible with the ship from Smuggler's Cove. This island is to the west of King's Island. It contains the Game Preserve, Scorpion Bridge, and a Strange Building (Magic College).

No paragraphs for Rustic.

SALT MINES

If you sell yourself into slavery in Purgatory, you end up here. There is nothing of great importance found here. You can skip this area entirely with no ill effect upon your game. What you can gain here is experience and eventually freedom. I recommend using the Magan Underworld instead.

When you are brought here all your equipment is removed and you are in chains. Wandering around this area you will find a cup, a pool (fill the cup), a handle, and a treasure of rocks and Dragon Stones (9 quantity). Give the water to a man whom you will find. He will give you his shoes. Using the laces (Use Item), you manage to make a hammer with which you can break the chains. Your gear is in a pile of rubbish. Thus re-equipped you can challenge the guards and escape. You exit this area and enter the Slave Estate.

Paragraphs for Salt Mines: 49, 60, 61

SCORPION BRIDGE

This area is on the island of Rustic. It separates the ship landing and Game Preserve from the Strange Building (Magic College). Scorpion Men will bar your way until you use the Enkidu Totem from Mystic Wood. There are several nasty encounters within the bridge building. In the north part of this building is a treasure.

Paragraphs for Scorpion Bridge: 48

SIEGE CAMP

Accessible from King's Island or by being drafted into the army in Phoebus. Don't worry about joining the wrong side, your stay in the Siege Camp is temporary. Near the southern entrance to the Siege Camp is a healer. In the north of this area is a Black Market.

There are two treasures in the Siege Camp, one in the northern and one in the southern section.

Exiting the Siege Camp to the north will allow you to enter Byzanople. After some encounters in Byzanople you will return to the Siege Camp through a secret underground passage. There is a large battle that is definitely too difficult for beginning characters.

Paragraphs for Siege Camp: 59, 86, 87, 90

SLAVE CAMP

Located southwest of Purgatory on Forlorn. Use Skill Ability Bureaucracy to gain the escaped slaves' trust if necessary (not needed if you get paragraph 16). There are six small buildings located in the Slave Camp. Three treasures, a campfire that will heal all wounds and restore all Power, and the volunteer Louie (not the best choice) can be found here. You get treasure 1 by casting any healing spell, or Use Ability Bandage, on the man in pain. Treasure 2 is in a locked chest, and will disappear if you leave the map and return without taking it. Use one of your magic skills when you locate the wizard watching you from his doorway, otherwise he will not allow you into his hut to gather treasure 3.

LOUIE:
Str 14, Dex 16, Int 16, Spr 16
AV 4, DV 4, Lvl 2, AC 0
Hlth 15, Stun 15, Power 0, Exp 0
no items
Hiding 2, Pickpocket 2 (sorry, no spells)

Paragraphs for Slave Camp: 16, 19, 22, 63, 68, 88

SLAVE ESTATE

Located on Forlorn northeast of Purgatory. You can learn in Lansk that Mog left this estate to you. Or you enter here after escaping the Salt Mines. There are two buildings on the estate, one large and one small. Surrounding the estate are gardens with numerous statues. Enter the large building through either of the entrances on the EAST side. There is an entrance on the west side, but do avoid it. There are four treasures in the large building. Treasure 3 is in a locked chest found by Use Attribute Strength at the creaking floorboards. Treasure 4 is also a locked chest.

The artisan of the statues you have seen in the gardens is in the southwest corner of the large building. He is really a Gaze Demon. Use Item Mirror to avoid being turned to stone, but you can fight it after the mirror is broken.

Paragraphs for Slave Estate: 1, 99, 103, 105, 117

SMUGGLER'S COVE

Located north of Mud Toad on Quag, this is the pirate hangout of Long John Ugly. On the northeast you will find a statue to Irkalla at which you can pray. On the west you will find Long John's hangout. Use Bureaucracy, Lockpick, or Pickpocket, and pay at least 50 gold to enter. Inside you will find two doors, one to the west and the other to the south. If you take the southern door, Long John will ferry you over to Necropolis, but he won't bring you back. There is a way back, but it isn't easy for beginning characters. The west door reveals the pirates' most precious possession, a ship! The pirates will fight you to the death for this ship and they are a nasty bunch! They can be defeated, but it isn't easy. Defeating them gets you a treasure and unlimited use of the ship. This treasure chest will disappear even if you do not take all its contents. Take at least the gold, the Jade Eyes, and the Heavy Plate.

Paragraphs for Smuggler's Cove: 3, 24, 39, 41

SNAKE PIT

This area, also known as Decaying City, is on the southwest corner of King's Island and is accessible from the Old Bridge. The Stone Head for the statue in Mud Toad is found on the west shore of this area.

In the wooded area in the north you will find Branches. Use the Branches at the old man in the tree on the south side of this area to learn the Beast Call spell (Druid Magic).

There is a large cluster of buildings in the center of the Snake Pit. A secret passage from the room with the jester leads north into a room where you will find two treasures.

The King's Boathouse is on the north side of Snake Pit. Leave the lad guarding this building alone until you have the Signet Ring. Use the Signet Ring at the boy and you can enter a secret door to a boat that will take you from this area to near Kingshome. But if this is your first time this game through Snake Pit, you will be immediately taken off to Kingshome Dungeon!

Paragraphs for Snake Pit: 75, 76, 80, 81

STRANGE BUILDING

See MAGIC COLLEGE.

SUNKEN RUINS

Accessible from the Eastern Isle with the ship from Smuggler's Cove. You must have freed Irkalla from the Isle of Woe before you can fully explore this area. Irkalla gives you a Breathe Water potion needed to enter the lower level of this area. The upper level features a locked door that takes a skill of Lockpick 4 to open, and three secret passages. In the center area there is a treasure:

Using the Water Potion, you can enter the lower area. The map wraps upon itself here and is relatively small in size. In one large room you will find a clam containing the Skull of Roba. Don't try to take the skull from the clam, just take the clam (skull and all). A locker in this area (must be Davy Jones') has treasure. Some pretty nasty creatures guard the locker, so throw everything you've got at them or expect to take a trip through the Necropolis to the Well of Resurrection.

No paragraphs for the Sunken Ruins.

TAR'S RUINS (above ground)

This area is accessible from Forlorn or from Tar's Ruins underground. You can move quickly to the underground entrance, and avoid a pit, by Use Skill Ability Tracking where you see some footprints just east of the entry. Use Attribute Strength (need 24) on a rock on the northeast side to reveal the entrance to Tar's Ruins underground. On the east side you can find the body of a dead hero:

Near the southwest corner are some scrolls:

In the center of the ruins is a 3 by 3 square building with murals on the inside walls. These murals are an important hint on how to deal with the Lansk Dragon. Use Skill Lore Arcane Lore to get paragraph 23. This is your hint to get the Ankh in Mud Toad, but you don't really need it.

Paragraphs for Tar's Ruins (above ground): 23

TAR'S RUINS (underground)

This area is accessible from the Magan Underworld and from the Ruins on Forlorn. The entrance from the Magan Underworld leaves you in a small enclosed room. Use Skill Ability Climb to return to Magan Underworld. To explore this area exit through the secret passage to the north.

Immediately west of the square just described is another secret room containing Stone Arms needed in Mud Toad.

This relatively small area wraps north to south and east to west. It doesn't take too much exploration to locate the other two secret passages that contain treasures:

No paragraphs for Tar's Ruins (underground).

YELLOW MUD TOAD

See MUD TOAD.

END GAME AREAS & STRATEGY:

Before visiting Salvation it's a good idea to spend some time in the Magan Underworld at the Power pool casting Charger to power up magic items that cast spells. Of particular use are Healing Potions, Battle Wand (Battle Power spell), Dragon Horn (Rage of Mithras spell), and the Speed Wand (Zak's Speed spell). You may choose to carry others at this point, but the above will make your life in this end game period much easier. The maximum charges you can put in any item is 49. It will take some time to charge all the items, but setting up a macro will make this easier, and is certainly worth the time and effort. If you have already visited Salvation and taken the treasure there, be certain to stock up on Dragon Stones before entering the end game period. Clear out of your inventory anything that you do not need in combat, so you can carry more Dragon Stones.

SALVATION

Accessible from Nisir or Magan Underworld. The exit to Nisir is in the north and the stairs to the Magan Underworld are in the southwestern portion of this area. There is a treasure on the west side guarded by a rather nasty group of monsters.

On the east side of Salvation is a shrine to the universal god (paragraph 97). Use the Freedom Sword at this spot. Doing so will allow you to cast Inferno spells using the Freedom Sword.

Not far from the stairs to Magan Underworld and the treasure is a door. Avoid it. Close to this door is an area where you will get a message saying "an intelligent man could figure out a way through this wall." Use Attribute Intelligence then Use Skill Ability Climb. You will now be in an area where (3 squares south and 2 squares east) you overlook a chasm. Use Item Golden Boots to jump the chasm. Entering through the doors here, you will begin to explore a large room, when you will suddenly find yourself falling into the Depths of Nisir.

Paragraphs for Salvation: 55, 97, 100

DEPTHS OF NISIR

Accessible only from Salvation, this area is the most complex area to map. The map wraps east to west and north to south and include teleportals and turning floors. Cast Guidance to maintain your sense of direction and look at the automap often. Because the map wraps, it is difficult to give precise directions on where you need to go. From your beginning location go 17 squares north and 14 squares east to reach an area that will teleport you to an otherwise inaccessible area where Namtar is hiding out with his army. Casting Soften Stone is your best means of getting there. Exploration of the entire area results in lots of encounters that can rapidly drain your supply of Dragon Eyes and Dragon Stones. Cast Cloak Arcane for added protection against those encounters you cannot avoid. Once you have reached the teleportal that will take you to Namtar, walk south. Before you enter the larger area (you are in a one square wide hallway), Use Item Dragon Gem. The Queen Dragon will answer and rout Namtar's army (thank heavens) and Namtar, well sort of. Namtar will spring back to life. You will fight him over and over again before you finally can pick up his ashes. Once you have them, you will be teleported to the Magan Underworld near the Power pool, a location with which you should by now be most familiar. You will have time to restore your energy before Namtar springs to life again. Kill him and head as fast as you can to the cross shaped area surrounded by pits (chasms) in the extreme south of the Magan Underworld. Namtar will spring to life yet again. Defeat him and Use his ashes (body). This will result in his being thrown into the chasm that spawned him, and his destruction!

No paragraphs for Depths of Nisir.

YOU'VE WON THE GAME!!!!!!!

EPILOGUE:

I may have missed a few things here and there, but the above should prove accurate and useful. You could compile a list of the items in Dragon Wars with the "examine item" information. This will identify any special use of these items and restrictions (strength, dexterity, or other). You could also add in the statistical information on the characters that come with the game and the volunteers that are available to join the group. While potentially useful information, the lack of that information here does not diminish the usefulness of this file.

I do hope that you find it helpful!