Путь от лестницы до "Come to ME", указанный Шелтемом на одной из табличек, не единственный. Вот схема, на какие плитки пола ступать можно, не проваливаясь (разумеется, чтобы не проваливаться в воздух, надо Левитировать, да и хорошая защита от Огня не помешает, например, Power Shield), а между дорожками можно прыгать.

Зачем это нужно? Ну, например, чтобы выпить зелье "2 дозы +5 уровней".

1: King's Staff
2: Spell of Transportation
3: Movement Spell; Time ----------
4: Little Green Imp
5: Count Blackfang
6: Imprisoned Queen
7: Sorcery
8: Star
9: Spell to overcome weakness
10: Prophet
11: Desert lizard
12: Mistake
13: Freed from spaceship
14: Corrosive liquid
15: Fighting Ring
16: Bowman
17: Lost the Holy Book of Elvenkind
18: Enchantress
19: Cure for eradication
20: A knight who prefers the woods
21: Castle beyond the Forbidden Zone
22: Stern; harsh
23: Castle Basenji password
24: City of the undead
25: Beastly nose
26: Wisdom
27: Two-handed sword
28: Incantation
29: Employ an item
30: Sorcerer's favorite secondary skill
31: Buzzard
32: Precious Metal
33: Nimble; quick
34: Fairy tale; legend
35: Medin's award: ---------'s Friend
36: Spell of perception
37: A three pronged spear
38: Boar
39: Bones; remains
40: City of sorcerers
41: Power

42: Tower located in Troll Forest
43: Wyvern
44: Ellinger's Tower is located here
45: City of Ghosts
46: Tie; restrain with a leash
47: You need an amulet to gain entry
48: Brute; animal
49: Strength; brawn
50: Illness
51: Knight's attendant
52: Convict
53: Priest; magician
54: Eight legged squid
55: Relating to arachnids
56: Sorcerer
57: Half lion, half eagle
58: Bug; bee
59: Castle ditch
60: Fright
61: Precision
62: Unicorn who's Alacorn was stolen
63: Spooky
64: Myriapod
65: Range climber
66: Aquatic reptile
67: Underground jail
68: Rodent
69: Grotesque creature
70: Alarm; scare
71: Armored mammal
72: Gremlin
73: Wrapped corpse
74: Not alive but not dead
75: Snake poison
76: Way of transportation in the Land of Xeen
77: He had a pet dragon
78: Savage; primitive person
79: Winged horse
80: Tiara
81: Game author's initials
82: Captive
83: Sphere
84: Map maker
85: Subterranean drain
86: Trip and fall
87: Half man, half bull
88: Traveler on a quest
89: Fire, water, air and earth

by Eerie the Cartographer

Introduction:

There is much to see in the World of Xeen. To give a complete description of all the wonders to be sampled in the eight corners of the world is beyond the scope of this work. In these pages I shall dispense a broad overview of the highlights that should be visited for a traveller to gain a working knowledge and appreciation of the magnificent land that is Xeen.

This work is arranged as a simple description of my travels. a traveller wishing to follow in my footsteps should expect to spend around thirty gold pieces per day on living expenses. The traveller should be careful to arm himself well with magic weapons and some sort of emergency teleportation device. Xeen, while beautiful, can be deadly.

My journey began on the Darkside in Castleview town. Armed with little more than a Leprechaun flamberge and an orb of insect repellent, I set out for the town of Necropolis to see for myself whether the legendary city of the undead truly existed or was merely a fable. The trip took me over the mountains that lie to the north of Castleview and through the forbidding central desert. My experience as a mountaineer and navigator saw me past these formidable obstacles.

Necropolis was everything I had hoped it would be. The undead were everywhere--Zombies, skeletons, a mummy, even a vampire visiting from Castle Blackfang! (I hear that Queen Kalindra was kidnapped by Alamar and turned over to the vampires of Blackfang) If the traveller is worried about hostility on the part of the undead, remember that they are people too! The undead are just as friendly as the living-- possibly more so. Simple politeness will prevent misunderstandings from becoming lethal encounters with the forces of Hell.

After a brief but pleasant stay in Necropolis, I crossed the mountains north of the city by way of the Griffin Pass. Avoiding Castle Alamar and hugging the edge of the mountains, I headed east until I came to Lakeside town. A quaint vacation spot, Lakeside will refresh your spirit and revitalize your body. Though much of the population of Lakeside is involved in the witchcraft industry, have no fear. The witches only turn CHILDREN into goblins. As long as you leave the kids behind, you'll have no problem at all with these charming and fun-loving ladies.

I stayed in Lakeside for a few months before leaving. Before I left I purchased a riding beast to speed my journey. A lone road connects Lakeside to the rest of the civilized world, and I set off down that road to find Sandcaster.

Sandcaster is a bustling city of commerce and trade. Though the townspeople are mostly humans, elves, gnomes, and dwarves, the city still has something to entertain the thrill-seeking traveler. Sorceresses and wizards feed upon the helpless citizenry like fleas on a dog. Criminals from all walks of life wander the streets with impunity, free to use might or spells to rob from the innocent. All in all a lively town, though lacking in the kind of high quality entertainment places like Necropolis and Lakeside can serve up.

Quickly growing bored of the night life in Sandcaster, I once again set upon the road, this time travelling southeast in search of adventure. I found plenty.

As I ventured into the dense forest near the southeast corner of the world, my riding beast disturbed a nest of snakes. Startled, the beast reared up, dumping me from the saddle. I rose to my feet and seized the beast's tether, pulling its bloated face toward mine so that we could discuss its error man to beast. I never got the chance.

My pain spell was barely on my lips when an arrow appeared in the side of the beast. The beast roared and wrenched the tether from my grasp. Two more arrows streaked from the forest and struck home. The beast stumbled a few steps and collapsed to the ground. I glanced wildly about me and saw barbarian archers closing in on three sides. I dashed for the fourth. Branches and thorns tore at my clothes, scratched my skin, slowed my flight. The Barbarians gained. Just as it seemed I could run no further, I came upon a clearing with one of the many travel pyramids in the center of it. Hope flared in my breast once again and I redoubled my pace, reaching the pyramid as the Barbarians burst from the forest. I activated the pyramid with the last of my strength.

The pyramid whisked me away from my pursuers in the blink of an eye and a sparkle of energy. I found myself in the snow covered hills near the town of Winterkill, a cursed and empty town of ghosts. Lonely Darkstone tower was barely visible to the east. Fearful that the Barbarians would soon find the courage to follow me through the Portal, I set my sights on the hills to the north and began the weary trek through the snow.

Many miles later I happened upon a road. Knowing that the road would eventually take me to the town of Vertigo and civilization, I followed the road east. The road paralleled the hills, and led past one of the many 'dungeon' entrances scattered about Xeen. I must admit that curiosity got the better of me and I decided to explore this one dungeon. This was a mistake.

The dungeon turned out to be the infamous Xeen Arena. I didn't figure it out until too late; the place was barren, except for a few piles of bones and a lone desk sitting in the center of a very large room. When I approached the desk, a large man appeared in the seat behind the desk and told me that since the place hadn't had any visitors in some while that he would just start the fight without further delay. Then he vanished.

As quickly as he vanished, monsters appeared. There was a gargoyle, a giant armadillo (which looked a little like a member of the swine family because of its snout), a pegasus, a Minotaur, a giant vulture, a Crusader, a sewer rat, a centipede, and some sort of giant iguana. "Have at thee," cried the Crusader, lowering his lance and urging his horse foward. The rest of the monsters simply advanced without comment, implacably hostile.

Needless to say, I bravely charged toward the exit, only to find it blocked. The monsters followed. I sprinted for the desk. "COWARD!" shouted the Crusader, leading the pack. The desk was empty and unresponsive. Cursing, I ran some more, ducking and weaving behind ancient walls and crumbling pillars. With some clever manuevering I lost the monsters in the maze and leaned against a pillar to catch my breath. I could hear the iguana dragging its corpulent body nearby. The rest seemed further away. Looking down at my feet, I discovered one of the many corpses that littered the floor of the arena. Clutched in its bony hand was a ring of the elements and a wand of fireballs.

No sooner seen than stolen. The iguana rounded the corner and stopped, belly heaving as though it were going to be sick. It's mouth opened slowly, dramatically, and then it belched forth a stream of acid. I covered my face with my hands, expecting the worst. Instead, the acid lightly singed my hair and clothes. The ring had saved me!

The dragon blinked slowly at me, suprised that I was still alive. Obviously not one of the brighter models. I leveled the wand and fired off a withering blast of heat and smoke. The monster staggered, but remained standing. It went through its 'sick' routine again, and covered me with more acid. I fired the wand again. It covered me with acid. I fired. It fired. I fired. Finally the dragon fell on its side and died.

"I have found you at last!" shouted the Crusader from behind me. "Turn around and meet your fate like a man!" I turned. The crusader was there, flanked on either side by the gargoyle and the minotaur. The rest of the monsters were right behind him. Seeing my chance, I fired into the horde again and again, emptying the wand. When the smoke cleared, nothing but a black spot on the arena floor remained of my enemies.

"That wasn't so bad," I said aloud, dusting off my clothes and straightening my collar. I walked to the desk. As expected, the arena master appeared. "Congratulations on your awesome victory!" he gushed. "I'll send you to Vertigo, now!" "Uh, don't I get a reward or something?" "No. Goodbye..."

The next moment I was in Vertigo, with only a hazy heat distortion in the air to mark my sudden arrival. With the arena and my hasty arrival on the this side of the world becoming a bad memory, my journey was almost over. I knew that there was a travel pyramid just outside of town. First thing, though, was to get a hot meal and a room for the night. The tavern was right behind me, so I stepped inside and asked for the special of the day.

Octopus soup with arachnoid garnish. Hmmm. Well, part of travelling is to try the local food, no matter how strange. The octopus was somewhat rubbery, and the arachnoid garnish tasted like chicken. Not bad, but both dishes could have used some more spice. After eating I checked into a room and had a good night's sleep.

The next day I decided to explore Vertigo awhile before I returned home to Castleview. It turns out that Vertigo has all the amenities of civilization, including a town mirror. The blacksmith's shop has everything an adventurer could ask for. Everything from accuracy tridents to venom crowns. Nova scepters were unavailable, though, and the blacksmith had never even heard of a J.V.C. moat maker.

The Guild, however, was virtually barren of spells. They didn't even have the clairvoyance and cure disease spells, let alone heavy hitters like resurrection and starburst. They seemed to mostly carry the simple spells that Rangers and Druids used. The proprietor, an agile prestidigitator in his mid thirties, told me that the nearest known version of the clairvoyance spell was in the witch's tower far to the south, where the horn of Falista the unicorn was kept.
Well, rescuing some unicorn's horn sounded both dangerous and unprofitable. The seer within me told me that further adventures would give me a severe case of death, and that I should change my vocation to fisherman, or alligator wrestler. My decision had been made. I left the town and used the pyramid to return to Castleview. This travel guide is complete, but there is one more piece of advice I leave you to ponder: When the sphinx has you baffled, and Corak remains a prisoner, Tito Therewolf, smile, and all will be forgiven.