                             -----------------------
                             | Heavy on the Magick |
                             -----------------------

                                  From GARGOYLE
                                - the GAMEMASTERS

Dungeons and How to Enter them
------------------------------
Axil the Able stood in three inches of stagnant water and surveyed one of the
most dismal dungeons he had ever been thrown into...

30 seconds earlier, he was sitting in front of the ox-roast in that famed haunt
of the Occult, The Golden Thurible, engaged in his favourite pastime of
Wizard-Baiting. His target for the night was one Master Therion, he of the bald
head and piercing eyes, said to be the cleverest Magician in the Icemark, if not
all Graumerphy.

And what a good story Axil was telling - a new one about Therion, a certain Moon
creature and a rather gullible Elf - really, the sudden silence of his audience
should have warned him. 

The crowd parted as Therion strode across the floor, dangerous in all his 10
degrees! Standing squarely in front of Axil, and shrouded by the flames of the
ox-roast, he began talking in that dry-leaves voice he normally reserved for
Elementals. It was a long and complicated speech, touching lingeringly on Axil's
parents, upbringing and eating habits. When, after a while he began to slow
down, Therion raised a dismissive twig-like index finger and flung a bemused
Axil several hundred leagues across Graumerphy, into the dungeons beneath the
dreary castle called Collodon's Pile. 

In the dank twilight, Axil tufted - and then took stock. He was, at least,
clothed: he carried a large leather pouch. And, on a nearby table, there was a
book.

The title read as follows:
"The Net of Gugamon - a Grimoire; wherein is contained the proper rites for the
Convocation of various Demonly Princes, the procurement of lesser spirits,
together with sundry workings, conjurations, manifestations, symbols relating to
all manner of Astral Phenomena..."
and so on for several more pages, in the rather turgid style thought necessary
for such books.

Unfortunately, apart from the title, there seemed to be little more than a
rather tattered contents page. But, since Axil thought of himself as a fairly
accomplished magician (actually, he barely scraped by at the grade of Neophyte),
he felt that simply possessing such a book ought to be useful - they didn't call
him Axil the Able for nothing! (Indeed, many didn't call him Axil the Able at
all, but struck for the more picturesque Axil the Awfully Adequate or Axil the
Absolutely Average...)

So, with a flourish, one very strange book, and a hope that Mistress Luck would
favour him for once, he marched from the room in search of a Way Out! 

In the next room was a Sign...

Dungeons and How to Survive them
--------------------------------
Since Dungeons in general are fairly unhealthy places, and this one is no
exception, the best way to survive them is to Get Out! In fact, there are three
separate exits (all of which may lead Somewhere in the Future). To help you
locate them you have a book of Spells (which you can add to) and your not
insubstantial Wits: to hinder you there are Wandering Monsters, Demons, Traps,
Tricks and Puzzles.

In the main, comporting yourself in a Dungeon is something you just have to
learn by experience - but, generously, here are a few general tips.

Starting Up
-----------
When the Option Screen is displayed, select option 1 and Away You Go! You may
have noticed that the program had already generated values for Stamina, Skill
and Luck. While you can't alter the values themselves, you can re-allocate them
- select option 6 and the values will be realigned. It depends on whether you
think Skill counts for more than Stamina, or perhaps you just feel Lucky!

When Saving or Restoring a game, you will be asked for a Version letter - this
is to ensure that the right game is restored, so keep a note of Version letters.

Note, however, that Saving a game will deplete your Stamina, so that a Save
cannot be used as an easy way of getting round difficult choices!

Saving and Restoring Axil allows you to save Axil's current experience and
Grade, as well as (some) items that he is carrying, and pass them across to
future modules or new adventures. While this is an option that could be utilised
in this game (to take advantage of the benefit of hindsight?), its true
application is Somewhere in the Future! 

Communication
-------------
Communicating with the program is all done through Window 2 (the middle window),
and is dealt with fully in the section on Merphish. 

Status
------
Your Stamina, Skill and Luck are a reflection of your current abilities. If you
run out of Stamina, you Die; your Stamina and Skill together affect the outcome
of conflicts; your Luck will influence virtually all your actions. 

Combat will reduce your Stamina a lot, most other actions will reduce it a
little, but taking food or drink may well increase it; other special objects
will enhance your Skill and Luck. 

Experience
----------
As you progress through the adventure you will gain in experience; this will not
only enhance your status characteristics, but, exceptionally, advance your
Magical grade, which will allow you access to items and knowledge not available
to the lower grades. 

Combat
------
All combat is Magical - physical encounters with other creatures are often
fatal. If you decide to engage in a macho bout of Blasting, check your own and
the monster's status before each round - it may be capable of hurting you more
than you can hurt it!

But Blasting is not the only way out of a tight situation. Some monsters, and
all Demons, may have information on objects which may prove useful, and often
the status of a creature will give you a clue of how to deal with it. 

Unlocking
---------
Most locks that you might encounter are Magical locks and therefore are opened
Magically by Magical keys! Naturally, they might not immediately be recognised
as keys but they need only be dropped by a lock to be effective. Other locks can
be opened by Magical passwords: speak clearly and firmly to the locked object,
as Dungeons are a major cause of Deafness.

Stuck?
------
If you're really stuck, ask Apex - or try Examine (Object).

Merphish and How to Speak it
----------------------------
All input is in Merphish, a language similar to English but somewhat more
compact, if not terse. 

All commands take the form:
 Keyword (Object) followed by RETURN/ENTER

Spaces are unnecessary and are ignored. 

Keywords are entered as just the first letter (occasionally two letters as in
North-East etc.) and are expanded on output; the names of both animate and
inanimate Objects must be entered in full. Unrecognised keywords will be
queried. 

Commands can also be entered as a string, with each separated by a comma, and
the final command followed by a RETURN - none of the commands in the string will
be actioned until a RETURN is entered.

A single DELETE will cause the command back to the previous comma of RETURN to
be 'forgotten": a comma or RETURN is considered to confirm a command. (However,
see Halt below).

Output caused by a command being actioned is put to a new line and indented: any
command or command string being input will be interrupted and lost. 

Note that the program will check for syntax errors, but will attempt to make
some sense of all accepted input - this often has interesting results. For
instance, to examine a bottle it is not necessary to first position Axil next to
a bottle - when he receives the command, he will go to and examine the bottle
nearest to him in that room - if there is one. 

There follows a list of Merphish Keywords:

N - North                NE - North-east          NW - North-west 
S - South                SE - South-east          SW - South-west
E - East                 W - West                 L - Left     R - Right 
H - Halt: this will abandon the command being actioned and the rest of any
outstanding command string. 
Z - a special function to swap the information in Window 1 (the left window). 
O - return to Option Screen.
X (Object) - Examine the named object. 
P (Object) - Pick up the named object.
D (Object) - Drop the named object. 

Spells:
I (Object) - Invoke the named Demon. 
B (Object) - Blast the named object or monster.
F (Object) - Freeze the named object or monster. 

Fuller details of spells can be found in the section on the Grimoire, but you
might try experimentation - it will often be deadly. Other spells may become
available to you as you progress, but these you can work out for yourself. 

Here are a few Merphish object names: 
ASMODEE         ASTAROT         AXIL            BELEZBAR        BOOK
BOX             BOTTLE          CANDLE          CHAIR           DEMON
LOAF            MAGOT           MONSTER         OBJECT          ROCK
RUBY            SIGN            SWORD           TABLE           WALL

Talking to other Denizens of the Dungeon is possible, be they Demon, Monster or
Thing, but the conversational form is typical of the spartan Merphish language
(you might suspect that some members of the early Merph cultures had a strictly
limited attention span). 

Conversation is carried out as follows:
 "Name, Object"
(the leading quote marks are mandatory, the final quotes are optional).

Where Name is the name of the Demon, Monster or Thing that you are addressing,
and Object is the name of the Demon, Monster or Thing that you wish to be
attacked or about which you require information or that you wish to locate etc.,
depending on the nature of the creature that you are addressing. As you might
discern, conversation is a pastime not to be undertaken lightly, since the
opportunities for misunderstanding are many! 

The Net, being the Grimoire of Gugamon the Mage 
-----------------------------------------------
It has been stated elsewhere that the book found by Axil consisted of the Title,
a contents page and little else. 

That "little else" is laid out below, restored and interpreted from the Original
and Ancient Merphish.

"Be Thou warned - attempt no conjuration except that Ye possess the right
Talisman; neither approach nor touch a Spirit, for the Demonic folk are quick to
cut Mortality to the bone. Instead, place Ye the talisman on the ground and
proceed with thy invocation from a distance; but, let it be known to the Wise,
that the presence of such Things that are comfortable to thy Chosen Spirit, will
ease the Translation of such Knowledge as may be imparted.

And here, for those with eyes to see and Wit to understand, are the Names and
Natures of the Princes...

ASMODEE - the Great Destroyer; whose number is 122 in the House of Mars; whose
aspect is that of the Basilisk; whose colour is Green and whose plant is the
Nettle and who bows to all Gems Red. 

ASTAROT - the Spirit of Assemblage; whose number is 1376 in the Sign of Gemini;
whose appearance is Legion, who moveth through Rock Solid; whose pantacle is a
Flaming Sword; whose perfume is Wormwood and favours the Orchid and the Magpie
and bows before the Lustre of Tourmaline. 

BELEZBAR - the Master of Flies; whose Nature is Deceit and reveals all Deceit;
whose number is 20 in the Firmament of Stars; who reveres the Amaranth and Musk
and all manner of Locust; who bows to startling Turqoise. 

MAGOT - the Diviner; who knoweth the situation of Hidden Treasures; whose aspect
is that of a Baboon; whose colour is Yellow and whose number is 443 in the Realm
of Air; who craves the scent of Galbanum and bows to secret Topaz and
Chalcedony.

And the number of Magick is 11; but the number of the Great Abyss is 24..."

And here the book is rent and tattered and contains no more, unless you can add
to it yourself. 

Somewhere in the Future
-----------------------
It is the intention that Somewhere in the Not-Too-Distant Future, new adventures
for Axil will appear.

These, will take two forms:

- Heavy on the Magick modules, which will interlace with the current adventures
  directly; i.e. they will be the continuation of the adventure from each of the
  three exits from the current game. 

- New Graumerphy adventures, featuring other locations and characters of the
  enchanted and whimsical land of Graumerphy.

Both adventures and modules will be capable of accepting saved Axils, together
with any terrifically useful objects from other adventures. 

It is anticipated that new modules will only be available direct from Gargoyle,
while complete new adventures will be available from honest retailers
everywhere. In addition, it is also hoped that a small book will be produced
giving more information on Graumerphy and its inhabitants. 

Future Productions
------------------
Heavy on the Magick Modules: Collodon's Pile - the castle above the Dungeons.
The Tombs of Taro - a strange and terrifying catacomb adjacent to the dungeons.
Paradise Reglossed - in which things are not as heavenly as they seem.

Complete Adventures: The Trials of Therlon - what happened when Axil returned!

Booklet: The Magicians Guide to Graumerphy!
Note! Send no money until you see announcements in the press!

Acknowledgements
----------------
The Systems of Magick described in this game are derived from the Western Occult
Tradition: those who wish to read further on the Matter, might study the
following: 

The Golden Dawn by Israel Regardie.
Magick in Theory and Practise by A. Crowley. 
The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abra Melin the Mage. 

For those who relished the flavour of the Land of Graumerphy, the Dying Earth
series bv Jack Vance, and the Myth books by Robert Aspirin will afford
enjoyment. 

The cover artwork was specially commissioned from S. B. Graphics of Birmingham. 

Heavy on the Magick is manufactured bv Gargoyle Games Ltd., 74 King Street,
Dudley, West Midlands DY2 8QB.

Heavy on the Magick
(C) 1986 CARTER FOLLIS SOFTWARE, All rights reserved worldwide. 
