Walkthrough for Hezarin by Alex Shipp, Steve Tinney and Jon Thackray Written by Richard Bos A few notes, first. One, and most importantly, this is a rotten hard and often unfair game. You can die easily. You can lose or destroy a necessary tool just as easily. Making a typo does nothing but _does_ cost a move, and this can cost you dearly at a few points in the game. Save often, and keep _all_ your save files until you've finished the game. And choose carefully where and when you save, because there are locations in which saving has been made impossible, and at least one situation in which your save file will be made worthless (a particularly unpleasant trick, if you ask me). Two, the parser is limited, but good. The game is good at giving you less to type. If there is only one object, simply "get" will take it; if there are several, it will assume the first one listed. Ditto for "drop", which will drop the first object in your inventory. On the other hand, it does not understand "it". Third, before you resort to reading this walkthrough you might want to consult the in-game hints. There is a zip file which contains documentation for all the Topologika adventures, including Hezarin. The main part of these is an index of hints available in the game. You look up the problem you're stuck at, find a number, type "help" and that number, and you get a hint. Most of these are quite clear. They need to be, because this is a game which takes "guess the verb" to beyond its straining point. Finally, these notes are for the Topologika MS-DOS version which is available at the IF Archive. I do not know whether it works for other versions, as well. So, let's be off, then. You start in a field. First, go north into the forest until you find a manhole cover. It should be four moves in. Get it, then go back south to the field. Don't deviate from the path or you'll probably never get out. Now go east twice, then southeast, and climb the tree. Get all - you should get a plank, the lantern, and a twig. Go down, w, w, d. Dig, get the wheel, and go back up, then south twice. You are now in a marsh. Moving in a random direction will kill you, but you have help: the twig. First, though, get some wiffinweed. Then type "divine". The twig will point in a direction. Go that way. Repeat this, typing "divine" and going in the indicated direction, until you come across some garnets. Take these, then continue the divining process until you reach the Bottom of the scarp. Drop the twig, go east twice, then down into the caverns. Go down three more times to the Level tunnel. Here we'll get some light - we'll need it, and that lantern is never going to work. Climb the wall, jump, and get the torch. Go south twice. Well done, you're inside the cave. Go south, get the seal (because that's what it is), and go back north. Go east twice and south twice, and get the box. Surprise - this is the box you were supposed to defeat Anjith with. If you think that means you're nearly there, think again. Go north, southwest and west. Insert the wheel, then turn it. Go back e, n, n, w, w; then w, s, get rod, s. Drop the manhole cover here, then go sw. Look at the name of this bridge. Remember that game? Throw everything except the torch. Go back ne, then nw twice and ne to view the waterfall, and back sw, se, get ruby, se, ne, e, nw, get emerald, w, n. Look at the first line of the room description. It will mention a number of instruments being played, but only the first time you enter the room. The first letters of these describe a tune. Instruments with a double name encode two notes; ones mentioned as plural encode repeated notes. For example, "two long out of tune guitars, a flute and a bass drum" describes "two G's, an F, a B-D", that is, the tune GGFDB. Make a note of the tune which your room description encodes! You will need it later in the game, and much later at that. By that time, you'll probably have forgotten all about it and don't realise that you should have remembered this sentence, which you will see once and never again. Another overly cruel trick, in my opinion. Anyway, get the "bonger", then go s, s, se, s, s, and sw thrice. Go south and north, and note the >>BANG<<. Go south, get the sword that has appeared in the cabinet, and go north and up. As the game says, it would be unwise to proceed unprepared, and choosing a passage at random isn't wise, either. Listen. One passage is described as sounding like snoring. Take that one. Get the crystal. Your sword will disappear. Go back to the "nessle" (what kind of name is that, anyway?), then down to the Celinph (ditto, and why a capital C but not one for Nessle?), and for the second time go s, n, s, get sword, n, u, listen, follow the snoring (in the new direction!), and get the crystal. Go back out, and note that the pieces of crystal fuse together. This is not a problem; in fact, it is what we want. Repeat the sword-and-crystal procedure one more time. The fourth orc will be slightly harder. Go back down, s, n, s, get sword, n. You get _another_ >>BANG<<, so go south again. There seems to be nothing in the cabinet, but appearances can deceive - and in this case, they do. Type "get all". Aha! No wonder we didn't see that. Wear the cloak. Go north and up, and listen. This time, take the only passage where you hear something. Get the crystal. Take inventory. If all is right, you will have not lost your sword, this time, but you will have all crystal pieces, fused into a key. Go down, get the vase, and go northwest, then north twice. You see a crown behind a sheet of glass. Break the glass. Nothing behind it? In fact, it was a mirror. So the crown, which appeared in front of you, must have been behind you. Go south and get the crown, which is invisible but was made visible by the mirror. Wear it. Go south, southeast, east, northeast. Throw all but torch again. Note that nothing you're wearing - which includes the crown - is thrown. This is just as well, because if you had thrown the crown into the river, it would have exploded. Go sw, sw, n, n. Drop your torch. You should now be carrying not a bean. Go down and get stuck. Wait three turns, and you'll be thrown onto a ledge. Take the torch, and go north and northeast. Look what's turned up here! Get the box and the key, then open the box. If you think _this_ means you're nearly there, you haven't understood what the box said... Note the name of the mountain. Drop box and key again. Wash the crown (which makes it visible) and drop it. Go east, and type "enter vent". This command may seem unclued, but it isn't, entirely; I just haven't taken you past all the sights that could have tipped you off. Such is the danger of reading walkthroughs... Anyway, go east. Note the Aeolian harp, which will come into play later. Get the manuscripts, go west three times, and drop them. Go west again. Read the lights - remind you of something? Enter lift. You have to use those words; "enter doors" won't work. Get the wine. Go down (in the lift), then east twice, north, get the sceptre, north (to the Fountain Cavern), and west. Enter lift again, only to find that it's not there (because you left it a floor below, naturally) but you're on top of it. Get the lavulite, then go east twice and drop all but torch. Get the lantern. Go southeast - ignore the bag for now - then east four times to a Dismal east-west tunnel. Open the lantern, and get the paper. Save your game _now_. What follows is a very tricky section which you will, you may put money on it, get wrong a couple of times before you get it right, but if you try to save your game halfway through, your save file will be worthless and you'll never get through it. So save before, and preferably after as well. Read the paper. It's a map. It tells you how to get through the tunnels east of here. Just before where it says "pit", you have to jump. Remember that the bridge is one room west of here; and that you don't jump _at_ the pit, but from the spot just before it to the spot just after. I can't help you more precisely than that; trial and (much) error is the only way to learn your way through this puzzle. After ten Easts and two Jumps in total, you should either be at the bottom of a pit with a severe case of death, or in a brimstone cavern with a glass vial. Get that vial, note the magic word, and then retrace your steps exactly. Once you're back in the Dismal tunnel, you can breathe easily again. Drop the map and the lantern, then go west four times and northwest to the Fountain Cavern. Aaand... save. Take the sword. Go nw and s, then enter lift and go d and e. Enter "XZOM". The magic word was given as "WOZX", but for some undivulged reason you read it from the wrong side... Anyway, your vial should start glowing colours. In each of the following rooms, you should now go either northeast or southeast depending on those colours. Get it wrong and you're killed by a dragon. You can, in fact, map this maze through trial and error, but if you can't be bothered, just follow these directions until you reach a Large chamber: pink, green, yellow, purple, red: northeast orange, blue, grey, turquoise, cyan: southeast multicoloured spots: whichever of southeast and northeast is left. Take the firestone and the asbestos suit, and wear the suit. Go northwest. Get the dragon's head, go north, get the spangle, and go back south. You could also have gone southwest; you'd then have had to go south to get the spangle. It makes no difference. Whichever way you chose, now, still carrying the dragon's head, keep going southwest or northwest (as you choose) to the square room. Enter lift, go up twice and east twice, then drop the spangle, head, and firestone, and (which you can do with surprising safety - it won't go out nor set the room ablaze) the torch. Get the rod. Go se, e three times, s four times, get the necklace, go sw, then south until you find the minotaur's den. If you come out on the shelf of rock again, just go sw (or se) and keep trying. In the den, wave the rod, and get the minotaur. Go back out south, and go north until you reach the shelf of rock. Go north four times, then west twice. Wave the rod again. This time it's you who changes. Go north. Eat, don't get, the fly. Go s, w, nw. Drink the water from the fountain. Go se and e, then get all but rod; go w and nw, and drop all but vial and sword. (And yes, that last command works as written. However illogical this game may be at times, at least the parser does its best to help you out.) Go southeast, get the bag, and go east thrice, then south twice. Cut the rope. Get the stone and break it. Go south, get the tiara, open the trapdoor, and go up. We're back in the minotaur's den. Go south and northwest; now you've destroyed the lodestone, that should work first time. Get the rope. Go sw, s, d, nw. Tie the rope and go down it. You're now on a precarious ledge, and if you carry more than two objects, you won't be able to go where you want. Luckily you have the bag, in which you can put things. You have to use the rather unconventional command "fill bag with " to do so, so fill bag with tiara, then fill bag with sword. You should now be carrying only the bag and the vial (and wearing a thing or two, which don't count). Go east twice, then south and up. Open the doors. If you're asked which, answer "both". Go ne, get the tiepin, go n, nw, n, nw, n. Hey, we've been here before! Go west five times, to the Nightmare cavern. Wait here three times. First you'll see why you had to see the waterfall and the Aeolian harp, and then you'll be given another harp yourself. You have just been ushered out of the Nightmare cavern, and it is not a good idea to return to it. You need to find your way around it. As far as I can tell, the exit you've been shoved out of is random, but you can end up in only three rooms. From the Low tunnel, go e, s, s; from the Narrow canyon, go e, s; from the Bend, just go s. In each case, you should end up in the Grotto, from where, go south. Take the manhole cover, then jump. You'll see a word written on the bridge, which should be familiar (read it backwards). Enter it: skcitshoop. Do that in this very turn, and make sure not to make a typo. Wait a couple of turns until all your possessions are thrown into the room with you, then get and empty the bag, and drop everything. Take the vial, harp, torch, ruby, emerald, garnets, vase and key. Go west, enter lift, u, e, e, s. Go south into the shifting halls; you may be thrown out again, but if so, just keep trying. When in the halls, keep going east until you reach the hall of perseverance, where you are given a package. Then, go west until you reach the Entrance to the shifting halls. Play the harp to get rid of the bear. We'll go south later. For now, go nw and sw. Throw the torch and get the ornament. Go west and north to the Reception area. Drop the vial here, then ring the bell. You can give almost any name you like, but beware: do not give a magic word as your name. Doing so will stop that word from working. In particular, do not be a clever-clogs like I was the first time 'round, and call yourself "Anjith". To be safe, use your real name. Then answer yes: deposit everything. Take the vial, and go s, se, e into the halls (repeat if necessary), n repeatedly until you reach the Large chamber with the "BEAR WEST" sign, n and w, enter lift, d, e, e. Take the minotaur, firestone, spangle, crown, sceptre, wine, lavulite and manuscripts. Repeat the trip to the Reception: w, enter lift, u, e, e, s, s into the halls, w to the Entrance, nw, n. Drop the vial, ring the bell, and answer yes to both questions to deposit all treasures. Get the vial again and go back to Fountain cavern as you did above. This time, take the sword, tiara, tiepin, fly and necklace, and go back to the Entrance by the previous route. This time, go south first. Get the peridot. Remove your sandals and drop them; take and wear the boots. Go north, northwest, and north. Drop the vial, ring the bell, and deposit everything. Get the vial, go back to Fountain cavern, and get all but bag. Go back to the Reception area. This time we don't deposit anything, but go north to the Adventurers' Lounge. (For the time being, by the way, don't go east of here.) We'll make this our base of operations for the game from this point on. Drop everything. From this point we can do a couple of things in any order. Let's start with the cave. Take the vial, then go north twice and nw three times. Shout. Go e, se, e, e, e, s. Open door. Go south. Take the straw, and take some more straw to reveal a ring. Pull that, and drop the straw. Go north three times. Open the door. The next bit, unsurprisingly, does not tolerate lost turns, so mind the typos. Go south three times, then east, and pull the ring. Go north and down, take the star, and go south. Throw the star. Go south and retrieve your star. Go east and insert the star, go east again and get the scarab. Go w six times to the cave, then go ne, n, n, and get the tablet. Go s, then nw twice to a hidden room. Take the quartz. Go back to the Lounge: se twice, s, sw, w, se thrice, s twice. Kiss the blarney, then go east. If you hadn't kissed that stone, you would not have understood most of what that adventurer just said. Funny, that - I thought kissing the Blarney stone made you talk better, not listen better. But what do I know? I'm no Irishman, begorrah. Anyhoo, go west, drop your vial, then south, ring the bell to deposit your treasures, and back north. (I'll just note here that if you accidentally deposit the vial, or anything else that you want back, ring the bell and answer "no" to the first question.) We'd better act on what that adventurer said, and we'll go get some other treasure in the same trip. Get the wiffinweed, the dragon's head, the manhole cover and the vial. Go north and west, and wait. Get what was dropped. Go south into the wild wood. This is a maze, of sorts. Climb a tree, and sniff. A breeze will come from some direction. You can't go in that direction - it will be nw, sw, ne or se, and you can go n, e, s, or w. What you do is go in either direction that is closest to the breeze. For example, if it comes from the southeast, go either south or east. Climb a tree and sniff again. If the breeze comes from the same direction, go in the same direction as before. If not, take the other one - e.g., if you had been going south, and the breeze now comes from the northeast instead of from the southeast, then start going east. Continue until that direction changes, too - in our example, it will now come from the northwest. _Now_ go in that diagonal direction. (The above is the official procedure, which will always work. As far as I can tell, the shortest route after entering the forest is always s four times, w three times, sw. In other words, the exit is always in the same place. But I can't guarantee that.) You will now be in a small clearing with some witches. Wait a turn, and you will be asked a question. Answer yes, obviously. You are transported to another part of the caves. Go south and west, get the comic, go east, north and east, and throw the cover. Drop the cover. Go west and sip - this is important: do not use the verb "drink" - the oil. Hit the boulder. Go west, get the panel, and go east twice. Say the password. Enter it exactly like that: "say the password", definite article included. Go north. Get the fossil. Go north again; you find yourself back in the shifting halls. Go west to the Entrance and northwest and north to the Reception. Drop the panel and vial, then ring the bell to deposit the other treasures. Get the panel and vial, go north, and drop the panel. Get the bonger. Go north, then east twice to a Steep valley. Be careful not to t go east another time, right now. Instead, go north thrice. Now go east into the pool, and north. Get everything, and go southeast. Notice those stalactites? They form a xylophone. Well, lithophone, to be precise. Hit the stalactites with the bonger. You will be asked to play a tune. Now is the time to get out your notes. Back in the room where you found the bonger, you wrote down a sequence of musical instruments which spelled out a tune. Play that tune. Aren't you glad that you had 20/20 foresight? Take the obsidian bar that appears. You can drop the bonger. Go nw, s, w, s, s, s, w, w to the North downs; then go north twice to the Evil Moors of Hezarin. And they are indeed evil. Go north once more; you should see a group of standing stones in the distance. Keep walking in that direction until you reach the circle. There are two pillars here, oriented along an orthogonal or diagonal axis. You need to go in a direction perpendicular to that. For example, if the pillars are oriented east-west, you go either north or south; if they're northeast- southwest, you go nw or se. Pick either direction. If, in that direction, you can see a standing stone, all is well; if not, go back and take the other option, where you ought to see the stone. Continue in the direction where you saw the stone. Don't mind the ominous messages. After a few moves you will reach the dolmen. Move on in the same direction as before until you reach a barrow. Dig to find a granite slab. Hit the slab with the bar. Hit slab with bar a second time. Enter the barrow by going northeast. Take the axe first, then take the mace. The latter will transport you back some place on the downs. It's not always the same spot, but you should have been there before. Find your way to the Lounge. Drop the mace and thong. Go south and deposit everything, including the vial, which we won't need any more. Then go north to the Lounge. Next, take the seal, thong and yashmak. Tie the seal. It's an odd way of phrasing it, but the intent is clear. Wear the yashmak. Check your inventory: you should be carrying nothing in your hands. We're off for a little flying trip and we don't want to lose anything. Go n, n, nw, nw, nw, e, ne through a dark spot, and e. Take the jamjar. This will be our temporary lamp. Go east. Roll the seal on the clay. Go east twice. Take _and wear_ the helmet, open the sarcophagus, then take and wear the pendant. Go south twice to view a magic word, then north thrice and east. Get a jar, and break it. Get what was inside and wear it. Now go west, south, east, east. We're going to ride that carpet, but it's an awkward thing: it won't be taken. First, though, score some karma points: break the jamjar. How nice. Now tell the carpet where we want to go, and it will magically take us there. If you paid attention both when opening the box and when entering the tomb, you will know where the carpet wants to go: enter "Mashu". Just that, nothing more. Enjoy the ride - you can do nearly anything, except (not very surprisingly) jumping. I suggest just waiting a turn. Ok, we've landed. _Now_ the rug will let us take it. Do so. Then go east twice, and when challenged, give the name of Gilgamesh. Go east twice more into the Way of Darkness. This is a maze, though an oddly constructed one. (It is also not as Dark as its name suggests, because even without a lamp you can at least see enough to proceed without falling into a pit.) The way the maze is laid out, you could get through it by just going north and south repeatedly. This would be prone to miscounting, though, so I'll give you a more varied route to make it less monotonous. From the first room called Way of Darkness (that is, not from the _Entrance to_ the WoD), go south, northeast, and down. Get the parchment, and read it. Note the word "obverse": it suggests that there is something on the reverse as well. So turn the parchment over, and read the other side. Now go back up, then n, ne, se, sw, e, ne, and d. Go north - good thing you came prepared. Take the brooch, then go back south and up, then se, ne, n, and finally down. Go east, north and northwest. Get the fishing gnome. If you just "get gnome" you pick up several of them before you find the right one, so "get fishing". Then "fish". Drop the gnome and get the pointer - that's what it is, though the game refuses to tell you that. Go se, e, e, s, s, s. Fit the pointer. Remember that word. Go n, n, n, and w. Get the pot. Go sw, s, s. Drop the parchment here, then pick rubies. You must pick them: you cannot "get rubies". Then go n and e. Enter the magic word on the sundial: "avernus". Go east, then keep going up until you can't go any further. You are now on top of the rainbow, and to get safely off it, you must enter "slide". As soon as you've landed (at the foot of the rainbow), dig, and you'll find a pot of gold. You can't take that now, because your hands are full. No matter, we're back near our stash: go se, se, se, s, s, drop the pendant, go n, n, nw, nw, nw, get the gold, and back se, se, se, s, s, s. Remove the anklet, helmet and yashmak. Drop the thong and get the seal. Ring the bell and deposit all your treasures. Go north. We're nearly there, now. One last side-trip before we tackle Anjith himself. Take the plank and the mace, then wear the mace. Go north, and then east twice to the valley - and east once more into the river. Do not move from there, or you'll drown. Instead, wait twice, until you're overshadowed by a wave. Surf. Take inventory. The plank is gone, but luckily you were wearing the mace around your neck. Remove it, so it is ready for use. Go east, southeast and south, then east through the undergrowth. Go south, then southeast along another hidden path, and up into the temple. Get and wear the white robe. Go north. From this point on, you may encounter either the Guardians of the Temple, a figure in red (who is a priest), or a group of Acolytes. You can ignore the latter. If the Guardians appear, though, you must - without wasting a move - hit them with the mace. If the red-robed figure approaches, bow, again without losing a move. Keeping all that in mind, go west twice, north, and west out of the Temple. Go west again, then n, e, e; take feathers; w, w, s, e, e to the Temple; n, e, n; take the dagger; s, e, n. Remove and drop the robe, take the red gown, and wear that. Now you look like a priest, bowing to another priest isn't good enough any more. He will spot your deceit. You will have to take more drastic action. From now on, when you encounter another red-robed figure, do not bow, but kill it with the dagger instead. Use the noun "priest" for him - the game, for whatever reason, does not understand the word "figure" despite using it itself. Note also the changed attitude of the Acolytes and the Guardians towards you. From now on, you won't need to kill the latter. Go s, w, w, s, e. Remove your boots, wash your feet, and put your boots back on. Go east twice. Get the salver. To get across the pit, make sure you're wearing your boots, then jump. Take the panel. Oh, dear - trouble. We need another magic word, this time the one written in the leather alcove in the tomb. Enter "riggins". You end up underneath the inn sign. We've found three panels, but we need the fourth. Well, we can get that right here. Go up. Take the sign, and go back down. Go south, drop the wooden panel and the ivory one, go south, and ring the bell to deposit your treasures. Go north, get everything - you should have a box and four panels - and go east. Save your game now: we're about to enter on the final leg of our quest. Buy a round. Pay attention to what the old man says. Go west and north, outside. Wait a turn - the sun will set. The game doesn't tell you that the moon also rises, but apparently it does. Mend the box. You are transported once again, this time to a mountain road of which, if you'd explored a bit at the beginning of the game, you would have found the other end. Back then, you would have found yourself unable to go up it. This time, you are unable to go down. By the way, you should have a nice, round, thousand points. If not, you probably forgot to deposit a treasure. If you can't go down, go up. Twice. No more, no less. If you do continue, you'll be killed by an avalanche. Jump, to find yourself in a precarious situation. Swing, then jump again. Go east. Enter "chimney". You are now in Anjith's great hall. This is where we will challenge him, but we need some preparation. Go west. There is a lever here. If you pull it, a staircase appears in the great hall, but you won't be able to get up it because Anjith will pull the lever again to stop you. Break it. Then go southeast, and break that lever as well. Go east, and break the third lever. Now go northwest. There is one lever left, in the east room, but we need to use that in our escape. Time for the showdown. To summon Anjith, just mention his name: enter "anjith". (You can do this at any time in the game, from the very start, but unsurprisingly this is not a wise thing to do.) Now run, and don't dally (or typo). Go w, se, e, ne. Break the final lever. Go west and up the stairs. Still no time for rest. Go north four times, to the laboratory. We need to delay Anjith some more, so break apparatus. Then go west. Remember that parchment you found underneath the Way of Darkness, with the two magic words written on it? We're going to use them both. First, enter "aperir". You will hear a sound coming from one direction. Go in that direction, then search the shelves. And now the final word. You have found two scraps of parchment with something written on it, and you've used neither so far. In fact, they're halves of the same parchment. One says "tar", the other "nis". Put these together and you get... no, not "tarnis". The parchment was torn through the middle of a letter. What it actually said was "tamis". Enter that word. And there you have it. You have won Hezarin. Granted, you needed a walkthrough to do so, but frankly, if there is anyone out there, beside the authors, who won this game without either resorting to the hints or a walkthrough, or to decompiling the game's data file, I congratulate him twice: once for winning the game, and once for being clairvoyant enough to read the authors' minds several times during the game...