GUIDE TO PLAY

 The role you play
Luxor the Moonprince You, the player, take the role of Luxor the Moonprince, Lord of the Free. By virtue of the Moon Ring, which lends you the Power of Vision and the Power of Command, you can control other characters that are loyal to you, move them through the landscape of Midnight and look through their eyes. Some of these characters are simply individuals, others are commanders at the head of whole armies: when you move a commander, his army moves with him.
The computer plays the part of Doomdark, the Witchking of Midnight and controls the characters and armies loyal to him. In addition, the computer also governs the actions of the independent characters and forces in the land of Midnight
 A choice of games
    There are two distinct ways of winning a victory over Doomdark. The first is by war, by sending armies north to the Plains of Despair and seizing the Citadel of Ushgarak from whence Doomdark commands his foul hordes. In such a strategy, Luxor himself will playa major part as a commander in the field.
    The second way of winning is by quest, by guiding Morkin, Luxor’s son, to the Tower of Doom to destroy the Ice Crown, the source of Doomdark’s power. Morkin can have no army to help him on his journey, for the Ice Crown sends forth the ice-fear which withers men’s minds. By virtue of his birth, half-human, half-fey, only Morkin can resist the utter coldness of the Ice Crown’s power.
    If you prefer a pure adventure just concentrate on the quest of Morkin. The armies of Doomdark will still march south to conquer Midnight but the armies of the Free will defend themselves without your guidance, even though they will not make any counter-moves.
    If you prefer a pure war game, ignore the quest of Morkin and concentrate on the assault of Ushgarak.
    To play the complete epic, however, you should place equal importance on the war that Luxor directs and the quest that Morkin journeys on. Naturally enough, the complete epic takes the longest to play. Of the other options, you will find the quest the quicker game.
    There are no keys to press to choose which sort of game you play - you simply choose, move-by-move, which characters you want to guide. At any stage, you can alter the balance at will, abandon the quest and take up war, or admit defeat on the battlefield and try to seek the Ice Crown.
    If you want to play the Lords of Midnight with your family or friends, we suggest that each player is given control over a particular character or group of characters, and that you play as a team against the evil Doomdark.
 Victory for Doomdark
    To win, Doomdark (or the computer, if you prefer) must achieve two objectives. First, he must eliminate Morkin: as long as Morkin is alive, the game will continue. Second, he must subdue the armies of the Free. This can be done in two ways, either by eliminating Luxor the Moonprince who is their commander or by taking the Citadel of Xajorkith in the land of Corelay, the home of all their hopes.
    If Luxor is killed, you, the player, lose all control over the other characters in the game except for Morkin, his son. If, by any chance, Morkin manages to find the Moon Ring that Luxor wore and which was the source of Luxor’s Powers of Vision and Command, he can put it on and you will regain control over those characters still loyal to the Free. However, once he does this, Morkin will immediately become known to Doomdark and his quest to seize the Ice Crown will become almost impossible.
    If Xajorkith is taken by Doomdark but Morkin is still alive. Luxor can continue the armed struggle against the Witchking. For Doomdark to win, Xajorkith must be Doomdark’s and Morkin must be dead, OR both Luxor and Morkin must be dead.
 The Ice-Fear and the Moon Ring
    The ice-fear is Doomdark’s greatest weapon, sapping men’s courage and reducing armies to rabble. If strong enough, it may even cause characters once loyal to Luxor and the Free to desert to Doomdark’s control. He can use it either as a general effect, spread equally over the lands of Midnight or concentrate it in particular places.
    The only shield against it is the Moon Ring that Luxor wears: this radiates the strength and warmth of his mind. The closer a character or Army is to Luxor, the less will be the demoralising effect of the ice-fear. The same applies if Morkin is the wearer of the Moon Ring. There is one drawback: the Witchking can sense the warmth of the Moon Ring and so, at any stage of the game, he knows the precise whereabouts of its wearer.
    The strength of the ice-fear also depends on Doomdark’s confidence. As the Witchking takes citadel after citadel of the Free so does the ice-fear grow. but where he suffers defeat or doubt the ice-fear dwindles. The Ice Crown has a cold intelligence of its own and as Morkin comes closer towards it. it will feel the approaching danger and bend a greater and greater part of its force towards its own protection. So, as Morkin approaches the Ice Crown, more and more of the ice-fear will be directed at him alone but it will not affect him. Instead, the burden of its terror will begin to lift from the armies and commanders of the Free.
 How the game works
    The game begins on the day of the Winter Solstice. Initially, you control Luxor the Moonprince, Morkin, Corleth the Fey and Rorthron the Wise. These characters all start the game at the Tower of the Moon in the Forest of Shadows. The game proceeds by day and by night.
    During the day, you can move any or all of the characters you control and any armies that are with them. The distance a character can move in one day depends on the difficulty of the terrain and whether he is walking or riding as well as his state of health. You must learn by experience precisely how far you can travel under given circumstances. However, there is one important thing to remember: when you travel directly north, south, east or west you are moving just one league at a time: when you move north-east, north-west, south-east or south-west you are moving along the diagonal of a square one league by one league, a distance of approximately 1.4 leagues. Therefore, this will take you longer and leave less hours of daylight for the rest of your journey.
    When a character has exhausted his hours of daylight, night will fall for him, and. unless there are exceptional circumstances (the THINK screen will tell you if there are), he will not be able to do any more until the following day. You can still, however, move other characters under your control.
Once you have moved all the characters you wish to, you must press the NIGHT icon. This lets nightfall everywhere and signals the start of activities for the forces of Doomdark. During the night, Doomdark will move his characters and armies across Midnight and there will be a pause as he "thinks". Soon, however, a new day will dawn and you can command your characters afresh.
    
Night DO NOT FORGET TO PRESS THE NIGHT KEY WHEN YOU HAVE FINISHED YOUR DAY’S MOVEMENT AND ACTION. IF YOU DO NOT PRESS THE NIGHT KEY NOTHING FURTHER WILL HAPPEN AT ALL!
 Engaging in battle
Enter Battle Minor skirmishes involving individual characters and small war-bands are quick affairs and can take place at any stage throughout the day. Battles between armies, however, that will not be decided until the day is over.

    Because a battle between armies is such a major event, you will not be able to move an army to the same location as an enemy army by using the simple MOVE option. Such a move is always one of the special actions you can opt for by selecting the battle icon. Some of the commanders you control may be so afraid that the choice to move them into battle does not even appear as a possibility.
    During the course of the day, you can move as many armies into battle as you wish. If you move more than one army into the same battle, the program will keep track of their times of arrival (which may influence the outcome of the contest). However, once an army or a character has been moved into a battle, it will not be able to move again until the following day.
    At dawn on the following day, the outcome will be known to your commanders. If the enemy has lost, his armies will have been destroyed in the night or have fled, leaving your armies and characters free to move. If the enemy has not lost, you have the choice of retreating with what is left of your armies or continuing the struggle for another day, possibly throwing in more forces. If, however, the enemy has won a decisive victory, when dawn breaks you will find your armies destroyed and your surviving commanders scattered: the enemy forces may have advanced far beyond the battlefield.
    Many things will influence the outcome of a battle: the number of troops, the type of terrain. the quality of the commanders and, of course, the strength of the ice-fear. But, as any warrior must, you must learn by experience.

 The free and the foul
On the day of the Solstice, at the start of the game, Doomdark’s forces hold the north whilst the Free hold the South. Few of Doomdark’s armies will be found south of the Mountains of Ithril and the Plains of Valethor. Of the major citadels, Doomdark holds Ushgarak, Grarg, Vorgath and Kor. The only armies of the Free to be found north of the Mountains of Ithril and the Plains of Valethor are in Ithrorn and the Plains of Ithril. Of the major citadels, the Free still hold Ithrorn, Kumar, Marakith, Shimeril, Grad and Xajorkith. In the east, the barbarian tribes of the Targ remain independent of both Doomdark and the Moonprince. In the west, save for the Citadel of Gard, the lands lie mostly empty and under no one’s sway.
    The Fey are in loose alliance with the Free. They do not seek war but neither do they relish the thought of Doomdark overrunning Midnight. Their part in the War of the Solstice will be mostly passive. Their homes are the forests of Midnight and Doomdark’s armies will not willingly be allowed passage through these. Corleth the Fey, however. should be able to rally enough of his people to his banner to form one army.
    The Wise have isolated themselves from the world and live like hermits in their tall towers. Doomdark will not bother them so long as they remain withdrawn from the affairs of Men and most certainly, they will not aid him. In the right circumstances, it may be possible to seek their help and be granted it. Rorthron the Wise could prove a useful ally in this.
    The Utarg of Utarg may be persuaded to bring the Targ into the war against Doomdark, especially if the armies of the Witchking are tempted or forced to trespass on his lands. If the ice-fear grows too strong, however, he may lend his loyalty to Doomdark.
Of the Free themselves, there are many Lords. Luxor should first set himself the task of seeking their loyalty, thus gaining control of many armies. Most powerful are the Lord Marshals of the great Citadels but the Moonprince will find other Lords who will also bow to his command. He should not, however, waste too much time seeking out allies; there are others who will make fine ambassadors.

 The map of Midnight

During your travels, the lords under your banner relay information around that is used to make up a map. Only places visited and people seen are visible. Remember that sometimes information can be old.

Show Armies
Place markers to show the last known positions or armies.
Show Characters
Show all the lords that are currently known about.
Show Current Position
This icons shows the location of the currently selected character.
Show Area
With this icon selected all locations with the same area as the currently selected one are hilighted.
Lock to Character
If you leave and return to the map, the current character is always centered upon.
 Controlling a character
    As stated in the introduction, the Lords of Midnight is not a standard adventure game and controlling the characters does not require you to guess at the right phrase of command. Instead, you have basic options, each available at the press of a single icon:
    What options are available will depend upon the situation the character finds himself in but will include such choices as searching, hiding, attacking an enemy, repairing defenses and so on.
    The options will also reflect the personality of the particular character. All the choices you are presented with are only those the character would be likely to choose by himself. So, the choices open to a cowardly character will seldom include brave deeds, the choices open to a greedy character will seldom include acts of generosity.
 General Commands
Seek
You can instruct your character to search their current location. The results of this are then displayed on a new screen. Be careful as not everything that is hidden wants to be found.
Hide
This Icon tells your character to hide. He is then hidden from the evil that lurks in the night. This option is not always available, especially if your lord has an army in tow.
Un-hide
When you require to move your lord after they have hidden, you need to first bring them out of their hiding place.
Fight... Fight
Sometimes your lord will come up against terrors other than doomdark's armies. You must fight or hide.
DragonsSkulkrinIce TrollsWolves
Approach
While traveling the lands of midnight other lords can be approached to join your cause. Use this icon to make an approach.
Recruit
When at strongholds you may need to refresh your army with new recruits. However they must be of the same race and type.
Post
Some strongholds may be better or defended. This icon allows you to place more men on guard.
Enter Battle Battle
When confronted with the enemy... the only option for a brave lord is to fight.
Think
At any stage you may need to take stock of your current situation and think about any information that is available to you.
Luxor the Moonprince Look
The face icon is replaced with the face of your current character, selecting it will always return you to the look screen.
Night Night
When your days work is done, you must select the night icon to allow the game to move forward.
Map
At any stage you may select the map to view the areas you have visited.


Time
The time icon gives you a quick idea of the current time of day. Moving the mouse over it will inform you of the exact time. But it also has three quick indicators. A full sun means dawn, sun/moon means day and moon means night. Selecting this icon instructs your character to wait around and take an early night.
Availability
In order to constructively choose the order of controlling characters, the lords of midnight allows you to instruct them to wait. There are three stages to the wait. No wait, wait until next morning or wait forever. Waiting characters are considered to have done there work for the day and can not be selected by the SELECT AVAILABLE icon. 
 Look
    On screen will appear a landscape corresponding to the view that the character sees in the direction he is looking at the time. There are also a few lines of text, giving details of where he stands as well as an heraldic shield which identifies him. During the LOOK option, you can turn the character to look in another direction by pressing one of the compass points : NORTH. NORTH-EAST, SOUTH-EAST, SOUTH, SOUTH -WEST, WEST and NORTH-WEST.

 Selecting a character

Luxor the Moonprince
Morkin

At the beginning of the game, you have four characters under your control. These are LUXOR the Moonprince, MORKIN his son, CORLETH the Fey and RORTHRON the Wise. You can select any of these by pressing the icon marked with their name. When selected, the display will switch immediately to the LOOK option for that character. 

Corleth the Fey
Rorthron the Wise

To select others characters (which you must recruit to your cause during the course of the game), you must press one of the SELECT icons. When you do this, a screen showing the faces of the other characters will appear. Press one of these icons and the display will switch immediately to the LOOK option for that character. Once you have selected a character, your control will remain with that character until you select another. 

Select Character

Select all recruited.
This icon allows you to select any of your recruited characters.

Select Character Here

Select here
This icon is only visible when there are other characters at your present location. This  allows you to select any of these characters.

Select Available Characters

Select available
This icon allows you to select any of the available characters. Available characters are those that are; alive, not waiting and not camped up for the night.

Dead Character

There are a few special faces that are displayed on the select screen. These are a skull icon which means that this character is dead, or a faded face which means the character cannot move because it is night or they are too tired.  Night Character
 Movement
    Movement is achieved by clicking on the center of the compass icon. The character will move forward in the same direction he was last looking. When he reaches his next location, he will continue looking in that direction and the LOOK option will reappear with a new landscape.
 Think

When the character is told to Think, the screen becomes largely text and you are given more details regarding the character, any army he controls and the place he is in, than could be included in the short text of the LOOK screen. There are additional think icons for gaining specific information.
Check Place
This provides information about the current stronghold.
Check Person
This provides information about any characters that are in same location or just in front of the current character.
Check Battle
This information about the current status of any battle that the character has been involved in.
Check Army
This provides information about any armies that are in the same location or in front of the current character.
 Saving and loading a game
Save Game You can save your progress in the world of Midnight at any stage during the game. To save a game, you must first press the save icon. When you have selected save, a screen will appear showing you all previously saved games. Either select an old save or type the name of a new game and press the save icon again.
Load Game The data from a previous game of the Lords of Midnight can be loaded at any stage during the game.  To load a game you must select the load icon. When you haved selected load, a screen will appear showing you all available save games. Just select the save you require and press the load icon again.
 Abandoning a game
    We hope that you will never need to abandon a game of the Lords of Midnight, but if it should come to pass that your situation is beyond all hope, you can abandon the game by selecting the quit icon. Alternatively you can always load in a previously saved game.

 

 Looking around
    During your travels through Midnight, you will see many different scenes. This is a traveller’s guide to some of the things you will see. All of these features of Midnight’s geography may offer cover to an army.

 

Moving across a mountain will take many hours of travel and leave you exhausted at the end of your journey.

A strongly fortified city which may harbour enemy forces or offer shelter to a friendly army. Storming a citadel will be a hard task.

Movement through a forest will not be swift. The minions of Doomdark, however. will find it doubly difficult for forests are the homes of the magical Fey who hold no love for the foul creatures of the Witchking.

The refuges of the Wise, the Towers of Midnight are almost impregnable from attack but help may be sought at one of these. It may not always be granted.

Built in the dawn of the world, these ancient temples have strange powers, not always benign.

A village can offer warmth and shelter to the lonely traveller if its people prove friendly.

Gently rolling hills, the downs slow a traveller only slightly but they may hide unseen dangers.

The fortress of a minor Lord, a keep will offer protection against occasional raids but will not withstand a determined assault for long.

Built by the wandering peoples of Midnight during the long winter, snowhalls are quite large structures which can offer shelter to many hundreds if need be.

The remaining lakes of Midnight are fed by warm springs. They have powers to revive and heal those who oppose Doomdark and the forces of cold.

Surrounding the land of Midnight are the Frozen Wastes. They cannot be entered by any. Free, Foul or Fey.

Abandoned fortresses of former wars, ruins may harbour dark and dangerous things but may, in times of need, offer some protection against attack.

These ancient standing stones often have magical powers.

A cavern can provide shelter and a hiding place but it may already have done so for fouler creatures!
As well as these features, you will also see the flat expanses of the Plains of Midnight. It is only on the plains that you will actually see the banners and ranks of the armies that march across the land.

A friendly army offers no hindrance to the traveller. but an attempt to go through the midst of an enemy army offers the gravest of peril, by day or by night. Armies in mountains, forests or any of the other places to be found will hide themselves well and not be seen.
As you look around during your travels, large figures may appear in the foreground of each panorama you see. These are the warriors, characters or creatures that lie immediately ahead of you on the borders of the next domain. You do not always, however, see all that lies ahead. The wise travellers must be both bold and wary.

Ice Troll

Dragons

Skulkrin

Wolf

Wild Horse

Doomdark's
Rider

Doomdark's
Warrior

Chapter Five

CONTENTS