The Aincent Evil - The Preview
by Jonathan Valentine-Cooper (jvc@nwcs.com)

The Story
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Many thousands of years ago, during the time of the Great Eternal Empire, life was, to take a quote from Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, "wild, rich, and largely tax-free." Everybody worked for the betterment of all and everyone had all the amenities that they would ever want: public roads, military protection from monsters, free education and lifetime health care, and so on. Much of this was made possible through the Magical Rotas - the scrolls and spellbooks of power in the land that were maintained by the five Archmagi - one per major city of the Empire. Equinoc, Koholint, Darlath Lien, Turaylon Square and Sorinaria Castle, the five major cites, grew and prospered.

Unfortunatley, as they say, power corrupts, and abolute power corrupts absolutely, and so magical power corrupts at flank speed. The Archmagus of Sorinaria Castle, then capital of the Empire, decided he didn't have enough control. He endeavoured to take it, and so started the undoing of the now not-so-Eternal Empire. The Dark Magus, as he was soon called, became the evil ruler of the ruins of what once was a great land. There were voices of discontent (as there are in all dictatorships), but all such voices were crushed.

Except for one. One of the Sorniaria Castle guards, Ederon the Warrior, rejected the new governing body and fled to Turaylon Square. From there he started the Turaylon Rebellion. The Turaylon Rebellion kept growing in strength and eventually was able to take back Darlath Lien, and then from there reached Sorinaria Castle. In a daring solo battle, Ederon managed to defeat the Dark Lord and restore peace to the ashes of the Eternal Empire.

The victory was not without it's costs. The other two former great cities of the Empire - Equinoc and Koholint - were unrecoverable, and so had to be left to ruin. Sorinaria Castle was unredeemably corrupted, and so the Turaylon Rebels' Magi were forced to cast the Great Enchantment, which forever cut off Sorinaria Castle from the rest of the world.

The new Turaylon Empire grew, and became very large - even bigger than the original Eternal Empire. New cities - Haverbrook, Technetropia, Selenica, Honyith and the quickly growning new town of Beryllian - were constructed and started to grow. Despite the growth, magic has been very closely regulated and so peace reigned for many thousands of years.

Then, one day, the monsters from the ruins of Equinoc and Koholint began to fight back, to expand into the entirety of the realm. Many were perplexed and wanted to know what was going on. The King's Magus told the awful truth - Sorinaria Castle had returned.

Kyle (your character), a fighter and master of the bow-and-arrow, had just set up residence on the outskirts of the Turaylon Empire, close to the home of his longtime friend Kevin, when several Slimes started attacking his home. Angered by this apparent lack of a neighborhood watch, he sets out to the nearby village of Beryllian, on his way to Kevin's home in Honyith to find out what's going on...

Why a Preview?
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Frankly, I don't have enough 'elbow room' with the current Quest Editor to create The Aincent Evil in it's entirety. The expanded number of flags expected in the next version of the Quest Editor (256 as opposed to just 32 in the current) should be adequate for me to present The Aincent Evil in it's entirety. Since I still need a Level Contest entry, however (the next Quest Editor is due after the contest is over), I am presenting the first mini-quest in a sequence of several that will be included throughout the level.

The planned size is incredible. The first island (that which is presented in this preview) alone uses the smallest number of Quest Flags (based on my paper-and-pencil plans) - ten. And this is the first and least complicated miniquest 'part' out of 11 planned. (this will be very big once complete) (please note that these plans are tenative and therefore not yet set in stone - some parts of the final may be added or removed as my whimsy or possibly some of the voices in my head decide along the way...)

The Walkthrough
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Note: Do Not Read This if you want to go boldly charging ahead into the Great Unknown on Honyith Island. This reveals EVERYTHING, so proceed with caution. You have now been duly warned. Enjoy!

The Island of Honyith:
1. Beginning - Affordable Housing in the Woods
2. Beryllian - Your First Town
3. Through the desert to Honyith
4. "Go South-West Young Man"
5. Honyith Castle: The Fine Art of Killing Spiderqueens
6. Ending - Say Hello to Kevin Before You Leave

1. Beginning - Affordable Housing in the Woods

You start in a well-furnished hut. Walk on the Treasure Chests to grab the loot within; you'll find 100 gold and a Healing Herb. The Herb is in case you run into trouble on the way to Beryllian (which is highly unlikely, but why leave anything to chance?), and the gold will be needed for supplies at Beryllian. Once you have those things, exit the hut (notice what a nice place Kyle has) and you'll find yourself in the forest. Head northeast (it's the only direction you can go really) for a short distance, and you'll find Beryllian.

2. Beryllian - Your First Town

Once you're at Beryillan, talk with the locals. One young man by the name of Kevin will be someone you (well, Kyle does at least) will recognize. Remember his face - you'll see him again and again.
Once you're done talking, go to the store in the upper-left corner. This store is a combination Bowyer-Fletcher store.

(A Quick Note: In The Aincent Evil, Kyle is a bow-and-arrows type of guy. The only other way for you to attack is with spells. Arrows can be used independent of a bow, but I wouldn't reccomend it)

You have just enough money to buy two sets of Arrows (10) and either of the following combinations of bow and armor: Minibow and Lt Leather, or Small Bow and Cloth. The Small Bow is more effective than the Minibow, and Lt Leather is twice as effective as Cloth. Choose based on your individual preference. Once you have your weapons and armor, leave Beryllian and walk back and forth, defeating Slimes and Dark Slimes and gaining experience, and save up for the Bow.
Once you have gotten to level 2, start fighting enemies just outside the forest. The Army Ants and Spiders may give you trouble if you try to leave before then.

3. Through the desert to Honyith

As soon as you are level 3 or higher, you should follow the Beryllian girl's directions and head southeast through the desert to the town of Honyith. I reccomend Lt Leather, a Bow, two sets of Arrows (10) and at least two Healing Herbs for the journey - just in case. Occasionally you will reach Honyith without seeing a single monster.
At Honyith, you'll find several new things for sale: Hvy Leather in the armoury, a Longbow at the Bowyer's, Arrows (20), Acc Arrows and Barbarrows at the Fletcher's, and a new store, the Arcanum, with Heal Scrolls, Fire Scrolls and Fire Spellbooks. Save up for the Longbow and the Hvy Leather, then continue to get experience and money. If you run out of arrows, just buy the Arrows (10) - you don't need to spend the extra money on special arrows or Arrows (20).
(The only differences between Arrows (10) and Arrows (20) are that Arrows (10) come with 10 arrows, and Arrows (20) come with (suprise) 20 arrows, and Arrows (20) costs over twice the price of Arrows (10)) Continue to gain experience and money.

4. "Go South-West Young Man"

There is a door in the east wall of the Honyith Inn. Go through that and you'll get access to the home of ...guess who! Kevin will tell you about Honyith Castle, in the southeast, and mention something about investigating it. Get the key from under his bed like he says (just walk on top of it) and then, when you are level 5 or higher, follow the coastline southwest to Honyith Castle.
I reccomend that you have the Longbow, Hvy Leather, 2 sets Arrows (20), 2 sets Barbarrows, a Fire Spellbook for the boss, and 3 rests at the Inn. (Purchase these by selecting "Honyith Inn" from the list given to you by the inkeeper) Walk under the door and you'll unlock the castle automatically. Use only one set of Arrows (20) on the way there - don't waste your special arrows.

5. Honyith Castle: The Fine Art of Killing Spiderqueens

You'll want to use Barbarrows on some of the really powerful enemies in the castle, like the Castle Guards and Castle Raiders, but don't use too many - you'll need some for the Spiderqueen.
You can walk around Honyith Castle forever without ever meeting the boss unless you figure out the clues. There are two clues hidden in the castle, indicated by the sheet of 'paper' on the marble floor. They read "The pot precedes the way" and "The way is hidden." If you're clever, then you realize that there is a hidden passage to the boss, preceded by a pot. There are four pots in the castle. The one closest to the center is the one you want - walk through the pot and the wall behind into a passage that will take you north to two more rooms and then the boss.
The boss, Spiderqueen, will scream something about 'you'll never get the Earthgem' before attacking. What is the Earthgem, you ask? Well, you'll find out. Kill the Spiderqueen with your Fire Spellbook to weaken her and Barbarrows to finish her off (if you have any left). Once you beat her, you get a neat shiny gem. Cool, huh? Go back to Honyith and ask Kevin about it

6. Ending - Say Hello to Kevin Before you Leave

Go back to Honyith and head for Kevin's home. He'll tell you about the return of Sorinaria Castle and what the Earthgem is for. Basically, four gems - Earth, Air, Fire and Water - were used to seal Sorinaria Castle, and you'll need them to get into the castle and kick the butt of the big bad guy, the Dark Magus, who, as you (Kyle) will astutely observe, was originally a bogeyman of childhood years, as in "Go to sleep or I'll tell the Magus!" Kevin will tell you to meet him at the south bridge. Exit Honyith, go east about two or three paces, then head south. You'll see Kevin, and he'll tell you what's on the other side of the bridge he extends. Step towards the bridge, and...

The preview ends here.