Ruins of Cawdor Hints
Table of contents
The Safe Rooms
The Guild Rooms
The Second Floor
The Third Floor
The Fourth Floor
The Fifth Floor
The Sixth Floor
End of Game
Three rooms in Cawdor are heavily trafficked and generally safe for
even the rankest beginner: the Foyer, the Runed Room, and the Stables.
It's a good idea to explore these three rooms first, pick up a few
experience points, and learn your way around the game.
The Foyer has one significant encounter. Three entries into the
Runed Fountain will bother the Runemage enough so that your character
will be taught the skill of Rune Reading. Subsequent entries are
likely to be hazardous to your health. When you learn the Shield
Spell you will be able to climb the stairs just east of the main
entrance.
Braddock Smith inhabits the Stables. If you walk through the wall
(it's a hidden swiveling door) into his smithy area, collect the right
tools, and also have the right raw materials, he will make you
something. Collecting a shrubbery, three horseshoes, and the right
tools at the right time will eventually earn you a sharp grappling
hook from him.
Galatea has left you a series of messages obscured from her sisters
in the Runed Room. Use of the Rune Reading skill will give you at
least the first level of decryption on these messages. Decrypting her
messages will give you important clues about the purpose of some items
and the easiest way to defeat some of the nastiest things in Cawdor.
If this is too much work, use Alcuin's Cap to decipher them. However,
the Cap has limited charges, so use it wisely.
The stairwells in Cawdor are old and very narrow. In order to use
them you must be by yourself. This holds true for all stairwells,
both the main stair going up from the Foyer, and the stairs going
down.
There are six guild rooms, one for each guild. In all the guild
rooms when you complete the last of the six (usually by meeting
Galatea) you will be taught the Shield spell, which is essential to
gain the higher levels. There is no preferred order to the first
floor guild rooms. However, the rewards for each character are
generally highest in that character's guild's room, so there is some
small benefit from completing that room first.
If you assiduously use the thievish skills, you will eventually be
able to map the entire room and meet Galatea. She rewards Thieves
with the Reverie skill. Non-thieves receive a Binding Talisman.
Talismans will help your combat abilities if you put them outside your
character's feet. The Binding Talisman also has the skill of Binding,
which can heal you or a comrade during combat.
If your Ranger uses the Tracking skill to surprise the foes before
they run away, without leaving this room, you will be rewarded. There
are six main tracking areas. They are in the bottom right corner, the
middle of the bottom wall, the southern part of the western wall
heading diagonally northeast, the top left corner, the bottom of the
middle room on the top, and the top left corner of the large room in
the middle of the Trophy Room. Rangers who do so will receive the
Binding skill. Non-Rangers who do so will receive a Trance Talisman.
Go counterclockwise at every opportunity here. If you do, then
Wizards can learn the Detect and Reverie skills here. Everyone else
can pick up a good chunk of cash. And everyone can learn the Resist
Spell here. When you get close to retracing your steps, use the newly
earned Detect skill, or an item such as the Crystal Ball, to find the
doors to complete the room.
Knights who enter here will be taught the Deflect Magic skill.
Anyone who completes this room will be taught the Teleport spell.
There are numerous battles here. They can be fought in any order,
except that the battle in the room in the bottom right corner must be
fought last in order to receive the greatest rewards. And you will
have an easier time of it in that room if you use a Lockpick or
Skeleton Key Ring to open the door quietly.
Clerics in this room will be taught the Hail spell. Clerics who
complete this room and walk out will learn the Binding skill. Anyone
who completes this room and meets Galatea will be taught the Heal
spell. Meeting Galatea takes place in a room that runs perpendicular
from the left wall about halfway up. The door to that room is in its
south wall, and like the Chivalrous Room, this door can be opened
quietly by any character using a lockpick. The fixed battles are in
the upper right corner room, in the upper left area, in the lower
right corner, in the two passages leading east and west in the bottom
half of the center section, and in the corridor leading towards
Galatea.
Barbarians who complete this room will learn the Stamina skill when
they visit Galatea in the far upper right corner. The battles that
must be fought to earn those rewards are along the top wall near the
middle, in the center of the huge battleground directly in front of
the entrance to the battleground, near the center but a little to the
upper left, just up from the bottom a little left of center, in the
bottom right room, and along the right wall near the top. All
characters can earn Small Letters of Credit (Barbarians can't count
high enough for larger letters of credit) if they meet up with
Galatea.
The quest for the Doormat is in Uncivilization. If you find the
Doormat (in the upper left corner of the room) by using the Detect or
some such skill or spell, and return it to the gnome Barbarian at the
entrance, you will have made a friend for life. Not only will you get
rewards here, but later on he will help you once again.
Galatea begins by giving Thieves the Archery skill, Barbarians the
Martial Arts skill, Clerics the Staff skill, Knights and Wizards the
Bard skill, and Rangers the Furtiveness skill. You'll need these
skills; things are much tougher up here.
Rooms on the stairs are always easily entered once you have
completed the main task of the level. But most of the other rooms, at
least on the next two floors, require a combination of characters for
initial entry. Each room's name gives the hint as to which guilds are
needed. Wizards are M(ages) or W, Barbarians are B, Rangers R, etc.
Fleance's ghost resides here (undead can't be said to live) but to
face him you must either proceed north into the Pantry, or west into
the Brewery. Fleance will be the toughest monster you have faced so
far, and he will be even tougher if you do not move very quietly and
use an adequately high Tracking skill. If you kill him you will
receive the Crown of Crimson, which will be very useful soon. You
will also be able to climb the stairs up to the next level.
The Pantry is filled with foodstuffs. There are many vicious
battles here. If you defeat the seven fixed foes in one session, you
will earn the Crack of Doom. The Crack of Doom is tremendously
useful, against Fleance, and well worth the effort. A well-hidden
locked and secret door on the south wall some three squares to the
west of the obvious door will lead you into Fleance's lair. Be ready
to rumble if you go there!
The Lesser Hall is ruled by a Vampire Lord. He is the second
toughest monster on this level (behind only Fleance) and resides on
the altar in the center of the major hall. His minions are mostly
undead. Many useful magic items can be earned here. If you cannot
survive in the Lesser Hall, then you may not be ready to climb
upstairs, whether or not you can defeat Fleance.
In order to defeat all the monsters in the Brewery, you must first
learn how to enter the Raging Boar Inn, one of the pubs that can be
found inside Cawdor Keep. In order to enter the Raging Boar Inn you
must first find the tracks that show you where the secret door is.
The top leftmost vat can be entered from the east if you track
something up to it and then use an adequately powerful Detect skill,
True Seeing spell, or some item that grants either of those two. The
left wall, top to bottom, conceals the Raging Boar Inn.
In the Raging Boar Inn, in the southernmost room, is a fellow who
will swap the Milk of Human Kindness for a Great Letter of Credit.
The Milk is the second most potent healing item in the game, healing
not only yourself but also all your companions if used during battle.
It's an added effort to get back here with the Great Letter of Credit,
but it may well save your life later on.
Galatea rewards Wizards and Thieves with the Deflect Magic skill,
Barbarians with the Binding skill, Clerics with the Deep Trance skill,
and Knights and Rangers with the Athletics skill. Everyone who has
both learned the Rune Reading skill and fully explored the Runed Room
will be given a large experience point reward as well. Everyone who
has not done so will learn the Blast spell. You will not be able to
ascend to higher levels until you have defeated Malcolm's Ghost,
either by yourself or in a party.
The Ballroom is filled with a large central area for dancing, and
many private rooms, boxes, or alcoves surrounding it. There are seven
main battles in the Ballroom. If you successfully conclude all seven
without dying or being forced to leave, and then enter the site of any
of the seven a second time, Galatea can return to you once more. If
she comes back she will heal you and give you both an experience point
reward and Mannanan Mac Lir's ring, a boon which will prove useful in
the Library.
Malcolm's ghost is found behind a locked door on the upper right
side of the large central room. If the party leader has the Crown of
Crimson when you rush through that locked door you will have a much
easier time defeating Malcolm's ghost. If you defeat him, you will
find the Orange Banner very useful against Banquo's Ghost.
The second major battle in the Music Room is to the north through
the door that mirrors Malcolm's on the upper left side of the large
central room. If you have an adequate Tracking skill, and use it just
through those doors, you will find that battle much easier to survive.
If you survive that battle, in the corner at the end of this room you
can encounter Mannanan Mac Lir, the Celtic god of the sea. He is
willing to assist you only if you can prove your mettle by solving his
riddle. The riddle is solved in the Library.
As you would expect of a thievish room, there are secret doors,
locked doors, and locked secret doors. As you might not expect, these
doors are just a tad tougher, and you may find your wooden lockpick
inadequate to the task of getting them open. The main thievish
hangout is in the pub, ‘The Cat Dragged Inn.' The back room of the
Inn is where the top Thieves are meeting.
You don't have to fight the Master Thieves. You can win the game
quite easily without fighting them, and no future puzzles depend on
anything you earn in the Cloak Room. However, if you want to finish
every quest in Cawdor, be sure to move quietly and track frequently,
because there are many ambushes here. If you do successfully defeat
all the Thieves, and manage to enter their well warded closet, you
will earn Lugh's Spear.
The quest in the Library is the redemption of Mannanan Mac Lir's
ring. His message told you to start at the place where his message
is, which is to say, the place where his library entry can be
found. This is in the second room from the top, third room from the
right. Replace O with North, C with South, N with West, and W with
East, and follow his suggested path to summon him.
Once you have the Ring, then face north or east (away from the
wall) and use it by right clicking on it. This will summon Mannanan
Mac Lir, who will give you Ohthere's Dagger. Later on, you will be
able to equip Ohthere's Dagger to survive the Dissolving Pool in the
Kitchen by giving you the ability to walk on water.
When you first enter the Chambers, Galatea rewards you. Barbarians
and Thieves are taught the Furtiveness skill. Wizards and Clerics are
taught the Intimidate skill. Rangers are taught the Detect
skill. Knights are taught the Stamina skill. Everyone is given
Ethelbald's Buckler.
The main portion of the Chambers is the Minotaur's Labyrinth, the
central area filled with bulls and secret doors. You enter the
Labyrinth from the south west corner, going north through the secret
door. To complete the Labyrinth from that room, keeping in mind that
many of these doors are secret, you will want to go east, east, north,
east, east, north, west, north, north, west, west, west, south, east,
east, and south.
If you complete the butchery (sorry) by defeating all the monsters
in the Labyrinth, then Galatea will teach you the Death Darts spell.
If you complete all the battles in the Chambers, which should be
more difficult and time consuming than any other room's battles, and
if you do not have Ohthere's Dagger, then Galatea will give you
Ohthere's Dagger. This allows players who prefer combat to puzzles to
still continue towards completion of the game.
The critical quest in the Kitchen is passage through the Dissolving
Pool in the upper left corner. If you have Ohthere's Dagger equipped
(not merely possessed) you will walk atop the waters of the pool. If
you don't, you'd better be really really buff.
The purpose of the Cabinet is to find and defeat Banquo's Ghost by
passing through the Dissolving Pool in the Kitchen. If you d o defeat
Banquo's Ghost (lots of luck winning if you don't!) keep the Cup of
Drowning. You'll need it against Macduff.
You can find Alcuin's Sticks in the second room from the top third
from the left if you face north and use a high enough Detect skill.
Unfortunately, you may need Alcuin's sticks to find Alcuin's Sticks!
There are many battles here with some good stuff to be earned. But
aside from the battle with Banquo, these are all optional.
To get a grappling hook, you will need a Shrubbery, three
horseshoes, and tools, all given to Braddock at the right time and in
the right combination. The other items are all in the Stables, but
the Shrubbery is found here. Proceed to the far upper left room and
apply the Handsaw (obtained in the Stables) to the intoxicating and
highly dangerous plants along the upper wall. This room is highly
poisonous and very dangerous, so you must also be tough enough to
survive this little expedition.
There are no more rooms that require you to form a special party to
enter. The first time you enter here, Galatea heals all your wounds.
Immediately thereafter, Macduff's Ghost will attack you.
The main battle of the Great Hall is against Macduff's Ghost. He
is found in the room to the right of the stairwell. He is much easier
to defeat if your party leader has the Cup of Drowning. Q: I already
know my horoscope. Why should I explore Astrologia? A: In Astrologia
you will learn that collecting the three items with Aldhelm's name on
them will help you a lot in the last two rooms of Cawdor:
the Bestiary and the Crypt. Similarly, collecting all three Alcuin
items and all three Alfred items will help.
Every town has its sections that it's wise to avoid. In Cawdor,
that section is the Parapets. There are some monsters living up here
that can be as tough as the Weird Sisters themselves! None of these
battles are essential to completing the game.
If you don't have a Sharp Grappling Hook, don't bother coming into
the Nasty Little Maze. If you have one, then map this place
carefully, testing for the swiveling walls. They will save you time,
eventually allowing egress upstairs from the Ruined Room.
The sixth floor rooms are horribly dangerous, with high chances of
random monsters and very tough fixed battles. The Ruined Room is
paired with the Nasty Little Maze in a two map puzzle, as is the Aerie
and Alchemia. But to win the game, the only thing you need to do on
this floor is defeat Macbeth's Ghost.
Except for some very tough battles, especially in the drunk tank
along the north wall, and the three dimensional maze it forms with the
room below, the Ruined Room can be ignored.
If you have Blueberry Brew, Elderberry Elixir, or Woad Wine, you
can exchange it for a Milk of Human Kindness in the second row from
the bottom third square from the left. It won't hurt to have that,
especially if you haven't fought Macbeth yet. But be careful; some
muggers are keeping an eye on people who walk away with the Milk and
you might find yourself having to fight off dairy addicts.
It's not the humor that's toxic here (okay, it's not JUST the humor
that's toxic here) but if you want to face Macbeth you must go through
here. To face Macbeth you will need to go west into the Aerie from
one of the passages on the south end of the west wall. The first time
through won't work. Pick the same passage a second time, though, and
you should proceed.
Cawdor's Aerie is a simple roost which in days past the falconers
kept their charges. But in these evil days the falcons and hawks have
been eaten by the dragons and harpies. There are many windows in the
Aerie. Try not to fall out. Except for Macbeth's lair in the
southeast corner, the Aerie is unessential.
All approaches to his lair are guarded, at least so long as Macbeth
lives to rally his troops. If you defeat Macbeth's Ghost you will
receive the Healing Locket and the Leaden Dagger. Galatea will make
sure that you have them when you walk out if you did something foolish
with them rlier.
There are two rooms in the endgame: the Bestiary and the Crypt.
Both are below ground, accessed via the locked door at the east end of
the Runed Room. When you defeated Macbeth, the Weird Sisters holed up
down below, but Galatea left the door ever so slightly ajar for you.
Throughout the endgame, there are paths that are shortened if your
party leader has all of the Alcuin items, or all of the Aldhelm or
Alfred items. All these items can be earned in the Bestiary, so be
aware that they may save your life.
The Bestiary is the first room in Cawdor you've entered that has
been below ground. It's dark down here! So buy a Lantern before you
get eaten in the dark by something that sees better than you do.
Whether you follow the safe or the dangerous path, you will eventually
reach the same door south.
The zoo area of the Bestiary is filled with critters. Except on
Lady Macbeth's path, all doors lead into battle with the monster you
see when you face that door. Some of these battles are deadlier than
others, but all have excellent booty.
Hedgepigs can paralyze and kill you. The best solution is to
travel in a party of two or more and put someone with a Healing Locket
and the Resist spell in back. When the first paralysis wears off,
that character can cast Resist, which prevents paralysis, and other
defensive spells. The Healing Locket can keep everyone alive, even if
they had been paralyzed.
From the first door, if you walk south eight squares and east one
square, you can begin the path to Lady Macbeth. Supernatural aid may
place you there. From here, you must find the path that leads you
thrice into combat with Brinded Cats, thrice and once into combat with
Hedgepigs, and then into battle with a Harpy. The first step you
should take is west.
If your party leader has the correct three supernatural items, then
the Crypt is just a few steps to the final battle. If not, searching
the north walls on all rows where you would head east will find secret
doors that will save you lots of time. You might consider changing
party leaders. The first teleport depends on Alcuin, the next Alfred,
and the next dhelm.
On the top row, a level twelve Tracking skill will find some
tracks.
Continue Tracking each step to the west. You are now in front of a
door. Be sure to Track once more, if you have that skill at level 12.
If you are Tracking, then you will have a much easier time with the
Weird Sisters. If your party leader has the Healing Locket, you will
also have a much easier time of things. Only McStudburgers will
choose to go through this door with neither tracking nor the Healing
Locket. Only True McStudburgers will survive.
Proceed west. In the last room you are given your reward. On the
desk to the north is a book. Anyone with any Detect skill or True
Seeing spell can read it. Your name is inscribed in the Hall of
Heroes! You walk out of the dungeon to clamorous applause!
You can now usher any other characters through every non-narrow
passage in Cawdor, assuming that you're that kind of helpful hero!
Many of the more annoying doors in Cawdor that used to require
Lockpicks or Detecting will now open to a true Hero such as yourself,
making it easy for you to lead other characters around Cawdor, and you
can always enjoy Challenge Combat with this heroic character. But you
may have more fun by creating a new character of a different guild and
starting over again to see the guild specific things that this
character missed.
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Last modified: Thu Jun 27 09:11:07 1996