THE SERPENT'S STAR
            Part One
This walkthru is presented by Tamerlane
of the Ring.
At the beginning of the game, I suggest
you type "QUICK TRAVEL" and "SOUND OFF"
to speed up movement during travel. 
There is a small bug in the program that
causes the sound to turn back on from
time to time, but don't worry about it. 
Specific instructions that you have to
type in EXACTLY are given in quotes, and
directions for movement are given in
square brackets.  For example, "SIT BY
EXPLORER" and [NE,F,R,B,W] for
northeast, forward, right, back and
west.  
The first several moves of the game are
automatic and take you just beyond the
gates of the city where you will see a
caravan.  Type the following to get all
the equipment you'll need:  
"GO CARAVAN," "BUY HORSE," "BUY
SADDLEBAGS," "PUT SADDLEBAGS ON HORSE,"
"BUY TENT," "PUT TENT IN SADDLEBAGS,"
"BUY BUTTER," "BUY TSAMPA."  Now that
you have everything you need, type
[E,NE] to get to the inn.  
Now you need to get a lamp and rest up
for the next day's journey, so type: 
"TETHER HORSE," "ENTER," "SIT BY
EXPLORER," "BUY DRINK," "OFFER DRINK,"
"ASK HELP," "BUY DRINK," "OFFER DRINK,"
"ASK HELP" (you now have the lamp and
fuel). Continue with "LEAVE," "REST,"
"OUT," "MOUNT."  
Now, it's off to the first monastery. 
You should save the game (type "SAVE
GAME") before moving any further,
because the wolf is coming up and you
probably won't make it past him the
first time you try!  Go [SE] and
(surprise!) there's the wolf!  Killing
the wolf is a matter of timing.  What
you need to do is type "SHOOT" as fast
as you can for as many times as it takes
to kill him.  It varies from 3 to 6
times.
After killing the wolf, go [S] to the
bridge.  Type "DISMOUNT," "CROSS" and
then head [NE].  The monk has something
you need, so type "GREET MONK," "OFFER
TSAMPA," "ASK ABOUT SCROLL," "GET MONK'S
SCROLL."  Now to continue on to the
first monastery, go [S,W,N] then
"KNOCK," "IN," "OFFER MONEY,"
"DISMOUNT," "DROP REINS," "IN" and we're
there!  
[*NOTE*:  It isn't absolutely necessary
to kill the wolf; there is an alternate
route that will take you to the first
monastery, as well as the wandering
monk.  If you wish to try this
alternative route, here are the
instructions:
After leaving the inn, go [NE],
"DISMOUNT," and "CROSS BRIDGE." This
will take you into the mountains.  Once
there, go [F], which will bring you into
a valley, which in turn brings you to
the monastery.  When you have finished
with the monastery, go [NE] to the
branch in the road, then [SE] from there
to the bridge.  DO NOT cross the bridge!
 Instead, go [E] to the branch in the
road, and [NE] from there will bring you
to the wandering monk.  Actually, the
first monastery has no real importance
in this game at all. It is quite
possible to win the game without ever
going there.]


       THE SERPENT'S STAR
            Part Two
There has been a lot of talk about the
knowledge of Eastern philosophy and
religion being helpful in "The Serpent's
Star." Here is where some of it comes
in...there's more later.  Type "GO
BUDDHA," "PUT BUTTER ON ALTAR," "GO
DOOR," then [F] at the intersection. 
You will run into the Abbot, so here you
type "ASK ABOUT LHASA SCROLL," "LEAVE,"
go [L], then "OUT," "OUT," "MOUNT" and
we're ready to find the fabled monastery
where the Star is kept.  
From the monastery, go [S,NE,NE] to the
cave entrance.  Now, you should save the
game again because on the other side of
the cave is the infamous rock/snow slide
and you're gonna need a bunch of tries
before you get through it!!  
Type "PUT FUEL IN LAMP," "LIGHT MATCH
THEN LIGHT LAMP," then proceed [F,F]. 
There is a crystal statuette to be found
in the cave, but leave it alone! Go [F]
one more time and you will be at the
snow/rock slide which is the most
difficult part of the game to both
describe and to get through.  It's
another one of those trial-and-error
things where you just have to keep going
until you get through it.  When you look
at the screen, you will see one boulder
that bounces off the mountain and is
highlighted against the sky as it goes
down the toward the road.  If you follow
this boulder down, you will see that at
one point it hits the ground just to the
left of the road. As soon as it bounces
up again, press a key!  Don't worry if
you don't make it through the first time
(you DID save the game, didn't you??)
because nobody, I mean nobody, has ever
made it through the first time!!  
After you make it through the avalanche,
the rest of the adventure is a piece of
cake! Go [F] and a whole series of
screens go by explaining about it being
night time and the air around the ruins
is mysterious, etc.  Once the fabled
monastery appears, type "KNOCK," "OFFER
MONK'S SCROLL," "DISMOUNT," "DROP
REINS," "IN."  
Now that you're inside, go [F,F,F] all
the way up to the statue of Buddha, then
"LOOK BEHIND," "GO BEHIND," "GET ALL,"
"WEAR ROBE," then go [B,F], "UNLOCK
DOOR," go [L] and "LOOK STAFF."  You see
the inscription you will need to kill
the demon guards later on.  Type "GET
SCROLL," and then go [B] and "OUT" back
to the courtyard.  

       THE SERPENT'S STAR
           Part Three
This time, go [L], then "LOOK TAPESTRY,"
[F].  Now type "PUT OUT FLAME" three
times to get all the flames out.  Then
"OPEN DOOR" and go [F] where you find 3
of the 6 gems you will need. Type "OPEN
CHEST," "GET ALL" and go [F] and "OPEN
BOX."  The black cloud will cause you to
stumble around in the dark, so to make
things easy, just type
[N,N,N,N,N,N,N,N,N,N] and you'll be in
the little armory.  
Type "PUT STAFF IN PACK," "GET SHIELD"
and go [D].  And now for some fancy
juggling.  Type "DROP SHIELD," "GET
STAFF," "SAY TSKDG," "PUT STAFF IN
PACK," "LOOK FLOOR," "GET ALL"
(including gem #4), and "OPEN DOOR." 
Whew!  Glad that's over with!  
Since you went through all that trouble
of getting the door open, you might as
well go in, so, go [F].  Aha!  Another
one! "GET ALL" (gem #5), then [F,F] to
the old sage.  He will ask you three
questions; your three answers are
"DRAGON," "YIN AND YANG" (did you notice
the design on the wall?), and "MAN,"
respectively.  Now go [R] (he did tell
you to take the RIGHT door, didn't
he??).  
You are now at the maze.  I found an
interesting thing here...it seems the
authors left a bit of debugging code in,
so if you type "STAT" while in the maze,
it will tell you where you are and what
direction you're facing!  But to save
you the trouble of wending your way
around, here is the sequence to reach
the door of the dragon's lair:  
Unfortunately, this part of the game is
really tedious, but there is no choice
except to grin and bear it.  The
following path is the shortest to get
through this ridiculous maze. First, go
[L,L], "GET ALL" (the last of the 6
gems), then go [B,F,L,F], "RING GONG,"
[B,F,L,L], "DROP MATCHES," "GET TSAMPA,"
[R,F,L,L] and you're at the door.  Now
you know what the six gems are for! 
They have to be inserted into the door
in the proper order, so type:  
"PUT   BLACK GEM     IN DOOR"
  "  VIOLET CRYSTAL   "  " 
  "    BLUE STONE     "  " 
  "    GREEN GEM      "  " 
  "    ORANGE GEM     "  " 
  "   CLEAR CRYSTAL   "  " 
The door will open, so go [F]. And now,
for the grand finale!!
Type "BLOW SHELL."  The dragon will
appear and ask two questions.  You only
have to answer one, as the shield will
protect you if you miss one of them (to
save wear and tear on the shield,
however, your two answers (in order)
are: "RAINBOW" and "NIRVANA.").  Now
aren't you sorry you didn't take Eastern
Philosophy 101?  
The dragon will now disappear and you
can then "DROP ALL," "GET SERPENT'S
STAR," "LOOK NICHE," "PUT SERPENT'S STAR
IN NICHE" and you're done!!  
As in most adventures, there is more
than one way to the final goal.  I put
just enough extra stuff here to give you
a flavor for some of the fairly
interesting things in the game that you
would miss if I gave you the absolute
shortest route. Enjoy!