Welcome to Kumeran, the capital of Valdalan: a mighty city where commerce,
craft, knowledge, and politics are a constant part of the scene. Today,
things are not at their best, as the city is in the grips of its worst
influenza epidemic ever. Unfortunately, the criminal element never takes
a vacation, and they are very willing to prey while the city is weak. You
will take on several roles in the effort to keep the city safe during the
crises. The queen and the duchess are counting on you.

This adventure is divided into four chapters, each building upon the
results of earlier chapters. In each chapter you will take on a new
persona, so make sure you know who you are before you do anything.

You control your current character by entering commands expressed in
the following format:

    Addressee, Verb phrase <noun phrases>  <preposition> <object phrases>







    
Some possible commands are:

         READ THE DIARY
         READ THE GUARD (only possible if you're a telepath)
         PUT THE SKUNK IN THE BACKPACK
         WALK SOUTH (or simply SOUTH or S)
         ASK CORONER ABOUT THE BODY
         TELL DUCHESS ABOUT THE RABBIT
         EXAMINE THE SLIPPERS, THE DIARY, AND THE SANDALS
         UNLOCK THE DESK WITH THE SILVER KEY
         OPEN IT (It will be the last noun mentioned, the desk)
         GET ALL
         ENTER 123 (meaning house number 123 on the present street)

Compound commands can be created by connecting single commands (like those
above) with "AND", "THEN" or the punctuation symbols "," or ";" to connect two
or more separate commands, such as:

         ALIGHT THE BUS THEN SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH
         ENTER THE HOUSE AND KILL THE BURGLAR




There are twelve recognized directions for movement. To walk in one of these
directions (let's say north), you may either enter GO NORTH, WALK NORTH, or
leave out the verb and simply enter NORTH. The recognized directions are:

    NORTH (N), SOUTH (S), EAST (E), WEST (W),
    NORTHEAST (NE), SOUTHEAST (SE), NORTHWEST (NW), SOUTHWEST (SW),
    UP (U), DOWN (D), ENTER, and EXIT

The status area on the top line tells you the room you are currently in,
as well as the current time. Some actions in the game are based on the
current time, so keep an eye on it.

The function keys have been predefined to stand for several of the most
frequently used commands.

Hitting the '?' key (during the game) will display a diagram of keys and
their definitions.







The game also recognizes several housekeeping commands. They are:

    HELP                Request help from the game
    AGAIN or G          Repeat the last command
    OOPS                Edit the last command entered
    INVENTORY or I      List money in purse, items held, and items worn
    VERBOSE             Provide verbose listing of a room each time entered
    BRIEF               Don't provide verbose listing
    LIST EXITS          List all obvious exit directions
    SAVE                Save the game to disk
    RESTORE             Restore a previously saved game
    SCRIPT              Send game text to printer (UNSCRIPT turns this off)
    QUIT                Quit the game
    SCORE               List present score, number of moves, and rooms visited
    WAIT                Wait for one turn
    WAIT 5              Wait for 5 game minutes
    WAIT 2100           Wait until 9:00 PM game time

In addition to the help provided by the HELP command, the user may also
call for hints through the POPHINT utility (this is loaded by the batch file
that starts up TJA). Press Alt-H to access the clues.



Cast of Characters:

    From the Court

Anne Teda Telan         Queen of Valdalan
Edgardo Tan Telan       Her eldest son, future king of Valdalan
Danelo Tan Telan        Her second son, Clara's squire
Patrika Pagel Telan     Duchess of Kumeran and premier of Valdalan
Clara Tepat Telan       Her daughter, coroner of Vered County
Gwenden Temar           Assistant coroner of Vered County
Regalo                  Gwenden's squire
Resa                    Page to the Vered County coroner's office
Miranda                 Librarian to the Vered County coroner's office
Hudan                   Count of Vered County
Arena Spehu             His wife, a former jeweler
Deren                   Hudan's butler
Lida Tever              Senior Magistrate for Kumer County
Roberto                 Magistrate for the Duchy of Kumeran






    From the Guilds

Gelfri Teval            Patrika's father and founding Archmage
Dora Taren              The humorless owner of The Jeweled Arena
Rita Zeca               Dora's associate
Filipe                  Another jeweler
Vivan                   A baker who doesn't know her husband well enough
Peri                    A harpist
Innkeeper               Proprietor of The Golden Harp, Kumer
Usher                   Someone who doesn't like disruptive people
Amanda Green            A healer that's found a cure for the plague
Nera                    A competent healer, but not much more
Ernando                 A medical examiner working for the Vered coroner
Carlo                   An artist that specializes in sketches
Fernando                Gwenden's father, a rather lackluster blacksmith
Kera Spefer             His wife, and even more lacking in luster
Estra                   A porcelain maker seeking guild membership
A cobbler and a dry goods clerk







    From the Executive Branch

Thered                  Highmaster Protector of Kumer County
Leron                   An associate protector in Central Kumer
Wenda                   Another associate protector in Central Kumer
Plen                    Yet another associate protector in Central Kumer
Werden                  Guard at Kumeran North Gate


    From the Local Populace

A boy                   One with a penchant for playing stones
Ruben                   A thief that's just run out of luck
Tira                    A girl that doesn't like to talk with strangers
Oliva                   Tira's aunt
Fanatic                 Someone with his own idea of the laws of succession
Skeya                   A skunk (literally)
A bus driver and a carriage driver






Shareware:

    This adventure is distributed as shareware. If you enjoyed playing this
adventure, please send $10 (U.S. funds only) to the author at the address 
below. If you have any questions about the adventure, you may send them to 
the same address.


                             David S. Raley
                             13523 Demetrias Way
                             Germantown, MD 20874
                             CIS:      72247,1153
                             Internet: 72247,1153@compuserve.com


