
         BLACK CAULDRON SOLUTION
         =======================
         by Major Havok

         Well, here is the long-awaited solution for The Black
         Cauldron.  There are many alternative routes to an ending,
         but there is only ONE correct way to get all 230 points.
         One more thing...since B.C. uses mostly the joystick or
         the special commands instead of text, here are the
         commands:
                  |F1|   Sound On/Off
                  |F2|   Display DO/USE/LOOK Menu
                  |F3|   Save Current Game
                  |F4|   USE Object Selected On Status Screen
                  |F5|   RESTORE A Saved Game
                  |F6|   DO Something [talk,enter,exit,open,etc...]
                  |F7|   RESTART The Game
                  |F8|   LOOK At Area Or Object From Status Screen
                  [TAB]  Display STATUS Screen
                  [ESC]  PAUSE Game
                  [CNTRL]-J  Install Joystick
                  [RETURN]   Returns To Game From Status Screen
                  [HELP]     Displays Help Screen
                  Type in 'SLOW'  Slows The Game Speed
                  Type in 'NORMAL'  Sets The Default Game Speed
                  Type in 'FAST'  Speeds The Game Up

         Keyboard Movement:
                  _______          _____________
                  |7|8|9|          |NW | N |NE |
                  -------          -------------
                  |4|5|6|  --===>  | W |   | E |
                  -------          -------------
                  |1|2|3|          |SW | S |SE |
                  -------          -------------

         So now, there will be no questions about what command you
         are supposed to do! Whenever a sentence does not say which
         command to use, try 'DO' first, 'USE' second.  To USE an
         item, hit [TAB], move the high lighter to the desired item,
         and then hit [RETURN] or push the joystick button.  Now
         when you select USE, that item will be done.  If using 'DO'
         does not work, try 'USE'.  The reverse is also true.

         SOLUTION
         ========

         Before the Castle:
         ------------------

         Well Assistant Pig-Keeper, go inside the house, and talk
         with Dallben.  Grab the pot from the fire, and empty out
         the cupboard on its right.  Exit the house, and go East.
         Enter the pigpen, and feed the pot of gruel to Hen-Wen.
         When she splits for the house, tag along.  Go inside again,
         and watch the fun little pictures.  Take the rope, and
         leave the house.  Go South, and then East to the bridge.
         On the bridge screen, when you first appear, don't make any
         movements, and count to twenty.  If a gwythaint appears,
         RESTART the game (What's a gwythaint you ask? Believe me,
         if one appears, you'll know it).  It will go after Hen-Wen,
         bringing her to the Horned King.  You will not be able to
         get all 230 points easily if she is captured, so its best
         just to RESTART.  If none appear, walk over to the right
         side of the bridge, and search around.  Grab the Food
         Wallet, and WALK BACK TO HEN-WEN!  Pigs don't swim, so if
         you kept walking, you'd lose her!  Go with her across the
         bridge, and then go South, West, and West again. You should
         now be on a screen full of bushes.  To get through the
         thicket, stand behind the stones, then go behind the bush
         east and behind the stones.  Walk to the east end of the
         bush, and head North until your feet are at a blue-colored
         bush.  Go West young man, toward the center of the screen.
         Tah-Dah! Open the door, and go inside with Hen-Wen.  Chat
         for a bit with Gwystyl, and you'll get The Magic Word.  Go
         to the cabinet next to the secret passage, and open it.
         Grab the cookies, and then leave.  You will have to go
         find a gift for the King, so while in the thicket, go west
         until there is a clear area to the North.  Go North, and
         then cross the river. Go North again, and look into the
         hole in the tree.  You will find a Lute, and then USE it
         twice.  That was nice, wasn't it?  Back to the game...go
         North, and then East.  Walk along the southern edge of the
         lake, while going East.  On the waterfall screen, walk
         along the southern edge of the lake again, and go as far
         East as possible.  When you are next to the rock, use the
         Magic Word.  The rock will drop, and you can walk across it
         to the grey cave area to the right of the waterfall.  You
         will drop down into the caves of the Fair Folk.  Talk a bit
         with the King, and then offer him the lute.  He will give
         you some Flying Dust, and a Magic Mirror.  Use a little of
         the dust, and fly out of the cave.  Once outside, use the
         Magic Word again, and walk back across the rock.  Now for
         the hard part...you'll have to find a little furry guy
         named Gurgi, and feed him to make him friendly.  He is
         never in the same place twice, so you'll have to hunt for
         the little bugger.  He can be anywhere in a one-screen
         radius from the waterfall (including it, of course), so you
         will just have to hunt around for him.  When you catch up
         with him, feed him an apple or a cookie.  UNTIL YOU FIND
         HIM, YOU CANNOT GO ON TO THE NEXT SECTION!!!

         The Road To The Castle:
         -----------------------

         Now that you've found Gurgi (If you didn't, you cannot get
         all 230 points!) and fed him, making him your friend, you
         must raid the castle of the Horned King.  Return to the
         waterfall screen, 'cause that's the easiest place to give
         directions from.  At the waterfall, go North twice (don't
         cross the bridge), and West three times.  Pull the dagger
         out of that freaky tree, but ignore the 'NO TRESPASSING'
         sign.  Go West, and then North to the rock maze.  This is
         another area which takes some tricky maneuvering to get
         through.  First, go behind the boulders at the bottom-right
         of the screen.  Move towards the right of the screen, until
         you think you have reached the 'V' in the next row of
         boulders (you should be totally hidden).  Go as far forward
         as you can, then west until you reach the 'V' in the third
         row of boulders.  Go forward again, and then left.  Go
         forward and left again, until you are behind the boulder to
         the farthest left.  Go forward as far as you can go, then
         go right to the center of the screen.  Go forward towards
         the dead tree in the center of the screen, and you have
         arrived!  Now, use the rope, and you will be able to scale
         the cliff.  Remember to go diagonally, or you'll do your
         Humpty Dumpty imitation.  Once at the top, you will be
         faced with a rather nasty looking series of ledges.  This
         is yet another maze screen, but with different directions.
         There are also two screens of this type, each a mirror
         image of the other.  From the rope, walk west until you
         reach the edge of the cliff.  Walk towards the far wall,
         and then climb up it.  Go west as far as you can, and then
         climb down.  Walk west to the edge again, and climb up on
         the wall once more.  Climb up to the highest ledge to the
         right, and go above it.  Climb down, and you will be on a
         VERY tricky ledge.  Carefully walk to the right edge of it,
         and then climb up on the wall again.  Go up and right, and
         then drop down to the end of the cliffs!  Wah-lah!  Walk
         off the screen to the right, and check out the castle.
         Cool, eh?  But, you must press onward...by going forward.
         There is another set of twin screens, each with a twisty
         pathway on it.  Type 'SLOW', which will slow the game, and
         then walk very carefully.  Once you reach the end of the
         path, type 'NORMAL'.  Go forward, and you will see the only
         passible portion of the moat.  [Once in a while, an evil
         dude will pull up to the drawbridge, at the screen to the
         west of this area.  Jump into his wagon, and enter with him
         into the castle, but jump out fast or he will see you.]
         At the moat, wait until the gators are at the sides of the
         screen, and none of them are in between you and the wall.
         Swim across, and if there are no gators in between you will
         be able to out swim them.  Or, just dodge around them until
         you get through.  At the wall, go forward to the next
         screen.  Go climb up the wall, while not going over the
         light colored stones, and also avoiding the rocks thrown at
         you by the bad guys.  Go up to the next screen, where a lot
         of vines have grown.  Keep dodging boulders and light
         colored stones, and go over the yellow rectangle.  Select
         the DAGGER, and then cut the vines away.  A window will
         open up, which will allow you to go...

         Inside The Palace Of The Horned King:
         -------------------------------------

         Welcome to the most unfriendly place you could go beside
         Lybia.  The guards will constantly be chasing after you if
         spotted, but the hanging tapestries provide enough cover so
         that the guards will not be able to see you, and then
         leave.  Or, since you run at the same speed, you could
         simply out move them.  But, when you first enter the castle,
         it helps more to let yourself get captured!!!  Just wait for
         a guard to show up, and walk into him.  You will be taken
         to the high point of the castle--the dungeon!  After being
         put in jail (do not pass go, do not collect $200), grab the
         tin cup, and bang it against the door.  Some spazzy chick
         will open a secret door in the floor, and you might as well
         get out any way possible.  After you know where the door
         is, you can open it whenever you get thrown into jail by
         those spaced-out guards.  Once in the under-dungeon tunnels
         (nice place, eh?), go West twice, North, and North again.
         Take a look at the dude there, and then grab his sword.
         GUARD THIS SWORD WITH YOUR MISERABLE EXISTENCE.  Hit [TAB],
         and select it.  Whenever a guard gets too close, USE it.
         The girl will slip out a door you can't use, so keep
         looking!  Go South twice, and then East.  Turn the gargoyle
         candelabra, and go through the newly opened secret door!
         When you get up there, go to the other gargoyle at the far
         left, and turn it again.  We don't want to go falling into
         a hole now, do we?  While still at the far left, go North.
         The guard will pop instantly, so USE the sword quickly.
         After boinking him upside the noggin, grab the keys off of
         the right wall.  If the guard wakes up, bop 'im again!  You
         have to unlock the door to the North (you'll have to un-
         select the sword though), and unlock the chains holding
         the bard, Fflewddur Fflamm.  In his gratitude, he'll give
         you another musical instrument, a harp.  He'll exit the
         castle (how, even I don't know), and you should walk out as
         well.  Back at the guarded room, you have to go West to a
         flight of stairs.  If the guard gets to close, you know
         what to do (ka-whack!).  Go up the stairs.  About halfway
         up, if you have followed these directions to the letter,
         you should be thirsty.  Hit [TAB], and USE the Water.  You
         might as well eat something as well.  Continue up the
         stairs, and then go East.  There is a small door on this
         screen, in which all your confiscated stuff is.  Open the
         closet door, and grab your gear.  You'll have to re-select
         the Sword at this point.  Ignore that chained gwythaint,
         because if you get too close, it'll catch you like a guard!
         Go through the South door, into the wine cellar (hic!).
         Go directly South, or else a guard will pop up if you take
         too much time.  You should now be at the drawbridge control
         room.  Stand next to the chain and winch, and USE the sword
         to Ginsu the chain.  The drawbridge will drop, and now you
         are on your way to...

         The Marshes Of Morva:
         ---------------------

         To get down from the Horned King's castle, just reverse the
         directions you used to get up there in the first place.
         When you get to the end of the boulders, go South twice.
         USE the Flying Dust, and go South across the Marsh.  Once
         over dry land again, USE the Dust again for a landing
         (landing lights not necessary).  Get your Magic Sword ready
         before you open the door and enter the hut.  Go inside, and
         open the chest.  Ignore the previous adventurers/frogs, and
         wait for the witches to appear.  Talk to them a for a
         little bit, and when they say they will turn you into a
         frog, USE your sword.  Ahhh...the Cauldron at last!  Alas,
         if you wish to get all 230 points, you must simply wait for
         a gwythaint to come and swipe it.  Depressing, wasn't that?
         You must now trudge off to the Horned King's castle again
         to get rid of both him and the Cauldron.

         The Battle For The Black Cauldron:
         ----------------------------------

         You now are returning to the once Good castle for the last
         time.  Instead of going past the gators and climbing the
         wall, go west from the moat screen to the now open
         drawbridge.  Go North, into the wine cellar again (double
         hic!).  There is a secret passage between the second and
         third kegs on the right.  Walk between them, and keep going
         right after the text says you found a passage.  You'll do
         a Star Wars imitation, going right down the garbage chute.
         After falling, you will now be in those lovely little
         tunnels under the dungeon level.  Hit [TAB] and ready the
         Magic Mirror you got from the King if the Fairy Folk.  Go
         South, and then East.  The Horned King will be in here,
         making some truly bizarre home brew (actually, he'll be
         making an army of invulnerable, un-dead soldiers).  When you
         drop in un-announced, he'll get a bit peeved, and go after
         you.  USE the mirror, and the horror of what he sees will
         make him take a swim in the Cauldron.  YECH!  You don't
         wanna think about what is in that pot now!  The walls will
         crumble, but you'll be safe on a floating log.  Enjoy the
         ride (Black Cauldron flume ride-no tickets necessary.),
         until you find yourself on the same screen as that stupid
         Cauldron again!!!  The witches will offer you all sorts of
         junk, but ignore ALL of it.  You'll get your sword back,
         and then you'll reach...

         ===========================================================
         -----------------------------------------------------------
         |||               (>-=#*>THE END<*#=-<)                 |||
         -----------------------------------------------------------
         ===========================================================

 This walk-through was provided by ZAPHOd...
 (...having passed through many BBS's before landing on the:

                    HEART OF GOLD STBBS
                      -801-964-9764
                      -24 HOURS
                      -3/12/2400 BAUD
                      -60 MEG HARD DISK

      powered by an Infinite Improbability Drive using the logic
      circuits of a Bambleweeny 57 Sub-Meson Brain...)



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