KING'S QUEST 4 (Sierra On-Line) (?)

Complete solution:

PART 1:

KING'S QUEST IV: THE PERILS OF ROSELLA, by Sierra On-Line, begins with an animated sequence to establish the plot. There is nothing for you to do but sit back and watch, so grab your coffee (pop, or whatever) and relax. As the plot unfolds, Graham, your father, is taken gravely ill and you, Rosella, are naturally distraught. What can you do, what can you possibly do??? As you sob your animated heart out, Genesta, a beautiful fairy, appears and offers you hope. There is, she tells you, a fruit which can restore your father's health. Joy of joys! There is a catch to this news (isn't there always?). Genesta will transport you to the land where this fruit may be found, but you will have to find it for yourself _and_ (there is always an 'and' in these games) you are asked to help Genesta. It seems that one Lolotte, Genesta's evil counterpart, stole Genesta's talisman, leaving the good fairy a scant 24 hours or so to live. Rosella is transported to the land of Tamir, her royal gown exchanged for common peasant garb. Here your adventure begins. And remember: Save your game often!

LAY OF THE LAND

The first thing to do is wander around. Make a crude but useful map of the areas most easily accessed. Tamir proper is about 5 screens high and 6 screens wide. Going north indefinitely will scroll you around in a nice loop. This is not true of the east-west movements. On the east is that vast ocean, and on the west is a high mountain range. Get to know where things are and who you are likely to find around the place. Talk to the inhabitants, and generally search around. Once you have that done, you may begin solving the various puzzles in this area.

PUZZLES OF MAINLAND TAMIR

Watch for birds trying to catch WORMS. Get the WORM, as you will need it later. Swimming in the POOL will startle CUPID and net you his BOW AND ARROWS. You will have two arrows only, and they will be put to good use later.

Under the STONE BRIDGE you will find a GOLD BALL. Give the BALL to the FROG in the lily pond. Actually you end up dropping it, and the frog, whom you cannot approach, will return it. Once he does, kiss him (yuck). This will get you a GOLD CROWN -- good for turning yourself into a frog (and there are times when that will come in handy).

Visit the MANSION. In the living room you will find a secret passageway with the obligatory winding stairway. There's no need to climb it just yet, nor is there a need to collect the SHOVEL you find at the bottom of those stairs at this time. Search the shelves in the living room to find a BOOK (The Complete Works of Shakespeare).

Give the BOOK to the MINSTREL (he was an _extremely_ bad minstrel). He'll accept the book, take on a new profession, and give you his LUTE in thanks. (How rewarding to help someone in such a meaningful way!)

Find PAN. Pan will ignore you because he is busy playing his flute. Play the LUTE and Pan will suddenly find you interesting. Give the LUTE to PAN, and he will give you the FLUTE in exchange.

PART 2:

Visit the TREE HOUSE. Unlike normal tree houses that are built high in the branches, this one is nestled in the roots. It's a terrific mess inside, so CLEAN HOUSE. Rosella, working her domestic magic, will trigger the return of the dwarves. They will sit down and share their dinner with Rosella. Speaking with them is not very informative but does pass the time. Once they leave, clean the dishes; notice that the dwarves have left a blue POUCH on the table. The pouch is filled with diamonds (Wow!). Being very honest, Rosella will want to return the pouch to the dwarves. TAKE THE POUCH and visit the MINE. There are two screens in the mine, so make certain that you've moved to the lower level, all the way east into the second screen near the diamond pail, and close to the dwarf with a white beard. Give pouch to dwarf. He tells you to keep it, and gives you a LAMP to boot!

Visit the PIER. Walk all the way to the end, which will cause the fisherman to stand and return to his shanty. Enter the shanty and give the diamonds to the fisherman. He will give you a FISHING POLE in return. Return to the end of the pier, put the worm on the pole, and FISH. This will, oddly enough, get you a DEAD FISH.

Go to the Waterfall. Wear the crown, and you turn into a frog. You will automatically swim under the waterfall, where you find a cave entrance. There is a BOARD here which you can pick up now or later. Entering the cave (it's very dark) will reveal a pile of bones right next to the entrance. Get BONE. (Watch out for the troll!) Save the rest of this cave for later.

PART 3:

Following the path up the mountains will get you (via Goon Airways) to Lolotte's. The program runs by itself for a while, during which Lolotte will eye you with great suspicion and have you thrown into the dungeon. Never fear: You'll soon be released and given a quest. The first quest is to get the UNICORN for Lolotte.

Once you're back in Tamir, return to the PIER, and swim westward. Watch out for sharks and avoid the whale. It's a good idea to save your game before crossing the ocean just in case you end up as dinner. Swim east until you reach the island home of Genesta. You may wander about and become familiar with the island if you like, but the only thing of importance here is the FEATHER on the beach.

Once you have found the feather, prepare to swim eastward (save your game again). This time you are looking for that WHALE. If you cannot find him easily, restore your game and swim east again until you do. The whale will swallow you, which normally would not be too great, but it does have its compensations.

INSIDE THE WHALE

Look around. Look at the mouth, or teeth, or something specific to get the description that mentions the UVULA. Now take a good look at the tongue. On the left hand side of the tongue you will find a 'row' of black dots that gradually rise toward the middle of the tongue. Climb these carefully until Rosella stands up automatically. Continue climbing to the right and up until Rosella is directly under the UVULA. TICKLE UVULA with FEATHER. This will cause the whale to laugh and spit you out. You will find yourself swimming in the ocean, with an island to the north.

Swim to the shipwreck island. On the island there is the bow of a ship in which Rosella may stand. Here she will be able to see (with the use of LOOK GROUND) what you cannot see. She will pick up a GOLDEN BRIDLE (just the thing for a unicorn). FEED or THROW the FISH to the PELICAN. The pelican will drop a WHISTLE. BLOW the WHISTLE, and a friendly dolphin will come by to give you a safe ride back to the Tamir mainland.

Search among the screens until you spot the unicorn. Shoot the unicorn with one of the arrows. This will make him your friend. Put the bridle on the unicorn, and RIDE the unicorn. The program will automatically take you to the Goon Airways Airport and return you to Lolotte. She'll send you on a second quest: Find the goose that lays the golden eggs.

Visit your local OGRE house. If you had tried to get in before, you found that the door was always locked -- well, it isn't now! Go in, and throw the BONE (the one you got in the cave behind the waterfall) to the vicious dog. He will be delighted and leave you alone. Go upstairs, and get the AXE. Come downstairs, and enter the CLOSET. Do NOT go into the kitchen unless you wish to be dinner. LOOK THROUGH KEYHOLE. Keep doing that until you see the Ogre fall asleep. Exit the closet, get the HEN, and move quickly to the door. EXIT as quickly as possible, and keep going until you are safely away from the ogre.

Take the hen to Lolotte. She still doesn't trust you and gives you a last quest: Retrieve Pandora's Box.

PART 4:

Now that you have the AXE, go to one of the three 'Scary Forest' screens and chop down a tree. This will get those trees to behave properly! You may now visit the one screen in the 5 x 6 screen layout of Tamir proper that you haven't been able to see until now. Here you will find a SKULL CAVE. Enter the cave.

Inside are three witches, each with only one eye socket. Between them they have but one glass eye, which they pass amongst themselves. One of the witches will move out from the wall and attempt -- slowly -- to catch you. Avoid her and watch the other two carefully. Notice how they pass the eye back and forth to one another? As soon as you think you have the movement and timing pretty well figured out, move in and GET THE EYE. This can be tricky, so save your game before you attempt this.

Once you have the EYE, exit the cave. Now, re-enter the cave. The witches, who are helpless without the eye, will toss you a SCARAB. Get the SCARAB (which protects you from the undead), and throw back their eye.

INTERMISSION

Time to do something for yourself: You remember why you're here in the first place? You know...dying father? (Meaningful pause....) Good! Well, let's do something about that, shall we?

Return to the Waterfall, become a frog, and go behind the waterfall. Get the board if you haven't already, and get back to that CAVE. LIGHT the LANTERN, then save your game! Enter the cave. There is a troll in here who badly wants you for dinner. We are going to do our best to deny him such a delicious meal.

Move directly across the screen. Before you move into the next screen (and ONLY if the troll has not appeared), save your game. Move onto the next screen. Move almost all the way across, and then begin moving down. Still no troll? Save! If you _do_ see the troll, RESTORE and try again. Continue moving down into the next screen. Save as often as necessary.

You will not be able to see well, even with the light of the lamp, so move carefully, saving when needed, until you find where that CHASM is hiding. PUT BOARD OVER CHASM! Move directly 'right' over the board (you'll pick it up automatically). Move up one screen and exit to the swamp.

Notice in the swamp that there are tufts of reeds, grass, whatever, stretched out before you, rather like skipping stones. JUMP to move from one to another. Do not swim, do not turn into a frog; just JUMP. Move onto the next screen, and you will see the tree with the FRUIT you seek for your father! JUMP until you're on the last clump of grass before the little isle. PUT BOARD OVER WATER. You may now cross onto the island, but watch out for the COBRA!

PLAY FLUTE. (Snakes just love flute music!) Once the snake is charmed, move in and GET FRUIT!

Having done that, return the way you came, jumping across the swamp and through the cave. It will suddenly get very dark, because this sequence triggers nightfall

PART 5:

INTERMISSION'S OVER -- BACK TO QUEST III!

Oh yes, Pandora's box. Well, night is a great time to visit a haunted mansion, so why don't you? Get the SHOVEL from the secret passage off the living room. You will now hear and/or see a number of GHOSTS, one at a time. These ghosts' mortal remains are buried in one or the other of the graveyards. Once you have identified which ghost it is (baby, miser, lord, sad woman, child, etc.) go to the appropriate grave, and dig. Don't worry about the zombies; you've got the scarab, which will repel each zombie that touches you.

GRAVE ROBBING AND OTHER HOBBIES

Digging in the right grave will reveal something that the ghost of the moment wants. Take the item, and give it to the ghost. Repeat this process. The small ghost child will lead you up a ladder into the attic. Once he disappears (you'll have to go to the eastern graveyard screen and dig up his toy), you will be able to OPEN and LOOK in a CHEST. There you will find SHEET MUSIC.

Go to the secret passage off of the living room and climb the stairs to the tower. There you will find an ORGAN. Sit on the bench, and PLAY SHEET MUSIC. Having done that, a drawer will pop open revealing a SKELETON KEY.

Go to the CRYPT and open it with the SKELETON KEY. ENTER. GET THE ROPE and it'll fall down to form a ladder. Go down the ladder (the scarab will protect you from the mummy), and take PANDORA'S BOX. Return to Lolotte's!

YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED IN THE MORNING

Lolotte is at last satisfied that you are not Genesta's spy. She has agreed to let you marry her son in the morning. All your items are taken away, and you are led to Edgar's tower bedroom for the night. Edgar, who is nicer then he looks, shortly brings you a rose. GET ROSE and LOOK ROSE. This reveals that a key is tied to the rose which will let you leave the tower.

Carefully climbing down the tower's winding stairs, you move into the dining room. There are two exits at the right of the screen. Take the one to the rear into the KITCHEN. Look in the cupboards to find all your items. Now, move back into the dining room, and take the front exit to the right.

This puts you in the throne room. Avoid stepping on the rug, and take the exit to the right. Now you are in the east tower. Climb the stairs. Ignore the exit to the left halfway up, and continue to the top of the tower. Here you find Lolotte's bedroom. Unlock the door and go in. Move close to Lolotte and SHOOT Lolotte, thus using Cupid's last remaining arrow to a useful end. Lolotte dies a spectacular death (worth replaying at least once). GET TALISMAN. Climb down the stairs to the first exit on the left. When the screen changes, you will see a hall and a door. Open the door and enter the storage closet. GET HEN, and GET PANDORA'S BOX, then exit.

Climb down the remaining stairs and leave the castle. Enter the stables and OPEN GATE to free the UNICORN. Once you are outside the castle again, move down the path to return to Tamir proper.

LET'S LEAVE EVERYTHING TIDY

Return to the CRYPT and drop PANDORA'S BOX. Exit the crypt, close and LOCK DOOR. Move back to the pier, and swim west to Genesta's island. Enter her ivory tower, and climb the stairs to her bedroom. GIVE TALISMAN TO GENESTA. The program will take over from here, finishing off the story nicely while you enjoy another cup of coffee!

THE END!

Back