The Five Towers of Trafa-Zar: Ashes and Soot

One of the worst puzzles in adventure game history.

      

Trafa-Zar continues to be challenging. I've conquered two more towers. Combat can be challenging, but only in the sense that I've had to reload a lot and try again. It's the puzzles that provide the greater challenge. Some of them have stopped me in my tracks. At least five times during this session, I beat my head against a puzzle, decided I couldn't solve it, was just on the verge of writing to LanHawk for a hint, and then got the solution at the last second. Except once, when I really did need the hint. Okay, twice.

    

The game is very linear and none of the enemies respawn, so it's a relatively closed system. There is some randomness in the composition of enemy parties and their loot drops, but there's no way to grind, which means the game skirts my definitions of an RPG.

 

All levels remained 5 x 5, and there were 5 per tower. There are, of course, five towers, which means I have two to go.

    

Tower 2, Level 1

 

Enemies here were wisps, miders, hobgoblins, huge orcs, flesh golems, and killer clouds. All were tough. Wisps have a lightning bolt attack, so you need to have your "Magic Shield" (which costs 50 points to cast) active. Hobgoblins attack twice per round each. I don't know what "miders" are supposed to be. They look a bit like driders. I guess their name is a portmanteau of "men" and "spiders"?

   

With his hands on his hips, he looks unhappy.

      

I found a library on the east side of the level with two books. One offered a hint that holding the magic pebble (which I found in the first tower) during "wizard's rest" would prevent the evil in the tower from interrupting your meditation, allowing a successful rest. The other book cast a "Fireball" spell when I read it. I found it just in time, because that spell seems to be the only thing that kills killer clouds. I used it throughout the tower, maybe 8 or 10 times, always worried that it was going to run out.

      

What happens if you don't hold the pebble.

     

The big puzzle on the level was a room full of ice that froze my feet to the floor when I entered it. There was a silver keyhole on the wall, and I had a silver key in my possession (with a symbol of a snowflake on it), but I couldn't reach the keyhole. In desperation, I tried throwing the key at the hole, but it just bounced to the floor, and the game immediately ended, as I was stuck permanently. Reloading, I searched the level again and found a horseshoe that I had missed. The horseshoe increases my armor class for some reason but also has these words on it: "Good for one lucky toss." With that in my possession, I was able to toss the key directly into the hole, which made the ice disappear. (I'm curious how I turned the key, but let's not look a gift horse in the mouth.) I scooped a brass key from the floor.

     

Some hobgoblins attacked as I entered, adding to the fun.

      

The exit to Level 2 was in the northwest corner.

      

Tower 2, Level 2

 

Enemies: cobras, killer clouds, hobgoblins, flesh golems. One of the hobgoblins dropped a flag that I never found anything to do with.

   

This level was full of secret doors, and from here on, I kept the "Detect Door" spell constantly active. Other than that, it was pretty simple. The big "puzzle" was a brass keyhole, into which I inserted the brass key. I somehow became water vapor and was drawn into the next room, which had a ladder up. This is one of many places in the game where you really can't go back.

      

Was that really necessary? Couldn't the key have just opened the door?

      

Tower 2, Level 3

 

Enemies: killer clouds, huge orcs, hobgoblins, black snakes, cobras, miders, wisps.

   

Many more secret doors on this level, some of them one-way. I mapped it in the wrong orientation because I hadn't yet realized that you don't always arrive on a level facing the same direction as when you left. From this point, I had "Direction" active most of the time.

   

I found some rations here, which was nice because my constitution was getting dangerously low. This remained a problem throughout the session. I finally had to resort to eating fungus and mushrooms, which have a chance of poisoning you, to keep from running out completely. I never found a way to restore the dexterity lost to those giant fleas.

    

Encounters included:

• A wall with "Orange" written on it. The first letter looked like an orange. I didn't figure out anything to do here.

   

Cool story.

    

• A sundial. It says "SOL" on it. If I hold it and say "SOL," there's a flash of light. I did not find a place to use this.

• A room with walls painted to show undersea images. There was a trident and a white scroll in the room. The scroll said, "FLUTE SPELL" on it.

   

The ultimate puzzle was a room with three evenly spaced holes in the south wall. Putting the trident into the holes caused me to turn to water, flow into the next (otherwise sealed) room, and reconstitute in front of an up ladder. The trident did not disappear, and it became my primary weapon from this point, not only doing more damage than the battle axe but also adding 1 point to my armor class.

   

Tower 2, Level 4

 

This level was confusing and dangerous, and I had to reload several times. I emerged in the southeast corner. The south row of squares all had pictures on the doors leading north. Four of the pictures were of a desert and one was of a beautiful ocean scene. If I passed through any of these doors, they sealed behind me.

   

Taking any of the desert doors led to corridors going north ending in rooms with messages on the walls that said, "None leave here less I know them." (I assume the author was going for unless.) I was otherwise trapped in these corridors, so I had to figure out what the riddle meant. I tried saying my name to no avail. Finally, I discovered that if I said MALE or HUMAN, a voice would say, "Now I know you," and then teleport me to a lower level in the tower. I don't think I could have made it back most of the time. Thus, I reloaded.

        

Well, I was born by the river in a little tent . . .

     

The corridor behind the ocean scene led to the exit. I can only assume I was supposed to know this because it was different or because of the ocean scene on the wall on Level 3. Either way, it leads to a room with a hole in the ceiling and a rope nearby. The problem was, I had no way to get the rope through the hole or to attach it to anything on the level above. I'm surprised I figured it out as fast as I did, but ever since I had read the words "FLUTE SONG" on the white scroll, I had images of a snake charmer playing a flute. I think I've even seen a movie or television show in which someone played a flute to manipulate a rope the way they would a cobra. It still took me a few minutes because I didn't realize I had to drop the rope on the floor first. Once I did, I read the scroll, and the rope snaked up through the ceiling. It was irrecoverable after that, however, making this another point of no return.

    

Tower 2, Level 5

 

Enemies: flesh golems, huge orcs, killer clouds, hobgoblins, and a blue troll. The troll was a special enemy who had a special attack that instantly teleported me somewhere else in the tower if it connected. That was a reload situation since I had no way back to the level.

   

The level opened in a five-square cross. The western square had a dried-up fountain. The eastern square had four levers: brown, green, blue, and red. I'm not sure how I was supposed to know which one to pull. Brown, blue, and red led to instant death: an avalanche, all the air sucked out of the room, and jets of flame from the floor, respectively. The green one opened a compartment in the wall with a glass vial.

           

My maps of the second tower.

       

Smashing the glass vial into the fountain led to it being filled with water and me being instantly teleported through the wall to the outside of the cross. In this area, almost every door was magically locked and required the "Knock" spell.

   

The blue troll appeared within these rooms, and I eventually had to just run past him and use the "Lock" spell to prevent him from following. Fortunately, defeating him wasn't necessary. In the final room, the description said that the floor looked like liquid but was solid. I couldn't figure out what to do here, and this is where I needed LanHawk's help. To his credit, he didn't give me the answer outright. He just said, "Recall what you had to do to leave the first tower." A number of things snapped into place at this point. I guess each tower has a (vague) elemental theme. The first one had a number of things pointing to earth, and this one was largely about water. Saying WATER got me to the next tower.

   

Tower 3, Level 1

 

An easy first level except for the battles. The enemies were all new. Lead golems and death snakes weren't too hard, although I encountered them in groups of 1 or 2. Vampires were a lot harder. They attacked in packs of 3 or 4, did devastating damage, and were immune to spells that I tried to cast. I had to reload several times and wait for lucky numbers. Green trolls were even worse at first—they get three attacks per round—but it turns out they're quite susceptible to the "Hold" spell.

   

"Fireball" has not worked even once that I have tried to cast it. The game always says that it's ineffective. Thank the gods for that leather book.

         

Casting "Fireball" on the killer cloud has no effect, but reading a book that casts "Fireball" does.

      

While fleeing vampires, I discovered for the first time (though I realized I should have noticed this earlier) that the number of enemies is subject to random chance. If you go into a room and find 4 trolls, you can reload, do something else that uses the next random number, then head into the room again and perhaps face a party of more or fewer trolls. Moreover, if you flee from an enemy party, the number of enemies that chases you could be more or fewer than the original.

    

I think this may be my favorite depiction of "vampires" in RPG history.

     

My blood chilled when I walked into one room and saw 10 ghouls. This makes sense, as ghouls also get three attacks per round. But they were curiously unable to hit me. Round after road, every single attack missed, and I winnowed them down to nothing. I'm not sure what the story was with that.

   

I found an iron ring and a cloak on the level. Both offer 1- or 2-point increases to my armor class.

         

"Plain Metal Band" would be a good name for a metal band.

        

The only puzzle came in the form of a balloon, found early on the level. I eventually wandered into a room with a shimmering ceiling. The room was full of a strange gas, and I started talking funny. I recognized it as helium, of course. Escaping the room meant F)illing the balloon, which expanded and lifted me through the ceiling. I'm not sure exactly how my character filled the balloon. The game didn't say anything about pressure valves.

 

Someone hold an empty balloon in a room full of helium and report back to us what happens.

     

Tower 3, Level 2

     

My big concern when arriving on this level was my constitution. It was back down to 2, and after I explored a couple of rooms, it was down to 1. So you can imagine my joy when I found myself in a kitchen. I poked around until I found some food, which restored all of it. Even better, I soon got some rations from a battle. 

   

Skeletons were a new enemy here, but like ghouls, they couldn't seem to hit me. I don't know why. Maybe there's a hard armor class threshold.

      

You must all be feeling pretty stupid.

      

Then I got stuck again, as there was no obvious exit to the next level. The only things on the level that even hinted at a puzzle were a) a painting of a farmer growing peas, and 2) the kitchen fireplace, which was out. The game noted that the fireplace had a narrow chimney. I found a fan on the level, and I thought maybe the goal was to fan the ashes and light a new fire, but I couldn't find any commands that would do that.

   

LanHawk had to help me here, again, and I believe he only got it by inspecting the text in the game files. (This is not a foolproof method, as the files only tell you the resulting messages when you enter a correct action, not what the action was.) The solution is to stand in the room with the chimney and:

   

1. Hold nothing in your hand.

2. P)ut your hand to your NOSE.

3. N)od.

     

Why does this work? Because that's how Santa Claus gets up a chimney in Clement Clark Moore's "A Visit from St. Nicholas" (1823). All the game had to do to make this somewhat fair is to have the painting show St. Nicholas, or something to do with Christmas, rather than a farmer growing peas. I find it hard to believe that any contemporary player got past this point.

   

The kitchen had a bunch of junk—spoon, fork, knife, skillet, ladle, cup, dish—that I didn't take with me for the sake of encumbrance, even though I suspected that in this game, I might need some or all of those items.

    

Tower 3, Level 3

       

Banshees were introduced as an enemy here. The first one I met wailed at me, and I lost a point of intelligence before I killed it. I forgot that I didn't know how to heal lost intelligence, so it didn't occur to me to reload. I wish that I'd reloaded when all those fleas sapped my dexterity back in Tower 1, as I never got that back.

   

I met two more banshees on the level, but I managed to kill them before they wailed. Other enemies were vampires, death snakes, and green trolls. I got some more food in a random loot drop; it's nice to have a couple of backups. I also found some "tiger balm," which heals you if you eat it. Yuck

       

Tower 3.

      

I caught myself accidentally fighting vampires with rations at one point. You have to remember to re-equip your weapon if you pick up something else.

   

There were a couple of messages on the walls: a painting of seven violets in a "V" shape and a purple-colored "F". I'm wondering if these individual letters, which I've been encountering since the first tower, don't add up to something. So far, I have EYAVF. On the other hand, there seems to be something going on with colors: a brown "E" in the first tower, a white "Y" in the second, and a silver "A" and a purple "F" in the third. The first tower was the earth tower and the third clearly has an "air" theme going on, so that would explain the "E" and the "A" but not the "Y" in the water tower. We'll see.

     

I found a pair of wings in a corner. ("These are small replicas of bird wings made with small handles.") Getting off the level required holding them in my hand and J)umping in a room with a shimmering ceiling.

   

Tower 3, Levels 4 and 5

       

Levels 4 and 5 of the tower had the same layouts, consisting mostly of 1 x 1 prison cells, most magically locked, with nothing in them. The only enemies on the levels were liches, who fire lightning bolts. The first one I encountered killed me in two hits. The second time, I had "Magic Shield" going, and it kept me alive for 5 rounds, but that wasn't enough time to knock away all of the lich's hit points with my trident. Experimenting with other spells, I found that "Stone" killed him instantly, but at the cost of almost all my spell points. I had to keep myself topped up and ready to rest immediately after the battle. I killed three or four liches on both levels this way.

       

Maybe I shouldn't have been fighting him with a copper key.

     

I found platinum and copper keys on Level 4, along with a bottle full of water. The only other encounter on Level 4 was the exit: a marble pedestal with a button on the top. Pressing the button caused the far wall to shimmer, but only for a second when the button was released. The game was very clear about this, that the effect happened on release. This meant that I couldn't just weigh down the button with, say, the bottle of water. I needed something that would initially weigh it down but slowly become too light—like a tin cup with a hole in it, which I had found on Level 2.

      

It even capitalized the key words.

     

I filled the cup from the bottle and used it to weigh down the button. This gave me enough time to get over to the wall. When the cup had leaked enough, it released the button, and I stepped through the shimmering wall to Level 5.

   

In a guardroom in the corner of Level 5, I found a safe that opened to the copper key. It had a crown (a "golden tiara with hundreds of gems") and a note. The note said: "Only magic found on her. Careful! It must be powerful!" Having it in my inventory raised my armor class by 3.

      

The only way I knew the key had worked is that I could now see two new items.

       

"Her" turned out to be an elven princess shackled to the wall in a nearby prison cell. To free her, I had to unlock her shackles with the platinum key and then put the crown on her head. She woke up, glowed blue, and said, "Thank you for rescuing me. I'm afraid the only help I can be is to tell you that there is a demon disguised as an innocent. You must trick it into seeing itself as it really is." She then teleported away.

      

How do I know she's a princess?

     

The final square on Level 5 had inlaid stones in the shape of a fan. This was my cue to say AIR, which caused nothing to happen. I started to despair but soon realized that some games, to say nothing of Maurice White, prefer WIND. Moments later, I was in the fourth tower.

     

I'll finish the game, but I don't much like it. Too many illogical puzzles, not enough RPG.

   

Time so far: 9 hours