=====
Liath
=====

Solution by David Tanguay (games.dat@thinkage.ca)


This walkthrough is not an optimised trip through Liath, but one that reflects
a natural, story driven progress.

The translation in Liath is pretty bad, with broken grammar, strange word
choices, and variable spelling of names. Some names are not in the game proper,
but appear only in the manual. Some object names are weird, too. I picked a
name for each, and I hope it's obvious which thing or person I mean.

I also had problems with timing: sometimes dialogues would not play, or quickly
cut out, and sometimes cutscenes would zip by. You can just repeat the
dialogues and they'll loop through all the responses. For the cutscenes, you'll
have to save often, and restore to see them again.

--------
Prologue
--------

You are Criss, a magician. Your old friend Tikhe invites you and Ithena, your
fairy friend, to Azerethus for a visit. When you arrive, you send Ithena off to
look around. At Tikhe's laboratory, you find a message from Tikhe warning you
to get out of Azerethus.

When you get control, first check yourself out. There are coins, a flask, and
a flute in your inventory. There's also an assortment of spells in your
grimoire: water elemental, illusion, unlock, dispel, clone, pal, magic hand,
energy bolt, enforce, and scan.

Look around the lab. There's an energy cannon and a flamer. Find and pick
up a magic ring that captures spells. Also pick up a needle, a candle, some
acid, and a translating lens.

When you leave Tikhe's lab, you are promptly arrested for illegally entering
Azerethus, and thrown into jail. The governor, Khekath, thinks you are somebody
called Liath, and has foreseen you giving the world to Nameless.

Cast "unlock" to free yourself. Khekath's daughter, whom you'll later learn is
named Tilvilla, thinks her father has misjudged you. She helps you escape into
tunnels below the castle.

"take" the chest then take all the objects inside: knife, map, note. The note
is from the Hermit Ern, saying that he is taking some key from the Temple of
Fire and hiding it elsewhere. The map is of the land of Azerethus, and allows
you (the mouse jockey) to quickly direct Criss to various locations throughout
the land.

Pushing on, you find your way block by a fallen-down bridge. No! It can't be
over so soon! Cast "illusion" to see that it isn't over, the bridge is fine.
Onward to the surface world.

---------
Azerethus
---------

First you should find Tikhe, or what happened to her. Head for the capital of
Azerethus, the town which is also called Azerethus.

Go into the magic shop. Notice the accumulator and poker. Talk to Tor about
everything. He's a magician himself, but business isn't very good lately.
Something isn't right with magic. Strange things are happening at Greg's inn,
too.

Talk to Greg in the inn. The inn is actually the remains of Greg's old ship.
That damned ghost flitting about is the ghost of the ship, and it has chased
off (or killed!) all Greg's customers. He can't rent you a room since the
governor deems it too risky. Greg needs a magician to get rid of the ghost.
Yeah, there's Tor, but he's useless.

Talk to Leenah in the library. It's an old library, with some ancient books.
Only those with cards are allowed to see the books, though, as a security
precaution. She's bored, bored, bored. Hardly anybody comes around any more,
mostly just Dorian. She has a strange fascination with the neighbouring
cemetery.

Wander about town, noticing the statue, the apparatus in front of Tikhe's lab,
the water tower, and the grave of some Attana person in the cemetery.

As you head out of town, Ithena returns to tell you that she found Tikhe's new
place, and takes you there. Tikhe isn't home, but you find an arkh stone on
the bed. It reveals a heart's desire. Not much here, so back to Azerethus.

You can now visit Dorian. Talk to him about everything. He's a writer and
historian. Azerethus was the captial of the ancient Dart civilisation. They
were magicians, and mysteriously disappeared, leaving few traces. Dorian is
trying to gather information about them. The library is rumoured to have some
Dart texts, but he hasn't found them. If you can translate a Dart manuscript
for him, he will let you use his library card.

Okay, you have a translating lens. It doesn't work. Maybe it needs power.
Head to the magic shop. Take the poker and use it on the accumulator to get
the accumulator. Rats, the accumulator is out of energy. You could charge it
with Tikhe's energy cannon.

Tikhe's energy cannon won't turn on. It seems the cooling system isn't getting
water. Head to the water tower. Cast "water elemental" on the water tank to
get things flowing. Back at the lab, turn on the cooling system, then turn on
the power. Inside, use the accumulator on the cannon to charge it up.

In your inventory, use the accumulator with the translator to fire it up, then
use the translator with Dorian's manuscript to translate it. It's a spell,
which is conveniently added to your grimoire. Give it to Dorian and he gives
you his library card.

Go to the library. Leenah seemed unhappy last you talked with her, so use the
arkh on her to see if there's anything we can do for her. She's half aquinita.
Her sister, a full aquinita, was dear to her. One day, her sister had something
important to tell Leenah, and arranged a meeting for the next day, but she
never showed up. A statue of her appeared in the town centre, by an unknown
sculptor. Note that Leenah takes off her scarf while telling you the tale.

Use the library card on Leenah and head into the stacks. It's too dark to see
anything here, so cast the "dark vision" spell. Aha! You find a passage into
the basement. There you find a book by the Magician Kondor. Read the book to
learn about the prophecy of Liath. You will also learn how to make a magic
staff, how to empower it with magic runes, the recipes for several runes, and
instructions for making a spectre taming talisman. That last looks like a
solution to Greg's problem.

------------
The Talisman
------------

Note the ingredients and objects you will need to make and use these magic
items: a magic pot, a magic stir stick, some silver, a silver plate, some wax,
some acid, a silk scarf, water from Ieve's lake, a branch, a ritual knife,
some swamp root, a spiral branch, a spider's web, and Driade's flower.

You already have the wax and acid. Take Leenah's scarf on the way out. On your
way across town, note that the statue of Leenah's sister, Miranda, is now an
active object. Go to the magic shop and use coins on Tor to buy a magic pot
and stir stick.

Where can you get the rest of the ingredients? Go see if Tikhe's home yet.
She is, and when you talk to her you realise something big is brewing.  She
didn't send you the letter, nor leave the message. Time flows differently in
Azerethus than in the outside world, and it has been a long time since she left
you. Magic has gone out of order, and then some religious freaks came and
chased Tikhe out of town for being a Silinite. She has had a vision about you.
Some powerful people are awakening, and expect something from you. You will
meet a woman whose destiny is bound with yours, but don't trust her.

Ask about the reagents several times. Tikhe tells you about the Driade, Kondor,
the Elves, and Ieve's lake. She gives you a spell so you can cross the lake to
get to the spring.

Go to Ieve's Lake. Cast "light step" to cross to the island, then use the
flask on the spring to fill it with water.

You need a silver plate and a silver strip, so go to the smithy. Outside, you
see a spiral branch. You can't just pick it up, though, you must cast "magic
hand" on it to get it into your inventory. Go into the smithy and talk with
Peter. Use your coins on him, and he will reforge them into what you need.
Come back tomorrow to pick them up.

Switch day/night (in the personal interface) then talk to Peter. He gives you
a silver strip and a silver plate. He also tells you the story of the time he
was asked to make a magic sword, and his run-in with the witch Coganna.

You are now ready to make the talisman. Go to Tikhe's lab and use the candle
on the flamer to get some wax. Use the wax on the talisman. Then use the needle
on the talisman to draw the designs in the wax. Use acid on the talisman to
etch the designs into the silver. Use the scarf on the talisman to wipe off the
wax. Finally, use the flask of Ieve's Lake water on the talisman to empower it.

Go to the inn and give the talisman to Greg. He tells you to come back
tomorrow, and if the talisman has worked he will gove you a room. Go outside
and switch day/night. It's now night, and you can see the ghost leaving the
inn.

Go to the statue of Miranda while it's night. Cast "dispel" on the statue to
free Miranda. She gives you a sea shell; blow it near open water if ever you
need her help.

Switch day/night back to day and return to the inn. Talk to Greg. The talisman
worked, but there are others powers driving people from the land. He keeps his
word, and in the rented room is a trunk. "take" the trunk to open it and then
take the rope and pick within.

------------------
The Temple of Fire
------------------

You've done some good deeds, but now what? Tikhe talked about trouble in the
land, and mentioned the magician Kondor at the lighthouse. That's the same
name as the guy who wrote the magic book.

Go to the lighthouse. On the road outside is a tree. You still need a stick to
serve as a staff, so use the knife on the tree to get a stick. Use the strip
of silver on the stick to transform it into a staff.

Go inside and talk to Kondor. Repeat subjects until Kondor repeats himself.
Kondor was a Dart. He tells you about the Curse of Azerethus, which Adella,
the high goddess of the world, has called forth as punishment upon the people
for allowing evil to grow in their souls. He tells you of the prophecy of
Liath, a dark magician, but not a Dart, who would oppose the gods and change
the world. It seems the world was not made as it should have been, and is a
plane rather than a sphere. If you want to become a Dart, you should talk to
Attana, supreme priest of the Temple of Fire. Kondor also tells you some
instructions on the ritual to become a Dart, inside the temple, behind the
column.

Go to the Temple of Fire. The guard won't let you in unless the sacred Key of
Fire is returned. That sounds like the key Ern wrote about in that note.

Well, the only thing to try now is to talk to Attana, but he's dead. You'll
have to use that "spiritcalling" spell from Kondor's book. You're still a few
ingredients short.

Tikhe mentioned Driade. Go to her tree. Use the flute on her hole and she'll
come out and give you a gift. Also get Driade's flower (using the "magic hand"
spell), since it's an ingredient.

You need swamp root, so go to the swamp. There's nothing at the edge, but
there's an island in the swamp. Unfortunately, you can't get to it.

Tikhe mentioned the Elves. Maybe they can tell you something. Go there, knock
on the door (use it), but Kert the guard won't let strangers in.

A witch's hut might be a good place to find a nice web. Go to Coganna's and,
sure enough, there's a web. Cast "magic hand" to pick it up. Go inside and talk
to Coganna. She's doesn't want to be bothered, but, sensing your power, isn't
going to try anything nasty. She does, however, teleport you out. Hey! You
could use that spell, and you have that nice spell capturing ring from Tikhe's
lab. Just after Coganna teleports you out, use the ring in your inventory to
capture the spell (there's a minor bug here: I had to use it twice).

Back to the swamp. Use the ring on the island and poof! you're there. Pick up
the swamp root (with "magic hand"). This is Ern's hideout! Maybe the key is
around here. Go up into the hideout and find two recipes for spells, one for
teleportation, and one called "Ern's Joke", whatever that is. Also on the
island is a door to underground, but it's guarded by a large snake.

You can now make some runes for you staff, following the directions in Kondor's
book. You do this by using the magic pot, then using, direct from your
inventory, each of the ingredients in turn. If you've done it right, the pot
will sparkle green and you'll hear a wooshing sound. Then use the stick.
Finally, combine the now sparkling stick with the staff in your inventory.
A rune should appear on the staff. You can make the "spiritcalling" rune
(web, swamp root, Driade's flower, Ieve's water), the "Ern's Joke" rune (swamp
root, web, web again, Ieve's water), and the "teleportation" rune (swamp root,
swamp root again, Driade's flower, spiral). You use a rune by examining your
staff in your inventory, and clicking on the rune from that view.

[I hit a bug where the rune was left on the screen ever after -- just don't
make the "teleportation" rune, and use the ring instead.]

What can "Ern's Joke" be? Try it on that big snake. A spooky illusion scares
off the snake, and you can go down into a tomb. There's old Ern. Search his
remains ("take" them), and you find the Key of Fire.

You'll have to recast the "Joke" rune to get past the snake. Then use the ring
on the swamp to get back to the mainland, or try out the "teleportation" rune.

At the Temple of Fire, use the key on the guard and he lets you pass. But your
way is still blocked by a column of light. You'll have to talk to Attana after
all.

Go to the cemetery in Azerethus, to Attana's grave. Use the "spiritcalling"
rune on the grave (not the Chaos Charm) to raise Attana, then talk to him.
Only the person so destined could have taken the key. The columns support the
world, supplying it from the initial Chaos. The holder of the keys is able to
change the world. You'll have to go to the Temple of Fire and wait until the
column fades out. When you're done talking with Attana, he gives you a Dart
ritual card.

Before leaving Attana, cast "clone" on the Chaos Charm to make a copy of it.
Note what is said about it in your inventory: it's to be used in the Temple of
Chaos on the Sky Island.

Return to the Temple of Fire. The column has faded. Continue along the stairs
to the inner altar room, with four doors. Use the ritual card on the altar
(the machine in the centre of the the doors), and three of the four doors will
open. You can pry open the fourth door using the poker. Behind the second and
fourth doors you'll find three symbols lying on the ground. [Well, you don't
actually see them, but the cursor indicates a hotspot on the floor.] Combine
the three symbols together in your inventory to create a fourth symbol. Use
that fourth symbol on the altar, then "take" the altar to retrieve your ritual
card. You are now a Dart. The "annihilate" spell has been added to your
grimoire.

Back where the column was is a hole. Use your rope on the hole to go down to an
underground passage. Your way is blocked by a large worm. Cast the "annihilate"
spell on the worm. Moving along, your way is blocked by a wobbly ice-bridge.
Cast "light step" on the bridge to cross into a chamber with a large crystal.
Use your pick on the crystal to knock off a chunk.

Being a Dart has its privileges: you can now pass through the Celestial Portal.
That takes you to Sky Island, and the Temple of Chaos. The altar is out of
energy, so cast "enforce" on it juice it up. Then use your ritual card on the
altar, then the Chaos Charm. You can now take a second key from the altar.

--------
Tilvilla
--------

While you're stalled on the Curse of Azerethus for the moment, there is still
an evil lurking in the land: the witch Coganna. You're a Dart now, so try out
you're new powers on her.

When you get there, you find that she has captured Tilvilla, Khekath's daughter.
Cast "energy" on Coganna to zap her out of existence. Then cast "dispel" on
Tilvilla to free her from the statue curse. She's still in a magical sleep,
though. You take her to the Driade for safety.

It seems your "dispel" is not powerful enough. Maybe another magician can help.
Go to the lighthouse and ask Kondor about reviving Tilvilla. Kondor casts a
spell on you, boosting your powers. Return to the Driade tree and cast "dispel"
on Tilvilla again. This time it works. As a bonus, rescuing Tilvilla clears
your name with Khekath, who now welcomes you into his castle.

Now that you have connections, try the Elven village again. Use the door, and
Kert will let you pass. Go into the royal hut and talk with Tinoss. He's a
good friend of Khekath, and Tilvilla is like a daughter to him. Also talk with
Tia, the new healer in Tinoss' court.

Leave the hut and go into Tilvilla's hut. Tilvilla is excited to meet you. She
has had a vision from Adella, which makes sense now that she has met you. The
two of you will save the land removing the curse. Then Tilvilla rushes off.

Before you can follow her, a strange being appears, calling itself Nameless.
He claims that Tilvilla is Adella's puppet, and that Adella is mad at people
because they don't obey her. She now wants to destroy the old order and start
over. He tells you to ask Tilvilla if you don't believe him. He disappears.

A missing person? You have a search spell from Kondor's book! You need
something personal of Tilvilla's, so go into her bedroom and look around.
"take" the couch to find a mirror. You can now follow the book to make a rune
to search for Tilvilla (swamp root, Ieve's water, mirror, spiral, silver).

Use the "search" rune and you will be teleported to Adella's Temple. You find
Tilvilla before a statue of Adella, but she disappears in a flash of light
before you can get to her. Nameless then appears to tease you.

You should tell Khekath the news. Go to his castle, but as you enter a bolt
from the sky shatters the castle, and you are lucky to survive. Nameless
appears again. He tells you that the fire arrow was sent by Adella and intended
for you. Nameless will protect you from Adella's wrath, for a small fee. Meet
him at the Temple of Chaos if you're interested.

The situation is dire, you don't have much choice. Go to the Temple of Chaos
on Sky Island (through the Celestial Portal) and meet Nameless. He wants your
soul, and in exchange he'll protect you from Adella's wrath. Give him your
ritual card to confirm the deal. He then dubs you Liath. Note that you then
receive two new spells into your grimoire: "shock" and "zombie".

Where can Tilvilla be? Return to her hut in the Elven village. You'll be met
there by Tia, who informs you that Ithena has fallen deathly ill. To save her,
you will have to go to Ieve's Island to get a magic grain.

Go to the docks, but Segg won't let you pass with a pass from Khekath. Well,
you're a soulless bad guy now, so cast "shock" on Segg to knock him out. You
can now access the ship at the end of the dock, but you still can't use it.

Go to the lighthouse. Kondor is gone, but there's a navigation device there.
Pick it up, return to the docks, and use it on the ship. You can now sail to
Ieve's Island.

[Note: The hint system tells you to turn on the lighthouse, get mandrake root,
and talk to Khekath, all of which you can do, but it's not necessary.]

Walk across the island to Ieve's tree and talk with her when she comes out.
She senses you lack of soul, and she won't speak to a servant of Chaos, an
evil Dart. You can convince her you're not really evil by using Driade's gift
on her. Driade wouldn't give her gift to an evil one, so Ieve will help you,
even if she doesn't trust you. She gives you the magic grain.

When you get back to your ship, you find that it has sunk. You need help, and
there's lots of water about. Use the shell to call Miranda. Talk to her. She
teaches you a "morph" spell, which allows you to turn into water and travel
across the sea.

Cast "morph" and return to the Elven village. Go to Tilvilla's hut to meet
Tia. You give her the grain, and she soon returns with a healthy Ithena.

----------------
Keys and Columns
----------------

Tilvilla is gone, and you still need three of the five keys if you're going to
do any great deeds. Where could the others be? It may not involve a key, but
there is still one other mystery to uncover: who turned Miranda into a statue?
And why?

Go to the end of the docks and use the shell on the sea to summon Miranda. Talk
to her, and ask her about the key. Miranda somehow came into possession of it,
and quarrelled with the princess Sill over it. Sill then turned Miranda into
a statue. Miranda will show you the way to the Lands of the Midnight Sun, where
Sill lives.

When you arrive at the Lands of the Midnight Sun your way is blocked by some
kind of energy beam. Use Attana's crystal on the beam to reflect it back on
itself, destroying the gun.

Go inside and talk to Sill. She's not a little arrogant! You need to find her
weak spot. Use the arkh on her. She's a bitter, rejected lover of Rotmor, the
last prince of Azerethus. Rotmor rejected her for another. Sill couldn't live
without him. After he died, she found herself here, and she doesn't remember
how she got here. Tell her about Rotmor's grave, and the two of you go to the
cemetery in Azerethus to see the tomb. Sill is really dead, but before she
goes to join Rotmor she gives you a third key.

[That's a plot hole: You didn't know anything about Rotmor prior to this.]

After she has gone, a strange man in a wooden mask meets you and tells you to
meet his man near the town gates. Go to the gates (outside the Magic Shop),
but the man is dead. Cast "zombie" on the corpse, and he gets up and wanders
out the gate. As you follow him, you again meet the man in the wooden mask.
He'll give you a fourth key, but he doesn't know where the fifth is. He doesn't
think you'll need it, though: the main key is your will.

You follow him into a cave, at the roots of the world. There you find Tilvilla,
as well as Nameless and Adella. It turns out the masked man is Kron, the
prophet mentioned in Kondor's book.

Nameless brags about how you are all his puppets, following his plan. Adella
is just a spoiled girl, treating the world like her toy. She must grow up and
give the world to Nameless. Nameless need a world since the Supreme Court of
gods has forbidden him from making his own. He reminds you that you have given
him your soul, so you can't exist without him. Give him the keys and he'll set
you free. The column will kill you. Adella doesn't trust you and orders you to
give the keys to Tilvilla, her agent. Your third option is to take the keys to
the Roots of the World.

If you've been paying attention, you know that Liath is the spirit of freedom.
Your destiny is to free the world from the control of the gods. Choose the
Roots, and you go and use the keys on them. (The game won't actually let you
choose the others; you get an admonition from Kron.) The world transforms from
a flat land into a sphere, as the Darts claimed it should have always been.
The world is healed. Nameless declares that the world is now free of the gods,
starting anew. He likes it.