Well, welcome to the partial solution to Arrow Of Death Part 2. It wasn't the most popular adventure on the BBC/Electron and there aren't a lot of copies of it in existence. Why begin the solution with this news? Well, because despite having a generic solution for it, we cannot get past a certain point in the BBC/Electron version.

Either we're doing something wrong or there is a bug in the BBC/Electron version.

In the meantime, here's the solution that we have so far:

So in the previous arrow of death, you hunted far and wide in search of the component parts of an arrow, and picked up some other useful things along the way. Rather nicely, Adventure International doesn't make you begin by entering a password to get all of these, and simply typing INVENTORY will show you to be carrying (a) an arrowhead, (b) a willow branch, (c) feathers, and (d) a sword. You are told 'there is no joy in reality' when you begin, although I personally find reality a lot more joyful than this adventure.

The instructions inform you that your task is to find and free the Royal Fletcher, who will be able to put (a), (b) and (c) together to make the "Arrow Of Death". So you find yourself 'at the fringe of the Desolation Marsh with no clear idea of what to do next'. This last bit being the understatement of the decade.

You will find that there are a few locations in this adventure that are described in the same manner. Go E to a barren plain, and E again to another different barren plain. Likewise, N now takes you to a gorge, and N again to another gorge. Here you will be able to see 'water across gorge'.

In this location you should DROP ARROWHEAD, DROP BRANCH and DROP FEATHERS. They will be safe here until you come back for them.

Return S and S again and on the barren plain(s), go W and N. You will see a shurb. GET SHRUB. Go S and S again to another barren plain where the only exit is north. When you DIG here you will find a flintstone. GET FLINT as you will need it later to light an oil lamp.

Now go N, W, N and N again to finish standing by a chasm. JUMP off the edge of the chasm and you will land on a ledge beneath it and be able to see a bridge. Type GO BRIDGE and, when you land, a bird will fly overhead dropping a support rope at your feet. Handy that!

Leave the rope for now and go N to another ledge. On this one you will see a weed. GET WEED then return S. Go S again, back to the first ledge and now climb D to another ledge below it, on which stands a helmet. GET HELMET and WEAR HELMET before continuing.

Now GO CREVICE to enter a cave in which there is an oil lamp. GET LAMP. However, you do not need to light it yet. Instead, go N and U back to the ledge you originally jumped down to.

GO back onto the BRIDGE and now HOLD support ROPE. Now, type CUT ROPES to cut the ropes on the bridge. You will land safely (with an enthusiastic cry of 'Wheee!') on a flat Apron [Is it just me who thought this word only meant something you wore while cooking? - Ed]. You will be standing next to an archway with a rope at your feet. GET the ROPE again before going on.

Now LIGHT LAMP before you GO ARCHWAY else you won't be able to see!

Inside the dim cavern, go N to a corridor then N again to a staircase. Climb U the staircase to a windy room where there is a dead body and a huge kite. EXAMINE the dead WARRIOR and you will be told that his skull is broken - but you will also become aware that he is wearing a uniform.

Well, he won't be needing that anymore, will he? GET UNIFORM and WEAR UNIFORM.

Now go D and D again to a Stone Chamber where a guard and a huge wheel are patiently waiting. EAT the WEED you picked up earlier. This will double your strength and allow you to TURN the WHEEL, eliciting a low rumble elsewhere. Exit U and U again to the room with the kite. Now GET KITE and go W to a high perch.

Again, throw caution to the wind and JUMP from here - to land safely by the same chasm as you originally jumped into all those moves ago.

Retrace your early steps: S, S, E, E, N and N back to the gorge where you left your collection of arrow ingredients. REMOVE HELMET and DROP HELMET. REMOVE UNIFORM and DROP UNIFORM. Finally DROP KITE. This frees up your inventory space so you can now GET ARROWHEAD, GET BRANCH and GET FEATHERS again.

Now, slightly unusually, type GO MUD to enter a pool of mud. (Presumably, the rumbling that you heard earlier was the water in the gorge being drained out leaving this pool.) EXAMINE the MUD and you will become aware of a lever. PULL LEVER and an opening will be revealed. GO OPENING.

You will now be in a hallway underneath the earth. Go E into a corridor and N into the Guard Room. There is a 'grotesque animal' in here so try to KILL ANIMAL. You will not succeed but it will drop a key. DROP the SWORD and GET the KEY to continue.

Go S and E into a passage, then S and U to the top of the staircase with a bolted door barring the way. UNBOLT DOOR then GO DOOR.

You will now be in another corridor. Go W back to the wheel room and U, S, S, E and E along a number of corridors to another locked door. UNLOCK DOOR with the key you picked up earlier. GO through the DOOR into a store room and DROP KEY inside here to free up inventory space.

In this room is some bread and cheese. GET BREAD then go N, W and S back to the dim cavern.

Go N and N back to the staircase and D it again to the wheel room. Go back E and GO through the open DOOR. Now go D, N and N to a stable in which there is a 'starving mule'. Use the bread you collected to FEED MULE and it will then be happy and follow you around. Go S, W, W and D whilst it dutifully follows after.

You will now be in a dungeon with a grating in the floor. TIE ROPE and in response to the prompt 'To what?' type TO GRATING. You are now going to use the mule to pull open the grating. Type TIE ROPE again and this time in response to the prompt type TO MULE. Once the rope connects the grating and the mule. Type PULL MULE and this will cause the grating to break open (and the mule to run away).

Now go and get your sword back again from the Guard's Room and return: U, E, N, GET SWORD, S, W, D.

This hole is where your nemesis, Xerdon, was holding Arnid prisoner. GO HOLE and you will discover him, albeit unconscious. Fortunately you still have some of that delicious and strengthening weed left. So GIVE WEED, TO ARNID and he will wake and say 'You saved me - command me!'.

At this point, the command MAKE ARROW is meant to send Arnid into a Tazmanian style cloud as he manufacters the arrow that you need. Ahem, but it doesn't. You are told "There's something missing!" instead. Well, what? You've got the arrowhead, the branch and the feathers... and now you've got the skills of Arnid, as the instructions suggested.

The rest of the solution to the Spectrum version is as follows:

U, U, E, E, S, S, EXAMINE TAPESTRY, PRESS BUTTON, EXAMINE ALTAR, LIGHT CANDLE, PRAY (the flame seems weaker), GO FLAME (you appear at an altar), S, S, E, GO HUT, GET PIPE, GET TOBACCO, FILL PIPE, N, W, S, GO BOAT, GET OARS, ROW BOAT (you're swallowed by a fish), LIGHT PIPE, SMOKE PIPE, SMOKE PIPE (the fish spits you out), S, S, W, GO CAVE, N, EXAMINE CAIRN, GET STONE, RUB STONE (a beggar arrives), GIVE STONE (he gives you a bow), GET BOW, S, DROP OARS, GET SHOVEL, DIG, GET DYNAMITE, E, GET ROCK, E, N, N, SMASH SKELETON, GO TRAIL, DIG, GO HOLE, E (a rock blocks the way), DROP DYNAMITE, LIGHT FUSE, W, WAIT (boom! The rock has gone!), E, GO HOLE, N, U, N, EXAMINE ORGAN, PLAY MUSIC, S (the veil has vanished), GO CORRIDOR, N, N, S, EXAMINE SLITS, SHOOT XERDON (you've won!)