Thy ears hear the Final Confrontation of Martian Dreams.

 

Beginning the Mission

Getting Equipped

Initially, you are at the 1895 landing site, with Spektor and Nellie Bly in your party. Talk to all the people for advice before doing anything else. In particular, get the Prybar from Garrett. After talking to everyone, go to the hold, and equip the party from the cases. The following tools are essential, but there is much else of use.

The lamps

The tools in the carpet bag

The gear in the backpack

Next go to the door, and use the prybar on it. You will be asked a question by Tesla, that must be correctly answered before you may leave.

The first place to visit is the 1893 landing site, to the east. Go there and collect the weapons, ammo, weed sprayer, and weed spray. Ask Dibbs to join, as he knows many useful facts.

Dibbs' advice is to go to the trading post at Arsia Mons to equip for survival. This advice is good, and talking to the people there will send you on an important quest. This is the first part of the mission.

Rescue Cooter McGee

The quest is to find Cooter McGee, who is missing. Go to his place in Noctis Labyrinthus at 12S, 81W and find his note. Search through Coprates Chasma until you find an old mine. Cooter is trapped in the main shaft behind a barrier keeping off hostile worms. Accept his reward, and get the map. It shows the location of the Power Generators, which must be repaired.

Acceptance at Olympus

The citizens of the city of Olympus have become cautious to the point of paranoia in their dealings with the other inhabitants of Mars. In order to be given entrance to the city, a chit supplied by the gate guard must be signed by three people who the Olympians trust as being sane. The only three people outside the city are the three Explorers, Yellin, Sherman, and Duprey, last thought to be at Syrtis Major. Before making the journey, be certain that the party inventory includes a Wrench.

Two of the Explorers have been trapped in a mine just to the north of the canal spur leading to Syrtis Major. While a power drill is available to dig them out, the free member of the team, Yellin, does not have a wrench to assemble the device, whose parts are in the building to the west of the tracks.

To assemble the drill, move the drill from the box onto the base, and use the wrench. The drill can then be pushed along into the mine. When in the mine push the drill west at the turntable, and then north at the next junction. When the drill is against the cave in, use it to bore through the debris. When through, ask all the Explorers for their signatures. Sherman will join the party in gratitude.

Repair the Power Systems

Reactivation of the Power Plant

Initially, no electricity or electrically powered device on Mars will operate. This is because the main generator has broken down, beyond the mechanical maintenance crew's capacity for repair. This is the first important task required in order to complete the mission.

The generator station is marked on the map, to the north of Argyre. Inside talk to the mechanical men, and get the broken belt. Take the belt to Trippet in Olympus. Trippet will fix the belt, so you can take it back to the power plant, and put it back onto the rollers. Next use a spade to move a pile of coal into the furnaces. If a huge lump of coal does not reach the end of the belt, move another pile of coal into a furnace. When a lump does reach the end, Stoker will place it into the furnace, and operation of the power plant will become self sustaining. In an eastern chamber there is a room full of oxium, so a reliable source of oxygen has been found. Unfortunately, there are steam jets from broken pipes that block the passageway out, so the exit must be reached through the coal mine.

Playing Electrician

Despite getting the generators working, no power is being broadcast by the towers. This is due to damage caused to the old cable of the main transmitting tower by the power surge as the generators became operational. To repair the tower, you need the cable from the crate in the antechamber to the oxium store room, and a pair of pliers. Go to the tower to the west of the power plant, and, while wearing rubber gloves, us the pliers on the cable to the tower top. This will allow the broadcast of power to all the Martian machinery.

The Dream Machine of Hellas

A trip to Elysium will give the impression that the inhabitants are seriously insane, as they all claim to be Martians. However the sole inhabitant of Hellas, Marcus, tells a different story, warning that the other members of Lowell's expedition have been trapped in the Dream Realm by Martians who have possessed their bodies. In order to investigate the situation and rescue them, the Dream Machine in Hellas must be repaired. Using a green berry and talking to the machine indicates what is required.

The Power and the Head Gear

The only available set of head gear is in the Dream Machine chamber in Olympus. The chamber is guarded by Lagrande, a Mason who seeks word of his brother Jean, lost in the mines under Olympus Mons. If Jean's Masonic symbol is returned to him he will allow access to the chamber. Before leaving Olympus, go to Mme. Curie's lab and borrow the lead box and a pair of tongs.

Journey into the Olympus Mons mines, north at the first intersection, then west and south. Eventually you will find the rockworm lair, where Jean is dying. Kill the rockworms, and take the Masonic Symbol and all the Radium, using the tongs and placing it in the lead box. At least one large Chunk of Radium is required to power the Dream Machine, while the small chips can be used for raygun power. There is a raygun down a side passage.

Returning the symbol to Lagrande allows access to the dream machine chamber where the head gear lies on the floor.

The Panel and the Repairing

In order to get a control panel for the Dream Machine, a trip into the tunnels under the Olympus canal is required. A panel can be detached from the useless systems under the canal, and taken to Edison, who will modify it to operate a Dream Machine.

Once the three required components are collected, go to Hellas and cross the canal to the Dream Machine. The panel should be used on the console table, and the wrench used to fasten it in place. With tongs equipped, the chunk of radium should be used on the machine, then the head gear used. Green berries will now indicate that the machine only needs a dreamer to operate.

In the Hall of Dreams

When you use the Dream Machine, you will appear in a Hall, with five monoliths. Remember that in the Dream Realm, escape is possible by simply talking to yourself, and death only awakens the dreamer. The first four monoliths are the prisons of several members of Lowell's expedition, while the last is the refuge of a city of Martians. Go to the Bottom Right monolith and use it to visit the Martians of Hellas Grove, who can give much useful advice and information. Pay particular attention to the history.

The Growth and Birth of a Martian

The top left monolith is the prison of George Washington Carver. He is trapped unless he undergoes the life cycle of a Martian, but has been unable to do so because of hostile worms. Follow his instructions, and protect the plant from all harm until the pod is ripe, and then cut it open to free Carver.

The War of the Wells

The top right monolith contains the nightmare prison of Herbert George Wells. Collect the green paint, and wander the maze, using dream material until you have collected the weed sprayer, the pistol ammunition, and the revolver. Put the green paint in the weed sprayer, and follow the path to the vertical wall, and go up it exactly between the flags.

At the top, talk to Wells, then use the weed sprayer on the footprints to reveal the protomartians. Kill them with the revolver.

Power to the People

The bottom left monolith houses the prison of Nikolai Lenin. To free him, solve his accounting problem by dividing the money into 25 piles of ten roubles each. Give the excess funds and the gem to Lenin for the state to use for the benefit of the people.

Bull in a China Shop

After entering the prison of Louis Comfort Tiffany, run off the edge of the cliff and fall downwards until hitting the spikes. Once recovered, get the red rug and ready it as a weapon. Go to the china shop and use the rug to lure the minotaur out the northern exit, and close it. Do not drop the rug off the edge of the landscape as the minotaur stops chasing it and goes back into the shop.

The Growth of a Martian

As the reader should have realized, the Martians of Elysium have possessed the bodies of humans in order to grow Martian bodies for themselves to use. Unfortunately, they do not have access to viable seeds, as the plague destroyed them before they could be placed into save storage.

Requirements for Growing a Martian

In order to grow a Martian body, the following items are required.

 

A bucket		A spade
A machete		A live Martian seed
Nitrogen		Phosphorus
Potash		A chunk of ice

Initiating the Growth Process

Before any agriculture is possible, a trip to a polar icecap with the bucket and spade is required. Dig a chunk of ice from the icecap and put it in the bucket to melt into water. In order to obtain the viable seed, a container of oil is required to remove the rust from the automatic door of the storage unit in Hellas. The oil can be found in many of the old Martian complexes, such as the Syrtis Major mines or the Power Station.

The Chemicals can be found in the lab in Hellas.

To grow the seed, dig a hole in any dirt with the spade. Drop the seed into the hole and use the spade to put the dirt back over the seed. Pour the bucket of water over the seed, and then use the chemicals as fertilizers: Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potash. This initiates the growing process of the pod plant from the seed.

Plans are Bearing Fruit

The seed will take about nine days to grow, and while constant attendance is not required, at least three visits to the site are required for the growth to continue. Once there is a ripe pod on the plant, use the machete to cut it open, and move the Martian body into the Dream Machine chamber.

Use the Dream Machine personally, and visit the Hellas leader Prektesh, who will insist on entering the new body. Leave the Dream World and place the Martian Body in the Dream Machine. Use it to transfer the mind of Prektesh into the body.

The Ancient Evil Remains

While the ancient airborne plague has apparently subsided, like many Earth diseases, it has merely settled into a dormant phase until it can enter a new host. Unfortunately for Prektesh, the plague is now in the soil, and thus in his new body. It also retains its original deadly character. When Prektesh dies, take his body to the Martian leader of Elysium, Tekapesh, who can be convinced to allow access to the Elysium Dream Machine and thus to leave the bodies of the trapped humans.

The Dream Machine of Elysium

Auction at the O.K. Corral

The prison of Wyatt Earp is the north-west obelisk. Within the dream, fight the protomartians and then recover the money from the bodies of your companions. Leave the chamber and follow the path to the auction. Bid on the grey horse, and free him from his nightmare.

Another occupant of this dream is an old friend named Smith, with his usual out-of-date clues.

The River of Time

Samuel Clemens is trapped in the north-east obelisk. By guiding the barge to the dream stuff and using it, brown berries can be obtained, which reveal the hidden reefs. Maneuver the barge down the river and collect 25 pages, which should be given to Clemens. Continue to the end of the river and post his manuscript.

Crunch - The Movie

Georges Melies, actor and producer, is in the smallest set in history, with the only exit rusted shut. Each step on a pale square causes the walls to contract. To open the door, go to the far side of the set, get the dream stuff, and use it to create some oil. Take the oil back across the set and use it on the door.

Across the Sea of Stars

The final obelisk is the prison of Percival Lowell. Use telekinesis to get the winged sandals, and use them to fly to out through the Solar System to Uranus. En route, collect the Bow and Arrow and the Mirror. Speak to Lowell, and then attack the monster with the bow and arrow. Move past the charmed monster and fly Southwest to Pluto. Use the mirror to signal Lowell.

Freedom From the Nightmare

Once all of Lowell's expedition members are free from their nightmares, return to Tekapesh, and convince him that you will search for a better alternative to the plantal bodies for the trapped Martians. He will release the humans, who can now assist in completing the mission.

Breaking the Ice

In order to fill the canals of Mars, water must be available. Unfortunately the polar towers designed to melt the ice have failed over the centuries, and must be repaired.

Items Required for Tower Repair

In order to begin the process of repairing the towers, a journey to the towers in order to retrieve the damaged components is required. The party should already have collected the weed sprayer. The items required are:

The broken guidance motor, from the tower at 55N, 100E, to the north of Elysium.

The broken lens, from the tower at 55N, 125W, to the north of Olympus.

The weed sprayer, from the 1893 landing site. It must be loaded with weedkiller.

A pocket watch.

Finding the Fix-it Men

While the party has a variety of skills and equipment, it does not possess the knowledge or tools required to repair either the motor or the lens. The motor, a DC design, can be best repaired by Edison, who lives in Olympus. The only man on Mars with the glassworking skills to repair the lens is Tiffany, who inhabits the city of Elysium.

Repairs and Consequences

Once all the items required have been obtained and repaired, a visit to each of the towers is necessary. Use the repaired lens and motor on the towers they came from, then travel to the last tower. Use the weed sprayer to kill the vines choking the tower, then enter the control room. Use the pocket watch to find the exact time, and use the panel to enter the time in 24 hour standard as a four digit figure.

While the towers are now melting the ice, the canals will not fill until the connection between the water reservoirs and the canals is opened in the pump station.

The operation of the towers does melt enough ice to allow access to the secret lab.

Building Better Bodies the Martian Way

The Mad Scientist

During the great plague that exterminated most life on Mars, there was an eccentric scientist named Kaxishek. Infected with the plague, he reasoned that its progress would be slowed by cold, so constructed a laboratory under the northern icecap. There he constructed an artificial metal body, immune to the plague. However he lacked one raw material required to complete the body, and so failed to save his race.

The Secret Laboratory

Under the ice north of Elysium, this lab contains both the incomplete prototype of an indestructible metal body for the Martians and the robot that is designed to prepare the final component.

The robot, Cutter, is inactive due to lack of power, but using a radium chip to reactivate it is simple. Cutter states the need for a gem of Azurite, which it can cut into a Heartstone, the last component required for the prototype body to be useable.

For Want of a Gem...

There is only one man on Mars who is concerned enough with money to collect items of no survival value. Randolph Hearst has the azurite gem required for the prototype, but demands a pointless task before relinquishing it.

In order to earn the gem, a camera must be retrieved from the peak of Olympus Mons. One of the slopes that can be climbed up is behind Hearst's shop, the other is on the other side of the mountain. Large quantities of ammunition for rifles and elephant guns is required, as there is a large tribe of protomartians on the top of the mountain, who will defend their territory with insane violence. After dealing with them, the camera must be returned to Hearst. Despite the apparent terms of the bargain, he will provide a photographic plate from the camera. The plate must be taken to Melies in Elysium, who is the only person with the expertise to develop it. The developed photo can be returned to Hearst and exchanged for the azurite.

Success ... or Not ?

When the Azurite gem is returned to Cutter, it can cut it into a Heartstone, which is simple to install in the prototype. The heavy device can then be taken to Hellas, where a trip into the dream machine is required to convince Ambassador Chsheket that the new body is indestructible. Putting the body in the dream machine and using it transfers Chsheket back onto the real Mars, where she joins the party.

It is all very well for the Martians to have artificial, robotic bodies. However the devastation of Mars means that their best option is to return to Earth with the expeditions, and very few humans will accept something as different as the new bodies.

Sarah Bernhardt in Olympus could make a dye to mimic the colour of human flesh, but the only berries suitable for the purpose are found in Argyre, which has been sealed off by Raxachk

Canals and Iron - The Space Cannon

The Filling of the Canals

The ice is melted, but the canals are empty. A trip to the Pumping Station is in order. There is only one small problem - the valve is closed.

The wheel that controls the valves must be turned in order to fill the canals. However the ancient pipes are cracked and leaking, spraying superheated steam across the only route to the wheel. No human could possible survive to reach the wheel, much less turn it to refill the canals.

Fortunately, the party now has a member capable of surviving such adverse and hostile conditions. Chsheket can walk through the steam in order to turn the wheel, as her joints are sealed against intrusion.

There is also a sealant device in the complex, which creates a coating that mimics the texture of human flesh. If coloring was available, it could be used to simulate the appearance of human flesh for the metal Martian bodies.

Iron and Water Go Together

The playing out of the iron ore vein in the Olympus Mons mines has halted the construction of the Space Cannon being built there. There is iron ore in the mines at Syrtis Major, which must be extracted and transported on the cargo barge back to the Space Cannon project in the Olympus Mons mines. You must find the vein of Iron Ore in the east branch of the Syrtis Major mines, and use the drilling machine to dig it out. The ore should be put into a mine car with a spade, until the car is full. Note that maneuvering the car on the rails required the turntables in both mines to be repaired using the wrench. When the car is filled, it should be taken down the rail to the canal, and taken by cargo barge to Carnegie in the Olympus Mines. The trip is somewhat hazardous, as the barges are vulnerable to attack by canal worms and any passing animal or plant on the shore.

Finding the Fire

Once the iron ore is delivered to Carnegie, he requires the retrieval of the Plogistonite propellant from the 1893 landing site. Once the site is reached, it becomes apparent that the phlogistonite has been stolen, leaving only a metal band as a clue. Taking the band and reporting this to Carnegie gains the suggestion that the band be taken to Theodore Roosevelt, the informal policeman of the Olympus settlement. If a microscope is retrieved for him from the laboratory at Hellas he can identify the fingerprints on the band as belonging to Rasputin, the leader of Argyre.

Robert E. Peary, Roosevelt's roommate can assist by suggesting the use of steel cannonballs to destroy the gates of Argyre so that the phlogistonite can be retrieved. Carnegie can manufacture the steel cannonballs, which can be used in the cannon of the small gun barge to blast down the gates of Argyre.

City of the Insane

Inside Argyre, it becomes apparent that, like the inhabitants of Elysium, Martians have possessed the people. Rasputin himself is the victim of the ancient maniac Raxachk.

Raxachk reveals that the phlogistonite has been hidden in the Dream World, and returning it will create a cataclysm capable of destroying both the Dream World and the surface of Mars. With the phlogistonite beyond reach unless the Martians can be freed from their ancient prison, the only items that can be retrieved are the rouge berries for making dye.

The Body of Success

Given the rouge berries retrieved from Argyre, Bernhardt can make a dye to colour the rubber sealant used in the pumping station. As demonstrated by testing the coating on Chsheket, the problem of camouflaging the Martian's new bodies is solved.

The help of Jack Segal and the people of Olympus is enlisted to free the other Martians from the Dream World. Without the Martians being unwitting hostages to protect Raxachk's control of the plogistonite, an attempt at retrieval is now feasible.

Defeating the Plans of Insanity Incarnate

Upon the return to Argyre, it is clear that Raxachk is gone, freeing Rasputin. He has set his plans for the conquest of Earth into motion. The only way to stop him is to pursue him back into the Dream World, and defeat him there.

The Nightmare of the Avatar - Falsehood

In the Dream World, an old enemy is waiting. Faulinei, Shadowlord of Falsehood, has returned for a rematch with the foe that defeated him at the Lycaeum in Britannia.

The Shadowlord proposes a simple test, with failure entailing service to him, and victory allowing passage onwards. All that must be done is the successful telling of the identity of a false Dr Spektor, and the real Dr Spektor.

While no clues are given in conversation, the false Dr Spektor casts a Martian reflection in a mirror, while the true Spektor has a human reflection. Simply tell the false Spektor he is a liar in order to open the door and pass the challenge.

The Nightmare of the Avatar - Hatred

Past Faulinei waits Astaroth, the Shadowlord of Hatred. Like his brother he offers a challenge: to find an expression of love to defeat the Hatred in the test.

Once in the challenge, use all the dream stuff until the magical healing potion has been created. Find and speak to the Martian, then use the healing potion on him.

The Nightmare of the Avatar - Cowardice

Last and deadliest of the Shadowlords, Nosfentor waits for the Avatar to pass her brothers. Passing her challenge will allow Raxachk to be confronted.

The test severely injures the Avatar, who must endure the pain and run up the gauntlet of traps, and attack the Giant Maw, which is killing the three Explorers.

Dealing with a Maniac

When confronted, Raxachk is willing to release the Plogistonite if three simple challenges are met. Each is a trial by combat, against progressively more dangerous foes. Each arena has quantities of dream stuff, which can be used to create weapons, ammunition and useful items. The berries created in each test are essential.

While there is no easy way of confronting the opponents in the first two combats, which are jumping beans and ammonoids, the purple berries of the second test allow the easy defeat of the Giant Maw that is the third test.

By using the berries, then using telekinesis to shape the other dream stuff in the test, an elephant gun and brown berries can be created and retrieved without triggering an attack. By using the brown berries, the hidden monster can be found and dispatched from a distance, without exposing oneself to attacks by the tentacles.

Once the challenges are defeated, Raxachk reneges on the deal. After all, "I have constructed this citadel to be too strong for any weapon your pitiful race can imagine to penetrate. Even if you had the mental power to gather your own dreamstuff, your race will be unable to imagine a weapon powerful enough to harm me for a hundred years or more." Oops.

Overconfidence Costs

In his arrogance, Raxachk has neglected to determine the origin of the Avatar. Worse, he has underestimated the inventiveness of the human race when it comes to creating new and better weapons.

While the Avatar cannot produce dream stuff from the void, it is possible to access the horde belonging to Raxachk himself. By using a brown berry to see the switch, and a purple berry to use it, it is possible to enter the chamber containing the dream stuff horde. By using all three berry types at once, it is possible to extract a piece of dream stuff from the horde.

Using the dream stuff allows the creation of the M60 Machine Gun. This weapon can slice through the walls of Raxachk's citadel to strike a target inside with chilling ease, and against living flesh there are few weapons to compare with it. Killing Raxachk is the only way to stop him from conquering Earth.

End Run

With the defeat of Raxachk and the retrieval of the phlogistonite from the Dream World, Mars begins to shake with a tremendous series of earthquakes. The phlogistonite must be returned to Carnegie in the Olympus Mons mines.

The rapid transport system will hold together long enough for the trip back to Olympus, and the passage under the canal will not collapse.

Returning the Phlogistonite to Carnegie completes the mission, and allows the return to Earth, along with the disguised Martians.

Alternately...

There are other powers than those possessed by the ancient Martians and Raxachk. The Orb of the Moons uses such a power. The limitless potential of Magic can solve many problems, and when dreams can become reality, who knows what other artifacts may exist, just waiting to be found and used?

The Ruby Slippers of Oz

Near the southern polar icecap, in the geographical location 57S, 49E, there are five stones laid out in a pattern similar to a reversed number 3. Under the center stone, there is a patch of disturbed earth. Digging here will reveal the Ruby Slippers.

There's No Place Like Home...

In order to solve all the problems of Mars in a short interval, use the slippers three times in order to click the heels together. Then simply agree to see the end of the mission. Of course it is far more satisfying to solve one's own problems, without recourse to strange magic, but they ARE useful.

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