The Churchyard, Village, and Merlin's Cave
The graphics are pretty (well…), but the map is more useful: press F2 to bring up the automap. (You can switch back to the picture if you want by pressing F1.) Pick up the torque that Merlin left behind, and wear it. Hide behind the gravestone. Wait while the soldiers to arrive, search the church, and leave. Say yes each time you are asked if you want to continue waiting. Oh my! Lot has stolen the stone with the sword! Eventually morning will come, and Lot will announce that he is to be crowned three days hence. (Guess what it's the point of this game to prevent from happening?)
Get out from behind the gravestone. Go east into the church and pray. Leave the church and go south twice to the tavern. Listen to the farmers. In a couple turns you will overhear them talk about how Lot picks the password into the castle - when the bells toll at the start of each canonical hour, he picks a line from his favourite poem. (Since hearing this scores no points, it's not strictly necessary and you can skip doing it if you like, but it's included here for completeness.) This poem is printed in the front of the Book of Hours that came with the game. He always chooses a line from the last verse, which is No king so fair / by maid begot /was ever there / than good King Lot. When the farmers are finished, go south into the kitchen. When the cook leaves the room, take the cheese and eat it.
Return north to the town square, west twice to Outside Town Gate, then southwest. Don't worry about the ghost that steals your stuff. He doesn't steal items you're wearing (such as the torque), and the only thing you were carrying was a piece of red glass; you can get it back later if you want to. Go northwest twice to Merlin's cave. Remember the word of transformation (cyr) - you'll be using it a lot in this game. Type cyr [animal] to transform yourself. Go southeast, southeast, northeast, east, east, south, and south to the kitchen. Wait for the cook to leave again, then cyr owl and listen to the bird in the cage. Cyr human and open the cage. Get the key, unlock the cupboard, and open it. Get the bottle.
Under the Castle
Go north twice, then east, then south. Cyr badger and go down into the hole. Move the loose stone. Cyr human and get the stone. Hide behind the door (thus pressing yourself against the wall) and call the guard. When he appears, bean him over the head with the stone. Take the key and helmet. Free the prisoner and give him the guard's helmet. Go north, then east to the end of the hallway. Move the tapestry and go east into the secret passage. At the north end of this passageway is a secret chamber behind Lot's throne. Go there and wait for the hour to change and for Lot to announce the new password. Then go south four times. Here is a room with fire for one wall - you're on the back side of a fireplace! Cyr salamander and proceed west through the flames. Cyr human. Push over the barrel to spill the water inside it and put out the fire. Take the pumice stone, then open the door and go northwest, then south into the armoury. Wear the armour, take the shield, and polish the shield with the pumice stone. Drop the stone. Go north, then leave the castle to the west, giving the guard the password by typing say "[line from poem]".
The Joust and Leprechaun
Go south to the smithy and pick up the bottle you dropped when you became a badger, then north and west twice to the green. Cyr badger again and dig. Cyr human again and get everything, including your new sword. Go west, north, northwest, and north. Knock on the door of the pavilion. Get on the horse, and choose whichever lance you like. For the first turn of the joust it doesn't matter what you shield or where you aim, but on the second turn, shield your body and aim for his body. The ivory key he gives you opens a tower door we'll be coming to in a little while. Go north, northwest, northwest. Try to go north and the trees will begin pelting you with conkers. Cyr turtle, pull in your head and legs, and wait it out. Go north into the glade. Drop the bottle of spice, then hide behind the rock. Listen to the murmuring, and wait. Catch the leprechaun, and you will get a bottle of whiskey for your troubles. (Mmm mmm good.)
The Ivory Tower and Invisible Knight
Go south, southeast twice, then north twice. Unlock the door and go down, drop everything, then go down again into the darkness. In the dark, cyr owl and read the writing on the wall. Cyr human, go up, get all your belongings, then continue up the tower to the top. Cyr salamander and crawl through the crack - here's more writing. Return to the landing and to human form, and get your stuff. Open the door. Say Thomas the Rhymer to the man, and wear the ring he gives you. Leave the tower and go south four times, then southeast, south, and southwest. Rub the ring, and go east into the revealed pavilion. Answer yes when asked about the brass egg. The answer to the riddle is TH - the letter pairs are the last two letters of the words "first", "second", "third", and "fourth". Get your belongings from him as well.
The Peat Bog and Raven
Go west, northwest twice, and north into Merlin's cave. Get the bag and open it. Put the egg in the bag. Leave the cave, then go southeast twice, northeast, north, northeast. Get the slean and go northeast. Cut some peat and drop the broken slean. Return southwest, get the crutch, and open the cottage door. Put the peat on the fire and give the man his crutch. Ask him about the peat bog, and he will give you directions to cross it safely. Thank him and leave. Go southwest, then northwest, north twice, then northeast twice. Cyr owl and fly upwards. Wow, nice raven's egg! Fly back down and land in the grove. Take the egg out of the bag and leave it in the grove. Cyr owl and fly up again. Wait until you see the raven swoop down into the grove. Land in the nest. Quickly cyr human and push the egg out of the nest, then cyr owl and skedaddle. Land in the grove, cyr human again, get the items, and put the egg in the bag.
The Badger Maze and Lake
Go southwest twice, then south twice, southeast, south, east to the castle gate, and south to the smithy. Cyr badger, then go down into the hole. This time, go south and you'll enter the badger den proper. Go up, down, then up again. Get the sprig, then go down, north, north, and up. Cyr human and get everything on the ground. Go north, west past the green, southwest, and southeast to the Field of Honour. Drop your belongings here, except for the sword, and continue south into the shallows. Cyr eel. Swim south, then southwest. Look at the boat. Zap the kraken (bet you didn't know you were an electric eel!) and immediately escape northeast, then north. Cyr human, get the sword, and cut the kraken's tentacle with it. Cyr turtle, then swim south. Swim through the bracelet, return north, and pull in your head to drop the bracelet. Then cyr human once more, and get the bracelet and sword. Wear the bracelet.
The Boar
Go north and cyr owl. Fly upwards and fly around to all the sky locations, saving the extreme east (east of Above the Ford) for last. When you return to your human shape, get the apple from the tree and go west across the ford into the peat bog. Follow the peasant's directions through the bog (the map draws it out for you) and continue southwest to the fork in the road. Go south, southwest, and southeast and collect your belongings. Then go northwest, northeast, north, northwest, north, north, northwest, and north. Throw the apple across the chasm, then throw the sword across. Cyr owl, fly north, and back into human form. Get the sword and cut off the tusk. Throw everything back over the chasm and fly back over, cyr human and get everything.
The Black Knight and Nudd's Realm
Go south, southeast, south twice, southeast, and then northeast into the peat bog and through it. Attack the black knight. When you disarm him, cut off his medallion, then proceed east across the ford. Pick up all your stuff again. The magic that makes the bag hold infinite amounts no longer works on this side of the ford, so you will need to shuffle items about to carry everything. Put as much as you can back in the bag; you can leave behind things like the red glass or ivory or wooden keys, if you are carrying them, but keep a hold of the silver key.
Go northeast twice. Try to wake up the dragon, then give him the whiskey. Wait for him to pass out, then cut the hair with your sword. Proceed north. Ignore the apparitions; they are illusory. Go northwest into the basilisk's lair. Show your shield (a "mirror" polish, remember?) to the basilisk, and it will turn itself into stone. Go northeast. All you have to do is say "Nudd", huh? Try it. Oh, too parched to speak? Go southwest, southeast, and northeast. Say "Nudd" in here. Get the block of ice. Retrace your steps to the gate, and the block of ice with the trapped word will melt just in time. In the hall, attempt to kill the girl - she's an illusion put up by the demon Nudd. Accept his offer to unlock his manacles. Take the fleece and the golden key from his neck. Unlock one of his manacles (specify with "right" or "left"), then lock it again. Then unlock the other one, and after a bit of a show you will find yourself outside again.
The Red Knight and Defeating Lot
Go southwest twice, west across the ford, and through the peat bog, and continue southwest to the Fork in the Road. Go south, southwest, southeast, and east. Give the Red Knight the items he requests - you have them all now. Continue south onto the causeway and then to the island. Unlock the door with the silver key and go down to have a look at Nimue. However, we can't break the enchantment until Christmas, and it's still St John's (the 23rd), so just wait for Christmas. Go down into Nimue's bier. Get the hawthorn sprig from the bag if it's in there. When it blossoms, touch her with it. Take the gauntlet that she leaves behind. Take a quick side trip to eat something if you want an extra point. You can eat the weeds at Road (northwest of Fork in the Road) as a turtle, the minnows in the southernmost River location as an eel, the dead mouse the idiot has as an owl (you'll need to trade him something for it), and the midges on the Path near Merlin's cave as a salamander. Go to the smithy, cyr badger, and go down and into the secret passageway. Wait for the change of the hours, get the new password line, and then return to the smithy and to human form. Get all your belongings, then enter the castle and go east into the throne room. Hit Lot with the gauntlet. You will be taken to the Field of Honour for the challenge fight. Show Lot your bracelet, and while he is distracted, attack him. When you have your sword at his throat, free Lot. Then do as the Lady instructed: call Nimue. Proceed south, and pull the sword from the stone. Congratulations, Once and Future King!
For Your Amusement:
Ask the idiot about Lot, Merlin, Arthur, idiot, Black Knight, Red Knight, Blue Knight, Invisible Knight, Thomas, Nimue, Nudd, cook, peasant, dragon, basilisk, leprechaun, raven, boar, kraken, bird, bog, lake, castle, tower, password, any of the animals you can transform into (they all yield the same response), any of the items you can eat as food while an animal (ditto), ball, sword or other weapon/armour, apple.