Adventure #13: The Sorcerer of Claymorgue is one of the text adventure games that were originally written by Scott Adams. This particular one came out much later than the previous 12 in the series, not getting released until around August of 1983. Unlike the previous adventures which had their releases spread over at least 4 years depending on the platform, this one was launched simultaneously for the TRS-80 Model 1/3, Coco, Apple 2 and Atari 8 bit machines (the latter 2 were graphical instead of just text), using the same two word VERB NOUN text parser as the original 12. This one was ported to the Coco by June 1983 by The Sorcerer of Claymorgue was rated by the company as an Advanced skill adventure game. One oddity is that the title is not mentioned on the starting screens; it just says "Adventure 13" (the Volume 3 Issue 5 version of the Adventure International catalog shows it as Adventure #13 as well, but it does list the title in small print). The description of the game is a little too complicated for me to paraphrase here, so I will use the literal text from the catalog in which it first appeared:
Long ago, in times passed beyond remembrance, Solon the Master Wizard and wearer of the Secret Cloak lost the 13 Stars of Power. The grasping Vileroth believed the Stars to be the only source of Salon's expert wizardry. But, unbeknownst to Vileroth, it was the Secret Cloak that controlled the Stars and protected the wearer from their awesome power. Unable to master the Stars, Vileroth was undone.
The game also features a dedication at the beginning to both Roe Adams (not a relative) and Richard Adams (Scott's brother and "favorite Beta Tester!")
Title: Adventure #13: The Sorcerer of Claymorgue Author: Scott Adams (original game), Roger Schrag (Coco port) Publisher: Adventure International Released: August 1983 Requires: Color Computer 1,2 or 3, 16K RAM. (Coco 2B (T1 VDG chip) or Coco 3 required for lowercase version)
In his final days, as Vileroth's strength slipped from him, he concealed the 13 Stars of Power within the Castle of Claymorgue, determined that no one save he should possess them. Solon, learning of Vileroth's destruction, dispatched his faithful young apprentice Beanwick to retrieve the Stars.
"Tread carefully, 0 Beanwick! Would that I could assume this quest myself, but alas, I can only send with you these few spells. Claymorgue Castle harbors further spells, but beware - one unskilled in the magical arts cannot predict their outcome."