Bard's Tale III: The Thief of Fate

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The third and final Bard's Tale game, The Bard's Tale III: The Thief of Fate was released by Interplay Productions in 1988.
Unlike the first two games, Thief of Fate was not written by Michael Cranford. Thief of Fate was available for the Commodore Amiga, Apple II, Commodore 64, and MS-DOS.
The Mad God, Tarjan, has unleased destruction on the city of Skara Brae and the surrounding lands. Your party must travel through seven dimensions to find the source of the destruction. You must then destroy Tarjan himself.

Come hear the tale of Skara Brae
A god returned to have his way.
Creatures of darkness, spawn of night,
The Mad One's kin destroyed the site.
Defenders fell, their bane come true,
Garth, Roscoe, Kylearan, too!
As doom approached, the helpless fled.
It did no good, the streets ran red.
Survivors few, they sit and mope,
with but one final ray of hope:
'Cross time and space, the legends say,
Heroes at last! To steal the day!

As I lay dying...


I pray my body does not fail me before I am able to complete this most important missive. I pray as well that, somehow, the heroes who once before saved Skara Brae will find this accounting and act upon it. I leave this record so those who come after will know what horrors that the Mad God Tarjan has perpetrated, and so that they will not be lulled into believing that Skara Brae was his sole target.
How can I describe that day. Nay, it did not begin like all others, for on that day we celebrated the victory over Mangar that had so recently liberated our city. Bards from the world over arrived in Skara Brae to play and herald the brave deeds of those heroes who saved us. The townspeople danced in the streets with happiness, and the great festival filled all with an overwhelming joy of life and renewed hope for the future.
Then Mangar's Master, The Mad God Tarjan, arrived to reduce our day of celebration into a day of mourning. His shadow sank the city into pitiless black oblivion. Foul creatures that had festered in his flesh like maggots burst forth to assault fair Skara Brae. People ran, but could not run swiftly enough to escape. Tarjan's minions left none untouched.
Forgive the shakiness of my script, for life ebbs painfully from my body as I write. Tarjan, mocking my death curse, told me Skara Brae was merely one in a series of conquests he had long contemplated to complete his revenge. He laughed when I said heroes would come to destroy his mad plan, yet I sensed fear in his voice when I promised that the legendary Hawkslayer, and those who defeated Mangar, would return again to triumph. As payment for my threat, he gave a swift twist of his jewelled sword into my belly.
Tarjan must be stopped. Whosoever reads this, you must get word to the heroes. This will be their greatest challenge, for upon their efforts rests the fate of more than Skara Brae, more than the Six Cities of the plains. Their failure will mean the extinction of all life - save for the wretched Tarjan and his servile parasites. Pray for success... and life renewed.
Src: Thief of Fate Manual

Full Game Plot Summary

(as written by jrodman)


There seems to be writing here, but it's very hard to make out, as if some magical force is holding back its secrets. You hear a faint whisper, and strain your ears until you barely make out the words: ...spoiler alert...

Do you cast SOSI and reveal everything? YES
How did it come to this? We thought Tarjan had been vanquished, but we only made him angry. Angry and mad makes a bad combination.

Garth, Roscoe, Kylearan.. Indeed the entire city of Skara Brae is destroyed, having bathed in fire. We find ourselves in a refugee camp outside the ruins. Even we who have faced so much, what can we do? Attempting to drink away our woes at the Scrapwood Tavern, the Bartender chides us. "Go to the old review board. See the old man. He's expecting you."

We wander into Skara Brae, dazed by the destruction, and wander across the Grand Plaz. The Temple of the Mad God stands, untouched, unlike the destruction around it. Skirting past, we visit The Old Man. He tells us that the world is on course of destruction, and we must follow his instructions to avoid the worst.

We're sent into the Temple once again, this time to destroy its high priest, Brilhasti Ap Tarj, who thwarts the Old Man's plans. This we do. Having defeated two great evils already has prepared us for this sort of thing.

The Old Man teaches one of our Mages the rites to renounce