History VideoGame / AnvilOfDawn

* DummiedOut: A spell named "Rage of Fallen Heroes" exists in the game files and can be gained by editing a save file, but it seems to be impossible to learn the spell anywhere in the game. There does exist a consumable item which provides the same effect.

* ThatRemindsMeOfASong: The Black Gnarl suddenly starts to sing while crafting the coffer. [[EarWorm It's a catchy one, too]].

* ItMayHelpYouOnYourQuest: around the midway point, a character will offer his help in the form of an item. Said item is the Hallowed Wreath of Elder Leaves, which... transports the wearer's corpse to a safe place upon death. As the player character snarkingly puts it, this is only useful to not give your enemies a head they could put on a pike. Turns out [[spoiler:it's necessary, in conjunction with Soul Link (an auto-revive spell) to achieve the best ending, since the player is required to make a HeroicSacrifice]].
* MiniBoss: The Messengers function as field commanders for the BigBad. You fight about seven throughout the game. There's also a tougher, recolored Wither Priest guarding the key to [[TheDragon the Castellan's]] hall.

* OrcusOnHisThrone: Almost to the degree of [[ExaggeratedTrope exaggeration]]. No matter how long you take adventuring and tearing his entire army asunder, the Warlord doesn't lift a finger. No reinforcements to areas you haven't yet gone to, no personal appearances, nothing. He only appears at the very final area, and even then he won't do more than attempt to convince you with a lame "I'm invincible" spiel[[note]]despite the OneManArmy PlayerCharacter showing the contrary[[/note]], which if you do the obvious and don't give in to, [[TheUnfought he won't even try to fight you]]. We are talking about a warrior that can OneHitKill the player regardless of level or equipment here, as shown if you ''do'' give in to his bullshit.

* TheUnfought: You don't actually get to fight the Warlord in the end. Either you give up the fight and he [[OneHitKill instakills you]], or he doesn't even move to fight you if you stay determined to destroy his source of power, the Dark Slag.

** The Gorge Keep commander got a relatively mild fate of being frozen in a giant cube of ice... awake and fully aware of his condition, mind you. You can free him by thawing the ice.

* BackFromTheBrink: At the start of the game, the forces of good are holed up in the last castle, and it's already under siege[[labelnote:*]]in fact, an early plot point is that you're sent away in a different direction than the other champions to avoid the siege and a meaningless death[[/labelnote]]. By the endgame, the bad guys are completely beaten back and in full retreat.

* FisherKing: According to the intro in the lands conquered by the Warlord:
-->"[...]rivers turn to mud, grass withers, trees bend and the dead rise to fight against us[...]"
** It's explained by his possession of the Dark Slag, an artifact that twists and corrupts everything around it.

** '''"Fail" ending''': [[spoiler:If you just throw the coffer into the Anvil of Dawn, it lands on a rocky ledge, the Warlord teleports it back to his fortress and then kills you on the spot]].
* MultipleHeadCase: Jinks and Bertol, a two-headed and three-legged giant guarding a bridge connecting the reed plains to the rest of Desolation. Jinks is stupid and pleasant while Bertol is smarter and surly. The former ends up knocking the latter unconscious.
* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: Daganoth, one of selectable characters, is a member of the AlwaysChaoticEvil race of mirelurks, and the only one of them who doesn't serve the Warlord.

* OneManArmy: The PlayerCharacter clears out entire sections of the map by him/herself. By the end of the game, you're likely to have annihilated the Warlord's entire occupation force.

* WeCanRuleTogether: At the very end of the game Warlord offers to make you his general if you return the Dark Slag and pledge loyalty to him.

''Anvil of Dawn'' is a WesternRPG for [[IBMPersonalComputer PC]], developed by [=DreamForge=] and published by Creator/NewWorldComputing in 1995.

''Anvil of Dawn'' is a WesternRPG developed by [=DreamForge=] and published by Creator/NewWorldComputing in 1995.

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** The monks of the Temple of the Moon were fused into monsters of Flesh and Void magic. The main body is composed entirely of their faces constantly screaming in anguish. When it attacks, the faces stretc

* StatGrinding: You improve your abilities by using them and casting spells.

** The people from the Underground City angered the Warlord by trying to defend themselves. As a punishment their blood was drained out and turned into non-humanoid blood golems, and the rest of their bodies mutated into pools of body parts crawling along the floor. It's hinted that they're mindless monsters, although it's possible that they went insane from the experience.
** The monks of the Temple of the Moon were fused into monsters composed entirely of their faces constantly screaming in anguish.

** There's also a player-inflicted variant. At one point you must trap one of three ghosts (two good and one evil) in a "ghost house", an item from which a ghost has no means to escape. While trapping one ghost may not fit this trope ([[spoiler:since he's used in making of the magical coffer and destroyed together with the Dark Slag]]), there are three ghost houses in the game, [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential so you can leave the other two trapped forever]]. [[AssholeVictim One of them definitely deserves it, though]].

* CameFromTheSky: That's how the Dark Slag arrived in the Desolation.
* CaveBehindTheFalls: "Waterfall Hidden Cave" -- a very small location halfway through the game, a BreatherLevel. Here you can rest or store items (some locations crash if you carry too many). Also, there's an NPC of minor importance.

* ItMayHelpYouOnYourQuest: around the midway point, a character will offer his help in the form of an item. Said item is the Hallowed Wreath of Elder Leaves, which... transports the wearer's corpse to a safe place upon death. As the player character snarkingly puts it, this is only useful to not give your enemies a head they could put on a pike. Turns out [[spoiler:it's necessary, in conjunction with an auto-revive spell, to achieve the best ending, since the player is required to make a HeroicSacrifice]].

** '''"Sad" ending''': [[spoiler:If you jump into Anvil of Dawn while holding onto the coffer without prior preparation, you die, but the Dark Slag is destroyed, the Warlord is defeated and a monument is erected in memory of all five heroes, as no one knows which of them was you]].
** '''Good ending''': [[spoiler:If you cast Soul Link and equip the Hallowed Wreath of Elder Leaves before jumping, the Dark Slag is still destroyed and the Warlord is defeated, but you survive and are proclaimed the greatest hero in the history of Tempest]].

''Anvil of Dawn'' is a WesternRPG developed by [=DreamForge=] and published by Creator/NewWorldComputing in 1995. The plot is simple: the armies of the evil Warlord have overrun the world of Tempest, and you are being teleported behind the enemy lines from the last besieged castle of good, on a desperate mission to kill the Warlord before it falls.

* OrcusOnHisThrone: Almost to the degree of [[ExaggerateTrope exaggeration]]. No matter how long you take adventuring and tearing his entire army asunder, the Warlord doesn't lift a finger. No reinforcements to areas you haven't yet gone to, no personal appearances, nothing. He only appears at the very final area, and even then he won't do more than attempt to convince you with a lame "I'm invincible" spiel[[note]]despite the OneManArmy PlayerCharacter showing the contrary[[/note]], which if you do the obvious and don't give in to, [[TheUnfought he won't even try to fight you]]. We are talking about a warrior that can OneHitKill the player regardless of level or equipment here, as shown if you ''do'' give in to his bullshit.

** The Gorge Keep commander got a relatively mild fate of being frozen in a giant cube of ice... awake and fully aware of his condition, mind you.

* CaveBehindTheFalls: "Waterfall Hidden Cave" -- a very small location halfway throu the game, a BreatherLevel. Here you can rest or store items (some locations crash if you carry too many). Also, there's an NPC of minor importance.

''Anvil of Dawn'' is a WesternRPG developed by [=DreamForge=] and published by New World Computing in 1995. The plot is simple: the armies of the evil Warlord have overrun the world of Tempest, and you are being teleported behind the enemy lines from the last besieged castle of good, on a desperate mission to kill the Warlord before it falls.

** People from the underground city angered Warlord by trying to defend themselves. As a punishment their blood drained out and turned into non-humanoid blood golems. And rest of their bodies mutated into pools of body parts crawling along the floor. It's hinted that they're mindless monsters although it's possible that they went insane from the experience.

** Then, there's some random Tempest soldier who was brought to Iron Titan and enlarged to giant size inside a tight space to serve as a living door for three stories. Every time Warlord's men wanted do get past, they would temporarily shrink one third of his body, a process that is apparently very painful.
** There's also a player-inflicted variant. At one point you must trap one of three ghosts (two good and one evil) in a "ghost house", an item from which a ghost has no means to escape. While traping one ghost may not fit this trope ([[spoiler:since he's used in making of the magical coffer and destroyed together with the Dark Slag]]), there are three ghost houses in the game, [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential so you can take one ghost and leave the other two trapped forever]].
* BackFromTheBrink: At the start of the game, the forces of good are holed up in the last castle--and it's already under siege.

* EvilOverlord: The Warlord who serves as the BigBad of the game.
* FisherKing: According to the intro in the lands conquered by the Warlord
-->"rivers turn to mud, grass withers, trees bend and the dead rise to fight against us"

** '''Bad ending''': [[spoiler:If you decide to join the Warlord, he kills you on the spot]].
** '''"Sad" ending''': [[spoiler:If you jump into Anvil of Dawn while holding onto the coffer, you die, but the Dark Slag is destroyed, Warlord is defeated and a monument is erected in memory of all five heroes, as no one knows which of them succeeded]].
** '''Good ending''': [[spoiler:If you cast Soul Link and equip Hallowed Wreath of Elder Leaves before jumping, the Dark Slag is still destroyed, but you survive and are proclaimed the greatest hero in the history of Tempest]].
** '''"Fail" ending''': [[spoiler:If you throw the coffer into Anvil of Dawn it lands on a rocky ledge, Warlord teleports it back to his fortress and then kills you]].

* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: Daganoth, one of selectable characters, is a member of the evil race of mirelurks, and only one of them who doesn't serve the Warlord.
* NoOntologicalInertia: Averted. While trying to get past the gargoyle in the basement of the Dark Lantern, you can point out that the mage who summoned him as a guardian is now dead. The gargoyle says he's pleased to hear that, but he's still bound by the summons, which you have to break yourself before you can get past him.
** Played straight in the ending. After the Dark Slag is destroyed damage done by the Warlord is reversed.
* OrcusOnHisThrone: Almost to the degree of exaggeration. No matter how long you take adventuring and tearing his entire army asunder, the Warlord doesn't lift a finger. No reinforcements to areas you haven't yet gone to, no personal appearances, nothing. He only appears at the very final area, and even then he won't do more than attempt to convince you with a lame "I'm invincible" spiel[[note]]despite the OneManArmy PlayerCharacter showing the contrary[[/note]], which if you do the obvious and don't give in to, [[TheUnfought he won't even try to fight you]]. We are talking about a warrior that can OneHitKill the player regardless of level or equipment here, as shown if you ''do'' give in to his bullshit.

* ThatRemindsMeOfASong: Black Gnarl suddenly starts to sing while crafting the coffer.

* WeCanRuleTogether: [[spoiler:At the very end of the game Warlord offers to make you his general if you return the Dark Slag and pledge loyalty to him]].

%%* MultipleEndings: ZeroContextExample needs more detail.

* TheUnfought: You don't actually get to fight the Warlord in the end.

* StaticRoleExchangeableCharacter: "Protagonist". At the start of the game, you pick one of five heroes to control yourself. You meet the other four at various points, struggling to complete the same quest as yourself.

''Anvil of Dawn'' is a WesternRPG developed by [=DreamForge=] and published by New World Computing in 1995. The plot is simple: the armies of an evil Warlord have overrun the world of Tempest, and you are being teleported to behind the enemy lines from the last besieged castle of good on a desperate mission to kill the warlord before it falls.

''Anvil of Dawn'' is a WesternRPG developed by [=DreamForge=] and published by Creator/NewWorldComputing in 1995. The plot is simple: the armies of an evil Warlord have overrun the world of Tempest, and you are being teleported to behind the enemy lines from the last besieged castle of good on a desperate mission to kill the warlord before it falls.

* FromTheBrink: At the start of the game, the forces of good are holed up in the last castle--and it's already under siege.