Below the Root

Below the Root is an adventure by Dale Disharoon, Inc., published by Windham Classics for PC in 1984. It takes place in Green-Sky, the world of Zilpha Keatley Snyder's novels. The preserved copy is in English and uses CGA graphics. The browser launches the loader included in the collection archive and lets you start a game with the keyboard.

Green-Sky is a land of enormous trees, elevated dwellings, ladders and walkways. Its inhabitants, Kindar and Erdling, share a history of separation and reunion. Raamo, the boy who helped bring them together, has disappeared. The adventure asks you to continue his work and search for the secret that may save this world.

Choosing who sets out on the quest

The opening menu offers Start Game, Continue, Disk Storage and Sample Quest. Start Game opens character selection. In the tested session the initial choice, Neric, is kept and confirmed with Enter. The game places him directly in his home, furnished with a bed, furniture and an exit.

Five characters are available. Each has his or her own home and different stamina and spirit abilities. The manual presents Neric as a strong young Kindar with moderate spiritual abilities. The other characters let you approach the quest with different starting conditions. The gallery shows Neric's selection and the place where he begins.

Walking and opening the actions

With the keyboard, pressing a side arrow key sets the character in motion. To stop, press the opposite direction. It is best to start inside the dwelling and watch how the character responds. The check of this copy includes Neric moving to the right and opening the action menu.

Enter opens that menu at the bottom of the screen. The arrow keys move the selection and Enter confirms the chosen option. Its labels include Take, Examine, Status, Speak, Inventory and Renew. The scene stays visible above, so you can check the available actions without losing sight of the room.

Examine inspects the place. Take tries to pick up an object. The response depends on your position and on what is nearby. In the initial test, selecting Examine from that part of the dwelling showed that there was nothing of interest there. To pick up an object you must stand on it and use the corresponding action.

Checking Neric's status

Status shows the day, the part of the day, the character's name and his resources. At the tested start, Day 1, Early Morning, Spirit Limit 5 and Stamina 20 appear. On the right, the levels of rest, food and spirit are displayed. The gallery screenshot lets you see this panel as the program presents it.

Exploration draws on these resources. The menu actions let you rest, eat or use spiritual abilities. The manual explains how developing those abilities opens up possibilities during the quest. Keeping an eye on the status helps you decide when to continue the journey and when to attend to the character's needs.

Renew returns the character to his dwelling and makes time pass. In the tested session, a message appeared saying he had been found unconscious, and Neric returned home. It is worth distinguishing this action from Status, which lets you check the situation. The English names of the options are kept in the instructions so you can find them on screen.

The copy that runs here

The archive contains five files, among them loader.com, btroot.exe and the text manual btroot.txt. The README identifies the original PC game and the DOS loader added to this copy in 1998. For that reason the prepared startup uses loader.com, as that document indicates.

The five files of the collection are kept intact. The browser package adds a DOSBox configuration and its own launcher. The first screen asks for K for keyboard or J for joystick. The instructions on this game page are for the keyboard, which is the tested mode for entering the adventure, walking and checking Status.

The background comes from the game's main menu. The gallery keeps the screenshot from the collection and adds images of the title, the character selection, the dwelling and the first controls. The cover art keeps its original design. The text of the program and of the included manual remains in English.