Introduction

You are Robert Ripley, cartoonist and adventurer, and have spent your life seeking out the weird and wonderful. It's 1936; world tensions are mounting, and mysterious men are after you. They're looking to find the Emperor's Emerald Seal. It's a powerful talisman hidden in the tomb of China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang Di. With your life in peril, you must seek out the answers to the secrets that the well-traveled sage working for the emperor left behind during his search for the secret of immortality. You must unravel the Riddle of Master Lu.

This is a forgotten little history-based point-and-click adventure game, released 15 years ago, on September 30th, 1995. It's Monkey Island meets Myst meets Tomb Raider meets Carmen Sandiego. It doesn't appear to be commonly and legally available anymore, even with easy game downloads and the revival of PC adventure gaming. It was a favorite of mine back in the day, so I wanted to share this with anyone who may have missed their chance to join in this adventure.

This will be a subtitled LP, because it is filled with lots of voice acting. This could described as a Audiobook LP, as there won't be much action on the screen at times. I'll try and keep the commentary away from the speech whenever possible, and filling the gaps with information about the game, historical context, or attempts at humor.

Warning: My historical data comes from my memory, Wikipedia and Google. Don't complain to me if you use this info and you flunk HIS251.

I will be showing off all of the locations and as much of the dialog as possible. We will also showcase every way that Ripley can die, and collecting every oddity. Oddities are secret mostly-useless items that you can send home to your museum in New York.

To those that have played this game before, please try and limit the amount of spoiler talk you do, and tag your spoilers if you must talk about them. This game isn't exactly high art, but plot is most of what this game has going for it, and I want everyone to be able to enjoy the narrative. I'll be doing the missions the order that best minimizes back-tracking and maximizes interesting dialog.

Characters

Robert Ripley

Entrepreneur. Cartoonist. Amateur Anthropologist. And now as a player character in an adventure game, Kleptomanic. You're trying to save the world by finding what they want first.

Mei Chen

Ripley's companion and friend. She's tough, smart, and brave. Her personal familiarity with China comes in handy; she handles the translation and bureaucracy.

Feng Li

Ripley's friend and business partner. He runs the Odditorium while Ripley is away.

Twelvetrees

An archeologist and expert on the Imperial Period in China. Ripley sought him out in Thebes at the Baron's behest, but failed to make contact. Turns out she's a woman!

Albert, 7th Baron von Seltsam

Otto's son. A playboy with interests in sports and racing cars. Classy, refined, but lacking his father's peculiar academic interests.

Wolf

The Baron's gardener. This is his scheming face.

Two Bad Chinese Men

These guys are pursuing Ripley to get what information he has on the tomb of the First Emperor. It is unknown who they work for.

Otto, 6th Baron von Seltsam
A European Baron with an interest in Master Lu and his journey. His letter is what set Ripley on his quest. He has passed away in February.

Videos

Video 1: Introduction and Odditorium - 24:49	Dailymotion
Video 2: Peiping Streets - 19:34	Dailymotion
Video 3: The Hall of Classics - 19:15	Dailymotion
Video 4: Danzig - 35:50	Dailymotion
Video 5: The Secret Laboratory - 30:12	Dailymotion
Video 6: Peru & Easter Island (Part 1) - 34:32	Dailymotion
Video 7: Easter Island (Part 2) - 27:56	Dailymotion
Video 8: Mocha Moche - 34:41	Dailymotion
Video 9: Temple of the Hidden Way - 32:04	Dailymotion
Video 10: Maze of the Hidden Way - 11:43	Dailymotion
Video 11: Finding The Key - 34:45	Dailymotion
Video 12: Decoding The Riddle - 21:34	Dailymotion
Video 13: The Tomb Of The First Emperor - 22:48	Dailymotion
Video 14: Mausoleum and Epilogue - 14:28	Dailymotion
Bonus 1: Stuff I Missed	Dailymotion
Bonus 2: The Toy	Dailymotion
Bonus 3: What Happens When Ripley Gets The Emerald	Dailymotion