Additional Tales from Castle Balderstone is a Glulx interactive fiction game written with Inform 7 and is © 2019 by Ryan Veeder. This is the second game in the Castle Balderstone series. It was an entry in Le Grand Guignol, English division of Ectocomp 2019 where it took 3rd place. At the 2019 XYZZY Awards, it was a finalist in the Best Setting category.
Once more, you are Ryan Veeder's invited guest to an evening of spooky storytelling at Castle Balderstone. Victor Atencio, the van Gogh of Gore, presents "Mittens". Johanna C. Quinn narrates a true story with a few details changed. It's set on an asteroid. Eddie Carlyle surprises everyone with a Dia de Muertos theme in his tale. And Allison Chase tells a story she found in a cabinet, but the author's name was her own!
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 1 of the game.
SPOILERS AHEAD. Reading a walkthrough prematurely can sometimes diminish one's enjoyment of an interactive fiction game. Please make an honest effort to play the game before reading this walkthrough.
Ryan Veeder greets you. If you previously started the game and quit before finishing, he calls you a coward. Regardless, he welcomes you to Castle Balderstone's second year of spooky storytelling.
The stories are told in a randomly chosen order.
After the fourth story is finished, the moderator tries to conclude the evening, but Ryan leaps to the dias and tells the audience that you've been scoring the stories and tells them the total of your scores out of 40.
Then the castle is plunged into darkness, and the game closes itself.
Ryan Veeder Presents
Mittens
A story by Victor Atencio, "the van Gogh of Gore"
Nursery
> x me. (You're Rowan's great-grandparent.)
> x concentrator. (It's connected to your nose via a tube.)
> x Rowan. x crib.
After four turns, the cat strolls in.
> x cat. (The cat only loves Yvette.)
> x window. (lovely April day)
> x walls. (a forest scene)
> z.
After eight turns, the cat attacks your calf, then disappears.
> x calf. (You're bleeding. Also, the cat is on Rowan now.)
> take cat. (The cat leaps away. Rowan's fine, but now the tube is disconnected.)
> attach tube to concentrator. (The cat is in the way.)
No matter what you try to do, the cat blocks you. And it's growing!
> hit cat. wake Rowan. open window.
> attach tube to machine.
You die of fright. Your attempted actions are meaningless. You can't do anything but watch as the cat smashes its way out and grows ever larger.
> x me. open window.
> ask cat about cat.
> x Rowan. z. z.
*** The End ***
Someone asks if Mittens was the cat's name. Ryan tells you Victor definitely got his nose done.
How do you rate Victor's story?
> 1 –to– 10
> SPACE
Return to the framing story.
Johanna ascends the dias and says this story is true with a few details changed, that it happened to a grandchild.
Ryan Veeder Presents
Where We Can Hear the Whispering Dark
A story by Johanna C. Quinn
Lounge
> x me. i. (carrying nothing)
> x TV. turn off TV. (don't know how)
> x microwave. clean it. (not now)
> x couch. x stars.
> e.
Cabin
> x poster. x bed. x clothes.
> e. n.
Shuttle Bay
> x skiff. x gate.
> s. s.
Computer Lab
> x computer. x desk. x poems.
> w.
Telescope
> x dish.
> w.
Study
> x amphisbaena. (It's the Sadalbari version of an easy chair.)
> x chalkboard. (You understand a third of it.)
> s.
Hibernation Pod
> x tank. x Thezh. (It stirs.)
> z. (Repeat waiting until you hear a scream.)
> x professor. (The scream is an alarm somewhere.)
> n. n. e.
Cabin
> search pile. (You find an alarm clock and shut it off.)
> x clock. (You need to turn on the computer.)
> e. s.
Computer Lab
> turn on computer.
> turn off attitude.
> initiate rada 29.
Several unfortunate events happen.
> SPACESPACESPACESPACE
The room is spinning. Fix that:
> turn on attitude.
> x interfaces. ("HIBERNATION TANK FAILURE")
> e.
Study
Note that the amphisbaena is overturned and the floor is wet.
> s.
Hibernation Pod
The professor isn't in his tank.
> x slime. (It goes north.)
> n. n. e.
Cabin
> e. (The prof is out there and you retreat.)
The professor plans to eat you and won't be held responsible for its actions.
> w. s. s.
Hibernation Pod
> turn on clock. (You automatically toss it aside.)
> n. n. e.
Cabin
> z. (Repeat waiting until alarm goes off.)
> z. (Repeat waiting until professor stomps off.)
> e. n.
Shuttle Bay
> enter skiff.
Skiff
> open door. (A shutter falls over the tunnel entrance, then the pressure gate opens.)
> turn key. (Oh, parking brake engaged.)
> turn off brake.
> turn key.
Thezh is very determined to get to you, but you finally escape:
> SPACESPACE
*** The End ***
Applause. Then a figure bursts in and demands to be heard. But as the other authors move to escort him out, he angrily calls the assembly a farce and leaves voluntarily.
How do you rate Johanna's story?
> 1 –to– 10
> SPACE
Return to the framing story.
Ryan notes Allison Chase wears a pendant. She found her story in some old cabinets and was startled to find the author's name was her own!
Ryan Veeder Presents
The Ghastly Visage
A tale of terror by Allison Chase
(viewing the creature)
> x me. x creature.
> x eyes. x hair. x teeth. x tongue.
> x ears. x cheeks. x lips.
> x nose. x chin. x neck.
> x back. (You note an iliac crest.)
> x shoulders. x chest. (or ribs)
> x arms. x elbows. x wrists. x hands.
> x fingers. x fingernails.
> x belly. x butt.
> x crest. x legs. x knees. x ankles.
> x feet. x toes. (You note a puddle of fluid.)
> x toenails. x puddle. (It's the creature's tears.)
*** The End ***
Ryan asks a question about her story from last year. She answers it.
How do you rate Allison Chase's story?
> 1 –to– 10
> SPACE
Return to the framing story.
Eddie Carlyle, known to have no limits to his horror stories, surprises everyone by saying his story tonight will use a Dia de Muertos theme from Mexican folklore.
Ryan Veeder Presents
Romance in Durango
Adapted by Eddie Carlyle
from a song by Bob Dylan
Desert
> x me.
> x Roberto. x cape. (Where is his guitar?)
> x hat. x horse. x sun.
> ask Roberto about cape. (It was Ramón's, stained with his blood.)
> ask Roberto about guitar. (He traded it to Pablo for bread, which he now hands to you.)
> x bread. eat bread.
> ask Roberto about Durango.
> ask Roberto about Ramon. (He shows you the gun that killed him, saying it felt like someone else shot him.)
> z. (Wait, if necessary.)
He sees a place to make camp.
Ruins
> x tree. x building. enter it.
Temple
> x altar. (features a jaguar)
> x stars. x archway. enter it.
Darkness
> out. out.
Ruins
> ask Roberto about ANYTHING. (He hands you a lantern and asks you to find a safe place to rest.)
> x lantern. in.
Temple
> light lantern. in.
Inner Chamber
> x shard. take it. (It still cuts you.)
> d. d.
Tunnel
> x footprints. (or gravel)
> x archway. x rubble.
> move rubble. (It's only styrofoam.)
> enter archway.
Soundstage
> x director. (Your acting is perfection.)
> enter archway. u. u. out.
Temple
> x moon. out.
Ruins
> hug Roberto. (He's shot! Is Ramón on the hill? Roberto drops his pistol and tells you to aim well.)
> take pistol. x hill. x Roberto.
> go to hill.
Hills
You see a jaguar running away.
> go to jaguar.
Valley
The jaguar is a man with a rifle.
> x man. (He has Ramón's face, but it's Tezcatlipoca, god of murder and strife.)
> shoot man —or— stab man. (You have either shot Roberto or stabbed yourself. The jaguar runs away.)
By the way, if you try to avoid killing him, the man, frustrated with your inaction, tells you that you must kill him next time. Again, the jaguar runs away.
*** The End ***
There is some applause.
How do you rate Eddie's story?
> 1 –to– 10
> SPACE
Return to the framing story.
The Castle Balderstone attendees:
Characters in "Mittens":
Characters in "Where We Can Hear the Whispering Dark":
Characters in "The Ghastly Visage":
Characters in "Romance in Durango":
🦕 NOTE! Entering the Hall of Gargoyles is a club wooby mission worth 15 buttons!
I can only verify that this mission can be completed. I've done it. However, I may not explain how to get into the Hall of Gargoyles without voiding the mission entirely, so please don't ask me how to do it, and don't tell me or anyone else the details. Just email the game's secret phrase to Ryan Veeder after you complete the mission. Congratulations in advance!
Oh, and don't forget to enter WOOBY MODE before starting the mission, or you won't be told the secret phrase! If your game doesn't understand WOOBY MODE, you probably need a newer version of the game; visit the game's homepage.
This is the response to CREDITS:
* * *
You're playing Additional Tales from Castle Balderstone, an entry in the 2019 ECTOCOMP (and a sequel of sorts to Tales from Castle Balderstone, an entry in the 2018 ECTOCOMP). I am your host, Ryan Veeder. I am also the editor of this anthology (and also I am the real author of all the stories, but don't tell anybody).
Harrison Gerard beta tested one of the games. The other games... didn't get beta tested at all! HOW TERRIFYING
To learn more about me, Ryan Veeder, find me on Twitter (@rcveeder) or the World Wide Web (rcveeder.net).
* * *
There are very few inventory items in this game. In two of the stories ("Mittens" and "The Ghastly Visage"), there are no inventory items. Note also that if any items are part of this game's club wooby mission, they will not be listed here.
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