Key & Compass presents:
Beneath: a Transformation
by Graham Lowther

• Map of Stregoicavar
• Walkthrough
• Extras
  • Characters, Endings, Inventory
• Thank You to my Patreon supporters
• External links:
  • This game at IFDB, IFWiki, and ifwizz.
  • Tweet about this walkthrough on Twitter.

Map of Stregoicavar

Walkthrough

Library Steps

> x sign. x library. x steps. x street. x buildings.

> x me. i. x book. open book. (Light isn't good enough here.)

> x bag. open it. x fifty. x dime. x nickel.

> s.

Sidewalk (south of library)

> x fire-escape. x windows. x boards.

Ignore that glove somewhere far to the west; we'll pick it up later.

> e.

Sidewalk (east of library)

> x roof. e.

Winding Street

> x shack. x dirt. n.

Your House

> x futon. x bill. take it. put bill in bag.

> take nail. (You rip the board out of the wall instead.)

> x board. take it. x insulation.

> x rope. take rope.

> s. w. w. w.

Sidewalk, Downtown

> x police. x hill. x gas. x forest. x shop.

> w.

Sidewalk (west of downtown)

> x glove. take it. wear it.

> x mansion. (police station again)

> e.

Sidewalk, Downtown

> s. (The convenience store closes and you immediately leave.)

> ne.

Coffee Shop

> x chalk. take it. (No, not yours.)

> x clerk. x blackboard. (bagel 10¢; biscotti 5¢)

> x cabinet. look in it. x bagel. x biscotti.

> x counter. x table. x chair.

Don't buy the bagel, but do buy the biscotti. This is an excuse to be able to sit down and read here, and you'll need all your other money for the pet store.

> give nickel to woman. (She puts the biscotti on the counter.)

> take biscotti. eat it. (You should sit.)

> sit on chair. eat biscotti.

> open book.

You read almost half way before she evicts you from the shop and closes it. You now have two bookmarks in your book.

Sidewalk, Downtown

> nw.

Pet Store

Okay, it's really unclear from a narrative standpoint why you'd want to buy pets in the middle of the night when you just want to read a library book, but go with it.

> x man. x counter.

> x cage. (80¢) look in cage. x lab.

> ask man about lab. ("Name is Four-Feet. It'll fetch and smell things.)

> x tank. (5¢) look in tank. x tadpole.

> ask man about tadpole. (He thinks it's a fish.)

> x box. ($1.30) look in box. take box. (It hoots.)

Make sure you're wearing the glove when you ask:

> ask man about owl. (Name's Wilbur. He reduces its price to $1.)

> give dollar to man. (You now own an owl.)

> x owl.

You want to buy the lab as well, but to get the man to reduce its price, you'll need to be really good at guessing what topics he'll respond to. This is read-author's-mind territory.

> ask man about store. ask man about price.

> ask man about lab. ask man about smell. (Keen has a keen sense of smell?)

> ask man about keen. (salesman with parrot.)

> ask man about expense —or— ask man about parrot. (He reduces the price to 60¢ and lets the dog out.)

> give fifty to man. give dime to man. (The dog is yours and immediately goes outside.)

> out.

Sidewalk, Downtown

Your owl immediately flies away, but that's okay. It's now free to help you later. It's time to spend some time with your new dog, who follows you.

> e. e. e. e.

Dirt Road

The dog digs up a metal hook. The dog is very fond of it and will stay wherever you drop it.

> x hook. take it. tie rope to hook. x fields.

> w. w. w. w. w. sw. s.

Front of the Police Station

The dog starts making growling noises.

> x hedge. s. (Locked)

Careful! If you go with the dog to the southwest, you'll be immediately killed. So drop the hook here.

> drop hook. sw.

In the Backyard, you see a frail man complaining about a statue having negative effects on people to a cop who casually kills him with a nail file. Then the cop spots you and locks you in darkness. Minutes later, your dog (carrying the hook) is tossed in with you.

Darkness

To survive here, you must have previously read some of the book in the coffee shop, and you also need the dog and its hook. Utterly impossible to guess you needed to set things up this way. Note also that the cop didn't take any of your inventory away.

> w. (The door's on that side.)

> e. (Small crack in wall. Something on right.)

> s. (Something on left.)

> se. (You touch polished stone.)

If you didn't read the book in the coffee shop, the game ends right now as you lose your sanity. Otherwise, you can suddenly see in the darkness.

Cell

> x crack. x door. x dark man. take hook.

Since you have "light" again, read more of your book, but not both bookmarks, because then you'll lose the light again.

> read page 57. (That bookmark slips away.)

> look through crack. (You see the hook and a pile of refuse.)

> x pile. (See a stuffed rabbit and a newspaper.)

The game is fussy about the next command. Although it seems like "put hook in crack" works, it doesn't.

> throw hook through crack. (The dog goes after it.)

> dog, fetch newspaper. (It brings the newspaper and rabbit into the cell.)

Ignore the newspaper, but take the hook and rabbit.

> take hook. (The dog comes back.)

> take rabbit. x it.

Now wait for the mad cop to return.

> z. z.

After X turns in the cell, the cop opens the door and bludgeons the dog to death. You should run directly to downtown:

> w. ne. n. ne. e.

Sidewalk, Downtown

Dark Man is now here.

> drop rabbit. (This is to attract our owl.)

> e.

Sidewalk

> throw hook at railing. u.

Roof of a Brick Building

> z. (The owl moves the rabbit to the library steps.)

You now know that the owl acts four turns after you drop the rabbit.

Now wait until the map cop is completely gone from view:

> z. z. z. z. z. z. z. z. z.

Your timing must be exact, or this won't work. You need owl and cop to be at the same place. Quickly, get the rabbit back and head to downtown:

> d. n.

Library Steps

> take rabbit. s. w.

Sidewalk, Downtown

> drop rabbit. w.

Sidewalk

> z. (The map cop moves into view.)

> z. z. (Owl attacks cop!)

> e.

Sidewalk, Downtown

> take file. e.

Sidewalk

> swing rope. take hook. e. e. e. se. s.

Woodland Path

> x trees. x path. (which path?)

> x animal path. x overgrown road.

> sw.

Clearing

> x stump. x branches.

> ne. e.

Bottom of the Cliff

The Dark Man is now here.

> x ancient man. x seat. x pit. x clay. x grass. x cliff.

> wake ancient man. (His name is Gonar.)

> x Dark Man. (It's staring at the clay.)

> throw hook at clay. (The rope now dangles into the pit.)

> d. (Gonar lets you enter the pit since the Dark Man is here.)

Large Tunnel

Careful. If you head southeast right away, you die.

> x movement. listen to murmur.

> file rusty nail with nail file.

> hit movement with board. (You now see smaller tunnels.)

> se.

Clearing (near ruin)

> x ruin. x trees. x cliff.

> s.

Ruin

> x vines. x dark area. move vines.

> x lump. take lump. (A voice interrupts you.)

A transparent woman, who calls herself Atla, calls you a looter. Her brightness cycles from dimness to eery radiance.

> ask Atla about lump. ask Atla about Atla.

> ask Atla about Dark Man.

> ask Atla about Gonar.

> ask Atla about worms.

> z. (Continue waiting until Atla brightens to an "eery radiance".)

> read last page. (That bookmark slips away.)

Atla will now be more willing to answer questions.

> ask Atla about worms.

> ask Atla about stump. (She calls it the great canoe.)

> ask Atla about lump. (She warns you, then leaves.)

> look in lump. (No details.)

> take lump. look in stone.

Cave (on the floor)

> x me. (You've changed.) i. (Your inventory has not.)

> x cylinder. x black stone. x tunnels.

> dig clay. stand. n.

One thing left to do before you retire as a worm.

> dig clay.

Back Inside the Library

You return your borrowed book to the return bin.

*** THE END ***

Extras

Characters

• The clerk of the convenience store and his male customer are briefly seen before the store closes.
• The clerk of the coffee shop is a woman with premature gray hair.
• The owner of the pet store, Bernard, is a wrinkled and stooped man.
• A black lab named Four-Feet can be purchased from the pet store.
• A great horned owl named Wilbur can be purchased from the pet store.
• A tadpole can be purchased from the pet store. The pet store owner thinks it's a "fish".
• A frail man, complaining about the statue, is quickly killed by the cop. You never really learn who he was.
• A mad cop has gone mad in the presence of the Dark Man. He kills the frail man, he kills your dog, and he tries to kill you.
• The Dark Man, a statue, is inhabited by the spirit of Bran Mac Morn, last king of the Picts.
• A sleeping man, named Gonar, sleeps in a vertical groove at the bottom of the cliff. He is extremely ancient.
• Atla is the witch woman of Dagon Moor. Her ghost guards the black stone.
• The Worms of the Earth are mutated people who dig underground. The "movement" you sensed in the pit was one of them.

Endings

• You have lost your sanity if you try to go southeast in the Darkness after the cop captures you and you didn't read any more of the book before then.
• You have died
• if you enter the Backyard with the dog following you;
• if you stay in the cell after the cop kills the dog;
• if the cop catches up to you after you leave the cell;
• if you try to go southeast in the Large Tunnel without first driving the movement away.
• THE END when you finally return your library book.

Inventory

You have an inventory limit of five items. You also can only buy things with exact amounts.

• a book. You're carrying it. It's Worms of the Earth by Robert E. Howard. You want to read it all, but you need light.
• Note how the status line text will change every time you manage to read more of the book.
• Go to the coffee shop and give a nickel to the woman and take the biscotti. Then sit on the chair and read the book.
• After you're captured by the cop and put in Darkness, go southeast, and in the new unreal light, read page 57.
• a small paper bag. You're carrying it. It'll hold all your money, but nothing else.
• a fifty cent piece. It's inside the small paper bag.
• After asking the pet shop owner about the parrot or expense (so now the price of the dog is 60 cents), give the fifty cent piece and the dime to the pet shop owner to buy the dog. The dog will immediately go outside and follow you around.
• a dime. It's inside the small paper bag.
• You could give the dime to the coffee shop woman to buy a bagel, but that's a mistake.
• After asking the pet shop owner about the parrot or expense (so now the price of the dog is 60 cents), give the fifty cent piece and the dime to the pet shop owner to buy the dog. The dog will immediately go outside and follow you around.
• a nickel. It's inside the small paper bag.
• You could give the nickel to the pet store owner to buy a tadpole, but that's a mistake.
• Give the nickel to the coffee shop woman to buy a biscotti. Now you may sit down on the chair there and read more of your book.
• a glove. It's on the most western sidewalk. Wear it.
• While wearing it, ask the man in the pet store about the owl; he'll reduce its price to a dollar.
• Wearing the glove is also useful for reducing your inventory limit; worn items don't count.
• a dollar bill. It's in Your House.
• First, while wearing the glove, ask the pet store owner about the owl, so he'll reduce the price of the owl.
• Give the dollar bill to the pet store owner to buy the owl at the reduced price.
• a manila rope and a blood stained hook.
• The rope is in Your House.
• Find the hook by taking the dog to the Dirt Road east of Winding Street; the dog will dig it up.
• The dog will now follow the hook, not you.
• Tie the rope to the hook. (Once it's tied, you can't untie it.)
• At the Sidewalk south of the library, throw the hook at the railing. You can now climb the rope to a roof.
• If you swing the rope at the Sidewalk, the hook will fall back to the ground so you can pick it up.
• a broken board (in which is a rusty nail; later a sharp nail). Find it in your house by pulling or taking the nail. File the nail with the nail file to make it sharp. In the pit, hit the movement with the board; the glint of the shiny nail will repel the movement and let you proceed.
• a tadpole. You can buy this for a nickel at the pet shop, but you lose it immediately on leaving the store, so it's not worth doing.
• a bagel. Although you can buy this for a dime at the coffee shop, that's a mistake. If you buy it anyway, you must sit on the chair before you can eat it. It's stale.
• a piece of biscotti. You can buy this for a nickel at the coffee shop. You must sit on the chair before you can eat it. But you really want the excuse to sit in the coffee shop so you can read more of the book there.
• a great horned owl.
• Move the box in the pet store and deduce from the hooting that an owl is for sale.
• While wearing the glove, ask the pet store owner about the owl. He'll reduce its price to a dollar.
• Give the dollar bill to the pet store owner; you now own an owl on your glove, at least until you go outside.
• Wherever you drop the rabbit outside, the owl will swoop down there four turns later. You want the cop to be there when that happens so the owl with attack the cop.
• a bookmark for page 57. It appears in the book after you read the book in the coffee shop. It disappears when you read page 57 in the Cell, using the Dark Man's light to read by.
• a bookmark for the last page. It appears in the book after you read the book in the coffee shop. Read it in the Atla's light when she's glowing with an eery radiance. The bookmark disappears afterwards.
• a yellowed newspaper. It's in a crack in the wall of the Cell. Throw the hook in the crack so the dog goes in there, then order the dog to fetch the newspaper. The dog will bring the newspaper and the rabbit into the cell. It's the rabbit you actually want; ignore the newspaper afterwards.
• a stuffed rabbit. It's in a crack in the wall of the Cell. See the newspaper on how to get it. Dropping the rabbit outside summons the owl four turns later. Normally, the owl drops the rabbit on the library steps, but if you can get the cop and the owl in the same place, the owl will attack the cop instead.
• a nail file. The cop drops it after the owl attacks him; see rabbit. File the rusty nail with the nail file to make it a sharp nail.
• a black stone. Find this lump by moving the vines in the ruin. When you first try to take the lump, its guardian, Atla, will appear. You will need to read the last page of your book when she's glowing with an eery radiance, then ask her about worms and the lump to get her to leave. Finally take the stone and look in it. This will complete your own transformation into a WORM OF THE EARTH.

Thank You to my Patreon supporters

This walkthrough was funded via Patreon with

• the support of Robin Johnson, Ville Lavonius, Andrew Schultz, Kenneth Hon, Jason McIntosh, Carl Muckenhoupt, Mark Musante, and Phil Tatro;
• the generous support of Janice M Eisen and Amelia;
• the very generous support of Karl Ove Hufthammer;
• the extremely generous support of Emily Short, Allen Garvin, Jesse McGrew, Jacqueline Ashwell, Marius Müller, and Jennifer Rexrode;
• and the invisible support of several anonymous patrons.