Cana According To Micah is a Z-machine interactive fiction game written with Inform 7 and is © 2011 by Christopher Huang. Writing as "Rev. Dr. Stephen Dawson", the author submitted this game to IF Comp 2011 where it took 9th place. The game was also a finalist for the Best NPCs award at the 2011 XYZZY Awards.
In this Biblical story, you play as Micah, a servant to Clopas's family. Clopas just got married, but a crisis has arisen during the after-party: you've run out of wine! While the other servants rush off to the market, your task is to find the wine jug that's gone missing.
NOTE: The story of Jesus turning water into wine at the marriage at Cana is told in the Gospel of John.
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.
Note: This map does not include any of the "three years later" epilogue locations.
Kitchen
The party is out of wine! You're ordered to find a missing wine jug while Martha and Amos race off to the market.
> x me. i. x plate. (Only the Rabbi and his son will touch it.)
> s.
Courtyard
Little Orphan Anna wants to know if she can help find the jug. Like it or not, she'll be your unwanted companion for the majority of the game.
> x Anna. ask Anna about jug. (She claims John, the Rabbi's son, took a jug.)
> ask Anna about John.
> ne.
Entryway
> x alcove. x jars. x bucket.
> n.
Garden
Since you're stuck with Anna, you might as well ask her about everyone.
> x trees. ask Anna about Anna.
> ask Anna about rabbi. ask Anna about Lazarus.
> ask Anna about Martha. ask Anna about Mary.
> ask Anna about Mary of Bethany. ask Anna about Mary of Nazareth.
> nw.
Among The Figs
> x figs. search figs. se. (You hear a stomach roar. Someone's hiding here.)
> listen. (Nothing.)
> se. sw.
Kitchen
> take plate. ne. nw.
Among The Figs
> ask Anna about locusts. (She doesn't want any.)
> drop plate. se. (John and the missing wine jug appear.)
> ask John about jug. ("Mine. Hands off.")
> ask John about John. x John. x jug.
> ask John about father. ask John about baptism.
> Anna, take jug.
> ask Anna about jug. (She suggests getting someone else to help.)
> se. sw. d.
Winery
Anna immediately starts climbing the shelves!
> take Anna. (The shelves and their contents smash.)
> x shelves. ask Anna about Clopas. ask Anna about bride.
> ask Anna about parents.
> u. s. w.
By The West Wall
> x rabbi. x Lazarus. x Mary. x lamps.
> ask rabbi about John. (The crowd around him is too thick.)
> ask Mary about John. (She could listen to him for hours.)
> Mary, follow me. (She doesn't want to leave.)
> se.
Bridal Table
> x table. look under table.
> x Clopas. x bride. (Mary looks radiant, but thirsty.)
> x cup. ask Clopas about John. (He's too pre-occupied to chat.)
> nw.
By The West Wall
You note how Mary of Bethany follows a talker to the courtyard.
> e.
Courtyard
The guest continues talking and goes south, and Mary follows.
> s.
Bridal Table
The guest concludes his story. Then Mary heads back to the wall.
> nw.
By The West Wall
> tell Mary about wine.
> e. ne. e.
Out On The Street
> x mariner. x bridesmaid.
> ask bridesmaid about sailor. (Her attention is elsewhere.)
> e.
By The Well
The soldiers want to arrest John and want your help.
> x soldiers. ask soldiers about John.
> open well.
> d. (No. You're just asking for trouble.)
> close well.
> w. w. n. nw.
Among The Figs
> tell John about soldiers. ask John about Herod.
> se. s. e. e.
By The Well
> tell soldiers about John. (Kiss the man to be arrested.)
> w.
Out On The Street
> kiss sailor.
The soldiers are ensnared by the tale. The mariner chases them. The bridesmaid escapes into the house.
> w.
Entryway
The bridesmaid offers to tell you the story later, then goes to join the party.
> sw.
Courtyard
> ask bridesmaid about story. ("There was a ship...")
> g. (curse) g. (visions) g. (ends)
> w.
By The West Wall
> tell Mary about story. e.
Courtyard
> tell Mary about story. ne.
Entryway
> tell Mary about story. n.
Garden
> tell Mary about story. nw.
Among The Figs
John sets down the jug so he can tell Mary of Bethany the moral of the mariner's story.
> take jug. se. sw.
Kitchen
Success! Er, how much wine is in the jug?
> look in jug. (Only contains water.)
Amos and Martha return, unsuccessful. Martha goes to inform Clopas. Amos starts the baking for tomorrow.
> x Amos.
You ask yourself: what actually happened to the wine?
> ne. nw.
Among The Figs
> ask John about wine. (Joshua changed it to water.)
> ask John about Joshua. (He's with the rabbi.)
> se. s. sw. w.
By The West Wall
> x Joshua. ask Anna about Joshua.
> ask Joshua about wine. ("Not my problem.")
> ask Joshua about John.
Around this time, Anna suggests getting someone else to ask Joshua to help.
Because you're holding the wine jug, the crowd lets you near the rabbi now.
> ask rabbi about Joshua. ask rabbi about John.
> ask rabbi about Lazarus. ask rabbi about Mary. (the bride)
> ask rabbi about Clopas. ask rabbi about God.
> ask rabbi about Martha. ask rabbi about Anna.
> e.
Courtyard
> ask bridesmaid about rabbi. ask bridesmaid about Joshua.
> ask bridesmaid about bride. ask bridesmaid about wine.
> ask bridesmaid about mariner. ask bridesmaid about soldiers.
> ask bridesmaid about Clopas. ask bridesmaid about Martha.
> ask bridesmaid about John.
> n.
Kitchen
You can ask Amos to make the bikkies with chicken, figs, garlic, honey, lamb, orange, or raisins. He rejects using bacon/ham/pork, butter/cheese/milk, chocolate, or locust.
> ask Amos about baking. tell Amos about figs.
Amos fills a tray with fig-flavoured bikkie dough.
> take tray.
You can now try to give bikkies to the guests. Joshua, the newlyweds, Anna, the Rabbi, the bridesmaid, and the unnamed guests will all accept a bikkie; Lazarus, John, and Mary of Bethany aren't interested. When you want to get rid of a tray, eat it yourself, then return to Amos and make another suggestion.
> ask Anna about Joshua. (She now tells you his mother, Mary, is somewhere around.)
> s. w.
By The West Wall
> ask rabbi about Mary of Nazareth. (He waves towards courtyard.)
> e.
Courtyard
> ask bridesmaid about Mary of Nazareth.
> x guests.
> ne. n. nw.
Among The Figs
> ask John about Mary of Nazareth.
> se. s. sw.
Courtyard
You won't be able to identify Mary of Nazareth until you've asked Anna, the rabbi, the bridesmaid, and John about her.
> x guests. x Mary.
> ask Mary about Joshua. tell Mary about wine.
She gives Joshua a talking-to, and he relents a hair. He tells you to fill up all the water jars in the alcove.
> ne.
Entryway
> drop all. take bucket. e. e.
By The Well
> open well. fill bucket. (Anna runs off to find the wine jug.)
> close well. take bucket. (Anna returns; she says Joshua has the jug now.)
> w. w.
Entryway
> fill jars.
You make several trips to fill the jars. One more trip should do it.
By The Well
> open well. fill bucket.
> close well. take bucket.
Anna grabs the bucket and falls with it into the well! Even though you closed it! Instinctively you...
> take Anna. take Anna. (You save her. The bucket is gone.)
> w. w.
Entryway
Joshua hands you a ladle to offer to Amos.
> n. sw.
Kitchen
> give ladle to Amos. (Amos runs off to tell Clopas.)
> s.
Courtyard
The wedding feast is saved!
Three years later...
Emmaus
You are with Clopas and a stranger.
> x stranger.
> x Clopas.
*** It's a miracle ***
By the way, if you left Anna in the well and take the bucket instead, Joshua rescues her when you fill the jars . He's very disappointed in you.
The "three years later" scene is different...
The Back Of The Cave
You're hiding in a cave from an unnaturally dark sky on the day Joshua was crucified. You hear Martha outside talking to someone.
> listen. g. g. g. g. (They leave.)
> out.
Sepulchre
Martha was talking to Joseph of Arimathea, and Anna is there too. You confess you were avoiding everyone, and Anna tells you she already forgave you.
*** It is a new day ***
From the ABOUT menu item Credits:
CREDITS
One must express one's gratitude to Mr G. Nelson and Miss E. Short, for their tireless work with Languages and Libraries. In truth, this translation would be all but impossible without their efforts. In addition, one gives thanks to one's proofreaders: Messrs J. Blask, D. Monath, M. Müller, J. Rivera and D. Shiovitz -- without whom this translation might have been a plague of errors and inadvertent heresy.
As far as I know, the game becomes unwinnable if you kiss John as the soldiers request you to do, because afterwards you can't identify or find Mary of Nazareth. If I'm mistaken about that, please let me know.
General inventory note: If you're carrying the plate, jug, or tray, you can talk to the Rabbi. Otherwise, the crowd blocks you.
This walkthrough is provided free of charge since the work it's based on has less than fifteen locations. Please consider it a thank you for your support!
I create larger walkthroughs too! Please visit my Patreon account if you're interested in helping me create more interactive fiction walkthroughs. I appreciate all the help I can get! Thanks again.
Ko-Fi is a way to send me small one-time donations. Every little bit helps, and thank you!