Charming is a Glulx interactive fiction game written with Inform 7 and is © 2018 by Kaylah Facey. It was an entry in IF Comp 2018 where it took 24th place. At the 2018 XYZZY Awards, it was a finalist in the Best Individual NPC category (for Arthur the cat).
In this game, you play as a young witch practicing for her coming of age test in the Pentacle Chamber. Unfortunately, your ventus spell became a tornado and smashed up most of the room! How can you, the worst witch in West Witchington, fix the mess — and learn the required spells for the test — before midnight?
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.
Pentacle Chamber
Note that you can ask Arthur about any of your problems (see topics), but this walkthrough doesn't use Arthur at all. Sorry Arthur fans!
> x me. i. x Arthur.
> spells. (You only know Ventus.)
> todo.
There's a lot here. Examine it all:
> x bench. x cauldron. x spoon. x shelf.
> x cabinet. open cabinet.
> x hazel. smell it. x mugwort. smell it.
> x wolfsbane. smell it. x nightshade. smell it.
> x glories. smell them. x lavender. smell it. x mortar.
> x bookcase. x stand. x books.
> x Charming. x Double. x Guide. x Treatise.
> x pages. x spellbook page. x potions page.
> x astrology page. x alchemy page.
> x bottles. x mess. x puddle. x circle.
> x rubble. x eyes. x glint. x altar door. x library door.
Repair the books by using the mess as glue:
> take pages. put pages in mess.
> put alchemy page in Treatise.
> put astrology page in Guide.
> put potions page in Double.
> put spellbook page in Charming.
And put them away:
> put books in bookcase.
Now, you'll want to read these books in full, I think. I know, I know, it's a huge infodump. However, you do need to know most of this stuff, or at least know the scope of it all. At least when you read about a spell in Charming, you also learn it.
Minor snafu: "Read charming" fails to tell you its topics, but it has an introduction and an index just like the other three books.
Bonus fact: You can read topics without specifying which book you're consulting, unless it's an intro or index! It's much faster than using the CONSULT syntax.
> x charming. read charming intro. read charming index.
> read water. (You learn Aqua.)
> read fire. (You learn Igni.)
> read earth. (You learn Terra.)
> read ventus. read static. (You learn Tempesta.)
> read enlarging. (You learn Magna and Minui.)
> read minui. read binding. (You learn Ligo and Renodo.)
> read renodo. read levitating. (You learn Volere.)
> read breath. read living flame.
> read animated lightning. read witchwater. read terre vivant.
> read candles. read lights. read education. read protecting.
> read blood. read love. read balance. read diagrams.
> read gibberish. (You learn Abracadabra and Xyzzy.)
Double, Double is about potions and their ingredients:
> x double. read double intro. read double index.
> read clay. read glories. read sage. read lavender.
> read mugwort. read hazel. read nightshade. read elixir.
> read substitutions. read draught. read philtre. read flu.
> read dream. read hair. read tokens. read purification.
> read cauldrons. read wolfsbane.
A Witch's Guide to the Heavens is about astrology:
> x guide. read guide intro. read guide index.
> read moon. read star. read balls. read werewolves.
A Treatise on Alchemy is about elements and glass:
> x alchemy. read alchemy intro. read alchemy index.
> read elements. read dragonglass. read equation. read glass.
Deal with the bottles next:
> cast renodo on mess. (The mess splits into potions, labels, and shards.)
> cast ligo on shards. (The shards become 3 bottles.)
> x bottles. (crystal, glowing, bulbous.)
> x crystal bottle. x glowing bottle. x bulbous bottle.
> x potions.
> x pink potion. smell it. (Like strong tea with lavender.)
> x grey potion. (sparking) smell it. (Burnt hazel with bergamot and eucalyptus.)
> x black powder. smell it. (Cinnamon vs. mildew, with licorice and mugwort.)
> x labels.
> x round label. (for a tea-smelling potion)
> x square label. (for a burnt-hazel-smelling potion)
> x torn label. (for a cinnamon-mildew-smelling potion)
You may want to review these entries from Double:
> read philtre. (the tea one; use faceted container)
> read elixir. (the hazel one)
> read dream. (the anise-mugwort one; use smooth container; store in dark place)
So combine potions, bottles, and labels thusly:
> put pink potion in crystal bottle. put round label on crystal bottle.
> put gray potion in glowing bottle. put square label on glowing bottle.
> put black powder in bulbous bottle. put torn label on bulbous bottle.
> put bottles on shelf. todo.
What to do with the statue rubble?
> cast ligo on rubble. (Can't re-bind it.)
> cast minui on rubble. (It becomes sand.)
> x glint. take eyes and hands. x sand.
> e.
Altar
> x constellations. x circle. x pedestal. x staircase.
> u.
Astrology Tower
> x platform. x clock. put hands in clock.
> x astrological symbols. (short hand for moon phase; long for zodiac)
> x telescope. look in it.
If you've read about star signs and moon phases in the Guide, you'll be told which you're looking at. It's random, and it's also how to open the clock:
> set short hand to OBSERVED-MOON-PHASE.
> set long hand to OBSERVED-ZODIAC-SIGN. (The clock opens.)
> x words. (Tch. A riddle.)
> x tall candle. x ugly candle. x average candle.
> x tiny candle. x black candle.
You can deduce that the tall candle emits Moonlight; the ugly, Firelight; the average, Sunlight; and the tiny, Starlight. Who knows what the black candle is for.
> take white candles. d. w.
Pentacle Chamber
Time to make a new crystal ball.
> take spoon. put sand in cauldron.
> cast igni at sand. (It becomes liquid glass.)
> drop tealight. cast volere on tealight. cast igni on tealight.
> cast tempesta at glass. (glass with sparks)
> x dragonglass. (yes, you've created it)
> cast volere on puddle.
> put puddle in cauldron. (Glassy mixture.)
> cast ligo on mixture. (The mixture becomes a sphere.)
> put ball on stand.
> blow out tealight. (It's now called the starlight candle.)
Finally, the statue needs to be replaced. You only have the eyes, though. You need to make animated clay.
> read elixir. (hazel + witchwater + living flame)
> read witchwater. (water + moonlight)
> read living flame. (fire + sunlight)
> cast igni on tall candle.
> cast agua at cauldron. x witchwater. blow out moonlight.
> put hazel in cauldron. (You now have elixir base.)
> x base. cast igni at average candle.
> cast igni at base. z. z. z. z. x elixir.
> blow out sunlight.
Next, make a paste in the pestle:
> put glories in pestle. crush glories with mortar.
> cast terra at glories. (You now have a white paste.)
> put paste in cauldron. (It's now a bubbling mixture.)
Next, burn sage in Firelight, except you don't have sage, so substitute lavender:
> take lavender.
> cast igni at ugly candle. burn lavender with ugly candle.
Now stir the mixture in the appropriate ways, according to the clay entry in Double, Double, repeating the sequence until the clay begins to rise. The stir sequence is randomized.
> read clay.
> stir mixture COUNTER-OR-CLOCK with spoon. (Repeat as appropriate until the clay is made.)
> x clay. (It's now clay.)
> blow out lavender.
Now shape the clay:
> shape clay into goddess. put eyes in clay.
Then add breath-of-life. The firelight candle's still burning, yes?:
> read breath. (Wind + firelight.)
> cast ventus at clay. blow out firelight.
Then fire it:
> cast igni at clay. x statue. take it. e.
Altar
You won't be permitted to put the statue onto the pedestal until it's just right.
> cast magna on statue. put statue on pedestal.
Everything's fixed. Enchantess Igmenta enters and is suspicious, but the only thing wrong is your disheveled appearance which she fixes. Then she escorts you to your actual test which should be no problem.
*** The End ***
> amusing
This is the response to AMUSING after you've won the game:
If you haven't already, you should try:
- casting Renodo on yourself
- casting any spell on Arthur
- doing risky things, such as:
- tasting/smelling/touching/casting Igni at the sticky mess
- taking the glass shards from the sticky mess
- taking/tasting/looking into the melted crystal ball
- going west from the Pentacle Chamber
- tasting any of the three potions
- preparing and tasting a mortal draught
- tasting the wolfsbane/nightshade
- tasting the elixir-of-life
- making a bloody idol and placing it on the Goddess pedestal
Mentioned:
This is the response to CREDITS:
The author would like to thank the following individuals for their invaluable help in offering suggestions and feedback over the course of the development of this game:
- Linus Åkesson
- Mike Carletta
- Sarah Facey
- Elisabeth Finn
- Victor Gijsbers
- Katie Googe
- Arianna Hickerson
- Meggie Kuehnel
- Erin Sullivan
- genericgeekgirl
- ryantan5577
For some reason, you can carry any number of powders and liquids barehanded and I suggest you not question this. Don't make things more difficult than they have to be. Maybe it's something that witches can just do, okay?
And don't you dare question that you can carry a full-sized Goddess statue even though you couldn't take the rubble from the original statue because the pieces of rubble were too big. You're still a beginner at witchcraft. You can't be expected to understand everything.
CAUTION: Don't take anything out of the cauldron until you're sure you're done adding ingredients and done stirring. If you try to put something back into the cauldron that the game wasn't expecting you to, even if the cauldron is empty, the game may decide you're made a sludge and you'll lose the game.
You should not make this. This is evil magic, the original version of the statue recipe.
There are four books in a heap on the chamber floor, each missing a page, making them unreadable. To repair them, put the pages in the sticky mess and put them back in the appropriate books. Put the repaired books back in the bookcase. Read all the books' entries; they each have an introduction and index.
The three bottles reform themselves when you cast Ligo at the glass shards. After re-filling and re-labelling all the bottles, put them back on the shelf.
Find these five candles by opening the clock in the astrology tower; see silver hands. Read the words on the inside of the clock for a clue on figuring out which candle gives off which celestial light. Cast igni at a candle to light it. Blow out a candle to extinguish it.
Some of these aren't true inventory items, but it's simpler to document the process this way.
These three labels appear when you cast Renodo on the sticky mess. Read the labels for hints where they belong.
These four pages are in the chamber. Take them, put them in the mess to make them sticky, then put them into their appropriate books.
These three potions appear when you cast Renodo on the sticky mess. Smell the potions for hints where they belong. Don't taste them!
Ask Arthur about the statue, and he might tell you what step to work on next.
Oh, I'm sure these are useful, just not today.
The response to SPELLS is somewhat close to this, but out of order and without the additional info I've added about conjuring things in different lights:
You have learned spell-count out of 12 possible spells:
(Cast a spell with CAST spell AT something.)
This is the response to VERBS:
The following verbs are the minimum necessary to win this game. This is primarily intended to assist novice players who may not be familiar with IF convention.
- LOOK
- X (or EXAMINE) {something}
- TAKE {something}
- E (or EAST), W (or WEST), U (or UP), D (or DOWN)
- PUT {something} IN {something}, PUT {something} ON {something}
- SEARCH {something}
- SMELL {something}
- CONSULT {something} ABOUT {something} (or READ {something})
- CAST {spell} AT {something} (or {spell} {something})
- STIR {something} CLOCKWISE (or CLOCK) WITH {something}, STIR {something} COUNTER-CLOCKWISE (or COUNTER) WITH {something}
- CRUSH {something} WITH {something}
- SHAPE {something} INTO {something}
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