In this huge tribute game to Anchorhead, you play as a woman named Naomi. You've just arrived at the train station in Backwater, Vermont to help your husband, Peter Cragne, out of some sort of difficulty. But considering all the horrors lurking about the town and Cragne Manor, you may be needing some help yourself.
CAUTION: This game comes with extensive content and concept warnings. Many unpleasant things can happen in this game.
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 10 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.
Subterranean Tunnel is originally Darkness until the switch in Tunnel Entrance is turned on.
Church Basement is originally just Basement until the Chapel itself is visited.
Chapel Office is originally Tiny Windowless Office until the Chapel itself is visited.
Narthex is originally Chapel Lobby-Space until Jessica has been the viewpoint character.
Map 1a: Jessica's School
Map 2: East Backwater
Under some circumstances, Christabell may prevent you from leaving Hillside Path.
At some point, "Bathroom of the Meatpacking Plant" becomes "Wrecked Bathroom of the Meatpacking Plant".
Map 3: Inside Cragne Manor
The Great Purple Unknown can become either The Great Orange Unknown or the The Great Green Unknown if you wear one of the masks there.
Map 3a: Music Room Environs
Map 3b: Limestone Caverns
The player enters this Wumpus-like section by reading the pink book (found at Top of Stairs) and leaves by finding the hunter before the hunter finds them.
Map 3c: Workroom Environs
You can, of course, ZOK from Lake Bed, Frozen Lake, or Island back to the Workroom. I left off those connections from the map to make it more readable.
Walkthrough
The game begins with a Content Warning, with a long list of potentially-troubling content in this game.
Would you still like to continue? yes
Then there's a Concept Warning, explaining that more than eighty people wrote this game, that the game is deeply unfair, frustrating, and exceedingly weird.
Would you still like to continue? yes
I'm going to add my own warning: I know I didn't find every single secret in the game. I know I didn't find every possible way to end the game. I found quite a lot, but not everything. If and when I find something new, I'll add it to the walkthrough, okay?
Railway Platform (Naomi Hinchen)
🌲 Goals: Obtain the winding key and wristwatch. 🛴 Get the eyepiece later.
> x me. i.(Carrying nothing.)
> x rat. take key. x it.
> x graffiti.("Vaadignephod")
> x sign. x roof. x tracks. x clock.
> x board.(Only train is to Anchorhead at 13:37.)
> x bench. take watch. x it.
> read inscription.("N + P. March 19th")
> wear watch.
> x locker. take label.
> x machine. x glyph. x bubble. x eyepiece.
> x PA system.
> s.
Train Station Lobby (Shin)
🛴 Can't unlock the east door yet. But take the coffee.
> take cup. x cup. x mirror.
> x green door.(Locked door to office.)
> x brown door.(To restroom.)
> w.
Train Station Restroom (David Petrocco)
🌲 Goal: Obtain a jar containing an insect.
> x shower. open curtain. x shower.
> x sink. turn on sink. turn off sink.
> x toilet.
I'm assuming the closet has opened on its own by now. If you don't see the note, open the closet and look at it again.
> x closet.("Locker 3 7113")
> x supplies.
> x lockers. set lock to 7113.
> take glass jar. x insect. g. g.
> e. s.
Exterior of Train Station (Emily Short with additions from Graham Nelson)
🌲 Goal: Unblock this bridge by scaring the woman away.
> x station. x figures. x sky.
> x can. open can. take all from can.
> x doll. pull string. g. g.
> x book. read book. g. g.
You can now use the coffee to tell if you can solve the current room's puzzles or not.
> x coffee.(You should get a botanical result.)
> x ravine. x woman. x scarf. x skirt.
> x bridge. x town.
> s.(The woman blocks you.)
You can try talking to the woman, but it won't help:
> ask woman about town. ask woman about herself.
> ask woman about station. ask woman about Peter.
Get rid of the woman by using the doll and the insect jar.
> turn head.(The doll should now be scowling.)
> pull string.
Repeat pulling the string until the doll warns about the insect.
> show jar to woman.(The woman flees in terror.)
> s.
Milkweed (Caleb Wilson)
🌲 Goal: Learn that the Cesious Alderman's familiar is a silverfish.
CAUTION: It's deadly to enter the shack!
> x leaf. take leaf. x brambles. x shack.
> push shack. x altar.
CAUTION: It's also deadly to get on the altar unless you're wearing the leaf as a mask!
> wear leaf. get on altar.
> x shelf. take all from shelf.
Learn all about Phyllis Cragne:
> x postcard. read it.
> x diary. read diary. g. g.
> x basalt. x slot.(Very narrow.)
> stand. take earworm. g. g.
The earworm can't hurt you and only exists in Milkweed, but if you want to get rid of it forever, there is a way:
> x track. search track. x penny.
> put penny in sphere. take athame. x it.
> x earworm. x tendril.
> cut tendril with athame.(The earworm is gone!)
The sphere and athame return to the shelf when you leave Milkweed.
> s.
Church Exterior (Andy Holloway)
🛴 Can't unlock the church door yet.
> x church. x windows. x door. x belfry. x trees. x steps.
> x keyhole. knock on door. x road. take gravel.
> ne.
The Churchyard (David Jose)
🌲 Goals: Take the flashlight. Open the mausoleum.
> i. x goggles.
> take flashlight. x it. x ring.
> x fence. take spire. x it.
> x gravestone. x mausoleum.("VERL C")
> x door. open door. open door with spire.
> in.
Mausoleum (Gary Butterfield)
🌲 Goal: Obtain the LVPB journal.
Look around first:
> x journal.("LVPB")
> x plinth. x dust. x tombs.
> x mirror.(northward, eastward, southward, or westward?)
> x northward mirror. x southward mirror.
> x eastward mirror. x westward mirror.
To get the journal, just try to take it seven times.
> take journal. g. g. g. g. g. g.(Taken.)
> read journal. g. g. g.(Random phrases.)
> x chill.
> x coffee.(You're done here.)
> out. ne.
The Dim Recesses of the Forest (Jacqueline A. Lott Ashwell)
🌲 Goal: Learn that the Eburnean Alderman's familiar is a kraken.
> x pond. x leaves. x branches.
> count leaves.(You find a flat stone.)
> x stone. skip stone.(The forest goes QUIET.)
> z.(An ivory tentacle emerges.)
> z. z.(You're pulled under.)
> x cephalopod.(It gives you a silver chain and returns you.)
> x chain.(Locket and chain. "E.C.")
> open locket. x tintype.(Of young but stern woman)
> look behind tintype.
> put tintype in locket. close locket.
> n.
The Old Well (Reed Lockwood)
🌲 Goal: Obtain the moldy journal and battery. 🛴 Open the well later.
> x sigil. x symbols. x puddle. x tree.
> x knothole. x parcel. open it.
> x moldy journal. read it. x battery.
> x root. x boulder. x patch. x well. x padlock. x wall.
> x coffee.
Coffee says come back later.
> s. se.
Shack Exterior (Michael Lin)
🌲 Goal: Obtain the Dollmaker's Journal.
> x clockwork doll. take scraps. read scraps.
> reassemble scraps.(It's now a repaired page.)
> read page. give page to clockwork doll.
She copies the page into her book, then pushes the book to the ground.
> take book. x it.(Another journal.)
> read it. g. g. g. g. g.
> open door.(locked)
> se.
Outside the Library (Gavin Inglis)
🌫️ Optional: Read the stories on the notice board.
> x board. x events. x headline.
> x stories. g. g. g. g. g.
> w.
Estate Agent's Office (Jenni Polodna)
🌲 Goal: Get that paperback.
> x desk. search desk. x woman.
> i.(We now have a backpack and a coded telegram.)
> x backpack. x guide. x telegram.
> x cabinet.
> ask woman about Peter.(She's Bethany Tross.)
Bethany quickly cleans her desk. A folder and a paperback book are left.
> x paperback. x folder.
> ask Bethany about library.(She turns to find its folder.)
> put paperback in bp.(Can't do it now.)
> x library folder.
> ask Bethany about train station. z.
Note that she partially covers the paperback with the station folder.
> x station folder. x map. ask Bethany about Backwater.
> ask Bethany about Deuteronomous.
The map mentions the church and the meatpacking plant, so perhaps ask about those next?
> ask Bethany about church. z.
> x church folder. ask Bethany about Imelda.
> ask Bethany about meatpacking plant. z.(She mentions a pub.)
> x plant folder. x meat. ask Bethany about BUSH.
> ask Bethany about Stella. again. ask Bethany about Horace.
> ask Bethany about gulf streams. again.(Huge massive aside.)
> ask Bethany about Jedediah. ask Bethany about Maple Kate.
> ask Bethany about pub. z.
> x pub folder. x menu.
> ask Bethany about office. z.(Twin Hearts is now completely hidden.)
> x office folder. x photo.(See yourself randomly dead or attacking.)
> x camera. g.(More random unplesantnesses.)
> x magazines. x pamphlets. take pamphlet. read pamphlet.
> ask Bethany about 23 Euclid.
> put paperback in bp.(Lion sex book GET.)
> x Euclid folder. x napkins.
> ask Bethany about 36 River Walk. z.
> x River folder.
> ask Bethany about 18 F'tagn. z.
> x F'Tagn folder.
> x coffee.(Coffee says we're done here.)
> e.
Outside the Library (Gavin Inglis)
🌫️ Read the lion sex book, find the hidden pocket, and decide how to best use the backpack.
Let's get a better look at that paperback. The spark ices its library insignia when we start reading it.
> x paperback. read it. g. g. g. g. g. g.
Solving the cryptogram tells you about a hidden pocket!
> x hidden pocket. open hp.(trolley pass and trolley schedule)
> x pass. wear pass.
> x trolley schedule.("WAIT FOR color LINE")
Okay, let's decide how we'll stow stuff into our backpack. I suggest putting used keys in the key pocket, books and important readables in the book pocket, stuff you're completely done with in the trash pocket, and stuff you're not done with yet in the main pocket.
For the side pocket, let's keep anything about the Variegated Court in there. We've already heard of two members and there's bound to be more.
For the hidden pocket, I'm putting stuff that I never found any use for. Like, it's probably trash too, but maybe there's a secret use for some of it that I never discovered, and maybe you'd like to know which items those are?
> put winding key in mp.(because we haven't used it yet)
> put postcard in sp.
> put diary in sp.
> put locket in sp.
> put shabby journal in bp.
> put moldy journal in bp.
> put Dollmaker's in bp.
> put trolley schedule in mp.
> put flashlight in mp.
> put battery in mp.
> put label in hp.
> put glass jar in tp.
> put spire in tp.
> put leaf in tp.
> put doll in mp.(You can put in tp if you like, but the doll's fun to play with.)
> put watch in mp.
> put pamphlet in tp.
> put cup in mp.
> put handbook in bp.
Now close up all the pockets but the main one. Isn't that tidy?
> close kp. close bp. close sp. close tp. close hp. i.
> e.
Backwater Public Library (Carl Muckenhoupt)
🌲 Goal: Get the book list. 🛴 Obtain the black book later.
> x case. x plaque.("De Vermibus Laceris" by Henry Danton Gules)
> x black book. read it.(How to find someone lost.)
> x librarian. x counter. x sign.("QUIET PLEASE")
> x jacket. take jacket. x card.
> show library card to librarian.(She takes it, then gives it back with a note, the book list.)
> x note.
You already have a couple of these books, but there's no need to return any until you've got them all.
> ask librarian about Peter.(She shushes you.)
> x cart. x chairs. x shelves. browse shelves. g. g.
> x coffee.(Come back later.)
I'm hiding the book list inside the book pocket to avoid disambiguation with other notes in the game.
> put jacket and library card in tp.
> put book list in bp.
> w. s.
Town square, Backwater, VT (Marco Innocenti)
🛴 Just look about the square for now. Talking to the man is optional. Solve the rings puzzle later.
> x shape. x stones. x buildings.
By the way, you don't need to converse with this man, but he is interesting until he becomes a void of nothingness.
> x man.(Reminds you of Captn Squinter from home.)
> ask man about himself.("He's been waiting for you.")
> ask man about welcome.
> ask man about manor.
> ask man about old.
> ask man about Peter.
> ask man about marriage.
> ask man about loop.(It featured a tentacled creature.)
> ask man about himself.
> ask man about He.
> ask man about Edwin.
> ask man about entertaining.
> ask man about gifts.
> ask man about told.
> ask man about heritage.
> ask man about veil.
> ask man about see.(You fall into the void inside him and he's gone.)
> undo
> ask man about rings.(They represent some sort of feast.)
> ask man about Navajo.
> ask man about Backwater.
> ask man about magic.
> x coffee.(Come back later.)
> sw.
Drinking Fountain (Lucian Smith)
🛴 Just find the secondary fountain for now. Obtain the hidden library book later.
> x fountain. x button. push it.
> x ivy. move ivy.
> x secondary. x sign.("COLORED")
> push rusty button.
> x coffee.(Come back later.)
> ne. se.
River Walk (Adam Whybray)
🌲 Goal: Obtain the employee card.
> read sign. x river. x buoy. x ash.
> x rock. take it. x pole. take it. x crawfish.
> x soggy tome. take it. read it.
> fish river.(You find a freshwater lobster trap.)
> x trap. x employee card.("Veeder, R.")
> x eggbound.
> kill dying crawfish with rock. take shard. x it.
> cut twine with shard. take employee card.
> x coffee.(You're done here.)
> put soggy tome in bp.
> put employee card in mp.
> put rock, pole, shard in tp.
> n.
Under the Bridge (Tenth)
🌲 Goal: Learn that the Croceate Alderman's familiar is an eel. 🛴 Open the hatch later.
> x bridge. x river. x figure.
> x hatch. x indentation.
> x payphone.
> read graffiti. g. g. g. g. g. g. g. g. g.(258-0987 with stars)
> x coin return. x coin slot. x receiver. x keypad.
> push coin return.(You get a quarter.)
> x quarter. put quarter in coin slot.
> take receiver. dial 911. hang up.
> x coin return. push return.
> put quarter in slot. take receiver.
> dial 258-0987. x river. g. g.
Note the new mural has an eel-creature, the word "Croceate", and the phrase "Variegated Court".
> x coffee.(Come back later.)
> s.
River Walk (Adam Whybray)
> x schedule. wait for brown line.
Railway Platform (Naomi Hinchen)
🌲 Goal: Obtain the golden eyepiece.
> unlock locker with employee card.(Success!)
> put employee card in tp.
> take suitcase. x it.(It's Peter's. Has 4-digit combo lock.)
> read inscription.(of wristwatch: "March 19th")
> set lock to 0319.(It opens.)
> put watch in tp.
> open suitcase. x box.(Image of train on top.)
> take box. put suitcase in tp.
Remember the schedule board?
> x schedule board.
> stand on bench. put winding key in clock.
> set clock to 13:37.(Train rushes past and the box opens.)
> put winding key in kp.
> stand.
> x coin. take coin. put box in tp.
> put coin in coin slot. take bubble.
> open bubble. take eyepiece. put bubble in tp.
> x eyepiece. wear it.(It just falls off.)
> put rectangular battery in eyepiece.(It fits!)
> push round button.(It turns on.)
> push triangular button.(It projects light?)
> wear eyepiece.(It clamps on. Your vision is improved, but how?)
Do you remember how many things looked "odd" at the well? Go back there.
> wait for green line.
Old Well
🌲 Goal: Open the well.
The eyepiece lets you see four arches in the puddle: wooden, teal, violet, and sky blue.
> x puddle.(You see wooden, teal, violet, and sky blue arches.)
> x wooden arch.(In the ocean.)
> x teal arch.(Connects the ocean to a forest.)
> x violet arch.(Connects the ocean to a labyrinth.)
> x sky blue arch.(Connects the ocean to a plain.)
> enter wooden arch.(Too small.)
The game suggests prodding the arch with the laser on your eyepiece.
> prod wooden arch.
The game tells you that "P" can be used as an abbreviation for "PROD".
> x brick.(The labyrinth has wooden, marigold, violet, and pink arches.)
> x marigold arch.(Connects the labyrinth to the forest.)
> x pink arch.(Connects the labyrinth to the plain.)
> x quartz.(The plain has wooden, mint green, pink, and sky blue arches, plus a machine and a pool of fluid.)
> x mint green arch.(Connects the plain to the forest.)
> x machine.(A dispenser of some kind.)
> x fluid.
> x root.(The forest has wooden, marigold, teal, and mint green arches.)
> x arches.(Summary of what connects to what.)
You may wish to re-read the moldy journal before proceeding:
> open bp. read moldy journal. put it in bp. close bp.
After reviewing the moldy journal, we should have a slightly better idea of what we're doing here: summoning creatures. They start from the machine and must go through three of the habitats before summoned into our world via the sigil.
At least seven of the creatures are docile, but you can be sure that the others are either hostile or indifferent. And one creature creates glue? Its sequence is FOREST-unknown-CLIFFS; we should try to summon that one.
> p machine.(An egg falls into the pool, becoming a small blob.)
> x blob. p blob.(The heat kills it. Oops.)
> p machine.(A new blob.)
> p mint.(The blob goes to forest and becomes a small quadruped.)
> p teal.(The quadruped goes to ocean and becomes a bumpy whale.)
> p violet.(The whale goes to labyrinth and becomes a armored climber.)
> p wooden.(A great, armor-plated monster emerges from the sigil and stomps off.)
With our first summons, the game tells us some new commands: BIRTH, FOREST, PLAIN, CLIFFS, OCEAN, and SUMMON.
This is much easier. We can stop worrying about which arch is which.
> birth. forest. plain. cliffs. summon.
A cycloptic ape leaves some sticky goo behind on the well. Don't touch the goo!
> x well.
There are 27 different possible creatures you can summon; see the well puzzle for a summary.
To actually solve this puzzle, you need to first summon three friendly creatures that will stay here to defend you, then summon that terrible lizard-bird the moldy journal mentioned.
First, let's summon a hallucinogenic worm:
> birth. cliffs. ocean. forest. summon. x worm.
Second, a comfy snake:
> birth. cliffs. plains. forest. summon. x snake.
Third, a perfumed land octopus:
> birth. ocean. cliffs. forest. summon. x octopus.
Finally, with goo on the well cap and with three friends, it's time to summon the fearsome pteranodon:
> birth. forest. cliffs. ocean. summon.
The giant bird opens the well cap and flies away. Also, your eyepiece is damaged and falls off.
> take eyepiece. x it. put it in tp.
> x coffee.(You're done here.)
> d.
Circular Room (JP)
💰 Just grab the wad of cash.
> x cash. x stones. take cash. put cash in mp.
> x coffee.(You're done here.)
I'm going to stop using the coffee. I know what I'm doing.
> u. wait for blue line. s. e.
Bridge (Daniel Stelzer and Jemma Briggeman)
🌲 Goal: Repair the bridge.
> x river. x bridge. x slats. x cords.
> x rope. x polished metal.(It's a claw.)
> x sculpture.
> x moss —or— x cauldron.
> x brazier. x vegetation.
> x pool. smell pool.
> put claw in river.(You can now climb down.)
> d.
Bridge (hanging underneath) (Daniel Stelzer and Jemma Briggeman)
> x bat.(It nibbles on the weed, sneezes, then drops like a stone.)
> take weed.(You now have spores, a fungal powder.)
> x powder. eat powder.(Your mouth is very dry.)
> d.
Water makes the powder a source of oxygen! But you need light.
> x flashlight. turn it on. open it. look in it.
> take battery and bulb.
> x battery. x bulb.(They're both worthless.)
> put battery and bulb in tp.
> u.
Bridge (Daniel Stelzer and Jemma Briggeman)
> climb pipes. x outline.(Skeleton underwater?)
> x cauldron.(Pool liquid plus moss equals green light.)
> take moss.(Can't reach it.)
> stand.(To get off the protrusion.)
> take vegetation. put flakes in flashlight.
> put liquid in flashlight. close flashlight.
> d.
Bridge (hanging underneath) (Daniel Stelzer and Jemma Briggeman)
> eat powder. d.
Bridge (in the water underneath) (Daniel Stelzer and Jemma Briggeman)
> x bones. enter jaw.
Bridge (Daniel Stelzer and Jemma Briggeman) (in the misshapen skeleton)
> push bones. take bones. out.
Bridge (in the water underneath) (Daniel Stelzer and Jemma Briggeman)
> u.(The bones are too heavy.)
> open claw. put bones in claw. close claw.
> u. u.
Bridge (Daniel Stelzer and Jemma Briggeman)
> pull rope. open claw. take bones.
> repair bridge.(using the bones)
> drop powder. put flashlight in tp.
> e.
Outside Pub (Jason Lautzenheiser)
🌲 Goal: Learn that the Fulvous Alderman's familiar is a duck.
> x box. x leg. take it.
> x newspapers.("Ful... Court ...Dead.")
> open box. x slot. break box.(Too light.)
> x handle. put leg in handle. pull leg.
> x newspapers.("Fulvous Alderman ... orange duck ...")
> put newspapers in sp.
> x pub. x sign. x window. x steps. x brick.
> put brick in hp.
> n.
The Invisible Worm (Sam Kabo Ashwell)
🛴 Just look about the pub for now. Obtain the whetstone later.
> x bartender. x old-timers. x teenagers. x fireplace.
> x beams. x tools. x whetstone. x photographs.
> take whetstone.(Not while the bartender is watching.)
Come back later to get the whetstone.
> s. e.
Constabulary Road (Harkness Munt)
🌫️ Optional: Talk to the paleontologist.
> x gate. x plaque.("Municipal Jail")
> x bench. x trees. x barricade. x pit. x bones.
> x man. x student.
> ask man about pit.(He says he's Dr. Daniel West, or just Dan.)
> ask Dan about fossil. ask Dan about Herbert.
> ask Dan about student. ask Dan about university.
> ask Dan about Ialdabaoloth.(The student kills them both.)
> x bodies. x pickaxe. enter pit.(Eep. No.)
> open gate.(It's not locked.)
> n.
Backwater Jail (Marshal Tenner Winter)
🌲 Goal: Open the evidence locker.
> x desk. x post-it note.(Evidence key in last arrestee's file.)
> x computer. x monitor.
> x clipboard. x paperwork.(Last arrestee was Eugene Kunkle.)
> x office window. x secure door. x bathroom door. x placard.
> x swivel chair. x visitors chair. x paneling. x bulbs.
> x cabinet. open it. x Kunkle file.(He stole a library book.)
> take aluminum key. close cabinet.
> unlock locker with aluminum key. put aluminum key in kp.
> open locker.(A corpse falls on you!)
You pass out, then wake up in...
Padded cell (Marius Müller)
🌲 Goals: Escape the straight jacket. Learn that the Puce Alderman's familiar is a greyhound. Escape the padded cell.
> i.(You only have a hovering spark and a strait jacket.)
> x chest.(You can see a random item of yours through a crack.)
> x padding. x brass button.(Looks like a knob.)
> x door. open door.(Can't.)
> x lightbulb. x mesh. pull mesh.(Can't reach.)
> push chest. stand on chest. pull mesh.
The mesh is gone. The game claims the chest is back in the corner but it's really still under the bulb where you need it to be.
> stand on chest. hit bulb. stand.
> take shard. cut jacket.(Can't.)
> put shard in crack. cut jacket. open chest.
> take all from chest. wear backpack. wear pass.
> turn knob. x trophy. put it in sp.
> x switch. turn off switch. open door. s.
Backwater Jail (Marshal Tenner Winter)
🌲 Goal: Obtain the Tolerating An Asinine God book.
> x corpse.(female)search corpse.
> x black card. put it in tp.
> x locker. x God book. take it.
> read God. g. g. g. g. g.(You read random passages.)
> put God in bp.
> s. ne.
Hillside Path (Jack Welch)
☀️☀️ Talk to Christabell, part one.
During your long conversation with Christabell, boldface words are viable topics you can try asking or telling Christabell about.
> x tracks. x woman. yes.(She's Christabell.)
> x woman. tell her about myself.
> a Christabell. a Seight. a spirits.
> a lineage. a Carol. a mark.
> a ghosts. a knotte. a Cragne.
> a new grace. a Mattanit. a Third Covenant.
> a covenant. a pile. a youth.
> a forges. a Lin. a ironworkes.
> a Indian. a cliffs. a Massachusetts colonie.
> a Vermont. a deathe.
It's unclear to me which topics are the necessary ones to discuss with Christabell, but "Seight", "Mark", and "Carol" seem to be the most important for now.
> x coffee.(Rotating suns. Two possible destinies.)
> goodbye.
> se.
Outside the Plant (Chandler Groover)
🌲 Goal: Banish the invisible fleshy barrier blocking the hole into the plant.
> x plant.("C GN ME TS CO PO ED")
> x pigs. x cows. x chimneys. x hole.
> search pigs.(You find a bloated sheep.)
> x sheep.(Has Lorraine Cragne's eyes.)
> x belly. open belly. look in belly.
> x flies. listen to flies.(Say what isn't here.)
> enter hole.(Blocked by something cold and wet.)
> x hole. touch it. smell it.
This is difficult to guess, but what isn't here are specific letters in the plant's name. The missing letters spell out RAEAINRRAT. This is the invisible thing's name, and saying its name banishes it.
> x plant. Raeainrrat. in.
The meatpacking plant (Kenneth Pedersen)
🛴 Note that the animal needs to be cut open later.
> x hooks. x animal. open animal.(Need a cutting tool.)
> u.
Dusty office (Matthew Korson)
🌲 Goal: Learn that the Rufous Alderman's familiar is a rat.
> x window. look through window. x table.
You can find several things randomly in the junk:
> x detritus. search it. g. g. g. g. g. g.
> x thin key. take it. x rat. x nameplate.("Charles Cragne, Owner")
> x diagram. x newsprint.(Anyone who sees the Boss Rat dies.)
> x handle. x cabinet. unlock it with thin key.
> put thin key in kp. open cabinet.
> take torn notebook. x it.("Rufous Alderman")
> put torn notebook in sp. put newsprint in sp.
> d. w.
Bathroom of the Meatpacking Plant (Chris Jones)
🌲 Goal: Learn that the Mazarine Alderman's familiar is a Pontiac. What, really?
> x graffiti.("Beware Horse" "Don't use the shitter, bro!")
> x pentagram. x sink. x tap. x mirror. x urinal. x cake.
> x shower. x knob. x grate. x drain.
> turn on sink.(horrible noise instead of water)
> turn on shower.(even worse; knob is loose)
> take knob.
Taking the knob triggers events. Your next two actions will be ignored.
> z. z.
A horrible boneless horse thing has emerged from the pipes!
> enter stall.
Bathroom of the Meatpacking Plant (Chris Jones) (in the stall)
> close stall.(You're safe for now, but trapped.)
> x sign.
> x Juggs. read it. take handwritten note. read it.
> x candle. take it. x grab bar. x toilet. x water.
> x edge. x graffiti. x cabinet. open it.
> x lighter. x Pepto. x knife. take all from cabinet.
> open closet.(locked)
> put candle in pentagram. light it.
Now the pentagram is glowing with blue flame, and something is glowing in the toilet stall.
> flush toilet.(Can't: the handle is missing.)
> put knob on toilet. sit on toilet. flush toilet.
You travel lightyears to another bathroom stall?
Bathroom of the... Meatpacking... Plant? (Chris Jones) (on the toilet (in space)) (in the stall (in space)) (in the terrifying void full of alien stars (aka "space"))
> x scroll. take it.
> x blue journal. take it.(It's locked, so you can't read it yet.)
> x baby names. take it. read it.
> x phonograph. x wax.
> crank phonograph.("We Built This City" by Starship)
> x fireplace. x logs. x hearth.
> x planetoid. x spires. x flying things.(They're flying towards you!)
> x corpses.(One corpse is "Ed" and has a pair of keys.)
> take Ed's keys.(Attached to his coveralls.)
> take coveralls. x Ed. x coveralls.
> x car.(It's making soft horse noises.)
> light logs.(need better kindling)
> light baby book. put it in fireplace.
> put wax on hearth.(It melts into a lump.)
> take wax. sculpt wax lump into horse.
> flush toilet.(You travel back to...)
Bathroom of the Meatpacking Plant
> unlock closet with Ed's keys. open closet.
> x fur coat. x foot candle. take all from closet.
Let's swap candles in the pentagram.
> take hand candle.
> put foot candle in pentagram. light it.
> flush toilet.(Now you travel to...)
Bathroom of the Meatpacking Plant, Lower Cambrian Era (Chris Jones)
> x Ed's journal. read it.
> unlock blue journal with Konstantin's keys.
Take a deep breath. This journal is a long one.
> read it. g. g. g. g. g.
> g. g. g. g. g.
> g. g. g. g. g.
> g. g. g. g. g.
Now for some unorthodox mixology.
> x Dew. take it.
> x trilobites. milk trilobite into Dew.
> pour Pepto into Dew. x potion.
> flush toilet.
Bathroom of the Meatpacking Plant
This walkthrough will send the boneless horse to the space bathroom, but feel free to send it to the Cambrian Era if you prefer.
> take foot. put hand on pentagram.
> put wax horse on pentagram.
> drink potion. wave fur coat.
> put Juggs on pentagram.
> sacrifice Juggs with athame.
> outerica.
You lose the athame, scroll, lighter, both candles in the vortex.
Wrecked Bathroom of the Meatpacking Plant
The boneless horse is stuck in the toilet.
> flush toilet.
The horse is flushed. The toilet spits out something before turning inside-out and vanishing.
> look. x hole. enter hole.
> e.
Meanwhile: The horse falls towards the fungal planet. First contact with a new species!
Well, unless you sent the horse to the Lower Cambrian Era instead, in which case Texas "Tex" Arnoldson and Su-Lin "Sue" Mai argue about their new specimen, goldarnit.
The meatpacking plant (Kenneth Pedersen)
> put coveralls in kp.
> put blue journal in sp.
> put Pepto in tp.
> out. nw. n.
Front Walk (Matt Weiner)
🌫️ Nothing needs to be done here.
> x manor. x porch. x post. x path. x driveway.
> x manikin. x bonnet. x skirt.
> ne.
Cragne Family Plot (Mark Britton)
🌲 Goal: Obtain the The Lives of the Roman Emperors book. 🛴 Come back later to open the crypt.
Don't worry about the Latin; you don't need to translate any of it.
> x tombstones. x crypt. x door.("Mors ultima linea rerum est.")
> x northern columbarium.
> x southern columbarium.("MEDIA VITA IN MORTE SUMUS")
> x western columbarium.
> x eastern columbarium.("O homines ad servitutem paratos!")
> x flowers. x urn. x grave. x blank.
> x collapsed.("Zadie Cragne, 1829")
> x teetering.(Quotation is from Genesis 3:19.)
Three of columbariums contain urns, and one of the urns at random contains a key.
> look in southern.(empty)
> open northern. x bronze urn. take it. open it.
> open eastern. x silver urn. take it. open it.
> open western. x copper urn. take it. open it.
> take key from an urn.
Now to explore the flooded grave. You'll need at least one of the urns to bail the water with.
CAREFUL: The grave will collapse and reflood pretty quickly. Don't stay in the grave longer than absolutely necessary!
> search grave. enter grave.(You'll need another way down.)
> bail grave. g. d.
> dig west. take pewter box. u.
> open box.(Locked. The grave collapses.)
> unlock box with key from an urn.
> put key from an urn in kp.
> open box. take Lives. put box in tp.
> x Lives. read Lives. put Lives in bp.
> drop all urn.
> nw.
The Cragne Manor's Back Garden (Austin Auclair)
🌲 Goal: Unlock the shed.
> x ivy. x shears. x fountain.
> x cherub. x feet. x drain. x key.
> x birdbath. x inscribed stone. x pond.
> x vines.(Refer to what vine is wrapped around instead.)
> x shed. x padlock. x shelf. x vinegar. take it.
> pour vinegar on ivy. take shears. put jug in tp.
> cut pond. x pond. x remains.
> take screwdriver. x it.
> unscrew drain.(You obtain the bronze key.)
> put screwdriver in tp.
> cut shed. cut fountain. put shears in tp.
> unlock padlock with bronze key. put key in kp.
> in.
The Shambolic Shack (Michael Fessler)
🌲 Goal: Obtain a hefty iron key. 🛴 Come back later to deal with the creature in the barrow.
CAUTION: Don't handle the gloves more than necessary.
> x window. x shelving. x gloves.
> x wheelbarrow. x soil.(Something alive is in there.)
> take gloves. take iron key. x it.
> wear gloves. search soil. remove gloves.
Your hands are itching.
> x bottle. spray hands. drop gloves.
> search soil.(Lure it out with a snack?)
> put bottle in tp. put iron key in mp.
This key is for the hatch under the bridge. Let's go and use it.
> out. se. sw.
Front Walk (Matt Weiner)
> wait for aqua line. n.
Under the Bridge (Tenth)
🌲 Goal: Unlock the hatch.
CAUTION: Before going down from here the first time, please make sure everything you have is either worn or in something you're wearing.
> unlock hatch with iron key.(jammed after a quarter-turn)
> open hatch. d.
Darkness
🛴 Can't do much here in the dark. Go northwest.
You drop everything when you enter, but you keep anything you were wearing.
CAUTION: Don't stay in the darkness too long. Don't go north from here. Ignore the "woman" if and when you can see her.
> nw.
Tunnel Entrance (Grueslayer)
🌲 Goals: Restore light to the tunnel where you fell. Open a secret passage.
Note: There's quite a lot of hidden details in this room. Examine everything carefully.
> x brick. x ladder. x rags.(It's a sleeping hobo.)
> x hobo. x hand. open hand.
> x coat. x shoes. x corduroys.
> x wall. x hatch.(has keyhole for an Allen key)
> x opening. x altar.
> x candleholder.(Has 8 small sockets in a circle.)
> x sockets.(Now you know how to refer to them individually.)
> x girl.(early 20th century or older.)
> x flask. take it. open it. smell it.
Give the open flask to the hobo, but don't take the Allen key right away! Wait for him to fall asleep again and then take the key.
> give flask to hobo.(He drops the key.)
> look. x Allen key. z.(He's asleep again.)
> take Allen key. unlock hatch with Allen key.
> open hatch.(using the Allen key as a handle)
Note that the fuse positions, and therefore the corresponding candle sockets to use in the altar, are randomized.
> x fuse box.(8 screw holes in 3×3 grid.)
> x badge. x switch. turn it on.
> x first candle. x second candle. x mallet.
> take all from niche.
> put first candle in FIRST-FUSE-POSITION socket.
> put second candle in SECOND-FUSE-POSITION socket.
The altar, and the picture of the girl, should now be better lit.
> x altar. x girl.("CEECEE")
> x bricks. hit bricks with mallet.
> x brick.(They're the first brick to seventh brick.)
Play C-E-E-C-E-E on the brick-o-phone:
> hit first brick with mallet.("C")
> hit third brick with mallet.("E")g.("E")
> hit first brick with mallet.("C")
> hit third brick with mallet.("E")g.("E")
The brick wall, including much of the altar, moves, with black hole to northeast.
> put Allen key in kp. put mallet in tp.
> ne.
Small Chamber (Grueslayer)
🌲 Goal: Obtain the ANCHORHEAD paperback.
> x crates.(one large, one small, one medium)
You can ignore the large crate's contents if you must, but wouldn't you like some music while you work?
> x large crate. look in it.
> x phonograph. turn crank. take phonograph.
> x horn. take it. put horn on phonograph.
> look in large crate. take record. x it. read red label.
> put record on phonograph.
The contents of the small and medium crates are more important.
> x small crate. x padlock.(Its knob goes from 0 to 9.)
> x medium crate. open it.
Note that the newspaper is dated July 31, 1920, and that one article is edited to suggest that Ceecee died 10 months and 24 days before this date.
> x old newspaper. read it. g. g. g. g. g. g.
This is nearly impossible to figure out, but the combination to the padlock is the date of Ceecee's death, and the date format you want is MDYY. Ceecee died on Sept 7, 1919, therefore the combo is 9719.
> turn knob to 9. turn knob to 7. turn knob to 1. turn knob to 9.
> open small crate. take old paperback. x it. read it.
Your haunting spark has become a haunting well-dressed man.
> x man.
> put paperback in bp. put newspaper in tp.
> sw. u.
Basement (Sean M. Shore)
🛴 Optional: Listen to samples of all the tapes. Come back later to listen to a specific section of a specific tape.
> x rug. cut rug.
> x mannequin. x eye.(It wants blood.)
> x gold jacket.("Century 21 Real Estate")
> x lamp. x TV.
> x counter.(1453)x tapes.(from 8 to 13)
> x clothes. search clothes.(can't quite do it)
> cut me.(Your blood turns the eye into a socket.)
> plug in VCR.
You don't have to play all the tapes, but sampling each one doesn't take that long. Tape 13 is this room's author thanking Jenni, Ryan, Mike Gentry, and his beta-testers.
> play tape 8. push eject.
> play tape 9. push eject.
> play tape 10. push eject.
> play tape 11. push eject.
> play tape 12. push eject.
> play tape 13. push eject.
> u.
Tiny Windowless Office (Llew Mason)
🌲 Goals: Obtain the key to the manor. Learn that the Niveous Alderman's familiar is a wolverine. 🛴 Unlock the door later.
> x note.(To Peter from Daniel Baker)
> x desk. x papers. take large key. x it.(3-something)
> take package. x it. open it. x box.
> x panels.(bird, camel, toad, and snake)
> x buttons.(large flat, circle, vertical line, V-shape, Y-shape, and X-shape)
> x door.(locked)
To open the ornate metallic box, note that each animal has a different number of legs. Also, the shapes on the buttons are suggestive of the numbers from 0 through 4: a circle has no straight lines, the vertical line has one, the V-shape has two, the Y-shape has three, and the X-shape has 4.
So it's just a matter of pushing the appropriate number for each animal's legs, and finish with the large flat button to conclude the sequence like an ENTER key:
> push V. push X. push Y. push circle. push flat. open box.
You drop the box when silverfish spill out!
> take leather book. x it.
> read it.("Journal of Luther Cragne")
> x cover.(It's a wolverine.)
> read book. g. g. g. g. g. g. g. g.
> put brass key in mp.
> put book in sp.
> put Baker's note in tp. put box in tp.
Head back down:
> d. d. se.
Subterranean tunnel (Drew M)
CAUTION: Don't approach the woman. If you dropped stuff here earlier, pick it up!
> x woman.(She's filthy.)
> e.(tunnel door is locked)
> x tunnel door.
Head back to the manor:
> u. s. wait for purple line. n.
Mudroom (Matt Weiner)
🌲 Goals: Take the teapot. Unlock the front door.
> x teapot.("Jane Cragne")
> take teapot.
> x table. x mat. x slippers. x boot.
> x door. x numbers. x plate. knock on door. open door.(locked)
> look through keyhole.
> x calfskin coat. x pockets.
CAUTION: Don't wear the cloak nor handle it too long.
> x hook. x shadow. take cloak.(reveals 2nd boot)
> x cloak. put cloak on hook.(Hands were getting numb.)
> x mate. search mate. x slip.("Inspected by Number 8")
> unlock door with brass key. put brass key in kp.
> put teapot in mp.
> put slip in tp.
> i. x clogs. clean clogs. pull mat. clean clogs.
> n.
Foyer (Greg Frost)
🌫️ Optional: Find a pendant. Leave and return many many times until you can see Andromeda.
The first time you're in the foyer, it's morning. Time may progress in the foyer with each time you re-enter it until it's very late at night.
> x tracks. x windows. x floor. x scratches.
> x wall. x moulding. x furniture. x half-round window.
> follow tracks. x door.
The pendant is a mystery item. I don't know what it's for, if anything. You can't wear it.
> x dust. x dark line.
> take pendant. x it. put it in hp.
> w.
Court (Ryan Veeder)
🌟 Goal: Just take the key to the crypt for now. Deal with the figurines much later.
> x white key. put it in mp.
> x window. x boiseries.
> x case.(Contains 17 figurines.)
> x pedestals.(In 12 different shades, mostly yellow.)
> x monolith.
> x coffee.(Web of lightning! The coffee can't help you here.)
> e. e.
Gallery (YerrikTRB/Erica Newman)
🌲 Goal: Unblock the way north.
While in this room, your usual inventory is unimportant and unlisted.
> x paintings.(Which? Birds, meat, or child?)
> x birds. g. g. g.
> x meat. g.
> x child. g. g.(The child looks like you!)
> x photograph.(abstract)
> x furniture.(Which? Fainting couch, credenza, or standing chest?)
> x couch. x credenza. x porcelain. x chest. x liquor.
> x mirror. x mirror shard. take it.
> take strip.("The answer is inside you")
There's a few different solutions, but this is quick:
> cut child.(Chaos! Everything breaks!)
> x child.
> cut photograph.(You find a counterfeit Warhol underneath.)
> n.
Rec Room (Zack Johnson)
🛴 Unlock the cabinet later.
Your normal inventory is back.
> put mirror shard in tp.
> x pool. x TV. x chair. x cabinets. x board games.
> open cabinet.(locked)
> e.
The Music Room (Wade Clarke)
🌲 Goal: Learn that the Xanthic Alderman's familiar is a peregrine.
Francine Cragne's voice welcomes you to learn about music.
> x chandeliers. x symbol. x podium.
> c. plus.
You now appear to be in…
Living RoomCrimson Plus
For this scene, just answer the phone after it starts ringing.
> x telephone.(It starts ringing.)
> answer phone.
> plus. minus.
Girl's bedroomCrimson Minus
For this scene, just look at things and wait until it ends.
> x girl. x paper.(too far)
> z.(You're too stunned to act.)
The girl makes herself vomit onto the picture.
> x tape recorder.(connected by wire to a suspended triangle)
The girl asks you, "Are you still there?"
> z.
The girl starts a new chant and tosses a paper plane out the window. Then someone enters, the music stops, and you're back in the music room.
> SPACE
The Music Room (Wade Clarke)
> c. lfo.
L'oreilleCrimson LFO
Can't do much here yet but find a spot on the wall.
> x scratches.("VAADIGNEPHOD WAS HERE '82")
> x tube. look in tube. x spot.
You hear a voice, but the other noises here distract your ears.
> x hole. x grill.
> minus.
Basement (Francine's)Crimson Minus LFO
> read clipping.(about a serial decapitator)
> x sheets. read first page. read second page.
> x chest. open it. take object. take Abril.
> look in bag. take something. x ring. close chest.
You can take the clipping, but you don't need it. You're unwilling to take the head out of the chest. And you'll be unable to take the diary pages from this room.
> minus. plus.
PlaygroundCrimson Plus LFO
> x seesaw. push it. x hinge. x chalk. take chalk.
> x t-bars. x handles.
> read seesaw note.("THE TREES")
> x trees.(A boy steps out.)
For the next several turns, the boy will somehow whisper things into your ear from a distance. He tells you they are bringing a circle and ears from the far place and how to get them.
> x boy. z. z. z. z. z. z.
> x seesaw note.(The note now has the instructions on it.)
> lfo.
Living RoomCrimson Plus
It's now night. Follow the seesaw note's instructions for the ears:
> say Francine. take phone. g. g.(A small black box arrives.)
> take box. x it. open it. x earrings.(They're earplugs.)
> wear earplugs.
> minus.
Club BackstageCrimson Plus Minus
> x gig poster.
> x clipping. read it.(Francine was charged with assault.)
> x wanted woman.(for Francine C.)
> x wanted man.(for Ted Bundy)
> x photograph.(Francine seconds after the posed wanted poster image taken.)
Take a closer look at the gig poster and follow the seesaw note's instructions for the circle:
> x gig poster. x mountaineers.(You acquire a ring.)
> x far place ring.
> plus.
Teen girl's bedroom (in the closet)Crimson Minus
> give chalk to boy.
She uses the chalk to stop the earthquake. They leave, dropping the chalk.
> out.
Francine's bedroomCrimson Minus
> take chalk. x circle.
> open window.(A paper plane flies in.)
> take plane. open it.(It's now a drawing.)
> x drawing.(Female corpse. Circle drawn around it. Two rings on the fingers.)
> x bed. x keyboard. x books. x closet. x pentagram.
> minus. lfo.
L'oreilleCrimson LFO
Listen to the spot while wearing the earplugs; Francine is the Xanthic Alderman:
> listen to spot. g. g. g. g. g. g. g.
> plus. minus.
ForestlandCrimson Plus Minus LFO
> x woman. x moon. x trees. x blood. x sweater.
> x stomach.("FUCK YOU")x hand.
Recreate the scene on the child's drawing:
> put Abril's ring on hand.
> put far ring on hand.
> draw circle(with chalk).
Events happen. The drawing burns.
A living Francine, now wearing the rings, leaves the headless Francine behind.
> SPACE
You're now back in…
The Music Room
Francine thanks you. She tells you her familiar was seen at her first grave. A paper plane arrives.
> x plane. open it. read report.
It's a police report on Francine's murder. A peregrine led fishermen to the body.
> put report in sp. remove earplugs.
> put piece chalk, earplugs, black box, seesaw note in tp.
> w. s. w. n.
Landing at the Bottom of Stairs (Mark Sample)
🌲 Goal: Obtain the De Zeven Testamenten book.
> x wedding ring. g. x window.
> x bookshelf. x frames. x mold.
> climb bookshelf. x window. x pines. x window. g. g.
> stand.(The bookshelf collapses, and the floor cracks as you land.)
> x floor. x alcove. x thing.(Need to take it.)
> take thing. x tentacle. drop it.(Do not eat it.)
> look in alcove. take thin volume.
> x volume.("De Zeven Testamenten van de Krijsende Zeeworm")
> read it.(The ghost man frosts the insignia.)
> put it in bp.
> u.
Top of Stairs (Q. Pheevr)
🌲 Goal: Obtain the Venator in Tenebris book.
> x clock. x sink. x cabinet. x scratches.
> open cabinet. take pink book.
> x it.("Venator in Tenebris", a library book)
> x footnote.(Author offers apologies to a hooligan and a metal cup-holder.)
> save
> read pink book.
Are you sure you want to read it? yes —or— no.
If you answer yes, you enter the Limestone Caverns, and you play an optional mini-game of reverse-Wumpus, where you are the monster and the caves are in a cube arrangement instead of a icosahedron. The mini-game ends when either you or the adventurer is killed.
Regardless of your choices, the ghost man frosts the book when you finish reading.
Unfortunately, if you did decide to read and are killed in the book, you drop the pink book when the story ends, and the story immediately restarts when you pick it up again. So you must win the mini-game in order to keep the pink book.
Limestone Caverns (inside the pink-bound book) (several locations)
I can't really give you advice on how to win this one. Just go in valid directions until you win or lose.
By the way, you can eat any bats that fly into your location.
> DIRECTION.(Repeat until you win or lose.)
Top of Stairs (Q. Pheevr)
I'll assume you won the mini-game.
By the way, sometimes you may hear voices in the plumbing. And if you're here when the clock reaches the top of an hour, you'll see a spectral cuckoo fly out of the clock to announce the time.
> put pink book in bp.
> turn on sink.(No water.)
> e.
Upstairs Hall, north end (Jason Love)
🛴 You can't open the armoire or east door yet.
Events seem to progress here on their own, but it's unclear what actions trigger them. I thought leaving and returning here would be sufficient, but that doesn't seem to be the case.
After two turns here the first time, you hear a pounding at the front door downstairs. The knocking stops a couple turns later.
> x armoire. x bench. x bricks.
> e.(The door is locked.)
> n.(A blonde kindergartner, Carol, blocks you.)
Carol mentions several topics: Naomi, immigrant, Daddy, communists, Carol, tea party.
> n.(She's out of "Scope". Ha.)
Take the teapot out of your backpack and try again:
> take teapot. n.
Nursery (Ben Collins-Sussman)
☀️☀️ Talk to Carol, part one: the tea party.
> x Carol.(She's dressed like Alice in Wonderland.)
Carol tells you to say "bottoms-up" to begin the tea party. If you don't do that in the next five turns, she'll instruct her toys to start putting your inventory items into the Maw of Unthinkable Nothingness until you comply, so perhaps it's best to comply right away.
> bottoms-up.
The cups all drain. You, Carol, and a book over the desk glow briefly. Carol hands the teapot to you for the second cup.
> pour tea.(Wrong! Christabell said it's not about substance, but shadow.)
It's now safe to look about a bit and ask Carol about many topics.
> ask Carol about Christabell.(Carol says she's also a spirit.)
> x animals.(elephant, monkey, clown, lamb, others watching)
> x elephant.(Mister Snortles)
> x monkey.(Young Master Sweetpaws.)
> x clown.(Malice the Clown.)
> x lamb.(Misses Winkelbottom.)
> x book.("Carol's Scrapbook". closed. glows faintly)
> a teapot.(It's grand-uncle's)
> a grand-uncle.(Only Deep Ones should not be named.)
> a Deep Ones.(Like squid but huge. Dad talks to them.)
> a dad.(Hugo. An engineer who builds boats.)
> a mom.(Joan. She hosts a lot of parties.)
> a tea party.(When she's tired or fading, a tea party fixes it.)
> a me.(You can see her, so she likes you.)
> a boat.(Dad does math for submarines.)
> a America. a immigrant. a communist. a job. a poor.
> a lamb. a clown. a monkey. a elephant.
> a bottoms-up. a Christabell.
> a mark.(for protection and magic later)
> a Cragnes. a scrapbook.
> read scrapbook.(three clippings)
> read shark attack.
> read actress disappears.
> read body found.
> a New London.(Close to house in Stonington.)
> a Stonington.(It's in Connecticut where mom and dad live.)
We seem to be running out of topics, so let's have more tea:
> bottoms-up.(Carol, book, and you glow again.)
> read scrapbook.(New clipping: Watery Fate for Convict.)
> x oven. x apron. x cabinets. x record player. x record.
> a death.(She doesn't know how she died.)
> turn on record player.(It's not really there. Carol giggles.)
> a Mattanit.(She says he has goat feet.)
> a Vermont. a school. a Connecticut.
The tea party will end soon after your third cup of tea:
> bottoms-up.(You're sparking and casting shadows. Scrapbook pulses.)
> read scrapbook. read boat wreck.
> z.
Carol thanks you and suddenly you're out in the hallway.
Upstairs Hall, north end (Jason Love)
> put teapot in tp.
> n.
Carol's Room (Ben Collins-Sussman)
Signs say Carol is napping, Come back later, signed Victor Cragne.
> s. s.
Hallway South (Matt Schneider)
🌲 Goal: Obtain the Pataphyscial Approaches to Quantum Superfluids book.
> x pen. x carpet. x wallpaper. x hole.
> put pen in hp. x door. open hole. enter hole.
A Liminal Space
You're looking at some source code for the Hallway South room! This is a breaking the fourth wall joke, isn't it?
The important thing to note is that there's a typescript in the drawer of a desk that was declared scenery and therefore isn't mentioned in the room description! So the desk is there, but invisible!
> out.
Hallway South (Matt Schneider)
> x desk. open drawer. take typescript. x it.
> read typescript.(Ghost man frosts the insignia.)
After eight library books are frosted, the ghost man leaves you and heads for the drinking fountains near the town square.
> put typescript in bp.
> s.(The wooden door is locked.)
> w.
Study (Ian Holmes)
💰 Grab the key to the basement.
CAUTION: Staying in this room too long is deadly boring.
> x desk.(framed photograph, notepad; rusty iron key on bookshelf.)
> take rusty key. put rusty key in mp.
> x photograph. x notepad. x books. x bodies. x drapes.
> x shelves. x snowglobe. take it. put it in hp.
> e. e.
Library (Mike Spivey)
🌲 Obtain the Legends of Lake Champlain book.
> x painting. take painting.(safe revealed)
> put painting in tp.
> x safe.(Need to dial three numbers from 1 to 60.)
> x books. x paperbacks.(All named after Star Wars locations.)
> x Alderaan. x Tatooine 1. read it.(A key falls out.)
> take key.(It's a small desk key.)
> x desk. unlock desk with desk key. put desk key in kp.
> open desk. take scrap. read scrap.
The scrap says "ABRD" and three randomized numbers separated by hyphens.
> x podium. x digits.("A Billion Random Digits")
CAUTION: Reading the tome itself will drive you insane. By the way, it's based on a real book: A Million Random Digits.
> read back blurb.
Obviously, "ABRD" refers to this tome, and the numbers on the scrap are three page numbers you need to study. Each page in the tome has a different circled number on it.
> study page FIRST-PAGE-NUMBER.(Note the circled number.)
> study page SECOND-PAGE-NUMBER.(Note the circled number.)
> study page THIRD-PAGE-NUMBER.(Note the circled number.)
The circled numbers are the combo to the safe:
> set dial to FIRST-CIRCLED-NUMBER.
> set dial to SECOND-CIRCLED-NUMBER.
> set dial to THIRD-CIRCLED-NUMBER.(CLICK)
> open safe. take Legends. x it. read it.
> put Legends in bp. put Tatooine 1 in bp.
> put scrap in tp.
> w. n. w. d. n.
Dining Room (Roberto Colnaghi)
🌫️ Optional: Watch the dinner party. Play with the machine afterwards.
> x calendar.(It's April 14, 1951. But it was 1996!)
> x men. z. z. z. z.
The men and their dinner items fade away.
> x table. x machine. x calendar.(April 22, 1996)
> x cutting.(From Italian magazine. photo. translation.)
> x photo.(Same machine as here.)
> read translation.
> put cutting in tp.
Using the machine is optional:
> turn machine on. x screen.(Shows manor.)
> x controls. x dial. turn dial. x totem.
> turn dial. x hill.
> turn dial. x mountain.
> turn dial. x whirl.("VAADIGNEPHOD")
> x machine.(It's broken now.)
Time to move on. I'm going to ignore the east room for a while. Go west instead.
> w.
The Kitchen (Edward B)
🌲 Goal: Unlock the door to the basement.
Exploring the wonders of this kitchen is entirely optional.
> x cabinets. open cabinets. look in cabinets. x cups. x plates.
> x counters. x spice rack.
> x snail paste. smell it. taste it.
> x saffron. smell it. taste it.
> x garlic. smell it. taste it.
> x turmeric. smell it. taste it.
> x cardamom. smell it. taste it.
> x cinnamon. smell it. taste it.
> x dill. smell it. taste it.
> x salt. smell it. taste it.
> x pepper. smell it. taste it.
> x MSG. smell it. taste it.
> x sink. x fridge. x oven. x cooktop. x gas.(at "E")
> x bookshelves.
> x Wheldrake. read it. put it in bp.
> x Zornwharf. read it. read introduction.
> x goad. x luck. x pit. x hole. x ghost.
> put Zornwharf in bp.
> x Mama Hydra's. read it. put it in bp.
The key from the Study unlocks this door.
> unlock door with small rusty key.
> open door. put small rusty key in kp.
> d.
Basement (Ivan Roth)
🌲 Goals: Obtain the sinister iron key. Find and open the hatch in the floor.
> x carpet. take toolbox. open it.
> x keys jar. take it. x screws jar. take it.
> put toolbox in tp.
> open keys jar.(Six keys inside.)
> x splintery key. put it in tp.(This key is worthless.)
> x bronze key. put it in hp.(This key is a mystery.)
> x sinister key. put it in mp.(This key is useful.)
> x blue key. put it in tp.(It melts away when you try.)
> x origami key. put it in tp.(This key is worthless.)
> x ivory key. put it in tp.(This key is dangerous!)
> open jar of screws.(It's empty.)
> put all jar in tp.
> x door. x flimsy door. x heavy door.
> move carpet. x hatch. open hatch.
> d.
Under the Basement (Ivan Roth) / Cragne Library Forbidden Annex - Under the Basement (Ivan Roth)
🌲 Goal: Obtain either Buried Tales of Old Vermont or The Conservative's Cookbook.
CAUTION: Going north from here is deadly.
> x ghost. x carvings.
> x cage. x bat. x bell. x cabinet. x tunnel.
> ask Fedwick about bat. ask Fedwick about bell.
> open cabinet.("Take a book, leave a book")
You can give a book, such as one of the kitchen's cookbooks, to Fedwick, and he'll loan you one of his books at random. But he'll want you to give his book back when you're done with it, and he won't give you your book back ever.
So, it's probably best to skip all that and have him go chase his bat and leave the cabinet unprotected.
> unlock cage with sinister key.
> open cage.(Bat and ghost leave. Ring for him if you need him.)
> put sinister key in kp.
> open cabinet.(There's 18 books inside!)
You'll take a book when you examine it. Which books you read isn't as important as reading as much as you can. Reading them in the order they are in the cabinet is as good as any.
> x Defense.(by Scott Andersen)
> read it.(boring)
> x Reign.(by Godos Atrakut)
> read it. again.("Barach'speroth Arguule" in pencil)
Let's ask Fedwick about that.
> ring bell. ask Fedwick about Arguule.(Fedwick hints about an incantation.)
> ask Fedwick about Atrakut.
After two questions, Fedwick leaves to chase his bat again.
> ring bell. ask Fedwick about Leopold.(His employer.)
> ask Fedwick about Andersen.(Fond of puns.)
And Fedwick is gone again. Read more books.
> x History.(by Frances Bansaku)
> read it.
> x Tongue.(by Noah Chaplinski)
> read it.(Unfamiliar alphabet.)
> x Red City.(by Fong)
> read it.(You learn that the incantation word must be said three times.)
> ring bell.
> ask Fedwick about Bansaku.(Died in a skiing accident.)
> ask Fedwick about Chaplinski.(He went mad at Miskatonic U.)
> ring bell.
> ask Fedwick about Fong.(which Fong?)
> ask Fedwick about Silas Fong.(Son of Irenius Fong.)
> ask Fedwick about Irenius Fong.(Sharp, but half his books are fiction.)
> x Moons.(by Dr Silas Fong)
> read it.(has facsmilies of Red City pages.)
> x Ant.(by N. W. Nightgrim)
> read it. g. g.(See the word ANGARITHEP in blood.)
That's the incantation word we need, but let's read the rest of the books anyway.
> x Liquid.(by Robert N. Ostregot)
> read it.(poem Phantasms)
> x Infinite.(by Robert N. Ostregot)
> read it.(short verse)
> x Roceau.(reference on crimes)
> read it.(random page)
> x Searcher.(by Endrew Skeinweld)
> read it.(Mention of 7-point star carving.)
> read Red City.(More about the Red Sign.)
> x Madness.(by Hiram Strangecraft)
> x seal. close cabinet. x seal. open cabinet.
> read Madness.(religious dribble)
> x Screaming.(by Hiram Strangecraft)
> read it.(unreadable)
> x Worm.(by Elizabeth P. Stashwart)
> read it.(has worm illustration)
> x Doctrine.(by Samuel W. Trail)
> read it.("Never get close to a cave-lion.")
> x Reading.(by Roberto Vasquez)
> read it.(It's in Spanish.)
> x Monolith.(by Georgi Vogot)
> read it.(Starts to spell VAAD-something.)
> x Oceans.(by Eunice Salvoni)
> read it.(purple prose overload)
Forgive me, but I want to ask Fedwick about the rest of these authors before destroying him.
> ring bell.
> ask Fedwick about Nightgrim.(Wrote many books while ill.)
> ask Fedwick about Ostregot.(Poet who died young.)
> ring bell.
> ask Fedwick about Roceau.(Never met him.)
> ask Fedwick about Skeinweld.(Vanished in the Gorogoth Caves.)
> ring bell.
> ask Fedwick about Barnabus Trail.(Hiked with Leopold.)
> ask Fedwick about Strangecraft.(Madman kept in the attic. Mentions a Dr Wagner.)
> ring bell.
> ask Fedwick about Wagner.(Ran local asylum, a natural spy.)
> ask Fedwick about Stashwart.(Researched parasites.)
> ring bell.
> ask Fedwick about Vasquez.(Met Henry Cragne in Cancun.)
> ask Fedwick about Henry Cragne.(Peter's older brother.)
> ring bell.
> ask Fedwick about Vogot.(Mentions Ana, Roberto, and Daniel Woodstock.)
> ask Fedwick about Ana.(A silly girl.)
> ring bell.
> ask Fedwick about Salvoni.(A lousy author, but some of her books sold well.)
> ask Fedwick about Woodstock.(Leopold's rival in everything.)
Time to end this:
> ring bell. Angarithep. Angarithep. Angarithep.
A tentacled horror bursts through the ghost and reaches toward you. RUN!
> u.
Basement (Ivan Roth)
This isn't safe either. Run further!
> u.
The Kitchen (Edward B)
Okay, now it's safe to return to the annex:
> d. d.
Cragne Library Forbidden Annex - Under the Basement
There's a pile of things where Fedwick was. The public library book could be one of two possible books.
> x Buried —or— x Cookbook.
> take it. read it. put it in bp.
> x vial. take it. open it. SPACE
The world vanishes are you're in a memory of Silas Fong's…
Outside Cragne Manor
Just press SPACE over and over until the memory is over. Silas's commands will be auto-entered for you.
> enter manor
Entry Hall
Leopold Cragne meets you.
> ask leopold about howling
> go up
(unknown location)
There's a fog here; the memory has been censored somehow.
> give briefcase to Cragne
> go west
Cragne Library Forbidden Annex - Under the Basement (Ivan Roth)
And the memory stops and the vial is back and re-stoppered. May I assume you don't want to carry these books everywhere?
> put vial in hp. put all books in cabinet.(which?)all.
> u. n.
Cold Storage Room (Jeremy Freese)
🌲 Goal: Learn that the Griseous Alderman's familiar is a cat.
> x thing. take thing.(Everything changes.)
> x eyeball.
> x satchel. take it. open it.
> x garment.(You take it; it's a robe.)
> x robe. x label.(Medium women's robe by Dunwich Fibernetics)
> x cloth.(It's a lobster bib.)
> x tag.(also by Dunwich)
> x papers. x clippings. g. g. g. g.
> x wallpaper. x drawings.(Over a hundred stars with eyes.)
> touch eyeball.(A squid shoots out, burning a hole in the wall.)
> x hole. x nail.
Do you recognize the puzzle yet? This is the babel fish puzzle from Infocom's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, except instead of a vending machine, we have a giant eyeball.
> put robe on nail.(You hear two men through the hole.)
> touch eyeball.(Squid slides off robe and through floor, leaving a rift.)
> x rift. put bib on rift.
> touch eyeball.(Little Nifty, a cat, grabs the squid and leaves by a catflap.)
> x catflap. put satchel in front of catflap.
> touch eyeball.(This time, the cat turns into a bat after hitting the satchel, and flies through an opening in the ceiling.)
> x opening. put clippings on satchel.
> touch eyeball.
The squid hits you in the eye and pulls out your eyeball! The room, now back to normal, and the glyphs make more sense.
> x glyphs.
> s.(You think about the thing Aunt Mavis gave you.)
> s.(You leave it behind.)
Basement (Ivan Roth)
> w.
Wine Cellar (Nathaniel Edwards)
🌲 Goals: Obtain the red key. Unblock the way west.
Feel free to drink any or all of the wine from the bottles before breaking them, but wine-drinking isn't required here.
> x rack. x cask. x tap. move cask.(You can't)
> x Piccoli. x Prurito. x Lettera. x Isole. x Testa.
> turn tap. turn tap. move cask.
> break Testa. x red key. put it in mp.
Skip what's west from here for now, and instead, head back east:
> e. e.
Pantry (Chris Conley)
🛴 Can't do much here yet.
CAUTION: Don't search here until you know what to look for; the game can crash.
> x roots. x pumpkin. x flies.
> x shelves.(Organized by size, shape, container material.)
> x cans. x jars. x jugs.
> e.
Workroom (Andrew Plotkin)
🌲 Goal: Obtain The Seven Gaunts book.
> about.(This room is a standalone puzzle and uses special commands.)
> x runes. x cabinet. x mirror.
> read delivery note.(Anax Cragne bought the mirror from Ladoro Feraud.)
> x black disk.
> look up Anax.(Learn about the ritual bound, and the words IA and ZOK to begin and end a spell ritual.)
> look up Ladoro.(Word of Enlightenment is KHION.)
> ia. khion.
> x cabinet.(See the name "Francois Crane" on a paper behind a drawer.)
> zok.
> look up Francois Crane.(Word of Winter is IRNATH.)
You also learn to "Seek the Temple of the Flame and beneath a Blood Moon speak the Unnameable Name", but you've got to learn a lot more before that happens.
> ia. irnath. x mirror. khion.
> x mirror.(You briefly see Gretel Aschar, who seals your mirror.)
> zok.
> look up Gretel Aschar.(Word of Invoation is ULNUR. New name: Morovor.)
> look up Morovor.(Word of Summer is MALETH.)
> ia. ulnur. khion. listen.("Jennever" is repeated.)
> zok.
> look up Jennever.(Jennever Cragne was a summoner.)
She suggests using High Summer and Full Moon for invoking nurturing spirits, and the opposite for invoking a Spirit of Intellect. That would be a New Moon at Winter. Let's try that one first:
> push ring. again.
> x disk.(Now completely black, it represents a new moon.)
> ia. irnath. ulnur.(A spirit is summoned.)
> x spirit.(You learn the name Kteh Nyare.)
> zok.
> look up Kteh Nyare.(Repeat a Word to amplify it.)
Now try Jennever's other combo, Full Moon and High Summer:
> pull ring. g. g. g.(A full moon is all white.)
> ia. maleth. ulnur.(There's a sweet scent from cabinet.)
> x presence.(An orchid bloom points to "Margreth Cragne".)
> zok.
> look up Margreth.
You learn detailed instructions on how to scry someone who doesn't want to be watched, such as Gretel Aschar. Note we need to start with a full moon, and we already have that.
> ia. irnath. irnath. khion. polish mirror.
> push ring. g. g. g.(New moon showing.)
> maleth. x mirror.(Gretel angrily tells you about Ersebet.)
> zok.
> look up Ersebet.(The Trance Word is VULLE.)
> ia. vulle.(You enter a visionary realm…)
The Garden (Andrew Plotkin)
> x topiary. x flowerbeds. x hedge. x sky.
> ulnur. listen.(You hear something vague.)
> khion. listen.(You hear the name "Malford".)
> zok.
Workroom (Andrew Plotkin)
> look up Malford.(You find a Chaos diagram, but it's missing three glyphs.)
> look up Zarf.(heh)
Try entering a vision when the workroom is cold:
> ia. irnath. vulle.
Glacial Cirque (Andrew Plotkin)
No moon visible.
> ulnur. khion. x pattern.("Shireen Vega was here.")
> zok.
Workroom (Andrew Plotkin)
> look up Shireen.(You find an aspect chart.)
Shireen describes two very different recipes. Let's try the first one: Under a gibbous moon, enter a summer trance, and cast invocation and enlightenment there:
> pull ring. g. g.(gibbous moon)
> ia. maleth. vulle.
Jungle Ruin (Andrew Plotkin)
> x boles. x wall.
> ulnur. khion. x glyph.(One of the three missing glyphs.)
> zok.
Workroom (Andrew Plotkin)
Now try Shireen's second recipe: Under a crescent moon, enter a winter trance, and cast invocation twice there.
> push ring. g.(crescent moon)
> ia. irnath. vulle.
Glacial Cirque (Andrew Plotkin)
> ulnur. khion. x constellation.(A second glyph found.)
> x ice.(Hm. Can we melt that?)
> maleth.(A slab is revealed)
> x slab.(3rd glyph found.)
> zok.
Workroom (Andrew Plotkin)
> look up Malford.(The Word of Chaos is OGGOTH.)
> ia. oggoth.(A knob below the sphere is revealed.)
> zok.
> x knob. turn knob.(Moon becomes red. Leave it there.)
What if we enter a chaos realm?
> ia. oggoth. vulle.
Ruined Garden (Andrew Plotkin)
> x lake. irnath.(The lake freezes.)
> x lake. s. s.
Island (Andrew Plotkin)
> x stairway.
> maleth.(The ice melts.)
> maleth.(The water evaporates.)
> e.
Lakebed Temple (Andrew Plotkin)
> x dais.(It's a ritual bound!)
> x scrap.(You learn the name Arne Cragnessum.)
> zok.
Workroom (Andrew Plotkin)
> look up Arne.
You learn that the Unnameable King is entombed in stone in the Summerlands:
> ia. maleth. vulle.
Jungle Ruin (Andrew Plotkin)
> oggoth.(A coffin is revealed.)
> x coffin.(You learn the Unnameable Name.)
> zok.
Workroom (Andrew Plotkin)
Return to the temple.
> ia. oggoth. vulle.
Ruined Garden (Andrew Plotkin)
> irnath. s. s. maleth. maleth. e.
Lakebed Temple (Andrew Plotkin)
Remember, Francois said the moon needs to be red for this ritual.
> ia.(The bound doesn't respond.)
> unnameable. vulle.(You enter a deeper realm.)
Stairway (Andrew Plotkin)
> i. x ornate silver key.
> e.
Bottom of Stairs (Andrew Plotkin)
What this door looks like can vary.
> unlock door with key. e.
Workroom (Andrew Plotkin)
> x me. i.(nothing)
> x book.("The Seven Gaunts" by Henry Galtmice, a library book.)
> take book.
> x cabinet. open it.(It's empty.)
> put book in cabinet.(filed under G for Galtmice)
> zok. zok.
Workroom (Andrew Plotkin)
> look up Galtmice.(You acquire the real book.)
> read Gaunts.
> put Gaunts in bp. put note in tp.
> w. w. s.
Boiler Room (Eric W. Brown)
🌲 Goal: Obtain the New England and the Bavarian Illuminati book.
First, look around and grab any free items.
> x boiler. x pipes.
> x keypunch.(Has card slot, hex keypad to set 8 digits, pullable handle.)
> x keypad.(0 to 9, A to F)
> x column. x diagram.
> x outlet.(for 2-prong plugs)
> x cage.(3 bulbs: green, yellow, red; receptacle, power cord)
> x window. look in cage. x cage receptacle.
> x door. x wire.
> x engine. x engine receptacle. x engine cable.
> x stabilizer.
> x table.(panel, drawer, list)
> x panel.(power gauge; card slot; round on/off button)
> x list. read list.
> open drawer. take all from drawer.
> x journal. x C353F128 card. x blank card.
> x painting. flip painting. x symbol.
> x hole.(space below, can enter it)
> x shelf.(high above the table)
> get on table. x shelf.(3 blank cards and can of salt)
> x salt. take all from shelf. stand.
> x light.(pull string to turn it on and off)
Now read everything you can from the journal. Likely topics are indicated by beginning with a capital letter in the journal's text.
> read journal.(many topics suggested)
> consult journal about system.
> consult journal about cage.
> consult journal about precautions.
> consult journal about Elder Sign.
> consult journal about control panel.
> consult journal about overlay engine.
> consult journal about stabilizer.
> consult journal about Kadath.(Hex code 59D8FE74)
> consult journal about Yuggoth.(Hex code 923647F1)
> consult journal about swamps.(Hex code AE9B711D)
> consult journal about differences.
> consult journal about Esperantujo.
> consult journal about mankind.(or truth)
> consult journal about alien.(or others)
> consult journal about Cthulhu.(Hex code 880A5D23)
> consult journal about war.
> consult journal about dangers.
> consult journal about Cragne.
> consult journal about men.(Mentions a secret cache of treasures!)
> consult journal about Stauffer.
> consult journal about work.
> consult journal about birthright.
> consult journal about secret cache.("inanimate cow flesh")
That last part is important, but now it's time to connect up all this equipment.
> close door.(if it's open.)
> connect panel cable to engine.
> connect engine cable to cage.
> connect stabilizer cable to cage.
> connect panel cord to outlet.
> connect cage cord to outlet.
> pour salt on floor.(as a precaution)
Now it's time to choose a punchcard to use. Sadly, I have to tell you that all of the hexcodes you've got pre-punched or read about in the journal aren't going to help you any, although several are interesting.
Instead, you need to guess what hex code could mean "inaminate cow flesh", and make a card with that code:
> put blank card in keypunch.
> set keypunch to DEADBEEF. pull handle.
> take DEADBEEF card.
> put DEADBEEF card in panel slot.
And now turn everything on:
> turn on panel.
> turn on stabilizer.
> x lights.(green bulb lit: that's good)
> x window.(another room is in the cage)
> open door. enter cage.
The overlaid space (at DEADBEEF)
This book is all you need from the boiler room.
> take all from table.
> x New England. read it. g. g. g. g. put it in bp.
> x golden apple. put it in hp.
> out.
Boiler Room (Eric W. Brown)
You can, of course, optionally try to visit or view the other realms, but most of them are deadly or dangerous in some way.
> turn off stabilizer. turn off panel.
> take DEADBEEF card.
Just for fun, let's make cards for Kadath, Yuggoth, and Cthulhu, and then we'll just try all the cards in numerical order.
> put blank card in keypunch.
> set keypunch to 59D8FE74. pull handle.
> take card from keypunch slot.
> put blank card in keypunch.
> set keypunch to 923647F1. pull handle.
> take card from keypunch slot.
> put blank card in keypunch.
> set keypunch to 880A5D23. pull handle.
> take card from keypunch slot.
First up: 00A02209.
> close door. put 00A02209 card in panel.
> turn on panel. turn on stabilizer.
> x window.(You see a bog.)
> x lights.(Green bulb is lit.)
> open door.(A giant slug emerges, but retreats because of the salt.)
It's not safe to even look at the slug.
> close door. turn off stabilizer.
> turn off panel. take card from panel slot.
Second: 0B46E931.
> put 0B46E931 card in panel.
> turn on panel. turn on stabilizer.
> x window.(You see a desert with an inhuman pyramid.)
> x lights.(Green bulb is lit.)
> open door. enter cage.
The overlaid space (at 0B46E931)
A lizard man picks up some javelins! He is hostile and doesn't speak English. LEAVE IMMEDIATELY or you are dead.
> out.
Boiler Room (Eric W. Brown)
> close door. turn off stabilizer.
> turn off panel. take card from panel slot.
Third: 59D8FE74, Kadath.
> put 59D8FE74 card in panel.
> turn on panel. turn on stabilizer.
> x window.(Icy waste near granite city.)
> x lights.(Green bulb is lit.)
> open door. enter cage.
The overlaid space (at 59D8FE74, Kadath)
> x city.(It's too far away and you can't approach it.)
There's nothing to do here. Sorry.
> out.
Boiler Room (Eric W. Brown)
> close door. turn off stabilizer.
> turn off panel. take card from panel slot.
Fourth: 880A5D23, Cthulhu.
> put 880A5D23 card in panel.
> turn on panel. turn on stabilizer.
> x window.(Underwater.)
> x lights.(Red bulb is lit.)
Opening the door will flood the manor and kill you, so don't do that.
> turn off stabilizer. turn off panel.
> take card from panel slot.
Fifth: 923647F1, Yuggoth.
> put 923647F1 card in panel.
> turn on panel. turn on stabilizer.
> x window.(Dark landscape with flying crab creature.)
> x lights.(Yellow bulb is lit.)
I regret to inform you that Yuggoth's atmosphere is poisonous. You can't safely visit it.
> turn off stabilizer. turn off panel.
> take card from panel slot.
Sixth: AE9B711D, Swamps.
> put AE9B711D card in panel.
> turn on panel. turn on stabilizer.
> x window.(Unpleasant swamp.)
> x lights.(Green bulb is lit.)
> open door.(Tentacles and teeth emerge and retreat!)
Possibly the Elder Sign helped save you this time. But you cannot safely visit the swamps; its creatures will kill you.
> close door. turn off stabilizer.
> turn off panel. take card from panel slot.
Seventh: C353F128.
> put C353F128 card in panel.
> turn on panel. turn on stabilizer.
> x window.(Rocky plain.)
> x lights.(Yellow bulb is lit.)
Sorry, but this world has no atmosphere. It's a vacuum.
> turn off stabilizer.
> turn off panel. take card from panel slot.
Eightth: FFFFFFFF, the junkroom. The journal said that cards left in the cage not only go to the junkroom, they also get turned into blank cards, so let's wipe them all except for one we'll use to get there.
> open cage. put all card but DEADBEEF in cage.
> close cage. put DEADBEEF in keypunch.
> set keypunch to FFFFFFFF. pull handle.
> take FFFFFFFF. put it in panel.
> turn on panel. turn on stabilizer.
> x window.(See the inside of a log cabin.)
> x lights.(Green bulb is lit.)
> open door. enter cage.
The overlaid space (at FFFFFFFF)
Nothing here but the seven other cards, now all blank.
> take all. out.
Boiler Rooom (Eric W. Brown)
> close door. turn off stabilizer. turn off panel.
Feel free to experiment more if you feel like it, but I'm moving on.
> take FFFFFFFF.(You might need to try more than once because all the holes make it quite flimsy.)
> put all card in drawer. put Edwin and salt in drawer.
> d.
Malign Tunnel (Damon L. Wakes)
🌫️ Nothing to do here.
> x pipes. x door. sw.
Amorphous Tunnel (Bill Maya)
🛴 Unlock the door later.
> x walls. x door. x rune.(Library's insignia)
> open door.(locked)
> u.
Courtyard (Finn Rosenloev)
🌫️ Optional: Open a secret passage from here to Constabulary Road.
Ignore the curiosity store to the east for now.
> x well. x hoist. x winch handle. turn it. take it.
> x portcullis. x statue.(Wants a handle to hold)
> x castle. x towers. x store.
> put winch in statue.(Fits.)
> turn winch. x statue.(Its head is an inch higher.)
> turn knight.(Crack now visible in wall.)
> x crack. push crack. n.
Constabulary Road (Harkness Munt)
Oh. We're back here. Ready for round two with Christabell?
> ne.
Hillside Path
☀️☀️ Talk to Christabell, part two.
Christabell is weakened. You will need to energize her somehow.
> a Carol.(She ignores what you ask to comment on how much you're glowing right now.)
> a Carol. t tea party. a manse. a louminance.
> a potence. a prison. a fusion.
> a runes. a fading. a Deep Ones.
> a Nirramonk. a glamour.
> a bestowance.(She marks you and tells you 'xizzi' will restore her Potence.)
> a marked.(One mark per person, though spirits can mark several.)
> xizzi.(You do her a solid.)
Christabell wants to help Carol escape her endless afterlife circling from child to adult and back to child again. You'll need to destroy her Runes (her scrapbook) with a spell: Kwisatz haderach. A second spell, ploughver, will let you travel instantly from Carol to Christabell. But note, you need time to recharge between spells.
(By the way, I'd avoid using ploughver ever, if I were you.)
After learning all this, you can leave Christabell, but I'm sure you want to talk to her some more?
> a unfolding. a preacher. a jealousy.
> a longhouse. a Skourmuch. a Sachim.
> a Nipmuk. a doctor. a Kaballah.
> a invisible world. a beings. a restful.
> a avenged. a modern. a demise.
> a obsession. a ironne. a Edgar.
> a mill. a Victor. a Hugo.
Feel free to continue to chat with Christabell if you know of more topics to discuss, but I'll be moving on.
> n. ne.
Cragne Family Plot
🌲 Goal: Unlock the crypt.
> unlock crypt with white key. put white key in kp. in.
Family Crypt (Justin Melvin)
🌲 Goals: Obtain the key to the church. Learn that the Icterine Alderman's familiar is a weasel.
Note: The long wooden key opens two doors, so I'm not putting it into the key pocket just yet.
> unlock door with long key. put long key in mp.
> in.
Church Lobby-Space (Hanon Ondricek)
🌲 Goal: Obtain the To Have, and To Have Knots book.
> x photos. x article.(Mentions a fire in 1979.)
> in.
Women's Restroom
> x lipstick. take it.
> enter stall. x sink. wash hands. x dryer.
> x mirror. wear lipstick. x mirror.
Girl's Room
You are suddenly Jessica, a school girl.
> x me. x uniform. x hair. i.
> x books. x lipstick. out.
"The Plains" (Dawn, Thelma, and Meredith) walk in.
> out.(Thelma blocks her. Maple Harvest dance is today.)
found a special someone? no
Meredith suggests you ask out Brandon Cragne. Then Sister Mary Marcia enters and orders you to hand over the lipstick.
> out(becomes)but it belongs to my sister
> out(becomes)my sister will kill me if she doesn't get this back
> out(becomes)but, Sister Mary Marcia...
This is endless until you type:
> give lipstick to sister.(She then scrubs your mouth clean.)
Women's Restroom
> look. x shoes. open stall. take shoes. wear shoes.
Girl's Room
> x mirror.(Jessica sees Naomi in the mirror?)
> i. x shoes. out.
Of course, The Plains enter again and Thelma shoves you.
> out.(becomes)push her
> push Thelma.(You push Thelma with telekinesis! The others take her to the nurse.)
> out.
Narthex
> x photographs. x lists.
> w.(banished from there earlier)
> e.
School Hallway
You will be prompted to "talk to Brandon" until you comply.
> x Brandon. x friend. talk to Brandon.
Brandon gives you a scrap of paper; he needs a book from the library. He disappears as Sister Mary Marcia is approaching.
> s.
School Library
Jessica automatically returns her overdue books.
> x tome. read scrap.("R 623.8 CAM03")
> take tome.(You give the scrap to Mrs Bowler.)
Bowler gives a book from the Public Library to you.
> x volume. n.
School Hallway
> give volume to Brandon.
Brandon tells you to instead hide it for him under the black tile in the Narthex.
know where the black tile is? yes
want to come with me Friday night? yes(He leaves.)
> w.(Sister Mary Marcia stops her and demands the shoes.)
> remove shoes.(No!)
> push sister.(A tiny puff, then babbling)
Sister tries to banish whatever is inside Jessica. But there's another pop and Sister flees.
> w.
Narthex
> open black tile. put book under black tile.(You auto-close it.)
Woman's Restroom
You're now Naomi again.
> out.
Narthex (Hanon Ondricek)
> open black tile. look in space.
> take all from space. x shirt. x manual.
> read paper slip. read manual. put manual in bp.
> wear shirt.
Sister confronts Naomi, thinking you're Brandon? Then the picture wall bursts into flames and the nun enters the inferno. There's a crash!
> look. x glass. x frames. x noose.
> take noose.
> wear noose(This is auto-entered.)
And now you're Brandon?
> examine jessica(This is auto-entered.)
> give diagram to jessica(This is auto-entered.)
Jessica asks if you could run away to Canada.
> yes
> kiss jessica(This is auto-entered.)
> wait(This is auto-entered.)
> jump(This is auto-entered.)
A voice tells Naomi it's too soon for her to die. See you in 15 years or so? The noose disappears and you, Naomi, are still alive.
> x floor. x border. x ladder. x sign.
> remove shirt. put it in tp.
Skip going up to the Steeple for now and instead go west.
> w.
Chapel (s. hammack)
🌲 Goals: Obtain the dagger. Unlock the church's office door.
> x pews. x pencil. take pencil.(+1)
> x pulpit. x Limerickus. read it.
> x altar. x tablecloth. x plate. x teeth.
> x lockbox.("The Almighty Dollar")
> x box of wafers. x wafers. eat wafer.
> x bottle. smell it.
> x organ. play organ. x window.
> take teeth. put wad in plate.(Click!)
> open lockbox. take dagger.(You have a vision.)
> x dagger.(No eyes or nose in your reflection.)
> put dagger in mp.
> put teeth, Limerickus, pencil in hp.
> put Nilla box and wine bottle in hp.
> put wad in tp.
> unlock door with long key. put long key in kp.
> s.
Church Office (Llew Mason)
You saw this room earlier as the Tiny Windowless Office. It gets renamed after you've been in the Chapel.
Let's go back to the Drinking Fountain:
> n. e. out. e. sw.
Drinking Fountain
🌲 Goals: Obtain Backwater Personalities and some reading glasses.
Earlier in the walkthrough, I asked you to move the ivy, and examine both the secondary fountain and sign that the ivy concealed. If you skipped that part, please do that now.
> x ghost. ask ghost about fountain.
He doesn't reply but he materializes a sledgehammer, tries to break the secondary fountain and fails. Then he tosses the hammer to you.
> x sledgehammer. break secondary fountain.
You break it. The hammer fades. He fades and now you have a cold spot and reading glasses.
> x cold spot. x glasses.
> look. x hole. take Backwater. x it.
> read it.(The ghost is Emmett Josey, Backwater Librarian.)
> x article. read it.(About his death in May 1926.)
> ask spot about Vincent.(He mostly just remembers the books.)
> x books. x newsprint.(Nov 22, 1963; "Tragedy in Dallas")
> x lamp. x drawers.
> x drawings. x top. x middle. x bottom.
> greet Carol.(She doesn't seem to know you're there.)
> a Carol.(This works. She greets you.)
> a Christabell. a father. a mother.
> a Deep Ones. a plans. a submarines.
> a Third Covenant. a Mattanit. a Elder Gods.
> a America. a runes. a Kennedy. a Thresher.
> a scrapbook. a school. a lech.
We didn't really see the room description when we walked in:
> look. x carpet. x bed. x blanket. x nail.
> x table. x makeup. x turntable. x record.
> a Eisenhower. a Johnson.
You can't destroy a scrapbook that isn't here, so let's go.
> s.
Carol won't let you leave unless you agree to let her mark you.
> yes.
Carol can't mark you since Christabell marked you already, so Carol marks your unborn daughter instead. Insert profane exclamation here.
> a daughter.
> s.
Upstairs Hall, north end (Jason Love)
🌲 Goal: Unlock the door to the master bedroom.
> unlock east door with sturdy key. put sturdy key in kp.
> e.
MASTER BEDROOM (ROWAN LIPKOVITS)
🌲 Goal: Regain humanity after becoming a cockroach.
> x bed.(You've been transformed…)
SAMSA WAS HERE (ROWAN LIPKOVITS)
> x me.(… into a cockroach.)x thorax.
> look. turn on lamp.
You scurry onto the ceiling, onto a pentacle of cancellation. Human again, you fall.
MASTER BEDROOM (ROWAN LIPKOVITS)
That's all there is to this room.
> x table. look under bed.
> e.
A Shadowy Closet (Molly Ying)
🌲 Goal: Find the trapdoor.
> x clothes. x cabinet. x frame. x shelves.
> put mirror in frame.
> x mirror.(The clothes put themselves away.)
> look.(You now see a trapdoor above you.)
> open upper drawer. x pants. close upper.
> open middle drawer. x shirts. close middle.
> open lower drawer. x underwear. close lower.
> u.
Attic (Lane Puetz)
💰 Take the desiccated sausage.
> x sausage. put it in mp.
> x walkie. take it. push button.(No signal here.)
> x gash. g. g. g. g. g. g. g. g.
Return to the shambolic shack:
> wait for purple line.
Front Walk (Matt Weiner)
The walkie-talkie gives author commentary in some locations. I suggest using "push walkie" instead of "push button" just in case there are other buttons nearby.
> push walkie.
> ne. nw. in.
The Shambolic Shack (Michael Fessler)
🌲 Goal: Obtain a tiny brass key.
> push walkie.
> put sausage in barrow.(A centipede wants a more disgusting sausage.)
> put sausage in gloves.
> put sausage in barrow.(The centipede eats it.)
> z.(The centipede writhes, falls out of the barrow, dies.)
> x centipede.
> search soil. x tiny brass key. put it in mp.
Return to the rec room:
> out. se. sw. n.
Mudroom (Matt Weiner)
> push walkie. n.
Foyer (Greg Frost)
> push walkie. e.
Gallery (YerrikTRB/Erica Newman)
> push walkie. n.
Rec Room (Zack Johnson)
🌲 Goal: Obtain a cleaver.
> unlock cabinet with tiny key. put tiny key in kp.
> open cabinet. look in cabinet.
> x games.(You need to pick a specific one.)
Sit in the chair and watch the TV while it is off.
> sit in chair.
> watch tv. g. g. g. g. g. g. g. g.
The TV evenually shows you a commercial for a board game called Marble Blasters.
> stand.
> x Marble Blasters.(Find a Moonbase Bravo card.)
> x Moonbase Bravo.(Find a Domino Destruction Derby card.)
> x Domino.(Find a The Haunting of Haunt House card.)
> x Haunting.(Find a motorcycle from Evil Knievel's Canyon Jump.)
> x Evil.(Find a card from Murder Kitchen.)
> x Murder Kitchen.(Find a card from Space Actuary.)
> x Space Actuary.(Find a plaque from Suburban Safari.)
> x Suburban.(Find an eyepatch from Pirate Hospital.)
> x Pirate Hospital.(Find a tag says Shark Shark Shark Shark Shark.)
> x Shark.(Find sunscreen: San Tropez Tanners by Ban de Soleil)
> x San Tropez.(Acquire a rusty meat cleaver. +1)
> x cleaver.
> e.
The Music Room (Wade Clarke)
> push walkie.
Head back to the meatpacking plant, but let's stop and have another chat with Christabell on the way:
> w. s. w. s. s. s.
Hillside Path (Jack Welch)
☀️☀️ Talk to Christabell, part three
> push button.
> a ANY-TOPIC.(Christabell greets you.)
You explain that Carol marked your baby, but Christabell says Carol is lying, that there is no baby.
> a resentment. a disruption. a window.
> a blockayde. a baby.
Christabell suggests that if you can open Carol's window, she can cast a disruption spell to distract Carol, giving you your chance to destroy Carol's scrapbook.
> se.
Outside the Plant (Chandler Groover)
> push walkie. in.
The meatpacking plant (Kenneth Pedersen)
🌲 Goal: Obtain the pub's secret menu.
> cut dog with cleaver. put cleaver in tp.
> x printed paper.("Friends to the Worm Secret Menu")
> push walkie. w.
Wrecked Bathroom of the Meatpacking Plant (Chris Jones)
> push walkie. e. out. nw. sw. n.
Backwater Jail (Marshal Tenner Winter)
> push walkie. s. w.
Outside Pub (Jason Lautzenheiser)
> push walkie. n.
The Invisible Worm (Sam Kabo Ashwell)
🌲 Goal: Steal the whetstone.
> push walkie.
> ask bartender about eternal chowder.(You eat it. It's okay.)
> ask bartender about drunken goat.(It's cheese. It's excellent.)
> ask bartender about ancestor sandwich.(This'll take a while.)
While the bartender is busy, steal the whetstone:
> put whetstone in mp. close mp. z.(You eat and enjoy the rather large sandwich.)
> ask bartender about fiddleheads.(This'll take a while.)
> z. z. z.(You eat and enjoy this meal too.)
> ask bartender about shivering hill.(You drink the strong whiskey.)
Time to see what's on the west side of the manor:
> s. e. ne. n. nw.
Outside the greenhouse (James Eagle)
🌫️ Nothing needs to be done here.
> x greenhouse.
> open mp. put secret menu in tp.
> in.
Greenhouse (Petter Sjölund)
🌲 Goal: Obtain a vacuum component.
> x roots. x tree. x staircase.
> x sculpture.(It's a parrot with red eyes and broken wings.)
> x eyes. x wings.
> u.
Greenhouse (Petter Sjölund) (on the mesh walkway)
> x handle. pull handle.(You have a machete.)
> x machete.(It needs sharpening.)
> sharpen machete with whetstone.
> x machete. put whetstone in tp.
> d.
Greenhouse (Petter Sjölund)
> cut roots with machete.
> x parrot.(Looks less hostile.)
> pet parrot.(It wants to be cleansed.)
> clean parrot.(Your nails aren't good enough.)
> clean parrot with machete.(Its eyes are now green!)
> x parrot. x eyes.(Parrot likes you now.)
> u.
Greenhouse (Petter Sjölund) (on the mesh walkway)
> u.(There's no stairs up from here, but…)
> climb branches.
Greenhouse (Petter Sjölund) (up the tree)
> u.
Greenhouse (Petter Sjölund) (higher up the tree)
> x hole. u.
Greenhouse (Petter Sjölund) (even higher up the tree)
> x bones. u.
Greenhouse (Petter Sjölund) (top of the tree near the ceiling)
If you didn't cut the roots earlier, a loud squawk will make you pass out and fall.
> x branches.
If the parrot is green-eyed, you hear birdsong, and the branches part to reveal the birdcage. Otherwise, you can cut the branches with the machete to reveal it.
> x birdcage. open it. x box.
> take box.
If the parrot is green-eyed, several huge but friendly parrots carry you down to the ground. This is the peaceful conclusion of this room. Otherwise the parrots attack you and you die.
To get the box when the parrot is red-eyed, cut the wires here three times. You and the cage will fall, and you'll need to grab a parrot on the way down, and you'll drop everything, but you can then just pick it all up and go. That is the violent conclusion of this room.
Greenhouse (Petter Sjölund)
> push walkie.
> open box. x component.
> put component in mp.
> put box and machete in tp.
> out. se. wait for lavender line. n.
Hallway South (Matt Schneider)
> push walkie. in.
A Liminal Space
> push walkie. out. e.
Library (Mike Spivey)
> push walkie. w. n.
Upstairs Hall, north end? (Jason Love)
All the normal exits don't work and there's an orange light to the northeast now.
> x northeast. open it.
Was there a fire? Were you in a bathroom?
Upstairs Hall, north end (Jason Love)
> i.(You're now wearing a battered yellow JogMaster?)
> x JogMaster.
> turn it on. z. z. z. z. z.
> turn off JogMaster. remove it. put it in sp.
The JogMaster confirms what you learned from the notebook: that the familiar of the Fuscous Alderman is an antelope.
> push walkie.
> take broken doors.(You move them out of the way instead.)
> n.
Carol's Room (Ben Collins-Sussman)
☀️☀️ Talk to Carol, part three. Obtain a decaying picture.
There's a lot you can look at and ask about before getting down to business.
> x Carol.(age 19 or 20)
> x Nixon. x books. x binder. x computer. x recorder.
The scenes seen in the opalescent egg refer to the authors' previous games.
> x artwork.
> x opalescent. g. g. g. g.
> x jet brick. a tile.
> x right sculpture. x absence.(Okay, that's freaky.)
> a egg. x absence.
Perhaps ask about topics from previous chats?
> a school. a Sweetpaws. a elephant. a lamb. a Malice.
> a Kennedy. a RFK. a mother.
What's on the computer?
> x screen. x keyboard.
We can ask about topics mentioned in all the stories:
> a moon. a Zond-3. a glyphs.
> a regolith. a LEM. a Apollo.
> a Project Nekton. a Deep Ones.
> a Bletchley. a Soviet. a submarines.
> a pentacle. a radiogoniometry. a hydrophonic.
> a IDF.("Israeli Defense Force")
> a ELINT.("electronics intelligence")
> a POPEYETSM.(network of telepathic dolphins)
> a LWAH.("lost with all hands")
> a SOSUS.(underwater sensors)
> a NAVCOMGR1.(listening post on coast of Greece)
> a MEDCAR.(network of sonic transducers in the Mediterranean)
This is all interesting and frightening, but eventually, you must act. If you were asking Carol about something in the previous turn, she is distracted enough so you can open the window.
NOTE: You need to open the window twice so it's fully open for Christabell to act.
CAUTION: The window slides closed two turns later, so you can't delay. This has to be timed properly.
> kwisatz haderach.(The binder is gone.)
> a Kennedy.
> open window.
> a Kennedy.
> open window.
Christabell's power enters you, and you and Carol are suddenly in a magical battle.
> z. z.
Your baby dies. Carol is gone. Christabell leaves you.
> z.(A book falls to the floor.)
> look. take Tome of Naomi.
You can't take the Tome from here, but a photograph falls out.
> x Tome. read it.
There will be at least five clippings, one for each use of your magic. If you ever used "ploughver", there will be more clippings.
> read boat wreck. read watery fate.
> read body found. read seinfeld. read red tide.
> x decaying picture. put it in mp.
> s. e.
MASTER BEDROOM (ROWAN LIPKOVITS)
> push walkie. e. u. s.
Disheveled Studio (Katherine Morayati)
🌲 Goals: Obtain a Taxonomy and a tiny key.
> x canvas.(Outline of woman's face like yours.)
> smell. x table.(You obtain charcoal and a box of vials.)
> x charcoal.
> x easel. x bookshelves. x books.(You take a book.)
> x book. read it. scents.
> search easel. x sketches. x photos.
There's a lot of vials to examine and smell. Note that geosmin and petrichor are two names for the same thing. You should be able to deduce or guess that the unmarked clear vial is the "Savoir's breath", the unmarked teal vial is the peat venom, and the unmarked pale blue vial is the dispulsichor.
> x vials.
> x cedarwood. smell it.
> x frankincense. smell it.
> x tuberose. smell it.
> x geosmin. smell it.
> x musk. smell it.
> x rose. smell it.
> x spray. smell it.
> x vanilla. smell it.
> x clear. smell it.
> x teal. smell it.
> x pale blue. smell it.
I fumbled quite a bit in this room, not really understanding what I was doing or why. Basically, there are otherworldly powers of good and life, and powers of evil and death, and you're going to contact them by uh, offering yourself to them.
It is obviously a bad idea to offer yourself to evil and death, but it is also quite final if the powers of good purify you. So the trick here is to summon both.
But first prepare the canvas with charcoal and blood. The charcoal makes the image look more like you, and your blood explicitly links it to you. There are several ways to cut your finger; for example, you can re-read the book until you get a paper cut.
> draw on canvas.(using up the charcoal)
> x canvas.
> search easel.(Did you prick your finger?)
> touch canvas.(This adds your blood to it.)
Now begin the summons. The first step is to use either cedarwood or frankincese as a first step in summoning good, or either tuberose or geosmin as a first step in summoning evil. (The musk, rose, vanilla, and spray scents are unaligned and aren't helpful at all.)
> put cedarwood on canvas.
The second step is to add either the clear vial if we're starting with good, or the teal vial if we're starting with evil. You can't start with either of these vials; they're just too strong.
> put clear on canvas.
The third step is to add the teal if we just added clear, or vice-versa. This gets both powers involved.
> put teal on canvas.
The final step of your incantation (decantation?) is to kiss the canvas.
> kiss canvas.
Assuming you did it correctly, the powers fight over you, burn the canvas, and you find a slimy key, which you take. The flavour text is tailored to the scent combo you actually used.
By the way, if you ever feel like experimenting with the scents, know that you can use the pale blue vial to erase all the scents currently on the canvas. Some scent combos just give strange visions instead of summoning anything.
> x key. put it in mp.
> drop photos, sketches, box.
> put book in bp.
> push walkie. se.
Abandoned Nursery (Harrison Gerard)
🌲 Goal: Obtain a letter opener.
> x crib. x dollhouse. look in it.
> x Gertie. x cleaner.
> put component in cleaner. turn on vacuum.(Dollhouse cleaned.)
> look in dollhouse.
> search rooms.(You acquire a letter opener.)
> x opener.("E.A.R.")
The Gertie doll will talk on its own if you take it, and she's creepy. I don't know of any use for her. Take her if you wish, but I'm leaving her here.
> put opener in mp.
> n.
Invasive Library (Justin de Vesine)
🌲 Goal: Obtain Life Beneath Nightmares.
This is what, the fifth library in this game?
> x books. x desk.
> listen. listen to books.
> x green book. take it. read it.
Emmett says that's the last of the missing public library books, and he leaves you.
> put green book in bp.
> remove glasses. put glasses in tp.
> push walkie. se.
Branching Corridor (Zachary Hodgens)
🌲 Goal: Move all the cacti out of the way.
> x gold cactus. x fuzzy cactus.
> move gold cactus. move fuzzy cactus.
The sunlight gets to be too much for you, but leaving the room and returning helps. CAUTION: You will die from the heat if you stay here too long.
> e. w.
> pull flowering. push tall.
> se.
The Observatory (Joey Jones)
🌟 Come back here later.
> x telescope.
> x gears.(The projector has crank, dial, toggle, lever, and pulley.)
> x star sign.(It's randomized.)
> x lectern. x chalk circle.
Sorry, but you are not ready for this room.
> nw. w.
Science Tower (Riff Conner)
🌲 Goal: Obtain a red herring.
As usual, first see what's here.
> x chalkboard. x equation. x note.
> flip chalkboard.(The symbols bled thru; you flip it back.)
> x table. x windows. x skylight.
> x ashtray stand.(Iron and 2½ feet tall.)
> x cage. x Dr Peanut. x tiny chalkboard. x barstool.
> x cabinet. open it. take all from cabinet.
> x pen. extend pointer. retract pointer.
> x bag.("PNUTS")open bag. x single peanut.
> x old key.
The panel will require some careful experimentation.
> x panel.(Three buttons: blue, green, and yellow.)
> push yellow button.(2 foot antenna extends from the table.)
> z.(The antenna retracts on its own.)
> push blue button.(There's a groan.)
> x skylight.(It's still covered with a shutter.)
> push green button.(The table goes up and slams into the shutter!)
> z. z. z.(After 3 turns, the table lowers down on its own.)
Use the table to reach the shutter, and use the stand to prevent you from getting squished:
> put stand on table. get on table.
> extend pointer. push green button with pointer.
You're now up by the closed shutter.
> pull latch. take egg. x egg.(The table lowers.)
> stand. take ashtray.
The egg is all you need here, but you can optionally revive Dr Peanut ala Dr Frankenstein. Timing is important; lightning happens three turns after thunder.
> open cage. put Dr Peanut on table.
> push blue button.
> z.(Continue to wait until you hear thunder.)
> push green button.
> push yellow button.
> z.
Dr Peanut is alive! And the table is back down.
> push blue button. put Dr Peanut in cage.
> z. z. z. z. z. z.(Dr Peanut has completed his work.)
> x tiny chalkboard.
> give single peanut to Dr Peanut.(+1)
> close cage.
Eventually, the egg will hatch into a red herring. If it hasn't hatched already, it will soon.
> put old iron key in hp.
> put pointer and bag in tp.
Time to visit a couple rooms on the ground floor we skipped over.
> e. e. d. w. w. w.
Top of Stairs (Q. Pheevr)
> push walkie. d.
Landing at the Bottom of Stairs (Mark Sample)
> push walkie. s. w.
Court (Ryan Veeder)
🌟 Goal: Obtain the horn.
Assuming you've kept track of who has what familiar in the Variegated Court, this puzzle is simple: just put the twelve correct figurines onto their respective pedestals.
> open case.
> put wolverine on niveous. put duck on fulvous.
> put greyhound on puce. put cat on griseous.
> put peregrine on xanthic. put weasel on icterine.
> put silverfish on cesious. put eel on croceate.
> put Pontiac on mazarine. put antelope on fuscous.
> put kraken figurine on eburnean. put rat on rufous.
The monolith opens. The figure in the window toasts your success. Or maybe it ignores you. Regardless, the horn is yours to take.
> x monolith. take horn. x it. put it in mp.
> push walkie. e. n. n.
Dining Room (Roberto Colnaghi)
> push walkie. e.
Sitting Room (Buster Hudson)
🌲 Goal: Obtain a strange windchime.
> x floor. x window. x furniture. x portrait. x fireplace.
> x mirror.
You're now Lillian Rolling and the entire room has changed. Eustace asks you to ring Moira; he's expecting a letter.
> look. x me. x Eustace.
> x portrait.(of Horace Cragne; bell pull is next to it)
> pull pull.(Moira gives two envelopes to you.)
> i. read handwritten.(From son Christopher.)
> give formal to Eustace.(He wants the letter opener.)
> ask Eustace about Christopher. ask Eustace about Horace.
> x fireplace. x furniture. x window. x dress.
> x newspaper.(Feb 3, 1899 about a fire.)
> ask Eustace about Moira. ask Eustace about me.
> ask Eustace about formal letter.
> x mirror.
Naomi must be holding the letter opener directly when looking at the mirror in order to bring it to Lillian.
> take letter opener. x mirror.
You are Lillian once more.
> give opener to Eustace.
He's been accepted to a professorship at Yale and decides you both will move immediately. You object, so he strangles you.
> pull rope.(It's out of reach.)
You claim your father gave you the son he couldn't.
> take opener.(Slash. Eustace crumples to the floor.)
> take opener. x Eustace.
> x mirror.
And now Naomi has a windchime. Sure, why not?
> x chime.
> hit chime.(It starts ringing, but it doesn't stop!)
> stop chime.(This does stop it.)
> put chime in mp.
> push walkie.
Let's tour through the basement level of the house using the walkie-talkie en route to the curiosity shop.
> w. w. d.
Basement (Ivan Roth)
> push walkie. n.
Cold Storage Room (Jeremy Freese)
> push walkie. s. w.
Wine Cellar (Nathaniel Edwards)
> push walkie. w.
Laboratory (Michael Gentry)
> push walkie. e. e. e.
Pantry (Chris Conley)
> push walkie. e.
Workroom (Andrew Plotkin)
> push walkie. w. w. s.
Boiler Room (Eric W. Brown)
> push walkie. d. sw.
Amorphous Tunnel (Bill Maya)
> push walkie. u. e.
Curiosity Shop (Rachel Spitler)
🌲 Goal: Obtain an ancient key.
> smell. g. x windows. x rug. x counter.
> x goods.(lots of things)
> x crystals. x spoons. x cauldrons. x parchment.
> x rack. x masks. x skulls. x curtain. x cards.
> x glass jars. x candy.
> x notepad.(random anagrams of "Vaadignephod")
> x Jessenia. x amulet.
> ask Jessenia about Jessenia's amulet.
> x tarot.(The authors of this game?)
> ask Jessenia about tarot.
> x violin. ask Jessenia about violin.
> x geode. ask Jessenia about geode.
> buy tarot.
do you want to become a customer? yes
Jessenia explains you need to bring her a curiosity to sell.
> x herring. show herring to Jessenia.
…for the shop? yes
You get an ancient key and Jessenia's receipt.
> x ancient key. put it in mp.
> x receipt. put it in tp.
> push walkie. w. n. ne.
Hillside Path
The altar is new. Thought you might want to see it. And no, I don't know what to do with it.
> x altar. sw. w. w.
Bridge (Daniel Stelzer and Jemma Briggeman)
> push walkie. w.
Town square, Backwater, VT (Marco Innocenti)
🌲 Goal: Obtain a copper amulet.
The writing on the decaying picture you got from Carol's room contains the clues for solving the rings puzzle here.
> x decaying picture.
> x rings.(The mark is pointing northeast.)
"Point the mark towards the cross". Cross is in the inner ring.
> turn inner. g. g. g.
The inner circle should now have with CROSS in the second position, which is northeast.
"Find the eagle a perch". Since the EAGLE is in the fourth position in the inner ring, we now need the TREE in the outer ring to also be in the fourth position:
> turn outer. g.
"Put its gift over daan". Assume the eagle's gift is its FEATHER, which is in second position. So now turn the middle ring until DAAN is also in the second position.
> turn middle. x rings.
The correct arrangement, from outer ring to inner ring, should begin with WOMAN, JI, and WOODPECKER, respectively.
> ahe'hee.(A shallow hole opens.)
> x hole. x copper amulet.("T11 C1996")
> put copper amulet in mp.
> put decaying picture in tp.
> push walkie. sw.
Drinking Fountain (Lucian Smith)
> push walkie. ne. n.
Outside the Library (Gavin Inglis)
> push walkie. e.
Backwater Public Library (Carl Muckenhoupt)
🌲 Goal: Obtain De Vermibus Laceris.
> open bp. x book list.
> give Knots to librarian.
> give LVPB to librarian.
> give Dollmaker's to librarian.
> give Twin to librarian.
> give Personalities to librarian.
> give God to librarian.
> give Roman to librarian.
> give De Zeven to librarian.
> give Venator to librarian.
> give Superfluids to librarian.
> give Legends to librarian.
> give Taxonomy to librarian.
> give Nightmares to librarian.
> give Buried to librarian —or— give Conservative's to librarian.(as appropriate)
> give Gaunts to librarian.
> give New England to librarian.
> give Anchorhead paperback to librarian.
> x book list.(It's changed somewhat.)
> point to case.(The librarian unlocks it.)
> take Vermibus. read it.(You finally learn how to find Peter.)
> put Vermibus in mp. close bp.
> push walkie. w. w.
Estate Agent's Office (Jenni Polodna)
> push walkie. e. e.
Backwater Public Library (Carl Muckenhoupt)
The librarian has, uh, left the building. You can wear her outfit, but I didn't notice any interesting effect doing that.
> x dress. x slime. x vent. x wig. x wax mask.
> put dress, wig, wax mask in hp.
> w. nw. nw.
The Dim Recesses of the Forest (Jacqueline A. Lott Ashwell)
> push walkie. n.
The Old Well (Reed Lockwood)
> push walkie. d.
Circular Room (JP)
> push walkie. u. s. sw. sw.
Church Exterior (Andy Holloway)
> push walkie. n.
Milkweed (Caleb Wilson)
> push walkie. n.
Exterior of Train Station (Emily Short with additions from Graham Nelson)
> push walkie. n.
Train Station Lobby (Shin)
> push walkie. n.
Railway Platform (Naomi Hinchen)
> push walkie. xyzzy. s.
Train Station Lobby (Shin)
🌲 Goal: Unlock the green door.
> unlock green door with slimy key. put slimy key in kp.
> e.
Station Security Room (Monique Padelis)
🌲 Goal: Obtain the tarnished brass key to the shack.
> x article.(Bran Cragne, 34, died on tracks yesterday, article dated 17-Oct-1995. Nadia: colleage. Barbara: wife.)
> x window. x specks. x desk.
> x monitors. x monitor 1. x monitor 2.
> x papers. x telephone. push phone button.
> x shelves.(Each tape has a DD-MM-YY date.)
Well, let's see the day when Bran died:
> x 16-10-95.
> pull monitor 1. look in nook. take all from nook.
> x tarnished key. x folded up note.
> put tarnished key in mp.
> put folded up note in tp.
> w. n. wait for blue line. nw.
Shack Exterior (Michael Lin)
🌲 Goal: Unlock the shack door.
> unlock door with tarnished key. put tarnished key in kp.
> in.
Inside the Shack (Daniel Ravipinto)
🌲 Goal: Obtain a photograph of a memory.
> x shape. x Peter.(Doesn't see you?)
> touch Peter.(Barrier in the way.)
> talk to Peter. x barrier. listen to barrier.(Missing tone.)
> take chime.
You may need to hit the chime more than once before it works.
> hit chime. g.
The chime rings. The barrier and Peter shatter. The shards fly and you're in…
The Prism
> x Peter.(It's not him. It's Not-Peter.)
Oddly, he's frowning too, as if you're not you either.
> x me. say Naomi.(He doesn't believe you.)
> look. z.
You see another prism with another Naomi and Peter inside.
> x prism.(Now there's 2 prisms.)
> g.(Now 8 prisms.)
> g.(Now 64 prisms.)
> x Peter. listen.(1227 copies.)
> ask Peter about prisms.(Not-Peter asks which is the real us.)
> z.(You see a strange shimmering on Peter's hands.)
> x shimmering.(Strings from Peter's joints lead to the ceiling.)
> x ceiling.(A spider thing is controlling Peter like a marionnette. And you too.)
> SPACESPACE
The Vaadignephod-continuity granted the possiblity-space between the Naomi-entity and the Peter-entity to the Weaver-continuity. But there's a limit:
The Book of All Your DaysWHEN WE WERE NOT YET
> x me.(You are a Weaver of Forms.)
> i.(You have the whole of possibility.)
> x thread.(Pulling it will signal that the book can be closed.)
> x page.(Naomi is greeting Peter.)
> x Naomi —or— x Peter.(or anything else on the page.)
You have the option of altering this scene of how Naomi and Peter first met. Go in the cardinal directions as often as you like until the scene on the page is how you want it.
> n.(Changes the ages of Naomi and Peter: adolescent, adult, or elderly.)
> s.(Changes the setting: school, movies, or nursery?)
> w.(Summons or dismisses Vaadignephod's mindgates.)
> e.(Changes the focus between Peter and Naomi.)
> turn page.
The Book of All Your DaysWHEN WE BECAME
You have the option of altering this scene of how Naomi and Peter got married. Go in the cardinal directions as often as you like until the scene on the page is how you want it.
> n.(Changes the ages of Naomi and Peter: adolescent, adult, or elderly.)
> s.(Changes the setting: green outdoors or black indoors?)
> w.(Summons or dismisses the Mourning Star above Peter.)
> e.(Replaces Peter with an unknown entity in the scene.)
> x page. turn page.
The Book of All Your DaysWHEN WE WERE NO LONGER
You have the option of altering this scene of how Naomi and Peter ended their union. Go in the cardinal directions as often as you like until the scene on the page is how you want it.
> n.(Changes the ages of Naomi and Peter: adolescent, adult, or elderly.)
> s.(Changes the setting: hospital, home, or court?)
> w.(Summons or dismisses locusts, the Legions of the Impious.)
> e.(Choose if Naomi or Peter is beginning the ritual.)
Turning the page will return you to the first page again.
When you are satisfied with your selections:
> pull thread.
And was there any effect from any of that? Maybe?
Inside the Shack (Daniel Ravipinto)
Naomi is disoriented and there's a photograph now here.
> take photograph. x it.(It shows one of the scenes you chose.)
> put photograph in mp.
> x shards.(What remains of the chime.)
> x junk.(Totally useless.)
> push walkie.
> out. se. s. se. n.
Under the Bridge (Tenth)
> push walkie. d.
Subterranean tunnel (Drew M)
Still not ready for the eastern door here.
> push walkie. nw.
Tunnel Entrance (Grueslayer)
> push walkie. u.
Church Basement (Sean M. Shore)
🌲 Goal: Hear Edmund's message to Salona.
Look at that amulet from Town Square again. It's a clue telling you which tape and where to listen from in this room.
> x copper amulet.("T11 C1996")
> play tape 11. rewind. push pin. ff to 1996.
Edmund tells Salona that he's delivered a jar of pickled peaches to her with a life-restoring reagent. This is what you need to look for in the pantry.
> push eject. put copper amulet in tp.
> u.
Church Office (Llew Mason)
> push walkie. n.
Chapel (s. hammack) [Score: 1]
> push walkie. e.
Narthex (Hanon Ondricek)
> push walkie.
Eep. There's commentary for all of Hanon's rooms? Sorry, but I guess you'll have to do another run-through and get the walkie-talkie before doing his rooms to hear it all. We can hear the one in the women's room, though:
> in.
Women's Restroom
Head for the pantry:
> push walkie. out. out. wait for black line. u. n. e.
Pantry (Chris Conley)
🌲 Goal: Hear Edmund's poem about bell ringing.
> search jars. x peaches. open jar.
> x peach liquid. taste it. look.
By this time, the game has suggested putting something into the jar.
> z.
It then suggests putting yourself in. Yeah, okay.
> put me in peach liquid.
Inside the Jar of Pickled Peaches
> x white.(Prompted to say something. Fine.)
> hello.
> ask mote about itself.(Throbs 3 times, circles you.)
> ask mote about Peter.(Confused)
> ask mote about peaches.(Shrugs)
> ask mote about Edmund.(You hear his voice say a poem)
Yes, remember that poem, particularly that sequence of metals: copper, iron, silver, gold.
> out.
Pantry (Chris Conley)
Head back to the church. Those bells can be found in the steeple.
> w. s. d. wait for gold line. in. u.
Steeple (Michael D. Hilborn)
🌲 Goal: Obtain a nasty-looking key and learn Peter's true star sign.
As usual, look around at stuff:
> about. x nasty key. x script.(It's the library insignia.)
> x mass.(It's a corpse with several items.)
> x tome.(which?)x celestial tome.
> x journal. x pendant.
> x pillars. x sky. x moons. x landscape.
> x ropes.(Four of them: copper, silver, gold, and iron.)
> x belfry. x forms. x spire.
Okay, let's start acting:
> put nasty key in mp.(Done.)
> wear pendant.(Done.)
> take celestial tome.(No, that you can't have.)
> take journal(No. It burns and you drop it.)
Well, if we can't take the tome or journal, can we read them where they are?
> read celestial tome.(The corpse points to an astrological sign.)
> read journal.(continue reading it:)
> g. g. g. g. g. g. g. g. g. g. g.
The journal suggests ringing the bells in this sequence: gold, iron, silver, iron, copper. But if you do that, you'll summon a tentacle monster that kills you.
> xyzzy.("Copper, silver, gold, gold, silver.")
The XYZZY sequence is safer, but puzzling. Note that you must be wearing the pendant before pulling any of the bell ropes, otherwise what roosts in the belfry will kill you.
> read celestial tome.(It calls that sign "the Adept in stasis opposing the Nemesis", at least when I played it.)
Let's try the sequence suggested by Edmund's poem:
> pull copper rope. pull iron rope.
> pull silver rope. pull gold rope.
> x pattern.
> read celestial tome.
The astrological sign shown is Peter's true star sign, and it is randomized, so I can't predict what sign you'll get. There's four parts to the sign's name of the form SOMETHING IN-ACTIVITY RELATING-TO SOMETHING-ELSE, so you need to record the entire phrase (eg: "Broken Tower in motion opposing the Key") and not just the two nouns.
The commentary for this room is a tad unusual:
> push walkie.(A gnome appears!)
> x gnome. ask gnome about author.
> ask gnome about xyzzy.(Yeah, there's more to this, isn't there?)
> ask gnome about beta testers.
> ask gnome about corpse. ask gnome about bells.
> ask gnome about moons. ask gnome about stars.
> ask gnome about journal. ask gnome about celestial tome.
> ask gnome about nasty key. ask gnome about pillars.
> ask gnome about hole.
> gnome, bye.
> remove pendant. put it in tp.
> d. out. wait for black line. sw.
Amorphous Tunnel (Bill Maya)
🌲 Goal: Unlock the antediluvian door.
> unlock door with nasty key. w.
Narrow Straits (Mathbrush)
🌲 Goals: Unlock the doors and obtain the Cyst.
> unlock west door with nasty key. put nasty key in kp.
> smell. x moisture. x walls. x sarcophagus. x slime.
> unlock sarcophagus with ancient key. put ancient key in kp.
> open sarcophagus. x cyst. put cyst in mp.
> push walkie.
You're finally ready for the observatory:
> e. ne. wait for eggplant. w. se.
The Observatory (Joey Jones)
🌟 Goal: Open a portal to Peter's location.
It's now time to enact the ritual found in the De Vermibus Laceris and finally find Peter Cragne once and for all. You need the black book itself, the cyst, the black horn, the photograph of a memory, and you also need to know Peter's true star sign.
The star sign is the trickiest part of the operation. As I said earlier, the star sign has four parts to it, and you'll use four of the telescope's controls to select them.
To set the first part, turn the crank. The crank cycles through the following settings in this order: Prophet, Ennui, Fly, Sleeper, Mouth, Tendril, Vessel, Spiral, Turncoat, Liar, Adept, Despair, Watcher, Hook, Needle, Toad, Broken Tower, Wheel, Beggar, and back to Prophet again.
> turn crank.(repeat until the first part is correct.)
To set the second part, pull the pulley. The pulley cycles through the following settings in this order: in stasis, ascending, in motion, descending, and back to in stasis again.
> pull pulley.(repeat until the second part is correct.)
To set the third part, pull the lever. The lever cycles through the following settings in this order: above, in the house of, under, opposing, and back to above again.
> pull lever.(repeat until the third part is correct.)
To set the fourth part, turn the dial. The dial cycles through the following settings in this order: Noose, Tome, Stranger, Phylactery, Vial, Eyes, Gate, Chain, Mask, Fortune Teller, Nemesis, Pyre, Baleful Hound, Crown, Abyss, Key, Scourge, Throne, Penitent, Hanged Man, and back to Noose again.
> turn dial.(repeat until the fourth part is correct.)
CAUTION: Don't use the toggle! The toggle randomizes all four parts of the selected star sign!
CAUTION: Reading the book will also automatically take it off the lectern if it's there, so I suggest putting it there last, just before blowing the horn.
> x sign.(Make sure it's the sign you saw in the Steeple.)
> put cyst in circle.
> put memory in circle.
> put Vermibus on lectern.
> blow horn.
The horn, cyst, and photograph are destroyed. A portal opens.
IMPORTANT: This is a one-way trip away from everything you've seen so far. You will lose all your inventory. You will not be returning to the manor or to Backwater. If there's anywhere you want to revisit, go do that first.
Also: open up all the pockets and take inventory one last time!
> open hp. open kp. open bp. open sp. open tp. i.
Wow. How were you carrying all that?
> save.
> x portal. enter portal.
Gulf of Nehilim (Nobody)
Do anything for six turns. Your inventory is all gone.
> z. z. z. z. z. z.
The Great Purple Unknown (Adri)
🌲 Goal: Enter the gate with Peter.
Be very careful. Peter isn't himself and he may kill you for the most trivial of reasons. Do not touch him, kiss him, wake him, or try to climb up him. At least, not at first.
> x Peter. greet Peter.(No sounds here.)
> x gate. x arch. x masks.
> x Sock.(silver and gleeful)
> x Buskin.(gold and sad)
> take Sock.(It's out of reach.)
> open gate.(It's locked.)
Step 1: Do what the masks suggest.
> laugh.(The world is brighter.)
> cry.(Your heart is lighter.)
Peter stands and walks to you. It's now safe to touch or kiss him, if you want to.
> touch Peter. kiss Peter.
Step 2: Have Peter get the masks for you.
> point to masks.(Peter gets them for you.)
Step 3: Investigate the gate and masks more closely. You can only wear one mask at a time.
> x gate.(You now see dials in the gate.)
> x dials. x left dial. x right dial.(Both can be set to any number.)
> wear Sock.
The Great Orange Unknown (Adri)
> x gate. x orange spot.(It's on the left.)
> remove Sock.
The Great Purple Unknown (Adri)
> wear Buskin.
The Great Green Unknown (Adri)
> x gate. x green spot.(It's on the right.)
> remove Buskin.
The Great Purple Unknown (Adri)
> look in Sock.(You find a number.)
> look in Buskin.(You find another number.)
> set left dial to SOCK-NUMBER.
> set right dial to BUSKIN-NUMBER.
The gate opens.
> enter gate.
*** You have won ***
Extras
Characters
I.O.U. one horrifically huge list of characters. Sorry, but if I was going to get this walkthrough published before month's end (end of September 2020), I needed to cut corners somewhere, and this was the least ready section. When this section is added fully, I'll add a news item on IFDB and post on Twitter and Mastodon for those who really need to know if we made a thousand Cragnes and if someone is entitled to a wish.
The player-characters were:
Naomi Cragne, for most of the game. In the Estate Office, you're Naomi Sparradew Cragne.
Anax Cragne, in the deep dream version of the workroom.
Jessica Santos, in the school.
Lillian Cragne Rolling, in the sitting room.
Silas Fong, in his memory stored in the blue vial.
A Weaver of Forms, in the Book of All Your Days.
A creature similiar to a wumpus or grue in the limestone caverns.
Characters you can have any sort of conversation with:
The woman on the bridge south of the train station.
The one-eyed man in the Town Square.
Bethany Tross, in the estate office.
Emmett Josey, when he's a cold spot on your shoulder.
The bartender, in the pub, The Invisible Worm.
Christabell, on the hillside path.
Carol, in her room (originally called the nursery).
Dr. Daniel West, or "Dan", the paleontologist in Constabulary Road.
Jessenia, in the curiosity shop.
Fedwick, the ghost in the forbidden annex.
Eustace Cragne, in the sitting room.
The white mote, in the jar of pickled peaches.
The commentary gnome, in the steeple via the walkie-talkie.
Untested for conversation:
Francine Cragne, in the Music Room or her bedroom.
Francine's boyfriend, in her bedroom.
The boy, in the playground.
The author, in the Laboratory.
The hobo, in the tunnel entrance.
Not-Peter, in the prism.
Everyone in the school.
Credits
This is the response to CREDITS:
Cragne Manor commemorates the 20th anniversary of Michael Gentry's Anchorhead. More than eighty authors wrote one room each. We didn't tell them what was going on in each other's rooms.
The project organizers were Jenni Polodna and Ryan Veeder. (Contact them jointly at email redacted.)
The authors were Adam Whybray, Adri, Andrew Plotkin, Andy Holloway, Austin Auclair, Baldur Brückner, Ben Collins-Sussman, Bill Maya, Brian Rushton, Buster Hudson, Caleb Wilson, Carl Muckenhoupt, Chandler Groover, Chris Jones, Christopher Conley, Damon L. Wakes, Daniel Ravipinto, Daniel Stelzer, David Jose, David Petrocco, David Sturgis, Drew Mochak, Edward B, Emily Short, Erica Newman, Feneric, Finn Rosenloev, Gary Butterfield, Gavin Inglis, Greg Frost, Hanon Ondricek, Harkness Munt, Harrison Gerard, Ian Holmes, Ivan Roth, Jack Welch, Jacqueline Ashwell, James Eagle, Jason Dyer, Jason Lautzenheiser, Jason Love, Jenni Polodna, Jeremy Freese, Joey Jones, Joshua Porch, Justin de Vesine, Justin Melvin, Katherine Morayati, Kenneth Pedersen, Lane Puetz, Llew Mason, Lucian Smith, Marco Innocenti, Marius Müller, Mark Britton, Mark Sample, Marshal Tenner Winter, Matt Schneider, Matt Weiner, Matthew Korson, Michael Fessler, Michael Gentry, Michael Hilborn, Michael Lin, Mike Spivey, Molly Ying, Monique Padelis, Naomi Hinchen, Nate Edwards, Petter Sjölund, Q Pheevr, Rachel Spitler, Reed Lockwood, Reina Adair, Riff Conner, Roberto Colnaghi, Rowan Lipkovits, Ryan Veeder, Sam Kabo Ashwell, Scott Hammack, Sean M. Shore, Wade Clarke, Zach Hodgens, and Zack Johnson.
Special beta testing thanks to Andrew Schultz. Special being a baby thanks to production baby Fionn Collins. Extra special having written Anchorhead thanks to Michael Gentry.
Cryptogram
There's a cryptogram written on the inside back cover of the lion sex book. Solving it informs you that there's a hidden pocket in your backpack:
"BJIYO -- SIX TIF J MOXXMD NIYDXLOBS WHIY XLD CFHOI NLIG. "NAOMI -- GOT YOU A LITTLE SOMETHING FROM THE CURIO SHOP. CLDCE XLD LOKKDB GICEDX IW TIFH AJCEGJCE. BIU SI SDX TIFH YJB, SOHM! CHECK THE HIDDEN POCKET OF YOUR BACKPACK. NOW GO GET YOUR MAN, GIRL! O SIX YOBD JBK UD'HD KIOBS SHDJX. (LD NJTN LO & SIIK MFCE.) I GOT MINE AND WE'RE DOING GREAT. (HE SAYS HI & GOOD LUCK.) MIQD, JFBXOD NXDMMJ" LOVE, AUNTIE STELLA"
Note that the code-key for this cryptogram is the pangram JACKDAWS LOVE MY BIG SPHINX OF QUARTZ written on the bottom of the pamphlet of house listings:
if you get on the altar at Milkweed while not wearing the giant milkweed leaf on your face.
Mudroom endings
You have been lost to the darkness
if you wear the black cloak or hold onto it too long.
Narrow Straits endings
You are one.
if you eat the slime. Eww.
Old Well endings
Looks like your fate is sealed.
if you summon the hungry seal.
What a pterable end!
if you summon the fearsome pteranodon and you don't have enough friendly creatures to defend you.
More like a butter-DIE, am I right?
if you summon a hypnotic butterfly.
Talk about a backseat driver!
if you summon a bloody nematode.
You never did care for darts.
if you summon a dart serpent.
You've got a bad eeling aobut this.
if you summon a gulping eel.
Gone in seconds flat!
if you summon a rolling flesh.
Looks like you got caught up with a bad character!
if you summon a floating strangler.
At this buffet, the shrimp eat you!
if you summon a school of ravenous shrimp.
People may tell you this isn't the "correct" ending of the game, but really, is that ending any better than this one, as far as fulfilling your character's goals? You can keep playing to the so-called "end" if you want, but this right here is probably the happiest ending you're going to get in a game like this.
if you summon an all-consuming blob.
Looks like you really got stuck on this puzzle!
if you try to open the well when there's goo on the well cap.
Outside the Plant endings
RAEAINRRAT
if you say RAEAINRRAT too many times.
Public Library endings
You have been crushed
if you try to climb or push the shelves.
You have died
if you try to attack the librarian.
Railway Platform endings
You have been claimed by the Ghost Train.
if you're on the tracks when the train passes through at 13:37.
Shambolic Shack endings
You have fallen victim to a horrible fungal bloom
if you never spray your hands with the fungicide after wearing the gloves.
Steeple endings
You have been sliced in two
if you summon the tentacle monster.
Studio endings
Your sins have been purified
if you put the clear vial on the bound canvas when it is neutral or evil-aligned.
if you kiss the bound canvas after putting the clear vial on it.
You have been found unworthy
if you put the teal vial on the bound canvas when it is neutral or good-aligned.
You have been found worthy
if you kiss the bound canvas after putting the teal vial on it.
Study endings
You die of despair.
if you stay too long in the Study.
Subterranean Tunnel endings
You have died
if you go north towards the beckoning woman.
Workroom endings
You have been rent asunder
if you enter a trance after summoning a spirit.
You have gone mad
if you speak the Word of Enlightenment a second time while voices are whispering.
if you speak the Word of Enlightenment a second time while in a trance in The Garden.
You have been supplanted
if you speak the Word of Invocation twice.
You have been overgrown
if you speak the Word of Summer twice while in The Garden.
You have frozen
if you speak the Word of Winter twice while in The Garden.
You have succumbed to entropy
if you speak the Word of Invocation while in the Ruined Garden.
You are lost
if you speak the Word of Chaos twice while in trance.
You have been crushed
if you speak the Word of Chaos twice in the Workshop.
You have burned
if you speak the Word of Summer twice in the Ruined Garden.
You have been buried
if you speak the Word of Summer twice in the Glacial Cirque.
You are quickly overwhelmed
if you speak the Word of Winter in the Glacial Cirque.
You have been crushed
if you speak the Word of Winter twice in the Jungle Ruin.
You have drowned
if you speak the Word of Winter at the Lakebed Temple.
You have said too much
if you speak the Unnameable Name twice at the Lakebed Temple.
Great Purple Unknown
You have died
if you touch Peter in his initial state.
if you kiss Peter in his initial state.
if you try to climb Peter in his awakened state.
You have lost everything
if you try to climb Peter in his initial state.
You have gone utterly mad
if you try to wake Peter in his initial state.
You have won
if you enter the gate in The Great Purple Unknown.
These are all the books found in the Forbidden Annex. You need to read some of them in order to learn the name of something that can help you. Sometimes you should read a book more than once. You should also ask Fedwick about the authors and any other names you find in the books to get a better understanding of who's who.
Across Black Oceans, by Eunice Salvoni.
It's a badly written novel featuring a tiny ship pummelled by unknown ocean creatures.
In Defense of Reason, by Scott Andersen.
It's a boring book about analytic philosophy.
The Reign of Reason, by Godos Atrakut.
Atrakut is enlightened by a statute in Contantinopole's library.
The History of the End, or, Last Men, by Frances Bansaku.
Bansaku says to face the truth; slay this monster or become one with it.
The Broken Tongue, by Noah Chaplinski.
You don't even recognize the book's alphabet.
The carvings in the Annex resemble the symbols in this book.
Mysteries of the Red City, by Irenius Pong.
You feel you lack crucial info for this book.
After reading Searcher, read this again to learn of the Red Sign.
Beyond the Dream of Moons, by Dr Silas Fong.
Features facsmilies of pages from Red City.
The Ant That Breeds, by N. W. Nightgrim.
Has random graphic descriptions of torture, childbrith, violent deaths, etc.
The Liquid Sky, by Robert N. Ostregot.
Poetry. The featured poem is called Phantasms.
Out of the Infinite, by Robert N. Ostregot.
More poetry, but much less coherent.
Roceau's Dictionary of Crime and Criminality - Centennial edition.
Offers four random blurbs about burglary.
The Searcher in Darkness, by Endrew Skeinweld.
It's about cave exploration.
A seven-pointed star carving was found in nearby Gorogoth Cave by Barnabus Trail.
Between God and Madness, by Hiram Strangecraft.
It has a strange seal on the cover.
It's insane ramblings in a religious vein.
Out of the Screaming Planet, by Hiram Strangecraft.
It's total gibberish.
The Imagined Worm, by Elizabeth P. Stashwart.
Features a cross-section illustration of a slug-like worm.
The Doctrine of the Long Stick, by Samuel W. Trail.
A frontier skills book. The intro mentions his son Barnabus.
Reading the Sky, by Roberto Vasquez.
It's in Spanish. Maybe a romance between Umberto and Julia.
The Monolith, by Georgi Vogot.
He's seen the Monolith and knows its name is VAAD–. The rest is blighted.
The sequence of events that (I think) needs to happen:
On the third time you read any of the books, you'll see a mention of Barach'speroth Arguule.
Ring the silver bell to summon Fedwick, and ask him about Arguule.
Keep reading books until you see an important margin scribble about saying the name of a god's first servant three times to summon him and banish a spirit.
Keep reading until you see blood smears spelling out ANGARITHEP.
Ring the silver bell to summon Fedwick, then say ANGARITHEP three times to summon a tentacled horror.
Immediately run up from the Annex, and run away from the Basement as well. Wait a turn.
These cookbooks are all found in the Kitchen. You don't really need these books, so feel free to give them to Fedwick in the Forbidden Annex when he wants wants one of your books in exchange for one of his. Unfortunately, he will never give a book back, so dealing with him on his own terms only works in the short term.
Hyper-Gastronomy, Exactness, and String Theory: a Theoretical Subdiscipline of Cooking and Baking by Chef Wheldrake.
A Culinary Overview of Superstitions in the Miskaton Valley Region by S. Jarret Zornwharf.
Mama Hydra's Deep Fried Ones.
Books (journals)
These are all the notebooks, journals, and diaries in the game.
Examine it and then examine its cover: it depicts a wolverine.
Read it several times. It's the Journal of Luther Cragne, and you learn he's the Niveous Alderman of the Variegated Court.
a pocket-sized notebook. It appears inside the armoire in Upstairs Hall, north end.
The armoire is initially boarded up. Keep revisiting the location until the armoire's doors are torn off.
Read it to learn Theodorus Cragne is the Fuscous Alderman of the Variegated Court. Also "The White Antelope" is strongly emphasized at the end of the notebook.
a torn notebook. It's in the locked filing cabinet in the Dusty Office above the meatpacking plant.
Read the notebook. It tells you that Charles Cragne was the Rufous Alderman of the Variegated Court.
Ed's Journal (you know it's Ed's journal because it says "Ed's Journal" on the front). It's on the table in the Bathroom of the Meatpacking Plant, Lower Cambrian Era.
Read it. It contains Ed's last words, and from it, you can deduce that Ed died simply by shooting out of the toilet too fast into outer space.
a small blue journal. It's on a small bookshelf orbiting the Bathroom of the Meatpacking Plant in Space.
Read this journal many times; there's a lot of entries. From it, you'll learn several things, including the facts that Konstantin Cragne is the Mazarine Alderman of the Variegated Court, and his familiar is the Pontiac Firebird.
the Journal of Edwin Cragne. It's in the drawer of the table in the Boiler Room.
Read it. You can also consult it about many topics, such as: Birthright, Cragne, Cthulhu, Faraday cage, Control panel, Dangers, Elder Sign, Kadath, Illuminati, Mankind, Men, Others, Overlay engine, Precautions, R'lyeh, Safety checklist, Stabilizer, Swamps, System, System diagram, Truth, Vernon Stauffer, War, Work, Yuggoth.
Note that likely topics are usually capitalized within the journal's entries.
From the Secret Cache entry, you need to deduce that the hexcode for Edwin's secret cache is DEADBEEF.
a diary; the diary of Phyllis Cragne. It's on the shelf that's accessible when lying on the altar in Milkweed.
Read the diary three times to learn that Phyllis's familiar was a large silverfish named Bristletail.
a moldy, waterlogged journal. It's inside the parcel you find in the knothole by the Old Well.
Read it to learn a confusing story about a golden prosthesis and microphids. After you've used the golden eyepiece to create a few creatures of your own, it makes more sense.
Books (library)
These are all the missing library books. They are listed on your book list. You should read all of them; see Emmett. You must return all of them to the Backwater Public Library and give them to the librarian. You can still read returned books since they're put on the book cart. The reading glasses can help you find these books. When all of the books are returned, point to the display case; the librarian opens it, and you can now take the black book: De Vermibus Laceris.
a slim hardback manual. This copy of To Have, and To Have Knots: An Illustrated Guide is on one of the sorting shelves behind the counter in the School Library.
Mrs Bowler gives this book to you (as Jessica) when you give the scrap of paper to her.
In the hallway, try to give the book to Brandon. He'll tell you to put the book under the black tile in the narthex. Do that. You're now Naomi again, in the Women's Restroom.
Return to the Narthex, open the black tile, look in it, and take the book and the tee shirt from it.
Note that when you (as Naomi) open the black tile, a noose appears in the Narthex that wasn't there before.
a shabby journal. This copy of LVPB is on the plinth in the Mausoleum.
To obtain it, you need to be persistant and try to take it seven times.
The Dollmaker's Journal. It's at Shack Exterior after you give the repaired page to the clockwork doll.
Twin Hearts Between the Planes. It's on the desk in the Estate Agent's Office.
Acquiring this paperbook is tricky. You need to ask Bethany about several different properties in Backwater, For each property you ask about, she'll take a turn searching the filing cabinet for the relevant file, then put the file on her desk on the following turn. When there are so many files that the paperback is completely covered, you need to ask Bethany about one more property. Now, while her back is turned, you can safely put the paperback into one of your backpack's pockets.
Once outside the Estate Agent's Office, read the entire paperback. On its inside back cover you will discover a cryptogram. Solving the cryptogram tells you that your backpack has a hidden pocket.
Backwater Personalities (1915-1925 edition). It's hiding inside the secondary fountain at Drinking Fountain.
When you've found and examined enough missing library books, Emmett, the well-dressed ghost, will be haunting you.
At the Drinking Fountain, ask Emmett about the fountain to receive a ghostly sledgehammer.
Smash the secondary fountain with the sledgehammer. You'll find Backwater Personalities in the new hole you created.
When you open the locker, a corpse will fall on you, you'll pass out, and you'll wake up in the Padded Cell which you must now escape from.
When you escape the Padded Cell, the evidence locker will still be open and you can take the library book then.
The Lives of the Roman Emperors. It's inside the pewter box.
a thin leather volume. It's in a hidden alcove in Landing at the Bottom of Stairs.
To find the alcove, first climb the bookshelf, then try to get off it. The bookshelf will collapse, the floor will be damaged, and the alcove in the floor will be revealed.
The alcove only appears to have a thing in it. Take it: it's an oozing tentacle.
Now look in the alcove again to see the volume.
When you examine the book the first time, it is restyled as De Zeven Testamenten van de Krijsende Zeeworm.
a pink-bound book. This copy of Venator in Tenebris is inside the cabinet at Top of Stairs.
Reading the pink book transports you to a network of Limestone Caverns. This is a simplified version of Hunt the Wumpus, except you play as the wumpus and are hunting the human.
a bound typescript. It's in the drawer of an invisible desk in Hallway South.
The description of A Liminal Space pretends to show Inform 7 source code of the game. It reveals the existence of the desk declared as scenery and that the desk has a drawer.
When you examine the typescript for the first time, it's restyled as a Pataphyscial Approaches to Quantum Superfluids.
Legends of Lake Champlain and the Hudson River Valley. It's in the locked safe in the Library on the manor's second floor.
You need to read the scrap from the Library's desk. The numbers on the scrap are the page numbers you need to study in A Billion Random Digits. Each page has a circled number. The circled numbers on the indicated pages are the combination for the safe.
A Rudimentary Taxonomy of Known Scent and Grotesque Reactions. Acquire it by searching the bookshelves in the Dishelved Studio.
Read it. You'll need the information about scents in order to solve the studio's puzzle.
Solving the scents puzzle rewards you with a slimy key.
Life Beneath Nightmares. It's a green book in the Invasive Library.
Just listen there, and take the green book you see.
Buried Tales of Old Vermont. It's not obvious, but Fedwick, the ghost librarian in the Cragne Library Forbidden Annex has it.
Or Fedwick's book might be The Conservative's Cookbook. It's randomized!
To destroy Fedwick, you need to say ANGARITHEP three times and run away past the Basement. When you return to the Annex, Fedwick will be gone, and his book, a vial of blue liquid, and any books you gave him earlier will be left behind.
The Seven Gaunts. It's hidden in a dreamworld accessed from the Workroom.
It's too complicated to explain here, but in brief, in the Workroom you'll be learning spell words and people's names, looking them up in the filing cabinet and using the spells to access dream spaces.
Eventually, you will enter a dream version of the Workroom itself back when it was new. A dream version of the book is there.
Put the dream book in the dream filing-cabinet, and ZOK twice back to the real Workroom.
Finally, look up Galtmice (the book's author) in the real filing-cabinet to obtain the real book.
a book New England and the Bavarian Illuminati. It's in the Overlaid Space when the machines in the Boiler Room are set to DEADBEEF.
"DEADBEEF" is clued by of the Secret Cache entry in Edwin's journal. You know there's a secret cache from the Men of Power entry, and Men of Power is mentioned in the main entry.
an old paperback book. This copy of ANCHORHEAD. A What-do-I-do-now Book Based on the Works of MICHAEL GENTRY is inside the padlocked small crate in the Small Chamber.
The padlock's combo is poorly clued by the old newspaper found in the medium crate. To wit: figure out when Ceecee died and then blindly guess what date format the author wants you to use.
Subtracting 10 months and 24 days from July 31, 1920 gives you Sept 6th or 7th, 1919. Use a MDYY format: 9719 is the combo. Turn the knob to 9, 7, 1, then 9 to unlock the padlock.
Books (other)
The Modern Girl's Divination Handbook -- Volume Three. It's in the trash can at the Exterior of Train Station.
Read this book three times. Now you can use the cup of coffee as a divination tool.
a soggy tome. This copy of Padoson's Rules of Crawfish: A Guide for Men of Maine is in River Walk.
Read it. It's a good horror story, but it won't help you solve any puzzle.
Tatooine 1: Anchorhead. It's one of the paperbacks in the manor's second-floor library.
Read it; note that the featured woman is a virgin.
When you do the ritual as described by scroll, use this magazine as the virgin to sacrifice. At the proper time, put Juggs on the pentagram and sacrifice it with the witch-knife.
a book of Unfortunate Baby Names. It's on the small bookshelf in the bathroom of the meatpacking plant in outer space.
Read this book if you like, but you don't have to.
You can light either this book or the note from the Juggs Magazine with the lighter; either can act as kindling for the fireplace in the outer space bathroom.
Limerickus Dirtius. It's on the pulpit in the Chapel.
Read it or ignore it.
some overdue library books. You, as Jessica, are carrying them when you, as Naomi, first wear the red high heel shoes.
You will automatically return the books when you first enter the School Library.
De Vermibus Laceris. It's the black book in the display case in the Backwater Public Library.
To open the display case, return all the missing library books listed on your book list to the librarian.
Read the book to learn the real ritual you need to perform to finally find Peter. You'll perform this ritual in the Observatory.
The book itself must be on the lectern when you blow the horn. CAUTION: Reading the book will take it off the lectern!
Honorable mention: the Tome of Naomi appears at the conclusion of the Christabell/Carol story arc in Carol's Room. It is not portable.
Possibly the Tome will appear in Hillside Path instead if you play the arc differently?
a gallon jug of white vinegar. It's on the shelf in the back garden; examine the shed to notice the shelf.
In the back garden, pour the vinegar on the ivy. Now you can take the shears.
a spray bottle of fungicide. Acquire it in Shambolic Shack by wearing the gloves then searching the soil.
Quickly remove the gloves, then spray your hands with the fungicide to cure yourself of a serious infection.
After using the bottle, it is restyled as a spray bottle that used to contain fungicide. Yes, you can only use the fungicide once.
Although this exercise seems pointless, you also learn there's a metal something to be obtained from the soil and that you'll need another approach to get it.
a metal flask. It's in the altar in the Tunnel Entrance; examine the walls, then the mysterious opening to find the altar in the first place.
Open the flask and give it to the sleeping hobo. He will wake and drop an Allen key to grab the flask. But wait until he falls asleep again before trying to take the Allen key.
a bottle of Pepto-Bismol. It's in the medicine cabinet in the stall in the Bathroom of the Meatpacking Plant.
a mysterious silver box. It's inside the suitcase.
On the Railway Platform, stand on the bench, put the brass winding key in the clock, then set the clock to 13:37 as per the posted train schedule. A steam locomotive rushes past the station, and the silver box opens. Inside the box is a bronze coin.
Note that it's possible to wait repeatedly until it's 13:37 naturally without setting the clock's time. The silver box will still open at that time.
an ornate metallic box. It's inside the brown wrapped package you find in the Tiny Windowless Office.
To open the box, first note that each pictured animal has a different number of legs. A bird has two legs, a camel has four, the three-legged toad has three, and the snake has zero.
Next note that each button represents a different number based on how many straight lines are used to make its shape. The circle is 0, vertical line is 1, V-shape is 2, Y-shape is 3, and X-shape is 4. The large button is just an ENTER key to press when you're done.
So just type out the leg-numbers: push V. push X. push Y. push circle. push flat. open box.
Inside the box is a tiny leather journal and lots of silverfish! You drop the box and the silverfish scatter.
a cardboard box. It's inside the birdcage in the Greenhouse at the top of the tree near the ceiling.
One way to get the box is to cut all the wires up there with the sharp machete until you and the cage fall to the ground far below. Take a parrot during your plummet to slow your fall. Collect up everything you dropped and pick up the box at the same time.
The other way to get the box is to first use the machete to cut the roots with the machete to free the parrot sculpture then clean the parrot with the machete. You'll be able to take the box from the cage without any problems when the parrot is green-eyed.
a small black box. It arrives in the Living Room, at night, when you say "Francine" then pick up the phone three times. This is clued from the note from a seesaw.
In the Backwater Public Library, show the card to the librarian. She'll give you the book list.
a black business card. Acquire it by searching the corpse that falls out of the evidence locker in the Backwater Jail.
Read it then ignore it.
a C353F128 punch card. It's in the drawer in the Boiler Room. You don't need it.
If you use this card in the Boiler Room machines, the corresponding overlaid space is a rocky plain in a vacuum. Don't enter the cage!
a 0B46E931 punch card. It's in the drawer in the Boiler Room. You don't need it.
If you use this card in the Boiler Room machines, the corresponding overlaid space is a place with a pyramid, snake statuary, and a hostile lizard person who will kill you with a javelin if you don't leave soon enough.
an AE9B711D punch card. It's in the drawer in the Boiler Room. You don't need it.
If you use this card in the Boiler Room machines, the corresponding overlaid space is a watery swamp with dangerous tentacle monsters. They will kill you if they reach you, and they are not stopped by either the salt or the Elder Sign.
a 00A02209 punch card. It's in the drawer in the Boiler Room. You don't need it.
If you use this card in the Boiler Room machines, the corresponding overlaid space is a foggy land of giant slugs. Salt will repel the slugs, but they will kill you if you try to interact with them in any way.
4 blank punch cards. One blank card is in the drawer in the Boiler Room. The other three are on a high shelf above the table; stand on the table to reach the shelf.
Program a card by putting it in the keypunch, setting the keypunch to an 8-character hexcode, then pulling the handle.
Edwin's journal tells you about four new hexcodes and hints at a fifth.
Kadath is at hex code 59D8FE74. This is an icy waste and there's nothing to see there.
Yuggoth is at hex code 923647F1. This is a dark world with creatures, but it's the cold and its poisonous atmosphere kills you if you visit.
R'lyeh is at hex code 880A5D23. This location is underwater. Opening the cage floods the room, killing you.
Edwin's junkroom is at hex code FFFFFFFF. If anything is inside the cage when a new reality is overlaid, those things are moved into the junkroom. If the thing is a punch card, it is restored back into a blank punch card. The junkroom itself looks like the inside of a log cabin.
Edwin's secret cache is at hex code DEADBEEF. This is hinted at by the Secret Cache entry in Edwin's journal and is the only hexcode you actually need to ever use. The overlaid space there is a normal room with a marble end table, a golden apple and a book New England and the Bavarian Illuminati.
Note that a card with too many holes may stick in the panel slot and it may take more than one try to take it out.
After the penny has been used, you can search the tracks to find it again.
an old quarter. Get it from the payphone at Under the Bridge by pushing the coin return.
Put the quarter in the phone's slot, take the receiver and dial 258-0987 (which you learned by repeatedly reading the graffiti there). You should now be able to see a mural on the bridge featuring an eel-creature and the words Croceate and Variegated Court.
a bronze coin. It's in the silver box that's in the suitcase that's in the Railway Platform's storage locker.
The initials R.V. and J.P. are references to the game's organizers Ryan Veeder and Jenni Polodna.
Put the coin in the coin slot of the vending machine. You can now take the plastic bubble.
Containers
an imaginary basalt sphere. It's on the shelf in Milkweed as seen when you're lying on the altar.
If you're on the altar when the athame is produced, you'll need to stand up to reach the athame.
If you cut the imaginary tendril with the athame, the earworm vanishes!
The athame teleports back to the shelf if you try to take go to another location with it.
a shard of shattered carapace. To find the shard at River Walk, kill the dying crawfish with the grimy rock.
After finding the lobster trap (see pole), cut the twine with the shard to open the trap.
a dull machete. It's in the Greenhouse, up on the mesh walkway.
You see a rootlet-covered wooden handle. Pull it to obtain the machete.
With the whetstone, sharpen the machete. It is now styled as a sharp machete.
The sharp machete can cut the roots holding the parrot sculpture. The machete can clean the parrot sculpture, removing the fungus on it. The machete can cut the wires near and at the top of the greenhouse.
a pair of garden shears. They're under the poison ivy in the Back Garden.
Pour the vinegar on the ivy to destroy it. You can now take the shears.
Use the shears to cut any and all vines in the Back Garden, particularly the pond vines so you can get the screwdriver.
a rusty meat cleaver. It's in one of the games in the Rec Room cabinet.
Which game to first look at is clued by watching the TV while it is off. Each game suggests another game title to look at, and the eleventh game has the cleaver.
In the meatpacking plant, cut the dog with the cleaver to obtain the secret menu.
a glass shard. Create this by breaking the light bulb in the padded cell.
Breaking the bulb is tricky. First, push the chest (so it's under the bulb) then stand on the chest and pull the mesh. Now the bulb is unprotected.
Second, stand on the chest and hit the bulb. The shard will now be on the floor.
Third, get off the chest and take the shard. Put the shard in the crack of the the chest and finally cut the strait jacket with it.
a bloodstained witch-knife. It's in the medicine cabinet in the stall in the bathroom of the meatpacking plant.
As part of the ritual described by the scroll, sacrifice the Juggs magazine with the witch-knife.
a crooked dagger. It's inside the lockbox in the Chapel.
To unlock the lockbox, put the wad of cash in the collection box.
In the Laboratory, kill the author with the dagger.
a shard of a mirror. Find it by examining the mirror in the Gallery.
Cut the child painting with the shard. This starts a chain reaction that destroys the furniture and mirror in the room. You can now go through the north exit.
Optionally, you can also cut the abstract photograph with the shard for a minor bit of amusement.
Outside the Gallery, the shard is just called a shard.
Dolls
a pull-string doll. It's in the trash can at the Exterior of Train Station.
The doll's head has two faces. You can turn the head to have either the inane or scowling face facing forward.
You pull the doll's string to make it say something about a random item in the vicinity. The inane face likes everything. The scowling face issues dire warnings about everything.
The doll normally doesn't comment on things in your inventory, but does make an exception for the glass jar containing an insect. This is important.
In the exterior of the train section, while carrying the insect jar, turn the doll's head so it's scowling and pull its string. Note how the woman blocking your way south reacts to the doll's warnings.
Immediately after the scowling doll warns about the insect jar, show or give the jar to the woman. The woman will flee in terror, never to be seen again, and you are now free to travel south from the train station.
Interestingly, the doll acts as a useful cheat aid in the game, since it can help point out nearby objects that you might have overlooked. The thing that isn't there probably refers to the insect jar when the jar isn't there or visible there.
a "Gossipin' Gertie" doll. She's in the Abandoned Nursery.
She says creepy things on her own, but I never heard her say anything particularly important. You can ignore the Gertie doll.
Drinks
a half-full styrofoam coffee cup. It's in the Train Station Lobby.
Examine the coffee at any time to get a puzzle-status check on the current room.
If the coffee shows a plant, you can solve all the puzzles in this room. Everything you need to solve them is either here or in your inventory.
If the coffee shows transportation, you can't solve the current room's remaining puzzles until you acquire something from somewhere else.
If the coffee shows a hybrid, you can solve at least one puzzle now, but another puzzle requires an item that isn't here.
If the coffee shows no clear image, you've solved all the required puzzles in this room.
If the coffee shows an "object of desire", you need to pick up something valuable or useful in this room.
If the coffee shows twin objects, you have two possible destinies. This divination only happens in the rooms with Christabell and Carol and their intertwined narrative puzzle.
If the coffee shows a web-like pattern of jagged lines, you have so many destinies that the coffee can't help you at all. This divination only happens in the Court and The Obversatory rooms.
By the way, you won't drink the coffee, and the coffee ignores optional puzzles.
a half-full can of Dew. It's on a small table in the Bathroom of the Meatpacking Plant, Lower Cambrian Era.
Note that any beer or other drinks you order in the pub is consumed immediately and isn't in your inventory.
Electronics
a waterproof flashlight. It's in the Churchyard.
On the Bridge, open the flashlight. Remove both its dead battery and its bulb. Then put both the flakes of plant matter and liquid (from the pool or cauldron) into the flashlight, then close the flashlight. The flashlight is now a light-source for the Bridge's underwater locations.
Interestingly, when you first go down into Subterranean Tunnel, it's supposed to be dark, and if you have the glowing flashlight, a point will be made about how you drop it and it goes "out". The flashlight still works at the Bridge, of course, just not in the Tunnel.
a dead battery and a small light bulb. They're both inside the flashlight.
Remove them and trash them.
the first candle and the second candle. These electric candles are inside the locked hatch in Tunnel Entrance; unlock the hatch with the Allen key.
Note where the two fuses are in the fuse box; their positions in the 3×3 grid are randomized. Put the candles into the corresponding sockets in the altar's candleholder.
When both candles are correctly placed, they light up. Now re-examine the poster and see the name CEECEE under the girl's picture.
Put the small battery in the rectangular slot of the golden eyepiece.
a battered yellow JogMaster. You somehow are wearing it in Upstairs Hall, north end after seeing the bricked-up bathroom burn.
Turn it on and listen to it for several turns. You learn that Theodorus Cragne is the Fuscous Alderman of the Variegated Court and that his familiar is a white antelope.
a walkie-talkie. It's in the Attic.
Turn on the walkie-talkie in most locations to hear author's commentary. Some commentaries include spoilers!
Note that not every author provided commentary, and you can't bring the walkie-talkie into some locations.
The commentary in the Steeple is particularly unusual since it summons a gnome you can talk to.
aviator goggles. You're wearing these only when in the Churchyard.
The goggles only exist in the Churchyard. You can ignore them.
a golden eyepiece. It's in the plastic bubble in the vending machine on the Railway Platform.
The eyepiece has a round button, a triangular button, and a small rectangular slot.
Put the small battery in the rectangular slot to give it power.
Pushing the round button powers the eyepiece on and off.
Turn on the eyepiece, then wear it. It won't come off now.
Go to the Old Well. With the eyepiece turned on, you can see arches in the puddle, brick, quartz, and root.
The triangular button projects a laser beam. Prod the machine, an arch, or a creature with the beam.
See Well puzzle for more details on solving the puzzle there.
When the pteranodon opens the well, the eyepiece is damaged and falls off.
a pair of reading glasses. At Drinking Fountain, Emmett gives them to you when you destroy the secondary fountain with the ghostly sledgehammer.
Wear them, if you wish to. Now whenever you enter a room with an unexamined missing library book, the glasses will tell you a book is nearby. Don't wear the glasses if this extra hinting is unwanted.
All seventeen of these figurines are inside a display case in Court. The case is not locked. Put the correct twelve of these on their corresponding colored pedestals, also in Court. When that is done, the monolith opens and you can take the revealed horn. See the Variegated Court summary on how you know which familiar each Alderman has.
a figurine of a duck. Put it on the fulvous pedestal.
a figurine of a wolverine. Put it on the niveous pedestal.
a figurine of a silverfish. Put it on the cesious pedestal.
a figurine of a rat. Put it on the rufous pedestal.
a figurine of an eel. Put it on the croceate pedestal.
a figurine of a tarantula. Ignore this one.
a figurine of a Pontiac Firebird. Put it on the mazarine pedestal.
a figurine of a peregrine falcon. Put it on the xanthic pedestal.
a figurine of a greyhound. Put it on the puce pedestal.
a figurine of a Venus flytrap. Ignore this one.
a figurine of a sheep. Ignore this one.
a figurine of a kraken. Put it on the eburnean pedestal.
a figurine of a cat. Put it on the griseous pedestal.
a figurine of a mole. Ignore this one.
a figurine of a weasel. Put it on the icterine pedestal.
a figurine of a crow. Ignore this one.
a figurine of a white antelope. Put it on the fuscous pedestal.
First, put the sausage in the gloves to make it more disgusting and lethal.
In the Shambolic Shack, put the sausage in the barrow and wait for the centipede to eat it and die. Now you can search the soil and obtain a tiny brass key.
Note that any food you order in the pub (see secret menu) is eaten immediately and isn't in your inventory.
Footwear
a pair of extremely muddy clogs. You're wearing them, but they only exist in the Front Walk and the Mudroom.
In the Mudroom, if you pull the welcome mat out, you can partly clean the clogs. They are now a pair of clogs, still a bit muddy. Otherwise, you can't do much else with the clogs. You may not remove them.
a pair of blue cloth slippers. They're in the Mudroom.
You are unwilling to wear strange slippers. Ignore them.
a pair of leather boots. They're in the Mudroom, but separated.
A single brown leather boot is plainly visible there.
A mate of the first leather boot is hiding under the black cloak. The cloak itself first appears as just a deep shadow on the floor beneath the hooks.
You won't wear the boots. They're not yours and you don't think they'd fit.
The boots are only listed together in your inventory.
some red high heel shoes. They're in the stall of the Women's Restroom of the church after your first visit to the Girl's Room as Jessica.
Wear them. You'll become Jessica in the Girl's Room once again.
As Jessica, you will be unwilling to remove the shoes, even when Sister Mary Marcia demands them from you.
Honorable mention (not listed in inventory):
greg-boots. You're wearing them in the manor's Foyer.
your heavy-duty boots. You're wearing them in the Cragne Manor's Back Garden.
Haunts
a faint chill (haunting you). It's with you in the Mausoleum.
While you are haunted with this chill or any of its later evolved forms, whenever you examine an unexamined missing library book, a frost forms on the book's insignia.
After frosting four library books, the chill evolves into a hovering spark (haunting you).
After frosting eight library books, the spark evolves into a well-dressed ghost (haunting you).
You can talk to the ghost, but initially he's mute and can't answer questions.
After frosting ten library books, the ghost leaves you and heads for the Drinking Fountain.
When next at the Drinking Fountain, the ghost gives you a ghostly sledgehammer after two turns there when the secondary fountain is visible.
When you break the secondary fountain with the sledgehammer, the ghost becomes a cold spot on your collarbone (haunting you). He also gives you a pair of reading glasses.
As a cold spot, the ghost can now answer your questions. He's a dead Black librarian named Emmett Josey. Ask him about any of the library books or the article.
an earworm. You acquire it in Milkweed when you push the shack over.
The earworm only exists while you're in Milkweed.
Attempting to do almost anything with the earworm only produces yet another line of the Chumbawamba song. This is all it's for and it's harmless, no matter how many of the English words are replaced with Lovecraftian ones.
The earworm is attached to your brain by an imaginary tendril.
If you cut the tendril (not the earworm) with the imaginary athame, the earworm vanishes!
In the Dishelved Nursery, put the component into the vacuum cleaner to repair it. Vacuuming the dollhouse will help you find the letter opener.
a silver mirror. It's in the Laboratory after you kill the author with the crooked dagger.
In the Shadowy Closet, put the mirror into the empty frame, then examine the mirror. All the clothes are put away and a trapdoor in the ceiling is now accessible.
a strange chime. You're holding it after you (as Lillian) kill Eustace with the letter opener and then examine the mirror there.
You can hit chime to start it ringing and stop chime to stop it.
When Inside the Shack, hit the chime to be transported into the Prism.
When you next return to Inside the Shack, you'll discover that the chime has broken into shards.
a filthy rug. It's in the Church Basement.
You don't need this rug, so why is it portable? If there's a way to clean it, I did not discover it.
Unconfirmed: Every turn while you carry this rug, there's a chance that a random item in your inventory will acquire a black stain, and stain will be a new synonym for every stained item.
a trophy for a dog race. It's behind a hidden door in the Padded cell.
The hidden door's knob masquerades as a brass button on the padding.
You'll need to escape the strait jacket before you can turn the knob.
Examine the trophy to learn that Jonathan B. Cragne is the Puce Alderman of the Variegated Court and his familiar is a greyhound named Bloodfang.
an ominous-looking painting. It's in the manor's second-floor Library.
Taking the painting reveals a safe that was behind it. You don't need the painting itself.
Jars
a glass jar containing an insect. It's in the locker in the Train Station Restroom.
To unlock the locker, set the lock to 7113. Examine the janitor closet to learn this combo.
Take the jar to the exterior of the train station, turn the head pull-string doll to its sinister face, and pull the doll's string.
Immediately after the doll warns about the insect jar, show the jar to the woman. She will flee in terror.
To learn about the jar of pickled peaches, follow up on the hint on the copper amulet by going to the Church Basement and play tape 11 from counter 1996.
When you know what you're looking for, search the jars. (CAUTION: If you don't know, the game may crash.)
a familiar gold wristwatch. It's on the bench on the Railway Platform.
Read its inscription. It's a clue for the combo that unlocks the suitcase.
an antique locket. Acquire it from a cephalopod after skipping a flat stone in the Dim Recesses of the Forest.
Open it to find a tintype. Also look behind the tintype to read a message.
a pair of green stone earrings. They're in the small black box.
Examine them to note they're really a pair of stone earplugs.
Wear them. In L'oreille, look through the tube to find the spot. Listen to the spot repeatedly to hear Francine quit her position as Xanthic Alderman in the Variegated Court.
a far place ring. It's hidden in the gig poster at Club Backstage.
Using the clue from the note from a seesaw, examine the mountaineers on the Carfax poster to find this ring.
In Forestland, put the ring on the body. This is clued by the child's drawing.
a copper amulet. It's underneath the circles in the town square.
Based on the clue written on decaying picture, turn the circles appropriately. Specifically, turn the inner circle so CROSS is in second place, turn the outer circle so TREE is in fourth place, and turn the middle circle so DAAN is in second place.
When each circle is correctly oriented, say AHE'HEE. The central circle becomes a shallow hole containing the amulet.
Examine the amulet. Its inscription tells you which tape to listen to in the Church Basement and from which counter number.
Abril's ring. It's the object in the chest in Francine's Basement.
In Forestland, put the ring on the body. This is clued by the child's drawing.
your wedding ring. You're wearing it when in Landing at the Bottom of Stairs.
You don't need to do anything with it.
a leather cord and pendant. The misshapen mass in the Steeple has it.
Take it and wear it. It protects you from a bat creature when you pull the rope pulls.
a broken silver amulet. Find it in the manor's Foyer by examining the dust, then the dark line.
You can't wear it, and I have no idea what can be done with it. This item is a mystery to me.
Keys
a brass winding key. Find it by examining the rat on the Railway Platform.
Stand on the bench and put the key in the clock. Now you can set the clock to 13:37 (as per the schedule board) and make the train arrive. If the mysterious silver box is present, it will open.
a bronze key green from age. Acquire it in the Back Garden by unscrewing the drain of the fountain with the screwdriver.
This key unlocks the padlock to the shed there.
a hefty, rust-streaked iron key. You find it in the Shambolic Shack when you first take the gloves.
This key unlocks the hatch at Under the Bridge but it also gets jammed and stuck in its lock there. Fortunately, this lets you use the key as a handle to pull the door open.
a key from an urn. It's inside the bronze urn, in the northern columbarium, in the Cragne Family Plot.
CAUTION! This key will make your skull explode if you try to unlock anything with it! Ignore it; it doesn't unlock anything.
a long wooden key. Find it in Uncle Harvawell's skull in the coffin in the Family Crypt.
The wooden key unlocks both the church's front door and also the door between the chapel and church office.
a sturdy key. Acquire it by examining the statue on the Balcony.
The sturdy key unlocks the east door at Upstairs Hall, north end, the door that leads to the Master Bedroom.
an Allen key. The sleeping hobo in the Tunnel Entrance is holding it.
To get the Allen key, first give the open flask to him, and he'll wake up and drop the Allen key. But don't grab the key right away! Ignore the key until the hobo falls asleep again, then take the key.
The Allen key unlocks the hatch in the Tunnel Entrance.
You also need to use the Allen key as a handle when opening the hatch, even after it's unlocked.
a nasty-looking key. It's in the Steeple.
The nasty key unlocks both doors that lead into the Narrow Straits, east from Subterranean Tunnel and west from Amorphous Tunnel.
a thin steel key. Find it by searching the junk in the Dusty Office repeatedly.
The thin key unlocks the filing cabinet that's also in the Dusty Office.
Ed's keys. They're attached to and part of Ed's coveralls.
You cannot separate the keys from the coveralls. Just take the coveralls off Ed's corpse.
Ed's keys unlock the janitor's closet in the stall in the bathroom of the meatpacking plant.
Konstantin's keys. They're in the Bathroom of the Meatpacking Plant, Lower Cambrian Era.
a tiny brass key. It's hidden in the barrow in The Shambolic Shack.
To obtain the tiny key, you first have to kill the centipede that's also in there (see gloves and sausage), then search the barrow.
The tiny key unlocks the games cabinet in the Rec Room.
an old iron key. It's in the cabinet in the Science Tower.
I don't know what this key is for. Perhaps it doesn't open anything?
an ancient key. Jessenia in the Curiosity Shop gives this key to you when you give her the red herring.
The ancient key unlocks the sarcophagus in Narrow Straits.
a slimy key. You acquire it in the Disheveled Studio when you kiss the canvas enhanced with both the clear vial and teal vial scents.
The slimy key unlocks the green door in the Train Station Lobby.
a tarnished brass key. It's inside a nook hidden in the Station Security Room desk.
Pull monitor 1 to find it. This is clued by examining the 16-10-95 tape which itself is clued by the framed article there.
The tarnished key unlocks the door at Shack Exterior.
an ornate silver key. You're carrying it when you arrive at the Stairway via the bound at the Lakebed Temple.
It's the "Silver Key to the Gates of Slumber" and it unlocks the "Gates of Resin and Amber" at the Bottom of Stairs.
Luggage
a Jansport backpack. You're wearing it when you first enter the Estate Agent's Office.
This is the best player's-carryall ever and you can put almost all your inventory into it or one of its pockets.
The backpack has a main pocket (mp), a key pocket (kp), a book pocket (bp), a side pocket (sp), a trash pocket (tp), and a hidden pocket (hp). Each pocket can be opened and closed.
In the main pocket, you'll find a backpack features guide. Read the guide to learn how to use the backpack.
Use the backpack however you wish, but in general, put keys in the key pocket, books in the book pocket, and useless junk in the trash pocket. It helps to be organized! And close pockets to hide clutter; I recommend keeping the trash pocket closed most of the time.
a suitcase. It's inside the storage locker on the Railway Platform.
The suitcase is locked; the combo is clued by the date March 19th on the inscription on the back of the wristwatch. Set the suitcase to 0319, and it will open.
Once the catflap has been revealed, put the satchel in front of the catflap.
Put the clippings on top of the satchel and touch the giant eyeball one last time to return the room to normal. However, you will now be able to read the glyphs on the wall.
Masks
a giant milkweed leaf. It's in Milkweed.
Wear it. While you wear it, you can lie down on the altar in Milkweed safely.
a wax mask. It's left behind by the librarian in Backwater Public Library if you return there after returning all the library books on your book list.
You can wear it, but you need not do anything with it.
a sock mask. This silver mask is one of two masks on the arch in The Great Purple Unknown.
This mask suggests laughing.
To get the masks off the arch, first laugh and cry to make Peter responsive. Then point to the masks, and he will fetch them for you.
When wearing this mask, the location becomes The Great Orange Unknown, and you see an orange spot on the left of the gate.
Look inside the sock mask to see a random number. Turn the left dial on the gate to this number.
a buskin mask. This gold mask is one of two masks on the arch in The Great Purple Unknown.
This masks suggests crying.
To get the masks off the arch, first laugh and cry to make Peter responsive. Then point to the masks, and he will fetch them for you.
When wearing this mask, the location becomes The Great Green Unkown, and you see a green spot to the right of the gate.
Look inside the buskin mask to see a random number. Turn the right dial on the gate to this number.
When both dials on the gate are correctly set, the gate opens. Enter the gate to win the game.
CAUTION: If you don't go underwater or drink water soon after tasting the spores, you'll drown in the air like a fish out of water!
flakes of plant matter. It's in the brazier part of the sculpture of pipes on the Bridge.
On the Bridge, empty the flashlight and put both these flakes and liquid from either pool or cauldron into the flashlight. Close the flashlight. It is now a light-source for the underwater locations under the bridge.
Note: The flakes are sometimes described as a clump of glowing vegetation when inside the flashlight.
some flat bones. They're inside the misshapen skeleton in the water underneath the Bridge.
To get to the underwater skeleton, you'll need to make a few preparations.
Put the claw into the water so you have a rope to climb down.
Make your flashlight glow; see flashlight for details.
Eat fungal powder and go underwater to breathe underwater.
While underwater, put the bones in the claw, then close the claw.
Back on the bridge, pull the rope, hauling the claw and bones up there.
Finally, open the claw, take the bones, and repair the bridge with them.
an oozing tentacle. It's in a hidden alcove in Landing at the Bottom of Stairs.
To find the alcove, first climb the bookshelf, then try to get off it. The bookshelf will collapse, the floor will be damaged, and the alcove in the floor will be revealed.
The alcove only appears to have a thing in it. Take it: it's the tentacle.
Do not eat the tentacle; the game will end there if you do.
The tentacle will disappear on its own soon after you find it.
a bat egg. It's in the bat nest, up by the ceiling of the Science Tower.
To get up there, first put the ashtray stand on the table to act as a buffer. Then get onto the table yourself, extend the pointer and push the green button with the pointer.
The table will descend on its own after three turns.
A few turns after you acquire the egg, it will hatch, leaving you with a red herring.
a red herring. It hatches from the bat egg a few turns after you acquire it.
In the Curiosity Shop, show the herring to Jessenia. She will ask if it's for the shop. If you agree, she'll take it and give you an ancient key and a receipt.
a Cyst. It's inside the locked sarcophagus in Narrow Straits; unlock the sarcophagus with the ancient key.
In the Observatory, put the cyst in the circle as part of the Peter-finding ritual as explained by De Vermibus Laceris.
a black horn. It's inside the monolith in Court.
To open the monolith, put the correct twelve figurines onto the appropriate colored pedestals, matching the Aldermen of the Variegated Court with their familiars.
In the Observatory, after dialing the correct star sign (as revealed in the Steeple) and placing both the cyst and photograph of a memory in the circle, and De Vermibus Laceris on the lectern, blow the horn. A portal to Peter's location will open.
some assorted teeth. They're in the collection plate on the altar in the Chapel.
Take the teeth from the plate and put the wad of cash in its place.
a candle shaped like a hand. It's on the toilet in the stall in the Bathroom of the Meatpacking Plant.
Put it on the pentagram and light it with the lighter. Now the toilet is a portal to a bathroom in outer space.
To actually use the toilet portal, first attach the shower knob to the toilet. Now sit on the toilet and flush it.
a candle shaped like a foot. It's inside the locked janitor's closet in the stall in the bathroom of the meatpacking plant. Unlock the closet with Ed's keys.
Put it on the pentagram and light it with the lighter. Now the toilet is a portal to a bathroom in the Lower Cambrian Era.
a wax cylinder. It's on the phonograph in the bathroom of the meatpacking plant in space.
You can, of course, crank the phonograph and listen to the recording. It's "We Built This City" by Starship.
Put the wax cylinder on the hearth. The heat from the fireplace softens the wax into a lump.
Take the lump of wax and sculpt wax lump into horse. You know you need a horse figure from the scroll.
As part of the banishing ritual outlined by the scroll, put the lump of wax shaped like a horse on the pentagram.
an enormous dessicated rat corpse. Find it in the dusty office above the meatpacking plant by repeatedly searching the detritus.
You have no need for a dead rat. Leave it. The rat was Charles's familiar. The rat's behaviour is described by the yellowed newsprint.
Honorable mention: your blood. It is available to you for a turn when you cut your finger in the Disheveled Studio.
There are a few ways to cut yourself. Reading the scent reactions book can give you a paper cut. Searching the easel can give you a splinter. There may be other ways.
After drawing on the canvas (with the charcoal), touch the canvas (with your blood). This binds the canvas to you.
some yellowed newspapers. They're inside the newspaper box that's at Outside Pub.
Pry open the box with the rusty piece of metal by putting the bar into the handle, then pulling the bar.
Read the newspapers to learn that the familiar of the Fulvous Alderman of the Variegated Court is an orange duck.
some charred newspaper clippings. They're the papers inside the satchel after the robe has been taken out.
Read them several times for background info.
After putting the satchel in front of the catflap and touching the eyeball, put the clippings on the satchel and touch the eyeball yet again. A flying squid will finally enter your own eye, the room will return to normal, and you'll be able to read the runes there.
a newspaper clipping ("Rumors of Decapitations"). It's in Francine's Basement.
Just read the clipping for background info.
an old newspaper. It's in the medium crate in the Small Chamber.
Read its articles and figure out when Ceecee died. Her date of death in MDYY format is the combination to the padlock of the small crate.
an Italian magazine cutting. It's in the Dining Room after the vision of three men concludes.
Examine the photo and the read the translation on the cutting. It explains how what you just saw was a "chronovisor" being used. The machine isn't part of a puzzle you need to solve. It's just, y'know, interesting.
Daniel Baker's note. It's on the desk in the Tiny Windowless Office.
Read it. It's a note to Peter about returning something that belonged to his great uncle Luther, presumably the package that's also on the desk.
a note from a seesaw. Acquire it by examining the handles of the seesaw in the Playground.
Read it for the clue: "THE TREES". Examine the trees to find a boy there.
Wait until the boy says everything he wants to say. Then examine this note again to find new instructions. Follow the instructions to obtain the earplugs and the far place ring.
a faded delivery note. Acquire it by examining the mirror in the Workroom.
Read it to learn the names Anax Cragne and Ladoro Feraud.
a real weird handwritten note you found in the back of a vintage issue of Juggs Magazine. This note falls to the floor when you pick up the Juggs Magazine itself.
Read it. It explains that the toilet is a portal when the candle is on the pentagram. It also recommends using the banishment spell on a scroll to get rid of the demonic monster in the pipes.
a folded up note. It's inside a nook hidden in the Station Security Room desk.
Pull monitor 1 to find it (and the tarnished key. This is clued by examining the 16-10-95 tape which itself is clued by the framed article there.
Read the note. It tells you that the key is for the shack.
a Post-it® note. It's on the monitor in the Backwater Jail (but mentioned by the desk's description).
Read it to learn that the evidence key is kept in the last arrestee's file.
a scrap of paper. It's inside the locked desk in the the manor's second-floor library.
The numbers on the scrap are page numbers for A Billion Random Digits. Study the indicated pages and note which numbers are circled on those pages. Those circled numbers are the combination to the safe which is also in the second-floor library.
a scrap of paper. Brandon gives it to you (as Jessica) when you talk to him for the first time in the school hallway.
Read it; it has the Dewey Decimal number of the book that Brandon wants.
In the School Library, give the scrap to Mrs Bowler. She'll give you a slim hardback manual in exchange.
Take the tintype to read the back of it and learn that Eliakim is the Eburnean Alderman of the Variegated Court.
a photograph of a memory. It is in Inside the Shack after your adventures in the Prism and the Book of All Days concludes. Ringing the chime in the shack begins the sequence.
As part of the ritual explained in De Vermibus Laceris, put this photograph in the circle in The Observatory.
a worn out, decaying picture. In Carol's Room, it falls out of the Tome of Naomi when you first try to take it.
Examine the picture to get cryptic instructions. If you follow the instructions correctly in the Town Square, you will find a copper amulet.
a child's drawing. It initially appears as a paper plane flying in from the window in Francine's bedroom. It becomes a drawing when you take it.
Examine it. It clues you in that you need to draw a circle around a female corpse and put two rings on her. See chalk, far place ring, and Abril's ring.
photos of you and sketches of your face. These are in the Disheveled Studio.
You have no need to take either of these and it might even be a bug that the game allows you to take them.
Other papers:
a label. It's on the storage locker on the Railway Platform.
It says "Lost and Found". You don't need this sticker and I didn't find anything else to stick it onto.
a coded telegram. You're carrying it when you enter the Estate Agent's Office.
a pamphlet of home listings. It's in the Estate Agent's Office.
Read it to learn about three properties in town that you can ask Bethany about. The pamphlet also has the JACKDAWS pangram which is the code key to solving the cryptogram at the end of the lion sex book.
some scraps of paper. They're on the ground at Shack Exterior.
Reassemble the scraps to create a repaired page from them.
a repaired page. Make it by reassembling the scraps of paper.
Give the repaired page to the clockwork doll. She'll finish her book, The Dollmaker's Journal, and drop it for you to take.
a trolley schedule. It's in the hidden pocket of the backpack.
Read it. It explains how to use the trolley pass and lists all the trolley stops you've found. There are eleven stops in total.
a brass nameplate. Find it in the dusty office above the meatpacking plant by repeatedly searching the detritus.
Examine it to learn the owner of the plant is Charles Cragne.
a used piece of charcoal. Acquire it in Disheveled Studio by examining the table.
With the charcoal, draw on the canvas in the studio to finish the drawing. This uses up the charcoal.
Tools
a rusty flathead screwdriver. It's held by the remains of the gardener in the pond in the Back Garden.
Find the pond by examining the birdbath.
To get to the remains, you'll first need to cut the pond vines with the shears.
With the screwdriver, unscrew the fountain's drain. You'll take the bronze key green from age from the drain automatically.
a ghostly sledgehammer. At the Drinking Fountain, Emmett's ghost materializes it when you ask him about the fountain.
Break the secondaray fountain with the sledgehammer. The hammer fades away, its job done.
a dark grey whetstone. It's in the pub, The Invisible Worm.
With the secret menu in hand, ask the bartender about the ancestor sandwich. While he's busy making it, steal the whetstone and hide it in your backpack or something.
When outside the pub, sharpen the machete with the whetstone.
a long hooked pole. It's at River Walk.
Take it and fish the river with it to find a freshwater lobster trap.
a mallet. It's in the fuse box in the Tunnel Entrance; unlock the hatch with the Allen key.
You can hit individual bricks with the mallet as if the bricks are a xylophone.
Play CEECEE (as hinted by the name on the poster) by hitting the first brick with the mallet for a "C" and by hitting the third brick with the mallet for an "E".
After you play CEECEE, a secret passage to the northeast opens.
a cast iron spire. It's a loose part of the fence in The Churchyard. Just take it.
Open the door of the mausoleum with the spire.
the strange claw-shaped metal trap and the rope attached to it. It's on the Bridge.
Put the claw in the river. Now you can climb down the rope into the river.
When underwater, open the claw, put the flat bones in the claw and close it.
Back on the bridge, pull the rope to haul the claw and bones up to you. Open the claw and use the bones to repair the bridge.
All three urns are in columbariums in the Cragne Family Plot, and any of them can be used to bail the flooded grave. Confusingly, note that fill urn is interpreted as bail grave with urn and no water is actually kept in an urn; you empty it out automatically.
To destroy Fedwick, you need to say ANGARITHEP three times and run away past the Basement. When you return to the Annex, Fedwick will be gone, and this vial and a library book will be left behind.
Open the vial to re-experience a memory of Silas Fong's the author. After the memory is over, examine Red City and Moons and note the new blood smears.
The rest of these vials are in the box of vials and used in the Dishelved Studio puzzle. Use the charcoal to finish the canvas and your blood to bind it to you. The first scent to apply should be one of these four: cedarwood, frankincense, tuberose, or geosmin. If you chose cedarwood or frankincense, then apply the clear vial second, otherwise apply the teal vial second. If the clear vial was second, apply the teal vial third, otherwise apply the clear vial third. Finally kiss the canvas to get the slimy key.
a vial of cedarwood extract.
Cedar: Enhances visions. Consider this a good-aligned scent.
a vial of frankincense.
Frankincense: Purifies sins. Consider this a good-aligned scent.
a vial of tuberose extract.
Tuberose: Inflames passions. Consider this an evil-aligned scent.
a vial of geosmin. Also known as petrichor.
Petrichor: Promotes rot. Consider this an evil-aligned scent.
a vial of musk.
Animalic musk (castoreum, civet): Promotes depravity. Consider this a neutral scent.
a vial of rose extract. Consider this a neutral scent.
a spray decant vial. Consider this a neutral scent.
a vial of vanilla extract. Consider this a neutral scent.
an unmarked clear vial. It's savior's breath.
Savior's breath: Colorless and curiously insubstantial. Used for purification. Consider this an angelic scent.
Apply this to either a good-aligned canvas to make it angelic or to a demonic canvas to make it dual-powered.
Kiss the dual-powered canvas to obtain the slimy key.
CAUTION: If you apply this to a neutral or evil-aligned canvas, the game ends with your purification.
CAUTION: If you kiss an angelic canvas, the game ends with your purification.
an unmarked teal vial. It's peat venom.
Peat venom: Extracted from cadavers in river mud. Opens one up to forces beyond this earth. Consider this a demonic scent.
Apply this to either an evil-aligned canvas to make it demonic or to an angelic canvas to make it dual-powered.
Kiss the dual-powered canvas to obtain the slimy key.
CAUTION: If you apply this to a neutral or good-aligned canvas, the game ends with you being found unworthy.
CAUTION: If you kiss a demonic canvas, the game ends with you being found worthy.
an unmarked pale blue vial. It's dispulsichor.
Dispulsichor: Undoes the effect of past divination. Consider this a big ol' scent eraser.
Put this on the canvas to remove all lesser scents from the canvas. The canvas is still bound to you, though; you don't need to re-apply blood.
CAREFUL. If either the clear or teal vials were used earlier, the canvas will now be in a quasi-neutral state. You'll need to use one of the cedarwood, frankincense, tuberose, or geosmin vials next but understand that the canvas will suddenly be angelic or demonic from the earlier clear or teal vial application. Yes, it's confusing.
Wearables
Small wearables:
a trolley pass. It's in the hidden pocket of your backpack.
Wear it. You can now see trolley stops in some locations. Each stop has a different color.
To travel by trolley, go to a trolley stop and WAIT FOR color LINE where the color is the color of the stop you want to travel to.
Examine your trolley schedule to see a list of the known trolley stops. You can only travel to trolley stops you've previously found in the game.
some mildewed leather gloves. They're on the shelving in the Shambolic Shack and they're disgusting.
Immediately remove the gloves and spray your hands (not the gloves) to cure yourself of the gloves' infection.
CAUTION: If you don't spray your hands as soon as possible, the infection will soon kill you.
Put the desiccated sausage in the gloves to make it a more disgusting and lethal treat for the centipede monster hiding in the barrow's soil.
CAUTION: Every turn while you carry the gloves, there's a chance that one of your items will start smelling faintly of mildew. I know of no antidote to this malady, and it's far better to drop the gloves as soon as possible to prevent the mildew spread as much as possible.
a lobster bib from The Codfather restaurant. It's in the satchel.
You need to take the robe out of the satchel first to see the bib in there.
Read the small tag on the bib.
When a rift in the floor is revealed, put the bib on the rift to block squids from escaping the Cold Storage Room that way.
some Saucy Siren lipstick. It's in the Women's Restroom of the church.
Wear it then look in the mirror. You'll be transported back in time and play as a girl named Jessica, and this is now the Girl's Room of a school.
When Sister Mary Marcia demands that you give the lipstick to her, do so. You'll be back in the present day as Naomi.
a gray wig. It's left behind by the librarian in Backwater Public Library if you return there after returning all the library books on your book list.
You can wear it, but you don't need to do anything with it.
a vintage Black Sabbath tee shirt. It's under the black tile in the Narthex after you (as Jessica) put the slim hardback manual there.
You can wear the tee shirt; you'll meet Sister Mary Marcia one last time when you do, and the photos in the Narthex shatter.
Ed's coveralls. Ed's corpse is wearing them. He's in orbit around the outer space bathroom of the meatpacking plant.
The only reason to take the coveralls is because Ed's keys are attached to them. You need his keys.
You can wear the coveralls, but you nasty.
a librarian's dress. It's left behind by the librarian in Backwater Public Library if you return there after returning all the library books on your book list.
You can wear the dress, but you don't need to do anything with it.
Peter's jacket. It's on a chair in the Public Library.
You can wear the jacket, if you like, but you only need Peter's library card that's in it.
a black cloak. It's in the Mudroom. It appears as just a deep shadow on the floor beneath the hooks.
CAUTION: You will die if you wear the cloak or even just hold onto it too long. It's best to just hang it on a hook instead.
a calfskin coat. It's hanging on a hook in the Mudroom.
Wear it if you like. Free coat!
a strait jacket. You are wearing it when you wake up in the Padded cell, just after unlocking the evidence locker in the Backwater Jail with the aluminum key.
To remove it, you'll need to cut it with a glass shard, which see.
a fur coat. It's in the locked janitor's closet in the stall in the bathroom of the meatpacking plant. Unlock the closet with Ed's keys.
The coat is used in the horse-banishing ritual as explained by the scroll. You just need to wave the coat at the correct time.
a gold jacket. It's worn by the mannequin in the Church Basement.
It has dried blood on it and you can wear it, but you can ignore the gold jacket entirely.
a long black robe. It's the garment inside the satchel.
After reading its label, the robe is restyled as a long grocery-delivery robe.
After touching the giant eyeball for the first time, examine the hole created by the flying squid to discover a nail above it. Put the robe on the nail to cover the hole.
Honorable mention (not listed in inventory):
a V-neck sweater and a black wool jacket. You're wearing them in the manor's Foyer.
your battle-ready ensemble for the day. You're wearing this in the Cragne Manor's Back Garden. A bandana and denim are parts of it.
Other items
a flat stone. You find it in the Dim Recesses of the Forest if you search or count the leaves.
Skip the stone in the pond. This will trigger a sequence during which a cephalopod will give you a locket.
1 point for awarding the single peanut to Dr Peanut for completing his equation.
Variegated Court
The Variegated Court is a secret society refered to many times in this game. As Naomi, you learn about twelve aldermen of the Variegated Court, each named by a different color, and each having a distinctive pet or familiar.
cesious : Phyllis Cragne. Her silverfish was named Bristletail. Read the postcard and her diary, found in Milkweed.
croceate : Name unknown. They had an eel. Examine the mural revealed Under the Bridge.
eburnean : Eliakim. His familiar is a kraken. Examine and open the locket obtained in the Dim Recesses of the Forest.
fulvous : Name unknown. His familiar was an orange duck. Read the yellowed newspapers found at Outside Pub.
fuscous : Theodorus Cragne. His familiar was a white antelope named Egnalosaf. Read the pocket-sized notebook and listen to the JogMaster, both obtained in Upstairs Hall, North End.
griseous : Aunt Mavis. Her familiar is a cat (who is sometimes a bat) named Little Nifty. Read the runes in the Cold Storage Room.
icterine : Harvawell Cragne. His familiar was a weasel. Open his coffin in the Family Crypt.
mazarine : Konstantin Teufelheim Cragne. His familiar is a Pontiac with a devilhorse's mind. Read his exceptionally long blue journal found in the Bathroom of the Meatpacking Plant in Space.
niveous : Luther Cragne. His familiar was a wolverine. Read his tiny journal found in a puzzle box in the Tiny Windowless Office and note the wolverine on the cover.
puce : Jonathan B. Cragne. His familiar is a greyhound named Bloodfang. Examine the trophy found in the Padded Cell.
rufous : Charles Cragne. His familiar was a huge rat. Read the torn notebook and yellowed newsprint both found in the Dusty Office.
xanthic : Francine Cragne. Her familiar was a peregrine. Listen to the spot in L'oreille while wearing the earplugs, and also read the police report on her death that you obtain in the Music Room.
Knowing which familiar goes with which color will help you solve the puzzle presented in the manor room called Court.
Is there a super-secret thirteenth alderman of the Variegated Court? Not that I could find. If there's a super-duper secret hidden in this game, that ain't it.
Well puzzle
This puzzle requires that you're wearing the golden eyepiece at the Old Well. The goal is to open the well.
To summon a creature:
First: PROD MACHINE or BIRTH.
Second, third, and fourth: PROD colored-arch, FOREST, PLAIN, OCEAN, or CLIFFS as appropriate to evolve the creature.
Finally: PROD WOODEN ARCH or SUMMON to summon the fully-evolved creature to you.
Here's a list of all 27 creatures you can summon:
forest. plain. cliffs. ⇒ cycloptic ape. Neutral. But leaves goo on the well cap!
To get rid of unwanted pre-summoned creatures, prod them.
Neutral creatures just leave, although the ape also leaves goo on the well cap when it goes.
Friendly creatures will stay and hang around unless there's already three of them, then the new creature leaves, seeing it's too crowded.
Hostile creatures will attack and try to kill you. However, if you have enough friendly creatures, they might be able to fight the hostile one off for you. You need three friendly creatures to defend against the pteranodon.
If you there's goo on the well cap and you also have three friendly creatures to defend you when you summon the pteranodon, it will briefly perch on the well cap before it goes, tearing off the well cap when it tries to unstick itself from it.
