In this huge puzzlefest, you're a Meldrew about to go on holiday, and your main goal is to find a map of Paris in the attic of Meldrew Hall. Downstairs, your family has made quite the meal of moving suitcases around; avoid them all. This game features time-travel, Tarot cards, Rods of Power, daisies, a family curse, and a tourist map of Paris.
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 16 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.
Several attic rooms are initially dark but gain light when you open doors, windows, or skylights, or when you turn on things like the projector. Pull the cord in the Dark Room to get red light there.
SLEEP in Servant's Room may take you to Premonition.
SLEEP in Alison's Writing Room may take you to Melancholy Dream.
Map 2: Meldrew Hall: Dumbwaiter
Notes:
I'm using "in" as short for "enter dumbwaiter" or "enter waiter"; unfortunately, the shorter command "in" won't work there. Of course, you can't enter the dumbwaiter at all unless it's at your current location; if necessary, turn off the safety and turn the wheel.
Note you can only reach the middle of the shaft by going up from the cellars. When going down, you go directly from attic to cellars.
Map 3: Meldrew Hall: Cellars
The Wine Cellars have light when the hatch above is open.
Note: Hellish Place is part of the Afterlife region, not Meldrew Hall.
Map 4: Mouse Maze
Once the robot mouse is in the hole, you must speak to the hole, telling the hole which directions you want the mouse to move. In return, you'll hear the mouse's progress.
Map 5: Gardens (north of House)
Note: Heavenly Place is part of the Afterlife region, not the Gardens.
Note: When you have the map of Paris, the Phlebas takes you to Infinity Symbol instead.
Map 6: Privet Hedge Maze
In the game, you can easily see the current maze layout by climbing the family tree.
The connection to the patio doesn't exist until you've edited the maze foundations in 1808.
The hedge maze must be traversed in the roller from the garage, to protect the new grass seed.
Map 7: Maze Foundations, 1808
S marks where seeds have been planted for the future hedges. You want to squeeze the weed killer bottle when you're on the seed bed just west of the southeast corner.
W marks the plot of grass outlined in whitewash, where the patio will go.
Map 8: Northeast of House
Map 9: Beyond the Recess and East of House
You can't visit this region until after you turn the wheel in the "Octagonal Tomb". The recess in Dark Passage is open afterwards.
The White Hallway isn't part of the Lagach chain until you've hung the painting of Mad Isaac there.
Map 10: Catacombs (under the Maze and Gardens)
The Crypt has natural light from the hole above. There is also natural light in the Contraption Room and its reflection when the well is open.
To leave the Orb, either use the Rod of Returning on yourself, or use the Rod of Sacrifice on the chess board during White's turn.
Map 11: Unreal City
Note: When you have the map of Paris, the Phlebas takes you to Infinity Symbol instead.
Map 12: Hamburg Museum
The map needed to get here is the map of Hamburg.
L* on this map means still life, lagach
Map 13: Alexandria, 275 BC
Map 14: Tarot box: Overview
To enter a Tarot box scene, turn on the projector in the Souvenirs Room, put the appropriate card in its slot, then go south through the projection. But know that you can never re-enter a card projection twice. You can only revisit if you have another way of getting there, such as LAGACH.
To leave a Tarot box scene, you usually must use the Rod of Returning. Some scenes may have other options. In the Ace of Cups scene, where you're not expected to have the Rod of Returning yet because that's where it comes from, you leave the scene by climbing down the anchor chain when it's extended.
From fake deaths, you are returned to the Souvenirs Room automatically as if you never left.
The miniature and sketch scenes are not part of the Tarot box region, but I include them here because they act just like Tarot cards when used in the projector.
Map 15: Tarot box: Ace of Cups
Map 16: Tarot box: Maiden
Map 17: Tarot box: Star
Map 18: Dreaming: Premonition
You can only have the Premontion dream once. If you try to sleep again in the servant's bed, you just doze a little.
Map 19: Dreaming: Melancholy Dream
You can only have the Melancholy Dream once. If you try to sleep again in Alison's bed, you just doze a little.
Map 20: Lagach chain
You learn about the magic word LAGACH from the Premonition dream, but the Shrine of the Bear is never part of your Lagach chain.
With almost every large flat artwork that you see in the game, that artwork is added to the Lagach chain like another daisy in a daisy chain. You can only visit places you've already been to; you cannot discover new places this way.
If you've only seen one artwork, LAGACH can't take you anywhere.
When you say LAGACH to an artwork, you go to the next artwork in the current chain of known artworks.
But "SAY LAGACH TO ARTWORK" doesn't work. Your command must use the syntax "ARTWORK, LAGACH". Seems more fussy than it needs to be, but that's how it is.
The painting of Mad Isaac isn't added to the Lagach chain until you bring it to the White Hallway and hang it there.
The mosaic of the Roman Villa is never added to the Lagach chain, probably because you've already seen the mosaic in another time period and added it then.
LAGACH stops working after you obtain the map of Paris.
Map 21: Roman Villa, Breton, 6th Century AD
Summary of Walkthrough
Start exploring the attic. Get History, rucksack, whistle, chocolates, postcard, medicine bottle, jewellery box, gloves, a red battery, a map of Hamburg, wrench, wishbone, dictionary, and scarf.
🔦 Start exploring the attic. Get History, rucksack, whistle, chocolates, postcard, medicine bottle, jewellery box, gloves, a red battery, a map of Hamburg, wrench, wishbone, dictionary, and scarf.
Attic
CAUTION: Going down from here ends the game.
By the way, if you see Austin, your cat, during your explorations, feel free to examine him and pet him, if you like.
> verbose. i. x biscuit. x torch. x paper.
> x teachests. look in them.(You pick up a book.)
> x book. look up Peter in History. look up me in History.
> s.
Old Furniture
Until you get the rucksack, avoid picking up anything. But after you get the rucksack, take everything you can!
> x cupboard.
> x whistle. x parcel. x bottle.("Antidote only")
> se. e.
East Annexe
> x rolls.(no: too itchy to interact with)
> open door.
> n.(no: you need better light)
> s.
Dead End
> take rucksack. x it.
> look up Ebenezer in History.
> n. w. nw.
Old Furniture
> take whistle, parcel, bottle.
> open parcel. x box. x card.(postmarked 1963, no message)
> open bottle.(not that way)
> look. x wrapping.
> n.
Attic
> close trapdoor.(something shiny revealed)
> look. take jewellery box. open trapdoor.
> x jewellery box.("A.M." and rabbit's foot drawing)
> open it.(locked)
> n.
Old Winery
As you enter, you see the attic key fall off a demijohn into a crack in the floorboards.
> x demijohn.("Elderberry '63")
> x battery.("Achtung")
> x map.(of central Hamburg)
> take demijohn.(can't)
> open demijohn.(no: need better grip)
> w.
Aunt Jemima's Lair
> x calendar.(June has common daisies)
> turn page.(July has hedgerow daisies)
> g.(August has Russian Steppe daisies)
> g.(September has Breton daisies)
> g.(October has orange meadow daisies)
> g.(November has Meldrew daisies)
> g.(December has bonsai daisies)
> g.(January has Jemima's Pride daisies)
> g.(February has yellowish Merlyn's Hat daisies)
> g.(March has bell daisies)
> g.(April has Dorset Pride daisies)
> g.(May has meadow-heart daisies)
> g.(June again.)
> s.
Airing Cupboard
> x sheets.(+2. You find a wireless.)
> x radio.(It's on casters.)
> turn it on. push it north.
Aunt Jemina's Lair
CAUTION: Don't push the radio any closer to Jemima. She'll derail your quest with a rant about how magnetic fields influence plant growth.
> w.
Potting Room
CAUTION: Don't take the gloves right away.
> x Jemima.(She's upset being left alone.)
> look up Jemima in History.
> ask Jemima about gloves. ask Jemima about calendar.
> ask Jemima about daisies. ask Jemima about Paris.
Eventually the old tubes in the radio warm up and it starts playing music six turns after you turned it on. While the music is both distracting Aunt Jemima and masking the sounds of your own movements, you can successfully take the gloves. If Aunt Jemima catches you taking her gloves, the game ends.
> take gloves.(+4)
> e. e.
Old Winery
> wear gloves. open demijohn.(+3)
> take all from demijohn.
> read map.(You can look up grid references.)
> look up A1 on map.(You need a four-digit number.)
> e.
Storage Room
> take wrench.
> x dumbwaiter. x wishbone. take it.
> x shaft. x wheel.(has a safety catch, currently on)
> w. s. e.
Servant's Room
> x book.(It's a classical dictionary.)
> take it.
Merlyn was mentioned on the calendar:
> look up Merlyn in dictionary. look up Arthur in dictionary.
> x scarf. take it.
> get on bed. sleep.
🛌 Have the Premonition dream. Learn LAGACH.
Premontion
> i.(You're carrying nothing.)
> e. n.(You move like a ghost.)
Shrine of the Bear
> x Druid. x mascot. x bear.
> take mascot.(Druid curses you, then hisses "lagach" to the Bear. She vanishes into the cloth.)
> lagach.(It doesn't work for you. Yet.)
DON'T keep the mascot. It's cursed now.
> drop mascot.
> s. w. sw. e.
Near Dolmen
You automatically grab a shining blue stone, then wake in the Servant's Room. You lose 50 points if you still have the mascot.
🔦 Resume exploring the attic. Get a flash and two more books.
Servant's Room
> stand. w. s. se. w.
Dark Room
> pull cord.(It turns on a red light.)
> x plaque. look up Roger in History.
> x flash. take it.
> x postcard.(+3. in invisible ink: "Hamburg 1420 / Ticket 7.-")
Don't act on this information right away. You're not ready for Hamburg.
> e. s.
Disused Observatory
> x detector.
> x ball. rub ball.
> x ball. g. g. g. g. g.
You see randomly: a Roman villa, a marble palace, your reflection, a camp fire, an English countryside, and more. There's about a dozen different scenes from all over the game.
> w.
Library Storage
> take wrench. tighten joint.(+4; the books fall away safely.)
> take novel and poetry.
> x novel.(by Marie Swelldon)
Assuming that "Marie" is Roger's wife and that "Marie Swelldon" is an anagram of her real name, last name "Meldrew", you can work out that her first name is Alison.
> look up Alison in History.(mentions lucky charms, and pushing a fake wall at far south end of the attic's east wing)
Ah. Then the "A.M." on the jewellery box means "Alison Meldrew".
> x poetry.(+5; you are transported to Unreal City.)
📖 Explore Unreal City. Get a hanky, poster, and three, no, four Tarot cards.
Unreal City
> i.(You have all your inventory except for the poetry book.)
I'm a little worried about the torch battery. Opening the torch is the only way to turn it off.
> open torch. look in it. x old battery.
> n.
Shadowy Hallway
> x poster.("Bateaux Phlebas - toujours le dernier mot")
> take poster.(You tear it away.)
> take poster. e.
Bohemia
The subject of the mural is randomized with every visit here, but the signature is always the same.
> x mural. look up Helene in History.
> look up Anton in History.(Note the comment about sacrificial attacks in chess.)
> w. u.
Consulting Room
> x bell. x Tarot. w.(can't: the curtain is solid like iron)
> push bell.(Madame Sosostris enters.)
She asks: were you born in an even or an odd year? Answer either one; it doesn't matter which.
> say odd —or— say even.(She deals the Grim Reaper, the Fool, and the Drowned Sailor. She rapidly tells you to fear death by water and hustles you to the street.)
Unreal City
Not so fast, Madame.
> n. u.
Consulting Room
The dealt cards — Drowned Sailor, Fool, and Grim Reaper — are still here.
> take cards.
> push bell.(Sosostris deals three random cards, calls you a "nobody", and ushers you out again.)
Unreal City
> look up Sosostris in dictionary.
> look up Alexander in dictionary.
> e. d.
Chatelet-les-Halles
> x man.(looks Gallic)
> buy map.("Q'est-ce que vous voulez acheter?")
The man wants to hear French. Also you have no money, so do this later. Much later.
> u. w. w.
Down by River
> take hanky. x it.("J. A. P.")
> x boat.("PHLEBAS")
> wave hanky.(The boat glides to you.)
> enter boat.
On board the Phlebas
A hollow man asks where you want to go. "Hurry up please it's time!"
> answer time.(+5)
🌳 Explore the gardens. Get weed killer, spade, wooden ball, miniature, and tablet.
Garden Stream
> i. x Ace. open bunker.(locked)
> nw.
Family Tree
> climb tree.
Up the Plane Tree
> x maze.(An ASCII art layout is shown. Note that the southeast corner is completely enclosed by hedges.)
> d. w. w.
Garage
> x roller.(It's rideable.)
> x weed killer.(Squeeze to use. Warns about getting it on your hands.)
> x bladed.(It's a spade.)
> take weed killer. take spade.
> e. s.
Vegetable Garden
> x plant. dig.(find nothing)
> n. e. e.
Lawn Ornaments
I assume "H.M." refers to Helene Meldrew.
> x bust.("Self-Portrait, H.M. '54")
> e.
Mosaic
> x mosaic. take ball.
> w. w.
Family Tree
> n.(no: can't walk on the new grass)
> w. w.
Garage
> get in roller. turn it on.
> e. e. n.(+5)
Maze (many locations)
> n. w. w. n. n. n. n. w. w. w.(+5)
Viewpoint Ledge
> turn off roller. out.
> x plaque.
> look up Capability in History.
> x etching.(shows the former Folly)
> take it.
> get in roller. turn it on.
> e. e. e. s. s. s. s. e. e. s. s.
Family Tree
> e.
Lawn Ornaments
When you drive the roller here, the bust is destroyed, but a ancient well underneath is revealed. The well will be useful much later in the game.
> look. x well.(too dark to see anything and too small to enter)
> out. w.
Family Tree
> take medicine bottle. drop it. e.
Lawn Ornaments
> enter roller. w.
Family Tree
The roller cracks open the medicine bottle.
> turn off roller. out. take tablet.(+4)
> se. e.
Beside the Wall
> x shrub. x wall.
> push tub.(found hatch)
> open hatch. d.
🐭 Explore the cellars. Get attic key.
Wine Cellars
> u.(can't go back up. too steep)
> close torch.(You need light again.)
> w.
Cellars
> x vent. x mouse.
> mouse, s.(It can follow orders like that.)
> s.
Cellars South
> mouse, w.(It enters the hole, but now can't hear you.)
The trick is to talk to the hole itself now. You don't know this maze's layout except by trial and error.
> hole, w.
> hole, w.
> hole, w.
> hole, n.
> hole, w.
> hole, n.(The mouse finds and takes the key!)
> hole, s.
> hole, e.
> hole, s.
> hole, e.
> hole, e.
> hole, e.
> hole, e.
The mouse emerges from the hole and drops the brass attic key.
> x brass key. take it.
> n. w.
Cellar West
> x door.(ultimate locked door)
> d.
Hellish Place
A demon offers you three hints. Tell him what you want to know, or show him something to get the hint.
Except who needs hints when you're following a walkthrough? Just know that the demon's hints are all lies and evaluate them on that basis.
> x demon.
> u. e.
Cellars
Alas, the dumbwaiter is the only way out of here.
> turn off wheel. turn wheel.(dumbwaiter arrives.)
> enter dumbwaiter. pull ropes.(+3)
Dark Shaft
There's a dark corridor north.
> out. n.
Dark Passage
> x door.(The coal dust is making you unable to concentrate on anything.)
> s. enter waiter. pull ropes.
🔦 Resume exploring the attic once more. Get new battery, gold key, clover, mask, painting, gothic key, sooty stick, prayer book.
Storage Room
> out. w. s. s. se. e.
East Annexe
You must be wearing the gloves to interact with the insulation rolls.
> x rolls.(+3: found a new battery)
> take new battery.
> s.
Dead End
Remembering Alison's entry in the History:
> push south wall.(+10; it opens!)
> s.
Alison's Writing Room
> x mirror.
> get in bed. sleep.(no: need a blanket)
> stand.
> open window.(It's stuck.)
> hit window.(The paint breaks and the windows open.)
> s.
Tiny Balcony
> x sill. search sill. look.
> take gold key.(+4)
> unlock jewellery box with gold key. open it.
> x clover. take it.
Change that torch battery while you're somewhere lit.
> open torch. take old battery. take new battery.
> put new battery in torch. close torch.(+7)
> n. n. n. n.
Inside Cupboard
> x painting. look up Isaac in History.
> take painting.(fireplace found)
> x fireplace.(empty)
> take mask.
> x skylight. turn crank.(The skylight opens.)
> u. nw.
Battlements
> take key.(Instead, a ghost swallows it.)
> x ghost.(You think it's Sir Joshua Meldrewe.)
> look up Joshua in History.(You learn he choked to death on a chicken bone.)
> give wishbone to Joshua.(+7. He re-chokes, fades, and the key falls into a chimney.)
> se. d. w.
Chimney
> take stick.(no room to do that!)
> d.(too narrow for you right now)
> e.
Inside Cupboard
To go down the chimney, you must not be carrying anything. With the skylight open, you can see here without the torch.
> take torch. put it in fireplace.
> take attic key. put it in fireplace.
> drop all. w. d.(+5)
Priest's Hole
Note: You can only go back up when carrying nothing, so let's hope you can get this door open.
> x door. x book.(look up by year)
> take all.(+4 for the gothic key)
From the History, you know that Isaac lived from 1705 to 1792.
> look up 1792.(Claims Merlyn bound the back garden with Rods of Power. The Rods are disguised until waved by someone wearing Merlyn's hat.)
Do you remember seeing yellowish Merlyn's hat daisies mentioned on the calendar's February page? Is that what Isaac meant?
> unlock hatch with attic key.
> open hatch. look.(You see a chute going downward.)
> d.(You land in...)
Cellar West
There's no evidence of a chute at this end. Get back to the cupboard:
> e. turn wheel. enter waiter. pull rope. g.
> out. w. s. s. se. e. n.
Inside Cupboard
> put all in sack. take sack. take all.
Revisit Jemima:
> s. w. nw. n. n. w. w.
Potting Room
> take box chocolates. give it to Jemima.(+3)
Jemima says it's your turn for a daisy chain and she asks what colour you'd like.
> say yellow.(She tells you to come back later.)
> e. e. s. s. se. s. s.
Souvenirs Room
> x projector.(has switch, slot, and dial)
> take Ace. put Ace in slot. turn on projector.
The projection looks quite real.
> turn dial.(A white beam projects backwards and north!)
> n.
Disused Observatory
You note that the beam hits the glass ball, then bends to hit Aquarius in the mural.
> s. s.
♒ Enter the Ace of Cups. Put a ship into a bottle. Get a branch, spar, and flag.
Cups and Glasses
While you're in here, something is happening outside the skylight. You hear men talking.
> x crates.(You acquire a model ship.)
> x bottle. take it.(You hear "accursed Meldrew".)
> x door.(You see a bar.)
> open door.(locked)
> x ship. pull anchor.(It folds up into sticks.)
> put sticks in mounted bottle.(+3. The ship unfolds inside.)
> x ship.(You feel sea-sick. You're now...)
Aboard Ship
> look. fore.
Prow of the Lady Magdalena
> take branch. aft. up.
Up the Mast
> x flag. take it.(It won't pull away from the pole.)
> x pole.(It juts to port.)
> port.(+6. The pole breaks and you fall, but the flag saves you like a parachute.)
Aboard Ship
> look. take spar and flag. x spar.
> aft.
Stern
> turn wheel.(unwinding it)
> climb chain.(You arrive back at...)
Souvenirs Room
Note: You are unable to visit the ship again. Each card can only be used once.
> take Ace.(The south wall is now blank.)
Now that you have the flag, return to Alison's Writing Room:
> n. n. e. s. s.
🛏️ Have a melancholy dream. Learn how to use a Rod. Foresee the Octagon.
Alison's Writing Room
> take flag. put flag on bed.
> get on bed. sleep.(+5)
Melancholy Dream
> i.(You carry nothing.)
A ghostly man strikes a mahogony staff on the ground, and points it at the walls. Now green flurries jump around you! He fades away.
> x green.(You watch them for an hour.)
> n —or— s.(You don't get anywhere.)
> x barrier.(indistinct)
> e —or— d.
Solid Sand
> e —or— d.
Octagonal Tomb
> x hieroglyphics.
> turn wheel.(moves only a little, but it's having an effect elsewhere)
> pinch me.(You wake.)
🔦 Get daisy chain from Jemima.
Alison's Writing Room
> out. n. n. w. nw. n. n. w. w.
Potting Room
> z.(+2. Jemima puts the daisy chain on your neck.)
> x chain. e.
Aunt Jemima's Lair
Isaac said to wave disguised Rods while wearing Merlyn's hat. Test that.
> take spar. wave it.(+6: it's a rod!)
> x rod.(But it's unlabeled. That could be a serious problem if you have more than one rod.)
Hm. That first part of the last dream looked like the Dark Passage where coal dust was giving you trouble. But you have a gas mask now, so return there.
> e. e.
Storage Room
> enter waiter. pull rope. g.
Dark Shaft
> out. wear mask. n.
Dark Passage
> unlock door with attic key.(+10, but it's for the recess that's now open because you turned that wheel in the dream)
> open door. n.
Garden Stream
Ah. That's one way back to the garden, at least.
> s.
Dark Passage
The recess to the east is only open because you turned that wheel in your melancholy dream.
> e. e.
The Octagon
> remove mask.
> x sketch. take it.
> open frame. look.(A letter falls also.)
> take sketch.(+4)
> take letter. read it.(translates several pictograms)
> take scroll. x it.(summon priestess of Apollo with music)
> x vent.(cellars on other side)
> x coffin.("All the god things through this")
> i.(make sure you're still wearing the gloves)
> open coffin.
> take rod. put rod in coffin.
> close coffin. open coffin.(Rod of Returning)
> take Returning.(+7)
So THIS is how you can label the Rods!
You have two more disguised rods on you.
> take sooty stick. wave it.(+6: it's a rod!)
> put it in coffin. close coffin.
> open coffin. take Fire.
> take clover. wave it.(+6: it's a rod!)
> put it in coffin. close coffin.
> open coffin. take Luck.
The Rod of Returning is the most useful one. Use it on yourself to return from anywhere or anywhen to one of four attic locations chosen at random: Old Winery, Attic, Old Furniture, or Over the East Wing.
The Rod of Fire shoots out flames. It's an arsonist's dream come true and it's very dangerous.
The Rod of Luck doesn't seem to do anything, but you will fix that later. Moving on.
> se.
White Hallway
> look in stand. take sceptre. x it.
> wave it.(It's not a rod.)
> take Isaac. put Isaac on hook.
> s. u.
Servant's Room
Return to the Souvenirs Room and try the other Tarot cards in the projector.
> w. s. se. s. s.
♑ Enter the Fool.
Souvenirs Room
> take Fool. put it in slot. n.(+3)
Disused Observatory
The beam hits Capricorn and the smoke detector. You hear a loud noise to the east, which you'll investigate soon, but not immediately.
> s. s.
Souvenirs Room
You fall off a cliff and die. But no, you're back here.
> take Fool.
♓ Enter the Drowned Sailor.
Souvenirs Room
> take Sailor. put it in slot. n.
Disused Observatory
The beam hits Pisces.
> s. s.
Souvenirs Room
You drown. But no, you're back here.
> take Sailor.
♋ Enter the Grim Reaper.
Souvenirs Room
> take Reaper. put it in slot. n.
Disused Observatory
The beam hits Cancer.
> s. s.
Souvenirs Room
The Reaper reaps you. But no, you're back here.
> take Reaper.
Time to investigate what that Fool did.
> n. n. e. s.
📰 Explore the region northeast of the house. Get nuts.
Dead End
A hatchway has opened in the east wall. Should we still be calling this location a Dead End? It has three exits now!
> e.(You descend a ladder to...)
Beside the Drive
> ne. n.
Stone Cross
> x memorial. look up Gerard in History.
> x church.(barred on other side)
> x pub.("Goat and Compasses")
> x Evans. x mascot.(It's a Crescent Moon.)
> x newspaper.
> ask Evans about ANYTHING.(He's busy doing his form.)
> s. d.
Hollow
> x bird. x nuts.(Bird won't let you near them.)
> blow whistle.(no effect: The bird is deaf.)
> wave branch.(Pollen repels the bird.)
> take nuts.(+4)
> nw.(one-way path to Mosaic)
Mosaic
Hm, what did that other exit from White Hallway lead to?
> w. w. se. s. e. e. se. ne.
🐿️ Explore the region east of the house. Get mallet and watch.
Bricked Path
> e.
Hedgery
> blow whistle.(Sparrows swoop down, but lose interest.)
> n.
Summer House
> take mallet.
> x gold chain.(it's a watch)
> blow whistle.(Sparrows can't hear you from here when they're up in the sky.)
> s.(The sparrows settle down again.)
Hedgery
> e.
Croquet Lawn
> x peg —or— x hoops.
> take ball. drop ball.
> hit ball with mallet.(It hits the hedge, annoys a squirrel, and a northwestern gap in the hedge is revealed. The ball is gone.)
> nw.(+5)
Behind Summer House
> x squirrel. x crack.
> pull board.(can't: The squirrel nips you.)
> show nuts to squirrel.
> put nuts in crack.(The squirrel tears down the board and goes after them.)
> s.
Summer House
This time, the sparrows didn't fly away when you entered.
♏ Enter the miniature. Edit the hedge maze. Get bean pole.
Souvenirs Room
> get miniature. put it in slot. n.
Disused Observatory
The beam hits Scorpio.
> s. s.(+5)
Folly
CAUTION: Do NOT take the bean pole right away! It's the only thing holding the Folly up!
> x pole. x folly.
Travel to the southeast corner of the Maze Foundations:
> e. e. e. e. e. e. e. e.
> s. s. s. s.
Maze Foundations (outlined in whitewash)
This patch of grass is marked in whitewash and where you want to get to in your own time period. You should leave it alone in this time period.
Make one step west from here.
> w.
Maze Foundtaion (one step west from the southeast corner)
You should be on a seed bed, with a seedbed north and a fence south. I hope you're still wearing the gloves.
> take weed killer. squeeze it.
Head back to the Folly:
> n. n. n. n.
> w. w. w. w. w. w. w.
Folly
> take Returning. strike it.
> take bean pole.
> point Returning at me.
(random attic location)
from Old Winery > s. s. se. s. s.
from Attic > s. se. s. s.
from Old Furniture > se. s. s.
from Over the East Wing > s. s.
Souvenirs Room
> take miniature.
🗺️ Enter the map of Hamburg. Get Tarot box, four Tarot cards, matchbook, smooth stone, papyrus fragment, crook.
Souvenirs Room
You still remember the number from the postcard, yes?
> take map. look up 1420 in map.(+5)
You remember visiting a museum of arcana on Meldreustrasse. The curator, Doktor Stein, hypnotised you...
Museum Foyer
> x publicity poster.("Cults of the Druids")
> ne.
Revolving Door
> push door.(You make a complete circle.)
> sw.
Museum Foyer
> s.(You're scanned, then barriers fall. You retreat. The barriers recede.)
You're carrying something the barriers don't like. Which is everything. Now you could drop everything and go south, but there's a better way.
> push door.(Something's inside this section of door.)
> ne.
Revolving Door
> x beach ball. take it.(too cumbersome)
> push beach ball sw.
Museum Foyer
> push beach ball south.(+3)
Hall of Exhibits
The beach ball is destroyed, but you got your inventory past the barriers.
> x still life.(of seedling on table, surrounded by rusty iron rod, bottle, lamp, and keys.)
> take Tarot box. open it.
> x castle. x star. x wands. x maiden.
> w.
Dark Staircase
> x matchbook. take it.
> d.(vision of druids watching you makes you retreat)
> listen. look up Eumenides in dictionary.
> e. e.
Cabinet Room
You must have the torch to see anything in this dark room.
> x cabinet. x stone.(too dark to see much inside the cabinet)
> break cabinet. take all from cabinet.(+4 for the stone)
> x stone.(Around a star motif are "nog", "er", "ska", and "iw". Treated metal in the top.)
> x fragment.(".<anoppe> an-spe : ska er nog-er an-ge : to-ro-ma ka ur Al-x-an-dr u bir ka ur-a an-ge ur")
Ready your rod but don't use it yet.
> take Returning. strike it.
By now, or very soon, Doktor Stein and robed figures grab you. He says this was prophesied, then force feeds you a violet pill. You're dragged to...
Coven Cell
Eat the antidote immediately. Otherwise, the violet pill makes you lose the will to do anything. And Stein will return very soon regardless.
> eat red tablet. take crook.
> point Returning at me.
(random attic location)
from Old Winery > s. s. se. s. s.
from Attic > s. se. s. s.
from Old Furniture > se. s. s.
from Over the East Wing > s. s.
Souvenirs Room
The map of Hamburg is now a souvenir, like the ship-in-a-bottle.
🌳 Revisit the maze. Get a stone rose.
Souvenirs Room
The Souvenirs Room has become your base of operations in the attic, but now it's time to revisit the hedge maze and see if it's different now. I think the quickest way to the gardens from here is via the fire escape and hollow.
> n. n. e. s. e. ne. d. nw. w. w.
Family Tree
> u.
Up the Plane Tree
> x maze.(yes, you can now reach the southeast corner)
> d.
Family Tree
> get in roller. turn it on.
> n. n. e. e. e.(+5)
Patio in Maze
> turn off roller. out.
> x rose. take it.
> d.
Crypt
> x mural.(of wise man following a star. He has an attractive woman and a bundle of wands.)
Star, woman, wands. Don't you have Tarot cards like that? And a card reading also uses three cards. You should return to Unreal City.
It's time to use that LAGACH word that you heard the Druid use in your first dream. It works on large flat artworks like this one, or the mosaic, Helene's mural, etc. But you can't just say the word. You must address the artwork, as if you're commanding it to do something.
> mural, lagach.
📖 Revisit Unreal City. Get a quarterstaff.
Bohemia
> w. u.
Consulting Room
> take wands. put it on deck.
> take maiden. put it on deck.
> take star. put it on deck.
> push bell.
Madame Sosostris is surprised to see you after so many centuries, but gives you the staff you left with her. Huh?
Unreal City
> x staff.(an oak quarterstaff)
> n. u.
Consulting Room
> take all cards.
> d. e.
Bohemia
> mural, lagach.
Hall of Exhibits
> still life, lagach.
White Hallway
> nw.
🔦 Identify three more Rods.
The Octagon
You're still wearing the gloves, I hope? Don't want you to get electrocuted.
> take bean pole. wave it.(+6)
> put it in coffin. close coffin. open it.
> take Stalking.
> take crook. wave it.(+6)
> put it in coffin. close coffin. open it.
> take Husbandry.
> take staff. wave it.(+6)
> put it in coffin. close coffin. open it.
> take Bronze.
In brief, the Rod of Stalking makes plants grow, the Rod of Husbandry makes farm animals more agreeable, and the Rod of Bronze does whatever it wants to with bronze objects.
Return to the gardens:
> se.
White Hallway
> painting, lagach.
🌳 Climb a beanstalk.
Mosaic
> w. w.
Family Tree
> strike Stalking. point it at tree.(It shakes, but it's as grown as it gets.)
> w. s.
Vegetable Garden
> strike Stalking. point it at plant. ENTER(beanstalk!)
> u. n.
Heavenly Place
Like her counterpart in the Hellish Place, the angel also offers three hints. She won't lie like the demon does, but that doesn't mean her hints are any more helpful.
> x angel.
> s. d. n. e. se. e.
Beside the Wall
> strike Stalking. point it at shrub.(pretty)
Since you can use LAGACH to reach the Crypt, do that and put the roller back in the garage. Just in case you ever want to use the roller again.
> w. nw. e. e.
Mosaic
> mosaic, lagach.
Crypt
> u.
Patio in Maze
> get in roller. turn it on.
> w. w. w. s. s. w. w.
Garage
> turn off roller.
> out. e. e. e. e.
Mosaic
> mosaic, lagach.
💀 Explore under the Crypt. Get wrought iron key, orb.
Crypt
> take Rod of Bronze. strike it.
> point it at mural.(The mural slides, revealing a downward passage.)
> d.
Jagged Passage
> take key. x it.(figure-eight, ultimate in keys)
> e. e.
Sarcophagus
> x tombstone.("Henri Maladreue, obit mcdlvi")
> look up Henri in History.
> w. w. s.
Catacombs
> smell. smell.(+6: you find a staircase)
> d.(+5)
Universe Maintenance Room
CAUTION: Leave the dial alone!
> x dial.(ħ = 1.055)
> x switch.(on = Determinism; off = Chance; currently on.)
To make the Rod of Luck work:
> turn switch off.(Now off, at Chance.)
> u. w.
Contraption Room
> x sheet.
> x panel.(Move letters by sliding them one at a time.)
From Henri's entry in the History, I deduce you want HENRI down the left side and BLACK POST down the right. You can elegantly solve this in only 10 moves:
> slide I. slide K. slide C.
> slide A. slide N. slide E.
> slide L. slide O. slide S.
> slide T.(+15. Something was flung up out the hole.)
> strike bronze rod.
> point it at metal wall.(It shines like a mirror.)
> n.(+6)
Contraption Reflection
> x panel.(It's reversed, of course.)
> e.(Can't actually exit.)
This location seems to have no purpose. Explain it to me, if you can.
> s. e. n. n.
Crypt; Bohemia; Hall of Exhibits; White Hallway
The orb will be at Lawn Ornaments. Use Lagach until you reach the Mosaic.:
> mural, lagach.
> mural, lagach.
> still life, lagach.
> painting, lagach.
Mosaic
> w.
Lawn Ornaments
> take orb.(+4)
> x it.
Resist the obvious hint to rub the orb, and instead head back to the Souvenirs Room:
> take Returning. strike it. point it at me.
(random attic location)
from Old Winery > s. s. se. s. s.
from Attic > s. se. s. s.
from Old Furniture > se. s. s.
from Over the East Wing > s. s.
🏰 Enter the Castle. Get timer.
Souvenirs Room
> get Castle. put it in slot. n.
Disused Observatory
The beam is now like a strobe light.
> s. s.(+5)
Ruined Castle Cafe
> look under table.(There's a bomb! Four wires are plugged in.)
> x wire.(They're green, red, blue, and black.)
Do you remember the scarf colours? They were royal blue, emerald, dark grey, and scarlet. Perhaps pull the wires in the same order as the scarf stripes?
> pull blue wire.
> pull green wire.
> pull black wire.
> pull red wire.
CAUTION: If you take the bomb, someone sees it and screams and you're imprisoned for 25 years.
So, um, wait for the countdown to finish?
> z. z. z. z. z.
When the timer runs out, you automatically take the timer and hide everything else under the table.
You're done here.
> take Returning. strike it. point it at me.
(random attic location)
from Old Winery > s. s. se. s. s.
from Attic > s. se. s. s.
from Old Furniture > se. s. s.
from Over the East Wing > s. s.
Souvenirs Room
> take Castle.
♍ Enter the Maiden. Get the coin, pan pipes, inscribed stone, gem, fig, dessert, hairband, and digging coordinates.
Souvenirs Room
CAUTION: The Maiden's region is large and you need to do it all in one go before returning to Meldrew Hall. You need to have the Rod of Returning, the Rod of Fire, the Rod of Luck (working), the Rod of Husbandry, and the Rod of Stalking (just in case).
So maybe save first?
> take Maiden. put it in slot. n.
Disused Observatory
The beam hits Virgo.
> s. s.
Sea Shore
> x Andromeda.(wears only a hairband)
> ask Andromeda about ANYTHING.(She hisses back an insult in Greek.)
> x hairband.
> look up Andromeda in dictionary.
> u. e. s.
Wall of Thorns
> get Fire. strike it. point it at thorns.
> s.
Sacred Earth
You must have previously set the switch to Chance in the Universe Maintenance Room for the Rod of Luck to work.
> get Luck. strike it. point it at me.
> s.(+5. Zeus hurls a thunderbolt at you, and lucky for you, he misses.)
Temple of Zeus
> x coin. take it.
> sw.
West Cloister
> x symbol.(It must mean "season".)
> se.
Inner Sanctum
> x Homer. look up Homer in dictionary.
> look up syrinx in dictionry.
> ne.
East Cloister
Using the dog-eared letter, you can translate most of the inscriptions.
> x pumice. take it.(+4)
> sw. n.
Cross Centre
I translate these inscriptions as "move the gods through this."
> x inscriptions.("ka-i ur-a re-im ka an-ge")
> nw.
Northwest Cross
> look up Dionysus in dictionary.(god of wine)
> se. ne.
Northeast Cross
> look up Demeter in dictionary.(goddess of plenty)
> sw. se.
Southeast Cross
> look up Ares in dictionary.(god of war)
> nw. sw.
Southwest Cross
> look up Poseidon in dictionary.(god of sea)
Push Poseidon to the Northeast Cross:
> push Poseidon ne. g.
Northeast Cross
Push Demeter to the Northwest Cross:
> push Demeter sw. push Demeter nw.
Northwest Cross
Push Dionysus to the Southwest Cross:
> push Dionysus se. push Dionysus sw.(+3; you hear stone moving)
Southwest Cross
> ne.
Cross Centre
There's a new opening in the floor.
> put pumice in opening. d.
Oubliette
The inscribed stone in the opening stops the walls from crushing you when you take the gem.
> x gem. take it.(+4)
> look up Galita in dictionary.
> u.
Cross Centre
> take pumice. s.
Inner Sanctum
Homer will ask three trivia questions. If you look up the answers in the dictionary, he claims you're cheating and goes back to sleep. But he can't see you using a walkthrough!
> wake Homer.
"Who is the brother of Menelaus?"
> say Agamemnon.
"Who rules Alexandria after Alexander?"
> say Ptolemy.
"What's your favorite color?"
> say yellow.(+6: You get the syrinx.)
> nw. ne. n. n. n.
Clifftop Walk
> e.(The goats block you.)
> take Husbandry. strike it. point it at goats.
> e.(The goats let you go by.)
Outside Taverna
> x tree. x fig. take fig.
> s.(+5)
Eraina Taverna
> x dessert. x bartender.
> give coin to bartender. take dessert.(+4)
> n. w. w. d.
Sea Shore
> give dessert to Andromeda.(She gives her hairband to you as thanks.)
> u. sw.
Cave Mouth
> x stone.(It's Omphalos.)
> look up Omphalos in dictionary.
Do you remember the ragged scroll you found in The Octagon, suggesting that a priestess of Apollo can be summoned with music?
> play pipes.(+3)
Apollo himself briefly greets you. Then the Oracle enters. Note: The Oracle won't speak until after you put an appropriate offering into the urn.
> put fig in urn. ask Oracle about me.
The Oracle's first stanza is about some number of paces and some other number of paces "when six arches have stood sixty years". Remember the two pacing numbers; they're digging coordinates for the Croquet Lawn! The shade she mentions refers to the ghost of Sir Joshua.
The Oracle has two more stanzas to say if you can fetch more figs for the urn. But only this first stanza is critical.
> ne. e. e. take fig. w. w. sw.
> put fig in urn. ask Oracle about me.
The Oracle's second stanza is about preventing the Castle bomb from exploding by using the scarf.
> ne. e. e. take fig. w. w. sw.
> put fig in urn. ask Oracle about me.
The Oracle's third stanza is about the red tablet being the antidote to the Druids' violet pill.
There is no fourth stanza. You're done here.
> get Returning. strike it. point it at me.
(random attic location)
from Old Winery > s. s. se. s. s.
from Attic > s. se. s. s.
from Old Furniture > se. s. s.
from Over the East Wing > s. s.
Souvenirs Room
> take Maiden.
⭐ Enter the Star. Save Andromeda.
Souvenirs Room
> take Wands. put it in slot. n.
Disused Observatory
The beam is just a straight rod of light.
> s. s.
Souvenirs Room
The Eight of Wands isn't enterable. Try the Star next.
> take Wands. take Star. put Star in slot. n.
Disused Observatory
Now the beam is a yellow searchlight.
> s. s.(+5)
LIghthouse
> x device.(empty)
> d.
Greek Frieze
It's important that you see the frieze. You'll need to use Lagach to get back here later.
> x frieze.(from 5th century BC)
> u.
Lighthouse
> take flash. open it.
> take red battery. put it in flash.
> take timer. put it in flash.
> set timer. close flash.
> put flash in device.
Now just wait. Don't try to leave in any way.
> z. z. z. z. z. z. z. z.(+50)
The flash makes a huge blast of light, attracting the Kraken to you, and you both die. But goddesses resurrect you. You're now at...
Family Tree
> i.(uh-oh. You only have the daisy chain.)
> e. e.
Mosaic; Crypt; Bohemia; Hall of Exhibits; White Hallway
> mosaic, lagach.
> mural, lagach.
> mural, lagach.
> still life, lagach.
> painting, lagach.
Greek Frieze
> u.
Lighthouse
> take sack. wear gloves. take all.
> take Returning. strike it. point it at me.
(random attic location)
from Old Winery > s. s. se. s. s.
from Attic > s. se. s. s.
from Old Furniture > se. s. s.
from Over the East Wing > s. s.
Souvenirs Room
> take Star.
❎ Return to the Octagon and Croquet Lawn. Identify two more Rods. Get astrolabe.
Souvenirs Room
Head for the Octagon:
> n. n. nw. n. e. d. d. nw.
The Octagon
You did put those gloves back on, yes?
> take hairband. wave it.(+6: it's a Rod!)
> put it in coffin. close coffin. open it.
> take Sacrifice.
> take Wands. wave it.(+6: it's a Rod!)
> put it in coffin. close coffin. open it.
> take Infinity.
What can I say about these two Rods? The Rod of Sacrifice may act like a disintegration gun, but it's not the Rod of Disintegration; it sacrifices things. And the Rod of Infinity does whatever it wants to do with anything infinite, which is somehow hideously powerful, nearly useless, and maddeningly vague all at the same time.
Return to the Croquet Lawn:
> se. ne. e. e.
Croquet Lawn
I hope you rememebered the two numbers that the Oracle told you. The first-number is always a east-west coordinate and the second-number is a north-south coordinate. If east and north don't work, you may have to dig at west and north, east and south, or west and south instead. But it's probably east and north.
> take spade. go to peg.
> pace FIRST-NUMBER east.
> pace SECOND-NUMBER north.
> dig.(+8)
> look in hole. take strongbox.
> unlock it with gothic key.
> open it. x astrolabe.(It measures altitudes.)
> take astrolabe.(+4)
> look in astrolabe.(brief view of something grey, angular and tall)
Return to the Souvenirs Room:
> take Returning. strike it. point it at me.
(random attic location)
from Old Winery > s. s. se. s. s.
from Attic > s. se. s. s.
from Old Furniture > se. s. s.
from Over the East Wing > s. s.
♌ Enter the sketch. Get cloak, green quarterstaff, rusty key, heart.
Souvenirs Room
> take sketch. put it in slot. n.
Disused Observatory
The beam hits Leo.
> s. s.
Causeway
> se.
Crossroads
> sw.
Necropolis
> s.
XIIth Dynasty Pyramid
> x writings.
Remember 361 for later. Also the anointing with oil part. Also, these writings are now part of your Lagach chain, so you can now return to Alexandria via LAGACH if you ever leave it.
> smell.
> n.
Necropolis
> blow whistle.(The birds point out a tombstone.)
> x tombstone.("GALITA"; has open socket mouth)
> look. take cloak. x cloak.
> take gem. put gem in mouth.(tomb opens)
> d.(+5)
The Height of Fashion
> x couch. x sphinxes.
> w.
This Is The Death
> x animal. take it.
> e.
The Height of Fashion
> get on couch. sleep.(+5)
The Spirit World (centuries old)
Same place with sphinxes and doorway, but centuries later. The exit is sealed.
> i.(You have no inventory.)
> get on couch. sleep.
The Spirit World (thousand years old)
> get on couch. sleep.
The Spirit World (quite ancient)
> get on couch. sleep.
The Spirit World (2000 years old)
> z. z. z. z.
French officers enter.
> x officers.(from 1798)
> z. z. z.(Eventually they tweak a sphinx nose and hear a rumbling! They go west to investigate.)
Everytime you go west in The Spirit World, the sphinxes strip 500 years off you.
> stand. w.
> stand. w.
> stand. w.
> stand. w.
The Height of Fashion
> stand. turn nose.(+3)
> w. w.(+5)
Quite an Undertaking
> x coffin. x painting.(features Sosostris with sceptre and grey cloak)
> ne. look. take oak. x it.
> x first socket.("thu")
> x second.("thu")
> x third.("thu")
You're not ready for the sockets until you know what the words above them mean. Come back here later.
> e. e. u. ne. se.
A Tower
> open door.(It won't open.)
> knock on door.("Sosostris, the Priest of Sosostris")
Did you notice that the cloak has a grey lining?
> turn cloak.(Inside-out, it's now a grey cloak with a rainbow lining.)
> wear it.
> open door. u.(+5)
Consulting Room (in Alexandria)
> x Madame.
> take oak. put it on table.(+3)
She starts incantations and says to return in 2000 years. She gives you something before hustling you out.
A Tower
> i. x keepsake.(it's a locket)
> nw. nw. n.
Island of Pharos
> x grating. x key.(rusty iron key)
> take smooth stone. put it on grating.
The stone attracts the key. The stone must be magnetized. Now just wait a few (or several) turns...
> z. z. z.
Eventually, a wave moves the stone. (+3)
> s. se.
Crossroads
If you like, stop here and wait and watch the entire procession. It loops and never ends, so you can watch it at any time.
> ne.(blocked)
Unfortunately, the procession is always in the way here. But you can join the procession if you look like you belong.
> remove cloak. turn it.(It's now a coat of many colours again.)
> wear cloak. ne.
Outside the Royal Museum
> se.(They won't let you in, and not because of the cloak.)
> x reliefs.(of the Cat.)
Oh. You need to bring Austin here. That explains the "Leo" connection too.
> ne.
Stadium
Nothing for you here.
> sw. n.
Outside the Theatre
> w.(+5)
Warehouses and Port
The smooth stone and rusty key landed here.
> take stone and key.(+4 for the stone again. Oops.)
> x die. roll die. g. g. g.
The die is labelled with six words for the numbers one to six. If you roll the die then wait for the sailor to roll the die, he will grin if his roll is higher, sigh if his roll is lower, or shrug if they're the same.
So, after many many rolls of the die, you can eventually learn that THU means 1, ZAI means 2, SI means 3, CA means 4, MACH means 5, and HUTH means 6.
Fortunately, you're reading a walkthrough and you don't have to do all that die-rolling yourself!
Return to the Island of Pharos:
> e. s. sw. nw. n.
Island of Pharos
> unlock grating with rusty key.
> open grating. d.(+5)
Jetty
> enter skiff.(find an adamantine heart)
> take heart.
> sail. z. z.
♌ Revisit Alexandria with Austin. Anoint yourself. Get spindle, two tubes, mystic scroll, sash, skull.
Garden Stream
While you can return to Alexandria by sailing in the skiff again, you need to first get Austin there.
> out.
> take Returning. strike it. point it at me.
(random attic location)
I now need you to go to wherever Austin is. By now, he's probably wandered into the Disused Observatory and stopped there because of the beam of light. For this walkthrough, I'm going to assume Austin is there.
from Old Winery > s. s. se. s.
from Attic > s. se. s.
from Old Furniture > se. s.
from Over the East Wing > s.
Disused Observatory
> x Austin.(He doesn't like to be pushed, hint hint)
> push Austin south.
Souvenirs Room
Unfortunately, you can't just push Austin into the south wall. You need another trick, and if you never saw Austin and Aunt Jemima together in the Potting Room, you also never saw Jemima jump to make Austin jump out of the room.
Yes, I admit I needed help with this one.
> jump.(+3. Austin jumps into Alexandria!)
You can't re-enter the card yourself. You need to either use LAGACH from either the Mosaic or Mad Isaac's painting, or sail in the skiff in the Garden to get back to Alexandria.
Or... You could LAGACH from Bohemia in Unreal City. That poetry book should still be in Library Storage. I think that's the quickest way back from here?
> n. w.
Library Storage
> read poetry.
Unreal City
> n. e.
Bohemia; Hall of Exhibits
> mural, lagach.
> still life, lagach.
XIIth Dynasty Pyramid
> n. ne. nw.
Causeway
Austin has been waiting here and now he'll uncharacteristically follow you. You still have the cloak of many colours on, yes?
> se. ne. se.(+5; Austin starts a new life.)
The Birdcage of the Muses
> x pigeonhole. s.
Oil Room
> oil me.
> n.
The Birdcage of the Muses
A messenger-boy puts some tubes into the pigeonhole. If you haven't seen him yet, wait until he shows up.
> take all from hole.
> look in alpha.(a scroll bearing an epic poem)
> read epic.
> look in kappa.(a scroll bearing a short poem)
> read short poem.
> se.
Geography Room
> x globe. take spindle. x spindle.
> nw. e.
Reading Corridor
> look up Callimachus in dictionary.(famous for witty brief poem.)
Try mixing the scrolls.
> take short poem. put it in alpha.
> take epic. put it in kappa.
> give kappa to Callimachus.(He curses about "Apollonius" and stomps off.)
> look up Apollonius in dictionary.(epic poet)
> s.
Librarian's Office
table. Apollonius and Callimachus are arguing.
> give alpha to Apollonius.(+7)
> look. take mystic scroll. take sash.
> x mystic scroll. x sash. wear sash.
The sash is your way back into the museum without a cat, if you ever want to return here.
But now that you've anointed yourself with oil and know how to count to six, return to Quite an Undertaking:
> n. w. nw. sw. sw. d. w. w.
Quite an Undertaking
> take sceptre. put it in first socket.
The sockets spin to random settings, so this will be like rolling a die until you get just the number you want.
> turn it.(Repeat until it says "si")
> take sceptre. put it in second.
> turn it.(Repeat until it says "huth")
When the sockets read "si huth thu", the coffin lid opens. But only enter the coffin if you anointed yourself with oil!
> take sceptre.
> enter coffin. close it. close it.
The coffin is now sliding down the channel. You are...
Buried Alive
You cannot open the coffin, but you can just go up through it!
> u.(+15. Your spirit goes through the coffin and travels to...)
Sarcophagus
...and now you're solid again.
> i. x skull.
> w. w. n.
♌ Revisit Alexandria yet again. Get the Rod of Ice. Use the astrolabe.
Crypt; Bohemia; etc.
From the Crypt, make a short side trip to the Octagon before heading back to Alexandria.
> mural, lagach.
> mural, lagach.
> still life, lagach.
> writings, lagach.
> nw.
The Octagon
> take spindle. wave it.(+6: it's a Rod!)
> put it in coffin. close coffin. open it.
> take Ice.
The Rod of Ice just seems to chill things rather than make any ice. If you like turning hot tea into iced tea, this Rod is for you!
> se.
White Hallway; Greek Frieze; etc.
> painting, lagach.
> frieze, lagach.
> mosaic, lagach.
> mural, lagach.
> mural, lagach.
> still life, lagach.
XIIth Dynasty Pyramid
> n. ne. ne. n. n.
Outside the Royal Palace of Alexander
CAUTION: Going north into the palace while wearing the cloak of many colours is fatal!
> remove cloak. n.(+5)
Lost Inside the Palace
There's a deaf-mute slave at every intersection. If you're not wearing the sash, a slave will escort you out when you try to go anywhere.
> x slave.
Hopefully, by now, you've used the smooth stone, the dog-eared letter, and the inscribed stone to decipher what the papyrus fragment said. My translation: "To move through the house of Alexander to the [toroma], move northeast east south, say 'anoppe'."
> ne. e. s.
> anoppe.(+5. The "slave" leads you to...)
Palace Balustrade
> take astrolabe. put it on mounting.
> look through astrolabe.(You are drawn to...)
🌙 Back in the Church. Get a hand, then a High Rod.
Out on the Spire
> x clock.
> x hand. take it.
> d. d. w.
West Side Chapel
You have an adamantine statue and three adamantine body parts. Time to play Operation!, but using a wrench instead of tweezers.
> put heart in statue.
> take wrench.
> put hand in statue. tighten hand.
> put skull in statue. tighten skull.
> look.(needs a spark of life)
> take Fire. strike it. point it at statue.(+15)
The knight bows to you.
> point east.(The knight goes east.)
> e.
Parish Church
> point east. e.
East Side Chapel
> give rose to knight.(He is pleased.)
> show locket to knight.(+3. The knight places the rose in Diana's hair.)
> point west. w.
Parish Church
> point down. point at moonstone.(He has partial hearing now?)
> knight, open moonstone.(He does it!)
> d.(Not for mortals!)
> point down.(He changes into ... what?)
> look.(The High Rods of Life, Love, and Death are delicately balanced at the top of the slope.)
> x life rod. x love rod. x death rod.
You can pick only one, losing the other two. This walkthrough will choose Life, but you may make a different choice.
> take Life.(It's too hot to take!)
> take Ice. strike it. point it at Life.
> take Life.(You are warned about the delicate balance.)
> take Life.(+1)
> s.
Stone Cross
> take Moon. give it to Evans.(no: it's tarnished now.)
♟️ Fancy a game of chess? Make your orb glow.
Stone Cross
> take orb. rub orb.(You enter it, of course.)
Inside the Orb
> x images. g. g.
Eventually you realize you're looking at a chess game. White is trying to attack and must break out somehow. But Black looks safe.
The hint for this puzzle is hiding in Anton's entry in the History. He was a chessmaster famous for his sacrificial attacks. I bet you forgot all about Anton, didn't you?
> take Sacrifice. strike it.
CAUTION: Wait until it's White's turn. If you force Black to make a sacrifice play, you'll lose the game.
> z.(Repeat waiting until it's White's turn.)
> point Sacrifice at board.(+10)
White sacrifices a knight then checkmates Black. You automatically leave the orb and it's now pulsating.
♾️ Use the Rod of Infinity.
Stone Cross
Make a side trip to Library Storage and pick up the poetry book for later:
> s. sw. u. n. w. s. w.
Library Storage
> take poetry.
Return to Cellar West:
> e. n. e. s. e. ne. d. nw. w. w. se. e. d. w. w.
Cellar West
> unlock door with wrought key.
> open door. nw.(+5)
Infinity Symbol
CAUTION: If you put a Rod in a socket, you don't get it back. Unfortunately, it's the only way to proceed once you have ten Rods and the glowing orb.
When you insert the first Rod, a spherical opening appears in a wall.
> take returning. put it in arc.
> take fire. put it in arc.
> take ice. put it in arc.
> take stalking. put it in arc.
> take sacrifce. put it in arc.
> take luck. put it in arc.
> take husbandry. put it in arc.
> take bronze. put it in arc.
> take life. put it in arc.(+8)
> take orb. put it in opening.
> take infinity rod. strike it.
> point it at lemniscus.(Much magic. You're now at...)
⏳ Visit a Roman villa. Get a torch, daisy, sandals, die, two Rods, and the bluish stone.
Murky Cave
All of your inventory was left behind. But you have something new.
> i. x pamphlet.(re: monk called Gildas)
> take torch. w. d.
Hanging on Rope
> take daisy.(it's just a bit too far)
> swing rope. take daisy.(+4)
> wear daisy.
It may seem risky to wander the countryside with a lit torch in this time period, but don't worry. It's okay.
> u. e. ne. e. e.
Stream
> u.(You spot a man on the roof with a nasty sword and retreat before he sees you.)
> w. s.
Atrium Cloister
> take horn. wave it.(+6: It's the Rod of Language!)
> strike Rod. point it at me.(You now understand Celtic.)
> s.
Atrium
This early version of the mosaic is not part of your Lagach chain probably because you're already linked to it in your own time.
> e.
Guard Quarters
> take all.
> x die. x sandals. wear sandals.
> w. w.
Triclinium
CAUTION: Don't enter the well until after you've learned that it's quite deep. Putting anything you don't need later into the well is the test. If you sacrifice the torch, you'll learn immediately from its dwindling light that the well is deep. For anything else, you need to wait to hear the splash far below.
> open cover. x well.
> put die in well.
> z. z.(You hear a splash.)
> e. s.(+5)
Entrance
Entering this location triggers the approach of many men towards the villa. No one enters the villa until you visit this location.
CAUTION: If you go south into the courtyard, you're caught and killed, but staying isn't any better. You need to hide.
> n. w. d.(+4)
Inside Well
> e.
Hypocaust
Wait here for several turns, listening to the Druids talk about their plans for the future.
> z. z. z. z. z. z. z. z. z. z.(Wait until the Druids above you leave.)
> w. u.(+5. You are captured and taken to a...)
Rough Tent
All your carried inventory is gone, but you should still have the daisy and the sandals if you're wearing them.
> i. n. x pole. take it.(can't)
A Saxon spy is thrown in. The central pole almost breaks.
> x spy. take pole.(+5)
Encampment
> wave pole.(It's the Rod of Returning!)
> e.(+5. You cross the coals if you're wearing sandals.)
Beneath Dolmen
> take stone.(+4)
> strike rod. point rod at me.(You return to...)
📖 Revisit Unreal City yet again. Buy a map of Paris.
Infinity Symbol
You're back here. All your old stuff is here. The Rod of Returning was left behind. You can't use the Rod of Infinity again.
> wave bluish.(+6: It's now a fifty-franc note!)
> take sack. take all. wear daisy chain. wear gloves.
You need to revisit Unreal City now. If you have the poetry book handy, just read it again. Otherwise, get to the Mosaic and use Lagach until you're back in Bohemia.
> read poetry.
Unreal City
> e. d.
Chatelet-les-Halles
Alas, the Rod of Language didn't teach you any French, and you must use the French word for "map". Since the game doesn't tell you that it's "carte", you must look it up yourself, perhaps using Google Translate or an English-French dictionary.
> give franc to man.
> say carte.(+1. You get a map of Paris.)
> x Paris.
Once you have the map, the Druids' magic stops working. You can no longer use the magic word Lagach to get anywhere.
> u. w. w. enter boat.
On board the Phlebas
> say time.
🐵 Give a monkey to Old Evans. Then win the game.
Infinity Symbol
I'm not sure why Phlebas brings you here now, but it's fine. Return to Alison's Writing Room via the dumbwaiter:
> take poetry.
> se. e. turn wheel. enter waiter. pull rope. g. out.
> w. s. s. se. e. s. s.
Alison's Writing Room
> take model animal. x mirror.(The animal becomes a living mischievous-looking monkey who scampers off the balcony and down the footpath.)
Follow it!
> n. e. ne. n.
Stone Cross
Evans has a new pet monkey, and he's completely forgotten about his former mascot. Feel better now?
Assuming you have no unfinished business with the demon, angel, or Aunt Jemima, return to the Attic, where this game began:
> s. sw. u. n. w. nw. n.
Attic
> save.(No, really. You're five points short, and maybe you'll want to restore to this point and earn them.)
> d.(with the map of Paris)
*** You have won ***
> amusing
My solution, when I tested it, ends with 549 points, which is actually 5 points short because 4 points were erroneously awarded when I took the smooth stone at Warehouses and Port. The missing 5 points are actually the 5 BONUS points that the author takes away four turns after awarding them. Which means... if you really want those points, you have to avoid earning them in all the various ways that you can earn them (see trivia question 1) until just at the end, then get them, then race down from the attic before the author can take them away.
That's utterly mad, and it feels like cheating the system. I don't need those five points that badly, and I hope you don't either. If you must earn them, I suggest kissing Jemima or giving her the chocolate biscuit, then run to the Attic from there. You can just make it. But if you already earned and lost the bonus points earlier in the game, you're out of luck earning them now.
Extras
Amusing
The response to AMUSING is a short menu with two items, but these lead to even more menus and I'm not willing to exhaustively spoil all of them. But I think these are the sections you most want to see:
Frivolous things to do
Drop the robot mouse where Austin can get at it
Shut Austin out of the attic with the trap door
Ram or knock on various doors
Cast all the rods on yourself
Ask the demon and angel about Heaven and Hell
Eat a genuine Ekmek special (look it up in the dictionary for details)
Write your own Inform adventure, and so revenge yourself on the author
1. What are the "good but wrong guesses"?
Giving Aunt Jemima the wrapped parcel;
Or the chocolate biscuit;
Or kissing her;
Attracting Bateau Phlebas by waving the poster (which can be torn down);
Casting the Rod of Fire at the medicine bottle to try and open it (as advised by demon);
Trying the postcard in the slide projector;
Or the Alexandrian sketch when it's still framed;
Feeding Austin the chicken wishbone.
2. How many songs does the radio play?
Eighty-one. The inspiration for the radio station came about when the author was driving at midnight through Oxfordshire and the local station played, in succession, the Moonlight Sonata, the Four Seasons, You Take My Breath Away and Gold. So the radio plays the 80 most hackneyed radio tunes the author could think of.
3. In what *** ways *** can the game end?
Not counting everyday death, winning or the various ways of almost but not quite coming to an end...
Missing the point entirely
Being spooked
In checkmate
Being transported to Australia
Facing a prison term as a terrorist
Being annihilated by a temporal paradox
Becoming a constellation
Disembodying the entire universe
4. What are the secret ways to detect a Rod?
If magic, the daisy chain rustles (according to inventories) when you are carrying something which could turn into a rod if waved.
Likewise, the yellow daisy (from Roman Britain) twitches.
The vanity mirror does not reflect rods or things which become rods (unless you're so vain as to polish it, after which it reflects everything).
5. What can you see in the crystal ball?
Apart from the projector beam's effects, looking into the ball shows one of twelve little scenes, corresponding to the twelve main areas of the game.
6. Where are Dame Judi Dench and Donald Sutherland?
The angel and the demon bear a surprising resemblance to them.
Sadly, Donald Sutherland died a few days ago (as I write this). I'm slightly sorry now to have typecast him.
7. Explain the handkerchief initials and the graffiti.
Not only the title, but the plan and a good deal of the incidental symbolism of the Unreal City were taken from early poems of T. S. Eliot (which owed a bit to Baudelaire), and I recommend them (apart from the great interest of the poems themselves) to any who think such elucidation worth the trouble.
The handkerchief is not Jemima's but belongs to J. Alfred Prufrock (though cf. "The Waste Land" l. 178).
8. How many tarot cards are there altogether?
59. Nine can be carried, plus another 21 trumps and 29 plainer cards in the pack. I have obviously departed from the exact constitution of the Tarot pack (with which I am not familiar) to suit my own convenience.
9. How can the medicine bottle be opened?
By dropping it down the empty dumbwaiter shaft;
Putting it at the foot of the shaft, and dropping the dumbwaiter on it;
Running over it in the garden roller;
Dropping it from the top of the beanstalk;
Or from the top of the mast of the Lady Magdalena;
Aunt Jemima can open it...
...and so can the jaws of Dobbin (Doktor Stein's goat).
10. What is the mascot for in the premonition?
Annoyance of the player: it's the biggest red herring in the game. It scores -50, the demon advises you to hang onto it at all times - and it was cursed.
ASCII art
The game makes use of ASCII art in two ways. One, to show the layout of the hedge maze when viewed from above; and two, to show pictograms representing ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics in the style of Infocom's Infidel.
The hedge maze, in its original configuration, as seen from Up the Plane Tree. It is built from "###" and "..." trigraphs.
The list of hieroglyphics in Ellingsworth's letter to Hartley.
:: and # the #. this :; but +*+ god/spirit? (()) all = of [] house/building ||| indicates plural -> through >>> moves <> item/thing? __ sits/lies/rests/is near / to/toward
The hieroglyphics in the Octagonal Tomb. I translate them as "The wheel moves."
(|/ # -o- >>> /|)
The hieroglyphics on the coffin in The Octagon. I translate them as "Put magic sticks into-this," where "magic" is literally "god-like".
(()) #+*+ <> ->#. |||
The symbol on the bas relief of the seasons in West Cloister. This is just the word "season" four times:
(---) (---) (---) (---)
The inscriptions on the inscribed stone. I translate both inscriptions as: "This house of the gods lies towards the [toroma], but the [toroma] moves through the seasons." Note that the ancient Greek is read from right-to-left. Does "toroma" mean "star" or "sun" or something else?
#. [] = # +*+ __ an-ta re-im ka u bir ka-i ||| | | / # -+- :; # -+- ka ne : to-ro-ma ka ur | |
>>> -> # (---) .je-fe-im ka ur-a an-ge to-ro-ma |||
Box quotes
This game uses (at least) 52 box quotes, although six of them have no triggers that display them. I consulted Allen Garvin's reconstruction of the Curses source code for Release 16 when writing up this section.
The PLAIN command turns off the display of box quotes. The PRETTY command turns them back on again.
When the game begins, this quote might be chosen at random:
Let Rome in Tiber melt and the wide arch of the ranged empire fall! Here is my space. Kingdoms are clay.
-- Shakespeare, "Antony and Cleopatra" I:1
When the game begins, this quote might be chosen at random:
Curses are like young chickens, they always come home to roost. -- Robert Southey (1774-1843), "The Curse of Kehama"
When the game begins, this quote might be chosen at random:
Nine times she waved the fluttering wimple round, And made a little plot of magic ground. And in that daisied circle, as men say, Is Merlin prisoner till the judgement day...
-- Matthew Arnold, Tristram and Iseult III (1852)
When you first take INVENTORY:
Four be the things I'd been better without: Love, curiosity, freckles and doubt.
-- Dorothy Parker, "Inventory"
When the mouse first enters the hole:
It seemed that the next minute they would discover a solution. Yet it was clear to both of them that the end was still far, far off, and that the hardest part was just beginning.
-- Anton Chekhov, "The Lady with the Dog"
When the mouse finds the attic key:
The mouse Behind the mouldering wainscot shrieked.
-- Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "Mariana"
When the mouse drops the attic key at Cellars South:
Parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus.
-- Horace, "Ars Poetica"
When you first visit Sacred Earth:
Zeus, whose will has marked for man A single way where wisdom lies Ordained one eternal plan: Man must suffer to be wise.
-- Aeschylus, "Agamemnon"
When you first use PRETTY:
I might repeat to myself, slowly and soothingly, a list of quotations beautiful from minds profound; if I can remember any of the damn things.
-- Dorothy Parker
When you first point a charged Rod of Fire (or Sacrifice) at Austin:
More ways of killing a cat than choking her with cream.
-- Charles Kingsley
When you first JUMP near Austin in Meldrew Hall:
I would like to be there, were it but to see how the cat jumps.
-- Sir Walter Scott
When the electric torch runs out of power:
Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
-- Dylan Thomas
When you first hear a splash in the Triclinium's well, after putting something non-lit into the well two turns earlier:
No, 'tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church door; but 'tis enough, 'twill serve.
-- Shakespeare, "Romeo and Juliet"
When the bomb is five minutes short of the red zone:
...I have just signed legislation that will outlaw Russia for ever. We begin bombing in five minutes.
-- President Reagan, mistakenly believing the TV cameras were switched off
When you first try to go any direction but aft from the Prow of the Lady Magdalena:
What is a ship but a prison?
-- Robert Burton (1577-1640)
When you first try to turn the dial in the Universe Maintenance Room:
The remarkable fact is that the values of these numbers seem to have been very finely adjusted to make possible the development of life.
-- Stephen Hawking, "A Brief History of Time"
When you first try to go anywhere while the carbolic soap exists:
Remember that you are an Englishman, and have consequently won first prize in the lottery of life.
-- Cecil Rhodes (1853-1902)
When you first visit Dark Staircase:
Les plus desesperes sont les chants les plus beaux Et j'en sais d'immortels quit sont de purs songlots.
-- Alfred de Musset, "La Nuit de mai"
When you first hit the wooden ball with the croquet mallet:
There is no return game between a man and his stars.
-- Samuel Beckett, "Murphy"
When you first drop a Rod:
Throw away thy rod, Throw away thy wrath: O my God. Take the gentle path.
-- George Herbert, "Discipline"
When you first say something to Aunt Jemima when she's sulking:
Speak gently, she can hear The daisies grow.
-- Oscar Wilde, "Requiescat"
When you first get the default "another nobody" card reading:
Too poor for a bribe, and too proud to importune He had not the method of making a fortune.
-- Thomas Grey, "Sketch of His own Character"
When you first try to move the huge moonstone in any way:
Facilis descensus Averno: Noctes atque dies patet atri ianua Ditis; Sed revocare gradum superasque evadere ad auras, Hoc opus, hic labor est.
-- Virgil, "The Aeneid" Book VI:126
Unknown or missing trigger:
We are the children of primeval night; we bear The name of Curses in our home deep under earth.
-- Aeschylus, "The Eumenides"
When you first polish the vanity mirror:
Thou makest his beauty to consume away, Like as it were a moth fretting a garment: Every man therefore is but vanity.
-- Psalms 39:12 (Book of Common Prayer version)
When you first visit the Brick Path:
White lilac bowed, Lost lanes of Queen Anne's lace And that high-builded cloud Moving at summer's pace.
-- Philip Larkin, "Cut Grass"
Unknown or missing trigger:
At the end of the day victory belongs to the Curses, Who shout in shrill triumph Over the utter rout of the defeated house.
-- Aeschylus, "Seven Against Thebes"
When you first point a charged Rod of Husbandry at the herd of goats:
He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats.
-- Matthew 25:32
When you insert the amber gem into the mouth of the uninteresting tombstone:
Quickly now the amber Takes the fly with knees deranged To be buried unseen, unfound And irrevocably changed.
-- Dean Waynflete, "Substance"
When "you have some impression that White is trying to make an attack, having plenty of spare pieces":
Thus the devil played at chess with me, and yielding a pawn, thought to gain a queen of me, taking advantage of my honest endeavours.
-- Sir Thomas Browne, "Religio Medici" pt I
When you try to go any direction but south from Heavenly Place:
Art thou pale for weariness Of climbing heaven and gazing on the earth?
-- Shelley, "To The Moon"
When you first try to attack (or throw something at) Aunt Jemima:
A nice, - respectable, - middle class, middle-aged maiden lady, with time on her hands and the money to help her pass it... Let us call her Aunt Edna... Aunt Edna is universal, and to those who may feel that all the problems of the modern theatre might be solved by her liquidation, let me add that... she is also immortal.
-- Terence Rattigan, preface to the "Collected Plays"
When you first try to go in an unavailable direction in either dream:
I seemed to move among a world of ghosts, And feel myself the shadow of a dream.
-- Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "The Princess"
When you first point a charged Rod of Infinity at the lemniscus:
If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.
-- William Blake
When you first read the postcard in the Dark Room's red light:
Follow the instructions, tell us what you think: they lose something in translation, they might as well be written in invisible ink.
-- Peter Hammill, "Invisible Ink"
When you first examine (or search) the glass ball after polishing it:
On a round ball A workman that hath copies by, can lay An Europe, Afrique and an Asia, And quickly make that, which was nothing, All.
-- John Donne, "Valediction: Of Weeping"
When you first acquire the History book:
What you don't know would make a great book.
-- The Rev. Sydney Smith
Unknown or missing trigger:
Sir Walter Elliot, of Kellynch-hall, in Somersetshire, was a man who, for whose own amusement, never took up any book but the Baronetage; there he found occupation in an idle hour, and consolation in a distressed one
-- Jane Austen, "Persuasion"
When you first read the romantic novel:
I am the Love that dare not speak its name.
-- Lord Alfred Douglas, "Two Loves"
When you've slid eight letters on the Contraption's panel:
'I am inclined to think -' said I. 'I should do so,' Sherlock Holmes remarked impatiently.
-- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, "The Valley of Fear"
When you try to go any direction but up from Hellish Place:
Hell is a city much like London - A populous and a smoky city.
-- Shelley, "Peter Bell the Third"
Unknown or missing trigger:
I hope I shall never be deterred from detecting what I think a cheat, by the menaces of a ruffian.
-- Dr Johnson (a letter from 1775)
When you first go anywhere in the Maze:
Expatiate free o'er all this scene of man; A mighty maze! but not without a plan.
-- Alexander Pope, "An Essay on Man"
Unknown or missing trigger:
It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.
-- Bill Watterson, "Calvin & Hobbes"
When you first try to do anything with the nuts in the Hollow while the corn crake is there:
Follow me, follow Down to the hollow And there let us wallow In glorious mud.
-- Flanders and Swann
When you've slid five letters on the Contraption's panel:
Zoe, logic merely enables one to be wrong with authority
-- Dr Who, aboard "The Wheel In Space"
When you first take the astrolabe:
Then for as moche as a philosofre saith, "he wrappith him in his frend, that condescendith to the rightfulle praiers of his frend," therefore have I yeven the a suffisant Astrolabie as for oure orizonte, compowned after the latitude of Oxenforde;
-- Geoffrey Chaucer, "A Treatise on the Astrolabe"
When you first leave Alison's bed after having the melancholy dream:
Upon a nyght in sleep as he hym leyde, Hym thoughte how that the wynged god Mercurie Biforn hym stood and bad hym to be murie. His slepy yerde in hond he bar uprighte; An hat he werede upon his heris brighte.
-- Geoffrey Chaucer, "The Knight's Tale"
Unknown or missing trigger:
Benedick: To bind me or undo me, one of those.
-- Shakespeare, "Much Ado About Nothing"
When you've gone two times within the palace:
In the central display case, there is a curious pottery model, either representing the Labyrinth of Minos or a water-cooling system.
-- W. J. Murnane's "Guide to Ancient Egypt"
When you first examine the huge moonstone:
I don't know who was there before me: One person, several, none; It doesn't matter. There are marks on the slabs of rock, Some beautiful, all mysterious; Some certainly not made by human hands.
-- Primo Levi, "A Valley"
When you first look up yourself in the History:
It has always seemed to me that I had to answer questions which fate had posed to my forefathers, and which had not yet been answered, or as if I had to complete, or perhaps continue, things which previous ages had left unfinished.
-- Carl Jung, "Memories, Dreams, Reflections"
Characters
Notable individuals
Aunt Jemima is sulking in the Potting Room because you and the rest of the family are going on holiday and she's being left behind. If you can make it up to her, she'll make a daisy chain for you.
Madame Sosostris reads the Tarot cards for you in Unreal City, but she's also in Alexandria 2000 years earlier.
A surly-looking man is selling guide books and maps from a kiosk in Chatelet-les-Halles. He seems rather Gallic.
A hollow man helms the Phlebas.
Old Evans is reading a newspaper in Stone Cross. Betting on the races is his passion.
Doktor Stein is the head of the Museum of Arcana in Hamburg.
Andromeda is chained to the cliff face on the sea shore, and bravely awaits her fate.
Homer is sleeping in the temple's inner sanctum. He'll give you his pan pipes if you can answer his three trivia questions.
A bartender in the Eraina Taverna will sell you an Ekmek Special dessert, but he's still very depressed.
An oracle will give you cryptic advice in exchange for sacrificed figs.
A gambling sailor sits at Warehouses and Port and will play high-low with you as often as you like; just roll his die.
A messenger-boy puts two scroll tubes into a cubbyhole in the Alexandria library. He's annoyed that he's missing the party outside.
Callimachus, the cataloguer of the Alexandria library, broods over a scroll in the reading corridor. He's famous for his brief poems.
Apollonius is the head librarian of the Alexandria library. He's in his office, and he's famous for his long epic poems.
Several deaf-mute slaves are in the palace maze, one stationed at every major intersection. If they see that you don't belong in the palace, the one nearest you escorts you out.
A senior adviser disguised as a deaf-mute slave escorts you to the balustrade if you say the right word at the right place in the palace maze.
The adamantine statue of a knight can become the embodiment of life, love, and death in the parish church.
White and Black are seen playing chess in the orb's floating lattice.
A Saxon spy is thrown into the rough tent shortly after you're captured and put in there. He's unconscious.
A demon in the Hellish Place offers you three hints.
An angel in the Heavenly Place also offers you three hints.
A doctor at the hospital may comment on faulty wiring if you get electrocuted by the coffin in the Octagon.
A venerable man uses a Rod in the melancholy dream. Is this Merlyn?
Notable animals
Austin is your ginger cat. Well, Aunt Jemima's cat, actually. He doesn't like to be pushed around, and he's easily startled if someone jumps near him.
A robot mouse in the cellars understands cardinal directions. If you order it to go south, for example, it will try to obey you.
Dobbin is Doktor Stein's pet goat.
A squirrel is annoyed with your croquet playing.
Some sparrows roosting on the summer house are easily startled.
A corn crake is protecting its nest of nuts in the hollow.
Some birds of prey fly above the necropolis of Alexandria.
The Kraken is an enormous sea monster that Poseidon has sent to devour Andromeda.
Some mountain goats are eating the grass at Clifftop Walk.
A monkey can be brought to life if you examine the reflection of the ugly model animal.
A great bear may kill you if you travel from one dark location to another. Presumably, this is the same bear depicted at the Shrine of the Bear.
The Gods
Zeus will throw a thunderbolt at you if you dare try to cross his temple's sacred ground.
Apollo personally greets you when you play music in his oracle's cave.
Poseidon is annoyed with you after you kill his Kraken.
Several goddesses make sure you're resurrected after you save Andromeda.
Diana, Poseidon, Demeter, Ares, and Dionysus all have statues in the game.
Galita is named on the amber gem and on the unexciting tomb.
All of these gods and more have entries in the dictionary.
The Druids
A female Druid curses you for taking her mascot in the Shrine of the Bear.
Men outside the skylight of Cups and Glasses can be heard talking conspiratorially. You hear only a few words clearly, but it's enough to tell you that they are Druids out to get you!
Dozens of robed figures with hideously painted faces assist Doktor Stein in the Hamburg museum, capturing you easily.
Several Druids confer in the Atrium to decide how they shall prepare for a future where men follow the rule of kings and the old powers wane.
Groups in the background
Your other family members are all in the main part of the house, but you're trying to avoid them all.
A General, advisers, juniors officers, scheming politicians, and the like are in the General's tent, avoiding the shrine.
A noisy crowd and a string quartet are in the Ruined Castle Cafe.
Miserable and rather ashamed men are drinking retsina heavily in Eraina Taverna.
A huge procession roams Alexandria for the festival of Dionysus. The stadium is packed with spectators.
Museum guards nudge drunken louts away from the Museum, but they're extremely fond of cats.
Palace guards are trying to catch the procession.
Soldiers are on patrol or going about their business outside the Roman villa. One is stationed on the roof. In your premonition dream, you see some of these soldiers sitting about a camp fire on the night before a battle.
Also mentioned
Jane is Jemima's other cat.
Several musical artists are mentioned in the messages re: the wireless's music, far too many to list here.
Several Meldrews are mentioned in the game and have entries in the History. For example:
You meet the ghost of Sir Joshua Meldrewe on the battlements.
A photograph of Roger is in the Dark Room.
In a losing ending, you can meet Capability Meldrew before you're transported to Australia.
Alison has a writing room.
Helene has a mural and statuette.
Anton is Helene's husband and a famous chess grandmaster.
Ebenezer is mentioned when you find the rucksack.
Gerard's name is on the monument.
Henri's tombstone is under the crypt.
Mad Isaac has a painting.
Hartley is mentioned in Ellingsworth's letter.
Engravings of Christina Rossetti, Elizabeth Browning, Emily Dickinson, and Queen Victoria are in Alison's writing room.
Gildas was a polemical monk who wrote about the fall of Vortigern and the rise of Ambrosius Aurelianus.
Vortigern was a tyrant who fell at the turn of the fifth century A.D.
Ambrosius Aurelianus may be source of the legend of King Arthur.
Merlyn was King Arthur's wizard in the sixth century A.D. Isaac claims Merlyn bound up the back garden with Rods of Power. Yellow daisies are called Merlyn's Hat.
A wise man is seen with an attractive young woman on the bronze mural. Perhaps the wise man is Merlyn?
More historical people are mentioned in the dictionary, such as Alexander, Ptolemy, etc.
Credits
The game credits are accessed via the HELP command. Choose the Credits menu-item:
Cast of Thousands
CURSES An Interactive Diversion by Graham Nelson
Play-testing by Michael Kinyon, Gareth Rees and Richard Tucker
Together with informers: Torbjorn Andersson, Julian Arnold, Jonathan Badger, Greg Bakker, Richard Barnett, Joachim Baumann, Richard Beigel, Don Blaheta, Martin Braun, Allen Braunsdorf, Otto Christenson, Tomas Clark, Andrew Clover, Alan Cox, Richard Develyn, Robert Dickau, Paul David Doherty, Roger Dominick, Koen van der Drift, Ivan Drucker, Jon Drukman, Martin N. Dunstan, Paul Fletcher, Richard Forster, Ron Galicia, Allen Garvin, Chris Goedde, Peter Grundy, Mark "Guido" Guidarelli, David Horowitz, Will Hurwood, Hakan Huss, Randy Hutson, Darin Johnson, Stefan Jokisch, Brad Jones, Jose Kahan, Darius Katz, Dennis S. Keeler, Andrew Kemp, John W. Kennedy, Peter Killworth, Marnix Klooster, Mark Knibbs, Teo Kwang Liak, Matthew J. MacKenzie, Chris Mann, Chris Markwyn, David McGrath, M. Sean Molley, Byron Montgomerie, David Moore, Carl Muckenhoupt, Christine Nelson, Toby Nelson, Carrie O'Grady, Michael A. Patton, Morten Holm Pederson, Mark Phillips, Neil Querengesser, Mason Reed, Robert Rendell, Loren Rittle, Luke Roberts, John Rodriguez, Kathleen Rudden, Bryan Scattergood, Bernd Schmitt, Rene Schneer, Alison Scott, Mike Scott, Matthew Selby, Dilip Sequeira, David Sinclair, Suzanne Skinner, David Stephenson, Robert Stone, Nyko Tyni, David VanBronkhorst, Andrew Vesperman, Hao-yang Wang, Robin Watts, John West, Christopher A. Wichura, Graham Willmott, Andrew Wren, Brendon Wyber, Jeff Zahn and Zhang Genglue.
Apologies and acknowledgements to: the late Mr T. S. Eliot, the Oxford History of England, Philip Vellacott's translations of the Greek plays and the guidebooks of the British Museum; Edouard Poor, for porting interpreters to the Acorn Archimedes; and Volker Blasius, for keeping the if-archive.
Coffee mugs fired by: Helena Verrill.
Genealogy and photography associate: Peter Nelson.
Ancient Greek cultural attache and daisy chain consultant: Dr L. J. Coventry.
Archaeology: the InfoTaskForce, Paul David Doherty and Mark Howell, without whose excavations Inform could not have been written. If I have hacked deeper than them, it is because I stand in their trenches.
Endings
You have missed the point entirely
if you dare walk from one unlit room to another while at home.
if you go down from the Attic without the map of Paris.
if you go southwest from Aunt Jemima's Lair into the upstairs landing.
if Aunt Jemima hears you taking her rubber gloves.
if you push the radio into the Potting Room. Aunt Jemima has something to say about that.
if you take either the romantic novel or the book of poetry from under the loose pipe in Library Storage. The pipe bursts and you have to call a plumber.
if you put the red battery into the torch, then close the torch while you're in the attic. The torch overloads, gets too hot to hold, and burns down most of the attic.
if you put a Rod into the coffin in The Octagon, close the coffin, then open it — and you didn't have gloves on. You get a nasty electrical shock and wake up in the hospital.
You have been transported to Australia
if the Folly falls while you're still in 1808.
if you try to leave the Maze Foundations by its southern exit.
You have been imprisoned as a terrorist
if someone at the Ruined Castle Cafe sees you take the bomb.
You have become a constellation
if you persist in trying to swim at Sea Shore.
You have disembodied the entire universe
if you persist in turning the [Planck constant] dial in the Universe Maintenance Room.
You have been checkmated
if you point the charged Rod of Sacrifice at the chess board during Black's turn.
You have been spooked
if you spend too many turns in the presence of the ghost.
You have been annihilated by a temporal paradox
if you drop anything in Maze Foundations.
You have died
if a great bear kills you. This can happen if you dare walk from one unlit location to another unlit location when not at home.
if you persist in carrying the mascot. Eventually you are killed by one of several random freak accidents: meteorite, earthquake, volcano, lightning, or time-fluxxed Spartan soldiers.
if Doktor Stein and his Druids sacrifice you in Hamburg, 1988.
if you go south from Souvenirs Room when the projector contains the Drowned Sailor, Fool, or Death card. Except these are fake deaths and don't count and you're back at Souvenirs Room.
if you jump from Up the Plane Tree, Up the Beanstalk, or Up the Mast.
if you go port from Up the Mast but you're not holding the flag while it's still attached to the flagpole.
if the bomb explodes in the Ruined Castle Cafe.
if you strike a Rod that's already charged up. The Rod explodes!
if you point a charged Rod of Fire at yourself, the bomb, or the timer.
if you point a charged Rod of Sacrifice at yourself.
if you use the Rod of Fire on some scenery like the Folly, creating a great conflagration and dying in it.
if Zeus's thunderbolt hits you when you try to cross his Sacred Ground.
if the walls of the Oubliette crush you when you take the gem.
if you try to enter the palace while wearing a cloak of many colours.
if you never escape from Buried Alive.
if you go down the well in Triclinium without first finding out how deep it is.
if soldiers or villa guards capture you outside the Roman Villa before the Druids' meeting in the Atrium.
if you never leave the tent and wait to see what they'll do to you.
if, after escaping from the tent, you don't escape the time period within a handful of turns later.
You have won
if you go down from the Attic with the tourist map of Paris.
Inventory
You have a carrying limit of five items, not counting worn items. You should pick up the rucksack as soon as you can.
Adamantines
After all three adamantine body-parts are securely placed in the knight, use the Rod of Fire to bring it to life.
an adamantine hand. It's at Out on the Spire. To get there, you must look through the astrolabe when it's placed on the mounting at the Palace Balustrade.
In the West Chapel, put the hand in the knight then immediately tighten the hand with the wrench before it falls off again.
When the knight enters the Underworld, his hand turns into the High Rod of Life.
an adamantine heart. Find it by entering the skiff at the Jetty.
In the West Chapel, put the heart in the knight.
When the knight enters the Underworld, his heart turns into the High Rod of Love.
an adamantine skull. Obtain it by going up from Buried Alive. This won't work unless you anointed yourself with oil back in the Oil Room.
In the West Chapel, put the skull in the knight then immediately tighten the skull with the wrench before it falls off again.
When the knight enters the Underworld, his skull turns into the High Rod of Death.
Art
a painting of Mad Isaac Meldrewe. It's at Inside Cupboard.
When you take it, a fireplace is revealed in the west wall.
Take the painting to the White Hallway and hang it on the hook. The painting is now part of your Lagach chain.
a miniature. It's at the Viewpoint Ledge.
It's a card showing the Folly, and can be used like any of the Tarot cards in the projector.
When the miniature is in the projector, the south exit from Souvenirs Room leads to the Folly. The back beam hits Scorpio in Disused Observatory.
a framed charcoal sketch. It's in the Octagon.
Open or break the frame to free the sketch and a letter. Take the sketch and letter off the floor. The frame itself is gone as if it never existed.
When the sketch is in the projector, the south exit from Souvenirs Room leads to the Causeway in Alexandria, 275 BC. The back beam hits Leo on the wall in Disused Observatory.
You also want Austin in Alexandria. Push Austin into the room, then jump to startle him; he jumps through the projection.
a marble rose. It's at Patio in Maze.
In West Chapel, after the knight gains life, give the rose to the knight. Point east to get him to move east.
In the Pairsh Church, point east to get the knight to move east.
In East Chapel, show the keepsake to the knight. It will carry out its duty and put the rose in Diana's hair.
This battery will eventually run out of power. You need to replace it with the new battery. The old battery is junk afterwards.
a new-looking battery. Find it in East Annexe by examining the insulation rolls while wearing the gloves.
Replace the old battery in the torch with the new battery. The new battery makes the torch reliable for the rest of the game. It's also mandatory to have the new battery in the torch before you can explore the cupboard north of East Annexe.
a nasty-looking red battery. It's in the demijohn in the Old Winery. You must be wearing the gloves to open the demijohn.
DO NOT put the red battery in the torch! This battery is too powerful! The torch will overheat and burn down half the attic!
the History of the Meldrews (vol. II). Obtain it by looking in the teachests in the Attic.
You can look up members of the Meldrew family in the History. Known topics include: Alison, Anton, Capability, Ebenezer, Gerard, Hartley, Helene, Henri, Isaac, Joshua, Peter, Roger, and Tobias. (Tobias isn't mentioned anywhere else in the game?)
More recent members of the family like yourself, Austin, or Jemima don't have entries in the History.
Hobson's classical dictionary. It's in the Servant's Room.
You can look up topics in this book, but most entries are very short. Known topics include: Adamantine, Agamemnon, Aeschylus, Alexander, Alexandria, Andromeda, Aphrodite, Apollo, Apollonius, Ares, Arthur, Athene, Callimachus, Chlamys, Curses, Demeter, Diana, Dionysus, Ekmek, Eraina, Eumenides, Furies, Galita, Hades, Helicon, Hephaestus, Hera, Homer, Iliad, Kraken, Leda, Loxias, Menelaus, Merlin, Merlyn, Odysseus, Odyssey, Omphalos, Oracle, Pan, Perseus, Pharos, Pluto, Poseidon, Ptolemy, Pythian, Selenae, Sosostris, Syrinx, Ulysses, and Zeus.
a romantic novel. It's in the Library Storage, propping up a loose joint of the plumbing. Tighten the joint with the wrench to free the book.
Examine it. It's by "Marie Swelldon", which is an anagram and pen name for Alison Meldrew.
a book of Twenties poetry. It's in the Library Storage, propping up a loose joint of the plumbing. Tighten the joint with the wrench to free the book.
Whenever you examine or read the poetry, you are transported to Unreal City. The poetry book itself stays behind wherever you were, but the rest of your inventory comes with you.
an ancient prayer book. It's in the Priest's Hole.
Examine it. It's Isaac's, and you can look up entries by year.
The History says Isaac died in 1792. Look up 1792 in the prayer book to learn Isaac thought Merlyn is buried in the garden, and that a disguised Rod of Power reveals itself if you wave it while wearing Merlyn's hat.
At Down by River, wave the hanky. The tourist boat, the Phlebas, glides to your side of the river, and you can now enter the boat.
You may also give it to Madame Sosostris. She will gratefully blow her nose with it then hand it back.
a flag of the British Merchant Navy. It's originally on the flagpole, but separates from it during your fall from Up the Mast; see spar.
In Alison's Writing Room, put the flag on her bed. The flag makes an excellent blanket and you can now sleep in her bed. You are unwilling to take the flag back.
Containers
a canvas rucksack. It's in the Dead End, south of the East Annexe.
This is a player's carry-all. It has an unlimited carrying capacity for all your inventory. When you pick up a new item, the game may first put one of your current inventory items into the rucksack to make room for the new item.
a gift-wrapped parcel. It's in the scratched cupboard in Old Furniture.
a guaranteed-unbreakable medicine bottle with a child-proof lock. It's in the scratched cupboard in Old Furniture.
There are several ways to open the bottle: see trivia question 9. I dropped it from Up the Mast and picked up the cracked medicine bottle at Aboard Ship. But don't give the bottle to Jemima. While she opens the bottle effortlessly, she also swallows the tablet!
When in the Maze Foundations, while wearing the gloves, go to the seed bed immediately west from the southeast corner and squeeze the bottle to kill the seeds there. Now when the hedge grows, there'll be a new gap in the Maze so you can reach the Patio in the Maze.
CAUTION: There's only one dose in the bottle. Don't waste it.
a mounted bottle. It's in Cups and Glasses.
Put the model ship into the mounted bottle; see model ship for details.
You need more than just the spade to dig there. You also need to know where on the lawn to dig.
At Cave Mouth, summon the Oracle by playing the Pan pipes. Put a fig (or other suitable offering) into the urn. Then ask the Oracle about anything. Her answer tells you two numbers to pace. Remember those numbers; they're randomized.
At the Croquet Lawn, go to the peg, then pace the first number east (or maybe west), then pace the second number north (or maybe south). Dig with the spade. You may have to dig at four different coordinates until you get it right.
The strongbox is unlocked with the gothic key and it contains the astrolabe.
a tube with a kappa on and a tube with an alpha on. In the Birdcage, a messenger-boy puts both tubes into the pigeonhole after you've spent a few turns there.
Look up Callimachus and Apollonius in the dictionary. It should be clear that the kappa tube and the short poem are for Callimachus, and the alpha tube and the epic poem are for Apollonius.
Switch the poems in the tubes. Give the kappa tube containing the epic poem to Callimachus and give the alpha tube containing the short poem to Apollonius. The two men brawl, dropping a mystic scroll and a purple sash which you should take.
Food
a chocolate biscuit. You're carrying it.
You are free to use the biscuit however you like. You may eat it or give it to Aunt Jemima, for example.
The best use I found for the biscuit was in the Cave Mouth. Put it in the urn after summoning the Oracle by playing the pan pipes. Normally you'd use a fig, but the biscuit works too.
a box of chocolates. Obtain it by opening the parcel.
In the Potting Room, give the chocolates to Aunt Jemima to mollify her. She is now willing to make a daisy chain for you, and asks what colour daisies you'd like. Say yellow; see prayer book to learn why you want that colour.
a chicken wishbone. It's in the dumbwaiter in the Storage Room.
You might amuse yourself by trying to give the bone to Austin, your cat, but he won't take it.
On the Battlements, give the wishbone to the ghost of Sir Joshua Meldrewe. He chokes, fades, and drops the gothic key down a chimney. This is clued by Joshua's entry in the History; he died by choking to death.
In the Hamburg museum, after Doktor Stein has force-fed you a violet pill, eat the red tablet as an antidote as soon as possible. The violet pill zaps your will and soon makes you unable to do anything to save yourself.
a bunch of nuts. They're in a bird's nest in Hollow, guarded by a corn crake.
At Hollow, wave the branch to make the corn crake fly away from its nest. Now you can take its nuts.
At Behind Summer House, show the nuts to the squirrel, then put the nuts in the gap. The squirrel knocks aside the loose panel and enters the Summer House to get the nuts. You can now enter the Summer House from the back without startling the sparrows on the roof.
a fig. It's on the fig tree at Outside Taverna.
In the Cave Mouth, after summoning the Oracle (see Pan pipes), put the fig into the urn. Now ask the Oracle about anything, and she'll answer you, but cryptically, and not related to what you asked about. Her first answer tells you where to dig in the Croquet Lawn, but note the numbers of paces; they're random.
When the fig is gone, you can get another fig from the fig tree. Apollo puts the fig back, for all intents and purposes. Again, put the fig in the urn and ask about another topic to hear more from the Oracle. Her second answer is about disarming the bomb. Her third answer is about using the red tablet to defy the Druids. There is no fourth answer.
If you use the fig some other way, such as eating it, then you can use the Rod of Stalking on the fig tree to grow another fig. But normally that doesn't work.
Ekmek Special dessert. It's in Eraina Taverna.
First give the coin to the bartender. Then you can take the dessert.
At Sea Shore, give the dessert to Andromeda. She gives you her hairband in thanks.
a cake of carbolic soap. You get this if you swear strongly.
Eat it. You won't be able to go anywhere until you do.
Keys
a small brass key. You see it first in the Old Winery, falling off the demijohn into the floorboards.
In the South Cellars, order the robot mouse west into the hole. From there, talk to the hole instead of talking to the mouse, directing the mouse through a maze until you hear the lost key clang to the mouse using an unmentioned magnet. Continue giving directions to the hole until the mouse and key return to South Cellars. Take the attic key.
The attic key unlocks the metal door in the Dark Passage which is also the coal bunker door at Garden Stream.
The attic key also unlocks the hatch in the Priest's Hole.
a delicate gold key. Find it by searching the window-sill on the Tiny Balcony.
a gothic-looking iron key. It's first seen at Battlements.
When you try to take the key, the ghost of Sir Joshua Meldrewe swallows it. Give the wishbone to him, and the key falls into a chimney. The key is now in the Priest's Hole. Take it there.
a long wrought iron key. It's in the Jagged Passage below the Crypt.
Examine it. It looks like the ultimate in keys and has an infinity symbol on it.
The wrought key unlocks the door in Cellar West.
a rusty iron key. It's below the grating on the Island of Pharos.
Put the smooth stone on the grating. The stone falls through, and the rusty key attaches itself to it; part of the stone is a magnet. Wait a few turns: the waves wash the pair to Warehouses and Port where you can pick them up.
The rusty key unlocks the rusty grating it was originally under.
Papers
a crumpled piece of paper. You're carrying it.
Read it. It reminds you that your only true goal is to find the map of Paris.
a postcard of the Champs-Elysees. Obtain it by opening the parcel.
Read the postcard in the Dark Room with the red light on; pull the cord. A message in invisible ink is revealed.
some wrapping paper with reindeer on. You discard this when you open the parcel.
Ignore the wrapping paper. You have no use for it.
a tourist map. This map of central Hamburg is in the demijohn in the Old Winery. You must be wearing the gloves to open the demijohn.
You can look up four-digit grid references on this map.
The postcard tells you which number you want if you read it in the red light of the Dark Room. Look up 1420 on the map. You'll immediately be transported to a museum in Hamburg. But be warned: you an only use the map once to get to Hamburg.
a discarded matchbook. It's at the Dark Staircase in the Hamburg museum.
You don't need the matchbook, but it links the Druids of the musuem to the Ruined Castle Cafe. They're the ones that put the bomb under your table there.
a poster. It's in the Shadowy Hallway. If you want it, tear it down first, then take it.
You may amuse yourself by going to Down by River and waving the poster at the boat, but you need to use the handkerchief instead.
a papyrus fragment. It's in a glass cabinet in the Cabinet Room.
Examine it; it's in Ancient Greek and it reads right-to-left. Decode it by comparing words and symbols elsewhere in the game; see smooth stone, letter, inscribed stone.
My translation of the fragment: "To move through the house of Alexander to the [toroma], move northeast east south, say 'anoppe'."
a mystic scroll. Callimachus drops it when he starts brawling with Apollonius; see tubes.
Read it to learn that you'll need to make a choice when taking one of three things; this refers to the High Rods.
an historical pamphlet. You are inexplicably carrying this when you first arrive at Murky Cave from the Infinity Symbol. It's as if the Rod of Infinity wants to be a tour guide and thought you should have it.
Read it. It's about a monk called Gildas. I don't see how this helps you in any way, except maybe to hint when and where you are now.
a tourist map of Paris. Buy it in Chatelet-les-Halles with the fifty-franc note. SAY CARTE to let him know you want a map.
The man in the kiosk only understands French, and the French word for map is "carte". If you don't know that, you were expected to look it up on Google or in a English-French dictionary. The phrase "carte blanche" is in the game text as a hint, but you need to use the Rod of Language on this man to see this hint, and I don't think that's possible.
Oh, and the Geography Room mentions cartography. Maybe that was a hint about "carte" too.
Return to the Attic and go downstairs with the map of Paris to both win the game and break the curse of the Meldrews once and for all. Enjoy your holiday!
At Chatelet-les-Halles, give the franc note to the man, then SAY CARTE ("carte" is the French word for map) to finally get a tourist map of Paris.
Rods of Power
Look up 1792 in the prayer book to learn that the Rods of Power are disguised as other sorts of sticks, and that the way to reveal one is to wave a disguised Rod while wearing Merlyn's hat. From the calendar in Aunt Jemima's Lair, you can deduce he meant Merlyn's hat daises; see daisy chain.
The Rods, disguised or not, are NOT reflected in Alison's vanity mirror (unless you polish the mirror). Also, if you're holding a disguised rod, your daisy chain will be twitching.
From the Melancholy Dream, you learn that the way to use a rod is to STRIKE it (to power it up) then POINT it at something to use it.
CAUTION: If you strike a Rod that's already charged, if will overload and explode, killing you.
Note that pointing a charged rod at something always discharges it, whether or not it did anything else.
To identify and label a Rod, go to The Octagon. Make sure you're wearing the gloves. Open the coffin, put the Rod in the coffin, close the coffin and re-open it. The silver plaque on the Rod now says which Rod it is. The gloves are needed to protect you from the electric charge that the coffin makes when you open it.
You can collect up to ten Rods in the main part of the game and each Rod has a different effect when you point it at something. Identify your Rods as soon as you can to avoid confusion, accidents, and death.
There are three High Rods: Life, Love, and Death. You can only obtain one of these three, but you get to choose which. Unfortunately, these Rods are too powerful for mortals to use, so your choice doesn't actually matter.
Eventually, at the Infinity Symbol, put nine of your Rods, except Infinity, into the sockets. You knew you weren't going to keep them forever, didn't you?
During the Master Game, you'll discover two Rods. Wear a yellow daisy and wave their disguised versions to reveal them.
NUMBERfeatureless mahogany rods. Each featureless rod is acquired by waving any disguised rod while wearing a yellow daisy chain.
Wave the spar first to get the rod that will eventually be called the Rod of Returning. Avoid waving the other disguised rods until you've found the way to identify them and tell them apart.
If you must have multiple featureless rods, the only way to keep track which is which is to leave them in different locations, but this is still risky. If you point a charged Rod of Fire at yourself, thinking it's the Rod of Returning, you will fry! That's how Mad Isaac died!
Featureless Rods are dangerous. Identify them as soon as you can; see above.
the Rod of Returning. It's disguised as the flagpole's spar at Up the Mast.
This Rod teleports you back to the attic. It has no effect when pointed at anything else.
From almost anywhere or anywhen, you (and all your inventory) return to one of four attic locations chosen at random: Old Winery, Attic, Old Furniture, or Over the East Wing.
NOTE: When you're Inside the Orb, the Rod of Returning instead returns you to where you first entered the orb.
CAUTION: If you return from a scene prematurely, you risk making the game unwinnable. Most scenes can only be entered once unless they're part of the Lagach chain.
CAUTION: If you return from the maze, abandoning the roller, you probably won't be able to enter the maze ever again because you need the roller to get in and the roller is now inaccessible.
Initially, this Rod does nothing because luck doesn't exist in a deterministic universe. To make this Rod functional, you must turn off the switch in the Universe Maintenance Room so chance exists.
On the Sacred Ground, use the Rod of Luck on yourself to gain good luck. Now you can go south into the Temple of Zeus, luckily avoiding the thunderbolt that Zeus throws at you.
This Rod only gives good luck to you. It has no effect on anything else.
the Rod of Fire. It's disguised as the sooty stick in the Chimney.
This rod is basically a flamethrower. Use the Rod of Fire on anything you want to burn to a crisp. However, the game will stop you from burning people or animals, and if you try burning the scenery, you'll die.
At the Wall of Thorns, use the Rod of Fire on the thorns to burn a hole through them.
In the West Chapel, after you've securely placed all three adamantine body-parts in the knight, use the Rod of Fire on him to bring him to life.
At the Infinity Symbol, after you've inserted nine other Rods into the arc and put the glowing orb into the opening, point the Rod of Infinity at hte lemniscus. This transports you (but not your inventory) to the Master Game region of the game. This will only work once.
the Rod of Husbandry. It's disguised as the shepherd's crook in the Coven Cell.
This Rod makes animals more agreeable. It has no effect on non-animals.
On the Clifftop Walk, use the Rod on the goats. The goats will no longer block you from going east to the Taverna.
For what it's worth, Austin ignores this Rod's effect, and the squirrel dodges it.
the Rod of Stalking. It's disguised as the bean pole leaning against the Folly.
This Rod makes plants grow. It has no effect on non-plants.
Well, almost. If you use this Rod on yourself, your hair stands on end, trying to grow, but it doesn't.
In the Vegetable Garden, point the Rod at the bean to make it grow into a giant beanstalk.
At Beside the Wall, use Stalking on the potted shrub to make it bloom. Pretty, but useless.
At Outside Taverna, if you use Stalking on the fig tree, it only produces another fig if the fig doesn't exist anywhere.
the Rod of Bronze. It's disguised as the quarterstaff that Madame Sosostris is keeping safe for you in Unreal City.
This Rod has various effects on bronze items. When pointed at anything else, there's a slim chance that your target may turn a bit bronze-coloured, briefly. How capricious.
In the Crypt, point the Rod at the bronze mural. It slides aside, revealing a way down.
In the Contraption Room, point the Rod at the metal sheet that's on the north wall. The sheet shines like a mirror, and somehow, you can now go north through the sheet to Contraption Reflection.
Oddly, the Rod of Bronze has no effect on the bronze urn in the Cave Mouth.
the Rod of Sacrifice. It's disguised as the hairband that Andromeda is wearing at Sea Shore.
Inside the Orb, point the Rod of Sacrifice at the chess board when it's White's turn. This is clued by Anton's entry in the History.
the Rod of Ice. It's disguised as the spindle in the Geography Room.
In the Parish Church, after the knight has been turned into a trio of High Rods, all the High Rods are too hot to touch. Point the Rod of Ice at one of them to cool it down, then take the High Rod.
The Rod of Ice only seems to cool other things. (I hoped it would form ice around the rusty key and float away from under the grating that way, but no, that doesn't work.)
the High Rod of Life, the High Rod of Love, and the High Rod of Death. They're in the Parish Church after the knight has attempted to enter the Underworld.
You can only take one of these three, and they're all too hot to touch. Cool one of them down with the Rod of Ice and take it. The other two fall into the Underworld, lost forever. It's your choice which to take, but your choice doesn't matter. Weird.
Sadly, you can't use any of these High Rods on anything. They're too powerful for mortals to use. Do tell. So why do they exist?
the Rod of Language. It's disguised as the summoning horn.
Use this Rod on yourself. Now, while you're hiding in the Hypocaust, you can understand the Druids talking in Celtic above you. You lose this Rod when the guards capture you afterwards.
This Rod's effect is limited to teaching someone Celtic. You do not learn any French, German, Greek, Latin, or Egyptian as well.
the (second) Rod of Returning. It's disguised as the tent pole.
After you've got the bluish stone, use this Rod of Returning on yourself to return to Infinity Symbol. I have no idea why it doesn't come back with you. None of the other Rods act that way.
Sticks (disguised Rods)
These are the sticks that are actually Rods of Power in disguise. Wave a stick while wearing a yellow daisy chain to see if it's a Rod. If it is, the stick becomes a featureless mahogany rod which you can later identify.
CAUTION: The bean pole is the only thing holding the Folly up. The Folly collapses a few turns after you take the pole, and you don't want to be anywhen near there when it happens.
an oak quarterstaff. In the Consulting Room, Madame Sosostris gives this to you if she deals out the Star, Maiden, and Eight of Wands, in that order. Obviously, you have to first put those cards on her deck, Wands first, Star last, before pushing her bell. This sequence is clued by what's on the bronze mural in the Crypt.
a green oak quarterstaff. Acquire it at Quite an Undertaking by going north or northeast from there.
In the Consulting Room in Alexandria, put the green oak on the table. Madame Sosostris accepts it. In 2000 years, it will become the quarterstaff she gave you in Unreal City. She also gives you a keepsake.
a summoning horn. It's in the Atrium Cloister.
If you blow the horn, guards capture you and you're now in the Rough Tent. Even though you get five points for getting there, do not blow the horn.
a smooth round stone. It's in a glass cabinet in the Cabinet Room. Break the cabinet, then take the stone.
Examine the stone. It tells you what the Ancient Greek words for the four cardinal directions are, which helps you decipher the papyrus fragment.
an inscribed stone. It's the pumice stone in the East Cloister.
Read it. It has two inscriptions side by side, like the Rosetta Stone. Use the information from the dog-eared letter to decipher the pictogram side, then decipher what the corresponding Greek words mean. This in turn helps you decipher the papyrus fragment.
My translation of the inscriptions: "This house of the gods lies towards the [toroma], but the [toroma] moves through the seasons."
When there's an opening in Cross Centre, put the stone in the opening to wedge it open. Now when you take the gem in the Oubliette below, you won't be crushed to death when the walls try to squeeze together.
a gleaming amber gem. It's in the Oubliette below Cross Centre.
To open the way to the Oubliette, you must first push the statues in the Cross to their appropriate positions. There's now an opening in Cross Centre.
To safely take the gem, first put the inscribed stone in the opening. Otherwise the walls will crush you when you take the gem.
In the Necropolis, put the gem into the mouth of the tombstone. The tomb opens downwards.
a bluish stone. You first see it at the end of your Premonition dream, but you find it for real at Beneath Dolmen.
the Drowned Sailor. Madame Sosostris leaves it on her table in the Consulting Room. Return and take it.
When the Drowned Sailor is in the projector, the south exit from Souvenirs Room leads to a fake drowning death. The back beam hits Pisces on the wall in Disused Observatory.
the Fool. Madame Sosostris leaves it on her table in the Consulting Room. Return and take it.
When the Fool is in the projector, the south exit from Souvenirs Room leads to a fake death where you fall off a cliff. The back beam hits Capricorn on the wall in Disused Observatory.
Make sure you enter Disused Observatory while the Fool is in the projector. When you enter, the beam will also briefly hit the smoke detector, and you'll hear a fire escape hatch open in Dead End.
the Grim Reaper. Madame Sosostris leaves it on her table in the Consulting Room. Return and take it.
When the Grim Reaper is in the projector, the south exit from Souvenirs Room leads to a fake death where the Reaper cuts your soul out. The back beam hits Cancer on the wall in Disused Observatory.
the Ace of Cups. You find in it your inventory when you arrive at Garden Stream, assuming that you met Madame Sosostris in the Consulting Room.
When the Ace of Cups is in the projector, the south exit from Souvenirs Room leads to Cups and Glasses. The back beam hits Aquarius on the wall in Disused Observatory.
When the Castle is in the projector, the south exit from Souvenirs Room leads to Ruined Castle Cafe. The back beam makes a disco strobe effect in Disused Observatory.
When the Star is in the projector, the south exit from Souvenirs Room leads to Lighthouse. The back beam becomes a yellow searchlight in Disused Observatory.
The Star also helps you get a quarterstaff from Madame Sosostris; see quarterstaff for details.
the Eight of Wands. This card is in the Tarot box.
When the Eight of Wands is in the projector, the south exit from Souvenirs Room leads nowhere; the picture isn't realistic. The back beam makes a straight rod of light in Disused Observatory.
The Eight of Wands helps you get a quarterstaff from Madame Sosostris; see quarterstaff for details.
The Eight of Wands is a disguised Rod of Power, the Rod of Infinity. But don't wave this card until you've got the quarterstaff!
When the Maiden is in the projector, the south exit from Souvenirs Room leads to Sea Shore, where Andromeda is chained. The back beam hits Virgo on the wall in Disused Observatory.
The Maiden also helps you get a quarterstaff from Madame Sosostris; see quarterstaff for details.
the Crescent Moon. In Stone Cross, Old Evans is wearing this card in his hatband.
To get the Moon, you must hypnotise Evans while directly holding the gold watch. Now ask him for the Moon and he gives it to you.
When the Crescent Moon is in the projector, the south exit from Souvenirs Room leads to Parish Church. The back beam makes a crescent on the wall in Disused Observatory.
You need the torch to see in dark places. Much of the attic is dark.
You never need to turn the torch on or off, but the torch will go out if you open it. Inside is an old battery.
At your earliest opportunity, take the old battery out, put the new battery in, and close the torch. Now the torch is a reliable light source for the rest of the game. This battery change is a necessary step before you can explore the cupboard north of the East Annexe.
CAUTION: Don't put the red battery in the torch! It'll overheat and burn down half the attic!
Before going down the Chimney (where the sooty stick is), you must drop everything (except what you're wearing) at Inside Cupboard so you can fit. You must also put the torch and the attic key into the fireplace s before you go down so you'll have light when you get to Priest's Hole and a way to escape with everything there.
a steel wrench. It's in the Storage Room.
In Library Storage while holding the wrench directly, fix the pipe. The romance novel and poetry book fall clear.
In the West Chapel, take the wrench, put the adamantine skull in the knight, then tighten the skull (with the wrench) before it falls off. Likewise with the adamantine hand.
a bird whistle. It's in the scratched cupboard in Old Furniture.
After sneaking into the Summer House from the back, blow the whistle to attract the sparrows, dislodging the gold watch.
In the Necropolis, blow the whistle. The birds of prey point out a tombstone for you.
The whistle has no effect on the corn crake in the Hollow. It's deaf.
a photographer's flash. It's in the Dark Room.
At the Lighthouse, open the flash and insert the red battery and the timer. Set the timer, close the flash, and put the flash in the device there. Then wait for the flash to go off. When it does, the Kraken dies, you die, you're resurrected by the gods, and then you have to go back to the Lighthouse and pick up all your stuff.
No, you can't set the timer and leave. If you try, the flash falls out of the device.
a heavy iron mascot. It's in the Shrine of the Bear.
Take it only to hear the female Druid say LAGACH. Drop it. Don't keep it. If you return to the Servant's Room with it, you lose 50 points, and according to trivia question 10, it's cursed.
a spade. It's in the Garage.
You'll use it to dig in the Croquet Lawn, but you first need to hear the Oracle in the Cave Mouth tell you how many paces by how many paces to dig from the peg. Go to the peg, then pace the first number east (or west), then pace the second number north (or south). It's probably east and north, but you may have to dig four times before you unearth the strongbox.
a robot mouse. It's in the Cellars.
If the mouse can hear you, it will obey movement commands like MOUSE, SOUTH. This really only works in the Cellars.
In Cellars South, drop the mouse. Order the mouse to go west. From then on, order the hole which direction to go; see map 4. The mouse will respond to your commands when you talk to the hole. When the mouse gets to where the attic key is, it will magnetically stick to the mouse; you'll hear a clang. Continue to order the hole with your directions until the mouse leaves the hole; it will drop the attic key and you can take it.
You may be amused by dropping the mouse where Austin is.
a green branch. It's held by the figurine at the Prow of the Lady Magdalena.
Waving the branch creates a cloud of pollen. It's sure to annoy someone.
At Hollow, wave the branch to make the corn crake fly away from its nest. Now you can take its nuts.
a hard wooden ball. It's on the Mosaic.
Take it to the Croquet Lawn. Drop the ball and hit it with the mallet. A new exit to the northwest is revealed. The ball is gone.
a croquet mallet. It's in the Summer House.
On the Croquet Lawn, drop the wooden ball and hit the ball with the mallet. A gap in the hedge, leading northwest from the lawn, is revealed.
a model ship. Find it in Cups and Glasses by examining the crates.
Pull the anchor. The ship folds into a bundle of sticks styled as a stick with an anchor.
Put the sticks into the mounted bottle, and the ship unfolds itself inside. Together, they are now a ship in a bottle.
a gold watch on a chain. It's in the Summer House, but hanging far out of reach.
To get the watch to fall, you first need to enter the Summer House from Behind Summer House so the sparrows don't see you enter; see nuts. Then blow the whistle to attract the sparrows. Their swooping will dislodge the watch. Take it.
In Stone Cross, while holding the watch directly, hypnotise Evans. Now ask Evans for the Crescent Moon. He gives it to you.
When in the Tarot box, examining the ship in a bottle takes you to "Aboard Ship" on the Lady Magdelena. Outside the Tarot box, there's no effect.
When you leave the ship, the ship in a bottle itself goes to the Souvenirs Room. But the magic of the bottle only works in the Tarot box. It's just a souvenir now.
a timer-detonator. It's part of a bomb under your table at the Ruined Castle Cafe.
To get it, disarm the bomb by pulling its wires in the same order as on the scarf: blue, green, black, red. Now wait until the timer runs out. You then automatically take the timer and dispose of the rest of the bomb discretely.
At the Lighthouse, open the flash, put both the timer and the red battery into the flash, set the timer, close the flash, put the flash into the device there, then wait. When the timer runs out, the huge light burst attracts the Kraken, killing both it and you. Goddesses resurrect you.
a glowing golden orb. It's in one of the buckets in the Contraption Room.
First, drive the roller to the Lawn Ornaments to destroy the statuette and reveal a narrow well. The other side of this well is the ceiling hole above the orb's bucket.
In the Contraption Room, slide the letters until you spell out HENRI BLACK POST vertically. This is clued by the tombstone in Sarcophagus and Henri's entry in the History. When the panel is correct, the contraption activates, and the orb is flung up through the hole to Lawn Ornaments. Pick it up there.
If you rub the orb, you are transported Inside the Orb. Visions in the lattice floating in the middle of the orb show a chess game in progress. White needs help to defeat Black. Use the Rod of Sacrifice on the chess board when it's White's turn. You'll leave the orb and it is now pulsating.
At the Infinity Symbol, after you've inserted at least one Rod into the arc, a spherical opening appears. Put the orb into the opening.
the Pan pipes. Homer in the Inner Sanctum has them. They're also called a syrinx.
Wake Homer and answer his three questions correctly; he gives you the pipes. But be careful about looking up the answers in the dictionary. If he sees you "cheating", he goes back to sleep.
In the Cave Mouth, play the pipes to summon the Oracle.
On the Palace Balustrade, put the astrolabe onto the mounting, then look through the astrolabe. You are transported to Out on the Spire, which is above the Bell Tower of the Parish Church.
a model of an animal so ugly you can't bear to look at it. It's at This Is The Death.
Take it to Alison's Writing Room, hold it directly, and look at the vanity mirror. You finally look at the animal, and it's a monkey, and it comes alive!
If you obtained the Crescent Moon from Old Evans, the monkey will run to him, and Evans immediately adopts him as his new pet. Otherwise, the monkey sees you have no home to offer it and it reverts back into a model.
a flaming torch. It's on a bracket in the Murky Cave.
Don't worry. It's okay to sneak around the villa with a flaming torch. No one will see you. Remember, you were carrying an electric torch all over Alexandria and no one said anything. Light sources are not conspicuous!
The torch lets you see the east exit inside the well.
You lose the torch when the guards capture you.
Alternatively, drop the torch into the Triclinium's well to immediately learn it's deep. There's no splash.
a crude bone die. It's in the Guard Quarters.
If you pick it up and roll it, the game responds: Alea iacta est. It comes up [random-number-from-one-to-six]. "Alea iacta est" means "the die is cast" in Latin.
In the Triclinium, put the die in the well and wait until you hear the splash far below. Now, knowing how deep the well is, you can safely enter it.
Wearables
some old gardeners' gloves. They're in the Potting Room, but Aunt Jemima is there.
To get the gloves, first go to the Airing Cupboard, and examine the sheets to find a wireless radio on casters. Push the radio north into Aunt Jemima's Lair and turn it on. It takes several turns for the thing to warm up and play music, but it will. While the music is playing, you can take the gloves without Jemima hearing you.
Wear the gloves for most of the game to protect you.
You need the gloves on to be able to open the demijohn in Old Winery.
You need the gloves on to be able to examine the insulation rolls in the East Annexe and find the new battery.
You need the gloves on to protect yourself from the electricity produced by the coffin in The Octagon when you use it.
You should also wear gloves when squeezing the weed killer bottle, at least according to the bottle's warning labels.
an old striped scarf. It's in the Servant's Room.
Examine it. Its stripes are royal blue, emerald, dark gray, and scarlet.
The scarf is a clue to help you disarm the bomb in the Ruined Castle Cafe. Pull the blue, green, black, and red wires in that order. The Oracle's second stanza of advice confirms that this is what the scarf is for.
a daisy chain. In the Potting Room, you can get one from Aunt Jemima.
First, get on her good side by giving her the box of chocolates. She now offers to make a daisy chain for you, but you need to tell her what colour you want.
From the prayer book, Isasc wrote you need to be wearing Merlyn's hat to use the Rods' magic. And the February page of the calendar in Aunt Jemima's Lair features yellowish Merlyn's hat daisies. So SAY YELLOW to Jemima.
The daisy chain takes time to make. Return several turns later, and she'll put the chain on you.
When you wave a disguised Rod while wearing yellow daisies, it will reveal itself.
If you got the wrong colour daisies, you can destroy your daisy chain and return to Jemima. She'll make you another chain and again ask what colour you'd like.
a gas mask. It's at Inside Cupboard.
Wear it in Dark Shaft before heading north into the Dark Corridor. The mask protects you from the coal dust that you're allergic to.
Remove the mask if you want to talk to anyone. This includes using LAGACH. The mask also interferes with using the whistle, eating, or smelling.
a cloak of many colours. Find it on the tombstone in the Necropolis. Just LOOK after you've blown the bird whistle there.
Wear the cloak to enter the procession and go northeast from Crossroads.
Remove the cloak when you want to enter the palace or the museum.
Turn the cloak (inside-out) so it becomes a grey cloak. While wearing the grey cloak, you can open the tower door and go up to see Madame Sosostris once more.
a purple sash. Apollonius drops it when he starts brawling with Callimachus; see tubes.
Wear the sash. Now you can re-enter the Alexandria museum without needing a cat.
The sash also lets you walk about inside the palace without a slave escorting you out.
a silver keepsake. Madame Sosostris gives you this locket when you put the green oak quarterstaff on her table in Alexandria.
Examine the keepsake to see an image of a knight giving a flower to his lady.
In the East Chapel, when the knight is there and holding the marble rose, show the keepsake to him. He takes the hint and puts the rose in Diana's hair.
a yellow daisy. It's at Hanging on Rope. Swing the rope first, then you can take the daisy.
Wear the daisy. You'll tuck it behind your ear and hide it under your hair. Now you can wave sticks into Rods again!
a pair of leather sandals. They're in the Guard Quarters.
Wear them. If you're wearing them, the guards won't take them from you when you're captured and put into the Rough Tent. You also need to be wearing them to cross the hot coals east from Encampment.
Does this mean you've been barefoot this entire game until now?
Score
This is the response to SCORE:
[Opening-sentence]. You have so far scored your-score out of a possible 550, in several turns, giving you the rank of your-rank.
The opening sentence tells you, roughly, when and where you are. It'll be one of:
This is the afternoon of June 3rd, 1993, and you are in Meldrew Hall.
It is the afternoon of June 3rd, 1993, and you are in the gardens.
It is the afternoon of June 3rd, 1993, and you are northeast of Meldrew Hall.
It is the afternoon of June 3rd, 1993, and you are in the catacombs beneath the gardens.
It is about noon on March 14th, 1808, and you are in the gardens.
This is early morning on October 5th, 1992, and you are in Unreal City.
It is nearly midnight on October 31st, 1988, and you are in a museum in Hamburg.
It is some time in the winter of 275 B.C., the reign of Ptolemy II, and you are in ancient Alexandria.
You are passing among the strange, unearthly world of the Tarot box.
Time seems to have no meaning, and you are dreaming.
You are in the Spirit World, centuries ahead of your sleeping body.
In the great Monopoly-board Jail of the afterlife, you are "Just Visiting".
It is some time in the sixth century A.D., and you are in the Master Game.
Points are awarded as follows:
3 points for reading the postcard.
7 points for recharging the torch.
7 points for exorcism.
10 points for opening the secret door.
3 points for opening the demijohn.
3 points for using the dumbwaiter.
5 points for charging a rod.
5 points for firing a rod.
2 points for exposing the radio.
2 points for sporting a daisy chain.
3 points for placating Aunt Jemima.
50 points for rescuing Andromeda.
3 points for uncovering the new battery.
4 points for mending the plumbing.
6 points for scenting a passage.
6 points for reflecting.
15 points for solving the grid.
10 points for winning the orb.
1 point for buying the map of Paris.
8 points for filling the arc.
4 points for getting into the well.
3 points for smoke detecting.
3 points for putting a ship in a bottle.
6 points for parachuting on deck.
5 points for sleeping in Alison's bed.
10 points for opening the sandstone crevice.
7 points for identifying a rod.
7 points for dislodging the watch.
3 points for hypnosis.
3 points for passing security.
3 points for restoring the Temple
6 points for answering Homer
3 points for summoning the oracle
8 points for unearthing the strongbox.
3 points for startling Austin.
3 points for washing away the stone.
7 points for provoking the librarians.
3 points for twisting the sphinx's nose.
3 points for depositing the quarterstaff.
15 points for rising in the afterlife.
15 points for reviving the knight.
3 points for encouraging the knight.
1 points for choosing a High Rod.
72 points for discovering rods. (6 points per Rod. There's two Rods of Returning; they count as different Rods.)
56 points for finding sundry items. (4 points each for obtaining the gloves, tablet, gold key, gothic key, smooth stone, nuts, sketch, orb, inscribed stone, gem, dessert, astrolabe, daisy, and bluish stone.)
140 points for visiting various places. (5 points each for visiting Unreal City, Garden Stream, Maze, Viewpoint Ledge, Priest's Hole, Folly, Patio in Maze, Universe Maintenance Room, Museum Foyer, Lighthouse, Ruined Castle Cafe, Behind Summer House, Temple of Zeus, Eraina Taverna, Warehouses and Port, The Height of Fashion, The Spirit World, Quite an Undertaking, Consulting Room (the one in Alexandria), Jetty, The Birdcage of the Muses, Lost inside the Palace, Palace Balustrade, Infinity Symbol, Entrance, Rough Tent, Encampment, and Beneath Dolmen.)
Points are deducted as follows:
−50 points for returning with the mascot (from the Shrine of the Bear) from your premonition dream.
minus lots of points for destroying the universe. You lose as many points as necessary until your total score is −99.
Also, there's some temporary bonus points:
5 bonus points for a good try. (When I played, this was for putting the postcard in the projector's slot, but there are other ways to earn them, such as kissing Aunt Jemima; see trivia question 1. However, four turns later, the author rethinks it over and decides the bonus points have to go. So if you want the full score, and if you want these points to count, you must avoid earning them until the very very end and win the game before the author takes the bonus points away!)
Finally, there's a BUG that gives you an extra 4 points for picking up the smooth stone at Warehouses and Port when that stone was already scored when you took it in the Cabinets Room.
The known ranks are:
irresponsible deity.(−99 points)
accursed Tourist.(−50 to −1 points)
hapless Tourist.(0 points)
gauche Tourist.(1 to 9 points)
casual Tourist.(10 to 19 points)
seasoned Tourist.(20 to 34 points)
experienced Tourist.(35 to 49 points)
cynical Tourist.(50 to 74 points)
Dilettante.(75 to 99 points)
amateur Adventurer.(100 to 124 points)
Jack-of-all-trades.(125 to 149 points)
Connoisseur.(150 to 169 points)
Adventurer.(170 to 209 points)
Traveller.(210 to 249 points)
expert Traveller.(250 to 279 points)
Explorer.(280 to 309 points)
Voyager.(310 to 339 points)
Navigator.(340 to 374 points)
Master Navigator.(375 to 399 points)
apprentice Druid.(400 to 424 points)
journeyman Druid.(425 to 449 points)
master Druid.(450 to 498 points)
very nearly happy Tourist.(499 points)
happy Tourist.(500 points)
Timeline
Several years are mentioned in this game. Here's a summary of them:
5th century BC — The frieze is created.
525 BC — Aeschylus is born.
c.456 BC — Aeschylus dies.
300 BC — Callimachus is born.
275 BC — You visit Alexandria.
260 BC — Apollonius is born. (This must be a typo; probably 290 BC was meant.)
247 BC — Apollonius dies.
240 BC — Callimachus dies.
6th century AD — You visit a Roman Villa.
1456 — Henri dies.
1705 — Isaac is born.
1710 — Joshua is born.
1725 — Isaac begins his prayer book.
1761 — Capability is born.
1762-3 — Joshua is the chancellor of the exchequer.
1776 — Joshua dies. William Snelson is born.
1792 — Isaac discovers a Rod. Isaac dies.
1798 — Napoleon occupies the Nile Delta. Two of his officers enter the tomb.
1801 — Tobias is born.
1806 — Seedlings for the family tree are brought from Spain. Capability plants them.
1808 — You visit the maze foundations. The Folly collapses.
1817 — Capability dies.
1846 — The twins, Roger and Ebenezer, are born.
1848 — William Snelson the Clockmaker dies.
1850-66 — Tobias is the Professor of Theology at Christminster.
1870 — Tobias dies.
1871 — Alison is born.
1882 — Ebenezer goes on the Zanbezi Expedition.
1898 — Gerard is born to Roger and Alison.
1901 — Ten men (including Roger) ring a Kent Triple Bob in the Bell Tower.
1902 — Helene is born.
1908 — Ebenezer dies.
1912 — Alison's novel Coronets for the Cotton Girl is published.
1913 — Roger dies.
1914 — The Great War begins.
1916 — Gerard dies in the Battle of the Somme.
1918 — The Great War ends.
1920 — Ellingsworth writes a letter to Hartley.
1922 — You visit the Unreal City.
1923 — The croquet lawn is laid out.
1930 — Alison dies.
1930s — Anton wins the Paris Open for five years.
1940s — Peter dies.
1954 — Helene creates the statuette (her self-portrait).
1963 — The postcard is mailed. The demijohn is made.
1974 — The marshes are drained to build a motorway service station.
1988 — You visit a museum in Hamburg.
1993 — You search for a map of Paris in the attic.
Zodiac
The zodiac symbols in the observatory aren't used in any puzzles, but they do correspond to several of the Tarot cards.
This is a summary of what the slide projector's backward beam of light does in the observatory, via the glass ball, based on what's in the projector's slot.
