The Crystal Keepers

solution

The Crystal Keepers was written in C.A.T., and is © 2001 by Doreen Bardon.

This solution is by David Welbourn.


Opening Notes  ♦  The Map  ♦  Summary Table  ♦  The Walkthrough


Opening Notes


The Map

Under
the Bridge
swing compass
Eyes Hurt Lost in
Desert
 ↓rub locket on eyes
🐦Top of 💮
Mountain
🐦Desert
Cactus
e
Sand-
storm
u↑↓d| swing compass↓n↑
Halfway
Up
Desert Oasis
u↑↓d|
Steep
Hill
Buried
Skull
u↑↓d|
Uphill 💮Flower
Path
Flower
Path
Mound
of Sand
|/d↓↑u
Forest
Thins
Forest
Path
Avenue
of Vines
Willow
Tree
🐦Misty
Pool
|||  crawl through gap
ƒJosy's
Cave
ƒSarah's
Cave
ƒJackie's
Cave
Avenue
of Vines
River
Branch
Bridge Well-Trodden
Path
←→ 💮Corn-
field
💮
Meadow
\|/|| d↓u↑| ||
ƒAmelia's
Cave
Spring
Dell
Forest
Path
End
of Path
Avenue
of Vines
🐦River
Mouth

Thicket
🐦Corn-
field
Meadow
/|\|| \|
Trail ƒCelia's
Cave
ƒTammy's
Cave
Still
on Path
Vines,
Vines
Bog Solitary
Yew
/  ↑jump over hedge |
TrailTrailTrail 💮 Bog
|s↓↑sleep|
Trail Heart
of Dell
Trail
\/
Trail

Summary Table

Fairy: ƒJosy Jade ƒSarah Sardonyx ƒAmelia Amethyst ƒCelia Selenite ƒTammy Tourmaline ƒJackie Jet
Color: greenredpurple blueyellowblack
Flower: 💮 blue cornflower
from Meadow
💮 white heather
from Mountain
💮 purple heliotrope
from Flower Path
💮 red poppy
from Cornfield
💮 orange marigold
from Bog
(none)
Treasure: Locket
from Bog:
dig mud
Necklace
from Under the Bridge:
search pebbles
Brooch
from Heart of Dell:
search grass
Pendant
from Still on Path:
sweep leaves
Bracelet
from Mound of Sand:
sift sand
Ring
from Oasis:
search ashes
Treasure
Virtue:
Medicinal.
Use in Desert:
rub locket on eyes
Medicinal.
Use at Mountain:
scrape necklace with rock
rub powder on wound
Neutralizes.
Use near Grapes:
wave brooch
Helps in dark.
Use at Heart of Dell:
wave pendant
Magnetic.
Use in Desert:
tie frond to bracelet
swing compass
(unknown)
Bird: 🐦magpie
over Cornfield
🐦vulture
over Desert
🐦swan
at Misty Pool
🐦gull
over River Mouth
🐦eagle
over Mountain
(none)
Gift for
Bird/Queen:
hazelnut
from bush
berry
from thicket
bark
from willow
seed
from tall tree
palm leaf
from oasis
tiara
from skull
From Bird/
Dome Key:
square (Q)crescent (E) circle (U)triangle (E)oblong (N) with ring and tiara,
"say queen"

The Walkthrough

Spring Dell

None of the locations have explicit names, so I chose suitable ones for the map and walkthrough. I assume that the player character is a human girl, although this isn't said explicitly.

>i. x smock. x sandals. x bag. open bag. wear bag.

>x sapling. look behind sapling. x broom.

>x dell. x doves. x butterflies. x flowers. w.

Amelia's Cave

You must refer to each fairy by name. That means you can't type "x fairy".

>x amelia. x dias. x pedestal. x dome. x slot. x mark.

>talk to amelia. ask amelia about treasure. ask amelia about swan.

>ask amelia about slot. ask amelia about flower. e. n.

Sarah's Cave

Sarah's rather similar to Amelia. You'll ask her the same sorts of questions.

>x sarah. x slot. x mark.

>talk to sarah. ask sarah about treasure. ask sarah about vulture.

>ask amelia about slot. ask amelia about flower. s. s.

Celia's Cave

Celia's rather similar to Amelia and Sarah. I hope you're keeping notes of what they're telling you. If not, there's a summary table above this walkthrough to keep track of the important parts.

>x celia. x slot. x mark.

>talk to celia. ask celia about treasure. ask celia about gull.

>ask celia about slot. ask celia about flower. n. se.

Tammy's Cave

Tammy's rather similar to ... oh, you get the idea.

>x tammy. x slot. x mark.

>talk to tammy. ask tammy about treasure. ask tammy about eagle.

>ask tammy about slot. ask tammy about flower. nw. nw.

Josy's Cave

Josy's slightly more interesting, since she can't talk to us when she's crying too much. Thankfully, this is easy to solve, or it would be if your inventory wasn't lying to you about what you have.

>x josy. x slot. x mark.

>talk to josy. search smock. x tissue. give tissue to josy. x sprinkler.

>talk to josy. ask josy about treasure. ask josy about magpie.

>ask josy about slot. ask josy about flower. ask josy about sprinkler. se. ne.

Jackie's Cave

Jackie Jet breaks the pattern. Unfortunately, her cave is dark, and she's in a trance, so you can't really do much with her.

>x jackie. talk to jackie. sw. e. e.

End of Path

You can't get the seed yet.

>x tree. x branches. x seed. hit seed with broom. s.

Still on Path

Strangely, you can't wear any of the treasures you will find, except the tiara. You won't need the broom after this.

>x leaves. search leaves. sweep leaves. take pendant. x it.

>wear pendant. drop broom. e.

Vines, Vines, Vines

>x vines. x elf. talk to elf. ask elf about vines.

>w. n. w. w.

Spring Dell

You'd think, with five different colours of flower to look for, at least one would be here. But no. You can't take any of these flowers.

>take flowers. nw.

Trail

This is the start of a long spiral trail. You can't enter or jump over the ditch.

>x ditch. x hedge. search hedge. jump over hedge. sw. s.

Trail

>x gutter. search gutter. g. x net. x secateurs.

>se. ne. n. w.

Trail

A couple points. From this location, you can't go back east. You could jump over the hedge to get back to the start of the trail. Or go south, to the heart of the dell.

>x hedge. search hedge. s.

Heart of the Dell

>x moon. x pendant. x grass. search grass.

>wave pendant. x pendant. search grass. i. x brooch. smell brooch. sleep.

Trail

You'll notice that this location is carefully time-neutral, but it still doesn't make much sense. If you jumped over the hedge without going into the heart, it looks like a jump from night to day. If you return to the heart immediately after sleeping, it looks like instant nightfall. And if you walk the trail backwards, likewise time appears to go backwards. It only works if you follow the script.

>put pendant in bag. jump over hedge. ne. e. e. s. e.

Vines, Vines, Vines

>give shears to elf. n.

Avenue of Vines

>x stick. take it. s. w. n.

End of Forest Path

>hit seed with stick. drop stick. put seed in bag. s. e. n. n.

Avenue of Vines

>x fronds. pull fronds. x frond. put frond in bag. n.

Avenue of Vines

>x grapes. search grapes. wave brooch. put brooch in bag. w.

Forest Path

>x bush. search bush. x nut. put nut in bag. w. ne.

Flower Path

>x flowers. i. x heliotrope. put it in bag. e. x flowers. e.

Mound of Sand

It's unfortunate that the more standard syntax "put sand in net" isn't understood. Sifting the sand twice will destroy both mound and net, but that's okay.

>x sand. search sand. sift sand. g.

>x bracelet. take it. put it in bag. d.

Willow Tree

>x river. x tree. x branches. x bark. take bark. pull bark. put bark in bag. s.

River Branch

>x stream. e.

Bridge

>x bridge. x brick. take brick. x vial. d.

Under the Bridge

>x pebbles. search pebbles. x pendant. put pendant in bag. u.

Well-Trodden Path

>x path. x footprints. x hedge. search hedge. look under hedge.

>x gap. crawl through gap.

Cornfield

>x corn. x poppy. take it. put it in bag. e.

Meadow

>x flowers. x cornflower. take it. put it in bag. s.

Meadow

>x skylarks. w.

Cornfield

You can't tell whose bird it is yet.

>x bird. x fence. n. crawl through gap. s.

Thicket

This is one of the dangerous sections. Make sure you have the vial from the bridge!

>x thicket. search it. x berry. take it. drink vial. g. put berry in bag. s.

Solitary Yew

>x yew. x branches. look under branches. x spade. n. n. w. w. s.

River Mouth

>x bird. x boat. x sand. se.

Bog

Keep the spade with you; you'll need it again later.

>x reeds. x mud. dig mud. x locket. take it. put it in bag. s.

Bog

>x flowers. i. x marigold. put it in bag.

>n. nw. n. n. u. w. w. sw. n. u. u.

Halfway Up

>x rock. take rock. u.

Top of Mountain

This is another dangerous section. Although it's reasonable to expect the necklace to help you here, it's by no means obvious how to use it.

>x snake. x monolith. x heather. x bird.

>take necklace from bag. scrape necklace with rock. take powder. x powder.

>drop rock. put necklace in bag.

>take heather. pull it. rub powder on wound.

Okay. You should have all five treasures and all five flowers. Time to go back to the fairies and give the flowers. You must give the flowers to the fairies, else the fairies' birds won't co-operate with you. Don't give the treasures, because you're not quite done with them yet.

>d. d. d. s. e. e. s. s. s. w. n. w. w. n.

Sarah's Cave

The fairies want their flowers dried. Use the sprinkler for this. Note that it changes the name of the flower from X to dried-X. It's a bit silly.

>give heather to sarah. sprinkle dust on heather. i. x dried-heather.

>give dried-heather to sarah. ask sarah about gift. s. nw.

Josy's Cave

>take cornflower from bag. sprinkle dust on cornflower.

>give dried-cornflower to josy. ask josy about gift. se. w.

Amelia's Cave

>take heliotrope from bag. sprinkle dust on heliotrope.

>give dried-heliotrope to amelia. ask amelia about gift. e. s.

Celia's Cave

>take poppy from bag. sprinkle dust on poppy.

>give dried-poppy to celia. ask celia about gift. n. se.

Tammy's Cave

>take marigold from bag. sprinkle dust on marigold.

>give dried-marigold to tammy. ask tammy about gift. nw.

Spring Dell

>drop sprinkler. e. e. s. e. n. n. n. w. w. ne. e. e. d. s. s.

River Mouth

>take seed from bag. wave seed. x triangle. take it. put it in bag.

>n. e. e. crawl through gap. s.

Cornfield

>take nut from bag. wave nut. x square. take it. put it in bag.

>n. crawl through gap. n.

Misty Pool

>x pool. take bark from bag. wave bark. x circle. take it. put it in bag.

>s. w. w. n. u. n.

Buried Skull

>x skull. take it. pull it. dig skull. x fragments. drop spade.

>x tiara. take it. wear it. n. n.

Desert Cactus

First of all, all directions except east and south return to the cactus.

Secondly, you can't go east without both the compass and the locket.

Thirdly, you can only visit the oasis once in the game. So be careful.

>x cactus. x sign. read writing. x bird.

>take berry from bag. wave berry. x crescent. take it. put it in bag.

>e.

Oh right, we don't have a compass. So, um. Make one.

>take bracelet from bag. take frond from bag. tie frond to bracelet.

>x compass. e.

Grr. The locket is in the bag.

>take locket from bag. e.

Sandstorm

>swing compass

Oasis

We're told that the ring is very powerful, but um, not what it does. And in this game, at least, it doesn't do anything. Also, you need to try to take the palm twice before you get a leaf. If you see "Try again.f12=1", you'll need to edit the file (see notes).

>x pool. drink water. x fire. search ash. i. x ring. put ring in bag.

>x palm. take palm. g. x leaf. n.

Lost in Desert

>swing compass.

Eyes Hurt

>rub locket on eyes.

Desert Cactus

>s. s. s. w. w. sw. n. u. u. u.

Top of Mountain

>wave leaf. x oblong. take it. put it in bag. i.

You should now have all five treasures, all five keys, plus the ring and tiara. You're almost done. Time to give and lock the treasures away.

>d. d. d. s. e. e. s. s. s. w. n. w. w. n.

Sarah's Cave

>take pendant from bag. give pendant. take crescent from bag. insert crescent. s. nw.

Josy's Cave

Pay attention to what Josy says.

>give locket. take square from bag. insert square. se. w.

Amelia's Cave

>take brooch from bag. give brooch. take circle from bag. insert circle. e. s.

Celia's Cave

>take pendant from bag. give pendant. take triangle. insert triangle. n. se.

Tammy's Cave

>untie frond. give bracelet. take oblong from bag. insert oblong. nw. ne.

Jackie's Cave

>take ring from bag. say queen.