Down, the Serpent and the Sun is a Glulx interactive fiction game written with Inform 7 and is © 2015 by Chandler Groover. It was entered in ParserComp 2015.
You are the last survivor of a god's malice. The feathered serpent has swallowed the sun and all the warriors and priests have been slain. Soon, you too will be swallowed. What do you think you can do once you're down inside the beast?
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 1 of the game.
Atop the Pyramid
No matter what you do, you will lose the blade when you are swallowed, unless it gets destroyed before that.
Note that SEARCH is not a supported command in this work. You can, however, EXAMINE, LISTEN, SMELL, and TOUCH things.
> i. x blade. x serpent. x warriors. x shrines.
> kill serpent. (The blade shatters and is lost.)
> n. (You can't escape. You are swallowed.)
Maw
This area is too dark to see properly.
> x me. listen. smell. d.
Gullet
> x me. x glow. x globules. x gemstones. x muscle.
> d.
Ribcage
> x bones. x webbing. x organ. d.
Stomach
CAUTION: The skeleton and skull aren't the same object; talking to the skull doesn't help much.
> x sun. x lake. x corpses. smell. touch acid.
> x skeleton. x skull.
> ask skeleton about skeleton. ask skeleton about soul.
> ask skeleton about magic. (It creates a bridge down into the sun.)
> x bridge.
> ask skeleton about serpent. ask skeleton about sun.
> ask skeleton about bridge. ask skeleton about gods.
> ask skeleton about me. ask skeleton about stomach.
> ask skeleton about life. ask skeleton about death.
> ask skeleton about corpses. ask skeleton about maw.
> ask skeleton about gullet. ask skeleton about ribcage.
> d.
Sol
CAREFUL: If you stay for four consecutive turns inside the sun, you'll burn to death.
> x gold. x flames. d.
Small Intestine
> x rivulet. x morass. x mucosa. x valve. d.
Large Intestine
> x stalagmites.
> x bundles. take femur. x femur.
> x chasm. x stalks. d.
Cloaca
You can escape by going down, but you'll just be reswallowed again shortly afterwards.
> x sludge. smell. listen.
> u. u. u. u.
Stomach
> ask skeleton about femur. (It could be a torch, if lit.)
> d.
Sol
> light femur. u. u. u. u.
Maw
With your femur-torch, you can see the fangs and tongue. The fang will be your new cutting tool.
> x fangs. take fang. x fang. x tongue. x socket.
> d. d.
Ribcage
The webbing is on the east side; the west side is already open to the lungs.
> cut webbing. w —or— e.
Lungs
> x light. x glass. breathe.
> break glass. u.
Heart
Hold off on attacking the heart; there's more to see.
> x altar. x heart. x chains. x leaves. x blood.
> listen. smell. pray.
> d. e. d.
Stomach
> ask skeleton about lungs. ask skeleton about heart.
> ask skeleton about altar.
> d. d.
Small Instestine
> cut wall. e.
Testes
> x basins. x gametes. x tongs. smell. listen.
> w. d.
Large Instestine
> cut wall. w.
Ovaries
> x pool. x ovum. x threads. touch milk. touch ovum.
> e. u. u. u.
Stomach
> ask skeleton about testes. ask skeleton about ovaries.
> ask skeleton about tongs. save.
Make a choice. Attack the heart or its carry a gamete to the ovum?
Stomach
> u. w. u.
Heart
> cut heart. (A fatal stroke. You lose all your inventory and you must escape through the cloaca as soon as possible.)
> d. e. d. d. d. d. d. d.
Atop the Pyramid
> x serpent. (You spot a flame in the wreckage.)
> x flame. (It's the remains of the sun.)
A final choice: Do nothing or eat the sun?
If you do nothing, the world dies:
> z. z.
*** All things must end in time. ***
If you eat the sun, you become the new sun:
> eat sun.
*** As one age ends, another age begins. ***
Stomach
> d. d. e.
Testes
> take tongs. take gamete.
Once you have a spermatazoon, you have a limited amount of time before it escapes you. You only have just enough time to reach the ovum with it.
> w. d. e.
Ovaries
> put gamete in ovum. (Dramatic events occur, including an inferno. You lose all inventory and must escape through the cloaca as soon as possible.)
> e. d. d.
Atop the Pyramid
The old serpent destroys itself as a new serpent and new sun are born.
> x serpent. wait.
*** As one age ends, another age begins. ***
This walkthrough is provided free of charge since the work it's based on has less than fifteen locations. Please consider it a thank you for your support!
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