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Key & Compass presents:
Dreary Lands
by Paul Lee

Dreary Lands is a Z-machine interactive fiction game written with Inform 6 and is © 2005 by Paul Lee. It was an entry in IF Comp 2015 where it took 29th place.

In this small buggy game by a young first-time author, you play as someone in a brightly-colored room with a hot-pink rod sticking out from one wall. You don't know who or where you are, but you will deal with your surroundings and ultimately escape them. Features an evil tree and seven arrows named "(which is currently burning."

This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 1 of the game.


Map

(win!) hit amuletwith sword out Foyer ofa LargeCastle Foyerof aMuseum CastleGate SmallMud-brickHut Top of aTall Hill HillsideClearing North Endof theSwamp WaistDeep inSwamp SmallCrampedChamber SunkenValley SilentField DarkCrampedChamber WierdOblongRoom turn rod start car

Walkthrough

In a Small, Cramped Chamber

> about. (Mentions the LOAD and SHOOT commands.)

> x rod. turn rod. (The floor opens up and you fall to..)

In a Wierd Oblong Room

> look.

> x car. x seats.

> look under seats. (Acquired a rucksack.)

> x rucksack.

> x dashboard. x compartment. open it.

> x box. take it.

> x cupholder. search cupholder. (Acquired a key.)

> x key. unlock box with key. open box.

> x wood box. (3 carvings: square, sword, amulet)

> x square. x sword. x amulet.

> push square. push sword. push amulet. (The wood box opens.)

> x brown box. take it. put key in rucksack.

> smell brown box.

> eat brown box. x ignition key.

> start car. (+2)

The car smashes through the wall then falls and crashes...

In a Perfectly Silent Field

> look.

> x car. x wall. x castle.

> put ignition key in rucksack.

> n.

In a Sunken Valley Before a Marsh

> x swamp. x stone. take it.

> n.

Standing Waist Deep in a Dark, Putrid Swamp

> x tree.

> n. (You need something to brace with.)

> z.

Lightning hits and nearly severs the tree's main bough.

> x branch. throw stone at branch. (The branch falls off.)

> take branch. (+2)

> n.

Near the North End of the Swamp

Don't bother trying to fight the tree here. Just walk past it.

> x tree. (It means you harm.)

> n.

On the Top of a Tall Hill

> x briars.

> e. (The tree blocks that path.)

> n.

Before the Castle Gate

> x gate. (opens only with the Blade of Truth)

> x castle.

> e.

Inside a Small, Mud-brick Hut

> x rack. x tar. x flint. x shield. (red herring!)

> search rack. (There's a yew bow on it!)

> x bow. take it.

So those "which is currently burning" things are arrows, okay?

> x arrow. take arrow. (You just need one.)

> take flint.

> w. s.

On the Top of a Tall Hill

> light arrow with flint.

> load arrow into bow.

> take bow. shoot tree. (The tree flees south.)

> e.

In a Hillside Clearing

> x pedestal. x sword. take sword. (+2)

> w. n.

Before the Castle Gate

> hit gate with sword. (The gate opens.)

> n.

A frightening man greets you when you enter, claims to be more than a thousand years old, and calls you his new slave.

Inside of the Foyer of a Large Castle

> x man. ask man about himself.

His name is currently Toranuld, an angel who fell with Satan. Thanks to God, Toranuld is both the master and the prisoner of this fake box-world.

He will soon begin your eternal torment, but you have time for a small number of questions:

> ask man about castle.

> ask man about truth.

> ask man about amulet.

It's time to act. You can't directly fight him. You can't leave. You can't explore the castle.

However, there is one very important topic you must ask him about but it's nearly impossible to guess:

> ask man about objects. (He reveals the Amulet of the Ages.)

> hit amulet with sword.

Hands other than yours help you cleave both the amulet and the demon. The castle and its world fall apart, and you fall to...

In a Dark, Cramped Chamber

> look.

> out. (+2)

In the Foyer of a Museum

> x intricate box. (It was the button on the wood box.)

> s.

You leave the museum. A truck driver yells at you.

*** You have won ***


Extras

Characters

Mentioned:


Endings


Inventory

You can only carry three items at a time. Excess items will be automatically put into the rucksack if you're carrying it.


Score

The response to SCORE is:

You have so far scored your-score out of a possible 8, in several turns. Status-statement.

Points are awarded as follows:

The status-statements are:


Thank You to my Patreon supporters

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!

I create larger walkthroughs too! Please visit my Patreon account if you're interested in helping me create more interactive fiction walkthroughs. I appreciate all the help I can get! Thanks again.