Cover art 
ASCII art map of the town 
Above Forest 
Inside Atelier 
Regorim's Hut 
The Mages Guild
The Familiar is a web browser interactive fiction game written with Adventuron and is © 2023 by Groggydog. It was an entry in the Main Festival of Spring Thing 2023. At the 2023 IFDB Awards, it won the Outstanding Adventuron Game of 2023.
In this fantasy game, you play as Fran, a crow, and the familiar of Valmai the witch, who has been hexed by an unknown foe. To cure Val, find three rare potion ingredients in the nearby town of Gennemont and make new friends along the way.
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on comp entry 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.
Important! This game uses a limited command-set because you're a crow. You can LOOK, LOOK (or EXAMINE or X) something, GET (or TAKE) something, DROP something, PECK something, CAW, take INVENTORY (or INV or I), and travel via standard compass directions. Sometimes you can ENTER (or IN), or EXIT (or OUT). You can also use HELP (to list your possible commands), HINT (to get a hint), TASKS (to list your current goals), QUIT (to forfeit the game), or RESTART (to start the game from the beginning).
By the way, the game auto-saves your position every so often, but I don't know how.
Also, at several times in the game, particularly during conversations, you must make choices by either clicking on an option or typing the number at the left of that option. Note that the game is self-rated as Merciful; you can never put the game into an unwinnable state.
Speaking of which, there are three settings to set when the game begins. Choose the options that suit you best; for example:
> 3 (to learn more about the game)
> 2 (no, skip the tutorial)
> 1 (yes, enable text-based prompts)
Above the forest (first of two)
You are a crow familiar, returning to the witch's atelier.
> x me. x backpack. i. (nothing)
> x trees. x sun.
> e.
Above the forest (second of two)
> x smoke.
> ne.
Val's atelier
> x hut. x tower. x trees. x door.
> in.
Inside Val's atelier
> x Val.
She looks too young, and feverish. Val asks you to fetch a blanket from the kitchen.
> w.
The atelier's kitchen
> x blanket. take it. e.
Inside Val's atelier
> drop blanket.
Val now asks for soup, with nuts and mushrooms from the garden. Just drop them in the cauldron and wake her when it's ready.
> out. w.
The atelier's garden
> take mushroom. x it.
> x tree. x walnut. take it. peck it.
> e. in. w.
The atelier's kitchen
> drop mushroom. drop walnut. x cauldron.
> e.
Inside Val's atelier
> caw.
Val serves herself some soup, but swoons after one bite. Back in bed, she says this must be a hex. She manages to dislodge a book in the kitchen and asks you to find Regorim. Then she sleeps like in a trance.
> w.
The atelier's kitchen
> x book. (You can't read it, but you remember Regorim as a middle-aged wizard who lives northwest of Val's hut.)
> e. out. n. n. nw. nw. sw. sw. w.
Regorim's hut
> DOWN-ARROW (several times to breathe)
You need to get back home.
> e. ne. ne.
The forest path
You stop. A great horned owl is threatening a dormouse. You decide to help the dormouse.
> 1 (caw menacingly)
> 1 (caw fiercely)
The dormouse hides. The owl is called away by its master. You're now talking to the dormouse.
> 2 (caw protective)
> 2 (caw morosely)
> 2 (caw meekly)
> 1 (caw inquisitively)
> 1 (caw anxiously)
> 1 (caw excitedly)
Your new friend, Hazel the dormouse, agrees to translate Val's book for you. Lead the way.
> se. se. s. s. in. w.
The atelier's kitchen
> x book.
Hazel says for the counter-hex potion, you need Faun's Stalk (a flower), Hedgehog Amanita (a mushroom), and Queen's Fanwort (an aquatic plant). All are in Gennemont. You might find the fanwort in a fountain. Are you up for it?
> 1. (yes)
Hazel will stay here.
> x Hazel. caw.
> 1. (re Valmai: She was a pupil of Regorim's.)
> 2. (re ingredients: Normally, Val could get these at the Mages Guild, but they're common enough to find. Maybe bug some humans.)
> 3. (re Hazel: Yes, he was Regorim's familiar. Regorim mentioned a warlock from the Borealan Empire was scrying on him. You now have a bond with Hazel.)
> 4. (re Gennemont: Hazel draws a rough map for you)
> 5. (bye)
> e.
Inside Val's atelier
> x hat. x cage.
> out. n. n. nw. nw. w.
End of the forest path
> x city. w.
Outside Gennemont
> x map. w.
Town Square.
> x buildings. w.
The arches
> x lamps. w.
The opera house
> x tree. x heartnuts. take heartnut.
> w.
The park
> x bench. w.
The Mages Guild
> x bureaucrat. (Looks like Regorim.)
> caw. peck man. peck man. peck man.
He finally agrees to talk to you.
> 1. (confused: He's Regorim's brother.)
> 1. (somber: You tell him about Regorim's fate.)
He now asks for chocolate to feel better.
> e. ne.
Slope Street residences
> x postbox. x window.
> x woman. (young, in wheelchair.)
> x faun's stalk. (behind a closed window)
> peck window. (The woman points to herself, confused.)
> 2. (yes: She points to the windowsill.)
> 1. (excited: She opens the window.)
> 2. (assuring)
She understands that you want the flower, but is unwilling to give it just like that. She finds a letter and asks for help writing it.
> 1 —or— 2.
> 1 —or— 2 —or— 3.
> 1 —or— 2 —or— 3.
> 1 —or— 2 —or— 3.
> 1 —or— 2.
The sealed letter flies west!
> w.
Tomb of the first mage
The letter blows east!
> e. e.
Slope Street
The letter is caught under a horse's hoof!
> se. w.
The arches
The horse kicks the letter off and it flies south.
> x cart. take chocolate.
> e. sw.
A streetside cafe
> x man. w.
The southern district
The letter is blown northwest to the park.
> x person. x goods. nw.
The park
The love letter is currently caught by the bench.
> take letter. ne.
Slope Street resdiences
> drop letter. (The woman gives you some of her flower.)
You may now CAW to the woman and ask questions.
> caw.
> 1. (re city)
> 2. (re flower: gift from her beloved, Roderick)
> 4. (re ingredients: the mushroom is in the mages guild)
> 3. (re war: Her name is Cecile. You now have a bond with her.)
> 5. (bye)
> sw. w.
The Mages Guild
> drop chocolate.
He introduces himself as Miroger.
> 1 —or— 2.
> 1 —or— 2.
He will fetch the mushroom for you, but first find his brother's jade ring, kept in an heirloom box.
> 1. (agree)
Return to Regorim's hut:
> e. e. e. e. e. e. e. sw. sw. w.
Regorim's hut
> x ruins. x jar. x box. x foliage.
> take box. drop box. (The ring jumps into the jar.)
> x jar. (Your beak won't reach.)
> x foliage. (This time, you spot a pebble, a stone, and a rock.)
> take rock. drop rock.
> take stone. drop stone.
> take pebble. drop pebble.
> take ring. x ring.
> e. ne. ne. w. w. w. w. w. w. w.
The Mages Guild
You exchange the jade ring for the mushroom. You may now caw at Miroger.
> caw.
> 1 (re guild)
> 2 (re city)
> 3 (re himself)
> 4 (re Regorim: A pacifist. You now have a bond with Miroger.)
> 5 (bye)
> x Amanita.
> e. se. w.
A Gennemont bakery
> x old man. x bakery. x fountain. x plant. (out of reach)
> caw.
The old man offers to get the Fanwort for you if you'll do something for him.
> 1 (agree: He asks you to find a coin he dropped and rolled east.)
> 1 (agree)
> e.
The southern district
> x cart. (You see an empty wine barrel, held only by a latch.)
> e.
A streetside cafe
You see the coin under the dapper man's boot.
> x coin. caw. caw. peck man. (This doesn't work.)
> w.
The southern district
> peck latch. (The dapper man leaves the cafe.)
> e.
A streetside cafe
> take coin. x it. x barrel.
> w. w.
A Gennemont bakery
> drop coin.
He gives some Queen's Fanwort for you. You can now caw at the old man, but you also should head home soon.
> caw.
> 1 (re city)
> 3 (re himself)
> 4 (re fountain. You now have a bond with Frederick.)
> 5 (bye)
> x fanwort.
> e. e. ne. e. e. e. se. se. s.
The forest path
You hear a whistling sound, like a thrown knife. You pass out.
The atelier's kitchen
You awaken an unknown time later inside your cage. Valmai is still in her bed. You next have an unpleasant chat with Hunleff the owl, who is the familiar of Grufydd the Golden.
> 1 —or— 2.
> 1 —or— 2.
A sharp noise outside distracts Hunleff, and he leaves. Hazel quickly arrives to unlock your cage. You're now talking to Hazel.
> 1. (grateful: Hazel hides again.)
You need to get help. But the owl returns and you're now fighting him.
> 1. (dodge left)
> 2. (parry)
> 2. (dive with talons: Ouch. Get creative.)
> 2. (cage: You maneuver in front of its stand.)
> 1. (taunting: The cage crushes the owl.)
Quick, make the potion!
> drop stalk. drop mushroom. drop fanwort.
Hazel scoops up some of the pink potion and dashes east.
> x fluid. e.
Inside Val's atelier
Hazel drips some potion into Valmai's mouth. She wakes up.
> 1 —or— 2 —or— 3.
Secret Ending Unlocked! Three days later...
*** Thanks for playing! ***
~~STATS~~
Turns taken: NUMBER
Caws cawed: NUMBER
Bonds formed: 4/4
Secret ending found: 1/1
Your choices were on the TACTIC side.
The TACTIC will probably be CAUTIOUS or VERY CAUTIOUS if you follow my walkthrough completely.
I believe the secret ending is achieved simply by forming all four bonds with Hazel, Miroger, Cecile, and Frederick.
These are thumbnails of just some of the artwork in the game, obtained via screen-captures and shrunk down. Please play the game to see all of the artwork and in their intended sizes.
Mentioned:
This is the response to CREDITS:
~~CREDITS~~
Written by GROGGYDOG
Raven portrait pixel art from CRAFTPIX.NET
All other pixel art by GROGGYDOG
Created in the ADVENTURON ENGINE for Spring Thing 2023
~~TESTERS~~
Alpha: jbeebs305, manonamora
Beta: Christopher Merriner, Dee Cooke, Mike Russo, Travis Moy, ZAG On Em Clan
Your inventory is held in a leather backpack which you're wearing. You can never remove the backpack, so you might as well think of the backpack as a body part.
This walkthrough was funded via Patreon with
Ko-Fi is a way to send me small one-time donations. Every little bit helps, and thank you!