Key & Compass presents:
The First Snows of Winter
by chrisatthestudy

• Walkthrough
  • South of town: The Snowbound Train
  • Town: Welcome to Cordh-am-Creoig
  • East of town: Wilderness over the Bridge
• Extras
  • Characters, Endings, Inventory
• Thank You to my Patreon supporters
• External links:
  • This game at Homepage, IFDB, IFWiki, and ifwizz.
  • Tweet about this walkthrough on Twitter.

Walkthrough

South of town: The Snowbound Train

Summary: Grab your coat, leave the train, and walk the rest of the way into town.

Cabin

The phosphor stick is a reusable match. It lasts a few turns after you light it. There's a bed (portable?) and an oil lamp (sadly, not portable), but you can ignore them both.

> i. x stick. light stick.

> x coat. take it. wear it. x bed. x lamp. e.

Railway carriage corridor

Oddly, the oil lamps and the window are the only other things in the train. No other cabins or passengers. (Actually, I think we're supposed to assume there are other cabins and passengers, but they are beneath our notice.)

> x lamps. x window. look through window.

> n. e. n. u.

Driver's cabin

Talking to the driver is optional. (Remember that A means ASK [SOMEONE NEARBY] ABOUT.)

> x driver. talk to driver. a town. a weather. a guild.

> d. n. n. n. n. n. (Yes, against reason, walk right past the station to the end of the line. Please.)

Town: Welcome to Cordh-am-Creoig

Summary: Explore the town and obtain new tools: crowbar, lantern, amulet, and key.

End of line

> x buffers. dig snow. take crowbar. x it.

> s. ne. e.

Engine shed

> take lantern. x it.

> x engine. x birds. u.

Engine cabin

Here's where you get oil for the lantern. Just forget you saw oil lamps back in the railway carriage, okay?

> x levers. x pipes. x valves.

> push levers. pull pipes. turn valves. fill lantern.

> d. w. sw. s. e. e.

Ticket Office

Talking to the stationmaster is optional.

> x him. talk to him. a weather. a town. a guild.

> e. n. e.

Main Street

> x tower. x houses. n.

Heliographer's Guild Office

Oddly, the desk itself isn't implemented. And the guild president isn't given a name, despite having a plaque. But for your information, heliographs are a real thing that use the sun as the source of light instead of magic.

> x woman. x plaque. x log. x charts.

> talk to woman. a weather. a guild. a station.

> s. ne. e. e.

Temple

Speaking of the sun, here's a temple to the sun god Soltan and his surly cleric.

> x sun. x stools. pray. x amulet.

> x cleric. talk to cleric. a weather. a guild. a heliograph.

> w. w. sw. e.

Bridge

> x stones. x key. e.

East of town: Wilderness over the Bridge

Summary: Gain entrance to the Sorceror's Guild, to the Heliograph Station, and finally to a ruined castle where you can do something about the weather.

East Road

> x door. x torch. take it. light it. (Just hold onto this seemingly useless torch, okay? Please? For me?)

> unlock door with key. open door with crowbar. n.

Sorceror's Guild

> x desk. open drawer. unlock it with key. open it.

> take pen and notebook. x pen. x notebook. read it. u.

Laboratory

The phosphor stick's weak light will let you see all of the laboratory, but you need the lantern's light in order to copy the Summon spell.

> light lantern. take scrolls. x warmth. x light. x blank.

> x book. read summon. copy summon.

> d. s. ne. n. e.

Faint Path

Despite the dire warning, it's not possible to open the backpack. The dead body is portable (!) but just leave him.

> dig snow. x man. x backpack. take it.

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

Heliographer's Guild Office

> give backpack to woman. x token.

> s. e. e. ne. n. n.

Valley Path

If you try to enter the station without the token, the ward will push you away from the door. The north path is blocked by an avalanche of snow, but we're gonna fix that.

> n. e.

Heliograph Station

> x cupboard. open it. x goggles. wear them. u.

Roof of the Heliograph Station

You'll remove the goggles automatically when going back down, and you'll automatically return the goggles to the cupboard when you leave the station. (BUG: The avalanche can be melted again by turning the wheel twice more.)

Also, yes, it is nice that the Light spell scroll isn't consumed when we cast it, but when you realize there isn't anywhere else we can cast it, this feature seems a lot less awesome.

> x mirror. x globe. x wheel.

> cast light. turn wheel.

> d. w. s. s. nw.

Stone Circle

You must have the amulet in order to survive the summon spell! And carry the torch!

> x stones. cast summon. x torch. (Here's that "flames from hell" that the notebook mentioned.)

> se. n. n. n. e.

Castle Gate

CAUTION: The tornado inside the castle is deadly, and the Warmth spell doesn't last very long, so act quickly.

> cast warmth. e.

Castle Courtyard

The dead sorcerors in their blocks of ice aren't implemented, so ignore them. If the Warmth spell wears off, you'll die. If you die: UNDO, leave the castle, and re-cast Warmth.

> x tornado. throw torch.

*** YOU HAVE WON ***

Extras

Characters

• The president of the Sorcerer's Guild sets you your mission in the game's preface.
• The engine driver is in the driver's cabin of the train.
• Some birds are nesting high up inside the engine shed.
• The old stationmaster is standing at the ticket office.
• The guild president is a woman at her desk in the Heliographer's Guild Office.
• A cleric is in the Temple. He worships Soltan, ruler of the gods.
• A dead body is buried under the snow at Faint Path. He was a messenger of the Heliographer's Guild.
• A dreaded NightMare from Hell can be summoned by using the summon spell at the stone circle.
• Terill Mantz is the head of the Sorcerer's Guild in Cordh-am-Creoig. He and the rest of the members of the Sorcerer's Guild are frozen blocks of ice in the Castle Courtyard.

Endings

• YOU HAVE DIED
• if you summon the NightMare without having the amulet (you burn),
• if you enter the Castle Courtyard without casting warmth first (you freeze),
• or if the magical warmth wears off while you're in the courtyard (you freeze).
• YOU HAVE WON
• if you throw the hell-lit torch in the Castle Courtyard, dispelling the tornado.

Inventory

Note: In this game, spell scrolls are reusable.

• a phosphor stick. You're carrying it. The phosphor stick is a reusable match. You'll need its light to see it in Laboratory and to light the lantern so you can read there.
• a fur-lined coat. It's on the bed in your cabin on the train. Take it and wear it. (Oddly, the game never checks if you ever take your coat; you can play the entire game without it.)
• an iron crowbar. Find it by digging the snow at "End of line". At "East Road", open the door of the guildhouse with the crowbar.
• a rusty lantern. It's in the engine shed. Take it up to the engine cabin, turn the valves, then fill the lantern with oil.
• an amulet. Pray in the Temple to receive it from the priest. You must have the amulet to survive the summon spell that you cast in the Stone Circle.
• a small key. Find it by examining the stones at the Bridge. The key unlocks the desk drawer in the Sorcerer's Guild.
• a torch. It's at East Road, beside the door to the Sorcerer's Guild. You can't light it with the phosphor stick, but it can be lit with the "flames from hell" by casting a summon spell in the Stone Circle. Throw the lit torch in the Castle Courtyard to dispel the tornado there and win the game.
• a pen. It's inside the desk drawer in the Sorcerer's Guild; unlock the drawer with the small key. You need the pen in the Laboratory to copy the summon spell from the spell book onto the parchment sheet.
• a small notebook. It's inside the desk drawer in the Sorcerer's Guild; unlock the drawer with the small key. Read it to learn the "flames from hell" clue.
• a warmth spell. Take the scrolls in the Laboratory; this is one of them. Cast warmth at Castle Gate before entering the castle, but be quick! The magical warmth doesn't cast that long.
• a light spell. Take the scrolls in the Laboratory; this is one of them. On the roof of the Heliograph Station, cast light while wearing the goggles, then turn the wheel to melt the avalanche.
• a parchment sheet. Take the scrolls in the Laboratory; this is one of them. Use it and the pen to copy summon onto it from the spell book in the Laboratory; it is now a summon spell. Cast summon in the Stone Circle while wearing the amulet and carrying the torch to light the torch with "flames from hell".
• a leather backpack. Find it by digging the snow at Faint Path. Give it to the guild president in her office to get a guild token.
• a guild token. Give the backpack to the guild president in Heliographer's Guild Office; she'll give the token in exchange. The token will let you enter the Heliograph Station in the mountains.
• some dark-lensed goggles. They're in the cupboard of the Heliograph Station. Wear them when you cast the light spell on the roof of the station so you won't be blinded. By the way, you'll automatically return the goggles to the cupboard when you leave the station.

Thank You to my Patreon supporters

This walkthrough is provided free of charge since I wrote this walkthrough prior to January 2015 when I began my Patreon account. I've since reformatted this walkthrough to use my currently preferred style. I hope you enjoy it!

I'm still creating new walkthroughs! 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.