Intro to The Devil's Music is a Glulx interactive fiction game written with Inform 7 and is © 2019 by Harkness Munt. It was an entry in IntroComp 2019 where it won 1st place.
In this tricky introduction to an incomplete game, you play as the Devil. You've traveled to Earth to collect the soul of Ezra Mayhew. You carry his contract, recorded in bile and blood, and his final payment is now due.
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 1 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.
Crossroads
> about. x me. x sigil.
> i. x sack. x scroll.
> x sun. x leaves —or— x trees. x nuts.
> x insects. take insects. (You eat one!)
You have the ability to burn things at will, but since no puzzles in this intro require you to burn anything, just burn things here.
> burn trees. burn nuts. burn insects.
> s.
Road to Hell
This location is unimplemented.
> n. n.
Rickety Front Porch
Except for the door, this location is unimplemented.
> x door. open door. (You can't.)
> x sigil. disrupt sigil. (You need a plan for that.)
> s. e.
Grassy Upland
You don't need the eggs, so feel free to eat them if you want to.
> x grass. search grass. x nest.
> x eggs. take eggs. eat eggs.
> x river. x town. x church. x clover.
> se.
Churchyard
This is one complicated location. I'll try to break it down into discrete steps.
Step 1: Break the gate to make an opening at the bottom. The board is unimportant, but take it anyway.
> x gate. break gate. take board. x board.
> x gate. x opening. x gap. x chain. x padlock.
Step 2: Break the planter (mentioned by the gate's description) and find a key in its soil.
> x planter. x marigolds.
> kick planter. x soil. search soil. take key. x key.
Step 3: Try to use the key, but it breaks.
> unlock padlock with key. (The key breaks.)
> x key. (has a sharp point)
Step 4: Search the vines to find a pole.
> x vines. search vines. take pole. x pole.
Step 5: Investigate the gap and get some gloves.
> e. (You might climb through the gap...)
> climb gate. (You're wedged in the gap.)
> x gloves. take gloves. (Can't reach from here.)
> take gloves with board. (Doesn't quite reach.)
> hit gloves with pole. (They fall.)
> d. take gloves.
Step 6: Investigate the roses and find loose mortar.
> x flowers. x roses. search roses.
> wear gloves. search roses. x mortar.
Step 7: Scrape the mortar and push a foundation stone out of the way.
> remove gloves. scrape mortar. (Claws aren't long enough.)
> scrape mortar with broken key.
> push stone.
Step 8: Enter the shed through your new tunnel.
> x tunnel.
> enter tunnel —or— in.
Potting Shed
Find and obtain a dull sickle:
> x bench. x tools.
> search tools. (Spot a sickle near ceiling.)
> x sickle. take it. (Can't reach from here.)
> stand on bench. take sickle. (Still too far.)
> stand. take stone. put stone on bench.
> stand on stone. take sickle. d. d.
> take sickle. x it. (It's dull.)
Find and obtain a rasp. Use it:
> x vases. x odds. x pots. x can. search can. x rasp. take rasp.
> sharpen sickle with rasp. x sickle. (That's better.)
Move the stone into the yard, then leave:
> take stone. put stone in tunnel. push stone.
> enter tunnel —or— out.
Churchyard
Now get into the church itself.
> x church —or— x windows.
> s. (If you could open a window...)
> open window. (Latch is just out of reach.)
> take stone. put stone on path.
> stand on stone. open window.
> s.
Church Nave
This location is mostly unimplemented except for a winding key.
> x winding key. take it.
> w. (Nothing but haze.)
> n. nw. w. w.
Shaded Lane
> x flagstones. x acorns. x oak. x moss. x odor.
> w.
Great House Veranda
Can't do much here yet.
> x house. x marble.
> e. sw.
Creek Bank
Note that you won't be able to reach here unless you saw the sigil on the porch.
> x bulrushes. x bridge. x trail. x scent. x bittern.
> s.
Covered Bridge
> x vines. search vines. x sigil.
> cut vines with sickle. s.
Outside Cottage
> x bird. take bird.
> put winding key in bird. turn winding key.
*** You've completed all of the available puzzles in this introduction. Thank you for playing! ***
Mentioned:
From the response to CREDITS (or ABOUT):
Just a quick note: The goal of the first part of the game was supposed to be getting into the farmhouse. Due to unforeseen madness, I didn't quite get that far. Still, I thought people should have something to work towards as they play so I added a few extra items which will only be found in the introcomp version of the game. You should know them when you find them.
If you have any questions, comments, or bug reports, please contact me at
email redacted. Thank you.
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