In this adventure game, you play as a young black woman named J'dal, born on the other side of the sunset. Everyone else here is white. You, Dad (who adopted you years ago), the experimenter Stolas (who Dad met when turnside), and the thug Roderick have been hired to find an artifact hidden in the mine west of town. They need you for your superior night vision.
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.
> ask Dad about job.(He says they need you to see in the mine. None of them will be able to see.)
> ask Dad about Stolas. ask Dad about Roderick.
> sleep.(Need to wear blindfold.)
> wear blindfold. sleep.
It's time to wake up.
> wake —or— remove blindfold.
> out. n. n. w.
Part 3: The job
Mountain Path
> x glovial. in.
Old Mine entrance
> shake glovial.(It glows dimly purple.)
> n. n. n.
Worker's area
> x gate.(Has chain with lock, liftable latch.)
> break chain.(Your sword won't do it.)
> Roderick, hit chain with mace.
> ask Rod for mace.(He hands it over.)
> break chain with mace. g. g.
Something moves beyond the gate.
> x thing.(You give the mace back to Roderick.)
> x beart. g.(Dad suggests throwing a rock at it.)
> throw rock at beart. g.(The beart retreats.)
Now get that gate open. By this time, Dad has asked if there's any tools nearby.
> x tools. take all.
> x hammer. x pick axe. x saw. x peg. x rock.
> put peg in chain.
> ask Rod for mace. hit peg with mace.(The chain breaks.)
> give mace to Rod. open gate.
> n.(You drop everything you picked up at the gate.)
Main Line
> x alcoves.
> n.
Huge Cave
> tell Rod about beart.(Everyone fights and back the beart into a wall.)
> kill beart.(You can't get close enough.)
> throw sword at beart.(That works. It's dead.)
> take sword.
> look.
> swim.(You won't swim while dressed, and you won't undress while they can see you.)
> z.(Repeat waiting until it's dark again.)
> swim.(Instead of swimming, you first disrobe and drop everything but the glovial.)
> swim. d. w. w.
Hidden Cavern
> x artifact. x lens.
> e. e. e.
Huge Cave
You automatically tell the others you found the artifact. Stolas again orders you not to touch it and to find them a way to get there without drowning.
> shake glovial.
> ask Rod for rope.
> tie rope to thingie.
> w. w. w.
Hidden Cavern
> tie rope to thingie.
> e. e. e.
Huge Cave
The others are now naked, and you tell them about the rope setup. Stolas goes first. Roderick follows.
> w. w. w.
Hidden Cavern
Stolas is here now.
> z.(Stolas explodes a glovial for light. Roderick arrives.)
> z. z.(Dad arrives.)
> x Dad. x Rod. x Stolas.
> z.
Stolas uses the device to kill Rod. Then he herds you and Dad against the far wall, melts the floor in front of you, and leaves via the pool. Dad tells you they have to stop him.
If you don't think of it yourself, after several turns, Dad suggests tipping the stand over.
> push stand.(You and Dad get to safety.)
> e.
The rope's been cut. You have to go alone.
> e. e.
Huge Cave
> shake glovial.
> take all.(You only take a rock and the sword. No time for anything else.)
> s. s.
Worker's area
CAUTION: You can die here if you don't distract Stolas first.
> drop rock.(He fires at that.)
> kill Stolas.(You succeed.)
> take artifact.
> n. n.
Huge Cave
> tie rope to thingie.
> w. w. w.
Hidden Cavern
You re-unite with Dad. You both prepare to leave the mine.
*** THE END ***
Extras
Characters
Dad (Wendal) is your adoptive father. He's around 40.
Stolas is an experimenter with magic.
Roderick is a redheaded thug with a mace and shield.
A waitress in the tavern will bring you your dinner with a giggle.
Jack, the tavern owner, is also there, but he won't interact with your group unless you attack the waitress in any way.
Other customers are in the tavern.
A huge white beart is in the huge cave. You may first see it as a "thing" on the other side of a gate when trying to break its chain repeatedly and failing.
Mentioned:
Unimplemented people are in the town square.
Someone hired your group to find the artifact, but it's never said who.
Credits
This is the response to CREDITS:
J'dal was written by Ryan Kinsman. It is my first IF. I have a blog here:
ryankinsman.wordpress.com
J'dal was beta tested by Daniel Kinsman, Matt Weiner, DJ Hastings, Brian Williams, Kevin Jackson-Mead, and Chiharu Kinsman. They improved this game ten-fold. Thanks everyone! Remaining bugs are totally my fault and not theirs.
Endings
J'dal has died.
if Stolas kills you with the artifact in the worker's area.
THE END
when you re-unite with Dad after you kill Stolas.
Inventory
Food
dinner / dinner with a huge loogie in it. The waitress puts it on the table three turns after you ask the waitress for food (either steak or sausages).
Examine it to see the loogie. You won't be willing to eat it now. However, if you don't look at it, you can eat it.
If you tell Dad about the dinner, or show it to him, or leave the dinner on the table and go upstairs, things are resolved peacefully (more or less) and you and Dad will spend the night in Room 203 as planned.
If you hit the waitress, Jack will evict you from the tavern, and you and Dad will spend the night in your tent.
some apples and bread. They'll either be in Room 203 or in Our Tent, depending on how you reacted to the dinner.
If you didn't eat the dinner, eat the apples and bread instead.
Useful items
a small sword. You're carrying it.
In the huge cave, when the beart is backed up against the wall, throw your sword at the beart. This gives everyone else their chance to finally kill the beart.
When pursuing Stolas, pick up the sword in the huge cave.
In the worker's area, after distracting Stolas by dropping or throwing a rock or the glovial, kill Stolas with the sword.
a blindfold. You're carrying it.
When it's time to sleep in room 203 (or in your tent), first wear the blindfold, then sleep.
Take off the blindfold when Dad says it's time to wake up.
the Room 203 key. You're carrying it.
It unlocks (and locks) the door to room 203, but you won't ever need to lock the door.
If Jack evicts you from his tavern, give the key to Dad when he asks for it.
a dark gray outfit. You're wearing it.
In the huge cave, you'll remove it automatically (and drop it) when you try to swim and if it's dark enough.
You'll be naked for the rest of the game until the epilogue.
a glovial. Stolas gives one to you when you first arrive at Mountain Path. He has more.
A glovial is a light-source that glows dim purple. Shake the glovial to activate it.
The glovial's light will dim and fade back to darkness over time. Shake the glovial again to re-activate it.
When you find Stolas in the worker's area with the artifact, drop (or throw) the glovial (or a rock) to distract him. Now you can kill him with your sword.
a mace. Roderick carries it.
In the worker's area, you can try to hit the chain repeatedly with the mace. This won't work, but it will attract a "thing" on the other side of the gate. Throw a rock repeatedly at the "thing" to get it to retreat.
In the worker's area, when the "thing" isn't near, put the peg in the chain then hit the peg with the mace to break the chain. Now you can open the gate.
To get the mace in the first place, ask Roderick for it. He'll want to use it himself, of course, but when it's obvious he can't see what to hit, ask for the mace again and he'll hand it over. Give it back to him when you're done with it.
a rock. Several loose rocks are in the worker's area.
In the worker's area, when the "thing" (beart) is on the other side of the gate, throw a rock repeatedly at the thing until it retreats back north.
When you find Stolas in the worker's area with the artifact, drop (or throw) a rock (or the glovial) to distract him. Now you can kill him with your sword.
a tent peg. Find it in the worker's area by looking for tools there.
After the "thing" has retreated back north away from the gate (see rock), put the peg in the chain and hit the peg with the mace to break the chain. Now you can open the gate.
a rope / one end of a rope. Roderick carries it from when you arrive at the mountain path.
In the huge cave, after Stolas orders you to find a way to get them to the artifact without drowning, ask Rod for the rope.
Tie one end of the rope to the rock thingies in the huge cave.
Tie the other end of the rope to the rock thingies in the hidden cavern.
You'll automatically inform Stolas of the rope setup when you next see him. You cannot untie the rope.
After you've killed Stolas in the worker's area, return to the huge cave and re-tie the rope to the rock thingies.
an artifact. It's attached to a wooden stand in the hidden cavern.
You can't really do anything with it. You can only pick it up after Stolas takes it to the worker's area and you kill him there (see glovial, sword).
Useless items
All of this trash can be found in the worker's area. The chain is attached to the gate. The rest is found when you look for tools there.
You'll drop all trash items (but the chain) when you go north through the gate.
a hammer head and a pick axe head.
Hitting anything with either tool head just hurts your hand.
a wooden handle.
You can try putting the handle into either tool head, but game claims the handle splinters and breaks. The handle still exists, though.
a rusty saw.
It can't cut anything.
a chain.
The chain is only portable after you break it; see peg and mace.
