The Lost Spellmaker is a Z-machine 5 interactive fiction game written with Inform 6 and is © 1997-1998 by Neil James Brown. It was entered in IF Comp 1997 where it took 8th place. It was also a finalist at the 1997 XYZZY Awards in two categories: Best Individual PC (Mattie) and Best Individual NPC (the cow). The game is also notable for its animated title sequence, and for being one of the earliest non-pornographic works of interactive fiction to feature a lesbian protagonist.
You play as Mattie, an agent for the Sacromys Pemcoangs Secret Service. "T" has given you a new mission: find the lost spellmaker, old Drew Tungshinach, and return him to the community.
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 3 of the game.
Secret Service HQ
> x photographs. x weaver. x T. x hat.
> T, hi.
> z. z. z. z. w.
Thurmon Street (Centre)
> x crowd. w.
Sweet Shop
You can ask Barnie about: Barnie, Drew/spellmakers, Digga/Reverend, jar/mint/candy, Mr Turnbull, Tilly, Mrs Wisher.
> x shelves. x jar. x mints. x Barnie.
> Barnie, hi.
> ask Barnie about jar. take jar.
> e. ne.
Thurmon Street (North East)
> x store. x gap. x penny. take penny. ne.
Lanesmeet
> x lions. n.
Library
You can ask Tilly about: Tilly, me, town, Drew/spellmakers, T, Barnie, Mrs Wisher, Edna, books/library, chief librarian/Mr Temple, Daisy/cow, Digga, Reverend.
> x books. x Tilly.
> Tilly, hi.
> kiss Tilly. give mint to Tilly.
> s. se.
Rigg Street (North West)
> ne.
Well
> x impression. x footprint. x well. x water. x crank.
> wish. put penny in well. x well.
> sw. se.
Rigg Street (Centre)
> e.
Odds 'n' Ends Shop
You can ask Old Edna about: Edna, rope, tea, brooms, Drew/spellmakers, town, Digga, Reverend, Tilly, Barnie.
> x brooms. x odds. x rope. x Edna.
> Edna, hi.
> ask Edna about rope. ask Edna about tea.
> w. w.
Village Centre
The argument between Digga and the Reverend will loop and repeat itself if you care to stay long enough.
> x Digga. x Reverend. x crowd. x statue. x brick wall.
> w. s.
Thurman Street (South)
> x signpost. se.
The Reverend's Cottage
You can ask Mrs Wisher about: cow/Daisy, spells, Mrs Wisher, Reverend, Digga, tea. When Mrs Wisher goes off to make tea, grab the strength spell.
> x spells. x strength. x armchair. x fire. x cow. x mrs.
> mrs, hi.
> ask mrs about cow. ask mrs about spells.
> ask mrs about tea. take strength. take mints. z.
> pour tea in jar. give cup to mrs.
> nw. sw.
Field
You can ask Daisy about: grass, candy, Mrs Wisher/Barnie/Tilly/Edna, Reverend/Digga, Daisy, pi, town, Drew.
> x Daisy. x grass. Daisy, hi.
Lure Daisy to the Village Centre by dropping mints.
> drop mint. ne.
Thurman Street (South)
> drop mint. n.
Thurman Street (Centre)
> drop mint. e.
Village Centre
> drop mint. z. z. z. look. x basket. take it.
You can now ask Digga about: Digga, T, Reverend, town, me, Barnie/salesman, Edna/Tilly, Daisy, Drew.
> Digga, follow me.
> e. e.
Odds 'n' Ends Shop
> give jar to Edna. take rope. w. s.
Rigg Street (South)
> x restaurant. w.
Magic Weaver Showroom
Caution: Don't let the salesman use his own spell for the demo! I don't know how to stop him from dancing once he starts.
> x salesman. x weaver. z. give strength to salesman.
> z. z. x blur. put rope in blur. take rope. x it.
> e. n. nw. ne.
Well
> tie rope to crank. tie rope to basket. enter basket.
> Digga, turn crank.
Bottom of the well
> out. take penny. s.
Cavern
Caution: You can't fight Silk directly. You want to run for it, all the way back to the library. Don't let Silk catch you before then!
> x Drew. Drew, hi.
> z. x woman. z. z. z. z. z. n.
Bottom of the well
> enter basket. Digga, turn crank.
> out. sw. nw. n.
Library
> z. hit silk. z.
Secret Service HQ
You can ask Mr Cashpound about: Silk, Plantasitoy, anagram, town, Drew/Edna/Mrs/Barnie/salesman, me, T, Tilly, Cashpound, Daisy, Digga/Reverend, game, competition, author, life.
Note that the "Sacromys Pemcoangs" is an anagram of comp.sys.acorn.games, a Usenet newsgroup; that "Plantasitoy" is an anagram of Playstation; and that "Drew Tungshinach" is an anagram of Andrew Hutchings, who was the creator of Star Fighter 3000 for the Acorn Archimedes.
And it's probably safe to assume that the names of "T" and "Mr Cashpound" are inspired by their James Bond counterparts: M and Miss Moneypenny.
> x mr. xyzzy. kiss tilly. w.
[Press space to quit]
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.