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Key & Compass presents:
Maiden of the Moonlight
by Brian P. Dean

Maiden of the Moonlight is a TADS 2 interactive fiction game and is © 1996 by Brian P. Dean. It was entered in IF Comp 1996 where it took 7th place.

You are standing in front of Drochsolas Manse, preparing to explore it in an attempt to find the key to ending the Baron's curse upon the surrounding land. You have come bearing your sword and pistol as well as a prayer that any hazards you might encounter within the haunted mansion can be dealt with by such physical means.

This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 1.4 of the game.


Map

u u Attic East-WestHallway East-WestHallway(East) Bedroom(maiden's) North-SouthHallway(South) InsideCrypt Yard NearFence Near Pond OutsideCrypt DiningRoom SittingRoom GardenPath Foyer Maid'sRoom Yard NearManse Porch Path NearManse (to village) East-WestHallway(West) HallwayJunction SecretRoom TheBaron'sStudy North-SouthHallway(North) Bedroom(lady's) BackHallway Kitchen Pantry Man-servant'sRoom Servant'sHall(North) SmallStorageRoom Servant'sHall(West) Servant'sHall narrow fit! d d (dumbwaiterconnection)

Walkthrough

Porch

Time starts at 9:30 PM. It seems like you can't waste too much time, but you actually have until 6:24 AM to do everything, so don't stress about the time. Still, I'll try to do things relatively quickly and not examine every bit of scenery like I normally do.

> i. x pistol. (Isn't loaded.)

> open pouch. load pistol.

> pry board with sabre. (+1)

> take key. unlock door with key.

> drop key. take board.

> w.

Yard Near Manse

I'd never have guessed to use the sabre to cut grass with. Like, just try to imagine using a sword that way.

> search grass. (It's too thick.)

> cut grass. (with the sabre)

> take iron key.

> e. e.

Path Near Fence

> x fence. x garden.

> put cloak on fence. (+1)

> n.

Garden Path

Ignore the flowers and rocks for now.

> open door. (It's blocked on the other side.)

> n.

Outside Crypt

> unlock door with iron key. (+1)

> drop key. in.

Inside Crypt

> x sarcophagus. (Has a groove)

> open it. (Lid is too heavy to move without help.)

> pry lid with sabre. (No, too heavy for the sabre)

> put board in groove. (It's wedged in.)

Now go get three heavy rocks from the garden, one at a time, and put them all on the board:

> s. s. take rock. n. n.

> put rock on board.

> s. s. take rock. n. n.

> put rock on board.

> s. s. take rock. n. n.

> put rock on board. (+2; the lid flips open!)

So what do we find in sarcophagus? The symbols on the ring are easy to overlook.

> look in sarcophagus. x body.

> x ring. take ring. x symbols. ("GAISTIGH")

> wear ring. (+1)

The ring is a light source! And frankly, since it's far more reliable than the lantern which can both break or run out of oil, you're better off leaving the lantern behind rather than continue to carry it.

No, really. I mean it. Against all common sense, drop the lantern.

> drop lantern.

> s. s. s.

Path Near Fence

> take cloak. w. n.

Foyer

Inside the house, there's a wandering ghost, the Maiden, who can only be in a room with moonlight. While you wear the ring, you can talk to her, but in this walkthrough, we'll ignore her, since I can't guess which random room you might find her.

The Maiden will keep moving to random moonlit locations, but we want to reduce her options by blocking all sources of moonlight until she's forced into just one.

> x dust. (Searching the dust by hand is futile, though.)

> close front door. (To block the moonlight.)

> n.

Sitting Room

> x window. (There's a curtain rod, but you can't take it.)

> n.

Dining Room

> close curtains. e. u.

East-West Hallway

> close window. s.

The Baron's Study

The books have useful information; the desk is useless to you.

> x bookcase. (thick book and thin book)

> x thick book. x thin book. ("Alcheme Arcani")

The thin book has a recipe in it:

> take thin book. read it. drop it.

The thick book tells you the current ruling Zodiac sign. Remember it! It's randomized!

> take thick book. read it. drop it.

A paper fell out of the thick book. It has a clue for the clock.

> read paper.

> x clock. (Has keyhole, minute hand, and hour hand)

> n. e. s. s.

North-South Hallway (South)

> close window. e.

Bedroom

> x vanity. open drawer. take bottle.

> w. n. n. w. d. e.

Kitchen

> take grinder. x it.

> open panel. (Shaft for dumbwaiter revealed.)

> lower dumbwaiter. x it. (Big hole in its bottom.)

> e.

Pantry

> take garlic. open grinder.

> put garlic in grinder. close grinder.

> turn crank. open grinder. put garlic in bottle.

> w. s. w.

Manservant's Room

> x trunk. open trunk. (The latch has rusted shut.)

> shoot latch. (+1)

> open trunk. take all from trunk.

> e.

Servant's Hall (North)

If you're still carrying the lamp here, drop it immediately. Otherwise, it will be smashed when you go east and you won't get the point for entering the storage room.

> e. (+1)

Small Storage Room

> x junk. (Only useful thing is a crowbar.)

> take crowbar.

> move pile. (The eastern door is now clear.)

> e.

Garden Path

> x flowers. take flower. put flower in grinder.

> close grinder. turn crank. open grinder.

> put powdered wildflower in bottle. drop grinder.

> n. w.

Near Pond

This is the only source of water in the game.

> pry gate with crowbar. (Might as well, while you're here.)

> x pond. (Full moon reflected in it.)

> put water in bottle.

> e. s. w.

Small Storage Room

> close east door.

> w. s. e.

Maid's Room

> open wardrobe. x duster. take it.

> move wardrobe. again. (Obtain diary and portrait.)

> x diary. x portrait.

> drop diary.

> w. n. n.

Kitchen

Why we want the crowbar on the dumbwaiter will be explained later.

> put tray in dumbwaiter. (+1; the hole is covered)

> put crowbar on tray.

> s. s. w. w.

Foyer

> dust dust. (with duster; painting found)

> drop duster.

> x painting. take painting.

> n. n. e. u. s.

The Baron's Study

Time to follow the clue from the paper:

> put moon key in keyhole. (It clicks in place.)

> set minute hand to 12. set hour hand to 12.

> turn moon key. (+1; new passage west)

> w.

Secret Room

> x notes.

> x staff. (Shaped to hold some small object.)

> x fitting. (Has open hollow cylinder in it.)

> x circle. (The twelve Zodiac symbols.)

> put portrait on RULING-SIGN. (You know the sign from the thick book.)

> drop painting.

> pull lever. (Trapdoor opens. Moonlight beam nearly hits the fitting.)

I assume your bottle has all the ingredients in it already:

> x burner. (Needs oil.)

> fill burner with oil. (using your flask)

> put bottle on burner.

> light burner. (using your tinderbox)

While the bottle heats up, we have a few more rooms to take care of.

> e. n. e. e.

East-West Hallway (East)

> close window.

> s. (Too narrow!)

> drop all but cloak and ring.

> s.

Bedroom

Prying a rug with a crowbar seems on par with cutting grass with a sabre. Who thinks to do these sorts of tasks with these tools?

> put cloak on window.

> open panel. (+1; dumbwaiter shaft)

> raise dumbwaiter. take crowbar.

> pry rug with crowbar. (+1)

> drop crowbar. put rug on tray.

> n.

East-West Hallway (East)

> take all. wear pouch.

> w. w. d. e.

Kitchen

> lower dumbwaiter. take rug.

> w. w. s.

Sitting Room

> put rug on rod.

Now that the secret room is the only room in the house with moonlight, the Maiden will have to be there.

> n. e. u. s. w.

Secret Room

Prepare the pistol with the pastille.

> take bottle. x powder. put powder in pistol.

Now do the ritual, trapping the Maiden with James in the ring. We've already placed their portrait. Turn the wheel as necessary to keep the connection between the ring the and Zodiac sign in focus. Say the magic word when the energy is at maximum saturation.

> put staff in fitting. put ring in staff.

> turn staff to RULING-SIGN.

> turn wheel. (Finally, the light hits the ring.)

> z. z. turn wheel. gaistigh. (+1)

> take portrait.

The Baron enters! Work quickly!

> shoot Baron. (+1)

> put painting on RULING-SIGN.

> turn wheel. z. gaistigh. (+2)

The source of the Baron's magical power, the spirit of James Malloy, has been released from his service and his remaining resources are limited in range to the confines of his prison. You have defeated him and lifted the curse of Drochsolas forever!


Extras

Characters

Mentioned:


Credits

From the response to INFO:

Maiden of the Moonlight

Release 1.4
Copyright (c) Feb 10 1997 by Brian P. Dean. All rights reserved.
A TADS Adventure - Developed with TADS, the Text Adventure Development System.
Hint system adapted from adHint by David Allen.

Hints and a map are available. Use the HINT and MAP commands to view them.

The author wishes to thank the following people:


Endings


Inventory

Your items | Outside items | Ground floor items | Upstairs items

Note that there are carrying capacity and weight limits on your inventory, but if you've not trying to carry everything everywhere, this isn't that much of a problem. Just remember to drop things you don't need anymore.

Items you start with
Items found outside the manse
Items found on the ground floor
Items found upstairs

Moonlight management

To force the Maiden into the secret room, you must block the moonlight in all the other rooms.

Downstairs:

Upstairs:


Score

After several turns, you have scored a total of your-score out of 16 points.

Your score comes from the following awards:


Thank You to my Patreon supporters

This walkthrough was funded via Patreon with