In this mildly-surreal game inspired by the paintings of Caspar David Friedrich, you play as someone who meets a monk by the sea, visits an abbey in the oak wood, and explores a lighthouse by the seashore.
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.
Note that SAY XYZZY requires the map. Also, if you SAY XYZZY at the well, you teleport to Lighthouse Interior instead.
Map 2: Seashore
Walkthrough
South Dirt Path
CAUTION: UNDO is disabled for this game.
> verbose.
> i. x jacket. x lighter. x pocketwatch.
> n. n.
By the Sea
> x monk.
> ask monk about monk. ask monk about me.
> ask monk about sea. ask monk about forest.
> se. e. n.
Abbey Interior
CAUTION: Don't take the book!
> x lecturn. x book.(+5; drawing of hourglass)
> e.
Well
You don't need the bucket.
> x bucket.
> d.(no: You can't safely jump down.)
> s. w. s.
Graveyard
> x lantern. take it.
> take lighter. light lantern.(+5)
> put lighter in jacket.
> d.
Grave
> x coffin. open it.
> x skeleton. x key. take it.(+10)
> close coffin.
> u. n. w. w. n. n.
By the Sea
> ask monk about abbey.
> ask monk about book.(He produces an hourglass.)
> x hourglass. ask monk about hourglass.("yours now")
> take it.(+10)
> ask monk about grave.(He makes sign of the cross.)
> sw. w.
Edge of West Woods
> u.(+5)
Treetop
CAUTION: Don't just take the lens. You need to do a "Lost Ark" switcheroo first. Oh, but putting the watch into the nest doesn't count. Just drop it.
> x nest. x lens.
> drop pocketwatch.(+5)
> take lens.(+10)
> d. nw. w.
Up the North Mountains
> x easel.
> e. s. s.
Rockfall
Make sure you have the lit lantern before entering the mountain. You need its light to see.
> w.(+5)
Mountain Passageway
> e.(can't; too disorienting; must go west)
> w.
Lighthouse
> unlock door with brass key. se.
Lighthouse Interior
> x map.(+10; infinity symbol and XYZZY at ruins and well)
> take it.
> u.
Lighthouse Top
> x mechanism.(+5)
> x font.(empty)
> x frame. x broken lens. take it. drop it.
> put glass-lens in frame.
> d. nw. e. n.
Fishing Boat
You want the bottle and white key from here, but you don't need the hooks.
> take bottle.(+5)
> x box. open it. x hooks.
> x white key. take it.(+10)
> s. se.
Memorial by the Sea
You don't need the anchor, nor can you take it.
> x cross. x rope. x anchor.
> take rope.(+5)
> nw. w. sw.
Behind the Lighthouse
> unlock door with brass key. s.
Toolshed
> x tools. x barrel. open it. x oil.
> fill bottle with oil.(+5)
> close barrel.
> n. ne. se. u.
Lighthouse Top
> put oil in font.(+5)
> turn on mechanism.(not the right time)
> say xyzzy.(You teleport to...)
Well
> d.(+5, using the rope)
Bottom of Well
> dig.(white trap door found)
> d.(+5)
Elsewhere
> d.
South Dirt Path
You've travelled in time. Nothing's visually different, though. Go back to the top of the lighthouse.
> w. w. w. s. w. w. se. u.
Lighthouse Top
> turn on mechanism.(+50)
*** You win ***
Extras
Characters
A monk is by the sea. He doesn't seem to be doing anything. He also doesn't have much to say, but he will answer some questions.
In endings only:
A magpie is hiding in the treetop near its nest. If it sees you taking the lens without leaving something else suitable first, it kills you.
A grue eats you if you walk in darkness.
Found dead:
A skeleton is in its coffin in the abbey's graveyard. Since it has the key to the lighthouse, you can assume this was once the lighthouse owner or operator.
Implied:
An artist is implied by the easel in the north mountains. This is surely a nod to Caspar David Friedrich, the main inspiration for this game.
A fisher is implied by the fishing boat.
Endings
You have died
if you try to take the lens from the magpie's nest without dropping the pocketwatch there first.
if you try to walk in darkness; a grue eats you.
You win
if you successfully turn on the lighthouse's mechanism.
Inventory
Items are listed in the order they're encountered in this walkthrough. There is an inventory limit. If you must, put excess items into your jacket.
In the treetop, drop the pocketwatch before taking the glass-lens. This exchange is necessary to mollify the magpie who would otherwise kill you for taking its prize.
a lantern. It's in the abbey's graveyard.
Light the lantern with the lighter. Now you can see in dark places, such as the grave and the mountain passage.
a brass key on a rusted chain. It's in the plank coffin in the grave.
The brass key unlocks both the lighthouse's painted door, and the door to the toolshed.
a bucket. It's by the abbey's well.
You don't need the bucket.
a hourglass. The monk produces it when you ask him about the book. You may take it from him.
I believe you're supposed to have this hourglass to help you move yourself through time to when you need to be when you travel through "elsewhere" with it. But replaying the game without the hourglass seems to work just as well.
a glass-lens. It's in the magpie's nest in the treetop.
First, drop the pocketwatch in the treetop before taking the lens, otherwise the magpie kills you.
At the top of the lighthouse, after removing the broken lens from the frame, put the glass-lens into the frame.
a map. It's in the lighthouse interior.
Read it to learn about the magic word XYZZY that teleports you to the abbey's well. SAY XYZZY to activate this magic. Note that the map is necessary; you cannot quite remember the word without the map.
By the way, if you SAY XYZZY with the map at the well, you are instead teleported to Lighthouse Interior.
a broken lens. It's in the frame of the mechanism at the lighthouse top.
Remove the broken lens from the frame and discard it. Then put the good glass-lens in its place.
a bottle. It's in the fishing boat.
In the toolshed, open the barrel and fill the bottle with oil.
At the top of the lighthouse, fill the font with oil.
a white key. It's in the tackle box in the fishing boat.
I'm not sure what it's for. Logically, it should be for the white trapdoor at the bottom of the well, but you don't seem to need the key there.
some fish hooks. They're in the tackle box in the fishing boat.
You don't need any fish hooks.
a rope. It's at the memorial by the sea.
Use it to safely enter the abbey's well. You use the rope automatically if you have the rope when you attempt to go down there.
Score
This is the response to SCORE:
You have so far scored N out of a possible 150, in T turns.
Points are awarded as follows:
5 points for examining the book in the abbey interior.
5 points for lighting the lantern.
10 points for acquiring the brass key.
10 points for acquiring the hourglass.
5 points for visiting the treetop for the first time.
5 points for dropping the pocketwatch at the treetop.
10 points for acquiring the glass-lens.
5 points for visiting the mountain passageway for the first time.
10 points for examining the map for the first time.
5 points for examining the mechanism in the lighthouse top for the first time.
5 points for acquiring the bottle.
10 points for acquiring the white key.
5 points for acquiring the rope.
5 points for filling the bottle with oil.
5 points for putting oil into the lighthouse mechanism's font.
5 points for reaching the bottom of the well.
5 points for entering "elsewhere".
50 points for turning on the lighthouse's mechanism.
This totals 160 points, not 150.
Points can also be deducted as follows:
−15 points for attempting to take the old book in the abbey interior; the book crumbles into dust.
