Key & Compass presents:
One King to Loot them All
by Onno Brouwer

• Map
• Walkthrough
• Extras
  • Characters, Credits, Inventory
• Thank You to my Patreon supporters
• Support me on Ko-Fi
• External links:
  • This game at IFDB, and IFWiki.
  • Tweet about this walkthrough on Twitter.

Map

Walkthrough

Throne Room

An enemy sent you a demon through a portal, and you killed it with your sword. The demon disintegrated. You crave vengeance.

> help.

> regard me. regard hilt.

> regard bottle. regard loincloth.

> regard portal. regard outline. regard throne.

> regard axe. seize axe.

When you seize your axe, the portal fades and Alcaz, the court mage, arrives.

> regard Alcaz. treat with him.

> present hilt. (A new rift forms to the west.)

> regard rift. w. (Alcaz follows you.)

North Bank

> regard river. regard goats. regard bell.

> regard moon. regard chest.

> treat with mage. (You need payment for the ferryman, then sound the bell, then prepare a sacrifice. The portal fades away.)

> smite chest. regard ring.

> treat with mage. (He rings the bell. The ferryman and his boat arrive.)

> regard boat —or— regard ferryman.

> seize goat. (Alcaz leaves to find another way for himself.)

> s.

Dark River

> present ring. (Accepted. The ferry leaves the shore.)

> regard river. (A massive serpent rears!)

> smite serpent. smite serpent. smite serpent.

The boat reaches a landing to the south.

> s.

South Bank

> regard gate. regard altar.

> present goat.

You put the goat on the altar. The goat sinks into it. The gate opens. A corpse threatens you.

> smite corpse.

The corpse dies. The altar baas. The ferry leaves. Alcaz arrives.

> loot altar. (You free the goat.)

> s.

Path of Order (three locations)

> x marker. ("east")

> e.

> x marker. ("south")

> s.

> x marker. (Er, south?)

> x marker. ("southwest")

> sw.

Path of Chaos (three locations)

Note that the options on this path become fewer as you progress.

> x marker. (no runes)

> treat with mage. ("rely on our instincts")

> se. s. e.

Guard Room

> x statue. x tablet. (You don't understand the runes.)

> treat with mage. (One guard tells the truth. One guard always lies. Ask one question.)

There's no obvious way to disambiguate one guard from the other, so get rid of one of them.

> smite guard.

> treat with guard. (South is the path of Life.)

> s.

Pit of Darkness

Alcaz is prevented from following you. The pit walls are too slippery to climb. Perhaps it is wine time?

> loot bottle. (You sleep, and move through mist to...)

Dark Corridor

> e.

Crypt of the Sage

> x sage. x tomb.

> treat with sage. (He has summoned you here to battle a primal force of Corruption.)

> present axe. (He enchants it, and tells you to walk the Path fo Justice, and bring balance to this world again.)

> treat with sage.

He tells you that Alcaz was deceived. You must reverse the flow of time and find a companion who can guard themselves from spiritual interference. When all paths seem lost, strike the monolith thrice, and he'll open a path and provide protection against the Corruption.

> treat with sage.

Reverse the flow of time? Does he mean.. UNDO?

> undo. undo.

Pit of Darkness

> undo.

Guard Room

> undo.

Path of Chaos (three locations)

> undo. undo. undo.

Path of Order (three locations)

> undo. undo. undo.

South Bank

> undo.

Dark River

> undo.

North Bank

> undo.

You step back through the portal, and events seem to reverse even faster.

>> SPACE

Royal Bedroom

> x mirror. loot bed. (You find and don your loincloth.)

> x mirror. w.

Dining Room

> x table. loot table. (You obtain the bottle.)

> w.

Throne Room

A demon emerges from a portal.

> seize axe. smite demon.

Lydia, your priestess, enters. The demon moves towards her.

> smite demon. (Demon dies; axe shatters.)

> seize sword. w. (Lydia follows you.)

North Bank

The portal fades away.

> treat with Lydia. (She gives you her gold necklace.)

> regard necklace.

> smite bell. (using the hilt of your sword)

> take Lydia.

> s.

Dark River

> present necklace.

> x river. (The serpent does not attack this time.)

> regard ferryman. (You return the necklace to Lydia.)

> s.

South Bank

> present Lydia.

She sinks into the altar. The gate opens. Three corpses surround you.

> smite corpses. (They fall. The ferry leaves.)

> loot altar. (Lydia is back by your side.)

> s.

Path of Order (three locations)

Unlike Alcaz, Lydia is deliberately avoiding the markers on the path.

> treat with Lydia. ("follow your instincts")

> x marker. (This step is necessary.)

Go the way we did the first time through here:

> e. s. sw.

Path of Chaos (three locations)

Any direction different from what you did before is good.

> s. (You stop; Lydia isn't following.)

> treat with Lydia.

> s. se.

No exits now. Remember what the sage said?

> smite marker. smite marker. smite marker.

A downward path is revealed.

> d.

Guard Room

> treat with Lydia. (She reads more of the tablet than Alcaz did. You should approach the Goddess of Justice and fulfill her request to open the path of Justice.)

> treat with Goddess.

> present me. (Eastern path revealed.)

> e.

Hall of Justice

> x reliquary. treat with Lydia.

> loot reliquary. (You obtain a vial of holy water.)

Alcaz arrives and mocks you. Lydia says he's under the control of necromancer and to distract him.

> treat with Alcaz.

Lydia asks for that "piece of steel" you have.

> present handle.

Lydia accepts it. She and Alcaz both conjure defense spheres. Alcaz attacks!

> smite Alcaz.

You and Lydia win, but a portal opens downwards, and the necromancer's spirit is escaping!

> d.

Cavern of Bones

Lydia says the necromancer is moving from the southwest to the north.

> ne.

Now he's moving from east to southwest.

> w.

Skeletons rise to surround you.

> smite skeletons. treat with Lydia. (She TURNs them.)

Now he's moving from northwest to east.

> se.

Now he's due north, waiting for you.

> n.

The necromancer faces you as a skeletal dragon. His power is too great for Lydia to Turn.

> loot vial. (The phoenix on your sword lives!)

> smite dragon. smite dragon.

The dragon conjures a shield. Alcaz arrives and wants an update.

> treat with Alcaz. (Alcaz removes the shield.)

> smite dragon.

The Corruption dissapates. You three are magically transported to...

Crypt of the Sage

The sage has some things to say before sending you home.

> treat with sage.

> treat with sage.

> treat with sage.

Royal Bedroom

> treat with Lydia. (She embraces you.)

*** The End ***

Extras

Characters

• Conan the Barbarian King is the player-character, but I note that the game never explicitly uses Conan's name.
• A demon attacked you in your throne room before the game begins, but after you reverse the flow of time, you must smite it again.
• Alcaz is your court mage and is your companion through the first half of the game.
• Goats are grazing in the meadow on the north bank.
• A ferryman can ferry you across the dark river in his small boat, but he must be paid in gold.
• A monstrous serpent attacks you during the first time you cross the river.
• A corpse attacks you the first time you open the gate on the south bank. There are three corpses the second time.
• Two guards guard the north and south exits from the Guard Room. One always tells the true, one always lies, and you can only ask one of them only one question.
• The Goddess of Justice is represented by a statue in the guard room, but it's possible for the Goddess herself to treat with you through it.
• A sage sits on top of a tomb in his crypt. Alcaz calls him Salcor.
• Lydia is your court priestess. Her magics and viewpoints differ somewhat from Alcaz's. When the game begins, she is already dead, slain by the demon, but a reversal of time can save her. She is your companion in the second half of the game.
• Skeletons attack you in the cavern of bones.
• The necromancer is an old enemy sorcerer who sent the demon into our hero's throne room. He is non-corporal and at one point possesses Alcaz's body. During the final battle, he faces you as a skeletal dragon. The sage refers to him as an agent of Corruption.

Also: "Child of Destiny" is a term that the sage has bestowed on Conan, Alcaz, and Lydia. Each of them thought they were the only one, but no, the sage likes redundant solutions.

Credits

This is the response to CREDITS:

This story is written by Onno Brouwer for IFComp 2023.
The game concept is inspired by the Single Choice Jam 2023 premise: to build a game with a single choice.
The original story is inspired by the works of Robert E. Howard in general, and the short story "The Phoenix on the Sword," in particular, first published in Weird Tales magazine in December 1932

"One King to Loot them All" is Merciful on the Zarfian cruelty scale. Hints are available via HINT.

Original cover art by RION.

Many thanks to:

• The Neo-Interactives Group for organizing the Single Choice Jam which led to the creation of this game.
• Zed Lopez, for all the shared Inform7 lore and expertise.
• Manonamora, for taking the plunge and offering help as a beta tester.
• Pinkunz, for creating the Player Primer.
• All the kind folk at ClubFloyd for further beta testing: Joey "Jess" Cramsey (Inventor), Roger Carbol (Roger), Oliver Frank (Knight_Otu), David Welbourn (DavidW), (Keltena), (Jade), (Gadzoks), (Fos1), (Pinkunz), and Jacqueline A. Lott (Jacqueline) for organizing the whole thing.
• All the kind folk at intfiction.org who helped me navigate the wonderful world of IF.

This is a work of fiction. Any names or characters, businesses or places, events or incidents, are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual entities, living, dead, undead, or immortal, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Inventory

Items are listed in the order you acquire them in this walkthrough.

• a sword hilt. You're carrying it.
• Present the hilt to Alcaz when he asks to see the weapon that defeated the demon.
• When you eventually UNDO from the north bank and wake up in the royal bedroom, your battle with the demon will be undone, and your sword is back in one piece on your throne.
• a bottle of wine. You're carrying it.
• In the Pit of Darkness, loot the bottle to drink the wine. You sleep and travel through mist to arrive in a dark corridor that leads to the sage.
• The bottle refills itself when you UNDO from the Crypt of the Sage and return to the Pit of Darkness.
• The bottle is lost when you UNDO from the North Bank and wake up in the Royal Bedroom.
• In the dining room, loot the table to regain the bottle of wine.
• your loincloth. You're wearing it.
• This is your only clothing and you may usually ignore it.
• The loincloth is gone when you UNDO from the North Bank and wake up in the Royal Bedroom. Note that you are unwilling to leave the bedroom or regard the bedroom mirror while naked. Loot the bed to find and re-don the loincloth.
• your axe. It's on the wall of your throne room.
• Taking the axe is the event that triggers the first arrival of Alcaz. While you wield the axe, it is the weapon you smite everything with.
• On the north bank, after treating with Alcaz, smite the chest to obtain the gold ring.
• On the dark river, smite the serpent three times.
• On the south bank, smite the corpse.
• In the guard room, smite one of the guards before treating with the other.
• In the crypt of the sage, present the axe to the sage, who blesses it.
• When you UNDO from the north bank and wake up in your royal bedroom, the axe is returned to its place on the wall in your throne room.
• When you re-enter the throne room, seize the axe and smite the demon twice. Alas, the axe shatters, leaving you with an axe handle. However, Lydia is now still alive.
• a gold ring. On the north bank, after treating with Alcaz, acquire the ring by smiting the chest with your axe.
• On the dark river, present the ring (to the ferryman) as payment for your passage across.
• When you UNDO your trip across the river, the ferryman returns the ring to you, you put the ring back into the chest, and the chest re-seals itself.
• When crossing the river with Lydia, use her gold necklace instead of the ring.
• a goat. Several goats are on the north bank. After the ferry is summoned, seize a goat for sacrifice.
• On the south bank, present the goat (to the altar). The goat sinks inside and the gate opens. After smiting the corpse, loot the altar to free the goat.
• When Lydia is your companion, you don't need a goat. Seize her as your sacrifice instead.
• an axe handle. This is all that's left of the axe after you smite the demon repeatedly in the throne room until it is dead.
• In the Hall of Justice, present the handle to Lydia when she asks for that "piece of steel" you have. She uses it during the battle with Alcaz to knock him out.
• your sword. It's on your throne in your throne room after you wake up in the royal bedroom.
• After smiting the demon to death with the axe, seize the sword. You will be smiting foes with the sword from now on.
• On the north bank, smite the bell to summon the ferry.
• On the south bank, smite the three corpses.
• On the path of Chaos, when there are no exits, smite the marker three times (as you were instructed by the sage) to open a new path downwards.
• In the Hall of Justice, after presenting the axe handle to Lydia, smite Alcaz.
• In the cavern of bones, when facing the skeletal dragon, loot the vial to coat your blade with holy water. Then smite the dragon until he puts up a shield. Later, when the shield is gone, smite the dragon again.
• a gold necklace of Mitora. Lydia is wearing it.
• On the north bank, treat with Lydia. She loans you her necklace, but expects it back later.
• On the dark river, present the necklace (to the ferryman) as payment. When you reach the other side of the river, regard the ferryman; he's just a skeleton under his cloak. By regarding the ferryman at this time, you automatically return the necklace to Lydia.
• Lydia. Lydia is your court priestess. She arrives in the throne room during your battle with the demon. If you're using the weapon blessed by the mage, Lydia does not die, and she becomes your companion instead of Alcaz.
• On the north bank, treat with Lydia to get her necklace (as payment), smite the bell (with your sword), then seize Lydia (instead of a goat) as the sacrifice.
• On the south bank, present Lydia to the altar to open the gate. After smiting the corpses, loot the altar to free Lydia. You won't be seizing her after this (except maybe in the bedroom after the game ends).
• a vial of holy water. Acquire it by looting the reliquary in the Hall of Justice. This action also triggers the arrival of a possessed Alcaz.
• In the cavern of bones, when facing the skeletal dragon, loot the vial to coat your sword with holy water. Now you can do damage when you smite the dragon!

Thank You to my Patreon supporters

This walkthrough was funded via Patreon with

• the support of Robin Johnson, Ville Lavonius, Andrew Schultz, Kenneth Hon, Carl Muckenhoupt, Mark Musante, Phil Tatro, Mitch, and Peter Berman;
• the generous support of Janice M Eisen, Matthew Foxley, Thomas Insel, and Marius Müller;
• the very generous support of Karl Ove Hufthammer, Lance Campbell, and DrkStarr;
• the extremely generous support of Emily Short, Allen Garvin, Jesse McGrew, Jacqueline Ashwell, Jennifer Rexrode, and Durafen;
• and the invisible support of several anonymous patrons.

Ko-Fi is a way to send me small one-time donations. Every little bit helps, and thank you!