Key & Compass presents:
Perilous Magic
by David Fillmore

In this very short fantasy game based on a comment in the Enchanter manual, you play as a civil servant. You need to triplicate a report in the next half hour, but you're all out of paper.

This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 10 of the game. Note: I played the Z-machine 5 version, but looking at the source code, there should be a Z-machine 6 version with picuters and a Glulx version as well. Something to look for later, someday.

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.

Map
Walkthrough
Extras
- Amusing, Characters, Credits, Endings, Inventory, Score
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.

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Walkthrough

It's 5pm. You need to triplicate a report by 5:30pm, but you're out of paper!

Your Cubicle

> i. x pen. read pen.

> search papers. (+1; got a scroll)

> x scroll. ("zimbor spell: turn one really big city into lots of tiny, little ashes")

> e. e.

Gunther's Cubicle

> x new scroll. ("zemdor spell: turn original into triplicate")

> take it.

> w. (Gunther arrives and demands his scroll back.)

> give old scroll. (+1; he pushes you out.)

Hallway

> w.

Your Cubicle

> cast zemdor on report. (+1)

*** You have caused a major historical incident ***

> amusing

Extras

Amusing

The response to AMUSING, after you've won the game, is to open the help menu. Select the "Have you tried?" menu item:

Have you tried? Have you tried... searching the junk a lot more? zemdoring various objects, such as the junk, Gunther or yourself? hitting Gunther with the pen? throwing the pen at Gunther? reading (rather than examining) the pen? saying "xyzzy" or "plugh"? saying "hello sailor"? contacting the author at email redacted to tell him what you thought of his game?

Looking at the source code, I have a couple other suggestions:

Try: WHAT IS A GRUE
Try: WHAT IS A G***
Try swearing. More than once.

Characters

Gunther Foobar is your humourless co-worker.
A hollow voice may call you a "Cretin". Probably your boss.

Credits

The response to CREDITS is:

Perilous Magic A Really Short Interactive Comic Tragedy. Copyright David Fillmore 1999 Release 10 / Serial number 990821 / Inform v6.21 Library 6/9 Beta-Testers Chad Schultz Jonadab the Unsightly One Kelly M. Mark Silcox Other people who spotted bugs or gave suggestions Randy Cox ct Francesco Bova Martin Braun Important! Read this! Despite it's small size, I put quite a bit of hard work into this game (especially those stupid spell scrolls). It would be really, REALLY nice if you would email me at email redacted, and tell me what you thought of the game.

Endings

You are buried alive

if you triplicate the junk in your cubicle.

You are fired

if you run out of time.
if you triplicate Gunther.

You are fired You are fired You are fired

if you triplicate yourself.

You have caused a major historical incident

if you triplicate the report.

Inventory

a pen. You're carrying it.

You can try to read it, hit Gunther with it, or throw it at Gunther, but none of this helps you.
If you had any blank paper, you could try to WRITE REPORT manually with the pen, but alas, you don't have any blank paper.

an old scroll. Obtain it by searching the old papers in your cubicle.

It has the zimbor spell (turn one really big city into lots of tiny, little ashes) on it.
If you cast zimbor, the city burns down, including you.
If you give the old scroll to Gunther while carrying the new one, Gunther will cast zimbor tomorrow and burn the city down while you're visiting your mother.

a new scroll. It's on Gunther's desk.

It has the zemdor spell (turn original into triplicate) on it.
You can try to triplicate anything with it, but you should triplicate the report.
The spell works on you, Gunther, the report, the junk, and the reports. The spell fails with everything else.

a sword. Obtain it by searching the junk in your cubicle repeatedly (1 in 10 chance finding it).

You are unwilling to kill Gunther with the sword.

a lamp. Obtain this lantern by searching the junk in your cubicle repeatedly (1 in 10 chance finding it).

If you try to turn it on, you learn that it's out of fuel.
You can try throwing it at Gunther, I suppose.

a newspaper. Obtain it by searching the junk in your cubicle repeatedly (1 in 10 chance finding it).

Read it.

NOTE: The report cannot be taken anywhere. It stays in your cubicle.

Score

The response to SCORE is:

You have so far scored your-score out of a possible 3, in some turns, earning you the rank of your-rank.

Points are awarded as follows:

1 point for finding the old scroll.
1 point for getting the new scroll past Gunther.
1 point for triplicating the report.

The possible ranks are

civil servant. (0 to 2 points)
Pyromaniac Extraordinaire. (3 points)

Thank You to my Patreon supporters

This walkthrough is provided free of charge since the work it's based on has less than fifteen locations. Please consider it a thank you for your support!

I create larger walkthroughs too! 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.

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

Key & Compass presents: Perilous Magic by David Fillmore

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