Key & Compass presents:
Stuff of Legend
by Lance Campbell

• Map
• Walkthrough
• Extras
  • Amusing, 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

Are you playing this game on a mobile device? Please type in "yes" or "no".

> yes —or— no (as appropriate)

Hillside

> x me. x sackcloth.

> x village. x church. x manor. x villagers. x homes.

> x farms. x village green.

> x forest. x stream. x road. x hill. x sky.

> e.

Village Road

> x farm.

> e.

Jackson Farm

> x farmhouse. x barn. x workshop. x fields. x livestock.

Farmer Jackson is in his workshop. Go this way:

> se.

Barnyard

> x Horace. x blanket. (thick, light, and durable; hint hint)

> climb fence. (You won't do that.)

> e.

Barn

> x Minnie. x bucket. take bucket. (Minnie almost kicks you instead.)

> x stalls. x barrels. x equipment.

Hm. How to calm Minnie down?

> pet cow. milk cow.

Neither of those ideas worked. Deal with Minnie later.

> e.

Workshop

> x Farmer. x projects. x forge. x cage.

> talk to Farmer.

> 1. (about job loss)

> 1. (about work: talk to Clara)

> 2. (about tree: multi-fruit tree only produces coconuts)

> 3. (about squirrels)

> 4. (end chat)

Clara's inside the farmhouse. Go talk to her next.

> w. w. nw. e.

Front of Farmhouse

> x table. x benches. x oven. (You take a catnip toy.)

> x toy. x firewood. e.

Back of Farmhouse

> x Clara. x bed. x table. x chairs. x chest.

> talk to Clara.

> 1. (about job loss; She says to talk to Annabelle.)

> 2. (end chat)

Annabelle's upstairs in the loft.

> w. u.

Loft

> x Annabelle. x Sassy. x bed. x books. x shelf.

> x trunk. (You take a leather ball.)

> x clothes. x ball.

> talk to Annabelle.

> 1. (about job loss)

> 1. (about idea)

> 1. (about another idea)

> 1. (about yet another idea)

> 1. (about still another idea)

> 1. (about last idea: knight.)

Unfortunately, you step on the cat's tail, and they both leave.

> d. e.

Back of Farmhouse

> talk to Clara.

> 1. (about knight)

> 1. (about quest: You need armor, helmet, and a weapon.)

> 1. (about armor)

> 2. (about helmet)

> 3. (about weapon: She gives you some shears.)

> 3. (end chat)

> x shears.

> w. w. ne.

Edge of Forest

> x tree. x faint trail.

> talk to Annabelle.

> 1. (about what's wrong)

> 1. (about rescue ideas: You need a bird lure and a disguise.)

> 2. (about bird lure: You need mud, straw, and a fake bird.)

> 3. (about disguise)

> 4. (end chat)

> sw. se.

Barnyard

To deal with Horace, you need to make horse noises.

> whinny. (Horace trots nearer.)

> take blanket. (No, he needs to be friendly first.)

> neigh. (He snorts, pauses, then neighs.)

Is a snort the proper response to a neigh? Try it:

> snort. (He moves closer. Then he nickers.)

> whinny. (He moves closer. Then he snorts.)

> nicker. (He moves closer. Then he whinnies.)

> neigh. (He is now quite friendly.)

> pet Horace. take blanket.

> cut blanket with shears. wear blanket.

The blanket is now your "armor". Bonus: You now smell like a horse.

> e.

Barn

If horse noises worked with Horace, will cow noises work with Minnie?

> moo. (You start a conversation with Minnie; see note below.)

> 1 –to– 3. (Repeat until Minnie is calm.)

> 1 (end chat)

Now that Minnie is calm:

> take bucket. wear bucket. (No, it stinks.)

> s.

Stall

> x mattress. x hole. (You take some straw.)

> n. e.

Workshop

> x tree. take coconut. x it.

> n.

Stream Bank

> x boulder. x stream. x forest. x mud.

> wash bucket. wear bucket.

Opening the coconut can be a bit tricky.

> break coconut with boulder.

> i. x left half. x right half.

> nw. w. nw.

Forest Clearing

> x nutshells. x trees.

> drop left half. (Squirrels eat all but the shell.)

> take left shell.

> se. e. se.

Stream Bank

Let's make a nest:

> put mud in left shell.

> put straw in left shell.

> put ball in left shell. (This shapes the straw correctly.)

> s.

Workshop

> talk to Farmer.

> 1. (about squirrels' location: needs a pumping spray device)

> 2. (end chat)

> put left half in forge. (You drop it near instead.)

> z. z. z.

> x straw. (The mud is all dried.)

> take left shell. (You automatically extract the leather ball and nest.)

> put catnip toy in nest.

> n. nw. w. u.

In an English Oak

> x leaves. x branches. meow. (The cat meows back.)

> move leaves. count leaves. (yay)

> cut leaves with shears.

> drop nest. (Sassy moves closer.)

> take Sassy.

You both fall out of the tree, and the cat runs away.

Edge of Forest

Annabelle starts crying and is now too upset to talk to you. Return to the workshop:

> e. se. s.

Workshop

> talk to Farmer.

> 1. (about completed quest: he asks why cat was in tree)

> 1 —or— 2 —or— 3. (He asks where the cat is now.)

> 3. (He's finished the antidote sprayer.)

> 2. (He gives the sprayer to you.)

> x sprayer.

> n. nw. w.

Edge of Forest

> nw. (You hear the cat caterwauling to the northwest.)

Forest Clearing

> nw.

Lost in the Forest (three locations)

Try to locate Sassy with cat noises:

> meow. (A louder cat noise is needed.)

> caterwaul. (She's east.)

> e.

> caterwaul. (She's southeast.)

> se.

> caterwaul. (She's northeast.)

> ne.

Secluded Glade

> x squirrels.

> spray squirrels with sprayer. (It's jammed! Hijinks ensue.)

> any key

> any key

> any key (You pick up Sassy automatically.)

> x mist. x squirrels. (They're normal-sized.)

Any compass direction works for leaving the glade.

> s. (The cat yowls.)

Leaving the Forest (five locations)

Sassy as now trying to tell you the way home, using cat noises as compass directions. If you make a mistake, she hisses. If you follow her direction correctly, she purrs.

It turns out that yowl means west.

> w.

Now Sassy caterwauls then yowls. If yowl means west, maybe caterwaul-yowl means northwest.

> nw.

Now Sassy trills. Perhaps trill means south?

> s.

Now Sassy trills then meows. That must mean southeast.

> se.

Now Sassy meows. That means east.

> e.

Forest Clearing

You stumble into the clearing, where all three Jacksons are waiting for you. Clara calls you a true hero.

> any key

> any key

Maybe you shouldn't be a knight. Maybe you should make a career of talking to animals.

*** The End. ***

> amusing

Extras

Amusing

This is the response to AMUSING after you win the game:

Did you try...

• ...examining yourself?
• ...examining the village and its details at the beginning of the game?
• ...examining and appreciating the dirt road?
• ...going IN, OUT, UP or DOWN when there are no exits in those directions?
• ...XYZZY or counting something?
• ...throwing something?
• ...smelling the unwashed milking bucket?
• ...eating one of the other characters?
• ...tasting things or characters or yourself?
• ...milking the horse?
• ...jumping or jumping over something?
• ...SING or DANCE multiple times?
• ...making other animal noises: BARK, OINK, WARBLE or others?

Animal noises include, but may not be limited to: BARK, CATERWAUL, CROW, GROWL, HISS, HONK, HOOT, MEOW, MOO, NEIGH, NICKER, OINK, PURR, QUACK, SNORT, TRILL, TWEET, WARBLE, WHINNY, and YOWL.

Characters

• Ichabod Stuff is the player-character. He was until recently the village idiot of Swineford. Now he's trying to become a knight.
• Farmer Jackson is a farmer and your landlord, but he looks and acts more like a wizard and he invents a lot of strange things.
• Clara is Farmer Jackson's wife. She's kind, but doesn't want your help with anything.
• Annabelle is the Jacksons' 8-year-old daughter, and usually the one person you can always talk to, until your antics make her cat run away.
• Sassy Britches is the Jackson family cat. She doesn't like you and the feeling is mutual.
• Horace Neighborly is a large draft horse in the barnyard.
• Minnie Moomoo is a cow in the barn. She's agitated.
• Mutant squirrels have become a problem in the nearby forest and take Sassy hostage near the end of the game.

Mentioned:

• The vicar is mentioned if you examine the church at the beginning of the game.
• Jonathan Blackwell owns the manor house. He is mentioned if you examine the manor house at the beginning of the game.
• Tom Timmons is the town drunk. You punched him, and now the elders of Swineford no longer want you as their village idiot.
• Horace is also Farmer Jackson's brother-in-law's name.
• Unnamed villagers don't appreciate your artistry of idiocy.

Credits

This is the text of the "About the Game" menu-item accessed via the ABOUT, CREDITS, or HELPcommands:

About the Game

The only thing worse than being a village idiot is being an unemployed village idiot.

Maybe it's time to change careers. Maybe it's time to be a knight.

Stuff of Legend was written by Lance Campbell, using Inform 7, for the 2020 Interactive Fiction Competition.

I would like to thank my beta-testers, Greg Frost, J. J. Guest, Melanie Leclau and Brian Rushton. They all put up with a lot of bugs, confusing puzzle designs and storycraft problems. They provided the constructive feedback and moral support I needed to get my first game completed on time and submitted to the 2020 competition.

Thanks also to J. J. Guest for providing the fantastic cover art. I was looking for humorous, stylish, eye-catching visuals to complement Ichabod Stuff and his idiotic adventures. J. J. provided exactly what was needed.

Inventory

• a catnip toy. Acquire it by examining the oven in front of the farmhouse.
• It looks like a bird. Put the catnip toy into the nest.
• a leather ball. Acquire it by examining the trunk in the loft.
• The ball is used to help make a nest.
• some shears. Acquire them by talking to Clara at the back of the farmhouse; the chain of relevant topics are knight, quest, and weapon.
• Cut the horse blanket with the shears to make some makeshift armor to wear.
• In the English Oak, cut the leaves so there's somewhere to drop the nest.
• some straw. In the stall, acquire some straw by examining the hole in the mattress.
• When both mud and straw are in a coconut shell, the straw is now some muddy straw.
• The straw is used to help make a nest.
• a coconut. It's on the crazy multi-fruit tree in the workshop.
• At the stream bank, break the coconut with the boulder. You now have a left coconut half and a right coconut half.
• In the forest clearing, drop at least one of the coconut halves. The giant squirrels will eat the coconut meat leaving a left coconut shell and a right coconut shell.
• A coconut shell is used to make a nest.
• a horse blanket. Horace the horse in the barnyard has it.
• Before you can take the blanket, you need to converse with Horace using horse noises. First whinny to get him to trot closer, then neigh to begin a conversation.
• If he neighs, you should snort.
• If he nickers, you should whinny.
• If he snorts, you should nicker.
• If he whinnies, you should neigh.
• When Horace is quite friendly, take the blanket and cut it with the shears to make some makeshift armor. Wear the armor.
• The blanket's smell helps disguise you from Sassy when rescuing her from the oak.
• a milking bucket. It's in the barn, guarded by Minnie the cow.
• Say moo to start a conversation with Minnie. Choose options from the conversation tree until Minnie is completely calm. (Options with long runs of lowercase letters are best.) Now you can take the bucket.
• At the stream bank, wash the bucket. Now wear the bucket as a helmet.
• The bucket helps disguise you from Sassy when rescuing her from the oak.
• some mud. Mud is available at the stream bank.
• Put the mud into one of the coconut shells.
• Mud is used to help make a nest.
• a nest. You need to make one!
• Make a nest by using one of the two coconut shells as a mold. Put mud, then straw, then the ball into the shell. In the workshop, put the shell near the forge in the worshop and wait three turns for the mud to dry. Re-take the shell to acquire the nest.
• Put the catnip toy in the nest.
• In an English Oak, while wearing the bucket and blanket, cut the leaves with the shears so they're out of the way, then drop the nest containing the catnip toy. This lures Sassy to you.
• an antidote sprayer. In the workshop, Farmer Jackson will give this to you when talking to him after you've seen Sassy Britches surrounded by squirrels in the secluded glade.
• In the secluded glade, spray the squirrels with the sprayer. The sprayer doesn't work quite the way you'd like, but well enough, and the squirrels are no longer a threat.
• Sassy Britches. You first see Annabelle's cat in the loft.
• When you leave the loft, you accidentally step on Sassy's tail, and she runs.
• At the edge of the forest, talk to Annabelle to learn that the cat's in a tree, and that you need a bird lure (see nest and toy) and a disguise (see bucket and blanket) to get her back down.
• In an English Oak, while wearing the bucket and blanket, meow to verify that the cat is nearby, cut the leaves with the shears so they're out of the way, then drop the nest containing the catnip toy. This lures Sassy to you. Take her. Unfortunately, you both fall out of the tree and Sassy runs away again.
• Enter the forest, and caterwaul repeatedly to close in on Sassy's location. You'll find her surrounded by giant squirrels in the secluded glade.
• Spray the squirrels with the antidote sprayer. You'll automatically pick up Sassy during the resulting chaos.
• When leaving the forest, listen to Sassy's noises because she's telling you which way to go. A hiss means you're going the wrong direction. A purr means you're going the right direction. Caterwaul means north. Yowl means west. Meow means east. Trill means south. Two directional noises mean a diagonal direction; for example, a caterwaul followed by a yowl means to go northwest. Follow Sassy's instructions until you both escape the forest.

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, Astringer, and Vivienne Dunstan;
• the generous support of Janice M Eisen and Matthew Foxley;
• the very generous support of Karl Ove Hufthammer and Lance Campbell;
• the extremely generous support of Emily Short, Allen Garvin, Jesse McGrew, Jacqueline Ashwell, Marius Müller, 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!