In this old-school adventure game, you play as a Timejumping Adventurer's Club initiation candidate, sent back in time to 950 AD Normandy to bring back all the treasures there are to find there. Besides the challenges TAC has set up for you, you will also need to deal with some random elements such as Thorfinn Skullsplitter, the local Viking.
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 101 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.
Ignore the stairway for now; it's a tunnel to the bottom of a well. You'll use it much later in the game for getting back in here since this panel exit is one-way.
> n.
Woods (two locations)
The stone panel has closed behind you.
> nw. w.
plains (three locations) / Bridge
> w. n. n. n.
Castle Entry
> x carcass.(Vest has "T.A.C.")
> n.
Darkness / Great Hall (middle)
> turn on flashlight.(+10)
> x tapestries.
> w.
Great Hall (west end)
> x fireplace. x logs. x grate.
> u. n.
King's Bedroom
> x portrait. look in pocket. take keys.(+15)
> x cabinet. open it.(locked)
> unlock cabinet with keys. open it.
> take batteries.
Note: You can't put the batteries into the flashlight while the current batteries are still good. Once the batteries are in the flashlight, you no longer have access to them.
> turn valve.(There's a clicking sound. It unlocks a trapdoor in the Treasury.)
> u.
Guest Bedroom
> x bed. x manacles. x candles.
> u.
West Roof
> x range. x plains.
Head back to the middle of the Great Hall and go north from there:
> d. d. s. d. e. n.
Garrison
> x weapons. d.
Treasury
If you turned the valve in the king's bedroom earlier, this trapdoor should be unlocked.
> x rug. take rug.(trapdoor revealed)
> drop rug.
> x trapdoor. open it.
CAUTION: Going down from here is a one-way trip where you'll acquire a necklace. If you have more than three items in your inventory, you won't be able to take it! Also, you can only safely make this trip once!
> d.(+10)
Secret Vault
There is a good chance that Thorfinn will steal your treasure from you. If he does, that's okay; you can get it from him later.
> take necklace.(+15)
> x it. x chasm.
> jump.
20-foot Chasm
You land safely on a sponge this time. But note that if you try to jump from the vault a second time, you'll learn that Thorfinn has taken the sponge away just before you die from the fall.
> x sponge. s.
Storeroom
By now, your flashlight probably needs the batteries.
> put batteries in flashlight.
> x bag. take bag.(This will help you carry more stuff.)
> x keg. look in keg. x crate.("Humpty Dumpty Crate Co.")
> open crate.(can't)
Perhaps Humpty should have a great fall.
> u.
Kitchen
> open cabinet. take flask.(+15)
> d.
Storeroom
CAUTION: Don't drink the wine; it's for someone else. Also, drinking the wine makes you drunk, and you go random or semi-random directions when you try to go anywhere until the drunkenness wears off.
> put wine in flask. take crate.
> u. u.
Chapel / Darkness
> x pulpit. x windows. x window.
> u.
Library / Darkness
> take book. x book.(You don't read Latin.)
> u.
East Roof
You'd think a simple "throw crate" would work too, but no.
> throw crate off roof.
> d. d. d. w. w. w. d.
Dungeon
> x remains. x shackles. x rack.
> x maiden. open maiden. x skeleton. take glasses.(+15)
> x glasses. wear glasses. read book.(+25)
You learn several things that you wish you knew from the very start:
There's a tomb at the base of a cliff containing several treasures.
Thorfinn Skullsplitter is the only Viking in the region. Your options with him are to run, fight, or appease him with treasure. One item will ultimately appease him.
The Druid at the ruins has a club that both instantly kills the living and revives the dead. The Druid has an element you must trade for.
You must bring back all the treasure you can find.
You need an object that someone else is "dependent" on to make the return trip home.
When and where Thorfinn shows up is pretty random. If he doesn't immediately take all your treasure, you can try to run from him, but that doesn't always work. If you try to run and he kills you, UNDO, and either try again or give him a treasure. Giving treasure to Thorfinn always saves your life.
> drop book.
> u. e. s. s.
Bridge
There's now a sail and a busted crate here.
> turn off flashlight.
> x sail. take sail.
> s. s. w. sw.
Edge of Cliff
NOTE: You cannot safely climb down or jump from here.
> x building.
> ne. nw.
Beach (middle)
For now, avoid the huts at each end of the beach. We'll visit them late in the game.
> x sign.("Warning: Dangerous current when sign present.")
> x skiff. x rowboat. x sailboat. x mast.
> take mast.(It comes free!)
> x mast.
> look under rowboat. take oars.
> enter skiff. x skiff.
> put mast in socket.
> attach sail to mast.
Assuming you're still in the skiff:
> w. w. s.
Beach (of island)
> out. w. w.
Darkness / Stone Building
> turn on flashlight.
> x goblets. take goblets.
Again, Thorfinn might immediately take your treasure from you and leave.
> turn off flashlight. e. e.
Beach (of island)
> enter skiff. e. e. s.
Beach (at base of cliff)
> out.
> x boulders. x cliff. x cavity.
> turn on flashlight. e.(+10)u.
Narrow Hall
> x holders.
> u. u. u.
Robert Hall
> x pictographs. open door.(locked)
> unlock door with keys. open door.
> u. s. s. d. s.
Throne Room
> x sarcophagus. x torque. x buckle. x chalise. x crown.
Don't use TAKE ALL; you won't get the points that way.
> take torque.(+15)
> take buckle.(+15)
> take chalise.(+15)
> take crown.(+15)
Return to the skiff. But since you can't return up the chasm, you need to find another way back to Robert Hall:
> n. w. s.
Waterfall
> x stalactites.
> s. d. d. s. d. d. w.
Beach (at base of cliff)
> turn off flashlight.
> enter skiff. take oars.
> n. e. e.
Beach (middle)
You need to ditch the oars and keys; you need the inventory space.
> drop oars. take keys. drop keys.
> out. s.
Beach (south end, by square hut)
> x hut. s.
Darkness / Pizza Hut
> turn on flashlight.
> x pizza. take it.(+15)
> n. n. n.
Beach (north end, by smelly hut)
> x hut. smell hut. n.
Hut
Thorfinn will be here if he took any treasures from you. You should be directly holding the pizza.
> give pizza to Thorfinn.(+100. He accepts it, drops all his treasure, and leaves.)
> take all.(+15)x rope. x bones.
> turn off flashlight.
> s. s. se. e. e. sw. s.(+10)
Clearing
> x stones. x shelter.
Ruadh Rofhessa, the Druid, appears with club and pendant.
> give flask to druid.(+100. He offers pendant.)
> x druid. x club. x pendant.
> take pendant.(+15. Druid leaves when you take it.)
> n. ne. e. se. s. sw.
Woods (by well)
> x well. x stone wall. x spike.
> tie rope to spike.(+25)
> turn on flashlight.
> d.
Well
> x clouds.
> ne. u.
Mausoleum
> turn off flashlight.
> put pendant in chamber.(+25)
> enter machine.
The Time Machine
> close hatch.
> x fuel gauge.
> push start button.
TAC Headquarters
*** You have won ***
Extras
Characters
The Really Grand Adventurer and the Timejumping Adventurer's Club (TAC) initiation committee set up this final challenge for you. They only appear in the prologue and the winning ending. Are you sure you want to join their ranks? They're deliberately risking your life for their mere amusement.
Thorfinn Skullsplitter is the only Viking in the region, and he wanders about almost everywhere. The only options you have to deal with him are to run, fight, or appease him with treasure or pizza.
The Druid, Ruadh Rofhessa is often in a clearing with ruins. His club can instantly kill the living and revive the dead. And you'll need to trade something to him to get his pendant.
Mentioned:
Odo, Bishop of Bayeux was crowned in the island's stone building.
Robert the Rigid was King Fistleswyth's favorite jester.
Credits
From the INFO menu "Acknowledgements":
Thanks to Eric Harston for the primo beta testing. Also thanks to Scott Robey and Jeff Mugleston for a couple of bug finds.
Endings
You have died
if you jump from West Roof;
if you jump from East Roof;
if you jump from Secret Vault a second time (the sponge is no longer at the bottom of the pit);
if you jump from Edge of Cliff;
if you try to take the Druid's club;
if Thorfinn kills you.
Game over.
if you return to TAC Headquarters with none of the treasures. The Really Grand Adventurer is so annoyed with you that he sends you to a random time in history with no way back.
if you return to TAC Headquarters with some of the treasures. Your membership is not approved.
You have won
if you return to TAC Headquarters with all the treasures.
Note that darkness itself isn't dangerous in this game, which is refreshing. Most of the time, you can safely wander in dark locations without falling into a pit; you just won't see what's there.
Inventory
You have an inventory limit of four items, at least until you find the flour bag.
a Time Machine. You start inside ir; it's in the mausoleum.
You can carry the thing, and it holds everything and provides light, but I really really doubt you're supposed to use it that way! That has to be a bug!
It's your main light source, but it doesn't have much power left. Put the batteries in the flashlight to extend its usefulness. (The flashlight doesn't open; just put the batteries in it.)
an urn. It's in a niche in the mausoleum and it contains some ashes.
Taking the urn opens a stairway down into a tunnel. Discard the urn afterwards.
some keys. They're in the pocket of the portrait in the King's bedroom.
The keys unlock the cabinet in the King's bedroom.
The keys also unlock the door in Robert Hall.
The keys do not unlock the trapdoor in the treasury; to unlock the trapdoor, turn the valve in the King's bedroom.
some batteries. They're in the locked cabinet in the King's Bedroom; unlock the cabinet with the keys.
When the current batteries are failing, put the batteries in your flashlight. Note that you can't insert new batteries while the old ones are still good. You'll automatically drop the old batteries in your current location when you insert the new batteries.
a rug. It's in the treasury.
Taking the rug reveals a hidden locked trapdoor. Discard the rug afterwards.
a flour bag. It's in the storeroom. It's your player's holdall.
Note that your bag can only hold up to seven items. It can't hold everything you can find!
a flask. It's in the kitchen cabinet.
In the storeroom, put some wine in the flask, but don't drink any. Drunkenness makes you go in random directions for several turns.
In the clearing, give the flask of wine to Ruadh Rofhessa, the druid. Now you may take his pendant.
a crate. It's in the storeroom.
Throw the crate off either the east or west roof of the castle. The crate will break open at the bridge; go there and take the sail that was inside it.
CAUTION: You can throw the crate over the cliff at Edge of Cliff, but you won't have any way of reaching the broken crate and its contents.
a book. It's on the desk in the library.
The book's in Latin; you can only read it while wearing the glasses.
Reading gives you a lot of useful information you wish you had at the start of your adventure.
some glasses. They're worn by the skeleton in the dungeon's iron maiden.
Wear them in order to read the book from the library. Somehow, the glasses translates the book's Latin for you.
a sail. It's inside the crate; throw the crate off either roof of the castle and retrieve the sail from Bridge.
Attach the sail to the mast after the mast has been put into the skiff's socket.
a mast. It's in the sailboat on the beach.
Enter the skiff, which is also on the beach, and put the mast in the socket of the skiff.
a pair of oars. They're under the rowboat on the beach.
You must have them to navigate the skiff to the cliff base and back.
a pepperoni pizza. It's on a table in the Pizza Hut.
After Thorfinn has taken a treasure, he'll be in the hut at the north end of the beach. Give the pizza to Thorfinn, and he'll drop all his treasures and leave.
a rope. It's in the smelly hut at the north end of the beach.
You can tie the rope to the steel spike at the top of the well in the woods; now you can go down into the well and back up again. The rope object isn't at the well bottom, though.
There's no UNTIE verb, but if you really want a tied rope back, just take the rope.
a pendant. In the clearing, you may take the pendant from the druid after you give a flask of wine to him.
In the time machine, put the pendant in the chamber, Note that the fuel gauge now shows the machine has fuel.
Six treasures which you must bring with you in the time machine back to your own time. If Thorfinn steals them from you, he'll drop them in his hut when you give the pizza to him.
a necklace. It's in the secret vault.
two dusty goblets. They're in the stone building on the island.
a torque. It's in the throne room.
a buckle. It's in the throne room.
a chalise. It's in the throne room.
a crown. It's in the throne room.
Score
The response to SCORE is:
You have so far scored your-score out of a possible 600, in several turns, you earned the rank of: ranking
Points are awarded as follows:
25 points for reading the book.
100 points for giving pizza to Viking.
100 points for tying rope to spike.
25 points for giving flask to Druid.
25 points for refueling the Time Machine.
165 points for finding sundry items.
15 points each for keys, necklace, flask, glasses, torque, buckle, chalise, crown, pizza, rope, and pendant.
40 points for visiting various places.
10 points each for Great Hall, Secret Vault, Cavern, and Clearing.
120 points for returning with all six treasures, 20 points per treasure. (Oddly, FULL SCORE doesn't report these points.)
Also, your score is set to −700 or −800 if Thorfinn personally kills you.
The rankings are:
Dogfood(−800 points)
King of Pain(−700 points)
Poindexter(0 to 10 points)
Clueless(25 to 40 points)
Lunkhead(80 to 120 points)
Bumbling Novice(135 to 245 points)
TAC impersonator(330 points)
You Must Be Cheating(455 points)
(missing ranking)(585 points)
Mongo Qualified Adventurer(600 points)
There seems to be a bug where the points for taking the rope aren't always awarded. I'm not sure why that is.
