Key & Compass presents:
Under the Sea: The Treasure of the Santa Tortosa
by Heike Borchers

• 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

Beach

> x me. i. x watch.

> x tree. x ocean.

> x gear. x helmet.

> x trunk. look under trunk. (You find and reconnect the pressure gauge.)

> x gauge. x shovel. take it.

> dig under tree. x box. x map.

You need to go south-south-south and beware the sentinel. Leave the map here.

> wear gear. (Learn about ANALYSE command.)

> s. (dropping the shovel)

Lagoon

> x fish. x reef. take jar. n.

Beach

> open jar. x paper. (It's the alphabet with Morse Code equivalents.)

While you could keep the paper or map dry in the jar, you will need the jar for something else.

> drop paper.

> s. s.

Reef Top

> x snapper. talk to snapper. ("OOo oOo o o O oo Oo OOo ooo")

That's morse code for GREETINGS.

> greetings.

The snapper's name is Sabina. She offers to teach you some fish language if you bring her anything with the colour poenk.

> ask Sabina about poenk. (A mix of purple, red, and white.)

> ask Sabina about Shantal. (A fashion victim.)

> s.

Your scuba gear wants to know how to record your accomplishment. Personally, I prefer to always choose 1, the more honest and modest answer.

Which report text do you prefer? 1 —or— 2

Deep Blue

> x wreck. x corals. x planks. push planks. (Not strong enough.)

> e.

Plankton Rendezvous

When you hold the plankton directly, it doesn't emit light.

> x plankton. take plankton.

> put plankton in jar.

Which version of the report shall be logged? 1 —or— 2

> n.

Coral Forest

> x napoleonfish. x coral. (find a tube sponge)

> x sponge. (Tobias, who is secretly in love with sea anemone Suzi)

> x Suzi.

> e.

Cave

You need the plankton's light to see in here.

> x passage. u.

Shore of the Hidden Island

A small metal rod got loose from your gear and fell into the water!

> take rod. x rod.

> n. (removing and dropping scuba gear first)

Small Forest

> x bush. x berry. (purple)

> x bear. x dungarees. x triangle. x stump.

> x trees. x birds.

> give rod to bear. (He gives a flat stone in return.)

> x flat stone. take berry.

> s.

Which version of the report do you want to log? 1 —or— 2

Shore of the Hidden Island

> e.

Small Meadow

> x sheep. x plants. x grindstone.

> x daisy. take it.

> x poppy. take it.

> put berry on grindstone.

> put daisy on grindstone.

> put poppy on grindstone.

> grind with flat stone. (You produce poenk liquid.)

> x poenk.

> put liquid in jar. (The plankton now glows poenk.)

> w.

Shore of the Hidden Island

> wear gear. d. w. w.

Reef Top

> give jar to Sabina. (She teaches you some fish language.)

> e.

Coral Forest

> talk to napoleonfish.

He's grumpy, but he says to ask him to do something. It took a while for me to find the right syntax:

> ask him to come with me.

> s.

Which version of the story do you want to log? 1 —or— 2

Plankton Rendezvous

> w.

Deep Blue

The napoleonfish says he'll stay here a while.

> ask him to push planks. (He does so.)

> enter wreck.

Wreck

> x octopus. x chest.

> talk to octopus. (He asks you a numerical puzzle.)

The answers are the lengths of the names of the numbers.

• ONE is three letters long.
• TWO is three letters long.
• THREE is five letters long.
• FOUR is four letters long.
• FIVE is four letters long. You should answer 4.

> 4. (Correct.)

But the octopus wants to know how you arrived at your answer.

> spell. (He is satisfied. You may open the chest.)

> open chest.

> x coins. x gems. x locket.

Note that you may only take one of the three treasures.

> take coins —or— take gems —or— take locket. (The other items fade into rock.)

The octopus bids you farewell.

> talk to octopus.

> out.

Which version do you want to log? 1 —or— 2

Deep Blue

The ship has been called. Return north to the beach.

> n. n. n.

Beach

Your watch says to BOARD vessel to complete your mission.

> take map. take paper. x ship. x dolphin.

> board ship.

If you took the coins, you learn they are proof of an unknown dynasty in the Carribean, and you gain much scientific respect.

If you took the gems, you become quite wealthy and can finance your future adventures with ease.

If you took the locket, you give it to Keira and you fall in love with each other.

The Quartermaster is annoyed that you didn't use her analytical engine for clues.

The Society members praise your courage. If you reported modestly, they nominate you for their Hall of Fame. Otherwise, they enjoy your dramatic story inventions.

*** Congratulations on creating your very own story of the Treasure of the Santa Tortosa! Without a doubt, for a real hero like you there are many more adventures waiting out there! ***

Note that the details of the ending will change based on:

• which treasure you took from the chest,
• how often you used the analyzer feature, and
• how you reported achievements.

Extras

Characters

• A school of fish are swimming in the lagoon. They ignore you.
• Sabina the snapper is at the reef top. She learned morse code as a second language. She is willing to teach you some fish language if you can bring her anything that is poenk-coloured.
• A napoleonfish is lifting items in the coral forest. He's very strong.
• Tobias the tube sponge is secretly in love with Suzi the sea anemone. Both of them are in the coral forest.
• Brain corals and staghorn corals make up the bulk of the coral forest.
• Some plankton are glowing with turquoise light at the plankton rendezvous.
• A hogerbear is trying to play a triangle in the the small forest.
• Some snow sheep are grazing in the small meadow.
• An octopus has been guarding the treasure chest in the wreck for a very long time.

Mentioned:

• Kiera is a cute librarian at the Adventurers' Society in London. She's the one who told you about the treasure map in the first place.
• Seahorse Shantal wears poenk all the time.
• Birds can be heard singing in the trees of the small forest.
• Four other adventurers attempted in previous years to obtain the octopus's treasure but failed.
• Other members of the Adventurers' Society react to the conclusion of your adventure.

Credits

The response to CREDITS:

This adventure was inspired by my love of diving. Whenever I was working on it, it reminded me of the wonderful world underwater. I hope the game conveys some of this unique atmosphere. Thank you for playing!

A special thank you to Hannah Wolff, Rahel Wolff, Jan Borchers, Thorsten Karrer, Sparky McTrowell, Gunter Schaible, Richard Oliver, Stephen Oliver, and Thomas Schwalowski for playtesting the adventure.

Another big thank you goes to Lisa Angelina Walrafen for the cover art. She took the photo on a dive we did together at the wreck of the Superior Producer on Curaçao.

Heike Borchers, September 2019

Inventory

• your waterproof wristwatch. You're wearing it.
• Near game's end, your watch will inform you when your ship is back at the tiny island and ready to be boarded.
• a shovel. It's on the beach.
• Dig under the tree to find a wooden box containing the map.
• You cannot take the shovel underwater. You'll automatically leave it on the beach if you try.
• a map. It's in a wooden box that's found by digging under the palm tree with the shovel.
• Read it. It directs you south three times. You don't really need this map.
• your scuba gear. It's on the trunk at the beach. The helmet is part of the gear.
• Look under the trunk to find and automatically re-attach a missing pressure gauge.
• Wear the gear before entering the sea. You won't need to worry about drowning at all.
• You will automatically remove and drop the scuba gear when exploring the hidden island. Put it back on when returning underwater.
• The gear has an analyze feature. Use it if you need a hint, but chances are, you won't need many hints, if any.
• a glass jar containing a piece of paper. It's in the lagoon south of the beach.
• Return to the beach and open the jar there. Otherwise, the paper will be damaged and be a lot less readable. Drop the paper on the beach when you're done with it.
• The paper has the Morse Code Alphabet on it. You'll need this knowledge to decode what the snapper says when you first talk to her. The large bubbles correspond to dashes and the small bubbles correspond to dots in Morse Code.
• At plankton rendezvous, put the plankton in the jar so you can carry it without crushing it. The plankton's glow lets you see in the cave.
• At small meadow, after creating poenk liquid with the flat stone, put the liquid in the jar with the plankton. The plankton will now glow poenk.
• At reef top, give the jar with the poenk liquid to Sabina. She'll teach you some fish language.
• a metal rod. It falls off your scuba gear when you first arrive on the hidden island.
• In the small forest, give the rod to the hogerbear so he can properly play his triangle. He'll give you a flat stone in exchange.
• a flat stone. In the small forest, the hogerbear gives this stone to you when you give the metal rod to him.
• In the small meadow, after you have put the berry, daisy, and poppy on the grindstone, grind with the flat stone to create a poenk liquid. Put the liquid in the jar with the plankton.
• a purple berry. It's on a bush in the small forest.
• In the small meadow, put the berry on the grindstone. See flat stone for the next step.
• a daisy. It's in the small meadow.
• Put the daisy on the grindstone. See flat stone for the next step.
• a poppy. It's in the small meadow.
• Put the poppy on the grindstone. See flat stone for the next step.
• some gold coins, some precious gemstones, or a delicate locket. In the wreck, these three items are inside the octopus's wooden chest.
• The octopus will let you open his chest if you can correctly answer his riddle, and if you can tell him how you arrived at your answer. You may only take one of the three treasures. Which treasure you take changes the epilogue text accordingly.

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!