In this light-hearted old-school-like fantasy game, you play as a reporter for Feudalism Monthly arriving at the castle to report on Princess Olivia's wedding. But instead of a reception, you find destruction and a lurking dragon. Gather up all the protection and weapons you can find, then defeat the dragon in its lair.
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 1 (Serial number 240825) 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.
> x plaque.(You need to have a high score to defeat the monster to the east.)
> x lamp. take it.
> w. ne.
Chapel
> x bulletin.(re wedding)
> sw. sw.
Dining Room
Alas, the pizza isn't edible.
> x pizza. take key and ticket.
> x key.("cellar")
> x ticket.("for use in the Prize Room")
> ne. s.
Kitchen
> x scrap.(A dragon stopped the wedding.)
> e.
Servant Quarters
> x bed. x bookcase.
> x Training. x Cleaning.
> x Fortune.(A lock pick falls out.)
> take pick. x it.
> w. d.
Darkness / Wine Cellar
> turn on lamp.
> x wine. take it.
> e.(locked)
> unlock door with key.
> e.
Underground Fork
> x boots. take boots.(+2)
> e.
E/W Crawl
> x clipping.(re Olivia and Ralph)
> e.(moths block you.)
> drop lamp. e.
Moth Hatchery
> x note.(The cage of moths will break when dropped, and they'll eat clothes.)
> x cage. take it.
> w.
E/W Crawl
> take lamp. w. s.
Game Room Entrance
> w.
Casino
> x game. g.(Repeat until you win and fun bucks are spat out.)
> take bucks. x bucks.
> e. s.
Prize Room
> x sign. drop ticket.
> take gold key. x it.("Tower")
> drop bucks.
> x gauntlets. take it.(+2)
> n. e.
Numpad Room
> x pad.
It's a nine-digit pad from 1 to 9, left to right, bottom to top. The #4 makes a W appear; the other buttons are broken.
If you superimposed a compass rose over the number pad, aligning the 4 button with West, you could encode directions with digits, so 7 would mean Northwest, 8 would mean North, and so on.
> d.
Maze 8
8 means North.
> n.
Maze 6
6 means East.
> e.
Maze 3
3 means Southeast.
> x shield. take it.(+2)
> se.
Maze 4
4 means West, of course.
> w.
Maze 2
2 means South.
> s.
Treasure Room
> x sword. take it.(+2)
Head back to the main hall:
> u. u. w. n. w. u. n.
Main Hall
> unlock door with gold key.
> n.
Tower L1
> w.
Dragon Stable
> x crumpled.(Olivia is getting cold feet about the wedding.)
> take box. x it. open it.(locked)
> unlock box with pick. open it.
> x ring. take it.(+2)
> e. u. w.
King Quarters
> x pauldrons. take it.(+2)
> x bed.(The Queen has the key to the princess's room, locked under a code that both the King and Queen know well.)
> x nightstand.(King married Queen in 1644.)
> e. e.
Queen Quarters
> x bed. x carpet. x safe.
>> 1644
> open safe. x heart key. take it.
> w. u.
Tower L3
> unlock door with heart key.
> n.
Princess Room
> x chairs. ne.
Powder Room
> x scented note.(armor inside one of her dresses)
> x mirror. take it.
> sw. nw.
Wardrobe
> x tattered.(Olivia prefers Bridget.)
> x dresses.
> drop cage.(The moths devour the clothes.)
> x armor. take it.(+3)
Return to the casino.
> se. s. d. d. s. s. d. e. s. w.
Casino
> drop mirror.(Bad luck begins.)
> x game. g. g. g. g. g. g.(Bad luck ends.)
> x helmet. take it.(+3)
Time to face the dragon.
> e. n. w. u. n. e.
Scorched Hallway
> e.
>> yes
>> yes
Assuming you don't roll a 1, you defeat the dragon then learn that Ralph released it so Olivia could elope with Bridget. The destruction wasn't wanted at all.
*** The End ***
If you did roll a 1, UNDO and try the battle again.
Extras
Characters
You are a reporter for Feudalism Monthly, arriving at the castle expecting the wedding reception to have started.
Moths in their hatchery prevent you from approaching with a lit lamp. More moths are in a fragile cage, and they love to eat clothing.
The dragon waits for you east of the scorched hallway. Ralph let it loose to stop the wedding, but he didn't intend it to do so much damage.
Mentioned:
Princess Olivia was supposed to marry Ralph, and while she does like him, she really didn't want to marry him. During the chaos of the interrupted wedding, she has very likely eloped with Bridget.
Ralph is a servant at the castle and highly favored by the king and queen. He was supposed to marry Olivia, but he knew she didn't really love him. He let the dragon loose to stop the wedding, but lost control of it.
Bridget is named as the maid of honor on the chapel's bulletin. She and Olivia are, however, more than just best friends. It is strongly implied that they have now eloped together.
The king and queen are Princess Olivia's parents. They locked her out of her room so she couldn't hide from the wedding in there.
Dennis is named as the best man on the chapel's bulletin.
The mothkeeper breeds moths in the hatchery in a far corner of the castle's cellars. It's never explained why his unlikely job exists.
The princess's girlfriends (including Bridget) are who Olivia normally spends all of her time with.
Your co-worker wrote the article you read in the newspaper clipping.
Credits
This is the response to CREDITS:
Written by Joshua Hetzel. Tested by Catherine Hetzel, Michael Chay, and Chris McHenry.
Endings
There are only two endings, and they both end with The End. Either you kill the dragon or the dragon kills you.
Your chances of success increase with your score. When you fight the dragon, the game rolls a random number from 1 to 20. To win the battle and the game, the die roll plus your score must be 20 or higher.
Note that you can still lose the game with the high score of 18 if you roll a 1. Just UNDO and rerun the battle if that happens. I won't tell anyone.
Inventory
Keys
a silver key. It's in the pizza in the dining room.
The silver key unlocks the door in the wine cellar that leads east into the rest of the basement region.
a gold key. It appears in the prize room when you drop the golden ticket there, replacing the ticket.
The gold key unlocks the iron door in the main hall that leads north into the tower.
a heart key. It's in the locked safe in the queen's quarters.
Try to open the safe, then type 1644 as its combination. This is clued by the nightstand in the king's quarters.
The heart key unlocks the door in Tower L3 that leads north into the princess's room.
Readables
a bulletin. It's in the chapel.
Read it to learn that Princess Olivia will be marrying Ralph, with Bridget as the maid of honor, and Dennis as the best man.
a scrap of paper. It's in the kitchen.
Read it to learn that the dragon was set loose in the castle to stop the wedding.
a newspaper clipping. It's in the E/W crawl.
Read it to learn that Olivia and Ralph are both nervous about their upcoming wedding and about being the center of the kingdom's attention.
a moth keeper note. It's in the moth hatchery.
Read it to learn that the cage is fragile, and also that the moths are hungry and will devour clothing.
a How-To Guide to Dragon Training, Medieval Cleaning Methods, and How to Amass a Great Fortune. All three books are in the bookshelf in the servant quarters.
Read the Fortune book to both find a lock pick and learn how to use it.
a crumpled note. It's in the dragon stable.
Read it to learn that Olivia is getting cold feet about the wedding.
a scented note. It's in the powder room.
Read it to learn that one of the princess's dresses has a suit of armor hidden inside it.
a tattered note. It's in the wardrobe.
Read it to learn that Olivia would prefer to spend her life with Bridget instead of Ralph.
Treasures
You need not do anything with these "treasures" but collect them. Merely possessing them increases your chances of winning when you face the dragon.
boots. They're in the underground fork.
gauntlets. They appear in the prize room when you drop the fun bucks there, replacing the fun bucks.
a shield. It's in maze 3.
a sword. It's in the treasure room.
a ring of power. It's in the locked jewelry box; unlock the box with the lock pick. Make sure to take ring out of the box to get its points.
pair of pauldrons. They're in the king's quarters.
armor. It appears in the wardrobe when you drop the cage of moths there. The cage breaks open and the moths devour the clothing, leaving the armor visible. This is clued by the scented note.
helmet. It appears in the casino when you lose five times consecutively when examining the coin flip game. To guarantee having the bad luck necessary to win the helmet, drop the mirror there.
Other items
a lamp. It's in the scorched hallway.
Turn the lamp on to give you light in dark rooms. Don't worry about the power running out.
In the east/west crawl, drop the lamp before proceeding east into the moth hatchery. The moths won't let you enter with the lit lamp. Pick the lamp back up on the way out.
a golden ticket. It's in the pizza in the dining room.
In the prize room, drop the ticket. It's replaced with the gold key.
a bottle of wine. It's in the wine cellar.
Just take it. You'll drink the wine after the game ends in victory.
fun bucks. It appears in the casino when you win at the coin flip game. Just examine the game to play it.
In the prize room, drop the bucks. The gauntlets are awarded in their place.
a cage full of moths. It's in the moth hatchery.
In the princess's wardrobe, drop the cage. The cage breaks open and the moths eat all the dresses, exposing the armor hidden under one of them.
