In this game, you play as Ebenezabeth Scrooge, the little match girl who transports herself to other places and times just by looking at fire. In the attic, she tearfully lights a candelabrum, explaining to her friend, Hrieman the crow, that Linus killed the Prepotence. The crow accompanies the girl in her quest to make things right.
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 1 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.
Intro sequence: Ebenezabeth arrives, crying and unkempt. "Linus killed the Prepotence", she says to the crow, by way of explanation. She finds a candelabrum, and with unsteady hands, eventually lights its four candles.
>> SPACESPACESPACESPACE
By the way, this location uses a third-person perspective, which I found a bit confusing. Ebenezabeth is still the player-character here.
> x Ebenezabeth. x candelabrum.
> i. x revolver.
> x flame.(Which candle?)
> x fourth.
Parking LotAvil IX - 2546
> x clouds. x garbage. x store. x street.
> nw.
Hardware Store
> listen. x darkness.
> x cutters. take cutters.
> out. ne.
Waldo's
> x people.
> ne.(The business district is swarming with crazy people; you auto-return here.)
> nw.
Public Park
> x brain.(That was the Prepotence who controlled everything.)
> ne.
Administration Building 0001
> x sentry. x barricade.
> talk to sentry.(He won't let you in until you have something to show the President-King. You agree.)
> wake.
AtticLondon - 1848
> x first.
WoodsOregon - 1981
> x grass. x bushes. x trees.(You spot a building, east.)
> x building. e.
Behind a Cabin
> x window. x trail. x door.(locked with chain)
> shoot chain.(Hrieman cautions you, and you reconsider.)
> cut chain.(with cutters)
> d.
Cellar
> x shelves.
> x shovel. take it.
> x thing.(It's thin and irregular.)
> take it.(Hrieman stops you from touching it.)
> u. ne.
Side of the Cabin
> x window.(curtains drawn inside)
> se.
Front of the Cabin
> x bootprints. x droppings. x porch. x door.
> knock on door.(Hrieman gulps, and you pause.)
> knock on door.(no answer)
> open door. w.
Cabin
The front door slams shut from the wind if you don't close it yourself.
> x stove. open stove. x ashes.
> x cot. look under cot. x gross.
> x cupboard. open it. x loaf. take it.
> x desk. x shotgun.
> x notebook. take it. open it.
> read it. g. g. g. g. g.
> x window. open curtains.(no no no)
> wake.
AtticLondon - 1848
> x second.
TowerŲlsib Necropolis - 30278
> x moon. x mausoleums. x ziggurat.
> x stairs. d. d.
Gallery
> x statue.(Saint Delia)
> w.
Chapel
Note: You may not take the crucifix.
> x benches. x altar. x crucifix. pray.
> n.
Alcove
> x urn. look in it. x ashes. x plinth.
> s. e. e.
Narthex
> x stand.(Only one candle still burns.)
> x flame.
Ebenezabeth is gone. Continue playing as Hrieman the crow.
> x flame.(Doesn't work for him.)
> w. u. u. u.
Over the Necropolis
> fly to ziggurat.
Ziggurat
> x throne. x something.(It's Death itself.)
> talk to Death.(You two talk about Ebenezabeth.)
>> yes —or— no
> talk to Death.(They don't have a true form.)
> g.(Death suggests you head back.)
> u.
Over the Necropolis
> go to tower. d. d. e.
Narthex
Ebenezabeth is back with an oilskin sack.
>> SPACE
You're now playing as Ebenezabeth again.
> x sack. open it.(Not in front of Hrieman.)
> w. d.
Catacomb
> x bones.
> s. s.
Sepulcher
> x sarcophagus. x dais. x ceiling.
> open sarcophagus.(You need force.)
> hit lid with shovel.(The lid is smashed.)
> look in sarcophagus.
> x skeleton. x bible. take it.
> open bible. x leaf. take it.
> wake.
AtticLondon - 1848
> x third.
CliffWessex - 889
> x gorge. x ledge. talk to crow.
> sw. sw.
Cave's Mouth
> x troll. talk to troll.("Hum")
> in.(no)
> hum.(also no)
> talk to crow.(If you're not fighting, try food, sex, or gold.)
> give loaf to troll.(He accepts.)
> se.
Cave
> smell. x stalagmites.
> se.
Laboratory
Ealawynn the witch invites you to sit and talk.
> x witch. sit. talk to witch.
You want a potion brewed. The witch needs a leaf and payment. You hand over the leaf and the sack. She quickly makes an elixir and gives it to you.
> x elixir.
> look. x jars. x fur. x crystal. x stool.
> x books. x potions. x equipment.
> talk to witch.(She gives you some eye shadow.)
> x shadow.
> wake.
AtticLondon - 1848
> x fourth.
Administration Building 0001Avil IX - 2546
> show elixir to sentry.(You may enter now.)
> n.
Office
> x Erwig. x desk. x Zvi. x carpet.
> give elixir to Erwig.
It will work on the entire planet if it's diluted enough. Zvi will do the distribution. Zvi was the one who told you about the plant. Erwig isn't interested in assigning blame on Linus. You're not interested in a reward at this time.
> wake.
Attic
You quote something French about remedies and diseases. Hrieman asks who said it.
> Moliere
>> SPACE
*** The End ***
>> SPACE
Hrieman makes a final comment. Ebenezabeth chuckles.
Extras
Characters
The player-characters:
Ebenezabeth Scrooge is the main player-character. She was introduced in The Little Match Girl as a nameless girl freezing to death in Copenhagen, and who learned to travel through time and space by looking at fires. She was rescued, named, and adopted by Ebenezer Scrooge at the end of that story, and she has had several adventures since then.
Hrieman is a talking crow and Ebenezabeth's friend, whom she met on of her adventures. He lives with her now. In this game, he mostly offers moral support and occasional advice. And, of course, he can fly.
Who they interact with:
Death sits on his throne on a ziggurat in the necropolis. He knows, in broad terms, about Ebenezabeth's fate; he can be multiple places simultaneously; and he looks different to everyone who perceives him.
Ealawynn is a witch who has an underground laboratory in Wessex, 889. You first met her in 877.
Giest is a troll who guards the cave entrance to Ealawynn's laboratory. He doesn't say much.
A sentry guards the entrance to Administration Building 0001. Fortunately, he's friendly and already knows you.
President-King Erwig of Avil IX is extremely worried about his planet and desperately needs your help.
Professor Harleen Zvi is a legendary professor of botany on Avil IX. She's the one who told you about the leaf you needed to find. She and her team will distribute the elixir you bring.
The narrator:
Hans Christian Andersen is telling these stories to you, dear reader. He helpfully explains a few things before the story proper begins.
Background characters:
The people of Avil IX are rioting, acting like zombies, and committing other crimes that you wisely never get close enough to see. They were so dependent on the Prepotence that they hardly know what to do now.
Found dead:
A skeleton of a young woman is in the sarcophagus.
Bones of people are stored everywhere in the catacombs.
Ashes of someone are kept in an urn in an alcove of the chapel, but you're unable to read the urn's inscription.
Mentioned:
Ebenezer Scrooge adopted and named Ebenezabeth. He's a famous philanthropist.
Puss is Ebenezabeth's pet cat. A brown female cat.
Collin Clinton Gorf is a horror author, the best on the planet, according to his own notebook.
Carol is a girl who works at a deli counter. She was unimpressed with Collin's new manuscript.
The Prepotence was a giant fifteen-foot-wide brain who controlled everything and everybody on Avil IX until it was murdered by Linus.
Linus killed the Prepotence, but you learn nothing more about Linus in this game.
Saint Delia, possibly the patron of the empty-headed, has a statue in the necropolis gallery.
Credits
This is the response to CREDITS:
(Thank you for for playing this game. I wrote it for day 21 of Mab Graves's Drawlloween 2023. The prompt was "Crow."
This game was tested by Sarah Willson, and THAT'S IT. There was a pretty tight schedule!)
Inventory
Items are listed in the order you acquire them in this walkthrough.
her revolver. Ebenezabeth is carrying it.
You won't be using your gun in this adventure.
a spiral notebook. It's on the desk in the Oregon cabin.
Read it several times to learn about the strange story of horror author Collin Clinton Gorf; it also mentions his shovel.
While the notebook is supposedly potentially valuable, no one is particularly interested in it.
a loaf of sliced bread in a plastic bag. It's in the cupboard in the Oregon cabin.
At the Wessex cave mouth, give the loaf to the troll as a bribe to let you inside.
an oilskin sack. Ebenezabeth is carrying this sack after a private adventure begun when she examines the flame in the necropolis's narthex. She's back in the narthex with the sack after Hrieman the crow has a private chat with Death on the ziggurat.
In the Wessex laboratory, give the sack to the witch; it's payment for making the elixir.
a pair of bolt cutters. It's in the hardware store on Avil IX.
Behind the Oregon cabin, cut the chain with the cutters. Now you can open the door to the cellar.
a shovel. It's on the shelves in the cellar below the Oregon cabin.
In the necropolis's sepulcher, hit the lid of the sarcophagus with the shovel to shatter the lid and thus open the sarcophagus.
a Bible. It's inside the sarcophagus in the necropolis's sepulcher.
Hit the lid of the sarcophagus with the shovel to shatter the lid, effectively opening the sarcophagus.
Take the Bible and open it to find the green leaf inside.
