Key & Compass presents:
Words of Power
by Stark Springs

• Map
• Walkthrough
• Extras
  • Artwork, Characters, Credits, Dates, Endings, Inventory, Score, Words and Spells
• External links:
  • This game at CASA, IFDB, IFWiki, and ifwizz.
  • Post about this walkthrough on X.

Map

• CAUTION: Location names may change depending on who's the current protagonist. Thea's "Stone Building" is the boy's "Crossroads".

Walkthrough

Wooden Cabin

> x me. x clothes.

> x book. (You learn three words of power: VA, RU, and YN.)

> take it.

> x logs. x roof.

> w.

Outside Hut

> x hut. x sun. x grass.

> x cat. (It begins a menu-driven conversation.)

>> 2 ("Kitty, you can talk!")

>> 2 ("... cats don't speak ...")

>> 2 ("... telepath?")

>> 3 ("... I'm a witch?")

>> 1 ("What are you?")

>> 8 ("... name?")

>> 5 ("... other cats ...?")

>> 5 ("... have a master?")

>> 5 ("... How did he die?")

>> 5 (... another world.")

>> 5 (... Common Tongue?")

>> 5 ("How can you teach ...?")

>> 5 ("Please teach me, then.")

You now know the Common Tongue.

> x symbols. ("PUM VEMID YM ARD")

> talk to cat.

>> 1 (re Yom)

>> 6 ("... show me where your partner lived?")

>> 0 (done)

> w.

Stone Road

> n.

Night falls, and you shelter off the road. You dream you are a boy and elsewhere.

Stall

You are now playing as the boy, who wakes up from a dream about Thea. You clutch a silver coin and plan to run away from this inn to the falks.

> x me. x rags. x coin. x straw.

> e.

Stable

Fazir, the innkeeper, blocks you and demands to see what you have.

>> 1 —or— 2

Fazir claims you're a thief, takes the coin, and leaves.

> s.

Yard

> x inn. x toilets. x road.

> s.

Hall

> e.

Kitchen

Fazir drops the coin and he and cook hurry to deliver ale and stew to the patrons.

> take coin.

> w. n. w.

Traders' Road

> s.

Crossroads

> s.

At dawn, you (as the boy) hide and rest.

Stone Building

You now play as Thea. The cat turns to the west.

> w.

Pond

> x bush.

> d —or— s —or— enter tunnel.

Darkness / Living Room

> cast va ru.

> x fireplace. x carpet.

> x table. x chair. x bed.

> x painting. x plaque. (long poem!)

> s.

Library

> x diary. (You now know AEL.)

> x books. x table. drop book.

> talk to cat.

>> 5 ("... Gion the Earthling.")

>> 5 ("... together?")

>> 2 (re wizards)

>> 5 ("... know Gion ...?")

>> 4 ("... other wizards?")

>> 3 (re gatestones)

>> 4 ("... Gatestones?")

>> 4 ("... opens gateways ...")

>> 1 (re Ard inhabitants)

>> 3 ("... humans here?")

>> 3 ("Why ...?")

>> 3 ("How ...?")

>> 6 ("... always burnt witches?": new topic War)

>> 6 ("... falks?")

>> 6 ("What's the deal ...?")

>> 5 ("... chenee?")

>> 5 ("... don't like chenee ...")

>> 3 ("re war)

>> 4 ("What was the War about?")

>> 5 ("Who ...?")

>> 5 ("... about Thaddeus ...)

>> 3 ("... burn Yom?")

>> 3 ("Why ...?")

>> 0 (done)

> n. n.

Pond

> x pond. x reeds. x bushes. x lilies.

> w. (Cat says there's a human village that way.)

> n. (Cat stays behind.)

Dead End

> x obelisk. (long poem, signed by Thaddeus, 6239)

> s. e. ne.

Common Room

Fazir starts a conversation.

>> 1

Fazir excuses himself.

> x man. talk to man.

>> 4 ("... Thea ...")

>> 3 ("... Amdal?")

>> 3 ("... do?")

>> 3 ("... use magic ...?")

>> 3 ("What do you mean ...?")

>> 3 ("I don't know ...")

>> 7 ("... careful ...?")

>> 7 ("Why did Thaddeus ...?")

>> 2 ("... another world")

>> 1 ("Please, show me ...")

Tamir draws the rune for PA, meaning "deflect".

>> 1 ("Please go on.")

Tamir draws the rune for ARA, meaning "water".

>> 1 ("Go on.")

>> 1 ("... nature of water.")

Tamir demonstrates PA ARA with a mug of ale, and asks you to try.

> put finger in mug.

> cast pa ara on finger.

> talk to Tamir.

>> 1 ("... know Gion ...?")

>> 1 ("... Gatestones?")

>> 4 ("... falks?")

>> 4 ("... falks dislike ...?")

>> 3 ("... chenee?")

>> 0 (done)

Extras

Artwork

Characters:

Runes:

Characters

• Thea
• The cat
• The boy
• The innkeeper
• Tamir aru Yrie is the man in the brown robe that Thea meets in the Crossroads Inn. He initially introduces himself as a humble priest of Amdal.
• John
• cat's former partner
• Thaddeus
• the kings
• the king's wives
• Amdal is the Goddess of Health.
• The chenee are a feline race that live in the Hi-El Forest. They are primitive and solitary but have powerful magic.
• The falks are a lizard-headed race that live in the mountains. They are excellent craftsmen, but won't have anything to do with magic or wizards.

Credits

This is the response to CREDITS:

Platform:
Inform/Glulx & Library by Graham Nelson and Andrew Plotkin

Graphics:
Chris Nyaguly

Music:
"Alone in the Snowfall" by BlueShadow (http://www.iki.fi/bsh)
"Felling Ice" by Aymes'fromagies
"Moment of Truth" by Cyn
"The Rattatangs" by Vegg
"Tales 2000" by Haggeman
"Theme of Njals Saga" by Andreas Viklund (http://www.lagoonamusic.com)
"Winter Skies" by Toukka (http://personal.inet.fi/musiikki/toukka/)

Lyrics:
"Gloss" and "Mortua Est" by M. Eminescu (1850-1889), English translation by C.M. Popescu (1958-1977)

Beta-Testing:
Dan Shiovitz, Michael Iachini, David Welbourn, Lorin Rowe

Design and Programming:
Stark Springs

Dates

TODO

Endings

TODO

Inventory

• a torn book. It's in the wooden cabin that Thea arrives in.
• Examine it to learn VA ("create"), RU ("light"), and YN ("great").
• The text of the book is in the Book.pdf file that comes with the game; its password is John.
• a silver coin. The boy has it.
• TODO
• a diary. It's on the table in Yom's library.
• Examine it to learn AEL ("air").
• The text of the diary is in the Diary.pdf file that comes with the game; its password is tomorrow.

Honorable mention:

• your clothes.

Score

This is the response to SCORE:

You're alive. This counts for something.

Words and Spells

These are the words of power you can learn:

• VA (action: "create")
• Examine the torn book to learn VA.
• RU (target: "light")
• Examine the torn book to learn RU.
• YN (modifier: "great")
• Examine the torn book to learn YN. It enchances the effect of a spell.
• AEL (target: "air")
• Examine the diary to learn AEL.
• PA (action: "deflect")
• Tamir in the Crossroads Inn teaches PA to you.
• ARA (target: "water")
• Tamir in the Crossroads Inn teaches ARA to you. ARA can refer to liquids other than water.

And these are some spells you can construct from those words:

• CAST VA RU. (create light)
• When in darkness, use this spell to create ambient light as long as you need it. When you re-enter a place with its own light, you automatically stop the spell.
• CAST PA ARA ON FINGER. (deflect water from finger)
• Tamir asks Thea to do this when her finger is in a mug of ale. The ale is repelled from her finger, leaving it dry.

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