All this for a map of Paris? Let's play Curses!

Gerad · #**421** 11-29-2012, 10:45 PM

See if the weathervane can give you a hand. hehe

Down to the clerestory.

Kahran042 · #**422** 11-30-2012, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gerad

See if the weathervane can give you a hand. hehe

I see what you're saying there.

>get hand
Taken.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gerad

Down to the clerestory.

That is the only way to go from here, so I don't really have a choice. Let's go!

>d
You slither down a bell rope, noisily...

Bell Tower
The bell-ringing chamber, half-way up the church tower. Thick braided ropes hang down, tailing into sashes. A plaque on one wall announces that in 1901, ten men (Roger Meldrew among them) rang a Kent Triple Bob.

We've already looked up Roger in the history, so let's keep going down.

>d

Parish Church
Before this was the Norman church of St Michael and All Angels, it was a Saxon one: this is an ancient site. A great space of stone, filled with dark wooden pews and woven mattings. Flowers left over from Sunday grace the lectern and altar. A narrow stair leads upward, and the village green lies to the south.

Old side chapels lie east and west.

Set into the floor, and slightly raised, is the Moonstone, an ancient broad flagstone the size of a door, inscribed with a crescent moon.

Where to from here - east, west, or south?

Puzzles:
Getting the mascot from old Evans.
Getting into Madame Sorostris' tower.
Getting the gold watch.

Unexplored paths:
Down from The Height of Fashion.
East from Parish Church.
West from Parish Church.

Inventory:
an adamantine hand
a purple sash (being worn)
a gothic-looking iron key (opens the strongbox)
a strongbox (which is open but empty)
a daisy chain (around your neck, made from yellow daisies and causes certain objects to turn into featureless mahogany rods when waved)
a canvas rucksack (which is open, actually a bag of holding)

a spade
a cloak of many colours (has grey lining)
an adamantine heart
a smooth round stone (apparently magnetic)
a model of an animal so ugly you can't bear to look at it
a mystic scroll
a tube with a kappa on (which is empty)
a bird whistle
the Pan pipes
a photographer's flash (which is closed, equipped with a timer mechanism)
a glowing golden orb (misted over, but has images of some sort of crazy chess world)
a papyrus fragment
a Tarot box (which is open but empty)
a croquet mallet
an antique jewellery box (which is open but empty)
a cracked medicine bottle (which is open but empty)
a model golden sceptre
a bunch of nuts
a steel wrench
a silk handkerchief
a marble rose
a hard wooden ball
the Rods of Ice, Returning, Husbandry (charged), Sacrifice, Luck, Fire, Bronze, Infinity and Stalking
seven Tarot cards: the Star, Maiden, Castle, Fool, Drowned Sailor, Ace of Cups and Grim Reaper
a rusty iron key [I](unlocks the grating on the Island of Pharos)[I]
a long wrought iron key
a delicate gold key (unlocks the jewellery box)
a small brass key (unlocks the door from Dark Passage to Garden Stream and the trapdoor in Priest's Hole)
a postcard of the Champs-Elysees
Hobson's classical dictionary
the History of the Meldrews (vol. II)

an electric torch (providing light and closed)
some old gardeners' gloves (being worn)

Score:
It is the afternoon of June 3rd, 1993, and you are northeast of Meldrew Hall. You have so far scored 363 out of a possible 550, in 1515 turns, giving you the rank of Navigator.

Maps
Meldrew Hall, attic:

Code:

e-c-b-h
 /| |
X j a-d
    |
    f q-p
     \  |
    k-g-l
      | |
    n-i m
      | |
      o r
        |
        s

a=Attic (down to game over)
b=Old Winery
c=Aunt Jemima's Lair (wireless)
d=Servant's Room (scarf)
e=Potting Room (Aunt Jemima)
f=Old Furniture (wrapping paper)
g=Over the East Wing
h=Storage Room (wheel with handle, dumbwaiter leading to Cellar)
i=Disused Observatory (glass ball on telescope stand, smoke detector)
j=Airing Cupboard
k=Dark Room
l=East Annexe
m=Dead End (down/east to Beside the Drive)
n=Library Storage
o=Souvenirs Room (slide projector [contains The Castle], ship in a bottle)
p=Inside Cupboard (big iron fireplace, open skylight with crank handle, up to Roof)
q=Chimney (down to Priest's Hole)
r=Alison's Writing Room (bed)
s=Tiny Balcony
X=game over

Meldrew Hall, cellar:

Code:

c-a-b
  |
  d

a=Cellars (dumbwaiter to Dark Shaft)
b=Wine Cellars
c=Cellar West (locked door leading northwest, down to Hellish Place)
d=Cellars South (robot mouse, hole in wall)

Meldrew Hall, gardens and shaft area:

Code:

j-i-i-i-
      |
      i
      |
     -i-
      |
      i
      |
     -i-i-i-i-i-m
          |
          i
          |
      g-f-b-d-e
        |  \
        h   a-c       u
            |         |
            l-n-o   q-s-t
            |    \ /
            k     p
                  |
                  r

a=Garden Stream
b=Family Tree (plane tree, up to Up the Plane Tree)
c=Beside the Wall (potted shrub, one-way path down to Wine Cellar)
d=Lawn Ornaments (dark well too small to enter, miniature, weed killer bottle, prayer book, romantic novel, green branch, gas mask)
e=Mosaic [can be lagach-ed]
f=Clearing
g=Garage (garden roller)
h=Vegetable Garden (runner bean plant)
i=Maze
j=Viewpoint Ledge (plaque)
k=Dark Shaft (dumbwaiter to Storage Room)
l=Dark Passage
m=Patio in Maze (down to Crypt)
n=Sandstone Passage
o=The Octagon (window vent, gilded coffin used to identify rods, scroll)
p=White Hallway (painting of Mad Isaac Meldrewe [can be lagach-ed], elephant's foot umbrella stand)
q=Bricked Path
r=Halfway up the Stairs (up to Servant's Room)
s=Hedgery
t=Croquet Lawn (colored peg, wickets)
u=Summer House (gold watch which is visible but unattainable)

Catacombs below the gardens:

Code:

  a
  |
g b-e-f
| |
d-c

a=Crypt (bronze mural [can be lagach-ed], up to Patio in Maze)
b=Jagged Passage
c=Catacombs (down to Universe Maintenance Room)
d=Contraption Room (sheet of dull amber-colored metal forming north wall, iron panel with 3x5 grid, see-saw of leather baskets, metal hand)
e=Charnel Passage
f=Sarcophagus
g=Contraption Reflection (same as in Contraption Room)

Meldrew Hall, roof:

Code:

b
 \
  a

a=Roof (down to Inside Cupboard)
b=Battlements

Meldrew Hall, ???:

Code:

a=Priest's Hole (one-way path down to Cellar West)

Northeast of the House:

Code:

 -d-
  |
  c
  |
  b
 /
a

a=Beside the Drive (up/west to Dead End)
b=Public Footpath (down to Hollow)
c=Stone Cross (Old Evans with his lucky mascot)
d=Parish Church (Moonstone)

Northeast of the House, Hollow:

Code:

a=Hollow (up to Public Footpath, one-way northwest path to Mosaic)

Northeast of the House, spire:

Code:

a=Out on the Spire (adamantine hand; you are here)

Unreal City:

Code:

  g>b-c
    |
h-d-a-e>f

a=Unreal City
b=Shadowy Hallway (up to Consulting Room)
c=Bohemia (mural [can be lagach-ed])
d=Down by River
e=Near Ring Road (down to Chatelet-les-Halles)
f=Chatelet-les-Halles (map salesman)
g=Consulting Room (down to Shadowy Hallway)
h=On board the Phlebas (saying "time" will take the protagonist to Garden Stream)

Tarot box:

Code:

a e

c
|
b
|
d

f g-h-i
 /  | |
l   k j
    |
    m
    |
    n
   / \
    q o
   \|/
    p

u   v
 \ /
  r
 /|\
t s w

x

y

a=Cups and Glasses (model ship)
b=Aboard Ship (examine model ship; up to Up the Mast)
c=Prow of the Lady Magdalena
d=Stern
e=Ruined Castle Cafe
f=Sea Shore (Andromeda, up to Cliffs)
g=Cliffs (down to Sea Shore)
h=Clifftop Walk
i=Outside Taverna (fig tree)
j=Eraina Taverna (bartender)
k=Wall of Thorns
l=Cave Mouth (obsidian altar, flaming bronze urn)
m=Sacred Earth (south to death by divine wrath)
n=Temple of Zeus
o=East Cloister
p=Inner Sanctum (Homer)
q=down to Cross Centre
r=Cross Centre (down to Oubliette)
s=up to Inner Sanctum
t=Southwest Cross (statue of Dionysus)
u=Northwest Cross (statue of Demeter)
v=Northeast Cross (statue of Poseidon)
w=Southeast Cross (statue of Ares)
x=Oubliette (crushing wall trap; up to Cross Centre)
y=Lighthouse

Alexandria:

Code:

      p-p
     /  |
    p   q
    |
    o
    |
b r-m n
|   |/
a   g
 \ / \
  c   h---j
 / \  |\  |
e   d i k l
|
f

a=Causeway
b=Island of Pharos (down to Jetty)
c=Crossroads
d=A Tower (door)
e=Necropolis (tombstone with empty socket and word "GALITA", down to The Height of Fashion)
f=XIIth Dynasty Pyramid (writings [can be lagach-ed])
g=Outside the Royal Museum
h=The Birdcage of the Muses (pigeonhole)
i=Oil Room (trough of oil)
j=Reading Corridor
k=Geography Room
l=Librarian's Office
m=Outside the Theatre
n=Stadium
o=Outside the Royal Palace of Alexander
p=Lost inside the Palace
q=Lost inside the Palace (say "anoppe" to reach the Palace Balustrade)
r=Warehouses and Port (sailor, engraved die, skiff; enter skiff and type "sail" to go to Garden Stream)

Alexandria, tomb:

Code:

b-a

a=The Height of Fashion (up to Necropolis, down to...?)
b=This Is The Death (blocked slope to the west)

Alexandria, palace balustrade:

Code:

a=Palace Balustrade (astronomical mounting, astrolabe; type "look through eyepiece" to go to Out on the Spire)

Alexandria, Jetty:

Code:

a=Jetty

Hamburg by night:

Code:

    b
   /
  a
  |
e-c-d

f

a=Museum of Arcana
b=Revolving Door
c=Hall of Exhibits (still life [can be lagach-ed])
d=Cabinet Room
e=Dark Staircase (down/south to...?)
f=Coven Cell (goat)

Deaths
Missed the point entirely: 5 (irritated Aunt Jemima by trying to steal her gardening gloves, gave up on the search, broke a pipe and had to call a plumber, lectured by Aunt Jemima for four hours, burned down most of the attic)
Spooked: 1 (haunted by the ghost of Sir Joshua Meldrewe)
Died: 8 (jumped off the mast of the Lady Magdalena without a parachute, spontaneous combustion, brutally sacrificed by a druidic coven, blown to bits by a time bomb, incinerated myself with the Rod of Fire, electrocuted by the wrath of Zeus, crushed into a pancake, epic stealth fail)
Disembodied the entire universe: 1 (meddled with the Planck constant)
Total: 15

Healy · #**423** 12-01-2012, 08:09 PM

Let's go east, why not.

Kahran042 · #**424** 12-02-2012, 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Healy

Let's go east, why not.

Why not, indeed. Sounds good.

East Side Chapel
A small clear space to the side of the church, in a bay ringed with stained glass windows of the Nativity.

A tall marble statue of Diana stands here: a find from the nearby Roman remains.

Not much here, unfortunately, although it's kind of strange for there to be a statue of a Roman goddess in what's presumably an Anglican church. But meh. Next time, we explore the west chapel, unless someone wants me to do something else.

Beowulf · #**425** 12-03-2012, 11:59 AM

Can we look more carefully at the statue of Diana, the windows, and the Moonstone? I just want to make sure we don't miss anything.

Then check out the other chapel.

Kahran042 · #**426** 12-05-2012, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beowulf

Can we look more carefully at the statue of Diana, the windows, and the Moonstone? I just want to make sure we don't miss anything.

Sure. Let's do that en route to the other chapel.

>examine statue
There is a sly look in her eye as she smiles aslant.

>examine windows
That's not something you need to refer to in the course of this game.

>w

Parish Church

Set into the floor, and slightly raised, is the Moonstone, an ancient broad flagstone the size of a door, inscribed with a crescent moon.

Quote:

I don't know who was there before me:
One person, several, none;
It doesn't matter.
There are marks on the slabs of rock,
Some beautiful, all mysterious;
Some certainly not made by human hands.

-- Primo Levi, "A Valley"

>examine moonstone
The Moonstone is very old, probably pre-dating the rest of the church by some centuries. Legends about it abound: some say the spirits of the departed pass beneath. Old iron rings are set in it, but nobody has ever succeeded in lifting the colossal weight.

Those rings will probably be important later, so we should probably remember them.

Anyway, onward to the western chapel.

>w

West Side Chapel
An alcove in the ancient west side of the church, beneath stained glass windows of the Resurrection.

A headless adamantine statue lies prone here, a knight on a tomb.

And with that, we find yet another thing made of a metal that shouldn't exist. Where to from here?

Puzzles:
Getting the mascot from old Evans.
Getting into Madame Sorostris' tower.
Getting the gold watch.

Unexplored paths:
Down from The Height of Fashion.

Inventory:
an adamantine hand
a purple sash (being worn)
a gothic-looking iron key (opens the strongbox)
a strongbox (which is open but empty)
a daisy chain (around your neck, made from yellow daisies and causes certain objects to turn into featureless mahogany rods when waved)
a canvas rucksack (which is open, actually a bag of holding)

a spade
a cloak of many colours (has grey lining)
an adamantine heart
a smooth round stone (apparently magnetic)
a model of an animal so ugly you can't bear to look at it
a mystic scroll
a tube with a kappa on (which is empty)
a bird whistle
the Pan pipes
a photographer's flash (which is closed, equipped with a timer mechanism)
a glowing golden orb (misted over, but has images of some sort of crazy chess world)
a papyrus fragment
a Tarot box (which is open but empty)
a croquet mallet
an antique jewellery box (which is open but empty)
a cracked medicine bottle (which is open but empty)
a model golden sceptre
a bunch of nuts
a steel wrench
a silk handkerchief
a marble rose
a hard wooden ball
the Rods of Ice, Returning, Husbandry (charged), Sacrifice, Luck, Fire, Bronze, Infinity and Stalking
seven Tarot cards: the Star, Maiden, Castle, Fool, Drowned Sailor, Ace of Cups and Grim Reaper
a rusty iron key [I](unlocks the grating on the Island of Pharos)[I]
a long wrought iron key
a delicate gold key (unlocks the jewellery box)
a small brass key (unlocks the door from Dark Passage to Garden Stream and the trapdoor in Priest's Hole)
a postcard of the Champs-Elysees
Hobson's classical dictionary
the History of the Meldrews (vol. II)

an electric torch (providing light and closed)
some old gardeners' gloves (being worn)

Score:
It is the afternoon of June 3rd, 1993, and you are northeast of Meldrew Hall. You have so far scored 363 out of a possible 550, in 1520 turns, giving you the rank of Navigator.

Maps
Meldrew Hall, attic:

Code:

e-c-b-h
 /| |
X j a-d
    |
    f q-p
     \  |
    k-g-l
      | |
    n-i m
      | |
      o r
        |
        s

a=Attic (down to game over)
b=Old Winery
c=Aunt Jemima's Lair (wireless)
d=Servant's Room (scarf)
e=Potting Room (Aunt Jemima)
f=Old Furniture (wrapping paper)
g=Over the East Wing
h=Storage Room (wheel with handle, dumbwaiter leading to Cellar)
i=Disused Observatory (glass ball on telescope stand, smoke detector)
j=Airing Cupboard
k=Dark Room
l=East Annexe
m=Dead End (down/east to Beside the Drive)
n=Library Storage
o=Souvenirs Room (slide projector [contains The Castle], ship in a bottle)
p=Inside Cupboard (big iron fireplace, open skylight with crank handle, up to Roof)
q=Chimney (down to Priest's Hole)
r=Alison's Writing Room (bed)
s=Tiny Balcony
X=game over

Meldrew Hall, cellar:

Code:

c-a-b
  |
  d

a=Cellars (dumbwaiter to Dark Shaft)
b=Wine Cellars
c=Cellar West (locked door leading northwest, down to Hellish Place)
d=Cellars South (robot mouse, hole in wall)

Meldrew Hall, gardens and shaft area:

Code:

j-i-i-i-
      |
      i
      |
     -i-
      |
      i
      |
     -i-i-i-i-i-m
          |
          i
          |
      g-f-b-d-e
        |  \
        h   a-c       u
            |         |
            l-n-o   q-s-t
            |    \ /
            k     p
                  |
                  r

a=Garden Stream
b=Family Tree (plane tree, up to Up the Plane Tree)
c=Beside the Wall (potted shrub, one-way path down to Wine Cellar)
d=Lawn Ornaments (dark well too small to enter, miniature, weed killer bottle, prayer book, romantic novel, green branch, gas mask)
e=Mosaic [can be lagach-ed]
f=Clearing
g=Garage (garden roller)
h=Vegetable Garden (runner bean plant)
i=Maze
j=Viewpoint Ledge (plaque)
k=Dark Shaft (dumbwaiter to Storage Room)
l=Dark Passage
m=Patio in Maze (down to Crypt)
n=Sandstone Passage
o=The Octagon (window vent, gilded coffin used to identify rods, scroll)
p=White Hallway (painting of Mad Isaac Meldrewe [can be lagach-ed], elephant's foot umbrella stand)
q=Bricked Path
r=Halfway up the Stairs (up to Servant's Room)
s=Hedgery
t=Croquet Lawn (colored peg, wickets)
u=Summer House (gold watch which is visible but unattainable)

Catacombs below the gardens:

Code:

  a
  |
g b-e-f
| |
d-c

a=Crypt (bronze mural [can be lagach-ed], up to Patio in Maze)
b=Jagged Passage
c=Catacombs (down to Universe Maintenance Room)
d=Contraption Room (sheet of dull amber-colored metal forming north wall, iron panel with 3x5 grid, see-saw of leather baskets, metal hand)
e=Charnel Passage
f=Sarcophagus
g=Contraption Reflection (same as in Contraption Room)

Meldrew Hall, roof:

Code:

b
 \
  a

a=Roof (down to Inside Cupboard)
b=Battlements

Meldrew Hall, ???:

Code:

a=Priest's Hole (one-way path down to Cellar West)

Northeast of the House:

Code:

f-d-e
  |
  c
  |
  b
 /
a

a=Beside the Drive (up/west to Dead End)
b=Public Footpath (down to Hollow)
c=Stone Cross (Old Evans with his lucky mascot)
d=Parish Church (Moonstone)
e=East Side Chapel (statue of Diana)
f=West Side Chapel (you are here; headless adamantine knight statue)

Northeast of the House, Hollow:

Code:

a=Hollow (up to Public Footpath, one-way northwest path to Mosaic)

Northeast of the House, spire:

Code:

a=Out on the Spire

Unreal City:

Code:

  g>b-c
    |
h-d-a-e>f

a=Unreal City
b=Shadowy Hallway (up to Consulting Room)
c=Bohemia (mural [can be lagach-ed])
d=Down by River
e=Near Ring Road (down to Chatelet-les-Halles)
f=Chatelet-les-Halles (map salesman)
g=Consulting Room (down to Shadowy Hallway)
h=On board the Phlebas (saying "time" will take the protagonist to Garden Stream)

Tarot box:

Code:

a e

c
|
b
|
d

f g-h-i
 /  | |
l   k j
    |
    m
    |
    n
   / \
    q o
   \|/
    p

u   v
 \ /
  r
 /|\
t s w

x

y

a=Cups and Glasses (model ship)
b=Aboard Ship (examine model ship; up to Up the Mast)
c=Prow of the Lady Magdalena
d=Stern
e=Ruined Castle Cafe
f=Sea Shore (Andromeda, up to Cliffs)
g=Cliffs (down to Sea Shore)
h=Clifftop Walk
i=Outside Taverna (fig tree)
j=Eraina Taverna (bartender)
k=Wall of Thorns
l=Cave Mouth (obsidian altar, flaming bronze urn)
m=Sacred Earth (south to death by divine wrath)
n=Temple of Zeus
o=East Cloister
p=Inner Sanctum (Homer)
q=down to Cross Centre
r=Cross Centre (down to Oubliette)
s=up to Inner Sanctum
t=Southwest Cross (statue of Dionysus)
u=Northwest Cross (statue of Demeter)
v=Northeast Cross (statue of Poseidon)
w=Southeast Cross (statue of Ares)
x=Oubliette (crushing wall trap; up to Cross Centre)
y=Lighthouse

Alexandria:

Code:

      p-p
     /  |
    p   q
    |
    o
    |
b r-m n
|   |/
a   g
 \ / \
  c   h---j
 / \  |\  |
e   d i k l
|
f

a=Causeway
b=Island of Pharos (down to Jetty)
c=Crossroads
d=A Tower (door)
e=Necropolis (tombstone with empty socket and word "GALITA", down to The Height of Fashion)
f=XIIth Dynasty Pyramid (writings [can be lagach-ed])
g=Outside the Royal Museum
h=The Birdcage of the Muses (pigeonhole)
i=Oil Room (trough of oil)
j=Reading Corridor
k=Geography Room
l=Librarian's Office
m=Outside the Theatre
n=Stadium
o=Outside the Royal Palace of Alexander
p=Lost inside the Palace
q=Lost inside the Palace (say "anoppe" to reach the Palace Balustrade)
r=Warehouses and Port (sailor, engraved die, skiff; enter skiff and type "sail" to go to Garden Stream)

Alexandria, tomb:

Code:

b-a

a=The Height of Fashion (up to Necropolis, down to...?)
b=This Is The Death (blocked slope to the west)

Alexandria, palace balustrade:

Code:

a=Palace Balustrade (astronomical mounting, astrolabe; type "look through eyepiece" to go to Out on the Spire)

Alexandria, Jetty:

Code:

a=Jetty

Hamburg by night:

Code:

    b
   /
  a
  |
e-c-d

f

a=Museum of Arcana
b=Revolving Door
c=Hall of Exhibits (still life [can be lagach-ed])
d=Cabinet Room
e=Dark Staircase (down/south to...?)
f=Coven Cell (goat)

Deaths
Missed the point entirely: 5 (irritated Aunt Jemima by trying to steal her gardening gloves, gave up on the search, broke a pipe and had to call a plumber, lectured by Aunt Jemima for four hours, burned down most of the attic)
Spooked: 1 (haunted by the ghost of Sir Joshua Meldrewe)
Died: 8 (jumped off the mast of the Lady Magdalena without a parachute, spontaneous combustion, brutally sacrificed by a druidic coven, blown to bits by a time bomb, incinerated myself with the Rod of Fire, electrocuted by the wrath of Zeus, crushed into a pancake, epic stealth fail)
Disembodied the entire universe: 1 (meddled with the Planck constant)
Total: 15

Beowulf · #**427** 12-05-2012, 11:21 AM

Can we use the adamantine body parts we've been carrying around on that statue somehow? (Is it missing pieces other than the head?)

Kahran042 · #**428** 12-06-2012, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beowulf

Can we use the adamantine body parts we've been carrying around on that statue somehow? (Is it missing pieces other than the head?)

Let's take a look and see.

>examine knight
The statue is half-skeleton, and you can see clear through the bones.

It doesn't say, but we could try it.

>put hand on statue
The hand fits rather loosely onto the left "wrist" of the adamantine knight.

>put heart on statue
The heart sits well in the so-empty ribcage of the adamantine knight.

The hand wavers and falls off the knight again.

So they fit to a degree, but we'll probably need a head at some point. We have what it takes to find the head, but we also have what it takes to get the gold watch from the summerhouse. Keep in mind that one involves an unexplored exit. So, what do you want me to do next? Keep in mind that the path to getting the watch isn't exactly intuitive, so I might just show it off if that's what you want me to do next. Until next time!

Gerad · #**429** 12-06-2012, 12:17 PM

Let's apologize all extant unexplored exits, though I'm not sure where they are.

Kahran042 · #**430** 12-09-2012, 11:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gerad

Let's apologize all extant unexplored exits, though I'm not sure where they are.

There is only one, actually, but let's check it out anyway.

>e

Parish Church

Set into the floor, and slightly raised, is the Moonstone, an ancient broad flagstone the size of a door, inscribed with a crescent moon.

>s
You unbar the door, and let yourself out.

Stone Cross

Old Evans, the village racing enthusiast, sits on the steps of the memorial, combing the back pages of his "Racing Times" newspaper.

>s

Public Footpath

>d

Hollow

There's a bird's nest at the bottom of the hollow.

>nw

Mosaic

>mosaic, lagach
A swirl of wind snakes out from the Roman mosaic and whisks you away to...

Crypt
A dismal crypt, disused, rainswept and strewn with leaves. Light streams in from the square hole in the roof. There are no bones or urns on show.

The mural stands slightly to one side, revealing a passage leading downward.

>mural, lagach
A swirl of wind snakes out from the bronze mural and whisks you away to...

Bohemia
Flats occupied by starving-but-noble artists can be romantic and stylish despite the squalor. This one, however, is simply a one-room hovel, caked with paint, littered with brushes and improvised easels, and you can't help standing on tiptoe here.

One whole wall is an Impressionist mural painting of a woman with a parasol.

>mural, lagach
A swirl of wind snakes out from the Impressionist painting and whisks you away to...

Hall of Exhibits
A great square gloomy room, just south of the foyer. There are square lintelled doorways east and west. The storm is dark, and the windows are high, but there's just enough light to see by.

A long painted still life graces one wall near a corner.

>painting, lagach
A swirl of wind snakes out from the still life and whisks you away to...

XIIth Dynasty Pyramid
Ransacked, dimly-lit, cramped and empty, this rough-built and uneven burial mound is to the Great Pyramids of Giza (built just a century before) what the summerhouse in your garden is to Windsor Castle. There are only dull painted writings, an unpleasant odour and a passage out to the north.

>n

Necropolis

You stand near the tombstone, which has become rather more interesting now that a flight of steps downward has appeared.

Birds of prey circle high in the night sky, their talons glinting in the moonlight.

>d

The Height of Fashion

One of the sphinxes does have rather a prominent nose, it must be said.

The sphinxes seem to stare balefully at you.

>w
Slightly to your surprise, the sphinxes make no effort to stop you.

This Is The Death

The passage opens out onto the burial chamber below.

>d

Quite an Undertaking
A really luxurious burial chamber, far beneath the entrance court.

A yard-wide square channel runs away fractionally east of north, in an apparently endless stooped passage.

On the west wall are three curious sockets, above a painting of a priest of the half-mythical pharoah Sosostris in full sceptred, grey-clad regalia.

A beautiful gold and blue mummy case, or sarcophagus, rests massively here.

[Your score has just gone up by five points.]

This place is quite interesting. But can you figure out what to do here?

Puzzles:
Getting the mascot from old Evans.
Getting into Madame Sorostris' tower.
Getting the gold watch.

Unexplored paths:
None.

Inventory:
an adamantine hand
a purple sash (being worn)
a gothic-looking iron key (opens the strongbox)
a strongbox (which is open but empty)
a daisy chain (around your neck, made from yellow daisies and causes certain objects to turn into featureless mahogany rods when waved)
a canvas rucksack (which is open, actually a bag of holding)

a spade
a cloak of many colours (has grey lining)
an adamantine heart
a smooth round stone (apparently magnetic)
a model of an animal so ugly you can't bear to look at it
a mystic scroll
a tube with a kappa on (which is empty)
a bird whistle
the Pan pipes
a photographer's flash (which is closed, equipped with a timer mechanism)
a glowing golden orb (misted over, but has images of some sort of crazy chess world)
a papyrus fragment
a Tarot box (which is open but empty)
a croquet mallet
an antique jewellery box (which is open but empty)
a cracked medicine bottle (which is open but empty)
a model golden sceptre
a bunch of nuts
a steel wrench
a silk handkerchief
a marble rose
a hard wooden ball
the Rods of Ice, Returning, Husbandry (charged), Sacrifice, Luck, Fire, Bronze, Infinity and Stalking
seven Tarot cards: the Star, Maiden, Castle, Fool, Drowned Sailor, Ace of Cups and Grim Reaper
a rusty iron key [I](unlocks the grating on the Island of Pharos)[I]
a long wrought iron key
a delicate gold key (unlocks the jewellery box)
a small brass key (unlocks the door from Dark Passage to Garden Stream and the trapdoor in Priest's Hole)
a postcard of the Champs-Elysees
Hobson's classical dictionary
the History of the Meldrews (vol. II)

an electric torch (providing light and closed)
some old gardeners' gloves (being worn)

Score:
It is some time in the winter of 275 B.C., the reign of Ptolemy II, and you are in ancient Alexandria. You have so far scored 368 out of a possible 550, in 1533 turns, giving you the rank of Navigator.

Maps
Meldrew Hall, attic:

Code:

e-c-b-h
 /| |
X j a-d
    |
    f q-p
     \  |
    k-g-l
      | |
    n-i m
      | |
      o r
        |
        s

a=Attic (down to game over)
b=Old Winery
c=Aunt Jemima's Lair (wireless)
d=Servant's Room (scarf)
e=Potting Room (Aunt Jemima)
f=Old Furniture (wrapping paper)
g=Over the East Wing
h=Storage Room (wheel with handle, dumbwaiter leading to Cellar)
i=Disused Observatory (glass ball on telescope stand, smoke detector)
j=Airing Cupboard
k=Dark Room
l=East Annexe
m=Dead End (down/east to Beside the Drive)
n=Library Storage
o=Souvenirs Room (slide projector [contains The Castle], ship in a bottle)
p=Inside Cupboard (big iron fireplace, open skylight with crank handle, up to Roof)
q=Chimney (down to Priest's Hole)
r=Alison's Writing Room (bed)
s=Tiny Balcony
X=game over

Meldrew Hall, cellar:

Code:

c-a-b
  |
  d

a=Cellars (dumbwaiter to Dark Shaft)
b=Wine Cellars
c=Cellar West (locked door leading northwest, down to Hellish Place)
d=Cellars South (robot mouse, hole in wall)

Meldrew Hall, gardens and shaft area:

Code:

j-i-i-i-
      |
      i
      |
     -i-
      |
      i
      |
     -i-i-i-i-i-m
          |
          i
          |
      g-f-b-d-e
        |  \
        h   a-c       u
            |         |
            l-n-o   q-s-t
            |    \ /
            k     p
                  |
                  r

a=Garden Stream
b=Family Tree (plane tree, up to Up the Plane Tree)
c=Beside the Wall (potted shrub, one-way path down to Wine Cellar)
d=Lawn Ornaments (dark well too small to enter, miniature, weed killer bottle, prayer book, romantic novel, green branch, gas mask)
e=Mosaic [can be lagach-ed]
f=Clearing
g=Garage (garden roller)
h=Vegetable Garden (runner bean plant)
i=Maze
j=Viewpoint Ledge (plaque)
k=Dark Shaft (dumbwaiter to Storage Room)
l=Dark Passage
m=Patio in Maze (down to Crypt)
n=Sandstone Passage
o=The Octagon (window vent, gilded coffin used to identify rods, scroll)
p=White Hallway (painting of Mad Isaac Meldrewe [can be lagach-ed], elephant's foot umbrella stand)
q=Bricked Path
r=Halfway up the Stairs (up to Servant's Room)
s=Hedgery
t=Croquet Lawn (colored peg, wickets)
u=Summer House (gold watch which is visible but unattainable)

Catacombs below the gardens:

Code:

  a
  |
g b-e-f
| |
d-c

a=Crypt (bronze mural [can be lagach-ed], up to Patio in Maze)
b=Jagged Passage
c=Catacombs (down to Universe Maintenance Room)
d=Contraption Room (sheet of dull amber-colored metal forming north wall, iron panel with 3x5 grid, see-saw of leather baskets, metal hand)
e=Charnel Passage
f=Sarcophagus
g=Contraption Reflection (same as in Contraption Room)

Meldrew Hall, roof:

Code:

b
 \
  a

a=Roof (down to Inside Cupboard)
b=Battlements

Meldrew Hall, ???:

Code:

a=Priest's Hole (one-way path down to Cellar West)

Northeast of the House:

Code:

f-d-e
  |
  c
  |
  b
 /
a

a=Beside the Drive (up/west to Dead End)
b=Public Footpath (down to Hollow)
c=Stone Cross (Old Evans with his lucky mascot)
d=Parish Church (Moonstone)
e=East Side Chapel (statue of Diana)
f=West Side Chapel (you are here; headless adamantine knight statue)

Northeast of the House, Hollow:

Code:

a=Hollow (up to Public Footpath, one-way northwest path to Mosaic)

Northeast of the House, spire:

Code:

a=Out on the Spire

Unreal City:

Code:

  g>b-c
    |
h-d-a-e>f

a=Unreal City
b=Shadowy Hallway (up to Consulting Room)
c=Bohemia (mural [can be lagach-ed])
d=Down by River
e=Near Ring Road (down to Chatelet-les-Halles)
f=Chatelet-les-Halles (map salesman)
g=Consulting Room (down to Shadowy Hallway)
h=On board the Phlebas (saying "time" will take the protagonist to Garden Stream)

Tarot box:

Code:

a e

c
|
b
|
d

f g-h-i
 /  | |
l   k j
    |
    m
    |
    n
   / \
    q o
   \|/
    p

u   v
 \ /
  r
 /|\
t s w

x

y

a=Cups and Glasses (model ship)
b=Aboard Ship (examine model ship; up to Up the Mast)
c=Prow of the Lady Magdalena
d=Stern
e=Ruined Castle Cafe
f=Sea Shore (Andromeda, up to Cliffs)
g=Cliffs (down to Sea Shore)
h=Clifftop Walk
i=Outside Taverna (fig tree)
j=Eraina Taverna (bartender)
k=Wall of Thorns
l=Cave Mouth (obsidian altar, flaming bronze urn)
m=Sacred Earth (south to death by divine wrath)
n=Temple of Zeus
o=East Cloister
p=Inner Sanctum (Homer)
q=down to Cross Centre
r=Cross Centre (down to Oubliette)
s=up to Inner Sanctum
t=Southwest Cross (statue of Dionysus)
u=Northwest Cross (statue of Demeter)
v=Northeast Cross (statue of Poseidon)
w=Southeast Cross (statue of Ares)
x=Oubliette (crushing wall trap; up to Cross Centre)
y=Lighthouse

Alexandria:

Code:

      p-p
     /  |
    p   q
    |
    o
    |
b r-m n
|   |/
a   g
 \ / \
  c   h---j
 / \  |\  |
e   d i k l
|
f

a=Causeway
b=Island of Pharos (down to Jetty)
c=Crossroads
d=A Tower (door)
e=Necropolis (tombstone with empty socket and word "GALITA", down to The Height of Fashion)
f=XIIth Dynasty Pyramid (writings [can be lagach-ed])
g=Outside the Royal Museum
h=The Birdcage of the Muses (pigeonhole)
i=Oil Room (trough of oil)
j=Reading Corridor
k=Geography Room
l=Librarian's Office
m=Outside the Theatre
n=Stadium
o=Outside the Royal Palace of Alexander
p=Lost inside the Palace
q=Lost inside the Palace (say "anoppe" to reach the Palace Balustrade)
r=Warehouses and Port (sailor, engraved die, skiff; enter skiff and type "sail" to go to Garden Stream)

Alexandria, tomb:

Code:

c-b-a

a=The Height of Fashion (up to Necropolis)
b=This Is The Death (blocked slope to the west)
c=Quite An Undertaking (sarcophagus, three sockets)

Alexandria, palace balustrade:

Code:

a=Palace Balustrade (astronomical mounting, astrolabe; type "look through eyepiece" to go to Out on the Spire)

Alexandria, Jetty:

Code:

a=Jetty

Hamburg by night:

Code:

    b
   /
  a
  |
e-c-d

f

a=Museum of Arcana
b=Revolving Door
c=Hall of Exhibits (still life [can be lagach-ed])
d=Cabinet Room
e=Dark Staircase (down/south to...?)
f=Coven Cell (goat)

Deaths
Missed the point entirely: 5 (irritated Aunt Jemima by trying to steal her gardening gloves, gave up on the search, broke a pipe and had to call a plumber, lectured by Aunt Jemima for four hours, burned down most of the attic)
Spooked: 1 (haunted by the ghost of Sir Joshua Meldrewe)
Died: 8 (jumped off the mast of the Lady Magdalena without a parachute, spontaneous combustion, brutally sacrificed by a druidic coven, blown to bits by a time bomb, incinerated myself with the Rod of Fire, electrocuted by the wrath of Zeus, crushed into a pancake, epic stealth fail)
Disembodied the entire universe: 1 (meddled with the Planck constant)
Total: 15[/QUOTE]

Beowulf · #**431** 12-10-2012, 08:58 AM

Examine the sockets, the painting and the sarcophagus.

I'm going to guess the model sceptre plays a role here, because apparently sceptres are important to this pharoah.

Mogri · #**432** 12-10-2012, 11:45 AM

Open sarcophagus, because what could possibly go wrong

Kahran042 · #**433** 12-11-2012, 12:01 PM

All good suggestions. Let's give 'em a try.

>examine sockets
Which do you mean, the first socket, the second socket or the third socket?

Well, might as well examine each of them.

>first
Above the first socket is the single word "thu".

>examine second socket
Above the second socket is the single word "thu".

>examine third socket
Above the third socket is the single word "thu".

"Thu"...now where have we seen this word before? But there are more things to examine, so let's do that.

>examine painting
Drawn in the odd aspect favoured by the Egyptians, who believed in ideal angles rather than accurate drawing. The sceptre, only half the size of the large ones you once saw in the British Museum, looks oddly familiar.

This close to the wall, you notice words written above the three sockets.

Come to think of it, our sceptre is described as a "model" sceptre...

>examine sarcophagus
Golden, kingfisher-blue, smoothly curved, immensely heavy, beautiful. And final, and dead.

Since this isn't Infidel, there shouldn't be any problem from opening it...

>open sarcophagus
The lid must weigh a ton. You can't shift it.

Well, darn. There must be some way to get it open, but how? I will say that there are clues as to how to get it in previous posts, but can you figure them out?

Puzzles:
Getting the mascot from old Evans.
Getting into Madame Sorostris' tower.
Getting the gold watch.
Opening the sarcophagus.

Unexplored paths:
None.

Inventory:
an adamantine hand
a purple sash (being worn)
a gothic-looking iron key (opens the strongbox)
a strongbox (which is open but empty)
a daisy chain (around your neck, made from yellow daisies and causes certain objects to turn into featureless mahogany rods when waved)
a canvas rucksack (which is open, actually a bag of holding)

a spade
a cloak of many colours (has grey lining)
an adamantine heart
a smooth round stone (apparently magnetic)
a model of an animal so ugly you can't bear to look at it
a mystic scroll
a tube with a kappa on (which is empty)
a bird whistle
the Pan pipes
a photographer's flash (which is closed, equipped with a timer mechanism)
a glowing golden orb (misted over, but has images of some sort of crazy chess world)
a papyrus fragment
a Tarot box (which is open but empty)
a croquet mallet
an antique jewellery box (which is open but empty)
a cracked medicine bottle (which is open but empty)
a model golden sceptre
a bunch of nuts
a steel wrench
a silk handkerchief
a marble rose
a hard wooden ball
the Rods of Ice, Returning, Husbandry (charged), Sacrifice, Luck, Fire, Bronze, Infinity and Stalking
seven Tarot cards: the Star, Maiden, Castle, Fool, Drowned Sailor, Ace of Cups and Grim Reaper
a rusty iron key [I](unlocks the grating on the Island of Pharos)[I]
a long wrought iron key
a delicate gold key (unlocks the jewellery box)
a small brass key (unlocks the door from Dark Passage to Garden Stream and the trapdoor in Priest's Hole)
a postcard of the Champs-Elysees
Hobson's classical dictionary
the History of the Meldrews (vol. II)

an electric torch (providing light and closed)
some old gardeners' gloves (being worn)

Score:
It is some time in the winter of 275 B.C., the reign of Ptolemy II, and you are in ancient Alexandria. You have so far scored 368 out of a possible 550, in 1539 turns, giving you the rank of Navigator.

Maps
Meldrew Hall, attic:

Code:

e-c-b-h
 /| |
X j a-d
    |
    f q-p
     \  |
    k-g-l
      | |
    n-i m
      | |
      o r
        |
        s

a=Attic (down to game over)
b=Old Winery
c=Aunt Jemima's Lair (wireless)
d=Servant's Room (scarf)
e=Potting Room (Aunt Jemima)
f=Old Furniture (wrapping paper)
g=Over the East Wing
h=Storage Room (wheel with handle, dumbwaiter leading to Cellar)
i=Disused Observatory (glass ball on telescope stand, smoke detector)
j=Airing Cupboard
k=Dark Room
l=East Annexe
m=Dead End (down/east to Beside the Drive)
n=Library Storage
o=Souvenirs Room (slide projector [contains The Castle], ship in a bottle)
p=Inside Cupboard (big iron fireplace, open skylight with crank handle, up to Roof)
q=Chimney (down to Priest's Hole)
r=Alison's Writing Room (bed)
s=Tiny Balcony
X=game over

Meldrew Hall, cellar:

Code:

c-a-b
  |
  d

a=Cellars (dumbwaiter to Dark Shaft)
b=Wine Cellars
c=Cellar West (locked door leading northwest, down to Hellish Place)
d=Cellars South (robot mouse, hole in wall)

Meldrew Hall, gardens and shaft area:

Code:

j-i-i-i-
      |
      i
      |
     -i-
      |
      i
      |
     -i-i-i-i-i-m
          |
          i
          |
      g-f-b-d-e
        |  \
        h   a-c       u
            |         |
            l-n-o   q-s-t
            |    \ /
            k     p
                  |
                  r

a=Garden Stream
b=Family Tree (plane tree, up to Up the Plane Tree)
c=Beside the Wall (potted shrub, one-way path down to Wine Cellar)
d=Lawn Ornaments (dark well too small to enter, miniature, weed killer bottle, prayer book, romantic novel, green branch, gas mask)
e=Mosaic [can be lagach-ed]
f=Clearing
g=Garage (garden roller)
h=Vegetable Garden (runner bean plant)
i=Maze
j=Viewpoint Ledge (plaque)
k=Dark Shaft (dumbwaiter to Storage Room)
l=Dark Passage
m=Patio in Maze (down to Crypt)
n=Sandstone Passage
o=The Octagon (window vent, gilded coffin used to identify rods, scroll)
p=White Hallway (painting of Mad Isaac Meldrewe [can be lagach-ed], elephant's foot umbrella stand)
q=Bricked Path
r=Halfway up the Stairs (up to Servant's Room)
s=Hedgery
t=Croquet Lawn (colored peg, wickets)
u=Summer House (gold watch which is visible but unattainable)

Catacombs below the gardens:

Code:

  a
  |
g b-e-f
| |
d-c

a=Crypt (bronze mural [can be lagach-ed], up to Patio in Maze)
b=Jagged Passage
c=Catacombs (down to Universe Maintenance Room)
d=Contraption Room (sheet of dull amber-colored metal forming north wall, iron panel with 3x5 grid, see-saw of leather baskets, metal hand)
e=Charnel Passage
f=Sarcophagus
g=Contraption Reflection (same as in Contraption Room)

Meldrew Hall, roof:

Code:

b
 \
  a

a=Roof (down to Inside Cupboard)
b=Battlements

Meldrew Hall, ???:

Code:

a=Priest's Hole (one-way path down to Cellar West)

Northeast of the House:

Code:

f-d-e
  |
  c
  |
  b
 /
a

a=Beside the Drive (up/west to Dead End)
b=Public Footpath (down to Hollow)
c=Stone Cross (Old Evans with his lucky mascot)
d=Parish Church (Moonstone)
e=East Side Chapel (statue of Diana)
f=West Side Chapel (headless adamantine knight statue)

Northeast of the House, Hollow:

Code:

a=Hollow (up to Public Footpath, one-way northwest path to Mosaic)

Northeast of the House, spire:

Code:

a=Out on the Spire

Unreal City:

Code:

  g>b-c
    |
h-d-a-e>f

a=Unreal City
b=Shadowy Hallway (up to Consulting Room)
c=Bohemia (mural [can be lagach-ed])
d=Down by River
e=Near Ring Road (down to Chatelet-les-Halles)
f=Chatelet-les-Halles (map salesman)
g=Consulting Room (down to Shadowy Hallway)
h=On board the Phlebas (saying "time" will take the protagonist to Garden Stream)

Tarot box:

Code:

a e

c
|
b
|
d

f g-h-i
 /  | |
l   k j
    |
    m
    |
    n
   / \
    q o
   \|/
    p

u   v
 \ /
  r
 /|\
t s w

x

y

a=Cups and Glasses (model ship)
b=Aboard Ship (examine model ship; up to Up the Mast)
c=Prow of the Lady Magdalena
d=Stern
e=Ruined Castle Cafe
f=Sea Shore (Andromeda, up to Cliffs)
g=Cliffs (down to Sea Shore)
h=Clifftop Walk
i=Outside Taverna (fig tree)
j=Eraina Taverna (bartender)
k=Wall of Thorns
l=Cave Mouth (obsidian altar, flaming bronze urn)
m=Sacred Earth (south to death by divine wrath)
n=Temple of Zeus
o=East Cloister
p=Inner Sanctum (Homer)
q=down to Cross Centre
r=Cross Centre (down to Oubliette)
s=up to Inner Sanctum
t=Southwest Cross (statue of Dionysus)
u=Northwest Cross (statue of Demeter)
v=Northeast Cross (statue of Poseidon)
w=Southeast Cross (statue of Ares)
x=Oubliette (crushing wall trap; up to Cross Centre)
y=Lighthouse

Alexandria:

Code:

      p-p
     /  |
    p   q
    |
    o
    |
b r-m n
|   |/
a   g
 \ / \
  c   h---j
 / \  |\  |
e   d i k l
|
f

a=Causeway
b=Island of Pharos (down to Jetty)
c=Crossroads
d=A Tower (door)
e=Necropolis (tombstone with empty socket and word "GALITA", down to The Height of Fashion)
f=XIIth Dynasty Pyramid (writings [can be lagach-ed])
g=Outside the Royal Museum
h=The Birdcage of the Muses (pigeonhole)
i=Oil Room (trough of oil)
j=Reading Corridor
k=Geography Room
l=Librarian's Office
m=Outside the Theatre
n=Stadium
o=Outside the Royal Palace of Alexander
p=Lost inside the Palace
q=Lost inside the Palace (say "anoppe" to reach the Palace Balustrade)
r=Warehouses and Port (sailor, engraved die, skiff; enter skiff and type "sail" to go to Garden Stream)

Alexandria, tomb:

Code:

c-b-a

a=The Height of Fashion (up to Necropolis)
b=This Is The Death (blocked slope to the west)
c=Quite An Undertaking (you are here; sarcophagus, three sockets each marked with the word "thu")

Alexandria, palace balustrade:

Code:

a=Palace Balustrade (astronomical mounting, astrolabe; type "look through eyepiece" to go to Out on the Spire)

Alexandria, Jetty:

Code:

a=Jetty

Hamburg by night:

Code:

    b
   /
  a
  |
e-c-d

f

a=Museum of Arcana
b=Revolving Door
c=Hall of Exhibits (still life [can be lagach-ed])
d=Cabinet Room
e=Dark Staircase (down/south to...?)
f=Coven Cell (goat)

Deaths
Missed the point entirely: 5 (irritated Aunt Jemima by trying to steal her gardening gloves, gave up on the search, broke a pipe and had to call a plumber, lectured by Aunt Jemima for four hours, burned down most of the attic)
Spooked: 1 (haunted by the ghost of Sir Joshua Meldrewe)
Died: 8 (jumped off the mast of the Lady Magdalena without a parachute, spontaneous combustion, brutally sacrificed by a druidic coven, blown to bits by a time bomb, incinerated myself with the Rod of Fire, electrocuted by the wrath of Zeus, crushed into a pancake, epic stealth fail)
Disembodied the entire universe: 1 (meddled with the Planck constant)
Total: 15

By the way, there is also one rather unintuitive thing to do down in this tomb. Does anyone mind if I just show it off next time?

Gerad · #**434** 12-11-2012, 12:10 PM

Thu is number 1. So put the scepter in the first socket?

Fine with me if you show off the other unintuitive thing. Has anyone ever beaten this whole game without spoilers?

Beowulf · #**435** 12-14-2012, 10:13 AM

I'm generally cool with you showing things off, even if we haven't suggested them. And I suspect Gerad's onto something with those sockets and the number system.

Kahran042 · #**436** 12-14-2012, 04:20 PM

I'll start this update by the unintuitive thing I mentioned earlier. First, you have to go in a random direction.

>n
The passage seems endless, and you are obliged to retreat before the air runs out. You trip over something as you do, cursing under your breath.

Now, you have to "look" to see what you tripped over.

>look

Quite an Undertaking
A really luxurious burial chamber, far beneath the entrance court.

A yard-wide square channel runs away fractionally east of north, in an apparently endless stooped passage.

On the west wall are three curious sockets, above a painting of a priest of the half-mythical pharoah Sosostris in full sceptred, grey-clad regalia.

You seem to have dislodged one of the wooden beams used by the tomb's builders: a useful length of greenish oak.

A beautiful gold and blue mummy case, or sarcophagus, rests massively here.

Well, if it's useful...

>get beam
(putting the strongbox into the canvas rucksack to make room)
Taken.

Now to try out the sceptre and the sockets.

>get sceptre
(putting the gothic-looking iron key into the canvas rucksack to make room)
Taken.

>put it in first socket
It fits perfectly (wouldn't you know it).

However, there is more to it than this, which I'll show off next time. See you then!

Puzzles:
Getting the mascot from old Evans.
Getting into Madame Sorostris' tower.
Getting the gold watch.
Opening the sarcophagus.

Unexplored paths:
None.

Inventory:
a green oak quarterstaff
an adamantine hand
a purple sash (being worn)
a daisy chain (around your neck, made from yellow daisies and causes certain objects to turn into featureless mahogany rods when waved)
a canvas rucksack (which is open, actually a bag of holding)

a strongbox (which is open but empty)
a spade
a cloak of many colours (has grey lining)
an adamantine heart
a smooth round stone (apparently magnetic)
a model of an animal so ugly you can't bear to look at it
a mystic scroll
a tube with a kappa on (which is empty)
a bird whistle
the Pan pipes
a photographer's flash (which is closed, equipped with a timer mechanism)
a glowing golden orb (misted over, but has images of some sort of crazy chess world)
a papyrus fragment
a Tarot box (which is open but empty)
a croquet mallet
an antique jewellery box (which is open but empty)
a cracked medicine bottle (which is open but empty)
a model golden sceptre
a bunch of nuts
a steel wrench
a silk handkerchief
a marble rose
a hard wooden ball
a gothic-looking iron key (opens the strongbox)
a rusty iron key [I](unlocks the grating on the Island of Pharos)[I]
a long wrought iron key
a delicate gold key (unlocks the jewellery box)
a small brass key (unlocks the door from Dark Passage to Garden Stream and the trapdoor in Priest's Hole)
the Rods of Ice, Returning, Husbandry (charged), Sacrifice, Luck, Fire, Bronze, Infinity and Stalking
seven Tarot cards: the Star, Maiden, Castle, Fool, Drowned Sailor, Ace of Cups and Grim Reaper
a postcard of the Champs-Elysees
Hobson's classical dictionary
the History of the Meldrews (vol. II)

an electric torch (providing light and closed)
some old gardeners' gloves (being worn)

Score:
It is some time in the winter of 275 B.C., the reign of Ptolemy II, and you are in ancient Alexandria. You have so far scored 368 out of a possible 550, in 1544 turns, giving you the rank of Navigator.

Maps
Meldrew Hall, attic:

Code:

e-c-b-h
 /| |
X j a-d
    |
    f q-p
     \  |
    k-g-l
      | |
    n-i m
      | |
      o r
        |
        s

a=Attic (down to game over)
b=Old Winery
c=Aunt Jemima's Lair (wireless)
d=Servant's Room (scarf)
e=Potting Room (Aunt Jemima)
f=Old Furniture (wrapping paper)
g=Over the East Wing
h=Storage Room (wheel with handle, dumbwaiter leading to Cellar)
i=Disused Observatory (glass ball on telescope stand, smoke detector)
j=Airing Cupboard
k=Dark Room
l=East Annexe
m=Dead End (down/east to Beside the Drive)
n=Library Storage
o=Souvenirs Room (slide projector [contains The Castle], ship in a bottle)
p=Inside Cupboard (big iron fireplace, open skylight with crank handle, up to Roof)
q=Chimney (down to Priest's Hole)
r=Alison's Writing Room (bed)
s=Tiny Balcony
X=game over

Meldrew Hall, cellar:

Code:

c-a-b
  |
  d

a=Cellars (dumbwaiter to Dark Shaft)
b=Wine Cellars
c=Cellar West (locked door leading northwest, down to Hellish Place)
d=Cellars South (robot mouse, hole in wall)

Meldrew Hall, gardens and shaft area:

Code:

j-i-i-i-
      |
      i
      |
     -i-
      |
      i
      |
     -i-i-i-i-i-m
          |
          i
          |
      g-f-b-d-e
        |  \
        h   a-c       u
            |         |
            l-n-o   q-s-t
            |    \ /
            k     p
                  |
                  r

a=Garden Stream
b=Family Tree (plane tree, up to Up the Plane Tree)
c=Beside the Wall (potted shrub, one-way path down to Wine Cellar)
d=Lawn Ornaments (dark well too small to enter, miniature, weed killer bottle, prayer book, romantic novel, green branch, gas mask)
e=Mosaic [can be lagach-ed]
f=Clearing
g=Garage (garden roller)
h=Vegetable Garden (runner bean plant)
i=Maze
j=Viewpoint Ledge (plaque)
k=Dark Shaft (dumbwaiter to Storage Room)
l=Dark Passage
m=Patio in Maze (down to Crypt)
n=Sandstone Passage
o=The Octagon (window vent, gilded coffin used to identify rods, scroll)
p=White Hallway (painting of Mad Isaac Meldrewe [can be lagach-ed], elephant's foot umbrella stand)
q=Bricked Path
r=Halfway up the Stairs (up to Servant's Room)
s=Hedgery
t=Croquet Lawn (colored peg, wickets)
u=Summer House (gold watch which is visible but unattainable)

Catacombs below the gardens:

Code:

  a
  |
g b-e-f
| |
d-c

a=Crypt (bronze mural [can be lagach-ed], up to Patio in Maze)
b=Jagged Passage
c=Catacombs (down to Universe Maintenance Room)
d=Contraption Room (sheet of dull amber-colored metal forming north wall, iron panel with 3x5 grid, see-saw of leather baskets, metal hand)
e=Charnel Passage
f=Sarcophagus
g=Contraption Reflection (same as in Contraption Room)

Meldrew Hall, roof:

Code:

b
 \
  a

a=Roof (down to Inside Cupboard)
b=Battlements

Meldrew Hall, ???:

Code:

a=Priest's Hole (one-way path down to Cellar West)

Northeast of the House:

Code:

f-d-e
  |
  c
  |
  b
 /
a

a=Beside the Drive (up/west to Dead End)
b=Public Footpath (down to Hollow)
c=Stone Cross (Old Evans with his lucky mascot)
d=Parish Church (Moonstone)
e=East Side Chapel (statue of Diana)
f=West Side Chapel (headless adamantine knight statue)

Northeast of the House, Hollow:

Code:

a=Hollow (up to Public Footpath, one-way northwest path to Mosaic)

Northeast of the House, spire:

Code:

a=Out on the Spire

Unreal City:

Code:

  g>b-c
    |
h-d-a-e>f

a=Unreal City
b=Shadowy Hallway (up to Consulting Room)
c=Bohemia (mural [can be lagach-ed])
d=Down by River
e=Near Ring Road (down to Chatelet-les-Halles)
f=Chatelet-les-Halles (map salesman)
g=Consulting Room (down to Shadowy Hallway)
h=On board the Phlebas (saying "time" will take the protagonist to Garden Stream)

Tarot box:

Code:

a e

c
|
b
|
d

f g-h-i
 /  | |
l   k j
    |
    m
    |
    n
   / \
    q o
   \|/
    p

u   v
 \ /
  r
 /|\
t s w

x

y

a=Cups and Glasses (model ship)
b=Aboard Ship (examine model ship; up to Up the Mast)
c=Prow of the Lady Magdalena
d=Stern
e=Ruined Castle Cafe
f=Sea Shore (Andromeda, up to Cliffs)
g=Cliffs (down to Sea Shore)
h=Clifftop Walk
i=Outside Taverna (fig tree)
j=Eraina Taverna (bartender)
k=Wall of Thorns
l=Cave Mouth (obsidian altar, flaming bronze urn)
m=Sacred Earth (south to death by divine wrath)
n=Temple of Zeus
o=East Cloister
p=Inner Sanctum (Homer)
q=down to Cross Centre
r=Cross Centre (down to Oubliette)
s=up to Inner Sanctum
t=Southwest Cross (statue of Dionysus)
u=Northwest Cross (statue of Demeter)
v=Northeast Cross (statue of Poseidon)
w=Southeast Cross (statue of Ares)
x=Oubliette (crushing wall trap; up to Cross Centre)
y=Lighthouse

Alexandria:

Code:

      p-p
     /  |
    p   q
    |
    o
    |
b r-m n
|   |/
a   g
 \ / \
  c   h---j
 / \  |\  |
e   d i k l
|
f

a=Causeway
b=Island of Pharos (down to Jetty)
c=Crossroads
d=A Tower (door)
e=Necropolis (tombstone with empty socket and word "GALITA", down to The Height of Fashion)
f=XIIth Dynasty Pyramid (writings [can be lagach-ed])
g=Outside the Royal Museum
h=The Birdcage of the Muses (pigeonhole)
i=Oil Room (trough of oil)
j=Reading Corridor
k=Geography Room
l=Librarian's Office
m=Outside the Theatre
n=Stadium
o=Outside the Royal Palace of Alexander
p=Lost inside the Palace
q=Lost inside the Palace (say "anoppe" to reach the Palace Balustrade)
r=Warehouses and Port (sailor, engraved die, skiff; enter skiff and type "sail" to go to Garden Stream)

Alexandria, tomb:

Code:

c-b-a

a=The Height of Fashion (up to Necropolis)
b=This Is The Death (blocked slope to the west)
c=Quite An Undertaking (you are here; sarcophagus, three sockets each marked with the word "thu")

Alexandria, palace balustrade:

Code:

a=Palace Balustrade (astronomical mounting, astrolabe; type "look through eyepiece" to go to Out on the Spire)

Alexandria, Jetty:

Code:

a=Jetty

Hamburg by night:

Code:

    b
   /
  a
  |
e-c-d

f

a=Museum of Arcana
b=Revolving Door
c=Hall of Exhibits (still life [can be lagach-ed])
d=Cabinet Room
e=Dark Staircase (down/south to...?)
f=Coven Cell (goat)

Deaths
Missed the point entirely: 5 (irritated Aunt Jemima by trying to steal her gardening gloves, gave up on the search, broke a pipe and had to call a plumber, lectured by Aunt Jemima for four hours, burned down most of the attic)
Spooked: 1 (haunted by the ghost of Sir Joshua Meldrewe)
Died: 8 (jumped off the mast of the Lady Magdalena without a parachute, spontaneous combustion, brutally sacrificed by a druidic coven, blown to bits by a time bomb, incinerated myself with the Rod of Fire, electrocuted by the wrath of Zeus, crushed into a pancake, epic stealth fail)
Disembodied the entire universe: 1 (meddled with the Planck constant)
Total: 15

Beowulf · #**437** 12-14-2012, 04:40 PM

Quick check: Can we wave the beam? (Did we find all the rods?)

Gerad · #**438** 12-14-2012, 04:51 PM

The beam's gotta be a rod.

Pull on the scepter!

Kahran042 · #**439** 12-16-2012, 01:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gerad

The beam's gotta be a rod.

I'm pretty sure we've found all the rods, but I'll give it a jolly good try.

>wave beam
It rumbles in your hands, but nothing else happens.

Guess it's not a rod. But wasn't one of our rods a quarterstaff of another sort before becoming a rod?
It totally was.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gerad

Pull on the scepter!

>pull sceptre
Nothing obvious happens.

You're close, but not quite. I think this is a guess-the-verb puzzle, so I'll show off what you're supposed to do with it.

>turn sceptre
You crank the sceptre round, lose control for a moment, and some primitive mechanism spins. The word comes to rest as "mach".

From this, can you figure out what to do here? Hint: It involves the description of a piece of art in Alexandria.

Kahran042 · #**440** 12-21-2012, 12:10 AM

It's been five days, so I'll give you another hint. The piece of art in question is the painted writings in the XIIth Dynasty Pyramid, which were described as follows:

Quote:

One of the so-called Pyramid Texts making up the so-called "Book of the Dead". This dramatic passage seems to be devoted to wise men preparing their bodies to rise in the afterlife, anointing themselves with oil. An interesting motif of ten strokes, arranged

III IIIIII I

catches the eye.

From this, can you figure out what to do with the sceptre and the sockets?

Gerad · #**441** 12-21-2012, 09:48 AM

OK, now it seems pretty straightforward.

Turn the scepter once more. Put it in the second socket and turn it five times.

Kahran042 · #**442** 12-21-2012, 12:43 PM

Happy Apocalypse Day! Gerad has figured out the solution to the socket puzzle thanks to my not-so-subtle hint, so let's get down to business.

>turn sceptre
You crank the sceptre round, lose control for a moment, and some primitive mechanism spins. The word comes to rest as "si".

>get sceptre
Taken.

>put it in second socket
It fits perfectly (wouldn't you know it).

>turn sceptre
You crank the sceptre round, lose control for a moment, and some primitive mechanism spins. The word comes to rest as "huth".

With an awful groaning noise, the coffin lid heaves open. And it is...

Empty!

Apparently, the sceptre stops on a random number each time you turn it, potentially making this puzzle just as annoying as getting the numbers needed to solve it. I just got lucky this time.

Anyway, what to do next time?

Puzzles:
Getting the mascot from old Evans.
Getting into Madame Sorostris' tower.
Getting the gold watch.

Unexplored paths:
None.

Inventory:
a green oak quarterstaff
an adamantine hand
a purple sash (being worn)
a daisy chain (around your neck, made from yellow daisies and causes certain objects to turn into featureless mahogany rods when waved)
a canvas rucksack (which is open, actually a bag of holding)

a strongbox (which is open but empty)
a spade
a cloak of many colours (has grey lining)
an adamantine heart
a smooth round stone (apparently magnetic)
a model of an animal so ugly you can't bear to look at it
a mystic scroll
a tube with a kappa on (which is empty)
a bird whistle
the Pan pipes
a photographer's flash (which is closed, equipped with a timer mechanism)
a glowing golden orb (misted over, but has images of some sort of crazy chess world)
a papyrus fragment
a Tarot box (which is open but empty)
a croquet mallet
an antique jewellery box (which is open but empty)
a cracked medicine bottle (which is open but empty)
a bunch of nuts
a steel wrench
a silk handkerchief
a marble rose
a hard wooden ball
a gothic-looking iron key (opens the strongbox)
a rusty iron key [I](unlocks the grating on the Island of Pharos)[I]
a long wrought iron key
a delicate gold key (unlocks the jewellery box)
a small brass key (unlocks the door from Dark Passage to Garden Stream and the trapdoor in Priest's Hole)
the Rods of Ice, Returning, Husbandry (charged), Sacrifice, Luck, Fire, Bronze, Infinity and Stalking
seven Tarot cards: the Star, Maiden, Castle, Fool, Drowned Sailor, Ace of Cups and Grim Reaper
a postcard of the Champs-Elysees
Hobson's classical dictionary
the History of the Meldrews (vol. II)

an electric torch (providing light and closed)
some old gardeners' gloves (being worn)

Score:
It is some time in the winter of 275 B.C., the reign of Ptolemy II, and you are in ancient Alexandria. You have so far scored 368 out of a possible 550, in 1551 turns, giving you the rank of Navigator.

Maps
Meldrew Hall, attic:

Code:

e-c-b-h
 /| |
X j a-d
    |
    f q-p
     \  |
    k-g-l
      | |
    n-i m
      | |
      o r
        |
        s

a=Attic (down to game over)
b=Old Winery
c=Aunt Jemima's Lair (wireless)
d=Servant's Room (scarf)
e=Potting Room (Aunt Jemima)
f=Old Furniture (wrapping paper)
g=Over the East Wing
h=Storage Room (wheel with handle, dumbwaiter leading to Cellar)
i=Disused Observatory (glass ball on telescope stand, smoke detector)
j=Airing Cupboard
k=Dark Room
l=East Annexe
m=Dead End (down/east to Beside the Drive)
n=Library Storage
o=Souvenirs Room (slide projector [contains The Castle], ship in a bottle)
p=Inside Cupboard (big iron fireplace, open skylight with crank handle, up to Roof)
q=Chimney (down to Priest's Hole)
r=Alison's Writing Room (bed)
s=Tiny Balcony
X=game over

Meldrew Hall, cellar:

Code:

c-a-b
  |
  d

a=Cellars (dumbwaiter to Dark Shaft)
b=Wine Cellars
c=Cellar West (locked door leading northwest, down to Hellish Place)
d=Cellars South (robot mouse, hole in wall)

Meldrew Hall, gardens and shaft area:

Code:

j-i-i-i-
      |
      i
      |
     -i-
      |
      i
      |
     -i-i-i-i-i-m
          |
          i
          |
      g-f-b-d-e
        |  \
        h   a-c       u
            |         |
            l-n-o   q-s-t
            |    \ /
            k     p
                  |
                  r

a=Garden Stream
b=Family Tree (plane tree, up to Up the Plane Tree)
c=Beside the Wall (potted shrub, one-way path down to Wine Cellar)
d=Lawn Ornaments (dark well too small to enter, miniature, weed killer bottle, prayer book, romantic novel, green branch, gas mask)
e=Mosaic [can be lagach-ed]
f=Clearing
g=Garage (garden roller)
h=Vegetable Garden (runner bean plant)
i=Maze
j=Viewpoint Ledge (plaque)
k=Dark Shaft (dumbwaiter to Storage Room)
l=Dark Passage
m=Patio in Maze (down to Crypt)
n=Sandstone Passage
o=The Octagon (window vent, gilded coffin used to identify rods, scroll)
p=White Hallway (painting of Mad Isaac Meldrewe [can be lagach-ed], elephant's foot umbrella stand)
q=Bricked Path
r=Halfway up the Stairs (up to Servant's Room)
s=Hedgery
t=Croquet Lawn (colored peg, wickets)
u=Summer House (gold watch which is visible but unattainable)

Catacombs below the gardens:

Code:

  a
  |
g b-e-f
| |
d-c

a=Crypt (bronze mural [can be lagach-ed], up to Patio in Maze)
b=Jagged Passage
c=Catacombs (down to Universe Maintenance Room)
d=Contraption Room (sheet of dull amber-colored metal forming north wall, iron panel with 3x5 grid, see-saw of leather baskets, metal hand)
e=Charnel Passage
f=Sarcophagus
g=Contraption Reflection (same as in Contraption Room)

Meldrew Hall, roof:

Code:

b
 \
  a

a=Roof (down to Inside Cupboard)
b=Battlements

Meldrew Hall, ???:

Code:

a=Priest's Hole (one-way path down to Cellar West)

Northeast of the House:

Code:

f-d-e
  |
  c
  |
  b
 /
a

a=Beside the Drive (up/west to Dead End)
b=Public Footpath (down to Hollow)
c=Stone Cross (Old Evans with his lucky mascot)
d=Parish Church (Moonstone)
e=East Side Chapel (statue of Diana)
f=West Side Chapel (headless adamantine knight statue)

Northeast of the House, Hollow:

Code:

a=Hollow (up to Public Footpath, one-way northwest path to Mosaic)

Northeast of the House, spire:

Code:

a=Out on the Spire

Unreal City:

Code:

  g>b-c
    |
h-d-a-e>f

a=Unreal City
b=Shadowy Hallway (up to Consulting Room)
c=Bohemia (mural [can be lagach-ed])
d=Down by River
e=Near Ring Road (down to Chatelet-les-Halles)
f=Chatelet-les-Halles (map salesman)
g=Consulting Room (down to Shadowy Hallway)
h=On board the Phlebas (saying "time" will take the protagonist to Garden Stream)

Tarot box:

Code:

a e

c
|
b
|
d

f g-h-i
 /  | |
l   k j
    |
    m
    |
    n
   / \
    q o
   \|/
    p

u   v
 \ /
  r
 /|\
t s w

x

y

a=Cups and Glasses (model ship)
b=Aboard Ship (examine model ship; up to Up the Mast)
c=Prow of the Lady Magdalena
d=Stern
e=Ruined Castle Cafe
f=Sea Shore (Andromeda, up to Cliffs)
g=Cliffs (down to Sea Shore)
h=Clifftop Walk
i=Outside Taverna (fig tree)
j=Eraina Taverna (bartender)
k=Wall of Thorns
l=Cave Mouth (obsidian altar, flaming bronze urn)
m=Sacred Earth (south to death by divine wrath)
n=Temple of Zeus
o=East Cloister
p=Inner Sanctum (Homer)
q=down to Cross Centre
r=Cross Centre (down to Oubliette)
s=up to Inner Sanctum
t=Southwest Cross (statue of Dionysus)
u=Northwest Cross (statue of Demeter)
v=Northeast Cross (statue of Poseidon)
w=Southeast Cross (statue of Ares)
x=Oubliette (crushing wall trap; up to Cross Centre)
y=Lighthouse

Alexandria:

Code:

      p-p
     /  |
    p   q
    |
    o
    |
b r-m n
|   |/
a   g
 \ / \
  c   h---j
 / \  |\  |
e   d i k l
|
f

a=Causeway
b=Island of Pharos (down to Jetty)
c=Crossroads
d=A Tower (door)
e=Necropolis (tombstone with empty socket and word "GALITA", down to The Height of Fashion)
f=XIIth Dynasty Pyramid (writings [can be lagach-ed])
g=Outside the Royal Museum
h=The Birdcage of the Muses (pigeonhole)
i=Oil Room (trough of oil)
j=Reading Corridor
k=Geography Room
l=Librarian's Office
m=Outside the Theatre
n=Stadium
o=Outside the Royal Palace of Alexander
p=Lost inside the Palace
q=Lost inside the Palace (say "anoppe" to reach the Palace Balustrade)
r=Warehouses and Port (sailor, engraved die, skiff; enter skiff and type "sail" to go to Garden Stream)

Alexandria, tomb:

Code:

c-b-a

a=The Height of Fashion (up to Necropolis)
b=This Is The Death (blocked slope to the west)
c=Quite An Undertaking (you are here; sarcophagus)

Alexandria, palace balustrade:

Code:

a=Palace Balustrade (astronomical mounting, astrolabe; type "look through eyepiece" to go to Out on the Spire)

Alexandria, Jetty:

Code:

a=Jetty

Hamburg by night:

Code:

    b
   /
  a
  |
e-c-d

f

a=Museum of Arcana
b=Revolving Door
c=Hall of Exhibits (still life [can be lagach-ed])
d=Cabinet Room
e=Dark Staircase (down/south to...?)
f=Coven Cell (goat)

Deaths
Missed the point entirely: 5 (irritated Aunt Jemima by trying to steal her gardening gloves, gave up on the search, broke a pipe and had to call a plumber, lectured by Aunt Jemima for four hours, burned down most of the attic)
Spooked: 1 (haunted by the ghost of Sir Joshua Meldrewe)
Died: 8 (jumped off the mast of the Lady Magdalena without a parachute, spontaneous combustion, brutally sacrificed by a druidic coven, blown to bits by a time bomb, incinerated myself with the Rod of Fire, electrocuted by the wrath of Zeus, crushed into a pancake, epic stealth fail)
Disembodied the entire universe: 1 (meddled with the Planck constant)
Total: 15

Mogri · #**443** 12-21-2012, 01:31 PM

>enter coffin

Valient · #**444** 12-21-2012, 10:45 PM

Only logical thing to do is fill the coffin with something and wait.

Kahran042 · #**445** 12-22-2012, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valient

Only logical thing to do is fill the coffin with something and wait.

Indeed, and what better to fill it with than me?

>enter sarcophagus
(You can't help feeling that someone has planned all this... and it isn't you.)

You get into the mummy case.

>z
(You are so distracted that common sense takes over and you clamber out of the mummy case.)
Time passes.

You do have to wait, but there's one more thing to do before waiting. It's pretty intuitive, for once, so I'll let you figure it out.

Puzzles:
Getting the mascot from old Evans.
Getting into Madame Sorostris' tower.
Getting the gold watch.
What to do before >wait ing in the closed coffin.

Unexplored paths:
None.

Inventory:
a green oak quarterstaff
an adamantine hand
a purple sash (being worn)
a daisy chain (around your neck, made from yellow daisies and causes certain objects to turn into featureless mahogany rods when waved)
a canvas rucksack (which is open, actually a bag of holding)

a strongbox (which is open but empty)
a spade
a cloak of many colours (has grey lining)
an adamantine heart
a smooth round stone (apparently magnetic)
a model of an animal so ugly you can't bear to look at it
a mystic scroll
a tube with a kappa on (which is empty)
a bird whistle
the Pan pipes
a photographer's flash (which is closed, equipped with a timer mechanism)
a glowing golden orb (misted over, but has images of some sort of crazy chess world)
a papyrus fragment
a Tarot box (which is open but empty)
a croquet mallet
an antique jewellery box (which is open but empty)
a cracked medicine bottle (which is open but empty)
a model golden sceptre
a bunch of nuts
a steel wrench
a silk handkerchief
a marble rose
a hard wooden ball
a gothic-looking iron key (opens the strongbox)
a rusty iron key [I](unlocks the grating on the Island of Pharos)[I]
a long wrought iron key
a delicate gold key (unlocks the jewellery box)
a small brass key (unlocks the door from Dark Passage to Garden Stream and the trapdoor in Priest's Hole)
the Rods of Ice, Returning, Husbandry (charged), Sacrifice, Luck, Fire, Bronze, Infinity and Stalking
seven Tarot cards: the Star, Maiden, Castle, Fool, Drowned Sailor, Ace of Cups and Grim Reaper
a postcard of the Champs-Elysees
Hobson's classical dictionary
the History of the Meldrews (vol. II)

an electric torch (providing light and closed)
some old gardeners' gloves (being worn)

Score:
It is some time in the winter of 275 B.C., the reign of Ptolemy II, and you are in ancient Alexandria. You have so far scored 368 out of a possible 550, in 1553 turns, giving you the rank of Navigator.

Maps
Meldrew Hall, attic:

Code:

e-c-b-h
 /| |
X j a-d
    |
    f q-p
     \  |
    k-g-l
      | |
    n-i m
      | |
      o r
        |
        s

a=Attic (down to game over)
b=Old Winery
c=Aunt Jemima's Lair (wireless)
d=Servant's Room (scarf)
e=Potting Room (Aunt Jemima)
f=Old Furniture (wrapping paper)
g=Over the East Wing
h=Storage Room (wheel with handle, dumbwaiter leading to Cellar)
i=Disused Observatory (glass ball on telescope stand, smoke detector)
j=Airing Cupboard
k=Dark Room
l=East Annexe
m=Dead End (down/east to Beside the Drive)
n=Library Storage
o=Souvenirs Room (slide projector [contains The Castle], ship in a bottle)
p=Inside Cupboard (big iron fireplace, open skylight with crank handle, up to Roof)
q=Chimney (down to Priest's Hole)
r=Alison's Writing Room (bed)
s=Tiny Balcony
X=game over

Meldrew Hall, cellar:

Code:

c-a-b
  |
  d

a=Cellars (dumbwaiter to Dark Shaft)
b=Wine Cellars
c=Cellar West (locked door leading northwest, down to Hellish Place)
d=Cellars South (robot mouse, hole in wall)

Meldrew Hall, gardens and shaft area:

Code:

j-i-i-i-
      |
      i
      |
     -i-
      |
      i
      |
     -i-i-i-i-i-m
          |
          i
          |
      g-f-b-d-e
        |  \
        h   a-c       u
            |         |
            l-n-o   q-s-t
            |    \ /
            k     p
                  |
                  r

a=Garden Stream
b=Family Tree (plane tree, up to Up the Plane Tree)
c=Beside the Wall (potted shrub, one-way path down to Wine Cellar)
d=Lawn Ornaments (dark well too small to enter, miniature, weed killer bottle, prayer book, romantic novel, green branch, gas mask)
e=Mosaic [can be lagach-ed]
f=Clearing
g=Garage (garden roller)
h=Vegetable Garden (runner bean plant)
i=Maze
j=Viewpoint Ledge (plaque)
k=Dark Shaft (dumbwaiter to Storage Room)
l=Dark Passage
m=Patio in Maze (down to Crypt)
n=Sandstone Passage
o=The Octagon (window vent, gilded coffin used to identify rods, scroll)
p=White Hallway (painting of Mad Isaac Meldrewe [can be lagach-ed], elephant's foot umbrella stand)
q=Bricked Path
r=Halfway up the Stairs (up to Servant's Room)
s=Hedgery
t=Croquet Lawn (colored peg, wickets)
u=Summer House (gold watch which is visible but unattainable)

Catacombs below the gardens:

Code:

  a
  |
g b-e-f
| |
d-c

a=Crypt (bronze mural [can be lagach-ed], up to Patio in Maze)
b=Jagged Passage
c=Catacombs (down to Universe Maintenance Room)
d=Contraption Room (sheet of dull amber-colored metal forming north wall, iron panel with 3x5 grid, see-saw of leather baskets, metal hand)
e=Charnel Passage
f=Sarcophagus
g=Contraption Reflection (same as in Contraption Room)

Meldrew Hall, roof:

Code:

b
 \
  a

a=Roof (down to Inside Cupboard)
b=Battlements

Meldrew Hall, ???:

Code:

a=Priest's Hole (one-way path down to Cellar West)

Northeast of the House:

Code:

f-d-e
  |
  c
  |
  b
 /
a

a=Beside the Drive (up/west to Dead End)
b=Public Footpath (down to Hollow)
c=Stone Cross (Old Evans with his lucky mascot)
d=Parish Church (Moonstone)
e=East Side Chapel (statue of Diana)
f=West Side Chapel (headless adamantine knight statue)

Northeast of the House, Hollow:

Code:

a=Hollow (up to Public Footpath, one-way northwest path to Mosaic)

Northeast of the House, spire:

Code:

a=Out on the Spire

Unreal City:

Code:

  g>b-c
    |
h-d-a-e>f

a=Unreal City
b=Shadowy Hallway (up to Consulting Room)
c=Bohemia (mural [can be lagach-ed])
d=Down by River
e=Near Ring Road (down to Chatelet-les-Halles)
f=Chatelet-les-Halles (map salesman)
g=Consulting Room (down to Shadowy Hallway)
h=On board the Phlebas (saying "time" will take the protagonist to Garden Stream)

Tarot box:

Code:

a e

c
|
b
|
d

f g-h-i
 /  | |
l   k j
    |
    m
    |
    n
   / \
    q o
   \|/
    p

u   v
 \ /
  r
 /|\
t s w

x

y

a=Cups and Glasses (model ship)
b=Aboard Ship (examine model ship; up to Up the Mast)
c=Prow of the Lady Magdalena
d=Stern
e=Ruined Castle Cafe
f=Sea Shore (Andromeda, up to Cliffs)
g=Cliffs (down to Sea Shore)
h=Clifftop Walk
i=Outside Taverna (fig tree)
j=Eraina Taverna (bartender)
k=Wall of Thorns
l=Cave Mouth (obsidian altar, flaming bronze urn)
m=Sacred Earth (south to death by divine wrath)
n=Temple of Zeus
o=East Cloister
p=Inner Sanctum (Homer)
q=down to Cross Centre
r=Cross Centre (down to Oubliette)
s=up to Inner Sanctum
t=Southwest Cross (statue of Dionysus)
u=Northwest Cross (statue of Demeter)
v=Northeast Cross (statue of Poseidon)
w=Southeast Cross (statue of Ares)
x=Oubliette (crushing wall trap; up to Cross Centre)
y=Lighthouse

Alexandria:

Code:

      p-p
     /  |
    p   q
    |
    o
    |
b r-m n
|   |/
a   g
 \ / \
  c   h---j
 / \  |\  |
e   d i k l
|
f

a=Causeway
b=Island of Pharos (down to Jetty)
c=Crossroads
d=A Tower (door)
e=Necropolis (tombstone with empty socket and word "GALITA", down to The Height of Fashion)
f=XIIth Dynasty Pyramid (writings [can be lagach-ed])
g=Outside the Royal Museum
h=The Birdcage of the Muses (pigeonhole)
i=Oil Room (trough of oil)
j=Reading Corridor
k=Geography Room
l=Librarian's Office
m=Outside the Theatre
n=Stadium
o=Outside the Royal Palace of Alexander
p=Lost inside the Palace
q=Lost inside the Palace (say "anoppe" to reach the Palace Balustrade)
r=Warehouses and Port (sailor, engraved die, skiff; enter skiff and type "sail" to go to Garden Stream)

Alexandria, tomb:

Code:

c-b-a

a=The Height of Fashion (up to Necropolis)
b=This Is The Death (blocked slope to the west)
c=Quite An Undertaking (you are here; sarcophagus)

Alexandria, palace balustrade:

Code:

a=Palace Balustrade (astronomical mounting, astrolabe; type "look through eyepiece" to go to Out on the Spire)

Alexandria, Jetty:

Code:

a=Jetty

Hamburg by night:

Code:

    b
   /
  a
  |
e-c-d

f

a=Museum of Arcana
b=Revolving Door
c=Hall of Exhibits (still life [can be lagach-ed])
d=Cabinet Room
e=Dark Staircase (down/south to...?)
f=Coven Cell (goat)

Deaths
Missed the point entirely: 5 (irritated Aunt Jemima by trying to steal her gardening gloves, gave up on the search, broke a pipe and had to call a plumber, lectured by Aunt Jemima for four hours, burned down most of the attic)
Spooked: 1 (haunted by the ghost of Sir Joshua Meldrewe)
Died: 8 (jumped off the mast of the Lady Magdalena without a parachute, spontaneous combustion, brutally sacrificed by a druidic coven, blown to bits by a time bomb, incinerated myself with the Rod of Fire, electrocuted by the wrath of Zeus, crushed into a pancake, epic stealth fail)
Disembodied the entire universe: 1 (meddled with the Planck constant)
Total: 15

Mogri · #**446** 12-22-2012, 11:07 AM

Close it. Screw common sense.

Gerad · #**447** 12-22-2012, 01:44 PM

Hold the scepter. Wear the cloak.

(close it was my first thought too)

Kahran042 · #**448** 12-24-2012, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mogri

Close it. Screw common sense.

Always a good sentiment, so let's do that.

>enter coffin
(You can't help feeling that someone has planned all this... and it isn't you.)

You get into the mummy case.

>close lid
That seems an awfully... final decision. Here's a chance to reconsider.

I just climbed into a freakin' sarcophagus. It should be obvious what I want to do.

>close lid
The lid slams down on you with a very terminal sound indeed.

*** You have ...

But - something more is happening. The coffin's delicate balance has been altered, and it is sliding, slipping away down the square passage, endlessly, endlessly...

And even that is not the end, for you suddenly crash into buffers at one end. What a lucky escape, you think... for a moment...

Buried Alive
You lie in the mummy case, your arms folded across each other, face grimaced, running out of air rapidly and with almost no room to maneouvre. The coffin lid is about ten times heavier than you, and its seal is very good.

Only one thing to do now...

>wait
Time passes.

You are beginning to choke and pant.

>z
Time passes.

>z
Time passes.

The air is desperately thin now, and you struggle hopelessly.

>z
Time passes.

The air runs out, and you expire. Few corpses as so considerate as to bury themselves in advance - hopefully this thought is some consolation.

*** You have died ***

In that game you scored 368 out of a possible 550, in 1559 turns, giving you the rank of Navigator.

Guess there's more to this than just waiting. But hey, another death for the counter!

Puzzles:
Getting the mascot from old Evans.
Getting into Madame Sorostris' tower.
Getting the gold watch.
Surviving in the coffin after burying myself alive.

Unexplored paths:
None.

Inventory:
a green oak quarterstaff
an adamantine hand
a purple sash (being worn)
a daisy chain (around your neck, made from yellow daisies and causes certain objects to turn into featureless mahogany rods when waved)
a canvas rucksack (which is open, actually a bag of holding)

a strongbox (which is open but empty)
a spade
a cloak of many colours (has grey lining)
an adamantine heart
a smooth round stone (apparently magnetic)
a model of an animal so ugly you can't bear to look at it
a mystic scroll
a tube with a kappa on (which is empty)
a bird whistle
the Pan pipes
a photographer's flash (which is closed, equipped with a timer mechanism)
a glowing golden orb (misted over, but has images of some sort of crazy chess world)
a papyrus fragment
a Tarot box (which is open but empty)
a croquet mallet
an antique jewellery box (which is open but empty)
a cracked medicine bottle (which is open but empty)
a model golden sceptre
a bunch of nuts
a steel wrench
a silk handkerchief
a marble rose
a hard wooden ball
a gothic-looking iron key (opens the strongbox)
a rusty iron key [I](unlocks the grating on the Island of Pharos)[I]
a long wrought iron key
a delicate gold key (unlocks the jewellery box)
a small brass key (unlocks the door from Dark Passage to Garden Stream and the trapdoor in Priest's Hole)
the Rods of Ice, Returning, Husbandry (charged), Sacrifice, Luck, Fire, Bronze, Infinity and Stalking
seven Tarot cards: the Star, Maiden, Castle, Fool, Drowned Sailor, Ace of Cups and Grim Reaper
a postcard of the Champs-Elysees
Hobson's classical dictionary
the History of the Meldrews (vol. II)

an electric torch (providing light and closed)
some old gardeners' gloves (being worn)

Score:
It is some time in the winter of 275 B.C., the reign of Ptolemy II, and you are in ancient Alexandria. You have so far scored 368 out of a possible 550, in 1559 turns, giving you the rank of Navigator.

Maps
Meldrew Hall, attic:

Code:

e-c-b-h
 /| |
X j a-d
    |
    f q-p
     \  |
    k-g-l
      | |
    n-i m
      | |
      o r
        |
        s

a=Attic (down to game over)
b=Old Winery
c=Aunt Jemima's Lair (wireless)
d=Servant's Room (scarf)
e=Potting Room (Aunt Jemima)
f=Old Furniture (wrapping paper)
g=Over the East Wing
h=Storage Room (wheel with handle, dumbwaiter leading to Cellar)
i=Disused Observatory (glass ball on telescope stand, smoke detector)
j=Airing Cupboard
k=Dark Room
l=East Annexe
m=Dead End (down/east to Beside the Drive)
n=Library Storage
o=Souvenirs Room (slide projector [contains The Castle], ship in a bottle)
p=Inside Cupboard (big iron fireplace, open skylight with crank handle, up to Roof)
q=Chimney (down to Priest's Hole)
r=Alison's Writing Room (bed)
s=Tiny Balcony
X=game over

Meldrew Hall, cellar:

Code:

c-a-b
  |
  d

a=Cellars (dumbwaiter to Dark Shaft)
b=Wine Cellars
c=Cellar West (locked door leading northwest, down to Hellish Place)
d=Cellars South (robot mouse, hole in wall)

Meldrew Hall, gardens and shaft area:

Code:

j-i-i-i-
      |
      i
      |
     -i-
      |
      i
      |
     -i-i-i-i-i-m
          |
          i
          |
      g-f-b-d-e
        |  \
        h   a-c       u
            |         |
            l-n-o   q-s-t
            |    \ /
            k     p
                  |
                  r

a=Garden Stream
b=Family Tree (plane tree, up to Up the Plane Tree)
c=Beside the Wall (potted shrub, one-way path down to Wine Cellar)
d=Lawn Ornaments (dark well too small to enter, miniature, weed killer bottle, prayer book, romantic novel, green branch, gas mask)
e=Mosaic [can be lagach-ed]
f=Clearing
g=Garage (garden roller)
h=Vegetable Garden (runner bean plant)
i=Maze
j=Viewpoint Ledge (plaque)
k=Dark Shaft (dumbwaiter to Storage Room)
l=Dark Passage
m=Patio in Maze (down to Crypt)
n=Sandstone Passage
o=The Octagon (window vent, gilded coffin used to identify rods, scroll)
p=White Hallway (painting of Mad Isaac Meldrewe [can be lagach-ed], elephant's foot umbrella stand)
q=Bricked Path
r=Halfway up the Stairs (up to Servant's Room)
s=Hedgery
t=Croquet Lawn (colored peg, wickets)
u=Summer House (gold watch which is visible but unattainable)

Catacombs below the gardens:

Code:

  a
  |
g b-e-f
| |
d-c

a=Crypt (bronze mural [can be lagach-ed], up to Patio in Maze)
b=Jagged Passage
c=Catacombs (down to Universe Maintenance Room)
d=Contraption Room (sheet of dull amber-colored metal forming north wall, iron panel with 3x5 grid, see-saw of leather baskets, metal hand)
e=Charnel Passage
f=Sarcophagus
g=Contraption Reflection (same as in Contraption Room)

Meldrew Hall, roof:

Code:

b
 \
  a

a=Roof (down to Inside Cupboard)
b=Battlements

Meldrew Hall, ???:

Code:

a=Priest's Hole (one-way path down to Cellar West)

Northeast of the House:

Code:

f-d-e
  |
  c
  |
  b
 /
a

a=Beside the Drive (up/west to Dead End)
b=Public Footpath (down to Hollow)
c=Stone Cross (Old Evans with his lucky mascot)
d=Parish Church (Moonstone)
e=East Side Chapel (statue of Diana)
f=West Side Chapel (headless adamantine knight statue)

Northeast of the House, Hollow:

Code:

a=Hollow (up to Public Footpath, one-way northwest path to Mosaic)

Northeast of the House, spire:

Code:

a=Out on the Spire

Unreal City:

Code:

  g>b-c
    |
h-d-a-e>f

a=Unreal City
b=Shadowy Hallway (up to Consulting Room)
c=Bohemia (mural [can be lagach-ed])
d=Down by River
e=Near Ring Road (down to Chatelet-les-Halles)
f=Chatelet-les-Halles (map salesman)
g=Consulting Room (down to Shadowy Hallway)
h=On board the Phlebas (saying "time" will take the protagonist to Garden Stream)

Tarot box:

Code:

a e

c
|
b
|
d

f g-h-i
 /  | |
l   k j
    |
    m
    |
    n
   / \
    q o
   \|/
    p

u   v
 \ /
  r
 /|\
t s w

x

y

a=Cups and Glasses (model ship)
b=Aboard Ship (examine model ship; up to Up the Mast)
c=Prow of the Lady Magdalena
d=Stern
e=Ruined Castle Cafe
f=Sea Shore (Andromeda, up to Cliffs)
g=Cliffs (down to Sea Shore)
h=Clifftop Walk
i=Outside Taverna (fig tree)
j=Eraina Taverna (bartender)
k=Wall of Thorns
l=Cave Mouth (obsidian altar, flaming bronze urn)
m=Sacred Earth (south to death by divine wrath)
n=Temple of Zeus
o=East Cloister
p=Inner Sanctum (Homer)
q=down to Cross Centre
r=Cross Centre (down to Oubliette)
s=up to Inner Sanctum
t=Southwest Cross (statue of Dionysus)
u=Northwest Cross (statue of Demeter)
v=Northeast Cross (statue of Poseidon)
w=Southeast Cross (statue of Ares)
x=Oubliette (crushing wall trap; up to Cross Centre)
y=Lighthouse

Alexandria:

Code:

      p-p
     /  |
    p   q
    |
    o
    |
b r-m n
|   |/
a   g
 \ / \
  c   h---j
 / \  |\  |
e   d i k l
|
f

a=Causeway
b=Island of Pharos (down to Jetty)
c=Crossroads
d=A Tower (door)
e=Necropolis (tombstone with empty socket and word "GALITA", down to The Height of Fashion)
f=XIIth Dynasty Pyramid (writings [can be lagach-ed])
g=Outside the Royal Museum
h=The Birdcage of the Muses (pigeonhole)
i=Oil Room (trough of oil)
j=Reading Corridor
k=Geography Room
l=Librarian's Office
m=Outside the Theatre
n=Stadium
o=Outside the Royal Palace of Alexander
p=Lost inside the Palace
q=Lost inside the Palace (say "anoppe" to reach the Palace Balustrade)
r=Warehouses and Port (sailor, engraved die, skiff; enter skiff and type "sail" to go to Garden Stream)

Alexandria, tomb:

Code:

c-b-a

a=The Height of Fashion (up to Necropolis)
b=This Is The Death (blocked slope to the west)
c=Quite An Undertaking (you are here; sarcophagus; enter sarcophagus and close lid to go to Buried Alive)

Alexandria, palace balustrade:

Code:

a=Palace Balustrade (astronomical mounting, astrolabe; type "look through eyepiece" to go to Out on the Spire)

Alexandria, Jetty:

Code:

a=Jetty

Hamburg by night:

Code:

    b
   /
  a
  |
e-c-d

f

a=Museum of Arcana
b=Revolving Door
c=Hall of Exhibits (still life [can be lagach-ed])
d=Cabinet Room
e=Dark Staircase (down/south to...?)
f=Coven Cell (goat)

Deaths
Missed the point entirely: 5 (irritated Aunt Jemima by trying to steal her gardening gloves, gave up on the search, broke a pipe and had to call a plumber, lectured by Aunt Jemima for four hours, burned down most of the attic)
Spooked: 1 (haunted by the ghost of Sir Joshua Meldrewe)
Died: 9 (jumped off the mast of the Lady Magdalena without a parachute, spontaneous combustion, brutally sacrificed by a druidic coven, blown to bits by a time bomb, incinerated myself with the Rod of Fire, electrocuted by the wrath of Zeus, crushed into a pancake, epic stealth fail, buried alive)
Disembodied the entire universe: 1 (meddled with the Planck constant)
Total: 16

ais523 · #**449** 12-25-2012, 06:41 AM

I'm guessing you have to escape somehow, then return to the spot later with the coffin out of the way.

Does the coffin count as a work of art, and if so, can you lagach off it? Does the Rod of Returning work?

Alternatively, see if you can put a lot of junk into the coffin and unbalance it that way.

Mogri · #**450** 12-26-2012, 11:07 AM

Blast your way out with the rod of fire.