The Return of Werdna: Mysteries of the Oracle

 

One of the Oracle's later hints.

        

I created this page to serve as a permanent reference to the various clues offered by the Oracle in The Return of Werdna. The Oracle's hints are meant to help you, I guess, but they drove me crazy because he offered far more hints than there were puzzles at which I got stuck.

Below, I've recorded my initial and final opinions as to what is meant by each hint. Major spoilers are below. Alternate interpretations are of course welcome.

1. "The egress will set you free." A story told of P. T. Barnum is that he would trick visitors into leaving his exhibits by posting signs that said, "This way to the egress." Patrons, unfamiliar with the word, assumed that the "egress" was some gruesome exhibit and followed the signs outside, forcing them to repay to re-enter. Guess: There will be a similar sign on some level of the dungeon, and the clue helps educate the player to not be as stupid as Barnum's customers. Confirmed: The last three levels have a lot of signs that say, "This way to the egress." Some of them are lying, but the one sign that says only "egress" points directly to the exit.

2. "Your future is black; you feel boxed in!" Guess: This either refers to the importance of the Black Box, found on Level 8, or the first puzzle you encounter in the game: the starting square on Level 10. Getting an ally to cast a "Light" spell lets you out of the box.

3. "Read The Iliad lately?" The Iliad is an epic poem written in the 8th century BC, reputedly by Homer. It relates episodes from the Trojan War, both the confrontations between the Greeks and Trojans and the bickering between various Greek factions. It is unknown what relation it has to the game, but another clue (#18) says that Homer will show me the way. Confirmed: The author was trying to refer to the fact that Hawkwind has an "Achilles' heel," namely the dink. But it's a misleading clue because no information about Achilles' famous weakness occurs in The Iliad.

4. "Chomp, chomp . . . eh, what's east, Doc?" The quote is a reference to Bugs Bunny, the popular Looney Tunes character whose catchphrase is "What's up, Doc?" Confirmed: This clue is combined with 8, 9, 10, 11, and 13 to help the player find the hidden Temple of the Dreampainter on Level 7 and to find the way into it. This part of the clue suggests that the player go to a location that puts the hidden area to his east.

        

By chomping the carrot, I turn into a rabbit and hop high over the wall. 'Cause that's how this world works.

        

5. "Secrets abound all around you! Psst! Have you met Glum yet?" I killed Glum and got the Black Box from him. Confirmed: Glum is an assassin you kill on Level 8, the minefield level, which has "secrets" in various squares. Glum has the crucial Black Box.

6. "Live the Qabalah!" The Qabalah is a school of Jewish mysticism. Unknown: I have no idea how to connect it to Werdna. Confirmed: There's a hidden level in the game that has a layout and diagrams that draw from the Kabbalist conception of the sefirot, sometimes called the Tree of Life.

7. "The answer is carved in stone! It's right before your nose!" Unknown: I haven't found anything carved in stone. Guess: Once you finish the last four levels, you find the word DINK carved in their walls, one letter per level. A dink is a very weak enemy in this game, but I suspect it will be useful for some unique combat. Confirmed: And the dink is required to defeat Hawkwind in the castle.

8. "The temple holds an ancient secret." Confirmed: The Temple of the Dreampainter is found in a hidden room of the ziggurat level (Level 7).

        

The ancient secret.

        

9. "Hop high to enter." Guess: I fell down both sides of the ziggurat from the apex room, all the way to the bottoms. But you know what I didn't do? Jump upward (by going north) from each of the "ledges." I didn't do it because it would have been an extra 4 hit points of damage per ledge and I was trying to conserve hit points. Now I'm wondering whether this clue doesn't go with the previous one, and whether jumping up from one of those ledges activates a teleporter that takes you to the secret room. If so, it would be the only instance in Wizardry of a teleporter requiring you to enter its square from a particular direction. Confirmed: The above had nothing to do with it. This clue works with 4, 8, 10, 11, and 13 to get the player into the Temple of the Dreampainter. You stand west of the hidden area (Clue #4) and "hop" by emulating a rabbit and eating a carrot.

10. "Rabbits are sacred to the Dreampainter." Confirmed: This clue works with 4, 8, 9, 11, and 13. To get into the hidden Temple of the Dreampainter, you must act as a rabbit by eating a carrot and hopping over the wall.

       

11. "Seek the Dreampainter's soul." Confirmed: the Dreampainter's soul is found in his temple on Level 7. You need it to survive Hell on Level 9.

       

Werdna finds the Dreampainter's soul among his effects.

       

12. "Everyone has a weakness. What is his?" Whose? I'll look for an enemy I can't seem to kill, I guess. Confirmed: This refers to Hawkwind, the final enemy you fight before entering the Temple of Kadorto to retrieve the amulet. Werdna has no attack or spell that does anything to him.

13. "Take a step to the left, and a hop to the right!" This is a lyric from the Rocky Horror song "Time Warp," but with the step and jump (hop) reversed. Confirmed: It is a hint to stand to the left of the hidden area on Level 7 and then eat the Hopalong Carrot.

14. "Gone trolling!" We had a debate whether the modern definition of the term (to stir up trouble for its own sake) would have been prevalent in 1987 or whether it likely refers to dragging for fish (or a metaphor thereof). Unknown what it means for the game. Guess: It's just nonsense meant to make you waste 25,000 gold.

       

15. "Beware the gifts of Lord Maya!" This could refer to several things, but the most likely Lord Maya is King Maya or Mayasura of Hindu mythology. The Wikipedia summary of the Mahabharata indicates that Maya gave various weapons to his friends and colleagues. Guess: This is warning me not to accept (or keep permanently) the sword I took from the ziggurat on Level 7. Further Guess: There are later references in the game to Lord Maya and how he offers the gift of choice, but the wrong choice can still lead you on an unfortunate path. The first guess wasn't "wrong" because the three swords are one of the choices you can make.

       

Could this be Lord Maya?

       

16. "Get a handle on the forbidden fruit!" Confirmed: A key plot item is the Holy Hand Grenade of Aunty Och, which you find in Hell on Level 9.

17. "Rocks. Multilayered rocks." Guess: You need to use an agate, bloodstone, and turquoise in the temple on Level 7. More likely guess: It goes with Clue #7 to suggest you "layer" the letters carved in the dungeon to spell out DINK.

18. "Homer will show you the way." Homer wrote The Iliad, so it could be another clue (see #3) to consult that book for the answer to something. Unknown what that is. Confirmed: Identical to #3, which as above is misleading.

     

19. "You too can be saved! Repent ye sinner! Wash away thy sins! Repent!" Confirmed to be reference to the pool of water on Level 4 in which Werdna can bathe and change his alignment to neutral; as yet unknown what it means for the game. More information: There are also pools on the castle level, one of which will turn you good.

         

But only somewhat.

       

20. "Down into the bowels of the Earth." The whole game is in the bowels of the Earth. My best guess is that it refers to the importance of the Gates of Hell on Level 9. Confirmed: More likely, it refers to the hidden Level 11.

   

21. "Password is your ancient battlecry." I think I had this spoiled for me, but we'll talk about it when I get to it. Guess: At some point, I'm going to need to use the password "TREBOR SUX," which is written on a wall in Werdna's lair in the original Wizardry. I'll change this to "confirmed" once I get to that point in the game. Unfortunately, I learned of this famous puzzle a long time ago and can't pretend not to know the answer now. See also #32. Confirmed: It's the password you need to enter the castle.

              

22. "To soar the heights, you must first plunge the fiery depths." I don't know what this clue means by "soar the heights"; you don't need to visit the Gates of Hell to fly; you just need to find the winged boots for that. Guess: Some other puzzle later in the dungeon that has to do with flying will require the Holy Hand Grenade, which I got in the fiery depths of Hell. Confirmed: Nothing to do with flying. "Soar the heights" just means exit the dungeon and experience the final (above ground) levels, for which you first need the Holy Hand Grenade from Hell.

          

The things I do for revenge.

       

23. "Career opportunity . . . experienced muezzin needed . . . great fringes!" A muezzin is the guy who calls the daily prayer at a mosque. There's a clear relation here with #34. Guess: This might refer to the Initiate's Turban I have, but I don't know where I need it.

      

24. "Cloudy tonight. Chance of rain tomorrow." Unknown, probably just more nonsense.

  

25. "Cursed with too many blessings? Find relief in a bottle!" Confirmed: This is a clue to use the (bottle of) Cleansing Oil on the Holy Hand Grenade when it reveals itself as a cursed item and sticks to your hand.

26. "Your future is grey and hazy!" Guess: A possible reference to multiple endings?

27. "It's all Greek to you! (Well, maybe a little Latin)." I would think this refers to The Iliad again, but I don't think any of that is in Latin. Unknown. There are Greek and Latin references in the castle level, but nothing you need to solve anything.

28. "A tisket, a tasket. Trebor's rump in a basket." A Tisket, a Tasket is an old nursery rhyme. Ella Fitzgerald turned it into a swinging number in 1938. Trebor is of course Werdna's old foe, whose ghost haunts the dungeon and periodically shows up to kill you. Unknown what any of this has to do with this clue. Confirmed: You can buy "Trebor's Rump" on Level 1 of the dungeon and free his soul, thus stopping his random attacks.

       

29. "Find the paths of the true way!" Guess: Upon arriving on Level 1, you're presented with three doors and a logic puzzle. Only one door opens a viable path. Confirmed: No, it's about the hidden dungeon level and the paths that lead you through the 10 riddles of the sefirot.

           

I'm guessing the "golden path" and the "true way" are the same thing.

        

30. "Sniff, sniff! Whew, what a stench!" Guess: A reference to the aromatic camphor from Level 7. Confirmed: No, it's the "stench" of evil on Werdna and a clue that he must wash it off in a special pool on the castle level, which turns him good.

31. "Look to the lych-gate!" Unknown, but a blimp that you can see on the east side of the ziggurat advertises lych-gates at Boltac's Trading Post. A lych-gate is a roofed gateway found at the entrance to English cemeteries. It draws from the original meaning of lych or lich as just a dead body. Maybe I'll find such a gate on some level. Still unknown: The lych-gate turns out to be a huge red herring and I have no idea what its purpose is or why the author bothered to clue it.

         

I can't imagine why I'd buy a lych-gate, but weirder things have happened in this game.

         

32. "Seek amongst the historical writings of Trebor's foes for the password." Confirmed: The "writing" refers to "TREBOR SUX" from the first Wizardry; see also #21.

33. "Out to lunch. Catch us next time!" Unknown, probably just more nonsense to waste time and money.

34. "The minuet in the minaret goes hand in glove!" A minuet is a ballroom dance in waltz time. A minaret is the tower on a mosque from which muezzins call Muslims to prayer. This clue seems to be related to #23, but otherwise unknown. Guess: This is probably a reference to the need for the Mythril Gauntlets, which you find in a tower ("minaret") on the castle level. No idea on the "minuet" part unless it's supposed to sound a bit like "amulet."

35. "Look amidst 'The Roots of the World.'" The way the clue is presented, "the Roots of the World" is a specific text. I can't find any reference to it. Unknown for now. Confirmed: A refreence to Level 11 and the Tree of Life that you encounter there.

  

36. "You have forgotten something!" The game asks you several times whether you've forgotten something, but in this clue, the player is specifically told that he has. Guess: Just a reference that there's more to experience in the game unless you've found the Grandmaster ending.

   

37. "No, no, it's too horrible to view! You poor wizard, yet more suffering." Guess: Maybe a reference to what happens if you descend into Hell without the Winged Boots. You're told that you go insane from the depravities that you witness.

38. "Ever consider a different line of work?" Confirmed: Another reference to multiple endings and thus multiple paths that Werdna could take, perhaps particularly the one that lets you become ruler of the land.

39. "There is hope in your future!!! Nope, it flickered out already." Unknown.

 

40. "The cenotaph hides the secret way." A cenotaph is monument to someone buried in another location. I haven't encountered anything like it here, so unknown. Confirmed: You have to return to the place that you woke up (now an empty tomb) to teleport to Level 11.

 

41. "Traveling through nothing, seek the Nyin." Nyin doesn't seem to be a word, so unknown. Confirmed: You need the Nyin, or Void Transducer, to finish the hidden level.

42. "Have you forgotten something?"  Guess: As with #36, a constant message in this game that suggests there's more to experience.

     

Until I finish the game, comments on this entry should either be in ROT-13 or be discussing parts of the game you're absolutely sure I've already experienced.