Beyond Zork: Final Ranking

Don't try to fight fire with fire: A life lesson from Beyond Zork

Let's get this out of the way at the outset: Beyond Zork is not a CRPG. It's a text adventure with some CRPG elements attached. I probably should have rejected it for this blog on dogmatic grounds. On the other hand, I had an awful lot of fun playing it, and solving the puzzles (mostly) without help was an ego-booster. I also added two new words--burin and palimpsest--to my vocabulary.

Nonetheless, I'm going to rank this as a CRPG. For the uninitiated, I use the GIMLET scale (described here) for the scoring.

1. Game World. Small and goofy. The landscape, features, and people serve the puzzles and plot, not any sensible order. The jungle, gondola ride, platypus castle, war between Borphee and Pheebor, and so on are all part of the fun, but they obviously don't go together. They also don't fit terribly well with the lore established in the game's backstory. It's not supposed to be a good CRPG game world, but then again, check the title of the blog. However, unlike many actual CRPGs of the era, the game remembers your actions, and your actions have consequences for the world. Final score: 5.

2. Character Creation and Development. Most text adventures don't have this at all, and it's only Beyond Zork's small nods in this area that even begin to qualify it as a CRPG. You can choose from several existing characters or make your own, assigning a name, sex, and five attributes. As you defeat monsters, you rise in level and thus endurance, and your other attributes increase with various items, potions, and spells. Higher scores allow you to solve or shortcut puzzles, so your stats do matter even if your sex doesn't. The limited game world means development is limited, but it's still better than some early CRPGs. Final score: 4.

It's nontraditional character development, but it's character development.

3. NPC Interaction. There aren't many NPCs in the game world, but they are all memorable, from the crusty old sailor to the conniving cook to the pontificating Cardinal Toolbox. You do have to interact with them to advance in the game world, and they have honestly interesting things to say. Moreover, the parser, which allows you address them directly (SAILOR, HELLO!), ask questions (ASK COOK ABOUT ONION), and give commands (TOOLBOX, GIVE ME THE RELIQUARY) is about as open-ended as dialog choices get. There aren't really "role playing" options here, but it's still very enjoyable. Final score: 7.

4. Encounters & Foes. My GIMLET scale wants "unique monsters." Folks, I give you monkey grinders, cruel puppets, lucksuckers, Christmas Tree Monsters, and of course grues. These monsters are not only thoroughly described in the manual; the manual gives you clues about their weaknesses and the means needed to defeat them. There are even role-playing options with some of them, allowing you to defeat them with cleverness, compassion, or brute force. Many of them, of course, you do not fight in traditional CRPG style, all the encounters are essentially scripted, and the monsters do not respawn once defeated; your experience rewards are limited. Final score: 8.

After three games of being menaced by grues every time your lantern goes out, you actually get to kill three of them in this game. That alone is worth it.

5. Magic & Combat. Combat is very basic in the game, consisting of typing attack commands and hoping to score a hit based on your attributes and luck. Magic is through scrolls, potions, and wands, and mostly geared towards specific puzzles, although you have a lot of flexibility in how you use some of them. There are no real "tactics" to combat, though. Final score: 3.

6. Equipment. Like most adventure games, you have a wide variety of items in Beyond Zork, most needed to solve puzzles, but some (sword, plate mail, cloak) just to make life easier. You can gauge relative worth of the equipment from its value, and each item is fairly well described with the EXAMINE command. Some key plot items are always found in the same place, but many of the magic items are randomized within the game world, making each game a slightly different experience. Beyond Zork is unique in that it lets you give your own names to your weapons and animal companions. Final score: 6.


7. Economy. You don't get any cash for killing creatures, but there are a number of treasures that serve no purpose except to sell them, and you can always sell expended magic items and used plot items. It's worth doing this so you can save for your suit of plate armor, cloak, and sword, as well as one major plot item (the hourglass). Towards the end of the game, though, money stops serving any purpose, and in general the monetary system is more of an afterthought than an integral part of the game. Final score: 3.

8. Quests. There is only one "quest," although with many puzzles, and it is introduced in a very strange manner, more than halfway through the game, via a circumstance that you create. Until this happens, it's hard to know what your character's motivation is except "because it's there." As far as I can tell, there's only one outcome to the main quest, and it doesn't really follow from the quest itself (i.e., the Implementors give you the quest, and you never see them again). Final score: 2.

9. Graphics, Sound, and Inputs. Well, it's a text adventure, so we don't really look for graphics and sound. (Sound consists of an occasional beep when your stats go up or down.) The text-based controls do work quite well, though, with the game recognizing most words that you would think to type in any given situation. Final score: 3.

10. Gameplay. Gameplay toes the line between linear and nonlinear. The world is fairly small, and most of time spent in the game comes from solving puzzles, not exploring the world. Within the limited world, you have general freedom as to what order you do things. It isn't replayable at all, but it does offer the right challenge level--just frustrating enough at times to, well, make you detour to another game for a little while, but not so frustrating that you give up in despair. I thought its level was almost perfect. I'm surprised I was able to complete it without any major hints, although if it was just a little more frustrating, I probably would have succumbed. Final score: 5.

Final score: 46. The little non-CRPG gets a higher score than any CRPG I've played except Ultima III, Ultima IV, Starflight, and Might & Magic. I'm on board with that 100%. If this wasn't supposed to be a blog about CRPGs, I could give it additional points for its sense of humor and quality of writing.

I maintain this was a good inclusion in the list. Barton notes that Beyond Zork was a unique hybrid: "no other major developers have been willing to revisit the design" (p. 259). As such, it was worth exploring and archiving. I'm ready to get back to slaughtering legions of goblins, though, and I won't miss all the typing.

Beyond Zork: Won!

Think if I tried again, I could do it in fewer moves?

     

Well, with your help (particularly that of Jason Dyer, who--ahem--knows what he's talking about before he tells me puzzles are "easy"), I won Beyond Zork: The Coconut of Quendor. Damn, that was a tough one.

When I last checked in, I was struggling to figure out what to do at an iridescent dome, how to permanently defeat the Chistmas Tree Monsters, and how to get past the corbies in the Fields of Frotzen. The dome I figured out mostly through brute force: I tried every object at it, before I finally destroyed it with the wand of dispel. The dome turned out to be holding back a volcano, and the result was memorable:

A vortex of energy forms at the tip of the Dispel wand, reaches outward and envelops the iridescent dome in a swirling haze. You watch as it spreads across the perimeter, patiently undoing the mystic forces that define its structure.

 

Kerblam! The mountain roars with volcanic triumph as a thousand years of pent-up fury breaches the bonds of Time. A plume of white-hot lava swells up from the heart of the mountain, only seconds away from where you stand!

After outrunning the lava, which filled the valley, I waited for it to cool a bit and then inscribed the Christmas Tree Monster-repelling glyph in it with the burin. That permanently saved the day. The mayor of Thriff, Cardinal Toolbox, gave me his reliquary as a reward. This turned out to contain a white hemisphere that, when joined with the black hemisphere I picked up in the cabin, created a gray sphere called the Scrystone of Prosser.

     

Now, at this point I was all excited because I thought the corbies feared the color gray. You see, in the Fields of Frotzen there are three scarecrows, two guarding devastated fields and one guarding a thriving one where the corbies were terrified rather than enraged. I noted that the scarecrow guarding the thriving field was wearing gray clothing, so I figured with my gray sphere I could scare the corbies off.

      

Nothing doing. It turns out all of the scarecrows were wearing gray. However, my idea wasn't so far from the truth. Again, I just hung around the working scarecrow, trying all of my items, until I realized that the hurdy-gurdy, when set on the "eye" setting, renders colors more vivid. I was able to tell that the scarecrow was actually wearing mauve. Shortly thereafter, a farm house came spinning out of a tornado, and when I entered it, I found myself swept up to the Land of Froon.

     

It's not a copyright violation if it's in the public domain.

             

My arrival crushed a tyrant called the Heeled One, which was basically a giant boot. In reward, the Mayor of Froon let me choose from a selection of colored keys. I picked the mauve one. When I returned to the real world, I used it to get by the corbies and pick the Compass Rose, a magical flower that not only tells which way the wind is blowing but actually changes it.

    

With the Compass Rose, I was finally able to reach the castle on the back of the pterodactyl. (This entire posting is starting to sound like I'm describing a bad acid trip.) The castle is the home of a platypus princess (yeah, it's getting worse) who had a magic jar with a wand that blows bubbles, but the bubbles take the form of a mirror. I managed to snatch that.

      

Then came a time in which I didn't have any more puzzles to solve, but I couldn't figure out what to do. Finally, I thought to look inside the Scrystone of Prosser, which showed me a man using a magic word to open a concealed door in a wall. I knew the locations of two walls and both had concealed doors which led to the same network of caves. Unfortunately, something kept breaking my lantern. Navigating through the caves involved blowing a series of mirror-bubbles to angle sunlight from the outside.

    
      

I was attacked by a "lucksucker" who killed me a few times before I realized I had to defeat him by throwing my various good luck charms--a horseshoe, a four-leaf clover, and a rabbit's foot--at him. Ultimately, I reached the cave of the ur-grue, who I exposed by angling the sunlight at his corner of the cave.

     
     

The ur-grue took the form of an old man. Actually, I got the impression that the ur-grue was just a wizard possessing a grue or something:

In the corner lies a feeble old man, bent with grief. His robes are tattered, his white hair scorched by flame. You slowly rise and draw closer, bending low to touch his shoulder.

Snap! Ten bony fingers clamp around your throat!

    

"I can always count on fools like you for sympathy," chuckles the not-so-feeble old man as he holds your windpipe shut. "Still, though your mind is weak, your body is young and strong. It will make a suitable vessel until I can find another grue." He grabs your hair, pulls your head back and directs your eyes into his own. "Relax. This won't hurt a bit."

His method of attack involved sucking away my compassion, but it turns out I had too much of it (so that's what it does) so he gave up and took off. From his treasure pile, I retrieved the Coconut of Quendor, and members of the Enchanter's Guild retrieved me for the end game.

     
     

It turns out that the various "NPCs" in the game--the old woman running the shops, the sailor painting the canvas, the cook in the tavern, and Cardinal Toolbox--are all enchanters subtly helping me to solve the quest, although this is odd as the main quest didn't even begin until I visited the Implementors. Nonetheless, the game ended by promoting me to a "Level 0 novice" (I had been a "peasant" before that) and promising me more adventures to come.

     

Alas, none of the later Zorks seem to continue this storyline, so it appears we've left Quendor for good. We've also left the Zork series for good, as none of the later games even pretend to have RPG elements. I can't pretend I won't sneak in a trip to Zork Zero anyway, though.

    

Taking a video of a text game seemed silly, so what I did--for some reason--is replay the entire game. Knowing the puzzle solutions made it go pretty fast. During the replay, I turned scripting on, so if you want an account of the entire game, click here to read it. I think it's worth sampling just for the quality of the language. I didn't just blow through it on the replay, either; I tried to get as many of the descriptions and jokes into the script as possible.

    

Final ranking to come later, perhaps with an intervening Dungeon Master posting.

Dungeon Master: Level 2

Is this an example of the liar paradox?

It's been a productive day. And when I say "productive day," I don't mean in any real sense, like I made any progress on my dissertation or installed my new sink or graded any of the 30 papers I have to grade. No, I mean "productive" as in I won Beyond Zork and got through the second level of Dungeon Master. So, you know, in the stuff that matters.

The Beyond Zork posting will have to wait until tomorrow because I plan to replay the entire game now that I know all the puzzles. I want to try out a few different things and record a master script of my gameplay.

I have less to say about Dungeon Master. Exploring Level 2 of the dungeon served the dual purpose of advancing the game and teaching me more about how the game works. I discovered:

• The levels in Dungeon Master are quite large. I think Level 2 was 33 x 33, compared to 16 x 16 for Might & Magic and 20 x 20 for the Wizardry series. It's not quite as large as it sounds because unlike the other games, corridors do not share the same walls; there's always a bit of space in between them, as you can see from my partial map below.

• Ultimately, I stopped mapping, partly because the level was very linear--there were many locked gates you couldn't get through until you found a specific key or switch in a previous part of the dungeon--party because switching from the game (which uses the mouse) to the Excel map was a bit of a pain, and partly because I just didn't feel like it. I imagine I'll have to pick up mapping again on later levels.

• There were a few light puzzles on Level 2, one involving a series of pressure plates that I had to hit in the right order to open some gates, and a couple others involving dropping objects on pressure plates. Nothing too difficult so far.

Pressure plates on the floor.

• As I mentioned, getting through this level involved finding a series of keys to open various doors and gates. Some of them were very hard to see against the dungeon floor. The CRPG Addict is color-blind, which might have something to do with it, or it could be just bad game design.

• If you accidentally walk into a wall, your lead characters take a hit point or two of damage. Seriously? My characters are so dumb they go charging into solid walls?

• I found a couple of chests. It took me a while before I realized I could take the chests and use them to increase my inventory slots. Right now, I have lots and lots of food items that my characters don't need, but I have a sneaking suspicion food will be less plentiful on lower levels.

Hawk stores his bread and mushrooms.

• You see your way through the dark through either a "magic torch" spell or actual torches. At the level I can cast right now, the actual torches are brighter. The neat thing is that they don't just burn for a while and then fizzle out; they get darker as time passes.

• You can bash some doors.

This is always satisfying.

• There are a lot of things that look like hooks on various walls. I can't seem to manipulate them in any way, so I assume they're just decoration. If not, I've been missing a lot of stuff.

• The only thing that makes me really nervous is that I'm not sure how secret doors are found in this game. I hope I didn't miss a bunch on this level.

Menaced by mummies.

For combat, the characters can arm themselves with either melee weapons or throwing weapons. There are several "waiting slots" for throwing weapons, so when one is hurled, the next one pops into the character's hands. On this level, I encountered a lot of mummies and...I don't know...giant fungi, I guess. My strategy was to hang back when I could and exhaust my throwing weapons (you can pick them up again later), then let them come to me for the melee.

Leyla's arrows, shurikens, and knives await her deft wrists.

During combat, I had a few messages to the extent that "so-and-so has gained a fighter level." Dungeon Master does not follow the traditional experience-based CRPG leveling system. Rather, as you use your skills, you advance in levels for each class. Melee weapons are a fighter skill, throwing weapons a ninja skill, and magic skills are divided between the priest and wizard classes. Leyla started out as a journeyman ninja, but along the way she also became a "neophyte fighter" because she developed her melee skills. It seems the class levels go: neophyte, novice, apprentice, journeyman. I'm not sure what the levels are called after that.

Leyla's swinging pays off.

The interesting thing is that leveling comes regardless of whether you kill the monster, or even fight a monster at all--every time you throw something or swing a weapon, you slightly increase the associated skill. The same goes for spells, whether successful or not. While I like skill-based systems (The Elder Scrolls series is famous for it), it seems like this opens things up for a lot of abuse. I could stand in a corner and just swing my way to expert fighter status or something. On the other hand, this seems boring and I probably won't do it, so perhaps the potential for abuse is limited.

Leyla shuffles off the mortal coil.

I did die a couple of times. If one character dies, he or she turns into a pile of bones, and you can resurrect him or her in a special alcove on Level 1 (I don't know if there are more throughout the dungeon). If all characters die, you get a "The End" screen and that's that. This happened to me once.

The pacing in Dungeon Master is pretty good, although I suspect it will slow down once I have to take mapping seriously again. I don't know how many levels there are to the dungeon, but as of now, this strikes me as a game to play to the end.

Next up: the final Beyond Zork postings and then a review of Dungeon Master's magic system.

On to Level 3.

Beyond Zork: Reverse Metamorphosis & Time Travel

Yes, last night I said my next posting would be on Dungeon Master, but I had a two and a half hour car ride this morning, and I used some of that time to think about Beyond Zork. Zink chided me last night, saying the caterpillar/butterfly riddle was "SIMPLE!" Yes, naturally a caterpillar is an earlier version of a butterfly. So what? How do I make a butterfly regress to the caterpillar stage? I messed around with the hourglass for what seemed like hours to no avail.

During the drive, though, I remembered that the hurdy-gurdy had a clock setting. What I had never noticed is that it also has a "lid," meaning I can open it and put something in it. I stuck the butterfly in it, turned the dial to the clock setting, cranked the handle to the left, and sure enough, the butterfly, regressed into a caterpillar. Wow. I'm glad I solved the puzzle and everything, but wouldn't it have been a lot easier just to head into the forest and find a freaking caterpillar?!

With the caterpillar, newly dubbed, firmly in my possession, the Christmas Tree Monsters hustled out of my way and a new area opened up to me.

The Christmas Tree Monsters sing grotesque versions of Christmas carols. The game is really quite clever with this.

My biggest revelation in the car, however, concerned the truffle. I reflected that I had:

1. A minx capable of sniffing out and digging up truffles
2. A truffle which, thanks to the magic of the Pool of Eternal Youth, would last forever
3. A spade
4. An hourglass that probably has something to do with turning back time

It seemed rather obvious to me that there would be something whose location I would want to mark in a visit to the past so that my minx could find it in the present. And the only place I could imagine this happening was in the ruins of Pheebor. So I messed around there for a while and while examining an arch in the ruins, found that "the opening beneath is shaped like an hourglass." Well, hell. Entering the arch, I turned the hourglass and found myself in a corridor that allowed me to go backward and forwards in time. Suddenly realizing I'd forgotten to bring my minx, who was presumably required for my idea, and I had to go back and get him.


Long story short: I came across the site of a battle between the nations of Pheebor and Borphee (the war was apparently over the right to name the river). The prince of Pheebor had his head lopped off by a black knight. The game kept emphasizing the prince's helmet. I couldn't take the helmet in the past, so I tossed the truffle into the trench where it lay, returned to the present--actually, I think I ultimately went to the future, where more of the topsoil had been eroded away--and Skavenhorde found the helmet, which increased my intelligence and armor class. This took a long time of messing about.


Afterwards, I took a chance that I was done with the hourglass, sold it, and had enough cash for some decent armor, on which I could use a scroll of protection. My armor class went from 0% to 99% in just a few moves. I hope there are still things to fight.


All right, back to the Christmas Tree Monsters. Past them, I found a cabin in which I found a "burin" (an engraving tool; chalk another one up to "What Have You Learned?"), some wizard's black book, a black "hemisphere," and a snow wight that, when killed, dropped a diamond. Beyond them is an "iridescent dome of light," and I'm not sure what to do there.

[Edit, hours after the original posting: "Snow wight." Just got it. Good one.]

So: several puzzles solved, but I remain stumped at how to get by the corbies in the fields, what I'm supposed to do at the dome, how to permanently solve the Christmas Tree Monster menace, and how to get to the castle I keep seeing from a distance (every time I try to fly there, the game tells me I encounter crosswinds).

A couple of "bad" and "meh" votes from last night's entry makes me think people are sick of Beyond Zork--or maybe I'm going into too much detail--so I'll try to get out a Dungeon Master entry this evening, although it might not be all that comprehensible: I've promised myself that if I can stave off my CRPG addiction long enough to get some actual work done this Veteran's Day, I'll allow myself to liberally indulge my vodka gimlet addiction tonight.

Beyond Zork: Closing In

All right, in an effort to finish up Beyond Zork, I thought I'd craft a half-posting, half-note summary that will help me identify the areas with which I'm still having problems. This is going to get pretty detailed, so skip along to something else if you don't want to learn about the ins and outs of Quendor. I've noted when there are quests or puzzles I can't solve yet.

East Village

This is the name I've given for the beginning area. It consists of a hilltop with an oak tree--one of several oak trees under which the minx finds a truffle once you have him. Nearby is the edge of storms, which I cannot initially pass until I visit the Plane of Atrii and get a goblet from the implementors. I can pick a bit of spenseweed here to heal the pterodactyl later. Down a hill to the east is the wharf, where I can talk to a mysterious sailor creating a painting and find a shillelagh (club) bobbing in the river.

Down the road to the south is "Ye Rusty Lantern, A Public House." The rusty lantern in question is hanging outside, and I take it for use in dungeons; it is renewed with the Scroll of Renewal. The main room has a bearskin rug which I take and use to defeat the dornbeast in the lighthouse. There are a group of bandits who throw a rusty dagger at you that you can renew with the same scroll. There doesn't seem to be anything else to do with the bandits. In the kitchen is the cook who asks me to retrieve a bottle of wine from the cellar in exchange for a giant onion. For some reason, the cook (or maybe one of the bandits?) locks me in the cellar.

    

       

In the cellar, I find a scroll that will renew my lantern and allow it to last more than a few minutes (my intelligence must be high enough to read it, though; I got trapped down here once when it wasn't). I also find a bottle of wine at the top of a stack and kill three monsters: a rat-ant, a skeleton, and a discipline crab. There are minor treasures I can sell for zorkmids. There's a bit of moss to squeeze and improve my dexterity, and an amulet that temporarily boosts my strength so I can bash open the locked door (I don't need the amulet if I set my strength high enough in the beginning, but that would come at a sacrifice to other stats).

In the north part of the village is a lighthouse whose entrance opens once I answer a riddle about lightning. There are several foes inside: a spider which I just kill; a giant slug which I kill by throwing salt on it (found up the road a bit); a dust bunny which I kill by hauling in the rug from the tavern, rubbing my feet on it, and touching it; and a dornbeast which I don't think I can kill (I tried for a while), but I can incapacitate by cutting the giant onion in his presence. The dornbeast guards a magical chest that, when opened, transports the opener to the Plane of TransInfinite Splendor, where unicorns roam. There are other assorted treasures in the lighthouse.

Plane of TransInfinite Splendor

I visit this location after opening the chest from the lighthouse. I meet some unicorns who are very unhappy at their treatment over the centuries at the hands of humans, and they warn me not to return. If I do, they consign me to a fate worse than death. I don't think there's anything else I can do in this place but send the monkey grinder here.

     

      

Accardi

Accardi is a little village north of the lighthouse. There is a weapons shop here, as well as the abandoned Guild of Enchanters. A little fairy refuses me entrance to the guild, but it isn't long before a monkey grinder appears and kills the fairy. He then tries to kill me, and the only way I've been able to defeat him is to give him the chest and watch him get transported to the Plane of TransInfinite Splendor and, presumedly, a grisly fate. In the abandoned guild, I find a wand of dispel whose use I haven't determined yet.

Moors

The moors are south of the village. Here, an eldritch vapor tries to alternately kill me and steal my items. A guttersnipe also attacks me. There are scattered random treasures. In a mud flat, a pterodactyl is wounded with an arrow through his wing. Helping him involves putting him to sleep with the hurdy-gurdy, taking the arrow out, and healing him with a spenseweed from the edge-of-storms area. I can then take his whistle and use it to summon him three times to give me a ride. So far, I'm not sure exactly where I need to ride to, but I think it's the castle I can see from a distance but not find.

    

     

Borphee

Borphee is a village south of the moors. There is an armor shop and a stable containing a unicorn. There is also an amusement ride called a skyway that gives me a ride over the Miznia Jungle.

The unicorn locked in the stable gives a good example of the different ways you can do things in Beyond Zork, unlike its predecessors. Your ultimate goal is to free the unicorn from the stable, partly so you can get compassion points, but partly so you can get in and take the saddle you need for the pterodactyl. You can free her by (a) breaking the gate, either with the aforementioned amulet or just through your own raw strength; (b) pointing the wand of levitation at her and bringing her over the top of the gate; or (c) giving her the chest and letting her open it, returning her to her own land.

Gurth City

When you first visit Gurth City, a vendor drops a fish cake which I eat for a boost to my intelligence statistic. The Magic Shoppe contains a number of useful items, but more important, the old woman who runs it identifies all of the various items I have found. Among the items she sells may be potions that raise my stats and a rabbit's foot that raises my luck.

     

       

One of the items she sells is a really expensive hourglass, but I'm not sure what to do with it.

Puzzles remaining:

• Uses for hourglass

Forest

There is a forest north of Gurth City in which I am attacked by a cruel puppet and, after him, a hellhound. The staff/rod/wand of annihilation comes in handy here. There is a clearing in which a riddle gives me access to a "pool of eternal youth," which is nice and all but I didn't expect the game to take that long. Oh...wait...is this where I put the truffles to keep them from spoiling? Confirmed. Damn it. I knew typing this out would help. But then what do I do with the truffles?

     
     

North of the forest is Zeno's Bridge, which I can never cross--I can only get closer and closer to the other end. If I get stuck on it, I have to use an umbrella (conveniently there) to jump off and float to safety. The ruins are on the other side, but I can only get to them with the Scroll of Gating or on the back of the pterodactyl.

Puzzles remaining:

• What do do with the truffles after I use them in the pool of eternal youth.

Miznia Jungle

I access Miznia Jungle by boarding a skycar in Borphee and riding it until I can jump to a support tower and climb down (to the tut of the disapproving conductor). Foes include a bloodworm and a crocodile, which I dispatch with my sword. There are scattered treasures. In a pit of quicksand, a baby hungus is sinking, and I must use my rod/wand of levitation to get him out, but first I need to agitate his mother into chasing me to a nearby idol. She serves as a counterbalance on the bottom of the idol as I climb to the top and extract a valuable jewel. She ends up eating the jewel, but a wand of eversion turns her inside out long enough for me to retrieve it. I can then levitate the baby to safety for some compassion points.

     

    

Thriff

The village of Thriff is south of the jungle. It is here I can save a minx from a group of hunters by erasing his footprints in the snow. Later, beneath the roots of oak trees, he will dig up truffles for me.

    

       

The village is threatened by Christmas Tree Monsters, kept at bay only by a glyph in the swiftly-melting snow. Occupants of a nearby chapel are in a tizzy about this, and a "Cardinal Toolbox" has a sermon on the issue. He is guarding a reliquary that I assume I need at some point. The monsters cannot be killed by weapons or magic. It would seem that I must scare them off with a caterpillar (this is the manual's clue), and Jason Dyer said that I could "make" a caterpillar, but I haven't found how to do that yet. I can also see a castle in the distance but can't seem to reach it.

Puzzles remaining:

• How to find or make a caterpillar so I can get past the Christmas Tree monsters
• How to reach the castle in the distance

Ethereal Plane of Atrii

I reach the plane by using the Scroll of Gating (found in a random location), and from here I can travel quickly to other parts of the map, but it's a bad idea to use it for travel because you only get so many chances to visit. I finally figured out the "vague outline" from the treasure chest turns into a "phase blade" when I visit the plane. I can use it to cut what is another "vague outline" blocking my path, thus allowing me to visit the court of the Implementors.

     

         

The Implementors, who alternately insult and ignore me, are clearly intended to represent the game's creators. They make fun of me for any errors I made in spelling earlier. As I watch them mess around with the Coconut of Quendor, an ur-grue suddenly appears and steals it. They task me with retrieving it--thus the main quest begins well into the game! They also give me a goblet to get me past the fields of lightning below.

   

    

Fields of Frotzen

The Fields of Frotzen are accessible once I have the goblet from the implementors. The place consists of several fields of scarecrows with angry corbies (giant crows, basically) circling overhead.

Oh, hell! There's a butterfly here! How come I didn't see it before? Clearly, I'm supposed to do something with the butterfly to turn it into a caterpillar. Wait...doesn't this happen the other way around? He was easy enough to catch: he just landed on my goblet and I stuffed him in my pack. Jesus, do I have to tear his wings off?

Elsewhere is an area that I can't access because the corbies block my path. I can't figure a way through or around them. I'm guessing from the manual that I need to be carrying something of a particular color to scare them, but I can't find anything.

Puzzles remaining:

• How to turn the butterfly into a caterpillar, if that's what I have to do.
• How to get past the corbies blocking the north exit

Ruins

The ruins are north of Zeno's Bridge and accessible from the Ethereal Plane of Atrii or by flying on the pterodactyl. There's a spade here, but I'm not sure what I'm supposed to dig for. A ghoul and an undead warrior attack me; the latter is defeated with a vial of holy water.

    
     

I feel like there must be something else to do in the ruins other than defeat the undead and collect treasures. I'm not sure what it is. I'm guessing it has something to do with the hourglass, perhaps turning back time, given the way the game keeps emphasizing what the place must have looked like in its heyday, and the manual talks about it, too. But nothing I do seems to have any effect.

Puzzles remaining:

• What to do in the ruins

Here are a few miscellaneous notes I've discovered:

• There are potions of death and forgetfulness in the game. Their outcomes are predictable if I drink them. I'm not sure if there's a place to use these on someone else.
• There are many ways you can attack foes, like a spider, including "ATTACK SPIDER WITH SWORD," "KILL SPIDER WITH SWORD," "HIT SPIDER WITH SWORD," and so on. Searching through the documentation, I found that THRUST AT is also a command, and I tried it out, and it seems to result in a hit way more often than any of the other commands. I don't know if this is a bug or not.
• One of the scrolls you find is a Scroll of Fireworks that, when you read it, gives you the credits for the game.
• You hardly ever kill any monsters; instead, you wound them enough that they slink away.
• If you swear, the game reduces your intelligence

That's about the size of it. I feel like I'm pretty close, especially now that I've found that butterfly. I'm going to let my brain mull all of this while I play a little more Dungeon Master, but hopefully we can have a "won!" posting soon.