King's Quest V ~ Absence Makes the Heart go Yonder!Watch the pretty introduction, then you'll start outside Crispin's house, having been given a piece of magical white snake to help you understand the animals you'll meet on your journey and Crispin's old wand, which although unfortunately doesn't have much magic left in it, has enough to get you out of tight scrapes. From outside Crispin's house, go down three times (avoiding the poisonous snake along the way) and head right into the town.
This is the town of Serenia. First of all, talk to the man in the little alley who's mending his cart. There's nothing you can do to help him, so have a look in the barrel just behind you. If you click the hand icon on the barrell, you'll see a fish -- take it. Go into one of the shops along the street -- just ignore anyone who starts to talk to you and leave again straight away. You'll see on the street, where the man was mending his cart, a silver coin -- take it. Go left out of the town and left again. You should be outside the Serenia bakehouse. Smells good -- go inside.
Watch the little cutscene with the baker and Amanda. You can talk to Amanda and the boy, Austin, if you like, but it doesn't do anything for you. The baker out the back will hand over what he says are the last of the custard pies. Go up to the counter, then go into your inventory and select the silver coin you just found. Click it on the baker to buy one of the pies, then leave the bakehouse. Head left and left again past the inn and the haystack.
You'll come across a beehive in a tree being terrorised by a large bear. Take the fish from your inventory and click it on the bear. He'll take it and leave and you'll get a thankyou from Queen Beetrice. Take a honeycomb from the tree as she instructs, take the stick on the ground and go up. Now you'll find an ants nest being terrorised by a dog. Throw the stick to him as you did the fish to the bear and King Antony will thank you and off to help you in any way he can. There's nothing he can do for you right now, so go up and left at the gypsy cart, into the desert.
Once in the desert, go left seven times and you'll come across the entrance to a temple. Drink from the little puddle there and when you hear hoofbeats approaching, hide behind the rocks there. Watch the little cutscene with the bandits opening the temple and when you have control again, go right and down three times. Pick up the poor unfortunate's shoe, then keep going down until you find an oasis. Drink, go down once, then left until you reach the bandits' camp. Drink from the vase and go into the little tent (the one on the right). Keep to the right of the room, pinch the staff and get outta there. Drink again, then go right four times, then up once. You should be back at the oasis. Drink, then go up until you reach the cliff again. Go left, drink, then up to the temple door. Take the staff and click it on the temple door. The doors will open with the magic words, Open Sesame, and you can step inside. Very quickly (because if you're not quick the door will close and you'll be stuck playing tiddlywinks inside the temple forever) pick up the bottle and the gold coin near the door and get out before the door shuts. Drink again and go right until you reach the gypsy caravan again. Cedric will welcome you back gratefully.
From the gypsy caravan, go right twice, then down. Talk to the young man sitting on the log -- he's lost his fiancee, a beautiful golden-haired princess. Most unfortunately, you haven't seen anyone like that around, so offer your condolences and go up, left and left again back to the gypsies. Give the man outside the gold coin. Go in.
Thanks to Madame Mushka, you'll now find out what really made Mordack steal your castle and your family -- your son, Prince Alexander, turned Mordack's brother, Manannan, into a cat some time back (if you've played KQ3, you were there when it happened!) and now Mordack wants Alexander to return Manannan to his human form, but unfortunately Alexander doesn't know how, and if you don't rescue your family soon, they become cat chow. Once the vision is over, Madame Mushka will give you a magic amulet and usher you out. Now go right.
There's a weeping willow in the pond here. Talk to it and you'll find out it's not really a tree, but a princess. She's been placed under a spell by the witch that lives in the forest. The witch stole her heart (quite literally) turned it to gold and hid it somewhere in the forest. If you can find it, the tree will be restored to her human form. Go right again, and click the amulet that Madame Mushka gave you on yourself to wear it, draw a breath and go up. Save.
Once you're in the Forest, go left once. The witch will appear and try to zap you, but because you're wearing the magic amulet, her magic won't harm you. Give her the bottle you found in the temple in the desert and she'll be trapped in it by the genie that comes out of it. Phew. Now go up, right and up into the witch's cottage. Open the chest at the back of the room and you'll find a spinning wheel -- take it. Look in the lamp hanging from the ceiling and you'll find a key -- take it too. Finally, look in the drawer in about the middle of the left side of the room and you'll find a pouch. Open it and you'll find three emeralds. That's all you'll get from the witch's cottage, so leave and go right, then over to the little door that you can see in the tree. Use the key you found in the witch's cottage and you'll find the princess' gold heart. Take it. From here, go left and left again. Squeeze the honeycomb on the ground to make a sticky mess, and drop one of the emeralds. An elf comes out of the bushes, grabs it and runs off again. Drop another one. The same thing happens. Drop the last emerald. This time, Graham is smart and will drop the emerald into the honey on the ground. The elf will try and grab the emerald and will get stuck. There's a long cut-scene here, but the gist of it is that you're willing to let the elf go so long as he'll show you the way out of the Forest. Follow him when he tells you to, into the underground lair of the elves, he'll give you a very nice pair of shoes in return for the emeralds and will point you to the exit. You'll automatically leave the Forest.
Once you're out, go left and give the gold heart to the willow, who'll turn back into Princess Alicia and be re-united with her fiance (yes, the young man you were talking to before), Prince Herbert. Pick up her harp. Go left again and pick up the tambourine the gypies left behind. Go down, down again and right. You should be in front of the inn. Start searching through the haystack. Here's where King Antony repays you for your earlier kindness -- he'll lead his ants through the haystack and present you with a golden needle they find there. Go up and give the spinning wheel to the older dwarf in return for his grandson's marionette. Go down and right. Have the shoe you found in the desert ready on this screen because about halfway across you'll be startled by a rat being chased by a cat. Throw the shoe at the cat and he'll take off, leaving the rat to thank you and promise you help you in any way he can later. Go right, right again and you should be back in the town of Serenia. Open the first door there.
This is the tailor. Give the golden needle to the man who offers to help you and he'll give you the cloak in the corner in exchange. Leave and go into the next shop. This is the toymaker. When the conversations have finished, give the marionette to the toymaker and he'll give you the sled against the wall in exchange. Leave and go into the final shop on the street -- the shoemaker. Give the elf's pair of shoes to the woman and the shoemaker will give you his hammer in return. Leave the shoemakers', go left out of the town, left, left again and enter the inn.
Inside, walk up to the men standing at the bar. They'll knock you out and tie you up in the cellar, but don't despair, because that rat you saved from the cat will come and chew through the rope and set you free. Pick up the rope, then use the hammer on the lock on the door to break it, open the door and go into the kitchen. Open the cupboard and take the leg of lamb there. Leave the inn via the door on the left of the screen; the side door. Go up, then right until you come to that poisonous snake again. Use the tambourine to scare it away. Go right.
You'll find youself in the mountains. When Graham starts to shiver at the sudden drop in temperature, use the cloak on him and he'll wear it, making him warm and leaving you free to head up. When Graham's stomach starts to rumble, give him the leg of lamb. Use the rope on the rock that's sticking out above you and climb. Now you have to get across this little chasm. Using the hand icon, click only on the BACK row of stepping stones -- there are four of them -- then over to the other side and walk across the log. Go right and Cedric will be caught by a wolf. Use the sled on yourself and you'll go for a ride again over to the other side of a chasm. When your sled breaks and you pick yourself up, go right. You'll meet a hungry eagle. Give him the other half of the leg of lamb, then go towards the doors at the top of the screen. Two wolves will come out and take you inside the palace.
This is the palace of Queen Icebella. When she's finished her little speech and the wolves start coming towards you, quicky go into your inventory, take the harp and click it on yourself to start playing it. Queen Icebella will change her mind about you and instead of killing you will order you to rid her prized crystal caves of the yeti. Watch the little cutscene and when Sir Greywolf tells you that 'yonder is the crystal caves', walk towards the top-right of the screen. Once you're on this screen, VERY quickly take out the custard pie you bought earlier and throw it at him. He'll plummet to his death. Enter the crystal caves. There's a lovely crystal in about the middle of the screen, more towards the bottom. Use the shoemaker's hammer to break it, then leave the caves, go left and over to the wolf, who'll take you back to Queen Icebella. Watch the next cut-scene in which she thanks you, wishes you luck, then one of the wolves will take you back to the screen just below the crystal caves. Go down.
On this screen, go towards the right of the screen and climb. You'll be captured by a roc and taken to its nest. Before the egg hatches, snatch the gold locket from the nest. The egg will hatch, but the eagle you gave the leg of lamb to before will save you, though you will lose your cloak. The eagle will then deposit you on a nice beach.
Pick up the iron bar and head up, towards the boat. Use the beeswax you have to plug the hole in the boat, then push it out to sea. I'd save the game if I were you. Sail down, down, right, right, right and up towards the island. You'll sail into the beach and be captured by the harpies. While they're debating whether to eat you or not, start playing the harp. One of them will snatch it from you and the others will follow her. Take the fish hook lying on the ground nearby and go left. You'll find Cedric in a crumpled heap on the ground, so pick him up and go left again. Pick up the conch shell lying on the beach, put Cedric in the boat and cast off. Go left and keep going.
You'll reach a beach where you'll find a hermit's hut. Ring the bell (he won't hear you if you just knock on the door), then when he comes out and you have a chance, give him the shell you found on the harpies' island. There's a long cut-scene here, in which the hermit cures Cedric, then offers to help you find Mordack's island. Eventually you'll go back out onto the beach, where the hermit summons a mermaid, Pearl, who agrees to take you to Mordack's island. You'll automatically follow her and you regain control when you're wrecked on the island.
First thing to do here is pick up that fish lying near you. Then go up. Get the crystal out of your inventory and click it on one of the statues here. They'll burn themselves out, then you can go up again, then left down the side of the castle. Use the iron bar on the grate to open it then climb down into Mordack's very tedious, dark labyrinth.
Now, I may make a map of this later for you to use, but unfortunately for now you're just going to have to wander. But don't worry -- there aren't any traps or anything and it's not that, so it shouldn't take you too long to get through it. What you need to find is a really funny-looking creature. You'll know him when you see him, believe me. This is Dink. Give him the gypsies tambourine. He'll shake his groove thing, then wander off, leaving a hairpin on the ground. Grab it then continue your search around the labyrinth for the door that leads into the castle. Again, you'll know it when you find it. Once you've reached the door, use the hairpin on the lock to pick it, then open the door and enter the castle. Now we get to the serious saving-your-family stuff. I'd save the game.
In the kitchen, open the cupboard and take the bag of dried peas. Go up. Give the locket to the girl and she'll introduce herself as Princess Cassima. She was stolen away from her home in the Land of the Green Isles when she refused to marry Mordack. She'll tell you where the jar your family is imprisoned in is, but there's not much else you can do for her just now, so go right. Wait around on this screen until a blue creature catches you and throws you into a dungeon cell. Look at the mouse hole near the bottom of the screen and use the fishhook you took from the harpies' island to retrieve the piece of mouldy cheese from the hole. Wait around here until Cassima pops in through a loose brick in the wall. Follow her back into the labyrinth, then back to the door into the castle.
Now you must NOT get caught by the blue creature again. If he catches you again, you're done for. If you see him, throw the bag of dried peas at him to trip him up. He'll be down long enough for you to slip upstairs. Okay -- from where you started in the castle the first time, the kitchen, go up, right, right again, down and down again. This is where you're most likely to meet the blue creature -- at least, this is where I met him, coming through the door on the left. Anyway, throw the bag of dried peas at him, go through the door and head up the stairs. At the top of the stairs, go into the room on the left. This is Mordack's bedroom, and is the most likely place to meet Manannan, the cat. If you see the cat, throw him the fish and catch him in the empty dried pea bag (since you threw them at that blue creature) -- then he can't run off and tell Mordack you're in the castle. Once you've disposed of the blue creature AND caught the cat, get to Mordack's bedroom from wherever you are and go down.
This is the library. Have a look at the book lying open on the table closest to the chair. Wonder briefly what the symbols mean, then hide yourself so you can't be seen from the door. Between the ladder on the right and the bookshelf on the right wall is a good spot. As long as the eye over the door is CLOSED, you'll be fine. Now, this bit can take time, so be patient. In a little while you'll see Mordack appear in his bedroom and lie down on the bed. Go up, nick the wand from the table beside the bed, then go right out of the bedroom then right once again.
In the laboratory, go up the stairs and over to that strange machine. Put Mordack's wand on one side of the machine and Crispin's on the other. Then toss the mouldy cheese you found in the dungeon into the machine too. This will start it bubbling. When it's finished, Crispin's wand will be fully recharged and Mordack's wand is barely glowing. Take Crispin's wand and Mordack will appear in the room. He'll fetch his wand and point it at you, but at that moment Cedric flies through the window with news, and the spell hits him instead. When Mordack tries again, the wand won't work, so he'll use some transformation spells instead. This is where those symbols from the book in the library come in handy. When Mordack turns himself into the huge dragonfly-thing, use Crispin's wand on yourself to cast spells of your own. First, turn yourself into a tiger (the fourth symbol), when Mordack becomes a dragon, cast the rabbit spell (the second symbol), when Mordack becomes a snake, use the mongoose (the first symbol) and finally when Mordack becomes fire, use the raincloud spell to put him out. YAY!
Then sit back and watch the happy ending in which Crispin appears, saves Cedric after he was hit by Mordack's spell, restores your wife, son and daughter (happy reunions all round!) to their rightful sizes, whisks your castle back to where it belongs, sends Princess Cassima back to the Land of the Green Isles and finally sends you and your family home. You walk hand in hand with your family over the hill and down towards the castle. Hurraaay!
Total score: (if you did everything I said) 260/260. You've just completed King's Quest V. Congratulations!
