King's Quest VI ~ Heir Today, Gone TomorrowAfter the introduction, should you choose to watch it, you'll find yourself stranded on a beach on a strange island after you were shipwrecked. So the first thing to do is find out where you are. You'll notice something glinting on the beach nearby, so click the hand icon and you'll pick up your royal insignia ring -- very useful, since all your identification papers were lost in the wreck. The other thing you'll see is a plank. Move it and you'll find a box buried underneath it. Open the box and take the coin from Daventry you'll find within, then head up and up right.
You'll find yourself outside a rather magnificent castle. Talk to the guard-dogs at the door and you'll find out that it's the Castle of the Crown, on the Isle of the Crown, part of the Land of the Green Isles. You've reached your destination after all, which means Princess Cassima lives in this very castle. Unfortunately the guards won't let you in to see her without some proof of who you are, so show them your insignia ring. In a long cut-scene, one of them will fetch Captain Saladin and you'll be shown into the castle, where you'll have an audience with the vizier, Abdul Alhazred. You learn that Cassima is sequestered in mourning for her parents, whom, the vizier says, both became ill and died while she was away in Mordack's castle. She is not recieving any visitors and the vizier advises against exploring the islands more closely. At any rate, Saladin will then show you out of the castle with the instruction not to return. Think about what you've just heard, then go down and up left into the little village.
There's not much in the village, is there? Talk to the lamp-seller if you like, then go into the Pawn Shoppe. Browse the shelves then go over to the counter. Take a mint from the jar and give the merchant the coin you found in the box on the beach. He'll let you take one of the items on the front counter in exchange for it -- take the nightingale. Talk to the merchant and glean all the information you can about the Land. Leave the Pawn Shoppe and go into the bookshop next door. Notice the man in the black robe standing there, and talk to Ali, the bookshop owner. Again, glean all the information you can about the Land (particularly the bit about the ferryman being able to tell you more). Also look at the book sitting on the front counter -- Ali will tell you it's a spellbook, and he'll give it to you if you find him a rare book. Look at the books on the right-hand shelf, then use the hand icon to pick up a volume of love poetry. Alexander will read some out, then put the book back. Pick up the page that falls out and Ali will let you keep it. On the way out, take the book by the door. Once outside, go up and left.
This is the ferry that used to run between the islands. Ignore the boy who invites you go swimming and knock on the ferry door. Talk to the ferryman when he answers, and because Ali sent you, he'll let you in. Talk to him until he starts repeating himself (notice particularly about the map he mentions the Pawn Shoppe owner might have), then take the lucky rabbit's foot sitting on the table. Outside, go up, then down and into the Pawn Shoppe again.
Talk to the merchant and you'll mention the magic map the ferryman mentioned. The merchant will pull it out and explain that he'll want something very valuable in exchange for such an object -- it allows you to travel freely between the islands, after all. The only thing you have at the moment that's of any value is your royal insignia ring, so give it to the merchant and you'll now be the proud owner of a magic map! Now leave the Pawn Shoppe.
Before you leave, there'll be a cut-scene in which you learn Alhazred has a genie -- who you've seen around the town -- the man in black. You'll also discover the genie's weakness -- mint. Leave the shop. Go down, then straight back up into the town. Look through the junk the Pawn Shoppe owner just tipped out and you'll find a small bottle full of invisible ink. Handy, no? Well it will be later, anyway. :D From there, go down again and left.
You should be back on the beach. Go into your inventory, take out the magic map you just got and click it on yourself. Alexander will unroll it and you'll see the several islands that make up the Land of the Green Isles. Click on the large island at the top of the map -- the Isle of the Sacred Mountain. Once on the beach there, take the flower and the feather, pull out the map again and click on the island on the left, the Isle of Wonder. On this beach, talk to the oyster there and read to him from the book you got from the bookshop. When the oyster yawns, snatch the pearl. He'll go straight to sleep with the rest of his oyster friends. Try and go up and you'll be stopped by the island guards, who have been warned about you. Each have one heightened sense, and to get past them, you must convince them all that it's not a man standing on the beach, or they'll toss you into the sea.
To trick the first guard, the one with the giant nose, use the flower of stench on him. Ick. For the second, the one with the huge ears, use the tin nightingale. For the third, the one with the monumental mouth, give him the mint. The next, the one with the enormous hands, give him the lucky rabbit's foot. Finally, for the one who can actually see, use the bottle of invisible ink on yourself. Congratulations! You fooled all the guards! In the water, you'll see a string of something. If it's close to the shore, pick it up and you'll find it's a string of letters -- a sentence needing an ending. If it's not close, wait until it is, then grab it. Ponder the sentence a moment, then head right.
Look at the spider's web at the bottom left of the screen and you'll meet the charming Black Widow. When you're done talking with her, pull the thread at the bottom of the web, then snatch the paper at the top when she runs to fix it. The word 'love' is written on it. Now click on one of the piles of books dotted around the screen and you'll meet the bookworm. You'll explain you're in need of a rare book, and he'll ask you if you have a few things -- one of which is a dangling participle. You don't have anything he's interested in at the moment, so he'll disappear and you can head left, then up. Take one of the milkbottles from the milkweed bush and go left into the garden. Enter the gate, watch the long cut-scene with the Queens quarrelling over a lump of coal, then pick up the Red Queen's scarf. Give it to the Red Knight and he'll tell you you can keep it. Leave the garden, pick up the Rotten Tomato and an iceberg lettuce, then head down and down again to the beach. Take out the map, click Isle of the Beast.
When you arrive on the Isle of the Beast, go up, throw the iceberg lettuce into the boiling pond, then cross it. Take the lamp from the tree and go up again. Ignore the gardener and take the brick just outside the gates. Go down, down back across the pond and back to the beach. Talk to the funny creature hanging from the tree there and offer him the sentence you found in the sea. He'll agree to let you take him back to the Isle of Wonder. Do this (he belongs to the bookworm) and you'll be rewarded with that rare book you wanted -- a riddle book. Look at it to find there's a riddle missing. Go left back to the beach, take out the map and go to the Isle of the Crown.
Back on the beach, go up. You'll see a nightingale in the tree. Use the tin nightingale you have and the real nightingale will come down a little way. Go up into the town and into the Pawn Shoppe. Give him the pearl and you'll get your insignia ring back. While you're here, swap the nightingale for the flute and leave. Read the proclamation near the arch (Cassima's going to marry another?!) and go into the bookshop. Give the riddle book to Ali in exchange for the spellbook. Talk to the man sitting by the fire, then when he refuses to talk to you, show him your insignia ring. He'll introduce himself as Jollo, court jester at the Castle of the Crown. He'll tell you a little about what's happened and about Cassima's missing pet nightingale, then take his leave. Leave the bookshop and go down to the tree. Give your insignia ring to the nightingale, who'll take it to Cassima, who will now know you're here. Sing-Sing will bring back a ribbon. Give the nightingale the love poem and in a minute she'll return with a letter from Cassima. Read the letter and examine the ribbon to find a strand of hair. Go to Isle of Wonder.
Once there, go up and left and take the teacup sitting on the chair at the back. Try to take the hole-in-the-wall near the wallflowers, then play the flute when he tries to hide behind the wallflowers. Take the hole while the flowers are dancing. Give the bottle of milk to one of the baby's tears on the left there. The others will start crying, so click the lamp on one of them to collect some of the tears. Go down and try and get some mud from the side of the swamp with the teacup. Stick-in-the-Mud and Bump-on-a-Log will start arguing. When you have a chance, give the Rotten Tomato to Bump-on-a-Log. A furious fight will ensue, but once it's done, get some of the swamp ooze from Bump-on-a-Log and go down. Take out the map and head for the Isle of the Crown once more.
On the Isle of the Crown, go up and up again into the town. Go into the Pawn Shoppe and switch the flute for the tinder box. Leave and head down and down to the beach. Map out, and head for the Isle of the Sacred Mountain.
You'll find yourself at the base of a seemingly unclimbable mountain. Look at the carving on the cliff and press the R in IGNORANCE, I in KILLS, S in WISDOM and the E in ELEVATES to spell RISE. This will cause granite stones to come out of the cliff for you to climb up, so do so until you reach the top and look at the next carving. The solution to the next puzzle is SOAR. Refer to this page and press the buttons in the correct order to spell SOAR. Continue up the cliff until you reach the next carvings. Press the fourth stone (the one furthest to the right), then the first stone, then the one next to it. Continue up. The answer to the next puzzle are the symbols that represent the Ancient Ones' Sacred Four -- TRANQUILITY, AZURE, CATERPILLAR and AIR. Refer to the above page again and press the stones that correspond to each of these. Continue up. The answer to the final puzzle is ASCEND. Press the A in ALL, the S in SILENT, C in CRY, E in THE, N in NOBLE and the D in BOULDERS. Continue to the top. To get rid of the lady at the top, climb back down a few steps, then back up.
Back at the top, crawl into the cave the lady was standing in front of and light the tinder box to shed some light on your situation. Go through the hole on the other side of the room and take some peppermint leaves from the bush growing by the window. Go back through the hole and out of the cave. Go up and you'll be captured by two of the Winged Ones' guards. Long story short, you're taken before Lord Azure and Lady Aeriel, who'll imprison you in the sacred catacombs with the mission of rescuing their daughter from the Minotaur. Succeed and you'll be granted a visit with the Oracle. Fail and, well ... you become Minotaur chow. I save the game frequently in here.
Okay, so when you're thrown rather unceremoniously into the catacombs, go up, up, right, right and up. Take the skull on the floor and go down, left, left, up and left into a room with an Indiana Jones-esque puzzle. The answer is again on the page I pointed you to before. Go this way: ROSE, ROSE, ROSE, SCYTHE, CROWN, DOVE and the BONES. Go left out of this room. Now go up, grab the shield on the wall, go up three times and left twice. Take the coins on the skeleton's eyes, then go right, right, down and right. Throw the brick into the gears when you get trapped, then go right out of the room, right, up and right. You'll fall through the trapdoor. If you don't want to get eaten, use the tinder box on yourself and light the torch. Go down four times, left four times, down, left, left, up, left, up twice and right three times. You hear noises here -- use the hole-in-the-wall on the right wall and you'll see the Minotaur in the next room fiddling with a secret switch behind a tapestry. Go left three times, down twice, right, down, right twice, up, right, up and up. Now, this looks familiar. Examine the tapestry on the wall and go right into the Minotaur's lair. He's struggling with a girl, Lady Celeste, Lord Azure and Lady Aeriel's daughter. Talk to the Minotaur and when he's done and you're backed up against the pit, use the Red Queen's scarf on the Minotaur and he'll fall into the pit. You'll get a dagger from Lady Celeste as a reward and as promised, in a long cut-scene, you're granted a visit with the Oracle and a vial of sacred water will be passed on to you. When all this is done, you'll be deposited back on the beach. Map out and travel to the new location on it, the Isle of the Mists.
Go left. Take a lump of coal from the pit and the scythe. Go down, map out, and travel to the Isle of the Beast.
Upon your arrival on the island, go up, across the pond and up to the gate. Use the shield on the archer statue and you can pass safely through it. Pick a white rose from the hedges, then try to pass through the gazebo. The hedges will clump together, so use the scythe on them and you'll pass through to come face to face with the Beast. Listen to what he says and he'll also give you a ring. Go down, down, back across the pond and down to the beach. Travel to the Isle of the Crown. Go up, up into the town and into the bookshop. Chat to Jollo again and listen carefully to what he says. Leave and go up to the garden. The girl, Beauty, should be tending the roses near the front fence. Give her the white rose and talk to her. When you're done talking, give her the Beast's ring. Long cut-scene in which the enchantment is broken and the former Beast and Beauty we assume live happily ever after. You'll get the ex-Beast's mirror and Beauty's old slave clothes at the end. Use the vial of water the Oracle gave you on the hunter's lamp containing the baby's tears' tears and then use the lamp on the fountain. Go down, pick another rose from the hedges, go down twice and travel swiftly to the Isle of Wonder.
Now go up, left, take the little bottle sitting on the table and go up into Chessboard Land. Give the lump of coal to the White Queen and you'll recieve a spoiled egg in return. Go down to the beach, travel to the Isle of the Crown.
Go up and give the white rose to the nightingale to take to Cassima. This time the bird won't bring a present back, so go up and into the Pawn Shoppe. The man in black should be here. Use the bottle of poison on yourself to trick him into thinking you're dead. During the cut-sequence, note the shape and colour of Shamir's lamp. Leave the Pawn Shoppe and use the spell book on yourself. Turn to the 'Make Rain' spell and cast it. The hunter's lamp should have all three ingredients in it. All you need is heat. Go to the beach and head for the Isle of the Mists.
You'll be captured straight away by the druids and placed unceremoniously into a cage above a large fire. But don't worry -- the 'Make Rain' spell you just cast will now work and a furious thunderstorm will ensue. This will impress the druids who will set you free and give you some information on the Realm of the Dead. Use the skull on the burning embers, then use Cassima's hair followed by the spoiled egg on the skull. These are what you'll need for the next spell you'll want to cast. Down once to the beach and travel to the Isle of the Sacred Mountain.
Climb the mountain to find Nightmare grazing on the nightshade bushes at the top. Take out the spell book, click it on yourself and cast the 'Charming a Creature of the Night' spell to hitch a ride to the Realm of the Dead. Once there, avoid touching any spirits that might be near you and talk to the two wandering around the middle -- that's King Caliphim and Queen Allaria, Cassima's parents. You'll find they didn't die of broken hearts as the vizier and Jollo claim, but were murdered as they slept one night by their trusted vizier, Abdul Alhazred! The Queen will slip you her ticket to the Underworld. Go right. Talk to the spirit here about her little boy and she'll give you a handkerchief. Go up towards the gates of the Underworld. Click on the two bones leaning against what looks like a xylophone, then pick up the skeleton key when the guard drops it. Give the entry ticket to the second skeleton.
Inside, look at the skeleton lying on the path and take his gauntlet. Look at it -- this tells you that you have a right to challenge Death. Go up, get some water from the River Styx in your teacup and give the two coins you found in the catacombs to the ferryman, Charon. On the other side of the river, touch the gate and talk to it. So he'll let you pass if you answer his riddle, huh? Sounds alright. The answer to Gate's riddle is LOVE, so press the buttons in the right order to spell it. Step through the gate to come face-to-face with the Lord of the Dead himself.
You'll be met just inside the gate by a couple of guards who will escort you to Death's throne. First of all you must challenge him by showing him the gauntlet you found -- he'll make you a deal: he'll release you, King Caliphim and Queen Allaria, if you do one thing ... make him cry. Now this task sounds totally impossible, but show him the Beast's mirror and you'll accomplish this task. To Death, truth is a terrible thing. True to his word, he will release you, King Caliphim and Queen Allaria and Nightmare will take you back to the Isle of the Crown.
From the beach, go up and up again into the town. Go into the Pawn Shoppe and swap the tinder box for the paint brush. Go back outside and talk to the lamp seller. Swap the now empty (and useless) hunter's lamp for one that looks like the genie's -- you will have noted it's shape and colour in the cut-scene a while ago. Go down and up right towards the castle. Go left along the castle wall. Use the feather on the teacup and use the paint brush on the castle wall. Ah! A door! Just what this wall needed! Now get out your spellbook and cast the 'Magic Paint' spell. This will make the door you just drew real so you can open it and step inside the castle. Yay!
From here, go right (along the bottom of the screen) and into the door on the right wall. Talk to Jollo and give him the lamp. Leave and go left back to where you came in. Go into the middle door and you'll meet the son of the spirit you met in the Realm of the Dead. Give him his mother's handkerchief and he'll disappear, but not before giving you some important information about a certain statue. Leave the dungeon and go up. Look at the statue there and pull its right arm, as the boy ghost instructed. Step through into the secret passageway. Look through the hole in the wall and you'll listen in on two guard dogs. You'll also hear half of a password, ALI. Go up the stairs. Look through the chink in the wall -- it's Cassima! You've found her! Talk to her and slip her the dagger you got from Lady Celeste. When she's dragged away, go along the corridor. Once again, look through the chink in the wall and eavesdrop on the vizier, and you'll finally overhear his real plans for the princess. Continue along the corridor and step through where you see the door with a rim of light around it. You'll step out of the wardrobe in the vizier's room. Use the skeleton key in the chest and take the letter on the top. Read it. Look at the box on the desk and you'll find the other half of the password -- ZEBU. Leave back through the wardrobe, go back down the corridor, down the stairs and out of the secret passageway. Go down to where you came in and over to the door on the left-hand wall. Talk to the door and enter the password, ALIZEBU. Enter the room and take the cloth on the table, which will reveal where all the treasures each island thought had been stolen from them by another island have been hidden. Not much time to ponder this, however, as you hear wedding music. Quickly leave the room, go right along the bottom of the screen and up the stairs. Go over to the door leading to the throne room.
Now, because you are of noble birth, Captain Saladin will give you five seconds to explain your presence before he runs you through. Give him the letter you found in the vizier's room and he'll show you into the throne room. Talk to Cassima and stop the wedding. Now Cassima apparently tells Saladin to kill you, but don't worry -- it's the genie in disguise, and here come Caliphim and Allaria to save the day! The genie will poof back to his normal form and Alhazred will nick off through the back door. Follow him and race quickly up two flights of stairs to the tower.
The ultimate confrontation. Alhazred will summon his genie, but Jollo will appear with the real lamp. Click it on the genie to capture him. You could also give him the peppermint leaves, but you don't get as many points for that. Take the sword from the wall and click it on the vizier. A frantic swordfight will ensue. When Cassima sticks her dagger in his shoulder, click the sword on him again to finish him off. Lovely ending now, with Alexander finally asking Cassima to marry him, and Caliphim and Allaria passing on the kingdom at the wedding.
Total score: (if you did everything I said) 231/231. You've just completed King's Quest VI. Congratulations!
