“Ben Jordan
(3)”
Walkthrough
(The Sorceress of Smailholm)
Len
Green
18th December 2004
lengreen@hotmail.com
FOREWORD :-
The following is a “No Frills” walkthrough of this
freeware game, with minimum (vital) description & verbiage.
In a few places the action is not essential but
helpful … these are highlighted in blue. Some actions take place in
inventory … these are highlighted in pink.
After each essential action, the
number of points is included in curly red brackets. No cumulative score is
given since many actions can be done in different orders yielding different
numbers of accumulated points.
There are two possible ending routes to the game.
[1] The more obvious, but unsatisfactory
ending :-
If you follow the order I played the game as below and
perform all the actions described, you will obtain only 105 points (out of a
maximum possible of 144).
If you play in any different order but perform all the
actions described below, I see no reason why you should not obtain the same 105
points also [2] The
FULL/best ending :-
If you follow the order I played the game as below and
perform all the actions described, you will obtain the full 144 points (out of a
maximum possible of 144).
If you play in any different order but perform all the
actions described below, I see no reason why you should not obtain the full 144
points also !
***************************************
**** Talk
(fully) to Marcus Tibbins … the innkeeper {2}
**** Talk
(fully) to Wallace Crim {2}
**** Talk
(fully) to Angus McGee … the local constable {4}
**** Go to
your bedroom
**** Lie down
& sleep …... Wake up …… {2}
DAY-1
**** Talk
(fully) to Percival Quentin Jones … professor of criminology
**** Leave
hotel/inn
**** Go to the
jail
**** Talk
(fully) to Mary Blaine {3}
**** Walk all
around the town of Smailholm & its surrounds & examine everything at
every possible location
**** Talk
(fully) to Adam McBee (& his wife Ellen) {2}
**** Look at
portrait of Late Uncle Fred
**** Talk
again to Adam McBee {2}
**** Go out of
town to the old woman’s stone cottage
**** As you
approach her cottage she leaves & walks towards the right & off
screen
**** Keep
following her until she stops at a river. Hide, & observe her
activities {5}
**** Return
after her to the old woman’s cottage
**** Knock on
her door until she lets you enter
**** The old
woman’s name is Wilma Wiggins {4}
**** Talk
(fully) to Wilma {3}
**** The
following (one line in italics) is logical, makes sense, BUT IS NOT
ESSENTIAL!!
** Talk to
the McBees (they’re leaving for Kelso)
**** Go to
Smailholm church
**** Go to
grave of the 2 young murdered children
**** Look at
& take Jessica’s Teddy Bear {3}
**** Return to
Jail
**** Talk
(fully) again to Mary Blaine & obtain her locket {3}
**** Return to
Wilma Wiggins’s cottage
**** Give
Wilma Jessica’s Teddy Bear {3}
**** Give
Wilma Mary’s locket {3}
****
Automatically return to hotel/inn … commotion … Professor Jones laying down the
law … Go to sleep …... Wake up ……
DAY-2
**** Leave
hotel/inn
**** Return to
Wilma Wiggins’s cottage
**** Wilma has
been brutally murdered
**** Leave …
Professor Jones gives Ben an ultimatum
**** Walk back
to T-intersection & look at tree near to signpost
**** Examine
hieroglyphics (witch-code) message in dark red on tree {3}
There are two witch-code messages in the
game. This is the longer one. If you enjoy these puzzles, they can
be solved in easier or more difficult ways.
This (present) one NEVER
HAS TO BE SOLVED (although I personally found
it to be fun). The second and shorter one ONLY HAS TO BE SOLVED if/when you take the
longer/better route [2].
Link through to
“Witch-code Puzzle” at the end of this
walkthrough !
**** Return to
Wilma Wiggins’s cottage
**** Look in
the flowerbed underneath window outside cottage
**** Take
bloodstained crowbar {3}
**** Go to
Smailholm Tower
**** Prise
padlock off front door of tower {5}
**** Enter
tower
**** The
following (everything in italics) is logical, makes sense, BUT IS NOT
ESSENTIAL!!
** Read
diaries on upper shelf
** Read
books on lower shelf
** Examine
tapestry
**** Notice a
board brighter in color than the others (due to light from window)
**** It’s
loose … pull it open … you can’t with bare hands
**** Prise it
open with crowbar {4}
**** Look
inside hole produced
**** Take
contents … an old diary {3}
**** In inventory, read diary & obtain partial
witch-code {5}
**** In inventory, examine partial
witch-code {3}
**** Go to the
jail
**** Talk
again to Mary Blaine (& show witch cult diary) {3}
**** Go to the
forest
**** Keep
‘hidden’ … see Constable McGee & cloaked figure plotting {4}
**** Go to the
jail
**** Talk
again to Mary Blaine. Constable McGee is a ‘witch’ … Ben must come up with
a plan to bust her out of jail before they kill her. {3}
**** Start to
walk out of town (towards the Tower) and stop just BEFORE walking under
the archway ……
(SEE FOREWORD !) THIS IS THE POINT
WHERE THE TWO “ROUTES”
[1] & [2] SPLIT
… ( 77/144 points ).
IT’S WORTH SAVING
HERE !!
“ROUTE” [1]
**** Be
prepared for action (see later on) if you wish to take the (full) route
[2] …… otherwise you just bump into a confrontational
Constable McGee who ‘tranquilizes’ Ben ! If you are not very
careful, this will happen to you anyhow
****
There follows a cut scene, finishing up with Ben trussed up in a small prison
like room with next to no inventory left.
DAY-3 (Route 1)
**** Struggle
against the rope tying you
**** Repeat 4
times … rope gets looser & looser … free :- taken rope {3}
**** Peer
(hand icon) through hole in wall … see cut scene :- the plot thickens
{3}
**** Hear
footsteps in room above
**** Toss rope
(from inventory) up to hook in ceiling {2}
**** When the
floorboards above squeak, quickly pull downwards on rope …
McGee falls & is trapped {3}
**** Pick up
rope with hook attached {2}
**** Talk to
McGee & demand key to get out … No Go! he refuses
**** Throw
rope (with hook) upwards & snag McGee’s trousers … obtain key {2}
**** Use key on door
of room
**** Exit room
(prison) {2}
**** There
follows a long cut scene … confrontations … etc., etc.
**** At the
end of the cut scene, Ben is confronted by Zortherus who tries to kill
him. No panic … This is repeated over & over again until you succeed
in overpowering him. It’s worth
saving at the beginning of this sequence.
**** Quickly
use rope (with hook) on Zortherus (after the first attempt, it will reside
amongst your icons … you only need to quickly click the right mouse button to
access it !).
**** Zortherus
killed. The story is wound up … but very unsatisfactorily. A lot of
questions remain unanswered {11}
**** Cut scene
and END of “ROUTE” [1]
.
{Total points 105/144}
“ROUTE” [2]
**** Return to your Save (I hope you kept
one) immediately before the beginning of “ROUTE” [1] … (The maximum number of points you can
have here is 77/144).
**** Go
to inventory & click on crowbar … so that it is stored amongst your ‘icons’
(hand, eye, walk, etc.)
**** Walk through
the archway & confront Constable McGee
****
VERY QUICKLY, as soon as you regain control, hit him on the
head with the crowbar & he’ll collapse {7}
……
……. This can be very
difficult (some people may even find it impossible). For assistance if
necessary :-
Link through to
“Neutralizing McGee” at the end of this
walkthrough !
**** Search
the constable’s trousers
**** Take a
key on a key ring & also snag his tranquilizer gun {6}
**** Go to the
jail
**** Use the
key (on a key ring) to unlock the jail door {5}
**** Cut scene
… Ben gets a kiss (or two) … Mary safe in Ben’s bed
DAY-3 (Route 2)
**** Exit room
& go down to door of hotel
IT’S WORTH SAVING
HERE !!
**** Bump into
Prof Jones who escorts Ben to his room
**** Jones
asks Ben 3 questions {4 + 4 + 4 =
12}
It’s easy to lose
points here --- the ‘best’ (4 point) answers are given later ….
Link through to
“‘Best’ answers for Professor Jones ” at the end of this
walkthrough !
**** Leave inn
& town & walk past Wilma’s house
**** On one of
the two trees ‘guarding’ the path to the forest is a new hieroglyphics
(witch-code) message in dark red.
**** Look at
the message {3}
**** This second and shorter message ONLY HAS TO BE
SOLVED since you are taking the longer/better route
[2].
Link through to
“Witch-code Puzzle” at the end of this
walkthrough !
**** Return to
hotel. Climb stairs. Enter very first room (on the left), belonging
to Professor Jones
**** He hasn’t
got time for chit-chat
**** Tell him
about the message on the tree … you have to type it out on your keyboard … Jones
leaves in a hurry {5}
**** Look at
& ‘borrow’ his shovel
{3}
**** Walk past
the jail & McBee’s house to the church
**** Look at
the tombstone of the 2 murdered McBee daughters
**** Use the
spade to dig up the grave
**** After
what seems like hours, Ben hits something {4}
**** He hops
into the open grave & looks at a coffin
**** Ben opens
coffin … it’s EMPTY
**** He jumps
out of grave {2}
**** There
follows a long non interactive series of cut scenes
**** Ben asks
3 questions as to what it’s all been about … & receives answers from
Zortherus
**** This
finishes with Ben escaping to the forest {2}
IT’S WORTH SAVING
HERE !!
**** Look at
& pickup the stick on the ground {3}
**** Zortherus
materializes in front of Ben
**** QUICKLY
use your tranquilizing gun on Zortherus … . It’s worth saving at the beginning of this
sequence.
**** If you
don’t succeed in killing Zortherus, you start again, just before picking up the
stick. This is repeated over & over again until you succeed
in overpowering him. {5}
**** With
Zortherus lying prone & stunned on the ground, thrust your stick (a stake)
through his heart {10}
**** Cut
scenes, wrap up, and END of “ROUTE”
[2] .
{Total points 144/144}
“WITCH-CODE
PUZZLE”
First “WITCH-CODE PUZZLE”
It is worth
while deciphering this message, but not ESSENTIAL for either
route through the game).
(1) Good cryptographers
(which I am not) may be able to crack it with no assistance
whatsoever.
(2) If you reference the
“player’s handbook (included in the game’s folder … after installation) you can
identify 6 letters (A; O; T; C; J; Z). With these plus some guesswork
& trial & error I managed to solve it … with some difficulty
(3) If/when you’ve obtained the
witch’s (partial) code-page, hidden in the tower, you are supplied with 11
letters (E; N; L; Y; W; D; R; H; M; B; I). These ALONE make the job easy
(even without the handbook).
(4) If you use both (2) &
(3) you have every letter in the message
(N.B. A total
of 17 letters out of the 26 in the alphabet).
(5) The message reads …
“WW Dead; Mary will
die; innocently BJ; Where we want”
Second “WITCH-CODE PUZZLE”
It is ESSENTIAL
to decipher this message, in order to finish the full
“ROUTE”
[2]
(6) Unless you are very good at
guesswork (certainly for the last 4 letters) you will probably want to use
‘method’ (4) above.
(7) The message reads …
“Eliminate PQJ ……… Z”
(8)
( IGNORE THE “Z”
signature at the end ! ) .
WW, PQJ, BJ, & Z, are initials of
characters in the game.
“NEUTRALIZING MCGEE”
(1) Make sure that the crowbar
is in your set of icons i.e. successively clicking your right mouse button
should rotate you through ‘walk’, ‘eye’, ‘hand’, ‘talk’, ‘crowbar’, …
‘walk’, etc., etc.
(2) Walk forward. The
‘wristwatch (non interactive) icon’ will appear whilst you are conversing with
the constable.
(3) Move this ‘wristwatch icon’
so that it is centered on McGee’s shoulders of neck.
(4) As soon as this icon
disappears and is replaced by the ‘walk icon’,
Very
quickly click FOUR times on
your right mouse button and IMMEDIATELY click ONCE on your left mouse
button
“ ‘BEST’ ANSWERS FOR
PROFESSOR JONES ”
(1) For each of the 3 answers
you can obtain 1, 2, 3, or 4 points … hence the maximum total is 12
points.
(2) It’s easy to lose some
points here. The ‘best’ (4 point) answers are, counting from top to bottom
:-
First question ……..
1
Second question …..
3
Third Question ……
2
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