THE PETTIGREW CHRONICLES, PART 2: THE RETURNING
Shards Software, 1984
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Solution by Exemptus - May 2023
Overview and general hints:
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In Part 2, the player (still playing Rupert Pettigrew) has to find a home for
the legendary Safras sword. This part consists of eight separate riddles, each
having a text-based solution which advances the player. The riddles are totally
linear and have to be taken in the same order.
The game offers a clue in the form of a cryptic poem, from where the right
solution has to be deduced.
Walkthrough:
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1. Madmox the mad Ice Giant
[Clue:
Show no fear, your arms in peace,
Trust what I say not do,
and to others will be done
what they would do to you.
HOW TO PASS THE AXE GIANT?]
DROP SWORD [This is just naturally following the clue's advice]
2. The Iron Gate
[Clue:
The first is for the man from France
The second in Britain was worth a glance
For the third look for the shore
Where the key fits is number four
For number five the farm house son
Now give the word and the gate will run.
WHAT IS YOUR GUESS?]
PAPER [The initials of Pierre/Auntie/Plymouth/Exeter/Ron, referencing Part 1]
The Iron Gate (continued)
[Clue:
Well done, the gate runs
and is ready for the word
to open it up to the world
he who listens, but is never heard.
WHAT IS YOUR GUESS?]
BRIAN [A Monty Python reference]
3. The River Crossing
[Clue:
Now cross the river in your sturdy boat,
your friends (yellow green and blue) want to come too.
But you take one at a time as your boat is made just for two.
WHO WILL YOU TAKE?]
Y [BG on left shore, Y on right]
GO BACK [idem]
B [G on left short, BY on right]
TAKE YELLOW [GY on left shore, B on right]
G [Y on left shore, BG on right]
GO BACK
Y [Done]
4. The Device
[Clue:
Blocking your path is an evil device
Defuse it you must I'm afraid
Guess the code to come next, to survive,
or to sudden rest you'll be laid
TYPE IN YOUR GUESS: 731]
076
[This one is bugged, I'm afraid, as the code has a fatal typo. This intended to
take a base three consecutive numbers which are arithmetic progressions, of the
sort add 3 modulo 10 , add 4, modulo 10 and add 5, modulo 10 , resulting in
the numbers 1470369258, 1357913579 and 1593715937, but the latter is hardcoded
as 15935715937 instead, which breaks the pattern completely. As a result, the
solution accepts any three digits with the only restriction that the first one
is the first one shown plus 3 (mod 10). So 000 would work above, although the
intention was to accept only 076.]
5. (Untitled)
[Clue:
Facing you now is one who
admires your english family royal
The bottom line is tunefully fine
Show him that you are loyal.]
MMZNMZXXCXZMZMNM [Type in succession these keys]
[OK, this is a bit too much. The verses tell you that the bottom line of keys on
the keyboard has become a piano (so they BEEP when pressed) and you must play
the chorus from the God Save The King anthem. Yes, really. Actually this is
not so hard to figure out once you realise the deal with the keyboard, but talk
about a culture-centric puzzle! This one gets the big prize.]
6. (Untitled)
[Clue:
Now climb through the kasm to
Reach the cool place but those
Teeth are so sharp in that cold
Ugly face, Five words you must
Find the incantations to destroy
those foul teeth one by one.
You will see that each word has
been rearranged for safety
As misuse can bring disaster
to the user involved.]
[A scrambled word will appear. These are random from a list, and you need to
rearrange them to form the right word. This is not difficult. The words are five
out of the list GROTESQUE, HORRIBLE, HIDEOUS, GHASTLY, MURDEROUS, HELLISH,
FANTASTIC, GRUESOME, LOATHSOME, and INFERNAL.]
7. The Safras Caves
[Clue:
Pay heed to these wise words
if to enter the cave you want
Your sword into two, Pettigrew
Front to back and back to front.
TYPE IN YOUR GUESS:]
RASSAF [Split SAFRAS as SAF/RAS and then type the second then the first halves]
[And now you must change wood into gold.
TYPE YOUR GUESS PLEASE:]
WOOD GOOD GOLD [Change WOOD into GOLD, one letter at a time, using real words]
8. The Sword Room
[Clue:
At last you come upon
The final resting place.
The swortd will find its home
in one stone that you face.
IN WHICH STONE DOES IT BELONG
Watch Brother big you might...
(Patience is a virtue)]
H [The screen will imitate the "Sinclair Research" screen for 18 seconds]
[I believe this is just an exercise in patience and resisting frustration, as
the text says. The screen shows a number of "stones", labeled from A to H, and
the player is supposed to guess. At any press, the screen will just go blank for
18 seconds, during which the player can't press any key, or else the computer
will reset. Nothing ill happens if the player guesses wrong, unless a key is
pressed during the "Sinclair Research" screen. The right letter happens to be H
just as any other could have, there's no particular logic to it.]
[This ends Part 2.]
