GameBoomers
Walkthroughs and Solutions “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}
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.
(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