DAY ONE

 
 

BACKGROUND

Queen Catherine de Medicis seeks advice from Nostradamus about a curse in a quatrain allegedly written by him. He offers to send his son, César, to investigate. Unfortunately César is not due back for at least ten days, so you (Madeleine) have to impersonate him and take his place.
 
 

BEGINNING

You can't exactly prance around in your underwear, so the first thing to do is get dressed. There's a dress inside the cupboard in your room and a pair of lady's shoes at the foot of the bed.
 
Go downstairs and talk to Nostradamus in his room. He gives you a case of tools and reminds you to find something to fix your complexion.
 
 
 

CÉSAR'S CLOTHES AND ACCESSORIES

Examine the portrait of César hanging on the wall inside his room to see exactly what he looks like.

 

The various items needed to pose as César are as follows:

01)

Clothes of César - on the bed in his room

02)

César's boots - at the foot of the bed in his room

03)

Long wig - on the dressing table in the mother's room

04)

Strip of cloth - in top drawer of bedside table in the mother's room

05)

Shoulder pads - in bottom drawer of bedside table in the mother's room

06)

Eyeglasses - on the desk in the downstairs entrance hall

07)

Hat - on the hat rack in the downstairs entrance hall

08)
 

Examine the long wig in your inventory, then cut it with the scissors to get
a short wig and moustache
 
 

COLOURING CREAM

The recipe for colouring cream is in the dressing table drawer in the mother's room. Move it into the recipe section of your log book to learn that the required ingredients are:

Water
Oil
Beeswax
Clay

Note from the recipe that the ingredients must be heated until the consistency is smooth.

 
Go to the well and lower the pail once by dragging down on the handle on the right. Look carefully at the rope to see that it's badly frayed and won't hold a full pail of water.
 

 
Raise the pail (by dragging the handle up) and remove it together with the long frayed rope. There's a long rope on the ground next to the pillar at the entrance to the stairs. Attach it to the cross beam on the well and tie the pail to it. Lower the pail twice to hear the sound of water. Again raise the pail and fill two the recipients of all sorts (found on the kitchen table) with water. Note that the recipients of all sorts can also be filled with water from the trough opposite the forge in the village.
 
Take some clay from the trough under the tree to the left of the gate in the yard.
 

Go to the workbench in Nostradamus' office and prepare the colouring cream as follows:

01)

Pour one jug of water into the cooking pot next to the workbench

02)
 

Use the pipette to get oil from the last bottle on the bottom shelf and put it into
the cooking pot

03)
 

Use the spoon to put beeswax from the 4th bottle on the bottom shelf into the
cooking pot

04)
 

Put the clay into the mortar and crush it with the pestle. Use the spoon to put
the crushed clay into the cooking pot

05)
 

Open the drawer on the stove and put some kindling wood (from the basket
hanging on the wall) inside

06)

Light the stove with the lighter (found on the table in Nostradamus' room)

07)

Close the drawer and turn the lever to the left

08)

Fill one of the recipients of all sorts with the colouring cream in the cooking pot
 

NOTE: If you put incorrect items or quantities in the pot, it can be emptied by
pouring the contents into the fire.

 

BONUS POINTS

To get bonus points much later on in the game you need another
jar of colouring cream, so you might as well make it now.

 
 

CATHERINE'S BIRTH CHART

After dressing up as César and preparing the colouring cream, speak to Nostradamus in his room. Take note of what he says as there are clues to later puzzles. Move the astrological test sheets he gives you into the diary section of your log book.
 

The two sets of columns on the right hand page of the test sheets must be arranged correctly. The columns on the left consist of various planets and their symbols. Those on the right are the twelve signs of the zodiac and their symbols. The correct arrangements are shown in graphic below.

 
Astrology buffs should know the symbols for the planets and zodiac signs, but the correct positions can also be worked out by aligning the lines on the left of the rectangles in the planets columns and the interlocking sides of the rectangles in the zodiac columns.
 

PLANETS PUZZLE

Clicking the right arrow rotates the plants and/or symbols clockwise. In other words, the rectangles in the left column each move one position up and those on the right move one position down. Click the double-sided arrow to switch the rectangles in the centre row.
 

ZODIAC PUZZLE

In the zodiac puzzle the symbols are fixed and only the names can be moved. Use the 'sun' button to lower each name one position. The 'double moon' button interchanges the bottom two names.
 
The solutions below only apply from the initial settings. There's no way to reset the puzzles, so you have to revert to a previous saved game if you've moved any of the rectangles.
 

PLANETS PUZZLE

→ (once)

↔

→ (twice)

↔

→ (3 times)

↔

→ (6 times)

ZODIAC PUZZLE

S = click 'sun'

SM = alternate between
         'sun' and 'moon'

S (1X) then SM (8X)
S (4X) then SM (7X)
S (5X) then SM (5X)
S (7X) then SM (4X)
S (8X) then SM (3X)
S (9X) then SM (2X)
S (8X) then SM (1X)
 
After correctly setting the planets and zodiac puzzles, use the compass to draw two circles on the opposite page. Complete Catherine's birth chart by drawing inside the circles with the quill.
 
 
 

VOICE AND KNOWLEDGE TEST

Speak to Nostradamus 'About the chart...' to trigger the voice and knowledge test. Experiment with the settings on the voice pitch dial on the right until you get the correct one as illustrated below.
 

 
There are nine questions, but you only need answer five correctly to pass the test. For each correct answer two bars on the progress meter (on the left) light up.
 

 
Don't forget to adjust the voice pitch dial before selecting your answer. All the correct answers are:
 

Q :

Say something... anything... to see how you place your voice

A :

Something, anything!
  

Q :

What's the first sign of the zodiac?

A :

Aries
  

Q :

What zodiac sign rules the heart?

A :

Leo
  

Q :

What common product is often used to avoid contagion?

A :

Vinegar
  

Q :

How do you determine someone's sign?

A :

According to the position of the sun in his natal sky.
  

Q :
 

What very rare animal crosses the seas before finishing in the
hands of apothecaries?

A :

Ambergris
  

Q :
 

What do you think of the theory that places the sun in the centre
of the universe?

A :
 

To tell the truth everything depends on who is asking me.
Times are pretty hard for new ideas.
  

Q :

What is it we call the "rising sun" in a star chart?

A :
 

It's the sign of the zodiac that's rising on the horizon at the
moment of birth.
  

Q :

What is an astrological "aspect"?

A :
 

It's the relationship established between two planets in a chart,
whether harmonious or conflicting.
 
Sit back and enjoy your makeup session with Nostradamus...