In this interactive fiction text adventure computer game, you are
an alchemy student at G.U.E. Tech, and you have summoned the
Eldest Horror, Ynf-Okh-Omm, in the basement tunnels. You thought
it would be cool. But pretty soon, Ynf-Okh-Omm will awaken, and
consume the universe.
You have nine turns to correct this, which isn’t really enough
time. Fortunately, when nine turns are up, you can travel back in
time (restart the game) and try again. You’ll have to try to
collect data on each loop that you can apply in the
next. Specifically, you’ll have to learn 13 eldritch spells.
Each spell has a one-letter abbreviation (just like the movement
directions North, East, South, West, Up, and Down), but to refer
to a spell by its abbreviation in a given loop, you must first
enter the full name of the spell. Just keeping you honest!
Some spells can only be discovered with the use of other
spells. The progression is fairly nonlinear, but this is one
possible order:
- RAENFIDHRE—The spell that banishes Elder Horrors. This is on a poster in the Alchemy building:
- KULEHRIF—The spell that lets you see in the dark. A hacker will teach it to you:
- NORTH
- NORTH
- EAST
- EAST
- X HACKER
- JILXUBE—The spell that summons a mass of slime. An
Elder Horror in the tunnels is holding some lecture notes with
this spell:
- NORTH
- NORTH
- RAENFIDHRE
- X NOTES
- BHEISHAUPH—The spell that summons frigid air. This is
written in a textbook someone left in a dark corner of the
tunnels:
- NORTH
- NORTH
- EAST
- EAST
- SOUTH
- SOUTH
- WEST
- KULEHRIF
- X TEXTBOOK
- HTERWERBSET—The spell that resurrects the dead. This is
on a note in the Necromancy building (the note doesn’t explain
what the spell does, but a little bit of experimentation will
reanimate a nearby cockroach):
- UP
- EAST
- EAST
- KULEHRIF
- NORTH
- X SCRAP
- VAADIGNEPHOD—The spell that straightens out
non-Euclidean geometry. This is referred to on a grant
application in the basement of a building that’s under
construction. You have to fill the pit with slime, then freeze
the slime. Kinda complicated:
- UP
- NORTH
- JILXUBE
- BHEISHAUPH
- GET ENVELOPE
- OPEN ENVELOPE
- READ GRANT APPLICATION
- CAERLAEV—A spell that lets you switch bodies with other
people. A gross blob in the sub-basement knows this spell, but
it is stuck in a dead end beyond a non-Euclidean tunnel, and it
is very thirsty (for slime):
- NORTH
- NORTH
- EAST
- DOWN
- EAST
- VAADIGNEPHOD
- SOUTH
- JILXUBE
- PHEIMMEB—A spell that lets you travel to the Dusky
Threshold, the dark space behind our universe. You find this
spell by reanimating a rat:
- NORTH
- NORTH
- EAST
- DOWN
- SOUTH
- SOUTH
- EAST
- HTERWERBSET
- X NOTE
- YZAWNZAG—A spell that steels your mind and increases
your willpower. This is on a statuette, guarded by an Elder
Thing, in a dark room, in the sub-basement.
- NORTH
- NORTH
- EAST
- DOWN
- SOUTH
- SOUTH
- KULEHRIF
- RAENFIDHRE
- X STATUETTE
- MNYMNSWST—A spell that lets you travel away from the
Dusky Threshold. This spell is taught to you by a spectre who
lives in the Dusky Threshold, in a room beyond a waterfall of
slime:
- NORTH
- NORTH
- EAST
- DOWN
- WEST
- BHEISHAUPH
- SOUTH
- PHEIMMEB
- X SPECTRE
- THOSSOTH—A spell that cuts stuff up. It’s written on a
piece of paper that is lying around in the Dusky Threshold:
- NORTH
- NORTH
- EAST
- EAST
- SOUTH
- SOUTH
- PHEIMMEB
- X PAPER
- FICKORDBOK—A spell that lets you speak Swedish. It’s in
a tome guarded by an Elder Horror in the Linguistics building
that truly exists in the Dusky Threshold but invisibly blocks
your progress in the Normal World:
- UP
- EAST
- NORTH
- PHEIMMEB
- RAENFIDHRE
- MNYMNSWST
- X TOME
- AVITHSKELT—A spell that lets you move up and down
through ceilings and floors. This is in a book in the Sorcery
department head’s office. It’s written in Swedish, and the
department head won’t let you in the office unless you switch
bodies with his assistant, and even if you do switch bodies with
his assistant, he’ll hypnotize you and let a monster eat you
unless you’re immune to hypnotism. As such, this is the last
spell you can discover:
- UP
- NORTH
- NORTH
- EAST
- CAERLAEV
- YZAWNZAG
- EAST
- FICKORDBOK
- X BOOK
Only with Avithskelt is it possible to banish Ynf-Okh-Omm within
the time limit. You just have to activate the final spell’s
physics-defying powers, descend to the sub-basement, untangle a
non-Euclidean hallway, reach the power station where the Eldest
Horror is drawing its power, sever its connection, float up to
face Ynf-Okh-Omm itself, banish it, and use your last turn to
avoid being sucked into non-space yourself. Thus this is the only
winning solution:
AVITHSKELT
DOWN
VAADIGNEPHOD
EAST
NORTH
THOSSOTH
UP
RAENFIDHRE
EAST
Which spells ADVENTURE
.