The Fool's Errand
Game Details: Fantasy, 1987
Links: Moby Games, Adventure Gamers
Walkthrough Updated: 10/10/2006
Suggested Listening: Caught Up in the Panic (Ash 25)
Scroll 1: Wands
The Sun
After all initial scroll puzzles are solved and all map pieces are present, you need to construct a path from the first location (the hilltop with the sun) to the ending location (the heart). The pieces need to go in the order that the corresponding puzzles appear in the completed scroll. Once the map is completed the Treasure Puzzles are available.
The Singer
Select the bold letters from the following: areYOUReyesBLIND to reveal the letters BOW.
The Page of Wands
Run your mouse along the top of the screen, then type in the hidden phrase "To the east".
The Knight of Wands
Using the initial clue FBUMSFF = SADNESS, substitute letters to reveal the following: "Well," he began, "I met a page on my travels, and he was seeking the pyramids."
The Wheel of Fortune
This is like a simplified version of a poker game, where the first to a total of 700 points wins. You have to beat the old man just once to progress. You get to choose a card to add to your existing two cards to make the best hand possible. The following are the possible hands:
High | Magician, Fool | 81 |
Dark | Death, High Priestess | 72 |
Astral | World, Moon, Star | 63 |
Council | Hierophant, Justice, Judgement, Temperance | 54 |
Royal | Hierophant, Emperor, Empress, Hermit | 45 |
Mortal | Strength, Hanged Man, Hermit, Chariot | 36 |
Lucky | Hanged Man, Fortune Wheel, Lovers, Fool | 27 |
Low | Tower, Chariot, Lovers, Fool | 18 |
- A triplet of cards from the same group beats a pair, and a pair beats a single.
- A winning single card gives 9 points, a winning pair the points shown above and a winning triplet the above plus an extra 72 points.
- Tying pairs or triplets are ranked by the highest card they contain.
The Archway
This is a maze where panels will open and close as you move towards them.
The Canopy
A word search where you must find names of 23 vegetables. From the top left of the grid, they are radish, carrot, leek, potato, parsley, artichoke, lettuce, cabbage, tomato, celery, parsnip, onion, asparagus, beans, cucumber, scallion, broccoli, rhubarb, turnip, lentil, eggplant, squash and cauliflower.
The Fighting Boys
Click on the buttons in the order 3, 2, 1, 4, 5 to reveal the phrase "New gnu".
The Stone Wall
Type the phrase "Rat ivy" in the boxes.
The Queen of Wands
The 3 words to read horizontally from top to bottom are sad, ice and new. The letter S will be highlighted.
Three Ships
From the clue from The Devil puzzle, use the letters N, S, E, W on your keyboard to move the ? symbol to your mouse cursor, rather than moving your mouse cursor to the ? symbol. Your mouse cursor will change to a gold key. You now have the 1st Key of Thoth, and can attempt the High Priestess puzzle.
Scroll 2: Pentacles
The Juggler
Using the initial clue PUGR OQUFEZ = MANY DEATHS, substitute letters to reveal the following: "I am afraid that I am not the messenger you expect, but I was told to warn you that two ships approach from the south."
The Farmer
Place the tangram pieces into the grid to show the phrase "I am here at the Queen's request".
The Blacksmith
You need to unscramble pairs of interlocking words. The answers are merry/sorry, brown/crown, quick/quill, bliss/amiss, growl/scowl, worth/north, ghoul/ghost, throw/three, still/chill. The letters ROI will be highlighted.
The Cathedral
This is a jigsaw puzzle that shows the erection of an elaborate building, with the letters MYR featured.
The Chapel
There are only three letters missing from the scene, and the correct order is FIE.
The Humbug
Follow the path of the eyes from start to finish to complete the maze and reveal the puzzle for the 2nd Key of Thoth. Here you must click on the four orange/pink static squares while the rest of the screen is animated.
The Maze of Hedges
Just use trial and error to eventually make you way through this maze, revealing walls and "whispering winds" that teleport you elsewhere as you go. There is only one correct path through the maze.
The Queen of Pentacles
The 3 words to read horizontally from top to bottom are arm, too and ebb. The letter S will be highlighted.
The Pentacle
Place the tangram pieces into the grid to show the phrase "The four sages".
The World
A word search where you must find names of 23 European countries. From the top left of the grid, they are Austria, Finland, Czechoslovakia, France, Albania, Russia, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, Norway, Ireland, Yugoslavia, Poland, Italy, Iceland, Greece, Turkey, England, Netherlands, Rumania, Spain and Portugal.
Strength
This is a jigsaw puzzle that shows pyramids during night and day, and a letter E on the right side.
Temperance
You need to unscramble words that relate to wedding anniversaries. The answers are wood, bronze, paper, silver, leather and turqoise, and they reveal the clue Red Urn.
Scroll 3: Cups
The Hanged Man
This is a jigsaw puzzle that shows two silhouettes running toward the sea at night, and the initials KD in the sky.
The Page of Cups
You need to unscramble types of fish. The answers are perch, trout, minnow, sardine, goldfish and halibut, and they reveal the clue No Ship.
The Knight of Cups
Using the initial clue GPHVI AFPJJ = DEATH KNELL, substitute letters to reveal the following: "Alas I do he sighed. Your knight says that no ship has landed upon your shore."
The Children
Click on the buttons in the order 2, 5, 4, 6, 1, 3 to reveal the phrase "We are the last of those who care".
The Couple
Use the first letter of each word here to make the phrase "Leap for joy".
The Dancers
Place the tangram pieces into the grid to show the phrase "The rainbow of hope".
The Family
A word search where you must find names of 26 colors. From the top left of the grid, they are vermillion, turqoise, beige, brown, purple, magenta, lavender, maroon, gray, amber, yellow, scarlet, blue, violet, pink, orange, azure, indigo, green, white, black, chartreuse, crimson, hazel, aquamarine and ochre.
The Queen of Cups
The 3 words to read horizontally from top to bottom are two, oil and end. The letter T will be highlighted.
The Cloud
This is a jigsaw puzzle that shows the words fifteen, two and twenty, and two figures, one grabbing at 7 cups.
The Vision
Place the tangram pieces into the grid to show the words fourteen, eight and fifteen.
The Enchantment
Click on the buttons in the order 1, 4, 6, 7, 5, 2, 3 to reveal the phrase "Sixteen-Sixteen".
The Hierophant
You need to unscramble pairs of interlocking words. The answers are fourteen/three, twelve/two, nineteen/one, seventeen/five and thirteen/six. The words thirteen and six will be highlighted.
The Moon
Select the bold letters from the following: MUCHtoACCOMPLISH to reveal the letters AIH.
Scroll 4: Swords
The Emperor
A word search where you must find names of 26 birds. From the top left of the grid, they are goose, crow, finch, sparrow, robin, swallow, bluejay, woodpecker, whippoorwill, thrush, wren, bobolink, dove, parakeet, cardinal, hawk, vulture, canary, eagle, meadowlark, nightingale, duck, buzzard, nuthatch, heron, crane.
The Empress
You need to unscramble the horizontal words. The set on the left are miss, twig, idea and root. The set on the right are weep, your, hair, area, worm, iron, lard and soup. This reveals the words star and pyramids.
The Star
Place the tangram pieces into the grid to show the phrase "Mystical chant".
The High Priestess
You can only attempt this puzzle after you have collected the 4 Keys of Thoth (from Three Ships, The Humbug, Justice and The Hermit). For the first part, click on the same four areas of the screen as you did in The Humbug. Next drag the bars across the screen as in Justice, and finally draw the same pattern as you did for The Hermit. You will now see the Treasure Puzzle, but cannot access it yet.
The Sentry
Each letter in the hidden phrase is the letter that appears in one of the words below but not the other. Therefore type the phrase "Do not try to stop us".
The Knight of Swords
Using the initial clue LSIG HARUY = GRIM TALES, substitute letters to reveal the following: "I bring a message from your Knight. He tells of an attack by eight magical wands."
The Chant
Without any initial clues, substitute letters to reveal the following: "A giant wheel stood near the pyramids, and I saw three mystical words, one atop the other."
The Dream
Click on the buttons in the order 6, 1, 7, 4, 3, 2, 8, 5 to reveal the phrase "He sang this haunting song".
The Queen of Swords
The 3 words to read horizontally from top to bottom are raw, owe and bee. The letter E will be highlighted.
The Boat
You need to unscramble the words. Initially you do not need to swap letters between words, and the solutions are ditch/empty/roast, wreck/fight/utter. When the clues start appearing, you can swap letters between words. The solutions are throw/trick/tarot, siege/knife, rough/cross/chase, worry/yield, leech/torso/slate, crack/crass, wrong/greed, chaos/nudge/chain, crisp/entry/penny, alibi/arise, aroma/avoid, ounce/range, align/idiot, and despair.
Despair
Select the bold letters from the following: TENglowingSWORDS to reveal the letters PUS.
Justice
The aim is to activate all 25 squares at once. To reset the puzzle, click the middle square twice. If the squares are number 1 to 25, starting at the top left and heading right, the correct order to click is 13, 8, 14, 18, 12, 10, 24, 16, 2, 15, 23, 11, 3, 15. This will reveal the puzzle for the 3rd Key of Thoth. Here you must drag the bar from left to right, then right to left, top to bottom and bottom to top.
Scroll 5: The Kings
The Chariot
Place the tangram pieces into the grid to show the phrase "Pentacles, cups, swords, wands".
The Thief
Run your mouse along the top of the screen, then type in the hidden phrase "I take no credit for this".
The Hermit
Trace over the flashing sections over the maze in 4 separate parts, then traverse the entire maze at once. This will reveal the puzzle for the Last Key of Thoth. Trace over the flashing squares and remember this pattern for later.
Judgement
Select the bold letters from the following: gazeINTOtheSANDS to reveal the letters EZC.
The Tower
This is a jigsaw puzzle that shows two characters silhouetted, with the letters RW on the beach.
The Devil
Without any initial clues, substitute letters to reveal the following: "To secure that which cannot be gotten, you must invoke the points of a compass and convince it to come to you."
Death
You need to click on the white eye symbol without touching the red eye symbol.
The Magician
This is a jigsaw puzzle that shows men and a horse on the beach, and ships in the water, with a reflection of the letters RW in the water.
The Lovers
A word search where you must find names of 22 tarot cards. From the top left of the grid, they are hierophant, wheel of fortune, hermit, magician, high priestess, hanged man, temperance, judgement, empress, devil, world, justice, star, death, tower, emperor, fool, strength, moon, chariot, sun and lovers.
Treasure Puzzles
The major task here is to identify the names of the 14 treasures, and enter them in the Book of Sloth (the book with the eye on it) on the right side of the Sun Map.
The Kings are Confused
From the Sun Map, get the letters OEAR for the locations of the kings. From the scroll sections for each of the kings, get the letters NZTU, and from the scroll sections for each of the realms themselves, get the lettesr SBTE. Unscramble all of these letters to get Bronze Statue.
Within the Kingdom of the Pentacles
The name of this treasure is determined from the 8x3 grid on the boundaries of The Page of Pentacles and The Merchant. Find the 3-letter words in the 4 scroll sections before The Merchant (YES, ERA, SIP, TOP) and the 3-letter words in the 4 scroll sections after The Page of Pentacles (AIH, ROI, MYR, FIE). Enter these in the grid, and the highlighted letters will read Star Sapphire.
The Queens are Confused
From the scroll sections for each of the queens, get the words CLAC, TRSC, YNAL and EKE. Unscramble these letters to get Crystal Necklace.
Within the Kingdom of the Wands
This treasure is identified using the 4x6 grid on the boundaries of The Canopy, The Watchtower, The Fighting Boys and The Stone Wall. Find the four 6-letter phrases in these scroll sections and enter them in this order: RED URN, RAT IVY, BAD YAM, NEW GNU. The highlighted letters will read Ruby Ring.
The Path of Six is Disguised
Starting from Three Ships, note the references to the first of six, the letters RW, and chasing a fish. The Page of Cups describes a fish chase, KD and a woman with 2 swords. A woman with 2 swords is found in The Chant, along with the letters EZC and a family on a boat. Read The Boat to find YH and reference to a broken wheel. Next comes The Chariot, with a broken wheel, HA and a thief stealing seven. Finally in The Thief, find the letters RW and a reference to the last of its kind. This gives the letters RWKDEZCYHHARW. Use the first horizontal translation area on the Sun Map and enter these letters, to be given Onyx Medallion.
The Mystic Chant is Disguised
Read The Stream scroll to get the mystical chant: NZSLTZMBHGZUU. Use the second horizontal translation area to obtain Mahogany Staff.
The Knights and Pages are Confused
Collect the eight green capital letters corresponding to the map locations of the four knights and four pages: DSULTDOG. Unscramble these letters to get Gold Dust.
The Maze of Thorns is Disguised
Go to the Maze of Thorns. You need to first identify the eleven monsters scattered around the maze, then you can start collecting items to get past them. You will get 3 keys along the way and use spells to get past 3 other monsters blocking the exit (you have to go slightly north of the fire demon to disrupt it). You will be given the letters XLPFYVXENPAZGZJ. Use the first vertical translation area on the Sun Map to reveal Diamond Bracelet.
The Hierophant is Disguised and Confused
From The Hierophant, note a reference to four coming before, so read the four previous scroll sections and get the numbers 6, 13, 15, 2, 20, 14, 8, 15, 16, 16, 15, 24, 2. Use the blue text in the corners of the Sun Map squares to decode this to ADEROWFELLEMR. Unscramble these letters to get Emerald Flower.
If Justice Be Done
In the Justice scroll section there is a reference to the Emperor taking what is his, from what is hers. If you subtract the letters WIF DOVE from the phrase VILE SHADOW FIVE CIRCLE, you get the letters VILESHACIRCLE. Unscramble these letters to reveal Silver Chalice.
Within the Kingdom of the Swords
This treasure is identified using the 5x5 grid on the boundaries of The High Priestess, The Sentry, The Dream and The Nightmare. Find the 16 letters in The Tower, Death, The Dead Warrior, The Warrior and The Singer scroll sections, and the 9 letters displayed when the Wheel of Fortune is selected on the Sun Map. Enter all of these letters in this order: QM ZA, PUS BOW, EG LI OC, ONO ROR DND. The highlighted letters will read Magic Sword.
Follow the Straight Path
Go to The Straight Path scroll section. Read the previous section The Hermit and note the reference to starting with J. In the section after The Straight Path (Judgement) note the directions given. Start from the J on the Sun Map near the bottom right of the grid and follow the directions to spell out Jade Idol.
Within the Kingdom of the Cups
Find the puzzle where you must insert 12 horizontal words, on the borders of The Family, The Children, The Couple and The Dancers. Insert all the words from the scroll that have not yet been used: JOY, GRIEF, WHEAT, RICE, LEAP, HEX, DEAD, CARE, ERR, CORN, WISH and NINE. The highlighted letters will read Jeweled Crown.
Eight in the Land are Disguised
Follow the path and collect the eight large yellow letters: DRBUFVYU. Put these through the second vertical translation area to get Amethyst.
Finale
You then have to type FINALE at the dos prompt to access the last part of the game, which all happens automatically.