The Secret of Monkey Island/Part One: The Three Trials

Town
After a brief conversation with the Mêleé Island™ lookout, you find yourself standing on a bridge at the edge of the town. The town isn't a huge place, but it consists of a fair few areas, and you will find yourself returning here throughout the game.

The lookout told you that if you want to become a pirate, you should talk to the Pirate Leaders, who are to be found in the Scumm Bar, so that's our destination. First, you can have a look at the poster of Governor Marley that's stuck on the wall near you — she's an important character in this story.

Walk to the right, past the bridge, and the first building we come to is the Scumm Bar. How convenient. Open the door and go on inside.


 * ITEMS
 * none

Scumm Bar
Here, there are several nearby pirates you can talk to for a bit of background info on what's going on. You will find out about the ghost pirate LeChuck and his history with Governor Marley. You can also get a hint about how to get into the kitchen.

The important-looking pirates are sitting on a large table in the room to the right. These are the Pirate Leaders. Go and have a chat to them, tell them you want to become a pirate and you'll find out about The Three Trials. Ask about each one in turn to find out exactly what you have to do to prove yourself worthy.


 * Master the art of the sword by defeating the Sword Master
 * Master the art of thievery by stealing the Idol o' Many Hands from the Governor's mansion
 * Master the art of treaure hunting by finding the Legendary Lost Treasure of Mêleé™ Island

When you're done talking, we might as well have a little look at the kitchen and see if there's anything interesting. If you open the door and try to enter when the cook is in there, he'll kick you out. Therefore, you need to wait until the cook leaves the kitchen and walks past you, off the screen (you may need to stand away from the door a little bit). Then you can go inside.

There are a few things to pick up while you are in here. There's a hunk of meat sitting on the table at the back of the room, and there's also a pot hiding underneath it, so take both of them. Open the door at the side of the kitchen, which leads to the small pier, and a seagull will appear next to a fish lying there. If you try to pick the fish up, the seagull will peck your hand.

To get the fish, walk to the far right end of the small pier, and click the right end of the bottom-most plank. The plank is loose, and will knock the seagull into the air. Repeat this until you have enough time to pick up the fish. Time to leave the Scumm Bar and go back into the town now.

Optionally, you can use the meat with the pot o' stew in the corner of the kitchen, then pick it up again.

You can continue to explore the rest of town if you wish; there's a church, a shop, a prison, the voodoo lady and the governor's mansion. For now though, you can begin the three trials. Go back to where we started the game, and to the left up the cliffside. Chat to the lookout if you like, then continue on to the island map view and head for the pink light labelled as the clearing.


 * ITEMS
 * hunk of meat
 * pot
 * fish

NOTE: You can perform the Three Trials in any order you wish.

Circus
We're going to need some money to continue, and this is where we'll find it. Go inside the circus tent and meet the Fettucini Brothers. They want to shoot you out of their cannon, and you should agree to do it. Say that you have a helmet and give them the pot when they ask to see it. We're now 478 pieces of eight better off, but we need a sword. Go back to the island map and head back to the village, where we began.


 * ITEMS
 * 478 pieces of eight

Town
Go through the two sets of arches until you have an overhead view of the church and shops. Walk past the alley and you'll hear someone saying "psssst". Go down the alley and you'll meet the unpleasant Sheriff Fester Shinetop. He suggests you leave town.

Go back out of the alley and enter the shop. There's a sword on the wall near the till; pick it up and then ring the bell on the counter. Tell him you want the sword, and it'll cost you 100 pieces of eight.

Leave town, go back to the island map view, and head for the house in the southeast corner.


 * ITEMS
 * sword

Bridge
A troll stops you at a bridge before we can reach our destination. Talk to him. He wants a toll — something "that will attract attention but have no real importance" … give him the fish (a red herring!). Continue on to the house.


 * ITEMS
 * none

Captain Smirk's house
Open the door and you'll meet the sword trainer, Captain Smirk. Tell him you want to beat the Sword Master, and insist that you do have what it takes. Eventually he'll relent and tell you that training will cost 30 pieces of eight. Show him your sword and you'll then be treated to a fairly amusing sequence in which Guybrush is taught to sword fight.

You'll now know that the secret to winning sword fights is to use insults on your opponents. The sword trainer taught you a couple, but you're going to need to learn more. So, leave the house and go back to the island map view.

You see all the little figures of people walking around the island? Those are pirates, and they're all hankering for a good sword fight. Walk up to one of them and stand still — eventually, one of them will walk into you and you can choose to fight them.

You need to learn more insults and responses from all these pirates. Every time they say a new insult to you, you can use it on the next pirate you meet, and when you do they may in turn provide you with the correct response. You need to keep doing this until you've learnt a good deal of insults and their proper responses. Don't worry if you lose a fight, you can't die. See the full list of insults/responses you need to learn.


 * ITEMS
 * none

Finding the Sword Master
The next step is to find the Sword Master, and there's one person in town who knows where she is. Go to the town shop where we bought the sword from, and ring the bell to get the assistant to appear.

Tell him you're looking for the Sword Master, and he'll go off to find her and tell you to wait there. What you actually have to do is follow him. He'll walk out of the town, onto the island map and then go to the fork. Once you are in the forest, keep following him and you'll soon come upon the Sword Master's hidden house.

When you have control of Guybrush again, walk up to Carla the Sword Master and talk to her. As long as you have won more than three fights, you'll soon be fighting her.

This is where all the insults you've learnt come into play. Although Carla's insults are different, the responses are the same, so you just have to use common sense to figure out which response is the correct reply to her insults. If you can't, see the full list of specific Sword Master insults/responses. When you beat her, you'll get a wonderful prize.


 * ITEMS
 * 100% cotton t-shirt

Preparation
OK, time to move on to the second trial — stealing the Idol of Many Hands from Governor Marley's mansion. The first step is to get something that will allow you to get past the guard dogs outside the mansion. To do this, return to the Mêlée Island™ map and go to the fork. Then head down the left hand path, and pick up the flower. Use this with the meat.


 * ITEMS
 * Flower

The Mansion
Get to the mansion by heading back into town, and carrying on left past the shop. Head down the path and you will be outside the mansion, with Elaine's pet piranha poodles stopping you getting in. Give them the meat, and the effects of the flower you drugged it with will make them fall asleep.

Enter the mansion, and go through the door just to the right of the entrance. There is then a rather surreal sequence, which ends with Guybrush using a chair to block Sheriff Shinetop in the room, and saying he needs a file. You will have also gained a few new inventory items, listed below.


 * ITEMS
 * Staple remover
 * Gopher repellent
 * Manual of style
 * Wax Lips

Town
When you regain control of Guybrush, leave the mansion and head back into town. Go into the prison and talk to the prisoner. Guybrush will note that he has incredibly bad breath. Leave the prison and go back to the shop. Ring the bell to get the shopkeeper to return, and then ask him for some breath mints, which cost only one piece of eight. Return to the prison and give the breath mints to the prisoner. Talk to him, and ask him if he has a file. He will tell you that he only has a carrot cake, and he will give it to you in return for something to get rid of the rats. Give him the gopher repellent, and get the carrot cake in return. Use the cake to get a file. Return to the mansion


 * ITEMS
 * Breath Mints
 * Carrot Cake
 * File
 * 2 pieces of eight
 * Minutes

Getting the idol
Once back in the mansion, head through the hole behind the painting created last time you were here. Watch another bizarre sequence, which ends with you getting the idol, as well as losing the wax lips and manual of style from your inventory. Say what you want to Shinetop, and then again with Elaine. Once you regain control after talking to Elaine, attempt to leave the mansion. Shinetop will stop you, and no matter what you say he will throw you in the sea, taking your sword as he does so.


 * ITEMS
 * Fabulous Idol

Getting out of the sea
Just pick up the idol before ten minutes pass. It's as simple as that. Then you will automatically head up the ladder, picking up a sword as you do so. After another conversation with Elaine, you regain control of Guybrush having successfully completed the second trial.


 * ITEMS
 * Replacement sword

Town
As everyone knows, to find buried treasure you need two things — a map to help you find it, and a shovel to dig it out of the ground. Both of these items can be brought in Mêleé Town. First, we'll get the shovel. Go to the shop, and buy the shovel, which is located on the upstairs area around the edge of the shop. It will cost 75 pieces of eight.

To get the map, head back to the centre of town and talk to the man standing on his own on the corner. When he asks if you have a cousin called Sven, tell him you have a barber named Dominique. He will then offer to sell you a map to the treasure, buy it for 100 pieces of eight.


 * ITEMS
 * Shovel
 * Map

Getting the treasure
The treasure is located deep in the Mêleé Island™ forest. To get there, first of all return to the island map and go to the fork. Take a look at your map. The first word of each line represents the direction you should travel on each screen. So for example, if the line begins with 'right' then you should use the path to the right of the screen. Follow these steps, and eventually you should reach the treasure. Head to the right when you do, and use the shovel with the 'x' on the ground to get the treasure — another T-shirt.

This concludes the third trial. Head back into town to see LeChuck's ship sailing away. The lookout will come and tell you that LeChuck has kidnapped Elaine. He will also give you a note from LeChuck.


 * ITEMS
 * T-Shirt
 * Note

Getting a ship and crew
Time to set sail and rescue Elaine! But first you'll need a ship, and a crew to... crew it. First, head to Stan's Previously-Owned Vessels, and tell Stan that you don't have much money to spend. He'll show you the Sea Monkey. Tell him you want to pay for it on credit, and he'll send you off to see the shopkeeper. Go back to the shop in town, and tell the shopkeeper you want a credit note. He'll go over to the safe to get one for you. Take note of the combination of turns he uses to open the safe, then when he comes back pick any of the responses and he'll put the note back in the safe. Send him off to see the Sword Master again, and once he's gone open the safe using the combination. You now have the credit note to the value of 5000 pieces o' eight.

Head back to Stan's and ask to see the cheap ship again. Ask about the extras, but tell him you don't want each different one he offers. Then make an offer of 5000 pieces o' eight, which he'll accept. Stan tells you to meet him at the dock in town once you've assembled a crew of three to accompany you.

Now go over to the Sword Master's place in the woods. Talk to Carla and tell her that the Governor has been kidnapped, and ask her to join your crew. She'll agree. Next stop is Hook Island; tell Meathook about Elaine's kidnapping and he'll set you a trial to prove your worthiness as a Captain. Open the door and pet the bird. Meathook will be astonished by your bravery, and agree to join your crew.

Your final crewman is locked up in the jail. Head over there and ask him to join your crew, provided you can free him. Now you'll need a way to break open the lock of his cell. Go to the SCUMM Bar and collect all five pewter mugs. Go into the kitchen and use one of the mugs with the barrel of grog. It'll begin to melt. Walk through town towards the jail, watching the state of the mug of grog. After it's melted a few stages, use it with another mug to pour in the contents. Keep going until you reach the jail, and use the mug of grog on the lock. Once freed, Otis runs away laughing.

Now head to the dock in town, where Stan will be waiting with your ship. Your crew members arrive one by one, and it's time to set sail!


 * ITEMS
 * Business card
 * Magnetic compass