King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow/Exploring the Other Islands

Isle of the Sacred Mountain


In an instant, Alexander will be transported via the map to the Isle of the Sacred Mountain. At first glance, it looks much less hospitable than the Isle of the Crown, with a steep cliff and no visible handholds. You'll climb this cliff a little later. For now, you're just interested in the items here. The flower looks pretty...but smells absolutely horrible. Still, it might come in handy sometime. And that's an interesting-looking feather on the beach.

Use the HAND on the flower of stench to take it [1], and then use the HAND on the feather to take that as well [1]. There's nothing else to do here for now, so pull out your magic map again, and head to the Isle of Wonder.

Isle of Wonder
This island looks considerably more hospitable than the Isle of the Sacred Mountain, at least at first. You can see an oyster here, and something floating in the water. Don't try to get the object in the water yet: it's too far for you to reach before the undertow sweeps you out to sea and drowns you. If you wait a couple minutes, the current will bring it closer to shore, and you can get it then.

While you're waiting, talk to the oyster on the beach. He'll tell you that he can't sleep because of a pain in his mouth. You need something to help him sleep. Maybe that really boring book you got on the Isle of the Crown will do: it nearly put you to sleep when you read it. Save your game here.



USE the boring book on the oyster to read it to him [2]. The game will display an inset view of the oyster, who will periodically yawn. When he yawns, you'll see a pearl in his mouth. Use the HAND icon on the pearl to take it [1]. The oyster will tell you that his mouth feels a lot better, and then go to sleep. And now you have a valuable pearl: maybe you can trade it to the pawn shop owner to get your ring back.

The Sense Gnomes


Walk either north or east to explore the rest of the Isle of Wonder, or at least try. From out of nowhere, the Sense Gnomes will march onto the beach, and sing a rhyme about who they are and what their job is. In short, their job is to make sure no man comes onto the rest of the island, and to kill any man who tries. Not the warmest welcome you've ever received.

There are five gnomes, representing each of the five senses, and you need to trick every one of them into believing that there's no man here on the beach. Fortunately, you have everything you need to do that. Fool the Sense Gnomes as follows:


 * USE the flower of stench on the smell gnome [2].
 * USE the mechanical nightingale on the hearing gnome [2].
 * USE the mint on the taste gnome [2].
 * USE the rabbit's foot on the touch gnome [2].
 * USE the invisible ink on yourself to fool the sight gnome [2].

Once you've fooled all five gnomes, they'll go away, never to bother you again, and you can explore the rest of the island. Before you continue your explorations, though, note the position of the floating object: it should have made it to shore by now. Use the HAND on the object, which turns out to be an incomplete sentence, to take it [1].

After taking the incomplete sentence, walk one screen east.

Bookworm and the Black Widow
You'll see a giant stack of books here, and a spider's web in the lower left corner of the screen. You need a rare book to trade for the spell book in the bookstore: maybe you can find one here. Use the HAND on the book pile to try and take a book, and Bookworm will pop out and start talking to you. You can't just take a book, but he'll give you a book if you give him some curiosity, such as a dangling participle. You don't have anything like that right now, but keep your eyes open as you continue to explore the Land of the Green Isles.



While you're here, LOOK at the spider web. The black widow spider will do her best to lure you ever closer, but don't fall for her charms: her kiss is deadly. There is an interesting piece of paper caught in her web, but you can't just grab it without getting bitten. Maybe if you distracted the black widow, you could get a look at it.

Use the HAND on the loose thread in the lower center of the web to pull on it [2], and then immediately use the HAND on the scrap of paper to grab it [2]. The wind will blow it away, but not before Alexander gets a good look at it: it seems to be a missing piece from a book, and it reads "Love".

You've done all you can do here for now: walk one screen west and one screen north to explore the swamp.

The Swamp, The Garden, and Chessboard Land
The swamp seems pretty quiet, and there's no need to disturb the calm at the moment. But you can get something while you're here. Use the HAND on the milkweed plant to take a bottle of milk [1], and walk one screen north into the garden.



There are a number of interesting plants here, and a set of gates that lead into Chessboard Land. There's a rotten tomato on the ground that you can pick up: use the HAND on it to take it [1]. There's also a hole-in-the-wall on the wall, which will let you look into Chessboard Land. You can't take it right now, though: the wallflowers will keep you from getting close enough. Maybe you can charm them later. For now, just open the gates and enter Chessboard Land.

When you'll enter, you'll see two life-size knight chess pieces. TALK to them, and the Red and White Queen will automatically show up. They're feuding over what they should bring to the wedding of Cassima and the vizier: only one of them will be able to give the splendid gift of a lump of coal, while the other will have to give a mere spoiled egg. Apparently wedding gift etiquette is a bit different on the Isle of Wonder than in Daventry. They'll also mention that the Beast stole their singing stone. That at least partially explains the feuding between the islands.

After your conversation, the Red and White Queen will head back into Chessboard Land. As she leaves, the Red Queen will drop her scarf. Use the HAND to pick it up [1].

Go back to the garden, and use the HAND to pick one of the iceberg lettuces. Wow, that's cold! But where you're going, you'll need it. Head immediately back to the beach, and use your magic map to head to the Isle of the Beast.

Isle of the Beast
As you materialize on the island, you'll see a strange creature hanging from a tree. Ignore him for the moment, and go one screen north. There's a boiling pond here, which is fatal to Alexander unless he can cool it off somewhat. USE the iceberg lettuce on the pond [4], which will cool it down to the point where Alexander can safely go through it. Cross to the other side of the pond, and use the HAND on the lamp hanging from the tree to take it [1]. Go one screen north.



As you enter the Beast's garden, note that the statue on the gate seems to be tracking your movements. Also note the gardener on the other side of the gate, who will assure you that the statue is harmless. However, those assurances don't meet much, considering the "gardener's" odd glowing eyes. You guessed it: it's the genie again, trying to lure you to your death. Ignore him, but use the HAND to pick up the brick near the path [1]. You can't pass through the gate now, so go back to the beach. There was some kind of creature there, but you had to get to the boiling pond before your iceberg lettuce melted. Now that the pond is taken care of, you have time for the creature.

The Dangling Participle
TALK to the creature hanging from the tree. It has a rather strange way of speaking, and doesn't seem to want to go anywhere. It seems to know its grammar, though. Maybe it can help you with the incomplete sentence you got earlier. USE the incomplete sentence on the creature [2]. It'll decide that it wants to go with you, and jump into your tunic. It's obviously not shy. Once it's with you, use the magic map to return to the Isle of Wonder, and head east to Bookworm's home.



USE the creature on Bookworm [2], who will confirm that the creature is his lost dangling participle and give you a rare book in exchange. Now you have something that you can trade for the spell book. But before you go back and trade it, you might want to read it: after all, rare books can contain valuable information. Use the HAND icon on the rare book in the inventory screen to read it [1]. It appears to be some kind of riddle book. That's curious: it's missing a page. Even more curious, the pattern from the torn page looks very much like the pattern on the scrap of paper from the spider's web. The scrap of paper must have come from this book. Apparently "Love" is the answer to a riddle, but the riddle itself has been lost.

Now that you have a valuable pearl and a rare book, it's time to head back to the Isle of the Crown and do some trading. Go back to the beach and use the magic map to return to the Isle of the Crown.

Making Trades


On the Isle of the Crown, head back to the village. There's a new notice on the wall that wasn't there before. LOOK at it to read it: it's an announcement of the imminent wedding of Cassima to the vizier. If you're going to stop the wedding, you'll need to figure something out quickly.

Head into the pawn shop: it's time to reclaim your ring. USE the pearl on the merchant to trade it for your ring [2]. While you're here, also exchange the nightingale for the flute.

Leave the pawn shop and go to the bookstore. Jollo will be there, and you'll automatically talk with him. He'll tell you more about the upcoming wedding, and give you some details about the vizier. Once he finishes, he'll go back to the castle. It's time for you to get that spell book. USE the rare book on Ali, and he'll give you the spell book in exchange for the rare book [1]. You can look through the spell book if you want by going to the inventory screen and using the HAND icon on it. There are three spells in there: Magic Paint, Make Rain, and Charming a Creature of the Night. You have almost none of the spell ingredients you need, though, so it'll be a while before you can practice your spellcasting.

Sing Sing


Now that you have your ring back, you should send it to Cassima via Sing Sing, her nightingale, to prove you're here. Go back to the tree at the fork in the road where you played the mechanical nightingale for Sing Sing, and USE your ring on him [3]. The genie, disguised as a snake, will take note of things, and a brief cutscene will play showing Cassima receiving your ring and sending you back her hair ribbon. Once Sing Sing delivers the ribbon to you, use the HAND to pick it up [1]. Go to your inventory screen, and use the HAND on the ribbon to find a strand of Cassima's hair [1]. One of the spells calls for a strand of maiden's hair, so you're making progress on collecting spell ingredients.

Now that Cassima knows you're the one talking to Sing Sing, you can send her the love poem you got in the bookstore. USE the love poem on Sing Sing [1], and you'll see another cutscene where he delivers the poem to Cassima and delivers a note to you. Use the HAND on Cassima's note to read it [1]. As good as it is to hear from her, it would have been nice to hear some words of love. But there's no time for angst now: you have a castle to break into, and not much time to do it. Head back to the beach, and use your map to go to the Isle of Wonder.

Getting the Hole-in-the-Wall
If you tried to get the hole-in-the-wall before, you know that the wallflowers wouldn't let you get close enough to take it. Now that you have a musical instrument, though, maybe you can distract them long enough to grab it.



Once you arrive on the island, go back to the garden. You'll notice that there's a teacup on the chair that wasn't there before: use the HAND on it to pick it up [1]. One of your spells called for mixing ingredients in a teacup, so things are looking up for being able to use your new spell book.

It's time to charm the wallflowers. USE the flute on them to start playing a catchy tune. Even after you stop playing, the wallflowers will continue to dance. That's your cue to act. After the cutscene of you playing the flute ends, but while the wallflowers are still dancing, use the HAND on the hole-in-the-wall to take it [3]. You now have something to help you look through solid walls, which will no doubt come in handy during your adventures.

One Final Exchange
You're almost ready to head back to the Isle of the Sacred Mountain, but you'll need to switch items at the pawn shop again. Go back to the Isle of the Crown, go to the pawnshop, and trade the flute for the tinderbox. Return to the beach, and use your map to head back to the Isle of the Sacred Mountain.

You should now have 83 out of 231 points.