Please read If you need help playing this kind of game at all, above.
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The game is designed to let you get your bearings a bit before the story really kicks in.
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As with any IF game, you should probably try to EXAMINE nearby things and explore a little, to see what happens.
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Did you read the introductory text, starting with "Surely the reed bank..." ?
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It suggests what you're character is already doing at the story begins.
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The character seems to be searching for something.
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Did you read the description of the area the character starts in?
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Several things worth examining are mentioned in the "Among the reeds" area.
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There's the reeds, the river to the south, and your cottage to the north.
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You could EXAMINE any of these things to learn more about them.
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You could also try walking SOUTH to the river or NORTH to the cottage.
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You could try walking around in other directions as well.
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You could try to SEARCH something nearby.
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SEARCH REEDS, perhaps? (EXAMINE GROUND) also works.)
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At this point you have opened up some new cues, events, and objects to explore. Consult the other hints here if you need to.
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The player-characters' identify is revealed over the course of the game.
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As you play, flashbacks, narration, and other cues will help paint a picture of the character and the setting they live in.
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You could try EXAMINE ME.
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That results in the mention of something else you could have a closer look at.
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A "shift", in this sense, is a simple sort of clothing, like a smock.
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EXAMINE SHIFT
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That reveals one of several flashbacks that help reveal the small world of this game.
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It's not strictly necessary to have read this flashback to complete the game, so congratulate yourself on your successful exploration of a side-path. :)
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Otherwise, just keep playing. You'll figure it out.
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First of all, you have to be standing in the area called "Outside the Cottage" to get in.
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It's to the north of the reeds.
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Try EAST or ENTER COTTAGE or GO INSIDE while you're outside the cottage.
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Your character doesn't seem to want to enter the cottage before you help her finish her task.
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Not that she up and tells you what her task is. Or does she?
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What other text appears when you try to enter?
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When you try entering, you see a flashback -- or a snippet of a flashback you're already read.
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This is a suggestion of the next thing you need to accomplish before you can enter.
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The first such flashback reminds you that you're looking for two eggshells.
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Well, you won't find them by hovering around the doorway like that. Go look around, and use the other hints here if you have to.
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Oh, you're back with eggshells, are you?
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Now you get a reminder that they ought to be filled with water. (You got a more complete version of this flashback back when you picked up the second eggshell.)
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Where can you find water?
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You've already been to a place that mentioned an obvious water source.
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That place being among the reeds, back where the game started.
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It mentions a river to the south.
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GO SOUTH from the reeds.
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Now just GET WATER. (Or FILL EGGSHELLS, or variants on that.)
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And that's the first part of the game done.
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You can hang around outside if you want, but it's getting pretty spooky out here, isn't it?
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Return to the cottage and enter it to continue the story.
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The game world has two eggshells for you to find. You'll come across them by exploring the different areas outside and around your cottage.
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Recall the text from back in the very beginning of the game. What was your character doing?
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She was searching for something in the reeds, where the story begins.
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One shell is hidden there.
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It becomes available for you to find after the event where the reed-bird flies in, revealing a tall stalk with a flower on it.
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EXAMINE STALK, while in that area.
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Well, here are some birds. Seems like you're getting warm.
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Consult the question about the birds if you need more help with them.
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The other eggshell is not in the reeds.
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Nor is it by the river.
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Have you investigated the strange noises behind your cottage yet?
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Consult the hints about that if you still need help.
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There's two of them.
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You should EXAMINE BIRD and then EXAMINE CHICK, of course.
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What else could you try doing with them?
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Your character seems unwilling to do anything violent or otherwise disruptive to the birds.
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The thing you're looking for at this point isn't the birds themselves, anyway.
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Where might you find an eggshell in this scene?
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SEARCH NEST, or LOOK IN NEST, perhaps?
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Hmm, nope.
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What does the chick do, a few turns after you find it?
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You can also type LOOK to get a full description of everything in the reeds you can see.
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That mound of stuff under the nest seems new.
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EXAMINE MOUND.
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And there you go.
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GET EGG.
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They sure do seem important, don't they.
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Given that the game seems to be named after them.
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The game's afterword has more information about them, but you should really finish playing through the game before you read that. You can find the afterword linked from the game's homepage.
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Have you tried simply moving SOUTH while on the bank?
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SWIM, maybe?
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Your character seems quite firm in not wanting to enter the river.
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How about CROSS RIVER?
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Nope. There's no way to cross the river or otherwise enter it in this game. Sorry!
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What's does the river have that nothing else in the game world does?
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The river is the only source of water.
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If you find yourself needing some water, you'll need to get it from the river.
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You will find a reason to get some water, and in a very specific way, before the story is over.
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Don't worry too much about getting any water before then.
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You're told you can walk NORTHEAST or NORTHWEST from the front of the cottage to get there. Have you tried that?
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The first time you try, your character refuses, and you recieve another flashback-style memory.
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Well, maybe you should try again.
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Hmm, your character seems like she wants to go back there, but doesn't feel prepared.
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Sounds like she wants to hold something she could use as a weapon.
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Is there anything nearby that would fit that description?
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Have you tried to EXAMINE everything in this area?
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How about the garden?
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Could anything in the garden description work as a weapon in a hurry?
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GET STAKE, or GET STONE. (Or both, though you'll find you can only carry one of them.)
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That seems to boost her confidence.
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Go NORTHEAST or SOUTHEAST.
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What happens when you try?
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Your character doesn't seem to want to do that at all.
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You cannot travel down the road during this game. Consider it part of the scenery.
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Have you tried to?
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What story text is generated when you try?
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Your character seems awfully reluctant to enter the forest.
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Scared, even.
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There is, in fact, no way to convince your character to set foot in the forest during the game. So that's that.
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Did you carefully read the text that appears when you enter?
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Have you considered carefully the tailor's advice about the dowsing rod?
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Did you remember to bring your torch with you?
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Read any good books lately?
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Why do you click on hint questions about things you haven't found yet?
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You came back here to find out what's making that noise, so you'd better do so.
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It's unclear where the noise is coming from.
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What do you do when you hear a weird noise nearby, but you're not sure where?
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LISTEN. (EXAMINE NOISE also works.)
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Now you know where it's coming from.
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Have you tried to EXAMINE LOG?
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Looks pretty big.
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What other objects appear in the log's description?
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Try EXAMINE MUSHROOMS.
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The text says that you can see only some of the mushrooms from where you're standing.
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The response to LISTEN also said that the sound was coming from behind the log.
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You can't see what's on the other side of the log from where you are.
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LOOK BEHIND LOG.
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Well well.
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If you're not sure what just happened, LOOK to get an updated description of your surroundings.
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EXAMINE STOAT.
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An eggshell!
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Getting it away from the little stoat isn't very hard, actually. Try some stuff.
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GET EGGSHELL works. So does ATTACK STOAT or GET STOAT.
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That's all you're required to do back here to move the story forward.
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Feel free to look at and mess around with various other things you can find back here; it's all scenery that fills in the game's characters and setting.
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Oh dear, how disturbing.
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Did you read the story text that appears when this happens?
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Your character seems resolved to enter the cottage anyway, at this point.
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Go ahead and walk EAST, and continue the game.
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Alas, you cannot. It's part of the story.
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Well, that's all rather up to you, isn't it?
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The game's big reveal happens as soon as you step through the door.
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How you choose to respond to this encounter determines how this story will end.
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You could try to complete the ritual that the tailor has been describing in flashbacks, including the one that you read as you entered the cottage.
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SHOW EGGSHELL TO BABY.
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Oh dear.
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(For what it's worth, this would have happened in a few turns anyway, no matter what you did.)
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Now it's up to you to decide how this will play out. Refer to the remaining hints if you need to.
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Have you tried untying it?
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Oh dear, your character seems to be too distraught to manage that.
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Perhaps there's another way through those knots.
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Or, perhaps there's a way to calm the character down, so she can work the knots.
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In fact, both solutions exist. But you can only choose one.
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Consult the other hints here as needed.
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Why do you suppose your hands are shaking?
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Your character is quite upset at her situation.
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She's racked with doubt. This ritual was supposed to prove whether or not the baby was a changeling, but now she's less certain than ever, and the baby just keeps crying...
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You need to help her decide the answer for herself.
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She will calm down once she's certain the baby is either hers, or not.
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There's several ways to do that.
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They all involve interacting with the baby somehow -- other than trying to untie it.
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If the baby were actually a monstrous imposter, how should you treat it? On the other hand, if the baby were actually your own child, what would you do?
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Explore the scene from here. Refer to the next two questions if you'd like more specific hints.
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If you refer to the baby as a changeling, act violently towards it, or otherwise take a negative stance, the character will ask herself if she's certain that this child is not hers.
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Example inputs to trigger this are EXAMINE GOBLIN and SHAKE BABY. There are plenty of others.
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You can take the question literally and respond YES, or you can continue treating the baby negatively.
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If you do that, the character will make up her mind, permanenly. That calms her down.
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You can now UNTIE BLANKET.
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There's nothing left to do, from here, other than give the creature back to the fairies, just as the tailor instructed.
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GET CHANGELING.
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OUT.
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If you make affectionate actions towards the baby, the character will ask herself if she's certain that this child really is hers.
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Example inputs to trigger this are KISS BABY or HUSH BABY.
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You can take the question literally and respond with YES, or do something else affectionate.
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However, this doesn't seem to be enough to finally make up the main character's mind.
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What does the text say is missing?
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You need to have the character remember and speak the baby's name.
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If you haven't found it yet, you'll need to do something else in order to learn it.
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It involves using something you find in the cottage.
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That something isn't the baby, the chair, or the blanket.
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Have you tried to EXAMINE everything inside the cottage?
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How about the table?
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GET SHEARS. Feel free to EXAMINE them as well.
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What does one do with shears?
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And what in your immediately vicinity can you apply the shears to?
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CUT BLANKET.
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And now you have a name.
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You can do something like EXAMINE ANDA, or just SAY ANDA.
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Then do something else affectionate with the baby, if you need to.
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Now the main character is permanently sure that the child is her own. Time to wrap up this story according to the path you chose.
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First, GET BABY.
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You are a mother with her crying baby in her arms. What should you do?
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Either NURSE BABY or PUT BABY IN CRIB.
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Did you read the story text that appears if you do that?
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Were you holding the baby when you left? If so, this isn't the hint you want. Go look at the hint "I left the cottage while holding, uh, something I found there, and now I am confused."
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Well, here's what happened: your character finally confronted the thing she'd been avoiding directly thinking about this whole time, and she reacted to this by turning right around and leaving again.
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That's a rather shockingly indecisive thing you and she just did, right at the climax of the story.
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And so the story ends on an appropriately vague and unsettling note.
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This would not be a very good game if that was the only ending, don't you think?
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UNDO will rewind you back to inside the cottage.
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The game contains two more endings, both of which are more interesting than this one. They're both available from within the cottage. Try to find them.
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Were you holding the baby when you left? If not, this isn't the hint you want. Go look at the hint "I left the cottage soon after entering it, and now I am confused."
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Did you read the story text that appears?
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That's all you're getting, I'm afraid. You found one of this story's endings.
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It happened becaue you managed to help convince your character that the baby was actually not her child at all, but a fairy changeling. So, she decided to get rid of it. The end!
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There is at least one very different ending to the game to find, if you haven't already.
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It involves treating the baby very differently than you just did, and it's a bit harder to carry out.
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