Walkthrough :
Hints for the last River word puzzle

* From this level and on, some gates can have multiple answers. So if you're asked for a flower, you may answer with "rose", but an other flower would also do.
* If you have a program with a thesaurus, you can also try to get similar words like the one in the question sentence.

Hints for the first Swamp word puzzle

* The answers are at the end of these hints. But please first take a look at the hints!
* If you have a program with a thesaurus, you can also try to get similar words like the one in the question sentence.
1. The swamp-water is still and tangled, dead branches jut out. A flicker of dark motion attracts your attention -- a black beaver, chewing on a twisted branch. The answer is a verb.
2. Feeble fish move slowly through the dark water. They are near-white with hunger and illness. The answer is a colour.
3. The rivulet you are following with such hope divides here. Then it divides again, and again. You cannot keep the whole in sight, but perhaps... The answer is a section.
4. A bird poke morosely at the few sticks it has gathered. "I need more!" it croaks. "A nest requires an entire heap of twigs!" The answer is a twig.
5. A wide expanse of swirling mud stretches before you. You dare not swim. If only you had some means to fly. The answer can fly. Don't use the obvious word you can form from #1, you need that one later.
6. A stepping stone shifts slightly; you hit your foot and stumble, nearly falling into the swamp. The answer makes a false step.
7. This area is curiously empty, as if what you are seeking has not arrived. Perhaps you are early, or perhaps ... The answer is the opposite of early.
8. You trip and fall into the swamp. You surface, spitting, but the water is not brackish. It has a sharp, mouth-puckering taste you cannot quite name. The answer is a taste.
9. You are wading against the current, and you are getting tired. The effort is a deep, dull pain in your muscles. The answer is a pain.
10. "A story if you please", begs an empty-eyed child curled in a corner. The answer is a story.
11. A snoring hulk blocks the path here. You have no hope of passing if you cannot stir it from slumber. The answer wakes from sleep.
12. The trees stand at an odd angle here, and the water flows briskly past as if down a slope; everything seems askew. The answer is a slope.
13. A tall, peculiar-looking figure in a blue cloak challenges you to a game. The pieces are vague, and the rules seem to shift as you play; but you feel that you cannot pass unless you defeat him. The answer lets you victory.
14. A gnarled dwarf is laboriously dragging heavy sacks across the mud.
"Help me carry these things," he says, "and I'll show you the way
through here." The answer is transported.
15. A vast spiderweb, with strands thick as your tongue, blocks your
way. You search frantically for a gap or tear, hoping the owner does
not return before you do. The answer is split.
16. Somewhat catches your eye; a flash of brightness beneath the mud.
You stoop, and pick up a trincklet -- worth little in itself, but the
only thing the swamp has freely offered so far. The answer is a
present.
17. The shadowy branches and mists of the Swamp seem to part for a
moment; ahead, you can see a familiar expanse of clear water. The
answer is a stream.

Hints for the second Swamp word puzzle

* The answers are at the end of these hints. But please first take a
look at the hints!
* If you have a program with a thesaurus, you can also try to get
similar words like the one in the question sentence.
1. A duke rushes frantically by. "I'm looking for the lands I govern.
Can you help?" The answer is a duke's land.
2. A signpost is poking out of the mud, but the signboard seems to have
come loose. Perhaps if you had some way to reattach it -- The answer
is a tool you need to attach it.
3. The mud is suddenly knee-deep, and getting deeper. And deeper... You
cast around for something to stop your sinking. There -- a long rope
of some dark fiber. You grab it and start pulling. Oddly, a voice in
the distance says "Ow!". The answer is this fiber most people have.
4. Something blue flutters, off to the side. Trying not to think about
will o'wisps, you follow it. In moments, you come across a tremendous
array of cards, stones, spinners, boards, tracks, dice and glass
pyramids.. You can play with the answer.
5. "My birds! Have you seen my birds?" shouts a frantic farmer. The
answer is a waterbird.
6. You notice a white card struck in a fern. It has a single symbol
printed on it, although you do not recognise it. The answer is a
cardtype.
7. A huge oak looms before you. Right in front of you, in fact -- it's
blocking your path. There's no way to proceed while it's there. The
answer is a tool. This word it spelled in English, not American.
8. You stumble over a crude shack, nearly knocking it over. "Careful!"
comes a cry from inside. "This is my abode -- which is to say the
place where I ... The answer is this place.
9. A tremendous oak rise high above the swamp. Beyond it, you see a
smaller oak. And a smaller one beyond that. There are a few apling
scattered farther along, and then you trip over something -- The
answer is part of a tree.
10. You round a tree, and are convulsed with sudden terror. You don't
know what it is, but you're sure you have to get away immediately!
The answer goes to another place.
11. A robed figure stands before you, dark lightnings dancing from his
fingers. "My spell doth work perfectly, so you may not pass," he
says. "If it runs true, thou are trapped. If not -- if it goes .." He
stops abruptly. The answer is false.
12. "My bird! Have you seen my bird?" shouts a frantic farmer. The
answer is an animal.
13. "A pair of silver pennies to cross," sneers the boatman. You hope
you have enough; across this stretch of dark water you see the far
edge of the swamp! The answer is a number.

Hints for the tale puzzle at the end

* The answers are at the end of these hints. But please first take a
look at the hints!
1. The gatekeepers tale
1. I am cut, when a youth becomes a man. The answer is that what is
cut in the story.
2. I am at the end of the road between the Blades. The answer is the
people living near these blades.
3. I am the difference between Arash and his two children... Count
the letters of the names.
2. The providers tale
1. I am that what took all the city had. The answer is an animal.
2. We are the children, returning unknown. The answer refers to
people visiting the city.
3. I am that which rose from the disturbed city. The answer is formed
from the letters of the city.
3. The librarian tale
1. The librarian offered me to the king. The answer is a part of a
book.
2. With me the Librarian answer the King. What did the librarian
remain?
3. Cut off the heads of the king's thrice repeated reply; I appear
... Take the letters of the sentence the king said three times.
4. The craftsman tale
1. The baron took me from the blacksmith. The answer is a tool.
2. I am the city which the Blacksmith did support. Did the blacksmith
support a city?
3. Look between the cities; I appear ... Put the names of the cities
after each other. What's 'in between'?
5. The tale of the reclaimer
1. In the end, the mercenaries turned to me. The answer is a material.
2. I am that possession which the young woman sold. The answer is the
thing the girl offered to the reclaimer.
3. Who hears the Elder, hears me too ... The answer is a word which
is pronounced the same way as the name of an elder.

Solution for Sorting it Out puzzle at the end

* The answers are at the end of these hints. But please first take a
look at the hints!
* I've heard tree hypothesis. As soon as I have some time, I check which
one(s) are correct. Or if you know, tell me!
1. It doesn't matter who is not top and who is on bottom as long as
they are aligned under the banner for the correct tale.
2. The key to this puzzle is understanding the roles each character
has played throughout the game. As you probably noticed, the icons
on the banners along the top represent the Gatekeeper, Provider,
Librarian, Craftsman, and Reclaimer. What you want to do is line up
the character with the role they seemed to play. Example: Weykent,
who erased your data, would be under the Reclaimer banner. Now
under each banner, there is room for two characters. Figuring out
which one goes on top and which one goes on the bottom is up to
you...
3. The third hypothesis is that the you can distinguish the 'pairs'
because the ID number of the icon resources of the program are next
to each other. (You need ResEdit or Resorcerer to find this out).

Answers

* For the last river word puzzle: peony.
* For the first Swamp word puzzle:
gnaw, pale, part, pile, plane, trip, late, sour, ache, tale, rouse,
tilt, win, haul (ache - he - helium - melauh - haul), rip, gift, river
(gift - ag - silver - river).
* For the second Swamp word puzzle:
duchy, nail, hair, games, ducks, ace (games - m - c - ace), axe (ducks -
c - x - axe), abide (axe - x - i - abide), acorn, away, awry (away -
bwax - brwx - awry), bird, two (acorn - rcorn - scorm - score - two).
* For the tale puzzle at the end
hair, sekaiah, lintel;
locust, nomads, smoke;
tome, silence, catalog;
hammer, neither, bellows;
pewter, hope or love (?), stale.
* For Sorting it Out puzzle at the end
Gatekeeper; Provider; Librarian; Craftsman; Reclaimer.
Lagava ; Yjerle ; . ; Ogham ; Weykent.
Mazer ; Rosshi ; Emolpho ; Verlm ; Barrhin.