King’s Quest III: To Heir is Human
Walkthrough

Note: This walkthrough gives a complete description of how to finish the game with the maximal score possible. Still, there are more things do discover in the game than you will get by following this walkthrough. The most interesting alternate solutions to problems encountered in the game are therefore presented here as well. Don't consult this walkthrough immediately when you get stuck in the game. At least read my General Adventure Gaming Tips first and try out some of the things suggested there. It's never as rewarding to finish an adventure game if you've had to use a walkthrough to do it!

Introduction

You begin in the entrance hall of Manannan's house. Wait a few seconds and he will magically appear and tell you to perform some chore. You'll better obey him, or there will be trouble. There are five chores he may ask you of, and here's what to do for each one of them: From time to time, he will tell you to perform one of these tasks later on as well. When this happens, perform them immediately to avoid getting punished.

Map of Manannan's House

Manannan's house

As long as Manannan is home you cannot do much. He has forbidden you to enter his study or bedroom except for when you're performing some chore there, so stay out of them. Instead, walk to the right into his dining room. There is a tin cup on the table there. Walk up to it and get cup. Then walk up to the wall, left of the fireplace. There's a knife and a serving spoon hanging on a rack there. get knife and get spoon. Continue left to the kitchen shelf. There's a clay bowl on it. get bowl. You cannot do much more than this while Manannan is still at home, so wait until five minutes has passed. Manannan will magically appear and tell you that he's decided to take a journey. As he disappears you are free to explore the house.
First, walk upstairs from the entrance hall and enter Manannan's bedroom. At the foot of Manannan's bed is a mahogany vanity. Walk up to it and open drawer. You will get the hand mirror that was inside. Next, walk over to the closet to the right. look closet. Ah, there is something on top of it! look above closet. You've found a small brass key. Next, open closet look behind clothes to find an ancient parchment map. close closet. Continue to the dresser against the right wall and open drawer. Inside is a vial of rose petal essence that you eagerly take. If you now examine your inventory you will find that the things you just got are all marked with a star in the inventory list. This indicates that Manannan must not find you carrying these items, for he will kill you instantly if he does. You must find a good place to find them before he returns home. But there's no hurry yet. Walk out of the bedroom and continue up the stairs to the tower. There's not much to do up in the tower, but there's a dead fly on the floor. Walk up to it and get fly. Actually, all you need is the fly wings, and that's what you'll get. Walk down the stairs again and return to the entrance hall. Now, head for Manannan's study. Walk up to the oak cabinet to the left and unlock cabinet. It turns out that the brass key you got from the bedroom fits perfectly, and inside you'll find Manannan's magic wand. Now, walk over to the bookshelf to the right. look books. You will discover a glint of metal behind them. push book. A lever is concealed behind it. pull lever. As you do, a secret trapdoor opens in the floor, revealing a staircase leading down below the floor. Walk down the stairs. If Manannan's black cat is sitting here, walk back up and down again until he's gone. If he's there and you walk past him, you will slip on his tail and fall to your death. Walk down the stairs and you arrive in Manannan's secret laboratory. This is where he prepares all of his spells. It would be useful if you could learn a few of these spells. Among the many strange items in the wizard's shelves are many useful spell ingredients that will come in handy. get powdered fish bone, get nightshade juice, get mandrake root powder, get saffron, get toad spittle and finally get toadstool powder. Now it's time for some magic! Walk up to the large book on the oak table and turn to page IV. Next, do the following: First, put a pinch of saffron in essence. Next, recite the following verse:
Oh winged spirits, set me free
Of earthly bindings, just like thee.
In this essence, behold the might
To grant the precious gift of flight.
Next, wave the magic wand. Now you have a potion that can turn you into a fly or an eagle if you dip some fly wings or an eagle feather into it.

(Note: The page numbers and descriptions of how to prepare the magical spells in this game are printed in the game manual and serves as a copy protection for the game. However, as this game is so old and these instructions has been reprinted in various King's Quest-related literature, they will be reprinted here as well. This can hardly hurt sales of the game. In fact, as the game isn't even sold anymore there should be no problem!)

More ingredients are needed to make other spells, so it's time to leave the laboratory. Return up the stairs, walk over to the bookshelf, pull lever and push book. With everything put back in its place, your visit downstairs should go unnoticed. But there is still time for some exploration! Walk out of Manannan's house and head for the path down. This path can be quite tricky, so save often and watch your step! Once down you are free to walk around the Llewdor countryside for a short while. Manannan will not return home before 30 minutes has passed.

Map of Llewdor

Llewdor

First, walk one screen to the right and one screen down. You will arrive in a quaint seaside town with a store and a tavern. The store has many useful things for sale, but without money you cannot get them. So head for the tavern and open door. There should be two men inside. They are bandits and quite dangerous. Still, they should know where to find money more than anyone else. But they won't just tell you even if you ask nicely. It's time for some magic! dip fly wings into essence. You will turn into a fly. Fly over to the bandits and wait for them to speak. They will tell you something about a secret hideout in an oak tree and a rope hidden inside it. Fly out of the tavern and continue two screens to the left. This is the oak tree the bandits were talking about. If you fly in front of the hole at the base of the tree you will enter it and see the rope inside. Fly back out of the tree and recite the following verse to turn back into your human form: Fly, begone! Myself, return! The ground below the tree is full of acorns. get acorns. You're looking for dried ones and they are hard to find. If you're not successful, walk over to another spot and try again until you find some. Next walk over to the hole and pull rope. A rope ladder will fall down. Walk up the ladder and up to the shack above. This is the secret hiding place of the bandits. They won't like you to pay them a visit though, so look inside shack to check if someone is at home. If you see somebody walking around inside, return down the ladder and go up and look again. Repeat this until you see somebody sleeping inside. Now walk into the shack. On the table lies a coin purse. Walk over to the table and get purse. This purse contains 8 gold coins. Now quickly walk out of the shack and climb back down the ladder to the ground.

(Note: As the bandits hang out in these parts of the forest, you should watch out! If they catch you they will rob you of all your possessions. If they do this, you can retrieve the stuff by returning to their shack. Walk over to the bin at the top right corner of the shack, open bin, get all and do not forget to get the purse from the table again before you leave. But you shouldn't have to do this if you stay near to a screen edge and run away as soon as the bandits appear.)

Walk two screens right, back to the town and up to the door of the store. open door and walk up to the counter. There are a number of useful items to buy here. buy a pouch, buy salt, buy fish oil, buy lard. Then walk over to the dog on the floor and pet dog to get a wad of fur from him. Exit the store.
It should be about time to return up the mountain. But you don't have to walk all the way. look map to discover it's a magic map that has recorded all the places you've visited. There is an arrow that you can move around to select a part of the map. Make sure it points on the square with the mountain on it and press F6 to magically teleport there. You still have to walk up the mountain though. When you're on the top, enter Manannan's house and walk into his study. You must now put the magic wand back in the cabinet as it was before you took it. Walk up to the cabinet and unlock cabinet to put the wand back inside. Now you have to get rid of all the other things you're carrying. Walk upstairs and continue one screen to the right. This is your bedroom, a place Manannan never visits and therefore the best possible hiding place for everything you carry with you. Walk up to the bed and hide all under bed. Return down to the entrance hall and wait for Manannan to arrive. He will tell you that he's hungry, so you'll better feed him. Walk right into the dining room where Manannan is waiting for his meal and continue into the kitchen. Walk up to the table to the right. There's some food on it. get food. Walk back to the dining room beside Manannan and give any of the food items to him. It doesn't matter if you select the bread, fruit or mutton. Manannan will leave the table after finishing his meal, and all you can do is hang around for five minutes. Eventually he will tell you that he's going to take a nap in his bedroom. By now you may have figured out that Manannan follows a very strict schedule. He's at home for five minutes of game time, and then he will either take a journey or go to sleep for 25 minutes. This is when you are free to explore his house and the Llewdor countryside.
It's time for your second journey! Walk up into your bedroom and get all from under bed. As you now have the magic map you don't have to walk all the way down the mountain again. Just look at map, move the arrow over to the town and press F6 to go there directly! From the town, walk one screen down and up to the left tree. It has some mistletoe growing on it. get mistletoe. Walk back up to the town and another screen up. There is a small stream here. Walk up to the edge of it and get mud. The spoon you got from the kitchen is now filled with mud from the stream. Walk down the stream into the ocean one screen to the right and get ocean water. The tin cup you were carrying is now filled with water from the ocean. Now look at map again and use it to teleport to the oak tree where the bandits have their hideout. From here, continue one screen to the left into the desert. When you enter this screen, instantly turn so you're facing down. This must be done because soon Medusa will appear, and if you look at her you will turn to stone. As she approaches you, show mirror to medusa. This must be done when she's close to you but before she is able to touch you. When she sees her own reflection in the mirror, she turns into stone herself and is rendered harmless. There's a small cactus growing right next to the stone to the left. Walk over to it and get cactus. Now walk two screen up. There's a dried snake skin lying on the ground here. Walk up to it and get snake skin. Next, look at magic map and teleport to the screen below the mountain path screen. From there, walk one screen down. This is the house of the Three Bears. Depending on chance, the Three Bears are either at home or away. If you see Mama Bear in the garden or no bear at all, return one screen up and re-enter. Do the same if you see the Three Bears returning from a walk through the forest. But if you see them leaving from a walk, you are safe to stay and enter their house. Walk up to the door and open door. Once inside, walk over to the kitchen table where three bowls of porridge sits. Walk over to the smallest one in the middle and get porridge. Then walk upstairs and up to the dresser to the right. open drawer. Inside, there's a silver thimble. get thimble. close drawer and walk back out of the house. Standing in the garden get dew. The thimble is now filled with dew from the flowers in the garden. Now you have nearly everything you need to prepare all the other spells in Manannan's book. Walk two screens up to the place where the mountain path begins (and watch out for the bandits on the way). Wait here for a few seconds until an eagle appears. If it doesn't, walk one screen to the right and then return. The eagle can appear in any of these two screens, and even on other places in Llewdor. Expect a couple of attempts before it appears. When it does, it sometimes drops a feather while flying by. If it doesn't, keep walking back and forth between the screens until you're more successful. When the feather has dropped to the ground, walk over to it and get eagle feather. Now continue one screen to the right and one screen up from the  mountain path screen. There is a cave entrance here, covered with a huge spider web. Don't walk over to the web. Instead, dip eagle feather in essence. Now you have turned into an eagle. Fly over to the web, and you will automatically grab the spider in your claws and fly it to the ocean where it is dropped. When you have returned to the cave screen you will turn back into your human form. Enter the cave. Inside is an oracle that tells you of a three-headed dragon that invaded Daventry years ago and lets you know that you are the brother of its next victim, Princess Rosella. Now you know your fate: To travel to Daventry and save your sister! The oracle gives you an amber stone. There is nothing more to do here, so exit the cave and walk back one screen down and one screen left to the mountain path (or teleport using the map if you prefer that). Walk up the path back to the top of the mountain. At the gate to the chicken coop, open gate to enter. Walk over to a chicken and get chicken. get chicken feather and then open gate again to exit the chicken coop. Walk over to the door to the house and open door. Now all you need before going back to the laboratory is one final ingredient. Manannan's black cat is roaming freely around the house. Find it by walking in and out of the rooms until you see it. Walk over to the cat and get cat. This may take several attempts as it is quite hard to catch. Once you have it in your grasp, get cat hair. Now enter Manannan's study. unlock cabinet, push book and pull lever like before and walk down into the laboratory. Remember to watch out for the cat on the way! Once down, walk over to the book and turn to page xxv. This is the spell for transforming another into a cat. To prepare it, do the following: put the mandrake root powder in a bowl, put the cat hair in a bowl, put two spoons of fish oil in the bowl, stir the mixture with a spoon, put the dough on the table and shape the dough into a cookie. Next, recite this verse:
Mandrake root and hair of cat
Mix oil of fish and give a pat
A feline from the one who eats
This appetizing magic treat.
Finally, wave the magic wand. Now you have a cookie that turns the one who eats it into a cat. This might be your key to getting rid of Manannan! But he won't just let himself be fooled by a cookie with cat hair sticking out of it, so put cat cookie in porridge. With the cookie crumbled up in the porridge, it is impossible to discover. But time is short and Manannan will soon wake up. Therefore, walk back upstairs, pull lever and push book like before, walk over to the cabinet and unlock cabinet to put the magic wand back in place. Then walk upstairs into your room and hide all under bed. But as you need the porridge, get porridge from under bed. Walk back down to the entrance hall and wait for Mannanan to wake up. Once again, he's hungry. Walk into the dining room, up to Manannan and give porridge to manannan. Without any suspicion he eats the whole bowl and suddenly turns into a black cat. Congratulations! Manannan is no more and you are free to walk wherever you want! Time to prepare the rest of the spells! Go up to your room and get all from under bed. Then go down to the study, unlock cabinet, push book and pull lever like before and go down to the book in the laboratory. Once there, turn to page II. This is the spell for understanding the language if creatures. To prepare it, do the following: put the small feather in a bowl, put the dog fur in the bowl, put the reptile skin in the bowl, add a spoonful of powdered fish bone, put a thimbleful of dew in the bowl, mix with hands, separate mixture into two pieces, put dough pieces into ears and recite this verse:
Feather of fowl and bone of fish,
Molded together in this dish,
Give me wisdom to understand
Creatures of air, sea and land
Next, wave the magic wand. For the next spell, teleportation at random, turn to page vii. For this spell, grind a spoon of salt in a mortar, grind the mistletoe in the mortar, rub the stone in the mixture, kiss the stone and recite this verse:
With this kiss, I thee impart,
Power most dear to my heart.
Take me now from this place hither,
To another place far thither.
Next, wave the magic wand. The next spell is for causing a deep sleep. turn to page xiv. Then follow these directions: grind the acorns in a mortar, put the acorn powder in a bowl, put the nightshade juice in the bowl, stir the mixture with a spoon, light a charcoal brazier, heat the mixture on the brazier, spread the mixture on a table and recite this verse:
Acorn powder ground so fine
Nightshade juice, like bitter wine,
Silently in darkness you creep
To bring a soporific sleep
Next, wave the magic wand. Now a spell for brewing a storm. turn to page lxxxiv. Follow these directions: put a cup of ocean water in a bowl, light a charcoal brazier, heat the bowl on the brazier, put a spoon of mud in the bowl, add a pinch of toadstool powder, blow into the hot brew and recite this verse:
Elements from the earth and sea,
Combine to set the heavens free.
When I stir this magic brew,
Great god Thor, I call on you.
Next, wave the magic wand and pour the storm brew into the jar. Finally you should prepare a spell for becoming invisible. turn to page clxix and follow these directions: cut the cactus with a knife, squeeze the cactus juice on spoon, put the cactus juice in a bowl, put the lard in the bowl, add two drops of toad spittle, stir the mixture with a spoon and recite this verse:
Cactus plant and horny toad
I now start down a dangerous road
Combine with fire and mist to make
Me disappear without a trace.
Next, wave the magic wand and put ointment in the empty lard jar.
Finally you are done with the spells and can leave Manannan's house forever. look at map. Teleport to the town again. Walk over to the tavern and open door. There are some sailors here now. talk to sailors. They might offer you a ride if you have enough gold to pay for the trip. give purse to sailors. Fortunately they accept it and allow you to board their ship. Walk out of the tavern and two screens right. Cross the gangplank onto the ship. Oops! It turns out to be a pirate ship, and now you're their prisoner!

Map of Pirate Ship

The Pirate Ship

Your first mission on the pirate ship is to get out of the hold. Walk one screen to the right and up to the small crate there. get crate Now carry the crate back to the left screen and walk with it to the left of the large crate directly below the rope ladder. Standing directly beside the large crate, drop crate. Now jump onto crate to get onto the small crate. jump onto crate again to get onto the larger one. Walk directly under the ladder and jump up to ladder. When on the ladder, climb up and out of the cargo hold. At the next screen you will see the captain's cabin to the left. If the captain is in it, walk one screen to the right and return. Repeat this until the captain is gone. Walk into his cabin and up to the chest at the foot of his bunk. open chest. look inside chest. Inside are all of your possessions that you eagerly take back. Now walk back one screen to the right. At the base of the lifeboat here is a shovel. Walk over to it and get shovel. If either some pirates or the captain himself appears as you do these things, quickly walk away from them. If they catch you, they will throw you back into the hold and you will have to get your possessions back again in the same way. If you are captured multiple times you will have to walk the plank and become shark food. Therefore, avoid getting caught! Once you have the shovel and the rest of your possessions, climb back down into the hold, where you are safe. Walk one screen to the right and check out if there are any mice scurrying to and fro on the floor. If not, return back and re-enter until there are. Eventually you will hear them talking about a buried treasure. There is little more to do on the ship now. Just wait patiently until the ship has sailed all the way over the ocean. You can see its progress on the magic map. When you hear the lookout shouting "Land Ho!", walk back to the part of the hold where you started and pour sleep powder on floor. Then recite: Slumber henceforth! The pirates has now fallen asleep and you are free to escape from the ship. jump onto crate, jump onto crate and jump up to ladder like before and climb all the way up to the upper deck, two screens above. Walk off the ladder to the right and walk to the other ladder and climb down. Continue off the screen to the right and walk up, off the deck of the ship. You will fall into the water. Now swim off the screen to the right and you'll see a beach. Swim towards the beach. A shark is hunting in this area, so watch out! Swimming off a screen edge and then returning may save you from it.

Map of Mountain Path

Climbing the mountains

Once you're on the beach, walk one screen to the right. There's a palm tree here. Walk over to it and position yourself directly to the right of it. Walk exactly five paces to the right of the palm tree, just like the mice described it, and dig. If you're at the right spot, you should find a treasure chest and take it with you. If not, try digging again at a nearby spot until you find it. Now walk one screen up and one screen to the right. A tricky mountain path starts here. Follow it back to the screen to the left. A rock blocks off the path here. Walk up to the rock and you'll automatically start climbing it. Climb up, right and finally down off the rock and you should be standing on the upper part of the path. Now walk back to the right screen and continue up along the path. Follow the path over to the next screen. There is a small waterfall here. Walk up to the waterfall and climb it. You will arrive at the snowy summit of the mountain. The Abominable Snowman lives here. dip eagle feather in essence and fly two screens to the right, passing his cave. On the screen to the right of the cave screen you will return to your human form. Walk one screen down. Congratulations, you've managed to pass the Abominable Snowman! But there are more dangers ahead. At this cave maze, begin by climbing slightly to the left and then down onto the path below. Walk into the upper left-hand cave. After a few seconds you will come out of the upper right-hand cave. Walk to the left edge of the narrow path here and up so you're climbing the cliff again. Climb left and down, carefully passing the narrow cliff part to the right of the center cave. Once you're down at the bottom middle path, walk into the adjacent cave to arrive at the bottom left part of the screen. Here, climb straight up and then to the right on to the path at the center cave. Enter it and you'll arrive at the bottom right cave. Phew! You've passed the cave maze and are free to continue off the screen to the right. Follow the now descending mountain path for two screens. You will slip down the final part of the path, arriving in a familiar-looking place!

Map of Daventry

Return to Daventry

You've made it to Daventry, but it's not the place it used to be. Walk one screen to the left and you'll find the old well, filled with rocks. Walk one screen up and you'll see a run-down shack with a withered gnome sitting on its porch. talk to gnome. He'll tell you what's happened to Daventry and informs you that your real name is Prince Alexander. Now you must go and save your sister from that three-headed dragon! Return one screen down and one to the right, where you arrived in Daventry. Enter the cave and walk up the ladders that King Graham once climbed during his quest to find the Three Treasures of Daventry. At the top of the ladders begins the Land of the Clouds. This is where the dragon has its dwelling. You can't let him see you, so rub invisibility ointment on body. With the dragon unable to see you, walk one screen to the left. To kill him, stir storm brew with finger and recite the following verse: Brew of storms, Churn it up! Lightning strikes the terrible dragon and he falls to the ground, dead! Walk over to the girl tied to the pole and untie girl. talk to girl six times for an interesting and sometimes amusing conversation. With Rosella free, walk back to the cave entrance and down the stairs. Continue left to the old well and then up to the gnome's house. Rosella will follow you automatically. As the gnome runs ahead of you to announce your triumphant return, follow him one screen up to the castle. Now sit back and enjoy the ending sequence! Congratulations! You've finished King's Quest III: To Heir is Human!

Alternate solutions

You can use the spells for other things besides the places where you must use them. For instance, the sleeping spell can be used to put the bandit in the shack to sleep if you want to. The teleportation spell can be used to escape from many dangers, such as the bandits, the pirates or the Abominable Snowman. Escaping the snowman through teleportation is an alternate method to transforming into an eagle, and gives you just as many points if you succeeed.
The eagle feather can be a bit tricky to obtain. If the eagle flies by and drops one when you're just passing by, take your time to stop and fetch it. You never know when your next chance will come!
It is possible to do everything needed to Kill Manannan during the first time he's away, but it requires speed and efficiency. You can also take your time and use more than two journeys to collect everything. Just keep in mind that your time as a slave boy for Manannan is running short. Soon, he will dispose of you and find another young boy to raise as a slave.
You don't have to leave the pirate ship by swimming ashore. You can also try to teleport using the teleportation spell. You don't even have to put the pirates to sleep if you don't want to, but expect a pirate to appear on the beach if you don't. And of course, digging for the treasure is purely optional.
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