The Fakir's Rope
Rumours
They say that out in the sands, in a dry riverbed or on a clay flat, there stands a striped tent, and before it an old fakir sits on nails. He plays his flute — and a rope rises by itself up to the sky! Only his music hasn't been heard for a long while…
Who: Fakir
Hints
Open them one at a time — from a gentle nudge to plain advice. "Good to know" is about what might trip you up.
Hint 1
The fakir needs a new flute, and the most tuneful flutes are made of ancient bone. Such bones sleep deep in the rock under the dunes.
Hint 2
Look for pale bones in the sandstone, as if a big beast's skeleton were lying in the rock. Two pieces of bone and a string, and the flute can be made at the workbench.
Hint 3
Kora the snake loves the cool and is hiding in one of a tomb's urns. The fakir himself will tell you which way to go.
Hint 4
Kora follows music: keep the flute in hand and don't stop playing all the way back to the tent.
Hint 5
Kora's basket has a hole in it. A new one is woven at the workbench from papyrus, and papyrus grows by the water in oases.
Good to know
- Don't throw the flute away: the fakir needs it right to the end, for the miracle and for the gift.
- Cut papyrus only with a sword. A drilled-out clump is gone for good, and there are only a few of them around the oases.
- In a world with other players, only one of you helps the fakir at a time: if another player is already on it, or someone already helped him today, come back tomorrow.
Full solution
Show the whole solution
This is the whole story of the quest, to the very end.
-
Find a striped tent in a dry riverbed or on a clay flat: an old fakir sits on nails in front of it. Walk up and press E (on a phone, the glowing action button). His flute has cracked, his snake Kora has crawled away, and he asks for a new flute of ancient bone.
From Cubby's diary
Met a fakir — sitting on nails as if on a cushion! He plays his flute, and a rope rises by itself to the sky. But his flute cracked, and his snake Kora crawled away. He asks for a new flute — of ancient bone.
-
Go deep under the dunes, into the sandstone: the pale bones of ancient beasts lie there, Fossil blocks that look like a skeleton in the rock. Drill out two of them.
-
Cut a few tufts of dry grass or shrubs with a sword to get Grass. At the workbench put three Grass in a row: that makes String.
-
At the workbench make a Bone Flute: String on top, and two Fossils in a column under it.
-
Bring the flute to the fakir and press E (the action button on a phone). He plays Kora's tune on it, gives the flute back and tells you which way the tomb where Kora hides lies: toward the sunset or toward the sunrise.
From Cubby's diary
Chipped an ancient beast's bone out of the sandstone under the dunes and made a flute at the workbench. The fakir played Kora's tune on it — "Too-roo-roo!" — and gave it back: Kora loves the cool, so look in the tomb's urns.
-
Go to that tomb and break the urns with a sword or the drill. Empty ones puff out dust, moths or beetles, and Kora is sitting in one of them.
-
Hold the flute and play: hold a mouse button or E (hold the action button on a phone). Keep playing and walk slowly to the tent, and Kora slithers after you. Stop playing and she curls up and waits until you play near her again; leave her far behind and she goes back to her urn.
From Cubby's diary
Smashed urns in the tomb — dust, moths, beetles… and there was Kora! I played her tune, and she glided after me all the way to the tent, ever so grand. But her basket has a hole — that's why she left.
-
Kora is home, but her basket is full of holes. Find papyrus by the water in an oasis and cut a stem with a sword: one stem per clump a day. You need three.
-
At the workbench weave a Basket: three Papyrus in a V, two on top at the edges and one below in the middle.
-
Go to the fakir with the basket and the flute and press E (the action button on a phone). Kora slips into her new basket, the fakir borrows your flute and shows his miracle: a rope rises out of the basket right into a cloud.
From Cubby's diary
Wove Kora a papyrus basket — she slipped straight in. Then the fakir played, and the rope rose out of the basket right into a cloud! Up he climbed and vanished… "Hey-hey-hey!" — and came back down.
-
Talk to the fakir once more (E, or the action button on a phone): he ties a Magic Rope to your flute and gives it to you. Play it and the rope rises even out of the deepest pit; point it down past a cliff edge and it lets you down.
From Cubby's diary
The fakir tied a magic rope to my flute and gave it to me! Now I play, and the rope rises even from the deepest pit, and lets me down any cliff.
Reward
Take the flute with the rope in hand and press a mouse button or E — the rope rises to the top, even out of a deep pit, and you can climb it. Point the cursor down past a cliff edge — it lets you down. Press again — it coils up. Walk far away — it coils and comes back.