The main character is J'dal. You put ideas into J'dals head. That's all you need to know, now go play.

If you really must know more ...

These ideas usually begin with verbs. The game understands most common verbs, like "sit", "eat x", "attack x with y" etc. Less common verbs like "levitate" or "sew" might not be recognized by the game. Just try things out and see what works.

In the beginning of the game, suggested verbs are highlighted in bold to make things easier. But you don't have to follow the suggestions ...

Some exceptions to the "begin with verbs" rule are typing "yes" and "no" to direct questions, and giving people orders. For example, you can type "Roderick, open the door."  You need to type the comma after Roderick's name.

A bit of advice, which you don't have to listen to:
Don't save / load / undo if something bad happens. There are no dead ends or ways you can screw-up, so don't worry. Try to role play. Think about decisions *before* you make them, don't just make them to see what happens and then go back and load a save.

Type *help* for information and hints.

J'dal was written by Ryan Kinsman. It is my first IF. I have a blog here:
ryankinsman.wordpress.com

J'dal was beta tested by Daniel Kinsman, Matt Weiner, DJ Hastings, Brian Williams, Kevin Jackson-Mead, and Chiharu Kinsman. They improved this game ten-fold. Thanks everyone! Remaining bugs are totally my fault and not theirs.