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You examine the bag
|
All right, the body hasn't spilled completely out onto the
floor. Although that's where the arms and torso sprawl, one foot's still tangled in the hanging, ripped cheesecloth. It's not a terribly delightful sight. We ought to move along.
|
4
|
Choose a topic (0-4) > 4
"What are those for?" you ask, nodding at the stack of envelopes.
"Ah, those are part of a new marketing campaign. I'm sending out flyers to everyone in town reminding them that I'm here to help them with their rich but annoyingly long-lived relatives. There should at least be some distant, twice-removed cousin of a baronet around here."
0) (Leave.)
1) What do you have in stock?
2) What's with the golem?
3) Do you have any clients now?
4) What's with all the envelopes?
|
You look
|
This is the main entrance to the sprawling Administration Centre. Large doors to the south would lead to the driveway and surrounding parkland, but you cannot see anything through the windows in the south wall. A grand staircase leads upwards. Doors lead east and west to the wings of the main building, while a smaller exit leads north to the quadrangle. There is a green door in the northwest corner of the room. There's a mural on the western wall, and a portrait and a mirror on the eastern wall.
On the reception desk is a fax machine.
|
Go southeast
|
You spend some time searching the room carefully. At the bottom of a barrel you find a wooden statuette worth 4 crowns!
|
You keep going
|
Click.
|
You look at the message
|
Across the dining table someone has scrawled, in what you hope is some easily-removable marker or ink, "GET DRESSED AND FIND YOUR PLACE FOR A COLORFUL MARDI GRAS."
|
1
|
"So what's the story with this Ginger dame?"
"Quite the looker isn't she?"
"Yeah. But can you tell me what she was doing with Bob last night?"
"Other than accepting the drinks he bought her?"
"Well, for instance, are they an item?"
"What? Ginger and that guy? That'll be the day. Perhaps he thought so but I don't think she ever did."
[1] Ask about Tony.
[2] Say goodbye.
Someone in the back of the club laughs loudly.
|
You think
|
You're thinking pretty much constantly.
|
Go north
|
The living room is tastefully decorated. Plush wall-to-wall
carpeting soothes your feet while your eyes marvel at the new sofa and coffee table. The wood-burning stove is the only real reminder of the house you live in. The front door to the north opens out on the driveway, the sparkly new kitchen is to the south, and the bedroom is west.
You wander aimlessly for a while, but eventually the aliens give you other puzzles to work on. You do so listlessly, thinking back to the bizarre opportunity you had with your father, and wondering what you could have done differently. Eventually, you crawl into bed, tired and confused.
When you awake the next morning, you feel a little odd. You sit up and rub your face, running your hands back over your head. Ah, that must be why you feel odd, they took the wires out last night. You yawn, stretch, and blink to clear your eyes.
Click.
In a total of 543 turns, you have achieved a score of 160 points out of a possible 200. You also received 15 bonus points.
You may restore a saved game, start over, quit, or undo the current command.
|
Rub tattoo
|
I feel a bit like you are just trying random things as a way of procrastinating.
Please. Just WRITE.
|
You look at the mask
|
Its simple lines evoke a man's face. It has become fashionable for mutants with unsightly mutations to wear these.
starts on Magis Quam Amor.
|
You eat lady
|
Quickly, before her sorrow cools! You'll never sample stock as rich as these sobs splashed across your face. Don't let them waste! Broth beaded with clear floating fat, chowder enriched with butter, seasoned plentifully with pepper and sea-salt, and onion soup creamy and gratinéed. Watching you slurp her tears, she wails again: "O woe! O woe!"
|
You look around
|
You're standing in the middle of the kitchen, which doesn't appear
as if it's used too often. There are almost no kitchen appliances apart from the major ones; neatly tucked away in the corners of the room are the stove, refrigerator and dishwasher. Near the kitchen counter is a blue recycling bin.
There is a breakfast type counter which nicely separates the kitchen area from the family room. On the kitchen counter is a microwave.
You can enter the family room to the west and a hallway leads south, toward the bathroom. The dining room is east of here.
The refrigerator seems to contain a beer and some non-edible items.
The dishwasher seems to contain some dirty dishes.
|
You eat the swordfish
|
Your throat's a sheath: you chomp the fish, swallow its pointed nose, right down it goes. Its swashbuckling days are at an end.
|
You go outside
|
But you aren't in anything at the moment.
The Nothing consumes you.
|
You rest
|
You rest for a moment to regain your strength...
[ Your Stamina: 1 Rainbow Trout: 2 ]
|
You ask NERDS about the mensa
|
Apparently you haven't seen the light for what to ask nerds about. A few smart-people in-jokes later, you feel too aliterate to retaliate, worried it might take a thousand years to guess.
"Since I'm not omniscient..." Ish, note his tone. Sarcastic, arctic ass.
|
Spell tar
|
You produce a pile of sticky goo directly under the leprechaun. He jumps out of it as quickly as possible and resumes his annoying dance, but his shoes are coated in tar, making his jumps slightly awkward.
|
You get branch
|
Taken.
|
You touch the slab
|
As before, the touch of your fingers on the carving causes it to radiate fierce light, and the slab pivots sideways, opening the passage.
|
Go southeast
|
Carefully, you climb down the rocks. The path bends northeast, following the curve of the lighthouse wall.
A small outcropping of stone, just large enough for you to stand on, sticks out from the end of the breakwater. The hungry sea laps at your feet, surging over the rocks and then trickling down into crevices. To the southwest, an uneven trail leads back up the rocks, around the side of the lighthouse.
Beyond the breakwater's tip, a turbulent patch of water bubbles and seethes, as if something were lurking just beneath the surface -- turning, perhaps, in uneasy sleep.
A flurry of dead leaves goes skittering along the ground, swirling past you in the wind.
|
Shuffle deck
|
"Of course," you say, "it wouldn't be right to conduct a card trick without a shuffle, whether that's a one-card trick, a two-card trick, or even the marvelous three-card trick you're about to
witness."
Shuffling cards is second nature. You hold the deck in one palm, split its cards, riffle them with your thumbs. Their edges flutter and blend. They bend upward, dovetailing in your hands, and then cascade into a stack when your fingers release. Less than one second. No thought required.
Lady Gascogne doesn't look impressed. Neither does her entourage.
|
You enter the window
|
First of all, this window is many stories above the ground; the drop would be certain death. Beyond that, though, the window isn't open.
|
You read the paper
|
The month was May, and it retains the ancient customs:
We perform the rites for the silent spirits.
When it is night and the night lends silence to sleep,
He, mindful of the rites, and afraid of the spirits,
Gets up and rinses his hands with pure water from a spring.
He takes some black beans and throws them, whilst facing
away.
When he has said, "Ancestral spirits, depart!" nine times,
|
Inventory
|
You are carrying:
A spell book
|
Go south
|
You are in the front yard of a small brick house that stands to the north. Maple Street continues east and west. An overgrown hedge separates this yard from the one to the west.
Henrietta stands next to the hedge, clipping away.
|
You open hatch
|
The oiled hinges give a little, allowing you to wiggle your fingers further under the door's edge. A sharp tug -- and the door swings down suddenly, spilling filthy water into your face.
|
You ask Chuck about the fire
|
"The whole family - the parents and three kids - were all stuck in the apartment. Everyone else got out of the building safely, but they were trapped. No fire exit. Sucks."
Chuck motions. "Anyway, from what I understand, everyone's accounted for in this one, thank Christ."
|
Sewn
|
You plot what to take care of next. Hmm... "Handmade clothes with love in every stitch-1 at 444" is as good as any.
Threediopolis, Sector 434
Threediopolis, Sector 435
Threediopolis, Sector 434
Threediopolis, Sector 444
You can see a clothing store here.
|
You eat the mushroom
|
"Well, things can't possibly get any worse, can they?" you think, examining the mushroom. You tenatively take a small bite. It doesn't really taste like anything special. Not very good at all, more like stale cardboard than anything else. But you take a second bite, and then a third bite. Everything seems to get very quiet around you.
Just you, and the bushes. And the mushroom, and the venom in your blood. Your finger seems to be hurting less, or perhaps hurting more and you aren't feeling the pain. You take another bite, and choke on the piece for a minute before it goes down your throat dry. Your forehead is on fire, you're going to burn up. The bushes are rustling and waving their thorns at you. You cough on the next piece, but swallow it. Is there a bee-hive nearby? The humming in your ears seems to suggest that, or perhaps you're going mad . . .
going mad
going mad
You take a bite. How many is this? Six bites? Seven? Too hard to count now, too hard to think. Just eat. You feel strangely detached from everything, able to realize you have pain and are in serious trouble from the spider-bite, but at the same time just watching it all happen to your body. Finally, sweet release. The mushroom tumbles from your hand, and hits the ground almost at the same time you do . . .
Everything goes away for a little bit, and you drift into blackness.
You are awakened by a voice calling your name.
The river from the mushroom forest ends here, draining into a small hole in the ground. The way is blocked by tangled bushes that reach out at you on all sides except northwards. The ground is soggy and muddy, and makes little slurping and drooling noises as you walk over it.
You, or a long-lost twin at least, are standing here.
"Listen, I know this is kind of strange," the
person-who-looks-like-you says. "But listen to me. You have got to figure out what's going on here. I can't help you out with it, either. I'm just a hallucination."
|
You close the doors
|
You close the sliding doors.
|
You look at Worm
|
The cover is appropriately worm-y, and prints the title — "The Imagined Worm: My Journey Through the World of Creepy-Crawlies, by Elizabeth P. Stashwart" — in big, loopy script; but it doesn't give you much sign as to why this book is in the Forbidden Annex.
|
You read the ixteesh
|
comprehension guide. You are fluent in the language, but this has been your trusty reference book for those rare times you need to double-check something. You've even made countless marginal notes in the tome, updating and expanding where necessary.
A flock of swamp birds fly low in the sky.
|
You move the hands
|
Your hands aren't important.
"Okay, change in plans Jake," quips Bobby as he and Tommy lift you to your feet. "We're going for a ride," says Tommy as he puts a
blindfold on you. "We also don't need you shouting for help," says Tommy as he puts a makeshift gag around your head.
Bob and Tom drag you through several rooms and out yet another door to their car. Your finely tuned, athletic body is treated like a slab of beef as Bobby and Tommy haul you to their car. This does nothing for your injury, save perhaps make it even worse. One of them pops open the trunk and you're unceremoniously dumped in. The morphine Charlie gave you must be wearing off and before you can catch your breath, all goes dark.
You hear the car doors open and close. A few moments later, the car engine starts and slowly the car accelerates. An instant later, the car veers drastically as your body bounces off the back of the trunk wall. Apparently they've left the driveway and are now on the road. You're going for a ride alright, you just don't know where.
|
You scrub Prudence
|
You seize Prudence, pinch her cheeks until they take on a healthy red colour, and apply a rough brush to those parts of her person that she has neglected to keep to a hygienic standard. This accomplished, you deliver a short lecture on the spiritual and bacterial dangers of filthiness. Hopefully the lesson is learned; her looks are now bad.
|
Go east
|
This is a long and narrow passage, which is cluttered with broken timbers. A wide passage comes from the east and turns at the west end of the room into a very narrow passageway. From the west comes a strong draft.
There is a brass lantern (battery-powered) here.
There is a clove of garlic here.
There is a broken timber here.
|
You follow you
|
You ask, "Keiko, would you please hold hands with me?"
Keiko takes your hand.
|
You go south
|
As you approach the golden path you take another look at it.
The path is level with the floor of the room you are currently in. It consists of golden steps that seem to run on forever. Each step has two numbers appearing on it, although from here you can only read the numbers on the six closest steps. The first numbers on the steps are 1, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5, and 1/6. The second numbers are 1, 1/2, 5/6, 7/12, 47/60, and 37/60.
As you near the path, though, the seventh step swaps places with the fifth step. Then the sixth step swaps places with the ninth step. Other steps swap places with each other, and you stop, watching, as the entire path appears to rearrange itself.
Then a mechanical voice intones, "Rearrangement succeeded."
You move towards the path once more. Just before you reach it, though, it shifts: The heights of the steps change. The first step is now up. After that, some steps are up, and some steps are down, but you cannot discern any sort of pattern to which are up and which are down. Overall, though, the path rises slowly, but it's hard to tell from where you are whether it continues to rise or whether it levels out.
Then you walk out onto the path. The limit shoes react to the contact with the first step: They propel you to the next step, and the next, and the next - faster and faster. Soon you are moving so fast the path is a blur, and then you can't even see it anymore.
You find yourself hurtling through space, only to land in...
69,105
This is more of an abstract space than a physical place. It feels cavernous - large but with walls that you can sense are out of your field of vision. A hole leads up.
A pile of leaves is here.
[Your understanding of Infinity has increased. You estimate
that your score on tomorrow's final has just gone up by two
points.]
|
You go west
|
The entry to Ward Four is completely barred. Forget it - you're not needed there in the first place.
|
You take it
|
(putting the wadded paper into the sack to make room)
Taken.
|
Go down
|
A single bulb dangling from the ceiling casts a watery, yellow light against the brick walls. A rickety staircase to the north leads back up to the ground floor, and two narrow doorways lead into the record archives. Over the southeast door hangs a sign that reads "BIRTH RECORDS", while the southwest door bears the sign "DEATH RECORDS".
|
You explain
|
"You want me to explain how this man was twisted to death in his own bed?"
Nate purses his lips. "I believe I said as much."
"The dents in the rug... the frightened fish... I dunno, an angler with two peg legs?"
Nate turns towards the maimed corpse. "I've never seen a fisherman who could do this to a person. And what about the circular bruises?"
Well, I s'pose could keep trying to EXPLAIN the murder, or just SHRUG.
|
You show the sermon to Emma
|
Aunt Emma tries to explain the sermon to you. Her rather confused and unintelligible rambling fails to make it any more interesting.
|
Go south
|
The monkey goes down onto all fours to keep up with you.
The stone tunnel continues south (along the channel) and turns to the east here. A square of daylight can be glimpsed at the end of the east branch. A bronze door set in an ornate frame of carved stone is to the north.
The monkey is still with you.
|
You turn on the lamp
|
The lamp is now on.
You are in a shadowy land of low, rolling hills stretching out to the west and south. The land is bordered to the north by a massive stone wall. Ancient and weathered, the wall has crumbled enough at one point to permit passage.
|
You look at fresco
|
Painted on the ceiling shines the red sun of Valmar that lights up the dark nights of the vampires with its eight evil rays.
|
1
|
What do you want to say to the Taco Flaco Drive-Thru Sign?
"I sure do," you respond. From the speaker you hear a long sigh, followed by the words "Pull around."
Standing at the drive-thru window is Gloria, the hottest mamacita in all of Flaco land. Each time you see her you wish she were your age, but you would settle for "legal" (both in terms of age and citizenship).
You place the pathetic coupon and fist full of sticky change into Gloria's soft hand. In return, Gloria hands you ten delicious tacos. Score!
You are sitting inside your car at the end of the Taco Flaco drive-thru. All the other buildings you can see are vacant (it's not the best part of town). Other Taco Flaco drive-thru customers are behind you, honking their horns. It's time to use the GPS to get you out of this mess.
|
Go south
|
The monkey trails faithfully along behind.
A broad passageway runs north and south here, flanked on the west by a square-cut channel of unguessable depth. Directly across the channel, to the west from where you're standing, is an open doorway through which can be glimpsed the cheerfully torchlit room of seven doors. A slim silver bridge crosses the channel. On the east side of the passageway is a narrow opening, beyond which a stairway leads down into the gloom.
The monkey is still with you.
|
You drop all
|
cupcake: Dropped.
knife: Dropped.
flintlock: Dropped.
pole hook: Dropped.
roll of duct tape: Dropped.
toy mouse: Dropped.
|
You take the sapphire
|
You remove the sapphire from the clapper.
Holmes beams at you and says, "Good show, old fellow."
[Your score just went up by 5 points. The total is now 55 out of
100.]
The bell swings away from you.
|
You look at the ground
|
You notice nothing special about the ground here.
There is a loud sound, and the ground is shaking. Somewhere nearby, a meteorite must have hit the ground.
|
Ride bike
|
Decisively, you take the bike by the handlebars and swing the seat under you.
|
Inventory
|
You are carrying a wooden bucket, a burlap sack (which contains a pill bottle, a little white pill, some faded photographs, a flashlight, a croquet hoop, a partially crumbled piece of burnt toast, a bad fuse, a sketchbook, a stone bracelet, a gold locket, an old shovel, an indecipherable map, and a poker), a screwdriver, the key to Cabin One, some fire tongs, a fat white candle, and a faded yellow scarf. You're wearing your clothes.
|
You look at the maze map
|
So the geometer stood at the ready, pacing nervously around his
study. Soon, he'd been promised, it would all be complete. Even if
he'd contacted them first, he hadn't expected them to actually
respond, and he couldn't be more anxious if he tried. Not Eating,
barely sleeping, even, in case the chiropterans wanted to make the
exchange at night. Whether or not they could even give him what he'd
asked for was unclear as well. Such Entities as them were not to be
taken lightly, if they really wanted his entire city in exchange - and
that was another thing. What he'd promised them he didn't own, and if
they discovered they'd been tricked, they might not uphold their end
of the bargain. Euclid shuddered at the thought.
You shut the book. That's not a map at all. Must have been an error at
the printer's.
|
You go east
|
A standard tiny two-room flat, much tidier on the inside than out.
The furnishings are spare, if neatly kept. There is minimal damage except to the window where the perp likely entered, and the carpet which is painted with darkening red bloodstains. The bedroom is west from here, and you can exit to the east.
Miss Annie wrings her hands concernedly.
You can also see a carpet (on which are some bloodstains) here.
"How do we stop them?" Annie asks, crouching low.
Annie frowns, "Don't you have some kind of secret weapon?"
You hear grumbling and random bursts of machine-gun fire from the thugs on the rooftop.
|
You go north
|
At the center of this gloomy room is a vast aquarium with a cage suspended above it. It appears that Dashing has been keeping up my tradition of using this room to gloat over my unfortunate captives; I grudgingly approve. There is a prominent red button on the wall, and an exit leads aft. There's also a trapdoor overhead.
I can see a steel cage here.
|
You look at the puddle
|
The water coming from the pipe is foul-smelling and brown.
In the distance, you can hear the lonesome keening of a train whistle drifting on the wind.
|
You check what you're carrying
|
You are carrying a bolt, some cloth strips, a thighband with three bolts, and a cracked and darkened lamplens (on your wrist).
There is a roar, and something huge lurches up the path. The dark eyes of the Wumpus peer out of a chittering swarm. There is understanding somewhere in there, what you have done to it and why -- and rage.
It lunges at you, heedless now of what the bats might do; it only wants to reach you with its claws.
|
You open the drawer
|
You open the drawer, revealing a hastily written letter and a tarnished bronze key.
|
You go to the south
|
Little remains -- the countess was exceedingly fond of her Rieslings, and it required constant restocking to keep this portion of the cellar properly supplied during her life.
An open green door leads north.
An open russet door leads west.
A closed blue door leads east.
|
You go to the south
|
Okay, okay, here for once is something more interesting than just more caves.
At this curve in the tunnel, the east wall is made up of a bunch of rocks. I mean, the whole place is made out of rocks, but these rocks are smaller and... rubblier.
The cave continues to the north and southwest.
|
1
|
"That sounds nice, but if it's all the same to you," she says, "I'm just going to stand here until I've got things figured out for myself."
|
You look at the frogs
|
Made of green Venetian ware, set in a pond full of lilies. The largest is a bullfrog, with bulging eyes and a full extended throat.
The water is done in several layers of glass, so that through the mottled blue of the surface you can discern the darting koi painted on the lower levels.
|
You go to the southeast
|
This rocky path is treacherous as it winds between boulders and slopes steeply. From here, you can head back up to the northwest or down to the southeast. The cliff that this path winds beside is steep and made of white stone. Below, you can see some more pine forest before a small town a bit further beyond that.
|
You go east
|
As you enter the gates, the full beauty of Grooverland is exposed to your view. You smell a bizarre mixture of sweets and metal, you hear screams from unseen rides, and, far off to the east, you see the distant castle. That's where your coronation ceremony will be tonight, if you can find everything you need, of course!
[You can check the flier in your inventory to see the requirements for entering the Queen's Castle.]
You are standing in the main thoroughfare for Grooverland. Park-goers wearing masks and carrying cricket bats pass all around you, and you see quite a few children holding jelly-covered ice cream cones.
A sign to the north says "Sugar Plum Snack Bar".
A sign to the south is labeled "Painful Purchases Gift Shop". Underneath the name is a tagline: "All Magic Has a Price".
east to the Prowling Promenade.
|
You ask Stephen about the stick
|
"A walking stick is a rather useful item, I must say. I simply could not tell you the number of times I've been glad of having a nice, stout staff on hand while walking across the downs."
|
You open door
|
You touch your finger to the lock. It grows gently warm as it reads your print, and the door clunks heavily.
|
You look at the sign
|
It reads, "The skull scraper is a fastidious creature that prefers raw food but detests sloppiness."
|
You open it
|
You open the box, revealing an important paper and some gold coins.
|
Go downwards
|
I can't go that way.
There is an exit leading out.
|
You examine the bench
|
The sturdy green bench stands about a foot tall.
|
You describe your surroundings
|
This elevator has a sliding door to the east, next to which is a control panel, with buttons labeled UPPER LEVEL, LOWER LEVEL, DOOR OPEN, and DOOR CLOSE, plus a red knob labeled PUSH TO RUN/PULL TO STOP. The knob is currently pushed in. The door is open.
Your boss Mr. Teeterwaller is here.
Mr. Teeterwaller seems to be lost in thought.
|
You give the gift box to Aylene
|
Aylene receives the box and looks at the vaccine sample for a moment. She looks at you -- surprised, a little concerned, perhaps?
Then she faces her audience and begins to speak.
"
It's not unpleasant to see Kruger grilling Valenti for a bit, rather than you. Though there's plenty of grilling to go around.
"It was always a bad idea to invite them to Earth as our inferiors," says Valenti stolidly. "I would have arranged things differently if I had been the ambassador at the time, but I do believe this is the best thing David could have done with the options available to him."
"The idea that the Colonists work in collaboration with human scientists will not be received well at home," says Kruger.
"To understatement," Valenti replies, lifting his glass. He is drinking an anise liqueur he favors. You and Kruger watch him take another yellow sip. "Are you going to change the deal? I should warn you that alteration to a contract is viewed with extreme disfavor in their society."
"Which is why you and David should have followed my advice in the first place!" Kruger yells. "I pulled Yamashita because she expressed reservations of conscience about what I was asking her to do, and I pulled you because I didn't trust you to follow orders, but I never thought David would go native on his first day there. What's wrong with you?"
Valenti frowns into his glass, swirling the ice around. "With respect, sir, you a few hours on Aleheart itself would have been enough to change your plans."
Kruger's face gradually loses the beet color. "We gave the matter a great deal of thought," he says. "Thought, study, polls, moral consultations. Also prayer, meditation, even a tarot reading or two, I'm told. Those were off the meeting record and on a strictly individual basis. But there is a female member of the commission who claims that a good tarot spread focuses her thinking."
"There are things you cannot reason out," Valenti says. "When you're face-to-face with the colonists, you see how much they long to be back on Earth. They are afraid of our bad opinion, conscious that they are our descendants, and embarrassed by how primitive we seem to be. But they are also infatuated. There are some dissenters, but most would do whatever they could to be with us again. They will bend themselves to fit Earth. We do not have to force them to do anything."
Kruger glares out the window. He does not say anything.
Valenti catches your eye and raises his glass in a small salute.
|
You examine table
|
By cupping your hand to block the light and leaning closer to the window, you can just about make out the outline of the radio and the table it's on. The unlike the one in the living room, this radio can
be used to talk to people too, like the ships.
|
You examine the foundations
|
The broken rubble is all that remains of whatever building once stood here.
The cold wind blows harder, tugging at the hem of your trenchcoat.
|
You go north
|
This is the base of the northwest tower of the castle. A winding staircase leads up into the tower itself, and passages lead from here to the east and south.
|
You point at it
|
A small beam of green light lashes out over the small module labeled 'Aetheric Amplifier' as Triage's screen lights up:
CAT:UNKNOWN/UNLI
STED.UTIL:NOT.AP
PLICABLE.PART:NO
NE.ITEM.IS.NOT.R
ECOGNIZED.BY.CUR
RENT.SYSTEM.STOR
E.REQUIRE.ADDITI
ONAL.INFORMATION
|
Go south
|
The monkey trails faithfully along behind.
The stone tunnel extends from east to west here. Another passage leads away to the north.
The monkey is crouching at your feet.
|
You search mirror
|
It is dark and clouded.
otherwise too dissimilar to use."
|
You examine the axe
|
The axe look sharp. Unfortunately it is covered by poisonous thorns.
|
You wait
|
Time passes.
The lockpick's status dot fades to pure green, and flicks steady blue.
The door slides open, and daylight spills over you. So does a sharp buzzer; and, moments later, three armed guards.
-- glaring light...
[Hit any key.]
|
You look at the counterweight
|
It is made of a stack of heavy metal bars, bolted together and pulled up and down by cables. It has a broad upper surface with a small hollow.
|
You set the timer
|
You can set the timer's green dial or its blue dial.
|
You ask Liam about the widget
|
This is awkward.
Your assignment was sudden, and you have only the phrases you learned on the voyage by skulking outside the engine room. You are therefore restricted to a) insulting your listener's parentage, diet, and sexual practices, or b) suggesting that he is damaged in the antigravitic propulsion unit.
It would be dangerous to let on that Earth sent a diplomat who doesn't even know the language, so it is best to rely on gestures and silence until you can (quickly!) finish a linguistic hypnosis program.
|
You go to the north-east
|
A lesser being would have no idea what's going on here. Their brains would probably get lightly scrambled if not completely fizzled out. But, for a highly trained inter-dimensional espionage operative, who has spent half his life travelling through the dimensions, exits are easy to spot.
Exits lead north, east, southwest, northwest, up.
|
You examine tag
|
The tag on the lobster bib reads:
10% COTTON
"Premium cloth goods for
restaurants and ritualists"
|
You look at the stone
|
(the stone blades)
Sharp spires rise directly below you -- some chance result of dripping minerals and flowing water. If you try to descend farther, you'll slip and probably fall into them.
|
You enter the machinery
|
(the celestial clockwork)
That's not something you can enter.
The undressed stone of the walls scrapes at you as you move, which is an extremely unpleasant and distracting sensation.
The grumbling of machinery catches your attention.
|
Go upwards
|
Bubbles lazily develop and combust in a lake roiling with thick acidic sludge. Its shoreline is littered with corpses and ambiguous organic detritus. Your eyes sting and your brain throbs from the noxious odor.
One skeleton, arm outstretched, fingers clenched into a fist, seems nearly to have climbed free when the acid claimed its life.
Emerging from the lake's corrosive mire, its broken orb half-sunken, is the sun. A bridge molded from crushed bodies leads toward it.
|
Blow
|
You blow out the onion's tearjerking odor. All the chefs blink and sniff, then resume their duties. They're single-minded creatures, these sardines.
|
You fill bucket
|
(first taking the wooden bucket from the burlap sack)
You fill the bucket from the swamp.
|
You examine the red door
|
The door is off to the EAST. Painted on the door, faded but still readable, are the numbers "22". You're pretty sure that's the door the guard was referring to.
|
You go east
|
Here on the north wall and the south are paintings of historical events from times past: the assassination of King Elzibad in 1248; the arrival of Princess Lucrezia from the Italian State of Medici-Credenza in 1545.
The gallery goes on, echoing, both east and west.
|
Go east
|
The ruined abbey stands before you, imposing even in such a state of decay. Through the grand arch to the east, you hear some awful music and see the glow from a large fire. Westward leads back into the gloom. A poster is blowing about in the wind.
|
You take the lens
|
Dr. Singh fishes out a lens.
Taken.
From experience, Dr. Law, this should increase the remote's power by
5 jigawatts.
Dr. Singh is breathing heavily.
|
You eat the cake
|
(the green-white cake)
You finish eating the green-white cake.
Honestly, Julia was a little over-generous with the slicing there.
"This is good. Is this basil? That's so clever," Francis says, already more than halfway through a generous slice. "I think I'll have some more actually..."
|
Go southwest
|
This is a soothing, white-walled chamber with soft rounded surfaces, much like being inside an egg. From your knowledge of Ancient social mores, it's likely to be a personal cleansing area. There is a blue lens embedded in the western wall, with a placard above it, and a white vat standing opposite it. Round curtained apartures lead northeast and southeast.
|
You close the door
|
You close the real estate office door.
|
Punch beverly
|
You two prefer more subtle ways of expressing your rivalry.
Beverly smacks a ball across the court.
|
Go downwards
|
The chasm probably leads straight to the infernal regions.
|
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