  
 
The idea behind ClubFloyd is that each week at a pre-arranged time, a group of people meet online to cooperatively play a game of interactive fiction. |
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Floyd | Welcome to the Cheap Glk Implementation, library version 0.9.0. Floyd | Floyd | tadsr - A text-only TADS 2.5.10 Interpreter. Floyd | Copyright (c) 1993, 2006 by Michael J. Roberts. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | To Hell in a Hamper Floyd | - by J. J. Guest - Floyd | Floyd | A TADS Adventure Floyd | Developed with TADS, the Text Adventure Development System. Floyd | Floyd | For instructions about playing interactive fiction, type INSTRUCTIONS. Floyd | For general information about the game, type INFO. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | From the log of Professor Pettibone, eminent Victorian Balloonist: Floyd | Floyd | Twenty-fourth of February, 1876. The English Channel. Floyd | Floyd | Our Journey begins! A large crowd gathered this morning in Berkeley Floyd | Square as we made our final preparations for what is to be one of the Floyd | most daring expeditions ever undertaken; a journey around the world by Floyd | balloon. Our vessel, which I have christened Titania, consists of a Floyd | strong wicker basket borne aloft by a sealed balloon containing 30,000 Floyd | cubic feet of hydrogen, an amount which, according to my calculations, Floyd | should be quite sufficient to carry myself, Mr. Booby and all of our Floyd | supplies and equipment. Mr. Booby is travelling with me as a Floyd | last-minute replacement for Doctor Cox, who was suddenly taken ill Floyd | with a serious case of the dreaded badly-bruised knees just days Floyd | before the launch. Dressed in a huge, shapeless overcoat, he cuts Floyd | rather a strange figure, but I am confident that he will prove to be Floyd | as good company as his predecessor, and as competent an aeronaut as he Floyd | claims. At eleven o'clock, amid cries of "Huzzah!" I cut the ropes Floyd | binding the balloon to the earth and we soared aloft on the first leg Floyd | of our journey... | ||||
| EmacsUser pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Fourteenth of September, 1876. Fujian province, China. Floyd | Floyd | I began to have my doubts about Mr. Booby almost as soon as the Floyd | balloon had made its ascent from Berkeley Square. The instant we left Floyd | the earth, Mr. Booby got into such convulsions of nausea that I began Floyd | to doubt his credentials as a balloonist, and as a suitable Floyd | replacement for poor Dr. Cox, who was suddenly taken ill just days Floyd | before our take-off. Though I have expressed to him many times the Floyd | importance of keeping the weight of the balloon down to a minimum, I Floyd | am beginning to suspect that Mr. Booby has, against my wishes, been Floyd | smuggling souvenirs of our journey into the balloon under that great Floyd | coat of his. Only this morning I caught sight of him in a Floyd | marketplace, haggling over the price of a particularly ugly vase. He Floyd | was not exactly a small man even before we set out, and he seems to Floyd | grow larger and larger as our journey progresses. There is something Floyd | about that strange, mis-shapen coat of his that arouses my suspicions. | ||||
| EmacsUser says, "Let me know if I go too fast/slow." | ||||
| EmacsUser pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Twenty-sixth of June, 1877. The Ecuadorian Andes. Floyd | Floyd | Our situation is desperate. A fierce wind from the south-west carries Floyd | us ever closer to the mouth of an erupting volcano. If my Floyd | calculations are correct (and there is no reason to suppose otherwise) Floyd | we are headed directly for the mouth of Mount Cotopaxi, highest Floyd | volcano in the Americas! Our altitude is twelve thousand feet, and in Floyd | in spite of all my efforts, I am unable to raise the balloon any Floyd | higher. I have been forced to throw out all four sandbags, our food Floyd | and water supplies, our first-aid kit, our compass, variometer and Floyd | theodolite, and yet still we are too low to safely clear the volcano! Floyd | In a moment I shall be compelled to throw out this very log-book, Floyd | along with the pencil I am writing with, and all my outer garments, in Floyd | a last ditch effort to gain the necessary altitude of twenty thousand Floyd | feet. Mr. Booby assures me that he has disposed of all unnecessary Floyd | weight, and yet somehow I doubt his veracity. If there is anything at Floyd | all concealed beneath that voluminous coat of his, I must find it now Floyd | and dispose of it over the side of the basket, or we are both doomed! | ||||
| EmacsUser pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | In the basket of a balloon Floyd | I am in the basket of the balloon, high, though not high enough Floyd | above the foothills of the Andes. Directly ahead of us is a glow in Floyd | the sky; the heavens themselves seem to be ablaze as the wind carries Floyd | us ever nearer to an erupting volcano! Attached to the ropes that Floyd | hold the balloon aloft is a brass altimeter, the one and only piece of Floyd | aeronautical equipment that has not been sacrificed. The basket is Floyd | otherwise quite empty. Floyd | Hubert Booby stands in the corner of the basket, peering into Floyd | space. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| EmacsUser says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | I am carrying nothing, having thrown all my belongings overboard in an Floyd | effort to keep us aloft. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x booby" | ||||
Floyd | Hubert is a man of prodigious girth, pasty and unhealthy looking with Floyd | slicked down hair and beady little eyes that follow me about. He is Floyd | wearing a large, bulky overcoat and a shapeless felt hat. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| EmacsUser says (to Floyd), "search hubert" | ||||
Floyd | There's nothing in Hubert. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x coat" | ||||
Floyd | Hubert habitually wears this huge black overcoat. It seems to have Floyd | been designed with only a small breast pocket, but a larger side Floyd | pocket has been crudely stitched to the side. The overcoat is Floyd | bursting at the seams; it is buttoned up but the buttons threaten to Floyd | pop off under the strain. The occasional slight movement from within Floyd | the bulk suggest something untoward is going on in there... Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x breast pocket" | ||||
Floyd | A small pocket on the front of the overcoat. The corner of a Floyd | handkerchief can be seen poking out of Hubert's breast pocket. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| EmacsUser says (to Floyd), "x handkerchief" | ||||
Floyd | Hubert is obviously a well brought-up young man, despite his bizarre Floyd | behaviour, since he always carries a clean handkerchief in his breast Floyd | pocket. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take handkerchief" | ||||
Floyd | I take hold of the corner of the handkerchief and tug, whereupon, like Floyd | some infernal conjuring trick, the one handkerchief is attached to Floyd | another, and another, until I am holding a huge bundle of coloured Floyd | handkerchiefs all tied together at the corners. Leave those alone!" Floyd | protests Hubert, "my Aunt Gertie will be very annoyed when she finds Floyd | out you've stolen my hankies!" Floyd | Floyd | > | EmacsUser asks, "Throw?" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Sure" | ||||
| EmacsUser says (to Floyd), "throw hankies" | ||||
Floyd | I attempt to throw the string of handkerchiefs over the side, but Floyd | unbeknown to me Hubert places his foot on the end of it. He hauls Floyd | them back inside and stuffs them carelessly into the side pocket of Floyd | his overcoat. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW clears the save counter. | Mick says, "I already dislike Mr. Booby." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x breast pocket" | ||||
Floyd | A small pocket on the front of the overcoat. There's nothing in the Floyd | breast pocket. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take breast pocket" | ||||
Floyd | I can't have the breast pocket. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x buttons" | ||||
Floyd | Hubert's overcoat is bursting at the seams. It's a wonder the buttons Floyd | don't pop off under the strain, but looking at them more closely it is Floyd | evident that he has sewn them on with extremely strong sailmaker's Floyd | thread. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to Mick), "Yes" | |||
| Mick says, "The most efficient solution seems to be to throw the man himself overboard." | ||||
| EmacsUser says (to Floyd), "throw hubert" | ||||
Floyd | Tempting though it is, I don't think pushing Hubert over the side of Floyd | the basket is the gentlemanly way of dealing with this problem. Floyd | (Actually the real reason is that he's far too heavy for me to move!) Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Jason did a great job of making us dislike him just with backstory." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Mick), "haha - true" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x side pocket" | ||||
Floyd | A large pocket that seems not to have been part of the coat's original Floyd | design. Despite Hubert's protestations, I am able to take a quick Floyd | peek at its contents, which appear to consist of a rubber mallet, a Floyd | tin box, and a string of handkerchiefs. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x hat" | ||||
Floyd | Hubert's hat looks as though it might once have belonged to an Floyd | admiral, but it has lost much of its shape and the gold brocade is Floyd | hanging off. When Hubert sees me eyeing his hat he reaches up and Floyd | clutches the brim protectively. "There's nothing concealed under Floyd | here, I promise you!" he says. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take hat" | ||||
Floyd | Hubert clutches the brim protectively. "It's my hat," he squeals, and Floyd | after much effort you give in to his protests. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in hat" | ||||
Floyd | There's nothing in the shapeless felt hat. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take brocade" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "brocade". Floyd | Floyd | > | Johnny says, "Yeah. Jason better watch out." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "rip side pocket" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know how to tear the side pocket. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| EmacsUser says (to Floyd), "take handkerchiefs" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "pull side pocket" | ||||
Floyd | Pulling the side pocket doesn't have any effect. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "Jason?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take all from side pocket" | ||||
Floyd | rubber mallet: Before Hubert has time to react, I snatch the rubber Floyd | mallet from the side pocket of his coat. "You incorrigible Floyd | sneak-thief!" he cries, " Scoundrels like you should be thrown in the Floyd | clink!" Floyd | tin box: In spite of Hubert's feeble efforts to stop me, I am able to Floyd | wrest the tin box from the side pocket of his coat. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "Why had Jason better watch out?" | |||
| EmacsUser says (to Floyd), "tie handkerchiefs" | ||||
Floyd | (to Hubert) Floyd | I cannot see much point in doing that. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x tin box" | ||||
Floyd | A battered tin box with the words 'sewing kit' painted on its lid. Floyd | The sewing kit is closed. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open box" | ||||
Floyd | Opening the sewing kit reveals a pair of scissors, a ball of yarn, and Floyd | a needle. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take scissors" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cut buttons with scissors" | ||||
Floyd | As soon as Hubert sees me approaching with the scissors he Floyd | understandably backs away, but in the confines of the balloon I soon Floyd | have him cornered. His vigorous attempts to fend me off are quite Floyd | ineffectual. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | With a deft movement of the wrist I succeed in cutting through the Floyd | tough thread that binds each button to the coat. As I do so each Floyd | button flies off like a speeding bullet, and finally, with a great Floyd | rending sound the coat bursts open, spilling a multitude of diverse Floyd | objects onto the floor of the basket! These items consist of a large Floyd | framed painting, an enormous carpetbag, a bundle of twigs, a Floyd | boomerang, an ear-trumpet, a toy donkey and a sleeping Saint Bernard Floyd | dog... Floyd | Floyd | > | EmacsUser exclaims, "!" | |||
| Johnny says, "Nothing. Unclear pronoun joke. Anyway, I'm playing Escape from the Crazy Place, so don't pay attention to anything I might say." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "ha" | ||||
| Mick says, "wow" | ||||
| smartgenes says, "lol" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x painting" | ||||
Floyd | Goodness knows where on our travels Hubert picked this up; it appears Floyd | to be an exquisitely detailed still life by Rembrandt of three kittens Floyd | in a chamber pot. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "snrk" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "throw painting" | ||||
Floyd | I am not carrying the the painting. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| smartgenes says, "you thought of that fast" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take painting" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. "If you damage that," says Hubert, "I shall tell my Aunt Floyd | Gertie!" Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x carpetbag" | ||||
Floyd | This is by far the largest example of a carpetbag I have ever seen! Floyd | It must contain enough carpet to carpet the Taj Mahal! The carpetbag Floyd | is closed and locked with a small padlock. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "throw painting" | ||||
Floyd | Without hesitation I fling the painting over the side, thereby Floyd | consigning that artistic aberration to oblivion. It seems the kindest Floyd | thing to do. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | "You imbecile!" cries Hubert, tearing out great clumps of his hair, Floyd | "I bought that painting to adorn the walls of my dear Aunt Gertie's Floyd | drawing room. You'll pay for this!" Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Unburdening the balloon of this quite large and heavy object causes a Floyd | sudden and immediate gain in altitude of seven hundred feet. Floyd | Floyd | > | smartgenes says, "you thought of that fast" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take bag" | ||||
Floyd | The carpetbag is too heavy for me to carry at the moment. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Hrm - we'll have to unlock it." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x twigs." | ||||
Floyd | A bundle of cedar twigs and sprigs of sage bound together with Floyd | coloured thread; otherwise known as a "smudge stick." Madam Blavatsky Floyd | explained the principle of "smudging" to me one evening at a meeting Floyd | of the Theosophical Society. It is a traditional Native American way Floyd | of using smoke to cleanse a place of negative energy and banish it of Floyd | evil spirits. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x boomerang" | EmacsUser says, "I wonder if we can get stuck by accidentally throwing the key overboard." | |||
Floyd | Hubert must have picked up this curious artefact when we landed in Floyd | Australia. I wonder what it does? At the moment it's just weighing Floyd | down my balloon. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Something tells me it will be hard to get rid of the boomerang" | |||
| smartgenes says (to Floyd), "info" | ||||
Floyd | To Hell in a Hamper Floyd | By J. J. Guest Floyd | Floyd | Release Version 1.0 Floyd | Copyright 2003-2004 by J. J. Guest. All Rights Reserved. Floyd | Developed with TADS: The Text Adventure Development System Floyd | Floyd | Thanks to: My Brother Dan for inspiration, to Ambrosine and Liz Floyd | Parnell who beta-tested the original ADRIFT version, and to Dan Floyd | Shiovitz, Phil Swinbank and Tommy Herbert who beta-tested this TADS 2 Floyd | version. Thanks also to Stewart J. McAbney for initiating the TADS 2 Floyd | conversion, and to Mike Roberts, Quintin Stone and everyone else on Floyd | rec.arts.int-fiction who gave me help and advice. Floyd | Floyd | > | Mick asks, "Does anyone know the cruelty rating of this game?" | |||
| DavidW says, "I hope we can't get into an unwinnable situation." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x ear-trumpet" | ||||
Floyd | An old ear-trumpet made of tin. Floyd | Floyd | > | EmacsUser says, "Checking ifdb..." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x donkey" | ||||
Floyd | A large, and very heavy toy donkey wearing a sombrero. Hubert must Floyd | have picked this up during our brief stopover in Benidorm and smuggled Floyd | it aboard under his coat! Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x dog" | ||||
Floyd | Booby must have picked up this enormous hound during our short Floyd | stopover in Switzerland. It is amazing to consider that he has been Floyd | carrying it around ever since! The hound is currently sound asleep, Floyd | lying on his side, exactly as he fell with one ear turned inside out. Floyd | A small barrel of brandy is attached to the collar around his neck. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask booby about padlock" | ||||
Floyd | That carpetbag is my business," sneers Hubert, "it's not my fault if Floyd | you're foolish enough to throw out all your own belongings. That lock Floyd | is there to see you don't get your paws on any more of mine." Floyd | Floyd | > | smartgenes says, "maybe we should have torn open the painting just in case" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in trumpet" | ||||
Floyd | There's nothing in the ear-trumpet. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take trumpet" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. "Put that down at once!" cries Hubert. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "Are we cruel enough to throw a live St. Bernard into a volcano?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "throw it" | ||||
Floyd | I can see no possible use for the ear-trumpet, so I throw it over the Floyd | side of the balloon. For some reason Hubert seems to find this Floyd | amusing. He tries to stifle his laughter but it escapes him as a sort Floyd | of nasal snort. He bends down to stroke the ears of the St. Bernard. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | The equilibrium of a balloon in the air is so sensitive that the loss Floyd | of an almost insignificant weight can produce a very appreciable Floyd | displacement. In this instance, the balloon gains around two hundred Floyd | feet in altitude. Floyd | Floyd | > | smartgenes says, "i've never heard of thi s many object so early" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Hrm." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "He laughed when we threw that one." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "That might not be good." | ||||
| EmacsUser says, "The IFDB reviews disagree on the cruelty. Some say you can get stuck; others don't." | ||||
| EmacsUser says, "I agree that him laughing is not a good sign." | ||||
| DavidW says, "we can undo, if you like." | ||||
| DavidW says, "But it seems we need to take some risks." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Might be wise - we can always retoss later" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | (Undoing one command) Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | In the basket of a balloon Floyd | I am in the basket of the balloon, high, though not high enough Floyd | above the foothills of the Andes. Directly ahead of us is a glow in Floyd | the sky; the heavens themselves seem to be ablaze as the wind carries Floyd | us ever nearer to an erupting volcano! Attached to the ropes that Floyd | hold the balloon aloft is a brass altimeter, the one and only piece of Floyd | aeronautical equipment that has not been sacrificed. Floyd | I see a carpetbag, a smudge stick, a boomerang, and a toy donkey Floyd | here. Floyd | Hubert Booby stands in the corner of the basket, peering at me Floyd | suspiciously. Floyd | A St. Bernard dog is lying fast asleep on the floor of the basket, Floyd | oblivious to the drama unfolding before him. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "Are we on a timer, as the plot might imply?" | |||
| Mick says, "I say we just play with the attitude that you can't get stuck, and restart/restore if we decide we need a former item later." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Well, does imply?" | ||||
| smartgenes says, "the writing reminds me of 80 Days Around the World and Dracula.. it has that old style" | DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "I don't know." | |||
| smartgenes says, "the writing reminds me of 80 Days Around the World and Dracula.. it has that old style" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open donkey" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know how to open the toy donkey. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "search donkey" | ||||
Floyd | I find nothing of interest. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "throw it" | ||||
Floyd | I am not carrying the the toy donkey. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take it" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "throw it" | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "x altimeter" | ||||
Floyd | I fling the toy donkey over the side of the balloon and watch as it Floyd | spirals to Earth. "You maniac!" screams Hubert, wringing his hands Floyd | and quivering all over like an oversized lemon jelly. "The shopkeeper Floyd | assured me that donkey was one-of-a-kind!" Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Unburdening the balloon of this quite large and heavy object causes a Floyd | sudden and immediate gain in altitude of seven hundred feet. Floyd | Floyd | > Floyd | The altimeter is currently reading 13,400 feet above sea level. In Floyd | order to clear the volcano in safety we must reach an altitude of Floyd | 20,000 feet! Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "I'm fine with tossing it - I mean, it'll be easy enough to work our way back to this from the start. Seems like a straight-forward string of events." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Except that it seems safe to toss the stuff that freaks him out, and less safe to toss the stuff he is gleeful about losing." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "search coat" | ||||
Floyd | I can now see that the overcoat has an inside pocket. Despite Floyd | Hubert's protestations, I am able to take a quick peek at its Floyd | contents, which appear to consist of a hatchet and a cigarette Floyd | lighter. There are also a couple of objects trapped within the tartan Floyd | lining, but that is as much as I am able to determine before Hubert Floyd | succeeds in shoving me away. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take hatchet" | ||||
Floyd | Hubert is too slow to stop me reaching inside his overcoat to retrieve Floyd | the hatchet from his inside pocket. I immediately recognise the item Floyd | as my own! Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cut padlock with hatchet" | ||||
Floyd | There is nothing to be gained in attempting to cut that. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take lighter" | ||||
Floyd | I reach inside Hubert's overcoat and retrieve the lighter. "Stop! Floyd | Thief!" yells Hubert, presumably in the hope of attracting the Floyd | attention of the local constabulary. Floyd | Floyd | > | Mick says, "carpets are heavy, let's toss them." | |||
| Jacqueline asks, "Carpet?" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "You mean the carpet bag?" | ||||
| EmacsUser asks, "Don't we need the key?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "We can't pick up the bag to toss it - it's too heavy." | ||||
| DavidW says, "What carpet? There's a carpetbag." | ||||
| Mick says, "Oh, I suppose it's not actually full of carpets." | ||||
| DavidW says, "It's like what Mary Poppins carried." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "It might well be full of carpets, but we can't pick it up." | ||||
| Mick says, "Ok, I missed that part" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cut lining with scissors" | ||||
Floyd | I lunge with the scissors, slashing a large rent in the tartan fabric. Floyd | A colourful vase drops out onto the floor of the basket. "You Floyd | lunatic!" shrieks Hubert, throwing up his hands in horror, "my Auntie Floyd | Gertie will have to mend that now!" Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take vase" | EmacsUser asks, "Can we just throw the coat away?" | |||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "break it" | ||||
Floyd | I hit the vase against the side of the basket but it remains Floyd | resolutely intact. Maybe I should use something to smash it with! Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "Can we cut the carpet bag open?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "break vase with hatchet" | ||||
Floyd | There are surely better tools than a hatchet to break things with! Floyd | Floyd | > | Mick asks, "Can we burn anything to push up the balloon more?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in vase" | ||||
Floyd | It is too dark inside the vase to get any idea of what it might Floyd | contain. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "shake vase" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "shake". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "empty vase" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "empty". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "reach in vase" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "reach". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf1" | ||||
Floyd | File to save game in > Floyd | Saved. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline exclaims, "Toss it!" | |||
| Mick asks, "Wasn't there a hammer of some sort?" | ||||
| EmacsUser says, "We have a lighter. Presumably that's a light source." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "hit vase with mallet" | ||||
Floyd | I hit the vase with the mallet. It shatters most obligingly, Floyd | revealing a tiny key among the wreckage! Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | "You maniac!" cries Hubert, "that vase was a present for my Aunt Floyd | Gertie! I'll never be able to find another one!" Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take key" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | smartgenes says, "my screen is buggered i'll have to give up i think" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock bag with key" | ||||
Floyd | I unlock the carpetbag with the tiny metal key, tossing the padlock Floyd | over the side of the basket. The bag falls open to reveal, to my Floyd | astonishment, a pair of underpants, a trombone, and what appears to be Floyd | an Egyptian mummy still in its original wrappings! Floyd | Floyd | > | EmacsUser says (to smartgenes), "Sad." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Oh no" | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "x underpants" | ||||
Floyd | A pair of clean Y-fronts, extra large. There is a picture of Sexton Floyd | Blake on the front! Floyd | Floyd | Hubert picks up the boomerang. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x trombone" | ||||
Floyd | A rather battered, but still serviceable trombone. There appears to Floyd | be something wedged in its funnel. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in it" | ||||
Floyd | In the trombone I see a whatever it is that's wedged into the funnel. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| EmacsUser says (to Floyd), "play trombone" | ||||
Floyd | I am not carrying the trombone. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "blow trombone" | ||||
Floyd | I am not carrying the trombone. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take it" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. "That doesn't belong to you!" exclaims Hubert. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "play it" | ||||
Floyd | The trombone emits an almost inaudible squeak. I fear there may be Floyd | something wrong with it. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "x funnel" | ||||
Floyd | A rather battered, but still serviceable trombone. There appears to Floyd | be something wedged in its funnel. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| EmacsUser says (to Floyd), "search funnel" | ||||
Floyd | In the trombone I see a whatever it is that's wedged into the funnel. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x mummy" | ||||
Floyd | The preserved body of an ancient Egyptian, still in its original Floyd | wrappings. It smells rather musty and something about it gives me the Floyd | creeps, quite frankly. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take underpants" | ||||
Floyd | I gingerly remove the pair of underpants from the carpetbag. Floyd | Floyd | > | EmacsUser exclaims, "Evil spirits!" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "search underpants" | ||||
Floyd | I find nothing of interest. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "unwrap mummy" | ||||
Floyd | Somewhat hesitantly I begin to peel away the mummy's wrappings. "I Floyd | shouldn't do that if I were you," says Hubert, "or you'll fall foul of Floyd | the curse!" Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "throw underpants" | ||||
Floyd | I toss the underpants over the side of the balloon. A warm air Floyd | current sends them floating off into the distance. "You idiot!" Floyd | cries Hubert, his eyes wide as coal-holes, "My Aunt Gertie was very Floyd | insistent that I always have clean underwear - I've been wearing my Floyd | other pair ever since this infernal trip began!" Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | The equilibrium of a balloon in the air is so sensitive that the loss Floyd | of an almost insignificant weight can produce a very appreciable Floyd | displacement. In this instance, the balloon gains around one hundred Floyd | feet in altitude. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take vase" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any vase here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "unwrap mummy" | ||||
Floyd | Somewhat hesitantly I begin to peel away the mummy's wrappings. "I Floyd | shouldn't do that if I were you," says Hubert, "or you'll fall foul of Floyd | the curse!" Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| EmacsUser says (to Floyd), "light smudge sticks" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "sticks". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask booby about curse" | ||||
Floyd | "Oh, it's probably just mumbo-jumbo," says Hubert airily, "but those Floyd | Egyptian graverobbers who sold me the mummy also told me that anyone Floyd | who defiled or desecrated the body would fall victim to the Curse of Floyd | the Blue Ibis. I'm no expert on these things," he continues with an Floyd | unmistakable air of smugness, "but I rather suspect that hurling the Floyd | mummy out of a balloon might count as an act of desecration." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| EmacsUser says (to Floyd), "light smudge" | ||||
Floyd | I'm not carrying the smudge stick. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| EmacsUser says (to Floyd), "take stick" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| EmacsUser says (to Floyd), "light smudge" | ||||
Floyd | I don't think this is an appropriate time to be performing Native Floyd | American rituals! Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "toss mummy" | ||||
Floyd | I am not carrying the the Egyptian mummy. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask booby about ibis" | ||||
Floyd | "Oh, it's probably just mumbo-jumbo," says Hubert airily, "but those Floyd | Egyptian graverobbers who sold me the mummy also told me that anyone Floyd | who defiled or desecrated the body would fall victim to the Curse of Floyd | the Blue Ibis. I'm no expert on these things," he continues with an Floyd | unmistakable air of smugness, "but I rather suspect that hurling the Floyd | mummy out of a balloon might count as an act of desecration." Floyd | Floyd | > | EmacsUser says, "Hmm. I wanted to lift the curse." | |||
| DavidW says, "well, you might need more info." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Yeah, seems like that'd be a good use of the smudge stick." | ||||
| Mick says, "We are a man of science, we do not believe in such things." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "wake dog" | ||||
Floyd | I try to rouse the slumbering dog by shaking him violently, but to no Floyd | avail. Hubert snorts derisively at my efforts. Perhaps a loud noise Floyd | of some kind might be more effectual. Floyd | Floyd | > | EmacsUser says, "Trombone." | |||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "put ear trumpet in dog" | ||||
Floyd | I presume you mean me to put it in the dog's ear... Floyd | I put the ear-trumpet in the Saint Bernard's ear. He does not appear Floyd | to mind, but then he is fast asleep. Floyd | Floyd | > | EmacsUser says, "Or that." | |||
| Mick says, "we need to unwedge the trombone and play it" | ||||
| DavidW says, "I think we need the trombone un--- yes" | ||||
| EmacsUser says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | In the basket of a balloon Floyd | I am in the basket of the balloon, high, though not high enough Floyd | above the foothills of the Andes. A strong wind drives us ever closer Floyd | to the volcano; torrents of molten lava cascading down its sides like Floyd | rivers of fire! Attached to the ropes that hold the balloon aloft is Floyd | a brass altimeter, the one and only piece of aeronautical equipment Floyd | that has not been sacrificed. Floyd | I see a carpetbag here. The carpetbag seems to contain a Egyptian Floyd | mummy. Floyd | Hubert Booby stands in the corner of the basket, peering at me Floyd | suspiciously. Floyd | A St. Bernard dog is lying fast asleep on the floor of the basket, Floyd | oblivious to the drama unfolding before him. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | I have a string of handkerchiefs, a rubber mallet, a sewing kit, a Floyd | pair of scissors, a hatchet, a cigarette lighter, a trombone, and a Floyd | smudge stick. The sewing kit seems to contain a ball of yarn and a Floyd | needle. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take coat" | ||||
Floyd | I try to pull the overcoat off over Hubert's head, but only succeed in Floyd | pulling Hubert over onto his back. "Let go of me, you maniac!" he Floyd | cries, clambering to his feet. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "g" | ||||
Floyd | I try to pull the overcoat off over Hubert's head, but only succeed in Floyd | pulling Hubert over onto his back. "Let go of me, you maniac!" he Floyd | cries, clambering to his feet. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x hubert" | ||||
Floyd | Hubert is a man of prodigious girth, pasty and unhealthy looking with Floyd | slicked down hair and beady little eyes that follow me about. He is Floyd | wearing a large, bulky overcoat and a shapeless felt hat. He is Floyd | carrying a boomerang. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take hat" | ||||
Floyd | Hubert clutches the brim protectively. "It's my hat," he squeals, and Floyd | after much effort you give in to his protests. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "I wonder why he grabbed the boomerang." | |||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "take boomerang" | ||||
Floyd | After a brief struggle, I manage to wrest it from Hubert's grip. "Put Floyd | that down at once!" cries Hubert. Floyd | Floyd | > | EmacsUser says, "I think he'll do that with random objects." | |||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "throw boomerang" | ||||
Floyd | I throw the boomerang with all my might. It spins away into the Floyd | clouds. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | The balance between the weight of the balloon and the lift provided by Floyd | the gas is so delicate that jettisoning even a very light object Floyd | causes an immediate vertical displacement. In this instance, the Floyd | balloon gains around three hundred feet in altitude. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| EmacsUser says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | Time passes... Floyd | Floyd | > | Mick says, "Not so hard to get rid of after all" | |||
| GDorn says, "this is fairly surreal if you're only watching this channel" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I'll bet it comes back." | ||||
| EmacsUser is still suspicious. | ||||
| DavidW says, "uh, it'll come back. Don't waste time waiting." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Just need a few turns." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Can we just knock him unconscious?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "i" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "oops" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "Perhaps we need to put something in the funnel of the trombone to unwedge it?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | I have a string of handkerchiefs, a rubber mallet, a sewing kit, a Floyd | pair of scissors, a hatchet, a cigarette lighter, a trombone, and a Floyd | smudge stick. The sewing kit seems to contain a ball of yarn and a Floyd | needle. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take needle" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take yarn" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | Mick says, "It would be nice if we could know what it is that's wedged in." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "thread needle with yarn" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "unwedge funnel with scissors" | ||||
Floyd | I don't recognize that sentence. Floyd | Floyd | > Floyd | I don't know the word "unwedge". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put scissors in funnel" | ||||
Floyd | Done. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take scissors" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. "Put that down at once!" cries Hubert. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| EmacsUser says (to Floyd), "put yarn in needle" | ||||
Floyd | If you want me to sew something, just tell me and I'll do it then. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "I don't recognize that sentence? Not just the verb, but the whole sentence?" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "sew hat" | ||||
Floyd | I'm a balloonist, not a seamstress! Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "I was hoping we could run the yarn through the hat then yank it off his head." | |||
| EmacsUser says, "Ah." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "hit booby with mallet" | ||||
Floyd | Hubert screams as I near him with the mallet. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take coat" | ||||
Floyd | I try to pull the overcoat off over Hubert's head, but only succeed in Floyd | pulling Hubert over onto his back. "Let go of me, you maniac!" he Floyd | cries, clambering to his feet. Floyd | Floyd | There is a strange whistling sound from behind me... Floyd | Floyd | THUD! Much to Hubert's amusement, the boomerang hits me on the back Floyd | of the head. Floyd | Floyd | > | EmacsUser says, "There it is." | |||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "take boomerang. Throw it at hat." | ||||
Floyd | Taken. "That doesn't belong to you!" exclaims Hubert. Floyd | Floyd | I hurl the boomerang at Hubert's hat, in the time honoured tradition Floyd | of the Australian Aboriginal hunters. Unfortunately Hubert ducks, and Floyd | the boomerang whistles off into the distance. "You're going to have Floyd | to try harder than that, old man!" he jeers. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | The balance between the weight of the balloon and the lift provided by Floyd | the gas is so delicate that jettisoning even a very light object Floyd | causes an immediate vertical displacement. In this instance, the Floyd | balloon gains around three hundred feet in altitude. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "I think we need to duck when the boomerang returns" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "duck" | Mick says, "good call" | |||
Floyd | I don't know the word "duck". Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "hm. Except it doesn't know that verb." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "yell in trumpet" | ||||
Floyd | I yell "WAKEY WAKEY!" directly into the ear-trumpet. The dog stirs Floyd | slightly, its rear paws twitching involuntarily; but still it does not Floyd | wake. Obviously I need to make an even louder noise... Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| EmacsUser says (to Floyd), "x trombone" | ||||
Floyd | A rather battered, but still serviceable trombone. There appears to Floyd | be something wedged in its funnel. Floyd | Floyd | There is a strange whistling noise, and a second later a loud crack as Floyd | the boomerang returns, hitting Hubert on the back of the head. Hubert Floyd | yelps with pain and the felt hat topples to the floor with a heavy Floyd | thump. As it hits the floor a large cuckoo clock, which Hubert had Floyd | been concealing under it, drops out and lands by my feet. The clock Floyd | immediately begins to chime... Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cut lining with scissors" | ||||
Floyd | I don't think there are any further items hidden in the lining... Floyd | Floyd | The clock chimes three times. "CUCKOO! CUCKOO! CUCKOO!" Floyd | Floyd | > | EmacsUser says, "Yay." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x clock" | ||||
Floyd | A ridiculously ornate carved wooden clock with a small door in the Floyd | front to allow a wooden bird to pop in and out every quarter of an Floyd | hour. I fancy it was damaged when I knocked it off Hubert's head, Floyd | since the cuckoo seems to have gone beserk, and it is quite impossible Floyd | to read the time since the hands are spinning like dervishes! Floyd | Floyd | The clock chimes five times. "CUCKOO! CUCKOO! CUCKOO! CUCKOO! Floyd | CUCKOO!" Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take hat" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. "Leave that alone!" cries Hubert. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in hat" | ||||
Floyd | There's nothing in the shapeless felt hat. Floyd | Floyd | The clock chimes three times. "CUCKOO! CUCKOO! CUCKOO!" Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "throw hat" | ||||
Floyd | I drop the ratty old hat over the side of the basket. As it tumbles Floyd | away into the clouds, Hubert screams "You imbecile! My great uncle Floyd | Percy wore that hat during the Charge of the Light Brigade! It was Floyd | his dying wish that I should wear it every day of my life!" Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | The equilibrium of a balloon in the air is so sensitive that the loss Floyd | of an almost insignificant weight can produce a very appreciable Floyd | displacement. In this instance, the balloon gains around one hundred Floyd | feet in altitude. Floyd | Floyd | The clock chimes seven times. "CUCKOO! CUCKOO! CUCKOO! CUCKOO! Floyd | CUCKOO! CUCKOO! CUCKOO!" Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put clock in trumpet" | ||||
Floyd | I can't put anything into the ear-trumpet. Floyd | Floyd | The clock chimes four times. "CUCKOO! CUCKOO! CUCKOO! CUCKOO!" Floyd | Floyd | > | EmacsUser says, "Good thought." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x clock" | ||||
Floyd | A ridiculously ornate carved wooden clock with a small door in the Floyd | front to allow a wooden bird to pop in and out every quarter of an Floyd | hour. I fancy it was damaged when I knocked it off Hubert's head, Floyd | since the cuckoo seems to have gone beserk, and it is quite impossible Floyd | to read the time since the hands are spinning like dervishes! Floyd | Floyd | The clock chimes three times. "CUCKOO! CUCKOO! CUCKOO!" Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "throw clock" | Mick asks, "Did we toss anything that might help unwedging the funnel?" | |||
Floyd | I am not carrying the the cuckoo clock. Floyd | Floyd | The clock chimes seven times. "CUCKOO! CUCKOO! CUCKOO! CUCKOO! Floyd | CUCKOO! CUCKOO! CUCKOO!" Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| EmacsUser says (to Floyd), "open clock" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know how to open the cuckoo clock. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take clock" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | The clock chimes three times. "CUCKOO! CUCKOO! CUCKOO!" Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| EmacsUser says (to Floyd), "open door" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "door". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "throw clock" | ||||
Floyd | I hurl the cuckoo clock over the side of the basket. It continues to Floyd | chime long after it has disappeared into the wreath of thin cloud that Floyd | hovers below us. Floyd | Floyd | "You maniac!" screams Hubert, shuddering like a Quaker. "That clock Floyd | was to have adorned the kitchen wall of my dear Aunt Gertie. Its Floyd | hourly chiming would have reminded her when it was time to make my Floyd | tea, run my bath and a thousand other duties incumbent upon her as my Floyd | legal guardian!" Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | The balance between the weight of the balloon and the lift provided by Floyd | the gas is so delicate that jettisoning even a very light object Floyd | causes an immediate vertical displacement. In this instance, the Floyd | balloon gains around five hundred feet in altitude. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "shake trombone" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "shake". Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "I'm not sure if throwing the clock was a mistake or not." | |||
| EmacsUser says (to Mick), "Not sure..." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "hit funnel" | ||||
Floyd | What do you want to hit it with? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "mallet" | ||||
Floyd | I bash the trombone with the rubber mallet. To my surprise, a cricket Floyd | ball pops out of the funnel. I must ask Hubert how that got in Floyd | there... Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "blow trombone" | ||||
Floyd | I place the trombone to my lips and blow. It emits a few strangulated Floyd | notes. The St. Bernard, upon hearing this leaps four feet into the Floyd | air, sending the ear-trumpet flying into space. He seems to be fully Floyd | alert now! Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "This game is pretty full of awesome." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take dog" | ||||
Floyd | I throw myself upon the dog, in an effort to cast it over the side of Floyd | the basket, but he seems to think that we are playing a game, and Floyd | wriggles free of my grasp. Floyd | Floyd | > | EmacsUser says, "The dog might chase the ball." | |||
| Mick says, "I'm not sure what to do with the dog now that we've woken him up though." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take mummy" | ||||
Floyd | I carefully lift the Egyptian mummy from the carpetbag and heave it Floyd | over my shoulder. "I wouldn't touch that if I were you," says Hubert Floyd | "it's cursed!" Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "drop mummy" | ||||
Floyd | Dropped. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| EmacsUser says (to Floyd), "wave ball" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "wave". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put dog in bag" | ||||
Floyd | I can't put the Saint Bernard dog anywhere. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DrewMochak arrives, full of fun and funk. | Mick says, "Curse be damned, drop the mummy overboard." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take boomerang" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. "Put that down at once!" cries Hubert. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "show it to dog" | ||||
Floyd | The Saint Bernard dog isn't impressed. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "throw stick" | ||||
Floyd | I toss the smudge stick over the side of the basket. After all I Floyd | can't imagine what I might have needed it for... Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | The equilibrium of a balloon in the air is so sensitive that the loss Floyd | of an almost insignificant weight can produce a very appreciable Floyd | displacement. In this instance, the balloon gains around one hundred Floyd | feet in altitude. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | (Undoing one command) Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | In the basket of a balloon Floyd | I am in the basket of the balloon, high, though not high enough Floyd | above the foothills of the Andes. The balloon is now perilously close Floyd | to the volcano; huge chunks of molten rock hurl themselves into the Floyd | air around us, and still the relentless wind drives us closer! Floyd | Attached to the ropes that hold the balloon aloft is a brass Floyd | altimeter, the one and only piece of aeronautical equipment that has Floyd | not been sacrificed. Floyd | I see a carpetbag, a cricket ball, and a Egyptian mummy here. Floyd | Hubert Booby stands in the corner of the basket, peering into Floyd | space. Floyd | A St. Bernard dog is sitting placidly before me, wagging its tail. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "throw boomerang" | ||||
Floyd | I throw the boomerang with all my might. It spins away into the Floyd | clouds. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | The balance between the weight of the balloon and the lift provided by Floyd | the gas is so delicate that jettisoning even a very light object Floyd | causes an immediate vertical displacement. In this instance, the Floyd | balloon gains around three hundred feet in altitude. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| EmacsUser says (to Floyd), "show ball to dog" | ||||
Floyd | Which ball do you mean, the ball of yarn, or the cricket ball? Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "(Oh, by the way, just noticed that whilst cooking breakfast I received an e-mail from Jason, stating that he couldn't be here because he had plans, but that we should play the TADS version, which is his preferred version, so phew.)" | |||
| DavidW says, "drat. I thought the dog would've chased the boomerang" | ||||
| EmacsUser says (to Floyd), "cricket" | ||||
Floyd | The Saint Bernard dog isn't impressed. Floyd | Floyd | > | Mick says, "I'm not keen on murdering the dog." | |||
| DavidW says (to Mick), "Neither am I, but I'm willing to hear about alternatives." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask booby about parachute" | ||||
Floyd | Hubert snorts indignantly but refuses to comment. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask booby about dog" | ||||
Floyd | "He came free with the cuckoo clock." says Hubert. "I'm afraid it is Floyd | the laziest hound I have ever encountered - nothing but the loudest Floyd | noise will rouse him." Floyd | Floyd | > | Mick says, "Use the dog as an ally in overcoming Hubert." | |||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "x dog" | ||||
Floyd | Booby must have picked up this enormous hound during our short Floyd | stopover in Switzerland. It is amazing to consider that he has been Floyd | carrying it around ever since! The dog is sitting on his haunches, Floyd | looking up at me through soulful brown eyes. A small barrel of brandy Floyd | is attached to the collar around his neck. Floyd | Floyd | There is a strange whistling sound from behind me... Floyd | Floyd | THUD! Much to Hubert's amusement, the boomerang hits me on the back Floyd | of the head. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "x barrel" | ||||
Floyd | The barrel is attached to the dog's collar. There is a small tap on Floyd | one side allowing me to drink from it. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "open tap" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know how to open the barrel of brandy. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "take barrel" | ||||
Floyd | Why bother when I can drink the brandy without removing the collar! Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "drink brandy" | ||||
Floyd | I help myself to a little of the brandy. Most refreshing! Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn tap" | ||||
Floyd | Turning the barrel of brandy doesn't have any effect. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "hubert, drink brandy" | ||||
Floyd | "Do it yourself!" cries Hubert, "I am feeling somewhat fatigued of Floyd | late. It must be the altitude. Why don't you let some gas out of the Floyd | balloon?" Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take collar" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "collar". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "dog, push hubert" | ||||
Floyd | The St. Bernard looks at me blankly. Either it has not been trained Floyd | to obey commands or it only speaks German. Floyd | Floyd | > | Mick asks, "What the german word for push?" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "snrk" | ||||
| DavidW says, "I doubt that's the answer, or if it is, there'll be a hint." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask booby about blue ibis" | ||||
Floyd | "Oh, it's probably just mumbo-jumbo," says Hubert airily, "but those Floyd | Egyptian graverobbers who sold me the mummy also told me that anyone Floyd | who defiled or desecrated the body would fall victim to the Curse of Floyd | the Blue Ibis. I'm no expert on these things," he continues with an Floyd | unmistakable air of smugness, "but I rather suspect that hurling the Floyd | mummy out of a balloon might count as an act of desecration." Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "I think we won't know what the curse is until we evoke it." | |||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "burn mummy with lighter" | ||||
Floyd | I'm a balloonist, not a pyromaniac! Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW asks, "may I save and toss it?" | |||
| Mick says, "yes" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf2" | ||||
Floyd | File to save game in > Floyd | Saved. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take mummy" | ||||
Floyd | I heave the Egyptian mummy over my shoulder. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "throw mummy" | ||||
Floyd | I heave the mummy over the side of the balloon and watch as it Floyd | plummets earthwards. As the mummy disappears from sight the sky seems Floyd | to darken; the light alpine cloud coalesces into forbidding thunder Floyd | clouds. The ominous silence is broken by a piercing shriek like that Floyd | of an exotic bird... Floyd | Floyd | "Now you've done it!" cries Hubert, shaking like a leaf and paler Floyd | than ever, "We're both doomed now. Did I not tell you about... Floyd | Floyd | ...THE CURSE OF THE BLUE IBIS?" Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Unburdening the balloon of this large, heavy object causes a sudden Floyd | and immediate gain in altitude of one thousand feet. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x cloud" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "cloud". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "x altimeter" | ||||
Floyd | The altimeter is currently reading 15,300 feet above sea level. In Floyd | order to clear the volcano in safety we must reach an altitude of Floyd | 20,000 feet! Floyd | Floyd | From somewhere towards the east there is a piercing shriek; the shrill Floyd | cry of some exotic bird! Floyd | Floyd | > | EmacsUser says, "Hehe." | |||
| DavidW says, "oops. I hope we didn't need the clock for this." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bird" | ||||
Floyd | The Ibis, an Egyptian wading bird, is said to be the messenger of Floyd | Osiris, ancient Egyptian god of the dead. To see one flying at an Floyd | altitude of 15,300 feet above the Ecuadorian Andes is quite, quite Floyd | incredible; one might even say supernatural... Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bag" | ||||
Floyd | This is by far the largest example of a carpetbag I have ever seen! Floyd | It must contain enough carpet to carpet the Taj Mahal! The carpetbag Floyd | is open. There's nothing in the carpetbag. Floyd | Floyd | The Blue Ibis gives a piercing cry as it draws closer and closer to Floyd | the balloon... Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take bag" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline chuckles. | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "throw it" | ||||
Floyd | I hurl the empty bag over the side of the basket. Hubert merely Floyd | glares at me for a moment. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | The equilibrium of a balloon in the air is so sensitive that the loss Floyd | of an almost insignificant weight can produce a very appreciable Floyd | displacement. In this instance, the balloon gains around one hundred Floyd | feet in altitude. Floyd | Floyd | The Blue Ibis gives a piercing cry as it draws closer and closer to Floyd | the balloon... Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Tale arrives, full of funk, but no fun. | Jacqueline asks, "Can we hit it with the boomerang?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "throw boomerang at ibis" | ||||
Floyd | I am not carrying the boomerang. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "take boomerang. throw it at ibis." | ||||
Floyd | Taken. "That doesn't belong to you!" exclaims Hubert. Floyd | Floyd | As it reaches the envelope of the balloon, the Blue Ibis rises Floyd | sharply, momentarily disappearing from sight. Floyd | Floyd | I hurl the boomerang at the Blue Ibis, in the time honoured tradition Floyd | of the Australian Aboriginal hunters. But the Blue Ibis is no Floyd | ordinary bird, and instead of striking the creature dead, the Floyd | boomerang explodes in a mass of splinters! Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | The balance between the weight of the balloon and the lift provided by Floyd | the gas is so delicate that jettisoning even a very light object Floyd | causes an immediate vertical displacement. In this instance, the Floyd | balloon gains around three hundred feet in altitude. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "huh. That got rid of the boomerang, at least." | |||
| Mick says, "well at least we got rid of it." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Well, at least - timing" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf3" | ||||
Floyd | File to save game in > Floyd | Saved. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "The bird might peck a hole in the balloon, though." | |||
| EmacsUser says, "Yes." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take ear trumpet" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any ear trumpet here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Nitku has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. | EmacsUser asks, "Light smudge sticks?" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Hm, yea" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "Any reason why yet?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "h" | ||||
| Jacqueline exclaims, "Well, to rid us of the curse!" | ||||
| EmacsUser says (to Floyd), "light smudge" | ||||
Floyd | I light the smudge stick with the cigarette lighter, then blow it out, Floyd | allowing the scented smoke to waft around the balloon. It could be my Floyd | imagination, but from somewhere I hear the distant sound of drums and Floyd | a Cherokee medicine man chanting. From above there is a raucous Floyd | shriek, and I look up to see the Blue Ibis vanish into the sweet Floyd | smelling smoke like something out of a dream... Floyd | Floyd | Red hot embers fly from the smudge stick... Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "well, try it." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Woo" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Toss it?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "sure" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Before it burns you?" | ||||
| EmacsUser says, "Now it's on fire though, so we need to get rid --- timing." | ||||
| Mick asks, "wait, can we lift the balloon with the fire?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Prolly not this little a fire." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "blow out stick" | ||||
Floyd | I don't recognize that sentence. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "blow on stick" | ||||
Floyd | I don't recognize that sentence. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "throw stick" | ||||
Floyd | I toss the burning smudge stick over the side of the balloon. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | The equilibrium of a balloon in the air is so sensitive that the loss Floyd | of an almost insignificant weight can produce a very appreciable Floyd | displacement. In this instance, the balloon gains around one hundred Floyd | feet in altitude. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x altimeter" | ||||
Floyd | The altimeter is currently reading 15,800 feet above sea level. In Floyd | order to clear the volcano in safety we must reach an altitude of Floyd | 20,000 feet! Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "man" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "throw lighter" | ||||
Floyd | I think I shall hang on to the lighter. It is very light, and one Floyd | never knows when one might need one. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| EmacsUser says (to Floyd), "x trombone" | ||||
Floyd | A rather battered, but still serviceable trombone. It now appears to Floyd | be free of obstructions. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take Hubert" | ||||
Floyd | I can't have Hubert. Floyd | Floyd | > | EmacsUser asks, "Do we need the trombone?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "play trombone" | ||||
Floyd | I have never studied music, but the noise that emits from the Floyd | instrument when I place it to my lips is not entirely unpleasant. Floyd | Hubert, who is clutching his ears, seems to be of a different opinion. Floyd | Floyd | > | EmacsUser says, "He." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "throw it" | ||||
Floyd | Having no further use for it, I cast the trombone out of the basket. Floyd | Hubert merely sighs and rolls his eyes at me. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | The balance between the weight of the balloon and the lift provided by Floyd | the gas is so delicate that jettisoning even a very light object Floyd | causes an immediate vertical displacement. In this instance, the Floyd | balloon gains around five hundred feet in altitude. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| EmacsUser says (to Floyd), "x toy" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any toy here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | In the basket of a balloon Floyd | I am in the basket of the balloon, high, though not high enough Floyd | above the foothills of the Andes. We are now practically on top of Floyd | the volcano. It is as though we are entering the mouth of hell Floyd | itself! Attached to the ropes that hold the balloon aloft is a brass Floyd | altimeter, the one and only piece of aeronautical equipment that has Floyd | not been sacrificed. Floyd | I see a cricket ball here. Floyd | Hubert Booby stands in the corner of the basket, peering into Floyd | space. Floyd | A St. Bernard dog is sitting placidly before me, wagging its tail. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| EmacsUser says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | I have a string of handkerchiefs, a rubber mallet, a sewing kit, a Floyd | hatchet, a cigarette lighter, a needle, a ball of yarn, and a pair of Floyd | scissors. Floyd | Floyd | > | Mick asks, "Can we soak something in brandy, then light it?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take ball" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. "Put that down at once!" cries Hubert. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x it" | ||||
Floyd | A well-worn cricket ball that has obviously seen quite a lot of use. Floyd | I was pretty good bowler in my day... Floyd | Floyd | > | Mick asks, "The hankercheifs perhaps?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "throw ball at dog" | ||||
Floyd | Which ball do you mean, the ball of yarn, or the cricket ball? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cricket" | ||||
Floyd | I miss. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take it" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. "That doesn't belong to you!" exclaims Hubert. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "show ball to dog" | ||||
Floyd | Which ball do you mean, the ball of yarn, or the cricket ball? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cricket" | ||||
Floyd | The Saint Bernard dog isn't impressed. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "bowl" | ||||
Floyd | What do you want to throw? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "bowl cricket ball" | ||||
Floyd | I throw the cricket ball (overarm, naturally) over the side of the Floyd | basket, giving it plenty of topspin. It whistles off into the clouds, Floyd | closely followed by the St. Bernard, which, like any dog, cannot Floyd | resist chasing a thrown ball. Through a gap in the clouds I see the Floyd | hapless hound land safely in a snow-drift. At least he will be able Floyd | to dig himself out. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Unburdening the balloon of this large, heavy object causes a sudden Floyd | and immediate gain in altitude of one thousand feet. Floyd | Floyd | > | EmacsUser says, "He didn't die." | |||
| DavidW says, "yay" | ||||
| Mick says, "My conscience is clear." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "yay" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | I have a string of handkerchiefs, a rubber mallet, a sewing kit, a Floyd | hatchet, a cigarette lighter, a needle, a ball of yarn, and a pair of Floyd | scissors. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "throw mallet" | ||||
Floyd | I fling the mallet over the side of the basket. "You lunatic!" yells Floyd | Hubert, stamping his feet in distraction. 'That was an extremely Floyd | useful mallet - I used it every day at breakfast to crack open my Floyd | boiled eggs!" Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | The balance between the weight of the balloon and the lift provided by Floyd | the gas is so delicate that jettisoning even a very light object Floyd | causes an immediate vertical displacement. In this instance, the Floyd | balloon gains around five hundred feet in altitude. Floyd | Floyd | "THAT DOES IT!" shrieks Hubert, shaking his tiny fists at me in Floyd | exasperation. "That's the last straw. You've really done it this Floyd | time. I'm going to tell my Aunt Gertie on you!" Floyd | Floyd | "Oh, and I suppose you have your Aunt Gertie secreted away in that Floyd | incredible overcoat of yours as well..." I say, mockingly. Floyd | Floyd | "Yes," says Hubert, "as a matter of fact I have. You didn't think I'd Floyd | leave her at home all on her own, do you?" After much squirming and Floyd | wriggling, a tiny little old lady emerges from the overcoat. Floyd | Floyd | "What is it, Hubert dear?" she asks... Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "!!!" | |||
| Mick says, "Hahaha" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "hahaha" | ||||
| Mick says, "I love this game." | ||||
| EmacsUser says, "Whoa, just caught up." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "This game is great." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x aunt" | ||||
Floyd | She is a fearsome looking old lady with her hair tied back in a bun Floyd | and a clean white apron on. She leans on a rather lethal looking cane Floyd | and carries a bottle of what looks worryingly like castor oil. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "take cane" | ||||
Floyd | "Leave me helpless, would you," crows Aunt Gertie as I go to grab her Floyd | cane, before hitting me over the head with it. Helpless indeed! Floyd | Floyd | > | DrewMochak exclaims, "I like how even though he fell 16,000 feet... he landed in snow! It's ok!" | |||
| EmacsUser says, "It must be a lot of very soft snow." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "tie aunt with handkerchiefs" | ||||
Floyd | I don't recognize that sentence. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "tie aunt with handkerchief" | ||||
Floyd | I don't recognize that sentence. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Ellison arrives, full of fun and funk. | EmacsUser asks, "Will the aunt also survive such a fall?" | |||
| Mick says, "I presume that's 16k above sea level." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "tell gertie about volcano" | ||||
Floyd | It doesn't look as though Aunt Gertie is interested. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask gertie about booby" | ||||
Floyd | "Hubert's such a good boy. He always washes behind his ears." says Floyd | Aunt Gertie, smiling at her nephew. "I don't suppose you wash behind Floyd | your ears, do you?" She subjects my ears to close scrutiny. "No, I Floyd | didn't think so." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "search ears" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "ears". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask gertie about gertie" | ||||
Floyd | "For the land's sakes!" cries Aunt Gertie in exasperation. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take gertie" | ||||
Floyd | I can't have Aunt Gertie. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "gertie, jump" | ||||
Floyd | Aunt Gertie doesn't appear interested. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take coat" | ||||
Floyd | I try to pull the overcoat off over Hubert's head, but only succeed in Floyd | pulling Hubert over onto his back. "Let go of me, you maniac!" he Floyd | cries, clambering to his feet. Floyd | Floyd | > | Mick says, "We have to disarm her." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "poke gertie with needle" | ||||
Floyd | I don't recognize that sentence. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "tear coat" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know how to tear the overcoat. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cut coat with scissors" | ||||
Floyd | I have already done enough damage to Hubert's coat. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | I have a string of handkerchiefs, a sewing kit, a hatchet, a cigarette Floyd | lighter, a needle, a ball of yarn, and a pair of scissors. Floyd | Time is running out! The volcano is so close now that its deafening Floyd | roar drowns out every sound, and the balloon is bathed in its eerie Floyd | orange glow! Floyd | Floyd | > | EmacsUser says, "Uh oh." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "give handkerchiefs to gertie" | ||||
Floyd | I would rather not give the old woman the string of handkerchiefs. Floyd | She is rather less of a pushover than her nephew. Whilst she is armed Floyd | with that stick, I do not fancy my chances of getting them back again. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "burn handkerchiefs with lighter" | ||||
Floyd | I'm a balloonist, not a pyromaniac! Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push gertie" | ||||
Floyd | Are you suggesting that I push an old lady out of a balloon without a Floyd | parachute? Why, that would be MURDER!! Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "yes" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "yes". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "sew parachute" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any parachute here. Floyd | Floyd | > | EmacsUser asks, "We still have the unused verb sew. What would that be for?" | |||
| Mick says, "Create a parachute, we have tons of supplies for it." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "sew handkerchiefs" | ||||
Floyd | Fortunately I was taught to sew by the overbearing nuns who educated Floyd | me in that convent school. Stitching the handkerchiefs together I Floyd | soon construct a parachute strong enough to support a reasonably Floyd | lightweight person. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "give parachute to gertie" | ||||
Floyd | "You're not getting me up in one of those things!" crows Aunt Gertie. Floyd | Perhaps a less direct approach would be more successful... Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "throw parachute at gertie" | ||||
Floyd | I miss. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | (Undoing one command) Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | In the basket of a balloon Floyd | I am in the basket of the balloon, high, though not high enough Floyd | above the foothills of the Andes. We are now practically on top of Floyd | the volcano. It is as though we are entering the mouth of hell Floyd | itself! Attached to the ropes that hold the balloon aloft is a brass Floyd | altimeter, the one and only piece of aeronautical equipment that has Floyd | not been sacrificed. The basket is otherwise quite empty. Floyd | Hubert picks absently at the frayed cuff of his overcoat. Floyd | Aunt Gertie hobbles about the basket, prodding things with her Floyd | cane. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "hit gertie with parachute" | ||||
Floyd | There are surely more fruitful ways of spending my time than in Floyd | attacking Aunt Gertie with a parachute. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "wear parachute" | ||||
Floyd | What! And abandon my balloon? Over my dead body! Besides, the Floyd | parachute has no harness - to wear it one would need to tie it to Floyd | something one was already wearing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "tie parachute to gertie" | ||||
Floyd | I wait 'til her back is turned, and swiftly tie the parachute to her Floyd | apron strings! Floyd | Floyd | > | EmacsUser asks, "The underwear?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push gertie" | ||||
Floyd | With a hearty shove, I push the old crone over the edge of the basket. Floyd | "Good grief!" cries Hubert, rushing over to the edge of the basket. Floyd | Fortunately for Aunt Gertie, and unfortunately for me, it seems that Floyd | she managed to grab hold of the anchor on her way down, and now the Floyd | spry old bird is making her way up again! Floyd | Floyd | > | EmacsUser says, "Oh." | |||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "cut anchor with hatchet" | ||||
Floyd | Using the hatchet I swiftly hack through the anchor rope sending both Floyd | the anchor and Hubert's aunt tumbling earthwards. The parachute on Floyd | aunt Gertie's back opens instantly, slowing her rate of descent so Floyd | that she drifts to earth as gently as a dandelion seed. Floyd | Floyd | My command of the English language is, alas, inadequate to describe Floyd | the look on Hubert's face as he watches his beloved aunt disappear Floyd | into the void. Lost for words, he struggles to come up with one final Floyd | snipe: Floyd | Floyd | "You... you... you... LOONY!" before leaping after her. The great Floyd | black overcoat billows out around him like his very own parachute. Floyd | Floyd | Unburdened of Hubert's enormous weight, the balloon begins to ascend Floyd | with breathtaking rapidity. Within seconds we have passed 20,000 Floyd | feet, then 25,000, then 30,000, at which point I am seized with Floyd | asphyxia, I lose power to my legs and arms and I begin to lose Floyd | consciousness... Floyd | Floyd | I have just one chance. Unless I speedily descend, ALL IS LOST! Floyd | Floyd | > | EmacsUser says, "Hmm." | |||
| Tale asks, "Save?" | ||||
| EmacsUser says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| EmacsUser says (to Floyd), "cf4" | ||||
Floyd | File to save game in > Floyd | Saved. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "cut balloon with scissors" | ||||
Floyd | I am rapidly losing consciousness. Everything is a blur... Floyd | Floyd | [TADS-1010: object value required] Floyd | My head is spinning like a top... Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "ACK" | |||
| Mick says, "eep I broke it" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "We tossed everything..." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Mick), "Nah, probably not." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x balloon" | ||||
Floyd | I am rapidly losing consciousness. Everything is a blur... Floyd | My head is spinning like a top... Floyd | We are now so close to the volcano that its torrid heat can be felt Floyd | upon our faces. It is a little like sticking one's head in a baker's Floyd | oven. "Turn this infernal contraption around at once!" shouts Hubert Floyd | above the roar of the lava flows, "the heat always brings me out in a Floyd | rash!" Floyd | We have very little time - we need to gain more altitude to Floyd | comfortably clear Floyd | [TADS-1010: object value required] Floyd | the volcano! Floyd | Floyd | > Floyd | I am rapidly losing consciousness. Everything is a blur... Floyd | My head is spinning like a top... Floyd | Floyd | Six miles above the earth, and still rising rapidly, I suddenly lose Floyd | consciousness. It is as though I had simply fallen asleep, but this Floyd | time I do not wake up... Floyd | Floyd | ...If only I had been able to reach the gas valve rope in time! Floyd | Floyd | *** All is lost! *** Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | You may restore a saved game, start over, quit, or undo the current Floyd | command. Floyd | Please enter RESTORE, RESTART, QUIT, or UNDO: > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | (Undoing one command) Floyd | Floyd | I am rapidly losing consciousness. Everything is a blur... Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "climb rope" | ||||
Floyd | I am rapidly losing consciousness. Everything is a blur... Floyd | Which rope do you mean, the anchor rope, the ropes, or the gas-valve Floyd | rope? Floyd | Floyd | > | DrewMochak says, "That is highly broken" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "gas-value" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "gas-value". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "climb gas-valve rope" | ||||
Floyd | I am rapidly losing consciousness. Everything is a blur... Floyd | Floyd | [TADS-1010: object value required] Floyd | My head is spinning like a top... Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| leandroribeiro arrives, full of fun and funk. | ||||
| EmacsUser says (to Floyd), "pull gas-value rope" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "gas-value". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "climb ropes" | ||||
Floyd | I am rapidly losing consciousness. Everything is a blur... Floyd | My head is spinning like a top... Floyd | Floyd | Six miles above the earth, and still rising rapidly, I suddenly lose Floyd | consciousness. It is as though I had simply fallen asleep, but this Floyd | time I do not wake up... Floyd | Floyd | ...If only I had been able to reach the gas valve rope in time! Floyd | Floyd | *** All is lost! *** Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | You may restore a saved game, start over, quit, or undo the current Floyd | command. Floyd | Please enter RESTORE, RESTART, QUIT, or UNDO: > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | (Undoing one command) Floyd | Floyd | I am rapidly losing consciousness. Everything is a blur... Floyd | Floyd | > | EmacsUser asks, "pull gas-valve rope?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "pull gas-valve rope" | ||||
Floyd | The last thing I remember before passing out is falling upon the gas Floyd | valve rope and pulling down on it with all the strength remaining to Floyd | me... | ||||
| Mick pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Excerpt from "To Hell in a Hamper, Travels by Balloon with a Buffoon" Floyd | by Prof. P. Pettibone, Oxford University Press, 1895. Floyd | "...when my senses returned to me the volcano was far behind me. The Floyd | balloon had come to rest on the slopes of the lower Andes. There I Floyd | was found, frostbitten and in a state of nervous exhaustion, by a Floyd | party of llama herdsmen. I had reached 37,000 feet, an altitude Floyd | heretofore unattained by any balloonist in history, and had lived to Floyd | tell the tale. Floyd | Floyd | Without the means to replace my supply of hydrogen further travel by Floyd | balloon was impossible. When I had recovered fully I travelled to Floyd | Quito by pack horse, and from there arranged passage to England by Floyd | land and sea. The journey was uneventful, but my trials were not yet Floyd | over, for soon after my arrival I was called to account for the Floyd | various transgressions comitted by my travelling companion during our Floyd | adventures. There was the small matter of a Rembrandt painting stolen Floyd | from the Louvre the previous year (secreted, no doubt beneath that Floyd | voluminous overcoat), and the matter of the desecration of an Egyptian Floyd | tomb, as well as a dozen other infractions of a lesser nature. Floyd | Fortunately I was able to absolve myself of blame for these crimes, Floyd | but it was a great shame that Hubert was not around to be held Floyd | accountable for his actions. Floyd | Floyd | The Rembrandt, fortunately, was not one of his better pieces, owing to Floyd | a lapse of judgement on the part of the master in his choice of Floyd | subject matter. It is generally agreed that the great artist's Floyd | reputation has benefitted, rather than suffered for the loss of "Three Floyd | Kittens in a Chamber Pot." Floyd | Floyd | The mummy was a different matter however. It turned out to have been Floyd | the corpse of Imhotep, architect of the Great Pyramid. The Egyptian Floyd | government were most upset to learn that the builder of their most Floyd | exalted monument was last seen tumbling towards a hasty reburial on Floyd | the frozen slopes of the Andes. As I understand it, negotiations Floyd | between the British, Egyptian and Ecuadorian governments are still Floyd | ongoing with regard to the mummy's recovery and safe return to its Floyd | tomb. Floyd | Floyd | As for Hubert and his disagreeable Aunt Gertie, I never saw them Floyd | again. However, a party of Germans trekking in the foothills of the Floyd | Andes five years later reported seeing a large fat man and an old Floyd | woman who lived together in a stone hut with a Saint Bernard dog. Floyd | According to the Germans, the pair spoke fluent English, but what they Floyd | said made little sense. She kept muttering something about "clean Floyd | underwear" and he did nothing all day but lament the loss of a cuckoo Floyd | clock. Floyd | I myself retired from ballooning in 1890, having travelled in nearly Floyd | every country in the world. I am now dedicated to submarine Floyd | exploration, in which science I am swiftly becoming the world's Floyd | foremost authority." Floyd | Floyd | THE END Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | You may restore a saved game, start over, quit, or undo the current Floyd | command. Floyd | Please enter RESTORE, RESTART, QUIT, or UNDO: > | DavidW says, "yay!" | |||
| Mick says, "love it" | ||||
| DavidW says, "That was pretty cool." | ||||
| EmacsUser exclaims, "Woohoo!" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "That was very lovely." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Hilarious and lovely." | ||||
| DavidW says, "yay. I wish I could write like that." | ||||
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