  
 
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. Below is a transcript of Uncle Zebulon's Will, written by Magnus Olsson. Uncle Zebulon's Will was originally released in 1995. It took first place in the TADS Division of the very first IF Competition and was consequently included as a piece of 'modern' (for the time) IF on Activision's 1996 commercial release of "Classic Text Adventure: Masterpieces of Infocom". You can learn more about the game, including how to download it, by visiting the ifWiki. Once we were done playing Uncle Zebulon's Will, we moved on to playing another Olsson game, Zugzwang, so I've just included that in the transcript as well. Enjoy! WARNING! Below you will find a transcript of people playing these games, and it goes without saying that the transcript is full of spoilers. So, if you've never played these games, and think you might like to at some point, I do not recommend reading any further. Instead, you might want to return to the interactive fiction page. |
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| Playtime! | ||||
| Toyshop and Floyditorium | ||||
| Bulging toychests make this a child's (or child-at-heart's) dream. Play all day, play all night. A small booth has been erected and is staffed by a friendly robot. The sign over it says, "INFOKOM GAMEZ 5 cents". A small notice on the door reads, "PLEASE RETURN TOYS TO THIS ROOM WHEN YOU'RE DONE WITH THEM." | ||||
| You can see: green button, banana machine, faucets, toy catalogue, a crystal ball, cuddly walrus, clicker, cloak, tic-tac-toe, thermometer, yellow button, waldo whisper object, checkers board, Werewolf rules, bunny burger, signaling device, Mike Tyson, IF Programmer Barbie, IF FLOYD'S DOWN, TELL JOTA -- OR ELSE HE WON'T KNOW, Gak, Autohugger, Photocopier, basketball, midterm monster, frobozz magic dispenser, fun shiny toy, madlibs, orange, jukebox, FREE DONUTS machine, long-stemmed red rose, dfan's quest, miniature ifMUD, Pun Police Whistle, orange door, monkey guru, jellybean, mind chess, the 'hey there, playerfish!' cube, apple, a zorkmid, storyharp, ClubFloyd Suggestions, save button, specimen jar, soda reading 'Don't drink me!', Gene Ray | ||||
| Players: Waldo, Floyd, h3lix | ||||
| Visible Exits: northeast (to the Lounge) | ||||
| Emerald arrives, full of fun, but no funk. | Marvin asks, "What game is it this week?" | |||
| DavidW says, "In four minutes or so." | ||||
| Marvin says, "Oh, okay, I've played that one." | ||||
| DavidW says, "I can't remember if I have or not. I probably have." | ||||
| DavidW arrives, full of fun, but no funk. | ||||
| Jaybird arrives, full of fun and funk. | ||||
| DavidW says, "Hopefully I won't mess this up too much." | ||||
| Jaybird says, "I assume PerrySimm is our official logger for today, whose job it is to insure that, five thousand years from today, people will still be able to read these texts and wonder what it was that we were doing." | ||||
| DavidW says, "That is correct." | ||||
| Jaybird says, "Also before we get started" | ||||
| Jaybird says, "Is there a simple, as in, can be explained and implemented in seconds, way to make TinyFugue gag the 'Floyd | ' at every line of Floyd's output? That is very annoying as a speech synthesizer user." | ||||
| DavidW says, "I don't know TinyFugue at all." | ||||
| inky says (to Jaybird), "I think so, let me see" | Jaybird exclaims, "Beep. Beep. Beep. Bing!" | |||
| DavidW says, "When we do begin, please make comments on the channel. That makes the transcript look cleaner or something. Thanks." | ||||
| Jaybird says, "Actually the | doesn't bother me, it's just the 'Floyd' at the beginning of every line." | ||||
| DavidW says, "Let me know when we can begin." | ||||
| Jaybird says, "Not many people hre." | ||||
| Jaybird says, "I think this is a great thing to be doing, btw." | ||||
| DavidW says, "does Jacqueline do a holler? I can't remember." | ||||
| Emerald says, "I'm ready whenever." | ||||
| Emerald says (to DavidW), "I think she usually hollers about 5 minutes beforehand." | ||||
| Jaybird hollers, "Announcement, announcement. All lines, priority interrupt. Club Floyd is about to beiin in the toy shop." | ||||
| vimes arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. | ||||
| inky says, "ok, I dunno about this macro, so feel free to get started" | ||||
| inky says, "and if I work it out I'll tell Jaybird" | ||||
| DavidW says, "okay." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "load zebulon" | ||||
Floyd | GlkTADS - A text-only TADS 2.5.3 Interpreter. Floyd | TADS copyright (c) 1993, 2000 by Michael J. Roberts. Floyd | Maintained by Stephen Granade <sgranade@phy.duke.edu> Floyd | Floyd | Uncle Zebulon's Will by Magnus Olsson (mol@df.lth.se) Floyd | Floyd | The news of your uncle Zebulon's death came as a shock. You've been Floyd | out of touch lately, and since you left for college a year ago you Floyd | haven't heard a word from him. During your childhood, however, your Floyd | eccentric uncle - once the black sheep of the family, an unsuccessful Floyd | alchemist and self-proclaimed wizard, reputed to be a very wealthy man Floyd | - was your favourite relative. Perhaps you were his favourite nephew Floyd | as well. You miss his stories of distant realms and the magic gadgets Floyd | he loved to demonstrate... Floyd | Floyd | You leave for home immediately on receiving the message, but the Floyd | trip is long and you're delayed by the inevitable train strikes. When Floyd | you finally arrive, you find your family in a state of frustrated Floyd | confusion. Not only is your uncle's will written in a quite unsuitably Floyd | sarcastic tone, seriously insulting most of your relatives, but it Floyd | turns out there isn't much of an inheritance to fight over; despite a Floyd | thorough search of your uncle's house, no fabulous treasures are found. Floyd | The bequests for you and your cousins are almost pathetic: one small Floyd | memento each, to be selected after everybody else have made their Floyd | choices. Yet what is there to lose? At least you'd like to have one Floyd | last look at uncle Zeb's house; maybe you'll find some treasure Floyd | overlooked by the others, perhaps something magical... Floyd | Floyd | Uncle Zebulon's Will, an Interactive Inheritance. Floyd | Release 2.0 / 960416 Floyd | Floyd | Copyright (c) 1995, 1996 by Magnus Olsson. All rights reserved. Floyd | This game was awarded the first prize in the TADS section of the Floyd | First Annual IF Competition, 1995 Floyd | Developed with TADS, the Text Adventure Development System. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Please type INFO for credits and general release information. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Garden Floyd | You are standing just inside the gate of uncle Zebulon's garden, on Floyd | the weed-infested gravel path that leads east up to the porch of the Floyd | house. On the north side of the lawn, almost hidden behind the huge, Floyd | unkempt rosebushes, is the garden shed. The bright summer sun glistens Floyd | on the wet grass, and the air, fresh from the recent rain, is alive Floyd | with the buzzing of insects and filled with sweet fragrances. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jaybird says, "And I'll do it if I don't lise it in a flood of tesxt" | DavidW says, "And we begin." | |||
| Fyrion says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Garden Floyd | You are standing just inside the gate of uncle Zebulon's garden, on Floyd | the weed-infested gravel path that leads east up to the porch of the Floyd | house. On the north side of the lawn, almost hidden behind the huge, Floyd | unkempt rosebushes, is the garden shed. The bright summer sun glistens Floyd | on the wet grass, and the air, fresh from the recent rain, is alive Floyd | with the buzzing of insects and filled with sweet fragrances. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), " x rosebushes" | ||||
Floyd | Uncle Zebulon wasn't very much of a gardener, so the garden isn't Floyd | exactly a showpiece: the lawn is shaggy, the flower beds full of Floyd | weeds, the rose bushes would need some trimming. Still, it's a Floyd | pleasant place on a summer morning like this. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jaybird says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | You are empty-handed. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jaybird says (to Floyd), "xyzzy" | ||||
Floyd | Are you sure you're playing the right game? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jaybird says (to Floyd), "search bushes" | ||||
Floyd | That isn't important. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Emerald says (to Floyd), "x me" | ||||
Floyd | You look about the same as always. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x lawn" | ||||
Floyd | Uncle Zebulon wasn't very much of a gardener, so the garden isn't Floyd | exactly a showpiece: the lawn is shaggy, the flower beds full of Floyd | weeds, the rose bushes would need some trimming. Still, it's a Floyd | pleasant place on a summer morning like this. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | You are empty-handed. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fyrion says (to floyd), "damn" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "damn". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x shed" | ||||
Floyd | There's nothing unusual about Uncle Zebulon's garden shed: it's a Floyd | windowless, ramshackle building that could do with a new coat of paint. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "Doesn't look like there's much in the garden itself." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open shed" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know how to open the garden shed. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | The shed door opens only reluctantly, with a creaking sound from the Floyd | rusty hinges. Floyd | Floyd | Shed Floyd | This shed was used by uncle Zebulon for his goldmaking: strange Floyd | experiments that could often be smelt from across town, even occasional Floyd | explosions. Your uncle spoke very little of his experiments, and never Floyd | showed any signs of making money out of them, yet people generally Floyd | assumed that they were successful and a source of great wealth. In all Floyd | other matters, your family regarded uncle Zebulon as a useless dreamer, Floyd | even an embarrassment, but they took a certain reluctant pride in his Floyd | reputation as a goldmaker. Floyd | Floyd | As a consequence of your relatives' frantic search for valuables, Floyd | the place is in an even greater mess than you remember. The workbench Floyd | has been cleared of the usual odds and ends, and all even remotely Floyd | useful tools or utensils have been removed. Large heaps of junk and Floyd | broken glass remain in the corners, and in the centre of the room is a Floyd | large, hideous statue of a three-eyed dog - probably some exotic idol Floyd | brought home from your uncle's travels. You can't remember ever seeing Floyd | it before. Floyd | Floyd | On the workbench you see a scrap of paper. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW asks, "goldmaking?" | |||
| Emerald says (to Floyd), "x paper" | ||||
Floyd | It seems to be a torn-out page from a notebook, with a few lines of Floyd | writing on it. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x dog" | ||||
Floyd | The statue is made of some dark, hard wood that must once have been Floyd | nicely polished but is now rather scratched and dented. It depicts a Floyd | huge, hideous dog - even though it's sitting on its haunches, it's Floyd | still taller than you are - that seems to be staring in a slightly Floyd | melancholy way at the workbench, as if lamenting the mess. It looks Floyd | very much out of place in this shed. Floyd | Apart from its general ugliness, one thing about the dog immediately Floyd | catches your attention: for some unfathomable reason, it has three Floyd | eyes - two in the normal places, and one in the centre of its forehead. Floyd | There is also something very strange about its ears. Floyd | Floyd | The centre eye socket contains a blue glass lens. Floyd | Floyd | > | vimes asks, "I misread it as 'gardening' twice. I presume alchemy?" | |||
| DavidW says, "yeah" | ||||
| inky says, "it mentioned in the intro that he's into alchemy" | ||||
| vimes says, "(gardening causing explosions: awesome idea)" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "take lens" | ||||
Floyd | However much you try, you can't pry it loose from the statue's eye Floyd | socket. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x ears" | ||||
Floyd | You can only look at one thing at a time. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| vimes says (to floyd), "x ear" | ||||
Floyd | Which ear do you mean, the dog's left ear, or the dog's right ear? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| vimes says (to floyd), "left ear" | ||||
Floyd | The dog's ears look as if they don't really belong to the statue, but Floyd | were added as an afterthought - and in a rather curious way as well. Floyd | In fact, it seems as if both ears are fastened so that they can turn Floyd | around their own axes. Curious indeed. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take scrap" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jaybird says (to Floyd), "read it" | ||||
Floyd | "I'm a great step closer to the goal: I have discovered an acid Floyd | that actually transmutes noble metals into base ones. If only the Floyd | process could be reversed!" Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jaybird says (to Floyd), "turn left ear" | ||||
Floyd | As you turn the ear there is a distinct click. A loud humming noise Floyd | comes from inside the statue, and a beam of blue light shoots out from Floyd | its centre eye, illuminating a circle in the centre of the workbench. Floyd | After a while, however, the light flickers and goes out, and the Floyd | humming sound stops. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| vimes says (to floyd), "turn right ear" | ||||
Floyd | Nothing happens. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jaybird says (to Floyd), "turn left ear" | ||||
Floyd | As you turn the ear there is a distinct click. A loud humming noise Floyd | comes from inside the statue, and a beam of blue light shoots out from Floyd | its centre eye, illuminating a circle in the centre of the workbench. Floyd | After a while, however, the light flickers and goes out, and the Floyd | humming sound stops. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jaybird says, "So it's just the left ear" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x circle" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any circle here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x workbench" | ||||
Floyd | The marble surface of the workbench is pitted by acids, discoloured by Floyd | strange chemicals and still sooty in places from the explosions that Floyd | all too often ended uncle Zeb's experiments. In the exact centre of Floyd | the workbench, a small bronze stand has been fastened to the surface. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jaybird says, "Aha" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x stand" | ||||
Floyd | There's nothing on the bronze stand. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jaybird says (to Floyd), "put scrap on bench" | ||||
Floyd | Done. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jaybird says (to Floyd), "turn left ear" | ||||
Floyd | As you turn the ear there is a distinct click. A loud humming noise Floyd | comes from inside the statue, and a beam of blue light shoots out from Floyd | its centre eye, illuminating a circle in the centre of the workbench. Floyd | After a while, however, the light flickers and goes out, and the Floyd | humming sound stops. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW asks, "You wanted to fry the paper?" | |||
| K-Y arrives, full of funk, but no fun. | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x junk" | ||||
Floyd | You search through the junk for a while, but find nothing interesting, Floyd | just lots of broken glassware, old newspapers, fragments of burned Floyd | wood, large clumps of slag, you name it. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jaybird says, "Didn't do anything" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x newspapers" | ||||
Floyd | You search through the junk for a while, but find nothing interesting, Floyd | just lots of broken glassware, old newspapers, fragments of burned Floyd | wood, large clumps of slag, you name it. Floyd | Floyd | > | vimes asks, "did you mean to put the scrap on the stand rather than the bench?" | |||
| Jaybird says (to Floyd), "x stand" | ||||
Floyd | There's nothing on the bronze stand. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jaybird says (to Floyd), "get scrap" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jaybird says (to Floyd), "put it on stand" | ||||
Floyd | Done. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jaybird says (to Floyd), "turn left ear" | ||||
Floyd | As you turn the ear there is a distinct click. A loud humming noise Floyd | comes from inside the statue, and a beam of blue light shoots out from Floyd | its centre eye, illuminating a circle in the centre of the workbench. Floyd | After a while, however, the light flickers and goes out, and the Floyd | humming sound stops. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "I suspect we need to explore more before this will make sense." | |||
| inky says, "we should probably go into the house, yeah" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "agreed?" | ||||
| vimes says, "to adventure and beyond" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | Garden Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | Porch Floyd | On this rickety porch, uncle Zebulon used to spend the long summer Floyd | evenings, relaxing in his rocking chair and smoking his pipe. Your Floyd | parents used to sneer at his laziness; why couldn't he use all that Floyd | spare time to make his garden look a little more respectable? Floyd | The rocking chair is still there, right outside the front door of Floyd | the house. It is not occupied by uncle Zebulon, though, but by a Floyd | sneering, rather mean-looking demon. Floyd | The demon is picking his claws with a rather nasty-looking dagger. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x demon" | ||||
Floyd | If you remember your Basic Demonology classes correctly, he must be a Floyd | member of one of the lower castes of familiar demons, usually employed Floyd | as servants by wizards. As demons go, this one isn't very big or Floyd | dangerous-looking. Indeed, he looks positively benign (for a demon, Floyd | that is: he still looks pretty mean by human standards). Of course, Floyd | all this still doesn't mean that he's to be messed with. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to demon" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "talk". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "demon, hi" | ||||
Floyd | The demon quite pointedly ignores you, apparently preferring to study Floyd | some interesting spots on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask demon about demon" | ||||
Floyd | "Oh, don't mind me. Just pretend I'm the milkman or something." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask demon about milkman" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "milkman". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask demon about milk" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "milk". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "ask demon about uncle" | ||||
Floyd | "He wasn't too bad, really, at least not for a human." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "ask demon about me" | ||||
Floyd | The demon looks at you a bit quizzically and starts to say something, Floyd | but changes his mind and just shrugs instead. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask demon about gold" | ||||
Floyd | The demon starts humming a merry little demon song, pretending not to Floyd | hear you. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x dagger" | ||||
Floyd | The demon's dagger isn't important. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "ask demon about dagger" | ||||
Floyd | The demon puts his dagger away (seemingly into thin air), pulls out a Floyd | newspaper (also out of thin air) and opens it. "Sorry, did you say Floyd | something?" Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask demon about alchemy" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "alchemy". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x newspaper" | ||||
Floyd | The demon's newspaper isn't important. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "ask demon about newspaper" | ||||
Floyd | The demon rolls up his newspaper into a ball which he throws over his Floyd | shoulder, where it disappears with a loud pop, and instead pulls out a Floyd | dagger out of thin air and starts picking his claws. He gives no sign Floyd | of having heard you. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW asks, "I suppose we can ignore him?" | |||
| inky says, "for right now, anyway" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x chair" | ||||
Floyd | The rocking chair isn't important. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "door" | ||||
Floyd | There's no verb in that sentence! Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x door" | ||||
Floyd | It's closed. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open it" | ||||
Floyd | Opened. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | As you walk past the demon (slightly apprehensively, of course, you Floyd | never know with demons), he nods at you. "Let's see, you must be Floyd | Richard, right? My late master hasn't treated you very generously in Floyd | his will, has he?" He quickly checks a list. Floyd | "Let's see. You're allowed to take one thing - not more - from the Floyd | house through this door. Of course, your relatives have pretty much Floyd | scoured the place for valuables, so I'm afraid there's not very much Floyd | left for you." For a moment, you imagine you can trace some genuine Floyd | pity in the demon's expression; however, it soon returns to his usual Floyd | sneer. "Not that they found very much of value, either. You should Floyd | have seen their faces when they realized the house wasn't filled with Floyd | gold..." Floyd | The demon starts to wave you past, when he suddenly seems to Floyd | remember something. "Ah, yes, this is for you," he says off-handedly, Floyd | holding out a letter towards you. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "take letter" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "read it" | ||||
Floyd | The letter is written in uncle Zebulon's familiar hand. Floyd | "My dear Richard, Floyd | When you read this, I'm afraid I'll have left this world for good. By Floyd | now you should have heard of my will and of the little jokes I have Floyd | played on your relatives. I am sure they are all furious; they had Floyd | hoped for far more. Perhaps you too are angry with me, perhaps you Floyd | think I should have been more generous towards you? Floyd | Well, let me tell you this: you've always been my favourite nephew, Floyd | because we share (I hope) the same basic outlook on life: it's all a Floyd | rather cruel game, with rules that are there to be circumvented. Floyd | Playing fair doesn't mean you shouldn't do the unexpected! I don't Floyd | want to openly favour you before your cousins, but I think you're far Floyd | more likely than they are to exploit the advantages of the situation. Floyd | You may call it a little test, or game, or whatever. My final advice Floyd | to you is: follow the rules by the letter and you may find that new Floyd | possibilities open up. Floyd | Floyd | Your affectionate uncle, Zeb." Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | [Your score just went up 5 points] Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask demon about rules" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "rules". Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "hm. One item _through the door_." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "drop all" | ||||
Floyd | letter: Dropped. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "So perhaps anything through a window is okay." | |||
| DavidW asks, "Shall we go in?" | ||||
| K-Y says, "One item out of the house, I think" | ||||
| DavidW says, "no, the demon said through the door. That was the phrase." | ||||
| K-Y says, "I mean you can take things in" | ||||
| DavidW says, "oh sure." | ||||
| DavidW | You're allowed to take one thing - not more - from the house through this door. | ||||
| inky says, "though I wonder if he'll gripe about us bringing out stuff we take in" | ||||
| DavidW says, "of course he will." | ||||
| DavidW says, "Which is why I'm dropping the letter out here." | ||||
| inky says, "wily" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | You are empty-handed. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | The demon lets you past with a slightly amused sneer. Floyd | Floyd | Hall Floyd | Uncle Zeb's house isn't large enough to warrant a large entrance Floyd | hall, but at least there is this small room, with just enough space for Floyd | a coathanger and a narrow staircase up to a trapdoor in the ceiling. Floyd | Wooden doors lead north, east, west and south. Floyd | You see a lead coin here. Floyd | Floyd | As soon as you enter you realize, with a sinking feeling, just how Floyd | thoroughly your relatives have searched the house for valuables - Floyd | basically everything of value has been removed. The coin on the floor Floyd | must have been dropped there by oversight. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| vimes says (to floyd), "x coin" | ||||
Floyd | Lead may not the most practical of materials for coinmaking, but this Floyd | coin is actually made of grey, soft lead. Not only the metal, but also Floyd | the shape, of the coin is unusual: it's octagonal. It bears the image Floyd | of a trident, surrounded by curious letters you can't read. Floyd | (In fact, this coin happens to be a genuine quarter-frob piece from Floyd | the country of Frobnizzia. The Frobnizzian coins are notable for the Floyd | great variety of materials used in making them; especially notable is Floyd | the one-gnark coin (one gnark being equal to 27 2/3 frobs), which was a Floyd | granite disk two feet in diameter. The size and weight of this coin Floyd | were intended to deter purse-snatchers; unfortunately, they had other Floyd | effects as well, such as being the major cause of the collapse of the Floyd | Frobnizzian economy.) Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "snrk" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take coin" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | (Opening the kitchen door) Floyd | Kitchen Floyd | The kitchen is probably tidier now than it ever was during uncle Floyd | Zebulon's lifetime. The well-worn pine table and the large cupboard Floyd | are still there, but all traces of atmosphere seem to have vanished Floyd | along with the piles of unwashed dishes. Your relatives have evidently Floyd | been hard at work, removing all the kitchenware and utensils, even the Floyd | iron stove. They've left the kitchen sink behind, though - probably by Floyd | oversight. Floyd | You see a large carrot here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "take carrot" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "eat it" | ||||
Floyd | The large carrot looks rather dry and doesn't seem very appetizing. It Floyd | doesn't smell very appetizing either. Come to think of it, you're not Floyd | very hungry. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x sink" | ||||
Floyd | It's just an old, rather dirty, kitchen sink of galvanized iron. There Floyd | are no taps - uncle Zebulon never bothered to install running water, Floyd | but used to fetch his from the village well. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "open cupboard" | ||||
Floyd | Opening the cupboard reveals a blue bottle. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "take bottle" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x it" | ||||
Floyd | This bottle has an unusually wide neck - almost two centimetres in Floyd | diameter - and is made of thick glass of a beautiful, deep blue colour. Floyd | You estimate that it will hold about half a litre of liquid. It seems Floyd | to contain a silver coin. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x table" | ||||
Floyd | The kitchen table isn't important. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get silver coin" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x it" | ||||
Floyd | This coin, a Frobnizzian nineteen-frob piece, is hexagonal and made of Floyd | silver. It bears the picture of a crescent. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "flip it" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know how to flip the silver coin. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "hm. lead has trident. silver coin has crescent. Could be important." | |||
| Jaybird says, "Thought" | ||||
| Jaybird asks, "Could we stick stuff in the bottle, and present said bottle as our one allowed item?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Dunno." | ||||
| Jaybird asks, "Or will the deamon do an exhaustive serach through the entire house?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "I suspect that nesting items will not be permitted, but maybe it will be. Hard to say." | ||||
| inky says, "well, we can try it" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "but later, yes?" | ||||
| inky says, "sure, keep exploring" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | The only exit is the door back to the hall, to the south. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | Hall Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "oh wait" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "verbose" | ||||
Floyd | Kitchen Floyd | Floyd | > Floyd | Okay, now in VERBOSE mode. Floyd | Kitchen Floyd | The kitchen is probably tidier now than it ever was during uncle Floyd | Zebulon's lifetime. The well-worn pine table and the large cupboard Floyd | are still there, but all traces of atmosphere seem to have vanished Floyd | along with the piles of unwashed dishes. Your relatives have evidently Floyd | been hard at work, removing all the kitchenware and utensils, even the Floyd | iron stove. They've left the kitchen sink behind, though - probably by Floyd | oversight. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "look under table" | ||||
Floyd | The kitchen table isn't important. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x sink" | ||||
Floyd | It's just an old, rather dirty, kitchen sink of galvanized iron. There Floyd | are no taps - uncle Zebulon never bothered to install running water, Floyd | but used to fetch his from the village well. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "take sink" | ||||
Floyd | You can't have the kitchen sink. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in sink" | ||||
Floyd | It's just an old, rather dirty, kitchen sink of galvanized iron. There Floyd | are no taps - uncle Zebulon never bothered to install running water, Floyd | but used to fetch his from the village well. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look in drain" | ||||
Floyd | I don't understand that sentence. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "ok. Now I'm done with the ktichen." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | Hall Floyd | Uncle Zeb's house isn't large enough to warrant a large entrance Floyd | hall, but at least there is this small room, with just enough space for Floyd | a coathanger and a narrow staircase up to a trapdoor in the ceiling. Floyd | Wooden doors lead north, east, west and south. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | (Opening the south door) Floyd | Study Floyd | You are in what uncle Zebulon used to call his study, but which also Floyd | doubled as his bedroom. You remember this room as being full of books: Floyd | bookshelves crammed with them, books on the overflowing desk, stacks of Floyd | books on the floor. Floyd | Now, the bookshelves gape empty; the narrow, rickety bed is gone, as Floyd | are the soft carpets. Only your uncle's desk remains, along with the Floyd | smell of old books and stale tobacco smoke. The only door leads north, Floyd | back into the hall. Floyd | On the desk you see a book and a crystal ball. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "smell" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "smell". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x book" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "take book" | ||||
Floyd | As you open the book and flip through the pages, you find that it's a Floyd | piece of interactive fiction: a magic, heavily enchanted book where Floyd | the entire story changes in response to choices made by the reader. Floyd | This particular one happens to be one of the great classics of the Floyd | genre: 'Dork', the story of a young man entering a great underground Floyd | computing centre, vanquishing the evil Hacker of Foobar, and finally Floyd | becoming System Manager. Of course, the story may sound a bit childish Floyd | - everyone knows that computers only exist in fairytales and that Floyd | hackers are purely mythical creatures - but it's still immensely Floyd | popular. Floyd | Floyd | As you close the book again, a sheet of paper falls out of it and Floyd | flutters to the ground. Floyd | Floyd | [Your score just went up 5 points] Floyd | Floyd | > Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "hooray" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "take paper" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x it" | ||||
Floyd | On the paper, the following text is written in uncle Zebulon's neat, Floyd | regular hand: Floyd | Floyd | The FIRST PORTAL deceives us all Floyd | By making pairs of singles Floyd | A perfect match! Yet all illusion Floyd | A total likeness! And yet Floyd | As different as left from right Floyd | Forever kept apart by glass Floyd | Until the touch of magic stars Floyd | Turns glass to air Floyd | And image to reality Floyd | Floyd | When the light of the Moon illuminates Floyd | The Sun that never shines Floyd | Then open will the SECOND PORTAL Floyd | A dark, forbidding one, that scares Floyd | And rightly so! Yet victory Floyd | Awaits the one who enters it Floyd | Floyd | The THIRD and FINAL PORTAL stands Floyd | In a lone and dreary waste beyond the worlds Floyd | Gateway to great adventures Floyd | Guarded by Gods of Time and War and Love Floyd | An offering for each, and you may pass Floyd | Each gift should match one guardian. Floyd | Floyd | You can't help thinking that while Uncle Zebulon may have been a great Floyd | storyteller, he was clearly an inferior poet. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Dave arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. | * Dave has joined the channel. | |||
| DavidW says, "The first portal sounds like a mirror to me." | ||||
| Jaybird says (to Floyd), "x ball" | ||||
Floyd | It's about fifteen centimetres in diameter. Unlike ordinary crystal, Floyd | it doesn't sparkle in the light; instead, it seems to glow with a misty Floyd | radiance. You feel an almost irresistible urge to gaze into it, as if Floyd | you were some common fortune-teller. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jaybird says (to Floyd), "look in ball" | ||||
Floyd | The interior of the crystal ball is surprisingly cloudy, almost as if Floyd | you were looking into murky water. Soon, however, the mist seems to Floyd | clear, giving place to an image of uncle Zebulon putting coins into a Floyd | bottle. Floyd | Presently, the vision fades away, and the crystal gets cloudy again. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look in ball" | ||||
Floyd | The interior of the crystal ball is surprisingly cloudy, almost as if Floyd | you were looking into murky water. Soon, however, the mist seems to Floyd | clear, giving place to an image of yourself searching through a large Floyd | packing crate. Floyd | Presently, the vision fades away, and the crystal gets cloudy again. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look in ball" | ||||
Floyd | The interior of the crystal ball is surprisingly cloudy, almost as if Floyd | you were looking into murky water. Soon, however, the mist seems to Floyd | clear, giving place to an image of a young girl throwing a coin into a Floyd | well, making a wish with her eyes closed. Floyd | Presently, the vision fades away, and the crystal gets cloudy again. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look in ball" | ||||
Floyd | The interior of the crystal ball is surprisingly cloudy, almost as if Floyd | you were looking into murky water. Soon, however, the mist seems to Floyd | clear, giving place to an image of uncle Zebulon aiming a wand at a Floyd | large carrot. The carrot turns into a very surprised-looking rabbit. Floyd | Uncle Zebulon chuckles. Floyd | Presently, the vision fades away, and the crystal gets cloudy again. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says (to Jaybird), "That vision of coins in bottle helps confirm that's something we should do." | |||
| inky says, "good point" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look in ball" | ||||
Floyd | The interior of the crystal ball is surprisingly cloudy, almost as if Floyd | you were looking into murky water. Soon, however, the mist seems to Floyd | clear, giving place to an image of yourself looking into a crystal Floyd | ball. Floyd | Presently, the vision fades away, and the crystal gets cloudy again. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x desk" | ||||
Floyd | The desk looks rather bare without all the stacks of papers and books Floyd | that used to cover it (uncle Zebulon always had to clear off part of it Floyd | when he wanted to write). It is made of oak and has a single drawer, Floyd | which is closed. Floyd | On the desk you see a crystal ball. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "open drawer" | ||||
Floyd | Opening the drawer reveals a green glass lens. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x lens" | ||||
Floyd | It's about ten millimetres in diameter. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get lens" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "search desk" | ||||
Floyd | The desk looks rather bare without all the stacks of papers and books Floyd | that used to cover it (uncle Zebulon always had to clear off part of it Floyd | when he wanted to write). It is made of oak and has a single drawer, Floyd | which is open. Floyd | On the desk you see a crystal ball. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look under desk" | ||||
Floyd | There's nothing under the desk. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get ball" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "bet the lens is for the dog statue in the shed. We probably need a red one as well." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put coins in bottle" | ||||
Floyd | You can only do that to one thing at a time. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put silver coin in bottle" | ||||
Floyd | Done. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put lead coin in bottle" | ||||
Floyd | Done. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bookshelves" | ||||
Floyd | There's nothing on the bookshelves. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "move bookshelves" | ||||
Floyd | You can't move the bookshelves. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jaybird asks, "Done here?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x door" | ||||
Floyd | It's open. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "I think so." | |||
| Jaybird says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | Hall Floyd | Uncle Zeb's house isn't large enough to warrant a large entrance Floyd | hall, but at least there is this small room, with just enough space for Floyd | a coathanger and a narrow staircase up to a trapdoor in the ceiling. Floyd | Wooden doors lead north, east, west and south. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jaybird says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | (Opening the east door) Floyd | Sitting room Floyd | After your relatives have gone over it, uncle Zebulon's sitting room Floyd | looks curiously empty. Most of the furniture has been removed. Of all Floyd | the things that used to give the room its atmosphere, just a few, Floyd | obviously not very valuable ones, remain: the old armchair where you Floyd | used to sit and watch uncle Zebulon entertain you with his magic (or Floyd | "conjuring tricks", as your down-to-earth parents preferred to call Floyd | it), your uncle's pipe rack, the large mirror on the north wall. Floyd | You see a green bottle here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x rack" | ||||
Floyd | It's empty. Apparently, there's a keen smoker among your relatives. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "well, here's the mirror" | |||
| inky asks, "what did the poem say? magic stars?" | ||||
| Jaybird says (to Floyd), "x green" | ||||
Floyd | Which green do you mean, the green glass lens, or the green bottle? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jaybird says (to Floyd), "bottle" | ||||
Floyd | This bottle has an unusually wide neck - almost two centimetres in Floyd | diameter - and is made of thick glass of a beautiful, sea-green colour. Floyd | You estimate that it will hold about half a litre of liquid. A neatly Floyd | handwritten label says 'FILL ME'. The bottle is empty. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says (to inky), "yes" | |||
| Emerald says, "hey, we have a green bottle and a blue bottle and a green lens and a blue lens" | ||||
| Jaybird says (to Floyd), "get green bottle" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | Emerald says, "wonder if/how that's significant" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "search rack" | ||||
Floyd | The pipe rack isn't important. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "We don't have a blue lens." | |||
| inky says, "good point" | ||||
| inky asks, "the blue lens was still in the dog?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "yes" | ||||
| Jaybird says (to Floyd), "x chair" | ||||
Floyd | It may not be a great looker, but this battered old armchair has always Floyd | been your fave piece of furniture. On stormy autumn nights you'd relax Floyd | in its comfy depths, cosy in front of the roaring fire, while your Floyd | uncle would tell you the most hair-raising ghost stories or entertain Floyd | you with some magic tricks (which you steadfastly insisted were real Floyd | magic, even though your parents tried hard to convince you they were Floyd | just sleight of hand). Floyd | Even today, a decade later, you feel an almost irresistible urge to Floyd | sit in that armchair once more, just to recall the feeling of those Floyd | long-gone days. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "sit in chair" | ||||
Floyd | You lower yourself into the cosy armchair and relax with a contented Floyd | sigh. However, it doesn't seem as comfortable as you recall it. Floyd | Strange... Floyd | After a while, you realize that you're sitting on something hard. Floyd | There seems to be something hidden within the armchair. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "search chair" | ||||
Floyd | You find a magic wand hidden deep inside the armchair. Floyd | Floyd | (Don't feel too smug about it, though; I suppose nobody could have sat Floyd | in the armchair without feeling the wand.) Floyd | Floyd | > | Emerald says, "we don't have it with us, but we know where to find it" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x wand" | ||||
Floyd | This looks like a typical magic wand of the sort used by every wizard Floyd | around the country: a narrow, tapering rod, about thirty centimetres Floyd | long, and made of some dark wood, probably ebony. Your uncle used to Floyd | have several, and you've often seen him point them at things, with Floyd | various interesting results. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "point wand at carrot" | ||||
Floyd | But you aren't carrying the magic wand! Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "take wand" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "point wand at carrot" | ||||
Floyd | The wand sputters, emitting a stream of brilliantly shining stars. The Floyd | stars collect in a cloud around the carrot, which starts to undergo a Floyd | curious transformation, growing smaller and rounder and redder and... Floyd | When the stars gradually fade away, you see that the carrot has turned Floyd | into a big, succulent tomato. Amazing - you must have found a wand of Floyd | Vegetable Polymorphism! Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "ha ha" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "point wand at tomato" | ||||
Floyd | The wand sputters, emitting a stream of brilliantly shining stars that Floyd | strike the tomato and explode with little popping noises. The tomato Floyd | starts to elongate, its colour changing into orange, and has sooned Floyd | turned back into a carrot. Those wands of Vegetable Polymorphism may Floyd | be pretty useless, but they are great fun, aren't they? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x mirror" | ||||
Floyd | You're a bit surprised that your relatives left this mirror behind, Floyd | since it's probably quite valuable, or at least old. Perhaps its size Floyd | has something to do with it: it's almost a metre wide and taller than Floyd | you are. When you were a kid you used to fantasize about this being a Floyd | magic mirror, and you imagined that when looking into it you could see Floyd | into another world. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look in mirror" | ||||
Floyd | You can't reach that from the armchair. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "stand" | ||||
Floyd | Okay, you're no longer in the armchair. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in mirror" | ||||
Floyd | The glass is old and slightly flawed, so the image isn't as crisp as Floyd | you'd expect from a newer mirror. Your reflection looks like you, yet Floyd | somehow like a different person, more cynical, with a slightly cunning Floyd | look. The old glass makes it hard to make out all the detail, but the Floyd | reflection of the room behind you looks slightly different, too. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "well, the wand had magic stars, as I recall" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x reflection" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "reflection". Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "yes" | |||
| DavidW says, "point wand at mirror" | ||||
| Jaybird asks, "Shall we save?" | ||||
| Jaybird says, "I want to try something" | ||||
| DavidW says, "oh saving is good." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "save" | ||||
Floyd | Enter data file to store: | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf1" | ||||
Floyd | Saved. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "go ahead" | |||
| Jaybird says (to Floyd), "point wand at mirror" | ||||
Floyd | The wand sputters, emitting a stream of brilliantly shining stars. Floyd | Amazingly, the stars seem to pass straight through the mirror. They Floyd | strike your mirror image, which is standing there with a wand in its Floyd | hand, looking at you with a slightly silly expression. With a strange, Floyd | tearing sound, your mirror image wavers and disappears. Floyd | Shocked, you look again. Sure, you can see the mirror image of the Floyd | room, and everything in it, but not your own image. You take a quick Floyd | look down at yourself, just to check - yes, you're still visible. Floyd | Running up to check the mirror, you realize that the glass is gone; the Floyd | empty frame forms a portal into a room behind, where no room ought to Floyd | be. Floyd | Floyd | [Your score just went up 10 points] Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "yay!" | |||
| inky says, "lookin' good" | ||||
| Jaybird says (to Floyd), "in" | ||||
Floyd | (the mirror) Floyd | Feeling like Alice in Wonderland, you step through the empty mirror Floyd | frame. A curious wrenching sensation passes through your body, as if Floyd | you've been disassembled into atoms and then rapidly put together Floyd | again. Floyd | Floyd | Moor gnittis Floyd | Well, what do you call a perfect mirror image of a sitting room? Floyd | Superficially, this room looks exactly like its counterpart on the Floyd | other side of the mirror, except for the eerie fact that everything's Floyd | inverted, of course; there's an armchair, and a pipe rack, an empty Floyd | mirror frame on the south wall, and a wooden door leading west. Floyd | You see a small glass flask here. Floyd | Floyd | This room shouldn't be here at all. After all, you've seen your Floyd | uncle's house from the outside many times, and it simply isn't large Floyd | enough to accommodate one more room... Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x flask" | ||||
Floyd | This is a small glass flask, of the type often found in alchemistry Floyd | labs. It contains a quantity of greenish liquid. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "take it" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x rack" | ||||
Floyd | It looks exactly like its counterpart on the other side of the mirror. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x chair" | ||||
Floyd | It looks exactly as its counterpart on the other side of the mirror, Floyd | only inverted. For example, the large stain on the right armrest is on Floyd | the left one - or is it the other way round? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "sit on chair" | ||||
Floyd | The armchair isn't important. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x door" | ||||
Floyd | It's closed. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "open door" | ||||
Floyd | Opened. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | You are quite a bit surprised to find that the door leads not to a Floyd | mirror image of the hall, but to a narrow spiral staircase that leads Floyd | up a circular stairwell with stone walls, and through a hole in the Floyd | ceiling. Floyd | Floyd | Tower room Floyd | You are in a rather small, circular room that seems to be the top Floyd | floor of a high tower. Four large windows, one in each compass Floyd | direction, give you a panoramic view of a wild and marvellous Floyd | landscape: a mountain range of impossibly steep crags to the north; to Floyd | the west, the sea; to the south and east a wide, sandy desert. Far Floyd | away to the southwest, where the sea meets the desert, stands a Floyd | fantastic fairy-tale city of marble and shimmering gold, needle-sharp Floyd | spires and bulbous crystal domes. The scene is illuminated not by the Floyd | sun, but by cold starlight from a sky like black velvet studded with Floyd | diamonds; nameless stars in constellations you don't recognize. Floyd | Floyd | In the centre of the room is a narrow marble pedestal that supports Floyd | a curious mechanism. A spiral staircase leads down. Floyd | You see a scroll here. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "whoah" | |||
| inky says, "this looks like an endgame kinda area" | ||||
| DavidW says, "I'm not sure I was done with the reversed sitting room either. But let's see what's here." | ||||
| Emerald says (to Floyd), "x mechanism" | ||||
Floyd | This beautiful piece of intricate machinery seems to be a model of the Floyd | solar system. On a large disk of black marble, studded with silver Floyd | stars, the orbits of the planets are laid out as narrow tracks. The Floyd | planets are represented by small disks of precious stones that move, Floyd | ever so slowly, along their tracks, driven by some hidden clockwork. Floyd | In the centre of the disk is the sun: a golden ball, resting on a Floyd | small bronze stand. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "take ball" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "hmm" | |||
| DavidW asks, "oh. This is the 2nd portal, isn't it?" | ||||
| inky says, "there was -- yeah" | ||||
| Emerald says (to Floyd), "x ball" | ||||
Floyd | Which ball do you mean, the crystal ball, or the gold ball? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Emerald says (to Floyd), "gold" | ||||
Floyd | It's the size of a large marble - about a centimetre and a half in Floyd | diameter - and surprisingly heavy. Surely it can't be made of solid Floyd | gold? Floyd | Floyd | > | K-Y asks, "Isn't this usually called an orrery?" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x city" | ||||
Floyd | The city is too far away for you to see very much detail, but it Floyd | doesn't resemble any city you've ever seen. Despite its breathtaking Floyd | beauty, something about it seems wrong; it's brightly lit, yet seems Floyd | curiously devoid of life. If only you could get there to Floyd | investigate... Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x scroll" | ||||
Floyd | The scroll is a rolled-up piece of rather thick paper. To your Floyd | amazement, you notice that there's something written on it, and in Floyd | uncle Zebulon's handwriting (what a surprise!). Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "take it" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "yes, but not everyone knows that word." | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "read it" | ||||
Floyd | My dear nephew, Floyd | Floyd | I'm glad that you've discovered the way through the mirror, and into Floyd | my secret tower. It's here, in the realm you can see from the windows, Floyd | that I've spent most of my time the last few years, the time you and Floyd | your relatives thought I was just pent up inside my house. I may not Floyd | have collected much gold and belongings in your world, but in the world Floyd | of Vhyl and the city of Cyr-Dhool are treasures beyond belief and Floyd | adventures that surpass your wildest dreams. Floyd | Floyd | The portal to Vhyl is hidden, but I have no doubt that you will find Floyd | it. Once you've opened it, and passed the portal that's beyond it, Floyd | your true inheritance awaits you, at the end of a quest I shall never Floyd | have the time to finish. Your relatives have no doubt already removed Floyd | what little there is of value in my house; what they have left behind, Floyd | however, may be of more use to you. Floyd | Floyd | With hope of your success, Floyd | your affectionate uncle, Floyd | Zebulon Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "Vhyl and Cyr-Dhool, hunh" | |||
| DavidW asks, "Do those words mean something to you?" | ||||
| Jaybird says, "Waitaminute" | ||||
| Jaybird asks, "Did anyone try doing anything with the trapdoor in the real house?" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Jaybird), "no, not yet." | ||||
| Dave has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. | DavidW says, "As far as I know, we're not done with the house." | |||
| inky asks, "ok, si there more in this room?" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x pedestal" | ||||
Floyd | The pedestal is about a metre high and not very interesting; the Floyd | mechanism that's resting on top of it is, though. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "at least one more" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x stars" | ||||
Floyd | You don't recognize the constellations. You must be very far indeed Floyd | from home. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | The only way out is via the stairs. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" | ||||
Floyd | Moor gnittis Floyd | Well, what do you call a perfect mirror image of a sitting room? Floyd | Superficially, this room looks exactly like its counterpart on the Floyd | other side of the mirror, except for the eerie fact that everything's Floyd | inverted, of course; there's an armchair, and a pipe rack, an empty Floyd | mirror frame on the south wall, and a wooden door leading west. Floyd | Floyd | > | * Dave has left the channel. | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x rack" | ||||
Floyd | It looks exactly like its counterpart on the other side of the mirror. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "search armchair" | ||||
Floyd | The armchair isn't important. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | Tower room Floyd | You are in a rather small, circular room that seems to be the top Floyd | floor of a high tower. Four large windows, one in each compass Floyd | direction, give you a panoramic view of a wild and marvellous Floyd | landscape: a mountain range of impossibly steep crags to the north; to Floyd | the west, the sea; to the south and east a wide, sandy desert. Far Floyd | away to the southwest, where the sea meets the desert, stands a Floyd | fantastic fairy-tale city of marble and shimmering gold, needle-sharp Floyd | spires and bulbous crystal domes. The scene is illuminated not by the Floyd | sun, but by cold starlight from a sky like black velvet studded with Floyd | diamonds; nameless stars in constellations you don't recognize. Floyd | Floyd | In the centre of the room is a narrow marble pedestal that supports Floyd | a curious mechanism. A spiral staircase leads down. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | (Undoing one command) Floyd | Floyd | Moor gnittis Floyd | Well, what do you call a perfect mirror image of a sitting room? Floyd | Superficially, this room looks exactly like its counterpart on the Floyd | other side of the mirror, except for the eerie fact that everything's Floyd | inverted, of course; there's an armchair, and a pipe rack, an empty Floyd | mirror frame on the south wall, and a wooden door leading west. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | Feeling like Alice in Wonderland, you step through the empty mirror Floyd | frame. A curious wrenching sensation passes through your body, as if Floyd | you've been disassembled into atoms and then rapidly put together Floyd | again. Floyd | Floyd | Sitting room Floyd | After your relatives have gone over it, uncle Zebulon's sitting room Floyd | looks curiously empty. Most of the furniture has been removed. Of all Floyd | the things that used to give the room its atmosphere, just a few, Floyd | obviously not very valuable ones, remain: the old armchair where you Floyd | used to sit and watch uncle Zebulon entertain you with his magic (or Floyd | "conjuring tricks", as your down-to-earth parents preferred to call Floyd | it), your uncle's pipe rack, the large mirror on the north wall. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | Hall Floyd | Uncle Zeb's house isn't large enough to warrant a large entrance Floyd | hall, but at least there is this small room, with just enough space for Floyd | a coathanger and a narrow staircase up to a trapdoor in the ceiling. Floyd | Wooden doors lead north, east, west and south. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" | ||||
Floyd | (Opening the trapdoor) Floyd | Attic Floyd | You remember spending long hours as a child exploring the mysterious Floyd | treasures of uncle Zebulon's attic: looking through old sea-chests Floyd | full of exotic souvenirs from your uncle's travels, trying on curious Floyd | old clothes, hiding under strange pieces of furniture - and upsetting Floyd | your mother when returning home covered in dust and with cobwebs in Floyd | your hair. That was long ago, however; now, the attic just seems like Floyd | a depressingly untidy storage space full of old junk and devoid of any Floyd | mystery. Besides, it seems as if anything even remotely interesting or Floyd | valuable has been carried away. A trapdoor in the floor leads down. Floyd | You see a packing crate and an old brass plate here. Floyd | Floyd | As your head emerges through the trapdoor, you are greeted by a cloud Floyd | of dust that makes you sneeze. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Emerald says (to Floyd), "x crate" | ||||
Floyd | The packing crate is closed. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Emerald says (to Floyd), "open it" | ||||
Floyd | Opening the packing crate reveals some wood shavings. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Emerald says (to Floyd), "search shavings" | ||||
Floyd | You burrow through the wood shavings, raising a lot of dust in the Floyd | process, when your hand touches something hard. It seems you've found Floyd | a small teak box. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Emerald says (to Floyd), "get teak box" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Emerald says (to Floyd), "x it" | ||||
Floyd | This small box is made of exquisitely crafted teak wood, with a highly Floyd | polished surface. It is closed. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Emerald says (to Floyd), "open it" | ||||
Floyd | Opening the small teak box reveals a red glass lens. Floyd | Floyd | > | Emerald says, "the third lens" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x plate" | ||||
Floyd | It's an old, rather thin plate of Indian brass, slightly dented and Floyd | probably not worth very much. On the tarnished surface you can just Floyd | barely make out a rather clumsy depiction of a scorpion and some stars Floyd | - probably an astrological reference, since the following text is Floyd | engraved on the back side: Floyd | Floyd | GOLD The Sun, Ruler of the Daylit Sky Floyd | SILVER Luna, Mistress of the Night Floyd | MERCURY Wing-footed Messenger of the Gods Floyd | COPPER Venus, Carnal Love Floyd | IRON Mars, Blood-red Bringer of War Floyd | TIN Jupiter, Ruler of the Gods Floyd | LEAD Saturn, Lord of Time Itself Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Emerald says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | You have a blue bottle, a book, a sheet of writing paper, a green glass Floyd | lens, a crystal ball, a green bottle, a magic wand, a large carrot, a Floyd | small glass flask, a gold ball, a scroll, and a small teak box. The Floyd | blue bottle seems to contain a silver coin and a lead coin. The small Floyd | teak box seems to contain a red glass lens. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "ok, that plate is the hint what to gift the gods of Time, War and Love with. Something lead, something iron, and something copper." | |||
| inky says, "well, we have the lead coin, I guess" | ||||
| DavidW says, "And the lead coin has a trident, as appropriate for Saturn." | ||||
| inky says, "wily" | ||||
| DavidW says, "The silver coin has a crescent, appropriate for Luna." | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "take plate" | ||||
Floyd | You've already got your hands full. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x junk" | ||||
Floyd | The junk isn't important. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "I doubt we need the plate itself." | |||
| Jaybird says (to Floyd), "x liquid" | ||||
Floyd | The liquid is rather thick, faintly greenish, and has a decidedly Floyd | unpleasant smell. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "Unless it hides something under it." | |||
| Jaybird says (to Floyd), "move plate" | ||||
Floyd | Moving the old brass plate doesn't reveal anything. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "That liquid might be the acid that turns noble metals into base ones. Try putting the silver coin in it." | |||
| inky says, "I was wondering if the metal is useful for anything, but I guess it's brass" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "put silver in it" | ||||
Floyd | You can't put anything into the old brass plate. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "put silver in liquid" | ||||
Floyd | The silver coin falls into the greenish liquid, which begins to foam Floyd | and bubble with a hissing sound. Acrid green fumes billow out of the Floyd | flask, making your eyes water. The reaction doesn't stop until all the Floyd | liquid has boiled away. The silver coin seems to have grown darker and Floyd | duller. In fact, it doesn't look like silver at all any more, but more Floyd | like iron. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "props to DW" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "silver coin" | ||||
Floyd | There's no verb in that sentence! Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x iron coin" | ||||
Floyd | This coin, a Frobnizzian two-frob piece, is hexagonal and made of iron. Floyd | It bears the picture of a sword. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x silver coin" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any silver coin here. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "weird" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take iron coin" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky asks, "did it actually change its design and face value?" | |||
| DavidW says, "yes. :)" | ||||
| inky says, "that's some alchemy" | ||||
| Jaybird says, "I have an idea" | ||||
| Jaybird says, "But it involves going outside" | ||||
| DavidW says, "If there's a gold coin, it might turn into copper in the acid." | ||||
| Jaybird asks, "If we go out, can we get back in?" | ||||
| Jaybird says, "My idea is to put the two lenses we do have in the dog's other eyes" | ||||
| DavidW says, "We can go out if we drop everything, I bet." | ||||
| Jaybird says, "Since we at least at first couldn't take the third lense" | ||||
| inky says, "yeah, presumably it'll do something when you put all the lenses in" | ||||
| Jaybird says, "May be going down the wrong track" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Hologram is my guess." | ||||
| inky says, "but (I assume) we have to figure out the clever way to get stuff out of the house" | ||||
| inky asks, "we didn't see any windows, did we?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Filling a bottle with lenses seems like our only possibility so far." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | You have a blue bottle, a book, a sheet of writing paper, a green glass Floyd | lens, a crystal ball, a green bottle, a magic wand, a large carrot, a Floyd | small glass flask, a gold ball, a scroll, a small teak box, and an iron Floyd | coin. The blue bottle seems to contain a lead coin. The small teak Floyd | box seems to contain a red glass lens. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jaybird says, "Ok, so" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put green lens in box" | ||||
Floyd | Which box do you mean, the small teak box, or the packing crate? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "teak" | ||||
Floyd | Done. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x teak" | ||||
Floyd | This small box is made of exquisitely crafted teak wood, with a highly Floyd | polished surface. It is open. Inside it, you see a red glass lens and Floyd | a green glass lens. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jaybird says (to Floyd), "close box" | ||||
Floyd | Which box do you mean, the small teak box, or the packing crate? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jaybird says (to Floyd), "small" | ||||
Floyd | Closed. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" | ||||
Floyd | Hall Floyd | Uncle Zeb's house isn't large enough to warrant a large entrance Floyd | hall, but at least there is this small room, with just enough space for Floyd | a coathanger and a narrow staircase up to a trapdoor in the ceiling. Floyd | Wooden doors lead north, east, west and south. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "drop all but teak" | ||||
Floyd | blue bottle: Dropped. Floyd | book: Dropped. Floyd | sheet of writing paper: Dropped. Floyd | crystal ball: Dropped. Floyd | green bottle: Dropped. Floyd | magic wand: Dropped. Floyd | large carrot: Dropped. Floyd | small glass flask: Dropped. Floyd | gold ball: Dropped. Floyd | scroll: Dropped. Floyd | iron coin: Dropped. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "save" | ||||
Floyd | Enter data file to store: | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf2" | ||||
Floyd | Saved. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jaybird asks, "Ready?" | |||
| DavidW says, "go for it" | ||||
| Jaybird says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | Porch Floyd | On this rickety porch, uncle Zebulon used to spend the long summer Floyd | evenings, relaxing in his rocking chair and smoking his pipe. Your Floyd | parents used to sneer at his laziness; why couldn't he use all that Floyd | spare time to make his garden look a little more respectable? Floyd | The rocking chair is still there, right outside the front door of Floyd | the house. It is not occupied by uncle Zebulon, though, but by a Floyd | sneering, rather mean-looking demon. Floyd | You see a letter here. Floyd | The demon is reading a newspaper, occasionally keeping an eye on the Floyd | door. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "I guess you have to go one more" | |||
| Jaybird says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | The demon looks hard at what you're carrying. "Hey, there's something Floyd | hidden inside that small teak box! You're not trying to cheat, are Floyd | you?" With a scaly arm, he blocks your passage. "I'm only going to Floyd | let you carry one thing through this door!" Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "hee hee" | |||
| inky says, "I guess he's the kind of demon with x-ray vision" | ||||
| Jaybird says, "Ok" | ||||
| Jaybird says, "Does that mean" | ||||
| DavidW says, "try one of the bottles." | ||||
| Jaybird asks, "One thing for any number of trips, or one thing ever?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "one thing ever, but I have an idea." | ||||
| inky says, "hmm" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | The demon lets you past with a slightly amused sneer. Floyd | Floyd | Hall Floyd | Uncle Zeb's house isn't large enough to warrant a large entrance Floyd | hall, but at least there is this small room, with just enough space for Floyd | a coathanger and a narrow staircase up to a trapdoor in the ceiling. Floyd | Wooden doors lead north, east, west and south. Floyd | You see a blue bottle, a book, a sheet of writing paper, a crystal Floyd | ball, a green bottle, a magic wand, a large carrot, a small glass Floyd | flask, a gold ball, a scroll, and an iron coin here. The blue bottle Floyd | seems to contain a lead coin. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "empty blue bottle" | ||||
Floyd | You will have to remove things from the blue bottle one at a time. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take lead coin" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "green bottle" | ||||
Floyd | There's no verb in that sentence! Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x green bottle" | ||||
Floyd | This bottle has an unusually wide neck - almost two centimetres in Floyd | diameter - and is made of thick glass of a beautiful, sea-green colour. Floyd | You estimate that it will hold about half a litre of liquid. A neatly Floyd | handwritten label says 'FILL ME'. The bottle is empty. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "fill me, hunh" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "pour liquid into blue bottle" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any liquid here. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "(we used all the acid up on the coin)" | |||
| Emerald says, "there's the sink" | ||||
| DavidW says, "there's no acid left/" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "?" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x acid" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any acid here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x liquid" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any liquid here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open teak" | ||||
Floyd | Opening the small teak box reveals a red glass lens and a green glass Floyd | lens. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jaybird says, "Ah, the sink" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take red lens. take green lens" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jaybird says, "Which may contain a draim" | |||
| Jaybird says, "Into which we could put stuff" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put red lens in green bottle" | ||||
Floyd | As soon as it hits the bottom of the bottle, the red glass lens Floyd | vanishes with a popping sound. The bottle is now empty. A split Floyd | second later, you hear a pinging noise from the blue bottle. Floyd | Floyd | [Your score just went up 5 points] Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "oho" | |||
| inky says, "(the sink didn't have a drain, we checked)" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "The bottles are teleporters?" | ||||
| Jaybird exclaims, "Aha!" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look in blue bottle" | ||||
Floyd | This bottle has an unusually wide neck - almost two centimetres in Floyd | diameter - and is made of thick glass of a beautiful, deep blue colour. Floyd | You estimate that it will hold about half a litre of liquid. It seems Floyd | to contain a red glass lens. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jaybird says, "Take blue outside. Go in. Put stuff in green." | |||
| DavidW says, "yes" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take red lens" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "drop all but blue bottle" | ||||
Floyd | small teak box: Dropped. Floyd | lead coin: Dropped. Floyd | green glass lens: Dropped. Floyd | red glass lens: Dropped. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | Porch Floyd | On this rickety porch, uncle Zebulon used to spend the long summer Floyd | evenings, relaxing in his rocking chair and smoking his pipe. Your Floyd | parents used to sneer at his laziness; why couldn't he use all that Floyd | spare time to make his garden look a little more respectable? Floyd | The rocking chair is still there, right outside the front door of Floyd | the house. It is not occupied by uncle Zebulon, though, but by a Floyd | sneering, rather mean-looking demon. Floyd | You see a letter here. Floyd | The demon is picking his claws with a rather nasty-looking dagger. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | The demon gives you a penetrating glance, but lets you pass without Floyd | comment. Floyd | Floyd | Garden Floyd | You are standing just inside the gate of uncle Zebulon's garden, on Floyd | the weed-infested gravel path that leads east up to the porch of the Floyd | house. On the north side of the lawn, almost hidden behind the huge, Floyd | unkempt rosebushes, is the garden shed. The bright summer sun glistens Floyd | on the wet grass, and the air, fresh from the recent rain, is alive Floyd | with the buzzing of insects and filled with sweet fragrances. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | Shed Floyd | This shed was used by uncle Zebulon for his goldmaking: strange Floyd | experiments that could often be smelt from across town, even occasional Floyd | explosions. Your uncle spoke very little of his experiments, and never Floyd | showed any signs of making money out of them, yet people generally Floyd | assumed that they were successful and a source of great wealth. In all Floyd | other matters, your family regarded uncle Zebulon as a useless dreamer, Floyd | even an embarrassment, but they took a certain reluctant pride in his Floyd | reputation as a goldmaker. Floyd | Floyd | As a consequence of your relatives' frantic search for valuables, Floyd | the place is in an even greater mess than you remember. The workbench Floyd | has been cleared of the usual odds and ends, and all even remotely Floyd | useful tools or utensils have been removed. Large heaps of junk and Floyd | broken glass remain in the corners, and in the centre of the room is a Floyd | large, hideous statue of a three-eyed dog - probably some exotic idol Floyd | brought home from your uncle's travels. You can't remember ever seeing Floyd | it before. Floyd | On the bronze stand you see a scrap of paper. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "drop bottle" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any bottle here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | You are empty-handed. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | Garden Floyd | You are standing just inside the gate of uncle Zebulon's garden, on Floyd | the weed-infested gravel path that leads east up to the porch of the Floyd | house. On the north side of the lawn, almost hidden behind the huge, Floyd | unkempt rosebushes, is the garden shed. The bright summer sun glistens Floyd | on the wet grass, and the air, fresh from the recent rain, is alive Floyd | with the buzzing of insects and filled with sweet fragrances. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | Porch Floyd | On this rickety porch, uncle Zebulon used to spend the long summer Floyd | evenings, relaxing in his rocking chair and smoking his pipe. Your Floyd | parents used to sneer at his laziness; why couldn't he use all that Floyd | spare time to make his garden look a little more respectable? Floyd | The rocking chair is still there, right outside the front door of Floyd | the house. It is not occupied by uncle Zebulon, though, but by a Floyd | sneering, rather mean-looking demon. Floyd | You see a letter here. Floyd | The demon is picking his claws with a rather nasty-looking dagger. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | The demon lets you past with a slightly amused sneer. Floyd | Floyd | Hall Floyd | Uncle Zeb's house isn't large enough to warrant a large entrance Floyd | hall, but at least there is this small room, with just enough space for Floyd | a coathanger and a narrow staircase up to a trapdoor in the ceiling. Floyd | Wooden doors lead north, east, west and south. Floyd | You see a blue bottle, a book, a sheet of writing paper, a crystal Floyd | ball, a green bottle, a magic wand, a large carrot, a small glass Floyd | flask, a gold ball, a scroll, an iron coin, a small teak box, a lead Floyd | coin, a green glass lens, and a red glass lens here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take blue bottle" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | Porch Floyd | On this rickety porch, uncle Zebulon used to spend the long summer Floyd | evenings, relaxing in his rocking chair and smoking his pipe. Your Floyd | parents used to sneer at his laziness; why couldn't he use all that Floyd | spare time to make his garden look a little more respectable? Floyd | The rocking chair is still there, right outside the front door of Floyd | the house. It is not occupied by uncle Zebulon, though, but by a Floyd | sneering, rather mean-looking demon. Floyd | You see a letter here. Floyd | The demon is reading a newspaper, occasionally keeping an eye on the Floyd | door. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | The demon gives you an amused look. "So, you've made your choice, have Floyd | you?" Producing a clipboard out of thin air, he proceeds to tick off Floyd | your name. "Let's see... Richard: a blue bottle. Well, I suppose Floyd | that might prove useful some day. Or perhaps not. But who am I to Floyd | question your choice?" With an air of seriously doubting your Floyd | judgement, he lets you pass. "Have a nice day." Floyd | Floyd | Garden Floyd | You are standing just inside the gate of uncle Zebulon's garden, on Floyd | the weed-infested gravel path that leads east up to the porch of the Floyd | house. On the north side of the lawn, almost hidden behind the huge, Floyd | unkempt rosebushes, is the garden shed. The bright summer sun glistens Floyd | on the wet grass, and the air, fresh from the recent rain, is alive Floyd | with the buzzing of insects and filled with sweet fragrances. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | Shed Floyd | This shed was used by uncle Zebulon for his goldmaking: strange Floyd | experiments that could often be smelt from across town, even occasional Floyd | explosions. Your uncle spoke very little of his experiments, and never Floyd | showed any signs of making money out of them, yet people generally Floyd | assumed that they were successful and a source of great wealth. In all Floyd | other matters, your family regarded uncle Zebulon as a useless dreamer, Floyd | even an embarrassment, but they took a certain reluctant pride in his Floyd | reputation as a goldmaker. Floyd | Floyd | As a consequence of your relatives' frantic search for valuables, Floyd | the place is in an even greater mess than you remember. The workbench Floyd | has been cleared of the usual odds and ends, and all even remotely Floyd | useful tools or utensils have been removed. Large heaps of junk and Floyd | broken glass remain in the corners, and in the centre of the room is a Floyd | large, hideous statue of a three-eyed dog - probably some exotic idol Floyd | brought home from your uncle's travels. You can't remember ever seeing Floyd | it before. Floyd | On the bronze stand you see a scrap of paper. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "drop blue bottle" | ||||
Floyd | Dropped. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | Garden Floyd | You are standing just inside the gate of uncle Zebulon's garden, on Floyd | the weed-infested gravel path that leads east up to the porch of the Floyd | house. On the north side of the lawn, almost hidden behind the huge, Floyd | unkempt rosebushes, is the garden shed. The bright summer sun glistens Floyd | on the wet grass, and the air, fresh from the recent rain, is alive Floyd | with the buzzing of insects and filled with sweet fragrances. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | As you step onto the porch, the demon looks pointedly at you. "What? Floyd | Back already? Aren't you satisfied with your blue bottle? Remember Floyd | that you're not allowed to change your mind!" Floyd | Floyd | Porch Floyd | On this rickety porch, uncle Zebulon used to spend the long summer Floyd | evenings, relaxing in his rocking chair and smoking his pipe. Your Floyd | parents used to sneer at his laziness; why couldn't he use all that Floyd | spare time to make his garden look a little more respectable? Floyd | The rocking chair is still there, right outside the front door of Floyd | the house. It is not occupied by uncle Zebulon, though, but by a Floyd | sneering, rather mean-looking demon. Floyd | You see a letter here. Floyd | The demon is reading a newspaper, occasionally keeping an eye on the Floyd | door. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | The demon shrugs and lets you past. Floyd | Floyd | Hall Floyd | Uncle Zeb's house isn't large enough to warrant a large entrance Floyd | hall, but at least there is this small room, with just enough space for Floyd | a coathanger and a narrow staircase up to a trapdoor in the ceiling. Floyd | Wooden doors lead north, east, west and south. Floyd | You see a book, a sheet of writing paper, a crystal ball, a green Floyd | bottle, a magic wand, a large carrot, a small glass flask, a gold ball, Floyd | a scroll, an iron coin, a small teak box, a lead coin, a green glass Floyd | lens, and a red glass lens here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take red lens" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put it in green bottle" | ||||
Floyd | As soon as it hits the bottom of the bottle, the red glass lens Floyd | vanishes with a popping sound. The bottle is now empty. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take lens" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put it in bottle" | ||||
Floyd | Which bottle do you mean, the green bottle, or the small glass flask? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "green" | ||||
Floyd | As soon as it hits the bottom of the bottle, the green glass lens Floyd | vanishes with a popping sound. The bottle is now empty. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x flask" | ||||
Floyd | This is a small glass flask, of the type often found in alchemistry Floyd | labs. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in it" | ||||
Floyd | This is a small glass flask, of the type often found in alchemistry Floyd | labs. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | Porch Floyd | On this rickety porch, uncle Zebulon used to spend the long summer Floyd | evenings, relaxing in his rocking chair and smoking his pipe. Your Floyd | parents used to sneer at his laziness; why couldn't he use all that Floyd | spare time to make his garden look a little more respectable? Floyd | The rocking chair is still there, right outside the front door of Floyd | the house. It is not occupied by uncle Zebulon, though, but by a Floyd | sneering, rather mean-looking demon. Floyd | You see a letter here. Floyd | The demon is picking his claws with a rather nasty-looking dagger. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "(I guess that held the acid)" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | The demon gives you a penetrating glance, but lets you pass without Floyd | comment. Floyd | Floyd | Garden Floyd | You are standing just inside the gate of uncle Zebulon's garden, on Floyd | the weed-infested gravel path that leads east up to the porch of the Floyd | house. On the north side of the lawn, almost hidden behind the huge, Floyd | unkempt rosebushes, is the garden shed. The bright summer sun glistens Floyd | on the wet grass, and the air, fresh from the recent rain, is alive Floyd | with the buzzing of insects and filled with sweet fragrances. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | Shed Floyd | This shed was used by uncle Zebulon for his goldmaking: strange Floyd | experiments that could often be smelt from across town, even occasional Floyd | explosions. Your uncle spoke very little of his experiments, and never Floyd | showed any signs of making money out of them, yet people generally Floyd | assumed that they were successful and a source of great wealth. In all Floyd | other matters, your family regarded uncle Zebulon as a useless dreamer, Floyd | even an embarrassment, but they took a certain reluctant pride in his Floyd | reputation as a goldmaker. Floyd | Floyd | As a consequence of your relatives' frantic search for valuables, Floyd | the place is in an even greater mess than you remember. The workbench Floyd | has been cleared of the usual odds and ends, and all even remotely Floyd | useful tools or utensils have been removed. Large heaps of junk and Floyd | broken glass remain in the corners, and in the centre of the room is a Floyd | large, hideous statue of a three-eyed dog - probably some exotic idol Floyd | brought home from your uncle's travels. You can't remember ever seeing Floyd | it before. Floyd | You see a blue bottle here. On the bronze stand you see a scrap of Floyd | paper. The blue bottle seems to contain a red glass lens and a green Floyd | glass lens. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take red lens" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take green lens" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put red lens in dog" | ||||
Floyd | You can't put anything into the statue. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x dog" | ||||
Floyd | The statue is made of some dark, hard wood that must once have been Floyd | nicely polished but is now rather scratched and dented. It depicts a Floyd | huge, hideous dog - even though it's sitting on its haunches, it's Floyd | still taller than you are - that seems to be staring in a slightly Floyd | melancholy way at the workbench, as if lamenting the mess. It looks Floyd | very much out of place in this shed. Floyd | Apart from its general ugliness, one thing about the dog immediately Floyd | catches your attention: for some unfathomable reason, it has three Floyd | eyes - two in the normal places, and one in the centre of its forehead. Floyd | There is also something very strange about its ears. Floyd | Floyd | The centre eye socket contains a blue glass lens. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put red lens in left socket" | ||||
Floyd | As you move the red glass lens close to the statue's eye socket, you Floyd | notice that it seems attracted to it with a surprising force, like a Floyd | piece of iron to a magnet. It fits perfectly and stays put - in fact, Floyd | you doubt that you could remove it again. Floyd | Floyd | [Your score just went up 5 points] Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put green lens in right socket" | ||||
Floyd | As you move the green glass lens close to the statue's eye socket, you Floyd | notice that it seems attracted to it with a surprising force, like a Floyd | piece of iron to a magnet. It fits perfectly and stays put - in fact, Floyd | you doubt that you could remove it again. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn left ear" | ||||
Floyd | As you turn the ear there is a distinct click. A loud humming noise Floyd | comes from inside the statue, and a beam of blue light shoots out from Floyd | its centre eye, illuminating a circle in the centre of the workbench. Floyd | The blue beam is immediately joined by a red one from the dog's left Floyd | eye socket and a green one from the third eye, all focusing on the same Floyd | area. Floyd | Floyd | The beams flicker for a few moments, and then seem to gain in Floyd | brightness. To your great astonishment, a clear, sharp image of your Floyd | uncle Zebulon forms in the centre of the illuminated circle. This must Floyd | surely be some powerful magic at work! Floyd | Floyd | [Your score just went up 5 points] Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x image" | ||||
Floyd | The image on the workbench shows the smiling face of your uncle Floyd | Zebulon, crowned by the caption TEST PICTURE. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "touch image" | ||||
Floyd | Touching the image doesn't seem to have any effect. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Emerald says (to Floyd), "turn right ear" | ||||
Floyd | To your great astonishment, the image of your uncle disappears, and is Floyd | replaced by one of fishes in an aquarium. To your even greater Floyd | astonishment, the image comes to life, showing the fishes swimming back Floyd | and forth. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x fishes" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "fishes". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Emerald says (to Floyd), "x fishes" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "fishes". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x image" | ||||
Floyd | The image on the workbench shows colourful fish swimming placidly back Floyd | and forth in an aquarium. It's all very beautiful, but it strikes you Floyd | as being rather pointless. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "heh" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn right ear" | ||||
Floyd | The image changes into one of a lone adventurer, carrying a sword, a Floyd | brass lantern and a curious collection of sundry items, exploring a Floyd | great cave system of twisting passages all alike. You recognize the Floyd | scene as one from a popular historic novel called 'Zork'. Floyd | Floyd | > | Emerald says, "screensaver!" | |||
| K-Y says, "All this talk about being wily just makes me picture Uncle Zebulon as Dr. Light now" | ||||
| inky says, "hee hee" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "g" | ||||
Floyd | The image changes into one of a field of stars on a totally black sky. Floyd | Suddenly, a strange-looking contraption appears in the middle of the Floyd | image: it looks almost, but not quite, like a flattened ellipsoid Floyd | joined to a flashlight. The scene changes to what is apparently the Floyd | inside of the contraption, where people in ugly red and blue jumpsuits Floyd | are running around. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "I hope this is a hologram looking for obi wan kenobe" | |||
| DavidW says, "oh look. Star Trek." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "g" | ||||
Floyd | The image changes into one of again, a field of stars. This time, Floyd | however, nothing more happens. You recognize the constellation of Floyd | Gemini, with the twin stars Castor and Pollux. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x image" | ||||
Floyd | The image on the workbench shows again, a field of stars. This time, Floyd | however, nothing more happens. You recognize the constellation of Floyd | Gemini, with the twin stars Castor and Pollux. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn right ear" | ||||
Floyd | The image changes into one of a huge, purple, dinosaur (or, rather, an Floyd | actor dressed up in a shockingly ugly dinosaur suit) walking around Floyd | with an insipid smile on his face, surrounded by singing children. Floyd | Curiouser and curiouser, indeed! Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn right ear" | ||||
Floyd | The image changes into one of the full moon, shining like a giant Floyd | cheese in the middle of a dark, star-studded sky. The moon's image Floyd | falls just on the bronze stand on the workbench, illuminating the scrap Floyd | of paper. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "oooh" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s. e. e." | ||||
Floyd | Garden Floyd | You are standing just inside the gate of uncle Zebulon's garden, on Floyd | the weed-infested gravel path that leads east up to the porch of the Floyd | house. On the north side of the lawn, almost hidden behind the huge, Floyd | unkempt rosebushes, is the garden shed. The bright summer sun glistens Floyd | on the wet grass, and the air, fresh from the recent rain, is alive Floyd | with the buzzing of insects and filled with sweet fragrances. Floyd | Floyd | As you step onto the porch, the demon looks pointedly at you. "What? Floyd | Back already? Aren't you satisfied with your blue bottle? Remember Floyd | that you're not allowed to change your mind!" Floyd | Floyd | Porch Floyd | On this rickety porch, uncle Zebulon used to spend the long summer Floyd | evenings, relaxing in his rocking chair and smoking his pipe. Your Floyd | parents used to sneer at his laziness; why couldn't he use all that Floyd | spare time to make his garden look a little more respectable? Floyd | The rocking chair is still there, right outside the front door of Floyd | the house. It is not occupied by uncle Zebulon, though, but by a Floyd | sneering, rather mean-looking demon. Floyd | You see a letter here. Floyd | The demon is picking his claws with a rather nasty-looking dagger. Floyd | Floyd | The demon shrugs and lets you past. Floyd | Floyd | Hall Floyd | Uncle Zeb's house isn't large enough to warrant a large entrance Floyd | hall, but at least there is this small room, with just enough space for Floyd | a coathanger and a narrow staircase up to a trapdoor in the ceiling. Floyd | Wooden doors lead north, east, west and south. Floyd | You see a book, a sheet of writing paper, a crystal ball, a green Floyd | bottle, a magic wand, a large carrot, a small glass flask, a gold ball, Floyd | a scroll, an iron coin, a small teak box, and a lead coin here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take ball" | ||||
Floyd | Which ball do you mean, the crystal ball, or the gold ball? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "gold" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put gold ball in green bottle" | ||||
Floyd | As soon as it hits the bottom of the bottle, the gold ball vanishes Floyd | with a popping sound. The bottle is now empty. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w. w. n." | ||||
Floyd | Porch Floyd | On this rickety porch, uncle Zebulon used to spend the long summer Floyd | evenings, relaxing in his rocking chair and smoking his pipe. Your Floyd | parents used to sneer at his laziness; why couldn't he use all that Floyd | spare time to make his garden look a little more respectable? Floyd | The rocking chair is still there, right outside the front door of Floyd | the house. It is not occupied by uncle Zebulon, though, but by a Floyd | sneering, rather mean-looking demon. Floyd | You see a letter here. Floyd | The demon is picking his claws with a rather nasty-looking dagger. Floyd | Floyd | The demon gives you a penetrating glance, but lets you pass without Floyd | comment. Floyd | Floyd | Garden Floyd | You are standing just inside the gate of uncle Zebulon's garden, on Floyd | the weed-infested gravel path that leads east up to the porch of the Floyd | house. On the north side of the lawn, almost hidden behind the huge, Floyd | unkempt rosebushes, is the garden shed. The bright summer sun glistens Floyd | on the wet grass, and the air, fresh from the recent rain, is alive Floyd | with the buzzing of insects and filled with sweet fragrances. Floyd | Floyd | Shed Floyd | This shed was used by uncle Zebulon for his goldmaking: strange Floyd | experiments that could often be smelt from across town, even occasional Floyd | explosions. Your uncle spoke very little of his experiments, and never Floyd | showed any signs of making money out of them, yet people generally Floyd | assumed that they were successful and a source of great wealth. In all Floyd | other matters, your family regarded uncle Zebulon as a useless dreamer, Floyd | even an embarrassment, but they took a certain reluctant pride in his Floyd | reputation as a goldmaker. Floyd | Floyd | As a consequence of your relatives' frantic search for valuables, Floyd | the place is in an even greater mess than you remember. The workbench Floyd | has been cleared of the usual odds and ends, and all even remotely Floyd | useful tools or utensils have been removed. Large heaps of junk and Floyd | broken glass remain in the corners, and in the centre of the room is a Floyd | large, hideous statue of a three-eyed dog - probably some exotic idol Floyd | brought home from your uncle's travels. You can't remember ever seeing Floyd | it before. Powerful beams of coloured light emerge from the statue's Floyd | eyes, forming an image on the workbench. Floyd | You see a blue bottle here. On the bronze stand you see a scrap of Floyd | paper. The blue bottle seems to contain a gold ball. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take ball" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take scrap" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put ball on workbench" | ||||
Floyd | Done. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x light" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "light". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x image" | ||||
Floyd | The image on the workbench shows the full moon, shining like a giant Floyd | cheese in the middle of a dark, star-studded sky. The moon's image Floyd | falls just on the bronze stand on the workbench. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take ball" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put ball on stand" | ||||
Floyd | You place the gold ball right in the middle of the image of the moon, Floyd | whose light reflects off it with a weird glitter. Floyd | Floyd | You notice a sudden, cold draught, and a gust of wind slams the door Floyd | shut. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "oops. Might've done that too soon." | |||
| inky says, "enh, let's just see what happens" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open door" | ||||
Floyd | Opened. Floyd | Floyd | The light from the image of the moon seems to have a strange effect on Floyd | the gold ball: it's almost as if it had started to glow by itself. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "or I guess you could undo and save" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | You start moving towards the door, but the strange things happening to Floyd | the gold ball are too hard to ignore. Floyd | Floyd | The gold ball is most definitely glowing, with a warm, golden, slightly Floyd | pulsating light. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "close door" | ||||
Floyd | Closed. Floyd | Floyd | The light from the gold ball has reached an almost painful intensity, Floyd | and continues to grow stronger and stronger. Suddenly, there's a small Floyd | explosion, and you're temporarily blinded. When you can see again, the Floyd | dog has stopped shining, the gold ball is gone, and in the centre of Floyd | the workbench there's a large hole. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | [Your score just went up 15 points] Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x hole" | ||||
Floyd | The hole is almost a metre in diameter and seems very deep. Inside is Floyd | just darkness; you try to look down into it but can't see a thing. Floyd | What's even stranger is that the hole doesn't extend through the Floyd | workbench - the lower surface of the workbench is intact. You've read Floyd | of gateways into other universes, but only in fantasy books. For a Floyd | moment, you get a crazy notion that you should enter the hole to see Floyd | where it leads... Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "We should get the coins first, I think." | |||
| inky says, "yeah, probably" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "or go down and see if we can return?" | ||||
| inky says, "sure" | ||||
| Jaybird asks, "SAvce?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "yeah" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "cf3" | ||||
Floyd | Enter data file to store: Floyd | Saved. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" | ||||
Floyd | As you enter the hole, you are engulfed by total darkness. For what Floyd | seems like an eternity, you sink through a dark void, until, finally, Floyd | your feet touch solid ground. The darkness is replaced by greyish Floyd | light, and you find yourself in a strange place... Floyd | Floyd | Plain Floyd | Around you, a seemingly limitless expanse of flat, greyish ground, Floyd | stretching away in all directions, uninterrupted by any mountains or Floyd | even hills, unadorned by any tree, flower or even a blade of grass. Floyd | Above you, the uniformly overcast sky, like the inside of a perfect Floyd | leaden bowl, merging with the plain at the curiously indistinct Floyd | horizon, a horizon that could be a mile away or a million. The air is Floyd | still and dry, almost dead, with a faint smell of timeless dust. Not Floyd | even the faintest breath of wind breaks the absolute silence. Nothing Floyd | moves, nothing changes, nothing happens. Floyd | In front of you, seemingly in the exact centre of this dismal world, Floyd | is a perfectly round, marble basin, filled with still, clear water. In Floyd | the centre of the basin three colossal Greek statues stand looking out Floyd | over the plain with their unseeing eyes, backs together, faces forever Floyd | fixed in expressions of serene detachment. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x statues" | ||||
Floyd | The three statues stand with their backs together, forever looking out Floyd | over the desolate plain with unseeing eyes. Letters chiseled into the Floyd | pedestal give their names: Venus, with robes flowing in an imagined Floyd | breeze, long hair held together by a copper circlet; Mars, stony-faced, Floyd | muscular, dressed in armour, an iron spear in his hand; Saturn, older Floyd | than time, grim-faced under a dull leaden crown. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "There's the metal hint again." | |||
| inky says, "oh, sure enough" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x basin" | ||||
Floyd | The basin is about ten metres across and is filled with crystal clear Floyd | water. At its centre there is a low pedestal with three marble Floyd | statues. The surface of the water is perfectly still, like a sheet of Floyd | glass through which you can see a gold coin resting on the bottom. Floyd | There is an inscription on the rim of the basin. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read it" | ||||
Floyd | "IN THIS BASIN, O STRANGER, IS BOTH OBLIVION AND ADVENTURE; DRINK MY Floyd | WATER AND THY QUEST SHALL END IN SAFETY; SACRIFICE AND THOU SHALT Floyd | CONQUER." Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "we saw a thing in the crystal ball with a girl throwing coins in the basin, I think" | |||
| DavidW says, "yeah, this is where the coins go, I'm sure." | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "drink water" | ||||
Floyd | You scoop up some water in your hand and drink it. It's quite Floyd | tasteless. After a short while, your head starts to spin. Reeling, Floyd | you grasp for support, but find yourself sinking through an endless, Floyd | grey void, recalling the last day's happenings backwards, realizing Floyd | that your memories are being erased... Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | You regain consciousness to find yourself walking the road home from Floyd | uncle Zebulon's house. Just as you suspected, there was nothing worth Floyd | having in the house; your parents were right after all, and your uncle Floyd | was just an ordinary old man with a vivid imagination. Floyd | Floyd | After attending your uncle's funeral, you go back to college and Floyd | complete your education as an accountant, embarking on a successful and Floyd | satisfying career. Sometimes, your thoughts go flashing back to uncle Floyd | Zebulon, and you have a nagging sense that you've missed something Floyd | important. Those feelings soon pass; after all, you have more Floyd | important things to deal with. Floyd | Floyd | ***** You have failed ***** Floyd | Floyd | In a total of 236 turns, you have achieved a score of 50 points out of Floyd | a possible 75, and visited 11 locations out of 12. 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: > | inky says, "oops" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | (Undoing one command) Floyd | Floyd | Plain Floyd | Around you, a seemingly limitless expanse of flat, greyish ground, Floyd | stretching away in all directions, uninterrupted by any mountains or Floyd | even hills, unadorned by any tree, flower or even a blade of grass. Floyd | Above you, the uniformly overcast sky, like the inside of a perfect Floyd | leaden bowl, merging with the plain at the curiously indistinct Floyd | horizon, a horizon that could be a mile away or a million. The air is Floyd | still and dry, almost dead, with a faint smell of timeless dust. Not Floyd | even the faintest breath of wind breaks the absolute silence. Nothing Floyd | moves, nothing changes, nothing happens. Floyd | In front of you, seemingly in the exact centre of this dismal world, Floyd | is a perfectly round, marble basin, filled with still, clear water. In Floyd | the centre of the basin three colossal Greek statues stand looking out Floyd | over the plain with their unseeing eyes, backs together, faces forever Floyd | fixed in expressions of serene detachment. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "Safe but FAILURE" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" | ||||
Floyd | There doesn't seem to be anywhere to go in this place. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get gold coin" | ||||
Floyd | An invisible force prevents you from touching the water. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x sky" | ||||
Floyd | The sky is uniformly grey, like the inside of a great leaden bowl. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jaybird says, "So, restore. Go in. Put coins in bottle. Go out. Get in here. Put coins in water." | |||
| inky says, "yeah" | ||||
| inky says, "this gold coin is not what we're supposed to put in" | ||||
| inky says, "but hopefully it is still the third coin" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "what gold coin?" | ||||
| Emerald says, "but we need a copper coin" | ||||
| inky says (to DW), "in the basin already" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x basin" | ||||
Floyd | The basin is about ten metres across and is filled with crystal clear Floyd | water. At its centre there is a low pedestal with three marble Floyd | statues. The surface of the water is perfectly still, like a sheet of Floyd | glass through which you can see a gold coin resting on the bottom. Floyd | There is an inscription on the rim of the basin. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x gold coin" | ||||
Floyd | Through the clear water, you can see it shimmering on the bottom of the Floyd | basin. Have there been other visitors before you to this place? Has Floyd | somebody thrown in the coin to have a wish granted? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take coin" | ||||
Floyd | An invisible force prevents you from touching the water. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "wish" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "wish". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "enter basin" | ||||
Floyd | An invisible force stops you from entering the water. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "I wonder how we drink it if we can't go in" | |||
| DavidW asks, "hm. And we're out of acid, you say?" | ||||
| inky says, "yeah" | ||||
| inky says, "my theory is the copper coin turns into a gold one when it goes in the basin" | ||||
| DavidW says, "I suspect we need to turn the gold one into the copper one, then return it." | ||||
| inky says, "could be, could be" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "restore" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to load: | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf3" | ||||
Floyd | Restored. Floyd | Floyd | Shed Floyd | This shed was used by uncle Zebulon for his goldmaking: strange Floyd | experiments that could often be smelt from across town, even occasional Floyd | explosions. Your uncle spoke very little of his experiments, and never Floyd | showed any signs of making money out of them, yet people generally Floyd | assumed that they were successful and a source of great wealth. In all Floyd | other matters, your family regarded uncle Zebulon as a useless dreamer, Floyd | even an embarrassment, but they took a certain reluctant pride in his Floyd | reputation as a goldmaker. Floyd | Floyd | As a consequence of your relatives' frantic search for valuables, Floyd | the place is in an even greater mess than you remember. The workbench Floyd | has been cleared of the usual odds and ends, and all even remotely Floyd | useful tools or utensils have been removed. Large heaps of junk and Floyd | broken glass remain in the corners, and in the centre of the room is a Floyd | large, hideous statue of a three-eyed dog - probably some exotic idol Floyd | brought home from your uncle's travels. You can't remember ever seeing Floyd | it before. Floyd | Floyd | There is a mysterious dark hole in the middle of the workbench. Floyd | You see a blue bottle here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s. e. e." | ||||
Floyd | (Opening the door) Floyd | Garden Floyd | You are standing just inside the gate of uncle Zebulon's garden, on Floyd | the weed-infested gravel path that leads east up to the porch of the Floyd | house. On the north side of the lawn, almost hidden behind the huge, Floyd | unkempt rosebushes, is the garden shed. The bright summer sun glistens Floyd | on the wet grass, and the air, fresh from the recent rain, is alive Floyd | with the buzzing of insects and filled with sweet fragrances. Floyd | Floyd | As you step onto the porch, the demon looks pointedly at you. "What? Floyd | Back already? Aren't you satisfied with your blue bottle? Remember Floyd | that you're not allowed to change your mind!" Floyd | Floyd | Porch Floyd | On this rickety porch, uncle Zebulon used to spend the long summer Floyd | evenings, relaxing in his rocking chair and smoking his pipe. Your Floyd | parents used to sneer at his laziness; why couldn't he use all that Floyd | spare time to make his garden look a little more respectable? Floyd | The rocking chair is still there, right outside the front door of Floyd | the house. It is not occupied by uncle Zebulon, though, but by a Floyd | sneering, rather mean-looking demon. Floyd | You see a letter here. Floyd | The demon is picking his claws with a rather nasty-looking dagger. Floyd | Floyd | The demon shrugs and lets you past. Floyd | Floyd | Hall Floyd | Uncle Zeb's house isn't large enough to warrant a large entrance Floyd | hall, but at least there is this small room, with just enough space for Floyd | a coathanger and a narrow staircase up to a trapdoor in the ceiling. Floyd | Wooden doors lead north, east, west and south. Floyd | You see a book, a sheet of writing paper, a crystal ball, a green Floyd | bottle, a magic wand, a large carrot, a small glass flask, a scroll, an Floyd | iron coin, a small teak box, and a lead coin here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take lead coin" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put it in green bottle" | ||||
Floyd | As soon as it hits the bottom of the bottle, the lead coin vanishes Floyd | with a popping sound. The bottle is now empty. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take wand" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put it in green bottle" | ||||
Floyd | That's too large to fit in the green bottle. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "drop wand" | ||||
Floyd | Dropped. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take coin" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put coin in green bottle" | ||||
Floyd | As soon as it hits the bottom of the bottle, the iron coin vanishes Floyd | with a popping sound. The bottle is now empty. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Hall Floyd | Uncle Zeb's house isn't large enough to warrant a large entrance Floyd | hall, but at least there is this small room, with just enough space for Floyd | a coathanger and a narrow staircase up to a trapdoor in the ceiling. Floyd | Wooden doors lead north, east, west and south. Floyd | You see a book, a sheet of writing paper, a crystal ball, a green Floyd | bottle, a large carrot, a small glass flask, a scroll, a small teak Floyd | box, and a magic wand here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x coathanger" | ||||
Floyd | The coat hanger isn't important. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jaybird says, "Ok" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take wand" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "point wand at carrot" | ||||
Floyd | The wand sputters, emitting a stream of brilliantly shining stars. The Floyd | stars collect in a cloud around the carrot, which starts to undergo a Floyd | curious transformation, growing smaller and rounder and redder and... Floyd | When the stars gradually fade away, you see that the carrot has turned Floyd | into a big, succulent tomato. Amazing - you must have found a wand of Floyd | Vegetable Polymorphism! Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take tomato" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "eat it" | ||||
Floyd | The tomato is just as delicious as it looks. As you take the last bite Floyd | out of it, you feel something hard between your teeth. Surprised, you Floyd | remove a copper coin from your mouth. How on earth did that get into Floyd | the tomato? Floyd | Floyd | [Your score just went up 5 points] Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x copper coin" | ||||
Floyd | Even though it's from Frobnizzia, a country that's renowned for its Floyd | curious currency, there's nothing remarkable whatsoever about this coin Floyd | (in fact, it's remarkable for being the only non-remarkable Frobnizzian Floyd | coin). It's small, round, made of copper, and bears the picture of a Floyd | heart. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "aha!" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put coin in green bottle" | ||||
Floyd | As soon as it hits the bottom of the bottle, the copper coin vanishes Floyd | with a popping sound. The bottle is now empty. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "drop all" | ||||
Floyd | scrap of paper: Dropped. Floyd | magic wand: Dropped. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | Porch Floyd | On this rickety porch, uncle Zebulon used to spend the long summer Floyd | evenings, relaxing in his rocking chair and smoking his pipe. Your Floyd | parents used to sneer at his laziness; why couldn't he use all that Floyd | spare time to make his garden look a little more respectable? Floyd | The rocking chair is still there, right outside the front door of Floyd | the house. It is not occupied by uncle Zebulon, though, but by a Floyd | sneering, rather mean-looking demon. Floyd | You see a letter here. Floyd | The demon is picking his claws with a rather nasty-looking dagger. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | The demon gives you a penetrating glance, but lets you pass without Floyd | comment. Floyd | Floyd | Garden Floyd | You are standing just inside the gate of uncle Zebulon's garden, on Floyd | the weed-infested gravel path that leads east up to the porch of the Floyd | house. On the north side of the lawn, almost hidden behind the huge, Floyd | unkempt rosebushes, is the garden shed. The bright summer sun glistens Floyd | on the wet grass, and the air, fresh from the recent rain, is alive Floyd | with the buzzing of insects and filled with sweet fragrances. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | Shed Floyd | This shed was used by uncle Zebulon for his goldmaking: strange Floyd | experiments that could often be smelt from across town, even occasional Floyd | explosions. Your uncle spoke very little of his experiments, and never Floyd | showed any signs of making money out of them, yet people generally Floyd | assumed that they were successful and a source of great wealth. In all Floyd | other matters, your family regarded uncle Zebulon as a useless dreamer, Floyd | even an embarrassment, but they took a certain reluctant pride in his Floyd | reputation as a goldmaker. Floyd | Floyd | As a consequence of your relatives' frantic search for valuables, Floyd | the place is in an even greater mess than you remember. The workbench Floyd | has been cleared of the usual odds and ends, and all even remotely Floyd | useful tools or utensils have been removed. Large heaps of junk and Floyd | broken glass remain in the corners, and in the centre of the room is a Floyd | large, hideous statue of a three-eyed dog - probably some exotic idol Floyd | brought home from your uncle's travels. You can't remember ever seeing Floyd | it before. Floyd | Floyd | There is a mysterious dark hole in the middle of the workbench. Floyd | You see a blue bottle here. The blue bottle seems to contain a lead Floyd | coin, an iron coin, and a copper coin. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take lead" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take iron" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take copper" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "save" | ||||
Floyd | Enter data file to store: | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf4" | ||||
Floyd | Saved. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" | ||||
Floyd | As you enter the hole, you are engulfed by total darkness. For what Floyd | seems like an eternity, you sink through a dark void, until, finally, Floyd | your feet touch solid ground. The darkness is replaced by greyish Floyd | light, and you find yourself in a strange place... Floyd | Floyd | Plain Floyd | Around you, a seemingly limitless expanse of flat, greyish ground, Floyd | stretching away in all directions, uninterrupted by any mountains or Floyd | even hills, unadorned by any tree, flower or even a blade of grass. Floyd | Above you, the uniformly overcast sky, like the inside of a perfect Floyd | leaden bowl, merging with the plain at the curiously indistinct Floyd | horizon, a horizon that could be a mile away or a million. The air is Floyd | still and dry, almost dead, with a faint smell of timeless dust. Not Floyd | even the faintest breath of wind breaks the absolute silence. Nothing Floyd | moves, nothing changes, nothing happens. Floyd | In front of you, seemingly in the exact centre of this dismal world, Floyd | is a perfectly round, marble basin, filled with still, clear water. In Floyd | the centre of the basin three colossal Greek statues stand looking out Floyd | over the plain with their unseeing eyes, backs together, faces forever Floyd | fixed in expressions of serene detachment. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put lead in basin" | ||||
Floyd | The lead coin falls into the water with a faint splash and sinks to the Floyd | bottom. Floyd | Floyd | As soon as the coin has come to rest on the bottom, something Floyd | strange happens: the statue of Saturn comes to life. The marble seems Floyd | to soften somewhat; the aged head turns towards you, and Saturn speaks Floyd | in a deep, hoarse voice. "Welcome, stranger, to the Portal between Floyd | Worlds. A long way hast thou come, and yet the way that lies before Floyd | thee is even longer." Floyd | He makes a gesture with one hand, and a sound like a whisper is Floyd | heard; a faint breeze sets the still air in motion, carrying a smell of Floyd | salt to your nostrils. For a moment you imagine hearing booming surf Floyd | in the distance. Floyd | Floyd | [Your score just went up 10 points] Floyd | Floyd | The statue returns to its previous form, flesh hardening into stone Floyd | again, the colour draining away. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put iron in basin" | ||||
Floyd | The iron coin falls into the water with a faint splash and sinks to the Floyd | bottom. Floyd | Floyd | The statue of Mars comes to life with a clanging of armour. Mars' Floyd | gaze remains as hard as before as he looks at you, saying in an Floyd | incredibly powerful voice: "Thou hast come to claim thy inheritance, Floyd | and claim it thou shalt; but know that thy quest has barely begun." Floyd | Raising both arms towards the leaden sky, he brings them down again Floyd | in a motion that somehow seems to tear the sky down as a curtain. The Floyd | leaden overcast is gone, replaced by a glorious night sky, sprinkled Floyd | with thousands of stars bright enough to read by. Floyd | Floyd | The statue returns to its previous form, flesh hardening into stone Floyd | again, the colour draining away. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put copper in basin" | ||||
Floyd | The copper coin falls into the water with a faint splash and sinks to Floyd | the bottom. Floyd | Floyd | The statue of Venus undergoes a startling transformation: hard, Floyd | white marble turning into soft, pale-olive flesh, frozen stone hair Floyd | starting to flow like a waterfall, white, unseeing eyes suddenly filled Floyd | with life. "The end of the beginning has come. The land of Vhyl Floyd | awaits thee!" Floyd | She makes a sweeping gesture with one arm. Around you, the plain Floyd | starts to fade away, as when a painting is washed from a glass pane. Floyd | Gradually, another landscape takes shape in front of your eyes: the Floyd | greyish plain is replaced by sand dunes, the featureless horizon Floyd | becomes dotted with palms... Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | [ Press any key to continue ] Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Desert Floyd | You find yourself standing on a desert road under a magnificent, Floyd | star-studded night sky. Your hair is ruffled by a cold wind that Floyd | smells of sand and salt; in the distance you hear the booming sound of Floyd | surf. You recognize the view from uncle Zebulon's tower. Not a trace Floyd | remains of your previous surroundings. Floyd | Floyd | You let your gaze wander around the distant horizon, where palm Floyd | trees are outlined against the starry sky. It is drawn to the Floyd | silhouette of the fabulous city of Cyr-Dhool, a dreamlike mirage at the Floyd | far end of a narrow road that winds across the desert of Noori. Drawn Floyd | by a strong feeling that your inheritance awaits you inside the city, Floyd | you start walking along the road, through the strange country of Vhyl. Floyd | Floyd | You walk for an hour or so, feeling the cold, invigorating breeze Floyd | against your face, letting the dry smells of the desert and the salty Floyd | tang of the distant sea fill your nostrils. In front of you, now and Floyd | then obscured by intervening dunes, steadily growing larger, you see Floyd | the city of Cyr-Dhool, its many spires and cupolas glittering in the Floyd | starlight like some gigantic piece of jewelry. As you get closer, you Floyd | begin to wonder about the total stillness of Cyr-Dhool; not a single Floyd | light shows in its windows, not a single movement is seen. Yet the Floyd | city somehow doesn't seem dead, but rather asleep. Floyd | Floyd | Finally, you reach the end of the road, in an open place just in Floyd | front of the city's gates. The polished marble walls tower above you, Floyd | gleaming coolly with reflected starlight. Not a single sentry hails Floyd | you. As you approach the tall bronze gates, they swing open to leave Floyd | the passage open into a broad, empty street. With a feeling of elation Floyd | you enter the city to claim your inheritance. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | [Your score just went up 10 points] Floyd | Floyd | And thus ends the story of uncle Zebulon's will. Many adventures Floyd | await you in the city of Cyr-Dhool, but they belong to a different Floyd | game. Floyd | Floyd | ***** You have won ***** Floyd | Floyd | In a total of 260 turns, you have achieved a score of 75 points out of Floyd | a possible 75, and visited 12 locations out of 12. 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: > | inky says, "hooray" | |||
| DavidW asks, "ooh. Was there ever a sequel?" | ||||
| inky says, "I'm afraid not" | ||||
| DavidW says, "aw. shame." | ||||
| K-Y says, "sigh" | ||||
| DavidW says, "but yay us!" | ||||
| inky says, "my recollection is that Aayela may have been somehow related" | ||||
| inky says, "also, 90 minutes, not bad" | ||||
| inky says, "I am struck anew by how well-sized this was for a comp game" | ||||
| DavidW says, "The games of that era had good craftsmanship." | ||||
| DavidW says, "It's weird to be finished this early, though, isn't it. :)" | ||||
| inky says, "we can spend the rest of the afternoon whooping it up" | ||||
| Emerald says, "the author hasn't written a game for years" | ||||
| Emerald says, "that's a shame" | ||||
| Fyrion asks, "which author?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Magnus Olsson" | ||||
| DavidW | Aayela, Atomia Akorny, The Dungeons of Dunjin, Uncle Zebulon's Will, and Zugzwang | ||||
| K-Y has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. | inky says, "hmm, I don't know what the second one is" | |||
| DavidW says, "I know Aayela, but not the others." | ||||
| Emerald says (to DavidW), "same" | ||||
| inky says, "zugzwang was a textfire game" | ||||
| inky says, "where you play a pawn" | ||||
| K-Y says, "Dunjin is really old, coded from scratch" | ||||
| inky says, "dungeons of dunjin was something he wrote way back in the day in pascal or something" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Atomia Akorny's page on Baf's sez it's similar. Old and primitive and difficult to solve without the source code." | ||||
| DavidW says, "Unless there's something really quick to play, we might be done." | ||||
| inky says, "well, zugzwang would be really quick" | ||||
| inky says, "if you want another thing by him" | ||||
| Fyrion has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. | DavidW asks, "hm, does it use ascii graphics?" | |||
| inky says, "I don't think so, but I don't actually remember" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "quit" | ||||
Floyd | | ||||
| Floyd asks, "That game over already? It was just getting good. Wanna play another?" | K-Y says, "There was a board in the status line" | |||
| K-Y says, "Not that we get those" | ||||
| inky says, "oh, heh" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "oh. That makes it impractical, doesn't it?" | ||||
| K-Y says, "I don't think it was strictly necessary" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "load zugzwang" | ||||
Floyd | Welcome to the Cheap Glk Implementation, library version 0.9.0. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | It has been a fierce battle, full of bold moves, daring attacks, Floyd | surprising gambits and heroic sacrifices. Throughout this, you've Floyd | remained at your starting point, patiently waiting for orders. But now Floyd | that the metaphorical dust has settled and most pieces have been Floyd | exchanged, it finally looks as if it is your turn. The White King and Floyd | one of your Pawn colleagues have managed to nail the Black King with Floyd | his back to the edge of the board, but they can't finish him off Floyd | without help. Floyd | Floyd | The White King calls you to action. It is time to make your move. Floyd | Floyd | Zugzwang Floyd | The Interactive Life of a Chess Piece Floyd | DEMO version for the TextFire 12-PACK Floyd | (Type "about" for more information) Floyd | Copyright (c) 1998 by TextFire, Inc. All rights reserved. Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 980228 / Inform v6.14 Library 6/7 Floyd | Floyd | Chessboard (on f2) Floyd | The chessboard is almost empty, now that most pieces have been Floyd | exchanged. Its surface is perfectly smooth, its 64 squares Floyd | alternatingly deep black and pearly white. Floyd | Floyd | > | K-Y says, "Just hinting at the 'potential' of the fully-implemented scenario" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x board" | ||||
Floyd | The chessboard is almost empty, now that most pieces have been Floyd | exchanged. Its surface is perfectly smooth, its 64 squares Floyd | alternatingly deep black and pearly white. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x me" | ||||
Floyd | You see nothing special about yourself. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "about" | ||||
Floyd | The demo version of Zugzwang was written by Alfred Timpson for Floyd | TextFire, Inc. Floyd | Floyd | About the author: Floyd | Floyd | Alfred Timpson was born in Dundee, Scotland, but spent most of his Floyd | childhood in Piedmont, California. He later moved back to Britain, got Floyd | a degree in geography from Durham University, and is now living in Floyd | Edinburgh, working as a freelance writer. A recent high school reunion Floyd | brought him back into contact with the founders of TextFire. Apart from Floyd | computer games, his hobbies include chess, ornithology, hang gliding Floyd | and trainspotting. Floyd | Floyd | About TextFire: Floyd | Floyd | TextFire, Inc. is a partnership of authors formed for the purpose of Floyd | providing quality works of interactive fiction to a worldwide community Floyd | of players, hobbyists, and enthusiasts. Help support our efforts to Floyd | keep interactive fiction alive! Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x white king" | ||||
Floyd | You see nothing special about the White King. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x pawn" | ||||
Floyd | Which do you mean, the White Pawn or the Black Pawn? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "white" | ||||
Floyd | You see nothing special about the White Pawn. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x layout" | ||||
Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "Without seeing the board, this is kinda difficult." | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | On your first move, you may choose to move two steps forwards instead Floyd | of just one. Would you like to do that? | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "no" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Chessboard (on f3) Floyd | Floyd | The Black King scratches his head. "Hmmm. A difficult position - I Floyd | might have to sacrifice my last pawn. Let's see..." Floyd | Floyd | [Your score has just gone up by five points.] Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| K-Y arrives, full of fun, but no funk. | inky says, "oh, it says we're on f2" | |||
| DavidW asks, "But where's all the other pieces?" | ||||
| Emerald asks, "does it always start with the same endgame problem?" | ||||
| inky says, "yeah, the game always has the same setup" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Emerald), "I think so. It's a joke game, sorta." | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | The Black King sighs. "It looks like we don't have much choice. Pawn, Floyd | one step forward!" His sole remaining subject moves one square to the Floyd | south, to g4. Floyd | Floyd | > | K-Y says, "It's just like how none of the other Textfyre games could actually implement their concepts in full" | |||
| inky says, "ok, he's on g4, we're on f3" | ||||
| inky has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. | ||||
| inky arrives, full of fun and funk. | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "ne" | ||||
Floyd | With a faint popping sound the Black Pawn vanishes from the board. Floyd | Floyd | Chessboard (on g4) Floyd | Floyd | The White King cries out in frustration: "You fool! You weren't Floyd | supposed to do that!" Floyd | Floyd | The Black King, however, can't hide his pleasure. "I haven't got any Floyd | legal moves left. It's a stalemate!" He pats the White King on the Floyd | shoulder. "Seems like you don't win after all, old chap." Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | *** You have thrown away the victory *** Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | In that game you scored 5 out of a possible 450, in 8 turns, earning Floyd | you the rank of Pawn Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, UNDO your last move or Floyd | QUIT? Floyd | > | inky says, "whoops!" | |||
| inky says, "this is why I always lose at chess" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | Chessboard (on f3) Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Chessboard (on f4) Floyd | Floyd | The Black Pawn looks a bit surprised, and more than a little relieved, Floyd | that you didn't capture it. The White King nods his approval, however: Floyd | "Well done! Just continue north, and don't get distracted!" Floyd | Floyd | [Your score has just gone up by five points.] Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | The Black King smiles grimly. "So you didn't fall for my little trap? Floyd | In that case, we'll have to see whose pawn is the fastest!" He gestures Floyd | to his Pawn, which takes a step towards the south, to g3. The White Floyd | King waves at you to continue your march. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Chessboard (on f5) Floyd | Floyd | You take another step forwards. The Black King rather nervously orders Floyd | his pawn to continue. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | But it's not your move! Floyd | Floyd | The Black Pawn continues south. It is now dangerously close to becoming Floyd | a Queen, and you can't help throwing some nervous glances in its Floyd | direction. The White King, however, encourages you: "Don't worry, they Floyd | won't have the time to do anything." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Chessboard (on f6) Floyd | Floyd | The Black King gives you a worried look, but then turns to his own Floyd | Pawn. "Just one more step and you'll be promoted!" Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | As the Black Pawn set foot on the first rank, it is surrounded by a Floyd | golden glow. With a fanfare from invisible trumpets, the Pawn is Floyd | transformed into a Queen! The White King looks at her, and snorts. Floyd | "Impressive - but it will not help a bit. Finish them off, Pawn!" Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Chessboard (on f7) Floyd | Floyd | You boldly advance and threaten the Black King. "Check!" you cry, and Floyd | the White King fills in: "...and mate!" Floyd | Floyd | The Black King desperately looks around for an escape, but can't find Floyd | any. He extends his hand to his White colleague. "It looks like you win Floyd | again. But just wait - I'll get my revenge next time!" Floyd | Floyd | The White King pats your back. "Well done! I think there's a vacancy as Floyd | a Knight - I'll see if I can get you promoted in time for the next Floyd | game." Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | *** You have completed the demo *** Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | In that game you scored 20 out of a possible 450, in 14 turns, earning Floyd | you the rank of Knight Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, UNDO your last move or Floyd | QUIT? Floyd | > | inky says, "hooray, we win" | |||
| DavidW says, "yay" | ||||
| inky says, "(apparently Zugzwang is when you turn a win into a draw, which is what I did the first time by taking the pawn)" | ||||
| DavidW says, "heh." | ||||
| DavidW says, "okay. I think we're done for today. Please brainstorm up which game you'd like to play next Sunday, and let Jacqueline or myself know. Thanks all!" | ||||
| inky says, "hooray" | ||||
| inky says, "thanks for running it" | ||||
| Emerald says, "seconded" | ||||
| Emerald says, "that was fun" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Thanks for playing. It is fun." | ||||
| K-Y says, "cheers" | ||||
| Jaybird says (to Floyd), "quit" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Thank you for playing the demo version of Zugzwang, a TextFire release. Floyd | On-line registration for TextFire products will be available at Floyd | http://www.TextFire.com on or before June 30, 1998. Thanks for your Floyd | patience! Floyd | Floyd | | ||||
| Floyd asks, "That game over already? It was just getting good. Wanna play another?" | ||||
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