  
ClubFloyd Transcript:
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.
To skip directly to a particular game, click on its title: |
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ToyShop & Floyditorium
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#ClubFloyd Discussion
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| Jacqueline asks, "So, my pancake just arrived. Can we have 5?" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Then again, we need to discuss what we're doing." | ||
| Teaspoon asks, "What are we doing?" | ||
| Jacqueline asks, "Are we continuing from last week, or moving to the other Floydable Spring Thing?" | ||
| Teaspoon says, "I'm up for either." | ||
| DavidW says, "Remind me what we did last week." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "We played Harmonic Time-Bind Ritual Symphony" | ||
| DavidW says, "oh wait. It's coming back to me now." | ||
| Teaspoon says, "We were something like a third of the way through an inordinately odd game" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Personally, I'm for moving on to the Groover game." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "But would understand if you all would like to go further with HTBRS" | ||
| DavidW says, "I think a new game might be nice." | ||
| Teaspoon says, "Fine by me." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "One sec, almost forgot Perry" | ||
| DavidW says, "Harmonic was a bit too.. well, you remember how it was." | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "load sleepmask threecardtrick" | ||
Floyd ]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Have you played interactive fiction before?
Floyd |
Floyd | >
| ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "y" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > Y Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | In that case, please press any key to continue when there's a pause, Floyd | such as right now! | ||
| Jacqueline presses the yellow enter button. | ||
Floyd ] Floyd | Floyd | They said that it couldn't be done. Or anyway, they said that if it Floyd | could be done that nobody could do it, which amounts to the same Floyd | thing. Floyd | Floyd | But then somebody went ahead and did it. Floyd | Floyd | Not the two-card trick. Oh no. That's last season. Everyone was Floyd | amazed, and everyone definitely should have been amazed. It was Floyd | amazing, after all. Odds beaten. Minds boggled. Hearts won. You went Floyd | to lengths that no one would ever imagine, which is just how you'd Floyd | like to keep it. Keep them guessing. Keep your reputation, too, as the Floyd | most famous prestidigitator around here. Floyd | Floyd | Well, that's not going to happen. Not unless you do something about Floyd | this new upstart. Everyone thinks that he must have some talent or Floyd | skill that you don't. | ||
| Jacqueline presses the yellow enter button. | ||
Floyd | skill that you don't.Poppycock! Floyd | Floyd | You know exactly what he's got, and soon enough it's going to be Floyd | yours. Talent and skill aren't anywhere in the picture. It would take Floyd | something much more than that to perform what he's started to Floyd | pompously call his… | ||
| Teaspoon presses the yellow enter button. | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | pompously call his…# Three-Card Trick Floyd | An Honest Deception by Chandler Groover Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 160323 / Inform 7 build 6M62 (I6/v6.33 lib Floyd | 6/12N) Floyd | Floyd | At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | You've been sitting here for ages and there's no interest. On the Floyd | table your cards are stacked neatly and gathering dust. All right, Floyd | they're not actually gathering dust, but they're drawing more Floyd | dust than they are spectators. In fact, it's safe to say that you Floyd | won't be receiving any attention as long as Ivan's still in business. Floyd | You've been watching patrons stream into his tent all afternoon. Floyd | Floyd | It's time to put an end to that. March right out there, confront the Floyd | charlatan. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "i" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | > Floyd | > I Floyd | Floyd | You're wearing a tuxedo, a platinum medal, and a top hat, and you're Floyd | carrying a notice and a compass. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x hat" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | > Floyd | > X HAT Floyd | Floyd | A magician isn't a magician without a top hat. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x medal" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | > Floyd | > X MEDAL Floyd | Floyd | When Lady Gascogne first pinned this medal to your jacket, it meant Floyd | that you were actually magnificent. But that was last season. Now the Floyd | medal's started to blacken and Lady Gascogne's tastes have turned Floyd | toward three-card tricks instead. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "going too fast" | |
| Teaspoon says, "sorry" | ||
| Jacqueline eats her breakfast and watches for a couple. | ||
| DavidW says, "I haven't read everything yet." | ||
| DavidW says, "ok. continue." | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search hat" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | > Floyd | > SEARCH HAT Floyd | Floyd | There's absolutely nothing inside your top hat. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x tux" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | > Floyd | > X TUX Floyd | Floyd | A magician isn't a magician without a tuxedo. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "I'd read the notice." | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "read notice" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | > Floyd | > READ NOTICE Floyd | Floyd | It's a sign that says 'Out to Lunch' in cursive lettering. Floyd | You have no plans to go to lunch. Nobody ever does who uses signs like Floyd | these. But it's the traditional excuse to slip away. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "look" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | > Floyd | > LOOK Floyd | Floyd | At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | You're sitting behind your table with your cards stacked before you, Floyd | but you're not attracting any spectators. Floyd | Floyd | Outside you can see Ivan's tent across the exposition floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "verbose" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | > Floyd | > VERBOSE Floyd | Floyd | Three-Card Trick is now in its "verbose" mode, which always gives long Floyd | descriptions of locations (even if you've been there before). Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "put down sign" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | > Floyd | > PUT DOWN SIGN Floyd | Floyd | You haven't had any spectators today, and that won't change without Floyd | some subterfuge. But you still set an 'Out to Lunch' sign on Floyd | your table before leaving. Just in case. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Busta arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x compass" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | > Floyd | > X COMPASS Floyd | Floyd | Not a normal magnetic compass by any measure. This baby's Floyd | astrologically attuned. Rather than pointing north, it points toward Floyd | the nearest nexus. Pragmatically speaking, that means you can easily Floyd | find your way around the exposition by walking inward to its Floyd | center or outward away from it. Floyd | Floyd | You don't want to think about what you had to do to get this compass. Floyd | Floyd | > | Teaspoon exclaims, "sweet!" | |
| zarf arrives, full of fun and funk. | Teaspoon says, "I like this compass." | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "get up" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth) Floyd | > Floyd | > GET UP Floyd | Floyd | You rise from your chair. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "out" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > OUT Floyd | Floyd | At the Exposition Floyd | Ah yes, the exposition, where fortunes are made and unmade every Floyd | season. It's a madhouse, jammed with prospective magicians at their Floyd | stalls. They stretch outward as far as you can see. But there's a Floyd | hidden order involved: if you look overhead, you can study the stars Floyd | through the ceiling's glass dome, and the exposition's floorspace is Floyd | aligned to their constellations. You know, sacred geometry. That's why Floyd | it's a big deal that your booth is at the center (where you belong), Floyd | and that Ivan's tent is there too (where he does not). Floyd | Floyd | There's a crowd at his tent. You can't help but eavesdrop. Floyd | Floyd | "I never saw anything like that in my life!" one lady says. "How Floyd | does he do it?" Floyd | Floyd | "I can't imagine," says another. "It defies comprehension…" Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x ivan's tent" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > X IVAN'S TENT Floyd | Floyd | One word to describe Ivan's tent? Ostentatious. It's like a little Floyd | bigtop striped silver and gold, and there's a flag over the entrance Floyd | with 'Ivan the Incredible' plastered across it in the largest Floyd | font that could be crammed onto the fabric. Tacky, that's another Floyd | word. Ugly. Tasteless. Vulgar. You could keep going. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "enter ivan's tent" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in Ivan's tent) Floyd | > Floyd | > ENTER IVAN'S TENT Floyd | Floyd | You shoulder your way through the crowd. Ladies step aside with Floyd | disapproving gasps. Floyd | Floyd | At the Exposition (in Ivan's tent) Floyd | Inside the tent, more ladies continue to part as you pass, dividing Floyd | like curtains to reveal the spectacle ahead: Ivan sitting at his table Floyd | with some starstruck ingénue standing nearby. She's got one hand Floyd | clamped to her mouth like she can't believe what just happened, and Floyd | the other ladies are applauding. Meanwhile Ivan is reshuffling his Floyd | deck with a smile on his face that you would love to wipe Floyd | away. Floyd | Floyd | "Why, goodness gracious!" he exclaims when he sees you. "Morgan the Floyd | Magnificent! Come to pay your respects, have you, my dear? I don't Floyd | suppose there's much demand for two-card tricks these days… it must Floyd | be Floyd | lonely over in that little booth." Floyd | Floyd | Everyone is staring now. The timing's right. You waited until this Floyd | moment to talk to Ivan, and it's going to pay off in spades. It had Floyd | better pay off. Floyd | Floyd | > | Busta says, "oooh we're playing 3 card trick" | |
| DavidW says, "wait a bit" | ||
| Teaspoon says, "I've liked what I've seen from this author" | ||
| Busta says, "it's good" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Yeah, I've yet to hit a Groover game that I don't like." | ||
| DavidW says, "ok, I'm caught up." | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to ivan" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > TALK TO IVAN Floyd | Floyd | "You're a fraud," you tell Ivan. "A shyster. A crook. There's no way Floyd | you could do a three-card trick. You're just suckering these suckers. Floyd | And you call yourself Ivan the Incredible. More like Ivan the Floyd | Imposter!" | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x ivan" | ||
Floyd | Imposter!" Floyd | Hmm, well, that didn't quite land. Things sound better when you say Floyd | them in your head, but it doesn't matter. All the spectators are Floyd | scandalized. They're fanning themselves like they've got the vapors, Floyd | and putting the backs of their hands to their foreheads, and generally Floyd | swooning. But Ivan just keeps smiling. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "talk to ivan" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in Ivan's tent)
Floyd | swooning. But Ivan just keeps smiling.
Floyd | "Is that a challenge, my dear?" he asks you, and his voice is like
Floyd | castor oil. "Very well. I'll perform the trick now, and if I'm such a
Floyd | fraud then you'll expose me. How does that arrangement sound?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "You'll regret it," you tell him.
Floyd |
Floyd | "We'll see. But first I suppose that you'll want to search my person
Floyd | and my table and my cards? Go right ahead. I have nothing to hide.
Floyd | Nothing up my sleeve, as we magicians say."
Floyd |
Floyd | He rises and opens his arms in a gesture that means: Try your best,
Floyd | you won't win.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
| ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x table" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in Ivan's tent) Floyd | > Floyd | > X TABLE Floyd | Floyd | Running your hands over the tabletop reveals nothing unusual. Nor does Floyd | running your hands below the table, or crouching to study its Floyd | underside, or looking behind it. It is, for all intents and purposes, Floyd | a perfectly mundane piece of furniture. Floyd | Floyd | "I could perform with any table," Ivan boasts. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search ivan" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in Ivan's tent) Floyd | > Floyd | > SEARCH IVAN Floyd | Floyd | Ivan offered to let you search him and you're going to take Floyd | full advantage while you can. There's nothing too Floyd | inconsequential for your attention. You pat him down and turn his Floyd | jacket out. You reach into his pockets. You look inside his top hat. Floyd | You even pull open his mouth to examine his teeth. Your fingers are Floyd | everywhere. Floyd | Floyd | "Heavens me!" Ivan says when you're done. "I don't think that an Floyd | autopsy would uncover anything you just didn't." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x cards" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in Ivan's tent) Floyd | > Floyd | > X CARDS Floyd | Floyd | Before Ivan touches this deck again, you're going to make sure that Floyd | it's shuffled thoroughly. You cut the cards and riffle them. Floyd | They arc between your hands. Red and black diamonds, clubs, hearts, Floyd | spades. Fluttering waterfalls. What you're doing is its own Floyd | performance, but of course everybody looks bored. You're not Floyd | the star today. At least when you smack the deck back onto the table, Floyd | you know there's no way that it's stacked. Floyd | Floyd | "Why, it's almost as though you distrust me!" Ivan says. Floyd | Floyd | That remark, naturally, gets plenty of laughs from the peanut gallery. Floyd | Floyd | Well, you suppose that should do it. Time to finally see Ivan's trick. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "wait" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in Ivan's tent) Floyd | > Floyd | > WAIT Floyd | Floyd | This is no time to wait around. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search ivan's sleeves" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in Ivan's tent) Floyd | > Floyd | > SEARCH IVAN'S SLEEVES Floyd | Floyd | You pry open Ivan's sleeves, stare into them, feel their satin lining, Floyd | roll them up and down, scrunch their fabric between your fingers. Not Floyd | only that, but you feel Ivan's wrists, his arms, his hands. Floyd | Floyd | You find nothing. Floyd | Floyd | "What did I tell you?" he says, and the ladies in the tent murmur with Floyd | awe, as if he's already performed some miracle. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "too fast" | |
| Jacqueline says, "Sorry, D. Let us know." | ||
| DavidW says, "ok" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "I don't think I have any more to search, anyway." | ||
| DavidW says, "I wish I knew what the 'two-card trick' and the 'three-card trick' are supposed to be." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Hopefully we're about to see." | ||
| Teaspoon says, "I assumed it was monte" | ||
| Jacqueline asks, "Monte?" | ||
| DavidW says, "I imagine this is still intro where he gets the central spot and displaces us." | ||
| Teaspoon says, [LINK] | ||
| Busta says, "the three card trick is certainly more difficult than the two card trick" | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "watch trick" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in Ivan's tent) Floyd | > Floyd | > WATCH TRICK Floyd | Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "look" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in Ivan's tent) Floyd | > Floyd | > LOOK Floyd | Floyd | At the Exposition (in Ivan's tent) Floyd | Adoring ladies are clustered around Ivan at his table. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "talk to ivan" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > TALK TO IVAN Floyd | Floyd | "All right," you say. "I'm satisfied. But I'm going to watch you Floyd | like a hawk." Floyd | Floyd | "I wouldn't have it any other way," Ivan replies. Floyd | Floyd | He returns to his chair and the spectating ladies herd closer to see. Floyd | They're a circle and you're in their center, pressed up to the table Floyd | as Ivan wiggles his fingers in the air. Every wiggle produces a new Floyd | "Ooh!" and "Aah!" from the crowd, despite the fact that he hasn't Floyd | done anything yet. Talk about easy to please. | Jacqueline says (to Teaspoon), "Ah. Thanks for the link." | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | done anything yet. Talk about easy to please.
Floyd | He draws the top card from his deck and places it face-down on the
Floyd | table.
| ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | table. Floyd | One. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | One. Floyd | He draws the next card from his deck and places it face-down on the Floyd | table. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | table. Floyd | Two. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | Two. Floyd | You can feel the suspense in the tent. Everyone holding their breath. Floyd | All eyes unblinking. Gazes pinned to the table with its two cards laid Floyd | out beside each other. This is the limit. Nobody's taken the trick Floyd | further than this. Nobody's taken the trick further than you. But then Floyd | Ivan reaches for another card… | Jacqueline says, "Golly" | |
| zarf says, "*suspense*" | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | Ivan reaches for another card… as the ladies gasp… | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | Ivan reaches for another card… as the ladies gasp… and he lifts Floyd | that Floyd | card… | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | card… and places it face-down on the table. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | card… and places it face-down on the table. Floyd | Three. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in Ivan's tent)
Floyd | Three.
Floyd | "Pick a card," he says.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
| ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "pick a card" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > PICK A CARD Floyd | Floyd | (the first card) Floyd | You pick a card and hold it to your chest, but Ivan just smiles again. Floyd | Floyd | "I understand, my dear. You're being cautious," he says. "But don't Floyd | presume that I need anything as common as my eyeballs to see what card Floyd | you've chosen. My vision runs deeper than that… deep… deep… into Floyd | the Floyd | mystical abyss where cause births effect and every decision is made. I Floyd | can see your card naked before me: a paper rectangle emblazoned with Floyd | glowing iconography! I can see it… see it right there…!" | DavidW says, "ok" | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "wait" | ||
Floyd | glowing iconography! I can see it… see it right there…!" Floyd | What you see is a giant ham. Ivan's rubbing his temples, eyes pressed Floyd | tightly shut. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | tightly shut. Floyd | "Mmm, yes, it's coming to me," he intones. "I can see… I can see… | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | "Mmm, yes, it's coming to me," he intones. "I can see… I can see… a Floyd | deuce of clubs!" | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | deuce of clubs!" Floyd | Now his eyes are open, boring into yours. | Jacqueline says, "I had to read that 'cause births effect' bit a couple of times." | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x card" | ||
Floyd | Now his eyes are open, boring into yours. Floyd | You lay a deuce of clubs on the table. | Jacqueline says, "Well, that was predictable." | |
| zarf says (to j), "You're a magician too?!" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Heh. No. I just mean of course he got it right. He's UP to something." | ||
| Teaspoon says, "yes" | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in Ivan's tent) Floyd | You lay a deuce of clubs on the table. Floyd | Applause erupts inside the tent, drowning out everything else. You Floyd | lost. Ivan won. His devotees rally around him, throwing their arms Floyd | high, laughing and weeping with joy. Their reaction is almost too much Floyd | for him to handle. They're ready to cart him around overhead in his Floyd | chair. It's only after his most humble and Floyd | gentlemanly protestations that they relent, but they're still Floyd | twirling their parasols and buzzing like bees. Floyd | Floyd | For the moment, you've been forgotten, and it'll take more than a Floyd | moment for anyone to remember you again. Luckily you came prepared for Floyd | that. Even luckier, you got what you wanted. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "look" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in Ivan's tent) Floyd | > Floyd | > LOOK Floyd | Floyd | At the Exposition (in Ivan's tent) Floyd | Adoring ladies are clustered around Ivan at his table. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "i" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in Ivan's tent) Floyd | > Floyd | > I Floyd | Floyd | You're wearing a tuxedo, a platinum medal, and a top hat, and you're Floyd | carrying Ivan's key and a compass. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x key" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in Ivan's tent) Floyd | > Floyd | > X KEY Floyd | Floyd | Gold-plated and gaudy, to match Ivan's personality. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "We never searched the chair, did we." | |
| Jacqueline exclaims, "!" | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x chair" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in Ivan's tent) Floyd | > Floyd | > X CHAIR Floyd | Floyd | Ivan's chair is just like any other magician's chair, although you Floyd | feel sorry for the thing for having to come into contact with such a Floyd | huge ass every day. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "My" | |
| Teaspoon asks, "what do we do now we've nicked his key?" | ||
| DavidW says, "Key to what? Tents don't lock with keys." | ||
| Teaspoon says, "Good question." | ||
| Roger says, "I've not played this game before" | ||
| Jacqueline asks, "Maybe we explore some more?" | ||
| Teaspoon asks, "We came here intending to steal it, evidently, but what are we gonna do now we have it?" | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "look" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in Ivan's tent) Floyd | > Floyd | > LOOK Floyd | Floyd | At the Exposition (in Ivan's tent) Floyd | Adoring ladies are clustered around Ivan at his table. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "n" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in Ivan's tent) Floyd | > Floyd | > N Floyd | Floyd | The only way out is, well, out. Floyd | Floyd | > | Roger says, "But I'd use an accomplice if I were dear Ivan" | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "out" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > OUT Floyd | Floyd | It takes all your willpower to suppress a smile as you step outside. Floyd | Your skills at sleight of hand have served you well. And your planning Floyd | was perfect: with Ivan still distracted in his tent, he'll never Floyd | notice that his key's gone missing. Until it's too late, anyway. Floyd | Floyd | Initially, to be honest, you were unsure, but now you know Floyd | that you're on the right track. And you've got more than a guess about Floyd | what this key will unlock, and where to find it: underground. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "d" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition Floyd | what this key will unlock, and where to find it: underground.At the Floyd | Exposition Floyd | Here at the exposition's center are your booth and Ivan's tent, around Floyd | which a crowd has gathered. Floyd | Floyd | Outward are more magicians at more stations. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "underground" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > UNDERGROUND Floyd | Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "wait" | |
| DavidW says, "ok" | ||
| DavidW says, "The output is displayed oddly by Floyd today." | ||
| Teaspoon says, "yes" | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "enter booth" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth) Floyd | > Floyd | > ENTER BOOTH Floyd | Floyd | At the Exposition (in your booth) Floyd | An 'Out to Lunch' notice is standing beside your cards on the Floyd | table, with your chair pushed back. Floyd | Floyd | Outside you can see Ivan's tent across the exposition floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "dig" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth) Floyd | > Floyd | > DIG Floyd | Floyd | Digging around here would just be a waste. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "down" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth) Floyd | > Floyd | > DOWN Floyd | Floyd | The only way out is, well, out. Floyd | Floyd | > | Teaspoon asks, "How do we go underground?" | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "out" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > OUT Floyd | Floyd | At the Exposition Floyd | Here at the exposition's center are your booth and Ivan's tent, around Floyd | which a crowd has gathered. Floyd | Floyd | Outward are more magicians at more stations. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "exits" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > EXITS Floyd | Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "down" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > DOWN Floyd | Floyd | You won't make any progress going that way. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "go out" | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "go out" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > GO OUT Floyd | Floyd | You won't make any progress going that way. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "up" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > UP Floyd | Floyd | You won't make any progress going that way. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "enter ivan's booth" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in Ivan's tent) Floyd | > Floyd | > ENTER IVAN'S BOOTH Floyd | Floyd | At the Exposition (in Ivan's tent) Floyd | Adoring ladies are clustered around Ivan at his table. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "down" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in Ivan's tent) Floyd | > Floyd | > DOWN Floyd | Floyd | The only way out is, well, out. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "out" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > OUT Floyd | Floyd | At the Exposition Floyd | Here at the exposition's center are your booth and Ivan's tent, around Floyd | which a crowd has gathered. Floyd | Floyd | Outward are more magicians at more stations. Floyd | Floyd | > | Teaspoon says, "guess-the-verb" | |
| DavidW asks, "Does the game not understand 'go'?" | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "out" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > OUT Floyd | Floyd | You wander out into the exposition. Floyd | Floyd | At the Exposition Floyd | Stalls and stalls and stalls in rows and rows and rows. They seem to Floyd | continue forever, although there's a definite limit at their outer Floyd | edge where the exposition stops, which means there's a limit to how Floyd | many magicians can perform. That's a problem for any magicians who Floyd | don't qualify, but it's not your problem, and it's not a Floyd | problem for the sightseers bustling through the exposition in huge Floyd | droves. Floyd | Floyd | There's one sightseer out there whose opinion matters more than Floyd | anyone: Lady Gascogne. You can't see her now. You just know that she's Floyd | making the rounds with her eyes peeled for the newest sensation. And Floyd | that sensation is going to be Ivan the Incredible unless you make sure Floyd | that it's not. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "You typed 'go out' and it failed but 'out' works." | |
| Jacqueline says, "Yeah" | ||
| DavidW says, "That's nuts." | ||
| zarf says, "the Inform library has some annoyances about IN/OUT" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "It's probably because of the special compass." | ||
| Teaspoon says, "suppose so" | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "down" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > DOWN Floyd | Floyd | You won't make any progress going that way. Floyd | Floyd | > | zarf says, "it works by default but it's easy for the author to screw it up when adding special cases" | |
| DavidW says, "hold on. I haven't seen this location yet." | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x stalls" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > X STALLS Floyd | Floyd | So many magicians in so many stalls. What a sight to behold and what a Floyd | colossal waste. None of these stalls are aligned properly. Not that Floyd | anyone knows the difference except you. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "I guess 'out' again." | |
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "out" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > OUT Floyd | Floyd | At the Exposition Floyd | As you near the exposition's fringe, you can see where its glass dome Floyd | curves down toward the ground. Beyond that dome's the barricade. Floyd | Beyond that barricade's the outside world. Guardsmen are patrolling Floyd | its wall, their arms drawn at perpetual ready, prepared to dispatch Floyd | uninvited magicians who would try scaling their way inside. Floyd | Floyd | You're not concerned with that. Instead, there's a trapdoor with your Floyd | name on it over behind a derelict penny arcade. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "There we go." | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x arcade" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > X ARCADE Floyd | Floyd | Back in the day, a machine was actually the first 'person' to Floyd | successfully perform a one-card trick. That led to penny arcades like Floyd | this being churned out en masse, each equipped with its own Floyd | robotic card-dealing magician. But the first machine's success was a Floyd | fluke. All the penny arcades were useless. Which is why human Floyd | magicians like you are still around. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x dome" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > X DOME Floyd | Floyd | You know those bell jars that people use to cover clocks or whatever Floyd | on their mantelpieces? That's just what this glass dome is like. A Floyd | gigantic bell jar over the exposition. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "d" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > D Floyd | Floyd | You open the trapdoor and slip down undetected. Floyd | Floyd | Under the Exposition Floyd | You'll never forget the first time you explored down here. Even with Floyd | your compass, you were totally lost for hours. Just darkness and Floyd | garbage and steel columns bracing the ceiling in every direction. Floyd | Floyd | At the moment, you know where you are because the trapdoor's overhead, Floyd | but it's easy to get turned around (read: inevitable). Identical Floyd | passageways open to the north, south, east, and west. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "We used to have one of thse bell jar clocks when I was a kid. Haven't seen one since." | |
| DavidW says, "I hope we don't need to map this part." | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf3" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > SAVE Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write: Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > SAVEOk. Floyd | Floyd | > | Teaspoon says, "I'm not sure how we use the compass down here when we didn't use compass directions up there" | |
| Jacqueline asks, "In & out?" | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "in" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > IN Floyd | Floyd | Under the Exposition Floyd | Identical passageways open to the south, west, north, and east. Floyd | Floyd | Threadbare tuxedoes are mounded around you waist-high. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "in" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > IN Floyd | Floyd | Under the Exposition Floyd | Identical passageways open to the north, south, west, and east. Floyd | Floyd | Moldy satin bouquets carpet the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "in" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > IN Floyd | Floyd | Under the Exposition Floyd | Okay, you're headed in the right direction. You recognize the two Floyd | skeletons on the ground here from the last time you came through. Not Floyd | that you thought you would really lose your way again, but Floyd | it's still reassuring to find a landmark. Floyd | Floyd | Identical passageways open to the north, south, east, and west. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "in" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > IN Floyd | Floyd | Under the Exposition Floyd | Identical passageways open to the east, south, north, and west. Floyd | Floyd | You have to kick your way through woven baskets packed with ropes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "in" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > IN Floyd | Floyd | Under the Exposition Floyd | Identical passageways open to the north, south, east, and west. Floyd | Floyd | Wands, wands, wands. Who uses wands? No one. That's why they're dumped Floyd | here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "in" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > IN Floyd | Floyd | Under the Exposition Floyd | Finally you reach the center. There's more junk piled here than Floyd | anywhere else. Swords designed for swallowing, and saws designed to Floyd | cut ladies in half, and handkerchiefs and pointy hats and cloaks Floyd | patterned with stars, and cups and balls, and chains and guillotines, Floyd | and boxes with mirrors in them, and padlocks and lockpicks. Enough Floyd | miscellaneous garbage to orchestrate a thousand magic tricks. Floyd | Floyd | But what's this? Oho, something new: a steamer trunk sitting Floyd | right out in the open. Definitely wasn't there before. Definitely Floyd | stamped with the initials I.I. Floyd | Floyd | > | Teaspoon says, "well that was easier than it looked" | |
| zarf says, "Isaac Izzard!" | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x trunk" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > X TRUNK Floyd | Floyd | Enormous, leather, bound in buckled straps. This is the sort of trunk Floyd | that people imagine when they think about trunks, not the sort of Floyd | trunk that anyone actually owns. Except for Ivan. The man Floyd | must not know the meaning of the word discretion. Floyd | Floyd | > | zarf says, "the most terrifying necromancer of -- nobody gets that reference" | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "open turnk" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > OPEN TURNK Floyd | Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "open trunk" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > OPEN TRUNK Floyd | Floyd | You open the trunk using Ivan's filched key. It's a cinch. No Floyd | additional security. No extra obstacles. Like the fool never even Floyd | expected that he would be robbed. Oiled hinges slide back with a Floyd | pleasant smoothness as the lid rises, and then you're looking down at Floyd | the interior. | Jacqueline says, "It makes sense, given the alignment thing." | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x trunk" | ||
Floyd | the interior.
Floyd | This is what you knew you'd find.
| ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | This is what you knew you'd find. Even still, it takes you
Floyd | somewhat by surprise.
| Jacqueline leans in. | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition
Floyd | somewhat by surprise.
Floyd | Sitting there in the trunk is a pale glistening slab like a raw
Floyd | chicken breast. Maybe calling it a chicken breast doesn't quite paint
Floyd | the picture. It's got arms and legs but they're no more than stubs,
Floyd | and its head is as big as its body. So it's more like two raw chicken
Floyd | breasts that have been slapped together. Its eyes are sunk way back
Floyd | into its head and it's got an itty-bitty toothless mouth. All gums,
Floyd | that toothless mouth. Its stubby arms are wiggling and it's mumbling
Floyd | words that sound more like lip-smacks: "…three of spades… nine of
Floyd | hearts… king of clubs…"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
| DavidW says, "wait" | |
| Jacqueline says, "Is that 'wait I'm still reading' or 'wait wth is this thing in the trunk?!'" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Because I'm the latter of these two." | ||
| DavidW says, "wait I'm still reading" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "You will possibly transition from one to the other." | ||
| Teaspoon says, "squawk" | ||
| DavidW says, "He's got a homunculus assistant, I guess." | ||
| Jacqueline asks, "So, um, what do we do with it?" | ||
| zarf asks, "kill it?" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "That seems harsh." | ||
| Busta says, "this is the part when I went... oh, that's right, I'm playing a CMG game" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Kidnap, maybe." | ||
| zarf asks, "and run away to become a farmer and never thing about magic again?" | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Busta), "HAHAHA - YES" | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "talk to trunk" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > TALK TO TRUNK Floyd | Floyd | Not much conversation there. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x trunk" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > X TRUNK Floyd | Floyd | Enormous, leather, bound in buckled straps. This is the sort of trunk Floyd | that people imagine when they think about trunks, not the sort of Floyd | trunk that anyone actually owns. Except for Ivan. The man Floyd | must not know the meaning of the word discretion. Floyd | Floyd | Right now the trunk is open, and Ivan's grandmother is sitting inside Floyd | mumbling: "…five of hearts… four of spades… king of clubs…" Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "talk to grandmother" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > TALK TO GRANDMOTHER Floyd | Floyd | So you're Ivan's grandmother, huh? What a pleasure to meet. Floyd | You must be so proud of your grandson's success, unless you're aware Floyd | he's a slimeball and a cheater. But of course you're aware, since he Floyd | put you down here, made you what you are now. You can't cop to it, Floyd | though, can't say anything except card ranks and suits, which is why Floyd | actually interrogating you like this would be pointless. Floyd | Floyd | But it doesn't matter, because you know what Ivan did to his Floyd | grandmother, whether she has the voice to admit it or not. Just look Floyd | at her. This is your jurisdiction he's trying to muscle into, Floyd | and when his career is over, you'll still reign supreme. Floyd | Floyd | > | Roger says, "I keep thinking this is the ifmudder Ivan" | |
| Jacqueline says, "heh" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Well, were that the case we would do nothing to thwart him." | ||
| Roger exclaims, "So turns out I was kinda right when I said he had an accomplice!" | ||
| Jacqueline exclaims (at Roger), "You were!" | ||
| Teaspoon says, "yes" | ||
| Jacqueline exclaims, "His grandmother chicken breast homunculus assistant!" | ||
| Teaspoon says, "yuck" | ||
| Roger says, "I think maybe we could publically confront and grandma-shame him" | ||
| DavidW asks, "I'm not really sure I understand the setup. How would a grandmother-thing in a trunk underground know what cards anyone above ground would have?" | ||
| Roger says, "Magical magic" | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Roger), "Oooh. I like that idea very much." | ||
| Jacqueline asks (of DW), "Mystical alignment?" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "And yeah. Magical magic." | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "take grandmother" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > TAKE GRANDMOTHER Floyd | Floyd | Now everything makes sense. Of course Ivan can perform a three-card Floyd | trick, because he upped the ante by using his grandmother as Floyd | a ritual anchor. That's definitely what this is: a grandmother. You Floyd | wonder why you never considered such a possibility. In retrospect, Floyd | it's bloody obvious. Floyd | Floyd | What's less obvious is how someone as lunkheaded as Ivan even figured Floyd | out how to do it. Must've stumbled across a grimoire. He sure as hell Floyd | didn't struggle like you to personally chart the leylines. You refuse Floyd | to believe that he's got enough talent. Which is why you feel no Floyd | compunction whatsoever about taking his grandmother for yourself, and Floyd | promptly scoop her up. She's slimy and gross but what can you expect. | DavidW asks, "So if he's using magic to perform magic... what's the problem, exactly?" | |
| Jacqueline says, "He's doing it better than us." | ||
| Teaspoon exclaims, "That he's competing with us!" | ||
| DavidW asks, "How is this fraudulent?" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "It's ... not. It's just not good for us." | ||
| zarf says, "he didn't chart the leylines!" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Hm. True." | ||
| Teaspoon asks, "So, we leave now?" | ||
| Roger says, "He's a magical script kiddie" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "I like the idea of throwing the chick breast with the toothless mouth at him in public, yeah." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "chickEN, even" | ||
| Roger says, "Always wanted to pull a homunculus out of my hat" | ||
| DavidW asks, "Do we go 'in' once more to our trunk?" | ||
| Jacqueline asks, "Gosh, do we have a trunk?" | ||
| DavidW says, "I dunno. I didn't know we had leylines." | ||
| Teaspoon says, "good question" | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "in" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | promptly scoop her up. She's slimy and gross but what can you expect. Floyd | As you hold her in your arms, she groans. She wants to go back inside Floyd | the trunk, but she's going to go into your chest instead, Floyd | which you've hidden beneath the surrounding debris. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "There are always leylines." | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x chest" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > X CHEST Floyd | Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "look" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > LOOK Floyd | Floyd | Under the Exposition Floyd | Identical passageways open to the north, south, east, and west. Floyd | Floyd | Miscellaneous magical artifacts clutter the area, but separated from Floyd | them is a distinctly out-of-place steamer trunk. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x artifacts" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > X ARTIFACTS Floyd | Floyd | Unlike Ivan, you hid your chest well, and it takes some digging before Floyd | you unearth it from the junk. You can tell that it hasn't been touched Floyd | since you were here last season. All the locks are still intact. Now Floyd | you've just got to pull your key out of your top hat to open it. | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search debris" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition
Floyd | you've just got to pull your key out of your top hat to open
Floyd | it.Suddenly you hear a commotion. It's coming through the ceiling from
Floyd | the exposition. Voices rising in surprise. Exclamations. Shuffling and
Floyd | confusion.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
| ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "open chest" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > OPEN CHEST Floyd | Floyd | You've got to pull your key out of your top hat first. Floyd | Floyd | Now you can hear Ivan's voice. You'd recognize that caster-oil tenor Floyd | anywhere. You can't make out the words but his tone is unmistakably, Floyd | deliciously desperate. Defensive. Imploring. If only you could see his Floyd | face! Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "take key" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > TAKE KEY Floyd | Floyd | You already have Ivan's key. Floyd | Floyd | …and now you hear footsteps overhead. Footsteps in a stampede. In an Floyd | exodus. Eventually they diminish, moving outward, away, until there's Floyd | only silence left behind. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "search hat" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition
Floyd | only silence left behind.
Floyd | In this racket, all it takes is one mistake. So much for Ivan's
Floyd | popularity.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
| Jacqueline says, "Oh. So I guess we steal it, not confront him with it." | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x hat" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > X HAT Floyd | Floyd | A magician isn't a magician without a top hat. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "open hat" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > OPEN HAT Floyd | Floyd | That (your top hat) isn't something you can open. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "take key from hat" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > TAKE KEY FROM HAT Floyd | Floyd | As though pulling it from the thinnest air, you reach into your top Floyd | hat and pull out a key. Presto! Floyd | Floyd | > | Roger says, "This got fiddly in a hurry" | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "unlock chest" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > UNLOCK CHEST Floyd | Floyd | It takes some finesse to unlock your chest and disengage the Floyd | booby-traps, which is no problem because you've got finesse in your Floyd | genetics. Also, you're the one who placed the traps. You'd better know Floyd | how to deactivate them. Floyd | Floyd | The lid pops open, and inside the chest is your mother right where you Floyd | left her. Floyd | Floyd | > | Teaspoon exclaims, "!!!" | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x mother" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > X MOTHER Floyd | Floyd | Oh mother dearest, the voice in your ear, the ace up your sleeve, Floyd | whose whispered words are never wrong. At least, not when it comes to Floyd | two-card tricks. But three-card tricks? Forget it. She's not operating Floyd | on the right wavelength, and there's no way to recalibrate her lode. Floyd | What's done is done. You made that call and there's no going back. Floyd | Floyd | Nowadays she might be outmoded, but she's still crawling around inside Floyd | your chest like a good little pork tenderloin. Which is what she looks Floyd | like. Fleshless, flexible, and wet. Wheezing out her predictions: Floyd | "…three of diamonds… king of diamonds…" When you sit upstairs Floyd | inside Floyd | your booth, you just have to listen and her forecast slips Floyd | into your brain like a drug down a drip. Floyd | Floyd | > | Teaspoon says, "eesh" | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "put grandmother in chest" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > PUT GRANDMOTHER IN CHEST Floyd | Floyd | You lower Ivan's grandmother into your chest, and she takes to it Floyd | rather nicely, chirping and slapping her stubs around to feel her new Floyd | environment. She's just happy to be back inside a container. Floyd | Floyd | Your own mother doesn't pay too much notice. Keeps slithering in Floyd | circles. When she bumps into her housemate, she keeps bumping until Floyd | she's bumped herself around the obstacle, and Ivan's grandmother Floyd | hardly registers the contact. The two might as well exist on separate Floyd | planes. Which, now that you consider it, they probably do to a certain Floyd | degree. | Jacqueline says, "Welcome to the world of Chandler Groover." | |
| zarf says, "eww" | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "close chest" | ||
Floyd | degree.
Floyd | You wipe your hands. Your job is done. All you have to do now is sit
Floyd | on your chair in your booth and listen, and when you deal
Floyd | three cards out for a trick (which you most certainly will) then
Floyd | you'll hear Ivan's grandmother mumbling predictions in your head, just
Floyd | like she's mumbling now: "…ten of diamonds… three of diamonds…
Floyd | nine of
Floyd | diamonds…"
| ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "lock chest" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition
Floyd | diamonds…"
Floyd | You couldn't be more pleased with how this lunch-break has panned out.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
| ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "put key in hat" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > PUT KEY IN HAT Floyd | Floyd | (your key in your top hat) Floyd | You drop your key into your top hat and… hey, where did it go? Floyd | Observe, ladies and gentlemen, as you upend your hat and shake it. Floyd | Why, nothing comes out! It's as though the key has vanished. Floyd | What mystique! Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "I originally thought the game meant our other chest. As in, our ribcage. As in tear out our beating heart and put the chicken grandma inside us. Which would not be terribly out of place for Groover. But then you all found the trunk and I realized what it meant." | |
| Teaspoon says, "I wonder how magic works in this universe." | ||
| DavidW says, "did the chest lock? I didn't see the game respond to that." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Well, we would need to reset the traps and rehide it and stuff, but that may happen automagically." | ||
| Teaspoon says, "I think it locked, yes" | ||
| Teaspoon says, "so we can go up stairs and do more tricks, I suppose" | ||
| DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "#belated yes, I was thinking our ribcage too" | ||
| Roger says, "And see if Ivan tries to kill us" | ||
| Jacqueline says (to DW), "Yay not just me." | ||
| Teaspoon says, "But it said we'd *hidden* the chest in the debris." | ||
| DavidW says, "So if we had a great-grandmother, I suppose a four-card trick would be possible." | ||
| Teaspoon says, "Or someone else's great grandmother." | ||
| Jacqueline nods. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "out" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > OUT Floyd | Floyd | Leave without closing your chest? You don't think so. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "close chest" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > CLOSE CHEST Floyd | Floyd | You need your key again. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW asks, "I wonder what a grandfather in a chest gets one. Excuses?" | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "take key from hat" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > TAKE KEY FROM HAT Floyd | Floyd | As though pulling it from the thinnest air, you reach into your top Floyd | hat and pull out a key. Presto! Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "close chest" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > CLOSE CHEST Floyd | Floyd | After resetting its booby-traps, you close your chest and lock it. Floyd | Then you bury it back underneath the accumulated garbage in the area Floyd | where nobody but you will ever find it. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "put key in hat" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > PUT KEY IN HAT Floyd | Floyd | (your key in your top hat) Floyd | You drop your key into your top hat and… hey, where did it go? Floyd | Observe, ladies and gentlemen, as you upend your hat and shake it. Floyd | Why, nothing comes out! It's as though the key has vanished. Floyd | What mystique! Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "out" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > OUT Floyd | Floyd | Under the Exposition Floyd | Identical passageways open to the east, west, north, and south. Floyd | Floyd | You almost trip over a bunch of handcuffs and manacles tangled Floyd | together. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "So the chest wasn't closed." | |
| Teaspoon says, "no, you were right" | ||
| Teaspoon says, "apparently it had to be *closed* rather than *locked*" | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x manacles" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > X MANACLES Floyd | Floyd | You have no use for this junk. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "out" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > OUT Floyd | Floyd | Under the Exposition Floyd | Identical passageways open to the east, north, west, and south. Floyd | Floyd | Your footsteps crunch. No wonder. All these shattered crystal balls. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x balls" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > X BALLS Floyd | Floyd | You have no use for this junk. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "out" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > OUT Floyd | Floyd | Under the Exposition Floyd | Identical passageways open to the north, south, east, and west. Floyd | Floyd | Two skeletons lie on the ground. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x skeletons" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > X SKELETONS Floyd | Floyd | They're still wearing tuxedoes and top hats, with their boney arms Floyd | stretched out like they were hoping they could crawl to salvation. Floyd | Which is probably what they did hope. Thought they could sneak into Floyd | the exposition without an invite. Got lost down here in the Floyd | underground instead. Never got out. You'd pity them if you didn't Floyd | think they had it coming. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "out" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > OUT Floyd | Floyd | Under the Exposition Floyd | Identical passageways open to the west, south, north, and east. Floyd | Floyd | Dice and marbles litter the ground like pebbles. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x dice" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > X DICE Floyd | Floyd | You have no use for this junk. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "out" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > OUT Floyd | Floyd | Under the Exposition Floyd | Identical passageways open to the north, south, east, and west. Floyd | Floyd | Overhead you can see your old friend, the trapdoor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "up" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > UP Floyd | Floyd | You climb back through the trapdoor. Floyd | Floyd | At the Exposition Floyd | Guardsman are patrolling the barricade outside, and there's a trapdoor Floyd | behind a derelict penny arcade at the exposition's fringe. Floyd | Floyd | Inward are stalls lining row after row. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "close door" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > CLOSE DOOR Floyd | Floyd | You always make sure that it's closed when you're not using it. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "in" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > IN Floyd | Floyd | You wander back into the exposition. Floyd | Floyd | At the Exposition Floyd | Stalls and stalls and stalls in rows and rows and rows. Sightseers Floyd | bustle between them. Floyd | Floyd | Outward the exposition eventually ends; inward lies its center. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "in" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > IN Floyd | Floyd | At the Exposition Floyd | Here at the exposition's center are your booth and Ivan's tent. Floyd | Floyd | Outward are more magicians at more stations. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "in" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > IN Floyd | Floyd | You could enter your booth or Ivan's tent. Floyd | Floyd | > | Teaspoon asks, "our tent or Ivan's?" | |
| DavidW says, "our" | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "enter our tent" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > ENTER OUR TENT Floyd | Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "enter booth" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > ENTER BOOTH Floyd | Floyd | You turn to enter your booth but then | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | You turn to enter your booth but then you | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | You turn to enter your booth but then you stop | Teaspoon says, "g" | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | You turn to enter your booth but then you stop in | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "wait" | ||
Floyd | You turn to enter your booth but then you stop in your | Jacqueline sighs. | |
| Jacqueline says, "TRACKS" | ||
| Teaspoon asks, "?" | ||
| DavidW asks, "tracks?" | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | You turn to enter your booth but then you stop in your tracks | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | You turn to enter your booth but then you stop in your tracks when you Floyd | see what's there. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | see what's there. Floyd | Not a crowd like Ivan had around his tent. No, this is different. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | Not a crowd like Ivan had around his tent. No, this is different. Floyd | This is an entourage. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | This is an entourage. Floyd | More ladies in more pastel dresses twirling more parasols, but Floyd | higher class ladies with higher class dresses and Floyd | parasols whiter than snow. All their noses upturned. All their hats Floyd | decked with ribbons. And yet despite their cosmopolitan polish they're Floyd | nothing next to the one woman they follow and imitate like Floyd | second-rate mirrors. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | second-rate mirrors. Floyd | That would be Lady Gascogne. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | That would be Lady Gascogne. At your booth. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | That would be Lady Gascogne. At your booth. Waiting for you. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth) Floyd | That would be Lady Gascogne. At your booth. Waiting for you. Floyd | At the Exposition (in your booth) Floyd | Lady Gascogne is standing beside your table. Unlike everyone else, she Floyd | doesn't carry her parasol open. She's holding it like a cane with both Floyd | palms planted on its handle, but not like a cane that anyone would use Floyd | to hobble around. Instead it's more like a gavel. One strike from its Floyd | tip to the ground would make the whole world quake. Hyperbole, of Floyd | course, but not by much. Floyd | Floyd | "Good, here you are," she says when you enter. "Normally I never wait, Floyd | but when I saw this 'Out to Lunch' sign, I decided to give Floyd | you five minutes. How many are left?" Floyd | Floyd | "Just twenty-nine seconds," her assistant reports next to her. Floyd | Floyd | "Under the wire," says Lady Gascogne. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Oh dear." | |
| Busta says, "The effect works better in the interpreter." | ||
| Teaspoon asks, "how does it go there?" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Yeah, I suspect it's fine in an interpreter." | ||
| Busta says, "There's a wait for any key function that prints one word at a time after you push enter" | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Teaspoon), "Well, it would just spit it out word by word, not repeat the line." | ||
| Teaspoon says, "ah" | ||
| zarf says, "actually I bet it's kind of annoying there too" | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "take sign" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > TAKE SIGN Floyd | Floyd | "Lady Gascogne! Mademoiselles!" you say, sweeping the notice away from Floyd | your table and settling back into your chair. "What a pleasure to see Floyd | you all here at this season's exposition! I must apologize. When lunch Floyd | calls, lunch calls, but I'm honored, enraptured, delighted that you Floyd | stuck around to see my three-card trick." | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "talk to lady" | ||
Floyd | stuck around to see my three-card trick."Something in the air shifts Floyd | when you speak those magic words. Voices drop. Heads turn. Every lady Floyd | is staring as though you're a steak that's been thrown for them to Floyd | devour. You know this sensation. You've felt it before, last season, Floyd | when you dealt two cards and Lady Gascogne reached for one. They were Floyd | ready to swallow you whole if you couldn't guess right. Spit out your Floyd | bones. Leave you disgraced. | Busta says, "I enjoyed the effect. It played up the comedy." | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "talk to lady" | ||
Floyd | bones. Leave you disgraced. Floyd | It didn't happen then, and it won't happen now. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair))
Floyd | It didn't happen then, and it won't happen now.
Floyd | "Nobody's performed a three-card trick," says Lady Gascogne. "The man
Floyd | in the tent over there tried to do it and failed. He was a liar.
Floyd | Everyone who said that he could do it, they were liars too. I have no
Floyd | tolerance for lies."
Floyd |
Floyd | "I'm an honest magician," you tell her. "Only genuine tricks from
Floyd | Morgan the Magnificent!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
| Jacqueline says, "I wonder if with Mum and granny we could do four cards..." | |
| Jacqueline says, "Probably not a cumulative effect." | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | > Floyd | > G Floyd | Floyd | You already have the notice. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "lay card" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | > Floyd | > LAY CARD Floyd | Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "drop card" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | > Floyd | > DROP CARD Floyd | Floyd | You haven't got those. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "i" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | > Floyd | > I Floyd | Floyd | You're wearing a tuxedo, a platinum medal, and a top hat, and you're Floyd | carrying a notice, Ivan's key, and a compass. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW asks, "And what would a father in a trunk grant us?" | |
| zarf says, "ok, but say you cross-bred the mother and the grandmother to produce a great-grandmother..." | ||
| Teaspoon asks, "where *are* our cards?" | ||
| Jacqueline says (to zarf), "Maybe that's the sequel." | ||
| Busta asks, "try deck?" | ||
| DavidW asks, "Aren't they on the table?" | ||
| zarf says, "take them out of your hat" | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "take cards from hat" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | > Floyd | > TAKE CARDS FROM HAT Floyd | Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "do trick" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | > Floyd | > DO TRICK Floyd | Floyd | What's it take to perform a three-card trick? Six simple steps: Floyd | Floyd | 1. Shuffle the deck. Floyd | 2. Deal a card. Floyd | 3. Deal a card. Floyd | 4. Deal a card. Floyd | 5. Listen. Floyd | 6. Name the correct card. Floyd | Floyd | Steps two through four are what make it a three-card trick. Floyd | Step five is more important than the rest. But step six is what will Floyd | impress your spectators the most. Easy as pie. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "shuffle deck" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | > Floyd | > SHUFFLE DECK Floyd | Floyd | Before you shuffle or deal any cards, you've got to talk to Lady Floyd | Gascogne and offer her the chance to search your belongings. Standard Floyd | practice. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "talk to lady" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | > Floyd | > TALK TO LADY Floyd | Floyd | "Before I begin my three-card trick, however," you announce, "I'd like Floyd | to invite any curious, doubtful, or otherwise inquisitive parties to Floyd | step forward and scrutinize my accouterments. Search my table, turn Floyd | over my deck, feel my jacket. Do everything to satisfy yourselves that Floyd | I'm not hiding anything." Floyd | Floyd | Lady Gascogne doesn't take your offer, but her entourage does. For a Floyd | minute or two their hands are everywhere, and when they withdraw Floyd | they've found nothing. Nothing. How could they ever find something? Floyd | They're amateurs. You're a master. Floyd | Floyd | "Fine," says Lady Gascogne. "Continue." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "shuffle deck" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | > Floyd | > SHUFFLE DECK Floyd | Floyd | "Of course," you say, "it wouldn't be right to conduct a card trick Floyd | without a shuffle, whether that's a one-card trick, a two-card trick, Floyd | or even the marvelous three-card trick you're about to Floyd | witness." Floyd | Floyd | Shuffling cards is second nature. You hold the deck in one palm, split Floyd | its cards, riffle them with your thumbs. Their edges flutter and Floyd | blend. They bend upward, dovetailing in your hands, and then cascade Floyd | into a stack when your fingers release. Less than one second. No Floyd | thought required. Floyd | Floyd | Lady Gascogne doesn't look impressed. Neither does her entourage. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "deal card" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > DEAL CARD Floyd | Floyd | Now the stage is set. You can feel motivations and emotions flowing Floyd | around you. Expectations. Judgements. Hopes. Everything in the Floyd | exposition gravitating toward your booth, pouring into your cards. Floyd | They want to be dealt. They are waiting for you to deal them. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "deal card" | ||
Floyd | They want to be dealt. They are waiting for you to deal them. Floyd | You take the top card from the deck and place it face-down on the Floyd | table. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "deal card" | ||
Floyd | table. Floyd | One. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "deal card" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair))
Floyd | One.
Floyd | You're still in safe territory. Lady Gascogne doesn't react. Her
Floyd | entourage looks indifferent. But the fact is that you've taken the
Floyd | first step and now they're on their toes. They just don't show it yet.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
| ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "deal card" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > DEAL CARD Floyd | Floyd | When you reach for your deck a second time, you can actually Floyd | see attentions sharpening. Bodies drawing closer. Necks Floyd | craning to gain a better view. Even Lady Gascogne's gaze is locked Floyd | onto the cards. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "deal card" | ||
Floyd | onto the cards. Floyd | You place another face-down on the table. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "deal card" | ||
Floyd | You place another face-down on the table. Floyd | Two. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "deal card" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | Two. Floyd | Now this trick has gotten serious. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "deal card" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > DEAL CARD Floyd | Floyd | Ladies gasp, hands fly to cover mouths, teeth chomp down to bite Floyd | fingernails when you reach for your deck a third time. You've had no Floyd | practice, but this has to work. You don't want to imagine Floyd | what will happen if it doesn't. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "deal card" | ||
Floyd | what will happen if it doesn't.So you don't imagine it. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "deal card" | ||
Floyd | what will happen if it doesn't.So you don't imagine it. Floyd | You put one last card face-down on the table. | Jacqueline says, "Slowly, please" | |
| Teaspoon says, "sorry." | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | You put one last card face-down on the table. Floyd | Three. | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair))
Floyd | Three.
Floyd | That's it. There's no going back. Lady Gascogne's looming over you,
Floyd | hands clamped onto her parasol's handle, weight bearing on that
Floyd | parasol as she leans forward to look at the spread. Her eyes are
Floyd | counting them: one, two, three cards.
Floyd |
Floyd | But you aren't nervous. You're assured, confident, in control.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
| Jacqueline says, "I know it's a lot of the same text over and over, but it's hard to process if it happens too quickly." | |
| DavidW says, "so now we 'listen'" | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "listen" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | > Floyd | > LISTEN Floyd | Floyd | …deuce of clubs… eight of spades… Floyd | …nine of clubs… queen of spades… five of hearts… Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "oh wait. The lady has to pick a card." | |
| Jacqueline says, "That's more than three cards." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Yeah. I think she picks, then we listen." | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "wait" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | > Floyd | > WAIT Floyd | Floyd | This is no time to wait around. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "no, talk to lady" | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "talk to lady" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > TALK TO LADY Floyd | Floyd | "Pick a card," you tell Lady Gascogne. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | "Pick a card," you tell Lady Gascogne. Floyd | She stares at you. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | She stares at you. She says nothing. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | She stares at you. She says nothing. Floyd | She picks a card. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | She picks a card.
Floyd | The middle card, to be precise. That's important. After she's
Floyd | done glancing at it, she holds the card where no one else can see, and
Floyd | then she stares at you again.
| ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair))
Floyd | then she stares at you again.
Floyd | "Amaze me," she commands. "What card is this?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
| ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "listen" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | > Floyd | > LISTEN Floyd | Floyd | …queen of hearts… nine of clubs… Floyd | …nine of clubs… queen of spades… five of hearts… Floyd | Floyd | > | Teaspoon asks, "so it's the queen of spades then, right?" | |
| Jacqueline says, "Oh, I get it." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Yeah." | ||
| DavidW says, "yes" | ||
| DavidW says, "Mum is talking nonsense for some reason." | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "say "queen of spades"" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | > Floyd | > SAY "QUEEN OF SPADES" Floyd | Floyd | Whom do you want to say that to? Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Yeah" | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "say "queen of spades" to lady" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | > Floyd | > SAY "QUEEN OF SPADES" TO LADY Floyd | Floyd | If there's one person you never want to cross, that person is Lady Floyd | Gascogne. You'll be on your best behavior around her. Floyd | Floyd | > | Teaspoon says, "Hmm" | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "queen of spades" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > QUEEN OF SPADES Floyd | Floyd | "I hear… I hear… a voice," you say, cupping your ear in the most Floyd | melodramatic posture that you can manage. "It's whispering… from very Floyd | far away… across the gaps that yawn between what we call space and Floyd | time. It's saying something… about royalty… about a queen…" Floyd | Floyd | Everyone else strains to listen, but they can't hear anything. | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to her" | ||
Floyd | Everyone else strains to listen, but they can't hear anything. They Floyd | never will. | Jacqueline says, "Ah" | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | never will. Floyd | "…I can hear something… | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | "…I can hear something… digging… | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | "…I can hear something… digging… digging in the darkness… | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | "…I can hear something… digging… digging in the darkness… in Floyd | the Floyd | blackness… | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | blackness…yes, a black suit… | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | blackness…yes, a black suit… it's a spade…" | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | blackness…yes, a black suit… it's a spade…" Floyd | Floyd | No one breathes. No one moves. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | No one breathes. No one moves. Floyd | "You've drawn the queen of spades." | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | "You've drawn the queen of spades." Floyd | Lady Gascogne lays a queen of spades on the table. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd ]
Floyd |
Floyd | Well, what else is there to say? That the crowd goes wild, and that
Floyd | their joyful shouts can be heard through the entire exposition, over
Floyd | the other magicians, even over the barricade wall where the guardsmen
Floyd | patrol and the rejected wannabes huddle outside in the night? That
Floyd | ribboned hats fly through the air, and confetti and balloons rain
Floyd | down, and teardrops cascade over cheeks as people weep with
Floyd | jubilation? That your name will ring through every age as not only the
Floyd | greatest two-card magician, but also the greatest three-card
Floyd | one? And that even then, even after all that, everybody will still
Floyd | know you as Morgan the Magnificent because Morríghan is too hard to
Floyd | pronounce?
| ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | pronounce? Floyd | No, these things are obvious. They don't need to be said. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd ]
Floyd |
Floyd | Now you've got a second platinum medal on your jacket. Lady Gascogne
Floyd | pinned it there after her assistant handed it over. They have a
Floyd | million different medals to distribute, but this one is
Floyd | yours. No one deserves it more.
Floyd |
Floyd | "What's next?" asks Lady Gascogne.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Another exposition," says her assistant. "Jugglers."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Let's hope that they've improved this season. Two-ball jugglers are
Floyd | so tedious."
| ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | so tedious." Floyd | And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how to successfully perform a… | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how to successfully perform a…
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | THREE
| ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | THREE## -CARD
| ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | THREE## -CARD ## TRICK.
| ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd ] Floyd | THREE## -CARD ## TRICK. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | *** finis *** Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, UNDO the last Floyd | command, or view a few potential DIVERSIONS? Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "diversions" | ||
Floyd ]
Floyd | Did you try...
Floyd |
Floyd | ...listening while sitting in your booth at the beginning?
Floyd | ...playing solitaire while sitting in your booth?
Floyd | ...examining the penny arcade?
Floyd | ...examining the barricade?
Floyd | ...climbing the barricade?
Floyd | ...examining the skeletons underground?
Floyd | ...talking to Ivan's grandmother?
Floyd | ...talking to your mother?
Floyd | ...revisiting Ivan after stealing his grandmother?
Floyd | ...guessing Lady Gascogne's card incorrectly?
Floyd | ...pulling a rabbit out of your hat?
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, UNDO the last
Floyd | command, or view a few potential DIVERSIONS?
Floyd | >
| Roger says, "huzzah" | |
| DavidW says, "oh. fathers help with juggling, then." | ||
| Teaspoon says, "That was...something." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Huzzah. And yay a pleasantly short game." | ||
| Busta says, "*applause*" | ||
| Teaspoon says, "I liked." | ||
| Jacqueline asks, "We can't bring his grandmother upstairs, right?" | ||
| Teaspoon says, "good question" | ||
| Roger says, "I was hoping to carry her around under my hat" | ||
| Teaspoon asks, "should we try?" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Sure" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "I'd love to confront him with it." | ||
| Teaspoon asks, "restart?" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Yeah" | ||
| DavidW asks, "Is it wrong for me to think that whatever was done to the relatives or even how the compass works is more interesting, magically, than the card tricks they're in aid of?" | ||
| Teaspoon says, "I'd agree" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Or, well, I did do a save" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "CF3" | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "restore" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > RESTORE Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to read: | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "cf3" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
| ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "i" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > I Floyd | Floyd | You're wearing a tuxedo, a platinum medal, and a top hat, and you're Floyd | carrying Ivan's key and a compass. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "look" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > LOOK Floyd | Floyd | Under the Exposition Floyd | Identical passageways open to the north, south, east, and west. Floyd | Floyd | Overhead you can see your old friend, the trapdoor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "in" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > IN Floyd | Floyd | Under the Exposition Floyd | Identical passageways open to the east, north, west, and south. Floyd | Floyd | Dice and marbles litter the ground like pebbles. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "in" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > IN Floyd | Floyd | Under the Exposition Floyd | Identical passageways open to the south, west, north, and east. Floyd | Floyd | Stacked caskets skewered with machetes line the shadows. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "in" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > IN Floyd | Floyd | Under the Exposition Floyd | Okay, you're headed in the right direction. You recognize the two Floyd | skeletons on the ground here from the last time you came through. Not Floyd | that you thought you would really lose your way again, but Floyd | it's still reassuring to find a landmark. Floyd | Floyd | Identical passageways open to the north, south, east, and west. Floyd | Floyd | > | Roger says, "Yeah I think there's an intentional tension between what the player finds wonderous compared to the PC" | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "in" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > IN Floyd | Floyd | Under the Exposition Floyd | Identical passageways open to the south, north, east, and west. Floyd | Floyd | Moldy satin bouquets carpet the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "in" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > IN Floyd | Floyd | Under the Exposition Floyd | Identical passageways open to the south, east, west, and north. Floyd | Floyd | You can hear people walking on the exposition floor above. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "in" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > IN Floyd | Floyd | Under the Exposition Floyd | Finally you reach the center. There's more junk piled here than Floyd | anywhere else. Swords designed for swallowing, and saws designed to Floyd | cut ladies in half, and handkerchiefs and pointy hats and cloaks Floyd | patterned with stars, and cups and balls, and chains and guillotines, Floyd | and boxes with mirrors in them, and padlocks and lockpicks. Enough Floyd | miscellaneous garbage to orchestrate a thousand magic tricks. Floyd | Floyd | But what's this? Oho, something new: a steamer trunk sitting Floyd | right out in the open. Definitely wasn't there before. Definitely Floyd | stamped with the initials I.I. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "unlock trunk" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > UNLOCK TRUNK Floyd | Floyd | You open the trunk using Ivan's filched key. It's a cinch. No Floyd | additional security. No extra obstacles. Like the fool never even Floyd | expected that he would be robbed. Oiled hinges slide back with a Floyd | pleasant smoothness as the lid rises, and then you're looking down at Floyd | the interior. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x trunk" | ||
Floyd | the interior.
Floyd | This is what you knew you'd find.
| ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | This is what you knew you'd find. Even still, it takes you
Floyd | somewhat by surprise.
| ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition
Floyd | somewhat by surprise.
Floyd | Sitting there in the trunk is a pale glistening slab like a raw
Floyd | chicken breast. Maybe calling it a chicken breast doesn't quite paint
Floyd | the picture. It's got arms and legs but they're no more than stubs,
Floyd | and its head is as big as its body. So it's more like two raw chicken
Floyd | breasts that have been slapped together. Its eyes are sunk way back
Floyd | into its head and it's got an itty-bitty toothless mouth. All gums,
Floyd | that toothless mouth. Its stubby arms are wiggling and it's mumbling
Floyd | words that sound more like lip-smacks: "…ace of clubs… ten of
Floyd | spades…
Floyd | four of hearts…"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
| ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "take grandmother" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > TAKE GRANDMOTHER Floyd | Floyd | Now everything makes sense. Of course Ivan can perform a three-card Floyd | trick, because he upped the ante by using his grandmother as Floyd | a ritual anchor. That's definitely what this is: a grandmother. You Floyd | wonder why you never considered such a possibility. In retrospect, Floyd | it's bloody obvious. Floyd | Floyd | What's less obvious is how someone as lunkheaded as Ivan even figured Floyd | out how to do it. Must've stumbled across a grimoire. He sure as hell Floyd | didn't struggle like you to personally chart the leylines. You refuse Floyd | to believe that he's got enough talent. Which is why you feel no Floyd | compunction whatsoever about taking his grandmother for yourself, and Floyd | promptly scoop her up. She's slimy and gross but what can you expect. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "close trunk" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | promptly scoop her up. She's slimy and gross but what can you expect. Floyd | As you hold her in your arms, she groans. She wants to go back inside Floyd | the trunk, but she's going to go into your chest instead, Floyd | which you've hidden beneath the surrounding debris. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "lock trunk" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > LOCK TRUNK Floyd | Floyd | You close Ivan's steamer trunk and lock it again. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "It's not just the PC. The expo's attendees are also enthralled with the card tricks." | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "out" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > OUT Floyd | Floyd | You're not about to walk away without putting Ivan's grandmother where Floyd | she belongs: in your chest. | Teaspoon says, "Oh, so the game won't let us." | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x chest" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition
Floyd | she belongs: in your chest.Suddenly you hear a commotion. It's coming
Floyd | through the ceiling from the exposition. Voices rising in surprise.
Floyd | Exclamations. Shuffling and confusion.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
| Jacqueline says, "Yeah, I suspected that." | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "get key from hat" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > GET KEY FROM HAT Floyd | Floyd | As though pulling it from the thinnest air, you reach into your top Floyd | hat and pull out a key. Presto! Floyd | Floyd | Now you can hear Ivan's voice. You'd recognize that caster-oil tenor Floyd | anywhere. You can't make out the words but his tone is unmistakably, Floyd | deliciously desperate. Defensive. Imploring. If only you could see his Floyd | face! Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to grandma" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > TALK TO GRANDMA Floyd | Floyd | So you're Ivan's grandmother, huh? What a pleasure to meet. Floyd | You must be so proud of your grandson's success, unless you're aware Floyd | he's a slimeball and a cheater. But of course you're aware, since he Floyd | put you down here, made you what you are now. You can't cop to it, Floyd | though, can't say anything except card ranks and suits, which is why Floyd | actually interrogating you like this would be pointless. Floyd | Floyd | But it doesn't matter, because you know what Ivan did to his Floyd | grandmother, whether she has the voice to admit it or not. Just look Floyd | at her. This is your jurisdiction he's trying to muscle into, Floyd | and when his career is over, you'll still reign supreme. Floyd | Floyd | …and now you hear footsteps overhead. Footsteps in a stampede. In an Floyd | exodus. Eventually they diminish, moving outward, away, until there's Floyd | only silence left behind. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x rubbish" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition
Floyd | only silence left behind.
Floyd | In this racket, all it takes is one mistake. So much for Ivan's
Floyd | popularity.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
| ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "look" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > LOOK Floyd | Floyd | Under the Exposition Floyd | Identical passageways open to the north, south, east, and west. Floyd | Floyd | Miscellaneous magical artifacts clutter the area, but separated from Floyd | them is a distinctly out-of-place steamer trunk. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x artifacts" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > X ARTIFACTS Floyd | Floyd | Unlike Ivan, you hid your chest well, and it takes some digging before Floyd | you unearth it from the junk. You can tell that it hasn't been touched Floyd | since you were here last season. All the locks are still intact. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "Wait, isn't this completely hypocritical of us to talk to her like that?" | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x chest" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > X CHEST Floyd | Floyd | A modest chest. Small enough to carry in two hands without hassle. Floyd | Locked and booby-trapped for good measure. Floyd | Floyd | > | Teaspoon asks, "How so?" | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "open chest" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > OPEN CHEST Floyd | Floyd | It takes some finesse to unlock your chest and disengage the Floyd | booby-traps, which is no problem because you've got finesse in your Floyd | genetics. Also, you're the one who placed the traps. You'd better know Floyd | how to deactivate them. Floyd | Floyd | The lid pops open, and inside the chest is your mother right where you Floyd | left her. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "talk to mother" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > TALK TO MOTHER Floyd | Floyd | Hello, mother. Life treating you well? How about these accommodations? Floyd | Met anyone new recently? We ought to catch up more. We don't see each Floyd | other as often as we used to. That's because you're locked down in Floyd | this chest, which is why really asking you these questions Floyd | and having a chat would be as useless as talking to a wall. Floyd | Floyd | Yeah, your mother's here, all right, but she's also not. There's a Floyd | reason that nobody else can perform a two-card trick. There's a reason Floyd | that Lady Gascogne pinned a platinum medal to your jacket. Floyd | There's a reason you deserve it more than anyone. And it's called Floyd | sacrifice. Floyd | Floyd | > | Teaspoon says, "good lord" | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "put grandmother in chest" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > PUT GRANDMOTHER IN CHEST Floyd | Floyd | You lower Ivan's grandmother into your chest, and she takes to it Floyd | rather nicely, chirping and slapping her stubs around to feel her new Floyd | environment. She's just happy to be back inside a container. Floyd | Floyd | Your own mother doesn't pay too much notice. Keeps slithering in Floyd | circles. When she bumps into her housemate, she keeps bumping until Floyd | she's bumped herself around the obstacle, and Ivan's grandmother Floyd | hardly registers the contact. The two might as well exist on separate Floyd | planes. Which, now that you consider it, they probably do to a certain Floyd | degree. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "close chest" | ||
Floyd | degree.
Floyd | You wipe your hands. Your job is done. All you have to do now is sit
Floyd | on your chair in your booth and listen, and when you deal
Floyd | three cards out for a trick (which you most certainly will) then
Floyd | you'll hear Ivan's grandmother mumbling predictions in your head, just
Floyd | like she's mumbling now: "…eight of diamonds… nine of diamonds…
Floyd | eight
Floyd | of diamonds…"
| ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "take rabbit from hat" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition
Floyd | of diamonds…"
Floyd | You couldn't be more pleased with how this lunch-break has panned out.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
| Jacqueline | You must be so proud of your grandson's success, unless you're aware he's a slimeball and a cheater. But of course you're aware, since he put you down here, made you what you are now. | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "take rabbit from hat" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > TAKE RABBIT FROM HAT Floyd | Floyd | As if you'd ever resort to such a tasteless trick. Cards are in right Floyd | now; rabbits are out. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Saying that, when we did the same thing to our mum." | |
| Jacqueline says, "That's the hypocrisy." | ||
| Teaspoon says, "Rabidly hypocritical, yes." | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "lock chest" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > LOCK CHEST Floyd | Floyd | After resetting its booby-traps, you close your chest and lock it. Floyd | Then you bury it back underneath the accumulated garbage in the area Floyd | where nobody but you will ever find it. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "out" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > OUT Floyd | Floyd | Under the Exposition Floyd | Identical passageways open to the north, south, east, and west. Floyd | Floyd | You have to kick your way through woven baskets packed with ropes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "out" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > OUT Floyd | Floyd | Under the Exposition Floyd | Identical passageways open to the west, north, east, and south. Floyd | Floyd | Wands, wands, wands. Who uses wands? No one. That's why they're dumped Floyd | here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "out" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > OUT Floyd | Floyd | Under the Exposition Floyd | Identical passageways open to the north, south, east, and west. Floyd | Floyd | Two skeletons lie on the ground. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "out" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > OUT Floyd | Floyd | Under the Exposition Floyd | Identical passageways open to the west, south, north, and east. Floyd | Floyd | Threadbare tuxedoes are mounded around you waist-high. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "out" | ||
Floyd ] Under the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > OUT Floyd | Floyd | Under the Exposition Floyd | Identical passageways open to the north, south, east, and west. Floyd | Floyd | Overhead you can see your old friend, the trapdoor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "up" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > UP Floyd | Floyd | You climb back through the trapdoor. Floyd | Floyd | At the Exposition Floyd | Guardsman are patrolling the barricade outside, and there's a trapdoor Floyd | behind a derelict penny arcade at the exposition's fringe. Floyd | Floyd | Inward are stalls lining row after row. Floyd | Floyd | > | Busta says, "people like that are the worst" | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "climb barricade" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > CLIMB BARRICADE Floyd | Floyd | You begin to approach the barricade and... suddenly there's a red bead Floyd | on your jacket. Another. Another. More beads trained on you as the Floyd | guards atop the wall pivot in your direction. When they see that Floyd | you've stopped advancing, they resume their patrol and the red beads Floyd | disperse. | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x penny arcade" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition Floyd | disperse. Floyd | You stop holding your breath. Were you holding your breath? What Floyd | nonsense. The guards only shoot people climbing the wall from Floyd | outside. You were never in any danger. Still, you don't know Floyd | what put the idea into your head. It's not something you'll try again. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x barricade" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > X BARRICADE Floyd | Floyd | There's probably a mob outside that barricade. All the rejected Floyd | magicians. Protesting. Fighting for entrance. You've seen the mayhem Floyd | before. People brandishing silk scarves and doves like that'll Floyd | convince anyone to let them inside. Every season at least a few Floyd | hundred get shot trying to climb the wall. Good riddance is all you Floyd | can say. Floyd | Floyd | > | Teaspoon says, "this is a very dark 'verse" | |
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x penny arcade" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > X PENNY ARCADE Floyd | Floyd | Back in the day, a machine was actually the first 'person' to Floyd | successfully perform a one-card trick. That led to penny arcades like Floyd | this being churned out en masse, each equipped with its own Floyd | robotic card-dealing magician. But the first machine's success was a Floyd | fluke. All the penny arcades were useless. Which is why human Floyd | magicians like you are still around. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "in" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > IN Floyd | Floyd | You wander back into the exposition. Floyd | Floyd | At the Exposition Floyd | Stalls and stalls and stalls in rows and rows and rows. Sightseers Floyd | bustle between them. Floyd | Floyd | Outward the exposition eventually ends; inward lies its center. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "in" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > IN Floyd | Floyd | At the Exposition Floyd | Here at the exposition's center are your booth and Ivan's tent. Floyd | Floyd | Outward are more magicians at more stations. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "in" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > IN Floyd | Floyd | You could enter your booth or Ivan's tent. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "enter ivan's tent" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in Ivan's tent) Floyd | > Floyd | > ENTER IVAN'S TENT Floyd | Floyd | At the Exposition (in Ivan's tent) Floyd | What a difference since you were last here. Where once there were Floyd | adoring throngs, now there's nobody. Only Ivan sitting slumped at his Floyd | table with his head in his hands and his career as a magician lying in Floyd | shambles at his feet. Floyd | Floyd | Such a wonderful sight -- or should you say such an Floyd | incredible one. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "talk to ivan" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > TALK TO IVAN Floyd | Floyd | Ivan doesn't react when he sees you. He's too distraught to play his Floyd | charming smarmy role as the 'great three-card magician' anymore. Floyd | Hunched over like some dejected maiden in a cheap romance, weeping Floyd | with a handkerchief for his lost love. Except it's not a romance. It's Floyd | a tragedy, and this dejected maiden has been jilted and won't recover Floyd | until the grave takes him. Floyd | Floyd | "I'd ask what happened here," you say, "but I already know. You're Floyd | Ivan the Imposter like I always said. A conman. Hustler. Floyd | Ne'er-do-well. And now you're exposed. Everyone ran for the hills just Floyd | like they should've from the start." Floyd | Floyd | "Oh, you don't even know the half," Ivan sniffles. "Lady Gascogne Floyd | herself… she was here… and when I said she had a seven of hearts, Floyd | she Floyd | had a deuce of diamonds!" Floyd | Floyd | His wailing overwhelms him. He's a poor worthless blubbering wreck. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in Ivan's tent)
Floyd | His wailing overwhelms him. He's a poor worthless blubbering wreck.
Floyd | Glorious.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
| Roger says, "For the transcript, this reminds me pleasantly of The Prestige." | |
| Jacqueline says, "Oh, yeah." | ||
| Teaspoon asks, "shall we try for the bad ending?" | ||
| Roger says, "And only slightly less pleasantly of The Illusionist" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Except that I pictured our protagonist as being played by Edward Norton." | ||
| Roger says, "And a little bit also, but still pleasantly enough, of Strange and Norrell" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Timing" | ||
| Roger says, "I thought it was a good job of the PC being mostly gender-neutral" | ||
| Jacqueline nods. | ||
| Teaspoon says, "Yes" | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "out" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition Floyd | > Floyd | > OUT Floyd | Floyd | At the Exposition Floyd | Here at the exposition's center are your booth and Ivan's tent. Floyd | Floyd | Outward are more magicians at more stations. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "enter booth" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > ENTER BOOTH Floyd | Floyd | You turn to enter your booth but then | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | You turn to enter your booth but then you | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | You turn to enter your booth but then you stop | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | You turn to enter your booth but then you stop in | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | You turn to enter your booth but then you stop in your | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | You turn to enter your booth but then you stop in your tracks | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | You turn to enter your booth but then you stop in your tracks when you Floyd | see what's there. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | see what's there. Floyd | Not a crowd like Ivan had around his tent. No, this is different. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | Not a crowd like Ivan had around his tent. No, this is different. Floyd | This is an entourage. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | This is an entourage. Floyd | More ladies in more pastel dresses twirling more parasols, but Floyd | higher class ladies with higher class dresses and Floyd | parasols whiter than snow. All their noses upturned. All their hats Floyd | decked with ribbons. And yet despite their cosmopolitan polish they're Floyd | nothing next to the one woman they follow and imitate like Floyd | second-rate mirrors. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | second-rate mirrors. Floyd | That would be Lady Gascogne. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | That would be Lady Gascogne. At your booth. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | That would be Lady Gascogne. At your booth. Waiting for you. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth) Floyd | That would be Lady Gascogne. At your booth. Waiting for you. Floyd | At the Exposition (in your booth) Floyd | Lady Gascogne is standing beside your table. Unlike everyone else, she Floyd | doesn't carry her parasol open. She's holding it like a cane with both Floyd | palms planted on its handle, but not like a cane that anyone would use Floyd | to hobble around. Instead it's more like a gavel. One strike from its Floyd | tip to the ground would make the whole world quake. Hyperbole, of Floyd | course, but not by much. Floyd | Floyd | "Good, here you are," she says when you enter. "Normally I never wait, Floyd | but when I saw this 'Out to Lunch' sign, I decided to give Floyd | you five minutes. How many are left?" Floyd | Floyd | "Just fourteen seconds," her assistant reports next to her. Floyd | Floyd | "Under the wire," says Lady Gascogne. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "take sign" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > TAKE SIGN Floyd | Floyd | "Lady Gascogne! Mademoiselles!" you say, sweeping the notice away from Floyd | your table and settling back into your chair. "What a pleasure to see Floyd | you all here at this season's exposition! I must apologize. When lunch Floyd | calls, lunch calls, but I'm honored, enraptured, delighted that you Floyd | stuck around to see my three-card trick." | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | stuck around to see my three-card trick."Something in the air shifts Floyd | when you speak those magic words. Voices drop. Heads turn. Every lady Floyd | is staring as though you're a steak that's been thrown for them to Floyd | devour. You know this sensation. You've felt it before, last season, Floyd | when you dealt two cards and Lady Gascogne reached for one. They were Floyd | ready to swallow you whole if you couldn't guess right. Spit out your Floyd | bones. Leave you disgraced. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | bones. Leave you disgraced. Floyd | It didn't happen then, and it won't happen now. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair))
Floyd | It didn't happen then, and it won't happen now.
Floyd | "Nobody's performed a three-card trick," says Lady Gascogne. "The man
Floyd | in the tent over there tried to do it and failed. He was a liar.
Floyd | Everyone who said that he could do it, they were liars too. I have no
Floyd | tolerance for lies."
Floyd |
Floyd | "I'm an honest magician," you tell her. "Only genuine tricks from
Floyd | Morgan the Magnificent!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
| ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "talk to lady" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | > Floyd | > TALK TO LADY Floyd | Floyd | "Before I begin my three-card trick, however," you announce, "I'd like Floyd | to invite any curious, doubtful, or otherwise inquisitive parties to Floyd | step forward and scrutinize my accouterments. Search my table, turn Floyd | over my deck, feel my jacket. Do everything to satisfy yourselves that Floyd | I'm not hiding anything." Floyd | Floyd | Lady Gascogne doesn't take your offer, but her entourage does. For a Floyd | minute or two their hands are everywhere, and when they withdraw Floyd | they've found nothing. Nothing. How could they ever find something? Floyd | They're amateurs. You're a master. Floyd | Floyd | "Fine," says Lady Gascogne. "Continue." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "shuffle deck" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | > Floyd | > SHUFFLE DECK Floyd | Floyd | "Of course," you say, "it wouldn't be right to conduct a card trick Floyd | without a shuffle, whether that's a one-card trick, a two-card trick, Floyd | or even the marvelous three-card trick you're about to Floyd | witness." Floyd | Floyd | Shuffling cards is second nature. You hold the deck in one palm, split Floyd | its cards, riffle them with your thumbs. Their edges flutter and Floyd | blend. They bend upward, dovetailing in your hands, and then cascade Floyd | into a stack when your fingers release. Less than one second. No Floyd | thought required. Floyd | Floyd | Lady Gascogne doesn't look impressed. Neither does her entourage. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x deck" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | > Floyd | > X DECK Floyd | Floyd | A standard deck. Thirteen ranks. Four suits. Fifty-two cards total. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "lay card" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | > Floyd | > LAY CARD Floyd | Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize. Floyd | Floyd | > | Roger says, "Oh let's try screwing it up" | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "do trick" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | > Floyd | > DO TRICK Floyd | Floyd | What's it take to perform a three-card trick? Six simple steps: Floyd | Floyd | 1. Shuffle the deck. Floyd | 2. Deal a card. Floyd | 3. Deal a card. Floyd | 4. Deal a card. Floyd | 5. Listen. Floyd | 6. Name the correct card. Floyd | Floyd | Steps two through four are what make it a three-card trick. Floyd | Step five is more important than the rest. But step six is what will Floyd | impress your spectators the most. Easy as pie. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "deal card" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > DEAL CARD Floyd | Floyd | Now the stage is set. You can feel motivations and emotions flowing Floyd | around you. Expectations. Judgements. Hopes. Everything in the Floyd | exposition gravitating toward your booth, pouring into your cards. Floyd | They want to be dealt. They are waiting for you to deal them. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "deal card" | ||
Floyd | They want to be dealt. They are waiting for you to deal them. Floyd | You take the top card from the deck and place it face-down on the Floyd | table. | Jacqueline says (to Roger), "Good idea." | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "deal card" | ||
Floyd | table. Floyd | One. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair))
Floyd | One.
Floyd | You're still in safe territory. Lady Gascogne doesn't react. Her
Floyd | entourage looks indifferent. But the fact is that you've taken the
Floyd | first step and now they're on their toes. They just don't show it yet.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
| ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > G Floyd | Floyd | When you reach for your deck a second time, you can actually Floyd | see attentions sharpening. Bodies drawing closer. Necks Floyd | craning to gain a better view. Even Lady Gascogne's gaze is locked Floyd | onto the cards. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | onto the cards. Floyd | You place another face-down on the table. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | You place another face-down on the table. Floyd | Two. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | Two. Floyd | Now this trick has gotten serious. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > G Floyd | Floyd | Ladies gasp, hands fly to cover mouths, teeth chomp down to bite Floyd | fingernails when you reach for your deck a third time. You've had no Floyd | practice, but this has to work. You don't want to imagine Floyd | what will happen if it doesn't. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | what will happen if it doesn't.So you don't imagine it. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | what will happen if it doesn't.So you don't imagine it. Floyd | You put one last card face-down on the table. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | You put one last card face-down on the table. Floyd | Three. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair))
Floyd | Three.
Floyd | That's it. There's no going back. Lady Gascogne's looming over you,
Floyd | hands clamped onto her parasol's handle, weight bearing on that
Floyd | parasol as she leans forward to look at the spread. Her eyes are
Floyd | counting them: one, two, three cards.
Floyd |
Floyd | But you aren't nervous. You're assured, confident, in control.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
| ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "talk to lady" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > TALK TO LADY Floyd | Floyd | "Pick a card," you tell Lady Gascogne. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | "Pick a card," you tell Lady Gascogne. Floyd | She stares at you. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | She stares at you. She says nothing. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | She stares at you. She says nothing. Floyd | She picks a card. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | She picks a card.
Floyd | The middle card, to be precise. That's important. After she's
Floyd | done glancing at it, she holds the card where no one else can see, and
Floyd | then she stares at you again.
| ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair))
Floyd | then she stares at you again.
Floyd | "Amaze me," she commands. "What card is this?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
| ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "listen" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | > Floyd | > LISTEN Floyd | Floyd | …ace of clubs… six of clubs… Floyd | …nine of clubs… queen of spades… five of hearts… Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "nine of clubs" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > NINE OF CLUBS Floyd | Floyd | "I hear… I hear… a voice," you say, cupping your ear and continuing Floyd | on Floyd | with your usual rigamarole. You've got it down to a science. How long Floyd | to drag something out. When to drop hints or reveal specifics. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | to drag something out. When to drop hints or reveal specifics. Floyd | Unfortunately all your showmanship is wasted when, after blathering on Floyd | for some time about the spiritual whispers that have unveiled Lady Floyd | Gascogne's card to you, the card that you name isn't the card that Floyd | she's holding. Really, did you just say nine of clubs? | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | she's holding. Really, did you just say nine of clubs? Floyd | Whoops! Too bad! You've blown your chance! Floyd | Floyd | Lady Gascogne throws her card down in disgust, and her assistant Floyd | strips your platinum medal from last season, and you're a Floyd | laughingstock for years and years to come. You'll never live this Floyd | down… | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | down…if you go through with it. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair))
Floyd | down…if you go through with it.
Floyd | But you won't go through with it, because you caught yourself in time.
Floyd | That's the wrong card you just said. Try again.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
| Teaspoon exclaims, "Hah!" | |
| Roger exclaims, "Haha. But Thou Must!" | ||
| Teaspoon says, "Well, that about wraps that up, I think" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "ha" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "So, it occurs to me that there are other Floydable Spring Thing Games; they're in the Back Garden." | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "I can't drive because I already betatested them" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | > Floyd | > I CAN'T DRIVE BECAUSE I ALREADY BETATESTED THEM Floyd | Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to take inventory. Floyd | Floyd | > | Teaspoon says, "oops" | |
| Teaspoon says, "but yes, if someone else wants to that'd be fun to watch." | ||
| Jacqueline asks (of Tsp), "You beta tested all the Back Garden parser games?" | ||
| zarf has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. | Teaspoon says, "I did Andrew's" | |
| Teaspoon says, "and Buster Hudson's" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "I would also like to say to folks here that you really should go look at more of the Main Festival. I am not done with them yet, but I encountered two super Twine games, one of which is possibly one of the most impactful/memorable games I've ever played." | ||
| Teaspoon says, "Not Dead Man's Hill" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Dead Man's Hill sounds incredibly depressing." | ||
| Jacqueline exclaims, "But sure!" | ||
| DavidW says, "I want to continue, but my eyes are watering. I think i need to close them for a while." | ||
| Jacqueline asks, "So, are we done with this one and do we want to take a look at Dead Man's Hill?" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Or..." | ||
| Teaspoon says, "sure" | ||
| Jacqueline asks, "Should we play Fourdiopolis, since Andrew is here?" | ||
| DavidW says, "I'm gonna take a 10-minute break regardless, I think." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Sure." | ||
| Roger says, "I support that notion" | ||
| Teaspoon says, "okies" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Let's meet at half past." | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "quit" | ||
Floyd ] At the Exposition (in your booth (on your chair)) Floyd | > Floyd | > QUIT Floyd | Floyd | Are you sure you want to quit? | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "y" | ||
Floyd | Are you sure you want to quit?
Floyd | > Y
Floyd | cheapglulxe quit with exit status: 0
| ||
| Floyd asks, "That game over already? It was just getting good. Wanna play another?" | ||
| kpaquette arrives, ready to play with the toys. | Jacqueline says (to Katie), "We're taking a break for another seven minutes, then playing Fourdiopolis." | |
| kpaquette says, "Hmmm Okay." | ||
| Jacqueline asks, "Are folks back?" | ||
| Busta says, "Present." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Prisent" | ||
| Busta says, "I tested 4Dopolis so I'll just be watching" | ||
| Jacqueline asks, "Oh, hm. You and tsp?" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Andrew is idle. I tried emailing him to get his attention." | ||
| Roger says, "I'm sort of here" | ||
| Jacqueline asks, "I don't suppose anyone is following him on social media and could dm him, which would possibly make his phone notify him?" | ||
| Busta says, "Though I wasn't smart enough to actually solve it - I merely made sure his walkthrough worked" | ||
| Teaspoon says, "ditto" | ||
| Busta says, "I've only ever emailed him" | ||
| Teaspoon says, "also ditto" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Mmkay" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Well, let's wait for David because this is his sort of thing." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "I mean, assuming he returns..." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Or we could play Dead Man's Hill and just say that we'll do Fourdiopolis next week so that Andrew actually is here." | ||
| Teaspoon says, "that's a plan." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "And quit waiting on David, Since he's been gone going on half an hour after wanting a ten minute breat." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "er, break" | ||
| Jacqueline asks, "What do you think, Busta?" | ||
| Roger says, "DMH sounds like a good call" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Busta, who was here, does not answer, and Roger, who I think said he was only kind of here, has. Good enough for me." | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "load sleepmask deadmanshill" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 1 Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | "Oh terrible minutes! One fears death and could, in such times, Floyd | yearn for death, horrorified by this kind of death. Been in two Floyd | assaults; may there follow no more! Nothing more eagerly longed for Floyd | than this, besides getting home in one piece. Where did all courage Floyd | disappear to? We have enough of waging war. Not cowardice is this but Floyd | humanness, rebelling against this barbarism, this ghastly Floyd | slaughter." Floyd | Floyd | Kurt Peterson, killed in action August 3rd, 1915 Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | I slid down into a large shell crater to escape the fire that had Floyd | wiped out most of my company. For all I knew, what was left of it were Floyd | the two men who had jumped in right after me. I could hear their teeth Floyd | clattering from underneath their gas masks. Floyd | Floyd | Somewhere around here had to be the that ominous trench. Floyd | Floyd | At that very moment, some heavy battery didn't want to to be left out Floyd | and started ploughing the hilltop once more, just to be sure nobody Floyd | would get off it alive today. If I hadn't had soiled my pants already Floyd | while running for my death through no-man's-land, now would have been Floyd | the last opportunity. Floyd | Floyd | Dead Man's Hill Floyd | An uphill struggle by Arno von Borries Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 160401 / Inform 7 build 6L38 (I6/v6.33 lib Floyd | 6/12N) Floyd | Floyd | Large shell hole Floyd | This was where the French wire entanglements had been before the Floyd | bombardment. Now, however, there was nothing left of them. The impact Floyd | of whatever had hit here had been so violent, it had dug a hole right Floyd | up to the trench itself. Floyd | Floyd | The trench continued to the north, east and west. Floyd | Floyd | I could see Gruber and Tiersen here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "about" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 1 Floyd | > Floyd | > ABOUT Floyd | Floyd | That noun did not make sense in this context. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "i" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 1 Floyd | > Floyd | > I Floyd | Floyd | I was carrying: Floyd | an automatic Floyd | a pistol magazine Floyd | three grenades Floyd | a bayonet Floyd | a lantern Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x lantern" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 1 Floyd | > Floyd | > X LANTERN Floyd | Floyd | A powerful mantle lantern, currently unlit. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x bayonet" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 1 Floyd | > Floyd | > X BAYONET Floyd | Floyd | "The bayonet frequently jams on the thrust and then a man has to Floyd | kick hard on the other fellow's belly to pull it out again; and in the Floyd | interval he may easily get one himself. And what's more the blade Floyd | often gets broken off." Floyd | Floyd | Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to tsp), "Wow, you are indeed a fast reader." | |
| Teaspoon says, "sorry" | ||
| Jacqueline | Bodies: 0 | ||
| Jacqueline says, "hrm" | ||
| Teaspoon says, "That's...worrying." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "f automatic" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "er," | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x automatic" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 1 Floyd | > Floyd | > X AUTOMATIC Floyd | Floyd | A standard service pistol. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x magazine" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 1 Floyd | > Floyd | > X MAGAZINE Floyd | Floyd | (the pistol magazine) Floyd | A seven-round magazine for an automatic. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "load automatic" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 1 Floyd | > Floyd | > LOAD AUTOMATIC Floyd | Floyd | I wasn't wielding the pistol magazine Floyd | > | Jacqueline sighs, as she realizes that this game will have the verb 'load' in it, which screws up the transcript. | |
| Teaspoon says, "oh dear" | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "verbose" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 2 Floyd | > Floyd | > VERBOSE Floyd | Floyd | Dead Man's Hill is now in its "verbose" mode, which always gives long Floyd | descriptions of locations (even if you've been there before). Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Enh. It is what it is." | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "look" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 2 Floyd | > Floyd | > LOOK Floyd | Floyd | Large shell hole Floyd | This was where the French wire entanglements had been before the Floyd | bombardment. Now, however, there was nothing left of them. The impact Floyd | of whatever had hit here had been so violent, it had dug a hole right Floyd | up to the trench itself. Floyd | Floyd | The trench continued to the north, east and west. Floyd | Floyd | I could see Gruber and Tiersen here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x bruber" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 2 Floyd | > Floyd | > X BRUBER Floyd | Floyd | I couldn't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "gruber" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 2 Floyd | > Floyd | > GRUBER Floyd | Floyd | That noun did not make sense in this context. Floyd | Floyd | > | Roger says, "damnit, Hans" | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x gruber" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 2 Floyd | > Floyd | > X GRUBER Floyd | Floyd | Bruno Gruber was a man from my company. Floyd | Floyd | He was carrying four grenades, a very light and a flare gun. Floyd | He was wielding a grenade. Floyd | Floyd | > | Teaspoon asks, "a very light?" | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x light" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 2 Floyd | > Floyd | > X LIGHT Floyd | Floyd | I saw nothing special about the very light. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "huh" | |
| Teaspoon says, "Oh, it's a flare gun." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "hm" | ||
| Teaspoon says, "well, that would make sense if he wasn't also carrying a flare gun, so I'm confused now." | ||
| Roger says, "Maybe it's the flare itself" | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x tiersen" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 2 Floyd | > Floyd | > X TIERSEN Floyd | Floyd | Eberhard Tiersen was a man from my company. Floyd | Floyd | He was carrying a grenade, a banana magazine and a machine gun. Floyd | He was wielding a grenade. Floyd | Floyd | > | kpaquette says (to Jacqueline), "I'm going to go for now." | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "wield bayonet" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 2 Floyd | > Floyd | > WIELD BAYONET Floyd | Floyd | Both my hands were full already. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "i" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 2 Floyd | > Floyd | > I Floyd | Floyd | I was carrying: Floyd | an automatic Floyd | a pistol magazine Floyd | three grenades Floyd | a bayonet Floyd | a lantern Floyd | Floyd | > | Teaspoon asks, "what are we wielding, then?" | |
| kpaquette goes home. | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "talk to tiersen" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 2 Floyd | > Floyd | > TALK TO TIERSEN Floyd | Floyd | That noun did not make sense in this context. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "talk to gruber" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 2 Floyd | > Floyd | > TALK TO GRUBER Floyd | Floyd | That noun did not make sense in this context. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "look" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 2 Floyd | > Floyd | > LOOK Floyd | Floyd | Large shell hole Floyd | This was where the French wire entanglements had been before the Floyd | bombardment. Now, however, there was nothing left of them. The impact Floyd | of whatever had hit here had been so violent, it had dug a hole right Floyd | up to the trench itself. Floyd | Floyd | The trench continued to the north, east and west. Floyd | Floyd | I could see Gruber and Tiersen here. Floyd | Floyd | > | Teaspoon asks, "do we go exploring then?" | |
| Jacqueline says, "Sure." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Let's go die in another part of the trench" | ||
| Teaspoon says, "yay" | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "n" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 3 Floyd | > Floyd | > N Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Machine-gun nest Floyd | This position was still in surprisingly good condition considering the Floyd | heavy shelling that had been going on for days. Floyd | Concrete braces reinforced the construction. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | The trench continued to the south. Floyd | Floyd | I could see a surprised Frenchman here. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Tiersen fell in behind me. Floyd | Floyd | Gruber fell in behind me. Floyd | Floyd | The Frenchman fired his automatic at myself. Floyd | I received a light wound in the my leg. Floyd | Floyd | > | Teaspoon says, "uh" | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "fire automatic at Frenchman" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 4 Floyd | > Floyd | > FIRE AUTOMATIC AT FRENCHMAN Floyd | Floyd | I wasn't wielding the automatic. Floyd | Floyd | Gruber struck a Frenchman with his grenade. Floyd | The Frenchman received a light wound in the chest. Floyd | Floyd | Tiersen struck a Frenchman with his grenade. Floyd | The Frenchman received a light wound in the leg. Floyd | Floyd | The Frenchman fired his automatic at Tiersen. Floyd | Tiersen received a moderate wound in the stomach. Floyd | Floyd | Tiersen struck a Frenchman with his grenade. Floyd | The Frenchman received a moderate wound in the head. Floyd | Floyd | Gruber struck a Frenchman with his grenade. Floyd | The Frenchman received a light wound in the chest. Floyd | The Frenchman collapsed on the spot. Floyd | Floyd | > | Teaspoon asks, "okay, I already tried wielding things, and you wouldn't let me, game. What's going on?" | |
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "hold automatic" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 5 Floyd | > Floyd | > HOLD AUTOMATIC Floyd | Floyd | I took the automatic from the Machine-gun nest. Floyd | Floyd | > | Teaspoon asks, "and for heaven's sake, you struck someone with a grenade? What?" | |
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "load automatic" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 5 Floyd | > Floyd | > LOAD AUTOMATIC Floyd | Floyd | I wasn't wielding the pistol magazine Floyd | > | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "hold magazine" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 6 Floyd | > Floyd | > HOLD MAGAZINE Floyd | Floyd | (the pistol magazine) Floyd | I took the pistol magazine from the Machine-gun nest. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "load automatic" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 6 Floyd | > Floyd | > LOAD AUTOMATIC Floyd | Floyd | I wasn't wielding the pistol magazine Floyd | > | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w magazine" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 6 Floyd | > Floyd | > W MAGAZINE Floyd | Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to (go) w. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "wield magazine" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 6 Floyd | > Floyd | > WIELD MAGAZINE Floyd | Floyd | (the pistol magazine) Floyd | The pistol magazine was unsuited as a weapon. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline glares. | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "wield grenade" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 6 Floyd | > Floyd | > WIELD GRENADE Floyd | Floyd | I was already wielding the grenade. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "So, um." | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "throw grenade" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 7 Floyd | > Floyd | > THROW GRENADE Floyd | Floyd | Dropped. Floyd | Floyd | > | Teaspoon asks, "seriously?" | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "get grenade" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 8 Floyd | > Floyd | > GET GRENADE Floyd | Floyd | I took the grenade from the Machine-gun nest. Floyd | Floyd | The dying Frenchman groaned in pain. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x frenchman" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 8 Floyd | > Floyd | > X FRENCHMAN Floyd | Floyd | The man was dying. Floyd | Floyd | The Frenchman's head was badly bruised. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "haha - oh dear." | |
| Roger says, "This feels like it might be an ESL game" | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "save frenchman" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 8 Floyd | > Floyd | > SAVE FRENCHMAN Floyd | Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to save. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "help frenchman" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 9 Floyd | > Floyd | > HELP FRENCHMAN Floyd | Floyd | I had nothing on me to help. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "talk to frenchman" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 9 Floyd | > Floyd | > TALK TO FRENCHMAN Floyd | Floyd | That noun did not make sense in this context. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "interrogate frenchman" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 9 Floyd | > Floyd | > INTERROGATE FRENCHMAN Floyd | Floyd | That noun did not make sense in this context. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "shoot frenchman" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 9 Floyd | > Floyd | > SHOOT FRENCHMAN Floyd | Floyd | I wasn't wielding a firearm. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "help" | ||
Floyd ] HELP MENU Floyd ] Press a number to choose an option or Floyd ] ESC or Q or X to exit. Floyd ] (Press M to turn Book Mode ON.) Floyd ] Floyd | Floyd | (If you're using a screen reader, press S to turn on Screen Reader Floyd | mode. This message only appears on the front page of the menu system.) Floyd | Floyd | 1. What this game is about Floyd | 2. How this game works, mechanically speaking Floyd | 3. How this game works, tactically speaking Floyd | 4. Credits | Jacqueline says, "So, um, yeah. I'm good." | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "1" | ||
Floyd ] What this game is about (page 1 of 3) Floyd ] Press N (Next) or the Right / Down arrow key to turn to the next Floyd | page Floyd ] . Press ESC or Q to return to menu or X to exit. Floyd ] (Press M to turn Book Mode ON.) Floyd ] Floyd | ( - What this game is about) Floyd | Floyd | The fighting for the town of Verdun during the first world war has Floyd | become a symbol for and warning against the futility of war in both Floyd | France and Germany. It lasted ten months, during which the front lines Floyd | changed by not even ten kilometres, yet cost hundreds of thousands of Floyd | lives. It is remembered for its particular brutality. Those who fought Floyd | in it called it "Bone mill", "Blood pump", "Hell". Floyd | Floyd | During March and April 1916, much of the struggle happened on two Floyd | adjacent hills, behind which some French batteries were positioned to Floyd | fire into the German flank. One was known only as hill 304, the other Floyd | had been called le mort homme even before the war. Attack was Floyd | followed by counter-attack, day and night. Floyd | Floyd | ------------------------ | Jacqueline exclaims, "But oh - instructions!" | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "2" | ||
Floyd ] What this game is about (page 1 of 3) Floyd ] Press N (Next) or the Right / Down arrow key to turn to the next Floyd | page Floyd ] . Press ESC or Q to return to menu or X to exit. Floyd ] (Press M to turn Book Mode ON.) Floyd ] | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "n" | ||
Floyd ] What this game is about (page 2 of 3) Floyd ] Press N (Next), P (Previous) or the arrow keys to turn pages. Floyd ] Press ESC or Q to return to menu or X to exit. Floyd ] (Press M to turn Book Mode ON.) Floyd ] Floyd | ( - What this game is about) Floyd | Floyd | The close combat in the trenches was easily outmatched in deadliness Floyd | by the effects of the artillery fire. Soon, the incessant bombardment Floyd | had turned the hills into an unrecognisable moonscape of shell Floyd | craters. When it rained, these turned into pools of slippery mud, Floyd | threatening to drown anyone trying to find shelter. As both sides Floyd | tried to prevent the other from gaining a foothold on the hills, there Floyd | was rarely a chance for the troops to dig their own cover. When there Floyd | was, they often discovered body parts of those sent in before them. To Floyd | this day, there are an estimated 80.000 dead still lying unrecovered Floyd | on the battlefields of Verdun and every square meter is sprinkled Floyd | with, on average, five kilograms of metal from shell fragments. Floyd | Floyd | ------------------------ | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "n" | ||
Floyd ] What this game is about (page 3 of 3) Floyd ] Press P (Previous) or the Left / Up arrow key to turn back a page. Floyd ] Press ESC or Q to return to menu or X to exit. Floyd ] (Press M to turn Book Mode ON.) Floyd ] Floyd | ( - What this game is about) Floyd | Floyd | Why point out all this a hundred years after the fact, when there have Floyd | been even bloodier wars since? Floyd | Floyd | People from all walks of life went into the first world war singing Floyd | and jubilant. They came from societies where an uncompromising stance Floyd | in matters of foreign policy and national prestige were seen as Floyd | raison d'etat. At Verdun, they got what they had asked for. Floyd | It seems to the author that the memory of these developments has Floyd | somehow faded away and that today might be a good time to call the Floyd | human cost associated with them back into mind. After all, the Floyd | institutions of compromise, that have been so central to keeping the Floyd | peace in Europe for the latter part of the 20th century, have never Floyd | been less popular than today. Floyd | Floyd | In essence, the work at hand is a short vignette, meant as an Floyd | illustration of the ultimate consequence of a game that can feel heady Floyd | and warm yet carries in itself the potential for any cruelty Floyd | imaginable. That favourite pastime past and present: patriotism. Floyd | Floyd | ------------------------ | Teaspoon says, "I think I would like this better as an essay than a game." | |
| Roger says, "At least we're not pushing blue legs around" | ||
| Teaspoon asks, "er, what?" | ||
| Jacqueline asks, "?" | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "n" | ||
Floyd ] What this game is about (page 3 of 3) Floyd ] Press P (Previous) or the Left / Up arrow key to turn back a page. Floyd ] Press ESC or Q to return to menu or X to exit. Floyd ] (Press M to turn Book Mode ON.) Floyd ] | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "q" | ||
Floyd ] HELP MENU Floyd ] Press a number to choose an option or Floyd ] ESC or Q or X to exit. Floyd ] (Press M to turn Book Mode ON.) Floyd ] Floyd | Floyd | (If you're using a screen reader, press S to turn on Screen Reader Floyd | mode. This message only appears on the front page of the menu system.) Floyd | Floyd | 1. What this game is about Floyd | 2. How this game works, mechanically speaking Floyd | 3. How this game works, tactically speaking Floyd | 4. Credits | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "2" | ||
Floyd ] How this game works, mechanically speaking (page 1 of 1) Floyd ] Floyd ] Press ESC or Q to return to menu or X to exit. Floyd ] (Press M to turn Book Mode ON.) Floyd ] Floyd | ( - How this game works, mechanically speaking) Floyd | Floyd | This game can involve a lot of shooting, stabbing, striking and the Floyd | like. Because this takes place at very close range, there will usually Floyd | not be any time to draw a weapon before someone else starts the Floyd | killing, so it's important what characters hold in their hands at any Floyd | given moment. Readers will want to keep the following points in mind Floyd | when playing the game: Floyd | Floyd | 1. To fight, one needs a weapon. Floyd | 2. In an emergency, almost anything can be used as a weapon. Floyd | 3. Weapons and objects can be drawn and holstered (equipped, wielded, Floyd | slung, put away...). Floyd | 4. To make use of any object or weapon, it needs to be drawn. Floyd | 5. It is possible to hold two small objects at the same time, but many Floyd | objects are too large to carry in one hand only. Floyd | 6. NPCs will normally not just stand around and get killed. Instead, Floyd | they will use whatever they have at their disposal to get rid of their Floyd | opponents, or at least try to flee. Floyd | 7. It is possible to give orders to others, like, for example, so: Floyd | "Peters, equip pistol", "Jansen, give magazine to Peters", "Peters, Floyd | Jansen, load pistol", or "All, hurl primed grenade south". Floyd | 8. Men under your command will try to obey simple orders. If they Floyd | can't comply immediately, they will try to create the necessary Floyd | preconditions to carry them out first. Floyd | Floyd | ------------------------ | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "q" | ||
Floyd ] HELP MENU Floyd ] Press a number to choose an option or Floyd ] ESC or Q or X to exit. Floyd ] (Press M to turn Book Mode ON.) Floyd ] Floyd | Floyd | (If you're using a screen reader, press S to turn on Screen Reader Floyd | mode. This message only appears on the front page of the menu system.) Floyd | Floyd | 1. What this game is about Floyd | 2. How this game works, mechanically speaking Floyd | 3. How this game works, tactically speaking Floyd | 4. Credits | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "3" | ||
Floyd ] How this game works, tactically speaking (page 1 of 1) Floyd ] Floyd ] Press ESC or Q to return to menu or X to exit. Floyd ] (Press M to turn Book Mode ON.) Floyd ] Floyd | ( - How this game works, tactically speaking) Floyd | Floyd | The basic method of rolling up a trench as was practised during this Floyd | phase of the war was to toss a few hand grenades around every corner Floyd | before going oneself and to bomb out all underground bunkers the same Floyd | way. It was seen as very secondary whatever other armament was Floyd | carried. The only real alternative course of action was to fire Floyd | blindly around corners, which was much less effective with most of the Floyd | weapons available at the time. Floyd | Floyd | This assumed that the attacker had somehow managed to make it into the Floyd | defender's trench. Since a frontal attack across no-man's-land in the Floyd | face of the defenders' guns had been shown again and again to be utter Floyd | suicide, it emerged that the most promising tactic for attacking Floyd | infantry was to come silently at night and infiltrate a position Floyd | unnoticed by its occupants. To make this work, it was necessary to Floyd | take only a very small raiding party and to make as little use of Floyd | light, firearms and explosives as possible in order to avoid Floyd | detection. Floyd | Floyd | Of course, it was also conceivable to bombard a position with heavy Floyd | artillery until everyone inside was dead. In fact, this was what was Floyd | attempted most of the time. The downside to all these tactics was that Floyd | they could be employed equally well by the defender to counter-attack Floyd | positions that had already been captured. Floyd | Floyd | ------------------------ | Busta says, "Yeah it played to me like an observation of war, but the weapon mechanics were super crunchy for my tastes" | |
| Teaspoon asks, "crunchy?" | ||
| Jacqueline asks, "Drawn?" | ||
| Jacqueline asks, "Is that the word we want?" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Oh. Or equip." | ||
| Busta says, "crunchy is a term I use for having a lot of individual steps" | ||
| Teaspoon says, "Ah. Quite." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Anyway, I'm said that what could be an interesting and educational experience is getting hampered by the fiddliness." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "er, s/said/sad" | ||
| Teaspoon says, "agreed" | ||
| Teaspoon says, "I vote we give all our stuff to other people and see how long we last." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "hee" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Okay" | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "i" | ||
Floyd ] How this game works, tactically speaking (page 1 of 1) Floyd ] Floyd ] Press ESC or Q to return to menu or X to exit. Floyd ] (Press M to turn Book Mode ON.) Floyd ] | Busta says, "or the author could be saying that war is sad and cruel but also fiddly" | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 9 Floyd | Machine-gun nest Floyd | This position was still in surprisingly good condition considering the Floyd | heavy shelling that had been going on for days. Floyd | Concrete braces reinforced the construction. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | The trench continued to the south. Floyd | Floyd | I could see four grenades, Gruber, wounded Tiersen and a dying Floyd | Frenchman here. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to Busta), "Deep, man." | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "give grenades to gruber" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 9 Floyd | > Floyd | > GIVE GRENADES TO GRUBER Floyd | Floyd | You can't use multiple objects with that verb. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "i" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 0 Turns: 9 Floyd | > Floyd | > I Floyd | Floyd | I was carrying: Floyd | three grenades Floyd | two pistol magazines Floyd | two automatics Floyd | a bayonet Floyd | a lantern Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "give bayonet to gruber" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 1 Turns: 10 Floyd | > Floyd | > GIVE BAYONET TO GRUBER Floyd | Floyd | I gave the bayonet to Gruber. Floyd | Floyd | The Frenchman stopped moving. Floyd | Floyd | > | Busta says, "*nods sagely*" | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "give grenade to gruber" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 1 Turns: 11 Floyd | > Floyd | > GIVE GRENADE TO GRUBER Floyd | Floyd | I gave the grenade to Gruber. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 1 Turns: 12 Floyd | > Floyd | > G Floyd | Floyd | I gave the grenade to Gruber. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 1 Turns: 13 Floyd | > Floyd | > G Floyd | Floyd | I gave the grenade to Gruber. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "give magazine to gruber" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 1 Turns: 14 Floyd | > Floyd | > GIVE MAGAZINE TO GRUBER Floyd | Floyd | (the pistol magazine to Gruber) Floyd | Gruber was carrying too many things already. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "i" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 1 Turns: 14 Floyd | > Floyd | > I Floyd | Floyd | I was carrying: Floyd | two pistol magazines Floyd | two automatics Floyd | a lantern Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "give automatic to tiersen" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 1 Turns: 15 Floyd | > Floyd | > GIVE AUTOMATIC TO TIERSEN Floyd | Floyd | I gave the automatic to Tiersen. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 1 Turns: 16 Floyd | > Floyd | > G Floyd | Floyd | I gave the automatic to Tiersen. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "give magazine to tiersen" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 1 Turns: 17 Floyd | > Floyd | > GIVE MAGAZINE TO TIERSEN Floyd | Floyd | (the pistol magazine to Tiersen) Floyd | I gave the pistol magazine to Tiersen. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 1 Turns: 18 Floyd | > Floyd | > G Floyd | Floyd | (the pistol magazine to Tiersen) Floyd | I gave the pistol magazine to Tiersen. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 1 Turns: 18 Floyd | > Floyd | > G Floyd | Floyd | Which do you mean, a pistol magazine or a banana magazine? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "i" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 1 Turns: 18 Floyd | > Floyd | > I Floyd | Floyd | I was carrying: Floyd | a lantern Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "look" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 1 Turns: 18 Floyd | > Floyd | > LOOK Floyd | Floyd | Machine-gun nest Floyd | This position was still in surprisingly good condition considering the Floyd | heavy shelling that had been going on for days. Floyd | Concrete braces reinforced the construction. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | The trench continued to the south. Floyd | Floyd | I could see four grenades, Gruber, wounded Tiersen and a dead Floyd | Frenchman here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search frenchman" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 1 Turns: 19 Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Large shell hole Floyd | This was where the French wire entanglements had been before the Floyd | bombardment. Now, however, there was nothing left of them. The impact Floyd | of whatever had hit here had been so violent, it had dug a hole right Floyd | up to the trench itself. Floyd | Floyd | The trench continued to the north, east and west. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Tiersen fell in behind me. Floyd | Floyd | Gruber fell in behind me. Floyd | Floyd | > Floyd ] Bodies: 1 Turns: 19 Floyd | > Floyd | > SEARCH FRENCHMAN Floyd | Floyd | I couldn't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "e" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 2 Turns: 20 Floyd | > Floyd | > E Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Communications trench Floyd | This was a well-constructed trench more than a man deep. Floyd | The walls were revetted to keep them from caving in. Floyd | Black water stood knee-high at the bottom. Floyd | Floyd | The trench continued to the north, east and west. Floyd | Floyd | I could see a surprised Frenchman here. Floyd | Floyd | | Jacqueline asks, "Oops, can we go back?" | |
Floyd | Tiersen fell in behind me.
Floyd |
Floyd | Gruber fell in behind me.
Floyd |
Floyd | Gruber struck a Frenchman with his grenade.
Floyd | The Frenchman received a light wound in the arm.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Frenchman struck Tiersen with his grenade.
Floyd | Tiersen received a bad wound in the head.
Floyd | Tiersen was killed instantly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
| ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 2 Turns: 20 Floyd | > Floyd | > UNDO Floyd | Floyd | The use of "undo" is forbidden in this game. Floyd | Floyd | > | Teaspoon says, "Oh, it's one of *these* games." | |
| Jacqueline says, "Oh, interesting. The body count is total, not just for opponents." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Sorry about that head shot, Tiersen." | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "look" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 2 Turns: 21 Floyd | > Floyd | > LOOK Floyd | Floyd | Communications trench Floyd | This was a well-constructed trench more than a man deep. Floyd | The walls were revetted to keep them from caving in. Floyd | Black water stood knee-high at the bottom. Floyd | Floyd | The trench continued to the north, east and west. Floyd | Floyd | I could see a machine gun, a banana magazine, a grenade, two Floyd | automatics, two pistol magazines, Gruber, dead Tiersen and a lightly Floyd | injured Frenchman here. Floyd | Floyd | Gruber struck a Frenchman with his grenade. Floyd | The Frenchman received a light wound in the leg. Floyd | Floyd | The Frenchman struck myself with his grenade. Floyd | I received a light wound in my chest. Floyd | Floyd | > | Teaspoon asks, "er, which way shoud we have gone?" | |
| Jacqueline says, "It's fine. We don't have to loot the bodies." | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "look" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 2 Turns: 22 Floyd | > Floyd | > LOOK Floyd | Floyd | Communications trench Floyd | This was a well-constructed trench more than a man deep. Floyd | The walls were revetted to keep them from caving in. Floyd | Black water stood knee-high at the bottom. Floyd | Floyd | The trench continued to the north, east and west. Floyd | Floyd | I could see a machine gun, a banana magazine, a grenade, two Floyd | automatics, two pistol magazines, Gruber, dead Tiersen and a wounded Floyd | Frenchman here. Floyd | Floyd | Gruber struck a Frenchman with his grenade. Floyd | The Frenchman received a light wound in the arm. Floyd | Floyd | The Frenchman struck myself with his grenade. Floyd | I received a light wound in the my arm. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x water" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 2 Turns: 23 Floyd | > Floyd | > X WATER Floyd | Floyd | A muddy grey soup. Floyd | Floyd | Gruber struck a Frenchman with his grenade. Floyd | The Frenchman received a light wound in the chest. Floyd | Floyd | The Frenchman struck myself with his grenade. Floyd | I received a light wound in the my arm. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "The Frenchman struck myself." | |
| Teaspoon asks, "Is this the 1st person Inform 7 coding not working right, or something about the author's linguistics?" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Anyway, I know I'm being overly-harsh. I do appreciate very much what this game is trying to do." | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "look" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 2 Turns: 24 Floyd | > Floyd | > LOOK Floyd | Floyd | Communications trench Floyd | This was a well-constructed trench more than a man deep. Floyd | The walls were revetted to keep them from caving in. Floyd | Black water stood knee-high at the bottom. Floyd | Floyd | The trench continued to the north, east and west. Floyd | Floyd | I could see a machine gun, a banana magazine, a grenade, two Floyd | automatics, two pistol magazines, Gruber, dead Tiersen and a wounded Floyd | Frenchman here. Floyd | Floyd | Gruber struck a Frenchman with his grenade. Floyd | The Frenchman received a light wound in the stomach. Floyd | The Frenchman collapsed on the spot. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x tiersen" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 2 Turns: 25 Floyd | > Floyd | > X TIERSEN Floyd | Floyd | Eberhard Tiersen was a man from my company. Floyd | Floyd | Tiersen's head had a horrifying crushing injury. Floyd | Floyd | "Maman! Maman!" the dying Frenchman called out. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "I think it's that ... well, I'm not sure. It feels like an attempt at procedural IF that's not fully tested." | |
| Busta says, "changing articles in Inform can be difficult" | ||
| Teaspoon says, "It's a brave idea, I'm just...reluctant to engage" | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "search tiersen" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 2 Turns: 25 Floyd | > Floyd | > SEARCH TIERSEN Floyd | Floyd | There was no time for that! Floyd | Floyd | > | Teaspoon says, "It doesn't look like we're allowed to search the bodies though" | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "look" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 2 Turns: 25 Floyd | > Floyd | > LOOK Floyd | Floyd | Communications trench Floyd | This was a well-constructed trench more than a man deep. Floyd | The walls were revetted to keep them from caving in. Floyd | Black water stood knee-high at the bottom. Floyd | Floyd | The trench continued to the north, east and west. Floyd | Floyd | I could see a rifle, a clip, three grenades, a machine gun, a banana Floyd | magazine, two automatics, two pistol magazines, Gruber, dead Tiersen Floyd | and a dying Frenchman here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x gruber" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 2 Turns: 25 Floyd | > Floyd | > X GRUBER Floyd | Floyd | Bruno Gruber was a man from my company. Floyd | Floyd | He was carrying seven grenades, a bayonet, a very light and a flare Floyd | gun. Floyd | He was wielding a grenade. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Guess not. Which is kind of silly, since he has gear we could use and it would be realistic to utilize it." | |
| Teaspoon says, "we don't have any bandages, or anything." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Yeah." | ||
| Teaspoon says, "or gas masks, or the array of equipment that I'd expect." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Also interesting that it seems you can see what someone is carrying when they're alive and you wouldn't take their stuff, but once they're dead you can't see what they were carrying anymore." | ||
| Teaspoon says, "isn't it all on the floor now? Rifle and pistol magazines, etc." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Oh, hm." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "oh oh oh - okay" | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "get grenade" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 2 Turns: 26 Floyd | > Floyd | > GET GRENADE Floyd | Floyd | I took the grenade from the Communications trench. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "kill frenchman" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 2 Turns: 27 Floyd | > Floyd | > KILL FRENCHMAN Floyd | Floyd | You must supply a second noun. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 2 Turns: 27 Floyd | > Floyd | > I Floyd | Floyd | I was carrying: Floyd | a grenade Floyd | a lantern Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "kill frenchman with lantern" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 2 Turns: 28 Floyd | > Floyd | > KILL FRENCHMAN WITH LANTERN Floyd | Floyd | "Heloise, mon cher," whispered the dying Frenchman. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "That should not be funny." | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 2 Turns: 29 Floyd | > Floyd | > G Floyd | Floyd | The dying Frenchman's breathing had become but a rattle now. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "wait" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 2 Turns: 30 Floyd | > Floyd | > WAIT Floyd | Floyd | Time passed. Floyd | Floyd | The dying Frenchman tried to say something, but couldn't manage to Floyd | form the words any more. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "wait" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 2 Turns: 31 Floyd | > Floyd | > WAIT Floyd | Floyd | Time passed. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "look" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 2 Turns: 31 Floyd | > Floyd | > LOOK Floyd | Floyd | Communications trench Floyd | This was a well-constructed trench more than a man deep. Floyd | The walls were revetted to keep them from caving in. Floyd | Black water stood knee-high at the bottom. Floyd | Floyd | The trench continued to the north, east and west. Floyd | Floyd | I could see a rifle, a clip, two grenades, a machine gun, a banana Floyd | magazine, two automatics, two pistol magazines, Gruber, dead Tiersen Floyd | and a dying Frenchman here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x gruber" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 2 Turns: 31 Floyd | > Floyd | > X GRUBER Floyd | Floyd | Bruno Gruber was a man from my company. Floyd | Floyd | He was carrying seven grenades, a bayonet, a very light and a flare Floyd | gun. Floyd | He was wielding a grenade. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "give grenade to gruber" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 2 Turns: 32 Floyd | > Floyd | > GIVE GRENADE TO GRUBER Floyd | Floyd | Gruber was carrying too many things already. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "drop gruber" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 2 Turns: 33 Floyd | > Floyd | > DROP GRUBER Floyd | Floyd | Gruber was already here. Floyd | Floyd | The dying Frenchman groaned in pain. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "gruber, give me very light" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 3 Turns: 34 Floyd | > Floyd | > GRUBER, GIVE ME VERY LIGHT Floyd | Floyd | The Frenchman died silently. Floyd | Floyd | (Myself the very light) Floyd | Gruber gave the very light to me. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "give grenade to gruber" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 3 Turns: 35 Floyd | > Floyd | > GIVE GRENADE TO GRUBER Floyd | Floyd | I gave the grenade to Gruber. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "i" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 3 Turns: 35 Floyd | > Floyd | > I Floyd | Floyd | I was carrying: Floyd | a very light Floyd | a lantern Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "x light" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 3 Turns: 35 Floyd | > Floyd | > X LIGHT Floyd | Floyd | I saw nothing special about the very light. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "You're lasting awhile for a person who doesn't have time to search things." | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "shoot light" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 3 Turns: 35 Floyd | > Floyd | > SHOOT LIGHT Floyd | Floyd | I wasn't wielding a firearm. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "use light" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 3 Turns: 35 Floyd | > Floyd | > USE LIGHT Floyd | Floyd | That noun did not make sense in this context. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "light light" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 3 Turns: 35 Floyd | > Floyd | > LIGHT LIGHT Floyd | Floyd | There was no time for that! Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "i" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 3 Turns: 35 Floyd | > Floyd | > I Floyd | Floyd | I was carrying: Floyd | a very light Floyd | a lantern Floyd | Floyd | > | Teaspoon says, "I imagine that if we were playing this to win, we'd just go around meticulously ordering our minions to throw grenades around corners. Etc." | |
| Jacqueline says, "I suspect this game has no win condition." | ||
| Teaspoon says, "that seems plausible." | ||
| Teaspoon asks, "we just wander around until we die, then?" | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "sleep" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 3 Turns: 35 Floyd | > Floyd | > SLEEP Floyd | Floyd | There was no time for that! Floyd | Floyd | > | Busta says, "if there is I never found it" | |
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "sing" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 3 Turns: 35 Floyd | > Floyd | > SING Floyd | Floyd | That noun did not make sense in this context. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Teaspoon says (to Floyd), "n" | ||
Floyd ] Bodies: 5 Turns: 36 Floyd | > Floyd | > N Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Switch trench Floyd | This was a well-constructed trench more than a man deep. Floyd | The walls were constructed of neatly stacked sand bags. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | The trench continued to the south. Floyd | Floyd | I could see three surprised Frenchmen here. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Gruber fell in behind me. Floyd | Floyd | The Frenchman fired his rifle at Gruber. Floyd | Gruber received a fatal wound in the head. Floyd | Gruber was killed instantly. Floyd | Floyd | The Frenchman fired his rifle at myself. Floyd | I received a bad wound in my stomach. Floyd | Floyd | The Frenchman cycled the action of the rifle. Floyd | Floyd | The Frenchman cycled the action of the rifle. Floyd | Floyd | I stopped moving. Floyd | Floyd | My chest had a small bruise. My stomach had had a major artery torn by Floyd | a bullet. My leg had received light wound from a grazing shot. My arm Floyd | had a small bruise. My arm had a small bruise. Floyd | Floyd | "The only thing that is particular to war is the wound, the Floyd | senseless injury of the body, and the senseless enmity. That is, the Floyd | animosity between men, who would, as individuals, face each other Floyd | without hate, perhaps even with love." Floyd | Floyd | Arthur Schnitzler, 1914 Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | *** The End *** Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game or QUIT? Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "This is like the Dwarf Fortress of WWI" | |
| Teaspoon asks, "Complex, lethal, and bitterly wry?" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Yeah. With more detail than is necessary." | ||
| Teaspoon says, "Hmm, yes." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "It's ... well, I guess if someone had never thought about the horror of trench warfare before this game would be an interesting way to introduce the subject, but it feels like it needs more work." | ||
| Teaspoon says, "And possibly a tutorial" | ||
| Jacqueline asks, "Well, we never could equip weapons, right?" | ||
| Teaspoon says, "No." | ||
| Jacqueline asks, "And >THROW GRANADE simply dropped the granade where we were?" | ||
| Teaspoon says, "yes" | ||
| Jacqueline asks (of Busta), "Did you have more luck when you played?" | ||
| Busta says, "nope, though I didn't really poke around much more than you did" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "I feel like tsp poked sufficiently" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Anyway, I think I'm done for today. I'd like to code some." | ||
| Busta exclaims, "thanks for hosting like a boss!" | ||
| Teaspoon says, "It abruptly occurs to me that maybe the entire point was to get *other people* to do the fighting for us, but if that's so, IF is an...odd format for that." | ||
| Teaspoon exclaims, "Have fun coding!" | ||
| Jacqueline asks, "Why would that be the point?" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "That's not at all realistic, which I think this game was trying to do (to a fault)." | ||
| Roger says, "GRUBER NOOOOOOooooooo" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Sorry there, Roger." | ||
