The Enigma of the Old Manor House — 14 of 28

Part Entrance

The Entrance is a room. "The entrance hall of the mansion rises up around you, feeling very old and very still. Very...dead. Dust hangs thick in the air and [if there should not be light]dim shapes loom all around[else if the breaker panel is switched on]the odd shadows from the chandelier cross and intersect in a wild pattern across the floor[else]the shadows from your lantern dance and waver as you move[end if]. [if there should be light]The remains of a once-grand staircase lead off to the north, but they're nothing but splinters after the first few steps[else]To the north is nothing but a great dark void[end if]."

The player is in the Entrance.

Instead of going north in the Entrance:

if there should be darkness, say "You feel blindly in that direction for a moment, but scramble back the moment you feel something scrape against your arm.";

otherwise say "The staircase is in ruins and past it you can't see anything but broken beams and wire. Whatever lies in the middle part of the mansion, it's off-limits to you. (Hopefully that's not where the ghost is...)".

A fancy chandelier is a hanger in the Entrance. It is lightbound and fixed in place. The chandelier can be shrouded or unshrouded. The chandelier is shrouded. The initial appearance of the chandelier is "[if shrouded]A chandelier hangs down above you, swaddled by a tarp and looking like some sort of massive jellyfish[else if the breaker panel is switched on]A fancy chandelier hangs from the ceiling, shining with brilliant light[else]A fancy chandelier hangs from the ceiling, its crystals shining in the lantern light[end if]." The description of the chandelier is "[if shrouded]It's hard to make out its shape through the canvas[else]'Fancy' doesn't seem like a fancy enough word for it[end if]."

A canvas tarp is part of the fancy chandelier. It is portable. The description of the tarp is "[if the tarp is part of the chandelier]It's loosely wrapped, with the edges of the cloth hanging down above your head[else]A big, loose piece of cloth, a bit smaller than a bedsheet[end if]."

Before pushing or pulling or turning the tarp when the tarp is part of the chandelier: try taking the tarp instead.

Precondition for taking the tarp when the tarp is part of the chandelier and the player is not on the ladder:

if the ladder is touchable:

initialize the implicit action;

silently try entering the ladder;

finish the implicit action with participle "climbing onto" infinitive "climb onto" object "[the ladder]" and condition (whether or not the player is on the ladder);

if the player is not on the ladder:

say "It's too high for you to reach." instead.

Instead of taking the tarp when the tarp is part of the chandelier:

say "You grab hold of the tarp and carefully unwind it, sending it drifting down to the floor. The chandelier makes a pretty sort of tinkling noise as it sways back and forth.";

move the tarp to the Entrance;

now the chandelier is unshrouded.

Rule for writing a paragraph about the tarp when the tarp is not part of the chandelier: say "A canvas tarp lies in a heap on the ground."

Rule for writing a paragraph about a hanger that supports the tarp: say "A [canvas tarp] hangs down from [the holder of the tarp]."

Instead of pushing or pulling or turning or climbing or entering or swinging the chandelier: say "That seems exciting and adventurous and also like a great way to fall and get impaled by lots of pieces of metal and broken crystal."

Instead of singing in the presence of the scopable chandelier: say "That probably won't bring the chandelier down on you like in [i]Phantom of the Opera[/i]...but better not to risk it."

The ruined staircase is lightbound scenery in the Entrance. Understand "stairs" and "stair" as the ruined staircase. The description is "Way too dangerous for you to even go near." Instead of entering or climbing the staircase, try going north.