Scroll Thief — 107 of 138

Daniel M. Stelzer

Release 2

Section C - Giving an Explanation

blorple-node is a closed convnode.

Instead of listing suggested topics when at-node blorple-node: take no time.

Instead of doing anything except waiting or listening or taking inventory or looking or listing suggested topics when the current node is the blorple-node:

say "[A random Enchanter-certified person in the location] looks sharply at you, and you desist.";

take full time.

Default response for blorple-node:

say "'Let me explain this first, we don't have much time.'"

Node-introduction for the blorple-node:

say "Helistar looks to the others and sighs. 'Okay. Leaving aside the issue of what you were doing in the library[--]there's a bit of an emergency at the moment.'";

hide the command prompt with implicit command "wait".

Instead of waiting when at-node blorple-node: take full time.

Every turn when at-node blorple-node:

hide the command prompt with implicit command "wait";

say "[regarding the player standin][one of]She continues. 'I'm sure you've heard the rumors about spells being unreliable lately. A meeting of the Guildmasters was called about this issue. Master Brewer Hoobly, Master Poet Ardis, Master Huntsman Gzornenplatz...and of course, the Masters of the Circle of Enchanters. Our Guildmaster was there along with the others. But [they] [were] supposed to contact the Circle via scrying-glass once the meeting ended.'[or]'[She] never did,' Haffibar continues. 'We tried to contact [him] to see what had happened. But the glass showed only darkness, and all our summonings and teleportation attempts had no effect.'[or]'Same for any of the others,' Frobar adds. 'No word from any of them, no way to contact them...it's as though they've disappeared. And our Guildmaster is the resourceful type, even if there were a ward preventing scrying spells [she][']d find a way around it.'[or]'Now suddenly, inexplicably, our spells are becoming more effective again. A few days ago even a simple [i]frotz[/i] would fail more often than not. But now that's no longer happening.'[or]'And this spell has inexplicably started appearing in various places.' Frobar flips through the pages of his spell book, showing you a spell labelled [i]blorple[/i].[p]'We don't know where it comes from. A partial version appeared in my spell book, another part on a blank scroll in Helistar's study.'[or]'The three of us were the only ones in the Guild Hall at the time, waiting for the Guildmaster's message; we've spent the last few hours working to piece together the spell and interpolate the missing sections.'[or]'Its structure is...odd. Very odd. But it seems like it should work, in theory...' Helistar explains. Haffibar cuts her off. 'The difficulty is that we haven't yet found anything which causes an effect with it. It's a targeted spell, but all it does is put the caster into a strange sort of trance for a moment.'[or][switch to copying yonk]'So now,' Frobar finishes, 'we need to figure out what happened in the meeting, where the Guildmaster is, why our spells are suddenly working again, where this [i]blorple[/i] came from, and what it all means.'[p]'And you do seem to have quite an aptitude for magic,' Helistar admits grudgingly. 'We need all the assistance we can get. Take the new spell, see what you can do with it. And if you can get in contact with any other Enchanters, spread the word.' She pulls out a leather scroll-case. 'Having a recastable [i]yonk[/i] spell...that could be quite valuable. The Guildmaster will want to speak to you when all of this is over.'[stopping]".

To say switch to copying yonk:

say leavenode;

show the command prompt;

now the player carries the well-worn spell book;

now the player carries the glossy scroll;

now every spell book carried by Helistar is carried by the player. [Give the player their books back.]

To say were: say "[if the prior named object is plural-named]were[else]was[end if]".