Scroll Thief — 116 of 138

Section B - The Bird

A little bird is an animal in Above the Pit. "A cheerful little bird is perched here, singing softly."

Understand "cheerful" or "songbird" or "warbler" as the bird. The description of the bird is "It's about six inches long, with a green back and a yellow belly. It is [if the bird encloses something]grasping [a list of things carried by the bird] awkwardly[else]hopping among the rocks and chirping contentedly[end if]."

Persuasion for asking the bird to try doing something:

if the bird is affected by nitfol, persuasion succeeds;

say "[bird chatter]";

persuasion fails.

Definition: the bird is flying: yes.

To say bird chatter:

if the bird is affected by nitfol, say "'[one of]Hello! Are you a wizard?[/br][or]A wizard brought me to the caves once.[/br][or]I think he was a wizard. He looked like a wizard.[/br][or]I used to live in a cage. Then he brought me to the caves. And let me go.[/br][or]The wizard was nice. He used to carry a magic wand though.[/br][or]Magic wands are scary. I don't like magic wands.[/br][or]I don't like magic wands. Or snakes.[/br][or]Snakes are bad. I hate snakes.[/br][or]He brought me to the caves. I don't know why.[/br][or]It's nice in the caves. Lots of bugs.[/br][or]Bugs are tasty.[/br][or]It's kind of dark in the caves though.[/br][or]I don't like the dark. The bugs do though.[/br][or]Did you bring any bugs?[/br][or]I haven't seen any other birds here.[/br][or]There might be birds here. But I haven't seen them.[/br][or]Maybe the wizard brought more birds.[/br][or]Hello![/br][then at random]'[p]";

otherwise say "The bird just chirps happily."

Every turn when the bird is in the location and the bird is visible (this is the bird activity rule):

if the bird is affected by nitfol:

let the perch be "the ground";

if there is a substantial non-distant nonbird thing in the location:

let the item be a random substantial non-distant nonbird thing in the location;

let the perch be the substituted form of "[you or the item]";

if a random chance of 2 in 3 succeeds, say "The bird hops to [the perch]. [bird chatter]";

otherwise if a random chance of 1 in 3 succeeds:

say "The little bird chirps [one of]inquisitive[or]contented[or]amused[at random]ly."

Default response for the bird: say "The bird chirps. [bird chatter]".

Default give response for the bird: say "The bird grasps [the noun] awkwardly."

Instead of taking the bird: say "The bird flaps to your hand for a moment, then flaps away."; take full time.

Instead of asking the bird to try giving something to someone: try asking the bird to try dropping the noun.

Definition: a thing is nonbird if it is not the bird.

[Instead of giving a palantir to the bird: say "The bird tries to wrap its little claws around [the noun], but can't get a grip on the smooth glass." instead.

Instead of giving a container to the bird when the noun is not empty: say "The bird tries to grab [the noun], but it is too heavy."]

The carrying capacity of the bird is 1. The bird is not ropable.

Going is bird-action. Entering is bird-action. Exiting is bird-action. Getting off is bird-action. Looking is bird-action. Eating is bird-action. Drinking is bird-action. Following is bird-action. Ceasing to follow is bird-action. Singing is bird-action. Dropping is bird-action. Taking is bird-action.

Before the bird doing anything:

let the idea be the current action;

change the actor part of the idea to the player; [Remove the actor part to allow comparison.]

unless the idea is bird-action, say "It just looks at you. [bird chatter]" instead. [The bird can't do most actions.]

Report the bird following someone: say "'I will follow.'"; rule succeeds.

Unsuccessful attempt by the bird doing something: say "It doesn't seem like the little bird is really capable of that."

Unsuccessful attempt by the bird doing something when the reason the action failed is the following people already followed rule: say "The bird chirps happily and seems to nod."

Inverse effect of casting izyuk at the bird:

say "The bird wavers unsteadily in the air for a moment, then, still flapping its wings frantically, plummets ";

if the location is the Chasm or the location is the Overlook:

say " into the chasm. It is quickly lost to sight below.";

say "[alert]*** The little bird has died ***[/alert][p]";

remove the bird from play;

otherwise:

say " to the ground. It lies there for a moment before hopping unsteadily to its feet, then jumps into the air again as though nothing had happened."