Scroll Thief — 70 of 138

Chapter 0 - The Player's Possessions

The description of the player is "You are an especially brilliant and attractive young Enchanter, if you do say so yourself. Well, strictly speaking, you aren't an Enchanter yet. But you will be soon, once [if the player's capture is not happening and the player's capture has not happened]your plan to rob the Library has succeeded[else]the immediate crisis is over[end if]."

[After looking when the scrying flag is true and yourself is in the location (this is the describe player in scrying rule):

if the current viewpoint is not in the location:

say "Standing in the middle of the room is an uncertain-looking magic student peering into a scrying device.";

make no decision.]

The player carries a closed player's holdall called a cloth bag. The description of the bag is "A plain cloth bag, nothing out of the ordinary[if Act 1 is happening]. You usually use it to carry your books and such to class. But tonight you've filled it with all sorts of things which might be useful in your larceny[end if]."

Rule for deciding whether all includes a thing when taking and the noun is enclosed by the player: it does not.

In the bag is a spell book called your spell book. The description of your spell book is "[if nothing is inscribed in your spell book]You have written '[player's forename]'s Spell Book' hopefully across the first page, and added headings for the first few spells, but no magic is yet contained in it.[otherwise][player's forename]'s Spell Book[end if]". Understand "my" as your spell book. Understand "spellbook" as your spell book. It is ropable.

Should the game choose doing something with your spell book when comparing spell books: it is a good choice. [Since "spell book" can mean any spell book, this clarifies that the player usually means their own.]

In the bag is a closed opaque light container called the Frobozz Magic Parchment Pack. The description of the pack is "Horribly overpriced, but according to the catalog this is the best type of parchment for a new student to use. The label on the shiny foil wrapping says it contains one sheet of high-quality magic-imbued vellum." Understand "foil" or "parchment" or "vellum" or "shiny" or "wrapping" or "colored" or "quality" as the pack. Understand "tear open/-- [the parchment pack] open/--" as opening.

After printing the name of the parchment pack while taking inventory: say " (unopened)".

The pack contains a spell scroll called a blotchy parchment. [Without an explicitly defined inscribed spell the scrolls will be blank, because the null-spell is the first in the Table of Spells.] Understand "dull" or "scrap" as the blotchy parchment. Understand "vellum" or "quality" as the blotchy parchment.

Understand "tear open/-- [the pack]" as opening.

Instead of an actor opening the pack:

take full time;

if the player can see the actor, say "[The actor] [tear] open the foil pack, revealing a blotchy scrap of dull parchment.";

now the blotchy parchment is carried by the actor;

now the remembered location of the pack is nothing;

remove the pack from play.

First check copying something to the pack:

say "(first opening the pack)[ccb]";

try opening the pack;

say "(onto the blotchy parchment)[ccb]";

try copying the noun to the blotchy parchment instead.

Instead of copying the badly-written scroll to the blotchy parchment:

say "It was hard enough to get this one parchment; you don't want to use it before you've even gotten inside."

Instead of casting a spell at something when the player carries the blotchy parchment and the inscribed spell of the blotchy parchment is the spell understood:

say "You hesitate for a moment: you were only able to acquire this one parchment, and it will be destroyed when you use it. Are you sure you want to do this? [r]";

if the command override queue is not empty or the player consents [(to skip this question when in replay mode)], continue the action.

In the bag is a light container called a pen case. The case is closed and openable. The description of the pen case is "A narrow cloth case with the initials C. C. inked on one end. When Praeceptor Callido saw the first [i]gloth[/i] scroll you copied out, she loaned you this to practice your penmanship. You ha[if the pen case has been open]d[else]ve[end if]n't even opened it until today."

Some initials are part of the pen case. Understand "cc" or "c" as the initials. The description of the initials is "The last C presumably stands for 'Callido', but you have no idea what the first one means." They are insubstantial.

In the pen case is a light copying tool called a quill pen. The description of the quill pen is "It's large and deep blue, with a tiny enchanted diamond set in the tip."

Should the game choose when comparing the quill pen against the pen case: it is a good choice.

After examining the quill pen for the first time: suggest the command "COPY X TO Y".

The tiny enchanted diamond is part of the quill pen. The description of the diamond is "Even in low light it sparkles brightly. The enchantment on it allows the pen to write on normal paper without ink, and also[--]more importantly[--]to transfer spells from scroll to scroll."

A correction film is in the pen case. The description of the film is "It's a sheet of very thin and slightly sticky film, about the same size as a spell scroll." The film is light.

Check copying something to the correction film: say "The magical ink disappears as soon as it touches the paper." instead.

A small note is in the pen case. The description of the small note is "'[Honorific for the player][Player's Surname]:[br]I also included a roll of correction film to assist you in your calligraphic practice. Place it on a spell scroll, and it will erase the incantation while leaving the [b]Presence[/b] behind. This allows one to correct errors without wasting parchment. Kindly return it to me when you are finished.[br]- [i]Pcr. Callido[/i][br]P.S. Remember to use the film within an hour or so of writing the scroll, or the ink may be too dry to remove. The older the scroll, the lower your chance of success.'". The note is light.

Instead of an actor putting the correction film on a spell scroll:

take full time;

if the actor is the Adventurer, record the Adventurer's attempt as successful;

if the second noun is blank:

if the player can see the actor, say "[The actor] [spread] the film over [the second noun], but there is nothing there to erase.";

otherwise if the second noun is not eraseable:

if the player can see the actor:

if the second noun is ancient, say "[The actor] [spread] the film over [the second noun], but it seems to have been somewhat longer than an hour since this scroll was written.";

otherwise say "[The actor] [spread] the film over [the second noun], but the ink must be too dry: it fades slightly but does not leave the scroll.";

otherwise:

if the player can see the actor, say "[The actor] [unroll] the film and [place] it on the surface of [the second noun]. The text spreads and blurs beneath, running to the edges of the scroll. When it stops, the center of the parchment is once again blank and unblemished, and the film is slightly darker than before.";

now the inscribed spell of the second noun is the null-spell.

Instead of an actor putting the correction film on a spell book:

take full time;

if the actor is the Adventurer, record the Adventurer's attempt as successful;

say "[The actor] [spread] the film over [the second noun], but the spells within remain intact."

Understand "erase [something]" or "blank [something]" as rubbing.

Instead of rubbing a spell scroll:

if the player can see the correction film:

say "(using the correction film)[ccb]";

if the player does not carry the correction film:

carry out the implicitly taking activity with the correction film;

if the player does not carry the correction film, stop the action; [If the implicit take failed.]

try putting the film on the noun;

otherwise:

say "You rub at [the noun] for a moment, but the ink doesn't smear. Perhaps there's a better way.";

take full time.

Report an actor rubbing a spell scroll: say "[The actor] [rub] at [the noun] for a moment, but nothing happens."; rule succeeds.

Definition: a spell scroll is eraseable:

if it is the blotchy parchment, yes;

if it is the newly-printed scroll, yes;

if it is the freshly-copied scroll, yes;

no.

Definition: a spell scroll is ancient:

if it is the illuminated scroll, yes;

if it is the translucent scroll, yes;

if it is the tattered page, yes;

no.

The player carries a magical compass. The description of the compass is "It's a large golden compass about the size of a pocketwatch, with a spell on the needle to make it always stay level. Most mages carry compasses because of how easy it is to get disoriented in magic-rich areas." The compass is light and magical.

Understand "smudge/smudges" as the compass.

Carry out dropping the compass: say "You'd be lost without it." instead.

Instead of casting kulcad at the compass: say "Without the enchantment you'd get disoriented quickly. Best keep it the way it is."

Report dropping the compass: rule succeeds.

Rule for deciding whether all includes the compass when dropping: it does not.

Instead of opening or closing or attacking the compass: say "It is enchanted to resist breaking."

A needle is part of the compass. The description of the needle is "Half red and half white, with a tiny [i]N[/i] on one side."

Instead of rubbing the compass: say "You try in vain to rub away the smudges on the surface."; take full time.

Effect of casting rezrov at the compass: say "Nothing happens. The compass isn't closed per se, at least not in a way the [i]rezrov[/i] spell would recognize."

Instead of casting blorb at the compass: say "You'd be lost without your compass."

Instead of giving the compass to someone: say "You probably need this more than [the second noun] [do]."

Instead of throwing the compass at an object: say "You might need that to navigate."

The player wears your identification ring. Understand "student ring" as the identification ring. The description of the ring is "A thin band of some silvery metal, with a flat copper disk in place of a stone. It's keyed to the enchanted doors on campus[if the enormous door is closed], but you doubt it will do you any good here[end if]. It would also allow you to check out books here if the library were open."

Understand "disk" or "disc" or "band" as the ring. The ring is light.

Carry out taking off the ring: say "Several years ago a student used a [i]girgol[/i] scroll to steal a classmate's ID ring, sneak into one of the women's residence halls, install small scrying mirrors in several rooms, and return the ring before the spell wore off. He likely would have gotten away with it, except that the occupant of one of those rooms happened to be practicing [i]jindak[/i] at the time.[p]Anyway, after that the rings were magically bonded to the students['] fingers. It can't be removed from your hand, even by you, without going through an annoyingly long process."; rule succeeds.

Report taking off the ring: rule succeeds.

Rule for deciding whether all includes the ring when dropping: it does not.