Scroll Thief — 81 of 138

Chapter 3 - The Rezrov Scroll and the Pressure Plate

The Spell Research Room is north of the Library Antechamber. It is dark. "This is the area where advanced students can work out variations on old spells or attempt (with close supervision) to create simple enchantments from scratch."

The Spell Research Room is in the Library.

A bright yellow poster is fixed in place in the Spell Research Room. "A bright yellow poster is affixed to the wall." Understand "sign" or "notice" as the poster. The description of the poster is "[tt]~~~ NOTICE ~~~[p]The Experimental Magic Research Area is once again open after the Assimilation Incident last year*.[br]Additional security precautions have been put into place to prevent any unintended magic from entering or leaving.[br]To enter the area, proceed north, down the stairs, and through the security door to the southeast.[p]* ask one of the Librarians[/tt][p]Someone has added on to the bottom of the notice: [i]Currently testing combinations of metamagic[--]kindly do not disturb experiments. - Prof. Ngo[/i]."

Effect of casting vezza at the Spell Research Room when the scribbled scroll is on the workbench: say "Most prominently, the trap seems to have been set off, and the workbench is empty."

Inverse effect of casting vezza at the Spell Research Room:

say "You see a strange jumble of images, mostly centered around the workbench. The most vivid is a young student Enchanter holding a spell book and a scroll. He is reciting the incantation carefully and haltingly, but as he finishes there is an enormous burst of light and heat that throws him backwards. A notebook sitting on the bench is the only thing that seems unaffected."

Effect of casting vezza at the Spell Research Room: say "A shadowy figure searches through the room, touching various spots on the workbench and seeming to go into a momentary trance each time."

Empowered effect of casting vezza at the Spell Research Room: say "A shadowy figure holds a thin and insubstantial scroll, copying down its ghostly writing onto parchment."

The workbench is an enterable magical supporter in the spell research room. It is fixed in place. "A long workbench lines one of the walls. Judging from the amount of strange machinery around it, the alarm recording wasn't lying about the traps[first time][--]magic-users have a tendency to make things overly complicated in case of unlikely eventualities[only][if unsolved]. It might not be a good idea to touch anything on the workbench until the trap can be deactivated[end if].". Understand "work" or "bench" or "table" as the workbench. The workbench can be solved or unsolved. [This is the flag for whether the trap is armed or not.] It is unsolved.

The strange machinery is part of the Workbench. Understand "machine" and "mechanism" and "trap" and "panels" as the strange machinery. The description of the machinery is "If you had to guess, you'd say it was meant to activate when someone leaned on the workbench."

Understand "lean on [the workbench]" as entering.

Workbench-puzzle is a puzzling scene with puzzle description "getting the scribbled scroll from the workbench". Workbench-puzzle begins when the workbench is known. Workbench-puzzle ends when the scribbled scroll is not on the workbench.

The description of the workbench is "The metal surface is dark with age, and appears to have been attacked several times and set on fire at least once. A torn scrap of paper seems to have adhered to one corner."

A torn scrap of paper is part of the workbench. The description of the torn scrap is "It isn't actually glued down, as you'd first thought[--]rather, it seems to be part of the bench itself. One side is yellowed paper, the other gray metal, and the material seems to slowly transform from one to the other across the page. You can still make out some of the words:[p]

[if accessibility mode is active]

Basic principles of summoning - vision - need to see target - line of sight best, or scrying glass - even painting works if affected by other spell - must be permanent - alterable portrait works, basic frotz does not - sufficient energy for secondary connection[else]

[i]...rch 927 - basic principles of summoning[br]

...tor seems to be vision - need to see target to affect[br]

...ct line of sight best, or via scrying glass (Mulryan 895)[br]

... - even painting works - [ib]if affected by other spell[/ib][br]

...iple of sympathy between spells) - must be permanent![br]

...xample alterable portrait works, basic frotz does not[br]

...fficient energy to supply secondary connective spell[/i][end if][p]".

Rule for deciding whether all includes something (called the item) when the item is on the unsolved workbench:

say "(omitting [the item] for safety)[ccb]";

it does not.

A scribbled scroll is a spell scroll on the workbench. "Lying on the [if the scribbled scroll is on the workbench]workbench[else]floor[end if] is a scribbled spell scroll, probably a student's forgotten experiment." The inscribed spell of the scribbled scroll is rezrov. After examining the carried scribbled scroll for the first time: say "The handwriting on this scroll is much neater than on the one you opened the doors with. Hopefully it will work." Instead of examining the scribbled scroll when the scribbled scroll is on the workbench: say "You would need to pick it up and unroll it before you could read the spell."

Instead of copying a scroll to something when the noun is on the unsolved workbench: say "You try to make out all the words from here, but it's no good. The scroll is rolled up too well and you'd need to get it in your hands first."

To decide whether a rezrov warning is applicable:

if rezrov is inscribed in your spell book, no;

if the scribbled scroll is off-stage, no;

if the badly-written scroll is on-stage, no;

if the newly-printed scroll is on-stage and the inscribed spell of the newly-printed scroll is rezrov, no;

if the blotchy parchment is on-stage and the inscribed spell of the blotchy parchment is rezrov, no;

if the player encloses a rezrov-copied spell scroll, yes;

no.

Instead of casting rezrov at something when a rezrov warning is applicable:

say "You pause for a moment[--]you don't know where you might find another [i]rezrov[/i] scroll, so you should probably make a copy of this one before you destroy it. Are you sure you want to do this?>";

if the player consents, continue the action.

Instead of putting the correction film on a spell scroll when the inscribed spell of the second noun is rezrov and the number of on-stage rezrov-copied spell scrolls is 1:

say "You pause for a moment[--]you don't know where you might find another [i]rezrov[/i] scroll. Are you sure you want to erase this one?>";

if the player consents, continue the action.

Definition: a spell scroll (called the page) is rezrov-copied if the inscribed spell of the page is rezrov.

Report putting something on the unsolved workbench:

say "You carefully drop [the noun] on the workbench, but its weight isn't enough to set off the trap."

Report throwing something at to the unsolved workbench:

say "You toss [the noun] onto the workbench. Some of the machinery twitches slightly, but it seems that it will take something significantly heavier than [a noun] to set off the trap."

After putting the floor waxer on the unsolved workbench: safely activate the workbench.

After throwing the floor waxer at to the unsolved workbench: safely activate the workbench.

Effect of casting kulcad at the magical workbench:

say "The machinery folds over onto the workbench, its animating spell gone.";

now the workbench is not magical;

now the workbench is solved.

Before doing something when the location is the Spell Research Room and the workbench is unsolved and the workbench must be touched indirectly:

say "As you reach out, your weight falls on the bench for a moment. [run paragraph on]";

activate the workbench;

continue the action. [This line will only execute if the trap didn't kill the player.]

Before the Adventurer doing something when the location of the adventurer is the Spell Research Room and the workbench is unsolved and the workbench must be touched indirectly:

say "[The Adventurer] reaches toward the workbench, and [their] hand touches the surface for a moment. [run paragraph on]";

have the Adventurer activate the workbench;

make no decision.

Effect of casting blorb at something on the workbench:

follow the standard blorb rule; [Blorb it as usual.]

safely activate the workbench.

To activate the workbench:

if the workbench is solved:

say "There is a slight shudder, but the trap hasn't been reset and nothing happens.";

otherwise:

say "With a grinding of gears, the bench sinks slightly into the floor. It seems that the additional weight has activated a trap, and before you can dodge backwards a cleesh spell fires at you from a mechanism in the ceiling.";

record "Being newtralized by a trap" as an ending;

end the story saying "You have been newtralized".

To have the Adventurer activate the workbench:

if the workbench is solved:

say "There is a slight scraping sound, but the trap hasn't been reset and nothing happens.";

otherwise:

say "With a grinding of gears, the bench sinks slightly into the floor. [The Adventurer] yells in surprise[--]it seems that the additional weight has activated a trap, and before [he] can do anything else spells fire from all directions. [She] vanishes in a cloud of green smoke, and when it clears the only sign of [him] is a small newt scuttling away through the door. You wonder for a moment whether it had to go this way...";

repeat with the item running through things carried by the Adventurer:

move the item to the holder of the Adventurer;

repeat with the item running through things worn by the Adventurer:

move the item to the holder of the Adventurer;

remove the Adventurer from play;

now the workbench is solved;

record the Adventurer's attempt as successful;

stop the action.

To safely activate the workbench:

if the workbench is solved:

say "There is a slight click, but the trap hasn't been reset and nothing happens.";

otherwise:

say "With a grinding of gears, the bench sinks slightly into the floor. It seems that the additional weight has activated a trap[--]panels on either side of the workbench swing out to hold [the random thing on the workbench] in place, and a mechanism in the ceiling fires some sort of spell at it.[paragraph break]Whatever spell it was, it has no effect on the workbench or its contents. The panels stay in place, waiting for a manual reset.";

now the workbench is solved.