Scroll Thief — 94 of 138

Chapter 2 - The Tiny Office

The Tiny Office is a dark room in the Library. "Closer to an alcove than an office, really. During the day the door would be slid back into the wall, joining this area to the Returns Room. If anyone had difficulties with a return a librarian would be here to assist them. But right now there's just the empty desk."

A sliding door is a locked door. "A sliding door [if the location is the Returns Room]separates off the tiny office to the southwest[else]leads back to the northeast[end if]." It is southwest of the Returns Room and northeast of the Tiny Office. The description of the sliding door is "A flat and ordinary wooden door labelled [tt]OFFICE[/tt]. It slides along grooves in the ceiling and floor." Understand "flat" or "wooden" or "office" or "grooves" or "groove" as the sliding door.

A plain desk is a supporter in the Tiny Office. It is enterable. The description of the desk is "It seems to be a fairly ordinary desk. A writing surface on top and a drawer underneath, with a small chair behind it."

Understand "surface" or "writing surface" as the desk.

[On the desk is an inkwell. The description of the inkwell is "A small glass bottle stained with red ink. It currently appears to be empty."]

A drawer is part of the desk. It is closed and locked. The description of the drawer is "A thin drawer with a little lock under the handle." Understand "thin" or "little lock" or "lock" as the drawer.

A torn scroll is a spell scroll in the drawer. The inscribed spell of the torn scroll is nitfol. [The player will likely already have nitfol by this point--change the reward here?]

A silver key is in the drawer. The description is "A tag on the side says [i]scrying[/i]." Understand "scrying" or "tag" as the silver key. The key is light.

A small chair is a ropable supporter in the Tiny Office. It is enterable and scenery. The description of the chair is "It looks serviceable, if not particularly comfortable."

Instead of taking the chair: say "You aren't quite able to maneuver it around the top of the desk."; take full time.

A framed painting is fixed in place in the Tiny Office. "A painting hangs behind the desk." Understand "portrait" or "woman" or "dark-haired" or "dark" or "haired" or "bespectacled" or "saskia" or "der" or "venn" or "librarian" as the painting. The description of the painting is "[if the painting is magical]It depicts a dark-haired, bespectacled woman wearing a librarian's cloak. An engraved plaque is affixed to the base of the frame[else]Nothing but a blank canvas in a frame[end if]." The painting is magical and visible between rooms.

An engraved plaque is part of the painting. The description of the engraved plaque is "[first time][reveal Saskia's name][only][tt]Librarian on duty: SASKIA DER VENN[br]Magical portrait created by J. Ashwell[/tt]".

Effect of casting kulcad at the magical painting:

say "The oil paint flows and drips across the canvas until the face is no longer recognizable, the colors lightening and becoming as clear as water. Soon there is nothing but an empty canvas in a frame.";

now the painting is not magical;

remove the engraved plaque from play.

Effect of casting zifmia at the magical painting when Saskia has not been on-stage:

say "You concentrate on the figure in the painting, trying to focus your spell through the canvas at the painted subject. At first nothing seems to happen. But then you feel a sort of [i]click[/i], and you know the spell has connected. You redouble your mental effort, and a moment later she materializes out of the air[if the player is on the desk]. You shift to the side as she collapses awkwardly[else], collapsing silently[end if] across the librarian's desk.";

move Saskia to the desk.

Effect of casting zifmia at a Saskia-summoning thing when Saskia has been on-stage or Act 1 has happened:

say "You begin to cast the spell, and feel the power reaching out toward the librarian. But at the last moment it seems to bend aside, dissipating ineffectually against the wall of the room."

Definition: a thing is Saskia-summoning if it is Saskia or it is the framed painting. [KLUGE]

Effect of casting vezza at the Tiny Office: say "The painting behind the desks glows for a moment, and a dark-haired woman appears in the middle of the room."

Inverse effect of casting vezza at the Tiny Office: say "A dark-haired librarian sits behind the desk, flipping through a book. Someone knocks at the door. The librarian looks embarrassed, stuffing the book into the drawer..."

Empowered effect of casting vezza at the Tiny Office: say "The painting has changed, now showing a man with a particularly long beard."