Scroll Thief — 100 of 138

Book V - Metamagic

Chapter 1 - The Clean Room

The Top of the Staircase is a dark room in the Library. "This staircase seems rather incongruous[--]the steps are barely two feet wide, and the handrails are almost rusted through. Presumably it leads down to the more dangerous parts of the Spell Research Area, but you aren't inclined to try it."

The Bottom of the Staircase is a dark room in the Library. "This is the bottom of the corroded iron staircase, which winds upwards through the rock. A roughly-hewn passage leads to the southeast."

The spiral staircase is a door. It is scenery. It is above the bottom of the staircase and below the top of the staircase. It is open, transparent, and not openable. The description of the staircase is "Narrow, claustrophobic, corroded, and [i]definitely[/i] not safe to climb." Understand "stair" or "stairs" or "step" or "steps" or "narrow" or "corroded" or "unsafe" as the staircase.

The top of the staircase is north of the spell research room.

Should the game choose when comparing the spiral staircase against the Top of the Staircase: it is a good choice.

Should the game choose when comparing the spiral staircase against the Bottom of the Staircase: it is a good choice.

Should the game suggest examining the Top of the Staircase: it is a bad suggestion.

Should the game suggest examining the Bottom of the Staircase: it is a bad suggestion.

Should the game suggest overly elaborate looking when the location is the Top of the Staircase or the location is the Bottom of the Staircase: it is a bad suggestion.

Should the game suggest examining the spiral staircase: it is a good suggestion.

Definition: the bottom of the staircase is suggested for exploration: no.

Effect of casting vezza at the Top of the Staircase: say "A figure leans out over the railing and drops a small object over the edge."

Empowered effect of casting vezza at the Top of the Staircase: say "The rickety staircase groans and finally gives way, collapsing into a tangle of metal below."

Inverse effect of casting vezza at the Top of the Staircase: say "A shaven-headed man with his robes in disarray rushes up the stairs, carrying a stack of scrolls. 'I know, closing for the night, I know. But the solution, to me it is apparent, it is close...'"

Effect of casting vezza at the Bottom of the Staircase: say "A dim light and a metallic banging echo faintly from the Clean Room."

Empowered effect of casting vezza at the Bottom of the Staircase: say "Dust and smoke obscure the vision."

Inverse effect of casting vezza at the Bottom of the Staircase: say "An old Enchanter runs up the stairs with a pile of scrolls, muttering to himself. 'Perhaps the spell must be weakened slightly? Could that allow the necessary recursion without causing magical overload?'"

Instead of going through the spiral staircase, say "You can't [if the spiral staircase is not seen]go that way[else]bring yourself to put your weight on the stairs. They're just too narrow, and your claustrophobia (a common affliction among magic-users) too strong[end if]."

Instead of going through the spiral staircase when the player is flying, say "Even without the weight problem, the stairs are incredibly narrow, and while flying like this you'd need to bend double to get [if the location is the Bottom of the Staircase]up[else]down[end if] there."

Staircase-puzzle is a puzzling scene with puzzle description "descending the staircase in the Research Room". Staircase-puzzle begins when the Top of the Staircase is visited. Staircase-puzzle ends when the Adventurer is in the Bottom of the Staircase.

Instead of dropping something in Top of Staircase when the Adventurer is in Bottom of Staircase:

if the noun is the strongbox, continue the action;

say "You toss [the noun] down to the Adventurer, who catches [them] deftly.";

now the Adventurer carries the noun;

take full time.

Instead of dropping something in Top of Staircase:

if the noun is the strongbox, continue the action;

say "[The noun] would likely fall down the stairs, and you might never see [them] again."

The heavy iron doors are a plural-named magical door. "A pair of heavy iron doors seal the Clean Room off from the staircase." The heavy doors are southeast of the bottom of the staircase. The description of the heavy doors is "These doors can swing shut and seal themselves automatically if anything goes wrong in the Clean Room." The heavy doors are closed and openable.

Effect of casting kulcad at the magical iron doors:

say "The doors swing back and forth wildly for a moment, then their color fades slightly and they go still.";

now the iron doors are not magical.

Clean-room-puzzle is a puzzling scene with puzzle description "getting a palantir into the Clean Room". Clean-room-puzzle begins when the iron doors are open. Clean-room-puzzle ends when the Clean-Room encloses a scrying device.

Definition: something (called the primary item) is clean-room-forbidden:

if it is a palantir, yes;

if it is a spell scroll, yes;

if it is a spell book, yes;

if it is the golden box, yes;

if it is a container:

repeat with the secondary item running through things in the primary item:

if the secondary item is clean-room-forbidden, yes;

no.

Instead of an actor going through the magical iron doors when the actor encloses a clean-room-forbidden thing (called the danger) (this is the first clean room security rule):

take full time;

if the player can see the Clean-Room or the player can see the Bottom of the Staircase or the player is the actor, say "[The heavy doors] swing around rapidly prevent [you or the actor] from passing. A recorded voice announces that magical objects such as [the danger] may not be brought into or out of the Clean Room until the alarms are reset.";

if the actor is the Adventurer and the actor is in the Clean-Room:

if the player can see the Clean-Room or the player can see the Bottom of the Staircase, say "[The Adventurer] obediently drops [the list of clean-room-forbidden things carried by the Adventurer].";

repeat with the item running through clean-room-forbidden things carried by the Adventurer:

silently try the Adventurer dropping the item;

unless the Adventurer encloses a clean-room-forbidden thing, continue the action.

Instead of an actor going through the magical iron doors when the actor encloses a rope or the actor is tied up (this is the hole in the clean room security rule):

let the danger be nothing;

repeat with the coil running through ropes enclosed by the actor:

repeat with the item running through clean-room-forbidden things tied to the coil:

now the danger is the item;

break;

repeat with the item running through clean-room-forbidden things tied to the actor:

now the danger is the item;

break;

if the danger is nothing, continue the action;

[if the actor encloses the danger, make no decision;]

if the player can see the actor or the player can see the iron doors, say "As [the danger] is pulled toward [you or the actor] they attempt to slam shut, but the rope holds them apart, and [the danger] [slip] through.";

award the "Front Door" achievement;

continue the action.

The hole in the clean room security rule is listed after the first clean room security rule in the instead rulebook.

After an actor throwing something clean-room-forbidden at from the bottom of the staircase to the Clean-Room when the iron doors are magical (this is the second clean room security rule):

move the noun to the location of the actor;

if the player can see the actor, say "One side of [the heavy doors] suddenly swings around, deflecting [the noun] back. [The actor] [jump] to the side and [manage] to avoid it. 'Magical objects may not be brought into or out of the Clean Room until the alarms are reset!'";

stop the action.

After an actor throwing something clean-room-forbidden at from the bottom of the staircase to the Clean-Room when the iron doors are magical (this is the third clean room security rule):

move the noun to the location of the actor;

if the player can see the actor, say "One side of [the heavy doors] suddenly swings closed, deflecting [the noun] back. [The actor] [jump] to the side and [manage] to avoid it. 'Magical objects may not be brought into or out of the Clean Room until the alarms are reset!'";

stop the action.

Unsuccessful attempt by the obedient adventurer going when the reason the action failed is the first clean room security rule: rule succeeds. [This suppresses the Unsuccessful Attempt messages.]

There is a dark room in the Library called the Clean-Room. The Clean-Room is southeast of the heavy iron doors. The printed name of the Clean-Room is "Clean Room". Understand "clean" or "room" as the Clean-Room.

The description of the clean-room is "This is the most dangerous part of the Spell Research Area, located below the rest of the Library. It was painstakingly constructed so that in case of trouble it can be hermetically sealed from either side, and any explosion or serious damage here will collapse the tunnel and keep the rest of the building safe. If there were any exceptionally powerful magic in the Library, it would be here."

The complicated apparatus is scenery in the Clean-Room. The description of the apparatus is "It's just as much a mystery to you as it is to the Adventurer.". Understand "equipment" as the apparatus.

An emergency light is fixed in place in the Clean-Room. "An emergency light on one wall fills the room with a strange reddish glow." It is lit. The description of the emergency light is "A small red circle glowing with light."

Effect of casting vezza at the Clean-Room: say "A small sphere flies out from the oven, and a person appears above it."

Empowered effect of casting vezza at the Clean-Room: say "The vents are sealing with a faint sigh, and the emergency light fades out."

Inverse effect of casting vezza at the Clean-Room: say "Lights shine in every color. Equipment whirrs and fans hum. A glowing box of crystal in the oven slowly fades from white to violet to pink to yellow to a ruddy golden color."

A pair of wide ducts are fixed in place in the Clean-Room. "Two wide ducts run upward from a small oven: one labelled [tt]AIR INTAKE[/tt], the other [tt]EXHAUST[/tt][if the vent is unsolved]. You wonder where they could lead[end if]." Understand "duct" or "intake" or "air" or "exhaust" as the ducts. The description of the ducts is "One is labelled [tt]AIR INTAKE[/tt][if the vent is solved][--]that one seems to lead up to the closet above. T[else], t[end if]he other is labelled [tt]EXHAUST[/tt]. Presumably they[']d keep air flowing over whatever was in the oven. But that's about all you can determine."

A small oven is a container in the Clean-Room. It is scenery. It is closed, unlocked, and openable. The description of the oven is "It must be important for some sort of research."

Instead of someone attacking the oven: now the noun is the ducts; continue the action.

Rule for describing the interior of the oven:

say "The palantir has landed in some kind of small oven, severely limiting your field of view.";

now the oven is mentioned;

now the ducts are mentioned.

Every turn when the player cannot see the Adventurer and the Adventurer is in the Clean-Room and the most recent actor is nothing (this is the come back into range rule):

if the end of serage is happening, make no decision;

if the player can see the Bottom of the Staircase:

say "(The Adventurer, unable to hear your commands from the Clean Room, moves back to the bottom of the staircase.)";

otherwise if the location is the Top of the Staircase:

say "(You hear a sound of noisy footsteps below you as someone makes their way back from the Clean Room.)";

repeat with the item running through clean-room-forbidden things carried by the Adventurer:

move the item to the Clean-Room;

move the Adventurer to the Bottom of the Staircase.

There is a spell scroll called an ordinary scroll. The inscribed spell of the ordinary scroll is yonk. The initial appearance of the ordinary scroll is "A perfectly ordinary spell scroll has landed near the door." Understand "perfectly" or "bit" or "parchment" or "of parchment" as the ordinary scroll.

There is a spell scroll called a dark scroll. The inscribed spell of the dark scroll is lleps. The initial appearance of the dark scroll is "A strange dark scroll covered in white writing lies in the middle of the floor." Understand "strange" or "covered in white writing" as the dark scroll.

In the Clean-Room is a locked magical container called a golden box. The description of the box is "It seems to be made of solid gold, or at least, gold leaf over something solid." The initial appearance of the golden box is "Nestled among the equipment is a shiny golden box." Understand "shiny" or "lid" as the golden box.

Effect of casting blorb at the magical golden box: say "The strongbox fails to materialize. Strange."

Effect of casting blorb at a container which encloses the magical golden box: say "The strongbox begins to appear, but fizzles out for no apparent reason. Odd."

Effect of casting rezrov at the magical golden box: say "The lid lifts for a moment, then falls back onto the box."

Effect of casting kulcad at the magical golden box:

say "Some of the shininess leaves the box, and its lid rattles for a moment.";

now the golden box is nonmagical.

Scrolls-puzzle is a puzzling scene with puzzle description "extracting some magic from the Clean Room". Scrolls-puzzle begins when the clean-room-puzzle ends. Scrolls-puzzle ends when a spell book bears yonk.

Before the obedient Adventurer doing something when the location of the Adventurer is the Clean-Room and (the player can see the adventurer or the adventurer encloses a palantir): [This is what triggers the end of the serage spell.]

now the Adventurer is suspicious;

take full time;

stop the action.