Here’s my updated map:
I don’t see any obvious exits I’ve missed. I didn’t metal detect at the southeast lodge, though. Edit: I’ve gone back and done it. Nothing so far!
5 Likes
In most situations this would absolutely 100% be the response of a woman who does very much know what you’re talking about, but in this case I’m not totally sure she doesn’t just have multiple “didn’t understand that topic” responses of which one sounds suspicious just to be funny.
Aren’t we out West somewhere? I thought five-digit house numbers were a thing most places that aren’t the East Coast, but maybe I’m overgeneralizing from limited experience.
That is a lot of effort to go to for something you could replace at Macy’s for a reasonable sum, and I say that as someone who is inclined to be really really weird about losing earrings. I actually assumed at first that this was a cover for some weirder/less savory reason for the metal detector, but her response to getting the earring back suggests otherwise. I guess maybe the earring has sentimental value?
3 Likes
Hmm, I think you may be on to something with these comments! I went back to ask her about more things, and uncovered a lot of surprises along the way. I didn’t see any repeat of the style of response about the lodge:
>ask woman about pizza
She valiantly avoids noticing the ridiculous waders you’re wearing.You try to bring up pizza. Zuleika blinks. She clicks her tongue. “Hm,” she says. I get the feeling she doesn’t want to talk about that.
>remove waders
You take off the waders.>ask woman about pizza
You try to bring up pizza. Zuleika purses her lips, unable to produce a useful response.>ask woman about the correct spelling of names
You try to bring up the correct spelling of names. Zuleika blinks. She clicks her tongue. “Hm,” she says. I get the feeling she doesn’t want to talk about that.>ask woman about zork
You try to bring up zork. Zuleika purses her lips, unable to produce a useful response.>ask woman about ryan veeder
Hey, shush! She doesn’t know!>!
That’s not a verb I recognize.>ask woman about taco fiction
“Um,” she says. “How can I explain this? Paco, which was not his real name, was involved in this restaurant racket that was price-gouging everyone and trying to run me out of business. But then this very sneaky detective person showed up and blew the lid off the whole conspiracy. Basically saved the city—and then disappeared. So now my ice cream shop is doing great.”
7 Likes
Neat! So she definitely knows things she’s not telling, though I don’t know how much we should expect to find out about what’s going on with her.
3 Likes
Day 5
A day without rain! Let’s go!
Cabin
Here we are again.Your cabin is equipped with only the most basic amenities: A bed, a desk, a plastic cupboard. The floor is rough concrete; the walls are rough wood. The door is closed, making your fishing retreat a little stuffy. Near the door is a row of hooks with your red jacket hanging on it. (Your badges are pinned to your jacket.)
A calendar is hung on one wall, with your membership certificate hanging next to it.
On the desk is your fishing rod.
You can also see a shiny key, a paddle, a ladder, a scrap of paper, a damp notebook, some waders, a photo album, a glittery lunch box (closed), a birdwatching guide, a brass key, some boots, a metal detector, a shovel, a cell phone, and a dirty key here.
I feel like it’s been a while since we straightened things up in here.
There’s a suggestion to clean up. Maybe I’ll put some of the less useful things in the cupboard.
open cupboard
You open the plastic cupboard.
put lunch box, scrap in cupboard
glittery lunch box: (first taking the glittery lunch box)
You put the glittery lunch box in the plastic cupboard.
scrap of paper: (first taking the scrap of paper)
You put the scrap of paper in the plastic cupboard.
close cupboard
You close the plastic cupboard.
x calendar
The glossy picture on the calendar is of a roadrunner perched on a cardboard box. Today’s the 17th.
So far it seems like descriptions got longer with rain and are back to normal. The last sentence of the field east of our house is new:
Field
All of a sudden there are no more trees, and you’re walking through a field of tall grass.A long fence divides the pasture roughly in half. The west end of the fence stands at the edge of the woods. The east end is… over there somewhere.
Warm wind rustles the grass.
We can check out the sundial in the graveyard finally:
x sundial
Atop a limestone pedestal is a green copper disk, decorated with roman numerals and the motto “EIN WANDELNDER SCHATTEN.” Four daggerlike points indicate the cardinal directions. The sundial’s gnomon is wrought in the shape of a pointing hand. Its shadow indicates that this game takes place sometime in the late afternoon.
(I’m just thinking; this is a live-service game, since Ryan stores the data separately from the usual glulx game save, so he could anything at any time or adjust the weather if he really felt like it).
It really is late afternoon where I am (7 pm) so that’s fun.
The mud is still there between Playground and Footbridge, so that hasn’t changed.
Zuleika and her car are gone.
Two new events occur as we enter the sanctuary:
Walkway
The walkway turns east to south here. A tall white pole has been built into the corner of the railing. There’s some kind of equipment at the top.The sun is beginning to descend, and shadows lengthen out of the west.
s
Walkway
The walkway comes to an end here. It looks like it used to go on further, but a bunch of it burned down.A rat is here, reclining in a rat-sized lawn chair. When he finally notices you he sits up with a jolt.
“Wasn’t me!” he squeaks.
A sunset. And…a talking rat.
x rat
He’s a little brownish-reddish rat, with nothing to do but soak up the sun. As you examine him, he examines you in return, and comes to his own conclusions.“I’m Malcolm,” he says. “Nice to meet you, I guess.”
So you tell him your name is “Brian Rushton,” I assume, and pleasantries are successfully exchanged.
talk to rat
Malcolm looks up at you and blinks, waiting for you to say something interesting. Then he runs out of patience.“Are you thirsty?” he asks. “Because I sure am. Thirsty as a…”
His nostrils flare, and his whiskers twitch.
“Thirsty as a gila monster.”
He makes a weird dry sound with his lips.
I really didn’t expect this turn of events. In a game like this, you wouldn’t expect sunset to be modeled to occur midgame; that would require a live timer and not just checking time of when the game is opened. Seems pretty sophisticated.
Let’s talk to the rat some more. Do we have any way of getting him a drink?
Oh yeah, from the lodge!
Many turns later:
give cider to malcolm
Malcolm reaches out desperately for the proffered jug, with paws too small to wrap even most of the way around the human-sized handle. Then he realizes how pathetic he looks, and recomposes himself.“Now, to be clear, you’re giving me this cider as a gift,” he says, as you lower the jug toward him. “With no strings attached. No terms were discussed.”
You finish setting the jug down on the walkway, and Malcolm leaps toward it. With all the strength in his tiny limbs, he pushes the jug over to the far side of his lawn chair. He climbs on top, pops off the lid, and sticks his head inside for a taste.
When he comes up for air, cider is dripping from his snout. “That hits the flippin’ spot!” he wheezes. Then he notices that you’re still around. He clicks his teeth.
“I know humans are all about being nice to each other and expecting nothing in return, but we rats have a concept called ‘reciprocity,’ which means, we don’t just do stuff for free. So I hope you won’t be offended if I find some way to pay you back for this cider, which is mine now.”
He skitters to the railing and climbs underneath the walkway.
He climbs back up with something clutched in his teeth. He spits it out at your feet: It’s a Crappie Badge.
“I believe in Human Latin this is called quid pro quo, which means, I don’t owe you anything, and our deal is done!”
He gets back in his lawn chair, between you and the jug.
Hmm, seems pretty crappie.
x crappie
This shiny enamel pin is cast in the image of a crappie, a dopey-looking fish with spiny fins. The badge is awarded by the Holler County Association of Fly Fishing Enthusiasts to any angler who catches a crappie.
Talking time!
ask malcolm about stew
Malcolm shrugs. “I’m not really much of a stew guy,” he says, although he doesn’t seem to be listening very closely regardless.Another croak sounds, and goes unanswered.
ask malcolm about verdeterre
“We read about Captain Verdeterre in school. He was supposed to be this amazing pirate, but he’s probably a myth. Or, maybe he was a real person, but the stories about him are probably fake. Supposedly he rode a polar bear?”ask malcolm about erica
(You can also just type e.g. “ASK ABOUT ERICA” or “A ERICA” if you want to save some keystrokes.)“Oh, yeah, I’ve heard of her.” He nods sagely. “She’s the human who burned down this walkway thing.”
a walkway
“Yeah, someone arsoned the bridge thing. But I guess it got put out before it burned all the way down. There used to be like a, lookout, I guess you’d call it, just past here.” He indicates an area floating in space. “They’d have parties and stuff. I think the fly fishing guys would induct new members here. Or at the cabin.” He motions to the east.a cabin
“The boss of the fly fishers had a cabin south of the pond. Pretty nice place. Nobody hangs out there anymore, though. It’s too spooky. Still pretty nice, but spooky.”He looks up at you a bit impatiently. I think you may have offended him somehow with your facial expression.
“Rats know lots of stuff,” he grumbles.
a keys
Malcolm shrugs. “I’m not really much of a keys guy,” he says, although he doesn’t seem to be listening very closely regardless.a lockbox
Malcolm shrugs. “I’m not really much of a lockbox guy,” he says, although he doesn’t seem to be listening very closely regardless.a lockbox guy i’m actually a ‘mega fan of brian rushton’ kind of
Malcolm shrugs. “I’m not really much of a lockbox guy i’m actually a ‘mega fan of brian rushton’ kind of guy,” he says, although he doesn’t seem to be listening very closely regardless.
Aw, that’s so sweet of you, Malcolm.
Most other topics don’t seem to work (snake, lodge, creek, frisbee, stakes, sundial), so I’ll try some an animal might appreciate more:
a pond
“I checked out the pond. It’s fine. But, it’s kind of human territory, you know? So I don’t make a habit of hanging out there.”
a tree
“You gotta be careful out there. There’s predators. Wolves and stuff. That’s what I’m led to believe. I’m not especially outdoorsy, to be honest.”
After trying more topics (marsh, canoe, boat, junkyard, harlan, anita, zuleika), I feel like I’ve exhausted Malcolm’s role, so I depart.
Let’s read more of the waterlogged journal’s pages!
read journal
July 16 - Noah Elsworth died last week. Very awkward. I’ve gotten to know most everyone in the HCAFFE, but I haven’t gotten to know anybody particularly well. I don’t feel like I should get mixed up in all their emotions. I didn’t go to the wake, and now I’m wondering if I should have gone to the wake.I’ve been worried about what’ll happen if I’m seen working at the library, so I’ve been holed up in my apartment. I have not been doing a good job of journaling: I should explain that I now have an office at the library and an apartment with a decent kitchen.
But I’m stuck. My only informants are these fishing enthusiasts. I don’t know how to get any work done without being insensitive to their emotions. I also don’t know how to be sensitive to their emotions. I don’t know what to do. It’s not like I make a lot of progress when I’m actually working!
It looks like the next part has dried out enough that you can read it safely.
Noah is related to Harlan, right? Isn’t it ‘Harlan Elsworth’? I’ve been kind of compartmentalizing all the lore and names to sort out later, so maybe I’ll work on that tomorrow if nothing new pops up.
g
July 20 - Couldn’t stand being cooped up. I got desperate. I started driving through town randomly, and somehow I ended up at a bowling alley.Eddy’s Alley only has six or seven lanes, and it doesn’t have a bar, which is what I was mostly hoping for, but it has an Addams Family pinball machine, so I hung out there for a couple hours. Until, that is, the kid working there came up to me and pointed out a sign that said the arcade was for bowling customers only. That kind of policy really ticks me off, so I left in a huff.
By the way, as good as Addams Family is, you need more than a single pinball cabinet and a Flintstones egg machine to qualify as an “arcade.”
We’ll wait to read the rest once it dries out more. For now I’ll see if the creek died down or if the wasps are finished being waspy.
Sunset is still going on:
Walkway
The walkway turns east to south here. A tall white pole has been built into the corner of the railing. There’s some kind of equipment at the top.The sun is beginning to descend, and shadows lengthen out of the west.
I do mess with the garden shed on the way past it:
open shed
The door seems to be locked.x door
The door is painted the same drab blue as the rest of the shed. It’s closed.x padlock
You can’t see any such thing.x lock
You can’t see any such thing.break door
Hey, come on. There’s no need for that.A bumblebee floats lazily between the flowers.
x bumblebee
A fuzzy yellowish ball, crawling up inside a flower to do its bee business. I mislike bugs on principle but this guy is pretty cute.x boxes
An array of low wooden boxes, painted white—beehives!But there don’t seem to be any bees around at the moment.
search boxes
Are you an apiarist? Because I’m not. Let’s leave the hive alone, so we don’t accidentally collapse anything.A lily bobs up and down; I think that bee is doing something in there.
look behind boxes
You can’t see any such thing.l
Garden
Flowerbeds on either side of the path have gone wild in the absence of human intervention, and the vines and flowers have escaped their allotments to overgrow each other lest they be overgrown themselves. But several of the more colorful varietals have won out, and the area is resplendent in orange, pink, yellow, and violet, glowing brilliantly in the afternoon sun.The trail bends at the entrance to a utility shed, continuing east and northwest from here.
The bee floats up to inspect you, but is quickly able to determine that you are not a flower.
We get the ‘this is a good time to stop playing’ message. That seems pretty reasonable this time, though I am going to keep going.
Broken Bridge
A stream flows northeast past this spot, toward the pond. It is wide, and slow, and deep. Tiny bugs are skating across its surface. And the bridge joining its northwest and southeast banks has fallen apart.Three stakes are stuck in the ground on this side of the stream.
x stakes
Three wooden poles are sticking straight up out of the earth. They’re each a few inches wide and maybe seven feet tall. I don’t know what they’re for.x bugs
The bugs are perceptible only as tiny disturbances on the sluggish water, and I am not inclined to investigate them further (I hate bugs).
I think the bugs are new.
We still have a couple issues in the northwest corner: getting in the observatory (brambles) and using the phone booth.
cut brambles with shovel
The shovel isn’t very good for snipping with.
Well, that’s a bust.
Creek
A narrow, twisting creek slithers through the woods, drawing a tortuous border between the northeast and southwest. On the far side, nine wooden posts have been hammered into the ground.
ne
There doesn’t seem to be a bridge over this creek. The sides are too steep for you to climb in and out. And it’s too wide to just step over…
put ladder on creek
Putting things on the creek would achieve nothing.jump over creek
You take a few steps back. You get a running start…And you jump over the creek! Wow!
That was impressive!
Shed
A bright red shed stands here, where the path bends east and southwest. An odd buzzing fills the air.What on earth is that noise supposed to be?
Hurray!
IT’S WASPS THERE’S WASPS EVERYWHERE
GO BACK GO BACK GO BACK
COME ON
Creek
A narrow, twisting creek slithers through the woods, drawing a tortuous border between the northeast and southwest. On this side, nine wooden posts have been hammered into the ground.
Sad 
thought I did something there.
I tried inputting the number from the short-number key into the payphone followed by a longer one, but it didn’t work. I also tried more metal detecting and digging at the trash beach.
I revisit the lodge, finding nothing new. The mouse we gave the snake is gone. Still can’t unlock the desk.
The northeast forest maze is as obscure as ever.
I’m at the golf course again, but I don’t know that I’ve ever found anything here. Metal detecting, searching the baskets, digging and climbing targets are ineffective.
We do get a new bird sighting, though:
s
Fire Pit
A half-circle of wooden benches are set around a fancy fire pit, so that every picnicker gets to face the fire and enjoy the view of the pond. A wooden launch is built into the shoreline, near a lumpy stone. The way back is north.A bluejay sits on a low branch, monitoring your approach.
x bluejay
The markings on the bluejay’s face give it a stern, almost militaristic air. That might be why you get the impression that it hates you.You make a note of your new sighting in your little blue birdwatching guide.
All we’re missing now is a robin and a mallard. I’ll make sure to take the boat for a spin before I quit.
I do that, and head to the lodge, but find nothing new.
I try taking the canoe to the end of the burned walkway, but no dice:
Walkway (dragging a canoe)
The walkway comes to an end here. It looks like it used to go on further, but a bunch of it burned down.Malcolm is here, sitting in his tiny lawn chair.
You can also see a jug of cider here.
s
Jumping off the edge of the ruined walkway into the marsh would be very dangerous, and probably against the bird sanctuary rules.The way back is north.
drop canoe
You gently lower the canoe to the ground.enter canoe
I’m afraid there’s no navigable body of water in the immediate vicinity.
So, that’s it for today. A new NPC, a new badge, and a new bird, plus some non-rainy and evening descriptions.
If I don’t find anything new tomorrow, I’m going to read other forum threads about what people found. I think I played out everything I’m capable of. So if anyone wants to give gentle hints on any of the following areas before I look up solutions, feel free to hint away!:
Wasps!
Unlocking garden shed
Forest maze
Lockbox in SE cabin
Finding robin and mallard (I feel like this will happen organically)
Any important content that I missed not related to the above.
If I weren’t doing the Let’s Play, I’d probably stop there, and I think I did stop long before here before (although I didn’t see the mouse before). I never wrote the review because I felt like I didn’t see the full game. Hopefully by posting online I’ll be pushed to get some closure!
5 Likes
I wonder why this Macbeth quote’s been translated into German? On a sundial I might expect Latin, but German seems a little random. The “daggerlike points” are a nice touch though.
Well played! 
6 Likes
Hahaha. The personalization is a nice touch!
3 Likes
I haven’t read through all these posts (because this thread inspired me to start playing the game myself!), but have you tried “x me”?
5 Likes
I just tried it but backed out when I saw it was interesting. I’ll do it for real tomorrow and post it!
4 Likes
Okay, I really didn’t expect the talking rat.
6 Likes
Day 6, part 1 [I thought this would be the smallest update yet, but it doesn’t fit on one page]
I missed a day! I hope nothing special happens only on Fridays. I think this is why I never reviewed the game; I new there were definite unsolved things in the game, but as time passes I have new projects I want to work on or challenges in my life and I drop the game if I haven’t made much progress in a while.
First things first, I’ll examine myself:
>x me
Hold up! Before you can examine yourself, we need to do the self-examination questionnaire. And before we can do the self-examination questionnaire, I need to warn you that your answers to this questionnaire cannot be changed after you’ve completed the questionnaire. The only way to retake this questionnaire is to completely restart the game, erasing all your progress, with the command RESTART COMPLETELY.So are you ready to do the questionnaire?
>yes
Great. First question: Are you excited for some fly fishing?>yes
Oh. That brings up kind of a delicate point.So, like I said, I was really excited about the idea of writing a fishing game, but when it came time to really design and program the mechanics of fishing, my heart wasn’t in it. I’m just not a fishing guy. When I said “I endeavored to create a game that focuses on the elements of fly fishing with which I am most familiar,” I was trying to weasel my way around admitting that there isn’t really any fishing in this game. It’s more, shall we say, fishing-adjacent.
I’m sorry.
Second question: Do you like parties?
>yes
Okay, that’s good to know.Third question: What is your date of birth? Since this game takes place in the United States, please use the MM-DD format.
>11-11
Okay, so your date of birth is November 11. Is that right?>yes
Got it.Fourth question: Do you think QR codes are stupid?
>no
I know, right? What’s everybody’s problem with QR codes?Final question! Do you think bugs are cool?
>yes
Got it. Yeah, I have several friends who feel the same way.Okie doke, the self-examination questionnaire is over, and I’ve completed my personality analysis. Feel free to examine yourself whenever you’re ready.
>x me
You’re a very patient person. Very forgiving. There’s a certain enchantingness about you. And I can tell that you’re open-minded, which is a quality I value highly in text adventure players.But I can sense that you have a dark side. That’s okay. I understand that people are complicated. You don’t have to hide your complicatedness from me. Our perspectives may be different, but that’s not a bad thing. It’ll probably turn out to be a good thing, in the scheme of things. I think our skill sets will complement each other nicely going forward.
On several occasions, the game tells you that you hate bugs. I wonder if that’s changed, now?
I take all. It’s raining.
Zuleika is here again:
Gazebo
The woods open up around a ruined palace of a gazebo. Its four entrances are aligned with paths that head off in the cardinal directions. The eastern face of the gazebo is carved with a bas-relief of a man paddling a canoe.Zuleika is here again, monitoring the weather from the comfort of the gazebo. She perks up and smiles broadly when you appear, but she doesn’t seem inclined to come out into the rain.
>talk to zuleika
Zuleika glances down at your bulky waders but makes no comment.She waves as you approach.
She is able to figure out that you don’t have anything new to say, so she helps you out: “Thanks again, about the earring,” she says. It seems like she’s said that a few different times. Surely there’s something else to talk about. Try showing her some of the stuff you’ve found. Or ask her about some of her stuff.
>ask zuleika about malcolm
She valiantly avoids noticing the ridiculous waders you’re wearing.You try to bring up malcolm. Zuleika blinks. She clicks her tongue. “Hm,” she says. I get the feeling she doesn’t want to talk about that.
I show her some stuff:
show album
(to Zuleika)
She valiantly avoids noticing the ridiculous waders you’re wearing.
You hand the album over to Zuleika, and she flips through it. An old black and white photo catches her eye, and she turns the book to point it out to you. It’s the page labeled 1977
“These two remind me of my parents. Especially the man.” She taps on the photo emphatically. “Just like my dad. Very difficult to impress.”
Taking off the waders:
>show crappie
(to Zuleika)
(first taking the Crappie Badge)
Taken.You show Zuleika your Crappie Badge. She squeezes it, testing the material.
“These can’t have been cheap to make,” she says. “But, if they’re like merit badges, you have to have a bunch of them manufactured and ready to go before you know how many people are actually going to earn them. Then there’s production minimums, and discounts for larger orders… I know exactly what it’s like. I’ll bet you there’s a box full of un-awarded Crappie Badges in a basement somewhere. Just like my bag of ‘LICKSTRONG’ bracelets.” She sighs. “Things never turn out the way you expect.”
>show paddle
(to Zuleika)
She takes the paddle in her hands. Don’t worry, she’ll give it back.“This takes me back,” she says. “In middle school we took this horrible field trip to Camp Somethingorother, and they made us learn how to paddle a canoe, how to use a compass, how to hide your food from bears. Pretty interesting stuff, but my friends hated it, so I had to pretend to hate it too. And then I guess I started hating it for real. The brain plays tricks on itself.”
She hands the paddle back to you with a word of advice: “Be careful out there.”
>show rod
(to Zuleika)
You show her the fishing rod. She can only feign so much interest.“I really don’t see the appeal of fishing. Sorry.”
>show brown trout
(to Zuleika)
(first taking the Brown Trout Badge)
Taken.You show off your Brown Trout Badge and tell Zuleika how you found it.
“And it said ‘Tortus?’ Huh. I’ve never heard that name before.”
>show carp
(to Zuleika)
(first taking the Carp Badge)
Taken.You tell Zuleika about finding the Carp Badge inside the branches of the willow tree.
“Yeah, I used to hang out under there,” she says. “Pretty cool place. But now I hang out under this gazebo, which is a pretty cool place too”
>show smallmouth
(to Zuleika)
(first taking the Smallmouth Bass Badge)
Taken.You show Zuleika your Smallmouth Bass Badge and tell her about how you found it.
“I think I know the place you mean,” she says. “Why would someone bury it there? Or do you think someone just dropped it, and it got buried naturally?”
We should have paid better attention to how deep you dug, huh?
>show largemouth
(to Zuleika)
(first taking the Largemouth Bass Badge)
Taken.You tell Zuleika how you came by your Largemouth Bass Badge.
“Then I guess it’s really a merit badge for rock climbing, huh? Except, the governing authority probably wouldn’t approve of using a ladder.”
> show bluegill
(to Zuleika)
(first taking the Bluegill Badge)
Taken.You explain that you found the Bluegill Badge by using the metal detector in the playground.
“The playground over there?” she asks, pointing east. You explain that there’s another playground on the west side of the pond. She asks what play features it has.
“Huh. Sounds like a lot more fun than the new one.”
>show salmon
(to Zuleika)
(first taking the Salmon Badge)
Taken.“A salmon! Where’d you get this?”
You tell her.
“Are you serious? Wow.”
She contemplates the object.
“Well, I guess, pink brick, pink salmon. And salmon jump upstream—Like, going upstream is like going up on the roof? Does that make sense?”
Sure it does.
>show bonefish
(to Zuleika)
(first taking the Bonefish Badge)
Taken.You tell Zuleika how you found the Bonefish Badge. She strokes her chin.
“Were you supposed to get this, I wonder? Or was it hidden for someone else to find? I guess, if you’re hiding something for a specific person, you should probably leave a note for everyone else telling them to leave it alone.”
>show dolly
(to Zuleika)
(first taking the Dolly Varden Badge)
Taken.You show Zuleika your Dolly Varden badge and briefly relate how you found it.
“That doesn’t make sense,” she says. “Why would there be a phone booth over there?”
That’s hard to explain.
“Why would there be a phone booth at all? It’s 2019, right?” Well, yes.
> show walleye
(to Zuleika)
(first taking the Walleye Badge)
Taken.She recognizes the Walleye Badge and smiles. “I saw one of these on a girl who used to hang out around here. Anita.”
Now replacing the waders, let’s look for bugs.
Unfortunately, though, the bugs are gone on this rainy day.
Looks like it’s time for me to give up and check on the old forum threads.
Dang, I opened one up and it had tons of stuff I never found. That’s embarassing!
It reminded me to keep reading the notebook:
August 3 - Here’s what happened when I finally showed my face at the library: Anita saw me and asked why I hadn’t been at any HCAFFE functions recently. She told me there were important events coming up that I was obligated to attend.
So I went back up to Jewel Pond for the first time in a while. Harlan Waverly has taken over as the association’s president; last night, he presided over a dangerous canoe race that involved reaching out of your canoe to grab floating flags for points. I didn’t fall into the pond, but that’s because I was watching the competition from the shoreline.
At some point I wandered off just a little, and Harlan jogged after me and issued a warning about the north side of the pond being private property, off-limits for association events. I know how intoxicating power can be, so I completely understand why he felt like he had to lecture me so sternly about something I wasn’t even planning on doing in the first place.
I told the association secretary about this and she explained that the woman who owns the land north of the pond is, in her words, a “nutbag” who constantly complains about fishing enthusiasts trespassing on her property, whether or not anyone really does any trespassing. I don’t want to cause any trouble, and like I said: I wasn’t even planning on going there in the first place.
It looks like the next part has dried out enough that you can read it safely.
>g
August 8 - Finally got around to interviewing Anita Stapella. The full transcript is in my file, but for the sake of good journaling I should add here that the one time she definitely saw the Morrecht Cregg, it retreated to the north side of the pond. So now I HAVE to go up there.
The forum thread I peeked out mentioned following GPS coordinates. I don’t know of any way to do that right now. I’ll try asking Zuleika.
>ask zuleika about gps
She valiantly avoids noticing the ridiculous waders you’re wearing.You try to bring up gps. Zuleika blinks. She clicks her tongue. “Hm,” she says. I get the feeling she doesn’t want to talk about that.
I put away the scrap with coordinates on it a while ago:
>give scrap to zuleika
She valiantly avoids noticing the ridiculous waders you’re wearing.Zuleika’s eyes widen. “Mysterious coordinates!” she says. “Like on Twin Peaks!”
I can’t steal the sanctuary equipment. So I’m still pretty stuck.
I try a different thread that the author of the last thread said was behind him.
Someone mentioned decrypting a phone secret message, but I never found any. He also mentions finding a developer notebook while cleaning the beach. So let’s try cleaning.
>clean beach
That’s such an admirable impulse! But here’s the thing: This garbage is gross. Cleaning it up with your bare hands would be unsafe. And it would be really gross.If you had gloves, that would be another story. But I didn’t put any gloves in this game!
Someone asked for hints on the same kind of things I did (wasps, cleaning beach, observatory), and none of the hints helped (apparently all of those are solved by getting in the shed and I don’t have the key, and they didn’t hint how to get that key). That thread ends right after that. They did say to look on surfaces, so I’ll try that.
Oh, you know what it might be? It could be climbing the monkey bars. I didn’t do that because it was wet. Then it was wet 4 days in a row. Today it’s wet again. So maybe it’s there? Or a badge.
I go back and look on the phone booth, examine the floor, table, and bed in the NW cabin, examine all the playground equipment, try climbing the ladder near the gazebo, I look at the desk, rack, and vivarium.
I’ll check the other thread.
Okay, after reading in depth and being spoilered on a ton of things, I find that I actually had the right key all along to that shed, and I could have progressed if I only had faith and tried.
How sad!
>unlock shed with brass key
You unlock the door.>open shed
You open the door.>in
Garden Shed
There’s a hammock hanging along the far wall of this cozy little shed, with an antique nightstand placed nearby. Closer to the door is a plastic cooler. Most of the floor is covered with a braided rug.These few pieces of furniture comprise only life’s bare essentials, and yet they leave barely enough room to stand!
On the nightstand are a can of peanuts and a lamp.
Okay, there are a ton of new things to do.
>take peanuts
Taken.
>x lamp
The lamp is a pillar of yellowish plastic atop a faux copper base. The base has a little button on it.
>take lamp
Taken.
>x peanuts
This is a truly massive can of peanuts.
>x rug
It looks like it was hand-made out of a bunch of fabric scraps. It’s a lovely piece of craftsmanship—but the water has gotten to it, and it’s a little mildewy.
>look under rug
You lift up the—oh ick ick ick there’s a bug under there. Drop the rug.
Eugh.
>open cooler
You open the plastic cooler, revealing a safari hat, a pair of sunglasses, and a scrapbook.
>get all from cooler
safari hat: You pick up the safari hat. Oh, I know what this is. It’s not a safari hat—it’s a bee veil! Is that what it’s called?
Taken.
pair of sunglasses: Taken.
scrapbook: Taken.
>wear hat
You put the hat part on your head and tug the veil part into place. Perfect.
>wear sunglasses
The sunglasses won’t go on over the bee veil!
>remove hat
You take off the bee veil.
>wear sunglasses
You put on the sunglasses.
Yeah, you look cool.
>wear veil
You put the hat part on your head and tug the veil part into place. Perfect.
>x scrapbook
This three-ring binder appears to be stuffed beyond its capacity with numerous documents, some in plastic protector pages, some unprotected, some in danger of falling out and being lost. On the cover, the name “ANITA STAPELLA” is rendered intricately in colored pencils.
The first page is a table of contents:
1 - Table of Contents
2 - Mission Statement
3 - About Tortus
4 - My Induction
5 - Inspirational Quotes
6 - About the Morrecht Cregg
7 - Artwork: Monster
8 - Photography: Approaching Storm
9 - Who Is Jack Deacons?
10 - Academic Decathlon
11 - Photography: Triumph in Denison
12 - My Dog Died
13 - Mrs. Payne’s Evaluation
14 - Photography: Triumph at Courtney High
Okay, let’s get to reading:
>read 2
This page is a sort of palimpsest. A paragraph at the top has been scribbled out with a marker, enthusiastically and thoroughly. But the printer ink underneath catches the light nonetheless, and is still legible:“Most people discover themselves in college. I want to know who I am before I get there. This scrapbook will be the summary of my personality, reduced to my most important elements. As I mature into my adult self, I’ll add pages to my scrapbook, so that I never stop growing and never forget who I am.”
The paragraphs below are written in pencil:
"I only needed six more credits to graduate, but they said I had to take a full schedule instead of going home early. So I took the easiest elective class I could find, and that was Psychology with Mrs. Payne. And she said we could make a scrapbook instead of writing a final paper, SOOOOO…
“For the record, Mrs. Payne only gave me an A- because she felt sorry for me and she didn’t want to be the reason I didn’t make Valedictorian. I don’t believe that her evaluation accurately reflects how good of a scrapbook this is.”
>read 3
A gleeful Norwich Terrier has been inexpertly cropped out of a glossy photograph and pasted here, surrounded by ribbons and flowers rendered in colored pencil.“Tortus the dog came into my life when I was ten years old. He understands me better than any human ever could. In seventh grade, I managed Tortus’s campaign for student body president. He was disqualified on a technicality, but he still split the vote enough to keep Jessica Bailey out of office.”
The vital statistics for Tortus follow:
DOB: October 26, 2009 (Scorpio)
Height: 9.5 inches
Weight: 10 pounds, 14 ounces
IQ: 136
Likes: tummy rubs, scritches, M&Ms
Dislikes: jokes about giving chocolate to dogs (sorry.)
Quote: “Woof woof, ruff ruff? Woof ruff bow wow!”>read 4
The photo on this page depicts a little girl with a giant grin and a terrified dog, surrounded by politely smiling adults in a rustic cabin. A gentleman with a bushy white beard is circled in red marker.“On my eleventh birthday I became a member of the Holler County Association of Fly Fishing Enthusiasts, because my dad made me. It turned out that I loved fly fishing, so I decided not to quit. The association president, Noah Elsworth, was the kindest non-dog I’ve ever met. In 2014 he made me the Association Events Coordinator, because he knew it would look good on college applications. Mr. Elsworth passed away in 2016.”
>read 5
Each item on this page is printed in a different font.“Puedo escribir los versos más tristes esta noche.”
- Sappho
“You can’t trust quotations. Put your trust in your own heart.”
- Che Guevara
“How frail the human heart must be — a mirrored pool of thought.”
- Studs Terkel
“Ultimately life is disease, death, and oblivion. It’s still better than high school.”
- Carrie Fisher
“Know thyself.”
- Socrates
>read 6
This page is all text, with no illustrations or ornamentation:"The Morrecht Cregg is a forest spirit from the mythology of Ireland. It takes the form of a large black dog, which sometimes walks on four legs and sometimes walks on two. A guardian of the woodlands, it watches carefully every person who approaches the forest it protects, and howls to warn off those who come too close. If the offender isn’t scared away, the Morrecht Cregg will not hesitate to kill the trespasser with its giant claws and teeth.
"I have seen the Morrecht Cregg on two occasions. Well, I’m pretty sure I saw it one time, and I’m positive I saw it another time. The first time, I saw something lurking on the far side of Jewel Pond during a potluck put on by the Holler County Association of Fly Fishing Enthusiasts. It was probably the Morrecht Cregg. The second time, it was loping through the woods around Jewel Pond while I was hiking with Tortus. It was definitely the Morrecht Cregg. I couldn’t chase after it, however, because it was on the property of Erica Nailer.
“Erica Nailer is a hideous old crone who owns the land on the north side of Jewel Pond. She hates the Holler County Association of Fly Fishing Enthusiasts for no reason whatsoever, but someday she’ll get too old to go on harassing us.”
>read 7
This page is a plastic protector containing a charcoal drawing of a werewolf-like beast, standing uncannily erect on digitigrade feet. Its fur, teeth, and claws are black. The artist has used a highlighter to color its eyes a sickly yellow.>read 8
Paper spills out of the scrapbook as you open to this page: An accordion-folded ribbon, made up of several sheets of printer paper taped together. It’s a printout of an Instagram post.At the top is a photo of a thunderhead towering over a desolate corn field, gleaming with inner lightning. The scene is shaded an unnatural blue. The caption reads “Better roll up your windows!” The photo has 705 likes, and was posted on August 16.
The taped-together strip below consists of dozens of comments on the post, most of which are some variant on “Wow!!!” or “So beautiful!!!” combined with emoji of surprised faces and clapping hands that I don’t know how to reproduce here. About two thirds of the way down, there’s a lengthy request from an apparent stranger for permission to use the photo as a book cover.
>read 9
An over-enlarged photo of a man with a thin mustache and a strained smile fills the top of this page.“Jack Deacons is a cryptozoologist from Arizona. He came to Iowa to study the Morrecht Cregg and joined the Holler County Association of Fly Fishing Enthusiasts in 2016.”
The vital statistics for Jack follow:
DOB: October 2, year unknown (Libra)
Height: About 5’9’’
Weight: unknown
IQ: “does not consider IQ tests scientific”
Likes: cryptids, cooking, solitude
Dislikes: personal questions
Mustache: unnecessary
Quote: “Fire dwells beneath the water palace.”>read 10
Several pages pulled out of a diary are stapled into a makeshift sub-book on this page."March 3 - We’re at the state Academic Decathlon competition in Denison. We’re sharing a hotel with the team from Cedar Rapids Jefferson. Mr. Brown has warned us that they always always win.
"An injustice: Jake, the only boy on the team, decided to quit Academic Decathlon right before the state competition. They had already booked a hotel room for him to have on his own. When he dropped out, they didn’t split up the girls and put two of us in the room Jake abandoned (or even better, let me have the spare room all to myself). Instead they canceled his reservation and all four girls are sharing a room, like I’ve been dreading. For diary-writing privacy I am sitting in the motel stairwell, which smells like cigarettes.
"March 3 - The first half of Academic Decathlon is done. Mr. Brown warned us that Jefferson always wins but he didn’t tell us that they dress up like it’s Lutheran Easter. They looked ridiculous, but intimidating, and our boho-chic Courtney High team was demoralized.
"In the waiting room for the speech round, I met Ben from Valley. I saw he was writing in a diary so I showed him mine and we chatted about journaling and Cedar Rapids Jefferson. He’s funny. I stole the ‘Lutheran Easter’ joke from him.
"Ben is probably the only boy on his team. I wish his school was staying at our hotel… I’d like to sneak across the hall to his room tonight… We could peruse each other’s diaries…
"March 4 - Academic Decathlon is over. Jefferson won. Courtney came in 11th place. Mr. Brown accidentally said ‘There’s always next year’ before he remembered that everyone on the team is graduating.
“I brought this diary with me and when I found Ben we swapped and read each other’s private thoughts. He was happy that I stole his joke but I think my idea about sneaking over to his room was a little too forward for him. Plus he seems to have a pretty big crush on someone named Ashlynne. I didn’t end up getting his info.”
>read 11
Four high school girls in a dingy parking lot, each pinching one corner of an illegible certificate. They stand with exaggerated poise; their smug expressions are obviously feigned.read 12
A sheet of printer paper in a plastic protector.“Tortus the dog went missing at Jewel Pond on April third, 2017. On April seventh, his body was found by Harlan Waverly. Harlan cremated Tortus without my permission and gave me his ashes.”
A drawing of a tiny urn with an orchid motif.
“Harlan said he was probably attacked by a hawk or a coyote. I have my own beliefs about what killed Tortus. Regardless, he was my best friend, and he can never be replaced.”
>read 13
A sticky note with a message in red ink:Anita,
I’m very sorry to hear about your dog. I know you must have loved him very much.
I would have liked to see more material about yourself. So much of your scrapbook is looking out at other people.
Visual unity would add to your scrapbook’s cohesiveness. Using so many different media, formats, and ornamentation techniques can become very distracting.
90/100 A-
The sticky note has been inserted into a plastic protector.
>read 14
A grassy field on a clear day: Five young women wearing purple robes and mortarboards, gleefully embracing, for the most part too blissed and exhausted to acknowledge their photographer. The girl in the center has a medallion around her neck, an unlit cigar in her hand, and a diabolical grin.
Let’s see if we missed anything.
>x nightstand
The wooden nightstand is carved in a simple wavy design. The finish is mostly rubbed away, and the surface is covered in water stains.
>take it
But it’s so cute right where it is!
Someone mentioned in some thread that the nightstand probably came from one of the cabins.
>x hammock
The hammock is two layers of nylon: Purple on the outside, and teal on the inside. The two ends are hung on extremely sturdy hooks that have been screwed into the walls of the shed.>take it
That’s not something you can carry around.>sit on it
You climb into the hammock. It is impossible to climb into a hammock gracefully, so you shouldn’t feel bad about how dumb you look.Once you’ve situated yourself, though, it’s very comfortable. Rocking back and forth… so gently…
Nice.
Let’s get some reactions:
>show scrapbook to zuleika
Zuleika backs off a bit. “Why are you wearing that? Are there bees around? Do I need to get out of here?”You assure her that you’re wearing the bee veil for completely non-threatening reasons.
As Zuleika turns the pages of the scrapbook, her eyes go wide. “Anita!” she says. “Oh my gosh! Where did you get this?”
You explain briefly how you got it.
“And she just left it lying around? Wow. Look at this.” She shows you the photo on the last page. “That’s her in the middle. With a cigar! What a troublemaker. I can’t believe she’d just forget about something like this. She must have wanted someone to find it.”
>show glasses to zuleika
She squints, still not sure why you’re wearing an apiarist’s hood.You show Zuleika your sunglasses, which you can’t really do while you’re wearing them without looking like you’re fishing for compliments.
“They’re nice,” she says. “And, to be wearing them in the rain—Quite the power move. It speaks to absolute confidence.”
>show veil to zuleika
She squints, still not sure why you’re wearing an apiarist’s hood.“It’s a still a little scary, you gotta admit. I can’t really see your face. For all I know, you’re the Jewel Pond Apiary Killer.”
Let’s try the lamp:
>x lamp
The lamp is a pillar of yellowish plastic atop a faux copper base. The base has a little button on it.
>turn it on
You push the button, and the lamp lights up. The warm light is soothing, if not particularly illuminating.
>turn it off
You push the button, and the lamp goes dark.
Obvious place to go next is the wasps.
>jump
You jump over the creek again! Nice!
Shed
A bright red shed stands here, where the path bends east and southwest. A sinister buzzing noise seems to come from all sides, and grim shapes flit in and out of your vision: wasps.
Are my jacket and my waders providing protection?
>x shed
The shed is painted cadmium red, and little rivulets of rain are trickling down the roof. The roll-up door is currently rolled down.You can see a wasp nest tucked up next to the roof.
>x nest
Yeah, that’s a wasp nest. A bloated gray tumor growing under the eaves of this unlucky shed.>break nest
Nope nope nope nope nope nope.
Makes sense.
>open door
The door rolls smoothly into the open position.
Easy peasy. Looks like we’ll make a lot of progress today. All because I didn’t try keys on the shed. I thought the brass key went to something else. How foolish I am! Although, to be fair, this happens to me almost every parser game. This is why I use walkthroughs and decompile games.
in
Inside the Shed
This shed is so spacious, it could almost be a garage. The floor is paved with brown tiles; the rear wall is decorated with a bunch of cute placards. The other two walls are pegboard bristling with metal hooks, from which some pruning shears and a grabber claw hang.The door is open, which means the wasps can get in here.
I was told what to do with these items by another thread, but I think they would have been clear regardless.
>x placards
Several cutesy placards are affixed to the rear wall. They read:
WINE AT LUNCH IS NOT A CRIME
MY GARAGE MY RULES
HANDS OFF MY CHOCOLATE
DON’T MESS WITH MAMA BEAR
CAN’T FIX STUPID
WE DON’T CALL 911 (with a picture of a shotgun)
V IS FOR VODKA
Due to reading another thread that mentioned a special message, I recognize what I will eventually need to do with these, and I tried messing with them and made a tiny bit of progress, but I’m not putting it here until I encounter that info diegetically.
>x shears
Long-handled shears with pointy blades that remind you of a heron’s greedy beak. I guess shears like this are technically called “hedge shears,” and “pruning shears” describes a smaller tool, but this is my fishing game and I can call things whatever I want.
>x claw
A claw at the end of a long pole is contracted by squeezing the handle on the other end. These things tend to disappoint when it comes to grip strength.
>take shears, claw
pruning shears: Taken.
grabber claw: Taken.
I’m glad this game doesn’t implement an inventory limit. There are so many things that could make a game more realistic (like typing LEFT LEG FORWARD. RIGHT LEG FORWARD.) or using STRAIGHT/LEFT/RIGHT instead of compass directions. Why do people insist on inventory limits as good for your gaming experience?
5 Likes
Day 6, part 2
We go to the observatory.
Observatory
At the top of this hill, a massive dome rises over the trees. The top of the observatory is a brilliant white, but rusty stains and overgrowth closer to the ground betray years of neglect. Creeping brambles have even covered up the front door.There are paths leading downhill to the east and northeast.
>cut brambles
You take the shears in hand. You approach the door.It would be really nice if you could cut away the branches right where they impede on the door frame, and clear a perfectly door-shaped passage through which to enter the observatory. Unfortunately, that proves impossible. Pruning shears are not precision instruments. Life is messy. Disappointment is inevitable.
But the critical thing is to get enough branches out of the way so that you can open the door, and after enough awkward snipping, that objective is accomplished.
Clearing the brambles has also revealed a sign mounted on the door.
>x sign
A sign mounted on the observatory door looks like it wants to say something about who is or isn’t allowed inside, but too many letters have worn away for the remains to spell anything specific. The door itself is closed.
>open door
You open the door.>in
Inside the Observatory
The interior of the dome is painted black. Screw holes in the center of the floor indicate the spot where there used to be a telescope.Various switches and light bulbs are mounted to the wall near the door. A wooden desk is situated a little further away; it would probably be tucked into a corner, if this room had any corners.
On the wooden desk are a stack of papers and a framed picture.
Let’s do a cursory look-over:
>x holes
You can make out a faint rectangle around the screw holes, which must the outline of a support structure. It gives you a very rough idea of how big and heavy the telescope must have been: Pretty big, and pretty heavy.>x switches
The leftmost switch is hooked up to a red lightbulb; the center switch is hooked up to a regular white bulb. The switch on the right is labeled “SHUTTER CONTROL.”>push right
You flip the switch. Nothing happens.>push center
You flip the switch. Nothing happens.>x desk
(the wooden desk)
The desk is covered in coffee stains. It has one small drawer.On the wooden desk are a stack of papers and a framed picture.
>open drawer
You open the desk drawer, revealing a GPS device.>take gps
Taken.>x stack
A messy pile of maybe a hundred sheets of typewritten paper. On top is a title page:THE ISOLATION PRINCIPLE
A Science Fiction
Choosable Path
Edutainmentby Harlan Waverly
Beneath this is a note written in black ink: Anita - to start out, look up the page labeled MOON.
>x framed
It’s a signed photo of a woman in kind of a not-too-casual, not-too-provocative pose fit for a magazine cover. She looks familiar. I think I’m supposed to know who this is.A message is written on it in thick marker: “HARLAN - KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!” But the signature is unreadable.
Let’s read this keyword-based CYOA:
>look up moon
MOONThe chief’s desk lights up, and a hologram appears before you: An oblong shape, a little like a pale, flickering pear.
“Do you know what this is, Khama?” the chief asks, staring through the hologram at you.
Just because you’re a police detective doesn’t mean you’re not on top of basic science. “Looks like the Interplanetary Standard Reference,” you say. “It defines basic units of mass, length, time, temperature… They keep it locked up in a facility in Canada.”
“They did,” Chief Taber grumbles. “Two days ago it was lifted by this individual.”
The hologram skews itself into the shape of a woman’s face, smirking grimly for her mugshot. “Zisa Cylena. Used to be small-time; not anymore. Check out what she’s driving.”
As you’re studying the suspect’s face, it morphs into a sleek starjet: Fast, fragile, probably impossible to steer. You memorize its silhouette.
“We—Well, the folks upstairs—suspect the theft is politically motivated. An attempt to disrupt interplanetary unity. They’re keeping the whole story under wraps until they can put the right spin on it. So I need you to keep your mouth shut, okay?”
“And recover the Interplanetary Standard Reference.”
Taber shakes his head. “Your assignment is to recover Cylena, by whatever means necessary. Once she’s in custody, or otherwise neutralized, the higher-ups take care of the rest. If she happens to be carrying the dingus, so much the better, but by now she’s probably delivered it to her clients.”
Something stinks about this whole thing—Something above your pay grade.
If you want to get on the job right away, look up the word that describes the moon when less than half (but not none) of its illuminated face is visible from Earth.
If you want to press Taber for more information, go to look up the word that describes the moon when more than half (but not all) of its illuminated face is visible from Earth.
>look up gibbous
GIBBOUSYou fix your boss with the glare you use in interrogations.
“Who are her clients supposed to be? Who ordered this cover-up, for that matter? And why are you sending a police detective after this thief instead of a bounty hunter?”
Taber rubs his forehead. He inhales deeply. You wonder if you may have made a mistake.
Then he sighs. The sigh becomes a groan. “You think they tell me anything?” he says at last. “They told me exactly what I told you, and they told me to put my best guy on it. That’s you. Here are your leads.”
He slides two files across the desk, and the hologram sputters and disappears. “Get out of my office. Don’t come back without Cylena.”
You step into the hallway and look over the files. Both leads are unappealing, for different reasons.
If you want to visit the most dangerous person you ever put behind bars, look up the planet William Herschel discovered in 1781.
If you want to visit your old girlfriend, look up the largest body in the asteroid belt.
I’ll look this one up.
>look up rigel
RIGEL“Howdy,” you say. Very diplomatic. You order a quadraunit of the local bilge.
The barkeeper dispenses the liquid from what must have originally been a defrosting nozzle. You offer a generous tip, which the robot interprets as a sign that you’re about to ask it for something.
“You work for Szeged?”
Its massive head nods.
“An individual by the name of Zisa Cylena is supposed to be hanging around here. I’d like to locate her, and I’d like to do so without Szeged knowing I was ever here.”
The robot clicks a couple times. “I don’t get around very much,” it says. “I don’t know as much as you might expect. But I can tell you this: You won’t get anything done on Platform 34 without Mister Szeged’s assistance.”
You sigh. “I was afraid of that. Can you at least tell me where he is?”
“Sure.” The barkeep points its nozzle toward a door. “He’s in the back room.”
To reunite with your old enemy, look up the star in the constellation Draconis that used to be the north pole star, five thousand years ago.
To try the other tip you got from Chief Taber instead, look up the nearest dwarf planet to the sun.
>look up sirius
There doesn’t seem to be a page with that heading.>look up thuban
THUBANYou step into the back room. Gaspar Szeged sits behind a desk. He’s been waiting for you.
“It’s been a long time, Khama!”
“Not long enough.”
“Hmm, when have I heard you say that before?” Szeged strokes his bulbous chin. “Oh, that’s right! At my sentencing hearing!”
You sigh. “I’m not here to relitigate anything, okay? I’m after someone else.”
“I’m not interested.” Szeged stands up, resting his fat fists on his desk. “There’s a lot of unresolved tension between us, Khama. We need to achieve closure—or we can’t move forward.”
You squint at the crime lord.
To offer forgiveness, look up the star in Aquila that’s spinning almost fast enough to tear itself apart.
To offer to fight him, look up the red giant in Orion’s shoulder.
>look up betelgeuse
BETELGEUSESzeged agrees to fight you. So you fight him.
When you’ve beaten him up enough, Szeged finally offers to tell you where Zisa Cylena is.
To follow Szeged’s tip, look up the name of Rama’s devoted monkey companion in the Ramayana.
To try the other tip you got from Chief Taber instead, look up the nearest dwarf planet to the sun.
Below this is a note written in black ink: I don’t know how to write a fight scene. Any assistance you can lend would be very much appreciated.
Then, in red ink: You climb up his back and elbow him in the skull. So he grabs you off his back and throws you to the ground! And he jumps on you, but you roll out of the way. And then you elbow him in the back, and he screams, so you elbow him in the mouth. And then he’s about to choke. And you say “Are you gonna tell me where Cylena is?” and he says “Mffmmf!” and you say “Are you sure?” and he’s choking so you take your elbow out of his mouth and he tells you.
>*it’s hamu something, right? hamuran?
You seem to want to talk to someone, but I can’t see whom.>look up hanuman
HANUMANAfter a long and tedious trip through a dense cloud of asteroids, your cruiser lands on 2211 Hanuman, a desolate rock about eighteen klicks from end to end, and several million klicks from civilization. A perfect hiding place.
Unfortunately, close inspection reveals that there’s no one hiding here. It looks like you got bad information—and it’ll be a long time before you can do anything about it.
THE END
A gripping tale, and one I might revisit.
x gps
A piece of bright orange plastic, molded to fit comfortably in the hand. It’s turned off, and the screen is blank.>turn it on
The gadget comes to life, and the LCD screen glows orange. A pixelated image of a spinning compass appears, along with the words “© 2004 Moythe Navigation.”It takes a moment to search for satellites before it starts displaying your position.
>g
That’s already on.>x gps
The LCD display says that your current position is 42.50981, -94.19902 (but it seems to be fluctuating a little bit).
We need to go here:
>read scrap
Which do you mean, the scrapbook or the scrap of paper?>paper
Two numbers are scrawled on the crumpled paper: 42.52049, -94.18460.
I’ll stop at the beach on the way and the birdhouse to find the other coordinates.
>clean beach
How honorable of you to suggest such an endeavor! You can pick up the trash with your grabber claw, so as not to get anything disgusting on your hands. But how will you dispose of it?There are plenty of plastic bags around. We’ll just fill up one of the bigger ones.
You grab a paper plate with your claw and stuff it in your bag.
You grab a french fry container and stuff it into your bag.
This is going to be tedious.
You grab a beer can and stuff it into your bag. Let me see if I can come up with something to make this a little more interesting.
You grab an empty water bottle. Okay, I found my idea notebook. This should be good.
Here’s something from July 14. The heading is “BABY TALK IF.” It’s the beginnings of an idea for a text adventure, evidently a horror story of some sort, that I guess would be written in baby talk.
what does a baby find scary
- mean dog
- shadow of plant on wall
- airplane noises
- clown painting
- weird understanding of vampires
- “haunted house”
“Haunted house” refers to a conversation I had a while back with a little girl, maybe five years old. We were in a church’s gymnasium/auditorium, and we were contemplating what might be hidden in the dark space under the stage. She was fascinated with the idea that there might be a “haunted house” down there. I don’t know what exactly her idea of a “haunted house” was, but I guess it was something that could be lurking anywhere.
Hey, look at that! Your bag is full!
Let’s tie that up, and just leave it at the end of the path. I’ll take care of it after you close the game.
There’s still plenty of trash left, but we can take care of it later.
That’s fun, the baby talk game.
Someone suggested continuing in endeavours the game tells you not to, so let’s go.
Ah, it makes me wait till tomorrow.
Wreck
The trail bends north to southeast around a shallow corner of the pond. An old canoe lies snapped in half on the rocks.Mounted on a post on the other side of the trail is an old birdhouse.
>open birdhouse
That’s already open.>photograph code
You bring up the phone’s camera app and point it at the QR code. The phone immediately interprets the squares for you: “42.5104 -94.1916 ROPE”
Right now, we’re at:
42.50908, -94.19804.
Going north once, we are at:
42.50979, -94.19810.
So it seems like we’ll be dealing with an order of magnitude of around .001 degrees. That’s around 350 ft.
At the northwest cabin, the gps is:
42.51049, -94.19808.
That’s right on the money (or close to it) with N, but not with W.
I can’t go east. Maybe I can canoe over there.
Getting in the pond, though, it’s clear we’re really too far to the west. It must be some area outside of the pond.
On the hill, it says:
The display now reads 42.51046, -94.19166.
Ah, I see. This must be a hint that you need to climb the boulder, but we’ve already done that.
Being up here and looking around, it reminds me that the observatory aperture is closed. Maybe we can open it if power comes back?
Let’s go to the other coordinates. I already know what’s there, but I’ll pretend to be surprised.
The scrap is: 42.52049, -94.18460
I used the handy command: >n. x gps. to avoid checking the GPS every few steps.
I arrive.
>e. x gps.
Woods
You are in the middle of the woods. Nearby you can see a faint path.There’s also a big blue tarp stretched out here.
A fat raindrop lands heavily on your shoulder.
The display now reads 42.52051, -94.18459.
>x tarp
Raindrops make satisfying thumping noises as they hit the tarp, and form little puddles in the folds of the fabric. I think there’s something underneath.>look under tarp
You pull one corner of the tarp aside, revealing a human skeleton.>x skeleton
The white bones are streaked with grime, half-sunken in the mud. Several pieces have rolled out of place or been snatched by critters.It looks like there’s something in its hand.
>x something
You can’t see any such thing.>x hand
In the skeleton’s bony grip is a Mako Badge.>take mako
Taken.>x it
This shiny enamel pin is cast in the image of a grinning mako shark. It is awarded to anglers who visit the Holler County Association of Fly Fishing Enthusiasts from far beyond the borders of Holler County, and acts more as a keepsake or token of friendship than as recognition for any specific accomplishment.
Hooray! A badge!
>search skeleton
You find nothing of interest.
>take skeleton
I think we can leave it here.
Oh dang.
Well, with that done, we can cross these things off our list:
-entering observatory
-following gps coordinates
-maze in NE corner
-wasps
-garbage pickup (to be somewhat continued)
All that’s left is:
-Mallard
-Robin
-at least 6 more badges (according to other thread)
-phone booth
-finding things people mentioned in other thread (specifically a costume)
-lockbox
I also saw a hint of what to do about the cabin in SE, but I’ll save that for another day.
On a final note, you can’t ask Zuleika about the skeleton. Showing her the badge results in this:
You show Zuleika your Mako Badge, and she asks how you got it, and you tell her, and she—Hmm. She is making an expression that I don’t know how to describe.
4 Likes
As a short epilogue, apparently in the phone booth you can ‘listen to receiver’ to get a new message every day.
>listen to handset
You bring the receiver to your ear, and it starts to buzz with noisy static.Then a signal fades in, and a chipper voice says:
"Hello! Your secret message for Saturday is…
IDVC EOS CBR KWWO RGETTWA UYWQ MCW QUTWR UN RBI BOA NQUAU, KDM EO TWMMWQ 237, MUTSEWO IBSWR EM VTWBQ MCBM MCW MQDW CWQU UN MCW RMUQX ER SQEOPKTBEMC, MCW NDOOX QEOPLQBEMC.
“…End of secret message! Please stay on the line for more information!”
>g
Static pops, and the voice warbles slightly: “Now for tomorrow’s forecast. Looks like this rain will clear up by tomorrow. If you have any rainy day plans—say, you wanted to paint a still life, or knit a small towel—make sure you get that out of the way before you go to bed!”The receiver goes quiet for a second, then makes a bunch of clicking noises.
3 Likes
I get the substitution alphabet DAHUIJPQMXBWTFNGRSKLOCEYVZ:
Much ink has been spilled over the roles of Sam and Frodo, but in letter 237, Tolkien makes it clear that the true hero of the story is Kringblaith, the funny ringwraith.
7 Likes
Thanks!
2 Likes
The largest body in the Asteroid Belt is CERES, not RIGEL, right? I think you skipped forward a few chapters in the inner IF!
4 Likes
I may have! I was trying to google the other choice at the time; I never googled ‘largest body in the asteroid belt’.
1 Like
That confused me too!
(The Herschel one is Uranus)
2 Likes
If I had a nickel for every IF game I’d encountered that had a puzzle (I assume) that requires the PC to navigate reading an in-universe CYOA book, I’d have two nickels, which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice.
Actual attributions, in order:
- Pablo Neruda
- I think this one’s an Anita original
- Sylvia Plath
- Dan Savage
- One of the Delphic maxims
6 Likes
Thanks for everyone’s input!
Day 7
Okay! Let’s try to wrap some things up. First things first: climbing the jungle gym.
Along the way, someone suggested this in one of the threads I read:
>give peanuts to crows
You toss a generous handful of peanuts on the ground. Then you take a few steps back.One crow flutters down toward your offering. It gobbles up a peanut.
Another crow follows suit.
The rest of the crows leap from their perches toward the peanuts, eager to grab a bite before they’re all gone.
When a crow has finished its share, it eyes you carefully, studying your face. Then it flaps its wings and flies off into the trees.
Eventually, the peanuts are gone, and so are all the birds.
Zuleika’s not here, but Malcolm is. Malcolm doesn’t seem interested in the mako badge or hearing about the skeleton.
This topic gets something though:
>ask malcolm about morrecht
He sniffs. “I mean, I’ve heard stories. But it’s not like it’s a real thing. Right?”He chuckles weakly, and grabs the tip of his tail.
Anyway, back to the jungle gym!
x gym
The shape is somewhat like a birdcage. The very top is some eight feet above the pebbled surface of the playground; luckily, any kid who fell down from that height would surely break their fall on some of these steel bars.
>climb it
Climbing to the top of the monkey bars is easy, especially when there are no mean kids around to mock or jostle you. You take a seat at the top of the jungle gym; then, you hang upside-down from one of the higher bars. Hey, be careful!Blood rushes to your head, and the surrounding area takes on a new character.
Wind rustles the trees, and you have a vision of Earth’s atmosphere churning beneath you: immense, chaotic, incalculably complex.
Huh, I would have expected a badge, but instead we get descriptive and poetic words.
Back to the beach:
e
Beach
A path out of the woods to the west opens up on an expanse of gray sand, descending bumpily into the pond to the east. Off to the side, a pair of wooden poles stick out of the beach, about 36 feet apart. A wooden launch is built into the shoreline, half-swallowed by the sand.
Things don’t look that much better than they were when you first got here. There’s still a lot of garbage scattered around.
>clean trash
Have you got your grabber claw? Yes. Have you got a bag to fill up with trash?Oh right, we were using one of the bags that people threw away here. Got it.
You grab a disgusting comb and stuff it into your bag.
You grab a plastic fork and stuff it into your bag. Let’s see if I can turn up any more reading material.
You grab a loose playing card (the two of clubs) and stuff it into your bag.
I probably shouldn’t do this, but let’s look at the notebook I’ve been using to organize my work on Ryan Veeder’s Authentic Fly Fishing.
On the first page it says There are 64 rooms but we can handle it. There ended up being a few more than 64 rooms.
You pick up a microwave popcorn bag and stuff it into your bag. The first page also has this plan written on it:
- paper notes on contents
- add basics to code
- then worry about complicated stuff
- “handle later” list starting in back of this notebook.
There’s also a very crude mockup of some cover art, which I do not feel inclined to reproduce here.
The next page is divided into a section for room E1 (that’s the internal name of the exterior of your cabin) and a section for room E1a (the inside of your cabin). Each section has a short list of features that needed to be implemented.
You grab a water-wrinkled copy of Cosmopolitan and stuff it into your bag.
Each feature on the list is crossed out to indicate that I finished implementing it in the game. One item under E1, “porch,” is crossed out with a wavy line, which indicates that I changed my mind and decided not to give your cabin a porch.
Now, you may be thinking: "Ryan, why are we reading your notebook? Wouldn’t it be much more interesting to leaf through that Cosmo?
Well, you’ve got a point.
Oh gosh, how about that. Your bag is full! We’ll just tie it up, and I’ll carry it off later.
The beach is looking a lot cleaner.
I count about 57 rooms on my map, but I didn’t show the interiors of the sheds and phonebooth or the nw cabin, or the top of the hill, and the footbridge and gully are different rooms, so I feel like we’ve seen the majority of the map.
Let’s see if the journal has dried out more:
>g
(the damp notebook)
September 25 - The HCAFFE’s annual “Spookenfest” involves a scary story contest. Obviously I had to enter. Campfire stories are to cryptozoologists what staircases are to mountaineers.I put together a story about searching for the Jersey Devil in the Pine Barrens, adapted from a blog post by a colleague of mine. The Spookenfest isn’t about scientific accuracy, so I felt justified in altering certain details. The result was scarier than any other story told around the campfire that evening. I could see the terror in everyone’s faces.
But did I win? No. Who did win, you ask? ANITA STAPELLA. Not because her story was scary, but because it was FUNNY. The voters ignored the premise of the competition and awarded the prize to probably the LEAST scary story of the evening.
Anita is a good kid. I don’t want to resent her. That’s what’s so helpful about journaling. I can work through all my feelings without anyone finding out how jealous I am of a teenager.
Being up at the pond so late presented an opportunity. After the Spookenfest, when we were all supposed to go home, I snuck over to the forbidden north side of the pond. I was able to do some good reconnaissance, although it was mostly too dark to see anything and I did fall into a creek at one point.
A little after I got out of the creek, something flew into my face. I thought it was a bat, so I screamed. Thinking I might have blown my cover, I beat a hasty retreat and fell into the creek again. This seemed like a good place to hide, so I crouched in the water and waited for the danger to pass. As my heart rate returned to normal, I realized the thing (the thing that wasn’t a bat) was still stuck in my collar. I tore it away from my body and realized it was actually a piece of paper. So I stuck it in my pocket, and, feeling deeply stupid, I climbed out of the creek bed and started making my way to the car.
Then I heard a twig snap. I could tell something was approaching from the north bank of the creek. So I broke into a run, and I didn’t stop until I’d reached my car.
It kills me to think I might have seen the Morrecht Cregg if I’d only looked back over my shoulder. I guess even if I had, my testimony wouldn’t be “legitimate,” since it involves trespassing, and good scientists never do anything illegal. Like Galileo.
It looks like the next part has dried out enough that you can read it safely.
>g
(the damp notebook)
September 26 - I forgot about the paper I found. I need to describe it here, just because it’s so weird. It’s singed around the edges, like someone was trying to burn it, and it says:CALL
MAMA
STUPID
FOR
LUNCHWhich is too bizarre to go unrecorded, although I doubt it means anything.
The following pages are too wet to be handled, but they’ll probably dry out after a while.
Ah, I saw this phrase in the other thread but didn’t know where it came from (I wondered if I had to replay the CYOA story to get to another page). I didn’t see how to use it in the other thread, but when I entered the wasp shed it was clear to me how to use it.
Inside the Shed
This shed is so spacious, it could almost be a garage. The floor is paved with brown tiles; the rear wall is decorated with a bunch of cute placards. The other two walls are pegboard bristling with metal hooks.
The door is open, which means the wasps can get in here.
>x placards
Several cutesy placards are affixed to the rear wall. They read:
WINE AT LUNCH IS NOT A CRIME
MY GARAGE MY RULES
HANDS OFF MY CHOCOLATE
DON’T MESS WITH MAMA BEAR
CAN’T FIX STUPID
WE DON’T CALL 911 (with a picture of a shotgun)
V IS FOR VODKA
None of the slogans are very original, but I think they’re all hand-painted.
>push call
You press on We Don’t Call 911, and it recedes into the wall, then pops back into place.
>push mama
You press on Don’t Mess with Mama Bear, and it recedes into the wall, then pops back into place.
>push stupid
You press on Can’t Fix Stupid, and it recedes into the wall, then pops back into place.
>push for
You press on V is for Vodka, and it recedes into the wall, then pops back into place.
>push lunch
You press on Wine at Lunch is Not a Crime, and it recedes into the wall, then pops back into place.
Something shudders beneath your feet. You were probably expecting this: A section of the floor descends a few inches, then slides out of the way, revealing a dusty staircase.
Another room for our collection!
>d
Beneath the Shed
This room is considerably smaller than the shed above. On the north wall are a framed notice and a circuit board. The stairway is built into the west wall. The south wall has a rusty crank sticking out of it. The east wall is just a wall.>x notice
The document is crumpled, and hung with a minimum of care.Dear Grandma:
NONE OF THIS IS SAFE AT ALL. THERE IS NO EMERGENCY STOP SYSTEM. If you aren’t careful with this equipment, it will SLICE YOU IN HALF.
By signing this agreement, you release me, Griffin Nailer, from all associated liability, in perpetuity, no matter what. It is a requirement of this agreement that a signed copy of the agreement be posted within 50 feet of the death trap at all times.
Sincerely,
GriffinAn illegible scrawl with the initials “E. N.” is signed below.
>x circuit board
I think this is one of those Arduino things. It definitely has the name “Arduino” etched on it. The various wires sprouting out of its pins run up the wall like a tangled beanstalk, disappearing into a hole in the ceiling.The board’s single green LED flickers fitfully.
>take it
It’s mounted to the wall, and I’m not keen to find out how securely.>turn crank
The crank turns with some small resistance, for about a quarter of a turn. Then it starts turning on its own. Servos whir on the other side of the southern wall.Then something starts grinding violently somewhere else, far away—on the other side of the eastern wall.
As the crank slows to a stop, the horrible noise to the east stops too.
Very cool. I wonder what the circuit board does?
And that crank. I tried to find what’s east of underground the shed. The Lodge is two screens to the right. Going down there, I don’t see anything different:
Beneath the Lodge
Dark wood panels seem to lean in around you: A metal desk and a gun rack are pressed against the north wall. The stairs to the ground floor are built into the east wall. The south wall is dominated by an elaborate vivarium. The west wall is just a wall.You briefly notice a low mechanical whirring, then it fades into the edges of your awareness.
By the way, EN is Erica Nailer, so she’s got the gun, the dead body, burned down the walkway, and installed the ‘death trap’
Interacting with the west wall does nothing:
>x west wall
You see nothing unusual about the west wall.
>hit west wall
Hey, come on. There’s no need for that.
>push west wall
The west wall is fine as it is.
Maybe I’ll go turn the crank more.
Beneath the Shed
This room is considerably smaller than the shed above. On the north wall are a framed notice and a circuit board. The stairway is built into the west wall. The south wall has a rusty crank sticking out of it. The east wall is just a wall.>turn crank
The crank turns with some small resistance, for about a quarter of a turn. Then it starts turning on its own. Servos whir on the other side of the southern wall.Then something starts grinding violently somewhere else, far away—on the other side of the eastern wall.
As the crank slows to a stop, the horrible noise to the east stops too.
>g
The crank spins freely.>g
The crank spins freely.>z
Time passes.>z
Time passes.>z
Time passes.>z
Time passes.>z
Time passes.The grinding noise to the east comes back, and the rusty crank starts spinning in reverse.
A few seconds later, everything is as still and quiet as when you first arrived.
Okay, so this is time. Let’s book it!
>turn crank
The crank turns with some small resistance, for about a quarter of a turn. Then it starts turning on its own. Servos whir on the other side of the southern wall.Then something starts grinding violently somewhere else, far away—on the other side of the eastern wall.
As the crank slows to a stop, the horrible noise to the east stops too.
>u
Inside the Shed
This shed is so spacious, it could almost be a garage. The floor is paved with brown tiles; the rear wall is also covered in tiles, with stuff painted on them. The other two walls are pegboard bristling with metal hooks.The door is open, which means the wasps can get in here.
Also there’s a secret staircase leading into some kind of bunker.
>out
Shed
A bright red shed stands here, where the path bends east and southwest. A sinister buzzing noise seems to come from all sides, and grim shapes flit in and out of your vision: wasps.>e
Disc Golf Course
It looks like the woods have been thinned out and tidied up here to facilitate a disc golf course. You can see four targets set up among the trees. Trails lead north, east, south, and west.>e
Lodge
A sleek building of deep cherry wood and pale stone lurks among the trees. Long, dark curtains hang in all the windows. The door is open.Well-tended paths lead southeast and west, and a less obvious trail curls behind the lodge toward the northeast.
The bluejay is still here, still watching.
You can also see a ladder here.
>in
Inside the Lodge
Cold eyes stare down at you from a portrait over the fireplace, flanked by the taxidermied heads of a wolf and a mountain lion.Long curtains black out the windows, and the skylight does a poor job of illuminating the lodge’s furnishings. You can make out a massive leather sofa, a bar counter, and a mini fridge.
The front door is open.
>d
Beneath the Lodge
Dark wood panels seem to lean in around you: A metal desk and a gun rack are pressed against the north wall. The stairs to the ground floor are built into the east wall. The south wall is dominated by an elaborate vivarium.The west wall has moved out of the way, revealing a narrow tunnel.
Bingo!
This is giving me flashbacks to some of Ryan’s campus exploration games, like Ascent of the Gothic Tower. (Rope of Chalk and The Lurkening both involve campus exploration). As a side note, I tried typing author:ryan veeder into google instead of IFDB and couldn’t figure out why it wouldn’t work for a sec.
w
Tunnel
This tunnel is maybe the length of a city block. The walls are bare concrete, lined with metal shelves. The west end of the tunnel is walled off, but you can exit to the east.A line of unreliable incandescent bulbs runs the length of the ceiling; a pull cord hangs from one light near the center.
That grinding noise returns, much louder this time, because this time you are right next to the wall when it pushes itself back into place.
Now you are in a long skinny room with no exits.
Guess we’re gonna die. It would actually be cool if you could ‘end’ this game in jail or dead, but that would go against the concept.
It’s been fun playing this game, it’ll be sad letting it go when it’s done. Good thing I haven’t found the robin or mallard yet.
>x shelves
The shelves are of a type you might remember from an elementary school library. They’re pretty banged up. Among the shelves you can see a black jumpsuit, a pair of furry gloves, a Muskellunge Badge, and a furry mask.
>x jumpsuit
A mass of stretchy black fabric, with legs and sleeves.
>take it
Taken.
>x gloves
These gloves are clearly part of a werewolf costume. The furred part goes up to the elbows, and there are long rubber claws on the fingers. The claws are stained with what I’m choosing to believe is mud.
>take gloves
Taken.
>x muskellunge
This shiny enamel pin is cast in the image of a muskellunge, or “muskie,” which is a kind of very long fish with a huge mouth. This badge has been presented by the Holler County Association of Fly Fishing Enthusiasts only once. It wasn’t presented in recognition of any particular accomplishment or contribution, and in fact it probably only made things worse.
>take it
Taken.
>x mask
It’s a realistic wolf mask, with black fur and white teeth. It’s not cartoonishly cute, nor is it cartoonishly scary. I can’t think of any reason for a normal person, or even a fairly weird person, to have this.
>take it
Taken.
>l
Tunnel
This tunnel is maybe the length of a city block. The walls are bare concrete, lined with metal shelves. Both ends of the tunnel are walled off.
A line of unreliable incandescent bulbs runs the length of the ceiling; a pull cord hangs from one light near the center.
Ah, the secret of the Morrecht Cregg.
Also, weren’t muskellunges also in Ryan’s game Visit Skuga Lake?
Huh, I always imagined a kind of mollusc. Also, I never got the appeal of posing with a fish. Is the idea that you’re strong because you pulled it out?
Anyway, we have one real shot of getting out here. If it isn’t what I hope it is, I guess I die for the day.
>pull cord
You pull on the cord. Click!The lights don’t turn off.
A horrendous crunching sound fills the tunnel as the barriers at each end slide out of sight. Now there are exits at both ends—Now this is a proper tunnel! And you won’t starve to death.
There we go.
>w
Beneath the Shed
This room is considerably smaller than the shed above. On the north wall are a framed notice and a circuit board. The stairway is built into the west wall. The south wall has a rusty crank sticking out of it.The east wall has moved out of the way, revealing a narrow tunnel.
Reasonable.
Does this mean we have Erica’s phone, btw? Should we turn it into the police?
Let’s see what Malcolm thinks of all this.
On the way, I stop for the next secret message:
>listen to it
You bring the receiver to your ear, and it starts to buzz with noisy static.Then a signal fades in, and a chipper voice says:
"Hello! Your secret message for Sunday is…
ENCGM GNOF EXPM RWI CFQNHK ZWFQ IV ZWFNC KLKM, MI IHF EIIK TNDO-XT GNHF NM ‘WFP, CFQFQYFC PIXC KLK?’
“…End of secret message! Please stay on the line for more information!”
>g
Static pops, and the voice warbles slightly: “Now for tomorrow’s forecast. It looks like tomorrow will be just as sunny as today was. Don’t despair, though: I have some inside information that says every life is entitled to at least a little rain.”The receiver goes quiet for a second, then makes a bunch of clicking noises.
Malcolm doesn’t care about the mask.
Looking through our inventory, I haven’t used the lamp yet. Maybe more light in the SE cabin is useful? Also someone mentioned that you could make a new path from there.
>l
Outside Another Cabin
This ancient cabin was expertly built, and maintained with love for many years. Then something happened; now, it’s a dark ruin, crowded by weeds.The edge of the porch isn’t far from the bank of the stream and its canoe launch. A huge rent in the faded green awning above makes it hang much lower on the one side. Two deck chairs sit in the shade: One intact, one a pile of canvas and splinters. The cabin’s front door hangs open.
The canoe is moored in the launch.
The blackbird is still here, still observing silently.
>x weeds
The weeds grow tall and thick right up to the cabin wall.>cut weeds
Your shears aren’t exactly designed for hacking through weeds this thick. But if you’ve got the time and the inclination, you can accomplish anything—however unefficiently.The path of least resistance leads you around the north side of the cabin. Presently the weeds have thinned out enough that you can tell yourself that you’ve “cleared a path” to the northeast.
Where does it go?
Quiet Place
A grassy scene in the middle of the woods.A gigantic oak dominates the spot, its shade forbidding the approach of smaller trees. In the sunny places surrounding, wild roses bloom, fluttering in the breeze.
A few paces from the oak’s massive trunk there stands a throne of carved stone.
On the stone throne is an egg-shaped rock.
Oh! I thought it would take us back to our cabin.
>x oak
Wind shakes its leaves, but the oak is immovable.Around its massive trunk is bare earth, striated with ancient roots, strewn with tiny acorns.
>x acorns
As numerous as stars.>take acorns
You are not allowed to take these acorns.>x throne
Gray rock, hewn into an immense throne. The seat and armrests are worn down and discolored. The back of the throne, higher than you are tall, is surmounted by two angular pinnacles.On the stone throne is an egg-shaped rock.
>x rock
The rock is the size of your fist. Its surface is bumpy, like an asteroid’s.>take rock
Taken.>eat it
That’s not food.
Hmm, is this like ‘a rich person is having fun’ kind of throne by an oak or like a ‘My Neighbor Totoro’ kind of hidden oak situation?
>sit on throne
You take a seat on the throne.You breathe in deeply. You hold your breath for a moment.
You breathe out.
Take a few more deep breaths.
A little yellow bird alights among the roses.
>x yellow
You can’t see any such thing.>x bird
It’s a goldfinch, yellow with black-and-white wings. It stands out brilliantly from the grass and the flowers; you can follow its every movement.Oddly, it seems to be missing from your checklist.
I dunno, I’m getting creeped out. Don’t want to get mind controlled a la ‘The Silver Chair’.
Shouldn’t there be another exit?
>x rose
Pink, white, and magenta flowers, bright and broad-petalled, dance in a circle around the oak. A narrow gap in the garland indicates a pathway leading northwest, unless you’re imagining it.The goldfinch hops from one flower’s stem to another.
Okay, let’s see if it’s one-way:
>nw
You step into the trackless forest. Soon the woods are so thick that you’ve lost sight of the oak tree or any other landmark.Then you cross the treeline and find yourself in a familiar spot.
Playground
A little playground has been built on the edge of the pond: A swing set, a slide, and a miniature rock climbing wall.The path winds the long way around the play area; it heads north to the jetty and southwest to a little footbridge.
>se
Quiet Place
A grassy scene in the middle of the woods.A gigantic oak dominates the spot, its shade forbidding the approach of smaller trees. In the sunny places surrounding, wild roses bloom, fluttering in the breeze.
A few paces from the oak’s massive trunk there stands a throne of carved stone.
A goldfinch is fluttering from rose to rose.
Inside the cabin, the lamp is not useful.
I think I’ll stop for today. I’ll save re-doing the astronomy CYOA until I run out of things to do.
Left to do:
-Clean up trash
-Read more of journal
-Find more badges (I have Mako Badge, the Muskellunge Badge, the Crappie Badge, the Bluegill Badge, the Salmon Badge, the Smallmouth Bass Badge, the Bonefish Badge, the Largemouth Bass Badge, the Dolly Varden Badge, the Carp Badge, the Walleye Badge, and the Brown Trout Badge). I’ll get one from crows from what I read, one from Zuleika when I finish birdwatching, and I remember reading about another on a concrete slab. That’s 15, so there are 17 I haven’t solved at all.
-Find other endinds of CYOA
-Locked desk, lockbox (these may not be solvable)
-Find robin and mallard
Continued mystery: what is ‘RIEDOU’ on the phone booth? Is it something like ‘Valerie Douglas’ and a reference to another game? I’m not sure.
I suspect I’m at the end of the ‘main storyline’, except for the journal. There might be something to find with the metal detector when the beach cleaning is done. I’ll read to the end of the longer thread on this game, but I think this’ll be wrapped up soon! Great slow-burn mystery. Maybe I’ll try to do a ‘lore post’ at the end where I gather all the info we have on people.
(Edit: BTW, I had the IFDB search for Ryan Veeder games open, and as I closed it, I was shocked to see Taco Fiction has 120 ratings. I remember that for a long time nothing had over 100 ratings except the games released before IFDB was released, since tons of people were willing to rate games right when IFDB came out but it dropped off later. Counterfeit Monkey was the first to get over 100 ratings of the ‘new group’, I think, though I might be wrong. So, congrats!)
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