The Eleusinian Miseries Start with a dungeon-y intro (at least to start the programming -- add cooler prologue later) as the "descent", then a more social initiation (repeating is OK, player nods off, reference to other society members who took like 94 tries -- Drones vibe, keep it good-natured), then after that's the Pannychis, which works in good old Alky and leads to the destruction of the Herms (on the way to Athens which isn't 100% accurate but oh well -- highest concentration is right at the entrance to the Agora from the Sacred Way) Pepper gag -- need to say secret name with just the right accent, very phlegmy and barking. "No -- not quite it, a bite more nasal." Pepper is one of many food items at the feast after Descent finishes (feast doesn't start until after Rite, but PC can steal food before things kick off -- naughty!) On a timer -- will sneeze two turns after smelling pepper "From now on you can't talk about not talking about what you can't talk about. Right?" About evenly divided between yes and no. Before heading into the ritual, have a dress-up bit, need to look the part with some hidden tracking of a style score -- points for combinations, maybe a word puzzle? Wardrobe of stuff, plus items from before can be repurposed. For last section, destruction of the Herms is accidental, not a goal - -other obstacles. [Descent, Search, Ascent as the three phases?] Telesterion/initiation hall At beginning of feast, priests fill two vessels (with what?) and poured them, one to the east, one to the west Chant "Mighty Potnia bore a great son" (might be a good place for the pepper thing) (the son is Pluton, god of wealth, Demeter's son) Climax of ritual was an ear of grain cut in silence (representing new life) -- consequence of the pepper thing is that PC is still sneezing, so need to rinse out mouth or something? Steps: 1 - bringing sacred objects 2 - priests declare start of rites 3 - wash in sea 4 - procession to temple, festival for Asklepios, shouting jokes/obscenities, vigil and drink the kykeon (possible hallucinogen) 5 - in the great hall/telesterion, three-phase rite: reenactment of the myth, display of sacred objects, spoken commentaries 6 - Pannychis, all-night feast and dances (7- libations to honor the dead) Greater mystery happens in late summer/September (Could include people other than Alkibiades -- Sokrates, Sophocles...) (Alkibiades' stepdad is Pericles!) (Generally only do gags once, then sum up -- e.g. with guard, do the dialogue first time, then "he's still not budging on the two-kraters-at-once thing.") puzzle list: Descent: Alky went on a bender last time and lost all the paraphernalia in the cellars, you drew the short straw. One of the Drones tries to dress this up as symbolic of rebirth (going down and returning up) but everybody makes fun of him and throws rolls. Give a gag-filled list. 1 - two vessels (kraters), one for east and one for west (maybe there's a big pile -- they're heavy and can only get one at a time, trying to carry both simultaneously will break them (need to take from a pile. "Hang on... HANG ON HANG ON. Bother, it broke"). Gag is they're supposed to be two specific ones, but hopefully no one will be able to tell - move past this quickly so it's not too reminiscent of the pennyroyal one. Then to come out, need to rig up something with ropes (TIE KRATER TO SELF or something like that; tie rope to krater twice will also work). Rope will be part of scenery in granary area, used to keep amphora upright. Can cut with pen-knife. Filling krater with water doesn't work -- add gag here. No, this is weird -- maybe they're too heavy and dislodging them is too heavy given our noodle arms. Just need one, but can only pull out by tying rope to the krater (footing is too iffy if you just pull, since it's near the middle). 2 - amphora of water. There's a spring by the herb garden but the water gets muddy where it runs down the wall -- need to climb up to get it where it's bubbling up clean. Climbing is hard because the rock is slick (give a clue that climbing will help get to cleaner water). Need to climb in an adjacent room (storage with kraters -- can climb the jumble) and then there's a ledge that comes over -- only show description if look at walls, or after a couple times failing to climb. !3 - knife - maybe just start with this tucked behind ear -- X self will show a bit of an itch at the temple, which if scratched will reveal the knife; Alky will also notice it. Had helped Alky cut a pen off a quill since his broke while writing ribald verses about another member. !4 - ear of grain (barley, also part of kykeon -- seems a little spoiled...). Most of it's gone very bad (due to something Alky did). At the bottom of an amphora, too big/narrow neck so can't reach in -- need to empty/pour it. Use amphora for the water. !5 - pennyroyal - smells like a pungent mint (written on list). Maybe it's part of a big herb garden under a grate to let in light, so need to smell to distinguish it (have custom response to take herbs making clear you can't just uproot the garden willy-nilly). Lavendar-ish flowers, but in the dark it'll be hard to tell (also fuschia, violet, mauve, lilac). Sing, O Muse, of tumpety tumpty tumpety tum... Oh wait, rooms. Come up with more authentic names for each of these: 1 - Cellar has the stairs up, Alky waiting 2 - Storage (W of Cellar) has kraters 3 - Cave (E of Cellar), More Cave (E of Cave), Yet Additional (E of More), Quite Sufficient (E of YA) - just need torch, ask Alky for it 4 - Garden (E of Quite Sufficient) has herbs and spring 5 - Granary (W of Cellar) has amphora, rope 6 - Ledge above Storage is above storage 7 - Spring Source is above Garden and SE of Storage Alky checks for each, returning either "I see you have X," "you don't have X", or, in a few cases adding complications (see below). Then a final summing-up. If carried all except second krater, which has been pulled from pile, can't let take multiple trips: "It's death and rebirth, not death and rebirth and death and rebirth if you see what I mean. Once is a miracle -- twice looks a bit like carelessness, old bean." Knife: if found already, nothing; if not yet found, will point it out. Water: check if it's clean, or if it's in a krater. * Barley -- if just has amphora, guard asks where barley is, can't just take it on evidence of things unseen. It's just an ear of barley, my chap. mix the kykeon (water, pennyroyal, and barley) and drink from it to trigger next block -- jokey "cutscene" Rite Write up the transition, everybody welcoming and shaking hands, bit of flirting with Alky - do as cutscene. Take away all the ritual objects. (Water poured into two Kraters, poured out to east and west; knife taken to cut ear of barley for kykeon; pennyroyal mixed in as well). Add two more characters -- rather fat-headed one leading the ritual (Esmond "Puffy" Kerykes), more dull-witted one who nods off (Machon Ephippus-Ephipus). Other priest family is Eumolpidae. Add dialogue. What's Alky doing during this bit? 1 - chanting/pepper gag 2 - stop sneezing for silent reaping of the ear (wash face with water, maybe add slapstick of drinking the wrong thing, multiple things that should contain water don't, sneezing replaced by hiccuping if drink wine). Mixing of Kykeon at this point. 3 - something related to the joking? (can have NPC gags in background - Thea Kropolis gag, who do actors never want to see at the theater? Boo-eatians) Maybe this is where the dress-up bit goes - must be dressed in silly fashion or people won't laugh at the jokes. 4 - nodding off during the vigil - put toothpicks in eyes? (clue with "can't keep eyes open"). Multiple solutions -- two others (1: drink a lot of water (don't allow over-drinking before this segment), 2: ask Alky to fool around somehow) 4.5 - part two of the silence bit - some blithering Drone can't stay quiet because he keeps asking when it's going to be over. Again, multiple potential solutions (sack over head, feed him honey to stick up teeth, give a stick so he can twirl it and fidget). Eh, not great, maybe drop and just have four puzzles here. 5 - Puffy comes in and lets him drink the Kykeon after it's properly done, triggering hallucination and madness (next cutscene, transitioning to the herm stuff) Rooms: 1 - Peristyle (hub area - stairs down, outside west [blocked], altar/ritual chamber east, banquet hall south, closet north). Fountain here (for washing face post-pepper). 2 - Telesterion - ambient jokes that shift with phase of the ritual, some of which are clues. Esmond is here, gating progress through the ritual. 3 - closet - clothes for the dress-up puzzle (see below). 4 - banquet hall - lots of wine, honeyed figs, salt and pepper, olives, bread, beans (Pythagoras joke), yogurt. Unlimited amounts of each. Lots of hijinx firing in the background; Alky will mostly be here, feasting, drinking, and flirting. Dress-up puzzle: Re-use something from below (what will be in inventory but not used? Amphora as hat?), and some scenery object from the ritual chamber. Need to hit a silliness score of 10. Lots to do to get X ME working properly with all the combos. Change reactions to the joke-telling at 2 silliness, 5 silliness, and 7 silliness. What's in the closet: Toga (0) Silly hat? (2) Boa? (1) Amphora hat (4) Ascent Cutscene goes here - kykeon, craziness, etc. Introduce Herms, and mention Alky's lyre. "From now on you can't talk about not talking about what you can't talk about. Right?" About evenly divided between yes and no. in the great hall/telesterion, three-phase rite: reenactment of the myth, display of sacred objects, spoken commentaries Name all the herms (meditative, judgmental, etc.) Breaking: This section should be fairly open and nonlinear, after the more one-two-three of Act 2. Some interrelation is OK, but should reward wandering. Maybe allow wandering back into the temple (redo the Instead of Going West bit in the Peristyle) to seed more complexity? Yes, will need various items. 1 - Alky's horse needs to be hitched to chariot (figure out how to get the horse sufficiently calm - *breaks a herm along the way. Again, 4 or 5 different approaches, need to do 3. It's frightened of something, maybe a pig. Talk/whisper to it; remove pig (scare it, throw food over fence after cueing that it seems hungry - breaks herm); !pet horse; !give wine; !blinders, maybe, from an additional hat (earmuffs? cue with rolling eyes roving all around)? Clue with Alky knowing a lot about horses, giving rotating clues - "One thing I've heard is...") Invent a funny name for the horse, maybe Hippy? 2 - Puffy is on the roof, after the kykeon (bad batch, barley did seem off...) Need to climb up and talk him down - goes badly, fall off, break a herm. Can't climb temple directly, but maybe can climb a tree (ooh, bees who need to be smoked out - track down torch, dialogue clue from Machon, maybe (looking at hives reminds PC that he had a great-uncle who kept bees, pointing to cousin Machon... have a specific mention of family after the second cue), then jump onto roof, start to fall, go hand over hand -- not much of a puzzle, just traversal with jokes. Once up there, apologize, Puffy comes in for a hug and starts sobbing. Can also sing him down, with lyre - just singing isn't sufficiently plangent. Alky has the lyre, probably. 3 - Need to repair the chariot, Alky busted it up on the way in (currently doesn't break a Herm, figure out). A - Replace reins (frayed rope, feather boa - might need to do the replacing thing again to turn the feathered boa into a rope) B - Fix wheel (put a green branch from tree (need it be bendy to fit into the wheel, attach by making sticky: honey cake, implemented as a slice? catch tying things to the wheel) C - Make axle (maybe like a measuring puzzle - lots of poles used for kindling, but they're too long, and breaking them just makes them too short since we're eyeballing. Need to get Machon to stand next to it, perhaps? Refine, this is kind of lame. Eh, worried this is getting a bit long, maybe just drop it). Maybe design so solving one puzzle gives something that helps with another, to speed things up? From solving Puffy: honey (either on the way up, or when he comes crashing down), to cement the wheel. From calming the horse: he'll neigh along with singing, helping drive Puffy down. From fixing the chariot, find a bag of horse treats. Could do this as three scenes, since the environment will be different for at least the first two. Rooms: 1) Portico (out front, under Puffy, Alky and Machon are here). E to Peristyle, W to Yard, N to Side of Temple 2) Yard (horse, etc.). E to Portico, W to Sacred Way (but can't actually go there), S to Workshop. 3) Workshop (some business involving the chariot repair -- can trim the branch with a saw, allow "cut". Chariot is here). N to Yard. 4) Side of the temple (check for issues with scratch itch - tree is here). S to Portico, U to Roof (via tree; no going back once Puffy's down) 5) Roof (Puffy is here). No workable exits, just fall off after engaging with Puffy. Intermission: Now player gets swept onto chariot, and there's a multi-turn scene (like, use a Scene, I think) of careening down the sacred way, wiping out another few Herms, before fetching up in Athens. Do a fake-out gag, starting out heading right for a Herm but missing at the last minute. Actually do this several times, luck has changed -- and then they get to Athens and it goes incredibly pear-shaped. (Let's see, two in Act III, then do three more along the way, then have Puffy get angry and break more, then Machon helps, then everybody drinks and makes up, then clear screen -- then waking up to hear hubub out window, Machon gives unmentionables, magistrate calling to open up) Two in act II -- one by portico that Puffy falls on. One by Yard that Hippy kicks when finally calming. Start off with Alky driving, going really fast. Puffy still swooning. Once he starts to come around Alky will hand reins to PC, and any command leads to crashing (implement steering, halting, saying woah) into herm. Wave to Machon. Machon, in chariot ahead, turns around to wave, breaking off another. Puffy throws a fit and tries to grab the reins, spooking Hippy who stops and sends Puffy flying. Then someone explains that many broke and Puffy flips out. Cutscene once arrive in Athens. Finale: Need to hide or get rid of lots of unmentionables (have player decide to call them something innocuous). In the players' apartment, guards coming, multiple endings depending on how many unmentionables are hidden when time runs out (Machon collected them in case you wanted to repair things. End previous bit with 'at least they'll never know it was us...') Alky, Puffy, Machon all over. Can give one to each -- Machon isn't a good hiding place because he'll be forgetful, Puffy will break down at the slightest hint of danger; Alky is OK since he'll flirt and embarass the guard (!1). People outside the window after throwing one out; subsequent ones will go right to the found list (!2). Tie to pan-pipes (!3). Put in fireplace and light fire (or use inkdingle) (!4). Dip in ink and start writing on papyrus (!5). In chest, under chitons (!6). Under mattress in bed (!7). Trojan Horse replica -- if it worked for Odysseus... Under the mattress. (8!) Behind door (9!). One hiding place, when accessed, makes two more unmentionable tumble out (chest). Machon will also pull out one additional one with 15 turns left. Can put on top of a hanging lamp -- that's a trap, will be found. Other red herrings (not too many). Maybe make it so throwing out the window isn't a good idea -- someone throws it back in after a few rounds (that would reduce the number by 1). Decide on time limit -- probably like 5 times the number of unmentionables. Bits of Alky and others stalling every 5 turns (which explains why they can't really help). 0 found, 9 hidden - best ending, call back to making the kykeon for real... 1-3 found - Alky impresses guards, still need to go to war 4-5 found - Everybody shipped off to Sicily 6-9 found - Law-courts for you! Guards pat down everyone else, but can't manage with Alky Cutting room floor: Hypostyle gag Now that you've moved it, the cave-in is just a heap of rocks, an observation that strikes you as pleasingly metaphysical." "You take the biggest rock from the cave-in and set it aside, then you do the same with the next biggest. A few minutes later, you've got quite the nicely-sorted set of rocks. Stepping back to admire your handiwork, you suddenly realize that you've cleared the cave-in and revealed a passage out! Agog at this development, you stumble over the rocks, bollixing up their neat line and rather taking the bloom off your discovery."; The rock is an object. "There are quite a number of rocks here, but one in particular catches your eye as somehow the rock-iest." The description is "Your mother always said you'd end up grubbing in the dirt if you didn't listen to her. A rock is more useful, all told, than a clump of dirt, but the difference is perhaps smaller than would be ideal."