This puzzle takes the form of an Infocom-style interactive fiction text adventure game.

The game world is divided into four kingdoms. At the beginning of the game, the player only has access to the first kingdom (named “Crimsilon”), but as the player completes portions of the game, their “passport” is updated to allow them to explore more of the world and solve more challenges.

The kingdoms (and their challenges) in order are:

1. Crimsilon: steal a tiara from a castle (thieving)
2. Cerulia: rescue a king from the desert, by creating vehicles to reach him (crafting)
3. Merrygold: conduct a series of trades to obtain a home (trading)
4. Blanc: combine information gathered from the rest of the game to derive a secret message

Read through the game transcript at the bottom of this solution to learn how to complete each of these challenges, by gathering and using items and interacting with the non-player characters in the game.

Throughout the game, there are many discoveries that should suggest to the player that they are actually wandering around inside of a game of Settlers of Catan! These discoveries include:

• the structure of the world (the player is always walking on roads on the edges of hexagons, and visiting locations at vertices of the hexagons, and the player may only travel “ahead to the left”, “ahead to the right” and “behind you”)
• thematic elements (the presence of Catan terrain and Catan resources in the world)
• the existence of four different “kingdoms” representing the four players of the board game, that each control a separate set of roads and settlements

Here's a map of the game world, as set up on a Settlers of Catan game board. A few of the settlements that appear on this map are actually cities (as indicated by the presence of multiple buildings in-game), even though they are settlements in this photo—the city locations are the Condo Association, the Ranger Station, the RV Park, the Surf Resort, the Blacksmith, and the Farm.

While playing through the game, the player can determine the placement of roads and settlements based on the directions in which they’re traveling, and can determine the type of resource associated with each hexagon tile based on the location descriptions.

The die roll numbers associated with hexagon tiles are hidden in signs posted around the island, according to the following map and table:

The solver should also notice that the Cerulia player has the longest road, and that the Merrygold locations have a lot of soliders standing around (largest army). Based on all of these observations, the score of each Catan player can be determined:

A sequence of thirty die rolls is provided by following the Queen of Crimsilon’s instructions to “look up” throughout the game. The solver will always see a number of stars from 2 to 12, indicating the die roll.

After all of this information is gathered, the solver can use it to fill in the grid written on their passport, by:

• Associating the columns 1 through 4 with the Catan players in first through fourth place
• Looking up the die roll associated with each day number
• Determining which types of resources are received by that player on that die roll
• Marking these resources as received in the five rightmost columns of the grid (each column corresponds to a Catan resource type: W is wool, B is brick, O is ore, G is grain, and L is lumber)

Looking down the rightmost five columns, the shapes of letters are formed that spell out the answer NIL SINE NUMINE.

For examples of how to play, type HELP at any time.

You find yourself standing on a beach. Directly in front of you is a huge
desert - it's just sand as far as the eye can see. There's a road that meanders
along the edge of the beach, which you can follow ahead to your left or ahead
to your right.

An OLD WOMAN is huddled by a small fire.

You may pick up a BOTTLE of GRYPHON BEER.

You may go LEFT or RIGHT.

> take beer

You take a bottle of gryphon beer.

> l

You go left.

You've traveled until you reached a fork in the road. The roads ahead to your
left and behind you seem to meander along the beach, while the road ahead to
your right leads further inland. Looking directly in front of you, it looks
like the terrain gets steeper, and there's sandy desert as far as you can see
directly to your right. The ocean is directly to your left.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a crossroads, at the base of a mountain that's to your left.
Looking in front of you you see a dense forest, and to your right a desert.
Roads lead away from here ahead to your right, behind you and ahead to your
left.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're standing at a bend in the road. The road continues ahead to your left
and behind you. To your right you see a wooded area marked with a SIGN.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You are standing in the center square of a small village. There's a
blacksmith's shop here. To your left, the village ends at a sheer face of a
mountain. To your right, there's fields of wheat as far as you can see. There's
a road out of the village behind you.

Some old rusty, sooty NAILS are scattered on the ground around the blacksmith's
forge.

The town BLACKSMITH sits nearby, hunched over his forge, working on some metal
thingy.

You may go BACK.

> take nails

You take a bunch of rusty nails covered in soot.

> b

You go back.

You're standing at a bend in the road. The road continues behind you and ahead
to your right. In front of you you see a wooded area marked with a SIGN.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a crossroads, at the base of a mountain that's to your
right. Looking to your left you see a dense forest, and in front of you a
desert. Roads lead away from here ahead to your left, ahead to your right and
behind you.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You've traveled until you reached a fork in the road. The roads ahead to your
right and ahead to your left seem to meander along the beach, while the road
behind you leads further inland. Looking directly to your right, it looks like
the terrain gets steeper, and there's sandy desert as far as you can see
directly to your left. The ocean is directly in front of you.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You find yourself standing on a beach. Directly to your left is a huge desert -
it's just sand as far as the eye can see. There's a road that meanders along
the edge of the beach, which you can follow behind you or ahead to your left.

An OLD WOMAN is huddled by a small fire.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You've reached a bend in the road. Ahead to your right the road climbs up
alongside a mountain range (which is directly in front of you), while behind
you the road follows alongside the beach. A seemingly endless amount of desert
can be seen directly to your left.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You are standing outside of a lone castle perched on the side of a mountain. It
has a large wooden door, stone WALLS, and a few windows on the upper stories.
There are roads leading away from the castle ahead to your left and behind
you.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You've reached a lookout point along a windy mountain road. There's a great
view of the ocean up here. Someone's posted a SIGN by the lookout point. The
mountain road continues behind you and ahead to your left.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're at a bend in the road. The road rises further up into the mountains
behind you, or descends along some gentle rolling hills ahead to your right.
The ocean is directly to your right.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're walking between some hills directly to your left and the ocean directly
in front of you and to your right. There's a SIGN marking this area of hilly
terrain.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're at a dairy farm adjacent to a sizable POND. The farm has several
structures: a house, stables, and a silo. In front of you, some sheep are
grazing in the farm's pastures. Directly to your left the terrain becomes a bit
more hilly. The road away from the farm is behind you, and there's a road ahead
to your left to the next kingdom guarded by a portcullis.

A FARMER tends to a small group of sheep.

You may go BACK.

> talk to farmer

"I'm a farmer! I milk sheep. Here, have some sheep's milk butter."

The farmer hands you a small tub of sheep's milk BUTTER.

> b

You go back.

You're walking between some hills directly to your right and the ocean directly
to your left and in front of you. There's a SIGN marking this area of hilly
terrain.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're at a bend in the road. The road rises further up into the mountains
ahead to your left, or descends along some gentle rolling hills behind you. The
ocean is directly to your left.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You've reached a lookout point along a windy mountain road. There's a great
view of the ocean up here. Someone's posted a SIGN by the lookout point. The
mountain road continues ahead to your right and behind you.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You are standing outside of a lone castle perched on the side of a mountain. It
has a large wooden door, stone WALLS, and a few windows on the upper stories.
There are roads leading away from the castle behind you and ahead to your
right.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> use nails with boots

You punch the nails through the toes of your boots.

You've fashioned a crude pair of crampons.

> climb wall

The nails on your boots dig into the castle's stone walls, and you successfully
climb up to a window.

You're up on the window sill. The wooden WINDOW SHUTTERS are closed, and you
can't see inside.

You may go DOWN.

> use butter on shutters

You spread butter on the shutter's hinges.

> open window

You open the shutters and climb inside through the window. The shutters swing
shut behind you.

You're inside of an upstairs bedroom of the castle. There's a DRESSER against
the wall.

You may go OUT THE WINDOW.

> use beer on dresser

You pour the entire bottle of gryphon beer onto the dresser.

The metal and some of the wood start to dissolve, releasing acrid fumes.

> open dresser

You pull open the top drawer of the dresser. Inside, there's a TIARA. You steal
it.

> out

You go out the window.

You are standing outside of a lone castle perched on the side of a mountain. It
has a large wooden door, stone WALLS, and a few windows on the upper stories.
There are roads leading away from the castle behind you and ahead to your
right.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You've reached a bend in the road. Behind you the road climbs up alongside a
mountain range (which is directly to your right), while ahead to your left the
road follows alongside the beach. A seemingly endless amount of desert can be
seen directly in front of you.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You find yourself standing on a beach. Directly to your right is a huge desert
- it's just sand as far as the eye can see. There's a road that meanders along
the edge of the beach, which you can follow ahead to your right or behind you.

An OLD WOMAN is huddled by a small fire.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> give tiara to woman

You give a tiara to the old woman.

"That's it, my TIARA! It may not look like much, but this thing gives me the
authority I need to rule. You see I'm not just an old woman. Brace yourself.
I'm the queen of Crimsilon! I know, right? I just like to hang out on the beach
here, and look up at the stars. Oh, I promised you some answers. Who are you?
Doesn't matter, no one cares. But where are you? That's the really important
one.

You're in a land that's been divided into four kingdoms: Crimsilon, Cerulia,
Merrygold, and Blanc. It used to be a pretty thriving place, lots of hustle and
bustle, trade, construction, you name it. But things have turned stagnant, and
no one's really sure why. Well, I have a theory. I think the gods are
displeased with us. How do I know? Try to LOOK UP sometimes. The sky is so
clear here, that you can see stars pretty much anytime. Study them long enough
and you'll see what I mean.

I have some things for you, then I'll send you on your merry way. This is a
PASSPORT. You can use it to demonstrate that you're in my good graces. I've
filled it out with everything you need to get them to let you into Cerulia. And
this is just a STICKER I like to give people."

She hands you a PASSPORT and a STICKER.

> r

You go right.

You've traveled until you reached a fork in the road. The roads ahead to your
left and behind you seem to meander along the beach, while the road ahead to
your right leads further inland. Looking directly in front of you, it looks
like the terrain gets steeper, and there's sandy desert as far as you can see
directly to your right. The ocean is directly to your left.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a crossroads, at the base of a mountain that's to your left.
Looking in front of you you see a dense forest, and to your right a desert.
Roads lead away from here ahead to your right, behind you and ahead to your
left.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You are standing at a border checkpoint, guarded by a portcullis. The main
thoroughfare traversing Cerulia can be traveled ahead to your left and ahead to
your right, and a road leading to Crimsilon is behind you.

The GUARD recognizes the markings on your passport, and welcomes you with a
grunt of acknowledgement. He seems to be crying.

"Sorry, don't mind me. It's been a tough week. It's... it's our king. He's gone
missing. He was last seen several days ago, hiking into the nearby desert.
Can... can you help us find him? Your passport will allow you to travel freely
within Cerulia."

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're standing at a crossroads. To your left is a forest, and to your right
you can see sheep grazing. Roads lead away from here ahead to your right,
behind you and ahead to your left, and there's a portcullis guarding the road
ahead to your right.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're standing at a crossroads. Roads lead away from here ahead to your left,
ahead to your right and behind you. In front of you you see a pasture marked
with a SIGN.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're in a clearing. There's a rectangular building with two large metal vats
sticking out of its roof. A SIGNBOARD swings over the DOOR. There's a BELL next
to the door. There are roads leading away from the clearing behind you and
ahead to your right.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a bend in the road. The road continues ahead to your right
and behind you. To your left, there's a huge farm growing crops, and running
along the farm is a track marked with a SIGN.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're in a trailer park. Most of the trailers are rusted husks that look like
they've been here a very, very long time. There are hundreds of "beware of dog"
signs, and the ground is covered with the bones of the illiterate or foolhardy.
The only place the ground is visible is a narrow path that leads to the one
trailer that seems to be currently inhabited. It's dotted with scorch marks.

There are roads leading out of the park ahead to your right, behind you and
ahead to your left.

Two MEN wearing nothing but underwear and gasmasks are sunning themselves just
outside of the scorched trailer. They're surrounded by assorted beakers and
cooking apperatuses.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You stop at a bend in the road. To your left, you see a grove of trees marked
with a SIGN. The road continues behind you and ahead to your right.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're at a bend in the road that winds along the shore. You may continue
traveling ahead to your right or behind you. In the hills to your right there's
a clay pit with a SIGN nearby.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a crossroads. There's a portcullis here; on one side a road
leads ahead to your right into the interior of Merrygold. On the other side, a
coastal road runs ahead to your left and behind you within Cerulia.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're at a bend in the road that winds along the shore. You may continue
traveling ahead to your right or behind you. To your right there are crops
planted as far as you can see, marked with a SIGN.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're at a bend in the road, alongside a large, thriving grain field to your
right. You have magnificent views of the ocean on all other sides. The road
leads away from here ahead to your right and behind you.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing in an oceanside resort town. It seems to be the off-season. The
beach is to your left, and on the beach there's a hut marked "surf shop." Near
the shop, there's a MESSAGE BOARD that has various notices, including the
current surf conditions. In front of you, the town slopes upwards toward some
hills. There's a road out of town behind you.

A BEACH BUM is standing by the surf shop, waxing his board.

You may go BACK.

> talk to bum

"Mahalo, brother. Do you, like, surf? No board? Here, why don't you take mine
for a spin. Just bring it back in one piece. Ha, I'm just kidding, no one
breaks surf boards."

You now have a SURF BOARD.

> b

You go back.

You're at a bend in the road, alongside a large, thriving grain field to your
left. You have magnificent views of the ocean on all other sides. The road
leads away from here behind you and ahead to your left.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're at a bend in the road that winds along the shore. You may continue
traveling behind you or ahead to your left. To your left there are crops
planted as far as you can see, marked with a SIGN.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're standing at a crossroads. There's a portcullis here; on one side a road
leads ahead to your left into the interior of Merrygold. On the other side, a
coastal road runs behind you and ahead to your right within Cerulia.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're at a bend in the road that winds along the shore. You may continue
traveling behind you or ahead to your left. In the hills to your left there's a
clay pit with a SIGN nearby.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You stop at a bend in the road. In front of you, you see a grove of trees
marked with a SIGN. The road continues ahead to your left and behind you.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're in a trailer park. Most of the trailers are rusted husks that look like
they've been here a very, very long time. There are hundreds of "beware of dog"
signs, and the ground is covered with the bones of the illiterate or foolhardy.
The only place the ground is visible is a narrow path that leads to the one
trailer that seems to be currently inhabited. It's dotted with scorch marks.

There are roads leading out of the park ahead to your left, ahead to your right
and behind you.

Two MEN wearing nothing but underwear and gasmasks are sunning themselves just
outside of the scorched trailer. They're surrounded by assorted beakers and
cooking apperatuses.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're standing at a bend in the road. The road continues behind you and ahead
to your right. In front of you is a thick forest, an area of which is marked
with a SIGN.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing in front of a SAWMILL. There are roads ahead to your right and
behind you, and a portcullis guards a road to another kingdom ahead to your
left.

There's a single burly LUMBERJACK scratching his head and looking at what looks
like a long backlog of uncut, felled TREES.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a crossroads. Roads lead away from here ahead to your right,
behind you and ahead to your left. To your right you see a pasture marked with
a SIGN.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're standing at a crossroads. To your right is a forest, and in front of you
you can see sheep grazing. Roads lead away from here ahead to your left, ahead
to your right and behind you, and there's a portcullis guarding the road ahead
to your left.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You are standing at a border checkpoint, guarded by a portcullis. The main
thoroughfare traversing Cerulia can be traveled behind you and ahead to your
left, and a road leading to Crimsilon is ahead to your right.

The GUARD paces nervously.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're at a ranger station on the edge of the desert. The ranger station itself
is a small wooden cabin, and next to it is an open garage that looks like some
sort of AUTO SHOP. To your right there's a TRAIL HEAD marked with a sign that
says "Desert trail". There's a road leading away behind you.

An AUTO MECHANIC works in front of the auto shop, oozing so much grease that he
leaves a trail wherever he goes.

You may go BACK.

> take rudder

The auto mechanic pipes up, "Sure, you can have the rudder - I don't need it."
He gives you the rudder.

> give board to mechanic

You give a surfboard to the auto mechanic.

"Hmm, nice looking board. I like the fish decal. I'll just throw it up here on
the lift. If you find anything you want to use to pimp your ride, bring it to
me."

> give rudder to mechanic

You give a rudder to the auto mechanic.

"Ah, glad you found a use for this old thing. I'll just weld it onto your
board. Welding works with all sorts of materials, you know."

He welds the rudder onto your surfboard. It's now a steerable board!

> take board

You take a steerable surfboard down from the hydraulic lift.

> use board

You take a deep breath, then push yourself over the lip of the dune. You
gradually pick up speed until you're moving fast enough to think "Boy, brakes
would have been a great idea." As you streak downwards, the giant boulders
hurtle up to meet you. You're heading straight towards one, but you jerk your
rudder left, and your craft angles right. Soon you're slaloming down the dune,
and just as you're getting really good, you reach the bottom. The force of a
strong headwind rapidly slows you down, and you glide to a halt at the bottom
of the dune.

You're at the bottom of a massive sand dune, on the edge of a vast, flat
desert. In the distance you see a flare drifting down from the sky. There's a
pile of what looks like 10 battered VEHICLES.

You may go BACK TO THE RANGER STATION.

> examine vehicles

These must be the remains of the search and rescue vehicles. There's a lot of
scrap metal that doesn't interest you much - most of it is twisted and battered
beyond repair. The only things that look salvageable are a HUBCAP and a TARP.

> take hubcap

You take a hubcap.

> take tarp

You take a tarp.

> b

You go back to the ranger station.

You're at a ranger station on the edge of the desert. The ranger station itself
is a small wooden cabin, and next to it is an open garage that looks like some
sort of AUTO SHOP. To your right there's a TRAIL HEAD marked with a sign that
says "Desert trail". There's a road leading away behind you.

An AUTO MECHANIC works in front of the auto shop, oozing so much grease that he
leaves a trail wherever he goes.

You may go BACK.

> b

You go back.

You are standing at a border checkpoint, guarded by a portcullis. The main
thoroughfare traversing Cerulia can be traveled ahead to your right and behind
you, and a road leading to Crimsilon is ahead to your left.

The GUARD paces nervously.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're standing at a crossroads, at the base of a mountain that's in front of
you. Looking to your right you see a dense forest, and to your left a desert.
Roads lead away from here behind you, ahead to your left and ahead to your
right.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a bend in the road. The road continues ahead to your left
and behind you. To your right you see a wooded area marked with a SIGN.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You are standing in the center square of a small village. There's a
blacksmith's shop here. To your left, the village ends at a sheer face of a
mountain. To your right, there's fields of wheat as far as you can see. There's
a road out of the village behind you.

The town BLACKSMITH sits nearby, hunched over his forge, working on some metal
thingy.

You may go BACK.

> give hubcap to blacksmith

You give a hubcap to the blacksmith.

"Nice chunk of metal. What shape do you want? I do triangles, squares,
starbursts, cones, cubes, and tetrahedra."

> starburst

"One starburst, coming right up."

He hammers for a few minutes in a blur of activity, and hands you a flat piece
of metal in a starburst shape, with an approximately 1 foot radius. It looks
like a child's drawing of a sawblade.

> b

You go back.

You're standing at a bend in the road. The road continues behind you and ahead
to your right. In front of you you see a wooded area marked with a SIGN.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a crossroads, at the base of a mountain that's to your
right. Looking to your left you see a dense forest, and in front of you a
desert. Roads lead away from here ahead to your left, ahead to your right and
behind you.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You are standing at a border checkpoint, guarded by a portcullis. The main
thoroughfare traversing Cerulia can be traveled ahead to your left and ahead to
your right, and a road leading to Crimsilon is behind you.

The GUARD paces nervously.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're standing at a crossroads. To your left is a forest, and to your right
you can see sheep grazing. Roads lead away from here ahead to your right,
behind you and ahead to your left, and there's a portcullis guarding the road
ahead to your right.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're standing at a crossroads. Roads lead away from here ahead to your left,
ahead to your right and behind you. In front of you you see a pasture marked
with a SIGN.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing in front of a SAWMILL. There are roads behind you and ahead to
your left, and a portcullis guards a road to another kingdom ahead to your
right.

There's a single burly LUMBERJACK scratching his head and looking at what looks
like a long backlog of uncut, felled TREES.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> give hubcap to lumberjack

You give a hubcap hammered into a starburst shape to the lumberjack.

"Looks good. Let's try it."

He installs the hubcap into the middle of the mill, flicks a switch, and it
slices through a log with a bit of resistance, because let's be honest, that's
a pretty crappy saw blade. But it does the job.

"Have this log as a gesture of my appreciation." He gives you a nice looking
log. Cedar, about 10 feet tall, 2 feet in diameter. You comically maneuver it
into your pocket. The lumberjack winks at you. You choose to ignore it.

> give tarp to lumberjack

You give a tarp to the lumberjack.

"I can cut this."

He runs the tarp through his saw, cutting off a corner. It's now a large
TRIANGLE of fabric. He gives it back to you. He also hands you a small SCRAP of
fabric, about the size of a handkerchief.

> b

You go back.

You're standing at a crossroads. Roads lead away from here ahead to your right,
behind you and ahead to your left. To your right you see a pasture marked with
a SIGN.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're standing at a crossroads. To your right is a forest, and in front of you
you can see sheep grazing. Roads lead away from here ahead to your left, ahead
to your right and behind you, and there's a portcullis guarding the road ahead
to your left.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You are standing at a border checkpoint, guarded by a portcullis. The main
thoroughfare traversing Cerulia can be traveled behind you and ahead to your
left, and a road leading to Crimsilon is ahead to your right.

The GUARD paces nervously.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're at a ranger station on the edge of the desert. The ranger station itself
is a small wooden cabin, and next to it is an open garage that looks like some
sort of AUTO SHOP. To your right there's a TRAIL HEAD marked with a sign that
says "Desert trail". There's a road leading away behind you.

An AUTO MECHANIC works in front of the auto shop, oozing so much grease that he
leaves a trail wherever he goes.

You may go BACK.

> give board to mechanic

You give a steerable surfboard to the auto mechanic.

"Need some more modifications? I'll just throw that up here on the lift. Bring
me anything else you'd like to add to it."

> give log to mechanic

You give a cedar log to the auto mechanic.

"Hmm, yeah, this'll work."

He welds it onto your surfboard. Like he said, his welding torch seems to work
on all sorts of materials. Your board now has a mast!

> give triangle to mechanic

You give a large triangle made of fabric to the auto mechanic.

Nice. He welds it onto the mast. Your board now has a sail!

> take board

You take a steerable surfboard with a sail down from the hydraulic lift.

> give scrap to mechanic

You give a small scrap of fabric to the auto mechanic.

He sops grease off himself and hands the cloth back to you. He's now squeaky
clean! And you have a grease-soaked cloth.

> use board

You push yourself over the lip of the dune, and slalom your way down - you're
getting pretty good at this! At the bottom of the dune, you meet the force of a
strong headwind. You tack into the wind, and diagonally make your way forward.
After about 100 meters, you reach a ravine, and the wind suddenly dies.

You're at the edge of a RAVINE in the desert. It looks like a daredevil
recently put on a show here; at the edge of the RAVINE there's a large RAMP,
abutting a SCHOOL BUS. There's a crashed MOTORCYCLE on top of the bus.

There's a patch of little purple FLOWERS growing in the shadow of a large
rock.

You may go BACK TO THE RANGER STATION.

> pick flowers

You pick a handful of little purple flowers.

> enter bus

You climb into the school bus.

You're sitting in the driver's seat of the school bus. There are lots of
gauges, a LEVER marked "ejector seat," and no steering wheel.

> use lever

There's a small explosion as the roof of the bus launches into the air. Then a
sproingy noise, as you follow. To your dismay, the angle of the bus was such
that you're heading right for the ravine. Your perception of time slows as you
fly to your nearly certain doom.

You're slowly tumbling through the air, coming up on the lip of the ravine.
Luckily, you notice what seems to be a giant net abutting out several feet over
the drop!

As you try to grab it, though, you realize that what you thought was a net is
actually a large spiderweb. The adrenaline pumping through your system made you
gravely misjudge its structural integrity. You do manage to grab it, but the
filaments shred in your hand, and you tumble over the edge, never to be seen
again...

But as all hope seems lost, you suddenly feel talons dig into your shoulders. A
giant bird grabs you, and gently lowers you back onto the lip of the rift, on
the same side you started out on. With flaps of mighty wings, something large
flies away and bellows "Thanks for drinking gryphon beer!"

You're at the edge of a RAVINE in the desert. It looks like a daredevil
recently put on a show here; at the edge of the RAVINE there's a large RAMP,
abutting a SCHOOL BUS which is missing its roof.

There's a crashed MOTORCYCLE ENGINE on the ground, teetering on the edge of the
ravine.

You may go BACK TO THE RANGER STATION.

> take engine

You take a mangled motorcycle engine.

> b

You go back to the ranger station.

You're at a ranger station on the edge of the desert. The ranger station itself
is a small wooden cabin, and next to it is an open garage that looks like some
sort of AUTO SHOP. To your right there's a TRAIL HEAD marked with a sign that
says "Desert trail". There's a road leading away behind you.

An AUTO MECHANIC works in front of the auto shop, oozing so much grease that he
leaves a trail wherever he goes.

You may go BACK.

> b

You go back.

You are standing at a border checkpoint, guarded by a portcullis. The main
thoroughfare traversing Cerulia can be traveled ahead to your right and behind
you, and a road leading to Crimsilon is ahead to your left.

The GUARD paces nervously.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're standing at a crossroads, at the base of a mountain that's in front of
you. Looking to your right you see a dense forest, and to your left a desert.
Roads lead away from here behind you, ahead to your left and ahead to your
right.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a bend in the road. The road continues ahead to your left
and behind you. To your right you see a wooded area marked with a SIGN.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You are standing in the center square of a small village. There's a
blacksmith's shop here. To your left, the village ends at a sheer face of a
mountain. To your right, there's fields of wheat as far as you can see. There's
a road out of the village behind you.

The town BLACKSMITH sits nearby, hunched over his forge, working on some metal
thingy.

You may go BACK.

> give engine to blacksmith

You give a mangled motorcycle engine to the blacksmith.

He whistles in appreciation. "Fine craftsmanship, this. I can hammer out the
nozzle, any shape you want, that I can do. This doesn't have fuel in it, does
it? Of course not, no one would be that stupid. What'll it be? I do triangles,
squares, starbursts, cones, cubes, and tetrahedra."

> cone

"Yeah, good choice. Maximum thrust."

He hammers for a few minutes in a blur of activity, and hands back your engine,
now with a smooth conic nozzle.

> b

You go back.

You're standing at a bend in the road. The road continues behind you and ahead
to your right. In front of you you see a wooded area marked with a SIGN.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a crossroads, at the base of a mountain that's to your
right. Looking to your left you see a dense forest, and in front of you a
desert. Roads lead away from here ahead to your left, ahead to your right and
behind you.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You are standing at a border checkpoint, guarded by a portcullis. The main
thoroughfare traversing Cerulia can be traveled ahead to your left and ahead to
your right, and a road leading to Crimsilon is behind you.

The GUARD paces nervously.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're standing at a crossroads. To your left is a forest, and to your right
you can see sheep grazing. Roads lead away from here ahead to your right,
behind you and ahead to your left, and there's a portcullis guarding the road
ahead to your right.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're standing at a crossroads. Roads lead away from here ahead to your left,
ahead to your right and behind you. In front of you you see a pasture marked
with a SIGN.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're in a clearing. There's a rectangular building with two large metal vats
sticking out of its roof. A SIGNBOARD swings over the DOOR. There's a BELL next
to the door. There are roads leading away from the clearing behind you and
ahead to your right.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> ring bell

The bell rings. After a moment you hear footsteps. A kindly OLD WOMAN opens the
door.

> give engine to woman

You give a motorcycle engine with a conical nozzle to the old woman.

"Wow. No way you're up to anything responsible with that. Here's a pint of our
finest."

She hands you a stein of extremely high proof alcohol.

> use stein with engine

You unscrew the gas cap, pour some alcohol in, and replace the cap before it
can all evaporate away. You didn't get all of it, but that should be enough.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a bend in the road. The road continues ahead to your right
and behind you. To your left, there's a huge farm growing crops, and running
along the farm is a track marked with a SIGN.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're in a trailer park. Most of the trailers are rusted husks that look like
they've been here a very, very long time. There are hundreds of "beware of dog"
signs, and the ground is covered with the bones of the illiterate or foolhardy.
The only place the ground is visible is a narrow path that leads to the one
trailer that seems to be currently inhabited. It's dotted with scorch marks.

There are roads leading out of the park ahead to your right, behind you and
ahead to your left.

Two MEN wearing nothing but underwear and gasmasks are sunning themselves just
outside of the scorched trailer. They're surrounded by assorted beakers and
cooking apperatuses.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> give engine to men

You give a motorcycle engine with a conical nozzle to the two men.

The smaller of the two men screws off the cap of the engine, pours its highly
alcoholic contents into a narrow glass beaker, and quickly stoppers it. He
hands the engine back to you.

> give flowers to men

You give a handful of little purple flowers to the two men.

The larger of the two men places the flowers in a mortar, vigorously grinds
them with a pestle, and pours the contents through a fine sieve into a vial.

> give cloth to men

You give a greasy cloth to the two men.

The larger man takes the greasy cloth and wrings it out over a large pan. It's
now a greasy pan. He keeps the cloth.

The two nearly naked men gather their glassware and cooking implements and
disappear into the trailer. It shakes back and forth, and you're almost certain
some sort of cool montage is happening inside. Variously colored puffs of smoke
periodically erupt from the windows. Finally, about 15 minutes later, the door
opens, and you see the two men, drenched in sweat, but looking pleased with
themselves. They very, very gently carry a BEAKER of green liquid.

> give engine to men

You give a motorcycle engine with a conical nozzle to the two men.

You open up the gas cap on the engine, and the smaller man pours in the green
fluid. After you close the cap he gives you a thumbs up, they highfive, and go
back into their trailer.

> b

You go back.

You're standing at a bend in the road. The road continues behind you and ahead
to your left. In front of you, there's a huge farm growing crops, and running
along the farm is a track marked with a SIGN.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're in a clearing. There's a rectangular building with two large metal vats
sticking out of its roof. A SIGNBOARD swings over the DOOR. There's a BELL next
to the door. There are roads leading away from the clearing ahead to your left
and behind you.

A kindly OLD WOMAN stands by the door.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're standing at a crossroads. Roads lead away from here behind you, ahead to
your left and ahead to your right. To your left you see a pasture marked with a
SIGN.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a crossroads. To your right is a forest, and in front of you
you can see sheep grazing. Roads lead away from here ahead to your left, ahead
to your right and behind you, and there's a portcullis guarding the road ahead
to your left.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You are standing at a border checkpoint, guarded by a portcullis. The main
thoroughfare traversing Cerulia can be traveled behind you and ahead to your
left, and a road leading to Crimsilon is ahead to your right.

The GUARD paces nervously.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're at a ranger station on the edge of the desert. The ranger station itself
is a small wooden cabin, and next to it is an open garage that looks like some
sort of AUTO SHOP. To your right there's a TRAIL HEAD marked with a sign that
says "Desert trail". There's a road leading away behind you.

An AUTO MECHANIC works in front of the auto shop, oozing so much grease that he
leaves a trail wherever he goes.

You may go BACK.

> give board to mechanic

You give a steerable surfboard with a sail to the auto mechanic.

"Need some more modifications? I'll just throw that up here on the lift. Bring
me anything else you'd like to add to it."

> give engine to mechanic

You give a motorcycle engine with a conical nozzle to the auto mechanic.

"This looks good."

He welds it onto the back of your board. Your board is now a rocket powered
surf board sailboat!

> take board

You take a steerable surfboard with a sail and a rocket engine down from the
hydraulic lift.

> use board

You push yourself over the lip of the dune, and slalom your way down - you're a
pro at this by now! At the bottom of the dune, you meet the force of a strong
headwind. You tack into the wind, and diagonally make your way forward. As you
approach the ravine, the wind starts to die down.

You fire up your surfboard about 20 feet from the base of the ramp near the
ravine, and do your best to hold the rudder on-course. You fly up the ramp, and
before you know it, you're airborne. Oh... oh wow this looks awesome. Oh holy
crap! If only you could see this... it's SO COOL.

You crash down on the other side of the ravine. The impact is graceful enough
to not kill you, but violent enough to destroy your vessel. The mast breaks
off, the sail drifts down to the bottom of the ravine, the engine detaches and
goes careening off on its own before exploding in the sky like a firework, the
rudder is pulverized, and your surfboard breaks in half and bounces. Who breaks
a surfboard??? Also, everything you were carrying except the passport and the
sticker fell out of your pocket. Bummer.

You're on top of a high plateau, surrounded by a ravine on all sides. In the
middle of a plateau is a pleasant looking pond.

An OLD MAN is sitting on top of a ROCK at the side of the pond, fishing.

> push rock

The king hops off the rock, and you put your back up against it, ready to shove
with all of your might. You give it a mighty push, and fall on your ass as it
rolls away with almost no effort. What you thought was a rock was actually a
well camouflaged bean-bag chair. It rolls into the pond and disappears
underneath the water. The king acts like nothing's out of the ordinary. Under
the "rock" was a TRAP DOOR.

> use door

The trap door opens to a long ladder. You climb down the ladder, followed by
the king, and stroll through a cool, breezy passage carved through solid rock.
At the end there's another ladder leading up, followed by a trap door, which
opens into the ranger station at the edge of the desert. The whole trip took
about a half hour.

The king climbs up after you, shakes your hand, and says "Thanks for your help,
adventurer. Allow me to mark your passport for passage to the next kingdom.
I'll also draw you an aid for keeping track of activity on this island... well,
what I can remember of it, anyway." You hand him your passport, he scribbles
something in it, then hands it back to you and wanders off.

> look

You're at a ranger station on the edge of the desert. The ranger station itself
is a small wooden cabin, and next to it is an open garage that looks like some
sort of AUTO SHOP. To your right there's a TRAIL HEAD marked with a sign that
says "Desert trail". There's a road leading away behind you.

An AUTO MECHANIC works in front of the auto shop, oozing so much grease that he
leaves a trail wherever he goes.

You may go BACK.

> b

You go back.

You are standing at a border checkpoint, guarded by a portcullis. The main
thoroughfare traversing Cerulia can be traveled ahead to your right and behind
you, and a road leading to Crimsilon is ahead to your left.

The GUARD whistles a happy tune.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a crossroads. To your left is a forest, and to your right
you can see sheep grazing. Roads lead away from here ahead to your right,
behind you and ahead to your left, and there's a portcullis guarding the road
ahead to your right.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're standing at a crossroads. Roads lead away from here ahead to your left,
ahead to your right and behind you. In front of you you see a pasture marked
with a SIGN.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're in a clearing. There's a rectangular building with two large metal vats
sticking out of its roof. A SIGNBOARD swings over the DOOR. There's a BELL next
to the door. There are roads leading away from the clearing behind you and
ahead to your right.

A kindly OLD WOMAN stands by the door.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a bend in the road. The road continues ahead to your right
and behind you. To your left, there's a huge farm growing crops, and running
along the farm is a track marked with a SIGN.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're in a trailer park. Most of the trailers are rusted husks that look like
they've been here a very, very long time. There are hundreds of "beware of dog"
signs, and the ground is covered with the bones of the illiterate or foolhardy.
The only place the ground is visible is a narrow path that leads to the one
trailer that seems to be currently inhabited. It's dotted with scorch marks.

There are roads leading out of the park ahead to your right, behind you and
ahead to your left.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You stop at a bend in the road. To your left, you see a grove of trees marked
with a SIGN. The road continues behind you and ahead to your right.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're at a bend in the road that winds along the shore. You may continue
traveling ahead to your right or behind you. In the hills to your right there's
a clay pit with a SIGN nearby.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a crossroads. There's a portcullis here; on one side a road
leads ahead to your right into the interior of Merrygold. On the other side, a
coastal road runs ahead to your left and behind you within Cerulia.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing on a cul de sac in a nice gated neighborhood. Everyone's lawns
are immaculate. Two roads lead out of the neighborhood, one ahead to your left
and one behind you.

A middle-aged bearded man wearing a crown - clearly a KING - floats on an
inflated raft in a pool in front of the fanciest house on the block.

In front of another, less lavish HOME, a TALL MAN animatedly alternates between
pacing, sighing, and checking his watch. His arms are constantly flailing, and
a trick of the light makes the pattern on his gaudy gingham shirt play tricks
on your eyes.

There's a noticeable military presence here; three soldiers march in tight
circles around the cul de sac, presumably patrolling.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> talk to tall man

"Hi, hey, hi, howya doin'? Stan's the name, real estate's the game. Shake! No?
Fist bump? No? Ok. This HOME behind me is available, for the low low price of
one parcel of land where I can build a new house and start a new condo
association. Don't care where it is, just need some property. This place is
just about tapped out; this condo is the last unit for sale, so act fast fast
fast!"

> talk to king

"Ah, you must be the traveler I've heard so much about. Listen, I'd love to
just fill in your passport and send you on your merry way, but they have rules
in Blanc, and they might declare war if I just let you in. Well, there's only
one rule, really, and it's that you need to be a property owner to go there.
Specifically, you have to own one of the condos in this neighborhood. Look, I
don't make the rules, I just... sort of float here. But I'm going to give you a
freebie, ok? Take this paper CLIP, and if you can use your wit and trading
acumen to scale the social ladder and become a member of the landed gentry,
I'll do you a good turn."

The KING hands you a paper CLIP.

> b

You go back.

You're standing at a crossroads. There's a portcullis here; on one side a road
leads behind you into the interior of Merrygold. On the other side, a coastal
road runs ahead to your right and ahead to your left within Cerulia.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're at a bend in the road that winds along the shore. You may continue
traveling behind you or ahead to your left. In the hills to your left there's a
clay pit with a SIGN nearby.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You stop at a bend in the road. In front of you, you see a grove of trees
marked with a SIGN. The road continues ahead to your left and behind you.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're in a trailer park. Most of the trailers are rusted husks that look like
they've been here a very, very long time. There are hundreds of "beware of dog"
signs, and the ground is covered with the bones of the illiterate or foolhardy.
The only place the ground is visible is a narrow path that leads to the one
trailer that seems to be currently inhabited. It's dotted with scorch marks.

There are roads leading out of the park ahead to your left, ahead to your right
and behind you.

Two MEN in their underwear and gas masks seem to be having trouble with a
number of pieces of paper covered in diagrams and schematics. You watch them
gather the pages off the ground into a stack, which moments later the wind
obliterates, sending paper flying every which way. They then start the process
over again.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> give clip to men

You give a paper clip to the two men.

They examine the paperclip, puzzled expressions apparent under their gas masks.
You pick up two pieces of paper and use the clip to hold them together. The men
make excited little noises, snatch the clip out of your hand, and start
gathering a stack together. The smaller one takes a break to press a VIAL into
your hand.

After their papers are finally gathered and securely clipped, the men retreat
back into their trailer.

> l

You go left.

You're standing at a bend in the road. The road continues behind you and ahead
to your right. In front of you is a thick forest, an area of which is marked
with a SIGN.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing in front of a SAWMILL. There are roads ahead to your right and
behind you, and a portcullis guards a road to another kingdom ahead to your
left.

The LUMBERJACK is still here, but now he's noodling away on an upright bass.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a crossroads. Roads lead away from here ahead to your right,
behind you and ahead to your left. To your right you see a pasture marked with
a SIGN.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're standing at a crossroads. To your right is a forest, and in front of you
you can see sheep grazing. Roads lead away from here ahead to your left, ahead
to your right and behind you, and there's a portcullis guarding the road ahead
to your left.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You are standing at a border checkpoint, guarded by a portcullis. The main
thoroughfare traversing Cerulia can be traveled behind you and ahead to your
left, and a road leading to Crimsilon is ahead to your right.

The GUARD whistles a happy tune.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a crossroads, at the base of a mountain that's in front of
you. Looking to your right you see a dense forest, and to your left a desert.
Roads lead away from here behind you, ahead to your left and ahead to your
right.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You've traveled until you reached a fork in the road. The roads ahead to your
right and ahead to your left seem to meander along the beach, while the road
behind you leads further inland. Looking directly to your right, it looks like
the terrain gets steeper, and there's sandy desert as far as you can see
directly to your left. The ocean is directly in front of you.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You find yourself standing on a beach. Directly to your left is a huge desert -
it's just sand as far as the eye can see. There's a road that meanders along
the edge of the beach, which you can follow behind you or ahead to your left.

An OLD WOMAN is huddled by a small fire.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You've reached a bend in the road. Ahead to your right the road climbs up
alongside a mountain range (which is directly in front of you), while behind
you the road follows alongside the beach. A seemingly endless amount of desert
can be seen directly to your left.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You are standing outside of a lone castle perched on the side of a mountain. It
has a large wooden door, stone WALLS, and a few windows on the upper stories.
There are roads leading away from the castle ahead to your left and behind
you.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> climb wall

The nails on your boots dig into the castle's stone walls, and you successfully
climb up to a window.

You're up on the window sill. The wooden WINDOW SHUTTERS are closed, and you
can't see inside.

You may go DOWN.

> open window

You open the shutters and climb inside through the window. The shutters swing
shut behind you.

You're inside of an upstairs bedroom of the castle. There's a DRESSER against
the wall.

Standing on the other side of the room is a beautiful PRINCESS. She's wearing a
lab coat and goggles, and has beakers of bubbly liquids all over the place.

You may go OUT THE WINDOW.

> give clap to princess

You give a small vial to the beautiful princess.

She pops the vial under a microscope and noodles around with it for a few
minutes before nodding. Emma walks back over to you, and slaps you hard across
the face. You fall back out of the window, but land uninjured in a convenient
bale of hay.

Emma sticks her head out of her window and shouts down to you, "That one's for
melting my furniture! Don't come back here. Oh, and thanks for the Clap!" She
slams her window. Some farmers who happen to be passing by at just that minute
look at you and slowly shake their heads.

You'll remember that SLAP for a good long while. In fact, you now have a great
SLAP technique you can use anytime.

As you recover from the SLAP, you re-orient yourself.

You are standing outside of a lone castle perched on the side of a mountain. It
has a large wooden door, stone WALLS, and a few windows on the upper stories.
There are roads leading away from the castle ahead to your left and behind
you.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> b

You go back.

You've reached a bend in the road. Behind you the road climbs up alongside a
mountain range (which is directly to your right), while ahead to your left the
road follows alongside the beach. A seemingly endless amount of desert can be
seen directly in front of you.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You find yourself standing on a beach. Directly to your right is a huge desert
- it's just sand as far as the eye can see. There's a road that meanders along
the edge of the beach, which you can follow ahead to your right or behind you.

An OLD WOMAN is huddled by a small fire.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You've traveled until you reached a fork in the road. The roads ahead to your
left and behind you seem to meander along the beach, while the road ahead to
your right leads further inland. Looking directly in front of you, it looks
like the terrain gets steeper, and there's sandy desert as far as you can see
directly to your right. The ocean is directly to your left.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're at a bend in the sandy beach road. A mountain range rises up directly to
your right. You can take the road behind you or ahead to your right.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> b

You go back.

You've traveled until you reached a fork in the road. The roads behind you and
ahead to your right seem to meander along the beach, while the road ahead to
your left leads further inland. Looking directly to your left, it looks like
the terrain gets steeper, and there's sandy desert as far as you can see
directly in front of you. The ocean is directly to your right.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're standing at a crossroads, at the base of a mountain that's to your left.
Looking in front of you you see a dense forest, and to your right a desert.
Roads lead away from here ahead to your right, behind you and ahead to your
left.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You are standing at a border checkpoint, guarded by a portcullis. The main
thoroughfare traversing Cerulia can be traveled ahead to your left and ahead to
your right, and a road leading to Crimsilon is behind you.

The GUARD whistles a happy tune.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're standing at a crossroads. To your left is a forest, and to your right
you can see sheep grazing. Roads lead away from here ahead to your right,
behind you and ahead to your left, and there's a portcullis guarding the road
ahead to your right.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're standing at a crossroads. Roads lead away from here ahead to your left,
ahead to your right and behind you. In front of you you see a pasture marked
with a SIGN.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing in front of a SAWMILL. There are roads behind you and ahead to
your left, and a portcullis guards a road to another kingdom ahead to your
right.

The LUMBERJACK is still here, but now he's noodling away on an upright bass.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> give slap to lumberjack

You give a slap technique to the lumberjack.

You slap that bass. He slaps that bass. He gets into a deep groove and nods
towards a SLAT of wood leaning against a log. It's about as nice as sticks of
wood go. You take it.

> b

You go back.

You're standing at a crossroads. Roads lead away from here ahead to your right,
behind you and ahead to your left. To your right you see a pasture marked with
a SIGN.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're standing at a crossroads. To your right is a forest, and in front of you
you can see sheep grazing. Roads lead away from here ahead to your left, ahead
to your right and behind you, and there's a portcullis guarding the road ahead
to your left.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You are standing at a border checkpoint, guarded by a portcullis. The main
thoroughfare traversing Cerulia can be traveled behind you and ahead to your
left, and a road leading to Crimsilon is ahead to your right.

The GUARD whistles a happy tune.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're at a ranger station on the edge of the desert. The ranger station itself
is a small wooden cabin, and next to it is an open garage that looks like some
sort of AUTO SHOP. To your right there's a TRAIL HEAD marked with a sign that
says "Desert trail". There's a road leading away behind you.

An AUTO MECHANIC works in front of the auto shop, oozing so much grease that he
leaves a trail wherever he goes.

You may go BACK.

> give slat to mechanic

You give a wooden slat to the auto mechanic.

"Is this cherry wood or something? I like it. You can grab the SEAT on your way
out. And don't come back anymore unless you want me to do some work on
something cool, like a tank or a motorbike or something."

You take the SEAT.

> b

You go back.

You are standing at a border checkpoint, guarded by a portcullis. The main
thoroughfare traversing Cerulia can be traveled ahead to your right and behind
you, and a road leading to Crimsilon is ahead to your left.

The GUARD whistles a happy tune.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a crossroads. To your left is a forest, and to your right
you can see sheep grazing. Roads lead away from here ahead to your right,
behind you and ahead to your left, and there's a portcullis guarding the road
ahead to your right.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're standing at a crossroads. Roads lead away from here ahead to your left,
ahead to your right and behind you. In front of you you see a pasture marked
with a SIGN.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing in front of a SAWMILL. There are roads behind you and ahead to
your left, and a portcullis guards a road to another kingdom ahead to your
right.

The LUMBERJACK is still here, but now he's noodling away on an upright bass.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're standing at a bend in the road. The road continues ahead to your left
and behind you. To your right is a thick forest, an area of which is marked
with a SIGN.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're in a trailer park. Most of the trailers are rusted husks that look like
they've been here a very, very long time. There are hundreds of "beware of dog"
signs, and the ground is covered with the bones of the illiterate or foolhardy.
The only place the ground is visible is a narrow path that leads to the one
trailer that seems to be currently inhabited. It's dotted with scorch marks.

There are roads leading out of the park behind you, ahead to your left and
ahead to your right.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You stop at a bend in the road. To your left, you see a grove of trees marked
with a SIGN. The road continues behind you and ahead to your right.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're at a bend in the road that winds along the shore. You may continue
traveling ahead to your right or behind you. In the hills to your right there's
a clay pit with a SIGN nearby.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a crossroads. There's a portcullis here; on one side a road
leads ahead to your right into the interior of Merrygold. On the other side, a
coastal road runs ahead to your left and behind you within Cerulia.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing on a cul de sac in a nice gated neighborhood. Everyone's lawns
are immaculate. Two roads lead out of the neighborhood, one ahead to your left
and one behind you.

A middle-aged bearded man wearing a crown - clearly a KING - floats on an
inflated raft in a pool in front of the fanciest house on the block.

In front of another, less lavish HOME, a TALL MAN animatedly alternates between
pacing, sighing, and checking his watch. His arms are constantly flailing, and
a trick of the light makes the pattern on his gaudy gingham shirt play tricks
on your eyes.

There's a noticeable military presence here; three soldiers march in tight
circles around the cul de sac, presumably patrolling.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're standing at a bend in the road. The road continues behind you and ahead
to your right. In front of you you see a SIGN by some hills.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing in front of a lone butcher shop on the side of the road. The
road continues ahead to your left and behind you.

A BUTCHER in a bloody apron sits on a creaky rocking chair.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> give seat to butcher

You give a car seat to the butcher in the bloody apron.

"Let me try this bad boy out. Oh yeah. That's the stuff. Have some MEAT. I
don't remember what this one was from, but it's probably good. Ok, bye."

> b

You go back.

You're standing at a bend in the road. The road continues ahead to your left
and behind you. To your right you see a SIGN by some hills.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're standing on a cul de sac in a nice gated neighborhood. Everyone's lawns
are immaculate. Two roads lead out of the neighborhood, one behind you and one
ahead to your right.

A middle-aged bearded man wearing a crown - clearly a KING - floats on an
inflated raft in a pool in front of the fanciest house on the block.

In front of another, less lavish HOME, a TALL MAN animatedly alternates between
pacing, sighing, and checking his watch. His arms are constantly flailing, and
a trick of the light makes the pattern on his gaudy gingham shirt play tricks
on your eyes.

There's a noticeable military presence here; three soldiers march in tight
circles around the cul de sac, presumably patrolling.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a crossroads. There's a portcullis here; on one side a road
leads behind you into the interior of Merrygold. On the other side, a coastal
road runs ahead to your right and ahead to your left within Cerulia.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're at a bend in the road that winds along the shore. You may continue
traveling behind you or ahead to your left. In the hills to your left there's a
clay pit with a SIGN nearby.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You stop at a bend in the road. In front of you, you see a grove of trees
marked with a SIGN. The road continues ahead to your left and behind you.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're in a trailer park. Most of the trailers are rusted husks that look like
they've been here a very, very long time. There are hundreds of "beware of dog"
signs, and the ground is covered with the bones of the illiterate or foolhardy.
The only place the ground is visible is a narrow path that leads to the one
trailer that seems to be currently inhabited. It's dotted with scorch marks.

There are roads leading out of the park ahead to your left, ahead to your right
and behind you.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a bend in the road. The road continues behind you and ahead
to your left. In front of you, there's a huge farm growing crops, and running
along the farm is a track marked with a SIGN.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're in a clearing. There's a rectangular building with two large metal vats
sticking out of its roof. A SIGNBOARD swings over the DOOR. There's a BELL next
to the door. There are roads leading away from the clearing ahead to your left
and behind you.

A kindly OLD WOMAN stands by the door.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> give meat to woman

You give a slab of meat to the old woman.

"Meat! Here, have a drink."

She slams a tankard of MEAD into your chest, then runs inside, holding her
steak high over her head.

> l

You go left.

You're standing at a crossroads. Roads lead away from here behind you, ahead to
your left and ahead to your right. To your left you see a pasture marked with a
SIGN.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a crossroads. To your right is a forest, and in front of you
you can see sheep grazing. Roads lead away from here ahead to your left, ahead
to your right and behind you, and there's a portcullis guarding the road ahead
to your left.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You are standing at a border checkpoint, guarded by a portcullis. The main
thoroughfare traversing Cerulia can be traveled behind you and ahead to your
left, and a road leading to Crimsilon is ahead to your right.

The GUARD whistles a happy tune.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a crossroads, at the base of a mountain that's in front of
you. Looking to your right you see a dense forest, and to your left a desert.
Roads lead away from here behind you, ahead to your left and ahead to your
right.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a bend in the road. The road continues ahead to your left
and behind you. To your right you see a wooded area marked with a SIGN.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You are standing in the center square of a small village. There's a
blacksmith's shop here. To your left, the village ends at a sheer face of a
mountain. To your right, there's fields of wheat as far as you can see. There's
a road out of the village behind you.

The town BLACKSMITH sits nearby, hunched over his forge, working on some metal
thingy.

You may go BACK.

> give mead to blacksmith

You give a tankard of mead to the blacksmith.

He downs it in one long go.

"Ahhhh, that's the stuff. Here are some 15 foot rods of my special iron-carbon
MELD. Any ideas what to call it? Nevermind, I'll think of something."

> b

You go back.

You're standing at a bend in the road. The road continues behind you and ahead
to your right. In front of you you see a wooded area marked with a SIGN.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a crossroads, at the base of a mountain that's to your
right. Looking to your left you see a dense forest, and in front of you a
desert. Roads lead away from here ahead to your left, ahead to your right and
behind you.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You are standing at a border checkpoint, guarded by a portcullis. The main
thoroughfare traversing Cerulia can be traveled ahead to your left and ahead to
your right, and a road leading to Crimsilon is behind you.

The GUARD whistles a happy tune.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're standing at a crossroads. To your left is a forest, and to your right
you can see sheep grazing. Roads lead away from here ahead to your right,
behind you and ahead to your left, and there's a portcullis guarding the road
ahead to your right.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're standing at a crossroads. Roads lead away from here ahead to your left,
ahead to your right and behind you. In front of you you see a pasture marked
with a SIGN.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're in a clearing. There's a rectangular building with two large metal vats
sticking out of its roof. A SIGNBOARD swings over the DOOR. There's a BELL next
to the door. There are roads leading away from the clearing behind you and
ahead to your right.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a bend in the road. The road continues ahead to your right
and behind you. To your left, there's a huge farm growing crops, and running
along the farm is a track marked with a SIGN.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're in a trailer park. Most of the trailers are rusted husks that look like
they've been here a very, very long time. There are hundreds of "beware of dog"
signs, and the ground is covered with the bones of the illiterate or foolhardy.
The only place the ground is visible is a narrow path that leads to the one
trailer that seems to be currently inhabited. It's dotted with scorch marks.

There are roads leading out of the park ahead to your right, behind you and
ahead to your left.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You stop at a bend in the road. To your left, you see a grove of trees marked
with a SIGN. The road continues behind you and ahead to your right.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're at a bend in the road that winds along the shore. You may continue
traveling ahead to your right or behind you. In the hills to your right there's
a clay pit with a SIGN nearby.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a crossroads. There's a portcullis here; on one side a road
leads ahead to your right into the interior of Merrygold. On the other side, a
coastal road runs ahead to your left and behind you within Cerulia.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing on a cul de sac in a nice gated neighborhood. Everyone's lawns
are immaculate. Two roads lead out of the neighborhood, one ahead to your left
and one behind you.

A middle-aged bearded man wearing a crown - clearly a KING - floats on an
inflated raft in a pool in front of the fanciest house on the block.

In front of another, less lavish HOME, a TALL MAN animatedly alternates between
pacing, sighing, and checking his watch. His arms are constantly flailing, and
a trick of the light makes the pattern on his gaudy gingham shirt play tricks
on your eyes.

There's a noticeable military presence here; three soldiers march in tight
circles around the cul de sac, presumably patrolling.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're standing at a bend in the road. The road continues behind you and ahead
to your right. In front of you you see a SIGN by some hills.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing in front of a lone butcher shop on the side of the road. The
road continues ahead to your left and behind you.

A BUTCHER in a bloody apron sits on a creaky rocking chair.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're at a crossroads. There are roads leading away from here behind you,
ahead to your left, and ahead to your right. To your right, there's evidence of
a crude mining operation where someone's been chipping away at the side of a
mountain. There's an advisory SIGN posted.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a crossroads. Roads lead away from here ahead to your left,
ahead to your right and behind you. To your left you see a pasture marked with
a SIGN.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

There's only a single shop here, and boy does it stink. That could have
something to do with the biggest wheel of cheese you've ever seen, resting
against the frame of the building. It's secured in place by multiple ropes
connected to stakes that have been hammered into the ground and nearby trees.
The cheese itself is about twice as tall as the house.

There's a road leading away from the shop behind you, and a portcullis guarding
a road to another kingdom ahead to your right.

A CHEESEMONGER is pummeling the cheese with his fists.

A soldier stands at attention, eyeing the cheese with suspicion.

You may go BACK.

> give meld to cheesemonger

You give some rods of a metal meld to the cheesemonger.

"What is this? Seems pretty solid. Worth a try. Goddamn cheese. It'll take some
time to get the equipment in place to hoist the goddamn cheese up and test this
out. If it works I'll give you as much cheese as you want. In the meantime,
have a sample."

He scrapes some MOLD off the giant goddamn cheese with a tiny knife and hands
it to you.

> b

You go back.

You're standing at a crossroads. Roads lead away from here ahead to your right,
behind you and ahead to your left. In front of you you see a pasture marked
with a SIGN.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're at a crossroads. There are roads leading away from here ahead to your
left, ahead to your right, and behind you. To your left, there's evidence of a
crude mining operation where someone's been chipping away at the side of a
mountain. There's an advisory SIGN posted.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're outside a massive pet store. You can see through the window all manner
of creatures moving about. Cats, dogs, elephants, giraffes, unicorns...
Narwhals???... It's quite a menagerie.

There's a road leading away from the pet store behind you.

A WOMAN stands outside hammering some weatherproof panels onto the walls.

Two soldiers stand guard outside the front door.

You may go BACK.

> give mold to woman

You give some mold to the woman.

"Is that a Penicillium? I've been looking for one of these for years. Hold on
for one second and I'll see what I can give you for it."

She disappears into the petshop. There are lots of animal noises. She finally
emerges carrying a tiny adorable furry creature in a baby bjorn.

"I found a baby MOLE, probably a week old. Here you go. Thanks again for the
fungus."

> b

You go back.

You're at a crossroads. There are roads leading away from here ahead to your
right, behind you, and ahead to your left. In front of you, there's evidence of
a crude mining operation where someone's been chipping away at the side of a
mountain. There's an advisory SIGN posted.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing in front of a lone butcher shop on the side of the road. The
road continues behind you and ahead to your right.

A BUTCHER in a bloody apron sits on a creaky rocking chair.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a bend in the road. The road continues ahead to your left
and behind you. To your right you see a SIGN by some hills.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're standing on a cul de sac in a nice gated neighborhood. Everyone's lawns
are immaculate. Two roads lead out of the neighborhood, one behind you and one
ahead to your right.

A middle-aged bearded man wearing a crown - clearly a KING - floats on an
inflated raft in a pool in front of the fanciest house on the block.

In front of another, less lavish HOME, a TALL MAN animatedly alternates between
pacing, sighing, and checking his watch. His arms are constantly flailing, and
a trick of the light makes the pattern on his gaudy gingham shirt play tricks
on your eyes.

There's a noticeable military presence here; three soldiers march in tight
circles around the cul de sac, presumably patrolling.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a crossroads. There's a portcullis here; on one side a road
leads behind you into the interior of Merrygold. On the other side, a coastal
road runs ahead to your right and ahead to your left within Cerulia.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're at a bend in the road that winds along the shore. You may continue
traveling behind you or ahead to your left. In the hills to your left there's a
clay pit with a SIGN nearby.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You stop at a bend in the road. In front of you, you see a grove of trees
marked with a SIGN. The road continues ahead to your left and behind you.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're in a trailer park. Most of the trailers are rusted husks that look like
they've been here a very, very long time. There are hundreds of "beware of dog"
signs, and the ground is covered with the bones of the illiterate or foolhardy.
The only place the ground is visible is a narrow path that leads to the one
trailer that seems to be currently inhabited. It's dotted with scorch marks.

There are roads leading out of the park ahead to your left, ahead to your right
and behind you.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a bend in the road. The road continues behind you and ahead
to your left. In front of you, there's a huge farm growing crops, and running
along the farm is a track marked with a SIGN.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're in a clearing. There's a rectangular building with two large metal vats
sticking out of its roof. A SIGNBOARD swings over the DOOR. There's a BELL next
to the door. There are roads leading away from the clearing ahead to your left
and behind you.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're standing at a crossroads. Roads lead away from here behind you, ahead to
your left and ahead to your right. To your left you see a pasture marked with a
SIGN.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a crossroads. To your right is a forest, and in front of you
you can see sheep grazing. Roads lead away from here ahead to your left, ahead
to your right and behind you, and there's a portcullis guarding the road ahead
to your left.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You are standing at a border checkpoint, guarded by a portcullis. The main
thoroughfare traversing Cerulia can be traveled behind you and ahead to your
left, and a road leading to Crimsilon is ahead to your right.

The GUARD whistles a happy tune.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a crossroads, at the base of a mountain that's in front of
you. Looking to your right you see a dense forest, and to your left a desert.
Roads lead away from here behind you, ahead to your left and ahead to your
right.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You've traveled until you reached a fork in the road. The roads ahead to your
right and ahead to your left seem to meander along the beach, while the road
behind you leads further inland. Looking directly to your right, it looks like
the terrain gets steeper, and there's sandy desert as far as you can see
directly to your left. The ocean is directly in front of you.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You find yourself standing on a beach. Directly to your left is a huge desert -
it's just sand as far as the eye can see. There's a road that meanders along
the edge of the beach, which you can follow behind you or ahead to your left.

An OLD WOMAN is huddled by a small fire.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You've reached a bend in the road. Ahead to your right the road climbs up
alongside a mountain range (which is directly in front of you), while behind
you the road follows alongside the beach. A seemingly endless amount of desert
can be seen directly to your left.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You are standing outside of a lone castle perched on the side of a mountain. It
has a large wooden door, stone WALLS, and a few windows on the upper stories.
There are roads leading away from the castle ahead to your left and behind
you.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You've reached a lookout point along a windy mountain road. There's a great
view of the ocean up here. Someone's posted a SIGN by the lookout point. The
mountain road continues behind you and ahead to your left.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're at a bend in the road. The road rises further up into the mountains
behind you, or descends along some gentle rolling hills ahead to your right.
The ocean is directly to your right.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're walking between some hills directly to your left and the ocean directly
in front of you and to your right. There's a SIGN marking this area of hilly
terrain.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're at a dairy farm adjacent to a sizable POND. The farm has several
structures: a house, stables, and a silo. In front of you, some sheep are
grazing in the farm's pastures. Directly to your left the terrain becomes a bit
more hilly. The road away from the farm is behind you, and there's a road ahead
to your left to the next kingdom guarded by a portcullis.

A FARMER tends to a small group of sheep.

You may go BACK.

> give mole to farmer

You give a baby mole to the farmer.

"What's this? Oh. He one of them... cats? No? Oh, these are the guys who burrow
underground. Oh yeah. This'll do. Feisty little guy. Here's your hole."

He hands you a property deed to the HOLE.

> b

You go back.

You're walking between some hills directly to your right and the ocean directly
to your left and in front of you. There's a SIGN marking this area of hilly
terrain.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're at a bend in the road. The road rises further up into the mountains
ahead to your left, or descends along some gentle rolling hills behind you. The
ocean is directly to your left.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You've reached a lookout point along a windy mountain road. There's a great
view of the ocean up here. Someone's posted a SIGN by the lookout point. The
mountain road continues ahead to your right and behind you.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You are standing outside of a lone castle perched on the side of a mountain. It
has a large wooden door, stone WALLS, and a few windows on the upper stories.
There are roads leading away from the castle behind you and ahead to your
right.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You've reached a bend in the road. Behind you the road climbs up alongside a
mountain range (which is directly to your right), while ahead to your left the
road follows alongside the beach. A seemingly endless amount of desert can be
seen directly in front of you.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You find yourself standing on a beach. Directly to your right is a huge desert
- it's just sand as far as the eye can see. There's a road that meanders along
the edge of the beach, which you can follow ahead to your right or behind you.

An OLD WOMAN is huddled by a small fire.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You've traveled until you reached a fork in the road. The roads ahead to your
left and behind you seem to meander along the beach, while the road ahead to
your right leads further inland. Looking directly in front of you, it looks
like the terrain gets steeper, and there's sandy desert as far as you can see
directly to your right. The ocean is directly to your left.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a crossroads, at the base of a mountain that's to your left.
Looking in front of you you see a dense forest, and to your right a desert.
Roads lead away from here ahead to your right, behind you and ahead to your
left.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You are standing at a border checkpoint, guarded by a portcullis. The main
thoroughfare traversing Cerulia can be traveled ahead to your left and ahead to
your right, and a road leading to Crimsilon is behind you.

The GUARD whistles a happy tune.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're standing at a crossroads. To your left is a forest, and to your right
you can see sheep grazing. Roads lead away from here ahead to your right,
behind you and ahead to your left, and there's a portcullis guarding the road
ahead to your right.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're standing at a crossroads. Roads lead away from here ahead to your left,
ahead to your right and behind you. In front of you you see a pasture marked
with a SIGN.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're in a clearing. There's a rectangular building with two large metal vats
sticking out of its roof. A SIGNBOARD swings over the DOOR. There's a BELL next
to the door. There are roads leading away from the clearing behind you and
ahead to your right.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a bend in the road. The road continues ahead to your right
and behind you. To your left, there's a huge farm growing crops, and running
along the farm is a track marked with a SIGN.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're in a trailer park. Most of the trailers are rusted husks that look like
they've been here a very, very long time. There are hundreds of "beware of dog"
signs, and the ground is covered with the bones of the illiterate or foolhardy.
The only place the ground is visible is a narrow path that leads to the one
trailer that seems to be currently inhabited. It's dotted with scorch marks.

There are roads leading out of the park ahead to your right, behind you and
ahead to your left.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You stop at a bend in the road. To your left, you see a grove of trees marked
with a SIGN. The road continues behind you and ahead to your right.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're at a bend in the road that winds along the shore. You may continue
traveling ahead to your right or behind you. In the hills to your right there's
a clay pit with a SIGN nearby.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a crossroads. There's a portcullis here; on one side a road
leads ahead to your right into the interior of Merrygold. On the other side, a
coastal road runs ahead to your left and behind you within Cerulia.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing on a cul de sac in a nice gated neighborhood. Everyone's lawns
are immaculate. Two roads lead out of the neighborhood, one ahead to your left
and one behind you.

A middle-aged bearded man wearing a crown - clearly a KING - floats on an
inflated raft in a pool in front of the fanciest house on the block.

In front of another, less lavish HOME, a TALL MAN animatedly alternates between
pacing, sighing, and checking his watch. His arms are constantly flailing, and
a trick of the light makes the pattern on his gaudy gingham shirt play tricks
on your eyes.

There's a noticeable military presence here; three soldiers march in tight
circles around the cul de sac, presumably patrolling.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> give hole to man

You give a property deed for a hole to the tall man.

"Lemme see. Mmmhmm. Mmmhmm. Ah, yes! This is perfect. Can I hug you? I'm going
to hug you. No? High five? No? Ok. Well, this is exactly what I needed. I'm off
to flip this sucker into some prime real estate. The HOME behind me is all
yours. Take this KEY. Ok, bye. I love you. Bye."

> give key to king

You give a house key to the king.

"Hey neighbor! Welcome to the community. I have to say I'm impressed. I never
thought you'd actually be able to turn that paperclip into a home. I just
couldn't be bothered to go find a trash can. A promise is a promise; let me see
your passport."

You hand him your passport, and he studies the back of it intently.

"Who drew this grid? It could be useful for keeping track of activity on this
island, but someone left out the heading. I'll fix it for you."

He scribbles some markings on your passport, and hands it back to you.

> l

You go left.

You're standing at a bend in the road. The road continues behind you and ahead
to your right. In front of you you see a SIGN by some hills.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing in front of a lone butcher shop on the side of the road. The
road continues ahead to your left and behind you.

A BUTCHER in a bloody apron sits on a creaky rocking chair.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're at a crossroads. There are roads leading away from here behind you,
ahead to your left, and ahead to your right. To your right, there's evidence of
a crude mining operation where someone's been chipping away at the side of a
mountain. There's an advisory SIGN posted.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at a crossroads. Roads lead away from here ahead to your left,
ahead to your right and behind you. To your left you see a pasture marked with
a SIGN.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

There's only a single shop here, and boy does it stink. That could have
something to do with the biggest wheel of cheese you've ever seen, resting
against the frame of the building. It's secured in place by multiple ropes
connected to stakes that have been hammered into the ground and nearby trees.
The cheese itself is about twice as tall as the house.

There's a road leading away from the shop behind you, and a portcullis guarding
a road to another kingdom ahead to your right.

A CHEESEMONGER is pummeling the cheese with his fists.

A soldier stands at attention, eyeing the cheese with suspicion.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

The road splits here. In front of you, you see a field of crops, marked with a
SIGN. There are roads behind you, ahead to your left and ahead to your right.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're at a crossroads - there are roads leading away from here ahead to your
right, behind you and ahead to your left. In front of you, you see some
livestock grazing next to a SIGN. To your right, you see a field of crops. To
your left, you see a dense forest.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're standing at the base of a single, tall tower. There are roads leading
away from the tower ahead to your left and behind you.

At the base of the tower, the QUEEN of this kingdom sits deep in thought.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> show passport to queen

You show a passport to the queen.

"Yes, this is very good. I will fill in my part now, but you are not done
here."

She makes some marks in your PASSPORT and hands it back to you.

"Do you know why I sit here? I have become disillusioned with reality. One of
my wisest advisors tells me that God does not play dice with the universe and
yet... Are you familiar with the theory that all that we know of as existence
is a simulation, being run within another universe, being run within another
universe, and so on?

Look around you. Does this place seem... right to you? Also, do you get the
impression that you're the only person who ever goes anywhere here? It's weird,
right?

I have my suspicions about reality, and I want you to confirm them. The
answer's in your PASSPORT. I've filled in a series of numbers that came to me
in a dream. Go see my advisors, and listen to what they have to say. They're in
a garden nearby. The guard will let you in if you show him this."

She hands you an AMULET.

"I have one final gift for you. If you have friends who wish to travel freely
throughout this land, but don't want to go through all of the trouble of
solving other people's problems, tell them to speak the phrase I AM A WATER
MELLON. I promise you, this is in no way related to the answer you seek.

Now, go, and come back and tell me when you have the answer. And remember - the
best way to understand the world is from a high vantage point."

> l

You go left.

You're standing at a crossroads. Roads lead away from here behind you, ahead to
your left and ahead to your right. To your left you see a dense forest marked
with a SIGN.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're standing at a bend in the road. The road continues ahead to your right
and behind you. To your right you see a bucolic scene: some livestock grazing
in a grassy field, and a SIGN with a delightful message.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing in a walled Victorian garden. In front of you a gazebo sits on
a ledge perched about 20 feet above the ocean. There are roads leading away
from the garden behind you and ahead to your left.

There are three women in long robes working in the garden.

The FLOWER SAGE is planting flowers in the garden.

The WEED SAGE is pulling up weeds.

The HEDGE SAGE is clipping a tall row of hedges.

A single GUARD with a halberd eyes you suspiciously.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> talk to flower sage

"Hi! You seem nice.

You may have noticed that this is a bountiful, fertile land. Pretty much every
acre of land - except in the desert - is devoted to producing something - and
that's what the letters on your passport refer to. I'll leave it to you to
figure out what's what. As for the question of what's when - not to be
auspicious or anything, but try consulting the signs.

Since you've been here, the rulers haven't really been in touch with each
other. That means that trade has been nonexistent. Furthermore, under normal
circumstances, sometimes a ruler would get a double yield from their land.
That's not happening these days. Some sort of union thing, I don't know. Don't
worry about it. It doesn't matter. Point is: no double yield."

> talk to weed sage

"No, not that kind of weed. It's ok, I get that all the time. I'm called that
because my expertise is pretty in the weeds. And I like weeding. Say, could you
hand me that pot? The ceramic thing. Ugh, nevermind.

Ok, first of all, you probably know this by now, but each month follows the
same cycle of stars that appear in the sky during the day. Some astronomers
think we're in a weird three body system, or twelve body system. I think
they're full of crap - there's almost no way that would be physically stable,
let alone cyclical in nature. Whatever. But all of those long lists of numbers
in your passport - they have to do with days of the month. Doesn't matter what
month it is, they're all effectively the same. Each listed day is in the column
of a specific kingdom, and you'll want to mark what that kingdom produced on
that day. The other sages can help you figure out which kingdom's which and
what they’re producing.

Oh, also, you got any marijuana? Medicinal, of course. Glaucoma blows, man."

> talk to hedge sage

"So you're the queen's champion. Here's what I have to tell you.

There are four kingdoms in this land, as you well know. Each has achieved a
different degree of prosperity based on a peculiar wealth index that was
invented on this island. The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in your passport refer to
these wealth index scores - where 1st refers to the richest ruler. I can't tell
you everything about how that score is calculated, but I do know that only
locations with buildings count towards it - and for our purposes, the
portcullises that separate kingdoms don't count as buildings. Locations with
multiple buildings are worth exactly double those with only one. So, for
example, this garden is worth just one point, thanks to our gazebo.

Finally, no one's wealth index score has changed for the entire duration you've
been on the island. Things have been pretty stagnant."

> b

You go back.

You're standing at a bend in the road. The road continues behind you and ahead
to your left. To your left you see a bucolic scene: some livestock grazing in a
grassy field, and a SIGN with a delightful message.

You may go LEFT or BACK.

> l

You go left.

You're standing at a crossroads. Roads lead away from here ahead to your right,
behind you and ahead to your left. To your right you see a dense forest marked
with a SIGN.

You may go LEFT, RIGHT or BACK.

> r

You go right.

You're standing at the base of a single, tall tower. There are roads leading
away from the tower behind you and ahead to your right.

At the base of the tower, the QUEEN of this kingdom sits deep in thought.

You may go RIGHT or BACK.

> nil sine numine

Your words echo out and the ground begins shaking. The queen tells you that
when everything is over you should call that in - whatever that means. She
takes you by the hand and together you climb the tower. From this vantage you
can see the sea in turmoil and great rifts appearing across the land. Buildings
in the distance collapse one after another. Emma's castle crumbles. Elsewhere
the giant wheel of cheese crashes down and crushes the shop. The roads you have
travelled are disappearing as water rushes in on all sides and divides the land
into many separate islands. These slowly sink beneath the waves, and soon only
the tops of mountains are visible, then they too disappear. Now there is only
the tower you're standing on, just a few feet above the roiling water.

But... off in the distance you spy a familiar shape, struggling to stay above
the waves. It's Rhonda's ark! She anchors next to you, and Rhonda, Desmond, and
Emma appear at the rail. Emma calls down, "Hey, need a lift? We have room for
one more. We're going to find a new home and repopulate the earth." You glance
back to offer the spot to the Queen of Blanc, but she's vanished, perhaps swept
over by a wave. A rope lands at your feet, and you cling to it, as the crown of
the tower sinks beneath the waves.

You climb up the hull and collapse on the deck. When you muster up the strength
to rise, you notice a change in the air. Light seems to be slowly leaching out
of the world. For the first time you can remember, there are no stars visible
in the sky. The last of the light forms a thin line on the horizon, then winks
out altogether.

You huddle with the other survivors, waiting for the sun to rise and a new
world to begin.