Citizen of Nowhere — 18 of 40

Section 19 - Desolate Beach

The Desolate Beach is a room.

Description of the desolate beach is "You are on long, bleak, sandy beach on the shore of the Sea of Emptiness. There is a brisk and bracing (i.e. bloody freezing) sea-breeze.

Dylan bounds around in circles in the sand wagging his tail."

North of Coley's Mill is the Desolate Beach.

Inside the Desolate Beach is The Sea of Emptiness.

The indefinite article of the sea of emptiness is "The".

Description of the Sea is "The sea stretches as far as the horizon. A powerful surf is roaring and rolling before pounding into the shore, then receding for a few seconds and crashing in again.[paragraph break]The sea looks a weird shade of orange today, perhaps it's a trick of the light, or is it just a fanta sea?".

The sea of emptiness is fixed in place.

sand is an object inside the desolate beach.

Description of sand is "Fine yellow sand covers the beach. If you get peckish you can always eat the sand which is here."

Instead of taking sand:

Say "You grab a handful of sand, the fine grains slide through your fingers back on to the beach."

Swimming is an action applying to nothing.

Understand "swim", "swim in sea", and "swim in the sea" as swimming.

Instead of swimming [anywhere]:

Say "There is nothing to swim in here!"

instead of swimming when location is desolate beach:

Say "You dip an experimental toe into the water. It is so cold that it numbs it in seconds. You decide against a suicidal swim."

Inside the desolate beach is a sign.

Description of sign is "The sign reads: [bold type][paragraph break]Daily Sandcastle Building Competition![paragraph break]Judging Will Take Place At 4pm[paragraph break]Please Be Next To Your Creation At That Time.[paragraph break]Amazing Prizes To Be Won! [italic type][paragraph break] A promotion by the North Nowhere Tourist Board.[roman type][paragraph break] You look up and down the deserted and freezing cold beach. The North Lost Tourist Board really have their work cut out here."

Instead of reading sign:

Say "The sign reads: [bold type][paragraph break]Daily Sandcastle Building Competition![paragraph break]Judging Will Take Place At 4pm[paragraph break]Please Be Next To Your Creation At That Time.[paragraph break]Amazing Prizes To Be Won! [italic type][paragraph break] A promotion by the North Nowhere Tourist Board.[roman type][paragraph break] You look up and down the deserted and freezing cold beach. The North Lost Tourist Board really have their work cut out here."

sign is fixed in place.

Building is an action applying to one visible thing.

Understand "build [something]" and "make [something]" as building.

Instead of building [something]:

Say "You can't build that."

teaing is an action applying to nothing.

Understand "make tea", "make a cup of tea", "make a mug of tea" as teaing.

Instead of teaing:

If location is your log cabin:

Say "You have run out of teabags!";

Otherwise:

Say "There are no tea making facilities here. Nice idea though..hmmm...a lovely cup of tea."

A hole is a transparent container.

A hole is nowhere.

Description of hole is "A small hole."

Instead of taking hole: say "That would be a neat trick!"

Digging is an action applying to one visible thing.

Understand "dig [something]" as digging.

Understand "dig", "dig ground" and "dig with spade" as digging.

For supplying a missing noun when digging: now the noun is the hole.

Instead of digging something: say "That can't be dug." instead.

Instead of digging the hole when the player does not carry the spade: say "You need something to dig with!"

Instead of digging the hole when the location is not the desolate beach: say "You can't dig a hole here."

Instead of digging the hole when the location is the desolate beach and the hole is in the desolate beach: say "You dig around in the sand but don't find anything else."

Instead of digging the hole when the location is the Desolate beach and the hole is nowhere:

say "You dig a hole, revealing a what looks like an old chess piece.";

now the hole is in the desolate beach.

Instead of digging sand when the player does not carry the spade:

say "You need something to dig with!"

Instead of digging sand when the hole is nowhere:

say "You dig in the sand and reveal a Goblin's trapdoor!...sorry wrong game..Er..hang on a second...here we go...You dig a hole, revealing a what looks like an old chess piece.";

now the hole is in the desolate beach.

Instead of digging sand when the hole is in the desolate beach:

Say "You dig around in the sand but don't find anything else."

A chess piece is an object.

The chess piece is inside the hole.

Description of chess piece is "An old white chess piece, a rook by the looks of it. It is nicely weighted and has a magnet imbedded in the base."

The magnet is part of the chess piece.

Description of magnet is "What looks like a large disc shaped magnet is firmly imbedded in the base of the chess piece."

Sanding is an action applying to nothing.

Understand "make sandcastle" and "build sandcastle" as sanding.

A sandcastlebuilt is an object.

A sandcastlebuilt is nowhere.

Printed name of sandcastlebuilt is "Mediocre Sandcastle"

Understand "mediocre" and "sandcastle" as sandcastlebuilt.

Indefinite article of sandcastlebuilt is "your"

Description of sandcastlebuilt is "An amorphous mound with vague castle looking turrets at the corners. It's pathetic looking form feels you with embarrassment."

Instead of sanding when player is inside the desolate beach:

If the player is carrying a spade and the player is not carrying a bucket:

Say "You dig and shovel some sand around, but wthout a bucket you don't achieve much.";

If the player is carrying bucket and the player is carrying a spade:

If sandcastlebuilt is inside the desolate beach:

Say "You already built a sandcastle, and it wasn't very good.";

Else:

Say "You build a sandcastle, but you have never been vey good at this kind of thing. It takes the form of an amorphous mound with vague castle looking turrets at the corners.";

Move sandcastlebuilt to desolate beach;

If the player is carrying a bucket and the player is not carrying a spade:

Say "You attempt to build a sandcastle using your hands and the bucket, but you don't achieve much beyond a sorry looking pile of sand and cold fingers.";

If the player is not carrying a bucket and the player is not carrying a spade:

Say "You attempt to build a sandcastle using just your hands and, but you don't achieve much beyond a sorry looking pile of sand and cold fingers."

Instead of sanding when location is not desolate beach:

Say "There is no sand here!"

A awesomecastle is an object.

A awesomecastle is nowhere.

Printed name of awesomecastle is "Awesome Sandcastle."

Understand "awesome", "awesome sandcastle" and "sandcastle" as awesomecastle.

The description of the awesomecastle is "[awesome_description]".

To say awesome_description:

if Donella is inside the desolate beach:

say "The sandcastle stands 5 feet tall and depicts the old King's castle in the city of Lost in perfect detail, including the walled garden; your destination for the party you have been invited to. You let out a low whistle of admiration. 'You like it huh?' says Donella, 'I took a few liberties with the machicolations, but it should be enough to win this poxy competition!'";

otherwise:

say "The sandcastle stands 5 feet tall and depicts the old King's castle in the city of Lost in perfect detail, including the walled garden; your destination for the party you have been invited to.".

The voucher is an object.

The voucher is nowhere.

Description of voucher is "A 100 Zilch voucher for the Block & Quayle blacksmith store in the city of Lost."

Every turn when the time of day is 4:00 PM:

If player is inside Desolate Beach and the awesomecastle is inside the desolate beach for the first time:

Say "As you hear the distant sound of the clock tower at Coley's Mill striking four o'clock, two council officials arrive on the beach, complete with cheap suits and clipboards. You can see their surprise as they approach you and spot the awesome sandcastle.[paragraph break] 'Well. well, well! says one of the officials, 'Now [italic type]that[roman type] is a real sandcastle!, 'the attention to detail is extraordinary!' says the other official, 'and so much better that the er..um.. competition'. Both officials laugh nervously and look up and down the empty beach.[paragraph break] 'Right lets get on with it, you're lucky, this is the last day of the competition' the first official says as he rubs his hands stamps his feet to try and stay warm, 'Here you go and congratulations' the second official says, and hands you your prize, a 100 Zilch voucher for The Blacksmith's Store in City of Lost. The council officials quickly take their leave." ;

Move voucher to the player;

Now Donella is inside the wooden shack;

Say "[paragraph break] Donella says 'Well that was fun! I better be off, good luck to you.!' She gives Dylan a pat and heads off south.[paragraph break] Donella goes South.";

If player is inside Desolate Beach and the awesomecastle is not inside the desolate beach:

Say "As you hear the distant sound of the clock tower at Coley's Mill striking four o'clock, two council officials arrive on the beach, complete with cheap suits and clipboards. They look around the desolate and deserted beach.[paragraph break]You hear one of them say to the other, 'We'll there's nothing here that deserves a prize, damn silly idea this competition anyway.' 'Let's get out of here, it's freezing' says the other official, 'good idea, we'll try again tomorrow.'";

Otherwise:

Do nothing.