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When He Died
by
O Blaufuss
Played 1,091 times
View game source
(spoilers!)
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.z8 file
Source Code
"When He Died" by Owen Bluef00t The story headline is "Apologies to Neil Cicierega and admiration to Ryan Veeder." The story description is "A death very, very far outside the family." When play begins: say "You've been first on the scene in some pretty bad situations. Double homicides, major collapses, natural disasters. Things much worse than this, or that looked worse than this, at least. But the call you recieved was different this time. More urgent. Calmer, but in a frightening way; the way an angry parent lowers their voice and you know you're really in it now. They'll be there any minute now, they say. Leave everything where it is. Just do what you do best: take photographs. Photograph anything that looks anomalous, they say. What's that supposed to mean, 'anomalous'? you asked. But they hung up with a click and you're left to ask questions to dead air.". Volume 0 - World Rules [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raimondo_di_Sangro] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cappella_Sansevero] [Test item with "get [item]/eat [item]"] Test item with "get [item]/examine [item]/flip [item]/photograph [item]". [So show me the light or the lightswitch And try not to notice how Color is cycling slowly and fading and now It's all gone. (It's all gone.) It went gray, (It went gray.) Dozens of chess pieces crawling around like a centipede Only appear when I look at the statues that bleed Out their eyes. (Out their eyes.) It's not blood, (It's not blood.) And it never was there. ] [ENDINGS: 1. you leave past a certain threshold before your camera catches fire and go to the shed, where the clown painting combusts you anyways. 2. camera catches fire. you make it out to the shed and get clown'd. 3. camera catches fire. you made it out and give up. 4. camera catches fire. you burn to death in the house.] [Playfic doesn't like me so now there's a Barracks holding place.] Barracks is a room. The Outdoors Area is a region. The Mansion is a region. The Mansion can be normal or onfire. The mansion is normal. Understand "look around" and "look at room" and "examine room" as looking. Instead of taking something: say "You were told to leave everything as is, remember?" Instead of eating a thing: say "Have you lost your mind?". Instead of attacking a thing: say "Yeah, no. Not gotta try it.". Instead of waking up: say "You've already tried pinching yourself. This nightmare is real life." Instead of sleeping: say "This would be the worst place to doze off. Fall alseep here, and you'd never wake up." Instead of pushing a thing: say "Haven't you messed with stuff you shouldn't be touching enough already?" Instead of touching a thing: try examining the noun instead. Instead of looking under a thing: try flipping the noun instead. [Why did I define a verb for something as simple as "flipping something over"? Well, to learn. And because there's a number of things that could use flipping in this game.] A thing can be flipped or upright. A thing is usually upright. A thing has some text called the underside description. The underside description is usually "Nothing interesting under here." Flipping is an action applying to one touchable thing. Understand "flip over [something]" and "turn over [something]" and "roll over [something]" and "flip [something]" as flipping. Check flipping: if the noun is fixed in place and the noun is not scenery: say "It's fixed in place, and you can't flip it over." instead; if the noun is a supporter: say "Let's leave the furniture as-is. You're here to photograph, not ransack the place." instead; if the noun is the body: say "Touching him gives you the creeps. [first time]A scorpion emerges from beneath his corpse and skitters away.[only]". Carry out flipping: if the noun is upright: now the noun is flipped; otherwise: now the noun is upright. Report flipping: if the noun is upright: say "You turn [the noun] back over."; otherwise: say "[the underside description of the noun][paragraph break]". Check examining: if the Mansion is onfire: say "[the flaming description of the noun][paragraph break]" instead; if the noun is flipped: say "[the underside description of the noun][paragraph break]" instead. [My sister repeatedly requested this verb during playtesting.] Screaming is an action applying to nothing. Understand "scream" and "yell" as screaming. Carry out screaming: say "You scream.[paragraph break]Nothing changes. Feel better now?". Volume 1 - Photography and You [Total house anomalities: 62 Hall, 15 LR, 12 DR, 6 Parlor, 14 Balc: 13 BedR: 2] Book Player The description of the player is "You wear a long, light brown coat over a shirt that needs ironing. You look like you need ironing, too. [line break]You wear your trusty camera on a long strap around your neck." The player wears a brown coat. "It's been with you a while. You've seen it so often you've stopped seeing it altogether." Instead of photographing the player: say "You're professional enough to not take selfies on the clock.". Book Camera The player wears a camera. The camera can be normal or onfire. The camera is normal. The camera has the description "A camera this nice doesn't come cheap, but it's worth it in this line of work. The two of you have seen some shit together.". The camera has the anomality 100. [Photographing the camera will nuke your score, no matter where you're at, and send you into endgame.] The camera has the photograph note "The only thing your beautiful camera was never able to see was how beautiful it was. Now it can. Elephants can recognize themselves in a mirror, and so can monkeys. Can your camera recognize itself? Does it understand? You wonder why this seems so important suddenly. The camera grows warm in your hands. Hey-". Check photographing the camera: if the mirror is not visible: say "You'd need some sort of contraption of mirrors to make that work." instead. Check dropping the camera: if the camera is onfire: say "Panic takes over. You throw the camera to the ground, where it explodes, blossoming across the floor like a terrible flower and sending tongues of flames licking up the walls, tasting the furniture, consuming the wallpaper. Dumbass stupid dimwit idiot chucklehead. That was dumb."; now the Mansion is onfire; otherwise: say "You need that. Your camera is your [italic type]partner[roman type]." Book Photography A thing has a number called the anomality. The anomality is usually 0. A thing has some text called the photograph note. The photograph note is usually "Doesn't look too anomalous, but better safe than sorry." The total anomality is a number that varies. [[for testing purposes only] Anomality check is an action applying to nothing. Understand "anomality check" as anomality check. Report anomality check: say "[the total anomality]".] Photographing is an action applying to one visible thing. Understand "photograph [something]" and "click [something]" and "P [something]" as photographing. Check photographing: if the camera is not worn: say "Not with that melted lump of glass and plastic, you can't." instead; if we have photographed the noun: say "Already got enough pictures of that." instead. Carry out photographing: add the noun to the photo album; now the total anomality is the total anomality + the anomality of the noun. Report photographing: say "[one of]You carefully line up and take the shot.[or]Click![or]The shutter clicks.[or]You snap your photo.[or]You take the picture.[at random][the photograph note of the noun][line break][first time][line break]Next time you photograph an object, you can type 'p (object)' instead. To see what you've already photographed, type 'check photos' at any time.[only]". The photo album is a list of things that varies. Checking photos is an action applying to nothing. Understand "photos" and "photo album" and "photos taken" as "[photos]". Understand "check [photos]" and "examine [photos]" and "x [photos]" and "[photos]" as checking photos. Check checking photos: if the camera is not worn: say "They're gone. There's no way your SD card survived that." instead. Carry out checking photos: say "You have the following items photographed:[line break]"; say photo album; say "[paragraph break]". [this doesn't work yet. will figure it out later] [Checking a single photo is an action applying to one thing. Understand "photo of [something]" and "[something] photo" and "photograph of [something]" and "[something] photograph" as "[the photo]". Understand "x [the photo]" and "examine [the photo]" and "look at [the photo]" and "[the photo]" as checking a single photo. Check checking a single photo: if the camera is not worn: say "Your photos are gone now. All that work, wasted." instead. Carry out checking a single photo: if the noun is listed in the photo album: say "[the photograph note of the noun]".] Volume 2 - Main Hall [Total room anomalities: 15] The Main Hall is a room. "You stand in the spacious main hall of Sansevero Mansion. It is so beautiful. [if unvisited]You also get the feeling that it may be horrible beyond compare.[end if] To the west is a door to the living room. To the east, a door to the dining room. Off to the south is the main entrance.". The Main Hall is in the Mansion. A body is here. "The body of the mansion's owner lies [first time]at your feet [only]in a halo of a scorch marks. He's very obviously dead." Understand "body" and "corpse" and "man" and "mansion's owner" and "Raimondo" and "Raimondo di Sangro" as the body. The description of the body is "[if upright]Something did a number on this guy. Among other cheery details, his head looks caved in, gelatinous. Looks untouched from the neck down, though.[end if] [if unvisited]Mostly hidden under the body are some sort of burnt symbols. You know you were told to leave everything where it is, but maybe if you turned him over you could get a better shot.". The body has underside description "On the back of his neck words are etched, trailing down into his collar: 'AN ENDLESS AGE OF NI...' You aren't going to undress him to read the rest. Under him, on the floor, symbols are scorched." The body has the anomality 10. The body has photograph note "This man. The biggest anomaly in this madhouse? Or victim of something beyond comprehension? You don't really care." Instead of taking the body: say "Flipping him over is probably okay, but you don't think they'll be happy if you drag this body all over the place." The scorchmark is scenery in the main hall. The description of the scorchmark is "[if the body is upright]A perfectly round, radial burn mark is embossed into the floor. It doesn't correspond with the damage on the body whatsoever.[otherwise]You've got a better view of the weird symbols now. You don't recognize any, but you never were a... symbol-ologist." Understand "scorch mark" or "halo" or " burn mark" or "symbols" or "strange symbols" or "scorched floor" or "burnt symbols" as the scorchmark. Instead of flipping the scorchmark: say "You want to do what?" The scorchmark has the anomality 5. The scorchmark has photograph note "Even if you don't understand its significance, definitely important to document.". Volume 3 - Living Room [Total room anomalities: 12] Check going west in Main Hall: if the Living Room is unvisited: The chandelier falls in one turn from now. The Living Room is west of the Main Hall. "The living room is resplendent in golds and reds: red couch, red side table with a red-and-white chessboard, red cushions, and a red rug. They all seem placed slightly crooked[if unvisited], and even the chandelier hangs with a tilt.[otherwise]. The glittering remains of the chandelier sit in a sad heap.". The Living Room is in the Mansion. The broken chandelier is scenery in the Living Room. The chandelier can be fallen. At the time when the chandelier falls: say "CRASH! The crooked chandelier smashes itself to crystalline smithereens on the floor only feet away from you.[paragraph break]You startle violently, but you're unhurt. Maybe it was just the time for the old cabling to give out."; now the chandelier is fallen. Understand "smithereens" and "shards" and "crystal" as the broken chandelier. The description of the chandelier is "[if fallen]God, that scared you. What a mess. Hopefully you don't get blamed for that.[otherwise]The delicate crystal seems to shiver at your footsteps. Or is it actually- Uh oh." Instead of flipping the chandelier: say "[if fallen]You'd cut yourself on those edges if you tried.[otherwise]How are you going to do that, wiseguy?" The chandelier has the anomality 5. The chandelier has photograph note "[if fallen]Your photo captures the way the light glitters off the jumbled edges perfectly. Hey, you may be in forensics, but nobody can say you don't have an artistic eye.[otherwise]It seems to shudder under the camera's gaze. Or is it actually- Uh oh." A supporter called the red couch is here. On the couch are some red velvet cushions. The couch is enterable and scenery. The cushions are scenery. Understand "cushion" and "pillow" and "pillows" as the cushions. The description of the red couch is "[if we have entered the couch] Exactly as luxurious as it looks.[otherwise]You run your fingers over the brilliantly red fabric. Almost too posh to sit in. Almost." The description of the cushions is "[if upright]Velvety and tasseled, stuffed and.... overstuffed. Unnervingly lumpy, actually, and damp. Eugh, what are they filled with?[otherwise][underside description][end if]". The underside description of the cushions is "Oh, gross. It's dripping a little." The cushions have the anomality 1. The cushions have photograph note "The photo doesn't convey the lumpy heaviness that makes them so worrying." The red rug is scenery in the living room. The description of the rug is "[if we have not examined the rug and the chandelier is fallen]You nudge aside some shards of crystal to get a better look at the rug pattern.[end if] What looked like complex floral patterning from afar now looks like bodies twisted in agony. Lovely. This guy had such an eye for interior decoration.". The rug has the anomality 1. The rug has photograph note "In the photo, the tortured shapes just look vaguely floral. Huh." [Key to the parlor display case!] The small silver key is in Barracks. Instead of flipping the rug: if the silver key is somewhere: say "Nothing more interesting under here. Just an ugly stain on the floorboards."; if the silver key is in Barracks: say "Beneath the rug's edge, something glimmers. A key?[line break]You were told not to touch anything, but this seems important, and possibly helpful. You take it."; now the player carries the silver key. The description of the silver key is "It looks much too ornamental to unlock a door or any serious lock." [If they drop the key by mistake, we want them to be able to pick it up again.] Instead of taking the silver key: say "Right, you might still need this. You pick it back up."; now the player carries the silver key. The red sidetable is a supporter in the Living Room. The sidetable is scenery. Understand "side table" and "table" as the sidetable. The description of the sidetable is "It matches the couch. Same red finish, same ornate black wood.". The checkered chessboard is on the sidetable. The chessboard is scenery. Some chess pieces are contained by the chessboard. "The chess creature skitters back up into the corner as you enter." The chessboard has photograph note "It's an ordinary-enough chessboard." Instead of examining the chessboard: if the chessboard does not contain something: say "It's an ordinary-enough chessboard."; otherwise: say "A game seems to have been abandoned partway through. As you lean closer to the board, the chess pieces clatter wildly, hook together into some sort of grotesque centipede, and scuttle away from you and up to the ceiling. Sure. Okay. That's 'anomalous'."; now the chess pieces are in the living room. Understand "creature" and "centipede" and "chesspieces" and "chess creature" as chess pieces. The description of the chess pieces is "The chess-creature scuttles nervously back and forth on the ceiling, then curls up in a corner. It's more scared of you than you are of it. Probably." The chess pieces have the anomality 5. The chess pieces have photograph note "It's very camera-shy. You try not to think about what might happen to it when the big guns arrive." Instead of flipping or taking the chess pieces: say "You're not going near that thing.". Volume 4 - Dining Room [Total room anomalities: 6] [There isn't much point to having a light switch here other than to teach myself how to use switches.] [And to let players amuse themselves by flipping the switch endlessly, of course.] Check going north in Dining Room: if the light switch is switched off, say "You'd trip over yourself on the way there. Let's get a little light in here, why don't we?" instead. Check examining something in Dining Room: if the light switch is switched off, say "You can't see a darn thing. Why did you turn the light off, exactly?" instead. Check photographing something in Dining Room: if the light switch is switched off, say "You can't see past the end of your camera. Nothing would turn out in this lighting." instead. The Dining Room is east of the Main Hall. "[first time]It's pitch dark, and you pause in the doorway, cautious. You've watched too many movies that started like this to waltz in there before finding some torch, some sort of cande to light your pat- oh, hey. There's a light switch right here. You flip it. [paragraph break]For a moment you're blinded by the cycling light from the chandelier. When it fades, you think you're seeing in black-and-white for a moment. Everything in this room is grey.[paragraph break][only] [if the light switch is switched off]It's pitch dark. Turn on a light, will you?[end if][if the light switch is switched on]The dining room stretches out before you, with a long table set with dishes and utensils and a candelabra that seems to be patiently waiting for a grand dinner party. Around the table are the ghostly guests: chairs, each covered in a white sheet.[end if][if the light switch is switched on and the Living Room is visited] You eye the chandelier nervously, but it looks firmly fixed in place.[end if][if the light switch is switched on][paragraph break]Back west is the main hall, and to the north a door opens into the parlor.[end if]". The dining room is in the mansion. A device called the light switch is here. It is scenery. It is fixed in place and switched on. Instead of flipping the light switch: if the light switch is switched off, try switching on the light switch instead; if the light switch is switched on, try switching off the light switch instead. The description of the light switch is "It looks almost anachronistic in this crazy mansion. Even the rich gotta turn the lights on and off like the rest of us." A supporter called the grand table is here. On the table are some plates and some utensils. The plates and utensils and table are scenery. The description of the grand table is "It's at least as long as a school bus, with plates laid out along each side. You imagine that someone giving a toast at the head of the table would have to shout to be heard at the other end.". The table has photograph note "Foreshortening does odd things to the table, but you had to shoot from one end to get the whole thing in the frame. The table itself seems to converge to a dizzying vanishing point as endless rows of forks and knives and plates parade into infinity.". The table has the anomality 3. Understand "plate" and "dish" and "dishes" as plates. The description of the plates is "White bone china. Alarmingly, the plate at the head of the table seems to have a bite taken out of it." Understand "fork" and "forks" and "knife" and "knives" and "spoon" and "spoons" and "silverware" as utensils. The description of the utensils is "Polished silver on black on grey. How can something be both glittery and drab?" The underside description of the utensils is "The only thing more exciting than silverware is upsidown silverware. Whoopee." [You can steal a fork! I don't know why. Maybe I'll let that have moral implications later in the game.] The silver fork is in Barracks. Instead of taking the utensils: if the silver fork is somewhere: say "No, you already pocketed a fork. Any more and someone might notice."; if the silver fork is in Barracks: say "It's tempting, isn't it? That's got to be real silver. Surely they wouldn't miss just one. Just one. You pocket a fork."; now the player carries the silver fork. The description of the silver fork is "You still feel a little guilty about taking it." Instead of photographing the silver fork: say "You don't want to document your own crimes. Best not to take that photo." [If they drop the fork, we want them to be able to pick it up again.] Instead of taking the silver fork: say "Conscience still flip-flopping? You pick it back up."; now the player carries the silver fork. On the table is a candelabra. The candelabra is scenery. "The candelabra is black, and the half-melted candles are a revolting, lumpy grey.". Instead of flipping the candelabra: say "You start to turn it, but a candle breaks off. You hurriedly cram it back into place and decide to keep the candelabra upright instead.". The candelabra has the anomality 1. There is a hanging chandelier in the dining room. The chandelier is scenery. "The glittering crystal surrounds the room's only light source. It casts pleasingly kaleidoscopic shapes around the otherwise dreary room.". Understand "chandelier" as hanging chandelier. Instead of flipping the chandelier: say "How are you going to do that, wiseguy?" There are some chairs in the dining room. The chairs are supporters and scenery. "The chairs sit in rows like regiments of sheet ghosts. The sheets are bunched up and wrinkled in a way that suggestions motion, and you get the eerie feeling that if you looked under one, something would jump out at you." Understand "chair" and "sheet" and "sheets" as chairs. The chairs have the anomality 2. Instead of flipping chairs: say "Underneath the sheets, the chairs are black and grey, like everything else in this room. That's a little anticlimactic." Volume 5- Parlor [Total room anomalities: 14] The Parlor is north of the Dining Room. "A record player sits on a long, low chest on one side of the room. On the opposite side is a [display case] full of skulls and anatomical models. Near the door, an old rotary phone sits on a [side table]. [if the record is switched on]On top of it all, maddening laughter fills the room, making your skin crawl.[end if][paragraph break]Back to the south is the dining room." The Parlor is in the mansion. The long chest is in the Parlor. The long chest is a supporter and scenery. "On closer inspection, maybe this is a casket. That checks out, with the decor going on in this house." The long chest has the anomality 1. Understand "casket" and "low chest" as long chest. The long chest has photograph note "Like many things in this house, it looks much more innocent in a photo. Photography just can't capture the subtle sound that suggests movement coming from inside.". Instead of opening chest: say "Maybe that shuffling, scratching noise inside is a mouse. Maybe it's something bigger. Either way, you think you'll let the real investigators with the weapons and backup find that out later.". The record is on the long chest. The record is a device, scenery, and switched off. [Putting the description into "Instead of examining the record" is a weird construction, but it keeps Inform from announcing to the player that it can be turned off and on.... making the telephone cutscene more surprising and the ability to play the record a more fun easter egg for someone determined to explore objects' possibilities thoroughly.] Instead of examining the record: say "[if switched off]It's a classy old phonograph that suggests its owner has had it since vinyl was cool the first time around. On the turntable sits a record whose label reads 'The Okeh Lauhging Record'.[otherwise]The record spinning on the turntable is the source of the laughter: piercing, hysterical, jumbled, cacophonous, horrendous laughter. [paragraph break]". Understand "phonograph" and "turntable" and "record player" and "laughing record" and "laughing" as the record. The record has the anomality 5. The record has the underside description "The B-side appears to be more of the same... laughter?" The record has photograph note "Minus the context of the room, it appears charmingly vintage.". [Having 3 different "at random" selectors for different laughter snippets provides a shockingly wide range of crazed laughter. 3 random choices of 4 laughter snippets gives a total of 4^3, or 64, possible laughter outcomes.] After switching on the record: say "Crazed, cacophonous laughter bursts into the room."; the laughter grates in five turns from now. After switching off the record: say "Well, that's more than enough of that.". Every turn when the record is switched on, say "[italic type][one of]HAH! [or] ha ha HAAA ha HAAA [or] heh heh.... heh HEH HEH HA [or] hahahah hah haaaa haaa haaaaa [at random][one of]hahahaha HAH hah hah hah [or]hee hee hee hee! hee hee [or]Ha! Ha ha! Ha HAAA ha.... haha........ [or]oh hohohoho HAH ho ho ho [at random][one of]HAAA AH AH HA HA[or]HA HA AHAHAHAHAHAHA[or]hahahaha ha ha ha[or] HA hah ha ha ha......[at random][roman type]" The display case is in the Parlor. The case is a container, closed, openable, locked, and transparent. The description of the case is "The display case is unremarkable, almost invisible; your eyes slide off it to stare at what's inside. In this way, it does its job perfectly.[paragraph break]Inside, the shelves are lined with rows of grinning skulls and detailed anatomical models of organs. [if the tasselled key is nowhere]Between two skulls, a shred of maroon is visible. A tassel?[end if]". The matching key of the display case is the small silver key. Check photographing the display case: if the case is closed: say "Reflections of your shadow on the glass warp the items within. It would be better to open it first to get a clear shot."; In the display case are some skulls. The skulls are scenery. "There's a real collection of them, in a variety of shapes, conditions, and sizes. [if the balcony is visited]The smallest ones make your skin crawl. You try not to think of the statues of the children and the 'last seen' dates. You fail.[otherwise]All marvelous replicas, you hope.[end if]". The skulls have the anomality 2. The skulls have the underside description "Little stickers on the underside give the age, sex, and of course, race. That's phrenologists for you. Always keeping it classy." The skulls have the photograph note "Whether or not they're just replicas, you marvel at the fact that each of these represents a full human life. Your imagination isn't good enough to reconstruct warm flesh over exposed bone, but you still get it: This is a collection of souls." Understand "skull" and "grinning skulls" as skulls. In the display case are some anatomical models. The models are scenery. "Whoever made these knew their way around the human body. Red and blue string veins thread through fabric and wax to make lifelike versions of disembodied hands, hearts, lungs, livers, and some fleshy thing you can't name.". The models have the anomality 1. The models have the underside description "These really were designed to be viewed in 3-D. Every side is as detailed as the front.". The models have the photograph note "They'd look right at home in a college anatomy textbook.". Understand "heart" and "organ" and "organs" and "model" and "models" as "[models]". Understand "[models]" and "wax [models]" as models. In the display case is the tasselled key. Instead of examining the key: if the key is in the display case: say "There's a key attached to this tassel. A locked display case is an odd place to keep a key. But previous experience has shown that these are useful enough to pick up, so you take this one too."; now the player has the key; otherwise: say "It's a larger, heavy-duty sort of key attached to a plush maroon tassel.". Understand "tassel" and "maroon tassel" as the tasselled key. [If they drop the key by mistake, we want them to be able to pick it up again.] Instead of taking the tasselled key: say "Right, you might need this. You pick it back up."; now the player carries the tasselled key. The side table is a supporter and scenery in the Parlor. "Black wood with a red finish. On top is a red rotary phone and a sticky note." On the side table is a sticky note and a rotary phone. The sticky note and rotary phone are scenery. The sticky note has the description "It reads:[paragraph break][italic type]to notify her: 555-1515 [paragraph break]case-- rug?[roman type]". The sticky note has the underside description "The back is blank." Book Phone Things The phone has the description "A rotary phone! You haven't seen one of these since... since... two 'since's ago! You suspect this guy contacts most of his friends via ouija board, though, so it hardly surprises you.". The phone has the anomality 5. The phone has the photograph note "It has a beautiful cherry-red finish, and the black numbers on the rotary dial beg to be spun.". Understand "red phone" and "spirit phone" as the rotary phone. The phone can be called. The phone is not called. A phone number is a kind of value. Calling is an action applying to a phone number. 999-9999 specifies a phone number. Understand "call [a phone number]" and "dial [a phone number]" and "phone [a phone number]" as calling. Understand "call [text]" or "phone [text]" or "dial [text]" as a mistake ("That's not a number you know."). Check calling: if the rotary phone is not touchable: say "No reception here. [if the parlor is visited]You'd have to go use the rotary phone.[end if]." instead; otherwise: say "You dial [the phone number understood].". Report calling: say "It begins to ring, then cuts off abruptly. Nothing but a staticky dial tone.[first time] Disappointing.[only]". After calling 555-1515: say "[first time]To your surprise, someone picks up. You freeze. You weren't prepared for what you'd say if someone actually answered.[line break]You're saved from having to explain yourself, however, as a woman's voice begins speaking rapidly.[paragraph break]'I knew it. Oh, yes, I knew it. He's dead, isn't he? Thank you so much, officer. Freed! You can only imagine... until death do us part, eh, old Scratch? I can't thank you enough, officer. It was coming to you, Raymond, and you knew it, you bastard. He's gone. Oh, he's finally, finally, gone.'[paragraph break]Is it the connection, or is she speaking fainter? Your brain bubbles and mouth fills with questions ([italic type]Who are you? How did you know?[roman type]) that you never get a chance to ask, because the record player bursts into hysterical laughter behind you, making you jump. You press your ear against the reciever and try to get in one desparate question, but it's no use.[line break]Her voice fades away to nothing. You're left with a dead reciever and a pit in your stomach. [only][if the phone is called]Nothing. It rings and rings and rings until you have to admit that nobody is going to pick up.[end if]"; now the phone is called; the laughter grates in five turns from now; now the record is switched on. [You can call Dial-A-Song. Because it's my game and I get to choose the easter eggs.] After calling 387-6962: say "There's a click, a crackle of interference, and then a voice, singing. It seems almost familiar. [paragraph break]'What's it like to be alive?[line break]And he gets no answer to that[line break]He gets no answer, he won't know[line break]He'll always wonder, he doesn't get an answer.' [paragraph break]The song plays through, and then, with a click, the line disconnects.". At the time when the laughter grates: if the record is switched on: say "That laughter is driving you up the wall. Can't you turn it off somehow?". Volume 6 - Balcony [Total room anomalities: 13] Instead of going north in Main Hall: try going up. Instead of going south in Balcony: try going down. The Grand Staircase is above the Main Hall. "A grand staircase [if the location of the player is the Main Hall]to the north leads upwards to a wide balcony[end if][if the location of the player is the Balcony]to the south leads back down to the main hall[end if][first time], which is lined with white marble statues[only]." The Grand Staircase is an open door. It is not openable. Understand "stairs" and "upstairs" and "downstairs" as the Grand Staircase. Instead of taking the staircase: try entering the staircase. Instead of climbing the staircase: try entering the staircase. [Practicing "mentioning" an item in square brackets so that I don't have to make it scenery later.] The Balcony is above the grand staircase. "The balcony overlooks the main hall. It would be a marvelous view if not for that dead guy in a scorched crater down there. And all these bloody [statues].[if unvisited][line break]You're not British, they literally have blood on them.[end if]". The balcony is in the Mansion. [Ok, getting the statues and plaques not to be buggy or awkwardly-named is driving me up a wall.] [My solution here looks really REALLY weird with having "statues" be a container for four singular "statue #"s, but I could think of no better way to make it work.] Some statues are containers in the balcony. The statues are closed, unopenable, and transparent. The description of the statues is "There are four, each carved from white marble. All of them are children, and blood drips down their faces like tears." [I don't want it to list the "contents of statues" after this and expose my own whackjob workaround, so:] The examine containers rule is not listed in any rulebook. Statue 1, Statue 2, Statue 3, and Statue 4 are contained by the statues. Statue 1, Statue 2, Statue 3, and Statue 4 have the anomality 3. Statue 1, Statue 2, Statue 3, and Statue 4 have the photograph note "[one of]The blood doesn't show up in photographs at all. It's a little concerning. It's a lot concerning, actually.[or]The blood isn't showing up in any of these photographs.[or]Their distressed faces are almost worse when not obscured by blood.[or]Creepy.[or]Why didn't the blood on their faces show up?[at random]". Understand "sculpture" and "marble statue" and "statue" as "[statue]". Understand "sculptures" and "[statue]" as statues. Instead of photographing the statues: say "You can't fit them all in frame. Maybe you should photograph them individually instead." Understand "[statue] 1" and "[statue] one" and "first [statue]" as Statue 1. The description of Statue 1 is "It's a statue of a girl who looks about 14 years old. Her face is angry, or determined, you can't tell which. [first time]As you watch, a new bead of blood wells up in her marble eye and drips from her cheek.[only][paragraph break]At her feet is a plaque with a name and 'date last seen'." Understand "[statue] 2" and "[statue] two" and "second [statue]" as Statue 2. The description of Statue 2 is "It's a statue of a younger boy, about 7. His face is rendered in painstaking detail to make him look utterly terrified and confused. Who would ever want a sculpture like this in their house? [if the Bedroom is visited]And right outside their bedroom, no less?[end if][paragraph break]At his feet is a plaque with a name and 'date last seen'." Understand "[statue] 3" and "[statue] three" and "third [statue]" as Statue 3. The description of Statue 3 is "It's a statue of a girl who looks about 9 or 10. She looks like she's seen a ghost, and like the other statues, her face is streaked with fresh blood.[paragraph break]At her feet is a plaque with a name and 'date last seen'." Understand "[statue] 4" and "[statue] four" and "fourth [statue]" as Statue 4. The description of Statue 4 is "It's a statue of a boy who looks about 12. His face is screwed up in anguish that makes your stomach turn.[paragraph break]At his feet is a plaque with a name and 'date last seen'. [first time]As you stare at it, you decide that you don't like the mansion owner at all.[only]" A plaque is here. The plaque is scenery and fixed in place. Instead of examining plaque: say "You don't want to think too hard about the names. Or how long ago the dates are. Whoever these children were, they aren't kids anymore.". Instead of flipping plaque: say "It's fixed in place." Blood is here. Blood is scenery. Blood has the anomality 1. Instead of examining blood: say "It's red. It's shiny. It's Blood (TM).[paragraph break]It looks and smells enough like the real thing, but only a lab would know for sure.". Instead of flipping blood: say "That's gross and doesn't even make sense." Blood has photograph note "Nothing. Just bare marble. Weird." [Hallthings is an item which handles the fact that you should be able to see the things below you in the hall, but not interact with them.] Hallthings is here. Hallthings is scenery. "It's a marvelous aerial view, but it doesn't reveal anything that you didn't see up close." Understand "body" and "corpse" and "dead guy" and "crater" and "scorched crater" and "hall" and "main hall" as hallthings. Instead of flipping hallthings: say "From up here?" Instead of photographing hallthings: say "Too far away and too high an angle to get a decent shot, unfortunately.". Volume 7- Bedroom [Total room anomalities: 2] The heavy wooden door is north of the Balcony. The heavy wooden door is a door, lockable, and locked. "A heavy wooden door [if the location of the player is the Bedroom]leads back south to the balcony.[otherwise]leads north to the bedroom.". The matching key of the heavy wooden door is the tasselled key. The Bedroom is north of the wooden door. The bedroom is in the Mansion. The description of the bedroom is "A large bed dominates the room, an oversized painting hung across from it. Against the back wall is a dresser with a mirror propped up on it. This room seems darker and dustier than the others.[first time] Rich people. Buying all the finest things just to let them collect grime in miserable isolation.[only]". A supporter called the bed is in the bedroom. The bed is scenery and enterable. "Your hand sinks right in to the velvety duvet. The desire to collapse into its cushiness fights with the suspicion that you might not be able to get back up." The bed has the anomality 2. The bed has the photograph note "It looks for a moment like a large carnivorous plant. Then you look closer at the image and it's just a bed again. [first time]Which is all it ever was.[only]". An oversized painting is in the bedroom. The painting is scenery. "The face of the body downstairs is hopelessly caved in, but this could have been him. Or a close ancestor. All that's written on the plaque below is a family name: di Sangro.". The painting has the underside description "A pencil scrawl on the back says, simply, 'made you look'.". The painting has the photograph note "Is it 'anomalous' to have a giant painting of your own face in your bedroom? Or just suffocatingly narcissistic?". Understand "portrait" or "di Sangro" or "diSangro" as the painting. A mirror is in the bedroom. The mirror is scenery. "Against all odds, it's a remarkably un-spooky mirror. The polished glass shows nothing unexpected but yourself. [line break][the description of the player]". Instead of photographing the mirror, try photographing the player. A supporter called the dresser is in the bedroom. The dresser is scenery."If you're reading this, I forgot descriptive text. Wag a finger at me."
