Those Who Wander by Darian

Those Who Wander

Played 1,769 times
View game source (spoilers!)
Download the .z8 file
Source Code

When play begins:
say "Right from the begining, you knew that something was not right. All the hints, foreshadows; you were a fool not to do anything at the time. Now it is too late. You will pay the price. The curse cast upon you by the witch Sariel is like a drug in your blood, coursing through you with every pump of your heart, poisoning your thoughts and controlling your actions. You can feel the curse slowly making it's way through your body and you know if you don't get it lifted soon then you will ultimately die. So you will fight against your fate, your death, everything.".

Elmwood is a room. Description of Elmwood is "As you slowly come into consciousness, you listen to the resonating sound of silence. Your eyes are closed, your breathing is slow, and your head aches. You open your eyes to an endless pit of darkness that surrounds you and swallows you. Engulfing you in a never ending blanket of pure emptiness. As the hazy world comes into focus around you, you instantly recognize where you are and a deep fear creeps up your spine. [italic type] Elmwood. [roman type] The darkest forest in all the land, it is filled with nothing but evil, solitude, and death. You cautiously stand, you realize that a bag of herbs and a ring are sitting at your feet.".
Herbs is in Elmwood. Herbs is portable. Herbs is edible.
A ring is in Elmwood. A ring is portable. 

After taking ring:
say "Carefully, you scoop up the ring off the forest floor; it is cold against your skin. You hold it up to what little light reaches Elmwood and observe it. The ring a simple, mudane golden band, and appears to be nothing special. Shrugging, you slip it onto your finger. However, as it encircles your index finger a  blinding, pulsating blue light bursts from the ring. Fear prickles your skin and your immediate instinct is to remove the ring, but before you have a chance the light doubles in size until it has envelloped you completely and you drop to the ground, dead. ".;
end the game in death.

After taking herbs:
say "You crouch down and delicately pick up the bag of herbs.".

After eating herbs:
say "After opening the bag, you dump ther herbs into your hand. Instantly, you are hit with a sickly sweet smell wafting from the dried plants. You eat the handful of herbs quickly, almost instantly, you feel healthier and more alert than before. Cautiously, you continue through the forest, until you arrive at an intersection. To the west is a narrow path, it appears to be the darkest and scariest part of the forest. To the east is what you assume is an abandoned gravel road, the dense pine trees have thinned around it, thus allowing more light. ".

Road is a room. Road is east of Elmwood. Description of road is "Feeling much safer here, you follow the path through Elmwood. For several minutes you follow the road, finding nothing of interest until the forest ends and you find yourself in an open clearing with a small, trickling stream (south). Do you attempt to cross is, or turn back?".

Stream is a room. Stream is south of road. Description of stream is "With a mightly leap you launch yourself over the gurgling water. You land safely on the other side but your foot slips on a wet rock and you fall into the stream with a splash. The water is icy cold and you stand up instantly, with water dripping from your clothes and rushing around your knees. Just as you're about to wad out of the stream, something shimmering at the bottom of the water catches your eye.".
A weapon is a kind of thing.
A blade is a kind of weapon.
A dagger is a kind of blade.
Dagger is portable.
In stream is dagger.


After taking dagger:
say "You reach into the water and pull out the dagger, then drag yourself out of the water and continue walking through the clearing. You can see rolling hills to the north and know that Safiria, a witch, lives on the other side of them. She is the only witch powerful enough to lift Sariel's curse and your only hope at survival. You're faced with a choice, you can turn back and take the road to the west which will will lead you to the mountains, that way is shorter but much more dangerous. Or you can continue east towards the hills, it is a longer route but undoubtebly safer.".

Hills is a room. Hills is east of stream. Description of hills is "You travel east towards the hills and continue up a winding path that leads you deeper into the mountain region. Your wet clothes cling to your body and the rocky slopes to little to fend of the ferocious wind. You're freezing; it's like hunger that's spread all over your skin. The slightly painful craving usually tells you that you've gone too long without a meal, but it's warmth that your skin needs to swallow. After a while it begins to feel like your skin is being pierced by a thousand needles, but when the cold gets worse, that feeling fades into a forboding kind of numbness. You see a cave southeast, do you risk investigating it?".

Cave is a room. Cave is southeast of hills. Description of cave is "The cave mouth looms before you, dark and belittling. Do you enter (southeast)?".

After going southeast:
say "As you enter, you're envelloped in darkness and hit with a musty, damp, and earthy scent. The floor is uneven and sharp, you can hardly walk across it without stumbling and falling. You feel as if you're walking deeper and deeper into the jaws of a beast, you can almost hear is breathing. You listen to the steady echo of your feet of the cave floor, and when you stop you're left in utter silence. Stiff and cold, you flop to the ground and huddle in a tight ball, trapping as much warmth as you can. You numb muscles are warming, but even that isn't enough to fend off the bitter cold that chills you to the bone. Seconds turn to minutes, and minutes into hours, and you don't move. You're breathing slows, becomes shallower and shallower until it stops altogether.".;
end the game in death.



Path is a room. Path is west of Elmwood. Description of path is "After a moments hesitation you decide to go west and follow the narrow trail through Elmwood. You jump at every sound and are constantly looking over your shoulder, terrifyied of what may be lurking in the shadows. Eventually, you stumble upon a sword and a scroll laying on the edge of the path.".

Scroll is portable. In path is scroll. 
A weapon is a kind of thing.
A blade is a kind of weapon.
A sword is a kind of blade.
Sword is portable.
In path is sword.


After taking sword:
say "Taking the heavy metal sword by it's hilt. You now have two options. You must travel across the mountains where Safiria lives --- the only witch powerful enough to lift Sariel's curse. However, you have two options; you can turn back and take the road to the east, it is a longer route but undoubtebly safer. Or you can continue southwest, which is shorter but more dangerous.".


After taking scroll:
say "You gently grab the scroll, but is crumbles into pieces the moment you touch it.".


Mountains is a room. Mountains are southwest of path. Description of mountains is "You continue down the path for a ways until you reach the foot of the mountains. With a gulp you stare at the precariously narrow trail leading up a steep slope. It is not too late to turn back. Do you continue north up the trail or turn back south?".

Trail is a room. Trail is north of mountains. Description of trail is "Making up your mind you start walking up the trail. At first it is quite easy, but as you gain elevation the trail becomes steeper and narrower --- you soon find yourself on an even narrow ledge than when you begain and as you keep moving you know that one missed step means certain death. Do you turn back south or continue north?".

After going north:
say "You are determinded to travel this route and continue inching across the ledge, happy when the trail begins to widen and curve away from the ledge. Suddenly, there is a thunderous crash as a figure emerges from a shadowy crevice in the mountain side. The creature whuffles the air like a hound searching for a trail. It's nose, nearly as broad as your palm and as black as the shadow it's body casts, thrust between some shrubs, nostrils stretching as it sucks down your scent. But more frightening than the huge nose (nearly the height of your chest, you realize) is the line of teeth visible between dark, rubbery lips. Long and jagged, they leave no doubt that they are designed to shred. The beast snorts as it's eyes lock with yours, globs of saliver dripping from its jaws.".
Beast is an animal in the trail.

Stabbing it with is an action applying to two things. 
Understand "stab [something] with [something]" as stabbing it with. 
Understand "stab [something]" as stabbing it with. 



After stabbing beast with sword:
say "Gripping the sword firmly in your fist, you lunge forward and stab the beast. The sword rips through the flesh on it's shoulder, splattering the blade with blood. The animal yowls in pain as sticky, crimson blood oozes from the long gash, matting in it's sleek black pelt. However, the blow appears to have done little beyond infuriating the beast. It bunches it's iron like muscles and leaps, clearing the distance between itself and you in a single, effortless bound. The breath it knocked from your lungs as your back slams into the ground, you struggle beneath the beasts weight, but it's massive paws hold you down. You attempt to stab the creature once more, but it's paw it holding your arm down and you are unable to lift it. The beasts hot breath fans across your face --- it smells of rotting flesh--- as it crains it's neck to sink it's vicious teeth into your shoulder. It bites down until it's teeth scrap along you shoulder bone. Youl howl in pain and writhe around helplessly whilst the beast lifts you from the ground and procceeds to shake you as it holds you captive in it's vice like grip. Now that your arm has been freed, you muster up the last of your strength and aim one more jab at the beast. The sword slices across it's throat and kills the beast in a single slice. As you the creature falls it lands on you, crushing you beneath it's corpse. However, you manage to weakly wriggle out from under it, then lay there, exhausted and on the brink of death. Can you find the strength to continue following the  trail northeast?".

Ledge is a room. Ledge is northeast of trail. Description of ledge is "After several attempts you manage to haul yourself onto shaky legs. You use your good arm to clutch the rocky mountain side as you hobble forwards, your injured arm pinned against your chest. The world is a spinning haze around you, you must have hit your head in the fight. Your covered in the beasts blood and saliva, as well as your own blood, which continues to gush from the bite. With every seconde ticking by you feel yourself weakening and are about to give up when, vaguely, you see what appears to be a cottage northwest of where you're standing.".

Cottage is a room. Cottage is northwest of ledge. 

After going northwest:
say "Suddenly hopeful, you stumble towards the cottage. You barely make it and when you do you fall against the door with a heavy thud and lay on the door step, only half conscious. The creak of the hinges as the door swings open is only a distant sound in your mind, you're vaguely aware of being shifted, and are to weak to fight it. Then everything goes dark. When you awake next the pain in your arm is gone and you find that it has been completely healed; not even a scar remains. A woman with curly black hair it standing over your. Her face is soft, her features delicate. It is the face of someone who see's nothing but beauty in the world. She introduces herself as Safiria ( the witch) and informs you that she has healed your wounds and lifted the curse hanging over your head.";
End the game in victory.