"Tower" by Vivienne Dunstan

[This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 UK: Scotland License]

Include Basic Screen Effects by Emily Short.

When play begins: say "Suddenly the world starts to spin around you and there is a giddying sensation of movement. You close your eyes for a moment, and when you open them you are somewhere else entirely ..."; pause the game.

The Corner of the Garden is a room. "This is the corner of a vast garden stretching far to the south. To the north is a small stone tower. All around the garden mist swirls, giving you an unsettling feeling." Instead of going south in The Corner of the Garden, say "You try to go south, but find yourself quickly disoriented in the swirling mist. You give up and manage to find your way back to the safety of the tower." Instead of going southeast in The Corner of the Garden, say "You try to go southeast, but find yourself quickly disoriented in the swirling mist. You give up and manage to find your way back to the safety of the tower." Instead of going southwest in The Corner of the Garden, say "You try to go southwest, but find yourself quickly disoriented in the swirling mist. You give up and manage to find your way back to the safety of the tower." The tower is scenery in the Corner of the Garden. "The stone-built tower seems to be the only area of the garden free from the swirling mist." The mist is scenery in the Corner of the Garden. "The mist is a strange colour: sometimes green, sometimes, blue, but fundamentally unnatural. Everywhere you look in the garden is covered by it, and, try as you might, you cannot see through it." Garden_scenery is scenery in the Corner of the Garden. "You try to peer into the rest of the garden, but the mist covers everything, obscuring your view." Understand "garden" as garden_scenery. The printed name of garden_scenery is "garden".

The Tower Entrance is north of the Corner of the Garden. "[if unvisited]Stepping inside the tower for the first time your eyes adjust to the gloom. [end if]This is the ground floor of the tower, with no furniture or other home comforts. A small spiral stone staircase curves its way up and into the tower. To the south lies the tower exit." The staircase is scenery in the Tower Entrance. "The stairs are sturdy stone ones, winding upwards into the tower." The tower exit is scenery in the Tower Entrance. "Instead of a door the way out of the tower is a low archway which you duck under on entering and exiting." [Ideally the exit should be a door, but I haven't figured out yet how to code that properly]

The Tower Room is up from the Tower Entrance. "Windows in all directions in this circular room look out over the garden to the south and beyond the garden walls out to sea. In the centre of the room is a desk with a small chair behind it. At the northern end of the room stands a small cupboard. The only other item of note is the spiral staircase, descending below." A small chair and a small cupboard and a desk are scenery in the Tower Room. On the desk is a book. The description of the book is "You flick through the book but cannot understand the language used." The small chair is an enterable supporter. The small cupboard is a closed openable container. "The cupboard is small and made of wood, reflecting fine craftsmanship." A crystal globe is inside the cupboard. The description of the globe is "The globe is a rich red colour, about five inches in diameter, and sits on a firm wooden base." [Might have looking into the globe as a lead into the next sequence. Alternatively I've thought of having a magnifying glass in there and using that to read too-small print in the book]