The Amulet It has taken you many years of research alone to track down the ancient crypt of the legendary Lord An. With luck, you have made it this far to the anteroom of the crypt itself. Buried with Lord An is the amulet of An. The amulet itself is a blood red ruby the size of a man's fist. Valuable beyond imagination, the amulet was also used as a focus of power for the Lord An. To you, as a war mage, some of its lesser properties will provide you with a great boost. But first, you must obtain the amulet without being killed. Your research has already indicated that going into the chamber is automatic death. You will have to find another way to bring it out. [Type 'spells' or 'x me' to list the spells you still know.] [Type 'notes' for the author's notes.] notes This game was intended to be either a 1 hour or clever 1 room game. However, at the end of 1 hour, it was discovered that I was being too ambitious to get everything coded in an hour. The 1 room game qualification also relied a little too heavily on specific interpretations of a 1 room game. I.e. there are 2 rooms here; however you as a player must remain in the first. Then along comes a great forum idea; the three hour competition. Taking into consideration that I've already spent an hour on this taf, I've just been given two more! Well, here I sit on my last hour & I still don't think that I'll stuff everything that I wanted to. But the taf is completeable. There is two tech demo items in this taf for myself. The first is the spell system that tracks spells "in memory". The player can 'cast spell on object' and the spell no longer shows up as known. The player can relearn the spells by reading through his spell book. The second tech demo is the ability to examine objects in another room from the 1st room. This involves some detailed work with dynamic objects in the rooms that the object does not exist. Hopefully, the smoke and mirrors approach keeps the all-important mimesis. I've no intentions of taking this small game any further. I've excited about the opportunity of taking it off of my "almost completed" list and actually be able to submit it to a competition. Thank you, Daniel Hiebert (Tech) www.eipublishing.com eipub@eipublishing.com spells The following spells are still in your memory: Levitate Turn Undead look north Looking into the crypt you see... Crypt of Lord An Inside of an open stone sarcophagus, the ancient remains of Lord An stand. Clothed in tattered rags, Lord An's remains do not look as old as they are. Around his neck, the Lord An's blood red ruby amulet sparkles in the firelight. Perched atop the stone sarcophagus is a mummified bat. A thin unsheathed silver blade lies next to the remains. l Crypt Anteroom Fifteen feet on a side, this is the anteroom to the crypt of the Lord An, legendary war mage. The crypt can be seen to the north through an archway ten feet across. Runic markings are engraved into the stones around the archway. Light is provided by roaring flames held by iron stands to each side of the archway. To the south is a stone stairway leading up to the crypt exit. Runic markings are engraved around the doorway. A human skeleton lies half buried in the floor in the corner of the room. Perched atop the stone sarcophagus is a mummified bat. examine human skeleton The lack of flesh or cloth indicates that this skeleton has been here for an extremely long time. search human skeleton Poking through the remains of the skeleton, you find some iron fittings and a long piece of wood. Both probably belonged to some weapon this adventurer carried. i You are carrying the spell book, a four foot piece wood and the iron fittings. cast levitate on ruby Casting the levitate spell onto the amulet, you see the amulet rise from around the Lord An's neck. Momentarily hung up, the gold chain jostles the skeleton until the amulet floats free. Disturbing the amulet wakens the mummified bat from its perch atop the sarcophagus. With a piercing shriek, it flies straight towards you with outstretched claws. l Crypt Anteroom Fifteen feet on a side, this is the anteroom to the crypt of the Lord An, legendary war mage. The crypt can be seen to the north through an archway ten feet across. Runic markings are engraved into the stones around the archway. Light is provided by roaring flames held by iron stands to each side of the archway. To the south is a stone stairway leading up to the crypt exit. Runic markings are engraved around the doorway. A human skeleton lies half buried in the floor in the corner of the room. Swooping back and forth in an agitated manner, an ancient mummified bat attempts to rake out your eyes and throat with each pass. On the last pass, the mummified bat barely misses digging its claws into your eye socket. cast turn undead on bat A warm orange aura blazes from your outstreched hand towards the flying bat. Engulfing the bat, it shrieks in pain as the magic causes the bat to disintegrate mid-air. Its ashes float down gently across the floor of the room. take ruby amulet Using the four foot piece of wood, you're able to hook the amulet and bring it over to you from the crypt. Gleefully, you snatch the amulet from mid-air and quickly hang it around your neck. u Bounding up the stone stairway two steps at a time, you feel the hair on your head and neck stand up straight. Lightning arcs out from the runic markings along the wall and are warped to the around your body to where the ruby amulet hangs from your neck. With a sharp crack and sizzle, the lightning is absorbed barely touching your chest. Soon you reach the surface and break out into the light of day. You look down in glee at the glistening blood red treasure hanging around your neck. Filled with pride and importance, you walk back towards town with it displayed prominently outside your robes. After a while, doubts seep into your head as you think about how many others will attempt to rob you of your power. Slipping your amulet underneath your robes, you head back into town apprehensive, yet triumphant! Congratulations! [The End]