label the_boatman: window hide with Pause(1) show text "The Boatman" with dissolve with Pause(2) hide text with dissolve window show show woods zorder 1 with dissolve """ The boat that comes to a slow stop beside you is of an old make - the kind of thing even Lotoskans abandoned a long time ago - but it has clearly been maintained well. The man who hails you - a casual lifting of his hand to the tip of his wide-brimmed hat - does so from a bed of flowers, so many packed in around him that they spill over the side of what should be a two-person boat. """ show boatmanimg zorder 4 with dissolve: xalign 0.05 yalign 0.25 "Boatman" "Good to see you. I don't know what has brought about this meeting, but I shan't waste it with pointless questions." "The man is difficult to understand, his accent thick and archaic. You wonder if he is putting it on, but it is too wrong, containing too many sounds that have been lost. It is precisely because you do not recognise it that you know that it must be genuine." "Boatman" """ I would love to get straight to the talk, but I suppose you're wondering who this mysterious man in a boat filled with flowers is, eh? Well I'm sorry to tell you that you'll have to be satisfied with simply knowing in time. I wouldn't call seeing me now an honour. I don't like to be immodest and besides I don't think it's true! But I do think it would be bad form to give you more than I already have from just being here. I promise you, I don't like being cryptic. So come here, leave that fishing for a moment and sit on the bank closer to me and we can talk about more important things. I want to hear about how you all are coping with this dreadful night. """ menu: "*Tell the strange man about the town, but stay where you are*": $c=3 "The man nods as soon as it is clear that you are not going to join him." "Boatman" "Quite right. Your work should come first. But please, do continue." $game.BoatmanKeptFishing = "True" $game.town_stability +=1 $c=4 "*Leave your fishing and sit on the bank near the strange man while you tell him about the town*": $c=2 "The strange man smiles kindly as you sit down next to his boat. It is odd, sitting next to the small vessel while the strange man listens above you. Possibly in an attempt to make you feel more relaxed, he leans forward and pours you out a couple of fingers of spirit, leaving it easily within your reach but doing nothing to try to persuade you to drink." $game.BoatmanKeptFishing = "False" $game.occult_connection +=1 $c=4 "*Ignore the strange man, pack up your fishing and return to town*": $c=1 "The man lets out a long sigh as you hastily grab your equipment." "Boatman" """ I suppose you have the right of it. I hope you don't know why, but I suppose that you do. Probably best that this conversation never took place. Forgive a lonely man his little follies. Now that I've got this thing stopped it will take some time to dislodge myself from the bank, but I'll be gone by the time you want to come back. """ #modify if game.town_stability >= 8: "Boatman" "Good luck to your and yours." else: "Boatman" "Good luck to your and yours. From what I've seen, I sadly think you'll need it." $game.town_stability +=1 $game.occult_connection -=1 if c==4: """ You tell the man, in brief, about the trials and tribulations of life in the darkness. He waits silently and attentively until you are finished, then asks a handful of questions, \"What's the inn called now?\", \"How is Joan faring?\" and \"Would you say that you are happy?\", which you try to answer to the best of your ability. """ if game.BoatmanKeptFishing == "False": "The smell of the flowers in the man's boat is almost overpowering and when you began speaking you almost choked on the strength of the beautiful, sweet scent. But now that the boatman is leaning towards you to ask his questions, you catch something else, something that is lost as soon as you have it, something watery and rotten." """ You have never seen this man before and, although you can see little of his face, you do not remember anyone speaking of anyone who fits his description. But it is clear that he has better than a passing knowledge of Lotosk, although most of what he knows is old and even that is patchy. Eventually you both fall into silence, the boatman tilting his head back and looking up at the stars. """ "Boatman" """ No, the honour has been mine tonight. I rarely get the chance to speak with anyone like you. I've enjoyed it. Thank you for indulging me. I suppose it's only fair that I tell you a little thing about this town in return. The story is about what you used to do before you buried your dead in the ground. Now you've been doing that since the Kingdom conquered this place all that time ago, so certainly you've been doing it ever since the Republic has been trying to unite the cultures of all the people in their lands. But a long time ago now, when someone died around here, they would be sent off on this river, or so the tale goes. The community would come together and make a little raft and cover it with flowers and spices and spirits. That was what doctors used to use, flowers and spices to cover the smells and spirits to clean things out. And to have a little tipple I'm sure. The story goes that once the raft was out of sight, the spirits of the forest and the river and such would have their first pick of the gifts. And then the person, the body to put it crudely, would somehow get the second pick, with whatever was left going to whatever it was that steered the whole thing down to wherever it was going. Must have been nice, don't you think? Better than being stuck in a hole. It's the feeling of the water under me that matters to me, much better than having earth pressing down from above that's for sure. And all those flowers and spices and spirits, spirits for the spirits eh? That would have been good too. Nice to know that people cared. Or maybe just nice to have a tipple and a few nice smells. I must apologise, that wasn't much of a story was it? Ah well, I've always been much better at listening than I have been at talking. """ #modify if game.town_stability < 7: "Boatman" """ As I said, it's been an honour. But you should get back to work. Seems to me, from what I can see, you've got an uphill struggle. Still, worse things than getting outside and using your hands. Oh, don't mind me. I'll have a time getting this thing moving again, now that I've run her so close to the shore, but I'll manage. I always have before and there isn't anything special that's going to stop me this time. I'll see you later [game.player_name]. But until then, work hard. """ else: "Boatman" """ As I said, it's been an honour. But you should get back to work. From what little I've seen, you're doing it well. Oh, don't mind me. I'll have a time getting this thing moving again, now that I've run her so close to the shore, but I'll manage. I always have before and there isn't anything special that's going to stop me this time. I'll see you later [game.player_name]. But until then, live well. """ hide boatmanimg with dissolve hide woods with dissolve return