label thestatues:
window hide
with Pause(1)
show text "The Statues" with dissolve
with Pause(2)
hide text with dissolve
window show
show woods zorder 1 with dissolve
"""

A skirmish of frozen figures, seven on one side, four on the other.

On one side six of the seven are conscripted soldiers; on the other side they all are.  On the one side, all seven wear immaculate uniforms.  The uniforms of the four on the other side are rough, with missing buttons, a rip at the knee and crudely patched elbows.

You are not really sure, but you believe that the four are from the Republic.  Your brother was signed on for the last war and you remember him talking about the uniform he would get when he went south.

The leader of the seven stands at the back of his group, his fingers curled around the edges of his cap, pointing to the enemies his forces have already engaged.

Only one man has been hit, one of the four, bent double into a bayonet attached to a rifle held by a boy whose expression is a flash of pride and shock.

One of the injured man's comrades looks at him, her face nothing but a scream, her eyes not watching the next blade coming for her, poorly aimed at the side of her head.  Another stands behind her, his hand on her shoulder.  His face had cracked, only half of a snarl recognisable.  Ice, snow and rain have made it so you will never tell whether it contains more fear or hatred.

But the last of the four looks away.  Her cap has protected her face from the elements, preserving her hope and wonder.  Her eyes, the most striking part of the entire tableau, stare into the river.

Where you see nothing.

A bird flies past you, chirping with anger, to lie in its little nest in the captain's upturned hat.

You take a half step backwards to take it all in.

Statues.

Defaced by ice and snow.
"""
menu:

    "Attempt to clear the statues of damaging ice and snow.":
        $c=5
        "You kneel down and spend some time, your fingers freezing even through thick gloves, pushing snow out of crevices and chipping ice out of cracks."

        "???"  "It is kind, but I believe they no longer care."

        """

        You spin around, although you are not sure that the voice came from behind you.  It may have done, but as you walk away later, you will realise that you have no sense of where it did come from.

        There is no-one on the river bank and when you turn back around, no-one ahead of you.  Even the statues are gone.  You are alone again amongst the ice and snow.
        """

        $game.status_statues = "Clean" 
        $game.occult_connection +=4


    "Examine the bird's nest in the captain's hat.":
        $c=1
        """

        You approach the captain, coming close enough to see the fear in the arch of his brow.  

        The little bird in the nest lets out a little flurry of song and then darts up and away.

        The nest is simple twigs, old and almost mushy in their bowl of snow, and yet they perfectly cushion the single egg that lies in their centre.

        It is larger than you had expected, far larger, you know, than that bird could have produced.  

        You pick it up gently and are immediately glad that you did.  You can tell just by holding it that the shell is thinner than most paper and there is nothing inside that would offer any resistance.

        Not to say that the egg is empty.  There is something in there, something small but heavy, which rattles slightly within the hollow egg as you turn it gently around, finally placing it to rest in the centre of your palm.
        """
        menu:
            "Crack the egg open.":
                $c=2
                """

                You gently push against the top of the shell and feel it crumble into itself.

                Something brassy shines within the cracked egg.

                A bullet.

                You look up with surprise, as if expecting some kind of trick.  All you see is that the statues are gone and once again you are alone in the snow.
                """

                $game.status_statues = "Bullet"  
                $game.occult_connection +=1


            "Wrap it up safely and put it in a pocket.":
                $c=3
                """

                You delicately wrap the egg in a piece of loose fabric and tuck it gently into a pocket.

                Satisfied the precious thing in your care will be safe, you look up to see that the statues are gone and you are once again alone in the snow.
                """

                $game.status_statues = "Egg"  
                $game.town_stability +=1



    "Wade into the water where the woman is looking.":
        $c=6
        """

        You wade into the freezing cold water, your skin screaming and then quickly becoming numb.  Your clothes begin to dance around you, floating away and then catching on themselves, rippling back until their unhurried impact drives them away again.

        You do not realise how deep you have gone until the water against your skull feels like fire, the water in your ears giving you that brief, roaring moment between the world of the land and the world of the water.

        Your eyes are closed, you can feel them freezing tight.

        No, not freezing.  As your hair floats around your head, all movement stops.  This is more than freezing.

        This is petrifying.

        Panic, a snap, and then the maddening cold again, your muscles free and pulling yourself back towards the shore, where the statues are gone as if they had never been, your clothes heavy and dragging.

        But in your core, a stillness.  A seed of rock.  A force, not a desire but a statement that things will not change.  A little fleeting nugget of eternity.

        This, what you are, will endure.  Not forever, but for longer than it was meant to.  For better or for worse, it is done.
        """

        $game.status_statues = "Swim"  
        $game.occult_connection +=2  
        $game.town_stability -=1



hide woods with dissolve

return