-- plotHooked
[PH]
began trolling seriousPirate
[SP]
--
PH: KYARIB!
PH: TORENT!!!
PH: ?lease don't be aslee?.
PH: Argh.
PH: ALL HANDS ON DECK! ALL HANDS ON DECK!
SP: im here
SP: wha7
SP: wha7 is going on
PH: First, a question. The swiftest of inquisitive darts! But also, very im?ortant. Have you been talking to Aascam? Do you know if he's ready to start servering you into the game immediately? Once you're done with me?
PH: It's veeeery im?ortant.
SP: i haven7 7alked 7o him in a while
SP: i7s a game
SP: ye should calm down
PH: Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!
PH: No! There is a time for calm and there is a time for a??ro?riate freaking the fuck out!
PH: >;)
PH: Ezreki's hive was hit by a meteor.
SP: if i7s 7ha7 impor7yarr7 i can s7yarr7 playing wi7h ye now
SP: wha7
SP: don7 ye 7wo live a7 7he same moun7ain
PH: Yes. It is now on fire.
SP: shouldn7 ye ge7 ou7 of 7here
SP: ahoy
PH: Ugh, sorry. The meteors falling -- the asteroids? ?ieces of the first meteor, trailing behind? --
PH: -- is disconcerting.
PH: Remember when I said I'd ?lay a game with you, Torent? That you should ?lay more games? That games are awesome?
SP: i 7hink so
PH: All right. This game? This game is awesome. But awesome ...
PH: ... in the sense ? ...
PH: .. that it is?? terrifying.
PH: And I intend to get out of here and ?lay it.
PH: >:)
SP: i7s a game
SP: games can7 be 7errifying
SP: anyway
PH: You're going to hel? me. Connect u?!
SP: should i s7yarr7 i7 up now
PH: BUT!
PH: That's why I want you to make sure Aascam's ready to bring you in!
PH: What the hell good's a chain with one or two links? No good at all. >:(
SP: uh
SP: i haven7 ins7alled 7he game ye7
SP: 7here is clien7 and server
SP: which one
PH: You're my server ?layer, yyyyyessssss?
SP: oh yeahoy
SP: okay i7s ins7alling i7 now
PH: So ?robably the server one right now. >;)
PH: And it's more than a game, Torent!
SP: okay i7s done now
SP: and seems 7o be opening
SP: yeahoy
SP: so 7here is 7his pira7e girl
SP: how do i move
Arethusa: Be the pira7e girl!
Sweet! Okay! You're sitting on what appears to be a balcony. There's a s?yglass of the kind REAL ?IRATES have lying across her la?. The girl's seated cross-legged in front of a husktop. Her hands are folded. Her hair is wild, but ?retty, wave-curly. She does not look particularly as if she has recently been engaging in appropriate emotional theatrics. She also looks less than happy.
But then she smiles and types something on her husktop.
Wow. What a boring game. Gee, dull.
PH: Awwwww!
PH: Do you reeeeallllllllllyyyyyy think I look like a pirate girl?
PH: Arrr!
PH: Also, take a look at the controls u? along the to? of your screen!
PH: And do not ?oke me with the giant cursor thing. Remember how we agreed on that????
SP: wai7 wha7 so i can7 con7rol 7he pira7e
Let's get that hive description out of the way.
Arethusa has a sweet hive. Let's just put that on the table where we both can see it. If he zooms in, and starts ex?loring the hive itself, he'll notice this: there are some twisting, s?iralling stairs, and the lower the level, the HUGER the ceiling s?ace. pH lives in a mountain cathedral, yo. The ?lace has s?ace -- ?robably so her lusus can move around. There he is. Not dead yet. HUMONGOUS. Eyes o?en, tears running down his scale-y jaws into his SMILING MOUTH OF TEETH. He sna?s them as if he knows somebody's watching, which of course he does not, and slithers outside. He'll soon be dead, but he probably doesn't know that. He just knows that his charge is in danger. There are some towers. An observatory, which is where the balcony pH is currently sitting on juts out of. A huge s?yglass. A little dock, although no boat. Maybe because any boat tied there would immediately be swept over the waterfall if the knots loosened or were severed.
The hive's on the edge of a waterfall. That's been mentioned, right? Landscape quite different from what Kyarib is used to. Trees (on fire) and a horizon that includes distant gleam of the sea (not that he'll see that) and little meteorites raining down like the stars went, Fuck this sky shit, I'm headin' to Alternia! Inside!
The recu?eraroom! pHs walls appear to be covered with posters, some of them for games, some of them for such celebrities as Troll Mark Wahlburg, and quite a few of them Dramatic Portrayals of Ships, Seatrolls and Fantastical Historical Moments. Because this is pH, you just know there's a Troll Romeo and Juliet poster or something even GIRLIER and MORE DRAMATIC, and maybe a couple of rainbow banners. The dark "curtains" that contain her recu?eracoon are tied back with rainbow ribbons. There's a har?sichord against one wall. The instrument of aristocratic/royal badasses? Hell yes.
There are some stuffed ?lushes, s?ecifically SEA scalemates and SEA horned goat monsters, a beautiful CASSANOVA SEA MAJESTY LIMITED EDITION PLUSH, with its TRADEMARK SMOULDERING EYES and FABULOUS OUTFIT, a cou?le of game manuals, tons of notebooks, some scattered inkwells, fancy looking pens, loads of storybooks, an extra huskto?, decks of cards, dice, fairywings, some ?oor troll's horns dangling from a door, some windchimes that look shi?-themed, ro?e, and in some of the other rooms, ?ieces of tra?s, ?lanks of wood for shi?s, little motors and gadgets, glass lenses, broken clocks, more s?y glasses of various shapes and sizes, a lot of boxes and chests with locks on them, a cou?le of keys. A FLAR? costume, all lace and ?iratical awesome.
...And hooks. Hanging from the ceiling, in some room. ?erfect for leaving somebody on to die. --
SP: okay le7 me 7ry 7o do some7hing
KYARIB: Do something.
You then proceed to rip out the toilet seat and drop it down the mountain.
Because what else would you do?
SP: oops
PH: What did you do? >:|
SP: aye im still warming up
SP: i apparently ripped a toilet seat off
PH: ????????????????????????????????????????????????
SP: le7 me 7ry some7hing else
PH: Hahaha! It's fine! I ?robably won't be using the loadga?er anytime soon!
PH: Wait, Kyarib!!! Uh, remember our deal about the walls, right? You really don't need to look at anything. If you'd just de?loy the gadgety things...
SP: aye
SP: wha7s an alchemi7er
SP: or wha7ever ill place i7 anyway
Kyarib: DEPLOY ALCHEMITER.
You place the alchemiter on the balcony, making the door back to the hive rather narrow
SP: fi7s righ7 in 7here
SP: revise
SP: le7s 7ry 7ha7 one ou7
Arethusa: Examine alchemiter.
Arethusa seems to be gazing at the narrow "door" left. She tries to squeeze through, but her hooked horn catches on the doorway, and then she wriggles out again and kicks the machine with GREAT FEELING.
Kyarib: Continue to get a feel for the controls.
You do! You use the reviser to extend the space on the balcony, giving it a L like shape. The rail stays at its previous place though.
PH: Tooooorent!
SP: wha7
PH: They're not all going to fit u? here, even with revisions! I need to get through that door, damn it!
SP: could ye s7op roleplaying
PH: Can you try to move it just a liiiiiiiittle?
SP: 7hinking 7he chyarrac7er is ye s7resses me a bi7
SP: hold on i go7 7his
Arethusa: facepalm x2 combo
Kyarib: Be a responsible server player.
What? Nope. Kyarib uses the reviser to extend the balcony a bit further so the alchemizer fits in there, then moves the alchemiter there. He is nothing if not a gentleman. A pirate-y gentleman. So, uh, not very gentlemanly at all, and, uh, arr! He'll cull ye!
SP: moving 7he game 7hings seems 7o cos7 us 7hough
SP: 7his gris7 s7uff
PH: Right. I don't actually know if that's going to become difficult to obtain later on, or if it's going to be too im?ortant once you've been heroic and hel?ed me sli? away from the inferno raging on the mountainside.
PH: And ?robably the inevitable meteor, ?lummetting toward this location, like a ?irate who knows ...
PH: ... X? ...
PH: ... marks the s?ot.
PH: I wouldn't use too much of it.
PH: All we really need is to de?loy all of the machines, take the ?re-?unched card, create a totem, and use that totem to...
PH: I'm still not sure.
SP: um ok
PH: >:) You're doing fine!
Kyarib: Continue doing fine.
You deploy a totem lathe indoors, blocking some of Arethusa's posters.
SP: okay ye should move yer chyarrac7er inside
SP: i made a new machine 7here
SP: 7here seems 7o s7ill be one machine lef7
PH: Right. My "character."
Kyarib: Put the cruxtruder in the best place imaginable.
You place the cruxtruder right next to Arethusa's lusus.
The GIGANTIC (draconic, if you will) CROCODILE opens its mouth to yawn. Hey, look. The whole cruxtruder could totally fit inside the monster's mouth. Maybe if it inhales too deeply that's totally what's going to happen. (No it's not.)
SP: 7here is a mons7er downs7airs by 7he way
SP: i placed 7he las7 machine nex7 7o i7
SP: for challange
PH: Torent! Remember when Ezreki said that in the game WE become the characters, or however he ?ut it?
SP: he did
PH: That you would be the ?irate because you are a ?irate????
SP: ye mean ye yarren7 roleplaying
PH: Yes, he did. ?retend he did, if he didn't. He said that. Because it is true! The game isn't in the huskto?. It's not even like FLAR?. The game is real.
PH: There is no role?laying here. There is only dead, grim seriousity, cou?led with a rakish air of determination!
PH: ... oh god.
PH: You ?ut it next to Croc?o?????
SP: so 7he mons7er is yer lusus
SP: i hope i7s no7 angry
SP: o7herwise good luck
Arethusa: Why aren't you answering?
You went into your room to investigate Torent's 'changes' to your decor. Life is threatened. Danger is imminent. The sky is on fire. You've just accidentally killed one of your best friends or whatever. It's the perfect time to STARE IN DISMAY at your POOR BLOCKED POSTERS.
And is that -- oh god, not Seasnuffles???? Did Torent put the Totem lathe on Seasnuffles??????
Yes. Yes he did.
Kyarib: Now what?
You are a pirate, and pirates dont sit around being useless. He decides its a good time to make room for any future machines and clears the troll respective of a bathroom out of bathtubs and whatnot and sends them down the mountain
SP: oh 7his cyarrd 7hing is a free one
Arethusa: Hey. Hey. Someone's trolling you. See who it is.
-- aspirantExegesist [AE] began pestering plotHooked [PH]--
AE: {Arethusa!}
AE: {Are you still here?}
AE: {ARETHUSA APPELLOFF, if you have been killed by a meteor while still logged into Trollian I will NEVER FORGIVE YOU.}
AE: {That is not true, I am sorry. Please do not be dead, please.}
PH: I am not dead!
PH: And my, myyyy.
PH: I am...
PH: I am confounded by the timing of this, your assertion of a ca?acity for the holding of unyielding grudges, even if you snatch the assertion away with your very next breath!
PH: Have your eyes started glowing green again?
AE: {Oh thank goodness.}
PH: U?on reflection, that really seems a worrying develo?ment.
AE: {No, they are not glowing at present.}
AE: {But that is unimportant.}
AE: {I have found a walkthrough for you that seems especially thorough.}
PH: Worrying insofar as it is strange. I believe traditionally glowing eyes herald Doom and Destruction! Which, while fun sometimes, is not at ?rese... Oh?
AE: {In fact it did not even require any editing for clarity!}
AE: {I am truly astonished by the author's mastery of non-fiction. }
PH: ?sht. Non-fiction.
PH: Non-fiction washes down best with a long draught of dece?tion, lies, half-truths and ?ossibilities not quite ?roven either way.
PH: Historical non-fiction! >:)
AE: {Let us agree to disagree on this point.}
-- aspirantExegesist [AE] wants to send a file --
-- plotHooked [PH] accepts the file --
AE: {Read through -- I feel more certain than ever that Ezreki is not dead, but has in fact entered the "Medium."}
PH: Sure
AE: {So, when playing with Kyarib, please make certain to direct him to deploy the machines as quickly -- and in as close proximity to each other -- as possible, in order to facilitate your own entry into said Medium.}
AE: {Your response smacks of dubious indulgence(1).}
AE: {(1)Words which here mean that you sound listless(2) and disbelieving.}
AE: {(2)A word which here does not indicate the absence of lists, but rather the absence of emotional investment.}
PH: Ha! Too late on the first count. Kyarib ?ut the Cruxtruder next to Croc?o?.
PH: The Alchemiter is u? here on the Balcony of Observation and Star Contem?lation.
PH: Fortunately!
PH: My banisters are excellent for s?eedy slidings. >:) Screw stairs!
PH: For weaklings and wigglers!!!!
AE: {...Are you able to speedily slide UP banisters?}
PH: Lamia. You're a well-connected troll, right? You're ...
PH: ... usually u? on the news? Can read between lines? You are the mistress of clarity, right????
AE: {I aspire to be so.}
PH: Then it should be am?ly clear...
PH: ...that I?
PH: Will sim?ly be making Gravity my devoted, if unwilling, little abettor. My minion, if you will. And do minions get to tell their Glorious Imperatrix what to do? How quickly they might ascend?
PH: No. No they do not.
AE: {It is clear to me that our notions of clarity differ from each other in certain key respects.}
AE: {Nevertheless, I am confident in your abilities to tell the laws of Troll physics to sit down and hush up.}
PH: >:)
AE: {Well, you have the file. I would recommend sharing it with Kyarib when you get a moment. Let me know if you have any questions; I shall attempt to be strategic about this and begin mapping out Pepeir's tree-house and mine as best I can, to eventually allow Ezreki to deploy things with a minimum of fuss.}
AE: {I fully expect that my plans for easeful entry will be entirely foiled by plot-knots and twists of circumstance, but that is no reason not to attempt to prepare.}
PH: Lamia
PH: Blargh
PH: Yes, that sounds very good! Scammy's able to be ?retty res?onsible. Touch base with him!
PH: Want Torent to make it in all ri --
AE: {What? Why would I touch anything to do with that rapscallion? Ugh!}
AE: {But I suppose the walkthrough needs to be shared with everyone, before he takes it into his head to start charging for it.}
PH: For Gideon's Great Goatballs's Sake. I need to go in a moment.
PH: Why wouldn't you touch anything to do with that ra?scallion? He's great! >:)
PH: Also ...
PH: ... You sent me ?e?eir.
PH: I think you can manage Aascam.
AE: {Don't expect me to believe for one moment that Pepeir has done anything but provide you with ample amusement and fic-fodder.}
AE: {But yes, I can certainly manage Aascam.}
AE: {But, all the same, what was that charming agglomeration of letters you used recently to indicate your disgust?}
AE: {"Blargh"?}
AE: {Blargh.}
PH: You know...
PH: Before
PH: Ezreki was going to a?ologize. ?rooooobably. Maybe. For dissing my ?e?eir/Ezreki <3< ?airing.
PH: In which case, ?e?eir totally almost made Ezreki's theoretical last s?eech a STU?ID one, because all of that ?rotesting only made the shi? more a?t to be taken as canon!
PH: ALSO ?e?eir -- ugh. He is one confused troll.
PH: Holy shit, is he infiltrating MY last words now???????
PH: That cunning bastard!!!!!!
AE: {Goodness. One could almost hope that Ezreki were actually in fact dead, that he might be spared such an indignity. }
AE: {It would be a rather exceptional plot-twist for Pepeir's demeanour to be a cunning facade wrought to confuse his opponents into underestimating him.}
PH: SIGH.
PH: And SIGH again, but with a different TONE of SIGH.
PH: Yes, yes it would be! S?eaking of ?lot-twists, I'm going to ?ay attention to Torent again!
PH: God I ho?e he hasn't looked too closely at
PH: Uh
PH: Right
PH: Later!
PH: >:)
-- plotHooked [PH] ceases trolling aspirantExegesist [AE] --
Meanwhile, downstairs ...
The monster-crocodile noses the cruxtruder. Snorts. Noses it again, harder.
And POP goes the weasel. A bright, flickery light -- a sigil just like the one Torent probably saw while he was installing the client -- starts flashing, firefly like, rainbow colors. Also, hey. Look. The machine's come to life. With a COUNTDOWN.
Kyarib: Continue being a good server player.
You deploy pre-punched card next to the alchemiter.
SP: wai7 wha7s 7ha7 ligh7 did ye do some7hing
SP: wha7s 7ha7 fireball
PH: ...fireball?
PH: What fireball?????????
SP: 7he 7hing 7ha7 came ou7 of 7he device
SP: 7here is a coun7down in 7here 7oo now
PH: ?????!!!!!!!!!!!!!?????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!????????????????????????
PH: No, it'll be fine.
PH: ... How much time...
PH: ... is left?
PH: On the countdown??
SP: uh
SP: righ7 now i7s a7 7 45
SP: or was
SP: i7s going down all 7he 7ime
PH: Er. Like. T: 45. As in, nothing 45? Or 1:45?
SP: as i said
SP: 7 45
PH: All right. So, it's to be a race. Fine! It will be challenging! Torent, while I'm getting the cruxite dowel, making the totem, get Aascam ready for you!
PH: >;) Unless, of course, I fail. Which I shan't! Who needs luck when you've got daring, right?
SP: righ7
SP: ill have 7o wai7 for 7ha7
SP: and besides if im going 7o do 7hese same s7eps i7d be good for me 7o observe
PH: All right.
PH: So it's a race.
PH: Fine! It will be challenging. Torent, while I'm getting the cruxite dowel, making the totem, get Aascam ready for you!
SP: alrigh7
PH: While I'm doing my thing, find something with a face to dro? into the glowing 'fireball.'
PH: ...Doing that a??arently makes a game guide.
SP: ill 7ry 7o figure some7hing ou7
Arethusa: Prepare to be daring!
No. You don't "prepare" to be daring. Because you're naturally daring all the time, of course! You were just made that way!
You make certain to captchalog your husktop before you head downstairs. You're not an idiot.
Power: Go out.
Aw, man. The server (Kyarib) can still see his client (Arethusa), at least. The montage of Arethusa being action girl adventure-y, backlit by fire, sliding down bannisters, and the vast, terrifying, labyrinthine hive would be pretty much an excellent example of badass montages. Too bad nobody'll ever see it and even its description is kind of half-assed.
==>
At the lowest level, the GIGANTIC CROCODILE (an early form of CERTAIN SPECIES of ALTERNIAN DRAGONS, or so some Exegesist's will tell you) almost glows in the dark.
The crocodile completely blocks the cruxtruder.
ARETHUSA: PREPARE FOR STRIFE!
You do. Just in case.
You know better than anyone not to ever EVER ever EVER ever EVER trust a crocodile -- especially a smiling one. You're actually more afraid of your lusus than you are of meteoric death.
PH: Let me ?ass, Dad! This is serious business.
Arethusa: Aww. Hug your lusus. It's cute!
Are you crazy? You unequip STRIFE s?ecibus when Croc?o? a??arently starts to slither forward, o?ening his HUGE SMILING JAWS. You quickly Engage in some trickery, swinging like INDIANA JONES (not that you know who that is) over the damned Crocodile's head.
IS HE DONE COMFORTING? PROBABLY NOT.
But you are now by Cruxtruder.
PH: Ha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
==>
Arethusa spins the wheel-thing to make the Cruxite Dowel blue cylinder thing, trying not to look at the timer.
SP: uh oh
SP: don7 worry i go7 7his
Kyarib: Show us how you 'got this.'
You grab a chandelier with intention to knock Arethusa's lusus out.
However, in Kyaribs hive a lusus called Polly is getting restless. It could be assumed that he is sensing danger?
Polly: Want a cracker?
Polly does his usual thing, which is pecking Kyarib in the head. But this is no time for a peckoff, this game is actually getting interesting!
The chandelier is accidentally thrown at a wall, where it hits a nasty looking crack received when a certain meteor obliterated another blueblooded troll's nearby hive. A nasty looking crack gets nastier setting off a Rube Goldbergesque chain of events that ...
Nah. It's okay. How much damage could it do?
Pirate v. Parrot: How's that going?
The pirate is purposedly attacking at the parrot, giving the parrot a nasty looking stabwound
Uh oh. Looks serious. The nastiness of the stabs was not intended though.
It was an accident
But Kyarib didn't realize this, and kept attacking until the pecking stopped
When kyarib cleared out of the rage, it was already too late.
A pirate was shocked.
SP: uh
SP: every7hing is fine
SP: my lusus especially
SP: he is doing very well
SP: how is yer lusus doing
SP: whoa
Whoa? What 'whoa'?
The room has been destroyed. Part of the wall has caved in. Part of the staircase has broken off. The break looks suspiciously Nasty Crack shaped.
The Crocodile looks pretty dead.
Probably something to do with the piece of banister in its eye, looking like an ornate fancypants gigantic hero sword.
Or the rubble. Or the particularly large chunk of wall which ...
Which decapitated it? What the fuck?
SP: did 7he me7eor hi7
SP: oh no
Whoa.
Kyarib will notice -- eventually -- that the sprite thing is (in a great PANIC about SOMETHING, probably much like FeatherFather, he is PANICKED about the doom falling in -- five minutes now?) flashing around Arethusa's head like a fairy.
Also, that Arethusa is not dead.
Although she looks pretty shocked. And is covered in her lusus's blood. And is just kind of staring.
SP: oh 7hank gog yere s7ill here
SP: 7he fireball is 7rying 7o kill ye 7hough hold on ill ge7 i7
Kyarib: Show us how you'll 'get' it.
You scrambles the cursor at the rubble, picking up a crocodile head. He then proceeds to throw the head at the fireball.
Arethusa: So, uh, how are you doing?
...You never liked your guardian anyway. If you're being honest with yourself, he gave you a complex. You can't trust anybody. Tears and smiles are both lies. You're always worried about being "comforted." There were the suspiciously Trollshaped things stuck in its teeth sometimes. Between your lusus and Ezreki, it's no wonder you're so lacking in shyness. Everybody nearby tended to die horribly, so you had to be pretty outgoing if you were going to make friends.
All to say that it's REALLY somewhat SATISFYING, seeing him dead! If a bit shocking.
But there are also now only five minutes to get up to your recuperacoon room now that some of the stairs have fallen in, and from there, to the balcony to make the item that will hopefully end this cursed level.
You fetch your husktop in order to see if Torent has said anything. Only then, do you glance up just as Kyarib decides to take care of business.
HOLY SHIT, WHAT, THE HEAD IS ALIVE AND IT'S COMING STRAIGHT FOR HER (and the sprite) OH MY GOD WHAT.
ALL THE NIGHTMARES. ALL OF THEM. ALDFDLHDFJW.
The crocodile head, banster through the eye and everything, meets with the kernelsprite.
There's a flash of light.
PH: [spoken] AAAAAAAAARGHHH!!! TOOOOOOOORENT NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SP: did we lose 7he game
SP: i don7 7hink 7he me7eor hi7 ye7
SP: when i zoom ou7 mos7 of yer hive is fine o7her 7han 7he one collapsed wall
Kyarib: What hast thou wrought?
Instead of a flickering fireball, Arethusa is now being pestered by a smiling, pretty sinister-looking crocodile sprite. Witty name forthcoming. Ditto, witty descri?tion. At least it has one eye? Maybe? It a??ears to be trying to hovering. Whoa, is that -- DROOL, dri??ing off of its teeth?
PH: >:(
PH: We did not lose the game.
PH: I'm about to be a badass.
PH: Kyarib, I im?lore you...
PH: ...I beseech thee...
PH: ...I would be on bended knee, if there was time for such things!
PH: ...?lease, ?lease, ?lease… find something else, something adorable, ANYTHING else ...
PH: ...and throw it at THIS. Maybe a second ?rototy?ing will make it less
PH: ...horrifying.
SP: ill 7ry
PH: Kiss something for luck, Torent! And just so we're clear, it was always extremely fun, ?lotting shi?s with you!
PH: Hee, Hee! For a number of reasons!
The clock is ticking. Maybe get a move on already.
UPSTAIRS, YO! Back to the room! Totem Lathe carving. It happens.
==>
Kyarib grabs one of pH's plushies and throws it at the crocosprite, not knowing 2nd prototypings pre-entry only do harm. A number of shenanigans are gone through. The crocosprite doesn't seem to want to be prototyped with something cute and cuddly.
Four minutes becomes two. Two minutes becomes one.
Ah hah! Cassanova Sea Majesty Plush and Crocosprite become one! A flash of light; a new friend.
Very Large Meteor: Obliterate everything.
Not yet. But soon.
==>
The situation seems stressful. Good thing this is just a ga--oh hey, wait.
Arethusa uses the pre-punched card + cruxite dowel (yay!) to make the LEVEL DEFEATING OBJECT (yay!) which will somehow (she hopes) save her from a fiery ddoom death! What fantastical object could it be??????
Huh.
[7 seconds.]
A ... Troll heart.
[5 seconds.]
What is she supposed
[4.]
to do with this?
Arethusa: C'mon. You know this one.
You break the heart.
(Or maybe you "open" the heart in a metaphorically appropriate to entering an adventure way. Whichever interpretation floats your boat.)
Arethusa: Enter.
You are in the Medium.
====>
