With utmost stealth you shadow the straw-hat man as he winds his way through the forest. He leads you all over the countryside, over gullies, across streams, and even through an abandoned village.
He must have known you were tailing him because at some point you lose his trail. Lacking any other thing to do you find your way back to the crossroads.
You can't help but think you almost stumbled onto something important.
Figures you pick the branch I've barely written anything for.
Jerks!
You turn down the path and follow it for about an hour when it intersects with a wide road, big enough for two carriages to pass by each other without issue, constructed of interlocking stone blocks, many of which have engravings of historic events on them.
This must be what is commonly known as The King's Teeth. The craftsmanship of this road is without equal in all the nation, and it's said the blocks are rooted so deeply into the ground that the road will last until the end of time.
Seems a bit unrealistic, but you have to admit that this road is as flat as a pancake and perfectly level to boot.
You notice a caravan in the distance, trundling lazily down the road toward you.
There's always something going on in the big city, so you decide to head on over there and see if you can't find something to satiate your addiction to adventure.
It takes you several hours to reach the city walls, and what a set of walls they are! Troy's defenses have nothing on the stone that surrounds the nation's capital, thousands of blocks of stone surrounding an expansive city, with a river running right through the center.
As you approach the massive city gates two guards wielding spears stop you. Odd, since a series of wagons seem to move through without a problem.
"Who do we have here?"
"Yeah, kid, what's your deal?"
You tell the guards that you want to enter the city, that you've been walking all day and you'd like to get in and find a place to stay.
"Is that right? He wants to get some sleep inside the city?"
"I don't know, he looks kind of suspicious... What do you think man?
"We have had those string of unsolved murders lately, it is awful strange for a guy to be sneaking around alone out here."
As you attempt to tell the guards that you weren't sneaking around and you definitely don't know anything about any murders you get the impression that something's strange about the two of them, but you can't really put your finger on it.
They look you over.
"I suppose he doesn't have anything to do with it."
"Ya think?"
"Probably."
"Well... alright, I suppose."
Your eyes glance over at the gate, it looks like they're about to close it for the night.
"Oh, that doesn't mean we can let you in buddy, gate's closed for the night."
"Yeah, no entry after nightfall unless you make an appointment ahead of time."
"I take it you don't have an appointment?"
"Plainly he doesn't."
"Tough luck kid."
"Yeah, tough luck."
Come on! The gate's still open. Damn big-headed guards...
Options...
> Screw these guys, make a dash for the gate.
> Follow the wall around the city, maybe you can find a different way in.
The walls tower over you as you make your way around the perimeter of the city, being careful to stay in the shadows when you pass by guard stations.
You figure a lone guy snooping around the walls at night is somewhat suspicious, so it's best to be careful.
Eventually you come across the river that flows through the capital. A low arch, about twenty feet wide, spans the water and juts out from the wall. You see that the way into the city from the river is blocked by iron bars.
It doesn't look like you'd be able to squeeze through the bars, they're far too close together. You're about to give up when you hear the sound of metal clanking together.
Oh! On the far side of the river are two cloaked figures, one of which seems to be occupied with the iron grate.
You slip into the shadows and watch the two people. The one not engaged with the bars keeps looking back and forth, almost nervously so.
Minutes pass as you squint through the darkness, but your patience is rewarded when, with a metal squeak, the two figures vanish into the river tunnel.
Using the arch to climb over the river, you look around to make sure no one's seen you, then inspect the spot where the men were standing minutes before.
There's a heavy iron gate lying slightly open here, this must have been how the men got through the gate.
Options...
> This is just what you were looking for, head on into that tunnel and sneak into the city.
> Seems kind of iffy... maybe you should just wait until morning and try to get in through the gates.
Might as well not look a gift horse in the mouth. You slip through the gate and out of habit, close it behind you.
The lock trips with an audible click.
Shoot, maybe you shouldn't have done that. Well, no sense in worrying about it now.
You press forward, water drips from the ceiling and plunks into the river as you trudge through the tunnel.
The city wall's plenty thick, but it's not too long before you come up to the inside edge. Another iron grate blocks the way through but the two figures from earlier are intent on what is probably another locked door.
You press yourself against the wall of the tunnel and attempt to be as quiet as possible while the two people take care of the locked gate.
It seems fairly obvious that they're not going to catch hide nor hair of you, but you stay in the shadows all the same.
Suddenly, you hear shouts from the outside end of the tunnel.
"Hey! Someone locked the gate back up! Are you guys ok?"
The two people turn away from the gate in surprise and one of them dashes toward the shouts and barrels right into you, knocking you to the ground.
You try to keep a straight face as the man who crashed into you stares down at you in horror.
His demeanor quickly changes to anger and before you can move he flings a pair of darts from beneath his cloak. They don't really hurt when they pierce into your flesh, but from the burning sensation that follows you quickly realize that you've been poisoned.
You have died!
Your final score is:
000133 Points.
> Start again?
You wake up atop a grassy knoll underneath a bright blue sky. Birds chirp in the distance as the sun shines warmly onto your face.
From somewhere nearby the smell of smoke wafts into your nostrils. You sit up and look around, but you can't see the source of the smoke.
Actually, now that you think about it, you don't really know where you are or how you got here. After a quick check you notice all you have on you is your trusty sword and the clothes on your back. How strange.
Well, as of right now the best scoring ending is... 702703, but it's pretty random, I just make up numbers. I might go back and give it some more rhyme and reason after some point, since I've got a handy list of the endings.
You lower yourself to the ground, sit cross-legged and close your eyes.
What is the nature of air? It flows around you idly, seemingly not interested in much of anything. Any gap it can slip through, any obstacle it simply diverts itself around, it goes with the flow.
Yet without it you would surely expire. With every measured breath you take you incorporate more of the metallic air into your lungs, into your very being.
The world seems to close in on you and expand all at once, your mind feels the infinite weight of the universe and is held up by the infinite strength of the cosmos, you dimly see far into the past and distantly into the future.
You are at ease.
Options...
> Continue meditating.
> This is getting too deep, wake up.
> Screw this hippy new-age spirital enlightenment crap, attempt to use your newfound insight to scry into the future for personal gain.
You clear your mind and let everything go. All your worldly worries, all your troubles, your hopes, your dreams, your obligations.
Everything flows out of you into the grand ocean of consciousness that floats at the fringes of your perception.
You breathe deeply, but your mind is unaware and empty, cleaned, purified. Like a newly polished mirror you are a foil for the universe itself, it reflects in your mind and you reflect in it.
The two become indistinguishable.
Brilliant lights burst before you, before everything. You let yourself go and fall deeply into the moment, into all moments.
You are everything and nothing at all, all at once. You scream through the universe unencumbered by worldy hang-ups.
Your consciousness comes across a door floating in the ether. It is a simple wooden portal not much unlike one that someone would place in a house in some small hamlet. In every sense of the word the door is rather boring looking, it's not even stained or anything, just raw wood with a knob.
You whip open the door (metaphorically, of course) and set your eyes (also metaphorically) through it. Your mind turns inside out and jumps three feet to the left.
My god, it's full of stars!
Everything becomes crystal clear to you. The most primordial origin and final fate of the universe, and everything in between, is like an open book before you. Without hesitation you decide to absorb the raw knowledge of the universe.
Your consciousness is absorbed into the consciousness of the universe.
Everything is crystal clear.
You are a part of everything, you are everything.
You have ascended!
Your final score is:
090000 Points.
> Start again?
Yaay, good ending. You enlightened so and so!
You wake up atop a grassy knoll underneath a bright blue sky. Birds chirp in the distance as the sun shines warmly onto your face.
From somewhere nearby the smell of smoke wafts into your nostrils. You sit up and look around, but you can't see the source of the smoke.
Actually, now that you think about it, you don't really know where you are or how you got here. After a quick check you notice all you have on you is your trusty sword and the clothes on your back. How strange.
Take a right, see where that leads you.
Follow the road toward the capital.
Follow the wall around the city, maybe you can find a different way in.
Find a guard and tell what you just saw.
Comments
He must have known you were tailing him because at some point you lose his trail. Lacking any other thing to do you find your way back to the crossroads.
You can't help but think you almost stumbled onto something important.
Options...
> Continue down the road toward the smoke.
> Take a right, see where that leads you.
Jerks!
You turn down the path and follow it for about an hour when it intersects with a wide road, big enough for two carriages to pass by each other without issue, constructed of interlocking stone blocks, many of which have engravings of historic events on them.
This must be what is commonly known as The King's Teeth. The craftsmanship of this road is without equal in all the nation, and it's said the blocks are rooted so deeply into the ground that the road will last until the end of time.
Seems a bit unrealistic, but you have to admit that this road is as flat as a pancake and perfectly level to boot.
You notice a caravan in the distance, trundling lazily down the road toward you.
Options...
> Take a look at some of the engravings.
> Hail the caravan.
> Follow the road toward the capital.
Follow the road toward the capital.
It takes you several hours to reach the city walls, and what a set of walls they are! Troy's defenses have nothing on the stone that surrounds the nation's capital, thousands of blocks of stone surrounding an expansive city, with a river running right through the center.
As you approach the massive city gates two guards wielding spears stop you. Odd, since a series of wagons seem to move through without a problem.
"Who do we have here?"
"Yeah, kid, what's your deal?"
You tell the guards that you want to enter the city, that you've been walking all day and you'd like to get in and find a place to stay.
"Is that right? He wants to get some sleep inside the city?"
"I don't know, he looks kind of suspicious... What do you think man?
"We have had those string of unsolved murders lately, it is awful strange for a guy to be sneaking around alone out here."
As you attempt to tell the guards that you weren't sneaking around and you definitely don't know anything about any murders you get the impression that something's strange about the two of them, but you can't really put your finger on it.
They look you over.
"I suppose he doesn't have anything to do with it."
"Ya think?"
"Probably."
"Well... alright, I suppose."
Your eyes glance over at the gate, it looks like they're about to close it for the night.
"Oh, that doesn't mean we can let you in buddy, gate's closed for the night."
"Yeah, no entry after nightfall unless you make an appointment ahead of time."
"I take it you don't have an appointment?"
"Plainly he doesn't."
"Tough luck kid."
"Yeah, tough luck."
Come on! The gate's still open. Damn big-headed guards...
Options...
> Screw these guys, make a dash for the gate.
> Follow the wall around the city, maybe you can find a different way in.
> Try to convince the guards to let you in.
You figure a lone guy snooping around the walls at night is somewhat suspicious, so it's best to be careful.
Eventually you come across the river that flows through the capital. A low arch, about twenty feet wide, spans the water and juts out from the wall. You see that the way into the city from the river is blocked by iron bars.
It doesn't look like you'd be able to squeeze through the bars, they're far too close together. You're about to give up when you hear the sound of metal clanking together.
Oh! On the far side of the river are two cloaked figures, one of which seems to be occupied with the iron grate.
You slip into the shadows and watch the two people. The one not engaged with the bars keeps looking back and forth, almost nervously so.
Minutes pass as you squint through the darkness, but your patience is rewarded when, with a metal squeak, the two figures vanish into the river tunnel.
Using the arch to climb over the river, you look around to make sure no one's seen you, then inspect the spot where the men were standing minutes before.
There's a heavy iron gate lying slightly open here, this must have been how the men got through the gate.
Options...
> This is just what you were looking for, head on into that tunnel and sneak into the city.
> Seems kind of iffy... maybe you should just wait until morning and try to get in through the gates.
> Find a guard and tell what you just saw.
The lock trips with an audible click.
Shoot, maybe you shouldn't have done that. Well, no sense in worrying about it now.
You press forward, water drips from the ceiling and plunks into the river as you trudge through the tunnel.
The city wall's plenty thick, but it's not too long before you come up to the inside edge. Another iron grate blocks the way through but the two figures from earlier are intent on what is probably another locked door.
Options...
> Better stay out of sight until they're done.
> Approach the two, see what's up.
> Pretend you're a guard and confront them.
You press yourself against the wall of the tunnel and attempt to be as quiet as possible while the two people take care of the locked gate.
It seems fairly obvious that they're not going to catch hide nor hair of you, but you stay in the shadows all the same.
Suddenly, you hear shouts from the outside end of the tunnel.
"Hey! Someone locked the gate back up! Are you guys ok?"
The two people turn away from the gate in surprise and one of them dashes toward the shouts and barrels right into you, knocking you to the ground.
You try to keep a straight face as the man who crashed into you stares down at you in horror.
His demeanor quickly changes to anger and before you can move he flings a pair of darts from beneath his cloak. They don't really hurt when they pierce into your flesh, but from the burning sensation that follows you quickly realize that you've been poisoned.
You have died!
Your final score is:
000133 Points.
> Start again?
You wake up atop a grassy knoll underneath a bright blue sky. Birds chirp in the distance as the sun shines warmly onto your face.
From somewhere nearby the smell of smoke wafts into your nostrils. You sit up and look around, but you can't see the source of the smoke.
Actually, now that you think about it, you don't really know where you are or how you got here. After a quick check you notice all you have on you is your trusty sword and the clothes on your back. How strange.
You decide to...
> Go back to sleep.
> Follow the smell of smoke.
> Head <W>est.
What's the max score, by the way?
You drift into a deep sleep. After a long while you...
Options...
> Wake up.
> Toss and turn.
> Snore.
You're falling.
Everything's purple and you're falling.
The air tastes metallic, everything's purple and you're falling.
The ground's rushing towards you, the air tastes metallic, everything's purple and you're falling.
You hit the ground sharply, but you don't seem to notice.
Well, you're not falling anymore, but everything's still purple and the air continues to taste metallic.
You get up and look around. The purple's kind of swirly.
Options...
> Examine the purple.
> Contemplate the metallic air.
> Start falling again.
EDIT: Curse you, illithid235!
What is the nature of air? It flows around you idly, seemingly not interested in much of anything. Any gap it can slip through, any obstacle it simply diverts itself around, it goes with the flow.
Yet without it you would surely expire. With every measured breath you take you incorporate more of the metallic air into your lungs, into your very being.
The world seems to close in on you and expand all at once, your mind feels the infinite weight of the universe and is held up by the infinite strength of the cosmos, you dimly see far into the past and distantly into the future.
You are at ease.
Options...
> Continue meditating.
> This is getting too deep, wake up.
> Screw this hippy new-age spirital enlightenment crap, attempt to use your newfound insight to scry into the future for personal gain.
> Continue meditating.
Everything flows out of you into the grand ocean of consciousness that floats at the fringes of your perception.
You breathe deeply, but your mind is unaware and empty, cleaned, purified. Like a newly polished mirror you are a foil for the universe itself, it reflects in your mind and you reflect in it.
The two become indistinguishable.
Brilliant lights burst before you, before everything. You let yourself go and fall deeply into the moment, into all moments.
You are everything and nothing at all, all at once. You scream through the universe unencumbered by worldy hang-ups.
Your consciousness comes across a door floating in the ether. It is a simple wooden portal not much unlike one that someone would place in a house in some small hamlet. In every sense of the word the door is rather boring looking, it's not even stained or anything, just raw wood with a knob.
This door is important, you can feel it.
Options...
> Open the door.
> This isn't the time, leave the door alone.
> You've delved too deep, time to go.
You whip open the door (metaphorically, of course) and set your eyes (also metaphorically) through it. Your mind turns inside out and jumps three feet to the left.
My god, it's full of stars!
Everything becomes crystal clear to you. The most primordial origin and final fate of the universe, and everything in between, is like an open book before you. Without hesitation you decide to absorb the raw knowledge of the universe.
Your consciousness is absorbed into the consciousness of the universe.
Everything is crystal clear.
You are a part of everything, you are everything.
You have ascended!
Your final score is:
090000 Points.
> Start again?
Yaay, good ending. You enlightened so and so!
You wake up atop a grassy knoll underneath a bright blue sky. Birds chirp in the distance as the sun shines warmly onto your face.
From somewhere nearby the smell of smoke wafts into your nostrils. You sit up and look around, but you can't see the source of the smoke.
Actually, now that you think about it, you don't really know where you are or how you got here. After a quick check you notice all you have on you is your trusty sword and the clothes on your back. How strange.
You decide to...
> Go back to sleep.
> Follow the smell of smoke.
> Head <W>est.
Follow the road toward the capital.
Follow the wall around the city, maybe you can find a different way in.
Find a guard and tell what you just saw.