Livejournal Text Adventure

World Reset

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 19:40:44 GMT

You awaken, sore and numb, lying on your back on top of a thin piece of padding. Bright light not far above you bores behind your eyes and you feel immediately queasy. You half expect to look down and find yourself covered in needles.

Turning your head to one side, your neck feels like a bundle of dry twigs. Everything looks dark; it's hard to make out details. You conclude you are a few feet off the ground. There is a bank of glowing white boxes to your left. Computer screens, you decide. A blurry green sign to your right could be an exit. Your hands brush cold metal on either side but your arms refuse to move.

Eventually, you become aware of a slow electronic beep, timed to a dull throbbing in your head. Was it always there? You aren't sure. You remember a room with carved wall panels and a pair of boys in a sleepy forest town but the further you reach into your memory the less it all makes sense.

You think, if you try, you could sit up.

Merich Market Basement

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 18:57:20 GMT

You walk for several minutes down a flight of creaky, old stairs, at last arriving in a a vast room with stone walls and a high ceiling. The air smells rotten, and dozens of rats scurry around, sloshing through the puddles which are all over the floor. There are cages made of iron bars all over the room; people are imprisoned in the four on the east wall, and two corpses are in a cage on the east wall. There is a well at the center of the room, and there are a few bales of hay in the northwest corner. To the east are the stairs. There is a door to the west.

[rules change] effects

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 19:11:44 GMT

Addition to the rules regarding effects:

Effects

A roomkeeper can assign an effect in response to a command. Effects should be short term things such as "sticky fingers", "invisibility", "on fire"... and roomkeepers for any room (not just the room in which the effect was given) can remove the effect in response to an appropriate command (such as "douse hand in fountain" to remove the effect "hand on fire"). Effects should be things that would have a significant impact on how NPCs and other aspects of the environment would react to the player.

A player should list his effects at the beginning of the first command he issues in each room (and keep track of them in inventory). For this reason, effects can be cumbersome, so try to use them sparingly.

Merich Inn

Sun, 29 Jul 2007 17:37:59 GMT

The second-floor Merich Inn is a quiet, humble establishment shielded by and large from the noise of the tavern downstairs. Its lobby is a spartan room with white walls and drab overhead lighting. Thick stained wood beams cross the ceiling, and their siblings stand along the walls. A mahogany counter is east, towards the back, and a trio of seats rests to the north behind a coffee table. There is an ATM in the northeast corner, next to a water cooler.

A man stands behind the counter, apparently focused on a computer. Another man is seated in one chair. The muffled din from the tavern is audible but unobtrusive, broken every couple seconds by a mouse click.

Under a lit green EXIT sign, an open doorway to the north reveals stairs leading outside. A heavy door to the south reads "Merich Tavern" in blackletter. Three doors on the south wall are numbered from one to three.

some meta stuff

Sun, 01 Jul 2007 18:03:35 GMT

first of all, don't forget to post/look for unmade rooms here.

second, i'm wondering whether it might be worth adding some new kind of character state. what i'm thinking is "effects". effects would be assigned by the roomkeeper and can be things like "sticky fingers" when you pick up a sticky item or "mute" if you temporarily lose your voice. the idea would just be to keep track of things that happen to your "character" that might affect how you interact with things in the game. i'm thinking there should always be a way to get rid of an effect, and they should be listed in your inventory, and maybe also require you to tag every command you give with a bracketed, delimited list of your effects (e.g. "[sticky fingers; mute; on fire]") so that the roomkeeper doesn't have to constantly check your inventory page. when you receive effects they could be indicated with something like "you acquire an effect: on fire". and then whenever you issue a command like "talk to man", the roomkeeper can choose to take your effect into account for the response, e.g. "you cannot concentrate enough to talk to the man because you are on fire".

what do you people think?

Stairwell Rave

Sun, 01 Jul 2007 07:57:12 GMT

The dying wall light in the academy stairwell sputters bursts of frantic yet rhythmic strobes. Accumulated detritus hides behind sharp shadows. Occasionally, you can hear a drip of liquid below you.

It is dark. You are likely to be eaten by a groove.

Signs next to each door show the floor number and "ROOF ACCESS" in block lettering. From here, doors lead to floors 1-4. Further stairs go down. A hatch at the top leads up to the roof.

(meta: this is a multi-floor room. it is also for whitemage)

My Inventory

Sun, 01 Jul 2007 05:05:05 GMT

jcreed's backpack contains:

A book titled "20th Century Physics (volume 1 of 3)"

(ooc: I tagged this "inventory", but it is not showing up?)

Merich Tavern

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 20:53:20 GMT

Contrasting with the town center, the simply-named Merich Tavern is quite busy. All around, patrons are stepping up to order spirits or food; carousing at their tables or generally making noise and merry. The bartender and the serving women seem quite busy, keen on serving as many patrons as possible. At the least, they are too busy to notice the rat crawling around behind the bar. In each corner along the wall opposite the bar, there is a man sitting alone, drinking ale. Next to the bar, there is a staircase leading up to the second floor.

There is a lone exit to the southeast, leading to the town center.

A Fire Pit

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 04:06:23 GMT

You are at a fire circle. There is no one here, but a fire is blazing wildly. The smoke has a horrible stench. About a dozen logs encircle the fire. A hawk is flying in circles overhead. To the east is a mound of clothing. There is more forest in all directions. Far off to the
east is the edge of the woods. Thousands of footprints lead to a clay pyramid, which sits to the southeast. There is more forest in every direction.

A Stairwell

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 04:48:25 GMT

You are standing inside a dim stairwell. The east wall is heavily water damaged, and a few stalactites hang from the ceiling. Under the stairs is an open closet. Two boys are in the closet, the smaller one screaming and crying. Doors lead south and north; stairs go up and down.

Merich Market Post

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 00:19:38 GMT

You are in a modest room that has seen better days. Floor-to-ceiling shelves line the sides of the room, though they are bare save for layers of dust in which you see the shadows of merchandise once neglected and now of unknown fate. Scuffs and dents darken exposed patches of wall whose paint is peeling around the ceiling corners.

In the back is a counter with a glass front, behind which a clerk sits on a high wooden stool bathed in the green light of a single aging fluorescent. She wears an expression of listless boredom, and glances in your direction but otherwise feigns preoccupation with a book. Behind her is another shelf, somewhat cleaner.

Between the counter and back shelf are a few items for sale:
- delicious cookies, ^¥120/dozen (1 dozen left)
- a plot ray gun, ^¥19,900
- fat stacks of meat, ^¥50/kg (12 kg left)
- a creme brulee torch, ^¥200
- tiny vials of squid ink, ^¥60/ea. (22 left)
- a flask of black smoke, ^¥300

Two stacks of leaflets sit on the counter, free for the taking.

To the north, next to the entrance, there is a sign on the wall. To the west is a door with a sign labeled "EMPLOYEES ONLY".

My Inventory

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 23:59:15 GMT

styger's pocket contains

a blue handkerchief

Second floor hallway, South Wing

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 22:18:15 GMT

You step out of the elevator into a well-lit hallway. Much of the light comes from the windows lining the interior wall of the hall, opening out to aviary. The hallway is lined with doors along the exterior wall, and continues around a bend in the southwest corner.

Immediately to the north is a pair of double doors, with a plaque on the wall to their left. Below the plaque is a trash can and a recycling bin. There are four doors on the southern wall, and one door on the western wall that you can see from here. They each appear to have placards on the doors themselves. On the wall space between each of the doors is a botanical painting or illustration.

There is an elevator to the east, a pair of double doors to the north, a length of windows along the northern wall of the hallway, another hallway turning north around the far western corner, a door at the far corner of the hallway to the west, and four doors along the southern wall of the hallway.

(for added clarity: a map note: yes i know i named the image incorrectly, it should say secondfloorhallwaysouthwall.jpg)

edit Wed 8:39 pm: I have decided to duplicate the brown-paper package tied up with string item for every player that wants one.

Edge of Woods

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 21:27:43 GMT

A preponderance of trees at the north edge of your field of vision quickly crowds together as your eyes trail south, forming a dense, dark, wood. You can tell that the woods stretch a long way, rippling into deep hills in the distance. Your attention snaps back to the close-range as you think you see a shape darting across your field of vision nearby, but it is gone before you can even tell its direction.

You can make out a pale hint of a trail under your feet, leading to the south. A small stream loosely follows alongside the path. A rotted wooden sign is posted at the head of the trail.

You see evidence that someone before you went west.

To the north is the edge of town.

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 20:45:12 GMT

Rules change: you may now donate items you wish to share with other adventurers to the Lost and Found.

Merich Town Center

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 19:57:11 GMT

The center of Merich Township is anything but bustling, but the clear blue sky produces a distinctly picturesque image. A loose gathering of buildings sits at the roundabout intersection of single-lane roads. In the middle of the roundabout is a fountain made of concrete and copper, which is dry. On one side of the fountain is a plaque. The buildings themselves are rustic one and two-story brick structures with terra cotta roofing.

Roads and more buildings extend in the cardinal directions. Farther to the north you can see a field; to the south and west is forest; to the east, sparse trees.

Here, buildings stand at the ordinal directions. The northwest building is a tavern. The door of the southwest building is propped open.

There is an unoccupied police car parked in the roundabout.

Adventure Gazetteer

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 17:58:57 GMT

Locating things can be difficult, even with tags. Potentially, this will stay up to date, particularly if comments are left for notable non-entry entities.

Rooms - Aviary, The - Basement Lobby - Cottage: living room - Edge of Woods - Elevator - Fire Pit, A - Leafy Canopy, A - Lobby - Merich Inn - Merich Market Basement - Merich Market Post - Merich Tavern - Merich Town Center - Outside Main Entrance - Second floor hallway, South Wing - Stairwell, A - Stairwell Rave - Stone Bridge, The - Treaty Room - West Edge of Town		Inventories - betaphen - chrisamaphone - etotheipi - gwillen - jcreed - kartiksg - mr_wright - nekokaze - potassiumman - qatar - styger - thebenedictine		Notable and Named NPCs - Boys - Clerk, Merich Market Post - Crazy old plot device - Longworth, John Stevens - Martha - Medjool, Salman and Karen - Moore-Nelson, Delia Antwon - Nelson, Captain Percival - Piggy and Bunny - Rutherford, Edward II - Sowerby, Dr.
Locations - Erdine County - Longworth Academy of Botany and Ornithology - Madrona Forest - Merich Township		Dates 1807 - Founding of Erdine County Ornithological Society 1836 - Founding of Merich Township (8/18)		Other Entities - Cestrel Cross-Breeds - Erdine County Ornithological Society

New players should begin at the rules.

Treaty Room

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 23:17:40 GMT

The basement treaty room is a narrow but stately space with a high ceiling. Carved wooden wall panels surround a long rectangular mahogany table in the center trimmed with ebony inlay. The table stands on a half-dozen thick turned columns seated on brass-beaded feet. A double-sided flat panel display stands part-way up through a slot in the center. The table is lined with eight chairs, four on a side, arranged carefully except for two which have been pulled out. Large paintings hang on each side of the room, opposite each other in the room's center. A chandelier lights the space, assisted by unobtrusive wall sconces. Small potted trees rest at the four corners.

At the south end is a set of double doors. At the north end are three exits: a set of double doors to the north, a door to the east, and a door to the west. Next to the north double doors is a touchscreen control panel the size of a paperback book. It is blinking red.

Elevator

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 14:38:58 GMT

You are in a small, rickety-looking wooden elevator. There is a keypad with digits 1 through 4, one button labeled 'B', and one button with an image of a key etched into it. There is also an emergency stop button, an "open doors" button and a "close doors" button. The doors are currently open.

There is a legend mounted on the wall.

You can exit the elevator on the first floor to the aviary.

The second floor leads to a hallway.

[OOC note: the state of this room will not change. Each player's interaction with the elevator will take place in a separate thread, essentially treating it as though each person gets eir own individual elevator. It's just easier that way. Shared state is annoying.]

Basement Lobby

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 22:03:24 GMT

You are in the basement. There is some light coming from a hole above you, but without a closer light source you are only able to make out vague shapes. There is an odd rectangle on the wall to the west. The floor is a mess of rug, blood stains, and glass shards on top of cement.

A ladder leads through the hole in the ceiling above you.

To the north is an open door to a lit room.

Unclaimed Rooms

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 21:09:57 GMT

This post is to help keep track of unclaimed rooms. Post comments here with links to [new room] posts, and delete the comments here when the room has been created.

My Inventory

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 20:28:32 GMT

kartiksg's backpack contains:

1 T-43 IBM Thinkpad with gentoo 2.6.21 running on it (for various definitions of running)
1 110/220V~1.5A -> 16V~4.5A power supply

Cottage: living room

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 20:27:44 GMT

You are standing in the living room of the cottage. To the south is a broken window. Shards of glass are scattered across the floor and on the couch. Doors are to the north and west. A bookshelf with most of its shelves broken and a fireplace are on the east. You hear footsteps coming from the west.

My Inventory

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 18:13:10 GMT

potassiumman's shirt pocket contains:

* The world's tiniest violin

inventory

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 15:00:47 GMT

etotheipi's inventory contains:

climbing shoes
two apples
a rolled up piece of paper with a phone number on it
two clay tiles
a bunch of gray downy feathers
enough feathers from a Blue-throated Macaw to make a fan
wilting red flower
some strands from a rug
a portrait ("Delia Antwon Moore-Nelson, Unknown - 2003")
A large shard of glass
two dog corpses (With collars identifying them as "Piggy" and "Bunny")
4 meters by 3 meters of bloodstained rug
A brass key
A medium-sized shard of glass
A couple flowers
A piece of irregularly shaped granite
A partially eaten apple
A newspaper
Four blank sheets of paper
An unfinished crossword
a page of notes
a coffee mug containing a small amount of coffee
A large green egg
a green leaflet
a white leaflet
A plastic bottle (no cap)
An aluminum can (no tab)
Broken plastic blue pen
Package with blue inky fingerprints
A bronze ring
One wild onion
One wild mushroom
A few small twigs
an unattended ale
a handful of disgusting stairwell dirt.
a grime-crusted candy bar wrapper.
a wad of ABC gum.
a credit chip (¥260)
A glow stick
A roll of duct tape
THYME magazine
a black key
Delicious cookies (12)