Blue Lacuna — 188 of 467

Part - The Volcano Slopes

Chapter - Volcano Slopes

The prose name of Volcano Slopes is "the slopes of the volcano". The description of Volcano Slopes is "[volslodesc].". To say volslodesc:

say "The trees fail entirely at this spot, giving way to ";

if raining begin; say "smooth dark-brown slopes rising into clouds. Rivulets of rainwater run down the unobstructed terrain, vanishing into a waterlogged [o]thicket[x]. A few clusters of berry [o]bushes[x] dot the slopes. [paragraph break][exits]";

otherwise; say "[if night]the indistinct black slopes of[otherwise]the smooth brown slopes of[end if] [if Volcano Slopes is unvisited]a tall [o]volcano[x], fortunately quiet at the moment[otherwise]the [o]volcano[x][end if]"; say "[if dawn or sunrise], catching the first rays of the morning sunlight above you[otherwise if twilight], growing vague and indistinct as the light dims and the stars begin to come out above it[end if]. "; say "A few clusters of berry [o]bushes[x] [if morning or midmorning]cast long shadows down slope towards impassable [o]thickets[x][otherwise]ease the transition into more barren terrain above, but the undergrowth twists into an impassable thicket down slope[end if]. [paragraph break][exits]";

end if.

An impassable thicket is a setpiece in Volcano Slopes. Understand "thickets" as thicket. The description is "Below you can hear the sound of the surf beating against cliffs, but the terrain is too steep and too thick with vegetation to be passable.".

The exits text of Volcano Slopes is "[if raining][volcanoexit-rain][otherwise][volcanoexit][end if]". To say volcanoexit: say "You could take an easy but long hike [bw of Rim of Volcano]up to the volcano's [dr]rim[x][if dir] [southeast][end if], or return [bw of Big Tree]to the [dr]forest[x][if dir] to the [north][end if]". To say volcanoexit-rain: say "The slopes head [up] into clouds, or you can retreat into the relative shelter of the [dr]forest[x][if dir] [north][end if]". Understand "forest" as north when location is Volcano Slopes.

Report going from Volcano Slopes to Big Tree: say "You pass back into the [if night or twilight or dawn or raining]darkened[otherwise]dimmer[end if] spaces under the trees." Report going from Volcano Slopes to Rim of Volcano: say "The slope is steep but lack of obstacles makes it a relatively easy climb. [if midmorning or midday or afternoon and not raining]Sweltering in the heat of the sun[otherwise if night or dawn or twilight]Moving quickly in the cool air[otherwise]Stopping occasionally to catch your breath[end if], you [if raining]pass through layers of mist of various thickness, rain not falling so much as coalescing out of the air to cling to you[otherwise]rise quickly up the slope until at last you stand atop the volcano, on the lip of the caldera[end if]."; pass 10 minutes of time.

Slopes-stuff is stuff in Volcano Slopes. Understand "undergrowth/barren/terrain/transition" as slopes-stuff when location is Volcano Slopes.