Blue Lacuna — 215 of 467

Chapter - Rockslide

The prose name of Rockslide is "the boulder pile". Understand "pond" as southeast when location is Rockslide. The printed name of Rockslide is "Boulder Pile".

The description of Rockslide is "[rockslidedesc].". To say rockslidedesc:

if longform begin; say "Moss and soil glue together this field of tumbled boulders, the crumbling end of a long arm of the island's northern mountain. Here at the one flat spot in the ancient rockslide you can see the whole eastern half of the island, almost entirely covered in impenetrable rain forest[dot]";

otherwise if raining; say "Stepping carefully on the rain-slicked rock, you pause atop the boulder field to survey the mist-shrouded view of the rain forest[dot]";

otherwise if night; say "Dim boulders loom on all sides in the [if moonup]moonlit[otherwise]shadowless[end if] night, and you step carefully over the treacherous hill[dot]";

otherwise if sunrise or morning; say "Moss and tufts of grass drink in the morning light, in patches of dirt that have settled on the boulder field to start the long process of reclamation[dot]";

otherwise if evening or sunset; say "The boulder field and the rain forest ahead lie in evening shadows, quiet under the coloring sky[dot]";

otherwise if twilight; say "Small rodents scurry from your footsteps in the failing light to secret hiding places beneath the boulders[dot]";

otherwise; say "[one of]You stand unsteadily atop a lichen-draped boulder, surveying the view[or]The boulders sigh as wind gusts gently over the rockslide, slipping smoothly between the cracks and hole[or]The boulders bake in the light of the sun, casting dark and sharp-edged shadows on the thousands of tiny caves and hollows beneath them[in random order]. [A sentence about the rain forest][dot]";

end if;

say "Clinging tenaciously to a rocky boulder is [windsigh phrase of tree7], a mossy [o]hollow[x] cradled in its roots.[paragraph break][exits]".

The exits text of Rockslide is "The boulder field descends [bw of Hive Room]into a wide [dr]chute[x] running [if dir][north] [end if]along the edge of the rain forest. You could also make a trickier descent [bw of Crater Pond][if dir][southeast] [end if]to a small [etrs2]". To say etrs2: say "[dr]pond[x], or return [if dir][southwest] [otherwise if former location is Chasm Edge]back the way you came [end if]towards the chasm's [dr]edge[x]". Understand "chute" as north when location is Rockslide.

Rockslide-stuff is stuff in Rockslide. Understand "boulder/boulders/patch/patches/rockslide/field" as Rockslide-stuff when location is Rockslide.

Instead of going down in Rockslide, say "From this vantage point, there are several ways down; you'll have to specify. [exits]." Report going to Chasm Edge from Rockslide: say "[descendtheboulders][if a random chance of 1 in 2 succeeds][time-of-day-bit],[end if] until you come to the edge of the chasm once again." Report going to Hive Room from Rockslide: say "[rockslideposttsum][descendtheboulders] till you enter the chute. Picking up speed, you follow the narrow swath of flat ground between the jagged rift on your left and the rain forest on your right." Report going from Rockslide to Crater Pond: say "[rockslideposttsum][descendtheboulders], and finally reach the bottom.".

To say descendtheboulders: say "[if raining]You place your feet extremely carefully on the rain-slicked boulders[otherwise if night]Moving slowly, more by feel than sight, you work your way down the boulder field[otherwise][one of]You carefully work through the boulder field[or]Hopping lightly from one boulder to the next, you descend the boulder field[or]Descending carefully down the steep slope of the boulder field, flinching every time a boulder moves under your feet, you finally make it to more stable ground[in random order][end if]".

To say rockslideposttsum: if Tsunami Sequence has ended, say "[one of]Stepping forward, your ankle suddenly twists under you as a boulder shifts. Stumbling forward onto another boulder with a surge of adrenaline, you twist aside as the massive rock you first landed on rolls and tumbles down the pile, picking up a few other smaller rocks as it goes. It seems the slide hasn't quite restabilized itself after the earthquake yet.[paragraph break][or][stopping]".

tree7 is a windsigh tree in Rockslide.

The tree7-nook is a nook in Rockslide. The printed name is "mossy hollow". Understand "mossy/hollow" as tree7-nook. The description is "The hollow would be the one flat and stable place to lie down here in the midst of the rockslide." Instead of touching tree7-nook, say "The moss is soft and dry.". First report entering tree7-nook: say "You lie down in the mossy hollow. It's a little short for you to fully stretch out, but you feel snug and surprisingly secure cradled in its arms." instead. First report getting off when player was on tree7-nook: say "You extract yourself from the mossy hollow, stretching sore muscles." instead. The sleep message of Rockslide is "Lulled by the rustling of the leaves above and the quiet sigh of the tree, you drift into a deep, bottomless sleep."

The ambience table of Rockslide is Table of Rockslide ambience.

Table of Rockslide ambience

A mouse is a set dressing. Understand "creature/creatures" as mouse. The description is "The little mouse-like creature has already vanished back into the dark labyrinth beneath the boulder pile."