Blue Lacuna — 239 of 467

Chapter - Mossy Ledge

The prose name of Mossy Ledge is "the grotto near the cave paintings". The printed name of Mossy Ledge is "Grotto, At the Cave Paintings". The description of Mossy Ledge is "[mossyledgedesc].". To say mossyledgedesc:

say "The grotto is slightly less open on this end, the floor rising at the edge of the dropoff and the ceiling dropping columns of stone, but plenty of [if night]star[end if]light still streams in to to illuminate the space, which feels more dusty and abandoned than the other side. Blackened scorch marks on the floor and ceiling speak to ancient fires[dot]";

say "The back wall of the grotto is covered in ancient [o]paintings[x], faded but still clearly visible[dot]";

say "[exits]".

The exits text of Mossy Ledge is "The grotto curves [bw of Overhang][if dir][south] [end if]towards its [dr]far[x] end, while a narrow [dr]ledge[x] breaks out of the overhang to follow the curve of the island [bw of Prison]around up[if dir] and [north][end if]". Understand "far" as south when location is Mossy Ledge. Understand "ledge" as north when location is Mossy Ledge.

Report going from Mossy Ledge to Overhang: say "You walk back along the uneven ground of the grotto, curving around to the landward side of the island again.". Report going from Mossy Ledge to Prison: say "You follow the path, really just a convenient crack in the rock, out from under the overhang and steeply up around the curve of the island. Finally it ends at a natural tunnel, which you duck into and take a few awkward steps before standing in another chamber.".

Some cave paintings are a setpiece in Mossy Ledge. Understand "painting/drawing/drawings" as cave paintings. The description is "The paintings seem ancient, far older than anything you've seen that Progue created, or even any of the remnants of the Egg. They are crude and sometimes difficult to decipher.[paragraph break]The largest quite clearly shows the seals you saw on the beach, drawn in crude red lines, alongside two boats containing bare-chested males with spears. Another drawing seems to show one of the figures dressing a killed seal next to a fire.[paragraph break]Other drawings are more obscure; there are certain symbols which are repeated multiple times, sometimes even overlapping, but nothing that seems like written language. The only other scene you can make out shows a few of the tiny boats surrounded by clusters of irregular shapes, some with lines drawn between them. One of them almost seems familiar: a broken-backed crescent with two peaks at the top and bottom.". Instead of taking or touching cave paintings, say "They're drawn directly on the rock.".

The scorched remnants of fires are a minor setpiece in Mossy Ledge. The description is "The ash has long since blown away, leaving only blackened marks on the rock."