Blue Lacuna — 243 of 467

Section - Shark Rescue

[This is a post-tsunami scene that just adds a bit of diversion for the player.]

time-for-shark-scene is a truth state that varies.

The beached shark is set dressing. The description is "The creature's sleek skin is drying out now, and it still flops vigorously but with fading strength. It must have been thrown up here by the tsunami, or maybe just got confused by the strange tides and ended up stranded here. It rolls a baleful eye at you desperately.". Instead of taking beached shark, say "It's far too big for that, probably heavier than you are.". Instead of touching or hugging beached shark, say "Its skin is smooth as velvet where it is still wet, but feels like dry parchment and starting to flake in the places where the moisture is gone. You can feel its heart racing.". Instead of pushing or pulling beached shark when tidepool-mud is on-stage, say "You reach around the back half of the creature and push, but it's no use; the tidepool is blocked by a [o]clog[x] of mud and debris.". Instead of greeting beached shark, say "You try to murmur some words of comfort to the trapped creature, but it just snaps its jaws weakly at you and you take a hasty step back.". Instead of pushing or pulling beached shark: say "Getting a firm grip, you heave against the shark's bulk. It twists its flippers and snaps its jaw frantically, not understanding, but the panicky motions help break it free. With one final heave, it breaks forward out of the muck with a surge of water, sliding forward towards the water at the end of the ravine.[paragraph break]You follow it down until it reaches a much larger pool at the base of the wall of boulders currently keeping the surf out, where it quickly submerges and stays quiet and still. You have no idea whether he'll survive, but when the tide comes back in, it should wash him back out to sea.[paragraph break]You return up the ravine to the vicinity of the ladder, wiping the strange smells of sharkskin on your hands off on your pants."; remove beached shark from play. Instead of attacking beached shark, say "You hardly have a suitable weapon for that.".

Some tidepool-mud is set dressing. Understand "mud/clog/debris/leaves/rocks" as tidepool-mud. The printed name is "a dam of mud and debris". The description is "The end of the pool facing the slope down to the distant waves is clogged with a dam of mud, leaves, and rocks.". Instead of taking or pushing or pulling or attacking some tidepool-mud: say "Careful to keep your hands clear of the shark's razor jaw, you clear the worst of the mud and debris away. A gush of warm water surges out of the opening and down the shallow slope towards the ocean."; remove tidepool-mud from play.