Blue Lacuna — 378 of 467

Section - The Conch Portends

The Conch Portends is a guaranteed rendezvous episode. The meeting place is Center Beach. The expiration date is 4 hours. The icebreaker is tcp_greeting.

A finishing rule for The Conch Portends:

if the player is asleep or it is after 10:30 PM, rule succeeds;

if tcp_sleep is spoken, rule succeeds.

A commencement rule for The Conch Portends:

Progue starts conch-blowing;

now Progue is carrying the conch shell;

say "Suddenly, your hair stands on end as an eerie sound reverberates around the island. You [o]listen[x] as the cry echoes through the hills, like the lonely wail of some mythical animal brought reluctantly to life.[paragraph break]The wind shifts, and the echoes fade. But you've got to find out what that was.";

begin chapter 5;

if the psyche of Progue is fear: [If we never managed to move Progue out of the fear stage but made it this far, we play catch-up by altering this conversation to contain the bulk of Suppression Revelations, where Progue reveals vital info about his past. We (painfully) miss the entire suppression psyche, since Progue transitions to uncertainty after the tsunami, but at least we maintain narrative coherence.]

now the icebreaker of The Conch Portends is rev_makeupintro;

now rev_call suggests tcp_temp;

now rev_call is interstitial;

now the psyche of Progue is suppression.

A completion rule for The Conch Portends:

remove the conch shell from play.

Every turn when current episode is The Conch Portends:

now the activity counter of Progue is 1;

if Progue is fulfilling and the animus of Progue is conch-blowing and Progue is idle begin;

if Progue is not visible begin; [add potential messages from the Table of Distant Progue Conch-Blowing; BUG: why doesn't this work?] fire one off by frequency from the Table of Distant Progue Conch-Blowing;

end if;

end if.

Instead of listening when current episode is The Conch Portends and Progue is not visible: say "The echoes of the low call reverberate around the island. [if location is regionally in Beachfront or location is regionally in Tiderooms or location is Rise or location is Tidepools]On the beach, you see Progue blowing into an enormous conch shell[else]You'd guess it is coming from the beach[end if]."

Table of Distant Progue Conch-Blowing

TCP is a thread. The escape clause is tcp_sleep.

tcp_greeting is a beat in TCP with reaction "[The Progue] raises the conch shell to his lips and gives another mighty blow. The great, long, horn sound explodes from the shell and bounces all around the island.[paragraph break]'Beautiful, eh?' he says, lowering the shell from his mouth. 'Found it just now. Tide must have washed it in.' He scratches his head. '[t]Odd[x], that, odd.'". tcp_greeting summons tcp_temp. tcp_greeting suggests tcp_stall. Before discussing tcp_greeting: if we-are-landmark-going is true begin; tidy landmark-go; clean up landmark-go; end if; continue the action.

tcp_stall is a beat in TCP with reaction "He turns the shell over and over in his hands, running fingers along its delicate whorls and bumps.". tcp_stall suggests tcp_sleep.

Understand "tide/odd" as tcp_temp. tcp_temp is a beat in TCP with keyword name "odd" and fuse 4 and reaction "'Well,' he says, rubbing a finger over the delicate patterning in the shell, 'it shouldn't be high tide for another few hours, but the water's was high as I've ever seen it an hour ago. It's been strange lately out there.'[paragraph break]'There were thousands of silver jellyfish in the lagoon this morning,' he adds. 'Usually they're much farther out, much. Must be stirred up by the waves. Confused. Angry. Beautiful things, purple-hued silver suspended in ocean glass, long pillowing tentacles to quietly kiss you to death if you brushed too many of them. Years and fears ago I'd take long, long swims out to see them, my silent friends, and wonder. What would it be to just dive through that stinging forest, let their gentle touch surround and caress and carry me forward. To the next world. The last world.'[paragraph break]He shakes his head a little, turning the conch shell over and over in his hands.". tcp_temp suggests tcp_sleep.

tcp_sleep is a terminal beat in TCP with reaction "Progue yawns. 'This will be gushing fantastic for the Ledge,' he says, 'quite some addition to the collection. Think I'll pop up there to arrange it, maybe take a nap as well. Long day. Strange day too. But well then. Till morning, [animal-nickname], till morning.'". After discussing tcp_sleep: now the next animus of Progue is resting; Progue's life goes on; continue the action.

The conch shell is a prop. The description is "The beautiful shell is a creamy yellow with patches of orange, and about the size of your head. Bumpy whorls and ridges festoon its spiral shape.".