A Rope of Chalk
Ryan Veeder
art autobiographical college Colossal Cash Prize competition drama drug abuse drugs IFComp 2020 IFComp Game linear multiple protagonists outdoors parser school true story walkthrough
An account of the disastrous sidewalk chalk tournament of August 27, 2011.
%
You are covered in sweat. Your clothes cling to you like someone
else's moist hands, and your skin feels like someone else's skin. Hina is speaking, but you're only aware of your own nauseating body.

Someone interrupts Hina. "You guys need a drink?"

It's Nathalie, wheeling her cumbersome old cooler up to the judges' table. Saving you the energy it would take to croak out a plea for help, she produces three bottles of water.

Hina and Alec chug theirs down desperately, and you follow suit, with no concern for how undignified you must look. A cold, wet trickle runs over your chin, down your neck. Then the bottle is empty; then, finally, you can think clearly.

shade, so this is where Hina decided the judges should sit while the artists work. Hina and Alec are sitting at opposite ends of the table; your spot is in the middle. The sidewalk, the "canvas" of the sidewalk chalk tournament, runs west and east.

Before Hina can get back to what she was saying, Nathalie starts in:
"I came over to let you know, one of the artists has a problem with another artist's art."

Hina summons enough willpower to roll her eyes. "Who, exactly?"

"Jessica, and Xavier. Jessica is the one who wanted me to tell on Xavier. She wanted a judge to come down and make a ruling."

Hina turns toward you. "Lane, can you take care of this?"

You nod without thinking. It's too hot to think.

"Come on, I'll go with you." Nathalie waves you over, and a tiny spark of encouragement flickers in your overheated heart.
About yourself
Your name is Lane, and you're a sophomore chem major. Your grades got you into the Honors program, your desire to become a well-rounded person led you to join the Honors Arts Committee, and your inability
to say "no" has made you a judge for the Honors Arts Committee's Sidewalk Chalk Tournament.

Actually, your credit hours from the summer semester probably bumped you up so you're technically a junior. But that doesn't seem right: A real upperclassman would have a measure of confidence that you definitely lack.
You check your inventory
You are carrying:
a water bottle
You examine Hina
Hina is a senior���pre-med���and she basically runs the Honors program single-handedly. She organized this whole sidewalk chalk tournament herself, and she's already filled the calendar for the fall semester with similar activities. You just pray the other events will be indoors.

Her forehead is always furrowed a little bit; she's always working on something. Right now, though, it's like her whole head is furrowed.
You can't blame her.
You examine Alec
You can't take Alec seriously, because he doesn't take anything seriously. All you've seen him do around the Honors center is goof off and flirt with underclassman girls. You have no idea how he's still in the Honors program as of his senior year.

And why is he here? Maybe the program director told him he had to to help out with some bare minimum of events, and he decided to get one out of the way right at the start of the semester.
You examine Nathalie
Nathalie is a theater major, and a fifth-year senior. Instead of
acting as judge, she's the sidewalk chalk tournament's "hydration officer." She seems the least bothered of anyone by the heat, probably because she has the cooler and all the cold water.
Go east
The sidewalk stops well before it reaches the equipment shed, leaving
a long stretch of sand in between. Beyond the shed is the intersection of First Avenue and Second Street: An impassable wasteland.

An empty bucket sits near the shed.

Nathalie follows along.
You examine the shed
It's a squat, unattractive building with a big steel door. A brass spigot protrudes from one of the walls.
You examine the intersection
Last year, it was impossible to get around this part of town on foot, because there was so much traffic. Now it's impossible because of all the construction.

Gosh, you're thirsty.
Drink water
(the water bottle)
The bottle feels too light.

Oh, it's empty. That's no good.
Go west
The softball field's aluminum bleachers offer a meager amount of
shade, so this is where Hina decided the judges should sit while the artists work. Hina and Alec are sitting at opposite ends of the table; your spot is in the middle. The sidewalk, the "canvas" of the sidewalk chalk tournament, runs west and east.

Nathalie follows along.
You go west
The sidewalk bends south and east here, at the edge of the parking
lot.

Victoria is hunched over her square of sidewalk, filling in the
details of a huge, twisting python. A plastic container is nestled in the grass nearby.

Nathalie follows along.
You ask Nathalie for the water
(the water bottle)
"Could I get another bottle of water?" you ask, trying not to sound desperate.

"Of course you could, young lady." Nathalie relieves you of your empty bottle and gets a full one out of the cooler. "There you go. As cold
as it gets, for all that's worth."

It feels plenty cold to you, and you thank her sincerely.

"No need to thank me. Just doing my duty as hydration officer."

[1] "How's it going?"
[2] "How'd you get to be the hydration officer, anyway?"
[3] "How do you like this snake?"
[4] "Thanks."
1
"How's it going?"

Nathalie shrugs. "Oh, I'm fine." She really is. It's like the heat isn't getting to her at all.

[1] "How's it going?"
[2] "How are you so chipper?"
[3] "How'd you get to be the hydration officer, anyway?"
[4] "How do you like this snake?"
[5] "Thanks."
2
"How are you so..." You lick your lips. "Chipper" isn't really the
word you want to use.

Nathalie catches your meaning. "Two things: A positive attitude, and staying hydrated. And a willingness to fully embrace my situation. But that's part of the first one."

[1] "How's it going?"
[2] "How are you so chipper?"
[3] "How'd you get to be the hydration officer, anyway?"
[4] "How do you like this snake?"
[5] "Thanks."
3
"How'd you get to be the hydration officer, anyway?"

"Well, at last year's event I was in Hina's position, and it turned
out to be really stressful. So I asked her if I could do something a little more low-key this time around."

[1] "How's it going?"
[2] "How are you so chipper?"
[3] "How'd you get to be the hydration officer, anyway?"
[4] "How do you like this snake?"
[5] "Thanks."
4
You maneuver Nathalie to a spot where you can talk without being overheard. "How do you like this snake?" you ask.

"I love it. It's creepy."

"Creepy is a good thing?"

"I love creepy! Well, okay." She takes a second to consider. "There
are different kinds of creepy," she concludes.

[1] "How's it going?"
[2] "How are you so chipper?"
[3] "How'd you get to be the hydration officer, anyway?"
[4] "How do you like this snake?"
[5] "Thanks."
5
"Thanks, Nathalie."

"Hey, no problem."
Drink water
(the water bottle)
You take a meek little sip from your water bottle.
You look at your surroundings
The sidewalk bends south and east here, at the edge of the parking
lot.

Nathalie stands off to the side.

Victoria is hunched over her square of sidewalk, filling in the
details of a huge, twisting python. A plastic container is nestled in the grass nearby.

You're already thirsty again.
You examine Victoria
Victoria is one of the freshmen you met when you were helping out at orientation. Right away you got the sense that she was trying hard to be different just for the sake of being different. You should have expected she'd come up with a chalk drawing calculated to freak everybody out.
You look at the python
Victoria's serpent crisscrosses her entire square of pavement, coiling over and under itself like a Celtic knot. Its fanged jaws fill up the center of the composition; the tip of its tail is nowhere in sight.

Having completed the snake's undulating outline, Victoria is now coloring another tangled web: The reticulations of its scales.

Nathalie offers her a bottle of water, which she gratefully accepts. The two of them take a seat on the grass. "Looks like a lot of work," Nathalie says. Victoria shakes her head wearily.

"I could have picked something easier," she says. "Or I could have just, stayed home. But Hina really wanted me to come."

"I know what that's like," Nathalie says, and she gives you a meaningful look.

A lull ensues.

Presently Nathalie stands up again.
You examine the grass
The grass is a little high. Someone will come around to mow it sooner or later.
Examine container
It looks like something you'd store leftovers in.

Victoria notices you looking at it, and she takes a break from her snake to explain: "Hina said there wouldn't be any prizes for this tournament, and I thought that was a little sad. So I sewed these."

She pulls the lid off the container, revealing a collection of
colorful ribbons. An involuntary "aww!" passes your lips.

"Don't worry, the judges get ribbons, too. I just thought it'd be fun. But, that's for later."

She closes the container and returns to her drawing.
You talk to Victoria
Victoria looks up at you. "Yes?"

[1] "How are you doing?"
[2] "What inspired you to choose this subject?"
[3] "Do you need anything?"
[4] "Good luck."
1
"How are you doing?"

"Hot."

"Yeah." Well, at least everyone's being honest.

[1] "How are you doing?"
[2] "What inspired you to choose this subject?"
[3] "Do you need anything?"
[4] "Good luck."
2
"What inspired you to choose this subject?" Yeah, that sounds like something a judge would say.

Victoria is so glad you asked. "It's based on my pet python back
home." You nod impassively; you're neither impressed nor surprised. "He's a big sweetheart, really."

"He looks kind of scary here."

"Well," Victoria says, and you know she's thinking: I just want to scare people.

[1] "How are you doing?"
[2] "What inspired you to choose this subject?"
[3] "Do you need anything?"
[4] "Good luck."
3
Without really thinking, you ask Victoria, "Do you need anything?"

Victoria leans back on her hands, looks up into the cloudless sky. "Could you bring me a bowl of ice cream? Just vanilla is fine."

"I don't think we have... Oh." Your head hurts. "That was a joke."

"Yeah," says Victoria.

[1] "How are you doing?"
[2] "What inspired you to choose this subject?"
[3] "Do you need anything?"
[4] "Good luck."
4
"Good luck." Actually, that doesn't make a lot of sense coming from a judge...

"Thanks," says Victoria.

You're already thirsty again.
Go south
The sidewalk continues north and south between the softball field and
a steep hill. Rachel has been assigned a square of cement near a steel bike rack.

At the moment, Rachel is stretched out on the grass, soaking up the sun, eyes hidden behind huge sunglasses. Her phone lies in the grass next to her. Her chalk drawing, a simple slogan, is already finished.

Nathalie is right behind you.
You examine Rachel
Rachel is wearing short shorts and a tiny top. It doesn't strike you
as a totally appropriate outfit, but maybe she knew it was going to be so unbearably hot.
You examine the chalk
You glance from the "art" to Rachel and back. You bite your lip. The sidewalk chalk tournament isn't really the right setting for a statement like this. But Rachel gave Hina plenty of notice as to what she was planning to do, and Hina told her it'd be okay.

Nathalie makes a pointed sort of huffing noise. Rachel doesn't seem to notice.
You examine phone
You can't help but notice a notification as it pops up: Someone just texted her, saying "haha sux 2bu." Hard to argue with.
You talk to Nathalie
Nathalie perks up when you turn her way.

[1] "How's it going?"
[2] "How are you so chipper?"
[3] "How'd you get to be the hydration officer, anyway?"
[4] "What do you think about Rachel's entry?"
[5] "Thanks."
4
You and Nathalie take a few steps away from the "art."

"What do you think about Rachel's entry?"

"Rachel is tedious," Nathalie says, and apparently that's all she has to say.

[1] "How's it going?"
[2] "How are you so chipper?"
[3] "How'd you get to be the hydration officer, anyway?"
[4] "What do you think about Rachel's entry?"
[5] "Thanks."
5
"Thanks, Nathalie."

"Hey, no problem."
Go south
The sidewalk turns from north to east at the border of a small wooded area.

Jonathan is sitting on a wooden balance beam, contemplating his drawing. His sidewalk square has been divided into a grid of hexagons, overlaid on a bird's-eye view of a snow-covered island.

Nathalie is right behind you.
You examine Jonathan
Jonathan is a sophomore, like you. Unless you consider yourself a junior. But you don't.

Honors center. You managed to get into the same section of Native Peoples of North America that he's in this semester; hopefully he didn't think you were weird for asking.
Examine beam
Someone erected a balance beam just off to the side of the sidewalk, even though a bench would be a lot more convenient. Jonathan's
notebook is resting on the beam next to him.
You look at the island
Each hexagon of the island map has a little feature drawn on it: A fortress or a mountain or a cottage. But the medium of sidewalk chalk isn't precise enough to render all the detail Jonathan is trying to include.

"It's the setting of my novel," he explains. "The kingdom of Cealdhame."

"Oh my gosh, your novel? Please, tell us all about it," Nathalie says, pressing a fresh water bottle into his hand.

"Well, the main premise is..." He rubs the cold bottle against his head. "Wait. Are you messing with me?"

"I promise you that I am."

"Gotcha." He takes a long drink.
You look at the notebook
next to it, but you can see a sketch of his island, with its hexagonal grid, and a bunch of little labels.
You talk to Jonathan
"Hey, Jonathan."

"Oh, hey!" He sits up and smiles.

[1] "How're you?"
[2] "That's a lot of white chalk."
[3] "Do you have plans for after this?"
[4] "See you later."
1
"How're you?"

"Doing great. I've got a comfy little bench here," he says, indicating the narrow balance beam. "I'll probably stretch out on top of it and take a nap later."

You giggle, but Nathalie does not.

[1] "How're you?"
[2] "That's a lot of white chalk."
[3] "Do you have plans for after this?"
[4] "See you later."
2
You look over the intricate map, and for some reason the thing you say out loud is: "That's a lot of white chalk."

"Don't worry. I brought my own. Well, not 'my own,' exactly."

Nathalie perks up. "Where'd you steal the chalk from?"

"There was a box of it just sitting on the floor in Van Allen Hall. They don't need it; all the classrooms have dry erase boards."

You're not sure what to do with this information. Nathalie nods approvingly.

[1] "How're you?"
[2] "That's a lot of white chalk."
[3] "Do you have plans for after this?"
[4] "See you later."
4
"See you later."

"Yeah, see you!" He returns to his work.
You go to the east
There's a run-down old drinking fountain along this east-west stretch of sidewalk, between the trees and the softball field.

Faye's chalk art is a complicated piece with maybe a dozen characters. And somehow, she's already almost finished.

Nathalie follows you.
You look at Faye
Faye is a sophomore. You haven't gotten to know her very well, but her choice of subject isn't a surprise. You could probably find another Jack Skellington among her tattoos, if you looked hard enough.
You examine the art
In the foreground of the chalk drawing is Jack Skellington, with a big grin on his skull; behind him are the ragdoll lady and the mad scientist and a bunch of other characters from The Nightmare
Before Christmas, all sketchy but recognizable. In the background
is the curling tentacle-mountain, silhouetted by a giant yellow moon.

"Um," you say.

Faye looks up at you. "Yes?"

"I'm just wondering... if there's..." Gosh, it's hard to talk. "If there are any legal problems with using copyrighted characters."

Faye looks over at Nathalie. Nathalie's eyes go wide; she staggers
back in shock.

"I just remembered," she gasps.

Cold dread flows over you. "What is it?"

"I'm so sorry. It completely slipped my mind... I forgot to invite Tim Burton's lawyers to the sidewalk chalk tournament."

Faye busts up laughing, and you feel your cheeks getting red.
Laugh
You can only manage a phlegmatic sort of half-laugh.
You turn it
You turn the knob, but no water comes out. Not even a dribble.
You talk to Faye
Anxiety creeps over your skull: You have no idea how to talk to Faye.

[1] "How's it going?"
[2] "Tell me about your drawing."
[3] "See you later."
1
"How���" You falter, and Nathalie steps in. "Hey Faye," she says, handing her a water bottle. "What are you doing after this?"

Faye stares into space. "I think I'm gonna head back to my room and stand in front of the air conditioner for like, an hour. Or I'm just gonna crawl inside my freezer."

"You have a freezer?"

"My minifridge has a freezer compartment. It's tiny, but... I'll manage." Faye nods reassuringly.

[1] "How's it going?"
[2] "Tell me about your drawing."
[3] "See you later."
2
You try to say "Tell me about your drawing" as if you just noticed it and never said anything embarrassing about it.

"Well, Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my favorite
movies, ever since I was a kid. I always thought Jack Skellington was really cute."

It occurs to you that the Honors program is full of weirdos.

[1] "How's it going?"
[2] "Tell me about your drawing."
[3] "See you later."
3
"See you later."

"Sure." Faye gets back to work.
You look around
There's a run-down old drinking fountain along this east-west stretch of sidewalk, between the trees and the softball field.

Nathalie stands off to the side.

Faye's chalk art is a complicated piece with maybe a dozen characters. And somehow, she's already almost finished.
You go to the east
Here, finally, there's a bench, where the sidewalk turns from west to south. The picturesqueness of the spot contrasts dramatically with torn-up Second Street just a little ways to the east.

Jessica is working on a curved block of pavement, drawing a diverse
and vibrant array of flowers.

Nathalie follows along.
You examine the bench
It seems a bit odd that the bench would be pointed out toward the highway instead of facing the bike trail.

There's a large hardbound book sitting on the bench.
Examine book
clearly designed to take up space on coffee tables. Jessica must have brought it to use as a reference.
You look at Jessica
Jessica is the only person you know of who comes to the Honors center just to read. One time you found her reading in the stairwell when the main study/hangout area had gotten too boisterous.

And she's a junior, a music major. She plays the... You can't remember the word.
You examine the art
Jessica has drawn a huge bouquet of lilies, roses, and orchids, all rendered with a level of realism that overwhelms you with the force of a strong perfume���But you're not really smelling anything. That was confusing.
You examine trail
The sidewalk around the softball field is nice and wide, perfect for chalk art.
You talk to Jessica
Jessica looks up and wipes some sweat from her forehead. "Yes?"

[1] "How are you?"
[2] "What's the problem here?"
[3] "I love your flowers."
[4] "Well, see you later."
1
"How are you?"

Jessica sighs deeply. "Actually, I'm in kind of a rotten mood. Sorry."

"Oh. That's too bad." Well, you're supposed to be doing something
about it.

[1] "How are you?"
[2] "What's the problem here?"
[3] "I love your flowers."
[4] "Well, see you later."
2
"What's the problem here?"

"I'm really sorry," she says, "but I don't think Xavier's piece is appropriate. And since it's associated with the Honors program, I just think..."

"What exactly is inappropriate about it?" asks Nathalie.

"Well, you should probably see it for yourself," she says, gesturing further down the sidewalk.

Oh no. More walking.

[1] "How are you?"
[2] "What's the problem here?"
[3] "I love your flowers."
[4] "Well, see you later."
4
"Well, see you later."

"Okay. But please, make Xavier change his design."
Go south
This is where there would be a crosswalk for Second Street, if there were a Second Street. There's a button for the crosswalk, but there is no crosswalk.

You feel a little hemmed in by the torn-up street to the east and all the trees to the west and south. The sidewalk only goes north from here.

Xavier is kneeling over his drawing, hard at work.

Nathalie follows you.
You look at Xavier
Xavier is an art major so it's not even fair that he would enter this tournament in the first place. And of course he has to cause trouble. Last year he did a photography exhibition in the Honors center. Just
an excuse to put up a bunch of naked pictures of naked people.
You examine the chalk
On the sidewalk is a curvaceous woman with red skin, goatish horns,
and very little clothing. Her lips are parted sultrily, as if she's about to whisper something to you. Your throat feels tight.

"More interesting than a bunch of flowers, that's for sure," says Nathalie.
You examine the trees
A wall of trees stands not far beyond the sidewalk. It's unnerving to see such dense woods in the middle of the city. You know the
university campus isn't far from the other side, but it seems like if you wandered in, you wouldn't wander out for some time.
You examine Street
Second Street is normally very busy, but it's been torn up for renovation. Now it's an expanse of mud and rubble, bordered by rebar and orange mesh.
You talk to Nathalie
Nathalie perks up when you turn her way.

[1] "How's it going?"
[2] "What do you think of Xavier's drawing?"
[3] "What do you think I should do?"
[4] "Thanks."
2
"What do you think of Xavier's drawing?" you ask, not concerning yourself with whether he can hear.

"Well, it's got my attention," Nathalie says. "I think people are really going to respond to her."

Xavier presses a hand to his chest. "Oh my gosh, Nathalie, that is the nicest fake compliment I've ever received in my life."

She grins. "Shut up, kid. You know I love you. Keep up the good work."

[1] "How's it going?"
[2] "What do you think of Xavier's drawing?"
[3] "What do you think I should do?"
[4] "Thanks."
3
"What���" You stumble. Nathalie reaches out to steady you.

"Hey. Are you doing okay?"

"No, yeah." You don't want her to worry about you. "I'm just stressed, I think."

"That makes sense. Let's get back to Hina and see if you can take a little break."

You're not as proud as you are exhausted, so you just nod.
Drink water
(the water bottle)
You take a drink from your water bottle. The water doesn't stay cold for long, but it's refreshing nonetheless.
You talk to Xavier
While you're trying to think of a way to engage, Nathalie steps in. "Hey Xavier. Nice succubus."

"Thanks!" He's in the middle of adding white highlights to make it
look like her skin (there's a lot of skin) is reflecting the sun.

"Did you know Jessica complained about it?"

"I know she didn't seem to like it when she was over here earlier.
But, what I've learned is, people are always going to have opinions."

"Well, I brought a judge over, to make a judgment call." Finally Nathalie steps aside and presents you. Xavier spreads his arms and presents his mostly-naked demoness.

"What do you think?"

Your head hurts.
3
"Come on," Nathalie says, "Let's just report back to Hina." She almost puts her arm on your shoulder.
Go north
There's a bench here, for weary wanderers such as yourself, where the sidewalk turns from west to south. The picturesqueness of the spot contrasts dramatically with torn-up Second Street just a little ways
to the east.

Jessica's flowers seem almost finished, but she's still focused on coloring in one of the petals.

Nathalie comes up alongside, dragging her water cooler behind her.
You go to the west
There's a run-down old drinking fountain along this east-west stretch of sidewalk, between the trees and the softball field.

Faye's Nightmare Before Christmas scene is complete, and now
she's lying in the grass off the sidewalk.

"Hey, it's finished!" Nathalie rushes over to admire the drawing. "I'm not a judge, so I can say without fear of retribution that I
completely love this. Jack Skellington is my role model."

Faye doesn't say anything. She's just running her hands over the
grass, a goofy smile on her lips.
Go west
The sidewalk turns from north to east at the border of a small wooded area.

Jonathan is staring straight down at the cement, lazily filling in the blue sea surrounding his island.

Nathalie follows along.
You go north
The sidewalk continues north and south between the softball field and
a steep hill. Rachel has been assigned a square of cement near a steel bike rack.

Rachel is still sunbathing; she finished her chalk-slogan-thing
forever ago.

Nathalie comes up alongside, dragging her water cooler behind her.
You go to the north
The sidewalk bends south and east here, at the edge of the parking
lot.

Victoria's python is finished. She's sitting in the grass, staring at the cars.

Nathalie follows along.
Go east
At least it's a little shady here.

Hina and Alec are sitting at either end of the table, waiting for you.

Nathalie is right behind you.
You talk to Hina
"Well?" Hina asks as you approach. You open your mouth.

"Sheesh, Hina, can't you see she's about to fall over?" Alec stands up and guides you to your chair. "You can make your report sitting down. This isn't the Marines."

Hina waits with clenched teeth for you to sit. "So what did Xavier
draw that Jessica had a problem with?"

"It was a..." You gesticulate weakly, searching for the right words.

Nathalie cuts in: "A big sexy demon with her boobs hanging out."

You nod, and your body wobbles beneath the weight of your head.

Hina slaps her own forehead. "For Pete's sake, Xavier... Okay, here's what we're going to do:"

But her voice fades away as you slump forward and lose consciousness.

��2

Lane's head thumps against the table, and you leap to your feet in alarm. Hina loses her cool for maybe an eighth of a second, then she grabs Lane by the shoulders.

"Did she faint?" you ask, before you realize that yes, obviously, she fainted.

"We need to get her on her back," Hina says. Before you can make your legs move, Nathalie glares at you and steps in to assist. The two of them position Lane on the grass; Hina leans down to check her breathing.

The judges' folding table is set up behind the bleachers, out of the sun, on a strip of bike trail leading east and west.

You stand by uselessly, your blood pounding in your ears. You should
do something.
About yourself
Your name is Alec; you're wearing a brown shirt and bluejeans. Based
on what people have told you, you believe yourself to be average-looking. You thought Hina wanted your creative and administrative input on this Sidewalk Chalk Tournament, but it turns out what she really wanted was a warm body to sit at the judges'
table.

You shouldn't be so critical of Hina. She's under a lot of stress. But aren't you under a lot of stress too? Everyone is. It's the human condition.
You talk to Hina
"Should I call 911?" you ask. Hina doesn't look up.

"I'm pre-med. I know what to do when someone faints," she grumbles.

"And I have street smarts," adds Nathalie.

"Then, what should I do?"

Hina closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. "Get a bucket of water and erase Xavier's demon lady. I don't have time to argue with him. Tell him he can start over and draw something more appropriate, or if he wants he can just go home."

Nathalie produces a strangled groan of protest. You just nod.
Go east
There's a big sand pit in between the end of the bike trail and the equipment shed. It looks like they just gave up on finishing the
trail. It also looks like they gave up on reconstructing the intersection northeast of here. Everything's torn up, destroyed, and abandoned.

There's an empty bucket on the ground here.
You get bucket
You pick up the bucket.
You check your inventory
You are carrying:
a metal bucket
an empty water bottle
Go west
The judges' folding table is set up behind the bleachers, out of the sun, on a strip of bike trail leading east and west. Lane is lying on the grass just off the path, with Hina petting her forehead and Nathalie keeping her feet elevated.
You talk to Hina
Hina already asked you to get a bucket of water to erase Xavier's art with. If you make her tell you again, she will get mad.
You talk to Nathalie
Nathalie gives you a condescending little nod. "Hina's got this under control," she says.
Go east
There's a big sand pit in between the end of the bike trail and the equipment shed. It looks like they just gave up on finishing the
trail. It also looks like they gave up on reconstructing the intersection northeast of here. Everything's torn up, destroyed, and abandoned.
You look at the spigot
The faucet doesn't have a handle: Instead, there's a little square
hole where you're supposed to insert a key.
You fill the bucket
You can't turn on the faucet; it doesn't have a handle. There's a square hole where you're supposed to insert a key, which you don't have.

Hopefully Hina has it.
You talk to Hina
"What is it?"

"Sorry, I need the key thingy. For the shed. For the water."

Hina sighs impatiently. (Well, this part isn't exactly your fault, is it?) She finds the key in her pocket and hands it to you without
saying anything.
You fill the bucket
You place the bucket beneath the spigot, stick the key in the hole on top, and twist it. Clear water pours out and splashes noisily in the bottom of the bucket. The resonance is deeply satisfying. You almost feel a little sleepy.

As the bucket begins to overflow, you snap back to awareness and turn off the faucet. You pull out the key; you don't want to lose that.

Then you pick up the bucket. It's heavy. Gosh.

Okay, you can do this.
You go west
Victoria is sitting in the grass, her head in her hands. Behind her on the bike path is her finished entry, a giant snake.

Curving around from the east, the trail heads south, between the softball field and the overgrown hillside.

Jeez, it's hot.
Go south
Rachel is lying on the grass next to her entry, abandoning herself to the merciless sun. Her eyes are hidden behind ridiculous sunglasses.

An empty bike rack stands on the other side of the trail, at the foot of the hill. The trail runs north and south.

Something shrieks in pain. Was that a bird?

Rachel doesn't react.

"Did you hear that?" you ask.

"Hear what?"
You go to the south
Jonathan gives you a dark look before turning back down to his work. The bike trail curves from north to east, skirting the edge of the woods.

A dry, mercifully cool breeze wafts over you from out of the forest, but it doesn't last long.
You go to the east
As you continue past Jonathan's drawing, you hear a voice behind you: Jerk.

You whirl around. "What did you just say?"

Jonathan looks up. "I didn't say anything."

"Are you sure?"

Jonathan blinks. "Um. Well, pretty sure, I guess."
Go east
Faye is sitting uncomfortably in the grass across the trail from a drinking fountain. It looks like the sun has gotten the better of her, but her chalk art is finished: A lurid homage to The Nightmare
Before Christmas.

The bike trail runs east and west between the woods and the outfield fence.
You go east
Jessica is sprawled across her field of flowers, sobbing softly.

Jessica is sprawled across her field of flowers, sobbing softly.The bucket falls from your grasp

bucket falls from your graspand you run to her, fall to her side,
touch her cheek. What's wrong?

touch her cheek. What's wrong?Life is wrong, the world is wrong, our sorrow (which is the smallest portion of human misery) is too much to bear. We can't fix anything, we can't help anyone, we can only cling
to each other

to each otherand weep and cold water crawls over the pavement, sinking into our clothes.

into our clothes.
��3

The idea is not that the world itself is merely an illusion. That's stupid. What's really going on is this: Reality is out there, obviously. But there's this veil of appearance that inhibits
our ability to experience reality. When you manage to push through
this veil, you'll realize that in fact reality is extremely real.

And you're almost there. You can feel the surface of the world melting away beneath your fingers.

0. THE CAVE
Ancient signatures painted on smooth, damp stone. Enormous machinery thrumming peacefully, blowing warm, wet wind over your face.

An engine screeches to life and breaks your concentration. There are people in here, talking over the fans, walking around like they own
the place. They're getting into their cars and they're leaving. Why
are they leaving?

EXITS: EAST
About you
You take a moment to focus. You point your attention inward. The
flower of your ��tman opens itself to you.

You remember now. Your name is Nathalie.
You check your inventory
You are carrying:
a plastic baggie
You look at baggie
Inside the plastic baggie are seven little yellow pills.
You eat the pill
Oh, you've had plenty.
You examine the machinery
Giant machines at the end of the ramp, churning incessantly. Their constant low moan is perfect thinking music.
You look around
0. THE CAVE
The dimness and white noise were so relaxing, but now everybody's piling into their loud stupid cars and it's impossible to think in here.

EXITS: EAST
You go east
I. THE DELUGE
In a matter of seconds you are soaked. Your clothes cling to you like someone else's moist hands, and tingles of intense sensation ripple over your skin. You are supremely, ecstatically aware of your own hot, wet body.

But everybody's in a hurry hurry hurry to get inside the parking ramp. What for? It's just water, you guys. People are idiots.

EXITS: WEST EAST

Some sort of creature is shivering in an alcove, trying to keep dry.
You examine creature
The creature has a face you recognize. He sees someone he knows and waves.

He keeps waving and beckoning, more and more insistently, calling out something you can't hear over the rain.

Oh, he's waving at you!
You talk to the creature
You skip through the puddles to join the creature in his damp alcove.

"I've been looking all over for you," he says. "I have orders to deliver you back to headquarters."

1 - This weather is gorgeous.
2 - So who is this guy?
3 - Why's everybody leaving?
4 - What does he even want?
1
"It's amazing." You slick your hair back. "Don't you love it?"

"What are you talking about?"

He's not paying attention. "The rain."

"Oh. I guess I'd like it better if I was indoors. And wearing dry socks."

Of course he would. "Of course you would."

1 - This weather is gorgeous.
2 - So who is this guy?
3 - Why's everybody leaving?
4 - What does he even want?
2
You lean in to inspect the candy-colored clown. He leans back. You
know him from somewhere. A long time ago. He seemed kind of gross when you met him, and he hasn't done anything to change your opinion since.

Just because you're both aspects of the same universal consciousness doesn't mean you have to like him.

1 - This weather is gorgeous.
2 - So who is this guy?
3 - Why's everybody leaving?
4 - What does he even want?
3
"Yeah, why is everybody leaving? I thought this was supposed to be fun times."

"Well, it's raining pretty hard."

"It's not raining that hard."

He rubs his forehead. He's thinking about something. He's about to say something.

He says: "Well, yes it is."

So stupid.

1 - This weather is gorgeous.
2 - So who is this guy?
3 - What does he even want?
3
"What are you here for?"

"I just said. Hina wants you to come back. They had a quick meeting while you were off doing whatever you were doing." You weren't even doing anything!

1 - They had a meeting without me?
2 - I don't have to put up with this!
2
"And I won't."

"What?"

"I won't go along with you. I won't comply with your orders. The Monomyth says that I have to refuse the call."

He sighs. "Okay, I'll go back and let them know you're... invoking the Monomyth. See you later."

He hops out of his hidey-hole and runs as fast as he can down the street.

Well, that's over.
You describe your surroundings
I. THE DELUGE
Everybody's in a hurry hurry hurry to get inside the parking ramp.
What for? It's just water, you guys. People are idiots.

EXITS: WEST EAST
You go west
0. THE CAVE
The dimness and white noise were so relaxing, but now everybody's piling into their loud stupid cars and it's impossible to think in here.

EXITS: EAST
You go east
II. THE BEAST
He growls and curses and struggles mightily against his fetters, but it's hopeless. He cannot move. He will never escape. Bound so tightly with tension and anger, he approaches the state of rigor mortis.

EXITS: WEST NORTH
You look at BEAST
A fanged monster of prodigious size is shackled in the middle of the street, his body melting away in the rain. He is glorious.

"Begone from me," the Beast growls, "Or I shall chomp thine head off! For I detest thee and all of mankind."

1 - How can he detest me? He doesn't even know me.
2 - Why's he tied up like that?
3 - Why is he melting?
3
You run your hand down the Beast's back. He is hard and grainy. He is made out of sand.

Sand is the highest form of sculpture, the truest test of artistic skill. It is doomed to destruction, therefore it is the loveliest of substances���for endurance is ugliness, and transience is beauty.

"Stop touching me," the Beast barks. But you go on petting him. He loves it.

1 - How can he detest me? He doesn't even know me.
2 - Why's he tied up like that?
3 - Why is he melting?
4 - Poor thing.
2
"Who exactly put these chains on you?"

"My creators���Human college students. After they sculpted me into being, they saw that I was too powerful, that I would usurp and
consume them! They enshackled me thus, and then they fled. Cowards!"

You nod. "Total cowards!"

1 - How can he detest me? He doesn't even know me.
2 - Why's he tied up like that?
3 - Why is he melting?
4 - Poor thing.
4
You kneel down and scratch between his ears. "Is there anything I can do for you, big guy?"

The Beast softens. "No human has ever before shown me one mote of kindness. No, Nathalie, it is too late for me���I am doomed to return to
elemental matter, to cease in my distinctness forevermore. But in thanks for thine tender attentions, I will spare thine life."

"Aww. Thanks, big guy." You rise from your knees.

Thunder rumbles.
Look around
II. THE BEAST
He still growls and curses, and still struggles mightily against his fetters, but it's hopeless. He cannot move. He will never escape.
Bound so tightly with tension and anger, he continues to approach the state of rigor mortis.

EXITS: WEST NORTH
Go north
III. THE FORTRESS
A massive castle looms before you, its walls and towers barring
further progress. How original.

EXITS: SOUTH NORTH
You look at the castle
A magnificent and well-crafted structure is the Fortress, with many intriguing details: The messengers of the northwest tower bear
missives and watery cordials to the all various inhabitants of the Fortress.
You look at northwest tower
cordials to the all various inhabitants of the Fortress.
You look at the southwest tower
The artists of the southwest tower spend their days asleep, but by night they gaze into the sky and draw celestial inspiration from their airy visions.
You look at southeast tower
The administrators of the southeast tower maintain the castle's bureaucracy with fiery drive and single-minded professionalism.
You examine the wizard's tower
In his lair at the top of the tallest tower, the wizard looks over the rest of the fortress and records all that he sees.
You go north
You can't go any further: The Fortress stands in your path.
Go northwest
No, you can't go that way. You can go north or south.
You talk to the wizard
The wizard's tower turns out to be a great listener.
You break Fortress
You stomp on the southeast tower, reducing it to a pile of sand.
Continue
You bring your fist down on the south wall. It crumbles immediately.
Continue
You kick the gatehouse, splattering it across the street.

People passing by seem to think you're doing something wrong. They clearly don't understand how important it is for you to get through this castle.
Keep going
You smush the southwest tower into rubble.
Continue
You destroy the flimsy blacksmith's shop with a single kick.
Continue
You rip out a big chunk of the east wall and toss it down the road.
Continue
You pummel the wizard's tower into dust.

At last, you've cleared a path through to the rest of the street.
Go north
IV. ERUPTION
Liquid fire pours out from the smoking crater, down the mountainside, toward the doomed village. It's too late to escape, too late to rescue anybody. Everything is melting.

EXITS: SOUTH WEST
You look at the village
A few simple homes remain out of the lava's path for now, but before long, the entire village will be a smoking ruin.

"It's a shame," someone says as they hurry by. "All that hard work
will be washed away." But that person doesn't understand properly:
IV. ERUPTION doesn't necessarily symbolize a complete disaster:
Just a drastic change, a threat to the status quo. And that's often a positive thing.

Actually, the status quo is famously terrible, so it follows that change is always good.
You look at the crater
The volcano rises high; its plume of smoke blots out the sky. Madame Pele shapes the earth according to her whim, and to erect a settlement in the shadow of her mountain is to put oneself at her mercy.

Lightning arcs across the clouds of ash, and thunder makes the
pavement shake beneath you.
Go west
V. THE THRONE
Papa is seated in majesty on his golden Throne, surrounded by a golden cord and a veil of black curtains.

EXITS: EAST WEST
You look at Papa
Papa is dressed in his purple vestments and skullcap, his frilly white skirt. His pince-nez is smashed into his forehead. His tiny teeth
shine like wet pebbles in his gaping mouth. He is screaming.

Papa's mouth is split wide in a piercing, infinite scream.

"Hey!" you yell, loud enough that he should be able to hear you. But
he doesn't react.

1 - Man, I hate this guy.
2 - What's he screaming about?
3 - He's not worth your time.
2
Who cares?

You yell at Papa to shut up. You yell at him again. He has no reply, except additional screaming. You're ready to start screaming yourself���but that would be stooping to his level.

Life is full of little lessons like this, if you bother to look for them. You have to pay attention to yourself. You have to open yourself up to what yourself is trying to tell you.

1 - Man, I hate this guy.
2 - What's he screaming about?
3 - He's not worth your time.
You look at the cord
(You'll have to pick a number from 1 to 3.)
1
You are so sick and tired of this guy and his whole deal. This is really ruining your afternoon.

1 - Man, I hate this guy.
2 - What's he screaming about?
3 - He's not worth your time.
3
"Exactly! Your authority is meaningless. Authority is a false structure." You've been gnawing on this bone for a while. "I don't
have to respect you���I don't even have to acknowledge you!"

Papa screams in response.

1 - Yeah, leave him alone.
2 - No, he needs to have this explained to him.
2
He does need to have this explained to him, and you're the perfect person to explain it. "Authority is a social construct, which means,
we all have to agree that you possess authority, or you don't possess it."

Papa goes on screaming, either in impotent protest or in feigned confusion.

"Forget it. You'll never understand." Yeah. He'll never understand.
You examine Throne
The regal seat is topped with elaborate golden pinnacles, reaching almost as high as Papa's hat.
You examine the hat
What a goofy little hat.
You examine cord
This velvet rope of gold is a false barrier: The rules don't apply to you. You aren't responsible for your actions.
You look at the curtains
Black drapery falls all around, obscuring the distant world and bringing what is near into ghastly clarity.
You pull the cord
Well, being a false barrier, a mere invention, the cord only exists in your mind. So you can't really do anything with it.
Look around
V. THE THRONE
Papa is seated in majesty on his golden Throne, surrounded by a golden cord and a veil of black curtains.

EXITS: EAST WEST
You go west
VI. THE WRECKED SHIP
Light plays strangely on the broken planks and spars littering the ocean floor. The shattered hull is rotting all around you.

At your feet, a skeletal sailor grins idiotically in a siren's
embrace.

EXITS: EAST NORTH
You examine the ship
What brought this hulk to rest here? What doomed this sailor? Was it this mermaid? Probably. Is that a sexist assumption?
You look at the sailor
The sailor is smiling, even as his bones erode in the warm ocean currents. A slimy tentacle is wrapped around one of his legs. This moron is so, so pleased that a girl is finally paying attention to
him. He doesn't even care that he's dead.
You examine the siren
A curvaceous mermaid: Long of hair, smooth of cheek, pert of nose. Her eyes are cast down lovingly at her skeleton friend, and her serpentine tail is coiled into a pillow where he can rest his skull.

The siren's pet shark is lurking nearby, ready to attack any
intruders.
You examine the shark
A dog-sized shark is skirting the area, looking out for trespassers. But it hasn't noticed you.
Attack shark
You kick off the shark's fin; then you smash the rest of it. It crumbles into nothing.

The siren doesn't seem to care.
You hit the ship
You tear down the hulk with your bare hands. It disintegrates, its contituent atoms floating off on undersea currents.
You look at the sculpture
Which do you mean, the wreckage, the skeletal sailor, the tentacle, or the siren?
You look at the tentacle
Twisted around the sailor's bony leg is a tentacle, reaching up from somewhere beneath the sea floor. It is disgusting.
You examine the sand
Which do you mean, the wreckage, the skeletal sailor, the tentacle,
the siren, or the sea floor?
You examine the floor
Undulating sand stretches out in all directions, fading quickly into the impenetrable blueness of the ocean.
You examine the wreckage
Pointy bits of wreckage are all over the place, spoiling the desert-like smoothness of the ocean floor.
You look around
VI. THE WRECKED SHIP
The sea floor has swallowed most of the wreck, and only a few planks remain.

At your feet, a skeletal sailor grins idiotically in a siren's
embrace.

EXITS: EAST NORTH
You go north
VII. THE GATE
The warm rain is gone. Now frigid air conditioning flows over you, and you shiver like one near death.

The vestibule of the Honors Center is a liminal space, not quite
within or without. Nothing good ever happens in liminal spaces.

EXITS: SOUTH

Oh. Hina is here.
You examine Hina
Hina is almost as soaked as you are. And although she always looks serious, and often looks angry, you've never seen her as serious or as angry as she is now. Demonic flames are burning in her eyes. And she
is stomping straight at you.

"Where in the heck have you been?" she snarls.

1 - Well, you can't tell her you were getting high in the parking
ramp.
2 - Oh no she already knows.
3 - She does not. Calm down.
4 - No, look how angry she is! She definitely knows!
5 - She has no idea. Just act normal, and she won't be able to tell.
5
"I was taking a little break."

"You were gone for like two hours."

"Huh! I guess I lost track of time." Very normal response. You're
doing great.

Hina's forehead-wrinkle puckers. "It's your sand sculpture contest. I would expect you to take some responsibility for it."

"I took plenty of responsibility for it! That's why I needed a break!"

"Well, while you were taking your break, the rest of the Arts
Committee talked it over, and we don't think we should do sand sculpture again next year."

1 - They can't do that!
2 - They can't cancel my event without consulting me.
3 - Just because it rained?
4 - I'll complain to the faculty advisor.
5 - What was her name again?
3
"You understand that it's not going to rain like this next year, right?"

"It's not about the weather. We all agreed that sand sculpture was too expensive and dangerous. Somebody got cut with a shovel pretty bad."

"You gave up because one guy had an accident?"

"No." She steels herself. "We also heard from a lot of participants that it was too much work. Shoveling all that sand and pouring all
that water is really exhausting. And it's supposed to be fun."

A sudden peal of thunder punctuates Hina's treachery.

1 - It IS fun.
2 - These people are just too stupid and lazy to appreciate it.
3 - What are they going to do instead? Finger painting?
4 - Well, they can do it without me.
3
"So what are you going to do next year? Finger painting? Sidewalk chalk?"

Hina pauses. "Finger painting sounds kind of cool, actually."

You try hard not to scream.

"This is supposed to be an honors program! We're supposed to hold up a higher standard than the rest of these idiots. We're supposed to be elevating people's consciousness!"

Hina looks at you carefully. She's examining your eyes. Uh oh.

"Nathalie, are you feeling okay?"

1 - She knows!
2 - She's gonna report you!
3 - There's still time to deny it.
4 - No, just own up to it.
3
"I wasn't doing anything!"

"I didn't ask if you were doing anything."

She's got you there. "Look, I was just taking some of these." You pull out your baggie. "Just to relax. It's not a big deal. But don't tell anyone."

Hina examines the pills. Hey, why are there only two left?

"Is this episcophacetin?" she asks. You roll your eyes. Nobody calls
it that.

The outside door of the vestibule opens, and Alec blusters in. "Hey, Hina!" he says cheerily. "Look, I found Nathalie!"

Your rate for destroying artwork is 37.95%.
��4

In eternal Winter's grasp rests icy Cealdhame, where was raised snow-heavy Byringsburh, throne of Care��, bearer of the Pallid Crown. Long has Care�� reigned in peace; long have his enemies waited to rise up in war against him. Episcophacetin, commonly known as
joan[1] or klasvak[citation needed], is a
psychoactive drug primarily used for recreational purposes. Its
effects include altered perceptions and sensory hallucinations[2], often accompanied by intense changes in mood such as euphoria, depression, or paranoia.[3]
About you
You are a point in two-dimensional space. The original plan was that you would be in charge of a sidewalk chalk tournament. Now, you wander alone over the frostbound kingdom of Cealdhame, seeking respite from the bitter cold. Your face hurts.
Note 1
You never bothered to check any of the citations.
You look at your surroundings
In eternal Winter's grasp rests icy Cealdhame, where was raised snow-heavy Byringsburh, throne of Care��, bearer of the Pallid Crown. Long has Care�� reigned in peace; long have his enemies waited to rise up in war against him. Episcophacetin is usually consumed orally in tablet form. It is also dissolved in water to counteract its dehydrating properties;[12] however, continued ingestion of episcophacetin-laced water has been shown to increase the likelihood
of syncope (fainting),[13] hyponatremia,[14] and other possibly life-threatening side effects.[15][16][17][18]
You go south
Six are the directions permitted in Cealdhame: Northeast, east, southeast, southwest, west, and northwest are these, and no others.
You go to the northwest
The River ��orm, abode of thick-browed Garn-men. Ash-white is the tusk of the Cranh��al, sea-black its empoisoned tongue. Although it lacks the electrolytes necessary to restore sodium concentration, drinking unadulterated water has been shown to reduce the hallucinogenic
effects of episcophacetin[19][20][21] as well as treat dehydration.[citation needed]
You go to the northwest
Lost forever upon the coldness of T��r��este lies ��ofydr��cce, bright ring of gold, its gleaming wheel long unfilled by finger. Your head hurts.
Go southeast
The River ��orm, abode of thick-browed Garn-men. Ash-white is the tusk of the Cranh��al, sea-black its empoisoned tongue. Episcophacetin is a chiral compound and is produced as a racemic mixture. Differences in kinetics have been noted between the two enantiomers,[97] with the R-enantiomer having a shorter elimination half-life and greater excretion than the S-enantiomer.
You examine the tongue
Weirdly, you are unable to get a good look at the hated Cranh��al.
You look at River
Something about your perspective is making it impossible to fully understand the River ��orm.
Drink water
You can't see that here. Or maybe this is a problem with those weird letters. Try thinking about it without using any weird letters.
Drink river
Trying to get a handle on the River ��orm is making your head hurt even worse.
Go upward
Six are the directions permitted in Cealdhame: Northeast, east, southeast, southwest, west, and northwest are these, and no others.
You go to the east
The hovel of the weaver C��dmyd, who fashioned bright ��erf��ene. Battle-heavy was that tapestry, burdened by blood, that told of King Care��. Your face is sore.
You look at the hovel
You can't figure out how to manipulate or even directly observe the hovel of the weaver C��dmyd. Something about this situation is messed up.
You go east
In the ice-caves of Nemind creeps the ice-bat Ge��arcain, sovereign of vermin. Five are the wives of Ge��arcain: Beresceon the Jealous, Nepe�� the Wicked, As��ealt the Moist, Ecgemarc the Clinging, and Helabreoc the Furious. There are several methods for synthesizing episcophacetin via various intermediates.[108][109][110][111] The original synthesis described by Hamano (1989) involves brominating cariadol to dimethylpyrimidinol bisulfite and then reacting this adduct with trimethylamine.[112][113]
Go east
In that direction lies the dark sea, and beyond that lie lands utterly unknown. Are you sure you want to keep going?
No
Then you must wander the isle of Cealdhame... forever!
Yes
Then you continue on, past the shores of Cealdhame, across the sharp-toothed sea, over the edge of the world.

And then you rise up into the air...

You are floating above the the icy realm of Cealdhame. You must be
very high indeed; you can take in the entire island in a glance!

Other lands lie north and east of here, if you remember correctly.

Nathalie's unsuccessful sand sculpture event took place on August 28, 2010. Today is August 27, 2011. You might be a bit loopy, but you're still lucid enough to do basic math: Nathalie has been plotting her revenge for eight thousand, six hundred and forty-seven days.
About yourself
You try to focus.

Your head is killing you, and your face is sore from dragging it
across the kingdom of Cealdhame. Before that you were in charge of a sidewalk chalk tournament. But it hasn't turned out very well.
You continue
Your head is killing you, and your face is sore from dragging it
across the kingdom of Cealdhame. Before that you were in charge of a sidewalk chalk tournament. But it hasn't turned out very well.
Go east
Your legs feel so heavy. But you have to keep going.

Your path seems to stretch out longer and longer with each step. The trail ahead twists and swerves, rolling up and down over sinuous
hills, until you finally reach a spindly fence of wrought iron, and a crooked stone gate, and a tall man, spreading wide his spiderlike
arms.

"Greetings, greetings! I'm so pleased that you've joined us! But I should introduce myself. My name is Jack. I have the honor of serving as our little burg's representative���a cultural ambassador of sorts. And who might you be, my dear girl?"

"It's nice to meet you, Jack," you say without thinking. You're too tired to think. "I'm Hina."

He takes you by the hand and leads you through the gateway. "Well, then, Hina: Let me welcome you to Halloween Town!"

A yellow moon hangs low over the pumpkin fields and graveyard. The denizens of Halloween Town are out in force, cavorting through the streets and across the countryside, toothy grins on every face. A hulking man with an axe lodged in his skull trudges toward you���and mercifully he keeps trudging past you. A tiny devil-thing is toddling around on its stilt-like wingtips, apparently engaged in a game of
tag. Doctor Finkelstein is scowling in his wheelchair; he may be the only one not having a good time.

The twisting road that skirts the city limits runs east and west.

"Please, stay and have a look around!" says Jack. "We so rarely have visitors."
Go west
You are floating above the the icy realm of Cealdhame. Other lands lie north and east of here.
You go north
You go north
Step no further, Hina Shiroiwa. You have reached the end of your journey. You have wandered into a domain where I alone hold sway���I, the world-serpent Ahigu.

Behold my vastness! Here there is no earth, nor sky: Only the infinite twisting of my scaled body. No tail have I, nor arms, nor legs; but look upon my face, my deadly fangs���upon the venom that will be your death.

No, not yet. I will allow you to live, but you will not continue east into the Hall of Judgment. Turn back, go southwards, and reflect upon your deplorable failure.
You examine the python
I am Ahigu, the Endless Wyrm. I am all around you! You can see nothing but my rippling coils, my cavernous maw, my dripping fangs.
You go to the east
A yellow moon hangs low over the pumpkin fields and graveyard. The denizens of Halloween Town are out in force, cavorting through the streets and across the countryside, toothy grins on every face. Barrel the trick-or-treater pops his head up from behind a tombstone. A tiny devil-thing is toddling around on its stilt-like wingtips, apparently engaged in a game of tag. The mayor is stomping around among his constituents, looking extremely pleased with everything.

The twisting road that skirts the city limits runs east and west.

Jack Skellington watches over the scene with his own satisfied smile.
You talk to Jack
him.

"Now, then. What can your tour guide do for you?"

1: Ask him about the town.
2: Let's learn more about him.
3: Tell him what's going on with you.
4: Say goodbye.
3
Jack seems nice, but would he really care about your problems? What good would it do to burden him with the details of all your troubles? It would be cruel, in fact. It would ruin his week. You breathe a
heavy sigh.

"What's wrong?" asks Jack.

You try to construct a noncommittal answer: "I've just been under a
lot of stress lately."

He nods; he presses his distal phalanges together. "Why don't you tell me all about it?"

All right, fine. But where to begin?

1: Tell him about Lane.
2: Tell him about Alec.
3: Tell him about Nathalie.
4: Tell him about the Sidewalk Chalk Tournament.
5: Change the subject.
3
"There's this girl Nathalie. She was in charge of our arts event last year, and it was a... Well, it went very poorly. So this year I ended up organizing the event instead of her, and I guess she took it personally, because she sabotaged the whole thing."

Jack's skull twists into a furious scowl. "How dare she treat my
friend so shamefully! She must be punished, Hina!"

"Well, I don't know if I have the authority to punish anyone."

He leaps to his feet and points a long, bony finger down at you. "This Honors arts event is your responsibility! You alone can bring Nathalie to justice!"

Then he sees you cowering in fear beneath him and composes himself.

He sits down, puts a reassuring arm over your shoulder: "But I'm sure you'll handle it well, whatever you do."

1: Tell him about Lane.
2: Tell him about Alec.
3: Tell him about Nathalie.
4: Tell him about the Sidewalk Chalk Tournament.
5: Change the subject.
1
"My friend is in trouble. She fainted���I think somebody put something in her drink. I need to make sure she's okay."

Jack slaps his knee. "I'm sure you'll be able to help her, Hina!
You've given me every reason to believe that you're a very capable young woman."

Well, that's nice of him to say.

1: Tell him about Lane.
2: Tell him about Alec.
3: Tell him about Nathalie.
4: Tell him about the Sidewalk Chalk Tournament.
5: Change the subject.
2
"I'm worried about Alec. I sent him off on an errand, and I haven't heard back. I wish I knew what happened to him."

"Is this Alec a friend of yours?" asks Jack.

Huh. That's a tricky one. "I guess? He was one of the only people willing to help me out with all this."

"But did he lend his assistance because he wanted a piece of the
glory? Or because he hoped you'd owe him a favor?"

You scoff. "No, nothing like that. He's not getting anything out of this."

Jack nods. "That sounds like a friend to me, Hina."

Now you feel a little guilty.

1: Tell him about Lane.
2: Tell him about Alec.
3: Tell him about Nathalie.
4: Tell him about the Sidewalk Chalk Tournament.
5: Change the subject.
4
You take a deep breath.

"I volunteered to coordinate the Honors arts event, to begin the fall semester. I thought sidewalk chalk would be fun, right? We'd get to be outside, but it wouldn't be like sand sculpture, where everyone was spending all their time shoveling. It would be totally casual. Just a way to decompress.

"But nobody signed up! I had to beg everyone to come, and then I had
to beg Lane and Alec to be judges. The only person who actually volunteered to help was Nathalie, and she specifically wanted to be
the hydration officer, and I should have guessed that something shady was going on���but I was so busy with the beginning of the semester and everything, I couldn't pay attention to anything. I completely forgot about prizes. I kept calling it a tournament and I never once thought about prizes! I call it a tournament but we have just six people actually participating.

"Then Jonathan tells me that Alec can't be a judge because he has his weird relationship with Jessica, so I have to coach Alec on what
scores he's allowed to give���oh my gosh, if anyone finds out, they'll be so mad���the whole judging system is a complete farce. And then Xavier thinks it's cool to draw���he drew���it's���porn, basically, on a
public sidewalk! This is the Honors program!

"And then Lane fainted, and I assumed she was just dehydrated, which would be bad enough. But everyone else starts going all goofy, and I realize Nathalie has made it her mission to ruin the sidewalk chalk tournament. Because it wasn't already ruined enough! And I can't fix anything. There's no coming back from this. I'm a failure."

You bury your face in your hands. Jack Skellington wraps his arms around you in an extremely uncomfortable hug. Then he says, in a soft, warm voice: "Let me tell you a story."

1: Let him tell you a story.
1
He takes a deep breath.

"You must understand: I've been the Pumpkin King for a very, very long time. I've coordinated more Halloween productions than I can count. And, if you will forgive a lapse in modesty, I've gotten very good at it. I grew so tired of Halloween, of the same old thing every year. I wanted to try something different.

"So I presented my associates with a pitch for a new kind of project. Something none of us had ever attempted! Something completely new���Well, not exactly. I more or less copied someone else's idea. But it was new to us, and we were all so excited! We took to it with twice the fervor of our Halloween preparations. We pulled out all the stops. We innovated���really innovated, for the first time in years! And then the night came for us to put it all into action.

"It was a catastrophe. Our audience wasn't at all prepared for our avant-garde sensibility, and they responded incredibly poorly. Nobody could have predicted that things could go so horribly wrong."

His face falls. "That's not true. Sally told me it would be a
disaster, and I refused to listen to her. But I don't think even Sally had any idea how bad it would get. They actually shot me out of the
sky with a missile.

"It wasn't until I pulled myself out of the smoking wreckage that I realized how utterly I had failed. I felt just like you're feeling
now. Suddenly I was painfully aware of all the mistakes I had been blind to until that moment. All my hubris! I wanted to crawl into a hole and wither away.

"But something else occurred to me: I hadn't withered away quite yet.
I was still Jack, the Pumpkin King! And I had something I didn't have before."

1: What was that?
1
"What was that?"

"Why, my tragic, ruinous, monumental, calamitous failure, Hina! I had experienced failure on a level few could ever hope to recreate. And when I decided to make that disaster a part of me���instead of collapsing beneath it and admitting defeat���I was a new man! I was the Jack Skellington who had been shot out of the sky with a missile! And
I was brimming with new ideas, let me tell you. The next Halloween was one for the record books.

"Of course, first I had to clean up the horrible mess I had made. But that became much easier after I accepted and internalized my horrible failure. So, based on my experience," he says at last, "I think you're going to come out of this in fine form."

You dab at your eyes with your shirt.
Go east
Colors flow and mingle, turquoise into lavender, pale cream into indigo, rolling in fat raindrops down from liquefying petals,
drenching the soil, impregnating the dark earth, the deep blackness of the earth.

The maiden and her knight lie sinking into melting lilies.

To the south and west are other spaces.
You examine knight
In a tangle of clinging arms lie the maiden and her knight; together they shed tears enough to dissolve a universe of flowers. The shared sorrow that afflicts their coupled hearts is unknowable, innominable. It is none of your business.

The knight has cast off his helm, has collapsed into the waters of his lady's emerald gown. His armor is already smeared with rust.

His left hand isn't pressed against his lady's back, but clutched
tight around something.
Open hand
You pull at the gauntlet until the knight's fingers open at last: In his palm lies a tarnished key.

You grab it.

The empty hand now finds the maiden's back, and pulls her tighter against the knight.
You examine Alec
The knight has cast off his helm, has collapsed into the waters of his lady's emerald gown. His armor is already smeared with rust.
You examine Jessica
The maiden's eyes are shut by sleeping-draught. Her neck and cheek are chill and pale as ice; her dark lips part in silent choking sobs. Her emerald gown and black curling hair have melted with her lush array of flowers into a rippling sea of color.
You get the bucket
Hey, there's the bucket you sent Alec off with! Looks like he had a little accident.

Well, nothing to be done about it now.
You check your inventory
You are carrying:
a tarnished key
You get the bucket
You reach for the bucket clumsily. Your hand glances against the
metal, and it rolls away���

���off the edge of space, into the depths of the earth.
You go west
A yellow moon hangs low over the pumpkin fields and graveyard. The denizens of Halloween Town are out in force, cavorting through the streets and across the countryside, toothy grins on every face. Doctor Finkelstein is scowling in his wheelchair; he may be the only one not having a good time. The little witch-girl Shock is scurrying through the cemetery, searching for her friends. Sally the ragdoll sits on the hillside, brushing her hair and staring at the moon.

The twisting road that skirts the city limits runs east and west.

Jack Skellington watches over the scene with his own satisfied smile.
You go north
Unlucky girl, you stand defenseless in the heart of my domain���the domain of the world-serpent Ahigu. Behold my vastness! Here there is
no earth, nor sky: Only the infinite twisting of my scaled body. No tail have I, nor arms, nor legs; but look upon my face, my deadly fangs, dripping with fatal venom, and know true terror.

For the moment I will allow you to live, but you will not continue
east into the Hall of Judgment. Turn back, go southwards, and reflect upon your deplorable failure.
Examine containre
That isn't here. Probably. Or maybe it's here, but that's not what
it's called.
Examine container
That isn't here. Or maybe it is here, but it isn't here enough to matter. Or maybe it's here, but that's not what it's called.
You look at cooler
That isn't here. Or maybe it is here, but it isn't here enough to matter.
You examine the grass
That isn't here. Or maybe it is here, but it isn't here enough to matter. Or maybe it's not here, but it's here, but not in the way it's supposed to be.
You talk to Ahigu
There is no need to speak. My knowledge in this domain is absolute.

What do you wish to know, mortal?

1: My true nature?
2: Why I won't let you move forward?
3: How to leave this place?
4: Or would you rather I stopped reading your mind?
2
I do this for your own protection, Hina. You are not prepared for what awaits you in the Hall of Judgment. To continue eastward would take more fortitude than you can muster. You are only one Hina, after all.

What else?

1: My true nature?
2: Why I won't let you move forward?
3: How to leave this place?
4: Or would you rather I stopped reading your mind?
1
I am the world called Ahigu, the primal serpent. I predate your fleshy pink existence by some millennia. In the Torah, I curse mankind with knowledge and death; in the Eddas, my venom fells the god of thunder. In the Vedas, I encircle the waters of creation and bring drought upon the world.

What else?

1: My true nature?
2: Why I won't let you move forward?
3: How to leave this place?
4: Or would you rather I stopped reading your mind?
3
I am a merciful world-serpent. I will allow you to return south to
that realm whence you came.

I do not sense within you the gratitude such a gesture merits���So be it.

What else?

1: My true nature?
2: Why I won't let you move forward?
3: How to leave this place?
4: Or would you rather I stopped reading your mind?
4
Very well!
You examine the venom
That isn't here. Probably. Or maybe it is here, but it isn't here enough to matter. Or maybe it's not here, but it's here, but not in
the way it's supposed to be.
Go south
Go south
You are floating above the the icy realm of Cealdhame. Other lands lie north and east of here.
You go to the east
A yellow moon hangs low over the pumpkin fields and graveyard. The denizens of Halloween Town are out in force, cavorting through the streets and across the countryside, toothy grins on every face. One particularly noticeable demon has a mouth that goes all the way around its head. There's a wolfman scampering through the pumpkin patch, howling every so often. A quartet of vampires waddles across the street, gossiping loudly.

The twisting road that skirts the city limits runs east and west.

Jack Skellington watches over the scene with his own satisfied smile.
You examine the wolfman
The wolfman smiles and gives you a wave. Good grief, that's a lot of teeth.
You talk to the wolfman
Jack offers to introduce you to the wolfman, but you tell him you'd just as soon admire him from afar. The guy looks like he could chomp your head clean off.

"He's a very friendly fellow," says Jack.

"That's okay," you tell him.
You talk to the Doctor
The doctor grins as you approach: His teeth are awful. "Hello there, Jack! And what is this creature you've brought with you?"

"This is Hina. Hina, meet Doctor Finkelstein."

It seems wise not to say anything. Finkelstein squints at you through his tiny goggles.

"You seem to be very much alive, young lady���Not like most of us around
here. Still getting use out of all your body parts?"

Gulp. "Uh, yes. Sorry."

He clicks his tongue. "Well, let me know if anything changes."

You laugh nervously as he activates his wheelchair and rolls away.

"A remarkable mind," says Jack.
You talk to Sally
Sally doesn't really seem to notice you, but she comes out of her reverie when Jack approaches, and gazes up at him adoringly. "Jack!" she gasps.

"Wonderful news, Sally! We have a guest! Meet Hina." Jack puts his
bony hand on your shoulder and pulls you into Sally's line of sight.

"How nice to meet you, Hina." She raises her hand, and you shake it gently, worried that you might pull it loose.
You talk to the vampires
You and Jack walk up alongside the clique, but go unnoticed: The vampires are in their own little world.
Look around
A yellow moon hangs low over the pumpkin fields and graveyard. The denizens of Halloween Town are out in force, cavorting through the streets and across the countryside, toothy grins on every face. A tiny devil-thing is toddling around on its stilt-like wingtips, apparently engaged in a game of tag. Barrel the trick-or-treater pops his head up from behind a tombstone. A quartet of vampires waddles across the street, gossiping loudly.

The twisting road that skirts the city limits runs east and west.

Jack Skellington watches over the scene with his own satisfied smile.
Go east
Colors flow and mingle, turquoise into lavender, pale cream into indigo, rolling in fat raindrops down from liquefying petals,
drenching the soil, impregnating the dark earth, the deep blackness of the earth.

The maiden and her knight lie sinking into melting lilies.

To the south and west are other spaces.
Go south
A cloud of yellowish smoke billows over you, stinging your eyes, burning your lungs. You fall to your knees.

No, you need to keep going. Get up. Focus.

Tall tongues of flame line the passage toward the dais where Nega-Hina lounges on her thorny couch.

Hot, dry wind whistles through narrow windows. Your only hope of
escape is in returning to the north.

"You're here! Finally!" Nega-Hina groans. "I've been so friggin' bored."
You examinNega-Hina
Her face is your face, down to the furrow in her forehead. And you recognize her body as your body, stretched out like a cat on her leather couch. She's your exact double���except for her horns, and her fangs, and her glistening red skin.
You talk to her
You take an uncertain step toward the dais.

She waves you closer. "Don't be shy. We have a lot of work to do."

1: "Who are you?"
2: "What is this place?"
1
"Who are you"

"Oh come on. You know exactly who I am. You're just not 'comfortable' with me���" (here she uses finger-quotes, for some reason) "���so you tried to get rid of me. But it turns out you can't get rid of me! And actually, you don't want to get rid of me. You'll be a lot better off when we start working together."

1: Okay, I guess.
2: I don't know about that.
2
How can you put this politely? "I'm sorry, but I don't think I feel comfortable accepting a naked devil-lady as an element of my psychology."

She rolls her eyes. "You're being really literal about this, Normal Hina."

"You're a succubus! You're trying to tell me all my problems are about being repressed, and if I embrace my sexuality that'll somehow fix everything."

Nega-Hina drags her claws down over her face. "Oh my gosh, that's not what's going on here at all."

"Well, maybe you could explain what really is going on here."

"Gladly! That's what I'm actually here for anyway, is to friggin' explain things..."

1: "What is this place?"
2: Ask about one of the places you've been.
3: Ask about what is going on in general.
4: What am I even supposed to be doing here?
5: Stop talking to Nega-Hina.
1
"What is this place?"

"That's an interesting question, actually. We're in two places at
once: Physically, this is the end of the sidewalk, where Xavier drew his bodacious drawing. But experientially, we're in..." Nega-Hina
leans down and whispers: "Heck."

"Are you not able to say 'Hell' for some reason?"

She answers with a pout and a little who-even-cares shrug.

Then an awful thought occurs to you. "Are you saying Xavier drew a naked picture of me on the sidewalk?"

"No, no, no. You're just interpreting me in the context of your emotional baggage. Would Xavier know about this birthmark?"

She juts her hip out at you in an unnecessarily slinky manner.

"I guess not."

1: "What is this place?"
2: Ask about one of the places you've been.
3: Ask about what is going on in general.
4: What am I even supposed to be doing here?
5: Stop talking to Nega-Hina.
3
"Can you tell me just generally what's going on?"

She cocks her head. "I mean, sure, if you want. I feel like you have everything pretty much figured out already, though. I don't want to waste time explaining stuff you already know."

"That's very considerate of you."

"I know. But it's up to you. Do you feel like you need some extra clarification?"
No
"Eh, no thanks."

Nega-Hina nods.

1: "What is this place?"
2: Ask about one of the places you've been.
3: Ask about what is going on in general.
4: What am I even supposed to be doing here?
5: Stop talking to Nega-Hina.
2
What do you want to ask about?

1: Ask about the Coils of Ahigu.
2: Ask about Rachel's artwork.
3: Ask about the Kingdom of Cealdhame.
4: Ask about Halloween Town.
5: Ask about Curling Flower Space.
6: Never mind.
1
"So, there's this gigantic snake guy?"

"Yeah, Ahigu! So friggin' cool."

"Well, he won't let me get to the equipment shed. If I try to get past him he'll venom me to death."

"Huh." Nega-Hina strokes her chin. "You know, Princess Hebryn of Cealdhame���mistress of the fortress Cynebrand���she wears a magic bracelet called Hlutorbeg. The stone-elves made it for her. It's supposed to grant its wearer immunity to poison."

"How do you remember all this?"

She shakes her head wearily. "Last January, you and Jonathan were in the Honors Center, and he was telling you all about his novel while
you were trying to study for an exam. You tried so hard to ignore him, but unfortunately your subconscious mind absorbed every friggin' detail."

"Did I retain anything for the exam?"

Nega-Hina shrugs. "I dunno. I don't pay attention to that stuff. But
if you go back to Cealdhame and get that bracelet, it might let you
get past Ahigu."

"Well, last time I was there, I couldn't really observe or touch anything."

"Yeah, because you lacked perspective! You didn't have the context necessary to interpret what you were seeing. That's the value of conversations like these."

1: Ask about the Coils of Ahigu.
2: Ask about Rachel's artwork.
3: Ask about the Kingdom of Cealdhame.
4: Ask about Halloween Town.
5: Ask about Curling Flower Space.
6: Never mind.
2
"What do you think of Rachel's entry?"

"Well, she did what she said she was going to do. I guess that's... honorable." You get the impression that Nega-Hina does not value honor very highly.

"Should I have told her she had to do something else?"

She throws up her hands. "It's your sidewalk chalk thing! Just tell people whatever you want!"

1: Ask about the Coils of Ahigu.
2: Ask about Rachel's artwork.
3: Ask about the Kingdom of Cealdhame.
4: Ask about Halloween Town.
5: Ask about Curling Flower Space.
6: Never mind.
3
"How exactly am I supposed to get this magic bracelet?"

"I guess, go to Cealdhame, and, go inside of it again? And then look around for a magic bracelet?"

Very helpful.

1: Ask about the Coils of Ahigu.
2: Ask about Rachel's artwork.
3: Ask about the Kingdom of Cealdhame.
4: Ask about Halloween Town.
5: Ask about Curling Flower Space.
6: Never mind.
4
"What do you know about Halloween Town and Jack Skellington?"

Nega-Hina raises a cautionary finger. "I know that guy is way too
nice. I don't trust nice people."

"That's a terrible attitude."

"Well, you can try going through life associating with nice people���and
being nice to them in return���and see where it gets you."

"Sounds great! Maybe I'll go talk to Jack instead of you!"

"Great! Go do that!"

1: "Fine, I will!
2: "I would, but I'm not finished here yet."
2
"I would, but I'm not finished here yet."

"Is that so? You need more help? From me? Even though I'm not nice?" Nega-Hina gives you some big fake doe-eyes.

1: Ask about the Coils of Ahigu.
2: Ask about Rachel's artwork.
3: Ask about the Kingdom of Cealdhame.
4: Ask about Halloween Town.
5: Ask about Curling Flower Space.
6: Never mind.
5
"What was that place with all the melting flowers?"

"That's just Jessica's entry. Alec must have spilled his bucket of water on it somehow."

"Oh." You nod.

Nega-Hina squints at you. "You did realize that was Alec and Jessica back there, right?"

"Of course I did," you fire back indignantly.

"Okay, okay."

1: Ask about the Coils of Ahigu.
2: Ask about Rachel's artwork.
3: Ask about the Kingdom of Cealdhame.
4: Ask about Halloween Town.
5: Ask about Curling Flower Space.
6: Never mind.
6
Okay. What would you rather talk about?

1: "What is this place?"
2: Ask about one of the places you've been.
3: Ask about what is going on in general.
4: What am I even supposed to be doing here?
5: Stop talking to Nega-Hina.
4
You don't want Nega-Hina to think you're flailing, so you ask very casually: "What do you think I ought to do next?"

She counts on her fingers: "Go back over to Cealdhame. Get down inside it like you were earlier. Find the bracelet Hlutorbeg and put it on. And then see if Ahigu can still venom you to death."

"Okay."

1: "What is this place?"
2: Ask about one of the places you've been.
3: Ask about what is going on in general.
4: What am I even supposed to be doing here?
5: Stop talking to Nega-Hina.
5
"I should probably get going, actually."

"Sure, sure." Nega-Hina nods emphatically. "And, yeah, if you need anything else..."

"Yeah, definitely."

"Okay, cool. I'll be here."

"Right."
You go to the north
Colors flow and mingle, turquoise into lavender, pale cream into indigo, rolling in fat raindrops down from liquefying petals,
drenching the soil, impregnating the dark earth, the deep blackness of the earth.

The maiden and her knight lie sinking into melting lilies.

To the south and west are other spaces.
Go west
A yellow moon hangs low over the pumpkin fields and graveyard. The denizens of Halloween Town are out in force, cavorting through the streets and across the countryside, toothy grins on every face. One particularly noticeable demon has a mouth that goes all the way around its head. The little witch-girl Shock is scurrying through the cemetery, searching for her friends. A trick-or-treater named Lock is hiding in an open grave.

The twisting road that skirts the city limits runs east and west.

Jack Skellington watches over the scene with his own satisfied smile.
You go downward
You've spent more than enough time down in Cealdhame, and your face is rubbed raw. Are you sure you want to go back?
Yes
Then you descend again into that frost-ringed realm...

In eternal Winter's grasp rests icy Cealdhame, where was raised snow-heavy Byringsburh, throne of Care��, bearer of the Pallid Crown. Long has Care�� reigned in peace; long have his enemies waited to rise up in war against him.
Go southwest
Stendrard was slain by high marshal Crongfer�� for want of Nipsende's breast-coffin; here his corpse-grave of death-cold alp-stone lay snow-locked these four thousand years.
Go southwest
The fellswan Hisc builds her nest on Geord����l; not pleasant is that beach of Cealdhame! From Geord����l flies Hisc in search of children and
weaklings; these she bears in her tooth-beak through cold air-breezes to Geord����l, and chews and swallows, and vomits up to feed her fellcygnets.
Go southwest
In that direction lies the dark sea, and beyond that lie lands utterly unknown. Are you sure you want to keep going?
You go to the east
The fortress Cynebrand is Hebryn's home, fastness of stone, where wedding was made twixt she and Nagol the sea-sailor, murderer of Mundr��d. On Hebryn's arm rests Hlutorbeg, famed silver-ring, by stone-elves wrought. She who wears that bracelet fears no poison, nor snake-sting, nor spider-bite, nor cranhwal-tongue.
You get the bracelet
Gladly does Princess Hebryn bestow upon you the beloved bracelet Hlutorbeg, and wishes you well in your future endeavors.
Go upwards
Do you wish to leave Cealdhame?
Yes
Then away you fly!

You are floating above the the icy realm of Cealdhame. Other lands lie north and east of here.
Wear bracelet
You slip the heavy silver bracelet over your arm. Let's hope this works.
You check your inventory
You are carrying:
Hlutorbeg (being worn)
a tarnished key
You examine Hlutorbeg
Stone-elves forged this silver bracelet for Princess Hebryn, and with grim stone-runes inscribed it. It's said that whoever wears Hlutorbeg can resist any poison.
You go east
What do you think you're doing? Don't you know what will happen if you disobey my commands?

My coils wind tight around you. I sink my fangs into your neck. My venom fills your veins. You will not live to regret this mistake,
Hina. No one will learn from your insolence. Your pathetic story ends here.

Why are you still alive?

The bracelet Hlutorbeg?! It can't be! Where���How could you���

Oh, forget it. I know when I'm beat. Just get out of here.

A few feeble fluorescent lamps illuminate this stretch of the tunnel. Further east and west, the lights are out, and the hallway stretches into darkness.

Lane's unconscious body is stretched out on the dingy tiled floor.

"This is your fault," she says.
You examine Lane
Her eyes are closed, her hair is half-fallen in front of her face. The way her arms and legs are arranged doesn't look very comfortable.
You talk to Lane
You lean down to talk to Lane. Her eyes are still closed.

1: "Are you okay?"
2: "I'm so sorry."
3: "I'll be right back."
3
"I'll be right back to help you. I just have to���"

Lane's body digs her fingers into your leg. "You'll stay right here, Hina. I think I'm owed some explanations."

You wince. "Fine, fine. What do you want me to say?"

"For starters, why didn't you call an ambulance as soon as I fainted?"

1: I thought I could handle everything myself.
2: I thought Lane was just dehydrated.
3: It was my responsibility.
2
"I thought you were just dehydrated. I couldn't have known that Nathalie spiked the water bottles."

"Couldn't you? Did you not notice everyone acting goofy?"

"I did! Just..." Sigh. "Not until it was too late. At the moment when you fainted, at least, I thought all your symptoms were consistent
with dehydration."

"Well, maybe what we're learning here is that being pre-med
doesn't make you a diagnostic expert."

You bristle, but you don't want to push Lane's body any further: "I guess not."

"All right, next question: Why on earth did you trust Nathalie to be the hydration officer?"

1: She deserved a second chance.
2: I didn't think she would retaliate like this.
3: I was desperate.
2
"There's no way I could have predicted she would dose everybody!"

"But you knew she was angry at you. You knew she was an unstable nutjob."

"No I didn't! I don't go through life assuming the worst of people."

"Well, maybe you should!"

You squint at Lane's unconscious body. "Hold on. Do you represent a part of my personality that's... terrible?"

"I'm asking the questions here. Why did you tell Alec to erase
Xavier's artwork?"

1: "What does that have to do with anything?"
2: "Because you fainted!"
3: "Because of the boobs!"
1
"What does that have to do with anything? That didn't happen until after you fainted!"

"It speaks to your fitness as a sidewalk chalk event organizer."

"I don't have to justify myself to you. Xavier's drawing was totally inappropriate for an Honors-sponsored event, not to mention inappropriate for public sidewalks in general. It was my call to make, and I did exactly what a good sidewalk chalk event organizer would
do."

"Okay, well, you just did."

"Just did what?"

"You just justified yourself to me."

Ugh. "Fine. Do you have any other questions?"

Lane's face scowls. "No. You're free to go."

You stand up and wipe the dust from the floor off your butt.
Go east
Everything is sand. Sand dunes roll over the planet, shimmering in impossible heat. Yellow sand crusts over your sweaty skin. Sand is in your teeth. Sand is in your eyes. You want to scream.

A gleaming pillar of brass juts out of the sand.
You examine the pillar
The pipe is polished brass. At the top of it is a spigot. On top of
the spigot is an empty slot.
You put the key in slot
You raise the key over its slot.

Something slams into your back, and you fall on your face in the sand.

"No, no, not yet," a voice bellows. Nathalie. "We still have some psychic baggage to unpack. We can't move forward as human beings if
you get all sobered up."

You roll onto your side to spit up a mouthful of sand. Nathalie chuckles, and the world shakes.
You talk to Nathalie
You twist your body and try to face her. You open your mouth. Nathalie smiles patiently.

"���do you want?" you eventually manage.

"Hina. I want you to grow as a person. I want you to understand how unbearable you are, how miserable you make everybody because of your pathological need to be in control."

"I'm not���" You can't finish the thought.

"Oh, you will be," she says, "once you've finished broadening your perspective. Do you need another bottle of water?"

You shake your head.
You talk to Nathalie
"Let me..." you gasp.

"Let you what?"

"I need to... The key."

"Oh! I get what you mean." Nathalie nods. "Yeah, I can't let you do that. You're on the precipice of self-actualization! You just have to power through until you understand what a pathetic little jerk you've been."
You hit Nathalie
You can't even stand���and Nathalie is ninety feet tall. How are you going to hurt her from down in the sand?
You throw the sand in the eyes
You grab a handful of sand.

Your arms are like jelly. You don't have the strength. A futile moan
is all you can muster.

Nathalie leans down to look at you. "What did you just say? Are you breaking through your preconceptions? Are you having a eureka moment?" She brings her face close to yours, searching for signs of a breakthrough. Now she's close enough. You throw the sand into her
eyes.

Nathalie shrieks and falls backward, clawing at her face.

Eventually her screams become a series of expletives that do not bear detailed transcription.
You put the key in the slot
You wrap your fingers around the spigot and pull yourself up. Your
arms are so weak. Your mouth is so dry.

It takes both hands to get the key into its slot on top of the spigot.

You turn the key.

Water spurts out of the spigot���clear, pure water, flowing into the sand, splashing all over your hands and your arms and your clothes.
Drink water
your mouth. It's not cold, but it's not as hot as everything else.

It tastes amazing.

When you can't drink any more, you fall back into the sand. The desert has shrunk. And there's a shed here that wasn't there before.

No, you tell yourself, the shed was always here. The desert isn't even a desert: It's just a pit of sand, where Nathalie, a normal-sized person, is rubbing her eyes and crying a little. Finally, you're beginning to think clearly.
Yes
I was hoping you'd say that! Appendix

Thunder rumbles, far away.

The place is kind of a mess. There's not enough space on the desk, so
a bunch of documents are taped to the walls. The whiteboard easel is
an inherently awkward object and manages to take up a lot of space.
The rolling chair is shoved into a corner: There isn't really room to walk around in here while someone is sitting at the desk. Narrow passages lead northwest and southwest.

Rain taps steadily on the window.
You examine the easel
It's a flimsy collapsible easel. (It doesn't belong in the building;
it was a gift from a high school teacher who got frustrated with its flimsiness.) On the easel is a whiteboard.
You examine the whiteboard
There are a bunch of illegible notes and weird schematics on this whiteboard; almost everything has been crossed out (why not erased?)
to indicate that it's been taken care of. But here are some recognizable names: 0. THE CAVE, I. THE DELUGE, II. THE BEAST, III.
THE FORTRESS, IV. THE EYES���Hey, that's not right.
You examine the documents
Which do you mean, the desk, the sheaf of legal documents, or the
wall?
You examine legal
There are a few different drafts of the same document here. On top is the final version:

recollections of the individuals involved. By continuing, you concede that I, the editor, bear no responsibility for the felicitous representation of any objective fact associated with this narrative; furthermore, you swear or affirm that you will not issue to the editor or publicly report any corrections or recriminations concerning this narrative's accuracy���Geographical, historical, medical, meteorological, or otherwise.

Oh right, this is that thing you agreed to earlier. What a helpful reminder for you!
You look at the wall
Numerous pieces of paper have been taped to the wall (with painter's tape, so as not to arouse the ire of the building's custodial staff). Some of it might bear a closer look.

On the wall are a class photo, an angry letter, and an orchestra poster.
You examine the class photo
Here we have a picture of a bunch of very happy children, each one holding a papier-m��ch�� puppet in the shape of a different animal. The craftsmanship of these puppets is about what you'd expect from third-graders. The teacher's puppet is a little more polished, and has an arm that she can manipulate with a rod.

Written on the back:

9/19/2019

soon be starring in a computer game! I told them they'd have to wait until they were a little older to play it. Then they started babbling about what kinds of horribly violent video games their parents let
them play, and I had to tell them it was a game you have to read, with no graphics. That cooled them down somewhat (sorry).

I found your recent proposal very intriguing. Unfortunately it's
too late in the semester to organize anything like that. Remind me
next year. But before then, FINISH "A ROPE OF CHALK."

The "i" is dotted with a heart���sarcastically. Please don't get the wrong idea.
You examine the angry letter
Mr. Veeder,

I have taken time to evaluate your story "Aesthetics of
Impermanence: A Rope of Chalk" as you requested. After careful consideration, I've concluded that I cannot lend my expertise to your work in any capacity until drastic changes are made. The depiction of episcophacetin-induced hallucination in your story, as a "fun," fairytale-like dream world, is grossly irresponsible and misleading. The "medical accuracy" with which you are so concerned is secondary to your social responsibility in representing the effects of episcophacetin abuse: A responsibility that you have thus far ignored. Following is a list of story elements that must be revised before I
can move forward as your consultant.

There were a couple more sheets attached to this, but I don't know where they went.
Examine poster
This is a poster for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra: All the musicians are holding their instruments and smiling on some huge staircase somewhere in Edinburgh. In front is the conductor, with the biggest smile of all.

I guess it's hard to see why I would have this: The woman in the back with the bassoon is Jessica Marinakis. And actually, her smile might
be the biggest.
You examine Jessica
This is a poster for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra: All the musicians are holding their instruments and smiling on some huge staircase somewhere in Edinburgh. In front is the conductor, with the second-biggest smile of all. The woman in the back with the bassoon is Jessica Marinakis.
Describe the surroundings
The place is kind of a mess. There's not enough space on the desk, so
a bunch of documents are taped to the walls. The whiteboard easel is
an inherently awkward object and manages to take up a lot of space.
The rolling chair is shoved into a corner: There isn't really room to walk around in here while someone is sitting at the desk. Narrow passages lead northwest and southwest.

Rain taps steadily on the window.
You look at the window
It's just a little window, but the view is great: The roofs of different parts of the building, all glistening in the rain, and
beyond that, the gold dome of the Old Capitol.

At the bottom of the window frame, there's a jagged piece of metal sticking out.
You look at metal
It looks like something got snapped off.
You take it
Hey, be careful. It's sharp!
You go northwest
This is only a "room" by virtue of being hemmed in by a bunch of tall bookshelves. In the middle of the space is a long table covered in research materials.

Narrow passages lead southeast, south, and southwest.
You examine the materials
The table is sort of the shape of a conference table, but I don't know how you'd fit a conference in this tiny space. There might be
something cool to look at here...

On the long table are a lengthy letter, a cardboard box (closed), a pile of sketches, and a handwritten letter.
You look at the lengthy letter
Dear Ryan,

I'm happy to answer this and any other questions you might have.
Don't hesitate to write again if there's anything else you'd like to ask about.

Shelly Lampada, our faculty advisor, dissolved the Honors Arts Committee shortly after the Sidewalk Chalk Tournament. Early in the Spring semester, Faye Thompson proposed resurrecting the committee.
She had just read about "Nuit Blanche" and wanted to recreate the concept on the University of Iowa campus. Shelly only agreed to allow an exploratory committee to assess the feasibility of such an event. Understandably, Hina and Alec were reluctant to participate, but Faye managed to wrangle me in. She had little luck convincing anyone else
to join; the committee consisted of Faye, myself, and freshman Elena Maric.

involved, an arrangement that did not prove conducive to large-scale event planning. In retrospect, I think Shelly had hoped all along that Faye would eventually abandon the Nuit Blanche proposal. To Shelly's chagrin, despite having made no demonstrable progress in assessing feasiblity after two months, Faye refused to concede. Shelly
eventually dissolved our committee, and the Nuit Blanche concept would not be realized until 2014.

However, Shelly left the Honors program at the end of the Spring
2012 semester. Her replacement, Isaac Diston, was less wary of
trusting underclassmen with arts events. He permitted the Nuit Blanche exploratory committee to reconvene as a full-fledged Arts Committee, and we were allowed to organize a semester-opening event of our own, with the caveats that it be conducted indoors with what he called a "buttload" of faculty supervision.

I apologize if I've gone into excessive detail. To answer your question: Yes, we did have another Honors arts event in August 2012. Faye, Elena, and I hung butcher paper on the walls of the Honors center, and students were encouraged to draw all over it with crayons. Nothing approaching the drama of the previous two years' events transpired.

Thank you for writing. I hope you are well, and that your work is
going smoothly.

Sincerely,
Lane Mulville

Wind whistles sharply outside.
Examine box
There are some shipping labels on the sides of the box. But I
shouldn't be giving you any addresses.
You open the box
You open the cardboard box, revealing an index card and a bunch of ribbons.
You examine the index card
On the card it says:

I found these the other day! I never got a chance to pass them out after the event, so I guess I brought them home and squirreled them away and completely forgot about them. I thought you should have them...

By the way, I gave your game another look and I think you made me
too mean to Alec. I know it's from his perspective, but I don't remember being that nasty. Maybe you could put a disclaimer in there that says I'm actually very nice :) Good luck finishing it!

Okay, fine: VICTORIA GRAHAM IS VERY NICE.
You look at the ribbons
They're like ribbons you'd pin to people's lapels at a state fair, all in different colors, but none of them say "first place" or "second place" or anything like that. This one says "Great Work!" and this one says "EXCELLENCE" and then there are are three that all say "Best Judge."
You examine sketches
A note is paperclipped on top of the sketches:

Hey Ryan - Unfortunately I don't have any photos of my entry from
the "incident." There was a big storm right after Hina called the police, everything got washed away. I do have some sketches I drew to prepare for the event though & thought they might be useful. - X

The drawings are of a sultry demoness in several different states of undress. In one, she's sitting on a throne made of skulls. Each printout has a �� XAVIER DANERI watermark somewhere on it.
You examine the handwritten letter
Nathalie's handwriting is very narrow and slanted. Very European. Not especially easy to read.

Dear Ryan,

Three things. First, I hope everything is going well with your
work. Second, I have kind of a strange request.

Lucas and I are planning, or trying, or hoping, to adopt a child.
We've been discussing the idea since forever, but we've both been too intimidated by the idea to take any concrete action until just recently.

to get approved, but fortunately with the agency we're looking at it's still technically possible, if you can get enough people to vouch for you.

Luke suggested that I ask you to be a character reference. I feel
like I should stress that it was his idea. Not that I think it's a bad idea! But Luke pointed out that nobody else is so intimately familiar with my "case" and can "speak to the extent of [my] rehabilitation"
the way you can.

I completely understand if you're not comfortable getting yourself entrenched in the very thorny process of adoption application, but please take it under consideration.

Anyway, the third thing! Our yoga studio was in the local paper!!!
I'm including a clipping (don't worry, I have approximately twenty copies of this issue). Look at how professional we look! Doesn't that look like a couple who you'd want to help with their adoption application???

Love,
Nathalie

Well obviously I helped them out. (This letter is from like three
years ago.) I think their kid's name is Ethan. I have no idea what happened to the newspaper clipping.
You look at the bookshelves
It looks like all the books here are medical journals. To be perfectly honest, I've never cracked any of them open.
You go south
A claustrophobic passage runs north and south.

I don't think this part of the building was originally designed to be office space, is the thing.
You go to the south
"Lounge" might be overstating it a bit. There are a couple of vinyl couches here, and a mini fridge, and an ominous miniature door. Next
to each couch is an end table with a little lamp.

Narrow passages lead northwest, north, and northeast.

You can hear rain thrumming against the walls and roof.
You examine the door
Which do you mean, the mini fridge or the miniature door?
Miniature
It's definitely not regulation door size; it kind of looks like it was carved out of the wall as an afterthought. The sign says "EMERGENCY EXIT ONLY. Alarm will sound if opened."
You look at the fridge
Between the two end tables is a modest mini fridge. There's a magnet stuck to the door.
Examine magnet
"One more MRI and I'll stick to the fridge!"

I don't know if that makes any sense, but I'm not a radiologist.
You open the fridge
You open the mini fridge, revealing a frozen Snickers bar.
Examine bar
It's a normal-sized Snickers bar, in its wrapper. It is cold.
You close the fridge
You close the mini fridge.
You examine the couch
Which do you mean, the blue couch or the orange couch?
Blue
It's a two-seater bench-type thing covered in bright blue vinyl. It's really more of a waiting room couch than a lounge couch.
You examine the orange couch
It's a two-seater bench-type thing covered in bright orange vinyl. It doesn't clash with the blue one as badly as you might think.

Wind whistles sharply outside.
Look around
There are a couple of vinyl couches here, and a mini fridge, and an ominous miniature door. Next to each couch is an end table with a little lamp.

Narrow passages lead northwest, north, and northeast.
You look at the lamp
Which do you mean, the mushroom-shaped lamp or the flower-shaped lamp?
Flower
This lamp's frosted glass shade is shaped like a daisy.
You examine the mushroom
red plastic.
You examine the west table
A boxy table with a wood veneer surface, indistinguishable from its partner. But this one has a different lamp on top.

On the west end table is a thick novel.
You look at the novel
The cover reads FROST-WENCHES OF CEALDHAME: A Prelude to the
Cealdhame Sequence. Then there's a picture of a frost-wench contemplating an orb. Beneath that is the name JONATHAN
DEVRIES in an intimidating serif font.
You read it
A scrap of paper falls out of the book as you open it.

Here's an excerpt:

A sound from beyond the door. Footsteps. Hilgr bristled. "We
aren't alone, are we?"

"I always travel with my guards," said Ymrod. Hilgr needed not her dreocr��ft to see through his deceit.

"If I don't go willingly," she whispered, "you will take me to
Ty��ing by force?"

Ymrod closed his eyes, shook his head. "No, no. The Reeve little
wants to welcome a Frost-Wench into his walls. My single mission is to retrieve for him the Ge��orcsceaft, which Ceald-law holds is his by right. It is this that I will take to Ty��ing," he said, now fixing his gaze on Hilgr, "willingly or by force."

"We heed not the Ceald-law in this wood," Hilgr whispered. She
clasped her pale fingers round her ��mulet. "And tonight you will learn why the Reeve of Ty��ing so fears the Frost-Wenches."

And so on, in like fashion.
You take the scrap
Taken.
You read it
Ryan - Wondering if you've given any thought to my pitch for a
text adventure set in Cealdhame. The setting has huge potential for

You can hear rain thrumming against the walls and roof.
You examine the east table
A boxy table with a wood veneer surface, indistinguishable from its partner. But this one has a different lamp on top.

On the east end table is a chapbook.
Examine chapbook
A slim little hand-bound book. The cover says:

"I Wrote 'Em"
Alec Arden

Beneath that there's a crude line drawing of a black-capped chickadee.
You read it
Someone (not me!) has taken a thick marker to this book and scribbled over most of the poems. This stanza is circled, though:

Oh, drop me not on the sidewalk. Look:
the swarming harpies of Night descend
to roil my hair with sweat, and snap
my shivering bones out of joint. Defend
me, Mona, take my arm over you,
and remind my knees how they're supposed to bend.
You open the fridge
You open the mini fridge, revealing a frozen Snickers bar.
You eat the bar
You pull open the wrapper.

You take a bite out of the Snickers. It's good when it's cold, right? In my opinion, putting them in the freezer is a step too far. But this is delicious.

Before you know it, you've taken several more bites.

You can hear rain thrumming against the walls and roof.
Go northwest
This is the classroom that time forgot: There's a chalkboard behind
the podium! And the walls are done up in some very groovy red fabric. There are only twelve desks in here, and they're all in terrible
shape.

Come to think of it, I don't know if they even still teach any classes up here.

The exits are northeast and southeast.

One of the desks has a transcript sitting on it.
You look at the chalkboard
The chalkboard is blank.

A piece of chalk rests on the sill.
You draw the key
You write "key" on the chalkboard.
You erase the chalkboard
You wipe down the chalkboard until it's more or less clean. Now you have chalk on your hands.
Examine transcript
This is clearly a printout of a NotePad document. I guess not all of
it is here:

RV: Does that [Alec's recollection] line up with what you remember?

FT: Basically yeah. Basically.

RV: So then what happened after you talked to Alec?

FT: I was alone for a while and my mind was playing tricks on me. I
got very paranoid. I kept hearing things that weren't there. It took
me a while to realize Alec should have come back. So I went looking
for him and I saw him and Jessica holding each other on the ground. I thought they were...

RV: I'm not sure what you mean.

FT: I thought they were dead! I guess I was already hallucinating enough that that made sense to me. So I ran, out into the street, crying for help.

RV: Into the highway? I thought it was all blocked off for construction.

FT: I don't remember. I might have jumped over the fence, I guess. I remember running across the torn-up street, and running across the train tracks.

RV: I think there are some bars and restaurants between the highway
and the train tracks.

FT: Yeah but I don't remember those. I remember crawling up to the train tracks, and over the tracks, and down the incline to the river.
A bunch of rocks, down to the river. I skinned both my knees on those rocks.

RV: [sympathetic noise]

FT: I think I was about to run right into the river, but then this
huge dog comes out of the water.

RV: What?

It continues onto the next page.
You look at the desks
A bunch of combination chair-desks, dating from an era before they learned how to make such things the least bit comfortable. I notice they're all right-handed.
You examine birth
This is a postcard with a picture of a tiny sleepy baby on it, along with the words:

June 1, 2020 at 4:05 a.m. - 7 pounds, 8 ounces, 21 inches
Welcomed by James, Rachel, and big brothers Jacob, Scott, William,
and Levi

The other side of the card is blank.

Wind whistles sharply outside.
You read the transcript
FT: Well he wasn't a real dog.

RV: Oh, that makes--Sure, sure.

FT: He was huge, like the size of a wolf, but he had these big
friendly eyes. And he started telling me that everything was gonna be okay, and I just needed to stay put and calm down. He kind of talked
me down, I guess.

RV: Do you think it was a real person that you were hallucinating was
a dog? Or a real dog that you were hallucinating was huge and could talk?

FT: Well, he definitely came up out of the river, so...

RV: Sure, sure.

FT: He stayed there and talked to me for a long time. And some of the stuff he said...

[long pause]

RV: We don't have to get into specifics.

FT: Sorry. It's just--I don't know if I can put it into words. He understood some stuff that--He was a very smart dog, let's put it that way. So maybe you can put that in the game somehow.

RV: Gosh. Yeah, definitely. I mean, hopefully.

FT: Can I ask you a question?

RV: Sure.

That's all there is.

I think that accounts for everyone. You can quit the game whenever you like. Or you can just hang out, if you want.
You go southeast
There are a couple of vinyl couches here, and a mini fridge, and an ominous miniature door. Next to each couch is an end table with a little lamp.

Narrow passages lead northwest, north, and northeast.
You open the miniature door
That just goes out onto the roof. You can leave it closed.
Continue
That just goes out onto the roof. You can leave it closed.

Seriously, don't worry about it.
Miniature
Hey, that's an emergency exit! And it just goes out onto the roof, where it's cold and rainy. You should stay in here.
You enter the miniature door
Hey, that's an emergency exit! And it just goes out onto the roof, where it's cold and rainy. You should stay in here.

Seriously, don't worry about it.
Yes
cheapglulxe quit with exit status: 0
You go northwest
This is the classroom that time forgot: There's a chalkboard behind
the podium! And the walls are done up in some very groovy red fabric. There are only twelve desks in here, and they're all in terrible
shape.

The exits are northeast and southeast.

One of the desks has a transcript sitting on it.

You can hear rain thrumming against the walls and roof.
You write driedout
You write "driedout" on the chalkboard.
You look at the chalkboard
The chalkboard has "driedout" written on it.