Counterfeit Monkey — 112 of 292

Section 5 - Winding Footpath

The spinner-gate is north of Roget Close. It is a closed locked door. The printed name of the spinner-gate is "gate". Understand "gate" as the spinner-gate. "If you look just north between the houses, you'll notice also the footpath down to an almost-private beach. It used to be open, but it's now gated off, and built into the [spinner-gate] is a chic modern sculpture."

The description of the spinner-gate is "A gate of wrought iron bars between two sturdy columns[if the spinner-gate is closed and the spinner-gate is locked], too close to climb through and too tall to climb over[else if the spinner-gate is closed], closed but not locked[else if the spinner-gate is open]; at the moment the gate has been pushed conveniently open[end if]. Built into the right-hand column, next to the gate latch, is a curious sculpture."

Through spinner-gate is the Winding Footpath. South of Winding Footpath is Roget Close.

Winding Footpath is an outdoors room. "The [underfoot-path] winds between the villas, sloping steeply downward. It is narrow, and [bushes] left and right conceal it even from the windows of the people living nearby." Understand "path" as Winding Footpath.

Instead of going down in Winding Footpath:

try going north.

Instead of going up in Winding Footpath:

try going south.

Report facing in Winding Footpath:

say "The steep sides of the path and the heavy growth of bushes make it hard to see far." instead.

Rule for listing exits when looking in Winding Footpath:

do nothing instead.

Some bushes are scenery in Winding Footpath. The description is "Some variety I'm not familiar with: dark glossy green leaves, thick stems. In the right season, and I can't even remember what season that is, they also grow gaudy pink flowers. But not now[if kudzu is part of the bushes]. Lots of [kudzu] grows through and over the bushes [--] this is one of the few spots on the island where it hasn't been eradicated, it seems[end if].

[if the bushes are shrine-hiding]At one point along the path the bushes stick out especially far, as though there's something behind them.[otherwise]The bushes part a little to reveal the [shrine] [you] found.[end if]". Understand "dark" or "glossy" or "green" or "leaves" or "gaudy" or "pink" as the bushes.

The kudzu is part of the bushes. The indefinite article is "some". Understand "invasive" or "vines" or "vine" as the kudzu. The description of the kudzu is "An invasive vine grown through and over the bushes."

Test foilkudzubug with "cut kudzu with foil" holding the foil in the Winding Footpath.

Carry out cutting the kudzu with something:

remove the kudzu from play.

Report cutting the kudzu with the jigsaw:

say "The jigsaw is not an ideal tool for kudzu removal and [you] wind up making a bit of a mess with bits of bush, but we do enough damage to clear the stage a bit." instead.

Report cutting the kudzu with the sword:

say "A sword is not a machete, a fact that [you] have reason to ponder at some length. At least it's not a heavy broadsword. Our arm is not nearly strong enough to wield one of those. Even this blade gets tiring to wield surprisingly quickly.

After a long time and a lot of bother, [you] manage to lop off the main kudzu bits." instead.

The bushes can be shrine-hiding or shrine-revealing. The bushes are shrine-hiding.

Setting action variables for searching or looking under the kudzu:

change the noun to the bushes.

Instead of searching or looking under the bushes:

if the kudzu is part of the bushes:

say "It's hard to get a good look under the bushes with all this kudzu in the way." instead;

if the bushes are shrine-hiding:

say "Hunting behind the bushes reveals something I vaguely remember seeing when I was a child, but not noticing again since: built into the wall is what looks like a very ancient sort of shrine.";

now the bushes are shrine-revealing;

otherwise:

say "There's nothing more to find, really."

Instead of waving the letter-remover at the shrine:

say "It won't do any good, you see: this is an [if the player is wearing britishizing goggles]artefact[otherwise]artifact[end if] of another time and language, and it has never been neutral[ize]d by authorities, so it won't respond to English-language tools. Quite likely it's in a language so old that it can't be manipulated at all.

I wonder why it hasn't been removed, or fixed; but I'd guess the reason is that very few people come this way."

Instead of waving the letter-remover at something which is part of the shrine:

try waving the letter-remover at the shrine.

A description-concealing rule:

if the bushes are shrine-hiding:

now the shrine is not marked for listing.

Instead of pushing or pulling or turning the shrine:

say "The backing stone is built firmly into the wall."

Sanity-check doing something when the bushes are shrine-hiding:

if the noun is the shrine or the second noun is the shrine:

say "Now that you mention it, I do vaguely recall something about a shrine in this area, but [you] can't make it out under the [bushes] right now." instead.

[The nymph 'shrine' is nod to the island's Roman history. There's nothing in the game to reveal this, really, but the idea is that this stone is actually a panel from an imperial-era sarcophagus (nymphs were often featured on such panels, and sarcophagus carvers were of very varied levels of skill). Subsequent inhabitants moved it.]

The shrine is a fixed in place container in the Winding Footpath. "Now that the bushes have been cleared a little, the ancient shrine is plainly visible[if something is in the shrine], and [a random thing in the shrine] [is-are] set up in the place of hon[our][end if]." Understand "ancient" or "wall" or "niche" or "stone" or "backing" as the shrine. The description of the shrine is "There's a niche dug into the stone of the wall, above a [low relief] of three ladies. It's not very good work to start with, and has been eroded by a lot of weather, and I wouldn't be surprised if this weren't its original location; it probably stood somewhere else and was brought here.".

The carrying capacity of the shrine is 1.

Sanity-check inserting something into the shrine:

if the heft of the noun is greater than 2:

say "[The noun] [is-are] too large to fit in the shrine niche." instead.

Sanity-check putting something on the shrine:

try inserting the noun into the shrine instead.

[The shrine is an easter egg to begin with; but easter eggs are the most fun if they are toys as well. The shrine offers the opportunity for some expressive play, as the player can try inserting different items. Mostly it's up to the player to roll his own meanings for this, but there are special responses for a few of the most pointed donations.]

Report inserting the as into the shrine:

say "[You] set [the noun] in the shrine, as though to leave a small offering for whatever deities these were." instead.

Report inserting the member into the shrine:

say "[You] plant [the noun] in the shrine, where it looks pedantic and pin-headed. What is the point of its obsession about punctuation and spelling, in the broader scope of things?" instead.

Report inserting the members into the shrine:

say "The set of members just barely fits into the shrine. They look odd and plastic against the rough stone." instead.

Report inserting the army into the shrine:

say "The figures of the soldiers form a neat line in the shrine niche. It looks as though a child had come here to play." instead.

Report inserting the cross into the shrine:

say "[You] appropriate the ancient pagan shrine for a more Christian purpose, as many others must have done here when Atlantis was first converted in the fourth century." instead.

Report inserting the Guidebook into the shrine:

say "[You] set [the noun] down in the niche. A pointed gesture, that: this shrine is just one of the many things around the island that the [i]Guidebook[/i] does not, and cannot, acknowledge." instead.

Report inserting a pi-object into the shrine:

say "[You] set [the noun] in the niche, where it gleams in crisp and perfect contrast to the old and battered superstitious monument. Pure and eternal mathematics, exalted by the frail hand of man; or something like that." instead.

Report inserting the roll of bills into the shrine:

say "[You] set up a cult to cash and contemplate it for a minute. There's no one else around to appreciate the point, though, and we need the money, so it will have to be a temporary installation only." instead.

Report inserting a sin into the shrine:

say "[You] arrange [the noun] in the shrine niche, as some sort of ironic statement about what people worship these days." instead.

Report inserting the dog into the shrine:

say "[You] stick the dog into the shrine niche. The effect is a bit sinister." instead.

Report inserting the god into the shrine:

say "[You] stand the god up in the niche in a place of solemn hon[our]. It fits perfectly, as though shaped for just this use.

For a moment, with the air still and hot, and no one visible in any direction, we might almost believe that the past two millennia have been nothing, and that the shrine is fresh and new.

But Anglophone Atlantis prefers to forget what it was.";

record "Jocasta Higgate award for reconstructing pagan worship on the island" as an achievement instead.

Report inserting something into the shrine:

say "[You] give [the noun] a place of solemn hon[our] above the relief of frolicking ladies." instead.

The low relief is a part of the shrine. Understand "ladies" or "three" or "waves" or "surface" or "nymph" or "nymphs" or "bare" or "breasts" or "breast" or "garment" or "garments" or "carving" or "sculpture" or "sculpted" as the low relief. The description is "It looks like three ladies dancing on the surface of waves. They're probably meant to be nymphs, if I had to guess. They have bare breasts and fluttering garments, but the carving was done by someone who has not the slightest idea how to make limbs appear under sculpted cloth, so it all looks clunky, as though they don't have hips or legs at all, just randomly swirling skirts as their lower halves.

All the same, there's something appealing about it."

After going from the Winding Footpath to the Private Beach:

let N be the number of entries in the path so far of the player;

if N is greater than 1:

say "[path-walked so far]";

otherwise if N is 1:

clear path-walked for player;

increase path description count by 1;

say "[You] continue down until there is a chink of a view of the sea. Then the path descends through a few last hairpin twists among rocks, and comes out suddenly on a little beach[if N is greater than 1].[paragraph break][otherwise if N is 1].[otherwise].[end if]";

continue the action.

Test pathbug with "wear monocle / x path" holding the monocle in Winding Footpath.

underfoot-path is a privately-named improper-named scenery thing in Winding Footpath. The printed name is "footpath". Understand "path" or "footpath" or "pathway" as underfoot-path. The description is "There are traces of sand on the pathway, tracked up from the beach."

Instead of climbing underfoot-path:

try going south.

Test shrine with "tutorial off / autoupgrade / wave z-remover at kudzu / look behind bushes / put god in shrine / look / get god / wave a-remover at pita / wave t-remover at pit / put pi in shrine / look / get pi / put bills in shrine / look / get bills / put as in shrine / look / get as / put cross in shrine / look / get cross / put army in shrine / look / get army / put members in shrine / look / get members / wave s-remover at members / put member in shrine / look / get member / wave g-remover at sign / put sin in shrine / look / get sin / put guidebook in shrine / look / get guidebook" holding the god and the pita and the roll of bills and the as and the cross and the army and the members and the yellow sign and the Guidebook in the Winding Footpath.