The end of an era...let's play Spellbreaker!

The vast majority of today's suggestions take place in the temple area, so let's get down to business.

>memorize yomin
Using your best study habits, you learn the yomin spell.

>yomin bats
I'm afraid the bats doesn't have much of a mind for you to read.

Grammar fail, but I'm not exactly surprised. Bats tend to be quite batty, after all.

>malyon idol
The idol quivers, comes to life, and begins looking suspiciously (and hungrily) around. Fortunately it doesn't notice you.

>z
Time passes...

The idol is looking around the room, searching for something. No doubt it's you! It looks a little stiff, but for former basalt, it's pretty supple.

>z
Time passes...

The idol is looking around the room, searching for something. No doubt it's you! It looks a little stiff, but for former basalt, it's pretty supple.

>z
Time passes...

The idol is looking around the room, searching for something. No doubt it's you! It looks a little stiff, but for former basalt, it's pretty supple.

The idol turns back into basalt.

Well, that was...interesting. Now, there were a couple suggestions involving the snake, so...

>s
North of Serpent

Now, being north of the snake, we can probably try to get it, most likely failing, hopefully spectacularly.

>get snake
The creature is taller than a house, and longer than the tallest tree is tall.

Well, da-yome. That was a failure, but not as spectacular as I would have liked. But maybe we can be crushed by it?

>z
Time passes...

The serpent slowly and jerkily returns to its former size, swallowing its tail again in the process.

Darn. I was really hoping to add something to my death toll with that. The last suggestion involved that roc, which we can easily reach with a quick blorple and some waiting. So, cutting out the trip, which I imagine some of you have memorized now, and...

>punch roc
I don't know the word "punch."

Well, maybe the parser knows some other words with the same effect?

>hit roc
(with the knife)
You miss. (Mages aren't given a lot of training in this sort of thing.)

Nope. I don't want to spoil anything, but I will say now that we should probably be seeing what kind of things we can do in the temple at this point. Until next time!

Current puzzles:
An exit that I can't force my way through in each cube room so far.
A cube in the nest of a very protective roc.

Inventory (annotations in italic):
a zipper (waterproof when closed)
The zipper contains:
a gold box (ornamented with dolphins)
a smoked fish (providing light courtesy of the frotz spell)
a bottle
a gold coin (worth 500 zorkmids)
a spell book
the "moist" cube (when blorpled, leads to Water Room)
the "hermy" cube (when blorpled, leads to Soft Room)
a magic burin, used to engrave things on cubes
a knife

Spells (annotations in italics):
The liskon spell (shrink a living thing, requires some time to cast).
The espnis spell (sleep, doesn't work on groupers, requires some time to cast).
The caskly spell (cause perfection).
The throck spell (cause plants to grow).
The blorple spell (explore an object's mystic connections).
The yomin spell (mind probe, doesn't work on bats).
The rezrov spell (open even locked or enchanted objects).
The frotz spell (cause something to give off light).
The gnusto spell (write a magic spell into a spell book).
The malyon spell (animate).
The jindak spell (detect magic).
The lesoch spell (gust of wind).

Spells memorized:
Gnusto (permanent), Rezrov (permanent), Frotz (permanent), Liskon 2x, Malyon 2x

Our score is 160 of a possible 600, in 466 moves. This puts us in the class of Novice Enchanter.

Death toll: 2 (fell to my death, trampled to death by an angry and hayfeverish ogre)

yomin the animated idol. Also, try to placate it with food and money.

Do we have to eat in this game? I haven't noticed any hunger messages, and the second game got us off the hook with a potion.

Nope. It's the same player character for all three games in the trilogy, and that extra-nifty potion from the start of Sorcerer was permanent. I think the Implementors realized that whole thing wasn't contributing much to the fun of the game.

> MALYON IDOL. HELLO IDOL
> L IN IDOL'S MOUTH

Zork would've let you punch the roc.

frotz bats, malyon idol

...but then again, you're glowing and the idol doesn't notice you.

lesoch bats?

Does blorple only work on the cubes? If not, try it on the idol. Failing that, I concur with the attempts to bribe it with money or food. And we could try shrinking it as well.

Actually, it is possible for the berzio potion to wear off in Sorcerer, but it lasts so long that if it wears off, you're probably doing something wrong. But that is in the past. Now, for the present! All of today's suggestions take place in the temple, so...

>l in idol's mouth
You can't see much from here.

Oh, well. But if we were to malyon it...

>malyon idol
The idol quivers, comes to life, and begins looking suspiciously (and hungrily) around. Fortunately it doesn't notice you.

>hello, idol
The idol notices you! It crushes you to jelly, even though you aren't a bat.

**** You have died ****

You are floating in a dark, silent realm of nothingness. You don't know how much time passes, but eventually you hear the sound of soft footsteps. A figure in a dark cloak comes near. In a voice like ashes, it speaks: "You really don't seem to be able to take care of yourself, do you? A little more circumspection and prudence might be in order, don't you think?"

You find yourself falling down a deep well of darkness, as the figure recedes into infinite distances.

Boneyard

Finally, another death for the counter! It's kind of refreshing. But let's get back to business. After going back to the temple...

>malyon idol
The idol quivers, comes to life, and begins looking suspiciously (and hungrily) around. Fortunately it doesn't notice you.

>yomin idol
You sense a raging anger at the abandonment of its temple, a desire for the destruction of its former worshippers, and an incandescent hatred for bats.

The idol is looking around the room, searching for something. No doubt it's you! It looks a little stiff, but for former basalt, it's pretty supple.

If Yomin is that effective even on inanimate obejcts, then it's no wonder that Nitfol disappeared after the first game. Anyway, the next couple suggestions involved the bats (which the idol apparently does not like...good thing I've forgotten Fweep since the last game), so let's show them off.

>frotz bats
Although you complete the spell, nothing has happened.

The idol is looking around the room, searching for something. No doubt it's you! It looks a little stiff, but for former basalt, it's pretty supple.

>memorize lesoch
Using your best study habits, you learn the lesoch spell.

The idol is looking around the room, searching for something. No doubt it's you! It looks a little stiff, but for former basalt, it's pretty supple.

The idol turns back into basalt.

>lesoch bats
The casting feels wrong, and sure enough, a huge ball of green light appears, then dissipates.

>memorize lesoch
Using your best study habits, you learn the lesoch spell.

>lesoch bats
Slowly, teasingly, a small puff of wind begins to blow. It quickly builds to gale force, then hurricane force, and just as you feel you are about to be swept away, it subsides.

In case you haven't noticed by now, you don't really have to Lesoch any individual object; it just affects the entire room. Anyway, there were a few more suggestions, so let's try them out.

>memorize liskon
Using your best study habits, you learn the liskon spell.

>liskon idol
Nothing happens, which is unsurprising, as this spell works only on living things.

Indeed. In fact, it even says "shrink a living thing" right there in the description. But maybe if the idol were alive?

>malyon idol
The idol quivers, comes to life, and begins looking suspiciously (and hungrily) around. Fortunately it doesn't notice you.

>liskon idol
While the idol appears to be made of "malyoned" basalt, it must actually be made of something denser, as this spell has no effect on it.

The idol is looking around the room, searching for something. No doubt it's you! It looks a little stiff, but for former basalt, it's pretty supple.

Or maybe it just doesn't work on constructs. But bribing it...that might work.

>give coin to idol
The idol notices you! It crushes you to jelly, even though you aren't a bat.

**** You have died ****

You are floating in a dark, silent realm of nothingness. You don't know how much time passes, but eventually you hear the sound of soft footsteps. A figure in a dark cloak comes near. In a voice like ashes, it speaks: "I think I may have chosen improperly after all. I warn you, this is your last chance."

You find yourself falling down a deep well of darkness, as the figure recedes into infinite distances.

Boneyard

Darn. But maybe food would work better?

>give fish to idol
The idol notices you! It crushes you to jelly, even though you aren't a bat.

**** You have died ****


Nope. Well, that's all of today's suggestions, so feel free to drop some in the proverbial box for tomorrow, and if you can't think of anything, I have some ideas of my own as to what to do. So, see y'all tomorrow!

Current puzzles:
An exit that I can't force my way through in each cube room so far.
A cube in the nest of a very protective roc.

Inventory (annotations in italic):
the "rocky" cube (when blorpled, leads to Packed Earth)
a zipper (waterproof when closed)
The zipper contains:
a gold box (ornamented with dolphins)
a smoked fish (providing light courtesy of the frotz spell)
a bottle
a gold coin (worth 500 zorkmids)
a spell book
the "moist" cube (when blorpled, leads to Water Room)
the "hermy" cube (when blorpled, leads to Soft Room)
a magic burin, used to engrave things on cubes
a knife

Spells (annotations in italics):
The liskon spell (shrink a living thing, requires some time to cast).
The espnis spell (sleep, doesn't work on groupers, requires some time to cast).
The caskly spell (cause perfection).
The throck spell (cause plants to grow).
The blorple spell (explore an object's mystic connections).
The yomin spell (mind probe, doesn't work on bats).
The rezrov spell (open even locked or enchanted objects).
The frotz spell (cause something to give off light).
The gnusto spell (write a magic spell into a spell book).
The malyon spell (animate).
The jindak spell (detect magic).
The lesoch spell (gust of wind, affects an entire room).

Spells memorized:
Gnusto (permanent), Rezrov (permanent), Frotz (permanent)

Our score is 160 of a possible 600, in 502 moves. This puts us in the class of Novice Enchanter.

Death toll: 3 (fell to my death, trampled to death by an angry and hayfeverish ogre, gooified by an animated basalt idol)

One more suggestion I forgot in the main update, so I'm including it here.

>memorize blorple
Using your best study habits, you learn the blorple spell.

>blorple idol
You aren't holding the rodent idol.

However, you actually can blorple any item in the game, as long as you can hold it. As an example...

>get fish
Taken.

>blorple fish
Abruptly, your surroundings shift.

Nondescript Room
This is a drab, nondescript room. The only exit leads south.

The Nondescript Room is where you end up if you blorple anything other than a cube. The single exit leads to wherever you were when you blorpled it. And now, you know more about how Blorple works. See you for the semiregularly-scheduled update tomorrow!

Which inventory items are and aren't magical?

> learn jindak. drop all
> get all from zipper. drop all
[repeat until everything is on the ground]
> jindak

Can you out run the idol? Lead him into the snakes circle, that way it will be behind you and the path would be clear.

But you are an enchanter, I assume athletics aren't really your sort of thing.

"Incandescent hatred," though...

frotz idol, malyon idol, throw something at bats

Indeed. Anyway, the idol can't leave the temple, even when malyoned, so it's a moot point. However, there were quite a few other suggestions, as well as something I forgot to do, but which I'll show off in this update. First of all...

>learn jindak
Using your best study habits, you learn the jindak spell.

>drop all
the "rocky" cube: Dropped.
zipper: Dropped.
spell book: Dropped.
the "moist" cube: Dropped.
the "hermy" cube: Dropped.
magic burin: Dropped.
knife: Dropped.

>get all from zipper
gold box: You don't have that.
smoked fish: You don't have that.
bottle: You don't have that.
gold coin: You don't have that.

>get zipper
Taken.

>get all from zipper
gold box: Taken.
smoked fish: Taken.
bottle: Taken.
gold coin: Taken.

>drop all
gold coin: Dropped.
bottle: Dropped.
smoked fish: Dropped.
gold box: Dropped.
zipper: Dropped.

>jindak
The casting feels wrong, and sure enough, there is a distant rumble of thunder.

>get book
Taken.
You are beginning to tire.

>memorize jindak
Using your best study habits, you learn the jindak spell.

>drop book
Dropped.

>jindak
The spell book is glowing with a faint blue glow.
The zipper is glowing with a faint blue glow.
The gold box is glowing with a faint blue glow.
The magic burin is glowing with a faint blue glow.
The "hermy" cube is glowing with a faint blue glow.
The "moist" cube is glowing with a faint blue glow.
The "rocky" cube is glowing with a faint blue glow.
The cube is glowing with a faint blue glow.

Ah, so there's another cube in here! But where could it be?

>get all
spell book: Taken.
zipper: Taken.
gold box: Taken.
smoked fish: Taken.
bottle: Taken.
gold coin: Taken.
knife: Taken.
magic burin: Taken.
the "hermy" cube: You're holding too many things and can't quite get them all arranged to take it as well.
the "moist" cube: You're holding too many things and can't quite get them all arranged to take it as well.
the "rocky" cube: You're holding too many things and can't quite get them all arranged to take it as well.
the rodent idol: The idol reaches all the way to the ceiling and is made of basalt. This is beyond your strength.
opal eye: You can't reach that.
cube: You'll have to climb up to the mouth first.

So it's possible to climb the idol! In fact, it's possible to learn this on first entering the temple:

>examine idol
The idol is carved of black basalt. It is about twenty feet tall and represents a gigantic and ferocious rodent-like creature with sharp teeth and one staring opalescent eye. The sculpture is rough enough to offer climbing holds.

After getting my inventory managed again...

>climb idol
You can find enough holds to climb all the way up to the head, where you gaze warily at the idol's mouth.

Now, to get a better look at things.

>examine mouth
The mouth is slightly open. In the narrow space between the fangs you can see a fat, pointed tongue. Sitting on the tongue is a cube.

I know what to do with this!

>take cube
You can see the cube, tantalizingly close, but your hand is too big to fit between the razor-sharp teeth. If only its mouth were open! Glancing at the size of the fangs, maybe it's just as well.

Or not. Oh, well. Let's go back down, then try out some of those other suggestions.

>d
You climb off the idol.

>frotz idol
There is an almost blinding flash of light as the rodent idol begins to glow! It slowly fades to a less painful level, but the rodent idol is now a serviceable light source.
You are getting more and more tired.

>memorize malyon
Using your best study habits, you learn the malyon spell.

>malyon idol
The idol quivers, comes to life, and begins looking suspiciously (and hungrily) around. Fortunately it doesn't notice you.

>throw knife at bats
Thrown.

The idol is looking around the room, searching for something. No doubt it's you! It looks a little stiff, but for former basalt, it's pretty supple.

Well, that didn't accomplish much, unfortunately. But at least now we know that there's a cube inside, and that its opal eye is considered a separate item. But what to do with that knowledge? Well, I'll get some sleep, and await your suggestions on the morrow.

Current puzzles:
An exit that I can't force my way through in each cube room so far.
A cube in the nest of a very protective roc.
A cube in the mouth of a giant basalt rodent idol.

Inventory (annotations in italic):
the "rocky" cube (when blorpled, leads to Packed Earth)
the "moist" cube (when blorpled, leads to Water Room)
the "hermy" cube (when blorpled, leads to Soft Room)
a knife
a magic burin, used to engrave things on cubes
a zipper (waterproof when closed)
The zipper contains:
a bottle
a smoked fish (providing light courtesy of the frotz spell)
a gold box (ornamented with dolphins)
a gold coin (worth 500 zorkmids)
a spell book

Spells (annotations in italics):
The liskon spell (shrink a living thing, requires some time to cast).
The espnis spell (sleep, doesn't work on groupers, requires some time to cast).
The caskly spell (cause perfection).
The throck spell (cause plants to grow).
The blorple spell (explore an object's mystic connections).
The yomin spell (mind probe, doesn't work on bats).
The rezrov spell (open even locked or enchanted objects).
The frotz spell (cause something to give off light).
The gnusto spell (write a magic spell into a spell book).
The malyon spell (animate).
The jindak spell (detect magic).
The lesoch spell (gust of wind, affects an entire room).

Spells memorized:
Gnusto (permanent), Rezrov (permanent), Frotz (permanent)

Our score is 160 of a possible 600, in 584 moves. This puts us in the class of Novice Enchanter.

Death toll: 3 (fell to my death, trampled to death by an angry and hayfeverish ogre, gooified by an animated basalt idol)

Pry off its eye (while it is still a statue) with the knife so that it can't see you when it is "alive." Can you put it to sleep, and would it cancel out the malyon? If so, do it so that it reverts back to being a statue with its mouth open. Failing that, find something to rig its mouth open with, cast malyon while on its head, grab the cube and run like hell.

Engrave "friendly" on its head so that it won't attack. That's how magic works, right?

Great, there goes my prayer timer.

Can we sleep the bats before animating the idol? Maybe it will eat them. Or shrink our character and crawl into the idol's mouth.

And so, we begin to see what we can do with the idol after the revelation in the last update. First, though, we'll try seeing what it does with sleeping bats.

>espnis bats
I suppose you expect to hear the bats snoring?

It doesn't say whether or not we put them to sleep, but I'm assuming we did. Now, to do what we've been doing with the idol all these times.

>malyon idol
The idol quivers, comes to life, and begins looking suspiciously (and hungrily) around. Fortunately it doesn't notice you.

It's not doing anything for the bats, so let's wait for Malyon to wear off and try some of the things that require climbing the idol, since climbing a living idol is not exactly the safest thing to do.

>climb idol
You can find enough holds to climb all the way up to the head, where you gaze warily at the idol's mouth.

>liskon me
You feel very funny, sort of squashed and pushed and squeezed. Your surroundings are wavering, then growing, then wavering again. The feeling vanishes, but your surroundings are ten times their former size... or is it that you are one-tenth your former size?

>enter mouth
You hit your head against the mouth as you attempt this feat.

Wow. I actually expected that that would do something...not necessarily something helpful, mind you, but not canned error text. :P
Now, to try gouging out its eye.

>pry eye with knife
The opal pops out of the eye socket. It is teetering on the edge of the cruel and pointy nose of the idol, ready to fall.

>get opal
Taken.

Now I've got a shiny rock. Now to try doing some golem-esque writing on the head.

>write "friendly" on idol
The rodent idol has no suitable surface to write on.

Guess that I can't write on it. Now, for the last few suggestions of the day...after the shrink spell wears off.

>espnis idol
The rodent idol suddenly looks very tired and begins to yawn. You can see the idol fighting it but losing.

The idol is looking sleepy and tired.

Well, it did something. Let's see if there's any other effect.

>z
Time passes...

The idol is yawning sleepily, its mouth gaping open.

Looks like a good sign...but let's wait for it to repetrify before trying anything.

>z
Time passes...

The idol curls up comfortably and falls asleep on the floor.

The idol turns back into basalt. It is curled up comfortably asleep.

Well, it did something. Hopefully we can enter the mouth now?

>climb idol
Okay, you are now on the sleeping idol.

>enter mouth
You hit your head against the mouth as you attempt this feat.

Nope. However, on entering the mouth, I will say that namelessentity was on the right track when he suggested espnising the idol. But does anyone know exactly what to do? I do, but I'll see if any of you can figure it out.

Current puzzles:
An exit that I can't force my way through in each cube room so far.
A cube in the nest of a very protective roc.
A cube in the mouth of a giant basalt rodent idol.

Inventory (annotations in italic):
an opal eye
the "rocky" cube (when blorpled, leads to Packed Earth)
the "moist" cube (when blorpled, leads to Water Room)
the "hermy" cube (when blorpled, leads to Soft Room)
a knife
a magic burin, used to engrave things on cubes
a zipper (waterproof when closed)
The zipper contains:
a bottle
a smoked fish (providing light courtesy of the frotz spell)
a gold box (ornamented with dolphins)
a gold coin (worth 500 zorkmids)
a spell book

Spells (annotations in italics):
The liskon spell (shrink a living thing, requires some time to cast).
The espnis spell (sleep, doesn't work on groupers, requires some time to cast).
The caskly spell (cause perfection).
The throck spell (cause plants to grow).
The blorple spell (explore an object's mystic connections).
The yomin spell (mind probe, doesn't work on bats).
The rezrov spell (open even locked or enchanted objects).
The frotz spell (cause something to give off light).
The gnusto spell (write a magic spell into a spell book).
The malyon spell (animate).
The jindak spell (detect magic).
The lesoch spell (gust of wind, affects an entire room).

Spells memorized:
Gnusto (permanent), Rezrov (permanent), Frotz (permanent)

Our score is 160 of a possible 600, in 618 moves. This puts us in the class of Novice Enchanter.

Death toll: 3 (fell to my death, trampled to death by an angry and hayfeverish ogre, gooified by an animated basalt idol)

Well, the easy idea would be to snatch the cube while it's yawning. Or enter its mouth or something.

If that doesn't work, how about an espnis / lesoch combo.

Can it see us without its eye?

I have to say, if lesoch doesn't work here, I am declaring it the most useless spell ever. Sure, I can make hurricane winds, but if it can't blow a tiny cube into my hand what good is this spell? Probably a one time use for a silly moon logic puzzle.

Time to test some things on the idol when it sleeps!

>d
You climb off the idol.

>memorize malyon
Using your best study habits, you learn the malyon spell.

>memorize lesoch
Using your best study habits, you learn the lesoch spell.

>malyon idol
The idol quivers, comes to life, gets to its feet and begins groping suspiciously (and hungrily) around. Fortunately it doesn't notice you.

Now, to try and blow the cube out of its mouth.

>espnis idol
The rodent idol suddenly looks very tired and begins to yawn. You can see the idol fighting it but losing.

The idol is looking sleepy and tired.

>z
Time passes...

The idol is yawning sleepily, its mouth gaping open.

>lesoch idol
Slowly, teasingly, a small puff of wind begins to blow. It quickly builds to gale force, then hurricane force, and just as you feel you are about to be swept away, it subsides.

The idol curls up comfortably and falls asleep on the floor.

The idol turns back into basalt. It is curled up comfortably asleep.

And so, Lesoch is now officially the most worthless spell ever. But maybe we could enter its mouth safely if it's blind?

>malyon idol
The idol quivers, comes to life, and begins groping suspiciously (and hungrily) around. Fortunately it doesn't notice you.

>espnis idol
The rodent idol suddenly looks very tired and begins to yawn. You can see the idol fighting it but losing.

The idol is looking sleepy and tired.

>z
Time passes...

The idol is yawning sleepily, its mouth gaping open.

>enter mouth
You hit your head against the mouth as you attempt this feat.

The idol curls up comfortably and falls asleep on the floor.

The idol turns back into basalt. It is curled up comfortably asleep.

Well, at least it didn't eat us...but it's still just canned error text. Maybe we could try grabbing the cube while the thing is yawning?

>malyon idol
The idol quivers, comes to life, gets to its feet and begins groping suspiciously (and hungrily) around. Fortunately it doesn't notice you.

>espnis idol
The rodent idol suddenly looks very tired and begins to yawn. You can see the idol fighting it but losing.

The idol is looking sleepy and tired.

>z
Time passes...

The idol is yawning sleepily, its mouth gaping open.

>get cube
You'll have to climb up to the mouth first.

The idol curls up comfortably and falls asleep on the floor.

The idol turns back into basalt. It is curled up comfortably asleep.

Well, if that's what it takes...

>malyon idol
The idol quivers, comes to life, gets to its feet and notices you climbing on it (no doubt from the itching). It grabs for you, and you try to escape. Its razor-sharp claws snatch you up to its greedy mouth, where you can see the white cube on its tongue as you are swallowed.

**** You have died ****

Well, that was close. But there aren't any more suggestions today, so we'll get back to this tomorrow, and if the proper solution hasn't been posted, I'll show it off then.

Current puzzles:
An exit that I can't force my way through in each cube room so far.
A cube in the nest of a very protective roc.
A cube in the mouth of a giant basalt rodent idol.

Inventory (annotations in italic):
an opal eye
the "rocky" cube (when blorpled, leads to Packed Earth)
the "moist" cube (when blorpled, leads to Water Room)
the "hermy" cube (when blorpled, leads to Soft Room)
a knife
a magic burin, used to engrave things on cubes
a zipper (waterproof when closed)
The zipper contains:
a bottle
a smoked fish (providing light courtesy of the frotz spell)
a gold box (ornamented with dolphins)
a gold coin (worth 500 zorkmids)
a spell book

Spells (annotations in italics):
The liskon spell (shrink a living thing, requires some time to cast).
The espnis spell (sleep, doesn't work on groupers, requires some time to cast).
The caskly spell (cause perfection).
The throck spell (cause plants to grow).
The blorple spell (explore an object's mystic connections).
The yomin spell (mind probe, doesn't work on bats).
The rezrov spell (open even locked or enchanted objects).
The frotz spell (cause something to give off light).
The gnusto spell (write a magic spell into a spell book).
The malyon spell (animate).
The jindak spell (detect magic).
The lesoch spell (gust of wind, affects an entire room).

Spells memorized:
Gnusto (permanent), Rezrov (permanent), Frotz (permanent)

Our score is 160 of a possible 600, in 618 moves. This puts us in the class of Novice Enchanter.

Death toll: 4 (fell to my death, trampled to death by an angry and hayfeverish ogre, gooified by an animated basalt idol, devoured by said idol)

Espnis it, then after it deanimates curled up on the floor, rezrov the mouth? I'm about out of ideas.

Well, since no one's been able to figure out the correct solution to this puzzle, I'll show it off...after showing Droewyn's suggestion, of course.

>espnis idol
The rodent idol suddenly looks very tired and begins to yawn. You can see the idol fighting it but losing.

The idol is looking sleepy and tired.

>z
Time passes...

The idol is yawning sleepily, its mouth gaping open.

>z
Time passes...

The idol curls up comfortably and falls asleep on the floor.

The idol turns back into basalt. It is curled up comfortably asleep.

>rezrov mouth
There's no hinge there; it's not a door!

Technically, jaws do have hinges, but whatevs. Now, for the correct, somewhat moon-logicky solution.

>malyon statue
The idol quivers, comes to life, gets to its feet and begins groping suspiciously (and hungrily) around. Fortunately it doesn't notice you.

>z
Time passes...

The idol is groping around the room, searching for something. No doubt it's you! It looks a little stiff, but for former basalt, it's pretty supple.

>espnis idol
The rodent idol suddenly looks very tired and begins to yawn. You can see the idol fighting it but losing.

The idol is looking sleepy and tired.

>z
Time passes...

The idol is yawning sleepily, its mouth gaping open.

The idol turns back into basalt. It has been caught in a cheek-stretching yawn.

And, if it's a cheek-stretching yawn, then...

>climb idol
You can find enough holds to climb all the way up to the head, where you gaze warily at the idol's mouth.

>get cube
Taken.

And, as always on getting a cube...

>memorize blorple
Using your best study habits, you learn the blorple spell.

>blorple cube
Abruptly, your surroundings shift. The spell leaves the rodent idol behind.

Air Room
You are on a large fluffy white cloud. In fact, you are surrounded by clouds. They blow past, wind seeming to boil them around you from all sides. There is a bit of clear air to the north, momentary gaps in the clouds to the south and west, and an alarming one below you.

Obviously, this cube is linked with Air. So, what should I call it, and which exit should I explore first?

Current puzzles:
An exit that I can't force my way through in each cube room so far.
A cube in the nest of a very protective roc.

Inventory (annotations in italic):
an opal eye
the "rocky" cube (when blorpled, leads to Packed Earth)
the "moist" cube (when blorpled, leads to Water Room)
the "hermy" cube (when blorpled, leads to Soft Room)
a knife
a magic burin, used to engrave things on cubes
a zipper (waterproof when closed)
The zipper contains:
a bottle
a smoked fish (providing light courtesy of the frotz spell)
a gold box (ornamented with dolphins)
a gold coin (worth 500 zorkmids)
a spell book

Spells (annotations in italics):
The liskon spell (shrink a living thing, requires some time to cast).
The espnis spell (sleep, doesn't work on groupers, requires some time to cast).
The caskly spell (cause perfection).
The throck spell (cause plants to grow).
The blorple spell (explore an object's mystic connections).
The yomin spell (mind probe, doesn't work on bats).
The rezrov spell (open even locked or enchanted objects).
The frotz spell (cause something to give off light).
The gnusto spell (write a magic spell into a spell book).
The malyon spell (animate).
The jindak spell (detect magic).
The lesoch spell (gust of wind, affects an entire room, most useless spell ever).

Spells memorized:
Gnusto (permanent), Rezrov (permanent), Frotz (permanent)

Our score is 185 of a possible 600, in 639 moves. This puts us in the class of Novice Enchanter.

Death toll: 4 (fell to my death, trampled to death by an angry and hayfeverish ogre, gooified by an animated basalt idol, devoured by said idol)

Also, although it's slipped my mind until now, here's the copy protection. Gomen nasai.

The Stupid-Blasted-Oh-Come-On-We-Had-It cube. Too many letters, then try IDLE, because it came from a statue and it doesn't do much, plus adjective names blah-blah-blah.

(Actually, I assume that the trick to the puzzle was we had to time the idol's yawning to when it would turn back, which isn't that moon-logicy but I never know when something is a preset time and when it is just random detail descriptions.)

Head down first, but prepare blorple so you can catch yourself midair. Or don't, maybe you'll get lucky and another roc will catch you.

Name the cube "gusty" and explore down first.

Indeed, which is why it's only "somewhat" moon-logicky. Anyway, both votes were for exploring the down exit first, and since the voting for the name of this cube is tied, I'll hold it over another day.

>d
Oddly, although there appears to be an exit there, you can't seem to force your way through it.

Oh, another of those exits, eh? Well, then, there are still exits to the north, south, and west. Do you want me to explore one of those? Also, should I call the air cube "idle," "gusty," or something else? If possible, I'll make another update today showing that off. But until then, au revoir!

I like "gusty". And you should explore all three ways, but may as well go west first.

Well, it seems that gusty is the more popular name. And I am going to explore all three exits in this update, it's just that this is the one I'm going to explore first. So, let's-a go!

>w
As you leave, the cube reappears in your hand.

Bazaar
This is a crowded, noisy bazaar. Directly in front of you to the east is a shop. Above its door is a sign in an unknown tongue. You can't read it, but it is illustrated with a picture of a very ornate rug. The door beckons invitingly.

>write "gusty" on cube
The word "gusty" is now written on the cube.

Well, if it beckons, then...

>e
Emporium
This is the middle of a huge emporium. Signs in a language unknown to you grace the displays. Most of the objects displayed are ornately woven rugs. There is an exit into the street to the west.
A young and earnest-looking merchant stands near a pile of carpets.

The merchant approaches you. "May I help you? We have a fine selection of carpets of all sizes and uses." He indicates the pile of rugs and picks up two of them. "These are particularly nice," he says. One is a beautiful blue carpet with a strange design of cubes, and the other is a scruffy red carpet that's rather shabby and badly made.

Looks interesting, but there are two other exits from the Air Room. So, let's blorple out and check them out!

>blorple gusty
The spell trickles away to nothing. The merchant smiles. "Do you think you are the first magician to try to use lawless, thieving magic on a humble merchant?" He throws you into the street and bars the door.

Bazaar

Whoops. I think I MAY have made the game unwinnable. But let's check to make sure.

>e
The door is closed and locked, apparently by powerful magic. When you attempt entry, the merchant opens a small panel in the door and recognizes you. "We're closed for lunch!" He slams the panel shut.

Yup, I'm about 99% sure that the road to Victory is now blocked. But fear not. If it is, I'll just redo all the other stuff I did off-screen.

>memorize blorple
Using your best study habits, you learn the blorple spell yet another time.

>blorple gusty
Abruptly, your surroundings shift.

Air Room

>n
As you leave, the "gusty" cube reappears in your hand.

Glacier
You are in the midst of a trackless glacier in the Flathead Mountains. Snow blows around you, the wind complaining of its own discomfort. This is a desolate and dangerous place, for there are crevasses everywhere under the deceptive blanket of snow.
There is a white scroll here.

A new scroll...long time since we've seen one of those.

>get scroll
Taken.

Your body is becoming numb from the cold.

>read scroll
The scroll reads "tinsot spell: freeze."

>gnusto tinsot
Your spell book begins to glow softly. Slowly, ornately, the words of the tinsot spell are inscribed, glowing even more brightly than the book itself. The book's brightness fades, but the spell remains! However, the scroll on which it was written vanishes as the last word is copied.

Well, this is certainly an appropriate spell to find on a glacier. But how to get down off the glacier? Might as well try the simple way...after saving, of course.

>d
Glacier

>d
You have just walked into a crevasse.

**** You have died ****

You are floating in a dark, silent realm of nothingness. You don't know how much time passes, but eventually you hear the sound of soft footsteps. A figure in a dark cloak comes near. In a voice like ashes, it speaks: "I think I may have chosen improperly after all. I warn you, this is your last chance."

You find yourself falling down a deep well of darkness, as the figure recedes into infinite distances.

Boneyard


If you're wondering, there's no safe way off the glacier. Restore!

>restore

Please supply a filename for restore
Okay.

>memorize blorple
Using your best study habits, you learn the blorple spell yet another time.

>blorple gusty
Abruptly, your surroundings shift.

Air Room

And now, to explore the final exit.

>s
As you leave, the "gusty" cube reappears in your hand.

Midair
You have begun to fall.

You are falling towards the ground, wind whipping around you.

Looks familiar...but let's see if it's any different from that other midair area.

>z
Time passes...

Suddenly, from above, you are hit by a crashing blow! You twist and see that a huge bird has taken you in its talons. The bird is nearly the size of an elephant. It closes its huge claws gently around you, squawks (nearly suffocating you with its fetid breath), and takes off towards the west.

Still pretty much the same...but maybe this is a different roc?

>z
Time passes...

The roc gains height and heads west towards the distant Flathead Mountains.

>z
Time passes...

The roc continues to fly west towards the mountains.

>z
Time passes...

You are rapidly approaching a rocky eyrie containing an enormous nest.

>z
Time passes...

The roc circles over its nest, settles to the ground, and releases you.

In Roc Nest
The roc perches on the side of the nest, watching you intently.

>l
In Roc Nest
This nest is made from skillfully woven tree trunks, small bushes, and large amounts of mud and roc guano for glue. Giant black feathers are everywhere. In the center of the nest is an egg the size of a small wagon. Nestled beneath the egg is a featureless white cube.
The roc perches on the side of the nest, watching you intently.

Yup. Same roc. Well, we've explored all the exits from the Air Room, so what to do after restoring to before making that SOB merchant hate me forever? See y'all tomorrow!

Inventory (annotations in italic):
an opal eye
the "rocky" cube (when blorpled, leads to Packed Earth)
the "moist" cube (when blorpled, leads to Water Room)
the "hermy" cube (when blorpled, leads to Soft Room)
a knife
a magic burin, used to engrave things on cubes
a spell book
a zipper (waterproof when closed)
The zipper contains:
a bottle
a smoked fish (providing light courtesy of the frotz spell)
a gold box (ornamented with dolphins)
a gold coin (worth 500 zorkmids)

Spells (annotations in italics):
The tinsot spell (freeze).
The liskon spell (shrink a living thing, requires some time to cast).
The espnis spell (sleep, doesn't work on groupers, requires some time to cast).
The caskly spell (cause perfection).
The throck spell (cause plants to grow).
The blorple spell (explore an object's mystic connections).
The yomin spell (mind probe, doesn't work on bats).
The rezrov spell (open even locked or enchanted objects).
The frotz spell (cause something to give off light).
The gnusto spell (write a magic spell into a spell book).
The malyon spell (animate).
The jindak spell (detect magic).
The lesoch spell (gust of wind, affects an entire room, most useless spell ever).

Spells memorized:
Gnusto (permanent), Rezrov (permanent), Frotz (permanent)

Our score is 195 of a possible 600, in 652 moves. This puts us in the class of Novice Enchanter.

Death toll: 5 (fell to my death, trampled to death by an angry and hayfeverish ogre, gooified by an animated basalt idol, devoured by said idol, plummeted into a glacial crevasse)

yomin the carpet salesmen (unless all magic is forbidden in that area). Ask how much for a carpet. Offer our 500 piece coin. Offer the opal.

Guys, I have a good feeling about this carpet.

Still don't know how to deal with that roc.

Ooh, I know this one. You want the dingy carpet.

When a game offers you the choice between something that looks nice and something ugly but possibly magical, you want the magic one. Unless he's selling it for less, in which case you definitely want the more expensive one.

jindak in the store, just in case.

Freeze the roc! I fully expect it to take too long to cast, but you might as well try anyway.

Yeah, I get the feeling that is just a generic "you can't use magic here" message. Though if it is not, I would be very upset that the proper magic spell didn't list in its description that it was "quick" or "low cast time"

Sorry for being kind of late today, but better late than never, right? First, we'll try taking down an old threat, even though it probably won't do anything.

>tinsot roc
The roc is covered with a thin film of ice. The roc shakes and shivers, and the ice cracks and peels away.

Well, it had an effect, at least. Not a useful one, but it's still something. But we should get out of here before we get eaten.

>blorple gusty
Abruptly, your surroundings shift.

Air Room

Now we're at a good vantage point for our next few plans, which involve the merchant. Hopefully he doesn't mind other forms of magic...

>memorize yomin
Using your best study habits, you learn the yomin spell.

>memorize jindak
Using your best study habits, you learn the jindak spell.

>e
Emporium
This is the middle of a huge emporium. Signs in a language unknown to you grace the displays. Most of the objects displayed are ornately woven rugs. There is an exit into the street to the west.
A young and earnest-looking merchant stands near a pile of carpets.

The merchant approaches you. "May I help you? We have a fine selection of carpets of all sizes and uses." He indicates the pile of rugs and picks up two of them. "These are particularly nice," he says. One is a beautiful blue carpet with a strange design of cubes, and the other is a scruffy red carpet that's rather shabby and badly made.

>jindak
The spell trickles away to nothing. The merchant smiles. "Do you think you are the first magician to try to use lawless, thieving magic on a humble merchant?" He throws you into the street and bars the door.

Bazaar


Guess that magic in general is blocked in the shop, meaning that yomin-ing the guy would be pointless...but I might as well give it a try after restoring.

>yomin merchant
The spell trickles away to nothing. The merchant smiles. "Do you think you are the first magician to try to use lawless, thieving magic on a humble merchant?" He throws you into the street and bars the door.

Bazaar

Definitely an anti-magic zone. Maybe we should try to find some mundane ways of finding out about the carpets. So, after casting the Spell of Restore...

>ask merchant about red carpet
"I see you have excellent taste. Let me tell you about these fine carpets. They are my pride and joy, next of course to my nieces and nephews, but I digress... These carpets are the best you will find anywhere."

And he says the same thing about the blue carpet, if you're wondering.

>offer coin to merchant
"Five hundred zorkmids? Possibly a true coin..." He tries to hide his interest. "These carpets are the epitome of the weaver's art, woven by skilled native craftsmen with pride in their work. The Flatheads themselves have carpets like these. Their worth is nearly incalculable, but because today is my aged mother's birthday, we are offering them at an absurdly low price. A mere eight hundred zorkmids each!"

Hopefully the opal is worth 800 Zm.

By the way, I'm not sure why the merchant is referring to the Flatheads in the present tense, since at this point in the timeline, the Flathead dynasty has collapsed due to Megaboz's curse. Sorry about going off on a tangent there, but that's just how I am.

>offer opal to merchant
"Done, then!" The merchant takes the opal eye. He examines it skeptically. "I don't really think this is worth the price, no, it won't do at all..." He hefts it in his hand. "Well, I believe in accommodating our out-of-town visitors. Otherwise, we don't get any repeat customers, right? I can always put this trinket on the mantelpiece and regale my family with the story." He smiles unctuously. "I don't know what my family will eat tonight, but they say I'm softhearted. I only want to get back to my lunch, so you've got a deal. You should have told me you were an expert." He gives you a carpet. "Now go before my family sees what a fool I've been..."

And we've got a carpet! Let's go outside so that we can use magic, then see if it's magical!

>w
Bazaar

>drop carpet
Dropped.

>memorize jindak
Using your best study habits, you learn the jindak spell.

>jindak
Nothing in the vicinity glows. Apparently there is no magic nearby.

Apparently, it's not magical. But which one did we get, anyway? The game just said "a carpet," so let's take a look.

>l
Bazaar
This is a crowded, noisy bazaar. Directly in front of you to the east is a shop. Above its door is a sign in an unknown tongue. You can't read it, but it is illustrated with a picture of a very ornate rug. The door is closed and locked.
There is a scruffy red carpet here.

Hmm, so the scruffy one isn't magical. I'm guessing that the writer knew that most people would assume that the less-nice one was the magical one, and subverted that by making it non-magical. I salute you, you magnificent bastitch. So, now we know how much the carpets cost, but how to make sure that we get the good one? It's pretty simple, but I'll leave it as a courtesy to you anyway.

Current puzzles:
An exit that I can't force my way through in each cube room so far.
A cube in the nest of a very protective roc.
A merchant selling a magic carpet that I can't seem to get.

Inventory (annotations in italic):
the "gusty" cube (when blorpled, leads to Air Room)
the "rocky" cube (when blorpled, leads to Packed Earth)
the "moist" cube (when blorpled, leads to Water Room)
the "hermy" cube (when blorpled, leads to Soft Room)
a magic burin, used to engrave things on cubes
a spell book
a zipper (waterproof when closed)
The zipper contains:
a knife
a bottle
a smoked fish (providing light courtesy of the frotz spell)
a gold box (ornamented with dolphins)
a gold coin (worth 500 zorkmids)

Spells (annotations in italics):
The tinsot spell (freeze).
The liskon spell (shrink a living thing, requires some time to cast).
The espnis spell (sleep, doesn't work on groupers, requires some time to cast).
The caskly spell (cause perfection).
The throck spell (cause plants to grow).
The blorple spell (explore an object's mystic connections).
The yomin spell (mind probe, doesn't work on bats).
The rezrov spell (open even locked or enchanted objects).
The frotz spell (cause something to give off light).
The gnusto spell (write a magic spell into a spell book).
The malyon spell (animate).
The jindak spell (detect magic).
The lesoch spell (gust of wind, affects an entire room, most useless spell ever*).

Spells memorized:
Gnusto (permanent), Rezrov (permanent), Frotz (permanent)

Our score is 195 of a possible 600, in 665 moves. This puts us in the class of Novice Enchanter.

Death toll: 5 (fell to my death, trampled to death by an angry and hayfeverish ogre, gooified by an animated basalt idol, devoured by said idol, plummeted into a glacial crevasse)

* - Personally, I would say that Yonk is actually the most useless spell ever, but Lesoch is definitely the most useless spell in this game.