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

Could we use one of our spells while the roc is still in flight, and less likely to peck at us. Something with a slow effect so we aren't left dangling over empty air. Maybe sleep, or maybe we could throck the nest while approaching it and he would be too distracted by cleaning up to stop us from taking the cube.

As for the merchant, the only thing I can think of is to damage to one you don't want, but then he would probably throw you out. Or, damage to one you do want, and he'll for you to pay for it. A "You break it, you bought it" policy.

I haven't anything really constructive to add right now, but I've been wondering for ages: what happens if you hang out in the roc's nest for a while? Does the baby hatch and eat you?

Words cannot express my disappointment in your not having died to the roc in any fashion so far. "Feed self to roc" and all will be forgiven.

Even simpler: just try to exchange it before leaving the store for the first time. DROP RED CARPET THEN GET BLUE CARPET or GIVE RED CARPET TO MERCHANT or ASK MERCHANT FOR BLUE CARPET or something like that.

For today's updates, a lot of people have made requests involving the roc. So, before trying to get the correct carpet, I'll show those off. After memorizing all appropriate spells...

>blorple gusty
Abruptly, your surroundings shift.

Air Room

>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.

>z
Time passes...

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

>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.


Now to try and put it to sleep.

>espnis roc
The roc grips you firmly in its talons. Your attempts to cast a spell just make it hold you tighter.

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

So, that didn't work so well. But maybe...

>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.

>throck nest
The roc grips you firmly in its talons. Your attempts to cast a spell just make it hold you tighter.

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.

Guess we can't cast spells while being carried. Actually, I think that that came up in a previous update. But maybe we can throck the nest now?

>throck nest
I guess you have a black thumb. Nothing happens.

Nope. Again, I think we've tried this before, but then again, we may not have. Now, to do some more things. Due to the high chance of death, I'm going to save first, though.

>feed self to roc
You'll have to get it first.

Sorry, Mogri. I was hoping it would work, myself. As for waiting in the nest, it takes a while. This is one possibility, and I'll show the other off in a bonus update.

>z
Time passes...
You are so exhausted you can't stay awake any longer.

You fall asleep and then awaken as you are eaten by a roc chick.


Well, a new one for the death toll, at least. Now to try to get a decent magic carpet.

>restore

Please supply a filename for restore
Okay.

>w
As you leave, the "gusty" 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.

>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.

Now, there were a couple methods suggested for getting the good carpet. The first one has "BAD IDEA" written all over it, but let's give it a try anyway.

>cut blue carpet with knife
"Your obvious eagerness to do business is matched only by your boorish manners."

That went better than accepted. At least I'm not banned from the store, after all. Now, for the other suggestion.

>ask merchant for blue carpet
"This is a valuable carpet. What will you offer for it? I'm not in business for my health."

>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..."

Now, to make sure we got the right one.

>i
You are carrying:
a scruffy red carpet
the "gusty" cube
the "rocky" cube
the "moist" cube
the "hermy" cube
a magic burin
a zipper
The zipper contains:
a knife
a bottle
a smoked fish (providing light)
a gold box
a gold coin
a spell book
The merchant is patiently waiting for you to leave.


That...rip-off artist!

>kick merchant in shin
I don't know the word "shin."

Just kidding. Here's the actual solution, as posted by schep.

>give red carpet to merchant
"How silly of me! You wanted this one with the cubes, didn't you?" He gives it to you.

>w
Bazaar

And now we've got a magic carpet! What to do now? The truth is, I honestly don't remember myself, so I'll be more reliant than ever on the assistance of my faithful (?) apprentices.

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 beautiful blue carpet
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 205 of a possible 600, in 660 moves. This puts us in the class of Enchanter.

Death toll: 6 (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, eaten by a roc chick)

jindak the carpet, just to be sure, then malyon it why not.

Use the carpet while falling. Maybe you can beat that roc to its nest. I'm also assuming that if this is a magic carpet, it is a flying one. I think I saw that on the copy protection you linked to.

EDIT: Also, according to the copy protection, you just got ripped off for a magic carpet should only cost 450zm. It also says with a supercharge it can squeeze through cracks, so try it on those cube doors you can't get through

Indeed, I did get ripped off. Fortunately, though, neither the coin nor the opal is needed to beat the game, so it wasn't as bad as some copy-protection puzzles I've had to endure.

Now, on with the LP! First, we'll make sure that this carpet really is magical.
>jindak
The beautiful blue carpet is glowing with a faint blue glow.

Yup, that's a good sign, all right. Now, to put Mogri's other suggestion into use.

>malyon carpet
As you complete the spell, the beautiful blue carpet comes alive! It blinks, dances a little jig, and a moment later returns to normal.

And with that, we can get on with our adventure. namelessentity suggested that I try to use the carpet to beat the roc to its nest. First stop: the Air Room, since it's the easiest way to get to Midair.

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

>blorple gusty
Abruptly, your surroundings shift.

Air Room


We should probably check out our shiny new magic carpet to make sure we use it right.

>examine carpet
This is a carpet of unusual design. It is blue, beautifully woven and has a pattern that looks different each time you look at it. Sometimes, for example, it's an array of cubes pointing upward, and other times it's the same array pointing downward. There is a jaunty fringe around the outer edge.

Well, doesn't seem to be any sign of instructions...but let's see if we can ride it anyway!

>drop carpet
Dropped.

>sit on carpet
You are now sitting on the beautiful blue carpet. At first nothing happens. Then the fringe of the carpet starts to ruffle expectantly.

I wonder...

>u
It ripples a little.

Definitely a good sign. I wonder if the fringe has any meaning?

>examine fringe
I don't know the word "fringe."

Then why do they bring it up? That's one of the annoying things about these older games, really.
Anyway, usually the labels for carpets are on the underside, so let's look there.

>look under carpet
You turn the carpet over and discover a label.

Aha! Maybe this is where the instructions are!

>read label
The label reads:

"Frobozz Magic Magic Carpet Co.

This carpet is made of all-unnatural fibers. Occupancy by more than one person is prohibited. Keep to posted speeds. Do not remove this label under penalty of law.

Abdul el-Flathead

(Printed by the Frobozz Magic Label Co.)"

Darn...no instructions here. But everyone knows that the "do not remove" laws on labels don't apply if you're the owner, so...

>remove label
Taken.

Now, to try it out again.

>sit on carpet
You are now sitting on the beautiful blue carpet. Nothing interesting happens, although the carpet is comfortable.

Well, darn. Guess the magic was in the label. Not exactly surprising, though, seeing as it was a Frobozz Magic Label. By the way, I had a thought. Maybe the carpet wasn't working because I was using it in a cube room. Maybe if I use it from the bazaar proper...

>restore

Please supply a filename for restore
Okay.

>drop carpet
Dropped.

>sit on carpet
You are now sitting on the beautiful blue carpet. At first nothing happens. Then the fringe of the carpet starts to ruffle expectantly.

>up
In Thick Clouds, on the beautiful blue carpet
You are in midair. Fortunately you are sitting on a magic carpet and thus are fairly safe.

Looks like I was right. But this looks suspiciously like a maze. Time to explore!

>n
You are still lost in thick, fluffy clouds. It is impossible to tell directions in here.

Darn...looks like this isn't the type of place that can be navigated. Time to come in for a landing!

>d
You are still lost in thick, fluffy clouds. It is impossible to tell directions in here.

Oh, spoony! Maybe if we go back where we came from...

>s
You are still lost in thick, fluffy clouds. It is impossible to tell directions in here.

>d
You are still lost in thick, fluffy clouds. It is impossible to tell directions in here.

...or not. The only other suggestion today is one that I don't think I can do, seeing as it requires using the carpet in a cube room, which doesn't work. So, any suggestions for 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):
a beautiful blue carpet (generic magic carpet, doesn't work in cube rooms)
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 205 of a possible 600, in 668 moves. This puts us in the class of Enchanter.

Death toll: 6 (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, eaten by a roc chick)

It'd be easy to find your way to the ground if you jumped off the carpet.

(edit) more legitimate suggestion: examine the carpet while flying

Freeze the clouds for (hopefully) a funny death.

Cause perfection on clouds for a bright sunny day.

And my real suggestion, take the most useless spell(lesoch) and blow the clouds away with hurricane force.

Well, we're into triple digits now, and still only a little over than 1/3 of the way through the game. This one is BIG. It's no Zork Zero, but it's still a big one. Anyway, most of today's suggestions involve being on the carpet, on with the show!

>examine carpet
This is a carpet of unusual design. It is blue, beautifully woven and has a pattern that looks different each time you look at it. Sometimes, for example, it's an array of cubes pointing upward, and other times it's the same array pointing downward. There is a jaunty fringe around the outer edge.

Same description as always, unfortunately. Might as well try the same poster's joke suggestion.

>jump
This is not the most prudent method of disembarking.

Can't you at least let me kill myself in this way? Sheesh.
Anyway, I do have a few spells that might help.

>tinsot clouds
The clouds is covered with a thin film of ice.

*snickers at grammatical mistake in obvious canned text*

>caskly clouds
The clouds looks pretty perfect as is.

Apparently, Caskly doesn't work on anything as abstract as the weather. Now, for the real suggestion.

>lesoch
The clouds clear away.

Midair, on the beautiful blue carpet


It...worked. Guess Lesoch isn't as useless as I thought after all. Maybe I can get to the roc nest from here?

>n
You are flying dizzyingly high above a trackless wilderness to the east of a range of jagged mountains.

>w
You are flying dizzyingly high above a trackless wilderness to the east of a range of jagged mountains.

>w
You are flying dizzyingly high above a trackless wilderness to the east of a range of jagged mountains.

>w
You are flying dizzyingly high above a trackless wilderness to the east of a range of jagged mountains.

>w
You are flying dizzyingly high above jagged mountains.

Aha, a new description! Maybe there's something important down here?

>d
You are flying very high above jagged mountains.

>d
You are flying high above jagged mountains.

>d
You are flying above jagged mountains.

>d
Wilderness
You are lost in a trackless wilderness. Wild creatures and wild men rule here. As soon as your carpet touches ground, you are set upon by one or the other (they are difficult to tell apart) and devoured.

**** You have died ****


Well, that was fruitless. What to do now? I have consulted a guide, so I actually know how to progress, but do you? Here's a hint: Look back at some of the earlier room descriptions and how some of the spells we've learned since then might be able to help there.

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 beautiful blue carpet (generic magic carpet, doesn't work in cube rooms)
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, no longer the most useless spell ever).

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

Our score is 205 of a possible 600, in 685 moves. This puts us in the class of Enchanter.

Death toll: 7 (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, eaten by a roc chick, set upon and devoured by the wild beast-men of the wilderness)

You are flying dizzyingly high above a trackless wilderness to the east of a range of jagged mountains.
>u
>u
>u
>u
>u

That's not dizzying. This is dizzying.

Also, remove label in midair. Nothing bad could possibly come of that.

You could always try to freeze the roc's egg, although I can't imagine what that would accomplish other than killing the baby and pissing off Mama royally.

Use the magic carpet to get to the top of the Oubliette.

Not many suggestions this time, but I vowed to update every day (except for that one time when it just slipped my mind), and that's what I'm going to do. Since my last update save is on the carpet, that's where I'll start. Is there any higher than "dizzingly" high?

>u
You are flying high above a trackless wilderness to the east of a range of jagged mountains.

>u
You are flying very high above a trackless wilderness to the east of a range of jagged mountains.

>u
You are flying dizzyingly high above a trackless wilderness to the east of a range of jagged mountains.

>u
You are flying dizzyingly high above a trackless wilderness to the east of a range of jagged mountains.

Guess not. Now, to do what is probably a very bad idea.

>remove label
You can't see any label here.

Well, it's kind of hard to take what you can't see...

>look under carpet
You turn the carpet over and discover that you have sent the carpet into a fatal stall!

Although it's apparently impossible to remove the label from the carpet in flight, the InvisiClues still admonish you not to do so. I'll have to check that and, if it is indeed possible, show it off in the bonus update.

Anyway, the next suggestion involves that thrice-damned roc, so after restoring and going back to the roc's nest...

>tinsot egg
The roc egg is covered with a thin film of ice.

No special effect...fortunately. Now, to l'oubliette.

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

Oubliette

Since we haven't been here for a while, a quick refresher on what it looks like might be in order.

>l
Oubliette
This is an oubliette. Sheer walls rise for twenty feet above you and lean inward to a narrow opening covered with wooden planks. A small but fast-flowing channel of water runs along the bottom of the chamber between two pipes.

Now, to fly gloriously out of here!

>sit on carpet
You are now sitting on the beautiful blue carpet. At first nothing happens. Then the fringe of the carpet starts to ruffle expectantly.

>u
It ripples a little.

It seems that we can't use the carpet indoors. Since those were all the suggestions for today, I'll stop here, but say that this is the right place to proceed. But how to do that? I'll leave that for you to find 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.

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).

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

Our score is 205 of a possible 600, in 677 moves. This puts us in the class of Enchanter.

Death toll: 8 (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, eaten by a roc chick, set upon and devoured by the wild beast-men of the wilderness, magic carpet crash)

Shrink and go through the pipe. Freeze the water. Not necessarily at the same time.

Freezing the water sounds like the thing to do, so I'll just throw some jindak on the pile just in case.

Well, we're in the Oubliette, and we've got a pipe and a stream of water. First of all, we'll put away the carpet, then check out the pipe.

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

>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 pipe
Which pipe do you mean, the outflow pipe or the inflow pipe?

Good question. I might as well try them in order.

>enter outflow pipe
You enter the cold, fast-flowing water. Some of your possessions have been damaged by the water.

In Pipe, on the beautiful blue carpet
You are inside a small ceramic pipe nearly filled with fast-flowing cold water. The walls of the pipe are slippery and overgrown with mossy slime wherever an irregularity shields the growth from the force of the water. Going east (against the current) would be nearly impossible. Going west is almost unavoidable.

Oops. Fortunately, I know just how to prevent that.

>put book in zipper
Done.

>close zipper
The zipper now looks like an ordinary zipper.

>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 outflow pipe
You enter the cold, fast-flowing water.

In Pipe, on the beautiful blue carpet
You are inside a small ceramic pipe nearly filled with fast-flowing cold water. The walls of the pipe are slippery and overgrown with mossy slime wherever an irregularity shields the growth from the force of the water. Going east (against the current) would be nearly impossible. Going west is almost unavoidable.

Well, if it's unavoidable...

>w
In Pipe
You are inside a small ceramic pipe nearly filled with fast-flowing cold water. The walls of the pipe are slippery and overgrown with mossy slime wherever an irregularity shields the growth from the force of the water. On the north side of the pipe is such an irregularity: a large chunk has been knocked out of the pipe, and the slime and moss grows abundantly. Inside, covered with moss and slime, is something large, white, and apparently cubical. Going east (against the current) would be nearly impossible. Going west is almost unavoidable.

Large? White? Cubical? Another cube, perchance?

>get cube
Taken.

>w
Ruined Pipe
The pipe here is smashed from the top where a huge pillar has toppled over onto it. Cyclopean ruins are all around you. The cracks and fissures in the pipe might make it possible to climb out here. The water is fast and loud around you.

Well, if it's possible to climb out...

>u
Ruins Room


Apparently I've been here before. But if I have, I don't remember it.

>look
Ruins Room
Here the main corridor opens into a vast underground space. Your light can barely illuminate a fraction of it. All around are cyclopean blocks of stone, crudely carved statues, and constructs of unimaginable purpose. Nearby the portico of a building has collapsed, and a pillar has smashed the pavement and exposed a small channel filled with swiftly rushing water. Water stains indicate that at one time the water flooded the entire area.

Of course...this is the room where I found the zipper. But now, to blorple back to the water room and check out the inflow pipe.

>open zipper
Opening the zipper reveals a brightly lit hole.

>get book
Taken.

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

>blorple moist
Abruptly, your surroundings shift.

Water Room

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

Oubliette

>put book in zipper
Done.

>close zipper
The zipper now looks like an ordinary zipper.

>enter inflow pipe
The current is too swift.

Or not. Now, the other suggestion was to tinsot the water, so let's do that.

>open zipper
Opening the zipper reveals a brightly lit hole.

You feel stretched, wrung out, and pulled in all directions. You are growing.

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

>tinsot water
There is a purple flash, and in a burst of snow and freezing spray, the water in the channel freezes. But the water flow is so hard that the outflow pipe is only partially blocked.

"Only partially" blocked, eh? Looks like time for some more Tinsot action!

>tinsot water
There is a purple flash, and in a burst of snow and freezing spray, the water in the channel freezes. But the water flow is so hard that the outflow pipe is only partially blocked.

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

>tinsot water
In a dazzling purple flash, more water freezes, forming a large icy cap over the outflow pipe in the channel. Water continues to pour in the inflow, and it spills over the edge of the channel and begins to fill the room.

The water level rises. The oubliette is one-quarter full. Some of your possessions have been damaged by the water.

Darn. Looks like we'll need to go in with multiple Tinsots memorized. So, after restoring and playing back to this point with all necessary spells memorized and the book safely contained...

>tinsot water
There is a purple flash, and in a burst of snow and freezing spray, the water in the channel freezes. But the water flow is so hard that the outflow pipe is only partially blocked.

>g
In a dazzling purple flash, more water freezes, forming a large icy cap over the outflow pipe in the channel. Water continues to pour in the inflow, and it spills over the edge of the channel and begins to fill the room.

The water level rises. The oubliette is one-quarter full.

>g
The purple flash freezes a small ice floe in the frigid water. It has a nice flat top.

The water level rises. The oubliette is half full.

And I know what to do here!

>climb floe
You scramble onto the ice floe.

The water level rises. The oubliette is three-quarters full.

And now, to wait for the room to fill.

>z
Time passes...

The oubliette is full. There is about four feet of space between the water and the roof. The water must have reached its level, because it has ceased to rise. You are floating serenely on a small ice floe.

And from here, it should be possible to go...

>u
The trap door is closed.

>open door
Okay, the trap door is now open.

You feel stretched, wrung out, and pulled in all directions. You are growing.

>u
Dungeon
This is a dark, dank, forgotten dungeon. It is overgrown with moss, fungus, and slime. The floor is slippery. At your feet an open trap door leads down into blackness. A corridor leads east and stairs lead up.
A white cube is here.

Well, darn. Two featureless white cubes. Might as well blorple the one we've got so we can see what it's linked with, at least. First, though, I'm going to leave this room to avoid any parser quibbles. So...

>blorple cube
Abruptly, your surroundings shift.

Changing Room
The scene here shifts and changes constantly. For example, the exit to the west is always an exit, but one moment it is an oak door, and the next a flimsy curtain of beads. The details are impossible to pin down for longer than a second or two. The eastern and northern exits are equally fluid.

This one is linked with Change. So, I'll need a name for it. I'll also need to restore, since I'm now cut off from the dungeon where I blorpled from. But you won't have to see me go through all that again, fortunately. I'll just play back to there and start from there in the next update, coming 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 "moist" cube (when blorpled, leads to Water Room)
a cube (when blorpled, leads to Changing Room)
the "gusty" cube (when blorpled, leads to Air Room)
the "rocky" cube (when blorpled, leads to Packed Earth)
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).

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

Our score is 230 of a possible 600, in 717 moves. This puts us in the class of Enchanter.

Death toll: 8 (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, eaten by a roc chick, set upon and devoured by the wild beast-men of the wilderness, magic carpet crash)

What happens if you're in the pipe when liskon runs out?

I vote to name it FLUX, because it is always in flux.

Seconded. And I vote that we explore the eastern exit in the dungeon first, because you always check out your current floor before taking the stairs.

A good question. Fortunately, through the magic of saving, we can find out!

>z
Time passes...

You feel stretched, wrung out, and pulled in all directions. You are growing.
Unfortunately, you are rather too large for the pipe you are in, and are crushed by its sides as you try to resume your full size.

Not sure if I should add this to the death toll, since it's really more of a gaiden death. But anyway, on with the adventure!

>restore

Please supply a filename for restore
Okay.

Both of the votes for the name of the Change cube are for "FLUX," so...

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

Case apparently doesn't matter in naming cubes, so, again, you might want to keep that in mind for future cubes...including the one in the dungeon that I didn't pick up yet due to possible syntax issues. But I'll go back and get it now.

>w
Dungeon
A white cube is here.

>get cube
Taken.


And now, to explore the rest of the dungeon. There's a doorless cell at the north end of the corridor where we were, so...

>e
Dungeon East End

>n
Dungeon Cell
This was once a very luxurious cell, obviously for the imprisonment of a highborn or powerful person. Its rich hangings are now rotten rags; its furniture is smashed to kindling, except for one massive oak cabinet. The cell door has been blown away by an explosion, or perhaps a "rezrov" spell.

Hopefully, that cabinet isn't locked.

>open cabinet
The cabinet is locked.

Locked, schmocked. I know what to do here!

>rezrov cabinet
The cabinet bursts open, revealing a moldy book!

Yeuchh...but maybe it's a spellbook?

>read moldy
This book has been almost completely destroyed by mold and rot. You can tell only that it was once a spell book. None of the spells are legible any longer.


Well, it was once. But I'm not going to be able to get anything useful from it in this state. Might as well take it with me, though.

>get moldy
Taken.

Now to go check out the next floor.

>s.w.u.
Dungeon East End

Dungeon

Guard Tower
This is the guard tower of a crumbling castle. It overlooks a mountainous landscape of tarns, tumbled rock, and twisted low trees. The vegetation is in browns, blacks, and ochres. The only real color is provided by a distant volcano which lights the lowering clouds with bright red and yellow coruscations. The only exit is down.

There is a tiny black dot silhouetted against the clouds.

Nice description there. But I wonder what that dot is?

>examine dot
It looks like a tiny black dot silhouetted against the clouds.

There is a large object silhouetted against the clouds.

Quite obvious. But it's getting closer...

>examine object
It looks like a large object silhouetted against the clouds.

There is a large bird approaching.
You are feeling tired.

Uh-oh...it's probably that roc again. Better get back inside before it gets me!

>d
Dungeon

Having explored this area, it seems like a good place to rest. But where does this new cube blorple to, anyway? Better save, and then...

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

>blorple cube
Abruptly, your surroundings shift.

Boneyard

A way to the Boneyard without dying...might have some use, but then again, might not. Anyway, this seems like a good place to stop for now. Also, what should I call this cube, which, by the way, is linked with the element of Death?

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 moldy old spellbook.

Inventory (annotations in italic):
a moldy book
a cube (when blorpled, leads to Boneyard)
a spell book
the "flux" cube (when blorpled, leads to Changing Room)
the "gusty" cube (when blorpled, leads to Air Room)
the "hermy" cube (when blorpled, leads to Soft Room)
a magic burin, used to engrave things on cubes
a zipper (waterproof when closed)
The zipper contains:
the "moist" cube (when blorpled, leads to Water Room)
the "rocky" cube (when blorpled, leads to Packed Earth)
a beautiful blue carpet (generic magic carpet, only works in outdoor areas)
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).

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

Our score is 265 of a possible 600, in 740 moves. This puts us in the class of Expert Enchanter.

Death toll: 9 (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, eaten by a roc chick, set upon and devoured by the wild beast-men of the wilderness, magic carpet crash, crushed by shrink spell wearing off)

Morty!

Obv you should caskly the moldy. If that doesn't work, I call shenanigans.

If you can see the roc coming, then perhaps you can cast a spell on it. Failing that, try to see if you can beat it to the nest in your sleek new carpet.

I agree with these suggestions, all of them.

Hey, I was going to suggest casklying the moldy book too.

If it's that obvious, it's probably a trap…

And so, I continue my quest. First, naming this new cube.

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

Now to try and fix this moldy old book I found.

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

>caskly moldy book
The book glows brightly for a moment. The mold and rot retreat as you watch. While not good as new, the book looks much better.

Not as good as new? But the scroll said that it caused perfection! After I finish this quest, I'm going to sue the Frobozz Magic Magic Company for every zorkmid it's got! Anway, I might as well see if I can read it now.

>read moldy book
This book has been almost completely destroyed by mold and rot. You can tell only that it was once a spell book. Only one spell is still readable. It says "snavig spell: shape change."

Hopefully I can gnusto it...

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

Well, at least we got something out of it. Now, into the sky. But first, Mogri suggested "casting a spell" on the roc, so I might as well try out a few of the old standards.

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

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

>u
Guard Tower

There is a tiny black dot silhouetted against the clouds.

>z
Time passes...

There is a large object silhouetted against the clouds.

>z
Time passes...

There is a large bird approaching.

>z
Time passes...

There is a large bird circling the tower and eyeing you suspiciously.

>espnis roc
The mother roc hears you preparing the spell and squawks at you so raucously that your concentration is destroyed, and the spell misfires.

The bird dives for you, its talons outstretched. As it nears, you realize that rather than vulture or even condor size, 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.

Midair, in the roc's talons

Well, that didn't go so well. But maybe shrinking it will work?

>liskon roc
The mother roc hears you preparing the spell and squawks at you so raucously that your concentration is destroyed, and the spell misfires.

The bird dives for you, its talons outstretched. As it nears, you realize that rather than vulture or even condor size, 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.

Midair, in the roc's talons

Guess not. But now I've got my own wings, so off into the wild blue yonder!

>u
Guard Tower

There is a tiny black dot silhouetted against the clouds.

>drop carpet
Dropped.

There is a large object silhouetted against the clouds.

>sit on carpet
You are now sitting on the beautiful blue carpet. At first nothing happens. Then the fringe of the carpet starts to ruffle expectantly.

There is a large bird approaching.

>u
The carpet takes to the air, rising swiftly. The huge bird stops, almost stalls, and flees goggle-eyed with surprise.

Midair, on the beautiful blue carpet
You are in midair. Fortunately you are sitting on a magic carpet and thus are fairly safe. You are flying above an abandoned guard tower.


Now, to search for that nest.

>w
You are flying above a trackless wilderness to the east of a range of jagged mountains.

>w
You are flying above a trackless wilderness to the east of a range of jagged mountains.

>w
You are flying above a trackless wilderness to the east of a range of jagged mountains.

>w
You are flying above a giant bird's nest.

Looks like the right place...

>d
In Roc Nest, on the beautiful blue carpet

>stand
You step off the carpet.

Now, to get that cube that's been taunting us since forever!

>get cube
Taken.

And I don't want to lose this carpet...after all, I did pay good money for it.

>get carpet
Taken.

And what better way to get out of here than...

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

Suddenly the egg begins to crack. You can see feathers, then a large, almost reptilian eye. The egg shatters, and a small (wagon-sized) roc chick rolls out. It eyes you hungrily.

Damn...good thing I can just...

>blorple cube
Abruptly, your surroundings shift.

String Room
This is the nexus of a web of multicolored strings and threads of light. They come in from the far distance in graceful curves or tangled, jagged paths. In the center of the room they tie together into a ball that looks like gossamer yarn or glowing cotton candy. One bright set of threads points south to a gap in the weave and another points east to a similar gap.

And since we've finally gotten the roc's cube, it seems like a good place to stop. Next time: Should I explore the String Room or the Changing Room next? Also, what should I call this cube, which is linked with Connectivity?

Current puzzles:
An exit that I can't force my way through in each cube room so far.

Inventory (annotations in italic):
a beautiful blue carpet (generic magic carpet, only works in outdoor areas)
the "morty" cube (when blorpled, leads to Boneyard)
a spell book
the "flux" cube (when blorpled, leads to Changing Room)
the "gusty" cube (when blorpled, leads to Air Room)
the "hermy" cube (when blorpled, leads to Soft Room)
a magic burin, used to engrave things on cubes
a zipper (waterproof when closed)
The zipper contains:
the "moist" cube (when blorpled, leads to Water Room)
the "rocky" cube (when blorpled, leads to Packed Earth)
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 snavig spell (shape change).
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).

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

Our score is 305 of a possible 600, in 811 moves. This puts us in the class of Novice Sorcerer.

Death toll: 9 (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, eaten by a roc chick, set upon and devoured by the wild beast-men of the wilderness, magic carpet crash, crushed by shrink spell wearing off)

Feed the fish to the baby roc. Maybe it will imprint on you and think you're its mother.

More seriously, let's explore the String Room first, and call the new cube Polly after the roc. It was such a bitch to get that it needs to be named after its former owner.

Explore flux first, please.

Also, name the cube NET, because the web is like a net, and connectivity is like the internet. It is a multifaceted pun.

Well, like I won't be able to update today, since the two options for places to explore and the two options for what to name the cube are tied. If I don't get any more votes tomorrow, I'll use my LPer privilege to pick which room to explore first, although it will more likely be the String Room, since I'm there already anyway and it only has one exit. So, should I call the cube Polly, Net, or something else, and should I explore the String Room or restore to before blorpling the cube and explore the Changing Room beforehand?

Let's compromise: Flux and Polly.