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

Conveniently, Gerad managed to break the tie by picking my least favorite of both options. But it's my duty as a LPer to do as my fans want, so I'll play back to getting the cube from the roc's nest, then...

>give fish to roc
The roc chick gobbles it down.
The baby roc, still ravenously hungry, devours you with relish.

**** You have died ****

Once more with feeling!

>restore

Please supply a filename for restore
Okay.

>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.

>blorple flux
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.

All right...three exits, and it's pretty much well-established by now that one of them doesn't work. So, let's go clockwise AFTER naming our newest cube.

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

Bare Room
This is a room of smooth bare marble. It has no exits.
A compass rose lies discarded in a corner.

Looks useful...but let's check it out more carefully first.

>examine rose
Ornate arms indicating the directions grace this lovely silver compass rose. The central knob tells which arm goes with which direction. The arms are decorated with mythological scenes in finely wrought silver chased with gold.

Well, it's shiny, which means it's going to come in handy. Yoink!

>get rose
You're holding too many things and can't quite get them all arranged to take it as well.

Whoops. On checking my inventory, I realize that I forgot to gnusto snavig on restoring. After doing so...

>blorple flux
Abruptly, your surroundings shift.

Changing Room

East is the exit that isn't an exit, so that leaves...

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

Carving Room
This room is a perfectly carved, smoothed and shaped cube of black marble. There are no exits, but inset in the north wall is a carving of a compass rose.

A carving of a compass rose...and we just found a compass rose...I wonder if there's any significance to that?

>examine carving
This carving of a compass rose was made by a master craftsman. All the delicate filigree one might expect on a real but ornamental counterpart is here. As though that challenge was not enough, the artist set the carving deep in the stone of the wall.

I wonder if there's any meaning to this? Oh, well. Time to explore the other unexplored cube!

>blorple polly
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.

East is the fauxit, so let's go...

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

Enchanters' Retreat
The Enchanters' Retreat is an old stone structure perched high in the mountains. For generations, retired (or even burnt-out) enchanters have come here to breathe the clean mountain air, watch the stars, and rest from their exertions. The appointments are simple, the fare is unsophisticated, but those here have a look of quiet contentment that is easy for you to envy.
Belboz is meditating here.

And so, we are reunited with our friend and mentor Belboz, the greatest enchanter of the age. This seems like a good stopping place, so...until next time.

Current puzzles:
An empty room with a carving of a compass rose.
An exit that I can't force my way through in each cube room so far.

Inventory (annotations in italic):
the "polly" cube (when blorpled, leads to String Room)
the "flux" cube (when blorpled, leads to Changing Room)
a compass rose
the "morty" cube (when blorpled, leads to Boneyard)
a spell book
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), Blorple

Our score is 315 of a possible 600, in 822 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)

I'm sorry, what the hell does all this have to do with the rest of the council being turned into newts and the loss of magic in the world?!? Are we just out frolicking because we know no one else is going to even attempt this anyway?

Yomin belboz, or just talk to him.

Uh, hello, it's a magical retirement community! They spend their time playing magical golf and drinking magical tea.

The truth is, I don't really understand what's going on myself. I think that the reasoning is:
1. The shadow Cleesh-ed everyone except you.
2. Said shadow presumably left the "rocky" cube in Belwit Square.
3. Hence, hunting the cubes will help you find the shadow and defeat it.

Anyway, on with the journey!

>yomin belboz
You sense peacefulness overlaid upon a foundation of worry.


Maybe if we talk to him, we'll find out what he's worried about?

>hello, belboz
"Hello." Belboz doesn't seem pleased to see you.

I wonder why? But maybe we can ask about some of the issues I mentioned earlier - i.e. the shadow, the cubes, magic, all that. Seeing as magic is probably the biggest issue, might as well go with that.

>ask belboz about magic
Belboz looks at you suspiciously. "You were here a few days ago, or rather someone who resembled you strongly enough to be your twin was here. This being betrayed its true nature, however, as it did not know facts which would be trifles to even the rawest apprentice. It fled before I could capture it. Prove to me that you are truly yourself, and answer me a question. Of the necromancers, who other than (harumph) myself is best-known?"

Good thing I've been collecting enchanter cards since I was a kid.

Yes, this is a copy-protection question. Good thing that we've got the internet, and hence easy access to the feelies. Only one of the enchanters mentioned is explicitly referred to as a necromancer, so the answer must be...

>answer berknip
"Good! I knew it was you all along. What may I do for you?" He fumbles in his pouch for a moment. "First, let me give you this." He hands you a wrought iron key. "It may prove useful."

Now, we can ask him some of the pressing questions.

>ask belboz about shadow
"I have encountered such creatures, but this one is unfamiliar to me. They are sometimes spirits of the dead, or demons, or even illusory sendings."

>ask belboz about cubes
Belboz looks at the cube for a while, turning it over and over in his hands. "There is a legend about cubes. When the foundations of the world were laid down, it is said that the elemental powers and forces were symbolized during the making by small cubes. The cubes and the forces were merged in a way that our knowledge no longer comprehends. When the making was done, the cubes were hidden away where their powers could not be tampered with. If someone has gained access to them, or rediscovered the knowledge of their making, we are in terrible danger. One who had power over these cubes could change the very structure of our universe. Such a one would have powers I do not care to contemplate." Belboz gives back the cube.

>ask belboz about magic
"I can tell you nothing which you do not already know. We live in perilous times."

Well, that's...disturbing. Good thing that seven of the cubes are in good(ish) hands so far, and we've got a key. Where to go from here?

Current puzzles:
An empty room with a carving of a compass rose.
An exit that I can't force my way through in each cube room so far.

Inventory (annotations in italic):
a wrought iron key
the "polly" cube (when blorpled, leads to String Room)
the "flux" cube (when blorpled, leads to Changing Room)
a compass rose
the "morty" cube (when blorpled, leads to Boneyard)
a spell book
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[I], requires some time to cast[I]).
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), Blorple

Our score is 340 of a possible 600, in 830 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)

Let's see how much stuff we need to drop to pick up the compass rose. It seems pretty straightforward where we should put it.

That. Do that. Change it to bunnies or something.

> ask belboz for help
> ask belboz to get off his butt and do something
> ask belboz for a round of magical golf

Just kidding. Belboz is clearly just a set piece.

Have we goofed around with snavig yet? Try snavig self and snavig belboz. Then liskon belboz, espnis belboz, and any other means of magically pestering him.

@Gerad: He's already got the compass rose.

Put the compass in the compass so that you can compass while you encompass your compass.

So, we've done everything we can with Belboz, but let's try out that shape-change spell we got from the moldy old book.

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

>g
Using your best study habits, you learn the snavig spell yet another time.

>snavig me
You can't change into yourself.

>snavig belboz
Belboz stops you with a word of power.
"Ah! Now I have you, charlatan! Fool me twice? Never!" He rises to his feet, makes a threatening gesture, and you find yourself transported to a tiny cell deep beneath the earth, all belongings stripped from you. In time, though it takes years and you are mad long since, you starve.

**** 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're obviously not the right choice. What a waste. I'll have to start all over with someone else. All this effort, too."

This is the message you get when you run out of chances. Fortunately, with the Save and Restore spells, we don't have to worry about it. Time to blorple out of here!

>blorple flux
Abruptly, your surroundings shift.

Changing Room

And now, to actually do something with that compass rose!

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

Carving Room

>put rose in carving
The silver rose fits the carving perfectly. As it slides in, an octagonal hole appears below the carving. It is small, but large enough to squeeze through. You notice that the arm pointing north is now dull pot-metal.

And with a new passage revealed, we'll proceed. However, we might as well take the rose back first. After all, it might open more passages...

>get rose
Taken.

>n
You slide through the octagonal hole, which constricts and disappears as soon as you are through it.

Octagonal Room
This room is in the shape of an octagonal solid carved from marble. The floor and ceiling are the octagons and each wall is a rectangle. On each wall is inlaid a rune indicating a direction: the north wall has "north" carved on it, and so on. The east, northeast, southeast and southwest runes are lead, the rest are of silver.

Yes, this is a maze...and one of the more confusing ones in the Infocom canon, at that. Let's see how it works...

>touch rose to west rune
As the compass rose touches the west rune, the arm of the rose labelled "west" turns dull and leaden, and an octagonal hole large enough for you to squeeze through appears in the wall below the rune.

>examine rose
Ornate arms indicating the directions grace this lovely silver compass rose. The central knob tells which arm goes with which direction. The arms are decorated with mythological scenes. Oddly, some of the arms are finely wrought silver chased with gold, while some of the arms (north, west) are made of ornate lead or pot-metal chased with brass.


So, whenever you use the rose to open a passage, the appropriate arm turns to lead. Now, let's head through that passage we just opened.

>w
You slide through the octagonal hole, which constricts and disappears as soon as you are through it.

Octagonal Room
This room is in the shape of an octagonal solid carved from marble. The floor and ceiling are the octagons and each wall is a rectangle. On each wall is inlaid a rune indicating a direction: the north wall has "north" carved on it, and so on. The south, southeast and southwest runes are lead, the rest are of silver.

We've seen what happens when we touch the rose to a silver rune, but if we touch it to a lead rune?

>touch rose to south rune
Nothing happens.

And if we try to use a lead arm?

>touch rose to north rune
Nothing happens.

In other words, we can go each direction only once. Although there's no official map, I can tell you that the maze is a 3x3 grid, our goal is to reach the northern room, and that we start in the southern room. So, how to get there? I leave that to you. But first, there were a few things that were suggested that I do to Belboz. So, after heading back to the Enchanter's Retreat...

>espnis belboz
Belboz stops you with a word of power.
"Ah! Now I have you, charlatan! Fool me twice? Never!" He rises to his feet, makes a threatening gesture, and you find yourself transported to a tiny cell deep beneath the earth, all belongings stripped from you. In time, though it takes years and you are mad long since, you starve.

Well, that was a bad idea.

>liskon belboz
Belboz stops you with a word of power.
"Ah! Now I have you, charlatan! Fool me twice? Never!" He rises to his feet, makes a threatening gesture, and you find yourself transported to a tiny cell deep beneath the earth, all belongings stripped from you. In time, though it takes years and you are mad long since, you starve.

Well, I wasn't expecting anything else, really. Oh, well.

Current puzzles:
A 3-by-3 maze navigated using a magical compass rose.
An exit that I can't force my way through in each cube room so far.

Inventory (annotations in italic):
the "polly" cube (when blorpled, leads to String Room)
the "flux" cube (when blorpled, leads to Changing Room)
a compass rose
the "morty" cube (when blorpled, leads to Boneyard)
a spell book
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:
a wrought iron key
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, cast on the thing you want to change into).
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 340 of a possible 600, in 850 moves. This puts us in the class of Novice Sorcerer.

Death toll: 10 (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, imprisoned beneath the earth by an angry Belboz)

In the first room travel north west, and if the next room allows travel north east, and you are there. If it doesn't allow, travel east, north east, and west. And if you can't do that then I don't understand this puzzle.

We need to get north three times and the first north-use is locked in. So we effectively need to get 2N using NE and NW. We can never go S, SW, or SE, as we'd run out of northerly moves.

The answer must be some combination of E, W, NE, and NW. We can only go W or NW at first. If the NW room has a silver NE rune, we're home free; else, we need to go W, NE, E, NW.

Hey, I don't understand it, either. But anyhoo heading back to the Carving Room, then...

>n
You slide through the octagonal hole, which constricts and disappears as soon as you are through it.

Octagonal Room
This room is in the shape of an octagonal solid carved from marble. The floor and ceiling are the octagons and each wall is a rectangle. On each wall is inlaid a rune indicating a direction: the north wall has "north" carved on it, and so on. The east, northeast, southeast and southwest runes are lead, the rest are of silver.

Saving first, then using the first route suggested.

>touch rose to nw wall
As the compass rose touches the northwest wall, the arm of the rose labelled "northwest" turns dull and leaden, and an octagonal hole large enough for you to squeeze through appears in the wall below the rune.

>nw
You slide through the octagonal hole, which constricts and disappears as soon as you are through it.

Octagonal Room
This room is in the shape of an octagonal solid carved from marble. The floor and ceiling are the octagons and each wall is a rectangle. On each wall is inlaid a rune indicating a direction: the north wall has "north" carved on it, and so on. The northeast, northwest, southeast and southwest runes are lead, the rest are of silver.

No route to the northeast, unfortunately, and the eastern route isn't accessible since the east wall is lead. So, on to the next route.

>touch rose to west wall
As the compass rose touches the west wall, the arm of the rose labelled "west" turns dull and leaden, and an octagonal hole large enough for you to squeeze through appears in the wall below the rune.

>w
You slide through the octagonal hole, which constricts and disappears as soon as you are through it.

Octagonal Room
This room is in the shape of an octagonal solid carved from marble. The floor and ceiling are the octagons and each wall is a rectangle. On each wall is inlaid a rune indicating a direction: the north wall has "north" carved on it, and so on. The south, southeast and southwest runes are lead, the rest are of silver.

>touch rose to ne wall
As the compass rose touches the northeast wall, the arm of the rose labelled "northeast" turns dull and leaden, and an octagonal hole large enough for you to squeeze through appears in the wall below the rune.

>ne
You slide through the octagonal hole, which constricts and disappears as soon as you are through it.

Octagonal Room
This room is in the shape of an octagonal solid carved from marble. The floor and ceiling are the octagons and each wall is a rectangle. On each wall is inlaid a rune indicating a direction: the north wall has "north" carved on it, and so on. The east, northeast and southeast runes are lead, the rest are of silver.

Uh-oh...looks like the east wall is off-limits. But maybe...

>nw
You slide through the octagonal hole, which constricts and disappears as soon as you are through it.

Octagonal Room
This room is in the shape of an octagonal solid carved from marble. The floor and ceiling are the octagons and each wall is a rectangle. On each wall is inlaid a rune indicating a direction: the north wall has "north" carved on it, and so on. The west rune is gold, the north, northeast and northwest runes are lead, the rest are of silver. On the west wall just under the rune is an octagonal hole plugged with a perfectly fitting piece of alabaster.

A unique description...always a good sign. That plugged hole is probably important, so...

>unplug hole
I don't know the word "unplug."

>take plug
You can't budge it.

>examine plug
On the west wall just under the rune is an octagonal hole plugged with a perfectly fitting piece of alabaster.

Well, if it worked before...

>touch rose to west wall
Nothing happens.

Oh, right. I already used the west arm. However, this plugged-up passageway is obviously important, so there must be a way to get past the plug, but what is it? And no, I didn't take the wrong route, if you're wondering.

Current puzzles:
A hole blocked by an immovable alabaster plug.
An exit that I can't force my way through in each cube room so far.

Inventory (annotations in italic):
a compass rose
the "flux" cube (when blorpled, leads to Changing Room)
the "polly" cube (when blorpled, leads to String Room)
the "morty" cube (when blorpled, leads to Boneyard)
a spell book
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:
a wrought iron key
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, cast on the thing you want to change into).
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 340 of a possible 600, in 845 moves. This puts us in the class of Novice Sorcerer.

Death toll: 10 (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, imprisoned beneath the earth by an angry Belboz)

Rezrov the sucker.

Shrink or change shape the plug.

Confession time: I actually already solved this puzzle, but I wanted to give my loyal apprentices a chance to solve it, too. Mogri's solution was correct, but it's my duty as a LPer to show off everything, so...

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

In case we'd forgotten.

>snavig plug
You can't change into the alabaster plug.

So, Snavig changes the caster into the targeted object. Just to make that clear. And now, the actual solution.

>rezrov plug
The alabaster melts away, leaving an octagonal hole leading west.

Where there's a passage, we must go there. One of the invisible tenets of the Enchanters' Guild, as revealed by the Zikkle spell.

>w
You slide through the octagonal hole, which constricts and disappears as soon as you are through it.

Octagonal Room
This room is in the shape of an octagonal solid carved from marble. The floor and ceiling are the octagons and each wall is a rectangle. On each wall is inlaid a rune indicating a direction: the north wall has "north" carved on it, and so on. The runes are all of lead.
A white cube is here.


When there's a white cube...

>get cube
Taken.

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

>blorple cube
Abruptly, your surroundings shift.

No Place
There is nothing here. You are here, but there is no here where you are. You see nothing. Your senses are vainly trying to find something, anything to work on. You can know your body is there, but you can't truly sense it to confirm the suspicion. Your mind is alternately drawn in three "directions" (or at least what seem like directions): east, west and south. There is something slightly different about the nothing in those directions.

And so, we get yet another cube. What to call this one, which, by the way, is linked with the element of Mind? 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.

Inventory (annotations in italic):
the "flux" cube (when blorpled, leads to Changing Room)
the "polly" cube (when blorpled, leads to String Room)
the "morty" cube (when blorpled, leads to Boneyard)
a spell book
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:
a compass rose
a wrought iron key
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, cast on the thing you want to change into).
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 365 of a possible 600, in 858 moves. This puts us in the class of Sorcerer.

Death toll: 10 (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, imprisoned beneath the earth by an angry Belboz)

Sorry for not updating today, but I was under the impression that this was a Let's Play, not a Let's Watch Kahran042 Play. So, suggestions for whether to go east, west or south from No Place are still open, as are suggestions for what to call the Mind cube. If there aren't any by Tuesday, I'll make the next update on my own. But I would greatly appreciate your suggestions. After all, that's really what a LP is all about, right?

Alright, jeez.

South, I guess. Can't think of an appropriate name for the cube.

I'm sure I've got some wacky opinion on what to name this thing.

...um, how about, MIND, as in "Would you MIND terribly blorple-ing me to an empty room where things are slightly less nothing in the SOUTHERN direction?"

I apologize sincerely for my rudeness yesterday, and I hope that I didn't offend anyone. Anyway, on with the journey!

>s
Your mind starts to wander "southward," and slowly something impinges itself on your mind.

As you leave, the cube reappears in your hand.

Plain
This is a flat plain punctuated by boulders. The boulders are all identical and slide to and fro on the eerie surface, propelled by an unknown mechanism. The ground is scratched by many intersecting lines which seem to have a regular pattern. From where you are standing you can see lines radiating north, east, west and south. There is a large green eyed rock here. Also, there is a large brown eyed rock with a featureless white cube on its back some distance to the east. Far in the distance are mountains which quiver itchily as they belch forth purple fire.

Trippy... Anyway, now to name the cube.

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

Hopefully, I wrote on the right one, seeing as I just realized that there's a cube in the room.

>l
Plain
This is a flat plain punctuated by boulders. The boulders are all identical and slide to and fro on the eerie surface, propelled by an unknown mechanism. The ground is scratched by many intersecting lines which seem to have a regular pattern. From where you are standing you can see lines radiating north, east, west and south. There is a large green eyed rock here. Also, there is a large brown eyed rock with a featureless white cube on its back some distance to the east. Far in the distance are mountains which quiver itchily as they belch forth purple fire.

Good, I did. Now, to try and get that cube off the brown-eyed rock.

>examine brown eyed rock
This rock looks just like the other, except that it has brown eyes. On the rock is a cube.

>get cube
You can't reach that.

Well, darn. Maybe if I climb on the rock...

>climb brown eyed rock
It's too far away.

Well, it's to the east, so forward!

>e
You find that the surface is too smooth. Your feet slip out from under you, and you crash to the ground.

Well, those rocks don't seem to have any trouble moving. Maybe if I made like the pioneers and tried to drive one...

>climb green eyed rock
The rock spins in place, preventing you from getting on. "What's in it for me? For example, if you had some food, that might be nice. Then you could ride on top and admire me from that angle. It's a rare privilege."

Darn jerkarse rock...Well, maybe we can find out what rocks like to eat?

>ask rock about food
"Yummy food? Food is crunchy and nice. I like it with lots of phosphorus!"

Unfortunately, we don't have any phosphorus on us. so we'll have to leave Monsieur Rocher behind for a while and explore some more of No Place.

>e
You slowly drift "eastward," and the nothing attenuates. Something begins to break through the nothing.

As you leave, the "mind" cube reappears in your hand.

Inner Vault
This is a bare concrete chamber that looks like the inside of a vault. The room is filled with unimaginable treasure. Gold and jewels are strewn everywhere. Coffers burst with coins, and stacks of rare paintings lean against the walls. Beautifully ornamented vases and glassware are carelessly stacked in corners. There is a door on the north side of the room whose lock mechanism is visible. The door is closed and locked.

Oh...my...DOYC. So much shiny...And there's probably even more behind that door. First, though, let's get a good look at it.

>examine door
This is a steel door. It is thick and heavy, like the door to a bank vault. It is covered with complicated mechanisms which look like they are part of a timing or locking device. The door is closed and locked.

Locks, schmocks. I'm an enchanter, remember?

>rezrov door
The mechanisms try vainly to turn, but your spell is just not powerful enough.

Well, not entirely surprising, I must say. There must be some way to open it, and some way to get phosphorus for that cakesniffing rock, but how? I actually know where to start, at least, but can you figure it out?*

Current puzzles:
A locked vault door.
A rock who demands phosphorus.
An exit that I can't force my way through in each cube room so far.

Inventory (annotations in italic):
the "mind" cube (when blorpled, leads to No Place)
the "flux" cube (when blorpled, leads to Changing Room)
the "polly" cube (when blorpled, leads to String Room)
the "morty" cube (when blorpled, leads to Boneyard)
a spell book
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:
a compass rose
a wrought iron key
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, cast on the thing you want to change into).
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 365 of a possible 600, in 872 moves. This puts us in the class of Sorcerer.

Death toll: 10 (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, imprisoned beneath the earth by an angry Belboz)

*Think of places where there's a creature to snavig.

snavig the roc or the rocling?

Well, that's as good a suggestion as any. Here goes!

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

>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.

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

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, after waiting to ride to the nest yet again...

>z
Time passes...

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

You arrive in the roc's nest. The baby roc, ravenous like all young birds, gobbles you down.

**** 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

Oops. I guess now that the rocling has hatched, Midair is inevitable death from now on. But maybe I can snavig mama roc from the Guard Tower? After restoring to a place where I can do that from...

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

Well, darn. Guess that that's yet another spell that won't work on the roc. So, what to do now? Again, I do have an idea as to where to start, but I'll see if you can figure out what I'm supposed to do next.

Current puzzles:
A locked vault door.
A rock who demands phosphorus.
An exit that I can't force my way through in each cube room so far.

Inventory (annotations in italic):
the "mind" cube (when blorpled, leads to No Place)
the "flux" cube (when blorpled, leads to Changing Room)
the "polly" cube (when blorpled, leads to String Room)
the "morty" cube (when blorpled, leads to Boneyard)
a spell book
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:
a compass rose
a wrought iron key
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, cast on the thing you want to change into, requires some time to cast).
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 365 of a possible 600, in 872* moves. This puts us in the class of Sorcerer.

Death toll: 10 (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, imprisoned beneath the earth by an angry Belboz)

*- It's the same number as last time because I restored to before making that long trip to get eaten by the roc baby.

Uh... something about a fish or a dolphin, maybe?

Creatures to snavig:

• Belboz Check.
• Mama roc Check.
• Baby roc No time.
• Hermit Can't get back to him.
• Ogre
• Serpent
• Basalt statue (with and without malyon)
• Bat
• Grouper
• Talking rock

The talking rock seems most logical, but then why would there be this whole thing with phosphorus food?

Let's go with the bat, that worked out soo well last time.

schep has generously given us a list of every living and living-ish creature in the game, so it's snavig time! First of all, the two mentioned specifically in thenamelessentity's post:

>blorple mind
Abruptly, your surroundings shift.

No Place

>s
Your mind starts to wander "southward," and slowly something impinges itself on your mind.

As you leave, the "mind" cube reappears in your hand.

Plain

>snavig rock
A bright purple ball of light issues from your fingers and collapses like a deflated balloon on the ground. "Great effect!" says the green eyed rock. "That's better than most of you soft ones can do here."

Maybe magic in general doesn't work on the plain. I'll just test something...

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

>tinsot rock
A bright purple ball of light issues from your fingers and collapses like a deflated balloon on the ground. "Great effect!" says the green eyed rock. "That's better than most of you soft ones can do here."

Guess my theory was right, then. Now for the bat.

>get rocky
Taken.

>blorple rocky
Abruptly, your surroundings shift.

Packed Earth

>e
As you leave, the "rocky" cube reappears in your hand.

Hall of Stone

>n
Smooth Room

>n
The serpent completely fills the passage.

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

>liskon serpent
The serpent shrinks. You can see it thinning out, filling less and less of the corridor. At first it doesn't seem to be growing any shorter, but then you realize that this isn't true. It has swallowed so much of its own tail that it makes up the deficiency by disgorging more tail. Finally, just before the spell stops, the tail tip slips out of the snake's mouth and almost disappears down the western corridor.

>n
The snake is pleasurably stretching its mouth and rippling its scaly body in the unaccustomed space. It barely hisses as you go by.

North of Serpent

>n
Temple

>snavig bat
You can't change into the bat.

Um...why? Oh, well. There's still another animal in here, or a reasonable facsimile thereof.

>snavig idol
You can't change into the rodent idol.

Maybe I can't change into a rodent idol...but I bet I could change into a living rodent idol!

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

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

>snavig idol
You grow huge, fanged and angry. Then you turn into basalt. The outcome is fatal.

**** You have died ****

Um...well, I was not expecting that. Just another "you can't turn into the foo" message. Time to restore, and then check out the rest of the creatures on the list.

>restore

Please supply a filename for restore
Okay.

>put mind in zipper
Done.

This particular bit of inventory management is included only because I find the command involved amusing.

>get rocky
Taken.

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

>blorple rocky
Abruptly, your surroundings shift.

Packed Earth

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

>g
Using your best study habits, you learn the snavig spell yet another time.

>g
Using your best study habits, you learn the snavig spell yet another time.

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

Cave Entrance

>n
Cave
There is a weed plant here. It's tall as a tree, with yellow blossoms dripping pollen.
A large ogre bars the passage.

>snavig ogre
You become just as ugly, bellicose, and sneezy as the ogre. The ogre is even less inclined to let you by.

Well, good thing I've already raided his lair, then. Next stop, Mr. Snakey!

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

>blorple rocky
Abruptly, your surroundings shift.

Packed Earth

>e
As you leave, the "rocky" cube reappears in your hand.

Hall of Stone

>n
Smooth Room

>snavig snake
The spell strains to change you into a serpent, but you're just too small. Finally, you snap back to your normal appearance, and you feel very, very tired.

That thing about being tired isn't just flavor text, if you're wondering. It really does drop your exhaustion level all the way to "so tired you can barely concentrate."

Anyway, let's sleep it off, then go on to the next one.

>sleep
Ah, sleep! It's been a long day, and rest will do you good. You stretch out on the floor and drift off, renewing your powers and refreshing your mind. Time passes as you snore blissfully.

You dream of strangely garbed magicians floating in midair. You awaken.

You have become yourself again.

Which was...the grouper. So...

>put rocky in zipper
Done.

>get moist
Taken.

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

>blorple moist
Abruptly, your surroundings shift.

Water Room

We're going swimming, so we should stow all our stuff in a locker. Unfortunately, we don't have one, so we'll have to resort to using a pocket dimension instead.

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

>put all in zipper
the "flux" cube: Done.
the "polly" cube: Done.
the "morty" cube: Done.
spell book: Done.
the "gusty" cube: Done.
the "hermy" cube: Done.
magic burin: Done.

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

And now, into the cerulean depths.

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

You step out of the room and drop precipitously into the Flathead Ocean, making a terrific splash. The "moist" cube, lost in the shock of the fall, makes a smaller splash. It is a little less buoyant than you and begins to sink slowly beneath the waves.

Mid-Ocean
A large grouper swims nearby.


Better get that cube back. Fortunately, we don't have to distract the fish this time, so...

>get cube
Taken.

And now, to do what we came here for in the first place.

>snavig grouper
You change. You can no longer carry anything. The grouper stares at you with fishy eyes like yours, twiddles fins like yours, opens a huge mouth like yours, and flicking a tail like yours, swims suspiciously around you.

Into the abyss...

>d
You swim downward, followed by the nervous grouper.

Ocean Floor
You are deep beneath the waves, near a small pile of rocks and broken coral that make up the nest of a grouper.
A large grouper swims nearby.
There is a zipper here.
A white cube labelled "moist" is here.
The grouper nest contains:
a cube

Well, here's our stuff...plus a new cube! Unfortunately, we can't carry any of it. Maybe if we wait for the spell to wear off?

>z
Time passes...

>z
Time passes...

>z
Time passes...

>z
Time passes...

You have become yourself again. Fortunately your gills have stored some oxygen, but you are in danger of drowning.

(insert Sonic drowning music here)

>get all
zipper: Taken.
the "moist" cube: Taken.
grouper nest: You must have had a silliness spell cast upon you.
cube: Taken.

Must...reach...surface...

>u
You swim upward, desperately trying to hold your breath until you reach the surface. It's a losing battle. You can't hold it any longer, take a breath, and it's pure, sweet air! You have reached the surface.

Mid-Ocean

Come to think of it, how are we going to get back? Last time we were here, we blorpled back, but we can't do that now, since we don't have it memorized and our spellbook is safely in the zipper. Oh well. I'll just restore and play back to this point, then...

>blorple cube
Abruptly, your surroundings shift.

Light Room
This place is bright and glaring. The very materials of which it is made blaze with light so bright that their forms are obscured. There are glowing archways to the west and south.

Well, as is tradition, I'm going to end this update here with a request for names for this cube, which is obviously linked with Light. 'Til next time!

Current puzzles:
A locked vault door.
A rock who demands phosphorus.
An exit that I can't force my way through in each cube room so far.

Inventory (annotations in italic):
the "moist" cube (when blorpled, leads to Water Room)
a zipper (waterproof when closed)
The zipper contains:
a spell book
a magic burin, used to engrave things on cubes
the "hermy" cube (when blorpled, leads to Soft Room)
the "gusty" cube (when blorpled, leads to Air Room)
the "morty" cube (when blorpled, leads to Boneyard)
the "polly" cube (when blorpled, leads to String Room)
the "flux" cube (when blorpled, leads to Changing Room)
the "rocky" cube (when blorpled, leads to Packed Earth)
the "mind" cube (when blorpled, leads to No Place)
a compass rose
a wrought iron key
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, cast on the thing you want to change into, requires some time to cast, apparently can only turn caster into a Medium-sized creature).
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 390 of a possible 600, in 970 moves. This puts us in the class of Sorcerer.

Death toll: 11 (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, imprisoned beneath the earth by an angry Belboz, turned self into an inanimate object)

"pants," so that you can "put pants in zipper"

As do I, and am pleased. Also...

This.

And we still haven't used the cubes to reshape the world into our own image yet. What, are you not a good enough Enchanter? Come on, I dare you to cause the apocalypse.

I would, but I have no idea as to how to do that. Also, I should have known that someone would suggest that I name one of the cubes Pants, so I'll do that.

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

Volcano Base
You are partway up the base of an active volcano. All around you is a stream of glowing, molten lava, bubbling and spitting. Clumps of red-hot lava fly through the air, narrowly missing you. Your vantage point is a small point of rock that hasn't been remelted by the flow.

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

One fragment of molten lava explodes out of the flow and drops right at your feet! It sizzles and hisses.

Well, one never knows when a lava fragment might come in handy...

>get fragment
It's too hot to touch. You burn yourself slightly just getting near it.

Fortunately, I have just the right spell for this situation.

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

>tinsot fragment
The fragment is cool enough to touch.

And if I can ">touch fragment," then I can certainly...

>get fragment
Taken.

So, we've got a lava fragment! What to do now? It's probably obvious, but I'll see if you know what to do.

Current puzzles:
A locked vault door.
A rock who demands phosphorus.
An exit that I can't force my way through in each cube room so far.

Inventory (annotations in italic):
a lava fragment
a spell book
the "pants" cube (when blorpled, leads to Light Room)
a magic burin, used to engrave things on cubes
the "moist" cube (when blorpled, leads to Water Room)
a zipper (waterproof when closed)
The zipper contains:
the "hermy" cube (when blorpled, leads to Soft Room)
the "gusty" cube (when blorpled, leads to Air Room)
the "morty" cube (when blorpled, leads to Boneyard)
the "polly" cube (when blorpled, leads to String Room)
the "flux" cube (when blorpled, leads to Changing Room)
the "rocky" cube (when blorpled, leads to Packed Earth)
the "mind" cube (when blorpled, leads to No Place)
a compass rose
a wrought iron key
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, cast on the thing you want to change into, requires some time to cast, apparently can only turn caster into a Medium-sized creature).
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 390 of a possible 600, in 978 moves. This puts us in the class of Sorcerer.

Death toll: 11 (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, imprisoned beneath the earth by an angry Belboz, turned self into an inanimate object)

Give the lava fragment to the roc(k)! Then ride the rock to the new cube.

This game is enormous. It must be at least twice the size of the first entry in the series.

Lava is apparently a source of phosphorus, so back to the plains we go.

>blorple mind
Abruptly, your surroundings shift.

No Place

>s
Your mind starts to wander "southward," and slowly something impinges itself on your mind.

As you leave, the "mind" cube reappears in your hand.

Plain

>give fragment to rock
"Mmm. That looks good. Just the right size, too." It slides happily over the piece of lava and settles comfortably to the ground. You hear a sound like a rasp for a while. The rock blinks contentedly and rises into the air again.

Well, we've placated him...but will he let us ride him? The moment of truth...

>sit on rock
You climb the rock and perch precariously on top. From here you can see that the long scratches in the ground form a rectangular grid that fills a rather small valley. "My back is the most hemispheric of all my friends'," remarks the rock.

And we have our very own mineral-based steed! To the east!

>e
You'll have to get down off the rock if you want to walk.

Oh, right. Maybe we tell the rock to move?

>rock, go east
The rock glides smoothly, carefully following the line on the plain. "Yum!" it remarks, parenthetically. You are on a large, green eyed rock. From where you are perched you can see lines radiating north, east, west and south. Also, there is a large brown eyed rock with a featureless white cube on its back nearby and off to the east.

The brown eyed rock slides gracefully north.

Follow that rock!

>rock, go north
The rock glides smoothly, carefully following the line on the plain. "Yum!" it remarks, parenthetically. You are on a large, green eyed rock. From where you are perched you can see lines radiating east, west and south. Also, there is a large brown eyed rock with a featureless white cube on its back nearby and off to the east.

The brown eyed rock slides gracefully south.

Looks like that brown-eyed blighter is trying to escape...but not for long!

>rock, go south
The rock glides smoothly, carefully following the line on the plain. "Yum!" it remarks, parenthetically. You are on a large, green eyed rock. From where you are perched you can see lines radiating north, east, west and south. Also, there is a large brown eyed rock with a featureless white cube on its back nearby and off to the east.

The brown eyed rock slides gracefully north.

Well, darn. Looks like it's a back-and-forth thing. I'll look up what to do, but see if you have any ideas as to how to catch it. Until tomorrow!

Current puzzles:
A locked vault door.
A cube on top of a rock that does not seem to want to be caught.
An exit that I can't force my way through in each cube room so far.

Inventory (annotations in italic):
the "mind" cube (when blorpled, leads to No Place)
a spell book
the "pants" cube (when blorpled, leads to Light Room)
a magic burin, used to engrave things on cubes
the "moist" cube (when blorpled, leads to Water Room)
a zipper (waterproof when closed)
The zipper contains:
the "hermy" cube (when blorpled, leads to Soft Room)
the "gusty" cube (when blorpled, leads to Air Room)
the "morty" cube (when blorpled, leads to Boneyard)
the "polly" cube (when blorpled, leads to String Room)
the "flux" cube (when blorpled, leads to Changing Room)
the "rocky" cube (when blorpled, leads to Packed Earth)
a compass rose
a wrought iron key
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, cast on the thing you want to change into, requires some time to cast, apparently can only turn caster into a Medium-sized creature).
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 390 of a possible 600, in 989 moves. This puts us in the class of Sorcerer.

Death toll: 11 (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, imprisoned beneath the earth by an angry Belboz, turned self into an inanimate object)

And yes, this is an enormous game. I think that the only bigger Infocom game is Zork Zero.

A few suggestions:

1: Explore the maze of lines and see if there are any dead ends or other interesting features anywhere.

2: Chase the brown rock into one of the aforementioned dead ends.

3: If necessary, wait next to the brown rock and see if that spooks it into moving.