The Land of Breakfast and Lunch — 5 of 9

Section 4 - The Land of Unlaunched Vessels

The Seaside Path is a room. "You are on the seaside path. Backwards from here is The Land of Unrealized Possibilities. Forward is The Land of Unlaunched Vessels." The Seaside Path is north of TLOUP.

Seapath is in The Seaside Path. It is scenery. The description of Seapath is "It's a meandering path that leads away from The Land of Unrealized Possibilities and it technically beside the sea, but quite far away from it. As you follow it forward it takes you closer to the sea, as well as The Land of Unlaunched Vessels." Understand "path" as Seapath.

The sea is in the seaside path. The sea is scenery. The description is "The sea is quite a ways away for a path to be called The Seaside Path, but you didn't name it, did you? Even from here you can see it's not really a sea but some kind of sound or bay.". Understand "sound/bay" as the sea. Instead of smelling the sea, say "There is an extremely faint salty smell.".

TLOUV is a room. "You are in The Land of Unlaunched Vessels. You stand near the edge of the bay, and there is a sailing ship moored here with thick and aged ropes tied to a bollard. The Hopeful Path leads backward towards The Land of Unrealized Possibilities, a place you're not sure you want to be. Forward, [printed name of The Sequel Path] leads to [printed name of TLOUV2]." TLOUV is north of the seaside path.

The printed name of TLOUV is "The Land of Unlaunched Vessels"

A thing can be sealike or unsealike. A thing is usually unsealike.

Understand "rope/line/lines" as the ropes. The ropes are a sealike thing.

The ropes are in TLOUV. The ropes are scenery. The description is "The ropes are weathered but sturdy, with crusty barnacles aplenty. They are tied with odd-looking knots to a giant metal bollard bolted to a cement retaining wall."

The knots are in TLOUV. The knots are scenery. The knots are sealike. The knots are a closed container. The description is "They're not knots you'd recognize. They seem needlessly complicated."

Understand "knot" as the knots.

Understand "untie [something]" as opening.

Instead of opening the ropes, say "As you begin to work on the knots, the hippie seaperson looks quizzically at you for a moment, to see if you know the art of deciphering such a thing. After watching you pull at them ineffectually for a few minutes, she loses interest. You can barely move the heavy rope."

Instead of smelling a sealike thing, say "Everything here smells like the sea.".

The barnacles are in TLOUV. The barnacles are scenery. The barnacles are sealike. The description is "Those damn things will grow on anything that touches the water a lot."

The bollard is in TLOUV. The bollard is scenery. The bollard is sealike. The description is "It's an incredibly sturdy metal tie-down bolted to a cement retaining wall."

The cement retaining wall is in TLOUV. The wall is scenery. The wall is sealike. The description is "A cement retaining wall keeping the land separate from the bay."

[The Chimera]

Understand "ship/vessel/flouwt/Chimera" or "sailing ship" as the fluyt.

The Dutch fluyt is in TLOUV. The Dutch fluyt is scenery. The description is "Close your eyes and imagine a big sailing ship and what you're seeing is a Dutch fluyt. It's pronounced kind of like 'flouwt'. The Mayflower was a fluyt. It has multiple masts with big, square sails. Its anchor is lowered. Giant ropes stream out from the padeye of the ship to the land, attached securely to a bollard bolted to the retaining wall. It's not going anywhere."

Understand "launch [something]" as pushing.

Instead of pushing the fluyt, say "You'd need to be on the fluyt."

Instead of entering the fluyt:

say "You can't figure out a way to get on the fluyt.".

The masts are a part of the fluyt. Understand "mast" as the masts. The description of the masts is "The fluyt has three main masts.[if the tennis ball is attached-to-the-mast] Near the top of the back mast, there is a tennis ball attached.[end if]". The tennis ball is a part of the masts. The tennis ball is puppy-throwable. The description is "It's a tennis ball.[if the tennis ball is attached-to-the-mast] It is somehow attached way up high on the rear mast. You're not sure why or how.[end if]". The tennis ball can be attached-to-the-mast. The tennis ball is attached-to-the-mast.

Understand "climb [masts]" as a mistake ("There's no way you can even get on the deck of the ship, much less the masts.").

The sails are a part of the fluyt. Understand "sail" as the sails. The description of the sails is "Each of the three masts of the fluyt has two sets of large square sails."

The padeye is a part of the fluyt. The description is "The padeye is a reinforced hole in the side of the fluyt that the ropes go through."

The bay is in TLOUV. The bay is scenery. The description is "You stand at the edge of the bay. It could be any kind of inlet, possibly a fjord, but it's too calm to be the sea itself, and you can't see land on the other side. Let's call it a bay. A cement retaining wall allows you to stand right at the edge of it."

Understand "the water" or "sea" or "the sea" or "water" or "ocean" or "inlet" or "fjord" as the bay.

Instead of smelling the bay, say "The smell of the bay fills the air. It is at once overwhelmingly salty and a bit fishy.".

Understand "swim" or "swim in the water" or "swim bay" or "swim in bay" or "swim in the bay" or "go swimming" as swimming.

Swimming is an action applying to nothing.

Check swimming:

if the player is in TLOUV:

say "You don't want to get wet, and you don't think you'd be able to get on the fluyt that way, or really be able to do much of anything all wet and swimming around.";

otherwise:

say "There isn't any water nearby.".

[The Hippie Seaperson]

The swarthy hippie seaperson is a woman in the TLOUV. The printed name of the seaperson is "swarthy hippie seaperson". The description of the hippie seaperson is "She has thick blonde dreadlocks, and all her eyes and limbs. You can't tell if she's the piratey kind of seaperson or not. Honestly, you can't even tell if she's a hippie or not, but her dreads do have little brass bands on them."

The dreadlocks are a part of the seaperson. The description is "They're mostly neat and even with a few chunky, misshapen ones. A few have little brass bands wrapped around them as jewelry.". Understand "dred/dreds/dread/dreads" as the dreadlocks.

The little brass bands are a part of the dreadlocks. The description is "The little brass bands secure or adorn a few of the dreads. One, you can see, has a celtic knot engraved in it.".

The both eyes are a part of the seaperson. The description is "She has both of them."

The intact arms are a part of the seaperson. The description is "Neither of them look like a hook."

The intact legs are a part of the seaperson. The description is "Neither of them look like pegs."

Instead of smelling the seaperson, say "She smells like the sea and...maybe a bit of scented oils?".

Instead of kissing the hippie seaperson, say "She pulls her head way back and eyes you with suspicion. When you think about it, you realize you just kind of embarrassed yourself."

Instead of taking or attacking the hippie seaperson, say "The hippie seaperson actually looks kind of tough."

Instead of waving at the seaperson, say "The seaperson gives you a bit of a funny look and hesitantly waves back. 'Hey there,' she says.".

[special seaperson dialog rules]

[any visible thing]

Instead of thing-asking seaperson about a thing:

if the second noun is bollard:

say "'Ah yeah, that[apostrophe]s a mooring bollard.'";

else if the second noun is ropes:

say "'Technically you would call them line, or mooring warps. Landlubbers call them ropes though.'";

else if the second noun is knots:

say "'It[apostrophe]s a really obscure knot, you probably wouldn[apostrophe]t know it.'";

else if the second noun is devil doll:

say "'I truly think that thing is evil.'";

else if the second noun is jack-in-the-box:

say "'You can keep that thing away from me.'";

else if the second noun is seaperson:

say "'I[apostrophe]m an able-bodied seaperson, who happens to be a woman.'";

else if the second noun is the player:

say "'I don[apostrophe]t know you very well, but you seem nice enough. I mostly know about seafaring things.'";

else if the second noun is padeye:

say "'Oh, the padeye? It's like the eye of a needle.'";

else if the second noun is sails:

say "'Square sails are the best for going straight downwind.'";

else if the second noun is masts:

say "'There are three main masts on The Chimera. See? The back mast has a tennis ball wired to it for good luck. I cannot even remember how that tradition started.'";

else if the second noun is dreadlocks:

say "'Yeah, if you[apostrophe]re a seaperson, combing your hair gets pretty old after a while. This way I can just rinse them out with seawater from time to time.'";

else if the second noun is brass bands:

say "'They[apostrophe]re just there for decoration.'";

else if the second noun is tennis ball:

if the tennis ball is attached-to-the-mast:

say "'Oh, you want the tennis ball? Hey, that seems reasonable.'[paragraph break]The seaperson puts both fingers in her mouth and emits an incredibly loud and shrill whistle. A crewmember pops his head over the edge of the deck and she gives him a little nod. A few minutes later, he appears at the retaining wall with a large rowboat.[paragraph break]The seaperson hops in, and they row around to the opposite side of the fluyt. Several minutes later, you see the hippie seaperson doggedly climbing the mast to get to the tennis ball. It takes her quite a few minutes to get it pulled free from however it[apostrophe]s attached to the mast.[paragraph break]Finally, she[apostrophe]s rowed back to the retaining wall and she returns to you, panting deeply. 'Here you go,' she says wearily, 'I hope you find some good use for it.'";

now the tennis ball is not attached-to-the-mast;

move the tennis ball to the player;

otherwise:

say "'I hope you found a good use for it.'";

else if the second noun is fluyt:

say "'Yes, that's The Chimera. It's a Dutch cargo fluyt. Fluyt is Dutch for flute. Due to a trade dispute it[apostrophe]s temporarily moored here since it can't legally be moored at any real harbor. I am required to ensure it isn[apostrophe]t stolen and that no one boards it, but otherwise I don[apostrophe]t have much else to do. That[apostrophe]s ok though, I do not mind resting in the sun day after day. I[apostrophe]ve worked hard all my life and I[apostrophe]m fine being right here in The Land of Unlaunched Vessels. If The Chimera ever launched, I believe we[apostrophe]d have to change the name of the place.' She snorts with a little laugh at the idea.";

otherwise:

say "'I[apostrophe]m just a simple seaperson, I don[apostrophe]t know much about [the second noun].'".

Instead of thing-telling seaperson about a thing:

say "'Yeah that's [the second noun]. I see.'".

[specific non-visible thing topics - asking]

Instead of asking seaperson about "quarter/quarters":

say "'I do not make it a habit to carry coins about.'".

Instead of asking seaperson about "oil":

say "'Ah yeah, it's vetiver.'".

Instead of asking seaperson about "land":

say "'Yeah, this is The Land of Unlaunched Vessels. Pretty sure I know why it[apostrophe]s called that. Not much I can do about it, though.'".

Instead of asking seaperson about "rocket":

say "'Yeah, I[apostrophe]ve seen that rocket. I[apostrophe]m more of a sea vessel type of person than a space vessel type of person.'".

Instead of asking seaperson about "pirate/pirates":

say "'Generally pirates do not come so close to the shore hoping for temporarily moored trade ships. If they did, that[apostrophe]s what I[apostrophe]m here for.'".

Instead of asking seaperson about "hippies/hippie/hippy":

say "'I don[apostrophe]t know what a hippie is. Is it like a fannie pack?'".

Instead of asking seaperson about "trade/dispute":

say "'The trade dispute began about four years ago, and The Chimera has been moored here in this temporary location nearly that entire time. First time I[apostrophe]ve ever been paid NOT to sail. I think someone in The Land of Taxable Interest got a little rowdy, and someone in The Land of Sensible Tariffs took exception.'".

Instead of asking seaperson about "trade dispute":

say "'The trade dispute began about four years ago, and The Chimera has been moored here in this temporary location nearly that entire time. First time I[apostrophe]ve ever been paid NOT to sail. I think someone in The Land of Taxable Interest got a little rowdy, and someone in The Land of Sensible Tariffs took exception.'".

[specific non-visible thing topics - telling]

Instead of asking seaperson about "rocket":

say "'Yeah, I[apostrophe]ve seen the rocket. I[apostrophe]m more of a sea vessel type of person than a space vessel type of person.'".

[fallthrough]

Instead of asking seaperson about something:

say "'Sorry, I do not know about that.'".

Instead of telling seaperson about something:

say "'Hm.'".

test talkseaperson with "f / f / f / f / f / ask seaperson about bollard / ask seaperson about fluyt / ask seaperson about trade dispute"