Stiffy Makane: Apocolocyntosis — 142 of 235

Part Five - "Lake"

The Middle of the Lake is a water_room. It is north of the Spit of Land. It is in African Lake. The description is "You are swimming in the middle of the north half of the lake. Land is about two hundred yards away to the east and west; the spit of land is about a quarter mile to your south, and the north shore of the lake is about a quarter mile to the north." Instead of going west in the Middle of the Lake, consider the python-gulping rule. Instead of going east in the Middle of the Lake:

say "As you head to the east, something huge and sinewy yanks you under the water and quickly devours you. As you disappear into its maw, you can see that it appears to be an improbably huge arowana.";

end the story saying "You have been eaten by an outsized African arowana".

The North End of the Lake is a water_room. It is north of the Middle of the Lake. It is in African Lake. The description is "You are only thirty yards or so from the north shore of the lake. To the west, the edge of the water is about a hundred yards away. A stream from the east feeds the lake, and a peninsula bisects the lake about half a mile south." Before going when the location is the North End of the Lake:

if the Lake Guardian is in the location, instead consider the guardian-gulping rule.

Before going west in the North End of the Lake:

if the Lake Guardian is in the location, instead consider the guardian-gulping rule;

consider the python-gulping rule;

stop the action.

Before going east in the North End of the Lake:

if the Lake Guardian is in the location, instead consider the guardian-gulping rule;

say "You make no headway against the current.";

stop the action.

The Lake Guardian is an animal in the North End of the Lake. The initial appearance is "A hideous, giant, frog-like creature[emdash]if frogs were the size of elephants and festooned with tentacles[emdash]floats here in the dark water, regarding you with slitted red eyes." It is unspeakable. The default reply of the Lake Guardian is "The creature makes no sound." The description is "The beast is at least nine feet wide, and floats on the water like a huge, flattened toad, lazily swishing its many tentacles. It watches you with unblinking red eyes." Understand "creature", "toad", "flat", "flattened", "hideous", "giant", "monster", "monstrous", "tentacle", "tentacles", "festooned", "size", "nine", "feet", "huge", "lazily", "lazy", "frog", "froghemoth", "behemoth", and "warty" as the Lake Guardian. Instead of doing anything other than examining or smelling with the Lake Guardian, consider the guardian-gulping rule.

Some unblinking red eyes are part of the Lake Guardian. They are ambiguously plural. Understand "slit" and "slitted" as the unblinking red eyes. The description is "The eyes do not blink as they stare back at you."

A lipless mouth is part of the Lake Guardian. The description is "The creature's mouth is about seven feet wide and could easily swallow you whole. Fortunately, it is closed at the moment."

Instead of giving or showing something to the Lake Guardian:

if the noun is the stiffycock, instead try fucking the Lake Guardian;

say "Quick as a flash, a huge mottled tongue licks out of the wide and lipless mouth and snatches [the noun]. The creature swallows it whole without otherwise moving.";

remove the noun from play.

Instead of giving or showing the sugar cane to the Lake Guardian:

say "The tongue coils around the cane four times, and then jerks it back towards the mouth. The creature somehow gets the cane caught diagonally in its huge lipless mouth, wedging it open. Dark water rushes in, and in a sudden whirlpool of bubbles, the beast disappears from sight into the blackness of the lake.";

remove the Lake Guardian from play;

remove the sugar cane from play;

now the froghemoth clock is 1.

Instead of smelling the Lake Guardian, try smelling.

Before smelling when the location is the North End of the Lake:

if the Lake Guardian is in the location, instead say "It's impossible to ignore the overpowering foetor of death that wafts from the vile creature."

.

This is the guardian-gulping rule:

say "The hideous mouth slowly opens, and, too fast for the eye to follow, the vile tongue flickers out, effortlessly snaring you around the chest and reeling you in.";

end the story saying "You have been devoured by the Guardian of the Lake".