Vespers

[Ziggy]

[ Be not forgetful to entertain
strangers: for thereby some have
entertained angels unawares.

-- Hebrews 13:2]

[Ziggy]

Day One








[ Be not forgetful to entertain
strangers: for thereby some have
entertained angels unawares.

-- Hebrews 13:2]



It has been five days, now. Five days since I made the choice. Five days since I closed the gate.

Really, there was no choice. Rovato was damned when the first spot appeared: when the first bloody cough ensued from the mouth of an urchin. To have allowed the sick sanctuary at Saint Cuthbert's would only have damned us as well.

But we were already damned.

The plague came. And now we suffer.

Vespers
(First time players should type ABOUT)
Release 1 / Serial number 051128 / Inform v6.30 Library 6/11

Six crisp chimes mark Vespers. Your heart flutters for a moment, and you place your head in your hands.

Your Bedroom
Your room is small; it is the same as all the others, but it seems smaller of late. With so many of your brothers gone, there has been little for you to do but wait. Wait for the spots to appear in this tiny, dark room.

A chill breeze spins in through the window and out the door to the west.

Your old desk is pushed up against one side. It sags but holds itself up proudly.

Against the other side is your bed, the blanket wrapped up in itself from this morning.

>

[Erkki]

about

[Ziggy]

Erkki> about

[Warning: Since the game menu contains hints (none immediately visible, however) you are given the option to type HINTS OFF to disable it. Type ABOUT again to get to the menu.]

A gust of wind slices across your ears. You shiver.

>

[Erkki]

hints off

# the menu doesn't work with ziggy, so I'm disabling that.

[Ziggy]

Erkki> hints off

HINTS disabled.
>

[Erkki]

look. i.

[Ziggy]

Erkki> look. i.

Your Bedroom
The room is small; the same as all the others. But it seems smaller of late. The hall extends to the west.

Your old desk is pushed up against one side. It sags but holds itself up proudly.

Against the other side is your bed, the blanket wrapped up in itself from this morning.
You are carrying:
your tinderbox
your candle (lit)
your frock (being worn)

>

[Erkki]

look at desk

[Ziggy]

Erkki> look at desk

It was once a fine desk, but now it sags in the middle and smells faintly of rotting wood. Still, it serves well enough when you need to write: a need you haven't had much of lately.

Thunder rumbles overhead, shaking the monastery to its foundations.

A gust of wind slices across your ears. You shiver.

>[ Those who oppose the Lord will be shattered.
He will thunder against them from heaven;
the Lord will judge the ends of the earth.

-- I Samuel 2:10]

[SignorSuperdouche]

# Thanks for setting up another game for us Erkki, I'm liking the atmosphere already

[Noyb]

look at bed

[Ziggy]

Noyb> look at bed

Little more than a damp mattress on four legs. Still it is comfortable on cold nights.

A loud crackle splits the sound of wind. Lightning. Stone tumbles in the distance.

>[ "I am coming," she said with
the terrible voice of God.

-- Esther 1413:335]

[Noyb]

look at blanket

[Ziggy]

Noyb> look at blanket

These have kept you warm on many cold nights.

>

[Noyb]

west

[Ziggy]

Noyb> west

Pulling your frock tightly about you, you sigh and exit to the hall.

Entrance Hall
As cold as your room is, this hall is even colder. The stone walls dance and glisten with dampness. The warmth of your room awaits to the east, and the cold of the outside world through a heavy door to the south. Moonlight streams in from the cloister to the north, and a flimsy door secures the locutory to the west.

The alms box hangs closed beside the door.

>

[Scrobbs]

#The atmosphere is great! Particularly the first paragraph, really makes you feel the protagonist's dread.

[SignorSuperdouche]

examine box

[Ziggy]

SignorSuperdouche> examine box

(the alms box)
It used to be filled with alms. Now, mostly cobwebs.

>

[SignorSuperdouche]

west

[Ziggy]

SignorSuperdouche> west

(opening the door to the locutory)

Locutory
The locutory used to be alive with the bartering of merchants and the tales of visiting brothers, but since the gate was closed, no one has been in here but you. A small bed is pushed up against the wall for those visitors not permitted residency in the monastery, its tired frame supporting a light mattress.

Near the door to the east is a fireplace, its embers cold for days.

A wolf howls in the distance. A hungry, plaintive sound.

>

[SignorSuperdouche]

examine fireplace

[Ziggy]

SignorSuperdouche> examine fireplace

The fireplace lies cold: cold as the rest of Saint Cuthbert's.

>

[SignorSuperdouche]

examine bed. examine mattress