Re: Lost in the Jungle
The Pink Glass wins! And I only practically had to give it away. Big round of applause to MrMe, though, he saw the letter trick and was right about two of them (just getting the effects of the gold and red mixed up).
----
Eve ponders it. For hours she stands there, contemplating her choice, considering her options. She looses track of how many times she replays the Void King's riddle in her mind.
When I was young....
Never give up hope...
Everything has its time...
Sadness is not an emotion I feel...
Waaaait just a minute...
In one glorious, shining second, all the pieces of the jigsaw fly together in Eve's head.
The map on the wall. It's the only decoration in here. The cups are in a diamond formation... as though each one is on the point of a
compass.
It's not so much a riddle; more like
directions.
"
OK," mutters Eve, excitement rising - nearly there! Nearly there!
Wait, even if it is a compass metaphor, how does that help? She still doesn't know what drink does what!
Or maybe she does.
The descriptions are telling. Bitter, disappointing, but not ruinous? That's how she'd feel about being teleported to the Plain of Bones. And bones are white, like the liquid in that cup.
Bitter, angry, and strong... it would take something like that to destroy her. Bitterness and anger are like wards to her lust-driven magic.
As sun rising in the dawn sky, with light as a metaphor for knowledge? OK, looks like the gold one is the one to drink!
Wait. The sun rises in the
east. The first letter of each of the descriptions - they spell out W,N,E,S. The points of the compass.
So what did the Void King have to say about the eastern-most one? Everything has its time...
Well, that's knowledge right there, and not one of the easiest pieces to accept.
And look, the liquid inside is pink - the colour of a dawn sky. If that's not a hint, what is?
Screwing up her courage, Eve reaches for the glass containing the pink wine. Her hand shakes slightly with the enormity of her decision. What if she got it wrong? What if -
No time for that now. She lifts it off the table, taking care not to spill a drop. As the Void King looks on intently, she raises the glass to her lips - and swallows it all down in two gulps.
It's a very bizarre feeling. The liquid splashes down her throat and esophagus; for a second it feels like blazing fire, burning away horrendously - the next it's like ice, freezing and sticking to her gullet. Eventually the sensation passes, and Eve looks up - her eyes now blaze as two shining ice-blue orbs.
Her eyes glance at the table. In an instant a mass of information pours into her mind - it's wooden, 2m by 2m, hand-crafted by some of the finest sculptors in the world. It took them 8 days to make. It's imbued with certain charms that make it impervious to damage.
This floods Eve's brain in less than a second, but it doesn't slow her down; she seems to be able to just process it all instantly. Quite remarkable.
Looks like that was the correct potion then!
Eve looks intently at the remaining wine glasses. The red one first - and instantly she's aware that this one would be fatal, it contains a very potent poison who's name she doesn't recognize. It would cause her body to tear itself apart in a matter of seconds.
The white one would teleport her to the Plain of Bones, just as she suspected. The wine itself was infused with the tears of a hundred upset children -
Oh god.
"
What is this?" Eve calls out. "
What am I?"
She looks across at the Void King for an answer (he's ancient, came into existence shortly after the birth of the universe itself, considers himself a God, watches over multiple worlds and is highly political. Sitting around at the top of this temple is his idea of a summer holiday).
"
Well, Eve," he replies. "
It looks like you know everything. How does it feel? What are you going to do first?"
A million answers leap to Eve's tongue - and promptly get stuck there, competing vocally amongst themselves. Eventually she decides on the one that would make her the most happy, right now. And she can do it, she knows, thinking it through. A simple spell. A bit of time-travel. Some slight paradoxes. But it'll all be worth it.
Eve speaks her answer loud and bold. A slight grin tugs at the corners of her mouth.
"
I'm going to save Formora."
----
Thanks for playing! I hope you enjoyed this CYOA as much as I enjoyed writing it! (And trust me, I enjoyed writing it a lot). It was a valuable learning experience, helped me keep my writing skills active, all that jazz.
Any feedback you can give me would be much appreciated, even if it's just 'yeah it was cool I guess'. I'm looking for ideas to help me make my next CYOA even better and more fun for everyone.
A final thank you to everyone that read this, and that voted at any time during it. You guys are great.
