Stiffy Makane: Apocolocyntosis — 180 of 235

Part Nine - "Slough"

The Slough of Despond is north of the Plaza. The description is "The Slough of Despond stretches before you. The wall of the Unreal City forms a barrier to the south, pierced by a single gate. Far to the north you can see the edge of a dark river, and, dimly visible, a figure leaning on a pole by a dory. West, the land rises slightly to a brambly forest. To the east, a rocky slope rises."

The scenery_charon is a backdrop in the Slough of Despond. The printed name is "skeletal ferryman". It is in the Circular Ruins. The description is "In the far distance, a skeletal figure leans on a pole next to a skiff beached on the edge of a dark river." Understand "figure", "riverbank", "bank", "river", "dark", "skeleton", "skeletal", "pole", "skiff", "dory", "boat", "edge", "beach", "Charon", "man", and "Styx" as the scenery_charon.

Some scenery_brambles are scenery in the Slough of Despond. They are ambiguously plural. The description is "A densely undergrown wood." The printed name is "brambles". Understand "undergrowth", "brambles", "wood", "woods", "forest", "brambly", "undergrown", "dense", and "densely" as the scenery_brambles.

The scenery_slope is scenery in the Slough of Despond. The printed name is "slope". The description is "A steep talus slope rises to the east into the murky sky." Understand "slope", "talus", "rocky", "steep", "stony", "stone", and "hill" as the scenery_slope.

Instead of going up in the Slough of Despond, try going east.

Instead of going east in the Slough of Despond, say "You can only make it a little way up the rocky slope before sliding back down."

Instead of going inside in the Slough of Despond, try going south. The Slough of Despond is outside from the Plaza. Instead of going outside from the Plaza, try going north.

Before going west from the Slough of Despond when no garment is worn by the player, instead say "You would be cut to ribbons by the brambles. Best put on some clothing first.";

Before going west from the Slough of Despond in the presence of Madame Sosostris, say "Madame Sosostris eyes the woods doubtfully. 'Awfully brambly,' she says. 'Why don't you go ahead? I'll wait here.'";

The cacodemon is a thing in the Slough of Despond. "A cacodemon[emdash]about six feet across, globular, red, horned, spits blue fire[emdash]floats a small distance away. Its back is to you, so you can't see the horrible single eye or terrible fanged mouth. It does not seem to have noticed you...yet." Understand "demon", "daemon", and "cacodaemon" as cacodemon. Instead of doing anything with the cacodemon:

say "Oops. My mistake. The cacodemon lives in the Slough of Despair[31 as a reference], not the Slough of Despond. Two totally different places. Cacodemon? What cacodemon?";

move the cacodemon to Limbo.