Gnu in the Zoo — 26 of 30

Chapter 8 - Aviary

Section 1 - In the Aviary

A bird is a kind of animal. A bird can be within reach or out of reach.

A lump of coal is a kind of thing. The plural of lump of coal is lumps of coal.

The coal sack is an open opaque container.

In the coal sack are 5 lumps of coal.

[I wanted to have an uncountably large amount of coal in this sack, but without the facility for dynamically generating the lumps, my solution wasn't very robust. I resort here to magic instead: if the sack is empty, lost coals find their way back to the sack. This way the player should never be bereft of missiles.]

The description of the coal sack is "The coal sack is made of sackcloth and is covered in coal dust. Exactly what you would expect, really." The coal sack is fixed in place.

Rule for printing the name of the coal sack while not inserting or removing:

say "coal sack";

omit contents in listing.

Before searching the coal sack:

if there is exactly one lump of coal in the coal sack:

say "You rummage around in the coal sack and locate one more lump of coal." instead;

otherwise:

continue the action.

Instead of taking the coal sack:

say "The sack would be awkward to carry. You reach inside for a lump of coal instead.";

try taking a random lump of coal.

After taking a lump of coal for the first time:

say "You manoeuvre your lips around the lump of coal and pick it up. It makes your mouth feel all gritty, and the dust tickles your nose, but you maintain your grip."

[The player will need to throw things at inanimate objects]

The futile to throw things at inanimate objects rule is not listed in the check throwing it at rulebook.

The block throwing at rule is not listed in the check throwing it at rulebook.

A check throwing it at rule:

if the noun is not carried by the player:

say "You can’t throw something you’re not carrying."instead.

A check throwing it at rule:

if the second noun is a person and the second noun is not a bird:

say "That’s no way to treat your fellow residents." instead.

A check throwing it at rule:

if the second noun is not a person and the second noun is not the pole and the second noun is not the upper perch and the second noun is not the lower perch and the second noun is not the coal burner:

say "That seems a little futile." instead.

Before throwing something at someone:

if the second noun is a bird:

say "Aggravating [the second noun] would not be wise. Perhaps you should set your sights a little lower. But only a little lower.";

stop the action;

otherwise:

continue the action.

Report throwing it at: say "Thrown."

Instead of touching a bird when the noun is out of reach:

say "No matter how far you stretch, [the noun] remains frustratingly out of reach."

Instead of touching a bird when the noun is out of reach for the third time:

say "All this stretching is getting you nowhere. Could you throw something?"

Instead of attacking a bird when the noun is out of reach:

say "Violence is not the answer to this one. But if it were, you’d need a projectile to perform it at this distance."