Gnu in the Zoo — 29 of 30

Section 4 - South End

The Aviary South is a room with printed name "Aviary (South)". "This room is divided in two by a brass rail. On the far side of the rail, out of reach, a tall coal burner stands; the fire within fills the room with an infernal red glow." It is covered. It is south of the Aviary Middle.

The brass rail is an object in the Aviary South. "The rail is polished, glinting madly in the firelight, warm to the touch and very sturdy. The ends jut up flush to the walls to the north and south." It is scenery.

Instead of jumping over the brass rail:

say "There’s not enough room in here for that."

The coal burner is a supporter in the Aviary South. "The coal burner resembles a deep cast-iron grate suspended on a brass pedestal. At floor level, a fiery bird has been engraved in the base." It is scenery.

Instead of touching the coal burner, say "You can get your nose close enough to feel the warmth coming off the burner, but not to actually touch it."

Sparky the Phoenix is a bird. "Standing on the heap of coals is a large and flamboyant red bird that can only be Sparky the Phoenix." The description of Sparky the Phoenix is "Sparky is a large bird with a magnificent red, yellow and orange plumage. She seems to be sleeping peacefully despite the flames lapping at her legs and petite claws." She is on the coal burner. She is asleep.

Instead of waking Sparky the Phoenix:

say "You don’t want to attract attention with too much noise, and you can’t reach to poke her awake. Any other ideas?"

[We count the number of successful throws rather than attempts.]

The number of sparcic shakes is a number that varies.

After throwing something at the coal burner:

increment the number of sparcic shakes;

if a random chance of 1 in 3 succeeds:

say "[The noun] glance[if the noun is singular-named]s[end if] off the burner and [if the noun is singular-named]is[otherwise]are[end if] lost in the shadows.[run paragraph on]";

if the noun is a lump of coal and there are no lumps of coal in the coal sack:

move the noun to the coal sack;

otherwise if the noun is the keyring:

say "Oops. You try to recall if you have used all the keys.";

remove the keyring from play;

loseKeyring;

otherwise:

remove the noun from play;

otherwise:

say "[The noun] rebound[if the noun is singular-named]s[end if] off the burner onto the floor in front of you.[run paragraph on]";

now the noun is in the Aviary South;

if the noun is the keyring:

dropKeyring;

say " The coals shift slightly. [if we have examined Sparky the Phoenix]Sparky[otherwise]The phoenix[end if] opens her eyes to glare at you contemptuously for a moment before settling back to sleep."

After throwing something at the coal burner when the number of sparcic shakes is 2:

say "[The noun] hits the burner with a clang. Sparky's head swings towards you, venom in her eyes. She launches herself at you. Before you can react, you are enveloped in roasting flame.";

end the story saying "Wrong species type (expected help, got flamed)."

The coal sack is in the Aviary South.

The plain brown door is a door. "A plain brown door lies [if open]open[otherwise]closed[end if] to the [direction of the plain brown door from the location]." It is east of the Aviary South. Through it is the Main Concourse.

[The door needs to be listed last]

Rule for choosing notable locale objects for the Aviary South:

repeat with item running through things in the Aviary South:

if the item is a door:

set the locale priority of the item to 6;

otherwise:

set the locale priority of the item to 5.

After going east from the Aviary South:

increase the time of day by two minutes;

now the plain brown door is closed;

say "You push through the door, which opens easily and swings back just as easily behind you. Turning, you find the door has slotted itself seamlessly into the wall of the aviary; and with no handle or even keyhole, there is no way of opening it from the outside, and no marker to help you find it again.";

continue the action.

Instead of going nowhere in the Aviary South when the noun is outside:

try going east.