Gnu in the Zoo — 8 of 30

Section 6 - The Herd

[These rules are for implementing the herd the player must assemble.]

A gnu is a kind of animal.

Instead of taking an animal:

say "Kidnapping isn't your style. Have you tried asking [if the noun is male]him[otherwise if the noun is female]her[otherwise]it[end if] to follow you?"

The list of followers is a list of gnus that varies.

Following is an action applying to one thing. Understand "follow [something]" as following.

Persuasion rule for asking animals to try following: persuasion succeeds.

Instead of following something:

if the noun is the player:

say "While chasing your own tail was fun when you were little, you’d feel silly doing it now.";

otherwise:

say "You wait for [the noun] to move, but [the noun] doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.";

try silently waiting.

Before someone following:

if the actor is not touchable:

say "[The actor] can’t even get to where you are now, let alone follow you." instead.

Check someone following:

if the noun is the actor:

say "As much as you would enjoy seeing [the actor] chasing [if the actor is male]his[otherwise if the actor is female]her[otherwise]its[end if] own tail, you don’t think [if the actor is male]he[otherwise if the actor is female]she[otherwise]it[end if] would go for it." instead;

otherwise if the actor is not a gnu:

say "You try to get your message across, but [the actor] just stares at you as if you’re bonkers." instead;

otherwise if the noun is not the player:

say "[The actor] gives you a withering look. You wither and apologise for being silly." instead;

otherwise if the actor is listed in the list of followers:

say "[The actor] is already following you." instead.

Unsuccessful attempt by someone following: do nothing.

Carry out someone following:

add the actor to the the list of followers;

now the actor is undescribed;

increase the score by 1;

Report someone following:

say "[The actor] has joined your herd.";

Stopping following is an action applying to one thing. Understand "stop following [something]" as stopping following.

Instead of stopping following something:

say "You steel yourself for action. Yes, you are a leader, not a follower."

Check someone stopping following:

if the noun is the actor:

say "Yes, that’s quite enough tail-chasing." instead;

otherwise if the actor is not listed in the list of followers:

say "[The actor] isn’t following [the noun] at the moment." instead;

otherwise if the noun is not the player:

say "[The actor] isn’t following [the noun] at the moment." instead.

Unsuccessful attempt by someone stopping following: say nothing.

Carry out stopping following:

remove the actor from the the list of followers;

decrease the score by 1.

Report stopping following:

say "[The actor] looks a little upset to be ejected from your herd. Won’t you reconsider?".

After taking inventory:

if the list of followers is non-empty:

say "You are being followed by [the list of followers with definite articles]."

After going a direction:

repeat with the follower running through the list of followers:

move the follower to the location;

continue the action.

Understand "stroke [something]" as touching. Understand "kiss [something]" as touching. Understand "nuzzle [something]" as touching. Understand "lick [something]" as touching.

Understand "mounting [something]" as a mistake ("You have relatives who have been stuffed and mounted, and would not wish that on anyone else.").