The land of Filjon is in peril. The king, who has always been a kind and wise ruler, has been stricken with a terrible curse. He is now the living death, the Unking. The curse has spread from the castle to the towns and into the wilderness, affecting man and beast alike. Only a few isolated towns remain safe. The three Wyzards have kept the sickness at bay in those towns for one hundred years. Now, they grow weak. With the last of their magic, the Wyzards summon forth a brave soul from a world beyond, for only one who has not touched the magic of Filjon can defeat the Unking. Will the soul, the Wondersoul, arrive in time or will the kingdom be lost?
You find yourself in a clearing somewhere deep in a dark and silent wood. You have at your side a rusty sword. You have on your back a trusty satchel. It is cold. There is a stone basin filled with water to your left.
Your exits are north and south.
So the graphics were not the best, but the music was chippy and charming. The cartage with the peeling label that Michael had picked up for a whopping fifty cents was certainly still functional. Just what kind of adventure would Wonderblade hold?
Thunder crashed outside again and this time the power in the dorm flickered, causing long shadows to play across the walls. The game's music faltered for a moment but the black screen with the pixelated grove held true.
Michael's most recent trip to the game exchange had been a success as usual. He always finds a gem in the miscelany retro bin, and this one was no exception. A perfect way to spend a rainy weekend.
He's got his set up all ready: curled up in a snuggie on his bed, little analog TV across the way flashing pixelated lights at him as he taps his controller, popping some jalapeno bugles into his face.
"Fantastic," he says to himself as the beginning intro lays out the story. This is going to be either actually kinda good or so bad it's hilarious.
>you dip your waterskin into the cool water and fill it.
>gained Stagnant Water.
Thunder roared again outside and the window rattled. The rain itself had stopped but the air was still wild with wind and electricity. The dorm wasn't the most well-constructed place around so the humidity was able to rise and fall with the outside. The air in the room fizzed like pop rocks.
Michael nods in approval, ready to move on, when a clap of thunder actually takes him by surprise. He startles, sending his snuggie to flapping like a fleece wizard robe as Michael himself makes a very dignified yelp.
"Sheesh mother nature, take it down a notch!" He looks out his window like he could actually be addressing the storm itself.
Gathering his dignity once more, he turns back to the game.
As though insulted by this tiny mortal's tone, Mother Nature retorted with a loud KRA-KA-BOOM just overhead.
You travel SOUTH.
The woods are silent as you walk. The only sound you hear is your echoing footfalls. They begin to echo louder as you approach an enormous cave. It is draped in moss and bones are scattered around the entrance.
Your exits are North and Cave.
Whatever Michael might have chosen next became irrelevant as the music started to warp. The dorm complex shook as lightning struck a nearby power pole. The electricity snaked up the lines and into the very network of the dorm itself like a body being zapped. Poor Michael could not escape electronic-based adventures even away from Jeremy.
As the power surge rushed through the building, it crept through the wires in Michael's dorm and into the television set. The screen flickered and fuzzed as static built up. It became so heavy that it was visible popping away from the glass like tiny bubbles from the surface of a freshly poured soda. And just like a soda that had overflowed, the fizzing static suddenly gushed out into the room. It overtook the young man and his snuggie, biting his skin and making his glasses cling to his hair.
The screen flashed a violent rainbow as arches of electricity welled up from the buttons on his controller. Then, as though the whole building's electrical system was expelling a great sigh, Michael was sucked in--into Wonderblade.
Michael found himself at the mouth of a cave. No birds sang, no bugs buzzed in the tall grass, no wind stirred the trees. It was a damp place, yawning and dark. What light could be seen through the trees above was weak and purple--unreadable as morning or evening. He had his backpack, his rusty sword, and of course his faithful snuggie.
His exits were north--the way he came--or into the cave. The trees on either side of him grew thick together like an ancient hedge maze left abandoned by God.
Michael almost doesn't even notice that something wacky is happening. He's wondering if he wants to go right into the cave, or pop up north and see what's looming that-a-way before deciding, when he feels the harsh tingle on his hands. Like touching a static doorknob with all five fingers at once.
He looks down in time to see his hands light up, and then with a pop He's just.... there.
"What the-?" He looks around, patting himself, blinking owlishly.
Slowly, he seems to come to a conclusion. "Ohhhh, okay, I fell asleep playing the game. Man, that's one hell of a sugar coma. Okay, Michael, what'cha gonna do?"
Finally a sound that wasn't juch Michael's footfalls could be herd. At first it sounded like the distant rumbling of thunder--perhaps the thunder in the waking world? But as he walked, it got louder. It reverberated the stone ground under Michael's shoes.
Then, there it was.
Around the bend was a creature! It was huge and golden with long wings folded over its back which was facing him. Deep breathes made the monster's side rise and fall and it occasionally grunted in its sleep. It looked almost like a lion if lions were as big as Clydesdales.
Michael definitely thinks he's hearing the rumbling of thunder in his sleep. At least, until he feels the rumble in his feet as he's walking. Hoo boy.
"If this is about to be some Indiana Jones golden monkey skull bullshit..."
He turns the corner and is at first, pleasantly surprised to see that it isn't a giant rolling bolder, and then immediately nervous that he's found the dungeon boss way too fast. "Shit," he mouths.
Time to turn around and slowly try to creep away. Stealth check!
Michael's footsteps were luckily quiet enough not to get the creature's attention. But his scent...specifically the jalapeno bugles...was another matter.
The creature stirred and snuffled. And sniffed. And started to unfurl. Its great wings brushed the roof of the cavern. Its head was the head of a young man and he spread his jaws in a wide yawn before blinking a few times.
"What is that..." His voice was not as deep as one would expect. He sniffed the air again and turned in the direction he felt it was coming from and froze. It was a dude! "H-hey! Hey you can't leave!"
Oh shit, it moved. He's awake. Michael freezes in place, fear clawing it's way into his stomach. The sniffing happens almost in slow motion. Is this the boss' opening animation?
Then it yawns, and Michael pins himself to the wall, flat as he can go, wondering if his snuggie will hide him. He ties to will himself to become one with the wall, to become invisible...
Wait what? What kind of line is that? Michael doesn't respond right away, but he doesn't bolt, either. Just stuck to the wall like a sticky hand from the dollar store.
The sphinx was not as old or as experienced as some of the beasts Michael could have run into but his senses were plenty keen. Once the monster was up on his paws he looked around his cave. Had this tiny human really come in here alone. Wait.
Tiny human.
The monster's hackles went up. What if it carried the sickness from the interior of the land! What if it was here to bite him! What if jalapeno bugles was just what these things smelled like. The Wyzards had kept the infected a bay for longer than he'd been alive so he hadn't really seen one face to face.
"If you're a zombie, I'm gonna have to tear your head off! No offence!"
Michael sees those big hackles go up and he feels like his stomach is going to melt out of his feet. He's so fucking doomed, just completely dead meat...
Wait, what?
"Woah woah woah!" He scoots a little ways down the wall, but doesn't peel himself away from it just yet. "I am no living dead flesh, big guy!"
A beat.
"So... does that mean you're not gonna tear my head off?"
The sphinx paused for a moment, his rear high in the air and his elbows low to the ground, the perfect pouncing position. He furrowed his brow and listened to Michael's plea. He narrowed his eyes.
"That sounds just like something the living dead would say...if they could think. Master says they can't think. Can't argue." His feathery hackles slowly lowered back into his golden fur.
"...and I've never smelled a dead thing that smelled as good as you do," he added. "Fine, but I'm watching you."
After raising back up to all fours, he just stood there was though he were waiting for something. And then--
"AH! Right! WHO GOES THERE!" He splayed his paws out and unfurled his wings to block off the cave path. "IF YOU WISH TO PROGRESS, YOU MUST ANSWER MY RIDDLE...OR PERISH."
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wolfintheattic) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
theattic2019-07-28 09:25 pm
no subject
WONDERBLADE
© copyright Phynix Games, 1991
Your exits are north and south.
So the graphics were not the best, but the music was chippy and charming. The cartage with the peeling label that Michael had picked up for a whopping fifty cents was certainly still functional. Just what kind of adventure would Wonderblade hold?
Thunder crashed outside again and this time the power in the dorm flickered, causing long shadows to play across the walls. The game's music faltered for a moment but the black screen with the pixelated grove held true.
What would Michael do?
no subject
He's got his set up all ready: curled up in a snuggie on his bed, little analog TV across the way flashing pixelated lights at him as he taps his controller, popping some jalapeno bugles into his face.
"Fantastic," he says to himself as the beginning intro lays out the story. This is going to be either actually kinda good or so bad it's hilarious.
> collect water
Surely he has a waterskin in that satchel, right?
no subject
>gained Stagnant Water.
Thunder roared again outside and the window rattled. The rain itself had stopped but the air was still wild with wind and electricity. The dorm wasn't the most well-constructed place around so the humidity was able to rise and fall with the outside. The air in the room fizzed like pop rocks.
no subject
"Sheesh mother nature, take it down a notch!" He looks out his window like he could actually be addressing the storm itself.
Gathering his dignity once more, he turns back to the game.
> Go South
no subject
The woods are silent as you walk. The only sound you hear is your echoing footfalls. They begin to echo louder as you approach an enormous cave. It is draped in moss and bones are scattered around the entrance.
Your exits are North and Cave.
Whatever Michael might have chosen next became irrelevant as the music started to warp. The dorm complex shook as lightning struck a nearby power pole. The electricity snaked up the lines and into the very network of the dorm itself like a body being zapped. Poor Michael could not escape electronic-based adventures even away from Jeremy.
As the power surge rushed through the building, it crept through the wires in Michael's dorm and into the television set. The screen flickered and fuzzed as static built up. It became so heavy that it was visible popping away from the glass like tiny bubbles from the surface of a freshly poured soda. And just like a soda that had overflowed, the fizzing static suddenly gushed out into the room. It overtook the young man and his snuggie, biting his skin and making his glasses cling to his hair.
The screen flashed a violent rainbow as arches of electricity welled up from the buttons on his controller. Then, as though the whole building's electrical system was expelling a great sigh, Michael was sucked in--into Wonderblade.
Michael found himself at the mouth of a cave. No birds sang, no bugs buzzed in the tall grass, no wind stirred the trees. It was a damp place, yawning and dark. What light could be seen through the trees above was weak and purple--unreadable as morning or evening. He had his backpack, his rusty sword, and of course his faithful snuggie.
His exits were north--the way he came--or into the cave. The trees on either side of him grew thick together like an ancient hedge maze left abandoned by God.
no subject
He looks down in time to see his hands light up, and then with a pop He's just.... there.
"What the-?" He looks around, patting himself, blinking owlishly.
Slowly, he seems to come to a conclusion. "Ohhhh, okay, I fell asleep playing the game. Man, that's one hell of a sugar coma. Okay, Michael, what'cha gonna do?"
He's gonna go into the cave.
no subject
Finally a sound that wasn't juch Michael's footfalls could be herd. At first it sounded like the distant rumbling of thunder--perhaps the thunder in the waking world? But as he walked, it got louder. It reverberated the stone ground under Michael's shoes.
Then, there it was.
Around the bend was a creature! It was huge and golden with long wings folded over its back which was facing him. Deep breathes made the monster's side rise and fall and it occasionally grunted in its sleep. It looked almost like a lion if lions were as big as Clydesdales.
no subject
"If this is about to be some Indiana Jones golden monkey skull bullshit..."
He turns the corner and is at first, pleasantly surprised to see that it isn't a giant rolling bolder, and then immediately nervous that he's found the dungeon boss way too fast. "Shit," he mouths.
Time to turn around and slowly try to creep away. Stealth check!
no subject
The creature stirred and snuffled. And sniffed. And started to unfurl. Its great wings brushed the roof of the cavern. Its head was the head of a young man and he spread his jaws in a wide yawn before blinking a few times.
"What is that..." His voice was not as deep as one would expect. He sniffed the air again and turned in the direction he felt it was coming from and froze. It was a dude! "H-hey! Hey you can't leave!"
no subject
Then it yawns, and Michael pins himself to the wall, flat as he can go, wondering if his snuggie will hide him. He ties to will himself to become one with the wall, to become invisible...
Wait what? What kind of line is that? Michael doesn't respond right away, but he doesn't bolt, either. Just stuck to the wall like a sticky hand from the dollar store.
no subject
The sphinx was not as old or as experienced as some of the beasts Michael could have run into but his senses were plenty keen. Once the monster was up on his paws he looked around his cave. Had this tiny human really come in here alone. Wait.
Tiny human.
The monster's hackles went up. What if it carried the sickness from the interior of the land! What if it was here to bite him! What if jalapeno bugles was just what these things smelled like. The Wyzards had kept the infected a bay for longer than he'd been alive so he hadn't really seen one face to face.
"If you're a zombie, I'm gonna have to tear your head off! No offence!"
no subject
Wait, what?
"Woah woah woah!" He scoots a little ways down the wall, but doesn't peel himself away from it just yet. "I am no living dead flesh, big guy!"
A beat.
"So... does that mean you're not gonna tear my head off?"
no subject
The sphinx paused for a moment, his rear high in the air and his elbows low to the ground, the perfect pouncing position. He furrowed his brow and listened to Michael's plea. He narrowed his eyes.
"That sounds just like something the living dead would say...if they could think. Master says they can't think. Can't argue." His feathery hackles slowly lowered back into his golden fur.
"...and I've never smelled a dead thing that smelled as good as you do," he added. "Fine, but I'm watching you."
After raising back up to all fours, he just stood there was though he were waiting for something. And then--
"AH! Right! WHO GOES THERE!" He splayed his paws out and unfurled his wings to block off the cave path. "IF YOU WISH TO PROGRESS, YOU MUST ANSWER MY RIDDLE...OR PERISH."
A-haw yeah, nailed it!