King’s Yarn

[ an adventure in exploratory story format ]

1 • Moat Maiden

Situation

The Reeve’s Shire is mostly dense forest. Here, however, it opens to a clearing, where you find a MOAT surrounding a COTTAGE.

The cottage door opens.

A cottage maiden cries for help
across the murky moat.

“Vandals destroyed the old footbridge
and even stole my boat.

Don’t try to jump or even vault.
It’s far too wide to leap.

Ten paces span on every side
and icy water deep.

And watch out for the alligator
below the slimy ridge.

Perhaps you’ll find some kind of ladder,
to use as if a bridge.”

Elements

• Anything sturdy can withstand a variety of uses.
• Anything frail is easily damaged and tends to break.

1. ALLIGATOR appears agitated, like any hungry, hungry gator.
2. COTTAGE is made of immovable stone. There is a POLE leaning against it. A MAIDEN is in front of the cottage.
3. MAIDEN seems distraught. She’s holding a SHOVEL.
4. MOAT is curiously square and contains an ALLIGATOR. There is a SHED to the east.
5. PLANK is a sturdy length of wood, about 9 paces long.
6. POLE is a medium length of sturdy bamboo, used as a rain gutter on the cottage.
7. SACK is frail burlap and contains a modicum of flour.
8. SHED is made of rotted and frail wood. Inside are a SACK, a SHOE, and a PLANK. There’s a MOAT to the west.
9. SHOE is leather, but frail with wear. It seems to have once been inhabited by some kind of rodent.
10. SHOVEL is long-handled and seems sturdy.
11. TONGS are the sturdy kind used in a fireplace. Although they might do for a huge salad.

Walkthrough

Vaulting won’t work. Nor will swimming. There is an alligator in the moat. To get to the cottage, listen to the maiden and make a bridge of sorts. It helps that the moat is square. You can make a T-shaped bridge.

Tell the maiden to throw over the shovel. Put it across a corner of the moat, like the hypotenuse on a right triangle. Fetch the plank from the shed. Tell the maiden to slide the pole toward you, then stand on her end of the pole. This forms a guide for the plank you slide across. With a T-shaped bridge made of shovel and plank, you cross to the cottage.

Story Matrix

	is …	has …	goes …
Alligator	agitated	sharp teeth	in Moat
Cottage	stone	Maiden, Pole	by Moat
Maiden	distraught	Shovel	by Cottage
Moat	square	Alligator	east to: Shed
Plank	sturdy wood	9 pace length	in Shed
Pole	sturdy bamboo	medium length	on Cottage
Sack	frail burlap	flour	in Shed
Shed	rotted wood	Sack, Shoe, Plank	west to: Moat
Shoe	frail leather	mouse droppings	in Shed
Shovel	sturdy	long handle	on Cottage
Tongs	sturdy	long handles	to Shed

2 • Cottage Cart

Situation

Over the moat, you enter the cottage. The maiden steps over to a stack of woven cloth.

“With all this cloth I’ve woven here,
aid me to that castle.

The king will surely pay me well,
Weaving is not facile.

Yet all must come with us at once,
leave none for fear of theft.

Perhaps you need repair the cart,
this is too much to heft.

One cart wheel fell from its axle,
its washer snapped apart.

Metal fatigue on rough terrain
makes cart travel an art.”

There is a LOOM is on one side of the cottage and a FIREPLACE on the other side.

Elements

1. AXLE is a metal rod for cart wheels.
2. CART is missing a WHEEL.
3. CHEST contains leather GLOVES and several WASHERs
4. FIREPLACE is unlit, but there is FLINT and wood ready to burn.
5. FLINT is a chunk of sedimentary rock that gives off sparks when struck with steel.
6. FOOT-PEDAL is made of steel, but can be detached.
7. GLOVES are thick leather with a long sleeve, like the kind used by a blacksmith.
8. LOOM is made of wood and powered by a steel FOOT-PEDAL. Behind the loom is a CHEST.
9. WASHER is a metal ring, slightly too tight for the axle.
10. WHEEL that fell off is beside the CART. Slides off again unless secured it to the axle.

Walkthrough

Metal expands when heated, so heat a new washer. As it cools, it contracts for a secure fit. First, fetch the tongs from the shed in the previous scene. It’s going to get too hot to handle bare-handed.

1. Remove the foot-pedal from the loom.
2. Strike the foot-pedal on the flint. The sparks start fire in the fireplace.
3. Put on the gloves.
4. Take the tongs with a gloved hand and the washer with the tongs.
5. Hold the washer with the tongs in the fire. The heat expands the washer and its hole.
6. Place the wheel back on the wagon.
7. Slide the expanded washer onto the axle. As the washer cools it shrinks, securing wheel on axle.

3 • Lodging Links

Situation

With the cart repaired, you accompany the maiden to the castle. The two of you arrive at the courtyard near dusk. The maiden, now paid with a sliver chain, has one last request.

“Wise wanderer, advise me please
in how to make payment.

The inn-keeper will take silver
for each of my night’s rent.

Each night I lodge costs me a link,
my chain of seven silver.

I’ll stay one day or maybe seven.
The length remains unsure.

But cutting links is pricy
and ruins the chain as well.

How few cuts must there be to stay,
unsure how long I’ll dwell?”

The INN-KEEPER produces pliers with which to snip rings of the CHAIN.

Elements

1. CHAIN consists of seven silver links, engraved A to G.
2. INN-KEEPER asks which ring or rings of the CHAIN to snip. Before cutting, he wants to discusses the results.

Walkthrough

Lodging Links is about conversation with the inn-keeper. For example, if the player gives the action to cut links B and D, the narrator might respond as follows.

[mks_icon icon=”fa-quote-left” color=”#666″ type=”fa”] The inn-keep scratches his massive head and eventually declares ‘that leaves A, B cut, C, D cut, and E+F+G’. Combinations will pay for any days, one to seven, but costs for two cuts. Do you want to pay that much? [mks_icon icon=”fa-quote-right” color=”#666″ type=”fa”]

• Cut link C. That creates three groups: A+B, C, and D+E+F+G. That is: 2, 1, and 4.
• These make combinations of 1, 2, 1+2, 4, 1+4, 2+4, and 1+2+4, for any number of days one through seven.