BeadED Adventures

Your browser lacks required capabilities. Please upgrade it or switch to another to continue.

Loading…

<center><img height="400px" src="images/entrance.png"></center> <<if visited() is 1>>You open the door and step tentatively inside. Looking at the layers of dust and evidence of neglect, it seems likely it has been a long time since the castle has been occupied. While looking at the worn stone wall, the door closes behind you and locks! It looks like you'll have to explore and find another way out. You take another look around at your surroundings. <</if>> You're in an entryway with a number of [[portrait frames|brick]]. The entryway opens up to a [[courtyard area|Lower Courtyard]] on one side, and a [[darkened room|hallway]] on the other.

You start down the hallway. It is too dark to see anything, so you walk slowly, running your hand along the wall to guide you. You have never been anywhere this dark before--you're going to have to turn back. As you turn, you feel something sticking out of the wall--maybe it's a torch! You [[pull the torch down.|lever]] You [[turn back toward the courtyard.|Opening]]

The portrait frames are empty, the portraits long since having rotted away. However, you notice a loose stone beneath the frames. You pick up the stone to reveal a piece of white chalk. How odd. [[You place the chalk in your pocket and continue to look around the castle.|Opening]]

Peering into the well, it appears to be dry. At least, the water is too far down to see from where you stand. You [[continue to look around the courtyard.|courtyard]]

You pull the torch stick toward you, but the bottom part seems to be attached to the wall. Wait--it is not a torch at all--it is a lever! The passage back to the courtyard is slowly being blocked by a brick wall coming down from the ceiling! You [[quickly dive under the wall before it closes!|Opening]] You [[turn toward the dark hallway.|hall2]]

The once pitch-black hallway is illuminating. The lever that brought down the wall beside you also opened a hole in the ceiling. You continue walking down the hallway, a little worried about the wall preventing you from returning to the peaceful courtyard. You discover a door! You [[walk toward the door.|writing]] You [[walk away from the door to inspect the skylight.|hall3]]

Beside the door in the dim light from the skylight down the hall, you discover a long, narrow ledge next to the door. Above it, on the wall is faded writing. The writing contains some words you can recognize, but in a strange order: [IF marbles are aligned THEN door IS unlocked ELSE door IS locked ENDIF] You try the handle. Locked. You take a step forward to inspect this cryptic message, and you feel something bump your foot. Looking down, you discover seven marbles made of translucent blue glass scattered around on the floor. You [[pick up the marbles and put them in your pocket—they could come in handy later. Then you retrace your steps back toward the skylight.|hall3]] You [[look more closely at the ledge.|ledge]] You [[turn around,|hall3]] retracing your steps back toward the skylight.

The ledge is slightly curved, with edges along all of the sides sticking out of the wall. You [[reinspect the writing on the wall.|reinspect]] You [[wonder if the marbles will fit on there.|align]]

You walk back down the hallway toward the skylight. Maybe you can find another way out. Standing under the skylight, you can see a patch of blue sky and a cloud. You [[climb up and try to fit through the skylight.|climb]] You [[walk down to the end of the hallway.|writing]]

You carefully line up all 7 marbles on the ledge. The door opens! You [[walk through the open door.|enter]] You [[turn back toward the skylight.|hall3]]

You enter the door. ... ... the end of level 1 [[Restart|Opening]]

The old bricks are uneven enough to allow you to climb the short distance up from the floor to the skylight. You wiggle your way through! Standing on the ceiling of the hallway you just left, you can see a stairway down to the coutyard. You [[make your way back to where you began.|courtyard]]

You look around the uncovered courtyard where you are standing - the sun is veiled through some thin white clouds. The large, wooden drawbridge door is shut behind you. Beside the door is a dark hallway. Opposite the door, on the other end of the courtyard, there is the remainder of an old well. Except for a few bird chirps here and there, the whole place is silent. It is as though you are the first person to set foot in this castle in hundreds of years. You [[inspect the drawbridge door|drawDoor]] more closely. You [[turn back toward the courtyard.|Opening]] You [[walk down the dark hallway beside the drawbridge.|hallway]]

The drawbridge door is shut. There ought to be some way to open it, but how? You look around for the pulley or some other mechanism for opening it, but you cannot see any way to lower the drawbridge and escape. You [[turn back toward the courtyard.|Opening]] You [[turn down the dark hallway.|hallway]]

The writing on the wall contains some words you can recognize, but in a strange order: [IF marbles are aligned THEN door IS unlocked ELSE door IS locked ENDIF] You [[look more closely at the ledge.|ledge]] You [[turn around,|hall3]] retracing your steps back toward the skylight.

<center><img width="70%" src="images/courtyard.png"></center> <<if previous() is "Opening">>You walk down the crumbling stairs into an overgrown courtyard.<</if>> The castle [[entrance|Opening]] is behind you. In one corner, a large tree is growing around the building. [[Statues]] line the edges of the courtyard. Through the center of the courtyard is a <<if $sluice is "closed">>stagnant stream that leads to a long dried out pond. There appears to be [[$block|Gate]] blocking the water. <<else>>slow stream that leads to a now filled pond. <<if $hasKey is false>> Something [[metallic|Key]] catches your eye.<</if>> <</if>>

<<set $block to "a gate">> <<if $numLocked != 0>>There's a small gate that appears to be blocking the stream from filling the pond. When you look closely, the mechanism appears to be connected to the nearby [[statues|Statues]] in the [[courtyard|Lower Courtyard]]. The gate has four locks: $numLocked are currently locked. <<elseif previous() is "Platform">> <<set $sluice to "open">>All the locks are now unlocked. As you watch, the force of the stream pushes the gate open and the water rushes forward, filling the once empty pond in the [[courtyard|Lower Courtyard]]. <<else>> The gate is open, and the stream is flowing freely in the [[courtyard|Lower Courtyard]]. <</if>>

<center><img width="70%" src="images/statue.png"></center> Along the edges of the [[courtyard|Lower Courtyard]], there are four alcoves containing statues of an angel, a bear, a tiger, and an owl. <> <<if $numLocked == 0>> The statues all face forward, as if looking over the small stream in the center of the courtyard. <<elseif $numLocked == 1>> All but one of the statues faces forward, as if looking over the stagnant stream in the center of the courtyard. The last statue is turned around, facing into the alcove. <<elseif $numLocked == 2>> Two of the statues face forward, as if looking over the stagnant stream in the center of the courtyard. The other two statues are turned around, facing into their alcoves. <<elseif $numLocked == 3>> All but one of the statues is turned around, facing into their alcoves. The last statue is facing forward as if looking over the stagnant stream in the center of the courtyard. <<else>> The statues are all turned away from the center of the courtyard. <</if>><> <<if $sluice is "closed">> Each statue rests on a round [[platform|Platform]]. <<set $oldLocked to $numLocked>> <</if>>

Floating on top of the water is a large key. When the water was released by opening the gate, it must have knocked the key loose from some hiding spot. It appears quite heavy and you realize it must be enchanted in some way to make it float. It seems like it will be useful. You [[take the key for later|Lower Courtyard][$hasKey=true]].

<> <<set $statue1 to false>> <<set $statue2 to true>> <<set $statue3 to true>> <<set $statue4 to false>> <<set $sluice to "closed">> <<set $block to "something">> <<set $numLocked to 2>> <<set $hasKey to false>> <> While walking home one day, you decide to take a different route, just to mix things up a bit. You pass the convenience store like always but instead of going straight, you turn left. It should be a fairly quick [[detour|Detour]].

<center><img width="70%" src="images/forest.png"></center> As you walk down the street, the air grows thick and heavy, and you sense a ripple through the air. A mist begins to form and it looks like the buildings are fading away. At the end of the street is a [[forest|Forest]]. You didn't know there was green space so close to home.

Doing some mapping in your head, you think that you should be able to cut through the forest and be a short walk from your house. You take a few steps into the forest and the mist thickens until you can't see anything outside the forest. Fortunately, there's a clearing in front of you, with what appears to be a [[castle|Opening]]. You have no idea why there's a castle out here. But hopefully you'll be able to shelter inside until the mist clears and find your way home.

<<if $numLocked != $oldLocked>>You push with all your might and the statue slowly turns to face the other direction. It settles into place, and you hear a thunking noise coming from [[$block|Gate]] in the stream. <<set $oldLocked to $numLocked>><<if $numLocked is 0>>It sounds like whatever was blocking the stream may be unlocked now.<</if>><<else>>It looks like if you tried hard enough, you could turn any of the [[statues|Statues]] to face the other direction.<</if>> The angel statue is facing <<if $statue1 is false>>[[inwards, towards the alcove|Platform][$statue1 = !$statue1, $numLocked--]]<<else>>[[outwards, towards the stream|Platform][$statue1 = !$statue1, $numLocked++]]<</if>>. The bear statue is facing <<if $statue2 is false>>[[inwards, towards the alcove|Platform][$statue2 = !$statue2, $numLocked--]]<<else>>[[outwards, towards the stream|Platform][$statue2 = !$statue2, $numLocked++]]<</if>>. The tiger statue is facing <<if $statue3 is false>>[[inwards, towards the alcove|Platform][$statue3 = !$statue3, $numLocked--]]<<else>>[[outwards, towards the stream|Platform][$statue3 = !$statue3, $numLocked++]]<</if>>. The owl statue is facing <<if $statue4 is false>>[[inwards, towards the alcove|Platform][$statue4 = !$statue4, $numLocked--]]<<else>>[[outwards, towards the stream|Platform][$statue4 = !$statue4, $numLocked++]]<</if>>.