Form & Void — 16 of 22

Section 4.2.4 The Retreat

The Retreat is a worldly scene. The Retreat begins when a mudperson carries the Undoer. The Retreat ends when the player is not in the World-place.

Before going up from M4 when Many Demands has ended:

if the number of things carried by the player is greater than one:

say "Gravity has gotten too strong. You are weighed down by your inventory.";

stop the action.

Before reading a command when a mudperson carries the undoer:

if the just done thing is going:

carry out the distancing activity with the previous place;

if the pathlength is greater than zero:

continue the action;

if the just done thing is dropping something:

continue the action;

if the just done thing is taking the dropper:

continue the action;

if the just done thing is taking the goer:

continue the action;

if the just done thing is giving the undoer to a mudperson:

continue the action;

if the just done thing is examining the distraction:

continue the action;

otherwise:

say "You try [the just done thing] but [the random mudperson carrying the Undoer] shakes [its-their] fist and points the undoer at you! [It-they] wants you gone.";

undo a turn.

To undo a turn:

(- VM_Undo(); -).

The previous place is a room that varies. The previous place is Where We Begin.

Before going:

now the previous place is the location;

continue the action.

The just done thing is a stored action that varies.

Before doing something:

now the just done thing is the current action;

continue the action.

The pathlength is a number that varies.

Distancing something is an activity.

Before distancing: now the pathlength is 0.

Rule for distancing a room (called prior):

let M be the number of moves from prior to Something Interesting;

let N be the number of moves from the location to Something Interesting;

now the pathlength is M minus N.

Test retreat with "take goer / f / f / e / give maker to lady / give undoer to lady" holding the lady and the maker and the giver.

Instead of taking something held by a mudperson (called the target):

say "The mudperson wriggles away from your reach.".

Every turn during The Retreat:

repeat with follower running through mudpersons in the World-place:

if the location of follower is not the location of the player:

let the way be the best route from the location of follower to the location of the player;

try follower going the way.