## The Empress Must Die
Welcome to "The Empress Must Die", a game by Nick Turner, based on the classic "Hunt the Wumpus" by Gregory Yob. This version is (c) <a href="http://www.NTurnerGames.com/" target="_blank">NTurnerGames</a> 2018.
If this is your first time playing, you may wish to learn [[how to play->Instructions]].
It is highly recommended to draw a map on a sheet of paper as you explore the palace.
Please begin by selecting a difficulty:
[[Easy]]
* The layout of the palace will be the same every time you play.
* Room descriptions will be simplified after your first visit.
* Passage descriptions will be simplified after your first visit.
* There are two dinner parties underway.
* There are two children of nobles present.
* You start with a bow and five magic arrows.
[[Normal]]
* The palace layout is randomised at the start of the game.
* Room descriptions will be simplified after your first visit.
* Passage descriptions will be simplified after your first visit.
* There are two dinner parties underway.
* There are two children of nobles present.
* You start with a bow and three magic arrows.
[[Hard->The Princess]]
* The palace layout is randomised at the start of the game.
* Room and passage descriptions stay at full length.
* There are two dinner parties underway.
* There are three children of nobles present.
* Your bow and three magic arrows are scattered around the palace and must be located before you can use them.## Instructions
You have been hired to assassinate the evil and much maligned Empress. She is somewhere within the Imperial Summer Palace, a curious building where the twenty rooms and thirty corridors and passages never seem to stay in the same arrangement for long.
Each time you play the game, the rooms will be in a different arrangement than the previous time, except on the easiest difficulty setting.
The palace is a busy place, and there are always two dinner parties going on in various rooms. While the party guests are not easily distracted from their revelry, they will notice if you walk into their midst, and will hand you over to the Palace Guards.
There are also several small children in the palace. They will not disturb you unless you walk into the rooms they are playing in, at which point they will chase you to a random room in the palace, before returning to their original location. This can cause you to run into a dinner party, or to come face to face with the Empress herself.
The Empress is easily identified by the distinctive aroma of her perfume, which some of her bolder detractors have compared to formaldehyde. She is always accompanied by guards, and the only way to kill her is with a long-range attack.
To aid you in your task, you have been given a bow and a handful of magic arrows. Each arrow can be fired down the length of a single corridor, and into the room beyond. They have been bound to the life-force of the empress, and will strike directly at her heart if she is in the room.
The arrows will not harm anyone else, even if they are in the same room as her. If fired into an empty room, or one containing a dinner party or small child, it will fall harmlessly to the floor. This sound will be noticed by the Empress if she is in a room adjacent to where the arrow fell, or where it was fired from. When alarmed the Empress will either move to one of the three rooms adjacent to her position, or remain where she is, with an equal chance of each.
Although she always begins in an empty room, once the Empress has been disturbed she can join dinner parties and children in their rooms.
On hard difficulty, your bow and arrows are scattered into the various corridors and passages between rooms. They will automatically be collected when you pass through the corridor.
It is highly recommended to have pencil and paper when playing this game, in order to build a map of the palace layout and the locations of the people inside.
[[Good Hunting->Introduction]]
<% story.init(0) %>
TEST
<script>story.show(story.state.startingRoom);</script><% story.init(1) %>
<script>story.show(story.state.startingRoom);</script><% story.init(2) %>
<script>story.show(story.state.startingRoom);</script>## The Princess
As you enter the palace through a first floor window, clad head-to-toe in black and buckles, you find yourself being observed by a haughty princess in a bright pink dress. She is probably no more than 10 years old, and seems unfazed by your outfit, or the unusual manner of your entry. Instead she fixates on your ivory inlaid bow and your quiver of magic arrows.
"These are the wrong colour," The young princess declares. "I will put them away for you."
She snatches your equipment as you attempt to extricate yourself from the window and runs off with them. You give chase, but soon lose sight of her. You will have to find where she hid them.
[[Continue->Hard]]