(size:2)+(font:'Didot')[Begin.]
You are at a crossroads. A gentle breeze rolls in from the sea in the southeast. Verdant fields to the north and south give way to the dark mystery of the forest to the west. And, in the east, the colorful silk of a hot air balloon is just visible over the slanted roofs of a small town.
|visit>[Who are you?
[(color: #3275a8)[Winged creature of the air and sea. A robust wanderer, yet your heart aches for home.]<a1|
(color: #a8326d)[Twilight forager, elegant and athletic in the air with a mathematician’s mind. You feel safest in company, close to the stars.]<a2|
(color: #32a852)[Earthy, diminutive homebody with a lovely voice and fingers in the damp leaves. You are unable to hear your own song.]<a3|]<blank1|
]
|continue1)[Where will you go?
[[The sea->Road to the sea]]. [[The forest->Road to the forest]]. [[The town->Road to the town]]. [[The estates->Road to the estates]].]
(click: ?a1)[(replace:?blank1)[(color: #3275a8)[A puffin.]](set: $animal to 'puffin')(show:?continue1)]
(click: ?a2)[(replace:?blank1)[(color: #a8326d)[A flying squirrel.]](set: $animal to 'squirrel')(show:?continue1)]
(click: ?a3)[(replace:?blank1)[(color: #32a852)[A pumpkin toadlet.]](set: $animal to 'toadlet')(show:?continue1)]
(if: visit >1)[(hide:?visit)(show:?continue1)](size:2)+(font:'Didot')[On the road to the sea...]
[[Turn back->Start]].(size:2)+(font:'Didot')[On the road to the forest...]
Grassland gives way to the treeline, where the temperature is cooler and the air, more humid. In the near distance, you can hear the burble of a creek.
[What do you know about this forest?]<continue2a|
|continue2b)[You continue on down the road, which has turned into a dirt path.
To your right, leaves rustle and a branch creaks dangerously. Something unfurls from a tree like a sandbag. It catches and hangs.
[Examine?]<loris1| [Ignore.]<continue2c|]
|loris2)[The loris, all eyes, hides its face with its hands in anxious agony. It hangs on to the half-broken branch with dextrous feet.
You hail the loris and explain that you are a stranger here as well. Two strangers in a strange land, you think, will not be strangers to each other for long.
Slowly, the loris removes its hands from its eyes and holds them close to its chest. "You are going into the forest?" it asks.
You are.
"Oh, you mustn't!" the loris says, its voice rising in pitch. "Something terrible will happen!"
"What will happen?" you ask. "How do you know?"
"I've seen the ghosts," the loris says in a buzzy whisper. "So many go deep into the forest, only a few come out."
"Have you gone into the forest?"
The loris covers its eyes again. In another high-pitched wail, it says, "Only once! And now I can never go home again."
You will not learn any more from the loris right now. It has been overcome by disquietude.
[[Continue into the forst->Forest 1]].]
|continue2d)[[[Continue into the forest.->Forest 1]]]
[[Turn back->Start]].
(click:?continue2a)[(if: $animal is 'puffin')+(replace:?continue2a)[The forest is unfamiliar to you. The idea of entering an area without clear access to the sky gives you pause.]
(else-if: $animal is 'squirrel')+(replace:?continue2a)[Though this is not the forest you call home, you can find your way around. Your fingers itch to leave the ground and climb. Once in the treetops, you can leap and glide.]
(else-if: $animal is 'toadlet')+(replace:?continue2a)[Oh, to throw yourself into the damp bed of leaves on the forest floor. But this is not your home, and you can’t know who you might disturb down there.](show:?continue2b)]
(click:?loris1)[(show:?loris2)] (click:?continue2c)[(show:?continue2d)](size:2)+(font:'Didot')[On the road to the town…]
[[Turn back->Start]].(size:2)+(font:'Didot')[On the road to the estates...]
[[Turn back->Start]].(enchant: ?page, (text-color: #210900)+(background: #f0ede4)+(font:'Courier New')+(size:0.8))
(hide: ?sidebar)[[Turn back->Road to the forest]].