"He found the knowledge at the heart of the universe; Returned, and cut his story into stone..." -- The Epic Of Gilgamesh Whom The Telling Changed By Aaron A. Reed Would you like instructions?>no The people have always gathered on moonless nights to hear the telling, since the time of your ancestors' ancestors. The heat of the fire and the glow in the storyteller's eyes make the past present, and the path to the future clear. Tonight the stars are bright, but the minds of your people are troubled. May the words of the telling guide your way. ----------- The walls of your tent glow yellow in the lamplight, your simple possessions casting flickering shadows on the wall. A straw bed; some skins of water, oil, and wine; a small, guttering lamp--it is simple, but it is enough. The symbol of your occupation hangs from the central support of the tent. >symbol Which do you mean, the medicine bag or the copper dagger? >bag A small leather medicine pouch hangs from a long strap, bulging with curative herbs. >herbs A small leather medicine pouch hangs from a long strap, bulging with curative herbs. >dagger This copper dagger is as long as your forearm, with a round pommel and hardened leather grip. >take bag and dagger [You can't use multiple objects with that verb in this game.] >take dagger You carefully take your weapon down from the wall and study it thoughtfully for a moment. >examine dagger Your dagger fits snugly in your hand, the copper blade as long as your forearm. You have knives and spears for other work, but this dagger is different. It is your prized possession; a talisman against times of woe, and though it has been long since you wielded it in war, your muscles still remember the way to use it. Lowered voices speak softly from somewhere outside your tent. >listen The lamp crackles softly as it burns. Somewhere distant is the sound of muffled voices. >listen to voices The voices are muffled, and you can make out neither who is speaking nor what is being said. >take bag You lift your lover's medicine bag down from its place, handling it carefully. >exit You step outside into the warm night air. It has been night for many hours, but the air is still warm, and the stars are a million brilliant fires above you. Nearby are the vague outlines of your neighbors' tents, but on this moonless night only the distant glow of the fire pit seems truly alive. In the darkness a few feet away, Sihan and Saiph talk quietly in strained tones. As you approach, your enemy grows silent. Your love turns to you with a look of relief and reaches out a hand. >enemy What it was that first made an enemy out of a dear friend you cannot recall, but it has been many years now since smiles passed between you. >love It has been a year, now, though it seems like only a day since you first felt the texture of those hands, the warmth of that fierce embrace. In a hundred years it will still feel as fresh. >talk to love Who do you mean, Sihan or Saiph? >sihan You clasp Saiph's strong hand and turn to Sihan with a frown. "What business have you here?" you ask her coldly. Sihan tosses her hair and fixes her sharp gaze on you. "I came to see if Saiph has sense left in his head after a season with you," she says levelly. "But I see that, like you, he would lead our people down the path of needless killing. I have no more to say." She turns and vanishes into the darkness without a sound. >east Your tent is nearby; in the distance is the glow of the fire pit. Saiph frowns. "She still hopes for peace with the newcomers," your lover says, "and was upset to find I do not share her views. We shall see if your enemy has better luck at the telling." He looks up to the stars, and adds, "It is a good night for it." >night Saiph points up at the night sky. "See how bright the stars are," he says, "as if the gods themselves gather round our fire to hear the teller's story." >gods The time is not right to speak about that. >west Your tent is nearby; in the distance is the glow of the fire pit. >tent The walls of your tent glow yellow in the lamplight, your simple possessions casting flickering shadows on the wall. A straw bed; some skins of water, oil, and wine; a small, guttering lamp--it is simple, but it is enough. >enter tent [That action is unimportant to this story.] >sleep Though it is late, this is a special night. You should stay awake. >take skin Water for your hands, oil for your lamp, wine for your thirst. You need none of them now, but knowing they are there brings comfort. >take lamp Though the sky is dark outside, the bonfire will provide light for what seeing is necessary. >east You can leave your simple home through the open flap. >leave You step outside into the warm night air. It has been night for many hours, but the air is still warm, and the stars are a million brilliant fires above you. Nearby are the vague outlines of your neighbors' tents, but on this moonless night only the distant glow of the fire pit seems truly alive. Your beloved gazes up at the stars. >north You linger for a moment in the starlight, tempted to enjoy more quiet words with your love. >talk to love "I care for you more than you know," you say, kissing Saiph on the cheek. Saiph glances towards the fire pit and takes his medicine bag from you, slinging it into its familiar place around his neck. "Let us join the gathering and hear the story," your love says lightly, and turns to the fire at the center of the village. >fire You walk to the firepit with Saiph, and friends and neighbors greet you with a nod or quiet word. Always the fire pit is the center of the village, and always the people gather there. Faint smells of tonight's great feast still linger, but the fire now smolders low, only a shadow of its roaring fierceness at sunset. Nabu and Isi stand near the fire, along with a growing crowd. Saiph stands near your side. >nabu Your father's brother Nabu has never been good with a spear, but there is a warrior somewhere inside him that the wise respect more than the strongest man in the village. He is short and stern; quiet, but clever and collected. He is old, now, but his spirit is as strong as ever. >agree You nod your assent. >talk to nabu Your uncle Nabu regards you seriously. "Are you ready to fight for your people, should you be called upon?" he asks. "Perhaps it will not come to fighting," you say. "Who can tell?" he says, "But those who bear arms must be prepared, nonetheless." Saiph places a hand on your shoulder. "Go on, my love," he says softly. "Give the circlet of office to the storyteller. It is time." >storyteller "The storyteller awaits," Saiph says. "The telling cannot begin until the teller's circlet has been gifted." >gift The time is not right to speak about that. >circlet Saiph reaches out with a delicate hand and touches the feathers lightly. "So beautiful," he says quietly, "more than worthy to replace the one that was lost. The storyteller will be pleased. It is fine work; perhaps my finest." Saiph places a hand on your shoulder. "Go on, my love," he says softly. "Give the circlet of office to the storyteller. It is time." >give circlet to storyteller Your people have always believed in the power of names. For such an important ceremony as this, you must use the teller's name. >storyteller "The storyteller awaits," Saiph says. "The telling cannot begin until the teller's circlet has been gifted." >name of storyteler [Things to try: LOOK | LOOK AT | GO | TALK TO | GREET | ATTACK | TAKE | TOUCH | HEAL | LISTEN | PRAISE | MOCK | STORY | UNDO | or an EMPHASIZED word. For more detailed instructions, type INFO] >name of storyteller [Things to try: LOOK | LOOK AT | GO | TALK TO | GREET | ATTACK | TAKE | TOUCH | HEAL | LISTEN | PRAISE | MOCK | STORY | UNDO | or an EMPHASIZED word. For more detailed instructions, type INFO] >storyteller The teller is older than time and thick as space; wise as the moon, and sharp as the stars. The storyteller is older than the oldest king and will live yet when the last spark of the sun dies out. >name [Things to try: LOOK | LOOK AT | GO | TALK TO | GREET | ATTACK | TAKE | TOUCH | HEAL | LISTEN | PRAISE | MOCK | STORY | UNDO | or an EMPHASIZED word. For more detailed instructions, type INFO] >greet storyteller That title is meaningless until the circlet is placed on the storyteller's head. >put circlet on storytellers head I only understood you as far as wanting to put the feather circlet on the storyteller. >put circlet on head Which do you mean, Nabu or Isi? >isi You approach your aunt Isi and hand the circlet to the white-haired old woman. She takes it delicately, eyeing the craftsmanship, and then turns to Saiph with a nod and a warm smile. Carefully, she lifts it up to her old head--and now before you is no longer your father's sister, but the storyteller... a role she has taken every new moon for many years. >wait Somewhere in the darkness, a night bird calls. Sihan approaches the far side of the fire and greets some friends warmly. >wait A gust of cool wind tugs your clothes. Saiph kisses your cheek. "May the story bring you what you seek," he whispers, then slips into the crowd. Your beloved has always liked to hear the stories by himself. >wait A gust of cool wind tugs your clothes. The murmurings of the people die away as the storyteller rises to her feet and raises two bony hands. >sit It is late, and the feet of many are tired from the day's work. But the people stand for the telling, as they always have. The storyteller shouts, "In this time of darkness the people gather for the telling. Will the people hear?" >yes You call out your response along with many others. The crowd cries out with one voice, "The people are ready." The teller bows humbly, accepting the people's blessing, then straightens with the hint of a smile. "Tonight," she says, "we shall hear an old, old story, from days long ago when great cities and mighty kings ruled this land. May you find in the story that which you seek." >listen A bat circles above the fire for a moment, then swoops away. The storyteller lifts her hands in invocation. "Our story begins," she says quietly, "in the far-off city of Uruk. Uruk of the broad streets, Uruk of the mighty walls. Can you see them, gleaming in the desert heat?" The teller gestures into the night, and in your mind the walls come alive, shimmering in the desert air. "Come," she continues, "cross the ancient threshold, walk the streets and orchards and markets. Walk the streets and climb the great stone steps to the temple. Climb the steps and find the box of burnished copper. Find the box and undo the lock and draw out the great tablet of deep blue stone. Draw out the tablet and read of Uruk's king, Uruk's pride, Uruk's greatest hero. Hear of the trials of Gilgamesh." >blue [Things to try: LOOK | LOOK AT | GO | TALK TO | GREET | ATTACK | TAKE | TOUCH | HEAL | LISTEN | PRAISE | MOCK | STORY | UNDO | or an EMPHASIZED word. For more detailed instructions, type INFO] >uruk "Tell more of the city of Uruk," you ask. "Uruk, mighty Uruk of the wide streets," the teller says with shining eyes, "its heart the temple of Inanna, towering over all; its skin mighty walls of oven-fired brick, their like unmatched in all the world. Uruk, planned by the seven sages and filled with orchards and gardens. Never was a city more mighty and proud than Uruk, and never had any city so great a king." >temple "The great temple of Inanna: what did it look like?" you say. "Mighty and tall and grand and proud," the teller replies, "so fine that Inanna herself dwelt there instead of in her heavenly palace. Inanna, goddess of warfare, goddess of lust, dwelt often in Uruk herself." >walls Your mouth is already open to respond when Sihan's voice rises above the circle. "Is this a well-chosen tale?" Sihan calls out darkly. "Should we hear stories of battle and war when they lie on our very doorstep?" The crowd looks hesitantly between Sihan and the storyteller, who regards your enemy with inscrutable eyes. "Stories are not all of far off places and distant times," she says softly. "The world tells us stories every day, and the wise pay heed. Gilgamesh may teach us much tonight, if we have the ears to hear." Sihan bows stiffly, accepting the storyteller's decision. >king The time is not right to weave that into the story. The teller continues. "Mighty was Gilgamesh, a lord among lords. Mighty is he who both leads the way and guards the rear. Mighty is he who both crashes like a wave and shelters the weak. Gilgamesh was tall, strong, bearded, a roaring bull among his people. Aruru, mother of the Earth, gave him his form, and Adad the Storm gave him courage, and Shamash the Sun gave him beauty--but," the teller's piercing eyes fixate on the crowd, "he was still a man, nonetheless." >mighty Gilgamesh had something of the gods in him, it seems, but also something of men. Which, you wonder, shaped him more? >aruru "I would hear more of Aruru," you say. "Lady Aruru," the teller sighs, "Lady of the Gods, Lady of the Foothills, Mother of the Earth, made Gilgamesh as she made the first man long eons ago. She formed an image of Gilgamesh in her mind, took up her clay, and kneaded it, shaped it into Gilgamesh's form. More mighty she made him than a normal man: taller, broader, and stronger." >shamash "What did great Shamash give to King Gilgamesh?" you call out. "Shamash, Father Utu, Lord of the Sun and of Justice, gave to great Gilgamesh beauty and nobility," the teller says. "Shamash's burning touch woke within Uruk's king the fire of legend." >legend [Things to try: LOOK | LOOK AT | GO | TALK TO | GREET | ATTACK | TAKE | TOUCH | HEAL | LISTEN | PRAISE | MOCK | STORY | UNDO | or an EMPHASIZED word. For more detailed instructions, type INFO] >legend [Things to try: LOOK | LOOK AT | GO | TALK TO | GREET | ATTACK | TAKE | TOUCH | HEAL | LISTEN | PRAISE | MOCK | STORY | UNDO | or an EMPHASIZED word. For more detailed instructions, type INFO] >legend [Things to try: LOOK | LOOK AT | GO | TALK TO | GREET | ATTACK | TAKE | TOUCH | HEAL | LISTEN | PRAISE | MOCK | STORY | UNDO | or an EMPHASIZED word. For more detailed instructions, type INFO] >men "With so many gods to shape him, how is it that Gilgamesh was only a man?" you ask. "The gods did shape him," the storyteller replies with a nod, "but gave him no godly powers: no magic touch, or gift of foresight, or long, ageless life. Gilgamesh shared the fate of all mankind, and this was why long after many of the old gods fell and were forgotten, the people of Uruk remembered him, for he was one of them." The telling continues. "With his friend and companion Enkidu," the storyteller says, "Gilgamesh ruled Uruk with a young and prideful heart. But he saw the dead and dying in the streets of Uruk, and his mind was troubled." >legend [Things to try: LOOK | LOOK AT | GO | TALK TO | GREET | ATTACK | TAKE | TOUCH | HEAL | LISTEN | PRAISE | MOCK | STORY | UNDO | or an EMPHASIZED word. For more detailed instructions, type INFO] >dead "Why were there so many dead in the streets of Uruk?" you wonder. "No special reason," says the teller, "other than that which must one day take us all. In the cities things are different than here, or so my father told me: the people there are so many that every day there is death; every day a birth; every day a wedding or a feast or a piece of intriguing news." Whispers of assent float across the fire; a majority nod visibly at these words. >troubled Sihan is speaking before you can react. "It was battle that united Enkidu and Gilgamesh in friendship, was it not?" Sihan says musingly. "It is often the way," the teller says, "that two foes may only find kinship through the bitterest battles. But perhaps," she adds humbly, "this is only the way in stories." >companion "Let us hear more of Gilgamesh's friend Enkidu," you say. "Enkidu the wild man, made by the gods to tame unruly Gilgamesh," says the teller, a smile lighting her face. "He lived with the animals in the wild lands till he came to Uruk to challenge Gilgamesh. But their battle united them, and instead of enemies they became closer than friends. Inseparable were Gilgamesh and Enkidu; together they faced all foes and fought all battles." The storyteller continues. "One night," she says, "as Gilgamesh knelt in prayer, Shamash, god of the sun, came down to whisper in his ear. Shamash whispered to Gilgamesh of a far off place called the Cedar Forest, where dwelt the demon Humbaba. Shamash whispered that he who could defeat Humbaba would gain fame greater than any man. He who could chop down the tallest cedar and defeat Humbaba the guardian would gain everlasting fame. He would burn in the minds of men forever. He would never be forgotten. And the heart of Gilgamesh became restless." >humbaba Sihan is speaking before you can react. "Tell me," Sihan says to the storyteller, "had this demon ever set upon the city of Uruk, or harmed its crops or its cattle?" "The demon Humbaba did not leave the Cedar Forest," the teller answers. "Humbaba was charged by Enlil, lord of all gods, to guard the Cedar Forest against all intruders." Whispers of assent float across the fire; many nod visibly at these words. You catch a glimpse of your love Saiph's face, darkened by a frown. >cedar "What magic was there in the Cedar Forest that made it special?" you ask. "Uruk was a land like ours," the teller answers, "where the tree is scarce and the wood is poor. Cedarwood is strong, and beautiful, and pleasant to see and smell, and in those days was valued as gold. In the Cedar Forest far, far away, the cedar trees are so thick you could not see a man a hundred paces away; and so tall you could not see the sky." >whisper "Storyteller," you call out, "did you say that Shamash, god of the sun, whispered these words to Gilgamesh?" "I did." says the teller. "And why would so mighty a god whisper such a thing?" you ask, turning to the people. "Was he afraid another god would hear? Did Shamash really have the glory of Gilgamesh in mind, or did he hope to use Uruk's king for purposes of his own?" A wave of muttering sweeps over the crowd, but no one comes forward to answer your question. >answer I didn't understand that sentence. >shamash "Shamash, lord of the sun, delivered this message himself to Gilgamesh?" you ask. "Why was it so important?" "Shamash, lord of the sun, is not here to tell you," answers the teller with a wink, gesturing into the night as the crowd laughs. The story moves on. "The heart of Gilgamesh burned with the words of Shamash," says the teller. "Gilgamesh sought out his friend Enkidu and said to him: 'You came from the wild. My friend, you came from the wild and you know the secret paths of animals. Do you know the way to the Cedar Forest?' "Enkidu sighed and his heart grew heavy," says the teller, and then seems to become young and strong as the gruff guise of Enkidu comes over her. "'Yes, I know the way to the Cedar Forest, but it is long and lonely. And what awaits you at its end but the demon Humbaba? The lord of all gods, mighty Enlil, has set him there to guard the Cedar Forest. What man or god could defeat him, my brother?'" >defeat Before you can speak, Sihan steps forward. "Guard?" Sihan calls out. "Did you say the demon Humbaba was set by the gods to guard the Cedar Forest?" "By Enlil," says the teller, nodding, "Humbaba long had guarded the Cedar Forest against mortal intruders, at the command of Enlil, lord of all gods." "So Shamash who set this idea before Lord Gilgamesh sought merely to use him as a pawn in some divine gambit?" Sihan asks. A babble of astonished voices rises from the crowd. "You must find your own wisdom in the story," says the teller with a tiny bow. The wind picks up, bending the fire's smoke and rustling your hair. >restart Are you sure you want to restart? Please answer yes or no.>yes