Chapter 14: Like A Prayer (Madonna, 1989)

Check yourself! You need the lamp, torch and the egg (unless you already gave it to the Thief). Use the inventory command to see what you are carrying and then take accordingly.

>down

Cellar

>east

Troll Room

>north

East-West Passage

>east

Round Room

>east

Grail Room

>up

[Temple] This is the west end of a large temple. On the south wall is an ancient inscription, probably a prayer in a long-forgotten language. The north wall is solid granite. The entrance at the west end of the room is through huge marble pillars. Lying in the corner of the room is a small brass bell.

That is a nice looking bell. Better take it.

>take bell

Taken.

>ring bell

Ding, dong.

>read inscription

The prayer is inscribed in an ancient script which is hardly remembered these days, much less understood. What little of it can be made out seems to be a diatribe against small insects, absent-mindedness, and the picking up and dropping of small objects. The final verse seems to consign trespassers to the land of the dead. All evidence indicates that the beliefs of the ancient Zorkers were obscure.

Great...another useless discourse…or is it? Look again

...against small insects, absent-mindedness, and the picking up and dropping of small objects...

That’s right…hidden in the middle of the prayer is a hint that dropping items in the Temple makes them safe from the Thief. However, we either want to take them upstairs ourselves or let the Thief carry them for us, so for our purposes this is a “nice to know” but not entirely useful.

I’ll save you some time. Touching or trying to walk through the granite wall doesn’t get you anywhere, which means it isn't activated like the mirror (touch) or the curtain of light (walk through). Apparently something else will activate it, which we may find later.

>east

[Altar] This is the east end of a large temple. In front of you is what appears to be an altar. On the altar is a large black book, open to page 569. On the two ends of the altar are burning candles.

>read book

Taken.

                Commandment #12592

Oh ye who go about saying unto each other: "Hello sailor":
Dost thou know the magnitude of thy sin before the gods?
Yea, verily, thou shalt be ground between two stones.
Shall the angry gods cast thy body into the whirlpool?
Surely, thy eye shall be put out with a sharp stick!
Even unto the ends of the earth shalt thou wander and
unto the land of the dead shalt thou be sent at last.
Surely thou shalt repent of thy cunning.

Those Zorkers were an interesting bunch, and their religion appears to mimic them. The book may hold other valuable information, but you cannot turn any of the pages nor can you close it.

>take candles

>drop candles
 
>take candles
 
In other versions you can extinguish the candles; in this one you must drop them for them to go out. Even though it doesn't say they are out, they are. Check your inventory if you doubt me and you'll see them as "a pair of candles," as opposed to "a pair of candles (providing light)."

Hmmm...what do most do when at an altar?

>pray

[Forest #1] This is a forest, with trees in all directions around you.

Aha...another way out from underground!

>east

Forest
 
>look

[Forest #4] This is a dimly lit forest, with large trees all around. One particularly large tree with some low branches stands here.

We've been here before...at least now we know how to get back to the house

>south

Clearing

There is a pile of leaves on the ground.
 
>sw

Behind House

>west

Kitchen

>west

Living Room

>drop torch

Dropped.

>save

Saved.