Five Gods Exiled — 137 of 191

Chapter 4 - Hall

To call a hall event:

now the current event number is a random number between 1 and 10;

if the focal event is unique:

say "A little girl walks along the row of chairs, calling: 'Here, puss. Puss-puss. Here, puss-puss.' as she bends robotically and checks around the bags and boots under each chair. She has the dead eyes of the god-taken, but her shoulders still slump sadly, and distinct sorrow fills her voice.[paragraph break]Glancing around, you spot the cat perching on top of a coat closet. Its tail lashes from side to side as it stares down at the dance floor, and its head looks longer and narrower than any cat's should be. You've had poor experiences with god-taken animals, but the little girl sounds so sad. Will you point the cat out to her? (y/n) >";

if the player consents:

say "'There you are!' the girl cries gladly, and she runs over to the coat closet and reaches up her arms. The cat-creature leaps for them, but, instead of snuggling into her embrace, it rears back one wickedly taloned foot and slashes precisely through her neck before jumping down and weaving quickly away through the maze of ankles.[paragraph break]The girl's face reflects no pain; there is only a great and dark puzzlement as she collapses. Her lips are still moving, but she says nothing, and the blood runs out around her in a great, spreading pool to dampen the coats and bags under the nearby chairs. The dancers never notice.[paragraph break]You realize that the girl dropped something, and you reach to pick it up.[paragraph break](Here, have a memento.)";

generate a memento;

otherwise:

say "You say nothing. The cat-creature turns its head to look at you, and for a moment, all the intelligence lost in the little girl's eyes seems concentrated in the cat-creature's narrow slits. It can tell you're not god-taken - you're sure of it.[paragraph break]The little girl passes by, and the cat-creature turns and jumps off the coat closet. Landing on a chair, it slips a little and hits its shoulder against the back of the chair, but like any other cat, it immediately jumps back up with its best air of [italic type]I meant to do that[roman type] and runs away into the crowd.[paragraph break]You note that something fell from the chair, and you reach to pick it up.[paragraph break](Here, have a memento.)";

generate a memento;

otherwise:

say "...called a duplicate focal event. Choosing a new focal event... ";

call a focal event.