Wrath of the Gods Page #29

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set free.

Silenus explained that he and his master had just returned

from the East where they had been engaged in spreading the

cultivation of the grape. Dionysus had brought back a tiger

or two, an ever-expanding flock of followers, and one very

drunken satyr. Silenus had conked out in Midas’s vineyard

to sleep it off. Now he was grateful to the king for treating

him with dignity, and so was Dionysus. The god was so

pleased, in fact, that he offered to grant whatever Midas

should wish for.

Now, you didn’t get to rule a kingdom in those days

without a pretty active grasp of what makes for a successful

economy. Midas didn’t have to think twice. As the simplest

plan for the constant replenishment of the royal treasury, he

asked that everything he touch be turned to gold.

Arching a godly eyebrow, Dionysus went so far as to ask if

Midas were sure. To which the king instantly replied, “Sure

I’m sure.” So Dionysus waved his pine-branch scepter and

conferred the boon.

Midas Touch

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And Midas rushed back home to try it out. Tentatively at

first, he laid a trembling fingertip upon a bowl of fruit and

then a stool, and then a woolly lambkin. And when each

of these had been transmuted in a trice into purest gold,

the king began to caper about like the lambkin before its

transformation.

“Just look at this!” he crowed, turning his chariot into a

glittering mass of priceless-though-worthless transportation.

“Look what daddy can do!” he cried, taking his young

daughter by the hand to lead her into the garden for a lesson

in making dewy nature gleam with a monotonous but more

valuable sheen.

Encountering unexpected resistance, he swung about to see

why his daughter was being such a slug. Whereupon his

eyes encountered, where late his child had been, a life-size

golden statue that might have been entitled “Innocence

Surprised.”

“Uh-oh,” said Midas, and from that point on the uh-oh’s

multiplied. He couldn’t touch any useful object without it

losing in utility what it gained in monetary value, nor any

food without it shedding all nutritional potency on its leaden

way down his gullet.

In short, Midas came to understand why Dionysus had

looked askance when asked to grant the favor. Fortunately,

the god was a good sport about it. He allowed Midas to

wash away his magic touch in the river Pactolus (pak-TOHlus),

which ever after enjoyed renown for its shimmering

deposits of gold.

In a mountain-ringed meadow you come upon a fruit tree.

Closer examination reveals a juicy apple. As you pick it, a

deity materializes beside you in a radiant glow. His voice is

overly suave and modulated, like a game show host.

DIONYSUS:

Hi, it’s me, the god Dionysus! And this is your

lucky day! That’s right; you’ve been selected

to receive…the Midas Touch! Yes, the power to

change whatever you touch into gold!

There’s a magical sound. The apple, which you’re still

holding, turns golden just as you are about to take a bite.

You react in confusion.

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DIONYSUS:

Personally, I’d have chosen something more

valuable. But hey, if anybody asks you where you

got that fine little knickknack, tell ‘em: I’m the

mighty Dionysus and I’ve got the power!

He points his finger and there’s a huge fireball and the

mountains in the background split asunder (opening a

shortcut for you).

DIONYSUS:

Whoa! Better watch where I point that thing.

He dematerializes. The apple pings into your inventory.

Pan

142

TRAIL THROUGH RUINS. You come upon a figure, goat

from the waist down and more or less human from the

waist up. This is Pan, the god of shepherds and flocks,

who was born in Arcadia (ar-KAY-dee-uh). Different stories

are told of his parentage, most often that he was the son of

the god Hermes (HUR-meez) and a mountain nymph (NIMF).

Pan was born with a human body but goat legs, hooves,

ears, and horns. His mother ran away screaming, but the

proud papa took him straightaway to Olympus (oh-LIMpus),

where the gods thought him cute as could be. Pan once

loved a nymph named Echo, but she fled from him and was

changed into a voice that can only repeat the last words

spoken by someone else. When another nymph eluded his

pursuit and was transformed into a reed, Pan was inspired

to invent a musical instrument. He took seven reeds, cut

them to varying lengths, and bound them together to make

a shepherd’s pipe—an item that was consequently known as

a panpipe (or panpipes). Pan was considered to be the cause

of the sudden fear that sometimes comes for no reason,

especially in lonely places. That’s why it’s called “panic.”

This particular Pan talks like a beatnik musician.

PAN:

I am the great god Pan…

(pause)

And you’re not.

He tootles a few off-key notes on his panpipes and wrinkles

up his nose in distaste.

PAN:

Oh man!

If you come back after you’ve discovered that a fallen pillar

is blocking your progress (next page):

PAN:

Normally I’d give you a hand with that pillar, but

I’ve just broken my panpipes—and I’m nothing

without my tunes. Make me up some new ones

and I’ll see what I can do.

When you come back with the materials from Circe’s Island

(page 145), you select the reed in your inventory and place it

on the ground. Next you select the sword and use it to chop

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the reed into pieces. And finally you select the string and

bind the pieces together. You click the assembled panpipes

on Pan, who tootles a few notes as a test, then smiles in

satisfaction.

PAN:

Lead on, bro!

He follows you to the pillar and plays a tune.

PAN:

Yeah!

The pillar vanishes and Pan gestures toward the path. You

can click to take the panpipes back again.

Branch

BRANCHING ROAD WITH RUINS. There’s a choice of

directions here.

Pillar

TEMPLE RUINS. You come to the ruins of a temple, with

a huge fallen pillar blocking the road. There’s a cart in the

roadway. The driver is an old acquaintance.

PEDDLER:

Somebody’s going to have to move that thing out

of the way. And don’t look at me—I’m no god.

144

Clicking on the pillar causes you to strain at it futilely. You’re

going to need Pan’s help (page 141).

Rowboat

BEACH WITH ROWBOAT. The homeward journey of

Odysseus (oh-DISS-ee-us) from the Trojan War took him past

two obstacles that have become proverbial in the expression

“between Scylla and Charybdis.” Charybdis (kuh-RIB-dis) was

a whirlpool in the narrow strait between Italy and Sicily.

Many times a day this monster gulped down the larger part

of the surrounding sea and then belched it up again. This

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