Wrath of the Gods Page #4

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down, bringing the shiny object—a gem—down onto the

path. The avalanche itself has cascaded out of the bottom of

the frame. The small keystone that you threw away is further

along the trail to the right. You might not think to retrace

your steps and add it to your inventory, but you’ll need it for

the Shepherd scene (page 12).

Fork

FORKING PATHS. This simple choice of routes doesn’t call

for heroic decision-making.

Chasm

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MOUNTAIN TRAIL. Heracles (HUR-a-kleez; Roman name:

Hercules) accomplished some amazing feats. He once forced

the god Poseidon (puh-SYE-dun) to give way in battle; he

wounded Ares (AIR-eez), god of war, in another encounter,

and he wrestled the great god Zeus (ZOOS) himself to a draw.

The hero could move mountains that hindered the route of

his cattle herd. He could and did toss boulders about like

pebbles. It is not recorded, though, that Hercules was ever

foolhardy enough to leap across a yawning chasm.

This scene actually exists to keep you from going into one

of the adventures the “back” way. When you return from

the other direction, you’ll be able to push the tree down and

make a bridge across the chasm.

Warehouse

BUILDING WITH LOCKED DOOR. You come to a structure

labeled “Warehouse.” No amount of physical exertion will

get you inside. But if you have acquired a sledgehammer for

your inventory (page 36), you will be able to break down the

door.

Inside you find a large vat, a maze of tubing, and a dripping

funnel. There’s a small barrel of elixir near the center of the

screen. If you click on it, it is added to your inventory with a

ping.

The same thing applies to the pair of oars leaning against the

vat. And there’s a gem, too—click on it and it pings into your

inventory.

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Torchbearer

GLOOMY LANDSCAPE. You enter a bleak and dark

terrain and encounter a man holding a torch. The ancient

Greeks were well aware that without fire they would be

forced to huddle in darkness. In mythology, the Titan (TYEtun)

Prometheus (proh-MEE-thee-us) was considered to be

humankind’s great benefactor because he stole fire from the

gods and gave it to mortals. (The Titan carried it away from

Mount Olympus in a fennel stalk—a method of transporting

fire that was used down into historic times.) In daily life,

however, the immortals could not be relied upon to provide

the essential flame. Therefore it was common practice to

keep a fire burning—or its embers glowing—at all times. If

it went out, the household hearth could be rekindled from

a neighbor’s. But if the neighbor’s had gone out as well, it

became a matter of rubbing two sticks together or striking

a spark from flint. In some ceremonies, a sacred flame was

carried from altar to altar by relays of torches.

You talk to the Torchbearer.

TORCHBEARER:

Dark is the wrath of the undying gods,

Blundering, the mortal who would face their

plagues.

(pause)

I’ll guide you for a gem, but beware… The Hydra

lurks ahead.

On subsequent encounters:

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TORCHBEARER:

Back so soon to pay the price?

Only a fool makes the same mistake twice.

(pause)

The deal’s the same: I’ll guide you for a gem.

If you don’t give him a gem from your inventory, he just

stands there and you are free to click on any of three choices

of route. If you go screen-right, you enter the Swamp

(below). As you click to walk to the first hummock it gets

pitch black and you can’t even see yourself let alone the

way forward. You have to turn back, and the Torchbearer is

waiting. If you give him a gem:

TORCHBEARER:

Okay. Let’s go before I chicken out.

He lights your way into the Swamp.

SWAMP WITH HUMMOCKS. It was in the swamps of

Lerna (LUR-nuh) that Heracles (HUR-a-kleez; Roman name: Hercules)

sought out the many-headed Hydra (HYE-druh). You have to

cross this swamp if you want to follow in the great hero’s

footsteps. You click your way from hummock to hummock

and slog through the mucky water in between. Walking offscreen

to the right transitions to the scene where the Hydra

lurks.

Swamp

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Hydra

HYDRA’S LAIR. The mythmakers agreed that the Hydra (HYEdruh)

lived in the swamps of Lerna (LUR-nuh), but they seem

to have had trouble counting the monster’s heads. Some said

that the Hydra had nine, while others claimed as many as ten

thousand. It was the head growing in the center of this array

that made the Hydra immortal, and getting to this one and

chopping it off was a formidable challenge. For as soon as one

of the other heads was beaten down or lopped off, two more

grew in its place. To make matters worse, the Hydra’s very

breath was lethal. Even smelling its footprints was enough to

bring death to an ordinary mortal. Fortunately, Heracles (HURa-

kleez; Roman name: Hercules), who had been assigned to fight the

Hydra as one of his Labors, was no ordinary mortal.

The great hero sought out the monster in its lair and brought

it out into the open with flaming arrows. Then he made sure

to hold his breath while grappling with the beast. Heracles

had the strength of ten, but the fight went in the Hydra’s

favor. The monster twined its many heads around the hero

and tried to trip him up. It called on an ally, a huge crab

which also lived in the swamp. The crab bit Heracles in the

heel and further impeded his attack. Heracles was on the

verge of failure when he remembered his nephew.

Heracles had a twin brother named Iphicles (IF-i-klees).

Iphicles took part in a number of heroic exploits but

generally remained in the shadow of his illustrious twin.

Heracles employed Iphicles’ son, Iolaus (eye-oh-LAY-us), as

his charioteer. Iolaus had driven Heracles to the swamps

of Lerna, and he looked on in anxiety as his uncle became

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entangled in the Hydra’s snaky heads. Finally, Iolaus could

no longer bear to stand aside. In response to his uncle’s

shouts, he grabbed a burning torch and dashed to the fray.

Now, as soon as Heracles cut off one of the Hydra’s heads,

Iolaus was there to sear the wounded neck with flame. This

kept further heads from sprouting. In this fashion, Heracles

cut off the heads one by one, with Iolaus cauterizing the

wounds. Finally Heracles lopped off the immortal head and

buried it deep beneath a rock.

Now you find yourself in the role of Heracles, confronting

the monster. If you don’t have the sword in your inventory

and you click on the Hydra, it eats you. Fade to black and

you are automatically taken to Mount Olympus (below).

If you acquired the sword in the Shepherd scene (page 12) and

you wield it now, you cut off one of the monster’s heads (by

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