Wrath of the Gods Page #5

---

cutting low, near where the neck meets the body), but two

new heads sprout from the wound. If you continue with

the sword, the Hydra bares its fangs and lunges to bite you.

There’s a fade to black and the sound of the Hydra gulping

you down. But if instead you go back to the Swamp (page 24)

and click to talk to the Torchbearer, still standing there on the

far shore, he cups his hands and hollers:

TORCHBEARER:

Could you use a little help over there?

He joins you by leaping from hummock to hummock with

ludicrous ease. Now as soon as you lop off a Hydra-head,

the torch is extended into the frame to cauterize the wound

and no further heads sprout. Repeat procedure. “Whook!”—

there goes the final head. The Hydra falls dead.

A fanfare sounds and a notice appears saying that you have

received 50 points. You can check your running point total

by clicking the Help icon.

Olympus

FADE UP ON MOUNT OLYMPUS. Even dying is an

adventure in Wrath of the Gods. If you are killed by the Hydra

(page 25), you find yourself standing before the throne of

a snoring Zeus (ZOOS). If you talk to the great king of the

27

Olympians, he wakes up, groggy and flustered at first.

ZEUS:

Wha? What? Ahem! Who dares disturb my

rest? Oh, it’s you. Has no one told you Olympus

is reserved for the gods? Mortals are strictly

forbidden…

(pause)

Unless you know somebody.

(sternly)

You’ve proven unworthy to fight the Hydra.

He waves his hand at you dismissively. You dematerialize

and return to the Hydra’s Lair.

MEADOW. The greatest secret of the ancient Greek world

was at the heart of the famous mysteries of Eleusis (ee-LOOsis).

Only the initiated were allowed to participate in the

rites, and they were sworn never to divulge what they heard

or saw. One reconstruction has it that those deemed worthy

were guided to a special edifice by night. Here they waited

in mounting trepidation for they knew not what. Suddenly

a great fire burst forth. Though surprising and awesome

given the solemn and auspicious setting, this was not yet

the heart of the mystery. This would appear to have been the

news, conveyed in a high-pitched and jubilant voice by the

presiding official, that the goddess of death had given birth

in a conflagration to a baby boy. The import of this message,

which has contributed to our notions of the soul and an

Secret Word

28

afterlife, was that one might be born again in death.

After you have killed the Hydra (page 25), if you go east and

enter this scene, the goddess Hera appears.

HERA:

Well done, young hero. The Olympians now

grant you a password that will stand you in

good stead. The letter I, emblem of the hero’s

uprightness, and the letter O, for the cycle of

completion. Remember: “I-O.”

Io (EYE-oh) is the name of a character from Greek mythology,

a princess of Argo (AR-goh), who was transformed into a

heifer by Zeus in order to hide her from the jealous Hera.

Elixir

CORINTH (CORE-inth). The ancient city of Corinth was

a crossroads of the Greek world. There at the foot of the

mountainous citadel (seen in the background of this scene),

one might expect to find merchants and mercenaries, princes

and pirates, heroes and little old ladies selling decoctions of

supposedly magic elixir. You encounter the Peddler.

PEDDLER:

Greetings noble wanderer! Could I interest you in

a little magic elixir? Guaranteed to prolong your

life in combat. Only one gem.

She holds out her hand for payment. If you pay her, she

29

hands you a vial and it pings into your inventory.

PEDDLER:

You’d better use it soon ‘cause it’s past the

expiration date. But the price was right, eh? Look

me up if you need a refill. I’ll be heading back to

the warehouse soon to stock up.

Seed Men

FIELD PLOUGHED FOR PLANTING. This episode comes

from the myth of Jason, who had been dared to retrieve

the Golden Fleece from the far-off land of Colchis (KOL-kis).

Before Jason could even get to the grove where the Fleece

was hanging, he had to face a series of challenges set by the

king of Colchis.

Fortunately for Jason, Hera (HEE-ruh) had persuaded her

fellow goddess Aphrodite (a-fro-DYE-tee) to intervene on

Jason’s behalf. The Goddess of Love arranged it so that the

king’s daughter Medea (meh-DEE-uh) fell in love with Jason

the minute she saw him.

The king instructed Jason to harness two fire-breathing bulls,

plow a field, sow it with seed, and then reap the harvest in a

single day. Medea, a famous sorceress, slipped Jason a magic

salve which he smeared on his body, making him proof

against fire and the sharp metal hooves of the bulls.

Thus the hero was able to force the creatures into harness

and plow the field. But the seeds which he proceeded to

30

sow turned out to be dragon’s teeth. As soon as they lodged

in the soil they began to sprout into fully-armed, menacing

warriors. Fortunately, Medea had given Jason a tip in basic

psychology. He simply threw a stone at one of the men. The

man thought his neighbor had done it, and in short order all

the seed men had turned on one another with their swords

until not one was left standing.

Now it’s your turn to be like Jason. In the foreground of the

scene is a leather bag. It is labeled: ACME DRAGON’S TEETH. THE

FARMERS FRIEND. PLANT IN ROWS AND WATER FREQUENTLY.

When you click on the bag, it pings into your inventory.

Retrieve it from inventory and scatter the teeth on the field.

Armed men spring up from the furrows and line up to attack

you. If you don’t have the sword from the Shepherd scene

(page 12):

SEED MAN:

Hey, dude, we can’t fight you if you don’t have a

blade.

When you come back with the sword, clicking it on the seed

men transitions to a fighting perspective. While fighting the

first man, you get exhausted and just stand there looking

feeble and worn out, with your sword drooping.

SEED MAN:

Hey, wimp, what’s your problem?

If you bought the elixir from the Peddler (page 28), you take it

from your inventory and click it on yourself. You upend the

31

elixir and drink it, but the effect soon wears off.

SEED MAN:

What, you wimpin’ out again?

If you’ve acquired the barrel of elixir from the Warehouse

(page 22), you get out the container and guzzle it down. Now

you can fight forever. You dispatch the first man, but as he

falls the second seed man advances into his place. He in

turn is replaced by yet another seed man. The foes just keep

on coming—if you don’t have a stone to throw at them,

you’re out of luck. When you return with the stone from

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes