Part 1: Escaping From Certain Gestation

Chapter 1: Escaping From Certain Gestation

How did it come to this? (Intro video)

And so, our humble protagonist Diermot finds himself in an unfavourable predicament.


And this is where the game starts, in a dark and dingy cell. This is a point and click adventure, so expect to see a lot of cursor in these screen shots.

Right clicking over the background gives you a small list of actions, I'll show you this later though. In this screen all we get is Look and Status. Status is useless, all it does is tell you how much money you have and right now, we don't have any. So let's Look...


I'm not sure exactly how long Diermot is supposed to have been here, but we're led to believe that he's accustomed to the place.

Let's look at that pile of straw.

This pile of stinking straw has served as your bed since your arrival.

Nice. I really love what they've done with the place.

I hear footsteps outside, the guard must be coming.



And a delightful chap he seems. Right-clicking on a character gives you a list of relevant commands. In this case, Ask and Talk to.


Let's engage him in pleasant conversation.


In many cases, you'll get a drop down list of dialogue choices. None of these will lead to your death, so let's have some fun with this ugly brute.

Diermot: Good morning! I trust that you are well?

Skorl: Passin' the time with 'uman scum ain't much fun, 'cept for the tauntin' and torturin'!

Six apostrophes! That's some serious abbreviatin'!

Diermot: How much longer are you going to keep me here?

Skorl: Not long now - you'll be out of 'ere tonight.

Ah, this looks like it'll be easier than I thought.

Diermot: What are you going to do with me?

Skorl: I dunno. That's up to Mugtha.

Diermot: Is he your captain?


Oh shit! I've got to get out of here! Suddenly, I don't like the way this guy is eyeing me up.

Diermot: What are you looking at, big ears?


And with that, he leaves. Probably to grease up his rack... wait, that doesn't sound quite right.

I'd better look for a way out...


Not a viable escape route, then.

Looks like there's a crack in the far wall, let's check it out.

The crack in the wall affords a view of the adjacent room.

Right-clicking on the crack gets us a new command, Look through.


It does exactly what you'd expect it to. This command will come in very useful later on, but for now let's see of it can give us a clue as to what's going on around us.

Through the crack we see...


A Serf, dressed as a jester, tied to a rack. And here comes the guard.



Ha! That's hilarious! I always did find jesters funny. Looks like the rack's in use at the moment though, so we'll be saved a stretching.

Having worked off his anger, the Skorl leaves. He patrols back and forth between Diermot's cell and the torture room, so we'd better do something before he comes back.

There's a torch here, maybe if Diermot gets it, he can defend himself?



Your fumbling hand reaches out. The torch slips and falls onto your precious bed.


That was an accident waiting to happen! Does health and safety mean nothing to the Skorl?

Your former resting place is burning merrily away.

You should probably hide somewhere, mister butterfingers.


It's not the best hiding place, but we don't have much to work with here. Hopefully, the fire will be enough of a distraction.



Skorl: If 'e's too well done, da lads will 'ave me skinned!


Uh oh, time for a sharp exit!



A new room! But we're not out of the woods yet. We need to close and lock the door. You have to do both quickly or the Skorl catches you.


There, phase one of the plan complete. Not that we really had a plan, but we seem to be doing well on the fly.

So, where are we now? Let's look around...

THE OUTER CELL A wretched prisoner hangs pitifully from manacles fixed firmly to the wall. The room reeks with the smell of neglect which has permeated the decaying stones.

You'll notice that most rooms have names, it's important to remember the names of certain rooms later on.

Judging by the haggard, wasted features of the prisoner he is close to death. A cloth pouch hangs from his belt.

Let's have a word with this guy, see if he knows of any way out of here.


Fetch quest! This is officially a real adventure now!

So, let's go through that door and check the rest of this place out.



THE GUARD ROOM. This room, which serves as the living area for the Skorl guards, is filled with the stench of sweat, rancid food and stale beer.

There's a grille on the back wall, let's check it out.

The grille gives a view of the cell in which you had been imprisoned.


The Skorl guard just paces around, grunting about things he'd like to do to you.

Skorl: I'll kill 'im! Spill blood, grind bones!

He's so angry, he can't even be bothered to put out that fire.

There are a few useful items in this room. A green bottle and a knife, so let's get them.


A dusty green bottle has been left on the floor of the guard room.

Maybe there's some water in this barrel?

A tap projects from the base. By the stench, you deduct that the barrel contains strong Skorl liquor.

"Strong Skorl liquor" sounds a little vague, maybe we should try some.



Now that we're out of the cell, right-clicking on the background gives us a few more options. The most useful of which (right now at least), is Drink. So let's drink this stuff.

You gulp down the liquid greedily. It tastes disgusting.

I'm sure this is watery enough for that prisoner's needs. It's a liquid at least.

Before we go, let's have a look at this sack.

A dirty sack has been carelessly tossed into the corner of the room.

Maybe there's something inside? Let's use our knife to find out.

The knife easily slices through the thin material. The sack contains an array of Skorl waste.

Skorl waste? Surely you don't mean...


We're now one groat richer, with a total balance of one groat!



Diermot: What is your name?

Prisoner: I am Wulf, a humble trader. I was arrested for my part in a plot against the Skorl!

Diermot: How can I help you?

Wulf: Find the blacksmith! Tell him I sent you!

Diermot: What should I say?

Wulf: Tell him the girl is in danger! There is a traitor in the village!

Diermot: But how can we escape?

Wulf: There is a passage behind the loose bricks in the far...

With a groan, the prisoner's head falls forward. His words with you were to be his last.

Loose bricks in the far... east? That's no good to me. Unless he meant... the far wall...?


Aha! We're free at last!


Or maybe not... I'll need some help. Let's see if there's anyone else around.


Oh yeah, this guy.

THE TORTURE ROOM. The room is filled with the hideous apparatus of torture; an indefinable, pervasive atmosphere of fear hangs in the air. The walls have born witness to such scenes of horror that they seem to whisper their dread secrets.

The pitiful figure stretched on the rack looks up with sad, trusting eyes. His ankles are bound to the rack with leather cords. He appears to be wearing a jester's costume, a pathetic contrast to his condition.

Let's have a chat with this guy, he seems likely to help us.



Diermot: Your shrieks have driven me to distraction.

Serf: Sorry, my Lord. Perhaps you could cut out my tongue so's I won't disturb you?

Diermot: How did you come to be in this predicament?

Serf: I was trying to earn a few groats as an amateur jester, sir. The next thing I knew, some Skorl dragged me off and locked me up!

Diermot: Is it against the law to tell jokes nowadays?

Serf: I didn't think so. The one about three Skorl, a pineapple and a jug of cream went down well at the Chapletown Flailing Festival, but not so good at the Skorl captain's birthday party.

Diermot: Do not be alarmed - your suffering will soon be over!

Serf: My lord, I shall be your humble servant if you can but free me from this 'orrible machine.

So, let's see what we can do. Maybe we can loosen the straps by turning the crank?


Ah, no! Sorry! My bad! (Tee hee) Maybe if I cut the leather cord with my knife?



His face bears a simple expression and several layers of dirt, but his eyes are full of mischief and good humour. He is young and strong, despite his small build.

Diermot: Have you any idea how we might escape, Ratpouch?

Ratpouch: Well, we could disguise ourselves as dead people, then when they bury us we could jump up and run away!

Diermot: Do you really think that ridiculous plan would work?

Ratpouch: No, my Lord, I'll shut up shall I?

Ratpouch will now follow you around and generally be a lovable scamp throughout most of the game. Most importantly though, you can give him detailed commands by right clicking on him selecting Tell.


And this is why it helps to remember the names of certain rooms. Unfortunately, this feature is underused, but you can have as much fun with it as you like.



Ratpouch: Certainly, sir..

And he does. He can basically be programmed like a robot to do everything you want. Within reason.


Ratpouch pushes the bricks aside with ease and promptly disappears. Shall we follow him?



AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGHHHHH!!


SPLAT!

We managed to escape from Turnvale's dark, depressing dungeons.

Next time, we explore the town proper and meet its denizens.