Part 1: Introduction and arrival on the island
The introduction: Youtube
You may want to watch the intro, or at least leave it on as background music as you read through the update.
We join the fearsome pirate Nelly Cootalot in the midst of a turbulent sea battle.
: Zzz......snr...
?
!
: ...zzz...
: Nelly? : ...sleepy time now...: Avast!
: Truly, many tides have come and gone since I danced the hempen jig...
: But now, Captain Cootalot, I return from the depths o'Davey Jones's locker.A brief reprise only, to see ye.
: Me... why?: My time above the waves grows short, but I'll tell ye this...In life I was the scourge of the Seven Seas, and the champion of all creatures sweet and defenseless.
That mantle I now pass on to ye.
: Really... what does that mean?: Yonder island be a salty backwater called the Barony of Meeth, once famed for a mighty fleet o'saucy birds called spoonbeaks...: I love spoonbeaks!: For many days now, not a spoonbeak has been seen on the isle of Meeth. : What?: They have vanished, every one, and that be a terrible omen of ill fortune...They must be found!
Accept ye the quest?
: Aye, aye, Captain Bloodbeard!: I'll conjure a ghostly current to carry ye to the shores of Meeth.Unravel the mystery, Nelly, and save the spoonbeaks!
I'll leave ye these words: look to the Baron!
Farewell!
: It's Nellytime.
And now we can start the game proper, with well defined long-term and short-term goals, no less. The interface is fairly minimalistic:
We have "look" "pickup/use" and "talk". We also have the usual limitless adventure game inventory, presumably carried in Nelly's adventuring corset.
If we try looking at, poking, and talking to a nearby cactus:
:These needles look spiky.
It IS fun to stroke cactuses, but I'm on a mission.
I don't reckon it'll answer.
With our
: Y'all reet there Cootania?She's fine.
We can explore the only item of note in our general vicinity.
The Barnacle bar.
: I heard of this place. It used to be popular in the heyday of piracy.I think it might fall down if I touched it.
With little of note outside except some graffiti
: It's just crazy gibberish.We head into the bar proper.
Barnacle Bar Theme:
Guess what we find inside?
Hey, mission accomplished. That was quick.
:It's too high for me to read it... and I don't want to just tear it off the wall.
Someone needs lessons in basic pirating etiquette. Anything else we can conceivably grab?
: A donation box for the "Rogues Gallery". I can't take it, it's screwed to the wall.
How about...
: My mana must be low, they didn't even wobble. Curses! And not an inn or ether selling shop in sight.
Might as well have a chat with the locals then.
: The bad kind of scurvy.Fair enough. What about the barkeep?
: I like the cut of this fella's jib. Come to think of it... how long has it been since I had my jib cut?
Let's go sublimate all the energy into heroic endeavors then.
: Ahoy there!
: Cap'n Nelly Cootalot at your service.: May I be askin' what bring you to the Barony of Meeth? 
We'll play it safe here, just in case:
: Mainly looting, some pillaging.: Mighty glad to hear you be keepin' the old traditions alive.Of course, try anything in here, and I'll hit you with a mackrel.
: And I'll have your eyes for icecubes!: Don't mind him, he's just a drunken old swabbie. : Dahr.
Dialogue trees, the bread and butter of a proper adventure game.
: Who calls the shots around here?: Well, I'm the proprietor...
: No, I mean who's in charge of the island?: Baron Widebeard.: 
: Uhuh.You'll know him when you see him.
: : What drinks do you serve?
Quite the assortment. Unfortunately:
: I want a drink......but I don't want to spend any money.
:You're in a pickle.Hey, maybe Captain Rehab will offer to buy you a drink!
: Don't even joke about that, Friday!Nelly is about to talk to Captain Rehab, when:
: Though it could be a proclamation scroll or a degree certificate.Problees a map.
...
Can I take this map?
: That map be steeped in nautical history and piratical lore.It don't belong in the hands of Landlubber Crockle.
...
: It says, "A Tourists guide to the Barony of Meeth".: Okay, take it.
Well, Friday seems like a reasonable guy. Guess we can confide in him:
: Where can I find a spoonbeak?: Them goofy lookin' birds?: Proud and noble creatures, yes.: Used to be all over the island, they did...... haven't seen them around lately, though.
:/
And we get to talk to scurvy guy.
: Ahoy, fellow sea dog!: Hhnr!:...Umm...
: I was laughin' at the idea o'you bein' a pirate!Hhnr, hhnr, hhnr!
: That's laughing? : That it be, little miss not-a-pirate.: I'm a pirate just like a you.Except prettier, and cleaner...less smelly, and without that world-weary gaze in my eyes.
: Shhnr!: You aren't nice!: No, I'm a pirate.:Shut up, I'm so piratey I can:
Which option do you think we should go for?