Winners of the 2000 IFComp

It will but skin and film the ulcerous place,

Whilst rank corruption, mining all within,

Infects unseen."

Welcome to the Citadel of Justice. The Inquisitor is waiting.

As an adventurer hired by the demolitions contractor to kleptomaniacially clear out this mansion, you must engage in wordplay in order to gather all the items inside. It is not necessary to think of puns, cliches, or homonyms, however, as has been the case with previous logological interactive fiction. The puzzles in Ad Verbum are of a different -- and perhaps even unique -- nature.

The sound of windblown sand smoothing the dunes and scouring the city walls is the only song nature produces in Hajima. You have seen representations of colorful and exotic birds in your brother's books, creatures who are said to produce music more easily than a musician's flute, even found in the market rare insects and reptiles that chirr or hum in pleasing tones. But sandsong is not kind to life. The beasts bred for desert work are thick-skinned, dull, and plodding. There is no beauty in them.

The men who drive them are little more appealing, wrapped in the rough, colorless cloth that is all they can afford to protect them from the blowing sand. Brutes and slavers, suitable for nothing more than labor.

Perhaps it is this attitude that has kept you unmarried and untouched, despite your brother's urgings. Even in the slender courtiers with their gold and silks you see reflected the hateful black eyes of the drovers.

You are Aika Sabakan, a free woman of high social class, and no one can force you to do anything against your will, not even carry on the family line.

Kitty called you up last night at some inhuman time, and implored you to come over to her house at the edge of town. You've known Kitty for many years, but still can't quite make her out. The only sure thing is that she never fails to get you into some sort of trouble. But you've finally agreed to stay at her strange house for a few nights, while she's away on some 'extremely important business.'

When you arrive, already in the middle of the night, you find Kitty in a state of turmoil. Still, she lets you in, and before you know it, she is gone. Strangely, you don't hear her open or close the door - in fact, the door leading outside has been left locked, and you haven't got the key. So it seems you are trapped here until Kitty returns.

Dark clouds drift overhead and the ocean swirls angrily around the boat. You can barely make out anything in front of you.

Despite your attempts to keep the boat upright, a huge wave hits you and dumps you into the raging ocean. You plunge deep into the water and everything is confusion. You can't tell up from down as you struggle to make your way to the surface. You see what appears to be an island and use all your strength to swim towards it. After struggling with the surf, you pull yourself onto a beach. Tired and with muscles aching, you black out and sleep for what seems like hours.............

And when you wake up, you don't know where you are. Some kind of island, but you can't see or hear anything to indicate it's inhabited. One thing is clear though. You must somehow get off this speck in the middle of the ocean.

"My son. I am proud of the responsible young man you have become. But, thinking back over my life, I can't get Golgotha out of my mind. As you know, my life was changed from witnessing that event. I'd seen so many crucified, yet he was different. He didn't resist when they drove in the spikes. His plea to Heaven was for our forgiveness, not his rescue! It is hard to believe, we were the ones killing him and he asked God to forgive us! Surely, he was the son of God!"

The father shifts in bed, weazing slightly. "I've prayed to God that you will learn about the man that I only had a glimpse of. I believe God has answered my prayer. You are to leave tomorrow on a journey of discovery to learn more about God's son, Jesus Christ."

After a fit of desperate gasping ends, the father continues. "Son, I beg you to go. Don't worry about your mother and I. But do come back as soon as your are finished. I want to hear about the journey and what you've found ... before I die."

Jarod immediately responds with "Yes, father" even though his mind is racing. It is filled with excitement, a sense of adventure, and a slight fear of the unknown.