alices_nightmare

by Jonathan Green

  If you want Alice to approach the sleeping creature, turn to 293. If you think it best to let sleeping sea mammals lie, turn to 312.

  274

  At another junction in the path Alice is following through the maze, tucked away in the corner, is a quaint potting shed. If you think Alice should take a look inside, turn to 294; if not, turn to 284.

  275

  “Well, they do say that the best form of defence is attack,” Alice tries to convince herself, although she’s not sure who ‘they’ are to give such warmongering advice. ‘They’ also say only to seek battle after the victory has already been won.

  If Alice is able to use The Pen is Mightier ability to resolve this battle in her favour, turn to 519. If not, or you do not want her to use that ability now, turn to 499.

  276

  Hearing the sound of strong wingbeats coming from beyond the walls of the ivory tower, Alice races back down the stairs into the courtyard at the foot of the keep.

  “Oh, Gryphon! Dear Gryphon! You’re alive!” Alice cries, tears streaming down her cheeks.

  “Do you have the sword?” the Gryphon asks as the child buries her face in its feathers.

  “I do,” Alice replies with a sniff.

  “Then climb on my back once more and let us return to Wonderland.”

  Alice does as the Gryphon says and with one bound, the magnificent creature takes to the sky again. They fly over the foetid forest, eventually coming to land in a clearing before the mirror portal by which Alice arrived on the island of the Jabberwock.

  It is then that a blood-curdling howl breaks the eerie silence of the wood. It is the same howl Alice heard when she first arrived here, only it is so close now that she can almost feel the breath of the beast at her back.

  “Do what needs to be done,” the Gryphon tells Alice as she jumps down from his back. “I will guard the portal to make sure that nothing follows you through.”

  Alice opens her mouth as if about to speak but then stops herself. The Gryphon is right. She has to finish this.

  The glass becoming a silvery mist at her touch, she steps through… And then she is back in the palace, where the Red Queen is waiting for her.

  Turn to 41.

  277

  The Unicorn bucks, throwing Alice off before she can vault over its back. She lands hard on the gravel path, jarring her shoulder and grazing her arm.

  Lose 2 Endurance points. If Alice is still able to, turn to 299 and prepare for battle!

  278

  Trying to come up with an escape plan while two mechanical monsters are bearing down on her is very off-putting for Alice. Unable to think of something in time, she panics and screams as she looks up into the watch-case eyes of the automaton assassins. (In this fight, the Tick-Tock Men have the initiative.)

  COMBAT ENDURANCE

  First TICK-TOCK MAN 7 7

  Second TICK-TOCK MAN 7 7

  If Alice manages to defeat her aggressors, turn to 314.

  279

  The Frog Footman towers over Alice now, its body muscular and glistening with slime. Opening its mouth again, it tries to ensnare Alice once more with its lash-like tongue. (The Frog Footman has the initiative.)

  FROG FOOTMANCOMBAT 8 ENDURANCE 8

  If the Footman scores two consecutive hits against Alice it manages to catch her with its tongue and pulls her into its mouth where it bites her causing double the usual amount of damage. (Being in possession of a shield will not protect Alice from the Frog’s bite.)

  If Alice slays the Frog Footman, turn to 259.

  280

  The gavel path ends at a white-painted arbour, smothered with wisteria. Sat upon a table, inside the arbour, is a glass bottle containing a bright blue liquid.

  “I wonder what will happen if I drink from the bottle?” Alice says to herself, suspecting that she knows exactly what will happen if she drinks the potion contained within.

  If you want Alice to drink from the bottle, turn to 74. If not, the only other option open to her is to go back the way she has just come – turn to 270.

  281

  “Well, this really isn’t my cup of tea at all!” declares Alice, crossly. “If it was up to me, I’d see you sent packing to a village fete and have the local children smash you to pieces with wooden balls.” And saying that, she takes hold of the end of the table cloth and, giving it a sharp tug, whips it out from under the Tea Service.

  Cups, plates, sugar bowl and teapot all come crashing off the end of the table, the knives, forks and spoons landing amongst the broken pieces of crockery.

  Turn to 298.

  282

  Walking beneath a trellis walk bedecked with vivid purple wisteria, Alice reaches a crossroads in the garden’s gravel paths. Ahead of her is an open white wooden gate that leads, via a gravel path, to a neat little house, while to her left the hedges of the garden have been trained and trimmed to resemble all manner of exotic animals.

  Wanting only to keep moving forwards, and not retrace her steps or head back in the direction from which she has come, ignoring the path to her right, should Alice go through the gate in front of her (turn to 2) or make her way towards the topiary at the south-east corner of the garden, turn to 173.

  283

  “Cheshire Puss!” she exclaims in delight. “How wonderful to see a friendly face in Wonderland.”

  The Cat says nothing, but merely fixes Alice with its emerald eyes, with a grin on its face that stretches from ear to ear.

  “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”

  “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” says the Cat.

  “I need to reach the Queen of Hearts’ Palace, or so I have been led to believe,” says Alice.

  “Ah, then you will need to make your way through the Maze to get there,” the Cat tells her.

  “And do you know the way through?”

  “I may do,” comes the Cat’s cryptic reply, “but before I can divulge such information and give away my secrets, first I must determine who you are.”

  “And how do you suggest we do that?” Alice asks the Cheshire Cat.

  “By asking and answering a series of questions. I will ask them and you must answer them correctly to prove that you are who you say you are.”

  Unless you want Alice to ignore the feline and continue on her way (turn to 216), it looks like she has little choice but to play the Cheshire Cat’s game (turn to 303).

  284

  Leaving the potting shed behind, which path should Alice take to continue on her way through the labyrinth? Should she go:

  East? Turn to 330.

  South? Turn to 350.

  285

  As Alice proceeds along the path, the tendrils of mellow mist that snake around the trunks of the towering toadstools thicken to become a miasmic haze, thick with the sweet smell of mould and decay.

  She finds herself entering a hollow, at the centre of which is a large mushroom. It is about the same height as herself; and when she has looked under it, and on both sides of it, and behind it, it occurs to her that she might as well look and see what is on the top of it.

  Stretching herself up on tiptoe, Alice peers over the edge of the mushroom, and she finds herself nose to nose with a monstrous larva at least twice as long as she is tall. Its head is a bulbous mass of soft rippling flesh, while a series of pseudopods and jointed legs run the length of both sides of its undulating body. And the thing appears to be smoking a hookah pipe.

  Take an Insanity test. If Alice passes the test, turn to 323. If she fails the test, turn to 306.

  286

  The ground beneath her feet becomes firmer, mud giving way to hard ground, as Alice eventually reaches the far side of the swamp.

  The path Alice is following through the tulgey wood forks in front of a gnarled
leafless tree, which has a particularly pronounced, bulging root bole. Standing before the tree, Alice considers which way to proceed.

  To the right, the path becomes a rocky trail as it climbs between tumbled boulders into a range of scarred crags beyond. To the left, the path winds and wends its way between looming oaks into a denser region of the forest.

  Alice feels weary after trudging through the swamp, and everything that came before that. If you would like Alice to rest awhile here, at the foot of the tree, turn to 297. If you think it best she doesn’t delay and should be on her way again, should she follow the path to the left (turn to 364) or the path to the right (turn to 22)?

  287

  “And now you die!” roars the monster, the child’s voice transformed to become a rumbling dragon-roar. Preparing to wield the Vorpal Sword one more time, Alice readies herself for her final battle.

  (Alice has the initiative in this battle, but the Vorpal Sword will only cause 3 Endurance points of damage to the monster’s iron-hard scales, rather than the usual 4.)

  JABBERWOCKCOMBAT 11 ENDURANCE 18

  If Alice somehow manages to slay the Jabberwock, turn to 520.

  288

  The Unicorn bucks, trying to throw Alice off, but she is too quick for the strange, shrub-like creature, launching herself into the air and over its rump, landing in a crouch on the path beyond.

  Without daring to look behind her to assess the creatures’ reaction to her escape, Alice sprints away, the gravel crunching noisily with her every running footfall. Turn to 246.

  289

  The door handle turns and Alice steps over the threshold.

  “Here!” the Footman suddenly shouts. “You can’t go in there! You’re not invited!”

  Alice turns to see the Frog Footman running towards her and as it does so it begins to swell, its uniform ripping along the seams, no longer able to contain the alarmingly metamorphosing amphibian.

  The Frog opens its wide mouth and a long tongue shoots out like a whip, missing Alice by a hair’s breadth.

  If she is still able to use The Pen is Mightier ability, now might be a good time for Alice to do so (turn to 269). If not, she must prepare to meet the angry Footman’s attack (turn to 279).

  290

  Her water-logged clothes threatening to drag her to the bottom of the briny deep, with confident strokes, Alice starts to swim for the shore, dearly hoping that there aren’t any more crocodiles at large!

  Take an Endurance test. If Alice’s passes the test, turn to 88. If she fails, turn to 23.

  291

  As Alice enters the forest she passes from broad daylight into a sinister, unwelcoming twilight. Following the path deeper into the preternatural gloom, the trees give way to towering fungal forms, toadstools that appear to be taller than the trees themselves, so that Alice starts to wonder if she has shrunk with every step she has taken into the forest.

  And then the path she is following comes to an abrupt end before a tree trunk that has fallen across the path, blocking the way onward. Climbing onto the top of the log Alice sees that the path continues on the other side of a boggy hollow, but she will have to somehow navigate the dank depression to reach it.

  Between Alice and the continuance of the path are several massive toadstools of the fly agaric genus, with broad red caps speckled with white blemishes. Perhaps Alice could jump from one to the other and so cross the hollow that way. Alternatively she could just slide down into the ditch and cross the muddy ground beneath the fungi and make her way across that way.

  Which is it to be? To climb down into the leaf mould and mud at the bottom of the hollow, turn to 301. To try jumping from one toadstool to the next and cross that way, turn to 311.

  292

  Alice goes to take the Vorpal Sword from the king’s stone cold grasp but it is trapped and there isn’t time to free it before the Red Knight is on her, and Alice is forced to defend herself as best she can. (The Red Knight has the initiative in this battle.)

  RED KNIGHTCOMBAT 11 ENDURANCE 12

  If Alice bests the Knight in single combat, turn to 484.

  293

  Creeping up to the beached beast, wondering if it needs to be rolled back into the sea, Alice is taken by surprise when the creature rears up on its thick tail and lashes out at her with a huge flipper-like appendage.

  Take an Agility test. If Alice passes the test, turn to 348, but if she fails the test, turn to 332.

  294

  Opening the creaky wooden door, Alice steps into the musty gloom of the shed. The air is thick with the smell of compost and spider-webs curtain the small cracked window.

  On a bench Alice finds several items of interest. One is a stoppered bottle containing a dark brown liquid. A label, written on card, is tied to the neck of the bottle. On it, in a spidery hand, have been written the words ‘Bloom’s Patent Plant Provender’. There is also a jar containing bright blue pellets labelled ‘Slug Knacker’. Hanging from a nail on the wall is a Spade, its blade shaped like a spade on a playing card.

  If Alice doesn’t already have one, the Spade might prove an effective weapon, causing 3 Endurance points damage every time she makes a successful strike against an opponent. If you want Alice to take the Slug Pellets or Bloom’s Patent Plant Provender with her, record whatever she takes on Alice’s Adventure Sheet.

  Now turn to 284.

  295

  The Ogre dead, Alice decides against exploring its cave, not knowing what else might be lurking within, and instead sets off again through the wood. It is not long before she sees the battlements of an ancient fortress appear above the tops of the sickly trees ahead of her.

  Turn to 512.

  296

  The next door is locked, and so is the one after that. Alice keeps trying one door after another, the sound of the Tick-Tock Men’s clockwork getting louder, as they come closer, all the time.

  And then, just when she thinks she can almost feel their outstretched metal talons at her back, the handle she is trying turns, the door opens, and she throws herself through, slamming it shut again behind her.

  Alice is surprised to find herself suddenly bathed in bright sunshine. She is standing at the end of a winding gravel path that leads to a neatly kept house. She can make out a polished brass plate on the front door of the house but she cannot make out the name engraved upon it.

  Turn to 2.

  297

  Alice is quite happy to rest awhile beneath the leafless tree, and consider what might await her at the end of either path. (Regain 2 Endurance points.)

  However, as in uffish thought she sits, the sounds of the tulgey wood encroach on her position again, a whiffling, and a burbling, and the clip-clop of a horse’s hooves somewhere far off through the mist and murk.

  Alice looks up at the tree with its overhanging branches and the cracks in its pitted bark that she could almost believe form eyes and a mouth. “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” Alice asks, addressing the tree.

  At that, the bark of the trunk splits and opens like a mouth, lined with teeth made of huge wooden splinters.

  “Oh no!” exclaims Alice. “This won’t do at all!” And tries to take a step back from the snarling tree. But she can’t move.

  While she has been resting in the shadow of the Tumtum Tree, the pernicious plant’s roots have snared her feet. Tentacle-like tendrils shoots out of the trunk, wrap around Alice’s arms and start pulling her towards the gaping, splinter-lined maw. Straining with all her might, Alice starts to fight back.

  Take an Endurance test. If Alice passes, turn to 307; if she fails, turn to 317.

  298

  Alice decides that she has had enough of this place, but as she is wondering which way to go, she catches sight of a broad grin, floating two feet above the path that leads east away from the fur-thatched cottage. Unable to contain he
r curiosity she sets off along the path, even as the smile fades back into thin air.

  Turn to 6.

  299

  The topiary terrors bear down on the terrified child, their thorny talons bared. To use The Pen is Mightier ability, turn to 439. If you do not want Alice to use this ability, or she is no longer able to, turn to 428.

  300

  Some call the yew tree the Tree of Death, since it grows abundantly in graveyards. Some people even believe that its shadow is particularly dark and potent. Perhaps that is why the paths of the maze are so shaded, and the way ahead so obscured.

  Coming to another junction, which way do you want Alice to go now?

  East? Turn to 320.

  South? Turn to 330.

  West? Turn to 270.

  301

  Sliding down the muddy bank into the hollow, Alice begins to pick her way through the mulch, mud and mould. It is only then that she notices wriggling movement in the deeper shadows underneath the toadstools.

  The rotting detritus of the forest is alive with massive fly larvae. Their pulsating white bodies writhe and twist towards Alice as, thanks to some unknowable preternatural sense, they detect her presence and wriggle towards her.