A beautiful Fae Queen, grand ballrooms, mysterious elixirs, deadly creatures.. you finds yourself surrounded by strange new sights. Should you be delighted or afraid? Perhaps you need to take a closer look...
On this page, you will learn how to 'see' the characters, objects and environment of Castle Marrach.
Definitions
In real life, there's a lot of difference between a fleeting look at something and thoroughly examining something - not least, how much you'd notice about the object. The same applies in Castle Marrach.
To mark these differences, Castle Marrach uses specific terms and verbs:
- Brief: The target's name as shown in your emotes, e.g., "the floor", "red velvet dress", "Queen Vivienne".
- Glance: Used only for rooms, this is the text you see when your character first moves into a room.
- Look: A basic description, revealed instantly.
- Examine: A detailed description, revealed after a short delay of 'examining' time.
Looking
A look represents a 'quick glance' by the character, providing a small amount of basic information about it instantly.
You can look at a room by typing look, or the shortcut l. 'Looking' at a room will also show the positions of any characters or objects in the room.
> look
Stone walls rise so high and thick around this great open courtyard that the cruelest of the winter winds do not reach to the bottom. Nonetheless, the quiet air is cold here, for the sun's rays never reach the smoothly-paved ground either. Great iron lanterns overhead throw a flickering light down to the center of the courtyard, causing strange dark blue shadows to dance on the frost in the far murky corners. To the west, three steps lead up to an archless passageway. To the east, two stairways run up along the wall to meet on a high raised landing, in front of an arch in the eastern wall. A quartz fountain is built into the wall between the eastern stairs.
You are standing near the doors of the green bronze archway. A large barrel is standing in the center of the courtyard. A short courier is standing near a large barrel.
You can look at a character or object by typing look [target], or the shortcut l [target].
> l fountain
An elegant fountain made of white and golden quartz, built into the wall between the eastern stairways. It has a 3-sided rim wide enough to sit on, and is framed by a beautiful arch built on the eastern stairway wall. A stream of water falls from beneath it, into the basin below. There are brackets in the arch that seem to have been cleanly removed, yet the mounting holes remain.
Examining
Examining something is more thorough than just looking, and will provide more information about the character, object or room. However, to recognise the greater scrutiny, there is a short delay before the details are shown.
You can examine a room by typing examine, or the shortcut exam. 'Examining' a room will also show the positions of any characters or objects in the room.
> exam
You begin to examine your surroundings.
This vast space, though open to the sky above, is oddly dark and still. The high walls protecting it from the wind also block the sun's rays, and the smooth grey stones paving the ground never feel the touch of warmth. The courtyard is lit by great iron lanterns on either side of both the east archway and the west archless passageway, but the flickering torchlight only serves to cast dark shadows into the far corners. Three broad, low curved steps lead up to an unfinished opening to the west. A double set of stairs run up alongside the east wall to meet in the center on a high raised landing, in front of a grand arch leading eastward to another part of the castle. Below the eastern arch, built into the wall between the eastern stairs is a quartz fountain. Opening into the north wall of the courtyard are a narrow passageway (at the eastern end), and a door (on the west side). A tower stands against the south end of the courtyard, with a doorway in its base. Various windows, galleries, and parapets overlook the courtyard. The arch of the western exit seems to have been damaged.
You are standing near the doors of the green bronze archway. A large barrel is standing in the center of the courtyard. A short courier is standing near a large barrel.
You can examine a character or object by typing examine [target], or the shortcut exam [target]
> exam fountain
You begin to examine a quartz fountain.
The fountain is made of white and golden quartz, and is comprised of two short end walls, and one long front wall. A wide rim, suitable for sitting on, tops all three of the two-foot high walls. The fourth side of the fountain consists of the wall between the Outer Bailey's eastern stairs, which has had an elegant arch of quartz added to it. There are brackets in the arch that seem to have been cleanly removed, yet the mounting holes remain. A small stone lip protrudes under the brackets, through which a stream of water falls to the water in the basin below, filling the courtyard with the calming sound of running water.
As your character is paying particular attention to whatever it is they're examining, other players in the room will see that you are examining your target:
Armsman Assan begins to examine a quartz fountain.
Be careful - some characters may react badly to being examined. After all, how do you like it when someone stares at you?!
Skill-based insights
You may be able to see more information about a specific object if your character has certain skills.
For example, when examining something in the Hospital, an ordinary character may see:
> exam my jar
You begin to examine your yellow jar salve.
A small yellow jar of salve with a caduceus painted on it. You do not feel confident enough in medicinal studies to determine what this salve is used for.
However, having a high enough level of "Healer" skill would reveal additional information:
> exam my jar
You begin to examine your yellow jar salve.
A small yellow jar of salve with a caduceus painted on it. Your experience in medicine helps you recognize this salve as useful for soothing itching skin.
Similarly, examining some objects will trigger a skill check against one of your character's stats. A 'challenge rating' is set, and you will automatically roll a d20 dice + your mind stat level to see if you hit that number. The higher the 'challenge rating', the more difficult the check is. You will be shown the result of your roll and whether you have passed...
> exam bookcase
You begin to examine one of the bookcases.
[Perceiving SUCCESS] Result: 23 (Base: 8 + Roll: 15)
A random one of the bookcases that line the eastern, western and northern walls. The bookcase is filled with several tomes of various colors and sizes. You notice faint scrapes on the floor, as if the bookcase has been recently moved.
... or failed...
> exam bookcase
You begin to examine one of the bookcases.
[Perceiving FAIL] Result: 9 (Base: 8 + Roll: 2)
A random one of the bookcases that line the eastern, western and northern walls. The bookcase is filled with several tomes of various colors and sizes.
... but not what the 'challenge rating' was. In many cases, you will only be able to perform this check once.
