Puzzle Timezone: 08/05 - 18/05 - Buried Alive

[Ginny]

Rules: Every week (or so) a post will be made with a list of items and a scenario. Using your wit, skill and lack of mental health; find a way to complete the scenario with the items provided. You can only use a set number of items of your own choice. When I say use your skill, use it.

For example: you have a boulder and a reinforced window. I advise not using Pick Up boulder chuck through window. Think of something adventuresque to use.

Voting: After the week voting shall commence!

What If I win?: The winner chooses the next scenario and list of items.
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The scenario is thus: You must invent any intro you want in which the player ends up underground, buried alive, 6 feet under. The spookier the better. The puzzle is obvious: get out before you stop breathing (lets say for fairness the hole is quite big. you might be in a coffin at first, or any other restrainments, or none at all).

You start the game with the following items (at least 2 of them must be used):
a can of lemonade
spoon
engagement ring
machete
a REALLY good book
a flashlight
a gun with only one bullet in it
2 items of your choice - which must make sense regarding the backstory of how you got there

You may find under the ground any amount of items of your own, as long as they are logical items, and one of them is a worm.

Finally, I want to see one or two things in the puzzle which show the atmosphere of the game, by scaring the player or whatever.

Go!!!

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

SCENE I:  EMERSON CEMETERY, DUSK

Through heavy rain one can see the rusted metal fencing around Emerson Cemetery, a hodgepodge of broken and ruddy tombstones rising from the rocky and unkempt foothills lying just beyond.

There is a flash of lightning, and suddenly we are looking over a tombstone in the shape of a cross and down into a deep, rectangular pit.  Looming just over it is a figure in a black shroud, a dangerous looking scythe clutched in a skeletal hand.  The figure is DEATH, keeper of balance and dark champion of the afterlife.

Death (tilting its' head over the freshly dug pit):  "You have violated the delicate balance between life and death for the last time, Simon Weller, and now you shall die at last."

A groan issues from the blackness below.  SIMON WELLER has awakened.

Simon:  "You'll pay for this treachery, abyssmal creature!  I made a pact more powerful than you can possibly imagine!"

There is a hiss from beneath the shroud, and suddenly the coffin Simon Weller is inside snaps shut. 

Death:  "Your end came long ago, Simon Weller, even before your bargain with the Devil.  Now balance shall be restored."

Muddy earth begins to stream around the sides of the pit, gradually filling it.  From within the coffin a shrill laugh can be heard

Simon:  "You cannot kill that which is eternal, fool!  I shall return, whether it be today or in ten years' time...I shall return to destroy you and claim my prize!"

Simon's threat is drowned under six feet of cold mud, and satisfied, Death turns around and fades into an encroaching mist...

FADE TO BLACK

SCENE II:  INSIDE SIMON'S COFFIN

A TIMER MADE OF BONES APPEARS IN THE LOWER RIGHT CORNER OF THE SCREEN, COUNTING DOWN FROM 10 MINUTES.  SIMON'S GOAL IS TO ESCAPE OR RUN OUT OF AIR AND COLLAPSE

Simon (fumbling):  "Where is that damned flashlight!?  I know I had one...Ah, here it is!"

Simon switches on the flashlight, revealing the dreary inside of an old and wretched coffin. 

Simon:  "There must be a way out of here...Think, fool!"

Searching around the coffin, Simon can discover several things:

His pistol is still in his pocket, all but one round of supernatural slayers spent on his longtime foe, Death.

     A disgusting earthworm that has been pushed through a sizeable hole in the      lid as mud was caked on top of it.

     A loose section of floorboard.

     Roland's skeleton lie beneath Simon, and he can take the skull.

If Simon takes the gun from his pocket and attempts to use it, this dialog occurs:

Simon:  "By the Hells, there is no way I will use this on myself!"


If Simon tries to take the earthworm this dialog occurs

Simon:  "I have no need for food...Yet."

If Simon takes the skull this dialog occurs

Simon:  "The very chap I came to the cemetery to see this night.  A'vey Du'gash!  Awaken, Roland, and serve me!"

There is a flash of murky green inside the coffin, and a putrid glow surrounds the skull, which hovers over Simon's feet.

Roland (chuckling):  "I see you have made MY resting place your own, Simon."

Simon:  "Not of my own will, I assure you; tell me how I might get out of this predicament."

Roland's skull rotates around, surveying the situation

Roland:  "I trust you invested in some life insurance?"

Simon:  "Very amusing.  What are my options?"

Roland:  "Very few; your enemy has done his homework well, but perhaps..."

Simon:  "What?  Tell me!"

Roland:  "Perhaps you could use the old Creeping Earth incantation I taught you long ago, though I doubt you possess either the strength or the resources to manage it."

Simon:  "The Creeping Earth incantation, yes!  You are a lifesaver, Roland!"

Roland:  "Then perhaps I may return to my rest now?"

Simon:  "No, not yet!  I came to you for another reason, but it will have to wait...I need to remember the ingredients for the incantation and get out of here first."


If Simon speaks to Roland's skull again, several dialog options appear:

Q: "Roland, tell me what the afterlife is like?"

A:  "It's not all fun and games, I assure you.  Particularly if you end up in Hell."

Q:  "What are the ingredients I require for the Creeping Earth incantation?"

A:  "You've forgotten?  All ingredients stem from the lifeforce of the very earth that surrounds us now:  something crawling in the earth, something spouting from the earth, something returning to the earth, and as always, an offering of blood.

Q:  "Who really killed you, Roland?"

A:  "I'd like to know the answer to that one, myself!"


If Simon investigates the loose floor board again (and has asked Roland about the ingredients) he will tear it loose.

Simon:  "Yes!  Something sprouting from the earth, the wood from a tree!"

If Simon investigates the pile of bones beneath him (and has asked Roland abou the ingredients) he will take Roland's femur

Simon:  "Something returning to the earth."

Roland:  "Couldn't you use something other than one of MY bones?"

Simon:  "You hardly need them anymore."

If Simon investigates the area where the board was torn he finds a nail.

If Simon takes the earthworm this dialog occurs

Simon:  "Yes, something crawling from the earth!"


If Simon uses the nail on himself this dialog occurs

Simon:  "An offering of blood."


When Simon possesses all of the ingredients this dialog occurs

Simon:  "And now to leave this foul prison and find my would-be assassin!"

Simon makes the incantation and there is a fierce explosion of earth and wood.

Looking down at the reopened pit, the hands of Simon Weller claw up to the surface and he lays beside the grave, coughing in the rain.

Roland's head levitates out of the hole and comes to rest atop the tombstone

Roland (surveying the surroundings):  "I expected to see much worse, actually.  We haven't made many friends in this life, you and I.  Still, it's rather ironic that my tombstone should be a cross."

Simon:  "I need to gather my strength...And I need a straight answer from you, Roland.  That's why I came here tonight.  Tell me how to destroy Death utterly."

Roland (chuckling):  "Ambitious aren't you Simon?"

FADE TO BLACK

[Ginny]

:o Lovely. Really atmospheric!

Keep 'em coming!

[Abisso]

Sorry for the intrusion, but I need to say that ProgZmax has done a really great work!

And that popped in my mind this phrase: "It is not dead which can eternal lye, but with strange eons, even death may die." H.P.Lovecraft.

This can become a marvelous game, really.

[Ginny]

That's all, one entry? I had thought at least a few people would be interested in writing about something as macabre as being buried alive..
Then again, I've been getting very influenced by Poe lately.

[mlsq42]

Assuming it's not too late...

Scene 1: Lost Souls Cemetery

The lack of rain, thunder, lightning or indeed anything except a pale, half full moon is perhaps more worrying than any storm would be.

Not to say there is nothing going on, as the 4 people (at least, you hope they are people) engaged in a heated argument next to a dug up grave (the engraving filed off the otherwise impressive marble headstone) fill the otherwise blank night with a feeling of expectation and perhaps a small amount of dread.

Scarlet: This is not your time, foul one!

Henrex: I make my own time.

Rev. Anderson: You will not disturb my plans!

Kane: Your plans will unleash an evil upon this world that makes this thing look like a lapdog!

Henrex: Watch your tounge, worm.

Kane: I am the Last Line. And it is my role to stop anyone crazy, stupid or in your case ugly enough to try and restore the-

Scarlet pulls out a pistol, and aims at the distracted Henrex.

Kane: NO!

Henrex spins, and snarls, transforming as Scarlet fires. The Rev jumps into the path and takes the bullet as Henrex turns into a classic werewolf. Kane takes a step forward and Henrex slams a paw into him, lifts him up and throws him into the open grave. He then spins and lunges at Scarlet, who runs. Henrex takes off after her.

Silence.

And then the Rev sits up suddenly.

Rev Anderson: Take more than a silver bullet to kill the likes of me.

He stands up, and looks around, and then into the grave, where a groan is heard. He chuckles.

Rev Anderson: What a perfect end to the Last Failure.

He holds out his hand, and a shovel materalises. He leans in and a *clunk* is heard, and he then begins to shovel dirt into the hole.

Scene 2: Inside the coffin.

The sound of dirt falling is constant. After a few moments, Kane groans and awakens.

Kane: That was...where the hell am I now?

Flashlight, flashlight...

A light appears, illumnating a rather demonic looking head, like a door knocker.

Kane: I am inside the coffin. That is empty.

Neither part of that is good.

Searching around the coffin itself bears a small hole in the floor, the spent casing from Scatlet's bullet, and the knocker.

The spent casing is a simple iron casing, the silver bullet gone. Kane pockets it.

The hole is no bigger than Kane's smallest finger, but he cannot stick it through as the power is still there, although it is not as powerful as it should be, since it has been opened.

The Knocker is a Keeper, a trapped demon used to keep what was meant to remain in this coffin inside the coffin. It has to be unlocked (by sacrifice) before Kane can even think of getting out of here.

Using the Knocker burns Kane.

Kane: Odd...

In his inventory is a spoon, a cloth pentagram, a gun, a machete, a can of lemonade, a ring, and the Really Useful Book.

The pentagram is a protective symbol, designed to stop minor demons and bothersome imps. It also doubles as a hankercheif.

The gun has only one bullet in it. If Kane tries it on himself,

Kane: No no. This bullet is marked for another. Literally.

The machete is a big, heavy cutting knife.

Kane: It's surprising just how many creatures, demonic or not, can't stand up to a few good whacks with a heavy blade.

The Book, bound in the hardest leather, has been written and added to for over 100 generations, ever since Kane's first ancenstor defeated his first demon.

Kane: Although I was the first to Index it. And being buryed alive is alas not covered. Yet.

The can of lemonade is...a can of lemonade.

Kane: 6-Up, my favourite brand.

And I have too much good taste to make that pun.

The ring-

Kane: Tis my engagement ring.

To the woman who's led me to be down here.

I won't hold it against her.

Looking or trying to use the spoon burns Kane, and he drops the spoon.

Kane: Oh by all that is...I'm a Werewolf now?

At this point the dirt stops raining down.

Kane: I am not sure if suffocation can kill a werewolf, but I am not about to find out just yet!

Trying to pick up the spoon as is fails.

Kane: It is unbearable.

Using the hankercheif on the spoon allows Kane to pick it up.

Kane: Well it seems I have a companion now.

The spoon has a worm on it. Using this on the Knocker leads the worm to being sucked into the Knocker's mouth like spagetti. The face changes from fearsome to blank.

Kane: It has been weakened if that is enough of a sacrifice.

Now to escape. Perhaps there is a useful spell...

Using the book on Kane leads to a discovery.

Kane: This seems fitting, a growing spell. I require something non-alive to expand, and an acid in which some small life force must be disolved.

Using the hole pulls out a small amount of dirt.

Looking at the dirt,

Kane: To think of all the creatures that live around us. In this small ball must be millions of germs...

Using the dirt and the can of lemonade-

Kane: Excellent. But what to use this on? I must expand something that will push up against the earth but that I do not need.

Using the can on various items,

Coffin: No, it will be pushed down on all sides, I need something more focused.

Knocker: That will only make it stronger.

Spoon: I cannot hold it to control it's growth direction.

Cloth Pentagram: I do not need a rug.

Gun: No, I need this too much.

Machete: It won't push enough dirt.

Really Useful Book: Are you mad?

Using it on the casing casts the spell, and after some passes with the can, it shoots up and out. It slams into the coffin lid and then pushes it.

The earth explodes, and Kane emerges.

Kane: First, cure my lycanthropy. Second, kill that dammed Reverend. Third, save the world.

Fourth, argue with Scarlet.

[JudgeDeadd]

The time's up long ago...

[Ishmael]

What's happened to Ginny? 

[AGA]

Guess it comes down to a public vote then. Vote away!

[JudgeDeadd]

I vote Progzmax.

[Dart]

What's happened to Ginny? 

Maybe she got buried alive. D:

I vote Proggy.

[Ginny]

Well, assuming a new one hasn't been started, ProgZmax is the winner! Congratz, and start a new one:)

mlsq42 had a great entry aswell, but it's up to the votes this time.

(Btw, I was errm, busy, sorry.. )