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You frantically paddle over the dark shape towards the nearest island. As you do, you see the shape getting bigger and bigger. You're almost past it when it surfaces, clipping your raft and knocking you into the water. It's a giant turtle! It's jaws snap down on the remains of your raft as you swim towards the island, and then the creature silently sinks once more into the water.\n\nWith that creature in the water you don't dare swim back to shore, and the island you're on doesn't have anything you can use to make a boat. You have to wait on the island for a few days for a passing vessel to pick you up, and you miss the Harvest Feast. You miss your family but you'll have to wait to see them - back to the Wizard Tower!\n\nTHE END

You step into the maze. You can see that the monsters have left a trail of things that they stole from your bag - quills, bits of food, and various potion ingredients. You can hear the monsters snuffling and laughing to themselves as they start tearing your spellbook apart.\n\n<<choice 'Jump at the monsters to startle them'>>\n<<choice 'Cast a spell at the monsters'>>\n<<choice 'Throw an ear of corn at the monsters'>>

The monsters all look eagerly at this new food and start to fight over it. You throw another ear of corn farther down the hedge maze and they race after it, and you are able to grab your spellbook from the ground where they left it. It's a little banged up but nothing some cleaning won't fix. The monsters turn around and see you, then take off. They scale the hedge maze walls, running off into the woods.\n\n[[Walk down to the shore]]

The warm air of summer has been replaced with a crisp fall wind. You have been at the Wizard's Tower for many weeks now, learning and growing as a skilled magic user. The Great Googolplex, the mightiest wizard in the entire Counting Kingdom, has been training you every day. Some of the exercises may seem a little odd at first - you're still not sure why he had you fetch him exactly one of every kind of cookie from the Royal Ovens - but you can feel yourself getting stronger every day.\n\nThe apples have all been picked from the trees, and this week is the Harvest Festival. You stayed up late last night watching the fireworks but now it's time for you to return home for the Harvest Feast. It's a long and dangerous road.\n\n[[I'm ready!]]\n

You walk out of the city with your bag slung over your shoulder. The hilly countryside is dotted with small castles and hamlets. You walk up to the top of one of the tallest hills and put your bag down for a break. Walking to the edge of the hilltop you survey the countryside. To get home you'll need to traverse the meadows, cross the harbor, and travel through the deep forest.\n\nYou'd better get started! You walk back to your bag, only to find its contents spilled all over the place. Someone - or something - has been through it! And your spellbook is missing! You look up to see two sets of monster footprints leading away from the bag. One set leads to a small castle, and one set leads to a large castle.\n\n<<choice 'Go to the small castle'>>\n<<choice 'Go to the large castle'>>

You look through your bag to see if there's anything that can help. You have food for a picnic, your spellbook and wand, and lots of little odds and ends that have accumulated at the bottom of your bag over the last few months. You pull out a cork, needle, and magnet.\n\n[[Ah-hah!]]

You hold onto your raft for dear life, and the wave takes you all the way to the other shore. It looks like the creature wants you out of it's waters, and you're happy to stand on solid ground again!\n\n[[Travel into the woods]]

You lay your head on the soft moss, and you feel warm and safe. Something tickles your ear and you hear a soft whisper "That's right brave Apprentice, just fall asleep."\n\n<<choice 'Wait, what?'>>\n<<choice 'Fall into a deep sleep'>>

You look around at the forest surrounding you, but nothing looks familiar. The late-day sun streams through the trees, creating brilliant golden sunbeams. That's it - the sun! The sun sets in the West so you orient yourself with the sun at your back. East towards home!\n\n[[Finish the journey home]]

You walk the short distance left to your home, and can smell the delicious baked goods your family has prepared for the Harvest Feast. \n\nIt was a long and difficult journey but you're glad to see your family. Next week you'll be back studying at the Wizard's Tower with the Great Googolplex!\n\nTHE END

You come at last to the woodlands near your home, but this part of the forest is unfamiliar to you. The leaves have turned yellow with the seasons, and you see two paths leading into the woods. One looks well-worn; likely many travelers have used it recently. The other one appears more overgrown.\n\n<<choice 'Take the well-worn path'>>\n<<choice 'Take the overgrown path'>>

You quietly poke your head into the small barn. You see horses and farming equipment, but no monsters. You prowl around a little more, but don't see anything out of order. As you turn to leave, you see a huge shadow looming in the doorway.\n\n[[Yikes!]]

You leap behind the tree as all three monsters descend onto your picnic basket. They snarl and tear their way through the food faster than you've ever seen anything eat. With a loud burp, the three finish up and take off. You look at the remains of your meal and your stomach rumbles. It looks like you'll be going hungry until you get home.\n\n[[Finish the journey home]]

You cast a spell at the turtle, but it just bounces off the turtle's back as it sinks back into the depths. You're not yet a strong enough wizard to take on an ancient creature such as this. The wave knocks you off your raft, and you have to swim towards the nearest island.\n\nNow that you've angered the creature you don't dare swim back to shore, and the island you're on doesn't have anything you can use to make a boat. You have to wait on the island for a few days for a passing vessel to pick you up, and you miss the Harvest Feast. You miss your family but you'll have to wait to see them - back to the Wizard Tower!\n\nTHE END

You and the turtle eye each other, and you keep paddling away from it. It turns away from you, satisfied that you're not a threat, and you quickly take out your spellbook and jot down some of the numbers on the turtle's shell. This could be the magical discovery of a lifetime! When you're done you keep paddling for the other shore, and reach land a while later.\n\n[[Travel into the woods]]

You quickly realize that you can make a compass to show you which direction is north! You stroke the needle against the magnet to magnetize it, then stick it through the cork. You fill a bowl with some water, then place the cork inside. The needle slowly turns in the water and points out due north. You turn yourself ninety degrees to the right - east! To home!\n\n[[Finish the journey home]]

Before your hand reaches the door, it swings open. A friendly-looking fellow looks down and greets you. You explain that you are following some monster tracks. He offers to help you look around the side of the house.\n\n[[Check around the other side of the castle]]

The shadow yells at you "Just what do you think you're doing there? If you came here to steal my horses you'd better think again!"\n\nYou realize that this is the owner of the castle and apologize, explaining that you were tracking a group of monsters. He doesn't look like he trusts you, but says that if the monsters are on his property he'll help you find them. \n\nTogether you walk around the other side of the castle. A big blur rushes by you, and you see a dog chasing a few monsters off of the property. They drop a few of your pencils and a big wheel of cheese, but no Spellbook.\n\n[[Go to the large castle]]

You warily walk through the grand archway leading to the larger castle. You see that the monster tracks head straight to the garden in the back. You tiptoe after them and follow the tracks into the hedge maze behind the castle.\n\n[[Enter the maze]]

You walk confidently down the well-worn path - you must be close to home now! You hear rustlings in the trees occasionally, but figure it must be squirrels or other forest creatures. After a time you find a large tree and unpack your bag for a quick picnic. The rustlings get louder and louder, and a large shape jumps out of the underbrush at you!\n\n[[It's an ambush!]]

You round the corner and pull out your wand. Poof! Poof! Each of the monsters vanishes, and the one holding your spellbook drops it into the mud. Yuck. It'll take some work to clean that off.\n\n[[Walk down to the shore]]

You fall into a deep, enchanted sleep as vines grow all around you. You sleep for days, months, and then years. Occasionally a child from the village will catch sight of you in the forest, and tales spread of the legendary sleeping apprentice.\n\nTHE END

Three monsters jump out of the woods, licking their lips and looking directly at your picnic. You recognize the largest as a Glizzard - a blue monster with sharp teeth and a pointed tail. It lunges for your food!\n\n<<choice 'Attack the Glizzard'>>\n<<choice 'Attack the smaller monsters'>>\n<<choice 'Jump behind the tree'>>

The boat is a bit shaky but it's keeping you dry.. so far. You paddle out into the water, and some curious birds start circling your raft. All of a sudden they take off towards the nearest island and you're left alone. You look down into the water and see a huge dark shape.\n\n<<choice 'Paddle over it towards the nearest island'>>\n<<choice 'Paddle around it towards the other side of the water'>>\n<<choice 'Ready your wand'>>

You carefully paddle around the dark shape. A moment later you see a huge shell rise out of the water - it's a turtle! It has numbers etched in decorative patterns all over it's shell - this is clearly a creature of great magical power.\n\n<<choice 'Ask it for a wish'>>\n<<choice 'Challenge it to a duel'>>\n<<choice 'Keep paddling for the other shore'>>

You scramble down the hill and follow the tracks to a small castle. It has a garden with berry bushes on one side, and a small barn to the other.\n\n<<choice 'Knock on the front door'>>\n<<choice 'Look in the berry bushes'>>\n<<choice 'Look in the barn'>>

Together you walk around the other side of the castle. A big blur rushes by you, and you see a dog chasing a few monsters off of the property. They drop a few of your pencils and a big wheel of cheese, but no Spellbook.\n\n[[Go to the large castle]]

You trudge down the less-worn path, pushing branches out of the way as you go. You walk for what seems like hours. You should have reached a town by now, but you are still deep in the forest. You feel a little dizzy and sit down. The ground feels so nice and soft, and now that you think about it your entire body feels exhausted from traveling.\n\n<<choice 'Take a short nap'>>\n<<choice 'Look around you'>>

You stand up on your raft and loudly challenge the giant turtle to a duel. The creature looks at you with contempt, then brings one of it's flippers down with a crash. The resulting wave knocks apart your tiny raft and you fall into the water. You swim towards the nearby island.\n\nNow that you've angered the creature you don't dare swim back to shore, and the island you're on doesn't have anything you can use to make a boat. You have to wait on the island for a few days for a passing vessel to pick you up, and you miss the Harvest Feast. You miss your family but you'll have to wait to see them - back to the Wizard Tower!\n\nTHE END

The Dangerous Road Home\n

You raise your wand and point it at the shape rising from the depths. A moment later a huge shell breaks the surface - it's a giant turtle! The creature's shell has numbers etched all over the surface; it clearly has great magical power. The turtle sees your raised wand and casually flicks it's tail, sending a large wave in your direction.\n\n<<choice 'Cast a spell at the turtle'>>\n<<choice 'Brace yourself for the wave'>>

You walk over to the berry bushes, but before you can look for anything a huge dog trots around the side of the castle. It barks at you as if you're an intruder and is followed by a stern-looking man. He must be the owner of the castle. Keeping an eye on the dog, you explain why you're there.\n\nThe castle's owner shakes his head and says, "I'm sorry but your monsters must be in another castle. If they were still here ol' Lucky here would smell them."\n\n[[Go to the large castle]]

You come to the edge of a big body of water. You'll need to cross it to get to the forest where your family lives. The ferry that would normally take you across is out of service. You find large pieces of driftwood along the shore, and tie them together with some rope from your bag. The raft is small but should hold your weight.\n\n[[Cast off!]]

You jump out at the monsters, yelling to try to startle them. The monster holding your spellbook jumps, and the pages he was holding are ripped out of the spellbook. The monsters all leap over the hedge maze walls and are gone.\n\n[[My spellbook!]]

You turn towards the giant turtle and ask it for a wish. It eyes you critically and your bag suddenly feels heavier. The turtle flicks one of it's flippers in your direction, sending a huge wave towards your raft. You hold on and ride the wave all the way to the other shoreline. \n\nWhen you get there you open your bag to discover some new potion ingredients that you've never seen before. There are various types of seaweed, coral in bright rainbow colors, and tiny pearls that shine like the moon. You carefully wrap these up and wave in the direction you last saw the giant turtle.\n\n[[Travel into the woods]]

Your spellbook will need some major repair. This will take days, maybe even weeks. You won't have time to go home for the Harvest Feast, and start trudging back towards the city and the Wizard's Tower.\n\nTHE END

You round on the smaller monsters, pulling out your wand. At the sight of it they run away. You turn back towards the larger monster but it has already chewed through half of your picnic basket. When it sees that it's friends have left it turns and bolts. You sigh and sit back down. At least you have a little food left, and won't have to continue on a completely empty stomach.\n\n[[Finish the journey home]]

An Apprentice's Adventure

You jolt up to your feet, expecting to see someone standing over you but nobody is there. You look around and notice vines that had started to sprout near your feet bearing purple flowers. You've wandered into the Sleeping Grove! You've heard many stories of travelers who had wandered here, never to been seen again. The purple flowers could cast a deep sleep on anyone who got too close. You pull your cloak over your mouth. How will you find your way home?\n\n<<choice 'Look through your bag for supplies'>>\n<<choice 'Look around you'>>

You leap at the Glizzard with your wand raised. It sees the wand, bites you on the hand and bolts along with the smaller monsters. Fortunately the cut doesn't look too deep, but it'll be sore for a while. You sit down to enjoy your meal but you're not too hungry anymore. You have a quick bite and then pack up and move on.\n\n[[Finish the journey home]]