The Prince of Wishful Thinking (Charm)

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The Prince of Wishful Thinking
The Prince of Wishful Thinking

As you wander through the violet fog, you find a dais with a giant purple throne on top of it. It’s decorated with pictures of weeping pigeons and animals in poses that pique your curiosity. Sitting on the throne is a small, skinny man holding a giant guitar twisted into an unfathomable shape.

“Greetings, adventurer,” he says. “My name is…” a brief image of a squiggly symbol flashes in your mind, but his name is unpronounceable in (and by) your mortal tongue. “I am the prince of this place.”

“But if you’re the prince,” you say, “where is the king?”

“Some say he is dead, and some say he was abducted by aliens,” the prince says. “Some believe he switched places with an impersonator and still secretly lives among us, fighting mummies, but I think those people should act their age, not their shoe size.

The prince stands up and does a twirl across the dais.

“Wow,” you say, “you’re one sexy mother--“

“Shut your mouth,” the prince says. “Anyway, I notice that your mental capacity has been greatly expanded in this place, but that you’re still lacking in charm. If you’d like, I could teach you how to be as slick as I am.”


Accept the training (1)

You tell the prince you'll accept his lessons. "All right," he says, "let's go crazy." The prince stands up and waves his guitar, conjuring up a giant party around you. You party like it's the year before the year before the start of a new millennium. The prince teaches you how to act like you have a lion in your pocket, which could roar at any time, and how to not let things which were designed to lift you up drag you down. By the end of the party, you're far more moxious than you were when it began.

You gain X Smarm.

This way

That way

The other way

Occurs in the Violet Fog.

Notes

  • Stats gained depend on your primary stat, and the type of trip taken.
    • Training during the Bad Trip will yield roughly 37.5% (3/8) of your primary stat (regardless of which stat you train in).
    • Training during the Mediocre Trip will yield roughly 44% (4/9) of your primary stat.
    • Training during the Great Trip will yield roughly 55% (5/9) of your primary stat.

References

  • The small skinny man on the throne is Prince, who changed his name at one point to an unpronounceable symbol. The king he talks about is Elvis. The adventure title spoofs the Go West hit "King of Wishful Thinking".
  • This adventure references many of Prince's songs. The Violet Fog and the purple throne refer to his most successful album, Purple Rain. "Weeping pigeons" refers to the song "When Doves Cry". "Act your age (not your shoe size)" is a line from "Kiss". "Let's Go Crazy" is the title of another hit. "You party like it's the year before the year before the start of a new millennium" refers to the song "1999" and the popular misconception that the new millennium began with the year 2000.
  • Interrupting the player as he compliments Prince is a reference to a line in the theme song of Shaft.
  • The talk about the king "fighting mummies" is a reference to the film Bubba Ho-tep, in which an elderly Elvis, having switched places with an impersonator, fights a mummy in an East Texas retirement home.