7.12. In the presence of, and when

| Chapter 7: Basic Actions |

| 7.12. In the presence of, and when

Relative location can also be important: relative to other people, that is -

> Instead of eating something in the presence of Lady Bracknell, say "Lady Bracknell disapproves thoroughly of gentlemen who snack between meals, and there are few disapprovals in this world quite so thorough as Lady Bracknell's."

As might be guessed, this applies when the action takes place in the same location as the person named: and of course that person can also be described more vaguely ("... in the presence of a woman", say), and can just as easily be an inanimate thing ("... in the presence of the radio set").

Lady Bracknell is a pushover compared to some matriarchs:

> Instead of doing something other than looking, examining or waiting in the presence of the Queen: say "I'm afraid they take what you might call a zero tolerance approach to breaches of court etiquette here."; end the story saying "You have been summarily beheaded".

The last of the optional clauses we can tack on to the description of an action is the most general of all. We can add "when" and then any condition at all, as in:

> Instead of eating something when the radio set is switched on, say "Something about the howling short-wave static puts you right off luncheon."

This supposes that the radio is so loud that it can be heard from any room: we could muffle it so that it's only audible from the room it is in like so:

> Instead of eating something in the presence of the radio set when the radio set is switched on, say "Something about the howling short-wave static puts you right off luncheon."

98
| Example Beachfront An item that the player can't interact with until he has found it by searching the scenery. |
RB

99
| Example Today Tomorrow A few notes on "In the presence of" and how it interacts with concealed objects. |
RB

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