By Garry Francis
The stories about the Ark of the Covenant are well known, but its current location is a mystery. According to French author Louis Charpentier, the Ark was taken to the Chartres Cathedral by the Knights Templar, but no one outside the cathedral has ever seen it. There may be a good reason for this.
You were raised in a small village about 100 km from Chartres Cathedral. According to local legend, the Ark was secretly transferred from the cathedral to your village's church, where it was safe from tourists and treasure hunters.
Prior to World War I, the Ark was hidden in the local forest so that it would be safe from the invading German army and it has remained there until this day.
The priest that hid the Ark recently passed away, taking the location of the Ark to his grave. The Church Council has decided that it's time to recover the Ark. As a seminarian (or trainee priest), they have asked you to return to your local village, use your local knowledge to find the Ark and return it to its rightful place on the altar in your church.
This is a traditional text adventure that was written for ParserComp 2023, 30 April to 30 June 2023.
Release 1 was compiled with Inform 6 version 6.41 and the PunyInform library version 4.6. You may need to make changes if using later versions.