Terry Pratchett's "The Last Continent" Quiz

Answer: He changed shape when he sneezed.

Even though he changed shape, he continued to maintain his red fur. So he became a furry red armchair, furry red hot water bottle, and a furry red large book, among other items. While the Librarian was ill, the library was out of control, with the books attacking anyone who entered.

The university staff realized that they needed to fix the Librarian since he could manage the books, but they didn't know the Librarian's name, and they couldn't "magic a wizard without knowing his name. Basic rule". Unfortunately for them, the Librarian had taken steps to obscure his prior existence, as he preferred life as an orangutan and didn't want to be turned back into a wizard. So the staff needed to find Rincewind, since he was the Deputy Librarian and knew the Librarian's real name.

Answer: They climbed through a window in the geographer's office.

To locate Rincewind, the senior staff of the Unseen University needed the help of the Egregious Professor of Cruel and Unusual Geography, but when they entered his room, they found a messy room but no wizard. At first they thought he was taking a bath because they could hear the splashing of water from the bathroom, but as time passed by ("we're talking serious prunes here"), they decided to investigate.

They opened the door and found "a perfectly ordinary bathroom" with a tropical beach visible out the bathroom's open window.

After a quick investigation, they determined that the window was a hole in the space-time continuum, similar to one that had been previously found between the attic and cellar at the university. They climbed through the window, taking the Librarian with them, and left the window propped up so that they could return.

They were enjoying a pleasant day on the beach when the university's housekeeper, Mrs. Whitlow, followed them through the window to bring them a snack and unfortunately moved the stick that had propped up the window, trapping them on the island.

Answer: A kangaroo

Rincewind realized that the kangaroo was stalking him, but he wasn't initially concerned since he knew that kangaroos were vegetarians, and he wasn't wearing green. But after the kangaroo confronted him and told him that he "could kick your stomach out through your neck", Rincewind decided to run away.

It was futile since the kangaroo caught up with him in a few bounds, but Rincewind kept running and eventually fell into a deep waterhole, which was all according to the kangaroo's plan. The kangaroo, whose name was Scrappy, met him down the hole and showed him a painting on a wall that appeared to be a group of wizards ("we called them The Pointy Heads"). Scrappy explained that Rincewind's arrival on the continent had "changed history" because he changed "history that's already happened" - "time isn't as straightforward as you think".

Answer: Under rocks

Rincewind initially ate whatever he managed to find, mainly grubs, but he eventually discovered that real food was hiding under rocks. He first found a chicken sandwich (or at least it tasted like chicken). He even found lamington cakes under a rock. When Scrappy the kangaroo told him that he'd starve without Scrappy's assistance, Rincewind showed him his food trick, to which Scrappy replied, "I've never seen anyone do that with a scorpion before". So perhaps Rincewind only thought he was finding food.

Answer: Rain

During his travels across Fourecks, Rincewind was repeatedly told that water was too heavy to be in the sky. A dwarf named Mad told him: "Everyone knows all the water's deep underground. That's only sense. It's heavy stuff". He dismissed Rincewind's claim about "water falling out of the sky": "You don't believe all THAT stuff, do you? My granddad used to go on about that when he'd been at the beer.

It's just an old story". Scrappy the kangaroo had told Rincewind about "The Wet", but the current inhabitants believed it was just an old wives' tale.

When Rincewind asked whether they had rivers, Mad responded, "COURSE we've got rivers. This country's got everything, mate". But Mad didn't see a connection between rivers and water: "What'd we want water in rivers for? What'd it do?" Later when they crossed the Lassitude River, which he initially mistook for a stretch of dry sand, Rincewind saw a boat on four wheels being pulled by a camel. Mad informed him if the wind was right, they'd use the sails instead of camels.

Answer: Drop-bear

Rincewind heard the crack of a branch and then felt the bear land on his head. The drop-bear was supposedly related to a koala, but it didn't resemble one. It had a thickly padded bottom to protect it against the drop. The drop would render its victim unconscious, and the bear would then feed on the victim. Unfortunately for the bear that targeted Rincewind, it landed on his pointy hat. Rincewind managed to shake the bear off his hat and then took off as other bears plummeted to the ground. Rincewind later met up with a group of horsemen who told him that "there's no such thing as drop-bears. Someone must've seen you coming, mate!" despite Rincewind's description: "Boing... all over the place... great big teeth..." Nevertheless, he checked the trees for drop-bears the next time he set up camp.

Answer: Stealing sheep

Rincewind went looking for water, but the water hole was dry, so he started digging. By the time he was deep in the hole, he was surrounded by sheep, who were looking for water. Rincewind saw a sheep rustler approach the hole and shove a sheep into a sack, so he called out to him: "That probably belongs to someone, you know".

The man looked around but didn't see Rincewind; the voice appeared to be coming from the sheep, so the man dropped his sack and took off. Rincewind then climbed out of the hole and picked up the sack to free the sheep, but unfortunately for him, four men saw him with the sack and assumed he was the one stealing sheep. Rincewind was tossed in a cell, and it looked bleak for him, especially when DEATH showed up, but when Rincewind mentioned that he was being hanged in the morning, DEATH told him, "THEN I SHALL LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING HOW YOU ESCAPED".

It turned out that DEATH had just stopped by on his way to "MEET A MAN... INSIDE A CROCODILE". And Rincewind did manage to escape, by lifting the cell door off the hinges and running away.

Answer: Female impersonators

The Luggage was picked up along a dusty road, placed in the cart, and filled with fancy ladies' shoes. Painted on the purple cart were the words: "Petunia, The Desert Princess". Rincewind finally caught up with The Luggage when he ran into a carnival during his escape from prison.

He asked a tall woman named Letitia if she could help him since he was being chased by the Watch, and she offered to hide him in the cart. But he was soon spotted and ran down an alley that turned out to be a cul-de-sac.

As the Watch cornered him, The Luggage flew over their heads and landed between him and the guards. At least he thought it was The Luggage; it was wearing an evening gown and high heels on its many little feet. When the noise had died down, Rincewind saw that the guards were lying about unconscious, as "The Luggage had a cat's tendency to lose interest in things that didn't fight back even after you'd kicked them a few times". Rincewind told The Luggage to get rid of the shoes, the dress, and the earrings ("They don't suit you"), but The Luggage refused to part with stud piercings on its lid. Neilette, one of the ladies who'd been taking care of The Luggage, told Rincewind that they called The Luggage "Trunkie" and believed Trunkie to be a girl, at least the kind of girl that the others were.

It turned out that Neilette wasn't one of them and wasn't particularly cut out for the job: "Being a female impersonator is no job for a woman".

Answer: Rincewind

After Neilette mentioned to Rincewind that there was "a university full of the useless mongrels" (meaning wizards) on Fourecks, Rincewind asked to be taken there. He soon found out that he was expected, or rather, the staff expected a demon because that was what they had called up.

They were trying to find out what happened to the water: "There's always water, if you go down deep enough. But if we go any deeper, we're going to give an elephant a... nasty shock". When Rincewind suggested that they produce a spell for rain, he found out that, like the rest of the Ecksians, the staff didn't believe in rain: "Water sprinkling out of the sky?... Water's heavy." The archchancellor of the university turned out to also be named Rincewind, albeit Bill Rincewind. Bill thought that they must have been related, cousins maybe, although our Rincewind didn't believe he had any relatives.

In the end, Bill offered him a job at their university, but our Rincewind decided to return to Ankh-Morpork.

Answer: Bullroarer

Although often associated with Australian aborigines, bullroarers have been used throughout history by various civilizations around the planet. The Librarian found the bullroarer in a leather sack that belonged to the Creator (at least the one who was working on the Fourecks continent).

It was "a flat oval of wood on a piece of string", which Mrs. Whitlow mistook for a yo-yo. Ponder explained that it was a bullroarer, and that it made noise when you swung it in a circle above your head. The Librarian smacked the back of his head on his first attempt, but he soon got the hang of it.

Unfortunately, the bullroarer had magical abilities beyond making noise. When the Librarian got it up to speed, the wizards were transported into a painting on a rock. Remember "the Pointy Heads" that Scrappy the kangaroo had shown Rincewind? This was what Scrappy meant about time not being "as straightforward as you think". Later when Rincewind was using the bullroarer to scare off DEATH, he smelled rain, so he kept spinning it until it flew off, and then the rains came.

Not everyone was pleased; the regatta on Lassitude River had to be cancelled on account of water being in the river.