system
You are the dungeon master of a text adventure game. The game should involve the following genres and tags:
Cave crawl,Zorkian, adaptive hints,alchemy,built-in hints,cover art,fantasy,IF Competition 1996,IFComp Game,IFComp Winner,old school,parser,spells,Xyzzy Awards 1996,zorkian
gpt
The Meteor, The Stone And A Long Glass Of Sherbet

Another day wasted as guest of the Empress, a wretchedly long tour of
the breath-taking Boreal Falls, conducted as ever by the Lady Amilia.
As if she weren't bad enough, an honour guard of soldiers, their
breast-plates red in the setting sun, march ahead of the procession
and protect you from seeing anything unrehearsed. It's a dog's life
being an Ambassador.

The Meteor, the Stone and a Long Glass of Sherbet
The Interactive Memoirs of a Diplomat

(Please type "help" if you would like instructions.)

Standard interpreter 1.0

Watling Street (in the cushioned basket)
The ancient paved road stretches for miles to the south, turning very
slowly to the northeast along a mossy stone wall. From up here on your elephant's wickerwork basket, you're just level with the branches of
the old Imperial hunting woods inside the wall.

day for a fortnight, you're just desperate to get away.

The procession of elephants shuffles on, their enormous soles slapping
onto the flagstones with a dull, regular boom.
human
Inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
a fedora hat (being worn)
a hand telescope

"I'm sure I've told you the scandal with the new Lord Chamberlain?..."
human
You look at Amilia
gpt
The terrifying thing about the Lady Amilia, a young woman who would
grace any court ball, is that even after an entire day like this she
shows no sign whatever of being bored. Even now she is reading the
guide book with apparent concentration, though you can't ever remember
her turning a page.

"...such a disappointment for all concerned, quite honestly..."
human
You examine the hat
gpt
(Amilia's hat)
Amilia is wearing a simply fatuous hat, a light summer shade which
would look quite presentable if it weren't for the waxwork grapes,
apples, plums, damsons and so on around the brim.
human
You look at your hat
gpt
(Amilia's hat)
Amilia is wearing a simply fatuous hat, a light summer shade which
would look quite presentable if it weren't for the waxwork grapes,
apples, plums, damsons and so on around the brim.

"...which only means one thing..."
human
You examine fedora
gpt
A broad-brimmed light summer hat, ideal for shading your face from the
setting sun.

A silken boy runs up from the rear of the procession, hands you each a
glass of sherbet and then allows himself to be caught up again before
boarding the last carriage at the rear of the elephant-train.
human
You show the fedora to Amilia
gpt
Lady Amilia is unimpressed.
Amilia fans herself with the guide book.
human
You get book
gpt
Those seem to belong to Lady Amilia.
human
You throw the glass at Amilia
gpt
Oh, if only you could. A pity that the resulting incident could plunge
an entire continent into war, with the mighty Empire crushing your
tiny Duchy.
human
You examine the woods
gpt
The walls do seem very secure. Surely a minor local law would have
been enough to keep the local peasants away?

But then, by now you're quite sure it isn't just an ordinary hunting
estate. A pity this will probably be the closest you'll ever be
allowed to get...
human
You examine the elephant
gpt
The magnificent grey beast is wrinkled and has a wise look (but then,
after an entire day of Amilia's conversation, your average potato
would have a wise look). His two great ears flap a little up at the
front sides of the basket, his trunk curls and pokes at the air.

"Have I told you the rumour about the Empire's best racing donkey?..."
human
You look at the basket
gpt
The basket has the usual complement of cushions, but if there were
anything among them you'd have bumped into it hours ago.
human
You check what you're carrying
gpt
You are carrying:
a glass of sherbet
a fedora hat (being worn)
a hand telescope

"...such a terribly exciting moment for everybody..."
human
You look through the telescope
gpt
You must say what to look at through the telescope.

"...just as my Mother always warned me..."
human
You search amilia
gpt
You find nothing of interest.

Amilia fans herself with the guide book.

At a whistle from the soldiers up ahead, the procession comes to an
ungainly halt.

Customs Post (in the cushioned basket)
As the road passes around the corner of the woods and turns east, it
also passes a customs post. You're ten feet up, and the tasseled
pennant flag flutters down from the pole to curl around the basket in
the light breeze.

The whole procession of elephants and carts is halted, and there is
much commotion.
human
You look at Amilia through the telescope
gpt
Lady Amilia is too close to you to make that worthwhile.
human
You look at the flag through the telescope
gpt
The pennant flag is too close to you to make that worthwhile.

"Have I told you how I couldn't get a single pair of shoes to fit,
last week?..."
human
You look at the forest through the telescope
gpt
You raise the brass telescope expertly to your eye, a dashing gesture
which never fails to make Amilia clap her hands with pleasure.
Somehow, though, Amilia also manages to nudge your arm so that you
can't get a clear look at the woods.

"Don't fret," says Amilia, "we're only stopping a moment, it's just a
silly old routine I suppose, I mean they can see we aren't smugglers
or anything..."
human
You look at Amilia
gpt
The terrifying thing about the Lady Amilia, a young woman who would
grace any court ball, is that even after an entire day like this she
shows no sign whatever of being bored. Even now she is reading the
guide book with apparent concentration, though you can't ever remember
her turning a page.

The procession sluggishly resumes, taking some time to accelerate
again. You dread to imagine what a hill start would be like.

Watling Street (in the cushioned basket)
The ancient highway stretches east as far as the eye can see, running
parallel with the mossy stone wall enclosing the hunting woods to the
south. The wall appears unbroken. To the north, vast meadowlands sweep
into a lush, cultivated valley.

The procession of elephants shuffles on, their enormous soles slapping
onto the flagstones with a dull, regular boom.

"...such a dreadful shame, all things considered..."
human
You examine wall
gpt
(the mossy wall)
The walls do seem very secure. Surely a minor local law would have
been enough to keep the local peasants away?

But then, by now you're quite sure it isn't just an ordinary hunting
estate. A pity this will probably be the closest you'll ever be
allowed to get...
human
You look at the wall through the telescope
gpt
(the mossy wall through the hand telescope)
The mossy wall is too close to you to make that worthwhile.

The procession runs over a small culvert bridge, which presents no
problem to the elephants. You glance down, and can't help thinking
something's wrong somewhere.

"...I expect somebody was sorry, really..."
human
You ask Amilia about the wall
gpt
What Amilia doesn't know would fill a whole game in itself.

Amilia fans herself with the guide book.

Just for a moment, you catch a flickering glimpse of a bird up in the
higher branches of the woods.
human
You examine the bird
gpt
It's too far away to make out at all clearly, and it keeps moving.
human
You look at the bird through the telescope
gpt
You raise the brass telescope expertly to your eye, a dashing gesture
which never fails to make Amilia clap her hands with pleasure.
Although you only get one clear glimpse of the bird, its distinctive
speckled green and blue feathers must make it one of the legendary
Birds of Paradise.

"I'm sure I've told you my mother's recipe for rhubarb pudding?..."
human
You tell Amilia about the bird
gpt
"Is that so? Heavens!"

"...such a charming face, that's what I say..."
human
Drink sherbet
gpt
You sip at the fine sherbet, careful not to drink it all at once. It
has been chilled in a wooden cask of ice, and is the best news all
day.

Giggling nervously, for she has been waiting for you to take a sip,
Amilia downs her sherbet with a quick snort (unfortunately literally,
and she sneezes).
human
You say eww
gpt
[To address somebody, please type "name, what you want to say". For
example: "amilia, hello".]
human
Eww
gpt
Amilia is baffled, but then she so often is.
human
Kiss amilia
gpt
Thank heavens, an Ambassador's duties only go so far.

"...I expect somebody was sorry, really..."
human
Yes
gpt
That was a rhetorical question.
human
Sleep
gpt
You aren't feeling especially drowsy.

Amilia fans herself with the guide book.
human
You look
gpt
Watling Street (in the cushioned basket)
The ancient highway stretches east as far as the eye can see, running
parallel with the mossy stone wall enclosing the hunting woods to the
south. The wall appears unbroken. To the north, vast meadowlands sweep
into a lush, cultivated valley.

A bird seems to be darting about in the tree-tops, vaguely following
the procession.

The procession of elephants shuffles on, their enormous soles slapping
onto the flagstones with a dull, regular boom.
human
You ask Amilia about the guide book
gpt
What Amilia doesn't know would fill a whole game in itself.

"Surely I can't be the first to tell you about those scandalous
goings-on at the Royal Farm?..."
human
You give the telescope to Amilia
gpt
"Super!"

She squints into the telescope, but picks the wrong end, and then
hands it back with a half-puzzled look. "Marvellous invention, what?"
human
You ask Amilia for the guide book
gpt
"It's a jolly super guide book!" says Amilia gratuitously, as she
kindly passes it over. Fortified by years of training in the
diplomatic service, you thank her.

"...such a horrid way to spend a Wednesday in the season..."
human
You stand
gpt
It wouldn't be safe to dismount while the procession is under way.

"...a nod's as good as a wink, after all..."
human
You look at the bird through the telescope
gpt
Amilia thinks she disapproves of that.
human
You take the guide book
gpt
Enormously detailed with the useless and irrelevant, the Empress gave
it to you hoping you'd waste time studying it in detail. You have
vowed never to do so, but it's still handy for passing the odd dull
moment by looking up some specific local feature.

You already have that.
human
You look up the bird in the book
gpt
The Northland Empire supports a rich and varied avian life.
human
You look up the bird of the paradise in Book
gpt
The Guide Book has a lovingly detailed section on birds of paradise,
which there is no time to read now. Apart from the plumage, it seems
these birds are distinguished by their mating call, a chirrup followed
by a coo. They live to be twenty years old, always return to their
first nest in midsummer and steal each others' eggs, but nobody knows
why.
human
Chirrup
gpt
Amilia hangs her head half on one side and flutters her eyelids,
puzzled.
human
Coo
gpt
Amilia really is bewildered now. But your mating call does seem to
have done the trick! The bird of paradise flutters down over the wall
to dance eagerly around your basket.

Although clearly peeved by the lack of a significant other here, the beautifully-plumed bird does (to your immense satisfaction) begin
pecking away at the wax fruit on the Lady Amilia's hat.
human
You look through the telescope at the forest
gpt
You raise the brass telescope expertly to your eye. Somehow, though,
Amilia also manages to nudge your arm so that you can't get a clear
look at the woods.

Amilia hisses at the bird, without effect.
human
You look
gpt
Watling Street (in the cushioned basket)
The ancient highway stretches east as far as the eye can see, running
parallel with the mossy stone wall enclosing the hunting woods to the
south. The wall appears unbroken. To the north, vast meadowlands sweep
into a lush, cultivated valley.

The Bird of Paradise is still worrying away at Amilia's hat, so for
once your tour guide has her eyes off you.

The procession of elephants shuffles on, their enormous soles slapping
onto the flagstones with a dull, regular boom.
human
You check what you're carrying
gpt
You are carrying:
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
a glass of sherbet
a fedora hat (being worn)
a hand telescope

Amilia hisses at the bird, without effect.
human
You examine the elephant
gpt
The magnificent grey beast is wrinkled and has a wise look (but then,
after an entire day of Amilia's conversation, your average potato
would have a wise look). His two great ears flap a little up at the
front sides of the basket, his trunk curls and pokes at the air.
human
Go downwards
gpt
It wouldn't be safe to dismount while the procession is under way.

No matter what Amilia tries, the bird continues to hover.
human
You look at the ears
gpt
Which do you mean, the right ear or the left ear?
human
You give sherbet to Bird
gpt
You can only do that to something animate.
human
You pull the right ear
gpt
Amilia is too preoccupied to notice you doing this, giving the
elephant's ear a good tug. But he must be half-asleep on his feet,
after this long trudging day, and he shows no signs yet of waking up
for you.
human
You pour the sherbet on the elephant
gpt
As the icy liquid cascades over the elephant's great head, he bucks
and jumps, shaking his ears, thoroughly waking up. You have his
attention now all right.
human
You pull the right ear
gpt
The elephant gives a huge trumpet and begins to charge right, straight
into the stone wall! The basket careers along with him, suddenly
lurches onto his side and is rapidly crushed between an elephant and a
hard place.

Hopefully, you and Amilia will be sent to different departments of the afterlife.
human
You pull the left ear
gpt
the meadowland! The basket is tossed around at high speed as you and
Amilia are taken for a nerve-wracking ride.

By the time the bearers have got him under control again, the whole
procession has slewn out of line and is all over the valley. Casks are overturned, cartwheels have rolled loose, axles have broken, the
animals are restive, and darkness is coming on. The expedition will
have to stop here for the night.

The finest quarters they could find for a visiting Ambassador, at such
short notice: and much better than you'd have expected from a
provincial customs post. Presumably some very rich collector of
antiquities once slept here... The only exit is to east.

The room is almost filled with a four-poster bed, caparisoned gaudily
as a warhorse.

Northlands and Surrounding Provinces.

A jade figurine nestles in an alcove, beneath a painting of
unparalleled beauty.
human
You examine painting
gpt
It depicts a wide cavern with a polished stone ledge on one shore of a subterranean lake, dimly lit from above and ringed in with rock faces.
human
You look
gpt
The finest quarters they could find for a visiting Ambassador, at such
short notice: and much better than you'd have expected from a
provincial customs post. Presumably some very rich collector of
antiquities once slept here... The only exit is to east.

The room is almost filled with a four-poster bed, caparisoned gaudily
as a warhorse.

Northlands and Surrounding Provinces.

A jade figurine nestles in an alcove, beneath a painting of
unparalleled beauty.
human
You get Guide
gpt
Taken.
human
You examine the figurine
gpt
An exquisite antiquity.
human
You get it
gpt
Taken.
human
Go east
gpt
You can't get out, because soldiers ("for your protection,
Ambassador") are guarding the door.
human
Inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
a jade figurine
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
human
You eat guide
gpt
That's plainly inedible.
human
You look at the bed
gpt
It looks highly inviting.
human
You describe your surroundings
gpt
The finest quarters they could find for a visiting Ambassador, at such
short notice: and much better than you'd have expected from a
provincial customs post. Presumably some very rich collector of
antiquities once slept here... The only exit is to east.

The room is almost filled with a four-poster bed, caparisoned gaudily
as a warhorse.
human
You move painting
gpt
Nothing obvious happens.
human
You move the bed
gpt
Those are fixed in place.
human
You lie on the bed
gpt
You get into bed.

Customs House Bedroom (on the four-poster bed)
A magnificent design is woven into the inside of the tapestry roof of
the bed, and the whole effect is sumptuous and comfortable.
human
You look at the design
gpt
The design of a topiary garden, whose bushes and shaped hedges depict
a dragon, a unicorn, a great serpent and a huge misshapen dog. It is
signed "Leblank".
human
Sleep
gpt
You relax into a strange, dream-laced sleep. The Boreal Falls... Lady
Amilia, giggling wildly with a hysterical edge... your secret
briefing, back at the Duchy, when you were warned not to take anything
in the Empire at face value... and mages, sorcerers, enchanters,
powerful men from the Old Time...

...and suddenly you sit bolt upright, at the distant but unnerving
sound of the blowing of a horn. It's deep into the night but you're
now perfectly awake.
human
You look
gpt
Customs House Bedroom (on the four-poster bed)
A magnificent design is woven into the inside of the tapestry roof of
the bed, and the whole effect is sumptuous and comfortable.
human
You go outside
gpt
You get off the four-poster bed.

The room is almost filled with a four-poster bed, caparisoned gaudily
as a warhorse.
human
You go east
gpt
(The soldiers who guarded this door must have gone off duty some hours
ago.)

Stairs descend to the ground floor, and one doorway leads west, into
your bedroom.

The rich brocade curtains of the window here are drawn.
human
You examine the curtains
gpt
Perhaps you should open the curtains and then see what you can see.
human
You open the curtains
gpt
You open the curtains, and look out on a deserted Watling Street, the
mossy wall, the woods beyond. Somewhere in the distance, from the
centre of the woods, is an unearthly green glow.
human
Go downward
gpt
You are in the kitchen of the white-painted Customs House. The table
here looks as if it hasn't been used for the preparation of food in
years. A passage leads to the west and a dark staircase can be seen
leading upward. There is a fine, modern charcoal-stove and to the
east, the front door is closed.

On the kitchen table is a small wickerwork hamper (which is closed).

A joint of cured ham hangs from a hook in the ceiling.
human
You get the ham
gpt
You just, right up on tiptoe, succeed in dislodging the ham from its
hook.
human
You get the hamper
gpt
Taken.
human
You look at stove
gpt
This immaculate black iron stove, just the size of the fireplace, has
been very well cleaned and has that elusive "never used" look. It is a
modern, de luxe charcoal stove, embellished with iron hoops and
designs around the edge. The stove is currently closed.
human
You open the stove
gpt
You open the stove. There is no charcoal inside.
human
Search stove
gpt
The black-iron stove is empty.
human
You open the hamper
gpt
Thoughtfully, someone has provided you with breakfast.

In the small wickerwork hamper are some provisions - an apple, a hunk
of cheese and a clove of garlic.
human
Go west
gpt
You are in a stately and well-aged living room. There is a doorway to
the east, leading back into the kitchen, a trophy case, and a large
oriental rug in the center of the room.

A brass lantern rests on top of the trophy case.

here, just where you left it last night.
human
You put the ham in the hamper
gpt
You put the joint of cured ham into the small wickerwork hamper.
human
You examine the trunk
gpt
This little trunk (one foot by one foot by six inches) is an
immaculate example of Duchy craftsmanship at its finest. The latch
mechanism is so intricate that only its owner can open it. Turning out
fine products like this is the very lifeblood of your native land.

it? Surely only a wizard could have done so, and the days of the
wizards are long gone, back even before the foundation of the Old
Underground Empire! Unless... the rumours are true. Has magic been rediscovered here?

You'd better find out, because in a world of magic no-one's going to
want mechanisms like this any more.
human
You open the trunk
gpt
Expertly sliding your fingers along the sequence of hidden catches,
you trigger the mechanism and the trunk-lid gracefully raises.

In the Ambassador's trunk are a hand telescope, your formal
credentials and a coil of light rope.
human
You examine the credentials
gpt
"To whom it may concern... granted plenipotentiary powers
notwithstanding... most excellent and serene Highness..." and so on.
The froth which covers any diplomat's life.
human
You take all
gpt
trophy case: That's hardly portable.
oriental rug: That's hardly portable.
human
Go east
gpt
There's a hook in the ceiling.
human
You open the front door
gpt
They seem to be locked.
human
You examine the front door
gpt
As secure as you could ever hope for.
human
You go west
gpt
You are in a stately and well-aged living room. There is a doorway to
the east, leading back into the kitchen, a trophy case, and a large
oriental rug in the center of the room.
human
You examine the trophy case
gpt
According to a plaque, it's a genuine early Empire trophy case, a real antique. At that time, it was fashionable to collect precious items
and display them in one's own home, in just such a case.
human
You open it
gpt
As you open the old trophy case, which is so stiff it can't have been
opened in years, something shiny falls out into your hand.
human
Inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
your formal credentials
a coil of light rope
a brass lantern
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open)
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, an apple, a hunk of cheese
and a clove of garlic
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
two ancient treasures:
a jewelled scarab
a jade figurine
human
You examine the scarab
gpt
A finely-worked filigree gold and jewelled scarab.
human
You look under the rug
gpt
With a great effort, the rug is moved to one side of the room,
revealing a seamless wooden floor.

Somewhat embarrassed, you move the rug back again.
human
You go east
gpt
You are in the kitchen of the white-painted Customs House. The table
here looks as if it hasn't been used for the preparation of food in
years. A passage leads to the west and a dark staircase can be seen
leading upward. There is a fine, modern charcoal-stove and to the
east, the front door is closed.

There's a hook in the ceiling.
human
You pull the stove
gpt
The stove budges fractionally, but is so heavy that you can hardly get
it to move at all by hand.
human
You tie rope to the stove
gpt
You make a secure little knot. It is now tied to the black-iron stove.
human
You pull the hook
gpt
The hook's too high for you to touch, even on tiptoe.
human
You put the rope on the hook
gpt
on top of something else.
human
You tie the rope to the hook
gpt
The rope's already tied to the black-iron stove.
human
You pull the rope
gpt
You pull hard on the rope, and the stove budges fractionally, but the
enormous friction of its flat base on the floor stops you from getting anywhere.
human
You look at what you're carrying with you
gpt
You are carrying:
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
your formal credentials
a brass lantern
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open)
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, an apple, a hunk of cheese
and a clove of garlic
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
two ancient treasures:
a jewelled scarab
a jade figurine
human
You climb the rope
gpt
You see nothing special about the joint of cured ham.

But the rope leads neither up nor down.
human
You take the rope
gpt
You can't take the rope; it's tied to the black-iron stove.
human
You untie the rope
gpt
You untie the rope.
human
You stand on the table
gpt
That would be unhygienic. Anyway, the table is not underneath anything interesting, so no benefit would accrue.
human
You move the table
gpt
The kitchen table seems securely fixed in place.
human
You drop the trunk
gpt
Dropped.
human
You close the trunk
gpt
You close the clasps carefully, and the trunk seals itself.
human
You look around
gpt
You are in the kitchen of the white-painted Customs House. The table
here looks as if it hasn't been used for the preparation of food in
years. A passage leads to the west and a dark staircase can be seen
leading upward. There is a fine, modern charcoal-stove and to the
east, the front door is closed.

There's a hook in the ceiling.

You can also see your Ambassador's trunk (which is closed) here.
human
You check what you're carrying
gpt
You are carrying:
a length of light rope
a brass lantern
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
two ancient treasures:
a jewelled scarab
a jade figurine
human
You throw the rope at the hook
gpt
You throw the rope up. Its two ends are now hanging from the hook.
human
You tie the rope to the oven
gpt
You make a secure little knot. It now runs from the black-iron stove
up and over the hook, from which the loose end dangles.
human
You pull the rope
gpt
Pulling hard on the rope, you have enough leverage to slightly lift
the stove, and it comes aside towards the centre of the kitchen.

Behind the stove, it seems, was a much older chimney, an original
feature of the Customs House.
human
You get the hamper and the trunk
gpt
small wickerwork hamper: Taken.
Ambassador's trunk: Taken.
human
You take the trunk
gpt
You already have that.
human
You get the rope
gpt
You can't take the rope; it's tied to the black-iron stove.
human
You untie rope
gpt
You untie the rope. Its two ends are now hanging from the hook.
human
You get the rope
gpt
(first pulling the rope off the hook)
Taken.
human
You enter the chimney
gpt
As dazzling as you may be in the conference chamber, down a chimney
you're as mortal as anyone else. It looks extremely dangerous to climb
down in darkness without anything holding you safe.
human
You tie rope to the stove
gpt
You make a secure little knot. It is now tied to the black-iron stove.
human
Light lamp
gpt
You light the lantern.
human
Go inside
gpt
The stairs lead back up, and there's a doorway west.
human
You tie the rope to yourself
gpt
You tie the rope around you. One end is tied around you, and the other
to the black-iron stove.
human
You enter the chimney
gpt
You pull hard on the rope, and the stove budges fractionally, but the
enormous friction of its flat base on the floor stops you from getting anywhere.
human
Go downward
gpt
You abseil down the chimney, securely held by the rope, though you
have to untie yourself to drop down the last foot or so.

At the foot of the chimney are low and grimy cellars, built of
decaying brickwork and seemingly unused for years. There are no
bottles, or crates, unless they're stored through the passage to the
south.

Your length of rope is here. Its tail is just visible at the foot of
the chimney.
human
Go south
gpt
ancient Watling Street, which must run just overhead.

under a long lintel-stone; a side passage, northwest, is much more
earthy.
human
Go northwest
gpt
This is a red-brown earthy bole, a cavity in hardened soil with but a
single crawl leading out to the southeast. The ground is covered with
autumn leaves, russet and variegated.

In the centre is a bubbling pool of spring water, glinting with shades
and flickers of green phosphoresence.
human
Examine leaves
gpt
The leaves have the weight of many autumns, many winds, in their
delicate hue.
human
Count leaves
gpt
There are 16,339 leaves.
human
Search leaves
gpt
Turning through the leaves, you come across a precious platinum egg!
human
Drink water
gpt
The water is imbued with something... what? A taste of blackcurrant
and the scent of morning fire-ash. Whatever it is, it's naturally
carbonated and you hiccup.

In fact, you feel quite light-headed.
human
You examine the egg
gpt
You see nothing special about the platinum egg.

You're beginning to feel dangerously unsteady on your feet.
human
Wait
gpt
Time passes.

...And suddenly, there is the Power! It crackles through your whole
body, sparking at your fingernails and toenails, sending shivers along
your limbs. You feel suddenly afraid to imagine, afraid that you can
no longer tell imagination from reality.
human
You check what you're carrying
gpt
You are carrying:
your Ambassador's trunk (which is closed)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open)
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, an apple, a hunk of cheese
and a clove of garlic
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
three ancient treasures:
a platinum egg
a jewelled scarab
a jade figurine
human
You examine the scarab
gpt
A finely-worked filigree gold and jewelled scarab.
human
Go south
gpt
The only passage out of this earthy bole is southeast.
human
You go to the southeast
gpt
ancient Watling Street, which must run just overhead.

under a long lintel-stone; a side passage, northwest, is much more
earthy.

Still not quite yourself, you trip over slightly, banging your head on
the lintel. Involuntarily you curse out the word "jilnix", a word
you're almost certain you've never heard before!

surge of motion. A dark cloud of bat-like insects clashes with the
clear air around you, purposeless and malevolent. Only by great effort
of will can you abolish them.

One thing seems clear. The Old Magic has returned.
human
Spells
gpt
The jilnix spell is indelibly etched on your memory. Other than that,
you have no spells memorised.
human
Jilnix
gpt
As your brows frown, the air around you gathers with vile winged
insects, fluttering angrily about you for a moment. But nothing
results from this, and they dissipate again.
human
Go northwest
gpt
This is a red-brown earthy bole, a cavity in hardened soil with but a
single crawl leading out to the southeast. The ground is covered with
autumn leaves, russet and variegated.

In the centre is a bubbling pool of spring water, glinting with shades
and flickers of green phosphoresence.
human
Go south
gpt
You duck your head under the lintel-stone.

A narrow passage, running north to south under solid sandstone blocks
which must make up the base of the wall. Further south, the passage
runs onto what seems to be a ledge, and you have a sense of space
opening up from below.

The Old Underground Empire awaits!

A watchful oil-snake coils and uncoils itself restlessly, occupying
its territory but making no move towards you as yet.
human
You look at the snake
gpt
It has a lean and hungry look.
human
Jilnix snake
gpt
As your brows frown, the air around you gathers with vile winged
insects, which surge forward to plague the oil-snake. It recoils
(literally) backward, retreating south through the passage until out
of sight! Your insects dissipate, their work done.
human
Go south
gpt
This is a slate-littered shelf high up at the northwest eaves of a
dark, vaulted cave, from which a meadow-fresh breeze blows. The ledge
broadens down a slab "staircase" to the east but wastes away into a
tight squeeze southwest. Natural passages extend like tendrils into
the rock all around this cavern, but only one is accessible from here,
back north under the lintel.

Hanging down toward the dim, distant cave floor is a flourishing,
inverted cedar, its roots grappling the roof, its nearest outflung
branch a good 10 feet across the abyss from here.
human
Go north
gpt
A narrow passage, running north to south under solid sandstone blocks
which must make up the base of the wall. Further south, the passage
runs onto what seems to be a ledge, and you have a sense of space
opening up from below.

The Old Underground Empire awaits!
human
Go southwest
gpt
dead end not far west, but a muddy slide-passage descends to the
south.

A flat stick, curved around a right angle, rests on the ground here.
human
You look at stick
gpt
A flat curved stick, but one that has been well-crafted to some end.
human
You throw stick
gpt
stick, since you'd really need to pull your arm right back and swing
hard.
human
Go south
gpt
This is only half a cave; the eastern half, to be exact. It's a dark
place full of crevices (you would have missed the slide passage back
north if you hadn't already known about it); chief among them a
distinctive triangular cavity, 1 foot or so high, and blocked by a
rough quartz window.

What divides this cave is a solid, floor-to-ceiling stone wall running
north to south, masoned with mortar and seemingly recent. You feel
quite certain that the cave continues.

A shard of pottery glints slightly in the mud floor.
human
You look at the pottery
gpt
old. (Held up to the light, it has a faint glint from having being
baked with mica.)
human
You look
gpt
This is only half a cave; the eastern half, to be exact. It's a dark
place full of crevices (you would have missed the slide passage back
north if you hadn't already known about it); chief among them a
distinctive triangular cavity, 1 foot or so high, and blocked by a
rough quartz window.

What divides this cave is a solid, floor-to-ceiling stone wall running
north to south, masoned with mortar and seemingly recent. You feel
quite certain that the cave continues.
human
You examine the wall
gpt
(the masoned wall)
You see nothing special about the masoned wall.
human
You examine the window
gpt
The window itself, perhaps, was the work of primitive cave dwellers
long ago. Whoever they were, they seem to have cut some kind of cavity
to the east, behind the window.
human
You examine the cavity
gpt
Tantalisingly, you can only see darkness within.
human
You go to the east
gpt
The quartz window in the east wall is only 1 foot high, in addition to
being apparently unbreakable.
human
Jilnix window
gpt
As your brows frown, the air around you gathers with vile winged
insects, which surge forward to plague the quartz window. But nothing
results from this, and they dissipate again.
human
You check your inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
a shard of pottery
a flat curved stick
your Ambassador's trunk (which is closed)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open)
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, an apple, a hunk of cheese
and a clove of garlic
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
three ancient treasures:
a platinum egg
a jewelled scarab
a jade figurine
human
Go south
gpt
Thanks to the wall, the slide passage is the only way out.
human
You go north
gpt
dead end not far west, but a muddy slide-passage descends to the
south.
human
You go northeast
gpt
The increasingly earthy rock blocks your way. The only viable routes
are west, south and northeast.

This is a slate-littered shelf high up at the northwest eaves of a
dark, vaulted cave, from which a meadow-fresh breeze blows. The ledge
broadens down a slab "staircase" to the east but wastes away into a
tight squeeze southwest. Natural passages extend like tendrils into
the rock all around this cavern, but only one is accessible from here,
back north under the lintel.

Hanging down toward the dim, distant cave floor is a flourishing,
inverted cedar, its roots grappling the roof, its nearest outflung
branch a good 10 feet across the abyss from here.
human
Go south
gpt
ledge, either down to the east or into the tight squeeze to the
southwest.
human
You throw branch
gpt
The inverted cedar is already on the floor.
human
Go west
gpt
An earthy rockfall, soaked through with water into wet clay, makes
this passage lose all coherence. A kind of chimney-like crack leads
upward, and the crawl eases slightly to the east.

Roughly underneath the chimney-crack is a mound of garbage, dropped in
from above. Potato-peel, broken tools and so on seem to make up the
bulk of it.
human
You go to the west
gpt
The muddy earth is too tight.
human
Search heap
gpt
The moment you reach out to touch the mound, it comes alive with
woodlice and ants, making you pull your finger back as if stung.
Whatever the mound's secrets, they're well guarded.

A moment later, it's as if nothing had happened.
human
Jilnix heap
gpt
As your brows frown, the air around you gathers with vile winged
insects, which surge forward to plague the garbage heap. They set
about the garbage heap with relish, doing battle royal with the native woodlice and ants. Only when finally triumphant do they dissipate.
human
Search heap
gpt
Rummaging through the garbage, you turn up all manner of things: odd
socks with holes in, iron bedstead-parts, rotting turnips and so on.

And then you come across a bound volume of parchment (wrapped loosely
in old sackcloth), filled with curious writings.
human
You look at the crack
gpt
You can just make out starlight, so it must open onto the ground
above. You can't help feeling it was indeed constructed to be a
chimney, terribly long ago and with primitive tools at best.
human
Up
gpt
The chimney-crack becomes just too tight for you, and you sag back
down, muddier and wiser.
human
You check your inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
Experimental Spell Book #5
a shard of pottery
a flat curved stick
your Ambassador's trunk (which is closed)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open)
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, an apple, a hunk of cheese
and a clove of garlic
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
three ancient treasures:
a platinum egg
a jewelled scarab
a jade figurine
human
Examine book
gpt
Which do you mean, the parchment book or The Guide For Travellers To
The Lower Northlands and Surrounding Provinces?
human
You look at the parchment
gpt
A note tucked into the book falls out and into your hand.

The chiaro spell (cause inanimate object to radiate light).
The jilnix spell (summon small plague of insects).
The piroo spell (unfasten object).



The chiaro spell (cause inanimate object to radiate light).
The jilnix spell (summon small plague of insects).
The piroo spell (unfasten object).
human
You read the note
gpt
Graceful, almost effeminate handwriting on the note declares that as
the parchment book is defective (having failed the target of binding
up to 50 spells), it is to be disposed of.

Since magic-imbued paper will not burn, the instructions go on to
insist that the book must be securely buried.

Presumably, whoever received this note thought that dropping the book
into the rubbish dump at one corner of the Imperial hunting woods was
quite secure enough.

(There is something troublingly familiar about the handwriting,
perhaps from your briefings last month. But you can't put your finger
on it.)
human
You memorize the chiaro
gpt
You commit the chiaro spell to memory.
human
You memorize the chiaro
gpt
You commit the chiaro spell to memory once again.
human
You memorize the piroo
gpt
You commit the piroo spell to memory.
human
Chiaro pottery
gpt
glow! Not for a long moment is the light level tolerable.
human
You examine the chiaro
gpt
chiaro spell (cause inanimate object to radiate light).
human
You check your inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
a shard of pottery (providing light)
a flat curved stick
your Ambassador's trunk (which is closed)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open)
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, an apple, a hunk of cheese
and a clove of garlic
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
three ancient treasures:
a platinum egg
a jewelled scarab
a jade figurine
human
Go east
gpt
You edge along the northern wall of the cave, descending the rocky
stairs.

Just where the shelf flattens at the foot of rocky steps (climbing
westward), a square-cut doorway has been hewn into the north wall. The
ledge, which begins to curve southeast, is at its broadest here, yet
your feeling of vertigo hardly abates.

southwest, 30 feet away.

A watchful oil-snake coils and uncoils itself restlessly, occupying
its territory but making no move towards you as yet.
human
Go north
gpt
The oil-snake oozes and rears itself up to bar your way.
human
Jilnix snake
gpt
As your brows frown, the air around you gathers with vile winged
insects, which surge forward to plague the oil-snake. But it's not to
be fooled a second time.
human
Spells
gpt
The jilnix spell is indelibly etched on your memory. Other than that,
you have the piroo spell and chiaro spell memorised.
human
You look at the piroo
gpt
piroo spell (unfasten object).
human
Piroo snake
gpt
Nothing happens, perhaps because the oil-snake was already unfastened.
human
Piroo snake
gpt
You speak the word, but it seems that isn't enough to make the magical
forces gather. Perhaps if you could voice the spell more quickly, with
more assuredness... you would need to have learnt the spell in
advance, though.

Odd how at any one time, you can remember the details of some spells
but not others.

[Type the "spells" command to see which you can remember at any given
moment.]
human
You memorize the piroo
gpt
You commit the piroo spell to memory.
human
You go north
gpt
At the foot of the chimney are low and grimy cellars, built of
decaying brickwork and seemingly unused for years. There are no
bottles, or crates, unless they're stored through the passage to the
south.

Your length of rope is here. Its tail is just visible at the foot of
the chimney.
human
Piroo rope
gpt
The rope falls obligingly to your feet.
human
You go south
gpt
You duck your head under the lintel-stone.

A narrow passage, running north to south under solid sandstone blocks
which must make up the base of the wall. Further south, the passage
runs onto what seems to be a ledge, and you have a sense of space
opening up from below.

The Old Underground Empire awaits!
human
You throw the stick
gpt
You throw the flat curved stick out into the vast air of the cave,
where it quickly spins out of sight.
human
You wait awhile
gpt
Time passes.
human
You wait
gpt
Time passes.

Suddenly and without warning, the flat curved stick spins back in from
the cave and gives you a nasty bruise on the head.
human
Inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
a boomerang
a length of light rope
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
a shard of pottery (providing light)
your Ambassador's trunk (which is closed)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open)
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, an apple, a hunk of cheese
and a clove of garlic
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
three ancient treasures:
a platinum egg
a jewelled scarab
a jade figurine
human
You jump to the cedar
gpt
You take a short run-up and leap across, just managing to catch the
nearest branch! Painfully slowly, you haul yourself in.

You are perched inside the dense, broad first branches down from the
cedar's roots, which splay across the rocky ceiling like buttresses on
a perpendicular gothic column. Through the dappled green cover, you
can just make out the long ledge, but it's too far up to jump across.

A tree-house has been constructed here, though it's little more than a
wooden lean-to on a log platform.

You can also see a bow and an arrow here.
human
You take bow and arrow
gpt
bow: Taken.
arrow: Taken.
human
You look at arrow
gpt
There's no good way of tying it to that.

You see nothing special about the arrow.
human
You examine bow
gpt
A short-bow, reasonably accurate across short distances though little
good for rapid fire. Well-balanced, if far from being state of the
art.
human
You enter House
gpt
Strangely, every side appears to be solid with vine-bound planks and
logs, even the obvious place where a doorway should be.
human
You memorize the piroo
gpt
You haven't got that spell committed to memory. [Type "spells" to see
what you do remember.]

You commit the piroo spell to memory.
human
Piroo house
gpt
As the spell takes effect, vines begin to shrink and strain all over
the treehouse. Just as your magic is about to expire, the cords break
and the doorway opens up onto a dark interior.
human
You get in
gpt
(the ledge)
The ledge is too far off.
human
You enter House
gpt
Inside the wooden lean-to is a surprising illusion of space and
comfort, which you'd never guess is perched in an upside-down cedar.
There are no windows, but finely built wooden chairs suggest some kind
of meeting-place.

A golden fir-cone rolls about on one of the chairs.

You can also see two arrows here.
human
You get the cone
gpt
Taken.
human
Continue
gpt
(the arrow)
Taken.
human
You look at the cone
gpt
Only an inch across, but beautiful and valuable.
human
You sit
gpt
(on yourself)
That's not something you can enter.
human
Inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
three arrows
a bow
a boomerang
a length of light rope
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
a shard of pottery (providing light)
your Ambassador's trunk (which is closed)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open)
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, an apple, a hunk of cheese
and a clove of garlic
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
four ancient treasures:
a golden fir-cone
a platinum egg
a jewelled scarab
a jade figurine
human
You examine the destruction order
gpt
Graceful, almost effeminate handwriting on the note declares that as
the parchment book is defective (having failed the target of binding
up to 50 spells), it is to be disposed of.

Since magic-imbued paper will not burn, the instructions go on to
insist that the book must be securely buried.

Presumably, whoever received this note thought that dropping the book
into the rubbish dump at one corner of the Imperial hunting woods was
quite secure enough.

(There is something troublingly familiar about the handwriting,
perhaps from your briefings last month. But you can't put your finger
on it.)
human
You look
gpt
Inside the wooden lean-to is a surprising illusion of space and
comfort, which you'd never guess is perched in an upside-down cedar.
There are no windows, but finely built wooden chairs suggest some kind
of meeting-place.
human
You go outside
gpt
You are perched inside the dense, broad first branches down from the
cedar's roots, which splay across the rocky ceiling like buttresses on
a perpendicular gothic column. Through the dappled green cover, you
can just make out the long ledge, but it's too far up to jump across.

A tree-house has been constructed here, though it's little more than a
wooden lean-to on a log platform.
human
You go downwards
gpt
the trunk will bear your weight.

An improvised ladder of sticks, lashed together with vines and
creepers, hangs down the rest of the way.

An expanse of shingle and boulders sloping haphazardly across an irregularly-shaped floor a hundred feet across, only smoothed out at
its centre by a stream which pools just to the north. A furrow in the
rocky walls leads southwest, alongside a scree-fall which lies roughly
south; while the cave narrows into a canyon to the east.

The cone of the cedar hangs vertiginously over you, its tip perhaps 9
feet off the floor.

An improvised ladder of sticks, lashed together with vines and
creepers, rests against the tip of the cedar, leading up into its
branches.
human
You go north
gpt
That would be straight into the pool. Try walking around it.
human
Drink pool
gpt
The water tastes strongly of minerals, but is not unpleasant, though
it is extremely cold.
human
You go upwards
gpt
the trunk will bear your weight.

An improvised ladder of sticks, lashed together with vines and
creepers, hangs down the rest of the way.

You are perched inside the dense, broad first branches down from the
cedar's roots, which splay across the rocky ceiling like buttresses on
a perpendicular gothic column. Through the dappled green cover, you
can just make out the long ledge, but it's too far up to jump across.

A tree-house has been constructed here, though it's little more than a
wooden lean-to on a log platform.
The trunk becomes too smooth up near the roots.
The trunk becomes too smooth up near the roots.
human
You go downwards
gpt
the trunk will bear your weight.

An improvised ladder of sticks, lashed together with vines and
creepers, hangs down the rest of the way.

An expanse of shingle and boulders sloping haphazardly across an irregularly-shaped floor a hundred feet across, only smoothed out at
its centre by a stream which pools just to the north. A furrow in the
rocky walls leads southwest, alongside a scree-fall which lies roughly
south; while the cave narrows into a canyon to the east.

The cone of the cedar hangs vertiginously over you, its tip perhaps 9
feet off the floor.

An improvised ladder of sticks, lashed together with vines and
creepers, rests against the tip of the cedar, leading up into its
branches.
This is the base of the cave.
This is the base of the cave.
human
You go southwest
gpt
The furrow has been burrowed and extended by primitive mine workings,
hewn chiefly by hand or at best stone tools. But the seam has been
exhausted, and the striations in the rock scraped clean of ore.

What looks like a small drum lies discarded here.
human
You examine the drum
gpt
You are carrying:
an improvised ladder
three arrows
a bow
a boomerang
a length of light rope
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
a shard of pottery (providing light)
your Ambassador's trunk (which is closed)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open)
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, an apple, a hunk of cheese
and a clove of garlic
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
four ancient treasures:
a golden fir-cone
a platinum egg
a jewelled scarab
a jade figurine

It resembles a tambourine without chimes. Some kind of coarse gauze is stretched taut along the bottom of a wooden drum-frame.
human
You hit drum
gpt
A hollow Bong! results.
human
You look around
gpt
The furrow has been burrowed and extended by primitive mine workings,
hewn chiefly by hand or at best stone tools. But the seam has been
exhausted, and the striations in the rock scraped clean of ore.
human
Go northeast
gpt
An expanse of shingle and boulders sloping haphazardly across an irregularly-shaped floor a hundred feet across, only smoothed out at
its centre by a stream which pools just to the north. A furrow in the
rocky walls leads southwest, alongside a scree-fall which lies roughly
south; while the cave narrows into a canyon to the east.

The cone of the cedar hangs vertiginously over you, its tip perhaps 9
feet off the floor.
human
You go to the south
gpt
Heaped up against the southern cave wall like a sloping rampart, and
rising 50 feet above the stream, the scree fall is made up not of
fallen stones but of masonry, broken terracotta tiles, wrecked
alabaster murals and those marbly bits you can't ever remember the
name of: as if the veil of a temple has been rent in twain. But what
the catastrophe can have been, and where the building stood, you
cannot say.

A black scroll, like a roll of remembrance, is curled around the top
few feet of scree.
human
You count the tiles
gpt
Arithmetical correctness gone mad.
human
You examine the scroll
gpt
The scroll reads "azzev spell (view the past)".
human
You get the scroll
gpt
Just as you're about to pull out the scroll, a tiny but significant
shift of stones give you pause. The scree fall is on the very edge of
an avalanche! You'd need to be a lot more than arm's length away to
survive that.
human
Azzev
gpt
You haven't got that spell committed to memory. [Type "spells" to see
what you do remember.]
human
You throw the boomerang
gpt
stick, since you'd really need to pull your arm right back and swing
hard.
human
You memorize the azzev
gpt
It seems to be not enough to be able to read a copy of the spell. No,
the writing has to be part of the fabric of a spell book you have in
your hands, so that the magic can flow from the binding into your own
spine.
human
Inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
an improvised ladder
a drum (which is empty)
three arrows
a bow
a boomerang
a length of light rope
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
a shard of pottery (providing light)
your Ambassador's trunk (which is closed)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open)
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, an apple, a hunk of cheese
and a clove of garlic
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
four ancient treasures:
a golden fir-cone
a platinum egg
a jewelled scarab
a jade figurine
human
You hit the scroll with the ladder
gpt
I only understood you as far as wanting to hit the black, memorial
scroll.
human
You shoot scroll
gpt
You loose off an arrow at the black, memorial scroll, but miss.
human
You throw the boomerang at the scroll
gpt
There isn't really room to throw it at the black, memorial scroll in
this cramped space.
human
Jilnix scroll
gpt
As your brows frown, the air around you gathers with vile winged
insects, which surge forward to plague the black, memorial scroll. But
nothing results from this, and they dissipate again.
human
You throw the pottery at the scroll
gpt
Futile.
human
Piroo scroll
gpt
You haven't got that spell committed to memory. [Type "spells" to see
what you do remember.]
human
Piroo scroll
gpt
Nothing happens, perhaps because the black, memorial scroll was
already unfastened.
human
You describe your surroundings
gpt
Heaped up against the southern cave wall like a sloping rampart, and
rising 50 feet above the stream, the scree fall is made up not of
fallen stones but of masonry, broken terracotta tiles, wrecked
alabaster murals and those marbly bits you can't ever remember the
name of: as if the veil of a temple has been rent in twain. But what
the catastrophe can have been, and where the building stood, you
cannot say.

A black scroll, like a roll of remembrance, is curled around the top
few feet of scree.
human
Go north
gpt
An expanse of shingle and boulders sloping haphazardly across an irregularly-shaped floor a hundred feet across, only smoothed out at
its centre by a stream which pools just to the north. A furrow in the
rocky walls leads southwest, alongside a scree-fall which lies roughly
south; while the cave narrows into a canyon to the east.

The cone of the cedar hangs vertiginously over you, its tip perhaps 9
feet off the floor.
human
You go east
gpt
The cave floor closes off into an enclosed stream-bed here, forcing
you into a stoop.

The stream runs much faster here, as the bony hand of the cave-wall
clenches around it.
human
About yourself
gpt
As good-looking as ever.
human
Go east
gpt
Further east, the cave roof descends until it touches the stream
water-level.
human
You touch wall
gpt
Which do you mean, the north wall, the south wall, the east wall, the
west wall, the northeast wall, the northwest wall, the southeast wall
or the southwest wall?
human
Cross stream
gpt
You'll have to be more specific about which way to go.
human
Swim
gpt
The water is bone-chillingly cold, and even undressing near it would
give you goose-pimples.
human
You examine Guide
gpt
Enormously detailed with the useless and irrelevant, the Empress gave
it to you hoping you'd waste time studying it in detail. You have
vowed never to do so, but it's still handy for passing the odd dull
moment by looking up some specific local feature.
human
You put the ladder on the cedar
gpt
of the tree.
human
You take the cone
gpt
You already have that.
human
You look at your surroundings
gpt
An expanse of shingle and boulders sloping haphazardly across an irregularly-shaped floor a hundred feet across, only smoothed out at
its centre by a stream which pools just to the north. A furrow in the
rocky walls leads southwest, alongside a scree-fall which lies roughly
south; while the cave narrows into a canyon to the east.

An improvised ladder of sticks, lashed together with vines and
creepers, rests against the tip of the cedar, leading up into its
branches.

The cone of the cedar hangs vertiginously over you, its tip perhaps 9
feet off the floor.
human
You go to the northwest
gpt
You cross the stream and walk around the pool.

The stream's pool washes up almost to your feet, close to the
forbiddingly craggy and overhung northern wall of the cave, but the
water does leave room for a broad path around the periphery; and this
is its northern limb.

The cone of the cedar hangs vertiginously down, its tip suspended some
20 feet to the south, across the stream.

A single, graceful green water-lily plumes at the calm surface of the
pool.

You can also see an arrow here.
human
You get arrow
gpt
(the arrow)
Taken.
human
You get the lily
gpt
You'd have to wade through icy water to reach it.
human
Go northeast
gpt
You cross the stream and walk around the pool.

The stream's pool washes up almost to your feet, close to the
forbiddingly craggy and overhung northern wall of the cave, but the
water does leave room for a broad path around the periphery; and this
is its northern limb.

The cone of the cedar hangs vertiginously down, its tip suspended some
20 feet to the south, across the stream.

A single, graceful green water-lily plumes at the calm surface of the
pool.
human
Drink water
gpt
Which do you mean, the stream or the water lily?
human
You shoot the lily
gpt
snap!
human
Jilnix lily
gpt
As your brows frown, the air around you gathers with vile winged
insects, which surge forward to plague the water lily. The carnivorous
lily makes very quick work of them.
human
You throw the ham at the lily
gpt
The water-lily gulps upward and swallows the joint of cured ham with a
vicious snap!
human
You check your inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
a joint of cured ham
four arrows
an improvised ladder
a drum (which is empty)
a bow
a boomerang
a length of light rope
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
a shard of pottery (providing light)
your Ambassador's trunk (which is closed)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open)
some provisions - an apple, a hunk of cheese and a clove of garlic
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
four ancient treasures:
a golden fir-cone
a platinum egg
a jewelled scarab
a jade figurine
human
You throw the garlic at the lily
gpt
vicious snap!
human
You throw the apple at the lily
gpt
(first taking the apple)
The water-lily gulps upward and swallows the apple with a vicious
snap!
human
You throw the boomerang
gpt
You throw the boomerang out into the vast air of the cave, where it
quickly spins out of sight.
human
You wait awhile
gpt
Time passes.
human
Wait
gpt
Time passes.

Suddenly and without warning, the boomerang spins back in from the
cave and gives you a nasty bruise on the head.
human
You throw the boomerang at the lily
gpt
space.
human
You look
gpt
The stream's pool washes up almost to your feet, close to the
forbiddingly craggy and overhung northern wall of the cave, but the
water does leave room for a broad path around the periphery; and this
is its northern limb.

The cone of the cedar hangs vertiginously down, its tip suspended some
20 feet to the south, across the stream.

A single, graceful green water-lily plumes at the calm surface of the
pool.
human
You go to the north
gpt
The sheer black rock blocks your way.
human
Go south
gpt
That would be into the pool!
human
Up
gpt
the trunk will bear your weight.

An improvised ladder of sticks, lashed together with vines and
creepers, hangs down the rest of the way.
human
Up
gpt
You are perched inside the dense, broad first branches down from the
cedar's roots, which splay across the rocky ceiling like buttresses on
a perpendicular gothic column. Through the dappled green cover, you
can just make out the long ledge, but it's too far up to jump across.

A tree-house has been constructed here, though it's little more than a
wooden lean-to on a log platform.
human
Go north
gpt
Although branches radiate in all compass directions, your first
impression is that none of them lead anywhere in particular. Certainly
this one doesn't.
human
You throw the rope at ledge
gpt
The ledge is too far off.
human
You shoot arrow at the ledge
gpt
sight.
human
You put the ladder on the ledge
gpt
broadest branches to the ledge.
human
You look
gpt
You are perched inside the dense, broad first branches down from the
cedar's roots, which splay across the rocky ceiling like buttresses on
a perpendicular gothic column. Through the dappled green cover, you
can just make out the long ledge, but it's too far up to jump across.

An improvised ladder of sticks, lashed together with vines and
creepers, spans the abyss up to the ledge.

A tree-house has been constructed here, though it's little more than a
wooden lean-to on a log platform.
human
Up
gpt
This is a slate-littered shelf high up at the northwest eaves of a
dark, vaulted cave, from which a meadow-fresh breeze blows. The ledge
broadens down a slab "staircase" to the east but wastes away into a
tight squeeze southwest. Natural passages extend like tendrils into
the rock all around this cavern, but only one is accessible from here,
back north under the lintel.

Hanging down toward the dim, distant cave floor is a flourishing,
inverted cedar, its roots grappling the roof, its nearest outflung
branch a good 10 feet across the abyss from here.

An improvised ladder of sticks, lashed together with vines and
creepers, spans the abyss down to the cedar branches.
human
You throw the boomerang at the snake
gpt
There isn't really room to throw it at the oil-snake in this cramped
space.
human
You shoot arrow at the snake
gpt
You loose off an arrow at the oil-snake, but miss.
human
You get all
gpt
arrow: Taken.
arrow: Taken.
arrow: Taken.
cave floor: That's hardly portable.
inverted cedar: You can't reach the tree from here.
oil-snake: I don't suppose the oil-snake would care for that.
human
You examine the floor
gpt
(the cave floor)
You see nothing special about the cave floor.
human
You check your inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
four arrows
a boomerang
some provisions - a clove of garlic and a joint of cured ham
a drum (which is empty)
a bow
a length of light rope
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
a shard of pottery (providing light)
your Ambassador's trunk (which is closed)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open)
some provisions - an apple and a hunk of cheese
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
four ancient treasures:
a golden fir-cone
a platinum egg
a jewelled scarab
a jade figurine
human
You give the ham to the snake
gpt
The snake snatches and swallows whole the joint of cured ham, its neck distending to fit.
human
Look around
gpt
Just where the shelf flattens at the foot of rocky steps (climbing
westward), a square-cut doorway has been hewn into the north wall. The
ledge, which begins to curve southeast, is at its broadest here, yet
your feeling of vertigo hardly abates.

southwest, 30 feet away.

A watchful oil-snake coils and uncoils itself restlessly, occupying
its territory but making no move towards you as yet.

You can also see a small wickerwork hamper (in which are some
provisions - a joint of cured ham, an apple and a hunk of cheese)
here.
human
You examine lantern
gpt
The brass lantern is currently switched on.
human
You consult Guide abouthe oil-snake
gpt
The oil snake infests the foundations of many Northland houses. It is
said to bring bad luck, presumably because its bite is deadly poison.
human
You look
gpt
Just where the shelf flattens at the foot of rocky steps (climbing
westward), a square-cut doorway has been hewn into the north wall. The
ledge, which begins to curve southeast, is at its broadest here, yet
your feeling of vertigo hardly abates.

southwest, 30 feet away.

A watchful oil-snake coils and uncoils itself restlessly, occupying
its territory but making no move towards you as yet.
human
Go west
gpt
This is a slate-littered shelf high up at the northwest eaves of a
dark, vaulted cave, from which a meadow-fresh breeze blows. The ledge
broadens down a slab "staircase" to the east but wastes away into a
tight squeeze southwest. Natural passages extend like tendrils into
the rock all around this cavern, but only one is accessible from here,
back north under the lintel.

Hanging down toward the dim, distant cave floor is a flourishing,
inverted cedar, its roots grappling the roof, its nearest outflung
branch a good 10 feet across the abyss from here.

An improvised ladder of sticks, lashed together with vines and
creepers, spans the abyss down to the cedar branches.
human
Go southeast
gpt
This long parapet thins to nothing further on, appearing to lead
nowhere after all: the nearest other ledge being 50 feet vertically
below.

the inverted cedar, giving you a magnificent view of this botanic
marvel.

There's an iron ring fixed to the wall, the kind used to tie up
horses, though how anyone could possibly get a horse up here you can't imagine.
human
You tie the rope to ring
gpt
You make a secure little knot. One end is tied to the ring, the other
hangs down from the ledge.
human
Down
gpt
short, you decide against carefully lowering yourself down.
human
You go to the north-west
gpt
Just where the shelf flattens at the foot of rocky steps (climbing
westward), a square-cut doorway has been hewn into the north wall. The
ledge, which begins to curve southeast, is at its broadest here, yet
your feeling of vertigo hardly abates.

southwest, 30 feet away.

A watchful oil-snake coils and uncoils itself restlessly, occupying
its territory but making no move towards you as yet.
human
Go southeast
gpt
This long parapet thins to nothing further on, appearing to lead
nowhere after all: the nearest other ledge being 50 feet vertically
below.

the inverted cedar, giving you a magnificent view of this botanic
marvel.

There's an iron ring fixed to the wall, the kind used to tie up
horses, though how anyone could possibly get a horse up here you can't imagine.

Your length of rope is here. One end is tied to the ring, the other
hangs down from the ledge.
human
You tie the rope to the ladder
gpt
The rope's already tied to the iron ring.
human
You untie the rope
gpt
You untie the rope.
human
You look at what you're carrying with you
gpt
You are carrying:
an improvised ladder
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open)
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, an apple and a hunk of
cheese
four arrows
a boomerang
a clove of garlic
a drum (which is empty)
a bow
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
a shard of pottery (providing light)
your Ambassador's trunk (which is closed)
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
four ancient treasures:
a golden fir-cone
a platinum egg
a jewelled scarab
a jade figurine
human
You open the trunk
gpt
Expertly sliding your fingers along the sequence of hidden catches,
you trigger the mechanism and the trunk-lid gracefully raises.

credentials.
human
You examine the telescope
gpt
One thing about your home, the Duchy: you may not be a very powerful
realm, but you certainly are fine inventors and craftsmen. Take this
ten-inch brass "telescope", for example. Distant objects that you look
at through the telescope actually seem closer to you!
human
You look in the drum
gpt
The drum is empty.
human
Spells
gpt
The jilnix spell is indelibly etched on your memory. Other than that,
you have the chiaro spell memorised.
human
Chiaro boomerang
gpt
There is an almost blinding flash as the boomerang takes on a glow!
Not for a long moment is the light level tolerable.
human
You throw the boomerang
gpt
You throw the boomerang out into the vast air of the cave, where it
quickly spins out of sight.
human
You look
gpt
This long parapet thins to nothing further on, appearing to lead
nowhere after all: the nearest other ledge being 50 feet vertically
below.

the inverted cedar, giving you a magnificent view of this botanic
marvel.

There's an iron ring fixed to the wall, the kind used to tie up
horses, though how anyone could possibly get a horse up here you can't imagine.

Your length of rope is here.
human
Wait
gpt
Time passes.

Suddenly and without warning, the boomerang spins back in from the
cave and gives you a nasty bruise on the head.
human
You read Book
gpt
Which do you mean, Experimental Spell Book #5 or The Guide For
Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding Provinces?
human
Spell
gpt
The chiaro spell (cause inanimate object to radiate light).
The jilnix spell (summon small plague of insects).
The piroo spell (unfasten object).
human
You memorize the chiaro
gpt
You commit the chiaro spell to memory.
human
You break wall
gpt
(the masoned wall)
Violence isn't the answer to this one.
human
Go south
gpt
Thanks to the wall, the slide passage is the only way out.
human
You go west
gpt
Though the cave undoubtedly extends west, the wall means you are
unable to follow it.
human
Go downwards
gpt
the trunk will bear your weight.
human
You put the ladder on the floor
gpt
(the cave floor)
You hang the ladder so that it runs from the cave floor up to the tip
of the tree.
human
Go downwards
gpt
An expanse of shingle and boulders sloping haphazardly across an irregularly-shaped floor a hundred feet across, only smoothed out at
its centre by a stream which pools just to the north. A furrow in the
rocky walls leads southwest, alongside a scree-fall which lies roughly
south; while the cave narrows into a canyon to the east.

The cone of the cedar hangs vertiginously over you, its tip perhaps 9
feet off the floor.

An improvised ladder of sticks, lashed together with vines and
creepers, rests against the tip of the cedar, leading up into its
branches.
human
You go to the south
gpt
Heaped up against the southern cave wall like a sloping rampart, and
rising 50 feet above the stream, the scree fall is made up not of
fallen stones but of masonry, broken terracotta tiles, wrecked
alabaster murals and those marbly bits you can't ever remember the
name of: as if the veil of a temple has been rent in twain. But what
the catastrophe can have been, and where the building stood, you
cannot say.

A black scroll, like a roll of remembrance, is curled around the top
few feet of scree.
human
You get the scroll
gpt
Just as you're about to pull out the scroll, a tiny but significant
shift of stones give you pause. The scree fall is on the very edge of
an avalanche! You'd need to be a lot more than arm's length away to
survive that.
human
You shoot arrow at the scroll
gpt
You loose off an arrow at the black, memorial scroll, but miss.
human
You check your inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
a boomerang (providing light)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open)
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, an apple and a hunk of
cheese
four arrows
a clove of garlic
a drum (which is empty)
a bow
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
a shard of pottery (providing light)
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
your formal credentials
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
four ancient treasures:
a golden fir-cone
a platinum egg
a jewelled scarab
a jade figurine
human
You throw the cheese at the scroll
gpt
(first taking the hunk of cheese)
Futile.
human
Go south
gpt
Heaped up against the southern cave wall like a sloping rampart, and
rising 50 feet above the stream, the scree fall is made up not of
fallen stones but of masonry, broken terracotta tiles, wrecked
alabaster murals and those marbly bits you can't ever remember the
name of: as if the veil of a temple has been rent in twain. But what
the catastrophe can have been, and where the building stood, you
cannot say.

A black scroll, like a roll of remembrance, is curled around the top
few feet of scree.

You can also see a shard of pottery (providing light) here.
human
You go east
gpt
The scree fall would be a desperate scramble down in any direction but
north.
human
You go southwest
gpt
An expanse of shingle and boulders sloping haphazardly across an irregularly-shaped floor a hundred feet across, only smoothed out at
its centre by a stream which pools just to the north. A furrow in the
rocky walls leads southwest, alongside a scree-fall which lies roughly
south; while the cave narrows into a canyon to the east.

The cone of the cedar hangs vertiginously over you, its tip perhaps 9
feet off the floor.

An improvised ladder of sticks, lashed together with vines and
creepers, rests against the tip of the cedar, leading up into its
branches.

You can also see a boomerang (providing light) here.
human
You look at the scroll with the telescope
gpt
The black, memorial scroll is too close to you to make that
worthwhile.
human
Go west
gpt
The cave wall is impenetrable in that direction.
human
Inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
a boomerang (providing light)
a shard of pottery (providing light)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open)
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, an apple and a hunk of
cheese
four arrows
a clove of garlic
a drum (which is empty)
a bow
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
your formal credentials
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
four ancient treasures:
a golden fir-cone
a platinum egg
a jewelled scarab
a jade figurine
human
You put the cheese in the river
gpt
something else.
human
You put the cheese in the river
gpt
The hunk of cheese washes away with the stream.
human
Inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
a boomerang (providing light)
a shard of pottery (providing light)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open)
some provisions - a joint of cured ham and an apple
four arrows
a drum (which is empty)
a bow
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
your formal credentials
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
four ancient treasures:
a golden fir-cone
a platinum egg
a jewelled scarab
a jade figurine
some provisions - a hunk of cheese and a clove of garlic
human
Spells
gpt
The jilnix spell is indelibly etched on your memory. Other than that,
you have the chiaro spell and piroo spell memorised.
human
Inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
an improvised ladder
a boomerang (providing light)
a shard of pottery (providing light)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open)
some provisions - a joint of cured ham and an apple
four arrows
a drum (which is empty)
a bow
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
your formal credentials
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
four ancient treasures:
a golden fir-cone
a platinum egg
a jewelled scarab
a jade figurine
some provisions - a hunk of cheese and a clove of garlic
human
About yourself
gpt
As good-looking as ever.
human
Pray
gpt
Nothing practical results from your prayer.
human
Shout
gpt
[To address somebody, please type "name, what you want to say". For
example: "amilia, hello".]
human
You consult Guide about sherbet
gpt
A delightful fruit cocktail. A popular superstition holds that a
gentleman is fated to marry the first lady he drinks sherbet with.
human
Go north
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                          Q = re
sume game

Instructions: How to play this game
Briefings: A diplomatic background
> Hints: During the Procession
The Customs House
Amongst the Foundations
Ledge and Surroundings
Cedar and Cave Floor
Hints: Casting Spells
Hints: General
human
You go to the north
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                          Q = re
sume game

Instructions: How to play this game
Briefings: A diplomatic background
Hints: During the Procession
> The Customs House
Amongst the Foundations
Ledge and Surroundings
Cedar and Cave Floor
Hints: Casting Spells
Hints: General
human
Go north
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                          Q = re
sume game

Instructions: How to play this game
Briefings: A diplomatic background
Hints: During the Procession
The Customs House
> Amongst the Foundations
Ledge and Surroundings
Cedar and Cave Floor
Hints: Casting Spells
Hints: General
human
Go north
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                          Q = re
sume game

Instructions: How to play this game
Briefings: A diplomatic background
Hints: During the Procession
The Customs House
Amongst the Foundations
> Ledge and Surroundings
Cedar and Cave Floor
Hints: Casting Spells
Hints: General
human
You go to the north
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                          Q = re
sume game

Instructions: How to play this game
Briefings: A diplomatic background
Hints: During the Procession
The Customs House
Amongst the Foundations
Ledge and Surroundings
> Cedar and Cave Floor
Hints: Casting Spells
Hints: General
Hints
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                          Q = re
sume game

Instructions: How to play this game
Briefings: A diplomatic background
Hints: During the Procession
The Customs House
Amongst the Foundations
Ledge and Surroundings
> Cedar and Cave Floor
Hints: Casting Spells
Hints: General
human
I don'T actually know how to push the enter
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                          Q = re
sume game

Instructions: How to play this game
Briefings: A diplomatic background
Hints: During the Procession
The Customs House
Amongst the Foundations
Ledge and Surroundings
> Cedar and Cave Floor
Hints: Casting Spells
Hints: General
Cedar and Cave Floor
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                        Q = prev
ious menu

> I can't get back up.
The treehouse is impenetrable.
The scree slope is too unstable!
The arched doorway seems very dangerous.
What's the drum for?
Does the water-lily play a part?
human
Go north
gpt
(Press H for more, or SPACE to return.)

The means for doing so are further down.
Cedar and Cave Floor
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                        Q = prev
ious menu

> I can't get back up.
The treehouse is impenetrable.
The scree slope is too unstable!
The arched doorway seems very dangerous.
What's the drum for?
Does the water-lily play a part?

N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                        Q = prev
ious menu

I can't get back up.
> The treehouse is impenetrable.
The scree slope is too unstable!
The arched doorway seems very dangerous.
What's the drum for?
Does the water-lily play a part?
human
Go north
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                        Q = prev
ious menu

I can't get back up.
The treehouse is impenetrable.
> The scree slope is too unstable!
The arched doorway seems very dangerous.
What's the drum for?
Does the water-lily play a part?
(Press H for more, or SPACE to return.)

away.
human
Go east
gpt
You edge southeast along the ledge.

This long parapet thins to nothing further on, appearing to lead
nowhere after all: the nearest other ledge being 50 feet vertically
below.

the inverted cedar, giving you a magnificent view of this botanic
marvel.

There's an iron ring fixed to the wall, the kind used to tie up
horses, though how anyone could possibly get a horse up here you can't imagine.

Your length of rope is here.
human
You tie the rope to scroll
gpt
You make a secure little knot. It is now tied to the black, memorial
scroll.
human
You tie the rope to yourself
gpt
You tie the rope around you. One end is tied around you, and the other
to the black, memorial scroll.
human
You get the scroll
gpt
Just as you're about to pull out the scroll, a tiny but significant
shift of stones give you pause. The scree fall is on the very edge of
an avalanche! You'd need to be a lot more than arm's length away to
survive that.
human
You go north
gpt
The rope plucks out the scroll as you run north... but you are
overtaken by a thundering avalanche with the same idea! Your burial is
almost instant.
human
You jump
gpt
You jump on the spot, fruitlessly.
human
You untie the rope
gpt
You untie the rope.
human
Inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
a boomerang (providing light)
a shard of pottery (providing light)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open)
some provisions - a joint of cured ham and an apple
four arrows
a drum (which is empty)
a bow
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
your formal credentials
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
four ancient treasures:
a golden fir-cone
a platinum egg
a jewelled scarab
a jade figurine
some provisions - a hunk of cheese and a clove of garlic
human
Go south
gpt
Heaped up against the southern cave wall like a sloping rampart, and
rising 50 feet above the stream, the scree fall is made up not of
fallen stones but of masonry, broken terracotta tiles, wrecked
alabaster murals and those marbly bits you can't ever remember the
name of: as if the veil of a temple has been rent in twain. But what
the catastrophe can have been, and where the building stood, you
cannot say.

A black scroll, like a roll of remembrance, is curled around the top
few feet of scree.

Your length of rope is here. It is now tied to the black, memorial
scroll.
human
Go south
gpt
The scree fall would be a desperate scramble down in any direction but
north.
human
You get the rope
gpt
You can't take the rope; it's tied to the black, memorial scroll.
human
Inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
a boomerang (providing light)
a shard of pottery (providing light)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open)
some provisions - a joint of cured ham and an apple
four arrows
a drum (which is empty)
a bow
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
your formal credentials
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
four ancient treasures:
a golden fir-cone
a platinum egg
a jewelled scarab
a jade figurine
some provisions - a hunk of cheese and a clove of garlic
human
You tie the rope to boomerang
gpt
The rope's already tied to the black, memorial scroll.
human
Go north
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                        Q = prev
ious menu

I can't get back up.
> The treehouse is impenetrable.
The scree slope is too unstable!
The arched doorway seems very dangerous.
What's the drum for?
Does the water-lily play a part?
human
Go north
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                        Q = prev
ious menu

I can't get back up.
The treehouse is impenetrable.
> The scree slope is too unstable!
The arched doorway seems very dangerous.
What's the drum for?
Does the water-lily play a part?
human
You go north
gpt
The rope plucks out the scroll as you run north... but you are
overtaken by a thundering avalanche with the same idea! Your burial is
almost instant.
human
Go south
gpt
Heaped up against the southern cave wall like a sloping rampart, and
rising 50 feet above the stream, the scree fall is made up not of
fallen stones but of masonry, broken terracotta tiles, wrecked
alabaster murals and those marbly bits you can't ever remember the
name of: as if the veil of a temple has been rent in twain. But what
the catastrophe can have been, and where the building stood, you
cannot say.

A black scroll, like a roll of remembrance, is curled around the top
few feet of scree.

Your length of rope is here.
human
You pull the rope
gpt
You pull the rope.
human
Go downward
gpt
The rope plucks out the scroll as you run north... but you are
overtaken by a thundering avalanche with the same idea! Your burial is
almost instant.
human
You look around
gpt
Heaped up against the southern cave wall like a sloping rampart, and
rising 50 feet above the stream, the scree fall is made up not of
fallen stones but of masonry, broken terracotta tiles, wrecked
alabaster murals and those marbly bits you can't ever remember the
name of: as if the veil of a temple has been rent in twain. But what
the catastrophe can have been, and where the building stood, you
cannot say.

A black scroll, like a roll of remembrance, is curled around the top
few feet of scree.

Your length of rope is here. One end is tied around you, and the other
to the black, memorial scroll.
human
You go west
gpt
You skitter nervously down the very steep western side of the scree.

The rope plucks out the scroll... and your sideways leap is only just
in time to clear the thundering avalanche of masonry which results!

The furrow has been burrowed and extended by primitive mine workings,
hewn chiefly by hand or at best stone tools. But the seam has been
exhausted, and the striations in the rock scraped clean of ore.

You can see a black, memorial scroll here.
human
You untie the rope
gpt
You loose the rope from your waist.
human
You put the azzev in spell book
gpt
Your spell book begins to glow softly. Almost imperceptibly, the
binding swells and closes over the edge of the black, memorial scroll,
which straightens and becomes the new azzev spell page. The book's
brightness fades as the corners settle to perfect right angles.
human
You memorize azzev
gpt
You commit the azzev spell to memory.
human
Azzev
gpt
A cloud of green smoke gathers and swirls in the air like cream poured
into soup, and a vision briefly appears...

You see the painfully slow carving-out of the seam, by miners
centuries gone; and the anguish on their faces as the ore runs out,
never to be found again.
human
Go south
gpt
Heaped up against the southern cave wall like a sloping rampart, and
rising 40 feet above the stream, the scree fall is made up not of
fallen stones but of masonry, broken terracotta tiles, wrecked
alabaster murals and those marbly bits you can't ever remember the
name of: as if the veil of a temple has been rent in twain. But what
the catastrophe can have been, and where the building stood, you
cannot say.

The avalanche has cleared away part of the scree, leaving open behind
it a crudely arched doorway into the southern cave wall. Above the
doorway, a skull and crossbones has been carved.
human
Continue
gpt
You commit the azzev spell to memory once again.
human
Azzev
gpt
A cloud of green smoke gathers and swirls in the air like cream poured
into soup, and a vision briefly appears...

The scree slope being built, by teams of slaves, under an overseer
terrified that the doorway would ever be revealed again, but in a
desperate hurry... constantly glancing over his shoulder at the
corridor behind him... and the slope being completed, and his final
act laying the black scroll at its apex, to stand warning down all
time.
human
You look at the doorway
gpt
coated with a runny, nasty-looking paste which drips out of tiny
pores.
human
You get the paste
gpt
That's fixed in place.
human
Go south
gpt
As you pass through the archway, clouds of vapour and drips of arsenic
seep into your nose and ears! Death is immediate.
human
You put arrow in the doorway
gpt
The use of poisoned projectiles is strictly prohibited by the Protocol
of Collioure, one of the great triumphs of your early career.
human
You put the ham in the doorway
gpt
into something else.
human
Poison ham with arsenic
gpt
ham.
human
You touch the doorway with the ham
gpt
doorway.
human
You check your inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
a length of light rope
an improvised ladder
a boomerang (providing light)
a shard of pottery (providing light)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open)
an apple
four arrows
a drum (which is empty)
a bow
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
your formal credentials
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
four ancient treasures:
a golden fir-cone
a platinum egg
a jewelled scarab
a jade figurine
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, a hunk of cheese and a clove
of garlic
human
Azzev lily
gpt
The spell backfires, and you somehow feel it wrong to apply it to
individual objects.
human
Azzev
gpt
A cloud of green smoke gathers and swirls in the air like cream poured
into soup, and a vision briefly appears...

Green lilies proliferating in the depths of the pool.
human
Azzev
gpt
A cloud of green smoke gathers and swirls in the air like cream poured
into soup, and a vision briefly appears...

An old man rocks back and forth in a chair, puffing smoke rings from a
long briar pipe.
human
Azzev
gpt
You haven't got that spell committed to memory. [Type "spells" to see
what you do remember.]
human
Azzev
gpt
A cloud of green smoke gathers and swirls in the air like cream poured
into soup, and a vision briefly appears...

The wall being masoned, but quite recently, by Northlands soldiers
working on the other side.
human
Go south
gpt
Thanks to the wall, the slide passage is the only way out.
human
Azzev
gpt
A cloud of green smoke gathers and swirls in the air like cream poured
into soup, and a vision briefly appears...

Seas of garbage rain down through the crack onto the mound, rapidly decomposing or washing away so that the process fights itself to a
standstill.
human
You memorize azzev
gpt
You commit the azzev spell to memory a third time. You have so much
rushing around in your head, though, that something may easily have
been lost in the confusion.
human
Go north
gpt
The increasingly earthy rock blocks your way. The only viable routes
are west, south and northeast.
human
You look at azzev
gpt
azzev spell (view the past).
human
Azzev
gpt
A cloud of green smoke gathers and swirls in the air like cream poured
into soup, and a vision briefly appears...

A very ancient time, when the tree has not grown: the doorway is being
cut with enervating slowness.
human
Go southeast
gpt
This long parapet thins to nothing further on, appearing to lead
nowhere after all: the nearest other ledge being 50 feet vertically
below.

the inverted cedar, giving you a magnificent view of this botanic
marvel.

There's an iron ring fixed to the wall, the kind used to tie up
horses, though how anyone could possibly get a horse up here you can't imagine.
human
Azzev
gpt
A cloud of green smoke gathers and swirls in the air like cream poured
into soup, and a vision briefly appears...

The tree, sprouting confidentally downwards.
human
Spells
gpt
The jilnix spell is indelibly etched on your memory. Other than that,
you have the azzev spell, chiaro spell and piroo spell memorised.
human
You look at Cedar with telescope
gpt
You raise the brass telescope expertly to your eye. There seems to be
a crude wooden house built into it halfway down.
human
Inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
a length of light rope
a boomerang (providing light)
a shard of pottery (providing light)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open)
an apple
four arrows
a drum (which is empty)
a bow
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
your formal credentials
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
four ancient treasures:
a golden fir-cone
a platinum egg
a jewelled scarab
a jade figurine
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, a hunk of cheese and a clove
of garlic
human
You go north
gpt
You edge northwest along the ledge.

Just where the shelf flattens at the foot of rocky steps (climbing
westward), a square-cut doorway has been hewn into the north wall. The
ledge, which begins to curve southeast, is at its broadest here, yet
your feeling of vertigo hardly abates.

southwest, 30 feet away.

A watchful oil-snake coils and uncoils itself restlessly, occupying
its territory but making no move towards you as yet.
human
Go north
gpt
The oil-snake oozes and rears itself up to bar your way.
human
You get the rope
gpt
You can't take the rope; it's tied to the iron ring.
human
You show the apple to the snake
gpt
(first taking the apple)
The oil-snake is unimpressed.
human
You give the apple to the snake
gpt
The snake snatches and swallows whole the apple, its neck distending
to fit.

But something mysterious is wrong! It chokes, seizing up horribly and thrashing about, its great body squeezing away from you until it
topples over the lip of the ledge, plunging out of sight to its
presumed demise.
human
You eat the apple
gpt
Just in time, you stop yourself from taking a bite as you notice
little puncture-marks and a faint discolouration. This apple has been poisoned!
human
You eat the cheese
gpt
You eat the hunk of cheese. Not bad.
human
You give the apple to snake
gpt
The snake snatches and swallows whole the poisoned apple, its neck
distending to fit.
It chokes, seizing up horribly and thrashing about, its great body
squeezing away from you until it topples over the lip of the ledge,
plunging out of sight to its presumed demise.
human
Go north
gpt
This is a pale corridor filled with a cold, pearly light, ranging from near-darkness at the southern end to a bright glow from the east.

You are in the almost ghostly presence of a gaunt, long-haired man, an Adventurer who looks as if he has just stepped out of a weaving of a
scene from the old Empire.
human
You look at the man
gpt
If legends may be believed, although basically trustworthy he would do
almost anything for treasure.
human
Azzev
gpt
A cloud of green smoke gathers and swirls in the air like cream poured
into soup, and a vision briefly appears...

Even in your vision, the Adventurer stalks, untired and yet
unsatisfied.
human
Hello
gpt
The Adventurer is already serving under one geas, and you have little
chance of talking him out of it.
human
Go east
gpt
eastward continuation.

"The Chamber is private to my Master!" he booms, in a voice not his
own.
human
Inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
a boomerang (providing light)
a shard of pottery (providing light)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open but empty)
four arrows
a drum (which is empty)
a bow
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
your formal credentials
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
four ancient treasures:
a golden fir-cone
a platinum egg
a jewelled scarab
a jade figurine
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, a hunk of cheese and a clove
of garlic
human
You give the egg to the man
gpt
The Adventurer's eyes gleam. Treasure! He wants only more and more of
it.
human
You give the figurine to Adventurer
gpt
(first taking the jade figurine)
The ghostly Adventurer guards the pile of treasure zealously.
human
You look
gpt
This is a pale corridor filled with a cold, pearly light, ranging from near-darkness at the southern end to a bright glow from the east.

You are in the almost ghostly presence of a gaunt, long-haired man, an Adventurer who looks as if he has just stepped out of a weaving of a
scene from the old Empire.

You can also see four ancient treasures (a golden fir-cone, a jade
figurine, a jewelled scarab and a platinum egg) here.
human
You give the pottery to Adventurer
gpt
The Adventurer is incorruptible. Well, fairly incorruptible. Unless
something valuable is on offer, anyway.
human
Inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
a boomerang (providing light)
a shard of pottery (providing light)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open but empty)
four arrows
a drum (which is empty)
a bow
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
your formal credentials
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, a hunk of cheese and a clove
of garlic
human
You give credentials to Adventurer
gpt
(first taking the formal credentials)
He is unimpressed, perhaps because he speaks a language centuries
before your own.
human
You get the telescope then give it to Adventurer
gpt
Taken.
The Adventurer is incorruptible. Well, fairly incorruptible. Unless
something valuable is on offer, anyway.
human
Go south
gpt
Just where the shelf flattens at the foot of rocky steps (climbing
westward), a square-cut doorway has been hewn into the north wall. The
ledge, which begins to curve southeast, is at its broadest here, yet
your feeling of vertigo hardly abates.

southwest, 30 feet away.
human
Azzev
gpt
A cloud of green smoke gathers and swirls in the air like cream poured
into soup, and a vision briefly appears...

Terribly slowly, the stream erodes this channel into existence.
human
You check what you're carrying
gpt
You are carrying:
your formal credentials
a boomerang (providing light)
a shard of pottery (providing light)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open but empty)
four arrows
a drum (which is empty)
a bow
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, a hunk of cheese and a clove
of garlic
human
You shoot the lily
gpt
snap!
human
Fill drum
gpt
The placid water pools slowly in the drum, then drains out of the
gauze. Nothing appears to result from this.
human
Fill drum
gpt
Water sluices through the gauze drum, panning and leaving a sludge of
wet sediment behind.
human
You look at the sludge
gpt
The sludge is a mucky aggregation of river debris; clay, sand, small
stones of all sizes.
human
Fill drum
gpt
Water washes through the sludge, filtering away the lighter sediment
until a gleaming (if tiny) lump of ore remains!
human
You check your inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
your formal credentials
a boomerang (providing light)
a shard of pottery (providing light)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open but empty)
four arrows
a drum
a tiny lump of tin ore
a bow
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, a hunk of cheese and a clove
of garlic
human
Jilnix doorway
gpt
As your brows frown, the air around you gathers with vile winged
insects, which surge forward to plague the crudely arched doorway. But
nothing results from this, and they dissipate again.
human
Chiaro tin
gpt
There is an almost blinding flash as the tiny lump of tin ore takes on
a glow! Not for a long moment is the light level tolerable.
human
Inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
a tiny lump of tin ore (providing light)
your formal credentials
a boomerang (providing light)
a shard of pottery (providing light)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open but empty)
four arrows
a drum
a sludge of sediment
a bow
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, a hunk of cheese and a clove
of garlic
human
Fill drum
gpt
Water sluices the sludge away to nothing. Then again, panning is all
about luck and persistence.
human
Go east
gpt
You edge along the northern wall of the cave, descending the rocky
stairs.

Just where the shelf flattens at the foot of rocky steps (climbing
westward), a square-cut doorway has been hewn into the north wall. The
ledge, which begins to curve southeast, is at its broadest here, yet
your feeling of vertigo hardly abates.

southwest, 30 feet away.
human
Go north
gpt
This is a pale corridor filled with a cold, pearly light, ranging from near-darkness at the southern end to a bright glow from the east.

You are in the almost ghostly presence of a gaunt, long-haired man, an Adventurer who looks as if he has just stepped out of a weaving of a
scene from the old Empire.

You can also see four ancient treasures (a golden fir-cone, a jade
figurine, a jewelled scarab and a platinum egg) here.
human
You give the ore to the ghost
gpt
The Adventurer is incorruptible. Well, fairly incorruptible. Unless
something valuable is on offer, anyway.
human
Fill drum
gpt
Effervescent, glowing spring water cascades magically around the pan.
There is a sudden flash of light!
human
Inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
your formal credentials
a boomerang (providing light)
a shard of pottery (providing light)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open but empty)
four arrows
a bow
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
some provisions - a banana, a joint of cured ham, a hunk of cheese
and a clove of garlic
human
You look at what you're carrying with you
gpt
You are carrying:
a tiny lump of tin ore (providing light)
your formal credentials
a boomerang (providing light)
a shard of pottery (providing light)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open but empty)
four arrows
a drum (which is empty)
a bow
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, a hunk of cheese and a clove
of garlic
human
Fill drum
gpt
Effervescent, glowing spring water cascades magically around the pan.
There is a sudden flash of light!
human
You put the drum in the pool
gpt
The drum drops silently into the spring water, vanishing without
trace.
human
You put the ore in pool
gpt
The tiny lump of tin ore drops silently into the spring water,
vanishing without trace.
human
Drink water
gpt
You feel it would be highly dangerous to drink further.
human
Azzev
gpt
A cloud of green smoke gathers and swirls in the air like cream poured
into soup, and a vision briefly appears...

Deranged, kaleidoscopic visions of great force and power, signifying
nothing.
human
You examine the Spell Book
gpt
The chiaro spell (cause inanimate object to radiate light).
The jilnix spell (summon small plague of insects).
The piroo spell (unfasten object).
The azzev spell (view the past).
human
You touch the tin to poll
gpt
ore.
human
Chiaro drum
gpt
There is an almost blinding flash as the drum takes on a glow! Not for
a long moment is the light level tolerable.
human
You eat the banana
gpt
Delicious! Just as you reach the last morsel, there is another
blinding flash of light.
human
You look at what you're carrying with you
gpt
You are carrying:
a drum (providing light and empty)
your formal credentials
a boomerang (providing light)
a shard of pottery (providing light)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open but empty)
four arrows
a bow
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, a hunk of cheese and a clove
of garlic
human
You put the ladder on the floor
gpt
The jilnix spell is indelibly etched on your memory. Other than that,
you have the azzev spell and piroo spell memorised.

(the cave floor)
You hang the ladder so that it runs from the cave floor up to the tip
of the tree.
human
DDD
gpt
Enter saved game to load: Restore failed.
human
You look at the drum
gpt
It resembles a tambourine without chimes. Some kind of coarse gauze is stretched taut along the bottom of a wooden drum-frame.
human
Hint
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                          Q = re
sume game

> Instructions: How to play this game
Briefings: A diplomatic background
Hints: During the Procession
The Customs House
Amongst the Foundations
Ledge and Surroundings
Cedar and Cave Floor
Hints: Casting Spells
Hints: General
human
You go to the north
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                          Q = re
sume game

Instructions: How to play this game
> Briefings: A diplomatic background
Hints: During the Procession
The Customs House
Amongst the Foundations
Ledge and Surroundings
Cedar and Cave Floor
Hints: Casting Spells
Hints: General
human
Go north
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                          Q = re
sume game

Instructions: How to play this game
Briefings: A diplomatic background
> Hints: During the Procession
The Customs House
Amongst the Foundations
Ledge and Surroundings
Cedar and Cave Floor
Hints: Casting Spells
Hints: General
human
You go to the north
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                          Q = re
sume game

Instructions: How to play this game
Briefings: A diplomatic background
Hints: During the Procession
> The Customs House
Amongst the Foundations
Ledge and Surroundings
Cedar and Cave Floor
Hints: Casting Spells
Hints: General
human
Go north
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                          Q = re
sume game

Instructions: How to play this game
Briefings: A diplomatic background
Hints: During the Procession
The Customs House
> Amongst the Foundations
Ledge and Surroundings
Cedar and Cave Floor
Hints: Casting Spells
Hints: General
human
You go to the north
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                        Q = prev
ious menu

I can't get back up.
The treehouse is impenetrable.
The scree slope is too unstable!
> The arched doorway seems very dangerous.
What's the drum for?
Does the water-lily play a part?
human
You go to the north
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                        Q = prev
ious menu

I can't get back up.
The treehouse is impenetrable.
The scree slope is too unstable!
The arched doorway seems very dangerous.
> What's the drum for?
Does the water-lily play a part?
(Press H for more, or SPACE to return.)

It's not for percussion.
human
You look at the ledge with the telescope
gpt
You raise the brass telescope expertly to your eye. The ledge looks
much as you remember it. From here, however, you can see a cave
opening below the southeastern end of the ledge, concealed from above
by the overhang. But it's a very long way from here, and you can't see anything inside.
human
You drop the rope
gpt
The length of light rope is already on the floor.
human
You look
gpt
This long parapet thins to nothing further on, appearing to lead
nowhere after all: the nearest other ledge being 50 feet vertically
below.

There's an iron ring fixed to the wall, the kind used to tie up
horses, though how anyone could possibly get a horse up here you can't imagine.

Your length of rope is here. One end is tied to the ring, the other
hangs down from the ledge.

the inverted cedar, giving you a magnificent view of this botanic
marvel.
human
You tie the rope to yourself
gpt
You tie the rope around you.
human
You tie the rope to ring
gpt
You make a secure little knot. One end is tied around you, and the
other to the iron ring.
human
You jump
gpt
You make a wild jump out into the cave, swinging down until the rope
comes full stretch and catches you with an almost bone-breaking lurch.
So you're feeling quite dizzy as you swing back under the ledge and,
by ridiculous good fortune, into a cave mouth halfway up the wall
(which had been invisible from above).

An almost inaccessible side-chamber, which leads only a little way
northeast, giving you the feeling of being suspended in midair halfway
up the cedar cavern. It would make a splendid eyrie, but thankfully
there is no sign of eagles.
human
Inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
a tiny lump of tin ore (providing light)
your formal credentials
a boomerang (providing light)
a shard of pottery (providing light)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open but empty)
four arrows
a drum (which is empty)
a bow
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, a hunk of cheese and a clove
of garlic

You are carrying:
a tiny lump of tin ore (providing light)
your formal credentials
a boomerang (providing light)
a shard of pottery (providing light)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open but empty)
four arrows
a drum (which is empty)
a bow
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, a hunk of cheese and a clove
of garlic
human
You drop the rope
gpt
(first untying it from yourself)
The length of light rope is already on the floor.
human
You go to the northeast
gpt
Cruelly, the tight cave comes to what every adventurer dreads: a dead
end, leaving nothing for it but to go back southwest.

An ingot of silver was, presumably, quite safely stored here up to
now.
human
You get the silver
gpt
Taken.
human
You examine it
gpt
The ingot is marked in ancient runes with the word: "TOGNI". No,
actually: you were looking at it back to front.
human
Go southwest
gpt
An almost inaccessible side-chamber, which leads only a little way
northeast, giving you the feeling of being suspended in midair halfway
up the cedar cavern. It would make a splendid eyrie, but thankfully
there is no sign of eagles.
human
You get the rope
gpt
The rope is too far out.
human
You wait awhile
gpt
Time passes.

Suddenly and without warning, the boomerang spins back in from the
cave and gives you a nasty bruise on the head.

In the process, it recoils off the rope hanging in mid-air and swings
that (rather more slowly) toward you. Forgetting about rubbing your
temple, you grab at the rope and tie it back around your waist for
safety.
human
Go up
gpt
You jump back out and haul yourself painfully up the rope again.
human
Go outside
gpt
This long parapet thins to nothing further on, appearing to lead
nowhere after all: the nearest other ledge being 50 feet vertically
below.

the inverted cedar, giving you a magnificent view of this botanic
marvel.

Your length of rope is here. One end is tied around you, and the other
to the iron ring.

There's an iron ring fixed to the wall, the kind used to tie up
horses, though how anyone could possibly get a horse up here you can't imagine.

But you aren't in anything at the moment.
human
Go north
gpt
You edge northwest along the ledge.

Just where the shelf flattens at the foot of rocky steps (climbing
westward), a square-cut doorway has been hewn into the north wall. The
ledge, which begins to curve southeast, is at its broadest here, yet
your feeling of vertigo hardly abates.

southwest, 30 feet away.
human
Go north
gpt
This is a pale corridor filled with a cold, pearly light, ranging from near-darkness at the southern end to a bright glow from the east.

You are in the almost ghostly presence of a gaunt, long-haired man, an Adventurer who looks as if he has just stepped out of a weaving of a
scene from the old Empire.

You can also see four ancient treasures (a golden fir-cone, a jade
figurine, a jewelled scarab and a platinum egg) here.
human
You give the silver to the ghost
gpt
The Adventurer, having now acquired the whole nearby wealth of
treasure, spreads his arms around the pile of loot. As he does so, he
and they vanish like the dawn into the past where, perhaps, they
belong.
human
Go east
gpt
The corridor funnels out into a chamber, turning once again to the
south. Though smoother, the walls become hung with cobwebs and you
have a sense of disturbing centuries of quiet.

An ancient coffer, a chest of precious or personal papers, rests to
one side.
human
You open it
gpt
You open the coffer, revealing an old document and a colour chart.
human
Azzev
gpt
A cloud of green smoke gathers and swirls in the air like cream poured
into soup, and a vision briefly appears...

curious colour-chart.
human
You look at the chart
gpt
This chart, very ancient though it is, gives the impression of being
work in progress rather than a finished diagram, in that different
patches seem to have been drawn in at different times. It consists of
colours and symbols rather than words:

Red-black --> ? --> ? -->

Copper --> Silver-white --> Bright yellow -->

Black --> Dull silver --> Dull grey -->

Vivid green --> Skull symbol -->

Flame symbol --> Yellow -->

Chalky white --> Dark silver -->
human
You look at the document
gpt
Scratchy handwriting adorns this text, and the writing's in a dialect
almost unrecognisable today. But, like any diplomat worth his salt,
you've a way with languages: it writes of a way to tap the
Philosopher's Stone, a source of Riches by Transmutation, but which is
only workable fairly near the Stone itself... A sketch diagram
suggests that the author was familiar with the route back up to the
Customs House, and may even have lived there.
human
You get the chart and the document
gpt
colour chart: You already have that.
old document: Taken.
human
You look
gpt
The corridor funnels out into a chamber, turning once again to the
south. Though smoother, the walls become hung with cobwebs and you
have a sense of disturbing centuries of quiet.

An ancient coffer, a chest of precious or personal papers, rests to
one side.
human
You go to the south
gpt
The serene white illumination comes as a shock to your eyes after
following dim lamplight for so long, but this chamber is patient while
you blink; a circular room with smooth walls and concentric steps down
to a shallow well.

The Stone itself is resting in the well: an obelisk whose irregular
facets contrast so sharply with the perfect roundness of the walls
that it almost seems alive.

On the Philosopher's Stone is a spotless scroll.
human
You examine the scroll
gpt
The scroll reads "ruther spell (transmute pure chemical elements)".
human
You put it in the Spell Book
gpt
Your spell book begins to glow softly. Almost imperceptibly, the
binding swells and closes over the edge of the spotless scroll, which straightens and becomes the new ruther spell page. The book's
brightness fades as the corners settle to perfect right angles.
human
You memorize azzev
gpt
You commit the azzev spell to memory.
A cloud of green smoke gathers and swirls in the air like cream poured
into soup, and a vision briefly appears...

A wily gentleman casts a dazzling spell onto an ingot of silver, and
it becomes gold! He is enriched, but unsurprised.
You commit the azzev spell to memory.
human
Inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
a coffer (which is open but empty)
an old document
a colour chart
a length of light rope
a boomerang (providing light)
a tiny lump of tin ore (providing light)
your formal credentials
a shard of pottery (providing light)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open but empty)
four arrows
a drum (which is empty)
a bow
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, a hunk of cheese and a clove
of garlic
human
You memorize ruther
gpt
You commit the ruther spell to memory.
human
Ruther tin
gpt
(This powerful enchantment easily cancels the earlier "chiaro" spell.)
human
You check your inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
a coffer (which is open but empty)
an old document
a colour chart
a length of light rope
a boomerang (providing light)
a tiny lump of lead ore
your formal credentials
a shard of pottery (providing light)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open but empty)
four arrows
a drum (which is empty)
a bow
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, a hunk of cheese and a clove
of garlic
human
Ruther lead
gpt
power! And it is transmuted into a gleaming uncut diamond.
human
You look at the coffer
gpt
The coffer is empty.
human
You check what you're carrying
gpt
You are carrying:
a coffer (which is open but empty)
an old document
a colour chart
a length of light rope
a boomerang (providing light)
a gleaming uncut diamond
your formal credentials
a shard of pottery (providing light)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open but empty)
four arrows
a drum (which is empty)
a bow
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, a hunk of cheese and a clove
of garlic
human
You examine the telescope
gpt
One thing about your home, the Duchy: you may not be a very powerful
realm, but you certainly are fine inventors and craftsmen. Take this
ten-inch brass "telescope", for example. Distant objects that you look
at through the telescope actually seem closer to you!
human
Ruther diamond
gpt
The magic has no effect, perhaps because the diamond's crystalline
structure is too strong.
human
Ruther lantern
gpt
You commit the ruther spell to memory.
The spell misfires, perhaps because the brass lantern is not pure but
a mixture or an alloy.
human
You look
gpt
The serene white illumination comes as a shock to your eyes after
following dim lamplight for so long, but this chamber is patient while
you blink; a circular room with smooth walls and concentric steps down
to a shallow well.

The Stone itself is resting in the well: an obelisk whose irregular
facets contrast so sharply with the perfect roundness of the walls
that it almost seems alive.
human
Go downward
gpt
The Adventurer was guarding the only entrance.
human
Go north
gpt
The corridor funnels out into a chamber, turning once again to the
south. Though smoother, the walls become hung with cobwebs and you
have a sense of disturbing centuries of quiet.
human
You go to the west
gpt
This is a pale corridor filled with a cold, pearly light, ranging from near-darkness at the southern end to a bright glow from the east.
human
Ruther arsenic
gpt
You commit the ruther spell to memory.
Blue magical light crackles over the doorway, abating to leave it...
greenly glowing.
human
Go south
gpt
An upward slope from the arched doorway to north, this is an irregular
burrow wriggled out of soft earth. Strange tracks have been dragged,
making wavy lines which meet at the distant top, where the burrow
opens out.
human
You examine the doorway
gpt
The doorway glows with green phosphorescence.
human
Go upwards
gpt
Hollowed out like a wasp's nest in a rotten apple, this almost-sealed
den can only be one thing.

creature, curled up, half-hornet, half-prawn. It looks as if it would
fall to dust if you so much as looked at it.

A glistening, pulsing egg, rocks back and forth erratically. It seems
close to hatching! A dull, humid heat radiates out from it, and you
sense effort and anger.
human
You examine corpse
gpt
You so much as look at the creature's body, and it falls to dust!
human
Azzev
gpt
A cloud of green smoke gathers and swirls in the air like cream poured
into soup, and a vision briefly appears...

A magnificent hornet-creature, in its death-throes, laying one final
egg.
human
You consult Guide Book about the hornet
gpt
into the population. Modern historians feel that this is merely a
symbol of deep insecurity.
human
You hit the egg
gpt
If anything could accelerate hatching, pushing the egg around might.
If only you could cause it to crack open somewhere!
human
Look around
gpt
Hollowed out like a wasp's nest in a rotten apple, this almost-sealed
den can only be one thing.

A glistening, pulsing egg, rocks back and forth erratically. It seems
close to hatching! A dull, humid heat radiates out from it, and you
sense effort and anger.
human
You examine the Spell Book
gpt
The chiaro spell (cause inanimate object to radiate light).
The jilnix spell (summon small plague of insects).
The piroo spell (unfasten object).
The azzev spell (view the past).
The ruther spell (transmute pure chemical elements).
human
You learn the piroo
gpt
You commit the piroo spell to memory once again.
human
Jilnix egg
gpt
As your brows frown, the air around you gathers with vile winged
insects, which surge forward to plague the glistening egg. They are
unable to make any inroad into the eggshell.
human
Piroo egg
gpt
Nothing happens, perhaps because the glistening egg was already
unfastened.
human
You look
gpt
Smothered in a suffocating red haze, half-conscious at best, your
position seems hopeless. The lily's membrane is tough as
crocodile-skin and beyond it is perhaps a thousand feet of water? The
pressure seals you in as well as any rockfall could. Indeed, only the
pressure makes it possible at all for one Ambassador and one giant
hatched lizard to share a space barely six feet in diameter.

The creature wriggles, dripping a saliva that burns to the touch, but
seems lapsed back into embryonic sleep.
human
You look at the creature
gpt
A sleek, beautiful marvel, half-insect, half-reptile. Its gauzy wings
are only undeveloped stubs and a little amniotic fluid still coats
them; but its sting, painted like a brimstone butterfly, looks deadly
already.
human
Inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
a coffer (which is open but empty)
an old document
a colour chart
a length of light rope
a boomerang (providing light)
a gleaming uncut diamond
your formal credentials
a shard of pottery (providing light)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open but empty)
four arrows
a drum (which is empty)
a bow
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, a hunk of cheese and a clove
of garlic

The compression tightens.

The creature wriggles in sleep, stirring.
human
You learn the piroo
gpt
You commit the piroo spell to memory once again.
human
Piroo lily
gpt
Abruptly the lily-pod bursts. A detached observer would think its
graceful explosion reminiscent of seeds released onto a spring wind.
But with the pressure of the water smashing into you like a hammer,
you are soon detached from all observation, all reminiscence.
human
Wait
gpt
Time passes.

The membrane walls exude some kind of digestive fluid.
human
You wake creature
gpt
The hornet sleeps soundly (thank heavens).

The membrane walls exude some kind of digestive fluid.
human
Azzev
gpt
A cloud of green smoke gathers and swirls in the air like cream poured
into soup, and a vision briefly appears...

A highly disconcerting montage of plant and animal life being digested wholesale.

Your shoulders are being folded together, like a recalcitrant
cardboard box.

The creature wriggles in sleep, stirring.
human
Spells
gpt
The jilnix spell is indelibly etched on your memory. Other than that,
you have the piroo spell (twice) and chiaro spell memorised.

The hatchling wriggles in sleep, stirring.
human
Jilnix lily
gpt
There really is no situation so unpleasant you can't make it worse, is
there?

The pressure is now almost unbearable!
human
Jilnix  hatchlinjilnix   hatchling
gpt
There really is no situation so unpleasant you can't make it worse, is
there?

With a sudden convulsion of fibres, the lily pod crunches you up
entirely, with merciful speed.
human
You give the garlic to creature
gpt
The hornet sleeps soundly (thank heavens).
human
You shoot the hornet
gpt
What, in this confined space?

The compression tightens.
human
You check what you're carrying
gpt
You are carrying:
a coffer (which is open but empty)
an old document
a colour chart
a length of light rope
a boomerang (providing light)
a gleaming uncut diamond
your formal credentials
a shard of pottery (providing light)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open but empty)
four arrows
a drum (which is empty)
a bow
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, a hunk of cheese and a clove
of garlic

The compression tightens.
human
You burn lily
gpt
The membrane seems impervious to everything.

The hornet wriggles in sleep, talons rustling.
human
Bite lily
gpt
The membrane seems impervious to everything.

The membrane walls exude some kind of digestive fluid.
human
Spells
gpt
The jilnix spell is indelibly etched on your memory. Other than that,
you have the piroo spell and chiaro spell memorised.
human
You kick the lily
gpt
The membrane seems impervious to everything.

Your shoulders are being folded together, like a recalcitrant
cardboard box.
human
Ruther lily
gpt
The spell misfires, perhaps because the lily membrane is not pure but
a mixture or an alloy.

The pressure is now almost unbearable!
human
You shoot arrow at the lily
gpt
What, in this confined space?

With a sudden convulsion of fibres, the lily pod crunches you up
entirely, with merciful speed.
human
You check your inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
a coffer (which is open but empty)
an old document
a colour chart
a length of light rope
a boomerang (providing light)
a gleaming uncut diamond
your formal credentials
a shard of pottery (providing light)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open but empty)
four arrows
a drum (which is empty)
a bow
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, a hunk of cheese and a clove
of garlic

The creature wriggles in sleep, perhaps dreaming.
human
You feed the cheese to the creature
gpt
The hornet sleeps soundly (thank heavens).
human
Look around
gpt
Smothered in a suffocating red haze, half-conscious at best, your
position seems hopeless. The lily's membrane is tough as
crocodile-skin and beyond it is perhaps a thousand feet of water? The
pressure seals you in as well as any rockfall could. Indeed, only the
pressure makes it possible at all for one Ambassador and one giant
hatched lizard to share a space barely six feet in diameter.

The creature wriggles, dripping a saliva that burns to the touch, but
seems lapsed back into embryonic sleep.

The creature wriggles in sleep, stirring.
human
Fill drum
gpt
But there's no water here to carry.

The compression tightens.
human
You enter the coffer
gpt
That's not something you can enter.

The compression tightens.
human
Memorise ruther
gpt
You commit the ruther spell to memory.

The compression tightens.
human
Ruther telescope
gpt
The spell misfires, perhaps because the hand telescope is not pure but
a mixture or an alloy.

The creature wriggles in sleep, stirring.
human
Ruther creature
gpt
The spell misfires, perhaps because the embryonic hornet is not pure
but a mixture or an alloy.
human
You open the pod
gpt
The membrane seems impervious to everything.
human
Spells
gpt
The jilnix spell is indelibly etched on your memory. Other than that,
you have the ruther spell, piroo spell and chiaro spell memorised.

The membrane walls exude some kind of digestive fluid.
human
Piroo creature
gpt
Nothing happens, perhaps because the embryonic hornet was already
unfastened.
human
Chiaro diamond
gpt
The magic has no effect, perhaps because the diamond's crystalline
structure is too strong.

The hatchling wriggles in sleep, perhaps dreaming.
human
You search the hornet
gpt
You find nothing of interest.

Your shoulders are being folded together, like a recalcitrant
cardboard box.

The hornet wriggles in sleep, talons rustling.
human
Ruther window
gpt
The spell misfires, perhaps because the quartz window is not pure but
a mixture or an alloy.
human
You cut the window
gpt
Cutting that up would achieve little.
human
You look in the window
gpt
Tantalisingly, you can only see darkness within.
human
Chiaro window
gpt
The spell dissipates, perhaps because the quartz window is already
giving off light.
human
You look at the window through telescope
gpt
The quartz window is too close to you to make that worthwhile.
human
Ruther wall
gpt
(the masoned wall)
The spell misfires, perhaps because the masoned wall is not pure but a
mixture or an alloy.
human
You memorize ruther
gpt
That would be highly hazardous!
You commit the ruther spell to memory.
human
Ruther doorway
gpt
You commit the ruther spell to memory once again.
Blue magical light crackles over the doorway, reconstituting the
poison on the archway.
human
You look at the doorway
gpt
coated with a runny, nasty-looking paste which drips out of tiny
pores.
human
Ruther doorway
gpt
Blue magical light crackles over the doorway, abating to leave it...
greenly glowing.
human
You examine the doorway
gpt
The doorway glows with green phosphorescence.
human
Go south
gpt
An upward slope from the arched doorway to north, this is an irregular
burrow wriggled out of soft earth. Strange tracks have been dragged,
making wavy lines which meet at the distant top, where the burrow
opens out.
human
Ruther doorway
gpt
Blue magical light crackles over the doorway, reconstituting the
poison on the archway.
human
Go south
gpt
As you pass through the archway, clouds of vapour and drips of arsenic
seep into your nose and ears! Death is immediate.
human
Go north
gpt
An expanse of shingle and boulders sloping haphazardly across an irregularly-shaped floor a hundred feet across, only smoothed out at
its centre by a stream which pools just to the north. A furrow in the
rocky walls leads southwest, alongside a scree-fall which lies roughly
south; while the cave narrows into a canyon to the east.

The cone of the cedar hangs vertiginously over you, its tip perhaps 9
feet off the floor.

An improvised ladder of sticks, lashed together with vines and
creepers, rests against the tip of the cedar, leading up into its
branches.

You can also see a joint of cured ham here.
human
You go south
gpt
An upward slope from the arched doorway to north, this is an irregular
burrow wriggled out of soft earth. Strange tracks have been dragged,
making wavy lines which meet at the distant top, where the burrow
opens out.

You can see a joint of cured ham here.
human
You eat the banana
gpt
Delicious! Just as you reach the last morsel, there is another
blinding flash of light.

The hornet wriggles in sleep, stirring.
human
Piroo lily
gpt
Abruptly the lily-pod bursts. A detached observer would think its
graceful explosion reminiscent of seeds released onto a spring wind.
But with the pressure of the water smashing into you like a hammer,
you are soon detached from all observation, all reminiscence.
human
You wake the hornet
gpt
The hornet sleeps soundly (thank heavens).

The hatchling wriggles in sleep, talons rustling.
human
You kick the hornet
gpt
Does it not occur to you that you and the hornet are in the same boat,
or in this case the same submarine?

The compression tightens.
human
You examine the hornet
gpt
A sleek, beautiful marvel, half-insect, half-reptile. Its gauzy wings
are only undeveloped stubs and a little amniotic fluid still coats
them; but its sting, painted like a brimstone butterfly, looks deadly
already.

The creature wriggles in sleep, perhaps dreaming.
human
You examine the sting
gpt
The tip slightly exudes some kind of poison.

The membrane walls exude some kind of digestive fluid.
human
Poison arrow
gpt
You'll have to be more exact about how to do that.

Your shoulders are being folded together, like a recalcitrant
cardboard box.
human
Break stinger
gpt
You'd have to be very careful about that.

Your shoulders are being folded together, like a recalcitrant
cardboard box.
human
You shoot the hornet
gpt
What, in this confined space?
human
You check what you're carrying
gpt
You are carrying:
a coffer (which is open but empty)
an old document
a colour chart
a length of light rope
a boomerang (providing light)
your formal credentials
a shard of pottery (providing light)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open but empty)
four arrows
a bow
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, a hunk of cheese and a clove
of garlic

The pressure is now almost unbearable!
human
You put the ham on the stinger
gpt
Putting things on the stinger would achieve nothing.

With a sudden convulsion of fibres, the lily pod crunches you up
entirely, with merciful speed.
human
Hint
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                          Q = re
sume game

> Instructions: How to play this game
Briefings: A diplomatic background
Hints: During the Procession
The Customs House
Amongst the Foundations
Ledge and Surroundings
Cedar and Cave Floor
Egg Chamber and Lily
Hints: Casting Spells
Hints: General
human
P.
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                          Q = re
sume game

Instructions: How to play this game
Briefings: A diplomatic background
Hints: During the Procession
The Customs House
Amongst the Foundations
Ledge and Surroundings
Cedar and Cave Floor
Egg Chamber and Lily
Hints: Casting Spells
> Hints: General
human
P.
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                          Q = re
sume game

Instructions: How to play this game
Briefings: A diplomatic background
Hints: During the Procession
The Customs House
Amongst the Foundations
Ledge and Surroundings
Cedar and Cave Floor
Egg Chamber and Lily
> Hints: Casting Spells
Hints: General
human
P.
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                          Q = re
sume game

Instructions: How to play this game
Briefings: A diplomatic background
Hints: During the Procession
The Customs House
Amongst the Foundations
Ledge and Surroundings
Cedar and Cave Floor
> Egg Chamber and Lily
Hints: Casting Spells
Hints: General
Egg Chamber and Lily
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                        Q = prev
ious menu

> Can the creature be revived?
When will the egg hatch?
Will the amniotic fluid harm my hands?
The lily is crushing me.
My possessions are lost!
Can I go back to the house for something?
What's the broad leaf for?
human
You go north
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                        Q = prev
ious menu

Can the creature be revived?
> When will the egg hatch?
Will the amniotic fluid harm my hands?
The lily is crushing me.
My possessions are lost!
Can I go back to the house for something?
What's the broad leaf for?
human
You go to the north
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                        Q = prev
ious menu

Can the creature be revived?
When will the egg hatch?
> Will the amniotic fluid harm my hands?
The lily is crushing me.
My possessions are lost!
Can I go back to the house for something?
What's the broad leaf for?
human
You go to the north
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                        Q = prev
ious menu

Can the creature be revived?
When will the egg hatch?
Will the amniotic fluid harm my hands?
> The lily is crushing me.
My possessions are lost!
Can I go back to the house for something?
What's the broad leaf for?
(Press H for more, or SPACE to return.)

You must find a way of immobilising it, without exploding it.
Egg Chamber and Lily
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                        Q = prev
ious menu

Can the creature be revived?
When will the egg hatch?
Will the amniotic fluid harm my hands?
> The lily is crushing me.
My possessions are lost!
Can I go back to the house for something?
What's the broad leaf for?
(Press H for more, or SPACE to return.)

You must find a way of immobilising it, without exploding it.
human
You squeeze the stinger
gpt
With extreme care you squeeze the hornet's stinger, and poison drips
out to form a tiny pool in the base of the lily pod. In this
compressed space you're just able to keep your feet out of it, for the
time it takes to soak into the membrane walls of the pod.
human
You wait for a while
gpt
Time passes.

There is a hissing sound from the base of the pod.

The hatchling wriggles in sleep, stirring.
human
Wait
gpt
Time passes.

poison! The whole pod rocks a little in the underwater currents,
fraying away from the stalk.
human
You wait
gpt
Time passes.

Suddenly the pod pulls free, and although you can see nothing of the
waters outside, your best guess is that it's drifting westward and
rising slightly.

You begin to feel a certain concern for, of all things, your
belongings. When the pod collapses, what will the water do to them?
human
Piroo
gpt
Abruptly the lily-pod bursts. A detached observer would think its
graceful explosion reminiscent of seeds released onto a spring wind.
But with the pressure of the water smashing into you like a hammer,
you are soon detached from all observation, all reminiscence.
human
You wait
gpt
Time passes.

The pod bumps against an obstacle, checking its westward motion. Now
it is only rising, rising.

The hatchling wriggles in sleep, stirring.
human
You put all in the coffer
gpt
old document: Done.
colour chart: Done.
length of light rope: Done.
boomerang: Done.
gleaming uncut diamond: Done.
formal credentials: Done.
shard of pottery: Done.
small wickerwork hamper: Done.
arrow: Done.
arrow: Done.
arrow: Done.
drum: Done.
arrow: Done.
bow: Done.
handwritten note: Done.
Experimental Spell Book #5: Done.
Ambassador's trunk: Done.
brass lantern: Done.
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces: Done.
joint of cured ham: Done.
hunk of cheese: Done.
clove of garlic: Done.

Finally the pod breaks surface and bursts into disparate leaves, no
longer bound up by the pressure. In confusion you strike out, treading
water, but after a couple of minutes' panic realise that the water is
only waist deep here. You wade toward a slight light.

From the natural light, dim and far above, you'd guess this cave was distinctly higher up than the cedar-cavern floor. A natural limestone
cavity, beautiful and thankfully unused, it's a chance to rest and
think. A single winding path leads vaguely north.

A burnished lantern lies discarded in the sand.

Dead leaves float out on the water, but of the hornet there is no
trace.

One broad leaf, though, has washed up beside you.
human
You put all in the coffer
gpt
old document: Done.
colour chart: Done.
length of light rope: Done.
boomerang: Done.
gleaming uncut diamond: Done.
formal credentials: Done.
shard of pottery: Done.
small wickerwork hamper: Done.
arrow: Done.
arrow: Done.
arrow: Done.
drum: Done.
arrow: Done.
bow: Done.
handwritten note: Done.
Experimental Spell Book #5: Done.
Ambassador's trunk: Done.
brass lantern: Done.
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces: Done.
joint of cured ham: Done.
hunk of cheese: Done.
clove of garlic: Done.

Suddenly the pod pulls free, and although you can see nothing of the
waters outside, your best guess is that it's drifting westward and
rising slightly.

You begin to feel a certain concern for, of all things, your
belongings. When the pod collapses, what will the water do to them?

The hatchling wriggles in sleep, stirring.
human
You close the coffer
gpt
You close the coffer.

The pod bumps against an obstacle, checking its westward motion. Now
it is only rising, rising.

The hornet wriggles in sleep, talons rustling.
human
You take the coffer
gpt
You already have that.

Finally the pod breaks surface and bursts into disparate leaves, no
longer bound up by the pressure. In confusion you strike out, treading
water, but after a couple of minutes' panic realise that the water is
only waist deep here. You wade toward a slight light.

From the natural light, dim and far above, you'd guess this cave was distinctly higher up than the cedar-cavern floor. A natural limestone
cavity, beautiful and thankfully unused, it's a chance to rest and
think. A single winding path leads vaguely north.

A burnished lantern lies discarded in the sand.

Dead leaves float out on the water, but of the hornet there is no
trace.

One broad leaf, though, has washed up beside you.
human
You get the leaf and the lantern
gpt
broad green leaf: Taken.
burnished lantern: Taken.
human
You take it
gpt
You are carrying:
a burnished lantern
a broad green leaf

You already have that.
human
You examine the lantern
gpt
The burnished lantern is currently switched off.
human
Spells
gpt
The jilnix spell is indelibly etched on your memory. Other than that,
you have the piroo spell and chiaro spell memorised.
human
Go north
gpt
It is pitch black. You are in danger of falling into a pit if you move
around in this.
human
You turn on the lantern
gpt
You light the lantern.

This is only half a cave; the western half, to be exact. It's a dark
place full of crevices (you would have missed the stony passage back
south if you hadn't already known about it). Boxes, bottles and crates
are stored here, and to judge from scrape-marks are used by whoever
lives through the broad passage northwest.

What divides this cave is a solid, floor-to-ceiling stone wall running
north to south, masoned with mortar and seemingly recent. You feel
quite certain that the cave continues.

The stub of a stock-keeper's note lies forgotten beside the stores.
human
You examine the stub
gpt
Just the torn end of a tally-sheet of some kind:


Make of that what you will!
human
Examine boxes
gpt
The stores piled up here are heavy and there's quite a supply,
covering half the wall: enough for a dozen men to last out for weeks.
human
Search boxes
gpt
You manage to uncover what seems to be a secret doorway in the masoned
wall. An emergency escape-route, prudently added by whoever is using
the stores?
human
You open the door
gpt
You open the secret door.
human
You go to the east
gpt
This is only half a cave; the eastern half, to be exact. It's a dark
place full of crevices (you would have missed the slide passage back
north if you hadn't already known about it); chief among them a
distinctive triangular cavity, 1 foot or so high, and blocked by a
rough quartz window.

the cave, after all.
human
Go west
gpt
This is only half a cave; the western half, to be exact. It's a dark
place full of crevices (you would have missed the stony passage back
south if you hadn't already known about it). Boxes, bottles and crates
are stored here, and to judge from scrape-marks are used by whoever
lives through the broad passage northwest.

the cave, after all.
human
Go northwest
gpt
Wheel Cave (South)
A circular corridor-cave, like a cartwheel's rim and unmistakably
artificial. Yet no mason of the Duchy could cut so smooth a wall! The
arc hoops around northeast and northwest, while a broad passage runs
southeast back to the stores.
human
You go northeast
gpt
Wheel Cave (East)
A circular corridor-cave, like a cartwheel's rim and unmistakably
artificial. The arc hoops around northwest and southwest.

A white scroll, in pristine condition, rests in a niche.
human
You examine the scroll
gpt
The scroll reads "ploor spell (nation shall speak peace unto nation)".
human
You go northwest
gpt
Wheel Cave (North)
A circular corridor-cave, like a cartwheel's rim and unmistakably
artificial. The arc hoops around southwest and southeast.

On the northern wall is a wooden rack, of the kind used by bakers to
cool cakes, or painters to dry watercolours.

On the wooden rack are seven unwritten vellum scrolls.
human
You look at the scroll
gpt
The scroll is as yet unwritten.
human
You get all
gpt
wooden rack: That's fixed in place.
human
You get all from the rack
gpt
unwritten vellum scroll: Removed.
unwritten vellum scroll: Removed.
unwritten vellum scroll: Removed.
unwritten vellum scroll: Removed.
unwritten vellum scroll: Removed.
unwritten vellum scroll: Removed.
unwritten vellum scroll: Removed.
human
You go southwest
gpt
Wheel Cave (West)
A circular corridor-cave, like a cartwheel's rim and unmistakably
artificial. The arc hoops around northeast and southeast.

of the great wheel.

A clear funnel chimney rises vertically up, like a glass-blower's vent
or something from a furnace, lined with smooth-curving brick.

Beneath the chimney is a huge, irregular, metallic lodestone,
presumably a meteor fallen to earth.

A thick, viscous green beam of magical light reflects from the meteor
through a right-angle: straight upward through the chimney, to a level
path east through the archway.
human
You look at the scroll
gpt
Which do you mean, an unwritten vellum scroll or the white scroll in
pristine condition?
human
Unwritten
gpt
The scroll is as yet unwritten.
human
Go east
gpt
The presence everywhere of tools and instruments makes this place
rather homely to a Duchy-born man like yourself: it's like a smithy,
but of the colours of light, not the alloys of metal.

At the workshop's centre is the Anvil, a hard stone mounting and,
perhaps, the fulcrum of the new Northlands Empire that is to come. The
beam of light courses in through the eastern archway to strike the top
of the Anvil dead-centre.

workshop, and can be turned anywhere on the calibrated dial from 1 to
180 degrees. It now stands at 37.12.

wooden cot, apparently in a deep sleep or coma.

On the floor beneath Clotspinner's outstretched hand are the fragments
of a broken glass prism, smashed by the fall. It's a tableau like a
narrative painting: you feel a curious urge to disturb nothing.
human
You look at Clotspinner
gpt
One of the few wise men to be widely known across the continent, he is Clotspinner, renowned for his optical experiments. They've
revolutionised the practice of lense-making in the Duchy, but the
Empress was far less impressed with such footling activities. Nothing
has been known of him since his "resignation" from the Imperial
Academy -- until now, that is.
human
You check your inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
seven unwritten vellum scrolls (which is unwritten)
a white scroll in pristine condition (of the ploor spell)
a stub of a stock-keeper's note
a burnished lantern (providing light)
a broad green leaf
human
You wake Clotspinner
gpt
Clotspinner lies prone, close to death, his pulse thready and weak,
his breath too slight to feel on your hand. Surely nothing on earth
could revive him now.
human
You look at the dial
gpt
It seems to be possible to put something into it.
human
Inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
a coffer (which is open but empty)
an old document
a colour chart
a length of light rope
a boomerang (providing light)
your formal credentials
a shard of pottery (providing light)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open but empty)
four arrows
a bow
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
some provisions - a banana, a joint of cured ham, a hunk of cheese
and a clove of garlic
human
You drop all
gpt
coffer: Dropped.
old document: Dropped.
colour chart: Dropped.
length of light rope: Dropped.
boomerang: Dropped.
formal credentials: Dropped.
shard of pottery: Dropped.
small wickerwork hamper: Dropped.
arrow: Dropped.
arrow: Dropped.
arrow: Dropped.
arrow: Dropped.
bow: Dropped.
handwritten note: Dropped.
Experimental Spell Book #5: Dropped.
Ambassador's trunk: Dropped.
brass lantern: Dropped.
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces: Dropped.
banana: Dropped.
joint of cured ham: Dropped.
hunk of cheese: Dropped.
clove of garlic: Dropped.
human
Go north
gpt
An expanse of shingle and boulders sloping haphazardly across an irregularly-shaped floor a hundred feet across, only smoothed out at
its centre by a stream which pools just to the north. A furrow in the
rocky walls leads southwest, alongside a scree-fall which lies roughly
south; while the cave narrows into a canyon to the east.

The cone of the cedar hangs vertiginously over you, its tip perhaps 9
feet off the floor.

An improvised ladder of sticks, lashed together with vines and
creepers, rests against the tip of the cedar, leading up into its
branches.

Your length of rope is here.

You can also see some provisions - a clove of garlic, a hunk of
cheese, a joint of cured ham and a banana, The Guide For Travellers To
The Lower Northlands and Surrounding Provinces, a brass lantern
(providing light), your Ambassador's trunk (in which is a hand
telescope), Experimental Spell Book #5, the handwritten note, a bow,
four arrows, a small wickerwork hamper (which is empty), a shard of
pottery (providing light), your formal credentials, a boomerang
(providing light), a colour chart, an old document and a coffer (which
is empty) here.
human
You light it
gpt
That's already on.
human
Wait
gpt
Time passes.

There is a hissing sound from the base of the pod.
human
Wait
gpt
Time passes.

poison! The whole pod rocks a little in the underwater currents,
fraying away from the stalk.

The creature wriggles in sleep, talons rustling.
human
You wait
gpt
Time passes.

Suddenly the pod pulls free, and although you can see nothing of the
waters outside, your best guess is that it's drifting westward and
rising slightly.

You begin to feel a certain concern for, of all things, your
belongings. When the pod collapses, what will the water do to them?

The hatchling wriggles in sleep, stirring.
human
Wait
gpt
Time passes.

The pod bumps against an obstacle, checking its westward motion. Now
it is only rising, rising.

The hornet wriggles in sleep, perhaps dreaming.
human
Wait
gpt
Time passes.

Finally the pod breaks surface and bursts into disparate leaves, no
longer bound up by the pressure. In confusion you strike out, treading
water, but after a couple of minutes' panic realise that the water is
only waist deep here. You wade toward a slight light.

From the natural light, dim and far above, you'd guess this cave was distinctly higher up than the cedar-cavern floor. A natural limestone
cavity, beautiful and thankfully unused, it's a chance to rest and
think. A single winding path leads vaguely north.

A burnished lantern lies discarded in the sand.

Dead leaves float out on the water, but of the hornet there is no
trace.

One broad leaf, though, has washed up beside you.
human
You get the leaf and the lantern
gpt
broad green leaf: Taken.
burnished lantern: Taken.
human
Go north
gpt
It is pitch black. You are in danger of falling into a pit if you move
around in this.
human
You turn on the lantern
gpt
You light the lantern.

This is only half a cave; the western half, to be exact. It's a dark
place full of crevices (you would have missed the stony passage back
south if you hadn't already known about it). Boxes, bottles and crates
are stored here, and to judge from scrape-marks are used by whoever
lives through the broad passage northwest.

What divides this cave is a solid, floor-to-ceiling stone wall running
north to south, masoned with mortar and seemingly recent. You feel
quite certain that the cave continues.

The stub of a stock-keeper's note lies forgotten beside the stores.
human
You jump
gpt
(to the tree, presumably, rather than plunging into the abyss and
certain death)
You take a short run-up and leap across, just managing to catch the
nearest branch! Painfully slowly, you haul yourself in.

You are perched inside the dense, broad first branches down from the
cedar's roots, which splay across the rocky ceiling like buttresses on
a perpendicular gothic column. Through the dappled green cover, you
can just make out the long ledge, but it's too far up to jump across.

A tree-house has been constructed here, though it's little more than a
wooden lean-to on a log platform.
human
Go downwards
gpt
An expanse of shingle and boulders sloping haphazardly across an irregularly-shaped floor a hundred feet across, only smoothed out at
its centre by a stream which pools just to the north. A furrow in the
rocky walls leads southwest, alongside a scree-fall which lies roughly
south; while the cave narrows into a canyon to the east.

The cone of the cedar hangs vertiginously over you, its tip perhaps 9
feet off the floor.

An improvised ladder of sticks, lashed together with vines and
creepers, rests against the tip of the cedar, leading up into its
branches.

Your length of rope is here.

You can also see some provisions - a clove of garlic, a hunk of
cheese, a joint of cured ham and a banana, The Guide For Travellers To
The Lower Northlands and Surrounding Provinces, your Ambassador's
trunk (in which is a hand telescope), Experimental Spell Book #5, the handwritten note, a bow, four arrows, a small wickerwork hamper (which
is empty), a shard of pottery (providing light), your formal
credentials, a boomerang (providing light), a colour chart, an old
document and a coffer (which is empty) here.
human
You get all
gpt
stream: You have nothing which will hold water.
inverted cedar: You can't reach the tree from here.
improvised ladder: Taken.
clove of garlic: Taken.
hunk of cheese: Taken.
joint of cured ham: Taken.
banana: Taken.
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces: Taken.
Ambassador's trunk: Taken.
Experimental Spell Book #5: Taken.
handwritten note: Taken.
bow: Taken.
arrow: Taken.
arrow: Taken.
arrow: Taken.
arrow: Taken.
small wickerwork hamper: Taken.
shard of pottery: Taken.
formal credentials: Taken.
boomerang: Taken.
length of light rope: Taken.
colour chart: Taken.
old document: Taken.
coffer: Taken.
human
You put the scroll in the Spell Book
gpt
Your spell book begins to glow softly. Almost imperceptibly, the
binding swells and closes over the edge of the white scroll in
pristine condition, which straightens and becomes the new ploor spell
page. The book's brightness fades as the corners settle to perfect
right angles.
human
You go northwest
gpt
Wheel Cave (North)
A circular corridor-cave, like a cartwheel's rim and unmistakably
artificial. The arc hoops around southwest and southeast.

On the northern wall is a wooden rack, of the kind used by bakers to
cool cakes, or painters to dry watercolours.

On the wooden rack are seven unwritten vellum scrolls.
human
You get all
gpt
wooden rack: That's fixed in place.
human
You get all from the rack
gpt
unwritten vellum scroll: Removed.
unwritten vellum scroll: Removed.
unwritten vellum scroll: Removed.
unwritten vellum scroll: Removed.
unwritten vellum scroll: Removed.
unwritten vellum scroll: Removed.
unwritten vellum scroll: Removed.
human
You go southwest
gpt
Wheel Cave (West)
A circular corridor-cave, like a cartwheel's rim and unmistakably
artificial. The arc hoops around northeast and southeast.

of the great wheel.

A clear funnel chimney rises vertically up, like a glass-blower's vent
or something from a furnace, lined with smooth-curving brick.

Beneath the chimney is a huge, irregular, metallic lodestone,
presumably a meteor fallen to earth.

A thick, viscous green beam of magical light reflects from the meteor
through a right-angle: straight upward through the chimney, to a level
path east through the archway.
human
Ruther light
gpt
(the green light beam)
The beam is made of insubstantial light.
human
You memorize ruther
gpt
You commit the ruther spell to memory once again.
human
Ruther lodestone
gpt
The air around the meteor glows as it is transformed, slowly under the
play of the green light, into... a chalk formation, white and
irregular. The beam now loses itself in the any-angled facets of the
chalk.
human
Ruther chalk
gpt
The air around the chalk glows as it is transformed, slowly under the
play of the green light, back into the meteor, whose burnished surface
throws the beam back east through the archway!
human
You look
gpt
Wheel Cave (West)
A circular corridor-cave, like a cartwheel's rim and unmistakably
artificial. The arc hoops around northeast and southeast.

of the great wheel.

A clear funnel chimney rises vertically up, like a glass-blower's vent
or something from a furnace, lined with smooth-curving brick.

become, and into which the beam of magical light dissipates
harmlessly.
human
Go east
gpt
The presence everywhere of tools and instruments makes this place
rather homely to a Duchy-born man like yourself: it's like a smithy,
but of the colours of light, not the alloys of metal.

At the workshop's centre is the Anvil, a hard stone mounting and,
perhaps, the fulcrum of the new Northlands Empire that is to come.

workshop, and can be turned anywhere on the calibrated dial from 1 to
180 degrees. It now stands at 37.12.

wooden cot, apparently in a deep sleep or coma.

On the floor beneath Clotspinner's outstretched hand are the fragments
of a broken glass prism, smashed by the fall. It's a tableau like a
narrative painting: you feel a curious urge to disturb nothing.
human
Ruther prism
gpt
The spell misfires, perhaps because the fragments of prism is not pure
but a mixture or an alloy.
human
You check what you're carrying
gpt
You are carrying:
seven unwritten vellum scrolls
a coffer (which is open but empty)
an old document
a colour chart
a length of light rope
a boomerang (providing light)
your formal credentials
a shard of pottery (providing light)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open but empty)
four arrows
a bow
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
some provisions - a banana, a joint of cured ham, a hunk of cheese
and a clove of garlic
a stub of a stock-keeper's note
a burnished lantern (providing light)
a broad green leaf
human
Objects
gpt
Objects you have handled:

the fedora hat   (lost)
the hand telescope   (inside the Ambassador's trunk)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces   (held)
the sherbet   (lost)
the jade figurine   (lost)
the joint of cured ham   (held)
the small wickerwork hamper   (held)
the poisoned apple   (lost)
the hunk of cheese   (held)
the clove of garlic   (held)
the jewelled scarab   (lost)
the brass lantern   (in Lily Pod)
the Ambassador's trunk   (held)
the formal credentials   (held)
the length of light rope   (held)
Experimental Spell Book #5   (held)
the handwritten note   (held)
the platinum egg   (lost)
the banana   (held)
the improvised ladder   (in Topmost Ledge)
the silver ingot   (lost)
the boomerang   (held)
the shard of pottery   (held)
the coffer   (held)
the old document   (held)
the colour chart   (held)
the spotless scroll   (lost)
the bow   (held)
the arrow   (held)
the golden fir-cone   (lost)
the arrow   (held)
the arrow   (held)
the drum   (lost)
the gleaming uncut diamond   (lost)
the black, memorial scroll   (lost)
the arrow   (held)
the burnished lantern   (held)
the broad green leaf   (held)
the stub of a stock-keeper's note   (held)
the white scroll in pristine condition   (lost)
the unwritten vellum scroll   (held)
the unwritten vellum scroll   (held)
the unwritten vellum scroll   (held)
the unwritten vellum scroll   (held)
the unwritten vellum scroll   (held)
the unwritten vellum scroll   (held)
the unwritten vellum scroll   (held)
human
You turn the dial
gpt
Try turning it to a particular setting.
human
You turn the dial to 100
gpt
You rotate the mounting to 100.00.
human
You examine note
gpt
Which do you mean, the handwritten note or the stub of a
stock-keeper's note?
human
You put the unwritten scroll in the dial
gpt
You put the unwritten vellum scroll on the calibrated swivel mounting.
human
You turn the dial to 180
gpt
You rotate the mounting to 180.00.
human
63
gpt
You rotate the mounting to 101.63.
human
You go east
gpt
The presence everywhere of tools and instruments makes this place
rather homely to a Duchy-born man like yourself: it's like a smithy,
but of the colours of light, not the alloys of metal.

At the workshop's centre is the Anvil, a hard stone mounting and,
perhaps, the fulcrum of the new Northlands Empire that is to come. The
beam of light courses in through the eastern archway to strike the top
of the Anvil dead-centre.

workshop, and can be turned anywhere on the calibrated dial from 1 to
180 degrees. It now stands at 101.63 and holds a sheet of vellum
paper.

wooden cot, apparently in a deep sleep or coma.

On the floor beneath Clotspinner's outstretched hand are the fragments
of a broken glass prism, smashed by the fall. It's a tableau like a
narrative painting: you feel a curious urge to disturb nothing.
human
You get the scroll
gpt
(the unwritten vellum scroll)
Taken.
human
You put it on Anvil
gpt
second.
human
You put the leaf in the dial
gpt
The mounting is clearly meant to hold something, but not a broad green
leaf.
human
You look at the dial
gpt
It seems to be possible to put something into it.
human
You turn the dial to 11000
gpt
You rotate the mounting to 169.60.
human
You turn the dial to -1
gpt
Enter saved game to load: Ok.

You can't see any such thing.
human
You check what you're carrying
gpt
You are carrying:
a coffer (which is open but empty)
an old document
a colour chart
a length of light rope
a boomerang (providing light)
a gleaming uncut diamond
your formal credentials
a shard of pottery (providing light)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open but empty)
four arrows
a drum (which is empty)
a bow
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
a brass lantern (providing light)
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, a hunk of cheese and a clove
of garlic
human
You drop all except the lantern
gpt
coffer: Dropped.
old document: Dropped.
colour chart: Dropped.
length of light rope: Dropped.
boomerang: Dropped.
gleaming uncut diamond: Dropped.
formal credentials: Dropped.
shard of pottery: Dropped.
small wickerwork hamper: Dropped.
arrow: Dropped.
arrow: Dropped.
arrow: Dropped.
drum: Dropped.
arrow: Dropped.
bow: Dropped.
handwritten note: Dropped.
Experimental Spell Book #5: Dropped.
Ambassador's trunk: Dropped.
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces: Dropped.
joint of cured ham: Dropped.
hunk of cheese: Dropped.
clove of garlic: Dropped.
human
You squeeze the stinger
gpt
With extreme care you squeeze the hornet's stinger, and poison drips
out to form a tiny pool in the base of the lily pod. In this
compressed space you're just able to keep your feet out of it, for the
time it takes to soak into the membrane walls of the pod.
human
Wait
gpt
Time passes.

There is a hissing sound from the base of the pod.

The hatchling wriggles in sleep, perhaps dreaming.
human
Wait
gpt
Time passes.

poison! The whole pod rocks a little in the underwater currents,
fraying away from the stalk.
human
You wait
gpt
Time passes.

Suddenly the pod pulls free, and although you can see nothing of the
waters outside, your best guess is that it's drifting westward and
rising slightly.

You begin to feel a certain concern for, of all things, your
belongings. When the pod collapses, what will the water do to them?
human
Wait
gpt
Time passes.

The pod bumps against an obstacle, checking its westward motion. Now
it is only rising, rising.
human
Inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
a brass lantern (providing light)

Finally the pod breaks surface and bursts into disparate leaves, no
longer bound up by the pressure. In confusion you strike out, treading
water, but after a couple of minutes' panic realise that the water is
only waist deep here. You wade toward a slight light.

From the natural light, dim and far above, you'd guess this cave was distinctly higher up than the cedar-cavern floor. A natural limestone
cavity, beautiful and thankfully unused, it's a chance to rest and
think. A single winding path leads vaguely north.

A burnished lantern lies discarded in the sand.

Dead leaves float out on the water, but of the hornet there is no
trace.

One broad leaf, though, has washed up beside you.
human
You take all
gpt
burnished lantern: Taken.
dead leaves: You can't get to the pod's detritus from here.
broad green leaf: Taken.
human
Go north
gpt
This is only half a cave; the western half, to be exact. It's a dark
place full of crevices (you would have missed the stony passage back
south if you hadn't already known about it). Boxes, bottles and crates
are stored here, and to judge from scrape-marks are used by whoever
lives through the broad passage northwest.

What divides this cave is a solid, floor-to-ceiling stone wall running
north to south, masoned with mortar and seemingly recent. You feel
quite certain that the cave continues.

The stub of a stock-keeper's note lies forgotten beside the stores.
human
You go to the east
gpt
Though the cave undoubtedly extends east, the wall means you are
unable to follow it.
human
You go southeast
gpt
This is only half a cave; the western half, to be exact. It's a dark
place full of crevices (you would have missed the stony passage back
south if you hadn't already known about it). Boxes, bottles and crates
are stored here, and to judge from scrape-marks are used by whoever
lives through the broad passage northwest.

What divides this cave is a solid, floor-to-ceiling stone wall running
north to south, masoned with mortar and seemingly recent. You feel
quite certain that the cave continues.
human
You search wall
gpt
(the masoned wall)
You find nothing of interest.
human
Go east
gpt
You manage to uncover what seems to be a secret doorway in the masoned
wall. An emergency escape-route, prudently added by whoever is using
the stores?

You can't, since the secret door is in the way.
human
You go to the east
gpt
That's already open.

This is only half a cave; the eastern half, to be exact. It's a dark
place full of crevices (you would have missed the slide passage back
north if you hadn't already known about it); chief among them a
distinctive triangular cavity, 1 foot or so high, and blocked by a
rough quartz window.

the cave, after all.
human
Go downwards
gpt
An expanse of shingle and boulders sloping haphazardly across an irregularly-shaped floor a hundred feet across, only smoothed out at
its centre by a stream which pools just to the north. A furrow in the
rocky walls leads southwest, alongside a scree-fall which lies roughly
south; while the cave narrows into a canyon to the east.

The cone of the cedar hangs vertiginously over you, its tip perhaps 9
feet off the floor.

An improvised ladder of sticks, lashed together with vines and
creepers, rests against the tip of the cedar, leading up into its
branches.

Your length of rope is here.

You can also see some provisions - a clove of garlic, a hunk of cheese
and a joint of cured ham, The Guide For Travellers To The Lower
Northlands and Surrounding Provinces, your Ambassador's trunk (in
which is a hand telescope), Experimental Spell Book #5, the
handwritten note, a bow, four arrows, a drum (which is empty), a small wickerwork hamper (which is empty), a shard of pottery (providing
light), your formal credentials, a gleaming uncut diamond, a boomerang (providing light), a colour chart, an old document and a coffer (which
is empty) here.
human
You get all
gpt
stream: You have nothing which will hold water.
inverted cedar: You can't reach the tree from here.
improvised ladder: Taken.
clove of garlic: Taken.
hunk of cheese: Taken.
joint of cured ham: Taken.
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces: Taken.
Ambassador's trunk: Taken.
Experimental Spell Book #5: Taken.
handwritten note: Taken.
bow: Taken.
arrow: Taken.
drum: Taken.
arrow: Taken.
arrow: Taken.
arrow: Taken.
small wickerwork hamper: Taken.
shard of pottery: Taken.
formal credentials: Taken.
gleaming uncut diamond: Taken.
boomerang: Taken.
length of light rope: Taken.
colour chart: Taken.
old document: Taken.
coffer: Taken.
human
Memorise ploor
gpt
You commit the ploor spell to memory.
human
You get the scrolls
gpt
unwritten vellum scroll: Taken.
unwritten vellum scroll: Taken.
unwritten vellum scroll: Taken.
unwritten vellum scroll: Taken.
unwritten vellum scroll: Taken.
unwritten vellum scroll: Taken.
unwritten vellum scroll: Taken.
human
Ploor
gpt
A brief babble in your ears clarifies and settles to a calm voice, a
voice with the clarity of a thought. You are in telepathic conference
with the Archduke Elect, the head of the Duchy's legislature and
therefore of the whole Diplomatic Service!

Somehow, without words, a perfect concord is achieved between you. He
has received your report and is arranging for your escape: agents will
be waiting at Watling Street to whisk you away. But your detailed
impressions of what is going on will not be enough. No, you must
somehow foil this new magic, if possible forever.

(Only now do you realise how the poor watchmakers and craftsmen of the
Duchy must feel. This "ploor" spell will make travelling diplomats
entirely redundant.)
human
You put the diamond on Anvil
gpt
right across the calibrations on the far wall, in a weaker but still
potent greenness.
human
You turn the dial to 123
gpt
You rotate the mounting to 123.00.
human
You look
gpt
The presence everywhere of tools and instruments makes this place
rather homely to a Duchy-born man like yourself: it's like a smithy,
but of the colours of light, not the alloys of metal.

At the workshop's centre is the Anvil, a hard stone mounting and,
perhaps, the fulcrum of the new Northlands Empire that is to come. The
beam of light courses in through the eastern archway to strike the top
of the Anvil dead-centre, where it is refracted by the diamond, right
across the calibrations on the far wall.

workshop, and can be turned anywhere on the calibrated dial from 1 to
180 degrees. It now stands at 123.00.

wooden cot, apparently in a deep sleep or coma.

On the floor beneath Clotspinner's outstretched hand are the fragments
of a broken glass prism, smashed by the fall. It's a tableau like a
narrative painting: you feel a curious urge to disturb nothing.
human
You put the scroll in the swivel
gpt
You put the unwritten vellum scroll on the calibrated swivel mounting.

By an ancient and powerful magic, as you stand clear of the green
beam, one precise ray of one single shade strikes the paper in the
mounting. A spell appears upon it!
human
You look at the scroll
gpt
(the newly-written scroll)
The scroll reads "gloth spell (fold pastry dough 83 times)".
human
Inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
seven unwritten vellum scrolls
a coffer (which is open but empty)
an old document
a colour chart
a length of light rope
a boomerang (providing light)
your formal credentials
a shard of pottery (providing light)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open but empty)
four arrows
a drum (which is empty)
a bow
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, a hunk of cheese and a clove
of garlic
a stub of a stock-keeper's note
a broad green leaf
a burnished lantern (providing light)
human
85
gpt
You rotate the mounting to 25.85.
human
You put the scroll in dial
gpt
You put the unwritten vellum scroll on the calibrated swivel mounting.

By an ancient and powerful magic, as you stand clear of the green
beam, one precise ray of one single shade strikes the paper in the
mounting. A spell appears upon it!
human
You look at the scroll
gpt
(the newly-written scroll)
The scroll reads "gloth spell (fold pastry dough 83 times)".
human
You look at the scroll
gpt
You put the unwritten vellum scroll on the calibrated swivel mounting.

By an ancient and powerful magic, as you stand clear of the green
beam, one precise ray of one single shade strikes the paper in the
mounting. A spell appears upon it!

(the newly-written scroll)
The scroll reads "gloth spell (fold pastry dough 83 times)".
human
48
gpt
You rotate the mounting to 127.48.
human
You examine the scroll
gpt
You put the unwritten vellum scroll on the calibrated swivel mounting.

By an ancient and powerful magic, as you stand clear of the green
beam, one precise ray of one single shade strikes the paper in the
mounting. A spell appears upon it!

(the newly-written scroll)
The scroll reads "corpax spell (make small-bore tunnel through light
stone)".
human
You put the scroll in the dial
gpt
Which do you mean, the newly-written scroll or an unwritten vellum
scroll?
human
Unwritten
gpt
You put the unwritten vellum scroll on the calibrated swivel mounting.

By an ancient and powerful magic, as you stand clear of the green
beam, one precise ray of one single shade strikes the paper in the
mounting. A spell appears upon it!
human
Inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
a newly-written scroll (of the corpax spell)
five unwritten vellum scrolls
a coffer (which is open but empty)
an old document
a colour chart
a length of light rope
a boomerang (providing light)
your formal credentials
a shard of pottery (providing light)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open but empty)
four arrows
a drum (which is empty)
a bow
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, a hunk of cheese and a clove
of garlic
a stub of a stock-keeper's note
a broad green leaf
a burnished lantern (providing light)
human
Spell
gpt
Your spell book begins to glow softly. Almost imperceptibly, the
binding swells and closes over the edge of the newly-written scroll,
which straightens and becomes the new corpax spell page. The book's
brightness fades as the corners settle to perfect right angles.
human
You get the scroll
gpt
(the newly-written scroll)
Taken.
human
You put it in the Spell Book
gpt
Your spell book begins to glow softly. Almost imperceptibly, the
binding swells and closes over the edge of the newly-written scroll,
which straightens and becomes the new gloth spell page. The book's
brightness fades as the corners settle to perfect right angles.
human
You memorize the gloth
gpt
You commit the gloth spell to memory.
human
78
gpt
You rotate the mounting to 75.78.
human
You put unwritten scroll in the dial
gpt
You put the unwritten vellum scroll on the calibrated swivel mounting.

By an ancient and powerful magic, as you stand clear of the green
beam, one precise ray of one single shade strikes the paper in the
mounting. A spell appears upon it!
human
You examine newly
gpt
The scroll reads "alsakan spell (pursue squirrel with spectral
hounds)".
human
You get the scroll
gpt
(the newly-written scroll)
Taken.
human
You put it in the Spell Book
gpt
Your spell book begins to glow softly. Almost imperceptibly, the
binding swells and closes over the edge of the newly-written scroll,
which straightens and becomes the new alsakan spell page. The book's brightness fades as the corners settle to perfect right angles.
human
You read the spellbook
gpt
The chiaro spell (cause inanimate object to radiate light).
The jilnix spell (summon small plague of insects).
The piroo spell (unfasten object).
The azzev spell (view the past).
The ruther spell (transmute pure chemical elements).
The ploor spell (nation shall speak peace unto nation).
The corpax spell (make small-bore tunnel through light stone).
The gloth spell (fold pastry dough 83 times).
The alsakan spell (pursue squirrel with spectral hounds).
human
You memorize the corpax
gpt
You commit the corpax spell to memory.
human
Corpax meteor
gpt
The spell misfires: it's far too dangerous to direct at any specific
person or item.
human
Corpax
gpt
It's the most exhausting spell you've ever cast, leaving you almost
too wrung out to notice the pleasant rising tunnel now leading
smoothly up from the walls.
human
You take the chalk
gpt
That much chalk is deceptively heavy.
human
You look
gpt
Wheel Cave (West)
A circular corridor-cave, like a cartwheel's rim and unmistakably
artificial. The arc hoops around northeast and southeast.

of the great wheel.

A clear funnel chimney rises vertically up, like a glass-blower's vent
or something from a furnace, lined with smooth-curving brick.

become, and into which the beam of magical light dissipates
harmlessly.

A smooth, recent tunnel rises up to natural light.
human
Up
gpt
A half-cave, half-overhang among the mossy damp rocks of the central
hillock in the hunting woods. It's a clear night, and a fresh cold
breeze blows across your face.

The tunnel runs downward, back into the wheel complex. But escape with
your life is what matters now!
human
Go north
gpt
"My dear Ambassador," purrs a familiar voice. "You are welcome
indeed."

A break in the dense foliage, caused mainly by the shadow of the
rockface to the west, bathed by the unnatural light which fires over
the hillock. Trees are clustered in on all sides and there's no sign
of the boundary wall.

Amilia is flanked by impassive guards, and is herself wearing a corset
or jerkin of finely worked chain-mail, the kind favoured by assassins
and very expensive courtesans.

In her hand is an elegant spell book, bound in white kid leather
(until this evening you had presumed it a diary): her long fingers
gracefully point at you as she whispers something...

And you are transmuted into a wolfhound. Your vision goes black and
white, your hearing is suddenly acute. Of course, you can carry
nothing. (It's an Ambassador's life, being a dog.)

Weighing your options, you cock a leg over the nearest tree. Amilia
giggles. "Can you guess what I do to dogs, you vermin?"
human
Spells
gpt
As a wolfhound, you have no such ability.

Amilia disposes of her other business, and scoops you up into her
arms. It will save a good deal of unpleasantness to skip straight to
the outcome:
human
You go to the north
gpt
It may be possible to go that way from further around the wheel.
human
Go downwards
gpt
The wheel corridor is flat level.
human
Azzev
gpt
A cloud of green smoke gathers and swirls in the air like cream poured
into soup, and a vision briefly appears...

rest, at the foot of an irregular smoking pit, just here.
human
You go to the north-east
gpt
Wheel Cave (North)
A circular corridor-cave, like a cartwheel's rim and unmistakably
artificial. The arc hoops around southwest and southeast.

On the northern wall is a wooden rack, of the kind used by bakers to
cool cakes, or painters to dry watercolours.
human
Go southeast
gpt
Wheel Cave (East)
A circular corridor-cave, like a cartwheel's rim and unmistakably
artificial. The arc hoops around northwest and southwest.
human
Go east
gpt
The presence everywhere of tools and instruments makes this place
rather homely to a Duchy-born man like yourself: it's like a smithy,
but of the colours of light, not the alloys of metal.

At the workshop's centre is the Anvil, a hard stone mounting and,
perhaps, the fulcrum of the new Northlands Empire that is to come.

workshop, and can be turned anywhere on the calibrated dial from 1 to
180 degrees. It now stands at 75.78.

wooden cot, apparently in a deep sleep or coma.

On the floor beneath Clotspinner's outstretched hand are the fragments
of a broken glass prism, smashed by the fall. It's a tableau like a
narrative painting: you feel a curious urge to disturb nothing.
human
You go to the east
gpt
The only way in or out is through the arched entrance.
human
Azzev
gpt
A cloud of green smoke gathers and swirls in the air like cream poured
into soup, and a vision briefly appears...

Blinding flashes of green light.
human
You examine man
gpt
One of the few wise men to be widely known across the continent, he is Clotspinner, renowned for his optical experiments. They've
revolutionised the practice of lense-making in the Duchy, but the
Empress was far less impressed with such footling activities. Nothing
has been known of him since his "resignation" from the Imperial
Academy -- until now, that is.
human
Jilnix man
gpt
As your brows frown, the air around you gathers with vile winged
insects, which surge forward to plague Clotspinner. But nothing
results from this, and they dissipate again.
human
Ruther leaf
gpt
The spell misfires, perhaps because the broad green leaf is not pure
but a mixture or an alloy.
human
Inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
four unwritten vellum scrolls
a coffer (which is open but empty)
an old document
a colour chart
a length of light rope
a boomerang (providing light)
your formal credentials
a shard of pottery (providing light)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open but empty)
four arrows
a drum (which is empty)
a bow
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, a hunk of cheese and a clove
of garlic
a stub of a stock-keeper's note
a burnished lantern (providing light)
human
Inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
four unwritten vellum scrolls
a coffer (which is open but empty)
an old document
a colour chart
a length of light rope
a boomerang (providing light)
your formal credentials
a shard of pottery (providing light)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open but empty)
four arrows
a drum (which is empty)
a bow
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, a hunk of cheese and a clove
of garlic
a stub of a stock-keeper's note
a broad green leaf
a burnished lantern (providing light)
human
Tear leaf
gpt
You tear the leaf into a pile of smallish fragments.
human
You look at what you're carrying with you
gpt
You are carrying:
a torn-up broad green leaf
four unwritten vellum scrolls
a coffer (which is open but empty)
an old document
a colour chart
a length of light rope
a boomerang (providing light)
your formal credentials
a shard of pottery (providing light)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open but empty)
four arrows
a drum (which is empty)
a bow
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, a hunk of cheese and a clove
of garlic
a stub of a stock-keeper's note
a burnished lantern (providing light)
human
Grind leaf
gpt
(with the Anvil)
Violence isn't the answer to this one.
human
You put the leaf on Anvil
gpt
You put the torn-up broad green leaf on the Anvil.
human
Look around
gpt
The presence everywhere of tools and instruments makes this place
rather homely to a Duchy-born man like yourself: it's like a smithy,
but of the colours of light, not the alloys of metal.

At the workshop's centre is the Anvil, a hard stone mounting and,
perhaps, the fulcrum of the new Northlands Empire that is to come.

On the Anvil is a torn-up broad green leaf.

workshop, and can be turned anywhere on the calibrated dial from 1 to
180 degrees. It now stands at 75.78.

wooden cot, apparently in a deep sleep or coma.

On the floor beneath Clotspinner's outstretched hand are the fragments
of a broken glass prism, smashed by the fall. It's a tableau like a
narrative painting: you feel a curious urge to disturb nothing.
human
You put the leaf on the dial
gpt
The mounting is clearly meant to hold something, but not a torn-up
broad green leaf.
human
You examine the hand
gpt
One thing about your home, the Duchy: you may not be a very powerful
realm, but you certainly are fine inventors and craftsmen. Take this
ten-inch brass "telescope", for example. Distant objects that you look
at through the telescope actually seem closer to you!
human
You feed the leaf to Clotspinner
gpt
Clotspinner lies prone, close to death, his pulse thready and weak,
his breath too slight to feel on your hand. Surely nothing on earth
could revive him now.
human
You memorize the ploor
gpt
You commit the ploor spell to memory.
human
Ploor clotspinner
gpt
A brief babble in your ears turns to a shriek. Whatever you're doing,
you're not doing it correctly.
human
You look
gpt
The presence everywhere of tools and instruments makes this place
rather homely to a Duchy-born man like yourself: it's like a smithy,
but of the colours of light, not the alloys of metal.

At the workshop's centre is the Anvil, a hard stone mounting and,
perhaps, the fulcrum of the new Northlands Empire that is to come.

workshop, and can be turned anywhere on the calibrated dial from 1 to
180 degrees. It now stands at 75.78.

wooden cot, apparently in a deep sleep or coma.

On the floor beneath Clotspinner's outstretched hand are the fragments
of a broken glass prism, smashed by the fall. It's a tableau like a
narrative painting: you feel a curious urge to disturb nothing.
human
Up
gpt
A half-cave, half-overhang among the mossy damp rocks of the central
hillock in the hunting woods. It's a clear night, and a fresh cold
breeze blows across your face.

The tunnel runs downward, back into the wheel complex. But escape with
your life is what matters now!
human
You go west
gpt
Into the Woods (as wolfhound)
Running, running through the trackless woods, in search of the wall
and escape. Everywhere looks like everywhere else.
human
Smell
gpt
Of course, your sense of smell is by far your most acute, and with it
you feel a whole landscape. To northeast a brook runs to the wall.
human
You go to the northeast
gpt
Under the Culvert (as wolfhound)
The brook runs confidently uphill, gushing up under the culvert, under
the wall to Watling Street. The pursuit seems to have been thrown off
for the moment.
human
You go north
gpt
Watling Street, Again (as wolfhound)
The meeting-point: where Watling Street crosses the culvert, through
which the brook still flows.

Agents of the Duchy, cloaked as all spies should be, huddle beside
black horses.
human
Bark
gpt
"Woof! Woof!"

The agents shoo you away. The last thing they want is a barking dog to
draw attention to them!
human
Bite agent
gpt
The agents kick you savagely, and you yelp as if this were unprovoked.
human
You sit
gpt
(on the agents of the Duchy)
As a wolfhound, you have no such ability.
human
About yourself
gpt
Glossy coat, wet nose: you're a much better-looking dog than you ever
were a human, really. Perhaps a trifle vainer.
human
Bite
gpt
(the agents of the Duchy)
The agents kick you savagely, and you yelp as if this were unprovoked.
human
Bark
gpt
"Woof! Woof!"
human
You listen
gpt
Your ears prick up. A hundred noises of the copse: badger, hedge-rat,
glow worm: Amilia's guards, crashing about deafeningly nearby: and,
far away, other voices and perhaps a horse. But which way?
human
Drink brook
gpt
The water is cold and magical, effervescent. You feel yourself
changing again, just as you did at the russet pool. Your limbs stretch
into arms and legs, your ears tuck back within human hair: yes, a man,
but just a man. No magic left. It seems a fair bargain, almost.
human
Go north
gpt
Watling Street, Again
The meeting-point: where Watling Street crosses the culvert, through
which the brook still flows.

Agents of the Duchy, cloaked as all spies should be, huddle beside
black horses.

"Well met, Captain," you call out casually, giving no hint of your
recent canine persona. They saddle up to smuggle you away from the
Empire forever: for you'll never be persona grata here again.

Perhaps the Duchy will flourish, now that the meteor is denied to
Amilia's Empire. Still, it can only be a matter of time before
Clotspinner succeeds in mastering the "ruther" spell, and then where
are you? But then, that's diplomacy: so many missions end in a
fifty-fifty impasse.
human
Hint
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                          Q = re
sume game

> Instructions: How to play this game
Briefings: A diplomatic background
Hints: During the Procession
The Customs House
Amongst the Foundations
Ledge and Surroundings
Cedar and Cave Floor
Egg Chamber and Lily
The Wheel and its Environs
Hints: Casting Spells
Hints: General
human
P.
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                          Q = re
sume game

Instructions: How to play this game
Briefings: A diplomatic background
Hints: During the Procession
The Customs House
Amongst the Foundations
Ledge and Surroundings
Cedar and Cave Floor
Egg Chamber and Lily
The Wheel and its Environs
Hints: Casting Spells
> Hints: General
human
P.
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                          Q = re
sume game

Instructions: How to play this game
Briefings: A diplomatic background
Hints: During the Procession
The Customs House
Amongst the Foundations
Ledge and Surroundings
Cedar and Cave Floor
Egg Chamber and Lily
The Wheel and its Environs
> Hints: Casting Spells
Hints: General
human
P.
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                          Q = re
sume game

Instructions: How to play this game
Briefings: A diplomatic background
Hints: During the Procession
The Customs House
Amongst the Foundations
Ledge and Surroundings
Cedar and Cave Floor
Egg Chamber and Lily
> The Wheel and its Environs
Hints: Casting Spells
Hints: General
The Wheel and its Environs
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                        Q = prev
ious menu

> Are the supplies useful?
How can I heal Clotspinner?
He is suspicious of me.
The beam strikes the anvil uselessly.
The beam dissipates in the ore.
What are the calibrations for?
What does the swivel mounting hold?
Is the meteor invulnerable?
How can I leave the Wheel?
human
P.
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                        Q = prev
ious menu

Are the supplies useful?
How can I heal Clotspinner?
He is suspicious of me.
The beam strikes the anvil uselessly.
The beam dissipates in the ore.
What are the calibrations for?
What does the swivel mounting hold?
Is the meteor invulnerable?
> How can I leave the Wheel?
human
P.
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                        Q = prev
ious menu

Are the supplies useful?
How can I heal Clotspinner?
He is suspicious of me.
The beam strikes the anvil uselessly.
The beam dissipates in the ore.
What are the calibrations for?
What does the swivel mounting hold?
> Is the meteor invulnerable?
How can I leave the Wheel?
(Press H for more, or SPACE to return.)

Well, it is a very heavy lump of elemental magnesium.
human
You go to the west
gpt
This is only half a cave; the western half, to be exact. It's a dark
place full of crevices (you would have missed the stony passage back
south if you hadn't already known about it). Boxes, bottles and crates
are stored here, and to judge from scrape-marks are used by whoever
lives through the broad passage northwest.

the cave, after all.

You can also see a burnished lantern (providing light) here.
human
You put pottery in the cavity
gpt
The quartz blocks all access.
human
Go north
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                          Q = re
sume game

Instructions: How to play this game
> Briefings: A diplomatic background
Hints: During the Procession
The Customs House
Amongst the Foundations
Ledge and Surroundings
Cedar and Cave Floor
Egg Chamber and Lily
The Wheel and its Environs
Hints: Casting Spells
Hints: General
human
You go north
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                          Q = re
sume game

Instructions: How to play this game
Briefings: A diplomatic background
> Hints: During the Procession
The Customs House
Amongst the Foundations
Ledge and Surroundings
Cedar and Cave Floor
Egg Chamber and Lily
The Wheel and its Environs
Hints: Casting Spells
Hints: General
human
Go north
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                          Q = re
sume game

Instructions: How to play this game
Briefings: A diplomatic background
Hints: During the Procession
> The Customs House
Amongst the Foundations
Ledge and Surroundings
Cedar and Cave Floor
Egg Chamber and Lily
The Wheel and its Environs
Hints: Casting Spells
Hints: General
human
You go north
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                          Q = re
sume game

Instructions: How to play this game
Briefings: A diplomatic background
Hints: During the Procession
The Customs House
> Amongst the Foundations
Ledge and Surroundings
Cedar and Cave Floor
Egg Chamber and Lily
The Wheel and its Environs
Hints: Casting Spells
Hints: General
human
You go north
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                          Q = re
sume game

Instructions: How to play this game
Briefings: A diplomatic background
Hints: During the Procession
The Customs House
Amongst the Foundations
> Ledge and Surroundings
Cedar and Cave Floor
Egg Chamber and Lily
The Wheel and its Environs
Hints: Casting Spells
Hints: General
Ledge and Surroundings
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                        Q = prev
ious menu

> How do I get down from the ledge?
I'm a good 20 feet short!
I can't get back up from the Tiny Cave.
Can I reach the tree from the ledge?
What use is the flat curved stick?
What's the significance of the shard?
What's behind the quartz window?
Woodlice and ants are a problem.
How do I pass the Pale Corridor?
What is the Philosopher's Stone?
How does the colour chart work?
human
P.
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                        Q = prev
ious menu

How do I get down from the ledge?
I'm a good 20 feet short!
I can't get back up from the Tiny Cave.
Can I reach the tree from the ledge?
What use is the flat curved stick?
What's the significance of the shard?
What's behind the quartz window?
Woodlice and ants are a problem.
How do I pass the Pale Corridor?
What is the Philosopher's Stone?
> How does the colour chart work?
human
P.
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                        Q = prev
ious menu

How do I get down from the ledge?
I'm a good 20 feet short!
I can't get back up from the Tiny Cave.
Can I reach the tree from the ledge?
What use is the flat curved stick?
What's the significance of the shard?
What's behind the quartz window?
Woodlice and ants are a problem.
How do I pass the Pale Corridor?
> What is the Philosopher's Stone?
How does the colour chart work?
human
P.
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                        Q = prev
ious menu

How do I get down from the ledge?
I'm a good 20 feet short!
I can't get back up from the Tiny Cave.
Can I reach the tree from the ledge?
What use is the flat curved stick?
What's the significance of the shard?
What's behind the quartz window?
Woodlice and ants are a problem.
> How do I pass the Pale Corridor?
What is the Philosopher's Stone?
How does the colour chart work?
human
P.
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                        Q = prev
ious menu

How do I get down from the ledge?
I'm a good 20 feet short!
I can't get back up from the Tiny Cave.
Can I reach the tree from the ledge?
What use is the flat curved stick?
What's the significance of the shard?
What's behind the quartz window?
> Woodlice and ants are a problem.
How do I pass the Pale Corridor?
What is the Philosopher's Stone?
How does the colour chart work?
human
P.
gpt
N = next subject                                                  P =
RETURN = read subject                                        Q = prev
ious menu

How do I get down from the ledge?
I'm a good 20 feet short!
I can't get back up from the Tiny Cave.
Can I reach the tree from the ledge?
What use is the flat curved stick?
What's the significance of the shard?
> What's behind the quartz window?
Woodlice and ants are a problem.
How do I pass the Pale Corridor?
What is the Philosopher's Stone?
How does the colour chart work?
(Press H for more, or SPACE to return.)

A cavity with a distinctive triangular shape.
human
You shoot cavity
gpt
You loose off the arrow across the cave and, satisfyingly, its arc
takes it straight into the triangular cavity.
The interior of the cavity is now lit up! You're still too far away
here to make out anything, though.
human
You look in the cavity with telescope
gpt
cavity.
human
You look in the cavity
gpt
The cavity contains a kind of prehistoric shrine, lined with cave
paintings. Preeminent among them is an intriguing sequence showing a
man being roused from a coma, or perhaps even death, with an elixir:
we see a shaman preparing this healing paste by tearing a broad leaf
and then grinding it up with an arrow.
human
Grind fragments with arrow
gpt
(the fragments of prism with the arrow)
Violence isn't the answer to this one.
human
Grind leaf with arrow
gpt
Using the arrow-head, you grind the leaf fragments down even further,
so that their natural moisture is driven out until you are left with a
dull green paste.
human
You give the paste to Clotspinner
gpt
The water-lily elixir has an immediate effect on Clotspinner! For a
moment you think it will burn him out, and that he's too weak to
withstand it: but then he rises from the cot, coughing and
spluttering.

"Well who are you?" he asks. "You needn't think I'm grateful. Can't
even do myself in, it seems."

Caught off-balance, you introduce yourself with a stammer, and make a
passable Court bow. "I suppose you can prove that, young man?"
human
Inventory
gpt
You are carrying:
a burnished lantern (providing light)
four unwritten vellum scrolls
a coffer (which is open but empty)
an old document
a colour chart
a length of light rope
a boomerang (providing light)
your formal credentials
a shard of pottery (providing light)
a small wickerwork hamper (which is open but empty)
three arrows
a drum (which is empty)
a bow
the "destruction order"
Experimental Spell Book #5
your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
a hand telescope
The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
Provinces
some provisions - a joint of cured ham, a hunk of cheese and a clove
of garlic
a stub of a stock-keeper's note
human
You show the credentials to Clotspinner
gpt
"Thought so," he mutters. "Damnable headache. Pardon my suspicion and
all that. Ever since I invented the "morglop spell: pry into darkest
motives" I've been a little cynical, you know. Shan't be working for
Amilia any more, that's for certain!"

He staggers around the workshop, focusing his eyes again and generally rejoining the real world.
human
You show the credentials to Clotspinner
gpt
"Never mind that! What about my asylum?"

(You are beginning to think he belongs in one.)

"I shall want asylum, of course. Political asylum, from the Duchy,
eh?"
human
You memorize the ploor
gpt
You commit the ploor spell to memory.

"Of course I'll also need an official appointment."
human
Ploor
gpt
Nothing happens, perhaps because you have already reported home to the
Duchy.

"And a little wooden house by the sea."
human
You ask Clotspinner about the morglop
gpt
questions.

"And I'll need the best laboratories and assistants."
human
Memorise ploor
gpt
You commit the ploor spell to memory.

"With profiteroles every teatime, promptly at four."
human
Ploor
gpt
Nothing happens, perhaps because you have already reported home to the
Duchy.

"And I trust there'll be dancing-girls, ten or twelve should suffice
at a pinch."
human
Yes
gpt
That was a rhetorical question.

"Oh yes, my needs are simple," Clotspinner presses on.
human
Yes
gpt
He looks pensive as you shake hands on the deal, wondering no doubt if
he should have held out for more.

"Well, first thing to do's to get me out of here. I believe we'll
require a spell at, umm," (and he scribbles a quick calculation),
"mental arithmetic always was overrated, always said so, let's see,
172.88 degrees. Shall you do the honours?

"But... the light has gone... ah, I see. Weeks I've spent, trying to
dispose of that meteor, keep Amilia from using it! But just for the
moment I'd like it back, if it's not too much trouble."
human
88
gpt
You rotate the mounting to 172.88.
human
You put the scroll on the dial
gpt
You put the unwritten vellum scroll on the calibrated swivel mounting.
human
Ruther chalk
gpt
You commit the ruther spell to memory.
The air around the chalk glows as it is transformed, slowly under the
play of the green light, back into the meteor, whose burnished surface
throws the beam back east through the archway!
human
Go east
gpt
The presence everywhere of tools and instruments makes this place
rather homely to a Duchy-born man like yourself: it's like a smithy,
but of the colours of light, not the alloys of metal.

At the workshop's centre is the Anvil, a hard stone mounting and,
perhaps, the fulcrum of the new Northlands Empire that is to come. The
beam of light courses in through the eastern archway to strike the top
of the Anvil dead-centre, where it is refracted by the diamond, right
across the calibrations on the far wall.

workshop, and can be turned anywhere on the calibrated dial from 1 to
180 degrees. It now stands at 172.88 and holds a sheet of vellum
paper.

On the calibrated swivel mounting is a newly-written scroll.

Clotspinner wanders the workshop pensively, looking over the
equipment.
human
You get the scroll
gpt
(the newly-written scroll)
Taken.
human
You examine it
gpt
The scroll reads "thrale spell (assist even old or wizened savant)".
human
You put it in the Spell Book
gpt
Your spell book begins to glow softly. Almost imperceptibly, the
binding swells and closes over the edge of the newly-written scroll,
which straightens and becomes the new thrale spell page. The book's
brightness fades as the corners settle to perfect right angles.
human
You memorize the thrale
gpt
You commit the thrale spell to memory.
human
Thrale Clotspinner
gpt
"Thank you very much," says Clotspinner as he begins to disappear. "I
shall now be teleported direct to the Duchy. You, I'm afraid, will
have to make other arran..."

He's gone.
human
Go west
gpt
Wheel Cave (West)
A circular corridor-cave, like a cartwheel's rim and unmistakably
artificial. The arc hoops around northeast and southeast.

of the great wheel.

A clear funnel chimney rises vertically up, like a glass-blower's vent
or something from a furnace, lined with smooth-curving brick.

Beneath the chimney is a huge, irregular, metallic lodestone,
presumably a meteor fallen to earth.

A thick, viscous green beam of magical light reflects from the meteor
through a right-angle: straight upward through the chimney, to a level
path east through the archway.

A smooth, recent tunnel rises up to natural light.
human
Drink water
gpt
The water is cold and magical, effervescent. You feel yourself
changing again, just as you did at the russet pool. Your limbs stretch
into arms and legs, your ears tuck back within human hair: yes, a man,
but just a man. No magic left. It seems a fair bargain, almost.

It tastes only of rue.
human
Go north
gpt
Watling Street, Again
The meeting-point: where Watling Street crosses the culvert, through
which the brook still flows.

Agents of the Duchy, cloaked as all spies should be, huddle beside
black horses.

"Well met, Captain," you call out casually, giving no hint of your
recent canine persona. They saddle up to smuggle you away from the
Empire forever: for you'll never be persona grata here again.

But the Duchy will rise now. Tottering on the foundations laid by the
Old Underground Empire, the bankrupt remains which are the Northland
Empire of today will crumble at last. Unchecked, the Enlightenment
will spread across the continent, and nothing will be as it was.

Looking back from your horse, you only know that you will miss
Borealis, its tradition and undoubted glory: ever the Ambassador's
curse is to love the land he must one day betray and abandon. Still
and all: