text: [Themes: Satire, Screen, humor]
  
  > Go downward
  You follow Zarf through the floor, which melts open around you. You hear Melvin close behind you.
  
  Canyon Wall (as Peter and Valerie)
  Massive buttresses of stone rise all around you, climbing the canyon wall, flowing down again in cascades of pale fluorite. A path seems to climb up among them; but you don't think you can get to it right now.
  
  The carcass of the Wumpus is heaped before you. Hardened blood trickles from its ravaged hide, puddling on the floor.
  
  There is a crossbow lying here; near the beast; loaded and cocked.
  
  Zarf says, "Take the crossbow."
  
  > take the crossbow
  Peter takes the crossbow.
  
  Valerie says, "Poor thing."
  
  Zarf walks through the east wall. Rich crimson light flares around him.
  
  > wait awhile
  Time passes.
  
  Melvin enters from the path above, shouting, "I smell a Wumpus! HA HA HA HA HA!"
  
  > Go east
  You follow Zarf through east wall, which melts open around you. You hear Melvin close behind you.
  
  Small Cave (as Peter and Valerie)
  You are in a dark pocket, a stony crack below the summit of the hill. It is not quite high enough to stand in, but surprisingly long, narrowing only slowly towards the back. The entrance is a circle of blinding crimson to the west, partially obscured by the boulder.
  
  An ancient and filthy blanket is crumpled against one wall of the cave.
  
  You can also see Zarf here.
  
  Zarf says, "Take the blanket."
  
  > get the blanket
  Valerie takes the blanket.
  
  Zarf walks through the south wall. Shimmering grey light flares around him.
  
  Melvin squeezes through the cave opening. "It's a good thing I remembered to change my batteries!" he puffs.
  
  > go to the north
  If you don't follow Zarf, you will surely be killed.
  
  Melvin fires the ray gun, which emits a sizzling noise and fills the tiny cave with electric blue laser light. "EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!" he screams. In the tiny confines of the cave, the deadly beams bounce more than Melvin expects, and he is caught in the backfire. "Oh, hell," he says, as all three of you shred into atoms.
  
  > go to the south
  You follow Zarf through the south wall. Melvin is one step behind you.
  
  Storage Tent (as Peter and Valerie)
  This is where the party kept all its supplies. However Roboff seems to have cleaned everything out that was of any use. Several arrows of Da-Glo paint on the wall attract your attention to the empty food and water chests.
  Lying on the ground is a brass torch of the "self-igniting" type. The ignite button is on the handle.
  There is a shovel lying here.
  
  You can also see Zarf here.
  
  Zarf says, "Take the shovel."
  
  > take the shovel
  Peter takes the shovel.
  
  Zarf says, "Okay, we need to take a slight detour."
  
  Zarf walks up through the ceiling. Pale green light flares around him.
  
  Outside the tent, Melvin hollers, "Little pigs, little pigs, let me in!"
  
  > Go up
  You follow Zarf through the ceiling. You feel the heat of Melvin's ray gun blast nearly singe your feet.
  
  Tunnels (as Peter and Valerie)
  A huge cavern rises above you. The far reaches are lost in shadow mist, and the vaults above fade into a darkness pierced with long columns of stone. Chill water drips and pools in broken declivities. You can hear little else. A river of smoke-grey travertine flows down one wall of the chamber. Pale fungi gleam in phosphorescence somewhere above. Gloomy side chambers stretch off in many directions.
  
  You can see Zarf here.
  
  Zarf says, "Fortunately, these tunnels lead everywhere. Come along."
  
  Zarf walks through the south wall. Rosy pink light flares around him.
  
  > go south
  You follow Zarf through the south wall. Melvin is one step behind you.
  
  In Roc Nest (as Peter and Valerie)
  This nest is made from skillfully woven tree trunks, small bushes, and large amounts of mud and roc guano for glue. Giant black feathers are everywhere. In the center of the nest is an egg the size of a small wagon. Nestled beneath the egg is a featureless white cube.
  The roc perches on the side of the nest, watching you intently.
  There is a stained scroll here.
  
  You can also see Zarf here.
  
  Zarf says, "Take the scroll."
  
  > get the cube
  The roc, convinced you are threatening its precious egg, drives you away before you can snatch the cube.
  
  Melvin materializes through the rock face. "Where the hell are we?" he says, staring around.
  
  > get the scroll
  Valerie takes the stained scroll.
  
  Zarf walks through the west wall of the nest. Blinding white light flares around him.
  
  Melvin fires the ray gun, which emits a sizzling noise and a bright stripe of electric blue laser light. "EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!" he screams. He manages to take out not just you and Valerie, but the roc, the egg, the cube, and the nest as well. Your glittering ashes take several slow minutes to settle far below.
  
  > get the scroll
  Valerie takes the stained scroll.
  
  Zarf walks through the west wall of the nest. Blinding white light flares around him.
  
  Melvin materializes through the rock face. "Where the hell are we?" he says, staring around.
  
  > Go west
  You follow Zarf through the west wall. You hear Melvin yelling, "Bad bird! Bad!"
  
  Control Room (as Peter and Valerie)
  This is the control room for all the machinery nearby. The controls are all magical, of course. The walls are covered by blinking lights and shifting displays, interspersed with arcane dials and glowing buttons. It's all very mysterious looking. The exit, to the northwest, leads into a room with machinery which would surely crush you if you were to attempt to enter it.
  A scroll of old, brittle parchment is here.
  "Crash!" A huge hammer smashes against the stone floor outside.
  
  Zarf says, "Take the scroll."
  
  > get scroll
  (the brittle scroll)
  Peter takes the brittle scroll.
  
  Zarf says, "I need to take my own detour. You two, take the northwest exit, wait for Melvin, and incapacitate him. Lay a trap if need be. I'll rejoin you after."
  
  "Crash!" A huge hammer smashes against the stone floor outside.
  
  "Are you sure we can get through that?" Peter asks.
  
  Zarf touches a shadow and vanishes.
  
  "Oh. Great."
  
  "Crash!" A huge hammer smashes against the stone floor outside.
  
  Melvin bursts in from the east wall, covered with talon scratches and roc feathers. "Note to self: Don't mess with the roc egg," he says.
  
  > take the scroll
  Which do you mean, the brittle scroll or the stained scroll?
  
  > Go northwest
  You make it across the room, but just barely; just as you duck through the door, a huge hammer crashes down behind, missing by an inch. Something you stepped on along the way clicked as well, and with a horrible screeching noise, the machinery speeds up, crashing faster and faster until it's twice as fast as before.
  
  From behind, you hear Melvin cry, "Hey! No fair!" That machinery ought to slow him down for at least a minute or two.
  
  Dead End (as Peter and Valerie)
  It is the classic dead end. More than that, it is the archetypal dead end. Nowhere forward, nowhere back. The ceiling shocks with its height, the walls oppress with their closeness. There are no exits.
  
  Melvin will be here at any moment.
  
  "Do we know what to do?" Valerie asks Peter.
  
  "I hope so, or we're dead." Peter says.
  
  > Inventory
  You are carrying:
  a brittle scroll
  a stained scroll
  a shovel
  a blanket
  a crossbow
  
  > look at brittle
  The scroll reads "kulcad spell: dispel a magic spell". The spell seems very long and extremely complicated.
  
  You hear the distant crash of a giant hammer, followed by a small shriek from Melvin. It sounded more disappointed than fatal.
  
  > look at stained
  The scroll reads "caskly spell: cause perfection."
  
  > Dig
  What do you want to dig?
  
  > Shovel
  Peter attacks the soft ground with the shovel. It seems to magically bite large chunks at a time, like a ravenous rodent burrowing into angel food cake. The scooped material seems to vanish like evaporating bubbles, leaving only a deep pit behind.
  
  Unfortunately, Peter himself ends up at the bottom of it.
  
  There is a terrific crash and then a fast series of metallic whupping noises. Melvin comes limping in through the southeast wall, looking the worse for wear. Several spears are skewered in his sides, and one leg drags limply behind him.
  
  "My ray gun got smashed by the hammer," he mopes.He looks down in the pit and laughs. "What are you doing down there, digging a latrine? Don't worry about that. Time to die."
  
  With a steely 'snikt', long metal blades protrude out of his knuckles.