text: > Look around
  This has the feel of a market square, though either the season or the day is wrong as there is not a stall to be seen. The town extends in all directions - narrow streets run further up the mountain to the north, along its slopes to the east and west, and back towards the valley to the south. You do not know the town well enough to say where to go from here.
  
  A particularly striking building lies on square's northeast corner.
  
  > examine the building
  The building is several times larger than any building you have thus seen in the town, sturdy and ancient, made of stone slabs built around a central arch. The arch's apex, as well as the towers at its corners, were broken off long ago, and the symbols that circled its walls have been carved away. It is a common enough and necessary sight - the conversion of such structures into approved shapes, the roods which graced them long since destroyed. That and the girl you saw earlier tell you that this must be Diahl's Hall of Records.
  
  The door to the Hall is currently closed and locked.
  
  Classes - which either the girl was taking part in or teaching herself - must be over, and the Hall's hours past. You will need to seek out the place's keeper tomorrow. A shame.
  
  > examine notebook
  On the notebook's front page, you have made a list of tasks remaining to you:
  Officially present self to local elder or elders.
  Gain housing. (Demand obesance, if necessary?)
  (What of Silenus?)
  
  There is writing -- Adar's doggerel -- on the inside cover.
  
  > Go north
  You do not know which direction to proceed in. You could try wandering blindly, you suppose.
  
  > go to the south
  You pass through the square's entrance and follow the narrow road back to the staircase.
  
  A shadowed, sheltered plaza just beyond the walls. The city gates lie open to the south. On the far side, the road continues as a staircase continuing up the mountain north into the town proper.
  
  The sides of the square are crowded with the small stone buildings you saw dotting the mountain from below.
  
  Along the eastern side is a wooden structure with a thatched roof. From the look and smell, you would guess it a stable.
  
  At the center of the plaza is a stone basin, filled with rainwater.
  
  > examine the buildings
  Diahl seems made of nothing more than narrow streets between crowded buildings, built in tiers one upon the next, all the way to the peak to the north. It will not be as easy to find your way through here as you'd hoped.
  
  > go east
  The dimly-lit wooden interior is barely visible, given the only illumination is a lantern on the floor at the center of the room. In the darkness beyond, you can hear the snuffling and shifting of what must be two or three horses.
  
  Huwen stands here, contentedly munching sweetgrass.
  
  A woman - clearly the hostler - stands beside the lantern.
  
  > Go west
  A shadowed, sheltered plaza just beyond the walls. The city gates lie open to the south. On the far side, the road continues as a staircase continuing up the mountain north into the town proper.
  
  The sides of the square are crowded with the small stone buildings you saw dotting the mountain from below.
  
  Along the eastern side is a wooden structure with a thatched roof. From the look and smell, you would guess it a stable.
  
  At the center of the plaza is a stone basin, filled with rainwater.
  
  > go west
  You can't go that way.
  
  [From here, you can go north, south and east.]
  
  > look at the notebook
  On the notebook's front page, you have made a list of tasks remaining to you:
  Officially present self to local elder or elders.
  Gain housing. (Demand obesance, if necessary?)
  (What of Silenus?)
  
  There is writing -- Adar's doggerel -- on the inside cover.
  
  You could ask about the murder.
  
  > go to the north
  You head onward until you reach...
  
  This has the feel of a market square, though either the season or the day is wrong as there is not a stall to be seen. The town extends in all directions - narrow streets run further up the mountain to the north, along its slopes to the east and west, and back towards the valley to the south. You do not know the town well enough to say where to go from here.
  
  The town's Hall of Records lies on square's northeast corner.
  
  > Go east
  Unsure how to proceed, you wander the narrow streets blindly, until you come to...
  
  The road crests a particularly steep hill here, pausing as if to rest. You have reached what seems the outskirts of Diahl, even though the walls and mountains continue northward from here. To the northeast, the smooth paved stone gives way to a dirt track which continues along the plateau.
  
  A squat, solid edifice sits to the southwest.
  
  Seated on the steps of the building, a smoking pipe in his hand, sits a grey-haired man.
  
  > examine man
  He looks to have all the time in the world, with nothing more to do than smoke his pipe and watch the clouds and the mountain. The silvered ring on the fourth finger of his left hand marks him as one given auctorias by the empire - colloquially referred to as
  an elder.
  
  > speak to the ELDER
  [If you're trying to talk to someone, you might try ASK ELDER
  ABOUT something, the traditional conversation syntax. Type ABOUT to see if this story offers more detailed instructions for
  conversation.]
  
  > Greet the ELDER
  You are already talking to the elder.
  
  You could make small talk, ask about Diahl or officially identify yourself to the elder.
  
  > make the small talk
  "It's a lovely evening," you note.
  
  "It is," he replies, his face and tone expressionless.
  
  You could ask about Diahl or officially identify yourself to the elder.
  
  > ask about the diahl
  "What can you tell me of your lovely town?"
  
  He chuckles. "Lovely? One word of it I wouldn't have thought of." He shrugs. "It's old. It's been here for an age. Will most likely be here for an age longer."
  
  You could ask about a place to stay or officially identify yourself to the elder.
  
  > ask about a the place to stay
  "Do you know a place I could stay for the evening?"
  
  "Not much call for it, to be honest. Visitors usually arrange such with a local house, beforehand. You'll have some trouble finding any, I think."
  
  You could officially identify yourself to the elder.
  
  > identify myself
  You motion to the badge, hold yourself erect and take a deep breath. "By the auctorias invested in me by the empire, I hereby
  identify myself officially as an agent of the Apostasy, and demand all rights and assistance to be granted to such."
  
  He blinks at you a moment, then sighs. "Aye. I suppose that's valid. You from the Brotherhood of Disbelief, then? We don't often see your like hereabouts."
  
  "Yes," you reply, "though that is not the official..."
  
  He waves off your protestations. "We're not much for officialdom here, to be honest. It'll do."
  
  You could say you are here because of a murder.
  
  > examine notebook
  On the notebook's front page, you have made a list of tasks remaining to you:
  Officially present self to local elder or elders.
  Gain housing. (Demand obesance, if necessary?)
  (What of Silenus?)
  
  There is writing -- Adar's doggerel -- on the inside cover.
  
  You could say you are here because of a murder.
  
  > say i am here because of a the murder
  "I am here to investigate a murder."
  
  He blinks at that. "A murder? Here? Never heard of anything so..." He trails off.
  
  "Yes?"
  
  He shakes his head. "You must mean Camael. Fell down the mountainside, climbing like a fool." He waves northward at the peak about the town. "'Twas an accident."
  
  "You may think so. Still, I am here to investigate."
  
  He looks as if he will argue for a moment, then sighs and taps his pipe. "I...I'll ask around. I can give you something tomorrow, mayhaps."
  
  You could ask who was murdered or ask about a possible cult link.
  
  > look at notebook
  On the notebook's front page, you have made a list of tasks remaining to you:
  Officially present self to local elder or elders.
  Gain housing. (Demand obesance, if necessary?)
  (What of Silenus?)
  
  There is writing -- Adar's doggerel -- on the inside cover.
  
  You could ask who was murdered or ask about a possible cult link.
  
  > ask about the cult
  "And there was no connection to...worship in this? No evidence of a cult?"
  
  His shock deepens. "A...c....ult?" he stammers. "No. Never. Sir. I swear to you, never would any..."
  
  You raise a hand and he falls silent. "Of course. But I have to ask these things."
  
  He nods and shudders.
  
  You could ask who was murdered.
  
  > ask who was murdered
  "Tell me what you can of Camael."
  
  He sighs. "He was boy - barely a man. Sweet-natured. Never a bother. They'd already lost his mother, poor boy. His father has nothing now." He sighs again. "I'll...I'll ask after him. I'll have something for you tomorrow." His shock at the implication of the boy's death as murder seems genuine.