text: [Themes: Fantasy, Historical, fantasy, culinary theme, strong NPCs]
  
  > Look around
  Tall, slender bottles of ice-wine once resided here, delicate and sweet; and other fine vintages, waiting to be served with the cheese and fruit. All are gone now.
  
  In the south wall, the stonework has crumbled a bit, revealing an opening through to the room beyond. You could get a glimpse through if you were careful not to cut off all the light in the process.
  
  A closed yellow door leads southwest.
  
  A closed peacock door leads northwest.
  
  An open peacock door leads west.
  
  A closed white door leads north; it looks oddly streaked.
  
  > close the west door
  You close the peacock door leading west.
  
  The peacock door leading northwest opens.
  
  > go to the northwest
  Port, tokay, sherry; amontillado; casks, bottles furred with age and sealed with clots of red wax and ribbon seals.
  
  A closed russet door leads east.
  
  An open peacock door leads southeast.
  
  A closed green door leads south.
  
  An open russet door leads southwest.
  
  > close the russet door
  (the russet door leading southwest)
  The russet door leading southwest is, as it turns out when you struggle with it for a bit, in fact rusted in the open position.
  
  > Go southwest
  The air is cool here, protected by deep walls of stone. Heavy beams overhead support the weight of the upper floors. A thick dust overlays everything.
  
  An open grey-blue door leads south.
  
  A closed red door leads east.
  
  An open russet door leads northeast.
  
  A heavy red door, wreathed in chains and locks, leads north into the vault, where the best wines were kept during your youth.
  
  The wine-cellar door is closed.
  
  > unlock the red door with the key
  Which do you mean, the red door leading east or the red vault door?
  
  > close the south door
  You close the grey-blue door leading south. As you do so, you hear from the room beyond it a peculiar screech and crashing noise, as though wood and metal had strained and then given way.
  
  > go to the southwest
  The air is cool here, protected by deep walls of stone. Heavy beams overhead support the weight of the upper floors. A thick dust overlays everything.
  
  An open russet door leads northeast.
  
  The wine-cellar door is closed.
  
  A closed red door leads east.
  
  A closed grey-blue door leads south.
  
  A heavy red door, wreathed in chains and locks, leads north into the vault, where the best wines were kept during your youth.
  
  In your hunger, you dream of fresh white cheese.
  
  > opethe wine-cellar door
  You open the brass door.
  
  > take Andouillettes
  (putting the butcher knife into the sack to make room)
  Taken.
  
  > put the dark beans in the contraption
  (first taking the dark beans)
  (putting the blue glass jar into the sack to make room)
  Taken.
  
  You put the dark beans into the delicate contraption.
  
  > put the vanilla in the contraption
  (first taking the vanilla bean)
  Taken.
  
  You put the vanilla bean into the delicate contraption.
  
  > open the red jar
  You open the red glass jar.
  
  > put the sugar in the contraption
  You put some sugar in the delicate contraption, exhausting the supply in the red glass jar. There is still some room remaining in the delicate contraption.
  
  > take Andouillettes Recipe
  It takes a bit of wiggling to get the cylinder to come free, but you extricate it without too much difficulty.
  
  > Close contraption
  You close the delicate contraption.
  
  > turn it on
  The machine's gears spin into action; a series of fine flanges, like the keys of a music box, move into position against the surface of the cylinder, which rotates steadily. An irritable mechanical voice shouts from within, "I shall be requiring the plate on which to put this item!"
  
  > put the plate in the contraption
  (first taking the plate)
  Taken.
  
  (first opening the delicate contraption)
  You open the contraption, revealing three food items (a quantity of sugar, a vanilla bean and some dark beans).
  You put the plate into the delicate contraption.
  
  > turn it on
  The machine's gears spin into action; a series of fine flanges, like the keys of a music box, move into position against the surface of the cylinder, which rotates steadily. There is such a long silence from inside the box that you think nothing is happening at all. Then, after a great pause, you begin to smell a distinctly sweet chocolatey smell.
  
  In your hunger, you imagine in great clarity sausages fried in onions and olive oil, perhaps with a dash of dry wine. Or perhaps flaking puff pastry, wrapped around chicken and a white-wine mushroom sauce.
  
  > Open contraption
  You open the contraption, revealing a plate, on top of which is a chocolate leaf.
  
  > look at the leaf
  Which do you mean, the chocolate leaf or the bay leaf?
  
  > Chocolate
  A dark chocolate confection, formed into the shape of a leaf.
  
  > link the chocolate to the roses
  (the roses)
  You valiantly try to link the two objects, but they are just a little too different. Maybe if they looked more alike.
  
  > put the snuff on the roses
  (the roses)
  (first taking the snuff)
  You put a pinch -- really just the tiniest bit -- on the back of one hand and lift it to your nose. Refreshing, invigorating, and mercifully not spoilt with an excess of perfume such as everyone seems to prefer these days.
  
  > look at the roses
  (the roses)
  More thorns than the usual, and fewer blooms, or so it seems to your eye.
  
  > link the bay leaf to roses
  (the roses)
  You valiantly try to link the two objects, but they seem as though they will never go together.
  
  > get the dirt
  That's hardly portable.
  
  > put the dirt on the roses
  (the roses)
  (first taking the soil)
  That's hardly portable.
  
  > Empty snuffbox on roses
  (the roses)
  The roses can't contain things.
  
  > throw the stone at the roses
  (the well at the roses)
  (first taking the well)
  That's hardly portable.
  
  > look at the roses
  (the roses)
  More thorns than the usual, and fewer blooms, or so it seems to your eye.
  
  > look at the blooms
  They're the red sort, of course, with a broad spread of petals -- but all grow up out of reach.
  
  > look at the thorns
  They grow in great abundance and sharpness.
  
  > Go west
  A long, cross-beamed room, originally washed with white, though smoke has tinged the walls above the massive fireplace in which roasts are prepared. In addition, there are thick high tables that run the length of the room.
  
  To the east is the kitchen garden through which you entered; west is the corridor that connects with the main house. To the north there is the little scullery, and upstairs is the attic where the servants sleep.
  
  On the kitchen tables are a loaf of stale bread and a delicate contraption (which is empty).
  
  In your hunger, you imagine in great clarity frosted petits-four. Or perhaps creme caramel.
  
  > examine the curtain
  Hangings cover up the whole of the west wall, concealing both the wall and the door beyond.
  
  The cuckoo clock ticks sullenly.
  
  > Move hangings
  The door is still there.
  
  The cuckoo clock ticks sullenly.
  
  > look at the keyhole
  A keyhole in a fitted brass plate. There is an ornate key in the keyhole, pushed in from the other side.
  
  The cuckoo clock ticks sullenly.
  
  > Inventory
  You are carrying:
  a plate
  a chocolate leaf
  an Andouillettes Recipe
  some andouillettes
  a round metal tin (which is open but empty)
  an iron key
  a red glass jar (which is open but empty)
  a sack (which is open)
  a blue glass jar (which is closed)
  some sea-salt (which leaves the blue glass jar about half full)
  a butcher knife
  a rug
  a small portrait
  a jeweled pin
  a stone block
  a bottle of mead (which is closed)
  a dark wooden box (which is open)
  an mirror inset inside the box (reflecting white light from the sunlight)
  a pearl necklace
  an old letter
  a sword
  a snuffbox (which is open)
  a quantity of snuff
  a white handkerchief
  a swordstick
  six food items:
  some apples
  a bay leaf
  a sprig of parsley
  a sprig of mint
  a clove of garlic
  a single yellow onion
  two metal dishes:
  a hinge-lidded teapot (which is open but empty)
  a cup
  four books:
  Guide to Assorted Wines
  The World Is Hollow (which is open but empty)
  The Lavori d'Aracne
  On Vegetable Dyes
  a dashing hat (being worn)
  
  The cuckoo clock ticks sullenly.
  
  > link the ornate key to the iron
  The keys resist linking, almost as though they were made to do so.
  
  The cuckoo clock ticks sullenly.
  
  > put the rug under the door
  (first taking the rug)
  (putting the red glass jar into the sack to make room)
  You can't get to the gothic door to do anything to it at the moment.
  
  The cuckoo clock ticks sullenly.
  
  > go north
  Originally a salon for the receiving of guests; but in recent years the Count has become increasingly interested in his own projects, and has taken over the entire room for the storage of books. Bookshelves line the walls, reaching above your head, leaving exits only east and south.
  
  The clockwork model universe has stopped; a beam of light from the "sun" at the center, focused through Jupiter, shines in the direction of the shelves, highlighting a spot where The World Is Hollow
  used to be.
  
  On one wall is an enormous portrait of the Count's father, from the hand of Hyacinthe Rigaud.
  
  > Slide
  What do you want to slide?
  
  > check your inventory
  You are carrying:
  a rug
  a plate
  a chocolate leaf
  an Andouillettes Recipe
  some andouillettes
  a round metal tin (which is open but empty)
  an iron key
  a sack (which is open)
  a red glass jar (which is open but empty)
  a blue glass jar (which is closed)
  some sea-salt (which leaves the blue glass jar about half full)
  a butcher knife
  a small portrait
  a jeweled pin
  a stone block
  a bottle of mead (which is closed)
  a dark wooden box (which is open)
  an mirror inset inside the box (reflecting white light from the sunlight)
  a pearl necklace
  an old letter
  a sword
  a snuffbox (which is open)
  a quantity of snuff
  a white handkerchief
  a swordstick
  six food items:
  some apples
  a bay leaf
  a sprig of parsley
  a sprig of mint
  a clove of garlic
  a single yellow onion
  two metal dishes:
  a hinge-lidded teapot (which is open but empty)
  a cup
  four books:
  Guide to Assorted Wines
  The World Is Hollow (which is open but empty)
  The Lavori d'Aracne
  On Vegetable Dyes
  a dashing hat (being worn)
  
  > go east
  In your hunger, you hallucinate fresh white cheese. Or perhaps purple-black Hellene olives in a tray, with the pits still in.
  
  An awkward wedge of space between the foundations of the main house and the walls of the new-built wine cellar, east. The staircase does not leave much room to stand in; it is straight and carefully planed lest anyone trip with a priceless bottle of wine.
  
  The wine-cellar door -- sturdy wood in yellowish brass panels -- stands open to the east.
  
  An ordinary wooden door opens west into the root cellar.
  
  > go east
  The air is cool here, protected by deep walls of stone. Heavy beams overhead support the weight of the upper floors. A thick dust overlays everything.
  
  A closed grey-blue door leads south.
  
  A closed red door leads east.
  
  An open russet door leads northeast.
  
  A heavy red door, wreathed in chains and locks, leads north into the vault, where the best wines were kept during your youth.
  
  The wine-cellar door -- sturdy wood in yellowish brass panels -- stands open to the west.
  
  > close the red jar
  You close the red glass jar.
  
  > open the blue jar
  Opening a container of sea-salt while it is in the sack seems like an invitation to disaster.
  
  > take blue jar
  (putting the iron key into the sack to make room)
  Taken.
  
  > open it
  You open the blue glass jar.