text: > describe your surroundings
  Slumped stalagmites surround a pool of greenish liquid, its depths obscured by unnatural mist.
  
  EXITS: WEST
  
  > examine mist
  An unaccountable quantity of vapor covers the water's surface,
  creeping out over the stone, as if seeking to infiltrate the Ch??teau beyond.
  
  > examine stone
  Each mass of stone seems to ooze indolently over itself, creeping toward the dark pool.
  
  A sword is sticking out of one of the stalagmites???It must have been thrust into the rock with considerable force.
  
  > take the sword
  (the white rapier)
  You grab hold of the rapier's hilt and pull.
  
  It doesn't budge.
  
  > look at the sword
  Which do you mean, the white rapier, the machete, the cinqueda, or the scimitar?
  
  > pull the white rapier
  You set your feet and pull harder at the rapier.
  
  The blade seems to shift in the rock. A little.
  
  > Keep going
  You heave once more, and the rapier slides out of the stalagmite with such ease that you stumble backward a bit.
  
  > examine white rapier
  This rapier was wielded by Udolphon, the first Inquisitor assigned to investigate the Marquis. While examining it closely, you perceive in yourself an unprofessional desire to ensure he is avenged. Its attack power is 8.
  
  > Go upwards
  Numerous objets d'art and historical oddities are on display in this museum hall: A portrait of the Marquis, the statue of Gaspard Oindr??, a framed family tree, a Japanese warrior's equipment in an elaborate display case.
  
  A pane of ghost-glass to the west offers a view of the balcony. The
  oak door to the east is open.
  
  EXITS: EAST DOWN WEST
  
  > go up
  You dig your claws into the wall and begin climbing.
  
  A lesser Inquisitor might lose one's footing on this steeply pitched roof, in this torrential downpour, but fortunately the Orthodoxy gave this particular assignment to their most skilled agent.
  
  A gap in the roof and a few loose bricks indicate that some section of the castle was forcibly removed from this spot. Looking up, you see what happened: The tower is floating in the clouds above the Ch??teau. That is most certainly illegal.
  
  EXITS: UP DOWN
  
  > look at the bricks
  Bricks are littered across the roof. A nearby specimen possesses a particular imposing jaggedness.
  
  > examine brick
  A squarish piece of rock with a knifelike edge. Its attack power is 3.
  
  > look at the gap
  A roughly circular hole has been punched out of the roof. There
  appears to be nothing of interest below.
  
  > examine tower
  Though the places where it formerly connected to the Ch??teau bear the impressions of remarkable violence, the better part of the tower is surprisingly intact. It is in the first place surprising (though much of the shock has now worn off) that such a massive structure could be made to levitate independently at all. The melliphytic energies required must be colossal. The Orthodoxy will be furious???unless you bring the Marquis to justice.
  
  A glow from within indicates that the tower is currently occupied.
  
  > go upwards
  You raise your cape around you and catch a gust of wind???
  
  ???It bears you up into the tempest, up to the tower.
  
  You land lightly on the rain-slick floor. Thunder shakes the tower,
  and then a voice booms: "You're too late, Inquisitor."
  
  A vortex of twisted space hangs over the tower, whipping the wind and clouds into a maelstrom. You can feel it pulling on you, as well.
  
  EXITS: DOWN
  
  "Too late for what?" you ask.
  
  The Marquis glides toward you, unperturbed by the howling winds. "The Gate is open," he explains, "and shortly it will be under my control.
  I have solved the equations. All that remains is the psychical component???of bending the Gate to my will."
  
  "I'm afraid that won't be possible," you tell him. "Marquis Semix, in the name of the Orthodoxy, I hereby arrest you on charges of research and experimentation in melliphysis, the knowledge or application of which is a capital crime, and on various related charges to be enumerated before a magistrate. You have the right to stand trial and speak or be spoken for in your defense. Do you choose to exercise this right?"
  
  "I do not," he sneers. He stretches out his fingers to show you long, barbed claws.
  
  "Very well. In that case, the Orthodoxy sentences you to death, and obliges me carry out your execution at my earliest convenience."
  
  > Inventory
  You are carrying:
  a jagged brick
  a white rapier
  a membranous cape (being worn)
  a Nemertean pincer
  a glyph of interruption
  a rose (being worn)
  a ruby lens
  the form of the ghost
  an athame
  a word of animation
  a machete
  a wakizashi
  the master's key
  a cinqueda
  some clawed gloves (being worn)
  a scimitar
  a white dagger
  
  > hit with pincer
  You bring the arms of the pincer around the Marquis Semix, crushing it and dealing 8 damage. The pincer itself splits under the force of impact.
  
  The Marquis pounces on you and digs his nails into your arm???You shove him away.
  
  > hit with the rapier
  You thrust with the white rapier and deal 8 damage to the Marquis Semix. The blade erupts in silver flames, and you feel that Udolphon's memory has at last been laid to rest.
  
  He flashes out of existence.
  
  Then he reappears, his claws closing around your throat. You shake him off and leap backward.
  
  > Hit with the brick
  You thump the brick over the Marquis Semix, dealing 3 damage. The
  brick crumbles.
  
  He shrieks a melliphytic spell, and lightning springs out of the vortex. You activate your membranous cape and propel yourself away before the bolt can connect with the spot where you were standing.
  
  > Hit with the machete
  The machete connects with the Marquis Semix and deals 3 damage before bursting into useless splinters.
  
  The Marquis falls to his knees. His lips move; his words are swallowed in the storm.
  
  The vortex sputters. You sprint to the lip of the platform. You fall.
  
  An indescribable cacophony shreds the air above you.
  
  You land, and look up: The floating tower is gone. The vortex is gone. There is no sign of the Marquis. The storm continues to rage.
  
  You cannot spare a moment's rest; there is evidence to collect, and paperwork to complete. You draw your new cape around your shoulders
  and begin your descent of the Ch??teau Semix.
  
  "
  
  "Yeah, I have a question." I don't recognize the person asking. "How
  do you call that a 'vampire-tale?'"
  
  Elmir frowns. "I don't understand..."
  
  "I mean, you say the characters are vampires, but they don't do any vampire stuff. They don't turn into bats. They don't drink blood. I don't think you even mentioned blood once."
  
  Elmir starts flipping through his notebook. Someone else speaks up: "There were several vampire elements. There was hypnosis, and
  caskets."
  
  "There was some vampire-adjacent stuff, but if you never told me these characters were vampires, I never would have known they were vampires! They're just spooky guys! You should call them 'spooky-guy-tales,' is all I'm saying."
  
  The moderator finally takes control: "Please, authors," he says, even though it's only one person causing the trouble. "This is Castle Balderstone. The occasion demands some decorum."
  
  The person with the question sighs loudly. Awkwardness is thick in the air.
  
  But Elmir closes his notebook and speaks up: "The querant has a point. I skimmed back through the story, and I don't see any blood. But of course, this is only one of my vampire-tales. The others contain many more of these classic vampire-elements. If you would like to peruse them, they're collected in a volume titled Elmir Divkovic's World
  of Vampire-Tales. I have a few copies in my car..."
  
  The moderator thanks Elmir and ushers him down from the dais.
  
  > look at what you're carrying with you
  I was carrying:
  my citation pad