text: [Themes: Fantasy, maze, bear, Russia, fantasy, Mythology, male protagonist]
  
  > look around
  You're on the east side of the third river. To the east is further adventure.
  A dead ferryman is here.
  
  > Go east
  You are beyond the three rivers. To the east is further adventure;
  to the west is the bank of the third river.
  
  > go to the east
  You've left the forest and rivers behind you to the west. The wilderness of the Russian steppe spreads out in all directions ahead of you. White winter wheat waves gracefully as the wind sweeps over the open land. A dirt road wends its way from east to west. At the east end of the road you see a mountain.
  Your eyes discern a faint animal trail to the north.
  
  You feel a sharp prick in your back and turn to find your brother Vasilii armed to the teeth with kitchen knives and ready to attack.
  You unsuccessfully try to hide the Firebird's feather. "That's it! I just knew that the Firebird was with you. Where is she? Where is she hiding?" The tip of a knife blade grazes one of your ribs. "No matter. I'll have time to look for her after I've finished with you. The tsardom is going to be mine, Ivan -- over your dead body!" He laughs wildly. "Get ready to taste cold kitchen cutlery, brother mine!"
  
  > go to the north
  You are wandering in the wilderness, having only faint animal trails
  to guide you. Trails lead south, east, and northeast. [3]
  
  You attempt to escape from your murderous brother. He stays right on your heels.
  
  > Note 3
  [3]: Getting lost? I don't see why. You read trails quite well.
  
  > read the trail
  You study the trail for a moment. It says, "Always take the trails in a northerly direction to find the ocean, a southerly direction to find the steppe. If you find yourself in a place where the air smells salty and the only exit is southeast, go se, s, e, n, and nw to find the ocean. If you're in a salty-smelling place and the only exit is southwest, go sw, s, w, n, nw to find the ocean." Yes, you read trails VERY well.
  
  > hit the brother with the sledgehammer
  "Boy, this sledgehammer is unwieldy," you think. "You would have to be a maniac not to notice how heavy and clumsy it is." You lay it aside before Vasilii can see how unsuccessfully you use this weapon. Vasilii raises a butcher knife. You raise your shield and deflect the blow. The butcher's knife is loosed from his hand and disappears.Vasilii takes an experimental jab at you with a large kitchen knife.
  
  > attack the vasili with the hammer
  "Boy, this sledgehammer is unwieldy," you think. "You would have to be a maniac not to notice how heavy and clumsy it is." You lay it aside before Vasilii can see how unsuccessfully you use this weapon. Vasilii raises a butcher knife. You raise your shield and deflect the blow. The butcher's knife is loosed from his hand and disappears.Emboldened by your lack of response, Vasilii lunges at you with his knife, and skewers you through the heart.
  
  Dead, Dead, Dead
  
  *** Having died, you have lost your place in the royal succession. ***
  
  Vasilii doesn't dance for long. He soon sets to searching through your belongings, taking every weapon and every scrap of food you have. He takes your mysteriously transformed fork and puts it in the road leading to the mountain. The fork sizzles and sparks, then explodes into a shimmering doorway. Vasilii passes through the doorway and emerges through an identical door that has appeared just outside of the forest. Using the Firebird's feather to light his way, he plunges into the forest to hunt her down.
  
  > wait
  Good move. In fact, your only move, since you're dead.
  
  Vasilii dashes through the forest, headed for the great stone wall where he last saw the Firebird.
  
  > wait awhile
  Good move. In fact, your only move, since you're dead.
  
  Vasilii finds the hole you dug under the wall and scrambles through it to the other side.
  
  > Wait
  Good move. In fact, your only move, since you're dead.
  
  Vasilii stops for a moment by the pond and makes a picnic lunch out of the food he stole from you.
  
  > wait awhile
  Good move. In fact, your only move, since you're dead.
  
  Vasilii explores the orchard. He speedily climbs a tree, snatches as many fruit nuggets as he can find, and clambers up into the Firebird's nest.
  
  > Wait
  Good move. In fact, your only move, since you're dead.
  
  The Firebird's nest does not support Vasilii's weight. He crashes to the ground, bringing the nest down with him. He is lucky to sustain only a sprained ankle.
  
  > Wait
  Good move. In fact, your only move, since you're dead.
  
  Vasilii limps back out of the orchard and through the tunnel. He is headed out of the forest to the north.
  
  > wait for a while
  Good move. In fact, your only move, since you're dead.
  
  Vasilii arrives at the encampment. The allergist tends to Vasilii's injuries as best as he can. Vasilii cannot capture Dimitri's attention long enough to tell him that you are dead.
  
  > wait for a while
  Good move. In fact, your only move, since you're dead.
  
  Vasilii is back in the forest again, moving a bit slower, but still alert to signs of the Firebird.
  
  > Wait
  Good move. In fact, your only move, since you're dead.
  
  Vasilii spies the Firebird in a tree. He flushes her out and slaughters her.
  
  Vasilii drags the Firebird back to your father, demanding the tsardom as his own. When your father learns that Vasilii killed you and used what you had accomplished to claim the Firebird for himself, he refuses to grant Vasilii his tsardom and sends your brother back into servitude with the caterer. Disgruntled and bitter, your brother trains an army of food-service workers as soldiers and uses them as cannon fodder in a successful overthrow of the tsardom.
  
  In a total of 385 turns, you have achieved a score of 27 points out of a possible 72.
  
  Unless you really liked the ending of "Hamlet," this is not a satisfactory finale: You're dead, the Firebird's dead, your father's dead, your brother reigns after a violent overthrow of the tsardom. Here's a hint: don't give your brother a reason to kill you. Don't give him anything, don't be the first one to strike a blow, and keep moving until he calms down.
  Alternatively, you could just kill Vasilii. What bright future do
  you expect for him anyway?
  
  (If you should find yourself dead again, RESTORE, RESTART, UNDO, and QUIT are available to you in the afterlife.)  In the Wilderness
  You are wandering in the wilderness, having only faint animal trails
  to guide you. Trails lead south, east, and northeast. [3]
  Your brother Vasilii is here, ready to make mince meat of you.
  
  > Note 3
  [3]: Getting lost? I don't see why. You read trails quite well.
  
  > look at what you're carrying with you
  You have a bow, a quiver, a mask (being worn), a comfy blanket, a mysteriously transformed fork, a shovel, a shield, a bucket, a sword, a message from your father, a sledgehammer, a list, a corned beef sandwich, a flicker sandwich, a bunch of turnip greens, a white flask, a black flask, a matchbook, a feather (providing light), a gold nugget, an ambiguous utensil, and a coin. The quiver seems to contain an arrow. Emboldened by your lack of response, Vasilii lunges at you with his knife, and skewers you through the heart.
  
  Dead, Dead, Dead
  
  *** Having died, you have lost your place in the royal succession. ***
  
  Vasilii doesn't dance for long. He soon sets to searching through your belongings, taking every weapon and every scrap of food you have. He takes your mysteriously transformed fork and puts it in the road leading to the mountain. The fork sizzles and sparks, then explodes into a shimmering doorway. Vasilii passes through the doorway and emerges through an identical door that has appeared just outside of the forest. Using the Firebird's feather to light his way, he plunges into the forest to hunt her down.
  
  > Go northeast
  You are wandering in the wilderness, having only faint animal trails
  to guide you. Trails lead south, east, southeast and southwest. [3]
  
  You attempt to escape from your murderous brother. He stays right on your heels.
  
  > read the trails
  You study the trail for a moment. It says, "Always take the trails in a northerly direction to find the ocean, a southerly direction to find the steppe. If you find yourself in a place where the air smells salty and the only exit is southeast, go se, s, e, n, and nw to find the ocean. If you're in a salty-smelling place and the only exit is southwest, go sw, s, w, n, nw to find the ocean." Yes, you read trails VERY well.
  
  > go south
  You are wandering in the wilderness, having only faint animal trails
  to guide you. Trails lead north, east, west, and northeast. [3]
  
  You attempt to escape from your murderous brother. He stays right on your heels.
  
  > go northeast
  You are wandering in the wilderness, having only faint animal trails
  to guide you. Trails lead south, west, southwest, southeast, and northeast. [3]
  
  You attempt to escape from your murderous brother. He stays right on your heels.
  
  > go northeast
  You are wandering in the wilderness, having only faint animal trails
  to guide you. Trails lead north, south, east, west, northeast, and southwest. [3]
  
  Vasilii doesn't take his eyes off you. He keeps his hand close to his weaponry.
  
  > go northeast
  You are wandering in the wilderness, having only faint animal trails
  to guide you. Trails lead north, south, northwest, and southwest. [3]
  
  Vasilii doesn't take his eyes off you. He keeps his hand close to his weaponry.
  
  > go to the north
  You are wandering in the wilderness, having only faint animal trails
  to guide you. Trails lead south, west, northwest, and southwest. [3]
  
  Vasilii eyes you with suspicion and just a touch of confusion. "Why has he led me on this long chase? Why doesn't he just attack?"
  
  > go northwest
  You are wandering in the wilderness, having only faint animal trails
  to guide you. Trails lead south, northeast, and southeast. [3]
  
  Vasilii eyes you with suspicion and just a touch of confusion. "Why has he led me on this long chase? Why doesn't he just attack?"
  
  > Go northeast
  You are wandering in the wilderness, having only faint animal trails
  to guide you. The trail leads southwest. It smells salty here. [3]
  
  Your brother has no idea what you're up to, but now that he's come this far, he's not going to miss your next step for anything.
  
  > Go southwest
  You are wandering in the wilderness, having only faint animal trails
  to guide you. Trails lead south, northeast, and southeast. [3]
  
  Your brother has no idea what you're up to, but now that he's come this far, he's not going to miss your next step for anything.
  
  > Go south
  You are wandering in the wilderness, having only faint animal trails
  to guide you. Trails lead north, south, east, west, and southeast.
  [3]
  
  Your brother confesses that he has misjudged you. You are obviously more capable. His adventure never got him out of the forest at all.
  He disposes of his collection of knives and resolves to follow you as an ally and brother.
  
  > go west
  You are wandering in the wilderness, having only faint animal trails
  to guide you. Trails lead north, east, west, and southeast. [3]
  
  Your brother Vasilii follows you.
  
  > go to the north
  You are wandering in the wilderness, having only faint animal trails
  to guide you. Trails lead south and northwest. [3]
  
  Your brother Vasilii follows you.
  
  > go northwest
  Waves crash on the beach. The surf rolls over your feet. A short distance offshore to the north you see an island. A trail back into the wilderness is to the southeast.
  You see a pike here.
  
  Your brother Vasilii follows you.
  
  > examine the pike
  You often say that you'd rather impale yourself on a pike than be forced to do any of a number of disagreeable things. What you have here is not that kind of pike. Instead, it's a rather dull, squishy fish, not a sharp, pointed stick. Its little gills and mouth are vainly struggling to extract some oxygen from the air.
  
  > put the pike in the ocean
  You throw the pike back into the water. The wealth of oceanic soluble oxygen revives the poor thing. It leaps out of the water in a display of piscine gratitude and swims off into deeper waters.
  
  *** Your score just went up by 3 points. ***
  
  > go to the north
  You plunge into the ocean. The salt water stings your eyes and grains of sand rub your skin raw. A wave twice your height and three times your strength crashes into you and sends you right back to shore.