text: [Themes: Fantasy, wizard, snow storm]
  
  GlkTADS - A text-only TADS 2.5.3 Interpreter.
  
  Maintained by Stephen Granade <sgranade@phy.duke.edu>
  
  It's a cold weekend in December of 1990, and it's been far too long since you have seen your friend John Baker! But you've finally managed to take some time out of your schedule to drive to Columbus and spend some "quality time" together. Quality time, of course, means that you and he are going to sample every bar that Ohio State University's High Street has to offer.
  
  John was to meet you at a favorite pizza and beer spot to start off the evening, but he hasn't showed up. John's always been rather spontaneous (read that as 'erratic'), so you think he'll show up eventually. But as the night wears on and you tire of downing beers by yourself, you decide to drive to his place and see if he's left a note or something for you there.
  
  You find his front door unlocked and John nowhere to be found. Pretty tired from your earlier drive, and also buzzing a bit from the beer you drank, you quickly doze off in the living room.
  
  It is now morning. A terrible snow storm is raging outside, the worst you've ever seen. You can't believe how much snow has piled up over the night. You still haven't heard from John, and you seem to now be trapped in his apartment.
  
  John's Fire Witch, Version 1.01 (02/04/95)
  
  This is John's Living Room. It is in its usual state of disarray, littered with junk (old copies of alternative newspapers, empty beer cans and bottles, dirty plates and glasses, and so on). What a complete sloth! To the north is the dining area. There is a door leading outside to the south. One set of stairs leads down to the basement, while another set leads upstairs.
  
  [Author's Note: A small, witty text adventure. You've come to visit your old friend John Baker, but he's missing, and a blizzard has rolled in outside while you were asleep waiting for him.]
  
  > look at the junk
  There is a fairly large amount of junk here, consisting mostly of empty beer cans and bottles, dirty plates and glasses, old copies of alternative newspapers, etc. There is very little of it that you would consider touching.
  
  > go to the south
  You are outside the apartment on Red Robin Road. It is bitterly
  cold, and the storm drives snow into your face. Huge drifts of snow block your way in every direction you look. The door back into the apartment is to the north.
  
  > dig in the snow
  What do you want to dig in it with?
  
  > Yourself
  The snow isn't important.
  
  You know, it really is quite cold out here. Perhaps you should step back in to the apartment and warm up. You already can't feel your fingers and toes.
  
  > wait a while
  Time passes...
  
  > wait awhile
  Time passes...
  
  It is so cold that you are beginning to feel sleepy. You remember reading somewhere that this is a really bad sign. Perhaps you should step back into the apartment, unless you're really intent on freezing to death.
  
  > go north
  This is John's Living Room. It is in its usual state of disarray, littered with junk (old copies of alternative newspapers, empty beer cans and bottles, dirty plates and glasses, and so on). What a complete sloth! To the north is the dining area. There is a door leading outside to the south. One set of stairs leads down to the basement, while another set leads upstairs.
  
  > go north
  This is the Dining Area, inaptly named here since it is never used
  for that purpose. This room is less cluttered than the living room, but that's not saying much. The kitchen is to the east, while the living room lies to the south.
  Sitting on the dinner table is a handwritten letter.
  
  > examine the letter
  It appears to be a letter from John to his landlord. It seems to display a lot of anger.
  
  > read the letter
  Dear Pig:
  
  There is no way that I am going to pay any more rent than I already do for this hole you call an apartment. The rent you're already charging is paramount to extortion for a struggling student like myself. You don't do a thing I ask, you don't answer maintenance calls, and you have refused to fix the hole that has opened up in the basement. So bugger off.
  
  > get the letter
  Taken.
  
  > look at the table
  It's your everyday dinner table. You notice numerous nicks and scratches in the surface, as though someone had repeatedly bounced a coin off of it.
  
  > go to the east
  the rest of the apartment. This puzzles you for a moment, until you figure out that John probably eats out all the time. A door leads outside to the north, and the dining area is to the west.
  You see a stove and a refrigerator here. Sitting on the stove is a
  big pan. Sitting on the refrigerator is a typed letter.
  
  > examine it
  It appears to be a letter to John from his landlord telling him that his rent is going up. The landlord sounds really greedy.
  
  > read it
  Dear Tenant:
  
  As some of you may know, I have recently purchased a third sports car. This one was exceptionally expensive, and in order to maintain my extravagant lifestyle, I am going to have to increase your rent again. I can't exactly remember what I charge you now (my accountant handles all that stuff), but whatever it is, add $50 a month from now on.
  
  > examine the stove
  There is a thin layer of dust on the stove; further evidence that this room is not used much. Continued inspection shows that the stove does not even work. You wonder if John is aware of this or if he even cares. On the stove you see a big pan.
  
  > examine the pan
  This big pan appears to have been filled with lasagna at one time, but it is now empty. John told you yesterday on the phone that he was making it for the both of you. He has got to be one of the biggest gluttons you know.
  
  > open the fridge
  You open the refrigerator, and find it completely empty. John never ceases to amaze you. You close it back up, shaking your head.
  
  > open the stove
  The oven door seems to be stuck. It does open just a little bit, and you catch the pleasant odor of cooked fish, possibly herring.
  
  > go north
  You are outside the apartment, on a patio enclosed by fencing. The storm wails around you, driving snow into your face. It is bitterly cold. A fence door leads north out into the apartment complex parking lot, but there is so much snow piled against it that you doubt you could open it. The door back into the apartment is to the south.
  
  > look at the fence
  That's not important.
  
  You know, it really is quite cold out here. Perhaps you should step back in to the apartment and warm up. You already can't feel your fingers and toes.
  
  > Go south
  the rest of the apartment. This puzzles you for a moment, until you figure out that John probably eats out all the time. A door leads outside to the north, and the dining area is to the west.
  You see a stove and a refrigerator here.
  
  > go to the west
  This is the Dining Area, inaptly named here since it is never used
  for that purpose. This room is less cluttered than the living room, but that's not saying much. The kitchen is to the east, while the living room lies to the south.
  
  > Inventory
  You have a handwritten letter, a typed letter, and a big pan.
  
  > go upward
  This is the landing at the top of the steps. A laundry chute is in
  the wall here. To the north is John's bedroom, while the bathroom lies to the east. The stairs lead down.
  
  > examine the chute
  This is a laundry chute. It most likely travels from here down into the basement.
  
  > Go east
  The bathroom is typical for an apartment like this. The floor is
  tiled and bare. The shower curtain is a striking blend of wild colors. It is just beginning to show the first signs of mold. The landing lies to the west.
  Sitting on the sink is a flashlight.
  
  > examine it
  The flashlight is off. There seems to be no battery in it.
  
  > look at the mold
  Pretty gross.
  
  > examine the sink
  It's a typical bathroom sink. What did you expect to find?
  
  > About yourself
  You look about the same as always.
  
  > go to the west
  This is the landing at the top of the steps. A laundry chute is in
  the wall here. To the north is John's bedroom, while the bathroom lies to the east. The stairs lead down.
  
  > go north
  This is John's bedroom. You are immediately surprised by the sheer volume of dirty clothes that cover the floor. The room itself is furnished with rather spartan furniture. You can exit back to the landing to the south.
  You see a bed here.
  
  > examine the clothes
  There is a terrific volume of dirty clothes here, completely covering the floor to a depth of about three inches. Who knows what all could be mixed in among them?
  
  > Search clothes
  You find a crystal card! What else could be in here?
  
  > Search clothes
  You find a picture! What else could be in here?
  
  > Search clothes
  You find a modem! What else could be in here?
  
  > examine picture
  This is a picture of a rather lusty-looking girl. She must be very important to John, for him to have left the picture all mixed in with his important clothes like that.
  
  > examine the crystal card
  This card is about the size of a playing card. It is made out of some type of gleaming crystal, and is grey in color.
  
  > Rub card
  Nothing happens.
  
  > look at the bed
  It looks like an ordinary bed. You would have been disappointed in John if it had been made, but it's not.
  
  > look under the bed
  You find a battery and a book!
  
  > make the bed
  You start to make the bed, and then decide that John might get upset about it.
  
  > put battery in the flashlight
  Done.
  
  > Examine book
  The book appears to be a diary, probably John's. You're not going to read it are you?
  
  > read book
  The diary goes on about mundane personal matters, as diaries are wont to do, for quite some time. A recurring theme seems to be how envious John is of people who are out "living life". This puzzles you a bit, since John has done more crazy shit than any 10 people you know, with the possible exception of some of his psycho friends.
  
  The last couple of pages are really strange. Apparently a few days ago, a hole opened in John's basement due to some water damage. John has been having dreams about a "Fire Witch" and an "Ice Wizard" that live down this hole. Here's the part that's really weird: he thinks the dreams are real. The ice wizard has imprisoned the fire witch, and John seems almost obsessed with freeing her. He also talks about a "magic crystal card" that the fire witch gave him in a dream. By rubbing it and saying the "magic word" necken-sway, John thinks that he can find the fire witch. He talks about the card as if he actually has it in his possession.
  
  Obviously, years of heavy drinking have finally destroyed his mind.
  
  > Rub card
  Nothing happens.
  
  > rub the card and sathe necken-sway
  Nothing happens.
  
  I don't understand that sentence.