text: [Themes: Fantasy, retro, fantasy]
  
  > Look around
  The Phil is in the music room, plain and whitewashed with dark floorboards. It is is as unadorned as all the rooms in the cottage, but dappled light reflected from the river dances on the ceiling. An open window looks out over the river and the rolling West Midlands countryside beyond. There are no exits other than the doorway the Phil came in by, to the west.
  
  Dominating the room is a substantial bentside spinet, which sits along one wall.
  
  On the window sill are a potted plant and a letter.
  
  The Phil can also see a photo here.
  
  > Inventory
  The Phil is carrying:
  a photo
  a rusty ring (to which are attached a red ribbon and a blue ribbon)
  a purse
  five pennies
  a hat (being worn)
  a mug
  a teabag
  a little card
  
  > read the book
  The Phil settles down to read the black-bound book with interest and some trepidation. After all, it appears to have been written by him, but any recollection he has of living in Selly Oak, which is a whole two miles away, is hazy at best. Anyway, despite the title, the book is mostly a description of the habits of the local jackdaws, which seem to have been something of an obsession for the writer: they watch him, he says, and follow him everywhere.
  
  > drop the photo
  Dropped.
  
  > open the spinet
  (the bentside spinet)
  The Phil lifts the lid of the bentside spinet, the underside of which he sees is richly painted, and props it open.
  
  > look in the spinet
  (the bentside spinet)
  One of the finest spinets ever to come out of the manufacturies of Birmingham, with a full five octaves. It is made of a handsome dark wood, and its lid is propped open, revealing a richly painted underside.
  
  Predictably, the Phil's eyes water.
  
  > play spinet
  (the bentside spinet)
  The Phil plays "If all the world were paper" on his spinet.
  
  With the lid of the spinet open, the sound is good and bright.
  
  > examine the underside
  The inside of the spinet lid has been painted with a rather striking picture of a grand house rising above a handsome garden of lawns and hedges. At first glance, it all seems to make sense, but something is not well with the geometry. There are some very odd angles in the building, when the Phil looks closely. In fact, he'd rather not look too closely, it hurts - and there should only be ninety degrees in a right angle - and the shadows seem to fall in all directions. The Phil can only wonder about the state of mind of he who painted it.
  
  "Weird picture," says the Phil, "but for some reason, I feel that it is a good thing that I've seen it."
  
  > play spinet
  (the bentside spinet)
  The Phil plays "Gathering Peascods" on his spinet.
  
  With the lid of the spinet open, the sound is good and bright.
  
  > play spinet
  (the bentside spinet)
  The Phil plays "Horsey-Down Fields" on his spinet.
  
  With the lid of the spinet open, the sound is good and bright.
  
  > play spinet
  (the bentside spinet)
  The Phil plays "Country Abigail" on his spinet.
  
  With the lid of the spinet open, the sound is good and bright.
  
  > play spinet
  (the bentside spinet)
  The Phil plays "Blue Petticoats" on his spinet.
  
  With the lid of the spinet open, the sound is good and bright.
  
  > play spinet
  (the bentside spinet)
  The Phil plays "Merry milk-maids" on his spinet.
  
  With the lid of the spinet open, the sound is good and bright.
  
  > Go west
  The Phil is in his Study, a pleasant little room, but as austere as the rest of the cottage. Here is a large desk, strewn with papers.
  A door leads west and stone steps lead up. There is also a narrow doorway to the east.
  
  One piece of paper - a small neatly written note placed carefully in the centre of the desk - catches the Phil's eye.
  
  > Go upward
  The  Phil is in his bedroom. Plain whitewashed walls and the simple cot testify to the austerity of the scholar's life. Exits down and east.
  
  > Go east
  The Phil is in his experiment room, inconveniently lit by only one leaded-paned  window high on the wall overlooking the river. It is a good sized, plain room with lime washed walls and a wooden floor. It is empty of furniture other than a bench (of the worktable kind, rather than a seat). On the bench is a large lead tank. A ladder fixed to one wall of the room leads up to a trapdoor.
  
  Hanging from the ceiling is a large iron birdcage.
  
  > examine the cage
  Large, made of iron and very ugly. It is tubular in shape, rising to a dome. It is hanging from the ceiling by a length of chain.
  
  In the cage is Vincent, the Phil's pet raven.
  
  Predictably, the Phil's eyes water.
  
  > examine vincent
  The Phil examines Vincent. In return, Vincent examines the Phil though beady red eyes, his expresssion one of contempt and malevolence mingled. He is a particularly large, saturnine and ugly example of Corvus corax - though the great Linnaeus is not yet born.
  
  Predictably, the Phil's eyes water.
  
  > Examine tank
  It holds a quantity of brandy, in which are suspended a number of small furry creatures - representatives of the local fauna - preserved for further study.
  
  Predictably, the Phil's eyes water.
  
  > look at the creatures
  The Phil briefly considers the small furry creatures. Not worth further investigation.
  
  The Phil hears something large - a dog, perhaps - padding along outside. It stops below the window, as far as he can tell.
  
  > open tank
  It isn't something he can open.
  
  A dog howls under the window.
  
  > look through the window
  A small, leaded window. The glass is swirly and a very pale blue green colour, giving a rather sickly quality to the light in the room.
  
  Predictably, the Phil's eyes water.
  
  The Phil thinks the dog has gone again.
  
  > examine the ladder
  Actually, a set of iron rungs set into one wall, and leading up to the trapdoor.
  
  Predictably, the Phil's eyes water.
  
  > Go upwards
  (first opening the trapdoor)
  It seems to be locked.
  
  > examine the trapdoor
  Very solid, and whitewashed, to match the experiment room ceiling.
  
  Predictably, the Phil's eyes water.
  
  > look at the creatures
  The Phil briefly considers the small furry creatures. Not worth further investigation.
  
  > look at cot
  A plain narrow bed with a straw mattress and a woollen blanket.
  
  Predictably, the Phil's eyes water.