text: > look at your surroundings
  The sunlight peeps through the slats in this rotting structure. The dust is suspended in the still air. Any stalls that were once here have been removed. Old crates are piled in the corner. The floor is matted with ancient straw. The exit is the old door to the northwest. A trapdoor leads down.
  
  > go north
  This is a place of death. No plant life can be seen and no animal life can be heard. This small canyon seems to have been chopped into the desert by a great hand, yet you've never heard of it existing.
  The sand is more like dust. Paths lead through the canyon west and south. In the center of this area is a large obelisk; roughly ten feet tall and crudely carved all over. It juts like an insulting finger toward the heavens.
  
  You think you hear talking but cannot make it out.
  
  > look at the obelisk
  It is ominous and the carvings that cover it seem to squirm, but not really. The sand around the obelisk has been disturbed much more than anywhere else in this canyon.
  
  Strange noises echo around you.
  
  Orion Skinner arrives from the west.
  
  Orion looks at you expectingly.
  
  > talk to Orion
  "The Diaz family not only keep their dead in their mausoleum, but also their secrets."
  
  Vultures circle above you.
  
  Orion checks his watch.
  
  > examine the sand
  Around the obelisk, the sand is loose and covered with various footprints; one of which is a pair of bootprints with a cross imprint on the heels. Pebbles and other debris are strewn around the obelisk.
  
  A chill wind blows; the only sign of winter you've felt here.
  
  Orion Skinner goes west.
  
  > Go west
  This is a road that turns from pavement to dirt as it winds from the northwest toward Castronegro to the east into a small canyon.
  
  You can see Orion Skinner here.
  
  You think you hear talking but cannot make it out.
  
  Orion stoops to tie his shoelace.
  
  > Go east
  This is a place of death. No plant life can be seen and no animal life can be heard. This small canyon seems to have been chopped into the desert by a great hand, yet you've never heard of it existing.
  The sand is more like dust. Paths lead through the canyon west and south. In the center of this area is a large obelisk; roughly ten feet tall and crudely carved all over. It juts like an insulting finger toward the heavens.
  
  Dust swirls about and gets into your eyes.
  
  > examine the sand
  Around the obelisk, the sand is loose and covered with various footprints; one of which is a pair of bootprints with a cross imprint on the heels. Pebbles and other debris are strewn around the obelisk.
  
  Strange noises echo around you.
  
  > search the sand
  Sifting around the sand, you find a broken pocket watch. Maybe there's more to be found. . .
  
  Vultures circle above you.
  
  Orion Skinner arrives from the west.
  
  Orion stoops to tie his shoelace.
  
  > take the watch
  You already have that.
  
  You think you hear talking but cannot make it out.
  
  Orion fumbles with tucking in his shirt.
  
  > Inventory
  You are carrying:
  a broken pocket watch
  a mysterious letter
  a broken padlock
  a silver chalice
  a sickle
  a black robe
  a flashlight (providing light)
  a fedora (being worn)
  a set of clothes (being worn)
  a trenchcoat (being worn and open)
  a cleaver
  a scrapbook
  the archive key
  a torn envelope
  a paperback book
  a revolver
  an ashtray
  a Times clipping
  a Herald clipping
  a train ticket
  a holster (being worn)
  
  Vultures circle above you.
  
  Orion Skinner goes west.
  
  > Examine watch
  It's a Hamilton series Art Deco 14 karat gold pocket watch. It's no longer running and it's stuck on 4:20 am. On the back, the letters D.L. are engraved.
  
  You think you hear talking but cannot make it out.
  
  > Go northwest
  This is a sorry excuse for a 'park'. There are no trees save for some cacti and tumbleweed. A bench sits near a dry fountain. To the east is the entrance to the chapel and to the south is the courtyard to the town's library. One of the roads that lead out of town is to the southeast and the park can be exited back into town to the west. You can also cross the street to the northwest and southwest.
  
  You can see Orion Skinner here.
  
  You hear the muffled sounds of a radio playing from within one of the buildings.
  
  Orion fumbles with tucking in his shirt.
  
  > show the watch to Orion
  "Thank you for showing me your broken pocket watch."
  
  A chill wind blows; the only sign of winter you've felt here.
  
  Orion Skinner goes northeast.
  
  > look at the fountain
  It may once have looked marvelous, but now, it's a sad reminder of a happier time.
  
  You hear footsteps behind you, but when you turn to look, you see no one.
  
  Lambert Gunning arrives from the north.
  
  Lambert sneezes obnoxiously.
  
  > look at Lambert
  Lambert hasn't been anything to write home about since he left home.
  
  The sun beats down on you despite the season.
  
  Lambert wipes his nose on his shirt.
  
  > Search fountain
  You find nothing of interest.
  
  Dust swirls around the buildings.
  
  Lambert stares at you.
  
  > go east
  Inside the chapel, it is eerie and silent. It seems that the locals do not frequent it much. The door to the street outside is to the west.
  
  In the center of this chamber is a rather horrible statue carved from basalt.
  
  Reading in the back of the chapel is Father Alonso Vilheila-Pareira.
  
  You can also see Claire Prebo and Liana Farnham here.
  
  Father Alonso lights a cigarette.
  
  Liana Farnham goes west.
  
  Claire Prebo goes west.
  
  > examine the statue
  It depicts a distorted human figure wrapped partly in a shroud with a sickle in the left hand. The right hand points southeast.
  
  Father Alonso turns the page of the book he is reading.
  
  > go to the southeast
  You can't go that way.
  
  Father Alonso puts his face close to the page he's reading as if his sight is very bad.
  
  > look se
  You see nothing unexpected in that direction.
  
  Father Alonso lights a cigarette.
  
  > turn the statue
  It is fixed in place.
  
  Father Alonso lights a cigarette.
  
  > search the statue
  You find nothing of interest.
  
  Father Alonso puts his face close to the page he's reading as if his sight is very bad.
  
  > wear the robe
  You put on the black robe.
  
  Father Alonso chuckles softly to himself, evidently about something he's reading.
  
  > hold the sickle
  You already have that.
  
  Father Alonso lights another candle and places it near him.
  
  > About yourself
  You are a private eye; a gumshoe, as they say, and you appear as such.
  
  Father Alonso chuckles softly to himself, evidently about something he's reading.
  
  > Inventory
  You are carrying:
  a broken pocket watch
  a mysterious letter
  a broken padlock
  a silver chalice
  a sickle
  a black robe (being worn)
  a flashlight (providing light)
  a fedora (being worn)
  a set of clothes (being worn)
  a trenchcoat (being worn and open)
  a cleaver
  a scrapbook
  the archive key
  a torn envelope
  a paperback book
  a revolver
  an ashtray
  a Times clipping
  a Herald clipping
  a train ticket
  a holster (being worn)
  
  Father Alonso puts his face close to the page he's reading as if his sight is very bad.
  
  > go west
  This is a sorry excuse for a 'park'. There are no trees save for some cacti and tumbleweed. A bench sits near a dry fountain. To the east is the entrance to the chapel and to the south is the courtyard to the town's library. One of the roads that lead out of town is to the southeast and the park can be exited back into town to the west. You can also cross the street to the northwest and southwest.
  
  You hear footsteps behind you, but when you turn to look, you see no one.
  
  Clarinda Fisch arrives from the west.
  
  Liana adjusts her wig.
  
  > go north
  This is a sorry excuse for a 'park'. There are no trees save for some cacti and tumbleweed. A bench sits near a dry fountain. To the east is the entrance to the chapel and to the south is the courtyard to the town's library. One of the roads that lead out of town is to the southeast and the park can be exited back into town to the west. You can also cross the street to the northwest and southwest.
  
  You can see Clarinda Fisch here.
  
  A chill wind blows; the only sign of winter you've felt here.
  
  Clarinda sighs sweetly.
  
  > Go north
  This is a dusty sidewalk in Castronegro that stretches east to west. What passes for a town park can be reached to the south. You can also see the chapel in that direction. One of the roads that lead out of town, into the hills, is to the north. You can cross the street to the southwest.
  
  Dust swirls around the buildings.
  
  > go north
  This is a dusty road that leads south to Castronegro and north into the hills. The sun's heat causes you to sweat furiously here.
  
  Dust swirls about and gets into your eyes.
  
  > Go northwest
  You can't go that way.
  
  A chill wind blows; the only sign of winter you've felt here.
  
  > go north
  The road through the hills meanders north to south here, but a steep hill exists to the northwest wherein a vault door hides a half-buried mausoleum.
  
  Vultures circle above you.
  
  > Go northwest
  This is a large chamber carved into the hill. Plain sarcophagi hold 19 members of either the Diaz or the Vilheila-Pareira families. One sarcophagus looks empty, however. The exit is to the southeast.
  
  > search the sarcophagus
  Which do you mean, the empty sarcophagus or the closed sarcophagi?
  
  > Empty
  It is fixed in place.
  
  > go southeast
  The road through the hills meanders north to south here, but a steep hill exists to the northwest wherein a vault door hides a half-buried mausoleum.
  
  Dust swirls about and gets into your eyes.
  
  > Go south
  This is a dusty road that leads south to Castronegro and north into the hills. The sun's heat causes you to sweat furiously here.
  
  You think you hear talking but cannot make it out.
  
  > go south
  This is a dusty sidewalk in Castronegro that stretches east to west. What passes for a town park can be reached to the south. You can also see the chapel in that direction. One of the roads that lead out of town, into the hills, is to the north. You can cross the street to the southwest.
  
  The sun beats down on you despite the season.
  
  This is a sorry excuse for a 'park'. There are no trees save for some cacti and tumbleweed. A bench sits near a dry fountain. To the east is the entrance to the chapel and to the south is the courtyard to the town's library. One of the roads that lead out of town is to the southeast and the park can be exited back into town to the west. You can also cross the street to the northwest and southwest.
  
  You can see Clarinda Fisch here.
  
  The sound of a motor can be heard far in the distance, behind the buildings somewhere.
  
  Clarinda eyes you flirtatiously.
  
  This is a dusty stone courtyard to the library of Castronegro. A sad excuse for a park is to the north and the street corner is to the west. The library's door is to the southeast. You can cross the street to the northwest.
  
  You hear the muffled sounds of a radio playing from within one of the buildings.
  
  > go to the west
  This is a dusty street corner in Castronegro. A bus stop can be seen to the west, in front of the Herrera Hotel. One of the roads that lead out of town is to the southeast. The library can be reached to the east, and the sidewalk continues to the north past a nondescript building. A park can be reached to the northeast.
  
  You can see Liana Farnham here.
  
  You hear footsteps behind you, but when you turn to look, you see no one.
  
  Liana adjusts her wig.
  
  > go west
  This is the only bus stop in town and it sits at the town's edge. To the west, the road leads out of town and to the east is the rest of Castronegro. To the south is the Herrera Hotel; its sign dangling lazily from the door like a warm dog's gonad.
  
  You can see a sign here.
  
  You hear the muffled sounds of a radio playing from within one of the buildings.
  
  > Go south
  The Herrera Hotel is the only place to stay in Castronegro. It is an old adobe building, at least a hundred years old, with two stories. This is the lobby where the front desk greets the guest. A lounge is to the east and stairs lead upward to the rooms. A door is set into the west wall.
  
  Organizing some paperwork (in a futile attempt at professionalism) is the hotel's owner, Juan Herrera.
  
  Juan checks his fly.
  
  > show the watch to Juan
  "That's an interesting broken pocket watch."
  
  Juan checks his fly.
  
  > ask Juan about the watch
  "I don't know much about watch."
  
  Juan looks around the room at no one in particular.
  
  > go west
  This is a simple kitchen equipped with simple appliances and a preponderance of southwestern ingredients.
  
  In the center of the kitchen is a small kitchen island; the only good spot in the place to prepare food.
  
  > look at the island
  It's a heavy wooden trolley with the wheels removed.
  
  > examine the ingredients
  You've never really been into the southwestern flavor.
  
  > look at the appliances
  They are out-of-date even for this decade.
  
  > check your inventory
  You are carrying:
  a broken pocket watch
  a mysterious letter
  a broken padlock
  a silver chalice
  a sickle
  a black robe (being worn)
  a flashlight (providing light)
  a fedora (being worn)
  a set of clothes (being worn)
  a trenchcoat (being worn and open)
  a cleaver
  a scrapbook
  the archive key
  a torn envelope
  a paperback book
  a revolver
  an ashtray
  a Times clipping
  a Herald clipping
  a train ticket
  a holster (being worn)
  
  > take all
  cleaver: (putting the sickle into the trenchcoat to make room)
  You take the cleaver from the trenchcoat.
  scrapbook: (putting the silver chalice into the trenchcoat to make room)
  You take the scrapbook from the trenchcoat.
  archive key: (putting the broken padlock into the trenchcoat to make room)
  You take the archive key from the trenchcoat.
  torn envelope: (putting the mysterious letter into the trenchcoat to make room)
  You take the torn envelope from the trenchcoat.
  paperback book: (putting the broken pocket watch into the trenchcoat to make room)
  You take the paperback book from the trenchcoat.
  revolver: (putting the cleaver into the trenchcoat to make room)
  You take the revolver from the trenchcoat.
  ashtray: (putting the scrapbook into the trenchcoat to make room)
  You take the ashtray from the trenchcoat.
  Times clipping: (putting the archive key into the trenchcoat to make room)
  You take the Times clipping from the trenchcoat.
  Herald clipping: (putting the torn envelope into the trenchcoat to make room)
  You take the Herald clipping from the trenchcoat.
  train ticket: (putting the paperback book into the trenchcoat to make room)
  You take the train ticket from the trenchcoat.