text: [Themes: Horror, female protagonist]
  
  > go downward
  As you let the rope play out upward, the box wobbles its way down the shaft.
  
  > Leave
  This cheerless cubicle looks oddly stark with the shelves leaning in one corner. There's an open doorway to the south, a door to the west, which is closed, and a square hatch in the north wall.
  
  Several long pine planks are leaning in a corner.
  
  You see some rat droppings, some onions, a wooden bucket, and a burlap sack (which contains a gold locket, a pill bottle, the key to Cabin One, a little white pill, an old shovel, some faded photographs, an indecipherable map, a hand mirror, a black-eyed figurine, a green-eyed figurine, a sketchbook, a stone bracelet, a flashlight, a mystery by John Dickson Carr, a croquet hoop, some fire tongs, a poker, a partially crumbled piece of burnt toast, and a bad fuse) here.
  
  > take the bucket and the sack
  wooden bucket: Taken.
  burlap sack: Taken.
  
  > Go south
  The kitchen is large and not especially neat. The appliances are all ancient, their surfaces dented and chipped. The refrigerator stands against one wall, the stove against another, and there's a cupboard above the sink. Against an inner wall stands a small square table, with a wooden chair beside it. An exterior door is to the south, interior doorways to the east and north.
  
  On the stove is a tea kettle.
  
  > examine the opening
  The heating grate is set in the baseboard in the west wall of the room. It's about a foot high and two feet wide, and is covered with a metal grill, which is stained by years of smoky furnace fumes. It's held in place by a couple of heavy metal screws, which have been loosened to allow the grate to be rotated outward.
  
  > enter grate
  The opening is too small for you to squeeze through it.
  
  > look
  This room has been mostly stripped of furniture. The wood floor is bare, the window uncurtained. A bulky, old-fashioned cradle stands in the center of the room. A metal heating grate is built into the baseboard in the west wall, and there's a small square table in the northeast corner, on which stands an old-fashioned model merry-go-round. Dominating the south wall is a large, rather faded image of a clown, which has been painted directly on the wallboard.
  
  The keyhole in the base of the merry-go-round contains an old-fashioned brass key.
  
  > look at what you're carrying with you
  You are carrying a screwdriver, a wooden bucket, and a burlap sack (which contains a gold locket, a pill bottle, the key to Cabin One, a little white pill, an old shovel, some faded photographs, an indecipherable map, a hand mirror, a black-eyed figurine, a green-eyed figurine, a sketchbook, a stone bracelet, a flashlight, a mystery by John Dickson Carr, a croquet hoop, some fire tongs, a poker, a partially crumbled piece of burnt toast, and a bad fuse). You're wearing your clothes.
  
  > put all in the grate
  screwdriver: You push the screwdriver through the grate.
  
  wooden bucket: The wooden bucket is too large to fit through the opening.
  
  burlap sack: The burlap sack is too large to fit through the opening.
  
  old-fashioned brass key:
  (first taking the old-fashioned brass key)
  You push the old-fashioned brass key through the grate.
  
  > put bracelet in the grate
  (first taking the stone bracelet from the burlap sack)
  You push the stone bracelet through the grate.
  
  > put the tongs in the grate
  (first taking the fire tongs from the burlap sack)
  The fire tongs are too large to fit through the opening.
  
  > check your inventory
  You are carrying a screwdriver, a wooden bucket, and a burlap sack (which contains a gold locket, a pill bottle, the key to Cabin One, a little white pill, an old shovel, some faded photographs, an indecipherable map, a hand mirror, a black-eyed figurine, a green-eyed figurine, a sketchbook, a flashlight, a mystery by John Dickson Carr, a croquet hoop, a poker, a partially crumbled piece of burnt toast, a bad fuse, and some fire tongs). You're wearing your clothes.
  
  > go north
  This cheerless cubicle looks oddly stark with the shelves leaning in one corner. There's an open doorway to the south, a door to the west, which is closed, and a square hatch in the north wall.
  
  Several long pine planks are leaning in a corner.
  
  You see some rat droppings and some onions here.
  
  > drop all
  screwdriver: Dropped.
  wooden bucket: Dropped.
  burlap sack: Dropped.
  
  > enter door
  (the hatch)
  
  You're curled nearly double in a cramped wooden box in half-darkness.
  A sturdy length of rope is hanging vertically here, so close to your face you could scratch your nose against it if your nose itched. And that might be easier than scratching your nose any other way, because there's barely room here to move your arms. A small but sturdy-looking iron hook protrudes from the wall right next to your cheek.
  
  > pull the rope
  You grasp the rope firmly in both hands and pull, and the box in which you're confined rises, foot by swaying foot, up the shaft in which it's suspended. In a few moments you're at the top of the shaft, in near-darkness broken only by a faint line of light that traces the shape of a hatch door like the one in the pantry below.
  
  > Go outside
  (first opening the hatch door)
  
  The furnishings in the bedroom are about what you'd expect - a rumpled bed whose sour odor permeates the room and a dresser with a scatter of stuff on top. There's a wide archway to the east and an imposing-looking door in the north wall. The square hatch by which you first entered the room is set into the east wall at the northeast corner.
  
  > go to the east
  This narrow, windowless room is lit only by the daylight that spills through the open doorway to the west, which leads back to the bedroom. A narrow table stands against the north wall, and at the foot of the table, in the east wall, a metal grate is set in the baseboard.
  
  In the east wall, where you might ordinarily expect to see a door to another room, is a massive slab of stone, both broader and higher than a door. In the upper center of the slab is a circular carving.
  
  You see a stone bracelet here. On the shallow table are a curved dagger and a purple-eyed figurine.
  
  > examine slab
  The gray stone slab is set in the east wall like a door, but it's both taller and wider than a typical door, and there's certainly no doorknob. Set in the face of the slab is an ornate circular carving.
  
  > open slab
  You push and prod at the slab, but it's unyielding.
  
  > take the purple
  As you reach toward the figurine, the dagger rises into the air, guided by no hand that you can see, and slashes at your face! You back away quickly.
  
  > take the dagger
  It would slice your fingers to ribbons!
  
  The dagger slashes and jabs at you, dancing and swooping and slashing in midair.
  
  > examine the dagger
  The dagger has a wicked-looking slim, curved blade nearly a foot long, and a black leather hilt. The dagger is dating and zigzagging at you in the air, jabbing at your face. It's all you can do to duck, dodge, and twist out of its murderous path.
  
  > Go west
  The furnishings in the bedroom are about what you'd expect - a rumpled bed whose sour odor permeates the room and a dresser with a scatter of stuff on top. There's a wide archway to the east and an imposing-looking door in the north wall. The square hatch by which you first entered the room is set into the east wall at the northeast corner.
  
  > Go east
  This narrow, windowless room is lit only by the daylight that spills through the open doorway to the west, which leads back to the bedroom. A narrow table stands against the north wall, and at the foot of the table, in the east wall, a metal grate is set in the baseboard.
  
  In the east wall, where you might ordinarily expect to see a door to another room, is a massive slab of stone, both broader and higher than a door. In the upper center of the slab is a circular carving.
  
  On the shallow table are a purple-eyed figurine and a curved dagger.
  
  > examine the dagger
  The dagger has a wicked-looking slim, curved blade nearly a foot long, and a black leather hilt.
  
  > take the dagger
  As you reach out to pick up the dagger, it scoots away from you! A moment later, quivering, it's airborne. Guided by no hand that you can see, the dagger swoops straight at your face!
  
  > Examine bracelet
  The bracelet is made of irregular chunks of gray-white stone about the size of marbles. Each stone is incised with a symbol of some sort.
  The symbols look vaguely like the letters on the carving on the stone slab in Beauregard Phelps's bedroom.
  
  > examine the carving
  The design of the ornate circular carving is made up of seven or eight intertwining rattlesnakes, all of them baring their fangs. Within the loops formed by the snakes' coils are symbols that look like letters. The letters look exactly like the markings on the stone bracelet you found in the dining room.
  
  > look at the table
  The scarred old wooden table is both taller and shallower than a normal table - about four feet high and no more than a foot deep. On the shallow table are a purple-eyed figurine and a curved dagger.
  
  > Go west
  The furnishings in the bedroom are about what you'd expect - a rumpled bed whose sour odor permeates the room and a dresser with a scatter of stuff on top. There's a wide archway to the east and an imposing-looking door in the north wall. The square hatch by which you first entered the room is set into the east wall at the northeast corner.
  
  > go outside
  This cheerless cubicle looks oddly stark with the shelves leaning in one corner. There's an open doorway to the south, a door to the west, which is closed, and a square hatch in the north wall.
  
  Several long pine planks are leaning in a corner.
  
  You see some rat droppings, some onions, a screwdriver, a wooden bucket, and a burlap sack (which contains a gold locket, a pill bottle, the key to Cabin One, a little white pill, an old shovel, some faded photographs, an indecipherable map, a hand mirror, a black-eyed figurine, a green-eyed figurine, a sketchbook, a flashlight, a mystery by John Dickson Carr, a croquet hoop, a poker, a partially crumbled piece of burnt toast, a bad fuse, and some fire tongs) here.
  
  > take all
  rat droppings: The rat droppings are of no conceivable use to you.
  
  onions: The onions are of no conceivable use to you.
  
  screwdriver: Taken.
  wooden bucket: Taken.
  burlap sack: Taken.
  
  > put the poker in the grate
  (first taking the poker from the burlap sack)
  You push the poker through the grate.
  
  > drop all
  stone bracelet:
  (first taking off the stone bracelet)
  Dropped.
  
  screwdriver: Dropped.
  wooden bucket: Dropped.
  burlap sack: Dropped.
  
  > Go upwards
  You grasp the rope firmly in both hands and pull, and the box in which you're confined rises, foot by swaying foot, up the shaft in which it's suspended. In a few moments you're looking out at the bedroom.
  
  > Go outside
  This cheerless cubicle looks oddly stark with the shelves leaning in one corner. There's an open doorway to the south, a door to the west, which is closed, and a square hatch in the north wall.
  
  Several long pine planks are leaning in a corner.
  
  You see some rat droppings, some onions, a stone bracelet, a screwdriver, a wooden bucket, and a burlap sack (which contains a gold locket, a pill bottle, the key to Cabin One, a little white pill, an old shovel, some faded photographs, an indecipherable map, a hand mirror, a black-eyed figurine, a green-eyed figurine, a sketchbook, a flashlight, a mystery by John Dickson Carr, a croquet hoop, a partially crumbled piece of burnt toast, a bad fuse, and some fire tongs) here.
  
  > Go east
  This narrow, windowless room is lit only by the daylight that spills through the open doorway to the west, which leads back to the bedroom. A narrow table stands against the north wall, and at the foot of the table, in the east wall, a metal grate is set in the baseboard.
  
  In the east wall, where you might ordinarily expect to see a door to another room, is a massive slab of stone, both broader and higher than a door. In the upper center of the slab is a circular carving.
  
  You see a poker here. On the shallow table are a purple-eyed figurine and a curved dagger.
  
  > hit the dagger with the poker
  You take a valiant swing at the flying dagger, but it veers aside and you miss.
  
  The dagger slashes and jabs at you, dancing and swooping and slashing in midair.
  
  > put bracelet on the dagger
  There's no good surface on the curved dagger.
  
  The dagger slashes and jabs at you, dancing and swooping and slashing in midair.
  
  > look at peephole
  The peephole is a little brass ring mounted in the door, with a glass lens in the center.
  
  > look in it
  Through the peephole you can see Luisa standing at her ironing board, ironing.
  
  > Search slab
  You must open the slab before you can do that.
  
  > open slab
  You push and prod at the slab, but it's unyielding.
  
  > go north
  (first unlocking the door, then opening it)
  The bolt makes a soft scraping noise as you gently slide it back.
  
  The upstairs hall, which extends eastward, widens here to form an odd-shaped space. It's too open to be called a room, but too functional to be called a hallway. An ironing board is set up in the northeast corner, and behind it a narrow, steep stairway ascends. There's a doorway to the north, a wide, massive closed door to the south, and a broad window on the west wall, beneath which is a box-shaped window seat.
  
  Luisa is standing at the ironing board, ironing.
  
  When Luisa sees that the door of Phelps's bedroom is open, she crosses herself, mutters something that sounds like, "Madre de dios," and rushes off down the hall. As you're wondering what to do next, Beauregard Phelps rushes up to you and grips your arm so hard you cry out in pain. "So," he says. "We got ourselves a sneak thief. Luisa tells me you got into my room. Well, no harm done. But I reckon we'll have to put you away where you can't get in no more mischief between now and the time for the ritual."
  
  You try to protest that it's all a silly mistake, but he only laughs. Not letting his grip slacken for an instant, he drags you down to the cellar of the house and thrusts you into a big shipping trunk. The lid slams shut, and you're left curled up in a painful knot in total darkness.
  
  A long time passes - you're not sure how long. When you hear footsteps approaching, and voices, a flush of hope jolts through you. The trunk lid springs open and you're hauled out. You start to protest about your treatment, but then you see that Aunt Caroline is carrying the white dress, and your words freeze in your throat. Your aunt's mouth is set in a grim line.
  
  While the others watch, ignoring your shame, she and Honey Hartwell force you to take off your clothes and put on the white dress. Then the whole party, with you in the middle crying and trying to get away, marches out to the meadow where the block of stone is standing. "It's almost time now," Phelps says, his voice bubbling with an undercurrent of glee.
  
  As sunset arrives, there's a thickening in the air, a sense of a foul presence gathering. Shortly you can see it hovering above the stone block, a huge form that grows darker and more solid by the moment. The monster's fangs and claws are exactly like those on the little figurines, but far larger and more terrifying.
  
  The demon reaches toward you, its thick red tongue writhing out obscenely. Your aunt and a well-dressed man whose aftershave smells, nauseatingly, of mint force you down on your back on the stone block, and Beauregard Phelps stalks ponderously forward, raising his curved dagger high and bringing it down toward your breast in a swift slashing arc.
  
  > wait
  Time passes...
  
  > Leave
  Trying to maneuver your way through the narrow opening, you inadvertently let go of the rope. As your grip on the rope slackens, the box plummets back down the shaft! You land with a jarring thud at the bottom, your hands stinging from rope burns.
  
  > Go outside
  This cheerless cubicle looks oddly stark with the shelves leaning in one corner. There's an open doorway to the south, a door to the west, which is closed, and a square hatch in the north wall.
  
  Several long pine planks are leaning in a corner.
  
  You see some rat droppings, some onions, a screwdriver, a wooden bucket, and a burlap sack (which contains a gold locket, a pill bottle, the key to Cabin One, a little white pill, an old shovel, some faded photographs, an indecipherable map, a hand mirror, a black-eyed figurine, a green-eyed figurine, a sketchbook, a flashlight, a mystery by John Dickson Carr, a croquet hoop, a partially crumbled piece of burnt toast, a bad fuse, and some fire tongs) here.
  
  > take all
  rat droppings: The rat droppings are of no conceivable use to you.
  
  onions: The onions are of no conceivable use to you.
  
  screwdriver: Taken.
  wooden bucket: Taken.
  burlap sack: Taken.
  
  > examine the sketchbook
  The cloth-covered book is hundreds of pages thick and more than a foot square. The pages don't fit neatly between the covers; the book appears to have been bound by hand. The front cover, of well-worn coarse cloth, is blank: No title or author, no lettering of any kind.
  
  > read it
  (first taking the sketchbook from the burlap sack)
  The book proves to contain almost nothing but hand-drawn pencil sketches - more than a hundred of them on thick, stiff paper. Each sketch is different, but there's a common theme. Most show monsters and demons of various sorts, in various poses and settings. As you leaf through the book, you find that you're becoming more and more disturbed by the gruesome images.
  
  At the bottom of each sketch, a single word has been written in block capitals. The words themselves have an exotic, foreign flavor that matches the bizarre pictures. Here's a sketch of two demons with fangs and spears stabbing a huge feathered serpent, or possibly a dragon. Beneath the sketch is the word HUATLI.
  
  Another sketch, perhaps the most frightening of the lot, shows a young girl lying naked on her back on a block of stone. A man in an elaborate headdress looms over her with an upraised dagger, while a huge demon with claws and flaming eyes looks on. Beneath this image is the word OLTIOC.
  
  A sketch of a demon eating what looks disgustingly like a human heart is labelled ZIATLI. A sketch of two men in headdresses holding a girl between them and presenting her to a giant serpent is labelled MAZIDI. A sketch of a girl being - no, that one is too upsetting even to think about, but you notice the word UMIXIM below it.
  
  You flip past the other images hurriedly, drawn back in spite of yourself to the one that shows the horrible carving on the stone block in the meadow. Below it is the mysterious word IXTLOC.
  
  > put the bracelet in the sack
  (first taking off the stone bracelet)
  Done.
  
  > put it on the device
  (the black-eyed figurine)
  The black-eyed figurine is too large for the wooden circle.
  
  > Inventory
  You are carrying a screwdriver, a wooden bucket, a burlap sack (which contains a gold locket, a pill bottle, the key to Cabin One, a little white pill, an old shovel, some faded photographs, an indecipherable map, a hand mirror, a green-eyed figurine, a flashlight, a mystery by John Dickson Carr, a croquet hoop, a partially crumbled piece of burnt toast, a bad fuse, a stone bracelet, and a black-eyed figurine), a sketchbook, and some fire tongs. You're wearing your clothes.
  
  > look at the device
  The device is circular, and about the size of a small lazy susan. Bright sunlight shines directly on it through the window. The central part of the device is a circular platform of polished wood, in which is inlaid an arrow in lighter wood. The arrow points somewhat to the left of the window. Also incised in the wood are some abstract figures or designs. They look rather like the mysterious letters you saw carved on the stone slab upstairs in Beauregard's bedroom and those on the stone bracelet.
  
  Mounted along the edges of the circle are several clear glass prisms and several more small rectangular mirrors. The latter are held in place by slim brass mounting clips. One of the mounting clips is empty, however.
  
  As the sunlight hits the prisms, a rainbow of light cascades across the surface of the device.
  
  > put the mirror in the device
  (first taking the hand mirror from the burlap sack)
  You fit the mirror into the brass clip.
  
  > examine device
  The device is circular, and about the size of a small lazy susan. Bright sunlight shines directly on it through the window. The central part of the device is a circular platform of polished wood, in which is inlaid an arrow in lighter wood. The arrow points somewhat to the left of the window. Also incised in the wood are some abstract figures or designs. They look rather like the mysterious letters you saw carved on the stone slab upstairs in Beauregard's bedroom and those on the stone bracelet.
  
  Mounted along the edges of the circle are several clear glass prisms and several more small rectangular mirrors. The latter are held in place by slim brass mounting clips. There are mirrors or prisms in all of the clips.
  
  As the sunlight hits the prisms, a rainbow of light cascades across the surface of the device.
  
  > examine the circle
  Which circle do you mean, the wooden circle, or the bad fuse?
  
  > Wooden
  The wooden circle at the center of the curious device is about a foot in diameter. The surface is dark except for a lighter-colored inlaid arrow, which points out the window, more or less in the direction of the afternoon sun. Incised in the wood are some abstract figures or designs. They look rather like the mysterious letters you saw carved on the stone slab upstairs in Beauregard's bedroom and those on the stone bracelet.
  
  > Point
  (the evil figurines)
  (first trying to take the evil figurines)
  As you reach out to touch the nearest of the figurines, you have the momentary sensation that it has lunged at you and snapped at your fingers with its teeth. Obviously, it couldn't actually have moved - could it? But a shaft of intense pain shoots up your arm, and you recoil as quickly as if you had put your hand in an open flame.
  
  > look at sun
  The sun is shining in the window.
  
  > point the arrow at the sun
  You swivel the device so as to aim the arrow on the wooden circle straight at the afternoon sun.
  
  As the rainbows of light play across the surface of the device, the bracelet begins to emit a warm hum. The hum is pleasant, but almost too soft to be sensed. For a few moments it seems the bracelet is glowing with its own light, the strange letters on the stones shifting into new shapes. When the effect subsides, the bracelet looks much the way it did before.
  
  > drop all but the bracelet
  screwdriver: Dropped.
  wooden bucket: Dropped.
  burlap sack: Dropped.
  sketchbook: Dropped.
  fire tongs: Dropped.
  
  > Go outside
  This cheerless cubicle looks oddly stark with the shelves leaning in one corner. There's an open doorway to the south, a door to the west, which is closed, and a square hatch in the north wall.
  
  Several long pine planks are leaning in a corner.
  
  You see some rat droppings, some onions, a screwdriver, a wooden bucket, a burlap sack (which contains a gold locket, a pill bottle, the key to Cabin One, a little white pill, an old shovel, some faded photographs, an indecipherable map, a green-eyed figurine, a flashlight, a mystery by John Dickson Carr, a croquet hoop, a partially crumbled piece of burnt toast, a bad fuse, and a black-eyed figurine), a sketchbook, and some fire tongs here.
  
  > go west
  You walk down the narrow, ill-lit hall, and emerge in the office.
  
  This room looks as if it serves as Beauregard Phelps's office. It's frankly a mess - littered with teetering piles of yellowing paper.
  It's dominated by a big desk, which sits in the center of the room with a chair behind it. Beneath the window at the west end of the room is a small square table, on which rests a curious device.
  
  On the wooden circle is a stone bracelet.
  
  > Wear bracelet
  You're already wearing it.
  
  > rub it
  The bracelet tingles faintly under your fingertips.
  
  > touch carving
  As your fingers brush the circular carving on the slab, a blaze of light bursts from it. At the same moment, a deep grinding rumble emanates from within the slab, so loud it rattles your teeth and raises little dust spurts on the floor. You take an involuntary step backward and watch apprehensively as the slab pivots to the side, creating a narrow opening through which you can pass.
  
  > take the poker
  You are already carrying the poker.
  
  > examine the north slab
  The stone slab set in the north curve of the room looks much like the others. The abstract lines and shapes incised on its surface look a bit like a design for a primitive computer circuit board.
  
  > look at the northeast slab
  The stone slab set in the northeast curve of the room looks much like the others. The abstract lines and shapes incised on its surface look a bit like a design for a primitive computer circuit board.
  
  > Go east
  A square-cut channel, too broad to jump and seemingly bottomless (though in the dim light it's hard to be certain) stretches from north to south here. Spanning it is a narrow ribbon of silver, barely wide enough to walk on. The ribbon shimmers slightly, as if it's made of oily light. The walls of close-fitting gray stone were obviously made by human hands - or at least, by hands of some sort.
  
  An open doorway leads west, and the silver bridge affords a slightly vertiginous path to the east.
  
  > look at Channel
  The chasm is deep and wide. Looking down into it, you can't see the bottom, but faint sounds echoing up from far below suggest that it's not actually bottomless. The sides are certainly too steep to climb, though.
  
  > examine the bridge
  The silver bridge is barely wide enough to walk on. It shimmers and ripples, as if it's made of oily light.
  
  > Go east
  You step lightly and carefully across the narrow silver bridge. As you reach the far end, a sizzling, crackling noise behind you makes you whirl and look back. The bridge is evaporating at your heels into a drift of silver sparks. The sparks spin, dimming, into the abyss. In a moment the bridge is gone.
  
  A broad passageway runs north and south here, flanked on the west by a square-cut channel of unguessable depth. Directly across the channel, to the west from where you're standing, is an open doorway through which can be glimpsed the cheerfully torchlit room of seven doors, but the slim silver bridge that was here before seems to have vanished, leaving you no way to cross the channel. On the east side of the passageway is a narrow opening, beyond which a stairway leads down into the gloom.
  
  > go to the north
  The stone tunnel continues south (along the channel) and turns to the east here. A square of daylight can be glimpsed at the end of the east branch. A bronze door set in an ornate frame of carved stone is to the north.
  
  > examine the door
  The bronze door is standing open.
  
  > Go north
  This large room, which smells cloyingly of incense, is luxuriously furnished in an style that you'd probably be able to identify if you hadn't been daydreaming so much during World History. Possibly it's Aztec, Mayan, Incan, or even Egyptian. Straw mats hang from the walls, painted with elaborate designs in red and black. A heavy cabinet stands against the east wall. The bronze door is to the south, and daylight spills through an open archway to the north.
  
  > examine the cabinet
  The cabinet is six feet tall and three wide. It's a fine example of the woodworker's art - the blond wood of the front panel is so highly polished it practically glows. Inlaid in the center of the front is a large circle of darker wood.
  
  > examine the mats
  The mats are quite large - at least five feet wide, and six or seven feet long. They're painted with elaborate and somewhat unnerving designs in red and black.
  
  > examine the designs
  Which designs do you mean, the letters on the bracelet, or the straw mats?
  
  > take the mat
  With a bit of fiddling, you're able to detach one of the mats from the hook on which it's hanging.
  
  > Inventory
  You are carrying a poker and a straw mat, and you're wearing your clothes and a stone bracelet.
  
  > look at circle
  The wooden circle on the front of the cabinet is rather larger than a human face. Seven designs or glyphs are inlaid on the circle - in no particular order, a circle surrounded by rays that must represent the sun, a long curved dagger, the stylized head of a snarling jaguar, a bird with outstretched wings, a tilted jug from whose mouth a stream of water is pouring, an ear of corn, and a coiled rattlesnake with bared fangs. Directly above the circle is a large arrowhead whose point aims straight down at the upper edge of the circle.
  
  > go to the north
  This little balcony overlooks a small but well-maintained formal garden dotted with fruit trees. Looming over the garden to the east is an imposing, windowless building whose heavy, close-set stone pillars suggest Egypt or Ancient Rome. An open archway to the south leads back into the chamber, and a steep flight of stairs leads down into the garden.
  
  > examine the building
  The building is massive and windowless.