text: [Themes: Fantasy, divine protagonist]
  
  > look at your surroundings
  Forbidden Forest (Near the Raven Tree)
  The gray fog touches the trees highest branches, hiding the sun from view. Two paths lead into the black forest from here.
  Lornedei sighs.
  
  An enormous raven sits high up on a blackened branch, surrounded by the bug like leaves. It stares unblinking at Lornedei as she moves around in the crossing. It greets her with a threatening flutter with the wings, a guttural croaking and constant nervous sidestepping on the branch.
  Lornedei bites on a nail.
  
  > Rub ball
  Lornedei polishes the fairy lamp some more. The light remains the same. Lornedei bites on a nail.
  
  > look into the ball
  In the fairy lamp is a crystal spider.
  Lornedei moves a strand of hair from her face and puts it behind her ear.
  
  > watch spider
  She can't quite see what it looks like as long as it's trapped inside the lamp. She'll have to free it somehow.
  Lornedei is waiting for your command.
  
  > Twist ball
  Lornedei turns the fairy lamp in her hand. The crystal spider jerks to life in there and taps angrily at the inside of its prison.
  Lornedei glances up at you, uncertain.
  
  > feel the ball
  "It is very cold. It feels almost like ice but it does not melt in my hand."
  "What should I do?"
  
  > give Beetle to Raven
  Lornedei holds the beetle in a tight grip, and shows it to the bird. The black bird leans its head to one side. Most interested, it moves restlessly on its branch. Lornedei slowly puts the beetle on the ground. She steps back and waits.
  
  The beetle turns towards Lornedei, turns back, notices the bird and makes a run for it. It heads for the high grass. The hungry bird dives from the tree and drops in a cloud of dirt between the bug and the safe undergrowth. The beetle stops dead in its track, changes direction and rushes forward, but the bird is already there, flipping the bug over. For one moment, it is immobilized. That moment is enough.
  
  While the beetle is helpless, the bird gets to the eating. Big chunks of the insect's body is ripped out and swallowed. At some point, the legs and antennae stop moving. Finally, there is nothing left of the beetle but an empty shell, lined with a few sad remains of legs, flesh, and unidentifiable insect parts.
  
  The bird skips along the path where, if one looks hard enough, one can see another trail. The bird turns to Lornedei and croaks.
  Waiting.
  
  [Your holiness has just gone up by five.]
  
  > take the leaf
  Lornedei grabs one of the black leaves in the nearest cluster and twists it loose from the branch. The leaf falls over and the beetle quickly takes shape in her hand. When it is done growing, it crawls up on Lornedei's shoulder. Lornedei frowns. She seems to be listening.
  And there truly is a sound, distant, from the forest. It sounds like a bird, unlike any other.
  
  > tap on the ball
  "Master? I don't understand."
  
  > follow Raven
  Lornedei dares a careful step towards the black bird. It turns and hops along the path a short distance before it again faces the girl. Waiting.
  
  Lornedei takes another step and the bird takes off in the air. It flies in circles in front of her, high up and almost out of sight at times but always close enough for Lornedei to follow. The path winds its way through and around the disturbing shadows of the forbidden forest. Fallen trees and dense undergrowth is constantly in her way and she has to climb over, through, or around these obstacles, while keeping an eye on the bird. It is just ahead and above her. She follows the black bird, expecting the cold grip of the forgotten ones around her ankles at any moment. Images of soul wrenching, flesh ripping, and blood drinking spirits run through her mind. Nothing happens. Exhausted and bruised, with her clothes torn and dusty, she stumbles on.
  
  Something grabs her foot; she loses her balance and falls forward with a painful thud. Frozen in a breathless heap on the ground, she takes a moment to gather her strength as well as her breath. The bird croaks, Light seeps in through her closed eyelids.
  
  She looks up in time to catch a final glimpse of the bird. It disappears into a glowing sunset beyond a desolate field.
  
  Wasteland (Overlooking the Field of Despair)
  Slowly Lornedei gets up on her feet. Nearly blinded by the light from the dying sun, she inspects the damage. She sighs deeply.
  
  She opens her mouth to speak again but the words never come. She takes in the view of this seemingly empty wasteland in shocked silence for some time. She swallows. A dry wind tugs at her clothing while playing restlessly in the dry ground.
  Behind her is the forbidden forest. The tree line is sharp as if cut with a knife at creation, separating the blackened forest from the uniform gray ahead.
  
  The horizon ahead is strangely blurred. If from dust, mist or simply the uncertainty of distance is hard to tell from here. In the east, the field slopes down towards something that she cannot see. On the far side of that, the forest continues. In the opposite direction, the dying sun has set the horizon in flames above the gray covering the forbidden forest on that side. On this side of the forest, the land is cut, cracked, dropping down into a ravine. In the northwest, there is an old ruin reflecting the colours of the sun. To the north and northeast, the field continues into the blurred horizon.
  
  [Your holiness has just gone up by five.]
  
  > Go east
  Wasteland (By the Circle of Stones)
  Lornedei walks east and the ground slopes down. It becomes increasingly difficult to walk. On the other side of the valley she is entering, the forest resumes. At the bottom of the slope where the sharp rocks slip under her feet, heat ripples the air. Lornedei makes her way down.
  
  This is the southeastern corner of the field of despair. The forbidden forest is nearly all around her. West, northwest, and north takes her out. The ground sinks into a large hole, a bowl more than fifty paces across, in the ground, edged by crevices and uneven ridges. A broken land. Once at the bottom, the rest of the field is out of sight.
  
  A stone circle is laid out on the ground.
  
  There is a fire inside the ring of stones, blasting out heat and light. Shadows cast by the stones stretch out from the circle. Their wavering tips caress the ragged ground where it begins to ascend to the plane above.
  
  A black plaque lies near the center of the fire pit.
  Lornedei is waiting for your command.
  
  > look at Circle
  The circle is almost ten paces wide. Inside the edging of boulders, the ground sinks further down, into another bowl. This one is smooth and perfectly round.
  
  > enter Circle
  Lornedei glances questioningly at the circle of stones. That is not something that she can enter.
  
  > enter Circle
  Lornedei glances questioningly at the circle of stones. That is not something that she can enter.
  Lornedei frowns. She seems to be listening.
  And there truly is a sound, distant, from the forest. It sounds like a wolf. Yes, a wolf, but it's far away.
  
  > call
  Lornedei whistles but does Deini want to come to her?
  
  > reach Circle
  There seems to be nothing beyond what the eye can see.
  Lornedei glances up at you, uncertain.
  
  > reach the Stone
  There seems to be nothing beyond what the eye can see.
  Lornedei bites on a nail.
  
  > put plaque in the fire
  (the small gray plaque in the Blazing fire)
  This fire needs no fuel. Never mind burning up her inventory.
  A dry black leaf falls to the ground next to her. A gust of wind catches it and carries it away.
  
  > look at the Crystal
  (the amulet)
  It's a pale blue crystal hanging on a silver chain.
  Lornedei frowns. She seems to be listening.
  And there truly is a sound, distant, from the forest. It sounds like a bird, unlike any other.
  
  > wear chain
  Lornedei hangs the amulet around her neck. Immediately it flares up and shines brightly. The blinding light fades somewhat and the light becomes soft and steady. Lornedei shivers in delight from the power in the crystal that gives itself to her.
  
  Lornedei's magic just went up by one hundred.
  
  A dry black leaf falls to the ground next to her. A gust of wind catches it and carries it away.
  
  > Magic
  Lornedei's magic is currently at 276.
  
  > wear the chain
  Lornedei hangs the amulet around her neck. Immediately it flares up and shines brightly. The blinding light fades somewhat and the light becomes soft and steady. Lornedei shivers in delight from the power in the crystal that gives itself to her.
  
  Lornedei's magic just went up by one hundred.
  
  > Magic
  Lornedei's magic is currently at 376.
  
  > reach the black plaque
  Lornedei just shrugs. There doesn't seem to be anything she can learn about the plaque.
  
  > reach the fire
  There seems to be nothing beyond what the eye can see.
  Lornedei shakes her foot to get rid of a painful stone from her sandal.
  
  > reach the amulet
  A golden haired woman walks across the courtyard of a long lost castle. A young lad in a brown tunic with a wooden sword in hand immediately interrupts his training to bow respectfully as she passes.
  An exhausted but smiling young woman lies in a bed with an infant in her arms. The blue light reflected in the child's so far unseeing eyes comes from a crystal hanging around the new mother's neck.
  A white haired old woman reaches into her robe to hold up a shining blue crystal hanging on a silver chain. She pulls it over her head and hands it to the girl kneeling before her on the stone floor.
  Generation after generation passes by in Lornedei's mind. Fleeing images of the many bearers, the many powerful women yielding respect and sometimes fear, but never hatred.
  Not until the final image.
  The amulet is thrown carelessly on top of a broken and bloody mess lying against cold stone. This very wall.
  Lornedei shivers and lets go of the crystal.
  
  > get the Crystal
  (the amulet)
  She already has that.
  
  > Dig
  What do you want Lornedei to dig?
  
  > Ground
  (the ground)
  Lornedei digs a hole in the dry ground.
  
  > Plant acorn
  "Master! Nothing can grow here." She picks up a handful of dirt but drops it again with a grimace.
  "This soil is poisoned, I can feel it."
  
  > go to the west
  Wasteland (Overlooking the Field of Despair)
  Behind her is the forbidden forest. The tree line is sharp as if cut with a knife at creation, separating the blackened forest from the uniform gray ahead.
  
  The horizon ahead is strangely blurred. If from dust, mist or simply the uncertainty of distance is hard to tell from here. In the east, the field slopes down towards something that she cannot see. On the far side of that, the forest continues. In the opposite direction, the dying sun has set the horizon in flames above the gray covering the forbidden forest on that side. On this side of the forest, the land is cut, cracked, dropping down into a ravine. In the northwest, there is an old ruin reflecting the colours of the sun. To the north and northeast, the field continues into the blurred horizon.
  A high pitched squeal from somewhere among the blackened trees fills the air, and Lornedei shudders.
  
  > go to the north-west
  Lornedei steps in-between a big wall that continues north, away from her, and the remains of another wall trailing west. What stands before her is only a small part of a castle. The rest of it, including any main gate or towers, is gone, as if cut away. She stops and looks around.
  
  Ahead of her is the southeastern corner of the castle. The corridor between the building and the outer wall leads northeast, but is blocked by a great pile of stone blocks and other debris. To the west, the courtyard ends at the ravine.
  
  Looking up, the facade disappears into a swirling ceiling of mist. Right at the corner of the castle, a narrow doorway leads north into darkness. She can look around, or walk around to learn more. South or southeast takes her away from the ruins. East brings her around to the east side of the east wall.
  
  > go north
  Castle Ruins (In a Stone Corridor)
  Lornedei enters a long stone hall. The sudden noise of her own foot falls echoing makes her stop after just a few steps. She stands just inside the gate. The corridor is dim and it takes a while for her eyes to adjust to the darkness.
  The wide stone corridor continues north for perhaps sixty feet and there is a dim light at the far end.
  She takes a few more steps forward through the dusty corridor. She stops at an opening in the wall where a staircase leads down into darkness.
  
  > Go north
  Lornedei walks towards the dim light. The corridor ends, the floor drops away, and beyond is the mist. The edge of the cliff itself has dropped off, taking the entire inner castle down with it. The entire northwest corner of the big ledge has slid down to the bottom of the ravine.
  
  Lornedei takes a quick look down the ravine, through veils of mist, but the floor suddenly feels very unsteady under her feet. She returns to the opening to the staircase.
  Lornedei glances up at you, uncertain.