text: [Themes: Fantasy, fantasy, physical simulation, culinary theme]
  
  > Go downward
  Stone walls, ribbed ceiling, but only a packed-earth floor in spots. The room is lined on both sides with boxes and barrels, which take on odd shapes in the semi-darkness and seem vaguely menacing. You feared this room as a child, and it still seems cold and unnerving.
  
  The twisting stairs ascend to the ground floor.
  
  An ordinary wooden door seals the east exit.
  
  > Inventory
  You are carrying:
  a dark wooden box (which is open)
  an mirror inset inside the box (reflecting white light from the sunlight)
  a pearl necklace
  an old letter
  a sponge
  On Vegetable Dyes
  a stone block
  a butcher knife
  a hinge-lidded teapot (which is open)
  not very much water (which leaves some room in the hinge-lidded teapot)
  a sack (which is open)
  a sword
  a snuffbox (which is closed)
  a white handkerchief
  two metal dishes:
  a plate
  a cup
  a swordstick
  five food items:
  a bay leaf
  a sprig of parsley
  a sprig of mint
  a clove of garlic
  a single yellow onion
  a dashing hat (being worn)
  
  > look at the door
  An ordinary wooden door.
  
  > open it
  You open the cellar door.
  
  > Search boxes
  You look inside one of the nearby barrels and find some vanilla beans, of which you take one.
  
  > eat the apple
  (first taking the apples)
  (putting the butcher knife into the sack to make room)
  Oh, no, no. You don't just cram yourself with whatever pathetic foodstuff lies at hand -- no one with any self-respect lives that way. What you want is a meal, prepared with some sensitivity and forethought.
  
  > take the apple
  You already have those.
  
  > Go east
  An awkward wedge of space between the foundations of the main house and the walls of the new-built wine cellar, east. The staircase does not leave much room to stand in; it is straight and carefully planed lest anyone trip with a priceless bottle of wine.
  
  The wine-cellar door -- sturdy wood in yellowish brass panels -- stands open to the east.
  
  An ordinary wooden door opens west into the root cellar.
  
  > go to the east
  The air is cool here, protected by deep walls of stone. Heavy beams overhead support the weight of the upper floors. A thick dust overlays everything.
  
  An open grey-blue door leads south.
  
  A closed red door leads east.
  
  An open russet door leads northeast.
  
  A heavy red door, wreathed in chains and locks, leads north into the vault, where the best wines were kept during your youth.
  
  The wine-cellar door -- sturdy wood in yellowish brass panels -- stands open to the west.
  
  > open grey-blue
  That's already open.
  
  In your hunger, you hallucinate creme caramel.
  
  > Go south
  Almost all gone now, though the labels still adhere to the racks, indicating where a '67 rested, or an '82, waiting to be taken up to the dining room.
  
  A closed russet door leads east.
  
  There is a grey-blue trap door closed in the middle of the room, just visible among the dust as a less-dusty area.
  
  An open grey-blue door leads north.
  
  > open the trap door
  It seems to be locked.
  
  > go to the north
  The air is cool here, protected by deep walls of stone. Heavy beams overhead support the weight of the upper floors. A thick dust overlays everything.
  
  An open grey-blue door leads south.
  
  The wine-cellar door -- sturdy wood in yellowish brass panels -- stands open to the west.
  
  An open russet door leads northeast.
  
  A closed red door leads east.
  
  A heavy red door, wreathed in chains and locks, leads north into the vault, where the best wines were kept during your youth.
  
  > go to the east
  You'll have to get the red door leading east unlocked first.
  
  > examine the red door
  Which do you mean, the red door leading east or the red vault door?
  
  > East
  A red door leading east, currently closed.
  
  > Go northeast
  Port, tokay, sherry; amontillado; casks, bottles furred with age and sealed with clots of red wax and ribbon seals. The Count always used to say that a good cognac would close a diplomatic matter more quickly than any bribe. He never let you and Marie stay, of course, on the evenings when he had business; you would be sent up to the conservatory with the Countess, to practice your music and wait for him to finish whatever matters kept him with his guests.
  
  A closed russet door leads east.
  
  An open peacock door leads southeast.
  
  A closed green door leads south.
  
  An open russet door leads southwest.
  
  > open the russet
  (the russet door leading east)
  It seems to be locked.
  
  > go southeast
  Tall, slender bottles of ice-wine once resided here, delicate and sweet; and other fine vintages, waiting to be served with the cheese and fruit.
  
  In the south wall, the stonework has crumbled a bit, revealing an opening through to the room beyond. You could get a glimpse through if you were careful not to cut off all the light in the process.
  
  A closed yellow door leads southwest.
  
  A closed white door leads north; it looks oddly streaked.
  
  An open peacock door leads northwest.
  
  A closed peacock door leads west.
  
  There is also a single bottle of mead remaining in one of the slots.
  
  > look at the opening
  A small hole in the south wall.
  
  > search it
  Through the hole you see Cheese Corner. You can dimly make out a heavy chest, a silver key and a green glass jar.
  
  > examine the white
  (the white door leading north)
  On close examination, you have the impression that the paint on this door has either faded or been washed over with whitewash; you can still see faint streaks of some darker color, but their efficacy would seem to be gone.
  
  > take the mead
  (putting the stone block into the sack to make room)
  Taken.
  
  > wash white with the sponge
  (the white door leading north with the sponge)
  You scrape at the door ineffectually for a while -- just long enough to reveal that it would take all day to remove the white from the door. But you can see that the underlying paint color was once blue.
  
  > Inventory
  You are carrying:
  a bottle of mead (which is closed)
  two food items:
  some apples
  a vanilla bean
  a dark wooden box (which is open)
  an mirror inset inside the box (reflecting white light from the sunlight)
  a pearl necklace
  an old letter
  a sponge
  On Vegetable Dyes
  a hinge-lidded teapot (which is open)
  not very much water (which leaves some room in the hinge-lidded teapot)
  a sack (which is open)
  a stone block
  a butcher knife
  a sword
  a snuffbox (which is closed)
  a white handkerchief
  two metal dishes:
  a plate
  a cup
  a swordstick
  five food items:
  a bay leaf
  a sprig of parsley
  a sprig of mint
  a clove of garlic
  a single yellow onion
  a dashing hat (being worn)
  
  > look at the snuffbox
  A little pastel-colored metal box in which you keep your supply of snuff.
  
  > open it
  You open the snuffbox, revealing a quantity of snuff.
  
  > open the box
  (the dark wooden box)
  That's already open.
  
  > take the snuff
  You put a pinch -- really just the tiniest bit -- on the back of one hand and lift it to your nose. Refreshing, invigorating, and mercifully not spoilt with an excess of perfume such as everyone seems to prefer these days.
  
  In your hunger, you hallucinate a salad of dressed spinach greens in a vinaigrette.
  
  > eat the snuff
  (first taking the snuff)
  Your nose is assailed by a vigorous prickling. Really, it is possible to overdo this sort of thing.
  
  > Lick snuff
  That would be a disastrous misapplication.
  
  > take mead
  You already have that.
  
  > examine the mead
  Aside from the contents, an entirely ordinary bottle. The cork is still wedged firmly in place.