text: > Look around
  The glitterings of Gold, Jewels, Tapestries, &c. bely the Decrepitude of he who til recently occupied this high Seat. A white Carpet, once flanked by sycophants & counselors, now lies nearly untravelled. It leads away from the Seat & towards the Sunrise.
  
  The cruel Baron lies at your feet, dyeing the carpet scarlet with his blood.
  
  > cut Robe
  What do you want to cut the red robe with?
  
  > Inventory
  You are carrying:
  a red robe
  a fine Axe
  a holy symbol (glowing with a sacred light & being worn)
  a suit of Chain-Mail (being worn)
  a leather sheath (being worn)
  a sacred blade
  a wooden Scroll-Case (being worn & closed)
  
  > cut Robe with Blade
  (first taking the sacred blade)
  You draw your blade.
  
  > look at what you're carrying with you
  You are carrying:
  a sacred blade
  a red robe
  a holy symbol (glowing with a sacred light & being worn)
  a suit of Chain-Mail (being worn)
  a leather sheath (being worn)
  a wooden Scroll-Case (being worn & closed)
  
  > wear Robe
  You lack the rank.
  
  > get all
  fine Axe: Taken.
  long Table: The long Table is hardly portable.
  ornate Chairs: Such posessions would only weigh you down.
  
  > go to the west
  Gluttonous indeed were the the Feasts prepared in this Kitchen while the Baron still lived. The huge Ovens now stand cold & unlit, the Crockery smashed & strewn about the floor. The Dining Hall is to the east, & northwards is a small enclosed Yard. A stair leads downward into Darkness.
  
  The Baron's Fool lies besotted beneath a large Wine-Barrel.
  
  You can also see a handful of spice & a Perpetuum Mobile here.
  
  > Inventory
  You are carrying:
  a fine Axe
  a sacred blade
  a holy symbol (glowing with a sacred light & being worn)
  a suit of Chain-Mail (being worn)
  a leather sheath (being worn)
  a wooden Scroll-Case (being worn & closed)
  
  > examine Baron
  His eyes are wide & unseeing.
  
  > look at the eyes
  The Baron's eyes are wide and unseeing.
  
  > Inventory
  You are carrying:
  the Baron's eyes
  a sacred blade
  a holy symbol (glowing with a sacred light & being worn)
  a suit of Chain-Mail (being worn)
  a leather sheath (being worn)
  a wooden Scroll-Case (being worn & closed)
  
  > examine Baron
  His eyes are wide & unseeing.
  
  > open eyes
  Even the most evil deserves posthumous Respect.
  
  > close the eyes
  You close the Baron's eyes.
  
  > go to the north
  An Armory, stocked by the Baron for a seige but unable to protect him from the vengeance of the Almighty. Amidst the Armor, Weaponry &c. stands an archway to the south.
  
  A wooden Lance stands here, propped against a wall.
  
  > Inventory
  You are carrying:
  a sacred blade
  a holy symbol (glowing with a sacred light & being worn)
  a suit of Chain-Mail (being worn)
  a leather sheath (being worn)
  a wooden Scroll-Case (being worn & closed)
  
  > get Lance
  To hold that you must have both hands free.
  
  > Sheath blade
  You sheathe your blade.
  
  > Go south
  If only the Baron had set his soul in the same order he kept his study! Had he lined his heart with good works the way he lined his walls with books, kept his spiritual affairs as tidy as he kept his Writing-Desk, then your grim task need never have been assigned you. But the leather Arm-Chair now awaits a master who will never again occupy it. A solid oak door blocks your way to the west & an archway leads north.
  
  Have these Walls shifted? Is the Light different in its attentions upon your Eyes? Nay, for how could this be so? It must be your tiresome Confinement that makes your Memory falter. You had best find a way to quit the Baron's Keep.
  
  The orderly appointment of the Books on their several Shelves is marred in one place by a Gap.
  
  > examine the hole
  A dark Hole penetrates the desk & proceeds deep into the Stone of the south wall. It is deeper than your Arm is long.
  
  > put the symbol in Hole
  (the holy symbol in the Hole in the south wall)
  You insert the holy symbol into the hole as far as you can, then draw it out again. No change has occured.
  
  > put the symbol on Lance
  (the holy symbol on the wooden Lance)
  Putting things upon the wooden Lance would achieve nothing.
  
  > put Lance in Hole
  Inserting the lance into the hole as far as you can, you feel the wood catch & hear the faraway grinding of stone. Removing the lance, you find it unchanged.
  
  > Lift portcullis
  That is hardly portable.
  
  > open Portcullis
  Your strength is as great as your faith, but try as you might, you cannot lift the heavy portcullis. Perhaps the nearby Wheel holds the answer.
  
  > go west
  A richly attired Wait Chamber, walls covered with pagan frescoes which beckon you to unpure thoughts. Chairs arranged near the circular perimeter mingle with tables for gaming. The chamber becomes the reception chamber to the west, the dining hall to the north. A small tiled archway leads southwest, & to the east is the grand Entry Hall.
  
  Has this Place changed since last you were here? The work of some mischevious Spirit, or deceiving Daemon? It is but a slight tugging in your Marrow, yet a worrisome one.
  
  > go to the west
  The glitterings of Gold, Jewels, Tapestries, &c. bely the pulchitrude of he who til recently occupied this high Seat. A white Carpet, once flanked by sycophants & counselors, now lies nearly untravelled. It leads away from the Seat & towards the Sunrise.
  
  The cruel Baron lies at your feet, dyeing the carpet scarlet with his blood.
  
  You can also see a fine Axe here.
  
  > Go west
  From here you may go only east.
  
  > read Scroll
  A scroll case made of wood & bearing the sigil of the bishop of Dol Nesta.
  
  > read the vellum scroll
  The scroll is made of rich vellum & is rolled up, inside the scroll case.
  
  > get vellum Scroll
  You remove the scroll from the case.
  
  > read the vellum scroll
  The rich vellum is covered with a flowing hand.
  
  [Author's Note: The bearer of this Notice, one Knight Itinerant, being granted special Dispensation and ordered by Divine Covenant to separate from this World the immortal Soul of par Tiller, Baron of Stesan, his Crimes and Sins having blotted his Name beyond hope of Redemption or Reform, and it being ordered that any and all requested Assistance be rendered this Knight in this sacred Quest, let it be known that to this I set my Stamp and Seal on this day and for Perpetuity, in the name of the most holy God, who has ordained it so,]
  
  The stamp and signature is that of the bishop of Dol Nesta.
  
  > Go northeast
  A richly attired Wait Chamber, walls covered with pagan frescoes which beckon you to unpure thoughts. Chairs arranged near the circular perimeter mingle with tables for gaming. The chamber becomes the reception chamber to the west, the dining hall to the north. A small tiled archway leads southwest, & to the east is the grand Entry Hall.
  
  Have these Walls shifted? Is the Light different in its attentions upon your Eyes? Nay, for how could this be so? It must be your tiresome Confinement that makes your Memory falter. You had best find a way to quit the Baron's Keep.
  
  > go north
  On feast days in years & months past, Lords & favored Thinkers entered this long Hall from the south, to be served by huge platters of exotic repast from the Kitchen to the west. But now the room stands bare, stripped of its Appointments by some fleeing servant. Only the larger items remain--the long Table & the ornate Chairs.
  
  > show Scroll to Fool
  To which do you refer, the vellum Scroll or the wooden Scroll-Case?
  
  > show vellum Scroll to Fool
  The court Fool is unimpressed.
  
  > Inventory
  You are carrying:
  a vellum Scroll
  a holy symbol (glowing with a sacred light & being worn)
  a suit of Chain-Mail (being worn)
  a leather sheath (being worn)
  a sacred blade
  a wooden Scroll-Case (being worn & open but empty)
  
  > put the vellum in Case
  You  the scroll up and place it in the case.
  
  > Close Case
  You close the wooden Scroll-Case.
  
  > put it in Mobile
  Only the particulate may progress through the wondrous Machine.
  
  > examine the machine
  This Device you have seen before, in the Library at Dol Nesta. An ingenious Perpetuum Mobile, built of Pipes, Gears, & Screws of Archimides. Whereby the Force exhibited by Water as it pours into a wide Funnel drives the Drawing of that water upward, to fall again through a Spout into the Funnel--on & on, ad infinitum. The Design is that of a certain Portuguese & the workmanship is such that the Machine continues its toil even in the absence of Water to propel it.
  
  > look at the spice
  Rare Peppers, and other Spices you cannot identify. Their smell is oriental, exotic.