text: [Themes: female protagonist, horror]
  
  > Look around
  The Cragne Manor's Back Garden (Austin Auclair)
  Vines splay across the landscape, every direction they shoot, seemingly racing to the tops of trees to pull them down. The vines wind up and around every structure, overrunning them with sheer, sinister mass. The vines grow in hypnotic tracks across the yard, almost to suggest that they were woven, braided, and arranged with care. It's both unnerving and unusually pretty. If there are windows or a door on the back of the manor house they're utterly smothered by the vines that clamber up the wall and onto the roof, and nothing less than a chainsaw could crack open that tomb.
  
  In the center of the yard is a large marble fountain adorned with a chubby cherub. On the left side of the garden is the birdbath that you knocked over. To the left of the fallen birdbath is the outline of a once-hidden pond and a flat stone stuck in the ground where the birdbath used to stand. Near the rear, southeast corner of the garden is a large garden shed with an adjoining shelf of supplies.
  
  > Search fountain
  One of the fountain cherub's hands deliberately points downward at its feet. Taking that as a message of sorts, you poke and prod the fountain, its basin, and the cherub statue thoroughly; almost find nothing of value. It's when you inspect the fountain's drain that you see a bronze key, green from age, stuck down inside. You poke at the drain's cover but its screws are rusted too tightly to turn for anything less than a screwdriver.
  
  > unscrew the drain
  Wielding the screwdriver you took from the dead body, you quickly remove the screws from the fountain's drain cover. It's short work from there to hook the key out from the drain pipe.
  
  > check your inventory
  You are carrying:
  a bronze key green from age
  a rusty flathead screwdriver
  a pair of garden shears
  a gallon jug of white vinegar
  a key from an urn
  a copper urn (closed)
  a bronze urn (closed)
  Tolerating An Asinine God
  a black business card
  a trophy for a dog race
  a half-full styrofoam coffee cup
  a glass shard
  a giant milkweed leaf (being worn as a mask)
  an antique locket (closed)
  a backpack features guide
  The Modern Girl's Divination Handbook -- Volume Three
  the diary of Phyllis Cragne
  a postcard of Big Ben
  a Jansport backpack (being worn and open)
  a hidden pocket (open but empty)
  a key pocket (open but empty)
  a book pocket (open but empty)
  a side pocket (closed)
  a trash pocket (open but empty)
  a trolley pass (being worn)
  a brass winding key
  a familiar gold wristwatch
  a glass jar containing an insect
  a pull-string doll
  a waterproof flashlight
  a dead battery
  The Dollmaker's Journal
  a repaired page
  a moldy, waterlogged journal
  a small, rectangular battery
  Twin Hearts Between the Planes
  a trolley schedule
  Peter's jacket
  a grimy rock
  a long hooked pole
  a soggy tome
  a book list
  an employee ID card
  a shard of shattered carapace
  some yellowed newspapers
  a rusty piece of metal
  loose bricks
  an aluminum key
  a pamphlet of home listings
  a hovering spark (haunting you)
  
  > unlock padlock with bronze key
  The key from the fountain's drain fits and turns in the padlock perfectly. You rip away the vines trapping the shed door and it swings open without a fuss.
  
  > Go inside
  You open the door further to allow you to pass through. You go inside the garden shed.
  
  The Shambolic Shack (Michael Fessler)
  A dimly-lit shack with crude plywood walls. An octagonal window set high on one wall admits a feeble shaft of moonlight. Rickety wire shelving sits precariously in one dimly lit corner, and a battered metal wheelbarrow rests in the opposite corner. A rough doorway leads back out.
  
  > look at the window
  Moonlight struggles to make its way through the patina of dirt on the octagonal window mounted high up on one wall.
  
  > look at the shelving
  Cheap wire shelving that has seen better days. It wobbles to the touch.
  
  On the rickety wire shelving are some mildewed leather gloves.
  
  > examine the gloves
  A pair of malodorous gardening gloves spotted with what you presume is mildew. It's particularly dense and pungent around the gloves' opening.
  
  > look at the wheelbarrow
  A battered metal wheelbarrow. Or at least, it used to be when it still had a front wheel. With only a twisted axle remaining, I guess now it's just a "barrow". It is full of glistening black soil.
  
  > examine soil
  Glistening black soil fills the wheelbarrow nearly to the brim. The soil's surface heaves and churns. There is something alive in there.
  
  > About you
  Just fine. I mean, you have a slightly distant gaze and a mild nervous twitch, but nothing a stiff drink and six weeks on a tropical beach wouldn't put right. So basically fine, then.
  
  > check your inventory
  You are carrying:
  a bronze key green from age
  a rusty flathead screwdriver
  a pair of garden shears
  a gallon jug of white vinegar
  a key from an urn
  a copper urn (closed)
  a bronze urn (closed)
  Tolerating An Asinine God
  a black business card
  a trophy for a dog race
  a half-full styrofoam coffee cup
  a glass shard
  a giant milkweed leaf (being worn as a mask)
  an antique locket (closed)
  a backpack features guide
  The Modern Girl's Divination Handbook -- Volume Three
  the diary of Phyllis Cragne
  a postcard of Big Ben
  a Jansport backpack (being worn and open)
  a hidden pocket (open but empty)
  a key pocket (open but empty)
  a book pocket (open but empty)
  a side pocket (closed)
  a trash pocket (open but empty)
  a trolley pass (being worn)
  a brass winding key
  a familiar gold wristwatch
  a glass jar containing an insect
  a pull-string doll
  a waterproof flashlight
  a dead battery
  The Dollmaker's Journal
  a repaired page
  a moldy, waterlogged journal
  a small, rectangular battery
  Twin Hearts Between the Planes
  a trolley schedule
  Peter's jacket
  a grimy rock
  a long hooked pole
  a soggy tome
  a book list
  an employee ID card
  a shard of shattered carapace
  some yellowed newspapers
  a rusty piece of metal
  loose bricks
  an aluminum key
  a pamphlet of home listings
  a hovering spark (haunting you)
  
  > examine the coffee
  The swirls in your cup form a sharknado. Images of strange hybrids mean that some challenges in your current environment can be defeated with what you already possess, while others will require outside assistance.
  
  > put bronze key in the key pocket
  You put the bronze key green from age into the key pocket.
  
  > put the aluminum key in the key pocket
  You put the aluminum key into the key pocket.
  
  > close the key pocket
  You close the key pocket.
  
  > look at the key
  Which do you mean, the key from an urn or the brass winding key?
  
  > get gloves
  As you gingerly pick up the mildewed gardening gloves, a rust-streaked iron key hidden beneath them drops to the ground.
  
  > look at it
  A hefty iron key, its wards streaked with rust.
  
  > look at the coffee
  The clouds in your cup form a dromedary camel. Modes of transportation mean that your current environment presents challenges that can only be overcome by seeking fresh perspectives elsewhere until you're ready to return.
  
  > get the soil
  You eye the soil's turbulent surface warily. Nope. Not touching that with your bare hands.
  
  > wear the gloves
  You pull the mildewed gloves onto your hands with a reluctant shudder. Your palms begin to itch almost instantly.
  
  > ask the soil about the soil
  But there's no one to talk to here.
  
  The itching of your hands grows maddening, and begins to work its way up your wrists. You feel feverish.
  
  > search soil
  Your hands shielded by the thick cloth gloves, you reach beneath the surface of the heaving soil. You grit your teeth as you feel mandibles nip fiercely at your hands -- but the gloves hold. You grope around for a few moments, frustrated by the lack of fine sensation.
  
  You encounter a small metallic object that scrapes against the wheelbarrow floor as you fumble for it, but you can't quite get a grip on it. Abandoning it, you cast about in frustration and rising panic...there! You seize on something large and pull it out of the soil. It's a spray bottle.
  
  > look at the spray
  A plastic spray bottle labelled "Handwavizole: For Rapid Treatment of endomycorrhizi yuggothi Infestation".
  
  > spray the gloves
  You douse the mildewed leather gloves with a billowing cloud of fungicide, emptying the bottle in the process. You hear a satisfying sizzle as it does its work.
  However, it doesn't penetrate to the skin below, which remains just as itchy.
  
  > spray yourself
  You douse your gloved hands with a billowing cloud of fungicide, emptying the bottle in the process. You hear a satisfying sizzle as it does its work. However, it doesn't penetrate to the skin below, which remains just as itchy.
  
  > remove the gloves
  You take off the mildewed leather gloves.
  
  > spray yourself
  You douse your hands with a billowing cloud of fungicide, emptying the bottle in the process. You feel immediate relief from the fierce itching as your skin sizzles merrily.
  
  > wait awhile
  Time passes.
  
  > Inventory
  You are carrying:
  a spray bottle that used to contain fungicide
  a hefty, rust-streaked iron key
  some mildewed leather gloves
  a rusty flathead screwdriver
  a pair of garden shears
  a gallon jug of white vinegar
  a key from an urn
  a copper urn (closed)
  a bronze urn (closed)
  Tolerating An Asinine God
  a black business card
  a trophy for a dog race
  a half-full styrofoam coffee cup
  a glass shard
  a giant milkweed leaf (being worn as a mask)
  an antique locket (closed)
  a backpack features guide
  The Modern Girl's Divination Handbook -- Volume Three
  the diary of Phyllis Cragne
  a postcard of Big Ben
  a Jansport backpack (being worn and open)
  a hidden pocket (open but empty)
  a key pocket (closed)
  a book pocket (open but empty)
  a side pocket (closed)
  a trash pocket (open but empty)
  a trolley pass (being worn)
  a brass winding key
  a familiar gold wristwatch
  a glass jar containing an insect
  a pull-string doll
  a waterproof flashlight
  a dead battery
  The Dollmaker's Journal
  a repaired page
  a moldy, waterlogged journal
  a small, rectangular battery
  Twin Hearts Between the Planes
  a trolley schedule
  Peter's jacket
  a grimy rock (smelling faintly of mildew)
  a long hooked pole
  a soggy tome
  a book list
  an employee ID card
  a shard of shattered carapace
  some yellowed newspapers
  a rusty piece of metal
  loose bricks
  a pamphlet of home listings
  a hovering spark (haunting you)
  
  > examine coffee
  The swirls in your cup form a gunblade. Images of strange hybrids mean that some challenges in your current environment can be defeated with what you already possess, while others will require outside assistance.
  
  > go to the southwest
  Front Walk (Matt Weiner)
  Cragne Manor looms to the north. Its light gray marble front is marred by a screened-in wooden porch, clearly tacked on well after the manor was built. A gravel path bends around the manor to the northeast and northwest, and the driveway leads south back to town.
  
  By the porch steps is a post with a placard reading "31." A strange little manikin is affixed to it.
  
  A spectral trolley stop sign reads Purple Line -- Cragne Manor.
  
  > wait for the brown Line
  You lean against the gravel path, hold out your pass, and wait for the brown line. Within moments, a phantom trolley arrives. Instead of stopping and allowing you to board, it passes through you,
  and you find yourself transported to
  
  Railway Platform (Naomi Hinchen)
  The platform is open to the outdoors, but has an overhanging roof with a rusted sign hanging from it. At the back of the platform, to the south, is the entrance to the lobby. Train tracks stretch off into the distance to the east and west; on the other side of the track is a graffitied brick wall.
  
  The clock overhead gives the time as 2:35 pm; beneath the clock is a schedule board listing train arrival times. On the platform itself are a wooden bench, a storage locker, and a vending machine.
  
  A noncorporeal trolley stop sign reads Brown Line -- Train Station.
  
  > check your inventory
  You are carrying:
  a spray bottle that used to contain fungicide
  a hefty, rust-streaked iron key
  some mildewed leather gloves
  a rusty flathead screwdriver
  a pair of garden shears
  a gallon jug of white vinegar
  a key from an urn
  a copper urn (closed)
  a bronze urn (closed)
  Tolerating An Asinine God
  a black business card
  a trophy for a dog race
  a half-full styrofoam coffee cup
  a glass shard
  a giant milkweed leaf (being worn as a mask)
  an antique locket (closed)
  a backpack features guide
  The Modern Girl's Divination Handbook -- Volume Three
  the diary of Phyllis Cragne
  a postcard of Big Ben
  a Jansport backpack (being worn and open)
  a hidden pocket (open but empty)
  a key pocket (closed)
  a book pocket (open but empty)
  a side pocket (closed)
  a trash pocket (open but empty)
  a trolley pass (being worn)
  a brass winding key
  a familiar gold wristwatch
  a glass jar containing an insect
  a pull-string doll
  a waterproof flashlight
  a dead battery
  The Dollmaker's Journal
  a repaired page
  a moldy, waterlogged journal
  a small, rectangular battery
  Twin Hearts Between the Planes
  a trolley schedule
  Peter's jacket
  a grimy rock (smelling faintly of mildew)
  a long hooked pole
  a soggy tome
  a book list
  an employee ID card
  a shard of shattered carapace (smelling faintly of mildew)
  some yellowed newspapers
  a rusty piece of metal
  loose bricks
  a pamphlet of home listings
  a hovering spark (haunting you)
  
  Thunder rumbles in the distance.
  
  > examine the iD
  An employee ID card for Vermont Transit Authority, bearing a blurry ID photo and the name "Veeder, R."
  
  > unlock Locker with the iD
  The card swiper flashes a green light, and the door of the locker swings open. Inside you can see a suitcase.
  
  > examine it
  A plain brown leather suitcase. You would recognize it as your husband's even without the monogrammed initials P.C. on the side. It has a four-digit combination lock set to 0000.
  
  > set the lock to 0319
  The lock clicks open.
  
  The clock gives a deep, booming chime on the quarter hour.
  
  > examine the suitcase
  A plain brown leather suitcase. You would recognize it as your husband's even without the monogrammed initials P.C. on the side. It has a four-digit combination lock set to 0319.
  
  You step in an old wad of gum. Yuck.
  
  > open it
  You open the suitcase, revealing a mysterious silver box.
  
  > look at the silver box
  A smooth, solid silver box. It rattles when shaken, but has no visible hinges, latch, or any other way to open it. On the top is an embossed image of a train.
  
  > examine the image
  The image on the box depicts an old-fashioned steam locomotive with cars coupled behind. You can just make out the words "Anchorhead Express" on the side of the train.
  
  You shiver for no reason at all, as if someone has just walked over your grave.
  
  > Shake box
  When you shake it, you can hear a faint rattle from inside.
  
  A leak in the ceiling drips water into a puddle.