text: [Themes: Fantasy, male protagonist]
  
  > Look around
  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 russet door leads northeast.
  
  The wine-cellar door -- sturdy wood in yellowish brass panels -- stands open to the west.
  
  A closed red door leads east.
  
  An open grey-blue door leads south.
  
  A heavy red door, wreathed in chains and locks, leads north into the vault, where the best wines were kept during your youth.
  
  > Go northeast
  Port, tokay, sherry; amontillado; casks, bottles furred with age and sealed with clots of red wax and ribbon seals.
  
  An open russet door leads southwest.
  
  An open peacock door leads southeast.
  
  A closed russet door leads east.
  
  A closed green door leads south.
  
  > 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. All are gone now.
  
  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.
  
  An open peacock door leads northwest.
  
  A closed yellow door leads southwest.
  
  A closed peacock door leads west.
  
  A closed white door leads north; it looks oddly streaked.
  
  > Reverse link white to letter
  (the white door leading north to the old letter)
  The linkages on the doors are very old, and set with a power stronger than your raw will alone can manipulate.
  
  > go to the northwest
  In your hunger, you hallucinate curls of toasted bread. The image is more vivid than the vision of food has any right to be.
  
  Port, tokay, sherry; amontillado; casks, bottles furred with age and sealed with clots of red wax and ribbon seals.
  
  An open peacock door leads southeast.
  
  An open russet door leads southwest.
  
  A closed russet door leads east.
  
  A closed green door leads south.
  
  > closthe wine-cellar door
  You close the brass door.
  
  > examine the brass
  The wood core of the door has been covered with flat brass panels, perhaps for reinforcement but more likely for decoration.
  
  > Go west
  (first opening the brass door)
  You open the brass door.
  
  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.
  
  > Up
  A narrow corridor between the kitchen and the main house, which has a thick separate wall. The two buildings are only barely attached, to discourage fires. A small staircase leads down.
  
  Double doors give west onto the main house.
  
  > Go north
  You can go only east, west or southwest.
  
  > Go west
  Originally a salon for the receiving of guests; but in recent years the Count has become increasingly interested in his own projects, and has taken over the entire room for the storage of books. Bookshelves line the walls, reaching above your head, leaving exits only east and south.
  
  A clockwork model of the universe stands in one corner, the planets rotating in their orbits.
  
  On one wall is an enormous portrait of the Count's father, from the hand of Hyacinthe Rigaud.
  
  The lens inside the Jupiter ball glitters in the ambient light.
  
  > take the bauble
  (putting the sponge into the sack to make room)
  Taken.
  
  The model universe clicks.
  
  > Examine books
  You peruse the nearest books. Your eye picks out, at random, Guide
  to Assorted Wines.
  
  The model universe clicks.
  
  > take the Wines
  (putting the dark wooden box into the sack to make room)
  Taken.
  
  The surface of the model Saturn catches the sunlight.
  
  > read it
  ... from the region of Avignon, in the territories that belonged
  to the Pope, comes the peppery red Chateauneuf du Pape...
  
  The model universe clicks.
  
  > Examine books
  You peruse the nearest books. Your eye picks out, at random, The Lavori d'Aracne.
  
  The surface of the model Saturn catches the sunlight.
  
  > take lavori
  (putting the vanilla bean into the sack to make room)
  Taken.
  
  The model universe clicks.
  
  In your hunger, you dream of onion soup.
  
  > read it
  On the subject of mirrors: Unusual and costly mirrors of special
  power exist which enhance the workings of the lavori d'Aracne; they may be recognized by their failure to reflect in the ordinary way. Some make it easier to form a link through the mirror than through open air, allowing the magician to reverse-link items that are otherwise too dissimilar to use. Likewise, such a mirror...
  
  But then, unfortunately, it breaks off, the page apparently having been chewed out and carried away by something or other.
  
  The surface of the model Saturn catches the sunlight.
  
  > Examine books
  You have found all the books that seem interesting. The rest are dusty and dull-looking.
  
  The planets turn slowly around the empty sun-holder.
  
  > go upward
  Staircase, First Floor
  The top of a broad curving stair: east is the long salon that goes the length of the house, downstairs are the foyer and the grand receiving
  
  > Unlink inset
  rooms.
  
  North is the old conservatory.
  
  You succeed in unlinking the mirror inset inside the box from the gilt-wood mirror.
  
  > search inset
  In the mirror you see reflected your own face, a bit distant and strange. And then a pearl necklace and an old letter.
  
  > go north
  A chilly northern exposure, perhaps, but really quite lovely. This room used to be where Marie would practice her music, and the Countess play her compositions; Marie's own room lies to the west.
  
  On the high shelf is Clock Repair.
  
  The pianoforte stands in the center of the room.
  
  > go to the west
  Stripped of the clutter it once possessed, the room still offers a charming view through the north window of the old grounds, and the way out is to the east. The wallpaper and floorboards are still as fine as ever.
  
  Hanging on the wall is an elegant gilt-wood mirror, reflecting sunlight over the ground before it.
  
  Her desk remains, pushed against the wall.
  
  > search the gilt
  (the gilt-wood mirror)
  In the mirror you see reflected your own face, a bit distant and strange. And then a desk. Around the edges you can make out other indications of Marie's Chamber.
  
  > link the mirror to bauble
  (the gilt-wood mirror to the celestial bauble)
  The mirror is incompatible with anything that is not similarly reflective.
  
  > take the gilt
  (the gilt-wood mirror)
  Too heavy for you to remove.
  
  > link the bauble to the sun
  (the sunlight)
  (first unlinking the celestial bauble)
  You succeed in unlinking the celestial bauble from the sponge.
  Bending your will, you form the link between the celestial bauble and the sunlight.
  
  The celestial bauble starts to glow with reflected light.
  
  > Go north
  Originally a salon for the receiving of guests; but in recent years the Count has become increasingly interested in his own projects, and has taken over the entire room for the storage of books. Bookshelves line the walls, reaching above your head, leaving exits only east and south.
  
  A clockwork model of the universe stands in one corner, the planets rotating in their orbits.
  
  On one wall is an enormous portrait of the Count's father, from the hand of Hyacinthe Rigaud.
  
  The model universe clicks.
  
  > put the bauble in the holder
  The celestial bauble clicks neatly into position, shining over all the surrounding planets just as the sun ought.
  
  The model universe spins, turning slowly around the light at the center, and each of the planets itself turning. After a few moments, Jupiter rotates until the lens catches the light from the sun and casts a light on a particular book on the shelves, entitled "The World is Hollow."
  
  Then they come to a halt.
  
  > take Hollow
  (putting the apples into the sack to make room)
  Taken.
  
  > read it
  The pages of the book have been hollowed out, leaving a square hole. In The World Is Hollow is a jeweled pin.
  
  > take the pin
  (putting the bottle of mead into the sack to make room)
  Taken.
  
  In your hunger, you imagine in great clarity an omelette of herbs and chives.
  
  > look at it
  Decorated with fine-chip diamonds, and formed into the shape of a complicated bow of several strands, for a lady's use. The clasp is currently shut.
  
  > open it
  You open the jeweled pin.
  
  > examine the portrait
  Oil on wood, of a small, pinch-faced girl; the writing on the back says it is the Baroness D'Envers at a young age, which would make her some distant cousin of the Count, several generations back, and also related to the man currently holding all your notes.
  
  It is not especially well-executed, and probably worth fairly little on the market.