text: > Go down
  hall, but at least there is this small room, with just enough space for
  a coathanger and a narrow staircase up to a trapdoor in the ceiling.
  Wooden doors lead north, east, west and south.
  
  > drop all but the teak
  blue bottle: Dropped.
  book: Dropped.
  sheet of writing paper: Dropped.
  crystal ball: Dropped.
  green bottle: Dropped.
  magic wand: Dropped.
  large carrot: Dropped.
  small glass flask: Dropped.
  gold ball: Dropped.
  scroll: Dropped.
  iron coin: Dropped.
  
  > go west
  On this rickety porch, uncle Zebulon used to spend the long summer
  evenings, relaxing in his rocking chair and smoking his pipe. Your
  parents used to sneer at his laziness; why couldn't he use all that
  spare time to make his garden look a little more respectable?
  The rocking chair is still there, right outside the front door of
  the house. It is not occupied by uncle Zebulon, though, but by a
  sneering, rather mean-looking demon.
  You see a letter here.
  The demon is reading a newspaper, occasionally keeping an eye on the
  door.
  
  > Go west
  The demon looks hard at what you're carrying. "Hey, there's something
  hidden inside that small teak box! You're not trying to cheat, are
  you?" With a scaly arm, he blocks your passage. "I'm only going to
  let you carry one thing through this door!"
  
  > Go east
  The demon lets you past with a slightly amused sneer.
  
  hall, but at least there is this small room, with just enough space for
  a coathanger and a narrow staircase up to a trapdoor in the ceiling.
  Wooden doors lead north, east, west and south.
  You see a blue bottle, a book, a sheet of writing paper, a crystal
  ball, a green bottle, a magic wand, a large carrot, a small glass
  flask, a gold ball, a scroll, and an iron coin here. The blue bottle
  seems to contain a lead coin.
  
  > Empty blue bottle
  You will have to remove things from the blue bottle one at a time.
  
  > open teak
  lens.
  
  > take green lens
  Taken.
  
  Taken.
  
  > put red lens in the green bottle
  As soon as it hits the bottom of the bottle, the red glass lens
  vanishes with a popping sound. The bottle is now empty. A split
  second later, you hear a pinging noise from the blue bottle.
  
  [Your score just went up 5 points]
  
  > look in the blue bottle
  diameter - and is made of thick glass of a beautiful, deep blue colour.
  You estimate that it will hold about half a litre of liquid. It seems
  to contain a red glass lens.
  
  > drop all but the blue bottle
  small teak box: Dropped.
  lead coin: Dropped.
  green glass lens: Dropped.
  red glass lens: Dropped.
  
  > Go west
  On this rickety porch, uncle Zebulon used to spend the long summer
  evenings, relaxing in his rocking chair and smoking his pipe. Your
  parents used to sneer at his laziness; why couldn't he use all that
  spare time to make his garden look a little more respectable?
  The rocking chair is still there, right outside the front door of
  the house. It is not occupied by uncle Zebulon, though, but by a
  sneering, rather mean-looking demon.
  You see a letter here.
  The demon is picking his claws with a rather nasty-looking dagger.
  
  > go to the west
  The demon gives you a penetrating glance, but lets you pass without
  comment.
  
  You are standing just inside the gate of uncle Zebulon's garden, on
  the weed-infested gravel path that leads east up to the porch of the
  house. On the north side of the lawn, almost hidden behind the huge,
  unkempt rosebushes, is the garden shed. The bright summer sun glistens
  on the wet grass, and the air, fresh from the recent rain, is alive
  with the buzzing of insects and filled with sweet fragrances.
  
  > go north
  This shed was used by uncle Zebulon for his goldmaking: strange
  experiments that could often be smelt from across town, even occasional
  explosions. Your uncle spoke very little of his experiments, and never
  showed any signs of making money out of them, yet people generally
  assumed that they were successful and a source of great wealth. In all
  other matters, your family regarded uncle Zebulon as a useless dreamer,
  even an embarrassment, but they took a certain reluctant pride in his
  reputation as a goldmaker.
  
  As a consequence of your relatives' frantic search for valuables,
  the place is in an even greater mess than you remember. The workbench
  has been cleared of the usual odds and ends, and all even remotely
  useful tools or utensils have been removed. Large heaps of junk and
  broken glass remain in the corners, and in the centre of the room is a
  large, hideous statue of a three-eyed dog - probably some exotic idol
  brought home from your uncle's travels. You can't remember ever seeing
  it before.
  On the bronze stand you see a scrap of paper.
  
  > Go east
  The demon lets you past with a slightly amused sneer.
  
  hall, but at least there is this small room, with just enough space for
  a coathanger and a narrow staircase up to a trapdoor in the ceiling.
  Wooden doors lead north, east, west and south.
  You see a blue bottle, a book, a sheet of writing paper, a crystal
  ball, a green bottle, a magic wand, a large carrot, a small glass
  flask, a gold ball, a scroll, an iron coin, a small teak box, a lead
  coin, a green glass lens, and a red glass lens here.
  
  > Go west
  The demon gives you an amused look. "So, you've made your choice, have
  you?" Producing a clipboard out of thin air, he proceeds to tick off
  your name. "Let's see... Richard: a blue bottle. Well, I suppose
  that might prove useful some day. Or perhaps not. But who am I to
  question your choice?" With an air of seriously doubting your
  judgement, he lets you pass. "Have a nice day."
  
  You are standing just inside the gate of uncle Zebulon's garden, on
  the weed-infested gravel path that leads east up to the porch of the
  house. On the north side of the lawn, almost hidden behind the huge,
  unkempt rosebushes, is the garden shed. The bright summer sun glistens
  on the wet grass, and the air, fresh from the recent rain, is alive
  with the buzzing of insects and filled with sweet fragrances.
  
  > go north
  This shed was used by uncle Zebulon for his goldmaking: strange
  experiments that could often be smelt from across town, even occasional
  explosions. Your uncle spoke very little of his experiments, and never
  showed any signs of making money out of them, yet people generally
  assumed that they were successful and a source of great wealth. In all
  other matters, your family regarded uncle Zebulon as a useless dreamer,
  even an embarrassment, but they took a certain reluctant pride in his
  reputation as a goldmaker.
  
  As a consequence of your relatives' frantic search for valuables,
  the place is in an even greater mess than you remember. The workbench
  has been cleared of the usual odds and ends, and all even remotely
  useful tools or utensils have been removed. Large heaps of junk and
  broken glass remain in the corners, and in the centre of the room is a
  large, hideous statue of a three-eyed dog - probably some exotic idol
  brought home from your uncle's travels. You can't remember ever seeing
  it before.
  On the bronze stand you see a scrap of paper.
  
  > drop the blue bottle
  Dropped.
  
  > Go east
  As you step onto the porch, the demon looks pointedly at you. "What?
  Back already? Aren't you satisfied with your blue bottle? Remember
  that you're not allowed to change your mind!"
  
  On this rickety porch, uncle Zebulon used to spend the long summer
  evenings, relaxing in his rocking chair and smoking his pipe. Your
  parents used to sneer at his laziness; why couldn't he use all that
  spare time to make his garden look a little more respectable?
  The rocking chair is still there, right outside the front door of
  the house. It is not occupied by uncle Zebulon, though, but by a
  sneering, rather mean-looking demon.
  You see a letter here.
  The demon is reading a newspaper, occasionally keeping an eye on the
  door.
  
  > Go east
  The demon shrugs and lets you past.
  
  hall, but at least there is this small room, with just enough space for
  a coathanger and a narrow staircase up to a trapdoor in the ceiling.
  Wooden doors lead north, east, west and south.
  You see a book, a sheet of writing paper, a crystal ball, a green
  bottle, a magic wand, a large carrot, a small glass flask, a gold ball,
  a scroll, an iron coin, a small teak box, a lead coin, a green glass
  lens, and a red glass lens here.
  
  > put it in the green bottle
  As soon as it hits the bottom of the bottle, the red glass lens
  vanishes with a popping sound. The bottle is now empty.
  
  > put it in the bottle
  Which bottle do you mean, the green bottle, or the small glass flask?
  
  > Green
  As soon as it hits the bottom of the bottle, the green glass lens
  vanishes with a popping sound. The bottle is now empty.
  
  > examine flask
  This is a small glass flask, of the type often found in alchemistry
  labs.
  
  > Go north
  This shed was used by uncle Zebulon for his goldmaking: strange
  experiments that could often be smelt from across town, even occasional
  explosions. Your uncle spoke very little of his experiments, and never
  showed any signs of making money out of them, yet people generally
  assumed that they were successful and a source of great wealth. In all
  other matters, your family regarded uncle Zebulon as a useless dreamer,
  even an embarrassment, but they took a certain reluctant pride in his
  reputation as a goldmaker.
  
  As a consequence of your relatives' frantic search for valuables,
  the place is in an even greater mess than you remember. The workbench
  has been cleared of the usual odds and ends, and all even remotely
  useful tools or utensils have been removed. Large heaps of junk and
  broken glass remain in the corners, and in the centre of the room is a
  large, hideous statue of a three-eyed dog - probably some exotic idol
  brought home from your uncle's travels. You can't remember ever seeing
  it before.
  You see a blue bottle here. On the bronze stand you see a scrap of
  paper. The blue bottle seems to contain a red glass lens and a green
  glass lens.
  
  > put red lens in the left socket
  As you move the red glass lens close to the statue's eye socket, you
  notice that it seems attracted to it with a surprising force, like a
  piece of iron to a magnet. It fits perfectly and stays put - in fact,
  you doubt that you could remove it again.
  
  [Your score just went up 5 points]
  
  > put green lens in the right socket
  As you move the green glass lens close to the statue's eye socket, you
  notice that it seems attracted to it with a surprising force, like a
  piece of iron to a magnet. It fits perfectly and stays put - in fact,
  you doubt that you could remove it again.
  
  > turn the left ear
  As you turn the ear there is a distinct click. A loud humming noise
  comes from inside the statue, and a beam of blue light shoots out from
  its centre eye, illuminating a circle in the centre of the workbench.
  The blue beam is immediately joined by a red one from the dog's left
  eye socket and a green one from the third eye, all focusing on the same
  area.
  
  The beams flicker for a few moments, and then seem to gain in
  brightness. To your great astonishment, a clear, sharp image of your
  uncle Zebulon forms in the centre of the illuminated circle. This must
  surely be some powerful magic at work!
  
  [Your score just went up 5 points]
  
  > look at image
  Zebulon, crowned by the caption TEST PICTURE.
  
  > turn the right ear
  To your great astonishment, the image of your uncle disappears, and is
  replaced by one of fishes in an aquarium. To your even greater
  astonishment, the image comes to life, showing the fishes swimming back
  and forth.
  
  > look at image
  The image on the workbench shows colourful fish swimming placidly back
  and forth in an aquarium. It's all very beautiful, but it strikes you
  as being rather pointless.
  
  > turn right ear
  The image changes into one of a lone adventurer, carrying a sword, a
  brass lantern and a curious collection of sundry items, exploring a
  great cave system of twisting passages all alike. You recognize the
  scene as one from a popular historic novel called 'Zork'.
  
  > continue
  The image changes into one of a field of stars on a totally black sky.
  Suddenly, a strange-looking contraption appears in the middle of the
  image: it looks almost, but not quite, like a flattened ellipsoid
  joined to a flashlight. The scene changes to what is apparently the
  inside of the contraption, where people in ugly red and blue jumpsuits
  are running around.
  
  > Continue
  The image changes into one of again, a field of stars. This time,
  however, nothing more happens. You recognize the constellation of
  Gemini, with the twin stars Castor and Pollux.
  
  > look at the image
  The image on the workbench shows again, a field of stars. This time,
  however, nothing more happens. You recognize the constellation of
  Gemini, with the twin stars Castor and Pollux.
  
  > turn the right ear
  The image changes into one of a huge, purple, dinosaur (or, rather, an
  actor dressed up in a shockingly ugly dinosaur suit) walking around
  with an insipid smile on his face, surrounded by singing children.
  Curiouser and curiouser, indeed!
  
  > turn the right ear
  The image changes into one of the full moon, shining like a giant
  cheese in the middle of a dark, star-studded sky. The moon's image
  falls just on the bronze stand on the workbench, illuminating the scrap
  of paper.
  
  > take the ball
  Which ball do you mean, the crystal ball, or the gold ball?
  
  > put the gold ball in the green bottle
  As soon as it hits the bottom of the bottle, the gold ball vanishes
  with a popping sound. The bottle is now empty.
  
  > examine the image
  The image on the workbench shows the full moon, shining like a giant
  cheese in the middle of a dark, star-studded sky. The moon's image
  falls just on the bronze stand on the workbench.
  
  > put the ball on the stand
  You place the gold ball right in the middle of the image of the moon,
  whose light reflects off it with a weird glitter.
  
  You notice a sudden, cold draught, and a gust of wind slams the door
  shut.
  
  > open the door
  Opened.
  
  The light from the image of the moon seems to have a strange effect on
  the gold ball: it's almost as if it had started to glow by itself.
  
  > go to the south
  You start moving towards the door, but the strange things happening to
  the gold ball are too hard to ignore.
  
  The gold ball is most definitely glowing, with a warm, golden, slightly
  pulsating light.
  
  > close the door
  Closed.
  
  The light from the gold ball has reached an almost painful intensity,
  and continues to grow stronger and stronger. Suddenly, there's a small
  explosion, and you're temporarily blinded. When you can see again, the
  dog has stopped shining, the gold ball is gone, and in the centre of
  the workbench there's a large hole.
  
  [Your score just went up 15 points]
  
  > look at the hole
  The hole is almost a metre in diameter and seems very deep. Inside is
  just darkness; you try to look down into it but can't see a thing.
  What's even stranger is that the hole doesn't extend through the
  workbench - the lower surface of the workbench is intact. You've read
  of gateways into other universes, but only in fantasy books. For a
  moment, you get a crazy notion that you should enter the hole to see
  where it leads...