text: [Themes: Horror, Surreal]
  
  > Go downward
  This spacious room is comfortably if sparsely furnished. A plush sofa and two matching armchairs are arranged around a low wooden tea-table. Curtains hang over the long windows on the south wall, keeping the warmth from the old electric fireplace in; a clock hangs over the mantelpiece. The overall effect might even be cosy, were it not for the stark white glare of the unshielded bulb dangling from the ceiling.
  
  A simple wooden staircase on the west wall leads up to the first floor; underneath the stairs is an utility closet. The kitchen can be seen through the empty doorway to the east.
  
  You shudder at the sight of a large spider hanging in the kitchen doorway.
  
  The front door is reassuringly and securely locked.
  
  You can also see a can of white paint here.
  
  > take the can
  Taken.
  
  In the distance, you hear the wail of an approaching siren.
  
  > Drink paint
  Appalling.
  
  The siren is getting closer, and you can now make out the throb of an engine.
  
  > throw plate at the spider
  Mustering all your courage, you throw the ornamental plate at the startled spider, which drops to the floor! Unfortunately, it appears unharmed and you watch with a mixture of disgust and relief as it scuttles back to its former position.
  
  The ornamental plate lands in the kitchen.
  
  The siren abruptly stops, and you hear the squeal of mistreated tyres.
  
  > put the can under the spider
  Watching the spider carefully, you carefully put the can of white paint underneath it in the doorway.
  
  The siren abruptly stops, and you hear the squeal of mistreated tyres.
  
  > throw the plate at the spider
  Mustering all your courage, you throw the ornamental plate at the startled spider, which drops to the floor, landing on the closed can of paint! Unfortunately, it appears unharmed and you watch with a mixture of disgust and relief as it scuttles back to its former position.
  
  The ornamental plate lands in the kitchen.
  
  The car comes to a halt just outside your house. You feel a sudden chill. They are coming for you!
  
  > open the PAINT
  The lid appears to be stuck, and it's too painful trying to prise it open with your fingernails.
  
  You hear vehicle doors being flung open, and cannot suppress the urge to scream.
  
  > check what you're carrying
  You are carrying:
  a can of white paint
  an ornamental plate
  
  The siren is getting closer, and you can now make out the throb of an engine.
  
  > open the PAINT with the plate
  Working the edge of the plate underneath the lid, you manage to lever the can open.
  
  The siren abruptly stops, and you hear the squeal of mistreated tyres.
  
  > put the PAINT under the spider
  Watching the spider carefully, you carefully put the can of white paint underneath it in the doorway.
  
  The car comes to a halt just outside your house. You feel a sudden chill. They are coming for you!
  
  > throw the plate at the spider
  Mustering all your courage, you throw the ornamental plate at the startled spider, which lets go of its thread, landing in the open can of paint with a faint plop. As the loathsome thing struggles in the paint, you slam the lid back on, trapping it inside!
  
  The ornamental plate lands in the kitchen.
  
  You hear vehicle doors being flung open, and cannot suppress the urge to scream.
  
  > go east
  This room retains a faint smell of paint. Cupboards containing kitchen utensils and tinned food leer at you from the walls. The only exit is back west to the living room.
  
  On the counter is a pair of yellow gloves.
  
  Inverted in the sink is a glass bowl, reflecting the ceiling lamp in your eye.
  
  You can also see an ornamental plate here.
  
  Heavy feet pound on the pavement as the car doors are slammed shut again.
  
  > get the gloves
  Taken.
  
  You hear several sharp raps on the front door, a harsh voice shouting "Open up! Police!"
  
  > get the bowl
  You are too panicked to be affected by the bowl, interesting though the sound it makes may be.
  
  The knocking and shouting continues outside, and dread rises in you from a bottomless well. What have you done?
  
  > get the plate
  Taken.
  
  There is a sudden quiet, then muffled voices and the sound of a large object bumping against the ground outside. You scream again.
  
  > take the gloves
  You already have that.
  
  There is a succession of unnervingly loud percussive raps from outside. They are trying to break the front door down, and each blow is like water crashing against a dam.
  
  > wear the gloves
  You put on the gloves.
  
  There is a succession of unnervingly loud percussive raps from outside. They are trying to break the front door down, and each blow is like water crashing against a dam.
  
  > go to the west
  This spacious room is comfortably if sparsely furnished. A plush sofa and two matching armchairs are arranged around a low wooden tea-table. Curtains hang over the long windows on the south wall, keeping the warmth from the old electric fireplace in; a clock hangs over the mantelpiece. The overall effect might even be cosy, were it not for the stark white glare of the unshielded bulb dangling from the ceiling.
  
  A simple wooden staircase on the west wall leads up to the first floor; underneath the stairs is an utility closet. The kitchen can be seen through the empty doorway to the east.
  
  The door isn't going to hold up much longer.
  
  On the kitchen doorway is a can of white paint.
  
  Panic boils within you with each stroke of the battering ram, and you know with terrible clarity that they must not be allowed to break the door down, as behind the dam the currents surge...
  
  > Go upwards
  You are in the western half of a plain whitewashed east-west corridor lit by a lamp hanging next to the stairs, which lead down to the ground floor. The carpeted wooden floor creaks annoyingly under your feet.
  
  The bathroom lies to the north; a ladder hangs from an opening in the ceiling to the east.
  
  You begin to hear the splintering of wood, the banging beginning to crumble your grip on sanity.
  
  > Go east
  Upstairs Corridor (by ladder)
  A ladder hangs down from a dark square hole in the high ceiling of this unadorned corridor. Identical doors to the north, east and south lead to various rooms. To the west, hanging over the stairs, a bright electric lamp provides illumination.
  
  The creaking of the door increases with the pounding of your heart. The dam is weakening, and you are trapped!
  
  > Go upwards
  You can't go that way.
  
  The creaking of the door increases with the pounding of your heart. The dam is weakening, and you are trapped!
  
  > go upwards
  You can't go that way.
  
  Crash! The hinges of the door are beginning to give way. Crash! Cracks start to form in the dam's surface. Crash! The castle walls are failing, and outside the slavering monsters await.
  
  > Go up
  The ladder groans, but supports your weight easily.
  
  Dust covers the floorboards of this dim attic, lit by a weak ceiling lamp, and the air makes you sneeze. Some old chairs are piled unceremoniously in one corner. There is no sign of the missing keys.
  
  Near where the sloping ceiling meets the floor by the north wall is a hissing, growling contraption of pipes and tanks that emits an occasional puff of hot steam, like some modern-day dragon crouched over its treasure.
  
  Crash! The hinges of the door are beginning to give way. Crash! Cracks start to form in the dam's surface. Crash! The castle walls are failing, and outside the slavering monsters await.
  
  > turn off the contraption
  That's not something you can switch.
  
  With a final tortured groan, the front door collapses, the dam bursts, torrents of water pour into the house, through the shattered castle walls, flooding your mind with a dark infinity of nightmares - you scream with the ultimate horror, the knowledge that your sanity will soon be drowned beneath the inexorably rising tide - and as cold, cruel hands begin to drag you up, something snaps within and you twist your hands around your captor's neck in a final act of defiance as the world blurs...
  
  Then two shots pierce the night, and for a brief moment, all is one.
  
  > search the dragon
  The hissing unnerves you, and the occasional puff of steam convinces you that you don't want to get too close to it. But you thought you saw something glinting underneath.
  
  With a final tortured groan, the front door collapses, the dam bursts, torrents of water pour into the house, through the shattered castle walls, flooding your mind with a dark infinity of nightmares - you scream with the ultimate horror, the knowledge that your sanity will soon be drowned beneath the inexorably rising tide - and as cold, cruel hands begin to drag you up, something snaps within and you twist your hands around your captor's neck in a final act of defiance as the world blurs...
  
  Then two shots pierce the night, and for a brief moment, all is one.
  
  > look at the bowl
  You are too panicked to be affected by the bowl, interesting though the sound it makes may be.
  
  Panic boils within you with each stroke of the battering ram, and you know with terrible clarity that they must not be allowed to break the door down, as behind the dam the currents surge...
  
  > Y.
  You are running for your life down dark, labyrinthine corridors, your heart pounding almost as loudly as the heavy boots of your relentless pursuer. But your legs are collapsing under you, your breaths coming in ragged gasps. At the last, strength fails you and you collapse face-down upon the unforgiving concrete. Cold hands grasp your neck, hauling you upright, forcing your unwilling eyes open to gaze into the hard, cruel, familiar face of your captor - and you scream with the horrible recognition that those twisted features are your own.
  
  You are still screaming when you awaken in sweat-drenched clothes, deeply relieved that it was only a dream. Yet something is not right. Why does the darkness beyond the window look so threatening? Why do the sounds of the night bear such menace? Indeed, why are you in such constant...
  
  For information, type "about"
  
  Standard interpreter 1.0
  
  Bedroom (on the bed)
  This first-floor room is almost uncomfortably warm and well-lit. The bed sits against the east wall, and curtains cover the windows to the south. A calendar hangs from a hook on one wall, and the exit is to the north.
  
  On the bedside table are a pillbox (which is closed) (in which are nine white pills), a small leaflet and a telephone.
  
  > stand
  You get off the bed.
  
  On the bedside table are a pillbox (which is closed) (in which are nine white pills), a small leaflet and a telephone.
  
  You feel suddenly claustrophobic as you hear a rustling nearby. What lurks in the shadows, waiting to pounce?
  
  > go north
  Upstairs Corridor (by ladder)
  A ladder hangs down from a dark square hole in the high ceiling of this unadorned corridor. Identical doors to the north, east and south lead to various rooms. To the west, hanging over the stairs, a bright electric lamp provides illumination.
  
  Seeing the ladder suddenly reminds you where you left the house keys. They fell out of your pocket in the attic yesterday afternoon.
  
  The house is strangely unfamiliar, as if you'd read about it in a book but never actually set foot inside before.
  
  > go north
  A small, windowless and rather cramped bedroom. Perhaps that explains why overnight visitors are so infrequent.
  
  You can see an ornamental plate and a dusty leather-bound book here.
  
  As you try to compose your mind, dark memories wash over you: explosions, death, the tolling of funeral bells, gloom, isolation.
  
  > take the plate
  Taken.
  
  You catch a flurry of movement out of the corner of your eye, but when you turn there is nothing.
  
  > About yourself
  As good-looking as ever.
  
  > examine the gap
  The rectangular hole is about two feet wide and just tall enough for you, with some trepidation, to stick your arm into. It leads to a seemingly vertical, square, smooth-walled shaft. On its back wall is a curiously protruding stone.
  
  Unearthly, mocking laughter rings in your ears.
  
  > enter the gap
  The hole is too narrow to squeeze through.
  
  > Down
  You carefully lower yourself, feet first, into the cramped shaft.
  
  Darkness (in a shaft)
  You are braced against the cold stone walls of a narrow, claustrophobic square shaft, trying unsuccessfully to avoid thinking about burial in a tall coffin. You could climb down with some care, or crawl back up into the sarcophagus room.
  
  > Down
  Darkness (at the bottom of a shaft)
  You are at the bottom of the narrow shaft. On the floor is a heap of debris that cracks and crumbles under your feet. The air here has an unpleasant smell of decay.
  
  > go south
  You can't go that way.
  
  You can't go that way.
  
  Your footfalls echo faintly off the walls of this rough-floored hall, the stale air heavy with the burden of millennia.
  
  > Go east
  You can't go that way.
  
  You almost choke on the stagnant air.
  
  > Go west
  Your footfalls echo faintly off the walls of this rough-floored hall, the stale air heavy with the burden of millennia.
  
  You almost choke on the stagnant air.
  
  > Go upwards
  You emerge from the darkness to an astonishing sight. Light pours onto the sarcophagus from the west, bathing the pharoah's austere face in an aura of blinding majesty. Perhaps it could be a trick of the shadows on your still-adjusting eyes, but you thought for a moment you saw those dead lips curve in the faintest shadow of a smile, bidding you a silent farewell. And this time, you do not look back as you run joyously outward and away from the grave, through the halls miraculously suffused with the light and warmth of the setting sun at the end of the corridor, as reality seems to blur and the winds of time sweep you, feather-light, forever up and closer to the sun...
  
  Reluctantly, you open your eyes to find that the sun is in fact the bare electric bulb of your living room, but something remains within you as a legacy of the trip...
  
  [You are no longer afraid of the dark.]
  
  This spacious room is comfortably if sparsely furnished. A plush sofa and two matching armchairs are arranged around a low wooden tea-table. Curtains hang over the long windows on the south wall, keeping the warmth from the old electric fireplace in; a clock hangs over the mantelpiece. The overall effect might even be cosy, were it not for the stark white glare of the unshielded bulb dangling from the ceiling.
  
  A simple wooden staircase on the west wall leads up to the first floor; underneath the stairs is an utility closet. The kitchen can be seen through the empty doorway to the east.
  
  You shudder at the sight of a large spider hanging in the kitchen doorway.
  
  The front door is reassuringly and securely locked.
  
  You can also see an ornamental plate here.
  
  > open the can with the plate
  Working the edge of the plate underneath the lid, you manage to lever the can open.
  
  > put the can under the spider
  Watching the spider carefully, you carefully put the can of white paint underneath it in the doorway.
  
  > throw the plate at spider
  Mustering all your courage, you throw the ornamental plate at the startled spider, which lets go of its thread, landing in the open can of paint with a faint plop. As the loathsome thing struggles in the paint, you slam the lid back on, trapping it inside!
  
  The ornamental plate lands in the kitchen.
  
  > Save2
  Ok.
  
  > Go east
  This room retains a faint smell of paint. Cupboards containing kitchen utensils and tinned food leer at you from the walls. The only exit is back west to the living room.
  
  On the counter is a pair of yellow gloves.
  
  Inverted in the sink is a glass bowl, reflecting the ceiling lamp in your eye.
  
  You can also see an ornamental plate here.
  
  Something scrapes across the roof as you stand petrified in fear.
  
  > Plate
  gloves: Taken.
  ornamental plate: Taken.
  
  > look at the bowl
  Strangely drawn to the bowl, you tap a finger on its surface, and the sound rings out like a bell, an alarm bell repeating itself over and over in your head. Pealing a warning of danger, but how can it be, one tap on a glass hemisphere, creating such a cacophony - Run, escape, flee, calls a voice somewhere in your mind, but where to? You are trapped in a bell, the walls vibrating with every clang, shaking every bone in your body, and there is no way out...
  
  You stand near the centre of a faceted, hemispherical crystal dome as large as a stadium. Unusual rock formations protrude from the rocky floor, which is streaked with mysteriously luminescent veins of quartz. Beyond the dome nothing can be made out but distorted reflections.
  
  Thrusting out of the floor before you is a many-pointed stalagmite that holds in its clawed grip an immense, eye-like red crystal.
  
  Hovering here is a sphere composed of swirling mist.
  
  The sphere floats up and down in time to your breathing.
  
  > examine crystal
  The gleaming eye seems to sing softly to itself.
  
  > examine the sphere
  The hazy, translucent sphere is roughly the size of your head, and you stare at its shifting mists for a while, fascinated. It seems to be observing you.
  
  The sphere drifts closer to you, lightly touching you with soothing tendrils of mist.
  
  > go south
  You are near the edge of the strange dome, where the walls plunge vertically into the solid stone of the floor.
  
  > go north
  You are near the edge of the strange dome, where the walls plunge vertically into the solid stone of the floor.
  
  A star of black onyx floats at head height here without visible means of support, its irregular geometrical spikes vaguely disturbing.
  
  > look at the star
  The foreboding dark star pulsates at a constant pitch.
  
  > get it
  Your attempt causes the crystal to vibrate violently enough to make your entire body shudder. You withdraw your hands, shaken.
  
  > Sing
  You sing quietly to yourself for a while, trying to calm yourself down.
  
  > Yell
  You can only do that to something animate.
  
  > Scream
  You feel slightly better after that.
  
  > go north
  You are near the edge of the strange dome, where the walls plunge vertically into the solid stone of the floor.
  
  You can see an empty glass rod here.
  
  > get the rod
  A long, hollow, empty glass rod.
  
  Taken.
  
  > look at the rod
  A long, hollow, empty glass rod.
  
  > Go west
  You are near the edge of the strange dome, where the walls plunge vertically into the solid stone of the floor.
  
  In the centre of a particularly flat piece of ground lies a miniature ocean three feet across, its waves somehow frozen into formations of azure crystal.
  
  > examine the ocean
  The still waves of the crystal sea seem to breathe with an almost inaudible voice.
  
  > take ocean
  Your attempt causes the crystal to vibrate violently enough to make your entire body shudder. You withdraw your hands, shaken.
  
  > hit the ocean
  You strike the crystal with all your might, and it emits a painful, dissonant shriek as it shudders - then shatters explosively, sending blade-like shards through your body...
  You were found near the skeleton of a window, neck impaled on an edge of blood-stained glass.
  
  > hit the rod
  Despite its fragile appearance, it proves to be indestructible.
  
  > Go south
  You are near the edge of the strange dome, where the walls plunge vertically into the solid stone of the floor.
  
  You can see a smoky glass rod here.
  
  > get the rod
  (the smoky glass rod)
  Taken.
  
  > examine the rod
  Which do you mean, the smoky glass rod or the empty glass rod?
  
  > examine smoky
  A long, hollow glass rod containing some murky dark smoke.
  
  > Go east
  Thrusting out of the floor before you is a many-pointed stalagmite that holds in its clawed grip an immense, eye-like red crystal.
  
  Hovering here is a sphere composed of swirling mist.
  
  The sphere circles you tentatively, apparently interested in something you carry.
  
  > touch the sphere with the empty
  You notice no unusual effects.
  
  The sphere floats up and down in time to your breathing.
  
  > drop smoky
  Dropped.
  
  > Break smoky
  Despite its fragile appearance, it proves to be indestructible.
  
  The sphere floats up and down in time to your breathing.
  
  > give empty to the sphere
  You hold the rod out towards the sphere, which envelops it for a while. As the sphere drifts slowly away, you notice that the rod is now glowing with a silvery radiance.
  
  The sphere drifts closer to you, lightly touching you with soothing tendrils of mist.
  
  > give the smoky to sphere
  The sphere circles uncertainly.
  
  > examine the silvery
  A long, hollow glass rod containing some luminous silvery mist.
  
  The sphere drifts closer to you, lightly touching you with soothing tendrils of mist.
  
  > Inventory
  You are carrying:
  a glowing glass rod
  a smoky glass rod
  
  The sphere orbits mournfully around the glowing red crystal.
  
  > touch the ocean with the glowing
  That can't contain things.
  
  You strike the rod against the crystal, which seems momentarily muffled as it is suffused with the light of the rod.
  
  > touch the ocean with the smoke
  You strike the rod against the crystal, which seems momentarily muffled as it is shrouded in the smoke of the rod.
  
  > Go south
  A star of black onyx floats at head height here without visible means of support, its irregular geometrical spikes vaguely disturbing.
  
  > touch the onyx with the glowing
  You strike the rod against the crystal, which seems momentarily muffled as it is suffused with the light of the rod.
  
  > Go west
  Thrusting out of the floor before you is a many-pointed stalagmite that holds in its clawed grip an immense, eye-like red crystal.
  
  Hovering here is a sphere composed of swirling mist.
  
  > touch the crystal with glowing
  You strike the rod against the crystal, which is momentarily muffled as light shines from the rod. But the crystal seems to reject the light, which dissipates in a scintillating spiral.
  
  > touch the crystal with the smoky
  You strike the rod against the crystal, which seems momentarily muffled as it is shrouded in the smoke of the rod.
  
  The sphere orbits mournfully around the glowing red crystal.
  
  > Go north
  Thrusting out of the floor before you is a many-pointed stalagmite that holds in its clawed grip an immense, eye-like red crystal.
  
  Hovering here is a sphere composed of swirling mist.
  
  The sphere drifts closer to you, lightly touching you with soothing tendrils of mist.
  
  > examine the stalagmite
  The claw-like stalagmite is formed from an unusually smooth and hard grey rock. It grasps the eye crystal tightly in place.
  
  > get the crytal
  Your attempt causes the crystal to vibrate violently enough to make your entire body shudder. You withdraw your hands, shaken.
  
  The sphere floats up and down in time to your breathing.
  
  > Inventory
  You are carrying:
  a glowing glass rod
  a smoky glass rod
  
  > show the glowing rod to the stalagmite
  You can only do that to something animate.
  
  > put glowing in the eye
  That can't contain things.
  
  The sphere floats up and down in time to your breathing.
  
  > Sing
  You sing quietly to yourself for a while, trying to calm yourself down.
  
  > Go north
  You are near the edge of the strange dome, where the walls plunge vertically into the solid stone of the floor.
  
  In the centre of a particularly flat piece of ground lies a miniature ocean three feet across, its waves somehow frozen into formations of azure crystal.
  
  > touch the ocean with the glowing
  You strike the rod against the crystal, which seems momentarily muffled as it is suffused with the light of the rod.
  
  > Go south
  You are near the edge of the strange dome, where the walls plunge vertically into the solid stone of the floor.
  
  Embedded in the ground here is a smooth-surfaced boulder whose ridges evoke a clenched fist. Protruding from it is a finger of violet quartz as long as your arm, pointing accusingly at the sky.
  
  On the ground lies a broken shard of quartz.
  
  > get the quartz
  Which do you mean, the finger crystal or the quartz shard?
  
  > examine the finger
  The finger is throbbing gently with a quiet tone.
  
  > touch the finger with glowing
  You strike the rod against the crystal, which seems momentarily muffled as it is suffused with the light of the rod.
  
  > touch the finger with the smoky
  You strike the rod against the crystal, which seems momentarily muffled as it is shrouded in the smoke of the rod.
  
  > examine the shard
  As long as your forearm, it resembles the quartz veins in the floor, but is not itself luminous. The edges are fairly sharp, and you take care not to cut yourself.
  
  > go north
  You are near the edge of the strange dome, where the walls plunge vertically into the solid stone of the floor.
  
  A star of black onyx floats at head height here without visible means of support, its irregular geometrical spikes vaguely disturbing.
  
  > Cut ocean
  Cutting that up would achieve little.
  
  > throw shard at the ocean
  Futile.
  
  > go to the south
  You stand near the centre of a faceted, hemispherical crystal dome as large as a stadium. Unusual rock formations protrude from the rocky floor, which is streaked with mysteriously luminescent veins of quartz. Beyond the dome nothing can be made out but distorted reflections.
  
  Thrusting out of the floor before you is a many-pointed stalagmite that holds in its clawed grip an immense, eye-like red crystal.
  
  Hovering here is a sphere composed of swirling mist.
  
  > show the shard to the sphere
  You hold the shard of quartz out towards the sphere, which envelops it for a while. As the sphere drifts slowly away, you notice that the rod is unchanged. The sphere shakes slowly back and forth, as if disappointed.
  
  > show smoky to the sphere
  The sphere circles uncertainly.
  
  > touch the crystal with the shard
  You strike it against the crystal. The crystal resonates powerfully with a low D sharp. (Your aural acuity surprises you. Maybe those music lessons you suddenly remember taking in your younger days haven't been wasted after all.)
  
  But the sound gradually dies away, and all is still again.
  
  The sphere drifts closer to you, lightly touching you with soothing tendrils of mist.
  
  > touch ocean with the shard
  You strike it against the crystal. The crystal resonates powerfully with a high F sharp.
  
  But the sound gradually dies away, and all is still again.
  
  > touch rod with the shard
  Which do you mean, the glowing glass rod or the smoky glass rod?
  
  > Smoky
  The smoky rod emits a clear ringing sound which gradually fades into a deep rumble as darkness pours out of it.
  
  > touch glowing with the shard
  The glowing rod produces a clear ringing sound which gradually rises into a high trill as light pours out of it.
  
  > touch the onyx with the shard
  You strike it against the crystal. The crystal resonates powerfully with a high C.
  
  But the sound gradually dies away, and all is still again.
  
  > Go southwest
  You are near the edge of the strange dome, where the walls plunge vertically into the solid stone of the floor.
  
  Embedded in the ground here is a smooth-surfaced boulder whose ridges evoke a clenched fist. Protruding from it is a finger of violet quartz as long as your arm, pointing accusingly at the sky.
  
  > touch the quartz with the glowing
  (the finger crystal with the glowing glass rod)
  You strike the rod against the crystal, which seems momentarily muffled as it is suffused with the light of the rod.
  
  > touch the quartz with the shard
  (the finger crystal with the quartz shard)
  You strike it against the crystal. The crystal resonates powerfully with a low E.
  
  But the sound gradually dies away, and all is still again.
  
  > Go northeast
  You stand near the centre of a faceted, hemispherical crystal dome as large as a stadium. Unusual rock formations protrude from the rocky floor, which is streaked with mysteriously luminescent veins of quartz. Beyond the dome nothing can be made out but distorted reflections.
  
  Thrusting out of the floor before you is a many-pointed stalagmite that holds in its clawed grip an immense, eye-like red crystal.
  
  Hovering here is a sphere composed of swirling mist.
  
  The sphere floats up and down in time to your breathing.
  
  > touch smoky with the shard
  The smoky rod emits a clear ringing sound which gradually fades into a deep rumble as darkness pours out of it.
  
  > touch glowing with the shard
  The glowing rod produces a clear ringing sound which gradually rises into a high trill as light pours out of it.
  
  The sphere orbits mournfully around the glowing red crystal.