text: > descend
  The only exit is the spiral stair, by which you can emerge from the cistern.
  
  > East
  On the curving walls are painted the village and the nearby countryside; beyond those are impossibly distant places (labelled for your better instruction): Paris, spired and shimmering; southward Rome; a misty London in the north.
  
  The floor is paved with large stones, and one of these is partly budged from its position.
  
  > examine the stone
  (the large paving stone)
  About two feet on a side and many inches thick: it is hard to guess what force might have budged it in the first place.
  
  > examine the Paris
  Paris, narrow streets with narrow houses crowded; the Seine, and the Pont Neuf; trees in the preserve of the King. There's a great deal of detail that you can't quite make out.
  
  > look at the paris through the lens
  Paris, narrow streets with narrow houses crowded; the Seine, and the Pont Neuf; trees in the preserve of the King. In the windows of the palaces, fine ladies stand looking out, gowned in extravagant fashion, breaking their fathers and husbands.
  
  In the dungeons prisoners twist and burn. Beads of sweat run down their faces. Their eyes are full of the fever of hell. Notre-Dame sings, aspiring to God.
  
  > look at London through the lens
  The magnifying glass shows you details you'd missed before. You see the criers in the streets, selling horses and books, toys and flowers, bread and fruit, their mouths open silently.
  
  You see the theaters, crowded with spectators; the stage, and the actors on it; their false swordplay and their disguising beards. The breast of one has come askew, since God did not give it to him to be a woman by nature.
  
  You see the diviner, peering into a glass where demons teem.
  
  And at the very center stands the Queen, great woman in a little world.
  
  > look at the rome through the lens
  You squint at the image of Rome through the glass, and it unfolds before you:
  
  There is the Tiber, winding, and every bridge that crosses it, and every peddler selling trinkets on those bridges. The birds that flew in augury, circling still on the hills. The beasts of burden, laden with food from the fields...
  
  > take the stone
  (the large paving stone)
  It's much too big to lift.
  
  > move the stone
  (the large paving stone)
  You lack the strength to move it with your bare hands.
  
  > look under the stone
  (the large paving stone)
  All you can tell is that there is some considerable space beneath the stone.
  
  > Go north
  Stairs lead up, and doorways open south, east and west.
  
  > Up
  Tower, Mid-level
  A midpoint in the tower, with doorways east and west, lit from above. The south wall is occupied by a deep niche, in which is a statue of a young man in the Greek mode.
  
  The walls have been sheathed with a variety of fine materials, all exceptionally costly: sheets of beaten gold, squares of lapis lazuli, placards of ruby and adamant.
  
  > examine the statue
  Naked except for the sandals laced around his ankles, carrying in one hand a sturdy key. His face is more vigorous than beautiful; his hair is arranged around his head in a disorderly array of curls. He is looking up from under a strong brow, his gaze bent on something above you.
  
  From somewhere nearby comes a low rumbling.
  
  > ascend
  Up there, cogs and wheels are moving at great speed. You don't dare try to climb up.
  
  > examine the key
  (the delicate key)
  A delicate key of silvery metal, with precisely-cut teeth.
  
  At the moment, the delicate key is a somewhat enlarged version of itself.
  
  > look at the statue's key
  A sturdy key of golden metal, with precisely-cut teeth.
  
  From somewhere nearby comes a low rumbling.
  
  > take the statue
  That's hardly portable.
  
  > take the statue's key
  You reach to take the key, but it sears you: you aren't ready for it yet. There are other things you must do. You draw back, faintly shamed.
  
  > put the tube in the dragon
  You put the tube into the furnace.
  
  > examine the dial
  The dial can be set to anything from 1 to 5. It currently stands at 4. The label under this dial reads "Change to".
  
  > pry the stone with the tube
  (the large paving stone with the tube)
  The tube is too small to do that task effectively.
  
  > W,S,W
  Tower, Bottom
  You stand at the bottom of a stone tower. Doorways open in each of the cardinal directions, except for the north; there, a spacious niche contains the statue of a woman, skillfully executed in white marble.
  
  The center of the room is occupied by a spiral staircase, but one made of such slender and delicate supports that it obscures neither light nor view.
  
  The silvery door to the south stands open.
  
  A straight white light comes through the hole in the ceiling, but it is soon after twisted and bent: mirrors cast it from angle to angle; crystal divides it; glass stains it.
  
  East and west, low corridors lead into shadow.
  
  The silvery door to the north stands open.
  
  A long, vaulted room, lined with cages of filigree and jewels. All of the animals are motionless and still, perhaps through the art of a taxidermist. In one cage is an elephant, so short that he reaches only to your knee; you easily could lift him under one arm and carry him away. In another cage, a giant mouse lies, curled as though slumbering, his paws folded in the semblance of prayer.
  
  Mounted on a swivel on the wall is what looks like an irregular hourglass, one bulb larger than the other. There is no sand within -- nor could there be, since the contraption is open at each end. At the moment the smaller end is uppermost.
  
  > E,N,E
  A straight white light comes through the hole in the ceiling, but it is soon after twisted and bent: mirrors cast it from angle to angle; crystal divides it; glass stains it.
  
  East and west, low corridors lead into shadow.
  
  The silvery door to the north stands open.
  
  Tower, Bottom
  You stand at the bottom of a stone tower. Doorways open in each of the cardinal directions, except for the north; there, a spacious niche contains the statue of a woman, skillfully executed in white marble.
  
  The center of the room is occupied by a spiral staircase, but one made of such slender and delicate supports that it obscures neither light nor view.
  
  The silvery door to the south stands open.
  
  On the curving walls are painted the village and the nearby countryside; beyond those are impossibly distant places (labelled for your better instruction): Paris, spired and shimmering; southward Rome; a misty London in the north.
  
  The floor is paved with large stones, and one of these is partly budged from its position.
  
  > pry the stone with the tube
  (the large paving stone with the tube)
  You manage to pry up the stone, exposing a ladder down into the gap beneath.
  
  If only your master were here to observe that bit of cleverness. He never asks how you achieve your ends.