text: [Themes: Cave crawl, Zorkian, zorkian]
  
  > Go downwards
  An expanse of shingle and boulders sloping haphazardly across an irregularly-shaped floor a hundred feet across, only smoothed out at
  its centre by a stream which pools just to the north. A furrow in the
  rocky walls leads southwest, alongside a scree-fall which lies roughly
  south; while the cave narrows into a canyon to the east.
  
  The cone of the cedar hangs vertiginously over you, its tip perhaps 9
  feet off the floor.
  
  An improvised ladder of sticks, lashed together with vines and
  creepers, rests against the tip of the cedar, leading up into its
  branches.
  
  Your length of rope is here.
  
  You can also see some provisions - a clove of garlic, a hunk of
  cheese, a joint of cured ham and a banana, The Guide For Travellers To
  The Lower Northlands and Surrounding Provinces, your Ambassador's
  trunk (in which is a hand telescope), Experimental Spell Book #5, the handwritten note, a bow, four arrows, a small wickerwork hamper (which
  is empty), a shard of pottery (providing light), your formal
  credentials, a boomerang (providing light), a colour chart, an old
  document and a coffer (which is empty) here.
  
  > get all
  stream: You have nothing which will hold water.
  inverted cedar: You can't reach the tree from here.
  improvised ladder: Taken.
  clove of garlic: Taken.
  hunk of cheese: Taken.
  joint of cured ham: Taken.
  banana: Taken.
  The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
  Provinces: Taken.
  Ambassador's trunk: Taken.
  Experimental Spell Book #5: Taken.
  handwritten note: Taken.
  bow: Taken.
  arrow: Taken.
  arrow: Taken.
  arrow: Taken.
  arrow: Taken.
  small wickerwork hamper: Taken.
  shard of pottery: Taken.
  formal credentials: Taken.
  boomerang: Taken.
  length of light rope: Taken.
  colour chart: Taken.
  old document: Taken.
  coffer: Taken.
  
  > put the scroll in the Spell Book
  Your spell book begins to glow softly. Almost imperceptibly, the
  binding swells and closes over the edge of the white scroll in
  pristine condition, which straightens and becomes the new ploor spell
  page. The book's brightness fades as the corners settle to perfect
  right angles.
  
  > go northwest
  Wheel Cave (North)
  A circular corridor-cave, like a cartwheel's rim and unmistakably
  artificial. The arc hoops around southwest and southeast.
  
  On the northern wall is a wooden rack, of the kind used by bakers to
  cool cakes, or painters to dry watercolours.
  
  On the wooden rack are seven unwritten vellum scrolls.
  
  > get all
  wooden rack: That's fixed in place.
  
  > get all from the rack
  unwritten vellum scroll: Removed.
  unwritten vellum scroll: Removed.
  unwritten vellum scroll: Removed.
  unwritten vellum scroll: Removed.
  unwritten vellum scroll: Removed.
  unwritten vellum scroll: Removed.
  unwritten vellum scroll: Removed.
  
  > go southwest
  Wheel Cave (West)
  A circular corridor-cave, like a cartwheel's rim and unmistakably
  artificial. The arc hoops around northeast and southeast.
  
  of the great wheel.
  
  A clear funnel chimney rises vertically up, like a glass-blower's vent
  or something from a furnace, lined with smooth-curving brick.
  
  Beneath the chimney is a huge, irregular, metallic lodestone,
  presumably a meteor fallen to earth.
  
  A thick, viscous green beam of magical light reflects from the meteor
  through a right-angle: straight upward through the chimney, to a level
  path east through the archway.
  
  > Ruther light
  (the green light beam)
  The beam is made of insubstantial light.
  
  > memorize ruther
  You commit the ruther spell to memory once again.
  
  > Ruther lodestone
  The air around the meteor glows as it is transformed, slowly under the
  play of the green light, into... a chalk formation, white and
  irregular. The beam now loses itself in the any-angled facets of the
  chalk.
  
  > Ruther chalk
  The air around the chalk glows as it is transformed, slowly under the
  play of the green light, back into the meteor, whose burnished surface
  throws the beam back east through the archway!
  
  > look
  Wheel Cave (West)
  A circular corridor-cave, like a cartwheel's rim and unmistakably
  artificial. The arc hoops around northeast and southeast.
  
  of the great wheel.
  
  A clear funnel chimney rises vertically up, like a glass-blower's vent
  or something from a furnace, lined with smooth-curving brick.
  
  become, and into which the beam of magical light dissipates
  harmlessly.
  
  > Go east
  The presence everywhere of tools and instruments makes this place
  rather homely to a Duchy-born man like yourself: it's like a smithy,
  but of the colours of light, not the alloys of metal.
  
  At the workshop's centre is the Anvil, a hard stone mounting and,
  perhaps, the fulcrum of the new Northlands Empire that is to come.
  
  workshop, and can be turned anywhere on the calibrated dial from 1 to
  180 degrees. It now stands at 37.12.
  
  wooden cot, apparently in a deep sleep or coma.
  
  On the floor beneath Clotspinner's outstretched hand are the fragments
  of a broken glass prism, smashed by the fall. It's a tableau like a
  narrative painting: you feel a curious urge to disturb nothing.
  
  > Ruther prism
  The spell misfires, perhaps because the fragments of prism is not pure
  but a mixture or an alloy.
  
  > check what you're carrying
  You are carrying:
  seven unwritten vellum scrolls
  a coffer (which is open but empty)
  an old document
  a colour chart
  a length of light rope
  a boomerang (providing light)
  your formal credentials
  a shard of pottery (providing light)
  a small wickerwork hamper (which is open but empty)
  four arrows
  a bow
  the "destruction order"
  Experimental Spell Book #5
  your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
  a hand telescope
  The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
  Provinces
  some provisions - a banana, a joint of cured ham, a hunk of cheese
  and a clove of garlic
  a stub of a stock-keeper's note
  a burnished lantern (providing light)
  a broad green leaf
  
  > Objects
  Objects you have handled:
  
  the fedora hat   (lost)
  the hand telescope   (inside the Ambassador's trunk)
  The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
  Provinces   (held)
  the sherbet   (lost)
  the jade figurine   (lost)
  the joint of cured ham   (held)
  the small wickerwork hamper   (held)
  the poisoned apple   (lost)
  the hunk of cheese   (held)
  the clove of garlic   (held)
  the jewelled scarab   (lost)
  the brass lantern   (in Lily Pod)
  the Ambassador's trunk   (held)
  the formal credentials   (held)
  the length of light rope   (held)
  Experimental Spell Book #5   (held)
  the handwritten note   (held)
  the platinum egg   (lost)
  the banana   (held)
  the improvised ladder   (in Topmost Ledge)
  the silver ingot   (lost)
  the boomerang   (held)
  the shard of pottery   (held)
  the coffer   (held)
  the old document   (held)
  the colour chart   (held)
  the spotless scroll   (lost)
  the bow   (held)
  the arrow   (held)
  the golden fir-cone   (lost)
  the arrow   (held)
  the arrow   (held)
  the drum   (lost)
  the gleaming uncut diamond   (lost)
  the black, memorial scroll   (lost)
  the arrow   (held)
  the burnished lantern   (held)
  the broad green leaf   (held)
  the stub of a stock-keeper's note   (held)
  the white scroll in pristine condition   (lost)
  the unwritten vellum scroll   (held)
  the unwritten vellum scroll   (held)
  the unwritten vellum scroll   (held)
  the unwritten vellum scroll   (held)
  the unwritten vellum scroll   (held)
  the unwritten vellum scroll   (held)
  the unwritten vellum scroll   (held)
  
  > turn the dial
  Try turning it to a particular setting.
  
  > turn the dial to 100
  You rotate the mounting to 100.00.
  
  > examine note
  Which do you mean, the handwritten note or the stub of a
  stock-keeper's note?
  
  > put the unwritten scroll in the dial
  You put the unwritten vellum scroll on the calibrated swivel mounting.
  
  > turn the dial to 180
  You rotate the mounting to 180.00.
  
  > 63
  You rotate the mounting to 101.63.
  
  > go east
  The presence everywhere of tools and instruments makes this place
  rather homely to a Duchy-born man like yourself: it's like a smithy,
  but of the colours of light, not the alloys of metal.
  
  At the workshop's centre is the Anvil, a hard stone mounting and,
  perhaps, the fulcrum of the new Northlands Empire that is to come. The
  beam of light courses in through the eastern archway to strike the top
  of the Anvil dead-centre.
  
  workshop, and can be turned anywhere on the calibrated dial from 1 to
  180 degrees. It now stands at 101.63 and holds a sheet of vellum
  paper.
  
  wooden cot, apparently in a deep sleep or coma.
  
  On the floor beneath Clotspinner's outstretched hand are the fragments
  of a broken glass prism, smashed by the fall. It's a tableau like a
  narrative painting: you feel a curious urge to disturb nothing.
  
  > get the scroll
  (the unwritten vellum scroll)
  Taken.
  
  > put it on Anvil
  second.
  
  > put the leaf in the dial
  The mounting is clearly meant to hold something, but not a broad green
  leaf.
  
  > look at the dial
  It seems to be possible to put something into it.
  
  > turn the dial to 11000
  You rotate the mounting to 169.60.
  
  > turn the dial to -1
  Enter saved game to load: Ok.
  
  You can't see any such thing.
  
  > check what you're carrying
  You are carrying:
  a coffer (which is open but empty)
  an old document
  a colour chart
  a length of light rope
  a boomerang (providing light)
  a gleaming uncut diamond
  your formal credentials
  a shard of pottery (providing light)
  a small wickerwork hamper (which is open but empty)
  four arrows
  a drum (which is empty)
  a bow
  the "destruction order"
  Experimental Spell Book #5
  your Ambassador's trunk (which is open)
  a hand telescope
  a brass lantern (providing light)
  The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
  Provinces
  some provisions - a joint of cured ham, a hunk of cheese and a clove
  of garlic
  
  > drop all except the lantern
  coffer: Dropped.
  old document: Dropped.
  colour chart: Dropped.
  length of light rope: Dropped.
  boomerang: Dropped.
  gleaming uncut diamond: Dropped.
  formal credentials: Dropped.
  shard of pottery: Dropped.
  small wickerwork hamper: Dropped.
  arrow: Dropped.
  arrow: Dropped.
  arrow: Dropped.
  drum: Dropped.
  arrow: Dropped.
  bow: Dropped.
  handwritten note: Dropped.
  Experimental Spell Book #5: Dropped.
  Ambassador's trunk: Dropped.
  The Guide For Travellers To The Lower Northlands and Surrounding
  Provinces: Dropped.
  joint of cured ham: Dropped.
  hunk of cheese: Dropped.
  clove of garlic: Dropped.
  
  > squeeze the stinger
  With extreme care you squeeze the hornet's stinger, and poison drips
  out to form a tiny pool in the base of the lily pod. In this
  compressed space you're just able to keep your feet out of it, for the
  time it takes to soak into the membrane walls of the pod.
  
  > Wait
  Time passes.
  
  There is a hissing sound from the base of the pod.
  
  The hatchling wriggles in sleep, perhaps dreaming.
  
  > Wait
  Time passes.
  
  poison! The whole pod rocks a little in the underwater currents,
  fraying away from the stalk.
  
  > wait
  Time passes.
  
  Suddenly the pod pulls free, and although you can see nothing of the
  waters outside, your best guess is that it's drifting westward and
  rising slightly.
  
  You begin to feel a certain concern for, of all things, your
  belongings. When the pod collapses, what will the water do to them?
  
  > Wait
  Time passes.
  
  The pod bumps against an obstacle, checking its westward motion. Now
  it is only rising, rising.
  
  > Inventory
  You are carrying:
  a brass lantern (providing light)
  
  Finally the pod breaks surface and bursts into disparate leaves, no
  longer bound up by the pressure. In confusion you strike out, treading
  water, but after a couple of minutes' panic realise that the water is
  only waist deep here. You wade toward a slight light.
  
  From the natural light, dim and far above, you'd guess this cave was distinctly higher up than the cedar-cavern floor. A natural limestone
  cavity, beautiful and thankfully unused, it's a chance to rest and
  think. A single winding path leads vaguely north.
  
  A burnished lantern lies discarded in the sand.
  
  Dead leaves float out on the water, but of the hornet there is no
  trace.
  
  One broad leaf, though, has washed up beside you.
  
  > take all
  burnished lantern: Taken.
  dead leaves: You can't get to the pod's detritus from here.
  broad green leaf: Taken.
  
  > Go north
  This is only half a cave; the western half, to be exact. It's a dark
  place full of crevices (you would have missed the stony passage back
  south if you hadn't already known about it). Boxes, bottles and crates
  are stored here, and to judge from scrape-marks are used by whoever
  lives through the broad passage northwest.
  
  What divides this cave is a solid, floor-to-ceiling stone wall running
  north to south, masoned with mortar and seemingly recent. You feel
  quite certain that the cave continues.
  
  The stub of a stock-keeper's note lies forgotten beside the stores.
  
  > go to the east
  Though the cave undoubtedly extends east, the wall means you are
  unable to follow it.
  
  > go southeast
  This is only half a cave; the western half, to be exact. It's a dark
  place full of crevices (you would have missed the stony passage back
  south if you hadn't already known about it). Boxes, bottles and crates
  are stored here, and to judge from scrape-marks are used by whoever
  lives through the broad passage northwest.
  
  What divides this cave is a solid, floor-to-ceiling stone wall running
  north to south, masoned with mortar and seemingly recent. You feel
  quite certain that the cave continues.
  
  > search wall
  (the masoned wall)
  You find nothing of interest.
  
  > Go east
  You manage to uncover what seems to be a secret doorway in the masoned
  wall. An emergency escape-route, prudently added by whoever is using
  the stores?
  
  You can't, since the secret door is in the way.
  
  > go to the east
  That's already open.
  
  This is only half a cave; the eastern half, to be exact. It's a dark
  place full of crevices (you would have missed the slide passage back
  north if you hadn't already known about it); chief among them a
  distinctive triangular cavity, 1 foot or so high, and blocked by a
  rough quartz window.
  
  the cave, after all.