text: [Themes: mathematics, educational, adventure, drugs]
  
  > look around
  You are in the House of Wisdom in early-medieval Baghdad, standing in what appears to be someone's private study. The walls are covered in intricate geometric designs, and a low table stands in the middle of the room. A small room lies to the south, and the rest of the House of Wisdom is to the west.
  
  On the low table are a small coffer, a square root, and a formal note.
  
  > read the note
  The note reads,
  
  "Al-Khwarizmi,
  
  Our most recent investigations indicate at least two types of objects of power: Those activated by more-or-less normal use, and those activated by the appropriate word of power.
  
  This square object was recently given to the caliph. It appears to be of the latter type. Please examine it and let us know what you discover of it."
  
  Instead of a name, the note is signed with the first few digits of π: 3.1415.
  
  There is also a postscript: "By the way, thank you for the hint on your problem with the balances. I had not realized that the weight of an object has nothing to do with that object's color."
  
  > examine the root
  This is an unusual object. It appears to be made of some tough vegetable matter - perhaps the root of a tree. It's also in the shape of a perfect square. The word "EXTRACT" is written on it.
  
  > go to the south
  This is a small, plain room just south of the study.
  
  The room is dominated by three large double-pan balance scales: a bronze one, a silver one, and a gold one.
  
  > look at the gold
  (the gold balance scale)
  This is a double-pan balance scale made of gold. The left pan contains a yellow x block, a yellow z block, and
  four sand pebbles; the right pan contains a yellow y block
  and eight maize pebbles. Inscribed on the base of the gold scale is the single letter z.
  
  > examine the silver
  (the silver balance scale)
  This is a double-pan balance scale made of silver. The left pan contains three gray y blocks and six ash pebbles; the right
  pan contains a gray x block and ten slate pebbles. Inscribed
  on the base of the silver scale is the single letter y.
  
  > look at the bronze
  (the bronze balance scale)
  This is a double-pan balance scale made of bronze. The left pan contains two brown x blocks and two tan pebbles; the right
  pan contains twelve sepia pebbles. Inscribed on the base of the bronze scale is the single letter x.
  
  > take one X
  (the brown x block)
  As you lift one of the brown x blocks off the left bronze pan
  it disappears. The left pan rises somewhat and the right pan drops somewhat.
  
  and two tan pebbles, while the right pan contains twelve sepia pebbles.
  
  The bronze scale is out of balance and tips over. As it rights itself, you see that all the blocks and pebbles have returned to the bronze pans just as if you had never taken any of them.
  
  > take two tan and two sepia
  two tan pebbles: After you lift the tan pebbles from the left bronze pan, they disappear. The left pan rises somewhat and the right pan drops somewhat.
  two sepia pebbles: After you lift the sepia pebbles from the right bronze pan, they disappear. The right pan rises somewhat and the left pan drops somewhat.
  
  blocks, while the right pan contains ten sepia pebbles.
  
  > look at the bronze
  (the bronze balance scale)
  This is a double-pan balance scale made of bronze. The left pan contains two brown x blocks; the right pan contains ten sepia
  pebbles. Inscribed on the base of the bronze scale is the single letter x.
  
  > take one brown and five sepia
  brown x block: As you lift one of the brown x blocks
  off the left bronze pan it disappears. The left pan rises somewhat and the right pan drops somewhat.
  five sepia pebbles: After you lift the sepia pebbles from the right bronze pan, they disappear. The right pan rises somewhat and the left pan drops somewhat.
  
  block, while the right pan contains five sepia pebbles.
  
  From the bronze balance scale you hear a click.
  
  > examine the bronze
  (the bronze balance scale)
  This is a double-pan balance scale made of bronze. The left pan contains a brown x block; the right pan contains five sepia
  pebbles. Inscribed on the base of the bronze scale is the single letter x.
  
  > get one gray the x and five ash
  gray x block: After you lift the gray x block from
  the right silver pan, it disappears. The right pan rises somewhat and the left pan drops somewhat.
  five ash pebbles: After you lift the ash pebbles from the left silver pan, they disappear. The left pan rises somewhat and the right pan drops somewhat.
  
  blocks and an ash pebble, while the right pan contains ten slate pebbles.
  
  > get the ash and one slate
  ash pebble: After you lift the ash pebble from the left silver pan, it disappears. The left pan rises a little and the right pan drops a little.
  slate pebble: After you lift the slate pebble from the right silver pan, it disappears. The right pan rises a little and the left pan drops a little.
  
  blocks, while the right pan contains nine slate pebbles.
  
  > get two gray y and six slate
  two gray y blocks: As you lift two of the gray y
  blocks off the left silver pan they disappear. The left pan rises somewhat and the right pan drops somewhat.
  six slate pebbles: After you lift the slate pebbles from the left silver pan, they disappear. The left pan rises somewhat and the right pan drops somewhat.
  
  Now the left pan of the silver scale contains a gray y block,
  while the right pan contains three slate pebbles.
  
  From the silver balance scale you hear a click.
  
  > get the yellow x and five maize
  yellow x block: After you lift the yellow x block
  from the left gold pan, it disappears. The left pan rises somewhat and the right pan drops somewhat.
  five maize pebbles: After you lift the maize pebbles from the right gold pan, they disappear. The right pan rises somewhat and the left pan drops somewhat.
  
  and four sand pebbles, while the right pan contains a yellow
  y block and three maize pebbles.
  
  > get the yellow y and three sand
  yellow y block: After you lift the yellow y block
  from the right gold pan, it disappears. The right pan rises somewhat and the left pan drops somewhat.
  three sand pebbles: After you lift the sand pebbles from the left gold pan, they disappear. The left pan rises somewhat and the right pan drops somewhat.
  
  and a sand pebble, while the right pan contains three maize pebbles.
  
  > get one sand and one maize
  sand pebble: After you lift the sand pebble from the left gold pan, it disappears. The left pan rises a little and the right pan drops a little.
  maize pebble: After you lift the maize pebble from the right gold pan, it disappears. The right pan rises a little and the left pan drops a little.
  
  Now the left pan of the gold scale contains a yellow z block,
  while the right pan contains two maize pebbles.
  
  From the gold balance scale you hear a click.
  
  As you isolate the last variable on the scales, a small compartment near the base of the gold scale opens. Out falls a blue gem. The compartment then closes, leaving no trace.
  
  [Your understanding of Algebra has increased. You estimate that
  your score on tomorrow's final has just gone up by four
  points.]
  
  > get the gem
  Taken.
  
  > examine it
  This small, dark blue sapphire is quite beautiful.
  
  > Go north
  You are in the House of Wisdom in early-medieval Baghdad, standing in what appears to be someone's private study. The walls are covered in intricate geometric designs, and a low table stands in the middle of the room. A small room lies to the south, and the rest of the House of Wisdom is to the west.
  
  On the low table are a small coffer and a formal note.
  
  > look at the designs
  These designs consist of intricate combinations of squares, circles, and other geometric figures. The overall structure of the patterns is clear to you, and you can make out several buttons hidden in the designs.
  
  > look at the buttons
  There are five buttons hidden in the geometric designs: a circular button, a button in the shape of two juxtaposed parentheses, a triangular button, a square button, and a pentagonal button.
  
  > go east
  From here, south and west are the only possibilities.
  
  > Go west
  As you move west, you feel an electrical impulse course through you. The space around you seems to fold in on itself.
  
  The space here feels much more formed than before.
  
  The space here is now mostly formed, though the floor is still hazy. You can now see an inscription on the wall. Several "paths" through the space are clear: up to the manifestation of one, north to the Lyceum, south to the Librarian's Office, east to the Scholar's Study, and west to the Great Hall.
  
  > examine the inscription
  The inscription reads,
  
  "Euclid alone has looked on Beauty bare.
  Let all who prate of Beauty hold their peace,
  And lay them prone upon the earth and cease
  To ponder on themselves, the while they stare
  At nothing, intricately drawn nowhere
  In shapes of shifting lineage; let geese
  Gabble and hiss, but heroes seek release
  From dusty bondage into luminous air.
  O blinding hour, O holy, terrible day,
  When first the shaft into his vision shone
  Of light anatomized! Euclid alone
  Has looked on Beauty bare. Fortunate they
  Who, though once only and then but far away,
  Have heard her massive sandal set on stone."
  
  > check what you're carrying
  You are carrying:
  a sapphire gem
  a square root
  a white ring
  Elements
  a scribbled scroll
  your math book
  
  > Go up
  You make your way up.
  
  This is more of an abstract space than a physical place, but it gives you a sense of unity, wholeness, and beginnings. A hole leads back up to the positive axis. You sense another exit, too - one in a deeper, "downward" direction from this space.
  
  > go up
  You make your way up.
  
  Positive Axis: 1
  You find yourself in a deep dark blue - almost black - expanse of space that extends as far as you can see in all three dimensions. The space is broken up by the straight, flat white line floating in mid-air that you are standing on. The line begins here and stretches out of sight to the east. The number 1 is marked on the line. While the line doesn't appear to be supported by anything, there is a hole in the middle of it here, next to the 1.
  
  > go east
  Positive Axis: 2
  You are in a dark blue expanse of space, standing on a white line that stretches to the west and as far as you can see to the east. The number 2 is marked on the line here. There is a hole next to the 2 large enough for you to climb down into.
  
  > enter the hole 2
  I didn't understand that. The first word or two on their own might suffice, though; perhaps it would work to just enter the hole.
  
  > enter the hole
  You clamber down the hole.
  
  This is more of an abstract space than a physical place, but it's marked by a feeling of duality, as if it somehow contains opposites within itself. The only exit is a hole leading back up to the positive axis.
  
  > go west
  Positive Axis: 1
  You find yourself in a deep dark blue - almost black - expanse of space that extends as far as you can see in all three dimensions. The space is broken up by the straight, flat white line floating in mid-air that you are standing on. The line begins here and stretches out of sight to the east. The number 1 is marked on the line. While the line doesn't appear to be supported by anything, there is a hole in the middle of it here, next to the 1.
  
  > Go west
  You can see absolutely nothing in the blue darkness off the positive axis. Stepping off it doesn't sound like a good idea. Going down is an option, though.
  
  > throw the ring west
  I didn't understand that. The first word or two on their own might suffice, though; perhaps it would work to just throw the white ring.
  
  > examine the ring
  This ring is white and is in the shape of a one-eyed adder biting its tail. The adder's eye is a dark sapphire. The ring has the word "Identity" inscribed along the outside.
  
  > wear the ring
  You put on the ring. The word "Identity" on it glows briefly before fading. The ring enlarges slightly - just enough to slip off your finger. Then the ring shrinks back to its original size.