text: [Themes: Mystery, female protagonist, mystery, steampunk, coming of age, fantasy, horror]
  
  > Go down
  The exit is to the south.
  
  > go west
  (first opening the ornate double doors)
  (closing the doors behind you)
  
  Traffic revolves every which way around this old-fashioned rotunda, tracing the ancient alchemical lines inscribed on the stonework. An armillary sphere rotates in the center of the junction and guides carriages according to its lights.
  
  The Via Terminalis runs northwest to the bridge and southeast to Miller's Gate. A colonnade to the north marks the entrance of the Channelworks. To the east lies the Turris Infinita, and to the south can be seen the grand forum.
  
  Above the Turris Infinita, a black banner casts its trailing shadow across the sky.
  
  > Go northwest
  Here the voices and bustle wash over the arches and cobblestones. Mist rises from the Bilious Canal below, tarnishing the wayside statues green and gray, and fading into the fog and the overcast sky.
  
  The Via Terminalis stretches away to the northwest and southeast, while a clandestine stairway descends to the south.
  
  > go northwest
  Via Terminalis, West Street
  You are adrift in the bustle of crowds and carriages, a raucous river that runs through the blood-vessel streets. Signage advertises a profusion of shops and services amid the sounds of leather rollers and stitching machines. In the distant mist, the Bilious Canal spills from the Channelworks into the heart of the city.
  
  You can follow the Via to the west, or to the southeast where it bridges the canal. A condemned block is visible to the north. A hanging banner obscures an alley to the southwest, while a footpath follows the canal to the south.
  
  > go south
  Glittering waters roar alongside the footpath, running from north to south in an ever-restless torrent. North lies the Via Terminalis, and beyond it the mouth of the Channelworks; to the south, the path descends by steps and turns, ending in the algae and grime of Upper Riggertown.
  
  A closed manhole is recessed into the footpath.
  
  > Go south
  Riggertown, Upper Level
  This is the more industrial part of Riggertown. The buildings here are scrap-heap spires that twist and turn around each other, with cubby-carts trundling along cables strung between them. Amidst horns honking advertisements, there is a great mess of little people shuffling about, and roads winding in ways wholly inexplicable to your human sensibilities.
  
  To the south looms the Riggertown Mechanistry, while a quieter road leads southwest to the suburbs. You could also descend a series of ladders to Lower Riggertown, or take a footpath north along the Bilious Canal.
  
  You hear a mourning chant from some distant cathedral.
  
  > go to the southwest
  This rustic little house is one of many that squat here and there along the lane. A pair of scrap-metal sculptures flank the steps to the front door. Beside it is a tarnished old pull-bell, dangling from a rope that has seen better days.
  
  You can enter the front door of the house to the west, or return along the walkway to the northeast.
  
  > look at the sculptures
  Twin dragons. One is painted blue, the other green.
  
  > pull the rope
  The bell clatters noisily. "Come in!" you hear Zoiro call.
  
  > go to the west
  (first opening the front door)
  (closing the door behind you)
  
  The shutters have been drawn in this tiny cottage, cloaking its confines in somber shades. In the shadows glimmer vases, knick-knacks, and wishing-eyes; the furniture is small and faintly unreal.
  
  The front door squats to the east.
  
  Zoiro is here, looking quite unlike the last time you saw him at the Riggertown Mechanistry. He is dressed in a deep black cassock and lighting beeswax candles around the sitting room.
  
  > look at Zoiro
  An air of solemnity surrounds him.
  
  > examine the candles
  They glow with eerie light.
  
  > examinthe knick-knacks
  Bric-a-brac, whim-whams, folderol...
  
  > talk to Zoiro
  "Zoiro," you say. "Hello."
  
  The goblin pauses mid-motion. He inclines his head respectfully.
  
  "Hello," he says. "Marid."
  "Hello," he says. "Marid."He turns around, shuffling his feet on the floor.
  floor."Sorry about the mess. I wasn't expecting a visit so early."
  
  1) "It's okay."
  2) "I didn't mean to interrupt."
  3) "What are you doing?"
  4) "I wanted to ask you some things about Reden..."
  
  > 2
  "I didn't mean to interrupt."
  
  "Don't worry about it," he replies. "It's nothing all that urgent. What's on your mind?"
  
  1) "What are you doing?"
  2) "I wanted to ask you some things about Reden..."
  
  > 2
  "I wanted to ask you some things about Reden," you say. "We're looking into the transmission vector of the disease, trying to find out how he could have contracted it. If you could tell us about the places he'd been, or the things he'd been doing..."
  
  Zoiro's shoulders slump.
  
  "Yeah," he says. "Reden."
  "Yeah," he says. "Reden."He shuffles over to an armchair and sits with a sigh. He fidgets with the tinderbox in his hands.
  a sigh. He fidgets with the tinderbox in his hands."I suppose I can help. I don't know how much use I'll be, though... practically cut off contact with him before he died."
  
  1) "You weren't close to him?"
  2) "Do you know anything about the places he frequented?"
  3) "Do you know anyone else that Reden associated with?"
  
  > 1
  "You weren't close to him?"
  
  "No." Zoiro closes his eyes. "Primes, no. He was a dead weight, always cadging, borrowing money."
  
  He turns over the box in his hands.
  
  "I hated him. When he walked out the door and never came back, well... I can't say I was sorry to see him go."
  
  1) "Do you know anything about the places he frequented?"
  2) "Do you know anyone else that Reden associated with?"
  3) "Reden was unemployed?"
  4) "Reden left and didn't come back?"
  
  > 3
  "Reden was unemployed?"
  
  Zoiro nods. "He was a janitor at the Channelworks, let go for drunkenness and unprofessional conduct. He was unrepentant -- no company would have him."
  
  1) "Do you know anything about the places he frequented?"
  2) "Do you know anyone else that Reden associated with?"
  3) "Reden left and didn't come back?"
  4) "Could you tell me more about what he did at the
  Channelworks?"
  
  > 3
  "Reden left and didn't come back?"
  
  Zoiro gazes at the door.
  
  "Yeah," he says. "He just... left. He did it so quietly, I almost didn't realize he was gone.
  
  "I guess he realized this place wasn't his home any more."
  
  1) "Do you know anything about the places he frequented?"
  2) "Do you know anyone else that Reden associated with?"
  3) "Could you tell me more about what he did at the
  Channelworks?"
  4) "Do you know where he could have gone after he left?"
  
  > 3
  "Could you tell me more about what he did at the Channelworks?"
  
  Zoiro shrugs. "I've never been there myself," he says. "Reden wasn't one for talking about his work. It wasn't anything important... he was just a janitor, some kind of canal scrubber or something. I remember he always came back smelling like a wet rag..."
  
  It occurs to you that there was a dampness about Reden on the night he died. It didn't register to you at the time, but... it wasn't raining that day, was it?
  
  1) "Do you know anything about the places he frequented?"
  2) "Do you know anyone else that Reden associated with?"
  3) "Do you know where he could have gone after he left?"
  
  > 3
  "Do you know where he could have gone after he left?"
  
  Zoiro rubs his chin. "Actually... I did see him once or twice after he left. Or someone who looked a great deal like him. It was around the shacks in Lower Riggertown..."
  
  "Do you think he might have found someplace to stay?" you ask.
  
  Zoiro shrugs. "It couldn't hurt to take a look."
  
  1) "Do you know anything about the places he frequented?"
  2) "Do you know anyone else that Reden associated with?"
  
  > 1
  "Do you know anything about the places he frequented?"
  
  Zoiro shakes his head. "No... not really, no. He was hardly around the house... he'd go out in the morning and come back late, smelling of shitty booze. Some days he was like someone I didn't know.
  
  "I never asked him where he was going. Don't think I cared. When he left... I don't know what happened to him afterward."
  
  1) "Do you know anyone else that Reden associated with?"
  2) "Reden was a compulsive drinker?"
  
  > 2
  "Reden was a compulsive drinker?"
  
  "The biggest dipsomaniac I ever saw." Zoiro smiles grimly. "He'd go through cheap wine by the bottle. He didn't care what was in the stuff, or who sold it to him, as long as it got him buzzed."
  
  1) "Do you know anyone else that Reden associated with?"
  2) "Could there have been a public house he especially
  frequented?"
  
  > 2
  "Could there have been a public house he especially frequented?" you ask.
  
  Zoiro frowns, and his ears stiffen.
  
  "There could have," he says, "now that you mention it. Something about a bird's nest... they sell the cheapest booze in the district, or so Reden used to say. I can't quite remember the name, though."
  
  1) "Do you know anyone else that Reden associated with?"
  2) "That's all the questions I have regarding Reden..."
  
  > 1
  "Do you know anyone else that Reden associated with?"
  
  A shake of the head. "The only thing he associated with was alcohol. He never talked about his friends... never talked about his work. When he got fired, I wouldn't be surprised if no one even batted an eye. He was that kind of person."
  
  1) "That's all the questions I have regarding Reden..."
  
  > 1
  "That's all the questions I have regarding Reden," you say. "You've been a great help."
  
  Zoiro nods. "If I can help you with anything else, let me know."
  
  "I will."
  "I will."As Zoiro returns to his work, you step back and mull over what he's told you. Reden's connection to the Channelworks... a public house involving a 'bird's nest'... Reden's shack in Lower Riggertown.
  house involving a 'bird's nest'... Reden's shack in Lower Riggertown.Does it mean anything? How much of it is relevant?
  Riggertown.Does it mean anything? How much of it is relevant?You suppose you'll just have to keep investigating.
  suppose you'll just have to keep investigating.## Zoiro's House
  The shutters have been drawn in this tiny cottage, cloaking its confines in somber shades. In the shadows glimmer vases, knick-knacks, and wishing-eyes; the furniture is small and faintly unreal.
  
  The front door squats to the east.
  
  Zoiro is here, lighting beeswax candles and arranging obsidian beads.
  
  > go east
  (first opening the front door)
  (closing the door behind you)
  
  This rustic little house is one of many that squat here and there along the lane. A pair of scrap-metal sculptures flank the steps to the front door. Beside it is a tarnished old pull-bell, dangling from a rope that has seen better days.
  
  You can enter the front door of the house to the west, or return along the walkway to the northeast.
  
  For a moment, you smell smoke on the wind.
  
  > go northeast
  Riggertown, Upper Level
  This is the more industrial part of Riggertown. The buildings here are scrap-heap spires that twist and turn around each other, with cubby-carts trundling along cables strung between them. Amidst horns honking advertisements, there is a great mess of little people shuffling about, and roads winding in ways wholly inexplicable to your human sensibilities.
  
  To the south looms the Riggertown Mechanistry, while a quieter road leads southwest to the suburbs. You could also descend a series of ladders to Lower Riggertown, or take a footpath north along the Bilious Canal.