text: [Themes: Fantasy, magic, dragon]
  
  > go downwards
  Given your choice of career, it's perhaps somewhat surprising this is only your second opportunity to see the interior of this place. It's pretty nice: hiding places aplenty, deep shadows at either side, and a suspicious dark hole in the back wall near the ceiling. The shadowed corridor lies west.
  
  A section of the east wall is turned out, revealing a tight corridor sloping up into darkness.
  
  Against the back wall of the temple is a glowing magic field.
  
  In the magic field is a hook.
  
  You can also see a broken hook and a copper pole here.
  
  > Go west
  You sneak back past the guards.
  
  You stand at the end of a long foyer leading east to a narrow doorway into the temple itself. Light pours through windows in the north wall looking into a roomful of guards, leaving crisscrossing shadows.
  
  You can see a torch here.
  
  > get the torch
  You can only carry one loose item while remaining stealthy.
  
  > Up
  You stand amongst strange vertical shadows in the rafters of a fancy little trophy room of sorts, with paintings and torches arranged at various heights along the walls. An open window leads out to the east.
  
  In the center of the room an intricate platform rises high up, but out of reach.
  
  On the platform is the Dragon Gem.
  
  > look at the platform
  Supported by a complex array of wooden beams and struts, the glass platform rises up more than a story. Along the ceiling between you and it is a hook.
  
  > examine the hook
  A metal hook used for hanging pulleys is fastened to the ceiling partway between the rafter and the platform.
  
  > Inventory
  You are carrying:
  a copper pole
  an empty vial (in right cloak pocket)
  a dagger (in ankle sheath)
  a length of wire (in left tunic pocket)
  a set of lockpicks (in left sleeve pocket)
  
  > put the pole in the hook
  You maneuver the claw at the end of the pole onto the hook, then turn the dial to close the hook, keeping careful hold on the pole.
  
  > Swing
  You test your weight carefully, then swing out on the pole, avoiding recollection of Yenalda's twelfth rule.
  
  Rafters (hanging from a copper pole on a hook)
  You hang amongst strange vertical shadows in the rafters of a fancy little trophy room of sorts, with paintings and torches arranged at various heights along the walls. An open window leads out to the east.
  
  In the center of the room an intricate platform rises high up, but out of reach.
  
  On the platform is the Dragon Gem.
  
  > get Gem
  You reach down one-handed and grab the gem.
  
  > Swing
  You shift your weight, causing the pole to swing wider.
  
  > Go east
  You'll have to get out of the copper pole first.
  
  > Go outside
  You jump back to the rafters. Moments later, a guard enters the room from the doorway below. As his eyes go up to the platform, you slip the gem in a your left cloak pocket and slide out the window unseen. So much for Yenalda's third rule.
  
  You slip around the side of the building and descend, checking to make sure the Gem is still in your pocket.
  
  This has to have been the messiest job you've ever taken. You should have known better than to trust Sedmon, after the last job he offered you. "It's a harmless artifact called a kriit. Nobody will miss it."--when your researcher said it was used for a ritual called "The Way of the Dead", you turned it down right away, before even learning what a kriit was or what exactly the ritual did.
  
  Still, you got the upper hand this time: stole the dragon's treasure, got paid for it by the Baron, and ended up with the Gem yourself. Not a bad week.
  
  You have finished this story. But another two remain.
  
  > R.
  Do you want to play as [r]oyalty or a [d]ragon? r
  
  > M.
  Do you want this character to be [m]ale or [f]emale?
  
  Royalty:
  
  Baron Sedmon Ventillado. Sedmon Dragonslayer, now. The peasantry do love to forget a title and pretend a hero is one of theirs.
  
  Were you twenty years younger, it would be your name on everyone's lips. Your face on the popular paintings. And the Dragon Gem would be yours for everyone to covet. Of course, it is your name on the royal decrees, your face on the coins, and your pick of the Royal Jewels for your costume each day. But you detect an honesty in the grotesque admiration for the Baron--one you'll not find in the simpering toadies who serve you. But no.
  
  No regrets. Your days of heroism ceased when Thorn's Companions disbanded, yet your life--a new life--went on. The things you did then--the life you abandoned--all small prices to have paid for the luxurious lifestyle you've gained.
  
  But now... the winds bring rumor that Ventillado means to give the Gem to Blackhelm. Blackhelm. That villain--the Dragon Gem is said to have powers, powers that one such as Blackhelm could bring to bear on those of Thorn's Companions who survived. Thankfully, Ventillado is said to be a loyal citizen of the crown. And you can afford to be generous in recompense.
  
  The best way to be sure the Dragon Gem stays out of Blackhelm's hands? Get it in yours.
  
  This broad avenue leads right into Temple Square, the heart of fabulous New Oldtown. Towering over the square to the east you do perceive your stark white Temple of Justice, beautiful and well-appointed, offering a statement to the neighborhood: this, this is what progress is about. Sadly, the buildings around you are scarcely up to this new standard; Baron Ventillado's house north of the square is much more satisfactory. How you hate having to come here. This would all be so much simpler if Blackhelm were found dead one morning, but it's never happened yet, despite your best efforts.
  
  [Type 'ABOUT' for important commands you can use.]