text: [Themes: Fantasy, suicide, magic-object, slavery]
  
  > Go down
  Cut as an afterthought through earth and the underside of the garden, and therefore muddy and soil-scented.
  
  > go to the south-west
  The passage through rock ends here, and begins to tunnel through soil instead where it heads northeast.
  
  There is also a sinister door, leading west.
  
  You can also see a cord and an inscription here.
  
  > read the inscription
  Unfortunately the words are too worn for you to read. Perhaps if the light were coming in from an extreme angle, you would do better.
  
  > drop the candle
  You set the candle down immediately under the inscription -- but that's no good, you see at once, because thanks to the curvature of the wall you still can't get the thing at the right angle. Perhaps if it were lit from further off and from the side, rather than the bottom...
  
  > take the candle
  You pick up the candle, restoring the lighting to a more natural angle. Immediately the place seems less unnerving.
  
  > open the door
  (first unlocking the sinister door)
  You lack a key that fits the sinister door.
  
  > pull the cord
  You give the cord a hard yank. Somewhere above you a very deep bell tolls.
  
  > go to the southwest
  You start into the crypt, but an icy unnatural wind blows against you, as though the spirits resent the intrusion of someone with a light. And yet you have seen the Beast come down here, from time to time, bearing lanterns, torches, whatever he found handy.
  
  There must be some preliminary, a matter of spiritual etiquette perhaps, to establish yourself as the master of those below.
  
  > go to the northeast
  Cut as an afterthought through earth and the underside of the garden, and therefore muddy and soil-scented.
  
  > go south
  A room of scrap and refuse: wooden structures and clay molds from which bells might be made, scrap metal, pieces of bells now broken.
  
  > Go east
  A dank storage area, stacked with bars of wax -- perhaps for some casting process? You couldn't say.
  
  > examine the wax
  Far too large a supply for you to move around.
  
  > go to the southwest
  A resting place for an animal: warm but rough. There is little to suggest, from this environment, that he thinks of himself as a man at all, though he is capable of walking upright and eating with utensils, of reading books and even of writing a legible hand.
  
  The only distinguishing mark is a miniature hung on the wall, like a devotional object, or perhaps a reminder. Something about the sole image in an otherwise bare room reminds you of the royal portrait in the Green Bedroom.
  
  You can see a poison vial here.
  
  > examine the miniature
  The tiny image of a lady in a green girdle. But it isn't Lucrezia.
  
  > take all
  poison vial: You acquire the poison vial, and assess it curiously.
  
  You brought it with you; he confiscated it the first night.
  
  "It was a good thought," he said, plucking it from your fingers with a delicacy that should be impossible in one his size. "But if I could be killed by poison -- or by violence, or starving, or leaping from towers, by drowning or by suffocation or by fire, I assure you, I would have found the way by now. That leaves only yourself as a victim, and I did not bring you here to die." And so you didn't.
  
  You reacquaint yourself with its appearance: It has mostly dried up now; the apothecary who sold it to you did not say anything about whether it would keep its efficacy for long.
  
  > go southwest
  A tight, rocky corner among foundations of the oldest part of the castle. A slow leak in the south wall admits a little water, but not enough to be very destructive.
  
  > look at the leak
  The dripping moisture has the oily look of moat water.
  
  > Go northeast
  A resting place for an animal: warm but rough. There is little to suggest, from this environment, that he thinks of himself as a man at all, though he is capable of walking upright and eating with utensils, of reading books and even of writing a legible hand.
  
  The only distinguishing mark is a miniature hung on the wall, like a devotional object, or perhaps a reminder. Something about the sole image in an otherwise bare room reminds you of the royal portrait in the Green Bedroom.
  
  > go southeast
  Less couth and cultivated than any other part of the castle, and you have been forbidden to visit this place before now. The walls press close to you on either side. The floor slopes down. Bears with sharp claws are carved into the rock, but they remind you of Him, and you are not frightened.
  
  > take the miniature
  It fails to move even a little, but clings to its place tenaciously -- in the way you associate with the stone gargoyle, upstairs.
  
  > look at the bears
  Almost a ceremonial bear procession, if bears had liturgies and rituals.
  
  > go to the rooted room
  You head down to the bear corridor. Then northwest to the zoo. Then northeast to wax supply. Then west to bell castings. And finally north to rooted room.
  
  Cut as an afterthought through earth and the underside of the garden, and therefore muddy and soil-scented.
  
  > go to Library
  Which do you mean, the Law Library or the Lie Library?
  
  > go to Law Library
  You head northeast to rooted room. Then up to rose garden. You climb into the pale light...
  
  , emerging into rose garden. Then south to cloister walk. , emerging into cloister walk. Then west to the parliamentary chambers. , emerging into the parliamentary chambers. Then west to the state rotunda. , emerging into the state rotunda. And then southwest to the law library.
  
  Many books of precedent line these walls, containing every kind of contract that can be made to bind every kind of soul.
  
  A hole in the floor descends to the other, less savory portion of this place.
  
  > go to the quarters
  You head south to the great dining hall. Then west to the enormous kitchen. And finally north to the servant quarters.
  
  Not a room friendly to visitors, it has the air of resentful, martyred suffering. Even His most unpleasant ancestors would not have grudged this place more paint, surely, and more straw for the beds.
  
  A decaying ladder leads down.
  
  > go to Beast
  You head south to the enormous kitchen. Then east to the great dining hall. Then north to the law library. Then north to the lower bulb. Then up to the upper bulb. And finally east to the gallery of still life.
  
  Natural light from the south -- coming in from the courtyard, you suppose, though you are too short to see out -- illuminates a series of still life paintings on the north wall: one showing the Wedding Treasure when Lucrezia arrived from Medici-Credenza, the other rather fancifully entitled Supper with M.
  
  Nearby an open heavy door leads east to the white gallery.
  
  And here Beast lies, sprawled on the ground as if he'd fallen.
  
  > go to the tight passage
  You head west to the upper bulb. Then down to the lower bulb. Then east to the state rotunda. Then east to the parliamentary chambers. Then east to cloister walk. Then north to rose garden. Then down to rooted room. And finally southwest to tight passage.
  
  The passage through rock ends here, and begins to tunnel through soil instead where it heads northeast.
  
  There is also a sinister door, leading west.
  
  You can also see a cord and an inscription here.
  
  > drop the stool
  You set the stool down next to one wall.
  
  > put the candle on the stool
  You put the candle on the stool.
  
  > examine the inscription
  There's lettering beneath the pullcord.
  
  The candle is at about the right height here to illuminate the inscription, but the angle's off; further down the corridor would be better.
  
  > take stool and the candle
  stool: You acquire the stool.
  candle: You pick up the candle, restoring the lighting to a more natural angle. Immediately the place seems less unnerving.
  
  > go to the southwest
  You start into the crypt, but an icy unnatural wind blows against you, as though the spirits resent the intrusion of someone with a light. And yet you have seen the Beast come down here, from time to time, bearing lanterns, torches, whatever he found handy.
  
  There must be some preliminary, a matter of spiritual etiquette perhaps, to establish yourself as the master of those below.
  
  > go to the northeast
  Cut as an afterthought through earth and the underside of the garden, and therefore muddy and soil-scented.
  
  > put the candle on the stool
  You put the candle on the stool, aligning it neatly against the wall. A harsh raking illumination is now cast along the wall, about at a height with your knees.
  
  > Go southwest
  The light from northeast comes in a bit above floor-level, sharply illuminating one wall but leaving the rest of your surroundings dark and unfathomable.
  
  The inscription stands out beautifully now.
  
  > read the inscription
  You read: Pull this cord, then wait in the room directly above to speak with Lucrezia's steward. Do not let more than five minutes pass between the summons and the waiting, or he will depart again without offering aid.
  
  > Go northeast
  Cut as an afterthought through earth and the underside of the garden, and therefore muddy and soil-scented.
  
  You can see a stool (on which is a candle (providing light)) here.
  
  > take the candle and the stool
  candle: You pick up the candle, restoring the lighting to a more natural angle. Immediately the place seems less unnerving.
  stool: You acquire the stool.
  
  > go to the parliamentry chambers
  You head northeast to rooted room. Then up to rose garden. You climb into the pale light...
  
  , emerging into rose garden. Then south to cloister walk. , emerging into cloister walk. And then west to the parliamentary chambers.
  
  Despite its grand name, this is one of the smaller chambers of the castle, because the kings were never inclined to brook too much advice. On each side of the room are two neat oak benches, seating for perhaps thirty men -- and, more rarely, women, and a few characters who could not be called by either term.
  
  > Wait
  There is a scuffle, and a presence unfolds itself from where it was waiting, unseen, on the benches. It comes towards you and circles you, and you have the idea -- more imagination than eyesight -- that this was once a tall, thin man of considerable power.
  
  It says a few words in the bastardized Italian of the state of Medici-Credenza, and you hear the scrape of wood and stone from somewhere below you: a door opening.
  
  Then the presence vanishes.
  
  > go to the tight passage
  You head east to cloister walk. Then north to rose garden. Then down to rooted room. And finally southwest to tight passage.
  
  The passage through rock ends here, and begins to tunnel through soil instead where it heads northeast.
  
  There is also a sinister door, leading west -- and currently open.
  
  You can also see a cord and an inscription here.
  
  > go to the west
  Little survives here, enough to suggest that a number of books were burned and glass tools smashed. You can only guess at why, or by whom.
  
  But the dominant item is the vast image of Lucrezia at a wardrobe fitting of some kind.
  
  There is also a sinister door, leading east -- and currently open.
  
  A single pile of notes remains.
  
  > look at the image
  Lucrezia stands, imperiously, in what is now the empty bedroom, while a gnome-like shoemaker at her feet customizes pair after pair of shoes to her misshapen--
  
  You look away, unnerved, towards a less disturbing element, the leather tambourine in Lucrezia's hand.
  
  > look up Beast in the notes
  You can discover no specific references to the Beast; though your hazy impression from his conversation is that he never knew Lucrezia, she having been generations before him.
  
  > look up Elzibad in the notes
  Lucrezia seems to have been quite interested in Elzibad, or rather, in what happened to the castle after Elzibad's death, when contracts were made binding upon all who entered. But there is nothing in her notes to suggest that she had access to sources beyond the papers in the records room, and therefore you are likely to be able to find out all the same yourself, if you wish.
  
  > look up the shoemaker in the book
  The runes are unfamiliar to you, but you know what the book is: a record of all the contracts of all the souls enslaved to the king of this castle.
  
  > look up Devil in the notes
  References to the devil are scattered throughout the pages, with no one portion devoted to him entirely. Somewhat to your surprise, Lucrezia does not seem to have been an ardent fan of the Old Gentleman, neither a professed witch nor a worshipper at his court; she was merely interested in a pragmatic, legalistic way in the question of whether his compact with the ruling family of this castle could ever be dissolved, with or without the damnation of all parties.
  
  > look up the pen in the notes
  About the pen there is a considerable raving: "Many tests of fire, water, pressure, torsion, acid, and poison have failed; even gunpowder and holy water have not sufficed to ruin it; nor do I now believe that it can be destroyed, but suppose that, being plucked from the wing of the old man my father, it partakes of his same eternal nature. Therefore the arrangement must be dissolved in some other way."
  
  > look up the roses in the notes
  The roses are of Lucrezia's own breeding, and you have the impression she regarded them in the nature of a practical joke.
  
  > look up the mirror in the notes
  There are various records of the conferences Lucrezia had with various friends, family members, and servants, by ringing bells in the presence of her magical mirrors.
  
  > look up the hourglass in the notes
  From the notes you have the impression that Lucrezia understood the function of the hourglass and expected that everyone else did also; therefore, maddeningly, she did not record it. But it seems merely to be a measure of something, not a source of power or control.
  
  > go to the translation room
  You head east to tight passage. Then northeast to rooted room. Then up to rose garden. You climb into the pale light...
  
  , emerging into rose garden. Then south to cloister walk. , emerging into cloister walk. Then west to the parliamentary chambers. , emerging into the parliamentary chambers. Then west to the state rotunda. , emerging into the state rotunda. Then west to the lower bulb. , emerging into the lower bulb. And then west to the translation room.
  
  Endowed with a deep power that dissolves into ready vernacular even the most ancient and secret scripts of the Law Library.
  
  You can see an ordinary quill pen here.
  
  > read about the shoemaker in book
  You find a contract for a shoemaker: longer than the average contract, because it seems to have enslaved the man almost without limit, to serve Lucrezia's constant need: she had very very bad feet. It omits the usual information about the summons and the usual location of action, but the image in Lucrezia's study is more helpful -- perhaps, again, an intentional precaution on her part.
  
  > read about the cook in the book
  Dozens of cooks were placed under contract, at different times, new ones being brought on as the old ones were unable to keep up with the current fashions in cuisine; and these are controlled in turn by the gold dinner bell.
  
  > read about Beast in the book
  Even if you knew his name, he wouldn't be listed here, of course. The master is not contracted, only the servants.
  
  > read about yourself in the book
  You search, search, search -- and here is the page with your name at the top. But the contract below, which stipulates your eternal imprisonment here, has been amended with a permission to leave and return within seven days. Then: "Guarantor of this exchange: the king of the castle and all his rights and servants." Which means that if you had not returned, the Beast would have been forfeit and all the servants as well.
  
  > read about the father in the book
  Your father's contract is just before your own: a lifetime (and deathtime) of service in this castle, as the immediate result of setting foot herein. From comparison to some of the other contracts, you see that it would have been easy service indeed, no manual labor but only companionship to the king, and no command-bell to make him come or go.
  
  But the contract has been amended in a small neat hand that says: "Voided in voluntary exchange for his daughter's service." That would be where you come in. And: "Guarantor of this exchange: the king of the castle and all his rights and servants."
  
  > read about the gargoyle in the book
  After some researches you succeed in finding a reference, to a young doctor who was contracted to the castle to relieve the impotence of the king's brother, Duke Cantherius.
  
  > read about the miniature in the book
  With some effort, you find the contract, which turns to be one of a large number of contracts involving young women. These all occur towards the end of the book, shortly before your own.
  
  In fact, this is the very last contract recorded before your father's and yours: a young woman named Yvette, brought to the castle -- though she was betrothed to a lord already -- to "serve" the king. You have the impression that the contract book is leaving out a good deal, such as why Yvette was associated with the girdle, and what she was doing here. Perhaps in the papers there will be something.
  
  > go to the papers
  You head east to the lower bulb. Then up to the upper bulb. And finally west to the records room.
  
  Where all the papers and histories are kept, not only for the royal family, but for kin in every kind and direction.
  
  > look up Yvette in the papers
  It takes some searching, but you find it eventually. The king in these parts was accustomed to bring young ladies to the castle when his wooing of them was unsuccessful, whereupon they were under contract and unable to resist him.
  
  This he did for many years, snatching away men's brides; until one day he stole Yvette. She was only a humble milkmaid, but so beautiful she was betrothed to a lord, etc., etc., and moreover her great-great-grandmother had been Lucrezia the Enchantress (oh dear), so she possessed a magical girdle of surpassing power.
  
  When she discovered what was about to happen to her, while she was still on the drawbridge of the castle, she cursed the king to become a mere beast, so that the spell would never be lifted until someone loved him who was not under magical contract. What was more, this person would need the power of that same magical girdle...
  
  There is even a small woodcut of the grieving Yvette, carrying a cow bell and looking downtrodden.
  
  > look up Cantherius in the papers
  Among the records there is a large section on the various failed romantic business of the kings and queens and their brothers and sisters, so that you might almost suspect this to be part of the castle's curse.
  
  In this collection, you find the history of Duke Cantherius: married at 59 to a lissome wife of 17, he "urgently desired to enjoy her company", but found himself unable. He consulted a young Parisian doctor, who contracted that through his services the Duchess would be delivered of a child within the year.
  
  Alas, medicine brought no relief; not even that most reliable method, an ointment of honey, crow's egg, and the gall of an electric eel. The Duchess began to hint that she meant to have the marriage annulled; the Duke grew abusive. Seeing no solution through medical arts, the doctor was compelled by his contract to seduce the Duchess.
  
  When the young woman was delivered of triplets, the Duke kept two of the boys and raised them as his own; the third he strangled, together with the doctor himself, as a punishment to his erring wife.
  
  Whereupon the ugly gargoyle appeared on the stair, and could never be budged.
  
  > go to the notes
  You head east to the upper bulb. Then down to the lower bulb. Then east to the state rotunda. Then east to the parliamentary chambers. Then east to cloister walk. Then north to rose garden. Then down to rooted room. Then southwest to tight passage. And finally west to lucrezia's study.
  
  Little survives here, enough to suggest that a number of books were burned and glass tools smashed. You can only guess at why, or by whom.
  
  But the dominant item is the vast image of Lucrezia at a wardrobe fitting of some kind.
  
  There is also a sinister door, leading east -- and currently open.
  
  A single pile of notes remains.
  
  > go to the bell room
  You head east to tight passage. Then northeast to rooted room. Then up to rose garden. You climb into the pale light...
  
  , emerging into rose garden. Then south to cloister walk. , emerging into cloister walk. Then west to the parliamentary chambers. , emerging into the parliamentary chambers. Then west to the state rotunda. , emerging into the state rotunda. Then west to the lower bulb. , emerging into the lower bulb. Then up to the upper bulb. , emerging into the upper bulb. Then east to the gallery of still life. , emerging into the gallery of still life. Then east to the white gallery. , emerging into the white gallery. And then east to the bellroom.
  
  Kept, conveniently, close to where the masters of the house would once have slept. There are bells large and small, clappers, tambourines, and gongs. Most of these you have never seen used at all.
  
  Roses from the garden below have crept up to grow around the north window, lending a sickly smell to the place.
  
  Nearby an open heavy door leads south to the private parlor.
  
  Catching your eye among many other unfamiliar items are a cow bell, a leather tambourine, a silver bell, and a little gold dinner bell.
  
  > take all
  cow bell: You acquire the cow bell, and assess it curiously.
  
  Much like the ones you used on the cows at home.
  
  leather tambourine: You acquire the leather tambourine, and assess it curiously.
  
  A hoop stretched with good-quality leather.
  
  silver bell: You acquire the silver bell.
  little gold dinner bell: You acquire the little gold dinner bell.
  
  > go to study
  You head west to the white gallery. Then west to the gallery of still life. Then west to the upper bulb. Then down to the lower bulb. Then east to the state rotunda. Then east to the parliamentary chambers. Then east to cloister walk. Then north to rose garden. Then down to rooted room. Then southwest to tight passage. And finally west to lucrezia's study.
  
  Little survives here, enough to suggest that a number of books were burned and glass tools smashed. You can only guess at why, or by whom.
  
  But the dominant item is the vast image of Lucrezia at a wardrobe fitting of some kind.
  
  There is also a sinister door, leading east -- and currently open.
  
  A single pile of notes remains.
  
  > play the tambourine
  You strike the tambourine, but the shoemaker doesn't materialize. And now you think about it, didn't that image in Lucrezia's study show where she was being fitted? Hm.
  
  > go to the parlor
  You head east to tight passage. Then northeast to rooted room. Then up to rose garden. You climb into the pale light...
  
  , emerging into rose garden. Then south to cloister walk. , emerging into cloister walk. Then west to the parliamentary chambers. , emerging into the parliamentary chambers. Then west to the state rotunda. , emerging into the state rotunda. Then south to the central courtyard. , emerging into the central courtyard. Then east to the ground floor helical staircase. , emerging into the ground floor helical staircase. Then up to the upstairs helical staircase. , emerging into the upstairs helical staircase. And then east to the private parlor.
  
  A sitting room of the family, in old times, and familiar territory to you now as well. Your bedroom is just south; other bedrooms, mostly smaller, in other directions.
  
  Nearby an open heavy door leads north to the bellroom.
  
  You can also see a bentwood table (on which is a jigsaw puzzle) here.
  
  > Go southeast
  Like a monk's chamber compared to every other part of the palace, just bare walls now. Here your father stayed, when he made his ill-fated journey to the castle. The Beast told you this, on your first visit.
  
  > play the tambourine
  A brisk wind fusses about your feet, then does something to the shoes, resizing and slightly reshaping so that they might have a hope of staying on you.
  
  > wear the shoes
  You slip your feet into the shoes, and feel less alone. Mere sentiment, you think; but then there is the brush of a thought other than your own. The crypt. Under the Law Library. There are sources
  of power there which even I have never understood.
  
  > go to the drawbridge
  You head northwest to the private parlor. Then west to the upstairs helical staircase. Then down to the ground floor helical staircase. Then west to the central courtyard. Then south to the entrance hall. And finally south to the drawbridge.
  
  There is little enough purpose in loitering outside: He and his servants never come out here, and whatever you must do, you will have to do within.
  
  An iron-barred gate leads north to the entrance hall.
  
  The Beast's thoughts intrude on yours, courtesy of the enchanted shoes: I'm not sure you can leave just now, poppet.
  
  > go to Law Library
  You head north to the entrance hall. Then west to the great dining hall. And finally north to the law library.
  
  Many books of precedent line these walls, containing every kind of contract that can be made to bind every kind of soul.
  
  A hole in the floor descends to the other, less savory portion of this place.