text: [Themes: Afterlife, dead protagonist, riddle]
  
  > Look around
  This chamber's walls, ceiling, and floor are a dozen identical copper tiles, pentagonal, huge, that meet at insane angles yet somehow fit seamlessly together into an angular ball shape. High above you, red flames blaze inside something crystalline; their flickering reflections redouble at every wall.
  
  A marvelously detailed miniature landscape in carved ivory covers most of the floor. A quicksilver river flows through the middle of it; every few moments the landscape floods, becoming a perfect mirror just for an instant.
  
  The liquid metal collects somewhere beneath the landscape at the northern corner, then recirculates by means of some pumping equipment near the southern edge.
  
  > examine the flames
  Far above you, at the center of the ceiling, a red fire blazes inside something crystalline.
  
  > get the crystal
  That is high above you, far out of reach.
  
  > drop it
  You release the shadouf. It slowly resumes moving.
  
  > Sing lost
  Voicelessly you voice Lost Memories.
  
  The song evokes a mood of long ago. Your royal sceptres catch your eye once more, now seeming like something from a half-forgotten dream. A long-ignored memory rushes back...
  
  Your father's funeral. A stranger in an anubis mask, so frightening to you as a child. Endless attendants and functionaries. The old king's sceptres retired: their symbolic power extinguished like spent candles before they passed to you as mere heirlooms. And I took up my own soon after. His body shown, honored, then wrapped, anointed, sealed away...
  
  The mood of Lost Memories fades.
  
  The vision recedes, leaving you holding the sceptres up to the light. Perhaps it is time to be free of these mortal tools. You wonder how you might retire them respectfully in this alien place.
  
  > drop the sceptres in the river
  Which do you mean, your Coronation Crook, or your replacement Coronation Flail?
  
  > Crook
  You dip your Coronation Crook into the quicksilver, but the liquid metal flows off again instantly.
  
  > Inventory
  You are carrying:
  your Coronation Crook
  your replacement Coronation Flail
  a Book of Songs of Getting Through the Day
  
  > examine wheel
  The miniature river is supplied by a waist-high water wheel at the southern edge. Hundreds of tiny cups are mounted all around the rim of this wheel. As it turns - motivated by a force you can't discern - the cups pour a continuous flow of liquid metal into the miniature river.
  
  > stop wheel
  The water wheel stops moving when you take hold of it: it is easy to resist the gentle, mysterious impetus that drives it. Its supply interrupted, the river drains in an instant. Quicksilver lingers only in a complex series of grooves along the river-bed: schematic animals that you recognize after a moment: writing.
  
  > read the landscape
  Might is rarely right:
  Temper law with love,
  Reaping what you sow.
  Day becomes the night:
  As it is above,
  So it is below.
  
  > Sing inversions
  Voicelessly you voice Inversions.
  
  You lose your grip on the wheel as the floor and ceiling seem to change places....
  
  The Dodecahedron (on the ceiling)
  This chamber's walls, ceiling, and floor are a dozen identical copper tiles, pentagonal, huge, that meet at insane angles yet somehow fit seamlessly together into an angular ball shape. Beside you on the ceiling, red flames blaze inside a glittering crystalline shell.
  
  A marvelously detailed miniature landscape in carved ivory covers most of the floor, high above your head. Every few moments you can see yourself, walking on the ceiling, reflected in a flood of quicksilver.
  
  > get the crystal
  That's fixed in place.
  
  The haunting melody of Inversions lingers in your mind.
  
  > touch the crystal
  The shell around the fire is an angular box, clear as distilled water. It seems to be made of smooth-grown slabs of pure quartz crystal, grown together at the edges.
  
  The haunting melody of Inversions lingers in your mind.
  
  > sing glazier
  Voicelessly you voice Master Glazier.
  
  You sense how glass can flow like water.
  
  The mood of Inversions fades.
  The ceiling and floor seem to change places....
  
  This chamber's walls, ceiling, and floor are a dozen identical copper tiles, pentagonal, huge, that meet at insane angles yet somehow fit seamlessly together into an angular ball shape. High above you, red flames blaze inside something crystalline; their flickering reflections redouble at every wall.
  
  A marvelously detailed miniature landscape in carved ivory covers most of the floor. A quicksilver river flows through the middle of it; every few moments the landscape floods, becoming a perfect mirror just for an instant.
  
  The liquid metal collects somewhere beneath the landscape at the northern corner, then recirculates by means of some pumping equipment near the southern edge.
  
  > Sing inversions
  Voicelessly you voice Inversions.
  
  The floor and ceiling seem to change places....
  
  The Dodecahedron (on the ceiling)
  This chamber's walls, ceiling, and floor are a dozen identical copper tiles, pentagonal, huge, that meet at insane angles yet somehow fit seamlessly together into an angular ball shape. Beside you on the ceiling, red flames blaze inside a glittering crystalline shell.
  
  A marvelously detailed miniature landscape in carved ivory covers most of the floor, high above your head. Every few moments you can see yourself, walking on the ceiling, reflected in a flood of quicksilver.
  
  The mood of Master Glazier fades.
  
  > sing glazier
  Voicelessly you voice Master Glazier.
  
  You sense how glass can flow like water.
  
  The haunting melody of Inversions lingers in your mind.
  
  > take fire
  The crystalline shell isn't open.
  
  The mood of Master Glazier fades.
  The haunting melody of Inversions lingers in your mind.
  
  > look at the crystal
  The shell around the fire is an angular box, clear as distilled water. It seems to be made of smooth-grown slabs of pure quartz crystal, grown together at the edges.
  
  The mood of Master Glazier fades.
  The haunting melody of Inversions lingers in your mind.
  
  > hit the shell
  Your strength is insufficient to damage it.
  
  > open crystal
  The mood of Master Glazier fades.
  The haunting melody of Inversions lingers in your mind.
  
  It is beyond your strength to open that.
  
  The mood of Inversions fades.
  The ceiling and floor seem to change places....
  
  This chamber's walls, ceiling, and floor are a dozen identical copper tiles, pentagonal, huge, that meet at insane angles yet somehow fit seamlessly together into an angular ball shape. High above you, red flames blaze inside something crystalline; their flickering reflections redouble at every wall.
  
  A marvelously detailed miniature landscape in carved ivory covers most of the floor. A quicksilver river flows through the middle of it; every few moments the landscape floods, becoming a perfect mirror just for an instant.
  
  The liquid metal collects somewhere beneath the landscape at the northern corner, then recirculates by means of some pumping equipment near the southern edge.
  
  > Sing inversions
  Voicelessly you voice Inversions.
  
  The floor and ceiling seem to change places....
  
  The Dodecahedron (on the ceiling)
  This chamber's walls, ceiling, and floor are a dozen identical copper tiles, pentagonal, huge, that meet at insane angles yet somehow fit seamlessly together into an angular ball shape. Beside you on the ceiling, red flames blaze inside a glittering crystalline shell.
  
  A marvelously detailed miniature landscape in carved ivory covers most of the floor, high above your head. Every few moments you can see yourself, walking on the ceiling, reflected in a flood of quicksilver.
  
  > Sing Sandstone
  Voicelessly you voice Sandstone Sifter.
  
  Sandstone - even quartz - feels just like loose sand to you.
  
  The haunting melody of Inversions lingers in your mind.
  
  > hit the shell
  Your hands pass through the crystalline shell, meeting no resistance.
  
  The mood of Sandstone Sifter fades.
  The haunting melody of Inversions lingers in your mind.
  
  > take fire
  The crystalline shell isn't open.
  
  The mood of Inversions fades.
  The ceiling and floor seem to change places....
  
  This chamber's walls, ceiling, and floor are a dozen identical copper tiles, pentagonal, huge, that meet at insane angles yet somehow fit seamlessly together into an angular ball shape. High above you, red flames blaze inside something crystalline; their flickering reflections redouble at every wall.
  
  A marvelously detailed miniature landscape in carved ivory covers most of the floor. A quicksilver river flows through the middle of it; every few moments the landscape floods, becoming a perfect mirror just for an instant.
  
  The liquid metal collects somewhere beneath the landscape at the northern corner, then recirculates by means of some pumping equipment near the southern edge.
  
  > take the fire
  The crystalline shell isn't open.
  
  The mood of Sandstone Sifter fades.
  The haunting melody of Inversions lingers in your mind.
  
  > open the shell
  It is beyond your strength to open that.
  
  The mood of Inversions fades.
  The ceiling and floor seem to change places....
  
  This chamber's walls, ceiling, and floor are a dozen identical copper tiles, pentagonal, huge, that meet at insane angles yet somehow fit seamlessly together into an angular ball shape. High above you, red flames blaze inside something crystalline; their flickering reflections redouble at every wall.
  
  A marvelously detailed miniature landscape in carved ivory covers most of the floor. A quicksilver river flows through the middle of it; every few moments the landscape floods, becoming a perfect mirror just for an instant.
  
  The liquid metal collects somewhere beneath the landscape at the northern corner, then recirculates by means of some pumping equipment near the southern edge.
  
  > Inventory
  You are carrying:
  your Coronation Crook
  your replacement Coronation Flail
  a Book of Songs of Getting Through the Day
  
  > touch the fire
  In the center of a shell of solid quartz crystal, red fire blazes out in all directions from something like a tangle of gold wire.
  
  The mood of Sandstone Sifter fades.
  The haunting melody of Inversions lingers in your mind.
  
  > put Crook in the fire
  (first entering the crystalline shell)
  Fire engulfs your Coronation Crook. It has served you well, but you feel rightly free of it now.
  
  The fire darkens strangely as it consumes your Coronation Crook, the bright red flames turning to dark purple with fringes of black.
  
  The mood of Sandstone Sifter fades.
  The haunting melody of Inversions lingers in your mind.
  
  > wait a while
  Time passes.
  
  The mood of Inversions fades.
  The ceiling and floor seem to change places....
  
  This chamber's walls, ceiling, and floor are a dozen identical copper tiles, pentagonal, huge, that meet at insane angles yet somehow fit seamlessly together into an angular ball shape. High above you, purple flames blaze inside something crystalline; their flickering reflections redouble at every wall.
  
  A marvelously detailed miniature landscape in carved ivory covers most of the floor. A quicksilver river flows through the middle of it; every few moments the landscape floods, becoming a perfect mirror just for an instant.
  
  The liquid metal collects somewhere beneath the landscape at the northern corner, then recirculates by means of some pumping equipment near the southern edge.
  
  > Sing inversions
  Voicelessly you voice Inversions.
  
  The floor and ceiling seem to change places....
  
  The Dodecahedron (on the ceiling)
  This chamber's walls, ceiling, and floor are a dozen identical copper tiles, pentagonal, huge, that meet at insane angles yet somehow fit seamlessly together into an angular ball shape. Beside you on the ceiling, purple flames blaze inside a glittering crystalline shell.
  
  A marvelously detailed miniature landscape in carved ivory covers most of the floor, high above your head. Every few moments you can see yourself, walking on the ceiling, reflected in a flood of quicksilver.
  
  > put Flail in the fire
  (first entering the crystalline shell)
  Fire encloses your replacement Coronation Flail and darkens, darkens until the flames are black as night. Sparks like stars fly from the flame-tips, swirl within the shell, strike the crystal walls and fade. Darkness spreads throughout the chamber, reflected in polished copper and flowing quicksilver.
  
  You feel the ending of a day of mysteries; a decade of rule; a lifetime of joys and pains. Now the sun has set on my reign. Let my successor have his day in the sun....
  
  This time you almost see the westward arch flick into existence.
  
  The mood of Sandstone Sifter fades.
  The haunting melody of Inversions lingers in your mind.
  
  > wait
  Time passes.
  
  The mood of Inversions fades.
  The ceiling and floor seem to change places....
  
  This chamber's walls, ceiling, and floor are a dozen identical copper tiles, pentagonal, huge, that meet at insane angles yet somehow fit seamlessly together into an angular ball shape. High above you, black flames blaze inside something crystalline; their flickering reflections redouble at every wall.
  
  A marvelously detailed miniature landscape in carved ivory covers most of the floor, details shrouded by the black firelight.
  
  A serene arch leads west.
  
  > go west
  In a sudden whirr of metal sliding on metal, a clockwork lioness leaps from some unseen perch and blocks your way!
  
  > examine the lioness
  A lioness crafted of jointed plates of bronze, accented with precious stones. (The eyes are polished cat's-eye, of course.) You can hear gears purring inside its muscular chest.
  
  The clockwork lioness returns your attention, redoubled. Something inside it spins faster and suddenly it speaks, in a voice like wet fingers stroking a dozen glass bowls:
  
  A king may look at a cat, but none may pass without answering my riddle:
  
  What is supported by six legs in the morning, five legs at midday, and four legs in the evening?
  
  The feline device paces impatiently, waiting for your answer.
  
  > examine the lioness
  A lioness crafted of jointed plates of bronze, accented with precious stones. (The eyes are polished cat's-eye, of course.) You can hear gears purring inside its muscular chest.
  
  The feline device paces impatiently, waiting for your answer.
  
  > go to the west
  The clockwork lioness steps firmly into your path with a growl of grinding gears. In musical tones it repeats its question: What is supported by six legs in the morning, five legs at midday, and four legs in the evening?
  
  The feline device paces impatiently, waiting for your answer.
  
  > sing Gold
  (Gold Digger)
  Voicelessly you voice Gold Digger.
  
  Gold seems like such a yielding material....
  
  The feline device paces impatiently, waiting for your answer.
  
  > enter the lioness
  You can't ride that.
  
  The feline device paces impatiently, waiting for your answer.
  
  The mood of Gold Digger fades.
  
  > check what you're carrying
  You are carrying:
  a Book of Songs of Getting Through the Day
  
  The feline device paces impatiently, waiting for your answer.
  
  > ask the lioness about the riddle
  There is no reply.
  
  The feline device paces impatiently, waiting for your answer.
  
  > say yourself
  (to the Clockwork Lioness)
  The clockwork cat looks up abruptly, whirring. It bares its polished fangs, and shakes its head slightly before beginning to pace again.
  
  The feline device paces impatiently, waiting for your answer.
  
  > eat lioness
  (first taking the Clockwork Lioness)
  I don't suppose the Clockwork Lioness would care for that.
  
  The feline device paces impatiently, waiting for your answer.