Start of a transcript of Savoir-Faire An interactive search for loot. Copyright Emily Short 2002. Type INFO if you have not played before. Type LICENSE for the terms of use and distribution. Type CREDITS for tester and library acknowledgements. Release 5 / Serial number 020419 / Inform v6.15 Library 6/10 Standard interpreter 1.0 (6F) / Library serial number 991113 >restore Ok. >i You are carrying: four food items: some apples some hunks of salt pork some lentils a vanilla bean a navy cloak some documents a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc (which is closed) an iron key (which opens the magenta door leading east) a round metal tin (which is open but empty) a sack (which is open) a bottle of mead (which is closed) a red glass jar (which is closed) a quantity of sugar (which leaves the red glass jar about half full) a blue glass jar (which is closed) some sea-salt (which leaves the blue glass jar about half full) an old letter a pearl necklace a dark wooden box (which is open) a mirror inset inside the box (reflecting white light from the sunlight) some household papers a small portrait a sword four books: The Lavori d'Aracne Guide to Assorted Wines Clock Repair On Vegetable Dyes a stone block a crumpled paper two recipe cylinders: a Lentil Soup Recipe an Andouillettes Recipe a burnt scrap of paper three metal dishes: a hinge-lidded teapot (which is open but empty) a plate a cup a butcher knife a sponge a swordstick a snuffbox (which is closed) four food items: a clove of garlic a loaf of stale bread some andouillettes a single yellow onion a dashing hat (being worn) >put all in sack apples: Done. hunks of salt pork: Done. lentils: Done. vanilla bean: Done. navy cloak: Done. documents: Done. bottle of Sauvignon Blanc: Done. iron key: Done. round metal tin: Done. >i You are carrying: a sack (which is open) a round metal tin (which is open but empty) an iron key (which opens the magenta door leading east) a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc (which is closed) some documents a navy cloak a bottle of mead (which is closed) a red glass jar (which is closed) a quantity of sugar (which leaves the red glass jar about half full) a blue glass jar (which is closed) some sea-salt (which leaves the blue glass jar about half full) an old letter a pearl necklace a dark wooden box (which is open) a mirror inset inside the box (reflecting white light from the sunlight) some household papers a small portrait a sword four books: The Lavori d'Aracne Guide to Assorted Wines Clock Repair On Vegetable Dyes a stone block a crumpled paper two recipe cylinders: a Lentil Soup Recipe an Andouillettes Recipe a burnt scrap of paper three metal dishes: a hinge-lidded teapot (which is open but empty) a plate a cup a butcher knife a sponge a swordstick a snuffbox (which is closed) eight food items: a vanilla bean some lentils some hunks of salt pork some apples a clove of garlic a loaf of stale bread some andouillettes a single yellow onion a dashing hat (being worn) >restore Invalid save file Restore failed. >pour sugar into contraption (first taking the delicate contraption) It is both too large and too delicate to remove. (taking the red glass jar) Taken. The red glass jar isn't open. >open jar (the red glass jar) You open the red glass jar. >pour sugar into contraption You put some sugar in the delicate contraption, exhausting the supply in the red glass jar. There is still some room remaining in the delicate contraption. >put bean in contraption (first taking the vanilla bean) Taken. You put the vanilla bean into the delicate contraption. >read chocolate Chocolate Recipe: dark beans, sugar, vanilla bean. >put plate in contraption (first taking the plate) Taken. You put the plate into the delicate contraption. >turn dial You turn the dial gently with one finger, and it clicks around to display the setting LEAF. >g You turn the dial gently with one finger, and it clicks around to display the setting ROSE. >turn on contraption There is a regretful clicking noise from the vicinity of the lid-catch. Just as you think you are going to have to close it yourself, a gloved mechanical hand reaches up and slams the contraption shut from the inside. The machine's gears spin into action; a series of fine flanges, like the keys of a music box, move into position against the surface of the cylinder, which rotates steadily. There is such a long silence from inside the box that you think nothing is happening at all. Then, after a great pause, you begin to smell a distinctly sweet chocolatey smell. [Your score has just gone up by four points.] >open it You open the contraption, revealing a plate, on top of which is a chocolate rose. >get plate Taken. >e Kitchen Garden West is the wall of the kitchen. Most of the space along the wall is planted with herbs -- bay, parsley, stalks of mint -- left of the open doorway. To its right is only a drainage ditch, catching the outflow of a pipe that comes through the wall. In one corner of the plot is the well, drilled many deep feet; in another is the antique sundial. A tangle of climbing roses covers almost completely the wall and door of a shed to the southeast. >link chocolate to roses Bending your will, you form the link between the chocolate rose and the roses. >eat chocolate You consume the chocolate in a few bites. It is not enough to quiet real hunger, but the flavor goes down rich and delightful. As you consume the chocolate, the roses on the shed blur and melt. There is a pungent scent of flowers, as though it were noon in August; it mingles with the flavor of chocolate in your mouth and nose. Then the thorns drip from the vines, the vines themselves become rivulets on the surface of the shed; everything soaks into the dirt, leaving not even a patch of damp. [Your score has just gone up by three points.] >se Shed Disused for quite a long time, evidently. There is dirt in the corners, and some evidence of inhabitation by rodents or perhaps even a larger animal, now and then. Some rust stains on the walls indicate where tools used to hang, but no longer do. A rope ladder lies in a heap on the floor. >get ladder Taken. >nw Kitchen Garden West is the wall of the kitchen. Most of the space along the wall is planted with herbs -- bay, parsley, stalks of mint -- left of the open doorway. To its right is only a drainage ditch, catching the outflow of a pipe that comes through the wall. In one corner of the plot is the well, drilled many deep feet; in another is the antique sundial. >tie ladder to teapot (or rather, hooking on, since it needn't be tied) There's no good way to attach the rope ladder. >attach ladder to bar (or rather, hooking on, since it needn't be tied) You adroitly fasten the rope ladder to the bar. >turn bar Nothing obvious happens. >reel bar That's not a verb I recognize. >climb ladder The water would stain the silk of your good waistcoat! In your hunger, you imagine in great clarity an omelette of herbs and chives. The image is more vivid than the vision of food has any right to be. >get ladder Taken. >[hmmm] That's not a verb I recognize. >w Kitchen A long, cross-beamed room, originally washed with white, though smoke has tinged the walls above the massive fireplace in which roasts are prepared. In addition, there are thick high tables that run the length of the room. To the east is the kitchen garden through which you entered; west is the corridor that connects with the main house. To the north there is the little scullery, and upstairs is the attic where the servants sleep. On the kitchen tables is a delicate contraption (which is empty). >w Kitchen Corridor A narrow corridor between the kitchen and the main house, which has a thick separate wall. The two buildings are only barely attached, to discourage fires. A small staircase leads down. Double doors give west onto the main house. >w Dining Room A grand room, for dining in style. The plastered ceiling is several times your height. The air now is cool and deep, the sunlight glancing through the windows and scattering from the chandelier, putting points of light at your feet, over the table, across the painted wallpaper and the handsome wood paneling. Woodworked columns frame the exits west and southwest. Heavy double doors open east to the kitchen. >sw Entrance Hall Flourishing, spacious; it is its best with a half-dozen servants in livery. The floor is Italian marble. The main staircase ascends to the corridor on the second floor, and a smaller version leads down into the dim basement. Doors also open north and northeast. On the wall is one of those mechanical clocks that pop open on the hour, allowing the ingenious internal figures out to play. >u Staircase, First Floor The top of a broad curving stair: east is the long salon that goes the length of the house, downstairs are the foyer and the grand receiving rooms. North is the old conservatory. >n Old Conservatory A chilly northern exposure, perhaps, but really quite lovely. This room used to be where Marie would practice her music, and the Countess play her compositions; Marie's own room lies to the west. On the high shelf is a celestial bauble. The pianoforte stands in the center of the room. >throw ladder at shelf The rope ladder is much too large for you to throw gracefully. >push piano It is fixed in place. >stand on piano That's not something you can stand on. >frotz bauble I only understood you as far as wanting to frotz. >frotz When you speak the magic word, you find yourself unexpectedly provided with a new cylinder of shining metal!! >[ha!] That's not a verb I recognize. >i You are carrying: an Easter Egg Recipe a rope ladder a plate a red glass jar (which is open but empty) a sack (which is open) a round metal tin (which is open but empty) an iron key (which opens the magenta door leading east) a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc (which is closed) some documents a navy cloak a bottle of mead (which is closed) a blue glass jar (which is closed) some sea-salt (which leaves the blue glass jar about half full) an old letter a pearl necklace a dark wooden box (which is open) a mirror inset inside the box (reflecting white light from the sunlight) some household papers a small portrait a sword four books: The Lavori d'Aracne Guide to Assorted Wines Clock Repair On Vegetable Dyes a stone block a crumpled paper two recipe cylinders: a Lentil Soup Recipe an Andouillettes Recipe a burnt scrap of paper two metal dishes: a hinge-lidded teapot (which is open but empty) a cup a butcher knife a sponge a swordstick a snuffbox (which is closed) seven food items: some lentils some hunks of salt pork some apples a clove of garlic a loaf of stale bread some andouillettes a single yellow onion a dashing hat (being worn) >x easter egg A cylinder of silver metal perhaps as long as your thumb. On the surface are a series of strange bumps, depressions, and grooves. The core of the cylinder is hollow, but over one end is a paper label, which reads, "Easter Egg Recipe." Smaller writing on the label indicates the ingredient list. >read it Easter Egg Recipe: eggs in colored shells, butter, sea salt, hard cheese. >xyzzy Nothing further results from your mutterings. >[ha! ha ha ha ha ha.] That's not a verb I recognize. >waylay bauble That's not a verb I recognize. >[awww...] That's not a verb I recognize. >[arr, new version] You seem to want to talk to someone, but I can't see whom. >quit Are you sure you want to quit? y The beautiful life is always damned, they say. As for you, you've overexpended yourself: fifteen years of prominence, champagne, carriage rides in the Tuileries, having your name whispered behind manicured hands, getting elegant ladies out of elegant fixes -- and you're in debt. Bound by oath and honor to a pack of scoundrels. Your father, old peasant that he was, could have warned you against their type. You'd hoped to find the Count at home; your original plan was to ask him for an advance on the money you expect to earn on your estate in a month or two. But according to the local population, the Count hasn't been home in months, and Marie, who was in residence until recently, has vanished as well. "No one around the big house now," says one of the peasant women tersely. "Even turned off the cook, they did." But you need the money at once; if you return to Paris without it, your creditors are unlikely to be forgiving. So you walked over the fields anyway, and got in through the gap in the kitchen garden wall. You will just have to find what you can. Savoir-Faire An interactive search for loot. Copyright Emily Short 2002. Type INFO if you have not played before. Type LICENSE for the terms of use and distribution. Type CREDITS for tester and library acknowledgements. Release 6 / Serial number 020420 / Inform v6.15 Library 6/10 Kitchen Garden West is the wall of the kitchen. Most of the space along the wall is planted with herbs -- bay, parsley, stalks of mint -- left of the open doorway. To its right is only a drainage ditch, catching the outflow of a pipe that comes through the wall. In one corner of the plot is the well, drilled many deep feet; in another is the antique sundial. A tangle of climbing roses covers almost completely the wall and door of a shed to the southeast. >w Kitchen A long, cross-beamed room, originally washed with white, though smoke has tinged the walls above the massive fireplace in which roasts are prepared. In addition, there are thick high tables that run the length of the room. To the east is the kitchen garden through which you entered; west is the corridor that connects with the main house. To the north there is the little scullery, and upstairs is the attic where the servants sleep. On the kitchen tables are a loaf of stale bread and a delicate contraption (which is closed). A string of andouillettes hangs from a beam of the ceiling. >n Scullery A small, workmanlike room with a floor of white stones. The principal features of the room are a counter, with a large inset washbasin also made of stone, and a tall wooden cupboard. On the countertop are a sponge, a butcher knife and a sack (in which is a single yellow onion). >get sack Taken. >get all sponge: Taken. butcher knife: Taken. >s Kitchen A long, cross-beamed room, originally washed with white, though smoke has tinged the walls above the massive fireplace in which roasts are prepared. In addition, there are thick high tables that run the length of the room. To the east is the kitchen garden through which you entered; west is the corridor that connects with the main house. To the north there is the little scullery, and upstairs is the attic where the servants sleep. On the kitchen tables are a loaf of stale bread and a delicate contraption (which is closed). A string of andouillettes hangs from a beam of the ceiling. >get all andouillettes: You can't reach the andouillettes from here. burnt scrap of paper: Taken. loaf of stale bread: Taken. delicate contraption: It is both too large and too delicate to remove. >open contraption You open the contraption, revealing a clove of garlic. >get garlic (putting the snuffbox into the sack to make room) Taken. >e Kitchen Garden West is the wall of the kitchen. Most of the space along the wall is planted with herbs -- bay, parsley, stalks of mint -- left of the open doorway. To its right is only a drainage ditch, catching the outflow of a pipe that comes through the wall. In one corner of the plot is the well, drilled many deep feet; in another is the antique sundial. A tangle of climbing roses covers almost completely the wall and door of a shed to the southeast. >get bay, parsley, mint growing bay: You pick some of the growing bay. growing parsley: You pick some of the growing parsley. growing mint: You pick some of the growing mint. >w Kitchen A long, cross-beamed room, originally washed with white, though smoke has tinged the walls above the massive fireplace in which roasts are prepared. In addition, there are thick high tables that run the length of the room. To the east is the kitchen garden through which you entered; west is the corridor that connects with the main house. To the north there is the little scullery, and upstairs is the attic where the servants sleep. On the kitchen tables is a delicate contraption (which is empty). A string of andouillettes hangs from a beam of the ceiling. >u Servants' Dormitory Up here the female servants used to sleep. Now there is only a dreary row of unmade beds; a rack for drying washing; the fireplace, hollow and untended. Time was, when you were very young, that you used to creep in here for chatter and gossip, and the language you were used to hearing at home. On the drying rack is a white handkerchief. >get hanky (putting the swordstick into the sack to make room) Taken. >look under bed Your investigations under the bed turn up a silver cylinder and a crumpled piece of paper -- the latter apparently intentionally hidden, since it was folded in quarters and tucked into the frame of one bed. [Your score has just gone up by two points.] >read it All of the beds are of the rickety sort with a thin straw mattress. Usually this was accompanied by several layers of blanket -- the Count was not an unreasonable man, and the servants were not ill-treated. But the blankets are gone now. >read crumpled Your name is written on it, perhaps a dozen times, with various honorifics, in Marie's elegant handwriting. She was fluently literate but always a painstaking writer, determined never to blot her work, and wrote, even when grown up, with the tip of her tongue caught between her teeth. >x fireplace Not nearly as large as the ones downstairs, of course, and principally intended for keeping the inhabitants toasty when the winter set in especially hard. Something about the fireplace tickles your recollection. >remember it ... Anton's wife Leonie stood by the fireplace. "The new maid -- I think she is a snoop." Anton shrugged his broad shoulders. "She chops potatoes," he said. "Nonetheless I don't trust her. Give me the money." And she took the little sack of coins Anton held out to her, their savings, and concealed them behind a brick in the fireplace. ... >x brick A reddish-brown brick darkened by smoke, and pushed forward from its position among the others. >move it Age and heat have hardened the cement holding the brick in place. >d Kitchen A long, cross-beamed room, originally washed with white, though smoke has tinged the walls above the massive fireplace in which roasts are prepared. In addition, there are thick high tables that run the length of the room. To the east is the kitchen garden through which you entered; west is the corridor that connects with the main house. To the north there is the little scullery, and upstairs is the attic where the servants sleep. On the kitchen tables is a delicate contraption (which is empty). A string of andouillettes hangs from a beam of the ceiling. >stand on table You get onto the kitchen tables. On the kitchen tables you can see a delicate contraption (which is empty). >jump You leap, catch the beam over your head with one hand, snatch the sausages in the other, and land back on the table with only a slight thump. >d You get off the kitchen tables. Kitchen A long, cross-beamed room, originally washed with white, though smoke has tinged the walls above the massive fireplace in which roasts are prepared. In addition, there are thick high tables that run the length of the room. To the east is the kitchen garden through which you entered; west is the corridor that connects with the main house. To the north there is the little scullery, and upstairs is the attic where the servants sleep. On the kitchen tables is a delicate contraption (which is empty). >w Kitchen Corridor A narrow corridor between the kitchen and the main house, which has a thick separate wall. The two buildings are only barely attached, to discourage fires. A small staircase leads down. Double doors, west, bar your access to the main house. Lying to one side, and thereby doing no good at all, is the stone block often used as a doorstop. >get block (putting the sponge into the sack to make room) Taken. >x doors A pair of white-painted doors that lead into the upstairs corridor of the house. Each door panel is decorated with the family crest, picked out in ostentatious gold, as though to warn servants not to wander that direction uninvited. >link doors to pot You can't see any such thing. >e Kitchen A long, cross-beamed room, originally washed with white, though smoke has tinged the walls above the massive fireplace in which roasts are prepared. In addition, there are thick high tables that run the length of the room. To the east is the kitchen garden through which you entered; west is the corridor that connects with the main house. To the north there is the little scullery, and upstairs is the attic where the servants sleep. On the kitchen tables is a delicate contraption (which is empty). >n Scullery A small, workmanlike room with a floor of white stones. The principal features of the room are a counter, with a large inset washbasin also made of stone, and a tall wooden cupboard. >open cupboard You open the cupboard, revealing three metal dishes (a cup, a plate and a hinge- lidded teapot). >get all from it cup: (putting the butcher knife into the sack to make room) Removed. plate: (putting the burnt scrap of paper into the sack to make room) Removed. hinge-lidded teapot: (putting the loaf of stale bread into the sack to make room) Removed. >s Kitchen A long, cross-beamed room, originally washed with white, though smoke has tinged the walls above the massive fireplace in which roasts are prepared. In addition, there are thick high tables that run the length of the room. To the east is the kitchen garden through which you entered; west is the corridor that connects with the main house. To the north there is the little scullery, and upstairs is the attic where the servants sleep. On the kitchen tables is a delicate contraption (which is empty). >w Kitchen Corridor A narrow corridor between the kitchen and the main house, which has a thick separate wall. The two buildings are only barely attached, to discourage fires. A small staircase leads down. Double doors, west, bar your access to the main house. >link doors to pot Bending your will, you form the link between the double doors and the hinge- lidded teapot. [Your score has just gone up by two points.] >open pot You open the hinge-lidded teapot. The double doors open slowly of their own accord, the ancient hinges protesting. >w Dining Room A grand room, for dining in style. The plastered ceiling is several times your height. The air now is cool and deep, the sunlight glancing through the windows and scattering from the chandelier, putting points of light at your feet, over the table, across the painted wallpaper and the handsome wood paneling. Woodworked columns frame the exits west and southwest. Heavy double doors open east to the kitchen. [Your score has just gone up by five points.] >x wallpaper Painted with images such as the queen entering a room accompanied by waiting women. The main subject of each picture is realistic, but there are fantasies around the edges: a fox standing on two legs, dressed in the coat and hose of a courtier, with a broad hat; a girl's gown trailing into peacock feathers. Something about the wallpaper tickles your recollection. >remember it ... "So the man linked himself to a suit of armor. And then he left the suit of armor at home, and went off to war to fight in his bare skin, thinking that whatever happened to him, the links would protect him. But at home his wife was horrified to see the armor slashed in pieces before her eyes..." "Anabelle," interrupted the Count, standing at the doorway with a hand on his vest. "Do you really think this story is appropriate for the children?" The Countess shrugged, half-smiling as she always had when the Count overrode her authority. "I hardly think it is any more disturbing than the other things Marie reads," she said lightly. "The dining room is more frightening than this story." "I don't mean that, of course." The Count smiled over you and Marie -- you on the floor, Marie with her skirts spread around her on the chaise. "But our children should not be told silly superstitions about linking." He came into the room then, touching the Countess' shoulder with an affectionate gesture. "Marie," he said, "What is wrong with your mother's story?" "The man has confused reverse-links and ordinary ones," Marie replied. "And he would have to be very stupid to do that, because reverse-links are harder to make and you can always tell when you have done it." The Count nodded at her. "Very good." He kissed the Countess and went out again... ... >w Library Originally a salon for the receiving of guests; but in recent years the Count has become increasingly interested in his own projects, and has taken over the entire room for the storage of books. Bookshelves line the walls, reaching above your head, leaving exits only east and south. A clockwork model of the universe stands in one corner. On one wall is an enormous portrait of the Count's father, from the hand of Hyacinthe Rigaud. >x portrait The old man appears to stand in a vague, ruddy landscape; all the artist's attention was spared for his clothing, which is rendered in shimmering detail, lustrous silks and fur, and for the giant bi-partite mound of wig on his head, whose curls fall over each shoulder. Something about the framed portrait tickles your recollection. >remember it ... "He can make links," the Countess hissed. Neither of them saw you in the doorway of the library. "Anabelle--" "And don't tell me that your father strayed into some peasant's bed in his dotage, because I have seen Pierre's mother and she is not old enough to--" "Anabelle, calm yourself." He put a hand on her shoulder, spoke in his voice of diplomacy. "Now you will tell me that he is some by-blow of someone passing through the village, I suppose? Some guest of ours, perhaps?" she asked bitterly. "I wondered why you were so ready to accept him--" "I swear to you, Pierre is no son of mine. Nor, I think, is he any relative of ours for many generations. It is possible that these things appear sportively even among the lesser classes, you know..." She shrugged his hand away. "There's something you aren't telling me," she said. "I always know it, you say so yourself." He sighed. "I will tell you, Ana, but it is not what you think..." ... Hmm. Something to eat would be good. >x model Fitted out with tiny planets on arms, and the major moons of the planets, revolving around a center. There is no sun, however; there is only a sort of holder designed to contain something spherical. Most of the planets are ordinary balls of solid metal, except for Jupiter. They stand still. Oddly, the contraption also seems to be linked, and quite unsubtly, to something in the foyer, to the south. You can feel the pull of it. Something about the model universe tickles your recollection. >remember it ... The Count was standing in the library, tinkering with the model; Marie was bent over it as well, instructing him about what to connect where. "I will never understand," he remarked to you, "how it is that she has such a mechanical mind. Not the least interest in diplomacy..." "It is my cold heart, Papa," she replied, tossing aside her clockmaking tools. "It is done?" he asked her. "Put the light in," she said, "and then make it go." You turned away. "Stay and see how it works!" Marie called after you. "Sorry, infant, the road to Paris is long..." ... >s Entrance Hall Flourishing, spacious; it is its best with a half-dozen servants in livery. The floor is Italian marble, and the walls are dressed with yellow silk hangings. The main staircase ascends to the corridor on the second floor, and a smaller version leads down into the dim basement. Doors also open north and northeast. On the wall is one of those mechanical clocks that pop open on the hour, allowing the ingenious internal figures out to play. >x clock Hand-carved by a German carver from dark wood; it was a present to the Count by a political ally. The Countess considered the clock a bit gauche, but was persuaded that it would be impolite not to display it. It consists of the face, a pendulum and pair of weights, and a little door above the face that opens when the hour is struck. It is not ticking at the moment. The clock shows the time to be 10:13. >u Staircase, First Floor The top of a broad curving stair: east is the long salon that goes the length of the house, downstairs are the foyer and the grand receiving rooms. (You and Marie used to sit up here when the Count had guests, watching them arrive downstairs in their magnificent clothing, until you got old enough to be introduced yourselves.) North is the old conservatory. >e Long Salon In days gone by you ran up and down these halls with Marie, and were barely able to stop at the end, skidding in your stockings the last few feet before the stairs began. She's gone now, both the little girl with dusk-blonde curls and the somewhat older one with dangerous slanting eyes and cleverly backwards magics; the dust falls long and slowly, the walls echo with absence. West is the top of the staircase, and rooms open to the north and east. The door east is closed. A small portrait hangs on the wall. >get portrait (putting the clove of garlic into the sack to make room) Taken. >x it Oil on wood, of a small, pinch-faced girl; the writing on the back says it is the Baroness D'Envers at a young age, which would make her some distant cousin of the Count, several generations back, and also related to the man currently holding all your notes. It is not especially well-executed, and probably worth fairly little on the market. >x east (the tall door) A single tall door with gilt trim marking out its panels. It is dense with the links the Count laid on it -- to lock by itself when closed, to submit to no links by anyone else. When you lived here, it responded to a touch of your hand, though there was also a key used by the servants. >touch it Apparently it has forgotten you. >n Countess' Sitting Room This was the countess' favorite room, and it is more richly decorated than any other in the house, betraying her taste for the brightly-colored and the jewel- like. The count brought her some things from his travels, and made others for her. Most of the contents seem to be gone -- the chairs and sofas, and the wall hangings -- but some bits remain. A thick-pile Persian rug lies on the floor, patterned in lapis and emerald. Against one wall is a glass case full of rare and valuable clockwork figures. >x case The case is specially made of glass and wood. Inscribed into the surface of the glass with a fine cutting tool are the words: "CAREFUL! DO NOT BREAK!" Inside are mechanical dancers and a clockwork bee. Something about the glass case tickles your recollection. >remember it ... Many years ago, the Countess stood at this case, looking at the contents. "Sometimes I feel like one of these," she said, softly. "Trapped..." She met your eye. "You don't understand what I am saying, do you?" You shook your head. "They are made of gears and magic links," she said. "They have no choices." ... >s Long Salon A long empty room with shined wooden floors, perfect for sliding in stocking- feet. West is the top of the staircase, and rooms open to the north and east. The door east is closed. >w Staircase, First Floor The top of a broad curving stair: east is the long salon that goes the length of the house, downstairs are the foyer and the grand receiving rooms. North is the old conservatory. >n Old Conservatory A chilly northern exposure, perhaps, but really quite lovely. This room used to be where Marie would practice her music, and the Countess play her compositions; Marie's own room lies to the west. On the high shelf is a celestial bauble. The pianoforte stands in the center of the room. >w Marie's Chamber Stripped of the elegant clutter it once possessed, the room still offers a charming view through the north window of the old grounds, and the way out is to the east. The wallpaper and floorboards are still as elegant as ever. Hanging on the wall is an elegant gilt-wood mirror, reflecting sunlight over the ground before it. Her desk remains, pushed against the wall. It was a long journey down here, and you're wishing you had had something to eat. >open top You open the top drawer, revealing some household papers. >get papers (putting the bay leaf into the sack to make room) Taken. >read them You turn up elaborate designs for a model house that would exactly copy a real house, with all the doors and windows built, and links made, so that one could watch all comings and goings, and close and lock passages from a distance. At the bottom is added, in Marie's meticulous hand, "Would probably annoy half the adulterers in Paris. Pity." >g You pass your eye over an intended menu, which Marie has laid out in rigorous detail from the soup to the cheeses, not leaving anything to chance, not even the ices to cleanse the palate. (You scowl a little at the concept of a beet- flavored ice, however. No doubt it would look pretty, but God knows about the taste.) >g You pass your eye over an intended menu, which Marie has laid out in rigorous detail from the soup to the cheeses, not leaving anything to chance, not even the ices to cleanse the palate. (You scowl a little at the concept of a beet- flavored ice, however. No doubt it would look pretty, but God knows about the taste.) >g You pick out of the pile some notes for the design of the contraption in the kitchen downstairs: Marie's project, apparently. There are lists of foods, and sketches, which you cannot entirely follow, of machinery, with the links drawn in in colored ink. Whatever she was doing, she seems to have been quite intent on it and for a long time. >g You pick out of the pile some notes for the design of the contraption in the kitchen downstairs: Marie's project, apparently. There are lists of foods, and sketches, which you cannot entirely follow, of machinery, with the links drawn in in colored ink. Whatever she was doing, she seems to have been quite intent on it and for a long time. >g You turn up elaborate designs for a model house that would exactly copy a real house, with all the doors and windows built, and links made, so that one could watch all comings and goings, and close and lock passages from a distance. At the bottom is added, in Marie's meticulous hand, "Would probably annoy half the adulterers in Paris. Pity." >g You pass your eye over an intended menu, which Marie has laid out in rigorous detail from the soup to the cheeses, not leaving anything to chance, not even the ices to cleanse the palate. (You scowl a little at the concept of a beet- flavored ice, however. No doubt it would look pretty, but God knows about the taste.) >open bottom You open the bottom drawer, revealing a dark wooden box. >get box (the dark wooden box) (putting the sprig of parsley into the sack to make room) Taken. >open it You open the dark wooden box, revealing a mirror inset inside the box, a pearl necklace and an old letter. The mirror inset inside the box begins to glow with reflected light. >reverse-link inset to mirror (the gilt-wood mirror) Bending your will and all your attention, you manage to make a reverse-link between the mirror inset inside the box and the gilt-wood mirror, feeling their properties begin to merge together. [Your score has just gone up by five points.] >get pearl (the desk) Much too heavy to move significantly. >get pearl necklace (putting the sprig of mint into the sack to make room) Taken. [Your score has just gone up by four points.] >get old (east) That isn't available. >[huh?] That's not a verb I recognize. >get old letter (putting the white handkerchief into the sack to make room) Taken. You're getting pretty hungry. >e Old Conservatory A chilly northern exposure, perhaps, but really quite lovely. This room used to be where Marie would practice her music, and the Countess play her compositions; Marie's own room lies to the west. On the high shelf is a celestial bauble. The pianoforte stands in the center of the room. >s Staircase, First Floor The top of a broad curving stair: east is the long salon that goes the length of the house, downstairs are the foyer and the grand receiving rooms. North is the old conservatory. >d Entrance Hall Flourishing, spacious; it is its best with a half-dozen servants in livery. The floor is Italian marble, and the walls are dressed with yellow silk hangings. The main staircase ascends to the corridor on the second floor, and a smaller version leads down into the dim basement. Doors also open north and northeast. On the wall is one of those mechanical clocks that pop open on the hour, allowing the ingenious internal figures out to play. >d Root Cellar Stone walls, ribbed ceiling, but only a packed-earth floor in spots. The room is lined on both sides with boxes and barrels, which take on odd shapes in the semi-darkness and seem vaguely menacing. You feared this room as a child, and it still seems cold and unnerving. The twisting stairs ascend to the ground floor. An ordinary wooden door seals the east exit. >search crates You can't see any such thing. >g You can't see any such thing. >search boxes You look inside one of the nearby barrels and find some vanilla beans, of which you take one. >g You look inside one of the nearby barrels and find some weathered green apples, no longer in the primest condition. >g You look inside one of the nearby barrels and find some hunks of salted pork. >g Your search through the nearest barrel turns up an assortment of lentils. >g In the assortment of boxes and barrels are three food items (some lentils, some hunks of salt pork and some apples). >get lentils, salt, apples lentils: (putting the Lentil Soup Recipe into the sack to make room) Taken. hunks of salt pork: (putting the crumpled paper into the sack to make room) Taken. apples: (putting the andouillettes into the sack to make room) Taken. >search boxes The assortment of boxes and barrels is empty. >[arr] That's not a verb I recognize. >e (first opening the cellar door) You open the cellar door. Bottom of Servants' Staircase An awkward wedge of space between the foundations of the main house and the walls of the new-built wine cellar, east. The staircase does not leave much room to stand in; it is straight and carefully planed lest anyone trip with a priceless bottle of wine. The wine-cellar door -- sturdy wood in yellowish brass panels -- stands open to the east. An ordinary wooden door opens west into the root cellar. >e Wine Cellar Antechamber The air is cool here, protected by deep walls of stone. Heavy beams overhead support the weight of the upper floors. A thick dust overlays everything. An open grey-blue door leads south. A closed red door leads east. An open magenta door leads northeast. A heavy red door, wreathed in chains and locks, leads north into the vault, where the best wines were kept during your youth. The wine-cellar door -- sturdy wood in yellowish brass panels -- stands open to the west. >close door Which do you mean, a magenta door leading northeast, the brass door or the red vault door? >brass You close the brass door. > [the first time through, I had associated brass with just the hinges, for some reason] You seem to want to talk to someone, but I can't see whom. >s Among Reds Almost all gone now, though the labels still adhere to the racks, indicating where a '67 rested, or an '82, waiting to be taken up to the dining room. A closed magenta door leads east. There is a grey-blue trap door closed in the middle of the room, just visible among the dust as a less-dusty area. An open grey-blue door leads north. >close grey-blue (the grey-blue door leading north) You close the grey-blue door leading north. The grey-blue door leading down opens. >d Subcellar Used solely for storage of extra items (whether or not associated with the wines). The room is barely large enough to stand up in. (Now that you consider it, this room is probably the source of Marie's fables about the oubliette "somewhere in the wine cellar." This story always struck you as improbable, but you can't imagine that a person barred in here would get out easily. You also can't imagine the Count or any of his recent ancestors being moved to take such an action.) The trap door is open to the room above, and you could easily pull yourself up through it if you so desired. You can also see a blue glass jar (which is closed) (in which is some sea-salt) and a red glass jar (which is closed) (in which is a quantity of sugar) here. >get all grey-blue door leading up: That's fixed in place. blue glass jar: (putting the stone block into the sack to make room) Taken. red glass jar: (putting the cup into the sack to make room) Taken. It comes into your mind, yet again, that you'd hoped to find some sustenance here. >frotz When you speak the magic word, you find yourself unexpectedly provided with a new cylinder of shining metal!! >[yay again!] That's not a verb I recognize. >script off Transcripting is already off. >script on Attempt to begin transcript failed. >[hmm] That's not a verb I recognize. >save Ok. >quit Are you sure you want to quit? y