Start of a transcript of For A Change For A Change, v1.02 Dan Schmidt Release 1 / Serial number 990930 / Inform v6.21 Library 6/9 Standard interpreter 1.0 (6F) / Library serial number 990428 >restart Are you sure you want to restart? y The sun has gone. It must be brought. You have a rock. For A Change For A Change, v1.02 Dan Schmidt Release 1 / Serial number 990930 / Inform v6.21 Library 6/9 Under the High Wall (on the resting) Sweetness fills the shade of the High Wall to your east. Under this sweetness lies a small expanse of fod. A mobile releases mildly to the west; far in that direction a tower proudly plants itself, while the ground rises more slowly to the south and relaxes to the north. Spread on the resting is a guidebook. Sleep gradually departs from your eyes. A small stone has been insinuated into your hand. >i In hand: a small stone (humble and true) >x stone It is a small smooth stone, the size of a small gland, a size to roll between your fingertips, nothing more than a pebble. >roll stone That's not a verb I recognise. >taste stone Tasteless. >smell it You smell nothing unexpected. >x book This tattered book describes itself quietly but firmly as an indispensable guide to the plain. >read it The guidebook inflates itself with numerous definitions. >get book Taken. >ask book about stone You can only do that to something animate. >bother I didn't understand that sentence. >x wall The High Wall looms above the shade, creating it. Its stones hold each other the entire distance. This distance is potentially, but unprovably, finite. A High Wall is not high to be measured in units of length, but of angle. >x stones That is either not here or not anywhere. >climb wall You could not even walk that distance, much less climb. >l Under the High Wall (on the resting) Sweetness fills the shade of the High Wall to your east. Under this sweetness lies a small expanse of fod. A mobile releases mildly to the west; far in that direction a tower proudly plants itself, while the ground rises more slowly to the south and relaxes to the north. >x fod The fod, shaded and unseeded, has neither light nor life. >get it The fod is, and remains, where it is. >x mobile The mobile is made of dirt and twine and extends along the ground, beckoning. >get it The mobile is to be traversed, rather than to be held. >n The resting must first be departed. >s The resting must first be departed. >w The resting must first be departed. >stand The resting sighs at your departure. >w In the Shade The land increases towards your head to the south, and decreases away from your feet to the north. Mobiles lead accordingly in both directions. The High Wall may also be approached to the east. A long walk to the west is a tower, dwarfing your form, and dwarfed in turn by the wall. It is clear, after a time, that all things are shaded, everywhere. Thus the Wall. Inscribed on the brown grass is a toolman. >x man The toolman is bright and misty. Thoughts and uses hang from his shoulders like birds. The toolman jingles in the breeze. >x thoughts The thoughts and uses of the toolman glimmer in the shade. >get it You can't see "it" (the mobile) at the moment. >get thoughts The thoughts and uses of the toolman are for himself and for himself only. The toolman jingles in the breeze. >ask toolman about pebble The toolman shakes his head. >x head That is either not here or not anywhere. >ask toolman about me The toolman shakes his head. >ask toolman about wall The toolman points at your guidebook and smiles. >ask toolman about tower The toolman points at your guidebook and smiles. The toolman jingles in the breeze. >x guidebook This tattered book describes itself quietly but firmly as an indispensable guide to the plain. >read it The guidebook inflates itself with numerous definitions. The toolman jingles in the breeze. >consult book about wall 'WALL: See HIGH WALL.' >consult book about high wall 'The HIGH WALL divides the sunrise from its setting, and ensures the shade of the plain.' >consult book about tower 'The TOWER of the plain admits a view of all that may be seen. Our standard flies proudly from its height.' >consult book about toolman 'The TOOLMAN is the grower and keeper of tools. He takes with a hand and likewise provides.' >consult book about pebble That is no subject. >s Outside Cave The mobile from the north ends as the land's slope increases too greatly. Dirt glistens blue. To the south, amid the land, a way opens into darkness, while more ground lies to the east. >s Inside the Cave A dark volume, curried from the surrounding stone, fills your eyes and ears. To the north a passing opens into dimness; from further inside, to the east, a slight glow weakly straggles into the room. >s Movement fails in that direction. >e Lantern Room This subsection of the inset brightens and flickers. The shadows belong to the air more than you do, it seems. They walk the cordstone walls; they move and excite. The shadows look to a wall, to bars in the wall, and the songlantern behind them. Further in is east, further out is west, and a slope obtains up to the south. The songlantern murmurs and sings. >s Sloping Passage The walls and light contract as this space leads up and westward. The light and song from the north weaken with distance. >s Movement fails in that direction. >i In hand: a guidebook (loquacious and proud) a small stone (humble and true) >u Without Light You are surrounded by the lack of thought and light. >d Sloping Passage The walls and light contract as this space leads up and westward. The light and song from the north weaken with distance. >w Without Light You are surrounded by the lack of thought and light. The song of the lantern dances in and out of your hearing, faint with distance. >e Sloping Passage The walls and light contract as this space leads up and westward. The light and song from the north weaken with distance. >n Lantern Room This subsection of the inset brightens and flickers. The shadows belong to the air more than you do, it seems. They walk the cordstone walls; they move and excite. The shadows look to a wall, to bars in the wall, and the songlantern behind them. Further in is east, further out is west, and a slope obtains up to the south. >get lantern The bars divide any possible touch between you and the lantern. >consult book about lantern 'LANTERN: See SONGLANTERN.' >consult book about songlantern 'The SONGLANTERN brightens without intervention; its tones enlighten its words, as all tones do.' >e End Of Passage The passage ends at a wall of water to the east. Light stumbles from the west. Glowing words hang in the air before the water. >x words "In this hall Shall water stand And gravity's grip be loose" >x wall The water hangs in midair like a hummingbird. >get water Your hand cannot pass through the words. >search words You find nothing of interest. >l under words You find nothing of interest. >read words "In this hall Shall water stand And gravity's grip be loose" >put pebble on words Putting things on the words would achieve nothing. >w Lantern Room This subsection of the inset brightens and flickers. The shadows belong to the air more than you do, it seems. They walk the cordstone walls; they move and excite. The shadows look to a wall, to bars in the wall, and the songlantern behind them. Further in is east, further out is west, and a slope obtains up to the south. >n Movement fails in that direction. >w Inside the Cave A dark volume, curried from the surrounding stone, fills your eyes and ears. To the north a passing opens into dimness; from further inside, to the east, a slight glow weakly straggles into the room. >n Outside Cave The mobile from the north ends as the land's slope increases too greatly. Dirt glistens blue. To the south, amid the land, a way opens into darkness, while more ground lies to the east. >e Hillside Dun tumbles down loosely from a steep hill to the south, sliced through by the wall to the east. A spinster flutters in the breeze. >x spinster It brightens to your approach. >get it The spinster is, and remains, where it is. >ask spinster about pebble You can only do that to something animate. >consult book about words That is no subject. >n Under the High Wall Sweetness fills the shade of the High Wall to your east. Under this sweetness lies a small expanse of fod. A mobile releases mildly to the west; far in that direction a tower proudly plants itself, while the ground rises more slowly to the south and relaxes to the north. Almost touching the High Wall is a resting, firm and soft. >w In the Shade The land increases towards your head to the south, and decreases away from your feet to the north. Mobiles lead accordingly in both directions. The High Wall may also be approached to the east. A long walk to the west is a tower, dwarfing your form, and dwarfed in turn by the wall. Inscribed on the brown grass is a toolman. The toolman jingles in the breeze. >ask toolman about spinster The toolman points at your guidebook and smiles. >consult book about spinster 'The SPINSTER, traditionally made of burlap and bark, predicts sunlight and likewise foretells its shade.' >ask toolman about words The toolman shakes his head. >n By the Hole By the mobile south, a rounded hole, five times as wide as you are tall, deepens through the earth. Its dark is deeper than that around you. The east is also passable. >e Before the Cube The wall to your east continues to gain out of sight. To your north is a massive transparent cube, perhaps five of your heights on each side. Retreats lie west and south. >n The cube affords no access. >climb it I don't think much is to be achieved by that. There is a sudden cracking high above. >l up You glance up to see the sky fall, or a portion of it. Something like snow screams down at you. A shower of crystal clatters down on the cube and the dirt around you. Shards shoot past your face and embed themselves in the ground. >x shards The shards act as a carpet of broken glass. Even standing here is treacherous. >get shards The glass sharpens far too acutely to retrieve safely. >e That direction of motion will not exist while the High Wall reigns. >s Under the High Wall Sweetness fills the shade of the High Wall to your east. Under this sweetness lies a small expanse of fod. A mobile releases mildly to the west; far in that direction a tower proudly plants itself, while the ground rises more slowly to the south and relaxes to the north. Almost touching the High Wall is a resting, firm and soft. >e That direction of motion will not exist while the High Wall reigns. >climb wall You could not even walk that distance, much less climb. >w In the Shade The land increases towards your head to the south, and decreases away from your feet to the north. Mobiles lead accordingly in both directions. The High Wall may also be approached to the east. A long walk to the west is a tower, dwarfing your form, and dwarfed in turn by the wall. Inscribed on the brown grass is a toolman. The toolman jingles in the breeze. >ask toolman about shards The toolman shakes his head. >consult book about shards That is no subject. >w Before the Tower A stone tower rises high and west above you, surrounded by a ring of stamped dirt. An archway faces the wall, strangely small compared to the tower's bulk; one must almost duck to transcend it. A plaque is set above the archway, approaching its size. >w Base of Tower The inside of the tower is completely void, nothing remaining but a long spiral staircase rising through the ceiling far above. The plain awaits to the east. A few scraps of wood lie without pride on the floor, all that remains of the original construction. >get wood The wood is too heavy to move from its final place. >x wood Potential and kinetic energy both lost forever, these timbers look helplessly upon the heights. >l under wood You find nothing of interest. >search wood Whatever lay within the wood has long fled. >w Movement fails in that direction. >n Movement fails in that direction. >u Halfway Up Tower When viewed, as now, from four stories above the ground and an equal distance from the top of the tower, these stairs are the whole of the universe. Far above, they penetrate an opening in the stone ceiling. >u Observation Room For an observation room, the view disappoints; it is provided only by four small windows, perhaps two feet by two, long bare of glass, one in each of four directions. A slight breeze is redolent of altitude. An abandoned flagpole vainly gestures outward beneath the southern opening. Stairs descend from the bare stone floor. A glass-encased model landscape squats on the floor near the east window. >s You'll need to drop whatever you're carrying before you can crawl out on the flagpole. >drop all guidebook: Dropped. small stone: Dropped. >s You force yourself through the small window and crawl out onto the flagpole. On the Flagpole (clinging to the flagpole) The whole of the land is visible from here, though you are in no position to appreciate it. The tower deepens far below you, and the High Wall looms off to the east. >x pole It extends perhaps ten feet from the tower, and is long bare of any clothing. >climb down tower I only understood you as far as wanting to climb the floor. >climb down I don't think much is to be achieved by that. >climb tower It is far out of reach. >in With relief, you back up through the window. Observation Room For an observation room, the view disappoints; it is provided only by four small windows, perhaps two feet by two, long bare of glass, one in each of four directions. A slight breeze is redolent of altitude. An abandoned flagpole vainly gestures outward beneath the southern opening. Stairs descend from the bare stone floor. A glass-encased model landscape squats on the floor near the east window. You can also see a small stone and a guidebook here. >get all small stone: Taken. guidebook: Taken. model: The model is, and remains, where it is. >x model The model is the size of a small desk. Spread across its top is the landscape you have traversed, down to the tiniest detail, including, of course, this tower. The structure is set flush against the east wall of this room so that the wall of the room functions as the High Wall. The scene is covered by a pane of glass. >l under model You find nothing of interest. >shake model That's not a verb I recognise. >search model The model is the size of a small desk. Spread across its top is the landscape you have traversed, down to the tiniest detail, including, of course, this tower. The structure is set flush against the east wall of this room so that the wall of the room functions as the High Wall. The scene is covered by a pane of glass. >taste model Tasteless. >bother I didn't understand that sentence. >put stone on model There is no reason to rest things on the pane of glass. >break pane The glass resists all force. >break pane with stone The glass resists all force. >l Observation Room For an observation room, the view disappoints; it is provided only by four small windows, perhaps two feet by two, long bare of glass, one in each of four directions. A slight breeze is redolent of altitude. An abandoned flagpole vainly gestures outward beneath the southern opening. Stairs descend from the bare stone floor. A glass-encased model landscape squats on the floor near the east window. >w There is nothing but a long fall in that direction. >e There is nothing but a long fall in that direction. >n There is nothing but a long fall in that direction. >x window Which do you mean, the south window, the east window, the north window or the west window? >north The window describes the wilds to the north, free of mobile and structure. Even there, with no elements to protect, the High Wall holds. >x west (the west window) The window describes the desert to the west. The brown is dark to the edge of your sight, covered to all directions by the shade that extends without cease. >x east (the east window) The window describes the High Wall of the east. Its bulk impresses even more from a location of altitude itself. The plain maintains itself before the High Wall, cowering beneath its span. >move model It is fixed in place. >push model It is fixed in place. >kick model That's not a verb I recognise. >break model The model resists all force. >d Halfway Up Tower When viewed, as now, from four stories above the ground and an equal distance from the top of the tower, these stairs are the whole of the universe. Far above, they penetrate an opening in the stone ceiling. >e Movement fails in that direction. >w Movement fails in that direction. >n Movement fails in that direction. >s Movement fails in that direction. >d Base of Tower The inside of the tower is completely void, nothing remaining but a long spiral staircase rising through the ceiling far above. The plain awaits to the east. A few scraps of wood lie without pride on the floor, all that remains of the original construction. >s Movement fails in that direction. >e Before the Tower A stone tower rises high and west above you, surrounded by a ring of stamped dirt. An archway faces the wall, strangely small compared to the tower's bulk; one must almost duck to transcend it. A plaque is set above the archway, approaching its size. >w Base of Tower The inside of the tower is completely void, nothing remaining but a long spiral staircase rising through the ceiling far above. The plain awaits to the east. A few scraps of wood lie without pride on the floor, all that remains of the original construction. >lift wood That's not a verb I recognise. >move wood The wood is too heavy to move from its final place. >push wood The wood is too heavy to move from its final place. >n Movement fails in that direction. >e Before the Tower A stone tower rises high and west above you, surrounded by a ring of stamped dirt. An archway faces the wall, strangely small compared to the tower's bulk; one must almost duck to transcend it. A plaque is set above the archway, approaching its size. >n Movement fails in that direction. >s Movement fails in that direction. >sw Movement fails in that direction. >nw Movement fails in that direction. >x plaque Faded but surviving, the words TO OBSERVE lie on the plaque. >w Base of Tower The inside of the tower is completely void, nothing remaining but a long spiral staircase rising through the ceiling far above. The plain awaits to the east. A few scraps of wood lie without pride on the floor, all that remains of the original construction. >u Halfway Up Tower When viewed, as now, from four stories above the ground and an equal distance from the top of the tower, these stairs are the whole of the universe. Far above, they penetrate an opening in the stone ceiling. >u Observation Room For an observation room, the view disappoints; it is provided only by four small windows, perhaps two feet by two, long bare of glass, one in each of four directions. A slight breeze is redolent of altitude. An abandoned flagpole vainly gestures outward beneath the southern opening. Stairs descend from the bare stone floor. A glass-encased model landscape squats on the floor near the east window. >observe model That's not a verb I recognise. >dang That's not a verb I recognise. >d Halfway Up Tower When viewed, as now, from four stories above the ground and an equal distance from the top of the tower, these stairs are the whole of the universe. Far above, they penetrate an opening in the stone ceiling. >d Base of Tower The inside of the tower is completely void, nothing remaining but a long spiral staircase rising through the ceiling far above. The plain awaits to the east. A few scraps of wood lie without pride on the floor, all that remains of the original construction. >e Before the Tower A stone tower rises high and west above you, surrounded by a ring of stamped dirt. An archway faces the wall, strangely small compared to the tower's bulk; one must almost duck to transcend it. A plaque is set above the archway, approaching its size. >e In the Shade The land increases towards your head to the south, and decreases away from your feet to the north. Mobiles lead accordingly in both directions. The High Wall may also be approached to the east. A long walk to the west is a tower, dwarfing your form, and dwarfed in turn by the wall. Inscribed on the brown grass is a toolman. >ask toolman about model The toolman shakes his head. >consult book about model That is no subject. >consult book about glass That is no subject. >toolman, follow me There is no reply. The toolman smiles softly. >n By the Hole By the mobile south, a rounded hole, five times as wide as you are tall, deepens through the earth. Its dark is deeper than that around you. The east is also passable. >n Movement fails in that direction. >d The walls steepen inward; your feet have no hold. >e Before the Cube The wall to your east continues to gain out of sight. To your north is a massive transparent cube, perhaps five of your heights on each side. Retreats lie west and south. The ground is covered with glass dust and shards, threatening your footing. >get dust The glass sharpens far too acutely to retrieve safely. >get all cup: The cup is inside, and you are out. glass shards: The glass sharpens far too acutely to retrieve safely. >x cup The cup sits patiently. >x cube The cube is featureless in all respects. There appears to be something small on the ground inside, perhaps a manner of cup. >lift cube That's not a verb I recognise. >push cube You are unable to. >move cube You are unable to. >climb cube The walls are vertical and smooth. >scrape walls That's not a verb I recognise. > I beg your pardon? >i In hand: a guidebook (loquacious and proud) a small stone (humble and true) >ask guidebook about cube You can only do that to something animate. >consult guidebook on cube 'It portends poorly to extend a CUBE by other than artifical means; it must be constructed deliberately if at all.' >extend cube That's not a verb I recognise. >s Under the High Wall Sweetness fills the shade of the High Wall to your east. Under this sweetness lies a small expanse of fod. A mobile releases mildly to the west; far in that direction a tower proudly plants itself, while the ground rises more slowly to the south and relaxes to the north. Almost touching the High Wall is a resting, firm and soft. >w In the Shade The land increases towards your head to the south, and decreases away from your feet to the north. Mobiles lead accordingly in both directions. The High Wall may also be approached to the east. A long walk to the west is a tower, dwarfing your form, and dwarfed in turn by the wall. Inscribed on the brown grass is a toolman. >ask man about cube The toolman points at your guidebook and smiles. The toolman smiles softly. >ask man about cup The toolman shakes his head. >consult book about cup That is no subject. >man, n The toolman has better things to do. The toolman smiles softly. >ask man for tools The toolman extends one empty hand, while motioning towards himself with the other. The toolman jingles in the breeze. >i In hand: a guidebook (loquacious and proud) a small stone (humble and true) >put stone in hand That is either not here or not anywhere. >give stone to man The toolman gently misunderstands. >i In hand: a guidebook (loquacious and proud) a small stone (humble and true) >give book to man The toolman gently misunderstands. The toolman jingles in the breeze. >trade stone for tool That's not a verb I recognise. >ask toolman for tool The toolman extends one empty hand, while motioning towards himself with the other. >x hand That is either not here or not anywhere. >x man The toolman is bright and misty. Thoughts and uses hang from his shoulders like birds. >w Before the Tower A stone tower rises high and west above you, surrounded by a ring of stamped dirt. An archway faces the wall, strangely small compared to the tower's bulk; one must almost duck to transcend it. A plaque is set above the archway, approaching its size. >s Movement fails in that direction. >e In the Shade The land increases towards your head to the south, and decreases away from your feet to the north. Mobiles lead accordingly in both directions. The High Wall may also be approached to the east. A long walk to the west is a tower, dwarfing your form, and dwarfed in turn by the wall. Inscribed on the brown grass is a toolman. >s Outside Cave The mobile from the north ends as the land's slope increases too greatly. Dirt glistens blue. To the south, amid the land, a way opens into darkness, while more ground lies to the east. >s Inside the Cave A dark volume, curried from the surrounding stone, fills your eyes and ears. To the north a passing opens into dimness; from further inside, to the east, a slight glow weakly straggles into the room. >s Movement fails in that direction. >w Movement fails in that direction. >e Lantern Room This subsection of the inset brightens and flickers. The shadows belong to the air more than you do, it seems. They walk the cordstone walls; they move and excite. The shadows look to a wall, to bars in the wall, and the songlantern behind them. Further in is east, further out is west, and a slope obtains up to the south. >get shadows Perhaps it is not that you substantiate and the shadows do not, but vice versa. >get lantern The bars divide any possible touch between you and the lantern. >x bars The tall bars, vertical metal and close-set, provide two faculties. First, the creation of shadows. Second, the absence of emptiness by which to pass through. Behind the bars, in a space the width of a handful and height of an arm, the songlantern sits patiently. The songlantern murmurs and sings. >x lantern The songlantern hums and burbles, circled by brightening words, evading the bars and piercing the silence and darkness. >sing Words tumble and float from you, and brighten your eyes. >sing to lantern I only understood you as far as wanting to sing. >sing about lantern I only understood you as far as wanting to sing. >e End Of Passage The passage ends at a wall of water to the east. Light stumbles from the west. Glowing words hang in the air before the water. >x words "In this hall Shall water stand And gravity's grip be loose" >sing Words tumble and float from you, and brighten your eyes. >sing words I only understood you as far as wanting to sing. >sing "foo" I only understood you as far as wanting to sing. >get words The words are where they are. >get water Your hand cannot pass through the words. >w Lantern Room This subsection of the inset brightens and flickers. The shadows belong to the air more than you do, it seems. They walk the cordstone walls; they move and excite. The shadows look to a wall, to bars in the wall, and the songlantern behind them. Further in is east, further out is west, and a slope obtains up to the south. >x bars The tall bars, vertical metal and close-set, provide two faculties. First, the creation of shadows. Second, the absence of emptiness by which to pass through. Behind the bars, in a space the width of a handful and height of an arm, the songlantern sits patiently. >push bars One bar is loose, and looser, and then free. >whoa That's not a verb I recognise. >get lantern The songlantern is wider than the gap. >get bar (the iron bar) You already have that. Your circling utterances collapse and distune, fading. The songlantern murmurs and sings. >get other bar (the iron bar) You already have that. The songlantern murmurs and sings. >i In hand: an iron bar (forthright and content) a guidebook (loquacious and proud) a small stone (humble and true) >l Lantern Room This subsection of the inset brightens and flickers. The shadows belong to the air more than you do, it seems. They walk the cordstone walls; they move and excite. The shadows look to a wall, to bars in the wall, and the songlantern behind them. Further in is east, further out is west, and a slope obtains up to the south. >x bars The tall bars, vertical metal and close-set, provide two faculties. First, the creation of shadows. Second, the absence of emptiness by which to pass through. Behind the bars, in a space the width of a handful and height of an arm, the songlantern sits patiently. A small gap allows slight access. >get bars All remaining bars hold the stone tight. >reach into opening That's not a verb I recognise. >search lantern You find nothing of interest. >sing Words tumble and float from you, and brighten your eyes. >e End Of Passage The passage ends at a wall of water to the east. Light stumbles from the west. Glowing words hang in the air before the water. >hit words with bar You restrain from such an action. >put bar in words Those can't contain things. >consult book about words That is no subject. >consult book about water That is no subject. >consult book about bars That is no subject. >consult book about bar That is no subject. >consult book about songlantern 'The SONGLANTERN brightens without intervention; its tones enlighten its words, as all tones do.' >consult book about pebble That is no subject. >consult book about tower 'The TOWER of the plain admits a view of all that may be seen. Our standard flies proudly from its height.' >consult book about wood That is no subject. >w Lantern Room This subsection of the inset brightens and flickers. The shadows belong to the air more than you do, it seems. They walk the cordstone walls; they move and excite. The shadows look to a wall, to bars in the wall, and the songlantern behind them. Further in is east, further out is west, and a slope obtains up to the south. The songlantern murmurs and sings. >sing to lantern I only understood you as far as wanting to sing. >sing lantern I only understood you as far as wanting to sing. >w Inside the Cave A dark volume, curried from the surrounding stone, fills your eyes and ears. To the north a passing opens into dimness; from further inside, to the east, a slight glow weakly straggles into the room. >n Outside Cave The mobile from the north ends as the land's slope increases too greatly. Dirt glistens blue. To the south, amid the land, a way opens into darkness, while more ground lies to the east. >n In the Shade The land increases towards your head to the south, and decreases away from your feet to the north. Mobiles lead accordingly in both directions. The High Wall may also be approached to the east. A long walk to the west is a tower, dwarfing your form, and dwarfed in turn by the wall. Inscribed on the brown grass is a toolman. The toolman smiles softly. >give bar to toolman The toolman gently misunderstands. Your circling utterances collapse and distune, fading. The toolman jingles in the breeze. >sing Words tumble and float from you, and brighten your eyes. The toolman smiles softly. >e Under the High Wall Sweetness fills the shade of the High Wall to your east. Under this sweetness lies a small expanse of fod. A mobile releases mildly to the west; far in that direction a tower proudly plants itself, while the ground rises more slowly to the south and relaxes to the north. Almost touching the High Wall is a resting, firm and soft. >n Before the Cube The wall to your east continues to gain out of sight. To your north is a massive transparent cube, perhaps five of your heights on each side. Retreats lie west and south. The ground is covered with glass dust and shards, threatening your footing. >w By the Hole By the mobile south, a rounded hole, five times as wide as you are tall, deepens through the earth. Its dark is deeper than that around you. The east is also passable. >x hole The hole funnels thinly. Far below crouches a narrow pool, in which something slowly circles. >consult book about hole That is no subject. >x pool It lurks far below. Moving deliberately through it is a handle. >get handle The pool flattens far out of your reach. >d The walls steepen inward; your feet have no hold. >w Movement fails in that direction. >s In the Shade The land increases towards your head to the south, and decreases away from your feet to the north. Mobiles lead accordingly in both directions. The High Wall may also be approached to the east. A long walk to the west is a tower, dwarfing your form, and dwarfed in turn by the wall. Inscribed on the brown grass is a toolman. >w Before the Tower A stone tower rises high and west above you, surrounded by a ring of stamped dirt. An archway faces the wall, strangely small compared to the tower's bulk; one must almost duck to transcend it. A plaque is set above the archway, approaching its size. Your circling utterances collapse and distune, fading. >w Base of Tower The inside of the tower is completely void, nothing remaining but a long spiral staircase rising through the ceiling far above. The plain awaits to the east. A few scraps of wood lie without pride on the floor, all that remains of the original construction. >u Halfway Up Tower When viewed, as now, from four stories above the ground and an equal distance from the top of the tower, these stairs are the whole of the universe. Far above, they penetrate an opening in the stone ceiling. >u Observation Room For an observation room, the view disappoints; it is provided only by four small windows, perhaps two feet by two, long bare of glass, one in each of four directions. A slight breeze is redolent of altitude. An abandoned flagpole vainly gestures outward beneath the southern opening. Stairs descend from the bare stone floor. A glass-encased model landscape squats on the floor near the east window. >hit model with bar The model resists all force. >l north The window describes the wilds to the north, free of mobile and structure. Even there, with no elements to protect, the High Wall holds. >x cube The cube lies directly under a crack in the glass. >x crack It is too small even to fit a finger through. >feel crack You feel nothing unexpected. >hit crack with bar You restrain from such an action. > I beg your pardon? >i In hand: an iron bar (forthright and content) a guidebook (loquacious and proud) a small stone (humble and true) >put stone on crach That is either not here or not anywhere. >put stone on crack The stone barely fits through the crack in the glass. It drops to the landscape below, shattering a small crystal structure. Through the east window, in the distance, a dark object flashes downwards and disappears. Something thuds in the distance, and the tower shudders. >l n The window describes the wilds to the north, free of mobile and structure. Even there, with no elements to protect, the High Wall holds. >d Halfway Up Tower When viewed, as now, from four stories above the ground and an equal distance from the top of the tower, these stairs are the whole of the universe. Far above, they penetrate an opening in the stone ceiling. >d Base of Tower The inside of the tower is completely void, nothing remaining but a long spiral staircase rising through the ceiling far above. The plain awaits to the east. A few scraps of wood lie without pride on the floor, all that remains of the original construction. >e Before the Tower A stone tower rises high and west above you, surrounded by a ring of stamped dirt. An archway faces the wall, strangely small compared to the tower's bulk; one must almost duck to transcend it. A plaque is set above the archway, approaching its size. >n Movement fails in that direction. >e In the Shade The land increases towards your head to the south, and decreases away from your feet to the north. Mobiles lead accordingly in both directions. The High Wall may also be approached to the east. A long walk to the west is a tower, dwarfing your form, and dwarfed in turn by the wall. Inscribed on the brown grass is a toolman. >n By the Hole By the mobile south, a rounded hole, five times as wide as you are tall, deepens through the earth. Its dark is deeper than that around you. The east is also passable. >e You now see what fell outside the window; a boulder has smashed through much of the cube. Before the Cube The wall to your east continues to gain out of sight. To your north is what remains of a massive transparent cube, perhaps five of your heights on each side. A large boulder squats on one corner of the cube's remains. The ground is covered with glass dust and shards, threatening your footing. >x cube The cube stands proudly despite its damage. >x cup The cup sits patiently. >get cup The cup is inside, and you are out. >n In the Cube The land, free of its former boundaries, is bare, save for the perfect square of grass, untrod for years until now, formerly within the constraints of its walls. A wooden cup broods upon the grass. >get cup The cup is fastened to the earth. >x cup In the cup is a lie establisher. >get lie The cup reluctantly yields the lie establisher. >x lie It is remarkably like a lemon in every respect. >ask lie about cup You can only do that to something animate. >consult lie about cup That is either not here or not anywhere. >establish a lie That's not a verb I recognise. >s Before the Cube The wall to your east continues to gain out of sight. To your north is what remains of a massive transparent cube, perhaps five of your heights on each side. A large boulder squats on one corner of the cube's remains. The ground is covered with glass dust and shards, threatening your footing. >s Under the High Wall Sweetness fills the shade of the High Wall to your east. Under this sweetness lies a small expanse of fod. A mobile releases mildly to the west; far in that direction a tower proudly plants itself, while the ground rises more slowly to the south and relaxes to the north. Almost touching the High Wall is a resting, firm and soft. >e That direction of motion will not exist while the High Wall reigns. >w In the Shade The land increases towards your head to the south, and decreases away from your feet to the north. Mobiles lead accordingly in both directions. The High Wall may also be approached to the east. A long walk to the west is a tower, dwarfing your form, and dwarfed in turn by the wall. Inscribed on the brown grass is a toolman. >give lie to toolman The toolman gently misunderstands. >s Outside Cave The mobile from the north ends as the land's slope increases too greatly. Dirt glistens blue. To the south, amid the land, a way opens into darkness, while more ground lies to the east. >s Inside the Cave A dark volume, curried from the surrounding stone, fills your eyes and ears. To the north a passing opens into dimness; from further inside, to the east, a slight glow weakly straggles into the room. >e Lantern Room This subsection of the inset brightens and flickers. The shadows belong to the air more than you do, it seems. They walk the cordstone walls; they move and excite. The shadows look to a wall, to bars in the wall, and the songlantern behind them. Further in is east, further out is west, and a slope obtains up to the south. >e End Of Passage The passage ends at a wall of water to the east. Light stumbles from the west. Glowing words hang in the air before the water. >put lie on words Putting things on the words would achieve nothing. >consult book about lie That is no subject. >consult book about lie establisher 'The LIE ESTABLISHER is a device utilized to enhance and fix the untrue. When squeezed, it sustains all immediate lies.' >squeeze it You achieve nothing by this. >squeeze lie The lie establisher thwops inward and outward. >x words "In this hall Shall water stand And gravity's grip be loose" >sing at words I only understood you as far as wanting to sing. >sing Words tumble and float from you, and brighten your eyes. >w Lantern Room This subsection of the inset brightens and flickers. The shadows belong to the air more than you do, it seems. They walk the cordstone walls; they move and excite. The shadows look to a wall, to bars in the wall, and the songlantern behind them. Further in is east, further out is west, and a slope obtains up to the south. The songlantern murmurs and sings. >w Inside the Cave A dark volume, curried from the surrounding stone, fills your eyes and ears. To the north a passing opens into dimness; from further inside, to the east, a slight glow weakly straggles into the room. >sing Words tumble and float from you, and brighten your eyes. >s Movement fails in that direction. >e Lantern Room This subsection of the inset brightens and flickers. The shadows belong to the air more than you do, it seems. They walk the cordstone walls; they move and excite. The shadows look to a wall, to bars in the wall, and the songlantern behind them. Further in is east, further out is west, and a slope obtains up to the south. The songlantern murmurs and sings. >s Sloping Passage The walls and light contract as this space leads up and westward. The light and song from the north weaken with distance. >s Movement fails in that direction. >e Movement fails in that direction. >w Dead End The passage ends without foreshadowing, as if the end came without warning. A worn anchisel rests on the roughened floor. >x anchisel The anchisel is old, and will likely curry no more. Your circling utterances collapse and distune, fading. The song of the lantern dances in and out of your hearing, faint with distance. Thought and light have dispired around you. >consult book about anchisel 'An ANCHISEL may be used to curry any softer rock with precision. For larger work, a granchisel is required.' >get all There are none at all available! >get anchisel That is either not here or not anywhere. >l Without Light You are surrounded by the lack of thought and light. >sing Words tumble and float from you, and brighten your eyes. The song of the lantern dances in and out of your hearing, faint with distance. Dead End The passage ends without foreshadowing, as if the end came without warning. A worn anchisel rests on the roughened floor. >get anchisel Taken. The song of the lantern dances in and out of your hearing, faint with distance. >x it The anchisel is old, and will likely curry no more. The song of the lantern dances in and out of your hearing, faint with distance. >sing Words tumble and float from you, and brighten your eyes. >sing Words tumble and float from you, and brighten your eyes. >sing Words tumble and float from you, and brighten your eyes. >i In hand: an anchisel (crafty and able) a lie establisher (sour and severe) an iron bar (forthright and content) a guidebook (loquacious and proud) The song of the lantern dances in and out of your hearing, faint with distance. >e Sloping Passage The walls and light contract as this space leads up and westward. The light and song from the north weaken with distance. >n Lantern Room This subsection of the inset brightens and flickers. The shadows belong to the air more than you do, it seems. They walk the cordstone walls; they move and excite. The shadows look to a wall, to bars in the wall, and the songlantern behind them. Further in is east, further out is west, and a slope obtains up to the south. The songlantern murmurs and sings. >e End Of Passage The passage ends at a wall of water to the east. Light stumbles from the west. Glowing words hang in the air before the water. >sing Words tumble and float from you, and brighten your eyes. Your circling utterances collapse and distune, fading. >x bar An armlength of iron. >push words Those are fixed in place. >w Lantern Room This subsection of the inset brightens and flickers. The shadows belong to the air more than you do, it seems. They walk the cordstone walls; they move and excite. The shadows look to a wall, to bars in the wall, and the songlantern behind them. Further in is east, further out is west, and a slope obtains up to the south. The songlantern murmurs and sings. >n Movement fails in that direction. >w Inside the Cave A dark volume, curried from the surrounding stone, fills your eyes and ears. To the north a passing opens into dimness; from further inside, to the east, a slight glow weakly straggles into the room. >n Outside Cave The mobile from the north ends as the land's slope increases too greatly. Dirt glistens blue. To the south, amid the land, a way opens into darkness, while more ground lies to the east. >n In the Shade The land increases towards your head to the south, and decreases away from your feet to the north. Mobiles lead accordingly in both directions. The High Wall may also be approached to the east. A long walk to the west is a tower, dwarfing your form, and dwarfed in turn by the wall. Inscribed on the brown grass is a toolman. The toolman examines your anchisel with interest. >ask toolman about words The toolman shakes his head. >ask toolman about bar The toolman shakes his head. >ask toolman about water The toolman shakes his head. >consult book about water That is no subject. >n By the Hole By the mobile south, a rounded hole, five times as wide as you are tall, deepens through the earth. Its dark is deeper than that around you. The east is also passable. >x hole The hole funnels thinly. Far below crouches a narrow pool, in which something slowly circles. >x something That is either not here or not anywhere. >x pool It lurks far below. Moving deliberately through it is a handle. >x handle You can spy no details from up here. >throw bar at handle The pool flattens far out of your reach. >i In hand: an anchisel (crafty and able) a lie establisher (sour and severe) an iron bar (forthright and content) a guidebook (loquacious and proud) >put bar in pool Anything given to the pool would surely not return. >throw anchisel at pool The pool flattens far out of your reach. >w Movement fails in that direction. >s In the Shade The land increases towards your head to the south, and decreases away from your feet to the north. Mobiles lead accordingly in both directions. The High Wall may also be approached to the east. A long walk to the west is a tower, dwarfing your form, and dwarfed in turn by the wall. Inscribed on the brown grass is a toolman. >w Before the Tower A stone tower rises high and west above you, surrounded by a ring of stamped dirt. An archway faces the wall, strangely small compared to the tower's bulk; one must almost duck to transcend it. A plaque is set above the archway, approaching its size. >w Base of Tower The inside of the tower is completely void, nothing remaining but a long spiral staircase rising through the ceiling far above. The plain awaits to the east. A few scraps of wood lie without pride on the floor, all that remains of the original construction. >u Halfway Up Tower When viewed, as now, from four stories above the ground and an equal distance from the top of the tower, these stairs are the whole of the universe. Far above, they penetrate an opening in the stone ceiling. >u Observation Room For an observation room, the view disappoints; it is provided only by four small windows, perhaps two feet by two, long bare of glass, one in each of four directions. A slight breeze is redolent of altitude. An abandoned flagpole vainly gestures outward beneath the southern opening. Stairs descend from the bare stone floor. A glass-encased model landscape squats on the floor near the east window. >x model The model is the size of a small desk. Spread across its top is the landscape you have traversed, down to the tiniest detail, including, of course, this tower. The structure is set flush against the east wall of this room so that the wall of the room functions as the High Wall, against which the pebble you dropped is visible. The scene is covered by a pane of glass. >get model The model is, and remains, where it is. >push model It is fixed in place. >kick model That's not a verb I recognise. >turn model It is fixed in place. >l under model You find nothing of interest. >stand on model That's not something you can enter. >rotate model It is fixed in place. >hit model with bar The model resists all force. >hit model with anchisel The model resists all force. >lift model That's not a verb I recognise. >squeeze model You achieve nothing by this. >scrap model That's not a verb I recognise. >scrape model That's not a verb I recognise. >flip over model That's not a verb I recognise. >turn over model It is fixed in place. >push over model That is either not here or not anywhere. >spin model That's not a verb I recognise. >turn model over It is fixed in place. >flip model over That's not a verb I recognise. >d Halfway Up Tower When viewed, as now, from four stories above the ground and an equal distance from the top of the tower, these stairs are the whole of the universe. Far above, they penetrate an opening in the stone ceiling. >d Base of Tower The inside of the tower is completely void, nothing remaining but a long spiral staircase rising through the ceiling far above. The plain awaits to the east. A few scraps of wood lie without pride on the floor, all that remains of the original construction. >e Before the Tower A stone tower rises high and west above you, surrounded by a ring of stamped dirt. An archway faces the wall, strangely small compared to the tower's bulk; one must almost duck to transcend it. A plaque is set above the archway, approaching its size. >e In the Shade The land increases towards your head to the south, and decreases away from your feet to the north. Mobiles lead accordingly in both directions. The High Wall may also be approached to the east. A long walk to the west is a tower, dwarfing your form, and dwarfed in turn by the wall. Inscribed on the brown grass is a toolman. >x toolman The toolman is bright and misty. Thoughts and uses hang from his shoulders like birds. The toolman jingles in the breeze. >i In hand: an anchisel (crafty and able) a lie establisher (sour and severe) an iron bar (forthright and content) a guidebook (loquacious and proud) The toolman smiles softly. >give anchisel to toolman The toolman smiles and accepts the anchisel with grace. Holding up one finger, he invites before you and impresses a lie opener upon your hand. The toolman smiles softly. >x lie opener The lie opener is intentional in shape, and surmounted by a small button, shy and silent. >push button The button depresses and releases with a small "spuk." The toolman jingles in the breeze. >w Before the Tower A stone tower rises high and west above you, surrounded by a ring of stamped dirt. An archway faces the wall, strangely small compared to the tower's bulk; one must almost duck to transcend it. A plaque is set above the archway, approaching its size. >s Movement fails in that direction. >w Base of Tower The inside of the tower is completely void, nothing remaining but a long spiral staircase rising through the ceiling far above. The plain awaits to the east. A few scraps of wood lie without pride on the floor, all that remains of the original construction. >e Before the Tower A stone tower rises high and west above you, surrounded by a ring of stamped dirt. An archway faces the wall, strangely small compared to the tower's bulk; one must almost duck to transcend it. A plaque is set above the archway, approaching its size. >s Movement fails in that direction. >e In the Shade The land increases towards your head to the south, and decreases away from your feet to the north. Mobiles lead accordingly in both directions. The High Wall may also be approached to the east. A long walk to the west is a tower, dwarfing your form, and dwarfed in turn by the wall. Inscribed on the brown grass is a toolman. >s Outside Cave The mobile from the north ends as the land's slope increases too greatly. Dirt glistens blue. To the south, amid the land, a way opens into darkness, while more ground lies to the east. >e Hillside Dun tumbles down loosely from a steep hill to the south, sliced through by the wall to the east. A spinster flutters in the breeze. >s You slip on the loose tall earth. >x spinster It brightens to your approach. >sing Words tumble and float from you, and brighten your eyes. >search spinster You find nothing of interest. >i In hand: a lie opener (merry and vigorous) a lie establisher (sour and severe) an iron bar (forthright and content) a guidebook (loquacious and proud) >push lie opener The button depresses and releases with a small "spuk." >w Outside Cave The mobile from the north ends as the land's slope increases too greatly. Dirt glistens blue. To the south, amid the land, a way opens into darkness, while more ground lies to the east. >s Inside the Cave A dark volume, curried from the surrounding stone, fills your eyes and ears. To the north a passing opens into dimness; from further inside, to the east, a slight glow weakly straggles into the room. >e Lantern Room This subsection of the inset brightens and flickers. The shadows belong to the air more than you do, it seems. They walk the cordstone walls; they move and excite. The shadows look to a wall, to bars in the wall, and the songlantern behind them. Further in is east, further out is west, and a slope obtains up to the south. >e End Of Passage The passage ends at a wall of water to the east. Light stumbles from the west. Glowing words hang in the air before the water. >push lie opener As you press the button surmounting the lie opener, the hovering words falter and dim. Seconds of silence later, the water collapses upon you, falling and churning. >w Your tumbling inhibits all action. The water rushes down and through, covering and carrying you along. Lantern Room This subsection of the inset brightens and flickers. The shadows belong to the air more than you do, it seems. They walk the cordstone walls; they move and excite. The shadows look to a wall, to bars in the wall, and the songlantern behind them. Further in is east, further out is west, and a slope obtains up to the south. A torrent of water is rushing through the room. >n Your tumbling inhibits all action. Your circling utterances collapse and distune, fading. You surface and submerge, grabbing at nothing but water as it carries you further. Inside the Cave A dark volume, curried from the surrounding stone, fills your eyes and ears. To the north a passing opens into dimness; from further inside, to the east, a slight glow weakly straggles into the room. A torrent of water is rushing through the room. >n Your tumbling inhibits all action. The water roars out into the plain, tumbling you with it. Outside Cave The mobile from the north ends as the land's slope increases too greatly. Dirt glistens blue. To the south, amid the land, a way opens into darkness, while more ground lies to the east. A torrent of water is rushing out of the cave mouth. >w Your tumbling inhibits all action. You are tossed aside onto the dirt as the water continues to rush downhill to the north. >n In the Shade The land increases towards your head to the south, and decreases away from your feet to the north. Mobiles lead accordingly in both directions. The High Wall may also be approached to the east. A long walk to the west is a tower, dwarfing your form, and dwarfed in turn by the wall. A stream of water rushes swiftly to the north. Inscribed on the brown grass is a toolman. The toolman smiles softly. >n By the Hole By the mobile south, a rounded hole, five times as wide as you are tall, deepens through the earth. Its dark is deeper than that around you. The east is also passable. A stream of water flows in from the south, filling the hole with a pool. >x pool The water waves gently. A handle slowly circles it round. >get handle The handle circles just out of reach. >get handle with bar Reaching out, you hook the handle, and the fish attached. >x fish The handlefish blinks impassively. >eat fish That's plainly inedible. >is it? That's not a verb I recognise. >x water You see nothing special about the stream. >w Movement fails in that direction. >s In the Shade The land increases towards your head to the south, and decreases away from your feet to the north. Mobiles lead accordingly in both directions. The High Wall may also be approached to the east. A long walk to the west is a tower, dwarfing your form, and dwarfed in turn by the wall. A stream of water rushes swiftly to the north. Inscribed on the brown grass is a toolman. The toolman jingles in the breeze. >w Before the Tower A stone tower rises high and west above you, surrounded by a ring of stamped dirt. An archway faces the wall, strangely small compared to the tower's bulk; one must almost duck to transcend it. A plaque is set above the archway, approaching its size. >u Movement fails in that direction. >w Base of Tower The inside of the tower is completely void, nothing remaining but a long spiral staircase rising through the ceiling far above. The plain awaits to the east. A few scraps of wood lie without pride on the floor, all that remains of the original construction. >u Halfway Up Tower When viewed, as now, from four stories above the ground and an equal distance from the top of the tower, these stairs are the whole of the universe. Far above, they penetrate an opening in the stone ceiling. >u Observation Room For an observation room, the view disappoints; it is provided only by four small windows, perhaps two feet by two, long bare of glass, one in each of four directions. A slight breeze is redolent of altitude. An abandoned flagpole vainly gestures outward beneath the southern opening. Stairs descend from the bare stone floor. A glass-encased model landscape squats on the floor near the east window. >x model The model is the size of a small desk. Spread across its top is the landscape you have traversed, down to the tiniest detail, including, of course, this tower, as well as the stream you recently created. The structure is set flush against the east wall of this room so that the wall of the room functions as the High Wall, against which the pebble you dropped is visible. The scene is covered by a pane of glass. >x crack It is too small even to fit a finger through. >x north (the north window) The window describes the wilds to the north, free of mobile and structure. Even there, with no elements to protect, the High Wall holds. >s You'll need to drop whatever you're carrying before you can crawl out on the flagpole. >drop all handlefish: Dropped. lie opener: Dropped. lie establisher: Dropped. iron bar: Dropped. guidebook: Dropped. >s You force yourself through the small window and crawl out onto the flagpole. On the Flagpole (clinging to the flagpole) The whole of the land is visible from here, though you are in no position to appreciate it. The tower deepens far below you, and the High Wall looms off to the east. >n With relief, you back up through the window. Observation Room For an observation room, the view disappoints; it is provided only by four small windows, perhaps two feet by two, long bare of glass, one in each of four directions. A slight breeze is redolent of altitude. An abandoned flagpole vainly gestures outward beneath the southern opening. Stairs descend from the bare stone floor. A handlefish rests upon the ground. A glass-encased model landscape squats on the floor near the east window. You can also see a guidebook, an iron bar, a lie establisher and a lie opener here. >get all guidebook: Taken. iron bar: Taken. lie establisher: Taken. lie opener: Taken. handlefish: Taken. model: The model is, and remains, where it is. >d Halfway Up Tower When viewed, as now, from four stories above the ground and an equal distance from the top of the tower, these stairs are the whole of the universe. Far above, they penetrate an opening in the stone ceiling. >d Base of Tower The inside of the tower is completely void, nothing remaining but a long spiral staircase rising through the ceiling far above. The plain awaits to the east. A few scraps of wood lie without pride on the floor, all that remains of the original construction. >e Before the Tower A stone tower rises high and west above you, surrounded by a ring of stamped dirt. An archway faces the wall, strangely small compared to the tower's bulk; one must almost duck to transcend it. A plaque is set above the archway, approaching its size. >s Movement fails in that direction. >e In the Shade The land increases towards your head to the south, and decreases away from your feet to the north. Mobiles lead accordingly in both directions. The High Wall may also be approached to the east. A long walk to the west is a tower, dwarfing your form, and dwarfed in turn by the wall. A stream of water rushes swiftly to the north. Inscribed on the brown grass is a toolman. >s Outside Cave The mobile from the north ends as the land's slope increases too greatly. Dirt glistens blue. To the south, amid the land, a way opens into darkness, while more ground lies to the east. A stream of water rushes swiftly to the north. >s Inside the Cave A dark volume, curried from the surrounding stone, fills your eyes and ears. To the north a passing opens into dimness; from further inside, to the east, a slight glow weakly straggles into the room. A cold knee-deep stream rushes out to the north. >e Lantern Room This subsection of the inset brightens and flickers. The shadows belong to the air more than you do, it seems. They walk the cordstone walls; they move and excite. The shadows look to a wall, to bars in the wall, and the songlantern behind them. Further in is east, further out is west, and a slope obtains up to the south. A cold knee-deep stream rushes to the west. The songlantern murmurs and sings. >e End Of Passage A cylinder heightens out of sight, a steady stream of water descending it and splashing about your knees. Gray words hang lifelessly in the air. >sqeeze lie establisher That's not a verb I recognise. >o squeeze Sorry, that can't be corrected. >w Lantern Room This subsection of the inset brightens and flickers. The shadows belong to the air more than you do, it seems. They walk the cordstone walls; they move and excite. The shadows look to a wall, to bars in the wall, and the songlantern behind them. Further in is east, further out is west, and a slope obtains up to the south. A cold knee-deep stream rushes to the west. >x stream You see nothing special about the water. >w Inside the Cave A dark volume, curried from the surrounding stone, fills your eyes and ears. To the north a passing opens into dimness; from further inside, to the east, a slight glow weakly straggles into the room. A cold knee-deep stream rushes out to the north. >n Outside Cave The mobile from the north ends as the land's slope increases too greatly. Dirt glistens blue. To the south, amid the land, a way opens into darkness, while more ground lies to the east. A stream of water rushes swiftly to the north. >n In the Shade The land increases towards your head to the south, and decreases away from your feet to the north. Mobiles lead accordingly in both directions. The High Wall may also be approached to the east. A long walk to the west is a tower, dwarfing your form, and dwarfed in turn by the wall. A stream of water rushes swiftly to the north. Inscribed on the brown grass is a toolman. The toolman smiles softly. >n By the Hole By the mobile south, a rounded hole, five times as wide as you are tall, deepens through the earth. Its dark is deeper than that around you. The east is also passable. A stream of water flows in from the south, filling the hole with a pool. >n Movement fails in that direction. >e Before the Cube The wall to your east continues to gain out of sight. To your north is what remains of a massive transparent cube, perhaps five of your heights on each side. A large boulder squats on one corner of the cube's remains. The ground is covered with glass dust and shards, threatening your footing. >n In the Cube The land, free of its former boundaries, is bare, save for the perfect square of grass, untrod for years until now, formerly within the constraints of its walls. A wooden cup broods upon the grass. >n Movement fails in that direction. >e That direction of motion will not exist while the High Wall reigns. >x wall The High Wall looms above the shade, creating it. Its stones hold each other the entire distance. This distance is potentially, but unprovably, finite. A High Wall is not high to be measured in units of length, but of angle. >x fish The handlefish blinks impassively. >s Before the Cube The wall to your east continues to gain out of sight. To your north is what remains of a massive transparent cube, perhaps five of your heights on each side. A large boulder squats on one corner of the cube's remains. The ground is covered with glass dust and shards, threatening your footing. >x boulder Twice your height, the boulder buries itself in the dirt. >get it The boulder resists all force. >s Under the High Wall Sweetness fills the shade of the High Wall to your east. Under this sweetness lies a small expanse of fod. A mobile releases mildly to the west; far in that direction a tower proudly plants itself, while the ground rises more slowly to the south and relaxes to the north. Almost touching the High Wall is a resting, firm and soft. >x resting The resting sits on five wooden legs and slopes gradually. >w In the Shade The land increases towards your head to the south, and decreases away from your feet to the north. Mobiles lead accordingly in both directions. The High Wall may also be approached to the east. A long walk to the west is a tower, dwarfing your form, and dwarfed in turn by the wall. A stream of water rushes swiftly to the north. Inscribed on the brown grass is a toolman. The toolman jingles in the breeze. >s Outside Cave The mobile from the north ends as the land's slope increases too greatly. Dirt glistens blue. To the south, amid the land, a way opens into darkness, while more ground lies to the east. A stream of water rushes swiftly to the north. >e Hillside Dun tumbles down loosely from a steep hill to the south, sliced through by the wall to the east. A spinster flutters in the breeze. >w Outside Cave The mobile from the north ends as the land's slope increases too greatly. Dirt glistens blue. To the south, amid the land, a way opens into darkness, while more ground lies to the east. A stream of water rushes swiftly to the north. >s Inside the Cave A dark volume, curried from the surrounding stone, fills your eyes and ears. To the north a passing opens into dimness; from further inside, to the east, a slight glow weakly straggles into the room. A cold knee-deep stream rushes out to the north. >e Lantern Room This subsection of the inset brightens and flickers. The shadows belong to the air more than you do, it seems. They walk the cordstone walls; they move and excite. The shadows look to a wall, to bars in the wall, and the songlantern behind them. Further in is east, further out is west, and a slope obtains up to the south. A cold knee-deep stream rushes to the west. >e End Of Passage A cylinder heightens out of sight, a steady stream of water descending it and splashing about your knees. Gray words hang lifelessly in the air. >x words "In this hall Shall water stand And gravity's grip be loose" >squeeze lie establisher You squeeze the lie enhancer. The dim words slowly waken and glow. For one moment the water is still. Then it heeds the words and floods up the tube, taking you with it. In The Cylinder Bouncing upon a spume of water, you can make out little of the scene around you. A hollow cylinder rises immensely far, a pinprick of light staring from its end. >u Your tumbling inhibits all action. You are buffeted upward for an eternity, rising at an unimaginable speed toward a spot of light at the top of the cylinder. You lose consciousness and regain it after an unknown delay. Top Of Cylinder You bob at the top of a hollow cylindrical column with walls of fitted stone, filled almost to the top with water, clean and cold. A ladder ascends from the water's height to a bright opening perhaps twenty feet directly overhead. Below water level is fastened a narrow opening in the east wall. >u You hoist yourself up onto the ladder and climb up to the open air. As you ascend, the sunlight strikes you fully for the first time with almost physical force. You are stunned by warmth and light. On The High Wall The surface of the wall is as wide as you are tall, and unimaginably high above the land to the west. The stones themselves fit each other perfectly, with no mortar between. It is unclear how they barricade the vast ocean to the east, an easy dive of perhaps twenty feet. The handlefish blinks in alarm. >x ocean The water extends infinitely in all directions but west. The handlefish gulps with dismay. >x fish The handlefish is in obvious pain. The handlefish glances desperately to and fro. >consult book about fish That is no subject. >consult book about handlefish 'The HANDLEFISH has adapted to the water of the shade so perfectly that it is liable to violently discorporate when exposed to the water of the sun.' The handlefish blinks in alarm. >put handlefish in ocean The handlefish protests silently as you toss it into the vast ocean. As it submerges, a plume of water extends towards the sun and relapses. Then there is a moment of loudness and shock. There is a short trembling, as if the ground becomes slightly unsteady for a moment, but it passes. Looking down, you spy a trickle of water emerging from the west side of the wall. >w Movement fails in that direction. A violent shock throws you to your knees. You clutch at the broad stones as best you can, releasing your possessions. The wall is falling. >d Gravity is taking care of that. The entire wall slides down towards the land to the west. Water soaks you from behind. Ancient chunks of rock fly past you in all directions. Some great mass hits you in the back, knocking you into the rush of water. In The Water The world is a mad mixture of rocks, water, and too little air. Waves and stone madly buffet you about, as you periodically go under and resurface. During a brief period above the surface, you catch sight of a rock just by your head. >d These are no conditions for splashing about. Water blinds your eyes, but when you open them the rock is still there. >climb rock You clamber up out of the water onto the rock. The roiling mass of stone and water overwhelms the tower. Its flagpole is just in front of you. >get flagpole You reach out with one hand and barely grasp the flagpole, then manage to pull yourself up. On the Flagpole (clinging to the flagpole) Amidst the chaos around you, this flagpole and the tower to its north are the two things stationary. Just underneath you, huge chunks of stone whip past, unleashing a lifetime of energy. >n You crawl through the window. Observation Room For an observation room, the view disappoints; it is provided only by four small windows, perhaps two feet by two, long bare of glass, one in each of four directions. A slight breeze is redolent of altitude. An abandoned flagpole vainly gestures outward beneath the southern opening. Stairs descend from the bare stone floor. The model landscape lies on the ground, slightly askew and quickly filling with water. Water rushes in through the open window and up through the stairway. >x model The model has been dislodged. Its cover has disappeared, and water and sand stream in from a chink in the east wall. Water rushes in through the open window and up through the stairway. It's now up to your knees. >get model Stretching your arms to their limit, you groan and lift the model just off the floor. The ground shakes. Water rushes in through the open window and up through the stairway. >empty model You strain to upset the model and the flood therein. In response to your desperate lift, the entire tower in which you stand begins to tilt as well, ages of stone and rock sliding through the air with a sickening lack of reluctance. You slip across the newly displaced floor, its angle yawing further with each moment, barely retaining your grip. Water pours in without cease, all denial useless, from all portals, whether windows or stairs. Flung against a wall suddenly turned floor, you flicker, your world narrowing to nothing but your fingers, their hold on the model, on the world, as you meet the wall with a crack that engulfs your consciousness. Water rushes past you and the sky. When you come to, it is gone. >i You are alone. >l Observation Room For an observation room, the view disappoints; it is provided only by four small windows, perhaps two feet by two, long bare of glass, one in each of four directions. A slight breeze is redolent of altitude. An abandoned flagpole vainly gestures outward beneath the southern opening. Stairs descend from the bare stone floor. You can see a model here. >d Halfway Up Tower When viewed, as now, from four stories above the ground and an equal distance from the top of the tower, these stairs are the whole of the universe. Far above, they penetrate an opening in the stone ceiling. >d Base of Tower The inside of the tower is completely void, nothing remaining but a long spiral staircase rising through the ceiling far above. The plain awaits to the east. The scraps of wood once here have fled. >x scraps That is either not here or not anywhere. >x wood That is either not here or not anywhere. >e You step out into the sunlight, and a newly lit land. *** You have succeeded *** Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, UNDO your last move, see the author's NOTES, or QUIT? > notes "I'm not sure whether your language is deliberately VERY off-centre, or whether you are from a non-English speaking background." -- A beta tester I had wanted to write a game in a really odd environment for a while. Many of those ideas will have to wait for future games, but one that stuck with me was a vision of the player on top of an infinitely high wall, looking down at the world unimaginably far below. And then the wall begins to crumble... I didn't know how I wanted to present the world, or how to rationalize the introduction of the player character - who in these games usually has supposedly somehow come there from the real world - into it. Then I read a book called The Age of Wire and String, by Ben Marcus, and it blew me away. It used what was ostensibly precise language, but in a way that was very difficult to make sense of, and a glossary that just added to the confusion. I immediately wanted to write something with a similar feel, in which objects are described in terse languge that assumes the player character understands the terms used, though of course the player does not. I ended up having to back away a bit from the original plan, as it was just too weird (for one thing, it involved the player using verbs that she couldn't understand), but I still like the rather dreamlike quality that resulted; everything has some sort of internal logic, even if you don't know what it is. While I was deep into development, I read The Book of the New Sun, by Gene Wolfe, which turned out to have some weird things in common with For A Change. It's also about bringing the sun, in many ways, and uses a strange (though English) vocabulary that the reader has to pick up on the fly. While I didn't imitate it in any way, it was an inspiration in that it showed someone successfully using the same kinds of elements. The main problem with destroying the immensely high wall was figuring how to get rid of it without destroying the world in a huge cataclysm. My happiest moment of developing was realizing the way in which I could solve that problem using the objects I already had in my world. Thanks again to everyone involved in the Interactive Fiction Competition for providing me with the motivation to finally finish a game. Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, UNDO your last move, see the author's NOTES, or QUIT? > quit