Even from afar, the mansion looks forbidding. The work of Klaus Artur Schlobbe, otherwise known as the Mad Architect, it has the look of a luntatic asylum designed by the inmates. No one knows what lies inside -- no one has had the courage to set foot inside the door since Schlobbe's death. Some rumors say it hides a fortune in gold and gems; others hint at dark deeds and satanic rituals performed within, and say that demonic powers still haunt its halls. Perhaps you will be the one to discover the truth... if you dare... --------------------------------------------------- No Earthly Use An Interactive Monoverbal Experiment perpetrated by Greg Ewing for the UseComp --------------------------------------------------- (Warning: This game has an unusual command structure. If you're having trouble, type USE INSTRUCTIONS.) Front Doorstep. The architecture is no less disturbing from here at the top of the front doorsteps. The angles of the frame around the large, solid door wrench the eyes, and the twisted carvings on its panels threaten your sanity. A large brass doorknob in the likeness of a cheetah's pancreas defies you to touch it. > use doorknob It turns, and the door creaks open. A forbidding dimness lies beyond. Go north if you dare. > use door Hallway. The house has been abandoned for half a century, and it shows. The wallpaper is faded and peeling, cobwebs adorn the corners, and of the once-plush carpet, moths have left only a few threads. Doors open into further rooms to the east and west, and a large, elaborate and very strange staircase leads up. > use west door Drawing Room. This room is furnished with sofas and chairs that must have been fine antiques once, but now the wood is dry and cracked and the upholstery threadbare. The one exception is a baby grand piano in the centre of the room, which seems to be in reasonably good condition. A small table in one corner seems to have something on it. There are two doors, leading north to the dining room, and east to the hallway. > use eyes on piano It still has most of its varnish and is only slightly scratched. The keyboard cover lies invitingly open, displaying a shiny set of black and white keys. > use piano As you reach for the keys, the cover suddenly snaps shut! You pull your hand away just in time to avoid getting your fingers bitten off. > use eyes on table Sitting on the corner table is a steel key. > use hand on key Taken. > use north door Dining Room. This room is furnished with a large dining table and chairs. The table is laid out with six elaborate place settings, and looks quite normal except for the pentagrams and occult runes inscribed in charcoal on the tablecloth and the large, dribbly candle in the middle of the table. The other notable feature of this room is the fireman's pole that descends from a circular hole in one corner of the ceiling. Doors lead south to the drawing room, and east to the hallway. > use eyes on candle Rivulets of hot wax have run down its sides and made grotesque shapes at its base. It's almost burned down to a stump, but there looks to be quite a lot of life left in it. > use hand on candle Taken. > use east door Back of Hallway. The hallway narrows towards the back of the house. Doors lead east and west to other rooms, and the back door of the house is to the north. You hear what sounds like the squeaking of small wheels somewhere nearby. > use east door You'll have to unlock it somehow first. > use key on east door The key turns, and the door unlocks. > use east door Study. This small room is furnished with a writing desk and a chair. The desk has a drawer in it. The only exit is to the west. You hear the squeaking of tiny wheels, coming closer. Suddenly the piano rolls into the room, apparently under it's own power, and positions itself between you and the desk. The piano makes a rumbling sound with its low strings that sounds ominously like the growling of a wild animal. > use eyes on desk An ink-stained leather writing pad covers the surface, and a wooden stand holds a few ancient pens and some dried-out ink pots. The single drawer is closed. > use drawer The piano growls menacingly at you, and won't let you near the desk. > use west door Back of Hallway (again). > use sout door 'sout'? I don't know that word. > use south door Hallway (again). > use east door Library. Three huge bookcases fill the walls of this room. The first one is filled with books on architecture, and the second is crammed with musical scores. The third one seems to contain works on various occult subjects. The exit from the library is to the west. Three books are open on a low table in one corner of the room. > use eyes on table One of the books on the table is a biography of the well-known architect Sir Christopher Wren. Another is titled 'Exhumation - A Hobbyists's Guide'. The remaining one is written in a strange, unfamiliar script. Slipped into the third book is a piece of paper with some handwriting on it. > use eyes on paper It's a page torn out of a notebook. You can make out the words: '...and to banish the shade, illume it with the light of a candle burned low, filtered through a green gemstone, while reciting the following incantation...' The next few words seem to be a meaningless jumble of syllables. > use hand on note Taken. > use west door Hallway (again). > use stairs You don't need to use that for anything. Mercifully, you don't encounter any macroscopic wormholes in space or time, and emerge on the... Landing. At the top of the stairs, a short hallway leads north, and there are doors to the east and west. > use north door Upstairs Hallway. Doors lead east and west from here, and to the south is the upstairs landing of the main stairs. There is also a small set of steps leading up to a hatch in the ceiling. > use east door Chapel. This small chapel is simply but tastefully decorated. The only ostentatious feature is the large circular stained glass window set into the floor (yes, that's not a typo, remember who built this house). There is a marble-topped altar at the far end. > use eyes on altar Sitting on the altar is a silver crucifix. > use hand on crucifix Taken. > use west door Upstairs Hallway (again). > use west door Kitchen. A huge coal range dominates this room. There is also a long bench, and many shelves, cupboards and hooks for storing pots and pans. Only a few dented and tarnished cooking implements remain, however. No kitchen in a Schlobbe-designed house would be complete without at least one architectural oddity, and here it's the fireman's pole that descends through the floor into the dining room. Evidently he was very particular about having his food served hot. If you don't fancy a slide down, you can leave the room through the door to the east. There is a box of kitchen matches on one corner of the bench. > use eyes on box You must supply a noun. > use eyes on matches There's a good number of matches left in it. > use matches You don't need to use that for anything. > use hand on match You pluck a match out of the box. > use east door Upstairs Hallway (again). > use south door Landing (again). > use stairs Hallway (again). > use north door Back of Hallway (again). > use east door Study. This small room is furnished with a writing desk and a chair. The desk has a drawer in it. The only exit is to the west. There is a piano here. It looks strangely similar to the one you saw in the drawing room. > use crucifix on piano You thrust the crucifix out in front of you with both hands. The piano edges away, letting out frightened little arpeggios that rise higher and louder and culminate in an agonised, discordant crescendo. Then it falls silent. > use drawer You open the drawer. The drawer contains a small brass key. > use hand on brass key Taken. > use west door Back of Hallway (again). > use north door Garden. The back garden is large, lush, green and totally uninteresting except for a set of stone steps leading down into the ground. The back door of the house is to the south. > use steps Crypt. This stone-lined underground chamber is dark, cold and damp. There is what appears to be a stone sarcophagus in the middle of the floor. Around it is carved a large pentagram, surrounded by occult symbols. > use eyes on sarcophagus Summoning all your courage, you peer over the edge of the sarcophagus. There is a human skeleton inside, lying with its hands crossed over its chest. A faint white glow starts to appear in the air above the sarcphagus. It brightens, and starts to form itself into a human face. The apparition opens its mouth and lets out a sound like wind wailing through a lonely graveyard. 'Have you come to torment me again?' it says. 'Can you not release me after all this time? I have told you everything that I know!' The face pauses, and squints at you for a moment. 'You are not he,' it muses. 'Who might you be?' You stammer something incoherent. 'My name is Wren,' the face goes on, 'or at least I am the shade of one who was thus called in mortal life. I have been cruelly wrenched from my place of rest and made to serve against my will. Can you release me? Will you release me?' Your mind reels as the full import of what Schlobbe has done begins to sink in. Why did he do it? Just so he could get a brain to pick for some architectural inspiration? > use match A quick flick against a nearby surface, and the match bursts into flame. > use match on candle The candle flares into life. It smokes quite a bit, but gives off a usable light. > use steps Garden (again). > use south door Back of Hallway (again). > use south door Hallway (again). > use east door Library (again). Three books are open on a low table in one corner of the room. The match goes out. > use west door Hallway (again). > use stairs You don't need to use that for anything. Mercifully, you don't encounter any macroscopic wormholes in space or time, and emerge on the... Landing (again). > use east door Bedroom. A magnificent four-poster bed is the centrepiece of this room. There was probably other furniture here as well, once, but it has since been removed. > use eyes on bed The coverings are old an rotten. In one place, the fabric has crumbled completely away, revealing a chest of some sort under the bed. > use eyes on chest It's a small wooden sea chest, bound with metal straps. The lid is held firmly closed with a clasp and padlock. > use brass key on chest Success! The padlock clicks open, allowing you to lift the lid. The chest contains an enormous emerald. > use hand on emerald Taken. > use west door Landing (again). > use stairs Hallway (again). > use north door Back of Hallway (again). > use north door Garden (again). > use steps Crypt. This stone-lined underground chamber is dark, cold and damp. There is what appears to be a stone sarcophagus in the middle of the floor. Around it is carved a large pentagram, surrounded by occult symbols. A ghostly apparition hangs over the sarcophagus. > use candle on emerald You hold the candle up to the emerald, which scatters the candlelight and casts flickering green images over the apparition. > use note You make your best effort at getting your mouth around the incantation. The green images disappear as you take the candle away from the emerald. The shade begins to glow a bright green, and the emerald starts to give off dark orange smoke. 'Thank you,' the shade says as it slowly fades. 'Thank you... may you be blessed in all eternity...' Soon only the faintest glow remains, and then nothing at all. The emerald, too, is no more. All that is left of it is an orange cloud drifting away in the air. As you climb the steps out of the crypt, your lost dreams of riches are tempered by your spiritual reward at having brought happiness to a tormented soul. Or something like that, anyway. THE END Do you want to RESTART, RESTORE or QUIT ? quit