All this for a map of Paris? Let's play Curses!

Well, it's been a while, but I'm back from my vacation visiting my brother and sister-in-law in central California, where I saw such unusual things as a waterfall urinal, a shop selling chocolate-covered scorpions, a garden of exotic plants from around the world, and a cat named White Ass. Anyway, now that I'm back from my real vacation, it's time to search for an item for a fictional vacation, beginning by dealing with this ghost. Since the wrench has become quite popular during this LP...

>get wrench
It's a wrench, but you take it.

The ghost begins to speak:

My hour is almost come
When I to sulph'rous and tormenting flames
Must render up myself...

Can this possibly be the infamous Sir Joshua Meldrewe?

>hit ghost with wrench
Ectoplasm is as nice to touch as its reputation suggests.

"But not yet it hasn't, mark my word. And there's the burden of my inheritance, little wart! Get thee from my sight ere I slice thee as befits a hog!"

Well, if he is Joshua Meldrewe, he died of choking on a chicken bone, so maybe using a bone would work? But first, there was another suggestion involving the bone, and I never refuse a viewer suggestion, so...

>hit bone with wrench
Violence isn't the answer to this one.

"I prithee but once more, begone!"

All right, then. If a bone worked on him once, then...

>give bone to ghost
(first taking the chicken wishbone)
(putting the painting of Mad Isaac Meldrewe into the canvas rucksack to make room)
The ghost swallows the wishbone, grinning nastily. Then a look of consternation spreads across his face. He begins to choke and as he fades away, his arms flailing wildly, he lets go of the key, which sails through the air onto the roof and (against all odds) falls neatly down a chimney.

[Your score has just gone up by seven points.]

Well, we're rid of the ghost...but we've lost the key, unfortunately. Where to from here?

Puzzles:
Deciding what color daisy chain I want. We have a blue one, but is that the right color?
Finding out the purpose of the word "lagach."
Getting into the hedged-in area of the maze.
Finding a way to fit through the chimney in the cupboard.
Getting the gothic iron key out of the chimney.

Inventory:
a steel wrench
a bird whistle
a book of Twenties poetry (transports me to the Unreal City when read)
a small brass key (unlocks the door from Dark Passage to Garden Stream)
a gas mask
a daisy chain (around your neck, made from blue daisies)
some old gardeners' gloves (being worn)
a canvas rucksack (which is open, actually a bag of holding)
a painting of Mad Isaac Meldrewe
a miniature (of the folly that once stood at the exit of the maze)
a spade
a weed killer bottle
a hard wooden ball
four Tarot cards: the Ace of Cups, Grim Reaper, Fool and Drowned Sailor
a silk handkerchief
a guaranteed-unbreakable medicine bottle with a child-proof lock (which is closed, an antidote to some unknown drug or poison)
a romantic novel (Coronets for the Cotton Girl, by Marie Swelldon)
a tourist map (of central Hamburg)
Hobson's classical dictionary
the History of the Meldrews (vol. II)
an electric torch (providing light and closed)
a photographer's flash (which is closed)

Score:
It is the afternoon of June 3rd, 1993, and you are in Meldrew Hall. You have so far scored 58 out of a possible 550, in 487 turns, giving you the rank of cynical Tourist.

Maps:
Meldrew Hall, attic:
a=Attic (down to game over)
b=Old Winery
c=Aunt Jemima's Lair (wireless)
d=Servant's Room (scarf)
e=Potting Room (Aunt Jemima)
f=Old Furniture (wrapping paper)
g=Over the East Wing
h=Storage Room (wheel with handle, dumbwaiter leading to Cellar)
i=Disused Observatory (glass ball on telescope stand, smoke detector)
j=Airing Cupboard
k=Dark Room
l=East Annexe
m=Dead End
n=Library Storage
o=Souvenirs Room (slide projector)
p=Inside Cupboard (you are here; big iron fireplace, open skylight with crank handle, up to Roof)
q=Chimney (sooty old stick, down to...?)
X=game over

Meldrew Hall, cellar:
a=Cellars (dumbwaiter to Dark Shaft)
b=Wine Cellars
c=Cellar West (locked door leading northwest, down to Hellish Place)
d=Cellars South (robot mouse, hole in wall)

Meldrew Hall, gardens and shaft area:
a=Garden Stream
b=Family Tree (plane tree, up to Up the Plane Tree)
c=Beside the Wall (potted shrub, one-way path down to Wine Cellar)
d=Lawn Ornaments (dark well too small to enter)
e=Mosaic
f=Clearing
g=Garage (garden roller)
h=Vegetable Garden (runner bean plant)
i=Maze
j=Viewpoint Ledge (plaque)
k=Dark Shaft (dumbwaiter to Storage Room)
l=Dark Passage

Meldrew Hall, roof:
a=Roof
b=Battlements (you are here)

Unreal City:
a=Unreal City
b=Shadowy Hallway (up to Consulting Room)
c=Bohemia
d=Down by River
e=Near Ring Road (down to Chatelet-les-Halles)
f=Chatelet-les-Halles (map salesman)
g=Consulting Room (down to Shadowy Hallway)
h=On board the Phlebas (saying "time" will take the protagonist to Garden Stream)

Deaths
Missed the point entirely: 5 (irritated Aunt Jemima by trying to steal her gardening gloves, gave up on the search, broke a pipe and had to call a plumber, lectured by Aunt Jemima for four hours, burned down most of the attic)
Spooked: 1 (haunted by the ghost of Sir Joshua Meldrewe)
Total: 6

So...chocolate-covered scorpions. Did you try them? Are they actually, 'yknow, food?

(I ask because the running gag in my tabletop campaigns for years is that when someone misses a session, it's because their character accidentally swallowed a scorpion and is very sick. If these things are real and acquireable, it would make for a very memorable gaming night.)

Is there anywhere we can get to that we haven't been? I feel like we've reached the point where I'd just start spamming items at the chimney.

I bet the key is Inside Cupboard. Let's find out.

I did not try them, but I'm sure that they are intended as food, seeing as they were being sold in a candy shop, along with other chocolate-coated arthropods. Anyway, there are more places to go, but it's a bit obscure how to access them without one of my previous hints, which I will repeat here.

Real update tomorrow!

I bet the key is in Inside Cupboard, too. Or, more specificially, in the fireplace in Inside Cupboard. So, let's go!

>se

Roof

>d

Inside Cupboard

There is a big iron fireplace in the west wall.

The skylight above is open, and the sky does indeed light the room.

>enter fireplace

Chimney

Wedged loosely in beside you is a sooty old stick.

Guess not. I know that there is a way to get down the chimney, but I can't remember what it is. So, that's all for now, folks.

With all the fate, magic books, and ghost stuff, this is getting serious. Better close the attic trap door so nobody else needs to get caught up in all this.

Maybe if we weren't trying to hang onto so much junk, this would be possible.

Maybe...let's try it. Of course, we'll need the torch, and probably the brass key, but we can probably afford to go without the rest of our stuff. So, in order to get our stuff into the chimney...

>se

Roof

>d

Inside Cupboard

There is a big iron fireplace in the west wall.

The skylight above is open, and the sky does indeed light the room.

>put torch and brass key in fireplace
electric torch: The electric torch rattles out of sight down the chimney.
small brass key: The small brass key rattles out of sight down the chimney.

>drop all
steel wrench: Dropped.
book of Twenties poetry: Dropped.
canvas rucksack: Dropped.

>w

Darkness
It is pitch dark, and you can't see a thing.

>d
You squeeze awkwardly down the chimney. Lucky your best clothes are all packed, because you're getting filthy.

Priest's Hole
Good heavens, so the house has a priest hole after all! It was always a family legend but nobody seemed to know quite where it was. Apart from a cross painted on one wall and a padded floor (to absorb the noise), this spartan cranny is featureless. Nevertheless there is a spooky air of the supernatural about... A narrow crawl leads up into the chimney.

This chimney must have been the one the gothic-looking iron key fell down, for here it is.

Low down on one wall is a little hatch door, which if it were open would be large enough to enter.

The dust and grime on the floor almost obscures an ancient prayer book.

You can also see a sooty old stick, an electric torch (closed and providing light) and a small brass key here.

[Your score has just gone up by five points.]

It seems that my trip down the chimney has dislodged that sooty old stick. So...

>take all
sooty old stick: Taken.
electric torch: Taken.
hatch: That's fixed in place.
ancient prayer book: Taken.
small brass key: Taken.
gothic-looking iron key: Taken.

[Your score has just gone up by four points.]

And, since we've found a book, might as well read it.

>read prayer book
Despite appearances, this is not a prayer book after all but is Mad Isaac's diary of supernatural investigations! The script is cursive and cursory as he rambles on through all those theories about the Curse. There's so much of it that you'd better just look up particular years.

Now, the hatch is locked, but that's why I dropped the brass key down here.

>d
You zoom rapidly down the chute, but decelerate just in time and land in a dark corner of...

Cellar West

In the northwest wall is a heavy, imposing ironbound door.

Now that we've gotten the stuff from the priest hole, we can get our stuff back from the cupboard. However, there is something to do en route...

>e

Cellars

There is a little closed window-vent low in the north wall.

>turn wheel
It spins round smoothly, and the dumbwaiter is hoisted into view.

>enter dumbwaiter
You get into the dumbwaiter.

The dumbwaiter hangs on strong pulley ropes which stretch up and down from here.

>pull ropes
You heave yourself half-way up, and then need to stop for a rest.

Dark Shaft (in the dumbwaiter)
Halfway up, or else halfway down, and a dreary place it is too: nothing but a dark corridor leading north.

The dumbwaiter hangs on strong pulley ropes which stretch up and down from here.

>g
You heave yourself up to the attic again...

Storage Room (in the dumbwaiter)
A disused storage room off the winery. In one wall is an opening onto an ominous dark shaft, and beside it is a big Victorian-steam-engine style wheel with a handle on.

You can see a postcard of the Champs-Elysees and a crumpled piece of paper here.

The dumbwaiter hangs on strong pulley ropes which stretch up and down from here.

>stand
You get out of the dumbwaiter.

Storage Room

Inside the dark shaft is the old dumbwaiter.

You can also see a postcard of the Champs-Elysees and a crumpled piece of paper here.

>w

Old Winery

You can see a labelled glass demijohn (which is empty) here.

Austin oozes in from the conservatory.

>s

Attic

A hinged trapdoor in the floor stands open, and light streams in from below.

>close trapdoor
You close the trapdoor, surprised to see that something shiny was obscured by it.

Hmm, I was not expecting that. What could it be?

>get all
antique jewellery box: You're carrying too many things already.
hinged trapdoor: That's fixed in place.
teachests: That's hardly portable.

Ah, an antique jewelry box. We'll have to come back for it once we've gotten our rucksack of holding back.

>s

Old Furniture

You can see some wrapping paper with reindeer on here.

>se

Over the East Wing

>e

East Annexe

In the north wall is an open cupboard door, large enough to step inside.

You can also see an old smudged battery here.

>n

Inside Cupboard

There is a big iron fireplace in the west wall.

The skylight above is open, and the sky does indeed light the room.

You can also see a canvas rucksack (in which are a painting of Mad Isaac Meldrewe, a miniature, a spade, a weed killer bottle, a hard wooden ball, a bird whistle, four Tarot cards (the Ace of Cups, Grim Reaper, Fool and Drowned Sailor), a silk handkerchief, a guaranteed-unbreakable medicine bottle with a child-proof lock (which is closed), a romantic novel, a tourist map, Hobson's classical dictionary, the History of the Meldrews (vol. II) and a photographer's flash (which is closed)), a book of Twenties poetry and a steel wrench here.

Several turns of struggling with my inventory later...

>get all
ancient prayer book: (putting the sooty old stick into the canvas rucksack to make room)
Taken.
book of Twenties poetry: (putting the small brass key into the canvas rucksack to make room)
Taken.
steel wrench: (putting the gothic-looking iron key into the canvas rucksack to make room)
It's a wrench, but you take it.
big iron fireplace: That's fixed in place.
cranked skylight: That's fixed in place.

Now, to pick up that jewelry box!

>s

East Annexe

In the north wall is an open cupboard door, large enough to step inside.

You can also see an old smudged battery here.

>w

Over the East Wing

>nw

Old Furniture

You can see some wrapping paper with reindeer on here.

>n

Attic

Austin, your incorrigible ginger cat, lounges around here.

In one corner is a jewellery box, which had previously been hidden by the open trapdoor.

There is a closed trapdoor in the middle of the floor.

>get box
(putting the ancient prayer book into the canvas rucksack to make room)
Taken.

Let's get a better look at it.

>examine box
A graceful lady's box, bearing the initials A. M. and engraved with a drawing of what seems to be a rabbit's foot.

A.M.? Probably another Meldrew, but without a first name, we can't look her up, unfortunately. But maybe there's something good in her box?

>open box
It seems to be locked.

Austin crawls away to the servant's bedroom.

Of course. Anyway, that seems to be a good place to end this update. Until next time!

Puzzles:
Deciding what color daisy chain I want. We have a blue one, but is that the right color?
Finding out the purpose of the word "lagach."
Getting into the hedged-in area of the maze.
A locked jewelry box.

Inventory:
an antique jewellery box (which is closed and locked)
a steel wrench
a book of Twenties poetry (transports me to the Unreal City when read)
a canvas rucksack (which is open, actually a bag of holding)

• a gothic-looking iron key
• a small brass key (unlocks the door from Dark Passage to Garden Stream)
• a sooty old stick
• a painting of Mad Isaac Meldrewe
• a miniature (of the folly that once stood at the exit of the maze)
• a spade
• a weed killer bottle
• a hard wooden ball
• a bird whistle
• four Tarot cards: the Ace of Cups, Grim Reaper, Fool and Drowned Sailor
• a silk handkerchief
• a guaranteed-unbreakable medicine bottle with a child-proof lock (which is closed, an antidote to some unknown drug or poison)
• a photographer's flash (which is closed)
• an ancient prayer book (actually Mad Isaac Meldrewe's research notes on the Curse, must look up particular years in it)
• a romantic novel (Coronets for the Cotton Girl, by Marie Swelldon)
• a tourist map (of central Hamburg)
• Hobson's classical dictionary
• the History of the Meldrews (vol. II)

an electric torch (providing light and closed)
a gas mask (being worn)
a daisy chain (around your neck, made from blue daisies)
some old gardeners' gloves (being worn)

Score:
This is the afternoon of June 3rd, 1993, and you are in Meldrew Hall. You have so far scored 67 out of a possible 550, in 529 turns, giving you the rank of cynical Tourist.

Maps:
Meldrew Hall, attic:
a=Attic (you are here; down to game over)
b=Old Winery
c=Aunt Jemima's Lair (wireless)
d=Servant's Room (scarf)
e=Potting Room (Aunt Jemima)
f=Old Furniture (wrapping paper)
g=Over the East Wing
h=Storage Room (wheel with handle, dumbwaiter leading to Cellar)
i=Disused Observatory (glass ball on telescope stand, smoke detector)
j=Airing Cupboard
k=Dark Room
l=East Annexe
m=Dead End
n=Library Storage
o=Souvenirs Room (slide projector)
p=Inside Cupboard (big iron fireplace, open skylight with crank handle, up to Roof)
q=Chimney (sooty old stick, down to Priest's Hole)
X=game over

Meldrew Hall, cellar:
a=Cellars (dumbwaiter to Dark Shaft)
b=Wine Cellars
c=Cellar West (locked door leading northwest, down to Hellish Place)
d=Cellars South (robot mouse, hole in wall)

Meldrew Hall, gardens and shaft area:
a=Garden Stream
b=Family Tree (plane tree, up to Up the Plane Tree)
c=Beside the Wall (potted shrub, one-way path down to Wine Cellar)
d=Lawn Ornaments (dark well too small to enter)
e=Mosaic
f=Clearing
g=Garage (garden roller)
h=Vegetable Garden (runner bean plant)
i=Maze
j=Viewpoint Ledge (plaque)
k=Dark Shaft (dumbwaiter to Storage Room)
l=Dark Passage

Meldrew Hall, roof:
a=Roof
b=Battlements

Meldrew Hall, ???:
a=Priest's Hole (one-way path down to Cellar West)

Unreal City:
a=Unreal City
b=Shadowy Hallway (up to Consulting Room)
c=Bohemia
d=Down by River
e=Near Ring Road (down to Chatelet-les-Halles)
f=Chatelet-les-Halles (map salesman)
g=Consulting Room (down to Shadowy Hallway)
h=On board the Phlebas (saying "time" will take the protagonist to Garden Stream)

Deaths
Missed the point entirely: 5 (irritated Aunt Jemima by trying to steal her gardening gloves, gave up on the search, broke a pipe and had to call a plumber, lectured by Aunt Jemima for four hours, burned down most of the attic)
Spooked: 1 (haunted by the ghost of Sir Joshua Meldrewe)
Total: 6

Look up Mad Isaac in the Meldrew history, if you haven't already.

From a game design point of view, I guess the reason the box is antique is to stop you breaking it open…

I already have, but it wouldn't hurt to do it again.

>look up isaac in history
Mad Isaac (1705-1792) went in for mystic experiments of all kinds, and was a noted antiquarian. He believed that the Meldrew family had an ancestral curse, dooming each member to undertake a futile quest. The only way to break the curse, he thought, was for one of them to actually succeed... unfortunately he died in peculiar circumstances before finding out how.

Then again, he also believed that King Arthur's wizard Merlin was buried not in a Tintagel cave, as is usually claimed, but somewhere in the back garden (near where the motorway is now), and that the moon is a giant pair of black and white discs towed through the night sky by a team of angels.

Since there weren't any actual suggestions on how to proceed, that's all the update I've got for today. Sorry.

Let's look up all the years we've ever heard of in Mad Isaac's diary.

The only years we've heard of within Isaac's lifetime are 1710 (birth of Joshua Meldrewe), 1762 (Joshua Meldrewe became Chancellor of the Exchequer), 1763 (Joshua Meldrewe is no longer Chancellor of the Exchequer), 1776 (death of Joshua Meldrewe), and 1792 (death of Isaac Meldrewe.) Since Isaac was born in 1705, he would have been five at most in 1710, so let's look up the other four.

>look up 1762 in prayer book
In the year one thousand, seven hundred and sixty-two, Isaac was mainly concerned with the spleens of flightless birds.

>look up 1763 in prayer book
In the year one thousand, seven hundred and sixty-three, Isaac was mainly concerned with melting points of metals.

>look up 1776 in prayer book
In the year one thousand, seven hundred and seventy-six, Isaac was mainly concerned with alchemy.

Austin leaps in from the servant's bedroom.

>look up 1792 in prayer book
In 1792, the last year of his life, ol' red-eyes becomes very excited about his new discovery. This time he claims that Merlyn bounde uppe the mystic estate (by this he means the back garden - Isaac never did have any sense of proportion) wyth great Roddes of Power. These are dangerous, yet also useful in themselves, but are really part of a great key... the usual nonsense. Of course you never actually see these rods, because they disguise themselves until waved by someone wearing Merlyn's hat.

The funny thing is that Isaac died (legend has it, by spontaneous combustion) only a week after this breakthrough, preventing him from sending yet another paper to the Royal Society. But since Merlyn supposedly lived in about the sixth century A.D., there can't be a lot left of his hat, so the matter may be academic.

Merlyn's Hat, eh? Sounds familiar...but we'll have to figure out what it could mean next time.

Aha! Obviously, he died of spontaneous combustion while waving around his magic wand, which became a sooty old stick! We're going to need to wave it to get into the hedged-in area of the maze. Though this may require a magic hat and/or saying "lagach" to accomplish.

Can we use items with the projector to make shadow puppets, like the miniatures or the tarot cards?

Looks like we've got the wrong daisy chain. Does Jemima do trade-ins? I think some yellow Merlyn's Hat daisies would look lovely on our lapel.

Now we're gettin' somewhere! First, let's do a daisy chain trade-in for some Merlyn's Hat daisies. However, I don't think Jemima will make you a new daisy chain while we're wearing one. Fortunately, we can get rid of the old one easily.

>drop chain
The daisychain falls to pieces in your hands! Cheer up, though, perhaps Jemima might give you another.


Now, back into the belly of the beast...

>n

Old Winery

You can see a labelled glass demijohn (which is empty) here.

>w

Aunt Jemima's Lair

The wireless fills the air with Jemima's favourite station, "Mild-n-Breezy FM", about which the least said the better.

The radio plays a one-finger piano transcription of Oxygene by Jean-Michel Jarre.

>w

"Oh, silly old you," says Jemima condescendingly, "You've lost your daisy chain! What colour do you want then?"

Potting Room

Aunt Jemima, who has for years collected varieties of daisy, is engaged in her regular annual pastime of deciding which species make the best chains.

Execrable music drifts in from the conservatory.

Jemima hums along to a Big Band version of Derek and the Dominos' "Layla".

Now, it's impossible to interact with NPCs while wearing the gas mask. So, we'll have to take it off first.

>remove mask
You take off the gas mask.

Jemima hums along to a light orchestra travesty of the Beatles' "She Loves You".

Merlyn's Hat daisies are yellow, so...

>say yellow
(to Jemima)
"Right you are then, I'm sure I have some which are just right."

After a moment she notices you're still here. "Come back later, it'll be done soon." You groan inwardly but force a sickly smile. Should have eaten the chocolates myself, you find yourself thinking.

Jemima hums along to an easy-listening arrangement of Dexy's Midnight Runners' "Come on Eileen".

Might as well wait.

>z
Time passes.

Jemima hums along to a snare drum and strings travesty of Mozart's "Musical Joke".

>z
Time passes.

Jemima hums along to a one-finger piano arrangement of Bach's "Air on a G-string".

>z
Time passes.

Jemima hums along to a Big Band version of the Star Wars theme tune.

>z
Time passes.

Jemima hums along to a Welsh coal-miners' Eisteddfod choir transcription of Abba's "Mama Mia".

>z
Time passes.

Jemima hums along to a one-finger piano travesty of the Beatles' "Magical Mystery Tour".

>z
Time passes.

Jemima hums along to a synthesized arrangement of Abba's "Knowing Me, Knowing You".

>z
Time passes.

Jemima hums along to a "lite-n-mellow" arrangement of Kylie Minogue's "I Should Be So Lucky".

"There we are! All done now." Jemima hangs a daisy chain around your neck, then frowns and adjusts your hair in an exceedingly annoying way.

Now that we're wearing Merlyn's hat, in a manner of speaking, let's try waving that old stick.

>get stick
(putting the gas mask into the canvas rucksack to make room)
Taken.

Jemima hums along to a synthesized version of the especially slow movement of Gorecki's "Symphony no. 3".

>wave it
Light pulses around the daisy chain, then leaps out to engulf the sooty old stick which melts into a featureless mahogany rod!

Jemima hums along to an easy-listening version of the "O Fortuna" from Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana".

[Your score has just gone up by six points.]

Could this be one of the Rods of Power that Mad Isaac spoke of in his diary? Maybe we'll find out later. But for now, let's try various objects in the slide projector. First, the 0th tarot card.

>put fool in projector
The south wall lights up with the picture on the Fool, beautifully magnified and amazingly life-like. Why, you'd hardly know there was a wall there at all.

So, maybe...

>s
You walk confidently into the south wall...

And find yourself stepping off a cliff. All is well for a moment, and then like a cartoon character you notice there is no ground beneath you and you plummet to a stony death far below.


*** You have died ***

Or have you? No... this isn't quite the end. You see an intense blue-white light at the end of what seems a tunnel, and drift toward it until you realise that you are staring, dazed, into the light of the slide projector, and have hardly moved at all.

Hmm, seems that by placing objects in the slide projector, we can walk through the south wall. Of the items we have now, the ones that will fit in it are our collection of tarot cards (The Fool, The Drowned Sailor, The Grim Reaper, and the Ace of Cups) and the miniature. I'll leave it to you which one we explore next...actually, we haven't really explored The Fool properly yet. I'll warn you that it's not exactly intuitive what to do there, so if no one figures it out, I'll show it off in the next update. I will say that it involves the glass ball in the observatory, though.

Puzzles:
Finding out the purpose of the word "lagach."
Getting into the hedged-in area of the maze.
A locked jewelry box.

Votes:
Which object should I next use in the slide projector: the miniature, the Drowned Sailor, the Grim Reaper, or the Ace of Cups?

Inventory:
a featureless mahogany rod
a daisy chain (around your neck, made from yellow daisies)
an antique jewellery box (which is closed and locked)
a steel wrench
a book of Twenties poetry (transports me to the Unreal City when read)
a canvas rucksack (which is open, actually a bag of holding)

• a gas mask
• a gothic-looking iron key
• a small brass key (unlocks the door from Dark Passage to Garden Stream and the trapdoor in Priest's Hole)
• a painting of Mad Isaac Meldrewe
• a miniature (of the folly that once stood at the exit of the maze)
• a spade
• a weed killer bottle
• a hard wooden ball
• a bird whistle
• four Tarot cards: the Ace of Cups, Grim Reaper, Fool and Drowned Sailor
• a silk handkerchief
• a guaranteed-unbreakable medicine bottle with a child-proof lock (which is closed, an antidote to some unknown drug or poison)
• a photographer's flash (which is closed)
• an ancient prayer book (actually Mad Isaac Meldrewe's research notes on the Curse, must look up particular years in it)
• a romantic novel (Coronets for the Cotton Girl, by Marie Swelldon)
• a tourist map (of central Hamburg)
• Hobson's classical dictionary
• the History of the Meldrews (vol. II)

an electric torch (providing light and closed)
some old gardeners' gloves (being worn)

Score:
This is the afternoon of June 3rd, 1993, and you are in Meldrew Hall. You have so far scored 73 out of a possible 550, in 551 turns, giving you the rank of cynical Tourist.

Maps:
Meldrew Hall, attic:
a=Attic (you are here; down to game over)
b=Old Winery
c=Aunt Jemima's Lair (wireless)
d=Servant's Room (scarf)
e=Potting Room (Aunt Jemima)
f=Old Furniture (wrapping paper)
g=Over the East Wing
h=Storage Room (wheel with handle, dumbwaiter leading to Cellar)
i=Disused Observatory (glass ball on telescope stand, smoke detector)
j=Airing Cupboard
k=Dark Room
l=East Annexe
m=Dead End
n=Library Storage
o=Souvenirs Room (slide projector)
p=Inside Cupboard (big iron fireplace, open skylight with crank handle, up to Roof)
q=Chimney (sooty old stick, down to Priest's Hole)
X=game over

Meldrew Hall, cellar:
a=Cellars (dumbwaiter to Dark Shaft)
b=Wine Cellars
c=Cellar West (locked door leading northwest, down to Hellish Place)
d=Cellars South (robot mouse, hole in wall)

Meldrew Hall, gardens and shaft area:
a=Garden Stream
b=Family Tree (plane tree, up to Up the Plane Tree)
c=Beside the Wall (potted shrub, one-way path down to Wine Cellar)
d=Lawn Ornaments (dark well too small to enter)
e=Mosaic
f=Clearing
g=Garage (garden roller)
h=Vegetable Garden (runner bean plant)
i=Maze
j=Viewpoint Ledge (plaque)
k=Dark Shaft (dumbwaiter to Storage Room)
l=Dark Passage

Meldrew Hall, roof:
a=Roof
b=Battlements

Meldrew Hall, ???:
a=Priest's Hole (one-way path down to Cellar West)

Unreal City:
a=Unreal City
b=Shadowy Hallway (up to Consulting Room)
c=Bohemia
d=Down by River
e=Near Ring Road (down to Chatelet-les-Halles)
f=Chatelet-les-Halles (map salesman)
g=Consulting Room (down to Shadowy Hallway)
h=On board the Phlebas (saying "time" will take the protagonist to Garden Stream)

Deaths
Missed the point entirely: 5 (irritated Aunt Jemima by trying to steal her gardening gloves, gave up on the search, broke a pipe and had to call a plumber, lectured by Aunt Jemima for four hours, burned down most of the attic)
Spooked: 1 (haunted by the ghost of Sir Joshua Meldrewe)
Total: 6

How about the Grim Reaper? That should be interesting.

Look up lagach in the classical dictionary? How about Merlyn?

Well, Lagach isn't in the classical dictionary, but I can look up Merlyn.

>look up merlyn in dictionary
Half-mythical wizard to the court of King Arthur.

Nothing really interesting here, though. Now, as promised, I'll show you what you're supposed to do with The Fool, since it's pretty unintuitive. However, the lack of intuitivity may be my fault for not examining things more closely. Anyway, it involves the glass ball in the observatory, which is apparently dirty. So...

>clean ball
(the solid glass ball)
You polish the ball to a nice shine.

Then, you have to turn the dial on the slide projector.

>turn dial
A sharp beam of white light appears backward out of the projector. As you step out of the beam, it extends dead straight through the north doorway.

Then, insert the Fool, head back into the observatory, and...

>n

Disused Observatory

Mounted on the old telescope stand is what looks like a solid glass ball.

A beam of white light runs into the room from the slide projector to the south, and hits the glass ball, which somehow bends it so that it strikes the mural at the sign of Capricorn.

Your footfall causes the crystal ball to wobble fractionally, just enough for the beam of light to cross the smoke detector. Click! and then some electronic bleeping. Little servo motors fire lethargically into life, then collapse in exhaustion. The alarm soon runs down to a tiny drone, then silence.

But there's quite a loud report from off to the east somewhere.

[Your score has just gone up by three points.]

That's probably something we should investigate...AFTER we've checked out Old Mr. Grim in the projector.

>s

Souvenirs Room

The south wall displays the picture on the Fool, beautifully magnified and amazingly life-like. Why, you'd hardly know there was a wall there at all.

A beam of white light points directly backward from the projector, through the north doorway into the Observatory.

>take fool
(putting the steel wrench into the canvas rucksack to make room)
The south wall becomes blank again.

>get reaper
(putting the antique jewellery box into the canvas rucksack to make room)
Taken.

>put it in projector
The south wall lights up with the picture on the Grim Reaper, beautifully magnified and amazingly life-like. Why, you'd hardly know there was a wall there at all.

This screams "bad idea" at the top of its lungs, but I'm going to do it anyway.

>s
You walk confidently into the south wall...

And find yourself in a golden cornfield on a sunny afternoon. You have just time to admire the ears of wheat before the scythe of the Grim Reaper cuts your soul from your body.


*** You have died ***

Or have you? No... this isn't quite the end. You see an intense blue-white light at the end of what seems a tunnel, and drift toward it until you realise that you are staring, dazed, into the light of the slide projector, and have hardly moved at all.

Well, that's a relief.

I actually thought that this would kill you. Guess it doesn't. I learned something new today.

Anyway, let's see what that loud report was.

>n

Disused Observatory

Mounted on the old telescope stand is what looks like a solid glass ball.

A beam of white light runs into the room from the slide projector to the south, and hits the glass ball, which somehow bends it so that it strikes the mural at the sign of Cancer.

>n

Over the East Wing

>e

East Annexe

In the north wall is an open cupboard door, large enough to step inside.

You can also see an old smudged battery here.

>s

Dead End

A hatchway in the east wall, onto an old iron fire escape, is open and light floods in through it. (Some fool must have set the alarm off.)

And, of course, that's why you need The Fool to open the exit. Anyway, since there's a new exit...

>e
You clamber out onto a rickety ladder which runs right down the east wall of the Hall, and nervously descend...

Beside the Drive
At the foot of the Hall is the drive, a long gravel lane approaching the house through trees.

Since your family are intermittently loading suitcases into the car, which only makes you feel guilty, the only safe way to creep away is along the public footpath, to northeast.

Wistaria climbs a desperately rickety fire escape up the east side of the Hall, and so might you: at the top the fire escape door into the attic is open.

This game is also the first time I ever saw wisteria spelled that way, although it's apparently the standard British spelling.

And, with a new area revealed, this seems like a good place to end this update. 'Til next time!

Unexplored paths:
Northeast of Beside the Drive.

Puzzles:
Finding out the purpose of the word "lagach."
Getting into the hedged-in area of the maze.
A locked jewelry box.

Votes:
Which object should I next use in the slide projector: the miniature, the Drowned Sailor, or the Ace of Cups? Or should I explore the area outside the manor?

Inventory:
the Fool
a featureless mahogany rod
a daisy chain (around your neck, made from yellow daisies and causes certain objects to turn into featureless mahogany rods when waved)
a book of Twenties poetry (transports me to the Unreal City when read)
a canvas rucksack (which is open, actually a bag of holding)

• an antique jewellery box (which is closed and locked)
• a steel wrench
• a gas mask
• a gothic-looking iron key
• a small brass key (unlocks the door from Dark Passage to Garden Stream and the trapdoor in Priest's Hole)
• a painting of Mad Isaac Meldrewe
• a miniature (of the folly that once stood at the exit of the maze)
• a spade
• a weed killer bottle
• a hard wooden ball
• a bird whistle
• two Tarot cards: the Ace of Cups and Drowned Sailor
• a silk handkerchief
• a guaranteed-unbreakable medicine bottle with a child-proof lock (which is closed, an antidote to some unknown drug or poison)
• a photographer's flash (which is closed)
• an ancient prayer book (actually Mad Isaac Meldrewe's research notes on the Curse, must look up particular years in it)
• a romantic novel (Coronets for the Cotton Girl, by Marie Swelldon)
• a tourist map (of central Hamburg)
• Hobson's classical dictionary
• the History of the Meldrews (vol. II)

an electric torch (providing light and closed)
some old gardeners' gloves (being worn)

Score:
This is the afternoon of June 3rd, 1993, and you are in Meldrew Hall. You have so far scored 76 out of a possible 550, in 570 turns, giving you the rank of Dilettante.

Maps:
Meldrew Hall, attic:
a=Attic (down to game over)
b=Old Winery
c=Aunt Jemima's Lair (wireless)
d=Servant's Room (scarf)
e=Potting Room (Aunt Jemima)
f=Old Furniture (wrapping paper)
g=Over the East Wing
h=Storage Room (wheel with handle, dumbwaiter leading to Cellar)
i=Disused Observatory (glass ball on telescope stand, smoke detector)
j=Airing Cupboard
k=Dark Room
l=East Annexe
m=Dead End (down/east to Beside the Drive)
n=Library Storage
o=Souvenirs Room (slide projector containing the Grim Reaper)
p=Inside Cupboard (big iron fireplace, open skylight with crank handle, up to Roof)
q=Chimney (sooty old stick, down to Priest's Hole)
X=game over

Meldrew Hall, cellar:
a=Cellars (dumbwaiter to Dark Shaft)
b=Wine Cellars
c=Cellar West (locked door leading northwest, down to Hellish Place)
d=Cellars South (robot mouse, hole in wall)

Meldrew Hall, gardens and shaft area:
a=Garden Stream
b=Family Tree (plane tree, up to Up the Plane Tree)
c=Beside the Wall (potted shrub, one-way path down to Wine Cellar)
d=Lawn Ornaments (dark well too small to enter)
e=Mosaic
f=Clearing
g=Garage (garden roller)
h=Vegetable Garden (runner bean plant)
i=Maze
j=Viewpoint Ledge (plaque)
k=Dark Shaft (dumbwaiter to Storage Room)
l=Dark Passage

Meldrew Hall, roof:
a=Roof
b=Battlements

Meldrew Hall, ???:
a=Priest's Hole (one-way path down to Cellar West)

Northeast of the House:
a=Beside the Drive (you are here; up/west to Dead End)

Unreal City:
a=Unreal City
b=Shadowy Hallway (up to Consulting Room)
c=Bohemia
d=Down by River
e=Near Ring Road (down to Chatelet-les-Halles)
f=Chatelet-les-Halles (map salesman)
g=Consulting Room (down to Shadowy Hallway)
h=On board the Phlebas (saying "time" will take the protagonist to Garden Stream)

Deaths
Missed the point entirely: 5 (irritated Aunt Jemima by trying to steal her gardening gloves, gave up on the search, broke a pipe and had to call a plumber, lectured by Aunt Jemima for four hours, burned down most of the attic)
Spooked: 1 (haunted by the ghost of Sir Joshua Meldrewe)
Total: 6

Let's explore the Ace of Cups.

I concur with this.

Now that is interesting, maybe take a closer look at that sign, possibly touching it?

Well, it's just about unanimous. I'm heading back into the house to explore the Ace of Cups. But there was something that Foxeris wanted me to do en route to the projector...

>u
With your heart in your mouth, you scale the old fire escape once again, breathing a sigh of relief as you haul yourself in through the open hatchway at the top.

Dead End

A hatchway in the east wall, onto an old iron fire escape, is open and light floods in through it. (Some fool must have set the alarm off.)

>n

East Annexe

In the north wall is an open cupboard door, large enough to step inside.

You can also see an old smudged battery here.

>w

Over the East Wing

>s

Disused Observatory

Mounted on the old telescope stand is what looks like a solid glass ball.

A beam of white light runs into the room from the slide projector to the south, and hits the glass ball, which somehow bends it so that it strikes the mural at the sign of Cancer.

>touch capricorn
You can't see any such thing.

I think that that's really just a red herring. The positioning of the beam is based on the current tarot card or whatever in the slide projector. So far, we've seen The Fool (Capricorn) and The Grim Reaper (Cancer).

And now, to insert yet another!

>s

Souvenirs Room

The south wall displays the picture on the Grim Reaper, beautifully magnified and amazingly life-like. Why, you'd hardly know there was a wall there at all.

A beam of white light points directly backward from the projector, through the north doorway into the Observatory.

>take reaper
The south wall becomes blank again.

>put ace of cups in projector
The south wall lights up with the picture on the Ace of Cups, beautifully magnified and amazingly life-like. Why, you'd hardly know there was a wall there at all.

>s
You walk confidently into the south wall...

Cups and Glasses
This basement room is filled with crate after crate of glasses and cups, enough for an entire hotel, or restaurant perhaps. Almost anything might be hidden among them. A little light comes in from an opaque skylight which is at street level outdoors. There is no way out of here, since the only door is shut tight.

An unlabelled whisky bottle, laid on its side and mounted on a wood plaque, lies deservedly unwanted on one of the crates.


This, unfortunately, seems to have been a one-way trip. But let's at least take a good look at that bottle.

>examine bottle
(the mounted bottle)
Old, unwanted, dusty, empty.

There is a scuffling noise as some people gather up on the pavement outside the skylight.

Well, that's kind of sad, in a way. But maybe it'll be useful later.

>take bottle
(the mounted bottle)
Taken.

The men begin to talk like conspirators, but half in chants. You catch occasional sounds, but can make little sense of them.


Actually, maybe there's something in the crates I could use to escape?

>examine crates
In fact there's nothing hidden among the crates but a model sailing ship. You pick it up from force of habit.

Alarmingly, you catch the odd word "incendiary" and are almost sure you can make out someone say "accursed Meldrew" (in the old-fashioned way, you know, so that "accursed" rhymes with "dead"). Paranoia, bound to be. There surely can't really be a conspiracy of druid-worshippers out to get you?

Darn...just a model ship. But I have a feeling I know what to do...but do you? We'll find out next time.

Unexplored paths:
Northeast of Beside the Drive.

Puzzles:
Finding out the purpose of the word "lagach."
Getting into the hedged-in area of the maze.
A locked jewelry box.
Getting out of the basement.

Votes:
Which object should I next use in the slide projector: the miniature or the Drowned Sailor? Or should I explore the area outside the manor?

Inventory:
a model ship
a mounted bottle
two Tarot cards: the Grim Reaper and Fool
a daisy chain (around your neck, made from yellow daisies and causes certain objects to turn into featureless mahogany rods when waved)
a canvas rucksack (which is open, actually a bag of holding)

• a featureless mahogany rod
• an antique jewellery box (which is closed and locked)
• a steel wrench
• a gas mask
• a gothic-looking iron key
• a small brass key (unlocks the door from Dark Passage to Garden Stream and the trapdoor in Priest's Hole)
• a painting of Mad Isaac Meldrewe
• a miniature (of the folly that once stood at the exit of the maze)
• a spade
• a weed killer bottle
• a hard wooden ball
• a bird whistle
• two Tarot cards: the Ace of Cups and Drowned Sailor
• a silk handkerchief
• a guaranteed-unbreakable medicine bottle with a child-proof lock (which is closed, an antidote to some unknown drug or poison)
• a photographer's flash (which is closed)
• a book of Twenties poetry (transports me to the Unreal City when read)
• an ancient prayer book (actually Mad Isaac Meldrewe's research notes on the Curse, must look up particular years in it)
• a romantic novel (Coronets for the Cotton Girl, by Marie Swelldon)
• a tourist map (of central Hamburg)
• Hobson's classical dictionary
• the History of the Meldrews (vol. II)

an electric torch (providing light and closed)
some old gardeners' gloves (being worn)

Score:
You are passing among the strange, unearthly world of the Tarot box. You have so far scored 76 out of a possible 550, in 583 turns, giving you the rank of Dilettante.

Maps:
Meldrew Hall, attic
a=Attic (down to game over)
b=Old Winery
c=Aunt Jemima's Lair (wireless)
d=Servant's Room (scarf)
e=Potting Room (Aunt Jemima)
f=Old Furniture (wrapping paper)
g=Over the East Wing
h=Storage Room (wheel with handle, dumbwaiter leading to Cellar)
i=Disused Observatory (glass ball on telescope stand, smoke detector)
j=Airing Cupboard
k=Dark Room
l=East Annexe
m=Dead End (down/east to Beside the Drive)
n=Library Storage
o=Souvenirs Room (slide projector containing the Grim Reaper)
p=Inside Cupboard (big iron fireplace, open skylight with crank handle, up to Roof)
q=Chimney (sooty old stick, down to Priest's Hole)
X=game over

Meldrew Hall, cellar:
a=Cellars (dumbwaiter to Dark Shaft)
b=Wine Cellars
c=Cellar West (locked door leading northwest, down to Hellish Place)
d=Cellars South (robot mouse, hole in wall)

Meldrew Hall, gardens and shaft area:
a=Garden Stream
b=Family Tree (plane tree, up to Up the Plane Tree)
c=Beside the Wall (potted shrub, one-way path down to Wine Cellar)
d=Lawn Ornaments (dark well too small to enter)
e=Mosaic
f=Clearing
g=Garage (garden roller)
h=Vegetable Garden (runner bean plant)
i=Maze
j=Viewpoint Ledge (plaque)
k=Dark Shaft (dumbwaiter to Storage Room)
l=Dark Passage

Meldrew Hall, roof:
a=Roof
b=Battlements

Meldrew Hall, ???:
a=Priest's Hole (one-way path down to Cellar West)

Northeast of the House:
a=Beside the Drive (up/west to Dead End)

Unreal City:
a=Unreal City
b=Shadowy Hallway (up to Consulting Room)
c=Bohemia
d=Down by River
e=Near Ring Road (down to Chatelet-les-Halles)
f=Chatelet-les-Halles (map salesman)
g=Consulting Room (down to Shadowy Hallway)
h=On board the Phlebas (saying "time" will take the protagonist to Garden Stream)

Tarot box:
a=Cups and Glasses (from the Ace of Cups; you are here)

Deaths
Missed the point entirely: 5 (irritated Aunt Jemima by trying to steal her gardening gloves, gave up on the search, broke a pipe and had to call a plumber, lectured by Aunt Jemima for four hours, burned down most of the attic)
Spooked: 1 (haunted by the ghost of Sir Joshua Meldrewe)
Total: 6

Put the ship in the bottle?

After we're done with this foray, let's explore the Drunken Sailor and then the miniature.

What can we do in the drunken sailor?
What can we do in the drunken sailor?
What can we do in the drunken sailor early in the morning?

We haven't seen a new death message in a while. Try re-entering the Fool and Grip Reaper. (The first time you die in each card the game is forgiving, but....)

Since we're still stuck in Cups and Glasses, might as well put the ship in the bottle.

>put ship in bottle
Which do you mean, the mounted bottle, the weed killer bottle or the guaranteed-unbreakable medicine bottle with a child-proof lock?

Whoops. Forgot I had multiple bottles.

>mounted
The model ship is, of course, far too large to fit into the bottle.

"The prophecy must be fulfilled!" one warns, in an unearthly voice which suddenly carries. The others hush him.

Hmm, those whispers are starting to sound ominous. But maybe there's some other way to get the ship in the bottle. Maybe if I take a closer look at it...

>examine ship
A superb model sailing ship, about six inches from prow to stern, immaculate in every detail from an anchor on a filigree chain to a carved mermaid up front.

The men walk away, perhaps a few feet, perhaps a mile.

Well, if there's a chain...

>pull anchor
As you pull the anchor chain, the masts fold inwards and the decks concertina back, until you're holding no more than a tight bundle of sticks.

And bundles of sticks tend to fit in bottles better than ships, so...

>put ship in mounted bottle
The bundle of sticks will just fit through the bottle's neck. With a sudden spring, just as the last of the stick passes the neck, its masts fold out... and you have put the ship into the bottle.

[Your score has just gone up by three points.]

And now we have a ship in a bottle! Now to get another look at it...

>examine ship
You look very closely at the fine detail on the model sailing ship. Perhaps it's the distorting glass of the bottle, perhaps your romantic imagination, but the deck seems more detailed, the rigging might almost be swaying, the little figure by one mast might almost be alive...

In fact, the closer you look the more sea-sick you feel.

Thank heavens for the deck rail, something to hang on to while this moment of queasiness passes.

Wha...? Well, might as well explore this ship. First, let's get a good look at it.

>l

Aboard Ship
There is a storm tossing the deck, one which drives no rain: you reel from one side to the other, hanging onto the rail, grabbing at the mast or the rigging. Nobody else seems to be aboard. The boat makes no headway in a strange, glassy mist.

The mast rises dizzyingly high.

You can't even make out the water below. A great pink haze spreads across the sky. With omens like these, who needs albatrosses?'

Well, considering how prominent the mast is...

>u

Up the Mast
Coming up here must be one of your less inspired ideas. The mist is all around you, confusing your senses. Two pale, bluish moons hang in a pink sky.

A flagpole juts out portwards from the top of the mast, far too insubstantial to bear any weight. From it hangs the ensign of the British Merchant Navy (which you could just reach the bottom of).

Insubstantial, schminsubstantial. I bet I could totally walk on that.

>w
Here aboard ship, such a landlubber's direction seems inappropriate.

Oh, right. Well, west is always left on maps, and left at sea is...

>port
You wander out onto the flagpole, which bows and bends alarmingly, until suddenly...

Crack! And you are falling, plummeting, head over heels to the hard wooden deck and the inevitable iron fixtures...


*** You have died ***

Guess I couldn't walk on the flagpole, after all. But maybe if I had some sort of parachute, or at least a reasonable facsimile like, say, a flag?

> undo
Up the Mast
[Previous turn undone.]

>get flag
You take hold of the tassels of the flag in one hand (though it won't pull away from the pole).

>port
You wander out onto the flagpole, which bows and bends alarmingly, until suddenly...

Crack! And you are falling... but gracefully, as the flag billows out into a parachute, until it suddenly tears out of your hand and you come down in an ignominious heap.

[Your score has just gone up by six points.]


Well, that definitely accomplished something...but what?

>look

Aboard Ship
There is a storm tossing the deck, one which drives no rain: you reel from one side to the other, hanging onto the rail, grabbing at the mast or the rigging. Nobody else seems to be aboard. The boat makes no headway in a strange, glassy mist.

The mast rises dizzyingly high.

You can't even make out the water below. A great pink haze spreads across the sky. With omens like these, who needs albatrosses?

The broken flagpole, a plain timber spar, lies beside the mast.

The flag has fluttered to a heap on deck.

Looks like I've got a flag and a broken spar out of this. So, as an adventurer...

>take all
flag of the British Merchant Navy: Taken.
old timber spar: (putting the Fool into the canvas rucksack to make room)
Taken.
mast and rigging: That's hardly portable.

Now, let's check out the deck some more.


>fore

Prow of the Lady Magdalena
You stand in the triangular prow of the ship, which is graced by a carved and painted figurine and named the "Lady Magdalena". There is no sign of water, but the boat is rocked too often for it to be aground. And the glassy mist hangs ahead.

In the Lady Magdalena's loose grip is a traditional sailor's good-luck token: a green-leafed branch, to attract the gulls of an approaching shore.

That might come in handy. After all, it is good luck...

>get branch
Taken.

Now, to check out the stern.

>aft

Stern
The square stern of the ship looks out south, not onto receding waves, but to what seems a tunnel through dense, glassy mist. You can faintly make out an odd, pale reddish sand bank in the distance.

The top of the anchor chain is wound around the capstan, a great wheel on the deck beside you. The chain disappears over the side.

Well, if the chain goes down, it might be a way off this bizarre ship.

>d
You shin precariously down the anchor chain, but reach the end while still hanging very far above the... water? quicksand? Concentrating very carefully, you heave yourself back aboard and pant with relief.

Right. Might as well see what happens if I turn the capstan.

>turn wheel
You heave away at the capstan, unwinding the great anchor chain.

And now, maybe I can disembark?

>d
You shin down the anchor chain, down, down, under the keel of the Lady Magdalena, down until there is nothing but the glassy mist and the endless chain...

...And the approaching soft, spongy, pinkish sand-bank, which welcomes you with its warmth: you step ashore, and immediately sink into the clammy, living sand, until you are engulfed altogether... and pass out.

However, the hard attic floorboards beneath your back soon wake you again.

Well, that was strange. But at least I got some new items out of it. Now, there were two more thing that were requested before I end this update. First, the Drowned (not Drunken - sorry!) Sailor's effect when put in the slide projector.

>get ace of cups
(putting the flag of the British Merchant Navy into the canvas rucksack to make room)
The south wall becomes blank again.

>put drowned sailor in projector
The south wall lights up with the picture on the Drowned Sailor, beautifully magnified and amazingly life-like. Why, you'd hardly know there was a wall there at all.

>s
You walk confidently into the south wall...

You are underwater, in the wreck of a ship, surrounded by the skeletons of its former crew, whom you abruptly join as your air runs out.


*** You have died ***

Or have you? No... this isn't quite the end. You see an intense blue-white light at the end of what seems a tunnel, and drift toward it until you realise that you are staring, dazed, into the light of the slide projector, and have hardly moved at all.

Yes, it's yet another fake-death card. Now, it was implied that foolishly entering The Fool again like a fool would cause me to foolishly die a fool's death fit for a fool, so let's try it.

>get drowned sailor
The south wall becomes blank again.

>get fool
(putting the green branch into the canvas rucksack to make room)
Taken.

>put fool in projector
The south wall lights up with the picture on the Fool, beautifully magnified and amazingly life-like. Why, you'd hardly know there was a wall there at all.

>s
You walk confidently into the south wall...

And find yourself stepping off a cliff. All is well for a moment, and then like a cartoon character you notice there is no ground beneath you and you plummet to a stony death far below.


*** You have died ***

Or have you? No... this isn't quite the end. You see an intense blue-white light at the end of what seems a tunnel, and drift toward it until you realise that you are staring, dazed, into the light of the slide projector, and have hardly moved at all.

Guess not. But maybe if I try it again...

>s
You walk confidently into the south wall...
But are unable to enter the scene for a second time.

As far as I know, you can only enter each tarot scene once, so if you mess up something in one, you're pretty much screwed.

Anyway, that's it for today. Sorry about the lack of interactivity in the model ship scene, but there was only the one puzzle, and it wasn't really all that logical. So, next time, should I explore the area northeast of Meldrew Hall, or should I see where the miniature leads to when projected?

Unexplored paths:
Northeast of Beside the Drive.

Puzzles:
Finding out the purpose of the word "lagach."
Getting into the hedged-in area of the maze.
A locked jewelry box.

Inventory:
two Tarot cards: the Drowned Sailor and Ace of Cups
a daisy chain (around your neck, made from yellow daisies and causes certain objects to turn into featureless mahogany rods when waved)
a canvas rucksack (which is open, actually a bag of holding)

• a green branch
• an old timber spar
• a flag of the British Merchant Navy
• the Grim Reaper
• a featureless mahogany rod
• an antique jewellery box (which is closed and locked)
• a steel wrench
• a gas mask
• a gothic-looking iron key
• a small brass key (unlocks the door from Dark Passage to Garden Stream and the trapdoor in Priest's Hole)
• a painting of Mad Isaac Meldrewe
• a miniature (of the folly that once stood at the exit of the maze)
• a spade
• a weed killer bottle
• a hard wooden ball
• a bird whistle
• a silk handkerchief
• a guaranteed-unbreakable medicine bottle with a child-proof lock (which is closed, an antidote to some unknown drug or poison)
• a photographer's flash (which is closed)
• a book of Twenties poetry (transports me to the Unreal City when read)
• an ancient prayer book (actually Mad Isaac Meldrewe's research notes on the Curse, must look up particular years in it)
• a romantic novel (Coronets for the Cotton Girl, by Marie Swelldon)
• a tourist map (of central Hamburg)
• Hobson's classical dictionary
• the History of the Meldrews (vol. II)

an electric torch (providing light and closed)
some old gardeners' gloves (being worn)

Score:
This is the afternoon of June 3rd, 1993, and you are in Meldrew Hall. You have so far scored 85 out of a possible 550, in 612 turns, giving you the rank of Dilettante.

Maps:
Meldrew Hall, attic
a=Attic (down to game over)
b=Old Winery
c=Aunt Jemima's Lair (wireless)
d=Servant's Room (scarf)
e=Potting Room (Aunt Jemima)
f=Old Furniture (wrapping paper)
g=Over the East Wing
h=Storage Room (wheel with handle, dumbwaiter leading to Cellar)
i=Disused Observatory (glass ball on telescope stand, smoke detector)
j=Airing Cupboard
k=Dark Room
l=East Annexe
m=Dead End (down/east to Beside the Drive)
n=Library Storage
o=Souvenirs Room (you are here; slide projector containing the Fool)
p=Inside Cupboard (big iron fireplace, open skylight with crank handle, up to Roof)
q=Chimney (sooty old stick, down to Priest's Hole)
X=game over

Meldrew Hall, cellar:
a=Cellars (dumbwaiter to Dark Shaft)
b=Wine Cellars
c=Cellar West (locked door leading northwest, down to Hellish Place)
d=Cellars South (robot mouse, hole in wall)

Meldrew Hall, gardens and shaft area:
a=Garden Stream
b=Family Tree (plane tree, up to Up the Plane Tree)
c=Beside the Wall (potted shrub, one-way path down to Wine Cellar)
d=Lawn Ornaments (dark well too small to enter)
e=Mosaic
f=Clearing
g=Garage (garden roller)
h=Vegetable Garden (runner bean plant)
i=Maze
j=Viewpoint Ledge (plaque)
k=Dark Shaft (dumbwaiter to Storage Room)
l=Dark Passage

Meldrew Hall, roof:
a=Roof
b=Battlements

Meldrew Hall, ???:
a=Priest's Hole (one-way path down to Cellar West)

Northeast of the House:
a=Beside the Drive (up/west to Dead End)

Unreal City:
a=Unreal City
b=Shadowy Hallway (up to Consulting Room)
c=Bohemia
d=Down by River
e=Near Ring Road (down to Chatelet-les-Halles)
f=Chatelet-les-Halles (map salesman)
g=Consulting Room (down to Shadowy Hallway)
h=On board the Phlebas (saying "time" will take the protagonist to Garden Stream)

Tarot box:
a=Cups and Glasses (from the Ace of Cups)
b=Aboard Ship (examine model ship; up to Up the Mast)
c=Prow of the Lady Magdalena
d=Stern

Deaths
Missed the point entirely: 5 (irritated Aunt Jemima by trying to steal her gardening gloves, gave up on the search, broke a pipe and had to call a plumber, lectured by Aunt Jemima for four hours, burned down most of the attic)
Spooked: 1 (haunted by the ghost of Sir Joshua Meldrewe)
Died: 1 (jumped off the mast of the Lady Magdalena without a parachute)
Total: 7

Do that one!

All right, time to explore our last projectable!

>get fool
The south wall becomes blank again.

>get miniature
(putting the Ace of Cups into the canvas rucksack to make room)
Taken.

>put miniature in projector
The south wall lights up with the picture on the miniature, beautifully magnified and amazingly life-like. Why, you'd hardly know there was a wall there at all.

>s
You walk confidently into the south wall...

Folly
This is a rampart on the hillside, a natural ledge leading east. Down below in the valley, rough cottages surround a church. Labourers toil in the fields, and a hay wain is being pulled across the river.

Towering over you is a monstrously awful piece of architecture, a Folly. The freestanding tower has no appreciable purpose and no apparent entrance. The latter is just as well since it looks extremely unsafe.

A bean pole, of the kind used to grow climbing plants, rests against the side of the tower.

[Your score has just gone up by five points.]

At least it's not instant death. Anyway, let's head east. I have a feeling I know where this is...

>e

Maze Foundations
A square grid of plots of grass and seedbeds, all alike.

You stand on a rough patch of grass. There are fences to north and south.

Yes, this is the future site of the maze. So, what to do here? And how to get back, for that matter? Until next time, my friends.

Unexplored paths:
Northeast of Beside the Drive.

Puzzles:
Finding out the purpose of the word "lagach."
Getting into the hedged-in area of the maze.
A locked jewelry box.

Inventory:
two Tarot cards: the Fool and Drowned Sailor
a daisy chain (around your neck, made from yellow daisies and causes certain objects to turn into featureless mahogany rods when waved)
a canvas rucksack (which is open, actually a bag of holding)

• a green branch
• an old timber spar
• a flag of the British Merchant Navy
• a featureless mahogany rod
• an antique jewellery box (which is closed and locked)
• a steel wrench
• a gas mask
• a gothic-looking iron key
• a small brass key (unlocks the door from Dark Passage to Garden Stream and the trapdoor in Priest's Hole)
• a painting of Mad Isaac Meldrewe
• a spade
• a weed killer bottle
• a hard wooden ball
• a bird whistle
• a silk handkerchief
• a guaranteed-unbreakable medicine bottle with a child-proof lock (which is closed, an antidote to some unknown drug or poison)
• a photographer's flash (which is closed)
• two Tarot cards: the Ace of Cups and Grim Reaper
• a book of Twenties poetry (transports me to the Unreal City when read)
• an ancient prayer book (actually Mad Isaac Meldrewe's research notes on the Curse, must look up particular years in it)
• a romantic novel (Coronets for the Cotton Girl, by Marie Swelldon)
• a tourist map (of central Hamburg)
• Hobson's classical dictionary
• the History of the Meldrews (vol. II)

an electric torch (providing light and closed)
some old gardeners' gloves (being worn)

Score:
It is about noon on March 14th, 1808, and you are in the gardens. You have so far scored 90 out of a possible 550, in 617 turns, giving you the rank of Dilettante.

Maps:
Meldrew Hall, attic
a=Attic (down to game over)
b=Old Winery
c=Aunt Jemima's Lair (wireless)
d=Servant's Room (scarf)
e=Potting Room (Aunt Jemima)
f=Old Furniture (wrapping paper)
g=Over the East Wing
h=Storage Room (wheel with handle, dumbwaiter leading to Cellar)
i=Disused Observatory (glass ball on telescope stand, smoke detector)
j=Airing Cupboard
k=Dark Room
l=East Annexe
m=Dead End (down/east to Beside the Drive)
n=Library Storage
o=Souvenirs Room (slide projector containing the miniature)
p=Inside Cupboard (big iron fireplace, open skylight with crank handle, up to Roof)
q=Chimney (sooty old stick, down to Priest's Hole)
X=game over

Meldrew Hall, cellar:
a=Cellars (dumbwaiter to Dark Shaft)
b=Wine Cellars
c=Cellar West (locked door leading northwest, down to Hellish Place)
d=Cellars South (robot mouse, hole in wall)

Meldrew Hall, gardens and shaft area:
a=Garden Stream
b=Family Tree (plane tree, up to Up the Plane Tree)
c=Beside the Wall (potted shrub, one-way path down to Wine Cellar)
d=Lawn Ornaments (dark well too small to enter)
e=Mosaic
f=Clearing
g=Garage (garden roller)
h=Vegetable Garden (runner bean plant)
i=Maze
j=Viewpoint Ledge (plaque)
k=Dark Shaft (dumbwaiter to Storage Room)
l=Dark Passage

Meldrew Hall, roof:
a=Roof
b=Battlements

Meldrew Hall, ???:
a=Priest's Hole (one-way path down to Cellar West)

Meldrew Hall, gardens (1808):
a=Folly (bean pole)
b=Maze Foundations (you are here)

Northeast of the House:
a=Beside the Drive (up/west to Dead End)

Unreal City:
a=Unreal City
b=Shadowy Hallway (up to Consulting Room)
c=Bohemia
d=Down by River
e=Near Ring Road (down to Chatelet-les-Halles)
f=Chatelet-les-Halles (map salesman)
g=Consulting Room (down to Shadowy Hallway)
h=On board the Phlebas (saying "time" will take the protagonist to Garden Stream)

Tarot box:
a=Cups and Glasses (from the Ace of Cups)
b=Aboard Ship (examine model ship; up to Up the Mast)
c=Prow of the Lady Magdalena
d=Stern

Deaths
Missed the point entirely: 5 (irritated Aunt Jemima by trying to steal her gardening gloves, gave up on the search, broke a pipe and had to call a plumber, lectured by Aunt Jemima for four hours, burned down most of the attic)
Spooked: 1 (haunted by the ghost of Sir Joshua Meldrewe)
Died: 1 (jumped off the mast of the Lady Magdalena without a parachute)
Total: 7

Maybe if we do something to the past version of the maze, then we can get into the hedged-off area. I dunno how we're gonna get back, though, or what to do in the meantime - maybe something involving the bottle of weed killer we have? Someone help me out here.

I bet if you look at the game's inventory listing carefully, there will be something odd worth mentioning.

(Also, at this point, figuring out something from that hint I dropped about women who lived a century ago would be really helpful. But it can wait until we return to the present.)