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

Lots of suggestions today. Let's try them out. First of all, Beowulf suggested using the flash. But how does one use it, anyway? We don't have a camera, after all. But let's take a good look at it.

>examine flash
The kind of black box which often sits on top of a camera, used to illuminate otherwise dim scenes. It has an openable compartment on the side, with room left inside for a battery and a timer mechanism (which seem to be optional extras).

Well, there doesn't seem to be any way to distract the birdie with it, so let's try zotting it with the Rod of Fire!

>get rod of fire
(putting the Rod of Returning into the canvas rucksack to make room)
Taken.

>point it at bird
(the corn crake)
For heaven's sake, you're only looking for an out-of-date map. Murder does seem a little extreme.

Come to think of it, maybe it does. Let's try some of Gerad's suggestions. First, giving Seáor Cheep-Cheep the branch.

>give branch to bird
(the corn crake)
(first taking the green branch)
(putting the postcard of the Champs-Elysees into the canvas rucksack to make room)
The corn crake doesn't seem interested.

Well, maybe it'll be interested in being sprayed with weed killer? The description of the bottle said to squeeze it, so...

>squeeze weed killer bottle on bird
I only understood you as far as wanting to squeeze the weed killer bottle.

Guess you just "squeeze" it in the general area, then, like when we opened up that path in the maze. But let's give that a try anyway.

>squeeze weed killer bottle
Nothing emerges. The bottle must be empty.

As I thought. Fact is, I would have dumped it back in 1808 if I didn't have a rucksack of holding. Now, the handkerchief trick sounds quite clever, so let's try it.

>put handkerchief on bird
Which do you mean, the corn crake or the bird whistle?

I don't know, maybe the one that would actually accomplish something?

>crake
You need to be holding the silk handkerchief before you can put it on top of something else.

Is it me, or does the game seem a bit wishy-washy about the conditions under which you can use stuff from the Rucksack of Holding? Oh, well.

>get handkerchief
(putting the miniature into the canvas rucksack to make room)
Taken.

>put it on crake
Putting things on the corn crake would achieve nothing.

Well, that's kind of a letdown. And now, to give birdie a good wrenching.

>hit crake with wrench
(first taking the steel wrench)
(putting the Rod of Fire into the canvas rucksack to make room)
It's a wrench, but you take it.

(facepalm)

>HIT CRAKE WITH WRENCH*
Violence isn't the answer to this one.

*- Emphasis mine.

You'd think that in a game with a wrench, you'd get to hit more things with a wrench. Oh, well. I'll end this update by saying that one of the items Gerad suggested was the correct item, but used in the wrong way. Until next time!

Unexplored paths:
Southeast from The Octagon.

Puzzles:
A locked jewelry box.
Getting the mascot from old Evans.
Opening the medicine bottle.
Getting that corn crake away from her nest.

Inventory:
a steel wrench
a silk handkerchief
a green branch (covered with pollen)
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 miniature (of the folly that once stood outside the maze)
a framed charcoal sketch (of the Palace of Alexandria)
a marble rose
a weed killer bottle (empty)
an antique jewellery box (which is closed and locked)
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 hard wooden ball
a bird whistle
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, has space for a timer mechanism)
the Rods of Fire, Returning and Stalking
a postcard of the Champs-Elysees (postmarked 1963)
an ancient prayer book (actually Mad Isaac Meldrewe's research notes on the Curse, must look up particular years in it, ends in 1792)
a romantic novel (Coronets for the Cotton Girl, by Alison Meldrew under the pen name Marie Swelldon)
a tourist map (of central Hamburg)
Hobson's classical dictionary
the History of the Meldrews (vol. II)
four Tarot cards: the Fool, Drowned Sailor, Ace of Cups and Grim Reaper
an electric torch (providing light and closed)
some old gardeners' gloves (being worn)

Score:
It is the afternoon of June 3rd, 1993, and you are northeast of Meldrew Hall. You have so far scored 149 out of a possible 550, in 824 turns, giving you the rank of Jack-of-all-trades.

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, ship in a bottle)
p=Inside Cupboard (big iron fireplace, open skylight with crank handle, up to Roof)
q=Chimney (down to Priest's Hole)
r=Alison's Writing Room (bed)
s=Tiny Balcony
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 [can be lagach-ed]
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
m=Patio in Maze (down to Crypt)
n=Sandstone Passage
o=The Octagon (window vent, gilded coffin used to identify rods, scroll)

Catacombs below the gardens:
a=Crypt (bronze mural [can be lagach-ed], up to Patio in Maze)

Meldrew Hall, roof:
a=Roof (down to Inside Cupboard)
b=Battlements

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

Meldrew Hall, gardens (1808):
a=Folly
b=Maze Foundations

Northeast of the House:
a=Beside the Drive (up/west to Dead End)
b=Public Footpath (down to Hollow)
c=Stone Cross (Old Evans with his lucky mascot)

Northeast of the House, Hollow:
a=Hollow (you are here; up to Public Footpath, one-way northwest path to Mosaic)

Unreal City:
a=Unreal City
b=Shadowy Hallway (up to Consulting Room)
c=Bohemia (mural [can be lagach-ed])
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; model ship)
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: 2 (jumped off the mast of the Lady Magdalena without a parachute, spontaneous combustion)
Total: 8

I think it's got to be the branch. Shake it above the corn crake to cover it with pollen?

If not, try waving the handkerchief. Maybe corn crakes are like bulls.

The branch is, indeed, the correct solution, but let's try the handkerchief first.

>wave handkerchief
You look ridiculous waving the silk handkerchief.

Now that we've made ourself look ridiculous, let's show off the correct solution.

>wave branch
The bird is so startled by the cloud of pollen from the waved branch that she leaps into the skies, squawking with flighty anxiety.

With the bird gone, we can get our hands on some nuts!

Quote:

Follow me, follow Down to the hollow And there let us wallow In glorious mud. -- Flanders and Swann

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

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

Now that we've gotten the nuts, there isn't anything left to do here, so where to now?

Unexplored paths:
Southeast from The Octagon.

Puzzles:
A locked jewelry box.
Getting the mascot from old Evans.
Opening the medicine bottle.

Inventory:
a bunch of nuts
a steel wrench
a silk handkerchief
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 (covered with pollen)
• a miniature (of the folly that once stood outside the maze)
• a framed charcoal sketch (of the Palace of Alexandria)
• a marble rose
• a weed killer bottle (empty)
• an antique jewellery box (which is closed and locked)
• 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 hard wooden ball
• a bird whistle
• 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, has space for a timer mechanism)
• the Rods of Fire, Returning and Stalking
• a postcard of the Champs-Elysees (postmarked 1963)
• an ancient prayer book (actually Mad Isaac Meldrewe's research notes on the Curse, must look up particular years in it, ends in 1792)
• a romantic novel (Coronets for the Cotton Girl, by Alison Meldrew under the pen name Marie Swelldon)
• a tourist map (of central Hamburg)
• Hobson's classical dictionary
• the History of the Meldrews (vol. II)
• four Tarot cards: the Fool, Drowned Sailor, Ace of Cups and Grim Reaper

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

Score:
It is the afternoon of June 3rd, 1993, and you are northeast of Meldrew Hall. You have so far scored 153 out of a possible 550, in 827 turns, giving you the rank of Connoisseur.

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, ship in a bottle)
p=Inside Cupboard (big iron fireplace, open skylight with crank handle, up to Roof)
q=Chimney (down to Priest's Hole)
r=Alison's Writing Room (bed)
s=Tiny Balcony
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 [can be lagach-ed]
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
m=Patio in Maze (down to Crypt)
n=Sandstone Passage
o=The Octagon (window vent, gilded coffin used to identify rods, scroll)

Catacombs below the gardens:
a=Crypt (bronze mural [can be lagach-ed], up to Patio in Maze)

Meldrew Hall, roof:
a=Roof (down to Inside Cupboard)
b=Battlements

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

Meldrew Hall, gardens (1808):
a=Folly
b=Maze Foundations

Northeast of the House:
a=Beside the Drive (up/west to Dead End)
b=Public Footpath (down to Hollow)
c=Stone Cross (Old Evans with his lucky mascot)

Northeast of the House, Hollow:
a=Hollow (you are here; up to Public Footpath, one-way northwest path to Mosaic)

Unreal City:
a=Unreal City
b=Shadowy Hallway (up to Consulting Room)
c=Bohemia (mural [can be lagach-ed])
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; model ship)
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: 2 (jumped off the mast of the Lady Magdalena without a parachute, spontaneous combustion)
Total: 8

Why, southeast from The Octagon, of course.

I was hoping someone would say that. So...

>nw

Mosaic

>w

Lawn Ornaments

The lawn is lightly coated with broken plaster and dust, and in the spot where the statuette once stood is a dark, ancient well.

>w

Family Tree

A big motorised garden roller is parked here.

>se

Garden Stream

On the house wall is a coal bunker, whose door stands open.

>s

Dark Passage

A secret passage slants down to the east through a sandstone recess.

At the north end is a metal door, standing open.

>e

Sandstone Passage

>e

The Octagon

There is a little window-vent high in the southwest wall.

A rather morbid gilded model coffin rests open here.

Leaned against one of the eight corners is a ragged white parchment scroll.

>se

White Hallway
A low, white hallway adjoining the Octagon, converted from what was once the scullery and the servants' pantry. A tight, dark staircase runs up and south; and a diagonal bricked path runs out northeast to the gardens.

Up on one wall is a picture hook.

There's an old-fashioned elephant's foot umbrella stand beside the garden doorway.

So, where to from here?

Unexplored paths:
Up/south from White Hallway.
Northeast from White Hallway.

Puzzles:
A locked jewelry box.
Getting the mascot from old Evans.
Opening the medicine bottle.

Inventory:
a bunch of nuts
a steel wrench
a silk handkerchief
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 (covered with pollen)
• a miniature (of the folly that once stood outside the maze)
• a framed charcoal sketch (of the Palace of Alexandria)
• a marble rose
• a weed killer bottle (empty)
• an antique jewellery box (which is closed and locked)
• 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 hard wooden ball
• a bird whistle
• 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, has space for a timer mechanism)
• the Rods of Fire, Returning and Stalking
• a postcard of the Champs-Elysees [I](postmarked 1963)
• an ancient prayer book (actually Mad Isaac Meldrewe's research notes on the Curse, must look up particular years in it, ends in 1792)
• a romantic novel (Coronets for the Cotton Girl, by Alison Meldrew under the pen name Marie Swelldon)
• a tourist map (of central Hamburg)
• Hobson's classical dictionary
• the History of the Meldrews (vol. II)
• four Tarot cards: the Fool, Drowned Sailor, Ace of Cups and Grim Reaper

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 153 out of a possible 550, in 835 turns, giving you the rank of Connoisseur.

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, ship in a bottle)
p=Inside Cupboard (big iron fireplace, open skylight with crank handle, up to Roof)
q=Chimney (down to Priest's Hole)
r=Alison's Writing Room (bed)
s=Tiny Balcony
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:
Code:
j-i-i-i-
|
i
|
-i-
|
i
|
-i-i-i-i-i-m
|
i
|
g-f-b-d-e
| \
h a-c
|
l-n-o
| \ /
k p[/Code]
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 [can be lagach-ed]
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
m=Patio in Maze (down to Crypt)
n=Sandstone Passage
o=The Octagon (window vent, gilded coffin used to identify rods, scroll)
p=White Hallway (you are here; picture hook, elephant's foot umbrella stand, up/south to...?)

Catacombs below the gardens:
a=Crypt (bronze mural [can be lagach-ed], up to Patio in Maze)

Meldrew Hall, roof:
a=Roof (down to Inside Cupboard)
b=Battlements

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

Meldrew Hall, gardens (1808):
a=Folly
b=Maze Foundations

Northeast of the House:
a=Beside the Drive (up/west to Dead End)
b=Public Footpath (down to Hollow)
c=Stone Cross (Old Evans with his lucky mascot)

Northeast of the House, Hollow:
a=Hollow (up to Public Footpath, one-way northwest path to Mosaic)

Unreal City:
a=Unreal City
b=Shadowy Hallway (up to Consulting Room)
c=Bohemia (mural [can be lagach-ed])
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; model ship)
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: 2 (jumped off the mast of the Lady Magdalena without a parachute, spontaneous combustion)
Total: 8

Er... northeast from the White Hallway, I suppose.

Can we hang the framed charcoal sketch on the picture hook? How about examine the umbrella stand? (Is there anything in it, like an umbrella?)

Then I think we should go up first, but I'll deal with going north, as I know we'll go up eventually.

Or hang Mad Isaac's painting on the hook.

Well, both exits have been mentioned, but there are a couple things to do in the White Hallway first. First, let's look in the umbrella stand to see if there are some goodies in there.

>look in stand
In the umbrella stand is a model golden sceptre.

Rod-like things tend to be rods, so let's try giving it a wave.

>get sceptre
(putting the silk handkerchief into the canvas rucksack to make room)
Taken.

>wave sceptre
Apparently, it's not susceptible to that.

Apparently, this one isn't, though. Now to try hanging some things on the hook.

>get sketch
(putting the steel wrench into the canvas rucksack to make room)
Taken.

>put it on hook
Doesn't seem right there, somehow.

OK, then. But maybe a portrait would look good? Like, say, a portrait of Mad Isaac Meldrewe?

>get painting
(putting the bunch of nuts into the canvas rucksack to make room)
Taken.

>put it on hook
You hang up Mad Isaac, who seems ideally placed there.

And now the White Hallway works as a lagach point, since there's a piece of "art" there.

Next stop, the northeast!


[Quote]White lilac bowed,
Lost lanes of Queen Anne's lace
And that high-builded cloud
Moving at summer's pace.

-- Philip Larkin, "Cut Grass"

>ne

Bricked Path
You're strolling on a pleasant bricked path, passing from the outer rooms of Meldrew Hall to a track through the eastern side of the garden.

Well, this place looks quite nice, but let's check out the other path from the White Hallway.

>s

Halfway up the Stairs
This dark, steep staircase zigzagging through the house once gave the servants access throughout. But those days are long gone and now all the doors are locked up.

So, where to next? Exploring the Bricked Path further, or seeing what's at the top of the stairs?

Unexplored paths:
Up from Halfway up the Stairs.
East from Bricked Path.

Puzzles:
A locked jewelry box.
Getting the mascot from old Evans.
Opening the medicine bottle.

Inventory:
a framed charcoal sketch (of the Palace of Alexandria)
a model golden sceptre
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 bunch of nuts
• a steel wrench
• a silk handkerchief
• a green branch (covered with pollen)
• a miniature (of the folly that once stood outside the maze)
• a marble rose
• a weed killer bottle (empty)
• an antique jewellery box (which is closed and locked)
• 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 spade
• a hard wooden ball
• a bird whistle
• 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, has space for a timer mechanism)
• the Rods of Fire, Returning and Stalking
• a postcard of the Champs-Elysees (postmarked 1963)
• an ancient prayer book (actually Mad Isaac Meldrewe's research notes on the Curse, must look up particular years in it, ends in 1792)
• a romantic novel (Coronets for the Cotton Girl, by Alison Meldrew under the pen name Marie Swelldon)
• a tourist map (of central Hamburg)
• Hobson's classical dictionary
• the History of the Meldrews (vol. II)
• four Tarot cards: the Fool, Drowned Sailor, Ace of Cups and Grim Reaper

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 153 out of a possible 550, in 845 turns, giving you the rank of Connoisseur.

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, ship in a bottle)
p=Inside Cupboard (big iron fireplace, open skylight with crank handle, up to Roof)
q=Chimney (down to Priest's Hole)
r=Alison's Writing Room (bed)
s=Tiny Balcony
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 [can be lagach-ed]
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
m=Patio in Maze (down to Crypt)
n=Sandstone Passage
o=The Octagon (window vent, gilded coffin used to identify rods, scroll)
p=White Hallway (painting of Mad Isaac Meldrewe [can be lagach-ed], elephant's foot umbrella stand)
q=Bricked Path
r=Halfway up the Stairs (you are here; up to...?)

Catacombs below the gardens:
a=Crypt (bronze mural [can be lagach-ed], up to Patio in Maze)

Meldrew Hall, roof:
a=Roof (down to Inside Cupboard)
b=Battlements

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

Meldrew Hall, gardens (1808):
a=Folly
b=Maze Foundations

Northeast of the House:
a=Beside the Drive (up/west to Dead End)
b=Public Footpath (down to Hollow)
c=Stone Cross (Old Evans with his lucky mascot)

Northeast of the House, Hollow:
a=Hollow (up to Public Footpath, one-way northwest path to Mosaic)

Unreal City:
a=Unreal City
b=Shadowy Hallway (up to Consulting Room)
c=Bohemia (mural [can be lagach-ed])
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; model ship)
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: 2 (jumped off the mast of the Lady Magdalena without a parachute, spontaneous combustion)
Total: 8

Let's see what's at the top of the stairs.

Sorry about missing the last couple of days, but I've been kind of tired recently. It's not been so bad lately, so back to the LP.

Yes. Let's.

>u
The staircase leads up into...

Servant's Room

A tight door stands open in the northern wall, giving onto the servants' staircase.

An old striped scarf hangs up behind the doorway.

And we're back in the attic! Where to from here?

By the way, now that we've entered the Servant's Room from the stairs, the passageway is two-way from now on.

Unexplored paths:
East from Bricked Path.

Puzzles:
A locked jewelry box.
Getting the mascot from old Evans.
Opening the medicine bottle.

Inventory:
a framed charcoal sketch (of the Palace of Alexandria)
a model golden sceptre
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 bunch of nuts
• a steel wrench
• a silk handkerchief
• a green branch (covered with pollen)
• a miniature (of the folly that once stood outside the maze)
• a marble rose
• a weed killer bottle (empty)
• an antique jewellery box (which is closed and locked)
• 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 spade
• a hard wooden ball
• a bird whistle
• 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, has space for a timer mechanism)
• the Rods of Fire, Returning and Stalking
• a postcard of the Champs-Elysees (postmarked 1963)
• an ancient prayer book (actually Mad Isaac Meldrewe's research notes on the Curse, must look up particular years in it, ends in 1792)
• a romantic novel (Coronets for the Cotton Girl, by Alison Meldrew under the pen name Marie Swelldon)
• a tourist map (of central Hamburg)
• Hobson's classical dictionary
• the History of the Meldrews (vol. II)
• four Tarot cards: the Fool, Drowned Sailor, Ace of Cups and Grim Reaper

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 153 out of a possible 550, in 846 turns, giving you the rank of Connoisseur.

Maps
Meldrew Hall, attic:
a=Attic (down to game over)
b=Old Winery
c=Aunt Jemima's Lair (wireless)
d=Servant's Room (you are here; scarf; down/north to Halfway up the Stairs)
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, ship in a bottle)
p=Inside Cupboard (big iron fireplace, open skylight with crank handle, up to Roof)
q=Chimney (down to Priest's Hole)
r=Alison's Writing Room (bed)
s=Tiny Balcony
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 [can be lagach-ed]
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
m=Patio in Maze (down to Crypt)
n=Sandstone Passage
o=The Octagon (window vent, gilded coffin used to identify rods, scroll)
p=White Hallway (painting of Mad Isaac Meldrewe [can be lagach-ed], elephant's foot umbrella stand)
q=Bricked Path
r=Halfway up the Stairs (up to Servant's Room)

Catacombs below the gardens:
a=Crypt (bronze mural [can be lagach-ed], up to Patio in Maze)

Meldrew Hall, roof:
a=Roof (down to Inside Cupboard)
b=Battlements

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

Meldrew Hall, gardens (1808):
a=Folly
b=Maze Foundations

Northeast of the House:
a=Beside the Drive (up/west to Dead End)
b=Public Footpath (down to Hollow)
c=Stone Cross (Old Evans with his lucky mascot)

Northeast of the House, Hollow:
a=Hollow (up to Public Footpath, one-way northwest path to Mosaic)

Unreal City:
a=Unreal City
b=Shadowy Hallway (up to Consulting Room)
c=Bohemia (mural [can be lagach-ed])
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; model ship)
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: 2 (jumped off the mast of the Lady Magdalena without a parachute, spontaneous combustion)
Total: 8

East from the Bricked Path, I guess. Also, have we tried using the gothic-looking iron key to try unlocking the jewelry box or the child-proof lock on the medicine bottle? I can't remember.

Let's head east along the Bricked Path first, following Soren Highwind's suggestion.

>n

Halfway up the Stairs

>d

White Hallway

Mad Isaac's painting glares at you from the picture hook.

There's an old-fashioned elephant's foot umbrella stand beside the garden doorway.

>ne

Bricked Path

>e

Hedgery
Named by some family wag generations back, this is a restful hedge garden, crowned with a summer house to the north, widening out to a broad croquet lawn east.

A flock of sparrows crowds around the gutters of the summer house. Every now and then one flits up and lands somewhere else, and they bustle about chirpily.

There are two paths from here. But before the vote, I'm going to follow Soren Highwind's other suggestion and try out the iron key.

>unlock jewellery box with iron key
(first taking the gothic-looking iron key)
That doesn't seem to fit the lock.

>unlock medicine bottle with iron key
That doesn't seem to be something you can unlock.

I'm guessing, then, that the child-proof "lock" isn't really so much a "lock" as a "cap." But with that, this update comes to an end. See you next time!

Unexplored paths:
North from Hedgery.
East from Hedgery.

Puzzles:
A locked jewelry box.
Getting the mascot from old Evans.
Opening the medicine bottle.

Inventory:
a framed charcoal sketch (of the Palace of Alexandria)
a model golden sceptre
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 bunch of nuts
• a steel wrench
• a silk handkerchief
• a green branch (covered with pollen)
• a miniature (of the folly that once stood outside the maze)
• a marble rose
• a weed killer bottle (empty)
• an antique jewellery box (which is closed and locked)
• 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 spade
• a hard wooden ball
• a bird whistle
• a guaranteed-unbreakable medicine bottle with a child-proof lock cap (which is closed, an antidote to some unknown drug or poison)
• a photographer's flash (which is closed, has space for a timer mechanism)
• the Rods of Fire, Returning and Stalking
• a postcard of the Champs-Elysees (postmarked 1963)
• an ancient prayer book (actually Mad Isaac Meldrewe's research notes on the Curse, must look up particular years in it, ends in 1792)
• a romantic novel (Coronets for the Cotton Girl, by Alison Meldrew under the pen name Marie Swelldon)
• a tourist map (of central Hamburg)
• Hobson's classical dictionary
• the History of the Meldrews (vol. II)
• four Tarot cards: the Fool, Drowned Sailor, Ace of Cups and Grim Reaper

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

Score
It is the afternoon of June 3rd, 1993, and you are in the gardens. You have so far scored 153 out of a possible 550, in 852 turns, giving you the rank of Connoisseur.


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, ship in a bottle)
p=Inside Cupboard (big iron fireplace, open skylight with crank handle, up to Roof)
q=Chimney (down to Priest's Hole)
r=Alison's Writing Room (bed)
s=Tiny Balcony
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 [can be lagach-ed]
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
m=Patio in Maze (down to Crypt)
n=Sandstone Passage
o=The Octagon (window vent, gilded coffin used to identify rods, scroll)
p=White Hallway (painting of Mad Isaac Meldrewe [can be lagach-ed], elephant's foot umbrella stand)
q=Bricked Path
r=Halfway up the Stairs (up to Servant's Room)
s=Hedgery

Catacombs below the gardens:
a=Crypt (bronze mural [can be lagach-ed], up to Patio in Maze)

Meldrew Hall, roof:
a=Roof (down to Inside Cupboard)
b=Battlements

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

Meldrew Hall, gardens (1808):
a=Folly
b=Maze Foundations

Northeast of the House:
a=Beside the Drive (up/west to Dead End)
b=Public Footpath (down to Hollow)
c=Stone Cross (Old Evans with his lucky mascot)

Northeast of the House, Hollow:
a=Hollow (up to Public Footpath, one-way northwest path to Mosaic)

Unreal City:
a=Unreal City
b=Shadowy Hallway (up to Consulting Room)
c=Bohemia (mural [can be lagach-ed])
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; model ship)
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: 2 (jumped off the mast of the Lady Magdalena without a parachute, spontaneous combustion)
Total: 8

Is the medicine bottle as simple as pushing the cap and twisting it? If not, let's try to read the bottle (sorry if this has already been done).

It has a child-proof lock, so the best way to open it would be to give it to a child.

As much as an honor as it would be to take a suggestion from a Galactic Overlord, there aren't any children around, unfortunately. But maybe it is just as simple as opening the bottle?

>get medicine bottle
(putting the model golden sceptre into the canvas rucksack to make room)
Taken.

>push cap
You can't see any such thing.

And so, presumably, twisting it wouldn't work, either. We have read the bottle, but let's read it again.

>examine medicine bottle
"Antidote only: no preventative effect."

No real help on how to open it, but I will say that Foxeris is on the right track involving the bottle's guarantees. 'Til next time!

Did we smash it with the wrench yet?

No. No, we didn't. But let's give it a try.

>get wrench
(putting the model golden sceptre into the canvas rucksack to make room)
It's a wrench, but you take it.

>hit medicine bottle with wrench
You become extremely violent in your attempt, but the glass resists all attacks. Whatever would it take to break the dratted thing?

Well, that went better than I expected. But while the wrench doesn't work, it is possible to break the bottle by several possible means. Can you figure them out? If not, I'll show one off in the next update.

Seriously, I was just expecting a generic "you can't do this" message.

Have you tried throwing it on the ground?

To bad there isn't a rod of opening, that might do it. Otherwise... I really can't think of anything to use to open it.

Sorry for taking so long, but I've been pretty exhausted lately, and I had an exam to stress out over. But, anyway, now to get that darn bottle open.

>w

Bricked Path

>sw

White Hallway

Mad Isaac's painting glares at you from the picture hook.

There's an old-fashioned elephant's foot umbrella stand beside the garden doorway.

>nw

The Octagon

There is a little window-vent high in the southwest wall.

A rather morbid gilded model coffin rests open here.

Leaned against one of the eight corners is a ragged white parchment scroll.

>w

Sandstone Passage

>w

Dark Passage

A secret passage slants down to the east through a sandstone recess.

At the north end is a metal door, standing open.

>n

Garden Stream

On the house wall is a coal bunker, whose door stands open.

>nw

Family Tree

A big motorised garden roller is parked here.

>e

Lawn Ornaments

The lawn is lightly coated with broken plaster and dust, and in the spot where the statuette once stood is a dark, ancient well.

>drop medicine bottle
You haven't got that.

Stupid inventory system.

>get medicine bottle then drop it
(putting the model golden sceptre into the canvas rucksack to make room)
Taken.

Dropped.

Now, to open this bottle...with EXTREME VENGEANCE.

>w

Family Tree

A big motorised garden roller is parked here.

>enter roller
You get into the garden roller.

>turn it on
You switch the garden roller on.

>e

Lawn Ornaments (in the garden roller)

The lawn is lightly coated with broken plaster and dust, and in the spot where the statuette once stood is a dark, ancient well.

You can also see a guaranteed-unbreakable medicine bottle with a child-proof lock (which is closed) here.

Oh dear. The medicine bottle, which you negligently left lying in the path of the roller, seems to have been cracked.

Um, yes...negligence. Let's go with that.

>stand
You get out of the garden roller.

Lawn Ornaments

The garden roller sits here, its engine still running.

The lawn is lightly coated with broken plaster and dust, and in the spot where the statuette once stood is a dark, ancient well.

You can also see a cracked medicine bottle (in which is a red tablet) here.

And, since we can actually see the contents of the bottle, that presumably means that we can take it, whatever it is. But since it's an antidote, not a preventative thing, we should probably hold onto it for now.

>get bottle
(the cracked medicine bottle)
Taken.

And, as always...

>turn off roller
You switch the garden roller off.

Well, that's it for today. What to do next time?

Unexplored paths:
North from Hedgery.
East from Hedgery.

Puzzles:
A locked jewelry box.
Getting the mascot from old Evans.

Inventory:
a cracked medicine bottle

• a red tablet (an antidote to some unknown drug or poison)

a framed charcoal sketch (of the Palace of Alexandria)
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 model golden sceptre
• a bunch of nuts
• a steel wrench
• a silk handkerchief
• a green branch (covered with pollen)
• a miniature (of the folly that once stood outside the maze)
• a marble rose
• a weed killer bottle (empty)
• an antique jewellery box (which is closed and locked)
• 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 spade
• a hard wooden ball
• a bird whistle
• a photographer's flash (which is closed, has space for a timer mechanism)
• the Rods of Fire, Returning and Stalking
• a postcard of the Champs-Elysees (postmarked 1963)
• an ancient prayer book (actually Mad Isaac Meldrewe's research notes on the Curse, must look up particular years in it, ends in 1792)
• a romantic novel (Coronets for the Cotton Girl, by Alison Meldrew under the pen name Marie Swelldon)
• a tourist map (of central Hamburg)
• Hobson's classical dictionary
• the History of the Meldrews (vol. II)
• four Tarot cards: the Fool, Drowned Sailor, Ace of Cups and Grim Reaper

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

Score
It is the afternoon of June 3rd, 1993, and you are in the gardens. You have so far scored 153 out of a possible 550, in 870 turns, giving you the rank of Connoisseur.

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, ship in a bottle)
p=Inside Cupboard (big iron fireplace, open skylight with crank handle, up to Roof)
q=Chimney (down to Priest's Hole)
r=Alison's Writing Room (bed)
s=Tiny Balcony
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 [can be lagach-ed]
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
m=Patio in Maze (down to Crypt)
n=Sandstone Passage
o=The Octagon (window vent, gilded coffin used to identify rods, scroll)
p=White Hallway (painting of Mad Isaac Meldrewe [can be lagach-ed], elephant's foot umbrella stand)
q=Bricked Path
r=Halfway up the Stairs (up to Servant's Room)
s=Hedgery

Catacombs below the gardens:
a=Crypt (bronze mural [can be lagach-ed], up to Patio in Maze)

Meldrew Hall, roof:
a=Roof (down to Inside Cupboard)
b=Battlements

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

Meldrew Hall, gardens (1808):
a=Folly
b=Maze Foundations

Northeast of the House:
a=Beside the Drive (up/west to Dead End)
b=Public Footpath (down to Hollow)
c=Stone Cross (Old Evans with his lucky mascot)

Northeast of the House, Hollow:
a=Hollow (up to Public Footpath, one-way northwest path to Mosaic)

Unreal City:
a=Unreal City
b=Shadowy Hallway (up to Consulting Room)
c=Bohemia (mural [can be lagach-ed])
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; model ship)
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: 2 (jumped off the mast of the Lady Magdalena without a parachute, spontaneous combustion)
Total: 8

By the way, how would everyone feel about me clearing some of the useless junk out of my inventory? Because part of why I've been taking so long between updates is because I dread annotating the incredibly-long inventory list that having a rucksack of holding leads to.

Go ahead, man.

As for exploring, how about east from yon Hedgery?

First of all, sorry again about the gaps between updates lately, but I've been feeling a bit burned out lately. Anyhoo, first we'll clear out our inventory by dropping anything that we don't really need. Fear not, though - I'll be holding on to Mr. Goodwrench. So, let's get down to business.

>get miniature then drop it
(putting the framed charcoal sketch into the canvas rucksack to make room)
Taken.

Dropped.

>get postcard then drop it
Taken.

Dropped.

>get weed killer bottle then drop it
Taken.

Dropped.

>get prayer book then drop it
Taken.

Dropped.

>get novel then drop it
Taken.

Dropped.

>get branch then drop it
Taken.

Dropped.

>get mask then drop it
Taken.

Dropped.

If you're wondering, I had to say "get <foo> then drop it" because the game won't let you drop anything directly from the Rucksack of Holding, as I believe I've griped about before. And I did have to consult a walkthrough to confirm exactly which items were now useless, if you're wondering.

Anyway, back to the Hedgery!

>w

Family Tree

>se

Garden Stream

On the house wall is a coal bunker, whose door stands open.

>s

Dark Passage

A secret passage slants down to the east through a sandstone recess.

At the north end is a metal door, standing open.

>e

Sandstone Passage

>se
You can't go that way.

>e

The Octagon

There is a little window-vent high in the southwest wall.

A rather morbid gilded model coffin rests open here.

Leaned against one of the eight corners is a ragged white parchment scroll.

>se

White Hallway

Mad Isaac's painting glares at you from the picture hook.

There's an old-fashioned elephant's foot umbrella stand beside the garden doorway.

>ne

Bricked Path

>e

Hedgery

A flock of sparrows crowds around the gutters of the summer house. Every now and then one flits up and lands somewhere else, and they bustle about chirpily.

>e

Croquet Lawn
One of the most beautiful hedge-enclosed, tree-muffled lawns in England, and just out of sight of the house, this has been a jewel in the gardens for centuries. Since the twenties it has also been a croquet lawn, of the regulation twenty-four yards square, laid out with a central coloured peg and six peripheral hoops.

Well, we've gone east of the Hedgery. Where to from here?

Unexplored paths:
North from Hedgery.

Puzzles:
A locked jewelry box.
Getting the mascot from old Evans.

Inventory:
a cracked medicine bottle

• a red tablet (an antidote to some unknown drug or poison)

a gothic-looking iron key
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 framed charcoal sketch (of the Palace of Alexandria)
• a model golden sceptre
• a bunch of nuts
• a steel wrench
• a silk handkerchief
• a marble rose
• an antique jewellery box (which is closed and locked)
• a small brass key (unlocks the door from Dark Passage to Garden Stream and the trapdoor in Priest's Hole)
• a spade
• a hard wooden ball
• a bird whistle
• a photographer's flash (which is closed, has space for a timer mechanism)
• the Rods of Fire, Returning and Stalking
• a tourist map (of central Hamburg)
• Hobson's classical dictionary
• the History of the Meldrews (vol. II)
• four Tarot cards: the Fool, Drowned Sailor, Ace of Cups and Grim Reaper

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

Score
It is the afternoon of June 3rd, 1993, and you are in the gardens. You have so far scored 153 out of a possible 550, in 893 turns, giving you the rank of Connoisseur.

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, ship in a bottle)
p=Inside Cupboard (big iron fireplace, open skylight with crank handle, up to Roof)
q=Chimney (down to Priest's Hole)
r=Alison's Writing Room (bed)
s=Tiny Balcony
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, miniature, postcard of the Champs-Elysees, weed killer bottle, prayer book, romantic novel, green branch, gas mask)
e=Mosaic [can be lagach-ed]
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
m=Patio in Maze (down to Crypt)
n=Sandstone Passage
o=The Octagon (window vent, gilded coffin used to identify rods, scroll)
p=White Hallway (painting of Mad Isaac Meldrewe [can be lagach-ed], elephant's foot umbrella stand)
q=Bricked Path
r=Halfway up the Stairs (up to Servant's Room)
s=Hedgery
t=Croquet Lawn (colored peg, wickets)

Catacombs below the gardens:
a=Crypt (bronze mural [can be lagach-ed], up to Patio in Maze)

Meldrew Hall, roof:
a=Roof (down to Inside Cupboard)
b=Battlements

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

Meldrew Hall, gardens (1808):
a=Folly
b=Maze Foundations

Northeast of the House:
a=Beside the Drive (up/west to Dead End)
b=Public Footpath (down to Hollow)
c=Stone Cross (Old Evans with his lucky mascot)

Northeast of the House, Hollow:
a=Hollow (up to Public Footpath, one-way northwest path to Mosaic)

Unreal City:
a=Unreal City
b=Shadowy Hallway (up to Consulting Room)
c=Bohemia (mural [can be lagach-ed])
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; model ship)
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: 2 (jumped off the mast of the Lady Magdalena without a parachute, spontaneous combustion)
Total: 8

Steamroll the jewelry box.

Although I don't see any way this could possibly end well, I might as well give it a try.

>w

Hedgery

A flock of sparrows crowds around the gutters of the summer house. Every now and then one flits up and lands somewhere else, and they bustle about chirpily.

>w

Bricked Path

>sw

White Hallway

Mad Isaac's painting glares at you from the picture hook.

There's an old-fashioned elephant's foot umbrella stand beside the garden doorway.

>nw

The Octagon

There is a little window-vent high in the southwest wall.

A rather morbid gilded model coffin rests open here.

Leaned against one of the eight corners is a ragged white parchment scroll.

>w

Sandstone Passage

>w

Dark Passage

A secret passage slants down to the east through a sandstone recess.

At the north end is a metal door, standing open.

>n

Garden Stream

On the house wall is a coal bunker, whose door stands open.

>nw

Family Tree

>drop jewellery box
You haven't got that.

>restore

Please supply a filename for restore
Ok.

>w

Hedgery

A flock of sparrows crowds around the gutters of the summer house. Every now and then one flits up and lands somewhere else, and they bustle about chirpily.

>w

Bricked Path

>sw

White Hallway

Mad Isaac's painting glares at you from the picture hook.

There's an old-fashioned elephant's foot umbrella stand beside the garden doorway.

>nw

The Octagon

There is a little window-vent high in the southwest wall.

A rather morbid gilded model coffin rests open here.

Leaned against one of the eight corners is a ragged white parchment scroll.

>w

Sandstone Passage

>w

Dark Passage

A secret passage slants down to the east through a sandstone recess.

At the north end is a metal door, standing open.

>n

Garden Stream

On the house wall is a coal bunker, whose door stands open.

>nw

Family Tree

>get jewellery box then drop it
Taken.

Dropped.

>e

Lawn Ornaments

A big motorised garden roller is parked here.

The lawn is lightly coated with broken plaster and dust, and in the spot where the statuette once stood is a dark, ancient well.

You can also see a gas mask, a green branch, a weed killer bottle, a miniature, a romantic novel, an ancient prayer book and a postcard of the Champs-Elysees here.

>enter roller
You get into the garden roller.

>turn it on
You switch the garden roller on.

>w

Family Tree (in the garden roller)

You can see an antique jewellery box (which is closed) here.

Darn. The one time I want to run something over with a garden roller, and I can't. Oh, well. Where to next time?

Hint: There are a couple of things that can be done in the attic, including a room we haven't really fully explored yet.

The room I alluded to in the spoiler section of the last update was the balcony outside Alison's writing room, so let's head there. Starting from the croquet lawn...

>w

Hedgery

A flock of sparrows crowds around the gutters of the summer house. Every now and then one flits up and lands somewhere else, and they bustle about chirpily.

>w

Bricked Path

>sw

White Hallway

Mad Isaac's painting glares at you from the picture hook.

There's an old-fashioned elephant's foot umbrella stand beside the garden doorway.

>s

Halfway up the Stairs

>u

Servant's Room

A tight door stands open in the northern wall, giving onto the servants' staircase.

An old striped scarf hangs up behind the doorway.

>w

Attic

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

>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.

>s

Dead End

A secret door stands open in the south wall!

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.)

>s

Alison's Writing Room

On the comfortable bed is a flag of the British Merchant Navy.

Black-latticed windows open on a beautiful summer's day.

There is a long vanity mirror beside the bed.

>s

Tiny Balcony

The balcony is only a foot or so beneath the window-sill, and only about four feet square.

Now, to find probably one of the most vague items in the game. The windowsill isn't really a major part of the description, but it is there, so let's try looking under it.

>look under sill
You dislodge something shiny!

I wonder what this shiny thing could be?

>look

Tiny Balcony
A tiny balcony around Miss Alison's windows, offering fresh air, blue skies and a magnificent view over the gardens down to the droning motorway in the distance. The roof is too perilous to scale even if you had a good reason (which you haven't), so you had better go back north.

The balcony is only a foot or so beneath the window-sill, and only about four feet square.

You can also see a delicate gold key here.

Aha, a gold key! Let's take it.

>take gold key
Taken.

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

Now, what might this might unlock? I'll leave that for you to figure out for the next update.

Unexplored paths:
North from Hedgery.

Puzzles:
A locked jewelry box.
Getting the mascot from old Evans.

Inventory:
a cracked medicine bottle

• a red tablet (an antidote to some unknown drug or poison)

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 framed charcoal sketch (of the Palace of Alexandria)
• a model golden sceptre
• a bunch of nuts
• a steel wrench
• a silk handkerchief
• a marble rose
• an antique jewellery box (which is closed and locked)
• a small brass key (unlocks the door from Dark Passage to Garden Stream and the trapdoor in Priest's Hole)
• a spade
• a hard wooden ball
• a bird whistle
• a photographer's flash (which is closed, has space for a timer mechanism)
• the Rods of Fire, Returning and Stalking
• a tourist map (of central Hamburg)
• Hobson's classical dictionary
• the History of the Meldrews (vol. II)
• four Tarot cards: the Fool, Drowned Sailor, Ace of Cups and Grim Reaper

an electric torch (providing light and closed)
some old gardeners' gloves (being worn)
a delicate gold key
a gothic-looking iron key

Score
This is the afternoon of June 3rd, 1993, and you are in Meldrew Hall. You have so far scored 157 out of a possible 550, in 908 turns, giving you the rank of Connoisseur.

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, ship in a bottle)
p=Inside Cupboard (big iron fireplace, open skylight with crank handle, up to Roof)
q=Chimney (down to Priest's Hole)
r=Alison's Writing Room (bed)
s=Tiny Balcony (you are here)
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, miniature, postcard of the Champs-Elysees, weed killer bottle, prayer book, romantic novel, green branch, gas mask)
e=Mosaic [can be lagach-ed]
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
m=Patio in Maze (down to Crypt)
n=Sandstone Passage
o=The Octagon (window vent, gilded coffin used to identify rods, scroll)
p=White Hallway (painting of Mad Isaac Meldrewe [can be lagach-ed], elephant's foot umbrella stand)
q=Bricked Path
r=Halfway up the Stairs (up to Servant's Room)
s=Hedgery
t=Croquet Lawn (colored peg, wickets)

Catacombs below the gardens:
a=Crypt (bronze mural [can be lagach-ed], up to Patio in Maze)

Meldrew Hall, roof:
a=Roof (down to Inside Cupboard)
b=Battlements

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

Meldrew Hall, gardens (1808):
a=Folly
b=Maze Foundations

Northeast of the House:
a=Beside the Drive (up/west to Dead End)
b=Public Footpath (down to Hollow)
c=Stone Cross (Old Evans with his lucky mascot)

Northeast of the House, Hollow:
a=Hollow (up to Public Footpath, one-way northwest path to Mosaic)

Unreal City:
a=Unreal City
b=Shadowy Hallway (up to Consulting Room)
c=Bohemia (mural [can be lagach-ed])
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; model ship)
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: 2 (jumped off the mast of the Lady Magdalena without a parachute, spontaneous combustion)
Total: 8

Could it unlock the jewelry box?

And then after that we could head north from the Hedgery! I like how I've only been able to contribute directions to this LP because of how inexperienced I am with adventure games.

Most likely. Let's give it a shot.

>get jewellery box
(putting the gothic-looking iron key into the canvas rucksack to make room)
Taken.

>unlock jewellery box with gold key
You unlock the antique jewellery box.

Not really surprising, if you consider the fact that the box was monogrammed "A.M.," most likely Alison Meldrew, and the key was found on her balcony. But what could be inside?

>open jewellery box
You open the antique jewellery box, revealing a four-leafed clover.

Presumably one of the lucky charms that the family history said she collected, and, although it doesn't really make sense, one of the disguised rods. Since we're heading back to the ground level, might as well get it ID'ed on the way.

>n

Alison's Writing Room

On the comfortable bed is a flag of the British Merchant Navy.

Black-latticed windows open on a beautiful summer's day.

There is a long vanity mirror beside the bed.

>n

Dead End

A secret door stands open in the south wall!

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

>nw

Old Furniture

You can see some wrapping paper with reindeer on here.

>n

Attic

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

>e

Servant's Room

A tight door stands open in the northern wall, giving onto the servants' staircase.

An old striped scarf hangs up behind the doorway.

>n

Halfway up the Stairs

>d

White Hallway

Mad Isaac's painting glares at you from the picture hook.

There's an old-fashioned elephant's foot umbrella stand beside the garden doorway.

>nw

The Octagon

There is a little window-vent high in the southwest wall.

A rather morbid gilded model coffin rests open here.

Leaned against one of the eight corners is a ragged white parchment scroll.

>put featureless rod in coffin
The mahogany rod fits in perfectly.

>close coffin
The coffin sparks, spitting with electricity, and begins throbbing with a life of its own!

>open coffin
You open the gilded model coffin, revealing the Rod of Luck.

>get rod of luck
Taken.

The Rod of Luck coming from a four-leaf clover...how appropriate.

Actually, most of the rods' powers have something to do with the objects they were disguised as. For example, the sooty old stick became the Rod of Fire, and the beanpole became the Rod of Stalking.

Anyway, let's see what lies north of the Hedgery.

>n
Your first step towards the sparrows startles them into the air, and they whirl upwards and around with panic, chirping their alarm.

Summer House
An old wooden summer house, reeking of varnish and uncertain beneath your feet. Several segments of the tall glass many-sided pyramidal roof are missing and others are cracked, but this is still somehow a homely and welcoming retreat. The only entrance is also the only exit.

A croquet mallet stands by one wooden wall.

Something golden hangs by a chain from a loose pane in the roof, but it's too high up to reach.

Startled sparrows circle high in the sky, showing no signs of calming down.

Those sparrows are probably important, but let's do what adventurers do best before worrying about them.

>take mallet
(putting the delicate gold key into the canvas rucksack to make room)
Taken.

And, although we can't actually get the golden thing, let's at least try to get a better look at it.

>examine chain
(the gold watch on a chain)
The watch is just within sight, but quite beyond reach.

Well, that's kind of annoying. But that's it for today, folks. Until next time!

Unexplored paths:
None.

Puzzles:
Getting the mascot from old Evans.

Inventory:
a croquet mallet
the Rod of Luck
an antique jewellery box (which is open but empty)
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 cracked medicine bottle

• a red tablet (an antidote to some unknown drug or poison)
  
• a framed charcoal sketch (of the Palace of Alexandria)
• a model golden sceptre
• a bunch of nuts
• a steel wrench
• a silk handkerchief
• the Rods of Fire, Returning and Stalking
• a marble rose
• a spade
• a hard wooden ball
• a bird whistle
• a photographer's flash (which is closed, has space for a timer mechanism)
• a tourist map (of central Hamburg)
• Hobson's classical dictionary
• the History of the Meldrews (vol. II)
• a delicate gold key (unlocks the jewellery box)
• 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)
• four Tarot cards: the Fool, Drowned Sailor, Ace of Cups and Grim Reaper

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

Score
It is the afternoon of June 3rd, 1993, and you are in the gardens. You have so far scored 163 out of a possible 550, in 933 turns, giving you the rank of Connoisseur.

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, ship in a bottle)
p=Inside Cupboard (big iron fireplace, open skylight with crank handle, up to Roof)
q=Chimney (down to Priest's Hole)
r=Alison's Writing Room (bed)
s=Tiny Balcony
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, miniature, postcard of the Champs-Elysees, weed killer bottle, prayer book, romantic novel, green branch, gas mask)
e=Mosaic [can be lagach-ed]
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
m=Patio in Maze (down to Crypt)
n=Sandstone Passage
o=The Octagon (window vent, gilded coffin used to identify rods, scroll)
p=White Hallway (painting of Mad Isaac Meldrewe [can be lagach-ed], elephant's foot umbrella stand)
q=Bricked Path
r=Halfway up the Stairs (up to Servant's Room)
s=Hedgery
t=Croquet Lawn (colored peg, wickets)
u=Summer House (gold watch which is visible but unattainable; you are here)

Catacombs below the gardens:
a=Crypt (bronze mural [can be lagach-ed], up to Patio in Maze)

Meldrew Hall, roof:
a=Roof (down to Inside Cupboard)
b=Battlements

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

Meldrew Hall, gardens (1808):
a=Folly
b=Maze Foundations

Northeast of the House:
a=Beside the Drive (up/west to Dead End)
b=Public Footpath (down to Hollow)
c=Stone Cross (Old Evans with his lucky mascot)

Northeast of the House, Hollow:
a=Hollow (up to Public Footpath, one-way northwest path to Mosaic)

Unreal City:
a=Unreal City
b=Shadowy Hallway (up to Consulting Room)
c=Bohemia (mural [can be lagach-ed])
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; model ship)
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: 2 (jumped off the mast of the Lady Magdalena without a parachute, spontaneous combustion)
Total: 8

Can we throw that hard wooden ball to knock down the watch? Or perhaps the rod of returning would return it to somewhere else?

Or there's the more-likely idea that blowing the bird whistle will attract the sparrows to do something.