MESSAGE 1
You pick apart the little bundle of fluff and a small black thing 
falls to the floor.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 2
You are told that the match, because it is not really magic, just
a technical curiosity, can be gotten for only an asimi.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 3
Habib is too shaken to respond. He stares at you with wide-set
eyes. He has high, round cheeks and largish ears. For an instant
you have the wierd impression you are looking in a mirror. You hear 
the tromp of soldiers outside the locked door. You'd better get about 
before they find you here and think you an assassin.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 4
You take the mouse and place it in your pouch. It seems to perk up 
immediately. It's head pops up from the pocket and it places its paws 
on your pocket hem. You feel, absurdly, like a mother kangeroo.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 5
Not fast enough! You are immediately enveloped in a raging desert
sandstorm. You try to find your way back to the shelter, but become 
immediately lost. You can only assume that the sand has covered it. 
You have to keep moving so it does not bury you as well.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 6
The sandstorm subsides. You look around for any trace of the cell.
It has been buried.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 7
The sun beats down relentlessly, parching you, drying you.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 8
You feel dizzy, numb, lightheaded from dehydration.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 9
You could have saved yourself so easily, you think, as the sun's 
brutal heat penetrates and steals your last strength. You die, 
thirsty, unfulfilled. Ahhh, the pity of it.
END_MESSAGE 

MESSAGE 10
You set off toward the sea.
END_MESSAGE      

MESSAGE 11
The cool water drips from the tiny bottle and your thirst is
immediately quenched.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 12
The secret's in your pocket, tangled in the lint.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 13
She says, "I must try to heal him." She steps forward and places
her hand on his forehead. Then she does an astonishing thing:
she shuts her eyes, raises her cupped hand to her lips, as if
she were sipping water. She seems to breathe into her palm, and
in an instant, a tiny flame materializes. She remains thus for a
moment, in deep concentration. The boy, whose head is already 
inclined to her, goes through a transformation. The scars around
his eyes seem to melt. His milky eyes clear, and become focussed.
Tenuously, she opens her eyes. The flame winks out. She sees her
healing has worked. He rises to his feet, and takes her hands.
They stand enraptured a moment, then turn to regard you, the agent
that has brought them together, and created this miracle.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 14
The camel sneers and brays at your unpracticed toodling. 
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 15
You sit and practice. Weak at first, your playing soon becomes
acceptable, perhaps even pleasing.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 16
The camel ceases its fidgeting and snorting and sidles up to you.
It kneels and nuzzles you. Your newfound musical skill has worked
wonders. It will now follow you anywhere! You recall having once
been told that before you try to ride a camel, you should walk it
around a bit, to get it used to your company...
END_MESSAGE 

MESSAGE 17
The little creature lifts its lips to the magical trickle of water. 
It seems instantly revived, and while its leg is still no better, it 
looks considerably healthier.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 18
The camel senses your intent and kneels. Cautiously, you climb up
onto the saddle, and give it a gentle slap on the flank. It takes
off across the burning sands. As you ride, you hear a clattering sound, 
and glancing down, you see the metallic glint of something the camel 
has kicked up from the sand. But in a moment that's far behind 
you, to the west... and the camel seems intent on heading east.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 19
Do you know how to steer this thing? The camel seems to quite in
charge of the direction you're heading.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 20
The camel halts, and kneels, allowing you to dismount.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 21
On foot now, the camel following faithfully behind you, you trace
the line of foot prints. After a while, you find a brass lantern.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 22
Good thing you found the lantern when you did. The late afternoon
breeze is really whipping now, erasing the camel tracks from the
sand.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 23
The Genie sneers, "No wishes granted for the likes of you. You'll
have to work for what you get." He throws a peculiar looking pan
at your feet, and vanishes in a cloud of stinky smoke.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 24
You clambor back up on your trusty mount, and it surefoots it to
the distant mountains in the east. It's getting quite late in the
day, and you wonder if you will get to the mountains by nightfall.
Anyplace in the desert is dangerous at night. You ride on for a
bit, untill your camel becomes tired. You get down and let it
wander off to graze.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 25
For some reason, you've turned away, and you're headed away from
the sea.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 26
The air darkens. Night is falling. Also, a sinister and brooding
cloud has chosen this moment to pass overhead.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 27
It's getting darker.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 28
Not only is it very dark now, but you could swear you heard a twig
snap, and the sound of heavy, bestial breathing.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 29
Lightning jumps from the cloud, lighting the landscape wierdly for
an instant. In that instant, you see that you are just a few paces
from a great hulking form, a beast of unspeakable loathesomeness.
It's eyes burn red, and its jaws open, inviting you in for dinner... 
it's dinner...
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 30
You feel your senses returning, the strange dream fading...
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 31
You place the pole upright in the pit and step back just as a bolt of
lightning springs from the cloud above, and ignites the end of the pole.
The pole leaps from the pit and topples, burning, to the ground.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 32
All right, you ignite the tinder, which in turn sets the dry wood
merrily blazing. You here a yelp as some huge beast, frightened of
all the incendiary activity, runs off into the night. You settle
down for the duration...
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 33
You've become a bit player in this drama. You can only watch while
the boy approaches Gladys and takes her over to the place where
his family's hut once stood. They stand, she listening, he talking, 
for a while. Then, he comes to you and tells you they have decided 
to stay here and make a go of rebuilding the hut. He wishes you luck 
on your own pilgrimage.  It occurs to you this entire episode has 
kept you from getting to Dardhad in a timely way. You look around 
for Gladys to give a last goodbye, but she has gone off wading in
the sea of this, her new world. You feel as if you are leaving
a part of you behind.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 34
Very well, the $NOUN$ is here now.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 35
You are drawn to the tower in the north. Sea gulls pirhouette in
the blue, crying and floating with impossible slowness. They become
clouds. The sun catching troughs of waves makes momentary blades of
light. The colors in the shallows to the east shift as the cloud
shadows move across the water.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 36
A fiddler crab dances by, actually playing a fiddle. It plays a
devilish tune, and ducks into a hole.
You ignore it and continue toward the tower.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 37
You walk toward the tower...
You walk along awhile. Nothing happens. You find yourself quite
impressed with the way this dream seems indistinguishable from
real life. A wave shaped like a human arm is building a sandcastle
at the water's edge. The surf crawls back and forth across the
shore, leaving seagrass and gnarly wood and sea changed things,
then taking them back.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 38
You stroll along the sand. To the east, beyond the shallows, a
sailboat moves on the horizon. From the beach you can barely make
out the details... perhaps if you went east a ways.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 39
Drawn to the tower, you walk along awhile. Nothing happens. You 
find yourself quite impressed with the way this dream seems 
indistinguishable from real life. A wave shaped like a supple vine 
is building a woman of sand. She is looking out across the water. 
The sailboat bobs brightly on the horizon, a white triangle, two 
fields of blue. You think you have seen this before.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 40
It is a lovely day for the beach. The tower beckons you north.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 41
She sighs, and suggests that you take her for a walk.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 42
You eat the porridge. It is warm, but not very filling, which is
not too surprising, since it doesn't really exist.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 43
You get the feeling someone will be along soon.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 44
The wind comes through the open door. No, actually it is a young
woman, slender and sad.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 45
She sighs, and says, that's Benny... he's at sea. Been there so 
very long. But I know he will return to me soon. I am so lonely.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 46
She slaps you and you find yourself waking, feeling like a swimmer
making his way to the surface, while the dream falls away below
you. You sit up suddenly in the night. 
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 47
She stares in disbelief at the offering. "What have you done?"
she moans. "That flower was perfect where it was."
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 48
You see a wandering bedouin. He steps up to you and regards
you with agitated curiosity. He is chomping on a handrolled 
cigarette, now unlit, and his eyes flick back and forth between
you and the camel. From his burnoose he takes a little pouch, 
and from this he removes a tiny stick of wood with a bit of
red on one end. He strikes this against the sole of his sandal
and, to your amazement, it bursts into flame. He lights his smoke
and then extinguishes the little flame with a breath. He puts the
amazing little stick back in the pouch and pockets it.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 49
She opens the cabinet and puts out a bowl, a spoon, and a piece
of bread. She fills the bowl with porridge and sits down across the 
table from you, watching you with interest.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 50
You drift back to sleep.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 51
She smiles and her eyes twinkle.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 52
She thanks you and ceases playing. She seems restless now.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 53
She doesn't believe you.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 54
She spies the boat and is suddenly transformed. She changes into
the wind and rushes off over the sea. The sails of the boat 
stiffen, and it begins to head toward shore. You take this instant
to come fully awake...
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 55
You rinse and clean the bowl, and for good measure, the spoon. She 
goes to the harp and begins to play, a little falteringly, but 
sweetly and earnestly.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 56
She keeps playing intently. The tune she plays could be a hornpipe
for a toy sailor. She fumbles her notes occasionally, and blushes.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 57
You break the loaf, and share it with her. 
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 58
You mount the seahorse and take the reins... nothing happens for a
moment, then the creature bolts out of the stable and races for 
the surface. In a moment, you are coursing over the waves, hanging
on for dear life. The seahorse carries across the ocean to a rocky
coastline. It passes within feet of the shore, then, with a mighty
buck, throws you out of the saddle and onto the beach. You watch
it gallop away. You sit for a while, composing yourself after
your nearly fatal adventure, with your belongings spread out,
drying in the sun. After a while, your gather them up and look
around at the rugged coast, and the road stretching northwest.
You are tired, hungry, but undaunted. At least you are out of
the desert.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 59
You take a deep breath and duck underneath the water.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 60
You finally come to the end of the beach. You hear a thunderous
clap, and spinning around, you see the tide sweep across the
sands to the south. You are cut off from the land.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 61
You tell her about your adventure at the lighthouse. She listens
her eyes wide with wonder and gratitude. "I'm sure that the 
beacon will guide my Benny back to me. Oh, kind sir, I must 
have something to remember you by. Give me some keepsake!"
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 62
She takes the ring, and leans forward to kiss you. It is like
the wind caressing your face. You tumble and fall, and yet you are 
rising, rising from sleep. You wake to the bright morning light.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 63
She doesn't want to walk along the beach. She prefers to stand
here and gaze toward the ocean to the east.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 64
You wander off on foot, your camel following behind. You walk for
a while, but you get the feeling you keep coming back to the same
spot. Your camel seems antsy.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 65
The mouse doesn't seem to be thirsty.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 66
The maiden has gone to the huge window overlooking the ocean. She
regards the violence of the black storm with perfect terror, and
in particular, a little sailboat being tossed over the huge and 
heaving waves. "Please!" she cries. "Someone turn on the beacon."
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 67
You feel claustrophobic, oppressed. You wonder how long the air
will remain breathable.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 68
You feel drowsy, it's hard to concentrate.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 69
You just want to close your eyes and sleep. 
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 70
She tells you her name is Gladys, and she waits in the tiny cottage
for her beloved Benjamin to return to her from the sea. She seems
shy and a little uncertain of your motives.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 71
That's it, you're out of air. You suck one last breath and feel
the flame in the center of your soul expire. Even if you're born
again, it'll be up to you to rekindle it.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 72
You put the dry grass in the fire pit. That's good tinder.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 73
You put the firewood in the pit. Getting there...
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 74
The grass burns away to nothing. Sure would have made great tinder
under some nice dry wood!
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 75
The weak flame of the pole seems unable to ignite the branches.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 76
The flaming match grows to hot for you to hold, and you drop it. 
It hits the ground and goes out.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 77
The stranger shrugs and says, "There are many stories told."
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 78
You seem to have sparked his interest. He glances up at the cloud,
takes out a pipe and a pouch and starts tamping in some shag. 
"Yes, remarkable, a cloud like that, this time of year.
One feels that it is just looking for something tall enough to
send down a bolt on." He keeps his eyes on the cloud, and 
continues tamping down the pipe tobacco.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 79
Done with his tamping, the stranger removes a match from the folds
of his robe, and strikes it on the heel of his sandal. He starts 
to light his pipe, and stands a moment, regarding your efforts.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 80
As you sit wearily considering your plight, the air shimmers and
you see the image of the Magii Bartholomo form in the air before
you. He looks quite sad. "Young Omar, you are in too deep for me
to help you now. The magic of the angry king is too strong for
for me to affect and escape for you. You were hasty... right to
try to make it into the palace, but unprepared once you got in."
He shakes his head... "You will be forced to languish here till
someone defeats the angry king... and that could take a while.
Let me leave you with this, so that you may remain healthy. Here
is how you make the healing flame: close your eyes, visualize the
flame, visualize yourself or the person you need to heal... it
will be done." His image fades, and you are alone. During your
life, no one heals or defeats the angry king, and you die in
the cell, a grizzled, defeated man.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 81
The stranger shrugs and says, "Most gladly sir, if it will help 
you in your predicament." Pipe unlit, He carefully hands you the
burning match. 
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 82
The stranger, it seems, is finally bored of watching you. He lights 
his pipe, stashes the match, and heads up the road, vanishing quickly 
into the gloom.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 83
The stranger misunderstands your motives as you grab for his match. 
He snuffs it, and hastily departs.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 84
"You know, I always say, a well prepared fire pit insures a blaze 
that will take you through the longest desert night. Put the grass 
and firewood in a pit, light the tinder with any convenient lighting 
device." Your activity seems to facinate him. 
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 85
Lightning dances from the cloud above, into the mountains. The
sudden illumination outlines a form at the edge of the road. You
are not alone! A stranger stands and watches from the edge of
the dark highway.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 86
You throw the compass at the mirror. It sails through the air
and smashes into the glass. What happens next is truly remarkable.
For an instant, the mirror frame seems to become a doorway, leading
to the throne room. In it, you see the angry king, rising in shock
from the throne. His face contorts in pain, then becomes pale...
no, transparent! His royal robes collapse, and in the next instant
he is gone entirely. A beam of light springs from the place where
he was and passes through the mirror frame into the body of the
enraptured man, who now trembles and staggers back from the mirror.
He sits on the bed and holds his hands up before his face. You
realise that this is the legendary Good King Habib.
There is a commotion in the hallway and a pounding at the door...
you realize you had best get out before anyone enters and assumes
you are some sort of assassin.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 87
As you set off, the Bedouin takes one last look at the camel that
once was his, and walks away across the dunes.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 88
Gladys seems to be fading, and Alfred seems quite concerned!
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 89
You play the hornpipe as best you can on the harp. The notes sound 
strange in this strange place. As you play, you watch in wonder as the 
stone melts into flesh. By the time you are coming to the refrain, she 
lifts the flute to her lips, and plays the melody sweetly to your 
clumsy, but well intended, accompaniment.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 90
She looks tremblingly hopefull. She cries, "Take me there!"
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 91
It won't fit in.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 92
You light the stranger's pipe, he draws in the smoke luxuriously
and smiles. 
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 93
...you would like to go to sleep, but this fellow, whose name
turns out to be Mustapha, just won't stop talking. And, truth told
some of the things he says suggest that if you could get him going
on the right subject, he might have something remarkable to impart.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 94
You blow gently into the cupped palm of your hand. You feel the warmth 
of your breath, and sense, perhaps, a brightening of the darkness 
behind your closed eyes... but you have no way of being certain the 
flame is there.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 95
You breathe the flame back into your mouth. As it enters your body
you feel a lovely illumination in your spirit.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 96
The bedouin tells you that it is his camel, but that he understands
the law of the desert: what a man loses is no longer his. He draws
on his handrolled cigarette and continues to watch you.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 97
The bedouin tells you that the match is truly a modern wonder, and
that he got this particular one from an old mendicant in Dardhad.
He says it is a special match, but since you've never seen one
before, you have no idea what makes it so.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 98
You sort the flour, tediously, by hand, transferring it into a
heavy earthen jar a little at a time, picking out the stones,
dirt and impurities. As you do this, the cook tends to the
baking. He is extremely animated, always talking, though you
understand only about third of what he says. You do understand
that he has seen many like you, with the bronz medallions and
and big disappointments. "You know what they expect you to
do? They expect you to try to get in the palace... find Habib
and the mirror of souls... shatter the mirror: free the kingdom."
He makes this into a song that goes on while you do your work.
When you are done, he makes good on his promise, and feeds you
bread and soup. He lets you sleep a while in a corner, and, come
morning, hustles you out onto the street before the innkeeper
discovers you. You stand now on the street of thieves, taking
stock of your situation.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 99
Mustapha stops his rambling and draws thoughtfully on his pipe. 
"Ahhh, you want to know about my line of work... ehhh? I venture
it wouldn't be interesting to a worldly fellow such as yourself.
I have been running the same little shop for twenty years now,
Ali's lantern shop, in Dardhad. Nothing extraordinary, your basic
oil lanterns, in a broad range of styles... not that there are
many styles of lantern, you know. Most people take them for granted
I find... buy one, never replace it... of course, there is that
special lantern everyone wonders about... you know what I mean..."
He winks broadly and yawns, dumping his ashes into the fire.
It seems that the mundane subject of his own life has robbed his
tongue of further tales.
END_MESSAGE 

MESSAGE 100
Ali takes the lamp and regards it as if it were an old friend.
He studies the inscription on its base. "I thought I would never
see this again," he tells you. "I must give you something in
return..." He seems to weigh possibilities, then says: "Do you
know how to create the healing flame?" You tell him, no. "Very
well," he says, "first you must close your eyes..." He does so.
"Then you must imagine the flame, visualize it in your minds,
bright, clear, unattached to any source. Then, gently, exhale
it." He places his palm before his pursed lips, and breathes
out. As he breathes, to your wonder, the image of a flame dances
on the palm of his hand. "Now, you must only think of healing,
and it will be done..." You are eager to give it a try.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 101
This fellow Mustapha is the very definition of self-involved. He
He rambles on and on about nothing in particular, ignoring your
own attempts at conversation.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 102
Mustapha rambles: "...it's so important... comfortable shoes, I 
mean. When a man walks, or even if he has a sedentary job... 
because then his feet are more tender... less used to wear if you
follow me..."
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 103
"A dependable camel is so hard to find. My cousin Ahmet had one 
such beast, a real beauty, three humps... unusual that, I'll 
grant. Now once, when I was on this very road..." Hmmmm. Facinating.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 104
Now it's something about the crowdedness of the bazaar, which 
leads, by whatever logic, to the customs of European visitors.
He goes on, stringing this that and the other thing... 
occasionally touching on a subject which seems to relate to
his line of work... but never being too clear what that is.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 105
The bedouin's rugged face cracks into a dazzling smile. He thanks
and thanks you, and takes the camel from you. He hops up on the
saddle and rides off to the east, giving one last wave as he
disappears over a dune. You stand, alone again, in the wasteland.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 106
You head north, wondering what waits at the end of this road.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 107
The Bedouin smiles and thanks you for your kindness. "It is a
great sacrifice on your part... you must have something in return.
Since you asked about it, here, take this, someday you may need it."
He gives you the match, mounts the camel and rides off across
the desert sands.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 108
For some reason, you've decided not to go to Dardhad.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 109
And how do you propose to do that? 
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 110
Finally exhaustion overcomes you, and the most interesting story
in the world, if such a fellow as Mustapha could come up with it,
would not keep you awake. You fall asleep, aware of Mustapha's 
eyes on you across the flickering campfire, and a strange smile on
his lips.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 111
"It's been destined to happen a while. A ways back along the road
I felt the wheel wobbling and the axle creak... I knew it would 
break... I had to jettison some fine merchandise... but as you see
that was only a temporary relief. I'm sure I could get the wheel
back on... if I had someone lift the cart, but I have only so many 
hands." He eyes you expectantly.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 112
The merchant seethes with barely concealed anger. "Useless beast,
that old donkey will be glue at the end of this journey. If it 
didn't pull so slow, I'd have made it to Dardhad before the wagon
collapsed." He shakes a fat fist at the poor beast...
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 113
You decide to assist the merchant in his predicament. You brace 
yourself under the cart and try to lift. Unfortunately it proves
too heavy.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 114
Now that the cart is unloaded, lifting it proves no real challenge.
You hoist it up and the merchant rolls the wheel over and fits it
in place on the axel. Then, feeling really helpful, you load the
rugs back on the cart. Now that the cart is fixed, the merchant
climbs up onto the driver's seat and applies his whip to the poor
donkey's scarred back. The donkey doesn't move. The merhant seethes
and mutters, "Glue, you stupid beast. You'll be glue come Dardhad."
The beast begins to pull without much enthusiasm. The merchant looks 
back at you, and as as afterthought, offers you a ride.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 115
While the merchant watches you, you unload his cart. 
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 116
As you drag the heavy carpets from the cart, a tiny movement 
catches your eye. You investigate and discover to your wonder and
amazement, that it is your little charge, the mouse. And he has
the white stone the wizard gave you.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 117
The girl looks upon the scene, and a darkness seems to gather
about her. "There is too much sadness in this world," she says.
At the moment it is hard to argue with her.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 118
The blind boy says, "A man was by here a while ago, driving a very
rickety cart. He was a nasty man, swearing at his donkey and whipping
it. You could hear that the cart axle was about to give... he threw
this rug off the cart to lighten the load. If he doesn't return for
it, perhaps I shall be able to sell it..."
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 119
He says, "My parents lived in a hut by the sea, but the storm took 
the hut... I think they are dead. I escaped before the wave could 
take me. I am making my way to Dardhad. They say there are jobs for 
the blind there, and even healers."
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 120
The maiden wavers and fades. She steps forward as if to heal the
old mule, but the merchant shooes her away. "Keep your ghost away
from my animal..." His broad hand passes through her, and she
vanishes completely away.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 121
The little creature lifts its lips to the magical trickle of water. 
Its eyes brighten as it visibly recovers from what could have been
a killing thirst.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 122
The sailor gazes at you with his crazy eyes. "All that is gone,
all that is past. I sail for the new world, and leave the sorrows
of this kingdom behind..." It seems that only now is he beginning
to grasp your precarious situation. "Well, have a nice swim young
man, and remember, go with the current." Good, advice, you think,
except that right now the current is pulling you down.  
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 123
The door swings inward and the Mage Bartholomo stands before you.
He bids you enter, and leads you deep into the house, to a room
dominated by a huge round table. Other wizards sit around the table.
All eyes are on you. In the center of the table is the velvet lined
case from which the wizard took the items he gave you at the beginning
of your journey. He gestures toward it, and you proudly step forward
and place the treasures one by one into case. Done, you step back
and await your judgement.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 124
Hey pal, there's a lot of sand in the desert This could take a while!
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 125
You start to get on the camel, but the animal decides to be get
skittish on you again. Anyway, you have a feeling you need to
stay around here for a while... that something more needs doing.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 126
The mage nods solemnly. "Young Omar, you have fulfilled the base
requirement of your testing. You have returned all of the things
with which you were entrusted, and come back to us intact, without
having caused any terrible mischief. It is the judgement of this
council that you be elevated to the status of Journeyman Apprentice.
You will be permitted to keep these things..." he returns the
flute, the stone, the bottle and the heavy brass compass to you.
He pauses significantly, then adds, "Frankly, more was expected of
you, but for myself, I'm happy enough to see you here alive..."
He hands you a heavy medallion, inscribed with the phases of the
moon. "Congratulations Journeyman. With patience and dedication,
you may someday be elevated into the ranks of the Magiis."
He leads you to the back porch of the transit house, and leaves
you there in the alley, dissappointedly fingering the medallion.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 127
You'd like to have a better look at that $NOUN$ but, after all, 
you're having enough trouble just hanging on to the camel...
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 128
How strange, it looks like you've brought the beautiful girl out
of your dream and into the real world. She seems to shimmer. She 
looks around her in apparent dismay at the harsh terrain.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 129
The maiden reads the sign, and her face brightens. "Please, take 
me to the sea. I must find Benjamin."
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 130
The boy lifts his head and turns it toward you. He says, "She is
beautiful... are you a sleep walker?" You realize he is speaking
of the maiden... and you are doubly confused.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 131
The merchant eyes the transparent girl fearly. He steps behind
his donkey, as if it will offer him protection from this ghost.
You see that Gladys is studying the donkey with great sadness.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 132
The blind boy says, "Sometimes, when my parents were asleep... I
would see other people, and strange things, in our cottage. I, who 
can see nothing... and I would think my eyes were beginning to 
work. I would tell my parents, and describe what I saw. My father 
told me that somehow, I was seeing their dreams. And now, I see 
a very lovely lady... she must be your dream. But you are awake.
I cannot explain this."
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 133
You attempt to climb the pocked and crumbling sandstone spire. You
have great difficulty feeling the toeholds... fortunately, you 
never climb much higher than a few feet before you come scuffling down. 
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 134
Without your shoes you discover that you can quite easily scale the 
impossible looking cliff. You clambor up, clinging confidently as a 
monkey, and in a short time, you pull yourself over the last of the 
precipice and stand atop the tower. Then you make the mistake of
glancing down, and you realize you will never be able to get down.
Just then a shadow passes before the sun.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 135
Actually, you are thinking it might be a good idea to get out of
here. You unconsciously edge back from the nest. You make the 
mistake of looking down. You are suddenly struck by the foolishness
of this whole episode.
You hear a sharp loud cry, and a flapping of great wings.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 136
The roc swoops and sinks her talons into you collar. She lifts you
kicking and thrashing, toward the ocean to the north.
In a moment her powerful wings have put the desert behind you. You
are carried far out over the ocean. Then, with a great cry, the
mother roc releases you and you fall, through clouds and into the
sudden chill of water.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 137
You feel as if your lungs will burst.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 138
You see your little charge the mouse, flailing in the waves. You
reach out to save it, but it is immediately lost from view.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 139
The heavy door swings open and a stooped manservant regards you
wearily. He extends a thin and shaking hand... "The compass, please."
You sheepishly hand over the instrument. He rummages in a pocket
and hands you a tarnished looking medallion. "The council has 
appointed me to present you with this medallion. It's not worth
much. Perhaps you can pawn it..." He then leads you through the
house and out the back door. You turn to ask if you might see
the magii, but the door swings shut, cutting you off. You look
around you at the grimy alley way and wonder if you will have
a chance to redeem yourself.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 140
You attempt to pull the switch, but the old man steps in your path.
Although he appears quite frail, he pushes you back with great
strength. You see now that he is blind.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 141
The girl quits her dispairing at the lighthouse window... she leaps 
across the room with astonishing agility, and pulls the switch. 
The sudden nova of light vaporizes her, red and green streamers
in the luminent flood. Then the beam begins to turn on its great
bearing... swinging inexhorably toward you. Light...
END_MESSAGE 

MESSAGE 142
Free...
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 143
You thrash around in the water, spluttering and taking in brine.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 144
In your panic, you manage to suck in a great deal of salt water.
You sink, and enter the strangely tranquil passivity. The ocean
fills your lungs and you die. And to think, you knew how to swim.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 145
Good idea... you $VERB$, and it keeps you from going under immediately.
But you know it's a losing battle. You feel too heavy to swim, it seems
you must jettison something.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 146
You espy a strange sight indeed. Born over the waves in a tiny tub
which appears to be made of stone, you see an old sailor with an
incredibly long beard.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 147
The seafarer tells you that he is sailing his stone tub as a test
of faith. It has no rudder, and he carries no sextant or compass,
just a map which he uses more as a rain cover. He explains that
he was once a vizier in Dardhad, in the days before the Angry King
deposed Habib the Good. He confides that people do not have that
story quite right, that Habib and the Angry King are one and the
same person. You find this baffling...
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 148
Habib, the $NOUN$ tells you, was a man afraid of his darker
self. Every night, before retiring, Habib stood before a dressing
mirror in his bed chamber, and willed all his bad thoughts, his
angers and unreasonings, into the image in the mirror. Then, one
night, Habib rose and walked, still sleeping, over to the mirror.
In that moment, his image in the mirror became powerful, and stepped
forth from the glass. Habib was left, mesmerized before the mirror,
and his angry self took power over the kingdom. You find this story
most astonishing.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 149
A current pulls you from the tub and in a moment, the sailor is gone. 
The last thing you recall is his bushy browed eyes peering madly out 
from under the soggy map.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 150
You come to the ocean at last. The girl walks to the edge of the
surf and gazes out over the blue expanse. After a while she says.
This is not the sea where Benny is, nor even the world. There is
nothing here but sadness... 
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 151
You find you are light enough to $VERB$ now.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 152
You drop the $NOUN$, and gain by it a little bouyancy.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 153
The carpet is presently rolled. Why don't you take a better 
look at it?
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 154
All right, you $VERB$ the $NOUN$.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 155
You remember the wizards stern last words. Don't go misplacing any
of the things I gave you...
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE  156
You step onto the carpet, not knowing what to expect.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 157
You pronouce the magic word and the carpet gives a little flex, 
like a waking cat, and rises to hover at about knee heighth.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 158
You step onto the hovering carpet, and it sinks hopelessly to
the floor underneath you. You are spilled on your bum.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 159
You $VERB$ cautiously on the hovering carpet. It remains firm beneath 
underneath you. It seems to tremble like a horse ready to run.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 160
Right now the thing is hovering a foot and a half off the floor. 
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 161
This stretch of highway is murderous on your bare feet. You walk a 
ways, trying to ignore the pain of volcanic stone digging into the
soles of your feet. But you don't manage to make much distance.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 162
There you are, safely and comfortably ready to fly. Now just say 
where you'ld like to go...
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 163
You instruct the rug as to your destination, and it rises with 
stomach wrenching suddenness. The landscape falls away below, till
you see the whole sweep of the kingdom, desert mountains and sea. 
In a twinkling, you find you have arrived at your destination. The 
rug slows down and cruises slowly about six feet above the $NOUN$.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 164
The rug sinks to the ground and you step off The carpet immediately
rolls itself up. You realize that this is its resting position.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 165
You step off the rug.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 166
You sleep for a while in the cool fragrant shade. When you awaken
you find you are alone in the courtyard.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 167
The maiden flutters like smoke on the breeze, and vanishes completely.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 168
Perhaps you should dismount the carpet for a better look at that
$NOUN$.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 169
The carpet doesn't respond to compass direction commands. Just 
tell it where you want to go. If it knows the place, it will go 
there.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 170
The carpet doesn't know how to take you to the $NOUN$.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 171
Your rather stylish arrival in the marketplace has cause quite a 
fuss. You are immediately surrounded by the crowd... a sea of 
hands reach to touch the flying carpet. You notice in the throng
a familiar face... that of your master the magii, he is dressed as
a mendicant, and he carries a rough hewn staff. He regards your
ostentatious arrival with great dismay.
The tugging hands of the crowd seem to drain the magic from the 
carpet, and it sags to the ground, dumping you rudely on your bum.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 172
Rough hands seize you, and pin your arms. You find yourself surrounded
by the royal guard. You struggle and it invites a blow alongside your
head. Consciousness drains from your body... when you come to you 
find...
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 173
You can't quite reach the $NOUN$ from here.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 174
You have a brilliant idea. You dispatch your mouse through the bars
to get the keys. Incredibly enough, the mouse seems to understand
perfectly well. It scurries onto the bench and gnaws through the
loop holding the keyring. You are thinking you're home free, when
the loop gives and the chain hits the bench with a clatter. The 
guard comes awake, and spies first the mouse, then you. He sees your
scheme instantly and gives a loud cry.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 175
Alfred sinks to the ground, stricken. The wounds return to his face.
His eyes become useless as stones, once more. He seems to revert
to the way he was, the first moment you saw him, as if he finds he
must put Gladys out of his thoughts.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 176
You lift the board and recover your belongings.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 177
You've managed to snare the key ring with your hook!
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 178
You toss the hook toward the bundle of keys, but it keeps falling
short of the mark.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 179
There doesn't seem to be any way to $VERB$ the $NOUN$ right now.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 180
You kick at the door with your heavy shoes, and the ancient metal 
crumbles away to rust. You hear a hissing sound as new air floods
into the time capsule chamber, on the east wall.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 181
You'ld like to get out, I'm sure, but that door is locked.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 182
You hear a scraping and chittering sound. You look down and see 
your little friend the spotted mouse poking his head up from the drain.
He scurries into the room and makes short work of the cheese.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 183
You have found an unlit match, lying on the ground.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 184
The mouse crawls out through the bars, across the room beyond the
dungeon door, and up onto the bench the dozing guard is reclining
on. It nibbles through the loop holding the key ring in a trice.
Before the keyring can hit the ground, it catches it in its mouth
and carries it faithfully back to you.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 185
The door opens and it is the Magii. He admits you into the Transit
House and stands a moment, looking out the door as you accustome 
yourself to the gloom of the anteroom. Outside, bells have started
ring and chanters are shouting joy from the minarets. The mage
says, simply, "This is what needed doing. Welcome to our brotherhood
Omar, apprentice no more. Wizard now, and Hero." He shuts the door
and leads you back to the inner chamber, where your brother's and
sisters sit. You are led to a place of honor at the head of the
table, the wizard personally presents you with a staff and a ring,
and all rise to applaud the grand wizard king of New Dardhek.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 186
Now you know all the secret passages in the palace, and the devices 
that lead into them.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 187
How can you be sure which way is $VERB$?
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 188
After deliberating, you decide to go $VERB$.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 189
You study the compass and get your bearings.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 190
You wander into the dense central city. The close and twisting
streets, the press of the population, all conspiring to make you
feel that you could never find your way. After a while you find
you have circled back to the Street of Fine Wares.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 191
You find you are able to negotiate the twisting topography of inner
Dardhad. You come to the brick wall and vault it niftily. 
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 192
You hop the fence and make your way out of the dense inner city.
Negotiating the mazelike alleyways and streets you find you have
been able to memorize the torturous route between the courtyard
and the Street of Fine Wares...
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 193
You make your way through the press of humanity. You have never in
your life been in the middle of so many people. You are shoved and
manhandled at every turn. You have a sudden awareness of rogues
and cutpurses. There are rough looking people everywhere. Someone
collides with you, and you fall, you'll have to look around to see
where you are.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 194
The begger leads you northwest, into the old part of the city. You
follow him through that impossible maze, wondering if you could
ever find this route again... through alleys, backstreets, ruined
corridors and finally to an ancient wall, broken mortar revealing
bricks corroded as the begger's teeth.
He nimbly hops the wall and shouts for you to follow. You do so
and find yourself in a fragrent, shaded place.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 195
You have found an asimi on the ground.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 196
You regret the stupidity that has brought you to this place. Your
head hurts and you are terribly hungry.  
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 197
Your attention is drawn to the gangly beggar who is doing some sort
of magic trick for a small circle of unlookers. There seems to be a
flame in his open palm. He is deep inconcentration with his eyes shut.
In the small circle around him, amazement holds sway. Then the trick
is over... and the crowd dispersed. They seem to have given him
nothing for his trick.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 198
The old fakir laughs... "That's such a pretty little trick. I try not
to do it too often. It wearies me..."
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 199
He laughs and pushes away your offering. "I beg only for mercy...
I do not need your money. The world is my house... the opulent dates
of the royal courtyard are my nourishment." To prove this, he waves
his staff over the asimi and it suddenly becomes heavy in your
hand...
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 200
Very thoughtfully, you remember your little friend the mouse. You fish 
it out of your pocket and feed it dates. The mendicant studies you a 
moment, then says, "I can't help but notice your mouse is hurt...
Will you let me apply my meager talents?" He extends a hand...
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 201
The $NOUN$ doesn't seem to be here right now.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 202
I don't think the $NOUN$ can help you with that.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 203
Free...
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 204
The mendicant takes the mouse tenderly in his left hand, and cradles
him a moment by his heart. "Right that it should be in this very
courtyard, under this very tree, that we should have a healing..."
He turns up his right hand and put it before his pursed lips.
His lids drop in concentration, and in the middle of his palm,
a little flame springs up, floating just a little over his flesh.
It is a very lovely, unwavering flame, and you stand mesmerized,
watching it.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 205
You pull your eyes reluctently from the lovely perfection of the
floating flame, and you study the mendicant closly as he performs
his feat. You see his eyes are shut, and he is actually somehow
breathing the flame into his palm. You see in this moment that
he is the exact image of the Mage Bartholomo, now that his terrible 
teeth are hidden. You have the feeling he can see right through
his eyelids. Then your gaze returns irresistably to the flame.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 206
The mouse's crushed leg seems to fill out, and it's coat takes on 
a new sheen. What you took for discolorations from its injuries
turn out to be natural spots, brown on a black field. The begger
opens his eyes, the flame vanishes, and the spell you've been under
for the last several minutes falls away. 
The begger takes up the little fellow and studies him. "This is a
fine creature... fastidious and bright. It can be trained, you 
know, to do such things as fetch and count. Could make you a living
on the streets with it," he suggests.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 207
You start toward the kitchen but the innkeeper steps in your path.
"I wasn't aware that cook has hired any scruffies such as yourself
young fellow. Now unless you've got a kapok, get out." 
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 208
Your eyes closed tightly, you visualize the $NOUN$.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 209
You'll have to open your eyes first.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 210
From your hovering carpet, you view your surroundings.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 211
What the shopkeeper tells you about the $OBJECT$ is not much more than
you already know. He tells you he can let you have it for a kapok.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 212
The shopkeeper tells you that this fine brass compass, with its
magnetically suspended needle, is a real steal today at only ten
drashimi... that's a hundred kapoks!
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 213
The shop keeper regards you with alarm as you grope unsuccessfully
for the $NOUN$ hanging on the wall behind him. He looks like he
might just have you thrown out. The gorilla at the door slips out
of his casual slouch into something more menacing.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 214
The mendicant tells you this courtyard is part of the royal palace.
He points up through the branches of the tree, at the minaret. 
"I used to sit down here and watch Habib come and go up there
on his flying carpet." He indicates the birdbath. "Habib and
his beloved wife would bring their infant son here, to watch
birds drink and sing." He looks you over, his eyes resting
significantly on your shoes. 
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 215
You eat and eat from the heavily laden tree. The heavy, sweet
air makes you quite drowsy.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 216
You close your eyes and drift off to sleep...
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 217
You reach out for the electrical switch, but before you can get it,
a startling transformation occurs. The little pile of rags and
bones reconstitutes into a person. You see before you the lightkeeper, 
an ancient geezer with eyes deeper than the black night raging outside
the lighthouse.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 218
By feel, because you dare not open your eyes... you lift the flame
up before the reflector. Instantly, its light, already so strong,
is amplified ten thousand fold. You are bathed in light. The old man
falls to his knees and covers his eyes. The radiance spreads out
into the night of chaos beyond the lighthouse panes. Over the ocean
the great clouds cease to roil and spew their savage bolts. They
lift, revealing that it is still daytime. On the newly tranquil
horizon, you see a sail boat turn toward land, its sails filling
with wind. And over the chaos to the west, a great calmness settles.
You look down at the beach below, and the last image of the dream
is of a young woman on the shore turning toward you, and a blue
flower in her hair, rising like a butterfly, fluttering toward you
on the freshets of consciousness that scatter the dream to mist.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 219
Your attention is drawn to the fading maiden. She is growing more
and more transparent as you watch. You hear her voice, and it
seems to come from a great distance. "There's too much sadness in
this world," she cries, and vanishes away like smoke on the wind.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 220
The begger studies you a moment. "You look like a man of the Way.
I'll tell you how to summon and use the healing flame. First,
you must close your eyes and visualize the flame, then breathe
it... now, if you try you might be able to heal with it."
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 221
Free...
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 222
You attempt to steal a glimpse at the flame... but it winks out 
before your eyes are opened completely.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 223
As you step into the kitchen, you realize you are hungry. The
baking bread smells so wonderful. As you stand breathing in the
sweet warmth, the cook turns to you and a huge smile blazes
across his features. "Well, if we don't have another magician's
boy... yes, yes... don't you know how to talk to people, nah?
You got one of them medallions?"
He explains that he could use a hand with the baking, and from
a cabinet he produces a heavy bag. He shows you that the flour
has lots of little stones in it that need to be picked out...
he says he will pay you with some soup and bread. He illustrates
how you will sort the flour.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 224
He informs you it is a summoning stone. "Once you have touched
it, whatever else you have touched will return to you. If you
close your eyes, and visualize that thing, you may summon it."
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 225
The begger tells you the bottle is a kind of eternal spring. But you 
already knew that.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 226
The $NOUN$ just watches you in silence...
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 227
The begger tells you the compass points in all five cardinal magical 
directions: north, south, east, west and inward. He indicates this
means it can help guide you on the journeys of the spirit as well
as the flesh.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 228
The mendicant laughs and tells you he should be ashamed of himself...
the gold coin is really only an asimi over which he has put a spell.
He tells you that as soon as you are away from him, the spell will
cease to work.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 229
Your carpet sails into the crowded marketplace. The people step
back at first, and a momentary hush falls; then, all at once
they surge forward, shouting, waving, jostling one another to
have a better look at you. In the crowd you see the Mage
Bartholomo, smiling broadly; there are chanters in the minarets
of the palace, and they are singing out in joy. Bartholomo
steps forward, and offers you a hand from your carpet. "Welcome
back to Dardhad, Omar. You are truly the hero, and much beloved
to these people. You have saved the kingdom from the the reign
of the Angry King. It goes without saying you are a wizard...
what might be of more interest to you is this fact which you
may have guessed... you are the son of Habib, cast out when the
Angry King took over. Come... let us go to the palace, that you
might properly meet your father, Wizard Omar." And so saying,
the Magii Bartholomo leads you through the cheering throng
toward the open palace gates.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 230
You awaken to the heavy sweet air of the courtyard.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 231
You hop onto the back of the cart, and it rolls a few feet, pulled
by the unhappy mule. Then, perhaps because of your weight, it 
collapses again... and this time the wheel breaks as it comes off 
the axel... the merchant groans, and you get out of the cart and
retreat from his hostile glare.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 232
The begger tells you that he is a happy being, requiring little more
from life than fresh dates, water and sunlight. He tells you that
during the times of Habib the Good he was a palace servant, but now
he serves only god. By day he shows his little tricks for the people
and at night, he takes shelter under an opulent date tree.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 233
As you stand eyeing the treasures that once were yours, the old 
begger from the street of fine wares enters the shop. He converses
knowledgeably with the manager a moment about some of the things 
in the case.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 234
You focus your concentration and picture in your mind what the 
$NOUN$ would look like, healthy. You feel a great affinity with
the $NOUN$ at this moment.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 235
As you sit, nodding by the fire, you remember to take your friend
the mouse from your pocket, so you won't crush it in your sleep.
It comes up from your pocket carrying the little stone the wizard
gave you. You put the mouse down and take the stone; it reaches
to take it back. You return it; then, almost mischievously, the
mouse throws the stone, and you retrieve it. It takes the stone
and throws it again, and you spend a while, playing this inverted
game of fetch with the little creature.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 236
The mage nods solemnly. "Young Omar, you have fulfilled the base
requirement of your testing. You have returned all of the things
with which you were entrusted, and come back to us intact, without
having caused any terrible mischief. Furthermore, you bring evidence
that you have developed some real skills on your own... you have
brought something out of a dream. And there is word on the astral
plane that you managed to relight the beacon of hope at world's end.
It has not escaped our attention that you have mastered the healing
flame, and that you have taken the trouble to relieve so suffering
along the way. But what certainly commands our attention here is your 
courage at the palace of Habib... you have succeeded where so many 
before you have failed. Thanks to your ingenuity, this land is free of 
the terrible reign of the Angry King, and the Good Habib has been 
restored to the throne.    It is the judgement of this council 
that you be immediately elevated to the exalted position of Grand
High Wizard, and that you be appointed official mage to the Kingdom
of Habib." He touches you on the shoulder with his staff and you
feel great power surge through you. One of the other wizards brings
you a massive Book, your encyclopedia of spells, and another presents
you with a fine oaken staff. All then rise and applaud, and you are
invited to sit at the table. You take your place on the council,
proud and ready to serve as High Wizard of the Kingdom.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 237
There is nothing wrong with the $NOUN$ that you can do anything 
about with you powers.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 238
The beast is acting skittish, stamping and snorting and keeping 
away from this fellow. If ever he was its owner, he clearly did
not treat it well.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 239
Free...
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 240
Your mouse pulls itself up onto your pocket hem. It has a hungry
look to it... you realize it hasn't eaten since you found it.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 241
The $NOUN$ doesn't seem to have much to say about that.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 242
Mustapha tells you that the city of Dardhad is not a happy place.
That under the rule of the angry king, the people live in fear
and poverty, and that crime is rampant. "Watch your pockets on
the street of thieves," he tells you. Then he smiles rather strangely.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 243
You lift the board and recover your belongings.
END_MESSAGE
 
MESSAGE 244
The begger tells you he once had the job of cleaning and mending
Habib's flying carpet. "To Habib, that rug was as beloved as a
stallion. I recall how lovingly he'd unroll, how proudly he would
pronounce the word that brought it to life. Never did his shoes
touch that rug, nor any uclean foot!"
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 245
The urchin tells you her name is Jix. She makes her way on pennies
she finds on the street of thieves. She is inquisitive as a monkey,
you can see. She has some kind of respiratory illness, and coughs
with almost every word.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 246
The mouse likes this little game. It scurries and takes the $NOUN$,
then hobbles back to you three-legged, holding the $NOUN$ against its
chest. It dashes up your leg, down your arm, and drops the $NOUN$
in your hand. You wonder what else it will be able to fetch...
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 247
The mouse is unable to retrieve the $NOUN$.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 248
If she knows anything about that, the kid isn't answering. She
does, however seem facinated by your mouse. She immediately begins
playing a little game with it. She holds a pebble under
its nose, then tosses the pebble. "Mouse, fetch the pebble,"
she coaxes. You are about to tell her it isn't a trained mouse
when, to your surprise, the mouse does as it is commanded...
it gets the pebble and carries it back to her.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 249
Blushing and rendered speechless, it would appear the $NOUN$ is
in love.
END_MESSAGE

MESSAGE 250
The boy is in a panic about the fading girl. "Please," he exhorts,
"Do something." You have no idea what to do.
END_MESSAGE
