Disclaimer: Parchment is such feature complete and polished great idea. It is always a pleasure to play with it on my smartphone.

This game seemed very promising at first, anyone else getting some Zork vibes here? The prose was acceptable, with good grammar, good spelling and certain coherent sentences, and some mind-reading tricks (e.g. "x magazines. They're just the kind of magazines you thought they might be. Whatever the case, now is not the time for reading them.") which made the reading easier and funnier. Sometimes certain minor scenery objects had no description, but this time, that did not bother me in the least.

But then a little bit of parser frustration wreak havoc with peels, planks, and pebbles. For example, it looked as if I were paddling on land... why the naughty parser did not warn me from this? And a potential bug: A weird effect happened when I dropped the plank while at the chasm, it vanished. (Apart from the fact that the parser should know that I know how to solve the puzzle.)

By the way, you can't design for not having guess-the-verb problems (this game has its fair share of them) and item based puzzles are not immune, quite the contrary. The author tries to overcome this flaw through a series of outcome hints that were suggestive of the next action expected of the player. (But, trust me, the only way to avoid this is playtesting.)

After two hours I was still underground.

Parchment, I love you!

Transcript with my comments, below.


o---o

 Inside The Store

When you heard that Uncle Jim has left you his small convenience store in his will, you were initially delighted. After all, you've always wanted to stand on your own, make your own money and get forward in life. This sudden opportunity would provide a concrete, convenient platform for trying that out seriously.

You haven't seen Uncle Jim in recent years; mainly you remember going on some fishing trips to the river together when you were a lot younger, but as he lived far away and didn't visit your family much in his later years, you are somewhat surprised that it is to you that he has left his store.

The description of the property, when you first read it in the documents provided, mentioned that the store is situated "by a roadside in rural Kansas, just outside West Middleton". Of course you knew that Uncle lived in those parts, but it didn't fully hit you what rural Kansas can mean until you actually drove to the spot: tumbleweeds, yellow patches of grass here and there amidst the sand, a flat prairie in all directions. The road, continuing in a straight line both east and west, is empty of any vehicles. "Just outside West Middleton" doesn't amount to much when the whole town consists of about five houses. And it's a question of interpretation whether three miles is "just outside". The ramshackle store building looks like it's been out of business for years. Oh well, at least the sunsets are beautiful here.

Old Jim's Convenience Store
An Interactive Fiction by Anssi Räisänen
Release 1 / Serial number 190928 / Inform 7 build 6M62 (I6/v6.33 lib 6/12N)

On The Porch
You are standing on an empty porch outside the boarded and locked front door of the store, to the north. The big, dusty store window beside the door allows a peep inside. You can walk around the store to the northeast and to the northwest, and your car is to the south where a straight road with no traffic passes the store in an east-west direction.

A gentle evening wind moves an old worn wooden sign hanging above your head very slightly back and forth, but even this slight movement makes it creak.

>x porch
You can't see any such thing.
>x door
The once white door is not only locked but boarded shut tightly. Too bad you lack any tools to force it open.

>x window
The big front window is dusty and dirty but allows a view into the store.
Inside, you make out some almost empty shelves and an even emptier counter, and that's about it.

You wonder why the door is heavily boarded, but the window isn't. Maybe it didn't cross Uncle Jim's mind that someone might have the heart to even think of entering that way.

>open window
There doesn't seem to be any way of opening the big front window.

>x me
After a brief introspection, you decide you are somewhat disillusioned but not actually depressed - no, you won't let yourself go there.

>x me
After a brief introspection, you decide you are somewhat disillusioned but not actually depressed - no, you won't let yourself go there.

>i
You are carrying:
  an aluminum key

>x key
It is a simple aluminum key, with no keyring attached. You got it along with all the documents pertaining to the ownership of the store.

>l
On The Porch
You are standing on an empty porch outside the boarded and locked front door of the store, to the north. The big, dusty store window beside the door allows a peep inside. You can walk around the store to the northeast and to the northwest, and your car is to the south where a straight road with no traffic passes the store in an east-west direction.

A gentle evening wind moves an old worn wooden sign hanging above your head very slightly back and forth, but even this slight movement makes it creak.

>n
The front door is boarded and locked.

>x boards
The once white door is not only locked but boarded shut tightly. Too bad you lack any tools to force it open.

>peep
That's not a verb I recognise.
>s
By Your Car
You are standing by your car by a silent road passing the store in an east-west direction. The store, to the north, is the only visible building in the dull prairie expanding in all directions.

>x road
The road punctures the prairie in a perfectly straight line. Nothing is visble on the road either to the east or to the west.

>x car
Your trusty car, fifteen years old but a faithful friend still. You're proud that on the way here, the motor didn't overheat and that the trunk lid didn't spring open even once. A bumper sticker on the lid of the trunk says "Thou shalt not pass", which might be the reason that people tend to like to overtake you whenever they can.

>enter car
Since you have come this far, you want to explore whether there really is something in this for you - even if your hopes are dimming by the minute. It's not the time to drive off yet.

>n
On The Porch
You are standing on an empty porch outside the boarded and locked front door of the store, to the north. The big, dusty store window beside the door allows a peep inside. You can walk around the store to the northeast and to the northwest, and your car is to the south where a straight road with no traffic passes the store in an east-west direction.

A gentle evening wind moves an old worn wooden sign hanging above your head very slightly back and forth, but even this slight movement makes it creak.

>x sign
The sign, hanging above your head some five feet long and one foot wide, reads "Old Jim's Convenience Store" in a typical Wild West font.

>l
On The Porch
You are standing on an empty porch outside the boarded and locked front door of the store, to the north. The big, dusty store window beside the door allows a peep inside. You can walk around the store to the northeast and to the northwest, and your car is to the south where a straight road with no traffic passes the store in an east-west direction.

A gentle evening wind moves an old worn wooden sign hanging above your head very slightly back and forth, but even this slight movement makes it creak.

>ne
You walk to the back of the building.

Behind The Store
You are standing behind the store. A monotonous prairie extends to the north, east, and west, and the store itself is to your south. You can walk back to the front by going southeast or southwest.

A ladder leans against the wall here.

>x prairie
The prairie just seems to go on endlessly in all directions.

>x ladder
It is a wooden ladder some 10 feet in length.

>take it
Taken.

>sw
You walk back to the front.

On The Porch
You are standing on an empty porch outside the boarded and locked front door of the store, to the north. The big, dusty store window beside the door allows a peep inside. You can walk around the store to the northeast and to the northwest, and your car is to the south where a straight road with no traffic passes the store in an east-west direction.

A gentle evening wind moves an old worn wooden sign hanging above your head very slightly back and forth, but even this slight movement makes it creak.

>ne
You walk to the back of the building.

Behind The Store
You are standing behind the store. A monotonous prairie extends to the north, east, and west, and the store itself is to your south. You can walk back to the front by going southeast or southwest.

>n
This is no time and place to start wandering mindlessly on the vast prairie. Well, come to think of it, you do have the time, and this is exactly the place, but it anyway is a bad idea.

>se
You walk back to the front.

On The Porch
You are standing on an empty porch outside the boarded and locked front door of the store, to the north. The big, dusty store window beside the door allows a peep inside. You can walk around the store to the northeast and to the northwest, and your car is to the south where a straight road with no traffic passes the store in an east-west direction.

A gentle evening wind moves an old worn wooden sign hanging above your head very slightly back and forth, but even this slight movement makes it creak.

>break window
You can't do that with your bare hands.

>break window with ladder
You shove one end of the ladder forcefully against the window, managing to smash the big glass into bits. A shame actually, but there really was no other way. Carefully, you clean any remaining shards from the window frame to allow safe access inside.

>enter
You must supply a noun.

>enter shop
You can't see any such thing.
>* Sure
That's not a verb I recognise.
>n
You climb in through the broken window, bringing the ladder with you.

Inside The Store
The inside of the store is almost empty of any inventory. Some wooden shelves with random leftover items line the walls. Close to the back wall of the room is a seller's counter, empty save an antique cash register. Big, protective sheets of brown cardboard cover parts of the floor, and the walls are plastered with old, yellowing newspapers. It's a perfect scene... of something in need of a complete makeover.

The (useless) door and the large open window are on the south wall.

>x shelves
The shelves lining the walls are mostly empty. They support only a few random leftover items: empty bottles, old oil lamps, empty cardboard boxes, old magazines, fishing hooks and even something that you recognize to be a peel for taking bread or pizza out of an oven.

>x bottles
There are some empty booze bottles on the shelves. You wonder for a moment why they are empty. You guess Uncle Jim might not have had a lot of things to do out here, so he had to kill time somehow. You don't blame him.

>take bottles
You decide you don't have any use for empty bottles.

>x lamps
Just some dusty old oil lamps.

>take lamps
You take one of the oil lamps from the shelf.

>x boxes
Just some empty old cardboard boxes used for storing things.

>take boxes
You decide that you are not going to carry empty carboard boxes around.

>take all
There are none at all available!
>x magazines
They're just the kind of magazines you thought they might be. Whatever the case, now is not the time for reading them.

>take magazines
They're just the kind of magazines you thought they might be. Whatever the case, now is not the time for reading them.

>x hooks
There are some fishing hooks, without retail packaging, on one of the shelves. You wonder how many miles it is to the nearest lake or river from here. No wonder business might have been slow.

>take hooks
You take a fishing hook from the shelf.

>x peel
It is a wooden peel with a long shaft and a wide head. It is for taking bread or pizza out of an oven.

>take peel
Taken.

>x counter
The only thing on the counter is an antique cash register. There is a small drawer under the counter.

>x register
The cash register seems to be from around the 1930s. You wonder why.

>open register
You manage to press some buttons on the cash register to make it slide open. It is completely empty, though.

You close the register.

>x drawer
You see nothing special about the drawer.

>open drawer
You open the drawer, revealing a matchbox.

>take it
That seems to be a part of the counter.

>take matchbox
Taken.

>i
You are carrying:
  a matchbox (closed)
  a pizza peel
  a fishing hook
  an oil lamp
  a ladder
  an aluminum key

>x matchbox
You see nothing special about the matchbox.

>open matchbox
You open the matchbox, revealing some matches.

>take match
(To light something using the matches, you don't have to refer to the individual matches; it is enough you are holding the matchbox.)

>i
You are carrying:
  a matchbox (open)
    some matches
  a pizza peel
  a fishing hook
  an oil lamp
  a ladder
  an aluminum key

>l
Inside The Store
The inside of the store is almost empty of any inventory. Some wooden shelves with random leftover items line the walls. Close to the back wall of the room is a seller's counter, empty save an antique cash register. Big, protective sheets of brown cardboard cover parts of the floor, and the walls are plastered with old, yellowing newspapers. It's a perfect scene... of something in need of a complete makeover.

The (useless) door and the large open window are on the south wall.

>x walls
The walls are plastered with old, yellowing newspapers.

>x newspapers
They're just full of yesterday's news.

>x floor
Large sheets of brown cardboard cover the floor.
>x cardboard
(the cardboard sheets)
The sheets of cardboard are there probably to protect the floor from getting dirty, or to cover any holes or other irregularities one might accidentally step in.

>take cardboards
(the cardboard sheets)
You remove some of the cardboard sheets to look under them, finding a closed hatch on the floor behind the counter.

>x hatch
There is a wooden hatch in the floor, with a round metal latch for opening and closing it. The hatch is currently closed.

>x latch
You can't see any such thing.
>*Sure
That's not a verb I recognise.
>open hatch
You open the hatch, revealing a dark opening in the floor.

>x opening
The hole in the floor is pitch black. There are no apparent steps leading down it; it's just dark.

>put ladder in opening
You lower the ladder into the dark opening in the floor. The ladder goes there all the way before hitting the bottom, its top just jutting out of the opening. It is now possible to go down.

>turn on lamp
It isn't something you can switch.

>light lamp
There is no oil in the lamp.

>l
Inside The Store
The inside of the store is almost empty of any inventory. Some wooden shelves with random leftover items line the walls. Close to the back wall of the room is a seller's counter, empty save an antique cash register. Big, protective sheets of brown cardboard cover parts of the floor, and the walls are plastered with old, yellowing newspapers. It's a perfect scene... of something in need of a complete makeover.

The (useless) door and the large open window are on the south wall.

There is a dark opening in the floor. A ladder leads down into it.

>save
Your game has been saved to the URL. You may want to bookmark this page now; just reload it at any time to restore your game from this point.
Ok.

>i
You are carrying:
  a matchbox (open)
    some matches
  a pizza peel
  a fishing hook
  an oil lamp
  an aluminum key

>l
Inside The Store
The inside of the store is almost empty of any inventory. Some wooden shelves with random leftover items line the walls. Close to the back wall of the room is a seller's counter, empty save an antique cash register. Big, protective sheets of brown cardboard cover parts of the floor, and the walls are plastered with old, yellowing newspapers. It's a perfect scene... of something in need of a complete makeover.

The (useless) door and the large open window are on the south wall.

There is a dark opening in the floor. A ladder leads down into it.

>down
You descend the ladder into the dark opening,

Low Passage
The air is cold and damp down here. The light from above allows you to see that a passage with a low ceiling leads to the northwest, but it wouldn't be prudent to venture any further without a light source. You can climb the ladder back up into the store.

>up
You climb up the ladder.

Inside The Store
The inside of the store is almost empty of any inventory. Some wooden shelves with random leftover items line the walls. Close to the back wall of the room is a seller's counter, empty save an antique cash register. Big, protective sheets of brown cardboard cover parts of the floor, and the walls are plastered with old, yellowing newspapers. It's a perfect scene... of something in need of a complete makeover.

The (useless) door and the large open window are on the south wall.

There is a dark opening in the floor. A ladder leads down into it.

>x shelves
The shelves lining the walls are mostly empty. They support only a few random leftover items: empty bottles, old oil lamps, empty cardboard boxes, old magazines, fishing hooks and even something that you recognize to be a peel for taking bread or pizza out of an oven.

>take oil
(the oil lamps)
You already have a lamp.

>l
Inside The Store
The inside of the store is almost empty of any inventory. Some wooden shelves with random leftover items line the walls. Close to the back wall of the room is a seller's counter, empty save an antique cash register. Big, protective sheets of brown cardboard cover parts of the floor, and the walls are plastered with old, yellowing newspapers. It's a perfect scene... of something in need of a complete makeover.

The (useless) door and the large open window are on the south wall.

There is a dark opening in the floor. A ladder leads down into it.

>s
You exit the store through the broken window.

On The Porch
You are standing on an empty porch outside the boarded and locked front door of the store, to the north. You have smashed the big window to pieces, allowing access inside the store. You can walk around the store to the northeast and to the northwest, and your car is to the south where a straight road with no traffic passes the store in an east-west direction.

A gentle evening wind moves an old worn wooden sign hanging above your head very slightly back and forth, but even this slight movement makes it creak.

>s
By Your Car
You are standing by your car by a silent road passing the store in an east-west direction. The store, to the north, is the only visible building in the dull prairie expanding in all directions.

>x car
Your trusty car, fifteen years old but a faithful friend still. You're proud that on the way here, the motor didn't overheat and that the trunk lid didn't spring open even once. A bumper sticker on the lid of the trunk says "Thou shalt not pass", which might be the reason that people tend to like to overtake you whenever they can.

>x motor
You can't see any such thing.
>x trunk
The trunk is closed.

>open trunk
You open the trunk, revealing a bottle of oil.

>take oil
(the bottle of oil)
Taken.

>fill lamp
That's not a verb I recognise.
>put oil in lamp
(the small quantity of oil in the oil lamp)
You pour the last drops of oil from the bottle into the lamp. Now, you'll just have to try lighting the lamp to see if there is any effect.

>n
On The Porch
You are standing on an empty porch outside the boarded and locked front door of the store, to the north. You have smashed the big window to pieces, allowing access inside the store. You can walk around the store to the northeast and to the northwest, and your car is to the south where a straight road with no traffic passes the store in an east-west direction.

A gentle evening wind moves an old worn wooden sign hanging above your head very slightly back and forth, but even this slight movement makes it creak.

>n
You climb in through the broken window.

Inside The Store
The inside of the store is almost empty of any inventory. Some wooden shelves with random leftover items line the walls. Close to the back wall of the room is a seller's counter, empty save an antique cash register. Big, protective sheets of brown cardboard cover parts of the floor, and the walls are plastered with old, yellowing newspapers. It's a perfect scene... of something in need of a complete makeover.

The (useless) door and the large open window are on the south wall.

There is a dark opening in the floor. A ladder leads down into it.

>light lamp
You light a match and lit the lamp. It works! The motor oil is not quite ideal to be used as lamp oil and gives out some smoke as it burns, but it's good enough for your purposes.

>down
You descend the ladder into the dark opening,

Low Passage
The air is cold and damp down here. A low passage leads northwest, and a ladder leads back up to the store.

>nw
You need to stoop your head quite a bit when going in the low passage. It slants downward, deeper into the ground. Soon enough, though, the cave becomes more spacious.

Brink Of An Underground River
You are on a narrow brink south of a small underground river which passes from the northeast to the west. In the pale light of the oil lamp, the water is black and still. The cave is rather high here. You can go southeast into the low passage leading back to the bottom of the ladder.

A small dinghy is here, pulled half out of the water.

>save
Your game has been saved to the URL. You may want to bookmark this page now; just reload it at any time to restore your game from this point.
Ok.

>x brink
You can't see any such thing.
>x river
You can't see any such thing.
>x water
You can't see any such thing.
>*Er...
That's not a verb I recognise.
>x cave
You can't see any such thing.
>x dinghy
The small, white dinghy is made of fiber glass and looks rather modern, in stark contrast to anything that you have seen up in the store so far. Seems like Uncle had something more going on in all secrecy than what he cared to reveal to other people. This is getting intriguing presently.

(You can ENTER DINGHY or LAUNCH DINGHY to start using it.)

>enter dinghy
You push the dinghy fully onto the water and get into it.

Underground River (in the dinghy)
You are in a small dinghy on an underground river, continuing to the west and to the northeast. The water of the river is black and cold-looking in the pale light of the oil lamp. The cave is rather high here. You can land to the south where a small passage leads to the ladder.

>ne
There is no current in the river, and the dinghy is not moving in any direction without you paddling it with some means. Making movements with your hands in the water, you manage to slowly and cumbersomely direct the small boat back to where you started. You have to think this over.

Brink Of An Underground River
You are on a narrow brink south of a small underground river which passes from the northeast to the west. In the pale light of the oil lamp, the water is black and still. The cave is rather high here. You can go southeast into the low passage leading back to the bottom of the ladder.

A small dinghy is here, pulled half out of the water.

>i
You are carrying:
  a bottle of oil
  a matchbox (open)
    some matches
  a pizza peel
  a fishing hook
  an oil lamp
  an aluminum key

>don peel
You can't wear that!

>paddle with peel
That doesn't work.

>l
Brink Of An Underground River
You are on a narrow brink south of a small underground river which passes from the northeast to the west. In the pale light of the oil lamp, the water is black and still. The cave is rather high here. You can go southeast into the low passage leading back to the bottom of the ladder.

A small dinghy is here, pulled half out of the water.

>i
You are carrying:
  a bottle of oil
  a matchbox (open)
    some matches
  a pizza peel
  a fishing hook
  an oil lamp
  an aluminum key

>l
Brink Of An Underground River
You are on a narrow brink south of a small underground river which passes from the northeast to the west. In the pale light of the oil lamp, the water is black and still. The cave is rather high here. You can go southeast into the low passage leading back to the bottom of the ladder.

A small dinghy is here, pulled half out of the water.

>se
Low Passage
The air is cold and damp down here. A low passage leads northwest, and a ladder leads back up to the store.

You can see a ladder here.

>take ladder
It is not possible to take the ladder; the passage is so low here that you can't get the ladder into an angle in which it would be possible to pull it out of the shaft.

>*Bother...
That's not a verb I recognise.
>save
Your game has been saved to the URL. You may want to bookmark this page now; just reload it at any time to restore your game from this point.
Ok.

>break ladder
Violence isn't the answer to this one.

>i
You are carrying:
  a bottle of oil
  a matchbox (open)
    some matches
  a pizza peel
  a fishing hook
  an oil lamp
  an aluminum key

>up
You climb up the ladder.

Inside The Store
The inside of the store is almost empty of any inventory. Some wooden shelves with random leftover items line the walls. Close to the back wall of the room is a seller's counter, empty save an antique cash register. Big, protective sheets of brown cardboard cover parts of the floor, and the walls are plastered with old, yellowing newspapers. It's a perfect scene... of something in need of a complete makeover.

The (useless) door and the large open window are on the south wall.

There is a dark opening in the floor. A ladder leads down into it.

>take cardboard
(the cardboard sheets)
You lift some other sheets of cardboard and look under them but find nothing of interest, letting the sheets drop back onto the floor.

>take sheets
You lift some other sheets of cardboard and look under them but find nothing of interest, letting the sheets drop back onto the floor.

>l
Inside The Store
The inside of the store is almost empty of any inventory. Some wooden shelves with random leftover items line the walls. Close to the back wall of the room is a seller's counter, empty save an antique cash register. Big, protective sheets of brown cardboard cover parts of the floor, and the walls are plastered with old, yellowing newspapers. It's a perfect scene... of something in need of a complete makeover.

The (useless) door and the large open window are on the south wall.

There is a dark opening in the floor. A ladder leads down into it.

>take shelves
That's hardly portable.

>take register
That's hardly portable.

>save
Your game has been saved to the URL. You may want to bookmark this page now; just reload it at any time to restore your game from this point.
Ok.

>


 Western Shore Of Underground Lake
Your game has been saved to the URL. You may want to bookmark this page now; just reload it at any time to restore your game from this point.
Ok.

>l
Inside The Store
The inside of the store is almost empty of any inventory. Some wooden shelves with random leftover items line the walls. Close to the back wall of the room is a seller's counter, empty save an antique cash register. Big, protective sheets of brown cardboard cover parts of the floor, and the walls are plastered with old, yellowing newspapers. It's a perfect scene... of something in need of a complete makeover.

The (useless) door and the large open window are on the south wall.

There is a dark opening in the floor. A ladder leads down into it.

>i
You are carrying:
  a bottle of oil
  a matchbox (open)
    some matches
  a pizza peel
  a fishing hook
  an oil lamp
  an aluminum key

>down
You descend the ladder into the dark opening,

Low Passage
The air is cold and damp down here. A low passage leads northwest, and a ladder leads back up to the store.

>l
Low Passage
The air is cold and damp down here. A low passage leads northwest, and a ladder leads back up to the store.

You can see a ladder here.

>nw
You need to stoop your head quite a bit when going in the low passage. It slants downward, deeper into the ground. Soon enough, though, the cave becomes more spacious.

Brink Of An Underground River
You are on a narrow brink south of a small underground river which passes from the northeast to the west. In the pale light of the oil lamp, the water is black and still. The cave is rather high here. You can go southeast into the low passage leading back to the bottom of the ladder.

A small dinghy is here, pulled half out of the water.

>paddle
What do you want to paddle with?

>peel
That doesn't work.

>x peel
It is a wooden peel with a long shaft and a wide head. It is for taking bread or pizza out of an oven.

>paddle
What do you want to paddle with?

>pizza peel
That doesn't work.

>use pizza peel
That's not a verb I recognise.

>paddle with pizza peel
That doesn't work.

>x shaft
You can't see any such thing.

>x head
You can't see any such thing.

>put peel in water
You can't see any such thing.

>n
You would plunge into the cold river if you took another step north.

>enter dinghy
You push the dinghy fully onto the water and get into it.

Underground River (in the dinghy)
You are in a small dinghy on an underground river, continuing to the west and to the northeast. The water of the river is black and cold-looking in the pale light of the oil lamp. The cave is rather high here. You can land to the south where a small passage leads to the ladder.

>paddle with peel
You try paddling with the pizza peel you took from the store shelf. Even if it is somewhat clumsy to hold, it does its job! You paddle for a while back and forth, getting a hang of it.

Now, you're ready to go places. From now on, you can just say the direction where you want to go; you won't have to use PADDLE any longer.

>* I would add a message explaining that I was trying to paddle on land
That's not a verb I recognise.

>l
Underground River (in the dinghy)
You are in a small dinghy on an underground river, continuing to the west and to the northeast. The water of the river is black and cold-looking in the pale light of the oil lamp. The cave is rather high here. You can land to the south where a small passage leads to the ladder.

>ne
You paddle to the northeast for a while. The cave becomes gradually lower, and after a while it is impossible to progress any further; the cave ceiling gets just too low, making the river impassable further northeast. You return back to where you started.

>w
You paddle west along the river for a longish while until it widens into a small underground lake.

Underground Lake (in the dinghy)
You are in the middle of a small underground lake. Overground, it might just pass for a pond, but here it indeed feels like a lake. The ceiling is very high up here, minerals glistening in the pale light of the lamp like stars in the sky. You can land to the north, northwest, west and south, and the underground river is to the east.

>x lake
You can't see any such thing.

>x water
You can't see any such thing.

>x ceiling
You can't see any such thing.

>x minerals
You can't see any such thing.

>n
You bring the boat to the shore.

Mouth Of Very Low Tunnel
You are standing on the northern shore of a small underground lake. "Shore" might be stretching it, as the brink here is very narrow. A very low tunnel leads north.

A small dinghy is here, pulled half out of the water.

>n
You get on all fours and enter the low tunnel.

South Of Chasm
You are in a very low passage, forcing you to proceed by crawling. There is a wide chasm in the cave floor, obstructing further passage the north. The lake shore is to the south.

>s

Mouth Of Very Low Tunnel
You are standing on the northern shore of a small underground lake. "Shore" might be stretching it, as the brink here is very narrow. A very low tunnel leads north.

A small dinghy is here, pulled half out of the water.

>e
You can only go north (to the low tunnel) and south (to the lake) from here.

>s
You enter the boat and launch it.

Underground Lake (in the dinghy)
You are in the middle of a small underground lake. Overground, it might just pass for a pond, but here it indeed feels like a lake. The ceiling is very high up here, minerals glistening in the pale light of the lamp like stars in the sky. You can land to the north, northwest, west and south, and the underground river is to the east.

>nw
You bring the boat to the shore.

Small Landing Place
You are standing on a small landing place near the northwestern corner of the lake. The lake is to the southeast.

A small dinghy is here, pulled half out of the water.

There is a crude small bench here.

>x bench
It is very simple, basically just a plank placed resting on two adjacent rocks.

>take plank
You take the plank and, alas, the bench is no more. But you have a plank that might prove to be useful somewhere.

>se
You enter the boat and launch it.

Underground Lake (in the dinghy)
You are in the middle of a small underground lake. Overground, it might just pass for a pond, but here it indeed feels like a lake. The ceiling is very high up here, minerals glistening in the pale light of the lamp like stars in the sky. You can land to the north, northwest, west and south, and the underground river is to the east.

>n
You bring the boat to the shore.

Mouth Of Very Low Tunnel
You are standing on the northern shore of a small underground lake. "Shore" might be stretching it, as the brink here is very narrow. A very low tunnel leads north.

A small dinghy is here, pulled half out of the water.

>n
You get on all fours and enter the low tunnel.

South Of Chasm
You are in a very low passage, forcing you to proceed by crawling. There is a wide chasm in the cave floor, obstructing further passage the north. The lake shore is to the south.

>put plank in chasm
That can't contain things.

>use plank
That's not a verb I recognise.

>x plank
You see nothing special about the plank.

>save
Your game has been saved to the URL. You may want to bookmark this page now; just reload it at any time to restore your game from this point.
Ok.

>drop plank
Dropped.

>l
South Of Chasm
You are in a very low passage, forcing you to proceed by crawling. There is a wide chasm in the cave floor, obstructing further passage the north. The lake shore is to the south.

>take plank
That's hardly portable.

>i
You are carrying:
  a bottle of oil
  a matchbox (open)
    some matches
  a pizza peel
  a fishing hook
  an oil lamp
  an aluminum key

>s

Mouth Of Very Low Tunnel
You are standing on the northern shore of a small underground lake. "Shore" might be stretching it, as the brink here is very narrow. A very low tunnel leads north.

A small dinghy is here, pulled half out of the water.

>n
You get on all fours and enter the low tunnel.

South Of Chasm
You are in a very low passage, forcing you to proceed by crawling. There is a wide chasm in the cave floor, obstructing further passage the north. The lake shore is to the south.

>load
That's not a verb I recognise.

>restore
Your game has been saved to the URL. You may want to bookmark this page now; just reload it at any time to restore your game from this point.
Ok.

>s

Mouth Of Very Low Tunnel
You are standing on the northern shore of a small underground lake. "Shore" might be stretching it, as the brink here is very narrow. A very low tunnel leads north.

A small dinghy is here, pulled half out of the water.

>s
You enter the boat and launch it.

Underground Lake (in the dinghy)
You are in the middle of a small underground lake. Overground, it might just pass for a pond, but here it indeed feels like a lake. The ceiling is very high up here, minerals glistening in the pale light of the lamp like stars in the sky. You can land to the north, northwest, west and south, and the underground river is to the east.

>nw
You bring the boat to the shore.

Small Landing Place
You are standing on a small landing place near the northwestern corner of the lake. The lake is to the southeast.

A small dinghy is here, pulled half out of the water.

>se
You enter the boat and launch it.

Underground Lake (in the dinghy)
You are in the middle of a small underground lake. Overground, it might just pass for a pond, but here it indeed feels like a lake. The ceiling is very high up here, minerals glistening in the pale light of the lamp like stars in the sky. You can land to the north, northwest, west and south, and the underground river is to the east.

>ne
You can land north, south, west and northwest, and you can re-enter the underground river to the east.

>s
You bring the boat to the shore.

Southern Shore Of Underground Lake
You are standing on a tiny, uneven stretch of land on the brink of the underground lake, to the north. A wide tunnel with plenty of headspace leads south from here.

A small dinghy is here, pulled half out of the water.

>s

Wide Tunnel
Seems like Unde Jim has been doing some extensive excavations in this area. There are clear signs of the tunnel walls having been dug on, and because of that, it is probably much wider than what it has been to begin with. The tunnel ends in a small nook boarded with wide planks, making the nook impossible for you to access.

An old pickaxe lies on the ground behind the planks. It is just out of your reach.

>i
You are carrying:
  a plank
  a bottle of oil
  a matchbox (open)
    some matches
  a pizza peel
  a fishing hook
  an oil lamp
  an aluminum key

>x planks
The planks have been nailed together and form a heavy barricade that has been fastened onto the cave walls. You lack the tools to remove it.

>use peel on planks
That's not a verb I recognise.

>remove planks
You aren't wearing the planks.

>s
You bump into a stone wall and return to the middle of the tunnel.

>e
You bump into a stone wall and return to the middle of the tunnel.

>w
You bump into a stone wall and return to the middle of the tunnel.

>ne
You bump into a stone wall and return to the middle of the tunnel.

>l
Wide Tunnel
Seems like Unde Jim has been doing some extensive excavations in this area. There are clear signs of the tunnel walls having been dug on, and because of that, it is probably much wider than what it has been to begin with. The tunnel ends in a small nook boarded with wide planks, making the nook impossible for you to access.

An old pickaxe lies on the ground behind the planks. It is just out of your reach.

>*directions?
That's not a verb I recognise.

>s
You bump into a stone wall and return to the middle of the tunnel.

>e
You bump into a stone wall and return to the middle of the tunnel.

>n

Southern Shore Of Underground Lake
You are standing on a tiny, uneven stretch of land on the brink of the underground lake, to the north. A wide tunnel with plenty of headspace leads south from here.

A small dinghy is here, pulled half out of the water.

>n
You enter the boat and launch it.

Underground Lake (in the dinghy)
You are in the middle of a small underground lake. Overground, it might just pass for a pond, but here it indeed feels like a lake. The ceiling is very high up here, minerals glistening in the pale light of the lamp like stars in the sky. You can land to the north, northwest, west and south, and the underground river is to the east.

>w
You bring the boat to the shore.

Western Shore Of Underground Lake
You are standing on a small level area west of the underground lake.

A small dinghy is here, pulled half out of the water.

A sturdy door in the cave wall blocks further passage west. There is no handle or knob in the door, but there is a small lever jutting out of a slit in the ground just beside it that is probably there to operate the door.

>push lever
It is fixed in place.

>x slit
In the slit is a pebble.

>x lever
The small iron lever is about three feet long and protrudes out of a narrow, artificial slit in the lake bottom.

>x pebble
A small pebble is stuck in the slit, obstructing the lever from being pulled.

>take pebble
The pebble is stuck so tightly that you can't remove it by hand.

>remove pebble with hook
I only understood you as far as wanting to remove the pebble.

>remove peeble
You can't see any such thing.

>remove pebble
You aren't wearing the pebble.

>put hook in slit
That would not accomplish anything useful.

>l
Western Shore Of Underground Lake
You are standing on a small level area west of the underground lake.

A small dinghy is here, pulled half out of the water.

A sturdy door in the cave wall blocks further passage west. There is no handle or knob in the door, but there is a small lever jutting out of a slit in the ground just beside it that is probably there to operate the door.

>x peeble
You can't see any such thing.

>x pebble
A small pebble is stuck in the slit, obstructing the lever from being pulled.

>remove pebble
You aren't wearing the pebble.

>take pebble
The pebble is stuck so tightly that you can't remove it by hand.

>x hook
It is a small, thin, colored hook for catching fish.

>
Parchment for Inform 7