Fiendish Zoo
by Elizabeth Heller (2008)
Genres: Fantasy

You're the demon Enzak, and you're in charge of the Fiendish Zoo. Time to get to work!

action: %
response: Wake up! Time to start another day of work.

Your personal work space contains a chair, a filing cabinet, a bookshelf, and a battered old table which serves as a desk. A passage to the west leads to the locker room.

On the desk is a pointless snowglobe.
action: You get the snowglobe then X it
response: Taken.

Well, it's more of an ashglobe, really ... when you shake it, bits of fire and brimstone rain down upon a miniature metropolis. You've had it for a long time; it was a gift upon some occasion or other.
action: You shake it
response: The small bits of ash inside the globe swirl about, wreaking destruction upon the tiny city inside. After a few moments, they settle back into place.
action: You look at the table
response: It's not much more than a plank of wood with legs under it. You aren't
action: You eat the globe
response: even certain that it is real wood.

That's plainly inedible.
action: About you
response: You are the demon Enzak, and you're in charge of the Fiendish Zoo.
action: Xyzzy
response: There is a puff of orange smoke, which makes you sneeze. Nothing else happens.
action: Look around
response: Your personal work space contains a chair, a filing cabinet, a bookshelf, and a battered old table which serves as a desk. A passage to the west leads to the locker room.
action: You look at the shelf
response: The bookshelf does not actually contain any books at present. Someone has written in yellow chalk on the shelf: "Borrowed books, will return later. M."
action: You get the cabinet
response: That's hardly portable.
action: You sit in the chair
response: You get onto the old chair.
action: You look at the cabinet
response: Records of the zoo are stored in there, of feeding schedules and bills and vet appointments and things of that sort. Very boring. A minor imp takes care of all the paperwork and brings you things that require your personal signature.
action: You look at the chair
response: It's your basic wooden chair, nothing special. Not comfortable enough to relax in, but suitable for sitting down when you need to take a break.
action: You sit in the chair
response: But you're already on the old chair.
action: Go outside
response: You get off the old chair.
action: Go west
response: Here is where most of your tools and supplies are stored. Piled up around the walls are buckets, mops, brooms, hoses and bottles of cleaning solutions. There are also freezers (blue, green, and red) full of food for the zoo residents, some feed bins, and in one corner stands a large oven.

You can see a sack (in which are ten lumps of coal) here.
action: You examine the sack
response: It's a plain sack made of rough cloth, extremely dirty because it's filled with coal. To save storage space, and for the convenience of the zookeeper (namely you), there is only one sack of coal -- but it is virtually bottomless.

Rumor has it that the Boss Himself made this sack, after He was tricked by a clever tailor. All you know for certain is that the sack has been Zoo property for as long as you've worked here, and somehow it can never be completely filled.
action: You look at the lump
response: "Coal" is a convenient word for this black substance, but it doesn't come from those pitiful scratches that mortals call mines. Fiendish coal is dug from the deepest foundations of the world, where nameless Things gnaw tunnels out of rock in the eternal darkness. The unlucky demons who mine this coal tend not to live very long. But it burns nice and hot.
action: You eat the lump
response: (first taking the lump of coal)
That's plainly inedible.
action: You put the lump in the oven
response: (the lump of coal in the oven)
You put the lump of coal into the oven.
action: You examine the oven
response: The oven is used to heat and cook food for those zoo creatures that like their meals hot. Appropriately, it is fueled with a coal-like substance from the nether planes, and has a maw like the jaws of Hell.
action: You examine the freezer
response: Which do you mean, the blue freezer, the red freezer, or the green
action: You examine the blue
response: freezer?

These chilly, insulated chests are full of food for Zoo denizens. The blue one contains dairy foods and eggs.
action: You open blue
response: You pull open the blue freezer and take a look. It is well stocked with cheeses, bottles of milk, and eggs (not the hatching kind) from many types of beasts.

You close the freezer again, so as not to let all the cold air escape.
action: You examine the green
response: These chilly, insulated chests are full of food for Zoo denizens. The green one contains vegetables and fruits.
action: You open green
response: You open the green freezer to have a peek. Though fewer of the Zoo residents are vegetarians than meat-eaters, the ones who do eat plant matter eat a lot more of it. This freezer contains large quantities of various fruits, vegetables, roots, and so on.

Having seen the contents, you shut the freezer, lest the temperature in the room equalize with the temperature in the freezer.
action: You examine the red
response: These chilly, insulated chests are full of food for Zoo denizens. The red one contains meats and fish.
action: You open red
response: You pull open the door of the red freezer and peer inside. It's stocked with all manner of steaks, ground-up patties, bones, organs and whole carcasses. Lots of Zoo animals eat flesh or other body parts.

After a moment, you shut the freezer, to make sure the cold things in there stay cold.
action: You examine  the bins
response: The feed bins contain all the food for Zoo creatures that doesn't need to be kept cold: dried grains, nuts, seeds, herbs, spices, honey, et cetera.
action: Look around
response: Here is where most of your tools and supplies are stored. Piled up around the walls are buckets, mops, brooms, hoses and bottles of cleaning solutions. There are also freezers (blue, green, and red) full of food for the zoo residents, some feed bins, and in one corner stands a large oven.

You can see a sack (in which are nine lumps of coal) here.
action: You take the sack
response: Taken.
action: You go north
response: Employee Entrance, outside the Locker Room
You stand just outside the employee entrance to the zoo. Behind you, to the south, is the door back into the locker room. West is the main visitors' entrance to the zoo, and north is the employee entrance. On either side, you are surrounded by tall fencing topped with barbed wire.

You hear an odd sound, and suddenly you notice a small furry creature at your feet.
action: You get the cat
response: You reach down and pluck the kitten from the ground by the scruff of its neck. It goes limp, as kittens will do when handled in this fashion, but after a moment it raises its head to look at you. "Mew?" it says, blinking its round blue eyes.

Taken.
action: Go south
response: Here is where most of your tools and supplies are stored. Piled up around the walls are buckets, mops, brooms, hoses and bottles of cleaning solutions. There are also freezers (blue, green, and red) full of food for the zoo residents, some feed bins, and in one corner stands a large oven.
action: You eat the cat
response: He's plainly inedible.
action: Search tools
response: You shift a few items around and uncover a tarnished silver coin!
action: You eat the coin
response: That's plainly inedible.
action: Go north
response: Employee Entrance, outside the Locker Room
You stand just outside the employee entrance to the zoo. Behind you, to the south, is the door back into the locker room. West is the main visitors' entrance to the zoo, and north is the employee entrance. On either side, you are surrounded by tall fencing topped with barbed wire.
action: You examine the wire
response: It's as sharp as the claws of demons. Nastier demons than you, even. If metal could be cunning, the sharp little bits of this wire atop the fence would be. It is there to make certain that nothing will try to enter the Fiendish Zoo by climbing over that fence.
action: You climb the fence
response: The barbed wire deters you. Besides, why climb the fence when there's a perfectly good door?
action: You go west
response: You stand at the main entrance to the Fiendish Zoo. This is where the visitors come through, and therefore the dread portal that serves as a gate is intimidating indeed.
action: You look at Portal
response: Impressively decorated in black iron and decorated with the most twisted, terrible relief images possible, the Dread Portal also permanently reeks of brimstone, sulfur, and scorched flesh.

Your bosses went all-out for this one, putting the budget out of balance for quite some while.
action: You open it
response: It seems to be locked.
action: Go north
response: The Dread Portal is closed, locked and sealed, and until you finish your day's work, it's going to stay that way. Can't have visitors wandering through the Zoo while you're making your rounds.
action: You check what you're carrying
response: You are carrying:
a silver coin
a small fluffy kitten
a sack (open)
nine lumps of coal
a pointless ashglobe
action: You hug the cat
response: Keep your mind on the game.
action: You put the kitten in the sack
response: The kitten doesn't seem to want to go in the sack. It sinks its claws into your hand and yowls, until you are forced to drop it.
action: You get the cat
response: Taken.
action: You look at the cat
response: This baby feline has soft white fluffy fur, and large blue eyes. Most humans would undoubtedly consider it extremely cute.
action: You drop the cat
response: The kitten manages to land on its feet.
action: Go north
response: Nothing very interesting here. This is simply a curving tunnel with two exits: to the south is back to the employee entrance, and to the northwest is your entry to the Zoo.
action: You drop the cat
response: The kitten manages to land on its feet.

The kitten looks at you hopefully.
action: Go northwest
response: You are just inside the Dread Portal, and the Zoo is open before you. It's built in a ring-shaped circuit, so you can walk northeast or northwest from here. To the south is the Dread Portal, and to the southeast is the tunnel that leads to the locker room.

The kitten follows you.
action: You go south
response: Many enter through the Dread Portal ... but few depart that way. In any case, you work here, so there's no reason to be leaving just yet.
action: You go to the northwest
response: For the benefit of visitors, signs here point in several directions.
To the west is the manticore. To the east is the cockatrice. To the southeast is back to the main entrance, and to the northeast is Station Beth.

The kitten follows you.
action: You go northeast
response: There's more of the Fiendish Zoo that way, but apparently something is wrong with the path -- a large sign on the northeast walkway reads, "DANGER -- DO NOT ENTER."

The kitten pounces at its shadow.
action: Sing
response: Your singing is abominable.
action: You drop the kitty
response: The kitten manages to land on its feet.
action: Go northeast
response: There's more of the Fiendish Zoo that way, but apparently something is wrong with the path -- a large sign on the northeast walkway reads, "DANGER -- DO NOT ENTER."

The kitten twitches its ears.
action: Look around
response: You are just inside the Dread Portal, and the Zoo is open before you. It's built in a ring-shaped circuit, so you can walk northeast or northwest from here. To the south is the Dread Portal, and to the southeast is the tunnel that leads to the locker room.

You can see a kitten here.
action: You go to the northwest
response: For the benefit of visitors, signs here point in several directions.
To the west is the manticore. To the east is the cockatrice. To the southeast is back to the main entrance, and to the northeast is Station Beth.

The kitten follows you.
action: Go east
response: Here is where the cockatrice lives. Its habitat is barred on the ground level and has a high net over the top. Oddly, you don't see it anywhere in its habitat. Maybe it's hiding, or asleep.

The kitten follows you.
action: You throw the cat
response: The kitten manages to land on its feet.

The kitten washes its paws.
action: You examine the habitat
response: The floor of the cockatrice's habitat is spread with straw, which needs to be changed every so often. Tough, spindly bushes poke up here and there from the ground. Several of the bushes have been turned to stone by the monster's famous gaze.

There is also a trough where the cockatrice takes its meals, and a large, shallow clay fountain-pot where it can bathe and drink. But the cockatrice itself is nowhere in sight.
action: You examine bars
response: The same kind of bars on most of the cages here. Hard, dark, and all but impervious to damage. The ones on the cockatrice habitat look normal enough.
action: Shake bars
response: (first taking the bars)
That's hardly portable.
action: You examine the trough
response: It's a trough where you put the cockatrice's food. Scattered bits of dried corn and beetle shells, leftovers from its last meal, are in evidence.

The kitten twitches its ears.
action: You examine the habitat
response: The floor of the cockatrice's habitat is spread with straw, which needs to be changed every so often. Tough, spindly bushes poke up here and there from the ground. Several of the bushes have been turned to stone by the monster's famous gaze.

There is also a trough where the cockatrice takes its meals, and a large, shallow clay fountain-pot where it can bathe and drink. But the cockatrice itself is nowhere in sight.

The kitten pounces at its shadow.
action: You look at the pot
response: The clay vessel is halfway between a small fountain and a birdbath.
The water is getting a bit stagnant, but the cockatrice prefers it that way.

The kitten bats at a bit of debris.
action: You search the habitat
response: You find nothing of interest.

The kitten twitches its ears.
action: Look around
response: You can't see any such thing.

Here is where the cockatrice lives. Its habitat is barred on the ground level and has a high net over the top. Oddly, you don't see it anywhere in its habitat. Maybe it's hiding, or asleep.

You can see a kitten here.

The kitten twitches its ears.
action: You examine the net
response: The cockatrice likes to fly around a bit, so the net is there to allow it some air space but prevent it from escaping. You can't see any holes in it from here.

The kitten twitches its ears.

The cockatrice likes to fly around a bit, so the net is there to allow it some air space but prevent it from escaping. You can't see any holes in it from here.

The kitten twitches its ears.
action: You take the kitten then put the kitten in the habitat
response: Taken.

That can't contain things.
action: You examine the bushes
response: The cockatrice's natural home is a hot, dry wasteland. Not much grows there, except these bushes, which are thorny and no good to eat. One or two of them have been petrified, and are now bush-shaped sculptures of rock.
action: You take all
response: lump of coal: Taken.
lump of coal: Taken.
lump of coal: Taken.
lump of coal: Taken.
lump of coal: Taken.
lump of coal: Taken.
lump of coal: Taken.
lump of coal: Taken.
lump of coal: Taken.
habitat: That's hardly portable.
bushes: That's hardly portable.
trough: That's hardly portable.
pot: That's hardly portable.
net: That's hardly portable.
bars: That's hardly portable.
action: You examine the pot
response: The clay vessel is halfway between a small fountain and a birdbath.
The water is getting a bit stagnant, but the cockatrice prefers it that way.
action: Inventory
response: You are carrying:
nine lumps of coal
a small fluffy kitten
a silver coin
a sack (open but empty)
a pointless ashglobe
action: You put the coal in the kitten
response: lump of coal: He can't contain things.
lump of coal: He can't contain things.
lump of coal: He can't contain things.
lump of coal: He can't contain things.
lump of coal: He can't contain things.
lump of coal: He can't contain things.
lump of coal: He can't contain things.
lump of coal: He can't contain things.
lump of coal: He can't contain things.
action: Look around
response: Here is where the cockatrice lives. Its habitat is barred on the ground level and has a high net over the top. Oddly, you don't see it anywhere in its habitat. Maybe it's hiding, or asleep.
action: You go west
response: For the benefit of visitors, signs here point in several directions.
To the west is the manticore. To the east is the cockatrice. To the southeast is back to the main entrance, and to the northeast is Station Beth.
action: You go northeast
response: There is more of the Fiendish Zoo that way ... but you've reached the end of this intro version. Stay tuned for the finished version of "Fiendish Zoo," coming soon!
action: You go west
response: The manticore lives in a large cage that includes a variety of rocks and small trees for climbing, some soft cushions and furs to lounge on, and a little stream with a pool.

Lying in its enclosure, occasionally twitching its tail, is the manticore.
action: Hello
response: The manticore gets up, moves around, and then lies down again.
action: You ask the manticore about the author
response: (the manticore about that)
The manticore is not in a talkative mood today, it seems.
action: You ask the manticore about the cockatrice
response: (the manticore about that)
The manticore gets up, moves around, and then lies down again.
action: You look at the manticore
response: (the manticore)
The manticore has a humanlike face, the body of a lion, and the tail of a giant scorpion. It is one of the more intelligent creatures in the zoo, and can even speak a few words (when it feels like it).
action: Kiss manticore
response: (the manticore)
Keep your mind on the game.
action: You throw the lump at the manticore
response: (the manticore)
You lack the nerve when it comes to the crucial moment.
action: You examine the furs
response: They're just some dirty cushions that the manticore is lounging on.
action: Your mom
response: The manticore gnaws on a toy.
action: Xyzzy
response: The manticore has better things to do.
action: You examine the pool
response: It's a pool of water, fed by a small stream, which is there so the manticore can have a drink or splash around, if it feels so inclined.
action: You sit
response: (on the manticore)
The manticore has better things to do.