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Examining something (requires light) (past tense examined)

The act of looking closely at something. Note that the noun could be either a direction or a thing, which is why the Standard Rules include the 'examine directions rule' to deal with directions: it simply says 'You see nothing unexpected in that direction.' and stops the action. (If you would like to handle directions differently, list another rule instead of this one in the carry out examining rules.)

For arcane reasons to do with the Inform 6 library underlying what Inform does, these rules test to see 'if the noun goes undescribed by source text' (rather than more simply testing whether the description property of the noun is blank). If so, we search (i.e., look inside) a container, and show the status (switched on or off) of a device, but otherwise give up with a bland response. For traditional reasons, we also show the status of a device as a second paragraph even after any description property has been printed: this is done by the examine described devices rule.

Typed commands leading to this action

    "look at [something]"
    "examine [something]"
    "read [something]"

Rules controlling this action

    before    doing anything except examining with the yellow button   
    before    examining a determinable   
    before    examining a detailer   
    before    doing anything   
    instead    examining the Groth Idol   
    instead    examining the Elda Idol   
    instead    examining the Duncan Idol   
    instead    examining the Shliss Idol   
    instead    examining the grating   
    instead    examining the green button   
    instead    examining the red button   
    instead    examining the bomb   
    instead    examining the golden hair   
    instead    examining the instruction leaflet   
    instead    examining the instruction poster   
    instead    examining the Blood Poster   
    instead    examining the Deadly Combat Poster   
    instead    examining the Excitement Poster   
    instead    examining the excitement button   
    instead    examining the Zeal Poster   
    instead    examining the Smash Poster   
    instead    examining the Bronze Poster   
    instead    examining the Burning Poster   
    instead    examining the Waiting Poster   
    instead    examining the lever   
    instead    examining the buttons   
    instead    examining the yellow button   
    instead    examining the player   
    instead    examining a killed tarrasque   
    instead    examining a wild boar   
    instead    examining a young boar   
    instead    examining a doberman   
    instead    examining a pit-bull   
    instead    examining a terrier   
    instead    examining a bouvier   
    instead    examining a German shepherd   
    instead    examining a Rhodesian Ridgeback   
    instead    examining a dog   
    instead    examining a snake   
    instead    examining a mud crab   
    instead    examining a water serpent   
    instead    examining a giant mud crab   
    instead    examining a troll   
    instead    examining a young troll   
    instead    examining a straw being   
    instead    examining a tarrasque   
    instead    examining a stick of guarding   
    instead    examining healing herbs   
    instead    examining a fire grenade   
    instead    examining a stick of illumination   
    instead    examining a diamond   
    instead    examining a ruby   
    carry out    examine undescribed containers rule
    carry out    examine undescribed devices rule
    carry out    examine undescribed things rule
    carry out    examine directions rule
    carry out    standard examining rule
    carry out    examine described devices rule
    report        an actor examining  report other people examining rule