Almost everything the game says is printed by this routine, which interprets a compact message 'bytecode' starting at the address in HL. Messages are not stored as ASCII; they are sequences of dictionary references and control codes, which is how The Hobbit fits so much text into 48K.

The entry at 72D4 saves DE, IX and A (restored at the end, 7352) so callers do not lose them. If the command is only being tried ($B5EB is 0) the flag B5EC is cleared.

The loop at 72EB fetches a byte and decides what it is:

• $80-$FF: the first byte of a two-byte dictionary reference, high byte first. The low nibble of the first byte and all of the second give the word's offset from 6000; the three remaining flag bits (bits 4-6) choose an ending. Flag values 2, 3 and 6 mean 'this is the last word of the message': 2 just stops, 3 adds a full stop and a new line, 6 adds a new line (733F). Other values are passed on to 74B8 as printing flags (for example 'add an S').
• $60-$7F: one of the 32 most common words, looked up in AC31 by 748A.
• $20-$5F: a literal character, printed by 72BA.
• $00-$1F: a control code, dispatched through the table at 728C.

Control codes below $14 are called as subroutines. A handler that returns with Z set lets the interpreter move on to the next byte; one that returns with Z reset asks it to print the dictionary word now in DE (so a handler can choose a word such as HIS or YOUR and have it printed). Codes $14 and above end the message.

Several control codes take an extra parameter from the stack: the caller pushes an object address or a word before calling the interpreter, and the handler removes it (see 735E).

The same interpreter runs the little scripts attached to rooms and objects, which is why the room and object tables contain what look like fragments of messages.