Places are a way of defining specific spaces within a given room. The ideas is that they make people in different areas of the same space visible to each other, without them being able to overhear conversations and so on.
This is useful in rooms that deal with large open spaces, and offer players a sense of scale and moving through a building, rather than dividing it up into separate rooms that bear only a spatial relevance to each other.
places - brings up a list of places available in the room you are in.
join #<place number> - allows you to join a particular place within a room, as numbered on the inventory.
depart - allows you to leave a particular place and return to the central place (the main room)
plook - shows you where any other characters are in that room, and whether they are in any other places.
