You feel your bodies starting to grow.
“We’ll be squashed!” [Hero] screams and tries to avoid the rapidly approaching ceiling.
But with the death of the queen, the hive is no longer magically protected. Hands break through the ceiling, shoulders burst through the upper levels you had such a hard time crossing.
Finally, you’re once again standing naked in city hall, with the broken hive of the queen at your feet.
You feel your bodies starting to grow.
“We’ll be squashed!” [Hero] screams and tries to avoid the rapidly approaching ceiling.
The moment your hands touch the ceiling, you know the magic that makes this hive indestructible is still in force. The earth does not give the tiniest bit! Bones break when the room to grow runs out. Screams of pain fade when your bodies burst.
[Hero] manages to play the tone sequence so often heard in these corridors.
And it does indeed appear to be some kind of opening mechanism of the borbarad worms. The wall parts in front of you.
[Hero] manages to play the tone sequence heard so often in these corridors.
Unfortunately, it has no effect.
Stark naked and without any equipment, you enter the hive through one of the holes. You immediately lose your balance and slide down a steep incline.
“Those mildewed bookworms! Couldn’t they have at least shrunk our armor, too?” howls [Hero] as he breaks his/her skin on the rough surface of the ground.
“What a concentration of magical power!” [Hero] is stunned when % astral power soars.
It would be extremely difficult to get back to the steep shaft you dropped in through. And even if you were to manage that, the best you could hope for would be climbing up halfway… before slipping and sliding back down.
“Ingerimm’s blue thumb!” moans [Hero]. “I’ve got enough bruises to last me a lifetime! And I don’t have suckers on my feet like some kraken newt either.”
Are you going to try the climb down anyway?
“Kerbatah!” [Hero] shouts defiantly and jumps.
There’s no hope of grabbing hold somewhere - the corridor is much too steep for that. “Ouch! I knew it!” Just as [Hero] expected, [Hero] gets a wide range of cuts and bruises from the wild tumble down.
Fairly sticky stuff, that. But it smells very sweet.
Care to try some?
So, who’ll be putting his or her taste buds on the line?
“Yumm!” [Hero] seems to like it. Is [Hero] going to eat some more?
[Hero] doesn’t need encouragement to take another helping.
You have just entered the eerie looking cave when you see a borbarad worm.
“Lord Praios, but they’re gigantic all of a sudden!” [Hero] exclaims. “And they’re even uglier like that!”
Apparently, the borbarad worm didn’t notice you as it slithers from the cave to the northeast without stopping.
You could have sworn it was carrying something in its mandibles.
There’s some stones and dirt, probably from digging the corridors.
Do you want to take some of the stones along?
You come upon a large pile of dead insect remains.
Do you want to investigate the hill of carcasses and mud a bit closer?
The dead bodies are stacked quite haphazardly. Some are incomplete and show signs of having been partly devoured.
“Disgusting - but given our present size, we might be able to put it to use,” declares [Hero].
Obviously you are not the only ones who “got lost” in the edifice of the queen, because suddenly several insects surround you with a loud chirping noise.
“Beware, slimespawn!” [Hero] growls.
You have barely entered the caves when you come upon an emerald morfu… and it takes an instant disliking to you.
The air shafts are much too small to crawl through. Besides, they’re way out of reach.
The spider had just started to get comfortable in here. Its web is still far from complete.
Do you want to pull off a thread?
The web is very elastic, but you do manage to get a piece of thread nearly a span in length.
“Let’s check it out. Who knows? We might be able to use some of that stuff,” suggests [Hero].
“I don’t think there’s anything left we could use!” [Hero] declares and turns away.
In amongst the all-pervasive lichen, there are some eye-catching mushrooms growing on the walls.
Do you pick some to take along?
There are no more mushrooms growing among the lichen.
You notice a half rotten plant stem on the ground. Not far away from it are several thorns which resemble animal quills.
“If the stem hadn’t been so rotten, it could probably be used as a blow horn.” says [Hero].
Suddenly, you hear a peculiar sequence of notes wafting through the air.
Unfortunately, you can’t locate their origin due to the echoing of the corridors.
Shortly after the sequence has ended, you hear a scratching noise.
Trying to get back up from here is guaranteed to fail. The incline is just too steep. You slide back down before you even get halfway up.
For a moment, the egg in your pack lights up.
[Hero] jolts as if [Hero]’d been dealt a blow. “The queen knows we’re here! I could feel her magical eyes upon me.”
Suddenly [Hero] cries out:
“The queen has discovered us! I’ve sensed it” and immediately your surrounding becomes blurred.
In front of you, bright flames leap from the ground. The heat is almost unbarable.
Are you certain you want to go on - into the fire?
“No!” screams [Hero]. “I can’t do it! It’s certain death!”
Like the daredevils you are, you charge the wall of flame.
You feel your skin blistering and burning off under the intense heat. The pain is almost unbearable.
Once you reach the opposite side, all the pain disappears in one fell swoop, and you realize it was all an illusion, but the experience has its consequences even so.
There’s a pit opening up right in front of you. It is about two man heights wide and filled to the brim with corpses and skeletons. There’s no telling where all those dead have come from. The scene is truly frightening.
Do you dare to try to cross the pit in one leap?
“There!” [Hero] screams. “One of the skeletons moved! No way am I leaping across that.”
You are pulled down from the air. The hideously mangled corpses reach out and force you down into the pit with them. An abominable smell almost suffocates you. Arms and legs of greenish-white skin and fleshless bones try to keep you from reaching the opposite edge of the pit.
When you finally climb out, all the bodies disappear… it was an illusion. But you can’t shake off the experience that easily.
“Wouldn’t it be tempting fate to wander out onto that ledge?”
Quite possibly it would, actually. Do you go on anyway?
“No!” [Hero] exclaims. “I can’t brave a hideous fall like that. I just can’t!”
Do you dare the climb down?
You try to roll with the blows, but once again, a tumbling fall to a lower level results in various painful scratches and bruises.
You are about to enter the next cave, when you witness a peculiar scene.
A blue borbarad worm is rearing up to devour an amber-colored lump hanging from the tip of a stalactite.
“A secret door!” states [Hero]. “But I can’t find any opening mechanism, no matter how long I search that dangblasted wall.”
“I can feel something incredibly powerful hiding behind it,” whispers [Hero].
“I could bet this has something to do with the funny sounds we have heard already several times before. Maybe we can imitate them in some way”, [Hero] adds.
There’s an incredible bustle all over the hall stretching before you. Borbarad worms of all colors - at least all colors you have seen so far - seem to be dashing about willy-nilly. Most of the green workers are carrying eggs or food.
Apparently, none of the worms has noticed you as yet.
“Aiiiie, we’re going to diiie…!” [Hero] sceams when [Hero] suddenly drops straight down.
The shock is considerable, and you can feel your hearts leaping to your throats - even though you soon find out it was all just an illusion and the ground above the presumed dead-drop is just as solid as it is all around.
“I am certain that there must be a door in the front”, says [Hero].
“Those plants might be their food”, surmises [Hero]. “But still, we might be able to find something else in this pile.”
“When we were kids we build flutes out of similar plants.”,[Hero] added.
“Pity! Nothing we could use!” says [Hero].
Just dead beetles and termites.
Anyone care to check it out?
Looking at the remains of dead beetles and other crawling insects gives you the distinct impression that they are the borbarad worms’ main food source. Most of the animals on this pile are nothing but empty husks.
“The Gods smile on us,” [Hero] smugly states. “Another contribution to our emergency equipment! These claws remind me of a carving tool. They can probably be used in ways other than as weapons.”
At the cave entrance, two blue borbarad worms have locked mandibles, almost as if they were engaged in a bizarre wrestling match. But as soon as they notice you, they charge.
For a while, you toy with the thought of destroying the worm spawn. But since the entire hive is doomed to be destroyed anyway - as soon as the queen is dead and you return to your original size - you discard the idea. Why draw even more attention to yourselves?
An amber-colored lump has formed on the tip of the stalactite.
Do you break it off?
After breaking off the lump, some amber-colored fluid runs from the stalactite.
That’s a pity. There’s no more fluid running from the stalactite.
You check the stalactite quite thoroughly, but find no more lumps.
When you see what’s in the cave ahead, you instinctively hold your breath: Fifteen grey borbarad worms are all settled down around a green one. None of them are moving, and they don’t seem to notice you.
What are you going to do now?
Cross the room carefully
Attack the borbarad worms
Look for a different route
[Hero] trips and kicks one of the borbarad worms.
Immediately, all of them stir.
Strange pictures appear in your heads, and you have trouble making sense of them. It seems that you are looking through the eyes, or whatever it is they have, of the borbarbad worms.
Apparently, the green worm is a sort of teacher, instructing the grey ones in human anatomy! No wonder they’re so good at finding their way around the insides of their victims.
You are standing next to a basin filled with a very sweet smelling pink fluid.
Do you:
Throw something in
Send someone in
Keep going
Who will throw something into the basin?
And what exactly is [Hero] going to throw in?
Disgusted, [Hero] shouts:
“Are you out of your mind? I’m not going to throw away r! I’m not daft!”
With some amazement, [Hero] watches n sink into the pink fluid. Bubbles rise to the surface as if you’d thrown something into a pool of acid.
After a few heartbeats, there is movement beneath the surface.
All of a sudden, a blue borbarad worm jumps out at you from the depths of the basin.
All right. Who’ll be going down the chute?
All around [Hero], the fluid starts to boil, and % entire equipment dissolves.
Amazingly enough, [Hero] is unharmed.
The fluid surrounds [Hero] with warmth and comforting buoyancy. From the looks of it, no harm has come to,.
On the contrary, % skin is now scented by the fluid. With an alluring scent like that, [Hero]’ll be even more sought-after by the opposite sex.
Suddenly, [Hero] feels something touch -o feet - there’s a blue borbarad worm in the basin with,.
The worm immediately attacks.
With a deep, almost satisfied buzz, the borbarad worm flings your lifeless body from the basin.
In the center of the otherwise empty cave, two borbarad worms are fighting each other. They are heavily entangled, and it takes some effort to recognize an amber-colored lump between them that appears to be the object of their dispute.
Buzzing angrily, one of them finally retreats slowly along the north corridor followed by its opponent.
Suddenly, your surroundings fade away.
Nothing appears to be real anymore. Dreamscapes appear before your eyes, and soon, you are unable to tell illusion from reality.
“Another of the queen’s tricks! She must be trying to lead us astray!” [Hero] shouts before all of you are swallowed by illusions, forgetting that you’re here to look for the evil created by Borbarad.
Slowly, the illusions fade away, and you find yourselves back in the queen’s hive.
“Blessed Hesinde! I’ve never seen such a mighty spell of confusion. But I think we made the right choice.”
[Hero] seems to be quite certain of that.
Slowly, the illusions fade away, and you find yourselves back in the queen’s hive.
“Blessed Hesinde! I’ve never seen such a mighty spell of confusion. I’m not at all sure I made the right choices each time.”
“Think bad to be good” whispers a voice familiar to you. [Hero] turns around, but can’t see anyone.
“Act as you would never act” you hear again the same voice talking to you.
“Wasn’t this Rohezal? I think he is trying to help us!” says [Hero].
Suddenly, everything goes blurry again, and your surroundings change.
You’re in your parent’s home.
Your mother is standing in front of you, looking down. “What a naughty little child you are. Didn’t I tell you not to play with that lout! For your punishment, you will be locked in the broom cupboard.”
What do you do?
Go into the broom cupboard
Run outside
Try to explain
Doing as you’ve been told, you go into the broom cupboard and sit down in the dark.
You’ve barely left the house when you see your father returning home from the fields.
Do you:
Run toward him
Run around the house, out of his sight
“Hey, you! Didn’t I just hear your mother scold you?!” Your father grabs you and drags you back inside.
“I guess it’s better to stay out of my dear mother’s sight for a while,” you think and start to go looking for your pals.
“Forget it!” she cuts off your explanations. “I’ve had enough of your excuses.” Angrily, she grabs you by the ears and drags you into the broom cupboard.
You are standing at the edge of a cliff.
Less than two steps behind you, there’s a sheer drop. A horde of furious orc warriors is charging straight at you from the front.
Do you:
Jump down the cliff
Kill the orcs
Daringly, you turn around and leap to certain death.
Already you seem to hear Golgari’s wing beat, when suddenly, you remember the eagle suit in your backpack.
Do you:
Get out the eagle suit
Laugh in the face of death
At the very last moment, you manage to don the eagle suit. Now, the sky is yours to command - free as a bird, you rise up.
Your laughter dies away when you realize there’s no escape.
Your sword in hand, you await the orcs. The fighting is heavy and drawn-out, but slowly, your foes are getting the better of you.
Do you:
Surrender
Fight on
The orcs take you prisoner and shower you with scorn and derision.
You strike down orc after orc, until finally, a sword plunges straight into your chest.
The ground is moving beneath you. It takes a while for you realize the boards under your feet are actually the planks of a ship.
“Phileasson, tie yourself to the mast! It’s an illusion, I’m telling you. It isn’t Adamantinia,” one of your shiphands bellows.
Do you:
Let someone tie you to the mast
Resist the lure of the gleaming diamonds
Quickly, the sailors tie you to the mast while you strain to turn your eyes away from the mountains of gold and gems. When the breeze makes the crystals sing, you tear at the ropes with all your strength - but they hold.
The sailors blindfold you, but the gleam of gold and jewels shines through the mesh of the cloth. You push your comrades away to get at the riches.
Do you:
Jump into the sea
Commandeer a dinghy
With a fixed smile, and in the firm expectation of becoming the richest person in the all of Arkania any second now, you drown.
You’re already lowering the boat when your comrades jump you.
Do you:
Fight your friends
Hesitate
Your boundless avarice makes you strike your friends down without remorse. Then, you get into the boat and set out toward the island.
Your friends overpower you and tie your hands behind your back. You’re held once more.
From out of nowhere, the gleaming steel blade of a sword plunges into your bowels. You shuffle off your mortal coil.
Your spirit is released and floats above the fight. Below on Arkania, you see your companions being attacked by a horde of ogres. Soon, they will all be dead just like you.
Do you:
Wait for Golgari to take you to the Halls of Boron
Attack those ogres
Watch and wait
Your wait is at an end. You hear the beat of the giant raven’s wings carrying you away across the Sea of Nevermore.
As was to be expected, your blows go straight through the ogres, and they never even notice you.
You hear the beat of giant wings above you.
Do you:
Keep attacking
Look up
Again and again, you strike at the ogres, but you are forced to watch all your companions get slain. All of a sudden, you realize the beating wings are gone… and you also realize what this means for you: a neverending existence as an undead revenant.
At the very last moment, you come to your senses and call out: “Take me away, Raven!” In silence, it carries you across the Sea of Nevermore to Rethon, the Scale of Souls.
Gently, a giant raven picks you up and carries you with mighty wings to the Halls of Boron, the Merciful.
Abruptly, you jolt up from a deep sleep. There it is again: A child crying out for help! Smoke and the smell of burning wood tickle your nose.
The inn is going up in flames!
Do you:
Jump out the window
Go look for the child
Try to fight the fire
When you throw open the window, the flames grow even higher! Again you hear the terrified screams of the small child.
Do you:
Jump anyway
Go look for the child
With one jump, you’re out. The pain in your ankle makes you wake from your dream. You’re in your bed at the inn, and the candle on your night table crackles softly. You hear a hungry child bawling downstairs.
Almost blinded, you stumble through fire and smoke. Finally, in the basement, you find the screaming child. You grab it and look for a way out.
Delirious with joy, the child’s mother covers you with kisses.
Hastily, you grab a blanket and pound the flames. But, you are forced to admit there is no way you’re going to douse it. The fire is spreading much too fast.
Do you:
Go look for the child
Jump out the window
Suddenly, you find yourself in front of a wall with two doors that look exactly the same. You will have to choose one of them.
Dimly, you sense the presence of Rohezal. “Choose the left one!” he whispers.
Which door do you open?
The right one
The left one
“Why aren’t you listening to me? That will be your death! But, it isn’t too late yet. Turn around, before the trap is sprung!”
Do you:
Turn around
Stick to your choice
You back out of the room and walk through the left door.
The door slams shut behind you. Green smoke is rising from the floor, engulfing you and making you drowsy.
On the other side of the door, your companions await you to shake your hand and congratulate you on your wise choice.
You are inside a room with a mirrored ceiling, floor and walls. Suddenly, the mirror surfaces start to move, and you see a gigantic claw approaching slowly from behind them.
Do you:
Try to destroy the mirrors
Watch in fascination
You kick the closest of the mirrors and your foot goes right through… into empty space. By now, part of the claw, which radiates waves of horror, sticks out from the mirrors. Apparently, the demon - for what else could it be - is trying to enter this world from the Nethermost Hells.
Do you:
Bravely plunge through the mirror
Flee
You jump into the mirror and drag the demon back to the Infernal Spheres. But you don’t have much time to rejoice before it rends you limb from limb.
In a blind panic, you flee from the room, while behind you the gates of madness open.
Slowly, the claw, which is radiating waves of horror, grows out from the mirror. Apparently, the creature it belongs to is trying to enter the Mortal Planes.
Do you:
Grab the claw and help the creature
Flee
Without hesitation, the creature grabs your arm. You have allowed an archdemon entry to Arkania. After crossing over, he declares you his new chef as a sign of gratitude. But after taking a second look at you, he changes his mind and makes you his main course instead.
Darkness.
Warmth.
Security.
You are floating in some kind of warm fluid, feeling indescribably comfortable. Suddenly, you are surrounded by turmoil, and something tries to push you from your haven of contentment.
Do you:
Fight this revolting development with all your power
Accept your fate
In desperation, you press your small arms and legs against the elastic walls surrounding you. The pressure increases, and you are turned by its power.
Do you:
Continue to resist
Give up and hope for the best
With all your might, you return to your original position. The terrible pressure goes away!
You can dream on peacefully.
Head first, you are pushed out from your comfortable home. The warmth gives way to icy cold. Something rough grabs you and pulls you up. A painful blow makes you grumble: “Hardly even born, and already I get beat up! My Lady Tsa, that’s some welcome.”
You’re in the body of one of Bosper’s guardsmen, and the weakened Rohezal is stretched on the rack in front of you. You’re holding a clay urn bearing strange runes in your hand.
Do you:
Smash the urn
Open the urn
Free Rohezal
You throw the urn to the floor with all your strength. On impact, it bursts into a thousand shards. Between them, you can see a borbarad worm trying to escape.
Do you:
Step on the worm
Try to catch it
After you step on it, the worm is reduced to a slippery mess on the floor.
The horrid creature is fairly quick, and before you can get a grip on the borbarad worm, it has disappeared through a crack in the floor.
You open the urn, and a borbarad worm comes crawling out and across your hand towards Rohezal’s mouth.
Do you:
Watch and laugh
Squash the vermin
Accompanied by your laughter, the borbarad worm crawls into Rohezal’s mouth. You can’t imagine why the mage is looking so aghast.
You swipe the borbarad worm off Rohezal’s face. It falls to the floor, where a quick step turns it into a slimy mess.
Carefully, you put down the urn and free Rohezal. He thanks you and picks up the urn to prevent further evil.
All around you, everything starts to whirl around in a frenzy. You are completely disoriented. When the movement stops, you appear to be in a totally different corridor, but even so, you recognize the corridor you came in through right behind you. There can be no doubt of that. “Now what?” asks [Hero], somewhat puzzled.
You risk a few cautious steps into the giant cavern. Right away, a maroon-colored borbarad worm comes charging towards you screeching loudly.
“Rondra, be with us! That must be the queen!” shouts [Hero] while preparing to fight.
This incline, too, is so steep that you slide helplessly down after just a few steps.
“The queen is through there! I can sense her.” The forboding appearance of the entrance does seem to have at least some effect on [Hero].
“We managed to fight the queen.” said [Hero] with great relief. “We can inform Rohezahl and his companions that the shrink spell is no longer necessary.”
The wall is constructed entirely of crystals in which your bodies reflect hundreds of times and causes bizarre reflections.
Something is stirring within the wall crystals.
First, your mirror image starts to develop a life of its own, moving independently of,. Then, [Hero] sees the figure strain towards the surface of the crystals. Slowly, it seeps through the surface until it is standing right in front of [Hero].
After a quick glance around, your double attacks!
Something is stirring within the wall crystals.
First, you notice your mirror images starting to move by themselves regardless of what you do. Then, you see them press against the crystal surfaces as if they were window panes. Slowly, they seep through until they are standing right in front of you.
After a short moment of hesitation, your doubles attack!