You look through the shattered gate outside. Do you want to leave the mine?
There are some broken tools on the shelves. When you take a closer look at the pieces, you notice dwarvish names carved into the wood.
The shelves contain boxes with silver ore. However, the silver content of the ore is so small that it wouldn’t justify lugging those rocks around.
At the far end of the room, three ogres get up. Apparently, they were taking a break while trying to bash in the metal door. Now they stand in front of you, hunched over because of the low ceiling. Their warhammers at the ready, they hiss at you in a decidedly threatening manner.
The ogres did a thorough job here. All the weapons and armor have been bashed to bits. A truly vicious piece of work.
The ogres did quite a job here. All the arms and armor are shattered. That is… wait a minute! They did overlook something! [Hero] notices an intact and beautifully crafted war axe and pockets it.
The ashes in the forge are cold. Obviously there hasn’t been any fire for days.
Do you want to sift through the ashes?
All right, who feels the need to get down and dirty?
[Hero] finds a hollow under the ashes, where someone has hidden a metal weapon. [Hero] pulls it out, dusts,self off, and cleans the weapon for a closer look.
“A sledgehammer,” states [Hero] and puts it into his/her pack with an unmistakable look of avarice.
Under the ash heap, [Hero] can feel a heavy hammer. But, despite his/her best efforts, [Hero] cannot pull it free. “As if it had grown roots,” [Hero] complains.
As if things weren’t bad enough already, [Hero] also cuts,self on some sharp pieces of rusty metal beneath the ashes.
Angrily, [Hero], who is thoroughly dirty by now, shouts: “Damn it to the Halls of Boron! I look like a Tobrian charcoal burner with nothing to show for it!”
In some crates on the lower shelves, lumps of ore are waiting to be processed. Further up, there are finished goods:
sword blades, spear points and axe blades.
Also, you find:
Well, you can’t expect the table manners of an Almadan noble from a bunch of marauding orcs:
all the dishes are broken, and the table is covered with leftover food and pools of spilled wine (or is it blood?). Orcs are lying around and sitting slumped over on the benches about the table. You can’t tell whether they’re just asleep or maybe dead.
Do you want to:
check the blackpelts out
or sneak past them
The moment [Hero] touches one of the orcs to go through his pockets, the blackpelt opens his eyes. [Hero] jolts back and inadvertently pulls the orc off the bench. He hits the floor with a loud thump and shouts something unintelligible.
Five more orcs wake up und go for their weapons. You also hear hasty steps from one of the corridors.
[Hero] takes a wrong step and bumps into one of the orcs… who falls to the floor with a tremendous clanking of armor. His eyes open wide, and he gives an almighty shout.
The ashes in the fireplace are cold. There can’t have been any fire in here for days! A number of heavy cauldrons hangs from the ceiling, all of them dark with soot and quite empty.
Do you want to sift through the ashes?
And who’s going to do that?
Disgusted, [Hero] stops and looks down at his/her dirty clothes:
“Will you take a look at that! I could pass for an ogre like this. And nothing at all to show for it!”
The legs of a dwarf stick out from the water barrel. Presumably, he drowned while the orcs were torturing him.
Do you pull him out?
[Hero] grabs the body’s legs and pulls it out. The dead dwarf is horrid to look at… his face has been eaten away by small scavengers. [Hero] takes one look and starts to get ill.
On the second try, [Hero] manages to pull the dwarf clear and lays him on the floor. There, you examine the body a bit closer.
You are standing over the dwarven corpse, and, gathering all your self-control, you examine it.
“Say, how come he drowned with his mouth closed?” [Hero] notices all of a sudden. “Could he be trying to hide something?” With a look of utter disgust and a lot of effort,[Hero] pries the dead dwarf’s jaws open. Inside the mouth,![Hero] finds a small key.
“That key must be extremely important, if the dwarf was willing to give his life to protect it,” muses 1[Hero].
“Uggh! That’s disgusting!” [Hero] groans, fighting off nausea.
The more sensitive among you find the decaying and partly eaten body of the dwarf too horrid to look at. They get, ah, visibly ill.
The dead dwarf you pulled from the barrel before is lying on the ground here.
Everything on this table is shattered.
The shelves are full of the sad remains of several broken jugs.
[Hero] tries to reassemble the shards, but after a while, [Hero] realizes it’s a wasted effort, and gives up in frustration.
In a corner, you come across the contents of one smashed jug, which [Hero] has no trouble identifying as Joruga roots.
“Guess the orcs didn’t like the taste,” [Hero] states drily.
The shelves are covered with shards of what apparently used to be jugs.
Nothing is left of their contents.
On the lowest shelf, there’s a whole box of fish that hasn’t even been touched. Seems like the intruders didn’t care for the taste.
In front of the intact cask of wine, two dead orcs are sprawled on the floor with an empty expression on their faces. The cask is empty. “There’s something to be said for moderation,” says [Hero] and examines the bodies without finding anything.
but a few copper bits
The wine casks have been smashed. It is impossible to tell whether it happened before or after the attack.
The barrels are filled with water, fairly stale water at that. Do you want to drink it anyhow?
You’ve definitely tasted better water than this, but it does quench your thirst.
Who would have thought that dwarves have such luxurious bedsteads?! Still, it’s not for nothing: the “dwarven treasure troves” are legendary, but the “dwarven bedsteads” are not. You find nothing of value.
“Those orcs must have been so frustrated when they found nothing to smash in here!” [Hero] states drily.
“Doesn’t work. The lock must have some kind of magic protection!” says [Hero] and gives up trying.
The shelves contain thoroughly uninteresting tomes on mining, stuff like an 800-page study on “The Consistency of Brick”.
“There’s a hole in the back wall of the shelves!” [Hero] shouts excitedly. And indeed, you notice a hole about the size of a finger.
Do you want to:
You’re again at the shelves where a hole sinks into the back wall.
Do you want to:
Look through
Put something in
Hit the wall
If there’s another room behind here, it must be dark in there. You can’t see a thing.
“Let’s try that metal cross thing,” [Hero] says, struck with an idea.
It fits perfectly into the opening. You turn the crossbar until the shelf wall gives a jolt and swings back.
“I doubt we have the means necessary,” says [Hero].
“Our equipment isn’t suited for it,” states [Hero]. “We have nothing that would fit into the hole.”
After several heavy blows, [Hero] realizes the utter futility of his/her efforts. Looks like there’s a solid wall behind the shelves after all.
There are a number of books on the shelves. According to the titles, all of them have to do with mining. The orcs apparently showed little interest in them. Do you want to examine them a bit closer?
[Hero] finds an interesting text with the title:
“”.
Doors and Portals and How to Carve Their Frames - Part 4
The Dwarven Kings Since the Rule of Andrasch, Son of Anthax
Finding Your Way Underground
The Composition of Soil
Traps and Dangers Below the Surface
Speak and Write Well in Rogolan
You find nothing else of interest.
A dead dwarf leans his back against the wall.
He is dressed in finery, but his cheeks are sunken. “The poor guy must have starved to death in here,” pities [Hero] and starts to examine the body. “Probably locked himself in here to protect his gold,” [Hero] declares and pulls a bag of almost 70^Ducats from the dwarf’s clothes.
When you approach the table, you see a sheet of parchment and a tipped-over ink bottle. [Hero] picks up the sheet and reads:
[Hero] looks into the chest and lets out a scream of rage. “That demented fool has ripped up all the records!”
[Hero] leaps over to the dead dwarven noble and shakes the corpse. “What in the Halls did you have to do that for?” [Hero] shouts at the deceased. It takes a while for, to recover his/her calm.
The entire chest is filled with scraps of paper and parchment. Do you want to try to piece them together?
Want to pick up some more scraps and try to make some sense of them?
Well, well. With quite a bit of luck, admittedly, you find a few scraps that form intelligible sentences after they were pieced together:
Quite a pity, really, but you can’t find enough connecting pieces to make any sense of the scraps.
All you find in this chest are tiny paper scraps of no use to anyone anymore.
On the table lies an open book listing the daily events in the dwarven mine. You read:
“Today, we came upon a statue in the northeast - in the middle of the rock, a statue, totally surrounded by stone. Radomil sent us back immediately with orders to stop mining there. He told us to continue work in the south, where the rock contains more ore.”
Do you want to spend more time reading?
After reading on for some hours (you’d need days for the entire book), the story appears to be as follows:
The dwarves were led into these hills by their duke, Radomil. His followers were quite disappointed to find no real mountains here, and their mood darkened even further when they didn’t find any large veins of ore even after months of mining. Despite that, Radomil insisted they continue looking.
When a tunnel in the southwest area of the mine caved in about a year ago, seven dwarves were buried under the rock. Since then, the area has been given a wide berth, as their ghosts are said to haunt it. Every now and then since the cave-in, dwarves have disappeared without trace. It is thought they left the mine to seek their fortune somewhere else.
After the statue in the rock had been found, the first news about the gathering orcs arrived. A certain Manresh built a horde of orcs under his leadership that was superior to the dwarves in number. First attacks could be stopped, and the dwarves started to fortify the mine entrances. The orcs tried in vain to break through.
The book ends on an entry about the orcs and some ogres marching against the entrance.
The diary is still on the table.
Do you want to take another look at it?
“Nothing of interest left in there,” [Hero] growls.
The shelves are empty. But [Hero] says: “Take a look at those boards. See, how they’re sagging? They must have held something really heavy.”
The shelves are empty.
There seems to be nothing on the shelves, on looking more carefully you will see a single sheet of parchment listing the yield of one day. It is, ah, underwhelming.
Must be real fun, rummaging in strange beds. Mind you, you don’t come up with anything.
The shelves are empty. Either the contents were hidden away before the attack, or the intruders took it.
The chest is open and empty.
“Hold on there!” shouts [Hero]. “The bottom inside is way too high.”
“There must be a secret compartment underneath,” [Hero] explains.
“There’s got to be a way to get this thing to open,” growls [Hero] in anger. But [Hero] just can’t find any opening mechanism. Then, [Hero] starts hitting the chest, until [Hero] is hurt by a splinter that sinks itself into his/her hand.
[Hero] feels around inside the chest: “The bottom is absolutely smooth. The compartment must be opened from the outside. Let’s see…”
[Hero] slides his/her hands across the outside of the chest. Then, [Hero] lifts it up. Underneath, [Hero] finds a small hook with a tiny needle right above it.
With a delicate touch, [Hero] manages to pull on the hook without touching the needle. Immediately, the bottom of the chest flips open.
When [Hero] pulls at the hook, the needle scratches his/her skin, but the bottom of the chest does flip open. [Hero] is so pleased with that [Hero] totally forgets about his/her wounded hand.
[Hero] pulls at the hook with such an eagerness that [Hero] breaks it off, brutally scratching,self on the needle in the process. The chest’s bottom gets stuck and cannot be opened, but serves to catch the stream of blood flowing from your hand.
The hook is broken, and the inside bottom lid is stuck. Nothing to be done about that, I’m afraid.
They’re doubledecker bunk beds. The lower bed is empty. The only way to check out the top one is by climbing up there.
Do you want to:
Climb up
Take a nap
Keep on walking
You find R.
You throw a glance at the upper bed and see that it is empty, too.
“Well, hello there! If it isn’t Ducats,” [Hero] calls out joyfully.
The upper bed is empty, too.
Just as [Hero] reachs the edge of the upper bunk, [Hero] slips and drops back down… an uncomfortable landing.
You choose guards, remove your heavy armor, and lie down for a nap.
Mind you, the beds were made for dwarf-size occupants. You don’t get much relaxation out of it.
The shelves have been thoroughly looted.
You find several orcs asleep in the beds.
Do you want to:
Sneak back out into the hallway
Overpower the orcs
Or search the room
You charge up to the first bed and knock out the orc lying there, but at that moment, the others wake up and grab their weapons.
You move further inside the room. Suddenly, one of the orcs turns over and falls out of bed with a resounding “thump”. That’s enough to wake up the rest of them. Seeing you, they all jump up and attack.
“Let’s see if blackpelt here has something to tell us,” says [Hero] and shakes the unconscious orc. He slowly comes to. When he sees your questioning faces, he starts to talk:
“Ah, you will suffer mightily! Manresh is waiting… He shall kill you… just like the beardnoses.”
After that, the orc collapses with exhaustion.
Try as you might, you don’t understand a single word of his throaty orc language.
After a while, the orc collapses with exhaustion.
There’s an unconscious orc on the bed.
The shelves have been utterly plundered.
There’s a slightly dented pot helm on the shelf.
Do you want to take it?
The shelves are empty.
The shelves have been ransacked.
The bed is empty and far too small to sleep in.
[Hero] finds a small bag nearly bursting with tiny stone balls. Hm. It seems of no conceivable value to you, so you leave it behind.
Searching the bed, [Hero] suddenly puts his/her hand into something squishy. [Hero] lifts the blanket and drops it again right away. Putting his/her hands behind his/her back, he announces: “This is the bed of a small dwarven child. It was at most three years of age… and not toilet trained!” Respectfully, everybody else takes a step back from [Hero] (and the smell surrounding,).
There are small wooden axes, picks and shovels on the floor.
You are standing in front of a wooden horse on rockers.
Playfully, [Hero] jumps onto the saddle. “I used to have one of these,” [Hero] shouts excitedly. But this rocking horse was made for riders of far lighter build, and it cannot support 1 weight. With a loud crash, it collapses. “Made of wood and yet so cheap!” sulks [Hero].
“Aren’t you ashamed of yourself, breaking other little children’s toys?” asks[Hero] with a laugh.
[Hero] would love to go for a ride on the wooden horse, but [Hero] manages to control,self.
You’re standing in front of the broken remains of a wooden rocking horse. “What a pity! I would have enjoyed playing with it for a bit,” says [Hero] in disappointment.
Suddenly, [Hero] stops and points at a side strut with some deep notches.
“Someone has worked this beam over with an axe.”
“And that one up ahead as well,” [Hero] adds.
“If we go any further, the whole ceiling is going to come down right on top of us,” prophecies [Hero]. “Let’s see how solid those beams really are.”
[Hero] grabs a beam and gives it a strong pull.
When the beam breaks, the tunnel ahead of you collapses with a tremendous roar. Fortunately, you manage to step back in time. Only [Hero], who pulled on the strut, caught a few scratches.
“Now we can’t explore that cave,” complains [Hero].
Then, [Hero] discovers a small crack halfway up leading in the same direction as the tunnel did.
Should [Hero] try to go further there?
“Now we can’t explore that cave any more,” complains [Hero].
Suddenly you discover a small crack halfway up leading to the direction of the old tunnel.
Do you try to go further there?
[Hero] is back at the collapsed tunnel with its small passage.
Should [Hero] try to go further there?
You’re back at the collapsed tunnel with its small passage.
Do you want to try to go further there?
One after another, with a bit of distance between each of you, you crawl through the opening.
“That’s the end of the cave-in,” signals [Hero] and starts the climb down.
Yelling loudly, a horde of orcs charges around the corner and blocks the passage.
[Hero] reaches the end of the cave-in and climbs down. All of a sudden, a horde of orcs comes charging around the corner.
Do you want to go back?
Around the next curve, a staircase leads down. Do you want to go downstairs?
“I greet you, Radomil.
I am pleased to see you have finally found entry to the ancient passageways. But beware of the traps when you go further.”
“My subjects grow increasingly restive. But I am making progress with the mystery. Tonight I visited the statue with Nombosch. He answered the first question with yes, and the statue incinerated him with a beam of fire from its eyes. I put his remains…”
“The orcs in this area behave in a very peculiar way.
More and more, I can see their leaders display remarkable cunning, while the common troops are as stupid as ever. One of the leaders even addressed me in Bosparan just a while back. Would you believe it? Watch out for them!
Abelmir.”
“Greetings, Radomil.
I forgot to mention that you should be careful with the ‘book’. Best you bring it to me unopened.
K.”
“Watch out for Manresh. He is far too clever for it to be natural.
K.”
Do you want to go upstairs?
[Hero] has just stepped out into the corridor when [Hero] believes to hear something and stops abruptly.
You have just stepped out into the corridor when [Hero] seems to hear something and stops abruptly. [Hero] signals for you to be quiet.
Obviously an orc patrol is approaching, as you hear steps and orcs’ grunting. You immediately press your backs against the wall as tight as possible.
Two drunken orcs come around the corner dragging a dead dwarf. The orcs drag the dwarf to the end of the corridor where the ground slopes steeply downwards. Roaming rowdily and laughing, they take the dead dwarf and throw him down the slope.
One orc turns and sees you. In alarm, he totters backwards on the slope. As he falls, he tries to grab on to his friend. The result is that both fall over the edge with a loud cry.
“I didn’t get everything the orcs said,” [Hero] translates. “But they said there won’t be anything left of the dwarf but skin and bones soon. And when they dumped him down the hole, they talked about monsters.”
There’s a chute leading down in front of you. It’s too dark to see where it ends.
Do you want to:
Slide down, all of you
Try to climb down slowly
Throw down a torch or something
Ignore it and walk on
One by one, you climb onto the chute and slide away. Down at the end, you land on a pile of dead orcs and dwarves.
[Hero] climbs onto the chute and slides away. Down at the end, [Hero] lands on a pile of dead orcs and dwarves.
[Hero] however, is hurt… landing on a weapon you threw down there before.
Suddenly, the ground at the far end of the cave starts to move.
You take a closer look and see that it’s not the ground itself that’s moving…
[Hero] screams in terror: “Spiders! There are spiders everywhere! We’re all going to die!”
“We’ve done it,” announces [Hero], gasping. But his/her relief was premature - more spiders come crawling from webs and holes on the far wall.
[Hero] climbs onto the chute and starts climbing on down. Suddenly, [Hero] slips on the trail of blood left by the orcs’ unlucky fall. With a dull thud [Hero] lands on their dead bodies.
Are you going to help [Hero]?
Who’s going to throw down something?
What is [Hero] going to throw?
“No, it’s a pity to throw f away,” says [Hero]
[Hero] throws the burning torch down the chute. It slides along, and after quite a while, it reaches the floor of a room containing some dead orcs. You see a shadow moving away from the light.
[Hero] throws the burning torch down the chute. It slides along, and after quite a while, it falls to the floor of a room containing the bodies of dead orcs.
If you wanted to see something, you should have LIT the torch.
[Hero] carefully sets the lantern onto the chute. It careens down, hits a wall and breaks.
[Hero] carefully sets the lantern onto the chute. It careens down, hits a wall and goes out.
[Hero] puts the flask onto the chute and let it go. Far below, it hits the ground and explodes with a bright flame. Beside some dead orcs, you see the shadow of a spider running away.
[Hero] puts the flask onto the chute and lets go. Far below, it hits the ground and explodes with a bright flame. You notice some dead orcs lying on the floor.
[Hero] puts the light wand onto the chute. After a long slide, it falls onto the floor of a room below. At the edge of the light, you notice a shadow hurrying away.
[Hero] places the light wand onto the chute. After a long slide, it finally drops upon the bodies of some dead orcs.
[Hero] puts r onto the chute. Halfway down, [Hero] hits a wall and breaks.
[Hero] throws r down the chute. After a while, you hear a dull clanging noise as it hits bottom.
Want to try to climb up the chute?
Who’ll climb up?
[Hero] takes the rope and, with an eager leap, jumps up the chute.
With a spirited leap, [Hero] jumps up the chute.
With a spirited leap, [Hero] jumps up the chute, but [Hero] makes a wrong move and loses his/her grip. [Hero] slides off and hits the chute hard with - elbow.
On a particularly slippery spot of the chute, [Hero] loses his/her footing, but steadies,self at the last moment.
On a particularly slippery spot of the chute, [Hero] loses his/her footing and falls. [Hero] careens back down and hits the ground hard. [Hero]’s hurt his/her knee.
In this spot, the rock surface of the chute has some cracks making it easy for [Hero] to climb.
Despite some cracks in the rock surface here, [Hero] slips and is cut by the sharp rock edges. Fortunately,, barely manages to hang on and continues to climb.
[Hero] reaches a large pool of blood. Even though the climb is particularly difficult here because of its sickly presence, [Hero] gets across safely.
When [Hero] suddenly steps into a large pool of blood that makes the floor very slippy. [Hero] slips and slides down a bit.
[Hero] sees the end of the chute up ahead. With one last mighty heave, [Hero] pull up over the edge.
[Hero] can already see the goal up ahead, when suddenly something cuts right into % hand - it’s a glass shard. [Hero] lets go and slips back down.
[Hero] throws the rope back down so the rest of you have no problems reaching the top of the chute.
You haven’t even reached the door when it opens abruptly. Several orcs step through.
“This sort of mess isn’t like the dwarves at all,” says [Hero]. There are tools lying around all over the place, and a battered cart with rocks stands right in the middle of the mess.
“They must have been working when they were attacked,” [Hero] muses.
“Don’t you remember the diary?
The dwarves were to mine to the south after finding the statue.”
Do you want to take some tools along?
[Hero] looks at the scene and says:
“See the lichen and moss on those rocks? They must have collapsed quite some time ago.”
Do you feel like giving those rocks a closer look?
Abruptly, [Hero] steps back with a jolt.
“By the Gods! There’s someone lying under the rocks!”
Do you:
You’re back at the rock that covers someone or something’s legs.
Do you want to:
Check it out
Cast a spell
Leave the dead to rest in peace
“Are you seriously suggesting we offend Boron?!” [Hero] speaks up. “I, for one, won’t have anything to do with that!”
[Hero] turns around and leaves.
Want to carry on anyway?
“Hold on, [Hero]! Stay here, we won’t touch the body,”[Hero] shouts after [Hero]. [Hero] turns around again and comes back, obviously relieved.
The moment [Hero] touches one of the legs, the rocks start to move. Some of them fall away and reveal the dusty face of a dead dwarf.
“It’s the seven ghostly dwarves! The ones who where buried alive and have been haunting this place ever after!” [Hero] screams in panic.
A final jolt shakes the rocks, and the dwarves are free.
You have hardly slain the last of the dwarves when their bodies crumble away to dust. As if by magic, the rocks gather back together until they appear exactly the same as they did before, when you entered this room. Even the dead dwarf’s legs are back.
Who will cast the spell?
What spell will [Hero] cast?
The lock is open, however, the door cannot be opened.
It’s strange, but the door cannot be opened.
The table is flooded with a dark fluid, and some plates of food float inside the pool. It looks quite awful. But, the fluid turns out to be wine, not blood. There’s a red pool of it beneath the table, too.
The table is flooded with a dark fluid, and some plates of food float inside the pool. It looks quite awful. But the fluid turns out to be wine, not blood. There’s a red pool of it beneath the table, too.
Do you want to sate your hunger anyway?
The food tastes better than it looks, but that doesn’t take much, unfortunately. Everything is suffused with the sour taste of spilled wine.
Some of the food here is a bit more appetizing.
Nothing to be found here but spoiled, moldy leftovers.
A giant slab of wood with a black painted circle in its center leans against the wall. There are a lot of deep cuts in the wood, most of them near the middle of the circle.
You’re standing in front of a giant slab of wood that bears a lot of deep cuts. “I guess the dwarves practiced axe throwing on that,” [Hero] muses.
A giant slab of wood with a black painted circle in its center leans against the wall. There are a lot of deep cuts in the wood, most of them near the middle of the circle. Three heavy axes are stuck in the slab close to the edge.
Do you want to:
Try your skills in axe throwing
Take the axes
Walk on
“All right, from five paces,” [Hero] decides and pulls the axes free.
[Hero] weighs the axes for balance. “Childs play”, [Hero] says and starts throwing.
The first axe hits the target handle-first and drops to the floor.
The second one buries itself in the soft rock next to the target with a grating noise.
That can’t be good for your self-esteem.
[Hero] whirls one of the axes through the air. It hits a place off the circle and sinks into the wood.
Axe number two hits the slab no more than one hand away, but it does so at a slant and drops to the ground.
“At least I got one into the wood,” [Hero] states defiantly.
[Hero] balances every axe carefully before throwing and takes a long time for each throw, with great success. One axe hits about one hand off the circle, and the second one touches it on the edge.
[Hero] judges the balance of both axes first. Then, [Hero] throws them in rapid succession. Both axes cut a notch into the edge of the target circle. That’s going to increase your throwing skills even more.
“Now that it’s obvious I’m the best axe thrower here, I should be taking these, I think,” [Hero] states with an air of sudden confidence.
“Not much fun on your own,” [Hero] thinks and leaves the axes where they are.
There’s nothing here but empty pitchers, boxes, bowls and buckets.
The shelves are filled with pitchers and flasks of various sizes.
Do you want to check their contents?
“Hold on, there’s a bag down there that’s not quite empty,” [Hero] notices.
And indeed you find three Shurin bulbs.
The water in this barrel is clear and sweet smelling.
How about a drink?
You quench your thirst with the refreshing water and fill your waterskins as well.
Aah. The water tastes as good as it looks.
Someone must have burst this barrel.
The water in this barrel is so clear you can see right to the bottom. “Wait a minute, there’s something down there,” [Hero] calls out. You look and notice a small box at the bottom of the barrel.
Do you want to try and get it out?
How about a drink then?
And how do you propose to do that?
Make a hole for the water to run off
Try and fish the box out
Climb into the barrel and lift it out
With a few heavy blows, [Hero] busts a hole into the barrel, and the water runs out. Your feet get soaked, but then the water finds some crack in the floor and runs off. Without any further problems, you take the box out.
“Let me have a go,” says [Hero] and sits on the edge of the barrel. [Hero] throws down a fishing line and tries to hook the box. After a good half hour… and several temper tantrums when the hook slips off just before the box is in reach… [Hero] actually manages to pull it out of the water.
“That’s not going to work without a fishing line,” says [Hero].
So, who’ll climb into the cold water?
[Hero] climbs onto the edge of the barrel and slowly slides down into the icy water until just 1_ head remains above the surface. Taking a deep breath, [Hero] dives, grasps the box and comes up again. Then, [Hero] climbs from the barrel and wrings 1 soaking clothes.
[Hero] turns the box in both hands. By mistake, it slips and falls. Hitting the ground, the lid pops open, and a ring, a gold chain and a gold armband fall out.
You find large chisels and other cutting tools. Unfortunately, nothing here is of any use to you… unless you’re planning on a career in ore mining, that is.
You find empty wooden carts and pulleys. Unfortunately, nothing here is of any use to you.
[Hero] falls to the floor in a dead faint.
[Hero] sniffs around and says: “There’s a strange smell in the air here. We’d better leave!”
Only a few dispersed bones indicate that you defeated the skeleton warrior.
There is a dead body in front of you. Actually, it’s no more than a skeleton by now. It’s wearing extremely well preserved chainmail and a finely crafted sword showing no signs of rust despite the high humidity.
As [Hero] reaches for its weapons, the skeleton comes back to its dead-life and reforms its clattering bones.
Once again, the skeleton gets up as you reaches for its weapons.
“The dwarves hit a different rock strata here. The walls have a different color, and they feel smoother, too,” [Hero] says and runs his/her hand along the rock. “Look, there! A broken stone cutter.” [Hero] points to a metal bar thick as an arm jutting out from the stone.
Do you want to:
Pull the tool from the wall
Hammer it in all the way
Walk on
[Hero] grasps the end of the stone cutter with both hands and pulls with all his/her might, but without any success. Then [Hero] tries twisting it, with exactly the same result.
“I guess, the dwarves had a reason to leave it in there,” [Hero] says, frustrated. “They couldn’t budge it either.”
“No use trying that without decent equipment. We’d need something like a sledgehammer!” says [Hero].
[Hero] takes the warhammer and, with one mighty blow, [Hero] drives the stone cutter deep into the rock. The second blow goes wide, but with the third blow, the end of the metal bar disappears inside the wall.
“At least no one’s going to hurt themselves on that thing now, even if that’s all it did,” [Hero] states with a hint of frustration
“I was hoping for a secret door or something.”
You’re back at the hard rock strata even the dwarves couldn’t mine through.
“The dwarves hit a different rock strata here. You can feel the difference,” [Hero] says and runs his/her hand along the wall.
“It seems much harder.”
Just as you want to go round the corner, you hear a horrible moan. You sneak a look and see a grievously wounded, wide shouldered orc crawling towards you.
Are you going to:
Surprise the orc and kill him
Overpower the orc and question him
Leave him to crawl on
You barge around the bend, and before the orc has time to realize what’s happening, he’s on the road to his God, Tairach.
Apart from three gold Ducats, there’s nothing of interest to be found on his body.
You barge around the corner, and the orc is overpowered before he even has time to realize what’s happening.
While you search him and take the three Ducats he’s carrying, he alternately mocks and threats you:
“Manresh is waiting down there to kill you all. You’re all going to die! If you ever get that far!”
More to himself than to any of you he murmurs: “Traps, traps everywhere! They’re all dead.”
With a groan, he dies.
While you search him and take the three Ducats he’s carrying, he starts to complain in Orcish. You don’t care since you don’t understand what he’s saying anyway. With a final snort, he dies.
The orc crawls just a few more paces before he collapses and dies.
When you check his body, you find three gold Ducats.
There’s an orc on the ground in front of you. He has crossbow and stabbing wounds.
You wisely assume that’s probably the reason he’s dead.
Carefully, [Hero] climbs into the water. It is icy and about knee-deep. Suddenly, [Hero] sees a shadow shooting towards, beneath the surface. Immediately, [Hero] jumps back out. [Hero] watches the water suspiciously, but everything appears calm. Could [Hero] have been imagining things?
Do you proceed?
In the water, something nicks!your leg. When![Hero] lifts it, a cave leech the size of an arm is hanging from it. Frightened,[Hero] tries to shake it off, but it just holds on tighter.
What’s![Hero] going to do?
Grab the leech and yank it off
Bear the pain and wait for it to drop off
[Hero] grabs the slimy cave dweller and, with one strong pull, rips it off!his/her leg - along with a piece of flesh!
With a face contorted in pain and gritting!his/her teeth,[Hero] waits for the leech to finish its meal and drop off of!,.
“What’s that glittering down there?” asks [Hero], putting a hand into the water and pulling up a two-handed sword. The well-crafted weapon has a handle set with diamonds. It is remarkably light.
Do you want to go back to the previous floor?
Abruptly, the floor gives way under your. “A pit trap,” is his/her last thought before being impaled on one of the pointed stakes below.
“Hold on! Stop!” shouts [Hero]… apparently for no reason. “Look at the floor. The slab right in front of us is clean, but those beside it are bloodstained.”
“And there’s a seam running down the middle of the slab! That’s guaranteed to be a trap,” adds [Hero].
[Hero] moves just a tiny bit onto the slab where [Hero] discovers a hook linked to a spring. If a weight is put on the slab, the spring is depressed, and the hook slides free.
After a number of tries, [Hero] pulls the hook free without dropping into the pit that becomes all too visible as the two sides of the floor fall away. Below, the floor is covered with pointed stakes, pools of blood visible between them.
After several unsuccessful tries, [Hero] at last manages to pull the hook free. The sides of the slab drop away, and with a bemused expression, [Hero] plunges into the pit.
The floor is covered with pointed stakes. [Hero] is skewered by one of them.
The floor of the pit is covered with pointed stakes. [Hero] glances off one in the fall and is severely wounded.
The floor of the pit is covered with pointed stakes, but [Hero] gets lucky and falls to the ground between them.
Suddenly, the floor gives way beneath your feet, and you are dropped into a pit filled with long, pointed stakes.
[Hero] can’t evade the bolts in time and gets skewered by whole bunch of them.
“Say, what are those holes in the wall?” asks [Hero]. [Hero] points to a large number of small depressions. The holes are hidden among the wall’s irregularities with such skill that you didn’t notice them before.
“Stay back!” orders[Hero]. “It’s a crossbow trap.”
Gingerly, [Hero] puts a finger down one of the holes and touches a sharp metal point. “Just as I thought,” [Hero] says satisfied. Carefully, [Hero] waves his/her arms in front of the holes, but nothing happens.
Cautiously, [Hero] moves on. A slightly protruding floor tile becomes his/her doom! With a metallic screech, about twenty bolts shoot out of the holes and, by their sheer momentum, slam, against the opposite wall.
Bolts sticking out of, all over his/her body, [Hero] lies on the floor and comes crawling back, moaning in pain. When [Hero] touches the tile again, another salvo of crossbow bolts slice through the air above, and drop off the wall. [Hero] kicks the tile a few more times, but nothing happens.
friend
friend
Hit by the bolts, [Hero] is lies on the floor showing no signs of life.[Hero] musters all!1_ courage and crawls out to the wounded. While doing so,![Hero] touches the tile, and another salvo of crossbow bolts shoots out and slams into the wall above the two.[Hero] kicks the tile several times more, but nothing happens. It seems now you can take care of [Hero].
Skewered with crossbow bolts, your dead body lies on the floor. Overcome with grief,[Hero] runs out to your body and triggers the trap a second time. At the last possible moment,![Hero] recovers and throws!,self to the floor, avoiding your fate. Triggering the bolts while lying there, eventually the bolts stop firing.![Hero] finally reaches your body.
Then, [Hero] lies down on the floor and notices a tile about a thumb’s breadth higher than the rest. “That’ll be the trigger,” [Hero] assumes, and hits it without getting up. With a metallic screech, about twenty crossbow bolts shoot out above his/her head and hit the far wall.
[Hero] stands up and is about to walk past the trap, when [Hero]’s suddenly hit by an awful thought.
“What if the trap has more than one charge?”
[Hero] drops back to the floor and kicks the tile. And, indeed, another salvo of bolts hits the opposite wall. [Hero] repeats the exercise several more times, but nothing happens. Finally, [Hero] gets up and walks across.
[Hero] gets up and says: “So much for that.”
But as [Hero] walks on, a second salvo shoots out and slams, against the wall fueled by its sheer momentum.
[Hero] triggers the trap several more times, but nothing happens. Finally, [Hero] crosses the dangerous spot.
Abruptly, a floor tile gives way under your steps, and from several holes cleverly hidden along the irregular surface of the tunnel wall, a salvo of crossbow bolts shoots out.
“Down!” yells [Hero]. You drop to the floor, and indeed, a second salvo skewers the air above your heads and hits into the wall opposite. [Hero] triggers the trap several times more, but nothing happens.
“Holes in the wall again,” shouts [Hero]. “We’re on the other side of the crossbow trap now, and it probably works both ways.”
[Hero] drops to his/her knees and examines the floor. Here, too, [Hero] finds a floor tile, protruding somewhat above the others, that can be depressed - but nothing happens.
“Stop, hold it,” cautions [Hero]. [Hero] puts a finger down the first of the holes and touches a sharp metal point. “I thought as much,” [Hero] triumphs.
Carefully, your eyes scan the hallway ahead, then[Hero] shouts: “There’s a tripwire across the way, at medium height.”
“We should remove the wire and defuse the trap,” [Hero] suggests and cuts it without triggering the crossbows.
“All right then,” says [Hero] and walks on the stone tile. But with one of his/her next steps, [Hero] tears a tripwire.
A salvo of bolts sirrs through the air and takes, down.
Suddenly, [Hero] steps on a stone tile that gives under - weight. [Hero] stops and notices a row of small holes in the wall beside,.
“Phew, that was close,” [Hero] sighs and takes a deep breath of relief. As [Hero] continues on his/her way, [Hero] hits and tears a tripwire drawn across the tunnel.
A salvo of bolts shoots out from the holes and takes, down.
[Hero] hears a sound from above. When [Hero] looks up, [Hero] sees a block of stone dropping down but [Hero] has no time to jump clear and is squashed.
[Hero] stops and lifts his/her arm in warning.
“I don’t like the looks of that block of stone up there!” [Hero] points at the ceiling which was quite smooth up to this point. But here, a slightly misaligned block of stone is visible above you.
[Hero] takes a run-up and sprints across. When [Hero] is exactly underneath it, the block of stone falls from the ceiling.
With a mighty leap, [Hero] jumps to avoid the path of the falling stone block.
[Hero] immediately dives for safety, but even so, the stone catches, on the leg. Still, [Hero] is lucky, and the leg isn’t smashed.
[Hero] hears a noise from above. Immediately, [Hero] dives forward, out of the way of a large block of stone crashing down. [Hero] makes it, too, but just barely. The stone block does catch his/her leg, but it isn’t smashed. Lucky.
Looking only straight ahead without watching his/her step, [Hero] barely notices the trap when [Hero] hears a slight clicking sound from beneath his/her feet. Part of the floor falls away, and [Hero] drops down into a pit. And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, in falling, [Hero] bangs his/her head on the edge of the pit as well.
From several steps away, you notice a slighty sunken section of floor about three steps wide.
You walk up to the sunken slab and start looking for the probable trap’s trigger mechanism.
You find a hollow underneath the slab, but no mechanism that might be triggered by it.
Do you want to:
Once more, you approach the trap with the missing trigger.
Do you want to:
You are still standing in front of the trap, scratching your heads.
Do you want to:
Send one of you ahead to trigger it
Trigger the trap
Balance across on the narrow ledge beside it
Cast a spell
Turn around
So, who’s going to be the sacrifice?
After a short moment of meditation and prayer for the help of the Gods, [Hero] jumps on top of the stone slab which falls away beneath,.
[Hero] loses his/her balance and cracks his/her head against the edge of the pit before dropping away.
Given that your movements currently have all the grace and fluidity of a chunk of Koshan granite, it’s hardly surprising [Hero] spectacularly fails to negotiate the narrow ledge. [Hero] thumps on top of the slab which drops away immediately. [Hero] keels over and drops down the pit. Fortunately, none of his/her petrified body parts snap off on impact, so, the damage is limited. Mind you, the pit looks much the worse.
In his/her present form, balancing along a ledge is beneath your dignity.
Instead, [Hero] takes a running leap right across the trap.
[Hero] presses up against the wall and moves along with small, careful steps.
Suddenly, [Hero] reels and puts one foot on the slab to catch,self. The slab immediately gives way! [Hero] drops down, hitting his/her head on the edge of the pit.
You press your backs against the wall and advance along the ledge with small steps sideways until you have passed the sunken section of the floor.
Who’ll cast a spell on the slab of floor?
And what spell is [Hero] going to cast?
[Hero] kneels down and lays one hand on the slab. After a moment of concentration, [Hero] speaks the spell formula and gets up again.
Gingerly, [Hero] steps on the slab.
With a jolt, the mechanism gives way, the slab drops away and [Hero] loses 1 balance. [Hero] hits his/her head on the pit ledge and falls down into it.
With a jolt, the slab sinks down a bit, but then, the magic takes hold and you’re able to safely walk across.
[Hero] kneels down and lays one hand on the slab. After a moment of concentration, [Hero] speaks the spell formula and the stone becomes soft as butter where [Hero] had touched it. When his/her hands reach the locking mechanism, the slab drops away.
Slowly, [Hero] lifts his/her arms and murmurs the spell formula. Then [Hero] lifts off the floor and sails across the trap.
But, the area of weightlessness [Hero] created must have been too small. Right above the trap, [Hero] drops like a rock. The slab falls away, and [Hero] slams his/her forehead on the edge of the pit… and hard.
Slowly, [Hero] lifts his/her arms and murmurs the spell formula. When [Hero] is done, you push off the floor and sail across the trap. By moving your arms, you manage to steer. Unharmed, you reach the other side.
[Hero] mumbles a spell formula and forms an arch with 1o arms. Immediately, a bridge of paces in length and scintillating with all the colors of the rainbow appears.
The bridge starts right in front of your feet, and ends on top of the trap. “That’s not going to work,” [Hero] is forced to admit somewhat frustrated, and you wait until the bridge has faded away.
The bridge starts right at your feet and spans the entire length of the trap. Carefully, you walk across and reach the other side.
Behind you, the bridge fades away.
The pit doesn’t look to be all that deep, so you simply climb down and then back out on the opposite side.
[Hero] checks 1o bruised body and clambers out on the far side of the pit.
[Hero] clambers out of the pit and checks 1o bruises. Since the pit isn’t all that deep, in the end, the rest of you just climb down, too, and back up again on the other side.
[Hero] clambers out on the far side of the pit and checks 1o bruises. “Come on, you wimps! That pit is only about 2 paces deep,” [Hero] says. Carefully, you climb down and back up again on the other side.
[Hero] is out for the count on the bottom of the pit. Since it is only about 2 paces deep, you simply climb down after, and heave, out on the far side.
“Ironic, isn’t it? You brave all kinds of dangers, and then you buy the farm falling into a lousy pit 2 paces deep!”[Hero] says with dismay.
You climb down into the pit to recover your body and clamber out again on the far side.
“Well, looks like someone beat us to triggering this trap,” [Hero] states sarcastically and points at an orc buried underneath a giant block of stone.
“Normally, the orcs move their dead and reset those traps,” declares [Hero]. “But they seem to have mixed up something here.” [Hero] squats down and examines the parts of the body visible from beneath the stone without finding a single thing. “Not even a clerk from the Office of Imperial Affairs in Gareth would be pedantic enough to put away all his stuff before going to get squashed!” mocks[Hero].
“Normally, the orcs move their dead and reset those traps,” declares [Hero]. “But they seem to have mixed up something here.” [Hero] squats down and examines the parts of the body visible from beneath the stone without finding a single thing.
As [Hero] steps on the next floor tile, it gives a little beneath -o feet, but nothing happens. But when [Hero] moves on and takes his/her weight off the tile, crossbow bolts shoot out from the walls behind and in front of you. You can dodge one of the bolts in front of you, but you only notice those from the back when[Hero] starts screaming.
“Damn those traps all around to Difar,” curses [Hero].
“We have to block that slab to prevent the trap being reset. I think I saw a piece of metal we could use back near that dead orc,” [Hero] says and runs back.
And indeed, there is a broken saber blade next to the block of stone which [Hero] picks up. [Hero] slides the blade underneath the tile and carefully steps on top. There is no sound indicating the trap has been reset, but even so, [Hero] jumps back, and you all drop flat on the ground. When no bolts come whizzing through the air above your heads, you get back up and continue on your way quite relieved.
When [Hero] steps on the next floor tile, it gives a little beneath -o feet, but nothing happens. But when [Hero] moves on and takes his/her weight off the tile, crossbow bolts shoot out of the walls behind and in front of you.
“Damn those traps all around to Difar,” curses [Hero].
“I’ll have to block that slab to prevent the trap being reset. Didn’t I see a piece of metal I could use back near that dead orc?” [Hero] muses and runs back to retrieve it.
And, yes, there is a broken saber blade next to the block of stone which [Hero] picks up. [Hero] slides the blade underneath the tile and carefully steps on top. There is no sound to indicate the trap has been reset, but even so, [Hero] jumps back and drops flat on the ground. When no bolts come whizzing through the air above his/her head, [Hero] gets back up and walks on quite relieved.
You come across a palmsize piece of lichen growing on the wall.
“Hey, the first sign of life in this ‘cursed’ tunnel,” [Hero] calls out joyfully.
“Lichen? In here? I don’t believe it,”[Hero] objects and takes a closer look. “That’s not lichen, that’s camouflage,”![Hero] states. “There’s a movable panel underneath.”
Do you push it?
You come across a palmsize piece of lichen growing on the wall.
“Hey, the first sign of life in this ‘cursed’ tunnel,” [Hero] calls out joyfully.
“Wait a minute. Lichen, in here? I don’t believe it,” [Hero] stops and takes a closer look. “That’s not lichen, that’s camouflage,” [Hero] finds. “There’s a movable panel underneath.”
Do you push it?
You’re back at the wall where the lichen camouflages the movable wall panel.
Do you push it?
Prepared for just about anything, [Hero] pushes the panel into the wall and immediately leaps away.
Nothing happens.
Prepared for just about anything, [Hero] pushes the panel into the wall and leaps away.
A large rock falls down from the ceiling, and it takes all of your skill to avoid it. But [Hero] does manage and just gets bruised a little.
The rock opened a hole in the ceiling through which you can see the tunnel above. It doesn’t take much of an effort to climb up.
REMISSION
In a small depression on the wall, a strange symbol can be seen. It was hewn from the stone very precisely and is surrounded by a metallic sheen.
“That’s a letter from Zhayad, the magicians’ tongue,” explains [Hero].
“Mind you, I don’t know what it means,” [Hero] adds thoughtfully.
“It should be the sign for a ‘’,” [Hero] concludes.
“Haven’t we seen that letter before? I wonder what it means?” [Hero] thinks aloud.
“That’s another ‘’,” [Hero] says with a bored expression.
An ugly mug of a face grins at you from the door. It looks almost as if someone on the other side of the door was pushing his face through the material. “What do you want?” the face asks in its distant, hollow voice.
The ugly, grinning face on the door asks in its distant, hollow voice: “What do you want?”
Do you want to:
Answer
Bash in the door
Cast a Foramen Spell
Walk on
You stand in front of the face and say with a loud voice:
Nothing happens.
“Let’s think about those letters we saw,” suggests [Hero]:
“I think that letter we saw twice could have been an ‘’,” says[Hero].
“I think that letter we saw could have been an ‘’,” says[Hero].
Who’s going to cast the spell then?
After [Hero] casts the spell, [Hero] feels the astral energy flow into the door.
The face gives, a stern look, then it grins mockingly. Apart from that, nothing happens.
When [Hero] hits the door with his/her., it appears to budge just a bit. But immediately afterwards, it’s as solid and immovable as before.
The face changes to a slight smile and then it returns to its original expression.
his/her face distorted with rage, [Hero] keeps bashing the door without any effect.
Angrily, [Hero] kicks it and bruises his/her toe.
The face nods: “And so you shall!”
The face nods: “I know!”
When you approach the statue, it talks:
“Your deeds do not correspond to your words!”
After that, nothing moves, and the door through which you entered the tunnel remains still.
“We cannot leave the book in here! The Gods know how much more trouble it could cause!” [Hero] says and refuses to budge from the spot.
“The book must not be placed in the wrong hands a second time,”[Hero] says. “We should better destroy it!”.
Do you want to comply with his request?
“Throw away this ominous book,” 1[Hero] shouts and destroys the book.
Bellowing with rage, Manresh, a giant of an orc, jumps out from behind the lectern and attacks.
In the center of the large hall, an altar hewn from solid rock rises up. It is covered with magical runes.
On top of the altar lies a skinbound book, and none of you think it’s animal skin.
It is opened to a page showing the picture of a minotaur, the demon you just fought against. Even now, you still shudder. Might this be a tome about Demonology?
Next to the picture, you see alchemistic signs, magical runes and other symbols you cannot place.
Do you want to pick up the book?
In the center of the great hall, an altar hewn from solid rock rises up. It is covered with magical runes.