Free of the weight of the metal shoes, the weight of [Hero] is not sufficient to keep his-/herself on the bottom. Should [Hero] really swim back to the surface?
Free of the weight of the metal shoes, the weight of is not sufficient to remain on the bottom. Should they swim back to the surface?
[Hero] slowly swims up to the water surface. Then [Hero] paddles on shore and waits for % companions, hoping that they will find Borbarad’s wand.
slowly swim up to the water surface. Then they paddle to the shore and wait for their companions, hoping they will find Borbarad’s wand.
Since you have not found the wand and you don’t want to face the magicians without it, you decide to try your luck somewhere where there are neither orcs nor Borbarad worms.
You grasp the lead shoes just in time to avoid rising.
You slowly swim up to the water surface with the wand. You paddle on shore and wait for the rest of your companions.
You slowly swim up to the surface with the wand and then paddle on shore.
You slowly swim up to the water surface. Then you wait for your companions to also swim up in order to bring the Borbarad wand to the magicians.
[Hero] takes off his metal shoes, but without letting them go completely. [Hero] ties a small rope on the shoes and places the other end between 1o teeth and then releases his-/herself from the shoes. [Hero] quickly glides along the wall of the ship up until [Hero] reaches the cabin and climbs in.
There is a door at the back wall without a key hole, though it does contain a blueish metal cylinder. After several unsuccessful attempts [Hero] concludes that [Hero] can’t open the door. [Hero] uses the rope to get down the shoes.
The door in the back wall of the cabinet has a blueish metal cylinder instead of a lock. Following the advice of the Nix king [Hero] takes the luminescent wand and puts it into the opening. The door swings open, stays briefly open and then swings back.
“Damm…”,[Hero]thinks. “If we go in here, we will be locked in.”
Do you want to open the door and enter the room behind the cabinet?
[Hero] pulls back down on the rope and puts -o shoes back on.
[Hero] gives the others a sign to follow,. Up on the surface, you get a good hold and then pull the shoes up using the ropes. Again, [Hero] places the luminescent wand into the opening. The door swings open and before it closes again, you slip inside.
[Hero] gets a good hold and then pulls the shoes up with a rope. Then [Hero] puts the luminescent wand into the opening. The door swings open and before it closes again, [Hero] slips through the crack.
[Hero] is now so light that [Hero] is lifting off the bottom. In the nick of time, [Hero] reaches the metal shoes and avoids rising to the surface.
are now so light that they are lifting off the bottom. In the nick of time, they can reach the metal shoes to avoid rising to the surface.
You slip out of the metal shoes and float to the ceiling, where you get a few nicks. Because you don’t see anything special, you push off the ceiling and return to the metal shoes.
is starting to gasp for air. It appears that the mages’ spell is losing effect.
you find it harder and harder to draw a breath. The effect of those kajubo buds seems to be wearing off.
has an increasing urge to breathe. Little black dots are appearing in front of your eyes. You are starting to feel dizzy.
Do you:
Search your pack for kajubo buds to swallow
Take off the lead shoes and come up as fast as you can
Continue
After chewing on the buds, the searing pain in your chests retreats, and you can breathe freely again.
Unfortunately, you don’t have enough Kajubo buds for everybody with you. There aren’t enough for.
While you’re still searching through your load for kajubo buds, everything goes black in front of your eyes and you lose consciousness.
The effect of the Kajubo buds is obviously fading. You see black spots before your eyes, then you lose consciousness.
Without the weight of the lead shoes, can rise to the surface without effort.
Gasping for air, you break through the waves. After several deep breaths, the hammering blows in your head and the incessant wooshing noise in your ears subside, and you are able to swim back ashore.
You can’t seriously intend to split up in such unfamiliar surroundings. Who knows if you’ll ever be able to find each other again?
Since [Hero] doesn’t have any other choice, [Hero] starts to breathe, and the water fills 1 lungs just the same as the air did before. The metal boots are so heavy they sink deep into the mud. Thanks to the sight spell, you can recognize your immediate vicinity, but everything beyond that is shrouded in darkness.
You are breathing normally, and the fear of drowning is receding rapidly. After getting used to the situation, you look around. A large number of fish, some of them in schools, are meandering through the ruins of houses that must have sunk below the sea a long time ago. Right next to you, a ray is gliding across the ocean floor searching for food and raising clouds of sand.
You have just about gotten used to the unusual surroundings, even though you still find moving somewhat harder, and you can only communicate through hand signs, when five nixes appear from behind the walls of a ruin and approach. Their skin is light and smooth, their hair is shining with a multitude of blues and grays, their eyes are large and dark, their movements are elegant.
However, they are equipped with spear-like weapons and seem intent on using them, too.
and [Hero] would like to offer 1 knowledge to the others. But that is somewhat difficult with only hand signs to communicate.
The fight is over.
“I’ve heard of nixes like these,” [Hero] thinks
About red plants several feet in size are dancing slowly with the current in the door opening. You can’t pass through the door without touching them.
Do you want to enter the building?
[Hero] has barely approached the fleshy plants, when their tentacles come rushing towards, and entangle 1_ body.
and points to the spot
“The trap door the nix disappeared through must be right there,” [Hero] thinks.
“I’ve been here before and searched this place,” [Hero] remembers. “Still, I’ve seen the nix disappear right here,” [Hero] thinks.
You start examining the floor. It’s covered with a fine layer of sand, which you brush away. A trapdoor comes into view beneath it. You have no problem opening it. It reveals a ladder leading down, probably into a cellar.
Do you want to climb down there?
You let go of the trapdoor. It falls shut, raising a cloud of sand, which settles down on top of it, masking it from view again.
It didn’t hurt, but judging from the grins on your friends’ faces, it must have been quite a funny sight.
Suddenly, [Hero] trips. %o feet leave the ground and slowly slide forward. [Hero] hits the ground with his/her rear for a second, before rising again.
When [Hero] is back on his/her feet, [Hero] kicks the object [Hero] slipped on. A metal sign shoots through the water, until it hits a wall fragment and sinks down again.
Before the sign is covered by the sand cloud it has raised, you read:
Radulf Ebensten
Finest Wines and Brandies
and draws him to everybody’s attention.
You’re busy searching the sea floor, when [Hero] sees a nix swim out from behind the ship
With a few unmistakable gestures [Hero] informs you, that this is one of the rebellious nixes, so you hide behind the remains of a wall.
Hastily, you hide behind the remains of a wall, as you can’t be sure it isn’t one of the rebellious nixes.
The nix swims to the next house to the north and enters the building over its well-preserved walls. You wait for about 10 minutes for the return of the Necker, but he has disappeared without a trace.
The larger than lifesize statue of a young man protrudes through a hole in the ship’s bottom. Its head and parts of the upper body are missing. A columnlike pedestal is lying next to it, half-covered with sand.
“Probably it was the statue that made the breach in the hull,” thinks [Hero].
“Probably it was the statue that made the breach in the hull,” thinks [Hero] and tries to convince the others of ) theory as well.
You start to uncover the pedestal, but find no clues to what caused the ship to sink. After that, you search the vicinity, scaring off a number of crabs. That’s the only result, though.
There’s a gigantic breach in the hull of the ship. It would have been more than sufficient to make the vessel go under, but you don’t believe it was the cause of the sinking, because the ship has turned upside-down. A pair of eyes is staring at you unblinkingly from the opening.
What do you do?
Throw something at the eyes
Climb into the ship
Move on
[Hero] takes 1_ spear and aims right between those eyes. But [Hero]’s less adept at throwing it under water than [Hero] is at land, and the spear misses its target completely, and disappears inside the ship.
A ball-shaped, palm-size fish with its eyes set wide apart swims out and hurries away in fright.
[Hero] swims up to [Hero] and gesticulates wildly in front of - eyes. Apparently![Hero] doesn’t approve of your killing any ocean creatures.
While you are still searching through your equipment for a missile, a ball-shaped, palm-size fish with its eyes set wide apart comes swimming out of the opening and leaves.
Are you really going to face the unknown and enter the ship?
[Hero] gathers his/her courage and approaches the breach. At this, the unknown menace reacts and comes straight at,! It’s a ball-shaped fish of about palm-size, with its eyes set wide apart. It comes swimming out of the opening and hurries away. After [Hero] has regained his/her composure, you all enter the vessel.
You are standing below the breach in the ship’s hull.
Do you want to climb aboard through the hole?
The large portal swings open and reveals a gigantic hall. You enter and suddenly find yourselves on dry ground. Behind you, the water seems to be held back by an invisible wall. Inside the room, there is absolutely no sign of the building being on the bottom of the sea. There is no sign of algae, seaweed, or shells. There isn’t even any sand on the floor.
The sumptuously decorated ceiling is vaulting high above. Floor and walls are covered with pictures of sea creatures, among them a great many porpoises and sperm whales.
The entire hall is filled with those strange nixes. They leave a path through their midst for you, along which you approach a large stone throne, upon which is sitting another nix.
Next to him stands a young sailor, who speaks to you.
With a smile, he adds:“Even though it wasn’t entirely of your own free will.”
“You are safe here. The nixes are a peaceful people.
We know you have been attacked by some of them, but that is in fact the very reason we have asked you here.”
With a melodic chant, the River Father interrupts the young man, after which Horge continues:
“The king assumes you would like to know what I am doing down here. The answer is simple enough: During a boating trip, I saw a female nixie and fell in love. When she disappeared into the depths, I sprang overboard and followed her. Then I ran out of air and lost consciousness. When I came to, I found myself down here. Since then, I’ve been living here, at her side.”
“But now for the reason of your visit:
We know you want to enter the ‘Even Star’. The king is prepared to help you, under the sole condition you do him a favor first. Should you fulfill his mission, for your reward you will receive a glowstick that will open doors inside the sunken ‘Even Star’ you wouldn’t be able to open otherwise.”
Again, the River Father interrupts. Horge translates:
“The king feels [Hero] doubts my words. Be that as it may, we won’t force you to do anything. But please hear me out.”
“Some months ago a young man of the nixes, Delfo by name, struck down and killed one of his fellows. That was a horrendous crime, as violence of this sort is quite unknown among this people. Delfo became ill-tempered and evil-minded, in fact, he was downright bloodthirsty. Now, as a sailor, I have heard of rum, brandy, and moonlight having such an effect on merpeople.”
“In his immeasurable wisdom, the River Father has banished the wretched Delfo. But our peace is shattered:
Increasingly, young nixes, men and women, disappear, only to be seen later among Delfo’s followers. But by then, those well-behaved children have become ferocious predators. They enjoy torturing and killing others of Efferd’s children.”
“The nixes themselves can’t do anything against these rebels, as any sort of altercation with their own goes against their very nature. So, we ask you to end this dreadful business. You will have to find out what turns these peaceful creatures into such ferocious monsters and put an end to this evil. And if at all possible, please spare any nixes that aren’t an immediate threat to your lives.”
our sister
our brother
an extremely beautiful young nixie
an extremely handsome young nix
her
him
Again, the River Father turns to Horge Nassn and talks insistently to his “mouthpiece”, who reacts with a slight smile.
Finally, the sailor turns to!2, who hasn’t taken!his/her eyes off [Hero] since![Hero]’s entered the hall. “All your feelings are apparent to the Father of Nixes, and he has noticed a strong sympathy from your side towards one of his children. As Zorka returns your feelings, [Hero] will accompany you. As Zorka is under the protection of the River Father, let [Hero] take good care of, and return 4 unharmed.”
Again you enter the magnificent hall and make your way through the respectful crowd of nixes to the king and his sailor interpreter. When you have reached the throne, the latter addresses you.
“We can read in your minds that you are confident that you have removed the cause of the dispute among the nixes, but before we can give you the glowstick, we must check on Zorka.”
“You have fulfilled your mission and demand the glowstick in return. But we placed Zorka under your protection, and you are return 0 to us as a corpse.
That is a tremendous sacrifice for the unity of the nixes. Well then, take the glowstick, but do not show your faces here again. And hear this: You will not find what you are looking for inside the vessel, for the real power is here in the palace.”
“We can read in your minds that you are confident that you have removed the cause of the dispute among the nixes. For that, you shall receive the glowstick. But take better care of Zorka from now on.”
“We can read in your minds that you are confident that you have removed the cause of the dispute among the nixes. As you have been promised, for that you will receive the glowstick.”
After these words, the audience appears to have ended, and you are escorted by guards to the outside of the palace.
Once again, you enter the palace of the nixes. Awed, the waiting nixes fall back in front of you. Full of pride, you walk through the path opening up before you towards the River Father, who shows his respect for your accomplishments by rising from his throne.
“By now, the first of the rebellious nixes have returned,” Horge begins.
“Because of this, we are very grateful. But you have recklessly thrown away Zorka’s life, and are therefore not worthy of the wand from the ship, which the River Father has been keeping in his private quarters since the time it sank.”
“By now, the first of the rebellious nixes have returned,” Horge begins.
“Because of this, we are very grateful. As a reward for your courageous actions, the River Father is going to present you with the wand from the vessel.”
A nixie presses through the surrounding crowd, the magic wand in her hand. She presents it to the River Father, who gives it to you.
Then, Horge turns to [Hero]:
“Now the time of decision has come for you. Zorka cannot accompany you to the surface, so you must either part now, or you must stay here below the waves. It would be a good choice if you did, for it’s a life full of joy and without sorrows.”
How shall [Hero] answer?
“I would not part from my companions.”
“I want to stay with Zorka.”
“So be it! May our blessings accompany you!”
With this, the audience is ended, and after Zorka and [Hero] embrace one last time, you leave the palace.
Zorka and [Hero] throw their arms around each other. [Hero] must say goodbye to -o friends now, with whom [Hero] has braved so many dangerous adventures.
“As I’m in for a carefree existence down here, you can take from my belongings, whatever you wish,” [Hero] says to you.
Zorka and [Hero] throw their arms around each other.
Then, Horge turns back to you:
“As [Hero] cannot accompany you to the surface, and[Hero] isn’t able to guarantee [Hero]’s safety either, you should say goodbye to, now.”
With this, the audience is ended. You must leave the merpeople now.
You climb the stairs to the palace, but the guards in front of the portal cross their weapons and bar your entry.
Finally, they make some signs that are difficult to understand. They probably want to tell you that you won’t be allowed back in until you have fulfilled your mission.
Some of their gestures seem to say Delfo’s death hasn’t solved the problem. The unknown evil is still out there, threatening further disruption.
[Hero]’s behavior points in the same direction, as [Hero] is clinging to![Hero]’s ellbow and trying to draw!, away.
When [Hero] sees you want to go to the palace, [Hero] gently puts his/her hand on![Hero]’s shoulder and motions for!, to turn around.
Unmoved, you step up to the palace guards, but they cross their weapons and bar your entrance. One of them points resolutely in the direction of the wreck of the “Even Star”.
Finally, one of them points in the direction of the sunken “Even Star”.
One of them points first at you, then at himself, followed by an equalizing gesture.
“I guess that’s supposed to mean we’re quits,” muses [Hero] and
motions for the others to turn away.
turns away.
You climb up the stairs to the palace. One of the guards there points first at himself, then at his comrade. Then he points back at you, almost as if to signify him standing amongst you. After that, he shakes his head in negation.
With some effort you make out that you probably won’t be allowed inside without Zorka.
You climb up the stairs to the palace. The guards posted at the head of the stairway look at you for a moment, then they step aside with a welcoming gesture.
You look down what used to be an avenue. Now the tree trunks are nothing but a lane of mussle-encrusted and algae-covered trunks.
A fountain under water is a strange sight indeed. It takes some effort to imagine there was water splashing from the mouth of the dolphin once.
Suddenly, five nixes appear from behind a ruin and approach.
“Blast,” thinks [Hero], “I hope that’s not going to be a trend!” You get ready to fight.
At a distance of two paces, though, the strange beings stop and lower their weapons. One of them comes a bit closer, points at you, and motions you to follow.
Do you want to:
Follow the merpeople
Attack
The nix that gestured to you swims ahead, while the others follow you.
Finally, you reach a large palace. The merman bids you enter.
The attack doesn’t go quite as expected, as the water beings simply swim up out of your reach and cross above your heads to a position behind you, where they stop and wait what you’re going to think of next. Actually, the decision is taken out of your hands, as another five mermen approach.
Again, the leader gestures for you to follow them. You realize you don’t have a choice.
“We should go to my father and tell him we didn’t find anything aboard the ship.”
The rocks rise up steeply. They’re overgrown with corals of varying colors.
As you’re walking past beneath one of the cliffs, some rocks break loose and come tumbling down. You notice in time and manage to get out of their way.
You can see a hole of somewhat more than an arm in width in the rockface among the corals.
[Hero] can’t curb 1 curiosity - [Hero] prefers to call it thirst for knowledge - and puts 1_ hand down the hole.
[Hero] is busy flirting with 1[Hero], and doesn’t catch that example of gross stupidity in time.
When [Hero]’s arm has disappeared into the hole up to the elbow, [Hero] suddenly feels a tremendous pain, as if dozens of sharp needles were plunged into 1 hand. [Hero] immediately pulls 1 arm back and finds a moray attached to it.
For some unexplainable reason, the moray lets go and swims away.
You can see the hole in the rock between the corals. As you’ve already had the doubtful pleasure of meeting its inhabitant, and you can’t know if there isn’t more of the same waiting inside, your interest in remaining around here is less than profound.
You’re standing in front of the walls of a tower that at one time must have been quite impressive. It’s just a stump, now.
Even from a distance, [Hero] notices several gold pieces glinting in the sand. Quickly, [Hero] lumbers over and bends down to pick them up, causing considerable distress to a number of crabs in doing so. They run away with an insulted air.
Abruptly, [Hero] trips over the edge of a chest partly buried in the sand. One strong kick against the rotten wood is sufficient to reveal its contents:
one broken glass bottle, one rusty iron shield, one book that’s nothing but a mass of pulp by now, and one dull brass mirror. In addition, 1[Hero] finds a whetstone, a small bronce flagon, and a silver necklace.
When you cross the lintel, you spy a large clam. It’s at least a pace in diameter, and you can see a fistsize pearl within its fleshy interior.
[Hero] pushes past[Hero] and grabs the pearl. As it is firmly attached to the clam shell and can’t be lifted out just like that, [Hero] puts one foot inside the shell to increase his/her leverage. Suddenly, the clam snaps shut, and despite ) immediate reaction, [Hero]’s leg is trapped.
[Hero] hurries to [Hero]’s aid, shaking!his/her head over so much avarice, and feeling glad it’s not!, who has been trapped. With a concerted effort, they manage to force the clam open far enough for [Hero] to pull 1 leg free.
The pain is unbearable. Only the knowledge that [Hero]’ll die out here, if [Hero] doesn’t get free soon, makes possible the incredible burst of strength [Hero] needs to force the clam open far enough for, to free 1 leg.
Of course, given those severe bruises, [Hero] will be moving a lot slower for the next few days.
The clam is lying at its usual spot, quite undisturbed.
“What a wonderful vase!” [Hero] calls out, enthralled by its beauty. But when [Hero] tries to lift it off the ground, most of it stays behind. With considerable disappointment, [Hero] throws away the shards.
Without a sound, a school of jellyfish dances past. Fascinated, you watch the fragile, translucent animals with their glassy bodies and pale white, stringlike tentacles.
A school of fish comes right at you without showing the least concern and passes right between you. For a second, you’ve disappeared inside a cloud of shiny bodies.
There are the remains of some collapsed shelves visible, interspersed with earthen shards. Near the edge of the devastation, there’s a large clay jug that looks reasonably intact.
[Hero] goes up to the jug and is about to put a hand down the opening, when[Hero] grabs 1 wrist and makes a snapping motion with!his/her other hand. [Hero] understands and pulls 1 hand back.
Do you:
Do you:
Feel about inside the jug
Break the jug
Walk on
[Hero] puts 1 hand into the jug, where [Hero] touches something soft.
Immediately, [Hero] pulls 1 hand back. Just in time, too, for a moray’s head follows it outside. The fish appraises [Hero] with unblinking eyes. Apparently, [Hero] appears not all that tasty, as it swims away with snakelike movements.
Immediately [Hero] pulls 1 hand back. But it’s too late: The moray has taken hold of its tasty prey. [Hero] stares at the fishy predator hanging from ) hand and gives it a hard blow to its head with his/her other hand. Shocked, the moray lets go and swims away with snakelike undulations.
To prevent any further surprises, [Hero] kicks the jug with his/her heavy metal boots, and it breaks apart. Inside it, there were two silver coins, which you snarf up.
[Hero] kicks the jug with his/her heavy metal boots, and it breaks apart. A moray hiding inside undulates away. You pick up the two silver coins that were hidden inside the jug.
The remains of some shelves can be seen here, together with a lot of earthen shards covered in algae.
[Hero] stops abruptly and points ahead.
[Hero] stops abruptly and stares ahead.
A nix is riding on the back of a three paces long sea gudgeon, flailing his arms about wildly. The fish appears to be suffering at least as much as the nix is enjoying himself. The merman is constantly kicking and hitting the animal.
Are you going to relieve the pained creature of its tormentor?
Finally, the nix hits the weakened gudgeon such a blow that the animal stops moving. Still, the nix keeps pounding the fish.
Are you going to stop the merman from killing the gudgeon?
Disgusted by your indecision, [Hero] swims out to the brutal nix. When [Hero] has reached him, though, [Hero] doesn’t know what do.
At last, the sea gudgeon is dead on the ground, which fact doesn’t stop the nix from thrashing it some more, though. Only when he finally realizes he’s not going to revive it that way, he swims off, obviously looking for new victims.
A large, flat shadow comes trundling down to the sea floor ahead of you. You move closer and realize it’s a sea turtle shell. Only when you touch the shell do you realize it’s occupied. At that moment, a turtle shoves its head and flippers out of the shell holes and swims away.
Suddenly, [Hero] puts an arm across![Hero]’s chest and gently pulls!, back. Then [Hero] points to the ground, where[Hero] was about to crush two seahorses.
A dark-coloured squid about a pace in length swims up to you, looks you over with what seems a thoughtful expression, and disappears, squirting out a large, deep purple cloud of ink.
I advise against leaving the general area of the “Even Star”. Who knows where you’ll resurface if you do.
his friend
her friend
his friend
her friend
Several tentacles shoot out at [Hero] and entwine 1_ body. Having no weapon to cut the tentacles, [Hero]’s death seems certain
The tentacles shoot out at [Hero] and entwine 1_ body. In desperation, [Hero] hacks at them with -.
Everywhere [Hero] is being grasped by the tentacles, [Hero] feels a strong burning sensation. Apparently, the plant is secreting some form of poison. More tentacles grasp [Hero] and pull, towards the plant
The pain is so great, [Hero] loses consciousness. Thus, [Hero] doesn’t feel being swallowed alive
But [Hero] overcomes 1o pain and manages to sever all the tentacles holding,
Then,[Hero] comes to his/her aid and hacks off the tentacles one by one with!his/her #.
[Hero]. D. T.
4.
D. T.
D. d.
[Hero].[Hero] doesn’t have any weapon suited to cutting through those tentacles either, so![Hero] can’t come to the aid of. Helpless,![Hero] is forced to watch, as more and more tentacles entangle [Hero].
D. Finally, [Hero] is swallowed alive.
[Hero]. t.
D. Straining mightily,[Hero] manages to pull [Hero]’s lifeless body free and drag it to safety.
D. But [Hero] overcomes 1o pain. Kicking and striking out, [Hero] fights back - long enough for[Hero] to sever all the tentacles.
4. Unable to help, as![Hero] doesn’t have a weapon to help,[Hero] is forced to stand and watch.
D. In the end, the pain becomes so unbearable, [Hero] loses consciousness. Unable to help, you can only stand and watch as [Hero] is swallowed alive by the plant.
D. d.
4. Then,[Hero] comes to his/her aid as well and cuts some more tentacles with!his/her #..
D. The pain from the poison makes [Hero] lose consciousness. Finally,[Hero] manages to sever all the snakelike tentacles holding [Hero] and drag 1_ lifeless body to safety.
D. Together, [Hero] and[Hero] finally manage to hack off all of the plant tentacles, allowing [Hero] to escape his/her doom.
There’s a ladder leaning against the wall. It leads up to a trapdoor. I don’t have to tell you this is the way up to the ruins.
So, do you want to climb up?
A veritable mountain of coal is heaped up in front of the wall.
“The people living in this house must have been rich,” thinks [Hero], and % eyes are sparkling with the thought of the riches that might be hidden away down here.
Do you want to take along a few lumps of coal?
You’re standing in front of the coal heap.
Do you want to take some?
Two hinges is the only sign left of the door that used to connect the cellar rooms.
Metal baskets and grates are hanging from the ceiling on strong ropes.
“Why did they put the vent beside the fireplace instead of above it?” [Hero] wonders. “The whole place must have been full of smoke. And it even looks as if they used to wet down the firewood to produce even more smoke,” [Hero] thinks, when [Hero] sees a bucket with a ladle in it.
That’s one fireplace that hasn’t seen a fire for a long time.
You’re standing under the vent, which can be closed totally with a metal cover.
Do you want to climb up?
With great difficulty you crawl into the narrow opening.
“Excellent workmanship,” thinks [Hero] on checking the metal door that tightly seals off the room.
The chute is barricaded off with rocks at the upper end.
The wood of the giant container is in good condition.
There are several boxes bolted to the table.
“They probably kept the raw materials in those boxes before using them for whatever they did to them on the table and throwing the finished product into those barrels standing next to it,” thinks [Hero].
You lift the lids on top of the barels to see what’s inside. They’re all empty, all but one that is, and that one contains nothing but fish meal.
“The nixes will have consumed whatever was in the other barrels, but they weren’t interested in this offal,” surmises [Hero].
A dead nix is lying on top of the shards of the large glass container. When you examine the body, you find several scratches and large bruises. What killed him, though, was a large shard stuck in his back. He has nothing of value on him.
A dead merman is lying on the shards of the large glass container.
Several nixes enter the room via the big metal door. You only just manage to hide, before they can notice you. Pushing and shoving, they walk over to the other door.
Do you:
Jump out of your hiding place and attack the nixes
Stay in hiding
Furious, [Hero] stomps up to[Hero] and gives!, a filthy look. It seems that [Hero] isn’t too pleased with your attack.
Furious, [Hero] stomps up to[Hero], grabs!his/her shoulders and shakes!, angrily. It seems that [Hero] isn’t too pleased with your attack.
The nixes have already reached the other door, when one of them is dealt a particularly hard blow from one of his companions and tumbles back. Unfortunately, he now notices [Hero]’s leg. He immediately attacks.
At the other end of a corridor you climb up the chimney of a fireplace into another, higher cellar room.
Do you wnant to get into the fireplace and climb into the corridor through the chimney?
You are standing in front of a coal heap.
Do you want to take some lumps of coal along?
The red flowers of one of those strange plants you had to deal with at the main entrance are barring your way. Do you want to pass between them?
The chest is very well preserved. This could be taken to mean it has only recently been brought here.
There’s nothing to be found here but clay shards.
Through the hole in the wall you see toppled shelves and shards of glass. Beyond that, you keep seeing nixes swim past.
Are you going to enter the room?
With an elegant dive, followed by a roll, [Hero] leaps through the opening.
[Hero] tries to do likewise, but flops on!his/her belly instead.
In the end, you all manage to enter the next room. But the nixes have noticed you.
Do you want to go to the other side of the opening?
The shelves contain large carboys with labels that are almost unreadable. There are just a few letters left which you can decipher:
“…ohol (con…”
“…rd blood”
“Weap…lm”.
There’s a large mixing vat on the table.
The stairway and the entire wall above it have collapsed.
The big glass tub is filled to the brim with cork stoppers, with those further down still dry.
The shelves are full of open bottles, empty but for water.
There are bottles full of clear red and yellowish fluids stored on the shelves.
Are you going to:
Taste some
Smash the bottles
Take a few along
You take a bottle from the shelves and sip at it. It looks like wine, and it tastes like wine as well. “The owner of this store seems to have had excellent taste,” muses [Hero].
And [Hero] knows what [Hero]’s talking about.
[Hero] takes a bottle down and tries to smash it against the shelves, but under water [Hero] can’t build enough momentum. In the end, you smash the bottles by stomping on them with your metal boots.
“Damn! There are no unbroken bottles left”, [Hero] shouts angrily.
Again, you are in front of the opening. Do you want to enter?
a blueish
an orange-colored
a greenish
You’re back in the total mess.
again
After getting used to the changed lighting, [Hero] is shocked D when [Hero] looks straight into a horribly distorted face.
Demonstrating his/her amazing presence of mind, [Hero] draws his/her 2 and decapitates the unknown opponent with a single blow.
The others stare at, quite flabbergasted, after seeing [Hero] decapitate a rotting wooden statue.
When [Hero] realizes [Hero] just decapitated a rotting wooden statue, [Hero] feels quite relieved no-one has been around to witness - “heroics”.
Demonstrating an awesome presence of mind, [Hero] jumps aside, out of the reach of )_ opponent.
The others stare at, with some consternation, after seeing [Hero] running away from a rotting wooden statue.
When [Hero] realizes [Hero] has just run away from a rotting wooden statue, [Hero] is quite happy that no-one was around to see.
After this impressive performance by [Hero], you have a chance to get a closer look at the giant room.
You’re looking at one gigantic mess. On sinking, the vessel’s entire cargo must have come loose and tumbled every which way. Plus, some of the superstructure has been pushed into the interior of the ship.
Do you want to leave the Even Star through the hole in the ship’s side?
By coincidence, [Hero] looks up. Through the open doors of a locker bolted to the room’s floor, [Hero] spies another door.
You’re back under the locker with the door at its back.
Among the debris, you see a chest crushed open by a falling beam. It contains a bag wrapped in canvas. Driven by ) avarice, [Hero] makes his/her way to the bag, without any thought to the danger of being crushed by a slipping beam, and pulls it free.
You find nothing but the chest you’ve already plundered.
The spear you threw into the ship is sticking out from a wooden plank. Unfortunately, its shaft broke.
Here the “horrible” wooden statue awaits.
Just like anywhere else, there’s splintered wooden boards, cloth, shards of glass, and other debris lying about. When you turn away, though, [Hero] notices a glint of metal from the corner of his/her eye. [Hero] grabs underneath some toppled shelves and comes up with a dagger.
You are standing in front of a gigantic mess of wooden boards, cloth, glass shards, and other debris.
This room is quite low, so you have to duck. The mess in here is barely less chaotic than inside the large cargo hold you’ve just left. The water, though, has a strange reddish color.
Here, too, there’s a door with a metal cylinder instead of a lock. This time, the cylinder glows with light.
Are you going to use the glowstick?
[Hero] has barely pushed the stick into the opening, when the door swings back.
Do you want to go through?
Before the door can close again, you hurry through.
You keep standing in front of the door and watch it slowly swing shut again.
[Hero] puts the glowstick into the opening, but nothing happens. Surprised, [Hero] pulls it back out and looks at it wonderingly.
Here, too, there’s a door with a metal cylinder instead of a lock. This time, the cylinder is glowing with light. You try several times to find an opening mechanism, but it certainly looks like there’s nothing you can do without the glowstick.
You didn’t notice on entering, but on this side the door has an orange-colored locking cylinder.
Do you want to use the glowstick?
Of course, you forgot there’s nothing but the open locker behind the door, and after pushing through the opening, you sink down to the bottom of the room.
The large hogshead barrels, which must have been hell to get through the doors, are fastened to the ship’s walls using thick cables, and didn’t come loose on its sinking, either.
A big beam crushed open one of the hogsheads. Its contents has mixed with the water in this room.
“Red wine!”
thinks [Hero] and realizes where the reddish color of the water comes from. Greedily, [Hero] drinks from the water - and spits it out right away. Not even ‘Rahja’s Nectar’ from Engasal can survive being watered with brine!
All containers that weren’t securely tied down, be they chests, crates, or barrels, were tossed about and shattered on the vessel’s trip to the sea floor. Judging from the shards among the splintered wood, most crates must have contained clay figurines.
This must be the only chest that stayed where it was when the ship sank. When [Hero] pulls at it, the lid and the side walls come off in his/her hand. On the bottom of the chest, that is fastened with large metal hooks, there’s a shimmering, orange-colored glass pyramid. When you examine it closer, you notice a circular opening on one side.
When [Hero] enters the room, something bulky drops down on top of, and knocks, down.
When [Hero] sees the remarkably well preserved remains of an “Even Star” deckhand in Io arms, % face turns the color of grits. Hurriedly, [Hero] scrambles away.
With a worried expression[Hero] hurries to his/her side and pulls 1_ head to!1 chest. Thus comforted, the color quickly returns to [Hero]’s face.
Disgusted, [Hero] stares at the bloated corpses, until [Hero] is quite sure they are just dead bodies and not some flesh-eating undead.
With a blank stare, [Hero] sits with his/her back to a wall and recovers from the fright. Only when [Hero] sees the bodies aren’t moving does some color return to 1 face, slowly.
There are ankle cuffs hanging down from the ceiling. You have no problem realizing their purpose.
On examining the skeletons somewhat closer, [Hero] suddenly feels a bony hand on -_ neck. An icy shudder runs down his/her spine.
Abruptly, [Hero] turns, grabs the skeleton’s radius and yanks it aside. That is more than the ancient bones can stand. They crumble to dust.
Probably, the skeleton was just moving with the current.
Disgusted, you look up at the ankle cuffs, which still hold some bones.
A small table is hanging from the former floor above you.
[Hero] gives -o fantasy a free reign and imagines what things might have been like in here before:
“A brutal looking tub of lard is sitting at the table, piled high with food, and stuffs his face. In the corner of the room, the starving prisoners are begging for scraps.”
There’s a small table hanging down from the former floor above you.
Looking at the guard’s bunk, [Hero] starts fantasizing again, and this time his/her fantasies make, turn beet-red.
The chest lock offers no more resistance. You flip the lid open and find a lot of shards, but also some intact vials.
There are several hooks on the wall.
“Those must have held the whips that guard used to torture his poor victims!” [Hero] thinks disgustedly.
The shelves are fastened to the wall with large metal hooks, and they have raised rims to prevent items from dropping off in a stormy sea. On one of the shelves, you find a large bone, probably off a ham.
There’s a large bone on one of the shelves.
A large chest surrounded by a green glow is standing in the center of the otherwise empty room. You have no doubt this is where the wand must be hidden. Even though you have finally reached the goal of your quest, you approach the chest wearily. Then you notice the water inside the room lowering, and a figure apparently made entirely of water rising from it!
More and more like figures join it. Not enough with that, one of them speaks to you:
“You have come to take the wand,” it says.
“Go ahead and try!”
Now the water elementals enclose the chest in walls of ice! Then they move towards you.
Are you going to take any countermeasures?
“We have to reach the chest!” urges Zorka. “If we can touch the chest, the water elementals will disappear.”
Once you reach the chest, it is suddenly all over. The ice melts, the elementals dissipate. Within seconds, the whole room is flooded again.
[Hero] puts 1 hands into the green glow to open the chest, but the lid springs open by itself.
It’s hard to describe the disappointment you feel, because the chest is totally empty.
The chest is totally empty.