57 rooms · levels 15–22
A thin trail, only wide enough for two, runs north from the road through the dales. It was once, by the look of its old paving stones, the middle of a broad and busy thoroughfare, but the forest has closed in on both sides and swallowed all but this strip. To the north the trail bends past a small cottage; to the west lies the road.
The old road bends here beside a small cottage standing in a natural clearing to the north. It looks deserted: its shutters hang open and no smoke rises from its chimney. Thick forest blocks the way east. The trail runs south toward the road through the dales and west along the foot of a great hill.
Once inside you see that the former inhabitants of this cottage left in a hurry. There seems to be much that was left lying about. Now after many years only the things that aren't of much use lie here under a thick layer of dust. There is a fireplace in the north wall over which a large painting hangs. The only apparent exit is south.
The trail runs east and west between walls of forest so thick that nothing could push through. Here and there an old paving stone shows through the moss, the last sign of the great road this once was. To the east stands a deserted cottage in its clearing.
The forest presses close to the west and south, and the trail turns here to climb north toward a great hill. Eastward it runs on toward a deserted cottage.
The old road climbs steeply here up the side of a great hill, the forest thinning to scrub and bare rock. To the west, at the top of the climb, the trail comes out onto a plateau; it drops back south toward the forest.
Three ways meet here on the plateau. To the north the road widens into a boulevard running toward a distant city wall; to the east a narrow trail drops down the hill; and to the west lies a large, open field. The way south is blocked by forest.
You stand on one of the many concentric grassy rings of this field. In the centre of the field a large unfamiliar tree is growing surrounded by a ring of earth then a ring of grass and so on so that a pattern of concentric circles emerges. You feel a strange power coming from the tree but as you try to approach it you suddenly feel quite rejected. There is an exit to the east back to the trail. The forest is too thick to penetrate here.
The road here is wider and plainly more traveled, its paving still mostly whole. Impassable forest walls it in on the east and west. To the north, close now, rises the wall of a great city, and the road runs straight to its gate.
A stone bridge carries the road over a moat running east and west beneath the city wall. As you stand before the city a very strange feeling comes over you: a sense of great disaster, and with it a sense of lasting peace. The gates to the north stand wide open and unguarded. The road leads back south.
The passage inside the wall ends here. In the floor a narrow wooden door is set over a shaft leading down, and the smell that rises from below leaves no doubt that it leads into the sewers. The passage runs back east to the gate.
You stand in a dimly lit passage inside the city wall. The main gate is to the east; westward the passage runs on into the dankness and seems to end.
You stand in the gateway, deep inside the thickness of the city wall, where thousands of feet once passed. To the south lies the relative safety of Ershteep Road; to the east and west dim passages run into the wall; and to the north you can see into the city. Strangely, no sound at all comes from within.
You stand in a dimly lit passage inside the city wall. The city gate is to the west, and to the east the passage seems to come to a dead end.
The passage inside the wall ends here. In the floor a narrow wooden door is set over a shaft leading down, and the smell that rises from below tells you it leads into the sewers. The passage runs back west to the gate.
The road turns at the corner of the city here, following the wall around: north along the west wall and east along the south one. Huge heaps of rubble lie against the wall where it was battered in.
The road along the inside of the south wall runs east toward the gates and west to the corner of the city. To the north stands a broken-down old building, once the armory.
You stand just inside the main gates of Orshingal, a city in ruins. Its invaders took no care in their attack: bodies and rubble line the streets. A wide street runs north toward the city square, and the road along the south wall runs east and west. The gates are back to the south.
The road runs east and west here, covered in bodies and rubble. To the north stands a mystic temple, strangely intact amid the ruin.
The road turns at the city's southeast corner, running west along the south wall and north along the east one.
The old road runs north and south along the inside of the west wall, through rubble and decaying bodies. The corner of the city is just south.
This ransacked shop was once an armory, and pieces of ancient armor lie rusting on the floor. A locked cabinet stands on the floor, somehow overlooked. Doors lead north to a small foyer and south to the road.
A cobblestone street runs straight through the heart of the town. To the north is a large square dominated by a mound with a tree on it; to the south, past the temple and the shops, are the main gates.
You are at the south end of the great temple. It is bedecked with many ancient symbols and artifacts. The strange thing about this temple is that unlike the rest of the city it seems to be quite well kept. An exit lies to the south and the main hall lies to the north.
A great battle was fought here, and the stench is overpowering. What is left of the city wall runs close on the east, and the road follows it north and south.
The road runs north and south along the city's west wall. An old building stands to the east, its door hanging open: the weaponsmith's shop.
This shop has been looted and pillaged many times and now all that is left are broken swords and a few scabbards. There is an awful lot of blood on the walls and a pile of bones lies behind the counter. There is an exit to the west and a small foyer lies east of here.
This small room joins three shops: the jeweller's to the north, the weaponry to the west and the armory to the south.
Amazing patterns and dazzling images crowd your mind, and swirling visions make you reel and almost fall. Exits lead north and south to small chapels, and in the east wall a small door leads who knows where.
You feel quite out of place in here. On the walls lie shelves which haven't seen the love of a cleaner in what is apparently centuries. Many books lie about them and there are some scrolls on the table before you. You suddenly feel uneasy and you look around.
The road runs north and south here, and a vile stench rises from a grate set in the street at the foot of the wall. The sewers must lie below.
Through a hole in the city wall here you can see out over a large plain, and beyond it a great mountain to the north. The rubble-lined road runs north and south along the inside of the wall.
With little regard for years of patient work, the city's destroyers have badly damaged this jeweller's shop, and little of any value is left. The bones of the shopkeeper lie where he fell, and they may still clutch something! The square is to the east, and a small foyer to the south.
In the center of this large square, perched on a small hillock, grows an all too unfamiliar tree. Radial lines of grass run out from it across the stones, and you feel a sense of power radiating from it. The wide street runs north and south; to the west is a jeweller's shop and to the east the north chapel of the temple. You could climb up the hillock to the tree.
The dim candlelight and the smell of incense make your head spin, and you feel that you could very well be in some peril in here! The square is to the west and the main hall to the south.
The road runs north and south along the east wall, choked with rubble and the remains of the city's defenders.
The rubble-lined road runs north and south. A small house stands to the east, but no door is to be seen in its wall; its door must be on the street to the north.
This small house, once lived in, now lies in ruins. Food scraps cover the floor and clothes lie strewn about. Something has been living here since its owners fled. The door is to the north.
A cobblestone street runs north and south between two small, ruined homes. To the south is the square with its strange tree on its mound; to the north the street meets the road along the north wall.
This small house, once lived in, now lies in ruins. Gnawed bones and food scraps cover the floor and clothes lie strewn about; something has made its nest here. The door is to the north.
The rubble-lined road runs north and south along the inside of the east wall. A small house stands to the west, but no door is to be seen in its wall.
The road turns here, leading south and east. To the north the city wall lies in complete ruin, and all the city that stood beyond it is now wasteland. A strange fear grows as you come near the wall, but there is no way through the rubble, luckily.
The road runs east and west along the ruined north wall, and a door into a small, dark house leads south.
You stand at the junction of the two main roads in Orshingal. They lead south and east-west.
The road runs east and west along the ruined north wall, and a door into a small, dark house leads south.
The road turns here, leading south and west. To the north the city wall lies in complete ruin, and a path leads north through the rubble toward the wasteland beyond.
You stand in this small dim fireplace your light source dancing merrily and making shadowy pictures on the walls. The grate lies to the south.
The stench is revolting! A plain wooden door in the ceiling leads up into the city wall, and the sewer runs east through the dark.
The sewer turns here under the city's eastern quarter, running west toward the door under the wall and north, a long way, under the street above.
The sewer ends here beneath a grate in the ceiling, through which comes a little grey daylight from the street above. The sewer runs back south.
The stench is revolting! A plain wooden door in the ceiling leads up into the city wall, and the sewer runs west through the dark.
The sewer turns here, running east toward the door under the wall and north into a dead end. Something scuttles in the filth.
This is a dead end: the old drain is choked with rubble from the ruined streets above. The only way out is south.
Here by the tree lie bones and many bodies. The way back down the hillock is the only way out. You might get to use it!
You stand on top of a pile of rubble where the north wall once was. To the north a trail leads from the ruined city toward a dark forest; it is frightening to think what lies ahead. The city is back to the south.
A winding trail leads from the city of Orshingal northward toward a dark and tangled forest. The rubble of the north wall is back to the south.
The forest path is overgrown and full of briars and other nasty little things. Here the forest closes in completely and the path gives out. Distant thunder echoes through the woods. The trail leads back south to the ruined city.