78 rooms · levels 25–40
The room is lightly populated with a few bits of furniture. The walls are covered with tapestries of battles with all types of creatures, dragons githyankie and even more horrid creatures. Hanging on the wall is a bright silver sword, next to it, covered mostly in shadows is a black longsword .
This is a place where one may come for deep meditation and quiet relaxation. The walls of the room are adorned with maps, both finished with great detail and others in the beginning stages of creation. Along the walls are wooden chairs that look very comfortable, while being simple in design. Scattered about the room are many old wands, scrolls, potions, and other assorted paraphernalia, most of which became useless long ago. In the center of the room is a large wooden table with many old books in very poor condition laying scattered about and falling off unto the floor. A large chair is pulled up close to the table with a senile old man lounging very fast asleep. On the back of his robe is the name ATOR. His head has fallen onto a large unfinished volume of an open book labeled:
THE HISTORY OF DALEVILLE
Tall leafy trees and fern plants begin to grow thick here. The small trail runs east into the jungle, and from what you can see it only gets worse the farther it goes; back to the west the trees open toward the road. A small sign hangs from a nearby tree limb.
The jungle trees grow tall here, blocking out most of the light. A few thin beams make it through the canopy and light the narrowing trail, which leads east, deeper into the jungle, and west back toward its edge.
The ground here has been trampled down hard, killing most of the undergrowth, and you begin to wonder what could do this. The trail curves north toward a murmur of voices, while a lighter, winding path leads off east among the trees. The way back west follows the trail to the jungle's edge.
The jungle seems a bit clearer here. Small animals move at the edge of your vision, giving you an eerie feeling. Sounds that remind you of voices come from the north, where the path goes on, and a narrow track winds away east through the steaming trees toward the ruins of a lost city. The trail curves back south.
The path suddenly ends at a large growth of brush to the west. Human voices drift across the wind, barely audible, and poking around the brush you notice a few footprints that seem to walk right into it. A dark and foreboding path leads off to the north, and the way you came runs back south.
As you step through the brush you realize you are walking into a village in the middle of nowhere. Grass huts are spread out in a half circle about a larger hut in the middle: one stands just to the north, another to the south, and the village opens out to the west. Smells of cooking meat and the noise of children playing set you at ease for a moment. The brush closes off the way back east.
The floor in this hut is swept clean, down to a very hard surface of clay. Furs are arranged in neat little piles for sleeping or resting on. A small fire crackles in the center of the hut, the smoke wafting out a hole in the center of the roof.
This hut is cluttered with old animal furs and broken spear shafts. Light shines through small holes in the roof. The damp feeling here is probably why the hut smells so musty.
Small children play here and there, ducking behind something when you come near. Directly west is a large hut with strange feathers and objects hanging about its door. Villagers move in and out of the huts carrying furs, small tools and food. The village's northern and southern edges lie to either side, and its entrance is back east.
The heat hits you in the face like a wave, wiping the quickly forming sweat from your face your eyes begin to adjust to the darkness. You see a large fire burning in the center of the hut, a mat of some sort is next to it. Small objects lay here and there, bones, strange figurines and just some plain unholy looking items.
You stand at the northern edge of the village. To the south lies the center of the village, with the dark large hut just beyond it. The last hut on this side, hung with feathers and painted yellow and light blue, stands to the west.
You stand at the southern edge of the village. North is the center of the village, and the dark large hut looms just beyond it. The last hut on this side, larger and redder than the others, stands to the west.
This hut is decorated with yellow and light blue colors. Feathers hang from everywhere on the walls and support limbs. A few bowls, spoons and a jug occupy the corner of the room near the low burning fire. Looks like someone just ate dinner.
This hut is more decorated than the rest. A large headdress hangs on the wall over a large spread of thick, comfortable looking furs. Red colors adorn the hut. The fire in this hut is out.
The jungle path here is a lot easier to travel, a light trail winding east between the trees. Webs as thick as rope hang from the low branches, and the bones of small birds are caught in them. Back to the west the path meets the trampled curve of the main trail.
The light path twists on east through tall ferns and sprays of jungle flowers. The grass is flattened in great swaths, as though something large likes to lie here in the sun, and a loud roar rolls through the trees from close by. The path leads back west.
The path bends here at the foot of an enormous old tree whose roots knot across the ground. The light trail turns south, deeper into the jungle, or runs back west the way you came. Small jungle animals chatter in the branches overhead.
The trees close in again and the light path runs on north and south. A long, smooth furrow crosses the soft earth, the track of something huge that slithers, and the jungle has gone strangely quiet.
The light path ends in a small clearing hemmed in by trees and hanging vines. A thick curtain of vines covers a dark opening in the ground, and a cold, damp breath of air rises from below. The only path leads back north.
Your feet squish around in muck at the bottom of the tunnel, and water drips down from its roof. The walls are made of soft, moist dirt, and you wonder how the thing has not collapsed. Daylight shows faintly through the vines above; the tunnel continues south into darkness.
You are knee deep in muck but manage to trudge through it. The tunnel widens here into a low chamber whose dirt walls have been scraped smooth by scaly bodies, and many clawed footprints lead off east. The way back north is lost in darkness.
The muck grows shallower and the tunnel turns south, sloping gently downward. Everything is shaded in darkness and a total silence fills the air. Back to the west the tunnel runs through deeper muck.
The tunnel ends against a wall of fitted stone, and you stand knee deep in muck before it. A small stone door covered in grime is set in the wall to the south; the muddy tunnel leads back north.
The dampness is still in the air, but the passage is no longer full of water. Your footsteps echo loudly off the damp stone walls, whose seams you can make out between the bricks. A stone door leads back north to the tunnel, and passages run west and south.
The room smells musty, which must come from the bones lying on the floor. The passage continues north and south, and an opening leads west into a green glow.
Your echoing footsteps make you cringe; it seems your feet bang loudly against the floor. The walls of the passage almost glow green, where some sort of slime grows on them. The passage runs east and turns south.
Your echoing footsteps make you cringe; it seems your feet bang loudly against the floor. The walls glow green here, the slime on them giving off a bright yellowish-green light. Passages lead north, east and south.
Some of the stones here are crumbling, but the walls still seem sturdy. The passage turns here, running north and east.
The room smells musty, which must come from the bones lying on the floor. Passages lead north and west, and the stone passage continues on to the east, drier than before.
You have reached a turning point in the passage. The stone walls are drier here and the seams of the bricks show clearly. The way back runs west, and the passage seems to end in a blank stone wall to the south.
This tunnel is a bit more kept and clean. The air smells of incense and other things, and sounds of chanting come from somewhere near you. The passageway continues south into a larger room.
The tunnel opens into a cavernous room. Tall gray pillars are scattered about, making it hard to get a clearer view of the shrine itself. Shadows leap across the walls along with loud chanting; you are very near its source. East and west offer ways around the stone pillars, and the shrine itself lies directly south. The short tunnel leads back north.
Small, roughly made chairs are placed here and there in a half circle. A very small stage stands directly in front of them, where you guess a speaker might stand. The floor here is clean and the air seems a bit warmer. To the southwest you can see the edge of a large altar in the center of the shrine; the way around the pillars leads back west.
Small bits of bones and flesh litter the floor here. Small insects scurry away from your light and hide anywhere they can. To the southeast you can make out a large altar just barely jutting out along the edge of the pillars; the way around them leads back east.
You stand before the great altar to the Lizardmen's god. Some slithering reptile looking creature hulks above you. At first you leap back, then realize that it is simply a statue. Directly in front of the statue is a well used altar. The stone pillars circle you completely except for a swift retreat north.
The air changes quite suddenly as you arrive, hot and heavy with damp. The road you came by lies back to the north. To the east a narrow trail pushes into a wall of green, and from somewhere beyond it come the calls of strange animals.
You are on a dark, thickly overgrown path that runs north. You see a large shadow to the northeast that looks like a large mound covered in vines. The jungle seems to be getting silent. The path leads back south to the end of the jungle path.
The path here is deep, dark and overgrown, and it turns east. To the northeast you can see what is clearly a pyramid overgrown with tangled vines. You can feel every breath you take, it is so quiet here, and you stop to ponder how old that pyramid must be. The path leads back south.
You can now make out clearly the form of the pyramid, whose base lies just to the north. It is obviously very old, as the vegetation has completely consumed the outside. The ground here smells dark and dank and you have a very hard time seeing through the undergrowth. You have an immense feeling of quiet solitude that may be shattered at any moment by something unforeseen. The path leads back west.
You stand at the base of a vine covered pyramid. Starting at the large stones of the base, the vines cling and twist up towards the top, thick enough to climb. At the peak of the pyramid you can see a large snake made of an onyx colored stone. The snake twists several times around the pyramid with its head looking towards the deepest part of the jungle. The path leads back south.
From here you can see the small clearing down below where the vine you cling to grows from. Small gusts of wind sweep across your back as you climb upwards bringing sounds of the jungle as it does. You feel a sudden thumping noise on the vine you hold to and decide it would be best to continue on, quickly!
The pyramid beneath you seems to pulse with its own heart beat giving you a sense of urgency in your mission. Looking upwards you can see that the vines seem to thin out. The air is getting thinner and you gasp for breath as you continue on. The safety of the ground taunts you below.
The vines thin out and you must grasp stone and vines to continue upwards. Strong gusts of wind push you against the pyramid as if to crush you against the stone.
The vines seem to stop too suddenly here, but you can continue upwards if you step carefully on the stone slabs of the pyramid. The vines thicken downwards. Above your head the lower section of the onyx snake threatens to fall atop and crush you.
The snake's body widens here, allowing you to walk without fear of falling off the edge. Staring at the snake you notice that each onyx stone forms a single black scale; there must be over a hundred scales in just this little portion. The body runs west toward its tail and east to where it twists upward, and the vines lie below.
The path beneath you is the lower half of the onyx snake, and small chunks of it have broken and fallen to the depths below. Its black onyx tail ends here, blocking further passage to this side. The wind seems to scream across the scales, making you shiver; you look down and shiver more. The snake's body leads back east.
The snake body twists upwards here, you can either climb upwards or follow the narrow path westwards. From here you can see the opposite side of the pyramid and below. Faint flickers of light can be seen from what can only be large bon fires, you can almost imagine figures leaping around the flames in some demonic dance.
The path continues to the west on a very gradual incline. The path is wide enough to walk single file but two abreast would surely cause someone to slip and fall. Small rocks and pebbles that have come loose from the pyramid side clatter down as you walk along. Glancing over the edge you are overcome with fear at just how far up in the air you are.
The snake's body leads farther to the west, where it narrows to a ledge barely a foot wide, and twists down and around to the east. You ponder how anyone could have moved all this stone up to this height. The thought crosses your mind: what if this large snake were once alive? Below, the ground seems leagues away.
This is the second twist in the large onyx snake's body. The life-like body twists over the pyramid walls smoothly, however you will have to climb the same path... not so easily. The distance to the ground below leaves you gasping for air, it must be leagues to the ground below!
The wind here is very dangerous, blowing with the fierceness of the wind of an angry god. You cling tightly to the onyx statue you follow and see that the snake's head is just above you, overseeing you carefully. The body makes one more turn upwards to the east and finally allows you to access the peak of the pyramid.
You can see the final stretch to the peak of the pyramid, and the base of the snake's neck. Strangely the pyramid is flat along the top, the snake head seems to cover the peak like a roof. The eyes of the snake glow a deep green and seem to look at you in your futile effort to get to it.
The view from here is somewhat less than what you would have expected. Due to the slow inclines of the pyramid you can only see pyramid stones. At the edge you can make out the jungle growth trying to take the pyramid. The stone you stand upon seems to throb as a heart would. Directly above you the snake's maw opens wide letting a stone tongue dangle motionless. The wind seems to have died down, the stone floor beneath you rumbles.
The floor beneath you cracks wide open and swallows you whole! You begin to sink down in sand that seems to almost engulf you. Then, when you think you're about to die the sand spills out and you with it into a large torch lighted room.
Dazed and a little confused you pick yourself up and dust the sand off your clothes. Looking around you are in a dark room, the air is muggy and damp already starting to cause your clothing to stick to your body. The walls appear slick and shiny, reaching out to touch them you recoil, your fingers coated with a warm, slippery slime. Drudging through the sand you figure your best course of action is to take the only exit out of here and hope you can make it out of this place alive.
The dampness seems to come from a hole that dominates the farthest corner in this hallway. There are no other exits from this hallway other than back the way you came and a thick rope leading down.
A great archway stops you for a moment with its grandeur. It is finely crafted and carved from the purest black onyx stone, trimmed with pure gold. The carvings show horrid scenes of snakes and humanoid figures dancing together, twisting themselves together. The halls leading west and east are completely dark. Northward you can see an entrance to some shrine; dangling above your head is a rope leading upwards, and in the floor a narrow, damp shaft drops away below.
You stand at a corner of a dark and putrid smelling hallway. Even the feeble light you have brought barely manages to penetrate the darkness. The hall runs north along the shrine's western wall and east back to the grand entry. Somewhere in the distance you can hear the sound of a thumping.
You stand in a long, dark and humid hallway that runs north and south. The shadows here loom stronger than before, and you feel the light being squeezed from this very place. A plain door is set in the west wall, and the thumping grows closer as you press deeper into the gloom.
You stand at a corner of a dark and humid hallway. The shadows here loom stronger than before, and you feel the light being squeezed from this very room. The thumping grows closer as you press deeper into the gloom. A small puddle of dark red fluid flows in from the east, and the hall runs back south.
You stand in a dark and humid hallway. The shadows here loom stronger than before. You feel the light being squeezed from this very room. The thumping thumping grows closer as you press deeper into the gloom. A small puddle of dark red fluid flows in from the east.
You stand in a dark and humid hallway behind the shrine. The shadows here loom stronger than before, and you feel the light being squeezed from this very room. A small puddle of dark red fluid flows in from the east. A heavy wooden door is set in the north wall.
You stand at a corner of a dark and muggy hallway. A small drift of smoke lingers in the air, and you notice the corpse of some creature bleeding profusely in one of the corners. The hall turns south here and runs back west. You can still make out the thumping sound in the distance.
You stand in a dark and muggy hallway. You notice a trail of some sort of dark red fluid trickling across the floor from the north, collecting in a small pool in the center of the room before continuing onwards toward the south. You can still make out the thumping sound in the distance.
You stand in a dark and muggy hallway. You notice a trail of some sort of dark red fluid trickling across the floor from the north, collecting in a small pool in the center of the room before continuing onwards toward the south. You can still make out the thumping sound in the distance.
You stand at a corner of a dark and muggy hallway. Even the feeble light you have brought barely penetrates the shadows. The hall runs north along the shrine's eastern wall and west to the grand entry, and somewhere in the distance you can hear the sound of thumping.
The walls here are covered in carvings of reptiles. Snakes, lizards and other such creatures snake and slither along the walls; looking closer, the walls seem alive with movement, but it is only the flicker of your light that causes it. Waves of evil emanate from the north, which can only be the center of the shrine. The grand entry lies back south.
The shrine hits you like a wave, a wave of evil. The walls are completely black, and ahead to the north you see a large, black, evil looking altar. Aisles run along either side of the shrine, east and west, and the entrance is back south. The air here is very muggy and damp, and your steps startle you with how loud they are in this room.
An evil looking altar dominates the northern part of the room, to the west and east are just aisles in the shrine. The floor beneath you is cold and clammy, just like the air you breathe. The smell of musk is strong in the air.
Strange smells and sights greet you as you near the altar. Dark streaks along the stone altar can only be blood of some poor animal or person. Candles, made very crudely, and incense sticks burn furiously here to some reptile god. Feathers, jewelry fruit and other sundry adorn the altar in some plea for a small blessing from their god.
Water trickles down along the edge of the wall here. Making your way carefully you can continue on east towards the altar or south to the western corner of the shrine.
The western corner of the shrine seems to be less traveled, but still is covered with just as much slime and damp air as the rest of this place. To the north-east you can see a large black altar set atop a stone pedestal.
You stand on the eastern side of the shrine. The aisle continues on south or you can turn west to the center of the shrine, near the black looking altar.
From here you can see the entire shrine. The altar is the center of attention from here. To the west you can see the center aisle.
This room is somewhat small but is completely packed with items of evil worship, black candles, wicked daggers and evil readings. The room is lighted by a small candle that burns eternally atop a small wood desk. Shadows flicker about the room.
Rows and rows of sleeping mats line the floor here. A dank and musky odor reeks everywhere almost over powering your willpower to leave. Although the sleeping mats are empty you can sense that they have not been empty long. Rags and bits of other items lie strew about.