take the 2 Gold Crowns and the dagger with you.
examine the tapestries

take 2 gold and dagger

examine the tapestries

You examine the tapestries.

The tapestries are similar to others you have seen in the lower levels of Kazan-Oud; they are extremely beautiful and exceedingly valuable. However, it is what you discover behind them that is of greater interest, for they conceal a secret door. Your basic Kai senses alert you to a tiny button set into the wall. You press it and the door slides open to reveal a circular tunnel of gleaming steel. Quickly you enter and the door slides shut, moments before the hall is filled with Zahda's guards.

Fifty feet along the gleaming steel tube, you arrive at a circular door in the wall to your left.

You wish to open the door and enter.

You wish to continue along the tube.

Zeit: 23:00 Uhr

open the door and enter

Open the door and enter

Open the door and enter

You spin a screw-like handle set in the centre of the door, releasing the lock. You open the door and enter: inside, you discover a room of steel. The walls, ceiling, and floor are all constructed of metal plate, which is polished to give a mirror-like shine. Low, iron tables are set out with the implements and accessories of magic: crucibles, retorts, aludels, flasks, and all manner of twisting glass tubes, which bubble and seethe with multi-coloured liquids. Vellum-bound tomes and crumbling parchments litter the shelves, competing for space with repulsive-looking pink organs floating in glass jars of vile-smelling preservative. Quickly you scan the shelves in search of useful items and, to your delight, rediscover all your confiscated Weapons.

In addition to your Weapons, you discover a large jar of concentrated Laumspur (restores 8 ENDURANCE points) and a Platinum Amulet. If you wish to take the Amulet, mark it on your Action Chart as a Special Item, which you wear on your wrist. It will protect you from injury due to exposure to high temperatures.

Elated by the rediscovery of your equipment, you leave the chamber and press on along the shiny steel tube.

You wish to take the Amulet.

You do not wish to take it.

Zeit: 10:00 Uhr

take the amulet

take back your bow, drop the dagger, pick up the concentrated Potion of Laumspur

Take back bow, drop dagger

take concentrated Laumspur

take the Amulet

Take back bow, drop dagger

take concentrated Laumspur

take the Amulet

As you walk the temperature steadily rises until you are bathed in sweat. The steel plates of the tunnel become too hot to touch, and wisps of smoke rise from the soles of your boots, where the leather is close to igniting.

After what seems like an hour, but in reality is only a few minutes at the most, the scorching heat subsides and the tunnel air becomes painless to breathe. You press on and soon arrive at an archway, where the shiny steel tube enters a chamber gouged out of solid black iron. There a spiral staircase ascends to a portal. You climb the stairs and peer out through the portal. A sight greets you that sets your pulse racing. Before you stands a gleaming block of solid gold—the back of Lord Zahda's throne. Above it, hovering motionless in the air, are two perfect crystals: one glows darkly with black fire; the other radiates a pure golden light that sends a shiver down your spine. It is the object of your quest—the Lorestone of Herdos.

You wish to reach up and take the Lorestone.

You wish to attack the black crystal.

You prefer to examine the throne.

Zeit: 23:30 Uhr

Examine the throne

examine the throne

examine the throne

Cautiously you walk around the throne, your weapon held out in readiness to strike. As you draw level, your heart leaps into your mouth—you are staring into the cold, unblinking eyes of Lord Zahda. He sneers evilly and points a rod of inlaid platinum at your head.

A howling blue fire leaps from Zahda's staff and instinctively you hurl yourself to the floor to evade its searing heat. The bolt screams past into the darkness of the hall, where it explodes in a splash of vivid sparks.

Zahda screams with anger and frustration and attempts to crush your head with one vicious blow, but you save yourself by rolling aside, and the staff cleaves open the black iron floor. A gout of flame rises from the split and blisters the mad lord's hand; he shrieks like a wounded crow, and the staff drops from his fire-blackened fingers.

You see your chance to attack and lash out, but Zahda is quick to react. He leaps backwards, unsheathing a glowing dagger as he steadies himself on the brink of the abyss. Lord Zahda is immune to Mindblast but not Psi-surge.

Lord Zahda: COMBAT SKILL 25 ENDURANCE 45

Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 22 ENDURANCE: 29

Round 1:
Zahda is the first one to jump forward and attack. You dodge his swift blows and manage to counter with a strong strike to his chest (10 damage).

Zahda: 35
Lone Wolf: 29

Round 2:
Without much hesitation Zahda lunges forward again and pierces your shoulder(3 damage). With the blade still in your shoulder you rotate towards your enemy and hit him with the back of your foot (6 damage).

Zahda: 29
Lone Wolf: 26

Round 3:
The Lord flies through the air and lands near his throne. You strike him once more before he is able to stand up (7 damage), but get pushed away with a heavy kick (2 damage).

Zahda: 22
Lone Wolf: 24

Round 4:
Lord Zahda and you exchange a few blows (7 damage for him, 2 for you).

Zahda: 15
Lone Wolf: 22

Round 5:
Your blade cuts through your opponents arm (5 damage), but before it is able to do severe damage a blue bolts pierces your chest (4 damage).

Zahda: 10
Lone Wolf: 18

Round 6:
Another bolt flies towards you and you are barely able to dodge it. Still in the process of dodging, Zahda appears near you and stabs you with his dagger (4 damage). In return you swing around your sword and manage to hit him in his back (5 damage).

Zahda: 5
Lone Wolf: 14

Round 7:

Lord Zahda shrieks an unearthly howl as your killing blow rips open his black heart. He thrusts a pleading, claw-like hand towards the roof and drops heavily to his knees, his dying curse lost as blood fills his throat. His left eye gleams brightly for a second then suddenly dies, like a candle flaring in a storm before it is extinguished by the rain. He sways and falls from the pinnacle to be devoured by the hungry flames of the pit.

Hurrying over to the throne, you draw back your weapon and strike the black crystal with a mighty blow. It splits clean in two, releasing its dark power and showering you with hot sparks in the wake of its destruction. The riven fragments hurtle into the fiery abyss, and the flames grow deadly quiet.

From the depths of the pit, a terrible roar begins to grow. The pinnacle shakes and a column of flame lights the entire throne-hall as molten lava spews high into the air.

You wish to take the Lorestone and escape into the steel tube.

You wish to take the Lorestone and search for some other way of escape from the throne-hall.

Zeit: 9:30 Uhr

take the Lorestone and escape into the steel tube

take the Lorestone and escape into the steel tube.

take the Lorestone and escape into the steel tube.

You close your hand around the Lorestone of Herdos, and your senses reel as a wave of energy washes over your body (restore your current ENDURANCE points score to its original total). Your senses tingle and a newfound strength wipes away the fatigue of your terrible ordeal, enabling you to assess the situation anew. A vibration runs through the iron floor, a forewarning of the eruptions that will tear Kazan-Oud to pieces. Swiftly you descend the spiral stairs and sprint along the tube, oblivious of the heat and noise that buffet you mercilessly as you run towards the distant hall. There, you find everything in chaos: Zahda's minions, his guards, and his slaves run in blind confusion as they try to escape from the impending doom.

Your Magnakai Disciplines, heightened by the discovery of the Lorestone of Herdos, screams a warning that the stairs to the cell complex are doomed to disaster. Your senses tell you that by staying on this level and following the corridor to the far side of the subterranean lair, you will be sure of finding a safe route up to the surface.

The entire corridor shakes with the violence of a series of eruptions that tears rock and iron with ease. All around you Zahda's loathsome minions run in utter panic, their voices rising to a cacophony of terror as frantically they seek to escape from Kazan-Oud.

Jets of flaming gas erupt from splits in the floor as you sprint, crawl, climb, and jump over the obstacles hurled in your path by the dying fortress. Creatures from the maze now stalk these levels, adding to the carnage and panic as they consume the unfortunates who cross their path.

You cover a mile of broken passage before you find an undamaged staircase. It winds upwards into the dust-choked darkness, and, as you pound its rubble-strewn steps, your feet are licked by flames. Below, the screams are drowned by the deafening roar of fire and explosion; above, there is nothing but darkness.

You are nearing the point of collapse when suddenly you emerge from the blackness into the glare of daylight. You stagger and fall, momentarily blinded. As your eyes gradually become accustomed to the light, you cast your gaze over the broken battlements of the castle keep and see the glimmering waters of Lake Khor far below.

The walls of the fortress are crumbling rapidly, and the ground is alive with constant vibration. You run headlong through the ruined main gate as bolts of lightning are drawn from the sky by the dying power of Kazan-Oud. At the top of a ruined staircase, you stare down at the shore far below.

You wish to descend the steps to the old jetty.

You choose to make your way to the beach.

You decide to dive from the cliff into the water far below.

Zeit: 23:30 Uhr

descend the steps to the old jetty