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The portal opens into a vaulted corridor lined with wall-paintings that exude a crude aura of evil. This procession of gaudy murals depict nightmarish scenes: diseased creatures, alien landscapes blighted with pestilence, hosts of larvae writhing in awful triumph over the goodly forces of Kai and Ishir. This macabre celebration of decay fills you with revulsion, yet it pales in comparison to the sight awaiting you at the corridor’s end.
Beyond the corridor lies a vast chamber, rough-hewn from the bedrock of this rotting land. The decomposing carcass of a gigantic reptile rests here upon a floor which shimmers in the eerie yellow half-light. Bile rises in your throat when suddenly you realize why the floor is shimmering: it is carpeted with a seething sea of maggots. Gagging with fear and nausea, you snatch your cloak to your mouth and steady yourself against a pillar as you survey this ghastly hall. Mounted upon the broken back of the great reptilian carcass are two throne-like chairs carved from black wood. Between and below them, lying deep within the creature’s exposed rib cage, is a dark semicircular shadow that resembles the entrance to a cave. Drawing upon your Magnakai Discipline of Divination, you scan the hall and quickly determine that all is not what it seems. You detect the presence of three powerful entities protected by spells of illusion and invisibility. You feel sure that two of them are the Künae, the rulers of this hellish domain, but the third eludes you. Its aura feels oddly familiar, yet you cannot readily determine its location or identity.
(I have been to Kaag, Helgor, and Mogaurith)
Suddenly you fathom the identity of the third spirit occupying this hall. It is Cadak, Arch Druid of the Cenerese, sworn enemy of the Kai and all who ally themselves to the cause of Good. His body was destroyed on Magnamund five years ago but his spirit survives here, in this reeking hall, bound in eternal servitude to the Lords of Decay.
Your heart pounds as you witness a swirling, ghostly, gossamer shape arise from the hollow rib cage of the carcass and snake towards you like a vampiric mist. As it draws closer, you hear the chilling voice of Cadak invade your mind: ‘From beyond death the powers of decay grant me revenge, Lone Wolf!’
(I have KS)
The swirling spirit of Cadak condenses and shapes itself into a column of flickering light. It now resembles a large candle flame, but one that radiates an icy coldness. Within this chill flame you see Cadak’s evil eyes glowing hypnotically. You draw on your psychic defences to shield yourself from an imminent attack, and moments later, you feel pulses of energy bombarding the wall that you have erected around your mind.
You sense that your speedy and successful defence has greatly weakened your old enemy. You are about to turn the tables by launching a counterattack when suddenly you hear something quite unexpected.
‘Spare me and forgive me, Lone Wolf,’ pleads Cadak’s plaintive voice in your mind. ‘I renounce my evil past. Forgive me so that death may free my soul from the slavery of Evil. Grant me this salvation and I shall help you to escape from the realm of the Künae.’
The host of maggots which carpet the floor of this foul hall suddenly recede like an ebb-tide. As they retreat, a glowing ring is revealed lying on the slime-smeared ground.
‘Take the ring, Lone Wolf. Take the ring and grant me your forgiveness. With the ring the way is clear for you to leave this hall through the Tunnel of the Wyrm.’
Beyond the flame-like spirit of Cadak you can see the rotting rib cage of the carcass. The semicircular shadow that occupies it is now pulsing with a warm, amber light.
(I choose to grant forgiveness and take the ring)
The very instant you touch the ring it transforms into the mouth of a huge scaly worm. Your whole hand and forearm disappear into its fang-filled maw and, before you can save yourself, it snaps shut its powerful jaws. Red-hot agony engulfs your arm and sears your senses.
Instinctively you pull away and, to your horror, you fall backwards with blood spilling freely from your severed limb. Cadak’s malicious laughter fills your ears as, in a swirl of pain and confusion, you feel the numbing chill of shock begin to fill you with a deadly lethargy.
Seated upon the two throne-like seats which adorn the great carcass appear the ghastly forms of the Künae, the Lords of Decay. Their braying laughter echoes Cadak’s vicious howl; they are clearly delighted by his use of base trickery to defeat you. Tragically, this awful sound is the last that you will ever hear. You have allowed yourself to be deceived by the spirit of the Arch Druid and you have paid the ultimate price. In a moment of sheer terror, the Künae focus their terrible powers of disease and decay and turn them upon you, consigning you swiftly to oblivion.
Sadly, your life and your quest end here in the dreaded Hall of the Künae.
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