For several hours you accompany the Ookor across a vast tract of grassland, featureless save for a narrow trail and a line of low hills, which rest on the horizon like a sleeping colossus. During the trek you become very hungry: you must eat a Meal or lose 3 ENDURANCE points. Eventually the trail ascends to the peak of the hills and, as you clear the crest, you see a remarkable sight beyond.
The walled city of Thas, home of the Ookor, lies before you, spread out along the centre of a narrow wooded valley. The low, pyramid-shaped dwellings are built around a tower of stone, its colour identical to the drab grey of the sky. Straight thoroughfares teem with Ookor, who pass freely and leisurely through the criss-cross of narrow streets.
The path leads down to an open gate in the city wall, guarded by two of the squat-limbed humanoids. When they see L'yan-K'ril and his patrol approaching with you in their midst they give a call and a crowd comes rushing out of the city. They gather round you, chirruping and twittering excitedly, while L'yan-K'ril tries his best to calm them down.
In a frenzy of excitement the citizens of Thas press forward on all sides, pawing, prodding and staring slack-jawed, as you are brought along the main street, which leads directly to the grey tower. Your escort are hard-pressed to keep the crowd at bay and, by the time you reach the tower door, your clothes are dishevelled and you are scratched and bruised: lose 2 ENDURANCE points.
With a loud, grating rumble the stone door moves inwards and you are given into the charge of three bronze-clad Ookor wardens. They usher you up a winding stair to a bare chamber, floored and walled with smooth stone slabs. Silently a section of the drab wall moves aside and silhouetted in the opening stands the tall, feline shape of a remarkable creature. 'I am Serocca,' she purrs, hypnotically, 'and I bid you welcome, Lone Wolf. Come, enter my chamber, so that we may discuss your reasons for journeying so far to seek my help.'
(I have Psi-Screen and have reached Tutelary)
You sense that Serocca is imprisoned in a cage of psychic energy which surrounds her chamber and prevents her from passing through the opening. This energy is extremely powerful and has been synchronized to react to her brainwaves alone. To enter the chamber would cause you no injury, but if she ever attempted to pass through the invisible wall, the resulting release of force would be enough to destroy both her and the entire city of Thas.
Cautiously you pass through the opening and follow Serocca into a tall, domed chamber that is supported by a circle of huge, rose-veined marble pillars. At its centre stands a large table and, from the ceiling directly above, a flood of light pours down, reflecting and refracting upon its crystal mosaic surface and bathing the chamber walls in spectral colours. She bids you take a seat at the table and, as she lowers herself elegantly into a seat opposite, you cannot but admire her beauty. Her face has the feline characteristics of a young lioness, yet her eyes and her youthful body are distinctly human, save for the soft, velvety nap which covers her flesh. She bears an aura that is powerful and confident, and yet at the same time she seems vulnerable and sad.
'How do you know my name?' you ask, slightly unnerved by the familiar way in which she welcomed you to her chamber.
'There is much I know about you,' she replies, veraciously, and at once you sense that you are in the presence of a god-like being. 'Your land, and your fight against the forces of darkness who threaten to conquer it, are but a part of the struggle which rages throughout the Planes of Existence. Yet it is your world and your fight that has become the focus of this conflict between the powers of Good and Evil.' She pauses, then staring deeply into your eyes, she continues: 'Upon you depends the future of us all.'