The umbrella of light quickly fades to leave you standing in a torrential rain-storm, close to the base of the crystal dais. Through the downpour, you can see that the acolytes are slowly returning. They are anxious for the safety of their leader and hungry for the successful summoning of their banished lord.
Despite the chill, you tighten your grip on the icy cold Deathstaff and climb the tiers to the top of the dais. You sense that the crystal dais commands the opening and closing of the Shadow Gate, and you know you must try to close the gate before Shamath appears. In frustration, you raise the Deathstaff and bring it crashing down upon the floor of the upper tier, but it does little damage. It could take forever to destroy the dais this way.
Then a wave of electrical energy crackles around the rim of the great arch and your blood runs cold, for you know that in a dim and distant cavern upon the Plane of Darkness, the Demoness Shamath has just stepped into a Shadow Gate. Her journey to Magnamund has begun!
Galvanized into action by the fear of what will happen should the Demoness be allowed entry to this world, you cast your eyes and Kai senses across the symbols which are engraved upon the crystal surface of the uppermost tier. Then, in a sudden flash of inspiration, you realize that the symbols themselves are the key to the activation of the Shadow Gate.
You study the symbols and determine that a sequence must be completed in order for you to be able to close the Shadow Gate.
Here they are:
(I’m not sure. I think it’s 6, but I can’t be 100% sure. I can only figure out one direction, not the other.)
The instant you correctly complete the sequence, a deep hum resonates from inside the upper tier, and slowly it opens to reveal a hexagonal crystal plinth with a circular hole at its centre. Your Kai senses inform you that by inserting the tip of the Deathstaff into the hole, you will cause the Shadow Gate beneath the great arch to close
Trembling with fear and exhilaration, you raise the Deathstaff above your head and bring it down with one mighty thrust, driving it deep into the hole.
A shudder runs through the dais and fingers of green electrical fire shoot from the tip of the Deathstaff into the ground below. There is a moment of dreadful silence when even the storm and the rain abate; then the air shakes with a terrific implosion as the great shimmering arch collapses inwards and slowly disintegrates. Sparkling sheets of energy buckle and fuse as segments of the arch fall to the ground, crushing everything beneath, rock and man. For an instant you catch a glimpse of a huge booted foot stepping through a silvery sheet of energy and you tremble at the thought of what will happen next, for you recognize only too well to whom the foot belongs. But in the very next instant the keystone of the arch falls away and, with a grating cry of tortured rock, the whole edifice comes crashing to the ground.
Then, as if from nowhere, a raging whirlwind arises in mid-air, at the centre of where the arch stood. This whirling vortex quickly builds in power until it is sucking everything into its spinning black core. Screaming acolytes tumble past and disappear into its maw as you desperately hang on to the dais to stop yourself from being sucked to your doom.
Pick a number from the Random Number Table.
If your current ENDURANCE points score is 14 or higher, add 2 to the number you picked.
If your current ENDURANCE points score is 13 or lower, deduct 1 from the number you picked.
If you possess Kai-alchemy and have attained the Kai rank of Sun Knight or higher, add 5 to the number you picked.
(So I get +2, +5, and I toss a 0, the lowest possible, but I get to 7 with it. I succeed. Yay!)
Suddenly, the raging winds cease and you fall unconscious to the floor of the dais. When you awaken you discover that you are entirely alone. The collapse of the Shadow Gate and the whirlwind which followed have consumed everything, save yourself and the crystal dais: no acolytes, no trace of the grand archway, no Deathstaff, not even the storms remain. Virtually all trace of Cadak’s evil plan has been wiped from the surface of your world.
Congratulations, Grand Master Lone Wolf. You have triumphed. You have defeated the plan to resurrect Vashna and saved Magnamund from his rule of terror. But the fight against Evil is not yet over.
The collapsing Shadow Gate destroyed everything it consumed … everything, that is, with one exception. That exception returns to haunt you in the next Grand Master adventure, entitled:
The Deathlord of Ixia