(Go left or right at the junction. Left)
The floor of the tunnel is gently sloped and, as it ascends, you notice the temperature steadily becoming much cooler. At length it opens out into a dimly-lit chamber where the stone floor is strewn with wood-shavings soiled by dung and dried blood. As you enter, you hear an inhuman snickering sound coming from among the maze of stout pillars that support the roof. The sound causes you immediately to draw your weapon; you have heard this cry once before, and although it was several years ago, you have not forgotten the creature who made it.
Slowly, from out of the shadows come three hulking beasts, their yellow cat-like eyes glinting malevolently. Your fears are confirmed: they are Egorghs, massive wild bear-like creatures native to the stormy northern coasts of the Darklands. Stirred by the promise of fresh meat, they advance towards you and make ready to launch an attack with fang and claw.
(I use Animal Mastery)
Calling upon your Grand Mastery, mentally you command the three lumbering beasts to halt and, simultaneously, all three freeze in their tracks. Bewildered and frightened by the strange feelings that are coursing through their bodies, the three creatures back away into the shadows, whimpering grotesquely as they retreat like a litter of sick pups.
Immediately you seize the chance to escape and hurry past them, running through the chamber towards an open passage beyond.
You enter the passage and follow it for several minutes before arriving at an empty circular room. The only feature here is a rusty iron ladder, fixed precariously to the wall, which ascends through a hole in the ceiling to a level above. There is no other exit from this chamber and so, with caution guiding your every move, you climb the rust-eaten rungs.
You rise through the hole to find yourself in a corridor which is strewn with human bones. Skeletons lie mixed in tangled heaps and many of the skulls and loose bones seem to have been gnawed. The psychic residues of pain and terror left by these luckless victims presses in upon your senses, making you feel queasy and claustrophobic. With pounding heart you advance along the bone-choked passage, stepping carefully through the skeletons to avoid making a sound. But you have taken less than a dozen steps when something unexpected makes you freeze in your tracks.
In the dim distance you see a score of creatures stumbling along the tunnel. You magnify your gaze and discern that they are vaguely human in form, although hairless, lean and stringy as if from starvation. Their toes and fingers end in horny, hooked claws and their large eyes are deep set in skeletal faces, etched by untold years of pain and anguish. You bring to bear your innate psychic skills and are shocked by what you discover.
Your senses reveal that these creatures were once human soldiers in the armies of the Freeland Alliance. Captured in battle and brought to Kaag long ago, they have endured unspeakable experiments at the hands of the Nadziranim. Now, no longer of use to those evil magicians, these pitiful victims have been left to wander the forgotten passages of this foul city, united in undeath.
When the undead soldiers are twenty yards distant you attempt to communicate with them telepathically. You sense that the one who is leading the group radiates a faint psychic aura and you hope that he may know the whereabouts of your captive friend Banedon. At first your questions elicit no reply, then, when your eyes meet, you feel a wave of despair wash over you as suddenly you tap into the agony of this creature's existence. (Lose two ENDURANCE points due to psychic shock.) As the effects of the shock fade, you hear a ghostly voice echoing thinly in your mind.
Yes . . . I know of whom you seek . . . it croaks. The Sommlending wizard is imprisoned here in Kaag . . . in Zagarna's courtroom . . .
You ask the wretched zombie for directions to Zagarna's courtroom but the only help he can offer is to tell you that it is 'many levels above'.
The pitiful group part in two to allow you to pass. As you move through them, your hatred of the Nadziranim blazes anew when you see upon the bodies of these once-human soldiers the terrible scars left by the cruel experiments. Filled with anger and remorse you hurry away, silently fearful that Banedon may already have suffered a similar fate.