Mikl posted:

Castle Death posted:

The passage leads to an enormous compound of cells that holds the slaves of Kazan-Oud. They are, in the main, a pitiful herd of gangling, black-skinned creatures, with sorrowful eyes and backs bent crooked by years of hard labour. These prisoners press their sad faces against the tiny grates of their cells, curious to see the fair-skinned warrior who walks upright among them.

They hiss as you pass until the entire complex echoes to the sound of their sibilant scorn. At the end of the block, there is a cell that resembles a cage, denying its prisoner even the small degree of privacy provided by the others. You stare through the bars at a dark-skinned man sleeping on the straw-covered floor. His blond hair and red and gold tunic are stained with blood and grime. A key to his cell hangs by a cord on a peg driven into the nearby wall.

Healing: +1 EP (12/32).

Morrow posted:

Release the prisoner because we need to buy as much time as possible, with pages of dialogue, to heal.

Helios Grime posted:

We need someone who can catch a bullet for us, even if we fire that bullet our self.

Release him.

Castle Death posted:

The passage leads to an enormous compound of cells that holds the slaves of Kazan-Oud. They are, in the main, a pitiful herd of gangling, black-skinned creatures, with sorrowful eyes and backs bent crooked by years of hard labour. These prisoners press their sad faces against the tiny grates of their cells, curious to see the fair-skinned warrior who walks upright among them.

Toplowtech posted:

Because that's sadly the right meta-gaming answer

Castle Death posted:

The creaking door stirs the man from sleep, and he rolls over and cowers in the corner of his foul-smelling cage. His eyes are cloudy, like frosted glass, and his face and hands are pitted with disease.

Healing: +1 EP (13/32).

‘You need not fear me,’ you say, trying to calm the frightened man. ‘I will not harm you.’

The sound of your voice stops him shaking. He turns his scarred face towards you and asks, ‘Have the Elder Magi sent you here?’

Healing: +1 EP (14/32).

Helios Grime posted:

The image of just up and leaving after entering the cage is for some reason really funny to me.

Tiggum posted:

Please don't say stuff like that. It's perfectly fine to let your prior knowledge of the book/series inform your voting, but actually saying you're doing so is too close to spoiler territory.

Helios Grime posted:

Let's have a chat

Castle Death posted:

You tell him of your quest and the help the Elder Magi have given to enable you to enter Kazan-Oud. When you recount your air voyage to Herdos aboard Lord Paido’s skyship, you notice a tear trickle from the blind man’s eye. ‘My name is Kasin,’ he says, sorrowfully. ‘Lord Paido is my brother.’

Pity fills your heart for this unfortunate warrior, for you know that he is doomed to die. Blindness occurs in the final stage of takadea, the disease that is ravaging his body. ‘I am beyond help,’ he says, his face lined with pain, ‘but I can and will help your quest, Kai Lord. Listen to me carefully. There are stairs at the end of the corridor that lead down to the throne-hall of Zahda. At the entrance to the hall there is a tapestry behind which there is a secret passage. It leads to Zahda’s throne. Above the throne is the Lorestone you seek, but beware. Zahda has coupled its power to a Doomstone from the realm of Naaros—Zahda draws all his power from this accursed gem. If you are to succeed, you must first destroy the gem or you will surely perish. Sadly I cannot help you escape from Kazan-Oud, for I myself was captured long before I reached the surface, but if you reach the beach, make your way to the old stone jetty. Beneath the steps is the place where I hid my boat.’

He grips your hand in friendship, his face now calm and peaceful. ‘When you return to Elzian, tell my brother that my death was not in vain. May the gods protect you, Lone Wolf.’

The sound of approaching guards forces you to leave the cell. As you close the door, you promise that his bravery will live forever in the legends of the Vakeros—his warrior kin.

Healing: +1 EP (15/32).

At the end of the cell block corridor a staircase descends to a lower level. It is guarded by a grim-faced creature armed with an axe.

Castle Death posted:

Rolling the body over with the toe of your boot, you quickly check for useful items and discover the following:

• Axe
  
• Short Sword
  
• Dagger
  
• 2 Gold Crowns

Remember to mark any items you wish to keep on your Action Chart before making your escape down the stairs.

Healing: +1 EP (16/32).

Castle Death posted:

At the bottom of the stairs is a deserted hallway that leads to two great doors of gleaming bronze. Sumptuous tapestries and statuettes of gold line the walls on either side, and an ornate fountain of silvered marble fills the hall with a melodious bubbling sound.

You have covered only a few yards when an armoured guard steps into view from behind the fountain. He is armed with a crossbow and is taking aim at your chest.

Healing: +1 EP (17/32).

The guard fires as you run at him, the sneer on his face boasting his confidence that you will soon be a dead man. You twist aside to avoid the lethal bolt, escaping with nothing more serious than a torn sleeve, and shattering his confidence. You attack and he attempts to parry your first blow with his empty crossbow; you knock it from his trembling fingers, leaving him without a weapon to hand.

Castle Death posted:

You hear footsteps on the stairs—more of the enemy are approaching. If they, too, are armed with crossbows, your chances of survival will be very slim indeed. Before you stand two great bronze doors, flanked on either side by tapestries and gold statuettes.

Healing: +1 EP (18/32).

achtungnight posted:

Remind me- I know Zahda took the Sommerswerd, but what happened to our Silver Bow of Duadon? Or does it no longer count as a weapon?

Leraika posted:

Take the short sword, examine the tapestries.

I hope it's not possible to end this book without finding our poo poo.

Tiggum posted:

Zahda took it too. He takes all your weapons and weapon-like special items, it's just that the Sommerswerd gets singled out in particular because it zaps the guy who takes it.

anakha posted:

The helpful dying man said to look at the tapestries, so that we shall do.

Take the cash and the dagger.

Helios Grime posted:

look at the tapestries, Take the cash and the dagger.

Castle Death posted:

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.

Healing: +1 EP (19/32).

Tiggum posted:

OK, we'll leave the other weapons then.

Do we go through the door or continue along the tube?

Castle Death posted:

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. (Re-enter on your Action Chart everything that was taken from you before you were sent to the maze.)

In addition to your Weapons, you discover a large jar of concentrated Laumspur (restores 8 ENDURANCE points) and a Kazan-Oud 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.

Healing: +1 EP (20/32).

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.

Healing: +1 EP (21/32).

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.

Healing: +1 EP (22/32).