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42 Wandering down the main tunnel, you arrive at the Fungus Gardens, a mazelike series of damp catacombs where most of the Clan of Akhuz are hard at work harvesting mushrooms, toadstools, spore balls, slime moulds, bellcaps, and other more exotic subterranean fungi. Set up under a particularly large red toadstool is a small market, run by Zudda, a female Troglodyte famous for her beautiful nose of truly aquiline proportions, as well as her finely honed bargaining skills. "Here, Skuznut," she says when she sees you. "Heard you made the Chief look stupid. You better watch it, you know what his temper's like!" "Did I?" you reply. "Honestly I can't remember." That's true, you can't. "Anyway, I"m hungry. What have you got to eat?" Zudda sells the following - Moss dumplings - one tusk each - turn to 63. Puffballs - two tusks each - turn to 78. Clay gourd - five tusks - turn to 52. If you decide to make any purchases, deduct the appropriate amount of tusks from the total on your Adventure Sheet and turn to the paragraph indicated. In addition, if you have a clay gourd containing Shroomshine Grog, Zudda will trade you a moss dumpling for it should you wish (in which case cross the gourd off your Adventure Sheet and turn to 63). If you cannot afford to buy anything, or are not interested, you have a choice of two major tunnels leading out of the Fungus Gardens. One tunnel spirals downwards to the Well, where the Clan of Akhuz draw most of their water. To take this route turn to 8. The other tunnel leads to the Guardroom, which watches over the only Trog-sized tunnel that connects the Warren to the rest of the crypt. To visit the Guardroom turn to 20. |
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63 At anytime during your adventure, except when fighting of course, you may eat a moss dumpling. In which case cross it off your Adventure Sheet and restore one STAMINA point. Now turn to 6. 6 Do you wish to make any further purchases? Moss dumplings - one tusk each - turn to 63. Puffballs - two tusks each - turn to 78. Clay gourd - five tusks - turn to 52. If you decide to make any purchases, deduct the appropriate amount of tusks from the total on your Adventure Sheet and turn to the paragraph indicated. In addition, if you have a clay gourd containing Shroomshine Grog, Zudda will trade you a moss dumpling for it should you wish (in which case cross the gourd off your Adventure Sheet and turn to 63). When your business is finished here, or you can no longer afford to buy anything, you turn to leave. As you do so Zudda offers you a final bit of advice: "If I were you, I"d go to the top of the Warren and see Ilkya the Hag. Maybe she can help you with your problems with the Chief." You"re about to retort to this but Zudda is already bargaining with a worker from the Gardens, so instead you consider your choices onwards. There are two major tunnels leading out of the Fungus Gardens. One tunnel spirals downwards to the Well, where the Clan of Akhuz draw most of their water. To take this route turn to 8. The other tunnel leads to the Guardroom, which watches over the only Trog-sized tunnel that connects the Warren to the rest of the crypt. To visit the Guardroom turn to 20. |
Okay, I'm jumping in the middle here, but I think a cool drink of well water would do us good. We should avoid the guardroom if possible until we know what we did to tick off the chief?
I vote drink some water and then go find the hag.
To drink then the hag it is! Glad you rejoined alaskann. I shall try to keep this moving on the weekend as well.
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8 You follow a much traveled tunnel that winds downwards to the Well, occasionally passing groups of workers carrying dripping gourds of water up to the Fungus Gardens. The Well itself is a large chamber with a murky flooded sinkhole, whilst around the hole are several buckets tied to lengths of rope that are staked to the floor. Recent rumour holds that when Gazoul returned from the expedition that claimed the lives of Kursh Notch Ear and Bosha the Bad, he hurled some accursed artifact, acquired on his travels, deep into the Well. He then spent seven nights mourning the loss of his treasure and on the eighth night he disappeared; popular opinion being he died jumping into the sinkhole to retrieve the artifact. If you have the word "DRUNK" written on your Adventure Sheet, turn immediately to 53. Otherwise, you can throw one of the buckets into the Well and draw up some water (in which case turn to 16), or you can take the only tunnel onwards, which twists up to the top of the Warren in a tight ascending spiral (turn to 70). *grins what did we do Klar the old redeye usually helps!* 53 Woops! You overbalance, and with arms flapping in futility, go sailing over the edge into the murky depths of the sinkhole. Luckily, it's only a short fall, broken by the icy waters of the Well, and you rise to the surface unscathed. Congratulating yourself on your good fortune however, you fail to see a dark shape detach itself from the side of the rock wall, and glide through the water to probe at one of your legs with a long black arm. All you feel is a burning pain in your leg, and tearing yourself free you clamber out of the water and frantically up the walls of the sinkhole, using the stone-carved emergency footholds. Safe at the top, you look back into the water to see a black shape hover briefly under the surface before sinking into the depths. Looking down at your wound, you see your leg has been torn badly by lots of tiny hooks, and you must deduct one STAMINA point because of your injury. However, the whole frightening experience, not to mention the unexpected bath, has served to sober you up so you may delete the word "DRUNK" from your Adventure Sheet if you have it, and in addition restore any lost SKILL points owing to drunkenness. Exiting the Well with a shudder, you take the small tunnel leading upwards. Turn to 70. 70 The tunnel is a steep climb and you"re soon out of breath. At one point another tunnel winds up from the depths to join yours but despite your tiredness you keep going up and not down, much as you would like to. Eventually, with sweat running in rivers down your back and just when you feel your legs about to give way, the tunnel straightens out and enters a large chamber from which wafts the thick cloying stench of fungal incense. Turn to 14. 14 You are in the workroom of the notoriously bad tempered Ilkya the Hag, head soothsayer and priestess of the Moon Cave, although recently out of favour following the ascension of the new Chief. You have no desire to be disrespectful, especially since it is rumoured that Ilkya can read minds, but you cannot work out if the strange smell in the room comes from Ilkya herself, the mess of entrails and burning incense sticks on the altar to Small Demons, the riot of gourds, salves, ointments, and powders on her workbench, or perhaps a mixture of all three. Regardless, your nose wrinkles uncontrollably and your eyes start watering. "Skuznut!" shrieks Ilkya, shambling over in her bloody robes, a necklace of crescent shaped skulls swinging from her wattled throat. "Haven't seen you in these parts since you drank so much Grog you mistook the Fungus Gardens for the Dark Places and the Chief made me give you a sleeping draught to calm down. What brings you here then?" "Dunno really. Out for a walk I suppose.." you reply, breathing through your mouth. "Well, you"re looking pretty seedy. Care for an Elixir of Sobriety to cure your drunkenness? Only costs two tusks"¦.Alternatively, you might like to try some mushrooms that have been consecrated by the Small Demons. Potent but expensive, I"ll have to charge you two copper nuggets for them. What"ll it be?" Elixir of Sobriety - two tusks - turn to 2. Consecrated Mushrooms - two copper nuggets - turn to 45. If you decide to make any purchases, deduct the appropriate amount of tusks or nuggets from the total on your Adventure Sheet and turn to the paragraph indicated. If you cannot afford these purchases, or are not interested, you have a choice of two ways onward. A tunnel illuminated by a flickering orange light leads up to the Moon Cave, the highest part of the Warren. Turn to 54 if you want to go here. Or you can take the low dark tunnel that leads all the way down to the Chief's Room. Turn to 34 for this option. |