Section 7: The Tomb of Kings
You now stand at the bottom of a long flight of stairs which lead upwards to the North below a series of heavy barrel vaults. To the South a dank passageway leads towards a crossroads lit by phosporescent fungi.
You now stand in a low barrel-vaulted passageway running North-South. At the Northern end an arch opens onto the crossroads with the skull passage. To the South you can hear the drip of water, and smell the foetid stench of decay, but you can see nothing.
You now stand in a dimly lit chamber from which a passage runs to the North. You can just make out a narrow stone stair leading down to the West, and another leading up to the East. Both stairs are decorated with emblems of winged souls, and the grim scythe of Death. Above the Eastern one there is also the image of a Crow with spread wings, while a Falcon hovers over the Western one. Beside the Western one you also notice a bone lying on the ground.
You now stand an East-West corridor of low and crumbling stone, dripping with water, and dank with slime. In the stone of the walls cracked and toothless skulls grin out at you, some so stained with moss and mould that they are almost invisible in the near darkness. To the East a flight of stairs leads upwards, while halfway along the corridor another flight of narrow steps leads downwards to the South. At the Western end of the passage you can make out a heavy archway.
You now stand in a barrel-vaulted tunnel whose decrepit roof is only just above your head. Between each circular arch lie alcoves filled by skeletons so old that even the stench of decay has long since been washed away by the endlessly dripping moisture.
To the North the passage runs to a T-junction, while to the South it continues into impenetrable darkness. In the Western wall a cramped staircase leads sharply downwards.
Picking up the bone you realise that it has been carved in the shape of a flute, but then lated snapped in half be a strong force, perhaps by the teeth of an animal. There was once an inscription on the side, you decide, but it is now unreadable. Below the inscription however there remains a deeply incised image of a crow with its wings spread. You put the bone down again.
You now stand at the bottom of a long flight of stairs which lead upwards to the North below a series of heavy barrel vaults. To the South a dank passageway leads towards a crossroads lit by phosporescent fungi.
You stand in the end of a long passageway running West, with an arch leading to the East just behind your back. Ahead of you, you can just make out something standing in the darkness before you, right at the end of the coridor, but you will not be able to see it clearly unless you move closer to it.
You now stand at a T junction between a passageway running East-West and another vanishing to the South. To the East you can see a very decrepit flight of stairs that leads downwards beneath a carving of a death-firgure bearing a scythe, while to the West a long low passageway runs off.
You are now in a long low corridor, studded with skulls and tombs. Bones crunch under your feet, you don't know whether from disturbed tombs or previous adventurers who have met some awful fate. Halfway along the corridor a narrow stairway runs down into a low room. The corridor iteslf runs to the South, and North.
You stand in the center of a crossroads between two passages. To the West a stairway goes upwards into a room, while to the East the passage continues into darkness. To the South you can see a pair of huge doors, while to the North a long barrel-vaulted passage leads away.
As you step forward the shape at the end of the passage raises something and a silver crossbow bolt careens off the walls next to you. You freeze, and the figure does the same. You can now flee back up the passage, or venture further forward.
You are now at a corner from which the featureless passage that you have been moving along runs both West, and South . On either side are bulging walls of small grey stones, piled uneavenly atop each other and scured with ancient mortar. The entire edifice looks like it might collapse and be lost to the dark earth forever, at any moment.
You are in a long and narrow East-West passage, whoose floor is slick with some sort of wet slime. To the East the tunnel reaches a T junction, while a low arch stands at the Western end.
You now stand in a square chamber, its walls so heavily carved and incised that you wonder that it doesn't collapse into dust. In the center of this room stands a huge stone tomb with sloping sides, on top of which stand two soul bird figures.
You creep further up the charnel passage, the bones stirring under your feet. In the dim light you make out two white patches, two polished skeletons standing upright against an arch like macabre guardians. You are about to dismiss them when suddenly one of them sweeps up an arm with a bent but deadly sword upon it. In moments you are under desperate attack from the hideous undead.
You may:
You now stand in a nearly square chamber, the walls plain and smooth. In the center of the room stands a huge stone tomb, its top decorated with a pair of soul birds. You examine it but its sides are perfectly smooth and its top surely imovable.
You venture into a damp passage. The floor is strewn with broken bones and awash with water. From ahead comes a sound of snuffling and gnawing, and as you get closer you see the shaddowy shapes of what seems to be three gigantic rats pushing about in the remains strewn on the ground. You can retreat while you can, or draw your weapon and charge them .
You stand before a door of the darkest wood, swolen and slightly warped in its stone frame. Carved upon its surface are what look like royal emblems. A crown and ring of swords standing upon a pyramid of skulls and bones. Above this hovers a wild looking eagle, talons bared, and above that hangs a winged skull. You can attempt to open this door, or to go back up the corridor to the crossroads.
At the blank end of the passage stands a figure all of metal, constructed like a skeleton made from steel. In its hands it holds a steel crossbow, which you could not even draw. As you come close it raises and loads the bow and fires it, but the bolt goes clean past you, since you are far too close to it now. Examining it from a position of safety you see a switch upon it, which, when you switch it downwards deactivates the machine, causing it to droop limply with a slight whirr. You can now safely depart along the corridor to the West.
You are now in a long passageway running North and South. At the Southern end a flight of stairs runs downwards through the dank darkness, while to the North the passage turns to the West.
You are now standing in a long rectangular room, its dark walls emblazoned and escutcheoned with crumbling designs. At the far end stands a massive tomb, its wide and polished top cracked down the middle and collapsed into its inside. You can examine the tomb, or retreat out of the room.
On the sides of the tomb you find a curling line of script, the stone deeply incised with a series of runes. You cannot decipher these messages, but you can clearly make out the symbols of an Owl, a Crow, and a Falcon amongst the others, the Falcon being the most prominent. Surrounding the picture of the Owl teem skulls and bones, while a sword lies under the feet of the Crow. When you have examined the entire tomb there is nothing left to see.
You smash at the bones of their arms, to dislodge their weapons. The first you disarm, but the second runs you through with its wicked blade, and you die.
Using your weight you smash aside the enchanted bones, and throw yourself into the passage beyond. You run down it with the two skeletons jerking in pursuit. At the end of the passage you find a massive arch of stone studden with skulls, leading into a further chamber. You run under the arch, but are struck by a massive bolt of force, which smashes you to the ground.
You run down the narrow passage way, banging against the walls in the darkness, still pursued by the jerkily walking skeletons. Then you find yourself hurrled against a solid wall, which swings open under your weight and then snaps closed behind you, dumping you in another passage.
You smash at their heads with your sword and the ancient skulls collapse like paper. Instantly the skeletons collapse to the ground, no more than heaps of bones. You may go on down the passage, or think better of it and turn back the way you came.
Slowly you lift the top of the chest and look inside. There are many items of gold which suspicion, and fear of raiding the obviously dead, make you cautious to take, though there are some coins which you regard as fair treasure. Below these you find a block of some kind of red metal, with a key shaped hole in the middle of it. Beside this is a sheet of parchemnet, which reads:
I was king, but not lord. Greatest of the King-Emperor's was my king. Lord of all lords was he, holder of the key of destiny. Only one dared oppose him, and he was served death in a false key. Let his bones rest beside mine, Not for my lord this tomb. |
There is Nothing more to see here.
You place your hand on the gemstone and a greenish glow rises through the armour. It lifts into the air, and then coalesces into the shape of a spectral figure, dressed in the finest regalia, and wearing a seven pointed crown.
The figure opens its mouth and speaks:
The Door opens easily enough, despite its age and decrepit condition, revealing a long downwards stair beyond it. following this stair you come to an archway, and see beyond it a room lit by a fiery glow. Across the center of the chamber runs a chasm, from which flames lick at a bridge crossing it, while beyond you think that you can make out a plinth. You may enter the chamber, or go back to the top of the stairs.
You are now in a passage that winds from side to side around many turns. At the Northern end lies a flight of stairs going up, while the passage goes on to the South.
You climb over to the tomb and find to your surprise that it is empty. A long time ago it has been ritually opened and the body within it spirited away. From the state of the burial seals on the inner coffin you guess that it was reopened within days of having been originally sealed, but that might have been a thousand years ago. You can tell nothing more.
Before you stands a tall arch covered with skulls. Examining it closly you see that two of them, at the same height but on opposite sides, have had their eye sockets filled with gems. You may try touching the one on the left, which has rubies for eyes, or the one on the right , which has emeralds. Or you may decide not to risk it either way and step into the room regardless, or go back up the passage.
You now stand on the bridge over the chasm of fire. On the further side are three stone chests, each surmounted by the carved image of a bird, an Owl, Crow, and Falcon. You may open the Owl chest to the left, the Crow chest in the middle, or the Falcon chest on the right. Or you may leave the room and go back up the stairs.
You are at the end of a long passage. The way forward is blocked by an impentrable mass of fallen rock. The only way to go is back.
You place your hand on the ruby skull, and are instantly consumed by fire.
When you touch the emerald skull a flash of green light shimmers across the arch, and then everything is still. You may go through the arch, or back up the passage.
You attempt to step through the arch, but a wave of black force tears through you, consuming you instantly.
Tentativly you open the Owl chest. Within lies a single white bird bone on a cushion. Curious you pick up the bone. As you do so lambent power builds from it, and in moments you are holding a giant skeletal Owl by one leg. You try to drop it and draw your weapon, but as it claws at you, you loose your balence, and plummet backwards into the chasm of fire.
You cautiosly open the Crow chest. Within the chest lies a red key on a velvet cushion. You take the key and examine it. On its shank are the three letters KLT (note these letters). You take the key, and close the chest again.
You lift the lid of the falcon chest, and ghostly laughter echoes about the fire lit chamber. Inside the chest lies a polished human skull, its eye sockets filled by rubies. Even as you watch it flies out of the chest. Then a spectral voice issues from it, saying "I see you were foolish enough to take my advice on which chest to open, did you think that I would give you the key I cannot use!" Then flames leap from the ruby eyes, engulfing you in flame.
You eneter the room safely to find it bedecked in a wondrous array of grotesque marble carvings, decorated here and there with dead candles and bones. In the center of this charnel array you find a huge circle of white marble, upon which lies a body entirly dressed in blood gold armour and fixed to the stone. In the middle of the armour's helmet there sits a glowing emerald jewel. You can touch the gemstone, attempt to open the armour, or depart up the corridor.
Pulling your sword you charge the rats. The first pair you cut down with ease, and then wound another, but a fourth anf fifth are on you in moments. You retreat, but more have closed the corridor behind you. Then a wave of the beasts pours in, and it is only a matter of time before they have you.
You try to prise the golden armour off the table, but as you do so green light from the stone reaches up around your throat, and you die .
"Ah ha! The Key! Yes, I am the one who was put to death for the theft of the key, trapped by the King-Emperor of the five lands by a poisoned fake, and thus sentenced. But I had my revenge on him. The real key I stole and hid, gave him the fake. He died without reaching paradise, and the key knows its place. Some others have found it from time to time, and passed the door, but others have been fooled, and have perished, and always the key returns to me, where I hid it."
"I am the King Markarius, dammed for all time, yet free from death by my own power. This is my labyrinth you have strayed into, though I rest now for these long years. I am the holder of the true key, by which the secret of the Door with Four Locks cannot be opened."
As you say the words to end the spell the image of the dead King fades into the dank air. You may now leave the room, and go back up the corridor.
"Ah, where else but amongst my grave goods, over the bridge of fire. Open the Falcon chest, that is the one that holds the key I stole."
You start to make your way up the dark passageway towards what becomes apparent as a dark figure. Suddenly it raises something glittering, and the very moment that you realise that it is a crossbow it realeases a bolt which slams into you chest, robbing you of conciousness.
You duck quickly forward, weaving from side to side as the figure tries to track you. With a twang it releases a second bolt but you somehow manage to duck under it and it slithers down the passage behind you. Now you are at the end of the passage and right beside the figure..
You try to run forward down the corridor, dodging the bolts, but the creature has uncanny accuracy. Desperatly you throw yourself back up the corridor and somehow, not without a modicum of luck, manage to get away from it!