#22700 A Wild Valley~ You move slowly through the green vines and thick undergrowth that cover the valley floor. It would appear that not many have come here in ages. To the west, the land rises to leave the valley. To the east the vegetation clears to give way to a strange uprising of stone. ~ 227 cI 4 D1 The uprising looks like some huge beast set to pounce. ~ ~ 0 -1 22701 D3 ~ ~ 0 -1 22757 E uprising stone~ The uprising looks like some huge beast set to pounce. ~ S #22701 Before The Dragon~ You stand before the Dragon Ancalador. You can still make out its petrified form despite the earth that has filled in the crevices between its limbs and the huge oaks, dwarfed by the dragon itself, which have grown there. A vague evil emanates from the once-alive stone that terrorized nations long ago. &rThere is a DEATH TRAP to the east. I warned you not to go there, I will not reimburse you. Turn around. ~ 227 0 4 D1 The huge maw lies frozen in midsnarl. You could find enough purchase to scale the tongue and enter inside, should you want to. ~ ~ 0 -1 22702 D3 ~ ~ 0 -1 22700 S #22702 In The Dragon's Mouth~ Rows of stone teeth as large as trolls line the walls here. A tongue of pitted stone leads east, behind stone molars as large as iron shields. &r A large cheater net falls on your head, unfortunatly the gods made the net too heavy, and you die. ~ 227 bdHJ 0 D1 ~ ~ 0 -1 22703 D3 ~ ~ 0 -1 22701 S #22703 By Some Stone Tonsils~ You are in the back of the dragon's mouth. The throat continues down and something oozes from petrified sinuses above. ~ 227 adGJ 0 D3 ~ ~ 0 -1 22702 D5 ~ ~ 0 -1 22704 S #22704 A Throat Of Stone~ The floor is uneven -- the middle of the passage being lower than the sides, which rise up to the walls. The whole passage is slightly graded, moving east and downward. ~ 227 adGJ 0 D4 ~ ~ 0 -1 22703 D5 ~ ~ 0 -1 22705 S #22705 Further Down The Dragon's Throat~ The tunnel begins to lose its steepness and merely runs eastward now. The shapes of what might be petrified muscles line the walls. ~ 227 adGJ 0 D1 ~ ~ 0 -1 22706 D4 ~ ~ 0 -1 22704 S #22706 A Junction~ You are in a four way junction. The dragon's throat continues east and west, but by squeezing under some stone flaps you can make out tunnels leading north and south. ~ 227 adGJ 0 D0 You peer under the petrified flap and see a faint light amid darkness. ~ ~ 0 -1 22707 D1 ~ ~ 0 -1 22755 D2 You peer under the petrified flap and see a faint light amid darkness. ~ ~ 0 -1 22710 D3 ~ ~ 0 -1 22705 E flaps flap~ Who can say which part of draconian anatomy this might be? ~ S #22707 A Stone Tunnel~ This circular passage of stone gradually curves up to a place of great light and heat. ~ 227 adGJ 0 D2 ~ ~ 0 -1 22706 D4 All you can see upwards in a great glare followed by gusts of hot wind. ~ ~ 0 -1 22708 S #22708 A Dragon Lung~ Ancient fires burns here, awaiting the rebirth of their master. ~ 227 dJ 0 D5 ~ ~ 0 -1 22707 S #22709 The Heart Of The Dragon~ Runes which glow with a blue light are carved into the stone walls of Ancalador's heart chamber here. Their magical purity counters his evil and makes for a holy balance that is Neutrality. It seems some music lover has set up residence here, judging by all the instruments and sheet music floating here. ~ 227 djJP 0 D0 You see the chamber wall dilate open for you, leading to the tunnel beyond. ~ ~ 0 -1 22755 S #22710 A Stone Tunnel~ This stone passage is lit by a great light and fierce heat from its far end, which lies above. ~ 227 adGJ 0 D0 ~ ~ 0 -1 22706 D4 You must cover your eyes rather than peer into the sun-like brightness. ~ ~ 0 -1 22711 S #22711 A Dragon Lung~ The nuclear fires that empowered the dragon with its frightful breath are here, and though they have been smoldered for so very long, they scorch you and make you rue the choice wearing of metal armor. ~ 227 dJ 0 D5 ~ ~ 0 -1 22710 S #22712 Ancalador's Stomach~ The dragon's throat ends, revealing a huge cavern lit from below by eerie and diffuse lights of yellow and green. Even more amazingly, a wooden bridge spans the the stalactite-roofed cavern! A steep grade leads down to the cavern floor safely enough and the bridge leads east. ~ 227 cdIJ 0 D1 ~ ~ 0 -1 22713 D3 ~ ~ 0 -1 22755 D5 Though steep, the climb down seems arduous, but not overly hazardous. ~ ~ 0 -1 22720 S #22713 A Wooden Bridge~ You cannot imagine who would want to build a bridge in this fantastic cavern. Large stalagmites sit and rise up while the eerie lights seem to move in the mists below. The bridge continues to the east. ~ 227 dJ 0 D1 ~ ~ 0 -1 22714 D3 You see the entrance ledge to the stomach chamber. ~ ~ 0 -1 22712 D5 The stalagmites look up menacingly at you. ~ ~ 0 -1 22716 S #22714 A Wooden Bridge~ You are in the middle of the wooden bridge. Large stalagmites rise around you and the eerie lights continue to dance in the mists below. The bridge continues to the east and west. ~ 227 dJ 0 D1 ~ ~ 0 -1 22715 D3 ~ ~ 0 -1 22713 D5 The stalagmites look up menacingly at you. ~ ~ 0 -1 22716 S #22715 A Wooden Bridge~ The wood here is old and acid eaten, similar to the rest of the bridge. The deadly stalagmites jut up from below and more of the green and yellow light can be seen to move in the mists below. The bridge ends at a small plateau to the east. ~ 227 dJ 0 D1 You see the bridge meet the end of the cavern. ~ ~ 0 -1 22726 D3 ~ ~ 0 -1 22714 D5 The stalagmites look up menacingly at you. ~ ~ 0 -1 22716 S #22716 A Stalagmite Forest~ You take the plunge off of the wooden bridge and find yourself stuck between several stalagmites. It hurts to move much, and you cannot see any way short of magic to escape this predicament. ~ 227 bdHJ 0 S #22717 The Acid Forest~ Sharp stalagmites reach up wards, created by the mineral ichors dripping off stalactites far above. Pools of acid fill every crevice on the craggy cavern floor. The cavern continues to the south and east. ~ 227 dJ 4 D1 ~ ~ 0 -1 22718 D2 ~ ~ 0 -1 22720 S #22718 The Acid Forest~ The stalagmites here are large and rainbow-hued, like giants in jester's garb. Puddles of weak stomach acid are pooled on the floor. The cavern stretches in all directions but north. ~ 227 dJ 4 D1 ~ ~ 0 -1 22719 D2 ~ ~ 0 -1 22721 D3 ~ ~ 0 -1 22717 S #22719 The Acid Forest~ Sharp stalagmites reach upwards, created by the mineral ichors dripping off stalactites far above. Pools of acid fill every crevice on the craggy cavern floor. ~ 227 dJ 4 D2 ~ ~ 0 -1 22722 D3 ~ ~ 0 -1 22718 S #22720 The Acid Forest~ You stand before an amazing sight. Wrapped within the mists here on the cavern floor is a forest of oddly shaped stalagmites surrounded everywhere by puddles of what must be the remnants of the dragons stomach acid. ~ 227 dJ 4 D0 ~ ~ 0 -1 22717 D1 ~ ~ 0 -1 22721 D2 ~ ~ 0 -1 22723 D4 You see the ledge at the entrance to the stomach cavern. ~ ~ 0 -1 22712 S #22721 The Acid Forest~ You are in the center of the dragons stomach cavern. A wooden bridge passes far overhead. Sharp stalagmites poise here to meet those who would drop from it. ~ 227 dJ 4 D0 ~ ~ 0 -1 22718 D1 ~ ~ 0 -1 22722 D2 ~ ~ 0 -1 22724 D3 ~ ~ 0 -1 22720 S #22722 The Acid Forest~ The stalagmites here are large and rainbow-hued, like giants in jester's garb. Puddles of weak stomach acid are pooled on the floor. A steep climb up leads to a large plateau at the end of the cavern. ~ 227 dJ 4 D0 ~ ~ 0 -1 22719 D2 ~ ~ 0 -1 22725 D3 ~ ~ 0 -1 22721 D4 Apparently it is too steep a climb to go back up. ~ ~ 0 -1 -1 S #22723 The Acid Forest~ Mists swirl around strange crystal egg shells here. The cavern continues to the north and to the east. ~ 227 dJ 4 D0 ~ ~ 0 -1 22720 D1 ~ ~ 0 -1 22724 S #22724 The Acid Forest~ Sharp stalagmites reach upwards, created by the mineral ichors dripping off stalactites far above. Pools of acid fill every crevice on the craggy cavern floor. ~ 227 dJ 4 D0 ~ ~ 0 -1 22721 D1 ~ ~ 0 -1 22725 D3 ~ ~ 0 -1 22723 S #22725 The Acid Forest~ The stalagmites here are large and rainbow-hued, like giants in jester's garb. Puddles of weak stomach acid are pooled on the floor. The cavern stretches to the north and west. ~ 227 dJ 4 D0 ~ ~ 0 -1 22722 D3 ~ ~ 0 -1 22724 S #22726 The End Of The Stomach~ The wooden bridge ends here, on a large plateau above the cavern floor. The plateau overlooks the entire forest of acid and stone below. A tunnel set in the cavern wall to the east has been shored up with a wall of plaster and bones. Two very large skull-knobbed doors have been set in it. ~ 227 adGJ 0 D1 You see a huge set of doors fashioned from bones. ~ door doors skull~ 1 22718 22756 D3 You see the wooden bridge. ~ ~ 0 -1 22715 D5 You see a steep climb down to the cavern floor. ~ ~ 0 -1 22722 S #22727 The Dragon's Pancreas~ You are in an oddly shaped chamber, what might have been some foul organ of Ancalador. A yellowish light fills the room from nowhere, as if only by the dragon's will alone. The feeling of malignant evil is great here, which is only compounded by the large sign overhead which reads, 'Memento Mori', or in the common tongue, 'Remember to Die.' The chamber has exits worked into it, to the east and down. ~ 227 dJ 0 D0 You see a fissure in the organ wall. ~ fissure~ 1 -1 22756 D1 ~ ~ 0 -1 22745 D5 ~ ~ 0 -1 22749 S #22728 The Small Intestine~ You enter a featureless tunnel of what must be the beginning of the dragon's small intestine. Small piles of human bones and armor bits have been left here. The tunnel continues north and to the west a rougher tunnel can be seen. ~ 227 adGJ 0 D0 ~ ~ 0 -1 22729 D3 ~ ~ 0 -1 22756 S #22729 The Small Intestine~ The tunnel twists to the south and to the east. ~ 227 adGJ 0 D1 ~ ~ 0 -1 22730 D2 ~ ~ 0 -1 22728 S #22730 The Small Intestine~ The smooth tunnel curves to the west and to the south. ~ 227 adGJ 0 D2 ~ ~ 0 -1 22731 D3 ~ ~ 0 -1 22729 S #22731 The Small Intestine~ The blank walls of the tunnel run north and south. ~ 227 adGJ 0 D0 ~ ~ 0 -1 22730 D2 ~ ~ 0 -1 22732 S #22732 The Small Intestine~ The tunnel comes from the north and dips sharply downward here. ~ 227 adGJ 0 D0 ~ ~ 0 -1 22731 D5 ~ ~ 0 -1 22733 S #22733 The Small Intestine~ The featureless tunnel leads up and north. Echo bounce off the blank walls, whether from near or far, you cannot tell. ~ 227 adGJ 0 D0 ~ ~ 0 -1 22734 D4 ~ ~ 0 -1 22732 S #22734 The Small Intestine~ Bits of broken equipment from long dead adventurers have been collected here. The tunnel runs north and south. ~ 227 adGJ 0 D0 ~ ~ 0 -1 22735 D2 ~ ~ 0 -1 22733 S #22735 The Small Intestine~ The tunnel bends from the south to the east. You imagine the remains of many a brave warrior who dared the dragon passed here, torn and unmourned. ~ 227 adGJ 0 D1 ~ ~ 0 -1 22736 D2 ~ ~ 0 -1 22734 S #22736 The Small Intestine~ The blank walls of the tunnel lead west and south. ~ 227 adGJ 0 D2 ~ ~ 0 -1 22737 D3 ~ ~ 0 -1 22735 S #22737 The Small Intestine~ The smooth tunnel contracts to the south of here into a new tunnel. ~ 227 adGJ 0 D0 ~ ~ 0 -1 22736 D2 The new tunnel seems composed of different textures. ~ ~ 0 -1 22738 S #22738 The Large Intestine~ Unlike the the small intestine, the walls here have a nook and cranny quality about them. They are quite rough and dust fills many of the spaces. ~ 227 adGJ 0 D0 ~ ~ 0 -1 22737 D1 ~ ~ 0 -1 22739 S #22739 The Large Intestine~ The smell of dust is thick in this section of the tunnel that runs to the west and to the north. ~ 227 adGJ 0 D0 ~ ~ 0 -1 22740 D3 ~ ~ 0 -1 22738 S #22740 The Large Intestine~ The rough walls of the tunnel scrape your armor and cuts your exposed skin as you travel north or south. ~ 227 adGJ 0 D0 ~ ~ 0 -1 22741 D2 ~ ~ 0 -1 22739 S #22741 The Large Intestine~ The tunnel drops to the east but you find many handholds among the nooks and crannies. ~ 227 adGJ 0 D1 ~ ~ 0 -1 22742 D2 ~ ~ 0 -1 22740 S #22742 The Large Intestine~ The roughly hewn tunnel constricts to the south. ~ 227 adGJ 0 D2 ~ ~ 0 -1 22743 D3 ~ ~ 0 -1 22741 S #22743 A Stony Sphincter~ You are in a narrow tunnel, barely able to walk upright without knocking your head. A breeze from the south swirls the dust here and you begin to believe that safety is not far off. ~ 227 adGJ 0 D0 ~ ~ 0 -1 22742 D1 ~ ~ 0 -1 22744 S #22744 At The Dragon's Tail~ You have never been so happy to see the light of day! You are by the dragon's stone tail, which is covered with green, growing vines and small, violet flowers. The birds sing and you can make out a faint path to the south, leading back around the dragon-hill. A skull-topped signpost flanks an unused road to the north. There is a large plot device blocking the way along the road to the north. ~ 227 cI 3 D0 A large plot device blocks the unused road to the north. ~ ~ 0 -1 -1 D2 You see a path leading around the dragon, back to its toothy maw. ~ ~ 0 -1 22701 D3 There is a strange hole in the rock wall, circular in shape. ~ ~ 0 -1 22743 E sign signpost~ The signpost reads in ancient runic script: The Penultimate Tower of Wizardry was rumored to exist, once, just down this road... who knows if this is true? For though many have went on to see, none have returned to claim it true... --Mercutio the Bard of the Realm ~ E plot device~ This large and strange creation is merely a device often used by writers to steer people away from something that he or she does not want them to see at the present moment. Speaking of which, you *did* see the path leading away to the south did you not? ~ S #22745 An Undead Garden~ Shaking shrubberies and quivering palms surround a few skeletal trees that make up this gruesome garden. The shriveled plantlife, set in niches within the deformed chamber walls, seem to have all died and come back from the afterlife somehow. Openings in the petrified organ wall lead west and down. ~ 227 dJ 0 D3 ~ ~ 0 -1 22727 D5 ~ ~ 0 -1 22750 S #22746 The Private Chambers~ This small room seems to have been carved by hand from the pancreas of Ancalador. It has some amenities, like a soft bed and a small alchemist's workbench, but if the dragon is ever freed from his stone prison, he will surely be quite unhappy about this situation. The only exit is west. ~ 227 dJ 0 D3 Outside is the amphitheatre chamber. ~ door coffin~ 1 -1 22747 S #22747 The Macabre Amphitheather~ You are in on a wide, circular ledge overlooking a large slab of stone in the chamber below. Crude seats are fashioned here from the surrounding porous rock and the walls are decorated with various bonesaws and a quote in blood, 'That fell arrest without bail.' A coffin lid door is set in the east wall, while steps cut into the rock lead down and west. ~ 227 dJ 0 D1 You see a doorway made from a coffin's lid. ~ door coffin~ 1 -1 22746 D3 ~ ~ 0 -1 22748 D5 ~ ~ 0 -1 22751 S #22748 The Temple Of Death~ You are in a small shrine in honor of the 'Pale Priest of the Mute People'. Here, Hell's Grim Tyrant is sought as a source of inspiration and wisdom by the Guildmembers. The chamber walls open to exits heading down and east. ~ 227 dJ 0 D1 ~ ~ 0 -1 22747 D5 ~ ~ 0 -1 22752 S #22749 Cold Storage~ The stink of this storage chamber makes you balk at once. Through your nausea you make out cadavers kept cool in niches in the stone walls. Barrels of dust and decanters of blood fill the room. On the wall, in some dark ink, is scrawled, 'That dreamless sleep.' The chamber exits south and up. ~ 227 dJ 0 D2 ~ ~ 0 -1 22752 D4 ~ ~ 0 -1 22727 S #22750 The Kennel Of The Demised~ This chamber of hard stone is empty save for a sturdy iron ring set in the floor. A large, heavy chain with collar at one end is attached to the ring. Small print on the collar reads, 'Quietus.' ~ 227 dJ 0 D2 ~ ~ 0 -1 22751 D4 ~ ~ 0 -1 22745 S #22751 The Operating Room~ This circular chamber is dominated by a large stone slab in the center which bears the stains of countless horrible experiments. The cruel work that goes on here is generally viewed from the amphitheatre above by the guild apprentices and patrons. ~ 227 dJ 0 D0 ~ ~ 0 -1 22750 D4 ~ ~ 0 -1 22747 S #22752 The Guildhall~ This is the largest chamber cut from Ancalador's pancreas. A long feasting table made of coffins lashed together fills the length of the room. On the wall, in the dried ichor that passes for blood in demons, is written, 'A debt we must all pay.' A set of double coffin-lid doors is to the west, and other exits are to the north and up. ~ 227 dJ 0 D0 ~ ~ 0 -1 22749 D3 ~ door doors coffin~ 1 -1 22753 D4 ~ ~ 0 -1 22748 S #22753 The Altar Of Annihilation~ You stand before the horrific Altar of Annihilation where the magic and power of extinguishment and dissolution are full explored. You feel the countless ceremonies of extinction performed here, like a gloom that pervades the altar, which looks like a huge rib cage centered with a demon's skull. Before the altar is a black iron grating covering a dark pit where the ebb of life is glorified in sacrifice. ~ 227 dJ 0 D1 ~ door doors coffin~ 1 -1 22752 D5 You can't see much, but you don't like the little you do see. ~ grating grate~ 2 22705 22754 S #22754 The Darken Pit~ The very evil of this place seeks to extinguish your light as if the gloom had a nefarious soul of its own. You know true fear as something moves in the darkness... toward you. ~ 227 adGJ 0 D4 You see a black iron grating above you. ~ grating grate~ 2 22705 22753 S #22755 A Stone Tunnel~ The dragon's throat continues east and west on a path which neither rises nor falls. On the south wall, to the dragon's left, a warmth can be felt, followed by a feeling of pure evil. ~ 227 adGJ 0 D1 You see the tunnel open up to a great cavern beyond. ~ ~ 0 -1 22712 D3 ~ ~ 0 -1 22706 S #22756 A Stone Corridor~ You are in a circular tunnel of stone. The walls are irregular and pockmarked. The tunnel continues east and west. ~ 227 acdGIJ 0 D1 You see the beginning of a new, smoother tunnel. ~ ~ 0 -1 22728 D2 It seems you might be able to pry the fissure open. ~ fissure~ 1 -1 22727 D3 You see the bone doorway leading towards the stomach cavern. ~ door doors bone~ 1 22718 22726 E walls~ A small fissure appears to be set in the south wall. ~ S #22757 Hidden Valley Rim~ You stand on the rim of a valley hidden from sight, through the ammount of thick vegitation that covers the floor. A passing down is possible to the east and you can return to the dark path to north. The terrain to the west and the south quickly becomes mountainous and impassable. ~ 227 0 5 D0 A path leads north back down into the valley. ~ ~ 0 0 14245 D1 ~ ~ 0 -1 22700 S $~