115

You pull the iron lever and at first nothing happens. Then you hear a click followed by the hiss of escaping air as the concealed door unlocks and glides open. Quickly you enter and close the door to avoid being seen by the Vazhag guards.

A narrow corridor lies beyond, lit by a gloomy crimson light which is filtering through a threadbare curtain hung from hooks in the ceiling. Automatically you cast your eyes around, checking floor, walls, and roof for traps, but detect nothing unduly suspicious. Then you approach the curtain and through its moth-eaten fabric you spy a small bed chamber. A grossly overweight Vazhag, wrapped in furs, lies sprawled upon a divan in the centre of the room. He is snoring fitfully. Around him are strewn heaps of all manner of items: rusty weapons, tarnished armour, boxes, and candlesticks, trinkets, baubles, and books. In the merchant stores of Holmgard they would be rejected as worthless junk, but here, in the rat-holes of the Skardos Mountains, they no doubt pass for treasure.

Across the chamber, beyond the sleeping Vazhag, you see another curtained archway.

If you wish to enter the chamber and search through the items which litter the floor, turn to 319.

If you choose to cross the chamber and investigate the curtained archway, turn to 238.

If you decide to turn around and leave by the secret door, turn to 308.