12

The columns of armoured rat-men pay little attention to you, but your undead charge does elicit squeals of disgust from some as you draw closer to their mighty stronghold.

Walking across the age-blackened drawbridge towards the spiky arched tower of Mogaruith is an unnerving experience. It is as if you are walking along a blackened tongue towards the gaping throat of some gigantic dragon. On either side the bubbling moat releases foul fumes which fill your nostrils with a terrible sugary stench that clogs your lungs and blurs your vision. You draw upon your Magnakai skills and your vision clears, but the sight which lies ahead looks no more inviting than it did before.

At the tower you are challenged by a troop of Vazhag guards who regard your companion with a distaste that is all too obvious. Using your Magnakai Disciplines of Animal Control and Pathsmanship to aid your deception, you inform them that you have come from the south on urgent business. They demand to know your name and why you have charge of an undead human. You try to bluff them but you notice that the zombie’s presence is beginning to attract the unwanted interest of other Vazhag guards.

One of the rat-men pushes his snout to within inches of your mask and says, to your surprise, that you can enter Mogaruith so long as you first register your arrival. He points to a door in the tower wall and asks you to enter it. ‘There,’ he says, ‘you can make your registration.’

Immediately your Magnakai sense of Divination warns that the Vazhag is lying; a prison cell awaits you beyond that door.

If you wish to do as the Vazhag requests and enter the door, turn to 30.

If you refuse to enter the door, turn to 162.

If you decide to attempt to distract the Vazhag guards, turn to 256.