The instant you set foot inside the cave entrance, you hear a noise which makes you freeze in your tracks. A ghastly half-gibbering, half-growling sound issues from the dark recesses of the cave—a warning from the creature which dwells here that you are not a welcome visitor. You scan the inky darkness and see the glint of two yellow eyes as they emerge from a fold in the rock wall. Slowly the eyes advance. You use your ability to see in the infrared spectrum of light, in order to discern the outline of this shadowy creature, but it is to no avail. You can detect no heat patterns. The reason for this is simple—the creature now advancing towards you gives off no heat because, like everything else in this wretched land, it is already dead.
(leave or stay? Duh, stay!)
As the evil yellow eyes of the creature slowly draw closer, you are suddenly engulfed by a fetid corpse-like stench which makes you retch and recoil.
(Yes I have the Golden Sun of the Dawn, but no, now that I’m in Ixia, I shouldn’t be using it.)
You unsheathe your weapon just in time to fend off the creature’s initial attack. A flash of lightning briefly illuminates the cave and, for the first time, you see the face of this mysterious beast: the sight is truly chilling to behold. Its mouth is a mass of twisted fangs and from its huge, bear-like body there writhes a score of slimy tentacles, each tipped with a venomous claw. Its reptilian head is domed and from its centre there protrudes a twisted horn, longer than a broadsword.
The creature retreats a few paces and howls with anger as it prepares to make its second attack.
Ixian Mhagani: COMBAT SKILL 40 ENDURANCE 60
(Alright Dagger of Vashna, what do you have? My CS is reduced by 8 for this combat, which still gives me a +7 ratio with KS. I toss a 5 and 4. It takes 24, and I took 6 total (no doubling of damage here). A 2 and 0 follow and it takes 7 and then dies. I took 11 damage total)
Upon the instant you strike your fatal blow the creature emits a piercing shriek and crumples to the floor of the cave. The stench of its rotting body makes you feel nauseous, but at least it is blocking the icy wind which whips through the open cave mouth. After satisfying yourself that it was the only one of its kind in this cave, you settle down in a corner and take a well-deserved rest: restore 3 ENDURANCE points.
Several hours pass before the blizzard dies down sufficiently for you to be able to leave the cave and continue your lonely trek towards Xaagon. You reach the end of the pass where, for the first time, you get a clear view of the Deathlord’s dread city. Once, millennia ago, this city had been the home of a brilliant civilization; today the stately crystal palaces and temples of Xaagon are occupied by the lord and host of the evil dead.
Onward you trek, through knee-deep snow and jagged ice, towards the towering walls of Xaagon. The city is dominated by a spire of crystal which stabs the stormy sky, drawing lightning from the black clouds which swirl around its tip. From this needle-sharp point there radiates a crimson glow which sweeps the surrounding landscape. It is like a hellish lighthouse casting baleful crimson beams across a dead sea of ice.
Gradually, as you come within the shadows of Xaagon’s outer wall, you see two places where you could gain entry to the city beyond. The first is near to the coast, through a breach in the south wall; the second is through the city’s shattered west gate. Neither entrance appears to be guarded
(With undead, it likely doesn’t matter (with living I’d choose the wall breach), so let’s approach from the west – on my map that’s closer to the ships and a path of retreat)