The freezing winds of the abyss tear mercilessly at your body as you tumble headlong through this cold and lightless void. You scream with anguish but hear nothing, not even the sound of your own voice, for sound does not exist in the airless limbo of a Shadow Gate. You are in no-space, falling helplessly between two planes of existence.
You are on the brink of unconsciousness when, with shocking abruptness, you splash face-first into a warm and stinking mire.
Coughing and retching, you stagger to your feet and claw the oily muck from your stinging eyes. When you prise open your gluey eyelids, the sight which greets your disbelieving gaze is wholly unlike that of frigid Ixia. You find yourself knee-deep in steaming mud, surrounded by a hot and humid jungle of dense vegetation. Your Kai senses detect an all-consuming aura of evil which saturates this swampy land, warning you that this foul, stinking mire is part of the Plane of Darkness—the domain of the Dark God Naar. You scan the fetid landscape and sense that you are not alone—Tagazin is here, beyond the range of your vision but, nevertheless, not too far distant.
A sense of helplessness assails your spirit, feeding a growing fear that you have failed your mission. Your only hope is to find another Shadow Gate through which you can escape from this nightmare plane and return to your home world. Weary and despondent, you trudge through the slime towards a ridge of firm ground which is carpeted with lime-green moss. You sense Tagazin’s presence somewhere in this direction and you cling to the faint hope that he may be able to lead you to the Shadow Gate you seek.
The firmness of the mossy ridge makes the going easier as, reluctantly, you trek deeper into the mire. Infrequently you are assailed by small, slimy-skinned horrors which live beneath the mud of this rotting land. They rise up from their evil-smelling lairs and attempt to bite your legs and feet as you pass. All their attempts prove costly and futile; your speedy reactions and your Kai weapon skill makes sure of this.
After an hour or so, you glimpse something through the tangle of trees ahead which makes you stop and stare. At first sight it looks like a huge slab of stone lying on the surface of the swamp, but when you magnify your vision, you see that it is the flat roof of a stone building which is being swallowed very slowly by the mire. You sense that you are gaining on Tagazin and, with weapon drawn, you approach the sinking stone roof.
(I have Grand Path)
When you reach the stone roof, you notice an opening at its centre, partially overgrown with barbed creepers. A closer look reveals a flight of steps, thick with slime, which descend into the darkness of the building which now lies trapped below the surface of the swamp. You are peering into this hellish gloom when suddenly your Kai senses alert you to an approaching threat.
You spin around to see a horde of monstrous shapes come streaming along the mossy ridge which you have just travelled. Bloated corpse-things jostle with humanoid horrors and skeletal warriors whose bones are gnawed with decay. It is a ghastly sight—a regiment of Chaos-creatures, drawn here by the scent of human prey. You shiver with dread, for clearly you are the prey they seek.
(Stand and fight, head into building. Down we go)
With the hideous gibbering shrieks of the Chaos-creatures echoing in your ears, you hurry down the slime-smeared steps into the claustrophobic depths of this sunken building. At first the alien cries of your pursuers sound hungry and frantic, like those of a ravenous pack of starving wolves, but suddenly you realize that they are not cries of hunger at all—they are howls of glee. The Chaos-creatures are enjoying the sight of you rushing headlong to your doom!
You skid to a halt but it is already too late. With chilling abruptness, the slimy stairs open up and you fall feet-first into a deep, dark pit.
With a jolt that leaves you gasping for breath, you hit the gluey surface of a stinking subterranean bog and sink in up to your neck. In the eerie half-light you can see the chaos horde above you, clustered around the edge of the square opening through which you fell. They are like excited spectators at a pit fight waiting for combat to begin.
Suddenly you sense movement in the slime—something is brushing past your left thigh. You struggle to move but, in doing so, you cause your body to sink deeper into the mire.
(I have both Telegnosis and Sun Lord)
Using your advanced mastery, you lighten your body weight to prevent yourself from sinking any deeper into the mire. Moments later, you feel something brush past your leg for a second time and the chilling sensation galvanizes you into action.
The walls of the shaft are mirror smooth for the first ten feet above the surface of the mire. But beyond this point you notice that they are rough-hewn and studded with sharp spurs of rock. One such spur offers a tempting handhold … if only you could get to it. If you could reach it, it would be an easy task for a warrior of your agility to climb to the opening above.
(Yes I have a rope)
With difficulty you retrieve your Rope from your Backpack and hurriedly make a lasso. Then, uttering a short prayer to Kai and Ishir, you cast it upwards in an attempt to catch it upon the rocky spur.
Pick a number from the Random Number Table. If you possess Grand Huntmastery, add 1 to the number you have picked
( I toss 3 and get 4)
You lasso the spur of rock on your first attempt and pull yourself out of the cloying mire barely seconds before the unseen creature, which is circling below the surface, moves in to attack your legs. On reaching the spur, you retrieve your rope and set out to climb the wall of this shaft.
Above, the snickering horde of Chaos-creatures watch your ascent with eager anticipation. When you are within a few feet of the top, you unsheathe your weapon and get ready to fight your way out of the shaft one-handedly.
Chaos-horde: COMBAT SKILL 46 ENDURANCE 46
Unless you have attained the Kai rank of Sun Lord, you must reduce your COMBAT SKILL by 4 for the duration of this combat, due to your disadvantageous position. Unless you have Grand Weaponmastery and are a Sun Knight or higher, you may not use a two-handed weapon (i.e. Broadsword, Quarterstaff, and Spear) for this combat.
(We are good, and with the Sommerswerd and it’s bonus, we’re in a strong place. I toss a 5, and then 7and then 2. They are dead, I took 6 damage and am at 26/50)
Before the sundered remains of your enemies can merge and reform, you kick them into the pit where they are consumed by the creature which lurks at the bottom of its slime-filled base. Then, without looking back, you make a swift escape up to the roof and hurry away along the mossy ridge.