### 142

Dawn arrives, rain-swept and gloom-laden. A pall of drizzle hangs over the ghost city and the gruesome discord of the walling winds of Maakengorge make you feel uneasy. You watch and wait, your Kai cloak drawn close about your shoulders to keep out the chill, damp air.

It was here, during the Age of the Black Moon, that King Ulnar of Sommerlund killed the mightiest of the Darklords--Lord Vashna. In mortal combat upon the very brink of the abyss, the Darklord was slain by the Sommerswerd. It is said that his death-cry when he fell will echo through the gorge until the day he rises to wreak his vengeance on Sommerlund and the House of Ulnar. Your stomach contracts at the thought that this could be that very day.

For five hours you observe and take in every detail of the ruined city. The first line of the strange verse keeps repeating itself in your mind. 'When the full moon shines o'er the temple deep . . .' The temple must be underground and there must be an entrance to it--but where?

You study every crack in the broken ground and eliminate all but two possibilities: a crypt door guarded by two Vassagonian warriors and a flight of marble steps descending into the earth between two columns of fractured pillars.

If you wish to try to enter the temple through the guarded crypt door, turn to 183.

If you wish to try to enter the temple via the unguarded marble stairs, turn to 270.

Text copyright © 1985 Joe Dever.
Illustrations copyright © 1985 Gary Chalk.