### 216

To your relief you discover that the door is unlocked and unguarded. Beyond it, a torchlit corridor descends through a series of deserted chambers, each one defaced by years of neglect and decay. Rotting curtains and mouldering furniture are all that remain of a sumptuous abode, a luxurious underground retreat for the Lord of Kazan-Oud.

You are about to enter another of these chambers when the sound of muttering stops you dead in your tracks. Three spindly limbed creatures are seated at a table in the centre of the room. They chatter excitedly in a language that is alien to your ears and point with slim, green fingers at a parchment spread out before them. They wear long, hooded robes of purple silk and appear to be unarmed.

If you have completed the Lore-circle of Solaris, turn to 244.

If you wish to launch a surprise attack on these unsuspecting creatures, turn to 295.

If you wish to try to sneak through the chamber and attempt to reach the opposite corridor unseen, turn to 343.

Text copyright © 1986 Joe Dever.
Illustrations copyright © 1986 Gary Chalk.