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A tingling sensation electrifies your senses and fills your mind with images of events which took place in this temple thousands of years ago. So strong are the psychic residues that linger here that the images appear breathtakingly vivid.

During the Age of the Old Kingdoms, when the Elder Magi ruled the land, this temple was a place of learning and experimentation. It was here they developed their knowledge and understanding of nature, and many beneficial discoveries were made to the betterment of Magnamund. The guardians of this laboratory were a Drodarin race called the Patar. They served the Elder Magi and in return they were entrusted with their new-found secrets of herbcraft and druidic lore. But the Patar betrayed that trust when they allowed the Cenerese, a clan of evil druids, into the temple to plunder its secrets. The Cenerese called upon their Demonlord, who appeared in this very chamber. He took all that the Elder Magi had nurtured and cultivated, and he turned it against them in the form of a deadly plague that decimated their race. In the wake of their destruction, the Cenerese and Patar rose to power, but their reign was short-lived. A clan of goodly druids called the Herbalish, who had helped the surviving Elder Magi to escape their enemies during the years of the Great Plague, waged war on the Cenerese and were victorious.

The Patar fled the temple in shame and gave a solemn pledge to the Herbalish that they would redeem their act of treachery by devoting themselves to the study of the healing arts and by striving to defeat disease in all its forms. Ever since, the descendants of the Patar have been known as the Redeemers, and each new generation has upheld that ancient vow.

But the story has yet to find an ending, for in this forgotten temple you are now witnessing a terrifying repeat of history. Roark and his followers are Cenerese Druids and they have come here once more to invoke the help of their master--the Demonlord Tagazin.

Turn to 116.

Text copyright © 1987 Joe Dever.
Illustrations copyright © 1987 Brian Williams.