### 100

Beyond the rubble you discover a large chamber fashioned from great blocks of polished blue-green stone. At the centre of this eerie hall there lies an oval pool of water, the surface of which appears to be alight with a myriad of tiny, pale green flames. The flames shed light on the surrounding walls but generate no heat.

As you approach the pool, you see a mosaic of glittering stones set high upon the far wall. They have been fixed to depict the shape of an octopus-like creature with two bulging eyes, a hooked beak, and twelve snaky tentacles. Directly below this mosaic is an archway which is sealed by a featureless sheet of solid blue-green metal.

Your senses tingle in response to the aura of magic that saturates this chamber. Fearful of what may lurk here, you unsheathe your weapon and hold it in readiness for your defence. For a moment the light of the pool flickers and the flames waver from side to side, as if disturbed by the passage of an invisible hand. Then, from the sealed archway, there issues forth a deep, resonant voice.

Which Darklord of Kaag do you call master? booms the disembodied voice. Zagarna or Slūtar?

If you wish to answer 'Zagarna', turn to 157.

If you decide to answer 'Slūtar', turn to 204.

If you choose not to answer at all, turn to 193.

Text copyright © 1991 Joe Dever.
Illustrations copyright © 1991 Brian Williams.