\nThere is only one thing that will work. You level your blade like a javelin and hurl it at the prince. \n\nWith a noise like an arrow cutting the wind it hisses through the air and finds its mark, burying to the hilt in the prince's scarred visage. He lets out a gargling scream, purple, poisonous liquid bursting from the rend in his face. \n\nAs he falls to his knees, the citadel shakes, and when he finally collapses, it is as if you have felled a titan. \n\nThe prince's reign is at an end.\n<<if $knows_tabard_exists eq "yes">>\nThe tabard glistens, beckoning. You may [[don the tabard]] if you wish. Or you may: \n<<else>>\nAnd you are no closer, to knowing of a cure.\n<<endif>>\n[[Take the throne of the Undead Citadel.]]\n\n\n\n
<<if $withdrawal eq 2>>\nYou spend the night shivering, breaking out in sweat so cold you feel like the curse of undeath has come upon you. The cold is followed by a heat so heavy it is like the bodywarmth of a parasite curling up inside you. \n<<if $guilty eq "yes">>\nYou dream of falling into a grave which has no bottom - you drop from the surface of the world. \n<<else>>\n<<endif>>\nYou do not wake refreshed. \n\n[[Get up]]\n<<else>>\nThe night is uneventful and soon you are fast asleep, weary from your long travel. \n<<if $guilty eq "yes">>\nYou dream of falling into a grave which has no bottom - you drop from the surface of the world. \n<<else>>\n<<endif>>\n\nYou wake refreshed and ready for your true journey to begin. \n\n[[Get up]]\n\n<<endif>>
<<silently>>\n<<set $withdrawal = $withdrawal +1>>\n<<endsilently>>You pack away the satchel into your rucksack. Your hands fumble with the straps of the pack, they are trembling violently. \n\nAfter a few calming breaths you manage to get onto an even keel. \n<<if $withdrawal gte 3>>\n//Your withdrawal levels are dangerously high. This will affect your physical strength - bear this in mind when making your choices.//\n<<else>>\n//Your addiction levels remain the same but your withdrawal levels have increased.// \n<<endif>>\nYou now have nothing left to do accept turn back and take the [[north passage|The Well]]
\nThe hut is filled with candles, totems, dreamcatchers, strange nets made from intricate webs of a type you have never seen before. Animal skulls adorn every wall, staring down at you as though in judgement. \n\n'Before I perform the magic which you see, I will require a gift.'\n\nHer eyes redden and swim in a way you are all too familiar with. \n\n<<if $red_moss gte 1>>\n[[Offer red moss]]<<else>>\n'But I see you have nothing to offer me. Return when you do.'\n\nReturn to [[the Great Bonfire|The Great Bonfire]]\n<<endif>>\n\n
Your thoughts become as blurred as your vision. Oblivion: that is the gift the drink brings. You are surprised by how much you enjoy this slip into vagueness... \n\nYou have acquired a new quirk //Alcoholic//.\n<<if $atheist and $guilty and $zealot eq "no">>\nQuirks are special characteristics that will affect your journey. They might open up extra choices previously unavailable or alternatively might restrict you from making certain choices. \n<<else>>\n<<endif>>\nYou are too intoxicated for dreams. Blackness is followed by a the morning heralded with a rush of pain in your head, a churning stomach, and the need for something hot to eat. \n\n[[Get up]]
<<set $red_moss = $red_moss +2>>\n\n//You have acquired 2 more satchels of red moss. You now have <<$red_moss>>.//\n\n'You've got more then, haven't you?' their leader grins. 'Why not share it with us?' \n\nThe others move forward, jackals growing in confidence as they smell the blood of their quarry. \n\nWill you: \n<<if $guilty eq "yes">>\n//Your Guilty quirk means your are not able to draw your sword and attack them.//\n\n[[Let them take your moss]]\n<<else>>\n[[Set upon them with your sword]]\n\n[[Let them take your moss]]\n<<endif>>
<<silently>>\n<<set $withdrawal = $withdrawal +1>>\n<<set $addiction = $addiction -1>>\n<<endsilently>>\n\nYou make the traditional sign and pray to the Three to grant you strength to resist the urge. \n\nAt first, you feel nothing and the familiar pangs of withdrawal beset you, your hands begin trembling and your mouth is drier than dying earth, but after a while it passes and you feel better. //Cleaner//. \n\n//Your withdrawal levels have increased but your addiction levels have decreased as a result of prayer.// \n\nYou can now choose to try and [[rest]] ready for your journey tomorrow or take up the barman's offer and go down into the [[tavern]]
\nThe tavern is warm and irrepressibly heady. By contrast to the deadened town this place is lively. Various intriguing characters recline in the shadows and barmaids scurry between the tables, pratically dancing to avoid bashing into the chairs, inhabitants and a few stray dogs to boot. \n\nYou approach the bar and the bartender greets you warmly. You paid up-front, so there is nothing to settle. \n\n'If you fancy a drink later come and join us down here,' he says, voice rougher than a goat's backside. You tell him you'll think about it. \n\n[[Go to your room.]]
<<silently>>\n<<set $addiction = $addiction +1>>\n<<set $red_moss = $red_moss -1>>\n<<endsilently>>You devour it all, ignoring the bitter aftertaste. \n\nThe familiar sensation of your whole body becoming an inferno ignites your senses: sight, sound, smell even libido. The moment lingers and then passes. \n\n//Your withdrawal levels remain the same but your addiction levels have increased.//\n\nYou now have nothing left to do accept turn back and take the [[north passage|The Well]]
Eater of Moss
\nYou leap forward and drive your blade into the back of the prince's knee, where there is only chainmail. Your aim is true and the prince lets out a roar which shakes the chamber. \n\nWhen you withdraw the blade, purple, void-like mucus bleeds from the wound. \n\nThe prince frees his axe and rounds on you, eyes like comets. \n\nHe circles the blade over his head and slashes, like a wild berserker. \n\nWill you roll [[beneath the axe]], [[parry the stroke|parry the axe]] or [[hurl your blade]] at the oncoming prince?
\n'That is beyond my knowledge. What we provide here, in the chapel, is the peace of dreaming. Many of the undead are washed like driftwood to this place. Some descend into the madness below in the hope of finding a cure. Others choose the simpler way. The way of peace...'\n\nShe walks up to the idol behind her with the many-faced door and pushes her fingers into the eyes of one of the faces. A great rumbling sound fills the chapel and then all three of the idols, the north, south and east all behind to slide like great stone doorways until they reveal new ways beyond. \n\n'You have [[three choices]],' the chapel-keeper whispers.
<<silently>>\n<<set $lantern = "yes">>\n<<endsilently>>\n\nYou pick up the lantern and place it in your rucksack, snuffing out its illumination. As the darkness breathes, the corpse sits bolt upright and screams so loud that you wonder if the entire crypt reverberated with it. The corpse lurches towards you, like a bloodthirsty drunk, unable to gain footing but determined to snare you. You beat it back with your sword. \n\n[[Quickly return to the eastward passage|The Iron Door]]
<<silently>>\n<<set $atheist= "yes">>\n<<endsilently>>'I need no blessing, fool.'\n\nYou turn your back on the priest. As you walk away you smile at hearing his flabbergasted splutters. \n\nYou have acquired a new quirk //Atheist//.\n\nQuirks are special characteristics that will affect your journey. They might open up extra choices previously unavailable, or alternatively might restrict you from making certain choices. \n\nContinue on your journey now and \n\n[[Enter The Last Omer]]
'What are you doing, old man?'\n\nHe chews his lips and continues working. \n\n'Digging graves for the future dead. I'm old now, like you say. Got to finish my work before I go.' \n\nHe straightens and sighs, leaning on his shovel. \n\n'It's never gunna be done, is it?' he says, child-like. \n\n[[No]]\n\n[[Yes]]
<<silently>>\n<<set $addiction = $addiction +1>>\n<<set $red_moss = $red_moss -1>>\n<<endsilently>>You greedily scoop the clumps of stringly moss from the satchel and bring it to your nose, inhaling its putrefying scent. It has something of the mire about it: things damp and warm and furred. Then you gobble it all in a few hungry bites and the bitter taste washes the back of your throat. \n\nA shudder passes through your whole body and you feel as though you are made of fire. The moment lingers and then passes. \n\n//Your withdrawal levels remain the same but your addiction levels have increased.//\n\nYou can now choose to try and [[rest]] ready for your journey tomorrow or take up the barman's offer and go down into the [[tavern]]
The axe would be unblockable, you leap to the side and it crashes into the floor, sending a shiver through the citadel: the crystals hum like organ pipes. The orince's axe is partially imbedded inthe ground. \n\nDo you seize the opportunity to [[strike the prince]] or [[circle the prince, keeping safe distanace]]?
\nThe crackle of the fire is the only noise in the dismal chamber. Its pale light casts crouched shades into view, their naked, pale bodies more ephmeral, more spiritual than real. Some of them are undead, but many are addicts. You can tell by the way they shiver. \n\nMost of them stare into the fire, cross-legged like worshippers about to conduct mass, but one undead looks at you with his good eye. \n\nThere are three exits from this place: a northern door, an eastern and a southern. \n\n[[Take the east door|Marshes 1]]\n<<if $has_killed_addict eq "yes">>\nYou cannot go back to the caverns. \n<<else>>\n[[Take the north door|Moss Wall]]\n<<endif>>\n[[Take the south door|lower levels 2]]\n\nAlternatively, you may stay and [[Talk to the undead]]\n\n\n\n
'An end?' He rises from the throne. He is beyond human stature, twelve feet tall. With an air of mourning, he draws an axe from off his back which gleams as though it could split mountains. 'There is never an end. Only an endless path. One all must walk.' He pauses. 'Save I.' \n\nHis footsteps on the citadel floor are like earthquakes. Feebly, you draw your sword before the colossus. \n\n[[Fight the prince]]\n
<<silently>>\n<<set $has_killed_addict = "yes">>\n<<endsilently>>You draw your sword and addicts freeze, like statues in the dark. \n\n<<if $withdrawal gte 4>>\nYour hand begins to tremble. //Not now//, but it is too late for those thoughts. The withdrawal has come upon you again. \n\nSensing the weakness, or perhaps recognising it, the first addict leaps forward, surprisingly agile. He batters aside your blade and sinks sharpened teeth into your neck. \n\nYou throw him off, but the others have already closed. \n\nTheir bony limbs make short work of you. Bloodied, you hear a trickle of words. \n\n'What should we do with him?'\n\n'Give him to the fire, of course.' \n\n[[Your adventure ends here|Your adventure ends here 2]]\n<<else>>\nThe first addict leaps forward, surprisingly agile. You are just as quick and slice open his belly with your blade. He screams and falls back into the dark. \n\nThe others are hesitant to come at you. \n\nSlowly, you make your way to the [[cavern entrance|The Great Bonfire]]\n<<endif>>\n\n\n
\n'Some believe the Three are all aspects of one divinity, but that cannot be so. They act towards their own ends, often coming into conflicts. These are not great wars or cataclysms, but rather inscrutable battles of will, of symbolic meaning, of destiny. The gods, as always, are so much more interested in the individual journey over the prosperity of the whole...\n\n'The gods cannot easily be summarised, but I will try to say what I can. There is Cithlarn, ocean-god, originator of life. Then there is Ilmarinen, the forge god who hammered out the world and gave rise to the spark of fire which gave some of the many lifeforms Cithlarn birthed sentience and spirit. Then there is Dolmen. Dolmen is the door-god and has no interest in creating, only in changing and guiding. He has many times demonstrated his strange ends by bringing certain leaders and prophets to higher plains of consciousness by showing them other worlds.' \n\nShe finishes and sighs, as though frustrated by the weight of things she wishes she could say. \n\n'That is enough for now. The lore of the gods cannot be taught within a day.' \n<<if $undead eq "yes">>\n[[Is there a cure for the undead curse?]]\n<<else>>\n[[Is there a cure for red moss addiction?]]\n<<endif>>
<<silently>>\n<<set $withdrawal = $withdrawal +1>>\n<<endsilently>>\nThe shaking is terrible but after a few calming breaths you manage to get onto an even keel. \n<<if $withdrawal gte 3>>\n//Your withdrawal levels are dangerously high. This will affect your physical strength - bear this in mind when making your choices.//\n<<else>>\n//Your addiction levels remain the same but your withdrawal levels have increased.// \n<<endif>>\n[[Go back west into the corridor|Mine Part 2]]
<<silently>>\n<<set $withdrawal = $withdrawal +1>>\n<<endsilently>>\nThe shaking is terrible but after a few calming breaths you manage to get onto an even keel. \n<<if $withdrawal gte 3>>\n//Your withdrawal levels are dangerously high. This will affect your physical strength - bear this in mind when making your choices.//\n<<else>>\n//Your addiction levels remain the same but your withdrawal levels have increased.// \n\nA raven perches on a stone. You are not sure, but the look in its black jewel of an eye seems urgent now. It points southward with its beak. \n\n[[East|Necromancer's Hovel]]\n[[South|Lost Roads 1]]\n\nAlternatively, you may return via the way you have come to [[the Great Bonfire|The Great Bonfire]]\n<<endif>>
<<silently>>\n<<set $fireworm_ring = "yes">>\n<<endsilently>>The ring is shaped like an orange worm devouring itself. \n\n//You have acquired the Fireworm Ring.//\n\n'That ring will protect you and I would see you safely reach your goal. I have no love of the Silver Prince.' She sighs. 'Once, I did. Countless years ago. We were lovers, him and I. But one day he was killed. An arrow found its mark in his heart and he died on the field of battle. \n\n'It was my magic which restored him, but not just that, it was his //will//, his determination. It is more powerful than you can imagine, so powerful it spread from him and affected others, raising all he came by from the dead. It permeates this place even now. It is what brought you from death. \n\n'Things have gone too far. The Silver Prince is no longer the man I loved, is no longer even a man. He sits in his citadel surrounded by dark servants, ones who have come from the underworld to serve him. He must be stopped.' \n\nShe smiles weakly at you. \n\n'I have said enough. What you do when you enter the citadel is your own choice. But bear what I have said in mind when you face him at last.' \n\n[[Return to the Great Bonfire|The Great Bonfire]]
\nYou have sensed correctly that the moth is linked in some way to the divine Three, but how, you are not sure. Your prayers extort that the true nature of the moth become known. \n\nThe moth does not speak or answer you prayers. You distinctly feel its gaze upon you however, a knowing gaze, a gaze that suggests a wisdom of millenia. \n\nYour prayers grow in conviction and strength; you summon the moth in the names of the Three, demanding it reveal its true nature. Suddenly it shoots up into the sky. \n\nIts wing-dust settles over you and you know that [[something has changed.]]\n\n\n\n
\nThe darkness quivers. For a moment you expect it to reach out and claim you, for the shadows to become living soldiers that rip you apart, but then a quiet voice emanates, soft as silk. \n\n'Perhaps, in time, you shall change your decision.' \n\n[[Leave the room|lower levels 2]]
The north passage runs for maybe two hundred feet before turning sharply east. You follow that for maybe another fifty paces and then enter a large chamber. \n\nThe first thing that catches your attention is a well at the center of the room. There is a cup perched on the lip of the well.\n\nThe waters are high and you could easily bend down with the cup and scoop up a cupful to quench your thirst. Who knows? It may slacken the urge for the moss for a little while longer. \n\n[[Drink from the well]]\n\n[[Investigate the rest of the room|The Well2]]\n\n
You step closer into the shadowy room. You become aware of a dank, oily smell filling up the room, and an unwelcome breeze as though wind is funneled through the room.\n\nThen you realise it is monstrous breaths. \n\nAll of a sudden the shadows unfold and you see a massive being before you. Where it ends and begins is a mystery. Mouths, eyes, orifices of unknown use, tendrils countless as stars, a mess of being and madness made form. \n\n'Kill the moth of the marshes for me,' it whispers from each of its dark mouths, like a chorus of children. 'Kill the moth and I shall give you a great gift.'\n\n[[Leave the room|lower levels 2]]
\n<<if $armour eq "yes">>\nThe acid pours over your armour, liquifying the hardened steel in moments. Whatever great workmanship had gone into it is nothing next to the power of the worm's acid. The armour is melted beyond further use and will not help you again.\n\nBut it has saved your life. \n\nQuickly, [[over the bridge.]] \n<<else>>\n<<if $undead eq "no">>\nThe acid melts away flesh and muscle in seconds, finally eating into the bone. But you are long dead before this happens: a husk and nothing more. \n\n[[Your adventure ends here|Your adventure ends here 2]]\n<<else>>\nYou have already known one death. Now you will know your second and last, because even the dead can die. \n\nAt last, an end to the suffering. \n<<endif>>\n<<endif>>\n
You have entered a large open cavern divided by a river of molten lava that glows like a fresh scar. As you watch its mesmeric, shifting surface: a globule of burning gas forms like a boil and then pops. \n\nA narrow stone ledge leads off to the south, clinging to the wall of the chamber you have just left. You can see something glittering at its end. \n<<if $drawbridge_lowered eq "yes">>\nTo the east a drawbridge spans the river of lava. On the other side of the bridge is a large, oak doorway whose design reminds you of a church. \n\nYou can: \n\nMove along the [[ledge]]\n\nGo across the [[drawbridge|cross the drawbridge]]\n<<else>>\nTo the east, on the other side of the lava, is a large, oak doorway whose design reminds you of a church. However the drawbridge that would span the river is raised. \n\nYou can: \n\nReturn to the [[well room|The Well2]]\n\nMove along the [[ledge]]\n<<endif>>
<<silently>>\n<<set $knows_tabard_exists = "yes">>\n<<endsilently>>The prince rises from his throne. He is beyond human stature, twelve feet tall. His footsteps on the citadel floor are like earthquakes. \n\nHe bends to speak with you. \n\n'There is no cure, wanderer. There is only this...' He shows you a glistening tabard, woven with gold thread. 'This is the tabard of quietude. It silences the madness and the pain. I have worn it long years. It stays the madness of undeath. It stays the hunger for moss, for material things, for drink or any evil you can name.\n\n'But there is only one tabard. Only one of us can wear it.' \n\nHe steps back. With an air of mourning, he draws an axe from off his back which gleams as though it could split mountains. \n\n'Time to prove your worth.' \n\n[[Fight the prince]]
Scrambling over the bridge, you reach a heavy, ebony door set into the windowless crystal walls of the citadel. \n\nThe worms do not follow, but slink lazily back into the lava. \n\nYou rest a moment, breathless and on edge. In a few moments you feel recovered. \n\nYou may:\n\n[[Knock upon the ebony door]]\n\n[[Go back across the plateau now the worms are gone |The cliff top 2]]\n\n[[Call out to see if anyone answers]]\n\n
\nThe room is plain; a few weapon racks line the walls but the weapons are so old and rusted they would be of little or no use. The only significant thing is a large metal lever set into the wall at the end of the room. \n\n[[Pull lever]]\n\n[[Return to well room|The Well2]]
\nThe moth regards you for a few moments, feelers wrapping around the stems of gorgeous, unknowable flowers like tender gardener's hands. Suddenly, it takes off. \n\nYou doubt you will ever see such a wonder again. \n\n[[Continue with your adventure|Marshes 3]]
Before midday you make it to the entrance of the Crypt. The entrance is not as spectacular as you might have hoped: a small stone archway set into a hillock, no grander than an old warrior's burial mound. \n\nWhat does surprise you is the sight of the demented porter, perched on a rock just outside the opening as though he is the appointed guardian of the tombs beyond. \n\n'So, at last our weary moss-eater wends his way into the Crypt: the place where the living and the dead go to find solitude. \n\n'If I were you, I would ask one question of myself before I go down there...' He points at the opening and grins. '...are you really trying to find a cure or are you just trying to find more moss?' He puts his hands on his belly and roars with hysterical laughter. \n\nYou grit your teeth and turn from him, marching up to the opening. \n\nYou take a deep breath. \n\nIt's time to [[enter the Crypt]]\n\n
\nYou put your lips to the nozzle of one of the kegs and drink and drink until the dull ache of the red moss passes. The ale is rich and surprisingly yeasty, though perhaps slightly soured with age. \n\nThere is nothing left to do but [[go back west into the corridor|Mine Part 2]]
You emerge into a small, bare chamber. In the middle sits a brazier that perhaps was golden once but is now green with rust. The flames are loud and high and they illuminate a slumped figure in the corner of the room. \n\nHis flesh is the colour of dank swamp-water and ribs are exposed between tears in the flesh. Beneath the ribs you can see lungs which are still working like old leather bellows. His face is a jigsaw of skull and flesh, though ragged lips are wrapped around a delicate looking wooden flute. Fleshless fingers dance like a white spider on the sounding holes. \n\nAs you enter, he breaks off playing and gives you a soft smile, or as a soft a smile as someone with half a face can give. \n\n'I must be your first,' he says. 'Don't be afraid. I have my wits about me. For a little while yet, at least...' He chuckles. \n\n[[Who are you?]]\n\n[[What are you doing here?]]
\nThe descent is slippery and treacherous. You feel as though you have dropped into a black cauldron of ink. It is hard to see even the ladder, and sometimes you imagine there isn't one, and that you are already falling. \n\n<<if $withdrawal gte 4>>\nSuddenly, the withdrawal comes. Shivering. Manic. All your limbs tremble and you force yourself to cling to the ladder.\n\nAs you place your foot on one of the lower wrungs you slip and tumble into the blackness. \n\nThere is no telling how far you fall. \n<<else>>\nBlind, frightened, you make your way down for what feels like hours until finally your foot touches solid ground.\n\n[[You have entered the lower levels|lower levels 2]]\n<<endif>>
You immediately realise where the musty smell is coming from. The room is filled with barrels upon barrels of ale. Who needs this alcohol is a mystery to you. Perhaps the workmen working on these tunnels? \n\nThere is nothing of further interest in the room.\n\n[[Go back west into the corridor|Mine Part 2]]
\n<<if $undead eq "yes">>\n\nThe moth's blessing has no benefit to the unliving. \n\n[[Continue with your adventure|Marshes 3]]\n\n<<else>>\n<<silently>>\n<<set $addiction = 1>>\n<<set $withdrawal = 1>>\n<<endsilently>>//Your addiction and withdrawal levels have been dramatically reduced.//\n\n[[Continue with your adventure|Marshes 3]]\n<<endif>>\n\n\n\n\n
It soon becomes apparent what is wrong. Outside the church there is a graveyard and a crowd has gathered. An ancient looking gravedigger, clad in robes so torn they do nothing to cover him up, is throwing heaps of dirt and stone in the air in a wild flurry of his shovel. There are four or five open graves in front of him. \n\nVarious people approach him, but as soon as they come within range he swings his shovel at them two-handed like a great sword, shrieking and yelling. \n\nThe priest pushes you forward so you are at the front of the crowd. The old man continues about his insane flailing work. \n\nWill you,\n\n[[Say 'Hello' to the old man]]\n\n[[Ask him what he is doing]]\n\n[[Do nothing]]
<<silently>>\n<<set $has_shadowroom_key = "yes">>\n<<endsilently>>\n\nYou immediately realise where the musty smell is coming from. The room is filled with barrels upon barrels of ale. Who needs this alcohol is a mystery to you. Perhaps the workmen working on these tunnels? \n\nThere is an old table in the center of the room on which an ornate looking key lies. You pocket the key. \n\nThere is nothing of further interest in the room.<<if $undead eq "yes">>\n[[Go back west into the corridor|Mine Part 2]]\n<<else>><<if $red_moss gte 1>>Your hands are shaking, however, you may wish to consume some red moss.\n\n[[Eat moss|Eat Moss 3]] \n\n[[Suffer withdrawal|Save Moss 3]]\n<<else>>Your hands are shaking however. You do not have any moss to consume, but the need is coming on you.\n\n[[Suffer withdrawal|Save Moss 3]]\n<<endif>> \n<<if $alcoholic eq "yes">>\n//Your alcoholic quirk means that you are able to drink from the barrels instead of consuming moss.//\n\n[[Drink from the barrels]]\n<<else>>\n<<endif>>\n<<endif>>\n\n\n
<<silently>>\n<<set $addiction = $addiction +1>>\n<<set $red_moss = $red_moss -1>>\n<<endsilently>>You devour it all, ignoring the bitter aftertaste. \n\nThe familiar sensation of your whole body becoming an inferno ignites your senses: sight, sound, smell even libido. The moment lingers and then passes. \n\n//You have used a red moss satchel. You now have <<$red_moss>>.//\n\n<<if $addiction gte 4>>\n//Your addiction levels are dangerously high. If they raise much higher you will over-dose and lose consciousness. You must find ways to lower it.//\n<<else>>\n//Your withdrawal levels remain the same but your addiction levels have increased.//\n<<endif>>\n[[Go back west into the corridor|Mine Part 2]]
\nThe ascent is slippery and treacherous. You feel as though you have dropped into a black cauldron of ink. It is hard to see even the ladder, and sometimes you imagine there isn't one, and that you are already falling. \n\n<<if $withdrawal gte 4>>\nSuddenly, the withdrawal comes. Shivering. Manic. All your limbs tremble and you force yourself to cling to the ladder.\n\nAs you place your foot on one of the wrungs you slip and tumble into the blackness. \n\nThere is no telling how far you fall. \n<<else>>\nShakily, you gain the light of the upper levels again. \n\n[[Enter the upper levels|South Passage 1]]\n<<endif>>
<<silently>>\n<<set $undead = "yes">>\n<<set $addiction = 0>>\n<<set $withdrawal = 0>>\n<<set $armour = no>>\n<<endsilently>>Or does it? \n\nYou feel an ember of life sputter into existence within you, pushing back the darkness. Yes. You are not yet dead. \n\nBut what, then, are you? \n\nYou open your eyes: you are lying flat on your back, the heat of a river of lava washes over you. You open your mouth to scream but all that comes out is a rasp.\n\nSlowly, knowing already what you will see, you raise your hands. \n\nBone. Nothing but bone. \n\n[[You are undead|You are undead 2]]
<<silently>>\n<<set $addiction = $addiction +2>>\n<<endsilently>>You place your lips to the wall and eat direct from the \n\nThe familiar sensation comes on you, only this time it is ten times more powerful. Your whole body becomes an inferno, igniting your senses: sight, sound, smell even libido. \n\n<<if $addiction gte 6>>\n//Your addiction levels have reached critical pitch. You have overdosed.//\n\nFroth fills your mouth and you collapse, mind spasming out of consciousness into a realm of madness. Down in the deep darkness you remain, feeling the strokes of omnipotent and insatiate gods whose sole purpose is torment and whose sole object, is you... \n\n<<else>>\n//Your withdrawal levels remain the same but your addiction levels have increased.//\n\nYou may now:\n \n[[Leave the caverns of moss|The Great Bonfire]]\n\n[[Take moss from the walls]]\n<<endif>>\n
<<silently>>\n<<set $red_moss = $red_moss -1>>\n<<set $addiction = $addiction +1>>\n<<endsilently>><<if $addiction gte 6>>\n//Your addiction levels have reached critical pitch. You have overdosed.//\n\nFroth fills your mouth and you collapse, mind spasming out of consciousness into a realm of madness. Down in the deep darkness you remain, feeling the strokes of omnipotent and insatiate gods whose sole purpose is torment and whose sole object, is you... \n<<else>>\n//Your withdrawal levels remain the same but your addiction levels have increased.//\n\nHungrily, you devour the moss. Your consciousness expands and contracts, like the breathing of a great, slumbring drake. You are one with everything, the glade, the music of the marsh. \n\n//You have used a red moss satchel. You now have <<$red_moss>> left.//\n\nA raven flutters down and perches on a stone. You are not sure, but the look in its black jewel of an eye seems urgent now. It points southward with its beak. \n\n[[East|Necromancer's Hovel]]\n[[South|Lost Roads 1]]\n\nAlternatively, you may return via the way you have come to [[the Great Bonfire|The Great Bonfire]]\n<<endif>>
\n<<if $undead eq "yes">>'A fellow undead? Why do you come here? These halls are cursed, do you not know?'\n\nThe undead opens a mouth that is nothing more than a gash, a wound filled with broken teeth. Their single eye is wide with surprise. \n\n'It cannot be you seek a cure? So many have attempted it. They go into the marshes to the east but they never return. Who can say what is done to them?'\n\n'But I see you are determined. Well then, I'd best give you what little advice I can... first, do not follow the raven: he will lead you astray. Second, make sure, if you ever do reach the necromancer, that you have a token to offer her. Something she will like. Moss, perhaps...' \n\n//You currently have <<$red_moss>> red moss satchels.//\n\nThe undead turns around in his seat; like the others around him he becomes absorbed in watching the fire.\n\n[[Take the east door|Marshes 1]]\n<<if $has_killed_addict eq "Yes">>\n<<else>>\n[[Take the north door|Moss Wall]]\n<<endif>>\n[[Take the south door|lower levels 2]]\n<<else>>\nThe undead snarls, revealing a mouth that is nothing more than a gash, a wound filled with broken teeth. \n\n'Why do you come here, addict? This is a place for the dead and the dead alone!'\n\n[[Take the east door|Marshes 1]]\n<<if $has_killed_addict eq "Yes">>\n<<else>>\n[[Take the north door|Moss Wall]]\n<<endif>>\n[[Take the south door|lower levels 2]]\n<<endif>>\n\n
\n'Please,' he pants. 'Please, you must come quickly.' He spots the sword at your side. \n\n'We need someone like you. The old gravedigger's gone mad! Come with me, quickly, before he hurts anyone else.' \n\n[[Go with the priest]]\n\nOr change your mind and...\n\n[[Enter The Last Omer]]
<<silently>>\n<<set $undead = "no">>\n<<set $addiction = 2>>\n<<set $withdrawal = 1>>\n<<endsilently>>\nBreath. So beautiful, and now for the first time in what feels like an age, it is clean. \n\nYou lie on the table, heavy, enjoying the weight of your body once again. You are no longer nothing. \n\nWhen you look at your hands there is flesh, albeit discoloured slightly and worn, but blood runs beneath once again. \n\nHowever, you feel something else restored, a pang, an emptiness. The addiction has returned. You are once more subject to the pull of the moss. \n\n//You are no longer Undead. Your addiction levels and withdrawal levels have increased.//\n\nThe necromancer smiles kindly at you. \n\n'I have one last thing for you, wanderer.' She holds out [[a glistening orange ring]].
<<silently>>\n<<set $red_moss = $red_moss +1>>\n<<endsilently>>He licks dry lips. A sliver of skin falls from his chest as he shifts his weight. \n\n'It's safe here. The levels below... they are for those of us who have lost all sanity. And addicts like you. Don't look so surprised! I can always tell. It's the eyes. The eyes aren't quite right. \n\n'I'm not judging you. I was one once myself. Here...' He digs into the tattered loincloth round his middle and produces a dirtied satchel. You can smell the moss. \n\nHe tosses you the satchel. \n\n'I have no use of it anymore.'\n\n//You have acquired an additional red moss satchel. You now have <<$red_moss>>.//\n\n[[Thank you]]\n\n
<<if $armour eq "yes">>\nThe flame is searing, agonising, but your armour shields you from the brunt of the damage. Unfortunately, it has melted beyond further use and will not help you again. \n<<set $armour = "no">>\nRunning like a demon, you scramble up the rocky slope and [[regain footing on the walkway|Continue South]]. \n<<else>>\n<<if $undead eq "no">>\nScreaming, you collapse to your knees and everything passes from pain to a faltering blackness. The last thing you are aware of is pitching backwards over the lip of the rocky shelf and falling into the lava below. \n\n[[Your adventure ends here|Your adventure ends here 2]]\n<<else>>\nYou have already known one death. Now you will know your second and last, because even the dead can die. \n\nAt last, an end to the suffering. \n<<endif>>\n<<endif>>\n
Doors are set in the north, east and south walls of the room as well as the corridor to the west which leads back out of the Crypt. The door in the east wall is made from some kind of metal and mottled with patterns of rust on its surface. \n\n[[North Door|The Lever Room]]\n\n[[East Door|The Drawbridge Door]]\n\n<<if $entered_coffinroom eq "no">>\n[[South Door|The Coffin Room]]\n<<else>>\n[[South Door (where the undead is lurking)|Coffin Room2]]\n<<endif>>
You thud loudly on the door. There is no immediate answer. \n\n[[Knock again]]\n\n[[Go back across the plateau|The cliff top 2]]\n\n[[Call out to see if anyone answers]]
<<if $has_drawbridge_key eq "yes">>\nYou walk up to the door and try it but it is locked. Then you remember the key from the undead's stomach. You insert it and turn and the door swings open as though weightless.\n\nHeat washes against you like a high wave breaking on your skin and blaring light makes you squint. The smell of burning is pre-eminent. \n\nYou step through the [[door|Drawbridge]]\n<<else>>\nYou walk up to the door and try it but it is locked.\n\nYou will have to try another door at present. \n\n[[Another door|The Well2]] \n<<endif>>\n\n
<<if $undead eq "yes">>\n//Your Undead quirk means you do not feel the need to consume moss.//\n\nA raven perches on a stone nearby. You are not sure, but the look in its black jewel of an eye seems urgent now. It points southward with its beak. \n\n[[East|Necromancer's Hovel]]\n[[South|Lost Roads 1]]\n\nAlternatively, you may return via the way you have come to [[the Great Bonfire|The Great Bonfire]]\n\n<<else>><<if $red_moss gte 1>>The glade is a perfect place to enjoy moss, you think. Your hands have begun to shake. \n\n[[Eat moss|Eat Moss 5]]\n\n[[Suffer withdrawal|Save Moss 5]]\n<<else>>Your hands are shaking. The hunger is coming on you but you do not have any moss to consume.\n\n[[Suffer withdrawal|Save Moss 5]]\n<<endif>> \n<<endif>>
You ask them if they know anything about the Undead Crypt. Many tales are shared: some more believable than others. One character remains constant through all of their stories, like a a familiar personage in a dream who returns night after night. You are unable to rid yourself of thinking about him. \n\nThey refer to him as 'the Silver Prince', a lord of the undead who has not yet lost soul and mind to madness. Whether this is mere fantasy or something more is difficult to say, but the conviction with which they speak and the recurrence through all the stories adds a strange weight to it. \n\nThe barman rings the bell. The last orders are in and everyone must retire. You go back to your bed. \n\n[[rest]]
\nThe run-down cluster of hovels looks more like a shipwreck than a town: the huts cling, barnacle-like, to the wearied earth beneath it. The place stinks. \n\nIts not long walking through the squalid streets that you see the sign of the tavern which will be your last stop before entering the Crypts: \n\n!The Last Omer\n\nJust as you are about to enter the tavern you hear a sharp cry and turn to see a man running through the streets shouting for help. His face is a cross of fear and worry. Judging by his sombre dress and triangular pendant he must be a priest of the Three. \n\n[[Speak to the priest]]\n\n[[Enter The Last Omer]]\n\n
<<silently>>\n<<set $red_moss = 0>>\n<<endsilently>>They ransack your bag, taking all of your satchels and hungrily devour them before your eyes. You marvel at the madness of it all. There are miles and miles of the moss waiting to be consumed, and they must take yours, but such is the way of the addict. \n\nYou have no more satchels of red moss. \n\n'Get out of here,' the leader snarls. The others nod savagely. \n\n[[Leave the caverns of moss|The Great Bonfire]]
\n\nYour aim is true and your sword bites into its neck. No blood flies out from the wound. The head drops, dangling by a few shreds of pallid skin. You hack again and this time sever the head entirely. \n\nThe undead collapses on the floor, a bag of bones and nothing more. \n\nJust as you look up in triumph from your kill, you see the other coffin lids slide from their casks and more undead pour out towards you. You turn to the door behind but hear a //click// as though someone has locked it. \n\nYou slash to and fro, hacking off limbs, but within moments they overpower you, their dead fingers pushing into your eyes and throat. \n\n[[Your adventure ends here]]
You continue down the south passage for a few minutes before seeing a glow indicating fire burning in a chamber at the end of the hall. A few minutes more and you hear an eerie, soft sound, so tremulous and weak you are not sure you are really hearing it. \n\nAfter a while you realise it is a flute. There's someone in the chamber at the end of the hall. \n\nDo you:\n\nDouble back and take the [[north passage|The Well]]\n\nContinue on down the [[south passage|Melkior's Room 2]]
\nYou make towards the bridge when suddenly a rumbling sound disturbs the chamber. The rock beneath your feet shudders, as though in anticipation. You draw your sword and stand ready for whatever may come... \n\nFrom the east side, emerging like burrowing maggots from flesh, come three gigantic worms, heaving their plated forms from the lava and squealing through their circular, needle-teeth mouths. They are each over fifty feet high and the magma runs off their bodies as though it is nothing more than water. \n\nYou run for the bridge, but the foremost unleashes <<if $fireworm_ring eq "no">>[[a gout of acidic spray from their mouth.]]<<else>>[[a gout of acidic spray from their mouth|Fireworm Ring +1]]<<endif>>\n\n
The old man stops, suddenly, as though he has met a salamander's stare in one of the graves he was digging. He jolt so he is standing straighter than an imperial soldier and then turns, slowly, to look straight at //you//. \n\n'This one's for you...' he says. 'The dead-man-walking amongst us!' \n\nHe begins to cackle and vigourously sets about making a new grave. The townspeople eye you with fear and the priest touches the triangular points of blessing: left shoulder, right shoulder and forehead. \n\n[[Ask him what he is doing]]\n\n[[Threaten him]]
You draw your sword and tell the gravedigger plainly he must desist and leave. The priest nods fervently behind you. The crowd has now gone very quiet. \n\nSlowly the old man stands and climbs out of the grave. He then drops his shovel and raises his hand, like a soldier surrendering. \n\nSuddenly, a grin splits his face and he throws himself forward. He is alarmingly agile and impales himself before you can withdraw your blade. Guttering, he coughs several lumps of blood and collapses backwards, sliding off your sword and into one of his own graves. \n\nYou swallow and [[look at the priest.]]\n\n
You find yourself on a rocky plateau overlooking a vast river of lava. The river runs from north to south in a gentle flow. You are standing on the eastern side and the shelf of rock on which you stand is only ten feet or so above the river's surface. The heat emitting from it is so great the air is distorted, shifting and undulating as though invisible serpents coil away from the magma. \n\nTo the east, there is a strange iron door set into the wall of the rock. \n\nTo the south, you can see a vast line of cliffs, like a flat-topped mountain, around which the river curls. \n\n[[The Iron Door]]\n\n[[Continue South]]\n\n
\nA glowering river of lava bends to the west and descends a slope. To the north a shelf of rock juts out over the river and you see a sliver of silver. The cliffs tower above you like fortress walls. At the base of the cliffs you see a pocket created by the river's changed flow, there is a cluster of cave-mouths there. It is only a ten foot drop and you could easily clamber down. \n\nA strange undead perches on the edge of the walkway using a crude, barbed hook to fish bodies out of the river. Even as you watch he hoists a charred corpse from the magma's grip and lays it out beside him. He attempts to grin at you, revealing he is not only without teeth, but also without a tongue.\n\nAll attempts at communication with him are useless. \n\n[[Investigate the caves|The Salamander Caves]]\n\nAttempt to [[climb the cliffs|The Cliff-Face]]\n\n[[Go north to the shelf|Enter the light]]
<<silently>>\n<<set $alcoholic = "yes">>\n<<endsilently>>You have no interest in talking to anyone. Tomorrow you will journey into a place where even the mad are afraid; tonight you drink! \n\nAfter ten pints of the bitterest ale you ever tasted you are carried, slurring and swearing, into your room. The barman throws you onto your bed. \n\n'Goodnight!' he growls, [[slamming the door]]. \n\n
Joseph Sale
\n'Maybe, maybe, you're right...'\n\nHe seizes his shovel and goes back to digging the graves, manic enthusiasm in his eyes. The priest groans. \n\n'Comne away,' he says, voice heavy as a lead-cloak. 'At least you tried.' \n\nYou walk back now to your original destination and\n\n[[Enter The Last Omer]]
\n'The Crypt?' he says, when you ask about it, a mocking smile curling under his thick moustache. He returns to cleaning a glass and does not look at you. 'What's there to know other than addicts and the dead live there? Sure, there's rumours of treasures. Rumours of cures. Rumours of all sorts. Never seen anyone come out of it yet.'\n\nHe says little more on the matter, and you are left with an oppressive feeling of doubt. \n\nSoon he rings the bell. The last orders are put in and everyone has to retire. You go back to your bed. \n\n[[rest]]
\nThe plateau is flat and featureless. The river snakes around its west and south side, eventually arriving on the eastern side. To the east the cliff face ends in a sheer drop to an ocean of volcanic lava which undulates, as though with its own curious tides. \n\nTo the south beyond the plateau, the citadel continues to brood like a dark heart. \n\nA narrow wooden bridge links the plateau and the citadel. \n\n[[Cross the bridge|Citadel 2]]\n\n[[Climb back down the cliff|Continue South]]
Scrambling over the bridge, you reach a heavy, ebony door set into the windowless crystal walls of the citadel. \n\nThe worms have not resurfaced.\n\nYou may:\n\n[[Knock upon the ebony door]]\n\n[[Go back across the plateau|The cliff top 2]]\n\n[[Call out to see if anyone answers]]
You find yourself in a passage in which there are three alcoves lining the eastern wall. In each alcove there is a dark, sqaure pit, the bottoms of which you cannot discern. The third pit, however, has ladder protruding from it, though you cannot see the base of the ladder as it plummets into sheer darkness. \n<<if $rope eq "no">>\nHanging on a peg at the end of the southward passage is a long, durable looking rope. \n\nYou may [[take the rope]] if you wish or<<else>><<endif>>\n[[Climb down the ladder|lower levels]]\n\nAlternatively, you may [[go north down the passage|Mine Part 2]]
\n'Well then, not much point is there?' \n\nHe throws down his shovel and clambers out of the grave, dusting off his filthy palms. He then walks up to you, shakes your hand, and strides off to Gods-know-where.\n\n'Remarkable!' the priest says, running forward and clapping like an excited performer. 'Remarkable! He's been at it for weeks. There's something about you. I can tell. The Gods have chosen you! What do you say to that? Will you accept the blessing of the Three?'\n\n[[Accept the blessing]]\n\n[[Refuse]]\n
<<silently>>\n<<set $red_moss = $red_moss -1>>\n<<endsilently>>\n\n//You have given a red moss satchel. You now have <<$red_moss>> satchels remaining.//\n\nHer eyes are dark and mysterious. You wonder how someone so powerful could be enslaved just the same as you once were. She puts the moss to one side on a table. \n\n'Please, lie on this table.'\n\n[[Lie on the table]]\n\n[[Refuse|Refuse the necromancer]]
\nShe places her hands over your forehead. Chanting begins, though you do not feel like it comes from her lips so much as from the air itself. Just as you are about to look around blackness swallows you entirely, as though the world has blinked out of existence. \n\nChildren and carnivals dance through the void. Everything is familiar and nothing is sane. \n\n[[Awaken]]
<<silently>>\n<<set $withdrawal = 1>>\n<<set $addiction = 1>>\n<<set $red_moss = 1>>\n<<set $zealot = "no">>\n<<set $atheist = "no">>\n<<set $cannibal = "no">>\n<<set $alcoholic = "no">>\n<<set $drawbridge_lowered = "no">>\n<<set $has_drawbridge_key = "no">>\n<<set $guilty = "no">>\n<<set $entered_coffinroom = "no">>\n<<set $undead = "no">>\n<<set $armour = "no">>\n<<set $lantern = "no">>\n<<set $pickaxe = "no">>\n<<set $has_shadowroom_key = "no">>\n<<set $rope = "no">>\n<<set $has_killed_addict = "no">>\n<<set $fireworm_ring = "no">>\n<<set $voidstone = "no">>\n<<set $knows_tabard_exists = "no">>\n<<set $cursed = "no">>\n<<endsilently>>'Welcome, weary traveller. Welcome to the humble town of Borleas.' The gat-toothed madman grins at you and makes a grand bow. He is completely naked and caked head to foot in dirt: somehow he is being allowed to act as porter.\n\n'I pray your stay is pleasant, though I doubt you will be staying long. You have the look of one taken with moss, and they only want one thing, a thing which cannot be found in this little town.' \n\nHis grin becomes wider and knowing. Your skin starts to crawl with the realisation this man is perhaps not as mad as you think. He knows your purpose here and the knowledge so many have gone before you is disconcerting. \n\nFor years now, you have been living with the pain of the addiction. Red moss is slow to take hold but once it does it never lets ago. That is, unless the tales of a cure found at the heart of the Undead Crypt are to be believed. \n\nAnd you have no choice now but to believe them... You must find a cure or die in the attempt. \n\nBehind the dismal porter you can see Borleas; the small town crouches over the entrance to the Crypt. You make towards it, but the porter stops you. \n\n'Let me offer you some advice... A parting gift: we may never see each other again, after all...' He cackles. \n\nWill you [[listen]] to his advice (tutorial)?\n\nOr go on into [[Borleas]]?\n\n
\nThe door hisses closed behind you, a sound like a trap clicking into readiness. \n\nA long dark stairway winds down, circular and steep. You cannot help but think you are travelling down through the hollowed bone of a colossal beast. \n\nLight appears below you through a humble doorway: warm firelight, which promises sanctuary and relieves to your weary eyes. \n\n[[Enter the room|The Great Bonfire]]\n\n
\nThe drawbridge creeks as though frightened to be used after so long a time. As you cross the lava, you hear the river hiss and bubble like a nest of serpents beneath you. You cannot bring yourself to look down. \n\nThe doors swing open, seemingly of their own accord, and you see a glittering shrine beyond and a cowled figure. \n\nThe figure beckons. \n\n'Welcome.' A woman's voice, surpringly human and warm. 'To the Chapel of Forgotten Mercies.'\n\nShe lifts her hood and you are aghast to see she is one of the undead herself. \n\nEnter [[The Chapel]]
As you descend the narrow, unlit passageway you hear the porter call after you. \n\n'I pray you: remember the porter!' \n\nBut his voice is already faint as a whisper: the echo of a sound and not the sound itself. Though the sun pours in after you, indicating you are currently travelling east, you are amazed how cut off from the upper world you feel after only a few steps. The stone around you is like a great coffin itself... \n\nYou soon reach a T-junction. \n\n[[South|Melkior's Room]]\n\n[[North|The Well]]
\n<<if $pickaxe eq "yes" and $rope eq "yes">>\nAt first, you are not able to climb the rocky face. Your hands cannot get good enough purchase. \n\nBut you are ever resourceful. Lashing together your pickaxe and rope, you manage to create a makeshift grapple. You tie the rope around your middle and grip the pickaxe like an ice-pick. You begin to climb, using the pick to dig deeper into the rocky crust and haul yourself up. A few times your empty hand slips but the imbedded pick and rope stops you from falling.\n\n[[You reach the plateau above.|The cliff top]] \n\n<<else>>\nYou are not able to climb the rocky face, it is too flat and crumbles away in your hand as you try to grip it. You will need a rope and something which can find better purchase in the rock to be able to scale it. \n\n[[Go back north|Continue South]]\n<<endif>>
\nThe sight is breathtaking: a marsh unfurls in front of you, miles and miles across. The waters glisten like glassy eyes buried amidst the fronds of strange plantlife, the long reeds forming eyelashes. The whole marsh is lit with strange mushroom-trees which tower over you like colossal temple-columns. They glow an irridescent blue, sublunar like an angler-fish's lure. \n\nSomewhere in this marsh, you will find the necromancer's hovel. \n\nThe road south is blocked by a line of mushroom-trees. There are three possible ways. As you consider them, a small raven flutters down onto a stone and begins to jab its beak eastward. He seems to be trying to help. \n\n[[North|Marshes 2]]\n[[East|Lost Roads 1]]\n[[West (back to the bonfire)|The Great Bonfire]]\n\n
\nAfter a few more miles you reach a peaceful glade. Butterflies and luminous dragonflies swoop and twirl through the air as though in a strange, elfin dance. \n<<if $cursed eq "no">>\nSuddenly, from between the fronds a great moth emerges, twenty feet long at least, shimmering dust falling from its moon-coloured wings. You have never seen anything so frightening or beautiful in your life.\n<<if $zealot eq "yes">>\n//Your Zealot quirk means you are able to pray to the Great Moth.//\n\n[[Pray to the moth]]\n<<else>>\nThe moth apparently means you no harm. It pauses a moment, regarding you. \n\n[[Ignore the moth]]\n\n[[Kill the moth]]\n<<endif>>\n<<else>>\n[[Continue on your adventure|Marshes 3]]\n<<endif>>\n
<<silently>>\n<<set $drawbridge_lowered = "yes">>\n<<endsilently>>\n\nThe lever is heavy but using both hands and leaning your bodyweight on it, you manage to get it moving. \n\nYou hear a slow grinding sound and then a rattling of chains. \n\nSomewhere a soft //thump// indicates something has fallen. \n\n[[Return to well room|The Well2]]
\nYou set about scraping moss from the walls for use later, folding it in satchels and putting it into your rucksack.\n\nAs you work, the addicts eye you suspiciously. \n\n'What you doing with our moss?' \n\nYou turn to see they are on their feet, fists clenched, bloody gums bared. There are at least fifteen of them, possibly more in the shadows. \n\n'You're not...taking it away, are you?'\n\n[[No, of course not. Here you are. (give moss to the addicts)]]\n\n[[I am. I will need it later. (keep moss)]]
<<if $cursed eq "yes">>\nIn the deep darkness of the room, a voice emanates. \n\n'So, you have killed the moth of the marshes? Few could have done such a thing. Come closer, brave wanderer, and you shall have reward for that.'\n\n[[Claim your reward]]\n\n[[Refuse it|Reject the demon's help]]\n\n<<else>>\nIn the deep darkness of the room, a voice emanates. \n\n'Few have dared unlock the door once it was shut. You are braver than most or perhaps more foolish? Do you enlist my help, wanderer of the crypt?'\n\n[[Yes|Enlist the demon's help]]\n\n[[No|Reject the demon's help]]\n\n<<endif>>
\nYou circle, sword raised in a defensive posture. \n\nSuddnely, the prince's axe is dislodged and he swings it in an arcing sweep. You are unable to avoid it, the axe cuts clean through your weaponand slices open your belly. \n\nTrembling, you fall to your knees, organs spilling across the floor. \n\nThe second blow is so swift you do not even blink before the darkness descends. \n\nAnother soul wanders the endless paths.
\nYou sit upon the dark throne - for a moment a feeling of power floods you. You feel the will of the former one who sat on the throne, lingering for just a moment. \n\nBut already, the will, the force which animated the dead, is departing, you feel it as though sound has been sucked from the air. The Crypt falls quiet as a vacuum. It now truly is a tomb. \n\n'Do not be too troubled,' a voice says from the shadows. You turn to see a strange woman, clad in black, watching you from the dark. 'Your deed has given the undead their peace. The sleepers will find deeper sleep. The dead will rest. The endless path beckons...' She smiles. 'And my magic will be renounced. I will never use it again to raise a soul. I will return to the deep marshes. You will hear nothing more from me.' \n\nYou open your mouth - you have so many questions of this woman, this necromancer, but she puts a finger to her lips. \n\n'Shush now. It is finished.' \n\n
You only have one satchel of red moss left, your last repast before embarking on your long journey. You can feel the urge coming on you: the deepest thrist that ever went unslackened. You must feed! But what if you do not find any more? The withdrawal is almost as bad as the drug... \n\nYou can try to resist and [[Save it]] for when your need is greater or you can [[Eat the moss]] now. \n<<if $zealot eq "yes">>\nYour //Zealot// quirk unlocks the option to be able to [[pray]] for strength and guidance. \n<<else>>\n<<endif>>
\nThe undead turns blanks eyes upon you as you re-enter the room. It begins shuffling towards you. \n\nWill you:\n\n<<if $guilty eq "no">>\n[[Hack at it with your sword]]\n<<else>>\n//Your Guilty quirk means you are not able to attack the undead.//\n<<endif>>\n\n[[Wait to see what it does|Wait to se what it does]]\n\n[[Flee back to the well room|The Well2]]
'You were wrong to come here then,' she snaps. 'If you will not accept my help then you are not worthy of it. Begone, slave.'\n\n[[Return to the Great Bonfire|The Great Bonfire]]
\nThe madman clears his throat like a priest about to delivery an illuminting sermon. \n\n'The addiction will work on you whilst you search for the cure. No one knows why but its power seems to grow within the Crypt. You would not be the first to succumb entirely to drooling madness down there whilst mere steps from the answer. You must control your urges whilst also not bringing on withdrawal, as that too could mean your death. \n\n'Throughout your journey you will acquire red moss: the very substance whose hold you wish to break. At certain points you will have opportunities to consume it. If you do, you will lower your levels of //withdrawal//. However, if you consume too much moss you will raise your levels of //addiction// to such an extent your body may begin to shut down. \n\n'I have said enough. You must find your own way through this madness. Good luck.' \n\nSkipping like a small child, the porter dances away down the muddy track and is soon obscured by foliage. \n\nGo on into [[Borleas]]
You have acquired a new quirk //Undead//.\n\nThe mission is now clear. You no longer need to seek a cure for the red moss addiction, you must seek a cure for the curse of undeath. \n\n[[Continue your journey|Continue South]]\n\n\n
<<silently>>\n<<set $has_drawbridge_key = "yes">>\n<<endsilently>>The undead shambles towards you, sniffing and twitching. It then opens it mouth and makes a wretching sound. \n\nAfter a few painful choking heaves it pulls an old, rusty key from its maw. Then, wordless, it turns and steps back into its coffin and closes the lid. \n\nThere is nothing else here. \n\n[[Return to the well room|The Well2]]
<<silently>>\n<<set $cursed = "yes">>\n<<endsilently>>You draw your sword and lunge. The moth makes no move to avoid the point of your blade. As the steel pierces its head the moth explodes into a cloud of glittering dust. \n\nYou feel ill all of a sudden, nauseous to a maddening degree. It is as though there is something inside you wriggling to be free. You choke. \n\nInexplicably, tears run down your face. It is as if you have killed someone of your own blood. \n\n//You have acquired the Cursed quirk.//\n\nThe deed is done and cannot be undone. [[Continue with your adventure|Marshes 3]]\n\n
\nThere is an opening in the south side of the corridor, revealing a dirty passagway which quickly has an eastward bend you cannot see beyond. To the east there is a room from which a musty, heady smell drifts. The smell is strangely inviting and familiar. To the west, the passage continues for a while before ending with a door. \n<<if $has_shadowroom_key eq "no">>\n[[Enter the room to the east|The Barrel Room]]\n<<else>>\n[[Enter the room to the east|The Barrel Room 2]]\n<<endif>>\n[[Take the south passage|South Passage 1]]\n\n[[Go west along the passage|The Iron Door]]\n\n\n\n
<<silently>>\n<<set $undead = "yes">>\n<<set $addiction = 0>>\n<<set $withdrawal = 0>>\n<<endsilently>>Or does it? \n\nYou feel an ember of life sputter into existence within you, pushing back the darkness. Yes. You are not yet dead. \n\nBut what, then, are you? \n\nYou open your eyes: the first thing you realise is that you are in a casket, a stone casket. You are buried. You open your mouth to scream but all that comes out is a rasp.\n\nSlowly, knowing already what you will see, you raise your hands. \n\nBone. Nothing but bone. \n\n[[You are undead.]]
\nThe passage is even dustier than the last and filled with piles of rubble, wheelbarrows loaded with precious-looking stones and odd rusted tools, most of which are broken. \n\nEventually, it shrinks and turns east where it abruptly reaches a dead-end. <<if $lantern and $pickaxe eq "no">>There is a corpse lying on the ground, pallid features illuminated by a phosphorescent glow-worm trapped inside a small lantern. The dead man is clutching a silver pickaxe. You are not sure whether it is a body or one of the undead. \n\n[[Take the lantern]]\n\n[[Take the pickaxe]]\n\n[[Return to the eastward passage|The Iron Door]]\n<<else>>\n<<if $lantern eq "yes">>\nThe corridor would be completely dark if not for for the light of your lantern, but even so you hear the ragged breathing of the walking corpse before you see it; suddenly its face looms into view, a broken mess of ugliness, one you know lies secretly beneath every face. <<if $pickaxe eq "no">>It clutches the pickaxe in its hand seems intent on braining you. \n\nAs the light shines on it, it pacifies however and sinks down into a stupour. \n\n[[Take the pickaxe]]\n\n\n[[Return to the eastward passage|The Iron Door]]\n<<else>>\n\n[[Return to the eastward passage|The Iron Door]]\n<<endif>>\n<<else>>\nThe corpse lies on the ground precisely where it was, pallid features illuminated by a phosphorescent glow-worm trapped inside a small lantern. You are not sure whether it is a body or one of the undead. \n\n[[Take the lantern]]\n\n[[Return to the eastward passage|The Iron Door]]\n<<endif>>\n<<endif>> \n\n\n\n\n\n
<<silently>>\n<<set $voidstone = "yes">>\n<<endsilently>>The shadows part like water separated by unholy magics. You see a massive being before you. Where it ends and begins is a mystery. Mouths, eyes, orifices of unknown use, tendrils countless as stars, a mess of being and madness made form. \n\nOne of the tendrils reaches out. Wrapped in its folds is a black stone. It drops it into your outstretched palm. \n\n'The stone will help you find the way when you are lost,' its multitudes of mouths whisper. 'Now, go.'\n\n[[Leave the room|lower levels 2]]\n\n
\n<<if $guilty eq "yes">>News of what happened with the gravedigger has travelled the town fast as the flies. Ugly stares greet you as you descend the stairs. Even the dogs look hostile, as though sensing their master's will. \n\nThe gravedigger was not popular, but he was one of them. Unlike you.\n\nThe lure of information is strong however: you might learn something of the Crypt from the townspeople. \n<<else>>\nSmiles and cheery faces greet you from every corner. The dogs yap happily and a maid skips past you as she brings empty flagons to the kegs for filling up. \n\nYou are in the mood for a wild and raucous evening. Besides, you might learn something of the Crypt from the townspeople. \n<<endif>>\n[[Talk to the barman]]\n\n[[Talk to the patrons]]\n\nOr if you have no interest in talking: \n\n[[Get drunk]]\n\n
\nNo one answers your summons. Your voice is mimicked by the echoes as though parodied by grotesque beings. \n\nThen you notice one thing which shows your call has not entirely gone unheard: a dark bird circles the strange crystal spires: you get the feeling of an arch watchman observing those who stand before the gates. It soon passes from view. \n\n<<if $undead eq "yes">>\nThe door remains shut.\n\n[[Knock upon the ebony door]]\n\n[[Go back across the plateau|The cliff top 2]]\n<<else>>\nMoments pass. Suddenly the ebony door opens. \n\nThere is no herald, no word, only the invitation...\n\n[[Step into the dark]]\n<<endif>>\n\n\n\n
<<silently>>\n<<set $entered_coffinroom = "yes">>\n<<endsilently>>\nThere are four coffins lined up against the wall. There is nothing else of interest in the room. One of the coffins is empty and its lid lies on the floor next to it. The others are closed. \n\nYou are about to turn and leave when one of the coffins suddenly bursts open. \n\nA corpse shuffles from the coffin, bloodstained and drooling. \n\nWill you:\n\n<<if $guilty eq "no">>\n[[Hack at it with your sword]]\n<<else>>\n//Your Guilty quirk means you are not able to attack the undead.//\n<<endif>>\n\n[[Wait to see what it does|Wait to se what it does]]\n\n[[Flee back to the well room|The Well2]]
\nThe shrine room has its own unique quiet which is so permeable you feel as though it could reach inside you and stop your heart. Candlelight shines all around, casting everything with a glow that reminds you of a home hearthfire: safe, comforting. \n\nThe woman stands in the centre of the room and behind her looms a tremendous idol of a doorway: myriads of faces swim inside the frame of it, writing and contorting as though struggling to break through. On the northern wall is a similarly huge idol, but this one of a gigantic sea-creature, one that looks spliced together from innumerable species of whale, octopus, crustacean. On the southern wall is a proud smithy, a twinkling smile on his face. He has metal rings around his thick stone fingers and he is hammering out a landscape on his anvil. \n\n'Welcome, <<if $undead eq "yes">>undead.<<else>>traveller.<<endif>> I am the Chapel Keeper, guardian of the secrets of the Three and the lower levels of the Crypt. If you wish to proceed, I must warn you, your road will only get harder from here on out.' \n<<if $undead eq "yes">>\n[[Is there a cure for the undead curse?]]\n<<else>>\n[[Is there a cure for red moss addiction?]]\n<<endif>>\n<<if $zealot eq "yes">>\n//Your Zealot quirk allows you to ask about the nature of the gods.//\n\n[[Who are the Three?]]\n<<else>>\n<<endif>>\n<<if $atheist eq "yes">>\n//Your Atheist quirk allows you to challenge the chapel keeper as to the existence of the Three.//\n\n[[Challenge the Keeper]]\n<<else>>\n<<endif>>\n\n
You hand them the satchels you have gathered from the cavern walls. \n\nTheir leader sniffs them and smiles; his eyes are a more vibrant red than the moss itself. \n\n<<if $redmoss gte 1>>\n'You've got more, haven't you?' He grins. \n\nThe others move forward, jackals growing in confidence as they smell the blood of their quarry. \n\nWill you: \n<<if $guilty eq "yes">>\n//Your Guilty quirk means your are not able to draw your sword and attack them.//\n\n[[Let them take your moss]]\n<<else>>\n[[Set upon them with your sword]]\n\n[[Let them take your moss]]\n<<endif>>\n<<else>>\n'Get out of here,' the leader snarls. The others nod savagely. \n\n[[Leave the caverns of moss|The Great Bonfire]]\n<<endif>>\n\n\n\n
\n'To the east, behind the door of Dolmen, lies the passage down to the deeper caverns of moss. It is said that a necromancer who knows something of the undead curse resides here, if she has not succumbed to the madness by now. To the north, behind the door of Cithlarn, lie the sleeping chambers where the restless undead find their tranquility. To the south, behind the door of Ilmarinen, lies the way to the underkeep of the Silver Prince.' \n\n[[The door of Dolmen]]\n\n[[The door of Cithlarn]]\n\n[[The door of Ilmarinen]]
'Free?' He rises from the throne. He is beyond human stature, twelve feet tall. With an air of mourning, he draws an axe from off his back which gleams as though it could split mountains. 'The undead are free. Free from death.' \n\nHis footsteps on the citadel floor are like earthquakes. Feebly, you draw your sword before the colossus. \n\n[[Fight the prince]]
\nIn this part of the Crypt there is none of the organised stonework you have seen in previous areas. Here, the corridor looks like it has been crudely carved out by workmen over a period of days. Wooden support columns and beams run the length of it. \n\nDust fills the air, chokingly thick. The corridor runs west to east. To the west is an iron door. There is a turning to the north: the way is uneven and sloped.\n\n\n[[Go north|The Dead Miner]]\n\n[[Continue east|Mine Part 2]]\n\n[[Go through the iron door|Enter the light]]\n
\nThe plateau is flat and featureless. The river snakes around its west and south side, eventually arriving on the eastern side. To the east the cliff face ends in a sheer drop to an ocean of volcanic lava which undulates, as though with its own curious tides. \n\nTo the south beyond the plateau, a monolithic structure broods atop the rivers of magma like a black colossi's heart. It can only be the citadel the Chapel Keeper mentioned and you are surprised that it looks more like a natural formation than a stone city; jagged black crystals explode from it at all angles, mirroring a porcupine's spiny back. They glint like blades as the lava shimmers reflectively along their surface. You wonder what or who could have made it. \n\nA narrow wooden bridge links the plateau and the citadel. \n\n[[Cross the bridge|Fire Worm Attack]]\n\n[[Climb back down the cliff|Continue South]]\n\n
The old man ignores you. He mumbles under his breath and continues to dig his graves. \n\n[[Ask him what he is doing]]\n\n[[Do nothing]]\n\n[[Threaten him]]\n
<<silently>>\n<<set $withdrawal = $withdrawal +1>>\n<<endsilently>>\nThe shaking is terrible but after a few calming breaths you manage to get onto an even keel. \n<<if $withdrawal gte 3>>\n//Your withdrawal levels are dangerously high. This will affect your physical strength - bear this in mind when making your choices.//\n<<else>>\n//Your addiction levels remain the same but your withdrawal levels have increased.// \n<<endif>>\nYou may now:\n \n[[Leave the caverns of moss|The Great Bonfire]]\n\n[[Take moss from the walls]]
You have acquired a new quirk //Undead//.\n\nThe mission is clear. You no longer need to seek a cure for the red moss addiction. Now, your quest is to seek a cure for the undead curse itself. \n\nYou are about to push at the casket lid when it slides away and a cowled, skull-face hovers over you. \n\n'Welcome, to the Chapel of Forgotten Mercies.' It is a woman's voice which issues from the skull-face, and one surprisingly warm and tender. Can anything be tender in such a hollow place, you wonder, but not for long. Her next words are strong and authoritative. 'Follow me.'\n\nShe disappears. You stand and clamber awkwardly out of the casket. You are in a dimly lit room filled with other caskets like your own. There is only one door through which the cowled undead has gone, and you can see a shrine and chaplaincy beyond. \n\n[[Enter the Chapel of Forgotten Mercies|The Chapel]]
\nA cavern surrounds you, whose walls stretch indiscernably high. It is illuminated by one of the most beautiful sights you have ever seen. Luminescent moss, glowing a vibrant red-orange sprawls across the walls like gem-like barnacles clung to the underside of a hull. For the first time, the moss looks more like a living thing to you than merely a substance to consume. \n\nAddicts are here too. Gorging. \n<<if $undead eq "yes">>\n\n//As you are undead, you feel no yearning to consume moss.//\n\n[[Take moss from the walls]]\n\n[[You may return to the bonfire|The Great Bonfire]]\n<<else>>\nThe thirst, the dry parched hunger, the //need// comes on you with more force than it has ever done. You feel as though with this chamber's bounty you could sate your urge forever. \n\n[[Consume moss|Eat Moss 4]]\n\n[[Resist the urge to consume|Resist Moss 4]]\n\n[[Take moss from the walls]]\n<<endif>>
<<silently>>\n<<set $withdrawal = $withdrawal +1>>\n<<endsilently>>You stuff the satchel rudely back into your rucksack and curl up on the bed. You close your eyes and try all the techniques you know of calming your mind: counting, naming sounds. Eventually your hands begin trembling and your mouth is drier than dying earth. \n\nThe moment passes. \n\n//Your addiction levels remain the same but your withdrawal levels have increased.// \n\nYou can now choose to try and [[rest]] ready for your journey tomorrow or take up the barman's offer and go down into the [[tavern]]
<<silently>>\n<<set $armour = "yes">>\n<<endsilently>>You don the armour. It fits surprisingly snugly. \n\n//You have acquired the Vassal's Armour.//\n\nThe skeleton you throw over the edge into the fire below: a kind of cremation. There is nothing else here of interest. \n<<if $drawbridge_lowered eq "yes">>\nGo across the [[drawbridge|cross the drawbridge]]\n<<else>>\nReturn to the [[well room|The Well2]]\n<<endif>>\n
\nYou find yourself standing outside a dingy little shack. It is lopsided as a jester's grin, barely clinging to the small mound of earth risen above the sludgy waters. \n\nThe door suddenly opens and a woman emerges. She is slender as a bone wraith, black-clad, elegant and yet savage in the intensity of her stare. \n<<if $undead eq "no">>\n\n'You were wrong to come here,' she says. 'I will have no dealings with the living, especially not addicts, they are too foolish by far. Go and meet the Silver Prince. You will find more succour with that liar.'\n\n[[Return to the Great Bonfire|The Great Bonfire]]\n<<else>>\n'Fortuitous undead, you have braved the marshes and survived. Few can make that claim. Come inside. I know already what it is you seek. It is the same thing all lost undead seek. Come.'\n\n[[Go inside]]\n<<endif>>
<<silently>>\n<<set $red_moss = $red_moss +1>>\n<<endsilently>>'My name is undead. I am nobody. You see, one relinquishes all identity when one dies. You become simply "undead". We are all undead here, or else, the soon to be dead. Do not lie to yourself about what the moss will do in time.' \n\nHe sighs. \n\n'I was once Melkior. I served as magician to a great king. These times are behind and I do not wish to speak of them lest I discover I have forgotten.' \n\nHe sniffs noselessly. Then he digs into the tattered loincloth round his middle and produces a dirtied satchel. You can smell the moss. \n\nHe tosses you the satchel. \n\n'I have no use of it anymore.'\n\n//You have acquired an additional red moss satchel. You now have <<$red_moss>>.//\n\n[[Thank you]]
\n'Perhaps, but if one has been found it has never been taken to the surface again, which makes me think that if it does exist it is not worth having, or that it is beyond the reach of mortals to attain. But enough, I can see you will not hear these words of defeat...' \n\nShe walks up to the idol behind her with the many-faced door and pushes her fingers into the eyes of one of the faces. A great rumbling sound fills the chapel and then all three of the idols, the north, south and east all begin to slide like great stone doorways until they reveal new passages beyond. \n\n'You have [[three choices]],' the chapel-keeper whispers.
You step out tentatively onto the ledge. The surface is slippier than you thought and a chill shakes through your body from toe to head as as your eyes, despite your best efforts at avoiding it, are drawn down towards the red river below. \n<<if $withdrawal gte 3>>\nShakily you take your first step. Then another. As you edge along, you start to make out the glittering thing. It is a suit of armour, half dangling over the side.\n\nThen you notice your hands are shaking as they feel for the grips in the stone behind you. Your leg starts to tremble. Sweat breaks out across your brow and your mouth becomes as dry as though you'd swallowed saw-dust. \n\nThe withdrawal is coming on you, and stronger than ever But you are almost at the end! \n\nDesperately you make a leap for the final purchase where the armour is resting, but your limbs are too weak. You slip and fall, hurtling down towards the lava below. \n\n[[Your adventure ends here]]\n\n<<else>>\nShakily you take your first step. Then another. As you edge along, you start to make out the glittering thing. It is a suit of armour, half dangling over the side.\n\nAt one point a section of rock comes loose under your feet but you nimbly manage to retain your balance. With a final hop you make it to a slightly wider area where you are able to sit and rest. \n\nThe armour consists of an expertly crafted hauberk with golden trimmings and thick vambraces. A fleshless skeleton is incased within these old pieces of armour, dried by the heat wafting up from the river below. \n\nYou may choose to [[take the armour.]]\n\nOr \n<<if $drawbridge_lowered eq "yes">>\nLeave it and go across the [[drawbridge|cross the drawbridge]]\n<<else>>\nLeave it and return to the [[well room|The Well2]]\n<<endif>>\n<<endif>>\n\n
\nThe chapel-keeper smiles, her grin strangely comforting despite the peeled lips and the skull-teeth showing through. \n\nShe leads you through the door into a quiet chamber with cold stone slabs stretching further than your eyes can dsicern. There are people, undead and human alike, resting on the slabs in the deepest slumber. Their eyes flicker, but they do not ever wake, not even when you walk right by them.\n\nShe indicates an empty slab is yours. You lay yourself down and close your eyes. \n\nPeace, at last. \n\nOnly the dreams disturb you...
You are not fast enough, the axe catches you mid-roll and shreds your spine, leaving you a crumpled mess on the floor. You attempt to rise but are too weak. Blood seeps from you, just as your energy departs, no more than a memory. \n\nThe prince raises his axe above you and brings it down with the swiftness of a guillotine. \n\nAnother soul wanders the endless paths.
<<silently>>\n<<set $pickaxe = "yes">>\n<<endsilently>>\n\nYou prize the axe from the corpse's grip without issue. It is a well-weighted tool and should prove useful. You slip it into your belt. \n\n<<if $latern eq "no">>You may now also take to the [[lantern|Take the lantern]] if you wish or you may [[Return to the eastward passage|The Iron Door]]<<else>>\n[[Return to the eastward passage|The Iron Door]]<<endif>>
\nThe prince swings down with his axe, swifter than you could have deemed possible. You have split seconds to decide. \n\nDo you [[parry the axe]] or [[leap the side]]?
<<silently>>\n<<set $zealot = "yes">>\n<<endsilently>>You kneel before the priest and he touches the three holy points with his finger tips: each shoulder and then your forehead. \n\n'Go forward in the name of Ilmarinen, Cithlarn and Dolmen Door-Opener!' \n\nYou feel a strange warmth and strength flood up through you as though from the ground into your feet and along your legs. It culminates in your stomach and you rise from your kneeling position like someone emerging from a warming bath: refreshed and full of energy. \n\nYou have acquired a new quirk //Zealot//.\n\nQuirks are special characteristics that will affect your journey. They might open up extra choices previously unavailable, or alternatively might restrict you from making certain choices. \n\nYou thank the priest and continue on your journey: \n\n[[Enter The Last Omer]]
\nThe passage continues south for a little while before turning west. Eventually you reach a staircase, which you descend, the heat magnifying with every step you take. By the time you reach the bottom your lips feel cracked as the bark of a desert tree. \n\nThe corridor then twists south again at the bottom of the stairs. At its end you can see a vibrant orange light. \n\n[[Enter the light]]
\nThe room is basic but will do. A small candle sits on the bedside table, unlit. It wont be dark for another few hours yet. \n\nYou sit down on your bed and open your bag . You don't have much in the way of supplies. A sword, a little food. And of course...\n\n[[Moss]]\n\n\n\n\n\n
'Thank you!' he cries. 'Thank the Gods!' He wrings his hands and his cheeks begin to glow like rubies. He waddles off at a whipping pace, robes billowing. You follow after. \n\nSoon you find yourself in front of a dreary church whose only majesty is left in the sheer monolithic size of the stones used to form its foundations. The priest catches you gawking. \n\n'Silly rumours say undead built it,' the priest burbled. 'But we know it was Ilmarinen, the forge god, in all his glory!' \n\n[[The Church of Three]]
\nYou half expect the bodies to leap up and seize you, their blank eyes stare with such intensity. The door itself is locked. \n\n<<if $has_shadowroom_key eq "yes">>\nYou rifle through your rucksack for the odd key you found in the barrel room. At last you find it and insert it into the door. It fits perfectly and as you twist a clanking, heavy sound as though gears have been engaged reverberates through the dark tunnels. With the noise comes a slight sensation of fear. The growling gears reminds you of some beast awakening. \n\nThe door swings open. \n\n[[Enter the room|Meet the demon]]\n<<else>>\nYou are not able to open it. You'll have to take another route. \n\n[[Go north down the passage|The Great Bonfire]]\n\n[[Climb the ladder]]\n<<endif>>
<<silently>>\n<<set $addiction = $addiction +1>>\n<<endsilently>>The water is refreshing and cool. You cannot stop yourself drinking a second and third cup. You rub your lips. There is an undercurrent you recognise. \n\nThe water is contaminated with moss... \n\n<<if $addiction gte 4>>\n//Your addiction levels are dangerously high. If they raise much higher you will over-dose and lose consciousness. You must find ways to lower it.//\n<<else>>\n//Your withdrawal levels remain the same but your addiction levels have increased.//\n<<endif>>\n\n[[Investigate the rest of the room|The Well2]]
\n'Don't thank me for it,' he croaks. 'Cursed stuff.' \n\nWith that he puts his flute back to his lips and begins to play his faint, half-audible melody again. \n\nStanding by the warm fire, listening to the music, you feel the hunger for the moss come upon you suddenly. \n\nYou may: \n\n[[Eat moss|Eat Moss2]]\n\n[[Save it|Save Moss2]]
\nFor the first time you catch sight of another being in the marshes, an undead, listlessly walking over the leprose bracken. You run over to them and catch their arm. They turn a blank stare on you. \n\nYou ask them how close the necromancer's hovel is and they begin to laugh. \n\n'Did you follow the raven?' the undead murmurs. 'Did you follow the raven?'\n\nHe grins. \n\n'So did I.'\n\nBefore you can get another word out of him he vanishes in the gloom. \n\n[[West|Lost Roads 2]]\n[[North|Lost Roads 3]]\n<<if $voidstone eq "yes">>\nYou have one last thing to do. You can use the stone given to you by the demon. You draw it out of your bag and a nimbus of light begins to grow around you. \n\nThen, darkness for a moment. \n\n[[Voidstone|Necromancer's Hovel]]\n<<else>>\n<<endif>>
\nYou are tired and weary. Something is draining your energy - you feel as though covered in leeches. The landscape is fatureless save for the towering mushroom-trees in the distance, everything looks the same. You catch sight of your own reflection in a pool of murky water and are alarmed. There is no sight of the raven. \n\n[[East|Lost Roads 4]]\n[[North|Lost Roads 2]]
\nYou walk for a few miles. The landscape is disturbingly similar. There is no sight of the raven. \n\n\n[[South|Lost Roads 3]]\n[[East|Lost Roads 4]]
\nYou walk for some time, the marsh-water and treacherous muddy slopes making passage difficult. The strange luminescent glow of the place is wearying, as though it soporifically hypnotises the eyes. \n\nSoon you reach a kind of natural T junction formed by egg-shaped boulders. The raven has followed you and lands on a rotten stump. He jabs his beak southward. \n\n[[North|Marshes 2]]\n[[South|Lost Roads 2]]\n[[West|Marshes 1]]
\n'You question he existence of the gods?' The chapel-keeper raises an eyebrow. She seems more amused than offended. 'Well, to each their own path. We have had different lives, you and I, and I am not one to judge. I would warn you though. Do not entirely close your heart to it. There are things on the lower levels which will bring you to question everything. We call it the sickness of the painted man.' \n<<if $undead eq "yes">>\n[[Is there a cure for the undead curse?]]\n<<else>>\n[[Is there a cure for red moss addiction?]]\n<<endif>>
\nAs you walk through the door you enter narrow, ill-lit corridor and are buffeted by a wave of sweat-inducing heat. \n\nThe door to the chapel slides slowly shut behind you. \n\n[[Continue down the corridor]]
<<silently>>\n<<set $guilty = "yes">>\n<<endsilently>>'And so another soul passes through the gate of Dolmen, opener of doorways,' the priest murmurs. He closes his eyes in a moment of silence. When he opens them his gaze is hard as a sword edge. \n\nHe turns his back on your and walks away. Amids the crowd you hear hateful whispers of "murderer" and "brigand". Quickly you leave the graveyard. \n\nYou have acquired a new quirk //Guilty//.\n\nQuirks are special characteristics that will affect your journey. They might open up extra choices previously unavailable or alternatively might restrict you from making certain choices. \n\nContinue on your journey: \n\n[[Enter The Last Omer]]
\nThe darkness is oppressive. There is no illumination here save the faintest sliver of light reflected from the metal wrungs of a ladder, which climbs up into the darkness. You cannot even see where to. \n<<if $lantern eq "yes">>Thankfully, you remember the glow-worm lantern and draw it out of your rucksack. Its moon-white glow casts a faint light on rough-carved stone walls glimmering with a faintly green hue, like malachite. \n\nThe illumination, to your horror, also reveals a pair of bodies slumped at the foot of a ruinous door set into the eastern wall of the passage. \n\n[[Try the door|The shadow room door]]\n\n[[Go north down the passage|The Great Bonfire]]\n\n[[Climb the ladder]]\n<<else>>\nYou are barely able to see. Your options are limited: you could feel your way [[north down the passage|The Great Bonfire]]. Alternatively, you could [[Climb the ladder]] to explore the upper levels. \n\n\n<<endif>>\n
\n<<if $undead eq "yes">>\nMoments pass. Suddenly the ebony door opens. A strange, dimunitive figure stands in the doorway. They are just beyond the reach of the light and hence no more than a silhouette. \n\n'The undead are not welcome in the halls of the Silver Prince. Go, and return when you are other than you are.' \n\nThe door swings slowly shut. \n\n[[Go back across the plateau|The cliff top 2]]\n<<else>>\nMoments pass. Suddenly the ebony door opens. \n\nA strange, dimunitive figure stands in the doorway. They are just beyond the reach of the light and hence no more than a silhouette.\n\n'Welcome, traveller, to the halls of the Silver Prince.'\n\nNo sooner have the words reached your ears than you realise the figure is gone. \n\n[[Step into the dark]]\n<<endif>>
<<silently>>\n<<set $addiction = 0>>\n<<set $withdrawal = 0>>\n<<endsilently>>As the golden thread slips around your neck, peace descends on you for the first time since you can remember. The emptiness, the thirst, leaves you and for once you have the feeling that all is well. \n\nYou are no longer an eater of moss. \n\n[[Take the throne of the Undead Citadel.]]
You raise your blade but the axe cleaves clean through it. <<if $armour eq "yes">>Not even your armour can save you.<<else>><<endif>>The axe slices open your chest; a river of blood bursts from the wound; your ribs bend outward like the teeth of a parasite devouring its way from its host. \n\nYou collapse. The prince raises his axe above you and brings it down with the swiftness of a guillotine. \n\nAnother soul wanders the endless paths.
\nYou scramble down the sheer rock face. The earth is heated beneath your feet but bearable. \n\nNo sooner have your feet landed, however, when you hear a hissing sound. \n\nFrom the caves emerge hulking, black-skinned salamanders, their snake-tongues licking the air, already aware of your taste. Each is the size of two elephants walking one behind the other, and with as many limbs. \n\nThey open humungous crocodile mouths, grinning like a jester who has told a cruel joke. \n\nAs one they open their mouths and [[bathe you in flame.]]\n\n\n\n\n\n
<<silently>>\n<<set $rope = "yes">>\n<<endsilently>>\n\nYou sling the rope around your shoulder. It is bound to come in handy. \n\nNow you can [[Climb down the ladder|lower levels]] \n\nAlternatively you may [[go north|Mine Part 2]]
\nThere are no more passages or corridors or hallways. The inside of the citadel is entirely hollow. Refracted light pierces down like blades into an empty chamber in which a single seated figure is lit: a knight in glistening armour, more resplendant than any story or song, but terrible as well, pale and vampiric and lost, a city upon whose bastions time and decay and pain have weathered for countless eons. \n\nThough he is the only visible figure, you feel other presences in the room, darker and deeper, unliving, but not in the sense of the animated undead, these are spirits. You must be careful. \n\nThe Silver Prince looks up at you. His eyes burn deep as a cosmos. \n\n'Who enters?' he croaks. \n\n[[One who would put an end to your reign]]\n\n[[One who seeks the cure for red moss]]\n\n[[One who seeks to free the undead]]\n\n
The acid streams towards you. Against all intuition you raise your hands in front of you, anticipating the excruciating pain of melting flesh at any moment.\n\nBut the orange band around your finger glows until it is as bright as the magma around you. The acid streams around you, as though breaking on a dome made from immutable crystals. \n\nThe Fireworm Ring has saved your life. \n\nQuickly, [[over the bridge.]]