<data>
<p>Blinding pain rips through your chest and thigh as arrows pierce your skin. You scream with shock, but the pain quickly gives way to a terrifying numbness. As your horse carries you on towards the Tekaro gate, your last sight is of the tilting cauldrons full of boiling oil and molten lead.</p>
- <choice>Your life and your quest end here.</choice>
+ <deadend>Your life and your quest end here.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
<p>You are a few feet from the wagon when your horse refuses the jump. It rears up, its forelegs scrabbling at the air. The long day<ch.apos/>s ride has taken its toll, and your horse has neither the strength nor will left to clear such a daunting obstacle.</p>
<p>You lurch backwards, falling over the horse<ch.apos/>s rump and desperately cling to the tightening reins as it teeters on its hind hooves. Suddenly, the horse falls, pinning you beneath her as she crashes to the ground.</p>
<p>Agonizing pain gives way to numbness as you fight to hang on to life, but it is a battle that you can no longer win.</p>
- <choice>Your life and your quest end here.</choice>
+ <deadend>Your life and your quest end here.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
<data>
<p>A hail of arrows engulfs you; pain explodes through your chest, neck, and shoulder. You are mortally wounded and although you fight with grim determination to hang on to life, it is a struggle you cannot win. Weak from shock and loss of blood, you fall from the saddle and die on the highway to Varetta.</p>
- <choice>Your life and your quest end here.</choice>
+ <deadend>Your life and your quest end here.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
<data>
<p>The bolt hits you with such force that you are lifted out of the saddle and thrown to the ground. Flashing lights spin before your eyes and you gasp for breath as a terrifying numbness spreads from your chest through your limbs. There is no pain<ch.emdash/>only a chilling paralysis that robs you of all resistance to death.</p>
- <choice>Your quest and your life end here at the Denka Gate.</choice>
+ <deadend>Your quest and your life end here at the Denka Gate.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
<data>
<p>The flame illuminates a deep circular pit where the floor of the chamber should be. Lying at the bottom are a myriad of human skulls and bones, their surfaces strangely smooth and yellow as if corroded by some powerful acid. The faintest of sounds makes you glance over your shoulder<ch.emdash/>you are frozen with terror by the sight that meets your eyes. A huge lumbering monster fills the tunnel, over ten feet tall with thick, twisted limbs and eight-fingered hands tipped with razor-sharp talons that are poised to rip your flesh. Baleful, monstrous eyes protrude from yellow slits in its glistening head, and a long reptilian tail whips behind it.</p>
<p>It strikes before you can react, knocking you back into the pit. A peculiar and hideous sound fills the chamber as it claws a lever in the wall, causing a rain of yellow fluid to pour from the ceiling. As the acid eats through your cloak and sears your flesh, the last thing you hear is the hideous laughter of the Dakomyd.</p>
- <choice>Your quest and your life end here in the sewers of Tekaro.</choice>
+ <deadend>Your quest and your life end here in the sewers of Tekaro.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
<p>The taxidermist points to a vat in the corner of the room that contains a noxious blue fluid, which is obviously the source of the unpleasant smell.</p>
<p><quote>My special preservative,</quote> he says proudly. <quote>It has taken me many years to perfect the formula, but my experiments are now complete. All I require is a specimen worthy of the immortality it can provide.</quote></p>
<p>The man<ch.apos/>s voice is beginning to sound faint and distant, as if he were falling away from you into a deep, dark pit. Your eyelids feel heavy, and you are having difficulty in concentrating on what he says. Suddenly, you realize that you have been drugged; the wine contained a powerful draught of gallowbrush, although you did not detect it at the time. You fight to remain awake, but it is a battle you cannot win, for the enemy is in your very blood. The taxidermist has at last found a specimen worthy of his special preservative<ch.emdash/>the last of the Kai Lords of Sommerlund.</p>
- <choice>Your quest and your life end here.</choice>
+ <deadend>Your quest and your life end here.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
<data>
<p>The faintest of sounds makes you glance over your shoulder. You are frozen with abject terror by the sight that greets you. A huge, lumbering monster fills the tunnel, over ten feet high with thick, twisted limbs and eight-fingered hands tipped with razor-sharp talons that are poised to rip your flesh. Baleful, monstrous eyes protrude from yellow slits in its glistening head, and a long reptilian tail whips behind it.</p>
<p>Before you can react, it strikes, knocking you back into a pit. A peculiar and hideous sound fills the vault, and you feel a hot sticky fluid raining down on your head. As it eats through your cloak and sears your flesh, the last thing you hear is the hideous laughter of the Dakomyd.</p>
- <choice>Your quest and your life end here in the sewers of Tekaro.</choice>
+ <deadend>Your quest and your life end here in the sewers of Tekaro.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
<data>
<p>You feel a numbing shock, and then the damp warmth of blood begins to soak your tunic. You fight for breath, but your strength is sapped by the terrible wounds made by the pike heads. You swoon and fall to the ground through loss of blood, unconscious of the sword blade that is poised to end your life.</p>
- <choice>Your quest and your life have come to an early and tragic end here.</choice>
+ <deadend>Your quest and your life have come to an early and tragic end here.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
<data>
<p>Blood is pounding in your ears as you hear the approaching Yawshath splashing through the ankle-deep slime of the passage floor. Hideous laughter echoes from all sides, building up in a deafening crescendo. Suddenly, you realize the awful truth<ch.emdash/>there are in fact two Yawshaths. You have unwittingly entered their lair, and now they have you trapped. You fight valiantly, but in the dark and fetid confines of the Yawshaths<ch.apos/> den, the creatures overwhelm you and tear you to pieces.</p>
- <choice>Your quest and your life end here.</choice>
+ <deadend>Your quest and your life end here.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
<data>
<p>Suddenly, all hell breaks loose. Alarm bells ring, gruff voices bellow and scream and the crunching of boots on stone echoes round the town. A troop of soldiers surround you, their faces twisted and unnatural in the glare of their flaming torches. Your senses have been dulled by fatigue, and you are dragged from the saddle and disarmed before you have had a chance to react. Cold iron chains are wound tightly around your arms and body, and you are roughly pushed into a grey stone gaol. A wave of terror engulfs you as you catch a fleeting glimpse of a poster pasted to the gaol door. You see your own face before you; beneath it is written: <quote>Death sentence<ch.emdash/>by order of Lord Roark, Highborn of Amory.</quote></p>
<p>Within the hour, your head is resting upon the executioner<ch.apos/>s block. As the razor-sharp blade of a two-handed axe whistles towards your neck, the last sound you hear is the malicious and vengeful laugh of the young lordling.</p>
- <choice>Your life and your quest end here.</choice>
+ <deadend>Your life and your quest end here.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
<data>
<p>As you drop your Belt Pouch into the palm of the robber, you feel an agonizing pain tear through your side.</p>
<p><quote>Did you think we would let you live to identify us?</quote> sneers the robber, but his voice fades as you collapse to the floor. The robbers melt away into the crowd, and by the time your murder has been discovered, they are safely hiding in another part of the vast city.</p>
- <choice>Your life and your quest end here.</choice>
+ <deadend>Your life and your quest end here.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
<data>
<p>Splashing through ankle-deep slime, you suddenly catch sight of two glowing pinpoints of red light in the darkness ahead. They grow larger and brighter and suddenly you realize the awful truth<ch.emdash/>there are two Yawshaths. Their hideous laughter builds to a deafening climax as they close in for the kill. Unwittingly, you have entered their lair and now they have you trapped.</p>
<p>You fight valiantly but the creatures finally overwhelm you in the dark and fetid confines of the passage. You are torn limb from limb, with no one to hear your cries for help.</p>
- <choice>Your quest and your life end here in the dungeons of Castle Taunor.</choice>
+ <deadend>Your quest and your life end here in the dungeons of Castle Taunor.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
<data>
<p>As wave after wave of horses thunder across the bridge, you are trampled into the ground.</p>
- <choice>Your quest and your life end here.</choice>
+ <deadend>Your quest and your life end here.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
<data>
<p>A deadly silence descends on the congregation as your knocking echoes around the temple. A key rattles in the lock; slowly the doors open. A hundred pairs of eyes stare at you suspiciously as you enter the sanctum and a priest in golden robes strides towards you along the wide central aisle. His face is red with anger and he demands to know the reason for your intrusion. When you reply that you have come in search of the Lorestone, a loud gasp of horror rises from the crowd.</p>
<p>Suddenly, the doors crash shut. As one, the congregation stand and unsheathe long curved daggers from beneath their dark brown robes. Murder and hatred glint in their eyes as they close in and hack you to pieces.</p>
- <choice>Your life and your quest end here.</choice>
+ <deadend>Your life and your quest end here.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
<data>
<p>The bolt of energy burns through your chest like a red-hot poker. You recoil in pain but can no longer control your movements and are blasted high into the air, impaled upon the end of the crackling bolt. Suddenly, it vanishes, leaving you to plummet one hundred feet onto the hard, unyielding stone of the altar.</p>
- <choice>Your life and your quest end here on the sacrificial altar of the Cener Druids.</choice>
+ <deadend>Your life and your quest end here on the sacrificial altar of the Cener Druids.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
<data>
<p>Blind with hate and rage, the Yawshath dives straight at you. Your blow is well timed and deadly accurate<ch.emdash/>it opens a deep gash in the creature<ch.apos/>s torso, killing it instantly. However, the strength of your blow is not enough to turn aside the creature<ch.apos/>s body; it smashes into your chest, carrying you over the edge of the precipice to your doom.</p>
- <choice>Your quest and your life end here.</choice>
+ <deadend>Your quest and your life end here.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
<data>
<p>The Dakomyd shudders and reels back as your weapon makes impact, sinking deep into flesh that clings like jelly and reeks of a charnel smell that closes your throat. A drop of its watery blood splashes on your arm, eating through your tunic and searing your flesh. Your weapon disintegrates, corroded by the blood. Before you can pull away, a razor-sharp talon snares your cloak and draws you to your doom.</p>
- <choice>Your life and your quest end here in the crypt of Tekaro Cathedral.</choice>
+ <deadend>Your life and your quest end here in the crypt of Tekaro Cathedral.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
<data>
<p>A hail of arrows engulfs you, and an agonizing explosion of pain fills your head, chest, and legs. You are mortally wounded, and although you fight for your life, the struggle is soon over as you are trampled into the Tekaro Bridge by the captain<ch.apos/>s men.</p>
- <choice>Your quest and your life end here.</choice>
+ <deadend>Your quest and your life end here.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
<data>
<p>You part the strands and step into the small vault beyond, but you have barely set one foot down before you sense that something is wrong. The floor feels soft and spongy, and the strands are now coiling themselves around your shoulders. You have stepped into the spawning chamber of a Dakomyd.</p>
<p>As the acid secreted by the larvae eats through your clothes and sears your flesh, you hear the distant mocking laughter of the Dakomyd mother.</p>
- <choice>Your life and your quest end here.</choice>
+ <deadend>Your life and your quest end here.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
Project Aon Git Repositories / project-aon.git / blobdiff