<data>
<p>Before you reach his body, a second crossbow bolt hits your head. The missile passes through your skull, and you are dead before your body hits the ground.</p>
- <choice>Your life and your quest end here.</choice>
+ <deadend>Your life and your quest end here.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
<data>
<p>After several attempts, you finally manage to ignite a flame. It flares brightly but soon goes out as it quickly consumes what little oxygen remains in the bubble. Clawing at your throat and chest, you drop slowly to your knees as you suffocate in this transparent, airless tomb.</p>
- <choice>Your life and your quest end here.</choice>
+ <deadend>Your life and your quest end here.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
<data>
<p>You have walked less than ten feet along the corridor when you are knocked off your feet by a terrible numbing blow to your chest. The ghostly outline of a skeletal warrior shimmers in the air above you, a bloodied spear gripped in its fleshless hands. The wound is fatally deep, and the image soon fades into darkness as your life<ch.apos/>s blood ebbs away.</p>
- <choice>Your life and your quest end here.</choice>
+ <deadend>Your life and your quest end here.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
<data>
<p>A searing pain explodes behind your eyes as the hand clamps itself to your head. As the decaying fingers pierce your scalp, forcing their way through your skull, your vision turns red and your body shakes uncontrollably. The hideous claw burrows deeper, feeding on the only source of nourishment that can sustain its existence: living human brain.</p>
- <choice>Your life and your quest end here.</choice>
+ <deadend>Your life and your quest end here.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
<data>
<p>You meet with no resistance: your hand pushes through the bubble<ch.apos/>s skin as if you were dipping it in water. However, when you try to withdraw it, the transparent membrane closes around your wrist in a vice-like grip. As the wolf<ch.apos/>s jaws snap shut around your legs, the bubble envelops the upper half of your body.</p>
<p>In the space of one grisly minute, you are simultaneously suffocated and torn to shreds.</p>
- <choice>Your life and your quest end here.</choice>
+ <deadend>Your life and your quest end here.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
</blockquote>
<p>The skull disappears into the misty ceiling, and you watch amazed as the dull bronze lips of the statue begin to move. A harsh voice echoes from deep within its hollow metal body:</p>
<p><quote>My daughter has many sisters, as many sisters as she has brothers, but each of her brothers has twice as many sisters as brothers. So answer me this, wise warrior, how many sons and daughters do I have?</quote></p>
- <p>Consider your answer carefully and, when you have decided, write down first the number of sons the Zakhan has and then, immediately next to it, the number of daughters. Now <choose test="has-numbered-section-list"><when value="true"><a idref="numbered">turn to the entry</a></when><otherwise>turn to the entry</otherwise></choose> which bears the same number as your answer.<footref id="sect100-1" idref="sect100-1-foot" /></p>
+ <puzzle idref="sect34">Consider your answer carefully and, when you have decided, write down first the number of sons the Zakhan has and then, immediately next to it, the number of daughters. Now <choose test="has-numbered-section-list"><when value="true"><a idref="numbered">turn to the entry</a></when><otherwise>turn to the entry</otherwise></choose> which bears the same number as your answer.<footref id="sect100-1" idref="sect100-1-foot" /></puzzle>
<choice idref="sect270">If you cannot answer the Zakhan<ch.apos/>s riddle, <link-text>turn to 270</link-text>.</choice>
</data>
</section>
<data>
<p>You are less than twenty yards from the west tunnel when an agonizing pain tears through your back and explodes from your chest in a gout of blood and flame. You stagger and fall, your body virtually torn in two by a powerful bolt of destructive energy, and you die within seconds of hitting the hard stone floor.</p>
- <choice>Slain by a Dhax power-staff, your life and your quest end here.</choice>
+ <deadend>Slain by a Dhax power-staff, your life and your quest end here.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
<data>
<p>The tentacle lifts you into the air, tightening its grip with each passing second until almost all the breath is squeezed from your lungs. Suddenly you are hurled towards another massive boulder, which opens to reveal a monstrous jaw dripping with loathsome saliva. You are swallowed whole.</p>
- <choice>Your life and your quest end here.</choice>
+ <deadend>Your life and your quest end here.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
<p>Desperately you try to escape from the beam, but you cannot move. Your muscles are numb and nerveless, paralysed by Zahda<ch.apos/>s beam.</p>
<p><quote>I know your purpose<ch.emdash/>your identity was revealed to me in the maze. You are the Kai Lord<ch.emdash/>the one they call Lone Wolf.</quote> The voice is now filled with anger and indignation. <quote>You have come here to steal that which belongs to me. For such a crime there can be only one penalty<ch.emdash/>death!</quote></p>
<p>A pulse of raw energy hurtles down from the throne, speeding towards you like a burning sun. It consumes you in a searing ball of flame, destroying you completely and forever.</p>
- <choice>Your life and your quest end here.</choice>
+ <deadend>Your life and your quest end here.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
<data>
<p>You step through the green jadin arch and immediately a blistering wave of heat rises up through your body, burning you with agonizing pain. You have stepped into a portal of annihilation, and the last sound that you hear is the faint mocking laughter of Lord Zahda as he watches you walk to your doom from a platform high above the misty ceiling.</p>
- <choice>Your life and your quest end here.</choice>
+ <deadend>Your life and your quest end here.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
<data>
<p>You duck and weave to present a difficult target to your enemy, but at such short range it is difficult for him to miss. The bolt hits you as you are diving forward, passing right through your skull and killing you instantly.</p>
- <choice>Your life and your quest end here.</choice>
+ <deadend>Your life and your quest end here.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
<data>
<p>You dive and roll, but your Backpack hits the falling wall and jams. In the next instant you are crushed by twenty tons of solid stone.</p>
- <choice>Your life and your mission have come to a tragic end here.</choice>
+ <deadend>Your life and your mission have come to a tragic end here.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
<data>
<p>You dive straight and true, avoiding the bodies that float on the surface, and enter the water at a perfect angle. Unfortunately, the water is scalding hot<ch.emdash/>fissures of molten lava have erupted through the brittle crust of the shallows. You scream all the way to the surface, but the shock paralyses your limbs and you sink like a stone shortly afterwards.</p>
- <choice>Tragically, your life and your mission end here.</choice>
+ <deadend>Tragically, your life and your mission end here.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
<footnotes>
<footnote id="sect263-1-foot" idref="sect263-1">
- <p>If you have used a Vial of Blue Pills recently, their effects have worn off after being submerged for too long.</p>
+ <p>If you have used some Sabito recently, their effects have worn off after being submerged for too long.</p>
</footnote>
</footnotes>
<data>
<p>As your brain is starved of oxygen your vision grows dimmer, and you feel light-headed. Gradually the pain that burns in your chest fades away as unconsciousness smothers your senses. You sink slowly to the floor, weighed down by the water that now fills your lungs.<footref id="sect263-1" idref="sect263-1-foot" /></p>
- <choice>Your life and your quest end here.</choice>
+ <deadend>Your life and your quest end here.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
<data>
<p>A flood of armoured guards pours down the stairs, followed by a pair of hideous black-skinned, dog-faced creatures that wield long, glowing maces. You brace yourself for their assault, but they advance no closer. Instead the creatures make dreadful snickering sounds and raise their maces, tapping the ends together before simultaneously pointing them at you.</p>
<p>Suddenly you are torn with an agonizing pain, as your chest explodes in a gout of red flame. You topple backwards, your body almost rent in two by the bolt of destructive energy.</p>
- <choice>You have fallen victim to deadly Dhax power-staves, and your life and your quest end here.</choice>
+ <deadend>You have fallen victim to deadly Dhax power-staves, and your life and your quest end here.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
<data>
<p>You tumble into the pit and are swallowed up by total darkness. You fall at a terrifying speed for what seems an eternity and, after several minutes, you lapse into unconsciousness. It is a blessing, for you are spared the agonizing pain of being burnt alive when your body hits a lava pool ten thousand feet below.</p>
- <choice>Your life and your quest end here.</choice>
+ <deadend>Your life and your quest end here.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
<data>
<p>The air becomes thinner, and slowly, painfully, you weaken and collapse. Consciousness soon fades and you are spared the agonies of death by suffocation.</p>
- <choice>Your life and your quest end here.</choice>
+ <deadend>Your life and your quest end here.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
<data>
<p>You fight and claw your way up the crowded staircase and run headlong into the prison complex. Chunks of stone and iron drop from the ceiling as wave upon wave of explosions rock the foundation of the fortress. You cross the complex, cutting down anything that impedes your path, and race along the one corridor that has not been blocked by a rockfall or chasm.</p>
<p>You are halfway up a winding staircase, when there is an enormous groan, followed by a cracking of iron. The creatures around you shriek in terror, but their voices are lost as the entire stairway collapses and falls, crumbling and roaring, into a hollow, lava-filled chasm five hundred feet below.</p>
- <choice>Tragically, your life and your quest end here in the ruins of Kazan-Oud.</choice>
+ <deadend>Tragically, your life and your quest end here in the ruins of Kazan-Oud.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
<data>
<p>Using your Discipline, you focus your attention on the strange triangular plaque fixed to the bars and, gradually, its purpose becomes clear. By finding the total number of triangles contained in the design and turning the pointer to the same number on the dial before pulling the lever, you will ensure that the portcullis opens safely.</p>
- <choice idref="sect11"><link-text>Turn back to 11</link-text> and study the design. When you think you have the answer, <choose test="has-numbered-section-list"><when value="true"><a idref="numbered">turn to the entry</a></when><otherwise>turn to the entry</otherwise></choose> that bears the same number.<footref id="sect306-1" idref="sect306-1-foot" /></choice>
+ <choice idref="sect11"><link-text>Turn back to 11</link-text> and study the design.</choice>
+ <puzzle idref="sect13">When you think you have the answer, <choose test="has-numbered-section-list"><when value="true"><a idref="numbered">turn to the entry</a></when><otherwise>turn to the entry</otherwise></choose> that bears the same number.<footref id="sect306-1" idref="sect306-1-foot" /></puzzle>
</data>
</section>
<data>
<p>Your death is mercifully swift. As the mouth of the monster closes around your upper body, you are paralysed by corrosive saliva and so spared the agony of being eaten alive.</p>
- <choice>Your life and your quest end here.</choice>
+ <deadend>Your life and your quest end here.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It is a prophecy that will be fulfilled. You have ventured too deep into Zahda<ch.apos/>s maze, and the exits are now closed off forever. It may interest you to learn that you survived at the core of the maze for three weeks, a feat that earned you the respect of Lord Zahda, but one that did not persuade him to spare you your life.</p>
- <choice>Your life and your quest end here.</choice>
+ <deadend>Your life and your quest end here.</deadend>
</data>
</section>
<p>(<a idref="sect299">299</a>) Replaced <quote>fingers and</quote> with <quote>fingers, and</quote>.</p>
<p>(<a idref="sect300">300</a>) Replaced <quote>terror but</quote> with <quote>terror, but</quote>.</p>
<p>(<a idref="sect304">304</a>) Replaced <quote>presence but</quote> with <quote>presence, but</quote>.</p>
- <p>(<a idref="sect306">306</a>) Replaced <quote>discipline</quote> with <quote>Discipline</quote>.</p>
+ <p>(<a idref="sect306">306</a>) Replaced <quote>discipline</quote> with <quote>Discipline</quote>. Added a paragraph break before <quote>When you think</quote>.</p>
<p>(<a idref="sect308">308</a>) Replaced <quote>prowess and</quote> with <quote>prowess, and</quote>. Moved the Nexus choice into the first position.</p>
<p>(<a idref="sect309">309</a>) Replaced <quote>can but</quote> with <quote>can, but</quote>.</p>
<p>(<a idref="sect311">311</a>) Replaced <quote>cracks but</quote> with <quote>cracks, but</quote>.</p>
Project Aon Git Repositories / project-aon.git / blobdiff