You see a huge pylon in the chamber ahead, which is taking in huge amounts of power from some source outside the tower. Unfortunately, there's so much energy out there you'd be fried the instant you emerged. You'll have to turn back.
You see a huge pylon in the chamber ahead, which is absorbing power from some source outside the tower. Fortunately, in looks like you could pass through the energy flying around out there with only a minor amount of damage.
Over the crackling of the energy from the pylons, you think you can hear some sort of high pitched chittering. It's as if someone on this level is speaking, and the voice is being carried through the tower. You can't understand the language.
The runes on the floor form some sort of display. They form and reform to display schematics, accounts of troop movements, and battle plans. However, they move far too fast for you to understand them. Your head starts to hurt, and you look away.
The portcullis in front of you opens smoothly.
You suddenly find the bridge becoming more insubstantial under your feet. You try to move back, only to find your feet sinking slowly through it. You struggle to escape, only to find yourself sinking through faster. You don't make it back to safety ...
The bridge ahead looks slightly insubstantial, like it's not entirely there. However, a quick prod with your foot indicates it's more than solid enough to hold you.
The bridge ahead looks slightly insubstantial, like it's not entirely there. Worse, it seems ethereal in the middle. You doubt it's solid enough to hold you.
At the west end of this cavern, you see a closed portcullis. Between you and it stands a huge suit of armor. Its gauntlets are lined with razors. Before you can decide how to proceed, the suit of armor begins to move! With a creak, it lurches towards you.
An alarm sounds, and you hear loud shouts ahead of you. Whoever's in here, they know you're here, and they aren't friendly.
An alarm suddenly sounds! You stop, unsure of how to proceed, and the alarm ends just as suddenly. Someone ahead, clearly a human, yells "Come on in! We expected you. You can stay in the inn, but keep to yourself, or there'll be trouble."
The passage goes for some distance under the mountains to the north, maybe even leaving Valorim altogether. However, the route is block by a pair of massive, dimly glowing portcullises. This escape route is not for you.
You are suddenly bathed in a blue, sparkling light. You feel stiff.
A doomguard crashes to the floor. When it does, the portcullis at the west end of the cavern opens.
You hand all your gold and magic items over to the demons. Out of gratitude for your going to such lengths to free them, they let you keep your food. Then, laughing mockingly, the hellish creatures disappear.
Having been trapped for centuries, the demons are spoiling for a bit of a fight. They find your refusal amusing, and an opportunity for a bit of entertainment. The haakai summon aid, and battle ensues.
You try to back away, but you're too close and the force of the altar is too strong. Images of the other stone circles you've visited running through your minds, you approach the altar in a daze ...
You stand just outside a massive stone circle. Eight stone spires, each fifty feet tall, surround a massive, black stone altar. Your nerves sing with the desire to enter.
You get a very grim feeling. You don't know what malevolent force you've unleashed onto the earth. All you can hope is that it doesn't do too much damage. The altar starts to crack and crumble. There's nothing more to do here.
Entering, you are greeted by the smell of ozone and fresh oil, and the sound of powerful machinery. This dungeon must be filled with the Vahnatai's powerful magical machines. As you enter, dark magic energy from the machines begins to sap your strength.
To the south, you see several gleaming spires. They are the Vahnatai's strange magical machines, using energy beyond your comprehension, built strong enough to resist your assaults.
You press the button, and there is a flash of light! You find yourself somewhere else.
Looking through the bars, you see what looks like some sort of Vahnatai quarters or safe house. This might be where they stay when traveling through here. You can't see any way in.
The ground shudders under your feet. You hear a grinding sound from the moving floor nearby.
You taste some of the mushrooms and gruel. They are flavorless, but seem edible. You take a bit. After you remove the food, the box magically replenishes itself!
Suddenly, the floor under your feet begins to shift!
To the north, narrow passages wind through the core of the machinery. Sparks and smoke fly from the infernal devices. You aren't sure what they're for, but they seem very new. Maybe this place is a new weapon, waiting to be fired at the Empire.
This safe house has magical defenses, designed to keep people like you from using them. Magical blades suddenly start whirling through the rooms.
As you gape, a glowing shade appears in front of you. It says "As you get closer, so I can help you more. First, you must pass this machine. Work upstream. Move fast. Step careful. Buttons are the key. I await you beyond the Great Wall." The shade fades.
You don't notice anything different after pushing the button. However, the machinery is pretty loud. If something did happen, you probably wouldn't hear it.
A rank smell makes your eyes water. You look down into a deep trough, filled with foul, acidic slime. The trough leads from a huge cauldron to the east to the chasm outside the fort to the west. Maybe the trough is here to drain off excess goo.
You push the crystal in. There is a loud blatting noise. The crystal pops back out.
You push the crystal in. You hear a soft rumbling noise, and then the roaring and splashing of flowing liquid. Then, almost as soon as it began, the sound of flowing liquid ceases. The crystal stays in.
The only crystal on the pedestal you could push in is still in. There's nothing else you can do here at this point.
You encounter a bunch more monsters, which throw themselves at you pitifully and mindlessly. Ghastly ichors drips from their mouths, and blah, blah, blah.
You move deeper through this strange valley, when suddenly, as tends to happen any time you try to walk anywhere, a bunch more creatures appear in order to kill you. They drool, and slither, and blah, blah, blah.
Suddenly, and without warning, a bunch of monsters appear, and there's a flash of light and blah, blah, blah.
You emerge from the valley, and see yet another in a series of the surface's interchangeable, refreshing towns. Maybe there's more people you can ask about their names and jobs!
You find the long lost, fabled Chamber of Uninteresting Monsters. Here the monsters that were underused in Exile III wait, getting resentful and waiting for someone to take it out on.
You pull the lever, and you hear the now expected clattering of a portcullis, and blah, blah, blah, whatever.
