You attempt to exorcise the altar, but nothing happens. Apparently, however bizarre the altar (or the cult that worships at it) is, it's not actually evil.
You attempt to leap up to the branch, but only end up falling on your duffs. You must not have the high level of specialized training it takes.
This small courtyard contains a single, tall tree. From here you can see a sign at the base of it.
You walk carefully over the narrow stone ramp over the acid pool. when one of you slips on a damp spot and falls in! However, no damage occurs. It turns out the liquid is only water. You haul your friend out.
This is an book of learning for the apprentices of this peculiar monastery. It is titled "Being Master of the Kung-Fu of Holding of Breath."
This is an book of learning for the apprentices of this peculiar monastery. It is titled "Mighty Screw Kung Fu." You're really not sure you like the sound of that.
This is an book of learning for the apprentices of this peculiar monastery. It is titled "When the Strings Can't Show - A Flying Tutorial, by Leslie Cheung."
This grisly room must be for the testing of initiates. There's a pool of clear fluid, with a narrow stone ramp over it. As the bottom of the pool, you see bare bones. The fluid in the pool must be acid!
You read the books. They're very detailed and educational books on a variety of martial arts styles and skills, as well as exercises for stretching and developing your muscles. You feel you will be able to pit the knowledge within to good use.
You are unable to translate these books. It's a pity ... the drawings inside, of people exercising and stretching, are very intriguing.
Someone shouts an alarm! Suddenly, the corridors are filled with the alarmed yells of a host of upset and heavily armed monks.
You looks down the corridors, and see quite a few of them watching you, weapons in hand. Then, in perfect unison, they chant "We are the Youth Brigade of the Heaven and Earth Association!" Then they charge.
You use the key you bought to enter the monastery. You hear, from deep inside, the sounds of chanting and vigorous exercise. Oddly, the floor and walls show the nicks and stains of constant combat. You wonder who keeps fighting who.
You kneel before the altar, and immediately regret it. Your minds are bombarded with a host of bizarre images, of demons, and fighting creatures, and evil eunuchs. You manage to stumble away, before the images drive you mad. Your heads still spin.
This room contains the statues of fallen heroes of the monastery. Strangely, the statues were carved to reflect the wounds suffered by those commemorated. You've never seen so many statues missing limbs in your life.
This room is where the students of the monastery practice firewalking. The bones lying around testify that not all were successful.
You open the chest, and receive an unpleasant surprise.
You look in the pots, and see that whatever food originally went into them, it has been boiled down to an unpleasant, multi-colored mush. What a waste.
You find the monastery's sacred library. It looks like thousands of scrolls, filled with obscure histories, bizarre rantings, and plain old doodles. Not a lot of gripping reading.
You are able to walk back to rejoin your group.
This chest has been cleaned out.
As your lone champion strides forth, a voice from out of nowhere says "You have entered the sacred Hall of Duels. Now prove your Martial Art is mightiest of all!"
You reach the pad, and kneel on it. Suddenly, there are three puffs of smoke and flame above the other three pads. When it clears, you see three warriors, ready to battle you. They stand, chant "Feisty Slap of Pain" and charge!
You open the chest and find, in addition to treasure, a surprise.
A voice comes out of nowhere: "You enter the Hall of Duels! You may not leave until you prove your martial art is mightiest of all!" A force throws you back.
Gouts of flame erupt from the floor ahead of and behind you. As the flames start to fade, you realize what you were seeing was several hostile creatures making a very dramatic entrance.
You stand at a narrow ledge, running around the side of a sheer pit. The pit extends both far above and below you, and the sides are far too smooth to climb. Moist, odd smelling air and loud growls rise from the depths below.
A moment ago, there was nothing to oppose you to the west. Now, all of a sudden, you see several large, pallid, lumpy, humanoid creatures. They look at you hungrily.
With a chorus of pleasant chiming noises, many red lizards materialize to the south.
You find the aged and decayed remains of a human. The armor has the insignia of the Empire army on it. An unfortunate soldier must have stumbled into this place.
You find the body of a man, perfectly, magically frozen. The body must be a trophy - it is still in practically the same condition it was just after being decapitated by Drakos. Whoever this man was, he was truly impressive.
He was over six feet tall, with massive muscles and a blade to match. What is most impressive, however, is his armor. It's a set of full plate armor, still as clean and gleaming as it must have been the day it was made.
There are countless bones scattered among the stalagmites and scree of this cavern. Many of the bones are animal, but even more came from humanoids. Oddly, some of them are vibrating slightly. There must be a strange, powerful enchantment on this cavern.
You step into a dank, shadowy mausoleum. You cannot imagine how many deceased souls have their final resting place here. Bone chips crunch underfoot. The smell of rot is in the air.
A strange, draining enchantment hangs on this place, weighing heavily on your minds and weakening you. You feel the magical energy slowly leaking out of your minds. Soon, you won't even be able to cast a cantrip.
You hear an ominous grinding noise from the north and south. The walls are closing in on you! You look back, and see that the secret door behind you has disappeared. You're in trouble.
You enter Zkal's laboratory, where most of his undead are made. Rendering pots bubble happily, and long counters with herbs and tools are all ready for processed bodies to bring to unlife.
You hear the satisfying clattering of a portcullis opening (or maybe closing).
Suddenly, walls appear to the north and south of you, moving in to crush you. They have highly unpleasant reddish brown stains on them. Looks like another of Zkal's little, highly lethal traps.
You step into the teleporter and fade away, only to find yourself ... in the same place. You would swear this is the exact same cavern you were in before. It seems identical to where you were before. Very odd.
You see one of the Empire army's most horrid and powerful shock troops - a mutant giant. It's a captured giant, magically warped and strengthened, skin reinforced with metal plates, and mind altered to be utterly loyal.
The door has a rune of protection in front of it. It would help protect the door from bashing. However, an Unlock spell should do the trick.
In this cavern, you find the ruins of a crude building. It was hurriedly built and quickly destroyed. There is an eerie, total silence. You feel as if you're being watched.
You reach the entrance to the ruin. The floor is littered with bits of armor, some of which have Empire insignia. There are no humans here. Oddly, there are also neither bodies nor bloodstains.
The passage slopes sharply downward here. It's icy cold. The mutant giants have been continuing the dig here on their own. What they are after, you can't imagine.
This wall is clearly very odd. The excavators haven't quite reached here yet.
Despite its age, this room is still very much intact. At first, you're unsure what the pit in the middle is for. Then you see the frescoes on the walls, of men and women being thrown in, and it's suddenly quite clear.
As you look at the sacrificial pit, several creatures ooze out of it. They're gray-green slimes, and the trail of slime they leave behind is hissing and eating away at the stone.
You reach an ancient crypt. A skeleton lies on a massive marble bier, surrounded by several objects of war. A crossbow, in particular, looks promising.
You pull the lever. Nothing happens, as far as you can tell.
You break into a mausoleum. A long row of crypts stretches out in front of you.
When you step on the rune, the doors to the north glow slightly.
You reach the bottom of a huge pit. There is a thick smell of decay. You discover the unpleasant fate of the humans who lived above - someone threw them into the pit. Their bodies are all around you.
You start to step on this section of floor. However, when your foot touches, bolts of lightning arc out towards you. You just back, and only get a little fried.
You step onto this section of floor, and are quite surprised when something bad happens to you. You suddenly find yourself somewhere else, and terribly drained to boot.
You step in the wrong place. Suddenly, monsters appear all around you.
An invisible barrier blocks your passage. As you try to find a way around it, a strange feline voice says "Mrrr. Not yet. You aren't done yet."
You notice that the floor tiles here have been set in a triangle pattern.
When you reach the door, you hear a loud rumbling noise behind you. You look back, to see the east and west walls of the room receding into the floor.
This low room is designed for nothing but extreme comfort. It's warm, and hazy with hookah smoke. The floor is covered with thick rugs, piles of soft pillows, and braziers. Comfort is obviously very important to the rakshasi.
You find a prayer book, still stained with the blood of the priest it was taken from. Reading it is a highly enlightening experience. You now know the spell Word of Recall.
You find a book that seems magical in nature. Unfortunately, your knowledge of things magical is insufficient to help you understand it.
You find a spell book. It's worn and tattered, no doubt violently ripped from some traveling mage. Only one of the spells is still legible. You now know how to cast Death Arrows.
You unroll the scroll. It says, simply, "You may proceed."
This comfortable room is where the rakshasi keep their pet cats. The room is adorned with little bags of catnip and a fine brass litter box. The rakshasi clearly dote on their little darlings.
