merridia | [331] [071] [128] WHY WOULD ANYONE EVER

I swear to god, guys, if you do it, I am done with you. DONE.

Touching the parchment has precisely the effect you had feared. The skeleton lurches forward and, rising from its chair in a series of jerky movements, raises its sword to strike you. Lunging sideways, you draw your sword to defend yourself.

SKELETON WARRIOR (Skill 8, Stamina 6)

Your first fight as a zombie! You're a little outclassed and take a few lumps, but overall, it goes pretty well.

Once again you reach for the parchment, only this time it is lying amidst a pile of broken bones. Unfolding it, you see a map of a room with a drawing of a hideous creature inside it. Beneath the monster is a rhyme which reads:

'Should you meet the Manticore,
Of its tail beware.
Shield yourself against the spikes
Flying through the air.'

You fold up the piece of parchment and put it in your backpack. Repeating the rhyme over and over to yourself, you walk across to the alcove.

At the back of the alcove are some steps leading down into a cellar. Cobwebs brush your face as you descend. The cellar ceiling is quite low, and the floor is strewn with rubbish and debris. In the middle of the wall opposite you is an archway which leads into another crystal-lit tunnel. There are large mushrooms growing on the rubbish to your right.

Poll #11162

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 15

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Now what?

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Step through the archway.
9 (60.0%)

Stop to eat some of the mushrooms.
6 (40.0%)