// Text Library  - 

begintextlibrary;

1 = "Someone stored a cache of rations and supplies here. The food is rotten and the goods are covered with webs. This stuff has been here for a long time.";
2 = "Several stone ogres ring the door to the west. Interesting. The figures are amazingly lifelike, all with surprised poses. A large padlock holds that door securely shut.";
3 = "This is a cloakroom. The table is covered with red robes, blocks of incense, and other religious paraphernalia. None of it looks valuable.";
4 = "You find several rows of bodies, mostly human and goblin. They have been carefully arranged, waiting to be processed into their undead form. A thick sprinkling of quicklime makes the odor bearable.";
5 = "There is a stairway down here. The passage at the bottom has been blocked by many tons of rubble. The cavequakes of Avernum can be devastating.";
6 = "The desk contains papers scribbled with wild, apocalyptic ravings. It's hard to tell, but the writer apparently believed in: _Undead Paradise, With the Great Altar As The GATE!_ The papers have dates on them. The most recent is about a year ago.";
7 = "When you walk by the southern door, you feel a chill. It makes you shudder. You note that the door has a strong padlock on it.";
8 = "When you walk through the door, a cloud of flakes from decaying lichen-paper assaults your eyes. The fragments coat the insides of your nose and mouth. Most of the books in this small library are not aging gracefully. It's a shame. Libraries are very rare in Avernum.";
9 = "The locked hotel room is chilly and grim. It is unkempt and dusty, and there are stains in the southeast corner that could only be dried blood.";
10 = "This temple is the pride of Formello. The polished stone of the walls, floor and altar reflect the dim light, making the chamber almost bright. A large golden ankh gleams at you from the distance, inviting you in for a few moments of rest and peace.";
11 = "Back here, the passage looks like it was formed recently, but not as recently as the entrance. This tunnel was probably created by a cavequake in the last few months. As you progress, the hissing grows louder.";
12 = "To the north, you can see a large crack in the wall. It's a new feature, freshly created by the cavequake you recently experienced. It's wide enough for you to fit through comfortably.";
13 = "You stand at the entrance to the crevice, peering into the dim passages beyond. There's just enough glowing fungus to see that the passage turns sharply to the north. There is a strong, mildewy smell. You hear hissing.";
14 = "The air is fresher in the passage to the north. You feel a welcome draft of cool, moist air.";
15 = "You circle around the base of the tower, sticking to the narrow ledge. The walls of the tower are one smooth sheet of stone, topped with a featureless dome. You see no entrances or exits.";
16 = "Odd. Though most of the walls in here are cracked and moldy with age, one of the nearby sections of wall looks completely new.";
17 = "Solberg's office is full of stacks of books. An inspection reveals them to be works of fiction, smuggled from the surface, all of them clearly read and reread. This tower must be a very dull place to live.";
18 = "On the stove, you find a pot filled with bubbling gray stew. You help yourself. It is some of the blandest, most unappealing stuff you've ever tasted. You notice that the pot refills itself after you eat. Useful magic, but with a lack of aesthetic appeal.";
19 = "You inspect the scrolls on the rack. They describe a series of rituals, all involving the creation, maintenance, and command of undead. One book catches your eye. The pages are covered with nothing but drawings of a large black altar. Crudely-drawn people are putting bodies onto it.";
20 = "You emerge from the long tunnel into the ruins of a small town. Strange ... the construction of the walls is very unusual, very tall and delicate. What's more, there is a remnant of floor tile to the east, in a design you've never seen before.";
21 = "This is another small ruined building, with more of the strange tiled floor. On one section of it is a carved rune. It glows very gently. The design of this symbol is totally unfamiliar to you.";
22 = "A section of the ancient wall falls on you.";
23 = "This must be the vahnatai's bed, although to you it looks more like a cot, and a flimsy one at that. It's a thin sheet of silk-like material, stretched over a delicate cavewood frame. It isn't capable of supporting a lot of mass.";
24 = "There is a small crystal box by the bed. It contains thin sheets of mica covered with intricate carvings, bits of dried mushroom, and incense. You show respect and leave the stuff alone.";
25 = "In this cabinet you find vahnatai clothing. The gossamer thin, faintly luminescent cloaks are neatly folded on the shelves.";
26 = "The vahnatai apparently use lovely boxes made of quartz crystal for storage. The boxes here are filled with food. Dried mushrooms, treated lizard meat, and a wide variety of powders, lichen, and unidentifiable plant bits. You decide not to steal her rations.";
27 = "";
28 = "You reach for one of the books, but sparks start to dance around them as your hand gets close. One of them leaps off and severely burns your finger. You back off before you get killed.";
29 = "Inside the box is a paper package, carefully wrapped. You have just enough time to realize that a paper package shouldn't be in these ancient ruins, before it explodes in a cloud of green goo.";
30 = "The bars of the portcullis to the west have rusted and fallen loose, enabling you to work your way in. There are footprints in the mold on the floor. They are still fresh.";
31 = "When you step through the door, you see a small group of vahnatai lurking by the north wall. You start to greet them, but they immediately reach for weapons. For some reason, these vahnatai want to kill you. There must be more than one faction of them, and some of them are hostile!";
32 = "Suddenly, the corridor just to the west caves in. You manage to get away before the rockfall crushes you.";
33 = "You accidentally trigger a rockfall. ";
34 = "There is a narrow crack in the wall here, leading into a part of the fort thoroughly devastated by the passage of time. Narrow, hazardous passages wend their way among the ruins.";
35 = "One of you notices a place where the rock seems unsteady. You make your way carefully by.";
36 = "Someone has recently made a small bonfire here. In the ashes, you find tiny, blackened bits of some sort of parchment. Whatever records or messages were here, they're gone now.";
37 = "You enter the crumbling ruins of a vahnatai villa. This chamber was a dining hall. The high-ceilinged chamber is dominated by a long, stone table surrounded by stools. The dust is undisturbed. The vahnatai have not yet come to reclaim it.";
38 = "Under the trash you find the body of a vahnatai, who has been here for a least a few months. Your not-too-close investigation reveals no obvious cause of death.";
39 = "The building is in ruins, but this garden, long overgrown, is still lovely. Massive clumps of creamy mushrooms surround a small fountain and a mossy statue of a vahnatai.";
40 = "When you open the box, the powder inside flies out. You begin to gag.";
41 = "This is the secret core of this villa: A small mage's laboratory with a carefully engraved pentagram. However, the pentagram is cracked and the walls are crumbling. This place is no longer safe for serious magic.";
42 = "The cabinet only contains large piles of dust. Once, the flakes may have been ceremonial garments, but it's impossible to tell now. ";
43 = "The sight before you is beautiful and disturbing at the same time. There are several large, upright crystals, taller than you, each a rich, deep blue. Under the surface of each, you can dimly see several humanoid figures. Each crystal is a coffin with several vahnatai frozen inside.";
44 = "This high-ceilinged chamber contains four large cubicles. It looks unoccupied, but you know it's not. You keep thinking you hear whispering, but can't figure out where it's coming from.";
45 = "There is a ring of carefully shaped glyphs carved in the floor in the center of the chamber. Many sheets of crystal are scattered on the floor around it. This is where the strange crystal coffins are assembled.";
46 = "This enormous room is filled with rows of the blue, coffin-like objects. Each contains several frozen bodies. You aren't sure whether they are preserved or dead. Deep within the forest of crystals, you hear the rhythmic chittering of insect mandibles.";
47 = "A large section of ceiling has collapsed ahead, permanently blocking a large door.";
48 = "This is a large platform, looking out over the forest of crystals. There are some things which look like controls at the far end.";
49 = "This room has a huge table, possibly for meetings or feasts. It is surrounded by the moldering remains of vahnatai chairs.";
50 = "This box contains bits of blue crystal, empty containers, and strange tools. They look like metal implements for cutting and shaping crystal. They've mostly rusted away, though.";
51 = "Somebody left a supply cache here some time in the last few weeks. Something else tore it apart and ate most of the food. The rest rotted. Mold grows on the shredded bags and packs. ";
52 = "It takes a lot of effort, but you manage to shift the archaic mechanism. You hear a distant clanking noise.";
53 = "The passage ahead is blocked by a large pool of bubbling, steaming mud. This is the only warm place you've found in the entire region.";
54 = "You hear a loud clanking noise, followed by the grinding of stone sliding across stone. A bridge crossing the chasm rises to the south. The bones on the ledge begin to stir.";
55 = "The moment you open the box, the corridor becomes very hot.";
56 = "You try to approach the portal, but a strange force pushes you back. A voice says, _You have paid me your respects. Trouble me no more._";
57 = "This passage has a heavy, musky, animal smell. The deep claw marks in the floor indicate that you're probably smelling big game. Lizards, perhaps, or some other sort of meat-eating mammal thing.";
58 = "Looking at the cavern ahead, it's clear you arrived at an eventful time. This hellhound lair has been attacked by a whole bunch of those big, annoying bugs. The hellhounds fight desperately to protect their home.";
59 = "You enter this abandoned chamber and look around. Fragments of old tools and bits of crystal are scattered around, and in one corner you see a pile of shards. This may have been a building in a long gone town, or a stop on a portage route. No way to tell.";
60 = "This cave is the floor of a pit, extending up beyond the range of your lights. The floor is littered with slime and refuse thrown from above.";
61 = "There are all sorts of building materials here: stone blocks, tools, green tiles, cement, barrels of tar, and some wood. The vahnatai have been hard at work rebuilding this city.";
62 = "This building is both a vahnatai home and a meeting place. A long, stone table is surrounded by chairs and covered with papers and used mugs. This must be Avit's humble city hall.";
63 = "A narrow, stone bridge arcs over the river. There is a small, peaceful island at the west end, in the very center of the village.";
64 = "The air in this small, low building is heavy with incense. To the south is a small fire pit, burning a mix of lichen and strange mosses. To the north are three pools of colorful liquid. Each pool has a stone kneeling pad in front of it, provided for those who wish to use the pools in some way.";
65 = "You approach the vahnatai town, which is clearly still under construction. Piles of stone blocks and tools are everywhere, and the walkways connecting the buildings are still only half laid.";
66 = "The buildings have rounded corners, and are taller than human buildings, and their walls are set with many thin sheets of bluish crystalline material, giving them a colorful, crystalline appearance.";
67 = "";
68 = "The bookshelves here sag under the bulk of heaps of dusty old records. It's all the notes and paperwork which come with the combination of running a large garrison and a large city. It's very dusty in here.";
69 = "There is a large crack in the wall here. You peek through and see a small cavern. You think that you might be able to slip through.";
70 = "The roof has cracked above, letting lots of water through. The big bug larvae find it to be very refreshing.";
71 = "You feel a sickening crunch underfoot. You've stepped on a large bug casing. It's very fresh and still slimy.";
72 = "Someone has been here lately. They've left a cavewood begging bowl and a small crystal by the large crystal on the pedestal. The whispering is louder here.";
73 = "This is the body of a vahnatai, very recently deceased. It looks like it died here after receiving a heavy wound from the bugs below. It looks like it was trying to crawl to the controls to the west.";
74 = "There is a hole in the ceiling above you. It was burrowed out recently. The bugs must have entered the hellhound lair through here.";
75 = "There are two bodies here. They're pretty charred. A magical trap probably killed them. It's hard to tell because of the soot, but you think you can see the crown insignia of the Empire on their armor.";
76 = "A signal fire has been left to burn here. There is plenty of wood nearby, no doubt placed here to keep the light going. You wonder who it was placed here to attract. Probably you.";
77 = "Though this strange village is old and ruined, this dock has recently been repaired. You see, to your surprise, there is a boat at the dock. It's made of cavewood, of a very unusual design, and it looks riverworthy.";
78 = "You are at the entrance to a huge stone hall, centuries old. You've come to recognize the strange, vahnatai style of architecture. There are no guards or signs of life. It is extremely, unnaturally cold.";