// Text Library  - 2005

begintextlibrary;

1 = "After making your way down a long passage, you eventually emerge outside. You look back and find the passage you emerged from is gone! The magic concealing the sliths' lair is strong indeed.";
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7 = "The passage in front of the dock has long lines of runes and religious pictograms on the floor, walls, and ceiling. You can't make any sense of the symbols. You walk past them.";
8 = "You read the runes, slowly at first, then more intensely, unable to turn away, gripped by the detailed, compelling descriptions of corrupt, foul rituals and horrifying rites. You even find yourself muttering some of the incantations to yourself.";
9 = "Fortunately, you finally reach the end of the dark litanies. You have been deeply disturbed, but, with time, your mind recovers. Mostly. You still feel slightly unhinged.";
10 = "You will have to be very careful walking down this passage, for fear of brushing against the totems and grisly trophies. This trophy room houses the remnants of the sliths' most valued victims. You see a lot of cramped writing carved into the north wall.";
11 = "This passage gets colder as you walk south. The stone floor becomes slick with frost. You start to feel nervous. You suspect that someone is watching you.";
12 = "You start to edge your way down the pit, but before you even make it down ten feet, you see creatures below climbing up towards you. They're moving very fast. You barely manage to reach solid ground above you before the creatures catch up with you.";
13 = "You manage to get a hundred feet down the pit without being attacked. However, the foul smell of the abyss starts to overwhelm and nauseate you. Before nausea overcomes you and you lose your grip and fall, you climb back up.";
14 = "The floor of this passage is covered with several inches of foul, stagnant water. To the south, the tunnels echo with the sound of hissing from large reptiles.";
15 = "You look wistfully up at the slick chimney leading back to Avernum. You would love to climb it, but you can't manage it. You'll have to find another way out...";
16 = "Suddenly, a bit of fake floor falls out from under you! You fall down a deep, slippery hole and land in a painful, undignified heap in a small cavern far below.";
17 = "The water makes you gag, but you manage to choke some of it down.";
18 = "Cringing, you rub the foul water over your arms and hands. Ugh. Apart from making you smell worse, it doesn't seem to do anything. Fortunately, a towel was left nearby to get the worst of the gunk off.";
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20 = "You've heard rumors of places like this. Avernum keeps magical creatures here, in the hope that they might come in handy in attacks on the Empire. The pens are unguarded. The contents must be able to defend themselves.";
21 = "The northern third of Almaria is a major Avernum army outpost and supply depot. As you pass this gate, guards check to make sure you are a soldier in good standing. Then, satisfied, they let you by.";
22 = "You try to stop, but it feels soooooo good...";
23 = "This Empire hideout comes complete with magical boobytraps, set to destroy explorers. The demons that appear don't seem too enthusiastic about having to fight you, but they attack anyway.";
24 = "In the passage to the west, small sparks are flying off the floor.";
25 = "You walk further into the secret passage. It's very quiet. There is the faint smell of ozone in the air.";
26 = "When you enter this dusty passage, you hear a ghostly voice, coming from the empty air. _Authorized officials only. The traps ahead are deadly, and any quest to rob Almaria is futile._";
27 = "You enter a messy office. Papers and pens are spread everywhere. Ashes from burned papers cover the floor. Someone left here very quickly. The Empire spies abandoned this hideout right after you foiled their raid.";
28 = "You find a small, private dock, from which supplies and soldiers are carried to and from the northern cities. Looking around at the huge warehouses, it is clear that Almaria is a supply hub for the entire Avernite army.";
29 = "The guards smirk at you. _Don't know how mighty you think you are, friend, but Almaria always takes its toll. Come back when you're ready to be polite._ The gate remains closed.";
30 = "You pay the toll. The bored guards let you through.";
31 = "You suddenly feel terribly, terribly ill. Almost as if you'd just been cursed...";
32 = "Interesting. Set in the wall at the end of this long dead-end passageway, you notice an odd chunk of protruding stone. Remembering what you read on the Empire raider's letter, you give it a light push, turn it, and push it again. The whole wall slides away! There is a room to the north.";
33 = "Interesting. Set in the wall at the end of this long dead-end passageway, you notice an odd chunk of protruding stone. You push it. Nothing happens. You think you hear someone moving on the other side of the wall, but you aren't sure.";
34 = "You enter the concealed quarters. The fresh smell of unwashed bodies is heavy in the air. A bunch of people were living here quite recently, crammed into tight quarters. It's empty now. Whoever was here recently fled.";
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36 = "Then you feel a strange, warm sensation. It briefly covers your entire body. You seem to have passed some sort of test.";
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