178

A young girl brings three bowls of rice, and lingers for a while to stare at you through the iron grille of the door. You thank the girl kindly for this simple act. ‘Blessed is the giver, richer through the giving of a gift,’ you say, according to the old Shianti custom. Startled, the young girl disappears.

You go over to the old man, who is obviously dying, and offer him some food. ‘Twenty years,’ he rants, gripping your arm. ‘Twenty years I’ve been here, for no crime at all. Soon I will die.’ Sadly, you learn that the old man was once a Shianti priest, a worshipper of the memory of your Shianti masters, imprisoned for his religion and for keeping alive the memory of the Shianti.

If you have some Laumspur and wish to ease the old man’s suffering, turn to 160.

If you do not have any Laumspur, or if you would rather keep it, turn to 93.