128
The very instant you touch the ring it transforms into the mouth of a huge scaly worm. Your whole hand and forearm disappear into its fang-filled maw and, before you can save yourself, it snaps shut its powerful jaws. Red-hot agony engulfs your arm and sears your senses. Instinctively you pull away and, to your horror, you fall backwards with blood spilling freely from your severed limb. Cadak’s malicious laughter fills your ears as, in a swirl of pain and confusion, you feel the numbing chill of shock begin to fill you with a deadly lethargy.
Seated upon the two throne-like seats which adorn the great carcass appear the ghastly forms of the Künae, the Lords of Decay. Their braying laughter echoes Cadak’s vicious howl; they are clearly delighted by his use of base trickery to defeat you. Tragically, this awful sound is the last that you will ever hear. You have allowed yourself to be deceived by the spirit of the Arch Druid and you have paid the ultimate price. In a moment of sheer terror, the Künae focus their terrible powers of disease and decay and turn them upon you, consigning you swiftly to oblivion.
Sadly, your life and your quest end here in the dreaded Hall of the Künae.