An Ancient Tower
The midday sun shines brightly down upon the crumbled masonry. An ancient stone arch stands to the north, flanked by two statues that must have been quite impressive in their day, but the erosion of time and weather has reduced them to barely-discernible humanoid forms. Further north past the arch stands a huge iron gate set in a tall stone wall, and to the west rises a tall stone tower, still surprisingly intact for its age.
| Go East |
| Go South |
| Climb Tower |
- Without memory of a grappling hook:
You spit on your palms, rub them together, and start climbing. One handhold after another, one foothold after another, your progress up the tower is steady and unflagging. Until suddenly, when you are perhaps halfway up, a deafening screech tears the air.
A gigantic birdlike creature -- neither a giant vulture nor a winged lizard but with aspects of both and a wingspan fully twice as long as Krakrox was tall -- swooped through the air, diving directly at the barbarian. The creature did not strike, instead turning aside at the last second and continuing its flight around the tower, but the wind of its passing tore Krakrox's grip from the stone wall, and he fell, tumbling through the air.
Nearly wrenching your arm out of its socket, you manage to momentarily grab a protruding brick as you fall. You quickly lose your grip again, but your descent is slowed enough that you manage to catch more temporary holds, and scrabble your way down the stone tower, landing at the bottom bruised, but unbroken.
The giant bird or lizard or whatever it was wheeled around the top of the tower, and screeched again. Krakrox cursed it and every one of its ancestors, rubbing his hands and panting for breath.
Being a man of action, Krakrox didn't care much for wandering around silent ruins looking for keys and whatnot. He decided he would return to the jungle and seek out a little action, and then return.
giant bird-creature  -- (edit metadata)
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- After defeating the giant bird-creature:
Once again you climb the tower -- this time, there are no giant crazy bird-monsters to stop you, thankfully, and you quickly make your way to the top.
Pulling himself onto the flat tower roof, Krakrox noted without surprise the large nest, containing a light brown egg the size of a wine barrel. He briefly considered hurling it off of the tower, out of spite, but decided he couldn't be bothered. Far more interesting was the stone chest over to one side of the platform.
You push the heavy stone lid off of the box, and discover a large stone disc, perhaps one and a half hand-widths in diameter -- or rather, half of such a disc, for it appears to be broken, and the other half missing. You stash it in your pack, and make your way carefully back down the side of the tower.
 | You acquire an item: memory of half a stone circle |
Finding the quiet of the ancient city to be a bit... disquieting, Krakrox decided to return to the jungle for a bit to stretch his legs -- or rather, his sword.
Er... well, you know what I mean.
- After obtaining memory of half a stone circle:
Krakrox considered briefly climbing the tower again, but was pretty sure that he had found all the tower had to offer.
| Leave the City |
???
Occurs at The Jungles of Ancient Loathing.
