The hallway beyond the locked door is a striking contrast to the rest of the complex thus far. It is thickly carpeted in a rich burgundy pile. Even the lighting is accomplished in a much more domestic fashion - oil lamps burning softly on the walls. The plush carpet feels delicious under your scraped and battered feet, and the subterranean clamminess you've fought against the whole way is dispersed by a comfortable warmth. Ahead of you, the hallway opens out into a lavishly decorated chamber. A low table of polished ebony holds a king's feast. Crystal decanters of fine wines reside beside silver platters of steaming, roasted meats and aromatic breads. The place settings and service sets are all of graphically embossed, polished silver. A card of folded parchment rests at the head of each place setting. Each card has one of your names, in an elegant calligraphy, in gold ink. The table is surrounded by plush, overstuffed sitting cushions of purple silk. Just north of the table is a set of latticework dressing screens, sectioning off a tiled portion of the room. The tiled floor holds a deep, sunken tub of hot, bubbling water (a magical Jacuzzi?). Hanging over the top of the dressing screens are a set of beautifully thick, blue perfumed towels. Upon each towel, the words "Holy Day Inn," have been embroidered with golden thread. On silver trays about the tub area are numerous bottles of bath oil, perfume, cologne, soap and bubble bath. Hanging upon the south wall are ... no ... yes! YOUR STUFF!!! Your clothes' weapons, armor and spell books are all there. The clothes have been laundered and pressed, weapons have been cleaned and oiled, and armor gleams with a fresh polishing. Oops! On the wall. above your equipment is a brass plaque marked, "Dishonesty." Maybe it's not quite over. GameMaster All is as it seems in this room -- with one exception. The Jacuzzi is actually a very powerful, summoned creature. It is a body of animated water. While it will allow characters to eat the food, drink the drinks, and even bathe in its bubbly effervescence, it will be watching them very closely. It is waiting for someone to take any little thing from the chamber that does not belong to them. If this occurs, the creature will lash out at the offending character. The thief will be rapidly dragged back into the Jacuzzi, where the monster will ram one of its watery pseudopods down the character's throat filling his lungs and drowning him almost instantly. The group is almost out of lives by now, so they had better be careful. When the equipment is removed from the pegs on the south wall, a secret door will open in the west wall. The characters are free to proceed to the surface through a long, sloping passageway out of the gauntlet. More Code of the Rats Introductory Fantasy Adventure Introduction Adventure Set Up 1. Entry Room 2. Room of Abstinence 3. Room of Peace 4. Room of Forethought 5. Pit Trap 6. Wolves and Sheep 7. Dank and Dark 8. Room of Humor and Wisdom 9. Room of Caution 10. The Lone Plaque 11. Hall of Consistency 12. Mud-Filled Room 13. Room of Questioning 14. The Portcullis 15. Room of Reversal 16. Room of Trust 17. Room of Power 18. Room of Disunity 19. The Darkened Hallway 20. Room of Mindlessness 21. Room of Acceptance 22. The Rotating Tunnel 23. The Refreshments 24. Lemmings Leap 25. If Left is not Right 26. Room of Day 27. Room of Cogitation 28. A Locked Door 29. Room of Illogic 30. Room of Dishonesty Epilogue Map of the Dungeon Back to Shadis #21 Table of Contents Back to Shadis List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master List of Magazines © Copyright 1995 by Alderac Entertainment Group This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com