3) This is a shrine to the dark lady Irkalla, queen of Magan, the underworld
of Oceana. Of all the structures in this area, this is the best preserved.
Simple offerings of weeds and rocks lay before Irkalla, indicating some
residents of this world worship the dark queen.
Irkalla's image is blasted from bronze. She seems serene and confident, with a
terrible sort of beauty lurking in her fierce countanance. The black pits of
her eyes stare at you without emotion. Here is a deity to be feared - perhaps
also to be loved.
4) You stand before the gate to Purgatory's great public arena. Bloodthirsty
residents of the Dilmun interior come here to enjoy the spectacle of oulander
scum such as yourselves fighting to the death on the floor of the arena.
A guard swaggers up to you. He is clad in the trappings of authority - the fine
armor, a weather-beaten harness, well-oiled weapons. "Oy there, you filthy
street scum," the guard growls. "You look fit enough to hold a weapon. Why not
haul your butt into the arena and make yourself useful?" Why fight for another
man's pleasure when life in Purgatory is a daily struggle for survival? You're
about to turn away when the guard lays a heavy hand on your shoulder and adds,
"You'll get your choice of arms...and if you defeat you foe, which I doubt, you
might win Papers of Citizenship. Namtar help me - heathen dogs like you living
in Dilmun! I don't like it, but the law is the law."
9) A statue of Namtar, the Beast From The Pit, dominates this dirty city
square. You carefully examine the statue, trying to memorize the features of the
villain who exiled you to Purgatory. You struggle in vain. The citizens of
Purgatory, themselves no less fond of Namtar, have taken it out on his image -
the nose is broken, limbs are chipped, and the mouth is deformed beyond all
recognition.
As you watch, a wild beggar spits on the statue. "Filthy face of stone!", she
mumbles. "Layed down with lizards he did, that stone face lies as much as he!"
The poor mad creature wanders off, still spitting and mumbling, leading you to
wonder if a similar fate awaits you in the months to come.
14) You knowledge of city lore serves you well. This place isn't so much a city
as a prison. The streets are unpaved and evidently double as an open-air sewer
system. May of the city's structures are buildings only in the loosest sense of
the word - several have holes in the roof (or no roof at all), others have been
gutted by fire. Everything is damp, showing this city is little differentf from
any other on Oceana...the rising sea level is eroding the land upon which the
city is located, and it is slowly sinking. Doubtless those buildings that have
basements will be at least hip-deep in water. Graffiti is scrawled on walls
everywhere, generally curses directed at Namtar and crude pornographic
renderings of all species of Oceana. In all, Purgatory is and ugly place you
would do well to leave as soon as possible.
16) Before you is a tumble-down collection of huts. A group of ill-clad
unfortunates are gathered around a fire. They see you approach and rush to your
side. "We saw you swim across the bay", says a toothless man who seems to lead
the group. "Any enemy of Purgatory is a friend of ours. C'mon in and sit by the
fire."
67) This is an open-air slave market, filled with the cry of fleshmongers and the laughter of a perfumed crowd. Here men and women are for sale - people such as yourselves - to the jaded residents of the Dilmun interior. From the gate of the slave market you watch as several young men are auctioned off. They seem less healthy than yourselves - maybe they've been in the city longer than
you. It seems a sad way out of this place, to make yourself a slave...but isn't
anything better than a life of misery and slow death in the streets of Purgatory?
You scan the crowd, anxious to measure the characters of citizens of the Dilmun
interior. Their faces seem cruel and aristocratic, with a faint hint of the more-than-human. Here and there you spot a face that seems kinder than most, but if you were on the block, what guarantee would you have of receiving a kind master? Could you truly live with yourself as a slave?
There is a long line of lost souls waiting for the auction block. Nothing will stop you should you decide to join them.
94) You recall learning of waters like this during your mystic studies. The pool of water fits the description of Apsu Waters...waters of the world ocean that underlies the surface of Oceana. Apsu Waters are coterminous with the world of Oceana, the mystical Magan Underworld, and dark dimensions where gods and devils reside.
121) Pearls of hysterical laughter assail your ears. You've discovered the secret undercity of Lansk, and where the city is staid and conservative, this place is a true part town. Citizens stagger about in drunken stupors, angry soldiers wrestle with one another, women and animals run through the streets.
