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Windhammer, Copyright Wayne Densley 2008 All Rights Reserved
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230
 As you descend further the gradient of the stairs increases. It is a decline that pauses only at a small landing before opening through a finely worked threshold into a vertiginous space beyond. Along the borders of a huge vertical shaft the steps continue, twisting dangerously into a wide spiral staircase. The dim light of a few sputtering wall torches is your only illumination as you feel your way forward, however beyond their feeble flickering you can sense that the stairway is very deep indeed. With one hand you take up a small stone and drop it carefully into the depths. When it hits bottom its clattering ricochets sound only as muffled echoes in the darkness. There can be no doubt that you have a long way to go.
Stopping for a moment you take a deep breath and steel yourself for what is to be a long descent. In the gloom you find quickly that the footing here is no better than before. The staircase is a product of the best Dwarvendim stonework but it has felt the absence of its makers keenly. Cracked, and covered in a tangle of dead roots that covers the stonework and tumbles in thick dessicated curtains out into the gloom below, the stairs are a mess of unstable rock and grasping vegetation. Upon this ruined path you tread carefully, any misstep a sure way to an untimely demise.
Thankfully it is all downhill and at first the weight of your equipment does not hinder your progress too much. Soon however, the gradient of the stairs begins to take its toll. Long before you reach the bottom you have to stop and rest again, and you do not reach its end for more than two gruelling hours. When you finally make the base of the stairs it is good to feel a piece of level flooring underfoot. Physically drained, you rest in the semi-darkness and rummage through your pack for some food.
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Throw one dice. The number thrown is the number of endurance points you have lost from the exertion of descending the stairway. Do not reduce your total remaining endurance points below 1 however. It was a tiring descent but not one that should kill you. If you still have provisions you can restore 6 endurance points if you wish to eat a meal. Record this on your status sheet and turn to section 27.
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This book, and its associated books and other documents in the Chronicles of Arborell series are the intellectual property of the author, Wayne F Densley, and all rights are reserved by him. Windhammer is best viewed at 1024 x 768 resolution. Any questions regarding the Chronicles of Arborell can be answered by emailing the author at densleyw@shoal.net.au
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Windhammer, Copyright Wayne Densley 2008 All Rights Reserved
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