// Text Library  - 

begintextlibrary;

1 = "The patch of herbs has not yet grown back.";
2 = "A band of humans charges you. Several are armored, several are mages. The mages have an odd eye insignia on their robes. You don't get the chance to ask what it means, because they attack you.";
3 = "You meet an Empire patrol, wandering the hills looking for someone or something. When they see you, they immediately decide you're who they're hunting for.";
4 = "You search the bodies. You find gold, and a variety of useful items. However, you find no sign of who they are or where they came from.";
5 = "";
6 = "Interesting. There are tracks in the dirt here. Lots of them: humans, horses, and carts. It looks like they were following the base of the mountains to the east.";
7 = "You are welcomed back to the temple and accorded all the luxuries due someone who's entered the inner circle. You are given food and drink and trade news about goings on. You have a nice rest. Eventually, relaxed and refreshed, you leave.";
8 = "You return to the mandrake patch. The valuable root hasn't grown back yet.";
9 = "A priest approaches you. However, when he sees your Anama rings, he turns his back on you without a word. The gates are closed tight against you.";
10 = "A large patrol of Empire soldiers marches near you. They are very apathetic - they barely bother to search as they march. They give you a cursory look, and march on. It is strange to see Empire troops so demoralized.";
11 = "There is a footpath leading up into this remote, rubble-strewn valley. This remote path has been used a fair amount, not just by people but by carts and wagons. You wonder why so many people would march up such a barren valley.";
12 = "When it becomes clear that you aren't peaceful, the guards don't shrink from the difficult task of slaying you.";
13 = "You march into the large valley, currently occupied by the stranded Third Empire Army. The army is determined to keep interlopers at a safe distance, and your being from Avernum doesn't help. A band of guards moves to keep you away.";
14 = "As you turn away, the shade says, _Wait please!_ Then, a moment later, it begins to fade. _Oh no! I must fly, before I am found!_ It disappears.";
15 = "The shade speaks. It says, _I hoped you would coming to me here. Is easy here to appear, near where my physical form. The key is in Footracer. The key to Footracer is in Blackcrag._";
16 = "_Blackcrag has a side entrance. Search close to the northeast. You will have allies against us. That we may be stopped._ The shade begins to fade. _Oh no! I must fly, before I am found!_ It disappears.";
17 = "The herb patch hasn't sufficiently recovered to be able to withstand another assault.";
18 = "You are in a massive expanse of plains. The rich land hosts isolated patches of neglected crops, left behind by homesteaders who fled the monster plagues.";
19 = "To the north, you see the enormous mountain range, one of the largest in the known world, which separates Valorim from the rest of the Empire. You also have an excellent view of an enormous stone fortress, blocking the only visible pass through the mountains.";
20 = "The castle above you is a huge slab of black stone, dotted with windows, its sharp parapets watched by a multitude of soldiers. This is Blackcrag Fortress, the sentinel guarding the pass between Valorim and the rest of the Empire.";
21 = "Unfortunately, Valorim is under quarantine. This castle is here not to keep the people to the south safe but to keep them in. The guards watch as you approach, ready to kill you if you overstep your bounds.";
22 = "You search for some good ingredients, but the specimens you find are completely inadequate for your purposes. Maybe later.";
23 = "As you search the patch for good ingredients, you hear dark, ethereal laughter. You look around, and find that a group of swamp denizens has surrounded you. Their approach was completely silent. You have no choice but to fight.";
24 = "The forest ahead is dark and shadowy. Eerie flickering lights dance among the trees. The branches over your head sway slightly. Odd, considering that there's no wind.";
25 = "The forest gets darker and seems to close in around you. Little by little, you start to lose track of the path. Before, the way through the woods seemed clear. Now, you aren't sure where you are.";
26 = "The forest brightens a little, and you think you can see sunlight ahead. You're almost out of these gremlin-infested woods.";
27 = "The ground in this remote valley is covered with a thin layer of slime. As you explore, the stones under your feet start to shift out from under you. Loathsome, writhing creatures burrow up out of the earth behind you, pleased that some food has come to them.";
28 = "The monsters dead, you eagerly search for loot. Unfortunately, way up here in the mountains, they haven't really been able to get any. The little metal you find has been nearly disintegrated by the worm's acidic excretions. Disappointing.";
29 = "You give the gremlins a pile of your food. They scurry off with it, cackling hideously. They aren't even out of sight before they start to noisily eat your rations. You're alone in the woods again.";
30 = "You refuse the gremlin's request, hoping that your obvious strength will dissuade them from attacking you. Your hopes are in vain. The crazy little beasts charge at you.";
31 = "You give the gremlins all of your food. Unfortunately, you don't have enough to sate them. After gobbling down what little you do have, they decide to have you for dessert.";
32 = "You search the bodies of the unpleasant forest creatures. They don't have much. You make sure to take their leader's gleaming pants. You also find a few bottles of fine wine.";
33 = "The healing herbs here haven't grown back yet.";
34 = "You stand at the end of a long valley, full of sharp crags and broad expanses of rubble. In the distance, you see a massive stone circle, each of the stones eighty feet high. You feel a strange, overwhelming compulsion to approach it.";
35 = "You stand at the end of a long valley, full of sharp crags and broad expanses of rubble. In the distance, you see a massive stone circle, each of the stones eighty feet high. The clouds overhead are gray and angry, and the valley is full of shadows.";
36 = "You start to enter a dead valley, watching carefully for alien beasts. To the east, you see a huge cave mouth. As you climb, you feel a strange, powerful desire to immediately turn north and explore. You struggle to fight it.";
37 = "You start to enter a dead valley, watching carefully for alien beasts. To the east, you see a huge cave mouth. As you climb, you feel the vague desire to immediately turn north and explore. You aren't sure where this feeling is coming from.";
38 = "You hear a strange whispering voice inside your head. You recognize it immediately. You heard it in the stone circles you found around Valorim. It tells you you must go north. You can go this way no farther. The compulsion to go north overwhelms you.";
39 = "As you start climbing into this shadowy valley, you feel a powerful desire to go to the end. Strange whispers in your head urge you onward. You can't travel fast enough.";
40 = "As you start climbing into this shadowy valley, you feel a powerful desire to go to the end. You sense that a major reward awaits you at the end. Greed drives you forward.";
41 = "When they see that you aren't going to flee, the pack howls and charges. Their sets of four stumpy, powerful legs churn up a remarkable amount of dust.";
42 = "As soon as you take a step forward, the beasts attack without hesitation.";
43 = "You search the guards. The alien beasts have broken their weapons and chewed up their armor. You find some gold and a nice bronze ring. As you turn to leave, however, you see that some alien beasts have trapped you in this valley.";
44 = "This valley is so thick and overcast that, even in the noontime sun, you walk in constant twilight. A bitter wind chills you through your armor. There are bits of bone everywhere. You suspect you're getting close to the end of your journey.";
45 = "A patrol of vahnatai guards runs up to you. They pause. At first you think that your former allies may be ready to parley with you. Then, emitting eardrum-tearing screams, they charge.";
46 = "You are faced with an all too familiar sight. it is a cavern, miles wide, lit by green fluorescent fungi. Your eyes quickly adjust, absorbing the grim familiarity of the view. You have no warm feeling of homecoming. These are vahnatai lands, not human.";
47 = "It was from this place that the vahnatai sought to obtain their total vengeance on the Empire that wronged them, destroying your home in the process. It is from here that the monsters originated, and it is here they must be stopped. Somehow.";
48 = "A vahnatai patrol saw you approach and was waiting in ambush. When you get close, they emerge from their hiding places behind the trees and charge. Their battle cries echo across the cavern.";
49 = "The water is cool and refreshing. Incredibly so, in fact. It must have absorbed energy from the stone it passed through. You feel recharged.";
50 = "As you drink, the water rapidly loses its glow. It's unlikely anyone will be able to get any appreciable benefit from this pool until it recharges, which won't be for some time.";
51 = "This narrow, cavewood bridge crosses this river at a narrow point. The path and the bridge have already gathered a light layer of mold. Vahnatai patrols don't come up here much.";
52 = "Yet more vahnatai have died at your hand. It is hard not to be sickened by this struggle against your former allies. Considering that it was their aid that saved you in the war with the Empire, it is tragic that it has come to this.";
53 = "There are several of the local villagers in this wooden tower, watching for bandits. When they see you approach, they blow a horn to signal the town. Then, when they get a better look at you, they blow the horn twice to tell the village that it's safe.";
54 = "They tell you that the town to the south is Erox and that you are sure to get a friendly reception there. Then they leave and return to town. Oddly, the tower is left unguarded.";
55 = "";
56 = "The industrious locals were building a road to the rest of Valorim, hoping for the trade that would bring. Alas, the monster plagues put an end to these plans. Piles of rocks are everywhere, waiting in vain to be turned into road.";
57 = "All of the bodies in this valley have taken a one-way journey through the acid-filled innards of a worm. Nothing of value survived.";
58 = "You search the gremlins. They were poor woodland folk. No money, no magic items. However, you do find a few bottles of powerful wine and some pitiful leftovers from their last meal.";
59 = "";
60 = "The nearby watchtowers have been abandoned for months. When the wall to the north was built, the Empire soldiers made sure to be on the far (i.e. safe) side of it. You search the abandoned camps, but you don't find anything of value.";
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70 = "The wall to the north is a good example of the Empire's power. It is an awesome barrier of stone, many miles long, no doubt erected with the help of magical constructs.";
71 = "However, it is the magical wards, which throw bolts of blue energy up into the air and down through the ground, that truly impress you. This wall will prevent any monsters from escaping Valorim. For now.";
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