17. The Pit of Raskolnikov

THE RESIDENCE OF NIGHT LAND'S GREATEST CELEBRITY • PATHS TO LOCATION 16 & EXIT

On a path within THE TEA GARDENS [location 16, p.28] a despairing GRID SCAVENGER is seen ahead, dumping a barrow of human body parts into a pit, 30' in diameter and 10' depth. Close examination reveals this is the PUTRID CAVITY in which lives the celebrated moralist, logician, nihilist, and satirist RASKOLNIKOV [Magic-User 14th level, AC 3 [16], HD 14, HP 48, ATT by SPELLS: change self; push; magic missile; darkness 15' radius; magic mouth; scare; detect good; ray of enfeeblement; monster summoning V; polymorph other; reincarnation; control weather]. Once a brilliant VOID ENGINEER [p.7] he was cursed by SUNMOURNERS [p.4] whilst in a lucid dream, returning to the waking world as a cluster of eyeballs, sludge, and blood. He is a connoisseur of SUN STONES [p.34], many are buried within his mass. His sedating voice preaches COSMIC SECRETS to visitors, notably in exchange for SUNMOURNERS' body parts or SUN STONES, which he demands regardless before any can pass. The EXIT from Night Land lies beyond his pit. HE TEACHES [D10]: 1 — love is not to be feared; 2 — force must overcome the strong; 3 — seeing through illusions to reach truth; 4 — necessary sacrifices to worship deities; 5 — how to endure in a purposeless universe; 6 — magic power through self-punishment; 7 — how a commoner can establish a kingdom within; 8 — only suffering is authentic; 9 — how to meet interdimensional beings in pleasure domes; 10 — cosmic secrets hidden within the forbidden and forgotten lore of Night Land.