An EXCERPT from my Savage Realms gamebook, Balance of Fate: The Legorian Kings Saga. In this scenario, you come face to face with TitusMirror, the Vampire Sovereign…
Just ahead, you notice another hallway branching off, and almost immediately, find your nostrils assailed by the fetid stench of death and decay. Readying your weapon, you cautiously make your way in, all the while gagging as the smell only intensifies with every step forward.
What awaits you at the corridor’s end is something more horrifying than anything you could ever have imagined. Once a chapel of worship, it is now a veritable graveyard ― its floor literally covered by the bones and putrefying remains of countless creatures!
You are on the very verge of vomiting, when suddenly, villainous laughter echoes throughout the chamber. It is quickly followed by a deep but eloquent voice, saying, “To who or what do I owe such an unexpected pleasure? It is not every day that a fly wanders so willingly into the spider’s web!”
Looking up, you immediately make a frightening discovery, for here, hanging upside down from the rafters high above, is a gigantic, batlike creature. It is also at that moment that you are confronted by another terrifying realization ― that this very same creature is the one who is speaking to you!
“Your determination and bravado are to be commended…” says the giant bat, as it looks down upon you from on high.
“They are commendable, but still foolish nonetheless! In any event, coming here was a grave miscalculation on your part, and I can assure you, this intrusion will not go unpunished!”
Unfurling its powerful wings to their full span, the winged monstrosity drops down from the ceiling, sending skulls and bones flying in all directions as it lands on its feet in front of you. In that same instant, a startling transformation takes place as the fiendish creature reverts back to its vampiric, humanoid self, leaving no doubt whatsoever as to the identity of the person now standing before you.
“And now, foolish fly… you will die!” declares TitusMirror, his jaws dramatically dislocating to expose two rows of dagger-like fangs…
Artwork by Ilya Shkipin