### 228

Seated on the two throne-like chairs perched upon the back of the rotting carcass appear the ghastly forms of the Künae, the Lords of Decay. They are a hideous sight, and your stomach churns with revulsion as you struggle to comprehend their abominable manifestation. Their torsos resemble two mounds of glistening black jelly, studded with polyps and ulcers and sores that exude a noxious grey slime. They have flat heads that are oval-shaped and shell-like, with puckered mouths and indented eye-slits that radiate an evil yellow light. From their rubbery sides protrude two snaky limbs ending in three-fingered hands coloured a sickly, leprous green-grey. And fixed upon the first fingers of their right hands you see rings of gleaming gold that are exquisitely crafted and embellished with intricate patterns. These rings are exceptionally beautiful and seem glaringly out of place upon the fingers of these grotesque beings.

As you stare at the rings you recall the text of the Tome of Darkness and its instruction that if you are to leave this rotting domain, you must first obtain a ring from the Künae. Your Kai Sixth Sense confirms that these are the rings, and the tunnel-like opening in the body of the carcass is the exit from this realm of putrefaction. Your senses also reveal that the Künae are communicating with each other telepathically. Their eyes glow with increasing intensity and you fear that they are getting ready to launch a magical assault against you.

If you possess Assimilance and have attained the Kai rank of Sun Prince, turn to 273.

If you possess the Sommerswerd and wish to use it, turn to 188.

If you possess Skarn-Ska and wish to use it, turn to 347.

If you do not possess Assimilance, have yet to attain the required level of Kai rank, or do not possess either Special Item (or have chosen not to use it), turn instead to 306.