Dunjonquest: Temple of Apshai (1979)

This dungeon crawler is one of the first ever RPGs with graphics and character progression.

Storyline

You are Brian Hammerhand having just a arrived by ship in a small, nameless coastal town. After a quick brawl in the Wallowing Whale Tavern, nearly pennieless, you set out to go exploring the small town. A boy you meet leads you to the house of Meris the Mage. There you learn about the legend of Apshai. Apshai is the ancient god of insects and it is said that its priests, though very knowledgable, were muddling in dark rites. The followers of the earth god Geb drove the Apshaians away who eventually found a new home in an underground cave which over time they relentlessley expanded. They build a huge temple in tribute to the God Apshai and prospered immensely in the time that followed. Then, one day, there was a huge roar, the earth shook and the temple and the village of the Apshaians were utterly destroyed. They fled their home never to return. In the years following, every now and then expeditions sought to find the riches and secrets buried in the underworld settlement of the Apshaians. But hardly anyone of those who ventured there ever rerturned. Can you, Brian Hammerhand, solve the mysteries of the Temple of Apshai and return safely with riches beyond imagination?