The Defenders of Dusk

by Dane Barrett

  241

  You rush up the steps of the eastern tower to where you know Babin is stationed alongside a small crew running the ballista. The little man seems to be having too much fun considering the seriousness of the battle, though his team are still succeeding in keeping the lizard riders from getting close enough to the wall to climb it. You both exchange a glance and a wave before you take your leave and head back down the stone steps (turn to 360).

  242

  The walkway dips down and hugs the wall of a massive stone support pillar, forcing you to follow the path around the structure in a broad curve. Your ears detect the sounds of gears shifting a short distance ahead as if some mechanism has been left running under the bridge. As you pass the final curve of the pillar, you spy the source of the noise; someone has left a nasty surprise for anyone attempting to pass under the bridge! Before your eyes rests a contraption made up of three elements. In the device's midsection is a swinging pendulum with a long blade which appears to have been sharpened to a jagged edge. On either side of that deadly apparatus are two sets of spinning chains set upon pistons that move them up and down. The trap is as elaborate as they come and is clearly the product of orcish workmanship. Orcs are not known to be the smartest of creatures, however, so you might be able to work out a better way past this obstacle than having to dodge all of its dangerous weaponry. Roll 2 dice. If the result is equal to or lower than your INTELLIGENCE, turn to 67. If the dice roll is higher than your INTELLIGENCE, turn to 107.

  243

  You successfully manage to grip the cable, preventing your body from toppling to an unequivocal demise. You carefully lift yourself back up onto the metal rope and continue to make your way over to the prison tower, grateful that the crosswind has finally let up. You feel a great sense of relief on reaching the upper balcony of the prison tower. Hurriedly you make your way over to a metal door before attempting to unlock it with one of the lock picks supplied to you by Zabel. These towers haven't seen upgrades in many years, so these entrances don't present you with much of a challenge as you detect the satisfying click of the lock being released. You head inside and start searching for signs of the people you are here to rescue. Several cells line these walls, each with solid iron doors with small barred windows set into them. Most of the rooms prove to be empty until you reach the far side of the second passageway, where you finally discover four cells with occupants; Mayor Vadul, two of his personal guard and the Wizard Ullucus. All have been stripped of their possessions except for the clothes on their backs. You signal the Wizard as to your presence, and he immediately recognises you as a member of the Thieves Guild before pointing an aged finger at the door. Turn to 349.

  244

  You approach the corner where you first spotted the two soldiers talking. The glow of torchlight flickering up the wall betrays that one of them is still here, so you stick close to the shadows as you creep closer to his current position. Roll 1 die. On a result of 1, 2 or 3, turn to 135. If the die roll shows 4, 5 or 6, turn to 161.

  245

  You position your mouth in front of the outlet, tilting your head to one side in case you need to urgently back off to avoid a discharge of water coming through the pipe. You cup a hand beside your lips to prevent your voice from echoing down the tunnel and call out. You are immediately dismayed when you hear your voice emanate, not from the planned passageway, but from another outlet just behind you. This attracts the soldier's attention, revealing your position. He readies his weapon and shield and advances on you immediately!

  ENEMY SOLDIER: FIGHT 7, HEALTH 3

  If you win this battle, you may then proceed onward down the tunnel, where you eventually spot more torchlight ahead. Write down the keyword ECHOES and turn to 380.

  246

  Having escaped the peasant quarter, and with the Thieve's Guildhall abandoned, you instead head to one of the pre-arranged alternative hideouts established for Guild members who need a place to disappear. You climb a great tree located on the outskirts of the city, atop which you enter a wooden shack hidden from the sight of the ground. Inside you find the half-halfling Babin, treating some burns he picked up while escaping the fires. He happily shares his healing balm with those of you who need it. Restore 2 points of lost HEALTH.

  “Did anyone else from the Guild make it out?” Arinzo asks the small man.

  “Plenty,” replies Babin. “But we're scattered all over the show. The Town Guard is holding their own, but nobody has heard from the city leaders since this all started.”

  “And what do we know of our enemy?” you ask.

  “I can help there,” says Arinzo. “Whereas my garbage-based friend back there didn't glean any information from me, his mercenary bunch could barely keep their mouths shut. I overheard them telling of their forces taking up an advanced position in the caves of the Eastwood Ridge.”

  “I know of no caves there.”

  “Apparently there are now, though I do not know how they fashioned them so quickly. We should head there to investigate.” Turn to 119.

  247

  Your eyelids snap open as Arinzo shakes you awake with a tight grip on your shoulder. He steps away as you glance about at the grim faces filling the room. You must have slept for some time, as the rain has stopped.

  “What has happened?” you ask as you hear Yabea whimpering in the corner.

  “All is lost,” replies Arinzo. “We saved the city from being mind-controlled, and Ullucus has put out the worst of the fires with his elemental magic. We even have a lock on the border bridge so that no more enemy forces can enter the city from that direction. But being that we were so preoccupied, we were unaware that our enemies were also amassing a second army to the north. They were somehow able to ferry troops and equipment across the river undetected and even had time to build siege weapons. Mayor Vadul took one look at the overwhelming force unexpectedly amassing outside the northern wall and immediately surrendered. The border city of Dusk has fallen.”

  “And what of the Guild?” you ask.

  “We will return to what we do best,” Arinzo replies, though his eyes betray a heavy heart at going back to the old ways. “Our new masters will have much in the way of coin, and I doubt they will need all of it. Until a better offer or opportunity comes along, it will be a thieve's life for us.” Your adventure ends here.

  248

  You press your weight down onto the gargoyle's head and begin to lower the rest of your body towards the window. You are only part of the way down when you hear the loud note of stone cracking as the statue shifts violently underneath you. The gargoyle must have had some unseen damage or weathering, and is now breaking away from the wall! You have only a moment to decide upon an action. Will you try to haul yourself back up to the ledge (turn to 225) or make a leap for the coil of wire on the window (turn to 294)?

  249

  As you wade back towards the entrance passage, you detect a scuttling sound and several shadows moving ahead. As the shapes encroach your range of vision, you observe three giant rats, though the lead animal is much bigger than its companions. All three creatures turn their beady, red eyes upon you and rush forward to attack! You must fight them all at the same time.

  GIANT BUCK RAT: FIGHT 5, HEALTH 3

  GIANT RAT 1: FIGHT 5, HEALTH 2

  GIANT RAT 2: FIGHT 5, HEALTH 2

  If you win this battle, turn to 263.

  250

  Before you can grasp it, the armband hits the ground and tumbles away, eventually coming to rest in a narrow gap between two of the storage boxes. You do not have time to recover the piece as you soon hear footsteps approaching outside the tent! You instinctively return the letter where you found it before retreating through your makeshift side entrance. Turn to 131.

  251

  As the sorcerer continues to grow in stature, your mind turns back to your previous adventures over these past days, and the several fascinating encounters that contributed to your survival when you faced off against the dragon. It's p
ossible you may be able to call upon such power now. Do you have the keyword SLAYER? If so, turn to 215. If not, then do you instead have both of the keywords TOOT and QUARTZ? If so, turn to 299. If you do not have both of those keywords either, or you only have one of them, turn to 215.

  252: “My name is Captain Jadu. I've been instructed to hold this position while you deal with the enemy bigwig.”

  252

  Before you can leave the hideout, Arinzo hands you a set of lock picks and a pair of cutting shears; standard issue equipment for an infiltration mission. He also gives you a small map with a cross drawn on a location near the border bridge.

  “The Town Guard has assembled a small assault force at the marked position,” he says. “Their objective is to liberate the bridge from enemy control so that it cannot be used to send more troops across. In the meantime, I will expect you to sneak in to assassinate the enemy leader. Rendezvous with the guards immediately. Get going.” You leave the hideout alone and travel promptly to the location specified on Arinzo's map. On arriving you find a ragtag group of guardsmen along with the familiar face of Yabea. She appears to be acting as the healer for this crew.

  “We're all here now, guvnor,” says Yabea to an older man layered in armour and carrying a spear; the leader of the guardsmen.

  “Jolly good,” the guard leader replies before turning to face you. “My name is Captain Jadu. I've been instructed to hold this position while you deal with the enemy bigwig. You already have a man in there somewhere who has been most helpful in feeding us information. I should warn you that the enemy has rigged traps at key locations along the bridge, so you must proceed with utmost caution.” Thanking Captain Jadu for the information, you move ahead towards the bridge to scout out potential entrance points. Turn to 104.

  253

  You lift the bottle of mead into the air and stagger about, slurring out some nonsensical gibberish while trying to sound as much like an orc as possible. After staring at you intently for a few seconds, the orc guard whirls about in disgust and walks off, moaning all the while about lazy sentries getting drunk on the job. Letting out a sigh of relief, you step away from the window and toss the helmet back onto the corpse of the orc. You may also drink the mead now if you wish, or keep the bottle for later. Whenever you decide to drink it (which can be any time including during combat), it will restore 2 points of HEALTH. There is enough in the bottle for two doses (make a note of this on your CHARACTER SHEET if you choose to save some for later). With the sentry out of the way, you must now return to ground level and decide where to go next within the courtyard ahead. Will you head down the left side (turn to 188) or along the right side (turn to 347)?

  254

  The many cuts you have sliced into the body of the warrior finally take their toll, and he topples to the ground in a bloody heap. As he lays dying, you give him one final chance to speak before running him through.

  “My brother will have your hide for this,” he groans, clearly feeling the pain of death closing in. “I die as a hero to my people!”

  “Indeed,” you agree, before driving your longsword through his heart. Searching the body, you find nothing but a few coins and the golden-hilted curved sword the warrior was wielding in the latter portion of your battle. While you have no interest in the blade itself, you forcibly remove the antler guard from the hilt as it appears to have some value. Write down the keyword BONE. You must now decide in which direction to head next. You are back in the cavern with the three exits, so will you return to the middle tunnel (turn to 63), or head into the left-hand twisting passage (turn to 311) or the narrow right-hand crawlspace (turn to 132)?

  255

  The cold water climbs a little further up your body as you close in on the far side of the cavern and begin to run your hands along the rock wall. Your boots slide off the surface of the floor suddenly, and you almost tumble into a much deeper section of the water. Peering under the surface, you can see a hole which extends far beyond your range of vision. The water here is slightly cleaner than that of the previous tunnels, though there is no evidence to suggest it leads to the underground river. It's possible that if you dive down into this hole, you might find a way underneath this wall, though it is equally likely you will drown before you reach another exit. You watch a few bugs dance upon the ice-cold water while you make a decision. Will you dive down into the deep section (turn to 45) or avoid it altogether and head back to the room with the iron door (turn to 249)?

  256

  The map displays a crude charcoal drawing of the city, the surrounding wilderness and the roads leading in and around it. Also shown in greater detail are the bridge and the river over which it sits. Of particular interest is a series of inked markings pinpointing locations upriver. Several of the wooden blocks, which represent units of troops, are positioned alongside arrows pointing across one of the northern bends. You realise that while the city has been preoccupied with retaking this bridge and putting out the fires, the enemy must have been planning to cross the river to the north. This would allow them to bring a flanking force down upon the city's northern wall! Write down the keyword PLAN. You are in the middle of making a mental note of the troop positions when you hear Xanth whistle behind you. You turn to see him scrambling over to the cut you made in the side of the tent.

  “Quickly!” he whispers. “Guards are coming. They must have heard the fight. We must go now!” Do you agree with Xanth, and leave immediately through your infiltration point (turn to 131) or will you risk a look at something else on the table? If you choose to do the latter, will you examine the letter (turn to 210) or the knife (turn to 187)?

  257

  You climb over the side of the bridge and lower yourself down to the beginnings of the walkway. Looking ahead, this appears to be an old construction platform which twists and turns underneath the shadows of the bridge before terminating at the riverbank. You may be able to use it to get around behind the enemy encampment and come at them from an unexpected direction. You aren't surprised when you reach another obstacle, however, in the form of an iron gate secured with a massive lock. This set of old metal bars is rectangular and accompanied on either side by half-circles of razor-sharp spikes, to prevent foolhardy civilians from attempting to climb around it. There is no such protection along the top of the gate, which would only take a few seconds for you to climb. Will you try to unlock the gate with your lock picks (turn to 290) or scale over the obstacle (turn to 28)?

  258

  Much to Arinzo's envy, you produce your parrying rapier from its place of concealment within your robe, along with your own dagger. This allows you to engage the soldiers in battle with the best advantage you can muster with what you have available. Arinzo will make an opponent of the other man, leaving you just the one enemy to fight!

  ENEMY SOLDIER: FIGHT 7, HEALTH 3

  If you win this battle, turn to 388.

  259

  While you are reaching for another handhold, the dragon statue shifts suddenly beneath you, and you immediately fear it is going to break and topple away from the clock face. You grasp the blue-stone tightly and hope for the best until you realise with relief that the statue is moving no further. Repositioning yourself upon the dragon, you shape to resume your movement towards the window. Roll 2 dice. If the result is equal to or lower than your INTELLIGENCE, turn to 171. If the dice roll is higher than your INTELLIGENCE, turn to 321.

  260

  A gust of wind swats into the side of your torso, forcing your body sideways and pulling your hands away from the narrow shaft you were holding! You glance down quickly, judging that you will land only two steps beyond the damaged section of the beam below, which you fear may break entirely due to the impact! Roll 2 dice. If the result is equal to or lower than your INTELLIGENCE, turn to 71. If the dice roll is higher than your INTELLIGENCE, turn to 92.

  261

  You wait until your enemies are almost upon you before launching yourself up and out of the water with both blades
drawn. You bring your longsword down upon the hovering torso of the flying rat-gremlin, which cries out in a gurgled scream as the sharp metal slices through muscle and bone alike. One piece of Gribb-gribb is shared with each side of the tunnel, having been split evenly by your well-timed strike! Growling in anger, the Filth-Demon advances upon you!

  SLOMAN the FILTH-DEMON: FIGHT 8, HEALTH 6

  If you win this battle, turn to 228.

  262

  You are standing in the middle sector of the battlements of Dusk's northern wall. Below you can see several ranks of enemy soldiers marching their way forwards, though at the moment they aren't close enough to begin their assault. Trebuchets have started to vault rocks, but are proving to be highly inaccurate with most of their missiles falling well short of your position. Your archers are only firing intermittently now, preparing themselves to repel ladders if necessary, while guardsmen bring over cauldrons of boiling hot oil in case anyone attempts to scale the wall itself. Both ballistae have begun firing, hurling massive darts into the throng, and you can hear someone shouting something off to the east. There is nothing more for you to do here at the moment. Will you head to the western side of the wall (turn to 202) or the eastern side (turn to 136)?