by Joe Dever
Vassagonian Warrior: COMBAT SKILL 17 ENDURANCE 26
You sheathed your weapon in order to use the bow, but unfortunately the warrior attacks before you can draw it to defend yourself. Therefore you must deduct 4 points from your COMBAT SKILL for the first two rounds of combat. If you are still alive by the third round, you manage to unsheathe your weapon and retaliate.
If you win the combat, turn to 174.
154
When you are certain that the bandits are no longer in pursuit, you halt to rally your tired and tattered company. Only ten men have survived the battle; the rest have either been captured or been killed before they could escape. With the highway to Sommerlund now cut off by bandits, you have no choice but to continue southwards.
Pick a number from the Random Number Table.
If the number you have picked is 0–2, turn to 120.
If it is 3–9, turn to 51.
155
Beyond the approaching Warhound pack, you can see that a dozen bandit archers are closing in. If you were to survive the rending jaws of the Warhounds, the archers would be sure to pick you off with ease. Without wasting a second, you turn towards Ruanon and run as fast as your legs will carry you.
Turn to 225.
156
The tunnel soon arrives at the base of a mine shaft where a ladder is fixed to the wall. This ascends to another tunnel thirty feet above, which disappears into the west wall. There is no other exit from the shaft.
If you wish to climb the ladder to the level above turn to 212.
If you decide to retrace your steps back to the previous chamber and take the south tunnel, turn to 101.
157
You are now so tired that you are forced to stop and sleep. Many hours pass before you awake, totally refreshed. Restore 1 ENDURANCE point and continue your exploration of the tunnel.
Turn to 309.
158
Your stomach turns as the boat lurches forward into space. You tumble for what seems like an eternity before hitting deep water head-first. The impact is so sudden and so hard that you are concussed and slip into unconsciousness. You lose 3 ENDURANCE points.
When you awake, you find yourself lying face down in mud and gravel. Your head is pounding and your lungs feel as if they are on fire. You have lost your Backpack and all that it contained. Although your vision is hazy and blurred, you are quick to realize that you are alone. No trace of your men or your boat remain.
Make the necessary adjustments to your Action Chart before turning to 219.
159
You lie with your face pressed close to the crop roots, your breath held and your nerves stretched as taut as bowstrings, waiting for the patrol to pass.
Hundreds of minute creatures busily file up and down the yellowed stalks. Your whole body begins to prickle as you imagine they are swarming up your legs, up your sleeves and down the neck of your tunic. When a trickle of sweat runs down your cheek, you nearly cry out and reveal your hiding place.
The bandits amble past barely inches from where you hide, totally oblivious to your presence. When you are sure they are no longer on the track, you jump up and frantically scratch at your itching skin. To your horror, you discover that your legs are covered with crawling insects feasting on your blood. Ripping your clothes off, you empty them from your boots and scrape them from your skin before hurrying off along the track. The blood-sucking insects have robbed you of 2 ENDURANCE points.
Turn to 204.
160
An escort of five rangers accompanies you along the twisting narrow track that leads to the hut. The rough stone walls are covered with a damp moss into which is set a curious oval door. There are no windows. You have dismounted and are approaching the door when suddenly a man's voice calls from inside the hut: ‘Come in, Lone Wolf, I've been expecting you.’
If you wish to open the door and enter, turn to 84.
If you wish to draw your weapon and kick open the door, turn to 205.
If you wish to send your rangers into the hut, turn to 306.
161
Raising the hood of your Kai cloak, you crouch in the bottom of an empty ore wagon and wait with bated breath. Through a gap in the wood you can see a haggard procession of men shuffling towards you. An escort of bandit warriors pushes them forward, beating any who falter or slip out of line. You feel a sudden jolt as your wagon is pushed along the tunnel and glance up to see a sweat-streaked face peering down at you. ‘Run left when I say “Go”,’ whispers the face which then disappears over the edge of the wagon.
As the wagon emerges from the tunnel, sunlight suddenly floods over you. Through the crack you can now see your destination; the wagons are being shunted onto a timber gantry where the track ends some fifty feet above a huge mound of ore. Your observations are cut short by a hissed command: ‘Go!’
If you wish to leap from the wagon and run to the left, turn to 27.
If you wish to jump from the wagon and run to the right, turn to 144.
If you decide to ignore the command and stay where you are, turn to 294.
162
Two mine tunnels lead out of the chamber. One heads towards the west, the other towards the south.
If you wish to go west, turn to 214.
If you wish to go south, turn to 117.
163
You turn and run from the Vassagonian but trip over a broken wagon wheel and tumble to the ground. You hear the warrior's malicious laugh as he draws back his sword to strike, but the laugh suddenly changes to a ghastly howl.
You watch him slump to the ground, a Sommlending arrow deep in the nape of his neck.
Turn to 249.
164
Suddenly, the shrill blast of a war-horn makes your blood freeze. Red-clad bandit warriors suddenly leap from the dense foliage and charge towards your men. The odds are against you, for you are outnumbered by at least three to one. There may be no escape from this deadly ambush.
If you wish to rally your men to stand and fight, turn to 299.
If you decide to order a hasty retreat into the mine, turn to 52.
165
You return to the troubadours' stage in time for a meal that has been prepared by your hosts. The steaming broth smells most appetising.
If you wish to accept the meal, turn to 319.
If you decline the food, you must now eat a Meal from your Backpack or lose 3 ENDURANCE points. Turn to 13.
166
You sense that the wagon is full of sleeping bandits. Should they awake before you cross the river undetected or before you silence all six of the bandits who are fishing, you and your men will be hard-pressed to avoid death or capture. You decide that the risks are too great to attempt a crossing here and signal to your men to follow you eastwards.
Turn to 232.
167
To your delight you discover a miner's Backpack and a Shovel lying in the bottom of the mine wagon. Inside the Backpack is enough food for one Meal. You slip the Backpack over your shoulders before attempting to climb the steep service tunnel. (If you wish to keep the Shovel, it takes up two spaces in your Backpack.)
Make the appropriate adjustments to your Action Chart and turn to 185.
168
You break open the two halves of your Kalte Firesphere and hold the flaming hemispheres high as you advance deeper into the vault. You gasp as you spot a hideous black-skinned creature perched on a rail near the ceiling. Dull, satanic eyes follow your every move, and its mouth opens and closes, shouting silent curses. Suddenly, it glides down from its perch and attacks.
Illustration X—Dull, satanic eyes follow your every move.
If you possess the Sommerswerd, turn to 34.
If you do not possess this Special Item, turn to 85.
169
As you part the dense foliage, you suddenly topple headlong over the edge of a steep drop and fall with a crash onto a wide forest track below. Less than ten feet away kneels a bandit examining the hoof of his horse and prisi
ng out a sharp stone from the animal's shoe with a long, curved dagger. The noise of your fall alerts him, and he turns with his weapon raised for attack.
Bandit Warrior: COMBAT SKILL 16 ENDURANCE 24
If you win the combat, you notice that a group of bandits are closing in from the north. You spot them just in time to make a hasty escape.
Turn to 123.
170
You climb the spiral stairs for over five minutes before reaching the next level. Here, a tunnel leads off towards the south. You march along the dank passage until you reach a point where it veers sharply to the west. A little further on, a staircase descends to your right.
If you wish to descend the staircase, turn to 228.
If you wish to continue along the passage, turn to 221.
171
Mile after mile, you ride across the flat and desolate landscape surrounding the Ruanon Pike. (You have entered the Wildlands south of the Pass of Moytura and cannot use the Kai Discipline of Hunting to hunt for food in this desolate area.) Yet in spite of the uninspiring view, your men seem in fine spirits. They sing rousing marching songs to relieve the tedium of the journey and help to allay fears of what may lie ahead. During the afternoon, storm clouds gather above the peaks of the Durncrag Mountains to the west, and the roll of distant thunder warns of imminent rain.
It is late afternoon when your scouts sight a coaching tavern on the highway ahead. It is a large stone building that has been fortified.
If you wish to stop at the tavern for the night, turn to 63.
If you decide to brave a possible storm and continue to ride south, turn to 141.
172
You recognize the eastern accent in their voices. They are Vassagonian bandit warriors. There are at least four of them in the room beyond, and they are discussing what to do about an intruder in the mines. You decide that discretion is by far the better part of valour and return to the gallery. You make sure that you are not being followed and enter the wagon tunnel in the west wall.
Turn to 55.
173
The wooden pillar is stout and firm; it will take a heavy blow to dislodge it.
If you possess the Sommerswerd, turn to 275.
If you do not possess the Sommerswerd pick a number from the Random Number Table. If you possess either a Pick or a Shovel, add 2 to the number you have picked.
If your total is now 0–6, turn to 143.
If it is 7–11, turn to 179.
174
More enemy warriors are clambering across the shattered barricade towards you. You throw down your bow and run to a large water cask, which is being defended by a stout Sommlending sergeant. The ground around the cask is carpeted with enemy dead.
‘Shoot the leader!’ you command, pointing towards the enemy officer. The sergeant aims and fires his bow with one swift and fluid movement. The arrow arcs through the smoke-blackened sky and pierces the officer's shiny breastplate. Slowly his cruel eyes flicker and close, and he slips from his saddle with the arrow lodged deep in his heart.
Turn to 148.
175
You have covered less than a mile when disaster strikes. Without warning, a ranger in front of you lets out a piercing cry; a disc of razor-sharp steel has sunk into his chest. More of the deadly discs cut the air, whistling past you on all sides. Before you all fall prey to the hidden assassins, you lead your men away at a gallop.
When you finally rein in your sweating horse, you are more than two miles from the scene of the ambush, and only four of your men remain at your side. Your halt must be brief, for the enemy may already be in pursuit. With the terrible sound of the deadly steel discs still ringing in your ears, you lead the remnants of your company southwards along the highway.
Turn to 297.
176
With a bone-jarring crunch, your horse crashes into the flank of a bandit steed, and you are hurled head over heels to the ground. You are stunned by the shock of impact and fail to see the blade that bites into your shoulder. Lose 3 ENDURANCE points before turning to face your attacker. You cannot evade combat and must fight your adversary to the death.
Bandit Warrior: COMBAT SKILL 17 ENDURANCE 25
If you win, turn to 7.
177
You have taken just one step into the cavern when a blow on the back of your head knocks you senseless. You were seen at the junction by two guards, who prepared this ambush for you. Your equipment is taken and your unconscious body bound by Barraka's men, who throw you into a cell.
You are unable to stop the sacrifice. When the time comes for your cell door to open, it is the bony hand of a skeleton that turns the key.
Your life and your mission end here.
178
You drag the loathsome creature away from the ranger only to find that the man is dead. The Elix has already sunk its needle-like teeth into the poor man's heart.
Grabbing your weapon you turn to help the other man who is now being attacked by two of the giant war-cats. A third Elix pounces at you as you run across the chamber, but you strike it in mid-air, sending it tumbling into the well.
Turn to 245.
179
The prop begins to splinter and break in two. A shudder runs through the floor, making you stumble and fall, but you quickly regain your footing. As you sprint to safety, a deluge of earth and stone pours into the tunnel behind. A shock wave from the blast hits you squarely in the back and flattens you to the floor; the air is choked with dust. You stagger to your feet and press on, but it takes you half an hour to reach a section of the tunnel where the air is clear and still and the torches are still burning.
Turn to 335.
180
On the far side of the boathouse, a narrow slipway descends to a door at river level. One of your men hurries over and raises the stout drawbar while the others carry the rowing boat down the ramp. You push off and clamber aboard, emerging from the boathouse with such a jolt that you are thrown forward in a heap. By the time you have disentangled yourselves, the boat is firmly in the grip of the river current. You grab an oar and fight to keep the boat in the centre of the rushing water as it speeds on its course through the foothills of the Maaken Range. But no sooner has the boat been brought under control than you are confronted by an unexpected hazard: ahead of you the river suddenly disappears into the rock-face beneath a massive granite ledge. It is too late to avoid being swept into the inky black cavern, and as you glide into the darkness, you prepare yourself for any hidden dangers that may lurk inside.
Turn to 241.
181
The twang of the sniper's bow and the hiss of an arrow are the last sounds that you hear in this world. The shaft punctures your skull and you die instantly.
Your life and your mission end here.
182
The wagons are drawn into a circle and you set up camp inside. A ranger is posted to patrol the perimeter. The troubadours construct a small stage onto which strides Yesu. He calls for silence before announcing the title of their play, ‘The Brave Warriors of Sommerlund’, a choice that meets with the hearty approval of your men.
During the performance, you notice something very odd; not only is one of the actors using a real sword, but it is a type of sword only issued to officers of the Sommlending cavalry. After the play you approach the man to question him about the sword. He looks at you nervously and makes a dash for the darkness of the perimeter wagons.
If you wish to give chase and have either the Kai Discipline of Tracking or Hunting, turn to 332.
If you do not possess these skills but still wish to give chase, turn to 58.
If you decide to let him go, return to your men by turning to 165.
183
You manage to reach a tangle of briars growing near the crypt door, and from here you can observe the Vassagonian guards undetected. More soldiers appear on horseback, riding into Maaken from the north. They dismount and approach the door.
‘Password!’ shout the crypt guards.
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‘Lohn,’ reply the soldiers. The door opens and they are allowed to enter.
Armed with the password, you decide to try to enter in the same way. Keeping the hood of your cloak raised and your Sommlending features in shadow, you walk boldly towards the guards.
Pick a number from the Random Number Table.
If you have the Kai Discipline of Camouflage, add 4 to the number you have picked.
If your total is now 0–6, turn to 198.
If it is 7–13, turn to 338.
184
You are barely ten yards from the enemy when they fire. Miraculously you are not hit, but you must now fight alone, as three of your men lie dead and the other can no longer fight — a bolt has shattered his wrist. As you attack, the fierce warriors discard their empty crossbows and draw their swords, and you find yourself being pushed back to the bridge by six angry swordsmen.
