The Masters of Darkness

by Joe Dever

  Darklord Kraagenskûl: COMBAT SKILL 45 ENDURANCE 48

  This being is immune to Mindblast (but not Psi-surge).

  If you win the combat, turn to 318.

  196

  The track and the stream wind their way towards a narrow gap in the Durncrag Range. Fixedly you stare at this gap. The longer you gaze, the more certain you are that it is a mountain pass, allowing the path to continue through to Argazad. You decide to press on and traverse the pass. Hopefully, the track will lead to the naval base where you can attempt to steal, or stow away on, some means of transport that will carry you to Aarnak. The naval base must receive equipment from a Darkland city-fortress, and it is likely that Aarnak is one such source of supply.

  It is nearly dusk when the stony path reaches the narrow, boulder-strewn approach to the pass. It has been a long and tiring trek, yet in spite of your fatigue your senses warn you in good time of the danger that lies ahead. The pass is blocked by a wall and a stone watchtower, both guarded by Giak soldiers. Carefully you leave the path and creep along the bank of the stream, remaining hidden from view as slowly you edge your way nearer to the Giak outpost. An iron-banded gate in the centre of the wall allows traffic to use the pass, but it is closed and guarded by sentries. As dusk turns to darkness, you continue to observe every detail of the outpost and the surrounding mountains, in the hope of finding a way through.

  If you wish to attempt to scale the wall, turn to 86.

  If you decide to avoid the outpost and search for an alternative route across the mountains, turn to 117.

  197

  Fighting back your fear, you set off along the soot-encrusted street, keeping your head down and your shoulders forward to maintain your balance against the blasts of fiery wind that lash you mercilessly. At one corner, you happen upon a line of shallow pits, all filled with blazing oil. In the middle of each one is a pyramid of stone, festooned with chains, to which are manacled a dozen wretched creatures. They stand waist-deep in the flames, and, as they scream in pain, a group of Giaks amuse themselves by pushing them under with the hafts of their spears.

  The Giaks are preoccupied with their cruel sport and you evade them easily. You continue along the street opposite the torture pits and arrive at a square flanked by four tall towers.

  If you possess the Magnakai Discipline of Divination and have reached the rank of Archmaster, turn to 124.

  If you do not possess this skill or have yet to attain this level of Magnakai training, turn to 283.

  198

  Using a Kai wrestling break to free yourself, you spin around and drive your clenched fist towards the face of your attacker. But before your blow connects with his chin, the ship gives a sudden lurch and you are both thrown to the floor. Your enemy lands on top of you and immediately closes his hands around your throat in an attempt to crush your windpipe.

  Drakkar: COMBAT SKILL 21 ENDURANCE 26

  Because of the situation, you are unable to draw a hand weapon and must fight this combat unarmed.

  If you win the combat, turn to 253.

  199

  The noise and fury of your combat alerts two guard patrols, one at either end of the corridor. They rush to investigate, and, when they see what you have done, they seal off the corridor and sound a general alarm. Within minutes, the tunnels are filled with snarling, snapping, screaming horrors. The guards then open the corridor and set them upon you.

  You fight valiantly, slaying many before you are eventually overwhelmed and taken in chains before Darklord Gnaag. With cruel glee, he orders you to be cast into the Lake of Blood, where your endless suffering will feed its unholy flames for all eternity.

  Tragically, your natural life and your mission end here.

  200

  It is nearing the hour of sunset when you set eyes on the naval base of Argazad. It nestles in the curve of a cliff — a natural harbour, protected from the pounding waters of the Helenag by a long promontory of rock. This wall-like barrier serves as a quay for more than fifty ironclad warships, the evil armada that is slowly strangling your country. Along the quay, huddled in the shadow of the surrounding cliffs, are a host of grim grey buildings, newly-constructed from iron and stone. Their greasy windows flare with the orange light of fires that roar within, warming the Drakkarim sailors and marines who crew the Darklands' fleet.

  Before entering the base, the trail joins a highway that approaches Argazad from the south. You stop to consult your map and discover that this road leads to the city-fortresses of Kaag and Aarnak. You consider avoiding the naval base and riding to Aarnak, but soon dismiss the idea. The journey would take you across the Naogizaga, one of the most desolate wastelands in all of Magnamund. Even if you could survive the heat, the dust, and the hellish creatures that dominate that grey desert, your mount would be sure to perish for lack of food and water. (If you only possess the Kai Discipline of Hunting — not Huntmastery — you may no longer hunt for food as you venture deeper into the Darklands.)

  A wall of stones, surmounted by an unbroken coil of razor-sharp wire, encircles the naval base. There is only one way through this perimeter wall — a gate that is guarded by a squad of Death Knights, the élite of the Drakkarim. Boldly you ride towards the gate, hoping to pass through unchallenged, but, as you approach, the Death Knights take up their spears and stand shoulder-to-shoulder across the road. ‘Teg okak aga kog Argazad, shad?’ demands their sergeant, gruffly.

  If you possess the Magnakai Discipline of Psi-surge and have reached the Kai rank of Principalin or higher, turn to 17.

  If you have the Magnakai Discipline of Invisibility and have reached the Kai rank of Scion-kai or higher, turn to 167.

  If you possess neither of these skills and these ranks, turn to 314.

  201

  The pungent aroma of the herbs, and their origin, makes you highly suspicious of their properties. Rather than risk swallowing them, you cast them aside and rise quickly to your feet. Confident that you have not overlooked any items that could possibly aid your mission, you decide that the time has come to leave.

  Turn to 274.

  202

  Greedily the sergeant snatches the coins from your hand (erase all the Kika from your Action Chart) and pockets them with a smile. Then he turns to his troops and shouts: ‘Agna tok!’

  To your relief they stand aside and you ride quickly through the gate. A shadowy street lies beyond, at the end of which there is a sign that indicates the way to the two main areas of Argazad: the ironclad harbour, and the supply depot.

  If you wish to investigate the harbour, turn to 295.

  If you wish to investigate the supply depot, turn to 328.

  203

  Your senses warn you that this creature has been summoned in Gnaag's defence. Its ghostly body is growing stronger every second, and you realize quickly that it is feeding on your fear. Drawing on your psychic reserves, you try to erect a mental barrier to prevent this psychic parasite from gorging on your fears.

  Pick a number from the Random Number Table. If you have completed the Lore-circle of the Spirit, add 5 to the number you have picked.

  If your total is now 0–6, turn to 102.

  If it is 7 or more, turn to 114.

  204

  ‘Fear can play strange tricks on your eyesight, comrade,’ says the captain, in a patronizing tone. ‘We'll be upon 'em soon enough. But we'll smell 'em long before we see 'em, mark my words.’

  You try to convince him that you really can see the enemy but stubbornly he refuses to listen. Minutes later, the unmistakable stench of sulphur wafts across the deck and a shout rings out from the crow's nest that sends the crew into a frenzy of activity.

  ‘Blockaders dead ahead!’

  ‘Hard a-port!’ bellows the captain, and frantically his helmsman spins the ship's wheel. The deck tilts steeply and the timbers groan their protest as the caravel veers away from the enemy line. To your right you see a Darkland ironclad less than a hundred yards distant, its steel-skinned deck bris
tling with formidable weaponry. Then a sudden flash of blue-white light illuminates its bow and a fiery projectile arcs across the sky towards the Intrepid.

  Pick a number from the Random Number Table.

  If the number you have picked is 0–2, turn to 20.

  If the number is 3–9, turn to 180.

  205

  Using your powerful Kai skills to the full, you manage to prise the hideous, jelly-like creature from your head and hurl it to the floor. But no sooner has it hit the steel deck than it springs back at your face, forcing you to defend yourself.

  Plaak: COMBAT SKILL 30 ENDURANCE 10

  This creature is immune to Mindblast and Psi-surge.

  If you win the combat, turn to 312.

  206

  Your descent from the tunnel entrance to the base of the mountain is far more difficult than the climb up. Your ascent dislodged several sections of the trail, and the gaps that have appeared demand that you use all your skill and stamina to surmount them. One gap offers a ledge of crumbling rock no more than three inches wide on which to shuffle across. There are no handholds here; only the pressure of your chest and palms against the bare granite prevents you from falling.

  Pick a number from the Random Number Table. If you have a rope, add 1 to the number you have picked. If you possess the Magnakai Discipline of Huntmastery and have reached the Kai rank of Primate or higher, add 2 to the number you have picked. If you have completed the Lore-circle of Solaris, add 3 to the number.

  If your total score is now 0–4, turn to 62.

  If it is 5 or more, turn to 123.

  207

  Your mastery of animals enables you to command the two seabirds to search elsewhere for food. Instantly they fly away, cawing their displeasure, leaving you free to paddle towards the shore.

  Turn to 14.

  208

  The moment you unsheathe the Sommerswerd, it radiates such goodly power that every creature in Helgedad is alerted to your presence. Within minutes you are surrounded by a nightmare legion of snarling, snapping, screaming horrors. You fight valiantly, and slay many before you are eventually overwhelmed and taken in chains before Darklord Gnaag. With cruel glee, he orders you to be cast into the Lake of Blood, where your endless suffering will feed its unholy flames for all eternity.

  Tragically, your natural life and your mission end here.

  209

  With a swift and graceful movement, you snatch a dagger from the belt of one of your dead foes, spin on your heel, and fling it at the archer above before he has a chance to fire another arrow. It sinks hilt-deep into his chest, sending him tumbling backwards into the black waters of the Kaltersee. With the stern deck now cleared of the enemy, you grab the helm and attempt to steer the ship away from the ironclad. The second enemy vessel is closing fast and you fear that the Intrepid will be smashed to driftwood if caught between the two.

  Pick a number from the Random Number Table. For every Magnakai Discipline you possess above your initial three skills, add 1 to the number you have picked (for example, if you possess five Magnakai Disciplines, add 2 to the number you have picked).

  If your total is now 0–9, turn to 309.

  If it is 10 or more, turn to 151.

  210

  Patiently, you watch the engineers complete their work. Then they climb down from the platform that services the tank area and leave the dry dock. When you are sure that the coast is clear, you climb the ladder to the tank and take a closer look at a control panel attached to its side. A dagger-sized length of white metal, suspended inside a thick glass tube, appears to control the power generated inside the orange tank. If you were to invert the tube, the change in position would be hard to detect but the result would be catastrophic. Once underway, the power would be allowed to build up unchecked and would eventually cause the tank to explode.

  If you possess the Magnakai Discipline of Divination and have reached the Kai rank of Principalin or higher, turn to 31.

  If you do not possess this skill or have yet to attain this level of Magnakai training, you can invert the tube: turn to 345.

  Or you can leave the tube untouched and abandon your sabotage attempt: turn to 223.

  211

  Your keen eyes track the speeding bird and effortlessly you shoot it from the sky. It caws in pain and splashes into the sea less than an arm's length from your makeshift life-raft, enabling you to retrieve your Arrow (you need not delete this Arrow from your Weapons List).

  Turn to 14.

  212

  Your Arrow strikes its target with chilling accuracy. The Drakkar throws his arms in the air and tumbles out of the saddle, killed instantly by your deadly shaft.

  Turn to 79.

  213

  With a fearful scream of vengeance, the Drakkarim officer swings his scimitar down to cleave your neck in two. Skilfully you sidestep the blow and manage to turn the flashing blade with the edge of your weapon. He growls a curse and lunges again, determined to take your life.

  Drakkarim Marine Officer: COMBAT SKILL 27 ENDURANCE 38

  You can evade combat after two rounds: turn to 274.

  If you win the combat, turn to 232.

  214

  You unsheathe the Sommerswerd and the shadowy chamber is flooded with blinding golden light, as if a sun had flared into being beneath its black dome. The steel walls vibrate, and then buckle beneath an onslaught of pure energy that is radiating from the sword's blade. Until now the power of the sun-sword has been held in check, locked and subdued within its divinely crafted blade. Even the surge of power that destroyed Darklord Zagarna at the walls of Holmgard was but a candle flicker compared to the searing radiance that is now pouring from its tip.

  For an instant you see panic blaze madly in Gnaag's fly-like eyes, before he is consumed by the power of the Sommerswerd and vapourised to sightless atoms. With a cry of victory, you sheathe the sun-sword and stare at the place where, only seconds before, your arch-enemy confronted you.

  Turn to 350.

  215

  Using your advanced Kai skill you focus on a large, weed-draped boulder away to your left. The Giaks, led by their scout, rush towards it, their spears held at the ready. They cackle with glee at the thought of murdering another helpless Sommlending, but, of course, when they descend on the boulder, they discover that it conceals no one. The sound of their vile curses gradually fades as stealthily you escape along the beach.

  Turn to 157.

  216

  On a throne of hewn granite, ringed by seven pillars of fire, sits a being whose form radiates pure evil. A loose grey robe shrouds his skeletal frame. It is drawn closely about a stringy throat that swells and shrinks repulsively as he sucks the sulphurous air. With a claw-like finger, he scrapes nervously at the blistered flesh that is stretched tightly across the swollen left side of his face, attempting in vain to hook the head of a snake-like parasite that has burrowed into his jaw. His eyes, deep-sunken and red-rimmed with the unbearable pain of his affliction, burn with sick fanaticism as he listens impatiently to the pleas and excuses being offered by two who stand before him — the man in red and one other, both humbly bowed.

  The luckless mortals plead their case, speaking in the Vassagonian tongue — a language that you mastered long ago. They speak of delays in the construction of a mighty battleship, of shortages of material and of too little time in which to finish their work. Their words anger the seated one. He curses them, and the floor shudders beneath the weight of his unnatural voice. ‘You would dare defy me?’ he roars. ‘You would court the anger of Kraagenskûl, Lord of Argazad? Fools! Know you this. If your work is not completed before the next moon, you shall wish yourselves truly dead. A thousand years of agony shall be the reward for your failure, a thousand years of undeath in the dungeons of Helgedad!’

  Illustration XII—Darklord Kraagenskûl draws his sword.

  Fired by his own rage, the corpse-like Darklord Kraagenskûl rises from his throne and draws the sword that hangs sheathed at
his side. The blade is unlike any that you have seen. It is wholly black, a black so dense that it appears entirely separate from the hilt, like a tear through which you glimpse the nightmare depths of space. He levels the sword at the cowering men to reinforce his threat, but the blade rebels. It twists in his hand and points accusingly at the place where you are hiding. The Darklord narrows his feral eyes and a wave of psychic shock buffets your mind.

  If you possess the Magnakai Discipline of Psi-screen, turn to 21.

  If you do not possess this skill, turn to 267.

  217

  The Xargath sinks swiftly beneath the icy waters. Its tail breaks the surface and slaps the swirling foam, and then it too is gone, trailing the creature's lifeless body as it spirals a hundred fathoms to its final resting place at the bottom of the Kaltersee.

  An eerie silence descends upon the shattered decks of the Intrepid as the few who have survived the attack stare in horror at the swirling, bloodstained sea. Then begin the cries of the injured, and those who are still able to stand begin the grim task of recovering bodies and staunching wounds. You help with the search and find Captain Borse lying near the ship's longboat. He is unconscious and badly injured: both his legs have been broken at the thigh by one swipe of the monster's tail. You attempt to revive him with your basic Kai healing skills, but he is in deep shock and does not respond.