by Joe Dever
Turn to 319.
88
You are able to cause the lantern to rock from side to side until it begins to drip burning oil onto the powder kegs. The creature is unaware of the danger until it is too late. One burning drop of oil falls through an open bung-hole, and in an instant, the platform is consumed by a thunderous ball of flame.
Turn to 130.
89
The onrushing blast of ice strikes you in mid-air, and you suffer severe frostbite to your legs and feet: lose 4 ENDURANCE points.
Your Magnakai Discipline of Nexus thaws your frozen limbs and spares you from suffering permanent damage. But upon hitting the ground, you find that you are unable to move immediately. When at last the feeling returns to your legs, you drag yourself back to your feet and see the creature and its slavering horde rushing along the tunnel towards you. Quickly you unsheathe your Kai Weapon to meet their determined attack.
Shom'zaa Agarashi & Commander: COMBAT SKILL 50 ENDURANCE 55
You cannot evade this combat — you must fight these creatures to the death.
If you win the fight, turn to 324.
90
Before pressing any of the buttons, you attempt to use your Magnakai Discipline of Nexus to see if the locking mechanism of this great door can be manipulated by the power of your mind. Unfortunately, you quickly discover that the lock is protected by an ancient spell of shielding that negates all psychic magic. In order to open this portal you must now decide the order in which you will press the three buttons.
If you choose: 1–2–3, turn to 123.
If you choose: 1–3–2, turn to 132.
If you choose: 2–1–3, turn to 213.
If you choose: 2–3–1, turn to 231.
If you choose: 3–1–2, turn to 312.
If you choose: 3–2–1, turn to 321.
91
The blow throws you forward and you scrape your jaw on a stalagmite before splashing into the mire: lose 1 ENDURANCE point.
Your senses are screaming ‘Danger!’ as you struggle to your knees and wipe the slime from your bloodied mouth. Instinctively you reach for your Kai Weapon, but its blade is barely out of the scabbard when Shom'zaa leaps upon you and rakes you with his terrible claws.
Illustration VI—Shom'zaa leaps upon you and rakes you with his terrible claws.
Shom'zaa: COMBAT SKILL 56 ENDURANCE 50
This creature is immune to Mindblast (but not Kai-surge).
If you win the combat, turn to 322.
92
You crash down heavily among the barley stalks and injure your neck and shoulder: lose 3 ENDURANCE points. Freed from your mental control, the Brozal scrambles to its feet and lopes away along the muddy ditch. By the time you have recovered your senses, the creature has disappeared back into the wheat field.
The surrounding barley is a younger and shorter crop, and you are able to see the roof of a Drodarin farmhouse less than 50 yards to the north.
If you wish to investigate this farmhouse, turn to 73.
If you choose to avoid the farmhouse, turn to 37.
93
The icy blast punches through the wall of hot air and strikes your left hand, spinning you to the ground: lose 3 ENDURANCE points.
Your Magnakai Discipline of Nexus thaws your frozen fingers and saves you from sustaining permanent damage. But when you struggle to your feet, you find yourself confronted by the creature and its slavering horde. Quickly you unsheathe your Kai Weapon as they race forward and attack.
Shom'zaa Agarashi & Commander: COMBAT SKILL 50 ENDURANCE 55
You cannot evade this combat — you must fight these creatures to the death.
If you win the fight, turn to 324.
94
An agonizing pain engulfs your right leg when an arrow hits and penetrates deep into your thigh: lose 5 ENDURANCE points. You fight to stay on your feet, but your wounded leg buckles beneath your weight and drags you unwillingly to the ground. Gritting your teeth against the pain, you wrench the shaft from your leg and force yourself to stand. By the use of your Magnakai curing skills, you are then able to numb the agony of your wound and force yourself onwards.
On reaching the pit, you quickly pull aside the planks that lie strewn across the opening. Peering down into the darkness, you glimpse the tangled wreckage of a cage lying at the bottom of the shaft, 60 feet below. The Shom'zaa minions are closing in, firing as they advance. When a second arrow rips the sleeve of your tunic, you quickly decide that you must climb down the shaft to avoid being struck again.
If you possess Kai-alchemy, turn to 76.
If you do not possess this Discipline, turn to 180.
95
Carefully you examine the walls and floor and detect no other exits, other than the passage by which you entered the treasure vault. But that way is now impassable. Following its destruction, the ashes of the slain creature have become steadily hotter. A searing radiation fills the passageway, and this deadly energy forces you to abandon all hope of making an escape by that route.
You are beginning to fear that you may be trapped, until you notice that the vault's domed ceiling is obscured by a cloud of steam. Using your Kai skills, you peer through the vapours and detect a hole at the apex of the dome through which the steam is emerging. By climbing onto the statue of Ishir and raising both arms, you are able to take hold of a metal flange encircling the hole. Confident that you have found a way out, you haul yourself up and begin climbing along a rough stone duct. This slippery conduit leads to another hole, located in the roof of a rocky cavern where steam is bubbling from the surface of a hot spring.
Gingerly you drop down to the floor of this humid cavern and take stock of your new surroundings.
Through the thick, billowing vapours you glimpse an underground river which divides the cavern in two. Its warm waters enter through a fissure in the south wall, and flow away through a natural tunnel in the west wall. You are approaching the muddy bank when suddenly a huge dark shape comes looming out of the steam. You can barely stifle a scream of terror when you find yourself staring into the venomous maw of a gigantic steamspider.
If you possess a Jug of Vinegar, turn to 187.
If you do not possess this item, turn to 26.
96
You say the words of the Brotherhood Spell Net and point your right hand at the group of Shom'zaa Agarashi that are gathered at the rear of the cannon. A gout of sticky fluid gushes from your palm and you direct this stream at the creatures, entrapping them in several layers of sticky fibrous strands.
Turn to 198.
97
The icy bolt is deflected by the wall of hot air, but it strikes your legs and inflicts severe frostbite to your calves and feet: lose 4 ENDURANCE points.
Your Magnakai Discipline of Nexus thaws your frozen limbs and saves you from sustaining permanent damage to your feet and toes, but you are unable to move your legs effectively and you topple backwards to the ground.
Before the Shom'zaa Agarashi can rally themselves and attack you while you lie helpless upon the floor, you crawl away into a section of the vast laboratory that is crowded with siege machinery and engines of war. Here you take cover behind a large shield on wheels and observe the enemy milling in confusion. While you are watching them, you use your Kai healing skills to restore all feeling to your frost-numbed feet.
Suddenly their commander galvanizes their attention by freezing two luckless minions to death with another icy blast. When he then commands the portcullis to be lowered to prevent you from escaping, a zealous Agarashi rushes forward and begins hacking at its securing rope with a battle-axe. The rope snaps, and you watch with horror as the portcullis comes crashing down to seal off the exit.
Turn to 320.
98
The Shom'zaa minions fire their crossbows at your hiding place and only one of them hits its mark. This bolt passes through the empty barrel and grazes your shoulder: lose 3 ENDURANCE points.
To continue, turn to 280.
99
The lever clicks down and a secret panel in the wall slides open to reveal a narrow passage. As you are peering along this gloomy tunnel, suddenly the heavy chamber door bursts open and slams against the wall.
An icy trickle of fear runs down your back when you turn to look upon the squat creature that is now framed in the doorway. It has a bloated, veined body and waxy skin that is as pale as a frozen corpse. From its fanged mouth there flickers a forked tongue, and its scarlet eye-slits radiate an evil light that chills you to the bone. It advances into the chamber with its arms outstretched, as if it is walking in its sleep. Then it turns and points its arms at you, and its clenched fists begin to glow like two balls of red-hot plasma.
You take hold of the stonework that frames the secret panel and pull yourself towards the narrow passageway. You are only halfway through the opening when two orbs of living flame leap from the creature's glowing fists and come arcing towards your spine.
Pick a number from the Random Number Table. If you possess Grand Huntmastery, add 2 to the number you have picked. If you possess Assimilance, add 1.
If your total score is now 0–1, turn to 44.
If it is 2–3, turn to 262.
If it is 4 or higher, turn to 30.
100
A cheer erupts to your left as the Shom'zaa horde falters and falls back in confusion on that flank. Drodarin marksmen hastily reload their muskets and let loose a parting volley to speed them on their way. But as the smoke from their firearms clears, you see that the battle is going against Prince Torfan's War-thanes on the right flank of the barricade. The cannon, and Leomin's battle-standard, have both been captured by a dozen Shom'zaa Agarashi. You watch with mounting horror as the enemy turn the captured cannon around and point it at the Throne of Andarin, and your fears are compounded when you sense that the gun is primed, loaded, and set ready to fire.
If you possess Kai-alchemy and wish to use it, turn to 96.
If you possess Elementalism and wish to use it, turn to 10.
If you possess Kai-surge and wish to use it, turn to 176.
If you possess none of these skills, or if you choose not to use any of them, turn to 328.
101
You recite the words of the Brotherhood Spell Sense Evil and instantly you detect the presence of Shom'zaa. The fell creature is lurking somewhere beyond the hole in the cavern wall. You try to focus the spell, to determine where exactly he can be found, but all your efforts are in vain. The energy of the raw korlinium is disrupting the power of your spell.
To continue, turn to 247.
102
You draw an Arrow to your Bow and send it arcing across the quarry to strike the lizard-faced creature squarely in the chest. The beast spins around, staggers backwards, and then emits a chilling scream before collapsing to the ground. Upon hearing their leader's death-cry, the minions turn and run as if gripped by a blind panic. You seize this chance to break cover and race towards the pit shaft at the base of the quarry's north wall.
Turn to 17.
103
For more than a mile you ride the torrid waters of this underground river. Its swift current takes you through a series of low, dark caverns, and steeply-sloping chutes. During one of many rapid descents, your Backpack is torn and you lose one item. (Erase from your Backpack one item of your own choice.)
Soon you reach a place where the river flows into a deeper, colder channel. Where the two rivers meet, the water boils and seethes as it collides with a line of jagged, razor-edged rocks. Frantically you battle against the converging currents as you are swept inexorably nearer to this treacherous reef.
If you possess Elementalism and wish to use it, turn to 229.
If you possess Kai-alchemy, have attained the Kai rank of Sun Knight, and wish to use your ability, turn to 34.
If you do not possess either of these skills, or if you have yet to attain the required level of Kai Mastery, turn instead to 338.
104
Drawing upon your Kai camouflage skills, you enter the chamber and steal around the perimeter of the horde by using the shadows of its rough-hewn circular wall. It is not until you dash across the entrance to the west tunnel that you are seen and the alarm is raised. You fight valiantly, slaying a dozen of the enemy before the Shom'zaa commanders freeze you into unconsciousness with a volley of icy blasts. Sadly, it is a sleep from which you never awaken.
Your life and your mission end here in ‘The Hub’.
105
You cast your eye along a line of war engines that are parked beside the shield, and at the far end of the line you see an oil lamp resting on a workbench. As you stare at the flickering lamp, a bold idea begins to take shape in your mind's eye.
Carefully you tear a strip of cloth from the hem of your jacket, twist it into a taper, and grip it firmly in your fist. Then you begin to make your way slowly towards the workbench. You reach it without being detected by the minions, and here you soak the end of your cloth taper with lamp oil and set it alight. As soon as the way is clear, you leap up from behind the bench and dash towards the cannon, the burning taper held before you at arm's length.
Suddenly the Agarashi commander sees you running across the hall. With a disdainful laugh, it raises its clawed hand and takes careful aim at your fleeing form.
Pick a number from the Random Number Table. If you possess Grand Huntmastery, add 2 to the number you have picked.
If your total score is now 5 or lower, turn to 289.
If it is 6 or higher, turn to 175.
106
You shape your mouth to utter an Old Kingdom power-word, and you get ready to direct its concussive energy at this formidable creature: Gloar!
The force of your spell-word hits and stuns the beast, but it inflicts no lasting damage. Angered by your attempt to wound it, the creature quickens its pace and comes lumbering towards you with both its arms raised. Fearful that it will crush your skull between its white-hot fists if you allow it to get too close, you retreat from the tomb and run across the chamber to the alcove. Quickly you pull the lever and a secret panel in the wall slides open to reveal a narrow passage beyond. Taking hold of the stonework which frames the panel, you pull yourself towards the narrow gap. You are only halfway through the opening when two orbs of living flame leap from the creature's glowing fists and come arcing towards your spine.
Pick a number from the Random Number Table. If you possess Grand Huntmastery, add 2 to the number you have picked. If you possess Assimilance, add 1.
If your total score is now 0–6, turn to 44.
If it is 7–8, turn to 262.
If it is 9 or higher, turn to 30.
107
The bolt grazes your scalp and knocks you backwards to the ground: lose 1 ENDURANCE point.
To continue, turn to 282.
108
You draw your Kai Weapon and wait patiently until both guards have turned their backs, and then you leap from cover and rush forward to attack them. Your first blow shatters the creature's skull, and your second sends the remaining minion sprawling to the ground. This creature is mortally wounded, yet before it expires, it is able to emit a shrill cry of alarm that alerts the other Shom'zaa minions to your presence in the smelting cavern.
The dwarves are stunned by your sudden appearance, but they quickly recover and seize their chance to escape from the cage. A hand reaches through the bars and the bolt is pulled. Then the door bursts open and out they pour with a blood-curdling yell. You move aside to avoid being trampled as they rush to the ore wagons and arm themselves with rocks and tools. The torturers abandon their grisly work and come running towards the prison cage with their weapons raised. Three of these heartless minions target you. As they move in for the kill, you rush forward to counter their frenzied attack.
Shom'zaa minions: COMBAT SKILL 38 ENDURANCE 42
If you win the combat, turn to 9.
109
You learn that the princes and their bodyguard of War
-thanes have held the throne chamber for six days. They have no food or water, and it is only the radiant power of the throne that has sustained them. Prince Leomin knows the precise location of Shom'zaa's lair and he will lead you to it. You agree to go with him while Prince Torfan remains here to command the defence of the throne chamber.
Leomin takes you to a stone door set flush into the curving marble wall. A grizzled old warrior sits guard at this portal, and clutched in his vein-covered hands is a glowing runestone. Your Kai senses detect that this door is sealed by an Old Kingdom Spell that has prevented Shom'zaa's horde from gaining entry to the chamber by this way. Prince Leomin unsheathes his battle-axe and motions you to draw your Weapon before the door is opened.
‘Shom'zaa abandoned his attempt to batter down this portal two days past,’ he says. ‘But there may be some of his spawn-kind waiting in the corridor outside. Best be on our guard, Kai Lord.’
Leomin nods to the old warrior and he responds by touching the runestone to the door. There is a faint tinkling sound, and then the portal slides open and you follow the prince as he steps through the opening into the darkened passageway beyond. The portal slides shut behind your back with hardly a sound. Instinctively you scan your new surroundings for signs of the enemy, and quickly discover that Leomin was right to be cautious. More than a dozen Shom'zaa Agarashi have been left here to guard the portal. Only by chance have you chosen a time to leave the chamber when these creatures are asleep.
