by Joe Dever
Simoom ascends rapidly into the cloudless sky. Soon you can see the town of Bavari spread out below you like a detailed map, the southern Vassagonian coastline with its inlets and villages, and to the south the snowy peaks of the Great Masourn Mountains. Yranai tinkers with the engine and you feel the balloon beginning to drift southwards, towards a gap in the peaks of the great mountain range.
If you possess Grand Huntmastery and Telegnosis, turn to 316.
If you do not possess both of these skills, turn to 211.
180
Young city children wave and cheer as the caravan trundles out of Bisutan. Soon you cross the great southern bridge, and when you look down at the sparkling blue waters of the Khorda, you see there a flotilla of tiny fishing craft plying their trade. For the first hour of the journey you content yourself with the view and watch the lush scenery and picturesque villages of the river basin pass before your eyes. However, when the caravan enters the Bavari Hills this pleasant landscape soon gives way to a more mundane vista — a seemingly endless sea of barren mounds and arid rocky outcrops.
After a while your attention turns to the other passengers. They are a cheerful group of Vassagonians who are returning to their homes in Bavari after family visits and business in Bisutan. You pass the time exchanging stories and playing cards. You learn that this caravan is regularly used by the merchants of Bavari and Hikas. They prefer to transport their wares by road rather than risk the sea voyage through the Bay of Sharks. Contrary to its name, you hear that there are no longer any sharks in this bay; they migrated to southern waters many centuries ago. One of the passengers jokingly suggests that the reason they left was because of the pirates. The bay is a notorious haunt of buccaneer fleets and renegade privateers.
The surrounding country may be bleak and barren to the eye, but the road is good and the territory is safe. The merchants have established armed outposts every 20 miles which help to deter bandits from raiding the caravans en route. The first night is spent at an outpost and the second night a camp is struck at an oasis where the road is joined by a track. This neglected track traverses the mountains and leads to the Great Masourn Trail, an ancient trade route. Many of your fellow travellers have been looking forward to arriving at the oasis, for it allows them the chance to visit Temujun the Sage — the famous soothsayer of the Dry Main, and when the caravan arrives there, they hurriedly disembark. You watch with fascination as half of your wagon's passengers scurry towards Temujun's tent, which is pitched at the edge of a shimmering pool, whilst the other half gather about a blazing campfire and share their food while they enjoy a performance given by a troupe of actors.
Illustration XI—Half of the passengers make for Temujun's tent whilst the other half gather about a blazing campfire.
If you wish to visit Temujun the Sage, turn to 282.
If you wish to go to the campfire and watch the actors, turn to 40.
If you prefer to stay aboard the empty passenger wagon, turn to 185.
181
It is dark when you finally bid farewell to Captain Raker and the crew of The Pride of Sommerlund. Ernan leads your party through the warm, lantern-lit streets of this fragrant coastal town and soon you arrive at the Barczak Stables. This grand establishment comprises a large single-storey building with arched windows and a clay-tiled roof, surrounded by numerous orchards, paddocks, and porticoes. The estate is shrouded in darkness and appears to be deserted, although your keen Kai senses detect that there are people asleep somewhere inside the main building.
Next to the main gate stands a wooden notice board displaying a dozen sun-yellowed parchments. A closer inspection reveals them to be a handwritten roster of all the horses that are for sale. You cannot help but notice just how expensive they are. If the five of you were all to pool every Gold Crown you possess, you would still not have enough to buy even the cheapest horse on this list.
In a paddock behind the main building you can see a dozen horses quietly enjoying the warm night air. Sligh points out that there is nobody around and he suggests that it would be easy for you to help yourselves to five of these fine steeds.
‘I'm not a horse thief,’ you retort, ‘and I've no wish to rob these stables.’
‘I respect your honesty, my lord,’ says Sligh, ‘but surely you don't want to have to walk all the way to Bisutan? I'm not saying we steal five horses, I'm saying we just borrow them for a while. We can hire a rider to bring them back just as soon as we reach Bisutan.’
You are not entirely convinced that Sligh is sincere, yet you agree reluctantly to go along with his plan.
If you possess the Discipline of Animal Mastery, turn to 267.
If you do not possess this skill, turn to 325.
182
As you place your offering upon the platform, you are gripped by a surge of vitality and an unexpected sense of well-being.
You may restore 1 lost ENDURANCE point for each Gold Crown that you place upon the offerings platform.
When you have made the appropriate adjustments to your Action Chart, you can continue by turning to 34.
183
You pay the woman (deduct 3 Gold Crowns) and she hands you a key on which is stamped the number 4. Then she points to a corridor on the ground floor which leads to your room at the rear of the building. As you are about to insert the key into the lock, you hear a suspicious noise coming from inside your room. Silently you unsheathe your weapon, unlock the door, and then fling it wide open.
Turn to 66.
184
There is no door to the cabin and you are able to swim through the opening with ease. Inside you discover very little that has survived since this galleon fell prey to a violent storm a year ago. With the tip of your weapon you sift through the mire of decomposing wood, rust, and rotten fabric that lies like a thick muddy blanket on the floor of this cabin. It is a laborious process and in return for your efforts you discover 9 Gold Crowns and a Dagger. (If you wish to keep these items, adjust your Action Chart accordingly.)
Through the hole in the roof of the cabin you glimpse Oriah ascending to the surface for air. Satisfied that there is nothing else of value aboard this wreck, you leave the cabin and return to The Pride of Sommerlund.
Turn to 93.
185
Now that your fellow passengers have left in search of entertainment of one sort or another, you have the carriage to yourself. Before you pull your cloak around yourself and settle down to sleep, you must now eat a Meal or lose 3 ENDURANCE points (unless you possess the Discipline of Grand Huntmastery).
To continue, turn to 290.
186
For two days you travel this road as it crosses the lush coastal plain of northeastern Dessi, which nestles in the rain shadow of the Great Masourn Mountains. The land is bountiful and neither you nor your trusty horse go hungry for want of fresh food. By noon of the third day you come to a village 30 miles from the city of Hikas. At first the villagers seem as placid and as peaceable as any you have encountered during your travels through Dessi, but the moment they see you approaching they immediately freeze in their tracks. Some drop the items they are carrying and others begin to tremble with fear.
If you wish to stop and talk to these anxious natives, turn to 171.
If you decide to ignore them, you can continue riding the road to Hikas by turning to 273.
187
The archer's arrow hurtles across the street towards you as if in slow motion. Your senses are alive to the imminent danger, but you feel rooted to the ground and incapable of moving out of its path.
If you possess Magi-magic and wish to use your mastery of this Discipline, turn to 123.
If you possess Kai-alchemy and wish to use it, turn to 47.
If you possess neither of these skills, or if you choose not to use them, turn to 18.
188
The road from Hikas to Gologo is an ancient trail which crosses rich plantations of tropical crops that are cultivated by the Vakeros, and then meanders
through wild expanses of jungle that have for centuries defied all attempts at cultivation. As you ride this lush road, you are reminded of your history lessons at the Kai Monastery and you recall some of the things you were taught about this ancient realm.
Dessi is ruled by the Elder Magi who are all that remain of a race of great magicians who once ruled central Magnamund thousands of years ago. They were the first practitioners of magic upon this world, and they were wise and powerful leaders until their numbers were decimated by a Great Plague that was released by their enemies — the Cener Druids of Ruel. Those who survived sought refuge here in fertile Dessi and have lived here ever since.
At noon you reach a place where the road passes beside a majestic waterfall, and you stop here to rest your horse and enjoy the beautiful scenery. (Unless you possess the Discipline of Grand Huntmastery, you must now eat a Meal or lose 3 ENDURANCE points.) Then you continue your ride and your strong horse makes excellent progress, carrying you all the way to the coastal town of Gologo to arrive there shortly before sunset.
Turn to 124.
189
Your horses lose speed as they labour the last few hundred yards to the top of the ridge. Anxiously you glance over your shoulder and see that the glow of your pursuers' torches is getting brighter as relentlessly they close the distance between you. Upon reaching the top of the ridge you are relieved to see that the coast road now begins a long and gentle descent through the hills, but when you coax your tired steed to greater effort it fails to respond. The others, too, are unable to make their horses run any faster.
Knowing that you cannot hope to outrun your pursuers, you scour the hills for a place to hide. Your night vision reveals a deep gully running parallel to the road and you signal your companions to follow as you urge your exhausted horse to enter it. Here you dismount and wait until those who are chasing you have ridden past. When their torches can no longer be seen in the distance you remount and begin to retrace your tracks out of the gully. You are within a few dozen yards of the road when something startles your horse and he rears up on his hind legs, throwing you heavily to the ground (lose 2 ENDURANCE points).
You are getting to your feet when you feel a sharp pain shoot up the back of your leg: you have been bitten by a snake. Oswin unsheathes his sword and leans from his horse to take a swipe at the ground. His blow severs the snake's head from its body and it falls close by. To your dismay you see that it is a Jubai — the most poisonous of Vassagonia's desert serpents. Your natural Kai curing skills act swiftly to counter the toxin that has entered your blood, but Jubai venom is very potent and you have received a massive dose.
If you possess the Grand Master Discipline of Deliverance, turn to 169.
If you do not, turn to 26.
190
You are horrified to see that the attacking ship has a large cannon mounted on its prow. Moments after the pirates fire their gun, you hear the whistle of a heavy cannonball as it hurtles towards the deck of The Pride of Sommerlund. It rips through the gunwale close to where you are standing and you are knocked over by the blast (lose 3 ENDURANCE points). As you drag yourself to your feet, you discover that your Backpack has saved you from sustaining a more serious injury. (Two of the items that you are carrying have been destroyed by the blast. You must now erase two items of your choice from your Backpack Items list.)
As the smoke clears you see that the rest of the crew have escaped injury, and damage to the ship is minimal. You hear Sergeant Dryan command his men to return fire and a volley of shots from the three swivel guns slams into the bow of the pirate ship with devastating effect. Two shots penetrate below the waterline and the third severs the bowsprit. As it falls into the ocean, it rips away sail and rigging which drag more than a dozen pirates overboard. In disarray, the enemy vessel veers from its collision course and founders in the wake of The Pride of Sommerlund as it enters the Bukimi Channel. Here your ship picks up a prevailing wind which propels it away from the second pirate raider. Soon both ships have disappeared and, when Raker is sure that the danger has passed, he warmly praises both the marines and his crew for the skill and courage they have displayed.
Later, as the ship navigates the narrow strait dividing the two Lakuri islands, you pass within a few hundred yards of the fire-blackened ruins of a beach settlement which nestles in a bay, overshadowed on three sides by cliffs. This is Kita Cove, formerly a secret base from where Captain Khadro launched his pirate fleet. As you stare at the charred remnants of the pirate settlement, you try to imagine what it must have looked like before the encampment was consumed by a tremendous fireball that sealed its doom. Suddenly your daydreaming is interrupted when, to your shocked surprise, you see something moving among the ruins.
If you possess Kai-alchemy, turn to 158.
If you do not possess this Discipline, turn to 247.
191
The innkeeper growls and knocks the two coins off the bar with the edge of his hand. ‘I don't want y'money!’ he roars. ‘I want you out of here, now! Do I make myself clear?’
Then the rogue and his shadowy companions sidle their way back to the counter and move in to surround you.
‘You heard him,’ says one of the men. ‘There ain't no rooms here.’
‘Yeah! That's right,’ sneers the rogue. ‘So why don't you be gettin' on your way, friend.’ And with this, he whips a dagger from his belt and stabs it into the counter. He glances at his companions and instantly they reach for the hilts of their swords.
If you decide to leave this tavern, turn to 145.
If you wish to protest, turn to 209.
192
Swiftly you recite the words of the Old Kingdom Spell Shield and immediately a transparent disc of magical protection forms in front of your eyes. Seconds later, Svolta's arrow strikes this sorcerous shield and shatters to pieces. The slaver and his archer cannot believe what they have seen and for a few vital seconds they stand frozen in stunned disbelief. You seize this advantage and rush towards the platform with the hope of catching them before they regain their senses yet, as you make your leap, you see the archer drop his bow and reach for his sword. His blade clears its scabbard barely a second before you make your attack, yet he is able to turn aside your first blow. The skill with which he handles his blade leaves you in no doubt that you are facing an expert swordsman. Frightened slaves throw themselves off the platform as you and Svolta begin a desperate fight to the death.
Svolta: COMBAT SKILL 37 ENDURANCE 36
You may add 2 to your COMBAT SKILL in the first round of this fight, due to the momentum of your attack.
If you win the combat, turn to 212.
193
Torvax commands the guardsmen to wait. Then he swaggers over to where you lie and he looks down at you with a thoughtful expression fixed upon his lordly face. His eyes glitter darkly.
‘You lack weight … I like my fighters to have weight of muscle,’ he sneers, ‘but you have strength of spirit. I have seen gladiators who could lift an ox with their bare hands defeated in the arena by puny men with fire in their souls. Perhaps you have fire in your soul, Northlander? Fire enough to win for me the victor's purse?’
Torvax signals to the guardsmen and they pull you to your feet. ‘Very well, you fight for me at dusk. You will fight Dromodon the Invincible and you will win.’
‘And if I lose?’ you say, barely daring to ask the question.
‘Then you die, Northlander. The final combat of the circus is always to the death!’
Turn to 82.
194
You are woken in the middle of the night by a tickling sensation just above your left knee. At first you ignore it, but when you feel it moving you pull back the bed sheet and instantly you freeze. Crawling slowly up your thigh is a red-legged spider with a copper-coloured body the same size as a Gold Crown. At once your Kai instincts recognize it to be a zuath — a Vassagonian tree spider. Its venom has been known to kill in seconds.
If you possess Animal Mastery
, turn to 22.
If you do not possess this Grand Master Discipline, turn to 173.
195
You step back from the body of the last henchman to fall to your deadly blows, and you move to take hold of Oriah by the hand before making a hasty escape from the square. But as you turn on your heels you discover that she is no longer behind you. Then you hear her scream and when you look up you see that she is being carried away on the back of a gigantic bird.
It is an Itikar, a huge Vassagonian eagle, and seated astride its feathered neck is a warrior who has taken Oriah captive during your fight with the slaver's henchmen. Desperately you race after the great bird as it carries her away over the rooftops of Kilij, yet as you sprint across the square you see a dozen armed men emerge from the watching crowd to block your path. The Itikar and its precious cargo are rapidly disappearing towards the northern hills and you know now in your heart that it is too late to save Oriah. Then you hear the sound of cruel laughter echoing across the square and it brings you skidding to a halt. It is the laugh of the slaver: he can barely contain his delight at having captured such a beautiful young woman, and he is relishing the thought of watching as the remainder of his henchmen make you pay for the deaths of their comrades.
