by Joe Dever
There is less than an hour left before it will be dark, and so you suggest to him that you stop at an inn to celebrate his return home over a tankard of Siyenese ale. He agrees, and you ride into the courtyard of the nearest tavern. Outside its door there hangs a board displaying the prices of its food, ale, and lodging. Its list of charges have all been struck out and replaced with new figures that are ten times more than the original costs. Shocked by the exorbitant prices, you decide to forgo your celebratory ale and leave Voshno.
You camp for the night in a copse of elm trees that borders the trail, a mile to the east of the hamlet. Before you sleep, you must eat a Meal or lose 3 ENDURANCE points (unless you possess the Discipline of Grand Huntmastery).
To continue, turn to 125.
222
You cross the narrow village street and approach the two Cavalian lordlings as they stroll leisurely towards the jetty.
‘Good evening, my lords,’ says Karvas, politely. ‘My friend and I were wondering if you two gentlemen would care to sell us your tickets for the riverboat to Seroa?’
The taller man utters a terse laugh and he flicks his fingers at Karvas dismissively. ‘We've waited many years for Baron Sadanzo to come to power and we do not intend to miss his crowning.’
‘ 'Tis so,’ whines his stout companion. ‘We have no tickets to sell and we are fast growing tired of your impudence. Begone, you fellows. Leave us be.’
If you possess Kai-alchemy and wish to use it, turn to 65.
If you do not possess this skill, or if you choose not to use it, turn to 181.
223
You are leaving through the portal when the missile strikes Karvas a glancing blow on his left shoulder and sends him tumbling past you into an alleyway outside the warehouse. You rush to his side and hurriedly you staunch the flow of blood from his injured shoulder by the use of your Magnakai Discipline of Curing. (Use of this skill to aid the Prince costs you 2 ENDURANCE points.)
With the Bakhasians close on your heels, you help the Prince to his feet and support him as you make a hurried escape along the dark alleyway towards an adjoining torchlit street.
Turn to 88.
224
Arrows are splashing into the slimy water all around you yet you survive them without sustaining a scratch. However, two shafts pierce your Backpack and destroy the item that you have recorded as the second one on your list.
You must now erase the second item from your Backpack Items list before continuing by turning to 342.
225
You are within a few feet of the Prince when suddenly your fingers lose their purchase on the crumbly rock-face and you fall headlong towards the river. As you plummet, you collide with Prince Karvas and together you tumble into the raging waters, never to be seen again.
Tragically, your life and your mission come to a watery end here, in the subterranean river beneath the ancient ruins of Castle Dascallo.
226
Having agreed the places where each of you will begin your search for the whereabouts of Prince Karvas, you follow Acraban to the rear deck and enter the skyship's boarding cage. Swiftly it is winched down to the market square where you are met unexpectedly by a jostling crowd of grimy-faced street urchins. They have been gathering here since dawn to stare in wonderment at the Starstrider hovering motionless in the cloudless sky above. Acraban hurls a handful of copper coins across the cobblestones and the children scramble to retrieve them. This creates enough space to allow Zinair to push open the cage door and the three of you to step out. After agreeing to return to the skyship no later than sunset, you split up and go in search of your chosen destinations.
Unlike the urchins, the adult population of Mydnight appears less than fascinated by the imposing sight of the Starstrider hovering above their city, and few give it a second glance. This seeming lack of interest does not surprise you. For centuries this port has been a refuge for exiles from the many nations of Magnamund who, for their own individual reasons, have chosen to forsake their native lands. They are, by nature, a secretive community. Any overt interest in the affairs of another is commonly viewed with suspicion and distrust.
You retrace the route you took last night and soon find yourself at the harbour. The Azaktana is still moored at the quayside and you give the crew a friendly wave as you stride across the quayside towards The Smitheries — the city's west quarter. This district of Mydnight is crowded with the workshops of skilled artisans and craftsmen — ironsmiths, potters, carpenters, weavers, wheelwrights, and glassblowers to name but a few. Most are honest men seeking refuge from the greedy barons and landlords of their native lands. Some have come to escape their debts, while others have found themselves brought here by some misfortune. The noise that fills this quarter of the city is almost deafening. The ceaseless hammering of iron and copper blends with the cries of sellers to create a reverberating wall of sound.
You enter a blacksmith's shop that has an impressive display of knives, tools, and other utensils fixed to the beams which support its slated roof. You hope that Prince Karvas may have purchased items from this shop sometime in the past and you ask the owner if he knows of him and his whereabouts. The blacksmith scowls with disdain and turns his back on you. Your Kai Sixth Sense tells you that he suspects you to be an assassin who has come here to Mydnight to find and murder the Prince. He motions to his son who is working the bellows of a furnace nearby. You realize you must act quickly if you wish to allay the blacksmith's suspicions and avoid a confrontation with his son.
If you possess the Grand Master Discipline of Kai-alchemy and wish to use it, turn to 14.
If you do not possess this skill, or if you should choose not to use it, turn to 260.
227
Early next morning, before dawn, you meet with Karvas and Sainus and go to collect your horses from the stable. As you mount them, the old man bids you good luck and he gives the Prince a pouch containing 50 Orla, a sum that could prove useful during the ride to Seroa.
Dawn breaks as you leave Sainus' house, and you hear a bell which signifies that the night curfew has now come to an end. You ride along the streets of the north quarter and enter a broad avenue that leads directly to the east gatehouse. The guards posted here are opening the great east gate as you approach, and you gallop through the widening gap.
The sun shines brightly all day and you make good progress along the King's Highway. By nightfall you have covered more than 80 miles and have reached a small village called Landsdorf. You decide to stop and rest at the village's solitary tavern — the Golden Plough Inn — and as you ride into its courtyard a young stable boy runs to greet you and take care of your horses. Two rooms here cost 10 Orla, a sum which Prince Karvas pays in full using part of the money given to him by Sainus. The jovial tavern-keeper hands you each a key and he offers you a tankard of his best ale, on the house.
You accept his generous offer and enter the taproom of this hospitable tavern. As your frothing beer is being drawn from the cask, you overhear a conversation at a nearby table. Three farmers are discussing the crowning ceremony and one of them says that it is to take place at noon. This news unsettles Karvas, for traditionally the ceremony of ascendance begins at dusk, as soon as the sun disappears below the horizon. If what the farmer says is true, you now have only one and a half days left in which to reach Seroa in time for the crowning. You resolve to get as much sleep as you can this night, and then ride for Seroa at dawn. If you forgo sleep tomorrow and journey through the night, you can still arrive at the capital before noon on Harvestmas Day. Karvas prays that your horses are fit enough for the gruelling ride, and you are both glad that you have decided to rest them here tonight. They will need all their strength come the morning.
As you sip your ale, your rumbling stomach reminds you that you have not eaten for several hours.
If you wish to order and eat a meal in the taproom, turn to 142.
If you decide to ignore your rumbling stomach and retire to your room as soon as y
ou have finished your ale, turn to 41.
228
You speak the words of the Brotherhood Spell — Levitation — and feel your feet leaving the dusty street as you ascend effortlessly towards the second-storey window. When you draw level with the window you counter the spell and step through its tall frame onto a stone stairway beyond. This circular staircase leads to the top of the tower which commands a magnificent view of the city. Aided by your night vision, you are able to locate stables less than a mile to the north of the tower. You commit their location to memory and then hurriedly you descend the stairs and return to the window. Once more you use your Brotherhood magic, this time to slow your descent as you step through to the street below.
Prince Karvas is delighted to hear that there are stables in the city, and he insists that you set off for them at once. He is leading the way out of the warehouse ruins when suddenly the tower bell begins to toll once more. Moments later, the temple doors swing open and the procession of black-clad figures file out into the street. Instinctively you take hold of Karvas by the arm and pull him back into the ruins to avoid being seen by the emerging soldiers. As they pass by, you peer around the edge of the crumbling warehouse doorway to watch them. A strange feeling of unease makes the skin on the back of your neck prickle, and immediately you sense that all is not what it seems. When you magnify your vision to take a closer look at the passing figures, you gasp with shock at what you see.
Turn to 100.
229
Your Kai Sixth Sense detects that a strong concentration of evil lies beyond the door. Forewarned, you approach the iron portal with caution and inspect its lever more closely. Your Magnakai Discipline of Divination detects an aura of magic around this lever, yet you are unable fathom its true purpose. You suspect that it is likely to be some kind of locking or holding spell.
If you wish to pull the lever with your hand, turn to 49.
If you wish to try to pull the lever without touching it directly, turn to 122.
230
Beyond the east gate of Battle Pass, the trail winds down through craggy borderland towards the lush river valley of the River Ioma, where an ocean of sun-yellowed grasses sways languidly in the warm afternoon breeze. This rolling vista has a graceful tranquillity that reminds you of the Southlund Marches of southern Sommerlund. It stirs fond memories of childhood days in that distant province and prompts an unexpected bout of homesickness that dampens your spirits. Karvas, too, is feeling a little melancholy. Yet his mood is not born out of a longing for his homeland, but from a sense of loss. You ask what ails him and, with some reluctance, he tells you:
‘The beauty of this valley belies its bloody past,’ he says, and he sweeps his arm across the distant horizon. ‘Many of my ancestors and countrymen have fought and died here in battle. For the Siyenese it is a land filled with proud and bitter memories.’ He points to a distant spire of rock and, when you magnify your vision, you see that its grey granite surface is too smooth and symmetrical for it to be a natural feature of this rolling plain.
‘There stands the Oridon Stone,’ he says. ‘It marks the graves of ten thousand men who fell at the battle of Inkil Reach.’
Prince Karvas regards the monolith with a mixture of sadness and pride, and you sense that quietly he yearns to visit this battlefield marker.
If you wish to leave the trail and ride with Karvas to the Oridon Stone, turn to 104.
If you wish to dissuade the Prince from visiting the monolith by reminding him of the urgent need for his swift return to Seroa, turn to 139.
231
You climb the wall with little difficulty. As you settle your feet securely between the spikes in readiness to leap into the training field that lies beyond, you see that there is a guard standing directly below your position. Without a moment's hesitation, you leap onto his back and bring him crashing to the ground. He tries to shout out but a sharp blow to the base of his skull renders him unconscious before his cry has left his lips. Instinctively you scan the perimeter of the field and the buildings beyond in case you have been seen, but there appear to be no other guards on duty. (If you made use of a Rope during your climb you must now erase it from your Action Chart. In your haste to silence the guard you have left it behind, fixed to a spike, and hanging down the far side of the wall.)
Turn to 16.
232
Karvas takes a scroll, one of many that are crammed between the books that line the surrounding shelves, and places it inside the empty safe. Then he takes a tinderbox from his pocket and sets the scroll alight. You wait for a few minutes until all that remains of the scroll is a layer of flaky ash, and then he slams shut the door and spins its dial. Now, should Sadanzo open his safe, he will find that his contract with the Assassins' Guild has mysteriously combusted.
Having completed the deception, you are both eager to leave this evil library without delay. But, as you are approaching the arch which leads to the adjoining chamber, you suddenly hear a noise which makes you stop dead in your tracks.
Turn to 86.
233
For several minutes you struggle in vain to unlock the door. (If you used a Dagger, unfortunately the blade snapped during your attempt to pick the lock and you must erase this Weapon from your Action Chart). When you hear the sound of footsteps approaching from the temple hall, you are forced to abandon your efforts and return to the street. Once outside, you glance up at the open second-storey window and you resolve to try to gain entry that way.
If you possess Kai-alchemy, turn to 228.
If you do not possess this skill, turn to 175.
234
Hastily you recite the words of the Brotherhood Spell Invisible Shield and sweep your hand in a circle behind your head. The spell materializes barely moments before a speeding crossbow bolt hits it and is deflected away from your neck. Its buckled point trails a line of sparks as it gouges a furrow in the flagstones.
Turn to 174.
235
Your Kai senses lead you to believe that a storm is brewing, but it is unlike any you have encountered before. The blanket of cloud, which has been a constant feature of the voyage so far, is beginning to dissipate. As it thins out it reveals a stark landscape of black volcanic rock far below. This tortured landscape is scarred by deep chasms and fissures, some of which emit jets of steam that roar skywards to buffet the hull of the Starstrider as it flies past. Some of these colossal jets condense to form strange green-grey clouds which slowly drift and tumble back to the ground. One such cloud forms in the air and begins to fall on a collision course with the ship. Acraban sees the threat and he orders Kuo, his helmsman, to descend 300 feet in order to evade the falling cloud mass.
As the Starstrider begins its descent there is a startlingly loud explosion. From his nest atop the mainmast, the lookout shouts a warning and points frantically towards the ground. You rush to the rail and peer over the side, your stomach churning with fearful anticipation of what you will see. Deep within the fathomless reaches of the fissures and chasms passing below, you glimpse flashes of blue-white energy. These bolts are growing brighter and louder as they streak towards the surface. One bolt escapes from a vent in the middle distance and rips open the sky. It skewers a cluster of steam clouds and blows them apart in a loud and spectacular explosion of gas and flame. You urge Acraban to order his helmsman to ascend, to avoid the new and deadly danger that is striking at you from below. The wizard turns to Kuo, but before he can issue the order, there is a deafening Crack! from somewhere beneath the stern.
Pick a number from the Random Number Table.
If the number you have picked is 0–3, turn to 268.
If it is 4–6, turn to 149.
If it is 7–9, turn to 341.
236
The Knight Bachelor recognizes the linen currency of Sheasu and a flicker of fear registers in the depths of his cruel eyes. He glances at Karvas and then he bellows a command to his men to move in and take you both captive.
Reluc
tantly you raise your hands. Better to surrender to these horsemen and live to fight another day than attempt to resist such overwhelming odds and place the Prince's life in peril.
Turn to 130.
237
The pain fades as you feel your mental defences strengthening and locking together to form an impenetrable wall. The attacking pulses break like waves smashing themselves against a rocky shore, and then abruptly their energy dissipates and the attack ceases.
Turn to 327.
238
It is early in the afternoon when you see the ruins of an ancient fortress. They lie less than a mile from the trail, on a plateau of rock at the base of a shallow ravine. As you descend the trail and draw closer to the ruins, you hear a distant rumble of thunder. Within minutes it has begun to rain and soon you find yourself caught in a torrential downpour. Your Magnakai Pathsmanship skills warn you that heavy rain in these barren mountains brings with it the danger of a sudden flash flood.
The sheeting rain is making it impossible to see the trail ahead. Rather than continue and risk flood or fall, you leave the trail to seek shelter in the ruined fortress.
