by Joe Dever
You are stunned by the shock of impact upon hitting the water and unable to avoid Prince Karvas and his horse when they come crashing down on you from above. The collision knocks you unconscious and your arms become entangled with your horse's reins. As he is drawn under by the strong current, you are dragged with him to your doom at the bottom of this deep river. Death is mercifully swift.
Tragically, your life and your mission end here in the murky depths of the River Ioma.
340
You are woken at daybreak by the rattling sound of heavy chains and the mechanical thumping and buzzing of a steam-driven sawmill. The fearful noise is almost deafening, yet it fails to awaken Karvas who is sleeping deeply after yesterday's tiring trek. You let him sleep on for another hour before you are forced to awaken him. A trio of rugged timber workers have arrived in an ox-drawn wagon to collect logs for transportation to the river barges. Unfortunately, they have decided to take the logs behind which you are hiding. As they busy themselves fixing hooks and chains, you and Karvas slip aboard their wagon and cover yourselves with a tarpaulin. Once the loading is complete, the men take their seats at the front of the wagon and set off for the river.
Through a rent in the oily canvas sheet you watch the drab houses and streets of Bakhasa filing past. The wagon slows as it approaches the city's main bridge, and then it comes to an unexpected halt. A black-clad guardsman appears and you hear him say to the driver that he wants to inspect his cargo. The driver argues with the guard, insisting that he be allowed to continue on his way. Fearing that you may be detected if the guard prevails, you and Karvas slip away from the wagon and hurry into the ruins of a warehouse close by.
From the cover of this derelict warehouse you watch the soldiers and citizens of Bakhasa going about their daily business. Only twenty days remain before Harvestmas, and as the hours tick by, you become uncomfortably aware that time is running out. With 1,200 miles yet to cover, you know that the success or failure of your mission now hinges on your being able to find some sturdy horses. Throughout the long day you observe the traffic of people who are using the surrounding streets, yet rarely do you see any on horseback.
On the north side of the warehouse there stands a domed building with an adjoining bell-tower. As dusk approaches, you propose to Karvas that you should try to reach the top of this tower. Using your keen sight you will get a better view of the city from there and, with luck, you may be able to locate the nearest stables. The Prince agrees to your plan. He will remain here in the warehouse while you attempt to gain access to the bell-tower. Night is closing and, as you wait for the streets to empty, you study the building opposite and determine two ways by which you may enter its tower: by a side door at street level, or by an open window in the second storey of the tower.
If you wish to try to enter the building by the side door, turn to 154.
If you choose instead to attempt to climb the tower wall and enter through the open window, turn to 271.
341
A concussive blast of air strikes you less than a second after you hear the noise of the explosion. It hurls you sideways across the deck and slams you head-first against the base of the mainmast: lose 5 ENDURANCE points.
Stunned, shaken, and barely conscious, you take hold of the mast and use it to help you pull yourself back onto your feet.
Turn to 51.
342
You swim to the edge of the moat and drag yourself out of the stinking water. As you take hold of the Prince's hand and haul him out onto the bank, you see a group of horsemen riding across the drawbridge. Most are armed with lances bearing Sadanzo's eagle's-head pennant, and their red-faced leader is shouting and pointing at you with his sword.
Illustration XX—You see a group of horsemen riding across the drawbridge.
Arrows continue to fall. They thud into the muddy rim of the moat and splinter on the paved road that encircles the citadel. You grab Karvas by his cloak and pull him to his feet. It is too dangerous to stay here a moment longer. On the far side of the paved road you can see a row of boarded-up houses, an alleyway, and a baker's shop.
If you wish to attempt to escape from the deadly hail of arrows by running into the alleyway, turn to 157.
If you wish to try to escape by entering the baker's shop, turn to 30.
343
Desperately you attempt to dodge the tip of your enemy's lance, but your reflexes have been dulled by the shock of your fall and you react too slowly to avoid being hit. The razor-sharp tip penetrates your chest and punctures your heart, bringing a death that is mercifully swift and painless.
Tragically, your life and your mission end here on the Bakhasa Trail.
344
You launch a sharp pulse of psychic energy at the Inquisitor-major's mind which leaves him reeling (deduct 1 ENDURANCE point for the use of this Discipline). He drops his accursed hunting horn and lolls drunkenly in his saddle before the pain in his mind dissolves and his senses return. He fears that you are a powerful sorcerer and, with a look of abject terror in his eyes, he orders his hunting party to return at once to the foothills. Blindly he wheels his mount about, trampling and crushing his horn beneath his horse's hooves in his desperation to get away.
As the hunters gallop off across the plain, towards the distant horizon, you use your Magnakai Curing skills to revive Prince Karvas fully before you continue your ride east towards Varedo.
Turn to 55.
345
You draw an Arrow to your Bow and let it fly towards the nearest shrine-bearer. The shaft buries itself in his chest and the force of its impact knocks him to the ground. As he releases his grip of the platform, it tilts over and the tiger-head idol tumbles from its wooden base. It hits the ground with a mighty crash, breaks in two, and releases a whirling cone of red flame from its hollow core that engulfs the remaining bearers. In the blink of an eye the three men are transformed into smouldering heaps of ash.
Cries of fear and outrage echo along the street as the Bakhasian soldiers witness the deaths of their comrades and the destruction of their unholy symbol. Before they can gather themselves and give chase, you and Karvas rush across the street and make a hasty escape along the dark alleyway beyond.
Turn to 180.
346
You hand over all of your money (erase everything from the Belt Pouch section of your Action Chart) and the ticket seller pockets the coins with glee. ‘Where are our tickets?’ demands Karvas, but the thin man merely waves his hand disdainfully and retorts: ‘I told you, all tickets are sold. Just go aboard and lie low with the cargo 'til tomorrow. Once she's underway, you'll not be needing tickets. It's a straight voyage down the river to Seroa. She'll not be stoppin' along the way.’
You hurry aboard and make your way to the cargo hold in the belly of the boat. You make yourselves as comfortable as you can among the bales of linen and flax stored here. After a short while you hear the clang of the riverboat's bell. It is a signal that she is about to set off for Seroa in fifteen minutes' time, and a last call for passengers who are still in Xaia. Once everyone is aboard, the gangplank is raised and the riverboat's waterwheel begins to turn. As you feel the boat getting underway, you settle yourself down among the bales and quickly drift off to sleep.
To continue, turn to 46.
347
The blacksmith pockets your bribe and bids you follow him to a smaller room at the rear of his workshop. In the quiet privacy of this adjoining room he tells you all he knows about Prince Karvas of Siyen.
‘The Prince don't live here in Mydnight,’ he says. ‘He did once, when he first came to Sheasu … that be ten years ago now. Then this woman arrived and they got wed. He took her up-country. They live up there on the north coast somewhere. They rarely visits Mydnight these days. Fact is, I haven't seen them for more than a year.’
You thank the blacksmith for the information and leave his workshop. On returning to the quayside you resolve to explore the tangle of alleyways that make up the city's easte
rn quarter in the hope of finding someone else who is willing to tell or sell what they know about the Prince. Unfortunately your efforts garner no further information. As the sun begins to settle on the horizon, you finally abandon your search and hurry back through the darkening passageways towards the market square.
Wizard Acraban and Lord Zinair are already waiting aboard the Starstrider by the time you reach the square. The magician orders the boarding cage to be lowered and you are winched up to the skyship. Both are anxious to hear your news of Prince Karvas' whereabouts for their own enquiries have yielded little useful information. You inform them of what you have learned — that the Prince has a wife and they are living somewhere on the island's northern coastline. Lord Zinair has discovered that Amarelda is the name of Karvas' wife, and Acraban has learned that they last visited Mydnight exactly a year ago.
‘You have done well, Grand Master,’ says Lord Zinair. ‘The citizens of this city are a secretive breed, yet you may have prised enough from them to help us find our reclusive Siyenese Prince.’ Turning to Acraban, he says: ‘I propose we travel north at first light and commence a search of the northern shoreline. It will be easier to espy his retreat from the air than to attempt a search by land.’
Acraban nods in agreement and passes word to his young crewmen to prepare the Starstrider for a voyage north at first light.
Turn to 187.
348
Your advanced Pathsmanship skills reveal to you that the weather is going to deteriorate over the coming few hours. The rain will return, and it will be far heavier than you experienced last night.
Turn to 238.
349
Your combined Kai skills warn you that the door is guarded by a powerful spell of protection. This spell, in turn, is masked by another spell to prevent its detection. Karvas reaches out to pull the lever but you quickly snatch his hand away. To touch this spell-protected lever with a bare hand could prove fatal.
If you wish to attempt to discharge the spell by throwing something at the door, turn to 330.
If you wish to try to open the door by striking the lever down with the tip of your Kai Weapon, turn to 146.
350
Congratulations, Grand Master. Your mission is complete. In the face of great adversity you have met the challenge and you have triumphed. You have upheld the highest traditions of the Kai with honour and dignity, and you have displayed exceptional strength and bravery throughout your ordeal. The succession of Karvas is an important victory in the war against Evil, for it has prevented the throne of Siyen, Sommerlund's richest ally, from falling into the hands of an agent of Naar. You have earned the respect of the Siyenese people and they will never forget the debt of gratitude they owe you.
Following the celebration of his succession, King Karvas arranges for you to return home to Sommerlund by sea aboard his royal caravel. The voyage is swift and uneventful, yet upon reaching Holmgard you learn of a new and deadly threat that has arisen to challenge the Kai. If you wish to confront this threat, the nature of the challenge will be revealed in the next exciting Lone Wolf New Order adventure, entitled:
Rune War
Numbered Sections
1-10: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11-20: 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21-30: 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31-40: 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40
41-50: 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
51-60: 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
61-70: 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70
71-80: 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80
81-90: 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90
91-100: 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100
101-110: 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110
111-120: 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120
121-130: 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130
131-140: 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140
141-150: 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150
151-160: 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160
161-170: 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170
171-180: 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180
181-190: 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190
191-200: 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200
201-210: 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210
211-220: 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220
221-230: 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230
231-240: 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240
241-250: 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250
251-260: 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260
261-270: 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270
271-280: 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280
281-290: 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290
291-300: 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300
301-310: 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310
311-320: 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320
321-330: 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330
331-340: 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340
341-350: 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350
Central Southern Magnamund
Action Chart
Combat Rules Summary
Add your COMBAT SKILL to any bonus points given to you by your Kai Weapon, Special Items, or Grand Master Disciplines.
Subtract the COMBAT SKILL of your enemy from this total. This number = Combat Ratio.
Pick a number from the Random Number Table.
Turn to the Combat Results Table.
Find your Combat Ratio along the top of the chart and cross-reference to the random number you have picked. (E indicates loss of ENDURANCE points to Enemy. GM indicates loss of ENDURANCE points to yourself.)
Continue the combat from Stage 3 until one character is dead. This is when the ENDURANCE points of either character falls to 0 or below.
To Evade Combat
You may only do this when the text of the adventure offers you the opportunity.
You undertake one round of combat in the usual way. All points lost by the enemy are ignored; only you lose the ENDURANCE points.
If the book offers the chance of taking evasive action in place of combat, it can be taken in the first or any subsequent round (unless specifically stated otherwise).
Combat Results Table
Random Number Table
Errata
Introduction
We have taken our unique opportunity to correct errors and to enforce a standard of English usage. We list our changes here. If you see anything that needs correction, please contact the Project Aon Staff.
Errata
(Title) Replaced ‘MYDNIGHT'S HERO’ with ‘Mydnight's Hero’. Replaced ‘Sheasu — ‘the Isle of Lost heroes’.’ with ‘Sheasu — ‘the Isle of Lost Heroes’.’.
(The Story so Far … ) Replaced ‘MS5075’ with ‘MS 5070’. Replaced ‘Kai monastery’ with ‘Kai Monastery’. Replaced ‘freestate’ with ‘Freeland’. Replaced ‘monastery of the Kai’ with ‘Monastery of the Kai’. Replaced ‘world of Sommerlund’ with ‘world of Magnamund’. Replaced ‘gods of Good’ with ‘Gods of Good’. Replaced ‘southern-most’ with ‘southernmost’. Replaced ‘Cloud Dancer’ with ‘Cloud-dancer’. Replaced ‘Supreme Lone Wolf’ with ‘Supreme Master Lone Wolf’. Replaced ‘most-talented’ with ‘most talented’. Replaced ‘Dessi capital’ with ‘Dessian capital’. Replaced ‘mists and’ with ‘mists, and’. Replaced ‘flora and’ with ‘flora, and’. Replaced ‘Dessi consulate’ with ‘Dessian consulate’. Replaced ‘the baron’ with ‘the Baron’. Replaced ‘Magician's Guild’ with ‘Magicians' Guild’. Replaced ‘have also pledged their’ with ‘has also pledged its’. Replaced ‘despatched’ with ‘dispatched’. Replaced ‘constitution of Siyen’ with ‘Constitution of Siyen’. Replaced ‘Korlinium’ with ‘korlinium’. Replaced ‘kingdom of Siyen’ with ‘Kingdom of Siyen’. Replaced ‘prince’ with ‘Prin
ce’. Replaced ‘Darklord armies’ with ‘Darkland armies’. Replaced ‘King's army’ with ‘King's Army’. Replaced ‘the agent of’ with ‘an agent of’. Replaced ‘the First Order of the Kai were almost’ with ‘the First Order of the Kai was almost’. Replaced ‘MS5083’ with ‘MS 5083’. Replaced ‘MS5063’ with ‘MS 5063’. Replaced ‘MS5077’ with ‘MS 5077’.
(The Game Rules) Removed ‘that you will find in the front of this book. For ease of use, and for further adventuring, it is recommended that you photocopy these pages’. Removed ‘on the last page of this book’. Replaced each occurrence of ‘ie’ with ‘i.e.’. Replaced ‘fall to zero’ with ‘fall to zero or below’. Replaced ‘fall to zero’ with ‘fall to zero or below’. Replaced ‘on to’ with ‘onto’. Replaced ‘weapons and’ with ‘weapons, and’. Replaced ‘Book 22’ with ‘Book 23’. Replaced ‘normal weapons’ with ‘normal Weapons’. Replaced ‘Lone Wolf New Order series’ with ‘Lone Wolf New Order series’. Replaced ‘New Order adventure’ with ‘New Order adventure’.
(Your Kai Name) Replaced ‘elite’ with ‘élite’. Deleted ‘You can record your personal Kai name on the book plate which appears on the inside front cover of this book.’.
(New Order Disciplines) Replaced ‘venoms and’ with ‘venoms, and’. Replaced ‘symbols and’ with ‘symbols, and’. Replaced ‘gases and’ with ‘gases, and’. Replaced ‘honour and’ with ‘honour, and’. Replaced ‘Four Disciplines’ with ‘four Disciplines’. Replaced ‘COMBAT SKILL is reduced’ with ‘ENDURANCE is reduced’. Replaced ‘Grand masters’ with ‘Grand Masters’. Replaced ‘Old Kingdom battle magic’ with ‘Old Kingdom battle-magic’. Replaced ‘magi-magic spells’ with ‘Old Kingdom Spells’. Replaced ‘Moon and’ with ‘Moon, and’. Replaced ‘individual (or combinations of) elements that are available,’ with ‘individual elements that are available, or combinations thereof,’. Replaced ‘remove or’ with ‘remove, or’. Replaced ‘eg’ with ‘e.g.’. Replaced ‘multitalented’ with ‘multi-talented’. Replaced ‘dialect and’ with ‘dialect, and’. Replaced ‘Weapon and’ with ‘Weapon, and’. Replaced ‘Book 22’ with ‘Book 23’. Replaced ‘in Book 23’ with ‘in Book 24’. Replaced ‘Mydnight's Hero’ with ‘Rune War’. Replaced ‘1 to 3’ with ‘one to three’. Replaced ‘sixth sense’ with ‘Sixth Sense’. Replaced ‘guild of magicians’ with ‘Guild of Magicians’. Replaced ‘For every adventure that you complete successfully in the New Order series, you will gain proficiency with one additional weapon.’ with ‘For every adventure that you complete successfully in the New Order series while possessing the Discipline of Grand Weaponmastery, you will gain proficiency with one additional weapon.’. Replaced ‘Fire and’ with ‘Fire, and’. Replaced ‘battle wounds’ with ‘battle-wounds’. Added ‘ If you have chosen the Discipline of Grand Huntmastery as one of your skills, you will not need to tick off a Meal when instructed to eat.’ to the section on Grand Huntmastery. Replaced ‘fortresses increases’ with ‘fortresses increase’. Replaced ‘Duration of the spirit-walk, and the protection afforded to his inanimate body, increases’ with ‘Duration of the spirit-walk and the protection afforded to his inanimate body increase’. Replaced ‘predictions increases’ with ‘predictions increase’. Replaced ‘will be of use’ with ‘may be of use’. Added ‘If you have the Discipline of Grand Weaponmastery with Bow, you may add 5 points to any number you pick from the Random Number Table, when using the Bow.’ from the Equipment section. Replaced ‘EQUIPMENT’ with ‘Equipment’. Replaced ‘undertaken then’ with ‘undertaken, then’. Replaced ‘Lone Wolf (New Order) series’ with ‘Lone Wolf New Order series’. Replaced each occurrence of ‘New Order series’ with ‘New Order series’. Replaced each occurrence of ‘New Order adventure’ with ‘New Order adventure’. Replaced ‘any other Special Items that’ with ‘any other Special Items and Backpack Items that’.
