the streets of Tharro, turn to 204 .
19
You concentrate all your skill on trying to save your companion's life. Placing your hands on his chest, you transfer the warmth of your healing power into Paido's poisoned body, breaking down the toxin by degrees. The treatment is slow and laborious, and it is dawn before you know for sure if your skill has saved his life.
Turn to 103 .
20
The old woman pockets your gold and leads you and Paido to a room at the top of the stairs. Books and charts are stacked high on shelves and scattered about the floor, and daylight streams in through a domed portal in the ceiling. A massive bronze telescope is fixed to the portal, and below it rests a circular table of carved bone set with gems. Seated at the table is a beautiful young woman. Her hair is silken gold, and around her high, pale forehead she wears a circlet of jet inlaid with runes and mystic symbols.
Turn to 42 .
21
Painfully slowly you inch your way across the bog, covering less than a mile in three hours. As the sun sets, you find yourselves in the middle of a thickening fog and decide to halt for the night and continue at dawn. Unfortunately, the Danarg quicksands shift and settle like the ebb and flow of the tide, and during the night, you are drawn into its depths to remain forever a prisoner of the bog.
Your life and your quest end here.
23
A claw-like probe of mental energy rakes your mind. Instantly your Discipline repels it, protecting your thoughts and memory from its wilful intrusion, but the unexpectedness and power of the attack leaves you shivering.
‘Are you all right?’ asks Paido. ‘Perhaps we should go below and shelter from this storm.’ You answer with a nod and follow him down the stairs into the welcoming warmth of the tap-room. The soldier Trost greets you on your return, but you fail to notice him — you are too busy scanning the hold for the stranger. You see him, seated alone in a shadowy corner opposite your table, quietly reading his black book.
Turn to 166 .
26
The dwarf's face beams with pride as he prepares to talk on his favourite subject — himself. Nearly an hour later you have heard all there is to hear about the life and hopes of Lardin, son of Kardon of Bor.
‘What news have you of Luukos?’ asks Paido, as the dwarf takes a rare pause for breath.
‘News of a kind that's becomin' only too familiar round these parts,’ he replies in a disgruntled tone. ‘That Zegron's bitten off more than he can chew this time. Once Lord Adamas an' the army boys come down on 'im he'll wish he'd stayed in his stinkin' city of Xanar, you mark my words.’
‘Don't be too sure o' that, Lardin,’ says a rosy-faced farmer, who has sidled along the bar to join in your conversation. ‘My sister reckons that this time Zegron won't stop till he's flattened everything between Luukos and the Tentarias.’
‘That star-gazin' sister o' yours is full o' good news. When 'as she ever seen anything cheerful with 'er telescopes an' charts an' crystal balls, eh? Answer me that.’ Agreement rumbles from the tavern crowd, now openly listening to the discussion.
‘That's as maybe,’ retorts the farmer. ‘But when 'as she ever been wrong, eh?’ An uncomfortable silence fills the inn, and slowly the crowd return to their own business. None, least of all the innkeeper, chooses to pursue the matter further.
If you wish to ask the farmer where his sister lives, turn to 262 .
If you decide to leave the tavern and continue your journey north to Tharro, turn to 318 .
29
Your horse becomes skittish when it sees the abbey loom into view: the painful memory of the Vordak attack is still fresh in its mind. Paido's horse behaves in exactly the same manner, and you are forced to ride cross-country, making a wide detour to avoid the abbey before rejoining the track and reaching the Great North Road.
Turn to 280 .
30
Golden fire erupts along the blade of the sun-sword as you raise it above your head. The
19
You concentrate all your skill on trying to save your companion's life. Placing your hands on his chest, you transfer the warmth of your healing power into Paido's poisoned body, breaking down the toxin by degrees. The treatment is slow and laborious, and it is dawn before you know for sure if your skill has saved his life.
Turn to 103 .
20
The old woman pockets your gold and leads you and Paido to a room at the top of the stairs. Books and charts are stacked high on shelves and scattered about the floor, and daylight streams in through a domed portal in the ceiling. A massive bronze telescope is fixed to the portal, and below it rests a circular table of carved bone set with gems. Seated at the table is a beautiful young woman. Her hair is silken gold, and around her high, pale forehead she wears a circlet of jet inlaid with runes and mystic symbols.
Turn to 42 .
21
Painfully slowly you inch your way across the bog, covering less than a mile in three hours. As the sun sets, you find yourselves in the middle of a thickening fog and decide to halt for the night and continue at dawn. Unfortunately, the Danarg quicksands shift and settle like the ebb and flow of the tide, and during the night, you are drawn into its depths to remain forever a prisoner of the bog.
Your life and your quest end here.
23
A claw-like probe of mental energy rakes your mind. Instantly your Discipline repels it, protecting your thoughts and memory from its wilful intrusion, but the unexpectedness and power of the attack leaves you shivering.
‘Are you all right?’ asks Paido. ‘Perhaps we should go below and shelter from this storm.’ You answer with a nod and follow him down the stairs into the welcoming warmth of the tap-room. The soldier Trost greets you on your return, but you fail to notice him — you are too busy scanning the hold for the stranger. You see him, seated alone in a shadowy corner opposite your table, quietly reading his black book.
Turn to 166 .
26
The dwarf's face beams with pride as he prepares to talk on his favourite subject — himself. Nearly an hour later you have heard all there is to hear about the life and hopes of Lardin, son of Kardon of Bor.
‘What news have you of Luukos?’ asks Paido, as the dwarf takes a rare pause for breath.
‘News of a kind that's becomin' only too familiar round these parts,’ he replies in a disgruntled tone. ‘That Zegron's bitten off more than he can chew this time. Once Lord Adamas an' the army boys come down on 'im he'll wish he'd stayed in his stinkin' city of Xanar, you mark my words.’
‘Don't be too sure o' that, Lardin,’ says a rosy-faced farmer, who has sidled along the bar to join in your conversation. ‘My sister reckons that this time Zegron won't stop till he's flattened everything between Luukos and the Tentarias.’
‘That star-gazin' sister o' yours is full o' good news. When 'as she ever seen anything cheerful with 'er telescopes an' charts an' crystal balls, eh? Answer me that.’ Agreement rumbles from the tavern crowd, now openly listening to the discussion.
‘That's as maybe,’ retorts the farmer. ‘But when 'as she ever been wrong, eh?’ An uncomfortable silence fills the inn, and slowly the crowd return to their own business. None, least of all the innkeeper, chooses to pursue the matter further.
If you wish to ask the farmer where his sister lives, turn to 262 .
If you decide to leave the tavern and continue your journey north to Tharro, turn to 318 .
29
Your horse becomes skittish when it sees the abbey loom into view: the painful memory of the Vordak attack is still fresh in its mind. Paido's horse behaves in exactly the same manner, and you are forced to ride cross-country, making a wide detour to avoid the abbey before rejoining the track and reaching the Great North Road.
Turn to 280 .
30
Golden fire erupts along the blade of the sun-sword as you raise it above your head. The
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