ahead, you settle yourself into a corner of the rubble-strewn tower and try to snatch a few hours of sleep. This night your slumber is disturbed by strange and unwholesome dreams, formed from the fears suppressed by your conscious mind. You are haunted by phantom shapes which take the form of friends and fellow countrymen. Kai initiates under your tutorage and simple Sommlending folk, their heads bowed and their faces pitted and disfigured by plague, drift past you in a seemingly endless procession.
You awake with a start, your pulse racing and your forehead glistening with beads of sweat. At first a sense of hopelessness washes over you, brought on by the vivid memory of your nightmare but, as your consciousness returns, so too does your inner strength. You perceive the dreams as a warning of what will happen should your quest fail, and this realization strengthens your resolve to reach Mogaruith and thwart the Ceners' evil plan.
You have slept for several hours and, physically at least, you feel refreshed (restore 3 ENDURANCE points). In the half-light of early morning you gather together your equipment and weapons in readiness to resume your perilous journey to Mogaruith.
Turn to 160 .
11
The sound of scraping metal and rattling chains echoes in your ears as you fell the creature with a deadly blow to the base of its skull. As it falls from its stool, you spin around, weapon in hand, and the first thing you see is the knife-like glint of fangs. From a semicircular hole in the wall a pack of war-dogs come charging into the hall, their jaws agape and their claws scrabbling on the shiny flagstones as they race towards the desk. You raise your weapon confidently and brace yourself in readiness to meet their attack.
Illustration I —A pack of war-dogs with jaws agape charges into the hall.
Ruel War-dogs: COMBAT SKILL 36 ENDURANCE 22
If you win this combat, turn to 323 .
12
The columns of armoured rat-men pay little attention to you, but your undead charge does elicit squeals of disgust from some as you draw closer to their mighty stronghold.
Walking across the age-blackened drawbridge towards the spiky arched tower of Mogaruith is an unnerving experience. It is as if you are walking along a blackened tongue towards the gaping throat of some gigantic dragon. On either side the bubbling moat releases foul fumes which fill your nostrils with a terrible sugary stench that clogs your lungs and blurs your vision. You draw upon your Magnakai skills and your vision clears, but the sight which lies ahead looks no more inviting than it did before.
At the tower you are challenged by a troop of Vazhag guards who regard your companion with a distaste that is all too obvious. Using your Magnakai Disciplines of Animal Control and Pathsmanship to aid your deception, you inform them that you have come from the south on urgent business. They demand to know your name and why you have charge of an undead human. You try to bluff them but you notice that the zombie's presence is beginning to attract the unwanted interest of other Vazhag guards.
One of the rat-men pushes his snout to within inches of your mask and says, to your surprise, that you can enter Mogaruith so long as you first register your arrival. He points to a door in the tower wall and asks you to enter it. ‘There,’ he says, ‘you can make your registration.’
Immediately your Magnakai sense of Divination warns that the Vazhag is lying; a prison cell awaits you beyond that door.
If you wish to do as the Vazhag requests and enter the door, turn to 30 .
If you refuse to enter the door, turn to 162 .
If you decide to attempt to distract the Vazhag guards, turn to 256 .
13
As you strike the blow that brings one of the fearsome monsters crashing lifelessly to the ground, you spring away from its gore-stained carcass and barge shoulder-first through the line of screeching ghouls. The spectacle of the fallen Giganite, and the suddenness of your action, has
You awake with a start, your pulse racing and your forehead glistening with beads of sweat. At first a sense of hopelessness washes over you, brought on by the vivid memory of your nightmare but, as your consciousness returns, so too does your inner strength. You perceive the dreams as a warning of what will happen should your quest fail, and this realization strengthens your resolve to reach Mogaruith and thwart the Ceners' evil plan.
You have slept for several hours and, physically at least, you feel refreshed (restore 3 ENDURANCE points). In the half-light of early morning you gather together your equipment and weapons in readiness to resume your perilous journey to Mogaruith.
Turn to 160 .
11
The sound of scraping metal and rattling chains echoes in your ears as you fell the creature with a deadly blow to the base of its skull. As it falls from its stool, you spin around, weapon in hand, and the first thing you see is the knife-like glint of fangs. From a semicircular hole in the wall a pack of war-dogs come charging into the hall, their jaws agape and their claws scrabbling on the shiny flagstones as they race towards the desk. You raise your weapon confidently and brace yourself in readiness to meet their attack.
Illustration I —A pack of war-dogs with jaws agape charges into the hall.
Ruel War-dogs: COMBAT SKILL 36 ENDURANCE 22
If you win this combat, turn to 323 .
12
The columns of armoured rat-men pay little attention to you, but your undead charge does elicit squeals of disgust from some as you draw closer to their mighty stronghold.
Walking across the age-blackened drawbridge towards the spiky arched tower of Mogaruith is an unnerving experience. It is as if you are walking along a blackened tongue towards the gaping throat of some gigantic dragon. On either side the bubbling moat releases foul fumes which fill your nostrils with a terrible sugary stench that clogs your lungs and blurs your vision. You draw upon your Magnakai skills and your vision clears, but the sight which lies ahead looks no more inviting than it did before.
At the tower you are challenged by a troop of Vazhag guards who regard your companion with a distaste that is all too obvious. Using your Magnakai Disciplines of Animal Control and Pathsmanship to aid your deception, you inform them that you have come from the south on urgent business. They demand to know your name and why you have charge of an undead human. You try to bluff them but you notice that the zombie's presence is beginning to attract the unwanted interest of other Vazhag guards.
One of the rat-men pushes his snout to within inches of your mask and says, to your surprise, that you can enter Mogaruith so long as you first register your arrival. He points to a door in the tower wall and asks you to enter it. ‘There,’ he says, ‘you can make your registration.’
Immediately your Magnakai sense of Divination warns that the Vazhag is lying; a prison cell awaits you beyond that door.
If you wish to do as the Vazhag requests and enter the door, turn to 30 .
If you refuse to enter the door, turn to 162 .
If you decide to attempt to distract the Vazhag guards, turn to 256 .
13
As you strike the blow that brings one of the fearsome monsters crashing lifelessly to the ground, you spring away from its gore-stained carcass and barge shoulder-first through the line of screeching ghouls. The spectacle of the fallen Giganite, and the suddenness of your action, has
Similar Books
The Fourteen Day Soul Detox, Volume Two
Rita Stradling
Year of the Golden Dragon
B.L. Sauder
Gunning for the Groom
Debra Webb
44: Book Six
Jools Sinclair
If I Was Your Girl
Meredith Russo
The Lollipop Shoes
Joanne Harris
The Man With the Iron-On Badge
Lee Goldberg
CONVICTION (INTERFERENCE)
Kimberly Schwartzmiller
HEARTTHROB
Unknown
The Last Song of Orpheus
Robert Silverberg