The Dungeons of Torgar (10 page)

Prince Graygor's voice rings out above the din of battle as he orders the Palace Guard to charge the pikemen. The ground shakes beneath the pounding of the horses' hooves as they gather speed, their pennons streaming from their levelled lances. The Drakkarim huddle shoulder to shoulder and nervously dig the butts of their pikes into the hillside to steady their shaky hands. The knights reach the hill. They thunder up the slope. A blaze of lightning hurtles from the top of the temple but it is mistimed: it crackles harmlessly over their heads and explodes behind them, hurling nothing but scorched earth into the sky. The Prince screams his battle-cry and the knights slam into the Drakkarim with a deafening roar. Men and metal howl in agony as the heavy horses break like a wave against the wall of pikes. You see a rider lifted out of his saddle on the point of a pike, and a ramp of black metal suddenly appears where a score of Drakkarim have been trampled into the ground. The Prince and a dozen of his bravest knights break through and gallop on towards the temple, but the Drakkarim quickly close ranks and seal the gap. The remaining Palace Guard are forced to a halt and engage the pikemen in fierce hand-to-hand combat.

You reach the hill and leap over the steel-clad bodies that litter the slope. As you near the mêlée you see two Drakkarim rushing towards you from the side, their axes raised to hack you down. ‘For Sommerlund!’ you cry, and turn to face their attack.

Drakkarim:
COMBAT SKILL
 22   
ENDURANCE
 32

If you win the combat,
turn to 297
.

The swirling mists draw in towards the marble block. They grow darker as they merge into a solid shape that resembles a huge, sabre-toothed jackal with smooth cream-coloured skin. Ice sheens on his muscular body and wisps of black smoke curl from his snuffling snout. Roark and his followers throw themselves to their knees and praise the creature devoutly. He responds by lowering his glowing eyes and regarding them with disdain.

Illustration VII
—A huge, sabre-toothed jackal with cream-coloured skin regards them with disdain.

‘Why do you summon me here?’ he says, his voice deep and rasping. But before Roark can offer a reply, the Demonlord swivels his head in your direction and emits a fearful snarl.

If you have the Magnakai Discipline of Psi-screen,
turn to 26
.

If you do not possess this skill,
turn to 213
.

The bear looks down at you kindly and raises its bloodstained paw. Gently it hooks a razor-sharp claw under the strap of your backpack and lifts you to your feet. Having just witnessed the power and ferocity of the creature, you are amazed at how tame it has become under the influence of your Kai Mastery. Suddenly something in the air disturbs him and you sense that he wants to leave this place, and he wants you to follow.

If you wish to follow the bear,
turn to 58
.

If not,
turn to 3
.

The sergeant screams an order and his men lunge forward, hoping to skewer you with their long straight swords. Coolly you parry their first attack and retreat just far enough to prevent them from getting behind you. With a yell of anger and frustration, the sergeant urges his men to attack you once more.

Partisan Horsemen:
COMBAT SKILL
 28   
ENDURANCE
 32

If you have the Magnakai Discipline of Animal Control, add 2 points to your
COMBAT SKILL
for the duration of the fight.

You can evade combat after two rounds of fighting;
turn to 39
.

If you win the combat,
turn to 239
.

You draw an Arrow and let it fly at the leading creature. It pierces its hairless skull and sends it reeling into the bushes. The others gurgle their displeasure and fix you with their murderous black eyes as they make ready to rush forward and attack.

Krorn:
COMBAT SKILL
 20   
ENDURANCE
 33

If you win the combat,
turn to 84
.

The hoarse cries of soldiers and the blare of war trumpets announce preparations for an assault across the causeway. Armoured infantry gather in a spearhead formation and wait for the order to advance towards a wall of logs and earth, which has been thrown up to protect the vanguard troops dug in on the causeway itself. These warriors scuttle about behind their ramparts, holding arched wooden shields over their bent backs to protect them against the arrows raining down from the battlements. The iron gate stands less than fifty yards from their position, and this approach is heaped with the bodies of those who have fallen during previous assaults.

You accompany Lord Adamas as he makes his way through the massed ranks of infantry and enters a trench which zigzags towards the causeway. He stops at a log-lined hollow dug out of the trench wall and speaks with a captain who is lying there nursing a broken arm. The wounded officer hands him his leather satchel, and Adamas continues along the trench until he reaches the centre of the causeway. There you both take cover with the vanguard and peer through a slit in the log wall at the formidable entrance to Torgar.

Turn to 78
.

Instinct saves you from sudden death. You twist aside to avoid the speeding shaft and it grazes your shoulder: lose 2
ENDURANCE
points. But your enemy is now determined that you should die and hastily he reloads his bow.

If you have a Bow and wish to use it,
turn to 36
.

If you wish to dive for cover among the ruins,
turn to 277
.

If you wish to evade the sniper by running along an alley to your left,
turn to 155
.

When the horsemen catch sight of you they unsheathe their swords and bring their steeds to a halt. Their leader dismounts and approaches you with trepidation, his gleaming steel blade held ready in case of trickery. With nervous eyes he studies your travel-stained tunic while his men scour the surrounding hills.

‘What's your regiment, soldier?’ he demands gruffly. You return his strong stare and notice that he and his men are wearing red and grey surcoats embroidered with the emblem of an open hand. The only horsemen who wear this livery are the cavalry of Talestria.

If you wish to tell the officer that you are an Eruan Pathfinder,
turn to 82
.

If you decide to tell him that you are a Sommlending Kai Lord,
turn to 339
.

If you choose not to answer him at all,
turn to 151
.

The jump is made more hazardous by a tangle of trees and roots that cover the far side of the chasm. However, these obstacles do offer a secure anchor for a rope.

If you have a Rope and wish to use it,
turn to 48
.

If not,
turn to 317
.

Silently you move through the shallow sludge of water and mud, hidden by the bank of the ditch from the watchful eyes of the Drakkarim sentries. Beyond the ditch the ground rises to a low wall, which encircles a field of cultivated trees. It is an apple orchard and it is full of enemy soldiers, huddled around their campfires or asleep beneath the fruit-laden branches. Beyond the orchard lies an expanse of open grassland covered with tents and makeshift paddocks full of horses. Here, then, are Baron Shinzar's reinforcements — over 600 cavalry newly-arrived from Blackshroud. You commit every detail to memory before leaving the ditch and making your way back stealthily to the allies' camp.

The King and Prince Graygor praise the success of your scouting mission: the information you have gathered is of vital importance to their battle plans. The Prince senses that you are tired and orders his heralds to escort you back to his headquarters and prepare a comfortable bed for you. After the long day's march and the exertions of your scouting mission, you accept gratefully the chance of a good night's sleep.

Turn to 280
.

Your journey northwards through the Moggador Forest is a long and tiring trek that is fraught with danger. Roving bands of Krorn and packs of savage timber wolves demand that you remain vigilant at all times, and as you venture deeper into their vast domain, you feel your sense of time gradually slipping away. Your only consolation on this long and lonely trek is that wild game is plentiful and you experience no shortage of food.

On the morning of your ninth day in the forest you notice that the grey pines are beginning to thin out and the ground is becoming dusty and sparsely vegetated. Soon you come upon a road constructed of broken stones which leaves the forest and disappears into a barren landscape of yellow sulphurous soil. You check your
map
and it confirms your suspicions: you have reached the foothills of the Nadulritzaga Mountains and are now less than twenty miles from the fortress of Torgar.

Turn to 140
.

Baron Shinzar snarls an order and the Krorn pack moves towards you. They are not as tall as their leader but almost twice as broad, with arms like branches of a twisted tree that hang down below their knees. Awkwardly they shuffle on short bow legs, their gnarled skin shiny like knotted leather. A shiver runs down your spine as you recall what you have heard about these creatures — that they delight in eating their foes — but as they draw nearer you dismiss such thoughts and prepare for combat.

Illustration VIII
—The Krorn pack shuffle towards you on short bow legs, their gnarled skin shiny like knotted leather.

Krorn Pack:
COMBAT SKILL
 23   
ENDURANCE
 60

If you win the combat, and the fight lasts four rounds or less,
turn to 11
.

If you win, and the fight lasts longer than four rounds,
turn to 321
.

A short distance from Lord Adamas' tent stands a wooden watchtower, constructed by his army engineers, which offers an unobstructed view of the causeway and the great gate of Torgar. As you reach the top of its rickety ladder and step onto the platform beside the Lord Constable, he recounts the events that have led to the siege of this city-fortress.

Following his victory over the Ogians and the destruction of Xanar, Adamas led the allied armies of Bor, Talestria, and Palmyrion along the Blackshroud Trail in pursuit of the shattered enemy. When they reached the
Agna-kor-kuzim
, the ‘road of slaves’, the army of Bor was detached and sent to assail Blackshroud from the east, while the bulk of the allied forces marched north towards Torgar. When Talestria was overrun in the early days of the war, thousands of her people were taken as slaves and imprisoned here in this fortress. Lord Adamas had sworn that one day he would free them and he was determined to fulfil his pledge.

During the march north, a great battle was fought near the wastelands of Zuttezna, against two Giak armies led by Darklord Kraagenskûl and Darklord Chlanzor. Both were soundly defeated by the allies and sent back to Cragmantle to lick their wounds. Although victorious at Zuttezna, the allies had suffered heavy losses and Adamas feared they would be too weak to storm Torgar. He was too far from his homeland for reinforcements to reach him swiftly, and there was the growing threat that the Darklords would muster their troops in Tanoz and Mozgôar and attack again. Faced with this grave dilemma he decided to risk an assault on Torgar.

‘We have means to breach their iron gate,’ he says, staring purposefully at the great door of Torgar. ‘The Elder Magi have given us a device that will reduce it to twisted scrap, and when we march through that portal and free our people, we shall have all the reinforcements we need.’

Turn to 120
.