The Chasm of Doom (21 page)
You are less than ten yards from the watchtower door when a spear haft knocks you to the ground. You roll aside in time to avoid a deadly thrust and spring to your feet to face your assailant. He is a hard-faced warrior with eyes as black as coal, his armour tarnished with the blood of his dead horse. He raises his spear and stabs at your chest. You cannot evade combat and must fight him to the death.
Vassagonian Warrior:
COMBAT SKILL
18
ENDURANCE
25
If you win the combat,
turn to 24
.
Three Sommlending soldiers come to your aid. Their swords slice into the evil Warhounds until both dogs stiffen and die, and you thankfully stagger to your feet and try to assess the situation as the battle rages all around. Sommlending soldiers still man the barricade, forming in groups that hold firm where the wall does not. Spears and arrows arc through the sky piercing metal, wood, and flesh. Men fall from their horses, horses scream and bolt, and the dead and the wounded lie everywhere.
The Warhounds have been driven back upon the spears of their masters, who now advance behind a wall of shields. To your right, a bandit warrior is trying to jump his horse across the barricade, but the animal is wounded and near to death. It cannot make the jump; the rider is hurled forwards over the wall, falling close behind you.
If you wish to attack the bandit warrior,
turn to 90
.
If you wish to rally the Sommlending soldiers to repel the advancing spearmen,
turn to 3
.
All around you the ruins echo to the clash of weapons and the screech of battle-cries. These armour-clad horsemen are no ordinary bandit clan; they fight with a discipline and skill unheard of among the lowly outlaws of the Wildlands.
You step over the dead warrior and call about you a handful of your men. The enemy have surrounded your horses, and you must act quickly if you are to save them from being taken. You lead a charge through the ruins, piercing the enemy line. They falter and flee back into the darkness. However, by the time you have reached the temple perimeter, only eleven of your horses remain — the others have vanished.
After much thought, you decide to choose ten rangers to continue the mission with you, sending the remainder of your company back to Sommerlund to report what has happened. As the gloomy light of dawn gradually fills the sky, you and your chosen companions bid a sad farewell to those who must march back on foot.
Pick a number from the
Random Number Table
.
If the number you have picked is 0–2,
turn to 120
.
If it is 3–9,
turn to 51
.
You lay your hands on the wounded ranger and manage to set the bones in his shattered elbow, binding them tightly with cloth strips torn from his tunic. Meanwhile, the other man has freed his ensnared leg and severed two more of the slimy tentacles that cling to the battered hull. Then he grabs the oars and frantically rows towards the distant bank, but the blades of the oars have barely entered the water when there is a tremendous crack.
The forest is patrolled by bandits, but they take little interest in their guard duties, and you find it easy to avoid them in the dark. Then, by chance, you come across a small log cabin hidden deep in the woods. A candle flickers at the window, and the door is ajar.
If you wish to enter the hut,
turn to 53
.
If you do not wish to enter the hut, continue your mission by
turning to 258
.
In the flickering light of your torch, you can see that the tunnel is supported by a criss-cross of props and beams. The rock is damp, and a narrow rivulet of ore-stained water runs along the tunnel floor. You soon reach a junction where the tunnel heads off to the left and right.
If you possess the Kai Discipline of Tracking,
turn to 48
.
If you wish to go left,
turn to 269
.
If you wish to go right,
turn to 145
.
You are halfway across when one of your men slips and is washed away by the torrential river water. His desperate cries alert the bandits. Suddenly a bandit warrior appears on top of the boulder behind which you are hiding. He screams and lunges at you with his spear. Deduct 2 from your
COMBAT SKILL
for the duration of the fight, for you are at a disadvantage. The bandit warrior towers over you and your footing is wet and slippery.
Bandit Warrior:
COMBAT SKILL
16
ENDURANCE
26
You may evade combat at any time by diving into the River Xane.
Turn to 31
.
If you win the combat,
turn to 146
.
You concentrate your powers and direct them at an outcrop of loose shale overhanging the shaft on the opposite side of the chamber. In seconds, there is a crack of slate and stone as part of the outcrop crumbles away and falls into the gaping mine shaft. The guard is startled by the sudden noise and leaves his post to investigate. Without a moment's hesitation, you dash across the now empty bridge and disappear into the tunnel beyond.
Oren Vanalund is the fifteenth baron of Ruanon, a noble warrior of royal lineage, and fifth in succession to the throne of Sommerlund. This once proud and chivalrous warlord now lies upon the cold stone floor of the chamber, red-eyed and whimpering like a frightened dog. ‘He has lost everything,’ says D'Val quietly. ‘Barraka has destroyed his castle, his land, his town, and his family. His sons are dead, and his only daughter has been taken captive by Barraka himself. I fear the ordeal has turned his mind.’
Illustration XIX—‘He has lost everything … his castle, his land, his town, and his family … ’
The pathetic man raises his tear-stained face, and with feeble voice mutters a curious rhyme, over and over again.
When a fair royal maid on the altar dies,
The dead of Maakengorge shall rise.
If you possess a Scroll,
turn to 279
.
If you do not possess a Scroll,
turn to 57
.
The food is delicious. You eat your fill and then make preparations for a good night's sleep. At dawn, you and your company bid farewell to the travelling players and continue on your mission to Ruanon.
Pick a number from the
Random Number Table
.
If the number you have picked is 0–4,
turn to 25
.
If it is 5–9,
turn to 171
.
The two guards are completely unprepared for your attack. They have only just drawn their swords when your men reach them and knock them both to the ground.
‘Shall we dispatch them immediately, my lord?’ asks a ranger, his sword tip at the throat of a nervous guard.
‘No,’ you reply. ‘Tie them. They may be of some use to us yet.’
If you wish to search them,
turn to 268
.
If you wish to question them,
turn to 76
.
The foul creature lets out a ghastly shriek and dies, but its huge slimy body trembles and convulses for several minutes. You wait for a while before daring to squeeze past it to the chamber beyond. No trace of your men remains. Their bodies lie partially digested inside the Stoneworm carcass. With nausea rising in your throat, you turn and flee from this terrible chamber.
Extinguishing your torch, you curl up on the floor and quickly fall into a deep sleep. Many hours pass before you awake, totally refreshed by your rest. Restore 2
ENDURANCE
points.
Relighting your torch, you can now see that the hut is full of mining tools. Picks, shovels, and wheelbarrows are stacked upright along the far wall.
If you wish to take either a Pick or a Shovel, do so and mark it on your
Action Chart
as a Backpack Item. Due to the size of these tools, they each take up the same amount of space as two normal Backpack Items.
Two tunnels lead away from the chamber. One heads west, the other south.
If you wish to take the west tunnel,
turn to 54
.
If you wish to take the south tunnel,
turn to 129
.
You release the arrow, and it whistles through the air and buries itself deeply into the mail-clad shoulder of the Bandit Leader. You hear his scream of pain ring out above the din of battle, but even though he is badly wounded he still attempts to rally his men. You stoop to take another arrow, but, to your horror, the dead soldier's quiver is empty. Looking up you see two dismounted Vassagonian horsemen clambering across the barricade towards you. You throw down your bow and run to a large water cask defended by a stout Sommlending sergeant. The ground around the cask is carpeted with enemy dead.
‘Shoot the leader!’ you command, pointing towards the enemy officer. The sergeant aims and fires his bow with one swift and fluid movement. The arrow arcs through the battle-smoke and pierces the officer's shiny breastplate. Slowly his cruel eyes flicker and close as he slips from the saddle, the shaft lodged deep in his heart.
You are hungry and must eat a Meal before you sleep or lose 3
ENDURANCE
points. You have been asleep for only two hours when you are awoken by the sound of a tolling bell.
‘Bandits!’ screams the tavern-keeper. ‘They've got into the stables!’
You must act quickly or the bandits will steal your horses. The tavern-keeper tells you that there are two ways to the stables from here: you can either leave through the front door and run around to the side of the tavern, or climb the stairs to the first-floor window and jump down onto the stable roof.
If you wish to use the front door,
turn to 114
.
If you wish to jump from the first-floor window,
turn to 196
.
You are in combat with Barraka, renegade noble of Vassagonia. You cannot evade the combat and must fight to the death. He is a formidable warrior who possesses great strength of will, and he is immune to Mindblast.
Barraka:
COMBAT SKILL
25
ENDURANCE
29
If you win the combat,
turn to 350
.
You suddenly realize that you have entered a remote section of the Maaken Mines via a disused passage from the foothills of the Maaken Range. For hundreds of years, the ore of this range has been the blessing and the bane of thousands drawn here to seek their fortune. Men have either found wealth beyond their wildest dreams, or have perished without trace in the labyrinth of cold, damp tunnels. You know that if only you can locate a section of this mine that is still in use, you will be able to follow its tunnels all the way to Ruanon itself. As Ruanon lies to the south, you decide to take the south passage out of the chamber.