Castle Death (11 page)
You stare into the inky black eyes and command the creature to cease its attack. Instantly the slimy, worm-like thing rears up, its short, rubbery legs scrabbling the air in agony, as your command burns into its sensitive and vulnerable brain. As it twists back on itself, its head disappears into the mist. There is an ear-splitting crack as blue lightning engulfs the creature, crackling snake-like around its neck, and filling your nostrils with the stench of burning meat. The creature thrashes wildly for several minutes, and when its gruesome dance is finally done, the canopy of mist is no longer there. In the darkness above, you see a walkway with an observation platform.
If you wish to climb the body of the dead worm-thing and pull yourself onto the platform,
turn to 294
.
If you prefer to climb over the worm and continue along the corridor,
turn to 46
.
Cutting yourself free from the last of the deadly strands, you race headlong up the stairs and out through the open portal. You discover that during the struggle you lost a Weapon and one item from your Backpack (erase a Weapon of your choice and the second item on your list of Backpack Items).
You find yourself standing in the ruins of a small storehouse. Through the shattered pane of glass of the solitary arched window, you can see the eerie outline of broken battlements and a fire-blackened tower. You are staring at the remains of Kazan-Oud.
The buttons remain depressed but nothing seems to happen. You are about to abandon your attempt at entry when there is a distinct
click
. The panel slides open to reveal a set of steps that descends to a large wooden door, reinforced with studs and strips of iron.
If you choose to enter the sarcophagus,
turn to 37
.
If you decide not to enter,
turn to 102
.
Desperately you use your mastery of healing to save his life, applying your power to the open wounds that disfigure his face and throat. The bleeding stops and his heartbeat grows stronger, but you sense that it is only a temporary reprieve. His back is broken and, here, in this hostile fortress, there is no hope for his survival and recovery with so serious an injury. Briefly he regains consciousness and forces himself to speak. ‘Beware the maze, Northlander … green … is death.’
It is all he says before slipping away into endless sleep. You close his sightless eyes and lay his sword upon his chest, as is the custom in the land of Slovia when a valiant warrior falls in battle.
If you now decide to leave the body and continue,
turn to 323
.
If you wish to search the body before you go,
turn to 227
.
You feed off the power directed against you, charging your Psi-surge with the energy waves that buffet your psychic shield. With an immense effort of will, you launch pulses of energy at the hand. The vibrations gather power from the hand itself, setting up an explosive reaction that cannot be reversed. Suddenly there is a searing white flash as the hand disintegrates into thousands of tiny fragments. Your head swims with the fatigue of psychic combat (lose 4
ENDURANCE
points), but you feel elated by your bloodless victory.
A streak of green, forked lightning lights up the collapsed roof of Kazan-Oud, and for a second, it looks like the shattered ribs of a giant lizard. There is another flash of lightning, and a hundred tower windows glare at you like empty eyes edged with slivers of broken glass. A line of carved stone gargoyles adorns the black stone walls, overhanging the jetty. Rings of rusted iron are clamped in their snarling jaws, each wound round with slime-encrusted ropes that dangle in the water. At the jetty, it is deep enough to allow a large vessel to dock, but the current and the swell of the tide make it increasingly difficult for you to control your tiny boat.
Your stomach tightens as the swell threatens to dash you against the jetty.
If you have the Magnakai Discipline of Divination,
turn to 57
.
If you wish to stop paddling and try to grab one of the ropes,
turn to 203
.
If you decide to abandon the boat and swim towards a line of rocks further west,
turn to 325
.
As soon as you strike the hand, the psychic attack ceases. Although your blow causes no visible wound, the hand suddenly falls limp and drops to the ground near to the base of the plinth.
If you wish to attack it again,
turn to 116
.
If you decide to leave it and pass through the two green pillars and into the passage beyond,
turn to 103
.
With all your will, you command the snake to come no closer. Its great eye burns you with an icy stare, the black slit pupil shrinking and dilating with every beat of its evil heart. It sways above you, hesitating to attack, as your Kai Mastery plants seeds of doubt in its mind, blocking its primeval desire to savage and consume your warm-blooded being. As the monstrous head sways from side to side, you catch a glimpse of a small tunnel in the opposite wall, previously hidden by the snake and its nest. The sight of this possible means of escape momentarily breaks your concentration: the snake lunges forward to attack. Only the speed of your reactions saves you from its venomous fangs. Reluctantly, it retreats at your command and settles in the centre of the chamber, its head resting on its coils as it settles down to sleep.
7
If you wish to attack the snake,
turn to 219
.
If you decide to skirt around it and enter the tunnel,
turn to 260
.
[7] If you have any Arrows in your Quiver, they have fallen out in your fall, and you must erase them from your
Action Chart
(cf.
Section 7
).
You unsheathe your weapon and strike a mighty blow at the black crystal. It splits clean in two, releasing its dark power and showering you with hot sparks in the wake of its destruction. The riven fragments hurtle into the fiery abyss that surrounds Zahda's throne, quashing the roaring flames.
‘Curse you, Kai Lord!’ screams Lord Zahda, leaping out from behind the golden throne, brandishing a platinum rod. Defiantly, he points the rod at your head and spits an evocation, but the power he calls upon no longer heeds his cry. From the depths of the pit, a terrible roar begins to grow. The floor shakes and a column of flame lights the entire throne-hall as molten lava spews high into the air. Zahda staggers back, his face aghast with terror. Hurriedly he kneels before his throne, his crooked fingers stroking at a pentagram engraved in the gold. Above the din of destruction, another sound, like the ringing of a thousand tiny bells, can be heard, and in the blackness above the throne a speckled glow appears. It descends towards Lord Zahda until he is totally engulfed by a column of shimmering blue light. His body rises, lifted by unseen hands.
If you wish to grab the Lorestone and step into the column of shimmering blue light,
turn to 118
.
If you wish to grab the Lorestone and escape back into the steel tube,
turn to 250
.
Covering the floor of the north tunnel are myriad tiny animal tracks. Rats, mice, worms, and snakes — denizens common to every subterranean lair — have all left their mark upon the grime-encrusted flagstones. But the east tunnel bears no such markings. There the ground is smooth and undisturbed: not even a film of dust discolours the grey stone floor. Your senses warn you that this tunnel is more than it seems.
If you now wish to enter the east tunnel,
turn to 101
.
If you decide to take the north tunnel,
turn to 187
.
Your senses heightened by the threat of a gruesome death, you are quick to notice a beam of light crossing the passage ahead at knee height.
If you wish to jump over the beam,
turn to 155
.
If you choose to run through the beam,
turn to 94
.
Wiping away the sweat of battle on your grimy sleeve, you turn to go, but as you do so, you stumble over something lying on the blood-spattered path. At first glance it looks like a mace, but closer inspection reveals a slim, silver rod with an orange ball of glass held in a claw at one end. It is far too delicate to be used as a weapon in the normal way.
If you have completed the Lore-circle of the Spirit,
turn to 25
.
If you wish to pick up the Silver Sceptre,
turn to 223
.
If you wish to leave it where it is and continue,
turn to 308
.
At the end of the cell block corridor a staircase descends to a lower level. It is guarded by a grim-faced creature armed with an axe.
Illustration VIII—The Beastman Gaoler, a grim-faced creature armed with an axe, guards the staircase.
Beastman Gaoler:
COMBAT SKILL
17
ENDURANCE
22
If you win the fight in three rounds or less,
turn to 238
.
If you win and the fight lasts more than three rounds,
turn to 212
.
Swiftly the tendril writhes past you, coiling twice before tightening around your neck. With an electrifying jolt, it wrenches you away from the fissure and drags you slowly towards its ghastly mouth.
Terror and pain give way to blind desperation as its fetid breath washes over your trembling face.
If you have any Fireseeds,
turn to 10
.
If you possess the Sommerswerd,
turn to 317
.
If you have neither of these Special Items,
turn to 331
.
You inch your way along the tunnel until you reach a dead end. The red glow you saw earlier is pouring through a narrow portal, shaped like a large arrow slit. You look through it at an awesome sight. A cavernous crater, formed of black iron, drops in tiers to a blood-red floor far below. Hundreds of moving forms crowd every level, dragging wagons and pulling monstrous machines up long ramps and across connecting causeways. Other forms, dressed in black, beat and curse them; the heat and fumes that are wafting through the portal prevent you from seeing them more clearly.
Suddenly a solid sheet of iron descends from the ceiling and seals off the portal. You step back and turn to leave, but in the smoky distance you see another wall of iron closing off the exit.
Breaking open the two halves of your Firesphere, you hold the magical flame close to the transparent skin. It quickly melts a hole, and a great gust of air surges into the bubble, splitting the skin wide open from top to bottom. Holding the Firesphere before you, you melt a path through the other bubbles. As the flame punctures their jelly-like skins they implode and plop to the floor in tatters.
You move on, your eyes peeled for the slightest hint of danger. A shadow on the floor in the distance makes you wary, and your fear soon turns to dismay when you see that it is a deep, dark pit, which covers the corridor with thirty feet of blackness. A sudden glow in the mist overhead heralds the unwelcome return of the skull:
‘The path across defies your sight,
Find the path or stay and fight!’
If you have the Magnakai Discipline of Psi-screen or Divination,
turn to 39
.
If you do not possess either of these skills,
turn to 261
.
