Shadow on the Sand (14 page)
The footsteps grow louder and then suddenly stop. You hear whispering and Maouk slowly appears from the shadows, his henchmen at his heels. ‘Caught like a wolf in the trap,’ he sniggers, a dart held high in his sinewy fist. He hisses a curse and flings the missile at your chest.
Using your Kai skill to disguise your Sommlending accent, you call out to the guard. ‘Quick! We need your help — the Northlander is escaping!’
Immediately, the guard leaps to his feet and charges up the stairs towards the door. You wait until he reaches the top step before you attack — one kick to the knee sends him tumbling backwards into the chamber, where he falls in a heap at the foot of the stairs. You enter the chamber, poised to strike again should the guard recover and attack. However, this time your caution is unnecessary; the guard is dead, his neck was broken in the fall.
If you wish to search his body,
turn to 52
.
If you wish to ignore the body and enter the armoury,
turn to 140
.
You recognize the creature; it is a Kwaraz, a giant, creeping reptile. Kwaraz are native to the Maakenmire swamp, hundreds of miles to the west of Vassagonia, but they thrive in any hot, damp, and fetid environment, and it strikes you that the
Baga-darooz
sewer is an ideal breeding ground for these deadly beasts. The Kwaraz moves along the ceiling, gripping the stone with its long, curved claws — its oval eyes opening wider and wider.
Kwaraz are very susceptible to psychic power. By using your Kai Discipline of Animal Kinship, you persuade it that you are not at all appetizing, and it soon loses interest. You watch with a mixture of fear and fascination as the huge reptile disappears along the tunnel. Suddenly, a fearful scream bursts out of the darkness; Maouk has lost one of his men. A shiver runs down your spine, but your instincts tell you to press on while you have the advantage.
The tavern is crowded with people who are seated at a long, stone counter decorated with fragments of coloured marble. Large earthenware jars, full of spicy foods, are set into the counter, and serving girls are busy attending to the hungry customers.
If you are wearing a Black Sash,
turn to 172
.
If you do not possess a Black Sash,
turn to 72
.
The courier screams as he falls but is dead before his head hits the cobblestones. You waste little time dragging his body into the shadows. You don his loose robe and raise the hood, concealing your tunic and your face. In the pocket of the robe you find a scroll: the pass needed to enter the Grand Palace.
The dead courier's horse has bolted and fled, but your appearance at the gate on foot does not seem to arouse any suspicion. The guards inspect the scroll with bored indifference and allow you to pass through the gate into the palace gardens beyond.
You have barely taken a dozen steps before you are seen. The giant armourer raises a massive hammer and strides forward, a bloodthirsty snarl escaping from between his clenched teeth. You prepare to defend yourself, but you are momentarily stunned when you see that the hammer is part of his right arm: it is, in fact, an enormous steel fist.
Illustration XII—The giant armourer raises a massive hammer and strides forward.
The armourer bellows a war-cry and you react just in time. The hammer tears a chunk of stone from the wall, less than an inch above your scalp.
Hammerfist the Armourer:
COMBAT SKILL
18
ENDURANCE
30
Deduct 2 points from your
COMBAT SKILL
for the duration of this combat due to the terrible heat of the forge room.
If you win the combat,
turn to 111
.
You manage to inch your way along the row of oars until you reach the ship's rail, where eager hands catch hold of your cloak and pull you to safety. Maouk's voice booms out across water. ‘Surrender the Kai Lord to me. The Zakhan commands it. Your lives and the lives of all your kin will be forfeit if you disobey this order!’
The crew stare at each other in sorrow and dismay — they know that Maouk's words are no idle threat. You cannot expect these men to sacrifice their families for you, so you must quickly decide on an alternative plan.
If you decide to surrender to Maouk,
turn to 176
.
If you wish to dive overboard and attempt an escape,
turn to 142
.
The sweltering heat is overwhelming. Three times you nearly slip and fall and are saved only by your quick wits and natural survival instincts from a gruesome end in the
tar-sorkh
. You manage to climb twenty feet of the chimney, but the price is high. Your fingers and knees are skinned and bleeding, and your legs ache with fatigue. Lose 2
ENDURANCE
points.
You jump to one side as the dagger whistles towards you, skimming barely an inch from your throat. The guard stares in open-mouthed disbelief. He is now unarmed.
If you wish to attack the guard,
turn to 78
.
If you wish to overpower him and capture him alive,
turn to 199
.
The Yas is a constrictor: it kills its prey by crushing them to death with the coils of its powerful body. Its sleepy eyes have now opened and the red-rimmed slit pupils fix you with a mesmerizing stare. You suddenly realize that the Yas is trying to hypnotize you. Unless you have the Kai Discipline of Mindshield, deduct 3 points from your
COMBAT SKILL
for the duration of this combat.
Yas:
COMBAT SKILL
14
ENDURANCE
28
If you win the combat,
turn to 35
.
A forge has been constructed in the centre of a massive circular chamber, its funnel-like chimney stretching up to the roof. The heat had become unbearable long ago, but now you feel as if you have walked straight into a raging furnace.
Two men, naked except for small loin-cloths, work the bellows that feed the forge. Sweat pours from their bodies, and they frequently stop to gulp ladlefuls of water from a trough set in the stone floor. An armourer hammers a strip of red-hot iron at an anvil close to the flames. He is massive; his huge, muscled shoulders and powerful chest are as wide as the other two men put together.
The bellows men stop work and leave the chamber; one by the door in the north wall, the other by the door in the west wall. The big man continues to hammer at the anvil.
If you wish to follow the man who left by the north door,
turn to 11
.
If you wish to follow the man who left by the west door,
turn to 146
.
If you wish to attack the armourer working at the anvil,
turn to 190
.
If you wish to leave the chamber and retrace your steps along the corridor to take the other passage,
turn to 30
.
You notice that a large table dominates the room; it is set with wine and meat, and freshly-baked loaves of bread.
If you wish to eat some of this mouth-watering food,
turn to 61
.
If you wish to leave the room by the window,
turn to 109
.
Maouk pulls his hand from his robe, a dart held tightly in his sinewy fist. He hisses a curse and flings the missile at your chest. You gasp with shock as the missile strikes home — you are too close to avoid being hit.
As the officer's body slumps lifelessly across the shattered cellar door, the Sharnazim back away and step aside. Maouk himself appears in the doorway, a dart held high in his hand. ‘I have you now!’ he hisses, and flings the missile at your chest.
Pick a number from the
Random Number Table
. If you have the Kai Discipline of Hunting, add 3 to the number you have picked.
If your total is now 0–6,
turn to 25
.
If your total is now 7–12,
turn to 141
.
You grasp the frightened guard in a secure head-lock and threaten to break his neck if he does not answer your questions. He immediately promises to tell you everything he knows. He says that the new Zakhan fears that you are an assassin, sent by his enemies in the west. He claims to hate the new Zakhan himself. He is only a simple gaoler, he says, and knows nothing more.
If you have the Kai Discipline of Sixth Sense,
turn to 39
.
If you do not possess this skill,
turn to 9
.
Upon a raised platform, carpeted with scarlet fur, sits the Vassagonian Emperor, Zakhan Kimah. He is robed in gold but devoid of all ornamentation. In his hand is an orb of black metal, and in his eye an ice-cold cruelty that chills your spine. The Zakhan is a man of awesome countenance, but he pales in the shadow of his companion.
Before him stands the cause of your terror. A helm as black as death itself hides the face, but the stench of decay and a hideous sepulchral voice betray the identity.
‘Give me Lone Wolf!’
It is the fell voice of a mortal enemy — a Darklord of Helgedad. As the Zakhan rises to his feet, you notice a flicker of doubt, or perhaps of fear, dim his cruel gaze, but he is quick to mask it. ‘He will be brought to you at sunset in exchange for the Orb of Death. It is agreed.’
‘You have the Orb,’ echoes the chilling voice. ‘Give me Lone Wolf!’
The Zakhan hides his fear well, but time is not on his side. The game of bluff he is playing is deadly. However, the fact that he has not yet been discovered is evidence of his powerful will, for you sense the Darklord is persistently clawing and probing at his mind.
‘You will get your Northlander, Lord Haakon,’ says the Zakhan, his voice curt with anger, ‘when you tell me why your servants defile the Tomb of the Majhan. You claim to have no need for gold and jewels — why then do you plunder the graves of our ancestors?’
A deathly quiet fills the hall; only the unnatural hiss of the Darklord's breath disturbs the silence. ‘This land, this insignificant speck of sand, harbours two small thorns that prick our skin. We seek to remove them both — forever. The fledgling Kai, Lone Wolf, is the thorn that denies us Sommerlund. The Tomb of the Majhan hides the other thorn that threatens us — the accursed
Book of the Magnakai
.’
Your heart pounds as the words echo in your head. The
Book of the Magnakai
! Suddenly, the reason why you have been enticed into a deadly trap becomes clear, and the sinister truth is revealed.
The
Book of the Magnakai
is one of the oldest legends of Sommerlund. With the wisdom of the Magnakai, Sun Eagle, the first Kai Grand Master, instilled the disciplines into the warriors of the House of Ulnar, the bloodline of your king, that were to save your land from devastation at the hands of the Darklords. The
Book of the Magnakai
was lost hundreds of years ago, but its wisdom was kept alive, handed down through generations of Sommlending warriors so that they could share the strength to resist their eternal enemies, the Darklords of Helgedad.
If the Darklords discover and destroy the
Book of the Magnakai
, the secrets will be lost forever, and when you die, the Kai will become extinct. However, if you discover the
Book of the Magnakai
first and deny the Darklords their prize, all the wisdom of the Magnakai will be revealed to you. Through its wisdom you will become strong, strong enough to reach the ultimate achievement for a Sommlending warrior — to become a Kai Grand Master.
However, the peril and the glory of the quest that lies ahead are distracting you from more immediate danger. To discover this danger and to begin the quest for the
Book of the Magnakai
, turn to Part Two of
Shadow on the Sand
.
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