The Deathlord of Ixia (5 page)

Ixia is a cruel and treacherous region. Be wary and on your guard at all times, for you can expect no help at all from the fell creatures who dwell in this remote territory.

Some of the things that you will encounter during your mission will be of use to you in this and future
Lone Wolf
books, while others may be red herrings of no real value at all. If you discover items, be selective in what you choose to keep.

Pick your Grand Master Disciplines with care, for a wise choice will enable any player to complete the quest, no matter how weak their initial
COMBAT SKILL
and
ENDURANCE
scores may be. Successful completion of previous
Lone Wolf
adventures, although an advantage, is not essential for the completion of this adventure.

May the light of Kai and Ishir be your guide as you venture into the darkness of Ixia.

For Sommerlund and the Kai!

Lord Rimoah removes a sphere of crystal from a pocket of his robe and holds it up to the lantern light. It is filled with a swirling grey mist. Softly he murmurs the words of an ancient spell and the mist clears to reveal the anxious face of your friend — Guildmaster Banedon. Rimoah speaks briefly to Banedon's image, requesting that he come to the Monastery at once.

I will be with you within the hour,
says the voice of Banedon, a whisper in your mind.

Your friend is in Toran, sixty miles to the north, yet he holds true to his word. In less than an hour he arrives at the Monastery aboard
Skyrider
 — his sleek flying ship. Two excited young Kai Aspirants bring word of his arrival to the vault and you respond by making your way swiftly to the surface. Banedon's
Skyrider
is hovering above the training park, the hum of its magical engine amplified by the surrounding walls and battlements. It is dusk on this wintry evening and a shower of feathery snow is illuminated by the craft's lanterns. A rope ladder hangs from the bow rail to the frost-hardened earth.

‘Go aboard, Grand Master,’ urges Rimoah. ‘Banedon will advise you and provide you with what you'll be needing. I shall stay here and pray for your safe return.’

You bid a hasty farewell to your mentor before climbing the dangling rope ladder with the legendary speed and grace that sets you apart from lesser warriors. Banedon is waiting as you haul yourself aboard. He greets you with a glad smile, yet his face cannot hide his deep concern for what may await you in Ixia. You wave a final farewell to Lord Rimoah; then you retreat to the warmth of Banedon's cabin as the
Skyrider
glides over the Monastery's southern wall and ascends into the leaden sky.

Your friend Banedon has already set a course for Vadera, the principal city of Lencia, a destination which is more than a full day's flight west of Sommerlund. Were this not the first stage of a longer voyage to Ixia you would gladly welcome the chance to visit Vadera, for you have many friends there in the court of King Sarnac of Lencia.

During the flight, Banedon details the plans which have been made on your behalf. King Sarnac himself has promised his help; he will provide you with a boat and a pilot to sail you from Vadera to Azgad Island, a desolate Lencian outpost in the Tozaz Sea. On your arrival there you will be transferred to a Lencian ice-boat, a craft specially built to withstand the power of the treacherous pack-ice which clings to the Ixian shoreline at this time of the year.

‘The ice-boat will land you on the coast of Ixia, Lone Wolf,’ says Banedon, ‘and then it will wait at anchor for you to return upon the completion of your mission.’

‘How long will the ice-boat wait for me?’ you ask, apprehensively.

‘If you do not return within seven days, the pilot has orders to set sail for Vadera without you. The Tozaz in winter is a cruel and terrible sea — no ordinary man could hope to survive there for much longer than a week, no matter how strong his ship or plentiful his supplies. Which reminds me — if you are to survive your visit to Deathlord Ixiataaga's frigid realm, you will be needing some special protection.’

If you possess a Platinum Amulet,
turn to 166
.

If you do not possess this Special Item,
turn to 282
.

Furtive and fretful, like dogs snuffling for a grounded fox, the undead Drakkarim encircle your hiding place and begin to close in upon you. It can only be a matter of moments before they find what they are looking for!

If you possess Kai-surge and have reached the rank of Kai Grand Guardian or higher,
turn to 279
.

If you do not possess this skill, or if you have yet to attain this level of Kai Mastery,
turn to 31
.

To your dismay, the descending wave of Lavas reach the Demonlord before you and form up in a protective circle around his ice-sheened body. Those that remain in the sky beat the air with their mighty wings, causing a powerful down-draught which holds you at bay.

Shielding your eyes from the stinging dust-choked winds, you look up and see that the Lavas leader is cradling the curious spiked metal bowl in its horny hands. He descends towards Tagazin and inverts it, and suddenly you realize its true purpose and design. It is a helm of power, affixed on top with a crystal spike. The Lavas places the helm upon the Demonlord's head and the spike begins to glow menacingly.

Now all of the Lavas ascend into the sky where they wait to view a confrontation which is about to commence. Suddenly Tagazin, revitalized by the power of the spiked helm, comes charging at you with his head lowered, snorting gruffly like a maddened bull.

Pick a number from the
Random Number Table
. If you possess Grand Huntmastery or Grand Pathsmanship, add 3 to the number you have picked.

If your total is now 4 or less,
turn to 72
.

If it is 5 or more,
turn to 308
.

You circle around the hall, keeping a wary eye on the frozen humanoids that line the walls in case your presence here should cause them to animate. Fortunately your caution proves unnecessary — they remain completely immobile.

As you pass by the shimmering archway, you feel nausea rising from the pit of your stomach and a wave of dizziness makes you falter for a few moments: lose 2
ENDURANCE
points. However, your dogged persistence pays off when you discover a partially-concealed panel in the wall. As you step nearer, it slides open to reveal a flight of steps which ascend to an empty chamber. Here you discover a door of opaque green crystal set flush into the north wall. Closer investigation reveals a curious lockplate positioned at its centre.

If you wish to examine this lock,
turn to 322
.

If you choose to ignore the crystal door and return by the stairs to the entrance hall below,
turn to 299
.

You mistime your jump and land badly, breaking your right leg in three places and rendering yourself incapable of moving. Gritting your teeth against the intense pain, you draw on your healing skills to mend the broken bones. Unfortunately, before your legs have healed sufficiently for you to go on, you are crushed to death by a deluge of falling masonry.

Your incredible courage has brought about the defeat of the evil Deathlord Ixiataaga, saving untold millions of living souls from an eternity of slavery in his service. So long as there is Good upon Magnamund you will never be forgotten. Sadly, though, death is the price you have paid for this victory.

Your life and your quest end here in the Crystal Spire of Xaagon.

There is a faint
click
and the door opens without a sound. You walk through and emerge into a chamber composed entirely of polished black crystal, where you see myriad images of yourself trailing away into infinity within the mirror-smooth walls. At first you see only your own reflections, but when you cast your gaze around this eerie chamber you realize that you are not alone. Standing guard at an open archway are a trio of undead creatures, the like of which you have never encountered before. They are armed with barbed tridents which they hold loosely in their corpse-green hands.

Suddenly they become aware of your presence and come scurrying forwards, their tridents raised in readiness to pin you to the wall.

If you possess a Bow and wish to use it,
turn to 287
.

If you do not,
turn to 64
.

Drawing on your Magnakai skills of camouflage and psychic defence to shield your body and mind, you leave your hiding place and hurry through the open archway. Several hundred yards beyond, you come to a wide stone staircase which ascends to a landing, positioned high above the underground lake and ice cavern. As you climb the steps, the sub-zero temperature plummets even further, making you shiver involuntarily, despite the combined protection of your Platinum Amulet and your Magnakai skills.

At length you reach the landing to be greeted by the sight of two undead Ixian warriors standing guard at the mouth of a cave. Instinctively, you sidestep into the shadows to avoid being seen, but the Ixians show no reactions; it is as if they have both been cast in stone.

Beyond the open cave mouth you see a bleak and desolate wasteland of rock and ice. A blizzard is raging, whipped up by a fierce electrical storm that blazes above a distant mountain range. The jagged peaks are illuminated by the flashes of the storm's ghostly, blue-white fire.

Your Kai senses tell you that the evil sorcery which animates and controls the guards is temporarily dormant: these two skeletons currently pose no threat to your safety. However, the same cannot be said of the troop of undead Drakkarim warriors who, at this moment, are marching up the stairs behind you. Reluctantly, you leave the cave mouth and set off into the raging blizzard in search of the city of Xaagon.

Turn to 44
.

The instant you step into the light, a wave of acute pain washes through your body as the curtain of shimmering radiance swallows you up. You writhe in agony as gravity releases its hold on your body, and you feel yourself begin to rise: lose 10
ENDURANCE
points.

You are on the threshold of unconsciousness when suddenly the light fades and you find yourself kneeling on a floor of black crystal, staring at the reflection of your pain-wracked face in its highly-polished surface. Wearily you raise your aching head and see, to your horror, a trio of undead creatures scurrying towards you from an open archway. They have barbed tridents clasped in their corpse-green hands, held raised in readiness to pin you to the floor.

If you possess a Bow and wish to use it,
turn to 287
.

If you possess Kai-surge and wish to use it,
turn to 96
.

If you do not, or if you choose not to use either of the above, then
turn to 64
.

As you stare upwards at the monstrous spire, you detect waves of pure evil radiating from its ice-sheathed surfaces. They seem to wax and wane in time with the crimson light pulsing from its tip. Your improved mastery also detects dangerously high concentrations of light in the ultraviolet spectrum. So strong is this light that it physically sickens you, yet you find it hard to look away; you are both fascinated and repulsed by it.

Suddenly you realize what it is that you are seeing and feeling: it is the evil power of Deathlord Ixiataaga himself. He is present here, somewhere inside this dread spire.

If you possess Kai-screen,
turn to 325
.

If you do not possess this Grand Master Discipline,
turn to 245
.

With a dull
clunk
, the lock disengages and the heavy portal creaks ajar.
⁴
Immediately you are greeted by a blast of frozen air as you push open the door and step out onto a viewing platform which is fixed to the outer metallic skin of this huge alien submarine. Away to your right you can see a line of ice-boats at anchor at the lake's edge, and to your left you notice a column of skeletal warriors. These are being led by a black-robed Cabalah, marching in mechanical fashion along a jetty towards the mouth of a tunnel which leads out of the vast ice cavern. Your keen Kai senses tell you that you have arrived in Ixia, and that the distant tunnel leads to the surface.

You commit the position of the ice-boats to memory; if your mission is successful, you will be needing some means by which you can escape from Ixia. Then you carefully observe the area immediately surrounding the submarine, and notice that there are only two ways by which you can reach the distant tunnel — by the adjacent jetty, or by entering the icy waters of the lake and swimming to the shore.

If you wish to attempt to reach the tunnel via the jetty,
turn to 30
.

If you choose to attempt to reach the tunnel entrance by swimming from the submarine to the shore,
turn instead to 161
.