The Heart of Fire (26 page)

If you manage to defeat this spectral villain, turn to
124
.

159

The captain listens to everyone’s reports with interest. It appears that the original crew were indeed pirates, smuggling and pillaging along the west coast. However,
something must have happened to them out at sea as the entire crew have strangely disappeared, leaving their ship – the
Celeste
– to drift into this cave. The hold is flooded,
but it looks to have contained a large number of explosives, some of which have been taken.

The captain looks around at the ragged corpses of the goblins. ‘Somethin’ must have really spooked them to want to hole up here as a last defence. Goblins hate water.’ His gaze
shifts to the far shore, where the banks are littered with the remains of the ant-men. ‘I think I can guess why.’

Lowering the gangplank your party leaves the ship, crossing back to the rocks. As you follow the ledge around the cave, Surl spots the entrance to another tunnel. It winds deeper into the
mountain, leading you through into another large cave. Turn to
229
.

160

Amongst the piles of wind-scoured rock, you find a silver casket containing 50 gold crowns and one of the following items:

When you have updated your hero sheet, turn to
239
.

161

You push on the door, surprised to find that it is locked. As you step back, looking for any clues as to why the shop is closed, a passer-by calls over:

‘She’s gone, my friend. Shut up shop a couple of days ago.’

You turn to the man who has addressed you. ‘What happened?’ you ask worriedly. ‘Was there trouble?’

The man shrugs. ‘My wife’s one of Anna’s patients; I collect medicine for her every day. I turned up and Anna was packing her bags. She looked in a hurry – in a panic,
I’d say. Gave me enough medicine for a month. I heard those inquisitors had paid her a visit. Don’t know the ins and outs, none of my business I suppose.’

You offer a nod of gratitude. As the man heads away, your thoughts wander back to that fateful night when you came seeking Elysium. Perhaps Anna’s dealings with the Wiccans have put her in
danger. With a sigh, you step away from the shop and resume your journey. You may now head to upper town (turn to
77
) or lower town (turn to
36
).

162

‘We knows to mind our own business; not get involved.’ The leader breathes a heavy sigh. ‘There was some battle, off in the moorlands. A Wiccan – a
woman – came to our farm, begging for succour. She had a child. I suppose she got lost, separated. We took ’em in. What else could yer do? They were poor, desperate things, tired and
hungry.’

The broad-shouldered boy snorts. ‘Yeah, no one listened to me. I knew she were a witch.’

‘You helped them?’ you ask, puzzled. ‘But you said—’

The leader nods. ‘We gave them food and rest. A few days, we thought they’d be gone. But then . . . the others came.’ He trembles at the memory, both fear and anger in his hard
stare. ‘Because we helped one, they thought we’d help them all. Grain, livestock – they wanted it all. Everything I worked hard for.’

‘And they offered nothing in return?’ you ask.

The leader falls silent. You look to the boys instead, searching for an answer. It is the youngest who finally speaks. ‘Mother was ill. The healers at the church couldn’t do nothing.
But the Wiccans said they could. They had a mage – one of them druid types. She said she could give her life again – make her walk like she used to.’

‘Enough!’ the leader, who you assume is the father, snaps angrily. ‘I won’t be listening to it! I won’t!’

You turn back to him, frowning. ‘So you agreed – you let the druid heal her?’

‘Heal?’ The leader glowers, almost choking on the word. ‘It were a curse. She became something else – one of their demon kind. It was out of control, destroyed the farm.
Destroyed everything. And those Wiccans let it happen. They just watched it all burn. That
thing
is still there now. It ain’t my beloved Dags no more.’ (Record the word
duty
on your hero sheet.)

163

Team battle (advanced): The wicker man

Outside Blight Haven there is a desolate hill, perpetually shrouded in a yellow-green mist. According to the ghost stories, whispered around the campfire, the inhabitants of
this cursed village turned their back on the church, delving into witchcraft and devilry to try and save their people from the plague. In desperate times, people will resort to desperate
measures.

The wicker man stands as dark testament to the bloody practices that took place in the village: a giant effigy of wood and straw, bedecked with wilted garlands and tattered carnival ribbons. A
crowd of ravens caw and peck at the sack-cloth head, where a crude mockery of a smile has been stitched beneath the hollow eye sockets.

Bones litter the hillside as you clamber to its summit, a companion in tow. Some say many travellers and pilgrims were sacrificed here, to feed the wicker man’s insatiable hunger. And
where there is death, there is bound to be treasure.

The mist is thick, reeking of fetid marsh water. It curls in snake-like tendrils over the rooftops of the forgotten village, creeping around the wicker man and weaving between its skeletal
frame.

A creak of wood. A scrape of limbs.

So the ghost stories were true, the wicker man has gained some semblance of life – infused by the demonic magics that were used to craft it. The giant lurches forward, its cage-like body
falling open, ready for a fresh sacrifice.

Your companion’s steps falter, their breath steaming in the cold.

Then you hear it. An angry buzzing sound – growing louder and louder. Suddenly, from out of the sackcloth head, a dark swarm of bees spill forth into the chill air. Then a wooden hand
descends, snapping around you and lifting you up towards the cage. You beat and kick in an effort to get free, but there is no escaping your fate. You find yourself flung inside the
creature’s body, the door snapping closed behind you. Then the swarm of bees spiral into the cage, trapping you within a humming maelstrom of blinding, stinging death. It is time to
fight:

Special abilities