The Heart of Fire (92 page)

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Authors: Michael J. Ward

Tags: #Fantasy

BOOK: The Heart of Fire
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Special abilities

Rune master: Roll a die at the end of each combat round:
or
The lich heals 4
health
. This cannot take the lich above its starting
health
of 90.

    
or
The lich strikes you with
lightning. This causes 1 damage for each point of
armour
you are wearing.

    
or
The lich curses you,
reducing your
speed
by 2 in the next combat round. If you are
hexed
, you are immune to curse and may ignore its effects.

 

If you manage to defeat this undead mage, turn to
666
. You can flee this combat at any time by leaving the tomb and returning to the cobwebbed tunnels, turn to
889
.

600

Congratulations! You have created the following item:

 

Self-published grimoire

(left hand: spell book)

+2 speed +3 magic

Ability:
dark pact

 

If you wish to create a different spell book, you can start the process again (turn to
850
). Otherwise, you may now leave the chamber and continue your journey. Turn
to
866
.

601

Virgil leads the way, taking the stairs two at a time. As the forge comes into view, you see the sprites gathered around a circular hearth, its flames heating the underside of
an immense black cauldron. The pot jumps and lurches in an effort to free itself from the flames, the iron chains that bind it rattling and clinking with each sudden movement.

The larger guardian points a glowing finger in your direction, hissing something to its fellow sprites. They respond instantly by charging forward, their thin bodies blazing with fury. While its
minions move to attack, the larger sprite turns and dives into the cauldron, sending waves of molten liquid lapping over its sides.

‘We must hurry!’ gasps Virgil, drawing his pistols. ‘Their leader will grow more powerful the longer we delay!’

You must defeat the four deadly sprites before you can take on their leader. (Keep a record of the number of combat rounds it takes you to complete this combat.) It is time to fight:

 

Special abilities

Blistering heat: At the end of every combat round, each surviving sprite automatically inflicts 1 damage, ignoring
armour
. If you have the
fire shield
ability you can ignore this damage.

Fan the flames: When a sprite is reduced to 20
health
or less it immediately returns to the cauldron to
regain its strength (unless its
health
is zero). Roll a die:

    
or
The sprite regains 10
health
and increases its
magic
by 3.

    
or
The sprite regains 5
health
.

    
or
The sprite increases its
magic
by 3.

    Each sprite can only visit the forge once.

Body of flame: The sprites are immune to
backdraft, fire aura, sear
and
searing mantle
.

Forge master: If you have the word
fire quencher
on your hero sheet, the fire sprites start with 30
health
instead of 40. If you have the word
wind breaker
on your hero sheet, you can add 2 to the result of the
fan the flames
ability (the maximum result being 6).

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