Votes registered; barging the fascist aside and continuing up the stairs.
372
A crossbow bolt grazes your shoulder just as you reach the walkway. The sharp stinging pain makes you dive for cover behind its low parapet wall (lose 1 ENDURANCE point). Then two more bolts ricochet from the stone lip barely inches from your head.
The stone door is shut, secured by an iron bolt on this side. To pull open the bolt, you will have to expose yourself to crossbow fire for the bolt is clearly in view above the lip of the wall.
If you possess the Kai Discipline of Mind Over Matter, turn to
269.
If you do not have this skill, pick a number for the
Random Number Table. If you have reached the Kai rank of Aspirant or higher, add 2 to the number you have picked.
If your total is now is 3 or lower, turn to
366.
If it is 4 or higher, turn to
277.
Lone Wolf possesses the Kai Discipline of Mind Over Matter.
269
You fix your stare at the bolt and will it to move. The sound of running footsteps behind you sends a cold shiver down your spine when you realize that the Drakkarim are now storming the stairs. After a few agonizing seconds, slowly the bolt begins to move. As soon as it clears the bolt-hole, you wrench open the stone portal and race through it, unaware of what may await you beyond.
To continue, turn to
352.
352
Beyond the portal there lies a vaulted corridor which leads to a grand stairway. You narrowly avoid confrontation with a dozen Drakkarim, saved in the nick of time by your lightning reactions. As the enemy rush from an archway on the second floor landing, you dive behind a statue of the recently deceased Zakhan Moudalla. They are so intent on their chase that they fail to notice your hiding place and hurry down the stairs, grunting in their heavy black armor as they run. Silently, you give thanks for the fact that Zakhan Moudalla was a very stout man. His statue casts a very large shadow in which to hide.
At the top of the stairway you discover a hatch which gives access to the roof. You climb through it and follow a path of sun-bleached tiles that wind in and out of the domes and turrets, eventually leading to a bell-tower.
You are feeling exhausted and need to rest. Your mind still full of the shock of your encounter with Darklord Haakon. The sound of his terrible voice repeating the words ‘Book of the Magnakai’ echoes again and again in your mind. With desperation sapping your will, you peer out through a grille in the bell-tower. The sight you see renews your flagging hope, for it inspires a daring escape plan.
To continue, turn to
313.
313
Below the bell-tower you see a line of Itikar pens, each with its own circular landing platform. Itikar are a breed of huge black eagles that nest in eyries high in the peaks of the Dahir and Vakar Mountains. The Vassagonians have long since tamed these giants of the skies, using them as winged mounts for their army leaders, their scouts, couriers and envoys.
An Itikar and rider swoop down out of the reddening sky and alight upon the platform nearest to the bell-tower. Slaves hurl a rope to the rider who, in turn, fixes it to a saddle ring before he jumps to the ground. The Itikar caws and beats its huge wings as it is slowly winched into the pen by a hidden capstan.
The rider and the slaves leave the platform. There is now only one sentry on guard at the pen. If you can overpower him, you should be able to make your escape from the Grand Palace on the back of this giant bird.
If you possess a Blowpipe and Sleep Dart, turn to
325.
If you do not have these items, turn to
282.
Lone Wolf does not have a Blowpipe and Sleep Dart.
282
You leave the bell-tower and make your way down towards the sentry. At first, dodging from one turret to the next, it is easy for you to remain unseen. However, for the final thirty yards to the landing platform there is no cover. The platform and the palace roof are linked by an exposed gangplank. If you are to overpower the sentry, first you must cross the gangplank undetected.
If you have the Kai Discipline of Mind Over Matter, turn now to
295.
If you do not possess the skill, pick a number from the
Random Number Table. If you have the Kai Disciplines of either Hunting or Camouflage, add 2 to the number you have picked. If you have reached the Kai rank of Warmarn, or higher, add 3.
If your total score is now 4 or lower, turn to
357.
If it is 5-9, turn to
389.
If it is 10 or higher, turn to
236.
Lone Wolf has the Kai Discipline of Mind Over Matter.
295
Focusing your skill on a money pouch that hangs from the sentry’s belt, you concentrate on untying the leather strap that secures it. Seconds later, the pouch drops to the ground and spills its contents. The guard yelps in horror as he sees his gold rolling over the edge of the platform and he immediately drops to his knees to gather up what little remains. As he turns his back, you break from cover and run across the gangplank. Your speed and stealth carry you across the gangplank undetected. When you strike, the guard is still on his knees scooping up his scattered gold. Your attack is silent and deadly.
If you wish to search the guard’s body, turn to
207.
If you decide to ignore the body, you can hurry into the Itikar’s pen by turning to
224.
Here’s the recap: The guards fire crossbow bolts at Lone Wolf, with one of them slightly wounding him and another securing shut the stone door ahead of him. Thanks to his Mind Over Matter discipline, Lone Wolf gets the bolt out and continues through the stone door. He then heads to a bell-tower’s roof and takes out the lone sentry guarding the roof’s Itikar pens, again with the help of his Mind Over Matter discipline. With Lone Wolf’s ENDURANCE fully restored from the noncombat sections, please make your votes on whether searching the dead fascist’s body is a good idea or not before 9:00 AM PDT to guarantee that they will be counted.
ACTION CHART
KAI DISCIPLINES:
1. Sixth Sense
2. Healing: +1 ENDURANCE point for each section without combat
3. Hunting: no need for a Meal when instructed to eat
4. Mindblast: +2 COMBAT SKILL points
5. Mindshield: no points lost when attacked by Mindblast
6. Animal Kinship
7. Mind Over Matter
8. Tracking
9. Camouflage
WEAPONS:
1. Dagger
2. Sommerswerd (In sections where it is specifically mentioned, +8 COMBAT SKILL and double damage against undead)
BACKPACK:
1. Oede Herb (+10 ENDURANCE)
2. Alether Concentrate (+4 COMBAT SKILL for one fight)
3. Rope
4. Laumspur Potion (+4 ENDURANCE)
5. Concentrated Laumspur Potion (+5 ENDURANCE)
6. Meal
7. Rendalim’s Elixir (+6 ENDURANCE)
8. Prism
SPECIAL ITEMS:
• Kai Shield (+2 COMBAT SKILL when used in combat)
• Kai Gold Key
• Crystal Star Pendant (Reroll one number per adventure, unused)
• Silver Helm (+2 COMBAT SKILL)
• Ticket
• Red Pass
• Padded Leather Waistcoat (+2 ENDURANCE)
• Firesphere
• Blue Stone Triangle
• Scroll
• Dagger of Vashna (+3 COMBAT SKILL, -3 ENDURANCE)
• Sash (does not count towards 12 item limit)
• Copper Key
BELT POUCH: 17 Gold Crowns
COMBAT SKILL: 15
ENDURANCE POINTS: 21/21
RULES:
• When in combat, stop to ask whether to use any items or abilities if ENDURANCE is less than 11 or Combat Ratio is less than -4
FASCIST KILL COUNT: 43
RESURRECTIONS USED: 1
NOTES:
• Visited the Ruins of Raumas
• Survived the perils of the Graveyard of the Ancients
• Visited Gorn Cove
• Bridge password is ‘sunset’
• Applied Baknar oil
• Visited a hut on ‘Raider’s Road’
• Visited the Ruins of Maaken
• Read the Barakeesh proclamation