A fur rug hangs over the narrow mouth of the cave, allowing only a chink of light to escape. The light lies like a bright spear across the snow, pointing your way to safety. At least the light and the narrow gap into the cave will give you some slight advantage over the diabolic hounds ...
All such thoughts vanish as you dive through the cave entrance. Beyond the draped fur you behold a dazzling sight. There is a huge hearth, where a pot of stew bubbles enticingly over a crackling log fire. You smell roast meat, and golden light glimmers on bottles of wine and mead. Your flesh, flayed by cold outside, now tingles as the warmth returns to it.
A woman is sitting in a chair by the fire. She looks up with a welcoming smile, and the firelight causes her eyes to twinkle. 'Hello,' she says. 'Do come in.'
You hold up your hand, warning her to stay quiet, and edge back to the cave entrance. You hear nothing outside. Your thoughts conjure an image of the hounds waiting in sinister silence, banding about the cave mouth. But when you flip back the fur and look out, you see only the slowly drifting snowflakes and the stillness of the thorn forest.
'The wolves, or hounds, or whatever,' says the woman, 'won't come in here. I don't think they like the warmth.'
'Who are you?' you ask, allowing her to lead you to the fireside. Your normal instinct is always to be suspicious, but you are too tired and cold really to keep your guard up now. You fall ravenously on the food and drink she hands to you.
'It is time to sleep,' she says gently. Though old, she is a handsome woman. You find her words comforting, and they gradually lull you into slumber ...
You feel her old brown hands pulling a blanket across you. It seems for a moment that you see her face looking down at you. She looks younger now, her face radiant and full of dignity and wisdom. Her gown of white samite glows in the golden firelight ...
If you're wondering why I hadn't rolled for healing, it's because we won't be needing it (we might have if we chose not to come into the cave, though)....
You wake with a start. The woman has gone. You are not sure how long you slept, but you feel completely restored. If wounded, you can return your Endurance to its normal score.
With spirits bolstered by soothing rest, you gather your belongings to set off. Among them you find that the woman has left you a gift: an amber tinderbox. Note this on your Character Sheet if you wish to keep it.
You emerge from the cave. You would have thought it would be dawn by now, but the forest is suffused in a grey gloom that gives no clue as to the time. The thorns look ragged and evil in the twilight as you regretfully make your way from the cave and follow the path north.
Everyone is back to full health. Someone needs to drop something to pick up the Amber Tinderbox, though.
The cursed forest seems to stretch on without limit. Bristling briars hang all around, resembling the poisoned black knives of a thousand skulking assassins. The snow has a stark grin, the wind stings you with its merciless stroking. The sky is the colour of lead.
You lose all sense of the passage of time. You cannot tell if you have been travelling for hours or days. You are walking as in a dream, weary and only half-conscious of your changeless surroundings ...
Suddenly you become aware that you have left the Forest of Thorns behind you. You are walking across a barren moor sprinkled with snow towards a wide lake ringed by strange hunched crags. The water glistens in the dreary twilight. Looking back you see the edge of the swart, thorny forest you have traversed. Your journey through it seems faintly unreal now, like a dream looked back upon after waking or like the waking world glimpsed in dreams.
Your gaze drops to the snow behind you. It is unblemished, showing no sign of tracks leading from the forest's edge. You leave no footprints where you walk.
The Palace of Eternal Dusk now stands ahead of you, a brooding grey edifice of heavy arches and squat towers, built on an island in the middle of the lake. Three huge covered bridges, doubtless honey-combed with chambers and corridors, stretch out from the central keep across the gelid water. Each bridge is entered by a gate on the lake shore. You know before you reach them that these are the Gates of Confusion, of Carnage and of Fear.
A roar rocks the ground beneath your feet. Shambling from behind a crag comes a giant beast, a thing that walks on its hind legs like a man. Each scaly plate armouring its body is the size of a knight's shield, each hard horny claw as thick as a spear's shaft. Where it places its feet, the snow melts and the scant grass is left withered and scorched. It is Gristun, the Guardian-Beast that patrols the way into the Warlock-King's fortress.
Guardian-Beast
Fighting Prowess: 8 Psychic Ability: 8
Awareness: 6 Damage per blow: 3 Dice+1
Armour Rating: 3
Endurance: 60
If you
flee past it, turn to 432. If you slay it, turn to 10.
Another mega-boss who hits hard and has a huge END. But a few things:
- Fleeing is an option here, and it involves feeing
past it into the palace, not turning back, so it's a legit option. I wasn't able to copy the text "Flee" from the battle map somehow, but the exit is 2 squares up and 1 left from Gristun.
- The Warrior is the only one who's engaged by Gristun, and will have to take a hit if he tries to move away.....but the Enchanter should have no problem getting everyone away with Immediate Deliverance if he chooses (he's immune to failure at Level-2 spells unless he's carrying multiple spells in his mind).
- And just a reminder, other than voting on your strategies for the battle, please also let me know which one of you wish to drop something to pick up the Amber Tinderbox.
Adventure Sheets:
WARRIOR:
NAME: Dame Caecilia Wither-Stoat
RANK: 3rd
Battle Order: 1
Fighting Prowess: 11 (+1 from Enchanted Sword)
Psychic Ability: 6
Awareness: 6
Endurance: 17/17
Damage: 1 Die+2
Items:
1 Enchanted Sword (+1 FP)
2 Chainmail armour (Armour Rating three)
3 Money pouch (98 gold pieces)
4 Gloves
5 Blood Sword Scabbard
6 Bedroll
7 Shielding Charm (+1 AR)
8 Silver crucifix (with finger-bone of St Ashanax)
9 Fur Cloak
10 Iron Bell
TRICKSTER:
NAME: Benedict of the Crimson Spires, Honourable Duelist
RANK: 3rd
Battle Order: 2
Fighting Prowess: 7
Psychic Ability: 6
Awareness: 8
Endurance: 19/19
Damage: 1 Die+1
Items:
1 Sword
2 Ringmail armour (Armour Rating two)
3 Golden Snuffbox
4 Jug of Milk
5 Gloves
6 Bedroll
7 Harp
8 Silver Wolf's head clasp
9 Fur Cloak
10 Gilt-edged scroll
*11 Screebo the Raven
SAGE:
NAME: "Pepito" Cascadero, Master of the Mystic Way
RANK: 3rd
Battle Order: 3
Fighting Prowess: 7
Psychic Ability: 7
Awareness: 6
Endurance: 16/16
Damage: 1 Die+1
Items:
1 Quarterstaff
2 Breastplate (Armour Rating one)
3 Fur Cloak
4 Bedroll
5 Magic Bow (Damage 1 Die+1)
6 Quiver (3 arrows)
7 Chequers board and pieces (Enchanted by an Elf-Lord)
8 Blue Crystal Eyes
9 Healing Draught (1 dose, regains 2d6 END)
10 Gloves
ENCHANTER:
NAME: Enchanter Reed, Ninth of the Inverted Tower
RANK: 3rd
Battle Order: 4
Fighting Prowess: 0
Psychic Ability: 15 (+1 from Ring of Sorcery)
Awareness: 7
Endurance: 16/16
Damage: 1 Die
Items:
1 Brazier
2 Silver armour (Armour Rating two)
3 Bedroll
4 Magical Crust of Bread of Infinity
5 Fur Cloak
6 Money pouch (88 gold pieces)
7 Ring of Sorcery (+1 PA)
8 Gloves
9-10 Iron rations (14 days)
