The Gaming Den

The hounds begin snuffling frantically at the ground. It appears they have caught the scent of your quarry who has passed this way recently.

You are on a twisting track running virtually north to south across high ground. It clings to the spurs of the hills and is partly paved with flints. The track runs south towards the standing stones where the hunt began. To the north it winds higher into the hills. To the southwest is hilly broken ground where stunted trees warped in the direction of the prevailing wind point forlornly at the horizon. To the east is the impenetrable mass of the Mountains of Remorse.

WAIT

• Search the area?
• Return to the standing stones?
• Go North?
• Head southwest to the rough moorland?

Die Roll	Codes
0-2	Find quarry if hidden, ask for codes GTC, ENE, PBQ
3-4	Ask for two of the three codes above.
5-6	May ask for one code.
7+	Complete Failure.

• If you find the quarry...
• Otherwise, WAIT, then return to the paragraph you came from.

You are on a twisting track running virtually north to south across high ground. It clings to the spurs of the hills and is partly paved with flints. The track runs south towards the standing stones where the hunt began. To the north it winds higher into the hills. To the southwest is hilly broken ground where stunted trees warped in the direction of the prevailing wind point forlornly at the horizon. To the east is the impenetrable mass of the Mountains of Remorse.

WAIT

• Search the area?
• Return to the standing stones?
• Go North?
• Head southwest to the rough moorland?

You soon come to the lip of a great gorge where an old rope bridge is the only way of crossing to the other side. Far below are the white waters of the cataract which pours into a deep blue pool, where the river whirls and eddies before plunging on down a series of rapids.

(Your opponent has a relevant keyword.)

What you had remembered as an intact rope bridge is no more than a single strand of twisted hemp and a few planks. The rest of the bridge has disappeared, probably into the white waters below the cataract. You pause to think and an idea forms in your mind. Your hounds can walk on air, so if you balance on their sturdy backs they can bear you across the gorge.

WAIT

• Return the way you came?
• Cross the gorge on the backs of your dogs?
• Investigate a nearby cave opening?

(Neither you nor the quarry has a relevant codeword.)

There are foul smelling droppings in the entrance to the cave and a dead chamois, its back broken, lies on the floor. You step forward to look closer and a great lumbering hulk, the color of the dark stone of the cave, looms up. If you retreat it would probably knock you from the cave-mouth into the cataract, almost certain death, so you are forced to fight for your life. Your hounds have run ahead, stepping on air, and are on the other side of the gorge, you must fight alone.

ROCK HULK
Healthy (Strike 1d+2, Damage +1)
Hurt (Strike 1d+2, Damage +1)
Wounded (Strike 1d+2, Damage +1)
Badly Wounded (Strike 1d+2)
Maimed (Strike 1d+1)
Dead
(Yeah, the Rock Hulk is weird in that it's base strike roll is only 1 die.)

Round 1: Archveult 11+2, Hulk 1+2; Damage 5+2, Hulk is Wounded.
Round 2: Archveult 7+2, Hulk 6+2; Damage 2+2, Hulk is Badly Wounded.
Round 3: Archveult 9+2, Hulk 4+2; Damage 3+2, Hulk is Maimed.
Round 4: Archveult 5+2, Hulk 2+1; Damage 6+2, Hulk is (very) Dead.

(You record a codeword.)

You are free to explore the Rock Hulk's lair. You tear some meat off the dead chamois and gorge greedily. After a short rest you may restore a wound. The Rock Hulk slept on a rotting pile of sugar cane, the smell revolts you, and you are eager to return your Hounds of Hell to heel.

WAIT

When you have rested you may:
• Return to the hills north of the moorland.
• Try to cross the gorge.

What you had remembered as an intact rope bridge is no more than a single strand of twisted hemp and a few planks. The rest of the bridge has disappeared, probably into the white waters below the cataract. You pause to think and an idea forms in your mind. Your hounds can walk on air, so if you balance on their sturdy backs they can bear you across the gorge.

WAIT

• Return the way you came?
• Cross the gorge on the backs of your dogs?
• Investigate a nearby cave opening?

Balancing precariously on the backs of your hounds you sail slowly and serenely above the white waters of the rapids to the other side of the gorge. Unfortunately, the hounds decide the time has come to play a trick on their cruel master. They carry you down to the river and shake you off into the water. You rise up, walking on the roiling white water like a demigod, but the hounds cannot carry you up to the lip of the gorge again. You will have to walk downstream until the walls of the gorge give way to gentler banks. WAIT first.

KA-RIIM THE HASHISHIN
Healthy (Strike +1)
Injured (Damage -1)
Badly Wounded (Strike -2, Damage -2)
Crippled (Strike -4, Damage -3)
Dead
If Ka-riim's poisoned sword strikes, it deals an extra wound on a roll of 5 or 6. When Ka-riim becomes Badly Wounded, he will flee on a die roll of 5 or 6. When Ka-riim becomes Crippled, he will flee on a die roll of 4, 5, or 6. If he flees, Ka-riim will not be lurking anywhere until the Archveult places him again.

Round 1: Quarry 4-1, Ka-riim 3+1; Damage 3 (1 HL), no poison, Quarry is Wounded!
Round 2: Quarry 7-1, Ka-riim 5+1; No hit.
Round 3: Quarry 5-1, Ka-riim 10+1; Damage 3 (1 HL), no poison, Quarry is Badly Wounded!
Round 4: Quarry 6-1, Ka-riim 2+1; Damage 1 (1 HL), Ka-riim is Injured!
Round 5: Quarry 7-1, Ka-riim 4-1; Damage 4 (1 HL), Ka-riim is Badly Wounded! Ka-riim does not flee.
Round 6: Quarry 11-1, Ka-riim 9-2; Damage 3 (1 HL), Kariim is Crippled! Ka-riim does not flee.
Round 7: Quarry 5-1, Ka-riim 4-4; Damage 3 (1 HL), Ka-riim is Dead!

You are at the edge of the river that pours out of the gorge, the bank is low here and you can see flat land on the other side.

• To the north is the Monastery.
• Follow the bank west until you reach the marsh?
• Follow the edge of the gorge east?
• Cross the river?

You are in the hinterland of the Great Fen. The marsh stinks and is full of unpleasant insects and leeches. It is unthinkable for your quarry to hide in the reeds here. The mountains to the northwest do not quite come to the marsh's edge, there is a strip of land between the two. To the south the flat marsh stretches to the horizon. To the northeast is farmland and some way off you can see a magnificent white monastery.

WAIT

• Go southwest to the forest, in the direction of the city of Askelon? √
• Go northeast to the monastery?

You know well that the marsh to the south is impassable.

You are standing at the edge of the Forest of the Living Dead. You feel strangely comfortable here, as if the wood radiated an aura of evil. To the northwest, barren hills surround a great smoking volcano, Mount Dragonfire. To the northeast, mountains rise to the skies, and to the east is a steaming swamp. There is a short strip of solid ground between the mountains and the swamp, the Marsh Hinterland.

WAIT

• Search the forest?
• Head towards the volcano?
• Head for the pass between mountain and swamp?
• Go southwest into the wood?
• Go southeast into the wood?

You conduct a quick, methodical search of the forest.

You have caught the quarry. Any creatures simply move away at the sight of you. You may exchange any threats or insults you think appropriate at this stage. When you are ready, read on.

• If you still have your hounds you may unleash them on the quarry.
• Otherwise you will finish this hunt personally.