Votes registered; helping the dwarf.
280
The Drakkar is brutally strangling the dwarf. As he catches sight of you, he releases his grip and smashes his mailed fist into the dwarf’s face, sending him tumbling away into space. Inflamed by this act of cold-blooded murder, you draw your weapon and attack.
Drakkar:
COMBAT SKILL 18 ENDURANCE 25
Due to the lightning speed of your attack, do not deduct any ENDURANCE points you may lose in the first round of combat.
If you win the combat, turn to
213.
The combat:
Combat Ratio: 15 + 2 (Silver Helm) + 2 (Mindblast) + 2 (Kai Shield) + 3 (Dagger of Vashna) – 18 = 6
Round 1 Roll: 9
Player Endurance: 21 (no damage dealt for Round 1)
Drakkar Endurance: 25 – 16 = 9
Round 2 Roll: 4
Player Endurance: 21 – 2 = 19
Drakkar Endurance: 9 – 9 = 0
As it turns out, the fascist Drakkar only lasts 2 rounds before being slaughtered by Lone Wolf, although it deals 2 ENDURANCE points of damage in the process.
213
The Drakkar falls to his knees and makes a horrible rasping noise as he tries in vain to prize open his shattered death-mask. Your blows have staved in his helm, and the buckled metal has fractured his skull. You lash out with your foot and kick him from the outrigger, sending him spiraling down to Lake Inrahim to join the dwarf he murdered.
But the dwarf is neither dead nor hundreds of feet below. He hangs by his foot, unconscious, snagged in the netting below the outrigger boards. You grab the dwarf’s leg and haul him to safety before continuing the fight.
The platform now looks empty. No heads are showing above its armored parapet, but you sense something is very wrong. Instinctively, you leap from the outrigger onto the main hull with your weapon poised to strike.
To continue, turn to
361.
361
Ducking beneath the boom-sail, you clamber onto the platform just in time to witness a desperate struggle. The magician is pinned to the deck, his left arm skewered by an enemy spear. With a staff in his right hand, he is trying to fend off the dismounted Kraan-rider. The Drakkar senses your presence. Instantly he whirls around and draws a twisted black scimitar from its scabbard.
Drakkar:
COMBAT SKILL 18 ENDURANCE 25
If you win this combat and the fight lasts 3 rounds or less, turn to
288.
If the fight continues to a fourth round of combat, do not resolve it. Instead, turn immediately to
382.
The combat:
Combat Ratio: 15 + 2 (Silver Helm) + 2 (Mindblast) + 2 (Kai Shield) + 3 (Dagger of Vashna) – 18 = 6
Round 1 Roll: 3
Player Endurance: 20 – 3 = 17
Drakkar Endurance: 25 – 8 = 17
Round 2 Roll: 8
Player Endurance: 17 – 0 = 17
Drakkar Endurance: 17 – 14 = 3
Round 3 Roll: 6
Player Endurance: 17 – 1 = 16
Drakkar Endurance: 3 – 11 = -8
Lone Wolf wins the combat against
this fascist in 3 rounds, who gets luckier and deals 4 ENDURANCE points of damage before joining his comrade in hell.
288
The Drakkar curses you with his dying breath, his cry fast fading as he tumbles away from the platform. You rush to aid your wounded countryman but the battle is not yet over. A Kraan-rider is swooping down towards you with a crossbow leveled at your head. He pulls the trigger and the bolt comes speeding towards your face. It is too late for you to dodge away from this deadly missile.
A shrill, metallic whine rings in your ears when, incredibly, the bolt ricochets away just inches from your forehead. It has been deflected by an invisible shield.
If you have ever visited the ruins of Raumas in a previous
Lone Wolf adventure, turn to
399.
If you have not, turn to
294.
Lone Wolf has visited the ruins of Raumas back in Book 1.
399
Banedon lowers his staff and you detect the trace of a wry smile on his pain-racked face.
‘Alas, I was too slow to protect myself, Lone Wolf,’ he says, glancing at his arm.
You kneel by his side and free the spear that pins him to the floor. The wound is serious. Hastily you staunch the bleeding with strips of cloth torn from his dark blue robes. As you are doing this, you recognize these robes for they are the attire of a Journeymaster. It seems that young Banedon has achieved distinction among his order since last you met.
‘It appears that we are fated to meet in their company,’ he says, still watching the Kraan-riders anxiously. ‘Help me to my feet. We must escape them before they drag us from the sky.’
You support the magician as he grasps the ship’s helm. It is unlike any other you have seen. It is a radiant crystal sphere with hundreds of glowing facets set upon a slim silver rod. No sooner has his hand closed around the crystal-tipped helm than there is a tremendous explosion.
To continue, turn to
323.
323
The explosion is followed by a huge cloud of smoke which engulfs a cabin perched on the rear deck. As the noise rumbles across the desolate salt plain, you hear the agonizing shriek of a wounded Kraan. It comes spiraling past the platform with a ragged hole rent in its broken wing.
The smoke clears to reveal the grinning face of a dwarf framed in the cabin window. A smear of soot blackens his rosy cheeks and exaggerates the whiteness of his crooked teeth. He is holding a tube of smoking steel that you assume to be a magic staff, until you notice that each of the dwarf crew are carrying identical staves. As they point them at the swooping Kraan, gouts of smoke and flame bellow from their tips. Suddenly you recognize these weapons and their wielders. They are dwarves from the mountain kingdom of Bor, and they are armed with firearms – one of the many inventions for which these ingenious artisans are justly famous throughout Magnamund.
The Kraan are terrified by the noise of the guns. Panicked, they turn their leathery tails about and fly away. Their frustrated Drakkarim riders seem powerless to stop them. The primitive firearms have claimed only one victim, but nevertheless, they have driven off the enemy and saved the skyship from disaster.
Banedon steers the craft about, banking steeply until the ship is facing the darkening peaks of the southern mountains and the distinct V-shaped cleft of the Dahir Pass.
Pick a number from the
Random Number Table.
If the number you have picked is 2 or lower, turn to
250.
If it is 3 or higher, turn to
312.
323. The smoke clears to reveal the grinning face of a dwarf at the cabin window.
Rolling the die yields a 4.
312
The dwarves are clearing the deck of battle debris. A dead Drakkar lies sprawled face down across a pile of chests and sacks that are roped beneath the boom-sail. As the dwarves grab his legs to cast him over the side, suddenly he springs to life and sends the dwarves tumbling in all directions. He screams like a fiend, his black axe cutting a wide arc around his blood-smeared body armor. A curse, vile and evil, echoes from his death-mask as he draws back his axe to throw. His chosen target is you.
If you have the Kai Discipline of Hunting or Sixth Sense, turn to
210.
If you have neither of these skills, pick a number from the
Random Number Table.
If the number you have picked is 4 or lower, turn to
354.
If it is 5-8, turn to
371.
If it is 9, turn to
232.
Lone Wolf has the Kai Disciplines of Hunting and Sixth Sense.
210
You dive aside, your Kai skill saving you from the axe that comes spinning towards the platform. Suddenly, a deafening bang rings out and the Drakkar is flung backwards, his breastplate torn open by dwarf-shot. He gives a long, agonizing death-cry as he disappears from sight, tumbling away into the darkness that surrounds the speeding skyship.
As if in answer to the shot, a menacing roll of thunder rumbles across the darkening plain from Barrakeesh. It is as if the city itself is cursing your escape. Banedon appears at your side, his face lined with concern. As he offers a shaky hand to help you to your feet, you notice that the makeshift bandage which binds his wound is soaked through with blood. He is pale and weak and close to collapse.
If you have the Kai Discipline of Healing, turn to
377.
If you do not possess this skill, turn to
339.
Lone Wolf has the Kai Discipline of Healing.
377
Clasping your hands around Banedon’s injured arm, you concentrate your Kai skill on healing the torn muscle and splintered bone. The warmth of your healing power numbs his pain and repairs the internal damage sufficiently to be able to remove the blood-soaked strips of cloth. The wound is still open, but it is clean and your timely aid has saved the limb.
‘We’ll help him now, Lone Wolf,’ shouts a strange voice. You are surprised by the boldness of this assertion, and you turn around to find out who has made it.
To continue, turn to
339.
339
Two dwarves clamber up onto the platform and hurry to their young captain’s side. One flicks open a red velvet satchel strapped to his barrel-like chest, and removes a glass vial and a clean linen bandage. They attend to the wound, and, as his strength returns, Banedon listens intently to your account of the terrifying events that have led up to this meeting. As you conclude your woeful tale, Banedon speaks, his voice full of grim determination.
‘The future of Sommerlund rests in our hands, Lone Wolf. We must stop Darklord Haakon from destroying the Book of the Magnakai. I have heard tell of the Tomb of the Majhan from the nomads of the Dry Main. They say it is a terrible place, a place filled with horror and death… for what little there is, is left to die there. It lies beyond the Dahir, near the oasis of Bal-loftan. That is all I know, for the Majhan hid their tombs well and what few traces remained have long since disappeared beneath the shifting sands of the Dry Main.’
Your face conveys the disappointment you feel upon hearing these words.
‘However, all is not lost,’ says Banedon, undaunted. ‘There is a man who can guide us there. His name is Tipasa Edarouk, or ‘Tipasa the Wanderer’ as he is better known. It is he whom we must seek, for he is the only man who has ever entered the Tomb of the Majhan and lived to tell the tale.’
Banedon takes over the helm as his extraordinary ship, the
Skyrider, as the dwarves call it, speeds through the gathering darkness towards the Dahir Pass. Visibility diminishes with each passing minute until finally you can see no further than the ship’s outriggers. You begin to feel uneasy. If the
Skyrider veers but a fraction off its course, you will be smashed to pieces against the mountainside.
‘Don’t worry, Lone Wolf,’ says Nolrim, the dwarf with the velvet satchel. ‘The Capt’n will see us through.’
Banedon stands with his hand resting lightly on the glowing crystal. He appears to be so relaxed that you would easily believe that he is in some kind of a trance. His eyes are closed and a crackle of energy, like fine white lightning, weaves and traces an intricate pattern across his forehead and around his temples.
The dwarf leads you to the cabin at the rear of the craft where the crew are excitedly recounting their glorious victory over the Kraan-riders. They are seated about a table cluttered with plates of steaming food and jugs of foaming ale. The rich smell of spiced meat and potent Bor-brew fills your nostrils, reminding you of how ravenously hungry you are.
You make short work of the meat and marrow placed before you (restore 3 ENDURANCE points). However, you have your doubts about accepting a jug of ale. Bor-brew is so strong that in many cities throughout Magnamund it has been banned outright for fear of the havoc it can cause.
If you choose to accept a jug of the notorious ale, turn to
392.
If you would prefer to decline the offer, turn to
283.
Here’s the recap: Lone Wolf kills two Drakkar without taking too much damage, and the airship’s dwarven crew use their guns to drive off the rest of Lone Wolf’s fascist pursuers. After dodging one last attack from a dying Drakkar which the dwarves finish off by shooting him in the chest), Lone Wolf and the dwarves heal Banedon’s injured arm. Afte recovering, Banedon says that they must find a man called Tipasa the Wanderer, as he is the only man who has entered the Tomb of the Majhan and survived. With Banedon piloting the airship, Lone Wolf joins the celebratory feast held by the dwarves. With Lone Wolf healing all of his damage from his fights against the two fascists from the noncombat sections and eating his fill, please make your votes on whether Lone Wolf should get drunk with Bor-brew 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. Brass Whistle
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: 25 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: 47
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
Say No To Fascism. The left is the one true way to go.
