Alcina finds herself once again awaking from a recurring nightmare. Blinking her eyes she realizes the ship has arrived and she disembarks and approaches Thalios....
1
A ship is chartered to take you some distance along the coast on the first leg of your journey. Your adventure thus begins pleasantly enough — you have nothing to do but bask in the midday sun out on the quarterdeck and watch the crew scurrying about as their gruff captain shouts his orders. The great sail strains in the wind, a block of white against a cloudless sky. Eventually, however, the ship can take you no further. The captain tells you that he is already in dangerously shallow waters, and he is obliged to put you ashore on the tidal flats so that you can walk the rest of the way to Thalios.
Your charts show that you are still some eight miles from the ruins, but it is an easy trek over a seemingly unending expanse of flat wet sands. It is uncanny to imagine how, at high tide in a few hours, the sea will roll in to cover much of the land you are traversing. You begin to glance nervously at the sun as it dips in the sky — if your charts are in error and you cannot find the higher ground where the ruins of Thalios lie. . . But no, you see a jagged line of black on the horizon and as you approach the shapes of broken buildings begin to resolve themselves. By the time you reach the city gates, it is almost sunset. The sun shimmers like a ball of fire on the rim of the world. Its light spreads traces of red gold across the embossed armour of four figures who come to greet you as you enter the city. They wear the livery of the Academy, and are presumably an honour guard sent by Master Giru. Nonetheless, you are surprised to see that they have their swords drawn. The sergeant offers no explanation for this, but steps straight up to you saying, ‘Come with us. We will take you to Giru.’
Something in their manner makes you suspicious. Will you go with them (turn to 31), decline, saying you will find Master Giru yourself (turn to 227), or draw your sword and attack them (turn to 53)?
227
The warriors stare blankly back at you as though they do not understand. As you move to pass them, they crouch down in fighting posture and close in on you. Your hand is on your sword-hilt, and the black blade leaps from its scabbard with a
metallic whisper. Will you fight them (turn to 53), or first try one of your spells (turn to 282)?
282
You may cast either Burning Tiger (turn to 207) or The Deadly Swarm (turn to 75).
75
You weave your spell with arcane words and ritual gestures, and suddenly the air is alive with an angry droning as hundreds of large hornets appear from nowhere. The four warriors are swiftly engulfed by a writhing cloud of the insects, and they duck low and try to fend off the attack as they flee. The Sergeant stumbles as he runs, catching his foot on the edge of a tipped flagstone, and falls under a buzzing mass. The others run across the plaza and disappear into a ruined building. Strangely, it is only now that they begin to scream. You dispel the hornets, but it is too late to save the Sergeant. He is already fatally stung. His swollen lips move feebly, as though he is trying to tell you something. If you wish to bend down and catch his dying words, turn to 29. If you would rather continue on into the city, turn to 48.
You already know that after hearing the Sergeant's dying words you'll move to section 48, so there's no reason not to do so.
29
The Sergeant's fingers close spasmodically on the collar of your robe. His voice is hoarse and barely audible as he relates his tale. ‘Evil creatures — Kappa — came out of the sea and attacked us... many slain . . . Master Giru set up a camp in the old Consul’s Palace, south-west of here ... The Kappa patrols are scouring the city . . . we were sent to escort you to Master Giru, but the Kappa spotted us and one of them used hypnosis .. .’ With the last of his strength, the Sergeant pulls you closer. ‘Don’t let them get the Eye!’ he gasps, and then the life goes from him and he falls back.
You cover his body with his cloak as you ponder his last words. You have heard of the Kappa - a heartless eerie race who dwell in undersea fortresses. They hate all other life-forms, and only the opportunity for plunder and killing would bring them on to land. Some high-ranking Kappa can control men’s minds with a hypnotic sorcery, which explains why the unfortunate warriors attacked you. You stand and look out across the city. You will make the Kappa pay for what they have done — but first you must find Master Giru.
Turn to 48.
48
You move hastily across the plaza. The ancient flagstones are cracked and broken and slimy with algae, and there are numerous shallow pools of water where the ground has subsided. Sunset is no more than a crimson blaze in the western sky. The lengthening shadows are turning to night. Soon the moon will be up — bringing with it, of course, the tides. At high tide many of the streets will lie underwater, making your passage through Thalios much more difficult. You must hope to find Master -Giru within a few hours.
You stop and shrink back into the darkness beside a fallen column as you catch sight of a tall figure in the distance. It is very thin, vaguely manlike but with many-jointed limbs which posture jerkily as it moves. In the twilight you can see that its huge eyes are lambent white pearls, and its body is an open latticework of coral. A Kappa!
It is moving straight towards where you are hiding. Will you dodge through the gateway of the building next to you (marked on your map as the Temple of Swords — turn to 18), or will you wait for the Kappa to draw level with you and then attack it (turn to 268)?
18
You pass through the gateway in the high wall into a courtyard. Bamboo grows thickly here above the level of your head, and you easily conceal yourself until the solitary Kappa has gone by. If you now wish to struggle through the overgrown courtyard
towards the main building, turn to 36. If you would rather go back out on to the deserted plaza, turn to 274.
274
The moon is rising above the shattered city walls, sketching out the ruins of Thalios with wan bars of light. A cold wind blows across the open plaza. Your eyes fall upon the constellation known to your people as the Thurifer, or the Pious Acolyte. It is high in the sky — a good omen. You feel exposed out on the vast empty plaza, and you are anxious to reach somewhere more secluded before another Kappa comes along. Will you head directly south across the Bridge of Blue Skulls (turn to 108), or will you make for the warren of narrow streets to the west (turn to 258)?
Going to the Bridge of Blue Skulls leads to the Citadel, so Alcina chooses the narrow streets.
258
You start to make your way along a narrow alley. The buildings to either side lean crazily together so that only a narrow chink of coal-black sky is visible above. The darkness here is absolute. It occurs to you to use light from your Orb of Illumination — but that could attract decidedly unwanted attention if there are more of the appalling Kappa about. You resort to feeling your way slowly along the rough stone wall. The alley twists and turns and is joined by innumerable side streets, but you head doggedly west.
Suddenly you hear the sound of a sword being drawn - right behind your back. You freeze and an icy tingle runs down your spine. A gruff voice says, ‘Now then, matey, just drop your moneybag and you won't get hurt.’ Will you:
Do as you are told? Turn to 165
Cast a spell? Turn to 21
Draw your sword and turn to face the man? Turn to 218
218
You whirl, risking a brief burst of light from the magic Orb to show you the face of your waylayer. To your surprise, the alleyway is empty. Then your eyes fall upon a slumped figure half hidden in a nearby doorway. You approach cautiously. When the Orb’s grey light falls on the figure’s face, you realize that he has been dead for several days.
‘Weigh anchor, me hearties!’ Another voice, different from the first, rings out. You start in alarm before noticing the emaciated mynah bird perched on the dead man’s shoulder. It continues to talk as you inspect the body, and you realize that the phrases it is repeating could only have been picked up in a life of seafaring and petty villainy. The man was surely a pirate, though you cannot guess how he came to meet his end in these godforsaken ruins. His polished mahogany pegleg shines as if new in the magical light, but the rest of him is a far from pretty sight. The fingers of his left hand are closed around a green wine bottle. He seems to have nothing else of interest and you choose not to search him thoroughly. If you wish to take the bottle, turn to 273. If not, turn to 243.
273
You uncork it and sniff at the contents. The smell is not of wine, but vinegar. A curious thing for a man to carry around with him. Will you risk a drink from the bottle? If so, turn to 294. If not, turn to 243.
243
You may take his pegleg if you wish — who knows, it may come in handy. Remember to note it down on your Character Sheet if you do so. As you turn to go on your way, the scrawny mynah bird flutters up to alight on your shoulder. Will you brush it away and leave alone (turn to 144), or continue with it as a companion (turn to 257)?
144
You step out of the alley into a large quadrangle dominated by the ruins of a huge domed building - the Amber Pantechnicon. Around the perimeter of the quadrangle, the cobblestones are littered with broken tiles which have fallen from the crumbling roofs. About fifty metres away, their thin coral bodies gleaming darkly in the moonlight, two Kappa are patrolling the quadrangle. They begin to move in your direction, and you quickly hide in the shadows. They come to a halt in front of the gated archway of the Pantechnicon and begin to consult a plaque that one of them carries at its belt.
Occasionally you hear them exchanging words in their strange fluting speech. It occurs to you that the plaque may be a map of some sort — a sea-dwelling species like the Kappa are hardly likely to use paper, after all. Perhaps they are discussing which part of the city to patrol next. If you wish to, you can edge around the quadrangle and head south along the Avenue of Sphinxes without being spotted (turn to 304). Otherwise, you could wait where you are until the Kappa move on (turn to 170).
304
You stand at the end of the Avenue of Sphinxes. The night is cold, and you can smell salt-spray on the breeze. Crouched beside the pedestal of a fallen monument, you tensely watch the silent ruins around you. To your right there stands a particularly imposing edifice, once the mansion of a wealthy noble. If you wish to investigate this mansion, turn to 300. If you would rather head quickly south along the Avenue of Sphinxes, turn to 120.
300
You find a breach in the high wall that encloses the mansion grounds. Scrambling over the chunks of weathered rubble, you enter a weed-choked garden. The long grass sways eerily, tinted an unnatural swart hue by the cold moonlight. You tread across a marshy lawn towards the mansion. Beside the crooked portico, like a grim and implacable sentinel, stands the bronze statue of a muscular warrior. It is pitted and eaten by centuries of corrosion; the face stares out, pock-marked and blind, as you draw near. You look past the statue into the gaping black doorway of the mansion. A tangle of vines overhangs it like a giant cobweb.
You need no sorcery to sense the danger here. If you wish to enter the mansion, turn to 216. If you wish to investigate the statue more closely first, turn to 61. If you would rather leave and head along the Avenue of Sphinxes, turn to 120.
216
In the darkened entrance hall, a wedge of moonlight falls upon the cringing figure of a whitehaired man. He looks up and whimpers as you approach. You soon see that he is no older than yourself. From his wide staring eyes you guess that he has suffered a shock — something so terrible that it turned his hair stark white.
‘Mercy,’ he implores, holding forth a trembling hand. ‘I am an adventurer like yourself. I came here with my friend Wulfric Stormrider. We only came in to shelter from a storm, but when we tried to leave. . .’ He buries his face in his hands. ‘Alas! poor Wulfric,’ he sobs. It does not seem you will get more out of him for the moment, so you turn your attention to the hallway in which you stand. A wide marble staircase sweeps up to the next floor, and below this a set of copper-bound double doors leads to the back of the mansion. At the other end of the hall, steps lead down to a cellar door.
Will you:
Climb up to the next floor? Turn to 99
Go through the double doors? Turn to 256
Explore the cellar? Turn to 211
99
There are two doors off the landing. One is of curious design — a portal of charred wood set with roughly-hewn lumps of jet. If you wish to go through this door, turn to 84. If you wish to try the other, which is of plain oak, turn to 238.
Character Sheet
Character's Name: Alcina Kakarot
Vigour: 28
PSI: 8
AGILITY: 8
Items:
-Orb of Illumination
-Sword
-10 Gold Pieces
-Hipflask of Freshwater
-Pegleg
-Bottle of Vinegar
-Shield (deflects a hit on a roll of 6)
Spells::
1)Burning Tiger
2) Befuddle
3) Gust of Wind
4) ESP
5) Mind Shield
6) Mirage
7) The Deadly Swarm
8) Seance
9) Dagger of the Mind
10) Invulnerability
11) Dodge
12) Healing
