The Dungeons of Torgar (8 page)

Once you have managed to grab hold of his arms you heave him out from beneath his dead mount and prise open the visor of his helmet. He coughs and retches the mud from his mouth and lies back against the bank of the ditch.

‘I owe you my life, Pathfinder,’ he gasps. ‘Another minute and I'd have been done for.’ You turn to leave but he grabs you by the wrist and presses a Medal into your hand. ‘I won this at the Battle of Luomi,’ he says with pride. ‘I want you to have it, with my eternal thanks.’ (If you wish to keep the Medal, mark it on your
Action Chart
as a Special Item that you carry in your pocket.)

Another cloud of arrows falls from the sky and you dive to the bottom of the ditch to avoid being hit. When you feel it is safe to raise your head, you discover that the knight is no longer with you: he is chasing after the Prince and his fellow knights as they gallop up the hill towards the Drakkarim pikemen.

If you wish to follow him on foot,
turn to 115
.

If you decide to look for a horse,
turn to 247
.

The lock clicks and the door opens on to a passage lined with torches that sputter and crackle noisily. Halfway along there is another door — a solid slab of iron broken only by a small, barred window. Silently you approach this door and peer in through the grille.

If you have visited the Danarg in a previous
Lone Wolf
adventure,
turn to 260
.

If not,
turn to 114
.

The Akataz fling themselves at you with wild ferocity, as if they are hungry to avenge the deaths of their brothers.

Akataz Pack:
COMBAT SKILL
 28   
ENDURANCE
 45

These war-dogs are especially susceptible to psychic attack. If you possess the Discipline of Mindblast or Psi-surge and wish to use either of them, double all bonuses you would normally receive. If you have completed the Lore-circle of the Spirit, triple all bonuses.

You can evade combat at any time by leaping into the gorge:
turn to 340
.

If you win the combat,
turn to 268
.

Upon hearing your reply the officer lowers his sword and a friendly smile spreads across his rugged face. He tells you that he and his men are Talestrian scouts who have been sent ahead of their army to make sure these hills are free of enemy troops. Your Kai Sixth Sense confirms that he is speaking the truth, and when he offers to take you to meet his commander, you accept the invitation gladly.

Turn to 6
.

Your Magnakai skill enables your body to overcome the intoxicating effect of the scent. Shaking your head and stifling a yawn, you urge your horse towards the end of the gorge.

Turn to 98
.

You search the bodies of the dead Krorn but find little of value. Their weapons are crude and poorly fashioned, and their packs contain nothing but strips of dried meat. You consider the long journey ahead, but stories you have heard about the Krorn's love of human flesh are enough to put you off the idea of taking this food.

If you wish to hide the bodies before you cross the river,
turn to 146
.

If you choose to leave them where they lie,
turn to 335
.

Sebb Jarel informs the partisans that he has agreed to guide you through the Hellswamp. He is careful not to reveal details of your quest, but he does tell them that your mission has royal approval and, if successful, will strike a major blow against the Drakkarim and their Darklord masters.

At dawn, after a good night's sleep and a hearty breakfast, you mount and ride along a hidden trail that leads to Pirsi. There you leave your horses, for the next part of your journey, through Forest Taintor, is too difficult to attempt on horseback. Following traces of a forgotten path, you trek through the blue-grey pines until twilight when you stop to make camp for the night. Jarel volunteers for the first watch while you settle down gratefully on a bed of leaf mould and drift off into a dreamless sleep.

It feels as if you have only just closed your eyes when you are awoken by the savage and desolate howl of a Taintor wolf.

Turn to 329
.

Your senses tell you that this man is both trustworthy and highly intelligent. There would be little to gain from trying to deceive him. It occurs to you that with his help it would be far easier for you to gain entry to Torgar and attempt the retrieval of the Lorestones. After careful consideration you decide to reveal your identity.

Turn to 290
.

Four men die before the shield-wall knits together and the lost ground is regained. The Hammerlanders reel back and the Brigandi surge forward, but they too cannot break through the Palace Guard. A trumpet sounds in the distance and the Prince's men cheer when they see their reserves streaming up the hill to support them. Two hundred Eruan pikemen press forward behind their bristling steel and take the enemy in the flank. The attack is devastating. The enemy are split asunder and swept from the slope. The pikemen halt and through their ranks a wave of archers moves forward to fire at the backs of the retreating foe. Retreat turns to rout as the Hammerlanders and Brigandi flee the field in chaos.

Turn to 66
.

Stealthily you follow Paido through the dungeons of Torgar, using the shadows to avoid being seen. Ragged columns of slaves stumble along the passages, dragging their tortured, half-starved bodies to and from the work pits. They are beaten, cursed, and whipped relentlessly by their Drakkarim guards, who seem to delight in their suffering.

Illustration V
—Ragged columns of slaves stumble along the passages, beaten, cursed, and whipped by their Drakkarim guards.

You emerge from a corridor into the shadows of a circular chamber, where a staircase ascends to a pair of huge triangular iron doors guarded by a squad of crack Drakkarim Death Knights. A tingling sensation electrifies your skin as your senses detect the presence of the Lorestones somewhere behind these doors. Suddenly an alarm bell fills the chamber with a deafening clangour; the Death Knights begin to descend the stairs and your stomach churns with the fear that you have been detected.

If you have the Magnakai Discipline of Divination,
turn to 299
.

If you do not possess this skill,
turn to 52
.

Curiosity overcomes your natural caution and you decide to investigate the fascinating structure. You discover that the undergrowth has only recently been chopped away to give access to the doors where gaping, fire-blackened holes are all that remain of the crystal locks that held them secure for centuries. Beyond the damaged doors a dry, dark tunnel slopes gently downwards. It twists as it descends to a chamber, which is huge and empty, and ringed by a score of openings. A green glow and the faint thrumming of discordant chanting draws you to one of these many portals. Beyond it a staircase delves deeper into the earth.

As you make your way carefully downward, the air becomes increasingly humid and chill. The stairs are slick with moisture and crawling with spiders and other many-legged creatures that scuttle away from your feet. You count sixty steps before the staircase ends at a huge door stained black with damp and age. It is slightly ajar and, as you peer through the crack, you are chilled to the core by what lies beyond.

Turn to 200
.

You share an evening meal with a company of longbowmen camped close to the Prince's tent. Most of them are tired after the long day's march and when the meal is over they settle down to sleep. However, there are several who cannot sleep and, in order to take their minds off the coming battle, they busy themselves either by notching their arrows and waxing their bowstrings, or by gambling with dice. Two archers from Humbold invite you to join in their game.

If you wish to join their game of dice,
turn to 218
.

If you choose instead to return to the Prince's tent,
turn to 29
.

White-hot pain explodes through your chest and neck as three black-shafted Drakkarim arrows sink deep into your body. You scream in agony as you fall to the ground, but the pain quickly gives way to a terrifying numbness that robs you of all resistance to death.

Your life and your quest end here.

The partisan leader listens patiently as you recount the many events that led you to seek his help. He sits staring into the fire, his eyes fixed on the flickering flames as he digests every word you say and considers their consequences carefully. At length, having heard your earnest appeal for him to guide you, he raises his eyes from the fire and holds you with their piercing gaze.

‘You speak with courage and wisdom, Kai Lord. It is rare to find these virtues present so strongly in one so young. The help you beg me to provide could cost my life, yet you offer no reward, save the thanks of some distant land and the slender promise of a better age. However, I feel compelled to help you, for in my heart I know you are the one who can deliver us from the perpetual shadow of the Darklords.’

He rises and bids you follow him as he walks to the archway. ‘Come, we must prepare for our journey. The road you wish to travel is perilous and long. We had best set off at the earliest, lest caution and common sense change my mind.’

Turn to 85
.

Your psychic defences alert you to deadly danger. The swirling shapes that you see are the ghosts of Cener Druids who were slain on the isle many centuries ago.

They have been drawn from their forgotten graves by the presence of their master, Tagazin, and now they come to enact the Demonlord's revenge by feasting on your life-force.

The creatures take to the air and emit a ghastly howl as they draw closer. They sense your strong psychic defences and know instinctively that to steal your life-force will not be an easy task.

If you possess the Sommerswerd,
turn to 133
.

If you do not possess this Special Item,
turn to 256
.

The ground to the west of Cetza is flat and featureless and offers very little cover to conceal your approach. Slowly you work your way through the knee-high grasses to within twenty yards of a stone bridge, where the roadway crosses a foul-smelling ditch and enters the town. Your every movement is stiff with caution now, for the bridge is barricaded and you can see the spiky black helmets of the enemy defenders glinting in the moonlight. Snake-like you wriggle forwards, slide down into the ditch and take shelter beneath the stone bridge. With one cheek pressed against the wet stone you strain your ears to hear what the enemy are saying. You recognize their harsh, ugly language — it is Giak — but it is being spoken by human voices. The only humans to speak it so fluently are the Death Knights, the élite of the Drakkarim.

Suddenly there is a loud splash that sends your pulse racing: a spear has fallen close to where you are hiding and its shaft stands upright in the muddy water. A growling curse is followed by the sound of heavy boots descending the bank as an angry Death Knight comes to retrieve the weapon he dropped.

If you have completed the Lore-circle of Solaris,
turn to 13
.

If you do not possess mastery of this Lore-circle, pick a number from the
Random Number Table
. If you possess the Magnakai Discipline of Invisibility, add 2 to the number you have picked.

If your total is now 0–6,
turn to 107
.

If it is 7 or more,
turn to 338
.