Castle Death (14 page)
You have no difficulty in looping your Rope around the hilt of the sword and drawing it towards you. It is a very plain, heavy-bladed weapon of poor quality and unworthy of your scabbard, but in this strange and hostile maze, this rough steel blade helps to restore your hope of survival.
If you wish to leave the vault by the left tunnel,
turn to 298
.
If you prefer to take the right tunnel,
turn to 322
.
No matter how hard you prod the slab it shows no sign of movement, but your probing does uncover something previously hidden beneath the dust. Carefully you scrape away the grime until the outline of a coiled snake is revealed, etched deep into the dull grey marble. Carved in the centre of its scaly coils is the number
123
. Make a note of this number in the margin of your
Action Chart
— it could be of use at a later stage of your adventure.
If you wish to jump across the slab and press on into the tunnel beyond,
turn to 127
.
If you decide to enter the tunnel by walking across the slab,
turn to 277
.
Your lungs feel as if they are about to explode, but still the door will not open.
If you possess some Sabito,
turn to 230
.
If you wish to continue to try to open the door with your Magnakai Discipline,
turn to 313
.
If you wish to swim to the surface,
turn to 153
.
A hollow sound, like the clatter of horses' hooves on cobblestones, arrests you in mid-step. Your basic Kai skills warn you that more of these evil creatures are running along the tunnel, heading in your direction. To proceed further would be suicidal. Over two hundred yards of narrow walkway separate you from the opposite tunnel, and as you turn and run, you pray that you reach it before the Dhax appear. Pick a number from the
Random Number Table
.
If the number you have picked is 0–8,
turn to 241
.
If it is 9,
turn to 106
.
As you strike the killing blow, your enemy cries out in agony, materializing as he falls at your feet. At first glance, he appears to be human, but as you search the body you discover otherwise. His eyes, now glazed and lifeless, are cat-like in structure; his fingers are short and tipped with claws; and his lower jaw protrudes several inches below his upper jaw. The skin is badly scarred but not by battle-wounds; they are the scars of crude surgery.
There is no sign of the whip with which he attacked you, but you find a Spear slung by a cord over his shoulder, and a Silver Whistle (mark this on your
Action Chart
as a Special Item) on a chain around his blood-spattered neck. Instinctively, you place the whistle to your lips and blow, but there is no sound. Shaking your head, you turn to face the pit, and there before you, spanning the blackness, is a solid beam of blue metal.
If you wish to cross the beam,
turn to 6
.
If you choose to retrace your steps along the corridor,
turn to 64
.
The tunnel descends to a vast, cavernous hall. Spirals of yellow smoke rise up on either side of a narrow stone walkway that leads to its centre. There it meets another path running from east to west. Cautiously you advance along the walkway, your stomach unsettled by the stench of the sulphurous smoke and the sight of the dark, yawning void on either side.
At the junction, you hear the sound of running feet echoing from an archway to your right. The footfalls grow louder and, suddenly, a man in leather armour bursts out of the darkness, his studded boots striking sparks on the stone pathway as he skids to a halt. Sweat pours down his lean and leathery face, and his eyes flash with fear. He casts an anxious glance over his shoulder before unsheathing his sword and advancing towards you.
If you have the Magnakai Discipline of Divination,
turn to 205
.
If you have a Bow and wish to fire at the warrior,
turn to 79
.
If you wish to draw your weapon and prepare to defend yourself,
turn to 95
.
You dive through the gap, with barely an inch to spare, and the wall slams down behind you with a tremendous crunch. You lie flat on your back, your heart pounding fit to burst, your stomach churning at the thought of how near you came to death. Wearily, you get to your feet and press on along the tunnel, which is now noticeably cooler and clearer than before. You soon emerge into a hall that is filled with a strong, earthy smell. Two rows of great stone pillars support the roof, and a huge granite sarcophagus stands in the centre of the floor. From the black entrance of a tunnel to your right, you hear the clanking of armour and the sound of approaching footsteps.
If you wish to hide behind one of the pillars,
turn to 110
.
If you wish to leave the hall by a tunnel to your left,
turn to 201
.
If you decide to lie in ambush for whoever or whatever it is that is approaching the hall,
turn to 319
.
You duck and weave to present a difficult target to your enemy, but at such short range it is difficult for him to miss. The bolt hits you as you are diving forward, passing right through your skull and killing you instantly.
Your life and your quest end here.
The tentacle shudders as you direct the full power of your psychic discipline at the huge, wounded eye. Its grip weakens and you seize the chance to tear yourself free and scramble to your feet. The use of your Magnakai Discipline has cost you 2
ENDURANCE
points, but it has saved you from a ghastly death. Make the necessary adjustments to your
Action Chart
.
You grab the Fireseed from your pocket and hurl it to the ground. It explodes on impact with a blinding flash. Hissing and spitting, the serpent brood slither away into the shadows, eager to escape the stinging pain of the flames.
More noises echo from the chamber. This time it is the chinking of armour and weapons.
You recognize the symptoms of takadea, or ‘gaolrot’ as it is commonly called in your country. As you approach the trembling man, you reassure him that you mean him no harm, that you can help him if only he will trust you. Placing your hands over his eyes, you transfuse the healing power of your Magnakai skill into his sick body, concentrating your energy into reversing the terrible effects of the disease. When you remove your hands, his eyes are no longer opaque; they gleam with a cat-like intensity.
‘I can see,’ he says in astonishment, his voice cracked with emotion. ‘How can I ever repay you for this miracle?’ Before you can answer, the sound of running feet echoes along the corridor outside.
‘Follow me,’ he says, springing to his feet. ‘If Zahda's guards find you in here they'll kill us both.’
The staircase seems to continue forever, coiling its way upwards through the solid rock, but eventually you arrive at a landing from which a tunnel stretches into darkness. You are about to enter, when your basic Kai instincts alert you to a shallow step that crosses from one side of the tunnel to the other. A closer look reveals the step to be a perfect square of marble that covers the first ten feet of the tunnel.
If you wish to prod the marble slab with a weapon to test for a trap,
turn to 183
.
If you wish to jump across the slab into the tunnel beyond,
turn to 127
.
If you decide to enter the tunnel by walking across the slab,
turn to 277
.
Wiping the gore from your face and hands, you fight back the nausea that rises in your throat when you think of how close you came to a grisly death in the jaws of the monster. The dim light grows suddenly brighter, and for a moment, you hear laughter, cold and distant, before the light dims once more to its usual murky glow and silence descends.
Suddenly the corridor echoes to the clangour of an alarm bell. A solid sheet of iron crashes down from the ceiling to seal off the chamber behind you, and in the murky distance, you see a similar barrier descending in front of the wooden door by which you entered.
The Arrow whistles through the air towards the oncoming sphere. Impact looks imminent until the black ball suddenly changes course, darting aside at the last possible moment to avoid the missile. The Arrow splashes harmlessly in the lake, and you are forced to shoulder your Bow and draw a hand weapon as the menacing sphere resumes its attack.
If you wish to stand and fight this object,
turn to 342
.
If you decide to evade its attack by moving deeper into the fissure,
turn to 16
.
Using every scrap of cover to hide your passing, you move through the chamber like a phantom. As soon as you set foot into the corridor beyond, you are confronted by an armoured guard. He screams a cry that is muffled by the visor of his black helmet and turns and runs towards a bell-rope that hangs from a hole in the ceiling.
If you have a Bow and wish to use it,
turn to 266
.
If you do not have a Bow, or if you do not wish to use it,
turn to 40
.
Suddenly you realize the horrific purpose of the hand. It is a predator, an evil sentient being that can only survive by consuming one form of nourishment — live human brain.
Illustration XI—The hand is a predator — it can only survive by consuming live human brain.
Diving and rolling, you avoid its initial attack, escaping with scratches to your scalp (lose 2
ENDURANCE
points), but as it rises above you once more, you cannot help but fear that your life is soon to end. This creature is immune to Mindblast, but
not
Psi-surge in combat.
Rahkos:
COMBAT SKILL
18
ENDURANCE
30
If you win the combat,
turn to 22
.
You recognize the dead man's hauberk as that of a Kakushi mercenary: the ten-pointed star of Nikesa, the symbol of that country's capital city, adorns each of the rusty buckles that fasten his chainmail armour. In a leather pouch hanging from his belt you discover 6 Gold Crowns, and inside the tattered remains of his backpack, there is a Rope and a hooded Red Robe.
A close examination of the weapons shows them both to be quite useless: the bone-handled dagger crumbles to dust when you try to dislodge it from the corpse's skull, and the blade of the sword is dull and eaten by rust.
If you now wish to continue along the tunnel,
turn to 318
.
If you decide to climb the stairs and investigate the open trap door,
turn to 93
.
Chunks of stone and iron are blasted into the upper reaches of the throne-hall by the increasing power of the eruptions. Boulders, some the size of horses, seem to tumble in slow motion all around the beam as you are drawn irresistibly nearer to the roof. Suddenly the beam fades and you find yourself standing on a circular plinth in the centre of a ruined temple near to the gatehouse of the castle keep. The glare of daylight blinds you, but as you gradually become accustomed to it you cast your eyes over the shimmering waters of Lake Khor to the town of Herdos, perched on the horizon. The walls of the fortress are beginning to crack and slant. Buildings are crumbling, and the ground is alive with constant vibration. You run through the ruined main gate as bolts of lightning are drawn from the sky by the dying power of Kazan-Oud.
At the top of a ruined staircase you stare down at the lake far below.
If you wish to descend the steps to the old jetty,
turn to 122
.
If you choose to make your way to the beach,
turn to 309
.
If you decide to dive from the cliff into the water far below,
turn to 254
.
You make your way quickly along the tunnel until you reach a chamber illuminated by a shaft of shimmering red light that descends from a square hole in the ceiling. A pair of huge iron doors fills the opposite wall, but in order to reach them you will have to pass through the eerie red light. Close to the archway by which you entered, another tunnel exits from the chamber, curving off towards the east.
If you wish to walk through the red light to examine the iron doors,
turn to 269
.
If you wish to leave the chamber by the east tunnel,
turn to 272
.