Castle Death (5 page)

The brick slides in and the secret door slides open. Before you stands an ugly, bearded dwarf, wearing a grimy black velvet jerkin. His pig-eyes twinkle malevolently as he raises a hollow brass tube and points it at your face.

‘Sweet dreams,’ he cackles, and a blast of icy cold vapour shoots from the tip, catching you squarely in the face. You reel back, coughing and choking as the bitter vapour fills your lungs. By the time you realize that you have inhaled a powerful sleep gas, your body is already succumbing to its irresistible power.

Turn to 165
.

You spin a screw-like handle set in the centre of the door, releasing the lock. You open the door and enter: inside, you discover a room of steel. The walls, ceiling, and floor are all constructed of metal plate, which is polished to give a mirror-like shine. Low, iron tables are set out with the implements and accessories of magic: crucibles, retorts, aludels, flasks, and all manner of twisting glass tubes, which bubble and seethe with multi-coloured liquids. Vellum-bound tomes and crumbling parchments litter the shelves, competing for space with repulsive-looking pink organs floating in glass jars of vile-smelling preservative. Quickly you scan the shelves in search of useful items and, to your delight, rediscover all your confiscated Weapons. (Re-enter on your
Action Chart
everything that was taken from you before you were sent to the maze.)

In addition to your Weapons, you discover a large jar of concentrated Laumspur (restores 8
ENDURANCE
points) and a Kazan-Oud Platinum Amulet. If you wish to take the Amulet, mark it on your
Action Chart
as a Special Item, which you wear on your wrist. It will protect you from injury due to exposure to high temperatures.

Elated by the rediscovery of your equipment, you leave the chamber and press on along the shiny steel tube.

Turn to 90
.

It takes a few minutes for you to get your bearings in the gloom of the narrow corridor. Outside, strange sounds echo across the beach, making you forget your natural caution and move deeper into the darkness. The uneven floor is coated with mud, and the warm, moist air reeks with a repugnant odour that reminds you of gutted fish. You press on, taking great pains not to slip and fall, but the light soon fades completely and you slow to a halt.

If you possess a Kalte Firesphere, a Lantern, or a Torch and Tinderbox,
turn to 61
.

If you do not possess any of these items,
turn to 277
.

A movement at the end of the corridor warns you that more guards are entering the sarcophagus, alerted no doubt by the noise of combat. Rather than be caught without cover in this narrow corridor, you decide to enter the chamber and attempt to escape along the opposite passage.

Turn to 69
.

With the words of the skull reverberating in your mind, you pull out the cork with your teeth and shake the liquid into the pit, spreading it in a wide arc from left to right. You are certain that there is an invisible bridge across the pit; if only you could locate it.

The footsteps halt. You hear a piercing crack, like that of a whip, and, immediately afterwards, an angry red weal opens around your wrist (lose 2
ENDURANCE
points). The container spins from your hand and seems to bounce in mid-air before dropping into the void. You have found the bridge! But now you have an invisible enemy to contend with.

If you wish to step onto the invisible bridge,
turn to 166
.

If you wish to fight your unseen enemy,
turn to 257
.

A shadow crosses your path and you release the bowstring, but your Arrow does not find its mark. A ghoulish howl is the only warning you receive before the creatures leap out of the billowing smoke, clawing and biting at your face and arms.

Dhax:
COMBAT SKILL
 25   
ENDURANCE
 32

Unless you have the Magnakai Discipline of Huntmastery, deduct 3 points from your
COMBAT SKILL
for the first two rounds of combat, due to the speed and surprise of your enemy's attack.

You may evade combat after three rounds by running into the archway opposite;
turn to 241
.

If you win combat,
turn to 141
.

The passage leads to an enormous compound of cells that holds the slaves of Kazan-Oud. They are, in the main, a pitiful herd of gangling, black-skinned creatures, with sorrowful eyes and backs bent crooked by years of hard labour. These prisoners press their sad faces against the tiny grates of their cells, curious to see the fair-skinned warrior who walks upright among them.

They hiss as you pass until the entire complex echoes to the sound of their sibilant scorn. At the end of the block, there is a cell that resembles a cage, denying its prisoner even the small degree of privacy provided by the others. You stare through the bars at a dark-skinned man sleeping on the straw-covered floor. His blond hair and red and gold tunic are stained with blood and grime. A key to his cell hangs by a cord on a peg driven into the nearby wall.

If you wish to take the key and release him,
turn to 113
.

If you prefer to leave him and continue,
turn to 142
.

A maniacal scream of anger echoes from behind the grating as the giant snake crashes lifelessly to the ground. Suddenly bolts of red fire are raining down all around you, splintering the stone floor and leaving nothing but molten cinders wherever they strike. You clamber across the snake and dive into the tunnel to avoid this rain of crimson death.

To your dismay, you discover the tunnel is no more than a shallow cave, a shelter for a clutch of eggs, each one no smaller than a barrel of ale. They rest upon a bed of packs and torn clothing, the last remains of adventurers who fell foul of the traps of Kazan-Oud.

If you wish to examine these items more closely,
turn to 148
.

If you wish to look for a way of escape from this tunnel,
turn to 346
.

The Rahkos lies motionless on the ground before you, but, in spite of the many blows you have dealt the creature, it bears no sign of having ever been involved in combat.

If you wish to turn your back on the hand and enter the passage ahead,
turn to 77
.

If you wish to take a closer look at the hand,
turn to 215
.

The stone blocks of a fallen tower lie scattered in an uneven line across the beach, like the vertebrae of a long-dead giant. Lightning flashes and you see in the battlements of Kazan-Oud a wide breach in the wall where the tower once stood. A stone staircase rises from the beach to the top of the ruined wall, but sections of it are missing, presumably torn away when the tower collapsed.

If you wish to attempt to climb the stairs to the fortress,
turn to 150
.

If you prefer to continue along the beach,
turn to 348
.

After what seems like an hour, but in reality is only a few minutes at the most, the scorching heat subsides and the tunnel air becomes painless to breathe. You press on and soon arrive at an archway, where the shiny steel tube enters a chamber gouged out of solid black iron. There a spiral staircase ascends to a portal. You climb the stairs and peer out through the portal. A sight greets you that sets your pulse racing. Before you stands a gleaming block of solid gold — the back of Lord Zahda's throne. Above it, hovering motionless in the air, are two perfect crystals: one glows darkly with black fire; the other radiates a pure golden light that sends a shiver down your spine. It is the object of your quest — the Lorestone of Herdos.

If you wish to reach up and take the Lorestone,
turn to 42
.

If you wish to attack the black crystal,
turn to 138
.

If you prefer to examine the throne,
turn to 98
.

Your senses scream a warning that this object is evil. A powerful spell of shielding has been placed upon it to conceal its true purpose, but your mastery of the psychic disciplines helps you to overcome this barrier. It is a means by which its sorcerous creator may exert his control over any who touch it or gaze upon it.

A coldness probes your mind, like fingers of ice seeking to crush your will, but your Psi-screen melts the numbing grip of this psychic attack. You lash out with your foot and send the Sceptre spinning into the chasm. There is a silence, and then a dull boom, like distant thunder, reverberates in the abyss far below.

If you now wish to enter the east tunnel, from which the Dhax appeared,
turn to 185
.

If you prefer to enter the west tunnel,
turn to 308
.

The inner surface of the bubble is lined with globules of transparent fat, which absorb the force of your blows.

Pick a number from the
Random Number Table
and add 3 to the number you have picked. If you have the Magnakai Discipline of Weaponmastery with sword, deduct 2 from this figure. The final number equals the number of
ENDURANCE
points you lose owing to lack of oxygen before you cut your way free from the transparent prison.

If you survive the ordeal, you can cut your way through the rest of the bubbles;
turn to 151
.

Stepping carefully through the slime-smeared rubble, you stop for a moment to catch your breath and survey the shattered keep of Kazan-Oud. It is a desolate sight. Only stone buildings remain intact, and everything is covered with creepers and mildew. A great fire must have ravaged the inner fortress to have resulted in such total devastation.

In the centre of the keep stands the Great Hall, still an imposing stronghold and made all the more frightening by the constant flash of green lightning. Beyond its burnt and fungus-covered wooden door, twisted tree forms, with sharp, barbed thorns, sprawl across the cracked flagstones like coils of steel wire. You are about to enter when a movement in the air around your head arrests you. A shape is taking form in the doorway, a shadowy figure with flaming red eyes. An icy chill grips your heart as it sweeps past you with a swirling rush of wind. You spin round to see it hovering in the sky, its shadowy hand now gripping a great spiked ball and chain. It shrieks an unearthly cry, and the ball whistles down towards your unprotected face.

Illustration II
—A shadowy figure with flaming red eyes is hovering in the sky, its hand gripping a great spiked ball and chain.

If you have the Magnakai Discipline of Psi-screen,
turn to 38
.

If you do not possess this skill, you must prepare to defend yourself, for there is no time to evade this sudden attack. Owing to the speed of the attack, deduct 3 points from your
COMBAT SKILL
total for the first three rounds of combat (unless you have the Magnakai Discipline of Huntmastery).
⁴

Oudakon:
COMBAT SKILL
 20   
ENDURANCE
 29

If you win the combat,
turn to 5
.

Before you reach his body, a second crossbow bolt hits your head. The missile passes through your skull, and you are dead before your body hits the ground.

Your life and your quest end here.

The tunnel winds its way deeper and deeper into the solid rock until it emerges at a chamber illuminated by a shaft of shimmering red light that pours down from a square hole in the ceiling. A pair of huge iron doors fills the opposite wall and appears to offer the only exit from the room. In order to reach the doors, you will have to pass through the eerie red light.

If you wish to walk through the light and examine the iron doors,
turn to 269
.

If you prefer to retrace your steps and take the east tunnel,
turn to 272
.

The sand is unexpectedly warm, and as you make your way between the boulders that litter the shore, your boots soon become unbearably hot. Just a few feet ahead, a distinct line of stepping stones rises out of the sand and heads towards a fissure in the sheer rock wall.

If you wish to leap onto the nearest stone slab,
turn to 177
.

If you choose to avoid the stepping stones and press on through the scorching sand,
turn to 104
.