The Cauldron of Fear (16 page)

Immediately you sense that the drunken soldier is not what he seems. He is a skilful pickpocket and he has just stolen one of your Special Items.

Pick a number from the
Random Number Table
. It the number you have chosen is 0–4, the item stolen is the first one on your list of Special Items. If the number is 5–9, he has stolen the second item on the list. If you possess only one Special Item, or no Special Items at all, then the pickpocket has stolen the first item on your list of Backpack Items.

If you wish to chase after him and try to retrieve your stolen item,
turn to 62
.

If you choose to ignore the robbery and continue walking towards the square at the end of Brooker Court,
turn to 334
.

Through the grille of the cell door you can see a great iron key, hanging from a hook on the wall a little way down the corridor. You focus your mastery of Nexus on this key, and it rises slowly from the hook and glides towards your open hand. With a smile of triumph you grab the key, unlock the door, and step into the empty corridor.

Turn to 185
.

The mist coils around you like a python embracing its prey. Your body is engulfed by heat so intense that it seems as though you are surrounded by rings of white-hot metal, but your mind is filled with a stabbing icy pain. You lose 3
ENDURANCE
points before your Psi-screen repels this psychic assault.

Turn to 301
.

Neither you nor the plains farmers are able to answer Khmar's riddle correctly, and you all forfeit your stakes (remember to delete what you wagered from your
Action Chart
). But Khmar is a very sporting fellow. He offers you the chance to win back what you have just lost by answering his next riddle correctly.

‘This is Juno, my youngest boy,’ he says, patting the head of his second son. ‘I am four times as old as him now. Twenty years from now, I will be only twice as old as him. How old am I, and how old is my son today?’

If you think you have both the answers to this riddle, add the two ages together and
turn to the entry number
that is the same as the total.
¹¹

If you cannot answer the riddle,
turn to 302
.

‘There will be troops posted here at the Cauldron, ready day and night to pull you up when you are ready to leave Zaaryx,’ says Senator Zilaris, as he helps you into the cradle that will lower you into the shaft. ‘Just give the rope three stout tugs — that is the signal.’

Senator Chil appears to tell you everything is prepared for your descent. ‘Good luck, Lone Wolf. I hope I will be here to welcome your safe and successful return, and that you will come to know me as a friend.’

The cradle rises and you are swung into position above the entrance. You stare down into the black abyss, your pulse quickening as a damp and icy wind whistles out of the shaft, carrying with it the cloying smell of decay.

With a wave, you signal your readiness and you are slowly lowered into the void.

Turn to 226
.

A minute passes before the lurker shows himself. He is a hunchbacked old man dressed in rags, with thin grey hair and a wrinkled face that bears the impressions of a lifetime's poverty. Two eyes, clouded with cataracts, stare up at you from the dark and dusty hole in the ground. ‘Take what you will but please spare my worthless life,’ he pleads.

‘You have nothing to fear from me, old man,’ you reply. ‘Here, let me help you out of this hole.’ And so saying, you take hold of his scrawny arms and lift him with ease, for he weighs no more than a young child. He hobbles over to the fireplace and stirs the broth with a wooden spoon, which he keeps on a string around his neck. He offers you some of this smelly gruel but you refuse politely.

If you have a Meal in your Backpack and wish to offer it to the old man,
turn to 271
.

If you do not have a Meal or do not wish to give it to him, you leave the hut and continue,
turn to 123
.

A sudden noise in the chamber behind distracts your attention from the door. From the depths of an archway comes the sound of something huge creeping towards you on clawed feet. Instinctively you reach for a weapon and brace your back against the door, but you shudder with horror when you see the creature that is approaching. A monstrous head protrudes from the darkness, as broad as the body of a horse, with jagged fangs that curve down over its lower jaw. Interlocking plates of horny scale cover its long neck and body, and coarse, feathery hairs fan out from the scarlet wattle below its throat. Its bulbous green eyes fix you with a hungry stare.

If you possess the Sommerswerd,
turn to 336
.

If you do not possess this Special Item,
turn to 67
.

With a casual wave of his hand, Chiban conjures up a quill and sheet of parchment. He begins to dictate the request for an audience, and the quill moves of its own accord, as if guided by an invisible hand. The request, once completed, is then dispatched by messenger to the Anarium, the House of the Senate, where members of the governing council have gathered for an emergency assembly called for by the President himself. Within the hour the messenger returns with a scroll bearing the presidential seal.

‘He has agreed to hear your plea, Lone Wolf,’ says the aged magician, his ice-blue eyes scanning the official reply. Banedon congratulates you and you feel your spirits rise, but Chiban seems a little disappointed. ‘I was expecting a private audience,’ he says, ‘but in view of the current situation, I suppose it is the best we can hope for. You must appear before the Senate this evening and state your reasons for wishing to enter the Tahou Cauldron. They will consider your request and vote accordingly. If they grant their approval, only you may enter. If they forbid you entry, you may not appeal against it. Their decision will be final.’

He hands you the scroll and arranges for his personal coach to take you to the Anarium. As you climb into the passenger seat, he and Banedon wish you good luck. ‘I shall pray for your success,’ says Chiban. ‘And I shall pray that we are still alive to see your triumphant return, old friend,’ says Banedon, as you exchange a farewell wave.

Turn to 300
.

Banedon rides alongside the crowded wagon and talks with Lortha as the procession continues on its way to Navasari. After a few minutes' conversation she hands him a scrap of parchment, and they bid each other farewell.

‘They are the last of the evacuees,’ he says, as you continue your ride north. ‘They expect the enemy to reach Tahou in two days' time. They've already seen Giak scouts and early this morning a squadron of Kraan were sighted high in the western skies. She advises us to steer clear of a village called Sidara. It's rumoured to have already fallen to the enemy. She also gave me this … ’

Banedon hands you the scrap of parchment. It contains a few lines of Anarian script, an address, and a signature. ‘It's an invitation to stay at Chiban and Lortha's house in Tahou. It may be useful when we reach the city gate.’

Mark this Invitation on your
Action Chart
as a Special Item that you keep in your pocket. If you already carry the maximum number of Special Items, you must discard one in favour of this new item.

To continue your journey north,
turn to 274
.

A surge of scarlet energy leaps from the orb and rips into your arm, hurling you backwards onto the ground (lose 5
ENDURANCE
points). The Zakhan laughs mockingly as he raises the orb once more, this time to finish you for good. You are aware of the Zakhan's troops fighting a desperate battle at the West Gate, and you know you must defeat him or else the city will be lost.

If you possess a Psychic Ring,
turn to 188
.

If you possess the Dagger of Vashna,
turn to 79
.

If you have neither of these Special Items,
turn to 20
.

A cloud of arrows engulfs you and pain explodes throughout your body. You are mortally wounded, pierced by a dozen shafts, and although you fight to hang on to life, it is a fight you cannot win.

Your life and your quest end here.

The cellar is full of rough-faced villains, laughing and bragging about their illegal exploits as they swill their sour ale. You cross the crowded floor and sit at the end of a table, as far away from the door as possible. A thin, wiry fellow with curly black hair approaches you with a tankard of foaming ale in one hand. You have taken his seat and he is determined to get it back.

If you have ever escaped from the South Gate tower,
turn to 164
.

If not,
turn to 315
.

It is late afternoon when you see the Tahou Hills. They appear like a mirage on the horizon, shimmering beyond the haze that rises from the sun-baked plain. Without stopping for food or rest, you hurry across the hot grasslands and follow the highway as it ascends towards the mouth of a pass. A stone watchtower guards the entrance to the hills and a cluster of whitewashed huts lie huddled around its base.

If you have the Magnakai Discipline of Pathsmanship and have reached the Kai rank of Tutelary,
turn to 160
.

If you do not possess this skill or have yet to reach this level of Magnakai training,
turn to 314
.

You pull the ring from your pocket and focus your psychic abilities into its glowing yellow stone. The ring acts as an amplifier: it boosts your psychic energies and enables you to direct them against the monster that is now threatening to swallow you whole.

Zadragon:
COMBAT SKILL
 43   
ENDURANCE
 58

The power of the Psychic Ring increases your
COMBAT SKILL
by 8 points for the duration of the combat.

If you win the fight,
turn to 93
.

With deadly accuracy you hurl the dagger at the shouting guard. He tries to duck but he is too close and cannot avoid being hit.

Pick a number from the
Random Number Table
. If you have the Magnakai Discipline of Weaponmastery with Dagger, add 4 to the number you have picked.

If your total is now 6 or less,
turn to 287
.

If it is 7 or more,
turn to 117
.

In the space of a few fleeting seconds you have loaded your Bow and aimed it at the giant snake's head. With an angry hiss it darts its ugly head out of view. Almost immediately there is a tremendous noise as the snake rises into the air, propelled by a pair of powerful feathered wings. Two vulture-like forelimbs, tipped with sharp, rending claws, scrabble at the air as it streaks towards your chest.

Pick a number from the
Random Number Table
. If you have the Magnakai Discipline of Weaponmastery with Bow, add 3 to the number you have picked. If you have the Magnakai Discipline of Huntmastery, add 1.

If your total is now 0–7,
turn to 9
.

If it is 8 or more,
turn to 310
.

The moment you step into the building, the pickpocket lunges at you. He is wielding a cruel stiletto blade, which he attempts to sink into your chest.

Pickpocket:
COMBAT SKILL
 17   
ENDURANCE
 25

If you wish to evade combat and run back along the alley to Brooker Court,
turn to 334
.

If you win the combat,
turn to 155
.

Your spirits sink as you contemplate your fate, for the only way you know of escaping from this gigantic underground grotto has now been sealed off. However, you are not completely without hope, for your senses detect a powerful presence. It is a feeling you have known before when you have been close to discovering a Lorestone, but never has the sensation been as strong as it is here in this dark, subterranean world.

As your eyes become accustomed to the half-light, you look across the lake to see tiers of grey stone rising out of the water. They are the steps of a gigantic staircase, which ascends to an arch of rock veined with glittering minerals. You skirt the edge of the lake and arrive at the foot of these steps to discover a cave-like hollow chiselled from the stone.

You are exhausted, and must now eat a Meal or lose 3
ENDURANCE
points. (If you possess the Magnakai Discipline of Huntmastery, you are able to forage for food from the wasteland of Zaaryx and therefore you do not need to make any deductions.) Rather than attempt to go on, you climb into the empty hollow and settle down to sleep.

Turn to 97
.