The Curse of Naar (15 page)

As you are getting ready to leap from the rear of the wagon, you suddenly feel your stomach tighten and the skin on your face and hands becomes sore and inflamed. You sense that you are succumbing to the insidious effects of the radioactive ore and, rather than wait a moment longer, you make your jump before you are fully ready.

You hit the tunnel floor with bone-shuddering force, and even though you cover your head and roll expertly to lessen the shock of impact, you suffer painful injuries to your shoulders, knees, and elbows: lose 4
ENDURANCE
points.

To continue,
turn to 88
.

Frantically you draw upon your Magnakai Discipline of Psi-screen and form a defensive wall around your mind to repel this destructive surge of psychic energy. You feel the raw power of the attacking Mindforce crash into the fabric of your consciousness like a tidal wave that leaves you reeling under its impact. Your hurried defences absorb much of the hostile mind-energy and spare you an agonizing death; however, you do sustain serious damage from this assault which leaves you in a state of psychic shock: lose 8
ENDURANCE
points.

If you have survived this psychic wounding, you can continue by
turning to 290
.

The moment your killing blow brings the Lavas crashing to the ground, you quickly sheathe your weapon, grab both of its clawed feet, and drag its still-twitching body into the open archway at the base of the tower. You are anxious to hide the Lavas as quickly as possible to prevent the sight of its carcass from alerting others to your presence here, and so you haul the heavy body down a spiral stone stairway to a landing, one level below. Here you abandon it, but as you turn to hurry away, you see something that brings you skidding to an abrupt halt.

Turn to 270
.

The moment you reach firm ground, you sprint headlong across the clearing towards a distant jungle perimeter. At first the giant arachnids give chase, but they prove themselves not to be so agile on dry land, and you are soon able to outdistance them and escape.

On entering the jungle perimeter, you force your way through dense foliage and soon discover the remnants of a trail which you follow for nearly a mile until you arrive at the edge of a second clearing. This area of levelled ground is devoid of foliage yet it is littered with strange fruits that resemble gigantic grey pineapples. Beyond these curious fruits you can see the ruins of a settlement partially overgrown with moss. Warily you leave the jungle, make your way around the fruits, and hurry across the clearing towards a statue which is crouching among the ruins. It is constructed of a smooth, lustrous black mineral and is fashioned in the likeness of some evil beast of prey. It reminds you of a hyena, but one with a massive lower jaw set with a pair of sabre-toothed fangs. Between its forelegs is a flight of rubble-strewn steps leading down to an open door. You detect waves of power emanating from somewhere beyond this darkened doorway, but you are unable to determine just how deep below the ground the source of this energy is located.

If you possess Telegnosis and wish to use this skill to spirit-walk through the doorway to investigate what lies beyond,
turn to 76
.

If you do not possess this skill or choose not to use it,
turn to 177
.

You raise the Sommerswerd and a blinding halo of golden light engulfs the blade. You sense that Naar is present in this chamber, but he will not materialize and show himself so long as your divine blade is unsheathed, for he fears that your god-forged weapon could destroy him. He is content to allow his mighty champion Kekataag the pleasure of slaying you on his behalf.

Kekataag pounds the floor repeatedly with his armoured boot to demonstrate his eagerness to commence combat. In response, you give voice to your battle-cry — ‘For Sommerlund and the Kai!’ — and launch yourself at your fell adversary in an attempt to land the first blow.

Kekataag the Avenger:
COMBAT SKILL
 60   
ENDURANCE
 58

This enemy is an undead warrior. You may double all
ENDURANCE
point losses which you inflict upon him during this combat.

If you win the combat,
turn to 29
.

You scour the tunnel walls but detect no cracks nor crevices large enough to accommodate your body. Then you notice the supporting beams which criss-cross the tunnel ceiling. They protrude no more than a foot or two from the roof of the tunnel, but they could provide you with a way of escaping out of the path of the approaching juggernaut.

If you possess Kai-alchemy and have attained the Kai rank of Grand Crown or higher,
turn to 73
.

If you possess Kai-alchemy but have yet to attain this rank,
turn to 251
.

If you do not possess Kai-alchemy,
turn to 166
.

You have covered barely a dozen yards when the shallow ridge of ground disappears completely beneath the surface of the steaming swamp. Within seconds you are wading knee-deep through mud that clings like thick, warm treacle. Yet by drawing on your natural Kai abilities you are able to haul yourself free from this sticky mire and make your way slowly to the distant knoll.

The boughs of the thorny-barked trees of this swamp island are tightly intertwined and form a formidable barrier. Through a gap in their tortured branches you can see a clearing at the centre of this copse and, when you magnify your vision, you glimpse part of a crude stone hut. You unsheathe your weapon and cleave a path through the trees to the clearing where you discover that the hut is surrounded by a moat brim-full of gelatinous black mud, the surface of which is pitted with a myriad of animal tracks. Sensing that the hut is empty, you leap across the moat and take cover inside from the corrosive rain.

If you possess Telegnosis and have reached the rank of Grand Thane or higher,
turn to 269
.

If you do not possess this skill, or if you have yet to attain this level of Kai Mastery,
turn to 348
.

Cautiously you step out of the transporter beam and enter the cavern. The shattered remnants of the crystal dais crunch underfoot as you make your way across the floor towards a tunnel which gradually descends for more than a mile before reaching a circular cavern. The mouths of several smaller tunnels meet at this chamber, and all of these entrances are dark, save for one which radiates an icy blue luminescence. Before approaching any closer, you retrieve the Tome of Darkness from your Backpack and consult its pages.

The black page that revealed to you information about the realm of Huan'zhor is now featureless, but the one which follows it has transformed; it has taken on the appearance of a thin sheet of ice. Sandwiched within its transparent layers are lines of blood-red writing interposed with intricate diagrams and astrological charts. Relying once more upon your Magnakai Discipline of Pathsmanship, you are able to decipher much of this sorcerous text. The writings inform you that you have entered the realm of the Demoness Shamath, the Mistress of the Gates of Darkness, who rules from her Throne of Power which stands beside the Pool of Sorrows. You pass over a long list of unspeakably cruel deeds which have secured for her the rulership of this realm, until you come to two very useful pieces of information. The first reveals Shamath's secret name ‘Gnekasha’ and the second details how one can escape from this realm. You swallow hard when you read that ‘all those who would seek to leave the realm of Shamath must first spill their own blood in the Pool of Sorrows’.

You close the Tome and stow it away into your Backpack, and then stealthily you approach the tunnel entrance which is radiating a pale azure light. When you halt upon its threshold and peer through its embellished archway, you witness a scene which both shocks and confounds you.

Turn to 275
.

You drag yourself to your feet and look with mounting dread at the nightmarish landscape into which you have fallen. A blazing vista meets your gaze, a burning dead world of volcanic magma, boiling lava pools, and shifting islets of cinder and ash. The smoky orange sky is lit frequently by geysers of yellow flame which shoot forth from vents in the uncertain ground, and a hellish temperature conspires with a toxic atmosphere to overwhelm your senses.

Your initial feelings of dread suddenly deepen when memories of this dark domain come flooding back to haunt your consciousness. You have been here once before, four years previously, when your brave actions in defence of the Kai Monastery resulted in a mortal combat upon this evil domain, against Vaxagore, the leader of Naar's dragon army. You had wished then never to return to this terrible place, but fate — it seems — has decreed otherwise.

You are aware that your Platinum Amulet is affording you protection from the searing heat and poisons of this realm. However, your Kai senses tell you that a fire-storm is brewing in the skies above and you fear that the powers of the amulet will not be sufficient to save you when this storm breaks. Anxiously you scan the bleak horizon in search of anything that may provide shelter from the coming storm. The only feature which promises to provide cover is the cone of a seemingly dormant volcano several miles away on the distant horizon.

If you possess Kai-alchemy and have attained the Kai rank of Grand Crown or higher,
turn to 245
.

If you possess Telegnosis and have attained the Kai rank of Sun Lord or higher,
turn to 165
.

If you possess Grand Huntmastery and have attained the rank of Kai Grand Guardian or higher,
turn to 230
.

If you do not possess any of these skills, or if you have yet to attain the required level of Kai Mastery,
turn to 144
.

You hurry away along a track that winds through the settlement of huts and down to a beach covered with coarse black sand. Here a ramshackle jetty, constructed from wood and bone, protrudes from the lee of a sand dune and out into the sluggish grey sea. Fringing the beach is dense jungle from where there suddenly arises a cacophony of hellish cries. You glimpse shadows moving in the undergrowth, and when you stop momentarily to take a longer look, several arrows come shooting out of the trees. They arc towards you and explode when they hit the sand close by. Your Kai senses warn you that there are a great number of archers lurking in the jungle, far more than you can hope to defeat single-handedly. Anxious to escape while you are still able, you hurry down the beach to the jetty where you discover a sea-going canoe. Without daring to look back, you leap into this canoe, cast off its mooring rope, and paddle as fast as you can away from the shore.

Once you feel sure that you are beyond arrow range, you attempt to follow the coastline in the hope of finding a safer place to put ashore. But a mist sweeps in across the water and engulfs your tiny craft before you can change course. This mist thickens rapidly to become a dense sea fog, the like of which you have never experienced. Despite your advanced Kai skills, you are unable to see through it and quickly you lose all sense of time and direction.

After what seems like many hours, you eventually catch sight of a dark shape low in the water which, at first, appears to be a distant island. You paddle towards it but as you draw closer your senses suddenly scream a warning that you are heading into deadly danger. Instantly you reverse your stroke to change course, but it is already too late. Two slits open in the dark shape and a ghostly light washes over the fog-wreathed ocean. You feel the canoe lurch violently as it is hit by a powerful undercurrent and, in the next terrifying instant, you are sucked into the maw of a titanic sea creature and swallowed whole.

Tragically, your life and your quest for the Moonstone come to a watery end here.

You are shocked to the core when suddenly you recognize the faces that have appeared upon the surfaces of the three leading comets. The first is Lord Paido, the Vakeros warrior who accompanied you through the uncharted swamps of the Danarg and later sacrificed his life to protect yours in the infamous Darklord fortress of Torgar. The second is the face of Adamas, the Lord Constable of Garthen, who led the armies of Talestria and Palmyrion in the assault upon Torgar and perished during that fearsome siege. And the third is the bearded face of Sebb Jarel, the brave Eruan partisan who guided you through the Hellswamp and, in so doing, forfeited his life.
¹⁰

Illustration VIII
—The faces of the three doomed souls plead for their release with silent cries.

Your Kai senses detect that the souls of these three brave men are trapped upon this domain. Their spirits were captured by Evil at the moment of their deaths and Naar has since condemned them to an eternity in the service of Avarvae the Tormentress. You see them mouthing words: they are pleading for you to release them from their torment, and your heart is torn by their silent, plaintive cries.

If you possess Deliverance and you have attained the Kai rank of Sun Thane or higher,
turn to 163
.

If you do not possess this skill, or if you have yet to attain this level of Kai Mastery,
turn to 138
.