The Eye of Winter's Fury
Read The Eye of Winter's Fury Online
Authors: Michael J. Ward
Tags: #Sci Fi & Fantasy, #Fantasy, #Fiction & Literature
BOOK THREE
T
HE
E
YE
OF
W
INTER’S
F
URY
MICHAEL J. WARD
GOLLANCZ
LONDON
‘There is nothing to writing.
All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.’
ERNEST HEMINGWAY
Contents
Act 2: The North Face & World’s End
337 Legendary monster: Sasquatch
419 Legendary monster: Tekksertok the Terrible
447 Quest: The bear necessities
500 Quest: The Hall of Vindsvall
556 Legendary monster: Naglfar the Corpse Ship
594 Legendary monster: Gjoll the gaoler
599 Legendary monster: Quelertang the Hailstorm
638 Quest: The dead and the damned
Winter stands o’er the land
And in her hand, the embers of a life
Taken from him, the named in honour fell
We speak it now,
We sing to her again.
Of steel and bone, and stolen fires bright
Of tresses gold and halls of silver light.
Lay him down, in ice and peak of stone
Till horns sound deep and vengeance brings him home.
Winter blows o’er the land
And in her eye, the fury of his pain
Taken from him, the named in honour fell
We speak it now,
We sing to her again.
‘A new king will come with death for a crown. Cold will be his heart.
Cold will be his revenge.’
Blood of Barahar
U
nlike ordinary storybooks, DestinyQuest puts
you
in charge of the action. As you guide your hero through this epic adventure, you will be choosing the dangers that they face, the monsters that they fight and the treasures that they find. Every decision that you make will have an impact on the story and, ultimately, the fate of your hero.
Your choices, your hero
With hundreds of special items to discover in the game, you can completely customise your hero. You can choose their weapons, their armour, their special abilities – even the boots on their feet and the cloak on their back! No two heroes will ever be alike, which means your hero will always be unique to you. And even better, you can take your hero into battle against your friends’ heroes too!
Limitless possibilities, endless adventure
You can play through DestinyQuest multiple times and never have the same adventure twice. With so many options and paths to choose from, the monsters that you encounter, the people that you meet and the loot that you find will be different each time you play. There are numerous hidden secrets to discover, bonus items to collect and unique special abilities to unlock – in fact, every turn of the page could reveal something new for you and your hero.
Discover your destiny . . .
The next few pages will take you through the rules of the game, outlining the hero creation process and the combat and quest system.
Don’t worry, it won’t take long – and then your DestinyQuest adventure can begin!
The hero sheet
Let’s start with one of the most important things in the game – your hero sheet. This is a visual record of your hero’s abilities and equipment. You will be constantly updating this sheet throughout the game, as you train new abilities and find better armour and weapons for your hero. (Note: The hero sheet is also available as a free download from
www.destiny-quest.com
.)
Attributes
Every hero has five key attributes that determine their strengths and weaknesses. These are
speed, brawn
,
magic
,
armour
and
health
. The goal of DestinyQuest is to advance your hero from an inexperienced novice into a powerful champion – someone who can stand up to the biggest and baddest of foes and triumph!
To achieve this, you will need to complete the many quests throughout the lands of Valeron. These quests will reward you with new skills and equipment, such as weapons and armour. These will boost your hero’s attributes and give you a better chance of survival when taking on tougher enemies.
The five attributes are:
 | | Brawn : As its name suggests, this score represents your hero’s strength and muscle power. A hero with high brawn will be able to hit harder in combat, striking through their opponent’s armour and dealing fatal blows. Brawn is the main attribute of the warrior. |
| | ||
| | Magic : By mastering the arcane schools of fire, lightning, frost and shadow, a hero can command devastating spells and summon fiendish monsters. Heroes that choose this path should seek out the staffs, wands and arcane charms that will boost their magic score, granting them even deadlier powers to smite their foes. Magic is the main attribute of the mage. |
| | ||
| | Speed : The higher a hero’s speed score, the more likely they are to score a hit against their opponent. A hero who puts points into speed can easily bring down stronger enemies thanks to their lightning-fast reflexes. Speed is the main attribute of the rogue. |
| | ||
| | Armour : Whenever a hero is hit in combat, by weapons or spells, they take damage. Wearing armour can help your hero to survive longer by absorbing some of this damage. Warriors will always have a high armour score, thanks to the heavy armour and shields that they can equip. Rogues and mages will typically have lower scores, relying instead on their powerful attacks to win the day. |
| | ||
| | Health : This is your hero’s most important attribute as it represents their life force. When health reaches zero, your hero is dead – so, it goes without saying that you should keep a very close eye on it! Armour and equipment can raise your hero’s health score – and there are also potions and abilities to be discovered, to help your hero replenish their health during combat. |
Starting attributes
Every hero begins their adventures with a zero score for
brawn
,
magic
,
speed
and
armour
. These attributes will be boosted throughout the course of your adventures. All starting heroes begin with
30 health
.
Equipment boxes
The hero sheet displays a number of important boxes. These boxes each represent a location on your hero where they can equip an item. Whenever your hero comes across a new item in the game, you will be told which box or boxes on the sheet you can place it in. You can only have one item equipped in each box.
Backpack
Your hero also has a backpack that can hold five single items. On your travels you will come across many backpack items, including useful potions and quest items. Each backpack item you come across takes up
one space
in your backpack – even if you have multiple versions of the same type of item (for example, health potions).
Special abilities
The special abilities box, on the right of your sheet, is where you can record notes on your hero’s special abilities. Every hero has two special abilities, which they learn when they train a career. Items of equipment can also grant special abilities for your hero. All special abilities are explained in the glossary at the back of the book.
Paths and careers
Your hero starts their adventure as an untrained novice, with no remarkable skills or abilities. Once your hero has gained some experience, however, three paths will become available to you – the path of the warrior, the rogue and the mage. Your hero can only choose one of these paths, and once that decision is made, it can’t be changed – so choose wisely. The chosen path will determine the careers and abilities that your hero can learn throughout their adventures.
Your hero’s path and current career should always be recorded at the top of your hero sheet, and its special abilities should be recorded in the special abilities box on the right of your sheet. A hero can only be trained in
one career
at a time, but you can swap their career for another one, providing you have found the relevant trainer or reward item. When your hero trains a new career, all abilities and bonuses from the old career are lost.
Gold
The main currency in Valeron is the gold crown. These can be used to purchase potions and other special items whenever you visit a town, village or camp. More gold can be discovered by killing monsters and completing quests.
Quests and monsters
The kingdom of Valeron is a dangerous place, full of ferocious monsters, wild beasts and deadly magical forces . . . bad news for some people perhaps, but for a would-be adventurer it means plenty of paid work! By vanquishing foes and completing quests, your hero will grow stronger and more powerful, allowing you to take on tougher challenges and discover even greater rewards.
The maps
The story is divided into two chapters – known as ‘Acts’. Each Act has a map, which shows you the locations of all the different quests that your hero can take part in. To select a quest you simply turn to the corresponding numbered entry in the book and read on from there, returning to the map when you have finished.
Choosing quests