Huntmastery you must eat a Meal or lose 3 ENDURANCE points.
Shortly before dawn, the storm dies down and you are able to snatch an hour's sleep. Unfortunately, it is insufficient rest to refresh you fully: lose 3 ENDURANCE points.
To continue, turn to 285 .
93
With the returning acolytes aboard, an Elder gives the order that the grappling lines and planks — which hold the longboat secure to the Vakovarian ship — be cut and tossed into the lake. The moment this is done, the three Elders raise their glowing wands of power and touch them together to form a triangle.
There is a flash of greenish light and a swirling cone of vapour coils into the sky, pouring from the tip of this triangle. It creates a howling wind which fills the sails and catapults the longboat away from the quayside at tremendous speed. It takes just a few minutes for the ruins of Vorn to disappear over the horizon.
Aboard the longboat the victorious acolytes busy themselves as the cold waters of Lake Vorndarol speed by beneath the keel. Some are attending to those who were wounded in the battle; others are chanting a sombre dirge or sitting quietly with their heads bowed, lost in unholy prayer; the remainder clean their weapons or stare vacantly at the distant mountains.
You keep your head bowed and pretend to be praying. The deception seems to be working until a hand suddenly grips your shoulder and you hear a gruff voice bark a command in a language you do not readily understand.
If you possess Grand Pathsmanship, 10 turn to 243 .
If you do not possess this Discipline, turn to 184 .
[10] Kai Masters who have attained the rank of Scion-kai are ‘able to converse with any sentient creature’ (cf.
The Masters of Darkness
). Therefore, if you have successfully completed previous
Lone Wolf
adventures, possessed the Magnakai Discipline of Pathsmanship, and attained the rank of Scion-kai, you may also turn to Section 243 .
94
There is a thunderous crack! as a bolt of white lightning leaps from the Deathstaff and connects with the hilt of Helshezag. You feel an agonizing pain wrack your body from skull to toe: lose 5 ENDURANCE points. Then, with a breathtaking suddenness, the pain ceases.
You open your eyes and look down, and to your astonishment you see the scorched remains of Helshezag lying at the foot of the dais, the sword obliterated by the power of the Deathstaff (erase Helshezag from your Special Items list).
To continue, turn to 318 .
95
You are nearing the top of the steps when three shadowy figures emerge from behind a chimney stack and block your path to the approaching archer. One of them has something in his hand which he hurls in your direction: it is a small glass sphere.
The sphere shatters upon the iron steps and, in an instant, your feet and legs are engulfed by a writhing mass of magical vines. By the time you have freed yourself from their vice-like grip, you discover that the archer and his confederates are nowhere to be seen. Having lost sight of the four shadowy figures, you decide to call off the chase. Wearily you make your way down from the roof and retrace your steps back to the stables of the Crooked Sage in order to collect your horse.
Turn to 341 .
96
You throw the red-hot token away, but it hits a boulder and rebounds directly into the trough. There is a dreadful moment of silence; then the whole area is lit up by a blinding flash of yellow flame. Suddenly everything seems to be happening in slow motion. You see acolytes tumbling backwards, screaming, their robes sprouting tongues of flame, and chunks of marble from the trough hurtling skywards like fiery meteors. Then the heat and the shock of the explosion rip into your face and chest, sending you cartwheeling backwards into a black, unfeeling oblivion.
Tragically, your life and your quest end here, on the trail to the Maakengorge.
97
At Shamath's command, the attendants draw vicious-looking slivers of steel from scabbards hidden inside their robes,
Shortly before dawn, the storm dies down and you are able to snatch an hour's sleep. Unfortunately, it is insufficient rest to refresh you fully: lose 3 ENDURANCE points.
To continue, turn to 285 .
93
With the returning acolytes aboard, an Elder gives the order that the grappling lines and planks — which hold the longboat secure to the Vakovarian ship — be cut and tossed into the lake. The moment this is done, the three Elders raise their glowing wands of power and touch them together to form a triangle.
There is a flash of greenish light and a swirling cone of vapour coils into the sky, pouring from the tip of this triangle. It creates a howling wind which fills the sails and catapults the longboat away from the quayside at tremendous speed. It takes just a few minutes for the ruins of Vorn to disappear over the horizon.
Aboard the longboat the victorious acolytes busy themselves as the cold waters of Lake Vorndarol speed by beneath the keel. Some are attending to those who were wounded in the battle; others are chanting a sombre dirge or sitting quietly with their heads bowed, lost in unholy prayer; the remainder clean their weapons or stare vacantly at the distant mountains.
You keep your head bowed and pretend to be praying. The deception seems to be working until a hand suddenly grips your shoulder and you hear a gruff voice bark a command in a language you do not readily understand.
If you possess Grand Pathsmanship, 10 turn to 243 .
If you do not possess this Discipline, turn to 184 .
[10] Kai Masters who have attained the rank of Scion-kai are ‘able to converse with any sentient creature’ (cf.
The Masters of Darkness
). Therefore, if you have successfully completed previous
Lone Wolf
adventures, possessed the Magnakai Discipline of Pathsmanship, and attained the rank of Scion-kai, you may also turn to Section 243 .
94
There is a thunderous crack! as a bolt of white lightning leaps from the Deathstaff and connects with the hilt of Helshezag. You feel an agonizing pain wrack your body from skull to toe: lose 5 ENDURANCE points. Then, with a breathtaking suddenness, the pain ceases.
You open your eyes and look down, and to your astonishment you see the scorched remains of Helshezag lying at the foot of the dais, the sword obliterated by the power of the Deathstaff (erase Helshezag from your Special Items list).
To continue, turn to 318 .
95
You are nearing the top of the steps when three shadowy figures emerge from behind a chimney stack and block your path to the approaching archer. One of them has something in his hand which he hurls in your direction: it is a small glass sphere.
The sphere shatters upon the iron steps and, in an instant, your feet and legs are engulfed by a writhing mass of magical vines. By the time you have freed yourself from their vice-like grip, you discover that the archer and his confederates are nowhere to be seen. Having lost sight of the four shadowy figures, you decide to call off the chase. Wearily you make your way down from the roof and retrace your steps back to the stables of the Crooked Sage in order to collect your horse.
Turn to 341 .
96
You throw the red-hot token away, but it hits a boulder and rebounds directly into the trough. There is a dreadful moment of silence; then the whole area is lit up by a blinding flash of yellow flame. Suddenly everything seems to be happening in slow motion. You see acolytes tumbling backwards, screaming, their robes sprouting tongues of flame, and chunks of marble from the trough hurtling skywards like fiery meteors. Then the heat and the shock of the explosion rip into your face and chest, sending you cartwheeling backwards into a black, unfeeling oblivion.
Tragically, your life and your quest end here, on the trail to the Maakengorge.
97
At Shamath's command, the attendants draw vicious-looking slivers of steel from scabbards hidden inside their robes,
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