opposite. Beyond lies an icy cold corridor where the walls and ceilings are carved with many strange spatial designs. As you follow this passage, you notice that the theme of planets and stars gradually changes to one of volcanoes and lava fissures. As if to mirror this the temperature also changes, becoming steadily hotter and drier until, by the time you finally near the corridor's end, the heat has become almost furnace-like in intensity. Breathless and bathed with sweat, you stare through the shimmering air and see a great iron door at the end of the passage.
Due to the excessive heat, unless you possess the Disciplines of Grand Huntmastery
and
Grand Nexus, you must now consume a Meal or lose 3 ENDURANCE points.
Turn to 300 .
87
The flames lessen and, as the heat subsides, you lower your cloak and stare with trepidation at the sealed archway.
He who does not serve … booms the voice, menacingly, shall not live.
With a startling abruptness, there is a loud crack . Chunks of mortar fall from the octopoid mosaic above the archway and, to your mounting horror, you watch as the eyes of the creature begin to glow with a baleful green light.
Like a waking goliath, the mosaic comes slowly to life. Mesmerized by its pulsating gaze, you barely step back in time to save yourself when its tile-encrusted tentacles burst from the wall and come writhing towards your head. You lash out at the flailing limbs but your blow glances off the armour-like skin, inflicting no more than a scratch upon the tiled hide of this supernatural creature. The tentacles move apart briefly to reveal once more the two glowing green orbs. Then a wave of psychic energy buffets your mind, designed to weaken and subdue you, but your Magnakai defences deflect this attack. You sense that the creature is surprised by your natural resistance and, before it can muster its powers to launch a second, far stronger psychic blast, you leap forward and aim a blow between its evil green eyes. You are within an arm's length of striking the creature's bulbous head when suddenly it squirts a stream of clear liquid from its beak aimed directly at your face.
If you possess mastery of Grand Nexus, turn to 139 .
If you do not possess this Grand Master Discipline, turn to 258 .
88
Swallowing your fears of what may lie ahead, you descend the ridge and approach the great, frowning bastions of Kaag. Through the swirling dust you see a wide road that leads to the North Gate, its surface littered with Giak corpses, bleached bones, and rusted weapons. Crab-like scavengers scuttle among the debris, fighting for scraps to feed their young, which nest in thousands of empty skulls half-buried in the ground.
Shielded from detection by the storm and your Kai skills, you reach the breached wall unobserved. Swiftly you climb over the huge mound of rubble, which is all that remains of this section of the curtain-wall, and find yourself in a street lined with decaying hovels and ugly, squat towers. A dun pall of smoke hovers above this thoroughfare and the air reeks of iron and sulphurous smoke. At the far end of the street you see a ragged group of Giaks, led by two Drakkarim warriors, suddenly emerge from an alley. They stop for a few moments as if to catch their breath; then one of the Drakkarim barks an order and they take off at a lumbering pace, heading south. You notice that their tattered, orange-coloured uniforms all bear the emblem of a scythe with a bloodied blade.
If you wish to follow these troops, turn to 123 .
If you choose to avoid them by heading in the opposite direction, turn to 327 .
89
You draw your weapon and steel yourself to fight the approaching beast. The boar-thing comes bounding onto the drawbridge, its red-rimmed jaws agape and its great curved tusks glinting evilly in the fires of the moat. Defiantly you shout your battle-cry and step forwards to meet its advance.
Illustration VI —The boar-thing bounds onto the drawbridge, red-rimmed jaws agape
Due to the excessive heat, unless you possess the Disciplines of Grand Huntmastery
and
Grand Nexus, you must now consume a Meal or lose 3 ENDURANCE points.
Turn to 300 .
87
The flames lessen and, as the heat subsides, you lower your cloak and stare with trepidation at the sealed archway.
He who does not serve … booms the voice, menacingly, shall not live.
With a startling abruptness, there is a loud crack . Chunks of mortar fall from the octopoid mosaic above the archway and, to your mounting horror, you watch as the eyes of the creature begin to glow with a baleful green light.
Like a waking goliath, the mosaic comes slowly to life. Mesmerized by its pulsating gaze, you barely step back in time to save yourself when its tile-encrusted tentacles burst from the wall and come writhing towards your head. You lash out at the flailing limbs but your blow glances off the armour-like skin, inflicting no more than a scratch upon the tiled hide of this supernatural creature. The tentacles move apart briefly to reveal once more the two glowing green orbs. Then a wave of psychic energy buffets your mind, designed to weaken and subdue you, but your Magnakai defences deflect this attack. You sense that the creature is surprised by your natural resistance and, before it can muster its powers to launch a second, far stronger psychic blast, you leap forward and aim a blow between its evil green eyes. You are within an arm's length of striking the creature's bulbous head when suddenly it squirts a stream of clear liquid from its beak aimed directly at your face.
If you possess mastery of Grand Nexus, turn to 139 .
If you do not possess this Grand Master Discipline, turn to 258 .
88
Swallowing your fears of what may lie ahead, you descend the ridge and approach the great, frowning bastions of Kaag. Through the swirling dust you see a wide road that leads to the North Gate, its surface littered with Giak corpses, bleached bones, and rusted weapons. Crab-like scavengers scuttle among the debris, fighting for scraps to feed their young, which nest in thousands of empty skulls half-buried in the ground.
Shielded from detection by the storm and your Kai skills, you reach the breached wall unobserved. Swiftly you climb over the huge mound of rubble, which is all that remains of this section of the curtain-wall, and find yourself in a street lined with decaying hovels and ugly, squat towers. A dun pall of smoke hovers above this thoroughfare and the air reeks of iron and sulphurous smoke. At the far end of the street you see a ragged group of Giaks, led by two Drakkarim warriors, suddenly emerge from an alley. They stop for a few moments as if to catch their breath; then one of the Drakkarim barks an order and they take off at a lumbering pace, heading south. You notice that their tattered, orange-coloured uniforms all bear the emblem of a scythe with a bloodied blade.
If you wish to follow these troops, turn to 123 .
If you choose to avoid them by heading in the opposite direction, turn to 327 .
89
You draw your weapon and steel yourself to fight the approaching beast. The boar-thing comes bounding onto the drawbridge, its red-rimmed jaws agape and its great curved tusks glinting evilly in the fires of the moat. Defiantly you shout your battle-cry and step forwards to meet its advance.
Illustration VI —The boar-thing bounds onto the drawbridge, red-rimmed jaws agape
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