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Pqffin Books

DEATHM OOR
' l he requer.broughtby.dn e,-pi seono l )o ur r clr er ton I d|{o ,- lhe I.les of lFe DdM. F pe'fet'ly .lear. An expeienced js adventurer despe.ately needed the distantcity of Arion for a in missionof deadlyimportance n adventurer like YOU Whd )oL rai \e at l l ' e (oun of k nB Jonl l re drl e ,, lor g "eouovas", lhc J?en.' of the mis,ion become,deu Tpl*ca lhe bedLhfrj vouS P.n.p$ Rovdl ,: m believ.d Ljdnappedsl-" TUsl "sins be resrucdand mustberescued fast. UnJorluatelr in his hasteKing lonthanehas alreadygrven the

Two di.e, a pencil and a e.aser are all you need to embark ua l hi s l l Ti rrnCadventure d1,cl Lome\(om pht e wir l- ir s oM el dborrl F .onbrl .ysren dnd d {ore sheet t o r e( or d ) our progressMany dmgers lie aheadand your succe$is anything but cedain.It's up to YOU to decide which route to follow, which dmsers to risk md which foes to 6ght Can you venture into the heart of Deathmoor md return wrth the princesssafeand

Fisht Eantqsv inI GonebaoLs

1 THE WARLOCKOF FIRETOP MOLNTAIN 2 THE CITADELOF CHAOS OF ] THE FOREST DOOM TLA\,TLLER 4 STARSHIP J CITY OF THIEVES 6 DEATHTRA'DUNCEON 7 ISLAND OI THE LIZARD KINC OF 9 CAVERNS TIIE SNOW WlTCH 11 TALISMAN OF DE,{TH 13 FREEWAY FICH'ITR 4 TEMPLI OF TERROR 15 THE RINCSOF KETHER 17 A?POINIMENT WITH T EAR 13 REBEL PLANEI 19 DEMONS THEDEEP OF rO SWORDOI THE SAMUMI 21 TRLALOF CHAMPIONS 22 ROBOT COMI\4{NDO r3 MAS(S OF I\'I,AYHEM 24 CRE,{TURE T'AVOC OF 25 BENEATH NICHTT'ARE CASTLE 16 CRI?T OF THE SORCERER Stevlackont SORCERYI 1 THE sTI{MUTANTI HILLS : (HARE- CITYPORT TRAPS OF '3 OF 41 M.ASTER CIIAOS r BI-ACKVEN PIOPHECY OF 4] THE KEEP THE LICH LORD ,{-{ LECENDOF THT SIIADOW 49 SPECIML STALKERS 46 TOWEROF DESTRUCTION TIDE 47 THECRIMSON 43 MOONRUNNER OF 49 SIECE SARDATH RETURN FIRETOP TO 'O MOUNTAIN OF 51 PLACUE THE UNDE\D NICHTDP\ACON ': SPELLBREAKER '3 LTGBNDOF ZACOR '4 SERPENTS J THE SEVEN 4 THE CROWN OI KINCS trS PIIANTOI'S OF IEA]{ :9 M]DNICHTROCUE OF JO C}I,ASMS MALICE WAJ{RIOR 11 BATTLEBIADE OF 3r SLAVES THEABYSS OI J4 STTALER SOULS OF 3' DACCERS DARKNESS VAULT OF THE VAMPIRFS

Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone Presenr

by Robin Waterfield
Illustrated Russ by Nicholson

l .\ HllNt r A \ ' l \ \ ' l \ " 1 o d - .o ' , F o le .fl:/.r B Cr n , THE RIDDLTNC REAVER - Fou Thnlling Advcnbr! The FiAhting Fantd] Novelt THE TROLLTOO]H WARS Chaos lnuds Allmsa DTMONSTEALER Chadda D ome Rehms SHADOWI\{ASTER Chadda Da*mane and Death The Advecd lrlhting lantaEy Srsten OUT OF Tm PIT lrghhng Fmtdy Monstee TITAN The FighUnA Fanbsy wond DLTNCEONEER An lntmdudion to thc Wodd ol Role phyins Ganes BLACKSANDI More Advmced f[hring Fanbsy

BOOKS PUFFIN

PUFIIN BOOX5

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CONTENTS

IN T RO D U CT I O N 7

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A D V E N TU R E S H E E T

B A C K GR OU N D aE D EAT H M O O R - ,

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INTRODUCTION
You arean adveflturer, experienced, an batde-hardened warrior.A native of the seaportChalannabrad, the in Old World, you are as familiarwith the ways of the seaas wilh those of lhe land- In fact, you were restinS on Takio, the northemmost of the Isles of Dawn, diving for scarlet pearls among the reefs and shoals (andsharks) you of a gaLhering when word reached of adventurers yourselfin fhe city of Arion in distant like Khul. Somegreatquestis clearlyunderway But beforeyou can havel [o Arion and offer your services,you musL ffnd out whelher your holiday has 6.rlly restored your powers. You will use dice to 6nd out your initial sKIr srAMrNA L and r ucx srores, pp. lo r 7 there On is an Adoentwe Sheet which you may use Lo record detailsof youl adventwe:enter your sKrLL, srAMrNA and rucr scores there.You are advised eitherto usea pencil for writing o tte Aduentwe S/reef, to make or photocopiesof the pageto use in future adventures. Skill, Stamina and Luck Roll one dice.Add 6 to thrs numberand enter this totalin the sxnr box onthe Adoenture Sheef Roll two dice.Add rz to Lhenumber rolied,thenenter thistotal in the sr,rurr.rl box.

ForKathy,for tur

Thereis alsoa LUcx box. Roll one dice,add 6 to this number arrdenterLhetotal in the lucx box. For reasons that will be explained below, srrrr" STAMINA and LUCK scoreschangecorstantly during any adventure. You musLkeep an accurate record of these scores,and for this reason you are advised either to write small in the boxes or to keep an eraserhandy- Bul never rub out your /nilial scores. Although you may be awarded additional sxrrr, 5TAMINAand iuc( points, these totals may never exceedyour Inifial saorcs, unlessyou are specifically told otherwise. Your s(tLL score is a measureof your expertise with weaponsand in other situations requiring skills:the higher lhe betler-Your sr,qvrle scorereflectsyour physical condition - the higher your srAMrNA score, the longer you will be able to suwive in your advenLure. You! LUcKscoreindicaLes how naturallylucky a person you are. May your gods smile on you and scorel LUCK trant you a generous

Baftles You will often comeacross entries whereyou are Lold fo ffght a creafureof somesort. An option to flee may be given, but if not - or if you choose to aftack the creature .uryway - you must resolve the baltle as follows. Firstrecordthe creahfe'ssKrlr.and srAMrNAscores in the first empty Encounter Box on your Ailocntfie Sfieef.The scores for each creafure are given in the book everytime you havean encounter. The sequence combatis then: of r. Roll two dice once for your opponent.Add its SKILLscore. This total is the crealure'sAltack Strngth. 2. Roll two dice once for youself. Add the number rolled to your current s(ll[ score.This total is your AttackStrength. 3. If your Attack Shength is hiaher than that of your opponenlyou have woundedil: proceedlo slep 4. If your opponent's Altack Shen8this higher lhan yours, it has woundedyou; proceedto step 5. If both Attack Strengths are the same, you have avoided each other's blows - start the next Attack Round from step r, above. 4. You have wounded the creature,so subtmcl 2 poinh fiom its STAMTNA You may useyour score. rucr here to do additional damage(seebelow),

z. has 5. The creature woundedyou, so subtract points from your own srAMrNAscoreYou may use rucr here Lo lessenthe damageyou have laken (see below)
6 Male the appropriate adjustments either your to

Luck Al various times during your adventure,erther rr baltlesor when you are facedwith situahons which in you couldbe eifherlucky or ulucky (detalls these of are given in the relevantparagraphs), may call on you your LUCK makethe outcome to more favourable. But beware! Usrng LUCK a risky busmess is and,if you are unlucky,the results couldbe disasLrous. The procedure usingyour LUCK as follows Roll for is two dice If the numberrolled is equalto or lessthan your orrenl LUCKscore,you have been Lucky and the resultwill go in your favour.If the numberrolled you havebeen is higherthanyour cunent LucK score, Unluckyandyou will be penalrzed This procedure is known as Teslingyour Luck Each hme you frsf your Luck,you must sublract 1 point from your currentlucK score,regardless the outo{ come.Thus you r./ill soon realizethat Lhemore you rely on luck,the morerisky lhis will become.

opponent's your own sraMINA score(andyour or rucr scoreif you usedrucr). slepsr7 Beginthe next Attack Roundby repeating 6 This sequence until the srAMrNAscore continues you are fighting of eitheryourselfor lhe creature hasbeenreduced zero,whichis deathto

Usint Luckin Balfles Fighting More Than One Creature If you come acrossmore Lhan one seature in a parhcular encounler, inshuctions thaLpagewill the on you tell you how to handlethe battle.Sometimes will you treat the group as a singleopponent; sometimes will fight eachone in tum In cerlain pamgraphs you will be instrucLed lesl to your Luck and will lhen be lold the consequences of being Lucky or Unlucky. However, in battles,you alwayshave the oplion of usingyour LUCK, eitherLo inflicL more serious damage on a crealure you have just wounded or to minimize the effects of being wounded yourself.

If you have iust wotmdedyour opponmt, you may Txt your Lwk as describedabove. If you are Ludq, you have inflicted a severewound and may subkacl 2 How. erha Doinlsfrom the creafure srAMrNAscores errer, you are Unlucky,the wound tums out to be a if mere gnze and you must restore 1 point to the creature's srAMrNA (so that, insteadof scorinSthe you normal.zpointsof damage, now score omy 1/. If your opponenL just woundedyou, you may Trsl has yow Luck to Lry to minimizeLhewound. If you are of Lucky,you havemanaged avoid the full damage to the blowj restore1 point of srAMrNA(so that,instead of causing points;f damage, causes 2 it only 1)-II you you have taken a more seriousblow and are Unlu&y, mustsubtract srfla srAMrNA point ftom your lobal. l Rememberthat, whatever happens,you must zubtract 1 point ftom yolrl LUCK score eachtine you Testyour Luck.

RestoringSkill, Staminaand Luck ski

Your sxnr score will not charge much during your you may be bold to decrease adventure. Occasionally your sKrLL score(as the resultof a serious wound to your fighting arm,say)or lo increase (asa resultof it Ending a magicalweapon,for instance). Your srtrl score cannot exceed lts Inili1l value unless you are specifically told that iL can. Drinking the Potion of Skill (see below) will restore yovr sNrLLlo lls Initial levelat any Lime exceptin the middleof a battleStamiw and Prooisiots Your srirurNe score will change a lot during your advenfure as you ffght and undertake arduous tasks. As you near your goal your sr^MrN^ level may be dangerouslylow and battles may be particularly ris\r, so be carefrrl! Your pouchand waterflaskcontainenoughProvisions for ten meals. You may rest and eat at any Lime excepL when engagedin a baLtle Eating a meal restores 4 srAMrNApoints When you eat a meal,add 4 points to your srAMrNAscoreand deduct1 point from your Provjsions. separate Provision8 Remainingbox is A provided on the AdoenlureS&eet recording deLails for of your Provisions. Remember that you have a long way to go, so useyour Provisions wiselyl Remember too that your srAMrNAscorelrny never exceed its f,ifizl value unless you are specifically told

that it can Drinking the Potion of Strength (see below)will restoreyour srAMrNAlo its hifral level at any lime except rn the middle of a battle Luck Addrtronsto your LucK score may be awarded during you havebeenparticularly bheadventure when lucky Delailsare given in the appropriate paragraphs lhe of book. The main way in which your LUCKscore will deoease is lhrough TestingVour lzct As wilh sxrrr and srAMrNA your tucx scoremay neverexceed its Initial value unlssyou are told that it can.Drinking the Pofion of Fortun(seebelow) will restoryour LUCKto its lnilial level anl will increase yo]L.r Initial LUCK 1 poinf. by Equiprhent and Potion6 your adventure You will starL with a bareminimumof equipment, but you may stumbleacrossother items during your travels. You are armedwith a sword and are dressed leatherarmour You have a pouch lo rn hold some of your Provisionsand money, and a backpackto hold anything elsyou may wish to keep. In addition to ten meals'worfh of Provisions, you start your adventurewith zo Gold Pieces(and r scarlelpearl).Make a noLe of lhes items on yow Adoenfure Sheel In additio& ydu may Lakeone bottle of a magical potion which will aid you on your quest.You may choose tal.ea bottle ofany of the following: to

Potionof Skill- restores sKrLL points Potionof Strength restores srAMIN,/' points Potion of Fortune- restores LUCK points and adds 1 to Initial Lvcr This potion may be taken al any time during your (excepi adventure in when engaged a batlle).TakinSa to potionwill restore sKrLL, srAMrNA LUCK or pornts their lniftallevel (the Potionof Forbune alsoadd r will poinf to your Initial wcr scorebeioreyour LUCK rs restored).Make a note on .yot;r Adoenture Sluet when you havedrunka pohon.

NTTIRE SHEET
SKILL STAMINA

MO NS T E R E NCO UNT E R B O X E S

LUCK

EQUIPMENI l

GOID:

POT]ONS:

NOTES:

PROV]SIONS IiEMAININC:

BACKGROUND
The westemstreLches the BlackOceanarenolorious of for suddensquallsand sLormsYou pray lo Hydana, god of waters, his and beseech Lodrstract brother him Sukhthe slorm-god or at leastLodivert him Losome other part of the world Perhaps Hydana hearsyor! but Sulh is a mighty god, capable manifesting of his power in many placesat once At any raLe,fhe Black . Oceanlives up to jts reputation . . you five daysand nighls to baLtle your solo It takes in craft throuShlhe slorm.At last,as lhe sunsinksin fire under the ocean,in the drstanceyou glimpse the loomrng cliffs of the RockwallIslandsin the southwesl Only two more days, then, to Arion, if the weather holds. At noon on lhe third day you 6nd a space in Lhe crowded quays of Arion and make your way up lhe hill Lowards the royal palace. The crty is as busy as usual,with people going about their daily business, buL there is a curiouslistlessness about their actions Your famemay gain you entry Lo the king arrdqueen themselves; not, the Noble Councilof Elders if will tell you what is going on and the reason the summon for ing of adventurers Arion to of King jonthaneand his sisterElegana, co-rulers the Arioa are indeed only too glad to hear of your arrival,
18

and you do not have to wait long before you are to royal presence. summoned Lhe ex'lf only you'd arrived yesterday,' Elegana Qr.reen you are standingbeforethem 'Or, claims, soon as as better,if only you'd neverleft afteryour lastvisit here - whenwasit? Threeyearsago? 'Closer to four, my lady,' you reply, and you shudder then 'But at the memoryof the evil you encountered you now?' whal canI do for Nothing,' the king replies bhmtly. 'I had Lo award the Time is vital, you see.You welen't quest to another. here,so I gave it to ...'He gulps beforecontinuing '. . . Fang-zen lilarl' The king holds up his hand to of your proLests'I know, I know, he's a nasty forestall pieceof work. BuLeven you have lo admit lhat he's preLtygood at whal he does.And I had to choosethe you see.' besL available. my daughler, It's

a9

Over the next ten minutes, klng stammers his the out tale His daughter, Princess the Royal Telessa only fifteen years oi age, but already famed throughout Khul for her beautyand charm- had beenkidnapped a few weeksbefore, while oul riding with somefriends just norlh of the city The kidnappers showed rhey meant busrnessThe limbs of her fnends had been hacked from their bodiesand left on the groundin the form of a message, WAIT and of Jonthane Elegana Arion are no fools,however. While seeming awaitthe kidnappers' to message, they secretlysentout carrir-pi8ons all directions. in One of them found you on Takio. If rt weren't for the storm,you'd havebeenhereon ttme

The the royal seal, the handsof a singlemessenger. in of the city, alone,until messenger fo havel due west is the kidnappers meethim.' 'How wiil the kidnappers make themselves k-nownto you themessenger?' ask 'Their message accompanied locksof Telessa's by was hair, crudelyshornwibh someblunt knfe. Her hair is unmisLakable, fine-spungold, shot through with like wtth more russellighl. They will greet the messenger farls of her hair or wlth her headif ihe messenger to alone' bring my letter,or doesnot Lravel

'No message amved until lwo days ago,' Jonthane 'l continue.. was so anxious my precious. m' Telessa. When it came,lt was no simpledemand. They - whoever they are, for the message was unsigned- they want Lolal conLrol, ever, over the for export of gold from the rich mines which Arion controls. Now, this rs far from berngour only export, bul it is certainlya rich sourceof revenue. have to I senda lebter agreement the demand, of to signedwrth

You sLaywith the king and queenfor someminutes more,offering lo help in any rray you can. But it is ,\4hat did has too late, your rival, Fang-zen, the job. you of{erhim?'you ask.'The usuallee for suchworh' theking reples 'Half our kingdom' \44renit is appropriate do so, you leave Lheroyal to presence wander backinto town Turn to a and

Several hoursand sevetal tavemslaler,you frndyor.rrself in the docklandareaof the city, in a seedydive called 'The BamadedKeel'. Talking of bamacledkeels, the warts on the barman'sface lt seemsthat, however much you drink, the cleareryour head becomes.The rmage of the bedutiful younS princess being manhandled rufffans by leepr appearing your in mind, ard makesyou curseyour bad Juckin failing to reachAnon in time.Will you kavel west out of Arion an)'way, to seeif you can find Fang-zenor the kidnappers(tum to zoo), or will you sLayin Arion (tum to

64n

Two giant mts scnttle out of a hole in the passage wall and attack you. You will have to 6ghL Lhem separalely. Fight one of them whicheverone you choose- as normal.The other rat gets a free atLack against you: if its Atlack Strength higherthanyours is in any Attack Round,rt injuresyoq but you cannot yor-rare occupiedin fighting its wound iL because cousln
S K ILL

First GIANT RAT Second GIANT RAT

5 s

If you win and you want to put your hand into the hole the rodentscameouf of in orderto seewhat you can find, tum to 40. Otherwise,continuedown the tunnel by tuming to 275.

5-6 3 You succeedonly in distwbing a family of large rats, your one of whrch nips you on the forearm.Reduce srAMrNAby 1 poinb,then leavethe room by tuming to 80 searching village.You can continueto the norfh Lhe (tum Lo2o7)or tum west (turn Loj4). 7 'Me?' he Ogres are not noted for their intelligence. 'There's one LivingherecalledMe.' He pulls a says. no double-headedaxe from his belt and lumbers down the pathway.You jusl have time lo Bet to your feet anddrawyour sword.Tum to j9Z. 8 The mist descendsagain, but you are walking up a slope, so you carry oD hoping that at the top you will break through into sunshine Anyway, i{ you carry on you climbing, as slraightasline as possible, can'tgo in wrong, canyou?The slopeisn't particularly buL sleep, a Lerrible wearinessovercomes you arrd you feel as though you want to sleep.Testyour Luck If you are Lucky, tum fo 295 if you are Unlucky, hrm to 8r
9 The floor is clearly visible now, some way below you, but Lhere is one more side tunnel for you to float past (tum to 67) or enter (tum to j5).
10

You have scarcely entered the margins of a marsh when Lhemists come down. You try to retreat out of the marsh but, whichever way you [um, you seem to be going deeperinto'it. You sit, shivering, hours for on a grassytusso& but it looks as though the mist will never clear. You hope thal you can catch a your sense direction glimpseof the sun to resLore of as well as your hope, but the mists are too lhick, and you'reno longersurewhetherit is daytime evenh.Glly or moonlil night Will you sit and waiLa litde longer (turn to 2r) or get up, even Lhoughany movement (tum to 255)? seems hopeless

yor'd Lum up,' Fang-zen 'Hal I mighL have g'.ressed 'And you wanLto fight me?You mustbe joking. sneers. You aren't worth iL.' He tums his back on you and pretends in tobe deeplyinterested whatoneofthe olher men rs saying.Wrll you strike him while his backis tumed(LumLoj 90) or LumandIeavelhe bar (tum to 8z)? You tum to a nearby huL,but a black featheredarrow v/ings towards you from an unseenarcher It just you (lose1 srAMrNA grazes poinL), it putsyou off but

You stepouLalong the cobbledstreetunLilyou catch up with the ghastlyhag.'Here,'yousay,'I'll buy some of your heather. How muchis it?' You 6nd her priceof r Gold Piece outrageous, but she insists Lhat the heatheris really lucky Will you pay her price (turn to 83) or nol (lum to 568I

a3 lhen {leeing, but he Iollowed her, mharmed, and caughtup with her in a standof oak trees.Once he had ffnished with her, he left her for dead 'But I wasn'L quitedead,'shesays.'l camehome to die And he dropped something while he was busy murdering me I don't know whal it is, but I've put an Invisibility spellon iL'She tells you how Lo undo lhe spell,then slips gently inLo death.When you find yourselfin a standof oals, add 5o to the numberof the paragraph you are at, and you will 6nd whaLever is Otus lost. it For now, you bury Lhe woman with reverence and leaveLhevillage.You feel too sad to spendthe night with her ghost in what remains her cottage,so you of campout in lhe open.Turn to 278

roar, and The roof burstsinto flamewilh a satisfying soon Lheeldersare pouring out of the hut, coughing and hall blindedby the smoke You laugh silently to yourselffrom your vantagepoint behindone of the other huts. You are about Lo leave Lhevillage when you seeone of the eldershesitalethen dashbackinLo hutl Lhesmoke-filled Will you follow him (tum to a2o) while the villageis in chaos(tum or makeyour escape jo2! to

You stepforwardand discoverthe huddledffgureof a peasantwoman; she is dying from a mrddle-aged beating.Before breathingher last, howevet tenibJe Otus, to shemanages gaspout her tale.The half-gianL forcedher to put him up in her cottage.Shewas the only one in the village he fearedaLall, sinceshewas a medicine woman and knew a few potions and spells, and he wantedto keepan eye on her while he waited for you to arrivefrom Arion. Latelast night shetried fire to bum him aliveby setLing to her own homeand

The vile flames down againand the smokepartsto die form a kind of archway.You tentaLivelywalk through . . and there,spreadout beforeyoq are Lheruins of lhe cenhal temple of the ancienL civilizationwhich used Lo occupy this land The shattered sLones and marble pillars lie in rubble on the ground, no more Lhan knee-high. Nevertheless, thereis a powerfulaura of goodnessin this place, and that must be why Lhe evil that now inhabitsthe land set up the miasmato guard il. You are blessed: you may add 2 lo your Initial LvcK score,and restoreyour LUcKup Lo thjs new level.A sheercliff risesbeyondLheruins;thereis no path 6-uthernorth, so yor.rleave the sacredspoL and head south You caa now either try to crosslhe river by means the bobbingplatforms(tum to 269) of or conLinue southwards them(tum to 22o). past

14

Therers deepwater on eithersideof the ford, and rn placesthe shallowsare cloggedwith lhe river's foul debris,but the ford is still broad enoughfor you to walk confidentlyalong it It is also broad enough, however,to offer a secure footing {or the Cranochin whichlives in the river beside The monslerrisesout it of the depths, drpping slimeand weed,and iLstalons reach sinewyarmsfor your throat on CRA NO CHI N
SKILL 8

If you have a throwing-knife, you can use it before you tight to reduce the crealure'ssrAMrNA by 4 poinlsor its sKILL 1 point (your choice). you win, by If you will not be able to retrieve the knife, however, sincelhe body of the beastwrll srnk back inlo the depths. you wiry you makeit safelythe rest of the If way to the western bank Turn to r59. a5 You madeitl You crawl along the passage beyond the lava pool while your ears strain in dread of hearing another fireballapproaching behindyou. Luckily,nothing happens you eventually and breakthroughthe far end of the tunnel You stand and greedrly gulp in greatlungfulsof air. Even the bitLerair of DeaLhmoor tastes sweetafler your ordeal. You press with your on questTum to f82 a6 When there is no certainLyabout which way you should hlm, how do you decide? Some crows are

wheeling in Lheair in the distanceto the east, so you ]s at head in that drrectionbecause least something happening Lhere. turnsout lhaLthe crowsarecircling Il in anticipationof a feast a feast of human flesh, which is the kind Khulian crows prefer. Standingat the rise of a low hill, you look down on a man slumped a8ajnst solitary,lightningblastedtree.He is terribly a alive Wherearehis assailants? woundedbut is still jr.rst Thrs could be a trap Will you look for his attackers (turn to r93) or go down shaighl away Lo seeif you canhelp (tum to 544[ a7 The guard checks, no one knows of anyonewith but that name, and there's no one resemblingyour vague descriplion Lhebar whereyou sendthe guardsYou in decide!o tum in for the night; tum to j88.
18

You blunderaroundin the dark,kno&ing over pilesof boxeswhich LumouLto be LheBaron's filesconLaining paperwork that goesbackfor years The dosed room fortunaLely the contains noiseyou're making,but you are soon envelopedin an invisrble snowstorm of papers You grab a handful aL random and feel around the walls untrl you find a door. Roll one dice.lf you roll a 6, tum Lo26r; otherwise, LumLo142

As you make your way dolvn the tumel il gets smaller and smaller,until you are wrigSling along on your stomach, with your sword probingthe blackness You arebeSinning wonderif this tumel vtill Lo ahead. your tomb It becomes impossiblelo keeP your be backpackon your back. Will you loop il round your belt and hail it behrnd you (tum to iz) or Push it aheadof you, along with your sword (tum to r75! a9 you and Nol all giants are stupid Otus recognizes bolt signals Ophis.You tum to flee,but a crossbow to your head.Your advenLure here ends pierces

Roll two dice If the total is lesstharr or equalto, your current sKrLLscore,tum to 185; otherwse, turn to
a18.

You are overcome by fumes before you reach Lhe other side,You lose consciousness are not aware and that your body is fallinginto the pool of moltenlava

23-24

25-27

As you reachthe bar, the landlordis biddingfarewell to the man he'd beentalking to All you hearhim say '- garl, seeyou then' is the end of the man'snamer He turns to you and demandsr Cold Piecefor the you madeon his table-top Will you pay knife-marks (turn to 48) or point out that lhe restof his furnitureis (turn to q5)? hardlyJess scarred baftered and

The rocky faceson eitherside of you are pitted wrth naturaldepressions, someonly brg enoughfor a bird to nest in, others almost cavelike- There are also fissures the ground,none of which are too wrdefor in you to step over The gulley is narrow and, aL this iime of day, almosL dark, but as you step over one you catch the glint of somethingwhiie in it. fissure Will yoLi stop to invesLiSate (tum to ra) or carry on (tum to 146)?

When a smallfireballhurtlesdown the tunneltowards your face,you are able to manoeuvre shieldinLo the posi{ion prolecl dnd yourseli. Tum to r99.

24 You pause afteryour ordeal and takeout yoru compass to decidewhereto go nxt A slight noisbehindyou makesyou whirl around,and you face a beast you recognize a Hargon.This bearJikecreature as always huntsnearwater,sinceit livesmainly orr Fish. it is But not avcrselo eatingwarm bloodedcreatures. rears It up on ih hilld legs, its snout winklin8 as its moufh opensin an earsplittingroar H ARG ON
SKI LL 7

To your dismay,your compass irretrievablylost is you win, tum fo 311. duringthis hght.If

The man is deadwhen you reachhim and can tell you nothing now. Night is beginningto fall. You have comefiom the wesL, will you now headnorth (tum so io 289), south(!um to 57)or east(tum to :46!

26-50 2,4

The huge, gaudy gambling wheel stands upright aSainst wall at the backof the tavem.If you pay her a a Gold Piece,the innkeepe/sbeautifulassistant will spin the wheel for you If the wheel stops at the you beLon, you wn doublyour stak, noL, number if you lose.TonighL your luck is in, Roll one dice.This is you win aL the Wheel of ihe numberof Gold Pieces Fortune If you won 5 or 6 Gold Pieces, turn to 529t olherwise, tum to 388.
29

In order to get back safely, you have to repeat the process of leaping from tussock to tussock that got you here. You can counf either from 1 up to 6 or dor^,nfrom 6 to 1 if you prefer. If you ever fall in, tum to 216. If you are ccessfulall six timeE you now tum tor /ards the north, deciding that you should have donethisin the 6rst place. Tum Lo2o7.
30

Regain1 LUCKpoinl for surviving a difticult h8ht. you 6nd 4 Gold Pieces Fang-zen's Moreover, on body, j portionsof Provisions a lamp.But together with and all this is smallcompensation lhe fact that, by the for fime you lry to pick up Otus' trail again,it has gone cold.It is as if he hasvanished into thin air. It is now evening.so you decide to rest for the night. There is a ville calledOutpost a short way to the north, and the edge of a great forest lie6 to the south Will you seek shelterin Ouhost (tum to 52) or in the forest (tun to 165),or will you stay out in the open (fum to 27aP

3a-54 3a Will you approach the elders' hul (tum to 360) or one of the other huls (Lum to 198)? 32, You 6nd only r Gold Piece on Lhe Ogre's body and his axe is too heavy for you to wield Will you now scramblethrough the open wrndow (tum fo 77 or push lhrough ihe hatch (tum to ::Z)?

35-57 35 These are poor fishermen and they have never heard of Fang-zen.You can go to the market-placenow, if you sLill need to (turn to 15o), or yoLl can head west out of Arion in searchof lhe kidrappers (tum to .roo) j6 This is the rjght move- You offer your sword, held flat in both hands, Lo lhe nearest skelelon. The dreadful crowd pressing in on you from all srdes halts its crealcng advance; they can see you are a servant of Cood, not of the Evil that reduced them to their presentprtrful sLate Regain 1 LUCKpoinL. You decide lo retraceyour sleps soulhwards,tum lo 355

No sooner have you enLeredlhe side tunnel Lhan two y thing* happensimLlianeou.ly,ou seethat it is a dead behrnd Jang down over the enlrance end and-bars youl lf you have some sallow seed oil, tum to rz5; otherwise,furn to 258

You had the good senseto secretethe implemenLup your sleeveand now you slip it down into the palm of your hand and set to work on the ropes tying your wnsts lo the pole. There are two slrards of rope lo get through. Roll one dice twice lf erther roll js a r or a 6, turn to 1ot oLherwise, iurn to 256

54 of Beforelong you reacha Placewhere the tussocks and there is more water mud and grassSrow sparser Will you carryon into this region(tum to in betweento :21) or go norlh (Lurn 2o7I

3a-39 58 No sooner do your hands touch the windowJedge than a sharp stinting sensalionnrns down your arms, lhe Baron's poisonis a very effectiv antidoteagainst would-be burglars.Now you understand how the birds came to diel You scramblequickly back down the ivy. Roll one dice. If the numberrolled is evm, your body look in enoughof the poison to kili you and your adventue ends herel If it is odo, you rose4 STAMINA points.If you are still alive, you decideto try to lift the hatch which you hope will lead to a cellar.Tum lo z4r. 40 A brood of sharp-toothed, baby Giant Rais attach themselves your fingers and hand. You yelp in pain to and surprise,pull your hand out of the hole and shake the creatures your handon to the floor, wherethey of{ wrigglehelplessly. Only a sense urgencystops) ou of tatun8 lhe time to squashthem under your heel. Deductz pointsfrom yout srAMrNA andtum to 275.

17'

The search-parfy seesyou flitting from one hut Lo anotherand fhey release Rottwild which has been the kacking you The huge hound racestowards you and leaps your [hroaLits fangsbaredin a snarl. for

ROTTW ILD
59 Some faint stmch of Arachnos' evil invades youl spirit Los 1 r.ucr point then tum back to 255 to try a8arn,

s(l t L 6

STAM IN A 6

If you win, you emerge fiom the 6ght to 6nd yoursel( completely sunounded Flintskrns. by Your blood is up now, thoughr will you try to fight your way free (hrm to 166) or will you surrmder(tum to g5z[

A'

You presson towards the south,wonderingwhether you may have madea mistake. midrftemoon you By reachan enormouslandslp, and now you ffnd yourself at the top of an unscalablecliff. You can hear a waterfalloff to your left - that must be yesterday's river The view is wonderful,but you are not here to be a sightseea you h r west along the edgeof the so cliff.The unusual tenainis homelo many rareplantsand to some not-so-common too- Out of creatures you aresuddenly nowhere, attacked a hugePterolin by whosenesl is perched the cliff'faceILsfeathers on are asblackas nrght,glowing with a brilliantblue sheen in the sunlighL its talons are dripping gore ftom a recent kill, but it is always hungry for more. PTEROLIN
SK||-L o

lf you win, and you have a rope,you can let yourself down to its nesl iI you wish (tum to 285).Otherwise, you conlinue (tum to 368) westwards 43 You have been forced to retreat under one of the stiltedhouses wherea ladderleadsup Loa hole in the middle of the floor of the house.You could either try to dimb up the ladder (tum to r4g) or smashtluouSh one of the stilts that support the house (tum ro 554t; you alternatively, couldretum to 56a and continue the fight 44 Your invisibleopponentgrabsyou by the ankles, pr,rlls

4r-46
17-49 47

45

MERE-FOLK

SKILL O

It w l take a fotal of seven successfrrl Aftack Rounds, or threein succession, scare Lo them off. Then tum to

4A Deduct r Cold Piece ftom your Adoenture -(ou Sheet. now leaveLhelavem;tum to 584. 49

5c5a

5'-54 The inhabitantsof Outpost lock up early and are deeply suspicious strangers. Shuttersare closecl of you walk down Lheonly street You wiLh a barg as get the messager don'l want your kind here W l we you tum aroundand retraceyour steps,or persistin irying to spend the night here? If you sbay, tum to roz- If you leavq the forest is Loo far away Lo reach beforenightfall,so you musLspendthe night in the open(tum to ,78). 53 As everyone(nows, once the handsof a Choul have siruck you four times, you are paralysed.But you are still aware-You watch in helplesshonor as [he Ghoul's yellow teelh draw closerand closer- .

here?You can jump down Fromthe stairway on Lo what is leit of the ground floor (tum to 115) or you canjump throughthe hole in the groundfloor into the flooded basement, and pray thaL the water is deep enough(turn to ry7).If yo.uhavea rope,you canfind a secure placeto tie if and let yourselfdown safelyto the floor You can then leave the building, but you will alsohaveto leaveyour rope behind(tum to ,a9).
.5 0

On the western side,the Baron's houserunsvery close to lhe wall for somedistance; the south,rne garoen to may give you cover onceyou're in fhe grounds. Will you climb the westem wall (turn to 185) or the southem wall (tum to 5oP

5a You hav luckily chosena spoL where, if you can defeata Wraith quickly enough,you w l be able to makea dashfor safety

WRAITH

S KrL L7

STA M I N A 8

If you defeat your adversary without taking any hits yourself, tum to 196; otherwise,tum to ao8-

54 You run away, leaving the Millipede behind,but it continues follow you. Ba& at the main tunnel,you to hlm left and hurry on past the other enhrance the to Millipede's lair. Tum to 225.

55-5'

After somehours of lonely fravel,you are surprised by a vile Slime Monster, art almost shapeless blob of foul-smelling flesh which 6ghts by shootingacid out oi ils mouths. SLIMEMONSTER sKrLL 9 sraMrNA 12

VE

You can escape any time by tuming to either r54 at or 2r4" but in escapingyou will have to suffer the loss of j srAMrNApoints If you win, Lhe vile creafure explodes your sword deliversthe killing blow. Roll as one dice if you roll an odd number, you must lose 2 sraMrN^ points as you are hit by pieces its acidic of flesh. Thentum to g4 or to zr4. 56 You present yourselfaLthe guardsman's office.'Good worlg' he says. 'Good observation Your one-eyed chappie broke down (with a liHle help fiom our residnt torturer)and confessed, Any tirne you wanL a you iob, iust come and talk to me. Jn the meanlime, can choose one of these tluee rewards, a Truthstone, z5 Gold Pieces, a shield.Which do you want?'f or you decrde lhe truthstone, on tum Lo95; i{ you go for the money, tum to 357 if you choosethe shreld,tum io 581 You stumbleon as bestyou can,as night fallsand the mistscome down, but you are totally confused now. Half-seen, half-recognized shapes loom, eerily glowing, out ofthe darkness lureyou to yourdeath and overa clifl

5a-59 58 AfLer a while, the river begrnsto curve Lo the west, but the path continuesmore or less due soulh. AIthough i[ is overgrownwith weedsand shrubs'there whereyou can still seecobblepatches are occasional sLones: must oncehavebeena road,long ago At Lhis milestoneAll you can one ooinLvou find a shatlered ."ud the first li". is the fust lettet which is 'P', then "f only dimly lit; the one to the lefl is lil by many of torches and you can hearindistinctsounds activity you turn right (turn lo a31) or coming from il. Will left (tum to rzz! 6o by You scramble the wall, assisled a low hanging up branch of a ffe Allansian Flare hee, Part of the You resl on top of lhe Baion'srenownedarborehrm. wall and peer around. Beyond the flower-bed a wellA almostto the rear of the house. kepL lawr streLches number of unusual lrees stand in lhe grounds, and there are also paLches denseshrubbery.Although in of your nosepicksup the twilight you can seeno smoke, leavesand garden the famjliarsmell of smouldering waste. It would be sheeridiocy to cross the oPen lawn, so will you approachthe house by ceephg slealthilyround the walls and beds to your left (tum to jo8) or to your riSht (tum to j5o)?

roaiing some way off to your ri8ht, as you gaze out over that vast region o{ Khul known as the BatdeoPlionwill be lo grounds. You decidethat your salest lurn lo 14 earlier; retum Lothe ford you passed

59 whrch There is only one way to go along the passage whereyou can furn lefl or right endsat a T-junclion, and is The tunnelto the right looksdusty and unused

6a-6t 6r Your ;abbing is ineffectual.You squirm and xrabble at the tussoch but it is no use. Your body, your head and,finally,your outstretched armsdisappear benealh the surFace the water.Your advenLure here of ends
62

64-55 64 The noise in the bar is dealening All you can hear is snatches nearbyconversations. it was yo! who 'No, of saidthat boter' a youngwomanshrieks. Fiveshinie5: mustbejoling.'asailor You growls '. . . or my name'snot Pen-' the man falking to the barman says. 'Did you hear the one about the Allansianand the . . . ?' someone askselse 'Baronden Snau, he's the evil son of a Lzardwho . .' W l you try Loffnd a placeto sil (turn to 75Jor leave andlook for another tavern(turnto 222)?

You point your sword menacingly the direcLion in of rising moon the shapein the corner Light from the glints softly on the. blade and gives you courage 'Who's lhere?' you call out softl, but a pathetic whimperis the only response The uriknownrs always frighteningand fear rs beginningto chill your heart oncemore Will you now drarge your mind and strike al the shape (turn to rz9) or persist in a gentler approach(tum fo 12P 63 You double up as if in pain: you retch, grunt and grimace-The guards geL the message' somethingis you. But do they believeyou? Iasf yoar wrong with lacir.If you areLucky,tum Loror. If you are Unlucky, the guardslaugh scomfullyat your feebleatfemptto hick lhem; they make doubly sure your bonds are secure. Tum [o 160.

5i Test your Luck If yor-r are Lucky, the collapsing hut halves rematnrng the sr.rvrr,,rlof bolh your opponents (or of your remainingopponent,if only one is left); round odd numbers upwards when you halve their srAMrNAscores If you are Unlucky, Lhehut misses themaltogether. Now retum to j61 to finishthe fight

66-6, 66 You pull out the medallion and dangle it in the air in fiont of Otus' eyes; this does the trick. He siSnalsto Oman, and the steel-mesh is drawn up by lhe net pulley,You walk underit and are now facedby three enormous half-giants who are deman&ng to know your blsiness. If you krow a secret about two of them, add the number oI the paragraph where you leamed lhal secretto lhe numberof this paragraph, then turn to the paragraph with that number.Other wise, fum to 70. 6y The magical descent comes an end with you landing to gently on the stone 0oor of a deep underground tunnel You quickly tale stock of the situahon and see lhat there is only one way forward. As you take your ffrst step, however,a hollow, honibly sinisterlaugh you in your tracks.It seemsLo comefrom in freezes front of yoa but there is nothing to be seen.You hear a faint swishingsound and some sixth sense, honed from years of adventuing, makes you duck. This is just as well, because you would have been otherwise decapitatedVery good'booms a deep voice,6ut remembr:you have to be lucky every time, while I have to be lucky only once.'If you have a Polion of Invisibility,Lurnto 5ro; otherwise, hlm to jZ4.

6A

6a This will, of cours, take you towards the source of Lheriver's pollution. The stenchin the aftemoon sun is appalling.Short of swimming,which you definitely don'Lfancy, lhere is no way to crossLheriver here Ahead of you, an unearthly grey cloud, streakedwilh gouts of livid green flame, appearsbetween two hills: Lhisis obviously [he sourceof the pollution. Then you come acrossa series of platforms which resemble sLepping-stones acrossthe river, exceptthat they are bobbing on the surface.Will you make for the greygreen doud (tr.rmlo 169), try to cross the river on the (tum to 259), or relrace bobbingplaLforms your steps (lum Lo,ro)? andheaddownstream

69-7a 69 You are walking fhrough the land of the Flntskins,a prmilive tribe which has survivedfor many centuries in these parts. A party of about twenty of these you. They are sturdy,paleskinnedhuntersambushes well armedwith spears bows Will you hghl (turn and to 165) or not (lum lo 389)? 7o You will have to fight all threehaif giantsat oncelIn you are eachALtackRound,choosewhich opponenL fighLing; win or loseas normalagainsL you him. Either of the oLher two canwound you if his Attack Strength is hrgher than yours in LhaL round, but you cannot injure either of them untrl they becomeyour chosen opponents if you survivethaf longl S K ILL S TA MIN A

OPHIS O MA N O T US

8 8 9

If by somemiracleyou win, and if you have a Truth stone, you canusert on the dying Otus anddemand to (tum to z9E). If you be told how to defeatArachnos tum to 264 wl& but you do not havea Truthstone,

You are {alling,Iloaling magicallydown a hole which is lit by the phosphorescenL glow of the rocks.Side [rnnels lead off from the hole; will you take the srde iunnel which you are approaching(turn to 57i) or wtll you wait (turn to 9E)?

72-75

7q, bhere,sitting at a table with half a dozen empty flagonsin fiont of him, is Fang-zenhimself!Surrormded and his by cronies, he looks flushed with ale, success you challengehim companions' LoadyinSpraise, Will lo a fight (tum to 5) or try to join the group aL his table(hlm Lo258!

In this ffght beware the Baron's swor4 which is dipped in poison. He only has to ni& you for lhe poison to enter your bloodskeam.If you are wounded twice,you are dead.If you are woundedonly once, you are strong enough to withstandthe poison but your Provisionswill restoreonly 3 points to your srAMrNA Lh for restof this adventure. BARON DEN SNAU sKtLL 7

I{ you defeat Baron,turn to a19 the 75 You plunge deep into the bog. It becomesinceasingly hard to walk at every step you have to exkact your foot with a squelchfrom thick mud. This is exhausting and by the time you reach the other side you have losL2 sraMrNApoints.Tum Lo24 ,4 It is easyfor your opponentto seeyoUI swing and dodge rt, and you leaveyourselfexposedHe lhrusts Lhepointed end of his rnaceup into yor-:rchestand twists it savagely, makesurethat the blow is fatal. to Your adventur over. is

76 AIter you have been trudging through the treacherous pools for ages,a strangesensation begins to creep over you: you feel impelled to turn in one particular direction.If you Sive in lo this feelin& tum lo j55. Otherwis, [um to 195.

You elbow your way through to the back of the room. Seveml faces In the crowd look vaguely familiar no fellow advenhurers, doubL come to Arion on the same nission as yourself, and also trying to drown thef disappoinlmenb a flagon or Lwo of ale. And in

You ffnd yourself in a rather elegant high cellinged ballroom. Large, gold-framed portraits of the Barorfs ancestoru hang on the wa.lls,but the pictures look

7a-79 suspiciously new to you, and you decide that the Apart Barons noble lineagemay be pure invenLion. the from a chandelier ard sometablesagainsL walls, the room is bare.Thereare lwo setsof doubledoors the leadingout of the ballroom.You extinguish lamp which lhe Ogre left in the room so that no lighbspills out throughthe doors,but the lamp rattlesnoisily,so you don't take il with you. A qutck glancethrough your gussthat they both seis of doorwaysconffrms hall both lead to the main entrance of the house Will you go throughto the hall (tum to r97) or climbback ouLside down the hatch(tum to 2j7)? and J8 a Lale The skeleionrecounts {ascinating of dark deeds you to sLayaway {rom Lheruined farmand warns (Crossthe Truthstone your Adpenture house. off Shee|.) You may now go northwards(tum to 26j) or turn arormd and headsouth(tum to :ss). 79 You wipe your sword cleanon the grassof the moor and lum to walk away.With a roar the Cradocrears you up behindyou and scorches with its breath(losez a srAMrNA points) Norayou remember, Cradocregen eratesunlessiL is killed by having one o{ its heads chopped But whichheadis it? offi

ao-82 8o The door swings shut behind you, blocking out the last remnanL lhe evening light frorn outside Do of you havea trnderbox? you have,tum to ao9; if nol, If furn Lo20, Ea You wale up in the middle of a Lypicalfalling dream, rn which you were leaningover a balcony,waving to someone, and then . . BuLif you're awake,why are you still falling? You land with a crashat the bottom of a small ravine over which you have sleep-walked Deduct4 points from your srrurr,r If you are still alive,you 6nd that the mist has dispersed, where but areyou?Turn lo j79. az You soon come to a junction,but the lunnel to the right leadsdirectlyback to the bottom of lhe magical hrnnelyou were recentlyfloatinSdown. You can see no point in retuming there,so you carry straighlo& down a dimly li! tunnel Tum to r5r.

CRADOC

sKrtL7

STAM I N A 8

If you win, with your final shokewill you chopoff fhe Dragon head(tum to r6E) or the Ogre head(tum to

47n

8j-66 Ej Cross r Gold Plece oft your Adoenture SheetThe hag bites the coin Lo make sure it is genuine before scuttling down a backalley.You wait for something off to happen, but nothing does You hurl Lhecrumbling heaLher to the groundin anger,and scraLch lhe on at bite one of the crone's countless hasalreadygiven lice you. Tum lo jE8 A4 Your bolt pierces Arachnos' black heart His mo&ing laughter lums to a choked scream,and the daggerfalls from his nerveless fingers. Telessa rushes into your arms. Without lls leaders, Arachnos' army will soon turn Lo civil war. The land is safe.

85 Only the ground and first floors of the building remain,and Lhe6rst Iloor consists just a landing, of which is reachedby stone stairs from the entrancehall whereyou are standingplus a coupleof roomso{f iL. The ruin is open to the sky and the marble floor of Lhe entrancehall has partially collapsed.You can climb the stairsto the landing(tum to 136) or leavethe building afterall (tum to zr9)

a5
You bury your headunderyour forearms bestyou as can,but you still suslain4 srAMrNApoinLsof injury to your headand shoulders Tum to 199.

At At That is exactly what Fang-zen was waiting for. He leapsup from his stool and lands the ffrst blow on you while your backis tumed (deduct2 points from your srAMrN^).You can count yourself lucky that he is ratherdrunk.Usuallyhe is moreor lessyour equalin a fight, but at Lhe moment his sKrLLis j less than whateveryours is, and his srAMrNAis 10. If you win the 6ght, you have not killed hin, merely hurt him badly.You wait for him Loregainconsciousness, then demandKing Jonthane's letter from him. You point out that he'snow in no fit condilionto carry out the quest. 'Tha(s whaf you thinh scumbag,' Fang-zen snarls. 'And I haven't got the letter here- While we were fighting, a friend took it away and hid it- Too bad for yoq' he sneers Therc'snofhing you can do You search him - and you do so haveto put up with his foul breathv,/hile but he's telling the truth You leave lhe tavem, and now you eiLher have to headwest out of Arion (turn Lozoo) or wanderelsewhere the city (tum ro 222J. in

E8-9o

AE A sturdy haf-Aiant steps out from behmd some boulders, 'I am Otus,' he says. You have something for me. I believe. . . A letter.'Once he has shorrn you a lock of the princess's goldenhair,you hand over King letter of agreement. bhehalf-giant reads As fonthane's the letter,his facellghts up with dark malice.'Good,' he declaresat last 'My broLhersand my master, Arachnos, be pleased.' you haveheardthe name will If Arachnos before, turn to 152 oLherwise, to 2j1. tum A9 You succeed tying the threadon to the needlein in sucha way that the needleis swinSing fiee and horizontally. You rest the needleon the lodestone,where rt sticks,then you wait a few mrnutesfor the magic [o transferftom the stone to the metal needle.You now have a crude compass. You don't know where you arq bul you do loow that you entered marshfrom the the eastand south.It makessense, then, to assunethaL the further srdeof it may be reachedby going to the west(tum to J4) or to thenorth (turn to j6a).
9O

'Him?'the guardsays.'Oh yes,we know hrm.Arrd he regularly works for Lhosetwo over there. You could havebeena greathelp.Comto our stationfirsl Lhing lomorrow moming. You'll 6nd me in room 56 take a note of the number. If your information has led to an anest there']I be something in it for you' Will you now go to the Ellbane Bar across the road (hrm to ra9) or callit a day (tum to 58E[

9r-91 9a You poke arormdin the bumed-oulhouseand,as the young man had said,find the body of a middle-aged woman.Thereis nolhing elseto be seenexceplpiles When you retum to of ash and badly bumed beams. you find the door Iirmly baned the other cotbage, you, 'Go awayl'the manyellslhroughthe door, againBt You're not welcome hereany more.Anyoneinterested the in peopledying is not for me.'You resent injustice of il - you havepaid tlre man,after all You Lry to barge only in bruising your down the door but succeed (Deduct 1 sTAMINA poinl.) You have no shoLrlder, open.Turn to 276. choice now but Locampout in Lhe If You wart until the Orc reSainsconsciousness. you have a Truthstone and want to use it on the Marsh it Orq tum to 2o5, otherwise, can tell you nothing. You leave jt cringeingin the bog and continueon your way by tumingto 55,a54or 365. 93 You lose.The spurtingblood is coming from a deep pointsand gashin your own hand DeducL STAMINA 2 you want to (that was your wager).If 6 Gold Pieces play again,retum to 152. Otherwiseyou leave the tavem and may now either head wesf out of Arion (tum to 2oo) or go elsewhere the city (tum Loz:z). in 94 You passanother tunnel on Lheleft with lhe samerank smell coming from it; it must be another enkance Lo
92,

9F6 the samesystem. Once againyou ignoreiL and hurry straight ahead; lum to 2. 95 The Trulhstonecan be used once and once only. It glows with an unearthly blue light which forces a (that is, not a plant or a creature with any intelligence rock for instance) tell the truth.Now tum to 5tZ. to

96 Beforeyou have travelled far, you encountera Cradoc - and you soon wish you hadn't! These are twoheaded monsters, one of whoseheadsis Drasonlike, while lhe other is Ogre-ish.\ ou know that in the past you've heardrumoursabout some specialthing they do, buLyou can'l remember what it is - and anyway there is no time Lo think now, as the monster is chargingat you, Dragon head breathingfire, It races towards you on all four legs,like a malformedlizard. CRA DO C If you wirr. tum to 79. s K rL 8 L
STAM IN A 1 0

97 ,{lthough it all happens too fast for your conscious mind, you somehowregis[erthe fact that the dark shapeis Fang-zen and that he has hurled a spearat you. You fall to the ground,and the spearricochets off a rock, snapsand falls harmlessly the ground. to Then Fang-zenhimself is upon you 6kingrevmge for the theft of his quest.He is a hardy adventurertoo, aad his sxrll is only z less than you-rs, while his srAMrNAis rz. Only luck will seeyou through this 6ghtunscathed, you win, tum to Jo. If 98 Another side tunnel is coming up Will you take it ihrm to a72) or continue on down (tum bozro[ 99 Aheadof you you hear a slurpingnoise which does nol soundlike the lappingof a rinrlet of waLerYou oeep ahead and seea brown,sLpperylooking humanoid creature, l<neeling a Lussock grassand scoop' on o{ mg up water with one hand. Will you attack it wilh your sword (tum to aa8) or jump on it and pin it to the ground (tum to 21P Or will you silentlyavoid it (fum to eitherr.54or j55I

You dashout thror,rgh front door and across the the courtyard only to find that the main gales are lo&ed. You can't pretend to the Orc porter that nothing sus?iciousis going olx you will have to 6ght him before vou can escaoe.

PORTER

S( I LL 6

STAMINA O

ao2

II you win, and if you bribed the porter to get into the Baron'sgrounds,you can tal(e ba& however much you paidhim before,plus r extraGold PieceYou find a set of keys in the porteis gatehouseand use one to unlock the gates Then you waste no further time beforeleaving the city and setting off wesLwards to try to find the kidnappers. Tum [o 2oo

It is difficdt lo lqlow what Lodo. The village consists o[ only half a dozm peasantcottageq and there is no

door of any of the inhabited cottages - for instance, the one next door to lhe ffre-damaged (tum to one 190) ao3 Otus looks at the arrow in some puzzlement, then snapsit betweentwo fingers a4d signalsto Ophis. You tum to flee, but a crossbowbolt piercesyour heart. ao4 Thjs is too much.Sensibly, you tum rail and flee.The hp of a green flame licks at your heelsas you run, and yor.r shoesimmediately rot ard fall off. If you have a spare pair of boots Lo wear,you put them on; if you do not, you must reduceyour srrrr by one poinl for the resf of the advmb.rre.You can now eithr try to doss lhe river by meansof the bobbing platforrns lfum to 269) or continuesouthwards past them (fum
to 22O). ao5 If you have among your possessionseither a moon symbol or a sun symbol or bo!h. tum to r8o; otherrrise, Lum to 45.

aoa The guardsnolicewhat you are up to. They untie you fiom the pole and manhandleyou in the direction of the elders'hut If you want Lo try to escape Lhrs at point lum to u4 lI you let them tale you, tum Lo

'.06 You enjoy a refreshingsleep which rcstores2lost srAMrNA points. In the moming you 6nd a piece of sharpened among the rocks,possiblyevidence flinl of a long-forgotten oiture A steep ravine rises a sho drstance away to Lhenorth, and you have comefrom the south,so will you now headeast(tum ro 5997or west(bumto 4)? . 101

d the ninth month which ts called ForestsGolden in Wlll.you seal h rhismonthr file rrurn ro r74r or Fd ssr months (turn to f 12P

You fail to spot a tripwire, stretched ankleheight at adoss lhe narrow path. and fall with a thud to the ground. Somewherc insidethe housea bell startsto ring. You lie still, hardly daring to breathe,An Ogre comeslo the ehd of lhe pdth and peercdlong it. It is mther gloomy here at this time of the evening,and you may be ableto bluff him. Beforeadvancing down the passage, calls out, lr'y'ho's thereT Will you say, he 'll's only rne' (turn to Z), mew like a ScytheranDesert Cat (tum to ra3), or barklike a Kalagarian hound(tum to 5zt)? ro8 The Wraiths treat you to a particularlygruesome death, You havefailedin your mission. ao9 You strikea light and seetha! you are in a storeroom Small, woodenpackrng cases stacked on top of are one anolherin neatpiles.Everycaseis stuffedwith biti of paPer- Ietters,receipts, invoices,and so on - and labelled with a date. lt is now late in the secondweek

alo

The Orc rains,blows on your head with a large xooden spoon,br.rlyou shrugher off. you knock her

aaa The rurnblings are coming from Arachnos' forge- You veer off into the mouth oI this tunnel,only to 6nd that it slopes shaqply downwards, You tumbledown rt and evenluallyend up in the forge. You execuLe a perfect roll, land on your feet, ard face the truly enormow Ogre who is Arachnos' blacksmith He seizesa newly temperedblade fiom a rack and lunges aLyotr

OGRE SMITH

SKILI. S

STAM IN A 1 2

If you win, the dying Ogre falls backwards, upending a lrough of molten metal.He dies in agony, and the red hol liquid spillsal) over the floor, leavingyou no choice buL to leave by the forge door. You have time to snaLch only a helrnet, marked with the lefter ,A" if you want to. In the passage outside will you tum left (hlm to ry6) or right (tum to 82)?
aa2

Roll three dice. If the total is less than, or equalto, your curren! srAMrNA score, fum to a9r' otherwise, rurn ro r29. aa3 A smallfireballhurtlesdown bhetunnel towardsyoul Will you useyour backpack protct yourself(tum to to 282) or not (tum to 85)? at4 Roll two dice. lf the total is Iessthan, or equal lo, your currentsxrLr,, tum to j4or if not, tum to aoz

aaj-aa,

You swing by your fingerupsfrom the last remaininS stajr, so as to reducethe distance you have to fall, then you let yourselJgo If your currenl sraMrNA scoreis under 12, you sprainyour ankle on landing and musl lose 1 sKrLL point. Now you can leave the building;tum to zr9.

aa8 The creaturewhels around in pain and surpriseaL your first stlke, and you seethaLit is a Marsh Orc. IL hurls a lump of mud at you, rn/hich allows it time to drawits sword. MARSH ORC
SKILL 7

STAM I NA6

If yos win, will you search body (tum to 26j) or the not?If you do not, tum to $4 or j65
aag

The Baronliesdying on the floor, blood tricklingliom the comer of hjs mouth and bubblmg with his final breaths. Will you now leavethe house(tum ro aoo, or questionthe Baron(tum to 244[ aa6 With an ear-splitting screchfrom its savagebeak, the 'l Pterolin attdcks he soulless of its eye is unnerv glint ing evento a hardened warriorlike yourself
420

M AL EPI E R O L IN

S KIL L7

STA M I N A 8

You can escape down lhe tunnelat any time you like, but you must lose z srevINA points as a talon ralcs yo|ll back (lum to 2o8). If you wir|, you can either go down the tunnel (hlm to 2o8) or dimb back up lhe rope and continue wesh^/ardsalong the diff (tum to 368).
417

You crouchdown andmn into the hut. Luckilynobody spotsyou. Your eyesimmediately smartard fill with tears. You canhearthe Flintskin ftmbling around, then you seehis outlineat the other end of the smoke-filled room. He picks up somethingfrom the floor and grunts in satisfaction, You lsrock him to the ground and grab whateverit ir he went back for Will you now try to barSe through the mud wall at the back of the hut (tum to r94) or leave by the proper entmnce (tum to j76)?

you havenothing betterto do, will you go Assuming Lo the market-place(fum to $o) or hang around the docks(turnto r7r)?

You kneeland peer into the qack. A few cenlimetres down is a small ledge, and the white obiect that caught your eye turns out to be the skeletonof a small animal- perhaps hedgehog. a Will you leavei[ alone (tum to q6) or pok around in the and hurry on fissue (lum to 241)?

423

You strip off you! clothes, carefullylaying them and the rest of your equipment dose to the bars.You oil your whole body as much as the small quantity you haveallowsand,by means considerable of contortion (and at the cosLof r strvrre poinL),you squeeze beLween bars You 6nd yourselfon a narrowledge the between barsand the drop, but it is wide enough the for yor: to stand on Lo get dressed and equipped again.Then you 6nish your descenLtum to 62.
424

You have no chancein combat againsta menacing horde this size,but you may be able to offer them something,to seeif you c2n pacify them. Will it be, Money? A medallion? Pearls? Your sword? Food? Turn to j6z Tum to jj8 Tum to 255 Tum to f6 Turn to jo1

L''2

Two of the fishermen look at eacholher.'Wecan'thelp you,' one of Lhem says,buL we lqrow a manwho can 't ou d bettervisitBaron Smr; hehasafingerin every den evil pie in north-east Khul,if you askme. They give you directions theBaron's lo mansion. Ifyou thinkit's worth you visitingthe Baron,Lurnto 275,otherwise, canvisit Lhe market-place, ifyou stillneed (tumto rso),or leave to (tum to zoo). Arion andgo in search the kidnappers of

425

There is a wide courtyard betwem the gates and the front of the house.You notice a small eatehouse iu.t insidethe gates.lt must be for a porte'r.so you rattle the wought-iron gates and call out, 'Hello, rs anyone there?'A suspiciously Orc-like porter sticks his head out of the gatehouseand snarls, 'Whaddya want?'You haven't finishedexplainingtha! you are a businessman who wants to see the Baron,when he intenuptsby askingwhetheryou havean appointment Will you say yes (tum to 297) or no (tum to

34n
126

The damp air on Lhefringes of the marsh has raiseda plentifulcrop of toadstools the land you are now in crossing. You fel tempted to try some. Will you samplesome green-spotted toadstools(Lum to 245), someblue-spotted toadsfools(tum to aj5) or some (hrm to 53o[ Or will you resist red spottedtoadstools the temptation press (tum fo 69P and on
427

Your eyes receive the full force of the acid and you a.e temporarily blinded. Reduceyour Aftack Strengfh by 5 pointsfor thisfight only

SPITVIPER

sKrLL 4

STAM IN A 4

If you wir1 you press on until you come to a place wherethe river is fordableYou caneitherwadeaaoss the river here (turn to q) or continuesouth (tum to 56).

oE-ajo t-26

451-a3a a3t You fum a comer to your |eft but, after only a few more metres,you 6nd your way blockedby smooth rock.Thereis a straightcrackdown lhe centreof lhe rock, though, so you :ue sure this is some kind of door You look aroundand ffnd a lever set inLo the wall it looksas if you canmove iL up (tum to j25) or down (tum to ,2E)432

A.lerted by the sounds of the skuggle, the Dark Elf gardener creeps behindyou while youre rummag up ing among the Ogre's blood-soakedcloLhingand swings his scythe al you. A brilliant light flaresin your headand then all is darlcress for ever-

729

You struggle but the guards trip you up and pound your head on the gromd for a while- Deduct z srAMrNA points, then tum to 352.
430

your non-fighting You boLhspread handson the table ard peopleat the tableproduce daggers you You for placeyour betsand slart to stabthe point of the knife your spread between fingers. The gamespeeds but up, you keep pace with each other. The onlookers roar then approval as the silver blades begin to blur wihh speed. You are now so much into the rhythm of the gamethal you coolly dare to lift your eyesup from your hand and stareat Fang-zen. This unnerves himr he hies to meetyour gazebut his eyesare constanLly fli&ing backdown to the table.All of a sudden, blood spurts!Roll two dice. If the total is less than. or equal to, your SKILLscore, tuln to 31, i rl is greater than your sKrLL score, tum to 9j.

You race{or the front door and slam it shul behmd you. You can'tgo backin there: evenyou can take not on so many bats at once, You sprint acrossthe courgrard for the main gates - but they are lockedl If you b'ribedthe porter to get in, fum to 28o, otherwise, tum to 251.

433-L35 433 This is diffioif. Rollfour dice.lf the total rolled is less than,or equal your currenL to, you sraMrNAscore, have enoughstrengthto reachthe end of the gu.lley before the bouldercatches with you andtnflicts srAMrNA up 6 points of injury on you- [f you suvive, fum to r45.
434

as6-1jl a36 You suffer temporary paralysis Roll one dice If the number rolled is even, Lhe paralysisaffects your fighLing arm and you must reduce your AtLack Strengthby 2 points for the durationoI this fight. If it is od4 you suffer no major ill-effects- A Hoatzin has begun its soaring dscmt o'rt of the sky towards you, with its wings folded under it so thal the clawsprojectingfrom its wingtips are aimedstraight at you. Its method of attackis to impaleits victrms with these daws, then tear at their flesh with its barbedbeak.

You pull Lhethreadtight rourd whaL you reckonto be the centreof the needleand lift it off your thigh. But the needle slopes downwards and slips out of the knob it sinksimmediately of sighl into the brackish out waterof the bog.Tum to 29o.
455

HOATZIN

SKILL 6

STAM IN A 6

The guard checks,but no one knows of anyone with that name,and there'sno one resembling your vague description the bar whereyou sendthe guards. rn You decjdelo tum in for the night;turn Loj8E

I[ you win, you can taste some green-spottdd toad stools(tum Lo 245)or somered-spotted ones(tum to J5o),if you wrsh Or you canpushon (tum to 59)
437

'You wait here now,' says Otus, jabbing a finger as thick as Lwo ordinary fingers into your chest. 'l retum with th p ncess two days.'Wi you oo as ne says in (turn to j94) or nol (fum to Jo6)? a5a It has beenagessincethe stairwayexperienced any thing like your weight, and it beginsfo collapse. The sLeps,massive blo&s of limestone,are wobbling under your feet as if you were rn an earlhquakeThey're going ... yourc startinSto hll. Will you jump for the next stepup (tum to j58) or down (tum to 293)1

a5ft4r 439 On doser inspection the jurnble of rocks turns out to havesomekind of order to it. In fact,fhe stones form a dolmen,a rough'and-ready tomb fiom ancienttimes. Thiswould makean idealplaceto spendthe night, but fust you have !o clearout the Ghoul which hasmade thrs place iLs home ever since it suckedout Lhespirit of the dolmen'slongiead inhabitant CHOUL
SXILL 8

If, before the fight is ovea you lose four Atlack Rounds, tum to 5j If you win, you setLle down for the night but find that your lamp was brokendunng the 6ght. Goss it off yow A.doenturc a^d tum to Sheet ao6710

You candeflectlhe greenllamewith a shield,but you will need Lo roll less than your current sKrLLscore with two dice three times If you are successful all threetimes,turn to a5;if you fail any roll, turn to :99. 4a This time you are extm care6rlabout tying the needle on to the thread in such a way that the needle is swingingfreeand horizontallyYou rest LheneedJe on the lodestone, il sticks, and wait a few minuLes where for the magic Lo transfer hom the stoneto the metal needle.You now have a crude comDass. You don't lcrow where you are,but you believe ihat you entered the marsh hom the east and south. lt makes sms, then, to think that the finther side of it may be

42-145

t46-147 146 Three angry cavemen suddenly appear lrom among the rocks. The terrain allows two of thern to attack you f ith their dubs at once. Oroose which two are involved in any Alta& Round, then chooseone of these to fight. You win or lose as normal againsL this one, while the oLher may wound you (if his Attack Strength is higher) but you cannot wound hnIL
SKILL

(tum to J4) or northwards reached gohg westwards by (Lurn 561). bo

t42

The papersyou snaLched are worthless, up but you find a door and shrmble through into the next room. Turn to 5r9. 45 This seemsa paltry sum to Ophis - not enough to tum him against Oman, but enough to tum him against you! Tum to Zo.

FirstCAVEMAN Second CAVEMAN Third CAVEMAN

6 7 7

I 7 6

144 There is no shelter out here on the bleak moorlan4 so you can either push on through th night in an eastetly(turn to ,46) or westerly(turn to 4) directio4 sincetheris a ravinea shortway to the north,or you canretum andinvestigate hilllop (tum to r59). the 45 Riding on the aest of your current popularity in the tavem, you grab a handful of the landlord'sjerkin, pull him halfwayasoss the bopof the bar and tell him in no uncerbain termswhat you think of his suggestion. You thm leaveLhetaverry tum to J84.

If you defeat all three cavemerl you leave the gulley as quickly as possible, fearing another ambush. The gulley has takenyou down below the lip of the main cliff. You scrambleback up to the top and find an rmpassabl retion of sharp,broken rocks and deep fissures the west. The only directionopen to you to now is north TuIn to 3a2. 147 Separated, Ogre head lies on the ground blood the oozing from its neck You walch the Cradoc caefully, but is seems you have made[he conect choice Slowly you back away from the monstrous corpse, keeping your eyes fixed on it, until you are a safe enough disfanceaway to tum and run from the honor Eventr.rally you allow yourself to slow to a walk,but you no longerknow whereyou are,Tum to 6g

14s-a5o

You fumble around and cut your fighling hand on a piece of glass.Temporarilyreduceyoul sxlrr by r point until you have left Arion. Now leavethe room by tuminSto 519.

4a

a large phial of sallow-seed oil a needleand sometluead z meals'worth of Provisions a tinderbox and {lint a pair of old boofs an antique ded arrow g a lodestone two silverpearls somercPe a throwingknife a fishingneL a copper pendant Once you have finrshedshopprng,you can leave (turn to roo) or you can Arion to begin your quesL makeyour way down to the docks (tum to ryr). a5a Yotr are struckby a fueball.Deduct+ STAMINA poinLs ihen tum to 2a5.

149

A female slopsdown on your MarshOrc poursscalding You tumble headandshoulders; 2 srAMrNA lose points. backlo the grorlnd. Returnto 561 and6nishthe 6ght.
L50

you canbuy from the stalJs Thereare variousarLicles in the marketand eachcosts2 Gold Pieces. Choose as many as you like but you would be advisednol to to spendall you have.Remember deductthe approprjate amount of money fiom yovr Ailoenture Sheetas you accumulate items.

\52 It is noL so much a questionof whether you will succeed this climb. but ralher of how far up you will in get before you talL Testyour Lrck If you are Lucky, tum lo 182 if you are Unlucky, tum to 44

a5E-a56

453 The tunnelcurvesuntil it becomes clearthaf this is no more than a short crescenL-shaped diversionfrom the main tunneland lhat the two passages soon toin will up again The distinctiveclickingsoundof the tou8h plating of a Giant Millipede lets you lcrow whose tunnel it ir however. Giant Millipedes are fiercely tenitorial beasts and resnl any intrusion into their homes except by edible creatures sKrLL srAMrNA 12 9 You canescape arrytime (for Lhelossof z sr,lvrrlr. at points,as the Millipede nips your exposedba&) by retreating and rejoiningthe main tururel, the Mrllibut pede will follow you. If you choose to escape,tum Lo 54. If you defeat the Millipde ffrst and then advance to rejoin the main hrnel hrm to :75 454 Shuggling through the bewrldering swamp,you find yourselfin lhe middleof a patchof TendrilGrassThe clinging weeds trip you up and you fall, face dowo into the bog If you have been here before tum to 225. If not, tum to 2r4 455 The handle of the front door hr:ns easily,and the door opensnoiseleosly well-oiledhinges Tum to on 497.
a55 ither search the farmhouse,if you

CIANT MILLIPEDE

a57-15s haven'talready done so (turn to 391),or cary on past jt and hadsouth(tum to J55) You land saFely the cold, orly water It is so deep rn lhaLyour feetdon'l louchthebottomwhenyou iump in. However,ihere are two problems First,the water is cursed:if you drank water from a well earlierin your adventure (you will have WELL wriften on your Adoenfure Sheet), poison it contained now trig the is gered you mustlo.e o slAMjNA and points. you are lf slill ahve.you facelhe second problem,il is Soing to be very dif6cult to geL out o{ herel The floor of the entrance is high aboveyou and you can har the hall sormds and then seethe headsof Wraithswaiting for you up there. You swim around for a while but can find no obvioussolutionto your problem,exceptthat thereare enoughfingerholds the stonework you in for to sLand chance dimbing up Lo the ground ffoor. a of Some of the Wraiths are now beginningto tumble into the waler in Lherreagerness reachyou, but to they can'Lswim and their bodiesimmedrately decay on hitting the water. The stenchis awfrrJ. Will you climb the wall in front of you (tum to roS), behind you (tum to a57),to your left (turn to 5r) or to your flght (turn to :74! 158 Your handsgraspthe window ledge- and are lacer atedby tiny sliversof glasswhich the Baronthought fully cemented there. You crash heavilyto the ground; lose 2 srAMrNApornts,You can now makeyour way

L59-a6a

southtowardsthe Baron's garden, try to 6nd a way to into th housethere (tum to j66), or you can head north towards the fronl door of the house (turn to a14.
459

The shadows lengthening you trudgeup a ridge are as and look down on Lo anothervalley below-Will you campuntil morning(tum to 22) or presson through thenighL(turn lo 246)? a6o An hour or more passs Then a message comesFom lhe elders'hutfor you to be broughtbeforethem.The guardsuntieyou Your handsare numbfrom the tight roPes, you decidenot to try to 6ght your way free so jLrst yet. Tum to 352 a6a 'lVrong again,Fangzen,' you reply 'lt's lust that I nearlydredlaughingat sometalesof your attempts at wrzardry. When that shape-change backfired spell and turnedyou into a Goblin ... When are you going to get changed backagain? stickto thuggeryif I were I'd you, and leavethe intellectual stuff to others!' face His darkens with rage arrdhe startsto se from his seat. 'Sit down, sit down,' you laugh.'Can't you take a joke?'He seLtles backdown, but thereis a dangerous glearnin his eye. 'Now,' you continue, 'how about a gameof pin6nger?' Tes[your Luck.lf you are Lu&y, tum to a32. If you are Unlucky,Fang-zen refuses to play,andyou get up to leav; hirn Lo87

a6j-a66 a62

Glantanka hearsyou. Her gloriousrays bum away the mist and now you can seethat you were not far fiom the edgeof the marsh; you quiclly makeyour way to dry ground The ways of the gods are unclear to mortals. you dredesperate gef out oFthemarsn and to before Glantanka , harges mind. her Tum ro :8r.

16s

havegot ouLalive,for this foresthateslntruders. you will tet out eventually,but not before you have sustained points of damageLo your STAMTNA a 2 as result oi being lashed by branchesand brambles, trippedby roots and squeezed betweentreetrunks.It is too late now to make for the village,so you will haveto campout in the open.Tum to 278 166 You mow down five or six of the advancing Flintskins beforesuccumbing a hail of blows.Your adventure to

a6J You have scarcelystarted up the rock-face when a caveman appears of one of the depressions out above you and smashes stalf down on your knuckles. a You fall drrectly into the path of [he oncomingboulder. Your adveniure endshere a54 You decideto dnp a few drops of the oil on to the halchs rust) hrnSes. prevenlan\ unwelcome to noises. Then you put fhe rest of the oil in rts phial back in your pack, before opening the hatch ind slipping through. Tum to 257.

a6ra69 a67 When you have scrambled someway up the wall, the you are clinging lo collapses but inwards, br| of it not backtowards the waler You land rn a chuteand slde, out of control,down and down. Then the chute ends in thin airl You are surethat the momentof deathhasanivedfor you-Tum to 7r a68 Separated, Dragonheadlies on the ground,blood the oozing from its neck.The Cradoclies slill, but you watchit intently,searching the tiniestflickerof life. for You watchit so intently,in fact,that you don't notice the Dragon head slitheringacrossihe grassLowards you unLil it has fixed its jaws rowrd your leg- In horror, you hack away at it, but rt is too IaLe. You neverfo nseagarn. collapse Lothe grormd, on a69 The closeryou get lo the cloud,Lhemore you cansee thal it has no obviouscause, is not the outpouring it from a smrth's giganlic forge, for instance. jr.rst It seemsto billow up from the earth, then drop back down on to the river and the ground The whole place rs barrenand grey; leafless heesform starksilhouetfes Butyou have dirtinct feeling there conscrouthat ir the nessand intelligence because the behindlhis miasma, green flameshave died down in exacl proportion to your approach, rf they were waiting to see how as closeyou would dareto come And then,wilh a roar, the miasma attacks shootingflametowardsyou. If by you havea shield,tum to r4o If you want to escape,

472-473

fum to ao4 If you try to resistthe miasnrarunr ro

299-

472

aro You remember what a wizardoncetaughtyou: if you chargethe needle with the magicof the lodestone and let ii hang, parallel to the ground, ftom a piece of thread, the needle will point roughly no h 'Not exactly, mind you,' the gruff oid wizardhad said,'jr.rst roughly.'He hadn't been able to explain why this worked but just put il down to earth magic You hastrlyget the equipment together thenyou sil down your thigh while trying to tie and rest the needleon the threadon to the middle of the needle Roll fwo dice If the total is lessthan,or equalto, your clrnent sKrLL score, fum to 89; otherwise, tum to af4.

the A short way along the tunnelyou stumbleacross fresh corpseof an Orc, no doubt the victim of some feud amongArachnos'troops He has nothing worth taldn& except a helmet engraved wilh Arachnos' 'A symbol You can plrt it on if you like, then tum to

The dockland area is a gfat place for gathering informationBoalsput in herefrom all over Khul, and even from oLhercontinents. an experienced As sailor yourself, you haveno diffiorlty in being accepted a by group of gnarledfishermen who are mendingneLs on one of the quays.You passthe time of day together discussing weatherbeforeyou tum to matLers the of wrderinterest. But the group is begirning to disperse: the tide is right for saihng You can askthem if they know anything about Princess Telessa's krdnap(tum to rz:), where you can find somemore scarletpearls (turn to 564), whether Fang-zen has lefl Anon yet (turn to 35),or what they know aboutLhegold-mrning (Lumlo j4j). busrness

In the back of the skiff the vague outline of a man 'What appears. sightless His eyesgleamred ashe says, your wish?ShallI take you to my master, away is or from here?'Do you tet him take you to his masfer, whoeverthal may be (tum to 247),or awayfrom here (tum Lo567)? you may not feelcomforbAltematrvely, ablewith this srtuation decideto swim backlo Lhe and (turn fo 29). tusso&andretum the way you came

a74-a76 a74 You are flicking through bills and lists of FeiSht the Baron has imported or exported so far this month, when the comer of a page igniteson the flamefrom your tinderbox The flimsy piecesof paper and their dry, wooden boxes catch ffre so quickly that is is alnost lik an explosion Within secondsa fire is raging, out of conirol You have Lime to grab one handfulof paperand run oul of the room:your harris alreadystarling lo singe Roll one dice If you roll 6, tum to 26a;ofherwise, tum to 192.
475

l7raAo

,q

officers lashtheir men to forcethem to work Froma[ least two places the screams tortwed mm and of animals ariseIt is a visionof hell Thereis certainly no you must retum the way you rvay throughhere,and came Turn to 1jl 477 The wall surroundingthe Baron'shoLrseoffers an unbrokenbarrier There are no side doors. You can eifherretum to the main gate,if you haven'talready failedto get:n that way (tum to i25), or you can try to climbthe wall (turn Lo5o) ar8 Do you havethe A-medallion? you do, tum to 252; If otherwise, furn to j9. 479 In a single fluid movemenl,you turn and bring the bladeof your swordscythingdown on to the unidenh fied shape,then you flee from the cottage before whatever is canstrikeback You run without looking it ba&, Lerror your heart,and campior the night out in rn the open,with a good 6ie to keepyour fear and any beasis bay.Tum to :78. at
18o This causes considerable constemation

If you havca shield, turn to 26, otherwise, tum to all a76 you havegone far,an Orc, busilylooking over Before his shoulder,almost bumps into you- However he recovers quickly and pulls out a viciousJooking sword

o Rc

5KI LL 7

STAM I N A 6

A rapid search the body delivers Gold Pieces of z rnto your hands You carry on down the hrnnel,but with increasing caution,as you soon begin to hear what sounds like a hr;gearmy massrng You round a comer ard duck down behind a boulder rn reacrronro d astonishinS si8ht A hugecavem, whoseroof is too far aboveyou fo be seenin Lhesmoky disLance, filled is with countiesscampfires,tents and all the baggageof an army Thousands of Orcs, Goblins, BlacLhearts, Dark Elves,Trolls and Otres are milling around. Cruel

The elders

murmurand talk amongthemselves a long fime If for you were broughthere aJfertryrng [o escape, tum [o 46; ifyou stayedtied to th post,tum to f22.

161{E5 a8a The man is still alve when you reach him 'lt's you,' he gasps 'King fonthane sent me . new information - find . . . north of here . . .' He breatheshis last You leave his body for the crows: it is as clean a way Lo dispose of it as any other. You head north with your incompleienew informatiory turn to 2E9 aEz When you do fall, by some miracle you land directly on top of your rnvisible opponent This gives you time to get Lo your feet and 68ht him Tum to jj9, buL you may reducehrs sr,rvrNe by r point. 18f You walk halfrvay along the dank, gloomy passageAt the other end oI it, in the garden, something large is stirinS in the shrubbery. You decide to retum to the front of Lhe house Tesl your Lrck lt you are Lucky, turn to 34o; if you are Unlucky, tum to ro7

aa4 Farigiss, god of ice and cold, is puzzledby your the appeal, bui mortals so rarely call on him, except to cursehim, that he is delightedto respond. freezes He th mist rnto a solid block of ice and you ireezto deathrnsideit Maybe in a few hundredor Lhousand years'Lime, you will be discovered, preserved rn still the ice. a85 Testyour Luck.If you are Lucky, you make it to the

aa6-'a, top of the wall unharmed. you are Unlucky,you fall If awkwardlyand twist your ankle (deductr sreurxr. pornt),thenstartagainand complete your climb.There is a dank, narrow path between the wall and the house You can jump for an upper window-ledgeof lhe house(tum to a58),or you can let yourselfdown tnto the passage, where you may go southwards towardsthe Baron's garden,to lry lo find a way inlo the housefrom there (turn to 555), or you can head north towards lhe fropt door oi the house (turn to a14). a86 The slimy creature,which you now see is a Marsh Orc, tdes fo slip out from under you but fails.You have its head in a secure grip and you squeeze until Lhecreatue becomes unconscious- your Luck.If TesL you are Lucky, tun to 265; rf you are Unlucky,turn to 92, a87 Allhoughit all happen'too fast for )our (on\iou, mind, you somehowregisterthe iact that the dark shapeis Fang-zen and that he has hurled a spearat you. You fall to the ground;the spearricochels a off rock straighlinto your thigh. Deductz porntsfrom your srAMrNA Then Fangzen himselfis upon you, seekingrevengefor the thefl of his quest He is a hardyadvenLurer and his sKrLL only 2less than too, is yours, whrle his srewrra is rz. Only luck will see you through this fighLunscalhedIf you wi& turn Lo 5o
18E

186-1E9

You leapdown ftom the rotting hull on lo the spongy and checkyour ground.You tale out your comPass bearings The contoursof the lake's shorelineofier you lhe choices only of going east (tum lo 2o7) or (Lurn j46) norLh !o

a89 wings iLs way over A skeinof geesein V-formatron headas you Luminto the bar - maybethts rs a Sood omen You siL on a high stool aL the bar and try to buf h is too engagethe landlord in conversation, busyto do morethangrunt.Mind you your neighbour he's tellsyou that that'sLhemost intelligentcomment in years.You swvel around heardfrom the landlord a AL on your sLoolto surveythe scene. thaLmomenL vileJooking old crone walks rnto the bar, clutching She somewitheredspngsof heather. is clearlya well she hardly has time to utter, known figure, because 'Buy my lucky heather,'before landlordhashuslled the her out throughthe door,proddingher with the brush end of a broom Wrll you follow the horid croneout the rnto the street(turn to ao) or inveshgale gambhng (tum lo 28)? wheelat the backof the tavem

493-494
490

You hammer the door with the hilf of your sword, on young man answe$ it He is and eventuallya sr-rrly prepared puLyou up for a price,r Gold Piece Lo and 4 meals'worth of Provisions,since lhe land here is rocky and unfrurtful Will you pay hrs price (lum to :r:) or leaveand go backto the bumed-outcottage nexLdoor (tum lo 224)ior will you campoul in the (tum to 228! opensomewhere a9a You succeed breaking of their grip You quickly in out lcrockone guardunconscious with a blow of your fist, lhen draw your sword to face lhe other, wno rs swinginga hatchet.

493 You quicHy spot a trail of blood leadrng to a small hollow One Troll-Orc is lying on the ground,deador dying, and anotheris peeringintently down on the woundedstranger You begin to ieel that the crows were meantto athacLyou here,Lo spring the trap. If you have a throwing-knife,turn to 56J, oLherwise, you creep behindthe Troll-Orc (tum to 336). up 494 Ii your currenfsrAMrNAscoreis lessthan rz, in the time you spendtrying fo breakthrough the wall you succumb Lhesmokeand flames, your adventure to and your sraMiNl scorers cunenLlyrz or over, is over. If you manage to break down the wall and escape through the village,which is now in a stateof chaosWhen you ffnd Limeto investigate your trophy, you will see that iL is a smallbranchof an ancienL ebony tree,about thirty centimetres long, with a silverhexa gram proLrudingslightly from one end. The branch alsohas the number158 inscribed it (makea note on of ihis) It was evidentlyan importantvillage totem. Now tum to jo2.

FLINTSKIN CUARD

s x rl l 7

ST A M TN A 8

If the fight is still in progress afLer four Altack Rounds havebeencompleted, more FlinLskins beginningto are emerge from therrhuts(turn io a65).lf you win before four rourrds over,tum to 2j8. are
492

Beforelong the whole housewill be ablaze. You can remainin the Baron'shousefor a maximumof seDert further paragraphs by lhen you are not out in the If you will be roastedalive.Keep Lrack a courLyard, on pieceof paperof how long you are taking LogeLout. The next locationyou tum to will be the 6rst of the seven-The door back to the previous room is blocked by the fue. Will you examine room you arein (tum the to r48) orleaveby theonly available door (tum to 3r9[

gs-aga 495 A short while laler, a tenifying roar greetsyou from out of the misl ahead Aeons ago, when thrs marsh was a lake, a terriblecursefell upon one stretchof shorelineand it becameinhabiled by Flesh-Eaters Theseenormous serpentine monsLers slither over can Iand or glide through water with astonishing speed. Only one now remains Khul; it is old, as old as the rn hills, but its appehteis still strong arrd it makesa tormrdable opponent FLESH-EATER sKrLL 1()
sraMrNA 16 or r54 If you win, you can lum to either 5t

a96 You waste no time in geLting out of town. Tum to 69

497 You are in the enLrance-hall the Baron's mansionA of wide sLaircase leadsto lhe upper floors and there are doors off the hall to rooms on lhe ground floor. However,Baronden Snauhimselfhasbeenalertedto your prcsence, he is sLanding liitle way up the and a staircase, looking down at you 'What do you want,
ctr:nopr? hp.l pm,nl <

You reply curtly, 'lnformation.'Will you simultaneously rush at him up the stairs(Lurnto 595) or stand your ground(tum to 225)?

==rE

a9a You pick a hut near the edgeof the village and creep up to the doorway, which rs coveredby a piece of

499

embroidered cloth You camot hear a sound from inside Will you whrsk the cloth asideand enter (tum Loz5o) or leavelhe vrllage(tum fo 3o:)?
L99

2()0

Thereis no going back,so whateverthe source the of fireballmay have been,you are going Lohave to face it You continue creeping down the tunnel on your belly. All of a sudden the tunnel ends aL a small, underground cavem.Qn the floor of the cavernliesa pool of bubblinglava whichoccasionally emitsfireballs at random intervals ard rn random direchons_There are narrow ledgesround both the left- and the righthandwalls of the cavem.You can takeeifherone,tut you will have to reach the tunnel opening on the other side of the cavem before you are oveicome by the heat and the fumes. Roll one dice threetimesand makea note of the sequence numbers you roll, as oi well as the total. If the tofal is between3 and 9 lum fo 22; if it is between and 18,tum [o 252. 10

Three days later, you are still walking towards the west. There has been no sign of the kidnappers, though occasionally you have felt yourself being watched. you haveKing Jonthane's If lettel the royal sealwill show you whereLo go in order to meet lhe kidnappers. you have comehere without the letter, If you have failed Your action will causethe death of the beautifuland innocentprincess, King Ionbhane as wamedyou at the very slart.

20a

Few battleshave come tougher fhan that You feel elatedat defeahng loathsome the Pool Crawler; regain 1 LUCKpornt. You leap acrossthe pool, using the belly-r.:p corpse a stepping as stone.The tunnelcontin, uesbeyondthe pool and endsat anotherdoor like the one through which you enteredthis tunnel There is an identicallever in the wall. You checkthe ceiling, wallsand floor but can seeno obvioustraps Will you pushthe leverup (ium to jj5) or pull it down (tum to 30:,?

202

The porfer greedily stuffsthe money into his pouch and lets you in. (Deduct 4 Gold Pieces from your AdDentweSheel.) Then he disappearsback inside th gatehor.rse. \{}ri1e the porter isn't looking, you can sneak along a pathwaythat skirtsthe west sideof the house,if you Lle (tlrrn to r8j), or you can boldly go (turnto 155) up to the front door of the mansron

204

NoLhingstirs as you enter the cottage You glance quickly aroundthen step acrosswhaLremainsof the singleroom to look out of thc hole in the backwall whichserved a window.A chanedpiece sackcloth as of curtainfluttersin the breezeYou shiver,althoughit is noL cold: somethingevil has taken place here. Suddenly, out of the comer of your eye, you glimpsea fainL movement from a rounded shape, luckedaway in the comer of Lhe room In mounting fear, will you whirl and strikeal the shapebeforeit hasa chance to do anythingmore (turn to r79) or merelydraw your sword in preparalion whateverit may tum ouL io for be (tum to 62!
205

203

In the dark,you iall and pull a tendonin your thigh DeductJ sKrLL point and hobbleon lo 276.

Goss the stone of[ yout Adoentwe 1heef.fhe Orc rambleson for ages,but you leam liLtle that could be calleduseful,exceptfor a recipefor cookingredspottedtoadstoolsYou cancontinue your way by on tuming to either55,154or 555.

206

The pitchfork missesyour ear by a hair's breadlh and fhuds, quivering, into a tree-trur*. Then the gardener is upon you, wielding a razor-sharpscythe

CARDENER

SKILL 8

STAM IN A 7

If you roll a doublefor your Attack Slrengthin any round, you have luckily cut through Lhe wooden handleof the scythe,and you finish the Dark Elf off with ease. Lhefight lastslonger than four rounds, If tum to z9r Ii you wn sooner thanthal,tum lo j66
207

You trudgeon with a feelingof fearand hopelessness Somemarshes Khul are home to rare crcatures . in . and this one cerLainly Semerles ceaturesfrozen is. are in time, relics from millions of years ago Half-6sh, half-reptiles, they are amphibious store their meat and Lmderwater until it rots. A full-grownmaleSemerle like the one facingyou canbe two metreslong and weigh up to a hLmdred kilos Its squatbody is solid muscle, a flick of rts tail can kill many creatures, and if they surviverts claws and the tusksprotrudingfrorn ils upperand lowerjaws.

SEMERLE

SKILL 6

STAM IN A 1 4

Every time you win anAtta& Round, you must roll one dice to seei{ you manage to avoid its lashing tail. On a roll oI 5 6, lhe tail strikes you and causes you z sTAMINApoints of injury. Of course,you don't have lo make this roll after the Attack Round in which you kill the beast if you get that far! II you survive, tum to :4

t
208 A short way down the tunnel you come across the

sticky strandsof a Ciani Spider'sweb Worse,you come acrossthe sprderitselftIts abilify fo seein the dark makesit more than a matchfor most peoplein tunnels this like

C] AN T S P I D E R

SKI LL 7

STA M I N A E

If you wi4 you slashthrough rts web - and hear an ominousrumblini. You just have time to sprint for wa.d to avorda cave-in. Thereis no tuming backnow: the tunnelmouth is blocked.Crossthe rope off your AdpenLurc Sheef, ther, t\trn to a8.
209

Thrs laziness one of the magicaleffectsthe mist is exerts upon you: you sink deeperand deeperrnto you down depression, if the bog rtselfweresucking as Bul resolvestill flickersin somecomer of your mind, thoughil will takegreatmenlalstrengthto summon iL up. Roll Lhree dice If the Lotalis lessthan,or equalto, your current srAMrNA score, tum fo 255; if it is greatet tum to 2E8243

The odds are too great,evm for a great warrior like yourself You fall to the ground, blood oozing from scores wounds Your adventure over of is
2ao

Desperation lendsyou an actor'sskills Even to you, your imibation the rough toneso[ a DesertCat are of almoslconvincing. any rate,the Ogre tums around AL and stompsoff. cursingTiddlesunderhis breath You make your way to Lhefront of fhe hous Nothrng stirs rn th tatehouseon the far side of the wide courLyard you LurnLhe as handleof ihe front door and iLopensnoiselessly ell oiledhintes.Turn to 197. on

Faintrumblings lssuingfrom fhe mouth of the next are sidetunnel to appearWiJIyou enter thrs tunnel(Lum to 111)or conlinuedescending (hlm to 214)?
2aa

The Bushel a ratherr.rp-market is establishment, where the bar-girlswear uniformsand Lheseats covered are in mock Lizardine leather Enfry is : Cold Pieces, but thereafter food and drin}s appearto be free-You the can pay and go in (tum to -zjJ), go io the bar across (turn to 189), or call ii a day (tum to the road instead 588)

Trdppedbetreen lhesetno huge brule< you standno chance all.Your adventurc over. dt is 2,18 rne papersyou grabbeddre worthles..you leavelhe blazing room by tuming fo 192.

If, with your third dice,yoi rd)ed 1_4, tum to 1j If you ro|ed 5 6, |urn to j2,4.

2a6

2\g

Thrs a ghost town literallytA crowd of Wrajths is comlng down the sLreeL towards you, jostling one another for the first place and the chanceoilresh meat You decidethat it wrll be wise to ieave here

(turn to 59)

As you progress downstream, tiver geLs the more and more sluggish, until you are almostkeeprnS pacer ith lhe whrle underbellies the dead fish tn the river. of You are walking along a narrow towpath with, on your left, tall golsebushes that are armedwith vicious thoms and, on your right, the oily river. And there, skaight ahead of you, are two Blackhearts.These muLations a crossbetwenDark Elvesand Orcs occasionally appearin northemKhul. The two facing you are on paLroland they have no hesitationin rushing forward to deal with you, swingrnS their Luckilyfor you, the pdth is so narrow iaggedscimitars. thattheycanonJy at you oneat d time. gel
S K IIL

FirstBLACKHEART Second BLACKHEART

7 6

Every time you lose an Attack Round, roll one extra dice.If you roll a r, tum to 45; if you roll a d tum to .:59; olherwrse, continuwith the fight lf you win,

You will haveto leapfrom one tussock the next, so to you carehlJly stow vour preciouscompdss away in your pouch fust. In order to negotiateslx irssocKs, ro11 dice six fimes.If the numberrolled is ever the one same as the nurnber of the tussock you are jumping for (that is, if you roll r for the first jump, z foi rhe jump,and so on),you mrssthe tussock fall second and

225-229

into the wate4 tum to 587. If you reachthe sixth tussock unscafhed, to ji8. tum

225

You turn into Creel-makers' Alley and seetwo more tavemsfurlher along,on oppositesidesof the sireet. If you do noLhavethe royal letfer which the king and queengave lang'zen, you now feel that your task is hopeless that you ought to startagain,or perhaps and go in searchoF another advenlure Otherwise,you may as well carry on drinking, now Lhat you've started!Will you go to 'The Bushel'on lhe right (ium to 21a) or'Elfbane Bar' on lhe left (turn to 169?

Like all bulhes,the Baron is essentially cowaro, a caught up rn a makebeliev world in which he is hrs myth, however, brave.Sincehe believes self-made he advances to down the sLairs fighl you Turn to 22.
226

By now the monster under the water has been thoroughlyaroused all your coming and going lt by endsyour advenLure wilh one chomp of its massive

You will haveto fight fhe Troll-Orc.

T RO L LO R C If youwin,turnto 2r,

SKI LL 7

STAM I N A 6

There is still nothing in this room, even Lhoughyou snatchone of the torches from the torture-chamber in order to have a good look. The voice is an lllusion Spell,uggered by openingthe door betweenthe two rooms. Retumto 5a9. A hatch in the ceiling slidesopen and an lron-eater drops on to your head.This jelJyJikecreafureconsumes anythingmadeof iron in a matterof secondsIf you were wearinga helmet,you aren't any morel I[ you have a sparehelmet,though,you may put it on. You shrugthe creature the floor, whereyou 6nish to it oif wth a coupleof slicingslrokes from your sword. You now pushthe leverall the way up; fum to 525
229

As you approachthe ruined cottage,you can smell that it has been burneddown only recently In [act, whenyour handtouches doorpost, is still slightly Lhe it inside,you can seesmoketricklingfrom what wa.rm, wereonceroof-beams muchworseis the facl fhat But you also louchdsomethingsticky on the doorpost, even in the dim eveninglight you can see thal it is blood. Will you cross the thresholdof this cottaSe (turn to ro4) or beata hastyretreatto the other place that caughtyour eye (tum to 19oI

As you cautiously one half of the double-doored lift halch, the rusty hinges lel out an aw6:l creak You

t
25e44

252

waiLa few moments, thena lampflares a downstails in window,bathingsomeof the gardenin light. Will you run down lhe srdepassage (tum to 114)or stay where you are(tum to 315)? 2to You benddown as far as you can,you writhe,grimace and grunt as if in agony;in any language, sigmfres this severe pan. The guardsapproach seewhal rs up. to You knee one of Lhemon the chin and he collapses, unconscious, whrle you whip out your sy/ordto 6ght the other.

his pleasureNow it looks as though he has sel his sightson Arron. H wants to manipulate tradein the gold unhl he conlrolsnoughof Arion to bring King lonthane to his knees.No doubt his plans will not sLop with controllingnorthemKhul; he intends!o set up an Empireof Evil Your thoughtsare intem-rpted because to Otus rs still spealcng you Turn lo r37.

FLINTSKIN GUARD

SKI LL 7

STAM I N A 8

If the fight is still in progress after iour Attack Rounds havebeencompleled, more Flintskins begrnning are to emerge from theirhuts(tun to 166) If you wn before four roundsareover,tum to :fa

It all starLsto make sensenow: Arachnosthe LifeS[ealeris up to his evil again.Centuries ago, in the far north eastem promontory of Khul there sLood a farr and prosperoustradrng city called Faleha; Arachnos gradually made himself master of all its revenueMonetary gain was noL his purpose, Lhough he certainlyneededto pay Lheincreasing numbersof his servantt soldiers and minions.He is a seature of Chaos: nusl sow Chaosand Evil wherever goes he he and.unlile lhe usualthugsyou comedcros\in,our adventures, rs rntelligentenoughto pursuemore he subtleplansfor spreading Evil. In lfiaf,not wealth,lies

You snaLch cylinderand jump backquicklyrn case the anything happens.Nothing does, except Lhat you brokeoff one of the skeleton's fingerswhen you took the cylinder. One end of the cylinder has a sun engraved rt, togetherwith lhe number (notethis on 55 down). You stow the cylinder safelyin your pouch Will you now try on the crowr (tum to 3o7) or leave the ship(tum to 188)?

713-234

Deduct z Gold Preces from your AdoenLre Sheet, but restoreLrpto 4 lost STAMTNA points because the of you taketime food you eaL the Bushel. in After eating, to look around at the rest of lhe clientele Raised voices attract your attention to a group at one of the tablesCuardedby a coupleof henchmen who are at least half Troll, a couple of swarthy, well-to-do criminalshave been lreating their girl{riendsto a night out, but it looks as though officersfrom the City Guard have tracked lhem down and are queslioninS lhem 'You accuse of arranging you hearone of me murder?' 'We are iust honest plumbers - eh, the men shout. igrur 'Right, Oiram,' the other man agrees 'lNe've bem herea1levening. There are plenty of witnesses just look around' Will you stay here,to be questioned by the guards(tum lo ,8j), or leave,knowing that as you've only jusl anived in the bar you cannob help them If you leave,you can either pop in to the bar acrossthe road (tum bo 189) or call rt a day (turn to 586). 234 You can see the floor looming up below you, but there are more side tunnelsstill lo come. You are beginningto enjoy the sensalion floating;will you of take the next side tunnel (turn to j56) or carry on doh'n(turn to 9)?

23r237

zjA-r4o 238 You pause, hardly daringto believethaLno one heard the fight, swift though it was, buL nothng sLirs. Will you now leavethe villageas quicklyas possible (tum (tum to jl)? to 5oz) or prowl aror:nd 239 The pitchforkprnsyou to a lree by your sleeve and by a chunk of flesh in your arm (lose u sreulre points),so you are helplessYou gflt your teeth and reachrourd to pull the pitchforkfreewith your other hand.Roll threedrce.lf the tolal is greaterthan your current srAMrNA score, the Dark Elf reachesyou beforeyou havefreedyourself, and the last thing you seeis his scytheglinting in the drm lighl as it sweeps fowardsyour throat.lf the lolal is Iessthan,or equal to, your currentsTAMINA score,you nanage to free yourselfin time to put up a fight.

You are deeply asleep, but you suddenlywake up with a start l44ratwas that?You can heara snuffling soundlo your left, and you leapup LoconfronL lone a trmberwolf which hasbeenfeasting the Provisions on fiom your backpack Her eyesglint red in the firelight and her defence savage, is because backin her den her hungrycubsareanxiously awaitingher retum.
TIMBER WOLF 5KILL 6
STAM ] N A 8

If you win, you find that she has eatenhalf your (roundodd numbers remaining Provisions donn) You doze fitfully for the rest of the night, and in lhe morningyou try to pi& up Otus' trail Turn to 2a6. 46 You force yourself to get up and carry on, reminding yourself of the old proverb that 'Where lhere'slife, there'shope.'Your mind sparksinto action again.If you have a lodestone azl a needleanil some thread, tum LoVo; otherwise, Lumto 29o You drop Lightly to the grormd and frnd yourself,as expected, a cellar The floor rs dusty and it doesn'l in look as though lhe room has been used for years Thereare crates hereand ihere,in no particular order, andhalf a bed,and a drawerfrom somelong-forgotten chesl Will you search room (lum to 5) or not?If the you decide not to, there is only a single exitr a woodendoor to the east(tum to 8o).

GARDENER

S K ILL8

STAM IN A 7

If af any trme you roll a double for your Attack Strength,you have luckily cut through the wooden handle of the scythe, and you finish the Dark Elf off with ease. Lhe6ght lastslonger than four rounds, If tum to 29a.If you win soonerLhan lhat,tum to j66240

His mace strikesyou a glancingblow on the head You manage get to your fet,but you are groggy. to Reduceyour Attack Strengthby one point for the duralionof this6ght only Tum to 559

243-246
244

You draw your sword and insert its tip into the hssure. This gulley is sacredto a tribe of pnmitive CavePeoplewho propiliatethe subterranean powers thaf caused landslip the wlth offerings smallanimals. of They have been watching your progressalong Lhe gulley and by poking your sword info the crack, you have insLrlted their gods, Behindyou, they trundle a huge spherical boulderout of one of the cavesand send it rolling down the slope towards you. The rumbling,crashrng noiseil makcsas it gathen sped alertsyou to your dangerand you whirl around. Wrll you try to outrun the boulder(turn ro r55), look for a fissure wide enoughor a cavemdeepenoughto hrde rn while the boulderthunders past (iurn to J45l, scare (tum to 163) or hy one of the pock,marked rock-faces to leapover the oncominS boulder(turn to 249)?
242

243 After a while, one of the guardsmutlers somethrng lo the other, then he gets up and goes off somewhere;by {eigningseveresLomach you tnck cramps, lhe other guard inLo coming over. You knee him on the chin, at fhe same time chopping the side of your hand down hard on lo the back of his neck He crumples, unconscious, the ground Will fo you now escapeirom the village (fum to joz) or snaLch a flaming brand from the 6re and toss up iL on to thc thalchedroof of the elders'hut (turn to aall ,,44 you havea Truthstone? you do, and you wish to Do If useit, tum to 264; otherwise, tum to 3oj245 You are immediately gripped by agonizinSstomach cramps;lose 2 srAMrNA points, You can now try some blue-spotted toadstools(tum to 156) or some red-spotled ones(tum to 33o),if you wish,or you can hurry on (tum to 69) 246 You struggleon as best you can as deep night falls ard Lhemistscome down, but to no avail Half seen, half recognizcdshapes loom, eerily glowing, oul of the darkness, while fin moisturesoaksyou lo the skrn The ghostsof DeaLhmoor you io your deaLh lure over a clifi

Do you haveany sallow,seed lf you have,rurn ro oll? 164,otherwjse, tum to 229.

24r-244 247 The skiff glides effortlesslyover the lake without creatjngso much as a ripple on the y,,ater, until it

rags of once-fine robeshang from its ribs, arms and 1egs. jewelledcrown has rolled off its head and is A lying, a little way tsom il, on the deck.In one bony claw it clutchesa metal cylinder.The ship is lying beached the lakeshore, you canleaveit without on so difficulty.Will you clamberashore(rurn ro 188), rry on the crown (tum to jo7) or take the cylinder(tum to 252)1 248 Ophis tums upon Omar in 6-ry and, with cries of 'Thiefl begins to belabourhim with his crossbow Oman respondswith his club. While they are thus di+racted. will hdvelo get rid of Oru.. you

OTUS

SKILL 9

nos If you have a Truthstone, tum to 298; othrwise, you can only watch him die and then turn to 284

249. 252

253-254 253 You are aloneagainin the marshand still hopelessly losi At times of crisis all intelligenf cratures turn aulomaLically prayer. they send ouL a wordless to appealto powers mightier than themselves, you and are no exception. seems that this is noyvyour only It hope.Will you pray lo Arachnos(tum to rZ8), Glan(furn to 184)? lanka(tum to jl2) or Fangiss

249 Roll two dic If the number roLledis less than, or equal to, your current SKILLscore,you succeed in clearing lhe boulder, which hurtles harmlesslyon, dou.n the gulley, Lum to 146. Otherwise,you break your leg, and your adventure endsbeneafhthe clubs of lhe cavemen.
250

The hut is desertedperhaps belongsto one of the it elderswho is rn counsel presenL. rapid search at A oi the hut reveals nothinS But by now the body of the you killedearlier beendiscovered, the Flinlskin has and hunt is on for you You haveto sneak six huts to past reach comparative safetyawayfrom the villageand the torch bearingsearch-parLy- one dice six times If Roll lhe number rolledis everthe same the number the as of (tum to you'vebeendiscovered hut you havereached, out ttrrn 4r) If you makeit safely of the vilLage, ro 5o2 you You will have to fight lhe Orcish porter Derore canter out.

PORTER

SK] LL 6

STAM I N A 6

If you win, you find a bunchof keys in his gaLehouse and you waste no time in unlockin8 the gates and escaprng backinfo the cify. Tum to jj9.
z5z your sccond If with dice you rolled 1-5, tum to 2at if you rolled a 6, tum to r5r

254 It's as well that you were carefr-rl, because the in deepening duskyou canonly just makeout the shape of the gardener, sitting with his back againsta low bank Unfortunately you, however, motherwas {or his a Dark Elf and so his hearingis excephonally good He has beenlisteningto your approach someminuts for and heftinga pitchforkin anticipation. soonas you As are wiLhin range,he hurls the pitchfork in what hc to Suesses be your drreclion TestyourLuck If yot are Luckytum to :o5; if you areUnlucky,tum to 239.

255-256

The leadng skeleton's creaks jaw open and shut a few fimes It is trying to speakalter years of silence. At last lhe words appear, it takessuchan effort that but you 6nd yourself mouthing them along with the Skeleton, if willing it to get ihem out. 'What use as have we of these, strangep'the skeleton croaks You are a fool, but you are not evil. You may go.'The skeletalhorde stops pressingin on you anJ allows you to proceedon your way. You may now search Lhenrined farmhouse (tum to g9r), continuenorthwards past it (turn to 25j), or turn aroundand go south (tum to 555)-If you have a Truthstone,you may wrsh to try its powers on the leader of the skeletons beforeyou leave(tum to 78).

The Baron is surpnsedby youratLa&. He was expecting you to spring a trap he has set into the secondstair,buf you leapt over iL So he hasn't even drawn his sword or

srAMrNA by l point, sinceyou have winded him 258 You are trapped. When Arachnos' zoo-keeper comes round next, he will find a prize exhibit. Your advenLure

259 Shocked ard in parn, you stumble into the gorse bushes. Deduct r extra sr,rurr,r point before reLuming to 22o fo confinue th fighL. 26o You kill the Troll-Orc outright and ftce down to the wounded human Tum to a81

255 You succeed sawing through the ropes Lhatbind in you, and lhe guardshaven'tnoticeda thingt They are srthng on the ground to your left and right, a short distance front of you. Will you try to sneakaway rn from them (turn to joo) or gel them to approach you (tum to 2jo), or will you wait (tum to 243)?

261

',Hs"trW
s@ & @ &

You shovethe papersinto your pouch.You have no Lime to examinethem now, but in fact you have location picked a usefulnote.You canreturnto Lhis up to at any time to examine rt appears be the key to a rt: code For now, tum to r9z rf you haveslarteda hre;if you haven'[,you leaveand go Into the next room by Luming j19 to
262

Arachnosthe Life-Stealer heedsyour call He sucks your spiflt from yoq but not your moral awareness Your torture for the rest of your days will be to commil horrid acts of evil as Arachnos'slavewhile still loathingyourselffor doing so.
26j

& sw @s

turns The slope going north beyond the farmhouse and out to be steeper thanit lookedfrom a distance, rt is covered with loose stones and slate You keep causinglittle avalanches your way up and your on At handsare sooncoveredin scratches. one point you slideseveral metresbackdown the slopeand you are your strength Will you forced to pause,gaLhering give up your attempt and go back down the slope (lurn to 156)or will you carryon (tum to 2a7I 264 and You takeout the TruthsLone, in iLseerielight you faceas on seethe crueltyof yearsetched to the Baron's clearlyas if you were readinga map or a book Cross theTruthstone your Ad,ekfweSheet turnto 3ot a\d off

25r266 25s You frnd r Gold Piece and a needle in the Orc's pockets.If you have recently losl a needle,turn to i41 OLherwise, you cany on through the marshby tuming to 55,154or j55.
266

267-2,64 257 You find a silverwhistlewith an inscription ancient in Kabeshian,which you lmow well from your days aL the Academy.The inscriptionreads'Follow me', and you can also discem the number 33g (rnakea note of this) You blow into it and enjoy its clear,high note, bLrtnothing elsehappens excepL you altractthe Lhat attenlionof the Pterolin's mate Like all the malesof the species,bhis one is bigger and stronger than the femaleyou have already met. Will you escapedolvn the tururel(tum to 2oE) or stand and fight (tum to aa6)?

You reversethe Invisibilty speli, just as the wise woman taught you You find a cu.ious objecL,whose purposeit is hard to .guess It is aboutthe sizeof a at largekey but it lookslike a brandingiron, sinceit ends in a flaL face. On the crrcularface is inscribeda crescenL moon and the number'1o' Vvhatever is, it Lhouglu feelslmportant;restor1 LUCK it point You sLore object safelyaway in your ba&pack (addit lhe your possessions yo\1t AdoentrreSheet). to on loll decideyour besl bel is Loenler dreadDeathrnoor and explore, sinceit is obviouslywhereOtus washeading. By noon of the following day you have rcachedthe edgeof DeaLhmoor You are facedwibh a fas[-flowing river to cross; its surfaceis covered in scum and rotting fish. You need Lo find a way acrossthe nver: you canfollow rt upst.eam Lhe to north (fum lo 68) or donnstream the south(tum to 22o). to

258 You leanover and whispersomeextremely unpleasanf threatsinto the ear of a small,weasel-faced man aL Fang-zen'stable, and he suddenly remembersan a appointmenL in elsewhere town. Now Lhat Lhere's you sit dolvn. As soon as Fangzen stool available, spoLs yoq he beginsto taunt you. 'Oh, it's you' he sneers 'LaLe as usual The quest's mine, punk, and there's nothing you can do about it \Mat happened to make you lale? Did you get doped by some Sleeping or Grass, did the milksopchrldof a weakling you in a punchup?'Will you respondto Spritede{eaf his tauntswith insultsof your ora'n(tum to 16a) or get up andwalk away(tum Lo87)?

265_266 265 You find r Gold Preceand a needle in lhe Orc's pockets.If you have recentlylost a needle,tum to r4r Otherwise, you carry on lhror.rghthe marsh by tuming to 55,a54or j65. 266 You reversethe Invisrbrlity spell, jusl as the wise woman taughtyou. You find a curiousobject,whose purpose is hard to Buess It is about the sizeof a at. it largekey but it lookslike a brandrng-iron, sinceit ends in a flat face On the circular face rs inscribeda it crescenL moon and the number'112'. Iryhatever is, though,it leels imporianLrestore1 LUCK point. You (add it store the object safelyaway in your backpack you to your possessions yow Adoenture on Sheet). and decideyour bestbet is to enterdreadDeathmoor explore, since is obviouslywhereOtus washeading. it the By noon of the following day you have reached edgeof DeathmoorYou are facedwiLha fasl flowing dver to crossrits sur{aceis covered in scum and rotting fish.You needio find a way acrossthe river, you canfollow it upstream the norlh (hrrnto 66) or to downstream lhe south(tum to 22o). to

261264 267 You 6nd a silverwhistlewiLhan inscdplionin ancienl Kabeshian, which you know well from your days aL the Academy The inscriptionreads'Follow me', and you can alsodiscemthe numberj3j (malce note of a this) You blow into it and enjoy ifs clear,hiSh note, buLnothing elsehappens excepllhat you attractthe aftentionof the Pterolin'smate.Like all the malesof the species, one is brgger and strongerthan the this femaleyou have alreadymel. Wrll you escape down (tum to 2o8) or sland and fight (lum to the tunnel ra6l!

268

You leanover and whispersomeextremely unpleasanl threats inLo the ear of a small, yr'easel-faceo man ar Fang-zen's table, and he suddenly remembersan appoinLmenL elsewhere town. Now that there'sa in stool avarlable, you siL down As soon as Fang-zen spotsyou, he beginslo taunt yor.r 'Oh, it's yoq' he sneers. 'Late as usual.The quest'smine, punk, and there'snothing you can do aboul il What happened to make you late? Did you gel doped by some Sleeping Grass, did the milksopchild of a weakling or Spritedefeatyou in a purch-up?' Will you respondto his tauntswith insultsof your ovrn (tum lo a61) or get up andwalk away(tum to 87)?

269 269 270

cloud (tum to 1691.

There are for.rr platformswth qute wide strebches of river in between them, but each platform is large enoughfor you to get a good mn up in order to jump for Lhe next one. However,sinceeachplatform will sinkinto Lhefoul water if you linger,you mustsimply run ard jump four trmes non-stop This makesthe crossing proSressively harderRoll one dicefour times The fLsl time, you are successful you roll r-5, for rf the second roll you.need 1-4, for the third roll 1-j, and for the fourth and final roll r-z If you fall off the first platform,you can swim backto the eastern bank for the loss of 2 srAMrNApoinLscaused damage by from the poisonous water If you fall off the second platform,you swrmbackto the eastem bark but lose srAMrNApoints.If you fall off the third platform, 4 you must swim on to the westeh bank and lose 4 srAMrNApoints. If you fall o{f the fourth platform, you swim to the westembank but lose 2 sraMrNA If Points. you endup on the westembar*, as intended, tum to 1j9 If you end up back on the easLern banl! you can either try again or give up and head south (tum to -:ro) or invesfi8atethe bilious grey-green

Tonightyou restln the comfortof bracken heather and (restore srAMrN^ points),but Crindresget among 2 your ProvisionsCrinchesare small,weasel-like crea luresthat are more of a nuisance than a danger In the morning, you find lhat the sneaky crearures nave spoiled z meals worLh of your Provrsionsbefore disappearing back into the undergrowth You curse and carry on. About mid-moming oi the next day, you come to the ruins of an ancienttown Will you bypass town by headingeast(Lumto 69) or walk the alongrtseerilydeserfed mainstreet(tum to 59f)?

274

You quickly searchthe bodies beiore tipping them info the river whcre they rmmediately srnk ouf of sight.On one of them,you 6nd a medallon with an omate'A' on it, showinghis allegiance Arachnos. io If you wanL to take lhe medallion,decidc whether to yoLrrclothing,or 'ear it round your neckor beneath rvhether stow it amongyour other possessions. to On the other Blackheart you find a map which marksthe

2,72-273
274

instead,tum to 58.

You come fo a sfout wooden door on your ieft. you can hear a rumbling noise coming from behrnd it_ Will you open jt (tum to j46) or presson (tum to V6)?

G UT T E RL A G S Ifyou win, Lurn!o j1o.

s K rL L 7

224

Th Wraiths treat You to a particularlygruesome deafh

tzf

275

After many twists and hrrns, the Sloomy tunnel leads eventually the lair of a Pool Crawler This monster to is lhe reason the securitydoorsyou passed for earlier in lhe tunn].It lies, bubbling,in a pool of stagnant water,and Arachnos feedsit with the occasional Orc or Troll from his army.Two balefuJ above eyesappear the surface the pool and sizeyou up; the monster of doesnot seemconcemed with what it sees. rearsup It out oI its bed of mud and bones like an enormous toad The warts on ils mottled back hiss on conracr with the air and give off a sickly-sweet odour It whips out a long, spiny longuetowardsyou If a Millipedeis pursuinS yor! tum to zaz Otherwrse, you have to ffght the monsler. POOL CRAWLER Jfyou wiq fum Lo:or 215 The mouth of the ravinethroughwhich you must go in orderto escape guarded two Flintskin is by waniors. You will havelo defeatthernboth to get through,bul their postsare somedistance from eachothet so you canfight lhemone at a time
S K ILL S TA MIN A

sKrLr9

FirstFLINTSKIN Second FLINTSKIN

7 6

a
7

If you win, you arefree.Tum to 16.

T-

27r2r9 If you wirl you haul yourself, pantjng,into the skiff lt is beautifully preserved, in style and build rt looks but ancientThereareno oars, and thereis no otherway of moving the boat yourself Thenyou seea slot whrchis evidentlyfor money If you have no money,or rf you decidenoi lo trust this alarmingdinghy any longer, you can swim safelyback to a lussockand return the way yoLr (furn to :9). Ifyou pay.wilJyou put in r came (turn to 247)or z Gold Pieces Gold Piece (turn to r75)? :Bo 'Quick,'you say, 'lel me out.' The Orcish porter does not seem lo be surprised; people often leave his master's presence a hurry He is deliberafe)y, in evcn lnsolently, slow in locatingthe key and unlockingthe ba<kinto the city Tum Sates8ul thenyou canescape to 359.

During the evening lhe mrsts come down and you spenda chilly,resdess night hr-rddled undera low banl at lhe westernfoot of the ridge,beforecontrnuing on your way in the mid-momrng, afLer sunhasbroken the through and dispersed cloud. Will you go north lhe (turnto jZ9), south(turnto t55) or west (tum to 8I

278 you planto stayawale all night, the warmth AJthough from your campfire makesyou drowsy and your head beginsto nod forwardon Loyour chest. Roll one dice If you roll r-3, lurn to 255; yottrol 4-6, turnto 57r. il 279 Nothing is fhat simple A monstrousalligator cuLs throu8h the water fowardsyou You dive under the waterto atla& its soft underbelly. AL L I CATOR
SXI LL 8

2E1

You have reachedthe north-westemedge of the marshlRegain2 LUcx points for survivingthe mists and the marsh.If you had any trnder,you find that it rs now too damp lo use. You throw it away and galhermore.As you forage, you allow the sunshine to

,Ez-2E pricks you to get a warm you until your conscience Telessa waiting for you, and the is move on. Princess fate of the whole world dependson you You can regain3 staMtNA points for your rest,buLyou have in The number alsopickedup someleeches the marsh. you roll on one dice is the numberof leeches clhging your flesh, is also the numberof sr.rMrNAPoints to it you lose prising them off. You feel you are getting quitecloseto Arachnos' larr Threeways forwardlook you can g9 norLh promising: west (tum to 96), north (turnto 2Zo)or north-east (turn lo fl6).

2al A namepops into your mind; you think you might have overheard who Lhemurderermay be. Will you say: Anfold? Twygarl? Marinus? Pengarl? Elfbane? Penfoldt
2EA

Turnto 569 Turn to 17 Tum to 592 Tum to 90 Tum to r35 Turnto u94

,,4r, the Although the heat of Lhe fireball only scorches any of Lhe following items stoubleather,it desLroys you may havc: arow, thread,Linderand oil, and r meal's Turn Loa99. \aorthof Provisions.
28J

'What's going on?'you ask the guard who has come to your tablc. 'There's sideof town,' the beena murderon LheoLher 'A guardreplies. "business" rival of those[wo villains hampledby a horse.No over lhere was conveniently r./itnesss, and our only clue is a bit of tom handkerchiefwhrchthe victim wasclutching.'

You burst into Aradmos' chambers- and are faced with the most exhaordinary sight of your life The room is fflled with mirrors;yorr estimatethat there must be about four hundredof them.They are ananged so that they all show the sameimage,Arachnos, who is laughing at you and holding a dagger to Princess Telessa'sneck. Which one, of all these imags, is the original?You have grabbed Ophis' crossbow.Even thoughyou canhaveonly one shot,you are confident that you will be able !o make it countryou can kill Arachnoswithout harmins a hair on Tlessa's head. But which imagewill you ihooLat?If you don't know, you have Lo waLchArachnoskill Telessa, and you havefailed.

zgf zA? 285 You know that Pterolinsare notorious for hoarding any trinleLs they may find in Lhe clothjng of their vrctims You locatethe nest,secure rope round a Lhe tree, and abseildown. The nest is on a ledge, but behind it a tunnel extends into the diff Will you rummagethrough the debrisin and around the nest (tum to 267) or invstigatethe tunnel first (turn to 2o8I

284

On each of the next two days, as you struggle northwardsand slightly to the west, following the contours lhe land,you wrll havea hoslileencounler. of Roll one dice twice to find out from the list below what you must 6ght
S K ILL

r CA RK 2 WILD BOAR j BRISTLEBEAST 4 HI L L G I A NT 5. HARRUN 6, GOBLIN

7 6 5 9 6 6

5 7 7 6

If you survive all the hazards the HopeLess of Hills, ium io 69

,.46 On your way up towards the Baro& you step on the second in stair.This was a mistale,you realize, the you to drop ten metresor so on lo brief trmeil takes the spikes embedded the grormdbelow in
287

Your slnrggle up lhe slope costs you l srAMrNA \Ahen you reachthe top, poinL ln cLrts and brLrises you 6nd that Lhisis jusLthe first in a series ridges of exLending the norlh like Lhebow wavesof a boat to \oL ha\e committcd ioume) tourselito an arduous hre,just You musL one mealfrom your Provlsions eaL to keepyour strengthup, buLiL doesnor resroreany srAMrNA pornts

2E6 You see absolutely no reason lo do anything. Life is horible anyway, you reckon, so you mighl as well die here and now as somewhereelse at a later date. And thal is exactly whai you do.

zaft92 2E9 In the livid glow oI a Deathmoor you cometo sunset, an ancintdoor set in the hillside. Although it clearly originatsin the losl civilization whidr once popula[ed this land, you are certain that it is now the mtrance to Arachnos' hide-out. You study in particular the three depressions the door. If you have the three keys in necessary geL in through the door, you can work to out where to fum Lo next. Otherwise,you leave to look for anoLher way in (turn to 246).
290

You arecompleLely hopelessly and lost. Only luck will seeyou through the marshIn thesemists without a compassAs long as you are in this state, you will not be offered a c-hoiceof directiont since you have no means knowing what direction you aregoing in. So of now tum to either 55 or 154.
294

A sleek feline body leaps through the darkening air, daws s)ashing your back.Your lifeblood is soon at absorbed the thirsty soil. by

Unseeneyes are relieved lo see you turn away {iom the gulley. But other eyes are also watching your progess- a Ciant Nandibearis glad you chose lo walk its way, since it is hungry Larger and more ferocious thanits smaller cousins, riseson fo its hind if legs and lumbers at you, snarling. Even your hearl sinksat the sizeof the beast

293-294

295-297

C I AN T N ANDIBE A R

g sK rLL

STAM I N A 7 4

295

If you survive four AtLack Rounds,some cavemen suddenly pour out of the nearbygulley and begin to pelt the Nandibearwith stonesand crude wooden spearsThe beastgives up the unequalstruggleand You turn around trofsaraayinlo lhe gathering Lwrlight. to fhank your rescuers, they Loo have vanished but you must continue your way on Puzzled, grateful, but Turnto f82

When you wake up, you are still walking.AlthoLrgh your mind recallsnothing, your muscles know that you have beensleep-walking hours.You are lucky for (deducL to be suffering nothing worse thanexhaustion 2 srAMrNA poinls)SLill, leaslthe mist hasdispersed at now,bul whereareyou?Turn to J79 296 The fight has takenplacenear one of fhe stiltedhuts the hut to of Lhevillage and you may have caused coliapse during the fight. If the hut is siill standing, you may tum to 385 to search if you wish.Aitema il, another (fum io 6) or hut tively, you cantry to search leave fhe village altogetherand confinuenorth (tum to :o7) or turn west (hlm to 54) 297 That was slupid.If you do haveto tell lies,you should ai least make them less easy to see through The Orcish porLerglancesat a diary and seesno enky nameyou havegivn him. underyour name, whatever to bribe your way in, however,jf You may be able (lum to 2o2), or you can you offer hrm 4 Gold Pieces leaveandlook for another way in (tum to ry7).

29J

You fall and land awkwardly among the shattered blocksoF stoneon the floor below. Roll one dice,on an even number,you lose z STAMINA Points:on an odd number,J sTAMINA poinls. II you are still alive, you leavethe building,tum to 219 294 The guard checks, no one knows of anyonewith bui that namc,and there's one resemblngyour vague no description the bar whereyou sendthe guardsYou in Lu,.n 188. {o decde to turnrnfor ll'e nrghf:

294-299 298
300

the Otus grits his ieelh and tris to resisL mysferious power of the glowing Trulhstone He cannot quite answerto but Lo resist, he manages grve an enigmalic your question, rather than the plain trulh. Hrs mind reviewinghis life - as seems almostto be wandering, one is saidto do at the momentof death 'My Parenls a died,'hecroaks,'aiter sixthofmy liie; thenfor another foundme unlil Arachnos twelfthI wandered wastes ihe I For you couldcallthat I4y comingof age, supPosel a in seventh part I laboured his mines,unt he saw my and me potential promoLed I foundamatethen, five ard eiShtyears yearslaterwe had a chtld He died,thouSh, ago,whenhe washal{my age ' His voicetrailsoff. I mean, how You cry out,'But how old areyou?Er you?'you add,as his eyesglazeover. Try to old zoere work out his age,then tum to 284.

you and The guardsspot you at once.They recapture give you a bealing(deduct3 sr,rvlr.ra points)before draggingyou off to the elders'hul Turn Lo152

304

299

The flamesdo nol bum you - lhey rot you, insiantly! Roll one dice lf you roll 4-6, your flesh drops off your bones,and you are dead If you roll 7-J, you must lose 6 srAMrNApoints before you can flee;if you arestill alive,tum to ro4.

jaw open and shut a few The leadingskelelon's creaks times;it is Lrying to speak,afler yearsof silenceAt last the words cmerge, rt takessuchan effort that but you 6nd yoursell mouthing them along wtth the use skeleton, if willing ii to gel them out.'\r'y'hat as have we of this, stranger?'theskeletoncroaks.You are a fool, but you arc not evrl You may go'The skeletalhorde stops pressingin on you and allows you to proceedon your way. You may now search (tum to 39a), continuenorththe ruined farmhouse wards past iL (tum to 26j), or turn around and go sorth (turn to :s:) If you have a Truthstone,you may wish Lo try rts powers on the leader of the Skeleions beforeyou leave(tum to 78) yourLuck.If you areLucky,turn to u76; rf you are Test Unlucky,turn to 2o5.
302

505-305 503 You kick the Baron'ssword out of reachand bend over him. 'Quicklyl' you hiss 'WhaL do you know aboulPrincess Telessa's kidnap?' 'So that'swhat this is about,'lhe Barongasps 'Arach noshasher beneath Deathmoor. madeall the arangeI mentsfor him- Once he hasArion, King JonLhane . no choice . .' The Baronis fading fasL, but he rallies himselfjust enough to spil out lhe words: 'For this informatron you have killed me, but I'm glad to give it, sinceit will kill you. No one getsouLof Deathmoor alive.' He strugglesup lo a half+itting position and purses lips You step back fearing he's going lo his spiLat you, but insLead emits a shrill whrstle.You he heara loud rusllingsoundand look up to seea dozen of the largesl vampire batsyou have everseen boiling out of the roof towardsyou Will you standand fighL (tum to 2o9) or not (tum to 1jo)? 3o4 DespiLe your host's vigil besideyour bed, poker in hand,you sleepwell and wake up, refreshed, the in momin8 Regain2 srAMrNApoints In lhe moming you head wesLagain,hying to pick up Olus' trail. Tum lo 216. 505 In the wall behindthe lever lives a tiny GeringSnake. By pulling the lever down, you have allowed rt to slitherat Lghtning tpeed down the lever and snk rk fangsinto your finger You will be deadwrlhin thrrty seconds,

306 306

5o7-3oA 107 You back away from the skeletonbe[ore hyrng the crown on, in casethe actjon tnggersit back to Lfe or something bul the skeleton as still as ever and lies nolhing untowardhappens After a while,you remove lhe crown and you feel somepower impellingyou Lo put it backon the skelelon's head,rather Lhantakert wrth you. Outwardly you feel no different,but lhis selfless meansthat your lucr and srrrl are re act stored to their Initial levels.Will you now take the cylinderfrom the skeleton prince'shand (tum to ::z) (tum to rE8! or leaveihe shrp

you follow Otus at a safedisLance. Once,he Stealthily, half tums hrs head,as if sniffing the air and you have your heartin to duckdown behinda fallentree-hunk, your moubhAfler that,you let him get 6:rtherahead It is clearthat he is makng for Deathmoor, regionof a legendary harshness, which no man within living inLo memory has kavelled and sr-rvived to tell Lhe Lale. civilizaOnce,long ago, it was home to an advanced tron, wise in the ways of the stars.Now it is a chill place of cruel, sLrange beastsand swirling, magical misls,the residue the sorcerous of battlewhich caused the downfall of that ancienL culture. Folk say that when the mist descends, travelle/ssense direction a of is uLferlyruined,until only luck and commonsense can bring one through It will be very hard Lo track Otus through Deathmoor,buL you are confidentof your abilities Suddenlya pheasant riseswith a norsy clatterof wingsftom someLallgrassLoyour lefL.OLus is too far aheadto hear it, but you wheel in Lhat direction just in time to see a dark shape hurtle towardsyou Tes[yourLuck.lf you are Lucky,tum to 97 if you are Unlu&y, fum to 1a7.

30E As you creep through the shrubbery beside LhewesL wall of the gardenin the gatheringdus( some sixth sensetells you that someLhing other than plant-life

309

aheadlust then is in fhe patch of shrubsimmediately burdle of fur and savage sleek the Baron's a lawny, pet, and at claws,leapswith a low snarlout of the bushes your lhroat. You've never secn a Scylhe.anDcsert Cat outsidea zoo, and you certainlyfeel that that rs wherethey belong behindbars

DESERT CAT

s tl L L 8

5ao You are exLracarefulfor the resLo[ your trek up to the Baron's house; yellow sandsLone Lhe the of mansron seems warm and welcomingin the glow of the late sun The houseis surrounded a high wall. You can by eitherpose as a businesgman approach front and Lhe gateboldly (Lumto 125),or you canlook for another way in (tum to 1Z)

Ii you win, you lie low for a whrle,makingsurethat then attenLion, lhe frght didn't attractary unwelcome and conhnue on you leavethe cat'sb6dy to the sluSs you your way A deepershadow directly aheadof runnin8 show. yo; where lherc ts ,.rnarror^Pdssrge house You can lakethis Passage along Lhesideo[ the towardsthe front of th house(tum to 114)or stay at (turn to 566) the backof the house

509 The badly wounded Troll Orc on the ground has on raised herself to one elbowand with her lastbreath fired a poisoneddart from her blowpipe at you- Her your adventure over, is aimis Lrue:

A short while later,you find yourselfin the middleof a particularly densepatch of mist. Par[sof it seemto be swaying to and fro, like ghostly candle-flames you because flickeringin a draught.This is unnerving, molion. Then the can ieel no breezesto causethis halfhalf Mere folk talk fo you in strange, whisperrng, me. me,' they say,'foJlow whisLling voices.'Follow If You try to talk lo lhem,but they do not understand you have a whistle whrch will let you talk to them, you will know whereto turn to next Otherwise, will you follow them(turn to 4Z)or not (turn to 25jI

-l

5e-343 342

34-345

You come across very intresting a letter.Writfen in blackink so thick that a blind personcould tracethe letLers with his fingertips, is siSned it wjth a spiky'A lL saysthat, of the threehalf-giants, bearerof fhe Lhe letLer(whose nameis Otus) is more to be Lrusted than the other two, who ioathe eachother. Their love of money and their hostility Lowards each other make 'lessloyal to me personally them,the letfer continues, and less usefulfor our plan So tell Otus alone the time and placeof the Princess's picnic.He wiil do the rest.' Make a note of the hostility of the two half, giants, and of the number Lhis of paragraph The Baron is clearlyimphcated the kidnappingof in Telessa. You are on the right trail; regain 1 LUCK point- At this moment,however,a sparkleapsout of your hnderbox and the flimsy piecesof paper and their dry wooden boxes cafch hre with a whoomph! Within seconds, fire is raging ouL of controi.You the havetrme [o grab one handhrJ paperand rr'ln.your of eyebrowsare alreadystartingto singe.Roll one dice. lf you roll a g tum to 26t oLherwise, to 219. tum Crossthe items of( your tuloenlure SheefYoo try to en8agethe man in conversation he is not very but forthcoming. he saysis; 'Don't you Lry to sweet All Lalkme Im an Outposter and proud of it I know what you furrine.s like - one of you kilied Granny are Longshanks next door Huge feller,he were. So you and l'll watch Justshutup and sleepon that bed there, you all nrght iike a hawk.I've got food {rom you and I

514 His macestrikesyour shoulder, not your fighting but arm.Deduct2 srAMrNA points, then tum to ll9 to jnvjsrble iight Lhe wamor.

OGRE

SKILL 7

STAM IN A 8

If you win, will you stop to search body (tum ro rhe throughthe open window (t,\r^ to 7Z), 35r), scramble or Bo on throughthe hatch(tum to 257)?

3L5-3a9

320

3a6 If you have eilher a throwingkmfe or a piece of sharpened flinL,turn to jZ oLherwise to 6j tum 347 You win The blood is spurting from a gash in Fang-zen's hand. You had wagered 6 Cold Pieces, buL Fang-zen now conJesses he is broke One that of the few points of honour among thievesis never welshing on a bel the others at the table scowl and sneerat Fang-zen,and slart to draw clubs and knives 'You had better give me lhe letter, then"'you say, and Fang-zenhas no choice He reluctantly pulls Krng Jonthane's it letLerouL of his pouch and passes acrossthe table to you The quest is nor^, yoursl You noLice royal seal,with its interLwrned the snakes lookingIike the number'88',beforeyou tuck the lelter safely away (add ]t to yo:.lr Adomture Sheet) and tum to leave Lhe tavem- Tesi !4outLuck-If yoLt are Lucky, turn Lojjt if you are Unlucky, tum to 355 3a8 The sixth h-xsock the last.As far as you can tell in is the thick mist,only waLer novr'sLretches ahead you. of What is more, a smallskiff lies at resL despitebeing apparently unanchored,a short way ofl to your right Will you swim to the skiff (tum to 279) or make your (tum to u9! way backover the tussocks
349

Srim torturechamberIn the centreof the room stands a shetching-rack; the walls, pincers,chiselsand on other sharp implemenfs neatly anayed You see are whips wilh meLalballs at the end of leatherthongs, anda coffin-shaped whoseopenlid reveals box vicious spikes that are designedto sink slowly under the weight of th closed nto the fleshof a victim lying lid in ihe coffin.As you stepinto the chambera plaintive voice from fhe room you have just lefl whrmpers, Tlelp!Help me,pleasel' Will you retumto the previous (Lurn to zz7) or Ieave the torture-chamberby room lhe stone starrsleadingup to a sound-proofed door (iurn lo a97)?

320

You shrink back against the wall, pretending to be teniffed, while you fumble in your pouch, saying, 'Mercy -.. mercy, lord I have somethingfor you-' Then you pull ouL Lhepohon and down it at a single gulp (cross i[ off yot AdoentureSheef)Immediately the invisiblewarrior becomes clearto you- He is no more lhan a renegadeDwarf, wielding a spiked and studded mace RENEGADE DWARF s(l-L 7 srAMrNA 7

The room you now find yourselfrn is ht by torches in bracketson the walls. The flickeringlight revealsa

If you wirL you find 4 Gold Pieces his body. Tum on to 59.

524-323 324

You begin to seeskeletons, compleLe in fiagments, or Lttering the slopeson either side Most of Lhemare animalskeletons, someareclearly humanor humanbul oid. Waitl That one didn't move, did it? Surely,thal handdidn't slidealong the groundtowardsthat wrist, then click into place?Will you make a run for the you can seeahead the end of the ruinedfarmhouse at valley (tum to j51) or sLandand face the rattling you now see gathering horde of human skeletons roundyou (tum to 124)?

The Flintskins don't quiteknow what Lomakeof you; Lheyare not servants Evil and they sense oI that you aren't eiLher Luckily for yor! the opinion prevails among Lhe elderslhal you mu'L be on d mission against their arch-enemy, Arachnos They solemnly presentyou wiLh one of the tribe's most precious lotems: it is a branch from an ancientebony tree, abouL thirty centimekes long, wrth a srlverhexagram protrudingslightly fiom one end The branchalsohas the number158 inscribed it (makea note of this). on you oul of their safegorge The Flintskins Lhm escort andseeyou on yor.rr way. Add r lucx pomt,then tum
lo 16.

'No,'you say,'l have no appointment as such but I do have these . .' and you show him z Gold Pieces. A geedy glint comes into his eyes, and he turtively opens the gale jusl wide enouSh to let you in. (Deduct

524-525

326

the the gold from yorr AdoenLure ) He secretes Sreef money somewhere about his foul personand disap' pealsbackinsidethe gatehouse while you male your way across courtyard When the porter isn't looklhe rng, you can sneakalong a path that skirts th west sideof the house, you like (tum to 18j), or you can if (tum to boldly go up to the front door of the mansion a55).

You are confiontedby two huge statues reclining, of horned,goat like creatures. Besideeachslah-rc the is entrance a passage The slatueon the left hasa sign to whichreads:

. -\ :::::

The stahe theisht on l"'."':tn.*n"n

."uO',

::::: Will you takeLhepassage rhe left (tum to 583) or to to the right (Lumto 71I 524 The inLoxrcahng fumes make you feel giddy and nauseous, you reel about Tesfyoltr L ck. If you and are Lucky,when you staggeryou go in Lhedirectjon of the cavemwall; ii you are Unlucky,you fall inLo lhe pool of molLen lava and perishhorribly.If you are of sLill alive, deducL2 srAMrNApoints because the effects lhe fumes, of Lhen Lurnto a5 326 The door openswith a grinding noise a d you slep lhrough into the gloom of the tunnel beyond The door shuf behindyor.r {hat you are now in so 'lams pitch-bla&nessIf you have a Linderbox, flint and some oil, you can malcea crude lamp, or you may you must reduce your havean actuaL lamp.Otherwise, sKILL l pornt until you are told you are backin a by well-Lt area if you ever get there.Progressing marnly by your senseof touch, you come acrossa tumrngio Lheleit; a rank smellis issuingfrom it. Will you Lake tuming (tum to 15j) or continue straight this on (Lumlo 94)?

cave, The door swingsopen to revealan underground in on which is lit by smoky torches brackets lhe walls

321329

55e554 J30 These Loadstools extremely nutritious: restore your are srAMrNA io lts llli|ioL level UnfortunaLely, Lhey are also very rare and you have already eaten all that are avarlabletn Lhevicinily You can now Lry some greenspotted toadstools (turn to 245) or some blue-spotted ones (tum lo 136), if you wish. Or you can continue on your way (tum to 69)

'Dog?'saysthe Ogre with a puzzledlook on his face 'But the masterdon't have no dogs.'He then pulls a doubleheaded axe oul of his belt and lumbers rapidly down the passage towardsyou. You barelyhave time to get to your feetand drawyour sword.Turn to 597 328 Thinking quickly,you smashlhe phral of slppery orl on the ground rn lhe Troll Orc's palh He loseshis footing and crashes heavilyto the ground,whereyou dispatchhim easily Crossthe oll o'iI your Adaenture sreel,thentum to a81 529 As soon as you leave lhe baa you are muggedby a teamof professional footpadswho had observed how much you won They rob you of z meals'worth of Provrsions and 8 Gold Pieces, beforeyou scarethem off wrth your sword.Make the appropriate adjuslments to yourAdunlureSheei, lhen turn to 5E6

Have you already deall with the gardener? If you have, turn lo j2, otherwise,turn to a28.

If your current LUCKscore is 6 or above, Lum Lo 152, If it rs less, nolhing happens; retum to 25j and try aSarn 333 You blow on the whisile to signal your agreement to lhe idea of followrng them. They lead you safely oul of lhe north western reaches Lhemarsh.Turn to z8r of 554 If you try to barge one of the stilLs down, roll three dice; if Lhe total rolled ls less than your cuirenL srAMrNA score, you succeed. If you try to hack lhrough one of lhe stilLs with your sword, roll two drce and get less than your current sKrLLscore You decide which one of these methods to use. If you are successful, turn to 65i otherwise, retum to 56r and tinish the 6ght.

The door glides silmtly open and you step through into a welllit tunnel.You walk on, but soon from up aheadyou can hear the din of a large number of soldiers, and you see a glow coming from the huge cavemin which they are encamped. Vvhena turning you decideto take it aPpears your left, therefore, to You now find yourselfin a short corridorwhich ends at a grandioseset of double doors, The sickening carvinSson the doors, and fhe motii of the letter A interlaced, leave you in no doubt that this way leads to the chambersof Arachnos himself, However, there are tluee other doors in lhe corridor, with a signboard sU&ing out over each doorway The signs read 'Ophis', Otus' and 'Oman' You ve alreadymet Otus; the other two must be his half-giant brobhers. You can see all this through the mesh of a steel net which is aLtached cords to bells on each of by the fhree doors. There is no way to geb through here except by athacting the attention of $e three half-giants.Yor.r boldly jangle the bells and wajt. In no Lime,the three half-giantscome bustling oul of Lheir rooms. They are hugel Kno*ed muscles bulge on their arms and their chests seem about bo break through their lealher vests. One fingers an axe, another a crossbow,and the third a club studdedwilh sharpened nails.It is Otus who peers at you Lhrough lhe mesh. Are you wearing an 'A -helrnet?If you are, tum Loj96; if you are nor, rum to 19.

535-354 356 You manageto wound the wabching Troll-Orc but then he spinsaround to defendhimselfagainstyour surprise attack.

359-344 359 you cannot see your opponent,you must Because your AtLackStrength e pointsfor this 6ght, reduce by in addition to any sKrLLpenaltiesyou may have alreadyincr-rred. Only your lightning-swiftreactions to the sounds of your enemy's breathing and his movemenLs saveyou nowl can INVISIBLEWARRIOR sKrLL 7 srAMrNA z

TRO L L . O R C

s KrL L7

STAM I N A 4

If the frght is not over by the end of the second AttackRound,tum to 5o9- If you win, turn to 17. 33' You shove your way through the crowd, who give Thosewho did not know way in awe at your exploits. you alreadyare asking othersyour na-rne. Reslore1 your eye and beckons r.ucr pornt.The barman caLches you over Will you go and seewhat he wants(hlm to 2f) or not (turn to fE4P fia The skeletons berserk the sight of the insignia go al of the them and had Arachnos, dark lord who enslaved them killed.They teal you to pieces. Once the crows and Mordrdashavefinished with you, your bonestoo will bleach the hillside. on

you If by chance wi4 tum to 59. 340 You sneaksafely to the front of the house.No one stirsin fhe gatehouse the far end of the courtyardas at you tum the handleof the front door and it opens noiselessly well oiledhingesTum to r97. on

344

You let the bucketdown thn wind it backup, full of clearwater You dip your hand rn and sip carefully. The water is refreshingand cool - and is a subtle poison,whose action may be triggeredlater in your adventure-Write ,NELL on your AhtenfureSheet, Ihen ium Lo42

542-344

545-346 to rmpaleyou lf you have somesallowseedoil, tum to 5r8, otherwise, tum to :23. You racedown the gulley ahead the hugeboulder, of but the tjme spent looking for somewhere hide Lo allows the boulder to catch up with you, you musl lose6 srr.urNe poinls If you survive, turn Lo146

A pair of MarshGhostsloom oul of ihe fog. The eyes of one glow a livid green, while the other's glow red They use their magic to solidify therr ghostly weapons, silvery spearand a rune-inscribed a sword, and they glide into the attack.If you have a shield, you can fighl them one at a time OLherwise, you must choosewhich one to fight as normal,while the other gets a free strikeal you, you cannoi wound it, but if its Attack Strength is higher lhan yours, it woundsyou, causing usual the damage.
SKIL L

FirstMARSH GHOST Second MARSH GHOST

7 1

8 I

If you win, you waLch in astonishment as first their forns then their weapons dissolve into the mist Tum to 214

343 They all agreelhaLthey wish they had a pieceof the acLion, and secure since miningis muchmoreprofitable than tishing.They carnot give you any specific rnfor' mation,however You can go lo the marketplace,rf you stili need lo (tum to 15o),or you can now head (tum west out of lhc city in search Lhekidnappers of

344 You are aboul halfwaydown the slopewhen a savage Troll-Orc sprrntsout from cover and racesdown the hill towardsyou, a speartuckedunderhis arm, ready

346 The marshseems endless you plod on for countless as hours,snatching few hoursof fitful sleepfrom time a Lo to time, althoughthe light never seems changein this eedemist. You notrcethat, in avoidingLheworst veeringwest Will you areas bog, you aregradually of (turn to 281) or wrll you allow yourself to do this (Lumlo zjl conectyour course

51n19 34' Only a few drops o{ the acid splashinto your eyes. Reduce your Attack StrenSth 2 pointsfor this fiSht by only.

SPITVIPER

sKr 4 rr

If you win, you hurry on until you corneLo a place wherethe river is fordable. You caneitherwadeacross (tum Lo14)or continue theriverhere south(tum to s8). Steepst?s on fhe other sideof the door takeyou by surprise,and you stunble down them, You have enteredArachnos' forge, tendedby a truly enormous Ogre, and your noisy entrancehas altracted his aLtention. He seizesa newly temperedblade from a rack on the floor andlungesat you.

t4a

OGRESMITH

SKI!L 8

If you win, the dying Ogre falls back and upendsa hough of molten metal He dies in agony, and the redhot liquid spills all over the floor, leaving you no choicebut to leaveby the forge door, Yor.r havetime only to snatcha helmet,markedwith the letter A, if you wish to. In the passage ouLside, you tum left will (hlrn to ry6) or right (tum to 8z)? ,49 W&ena smallfueballhurtlesdown the tunneltowards your face, you haveno means protection, of You bury your face in your arms/ buL you must still lose 4 srAMrN^points.Tum fo 199

550-352 350 The smellof the bonfire increases, then you hear the soundof someone whistling tunelesslyDo you press forward with extra caution (tum to 254) or retrace your stepsand go round the other sideof the garden (turn to jo8)? 354 If the total rolled is lessthan,or eqr:alto, your curent srAMrNAscore, you male it safeJy the ruinedfarmto houseIf thtotalisgreater thanyour srAMrN theskel^, tonscatchyou ouLin lhe openand tearyou to pieces in seconds. you reach the farmhouse, If you can at yourselfin the doorwayas tley come ar Ieastdefend you one by one The skeletons havearmedthemselves with rusty toolsthat werelying arormd the farmyard in
SKIL L

555-354

your hands roughly behind your back and hold a dagger to your throat while your belongingsare searched. they l1nd an A medallion drnong your If fum tum to loj. Possessions, to 4oo; otherwise,

FirstSKELETON Second SKELETON Third SKELETON FourfhSKELETON

6 6 6 6

5 4 4 5

Your game of pinlinger with Fang-zen attractedthe aftentionof most of the iavern'scustomers, indudrng somedecidedly unsavour) Iypes.the lond of advenlurer who would stab a defenceless in fhe back flf with a porsoned blade. They san l-ang-zen give you the letter,and they ratherwanl it for themselves. Two of them block your way out oI the tavern.you will have lo fight them both af once.Choosewhich one you will 6ght in any Attack Round,then roll dice as usualfor fhe Attack Strengths all threeof you. you of win or los as normal againslyour chosen opponent. The other one will wound you if his Attack Slength rs higher than yours, but he wjll miss if it is lower, while you cando nothrn8to hurt him in that round.
S K ILL

Onceyou have defeated four skeletons, remainder the become slrangely listless;their arms drop to their sides,their weaponsclalter lo lhe ground, and they crumplein piles of boncs on the cobbledyard. Will you searchthe ruined farmhouse (tum to 59r), head north up the slope at th end of the valley (tum to (turn to 355I 265) or go backsouthwards You are taken into the elders'hut The guardspin

THUG YOB If you win,tum to 557.

STAM ]N A

6 7

8 I

354 Your sword slicesinto somethingvital. Dark blood coloursthe water and you are free to pull yourselfon Lo the tussock. Retum to :zr to resume your perilous Joumey
l-

55r359 is a After a while,you comeacross wellj Lhere a bench the it on whrchyou are gratefii to rest DesPite besrde cleanand tidy, as if it has well's obviousage,it looks A been properly marntained. wooden buclet hangs Il fiom a charn. is irue that you are thirsty and your flask also needstopping uP. Will you drink from the well (Lumto 541)or not (turnto 42)? you sink Yor.rwalk down the timnel - and suddenly your knees To your absolute into the floor up to uPonthousands of horror,the'floor'consists thousands in of grey maggots,periectlycamouflaged the colour the surroundingrock. Now you have disturbed of them Into violent motion Your thrashingcaniesyou deeperrnto the massof them.You hiP and they fill wriggling You yolrr mouth l^/ith their drsSustinS cannotbreaLhe (turn to You can now etthergo to the market-Place hang aroundLhedocksfor a while (turn to r5o), or a7a) 558 TesL llout LuckIf you areLucky,tum to 375;ii you are tum to ,91. Unluclcy, 359 As you make your way back down into the poorer Arachnos disHctsof Arion, it all beginsto makesense.

36o the Life-Stealer up to his old evit ways again. is Centuries ago,in the far north-eastern promontoryof Khul there stood a fair and prosperous trading city calledFaleha. Arachnos gradually madehimselfmaster of all ih revenueMonetarygain was noLhis purpose, though he certainly needed to pay the ncreasrng numbers his servants, of soldiers and minions Arach nos is a creature Chaos.He must sow Chaosand of Evil wherever goesand,unlikethe usualthugs you he come across in your adventures, is intelligenl he enoughto pursue more subtleplansfor spreading Evil Tlai, not wealth, is hrs pleasLrreNow it looks as though he has set his srghtson Arion. He wanLsLo manipulate tradein gold until he controlsenough the ot Arion to bring King lonthaie to his knees.No doubt his plans will not stop at controllinB just northem Khul; he plansto set up an Empireoi Evil! There is no further time to waste.You resolveto be the one to puL an end to his foul plans You set off westwards, out of the city, to meet the kidnappers. Tum to :oo560 You get close enough to hear heated conversation going on inside- but, sinceyou don't understand the langr.rage, gets you nowhere.You estimatethat this there are maybe ten Flintskinsinside Will you leap through the doorway and attack(hrm to 166), go to one of the other huts (lum to r98), grab a flamhg branch fiom the bonfire and throw il on to the thatched roof of the elders'hut (tum to ra/ or sneaK ouhof the village(tum to 5o2)?

j6a-362

ii

36a Thereis a breedof Orc that hvesonly in dank,gloomy places by underground pools,or in marshes thrs. like They build small seLtlemenLs cmde huts on stilts of above the mud, and they eaLraw fish and any other small creatures they can kill. In fhe thick mist you stumble into sucha villagebeforeyou know it Luckily, most of the warriorsare away on a hunLingtrip, but you sliJl have to 6ght two Marsh Orcs at once. Choosewhich one to fight normally:you win or lose againstthis one as usual. Roll for LheAttack Shength or the oLher yours,he has Orc too: if it is higher Lhan wounded you, but you cannotinjure him
S K ILL

FirstMARSH ORC Second MARSH ORC

7 7

As soonas you lose4 or more STAMINA poinls during thisfight, tum to 4j. If you win, tum to 296
j 62

jaw The leadingskeleton's creaks openand shut a few times:it rs trying Lo speak, after yearsof siience. At last the words emerge, iL takessuchan efforl that but you hnd yourself moulhing them along wrth lhe skeleton, rf willing rt to geL them right 'What use as have we of this, stranger?' skeletoncroaks.ryou Lhe are a fool, but you are not evil. You may go-' The skeletal horde stops pressingin on you and allows you lo proceedon your way. You may now search the ruined farmhouse (tum to 391), continue north wards pasLit (fum to 263), or tum around and go

j63-365 south (turn to 355) If you have a Truthstone,you may wrsh to try iLs powers on the leader of the skeletons beforeyou leave(turn to 78)563 or Roll two dice If the total ls lessLhan, equalLo,your currenl SKILL scorc,hrn to 260: otherwise,tum to 535 364 They look aL one aiother in stqprise 'l Lhought everyone knew lhe Isles of Dawn are the place for Then they go off, laughingat says. them,'one of Lhem You can now 8o to the the depth of your ignorance. market-place, you still need to (tum to a5o),or you if of can headwest oul of the city rn search the kidnap (tum to ,oo). pers 355 are bogsand rushes, starting and The tussocks streams, Could you be walkingaround Lolook terribly familiar. be{ore,tum to If in circles? you have beenhere Lwrce tum to either55,342,or ,5 288. Otherwise,

566-369 366 You reachthe comerof the houseand reconnoitre the whole expanse the rear of the house A smooth, of well-trodden ea*h path runsalong ils lengfh,blzanely littered with the corpsesof brrds You don'l know what to makeof this. The groundfloor rryindows are all securelylocked,so there are only two ways to enter [he househere,you could dimb up some old, sturdy ivy and break in Llrough an upper window (lum to 58), or you could lift a hatch-doorwhich appears leadto a cellar(tum to u4z) to 56, The helmsmantakesyou away from here all righl \ ou floatoff into themist. never be.eenaBain to 36a Keepinglhe cliff to your left, you continue westwards, following the movement the sun overhead. sun of The is droppinglow over the horizon ahead you when of you come to a fork The samelandslipwhich caused the cliff to your lefLalso formed a secondary gulley, runningparallelto the cliff and slopinggently downwards.You canconLinue the wesl along this gulley lo (turn to 25) or you can tum slightly fo the north past iL(tum [o 292). j6 9 The guard checks, no one knows of anyonewith but that name,and Lhere's one resembling your vague no description the bar whereyou sendthe guardsYou in decideto tum rn ior lhe night, Lumto 388

t7G372 370

373-375 You havebeenfollowing the river for a while when a slight movementin the bushesto your left attracts your attenltonand you tum your head towardsit which is preciselyhow Spii Vipers always gef their victims.The large snakespits a ball of acid through Lheair aLyour eyes.T*t your Lurk.If you are Lucky, turn Lo347,ifyou areUnlucky,ium to rz7

Otuspockets theobyecl,but makes signal Ophis then a to You Lumto flee,bLrta crossbow your hearL pierces

You are only dozing lightly, so you can easilyhear the approach the ravenolrs of timber wolf which has been atlracledby lhe scenL your ProvisionsHer of eyes glint red in the firelight, ard her defenceis savage, because backin her den her hungry cubsare anxiousiy awaitingher'retum

TIMBER OLF W

s(r LL6

STAM I N A 8

If you win, you sleepfitfully for the rest of the night, and in the morning you try to pick up Otus' trail Turn to 215-

You land easilyjn the tunnel . and tri88er a trapi a slabof rock crashes down in iront of you, bLocking the way ahead and releasing swarmof homets You race a out of the iurmelbut have to lose I srAMrNApoinh through their vicious sLinSsMoreover, the swarm pursues you for somedisfance down the hole,so you haveto ignorethenext sidetunneland turn to :1o.

374 Will you chargedown the passage, hoping to knock your invisrbleopponent off his fet (turn to 5So), swing your sword at him (tum to 74) or try to climb backup the magicalturnel which brought you down (tum to a52)?

Your fingersfind a secure hold on the step above,as half a dozenhugeblocksbehindyou crash the way ali dohn inlo the basement. your cuiyenlsrAMtNArs lf 14 or more,furn Lo49j otherwise, lum to 293

376-519 376 You dashbackout into the villagesquareYou will be able bo escape kom the village, but first you will have to fight h^'o Flintsl.jns, one after the other, on your way out. Deduct 1 point from your Attack Strcryth for thesefights only, because your eyesare still watering and smarting from the smoke.
SKITL

FirstFLINTSKIN Second FLINTSKIN lf you wrn, tum lo 5oz.

6 6

6 5

If you have a shield, tum to 26; otherwise,tum to J49 You empLyall your money on to lhe ground in Font of the three half giaals; then you look at Ophis and say,'Oman gave me this money,which he stolefrom you.' Ophis' face darkensin fury. If there are more than ro Gold Pieces the ground, tum lo 248; if on thereare ro or fewer,tum fo r4g. 579 You are walking through a valley; bleak hills rise to either side. You have a strong sense lhat you have been here before or maybe it's iust that one piece of moorlandlooks much like anoiher The sun on your right is climbing in the sky, but it camot dispel the fearin your heart as to what may lie ahead. Will you carryon (turn to j21) or tum around(tum to 555)?

5n

5re

3AG5A3 380 He was nol expecting this. You crashheavily into him, and you both {all to ihe floor. You pick yourself up, tum lo wher you now lmow him lo be and prepare to fight. Turn lo jj9. 38a As long as you have the shield you will have to deducL srAMrNA points only af[er every even-numbered Attack Round which you lose during any future fighl. However, it may hamper you in some aclivities Novr tum bo j5i

3a4-547 344 Will you now headwest out of the city, to beginyour quest(turn to roo), or stay rn Arion for a while (turn to 222)? 345 There is a ladder under the hut which goes up to a hole ir the middle of the floor As you are ciimbing the ladder, female a Orc poursscaldrng slopsdown on your headand shoulders! Lose2 sraMrNApoints You can continueup the ladder(tum to to) or go back dor,vnand try anolherhut (tum to 6), or you may leave the village and conhnuelo lhe north (tum to 2o7)or hlm west (tum lo 54) 5a6 The encampmenL a litlle way to lhe south-east lies There are no guards, and lt seems thal the two Blackhearis you killed were basedthere alone.Howyou {ind litLleof interest. ever, You decidenot lo take any of their food, which to you looks and smells repulsive. You do notice a pieceof brokenstonewith ar 'S' on it, but you don't know what to makeof thatYou leave and reb-m to the river-side, where you can now continue south(tum Loj7J) or headnorLhrnstead (hrm to 66). 347 Somethingslimy and very strong wraps itself rornd your ankle You jab down at it with your swor4 bul it is pulling you under- Testvour L ck If you are Lucky, tum lo t54; if you aret nlucly turnto 6r.

542 point for having survivedDeathmoor Regain1 LUCK a so far. Night rs drawing in as you approach small on Thereis somelhing lop of the hillock:a pile hillo&. iL inveshgate (Lumto of rocks,perhapsYou caneiLher 1j9) or ignoreit (tum to 144) 343 Spikesshoot out of Lhefloot walls and ceihngand swift you from allsides. Your deathis mercifully impale

5aA-jA9

58a You return to your boat for the night In the early hoursof the moming, two fishJikeshapes pull themselvesover the side of your boat. Scaiet pearlsare sacred Pelagines, they havesenta raidingpa.ty to and to recover the one you'stole'(as they seert) from Takio. Under their law, ihis crime is punishable by death. Pelagines an amphibrous are race.equally at home on land or under water. Their fish like heads belie cunning and intelligence, and fhe scalesthat cover their humanoidbodiesare ljke armourplating. You can inflict only 1 srAMrNApoint o[ damage on (unless Lhem you use rucr too) in eachAttack Round lhat you win Thc male wjelds a trident, while the femaleadvances tossinga corafhandled daggerfrom one hand to the other. In lhe nanow conffnesof your cabin,they haveto approach at a time. one
SKILL

PELAGINE PELAGINETTE

7 6

8 5

If you win, you decideto slay awakefor the rest of the night. In thc moming, will you leaveArion to seek out Telessa's (tum to 2oo) or will you krdnappers remain [he city for a whrlelonger(turn to 1ry)? in 3ag They approachcauliously,glancing warily aL your sheathed sword.You [hink to yourselfthat theremust comea time when the oddswill be in your favou, so you let them bhndfoldyo4 trussyou up and haul you off to their village,somekilometres away This cluster

59e591

392'395 skeletons the hillside.Once the chief servantof on Arachnos, grew too stron& so Arachnos it postedit oul hereto guardthe borders his domain. of But it has grown fat ard lazy, and now iL hatesto haveits rest disturbed. Tantaflex The uncoilsits Lentaoes oozes ano oul o[ the bdsement towads whereyou arerummaging througha cupboardA slight sucking noisealertsyou, and you turn around to confront a creatureout of yow worst nrghtmares. Tentacles sprout from what shouldbe its shoulders, webbedfeet squelch and with mud from the basement poo1.Piercingeyes glare at you from abovea beak-like mouth.The tatteredremnants of others'clothrngcling to ils body, and it is surrounded the stenchof ifs hoardof rotting flesh by By the time you turn l;om your looting,it hasblocked the exrtswith rtstentacles, you will haveto 6ght. so

the of aboutthirty hutsoccupies end of a ravinewhich and so is easy is accessible throu8ha narrowPass only Lo defend.As soon as you enter the villaS,youl by blndfold is removedand you are surrounded a They chatler crowd oF cuflouswomen and children. you haveneverheardbefore awayin a nasal language The men drag you to a stou! pole in thc middleof the villagcsquare and bieyou to it. Although you are still hed up. As day you are very securely fully equipped. gives way to night, a large bonfire is lit near you Peopledisperse their eveningmeals,leaving only to tu; L siand guard over you, and you see the -"" eldersof the village go off into a larg hut near by. (tum Will you take ihis opportunityto try to escaPe to 516)or will you wait (tum to 15o)?
390

cowardlyblow, one As you stepforwardto landyor.rr lrips you uP, while another of Fangzen'scompanions poinL)and a stampson your hand (deduct 1 SKILL (deduct 2 STAMINA third clubs you on the head

TANTAFLEX
In the unlikely event that you win and gain your freedom of thefarmhouse, car eitherhead you out north up theslope theendof thevaliey(turnto 265)or Lum ai (tum to j55) backand makeyour way soulhwards 392 The guard checks, no one knows of anyonewith but your vague that name,and Lhere's one resembling no description the bar whereyou sendthe guardsYou in decide tum in for thenight turnto 188 lo 393 You peerinto empty windowsas you walk along,but there is nothing of interest to be seen; even the

Arion (tum to zoo) or go to anothertavern(tum to

You have distr.ubedthe horror v{hich has made the ruins its home - a;rd which is the causeof all the

394

394-395 fumiture has long ago rotbed away to matchwood remain" blackened age and Lchen, by Justdank sLones and sLreaked with dripping Tnoisture Some of the housesare slill almost intact but the majority have completely collapsed One semi-ruinwas evidently the town once a building of someSrandeur, perhaps hall You duckinside, it rsas emptyand Sloomyas but everywhereelse.All the same,will you explore it (turn to a5) or carryon down the street(lurn to 219t 394 The firstrulewhendealing of with creatures Evil is neoer to trust them, not even for a moment Frankly,it's that as astonishing you havesurvived manyadventures all asyou claim. Otuswillreturnltith theprincess right in but she'llbein tiny pieces- havefailed yourquest You 395 Roll one dice If you roll an evennumbt tum to 286, rf you roll an odd number,hrm [o 252.

3s6-394 396 you from your earliermeeting. Otus fails to recognize He demandsyour pass Will you presenL moon a (hrm lo ,7o), an A-medallion (tum to 66) or symbol an arrow (turn to 1o3)? If you have none of these, your deceptionis exposedand the &iantsrefuseto let you through in which case,your adventr:re is

397 Luckily for you, the narrow passageimpedes the Ogre. He can only swing his axe overhead prod at or you with iLsspikedtip. So his sKrLL scoreis lessthan :t would otherwise havebeen

OGRE

s(tLL 7

If you win, you quickly searchhis body but 6nd only r Gold PieceThe axe is too heavy for you to take. You retum to the froni of the mansion.No one is stimng in the gatehouse the far side of the wide at courtyard as you tum the handle of the iront door and it opens noiselessly well-oiled hinges Tum on to a97 598 You 6nd a perch halfway up the inside of lhe frunk where you can sil and be dry You are exhausted, and you doze off. You drearn of a time when fhe marsh fair was a vast inlandsea,thnving wilh shrps trade, of point and 2 towns and joyful people.ResLore LUCK I srAMrNA points Whenyou wakeup,you cancontinue your way by Lumng to eitherr54 or 99 on

399-400

599 Before you have been travelling for more than an hour, the mists come down to surround you. They are so impene[rable that before long you are completely lost. Is that patchof mist thickerthan the rest? You strainyour eyes,but soon it dawnson you thaL yolr are facedby a Mis[ Demon, wielding a sceptre of adarnantine rce

MISTDEMON

SKILL 7

STAM JN A 6

If you win, you blunderon, hopelessly lost, for hour after hour. Once you nearly fall over a cliff, and once you have Lo pull yourselfback by your fingertipsas you dangleover a crevasse. Eventually, however,the mist clears suddenly it appeared. as as Tum to 579.
400

The dagger held at your throat cuts deep- Your adventure endshere

Alsain FithtinsF flttsv I]GH TIN G IA N TA S Y The Inkoductory Role playinA Gde Stebe lacksan Thrilli.gadwentues Mord andsorcery of come l n theFrghtto i.g Fdtasy Ganebooks, wherethe readeris lhe hero di.ing {ilh
death and dnols in sedch of villains, treasue oi f.eedon Now YOU .d .reate yod oM Fighling Fantasyadventres dd send you lridds ofi on danserous mnsionsl h lhG clearly witten ha.d book ther de hink on devisinA cor&ats, nonstes lo use, tri.ks dd tactics, as well as two nni-a.lventues THE RIDDL]NG REAVXR

Sreu lacksan lou lishhns Fantasy to episodes be playedas sep:nte adwenturcs or as stages in an epic advmtu.e The RiTllins Rrnoq is a tival worthy oI the most dannA :dventureN His nDd s mscruiabre but there is no doubt about the .haos he plans to unleash on th world He ,ret be sldpped,ddpile the haads of the taskl A Io\ ow np ta Fishtifls Fnntasy:The lntratluelory Rak tlavins Can. . o r h " . y o - F co n r u ".p ir ror din. 'n r l r u l l r o r : " a d '" r r i o . adventues for youi fiiends and rend lhem on lhetr most dtug*ous dd Puzzring mFsionyet