Mydnight's Hero (9 page)
You break the bad news to Karvas and he explodes with rage. Immediately he kicks back his chair and unsheathes his sword. ‘You, there, skulking in the shadows,’ he bellows, pointing with his sword at the Cavalians on the far side of the taproom. ‘You're the cowards who murdered Baron Jayde. Step out of the shadows and face your accuser, if you dare!’
The Cavalians laugh and sneer at Prince Karvas' accusation. ‘Watch your tongue, journeyman,’ retorts their leader, a scar-faced sergeant with a shaved head. ‘We Siyenese don't take kindly to Northland troublemakers.’ Another of the group calls out to the tavern-keeper, demanding that he come and throw you out. Sheepishly the tavern-keeper approaches and he asks that you both leave. You sense that he has no liking for the Cavalians, but Karvas' outburst has unsettled his other guests, some of whom are already hurrying out of the door.
You take hold of the Prince's arm and pull him along as you move towards the tavern door. The Cavalians fix you with murderous stares as you leave, but they do not attempt to follow you. Once you are outside, you hurry across to the stables to fetch your horses.
You are about to enter when suddenly you notice the body of a young boy lying partially buried beneath a heap of straw. By the colour and cut of his clothing, you recognize the body to be that of the stable boy who took charge of your horses when you first arrived here. Swiftly you unsheathe your Kai Weapon as you enter the stables. Your caution is justified, for as soon as you pass through the stable door, you are attacked by six Cavalian bandits who have been lying in wait for you and Karvas to appear.
Illustration II—As soon as you pass through the stable door, you are attacked by six Cavalian bandits.
Cavalian Bandits:
COMBAT SKILL
40
ENDURANCE
36
You may add 5 points to your
COMBAT SKILL
for the duration of this combat, for Prince Karvas is helping you to fight these murdering bandits.
If you win the combat in three rounds or less,
turn to 215
.
If it takes you four rounds or more to win this combat,
turn to 103
.
The rolling plain to the west of Bakhasa is a bleak and barren steppe, devoid of flora yet studded with countless thousands of sawn-off tree stumps. Once this region was part of the Great Forest of Kelderwood, but in recent times the ruler of Bhanar, Autarch Sejanoz, has commanded the Bakhasians to harvest the forest's valuable hardwood and dispatch it downstream to feed the insatiable needs of the imperial shipyards of Otavai. Travelling on foot, the stumps do not obstruct your progress and you are able to press on until late in the afternoon. As you are cresting a ridge of high ground, you spot a troop of horsemen escorting a line of wagons laden with timber. They are less than a mile distant and they appear to be heading towards a settlement on the banks of the River Tehda. You wait and watch them until they are dots on the horizon before continuing your trek towards the city of Bakhasa.
You are within 20 miles of Bakhasa when dusk begins to darken the gloomy sky. Karvas requests that you stop to rest awhile before making a final push for the city. You are feeling hungry after your long day's march and you agree readily. (Unless you possess the Discipline of Grand Huntmastery, you must now eat a Meal or lose 3
ENDURANCE
points.) You are about to resume your trek when your Kai Sixth Sense alerts you to the sound of approaching horses and wagons. You are scanning the surrounding hills when suddenly a dozen riders appear from behind a ridge to the north. They are escorting two wagons filled with sleepy timber workers returning to their settlement after a day's labour. You signal to Karvas to hide himself as they approach along a cleared trail which passes within 20 yards of your position. The horsemen canter past ahead of the wagons, but one of the riders who is following behind suddenly leaves the track and steers his horse through the stumps towards your position. Fearing that you may have been spotted, you signal to Prince Karvas to split up and find a new hiding place. Silently you watch as the horseman is slowed to a halt by a dense cluster of tree stumps. He dismounts and abandons his mare in order to continue his search on foot. He draws his sword as he passes close to where you are hiding, but he does not see you. As he moves away, you see that his horse does not follow. She stays to crop some sickly weeds at the base of a tree stump barely 10 yards from where you are lying. Hanging from her saddle are a bulging leather satchel, an axe, and a coil of rope.
If you wish to attempt to look inside the horse's saddlebag,
turn to 145
.
If you decide to remain hidden among the tree stumps,
turn to 287
.
The Marshal of the Guard orders his men to confiscate all of your Weapons and equipment. Then he marches you and Karvas under close escort to the cells below the main hall, where you are shackled to the wall in irons. Karvas is shocked by this brutal treatment and he cannot fathom a reason why Lodamos would treat you both this way.
An hour passes before the door to the cell is thrown open and in strides Baron Lodamos, escorted by a bodyguard of his toughest men-at-arms. Prince Karvas pleads for your immediate release, but his pleas fall on deaf ears.
‘Do you not recognize me, my lord?’ he asks. ‘Do you not remember the days we spent hunting wild boar in the Ioma Forest?’
‘The resemblance is uncanny, I grant you that,’ replies Lodamos, ‘but you are another impostor, another of Sadanzo's sorcerous creations sent here to assassinate me.’
The Baron holds up the Stone Dagger that was found in your Backpack. ‘You have a persuasive tongue,’ he says, ‘but here I hold proof that you are assassins. This evil blade is the instrument with which you intended to slay me. See, it is already stained with the blood of those you have slain before. No goodly men would carry such a weapon for their own defence.’
Desperately you try to explain how the Stone Dagger came into your possession, how you discovered it in the hut in the Dammerdon Mountains. Unfortunately your hurried explanation does little to help. Baron Lodamos has already made up his mind that you are assassins in the pay of Baron Sadanzo, sent here to murder him, and he will not be convinced otherwise.
The Baron turns to the sergeant of his bodyguard and orders him to have his men prepare their weapons. A cold shiver runs down your spine when you see that these men-at-arms are equipped with crossbows that are cocked and loaded, ready to fire. The sergeant gives the order. The guards raise their bows and take aim. Prince Karvas begs the Baron to reconsider but it is now too late. Lodamos hurls the Stone Dagger to the floor, smashing it to pieces, and then he spins on his heel and strides out of the cell without looking back. With a grunt, his sergeant gives the order to fire and his men release their volley of deadly missiles. Death is mercifully swift.
Tragically, your life and your mission end here in the dungeons of the Varedo Citadel.
The tavern-keeper looks at the 2 Gold Crowns and smiles. ‘Ah, Northland coinage,’ he says, as he examines them with an appraising eye, ‘and cast from pure gold, unlike some that pass across this counter. Rarely do I see coinage of this quality.’
The tavern-keeper is so impressed by the quality of your Crowns that he offers you 5 Lune for every 1 Gold Crown you are willing to give him. If you wish to exchange some of your Gold Crowns for Lune on these favourable terms, make the appropriate adjustments to your
Action Chart
.
To continue,
turn to 272
.
The lightning bolt strikes the skyship's hull directly below the helm, rendering you unconscious as the concussive force of the blast was transmitted through the deck (lose 5
ENDURANCE
points).
On regaining consciousness you discover that the
Starstrider
is now more than 5 miles clear of the fissures. As your vision slowly clears you see that Acraban has taken control of the wheel. He smiles when he sees that you are still alive. You notice that he looks gaunt and exhausted, and his ginger hair is matted with grime and sweat. Clearly his efforts to repair the ailing skyship have severely drained his magical energies. As you stagger to the helm you sense that the steering has become more erratic. The
Starstrider
has lost altitude and her deck is starting to tilt alarmingly to starboard. Soon it becomes almost impossible to stand upright.
‘We have lost one stabilizer and the other is badly damaged,’ says Acraban, grimly. ‘I have done all I can to repair it but I fear it will fail us at any moment. Without stabilizers we cannot stay airborne.’
Acraban orders his crew to prepare for a crash landing. Some of the young men tie themselves to the ship's mainmast, while others brace themselves against the rails and place their fate in the hands of the Goddess Ishir. Prince Karvas has found refuge in a rope locker which is bolted to the main deck. He lifts the lid and calls out to you to join him for there is sufficient space for two inside.
If you wish to climb into the rope locker alongside Prince Karvas,
turn to 79
.
If you choose to stay with Acraban at the ship's helm,
turn to 199
.
You and Karvas step across the lifeless bodies of the knight and his escort, and then hurry out into the corridor beyond. You slam the cell door shut behind you and, with a powerful kick of your heel, you cleave away the dial of the lock to prevent the door from being opened easily.
Across the corridor you see the door to the cell that contains your Weapons and equipment, and you pause for a few moments to work on its tumbler lock. Your efforts are quickly rewarded and you discover all of your confiscated equipment lying here on the floor. (You may erase the asterisks [*] from your
Action Chart
to indicate that your arms and equipment have been restored.)
In addition to your equipment you also discover Prince Karvas' sword and belt, together with the following:
- Bow
- 6 Arrows
- Enough food for 1 Meal
- Spear
- Axe
Karvas buckles on his sword belt and, before you leave, he unhooks a coil of rope from the wall and slings it over his shoulder. On returning to the corridor, you hurry to the end to where a circular stone staircase ascends to the levels above. With Kai Weapon in hand you begin to climb the steps, retracing the route that you committed to memory when you were dragged to the cell more than an hour ago.
The tip of your enemy's lance glances your shoulder and spins you out of the saddle to crash heavily on the rocky trail (lose 2
ENDURANCE
points). The Bakhasians cheer their leader as he brings his horse around, and they urge him to trample you into the ground with his next pass. Hurriedly you retrieve your Kai Weapon and steel yourself to face him as he levels his lance and comes thundering down the trail.
Pick a number from the
Random Number Table
. If you possess Grand Weaponmastery, add 3 to the number you have picked. If you possess Grand Huntmastery, add 2. If you possess Assimilance, add 1.
If your total score is now 3 or less,
turn to 343
.
If it is 4–7,
turn to 117
.
If it is 8 or higher,
turn to 263
.
You bid goodnight to the tavern-keeper and wearily you climb the stairs to a first-floor corridor that leads to your rooms. You are standing in this corridor, arranging with Karvas to meet in the stables at dawn, when you happen to glance out of a window that overlooks the tavern's courtyard. Six shadowy figures are creeping towards the stables and, when you magnify your vision to get a better look at their faces, your blood runs cold. They are wearing the armour and emblems of Cavalia, and your Kai Sixth Sense tells you that they are part of the band of mounted crossbowmen who ambushed you at Baron Jayde's chateau.
You tell Karvas what you have seen and he unsheathes his sword. ‘Quick, Grand Master,’ he says, as he turns to run back towards the stairs. ‘We must protect our horses or all is lost!’
It is a difficult struggle to keep the
Starstrider
on a straight and level course for she veers continually towards starboard. To counter this persistent drift you pull the wheel hard to port, yet the effects of her damaged stabilizer are unpredictable, making it almost impossible for you to maintain any sure control of the helm. In desperation, you muster all of your Kai senses and focus them on the narrow strip of land which separates the fissures. Bolts of searing energy leap out of these chasms and soar past the skyship on either side to explode with thunderous cacophony among the roiling clouds. The crew cower with terror, but you keep your nerve and let your Kai skills take full control of the wheel. After several nerve-racking miles the fissures eventually taper off and then disappear completely.
As the
Starstrider
emerges from the gauntlet of deadly white fire, the crew gives a loud cheer in appreciation of your skilful helmsmanship. Gladly you acknowledge their praise, but you maintain your grip of the helm for your Kai senses are screaming a warning that the danger has not yet passed.