The Caverns of Kalte (6 page)

You have fallen over thirty feet but have landed safely in a deep snow drift. Clawing the cold snow from your eyes, you are astounded by the sight that greets you. A vast cavern spreads out as far as your eyes can see: huge stalactites of crystal hang from the icy ceiling and the constant dripping of melted snow fills the air with a strangely musical sound.

You are looking upon an uncharted world that few Sommlending have ever seen, for you are staring upon the caverns of Kalte. This massive underground labyrinth was built by the Ancients many ages before the Sommlending, or even the Darklords, set foot in Magnamund. Its wide avenues, temples, and halls once echoed to the sounds of a race of creatures for whom the ice was a natural home. M'lare bowls still hang from the roof, shedding an eerie, eternal light.

You follow a wide melt-water channel for over two miles until it disappears beneath a wall of shimmering ice. An ice bridge leads to a tunnel that soon splits in two.

If you have the Kai Discipline of Tracking,
turn to 255
.

If you wish to take the left tunnel,
turn to 125
.

If you wish to take the right tunnel,
turn to 184
.

Removing the Blue Stone Triangle from around your neck, you press it into the granite wall. It is a perfect fit. You immediately feel a tremor running through the ledge on which you are standing, followed by the grinding noise of stone upon stone. The door opens, but after it has opened less than three feet, it begins to close.

Without a moment's hesitation, you dive into the fortress and the door crashes shut behind you. (You may still keep the Blue Stone Triangle — you need not erase it from your
Action Chart
.)

Turn to 221
.

You unsheathe your magnificent sword and assail the door. A bright shower of sparks illuminates the room as each blow of the Sommerswerd bites into the ancient stone. The blade glows a fiery gold as you strike the door time and time again. The Sommerswerd will eventually destroy the door, but it may take many hours to cut a hole large enough for you to escape.

If you wish to continue beating the door with the Sommerswerd,
turn to 294
.

If you wish to give up, you can leave by the previously concealed northern passage and
turn to 145
.

You unsheathe the golden sword and sever the ropes with one blow. Your foot is free, and you leap from the sledge barely seconds before it disappears into the crevasse. Quickly, Fenor runs to your side and pulls you away from the crumbling edge. You have lost your Kanu-dogs, your sledge, and provisions, but not your life. You both jump the widening gap and join the others.

Despite the loss of equipment, your guides agree to continue the mission even though they know that the hardships will now be far greater. In the distance, you can see a narrow passage at the edge of the ice shelf where it joins the Hrod Basin. By nightfall, you have reached the shelter of this narrow pass and you decide to set up camp.

You make a check of the remaining food stores and realize that rations will have to be cut by half if you are all to reach Ikaya. You lose 1
ENDURANCE
point due to the small evening meal.

Turn to 325
.

‘Follow me,’ says Loi-Kymar. ‘I've listened to the sounds of Ikaya for over a year, and the secret sliding doors and the hidden routes here are no mystery to me. I have learnt more about these corridors and passages from the confines of my cell than Vonotar has discovered with all of his cunning.’

You follow the old magician through a network of secret passages and tunnels, up long flights of stairs and into chambers dark and cold. At the top of one very steep staircase, you come to a stone door. A strange, sickly smell is seeping from a small spy-hole. ‘The kitchens,’ whispers Loi-Kymar, showing his distaste for Ikaya cuisine by sticking out his tongue and grimacing.

You can see that this secret door opens next to a fireplace in which burns a roaring fire. Hanging over the fire is a large stone cauldron of gruel. Two Ice Barbarians sit at a table nearby with empty bowls in front of them.

If you possess a Potion of Black Graveweed,
turn to 79
.

If you possess a Potion of Green Gallowbrush,
turn to 157
.

If you do not possess either of these potions, you can open the secret door and launch a surprise attack upon the unarmed Ice Barbarians, by
turning to 270
.

The faces of grotesque and distorted creatures adorn the surfaces of the chest. Their obscene expressions and unnatural proportions make you shudder with revulsion. Set into the centre of the lid is a large stone block carved with a hideous face, the mouth of which is shaped around a keyhole.

If you possess an Ornate Silver Key,
turn to 303
.

If you do not possess this Special Item,
turn to 15
.

You remove the Firesphere from your jacket, quickly split open the two halves, and place them upon the narrow ledge behind. The Javek hisses loudly, both its heads weaving and darting at you in rage. It is desperate to attack, but it will not approach the Firesphere. Instead, it attempts to slither round the flames, but the ledge is very narrow — no more than a foot wide. It cannot pass without singeing itself. Eventually, angry but powerless, the strange reptile resigns itself to failure and disappears back along the ledge and into the passageway beyond.

You can now retrieve your Firesphere and continue your exploration.

Turn to 269
.

You try to pick the lock for nearly half an hour before conceding defeat. You have exhausted every possible angle and sequence, but still the lock refuses to open. Reluctantly, you sheathe your weapon, leave the chamber, and investigate the stairs.

Turn to 323
.

The Ice Barbarian passes within six inches of your hiding place. He pauses before walking back along the corridor. You breathe a sigh of relief — you have not been discovered.

If you wish to escape on tiptoe along the northern corridor,
turn to 215
.

If you wish to attack the Ice Barbarian from behind,
turn to 260
.

You have climbed fifteen feet to a thin ice ledge. From here you have a clear view of the fissure. You think you have caught a glimpse of someone when suddenly the ice gives way beneath your feet, and you fall headlong in a tumble of granite and snow. You prepare yourself for the shock of impact, but you plunge straight into a crevasse, hidden beneath a layer of powdery snow. You finally come to rest in a deep drift some two hundred feet below the surface.

Blinded, dazed, and half-suffocated by snow, you begin to claw your way out of this icy grave. When you eventually free yourself, you are astounded by the sight that greets you. A vast corridor disappears into the distance as far as the eye can see. Huge stalactites of crystal hang from the icy ceiling, and the constant drip of melting snow fills the corridor with a strangely musical sound. You shout for help until your throat becomes dry and sore, but your guides do not hear you. You still have your Weapon(s), Gold Crowns, and any Special Items, but you are without a Backpack, as it is still in your tent. Looking up, you see that the hole through which you have fallen is now just a tiny speck on the roof of the passage. You notice that the strange light of the ice corridor seems to come from large stone bowls hanging from the ceiling. These are M'lare bowls, a source of eternal light discovered by the Ancients many ages ago. You soon realize that your guides may never find out where you are, and quickly resolve to follow the passage in the hope of finding some other exit. After two hours of walking, you arrive at a junction where the passage splits in two.

If you have the Kai Discipline of Tracking,
turn to 342
.

If you wish to follow the passage to the left,
turn to 284
.

If you wish to follow the passage to the right,
turn to 199
.

Have you located the Ancient Temple of Ikaya and found a Glowing Crystal?

If you possess this Special Item,
turn to 139
.

If you do not have it,
turn to 189
.

You sense that the Doomwolves are sleeping deeply. There is a chance that you can slip past them, overpower the Ice Barbarian guard, and close the cell door before they awake. However, you know that this is very risky and the odds are against you.

If you are brave enough to enter a cell full of Doomwolves,
turn to 285
.

If you do not want to take the risk, you must leave and descend the stairs.
Turn to 261
.

As you climb the slippery stone ramp, the sound of cracking ice makes you spin round. The large mound of crystals at the base of the ramp is beginning to move. The crystals are alive! You stare in disbelief as the mound is transformed into a writhing mass of crystal coils. The coils unwind, and the ice creature slithers towards you.

If you wish to evade this creature and run towards the stone door,
turn to 169
.

If you wish to fight it,
turn to 265
.

Unfortunately, you mistime your dive with disastrous consequences. Both of your legs are crushed by the closing door and you slowly bleed to death.

Your life and your mission end here.

The glass is very delicate and it takes all your concentration and skill to avoid smashing the stem.

Pick a number from the
Random Number Table
. If you have the Kai Discipline of either Mind Over Matter or Mindblast, add 3 to the number that you picked.

If your total score is now 0–4,
turn to 250
.

If your total score is now 5–12,
turn to 268
.

You are less than a hundred feet from the top when the pain begins to fade. Eventually, you no longer feel anything with your hands: all sensation below your forearms is totally numbed by frostbite.

With one last effort, you reach a narrow ice shelf where you can kneel and rest. But you soon discover to your dismay that it is impossible to climb any further — you are faced by sheer walls of ice that offer no handholds in their smooth surfaces. You will have to return the way you came. It is over four hours before the feeling returns to your hands. The frostbite is serious and you lose 5
ENDURANCE
points. In addition to this, you also lose 2 points from your initial
COMBAT SKILL
. This
COMBAT SKILL
loss is permanent and will affect you for the rest of your life.

It takes a further five hours to reach the bottom in safety. Exhausted and in great pain, you steel yourself to find another exit from this icy hell-hole.

Turn to 182
.

‘Upon my soul, a Kai Lord!’ he exclaims, his eyes now wide with astonishment.

‘How I've prayed for freedom, for deliverance from this infernal place. And although hope never deserted me, I never expected such an illustrious rescuer.’

In the middle of his excitement, the old man is suddenly disturbed by a fit of coughing that leaves him pale and exhausted. It is a few minutes before he can speak again. ‘My name is Loi-Kymar. I am an elder of the Magicians' Guild of Toran,’ he says, slowly removing a small crystal star pendant, the symbol of the guild, from beneath his tattered robes. The guild is known as the Brotherhood of the Crystal Star, and the magician shows his pendant as proof of his identity. You ask him how he came to be imprisoned here in Ikaya, many hundreds of miles from his native Toran.

Illustration IV
—‘My name is Loi-Kymar. I am an elder of the Magicians' Guild of Toran.’

‘Vonotar, that unspeakable wretch, is responsible for my plight. Days before the Darklord invasion of Sommerlund, he betrayed your Kai masters to win power — the black power of death and darkness. However, he failed to play his part in the war plans his evil masters had laid. The Darklords do not tolerate such weakness — mercy has no place in their brutal minds. In the bitterness of defeat, they sought to destroy Vonotar for his crime of failure. Vonotar knew that I possessed the only means to effect an escape from their vengeance, for my Guildstaff has the power of teleportation. He tried to steal it and flee to the safety of Ikaya by himself, but he learnt that its power is not for all men to share; only I am blessed with its secret. He was angry and would have murdered my kinspeople had I not agreed to bring him here, so I had no choice but to do so.’

‘Ever since, I have been a prisoner in this cell. Vonotar has tortured my body and my mind, but I have not divulged the secret of my Guildstaff, which he now keeps in the Hall of the Brumalmarc. For if I were to tell him, my life would no longer be of any value.’

You tell Loi-Kymar of your mission and of the events that have led to your meeting. He offers to show you a route through Ikaya to the Hall of the Brumalmarc where Vonotar now resides as ruler, and if you can retrieve his Guildstaff, he promises to teleport you to the coast in time to rendezvous with your ship.

For the first time since you fell into the caverns of Kalte, you feel confident that your mission can now succeed.

Turn to 192
.