Beyond the Nightmare Gate (21 page)

At the cost of 2
WILLPOWER
points, you cast a magical veil around the Elessi's mind so that he will not see you passing. You creep out from behind the bushes and enter the city. Hypnotized, the Elessi continues to stare straight ahead, a blank expression on his face.

Turn to 279
.

With a great roar, the door is thrown open and a huge, brown-skinned lizard moves out onto the landing. It has two stunted forelimbs that end in five-fingered hands and a large, impassive, fish-cold eye in the middle of its head.

If you wish to turn and run,
turn to 258
.

If you wish to stand and face the lizard,
turn to 328
.

The howling wolf leaps and throws you to the ground. It inflicts a terrible bite, causing the loss of 6
ENDURANCE
points. If you are still alive, you must now fight the animal to the death.

Giant Wolf:
COMBAT SKILL
 20   
ENDURANCE
 26

If you have not beaten the wolf after three rounds of combat,
turn to 287
.

If you beat the wolf within three rounds of combat,
turn to 106
.

Staggering under the weight of the statue, you move towards the exit. The terrified Elessin hang back to let you pass, their faces full of fear. You leave the palace and view the long flight of stairs that leads from it with apprehension.

Please stop,
pleads the voice that rings in your head.
We mean you no harm … What you are doing is madness!

If you wish to do as he says,
turn to 4
.

If you do not trust the Elessin and are determined to press on,
turn to 22
.

You walk along the corridor and eventually come to the bottom of a flight of stairs. You mount the steps and arrive at a landing. A cell door leads off it. It has been locked, but the key is still in the lock.

If you have the Magical Power of Prophecy and wish to use it,
turn to 268
.

If you do not have this Power,
turn to 295
.

Unsure that you can trust Spittlethrift, you draw on your Power of Prophecy and try to gain some further insight into the little man's offer. At the cost of 1
WILLPOWER
point you probe his mind. You sense that both lies and truths are contained within the Academician's words, though you sense that he means you no physical harm.

If you wish to look into the future to try to find out more about your own possible fate (at the cost of 1 more
WILLPOWER
point),
turn to 317
.

If you wish to refuse his request,
turn to 282
.

If you wish to accept,
turn to 210
.

You steer the Ethetron along a dark tunnel in the mountain, just wide enough to accommodate the craft. An eerie moaning wind passes along the tunnel and you remember why the Moaning Mountain is so called. You see light at the end of the tunnel and, as you approach, a shimmering curtain of water. This is the Gateway to the Vale of Peace.

Turn to 216
.

You draw out the red jewel and pour the power of your thought into it. At the cost of 1
WILLPOWER
point, you stun the Elessi's mind so that he will not see you passing. You then creep from the bushes and through the gate; the guard stares ahead, blankly.

Turn to 279
.

Eventually you find yourself standing before the tall tower. Its strange, black walls glow with an eldritch quality that is both fascinating and unnerving. You can see no door to the tower but, just above head-height, there is a metal plate. Inscribed upon the plate are some strange symbols. ‘What does it say?’ asks Tanith.

‘I do not know,’ you reply. ‘It is written in a language that I do not recognize.’ Yet, even as you speak, the symbols on the metal plate change, and you find that you can read the inscription after all:

‘From south of here, to west, and north,
Then east and south once more,
A circle's motion rings the charm
That finds the Vanishing Door.’

You ponder the strange words, trying to determine their meaning. ‘A riddle?’ queries Tanith.

If you wish to search for a door on the left side of the tower,
turn to 56
.

If you wish to search for a door on the right side of the tower,
turn to 23
.

If you have the Magical Power of Psychomancy and wish to use it,
turn to 70
.

If you have the Magical Power of Prophecy and wish to use it,
turn to 347
.

Hurriedly, you drag the statue of the Screaming God from the Ethetron and re-board the craft. You pull her into the air, gaining height with all the speed you can muster. A tingling sensation tells you that you are about to leave the Neverness; you glance back at the Crystal Tower. A chilling scream reaches your ears. It grows louder and louder and the tower begins to crumble. Suddenly you realize that you did not warn the Academicians of the peril of the Screaming God. One of them must have taken the Threnogem from the statue and freed the demon. There is now nothing you can do to help as you pass into the Realm of Paradox.

Turn to 174
.

The force of the impact sends you tumbling through the air. Then a hand grips yours: Tanith has caught you. She has a firm grip on the Trianon and soon pulls you up. ‘How do we get inside?’ she asks.

Turn to 325
.

The dead bodies of the Elessin lie all around you. Badly shaken by your ordeal, your head still ringing from the assault of the Elessin Pipes, you are too stunned to chase after the surviving Elessin and, instead, subject the bodies to a quick search. You find the following items:

• 3 Elessin Pipes
  
• 3 Emerald Medallions
  
• 1 Parchment covered with Elessin script
  
• 1 Silver Coin
  
• 1 Gold Coin
  
• 2 Copper Coins
  
• 1 Glass Rod
  

You may keep any of these items (remember that you may carry a maximum of eight articles in your Backpack). Except for the Coins, which you carry in a pocket of your robe, and one of the Emerald Medallions, which may be worn around your neck, all the items are carried in the Backpack.
²⁹

Turn to 332
.

You thank the Vale people for their kindness but insist that your quest is urgent and will brook no delay. You ask if they will show you to the Gateway to the Realm of the Moonstone, and they agree. That night they take you to the Silver Lake, which lies high in the mountains. They instruct you and Tanith to climb aboard the Ethetron and fly above the lake. As the night grows older, and the moon climbs higher in the sky, the waters are bathed in a beautiful shimmering light, like that of polished silver. Then, they say, must you fly into the lake itself, for it is the Gate and the moon its key.

Illustration XX
—The Vale people take you to the Silver Lake which lies high in the mountains.

You do exactly as they say and when you reach the surface you discover no water at all: merely the passing touch of something as light as gossamer.

Turn to 247
.

As you approach the gate, the guard speaks to you in his own tongue.
‘Meski?’

A knot of panic twists in your stomach as you try to guess what he has said.

If you wish to nod your head and pass through the gate,
turn to 38
.

If you wish to shake your head and pass through the gate,
turn to 52
.

If you wish to try pointing behind you,
turn to 95
.

If you wish to say nothing and hurry through the gate,
turn to 157
.

Staff raised in readiness for battle, you turn to attack the lizard. But one chilling glance from its cold and deadly eye transforms you to stone where you stand.

Your life and your quest end here.

The Chaos-master's braying laughter fills the hall as he watches the stunned expression on your face. ‘Are you not amused?’ he roars.

You study your identical twin opposite and sense an aura of evil. It is a creation of Shasarak, sent to thwart your final bid to claim the Moonstone. In the Shianti language such a creature is known as a Jahksa, the spiritual apparition of one already living, a perversion of nature and a being of great evil. Without the human emotions of guilt, remorse, and sorrow, a Jahksa has no conscience or morals, and is a passionless killer.

‘And now,’ intones the Chaos-master, when the echo of his laughter has finally subsided, ‘tell me what it is you seek?’ Carefully, you weigh in your mind what you should ask.

If you possess a Cloth Map of the Moaning Mountain and wish to ask for Tanith to be returned to you,
turn to 20
.

If you do not possess this Special Item, but still wish to ask for Tanith's return and enquire how you may reach the Realm of the Moonstone,
turn to 62
.

Suddenly, within the space of a heartbeat, the white-light horizon appears to turn inside out, its near and far sides interchanging. Then, with a lurch, you are hurled into a bright shaft and catapulted into a clear, sunlit sky. Wind rushes at your face and the land far below is as green and fresh as that in your own world. Buffeted by the wind, you struggle to control the Ethetron as it rocks and reels wildly in the wind-torn sky. Still dazed by the experiences of the past few minutes, you cannot help but manipulate the control clumsily.

Pick a number from the
Random Number Table
. If you possess the Talisman of the Shianti, add 2 to this number.

If your total is now 0–3,
turn to 13
.

If your total is now 4–11,
turn to 77
.

You are standing exactly in the centre of the room. Anxiously you glance up at the lethal sword-points poised above your head. You are facing the stairway, with the smaller doorway to your left and the main entrance behind you.

If you wish to step forward onto a two-sword flagstone,
turn to 7
.

If you wish to move diagonally to the left, onto a one-sword flagstone,
turn to 89
.

If you wish to move diagonally to the right, onto a one-sword flagstone,
turn to 11
.

If you wish to move towards the doorway on your left by stepping onto a two-sword flagstone,
turn to 349
.

The acid is very potent. Carefully, you pour it over the lock and watch with satisfaction as the iron lock bubbles and steams like boiling lava. In moments, the lock has melted clean away. You push the door open to reveal a narrow flight of stairs, leading downwards into blackness.

If you wish to step forward,
turn to 125
.

If you wish to go back to the large stairway by stepping on the flagstone that bears one sword,
turn to 89
.

If you wish to go back to the large stairway by stepping on the flagstone that bears two swords,
turn to 349
.