The Deathlord of Ixia (18 page)

Quickly you instruct the helmsman to listen out for your directions; then you leave the wheelhouse and make your way forward to the bow. The vast bulk of any iceberg lies hidden beneath the surface and, with this chilling thought in mind, you lean over the prow and keep a careful watch on the waterline. This ship is strongly built but a collision with a submerged ridge could easily rip its hull wide open.

Guided by your telepathic directions, the helmsman steers the vessel towards a passage that is over-shadowed on either side by two monstrous mountains of ice.

Pick a number from the
Random Number Table
. If you possess Grand Huntmastery, add 3 to the number you have picked.

If your total score is now 4 or less,
turn to 182
.

If it is 5–8,
turn to 11
.

If it is 9 or higher,
turn to 284
.

The creatures yield to your powerful blows, but the grievous wounds you deal them draw neither blood nor ichor. The ground around your feet is crawling with severed segments of the Chaos-creatures. Hacked and dismembered, they continue to wriggle forwards, forcing you to retreat grudgingly towards the steps.

When, to your mounting horror, you witness the dismembered segments press themselves together to form composite creatures of impossible shape and design, your nerve breaks and you flee headlong down the steps. The hideous gibbering shrieks of the reformed Chaos-creatures echo in your ears as you descend into the claustrophobic depths of this sunken building. At first their cries sound hungry and frantic, like those of a ravenous pack of starving wolves denied their prey, but suddenly you realize that they are not cries of hunger at all — they are howls of glee. The gibbering Chaos-creatures are enjoying the sight of you rushing headlong to your doom!

You skid to a halt but it is already too late. With chilling abruptness, the slimy stairs open up and you fall feet-first into a deep, dark pit.

Turn to 59
.

At the sound of a key turning in the lock, you tense yourself in readiness to launch a surprise attack the instant the door swings open. The heavy portal creaks inwards and you hurl yourself at the head of a small group of skeletal warriors who stand framed in the doorway. You collide with their leader and slam him to the ground. In his bony hand he clutches a rod which hums with the power contained within its silvery haft. He had intended to use its power on you, to extract details of your mission, but the swiftness of your attack has preempted this. The skeletal being shrieks with anger as you wrestle the rod from his grasp. Suddenly, a blast of red-hot fire erupts from its tip, carving a fist-sized chunk of stone from the cell wall. The recoil of the blast makes you drop the rod, which falls to the floor, close to the booted feet of the other skeletal guards.

If you wish to snatch up the rod before the skeletal guards retrieve it themselves,
turn to 54
.

If you decide to ignore the rod, you can attempt an escape through the open door by
turning to 222
.

Intuition prompts you to take out the Onyx Key from your pocket and try it in the hole. It fits perfectly and, when you twist it clockwise, the entire portal begins to shimmer and lose its solidity. It becomes transparent before fading completely, as if evaporating into thin air. You go to retrieve the Onyx Key but it, too, has disappeared (erase this Special Item from your
Action Chart
).

Relieved that you have overcome this obstacle, you step through the now-open archway and into an adjoining hall. This vaulted, oblong-shaped hall is illuminated by flickerings of electrical fire which arc between two freestanding pillars at the far end of the chamber. Beyond the pillars you can make out the shadowy entrance to another chamber; it is the only other exit from this hall. You realize at once that to pass between the pillars could prove to be fatal: the power arcing between them is as great as any lightning storm raging in the skies above Xaagon. Yet there may be a way of avoiding contact with this raw power. You notice that the two freestanding pillars do not go all the way to the ceiling — there is a gap, a little over two feet wide above them.

If you possess Kai-alchemy and wish to use it,
turn to 136
.

If you wish to attempt to climb one of the pillars and squeeze through the gap in order to reach the adjoining hall,
turn to 297
.

If you decide to throw caution to the wind and run between the pillars,
turn to 211
.

You emerge from the Crystal Spire with barely seconds to spare. As you descend the main ramp which leads away into the streets of Xaagon, the great archway disintegrates completely, bringing with it a vast section of the foundation wall. This collapse begins a chain reaction of destruction that culminates in the spectacular fall of the upper spire, which crashes down upon the city like some massive crystal tree felled at the roots.

You run without stopping, through the quaking streets to the shattered west gate, and then onwards through the deepening snow towards the narrow mountain pass. You are more than a mile from the walls of Xaagon when eventually you stop to rest and survey the destruction you have left behind.

Turn to 250
.

Lying beneath Banedon's chart table is a seemingly plain leather sword belt and scabbard. Banedon retrieves these items of equipment and hands them to you. ‘Here, Grand Master. This scabbard has been impregnated with the rare mineral — korlinium. It will shield the radiant power of your sword.’

You exchange your old belt and scabbard for these new ones. (Mark the Korlinium Scabbard as a Special Item on your
Action Chart
. You need not discard another item in its favour if you already carry the maximum number of Special Items permitted.)

Turn to 22
.

Less than a mile to the north, like some nightmare apparition surfacing from the deep, you see a broad-prowed vessel of prodigious size breaking low in the stormy water. You magnify your vision and see that its main deck is completely enclosed by a canopy of overlapping green-grey timbers, affording it the appearance of some gigantic fish. Two glassy portholes and a jagged line which stretches around its prow complete this chilling illusion.

For its shape and size it moves towards your ship at an unnatural speed. You call the crew to arms, fearing it to be an enemy vessel closing to attack, and you sense a shudder run through them when, for the first time, they clearly discern its alien design. You focus your Kai senses upon the oncoming craft and suddenly you realize its purpose. It is an Ixian vessel, come to rendezvous with your ship, believing it still to be manned by the undead horde which attacked Fort Azgad.

Illustration XII
—It is as if you are looking into the ghastly maw of a hungry sea predator.

‘Stand firm!’ you shout, attempting to rally the nervous Lencians as the craft speeds ever nearer. When less than a hundred yards distant, its great prow begins to creak open. It is as if you are looking into the ghastly maw of a hungry sea predator. The fearful sight alarms the Lencian crew and they flee towards the bow of the ship in panic: ‘Save us!’ they cry. ‘Ishir save us! It's going to eat us alive!’

Turn to 236
.

You flee the chamber, escaping past many Ixian and Drakkarim guards who stand rigidly immobile, fixed in the poses and attitudes they were in the very moment you vanquished the Deathlord. It was his power which gave them un-life; now that power is no more.

Fearing for your survival, you sprint across heaving, buckling slabs of broken stone that were once smooth tiled floors, and rush down staircases that crack and twist beneath your feet. You are racing down one such stairwell when suddenly an entire section collapses, leaving a gaping hole more than fifty feet deep. Above you, a row of pillars topple like storm-shaken trees, blocking the stairs completely, and making it impossible for you to retrace your steps.

If you possess Kai-alchemy and have attained the Kai rank of Sun Thane,
turn to 29
.

If you possess Telegnosis and have attained the Kai rank of Sun Lord or higher,
turn to 326
.

If you do not possess either of these Disciplines, or if you have yet to attain the relevant levels of Kai Mastery,
turn instead to 225
.

You trudge stoically through the snow and ice towards the distant circle of rocks, hoping all the while that they will afford you some protection from this incessant blizzard. When you are within a few dozen yards of the circle, you hear a deafening
crack!
which sets your pulse racing. With that split-second warning, a huge expanse of rock and ice breaks away from the slopes above and swiftly transforms itself into a thundering avalanche. Wide-eyed with horror, you watch as a million tons of ice, snow, and shale comes rumbling down the mountainside towards you.

Galvanized into action, you turn and run from this deadly white wall of destruction. It is almost upon you when you see a low shelf of rock near the base of the pass, and desperately you dive for cover beneath it.

Pick a number from the
Random Number Table
. If you possess Grand Huntmastery, add 2 to the number you have picked. If you possess Grand Nexus, you may add another 2.

If your total score is now 4 or lower,
turn to 99
.

If it is 5–8,
turn to 231
.

If it is 9 or higher,
turn to 104
.

Outside of this vessel is a vast subterranean lake enclosed within a titanic cavern of ice. Several ice-boats, similar to the one on which you set sail from Fort Azgad, are moored in a long line at the lake's edge. Scores of undead warriors attend to these ships, and many more can be seen marching along the frosty walkways which go all around the lake's shoreline.

Quickly you realize that these ships are part of a great invasion fleet. Constructed by the slaves of Deathlord Ixiataaga, they can only have been built for one purpose — to carry his armies of undead warriors to the lands of the living. Rimoah and Ardan were correct — the Deathlord does intend to wage a bloody war upon Magnamund — yet even their gloomiest predictions failed to estimate just how advanced his plans are.

Shocked by the revelation of your discovery, you reaffirm your vow to thwart the Deathlord's monstrous scheme. You move away from the porthole and hurry along the hallway in search of a way out of this alien submarine.

Turn to 69
.

Your frustration at not being able to solve the psychic riddle soon deepens into despair. The oppressive aura of evil which fills this chamber is beginning to undermine your will to go on.

Driven by the need to escape from its insidious effect, you commence a search for another exit. During this laborious search you discover a tiny hole near the base of the archway.

If you possess an Onyx Key,
turn to 192
.

If you do not possess this Special Item,
turn to 71
.