The Eye of Winter's Fury (88 page)

	Special abilities
	Tendon ripper : Each time you take health damage from Sleet’s damage score, you must lower your speed by 1 for the next combat round.
	Slashing claws : At the end of each combat round, you must take 1 damage from each opponent remaining in combat.
	Bear power! : Nanuk adds 2 to your damage score for the duration of this combat.

If you manage to fend off your savage attackers, turn to
758
.

620

For besting Desnar and becoming leader of the bear tribe, your bond with Nanuk’s spirit has strengthened. You have also gained the following special ability:

Recuperation (dm):
Gain 1
health
at the end of each combat round for the rest of the combat. This ability can only be used once per combat.

When you have updated your hero sheet, turn to
721
.

621

Hands wrestle hold of your arms and shoulders. Angrily you try and break free, twisting your head to see two stern-faced guards standing either side of you.

‘You’re under arrest, traitor,’ barks one.

‘For crimes against the throne,’ snarls the other.

Before you can react, the guards shove you forward.

The scene dissolves as you are propelled at speed. Wind rushes past you, stinking of death and rot, and then you slam hard into a stone wall. Recovering quickly you spin round, only to find yourself trapped in a stone shaft with walls on either side. Above you, the shaft rises a hundred metres or more towards a red sky, torn by fast-moving cloud.

‘She wants me to keep you, as a plaything,’ whispers the voice in your ear. ‘But you are proving troublesome. More powerful than we thought.’

‘Let me go!’ you snarl angrily. ‘Face me, coward!’

There is a wet-sounding slurp. Then you find yourself slipping . . . sinking.

The ground has become a fetid mire of mud and dirt. Maggots, worms and other crawling insects squirm out of the dank soil. You are gradually being pulled under, the mire sucking you down into its clammy, wet depths.

‘The dead should stay in the ground,’ hisses the voice, ‘don’t you agree?’

Mocking laughter fills your ears. Desperately, your hands scrabble against the smooth stone, trying to gain leverage and stop your descent. But you are sinking fast, the worm-ridden filth already rising past your waist.

If you have the
silver acorn
and wish to use it, turn to
381
. Otherwise, turn to
7
.

622

You regret the outcome of your actions, but it was the only way of stopping such a dangerous weapon from getting into the wrong hands. Searching Talia’s body, you find 50 gold crowns and a
chipped emerald
(simply make a note of this on your hero sheet, it doesn’t take up backpack space).

You rip up the formula, then begin a search of the secret laboratory. Turn to
747
.

623

(Note: You must have completed the orange quest
The crossing
before you access this location)

If you have the keyword
survivors
on your hero sheet, turn to
644
. Otherwise, read on.

A dark spire of smoke draws you to the island. A cooking fire, perhaps – or a distress signal. Certainly a hopeful sign of life amidst this scattered archipelago.

As you sweep down across the wind-blown plains, it quickly becomes apparent that you will need to make landfall – the streaming currents of dust make it impossible to discern the true nature of the terrain, and its potential dangers.

You set down on the far side, then head inwards to find the source of the smoke. Swathed in thick cloaks and scarves, hoods drawn low, you stumble through the whirling sand, guided only by the wan light of the sun – so distant and small amidst the storm-laden skies.

As you near the centre of the island, you sight a tumble of ruins. Several walls and a tower loom out of the mist, their edges blunted and crumbling by the driving wind. The smoke is coming from something large lying behind the tower.

A boom and a flash of light.

The ground at your feet explodes, throwing up shards of stone. You grab Anise and pull her down behind a scatter of rocks. Skoll drops beside you, squinting towards the tower. There is another boom. Something glances off the rock beside you, leaving a charred strip.

‘Get back,’ calls a gruff voice. ‘I don’t cares what magic yer got, or any fancy weapons. I got the future, right ’ere in me mitts. And it’ll blow you back into that abyss if yer give me cause.’

You twist round, peering over the rock.

Skoll puts his fingers in the charred ash, licks them, then grimaces. ‘What is this magic?’

‘Gunpowder,’ you reply grimly. ‘There must be a sniper in the tower.’ Your eyes scan the bleached ruins, focusing on a window near the tower’s summit. Sure enough, there is a figure standing there.

‘We mean no harm!’ you call back.

Another blast of light, this time from the doorway of another building. You feel something whistle past your ear, its passage blowing your hood back from your face. You scowl back in anger. ‘Stop this! I told you, we mean no harm!’

‘Well, we do,’ barks the sniper in the tower. ‘Now, turn that ugly face of yours and get yer gone. Those were just warning shots; believe me – we won’t miss again.’

If you have the keyword
repentance
on your hero sheet, turn to
55
. Otherwise, turn to
10
.

624

‘What – you born yesterday? This is a trading post, go find me skins -furs. Then we can talk gold. Otherwise you’re just wasting me time.’ A pause – then a click of a tongue. ‘Humph, okay. Maybe there is something. If you’re headed north, perhaps you could keep an eye out for a friend of mine. Old trapper, veteran – been at it long as I’ve been ’ere. His name’s Bullet, on account of the buckshot lodged in his brain. Made him a little crazy, I think – but I like a little crazy.’

‘Where will I find him?’ you ask, shrugging your shoulders. ‘The north is a big place.’

‘I dunno – what you think I am, a soothsayer?’ He waves his gun barrels back and forth. ‘Can’t you track or something, sniff the air, follow prints – whatever you darn trappers do? He was looking for a mammoth. Not an ordinary one, mark my words – ’cos this is Bullet and he don’t do anything by halves. No, this beast is a legend in these parts. A giant. They say his pelt’s so big he could decorate every home in Valeron. Rich pickings, I think yer’ll agree.’

(Make a note of the keyword
tracker
on your hero sheet.)

625

Your weapons cleave through the beast’s arm, sending the drake head spinning across the chamber in a spray of black blood. Caul steps in, ducking beneath the giant’s remaining arm, and drives his spear through its midriff. The drake keeper gives a gurgling cry then topples backwards, taking out half of a pillar as it smashes through the black stone. After a few heaving, wheezy breaths, the creature finally lies still.

You examine the corpse, wondering what cruel magic could have been responsible for creating such a pitiful monster. Perhaps the same magic that created the Nisse – the scaled horrors that assaulted Bitter Keep.

For defeating the fearsome drake keeper, you may now help yourself to any two of the following rewards:

When you have updated your hero sheet, turn to
494
.

626

You follow the ledge until you are directly beneath one of the fleshy appendages. Its trunk-like form stretches across the gulf, forming a crude but navigable bridge. You can feel the oppressive heat emanating from its cracked skin, but with no other choice you scale the rock wall and leap onto the tentacle.

Tentatively you start for the other side, where the strange tentacle merges with a tangle of others, climbing up into the dusty haze. You are halfway across when you hear a screeching clamour coming from behind you.

Glancing back, you startle when you see a host of shadowy demons
crawling out of the darkness. Their shape and number are indistinct – at times they seem many, humanoid in shape, then they merge, flowing together into a single confusion of grasping limbs.

The shadows move with speed, flowing around the tentacle like some virulent disease. With no chance of outrunning them, you hold your ground and prepare to fight:

	Special abilities
	Tide of darkness : At the end of any round where you do not play a speed or a combat ability, you must immediately take 5 damage, ignoring armour , as the shadows start to surround you.
	Fell heat : At the end of each combat round you must suffer 1 damage, ignoring armour , from the molten-blooded tentacle.