When the ferry reaches the middle of the lake, the man stops rowing and stands up. He laughs menacingly and pulls back the hood of his cloak to reveal himself. He is a Drakkar and you must fight him.

The merchant looks angry. He calls to his bodyguard. You must think of something quickly.

You reach the base of the hill and hurry into the forest. After only a few minutes you discover an old forest track.

You descend a flight of stone stairs that lead to a large chamber. A macabre sight awaits you. Directly opposite, across the large stone room, is an ornate archway with a corridor leading into the darkness beyond. The strange green light radiates from two lines of skulls each resting on a stone plinth. They face each other to form an eerie walkway across the room.

Leaping from the top of the trunk, you land in front of two small furry creatures. You recognize that they are Kakarmi, an intelligent race of animals that inhabit and tend the forests of Sommerlund. Before you can apologize for your dramatic entrance, the frightened little creatures scurry off into the forest.

You are lucky, they do not seem to have spotted you. They slowly move on and have soon disappeared along the far side of the ridge. You continue your run.

In the centre of a small clearing you see a group of humans talking excitedly and gesturing wildly with their hands. There are two children, three men, and a woman. Their belongings are wrapped in bundles which they carry slung over their shoulders. Their clothes look well made and expensive but they are dirty and torn.

The Doomwolves are soon on you and you must fight them one at a time.

Your Tracking ability tells you that several trails from the right path lead off in the direction of the left path. They have been made by large wolves. The Darklords use such beasts to scout for their armies. They are vicious creatures and are often ridden by Giaks. The left path leads towards Holmgard, and the right path leads off towards the Durncrag Mountains. The choice of route is yours.

The creature that you now face is a Gourgaz, one of a race of cold-blooded reptilian creatures that dwell deep in the treacherous Maakenmire swamps. Their favourite food is human flesh!

The Princes Sword lies at your feet. You may pick up and use this weapon if you wish. The Gourgaz is about to strike at youyou must fight him to the death.

This creature is immune to Mindblast.

You are awoken by the cries of Kraan high above you in the clear morning sky. Rubbing your eyes, you peer upwards through the canopy of branches to see three of the loathsome creatures fly off towards the north.

You are sure you have not been spotted, but perhaps it would be best to leave nowjust in case. You mount your horse and ride south along the highway.

You find a stone portal in the east wall, but there does not appear to be any way of opening it.

Using your Kai Discipline of Mind Over Matter, you untie the ropes binding your hands. You wait for a chance to make a break for it and then sprint as fast as you can into the dense undergrowth. Black arrows whistle past you, but you are soon deep among the trees and safe again. You have lost your Backpack and Weapons but you have your life and limbs intact. You continue to push on into the forest.

The room is getting colder. You gradually notice the smell of sulphur in the air. You can hear chanting in the distance. It sounds as if it is somewhere in another part of this cave. A slit in the stone wall opens, and the end of a black staff begins to appear. Suddenly a bolt of blue lightning leaps from the staff and hits you in the chest.

As your life slowly drains away, the last thing you see is an old man dressed in black robes raising a dagger above your throat.

Swimming towards the bank, you can see the ranger spread-eagled at the waters edge. You reach him but only to find that he has broken his neck in the fall and is dead.

Suddenly, two Giaks jump on you from above and you must fight them. You are unarmed and must fight the Giaks with your bare hands. Deduct 4 points from your COMBAT SKILL and fight them one at a time.

Sweating, and out of breath, you part the dense undergrowth to see a Kraan hovering over the wagon. Three ghoulish Giaks drop from its back, startling the horses. They advance upon the helpless children with their spears.

The merchant takes your Gold and clicks his fingers. His bodyguard attacks you with his scimitar.

Carefully, you follow the stream as it makes its way towards the east. Suddenly you notice something in the distance that brings you to a halt.

Lying in the rushing water like a great black dam is a dead Kraan. You creep nearer, under cover of the foliage, until you see three arrows deep in the beasts chest. Trapped beneath the beast is the body of its rider. It is a Giak, a spiteful and malicious servant of the Darklords. Many centuries ago, their ancestors were used by the Darklords to build the infernal city of Helgedad, which lies in the volcanic wastelands beyond the Durncrag range of mountains. The construction of the city was a long and torturous nightmare, and only the strongest Giaks survived the heat and poisonous atmospheres of Helgedad. This creature is a descendant of these Giak slaves. It seems that this one must have drowned. The Giaks pouch contains 3 Gold Crowns. (You may take these if you wish.)

You have not gone far when you hear the sound of battle to the west.

You quickly move off into the forest before more Doomwolves or Kraan appear.

You have walked for more than an hour when you reach the top of a rocky hill. The sight that befalls you on the other side is one of hope. But there is also a daunting challenge to be faced.

As the beast writhes in its final death agony on the black stone floor, the portal in the east wall clicks open to reveal a corridor beyond. You quickly dash through the secret door just as it crashes shut.

Covering your nose with your cloak, you cautiously approach the dead beast. The sharp smell of its fetid black blood makes your stomach churn, but you are determined to press on. Then you notice a large saddlebag strapped to its chest. Opening the bag, you find a Message written on an animal skin.

Deeper in the bag is a Dagger. You may keep both the Message and the Dagger if you wish.

You leave the body and continue eastwards along the path.

You black out for only a few minutes before you are revived with a measure of strong spirit. Feeling weary but thankful to be alive, you lean on the shoulders of the Kings men and you stagger towards the outer defences.

The madman lies dead at your feet. Two soldiers soon appear at the doorway and immediately congratulate you. They tell you that he was an escaped lunatic whom they had been tracking for the last two days. One of the soldiers gives you 10 Gold Crowns reward money and offers to escort you to the citadel.

You hear the angry cries of the enemy drift across the lake. You must leave here before more Kraan appear. You mount your steed and push on further into the forest.

You feel very weak. The poison of the snake has entered your bloodstream and you can feel the muscles of your body involuntarily tightening and relaxing. Your legs suddenly collapse beneath you and you feel the slimy water of the marsh close over your head.

Keeping a watchful eye on the sky above, you move quickly along the track. You recall that this route leads to Fogwood, a small cluster of huts that have been used by a family of charcoal burners for nearly fifty years. After twenty minutes you reach the edge of a clearing where the huts are grouped in a small circle. There is no sign of the usual mist of wood smoke which gives Fogwood its apt name, and the huts are unusually quiet.

The outer fieldworks of the city can now be seen. Drawn across the river is a line of barges chained together to form a floating barricade. You can also see soldiers running along the log walls of the fieldworks, and you can hear the faint noise of battle drifting from the west.

In your haste to avoid the enemy, you catch your foot in a tree root and you are pitched head over heels in a tumble of dust and leaves. You quickly get to your feet and, crashing through the undergrowth at the base of the hill, you run into the forest. You have been running for nearly ten minutes when you discover that you have lost your Weapon(s). Well, at least you still have your life and your Backpack. Wiping the grime from your face, you push on through the trees ahead.

You have followed this twisting track for about twenty minutes when you hear the beating of wings high above the trees. Looking up you see a large Kraan approaching from the north, its huge black wings casting a gigantic shadow on the trees below.

On its back are two creatures armed with long spears. They are Mountain Giakssmall ugly creatures full of hatred and malice. Many centuries ago, their ancestors were used by the Darklords to build the infernal city of Helgedad, which lies in the volcanic wastelands beyond the Durncrag mountain range. The construction of the city was long and torturous, and only the strongest of the creatures survived the heat and poisonous atmosphere of Helgedad.

Quickly you dive for the shelter of a large fern tree as the Kraan passes overhead. With heart pounding, you pray that your quick reactions have saved you from being spotted.

Pick a number from the Random Number Table.

Reaching for your weapon you manage to hack your way through the tangle of wood and twisted branches to the clearer forest beyond. Your cloak is torn in several places and your right leg is badly bruised above the knee.

When you awake, you find yourself lying at the foot of a steep slope in a tangle of tall grasses. Your Backpack and Weapon are missing and your head aches. You cannot tell how long you have been unconscious, but you realize that you must not delay in pressing on with your mission.

Standing up, you see your Backpack is intact but the Weapon is broken in two and is now useless. Remember to cross it off your Action Chart. (If you have more than one weapon, only one of them is brokenyou may choose which one it is.) You quickly pick up your Backpack and move off into the trees ahead.

You quickly leave the path and gallop off along the track heading towards the capital. When you reach the point where the Doomwolves stopped, you can see just beyond a meadow the main highway which runs from the northern port of Toran to Holmgard. You should reach the capital by morning.

You clamber over the loose rocks and into the mouth of the cave, and then quickly turn to push a large rock over the entrance.

After a few minutes you see the Giaks on the rocky ledge outside, their evil yellow eyes furtively searching every crevice of the hillside. They are so close that you feel sure that they must spot you any second now.

Pick a number from the Random Number Table.

As you begin your climb, you hear the beat of wings approaching from the west. Kraan! By the noise they are making you estimate there are at least ten, perhaps more. You curse your bad luck, for the hillside offers no cover from the sky. If you are attacked during this difficult climb, you will find it nearly impossible to fight back and remain upright at the same time.