You are winded but not hurt. You have fallen fifteen feet or so through the roof of an underground tomb. The walls are sheer and you cannot climb them. An arched tunnel leads out of the tomb towards the east, in front of which lies the sarcophagus of some ancient noble.

You turn to face a sneering Giak and the razor-fanged jaws of its mount. You must fight them as one enemy.

Pulling your green cloak about you, you blend into the foliage and rocks. Peering carefully up at the track, you are shocked to see that they are not the Kings men at all.

They are Drakkarim, some of the Darklords cruellest troops. They must have disguised themselves as soldiers of the King in order to get this far into the forest. Thanking your Kai training for saving your life, you silently slip away from the stream and push on into the forest.

The Kraan and its riders land on the track barely ten feet from where you are hidden.

The Giaks leap from the scaly backs of the Kraan and move towards you, their spears raised to strike. You have been seen.

Peering out carefully, you can see three green-clad men on horses racing along the bank. You recognize them as Border Rangers, the regiment of the Kings Army that police the western borders. One of them is wounded and is slumped over the neck of his horse.

Close behind follow a pack of twenty Doomwolves. Their Giak riders are firing arrows at the rangers which fall all around them. One ranger drops from his horse and rolls down the river bank, a black arrow deeply embedded in his right leg.

The Gem feels very hot and burns your hand. Lose 2 ENDURANCE points. You quickly grab it with the edge of your cloak and slip this Vordak Gem into your Backpack. A Gem that size must be worth hundreds of Crowns! You smile at your good fortune, mount your horse, and ride off along the south track.

The Mountain Giaks are unaccustomed to pursuing their prey through forests and you soon outdistance them, until finally the sound of their grunts and curses disappears completely.

When you are satisfied that they have given up the chase, you stop for a few minutes to catch your breath and check your equipment. With the memory of your ruined monastery still blazing in your mind, you gather up your meagre belongings and push on.

As the caravan careers past, you leap for the tailboard and manage to hold fast. Pulling yourself upright, you find that you are standing on the bottom rung of a ladder leading to the rear door of the wagon. Suddenly the top half of the door flies open and you are confronted by the angry face of a bodyguard.

You come to a small footbridge across a fast-flowing stream. On the other side of the bridge the path turns south. You cross the bridge and follow the path.

You stumble backwards through the front door, clutching your burnt chest with both hands. Smoke is billowing from the shop and you must runbefore the Sage or his robber son catch you.

You make it back to the main street and lose yourself in the rush of the crowds.

After nearly an hour, the Kraan and their cruel riders vanish towards the west. As the shocked refugees start to emerge from the woods, you can hear the sound of horses in the distance galloping nearer. You stay hidden and wait as the riders come closer. They are the cavalry of the Kings Guard wearing the white uniforms of His Majestys army.

The giant Gourgaz lies dead at your feet. His evil followers hiss at you and then fall back from the bridge. The Princes soldiers form a protective wall around you and their dying leader with their shields. Black arrows whistle past your head.

The dying Prince looks up into your eyes and says, Kai Lord, you must take a message to my father. The enemy is too strong, we cannot hold him. The King must seek that which is in Durenor or all is lost. Take my horse and ride for the capital. May the luck of the gods ride with you.

You bid a sad farewell to the Prince, mount his white steed, and head south along the forest path. The battle still rages behind you as the Princes men fight off another assault on the bridge.

You have run about a mile when three soldiers appear from beneath a small footbridge. They demand that you halt and drop your weapons and equipment.

They are bloodstained and unshaven. Their leader is wearing the tunic of a soldier of the Toran garrison.

Just as you feel the air beating on your back, you slip free of your horse and roll overlanding with a splash in a muddy ditch by the side of the highway.

You are uninjured, and you quickly scramble to your feet and make a dash for the cover of the treesbut with thirty yards left to run, you see the Kraan circling above for another dive.

The path is wide and leads straight into thick undergrowth. The trees are tall here and unusually quiet. You walk for over a mile when suddenly you hear the beating of large wings directly above you. Looking up, you are shocked to see the sinister black outline of a Kraan diving to attack you.

You soon reach another crossroads.

Focusing your powers on the lock, you try to visualize the inner mechanism. Gradually its image appears in your minds eye. It is old and corroded but it still functions. You are in danger of losing your concentration when a subtle click confirms that your effort has not been in vain.

The pin is an easier task. Slowly it rises out of the lock and falls to the floor. The granite door swings towards you on hidden hinges and the grey half-light of the Graveyard floods into the tomb. The exit is overgrown with graveweed and you suffer many small cuts to your face and hands as you fight your way through to the surface. You are startled by a sudden noise. You turn to see the disembodied head of a corpse laughing at you.

In blind panic, you race through the eerie necropolis towards the southern gate.

You cautiously peer around the rock to see a soldier lying on his back. By his side is a Spear and shield. On the shield is the painting of a white pegasusthe Prince of Sommerlunds emblem. He is one of the Princes soldiers, and he is only just conscious. His uniform is badly torn, and you can see that he has a deep wound in his left arm. As you move nearer, his eyes flicker open. Heal me, my lord, he begs. I can barely feel my arm.

In a cloud of dust and loose rocks you career down the steep hillside. The Kraan is still circling above as if waiting to direct the Giaks after you.

Pick a number from the Random Number Table.

Night falls and you are soon engulfed in total darkness. To press on would be useless, for you would be sure to lose your way. Tethering your horse to a tree, you pull your green Kai cloak about you and fall into a restless sleep.

The small shop is dark and musty. Books and bottles of every size and colour fill the many shelves. As you close the door, a small black dog begins to yap at you. A bald man appears from behind a large screen and bids you welcome. He politely enquires as to the nature of your visit and offers you a choice of his wares from the glass counter.

You dive for cover not a moment too soon, for a hail of black arrows scream out of the woods and bombard the area where you were standing seconds before. Pulling your cloak around you to blend into the dense bracken, you dash through the forest and away from the hidden ambushers as fast as possible. This entire area is infested by Giaks and you must escape as quickly as you can. You run without rest for over an hour until you happen to fall upon a straight forest path heading towards the east. You follow the path, taking care to keep watch for signs of the enemy.

You turn and run for the stairs just as a large block falls with a crash behind you. The room you were in has been completely sealed off. As you escape into the daylight, you glimpse behind you the crooked figure of an old druid as he raises his staff. A second later, a bolt of lightning explodes at your feet. You do not stop but run headlong down the hill, cursing the delay but thankful for your Sixth Sense.

The Sage, seeing that you have killed his son, turns and runs from the shop by a back door.

You find 12 Gold Crowns in the robbers purse and another 4 Gold Crowns in a wooden box under the counter. Carefully examining the potions and the wand you soon realize that they are all cheap counterfeits. In fact the entire shop is full of imitations. You shake your head and return to the main street.

You soon stumble upon a narrow forest track running from north to south.

Holding your breath, you tighten your grip on your weapon and prepare to strike. The tension is unbearablethe Giaks are so close that the foul stench of their unwashed bodies fills your nostrils. You hear them curse in their strange alien tongue and then leave the ledge and start to scramble towards the peak. When you are sure they have gone, you finally exhale and wipe the sweat from your eyes.

Ahead of you, you can see a fierce battle raging across a stone bridge. The clash of steel and the cries of men and beasts echo through the forest. In the midst of the fighting, you see Prince Pelathar, the Kings son. He is in combat with a large grey Gourgaz who is wielding a black axe above his scaly head. Suddenly, the Prince falls woundeda black arrow in his side.

The guards seem to believe your story and bow with respect to your rank of Kai Lord. One of them pulls a concealed bell-rope and the huge doors start to swing open. They usher you inside and you hear the doors close behind you.

You dive into the undergrowth just as the beast screams past your head. You quickly look back to see the Kraan turning in the air in preparation for another dive. You scramble to your feet and run deeper into the safety of the forest.

The cold corridor suddenly makes an abrupt turning towards the east. You notice a greenish glow that lights the tunnel in the far distance. As you creep nearer you can see that the corridor opens out into a larger chamber.

The strange light seems to emanate from a large bowl resting upon the top of a granite throne. On a plinth in front of the throne stands a statue. It looks like a winged serpent curved in the shape of an S.

The noise of battle soon fades behind you but the ensuing silence is broken by a voice in your head that accuses you of being a coward, and deserting a fellow human in danger. You try to rid yourself of your nagging conscience by telling yourself that your mission is far more important, and that not only is the life of the young magician in peril but the lives of all your countrymen depend on you reaching the capital alive.

Suddenly, the sight of a Giak war party in the distance makes you quickly take cover and hide. But it is too latethey have spotted you and you must run as fast as you can.

As you descend the rocky slope towards the Graveyard of the Ancients, you are aware of a strange mist and cloud that swirls all around this grey and forbidding place, blocking the sun and covering the Graveyard in a perpetual gloom. A chill creeps forward to greet your approach.

With a feeling of deep dread, you enter the eerie necropolis.

The overgrown path leads to a junction where another track branches off towards the east.

The walls are dank and slimy. The stale air chokes you and cobwebs brush across your face. You can feel panic grip your stomach, as the tunnel gets darker and darker.

You reach a junction where the tunnel meets a corridor leading from north to south.

In the distance, perched on the branch of an old oak tree is a jet-black raven.