disease or famine.
Using your tracking skills, you quickly determine that there are no other creatures like these in this vicinity. Only then do you and the troopers remount your horses and continue along the highway towards the Javai Forest. A few miles short of the forest you discover a freshwater spring which is forded by the highway. It is an ideal site for a night camp, and so you send one of Yeng's men back to the caravan to tell them that you shall await their arrival here.
During your wait for the caravan, unless you possess the Discipline of Grand Huntmastery, you must now eat a Meal or lose 3 ENDURANCE points.
To continue, turn to 45 .
13
Yeng unsheathes his army dagger and presses its razor-sharp blade to the prisoner's throat. ‘Talk now, you dog — or you'll never talk again,’ he growls. The prisoner grits his teeth and refuses to answer.
‘Here, let me try, Sergeant,’ you say, as you ease the dagger from Yeng's hand. ‘I can see our friend is not afraid of death.’ You speak the words slowly, and hold the blade so that the light of the campfire is reflected directly into the prisoner's eyes. ‘But there are many things that are worse than death.’
You raise your left forearm and slowly you draw the sharp blade across the back of your wrist. Blood trickles from the open wound, and those nearby gasp with fearful amazement.
‘Just think on this, my friend. If I'm prepared to do this to myself, what will I be prepared to do to you, eh?’
Suddenly the man's nerve breaks. Cold sweat beads on his forehead and falteringly he beings to talk.
Turn to 210 .
15
Your Kai skills reveal to you that the centre of this bough is riddled with dry rot. If you were to use this wood to prop up the axle, there is a very real danger that it will collapse under the weight of the carriage. Using your improved Kai Discipline, you are able to reverse the effects of the rot that has eaten into the core of this bough and restore its strength. Once you are satisfied that the process is complete, you help the troopers to place the bough into position.
Turn to 252 .
17
Your shaft sinks deeply into the creature's ghastly hide, yet it does not prevent the loathsome worm from spitting its caustic saliva at you once more.
The corrosive saliva splashes your left arm and, within seconds, this vile fluid eats through the cloth of your tunic and sears your flesh: lose 3 ENDURANCE points.
Aided by your Magnakai Disciplines of Nexus and Curing, you hold back the pain and recover in time to launch another attack upon this burrowing horror.
Nahba Worm: COMBAT SKILL 45 ENDURANCE 40
If you win this combat, turn to 8 .
18
As the carriage draws level with your horse, you leap from the saddle and scramble onto the roof. You are drawing your Kai Weapon from its sheath when one of the monsters lashes out at you with its razor-sharp talons. You shield your face with your free arm, but its cruel claws slash your unarmoured limb: lose 4 ENDURANCE points. You must now fight them.
Illustration II —The evil creature lunges towards you with its teeth bared.
Chagarashi: COMBAT SKILL 42 ENDURANCE 38
Ignore any ENDURANCE loss you may inflict upon your enemy in the first two rounds of combat, due to the effectiveness of its initial attack.
If you win this combat, turn to 280 .
19
Chan drags you to your feet and helps you to press on through the tangle of foliage. Soon the densely-packed trees confound your hulking pursuers and you are able to outdistance them. When you sense that it is safe to halt, you throw yourself down upon the cool earth and fight to catch your breath. Chan throws himself down close by, and you can tell that he is shocked and saddened by the ferocity of the encounter and the loss of his favourite stallion. But he proves himself to be resilient and, within the space of a few short minutes, he is back on his feet and ready to go.
‘Come, my lord,’ he says, resolutely. ‘We must press on.
Using your tracking skills, you quickly determine that there are no other creatures like these in this vicinity. Only then do you and the troopers remount your horses and continue along the highway towards the Javai Forest. A few miles short of the forest you discover a freshwater spring which is forded by the highway. It is an ideal site for a night camp, and so you send one of Yeng's men back to the caravan to tell them that you shall await their arrival here.
During your wait for the caravan, unless you possess the Discipline of Grand Huntmastery, you must now eat a Meal or lose 3 ENDURANCE points.
To continue, turn to 45 .
13
Yeng unsheathes his army dagger and presses its razor-sharp blade to the prisoner's throat. ‘Talk now, you dog — or you'll never talk again,’ he growls. The prisoner grits his teeth and refuses to answer.
‘Here, let me try, Sergeant,’ you say, as you ease the dagger from Yeng's hand. ‘I can see our friend is not afraid of death.’ You speak the words slowly, and hold the blade so that the light of the campfire is reflected directly into the prisoner's eyes. ‘But there are many things that are worse than death.’
You raise your left forearm and slowly you draw the sharp blade across the back of your wrist. Blood trickles from the open wound, and those nearby gasp with fearful amazement.
‘Just think on this, my friend. If I'm prepared to do this to myself, what will I be prepared to do to you, eh?’
Suddenly the man's nerve breaks. Cold sweat beads on his forehead and falteringly he beings to talk.
Turn to 210 .
15
Your Kai skills reveal to you that the centre of this bough is riddled with dry rot. If you were to use this wood to prop up the axle, there is a very real danger that it will collapse under the weight of the carriage. Using your improved Kai Discipline, you are able to reverse the effects of the rot that has eaten into the core of this bough and restore its strength. Once you are satisfied that the process is complete, you help the troopers to place the bough into position.
Turn to 252 .
17
Your shaft sinks deeply into the creature's ghastly hide, yet it does not prevent the loathsome worm from spitting its caustic saliva at you once more.
The corrosive saliva splashes your left arm and, within seconds, this vile fluid eats through the cloth of your tunic and sears your flesh: lose 3 ENDURANCE points.
Aided by your Magnakai Disciplines of Nexus and Curing, you hold back the pain and recover in time to launch another attack upon this burrowing horror.
Nahba Worm: COMBAT SKILL 45 ENDURANCE 40
If you win this combat, turn to 8 .
18
As the carriage draws level with your horse, you leap from the saddle and scramble onto the roof. You are drawing your Kai Weapon from its sheath when one of the monsters lashes out at you with its razor-sharp talons. You shield your face with your free arm, but its cruel claws slash your unarmoured limb: lose 4 ENDURANCE points. You must now fight them.
Illustration II —The evil creature lunges towards you with its teeth bared.
Chagarashi: COMBAT SKILL 42 ENDURANCE 38
Ignore any ENDURANCE loss you may inflict upon your enemy in the first two rounds of combat, due to the effectiveness of its initial attack.
If you win this combat, turn to 280 .
19
Chan drags you to your feet and helps you to press on through the tangle of foliage. Soon the densely-packed trees confound your hulking pursuers and you are able to outdistance them. When you sense that it is safe to halt, you throw yourself down upon the cool earth and fight to catch your breath. Chan throws himself down close by, and you can tell that he is shocked and saddened by the ferocity of the encounter and the loss of his favourite stallion. But he proves himself to be resilient and, within the space of a few short minutes, he is back on his feet and ready to go.
‘Come, my lord,’ he says, resolutely. ‘We must press on.
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