Shadow on the Sand Page 2

  Before leaving Holmgard on your voyage to the Vassagonian capital of Barrakeesh, you are given a map of the desert empire and a pouch of gold. To find out how much gold is in the pouch, pick a number from the Random Number Table. Now add 10 to the number you have picked. The total equals the number of Gold Crowns inside the pouch, and you may now enter this number in the Gold Crowns section of your Action Chart. (If you have successfully completed previous Lone Wolf adventures, you may add this sum to the total of any Crowns you may already possess. Remember you can only carry a maximum of fifty Crowns.)

  You may take your pick of the following items (in addition to those you already possess, but remember you may only carry two weapons). You may take up to four of the following:

  Dagger (Weapons)

  Potion of Laumspur (Backpack Items). This potion restores 4 ENDURANCE points to your total when swallowed after combat. There is enough for one dose.

  Sword (Weapons)

  Spear (Weapons)

  2 Special Rations (Meals). Each of these Special Rations counts as one Meal, and each takes up one space in your Backpack.

  Mace (Weapons)

  Shield (Special Items). This adds 2 points to your COMBAT SKILL when used in combat.

  List the four items that you choose on your Action Chart, under the heading given in brackets, and make a note of any effect it may have on your ENDURANCE points or COMBAT SKILL.

  How to Carry Equipment

  Now that you have your equipment, the following list shows you how it is carried. You don't need to make notes but you can refer back to this list in the course of your adventure.

  Dagger — carried in the hand.

  Potion of Laumspur — carried in the Backpack.

  Sword — carried in the hand.

  Spear — carried in the hand.

  Special Rations — carried in the Backpack.

  Mace — carried in the hand.

  Shield — slung over the shoulder when not in combat, otherwise carried in the hand.

  How Much Can You Carry?

  Weapons

  The maximum number of weapons that you may carry is two.

  Backpack Items

  These must be stored in your Backpack. Because space is limited, you may only keep a maximum of eight articles, including Meals, in your Backpack at any one time.

  Special Items

  Special Items are not carried in the Backpack. When you discover a Special Item, you will be told how to carry it.

  Gold Crowns

  These are always carried in the Belt Pouch. It will hold a maximum of fifty crowns.

  Food

  Food is carried in your Backpack. Each Meal counts as one item.

  Any item that may be of use and can be picked up on your adventure and entered on your Action Chart is given capital letters in the text. Unless you are told it is a Special Item, carry it in your Backpack.

  How to Use Your Equipment

  Weapons

  Weapons aid you in combat. If you have the Kai Discipline of Weaponskill and the correct weapon, it adds 2 points to your COMBAT SKILL. If you enter a combat with no weapons, deduct 4 points from your COMBAT SKILL and fight with your bare hands. If you find a weapon during the adventure, you may pick it up and use it. (Remember you can only carry two weapons at once.) You may only use one Weapon at a time in combat.

  Backpack Items

  During your travels you will discover various useful items which you may wish to keep. (Remember you can only carry a maximum of eight items in your Backpack at any time.) You may exchange or discard them at any point when you are not involved in combat.

  Special Items

  Special Items are not carried in the Backpack. When you discover a Special Item, you will be told how to carry it. If you have successfully completed previous Lone Wolf books, you may already possess Special Items. Before you begin Shadow on the Sand, you may choose to leave any or all of these items in ‘safekeeping’ at your Kai Monastery in Sommerlund. Special Items in ‘safekeeping’ cannot be used, but neither can they be lost during your adventure.

  Gold Crowns

  The currency of Sommerlund and Vassagonia is the Crown, which is a small gold coin. Whenever you kill a creature and search the body, you may take any Gold Crowns that you find and put them in your Belt Pouch.

  Food

  You will need to eat regularly during your adventure. If you do not have any food when you are instructed to eat a Meal, you will lose 3 ENDURANCE points. If you have chosen the Kai Discipline of Hunting as one of your five skills, you will not need to tick off a Meal when instructed to eat (unless you are in an area of desert where the opportunity for hunting is limited).

  Potion of Laumspur

  This is a healing potion that can restore 4 ENDURANCE points to your total when swallowed after combat. There is enough for one dose only. If you discover any other potions during the adventure, you will be informed of its effect. All potions are Backpack Items.

  Rules for Combat

  There will be occasions during your adventure when you have to fight an enemy. The enemy's COMBAT SKILL and ENDURANCE points are given in the text. Lone Wolf's aim in the combat is to kill the enemy by reducing his ENDURANCE points to zero while losing as few ENDURANCE points as possible himself.

  At the start of a combat, enter Lone Wolf's and the enemy's ENDURANCE points in the appropriate boxes on the Combat Record section of your Action Chart.

  The sequence for combat is as follows.

  Add any extra points gained through your Kai Disciplines to your current COMBAT SKILL total.

  Subtract the COMBAT SKILL of your enemy from this total. The result is your Combat Ratio. Enter it on the Action Chart.

  Example

  Lone Wolf (COMBAT SKILL 15) is ambushed by a Winged Devil (COMBAT SKILL 20). He is not given the opportunity to evade combat, but must stand and fight as the creature swoops down on him. Lone Wolf has the Kai Discipline of Mindblast, to which the Winged Devil is not immune, so he adds 2 points to his COMBAT SKILL, giving a total COMBAT SKILL of 17.

  He subtracts the Winged Devil's COMBAT SKILL from his own, giving a Combat Ratio of −3. (17 − 20 = −3). −3 is noted on the Action Chart as the Combat Ratio.

  When you have your Combat Ratio, pick a number from the Random Number Table.

  Turn to the Combat Results Table. Along the top of the chart are shown the Combat Ratio numbers. Find the number that is the same as your Combat Ratio and cross-reference it with the random number that you have picked (the random numbers appear on the side of the chart). You now have the number of ENDURANCE points lost by both Lone Wolf and his enemy in this round of combat. (E represents points lost by the enemy; LW represents points lost by Lone Wolf.)

  Example

  The Combat Ratio between Lone Wolf and Winged Devil has been established as -3. If the number taken from the Random Number Table is a 6, then the result of the first round of combat is:

  Lone Wolf loses 3 ENDURANCE points

  Winged Devil loses 6 ENDURANCE points

  On the Action Chart, mark the changes in ENDURANCE points to the participants in the combat.

  Unless otherwise instructed, or unless you have an option to evade, the next round of combat now starts.

  Repeat the sequence from Stage 3.

  This process of combat continues until the ENDURANCE points of either the enemy or Lone Wolf are reduced to zero or below, at which point that combatant is declared dead. If Lone Wolf is dead, the adventure is over. If the enemy is dead, Lone Wolf proceeds but with his ENDURANCE points possibly reduced.

  A summary of Combat Rules appears in the back of this book.

  Evasion of Combat

  During your adventure you may be given the chance to evade combat. If you have already engaged in a round of combat and decide to evade, calculate the combat for that round in the usual manner. All points lost by the enemy as a result of that round are ignored, and you make your escape. Only Lone Wolf may lose ENDURANCE points duri
ng that round, but then that is the risk of running away! You may only evade if the text of the particular section allows you to do so.

  Levels of Kai Training

  The following table is a guide to the ranks and titles that are bestowed upon Kai Lords at each stage of their training. As you successfully complete each adventure in the Lone Wolf series, you will gain an additional Kai Discipline and gradually progress towards mastery of the ten basic Kai Disciplines.

  Novice

  Intuite

  Doan

  Acolyte

  Initiate — You begin the Lone Wolf adventures with this level of Kai training

  Aspirant

  Guardian

  Warmarn or Journeyman

  Savant

  Master

  Beyond the ten basic skills of the Kai Master await the secrets of the higher Kai Disciplines or ‘Magnakai’. By acquiring the wisdom of the Magnakai, a Kai Lord can progress towards the ultimate achievement and become a Kai Grand Master.

  Kai Wisdom

  Your mission is one of peaceful diplomacy — but beware! The desert empire of Vassagonia is notorious for being a land of deceit and treachery. Be on your guard at all times. Also, make notes as you progress, as you will find they will be of great help in future adventures.

  Many things that you find will aid you during your adventure. Some Special Items will be of use in future Lone Wolf adventures and others may be red herrings of no real use at all, so be selective in what you decide to keep.

  If this is your first Lone Wolf adventure, choose your Kai Disciplines with care — a wise choice and a great deal of courage should enable anyone to complete both parts of this adventure, no matter how weak his or her initial COMBAT SKILL and ENDURANCE points. Successful completion of previous Lone Wolf adventures, although an advantage, is not essential for the completion of this book.

  May the spirits of your Kai Masters guide you on your perilous adventure.

  Good Luck!

  1

  For twenty-five days, the Vassagonian galley sails on a steady course for its home port of Barrakeesh, with only a brief stop at the Durenese harbour of Port Bax to break a safe but monotonous voyage.

  You use your time aboard the ship to good purpose, learning the Vassagonian language from the ship's crew. They are only too eager to teach you, asking only in return tales of your adventures in the Lastlands — for many of the sailors, these are the most exciting stories they have ever heard. By the time you reach Barrakeesh, you have both mastered their language and won their respect.

  It is early afternoon when the ramparts of the desert capital are first sighted on the horizon. You push your way through the cheering crew, and join the envoy at the prow of the ship. Beaming with pride, he hands you a telescope and invites you to view the land of his birth. The sight is indeed breathtaking. You stare in fascination at the golden domes, minarets, and green-tiled roofs shimmering beneath the desert sun, and marvel at the splendour of the Grand Palace, which dominates this magnificent city. Then you notice that from every golden turret of the palace flutters a long, black pennant. You ask the envoy of the meaning of the black flags. Horror floods across his face as he snatches the telescope from your hands. ‘By the spirit of the Majhan! He is dead … The Zakhan is dead!’

  As the bad news spreads through the ship, you pray that the peace treaty will be signed and honoured by the Zakhan's successor. However, the envoy is less than hopeful.

  The harbour of Barrakeesh is deserted save for a handful of citizens clad in black, and the only sound that greets you is the toll of a funeral bell, echoing through the harbour on this day of mourning. Then a horse-drawn carriage enters the harbour square, escorted by the cavalry of the Palace Guard. It halts, and a dour man in turquoise robes steps out to meet you.

  ‘A thousand greetings, Lone Wolf, I am Maouk, and I welcome you to our city on behalf of my master, his most sublime magnificence, Zakhan Kimah.’

  The envoy gasps upon hearing the name of the new Zakhan. He turns to speak, his eyes wild with fear. ‘It is a trap, you must … ’

  His warning is cut short by the blade of Maouk's dagger. Suddenly, scores of black-clad warriors emerge from the shadows; they are Sharnazim, élite Vassagonian bodyguards. They close in, surrounding you on every side. You must act quickly if you are to survive this deadly trap.

  If you wish to stand and fight against these overwhelming odds, turn to 36.

  If you wish to surrender to Maouk and his warriors, turn to 176.

  If you wish to run back to the galley, turn to 104.

  2

  Breathless from the exertion of combat, you step back as the Elix finally collapses and dies. Slowly, its glass-green eyes mist over and become opaque like hard, cold jadin. Around the creature's blood-spattered throat hangs a Gold Key on a chain. You quickly discover that the Gold Key opens the steel door of a strongroom at the far end of apothecary.

  High upon a shelf, just inside the door, you find a small box that contains what you seek — the Oede herb. Within seconds of pressing the beautiful golden leaves to your wounded shoulder, a tingling sensation engulfs your whole arm. The numbness soon fades, and both your arm and shoulder are free of the horrific Limbdeath microbes.

  Sufficient Oede herb remains in the box for one further application. It is a powerful substance that can be used against many deadly diseases or alternatively can be used to restore 10 ENDURANCE points if swallowed after combat. If you wish to keep the Oede herb, mark it on your Action Chart as a Backpack Item. You should also restore the COMBAT SKILL points that were temporarily lost due to Limbdeath.

  After dragging the dead Elix into the strongroom, you lock the steel door from the inside. You notice that there are in fact two doors to the strongroom: the one by which you entered and a smaller door set into the opposite wall. The Gold Key opens the lock of the new door, which leads to a narrow staircase beyond, dimly lit by flaring torches in wall brackets.

  The climb is steep and arduous. You suspect that these steps are part of a secret route to the strongroom, and your suspicions are only confirmed when you arrive at what appears to be a dead end. A closer examination reveals a narrow bronze door set flush to the wall, plain in appearance except for a tiny key hole close to the floor. As you insert and twist the Gold Key, you are quietly confident that the bronze door will open.

  Turn to 67.

  3

  You search the bodies of the three vestibule guards and uncover the following items:

  4 Gold Crowns

  1 Dagger

  1 Sword

  1 Potion of Alether (Increases your COMBAT SKILL by 2 points for the duration of one fight.)

  You may also take the Blowpipe and the remaining Sleep Dart. If you decide to take them, mark them on your Action Chart as Backpack Items.

  In the robe of the dead blowpipe warrior, you find a small piece of parchment upon which is written today's date and the number 67. A smile creeps across your face as you realize that this is the number that will open the bronze door.

  You hold your breath and twist the dial!

  Turn to 67.

  4

  You stoop to grasp the sword, but as your fingers close around the hilt, the second guard attacks.

  Palace Gaoler: COMBAT SKILL 14 ENDURANCE 21

  Ignore all ENDURANCE points lost by the enemy in the first round of combat, for you can only attempt to parry his blow.

  If you win and the fight lasts for 4 rounds of combat or less, turn to 165.

  If you win and the fight lasts longer than 4 rounds of combat, turn to 180.

  5

  You are halfway round the tower when a section of the sandstone ledge suddenly gives way beneath your feet. Desperately you claw at the masonry, but the stone is old and disintegrates in your hands. You topple backwards and fall to your doom in the palace gardens below.

  Your escape and your life end here.

  6

  The oil is made from the fruit of the larnuma tree. It
has a soothing and relaxing effect when rubbed into the skin.

  If you choose to rub the larnuma oil into your skin, turn to 103.

  If you decide not to use the oil, turn to 71.

  7

  You release the bowstring, and the arrow arcs through the air towards your target. However, you have misjudged the range, and it falls short and shatters on the cobblestones of the harbour square, alerting Maouk's men to your whereabouts. You prepare to take flight, but the small boat is quickly surrounded, and you are forced to surrender.

  As the black-clad Sharnazim drag you along the harbour wall, you fear that your life is about to come to a sudden end.

  Turn to 176.

  8

  You channel all your Kai skill into detecting the number that will open the door; it is a strenuous task, and one that demands great concentration. Gradually, the image of two numbers — six and seven — begin to form in your mind. The image is hazy, and you're not sure if the number is sixty-seven or seventy-six. You are exhausted by your efforts, and they have cost you 2 ENDURANCE points. Deduct these from your current ENDURANCE points total before choosing between the two possibilities.