The Kingdoms of Terror Read online

Many of the hostile creatures that inhabit Magnamund have the ability to attack you using their Mindforce. The Magnakai Discipline of Psi-screen prevents you from losing any ENDURANCE points when subjected to this form of attack and greatly increases your defence against supernatural illusions and hypnosis.

  If you choose this skill, write ‘Psi-screen: no points lost when attacked by Mindforce’ on your Action Chart.

  Nexus

  Mastery of this Magnakai skill will enable you to withstand extremes of heat and cold without losing ENDURANCE points and to move items by your powers of concentration alone.

  If you choose this skill, write ‘Nexus’ on your Action Chart.

  Divination

  This skill may warn a Kai Master of imminent or unseen danger or enable him to detect an invisible or hidden enemy. It may also reveal the true purpose or intent of a stranger or strange object encountered in your adventure. Divination may enable you to communicate telepathically with another person and to sense if a creature possesses psychic abilities.

  If you choose this skill, write ‘Divination’ on your Action Chart.

  If you successfully complete the mission as set in Book 6 of the Lone Wolf series, you may add a further Magnakai Discipline of your choice to your Action Chart in Book 7. This additional skill, together with your other Magnakai skills and any Special Items that you have found and been able to keep during your adventures may then be used in the next adventure in the Lone Wolf Magnakai series, which is called Castle Death.

  Equipment

  Before leaving Sommerlund on your quest for the Lorestone of Varetta, you equip yourself with a map of the Stornlands and a pouch of gold. To find out how much gold is in the pouch, pick a number from the Random Number Table. Add 10 to the number you have picked. The total equals the number of Gold Crowns inside the pouch, and you should now enter this number in the ‘Gold Crowns’ section of your Action Chart. If you have successfully completed books 1–5 of the Lone Wolf adventures in the earlier series, you may add this sum to the total of any Crowns you already possess. You can only carry a maximum of fifty Crowns, but any over this number can be left in safekeeping at your Kai Monastery.

  You can take five items from the list below, again adding to these, if necessary, any you may already possess. However, remember you can only carry two Weapons and eight Backpack Items, maximum.

  Sword (Weapons)

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

  Warhammer (Weapons)

  Bow (Weapons)

  Quiver (Special Items) This contains six Arrows. Tick them off as they are used.

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

  Quarterstaff (Weapons)

  Padded Leather Waistcoat (Special Item) This adds 2 ENDURANCE points to your total.

  Rope (Backpack Items)

  Dagger (Weapons)

  Tinderbox (Backpack Items)

  Axe (Weapons)

  List the five items that you choose on your Action Chart, under the heading given in brackets, and make a note of any effect they 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 do not need to make notes, but you should refer back to this list in the course of your adventure.

  Sword — carried in the hand.

  Potion of Laumspur — carried in the Backpack.

  Warhammer — carried in the hand.

  Bow — carried in the hand.

  Quiver — slung over your shoulder.

  Special Rations — carried in the Backpack.

  Quarterstaff — carried in the hand.

  Padded Leather Waistcoat — worn on the body.

  Rope — carried in the Backpack.

  Dagger — carried in the hand.

  Tinderbox — carried in the Backpack.

  Axe — 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 keep a maximum of only 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.

  How to Use Your Equipment

  Weapons

  Weapons aid you in combat. If you have the Magnakai Discipline of Weaponmastery and a correct weapon, it adds 3 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 that you can only carry two Weapons at once.) You may only use one Weapon at a time in combat.

  Bow and Arrows

  During your adventure there will be opportunities to use a Bow and Arrow. If you equip yourself with this weapon, and you possess at least one Arrow, you may use it when the text of a particular section allows you to do so. The Bow is a useful weapon, for it enables you to hit an enemy at a distance. However, a Bow cannot be used in hand-to-hand combat; therefore it is strongly recommended that you also equip yourself with a close combat weapon, like a Sword or Mace.

  In order to use a Bow you must possess a Quiver and at least one Arrow. Each time the Bow is used, erase an Arrow from your Action Chart. A Bow cannot, of course, be used if you exhaust your supply of Arrows, but the opportunity may arise during your adventure for you to replenish your stock of Arrows.

  If you enter combat armed only with a Bow, you must deduct 4 points from your COMBAT SKILL and fight with your bare hands.

  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.

  Gold Crowns

  The currency of Sommerlund and the Stornlands is the Crown, which is a small gold coin. Whenever you kill an enemy and search the body, you may take any Gold Crowns that you find and put them in your Belt Pouch. (Remember the pouch can carry a maximum of fifty Gold Crowns.)

  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 Magnakai Discipline of Huntmastery as one of your skills, you will not need to tick off a Meal when instructed to eat.

  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 potion 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 Magnakai Disciplines and Special Items 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 attacked by a Nightstalker (COMBAT SKILL 22). He is not given the opportunity to evade combat but must stand and fight as the creature leaps on him. Lone Wolf has the Magnakai Discipline of Psi-surge to which the Nightstalker is not immune, so Lone Wolf adds 4 points to his COMBAT SKILL, giving a total COMBAT SKILL of 19.

  He subtracts the Nightstalker's COMBAT SKILL from his own, giving a Combat Ratio of −3. (19 − 22 = −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 the Nightstalker 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 (plus an additional 2 points for using Psi-surge)

  Nightstalker 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 during 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 Magnakai Training

  The following table is a guide to the ranks and titles that are achieved by Kai Masters at each stage of their training. As you successfully complete each adventure in the Lone Wolf Magnakai series, you will gain an additional Magnakai Discipline and progress towards the ultimate distinction of a Kai Warrior — Kai Grand Mastership.

  Kai Master

  Kai Master Senior

  Kai Master Superior — You begin the Lone Wolf Magnakai adventures with this level of training.

  Primate

  Tutelary

  Principalin

  Mentora

  Scion-kai

  Archmaster

  Kai Grand Master

  Lore-circles of the Magnakai

  In the years before their massacre, the Kai Masters of Sommerlund devoted themselves to the study of the Magnakai. These skills were divided into four schools of training called ‘Lore-circles’. By mastering all of the Magnakai Disciplines of a Lore-circle, the Kai Masters developed their fighting prowess (COMBAT SKILL), and their physical and mental stamina (ENDURANCE) to a level far higher than any mortal warrior could otherwise attain.

  Listed below are the four Lore-circles of the Magnakai and the skills that must be mastered in order to complete them.

  Circle of Fire

  Weaponmastery & Huntmastery

  Circle of Light

  Animal Control & Curing

  Circle of Solaris

  Invisibility, Huntmastery & Pathsmanship

  Circle of the Spirit

  Psi-surge, Psi-screen, Nexus & Divination

  By completing a Lore-circle, you may add to your COMBAT SKILL and ENDURANCE the extra bonus points that are shown below.

  Lore-circle Bonuses

  Circle of Fire

  +1 CS +2 EP

  Circle of Light

  0 CS +3 EP

  Circle of Solaris

  +1 CS +3 EP

  Circle of the Spirit

  +3 CS +3 EP

  All bonus points that you acquire by completing a Lore-circle are additions to your basic COMBAT SKILL and ENDURANCE scores.

  Improved Disciplines

  As you rise through the higher levels of Magnakai training you will find that each of your skills will steadily improve. For example, if you possess the Discipline of Divination when you reach the Kai rank of Scion-kai, you will be able to ‘Spirit Walk’ and leave your body in a state of suspended animation as you explore your immediate surroundings unhindered by physical limitations.

  The nature of these additional improvements and how they affect your Magnakai Disciplines will be noted in the Improved Disciplines section of future Lone Wolf books.

  Magnakai Wisdom

  Your quest for the Lorestone of Varetta will be fraught with danger, for the lands that border upon the River Storn are wild and turbulent nations, constantly warring with one another. Use the map to help you during your adventure and make notes as you progress through the story, for they will be of great help in this and future adventures.

  Many things that you find will help 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.

  Choose your three Magnakai Disciplines with care, for a wise choice can enable any player to complete the quest no matter how weak his initial COMBAT SKILL and ENDURANCE points scores. Successful completion of previous Lone Wolf adventures, although an advantage, is not essential for the completion of this Magnakai adventure.

  May the spirit of Sun Eagle guide you on the path of the Magnakai.

  Good Luck!

  1

  The courtyard of the Kai Monastery is strangely silent the morning you begin the quest. A blanket of frost sparkles on the battlements and the air is crisp and clear as you guide your horse down the steep hill track that disappears into the Fryelund Forest. It is only a little later when you look back to see the tall grey towers of your stronghold silhouetted against the sky. You bid a silent farewell before entering the densely packed trees. You do not look back again.

  The long ride south is not without incident. On Raider's Road, the highway between the capital and the province of Ruanon, you are confronted by a ragged outlaw band. They demand gold but instead receive a harsh lesson in the powers of a Kai Master. You fight them and they flee in confusion, leaving three of their number dead on the highway. After this encounter, you are given a wide berth by all the other unsavoury characters of this bleak and desolate region.

  In Ruanon, you are greeted with a hero's welcome by the lord of the land, Baron Vanalund. He and his people will never forget the debt they owe you, for it was your courage that once saved them from destruction at the hands of an evil renegade warlord. You are made so welcome by the Ruanese that your quest is in danger of being forgotten in the endless round of banquets and celebrations held in your honour. However, you cannot neglect your duty, and the time soon comes for you to leave the mining town and venture south once more.

  Long ago, the highway from Ruanon to Quarlen was torn in two by a terrible earthquake that scarred the land for hundreds of miles. This deep crevasse became known as the Maakengorge — the Chasm of Doom — for its fathomless depths are cur
sed with a dreadful legacy. It was here, during the Age of the Black Moon, that King Ulnar killed the mightiest of the Darklords — Lord Vashna, whose body, along with the bodies of all his followers, was cast down into its bottomless reach. The legends say that his death-cry will echo through the gorge until he rises again to wreak his vengeance on Sommerlund and the House of Ulnar.

  You are eager to avoid the Chasm of Doom and the long detour to the free city-state of Casiorn is a far better prospect than a visit to the ghost-city of Maaken. Gradually, the fertile plain of southern Ruanon gives way to the sparse vegetation on the borders of the Dry Main. There, like a jewel rising out of the desert, lies the city-state of Casiorn. Your stay in the City of Merchants is a brief but profitable one; a piece of luck helped by your Kai skills gives a profitable win at the gambling house of the Silver Sage. With the gold you win you replenish your supplies and purchase a fresh mount for your ride to Quarlen.