Lone Wolf: A Big'Un

Very decisive. Nice. No left turns here.

You have ridden about a mile when you are knocked from Back to the Future by an arrow grazing your forehead. You lose 3 ENDURANCE points.

As you pull yourself to your feet, you see a patrol of Drakkarim emerge from the woods on either side of the road. You have been ambushed and must evade them as quickly as possible by going into the forest.

Oh shitbuckets. We'd better gather up both of our remaining endurance points and run for the hills.

You are dizzy from your wound and you stumble through the trees like a blind man.

Suddenly you fall forward as if the ground has been snatched from beneath your feet. You have fallen head-first into a hunting pit. As you look up, you can see four Drakkarim levelling their bows at you, evil sneers spreading simultaneously across their ugly faces.

As the world darkens, the last thing you feel are the black shafts of their arrows deep in your chest. You have failed in your mission.

Right turns are always fun. - Jimbob

Why not. Let's take a right. Back to the Future will know anyway... - Hannes

I think right is the right choice. - BC

Ok! So, left it is!

You have ridden about three miles when, in the distance, you spot the unmistakable silhouette of five large Doomwolves. Riding on their backs are Giaks. They seem to be going on ahead to where the path leads down into an open meadow. Suddenly, one of the Giaks leaves the others and begins to ride back along the path towards you.

If you wish to hide in the undergrowth and let him pass, turn to 176.

If you wish to fight him, turn to 340.

Good god, please no more fighting.

You hide behind some thick bushes so that the Doomwolf and its rider will not see your white horse. Luckily it works--the beast lopes past and vanishes down the track that you have just come along.

If you wish to attack the remaining Doomwolves and their riders, turn to 253.

If you wish to press on deeper into the forest,turn to 126.

Our task at hand is too urgent to waste time beating the bejesus out of our foes. This the only incentive for not fighting right now.

You ride deeper and deeper into the forest. Silently you thank the Prince for such a fine horse, for although the ground is a tangle of briars and roots, Back to the Future never once falters. The Doomwolves are soon left far behind and you bring your horse to a halt. The light has faded fast and it is almost night.

If you wish to press on ahead, turn to 46.

If you wish to bear left (the same direction as the path you left far behind) then turn to 143.

Let us press on, for this path is completely safe now. Our sixth sense tells us so.

You have covered about two miles when the trees ahead thin out. You can see a small wooden shack on the edge of a lake. A cloaked man approaches you and offers to row you and your horse across the lake for a fee of 2 Gold Crowns.

If you have the Kai Discipline of Sixth Sense, turn to 296.

If you accept the offer, turn to 246.

If you refuse and try to ride around the lake, turn to 90.

I had a sixth sense about our sixth sense. Man, I'm awesome.

You sense something is wrong. With fighting all around and the forces of the Darklords so near, why has this man stayed in the forest? You feel a strange aura of evil about him and decline his offer.

Turn to 90.

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.

Turn to 18.

You are awoken by the sound of troops in the distance. Across the lake you see the black-cloaked figures of Drakkarim and a pack of Doomwolves and their riders. A Kraan appears from above the trees and lands on the roof of the small wooden shack.

It is ridden by a creature dressed in red. The Kraan takes off and begins to fly across the lake to where you are hidden.

If you wish to use the Kai Discipline of Camouflage, turn to 114.

If you wish to ride deeper in the forest, turn to 239.

If you wish to fight the creature, turn to 29.

Cheeseburger? What Cheeseburger? No Cheeseburgers here.

You coax Back to the Future to lie down and begin to cover him and yourself with branches and dead leaves. You hear the wings of the Kraan as it passes over the trees. It returns and circles above you, but soon retreats back across the lake.

You decide to leave now, in case it returns with some of its friends.

Turn to 239.

Wow. Back to the Future is one heck of a horse.

As you push on into the forest, you hear the wings of the Kraan pass above the trees and disappear northwards. You ride on for nearly an hour until you come to a clearing. On the far side is a track that leads off to the south.

If you wish to enter the clearing and take the south exit, turn to 34.

If you would rather skirt the edge of the clearing and pick up the track further on,turn to 118.

Hmmm. A dubious choice. We're finally getting healthy, let's stick to the road and leave that nondescript clearing alone.

You spur your horse to a gallop and race down the long straight path. In the far distance you can just make out the silhouette of Holmgard on the horizon, its high walls and tall spires glinting in the morning sun. Your path joins a highway running from north to south. It is the main turnpike road between the northern port of Toran and the capital. You set off towards Holmgard, your eyes peeled for Kraan in the clear morning sky.

Turn to 224.

After all of this non-action, we're back to 14 endurance. If I had meals, I'd eat them.

You have ridden several miles and have seen no sign of refugees or of the enemy. You race on towards a high ridge in the middle distance. You should be able to see the capital from there.

As you reach the peak, the sight that meets you on the far side is one of hope--but there is still one challenge you know you have to face.

Turn to 153.

Before you are the tall grey-white walls and glimmering spires of Holmgard, the city's banners fluttering from the battlements in the fresh morning breeze. Stretching out towards the west, the River Eledil traces its course from the mountains of the Durncrag range to the Holmgulf. But below the mountain peaks you can see a vast black army marching relentlessly on towards the capital.

To your right you can see the highway heading off over the rolling plain towards Holmgard. At a gallop you could make the outer fieldworks of the city's defences in less than an hour, but you would be in the open for most of the time and vulnerable to attack by Kraan. Directly ahead of you, a wide river drifts sluggishly towards the Eledil. If you abandoned your horse, you could swim towards the outer defences under cover of the river banks. Or there is a final alternative. To your left lies the Graveyard of the Ancients. These tombs and crumbling monuments to a forgotten age would conceal your approach but it is a forbidden area. Many are the unnamed horrors that lie there in restless sleep, waiting to consume the unwary trespasser.

If you will try your luck by the highway, turn to 202.

If you feel that you stand a better chance of reaching the capital via the river then turn to 135.

Or if you are brave enough to risk the unknown perils of the Graveyard of the Ancients, turn to 329.

Our endurance score is a masculine 16 by my count. Given my affinity for dead things and my intense dislike of water, you could guess my choice. But I'm just a disembodied voice in your head. What do you want to do?