Beyond the perimeter of the settlement the path steadily gets steeper as it ascends into the hills. The torch-bearing line of acolytes illuminates the rocky landscape with flickering shadows as slowly they zigzag their way eastwards. Another storm is brewing; the eastern sky is alive with electrical activity and thunder booms beyond the horizon. Your ears pop as the air pressure fluctuates wildly and the howl of the wind seems to be growing ever louder. Then you notice something strange. Your torch does not seem to be affected by the storm; it is burning as smoothly as if you were in an enclosed room. You glance over your shoulder and see that the same is true of every other torch. It is as if the procession is being protected from the outside elements by an invisible tunnel.
Two miles from the settlement you pass a group of acolyte youths, all in their early teens, who are calling encouragement, chanting, and waving the line onwards. Then the path bends and you see a wayside altar and a large marble trough filled with stagnant green water. As they file past, every acolyte dips his right hand into the trough and touches it to his heart.
(I do possess the Black Token)
As you approach the trough, you feel the token getting hotter in your pocket. Your Magnakai skill of Nexus protects you from the heat, yet it does not prevent the glowing token from setting your tunic alight. Immediately you smother the flames but the resulting smoke causes a commotion among the acolytes following behind.
(Use Kai-Alchemy? Grand Huntmastery and a high level of rank? Neither?)
Using your advanced Kai Mastery you can tell that, along with the heat, the token is giving off intense ultraviolet radiation. It is a cursed relic which has been activated by its proximity to the pool of stagnant water. The closer you get to the pool, the hotter and more reactive the relic becomes. Another few steps and it will explode. Knowing this, you fumble to retrieve it from the smoking pocket of your tunic, and hurl it away.
You cast the glowing Token into the darkness and it explodes with a dull boom among the boulders, showering the path with dirt and slivers of stone.
(Erase this Special Item from your Action Chart.)
The sudden flash and bang cause a moment of panic among the acolytes. They fear that they are being attacked by Vakovarians and many of them drop their torches and run back along the path, screaming excitedly. Using this confusion to your advantage, you attempt to tag on to the end of the line of acolytes who are still advancing up the path.
Pick a number from the Random Number Table. If you possess Assimilance, add 3 to the number you have picked. If you possess Kai-screen, add 2.
(I roll too low, just a 1+2 for a 3)
As you hurry towards the end of the procession, an Elder steps out from behind a boulder and grabs you by the shoulder, commanding you to halt. Then you feel a tingling sensation, as if a horde of spiders were crawling in a line from your shoulder to the nape of your neck; the Elder has psychic abilities and he is attempting to probe your mind.
(Yes, I have Kai-Screen)
Drawing on your mastery of psychic defence, you are able to construct a shield around your mind which absorbs the Elder’s probe. He learns nothing from his attempt to read your psyche and, rather than admit to failure, he dismisses you as an empty-headed cretin.
With a growl of disdain, he orders you to rejoin the end of the procession and pushes you out of his way as he strides back to rally those acolytes who are fleeing down the path.
For three miles you trek stolidly through the hills towards a deep magenta glow that is bathing the horizon. Then as you round a knoll of rock shaped like an accusing skeletal finger, you are confronted by a spectacle which leaves you staring open-mouthed with awe and horror.
An expanse of dead land, littered with cracked and shattered rocks, slopes down to the edge of an immense chasm that stretches more than a mile from rim to rim. It is the Maakengorge. Hordes of screeching Vortexi ride a violent electrical storm which rages in the clouds above this vast abyss, and the earth shudders in echoing response to the booming thunder. Near the rim of the chasm there stands a towering arch, hewn of stone, that shimmers with such a supernatural brilliance that you cannot fully focus upon it. Peering closer you see before the arch an elaborate, multi-tiered dais constructed entirely of crystal. Around it kneel hundreds of acolytes who are chanting devoutly. Their dreary voices add to the dreadful noise.
You follow the procession as it winds its way towards the dais and soon you see that a solitary figure is standing upon its uppermost tier. He faces the shimmering arch, his hands outstretched, and with every movement of his fingers there is a subtle shift in the spectrum of colours within the angry clouds above. It is as if he is manipulating the storm as a conductor would an orchestra. With a grand sweep of his arms he calms the turbulent sky; then he turns to face his kneeling congregation.
(Yes, I have been to either Kaag or Mogaruith)
You intensify your vision and focus upon the figure who commands the crystal dais. Shock freezes your spine when you recognize at once the face and flowing platinum hair of Arch Druid Cadak, ruler of Mogaruith, the usurper lord of Kaag. He has grown strong since your last fateful encounter, and now it seems that he is poised to fulfil the Dark God Naar’s lust for vengeance by releasing Vashna and his hordes from the depths of the Maakengorge.
You take your place among the throng kneeling before the dais, and hear Cadak’s voice ring out above the howling storm.
‘I summon forth from the Vortex of the Planes the Deliverer of Vashna, Mighty Lord of Darkness, Prince of the Legions of the Restless Dead. Come to us. Come to us now and fulfil our destiny. We, the worthy, now prove our faith in the undying power of Vashna.’
With these words, the acolytes utter a chilling cry of affirmation and rise to their feet. By rank they follow the Elders in single file towards a smaller, shimmering metallic arch which stands to one side of the crystal dais, almost obscured by the glare of the larger one. One by one they file through this archway, under the watchful gaze of Cadak, and then return to their places where they kneel and pray.
As you approach the smaller arch, you sense a curtain of power drawn across it. Anxiously you pray to the Gods Kai and Ishir to protect you as you prepare to pass through this invisible barrier.
(Sigh. Yes, I possess the Sommerswerd. Come on now, I HAVE THE SCABBARD! Ah well)
The moment you step through the archway you feel an electrifying jolt run through your body, and snake-like tendrils of blue-white energy arc from the rim of the arch to the hilt of the Sommerswerd. A gasp of astonishment arises from the acolytes, audible even above the howling wind.
‘We have an intruder in our midst!’ screams Cadak, levelling his wizard’s staff at you accusingly. You fight the paralysing effect of the current and tug the sun-sword free of its scabbard. For a moment the current weakens as it is absorbed and neutralized by the Sommerswerd’s divine energy, but then the tip of Cadak’s staff ignites with a crimson flame and the current intensifies anew, numbing your limbs with its insidious effect.
‘Ha! I know you, intruder,’ yells Cadak maniacally. ‘You are Lone Wolf, the doomed hero of a doomed realm. You are a fool to come here, Kai Lord. Your powers are no match for those of Naar, the King of the Darkness.’
With this he turns to the acolytes and throws up his hands triumphantly.
‘This night we shall celebrate a double victory, my brethren. The resurrection of Lord Vashna and the destruction of Grand Master Lone Wolf!’
The acolytes scream their approval, but their cheer is drowned by the ever-increasing noise of the storm. Then you see that the storm itself is changing. A huge vortex of whirling cloud is descending from the heavens, a tornado whose deadly funnel is reaching down towards you. Then the tip of the roaring plume touches the ground at your feet and, with a terrifying suddenness, you are torn from the energy curtain and sent hurtling through the air towards the dark centre of the towering arch.