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  SHADOW THIEF: JAILBREAK 
  BY 
  DAVID LOWRIE 
   
   
  TEXT COPYRIGHT © 2020 BY DAVID LOWRIE 
  ART COPYRIGHT © 2020 BY DAVID LOWRIE 
   
  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS BOOK OR ANY PORTION THEREOF MAY NOT 
  BE REPRODUCED OR USED IN ANY MANNER WHATSOEVER WITHOUT THE 
  EXPRESS WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER EXCEPT FOR THE 
  USE OF BRIEF QUOTATIONS IN A BOOK REVIEW. 
   
  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2  
  SECOND PRINTING, 2020 
   
  ISBN 9-798618004930 
   
  BLACK DOG GAMEBOOKS 
   
  BLACKDOGGAMEBOOKS@GMAIL.COM 
  
   
   
   
   
  Shadow Thief  
  Book one: 
  Jailbreak 
  Words and pictures  
  By 
  David Lowrie 
   
   
  BLACK DOG 
   GAMEBOOKS 
  
   
   
  Acknowledgements 
   
  Rob Hatton  
  James Spearing  
   
  Thanks to both of you for helping by play testing this book and 
  looking for any gremlins.  
   
  Thanks also to the members of the Facebook Gamebook Authors 
  Guild for their advice, generosity and support. Having an on-line 
  community for me as a first time writer has been a great experience. 
  Thanks in particular to: 
   
  Dane Barrett 
  Victoria Hancox 
  Sam Isaacson 
  Mark Lain 
  Dave Lewis 
  Adam Mitchell 
  Sean Danger Monaghan 
  Martin Noutch 
  Adam Pestridge 
  James Schannep 
  Troy Anthony Schermer 
  And, finally thanks to my family for supporting me, as I endlessly 
  doodle, draw, print, type, read, cross-out, swear and stick pieces of 
  A4 paper together (should’ve used A3) 
  
   
   
   
  Playing a gamebook 
  The chances are that if you have bought this book, then you will 
  probably know what a gamebook is. If so, then please feel free to 
  move on straight away to the next section.  
   
  If by some chance you haven’t played a gamebook before, then it’s 
  basically interactive fiction. Most books are sequential. You start at 
  page 1 and read page 2, 3 etc. until you get to the final page and 
  the end and each time you read it, the book is the same and the 
  story is the same. 
   
  In a gamebook, however, you make choices which indicate which 
  way the story goes. The book is divided up into numbered sections. 
  You start at section 1. You read the text, and you are given the 
  option of, for example, turning left, or turning right.  
   
  If you turn left you will be told to turn to a new section, let’s say 142. 
  If you decide to turn right, then you are told to go to section 34. 
  Therefore, the choices you make determine which route you take 
  through the book. I would say that you are the hero in your own 
  story, but let’s see, shall we? 
   
  As well as that, you also create a character, with different attributes. 
  In this book there are things like fighting skill, endurance and agility. 
  Your fighting skill helps you when you meet beings you may have to 
  fight. Your endurance is how healthy or close to death you are, as 
  you can easily die in this book - probably many times in many 
  different but equally gruesome ways. If your endurance gets to zero, 
  then unless told otherwise, you are dead and your adventure will 
  end. This means you will have to start the book again – and maybe 
  try a different route, or just be luckier.  
   
  Things like fights and tests are determined by rolling dice and 
  adding them to different attributes. For this book you will need 2 6 
  sided dice (called d6).  So if you are told to roll 2d6 – you roll two six 
  sided dice and add the numbers together. If you are told to roll 1d6 
  – roll 1 6 sided die. 
   
  As well as dice, you will also need a pencil (not a pen!), a rubber 
  and paper. To keep track of your attributes, which will change over 
  
   
   
  time, there is an adventure sheet in this book which you can write 
  on, or ideally photocopy so you can use them again and again.  
   
  I would also recommend using blank paper to draw a map, or a 
  route through the book, as there may be times when the path is not 
  clear and mapping where you have already been will help you 
  immensely.  
   
  Of course, this being your gamebook now (as hopefully you have 
  bought it from me) then you can ignore the dice rolling etc., and just 
  read it and try to find your way through without worrying about 
  dying. It’s entirely up to you. 
   
  So, whichever way you choose, then I hope you enjoy your time 
  playing this book. This is my first published gamebook, and so there 
  may be errors, typos or mistakes. If you do find any then please let 
  me know by joining and commenting on my Facebook page: 
   
  THE HELLSCAPE GAMEBOOK SERIES 
   
  Or via: 
  Twitter:  
  Black_dog_gamesbooks @ BGamebooks 
  Instragram:  
  blackdoggamebooks 
  Email:   
  blackdoggamebooks@gmail.com 
   
  Any feedback would be much appreciated. If you get stuck, drop me 
  a line and I will give you a hand (if you deserve it!). 
   
  The Facebook page will also keep you informed of upcoming 
  gamebooks that I am in the process of writing.  
  
   
   
   
  Your character’s statistics 
  Throughout your adventure you have a series of stats that will 
  determine how good you are at fighting, how fortunate you are, how 
  long you can keep going for and how quick you are. Each of these 
  need to be generated by rolling dice and recording them on the 
  Adventure sheet in the book. These attributes will change over time 
  – normally for the worst! 
   
  Fighting Skill 
  Roll 1d6 and add 6. This is mainly used in combat. It is how 
  proficient you are with arms and in hand to hand combat. There may 
  be weapons or other items that will enhance (or decrease) your 
  FIGHTING SKILL (FS). Your FIGHTING SKILL, can go above its 
  original value with some additions.  
   
  Agility 
  Roll 1d6 and add 6. AGILITY is useful in lots of ways. In combat it 
  helps you defend against attacks. In pursuits, or other times, then it 
  can help you escape from enemies. It can also help you dodge traps 
  due to your speed of movement. It can never exceed its original 
  value, unless you are told otherwise. 
   
  Endurance 
  This is the ability of your human form to carry on and take wounds. 
  To find out your endurance, roll 2d6 and add 12. If your 
  ENDURANCE gets to 0 during a game, your physical form is dead, 
  and your adventure is (most likely) over. You will have to start the 
  book again.  
   
  
   
   
  Fitness 
  To find out your FITNESS, roll 1d6 and add 6 to the score. Fitness 
  is your ability to keep on running, moving or fighting despite your all 
  too human body getting tired. If you are in a fight, the longer it goes 
  on, then the more fitness has to do with it – as you get tired and so 
  are less able to attack and defence effectively. Fitness will go down 
  by a point after each round of a fight or pursuit. However, this is only 
  temporary, and it will return back to full levels by one point each 
  subsequent paragraph. So if you go into a second fight soon after a 
  first, you will be less able to fight.  
   
  Intelligence  
  This is the ability to think and reason. The higher your 
  INTELLIGENCE, the more likely that you may be able to escape 
  traps, outwit enemies and work out the logical puzzles. Roll 1d6 and 
  add 6. 
   
  Fortune 
  This is the most random of characteristics. Sometimes pure chance 
  will decide your fate. Some items you find may help (or hinder) your 
  fortune so be careful when deciding what you want to take with you. 
  Each time you test your fortune, subtract one from your FORTUNE 
  score – as luck is fickle, and good fortune does not last. To find out 
  your initial fortune, roll 1d6 and add 6.  
   
   
  
   
   
   
  Fighting 
  Skill
  2d6 + 12
  Endurance
  1d6 + 6
  Agility
   
  1d6 + 6
  1d6 + 6
  Fitness
  1d6 + 6
  Intelligence
  If you fail a FORTUNE roll, reduce your fortune by 1
  Items
  Skills (pick 5)
  1d6 + 6
  Fortune
  Adventure Sheet
  Notes
  Shadow Thief : Jailbreak
   
  
   
   
  Combat
  OPPONENT
  Name
  END
  FS
  FS
  END
  Shadow
  OPPONENT
  Name
  END
  FS
  FS
  END
  Shadow
  OPPONENT
  Name
  END
  FS
  FS
  END
  Shadow
  OPPONENT
  Name
  END
  FS
  FS
  END
  Shadow
  OPPONENT
  Name
  END
  FS
  FS
  END
  Shadow
  OPPONENT
  Name
  END
  FS
  FS
  END
  Shadow
   
   
  
   
   
   
  Combat
  OPPONENT
  Name
  END
  FS
  FS
  END
  Shadow
  OPPONENT
  Name
  END
  FS
  FS
  END
  Shadow
  OPPONENT
  Name
  END
  FS
  FS
  END
  Shadow
  OPPONENT
  Name
  END
  FS
  FS
  END
  Shadow
  OPPONENT
  Name
  END
  FS
  FS
  END
  Shadow
  OPPONENT
  Name
  END
  FS
  FS
  END
  Shadow
   
   
  
   
   
  Making “Test your “rolls 
  There will be (possibly) many times when you are told to test an 
  attribute. Unless told otherwise, the normal thing to do is roll 2d6 
  and compare this to the attribute you are testing.  
   
  If you roll less than or equal to your current score in that attribute, 
  you pass. If you roll higher, you fail and have to face the 
  consequences. The act of rolling 2d6 may be the difference 
  between life and death! 
   
  For example, if you TEST YOUR FORTUNE, roll 2d6 and compare 
  that to your current FORTUNE score. If it is less than or equal to 
  your current score, then you pass.  
   
  Combat 
  Combat is often avoidable, but sometimes inevitable. To get through 
  this ordeal, there will be times when strength or arms or an iron fist 
  are the only way you can proceed.  
   
  This type of combat is aimed at those who either haven’t played 
  many game books, or just want to have a quick play through. This is 
  the same as a lot of game books, in that you and your enemy both 
  have a FIGHTING SKILL (FS).  
   
  You roll d26 for your character and add the result to your FIGHTING 
  SKILL. Now roll 2d6 and add the resulting number to your 
  opponents FIGHTING SKILL.  
   
  The one with the higher total has hurt the other, who loses 2 
  ENDURANCE points. You continue until you or your opponent has 
  0 ENDURANCE (END) – and so is dead or defeated.  
   
   
  
   
   
   
  Skills 
  It’s been three years since you were indoctrinated into the Guild of 
  Thieves. In that time your rise through the ranks has been nothing 
  short of remarkable. Still just out of your teens, you have a 
  reputation as being one of the best thieves in the illustrious 800-
  year history of the Guild. You have pulled off some of the most 
  infamous heists and theft in recent guild history and are one of the 
  Guild Masters most trusted lieutenants.  
   
  Due to your promise and proven abilities, you have been given 
  additional training in the Skills of the Masters.  
   
  During this time, you have mastered 5 of the Skills of the Master 
  Thief.  
   
  You have done in 3 years what most do in 10 years. Please choose 
  5 of these skills and write them on your adventure sheet. They are 
  divided into physical and mental skills. You can choose as all 
  physical, all mental, or a combination of both 
   
  Some may help you in this adventure, some may not but will do in 
  further adventures. So choose wisely. 
   
  
   
   
  Physical Skills 
  Speed and Agility: All thieves are agile and quick, but you have 
  been given additional training to give you the agility of a trained 
  gymnast. It also means that your body is subtle and limber, and you 
  are able to often fall and land on your feet, or roll to reduce injury.  
   
  You are also able to move much faster than most people, both in 
  reflexes and physical speed. This means you can often outrun 
  opponents, or react quicker to allow you to get the first strike in.  
   
  Move silently and hide in shadows: Stealth is a vital part of a 
  thief’s skill set, and working predominantly at night you are at home 
  in the shadows. You are able to easily slip into the shadows and 
  seemingly disappear from view as if by magic.  
   
  Your training and clothing also allow you to move almost silently on 
  most surface and to pass without leaving a trace – except in the 
  most extreme conditions. Having lived mainly in the dark, you also 
  have exceptional night vision. However, due to your overly sensitive 
  vision, bright lights or environments can sometimes dazzle you. 
   
  Lock picking: One of the first things you were taught was to pick a 
  lock. You are able to open all but the most complicated locks in a 
  matter of moments, and also know how to jam a lock to make it un-
  openable – even to someone with a key.  
   
  You are also trained in the use of corrosive potions that can help to 
  dissolve the largest and sturdiest locks or barricades. Your trusty 
  lock picks are sown into the soles of your soft leather boots. Do not 
  lose them, as your ability without them is limited. 
   
  Climbing: You are just at home on the roof tops as you are on the 
  streets. Having lived on these rooftops for several hours a day most 
  nights since you were a child, you have become an expert in 
  climbing onto roof tops and scaling almost vertical walls.  
   
  Sown into the sleeves of your clothes are also “cat’s claws” that you 
  can quickly put over your hands to give you extra grip. However, 
  given the majority of this experience was gained in the town, you 
  are less at home climbing in the wild – although you will still have an 
  advantage over most others.  
  
   
   
   
   
  Unarmed combat: Fighting is not the greatest attribute of a thief, 
  who would rather use stealth, guile and distraction. You also have 
  little love for blood, preferring not to kill, not for moral reasons so 
  much as the attention it draws.  
   
  However, at times you may be cornered and fighting is your only 
  option. You have been trained in various martial arts that give you 
  an advantage whilst fighting most unarmed foes. However, there are 
  limitations, and this skill will be of little use against an experienced 
  and armed opponent. So try to avoid fighting. Unless it’s the final 
  resort.  
  
   
   
   
  Mental Skills 
  Charm and guile: As a thief, you may find yourself in a situation 
  whereby the options are either to fight your way out, or talk your way 
  out. Against armed guards fighting is unadvisable. However due to 
  your promise, you have been given training in the manners and 
  ways of courtiers, and educated to a much higher level than a 
  common cut purse. This charm allows you to extricate you from 
  many a perilous situation, and also the ability to con and persuade 
  others to do what you want.  
   
  “Sixth Sense”: Your additional training in paying close attention to 
  your environment has given you the ability to sense or know when 
  something is not as it seems. This can be useful for a number of 
  reasons. You can often tell when a person is lying, or not who they 
  appear to be. Similarly, you can often sense when a situation is just 
  “wrong”, such as a potential trap – physical or mystical. This sixth 
  sense has alone saved your life on 7 occasions. However, this 
  ability is limited when moving fast or using your agility as the 
  environment moves to quickly for even your enhanced senses.  
   
  Chakra: You have almost complete control over your sympathetic 
  and sympathetic nervous system. You can slow your breathing and 
  pulse to appear almost dead, you can enter a trance to reduce your 
  need for oxygen, food and water, and you can use the natural 
  energies of your own body to speed up the healing of minor wounds 
  and sprains. However, when you are using this ability, it negates all 
  your other skills – and so make sure that you only use it when it’s 
  safe to do so – or you have no choice! 
   
  Forbearance: This may not seem like a skill, but many a thief has 
  ended up dancing at the end of a gibbet due to alacrity. There is a 
  well-known saying in the Guild that “A hasty thief is often a dead 
  thief”. Regular mental training has given you the strength of mind to 
  ignore potentially dangerous impulses, and you think nothing of 
  waiting for hour upon hour for the right moment to strike. You have 
  also trained yourself to keep your body subtle and responsive during 
  times of inactivity, to avoid stiffness and cramping. You can also, 
  despite being exhausted, often resist the temptation to sleep.  
   
  
   
   
   
  Divvy: As a thief you handle a lot of valuables – mostly stolen! 
  However, you must always be aware that there are a lot of fakes 
  around. A combination of experience, education and training has 
  given you the ability to spot a fake.  
   
  Equipment 
  You start your nights work in your normal thief’s outfit. You are 
  wearing plain and unremarkable clothing in black and grey. All black 
  looks suspicious whilst moving though the town. Your jerkin is off 
  the softest and subtlest leather, and adds protection of a light suite 
  of leather armour. A hood is hidden in the neck of the jerkin. Cat’s 
  claws are also sewn into the arms of the jerkin that can be used to 
  aide climbing. 
   
  Your boots are also the softest leather, with added grip to the very 
  soft souls to allow purchase when climbing whilst still allowing you 
  to move with great stealth. Sown into a false sole of your left boot is 
  your set of lock picks. In the top of the right boot, there are a couple 
  of small phials of corrosive potions.  
   
  You are armed only with a two long thin sharp stilettos, well-hidden 
  in scabbard along your back. They are perfectly balanced and can 
  also be thrown. You also have a small length or wire with a hook, a 
  20m coil of lightweight slim rope, a collapsible bag for your loot, and 
  20 gold pieces.  
   
  You are carrying no provisions as you are not expecting a journey, 
  but have some snacks to give you energy enough to give you a 
  boost of 2 endurance points.  
   
  Tonight started just as practically every other night has done for the 
  last three years – on the roof tops. 
  Eating food 
  If your endurance is getting low, you can get food to recover 2 
  ENDURANCE points. You cannot do this during a fight and you can 
  only eat one meal per section. 
   
  
   
   
  Your character 
  This is the first book in the Shadow Thief series. You are Shadow, a 
  young thief of exceptional promise and talent.  
   
  If you can survive to the end of this book, your character will be 
  used in future books in the series. Over time, you will learn new 
  skills, grow in ability, and become more adept at your profession.  
   
  Therefore, some objects you may find in this adventure, or skills you 
  may choose, may not have relevance in this book, but they may in 
  the future.  
   
  Now you are ready to start your adventure. 
   
   
   
  Turn to Section 1 
   
  
   
   
   
  1 
  The suns are just dropping down over the horizon of the Scarlet 
  Ocean and you know that in a few minutes it will be almost totally 
  dark in the port area in large, sprawling city of Laeveni. The city is 
  the largest in the empire of the One True God, and contains the holy 
  seat of power. Behind you, as dusk falls, the bells chime from the 
  tall elegant spires of Amaldi City. Amaldi is the central Holy City that 
  resides as an almost separate state inside its own walls in the 
  centre of Laeveni, high on the hillsides. This separate inner city is 
  surrounded by marble walls 50 feet high, and just as thick, and nigh 
  on impregnable. And it is guarded by 5000 warrior monks and priest 
  knights.  
   
  The bells chime to call the many priests, monks and acolytes to 
  service in the many hundreds of churches inside the Amaldi walls. 
  The light of the twin suns reflects from the tall marble walls, making 
  the inner city almost seem to gleam. But you are miles away from 
  such grandeur. You will never see inside the walls of the Amaldi 
  City, for to trespass uninvited on church property leads to a very 
  swift, and unpleasant, fate.  
   
  However, you ignore the bells and focus. This is your favourite time 
  of the day – when the whole night is in front of you. You carefully 
  suppress the excitement you feel for tonight’s job, as excitement 
  leads to haste. You are perched on top of the grain warehouse at 
  the edge of the docks, watching your current prey. You have been 
  watching for the last three nights, knowing that the merchant 
  finishes work at sundown, and then meets fellow merchants in a 
  wine shop for a couple of hours before returning home. 
   
  You see merchant Malombr as he leaves his office and warehouse 
  opposite your vantage point on Dockside Way. Malombrs 
  warehouse looks just like a ramshackle place on Harbour View near 
  the main wharf. He takes time and care to secure his premises. 
  Malombr is a precise man who is never careless. In his time in the 
  town, he has never been robbed despite his wealth being well 
  known. However, he is also a man of routine – which means he is 
  also predictable. 
   
   
   
  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
   
   
   
   
   
  The wharf is getting increasingly lively and rowdy, with sailors in port 
  drinking alongside soldiers, brigands, dwarves and many other 
  creatures in the many dives along the docks. Greasy smoke from 
  the numerous fireplaces and torches lighting the roads drifts up to 
  your vantage point, and mixes with the other smells of a seaport: 
  salt, rotting fish, rubbish, excrement and the stench of unwashed 
  bodies. The docks on a winters evening are not for those with weak 
  stomachs – and that’s before you even try the swill the taverns pass 
  off as beer. 
   
  He then makes his way away up Harbour View across onto the 
  Street of Blues. He could easily afford to take a coach, but you know 
  he enjoys walking through the filth ridden streets of the wharf. This 
  is partly because he likes to see where he started off as a street 
  urchin, and secondly as he is always on the lookout for a business 
  opportunity and he finds walking gives him the best chance of 
  noting them. He’s not worried about run-ins with less desirables, as 
  he’s not alone. 
   
  As always he’s accompanied by his two bodyguards, who are as 
  always half a step behind him, flanking him. These man-mountains 
  look at least half orc.  They are fearsomely muscle and heavily 
  armed with serrated bastard swords sheathed at their hips, along 
  with a number of smaller weapons. You know that a direct 
  confrontation with them would lead to a quick, painful and messy 
  death – for you. Brawn was not an option. As so often in the life of a 
  thief, brains are required. 
   
  You follow Malombr and his guards on cat feet, running effortlessly 
  across the rooftops and across streets. You are well-named as you 
  pass like a shadow in the night. Then Malombr turned left onto 
  Willow Street, and follows the road round into Pawnbrokers Avenue. 
  He crosses the square to The One Eyed Rat wine house, leaving 
  his bodyguards outside as the Rat is one of the few places that he 
  doesn’t need them. It’s also a tavern used by the Thieves Guild. 
   
  You wait on the rooftops opposite on the junction with Main Street. 
  You wait in the same position for two hours whilst the merchant 
  eats, drinks and brags with his friends and rivals. 
   
  
   
   
  Even the refined area of the more residential areas still carries the 
  stench of the port – although the wine in the Rat is infinitely better 
  than that from the harbour side dives. Then Malombr leaves the Rat, 
  walking quickly and with purpose back home. You get up to follow 
  across the rooftops. Turn to 73 
   
   
  
   
   
   
  2 
  Fortunately for you, the guards were not thorough in their search 
  and don’t find the Cats Claws hidden in the sleeves of your jerkin. 
  You slip them over your hands, and look up at the 20-foot wall. It is 
  made of roughly laid bricks, with plenty of cracks in the rough mortar 
  between the bricks. As you examine it closely, you shudder as you 
  see broken finger nails and claws embedded in the mortar, 
  obviously left behind by previous less fortunate residents as they 
  tried to escape. 
   
  You stare at the wall and plan your route. You listen intently to see if 
  there are guards at the top – but you can hear in the distance 
  laughing and the noise of knuckle bones being thrown on a wooden 
  table. Hopefully the guards are too busy wagering their meagre 
  salary’s to bother checking on you. You doubt they would bother to 
  feed you or even give you water, as in a few short hours you will be 
  a dead man walking. 
   
  You begin your climb. TEST YOUR FITNESS.  
   
  Throw 2d6 and if the number is less than or equal to your FITNESS, 
  turn to 77. If it’s more than your fitness, turn to 80 
   
   
  3  
  As you avoid almost certain death entering the tower, your escape 
  has been discovered far earlier than you had hoped. Another group 
  of the City Watch had entered the cell area to find you missing 
   
  Within moments, an investigation is underway. Soon on the scene 
  was a tall thin man, who appears to be made up purely of angles. 
  His face is hard, with high slanted cheekbones, a long hook nose 
  
   
   
  and thin lips – which are currently in a half snarl of contempt for the 
  guards – who he quickly orders to be publically flogged at dawn for 
  failing in their duty. 
   
  This is a man well known to the Guild, and feared by many - Kaptain 
  Tomas De-Villiers. De-Villiers hates thieves with an almost holy 
  passion, and has made it his life’s work to destroy the Guild – and 
  this has led to many of your comrades and friends dancing for the 
  hangman. 
   
  He has heard of an upcoming power in the Guild, a young male 
  known only as Shadow, who in 3 years has completed many daring 
  thefts. De-Villiers has been close to catching you before, but this 
  time you were locked up in his cells and have escaped. This has 
  made it personal for De-Villiers. He WILL hunt you down this very 
  night and he will not rest until you are strung up by your crooked 
  neck. 
   
  He calls for his men – and these are not just the simple strong-arm 
  thugs of the City Watch. These are members of the Black Guard – 
  the Watches elite group of trackers and hunters, and rumour has it, 
  sometime assassins. They are a force to be reckoned with. 
   
  They arrive mere moments later. De-Villiers gives them their orders, 
  and soon they split up, searching the city for any trace of you. You 
  have precious little time to escape the tower. 
   
  Did you have anyone else with you, if so, turn to 23. If not, turn to 72 
  4  
  The power of his voice has little effect. Seeing the dark majik in front 
  of you, you decide to take the thief’s option. You turn tail and run, as 
  fast as you can up the passageway near the altar. You hear De-
  Villiers, or whoever it truly is, shriek in rage. You stop and turn and 
  see the ethereal form at the exit of the chamber, but seemingly 
  without his physical body he is trapped in the chamber and unable 
  to follow you. You sprint to the surface.  
   
  Turn to 150 
  
   
   
   
  5  
   
  Wasting no time and leaving the beggar to his own devices, you 
  both flee the guardroom. Behind you, you can hear a series of 
  thuds, as the beggar takes out his anger on the prone guardsmen. 
  The door closes behind you as you leave.  
   
  Gain one FORTUNE point for successfully escaping – so far.  
   
  Turn to 8 
  6 
  You hide in the shadows, doing everything you can to stay quiet. 
  The door opens and a pair of burly City Watch walk in. You hope 
  you can try to sneak out of the door, but one stays by the door 
  holding it slightly ajar. You have no chance. You must stay hidden 
  and hope for a better chance to escape later. 
   
  TEST YOUR FORTUNE. If you are fortunate, turn to 140. If you are 
  not, turn to 96 
  7 
  Finally, the last centipede drops to the floor, its mandibles still 
  chittering together and its segments thrashing from side to side, but 
  eventually it is still. Not wishing to wait to see if there are any more 
  of these behemoths in the nest, you leave quickly. You run to the 
  end of the corridor and then face a choice.  
   
  To go straight on, then turn to 67 
  Otherwise you must turn left and turn to 103 
   
  
   
   
   
  8 
  Jac and you are in a corridor. To the left, several yards away, there 
  is a doorway that is just ajar and you can hear the noise of several 
  men talking and laughing. You think it must be a common room for 
  the off duty City Watch. Knowing that you do not have the strength 
  or ability to take on this many foes, you discount this route. The 
  room is too bright for you to sneak through, even if you have an 
  arcane method of concealment.  
   
  To your right is another stout door. Just to the side of this is an 
  alcove. You half drag Jac to the alcove, and tell him that you are 
  going to scout ahead and that he must remain quiet. Before you 
  leave he presses something into your hand. You look down and see 
  it’s a ruby pendant. He looks at you and smiles, and closes your 
  fingers around the jewel. 
   
  “Look after this” he says “and keep it away from HIM. The fate 
  of the city, and the world, depends on this” 
   
  Then he closes his eyes. 
   
  You cover him with some rags in the alcove and hope this will 
  suffice.  
   
  You try the door, turn to 21 
  9 
  Cell 4 is a place of horror. Unlike the other cells you may have seen, 
  this room is packed with instruments of cruelty and torture, and the 
  metallic odour of blood assaults your senses.  In the corner is a 
  Chaos Wheel, a cruel implement that slowly breaks every bone in its 
  
   
   
   
  victims. Opposite is a Devils Rack, used to slowly stretch a victim 
  until the sinews of their joints tear.  
   
  Cruel hooks are on the walls, each of them dirty with the blood and 
  the morsels of flesh of previous victims. Finally, in the centre you 
  recognise a Dead Man’s Coffin, a horizontal iron box with wickedly 
  sharp spikes on the inside walls and lid, and mounted on a pivot. 
  When occupied the coffin can be turned like a spit so that the 
  occupant is constantly falling onto different spikes. Small holes are 
  beneath each spike that allows the blood (and other fluids) to drain 
  away. 
   
  The Kaptain of the City Watch has long had a reputation for cruelty 
  and for ends justifying the means. He has been a thorn in the side 
  of the Guild for some time now, and it has always been a source of 
  much speculation how he managed to get such accurate 
  intelligence to combat the Guilds activities. Not many would dare to 
  speak against the Guild for retribution could be swift and deadly. 
   
  You stop and consider. Aside from the torturers equipment you can 
  see nothing of interest – except maybe the coffin. The coffin is 
  currently closed. Something it compelling you to open it. 
   
  If you decide to open it, turn to 84 
   
  If you decide against it you leave the cell straight away, and you can 
  try 
  Open Cell 1? Turn to 66 
  Open Cell 2? Turn to 53 
  Open Cell 3? Turn to 47 
  Open Cell 5? Turn to 100 
  10 
  You move and roll, but too slowly. You hear a buzzing noise as 
  something flies through the air, and then a sting in your neck. You 
  reach up and pull out a small metal dart. Your blood covers its point, 
  but also you can detect another smell. Then the nerve poison takes 
  hold.  
   
  Your promising career as a thief ends here. 
  
   
   
  11  
  You hear footsteps along the corridor behind you. You stand there 
  frantically trying to open the door, your only route for escape. But 
  the door will not budge. Then you hear shouts behind you and then 
  rough hands grab you and you are clubbed over the head. You 
  awake back in the oubliette, in chains, with guards watching your 
  every move from above.  
   
  Turn to 13 
  12  
  You lock the grate and using your SKILL of LOCK PICKING, jam it 
  so that no one will be able to open it, even with a key. With luck the 
  guards will “sleep” until at least the change of the guard at dawn, 
  and no one will find out about your escape for many hours. 
   
  Turn to 60 
   
  
   
   
   
   
  
   
   
  13 
  There’s nothing you can now do. You can see overhead a small 
  barred window in the top of the blockhouse. You watch with 
  creeping horror as the pitch black slowly turns to grey, and then as 
  the dawn breaks through the smog of Laeveni. In your mind’s eye 
  you can see the gallows clearly, waiting for you. Your life is now 
  measured in a matter of minutes, not hours. 
   
  Shortly the guards open the grate. They put the ladder down and 
  climb into the oubliette. They uncuff you, and you try hopelessly to 
  overpower them but that just earns you a swift smack around the 
  head with a truncheon and you lapse into semi consciousness. You 
  are unceremoniously carried up the ladder by one of the guards, 
  and taken outside and thrown into a barred carriage with several 
  other miscreants. 
   
  You are driven up into Hangman’s Square and you are taken into a 
  holding cell. From the cell there is a window, overlooking the 
  gallows. Already in the cell are five other occupants. Before leaving 
  one of the guards paints a number 6 on your forehead in red paint. 
  You look round and see the other occupants all have the numbers 
  one to five on their heads, and realise what this means. 
   
  After only a few moments, but which seems like a lifetime, the 
  guards come and drag number one away. The poor wretch looks 
  terrified, and pleads with the guards. They laugh in his face, and tell 
  him to save his words for God – as he was going before his 
  judgement. He is dragged off, and you can hear the sounds of the 
  crowds cheering as he is brought to the gibbet. Despite the early 
  hour, a public execution was always a popular attraction in Laeveni. 
   
  Over the next minutes, numbers two to five each go to the same 
  fate. Each takes it differently. Two struggles violently and is 
  eventually clubbed unconscious. This gets jeers from the crowd 
  when they don’t see a good spectacle as he dies still unconscious. 
  Number three stays silent and impassive, having accepted his fate. 
  Number four prays to his pagan gods and is taken outside looking 
  like he is almost at peace. Number five tries bribery, which just 
  results in more laughs from the guards and a bloody nose. 
   
  
   
   
   
  Then you are by yourself, but not for long, as the guards soon come 
  and take you out into the blinding morning sun. You are half dazzled 
  as you are led up the rough wood steps to the gibbet, where they 
  are just cutting down number fives still twitching corpse. You are 
  quickly taken and the noose placed over your head. You are not 
  offered a blindfold (the crowd love to see the faces of the 
  condemned as they die), and not allowed anytime to speak. 
   
  The Magistrate says a few short words, saying you had been found 
  guilty of attempted larceny. You have been tried in your absence in 
  accordance with the norms of Laeveni. Then the crowd goes silent 
  in anticipation. 
   
  The Executioner reaches for the level to open the trap. You can only 
  hope the fall is clean and breaks your neck to kill you instantly. But 
  again fate is playing with you. Due to your sleight frame, the drop is 
  not enough and instead you suffer the pain and indignity of one final 
  dance. Ironically, the last face you see in this life is Malombr, as he 
  has stopped on his way to work to watch the show, shadowed as 
  ever by his guards. 
   
  When you finally stop kicking, you are cut down and thrown on a 
  cart with the others. The cart then takes your bodies to a pit outside 
  the city walls, and you are thrown in a mass grave and buried 
  without a marker.  
   
  Your promising career as a thief ends here. 
   
  
   
   
   
  
   
   
   
  14  
  You effortlessly unlock the large but very rudimentary lock. Its clicks 
  as it opens, and the noise seems to echo through the room above 
  you. You hear the sounds of chairs scraping, as they are pushed 
  back, and then the heavy tread of booted feet. You see two guards 
  emerge from a lit room. They walk past the oubliette grate, and you 
  hold your breath in case they look down to see you hanging there 
  like a spider. They don’t, and walk out of your line of vision. Then 
  you hear a noise, a sort of signal, and the sound of a door opening. 
  A bright shaft of light arrows into the room, and mirrored on the wall 
  near you, you see the shadows of the two guards walk through the 
  door. Then it closes and the light is gone. The room seems empty. 
  Now is your chance.  
   
  You brace your body you manage to heave the heavy grate up a 
  foot to allow you to scramble under. You notice some hay and dark 
  sacking in the corner, and quickly stuff some hay in a couple of 
  sacks, tied with a rope and throw it down the oubliette.  
   
  With luck, if the guards return and check they will mistake the hay in 
  dark sacks as your prone body and even if they try to unlock the 
  grate to investigate they will struggle. Hopefully they will not know 
  you have gone until dawn – and this will only add to your legend 
  when news gets out that a suspect thief simply disappeared from a 
  locked cell without a trace. 
   
  Turn to 60 
   
  
   
   
   
  15  
  Your trick works and both the guards fall forward and onto the floor, 
  their hands out in front of them to try to catch them. They both land 
  on caltrops, and the venom of the scarlet water snake causes 
  instant paralysis of both of the guards. You run to the door as it 
  starts to close, and managed to keep it open. Wasting no time and 
  leaving the beggar to his own devices, you both flee the guardroom. 
  Behind you, you can hear a series of thuds, as the beggar takes out 
  his anger on the prone guardsmen.  
   
  Turn to 8 
  
   
   
   
  16  
  TEST YOUR INTELLIGENCE but you can take 2 away from the roll 
  due to your LOCK PICK abilities.  
   
  If you roll less than or equal, turn to 89 
  If you fail, turn to 22 
  17 
  You remember as you hide in the corner that you found a dark cloak 
  in the cells and this may help you hide. You quickly find it in your 
  bag, and shroud yourself in it. Then you use all your training to 
  become almost preternaturally still. You try to slow your breathing 
  and are almost in a trance like state. 
   
  You can still hear the footsteps and the murmuring voices from the 
  other side of the door, which then opens. Two members of the city 
  watch come through. One of the guards stands holding the door 
  open, whilst the other walks across the room. You hope neither see 
  you.  
   
  Fortunately, you have found a Cloak of Night, a charmed garment 
  that works to throw light away from the wearer, and make them 
  imperceptible to the naked eye. Legend has it these Cloaks can 
  hide a man in daylight, unless the sun shines directly on the wearer, 
  or if they are in a brightly lit room.  
   
  It seems to work as the guard goes into another room and emerges 
  with some sheaves of paper. Then they both leave the way they 
  came, and the door locks behind them.  
   
  You decide you will have to see what’s beyond the iron gate.  
   
  Turn to 91 
  18 
  You see no option but try to sneak out via the main door, or wait 
  until the master returns to his home. You decide to try your fortune 
  with the door. Turn to 132 
  
   
   
  19 
  “Ah, we have a rabbit. A quick rabbit, but I am quicker. I am a 
  hawk” shouts Celdron as he darts his blade towards you. The thin 
  point pierces your side and you drop to the floor in agony. Then 
  Celdron is on you, and he binds you so you cannot move.  
   
  “Well done Celdron, you were quick, and I wanted him taken 
  alive, to question below. Take him below to Cell 4. I will 
  question him in detail. Heat up the coals and sharpen my tools. 
  It is going to be a long night” 
   
  A quick death would have been fortunate, but you are now going to 
  endure a night of pain and torment. Your promising career as a thief 
  ends here 
  20  
  You leave, locking the cell door as you exit. If you haven’t already, 
  will you? 
   
  Open Cell 1? Turn to 66 
  Open Cell 2? Turn to 53 
  Open Cell 3? Turn to 47 
  Open Cell 4? Turn to 49 
  Open Cell 5? Turn to 100 
   
  21   
  The door is locked! Do you have a set of iron keys, If you do, turn to 
  89 
   
  If you do not, if you have the ability of PICK LOCK, turn to 16 
   
  If you have neither, turn to 22 
   
   
   
   
   
  
   
   
   
   
  22  
  TEST YOUR FORTUNE, but add 1 to the roll. If you succeed, turn 
  to 89  
   
  If you fail, turn to 11 
  23 
  You hear the commotion below and realise the alarm has been 
  raised. You can do nothing more for Jac, you will just have to hope 
  he uses his skill to remain hidden whilst the guards search for you. 
  You offer a prayer to the pagan God of Thieves, hoping that you 
  and Jac will meet again. If for no other reason than the money he 
  now owes you.  
   
  Turn to 72 
  24   
  You kick the rat out of the way and it scurries out of the cell. You 
  uncover your arm, and see the twin fang marks in your bicep – like 
  small vampire bites. You calm your mind and place your other hand 
  over the bite and concentrate.  
   
  You can feel the disease already entering your bloodstream, but 
  you can focus your body’s natural defences against this area. As 
  you concentrate you feel the area warm, until it becomes almost too 
  hot to touch. You have successfully destroyed the disease inside 
  you, but at a cost.  
   
  Lose 1 ENDURANCE point as this treatment has sapped your body. 
  
   
   
   
  Will you now: 
   
  Open Cell 1? Turn to 66 
  Open Cell 2? Turn to 53 
  Open Cell 4? Turn to 49 
  Open Cell 5? Turn to 100 
   
   
  25  
  Sadly, his period of confinement and lack of nutrition have left Jac 
  unable to defeat his foe. You stop briefly and say a quick prayer to 
  the ancient God of Thieves. Before you go you quickly search his 
  body and find a ruby pendant hidden in an inside pocket. You also 
  find a set of keys on one of the guards. You leave through the door 
  as quick as you can – before anyone else arrives.  
   
  Turn to 55 
  26  
  The Guard Room is a small, scruffy room, with a table and chairs, a 
  fire and couple of upright bureaus with papers strewn all over them 
  and some cluttered shelves. On the table are the remnants of the 
  guard’s supper and knucklebone games. There is enough food for 2 
  meals if you want to take it. You can also take the knucklebones 
  and the 3 gold pieces’ worth of small coin from the table. 
   
  On a hook by the door is a set of iron keys – probably for the 
  various cells.  
   
  Do you want to: 
  
   
   
   
  Search the bureau and shelves for anything useful. Turn to 61 
  Take the set of keys. Turn to 85 
  Leave and creep up to the large door and try to open it.  Turn to 71 
  Leave and head down the corridor. Turn to 74 
  27  
  As you leap, your stiff calf muscles betray you. You lack the strength 
  in your legs to take off and your arms cartwheel as you try futilely to 
  propel yourself through the air toward the opposite roof. You brush 
  the edge of the gutter with your fingertips, but this is not enough. 
  You cannot stop yourself from falling and you end up crashing to the 
  cobbled streets, 15 feet below. If you have the SKILL of AGILITY, 
  you manage to break your fall and only suffer 2 ENDURANCE 
  damage. If you don’t have the SKILL of AGILITY, deduct 4 points 
  from your ENDURANCE. 
   
  The fates are definitely playing games with you as you quickly turn 
  over to find yourself looking up at a detachment of the City Watch, 
  all of whom are pointing their rusty but still lethal swords at your 
  throat. They haul you to your feet, and roughly search you and 
  quickly realise your profession. Without time to protest you are put 
  into manacles and marched off the nearest blockhouse – which is 
  ominously on Execution Hill, on the somewhat inappropriately 
  named Dead Man’s Row. 
   
  Unless you can find a way to escape, come morning you will be 
  dancing on the end of a rope. Justice in recent times has become 
  swift in Laeveni, and demands little proof. 
   
  Turn to 34 
  28   
  You are faced with a dead end but on the floor is an old backpack, 
  possibly dropped by a looter or adventurer from ages ago. You 
  rummage through the pack and find a small bottle. Its contents glow 
  red, the colour normally denotes a potion of FIGHTING SKILL. You 
  put this in your backpack. If you drink it, it will add 1 to your 
  FIGHTING SKILL for one fight only – even to exceed 12. Now you 
  must double back and take the other tunnel.  
  Turn to 135 
  
   
   
  29  
  "Welcome, young thief" says De Villiers in a voice that is rich and 
  commanding "you have been a difficult man to find. But now 
  you have come to me, yes? I can feel that you have something 
  for me. Would you like to hand it over?  
   
  Of course you will be richly rewarded - for he who delivers the 
  last key to free My Master from his unjust imprisonment will be 
  lauded above all else. You will live a long life and be rich 
  beyond your dreams. Come, hand it over".  
   
  Your will is crumbling. You feel your hand reaching into your 
  backpack.  
   
  Do you have a RUBY AMULET, if so then turn to 120 
  If you have a SIGIL OF DEATH, then turn to 106 
  If you have neither of these, turn to 46 
   
   
  
   
   
   
  30 
  The guards stop uncertainly. They are more used to dealing with 
  drunks and whores down the seafront, not being asked to 
  investigate a crime by such a powerful member of society. Even 
  more so, they are worried when you mention the name of De-Villiers 
  – as he is not a kindly boss. 
   
  “Calm down, good sir” says the foremost guard, who by the grey 
  streaks in his hair seems to be the most senior of the Watch 
   
  “My condolences, sir. Can you give me your name again sir, 
  and some brief details, but there’s nothing that can be done 
  about it tonight. We are short staffed enough as it is, with those 
  dwarves traveling to their annual moot in the hills and stopping 
  over in Laeveni, just as a group of goblins arrive in town. You 
  can imagine the fighting in the taverns. We’re hard pressed sir” 
   
  Realising you don’t have the time for a prolonged conversation you 
  need to get out quickly, as at any moment they may notice the 
  oubliette.  
   
  So thinking fast, you say “If you are too busy to help, then I will 
  find the Kaptain myself. Out of my way!” 
   
  You barge past the Watchman nearest you who looks flabbergasted 
  and you head towards the one holding the door open, intend you 
  flounce past him and out of the door. But he steps forward towards 
  you, hands up, trying to placate you. You see the door start to swing 
  shut. You only have moments. You dash towards the door, but too 
  late as the door swings into the frame, and there a click as it locks.  
   
  You turn around and smile at the guards rather sheepishly. Their 
  faces become hard as it dawns on them that you were trying to trick 
  them and that you are the thief.  
   
  You must fight them both, but for the first two rounds, you must 
  increase each guards FIGHTING SKILL by 1, as they are so 
  enraged by your attempted deception. You must also lose 1 
  FIGHTING SKILL, as you only have one dagger to fight with.  
   
  GUARD 1   
  FIGHTING SKILL 8   ENDURANCE 9 
  
   
   
  GUARD 1   
  FIGHTING SKILL 7   ENDURANCE 8 
   
  If your endurance gets down to 2 or less, turn to 44 
   
  If you kill them both, you find the door locked and decide to try the 
  iron gate.  
   
  Turn to 91 
   
   
  31  
  You grab Jac and half drag him through the door. He is hardly able 
  to stand and you realise he is exhausted. If you take him with you, 
  then you will lose all hope of escaping. You resolve you must find a 
  place to keep him safe, in the hope that you can sneak out and find 
  a way to help him later.   
   
  Turn to 8 
  32  
  Too slow, the door opens and you are still only halfway across the 
  room. The first watchman, who is standing keeping the door open, 
  sees you and shouts “Oi, you, stop”. You have nowhere to go, and 
  are outnumbered 2 to 1. 
   
  Do you have the SKILL of CHARM AND GUILE 
  If so, turn to 52 
  If you don’t, turn to 44 
  
   
   
   
  33   
  You crouch down to the floor and examine the man’s remains. He 
  was obviously a mighty warrior, as he must be at least 6 and a half 
  feet tall, with a massive ribcage that pokes through the rusted mail 
  coat. His amour is far too large and useless. You look closely and 
  see that there are what seems to be gnawing marks, made by sharp 
  teeth, or something else, on the visible bones. This man hasn’t just 
  rotted over a long time, he was eaten. You fight down a wave of 
  disgust.  
   
  Next to him is a backpack. You look inside and all that is 
  salvageable is a small green glass bottle. You decide to take it - it’s 
  a potion of FORTUNE that will increase your current FORTUNE by 
  one (even surpassing your initial value) for one roll only.  
   
  You stow it away in your bag and return to the junction. As you turn 
  to leave, your foot strikes against something solid just under the 
  surface. You bend down and poke around and your hand closes on 
  the hilt of a sword. You pull it free, and strike the blade against the 
  stone wall. It rings true, and the dirt and muck falls from it to reveal a 
  shining longsword. Despite its size it is beautifully balanced even for 
  one of your slender build and seems to have little weight. You have 
  found a sword made of Antium, the lightest and strongest steel ever 
  produced. Even master smiths and the dwarves have lost the 
  knowledge to produce this steel. It is a fine weapon indeed, and 
  worth a small fortune.  
   
  When using the Antium Sword you can add +2 to your FIGHTING 
  SKILL. To go straight on, turn to 145, or to turn left, turn to 111 
  34  
  You are marched to the gaol on near Hangman’s Square and 
  stripped of all your effects and thrown into an oubliette wearing only 
  your hose, jerkin and boots. The guards throw down the heavy 
  metal grate and secure it with a large lock. You are now in the dark, 
  20 feet below the grate, in a floor covered in straw and human 
  waste, sharing your new accommodation only with a number of 
  scurrying rats. 
   
  
   
   
  If you have the CLIMB skill, turn to 77. If you do not turn to 2 
  35   
  The ground seems to be softer in this passageway as you slowly 
  move down it, as it’s getting ever darker. Then all of a sudden your 
  feet slide from underneath you as they slip on the ground - but then 
  you realise it’s not you slipping, it’s the ground moving. A sink hold 
  has opened up and is dragging the soft sandy earth into it.  
   
  You scramble to try to escape the pull of this dreadful hole, but your 
  hands cannot get any purchase on any solid ground and you slip 
  and slide inexorably towards your doom. It feels like minutes you 
  fight the tide of the earth, but it’s only a few seconds and then you 
  are pulled into the sink hole and fall, to be buried in a tomb of earth 
  forever.  Your promising career as a thief ends here 
  36 
  Malombr crosses the Market Square and moves down Market Street 
  and then turns right into Anvil Street. You wait at the junction, as his 
  house is just over the road and you don’t want to alert him – now 
  that the streets are quieter. You listen and hear as he unlocks the 
  door and it creeks open. A few moments later it shuts, and you can 
  hear a number of locks being engaged. You know from watching 
  that the front door is tough to crack – as it is now locked internally 
  when the master is in residence. But you have another route 
  planned. 
   
  You slip around the corner and almost collide with one of Malombrs 
  hulking bodyguards. They must have spotted you following and 
  Malombr must have left him behind to catch you. You have walked 
  right into their trap! 
   
  He towers above you, a good 18 inches taller than you, and has his 
  evil serrated sword ready in his hand. It gleams wickedly in the 
  moonlight. You have no time to react, as he slowly and with great 
  pleasure runs you through. He aims is not for the heart for a quick 
  death but for the stomach to make it last. 
   
  The blade is so sharp there is hardly any pain when it slides in. 
  However, then the man-beast slices downwards into your intestines 
  
   
   
   
  and pulls the blade out unhurriedly. The serrated edges catch on 
  your entrails and pull them out of the now gaping hole in your torso. 
  The pain is immense and you scream out once, and then go into 
  shock and fall to your knees in a puddle of your own blood and 
  innards. Then the huge creature quickly places a rough noose of 
  hemp rope around your desk and drags you do the nearest lamp 
  stand.  
   
  He flings the end of the rope over the crossbeam and pulls. You 
  scream once more as you are hoisted off the ground and left 
  dangling six foot above the ground with your innards trailing down to 
  the floor. He ties off the rope, and then dips his fingers into your 
  guts, and writes on the wall in your own blood “THIEF”. You gurgle 
  as the rope cuts into your neck and crushes your larynx. You pant, 
  trying to get breathe, but it is no good and eventually your face turns 
  first red then purple. 
   
  You eventually lose consciousness as the life slips from you. Your 
  corpse remains strung up on the post for some weeks – and 
  becomes a welcome meal for the scavengers that live in the city. 
  Soon there is little left of you but yellowing bone, but you remain 
  strung up there as a warning not to try to steal from Malombr. Your 
  adventure ends, rather messily, here. As does your promising 
  career as a thief. 
  37  
  If you have a set of iron keys, you can try to open the gate, then turn 
  to 91 
   
  If not, you will have to trust to luck and try to pick the lock. TEST 
  YOUR FORTUNE. If you are successful, turn to 91. If you are not, 
  turn to 64 
   
  38 
  Neither of you are strong enough to successfully get either of the 
  guards to fall onto the caltrops. They turn with surprising speed for 
  their bulk, and raise their cudgels. However, one of the caltrops rolls 
  over the floor to the door, which is starting to close. It gets lodged 
  
   
   
  under the bottom edge of the door, and keeps it wedged open. You 
  have a chance to escape, but first you must defeat the guards. 
   
  You must fight guard 1, whilst Jac must fight guard 2. You throw Jac 
  one of your stilettos as hand to hand in his weakened state he 
  wouldn’t stand a chance. You must reduce your FIGHTING SKILL 
  by 1 for fighting only with one knife. 
   
  You must fight both as Jac and yourself, each engaging a guard. 
  Roll 1d6. If it’s odd, you fight guard 1. If it’s even, you fight guard 2. 
  If one of you kills your guard first, then you can both attack the 
  remaining guard the next round. If Jac’s dies before killing his guard, 
  then you must fight them both. 
   
  JAC     
  FIGHTING SKILL 9   ENDURANCE 6 
   
  GUARD 1   
  FIGHTING SKILL 8   ENDURANCE 9 
  GUARD 2   
  FIGHTING SKILL 7  ENDURANCE 8 
   
  If you manage to defeat both guards, turn to 87 
   
  39  
  Years of thievery recognises that noise, the sound of a trip wire. 
  Without thinking you move in the way you think would be most 
  unpredictable, you throw yourself backwards.  
   
  This saves you as a giant spiked ball on the chain whistles past your 
  nose from one side to the other. If you had remained where you 
  were it would likely have taken your head off or broken your back. 
  You stop and wait whilst the ball slowly loses momentum and 
  comes to a halt, directly in front of you. You duck under, hook it out 
  of the way over a nearby lamp holder, and close the door and 
  continue into the tower.  
   
  Turn to 3 
   
  
   
   
   
   
  
   
   
  40 
  The grate lock gives, and you push it open and climb through. Then 
  with a start you realise you are standing in a vestibule atop a tall, 
  marble clad spire, in the centre of the Amaldi City itself. You look 
  down over the many marble buildings and their stained glass 
  windows. The early morning light reflects of the white stone and 
  coloured glass so that it almost blinds you.  
   
  You are staggered to realise that the exit from that evil chamber 
  ended up here. Then you remember the words of Inista, who you 
  found close to death in the cells.  
   
  “There….is a great,,,,,evil in Laeveni. The man in charge of this 
  blockhouse is one of …. Its chief lieutenants… but the true 
  head of the dragon has yet to be revealed. You must stop this 
  power, as it threatens not just the Guild, but the whole of 
  Laeveni itself….even Most Holy……Visit the Apothecary on 
  Singing Avenue, and ask for Livia. She can tell you more” 
   
  You know the chief lieutenant is De-Villiers, but he had become 
  something more in the catacombs under the Holy City. You shudder 
  when you realise the implications that high level members of the 
  One True Church may be involved, in a plan that threatens not just 
  your life, but possibly all life on Laeveni.  
   
  You look around and see a door from the tower, which you hope will 
  take you back down to street level. You resolve that you must find 
  Livia and find out more.  
   
  You open the door and walk through it. Your adventure has just 
  started. 
   
  To learn more, look out for  
   
  Shadow Thief Book 2: 
  Hunted 
   
   
  
   
   
   
  41 
  You are back in the corridor outside the cells but you have spent too 
  long searching. You hear the front door start to open. You swear 
  under your breath. Are you alone? 
   
  If you are, turn to 64. If you are not, turn to 62 
  42 
  There is no obvious exit from this tower apart from the door you 
  came in. You head back to the door and listen but you can still hear 
  activity outside. There must be another way out! 
   
  You search around.  If you have the SKILL of SIXTH SENSE, turn 
  to 83  
  If you do not, TEST YOUR FORTUNE. If you are fortunate, turn to 
  83. If you are not, turn to 18 
  43 
  Malombr moves cautiously through the street. No one has the nerve 
  to get in the way of his hideous guards but he is clearly being a lot 
  more careful than on previous nights – probably due to your little 
  mishap on the roof. You follow him along the rooftops, as quiet as 
  your namesake, a shadow. As you cross into the merchant district, 
  you drop back to the ground and follow at street level. You don’t 
  need to follow too closely as you know exactly where he is heading 
  – his townhouse.  
   
  Turn to 36 
   
   
  
   
   
  44 
  You are caught by the guards. They struggle to open the oubliette 
  but manage, and cuff you, before throwing you back down. You land 
  in a heap on the floor, even your thieves reflexes are unable you to 
  effect a safe landing. Lose 2 ENDURANCE. This time, guards 
  remain at the top of the oubliette, watching you. There is no escape.  
   
  Turn to 13 
  45  
  You turn back, your heart racing with fear. In the coffin, the body is 
  moving. The head is rolling from side to side, the good eye is 
  flickering open and closed, and the red gash that is now what the 
  mouth was is opening and closing. Faint words can be heard 
  coming from these torn lips. 
   
  Instead of fear, you feel overwhelming pity for this poor girl, as she 
  must have suffered more than practically anyone you have ever 
  met. You take out your skin of small beer, and pour some onto her 
  parched lips. The liquid burns her lips but she is still thankful for the 
  liquid and you give her more. 
   
  You move closer to her mouth, bending over the coffin. She half 
  whispers, half croaks, and her eye flickers in recognition. 
   
  “You…..I ……know…….You are……….the one called. …..  
  Shadow”.  
   
  You nod your head. 
   
  “I am In….ista” she continues. You nod again – she is a lesser 
  magic user who has recently opened a shop in the Alley of Rumours 
  – close to one of the Guilds headquarters. She has become well 
  known in the Guild for providing potions and charms, as well as 
  information on her clients that were suitable targets for the Guild. 
  The Kaptain must have taken her and tortured her. She had not 
  been seen for three days. 
   
  
   
   
   
  “Yes I know you – I can help” you say. She shakes her head and 
  cuts you off. 
   
  “It’s….too late for……….. that now…..my mortal…body is 
  doomed……but my spirit will…………live on. Before you 
  go……know this……” 
   
  Then she coughs and splutters, blood foaming from her mouth. 
  Then she seems to rally and find a final desperate strength. 
   
  “There….is a great,,,,,evil in Laeveni. The man in charge of this 
  blockhouse is one of …. Its chief lieutenants… but the true 
  head of the dragon has yet to be revealed. You must stop this 
  power, as it threatens not just the Guild, but the whole of 
  Laeveni itself….even Most Holy……Visit the Apothecary on 
  Singing Avenue, and ask for Livia. She can tell you more” 
   
  And then she is gone. If you want to say a quick prayer to the 
  heathen God of Thieves and close her eyes before you go then turn 
  to 129 
   
  If you decide you need to make haste and leave this room, turn to 
  41 
   
   
  46 
  You reach into your backpack and then remove your fist. You 
  extend it towards De-Villiers and open it, palm up, to reveal … 
   
  Nothing 
   
  "You have it not? You fool! I have passed eons waiting for this 
  moment and will not be defeated. It is time for Him to rise 
  again. Where is it? I will cut its location from you flesh” 
  
   
   
   
  Then from inside his robe he draws a sable like blade and a short, 
  hooked knife made of volcanic glass. The knife is old with age but 
  still looks razor sharp.  
   
  DE-VILLIERS    
  FIGHTING SKILL 11   
  ENDURANCE 
  13 
   
  Each time De-Villiers hits you, throw 1d6. If it’s even, then his sword 
  hurts you and does the usual 2 ENDURANCE damage, but if it’s 
  odd, the knife hurts you. The knife is the sacrificial blade that has 
  been used for centuries and has an evil, but fickle, power, which 
  makes it unpredictable. With each attack from the knife, roll 1d6 and 
  this the damage is does in ENDURANCE.  
   
  If you win, turn to 114. If you lose, turn to 108 
  47 
  Cell 3 is empty, or at least you think it is. As you cross the doorway, 
  an extra-large rat jumps down from the ceiling beam and bites you 
  on the arm. Its extra-long teeth are able to piece your jerkin sleeves. 
  Lose 2 points of ENDURANCE. You curse. Like many things in 
  Laeveni, even the rats are dangerous, as they often carry the 
  Dropping Sickness. This disease can come on in moments or hours 
  later, and can cause a loss of balance and coordination, sickness, 
  weakness and even death. 
   
  Do you have the SKILL of CHAKRA? If so turn to 24. If not, lose 2 
  ENDURANCE and 1 FITNESS points now and you may need to find 
  an apothecary as soon as possible. You leave the cell cursing under 
  your breath. 
   
  Will you now: 
   
  Open Cell 1? Turn to 66 
  Open Cell 2? Turn to 53 
  Open Cell 4? Turn to 49 
  Open Cell 5? Turn to 100 
  
   
   
   
  48 
  TEST YOUR FORTUNE, but your SKILL of AGILITY allows you to 
  only add 3 to your roll. 
   
  If you are successful, turn to 63. If you are not so fortunate, turn to 
  27 
  49 
  You open and enter Cell 4 and immediately your senses are 
  assailed by the stench of what can only be described as suffering.   
   
   
  If you decide to leave, turn back to 20 if you want to search another 
  cell 
   
  If you decide against your better judgement to enter, turn to 9 
   
   
  50  
  You slowly creep up the stair, staying to the side in case there is a 
  loose floorboard given to creaking in the centre. You get to the 
  landing, and there are three more doors off it. You quickly check 
  them but find nothing of interest in any of them. You have wasted 
  your time.  
   
  Lose 1 FORTUNE point. 
   
  
   
   
  You walk down the stairs back to the hallway. If you haven't already, 
  you can try the left hand door, then turn to 65, or the right hand 
  door, turn to 98 
  51 
  The lock is a simple one and soon gives way to your skill. 
   
  Turn to 91 
  52 
  You stop and smile at the guards, and bow graciously. Then, 
  effecting the best courtier’s manners you can, you speak to the 
  guards. “Thank The One True God, I was desperately looking 
  for you gentlemen. My names is Malombr and I am a Merchant 
  of some repute. You may have heard of me. I am in trouble; I 
  have been robbed! Some cad has broken into my house and 
  stolen all my gold! Is the Kaptain De-Villiers here? As I need to 
  report it as soon as possible and I know the good Kaptain as 
  he is a regular at my parties” 
   
  TEST your FORTUNE. Take 2 away from the result. If the result is 
  less than or equal to your current FORTUNE, then you have 
  convinced them – and turn to 30. 
   
  If the result is greater than your current FORTUNE, the Watch are 
  not fooled by your deception and realise you are a thief attempting 
  to escape.  You have no choice but to fight them both.  
   
  Turn to 76 
   
  
   
   
   
   
  53 
  You approach the second cell, and peer through the dark. A shape 
  is slumped against the caged back wall, not moving. You carefully 
  unlock the cell, keeping your eyes on the shape all the time, and 
  then open the door and enter. Sitting in the corner is a man just a 
  
   
   
  few years older than you – and as he raises his matted head, you 
  get a jolt of recognition as you recognise the filthy face looking up at 
  you – despite the blood and bruises that are evidence of a good 
  beating. 
   
  You whisper “Lightning Jac – is that you?” The man smiles back 
  exhaustedly and nods. Jac is a member of the Guild who 
  disappeared on an important job for the Guild Master a few nights 
  ago. And now here he is, half naked and half-starved in a cell. You 
  throw him one of your provisions (remember to deduct that from 
  your adventure sheet) which Jac catches with astonishing reflexes – 
  despite his current condition. He wolfs down the food, whilst you 
  unlock his chains. 
   
  He gets up and stumbles with weakness, but soon the food starts to 
  take effect and he’s more stable. Then he goes to the back of the 
  cell and starts to dig around.  
   
  “There’s no time to talk now Jac, I have just escaped from this 
  place myself and the guards could come back at any time. Let’s 
  get out of here”.  
   
  “Wait, wait, it must be here, it must. I hid it here and would not 
  tell them” he mutters, and then in triumph he finds what he had 
  hidden. You see a glitter of gold and the gleam of a red jewel as he 
  places it inside his tunic.  
   
  “You wasted time for a bit of loot? Are you soft in the head?  
  You can always steal more. Time to go” you whisper urgently. 
   
  Jac nods and you make your way to the staircase. 
   
  For rescuing Jac, he is now in your debt. For the next 169 days, as 
  Guild tradition dictates, he must split half of his haul with you in 
  thanks for his liberation. As Jac is one of the best thief’s in the Guild, 
  this should earn you a tidy sum.  
   
  Add one FORTUNE point to your current FORTUNE score. 
  You can either leave Jac in his cell with some more food and small 
  beer to recover whilst you search the other cells. 
   
  If you haven’t already, you can: 
   
  
   
   
   
  Open Cell 1? Turn to 66 
  Open Cell 3? Turn to 47 
  Open Cell 4? Turn to 49 
  Open Cell 5? Turn to 100 
   
   
  54 
  Your eyes happen upon an old black cloak that’s draped over an 
  empty barrel. It looks moth eaten and soiled, but you can sense 
  something about it. You pick it up, and examine it closely. It is of 
  unusually fine weave, and almost seems to manage to be darker 
  than its surrounding, so that it’s quite difficult to see.  
   
  Your eyes almost seem to slip off it and focus upon something else. 
  There’s definitely something arcane about it. If you decide to take it 
  to examine later, stow the black cloak into your bag 
  If not if you haven’t already done so you can check the other cells. 
   
  Open Cell 1? Turn to 66 
  Open Cell 2? Turn to 53 
  Open Cell 3? Turn to 47 
  Open Cell 4? Turn to 49 
  55 
  You are in a corridor. To the left, several yards away, there is a 
  doorway that is just ajar and you can hear the noise of several men 
  talking and laughing.  
   
  You think it must be a common room for the off duty City Watch. 
  Knowing that you do not have the strength or ability to take on this 
  
   
   
  many foes. The room looks brightly lit and you have no chance of 
  sneaking through, even with arcane means. You discount this route.  
   
  To your right is another stout door. You try the door, turn to 21 
  56 
  TEST YOUR INTELLIGENCE. If you have the SKILL of LOCK 
  PICKING you can subtract 1 from your roll. If you succeed turn to 
  88. Otherwise you fail and get bored of searching the room and 
  leave.  
   
  If you try the right hand other door, turn to 98, or if you would prefer 
  to go upstairs, turn to 50 
   
  If you have had enough of this place and want to try to find a way 
  out, turn to 42 
  57   
  You react a fraction of a second too late, and are smashed in the 
  chest by a huge spiked iron ball which swings down on a chain from 
  the ceiling. It has been released by the trip wire you unfortunately 
  triggered. It thuds into you with tremendous impact, shattering your 
  ribs as you half turn to meet it. You are thrown sideways against the 
  wall, hitting it with more bone splintering force and drop to the 
  ground unmoving.  
   
  Your promising career as a thief ends here 
  58   
  You are back in the hallway. If you haven't already, do you want to 
  try right hand door, turn to 65, or if you would prefer to go upstairs, 
  turn to 50.  
   
  If you want to try to leave the tower turn to 42 
   
  
   
   
   
   
  59 
  You quickly rummage through the contents of the make-do 
  storeroom. 
  Do you have the SKILL of DIVVY? If so turn to 54 
   
  If not, you find nothing of interest and you decide to leave the cell. 
  If not if you haven’t already done so you can check the other cells. 
   
  Open Cell 1? Turn to 66 
  Open Cell 2? Turn to 53 
  Open Cell 3? Turn to 47 
  Open Cell 4? Turn to 49 
  60 
  The rest of this level of the blockhouse seems empty and so you 
  have a bit of time. You look around the room, and find your effects 
  have just been thrown onto a table nearby. You grab them and 
  hastily stow them away around your personage. You hear the night 
  watch ring the time. Only an hour has passed since your capture! 
  Your plan could still work! Add 1 FORTUNE point. 
   
  You look at the layout of the blockhouse. Ahead of you up some 
  steps is a heavy door that looks like the exit from this room. About 
  10 foot above and to the left of this door is a window, and you can 
  see the night sky.  
   
  Your heart leaps as you never thought you would see that sight 
  again. You quickly push down all emotion. Now is a time for clear 
  thinking and logic. 
  
   
   
   
  To the right there is the guard room and you can see through the 
  open door a table containing with food, drink and knucklebones. 
  There are even a few coins on the table – from the guards 
  gambling. To the left is a corridor, but this is barred by an iron gate. 
   
  What do you want to do now? Do you? 
  Enter the guard room and search it? Turn to 26 
  Creep up to the large door and try to open it? Turn to 71 
  Head down the corridor? Turn to 74 
   
  
   
   
   
   
  
   
   
  61 
  You quickly look through the piles of parchment strewn about on the 
  bureaus and shelves. The guards are clearly not the best at 
  paperwork. However, one of the bureaus has a locked drawer – 
  which is child’s play for you to open. You slowly pull the drawer 
  open, in case there is a trap, and can see a sheaf of papers.  
   
  They are a combination of arrest warrants and free passage 
  warrants, already stamped in wax and affixed with the crest of 
  Kaptain De-Villiers. There are names on the warrants, but you know 
  a clever little trick to remove ink so that names can be rewritten. 
  These could be invaluable. You store them in your backpack – 
  make sure you note them on your Adventure Sheet. 
   
  If you haven’t already done so, you can now either: 
  Take the set of keys? Turn to 85 
  Leave the room the try the large wooden door, turn to 71 
  Leave the room and head down the corridor, turn to 74 
  62 
  Both yours and Jacs lightening reflexes save you and you are able 
  to move quickly and quietly to either side of the door before it open. 
  Jac and you communicate quickly in Thief’s-talk, a silent method of 
  communication known to all Guild member that uses only small 
  hand movements to convey a lot of information quickly. You both 
  know your roles. You reach into your bag and find a set of caltrops 
  and cast them quickly on the floor. 
   
  A pair of burly City Watch come into the room, half carrying, half 
  dragging a semi-conscious beggar.  As soon as they are past the 
  door, you both step behind them and using an old wrestling trick, 
  you trip them up and push them forwards. TEST YOUR FORTUNE. 
  You use your current FORTUNE, Jac has a current FORTUNE 
  score of 7 (he’s had a bad week). 
   
  If you both are fortunate, turn to 15 
  If only one of you is fortunate, turn to 68 
  If you are both unlucky, turn to 38 
  
   
   
   
  63 
  You leap and are just able to catch the edge of the next building, but 
  your landing is far from silent. Your foot catches a roof tile, which 
  falls to the ground and smashes against the cobbled streets. You 
  managed to roll onto the rooftop quickly, as Malombr is stopped by 
  his guards, who both reach for their swords as they look for the 
  source of the unexpected sound. Tense moments that seem like 
  minutes pass by, until the guards are certain there is no threat to 
  their master. However, you swear silently – knowing that your 
  quarry has now been alerted. This could make things more 
  complicated.  
   
  Turn to 43 
   
  64 
  You hear a key grate into the lock of the large wooden door. Your 
  lightening reflexes save you and you are able to move quickly and 
  quietly into a corner before you hear movement on the other side of 
  the large door, and keys in a lock. The door inches open and 
  torchlight flickers through the gap, and you hide back in the 
  shadows, covering your face. 
   
  Do you have the SKILL of HIDING IN SHADOW? If so turn to 6 
  If you have a ragged old black cloak, turn to 17 
   
  If you don’t, TEST YOUR FORTUNE. If you are lucky, turn to 6. If 
  you are not, turn to 32 
  
   
   
  65  
  You move quietly to the left hand door and place your ear against it. 
  Again all is silent. Suspicious after the trip wire, you check the door 
  frame for any signs of traps but cannot see anything. You place your 
  hand on the door handle and slowly turn.  
   
  Turn to 78 
   
  
   
   
   
   
  
   
   
  66 
  You walk up to the first cell. The cell is all in shadow and even your 
  excellent night vision cannot determine if the cell is empty or 
  occupied. The corridor is eerily quiet, and the main things you can 
  hear are the rats scurrying around your feet and the occasional 
  crackling of the smoky torches. You try the first key, and it unlocks 
  the cell with a dull clunk. You open the door, and the rusted hinges 
  protest noisily. You creep into the cell and your vision adjusts and 
  you can see a shadow against the wall – a male figure hangs in a 
  cage from the wall. You watch for a few moments to determine if he 
  is still alive, and then can see his naked scarred and skinny chest 
  moving in and out almost imperceptivity. 
   
  You walk over and lift his head by the matted filthy hair.  Almost 
  imperceptivity, he groans “help me” through dry, cracked lips as 
  you look into his face – a face that is more straggly beard than 
  anything else. His eyes flicker open, deep set in his almost 
  cadaverous face – a face with paper thin skin drawn tight over 
  bones due to sustained malnourishment. 
   
  Have you got the SKILL of SIXTH SENSE? If you do turn to 70 
  If not, do you: 
  Try to use one of the keys to and free the wretch? Turn to 90 
  Leave the cell, and the poor wretch to his suffering? Turn to 97 
  67  
  Another junction. Will this labyrinth never cease? If you escape this 
  journey you vow never to go underground again. Your choices are 
  turn left or go right. You peer down the left passage. It curves out of 
  sight after a few yards and so you cannot tell how long it goes on 
  for, but the air seems dead and stale. To the right, the passage is 
  high, with vaulted ceilings made out of old, dark, bricks. On the 
  sides of the walls there are deposits of a grey semi-liquid, semi-
  solids, that streak down the walls. You poke at it with your finger, 
  and smell it. It’s got a musty, peppery smell to it. It reminds you of 
  the powder used in war canons. Clearly some creature lives down 
  this tunnel. If you want to take a sample, add it to your adventure 
  sheet as guano.  
   
  
   
   
   
  Having examined your options, you can now either go left and turn 
  to 28, or head right and turn to 135 
  68 
  One of the guards falls and lands on the venomous caltrops and is 
  paralysed almost instantly. The other just stumbles but stays 
  upright. You must fight him. Jac is unarmed and relatively useless in 
  this fight as he is so weak, but he is able to grab the door and stop it 
  from closing tight.  
   
  GUARD 1   
  FIGHTING SKILL 8   ENDURANCE 9 
   
  If you win two combat rounds in a row turn to 95 
  If you win turn to 5 
  69  
  You flee the cell as fast as your legs will carry you. Startled by what 
  you have seen; you decide to leave this unholy blockhouse straight 
  away. But you cannot find a way past the locked door. You must 
  have missed something in one of the cells. You go back to check. 
    
  Open Cell 1? Turn to 66 
  Open Cell 2? Turn to 53 
  Open Cell 3? Turn to 47 
  Open Cell 4? Turn to 49 
  70 
  Years of putting your life and freedom on the line each and every 
  night have given you this sense – that something is wrong. You step 
  back, and look more closely at the cell and its occupant. The bars of 
  the cage shine with a silvery light, even in this dark environment – 
  and you reach up and touch them. You gasp! They are silver – a 
  metal far too valuable to be used to hang a common thief or beggar. 
  Your education has included elements of the supernatural and you 
  remember that silver has power over some of the (many) types of 
  undead creatures – including vampires, were-creatures, wight’s and 
  ghouls. 
   
  
   
   
  You hastily leave the cell, locking the door. Back in the cell, the 
  Wight raises its head and stares at your departing figure with a 
  terrible hunger burning in its eyes. You have narrowly escaped a 
  nasty and painful death.  
   
  Turn to 97 
  71 
  The door is large, made of oak and bound with steel. You try your 
  best to open it, but it is too solid. There is also no locking 
  mechanism on this side, no key hole, and no way to pick the lock. 
  You realise that the door must have to be opened from the outside 
  only, maybe by a pre-arranged signal. You decide it’s not worthwhile 
  trying to find the signal, as there are bound to be guards on the 
  other side, even if the door is opened for you.  
   
  You can now either: 
  If you haven’t already, search the guard room, turn to 26 
  Head down the corridor to the metal gate, turn to 74 
   
   
  
   
   
   
   
  
   
   
  72  
  Despite knowing you are being chased, you realise that haste will 
  lead to an almost certain death – the tower has already proven to be 
  protected via traps. You stop and check your surroundings. The 
  hallway is quite simple, with a straight wooden staircase at the end 
  and a door off to the left and the right. You listen. Nothing. That 
  makes sense as the tripwire is unlikely to be activated if the owner 
  of the tower was in residence. Will you:  
   
  Go up the stairs, turn to 50 
  Open the door to the left, turn to 65; or  
  Open the door to the right, turn to 98 
  73 
  You have neglected to keep your body subtle and ready for action 
  whilst waiting. You curse yourself as you get up and find your calf 
  muscles are tense and stiff. You almost stumble as you set off 
  across the rooftop and then have to jump across an alley onto the 
  other side of the street.  
   
  If you have the SKILL of AGILITY, turn to 48. If you do not, TEST 
  YOUR FORTUNE but add 4 to the role. If you are lucky, turn to 63. 
  If you are unlucky, turn to 27 
  74  
  You reach the iron gate which blocks the way and try to open it. It’s 
  locked.  
   
  If you have the SKILL of LOCK PICKING, turn to 51. If you do not, 
  turn to 37 
  75  
  The descent continues, and once more you are faced with a 
  decision. There is a passageway to the left, or you can carry on 
  straight. The left passage has a kind of musty smell to it, whereas 
  the route straight on descends even steeper into darkness. 
  
   
   
   
   
  If you decide to turn left, turn to 135. If you carry straight on, turn to 
  139 
  76  
  Both guards circle on you. The one near the door moves forward 
  and the door swings shut with a click as the locking mechanism 
  sets. You are armed with both your stilettos against 2 guards armed 
  with cudgels. You must fight them both together, and can only injure 
  one guard per attack round, even if your FIGHTING SKILL is 
  higher. 
   
  GUARD 1  
  FIGHTING SKILL 8   ENDURANCE 9 
  GUARD 1   
  FIGHTING SKILL 7   ENDURANCE 8 
   
  If your endurance gets down to 2 or less, turn to 44. If you kill them 
  both, you search them quickly but find only a set of iron keys. If you 
  have no keys, you can keep them. You try the door, but its locked 
  firm. You decide to try to open the iron gate. Turn to 91 
  77 
  You climb the rough walls like a spider, soon getting to the top and 
  grabbing hold of the grate. The gaps between the bars are more 
  than big enough for you to get your arm through. You hook your arm 
  around the bars and hang from it, bracing yourself with your feet 
  against the sides of the wall. Fortunately, the walls have narrowed 
  and so you can put one foot each side and hold a lot of weight on 
  your feet. You know that you can easily hold this position for at least 
  6 minutes, but you still have to hurry. You manage to bring your left 
  leg towards you so that you can get your lock pick tools from the 
  false stitching in your boot heel. 
   
  If you have the SKILL of LOCK PICKING turn to 14. If you do not, 
  turn to 86 
  78  
  The door swings open effortlessly as you turn the handle. The room 
  is clearly a study. A large leather topped desk dominates the room, 
  with an ornate high back chair behind it. The curtains are drawn and 
  
   
   
  the room is dark, lit only by a small lamp on the desk. Adorning the 
  walls are various military pictures, banners and insignia. This is the 
  working office of a professional soldier. You head around the side of 
  the desk and look at the desk top.  
   
  It’s scrupulously neat and there's nothing of interest - only quills and 
  ink and a few documents - nothing of interest, but requests for 
  leave, uniform and acquisitions. You try the desk drawer, but it’s 
  locked. 
   
  Do you want to try to pick the lock?  
   
  If so, turn to 56, if you would rather leave and try the other door, turn 
  to 98, or if you would prefer to go upstairs, turn to 50 
   
   
  79  
  The chamber widens a bit and on both sides of the walls there are 
  alcoves that reach from floor to ceiling. As you approach the first, 
  you see that in the alcoves are standing skeletons of men long 
  dead. Each skeleton has a shield in one arm and a sword in the 
  other. You assume these were notable citizens of the city at some 
  stage, as the tattered remnants of their clothing is fine. In the centre 
  is one taller skeleton, in a fine robe that has stayed the effect of 
  time. He has no shield, but instead held loosely in both hands is a 
  large sword. The alcove around him is decorated with bleached 
  white skulls. He was obviously a man of some importance, possibly 
  a mighty warrior from an eon ago.  
   
  You reach up and touch the blade of the sword, but it is rusted 
  beyond use.  
   
  Their resting place has now been used to expand the sewage 
  system of the Holy City. You can almost feel their blank eyes 
  
   
   
   
  following you are you try to creep past. Then you are past them and 
  you breathe a sigh of relief. You are at another crossroads - and 
  need to decide which way you are going to go now. Turn to 102 
   
   
  
   
   
  80 
  Your hand reaches up when you are 10 foot off the ground and you 
  put your cat’s claws into the next brick, and move so that this hand 
  primarily holds your weight. But then the old mortar crumbles, and 
  without a chance to stop yourself, you fall to the floor, where you are 
  stunned. Lose 2 ENDURANCE points. 
   
  The noise alerts even the laxest guards, and two come over to 
  check. They can see the cat’s claws glistening in the torch light on 
  your hands and they curse. If you had escaped, it would have been 
  their heads. Before you know it, the grate is open, and a long steel 
  ladder lowered down. Two guards descend. If you have the SKILL 
  of UNARMED COMBAT, you can try to use this but you must fight 
  then together. As you have no weapons, reduce your FIGHTING 
  SKILL by 2. 
   
  GUARD 1   
  FIGHTING SKILL 6   ENDURANCE 5 
  GUARD 2   
  FIGHTING SKILL 7   ENDURANCE 6 
   
  If you win, turn to 82. 
   
  If your ENDURANCE gets to 2, they quickly overpower you, 
  blindfold you and chain you to the walls using metal cuffs that cover 
  the whole of the hands and don’t leave your fingers free. There is no 
  hope for escape now.   
   
  Turn to 13 
   
  
   
   
   
  81  
  On the way out, you grab Jac from where you left him in Cell 2 
  recovering and you both leave as fast as you can.  
   
  Turn to 41 
  82 
  You finally manage to knock the second guard unconscious with a 
  swift side kick to the temple. You give each an extra blow across the 
  head to ensure they sleep for many hours. You gasp for breath, but 
  don’t have any time to waste. Despite the pain and damage to your 
  body you climb the ladder and haul yourself over the side of the 
  oubliette. You pull up the ladder and close and lock the grate. 
   
  If you have the SKILL of LOCK PICKING, you can jam the lock so 
  that the guards cannot escape, even though they have the keys.  
   
  If you do, turn to 12 
   
  If not, turn to 60 
  83 
  You notice a war banner hanging on one of the ground floor walls. It 
  covers the wall completely from top to bottom. You initially missed is 
  as it’s such a dark area and not lit, but as you approach you can see 
  footprints that have walked up to this banner, and seemingly 
  through it. You approach carefully and pull the banner to one side.  
   
  TEST YOUR FORTUNE and AGILITY 
  Add both together and then roll 4d6. If you roll less than or equal to 
  your total, turn to 99. If you roll higher, turn to 10 
  84  
  You edge towards the coffin, doubting yourself as you are going 
  against all your better instincts. But it also feels like something you 
  must do. 
  
   
   
   
  You brace yourself, and ready a stiletto, as you slowly reach over 
  and unclip the hasp. You throw the lid back. Inside is a body.  
   
  It appears to be human – although initially it’s difficult to tell. It’s a 
  woman, naked except for a white linen shift – at least you think it 
  was probably once was white. The whole of the material is drenched 
  in blood. The bare arms, legs and head of the poor wretch are 
  covered in puncture wounds from the spikes, dark black angry 
  welts. As the spikes are barbed, this has the effect of ripping the 
  flesh when the coffin is turned. 
   
  Having lived in Laeveni all your live, you are accustomed to seeing 
  acts of violence and horror on an almost daily basis – but this is 
  something else. You feel sick to your stomach. You decide to leave 
  but just as you turn your back you hear a noise – a terrible empty 
  moan. You can either: 
   
  Run! Turn to 69 
  Or do you steel yourself and turn back. Turn to 45 
  85 
  You pick up the iron keys. Make sure you note them on your 
  adventure sheet. If you haven’t already done so, you can now: 
   
  Search the bureau and shelves for anything useful, turn to 61 
  Leave the room and try the large wood door, turn to 71 
  Leave the room and walk down the corridor, turn to 74 
   
   
  
   
   
   
  86 
  As a thief you still have the ability to try to pick a lock, but there is no 
  guarantee you will manage. However, this is a large, basic lock and 
  you should be able to open it. TEST YOUR INTELLIGENCE. If you 
  roll less than or equal to your INTELLIGENCE, turn to 14 
   
  If you roll more than your INTELLIGENCE, you struggle on trying to 
  pick the lock but to no avail. Time suspended below the grate in the 
  chimney of the oubliette saps your strength. Whilst you are trying 
  one more time to open the lock, your leg cramps, causing you to 
  slip. You fall to the ground of the oubliette with a thud.  
   
  Turn to 80 
  87 
  Is Jac still alive? 
  If he is, turn to 31 
  If he’s not, turn to 25 
  88  
  The lock gives way easily under your skilled touch. You hear a click 
  as the locking mechanism releases. Nervous of the trap at the door, 
  you stand to one side and slowly pull the draw open. Your care is 
  rewarded, as there's a "pfft" sound and a small dart thuds into the 
  leather back of the chair.  
   
  Using a pair of tweezers from your kit, you pluck the dart from the 
  chair back and look closely at it. The point still glistens with a pale 
  milky white liquid. You sniff the dart and smell nothing- as you 
  suspected, d’cane poison. Lethal even in such small amounts. You 
  look under the desk and find a hidden slot in the towards the rear. 
  You stick the point of one of your knives into it and you hear a 
  "clunk" as the mechanism is deactivated.  
   
  You open the drawer with more confidence, and inside is a sheaf of 
  papers. You rifle through them and stop suddenly, not believing 
  your luck.  
   
  
   
   
  One of the papers is folded up but has the crest of Most Holy on it. 
  You open it out and it is as you suspected, a map of the Holy City 
  itself, listing all the guard placements and duties. This map if worth a 
  fortune to a thief – if you can escape alive.  
   
  Smiling briefly, you stow the map in your tunic, replace all the other 
  papers and close the drawer. Finally, you retrieve your knife and 
  hear a "tek" as the mechanism resets. Record the map on your 
  adventure sheet and gain 2 FORTUNE points for such a good find. 
  You leave the room. 
   
  Turn to 58 
  89 
  The door creaks open. You slip through the door and swiftly and 
  silently close it and turn around, but as you do you hear a noise like 
  a taught wire snapping.  
   
  TEST YOUR FORTUNE.  
   
  If you have the SKILL OF SPEED AND AGILITY, you can reduce 
  the die roll by 2.  
   
  If you are lucky, turn to 39  
  If you are unlucky, turn to 57 
  90 
  You find a smaller key on the key-chain, and reach up and unlock 
  the cage and the man drops unceremoniously into a heap on the 
  floor. Instantly you sense something is wrong and then you realise - 
  the cage is made of silver – a valuable metal and known to have 
  power over the undead. 
   
  But too late, as with preternatural speed the wretch springs up from 
  the floor, a dreadful hunger in his eyes and he grabs you with talon 
  like fingers. Before you can react, his vice like grip forces you to 
  your knees and he bends his open mouth towards your neck.  
   
  The last thing you feel is the fetid breath from his mouth, which 
  stinks of the grave and worse, and you sense more than see the 
  
   
   
   
  glint of his unnaturally long, ragged teeth. Then you know no more 
  as razor sharp incisors rip your throat out, and the Wight feasts 
  noisily on you blood and flesh. Why a Wight is chained up in a 
  simple guardroom you will never know, bound by silver that has 
  power over its kind. 
   
  If you are fortunate, that‘ll be the end of you. If you are unlucky, then 
  you may rise again to become a lesser Wight, doomed to spend 
  eternity with only one thought in your mind – to feed on human 
  flesh. Either way, your promising career as a thief ends here. You 
  will be just another thief who never returns. 
   
  91 
  The gate creaks open. Beyond it is a short flight of stairs and as you 
  walk up them, the stench of the room behind hits you full in the face. 
  You live in a city by the sea, and are used to the smell of tanneries, 
  breweries, fisheries, but this is the stench of human misery.  
   
  A combination of sweat, effluence and ammonia fill your nose. You 
  fight down the reflex to retch. You calm your mind and try breathing 
  through your mouth, but this just coats the inside of your mouth with 
  a miasma so vile that you can almost taste the wretchedness in the 
  room. 
   
  You carry on into the room. It’s a long dark corridor, and on one side 
  are a couple of dim torches giving off a ruddy orange glow as well 
  as thick black smoke. On the other side are a number of cells, each 
  with an iron gate. 
   
  Will you? 
  Open Cell 1? Turn to 66 
  Open Cell 2? Turn to 53 
  Open Cell 3? Turn to 47 
  Open Cell 4? Turn to 49 
  Open Cell 5? Turn to 100 
  
   
   
   
   
  
   
   
   
  92 
  You cannot stand the feeling of having your arm in this hole for any 
  longer and so you pull it out as quickly as you can. However, as you 
  do, you disturb something and you feel a tiny nip on the back of 
  your hand. You pull your hand out and look down. There are two 
  small pin pricks in the back of your hand. Both are bleeding but 
  what's more alarming is that the skin around the wound is swelling 
  and turning green.  
   
  You watch in horror as this infection spreads up your arm, and you 
  can feel it in your chest cavity. Your heart starts to beat three times 
  its normal speed, and your breathing becomes fast and shallow, like 
  a mutt panting. You feel tears running from your eyes and you try to 
  rub them so they don't cloud your vision, but then everything takes 
  on a red hue. You look down and your hands are covered in blood - 
  your blood - which you realise is weeping freely from your eyes, 
  nose and ears and elsewhere. You lurch forwards against the wall 
  and wail once as your heart, overcome by the mysterious toxin, 
  mercifully puts the end to your torment and explodes in your chest. 
  You slump to the floor.  
   
  Your promising career as a thief ends here 
  93 
  Before you leave, you check the guard’s pockets and find a set of 
  iron keys. Then you go through the door and into a corridor. To the 
  left, several yards away, there is a doorway that is just ajar and you 
  can hear the noise of several men talking and laughing. You think it 
  must be a common room for the off duty City Watch. Knowing that 
  you do not have the strength or ability to take on this many foes, you 
  discount this route. The room appears too bright for you to try to 
  sneak through, even if you use arcane means.  
   
  To your right is another stout door. You try the keys. Turn to 89 
   
  
   
   
   
  94 
  You are armed with both your stilettos against 2 guards armed with 
  cudgels. You must fight them both together, and can only injure one 
  guard per attack round, even if your FIGHTING SKILL roll is higher. 
   
  GUARD 1   
  FIGHTING SKILL 8   ENDURANCE 9 
  GUARD 2  
  FIGHTING SKILL 7   ENDURANCE 8 
   
  If your ENDURANCE gets down to 2 or less, turn to 28. If you kill 
  them both, turn to 61 
  95 
  Jac and the beggar have not been idle whilst you fight the guard. 
  Jac has wedged the door open, and then retrieved the paralysed 
  guards cudgel and the beggar a length of chain. The beggar 
  manages to throw the chain around the guard’s cudgel and stop him 
  from striking you whilst Jac hails down blow upon blow with the 
  cudgel to the guard’s head and body. Despite Jac’s weakness, his 
  blows help to down the guard. He is soon unconscious on the 
  ground.  
   
  Turn to 5 
  
   
   
   
  96 
  Too slow. You are still only halfway across the room. The first 
  watchman, who is standing holding the door open, shouts “Oi, you, 
  stop” 
   
  You have nowhere to go, and are outnumbered 2 to 1. 
   
  Do you have the SKILL of CHARM AND GUILE. If so, turn to 52 
  If you don’t, turn to 44 
  97 
  You leave, locking the cell door as you exit. If you haven’t already, 
  will you? 
   
  Open Cell 2? Turn to 53 
  Open Cell 3? Turn to 47 
  Open Cell 4? Turn to 49 
  Open Cell 5? Turn to 100 
  98 
  You warily approach the right hand door, and examine the door 
  frame and handle. Nothing appears out of the ordinary and so you 
  turn the handle and open it. The door creaks slightly, a noise that is 
  magnified in the quiet of the tower. In front of you is a kitchen area. 
  You look around and find enough provisions for 4 meals. Add them 
  to your adventure sheet. You also find a small potion bottle. It’s a 
  portion of FORTUNE that can increase your FORTUNE by one point 
  (even above initial levels) but for one FORTUNE test only - so use it 
  sparingly. Add this to your adventure sheet. You leave the room and 
  are back in the hallway.  
   
  Turn to 42 
  
   
   
  99 
  You hear a slight click as you pull the banner to one side. In a 
  movement made out of instinct and not thought, you dive and roll to 
  one side. Just in time as a something fizzes past where your head 
  was moments ago. You recover to your feet in one fluid move and 
  see something shiny stuck into the opposite wall. You sneak over 
  and check. It’s a small metal dart, no doubt tipped with poison.  
   
  You shrug, and walk back to the hanging and find the hidden 
  trigger. Having disabled the trap, you walk into a small alcove. 
  There are no doors from it, but on the floor is a metal grate.  
   
  Turn to 109 
  100  
  This cell has been converted into a temporary storeroom. The cell 
  door in unlocked, and you ease the door open. The room is littered 
  with junk. Barrels of ale for the guards, piles of clothes, bags and 
  other garments. There’s a chest in the corner that’s got a simple 
  hasp lock on it. 
   
  Do you want to search the room? If so, turn to 59 
   
  If not, you leave. If you haven’t already done so you can check the 
  other cells. 
   
  Open Cell 1? Turn to 66 
  Open Cell 2? Turn to 53 
  Open Cell 3? Turn to 47 
  Open Cell 4? Turn to 49 
  101  
  You choose left and continue along a short corridor that suddenly 
  takes a sudden right turn. The light continues to fade as you get 
  deeper into the oldest parts of the city. You feel like you are slowly 
  going downhill and the air is getting thicker and distinctly 
  unpleasant.  
   
  
   
   
   
  The whole area smells of a combination of damp, must and decay. 
  You think you half hear a sort of scuttling noise ahead but there’s 
  nothing visible. You arrive at another crossroads.  
   
  You have three choices – left, right or straight on. The corridor to the 
  left is dark and the air is still, but it doesn’t seem to go on for long. 
  The one in front of you just seems long and straight but you cannot 
  determine anything else. To the right, the corridor seems to become 
  more ornate, with stone columns and plinths. It seems to be an even 
  older part of the catacombs.  
   
  Do you want to go left, turn to 118, straight on, turn to 111, or right, 
  turn to 145 
   
  102  
  You stand there at the crossroads considering the best route to 
  take. Then all of a sudden you hear a clattering noise behind you, 
  and then the clank of metal on metal. You turn quickly and are 
  horrified to see that the skeletons are emerging from their alcoves, 
  their shields before them and their swords levelled and pointed 
  towards your heart. You are going to have to fight them. Throw 1d6, 
  this is how many skeletons you must face.  
   
  You draw your sword and prepare to face the reanimated creatures.  
    
  SKELETONS   
  FIGHTING SKILL 8   ENDURANCE 6 
   
  Luckily as the corridor has narrowed once more they can only 
  engage you one at a time. If you win, turn to 131 
   
  
   
   
   
   
   
  
   
   
   
  103  
  You arrive at yet another junction. It’s a crossroads but you think 
  that you have already been down the right tunnel, and so you can 
  ignore that way. The passage to the left seems to drop down even 
  further into the earth. It’s steep, and earthy. There is a slight breeze 
  from the tunnel, but it brings the smell of decadence and decay. The 
  route straight on is a tunnel constructed of stone bricks, aged with 
  time.  
   
  To go straight on, turn to 148. To go left, turn to 75 
  104  
  The rate of decent is making it difficult for you to keep on your feet, 
  and you half scramble down the passageway until you get to a point 
  where it levels out - and you realise that all your effort was a waste - 
  as in front of you is a dead end.  
   
  You have no choice but to try to scramble back up the incline, but in 
  doing so you cut yourself badly on a sharp of volcanic glass that is 
  sticking out from the passageway floor. Lose 2 ENDURANCE. You 
  get back to the top, and have no option but to go down the other 
  passage.  
   
  Turn to 146 
  105  
  This subterranean network is like a rabbit warren. Every few yards 
  you come to another junction - and once again you find yourself 
  having to choose. You are finding it increasingly difficult to keep 
  track of your whereabouts in this almost alien landscape. You look 
  at the next junction, and see again you can turn left or right, or carry 
  straight on.  
   
  The left passage is composed of large bricks that seem to be loose, 
  with little or no mortar to hold them in place. The right passage is 
  strewn with boulders on the floor, which will make it difficult to 
  negotiate. Straight on, the passage appears to have a warm breeze.  
   
  
   
   
  If you dare to go left, turn to 141. If you think right is the best way, 
  turn to 136. Or to go straight, turn to 122 
  106 
  You reach into your backpack and your hand finds the DEATH 
  SIGIL given to you by Inista in her last moments. It is a powerful 
  curse. You clench your fist around it, and then extend your arm. De-
  Villiers is overly eager, and reaches out for your hand. You open 
  your fist, and drop the SIGIL into his hand.  
   
  Turn to 117 
  107 
  “Ah, we have a rabbit. A quick rabbit, but I am quicker. I am the 
  hawk, who catches the rabbit” shouts Celdron as he darts his 
  blade towards you. The thin point pierces your side and into your 
  heart. You drop to the floor. Before you die, you hear the sound of a 
  fist striking flesh, and a cry of pain from Celdron.  
   
  “Celdron, you fool, you were too quick, I wanted him taken 
  alive, to question in cells. Still, this is the one I was looking for, 
  and hopefully he still has the token I require. You had better 
  hope he has, or I will take you to the cell below, and you will 
  know torment” 
   
  Your death is fortunate in that it is quick. Your promising career as a 
  thief ends here. 
   
   
  108  
  De-Villiers is too strong and skillful and after a valiant effort, you 
  drop to your knees in exhaustion. You raise your blade weakly to try 
  to stop the next blow, but De-Villiers simply slaps it from your 
  
   
   
   
  weakening grip with the flat of his sword. He smiles, almost fatherly, 
  down at you.  
   
  "Brave, brave boy" he says "My Master can make use of a 
  servant like you" and he raises his hand and brings down the 
  black glass knife into your shoulder, but only gently.  
   
  The blade is so sharp you do not feel it enter, but then De-Villiers 
  twists the blade and removes it from you. You can see a tiny shard 
  of the blade has chipped off the point, and you can feel it’s coldness 
  in your body. Then you watch in amazement as the knife repairs 
  itself.  
   
  "Not long now my brave boy, and you will become a servant to 
  My Master. You kept the last key to his prison from him, and so 
  I doubt he will be a kindly master to you - but you will grow to 
  both fear and love him over the millennia. You will never die, 
  you will never grow old, never be sick - but you will also never 
  be alive again."  
   
  And he turns his back and walks off. Your body feels a dread cold 
  as the sliver of the glass blade works its way to your heart, and then 
  you don’t feel again as your life ebbs away and you start a new 
  existence undead forever, as a wraith in the service of De-Villiers 
  unnamed master.  
   
  Your promising career as a thief ends here. 
  109  
  You crouch down and check the grate. It’s made of wrought iron, but 
  badly rusted. You heave at it but it’s not shifting. But scuff marks 
  indicate that is has recently been opened. You are sure this is the 
  way to go and so don’t want to stop. Perhaps there is another way 
  to open it. You look around the alcove.  
   
  TEST YOUR FORTUNE. 
   
  If you have the SKILL of SIXTH SENSE, you can take 2 of the roll 
  and not lose a FORTUNE point if you win. If you don't have this skill, 
  roll as usual.  
  If you are FORTUNATE, turn to 119. If you are not, turn to 130 
   
  
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
   
   
   
  110  
  Another tunnel leads off downhill, leading into the dark. The walls of 
  the corridor are thick stone not earth, but there are cracks in the roof 
  of the tunnel. You hold your nerve and carry on down into the dark. 
  Then all of a sudden you hear a deep rumbling in the earth, and the 
  ground starts to shake. You cannot keep on your feet; such is the 
  violence of the upheaval. You are knocked onto your back, and with 
  horror you see that about you the roof and sides of the tunnel are 
  shaking and cracking.  
   
  You scramble back up, to run back up the tunnel, but stone dust 
  and earth streams down from the roof onto your head, making it 
  impossible to see where you are going. Disorientated, you try to feel 
  your way back up. But then the earth is replaced by rocks that 
  become dislodged and rubble starts to rain down on you, hitting 
  your head, shoulders and back. You double over to try to protect 
  yourself from this deluge.  
   
  But then the rock fall dislodges some larger boulders and one about 
  the size of a dwarf falls on top of you and crushes your slender 
  body. Soon your battered remains are completely buried under an 
  impromptu stone cairn, which will hold your broken form until the 
  end of time. 
   
  Your promising career as a thief ends here 
  111  
  You turn into a long vaulted tunnel that smells of damp, decay and 
  something almost alien. Then you hear a scuttling all around you 
  and you draw back when you see long forms scuttling towards you. 
  Each is about 3 yards long, and with hundreds of short legs on each 
  side of its long, low body.  
   
  These legs propel their long bodies’ forwards in a smooth scurrying 
  motion. Their bodies are segmented and covered in hard chitin, the 
  outer shell of insects. Their eyes are very small as they are almost 
  blind, but on the front to their heads are long antenna that 
  constantly feel and taste the air. They sense you, as their large 
  mandibles click together in anger. You have disturbed a nest of 
  
   
   
  giant centipedes and you have no choice but to fight them. Throw 
  1d6 to determine how many you have to fight.  
   
  GIANT CENTIPEDES    
  FIGHTING SKILL 8   ENDURANCE 7 
   
  If you win turn to 7 
   
  Otherwise your promising career as a thief ends here, as a meal for 
  the young in their nest. 
   
   
  112 
  You deliver a final blow to the ethereal form of De-Villiers, and he 
  screams out  
   
  "My Lord, why have you forsaken me. You promised me life 
  eternal."  
   
  Deep in those eyes you can see anger and contempt, but also fear 
  and a begrudging respect for you - as you, a mere gutter rat, have 
  defeated him. Then he says in a voice as quiet as death  
   
  
   
   
   
  “But you are too late. All the keys are near now. My master 
  stirs even now and others will do his bidding. You face 
  oblivion, fool”  
   
  His form explodes in a flash of light, but there is no noise, but there 
  is a terrific rush of air. You turn and run as fast, as you can sense a 
  malevolent presence in the chamber.  
   
  You run as fast as you can up the passageway near the altar. You 
  feel something gathering behind you but dare not look back. You 
  sprint to the surface. 
    
  Turn to 150 
  113 
  The climb down the ladder is no more than 10 feet. You drop down 
  and land lightly to the floor below, dropping into a crouch with your 
  hands on your dagger hilts. The ground is hard and smooth and part 
  of the extensive sewers. Somewhere under here you hope is an exit 
  back into the city. The passage is dark and so you look around and 
  find what you think is a long stick. You pick it up and realise that it is 
  in fact the thigh bone of a man. You shudder. You wrap some rags 
  around it and light it with your flint. It shows the path ahead, 
  dropping down deeper into the bowels of the sewers. You follow the 
  corridor straight on until you come to a crossroads.  
   
  The way right is blocked by a rock fall. There is a path to the left or 
  you can continue straight on. As you approach the left passage, you 
  torch starts to splutter. When you check the straight passageway, 
  you can feel a warmth from the entrance.  
   
  If you want to turn left, turn to 128. To continue on the straight path, 
  turn to 122 
  114  
  Despite his skill and double attack, you manage to finally cut De-
  Villiers down with a deft backhand slice to his throat. The fighting 
  you have had to do so far tonight has sharpened your skills beyond 
  what they ones were. His eyes go wide in disbelief as his life’s blood 
  starts to flood out of the gaping hole in his neck.  
  
   
   
   
  He drops to his knees gasping and cursing you - although you can 
  hardly make out a word he is saying as he chokes on his own blood. 
  The knife and sword fall from his hands as he grasps his throat in a 
  desperate attempt to stem the blood flow. As the knife drops to the 
  hard stone floor, it shatters into a thousand pieces leaving only the 
  rune carved hilt behind. As it breaks there is a silent detonation as 
  the malevolent energy stored in the knife escapes.  
   
  Then De-Villiers topples to one side and his body starts to rapidly 
  decompose, as though the work of ages happens in seconds. Soon 
  there is nothing left but dust, which blows away in an unnatural gust 
  of a witch wind.  
   
  You rest a while and feel replenished – add 4 to your ENDURANCE 
  - and then start to look around the chamber. You find to the left of 
  the dark altar a passageway leading steeply up. Then just as you 
  are about to take it and leave this ungodly room, an unholy wind 
  whistles through the chamber, stirring up dust that forms into a 
  whirlwind in the centre of the room, buffeting you.  
   
  Then the whirlwind slowly turns into an ethereal human form of a 
  very old man, but it’s still a face that you know - the face of the man 
  you have just defeated! He is wearing a shimmering unearthly robe 
  and his long hair is intricately braided. The figures hovers’ unerringly 
  in front of you and it seems to carry the stench of decadence, decay 
  and evil. In his pale hand he holds a white sword seemingly made of 
  smoke. 
   
  He throws back his head and laughs, a dusty and cold sound that 
  echoes through the remnants of this great city.  
   
  “You fool; you think you could defeat me so easily. You just 
  destroyed the corporal form that my Master granted me for this 
  oh so important task. Now you see my true form. For too long, I 
  have waited in the cold ground for my Master to give me the 
  strength to bring him back to your world, his world. 
   
  He returns! Cannot you feel it? And the world will tremble as 
  He wakes. And you have brought the final tools I need to 
  resurrect Him. And I will be the most esteemed of all His 
  servants. Now give me what I want, or I shall take it” 
  Turn to 126 
  
   
   
   
   
   
  115  
  You are starting to get increasingly confused by the layout of these 
  corridors, and again you end up at a junction whereby you can turn 
  left or right. You check your bearings and consider your options. 
  The tunnel to the right heads downhill, and the walls are made from 
  stone bricks. You look up and the roof is cracked.  
   
  To go right, turn to 110. Otherwise, turn to 141 
  116   
  The corridor, if it can be called that, narrows as you walk through it 
  until your arms are brushing the walls, and then it comes to a dead 
  end. On the floor is some debris including a small glass bottle. If you 
  want to pick up the bottle, turn to 125.  
   
  Otherwise there is no way through here and you must turn around 
  and walk back up the corridor and take the other passage.  
   
  Turn to 105 
  117  
  The Sigil glows red in his De-Villiers hand. The star in the centre 
  radiates an ethereal light. He screams, and unearthly sound that 
  comes from no human throat. He tries to drop the Sigil, but his 
  muscles seem to have contracted and hold his fist closed around it. 
  You see smoke appear from his clenched fist, and smell the charnel 
  
   
   
  reek of burning flesh. A dark fire starts in his clasped hand, and 
  starts to travel up his arm.  
   
  He screams, sounding more like a terrified child, but the fire 
  continues to climb. Soon he is engulfed in it, and he burns with 
  black flames. His flesh starts to crumble from his bones, and soon 
  he is just a charred skeleton. He topples to the floor, and his bones 
  shatter on impact with the ground, leaving a heap of dust and bone 
  fragments.  
   
  You hear a female voice in your head “It is done, I have my 
  revenge” and then it’s gone.  
   
  The Sigil remains glowing in the dust but then the colour starts to 
  leave it, until it looks once more just like a harmless trinket. You 
  reach down and pick it up. It’s hot to the touch and you burn your 
  hand. Lose 1 ENDURANCE. But you wait for it to cool and put it 
  back into your pack.  
   
  Not wanting to waste any more time, you head for the passageway 
  behind the altar and head for the surface. 
   
  Turn to 143 
  118   
  The corridor is short and goes back on itself into a dead end. On the 
  floor, covered in dust is a skeleton of a man, still clad in a rusty mail 
  coat. If you want to examine the skeleton, turn to 33.  
   
  Otherwise you can return to the junction and go straight on, turn to 
  145, or turn left, turn to 111 
   
   
  
   
   
   
  119   
  Searching around you notice there is an unevenness about the wall 
  - one that does not appear to be from disrepair. You trace you hand 
  along the rough uneven stones, and then sense that one of them 
  feels slightly different. You place your knife into one of the edges. 
  You slowly twist and the stone pivots open on a hinge.  
   
  Behind the stone is a small hole that goes back into the wall. You 
  peer in and can see only blackness. You take a chance and place 
  you hand and forearm into the hole and reach back. You flinch as 
  something runs over the back of your hand. Then a second 
  something does as well.  
   
  Do you want to slowly consider probing the hole, then turn to 121, or 
  quickly remove your arm, turn to 92 
  120  
  Your hand closes on the amulet. As it touches your hand, you 
  remember all the horror you have seen tonight and feel rage that 
  this man has been the source of it. But you feel the resistance in 
  you failing, as De-Villiers almost hypnotic voice continues to 
  persuade you.  
   
  TEST YOUR FORTUNE. If you pass, turn to 142 
  If you fail, turn to 133 
  121   
  You decide not to startle whatever is in there and move slowly and 
  continue to probe with your hand. The scurrying of tiny feet across 
  your hand continues and you steel yourself so you don’t 
  inadvertently flinch and startle whatever's in there.  
   
  Eventually, after hours, in reality mere moments, of searching your 
  hand finds something sticking up. A lever! You slowly pull it and are 
  rewarded by a squeal of rust and iron as the hidden mechanism 
  releases the grate. It slowly creaks open. With all care, you slowly 
  inch your hand out of the opening and eventually pull it free.  
   
  
   
   
  On the back of your hand is a tiny red beetle, with over enlarged 
  mandibles. You place your hand back onto the wall near the hole 
  and it scuttles off your hand back into its home.  
   
  Turn to 138 
   
  122   
  The corridor continues to slope downward as you walk along it, and 
  the air gets a mustier smell about it and it’s oppressively warm. You 
  start to sweat profusely in the close atmospheres, exacerbated by 
  your need to carry a lit torch. You carry on without incident for about 
  200 yards and then come to a crossroads.  
   
  If you want to turn left, turn to 101. If you want to turn right, turn to 
  147, or if you would prefer to go straight on, turn to 127 
   
   
  123  
  You rest a while and feel replenished – add 4 to your ENDURANCE 
  - and then start to look around the chamber. You find to the left of 
  the dark altar a passageway leading steeply up. Then just as you 
  are about to take it and leave this ungodly room, an unholy wind 
  whistles through the chamber, bringing dust that forms a whirlwind 
  in the centre of the room, buffeting you with the wind.  
   
  Then the whirlwind slowly turns into an ethereal human form of a 
  very old man, but it’s still a face that you know - the face of the man 
  you have just defeated! He is wearing a shimmering unearthly robe 
  and his long hair is intricately braided. The figures hovers’ unerringly 
  in front of you and it seems to carry the stench of decadence, decay 
  
   
   
   
  and evil. In his pale hand he holds a white sword seemingly made of 
  smoke. 
   
  He throws back his head and laughs, a dusty and cold sound that 
  echoes through the remnants of this great city.  
   
  “You fool; you think you could defeat me so easily. You just 
  destroyed the corporal form that my Master granted me for this 
  oh so important task. Now you see my true form. For too long, I 
  have waited in the cold ground for my Master to give me the 
  strength to bring him back to your world, his world. 
   
  He returns! Cannot you feel it? And the world will tremble as 
  He wakes. And you have brought the final tools I need to 
  resurrect him. And I will be the most esteemed of all His 
  servants. Now give me what I want, or I shall take it” 
   
  TEST YOUR FORTUNE 
  If you are FORTUNATE, turn to 4 
  If you are not, turn to 126 
  124 
  De-Villiers walks into the room and surveys it. He notices the trap 
  has been tripped and he says to himself. 
   
  “Tripped, but no body. Someone is here. In this room” 
   
  He has not seen you but somehow he feels your presence and 
  remains in the centre of the room. His eyes search the room 
  intently. Then, without turning, he shouts. The door opens almost 
  immediately, and two men wearing the uniform of the Black Guard 
  appear. 
   
  One is small, slight and moves quickly. His hair is greasy and 
  seemingly plastered to his head and face, as well as a scraggly 
  beard covering most of his pock marked face. This is a face not to 
  trust. His dark eyes glitter cruelly under his brows. Celdron! One of 
  de Villiers most trusted Lieutenants. What he lacks in size he makes 
  up for in viciousness. 
   
  The other is the opposite. Tall and broad, but without enough bulk to 
  slow him down. He towers above Celdron, and a broad headed 
  
   
   
  battle axe is hooked into his belt. His hair is long, blonde and 
  braided, and his face clean-shaven. It would be a friendly, attractive 
  face if it wasn’t for his eyes, which shine like blue ice – but there is 
  no emotion in these eyes.  
   
  This is Elrad, Celdron normal accomplice when working for de 
  Villiers. He is the brawn to Celdrons brains – and he enjoys using 
  his brawn. 
   
  “Search the tower” instructs De-Villiers “someone has entered. 
  And still lives” 
   
  They fan out, with Celdron moving the closest to you. You realise 
  your poor hiding place will soon be found and you have no choice 
  but to make a run for it. You dart for the door, but as fast as you are, 
  Celdron is faster. His rapier whistles from his scabbard and he 
  strikes at you as you fly past.  
   
  TEST YOUR FORTUNE. If you are fortunate, turn to 107. If you are 
  not, turn to 19 
  125  
  The bottle is dusty and covered with dirt from the ground, but you 
  give it a quick clean and see a run on the side that identifies it as a 
  POTION of ENDURANCE. This potion will restore your endurance 
  to its original level, but use it wisely as there is only one dose. Write 
  this on your adventure sheet, and now you must go back up the 
  tunnel.  
   
  Turn to 105 
  126  
  You are held by his voice, which commands you to remain. But in a 
  show of defiance, you once more raise your weapons. You may not 
  be able to run, but you will fight. 
   
  “Heh heh heh. So you still wish to fight. You still think you can 
  beat me. You may have beaten my physical form, but you will 
  find me a lot harder to destroy now. It is inconceivable that you 
  will defeat me” 
  
   
   
   
   
  He moves towards you.  
   
  SPIRIT of DE-VILLIERS      FIGHTING SKILL 13 ENDURANCE 23  
   
  He is not of this earth and cannot be easily harmed. If you hit him, 
  roll 1d6. If you roll a 5 or a 6, your attack fails. Each successful 
  attack from him is also magical as well as hurts you physically, and 
  you lose 1 point of FIGHTING SKILL as well as 2 ENDURANCE. 
   
  If you win, turn to 112 
  127   
  The tunnel continues to go downward and the air is stifling and 
  thick. It’s like trying to breathe through a wet blanket and the 
  moisture causes you to struggle to catch your breath. Lose 2 
  ENDURANCE. 
   
  Eventually, you come to a left turn, and the air seems even thicker 
  down that route. The tunnel to the right seems larger and more 
  open, with a higher, arched roof. The walls are made of tight fitting 
  bricks and you can see in the gloom a couple of carved stone 
  columns rising up to the roof.  
   
  Do you want to turn left, if so turn to 145. Otherwise you carry on 
  straight, turn to 79 
  128   
  You take the left turn and again the path starts to go steeply 
  downhill. It continues to be as dark as the pits of hell here, but your 
  torch gives you some light. Then your torch starts to splutter and the 
  flame slowly decreases in size almost like the fire is slowly 
  suffocating. Then all of a sudden the flame is extinguished and you 
  are plunged into almost total darkness. You try not to panic, as you 
  are used to operating in the dark, but not underground on the way to 
  an ancient city to fight a terrible foe. You rely on your other senses, 
  as you have done on many a time.  
   
  It’s then that you notice a thick acrid smell in the tunnel. It gets 
  stronger with every step and it when you inhale it, the acrid stench 
  
   
   
  bites the back of your throat making you cough uncontrollably. The 
  more you cough, the more you breathe in and the less you can 
  breathe. Soon you are half coughing and half panting, leaning 
  against the tunnel walls. Your head spins with lack of oxygen and 
  the build-up of toxic gas.  
   
  Too late you realise that you are in a pocket of marsh gas but by 
  then the gas has done its deadly work. You gasp once more, your 
  eyes now streaming from the toxin, and slump to the floor. Your last 
  few breathes in this life are shallow and rasping. Then you breathe 
  no more.  
   
  Your promising career as a thief ends here 
  129 
  You reach down and close her eyes, but as you do her head jerks to 
  one side, and you realise she’s only mostly dead. Some life still 
  remains in her.  
   
  But she starts to fade. But before she does she weakly raises her 
  hand and presses an item into your hand. Its round, with a star in 
  the centre and compelling symbols around the star.  Around the 
  edge are letters, possibly spelling a name, but you cannot make it 
  out: A…R..O..T..H..A..S..T. The star glows with a feint light.  
   
  “This is my amulet. It contains my Sigil of power. It connects 
  me to…… the one from my eternal master…..from whom I….. 
  draw my power.  I have placed upon it my …….death 
  curse…………. for the man who did this to me. This may aide 
  you in destroying him, for he is more than……. He seems, for 
  he is……..” 
   
  She coughs and struggles to speak. You lean in even closer as its 
  clear there is something important she needs to tell you.  
   
  “De….vil….” she whispers in a voice like dry parchment.  
   
  Then her head drops to one side, and you hear the rattle of the air 
  leaving her body for the last time. You close her eyes and pray that 
  she finds peace. Then you think you see an ethereal human shape 
  leaving her and floating above her body. The face then comes into 
  
   
   
   
  focus, and you see the face of an impossibly beautiful young 
  woman, with long silken hair, looking down at you and smiling.  
   
  Her smile fills you with joy and hope. Add 1 to your FORTUNE and 
  SKILL (even if either exceeds 12). You feel blessed and tears fill 
  your eyes. But then she is gone.  
   
  You stand and walk towards the cell door. Remember to put SIGIL 
  OF DEATH onto your adventure sheet. 
   
  Turn to 41 
   
  
   
   
   
   
   
  
   
   
   
  130  
  You cannot find a way to open the grate and despite heaving at it, 
  you cannot shift it. Lose 1 FORTUNE point. You have no choice but 
  to try to sneak back out the main door. 
   
  Turn to 132 
  131  
  Your blade chops the head clean from the last skeleton. It bounces 
  along the stone floor, and cracks into pieces. The body remains 
  standing for a moment, its arms still twitching for a few seconds. 
  Then it collapses to the ground into a pile of dust and bones. For 
  fighting well, gain 1 FORTUNE point.  
   
  Having sent the skeletons back to their graves, you can continue. 
  You come to another crossroads. You crouch down and examine 
  the various paths. You fancy you can see vague footprints in the 
  dust heading straight on, but you cannot tell how recent they are. 
  The floor of the right tunnel is covered with dust and does not seem 
  to have been disturbed for decades. You cannot determine anything 
  of use from the left passage. 
   
  At the crossroads are you going to turn left (turn to 103), turn right 
  (turn to 148) or go straight on (turn to 75) 
  132 
  As you head back to the door, you hear a click, and then you see it 
  start to open. In desperation, you hide back in the shadows. The 
  door opens and a tall, thin, sardonic man enters. He is wearing the 
  insignia of a Kaptain of the Guard. You recognise his face. It’s De-
  Villiers himself.  
   
  You remain still, just backed against a wall, hoping the shadows and 
  your dark clothes hide you. You are crouched down to make your 
  profile as small as possible, and you lower your head so that your 
  dark hair covers your pale face. You stare up through your hair with 
  eyes like slits.  
   
  
   
   
  TEST YOUR FORTUNE. If you have the SKILL OF HIDING IN 
  SHADOWS, you can take 2 off your roll.  
   
  If you pass, turn to 144. If you fail, turn to 124 
  133  
  You feel your will crumbling under the onslaught of the mind of De-
  Villiers. He seems to have power over your body and with horror 
  you see your hand going to your backpack and taking out the red 
  stone. You hold out your hand and he slowly walks forward, his face 
  a mask of triumph, and snatches the contents from your hand. 
    
  "At least" he shouts "I have them all. The keys to release the 
  greatest power this world has known. It has taken many 
  millennia, but I will now free Him and be His most favoured 
  right hand. And you, boy, will serve Him for eternity. But as you 
  tried to go against his wishes, I doubt you will find Him a kindly 
  master".  
   
  You have failed to stop the ancient power emerging, and soon it will 
  take over all of your world, and you will be there to see all the horror 
  and terror to come.  
   
  Your promising career as a thief ends here 
   
   
   
  
   
   
   
  134   
  You turn left and continue down a long tunnel, but you can see 
  some feint light at the end. You suppress the need to run towards 
  the light as the darkness - which you were born to - is repressive in 
  this underworld. Instead you hold your nerve and continue forward 
  on cat like feet. Light at the end of the tunnel may mean further 
  enemies.  
   
  The tunnel starts to broaden out a bit and you find yourselves at an 
  ornately carved archway. You walk through the archway into a large 
  chamber. Light cascades down from above from a hidden source far 
  above. There is a waterfall passing through it, and the walls are all 
  carved and painted - although the paint has blistered and peeled 
  from the walls over time, or faded into obscurity.  
   
  On the other side of the chamber is a raised platform and elegant 
  pillars rise up to the tall vaulted ceilings. At the rear of the chamber 
  is an altar made of black basalt. The surface is old and pitted, and 
  knife marks are clear on the surface. In the altar are channels which 
  are stained dark - with what you aren’t certain, until you smell a 
  metallic scent rising from the altar.  
   
  You shudder. The altar is stained with blood that has turned dark 
  over the ages. At the back of the altar is a statue of a creature made 
  from nightmares - and you realise that this is the power that you are 
  destined to fight.  Then a figure emerges out from behind a pillar 
  and greets you. He is tall and sardonic and welcomes you with a 
  thin smile. You know this face all too well.  
   
  Turn to 29 
  
   
   
   
  
   
   
   
  135   
  As you walk into the passageway you sense more than see that the 
  roof of the passageway extends up like a chimney, the bricks old 
  with age from some long lost structure. At the top you can see the 
  vague hint of light as if there is a route out of this subterranean hell. 
  You look up and strain your eyes to see more.  
   
  Then all of a sudden you see some small black forms flying around 
  above you, circling high up in the chimney. Then all of a sudden as 
  one they dive and attack you. You shudder as one of them tries to 
  land on you and bite your neck with needle like fangs. They are 
  vampire bats, and are keen to taste your blood. You must fight 
  them. There are 4 bats, 
   
  VAMPIRE BATS   
  FIGHTING SKILL 5  ENDURANCE 5  
   
  You must fight them all at once. If you throw a double on the bats 
  winning attack round, then one of the bats manages to attach itself 
  to you and drains 3 ENDURANCE in blood.   
   
  If you succeed turn to 137 
   
   
   
  
   
   
   
  
   
   
   
  136   
  Another tunnel leads off downhill, leading into the dark. The walls of 
  the corridor are thick stone not earth, but there are cracks in the roof 
  of the tunnel. You hold your nerve and carry on down into the dark. 
  Then the corridor opens up into a large cavern. You enter between 
  two ancient pillars and look at the almost perfectly round chamber 
  which has a dome that reaches up for fully 50 yards.  
   
  Then all of a sudden you hear a deep rumbling in the earth, and the 
  ground starts to shake. You cannot keep on your feet; such is the 
  violence of the upheaval. You are knocked onto your back, and turn 
  towards the noise - the corridor you enter through. With horror you 
  see that about you the roof and sides of the tunnel are shaking and 
  cracking and then the two stone pillars crash to the ground. Stone 
  dust and earth streams down from the roof, which then changes to 
  rubble, and then to boulders. The air becomes black with dust and 
  you choke back breathes of air, taking in more dust than precious 
  air.  
   
  Then as quickly as it started, the rock falls stops. You struggle to 
  your feet, coughing up earth dust, and blindly feel around. Panic 
  gets hold of your heart and for a few moments you stand there still, 
  not knowing what to do. Then you compose yourself, with a 
  struggle, and assess where you are. Behind you, the way you came 
  in, 20 feet back the whole of the corridor has been filled with giant 
  boulders that will be impossible for a cave troll to move, let alone a 
  young thief.  
   
  You take time to examine the cavern. It looks like an old temple to 
  some ancient god. But it appears that the only way in was through 
  the carved pillars. Slowly, you realise that there is no way out and 
  that you only have the time left that your provisions will provide.  
   
  You have two options. You can ration your food and hope that 
  someone finds you, which seems unlikely as no one knows you are 
  here, until you finally die of starvation, or more likely, thirst. Or you 
  can take the easy way out. You draw your knife and look at its keen 
  edge. It is so sharp you will barely feel the cut.  
   
  You must decide what you must do, but either way, your promising 
  career as a thief ends here. 
  
   
   
  137   
  You stop and rest against the wall, breathing heavily, taking the time 
  to staunch any blood flow from the bats bites, as their fangs inject 
  an anticoagulant to keep you bleeding. If you have any guano, you 
  can spread this on your wound, as you have heard that the soil from 
  vampire bats will help against their bites.  
   
  If you do not have any guano, then you lose 2 ENDURANCE as you 
  cannot get the bleeding to stop.  
   
  Turn to 139 
   
   
  138   
  You look down at the grate and see it has opened halfway. You 
  stamp with the heel of your boot and it protests as you force it open. 
  The wail is almost like that of a human baby. Eventually you force it 
  open all the way. You crouch down and look into the darkness, once 
  more steadying your nerves. You sit on the edge and look down.  
   
  All is as quiet and as dark as a grave. You reach to the wall and find 
  a bit of crumbled mortar and drop it down, listening intently. You 
  hear it land scant seconds later and determine it must be more than 
  30 yards to the ground - or whatever is below.  
   
  You prepare yourself to climb down into the pit, but then half smile 
  as you see a glitter of metal against one of the walls. There is a 
  ladder bolted to the side of the tunnel. You gladly climb onto it and 
  silently descend into the darkness. The grate swings close with a 
  rusty crash. You have no way out, and you must now carry on down 
  into the unknown. Turn to 113 
  
   
   
   
   
   
  
   
   
  139  
  You continue along a corridor that descends quickly and now have 
  the choice of whether to continue straight on or turn left. The 
  passage straight on descends down steeply into the ground. You 
  peer into the tunnel and cannot feel a breath of moving air, and the 
  air smells stale.  
   
  The tunnel to the right also descends deeply, but you can feel a 
  slight flow of air, carrying the smell of decay, but also something 
  else. Something you are familiar with but cannot quite place.  
   
  Will you go straight on (turn to 104) or turn left (turn to 146) 
   
  140 
  You hide in the corner and you use all your training to become 
  almost preternaturally still. You try to slow your breathing and are 
  almost in a trance like state. 
   
  It seems to work as one of the guards goes into another room, 
  whilst the other remains at the door. The first guard emerges with 
  some sheaves of paper. Then they both leave the way they came, 
  and the door locks behind them.  
   
  You decide you will have to see what’s beyond the iron gate.  
   
  Turn to 91 
  141  
  You have a bad feeling about the right hand tunnel, and so instead 
  decide to go left. You soon end up at another junction. You feel like 
  you have been here before. You worry that you are getting lost and 
  turned around in this maze and you fight down the panic that’s rising 
  in your chest.  
   
  The tunnel to the left may be new, but you are struggling to tell. The 
  one to the right is made of stone brick, with cracked walls and 
  
   
   
   
  ceilings, and looks familiar. But you cannot wait any longer. You 
  must choose.  
   
  Either go left, and turn to 115, or choose right and turn to 110 
  142 
  Your will is strong and you refuse to yield, thinking of the evil you 
  have seen tonight. You shake your head and your hand moves 
  away from your backpack and towards your sword hilt. De-Villiers 
  mask of civility slips and his face clouds in rage. 
    
  "You disobey me? You dare! I have passed eons waiting for 
  this moment and will not be defeated. It is time for Him to rise 
  again. If you will not give it to me, then I will take it” 
   
  Then from inside his robe he draws a sable like blade and a short 
  hooked knife of black glass. The knife is old with age but still looks 
  razor sharp.  
   
  DE-VILLIERS   
  FIGHTING SKILL 11  ENDURANCE 9 
   
  Each time De-Villiers hits you, throw 1d6. If you throw even, then his 
  sword hurts you and does the usual 2 ENDURANCE damage, but if 
  it’s odd, the knife hurts you. The knife is the sacrificial blade that has 
  been used for centuries and has an evil power - and each cut from 
  the knife does 3 ENDURANCE damage. If you win, turn to 114. If 
  you lose, turn to 108 
   
  
   
   
   
  
   
   
   
  143 
  You have only started back up the tunnel when you hear a noise 
  from behind you. You stop and turn. You can see back in the 
  chamber, where a whirlwind is forming around De-Villiers remains, 
  and slowly turns into an ethereal human form of a very old man. He 
  is wearing a shimmering unearthly robe and his long hair is 
  intricately braided. Even from here, he seems to carry the stench of 
  decadence, decay and evil. In his pale hand he holds a white sword 
  seemingly made of smoke. 
   
  The figure floats across in the chamber and looks at the 
  passageway back up to the surface. It tests the air in front with its 
  sword, but some sort of invisible field stops it. He cannot leave 
  without a corporal body. He stares at you with glowing eyes.  
   
  However, the ghostly spectre of throws back his head and laughs, a 
  dusty and cold sound that echoes through the catacombs. 
   
  “You fool; you think you could defeat me so easily. You just 
  destroyed the corporal form that my Master granted me for this 
  oh so important task. For too long, I have waited in the cold 
  ground for my Master to give me the strength to bring him back 
  to your world, His world. He returns! And the world will tremble 
  as He wakes. I know you have the final tool I need to resurrect 
  Him. And I will be the most esteemed of all His servants.” 
   
  Turn to 150 
  
   
   
   
  
   
   
   
  144 
  De-Villiers walks into the room and surveys it. Then he says to 
  himself “The trap was tripped, but there is no body. Someone is 
  here”, closing the door behind him. You hear it click as he locks it. 
   
  “Maybe he is below in the catacombs” and he dashes towards a 
  dark corner, where there is a war banner hanging.  
   
  He reaches around and you hear a switch “click” and he disappears 
  behind the banner. You hear the sound of rusted metal protesting, 
  and then steps echoing down below. Then the metal groans shut 
  again.  
   
  Turn to 149 
  145   
  Once again you arrive at a junction. You feel like you have been 
  down the right corridor, although you could be mistaken. You bend 
  down and check the floor, and you can see vague footprints. The 
  imprint matches the soles of your boots, and so you are convinced 
  that you have already been this way 
   
  Therefore, you have no option but to turn left. Your torch is starting 
  to burn low and so you decide to hurry.  
   
  Turn to 79 
  146  
  You half scramble down another steeply slanted passageway and 
  when you get to the bottom there’s a choice of turning left or right. 
  You check both passages. The floor of the right passage is soft and 
  sandy, and you struggle with your footing. The left passage seems 
  much longer, but you think you can detect light at the end, but there 
  is something about this passage that is deeply unsettling.  
   
  Do you want to turn left, then turn to 134, or head right, and turn to 
  turn to 35 
  
   
   
  147   
  Shortly after turning right, you find yourself at another junction. The 
  left hand passage heads downhill, into the dark and there is dust in 
  the air that makes you cough. The right passage seems to get 
  smaller as it goes on, but appears shorter.  
   
  You can either choose to turn right, then turn to 116, otherwise turn 
  left and turn to 136 
  148   
  Another choice. You can either go straight on, or turn left. You 
  examine the tunnel walls and notice the passage straight on is 
  made of large, ill-fitting bricks and stones. The mortar has crumbled 
  from between them with age. The left passage descends down, and 
  has a musty smell to it, but a slight breeze that brings a whiff of 
  tallow.  
   
  If you go straight on, turn to 110, or to go left and turn to 75 
  149 
  You wait for half an hour, but De-Villiers does not re-appear. You 
  check the door, and behind it you hear the sound of many voices. 
  The only way out is to try to follow De-Villiers.  
   
  You walk over to the war banner, and pull it to one side and walk 
  back into the alcove. 
   
  You crouch down and check the grate again. It’s still locked. You 
  heave at it but it’s not shifting. But you can see fresh scuff marks 
  from when De-Villiers opened it. You are sure this is the way De-
  Villiers went and so perhaps there is another way to open it. You 
  rack your brain. The noise you heard was not of a key being turned 
  in a lock, but more like a catch being released. There must be a 
  secret lever hidden in this alcove. With renewed belief, you check.  
   
  Searching around you notice there is an unevenness about the wall 
  - one that does not appear to be from disrepair. You trace you hand 
  along the rough uneven stones, and then sense that one of them 
  
   
   
   
  feels slightly different. You place your knife into one of the edges. 
  You slowly twist and the stone pivots open on a hinge.  
   
  Behind the stone is a small hole that goes back into the wall. You 
  peer in and can see only blackness, although you think you saw 
  something move. You take a chance and place you hand and 
  forearm into the hole and reach back. You flinched as something 
  runs over the back of your hand. Then a second something does as 
  well.  
   
  Do you want to slowly consider probing the hole, then turn to 121, or 
  risk quickly removing your arm, turn to 92 
  150 
  As if the devil is on your back, you run as fast as you can up the 
  steep tunnel, breathing heavily. It is large, fully 10 yards across, and 
  twists and turns as it heads for the surface. The climb seems to last 
  forever in the gloom of the tunnel. But eventually the gloom starts to 
  clear, and you fancy you can see light ahead. Sure enough, the 
  gradient of the tunnel starts to level out and the air gets clearer.  
   
  Then you are at the top. Above you is a long, tall ladder, bolted to a 
  short, round, stone clad tunnel rising upwards like a chimney, and 
  on top of this you can just see a metal grate. Light spills down 
  through the gaps in the grate. The night is giving way to dawn, and 
  you never have you been so glad to see the suns in the sky above.  
   
  You start the long climb up the ladder and reach the top, breathing 
  heavily, and try to open the grate. It is locked. Do you have the 
  SKILL OF LOCK PICKING. If you do turn to 40 
   
  If you do not, you will have to try to burn through the metal. You 
  remember you have some corrosives in glass vials. You take them 
  out and remove the glass stopper. Then you reach through and 
  pour the acid into the lock. TEST YOUR FORTUNE. If you pass, 
  turn to 40. If you fail, click here to read on…….. 
   
   
   
  
   
   
  
   
   
   
  150 Continued 
  Despite your best efforts, the lock on the grate remains. The acid 
  seems to have little effect on the metal and just drops down and 
  burns your arms. Lose 2 ENDURANCE points.  You try to shake the 
  grate free, but it’s useless. 
   
  You realise with no way out here, you will have to try to return to the 
  chamber and avoid De-Villiers spectral form. You climb back down 
  the ladder and start to descend back down to the chamber. 
   
  You are about halfway down when you feel a rumbling in the 
  ground, as if many footsteps were running up the tunnel. Something 
  is heading back up the tunnel as you walk down it. You are just 
  realising this when you turn a corner.  
   
  Ahead of you is an army of skeletons, each armed with short swords 
  and shields. They swarm up the tunnel, some seeming to run along 
  the sides of the walls and the ceilings. Then they are on you. You try 
  to fight, but there are too many, and they swarm over you, their 
  short swords stabbing and cutting. You are cut into bloody rags in 
  moments.  
   
  You were so close to escaping, but sadly your promising career as a 
  thief has been cut short.  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
   
   
  Shadow Thief WILL Return 
   
  Other gamebooks coming soon from Black Dog Gamebooks: 
   
   
  The Hellscape Book 1:  
  Straight to Hell 
   
  Shadow Thief Book 2:  
  Hunted 
   
  Psycho Killer 
   
   
   
   
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Shadow Thief Book 1 - Jailbreak [Solo].pdf