TEXT: 1
  John Edward Churchill’s
  A thrilling fantasy adventure in which YOU are the hero!
  
  2
  How to fight creatures in the underworld
  Passages of Peril is a fantasy adventure in which YOU are the hero. Before you start, you must first create 
  your own character by rolling dice to determine your Skill, Stamina and Luck scores. Once created, you 
  enter these onto the Adventure Sheet below. These scores will change during your adventure. Write on the 
  Adventure Sheet in pencil, so you can rub out previous scores when you start again. Or make photocopies of 
  the blank Adventure Sheet.
  Creating your Skill, Stamina and Luck scores:
  To determine your initial Skill, Stamina and Luck scores, follow the simple steps below:
  
  Roll one die. Add six to this number and enter this total in the Skill box on the Adventure Sheet
  below.
  
  Roll two dice. Add twelve to the number rolled and enter this total in the Stamina box.
  
  Roll one die. Add six to this number and enter this total in the Luck box.
  The Skill score represents your overall swordsmanship, fighting expertise and dexterity. The higher your 
  Skill score; the easier you’ll find it to dispatch your enemies and survive battles.
  The Stamina score represents your overall strength and endurance. The higher your Stamina score; the 
  longer you’ll survive.
  The Luck score represents how naturally lucky a person you are. The higher your Luck score; the more good 
  fortune will favour you in certain situations.
  Your current Skill, Stamina and Luck scores will change constantly during your adventures, so keep a 
  rubber handy at all times to allow you to change them. You must keep an accurate record of your current
  scores throughout your adventure from start to finish, but never rub out your initial scores. Although you 
  may receive additional Skill, Stamina and Luck points, your current scores may never exceed your initial
  scores.
  Fighting Battles:
  When you’re instructed in the text to fight a creature, you must resolve the battle as described in the simple 
  steps below. First, record your opponent’s Skill and Stamina scores in one of the empty Creature Encounter 
  Boxes on your Adventure Sheet. The sequence of combat is thus:
  1.
  Roll two dice for the creature. Add its Skill score. This total is the creature’s Attack Strength.
  2.
  Roll two dice for yourself. Add your current Skill score. This total is your Attack Strength.
  3.
  Whose Attack Strength is higher? If your Attack Strength is higher, you have wounded the creature
  (proceed to step four). If the creature’s Attack Strength is higher, it has wounded you (proceed to 
  step five). If both are the same, you have both missed each other! Start the next Attack Round from 
  step one.
  4.
  You’ve wounded the creature; subtract 2 points from its Stamina score. You may use luck here to 
  do additional damage (see ‘Using Luck in battles:’ below).
  5.
  You’ve been wounded by the creature; subtract 2 points from your Stamina score. You may use 
  Luck here to minimize the damage you receive (see ‘Using Luck in battles:’ below).
  6.
  Make the appropriate changes to the Stamina scores on the Adventure Sheet, including your current
  Luck score if you used Luck to influence the damage (see ‘Using Luck in battles:’ below). Begin 
  the next Attack Round by repeating steps one to six.
  7.
  This continues until the Stamina score of either you or the creature you are fighting has been 
  reduced to zero which indicates death! If you’re killed in this way, you must stop your adventure 
  immediately, role new Skill, Stamina and Luck scores and start from the beginning if you wish to 
  continue.
  Testing your Luck:
  Sometimes you will be instructed by the text to Test your Luck. As you’ll discover, using Luck is a risky 
  business. The result of this test, reflects whether good fortune will favour you or not in that particular 
  situation. The way you Test your Luck is as follows:
  
  3
  Roll two dice. If the number rolled is equal to or less than your current Luck score, you have been lucky. If 
  the number rolled is higher than your current Luck score, you have been unlucky. The consequences of being 
  lucky or unlucky will be described in the text.
  Each time you Test your Luck, you must reduce your current Luck score by one point. You’ll find that the 
  more you rely on luck in your adventure; the more risky it becomes!
  Using Luck in battles:
  In battles, you always have the option of using your Luck to favour you over an opponent. You can use Luck
  to inflict a more serious wound on an opponent you’re fighting, or to minimize the effects of a wound an 
  opponent has just inflicted upon you.
  If you’ve just wounded a creature, you may Test your Luck as described above. If you’re lucky, subtract an 
  extra two points from the creature’s Stamina score (i.e. four instead of the normal two). But, if you’re 
  unlucky, you must restore one point to the creature’s Stamina score (i.e. you cause one point of damage,
  instead of scoring the normal two).
  If you’ve just been wounded by a creature, you may Test your Luck. If you’re lucky, subtract one point from 
  the damage to your own Stamina score (i.e. one instead of the normal two). But, if you’re unlucky, you must 
  lose an extra one point from your Stamina score (i.e. you receive three points of damage, instead of the 
  normal two).
  Don’t forget to subtract one point from your Luck score each time you Test your Luck.
  Restoring Skill, Stamina and Luck:
  Occasionally, a page may give instructions to restore your current Skill, Stamina or Luck scores. You may 
  only do this if specifically instructed in the text to do so. You’ll have to rely on finding food in your 
  adventure to sustain your Stamina, as you don’t begin with any provision. Remember, your Skill, Stamina 
  and Luck scores may never exceed their initial values at any time.
  Starting Equipment:
  You will start your adventure with the bare minimum of equipment. Apart from your clothes, you are armed 
  with a sword and dressed in leather armour. You carry a lantern to light you way and a backpack to hold any 
  treasure or artefacts you may find on your journey. Be sure to record all your finds in the Equipment box on 
  the Adventure Sheet below.
  Hints on Play:
  There are a number of ways through the adventure ahead. However, it’ll probably take you several attempts
  to find the easiest route overall. Make notes and draw a map as you explore; this’ll be useful in future 
  adventures and help you to identify any unexplored areas.
  Not all rooms contain treasure; some merely contain traps and creatures which you will no doubt fall foul of.
  However, as you explore and become familiar with the adventure, you’ll learn to avoid these.
  The one true way involves a minimum of risk and any adventurer, no matter how weak you initial Skill, 
  Stamina and Luck scores, should be able to get through it in one piece.
  Good luck on your adventure ahead.
  
  4
  Skill
  Initial:
  Stamina
  Initial:
  Luck
  Initial:
  Equipment:
  Sword
  Leather Armour
  Lantern
  Treasure:
  Skill:
  Stamina:
  Skill:
  Stamina:
  Skill:
  Stamina:
  Skill:
  Stamina:
  Skill:
  Stamina:
  Skill:
  Stamina:
  Skill:
  Stamina:
  Skill:
  Stamina:
  Skill:
  Stamina:
  Notes:
  
  5
  Background
  The life of a travelling adventurer has never been easy; the boredom of the road, constant danger and an 
  uncertain future. But that’s what you love about this life anyway. The open road and an adventure or two 
  around the next corner is why you ran away from home when you were barely in your teens. You’d rather 
  earn your living slaying Goblins for gold and jewels than scything wheat for a pittance on a farm field
  somewhere.
  It all started when you were passing through the pleasant country village of Oakbridge, a week’s walk west 
  of the great castellated city of Neuberg. At first you put the villagers’ strange, distrust of outsiders and 
  guarded behaviour down to local banditry, but a conversation with the local Landlord of the White Horse Inn 
  changed your mind.
  Over ale, cheese and bread, you learn of a fearsome giant called Grimbald who’s been terrorising the 
  villagers of Oakbridge. This huge monster of chaos lives in an underground dungeon at the bottom of a deep 
  gorge in the hills, a day’s walk north from here. For the last year, he’s been using violence and threats to 
  extort wealth from the good folk of Oakbridge!
  At first the villagers tried to buy Grimbald off with their meagre tributes of gold. But, when this was 
  exhausted, Grimbald returned to spread terror with fire and the sword. Sorry looking villagers begin to 
  crowd around your table, telling you mournful stories of their possessions, livestock and crops being stolen 
  to feed Grimbald’s insatiable greed for loot. The villagers have now been reduced to abject poverty by his 
  depredations.
  Many brave young men have tried to confront and slay Grimbald in his subterranean lair, but all have failed
  completely, meeting grisly deaths at Grimbald’s hands as a result. Village boys and farmhands are no match 
  for a cruel tormentor like Grimbald, only a professional soldier and adventurer like you would stand a 
  chance against him. The villagers implore you to help them in their plight against this foul beast!
  Moved by their cries for help, you resolve to free them from their slavery once and for all. The villagers are 
  relieved and overjoyed, offering you more drink in celebration. The Landlord promises you food and lodging
  in his Inn if you kill the giant for them. It’s not much of a reward for your skills, but as they’re poor you 
  accept wholeheartedly and shake his hand on it.
  Next day, a village shepherd called Morri leads you out of Oakbridge to begin your quest. You soon leave
  the hopeful villagers behind as the two of you travel for a whole day along muddy, country paths. Up ahead, 
  the land begins to rise up into stony hills covered sparsely with vegetation. Your guide takes you to a ridge 
  and sits down behind some bushes. Pointing down to the landscape below, he draws your attention to a deep, 
  rocky, gorge that ends at a huge natural cavern. Vines and roots hang down from the roof, partially 
  obscuring the entrance like a curtain. Beyond this you can see an immense iron portcullis.
  In a quiet voice, Morri tells you that this is the main entrance to Grimbald’s dungeon complex. Every night, 
  he leaves through this portcullis to do his terrible work against the peaceful villagers on the plains below. 
  However, with a wry smile, he says that the giant is asleep during the day and only comes out at night. 
  Picking yourselves up, you both continue up the narrow track, higher and higher into the hills.
  As the light begins to fade at the end of the day, you reach a small, circular hole in the ground beside a dead 
  tree stump on a lonely path. Morri tells you that the hole is a secret way into Grimbald’s underground home
  deep below the earth. Looking down the shaft, you see that it descends quickly into total darkness.
  Tying your rope to the tree stump, you throw it down the shaft. You check your equipment one more time 
  and light your lantern. As twilight descends, you thank Morri, promising to rid him of this Grimbald tyrant, 
  and shake his hand. You begin your descent into the gloomy, dank, darkness below. By lantern light alone, 
  you slowly climb down the rope a few feet at a time. You’ll need all you wits about you if you’re going to 
  succeed in your perilous mission. Good luck and begin your quest now…
  Turn over…
  
  6
  1
  Down and down you go into the gloom. Slowly, 
  you descend on the rope with your lantern 
  lighting your way. The earth walls of the shaft 
  give way to solid rock and then worked, stone 
  blocks. Gradually, your lantern illuminates the 
  ground and you gingerly touch down. You’re in a 
  silent, deserted, stone-walled passageway. The 
  ground in paved in odd-sized, well worn 
  cobblestones, the air is dank and musty. Water 
  drips from lichen on the moist walls into puddles 
  here and there, making eerie ploopping sounds. 
  There are four ways onwards. You can either go 
  to the left or right along the passage, a closed 
  ironbound wooden door set into the passageway 
  wall, and a small, partially collapsed side passage 
  barred with rough wooden planks nailed across it. 
  Will you:
  Examine the ironbound door (turn to 23)
  Walk left along the passageway (turn to 12)
  Walk right along the passageway (turn to 45)
  Examine the partially collapsed side passageway 
  (turn to 34)
  2
  Carefully placing you feet on the small stone 
  steps to avoid falling head over heeds, you 
  slowly descend the darkened staircase. At the 
  bottom of the steps, your lantern illuminates a 
  wide corridor stretching off into the distance like 
  the one you left behind above. You’re just 
  standing on the last step, taking this in when you 
  see movement out of the corner of your eye. 
  Before you can react, you receive a crashing 
  blow to your head from some unknown assailant! 
  The blow sends you sprawling onto the 
  passageway floor! If you’re wearing a Metal 
  Helmet on your head (turn to 88). Otherwise 
  (turn to 91)
  3
  Climbing down, the ladder goes on for quite 
  some time; the shaft is very deep indeed! 
  Eventually you step down onto a stone paved 
  floor. With your feet on solid ground again, you 
  look around the bottom of the shaft. In front of 
  you is a narrow and low stone archway covered 
  in gargoyles. The bottom of a heavy, iron 
  portcullis is protruding from the top of the 
  archway. You duck under the raised portcullis 
  and walk into a corridor beyond that opens into a 
  small, circular chamber with rough, stone walls. 
  You survey the scene under lantern light and 
  realise you’re in an armoury! All manner of 
  weapons are scattered carelessly about in piles or 
  stacked on wooden racks. The room is thick with 
  dust and obviously hasn’t been used in years! 
  Will you:
  Decide to push on, climb back up the ladder, go 
  through the metal hatch and carry on along the 
  passageway (turn to 32)
  Search the chamber for anything of interest (turn 
  to 99)
  4
  Your heart thumps in you chest and palms sweat 
  as you prepare yourself ambush them. If you 
  could just get close enough to before they saw 
  you, you’d even the odds a bit. Waiting for your 
  moment 
  when 
  the 
  guards 
  are 
  deep 
  in 
  conversation and not paying attention, you sprint 
  around the corner and charge towards them as 
  fast as possible. Test your Luck. If you’re lucky, 
  you take them completely by surprise and kill the 
  HOBGOBLIN SERGEANT before he’s prepared
  for you. If not, you’ll have to fight both as they 
  notice you and draw their swords.
  HOBGOBLIN GUARD - Skill: 6 Stamina: 6
  HOBGOBLIN SERGEANT- Skill: 6 Stamina: 7
  If you win, you search the smelly, dirty bodies 
  but find nothing of interest apart from a half-
  eaten chicken leg! Tossing it aside, you notice a 
  small, metal hatch on the wall. You try pulling on 
  the handle, but it’s firmly secured with a chain 
  and locked padlock. If you have a Vial of Acid, 
  multiply the number of measures that the box 
  could contain by eight and turn to the 
  corresponding reference number. Otherwise, you 
  have to give up on the hatch and carry on down 
  the passageway (turn to 32)
  5
  You quietly journey down the smaller side 
  passage. This route is very roughly carved out of 
  the rocky walls and doesn’t have any on the stone 
  facing from the main corridor. You navigate a 
  crudely cut flight of stone steps leading 
  downwards. As you continue, startled rats dart 
  from left to right, fleeing ahead of you. You walk 
  for fifteen minutes then the passageway turns 
  sharply to the right a few times and ends abruptly 
  at a small, closed wooden door under a stone 
  archway. You press you ear to the door and hear 
  sound coming from within. Voices; in a heated 
  argument in some unknown language! You hear 
  yelps of pain and the sounds of a struggle! 
  Peeping through the keyhole, you can see a
  chamber lit by a burning torch on the wall. 
  Broken furniture litters the ground. Will you:
  
  7
  Leave the door, retrace your steps back to pile of 
  skulls and continue the way you were going (turn 
  to 28)
  Retrace your steps to the pile of skulls and go 
  back to where you originally entered by the rope 
  (turn to 25)
  Lift the latch and enter the room to confront 
  whatever is inside (turn to 90)
  6
  The TROLL crashes to the ground as you finish 
  it off with the deathblow. You stagger back, 
  gasping for breath after you tiring fight and wipe 
  the black blood off your sword blade. Searching 
  your dead opponent, you find nothing of interest 
  except for a half-chewed piece of mutton and a 
  cloth bag full of marbles on its belt. You may eat 
  the mutton (gain 2 Stamina points), and take the 
  marbles. Looking around, you walk up to the 
  barred rooms. There are six, small chambers cut 
  out of the rocky walls of the passage. Each is 
  blocked by a strong, iron grille and locked with a 
  padlock. You see a motley collection of 
  emaciated men and dwarves dressed in filthy rags 
  in the prison cells. The starved prisoners clamour 
  at the bars and cheer with unbridled glee at the 
  death or their sadistic gaoler. One prisoner 
  pushes to the front and takes a leather cord from 
  around his neck. Holding it through the bars; he
  offers it to you in gratitude. Will you:
  Lean forward and allow him to place his gift over 
  your head (turn to 83)
  Leave these poor wretches to their fate in 
  Grimbald’s prison and continue your quest (turn 
  to 22)
  7
  Sitting down you break the fish apart with your 
  hands and taste some. It’s fresh and delicious. 
  You wonder who this meal was prepared for; 
  someone important, no doubt. Still, these 
  thoughts are pushed to the back of you mind as 
  you gorge on the succulent fish and wash it down 
  with periodic gulps of frothy ale from the 
  wooden flagon. You eat until you’re full and feel 
  greatly rejuvenated for it (gain 5 Stamina points). 
  When you’ve finished and cleaned the tray, you 
  pick yourself up and continue you mission (turn 
  to 43)
  8
  You’re lucky; you dodge the spiked ball just in 
  time. It swings harmlessly past your head, 
  brushing by you hair! Regaining your composure 
  after your fright, you see the chamber is medium-
  sized and square. Standing in the middle of the 
  room are three, small, ugly creatures. They have 
  rows of vicious, misshapen teeth and brownish-
  green, warty skin. Each is clad in filthy rags and 
  assorted pieces of chain and plate armour. The 
  trio of GOBLINS were wrestling each other over 
  a piece of black cloth, but now stand staring at 
  you in surprise. Their bemused expressions turn 
  to anger and hatred and they draw their scimitars 
  to advance and attack. Standing in the archway, 
  you can fight each in turn.
  GOBLIN GUARD - Skill: 5 Stamina: 5
  GOBLIN GUARD - Skill: 5 Stamina: 4
  GOBLIN SERGEANT - Skill: 5 Stamina: 6
  If you defeat all three, you search the room. It’s 
  obviously a guard post of some kind, but the 
  stupid and violent creatures have smashed the 
  tables, beds and chairs into worthless firewood. 
  One of the guards has an Iron Key on his belt. 
  You may take this with you if you wish. Turning 
  your attention to what they were fighting over, 
  you see that it’s a fine cloak. Pulling it over your 
  shoulders, you’re amazed when you become 
  invisible! You’ve found a Cloak of Invisibility! 
  You may take it with you too. Are you wearing a 
  Golden Boar Pendant (turn to 30). If not (turn to 
  39)
  9
  Transfixed by the movement of the sarcophagus 
  lid, you walk up and anxiously shine your lantern 
  light inside. Suddenly, a skeletal hand, the flesh 
  rotting in-between the bones shoots up and tries 
  to grab your forearm! Shocked, you swiftly chop 
  the emerging hand off with one swipe of your 
  sword and stagger back in revulsion. A low moan 
  of pain comes from within. You’re suddenly 
  distracted by loud thuds from elsewhere and 
  realise that all the sarcophagi are now opening 
  simultaneously! From inside emerge, foul-
  smelling corpses, animated by some dark magic!
  The creatures are dressed in torn and tatty rags 
  that were once clothes. Their bodies are long 
  decayed; the rotten, blackened flesh hanging off 
  in disgusting strips and fleshy lumps revealing 
  the decaying innards and yellow bones of their 
  bodies in all their gore! Vacant eyed, the 
  ZOMBIES begin to shamble towards you, 
  blocking your escape! You’ll have to fight you 
  way out of this hellish tomb. Placing your back to 
  the wall as they close in, you prepare to fight 
  each of these loathsome beings in turn to the
  death.
  ZOMBIE - Skill: 5 Stamina: 6
  ZOMBIE - Skill: 6 Stamina: 6
  ZOMBIE - Skill: 6 Stamina: 7
  ZOMBIE - Skill: 7 Stamina: 6
  ZOMBIE - Skill: 5 Stamina: 6
  
  8
  If you slay your assailants, you rest for a 
  moment, before you’re confronted by and even 
  more powerful opponent. The lid of the last 
  sarcophagi topples to the ground, smashing into 
  pieces. Out springs another moving corpse; its 
  appearance is a revolting as the others, except it's 
  covered in a sea of writhing maggots! Fixing its 
  eyes on you, it hisses with delight and bound 
  across the chamber to attack you.
  GHOUL - Skill: 8 Stamina: 7
  If the GHOUL manages to hit you four times or 
  more during the battle (turn to 70). Otherwise, 
  after you’ve killed it, you rest and thank your 
  good fortune for surviving the battle (gain 1 Luck 
  point). Finding nothing else of interest, you 
  decide to move on. Will you:
  Leave the room, return to the junction and go 
  under the stone archway and through the chain 
  curtain (turn to 67)
  Leave the room, return to the junction and go 
  through the iron grille (turn to 82)
  10
  The head’s solemn expression transforms into a 
  sly smile. “Yes, that’s correct! I have no name.” 
  It continues “If the master authorised you to 
  leave his sanctum, he must’ve given you a token 
  of some sort. If so, show me it now!” Do you 
  have a Gold Signet Ring to show the guardian 
  (turn to 53). Otherwise (turn to 66)
  11
  As you lean over, fumbling awkwardly with the 
  leather cord that attaches the Bronze Key, you 
  nudge the side of the table just enough to knock 
  the metal cup out of the guard’s hand. It tumbles 
  to the stony floor with a loud clatter! Startled by 
  the sound; the creature in the chair wakes 
  suddenly. On seeing you, it topples backwards 
  off the back of the chair in surprise and rolls on 
  the floor. The BLACK-ELF leaps to its feet to 
  confront you. It’s as tall as a man, except more 
  muscular and very thin. Its skin is black, its face 
  angular with delicate, slightly pointed ears and a 
  long nose. A leather, studded eye-patch covers its 
  left eye; the other is yellow and feline in 
  appearance. Long black hair tied into elaborate
  plaits, hang over its shoulder. It’s clothed in 
  strange, outlandish leather armour and has a 
  large, curved sword attached to its belt. The 
  BLACK-ELF’s expression turns from one of 
  shock to hatred upon seeing you. Pulling the 
  sword from its belt, it nimbly advances towards 
  you to fight. You step backwards and draw your 
  sword too. You’ll have to battle to the death.
  BLACK-ELD CAPTAIN – Skill: 7 Stamina: 7
  If you take 6 or more attack rounds to kill the 
  BLACK-ELF (turn to 94). If you kill your 
  opponent within 5 attack rounds or less, you 
  quickly cut the cord and take the Bonze Key 
  from the dead body. Holding it close to the 
  candle light, you examine it in detail. It has 
  sixteen serpents winding around its surface, 
  interlocking with each other in an elaborate 
  design. You carefully put it in your backpack. 
  You hear the sound of heavy footsteps outside
  the room. Maybe someone has been alerted by 
  the commotion of the fight and is coming to
  investigate! You’ll have to move fast. Glancing 
  around, you don’t see anything else of interest. 
  Going back through the iron door, you return to 
  the leather curtain. In the main corridor, your 
  hear footsteps coming from the right, so you 
  hurry along the main corridor away in the 
  opposite direction (turn to 35)
  12
  Determined to find and kill Grimbald, you 
  cautiously walk along the passageway, dodging 
  the water puddles amongst the cobbles. The 
  passage is wide and well kept, despite the odd 
  cobweb hanging from the arched, stone roof. 
  After a while, you come upon a side passage on 
  your left. The side passageway is dark and only 
  half as wide as the main one you’re already on. A 
  pile of human skulls mark the side passage. 
  There purpose to you is unknown. Will you:
  Ignore the narrow side passage and continue 
  along the cobbled main passage as (turn to 28)
  Leave the main route and explore the side 
  passageway, marked by the skulls (turn to 5)
  13
  Your aim is true! The Eagle Feather Spear 
  pierces Grimbald’s throat, its razor-sharp point 
  slicing through his flesh and burying itself deep 
  within his body! The Giant lets out a shocked 
  gurgle of horror and agony as a crimson tide of 
  blood gushes from his fatal wound! He staggers 
  for a few moments more, desperately trying to 
  grasp at the end of the spear shaft protruding 
  from his throat in vain before succumbing to the 
  clammy grip of death! You’ve slain the tyrant 
  (turn to 81)
  14
  Pulling the Cloak of Invisibility over your 
  shoulders, you become invisible. You walk 
  slowly up the corridor, towards the guards. They 
  laugh, joke and snort in merriment, occasionally 
  
  9
  glancing up the corridor they’re supposed to be 
  guarding. However, your cloak conceals you 
  completely and you’re able to slip past the 
  disgusting beasts without difficulty. As you past 
  the guard post, you see a small, metal hatch in the 
  wall, secured with a chain and padlock. The close 
  proximity of the guards stops any further 
  investigation. You walk on along the corridor, 
  leaving them behind you (turn to 32)
  15
  Taking hold of the rope, you wrap you legs 
  around it and slowly begin to slide downwards. 
  Down and down you go, without seeing any 
  walls at all. As you descend in silence, your 
  lantern lights up an immense white carpet 
  beneath you! As you approach, you see that the 
  sheets are in fact huge cobwebs. Hundreds and 
  thousands of them; each as big as the sail of a 
  ship! You shudder to think of the size of the 
  creature that must’ve spun them. Still, you 
  remain unmolested as you cautiously slide down 
  the rope; cobwebs of silk hemming you in on all 
  sides. Eventually, you see the bare earth of solid 
  ground below. Stepping down, you’re horrified to 
  see a humanoid figure, entirely encased in a thick 
  covering of silk, hanging in a cobweb not far 
  away! A glint of gold catches you eye! Looking 
  closer, you see a small, golden skull grinning 
  back at you from the gloom. Careful not to 
  disturb any of the strands of silk, you reach out 
  and pick it up. The object appears to be a vessel 
  of some sort with a large cork sealing a hole in 
  the top! A shake of the skull doesn’t produce any 
  sounds from within. Will you:
  Pull out the cork in the golden skull and see if it 
  contains anything (turn to 80)
  Ignore the golden skull, place it back where you 
  found it and climb back up the rope (turn to 74)
  16
  Having sprung the lethal trap, you panic! 
  Desperate to escape your tomb, you rush through 
  the cascading sand and vainly hammer and claw
  at the huge stone door. Suddenly, the sand begins 
  to slowdown and then stops completely. What’s 
  this! Slowly, the sand drains away through the 
  holes in the paved floor of the chamber, revealing 
  the body of the Halfling again. There’s a low 
  rumbling sound and the stone door is lifted up 
  into the archway, allowing you to escape 
  unscathed. 
  You 
  curse 
  yourself 
  for 
  your
  carelessness in almost becoming a victim of the 
  Sand Trap. Thankfully, your Polished Copper 
  Ring saved your life this time (gain 1 Luck 
  point). After you’ve composed yourself, you go 
  back down the stone steps and follow the corridor 
  until you arrive back at the smaller side passage 
  and the gruesome pile of skulls. You decide to 
  leave the main route and explore the cramped 
  side passageway instead (turn to 5)
  17
  Talking one last look around, you see the 
  passageway is entirely deserted and quiet. You
  start up the spiral staircase before you. Up and up 
  you go; your lantern light illuminating each step
  in turn. Occasionally, you see large, crimson, 
  stains on some of the worn stone steps. You 
  wonder what this could be; maybe blood! Up and 
  up you go until you reach the top. You pass 
  through a small archway and emerge into a wide 
  passageway with a flat, paved, stone floor. 
  Walking along, you soon come to a large, 
  wooden door. The door is closed and has a big, 
  iron ring handle. You see light coming from 
  within through a crack in the wood. Gripping the 
  ring, you slowly push the door inwards and peep 
  around the edge. You find yourself looking into a 
  large room that appears to be a kitchen of some 
  sort. The chamber has dozens of battered wooden 
  cupboards and tables covered with strange and 
  exotic ingredients of every sort, including the 
  severed heads of several men! Dozens of dirty 
  and unwashed tin plates are stacked in the corner, 
  along with piles of rotting meat and vegetables. 
  In the centre is a huge hearth. The fire burns 
  fiercely, permanently keeping the huge iron 
  cauldron above bubbling away. The room is 
  deserted except for a Dwarf in a small cage, 
  tightly gagged and bound. You don’t doubt for a 
  second that he’s next for the cooking pot! The 
  grisly scene is lit by burning torches around the 
  walls. You also notice a corridor sealed by a 
  portcullis 
  on 
  the 
  right-hand 
  wall. 
  While 
  surveying the kitchen, you notice a helmet, lying 
  unattended on a stool. It’s made of metal and has 
  two horns on either side. You may take the Metal 
  Helmet with you if you wish to protect your 
  head. You may also eat some bread and salted 
  beef from one of the tables (gain 4 Stamina 
  points). You’re thinking about what to do next, 
  when you hear footsteps approaching from the 
  corridor behind the portcullis. Someone is 
  coming! Do you have a Cloak of Invisibility to 
  hide yourself with (turn to 48). Otherwise (turn 
  to 36)
  18
  Continuing up the cobbled passageway, you 
  approach a bend up ahead. Cautiously creeping 
  up, sword in hand, you peep around the corner 
  and see a disturbing sight. The corridor continues 
  on about twenty paces before reaching two 
  loathsome creatures standing in the passageway 
  talking. The creatures are as tall as men, clad in 
  badly repaired chain mail armour and armed with 
  
  10
  swords. They’re exceedingly ugly with flat noses 
  and small beady eyes. Their limbs are muscular 
  and bony. Their skin is brown, lumpy and scarred 
  by battle wounds. The scene is lit by three 
  burning torches attached to the corridor walls. 
  The HOBGOBLINS haven’t noticed you yet. 
  They laugh and jape; pushing and hitting each 
  other occasionally to relive the boredom of their 
  lonely sentry post. You realise that going through 
  them is your only way onwards. Will you:
  Charge up and attack them with your sword (turn 
  to 4)
  If you have a Cloak of Invisibility, you can make 
  yourself invisible and try to and sneak past the 
  guards (turn to 14)
  If you don’t fancy a fight, you can retrace your 
  steps and go back to where you came in by the 
  rope (turn to 21)
  19
  The stone head lets out a burst of laughter as you 
  say the name with as much authority and 
  confidence as you can. “Wrong!” It says slowly 
  (turn to 66)
  20
  Leaving your lantern and backpack on the last 
  but one step, you step into the dirty water and 
  descend down the spiral staircase until it’s just 
  beneath your chin. Gagging from the smell, you 
  hold back your revulsion, take a deep breath and 
  duck under the surface to explore what lies 
  beneath. Searching for handholds on the walls, 
  you pull yourself about deeper and blindly 
  explore the murky darkness with you hands. To 
  your surprise and shock, you gasp what appears 
  to be a humanoid body lying on the submerged 
  steps! You’re just about to pull it to the surface 
  for a closer inspection when something pulls you 
  back! You splutter to the surface in horror; 
  there’s some sort of foul creature under the water
  with you. Too late! A couple of leathery, black 
  tentacles seize your legs in a vice-like grip. More 
  snake around your waist and pull you back under. 
  Struggling, you break the surface again, failing 
  wildly at your attacker with your sword. This’ll 
  be a fierce battle to the death.
  TENTACLED BEAST - Skill: 8 Stamina: 10
  If you kill the beast within seven or less attack 
  rounds (turn to 31). Otherwise (turn to 64)
  21
  You decide to turn around and go back the way 
  you originally came. Walking through the dank, 
  silent, darkness of the corridor, you contemplate 
  on what you’ve seen so far. Walking along the
  passageway is as deserted as it was before. You 
  wonder where Grimbald’s disgusting followers 
  are hiding out. As you approach the vertical shaft 
  where you entered the dungeon on the rope, you 
  see your rope lying in a pile on the cobblestones. 
  Studying the end, you realise that someone has 
  deliberately CUT your rope with a knife! Your 
  only means of escape has now been lost! You 
  look left and then right, but don’t see any 
  evidence of who or what cut your rope. Maybe 
  they’ve gone to rouse the guard watch! You 
  quickly decide your way onwards. There are 
  three ways onwards. Will you:
  Examine the ironbound door (turn to 23)
  Walk left along the passageway (turn to 12)
  Examine the partially collapsed side passageway 
  (turn to 34)
  22
  The prisoners protest loudly, but you ignore their 
  pleas and threats and trudge on along the 
  corridor. Soon, you’re walking along in silence 
  again, having left them far behind. The 
  passageway continues straight for some time 
  before turning to the right and dipping down at a 
  shallow angle. The climate becomes increasing 
  cold and damp. A couple of times you 
  uncomfortably step into deep puddles where cold 
  water has collected on the passage floor. Up 
  ahead, you see a light! Drawing your sword, you 
  advance cautiously, so as not to be taken by 
  surprise. As you approach, you see that a large, 
  unattended, metal tray is set upon the cobblestone 
  floor of the passageway. The tray is lit by a 
  single burning candle mounted on a metal 
  candlestick. Your mouth waters at the sight of a 
  plate of cooked fish, still piping-hot, and a huge 
  flagon of ale. Looking left and right along the 
  corridor, you don’t see any sign of who or why 
  this appetising meal has been left here. Still, it 
  smells delicious and is too good and opportunity 
  to pass up. Will you:
  Gorge yourself on the fish and ale meal (turn to
  7)
  Ignore the food to continue along the passageway 
  (turn to 43)
  23
  Holding your lantern up, you step up and 
  examine the door. It’s large, sturdy and held 
  together with thick iron bolts. The door is most 
  securely locked so you kneel down you peer 
  cautiously through the keyhole. At first, you see 
  nothing. Suddenly your heart jumps as you find 
  yourself staring into a red, bloodshot eye! To 
  
  11
  your horror, you realise that someone, or 
  SOMETHING, is staring back at you from the 
  other side of the door! You pull back and 
  compose yourself after your fright (lose 1 Skill 
  and Luck point). You decide to leave the door 
  and continue. Will you:
  Walk left along the passage (turn to 12)
  Walk right along the passage (turn to 45)
  Examine the partially collapsed side passageway 
  (turn to 34)
  24
  To your surprise, you find yourself suddenly 
  plunged into freezing water! The icy current
  immediately chills you to the bone as you’re
  submerged momentarily, only to sputter to the 
  surface in shock. Before you can react, the strong 
  flow of the river swiftly drags you away from the
  main passage and under the forbidding, left-hand 
  archway. Your lantern goes under the surface and 
  is extinguished, plunging you into complete 
  darkness. Over and over you tumble, pushed 
  relentlessly by the torrent, the roar of the flowing 
  water in your ears. You claw at the river bed to 
  slow your progress, but all you touch are loose 
  pebbles and sand that gives way. You’re pulled 
  under again, hitting your head on a rock (lose 1 
  Stamina point). Sputtering to the surface, you see 
  a natural cavern up ahead lit a torch! As you’re 
  dragged through the cave, you manage to 
  scramble out of the water onto a gravel beach. 
  Looking around, you see the cave is half filled 
  with water and half with the beach. There’s also a 
  man in a small, rusty cage beside a doorway. 
  Suddenly, the he points a withered arm out off 
  his cage at you and shrieks a warning! Looking 
  over your shoulder, you see a huge, dark-green, 
  CROCODILE advancing towards you. You role 
  over and pull out your sword. You’ll have to 
  resolve this fight to the death. 
  CROCODILE - Skill: 7 Stamina: 7
  After, you’ve killed it, you relight your lantern 
  from the burning torch and step up to talk to the 
  man. He looks starved and beaten with dirty hair 
  and a long, messy beard. He pleads with you to 
  let him out of his prison. He tells you that if you 
  do this and give him your cloak, he’ll tell you 
  some important information about the dungeon 
  guards. If you want to release the old man and 
  give him your Cloak of Invisibility in return for 
  his information (turn to 50). Otherwise, you
  ignore his peas and leave the room by the 
  doorway (turn to 44)
  25
  Turning around, you go back the way you came. 
  You travel up the precipitous stone staircase, past 
  the pile of skulls and back into the main 
  passageway again. Returning to the vertical shaft; 
  you find your rope in a pile on the passageway 
  floor! Someone has cut the rope in two with a 
  knife! Your only escape route is now lost 
  forever! The passageway is as dark and silent as 
  before. You ponder which way to proceed. Will 
  you:
  Examine the ironbound door (turn to 23)
  Walk right along the passageway (turn to 45)
  Examine the partially collapsed side passageway 
  blocked with planks of wood (turn to 34)
  26
  Pulling the curtain aside, you see the side passage 
  is quite narrow. You slowly follow it as it runs 
  straight then turn sharply to the left before ending 
  at an impressive door. Stepping up to the door, 
  you examine it and see that it’s made of sold 
  iron. The surface is etched with images of ugly, 
  bestial creatures. While the gargoyles leer out of 
  the door, you notice a small metal flap covering 
  two brass tumblers etched with numbers. A 
  combination lock! You think twice about using 
  the iron knocker, but a push on the door reveals 
  that it’s securely locked shut. A crude wooden 
  plaque on the door reads “Capt. Ezded”. The 
  door is far too strong to be forced. Do you know 
  the combination to Ezded’s room? If so, turn to 
  the 
  corresponding 
  reference 
  number 
  now. 
  Otherwise, you’ll have to leave the iron door, 
  retrace your route back to the leather curtain and 
  continue on along the main passageway (turn to 
  35)
  27
  Grimbald confidently strides forward to attack, 
  sword outreached, hatred and anger in his eyes. 
  Suddenly he stops and sways backwards and 
  forwards on his feet. Gripping his stomach, a 
  grimace of pain creases his bemused face. 
  “What’s this? Poisoned by an assassin!” You 
  smile with satisfaction as your poison begins to 
  take effect on the leviathan. Grimbald looks at 
  you in surprise and disbelief. “You! Why, I’ll 
  tear you limb from limb!” he howls in rage! 
  While he’s in a weakened state, you leap forward 
  to attack him yourself. Do you have an Eagle 
  Feather Spear? If so, multiply the number of 
  eagle feathers by four and turn to that reference 
  now.  Otherwise, you attack him with your
  sword. This’ll be an epic and bitter battle to the 
  death, where only one of you will survive.
  GRIMBALD THE GIANT – Skill: 9 Stamina: 27
  
  12
  If you survive and slay the tyrant (turn to 81)
  28
  The cobbled passageway continues straight 
  ahead, neither deviating to either left or right. 
  Except for the odd plopping of water dripping 
  into puddles, all is silent. The passageway soon 
  turns sharply to the right and you climb a wide 
  flight of stone steps. At the top of these is a stone 
  arch, beyond which is a circular room with a 
  paved stone floor. Entering the chamber, you see 
  the floor is dotted with hundreds of holes; each is 
  about the same size as a gold piece. As you’re 
  pondering on this, your lantern lights up a body, 
  prostrate on the ground. A body! The corpse is 
  that of a Halfling. The poor creature clasps a 
  large Bronze Key in its dead hand. Picking it up, 
  you see that the key has an elaborate snake
  design worked into it; thirteen serpents to be 
  exact. Searching the backpack, you find some 
  decaying food and a small wooden box. The box 
  has a faded label on the lid that reads ‘Acid vials, 
  twelve measures’. Opening the box, you see it’s 
  empty except for one Vial of Acid. You throw 
  away the rotten food, but may take the Bronze 
  Key and Vial of Acid with you if you want.
  Suddenly, you hear a loud rumbling sound 
  behind you! Spinning around, you’re shocked to 
  see an immense stone door descend from the 
  ceiling, slamming shut over the entrance. You’re 
  trapped! Tons of sand begins to pour into the 
  room from holes in the roof, filling the chamber 
  quickly. Are you wearing a Polished Copper 
  Ring (turn to 16). Otherwise (turn to 69)
  29
  Slowly lifting the rusty metal latch, you open the 
  door slightly and look around the edge. Beyond 
  is a large, unlit chamber. The lantern in your 
  hand lights up a roughly square room, about 
  twenty paces square. The walls and ceiling are 
  made 
  of 
  wooden panelling, an 
  elaborate 
  chandelier hangs from the roof by a rope; the 
  candles long extinguished. Advancing into the 
  chamber, sword in hand, you notice a big coil of 
  rope on a hook by the inside of the door. You 
  may take this Rope with you if you want. 
  Suddenly, you hear the grating noise again! To 
  your horror, you notice the stone slab sealing one 
  of the sarcophagi in the corner moving! As you 
  stare on, it slides over a bit more, as if someone 
  was trying to push it aside from WITHIN the 
  tomb! You’ll have to think fast, will you:
  Creep up and investigate whatever is trying to 
  force its way out from inside the sarcophagus 
  (turn to 9)
  Leave the room, return to the junction and go 
  under the stone archway and through the chain 
  curtain (turn to 67)
  Leave the room, return to the junction and go 
  through the iron grille (turn to 82)
  30
  You’re deciding what to do next, when you 
  attention is drawn to an ugly painting of a goblin 
  on the wall. You step up and look at it, 
  wondering who on earth the foul creature 
  represented is. You THINK it may be a female, 
  but they all look as ugly as each other to you, so 
  you can’t be sure. To your alarm, the Golden 
  Boar Pendant around your neck begins to vibrate 
  and heat up slightly. The painting emits a loud 
  click and swings open. Behind which is a small 
  niche in the wall housing two bottles. One is 
  rectangular, made of blue glass and sealed with 
  wax. It’s labelled ‘Strength elixir’ (you may use 
  the elixir to restore your Stamina score to its 
  initial value ONCE at anytime during your 
  adventure, except while in battle). The other 
  bottle is ten inches high and made of black glass. 
  The bottle has a skull and crossbones symbol 
  painted on it and is sealed with a cork. You’ve 
  found a bottle of Poison! You may take these 
  with you if you wish (gain 1 Luck point). You 
  decide to press on (turn to 39)
  31
  Driving your sword deeply into the main body of 
  the TENTACLED BEAST, you’re covered by a 
  gush of purple blood. Thankfully the tentacles 
  relax their grip as it dies and sinks slowly 
  beneath the surface. Searching the water, you 
  locate the humanoid body you discovered earlier 
  and drag in up onto the steps. The drowned 
  corpse is that of a young man, presumably the 
  TENTACLED BEAST’s last victim. Searching
  his sodden clothes you find some items of 
  interest; a Silver Necklace, a Polished Copper 
  Ring, a Golden Boer Pendant and 8 Gold Pieces. 
  You may take some or all of these with you. You 
  decide that the only way onwards is to retrace 
  your steps to the main corridor when you 
  originally by the rope. After packing up your 
  gear, you retrace your steps (turn to 47)
  32
  Only when you’ve left the guard post safely 
  behind and you can no longer see the torch light
  do you relax a little. You walk on along the 
  corridor in silence. The corridor bends gradually 
  to the left, then sharper to the right. Everything is 
  silent, dark and deserted. As you progress; the air 
  becomes noticeably cool and damper. You hear 
  
  13
  the sound of running water up ahead. Your 
  lantern soon reveals a startling sight; the 
  passageway falls away abruptly, ending at a 
  wide, fast flowing, subterranean river! The 
  gushing water flows from a low archway on the 
  right-hand side, across the corridor, to a low 
  archway on the left. Your heart leaps as you spy 
  a small, grinning face staring out of the water 
  back at YOU! Looking closer, you see that it’s 
  actually just a stone gargoyle, carved into a 
  crocodile head. There are more of them, rising 
  above the torrent. You realise that they must be 
  stone steppingstones to allow passage across the 
  river. Taking your life in you hands, you begin to 
  cautiously leap from one crocodile headed stone 
  to the next. Most are covered in patches of wet 
  lichen, making your task even more precarious. 
  Test your Skill. Roll two dice three times in a 
  row. If you role higher than your current Skill 
  score once or more, you slip on a stone, falling 
  headfirst into the raging river (turn to 24).  If you 
  role equal to or below your current Skill score 
  three times in a row (turn to 72)
  33
  “As you wish!” Aezetbur uses his magical 
  powers to create a seven foot long spear that 
  appears on the ground before you! Picking it up, 
  you hold it close and examine it. The weapon is 
  indeed a work of art, having been crafted by a 
  master sword smith from the finest metal. 
  Touching your finger lightly to the edge draws 
  blood; a testament to its keen cutting edge! The 
  spear is decorated with seventeen eagle feathers 
  just behind the blade and has patterns carved in 
  its wooden shaft (if you use it in battle, you may 
  add 1 to your Attack Strength). You may take the 
  Eagle Feather Spear with you if you wish. 
  Delighted, you’re just about to thank the Genie, 
  but the purple cloud has already returned to a 
  boiling mass again. As you watch, it’s sucked 
  back into the golden skull, the cork stopper 
  replacing itself! You decide it’s time to move on. 
  You secure your equipment and climb back up 
  the rope and through the hole. Glad to be on your 
  way again, you retrace your steps back to the 
  junction. Will you:
  Walk down the short passageway and examine 
  the wooden door (turn to 77)
  Push the chain curtain aside and go through the 
  stone arch (turn to 67)
  34
  You climb between the planks that block the 
  entrance, light up the passage with your lantern 
  in front of you. It’s small and is quite a squeeze;
  your arms rubbing against the rough walls. You 
  stumble over a floor covered with large and small 
  pieces of broken masonry; the walls and arched 
  ceiling are in an appalling sate if repair. The 
  roughly cut passage twists and turns quite 
  haphazardly to the left and the right. After an 
  hour of walking you come to a small, partially 
  finished, spiral staircase descending down into 
  the darkness. Climbing down these precipitous 
  stony steps your foot slips on a piece of moss, 
  sending you tumbling forward. Test your Luck. If 
  you’re lucky, you regain your footing safely. If 
  not, you trip, painfully hurting your leg on the 
  stone steps (lose 2 Stamina points). Eventually 
  you’re confronted by a layer of scummy water 
  filling the staircase. The staircase is flooded and 
  your only way onwards is blocked! You curse 
  you luck for wasting your time with this route. 
  Will you:
  Dive under the water into the murky depths to 
  see if you can find a way onwards (turn to 20)
  Go back to main junction and walk left along the 
  passage (turn to 12)
  Go back to main junction and walk right along 
  the passage (turn to 45)
  Go back to main junction and take a look at the 
  door (turn to 23)
  35
  Leaving the leather curtain behind, you walk on 
  along the featureless passageway in the dank and 
  gloomy atmosphere. After a while, you come to a 
  square, wooden trapdoor in the passage floor. 
  Most of its surface is covered by green lichen and 
  it has a heavy, rusted iron ring as a handle. 
  Looking along the corridor, you see that it 
  continues in the same direction as far as your 
  lantern light reaches, before disappearing into the 
  darkness. Will you:
  Ignore the trapdoor and continue walking along 
  the passageway (turn to 84)
  Open the trapdoor and explore whatever is 
  beyond it (turn to 61)
  36
  You panic and frantically look around for 
  somewhere to hide. Too late! The portcullis 
  opens and a creature enters the room carrying a 
  bucket. It’s the size of a man and dressed in ill-
  fitting, torn clothing covered by a filthy, leather 
  apron. Although like a man, it’s more muscular 
  and far uglier with dark, motley skin, a flat nose 
  and ragged ears studded with rings. The creature 
  is a MAN-ORC, the sorry, mongrel offspring of 
  Humans and Orcs! Although related to both, 
  these miserable creatures are universally shunned 
  by everyone. The MAN-ORC COOK lets out a 
  howl of anger on seeing you in the kitchen. 
  
  14
  Dropping the bucket, it pulls an axe from its belt 
  and lunges forward to attack you.
  MAN-ORC COOK - Skill: 8 Stamina: 8
  If you win, you search its pockets and find 5 
  Gold Pieces and the keys to the Dwarf’s cage. 
  Releasing him, he thanks you profusely before 
  disappearing through the portcullis and down the 
  darkened corridor. Finding nothing else of 
  interest, you decide to quickly go back the way 
  you came before any guards appear. Leaving 
  through the wooden door, you go back down the 
  spiral stars (turn to 2)
  37
  Pushing back the lid of the chest, you see it’s 
  crammed full of precious metals and jewels of 
  every sort! Emeralds, rubies, sapphires and 
  diamonds are mixed in with gold and silver. The 
  sight causes you to draw breath in amazement! 
  On top of the pile is a large signet ring, made for 
  the hand of a Giant. It has a flat surface with a 
  coat of arms etched into it, inlaid with diamonds 
  and rubies. It’s the size of a cabbage and very 
  heavy; it must be worth an absolute fortune! 
  Placing the Gold Signet Ring carefully in your 
  backpack, you search through the rest of the 
  treasure. Suddenly, you’re halted in your tracks 
  by the guttural howls and barks of voices outside 
  the hall! Your worst fears are realised; 
  Grimbald’s loathsome henchmen must be coming 
  to investigate their master’s room! The alarmed 
  shouts and clumping of running feet gets louder 
  and louder as they approach in large numbers. 
  How will you disguise yourself? If you have a 
  Cloak of Invisibility, you may use it now (turn to 
  55). Otherwise (turn to 79)
  38
  Heaving you way up the rope is quite and effort. 
  You climb back up through the cobwebs, careful 
  not to disturb any of them. Eventually, you rise 
  above the silken carpet and reach the hole 
  without further incident. Exhausted after you 
  tiring climb, you retrace your steps back to the 
  junction and pass back through the iron grille. 
  Will you:
  Walk down the short passageway and examine 
  the wooden door (turn to 77)
  Push the chain curtain aside and go through the 
  stone arch (turn to 67)
  39
  You find nothing else of interest in the guard 
  room and decide to leave and backtrack. Will 
  you:
  Retrace your steps back to pile of skulls and 
  continue the way you were going (turn to 28)
  Retrace your steps to the pile of skulls and go 
  back to where you originally entered by the rope 
  (turn to 25)
  40
  Climbing up the ladder, you ascend the shaft in 
  silence. Cobwebs brush by your face as you 
  progress, but after ten minutes of strenuous 
  climbing you reach the top. The shaft terminates 
  abruptly, almost as though the workmen who 
  built it decided to down tools suddenly. There’s 
  nothing but solid stone with no way onwards!
  You spy a small niche in the rock; inside is a 
  lever set into a vertical slot. You wonder what the 
  lever must do and toy with the idea of pulling it. 
  Will you:
  Take a chance and pull the lever in the wall to 
  see what, if anything, happens (turn to 62)
  Ignore the lever, climb down the ladder, go back 
  through the metal hatch and carry on along the 
  passageway (turn to 32)
  Ignore the lever and climb down the ladder, past 
  the metal hatch, and explore whatever is below 
  (turn to 73)
  41
  Taking the Iron Key from you backpack, you 
  insert it in the lock and turn it. Click! The key 
  turns in the door lock, unlocking the door (gain 1 
  Luck point). Pushing it aside you enter a large, 
  seemingly deserted, room which is so big your 
  lantern light cannot reach the far wall. The floor 
  is covered in a think layer of old straw. Just 
  inside the entrance is a wooden table, upon which 
  are some artefacts. You step up and study the 
  objects in front of you. One is a tin plate with the 
  words ‘Ezded’s room, fifty-seven’, crudely 
  carved in the surface. There’s also a piece of
  jewellery, fashioned into a fish armband and a 
  piece of cheese. You may take the Silver Fish 
  Armband with you if you want and eat the cheese 
  (gain 3 Stamina points). Your attention focuses 
  back on the room. Will you:
  Perform a much more detailed search of the room 
  to make sure you haven’t missed anything (turn 
  to 54)
  Leave the room and continue along passageway 
  (turn to 18)
  42
  
  15
  You move along the side of the huge passageway 
  in silence. Your spirits are raised when you spy a 
  point of light in the distance! As you begin to jog 
  along the passageway; the light gets closer. You 
  realise the cavern ahead of you opens out into 
  daylight and freedom! You force your tired limbs 
  onwards, realising you’re close to the end of your 
  quest. Soon, you’re met with a depressing sight. 
  Just before the cavern ends, an immense, iron 
  portcullis blocks your way onwards! Peering 
  through the rusty bars, you can see a curtain of 
  roots and vines hanging down from the roof of 
  the cavern. Beyond this, you see open ground and 
  sunlight! You’re just pondering on how to get 
  through the portcullis when you notice a hole cut 
  in the stone wall of the passageway, way above 
  your head height. Inside the hole is mounted a 
  stone-carved head. You’re wondering what to do 
  when the head turns on its base and looks down 
  at you! “I’m the guardian of Grimbald’s lair. 
  Who are you?” The disembodied head states 
  impassively. Thinking fast, you confidently 
  declare that you’ve been given permission by 
  Grimbald himself to leave his underground 
  complex! The stone head replies “If that is so, 
  then you must know my name! Tell me, what is 
  it?” This is something you hadn’t expected! What 
  will you answer:
  Your name is ‘Ezded’ (turn to 95)
  Your name is ‘Balthus’ (turn to 19)
  Your name is ‘Aezetbur’ (turn to 85)
  Say you don’t know (turn to 10)
  43
  Continuing on, the corridor you’re in turns gently 
  to the left and then right. You trudge along in
  dutiful silence; contemplating what horrors may 
  lie in store for you ahead. You notice that the 
  walls are in a bad state of decay, with lumps of 
  stonework littering the passageway floor. You 
  soon come to a tatty, brown, leather curtain 
  covering a smaller side passage on the left-hand 
  wall of the main passageway. Will you:
  Pull aside the dirty, leather curtain and explore 
  the smaller side passage (turn to 26)
  Decide better of it and continue along the main 
  passageway (turn to 35)
  44
  Walking under the doorway arch, you find 
  yourself at the foot of a narrow staircase leading 
  upwards into the silent darkness. Climbing up the 
  steep flight of stone steps, you eventually arrive 
  in a large corridor beside a stone, statue. The 
  statue appears to be a soldier of some sort and is 
  missing his head! The name ‘BALTHUS’ is 
  inscribed on its base. Ignoring this, you decide 
  carry on left along this bigger passage. 
  Eventually, you arrive at a stone spiral staircase. 
  You can smell the aroma of cooked meat coming 
  down the worn steps from above. Will you:
  Decide to cautiously climb up the spiral staircase 
  (turn to 17)
  Choose to climb down the spiral staircase instead 
  and see what’s below (turn to 2)
  45
  Walking along the passageway, you have to leap 
  over the odd puddles on the passage floor to keep 
  your feet dry. The passage remains straight for a 
  time and them slowly bends to the left. Up ahead, 
  you see the passageway bends sharply to the 
  right. To your consternation you see a dull light 
  coming from around the corner, accompanies by 
  a few guttural laughs! Some of Grimbald’s foul 
  creatures no doubt! Just before the bend to the 
  right, your lantern illuminates a large, cast iron 
  door set into the left passage wall. The door is 
  closed. Will you:
  Step up and examine the closed iron door (turn to 
  97)
  Ignore the iron door and continue along the 
  passageway towards the sounds you can hear 
  (turn to 18)
  46
  With some trepidation, you cautiously step out 
  onto the bridge’s mouldy and rotten timbers. 
  They creak and groan, but thankfully hold your 
  weight! Slowly, you progress towards the centre 
  and then the other side of the rope bridge without 
  incident. Glad to be back on solid ground, you 
  walk on up a stone corridor as before which rises 
  up a slight incline before ending at a room. The 
  chamber is quite small with a slope leading down 
  to its floor from the passageway you entered it 
  by. The room is seemingly bare except for a low, 
  circular, stone wall around a shaft opening and a 
  large inanimate statue of some ugly goblin-like 
  creature as tall as you. The statue has an open 
  mouth with an emerald inside it and lichen 
  growing all over the surface! Looking down the 
  shaft, you can see running water far below. Will 
  you:
  Lower yourself down the shaft on a Rope (if you 
  have one) and investigate the fast flowing water 
  below (turn to 75)
  Place your hand in the statue’s mouth and try to 
  take the emerald (turn to 56)
  Search around the chamber for anything else of 
  interest (turn to 63)
  
  16
  Retrace your steps across the bridge, back to the 
  junction and explore the short passageway and 
  wooden door (turn to 77)
  Retrace your steps across the bridge, back to the 
  junction, pull aside the metal bolt and go through 
  the iron grille instead (turn to 82)
  47
  It takes an hour or clambering along the debris in 
  the badly decayed passage to find you way back 
  to the junction. You climb between the planks, 
  glad to be back in the main passageway again. A 
  look left and right reveals a corridor as silent and 
  deserted as before. However, you see that 
  someone has cut down you rope! You stare 
  mournfully at the sliced end of the rope and then 
  at the shaft opening, high above. You realise that 
  there’s no way back now, you’ll have to continue 
  regardless. You step up to choose one of the three 
  ways onwards. Will you:
  Examine the ironbound door (turn to 23)
  Walk left along the passageway (turn to 12)
  Walk right along the passageway (turn to 45)
  48
  Pulling the Cloak of Invisibility around you, you 
  become invisible and stand quietly against the 
  wall knowing that you won’t be discovered. The 
  portcullis opens, grating as metal grinds against 
  stone; allowing a creature to enter the kitchen 
  carrying a bucket. It’s the size of a man and 
  dressed in ill-fitting clothing covered by a dirty, 
  leather apron. It’s quite muscular and very ugly
  with dark, motley skin, a flat nose and ragged 
  ears studded with rings. The creature is a Man-
  Orc, the mongrel offspring of Humans and Orcs!
  As you watch, it stirs the contents of the cauldron 
  with a ladle before tasting a sample. Another of 
  the disgusting creatures appears and they begin to 
  debate over whether or not to put more salt into
  their master’s soup or not. Eventually, a decision 
  is made to leave and get some. You’re left on 
  your own in the kitchen for a few minutes. Do 
  you have a bottle of Poison (turn to 92) If not, 
  you can find nothing else of interest so you leave 
  by the wooden door and descend down the spiral 
  staircase (turn to 2)
  49
  Aezetbur smiles. “Very well, adventurer! If that’s 
  your desire!” As he works his magical powers, 
  you’re enveloped in a thick cloud of purple 
  smoke that swirls around you, blinding your 
  vision! The smoke soon dissipates as quickly as it 
  appeared, leaving you somewhat disorientated. 
  To your astonishment, you find yourself standing 
  at one end of an immense, rectangular chamber 
  like a huge hall of some sort. It’s truly on a 
  gigantic scale; as spacious as the inside of the 
  biggest temple. A flight of stone steps leads 
  down to a floor, paved with large, square slabs of 
  black and white marble arranged in a chequered 
  pattern, like the surface of a chess board. The 
  walls are decorated with dark, wooden panelling 
  that reaches from the floor to the roof high above. 
  The ceiling is an engineering marvel; spanned by 
  entire tree trunks used as massive beams to 
  support the triangular shape of the roofing. On 
  the walls, colourful tapestries as large as houses 
  dominate most of the available space. They 
  depict epic landscapes, titanic armies, siege 
  engines and fierce battles of every description. 
  Directly opposite the double doors you entered 
  by is a hearth, the arch of which is as tall and 
  wide ad a stone bridge. Beside the burning hearth 
  is a stone archway, covered by a thick, red 
  curtain as tall as a town wall. Your attention is 
  drawn to the mantle over the fire which is 
  covered in ugly, stone gargoyles and piles of 
  skulls! The fire is stacked high with wooden tree 
  trunks and is burning fiercely, casting an eerie 
  glow around the chamber. Silhouetted against the 
  fire are an oversized, wooden chain with its back 
  to you and a table with a bowl and spoon on it. A 
  large, ironbound chest sits on one side of the 
  chair; a gigantic sword as tall as two men rests 
  against the other. The chair has an exceptionally 
  high back, the middle of which tapers to a point. 
  The room is lit by dozens of burning candles set 
  in iron brackets or candlesticks. “What’s this?” a 
  voice booms, startling you as you though the 
  room was empty. A bulky figure rises slowly out 
  of the chair and turns to face you. “Who dares to 
  enter my private chamber?” he sneers. You 
  realise that this is Grimbald; the tyrant you’ve 
  come to slay. His appearance truly lives up to his 
  fearsome reputation. Grimbald is as big as an oak 
  tree; a veritable mountain of flesh and muscle as 
  tall as six men. You wonder how you’ll ever 
  defeat this monstrosity, as your head barely 
  reaches the top of his leather boot! He’s dressed 
  in thick furs, a woollen shirt and breeches of dull 
  green, brown and red. An iron helmet rests upon 
  his immense head. His skin is weathered and 
  tough. A large, unkempt, messy white beard roles 
  over his chest; his piercing eyes are fixed on 
  YOU! Descending the steps to the marble floor, 
  you declare that you’re here to put and end to his 
  tyranny and oppression of the good folk of 
  Oakbridge. “Pah!” he scorns “So, those impudent 
  worms have hired an assassin, eh! Well, once 
  I’ve finished with you, I’ll pay the peasants of 
  Oakbridge a visit and burn their pathetic village 
  to the ground and they’ll have you to thank for 
  it!” Undaunted by Grimbald’s boasts, you 
  prepare yourself for battle. Throwing his fur 
  cloak back, he reveals bare, muscular forearms, 
  each thinker than your entire body with leather 
  wrist straps. Picking up his mighty sword he 
  
  17
  declares, “Fool, I doubt you’ll be anymore of a 
  challenge than the last adventurer I slew. Why I 
  expect you’re not even a match for my favourite 
  pets!” With that, he reaches out a hand and twists 
  one of the stone gargoyles above the fireplace. 
  To your horror, the marble slab you’re standing 
  on drops away, plunging you into a pool of icy 
  water before you can react! You go under the 
  surface, struggle to the surface and go under 
  again. Under the clear water, you see hundreds of 
  small, fist-sized fish with large mouths filled with 
  needle-like teeth! As you struggle and splash 
  about, the SNAPPERFISH close in for the kill! 
  Do you have a Silver Fish Armband (turn to 51). 
  Otherwise (turn to 86)
  50
  Much to his delight, you easily hack the corroded 
  chain off that secures the cage door bolt. Forcing 
  the bold over, the door opens, releasing the 
  ragged, old man. He leaps with glee, claps his 
  hands and gives you a toothy smile. You realise 
  this poor soul must’ve been imprisoned for a long 
  time indeed. You loathe to hand over your 
  precious Cloak of Invisibility, but hand it over 
  you must as you made a deal (cross it off your
  Adventure Sheet). He folds it up and runs his 
  hands over the rich material admiringly. You 
  interrupt him and remind him of his pledge. He 
  tells you that you need to use a secret password 
  to get into Grimbald’s inner sanctum. Today’s 
  password is ‘Balthus’, the name of one of the 
  Black Elf master sergeants. He leaves by the 
  doorway and disappears into the darkness. After 
  a search of the cave reveals nothing of interest, 
  you leave by the same route too. Climbing up a 
  steep flight of stone steps, you eventually arrive 
  in a large corridor beside a stone, statue. The 
  statue appears to be a soldier of some sort and is 
  missing his head! The word ‘BATLHUS’ is 
  etched on the base. After pondering on this, you 
  decide carry on left along this bigger passage. 
  Eventually, you arrive at a stone spiral staircase. 
  You can smell the aroma of cooked meat coming 
  down the worn steps from above. Will you:
  Decide to cautiously climb up the spiral staircase 
  (turn to 17)
  Choose to climb down the spiral staircase instead 
  and see what’s below (turn to 2)
  51
  You panic and thrash around with your sword. 
  However, to your surprise and immense relief, 
  the SNAPPERFISH seem to hold back from the 
  attack! They swim around you on all sides, 
  occasionally nipping at you but causing you no 
  real harm! You take your opportunity to escape 
  by clambering carefully up the slippery stone 
  bricks of the pit wall. Eventually, you pull 
  yourself back up to face Grimbald again in the 
  hall, albeit soaking wet! Grimbald is standing by 
  the hearth, eating soup hungrily from the bowl 
  with the spoon. His eyebrows rise in surprise 
  when he sees you emerge unscathed from his 
  trap. Draining the remainder of the soup into his 
  cavernous mouth, he pushes the bowl aside and 
  wipes his face clumsily with his sleeve. “So, the 
  puny weakling is stronger than he looks, eh! 
  Well, I’ve bested far better than you, worm!” He 
  picks up his oversized sword leaning against the 
  chair. “We’ll end this with weapons, insect! And 
  when I’ve killed you, I’ll hang your skull over 
  my fireplace as a trophy!” With that, he lumbers 
  across the chamber to finish you off once and for 
  all! Did you poison the soup in the kitchen? If so, 
  multiply the number of onions you saw the cook 
  put into the soup by three and turn to that number 
  now. If you didn’t poison the soup (turn to 76)
  52
  Suddenly, you’re halted in your tracks by the 
  guttural howls and barks of voices outside the 
  hall! Your worst fears are realised; Grimbald’s 
  loathsome henchmen must be coming to 
  investigate their master’s room! The alarmed 
  shouts and clumping of running feet gets louder 
  and louder as they approach in large numbers. 
  How will you disguise yourself? If you have a 
  Cloak of Invisibility, you may use it now (turn to 
  55). Otherwise (turn to 79)
  53
  You present the Gold Signet Ring to the head, 
  holding it up as high as you can. “Very well, you 
  may pass.” It says. There’s a loud grating sound 
  as the heavy portcullis is lifted slowly into the 
  roof of the cavern, allowing you to continue.
  Outside the cavern walls become plain earth. 
  Roots and vines from plants growing on the earth 
  above hang down in your way. Brushing these 
  aside you step out of the cavern into the bright 
  sunshine 
  of 
  midday! 
  You 
  realise 
  your 
  subterranean mission made you lose all track 
  time! Although a welcome sight, the light hurts 
  your eyes. Do you have a Blue Flower in your 
  backpack (turn to 78). Otherwise (turn to 100)
  54
  You examine the underside of the wooden table 
  for a concealed draws. However, there are none. 
  Directing you attention to the ceiling, you’re 
  shudder with revulsion to see it crawling with 
  every sort of loathsome insect imaginable. Huge 
  cobwebs hand down in enormous arches and 
  creatures scurry away from your light in all 
  
  18
  directions. Thud! You spin around just in time to 
  see the huge iron door slam shut! You run to the 
  door but you’re not fast enough. Listening at the 
  cold metal, you hear hysterical laughter from 
  outside the door. Someone has deliberately 
  locked you in! Reaching into your backpack, you 
  pull out the Iron Key and attempt to open the 
  door, but to your horror, you realise that there’s 
  no lock on this side of the door. Desperately 
  searching around the room, you realize that 
  there’s no escape from your prison. The door is 
  the only exit; all the other walls are solid stone. 
  After exhausting yourself, you sit down on the 
  stool and wait. However, you wait turns from 
  minutes into hours and then days. You pound on 
  the door and shout for help, but nobody ever 
  comes. Slowly you get weaker and weaker. You 
  face a slow and agonisingly painful death by 
  starvation in your lonely subterranean prison. 
  You survive a little longer by licking the 
  moisture off the cold, stone walls, but you never 
  leave the room alive. You’ve failed in your 
  mission…
  55
  Quickly, you pull your cloak over your shoulders 
  and head. Invisible to the outside world, you’re 
  safe from discovery when the door at the far end 
  of the hall bursts open and dozens of Grimbald’s
  disgusting, chaotic guards pile in to survey the 
  scene! Some mill about aimlessly, unsure of what 
  to do. Others make a futile attempt to put out the 
  fire or sob mournfully beside the immense bulk 
  of their fallen leader. Unnoticed by the guards, 
  you slip quietly through the stone archway, 
  covered by a thick, red curtain. Immediately, 
  you’re plunged back into complete darkness! 
  Your lantern lights up a huge cavern cut out of 
  rock with a flat floor and arched roof. It 
  disappears off into the blackness as far as your 
  lantern light illuminates. You press on along it 
  (turn to 42)
  56
  Reaching into the statue’s mouth, you clasp the 
  emerald in your fingers. You’re half expecting 
  the stone mouth to clamp shut, crushing your 
  hand flat! However, nothing happens. The 
  emerald is huge and must be worth a fortune! 
  Smiling at you good fortune, you slip it into you 
  backpack. Suddenly, you see movement out of 
  the corner of you eye. A blue and red 
  POISONOUS SNAKE was also residing in the 
  statue’s mouth! Disturbed, it falls to the ground 
  and lashes out at you! You’ll have to be careful 
  of it poisonous venom (each time it bites you, 
  lose 4 Stamina points instead of the usual 2). 
  Fight it. 
  POISONOUS SNAKE – Skill: 5 Stamina: 3
  If you survive and kill the POISONOUS 
  SNAKE, you prepare to leave. Will you:
  Lower yourself down the shaft on a Rope (if you 
  have one) and investigate the fast flowing water 
  below (turn to 75)
  Search around the chamber for anything else of 
  interest (turn to 63)
  Retrace your steps across the bridge, back to the 
  junction and explore the short passageway and 
  wooden door (turn to 77)
  Retrace your steps across the bridge, back to the 
  junction, pull aside the metal bolt and go through 
  the iron grille instead (turn to 82)
  57
  Remembering the message you found scratched 
  into the tin plate, you kneel down on the floor, 
  lift up the metal flap and turn the tumblers to the 
  numbers five and seven. The door makes a loud 
  click and swings in a few inches. You’ve 
  successfully opened the door! Slowly, you inch 
  into the room beyond. You see a small, roughly 
  square chamber cut right out of the rock, 
  cluttered with damaged and crudely made 
  furniture. Rags and dirty clothes of every 
  description litter the floor and are carelessly 
  draped over the headboard of a tatty bed. In the 
  centre of the room is a wooden table surrounded 
  by some chairs. The table has playing cards, gold 
  coins and a few precious stones scattered over its 
  surface. A humanoid creature with dark skin sits 
  in one of the chairs, lazily slumped back, snoring 
  loudly as if in a deep sleep, one hand wrapped 
  around a half-empty metal cup balancing 
  precariously on the edge of the table. The room is 
  dully illuminated by a single candle mounted on 
  a tin candlestick on the table. Your attention is 
  attracted to a large Bronze Key hanging around 
  the creature’s neck by a leather cord; you can’t 
  resist taking a closer look. Leaning forward, you 
  see that it has a complex snake design covering 
  its surface. Apprehensively reaching out, you 
  attempt to take the Bronze Key while the creature 
  slumbers. Test your Luck. If you’re lucky (turn to 
  87). If you’re unlucky (turn to 11)
  58
  Removing the Bronze Keys you’ve collected 
  from your backpack; you put each in a keyhole
  on the giant door and turn them one at a time. 
  After a bit of effort, both turn 180 degrees with a 
  satisfying click. The lock snaps open; releasing 
  the doors which swing outwards slightly on their 
  hinges (gain 1 Luck point). Sensing that you’re 
  now deep within Grimbald’s inner sanctum and 
  near your ultimate goal, you take a deep, slow 
  
  19
  breath to calm yourself. With lantern in one 
  hand; sword in one other, you step forward to see 
  what lies beyond. Cautiously peeping around the 
  door edge, you see a sight that stops you in your 
  tracks! On the other side of the double doors you 
  find yourself standing at one end of an immense, 
  rectangular chamber like a huge hall of some 
  sort. It’s truly on a gigantic scale; as spacious as 
  the inside of the biggest temple. A flight of stone 
  steps leads down to a floor, paved with large, 
  square slabs of black and white marble arranged 
  in a chequered pattern, like the surface of a chess 
  board. The walls are decorated with dark, 
  wooden panelling that reaches from the floor to 
  the roof high above. The ceiling is an engineering 
  marvel; spanned by entire tree trunks used as 
  massive beams to support the triangular shape of 
  the roofing. On the walls, colourful tapestries as 
  large as houses dominate most of the available 
  space. They depict epic landscapes, titanic 
  armies, siege engines and fierce battles of every 
  description. Directly opposite the double doors 
  you entered by is a hearth, the arch of which is as 
  tall and wide ad a stone bridge. Beside the 
  burning hearth is a stone archway, covered by a 
  thick, red curtain as tall as a town wall. Your 
  attention is drawn to the mantle over the fire 
  which is covered in ugly, stone gargoyles and 
  piles of skulls! The fire is stacked high with 
  wooden tree trunks and is burning fiercely, 
  casting an eerie glow around the chamber. 
  Silhouetted against the fire are an oversized, 
  wooden chain with its back to you and a table 
  with a bowl and spoon on it. A large, ironbound 
  chest sits on one side of the chair; a gigantic 
  sword as tall as two men rests against the other. 
  The chair has an exceptionally high back, the 
  middle of which tapers to a point. The room is lit 
  by dozens of burning candles set in iron brackets 
  or candlesticks. “What’s this?” a voice booms, 
  startling you as you though the room was empty. 
  A bulky figure rises slowly out of the chair and 
  turns to face you. “Who dares to enter my private 
  chamber?” he sneers. You realise that this is
  Grimbald; the tyrant you’ve come to slay. His 
  appearance truly lives up to his fearsome 
  reputation. Grimbald is as big as an oak tree; a 
  veritable mountain of flesh and muscle as tall as 
  six men. You wonder how you’ll ever defeat this 
  monstrosity, as your head barely reaches the top 
  of his leather boot! He’s dressed in thick furs, a
  woollen shirt and breeches of dull green, brown 
  and red. An iron helmet rests upon his immense 
  head. His skin is weathered and tough. A large, 
  unkempt, messy white beard roles over his chest; 
  his piercing eyes are fixed on YOU! Descending
  the steps to the marble floor, you declare that 
  you’re here to put and end to his tyranny and 
  oppression of the good folk of Oakbridge. “Pah!”
  he scorns “So, those impudent worms have hired 
  an assassin, eh! Well, once I’ve finished with 
  you, I’ll pay the peasants of Oakbridge a visit and 
  burn their pathetic village to the ground and 
  they’ll have you to thank for it!” Undaunted by 
  Grimbald’s boasts, you prepare yourself for 
  battle. Throwing his fur cloak back, he reveals 
  bare, muscular forearms, each thinker than your 
  entire body with leather wrist straps. Picking up 
  his mighty sword he declares, “Fool, I doubt 
  you’ll be anymore of a challenge than the last 
  adventurer I slew. Why I expect you’re not even 
  a match for my favourite pets!” With that, he 
  reaches out a hand and twists one of the stone 
  gargoyles above the fireplace. To your horror, the 
  marble slab you’re standing on drops away, 
  plunging you into a pool of icy water before you 
  can react! You go under the surface, struggle to 
  the surface and go under again. Under the clear 
  water, you see hundreds of small, fist-sized fish 
  with large mouths filled with needle-like teeth! 
  As 
  you 
  struggle 
  and 
  splash 
  about, 
  the 
  SNAPPERFISH close in for the kill! Do you 
  have a Silver Fish Armband (turn to 51). 
  Otherwise (turn to 86)
  59
  You’re resting when another beast steps through 
  the doorway to confront you. It’s very tall and 
  has to stoop to enter the room. The creature has a
  bald head with lumpy, brown skin covering its 
  massive, muscular frame. Its ears are ragged and 
  torn, studded with crude jewellery in places. The 
  OGRE is stripped to the waste and carries a huge 
  battleaxe in its warty hands. As a testament to its 
  fighting prowess, a number of shrunken heads are 
  tied to its leather belt! Letting out a bestial, howl;
  it charges across the room to attack you in a 
  fierce rage. Holding your sword up, you prepare 
  to defend yourself.
  OGRE BERSERKER - Skill: 9 Stamina: 10
  If you survive this battle, you feel drained by the 
  effort (lose 2 Stamina points). You withdraw 
  your blade from the dead beast’s body (turn to 
  94)
  60
  Aezetbur remains silent as you tell him that the 
  third son must receive fifteen fish from the 
  Fisherman, as it’s the next number in the 
  sequence. “Oh, very clever. How very clever 
  indeed! I’m impressed!” he mocks. You take no 
  time in reminding him of his pledge to help you. 
  “Very well, you’ve answered my riddle, so what 
  is your wish?” How will you use Aezetbur’s 
  help? Will you:
  Ask him you heal your wounds (turn to 71)
  Ask him to give you a powerful weapon to 
  increase your fighting ability (turn to 33)
  
  20
  Ask him to transport you to Grimbald’s inner 
  sanctum (turn to 49)
  61
  The trapdoor is very heavy and hard to lift and 
  push back. Obviously nobody has bothered to 
  open it in a long time! Holding your lantern in 
  front of you, a dusty wooden staircase is 
  illuminated going downwards steeply. You 
  descend slowly; one step at a time, the steps 
  creaking and groaning under your weight. At the 
  bottom, you find yourself in a narrow passage 
  with earth walls, supported at irregular intervals 
  with columns and beams made of rotting wood. 
  The passageway reminds you of a dilapidated 
  mine; it all looks quite delicate and precariously 
  balanced to say the least! You cautiously walk on 
  until you come to a junction with three ways 
  onwards. On you left, a short passageway ends at 
  a closed wooden door, in front of you is a stone 
  arch covered by a curtain of chains, to your right 
  is a closed, iron grille secured with a metal bolt. 
  Will you:
  Walk down the short passageway and examine 
  the wooden door (turn to 77)
  Push the chain curtain aside and go through the 
  stone arch (turn to 67)
  Pull aside the metal bolt and go through the iron 
  grille (turn to 82)
  62
  You gingerly pull the lever. It’s stiff, but moves 
  slowly when you put all you weight behind it. At 
  first there’s silence, but then you hear an 
  ominous rumbling sound from somewhere deep 
  inside the rock followed by a noisy grating 
  sound! After a few second the noises cease. You 
  can’t see any difference! Somewhat disappointed, 
  you review your options. Will you:
  Climb down the ladder, go back through the 
  metal hatch and carry on along the passageway 
  (turn to 32)
  Climb down the ladder, past the metal hatch, and 
  explore whatever is below (turn to 3)
  63
  Searching around the chamber, poking all the 
  dark corners with the point of you sword, you 
  realize the room is quite barren apart from the 
  statue and shaft. The only thing that attracts your 
  attention is a fist-sized flower with three dark 
  blue petals. It grows in a small niche in the wall 
  and emits a strong, sweet-smelling perfume that’s 
  quite pleasant. You may take the Blue Flower 
  with you if you wish by tucking it gently into 
  your backpack. You decide what to do next. Will 
  you:
  Lower yourself down the shaft on a Rope (if you 
  have one) and investigate the fast flowing water 
  below (turn to 75)
  Retrace your steps across the bridge, back to the 
  junction and explore the short passageway and 
  wooden door (turn to 77)
  Retrace your steps across the bridge, back to the 
  junction, pull aside the metal bolt and go through 
  the iron grille instead (turn to 82)
  64
  You slash and hack at your underwater assailant 
  with all you might. You chop off one, two and 
  then three of the monstrosity’s limbs off in turn. 
  You battle on, but more and more tentacles wrap 
  around your body, squeezing you relentlessly. 
  The TENTACLED BEAST’s large bulk drags 
  you from the surface and the fight continues 
  underwater. You thrust your blade into the main 
  body on the creature again and again, turning the 
  water purple with its blood. But still it doesn’t 
  relent on its death hold. Feeling faint from lack of 
  air, you resist to the last, realising that once you 
  pass out the battle will be lost. But alas, all is in 
  vain as the creature’s strength is overpowering! 
  Your death is mercifully swift when the cold 
  water enters your lungs. The TENTACLED 
  BEAST will feast for many weeks to come on 
  your corpse. You’ve failed in your mission…
  65
  You scream out in pain as it smashes into your 
  forehead, knocking you to the ground (lose 3
  Stamina points). Regaining your composure, you 
  stagger to you feet. The chamber is medium-
  sized and square. Standing in the middle of the 
  room are three, small, ugly creatures. They have 
  rows of vicious, misshapen teeth and brownish-
  green, warty skin. Each is clad in filthy rags and 
  assorted pieces of chain and plate armour. The 
  trio of GOBLINS were wrestling each other over 
  a piece of black cloth, but now stand staring at 
  you in surprise. Their bemused expressions turn 
  to anger and hatred and they draw their scimitars 
  to advance and attack. Standing in the archway, 
  you can fight each in turn.
  GOBLIN GUARD - Skill: 5 Stamina: 5
  GOBLIN GUARD - Skill: 5 Stamina: 4
  GOBLIN SERGEANT - Skill: 5 Stamina: 6
  If you defeat all three, you search the room. It’s 
  obviously a guard post of some kind, but the 
  stupid and violent creatures have smashed the 
  tables, beds and chairs into worthless firewood. 
  One of the guards has an Iron Key on his belt. 
  
  21
  You may take this with you if you wish. Turning 
  your attention to what they were fighting over, 
  you see that it’s a fine cloak. Pulling it over your 
  shoulders, you’re amazed when you become 
  invisible! You’ve found a Cloak of Invisibility! 
  You may take it with you too. Are you wearing a 
  Golden Boar Pendant (turn to 30). If not (turn to 
  39)
  66
  After a pause, you’re shocked when the head’s 
  expression turns to one of hatred. Its lips curl up 
  at the edges as it hisses “Intruders in the master’s 
  lair deserve death!” With that, you hear a 
  popping sound as dozens of deadly darts are fired
  from small, concealed, holes in the walls! The 
  darts pierce your body all over; your legs, belly, 
  arms and head! Staggering backwards in agony, 
  you scream out in pain! However, your screams 
  don’t last long as the fast acting poison from the 
  darts kills you within seconds. You slump down 
  in front of the portcullis, you life over. So near to 
  freedom and yet so far…
  67
  Going under the archway and through the chain 
  curtain, you enter a passageway in a much better 
  state of repair. The walls and ceiling is solid 
  stone, the floor is covered in well worn 
  cobblestones. Forging onwards, the passage turns 
  sharply to the left and a dozen paces further, it 
  turns even more sharply to the right. Up ahead 
  you see a sight which takes your breath away! 
  The passageway ends abruptly at a wide chasm in 
  the earth! The chasm is far too wide to jump and 
  is spanned by a rope and wood bridge. Looking 
  down, you can’t see the bottom, but you get the 
  impression of a big drop that would certainly kill 
  you if you were to fall. An examination of the 
  bridge spanning the gap doesn’t fill you with
  confidence; the majority of the planks are soft, 
  wet and rotten! The ropes holding the entire 
  construction together are threadbare and covered 
  in mould in places! It all looks very precarious, 
  but the bridge is the only way onwards. Will you:
  Take a gamble and try to cross over the chasm 
  via the rickety old rope and wood bridge (turn to 
  46)
  Retrace your steps to the junction and explore the 
  short passageway and wooden door (turn to 77)
  Retrace your steps back to the junction, pull aside 
  the metal bolt and go through the iron grille 
  instead (turn to 82)
  68
  As Grimbald is preoccupied, you seize you 
  chance to throw your Eagle Feather Spear at him. 
  Aiming for the beast’s throat, you stride forward 
  and hurl it with all the might your tired body can 
  muster! The spear flies through the air towards its 
  target. Test you Luck. If you’re lucky (turn to 13). 
  If you’re unlucky (turn to 93)
  69
  You struggle through the swiftly rising tide to the 
  stone door blocking your escape. You try pushing 
  and clawing with all your might, but the heavy 
  door is immovable. Finding the frame, you 
  desperately try to force your sword into the seam 
  to pry an opening. All to no avail; your sword 
  snaps in two like a twig! The cascading sand 
  stings your eyes as more and more pours into the 
  trap, covering the door completely, ending any 
  chance of escape. Struggling to stay atop the ever 
  increasing sand mountain, you’re forced up 
  against the vaulted roof. You squirm and 
  struggle; gasping for breath, as the sand enters 
  your mouth, nose and eventually your lungs. You 
  face an agonisingly death by suffocation! After 
  the sand drains from the holes in the floor, 
  there’ll be two bodies in the sand-trap. Your 
  mission and life have ended here…
  70
  The GHOUL attacks you with an insane fury, 
  slashing wildly with its clawed hands! You try 
  desperately to fend off the beast’s blows but too 
  many find their mark and tear into your flesh. 
  One of the creature’s abilities is to paralyse a 
  victim with its poison claws so they can be 
  devoured more easily. Your limbs and body go 
  numb as the GHOUL’s venom takes effect; 
  paralysing you completely! You slump to the 
  ground helplessly as the GHOUL moves in to 
  begin feeding on your succulent, living flesh! 
  Thankfully, 
  you 
  lapse 
  into 
  permanent 
  unconsciousness and don’t survive this torture 
  too long. Your mission has come to an 
  unfortunate end here…
  71
  You ask Aezetbur to use his magic to heal your 
  wounds and make you strong again. As his 
  powers take effect, you feel a warm surge of 
  energy inside your body. The cuts and wounds on 
  your body heal before your very eyes; the flesh 
  closing up without leaving any marks (restore 
  your Skill, Stamina and Luck scores to their 
  initial values)! Delighted, you’re just about to 
  thank the Genie, but the purple cloud has already 
  returned to a boiling mass again. As you watch, 
  it’s sucked back into the golden skull, the cork 
  
  22
  stopper replacing itself! Feeling rejuvenated and 
  refreshed, you decide to leave this place. You 
  secure your equipment and climb back up the 
  rope and through the hole. Glad to be on your 
  way again, you retrace your steps back to the 
  junction. Will you:
  Walk down the short passageway and examine 
  the wooden door (turn to 77)
  Push the chain curtain aside and go through the 
  stone arch (turn to 67)
  72
  You navigate the slippery stones successfully by 
  nimbly leaping from one to another and reach the 
  opposite bank without incident (gain 1 Luck 
  point). You walk on along the corridor as it 
  begins to turn gently to the left again. Up ahead 
  you come to the curious sight of a headless, stone 
  statue on a plinth at the side of the passageway. 
  The statue is of a big, powerful humanoid, 
  dressed in a suit of armour, one hand resting on 
  the pommel of a sword, the other on the top of a 
  large shield. An inscription on the base reads 
  ‘BALTHUS’. Beside the statue, on the left-hand 
  side if the corridor, is a small side passage that 
  immediately descends down a steep flight of 
  stone steps. You decide carry on the way you 
  were going. Eventually, you arrive at a stone 
  spiral staircase. You can smell the aroma of 
  cooked meat coming down the worn steps from 
  above. Will you:
  Decide to cautiously climb up the spiral staircase 
  (turn to 17)
  Choose to climb down the spiral staircase instead 
  and see what’s below (turn to 2)
  73
  Adjusting your equipment, you climb down the 
  ladder, looking over your shoulder as you go. 
  The ladder goes on for quite some time; you 
  begin to get concerned about just how deep this 
  shaft is! However, you’re relived when you 
  eventually see a stone paved floor come into 
  view out of the darkness. With your feet on solid 
  ground again, you look around the bottom of the 
  shaft. In front of you is a narrow and low stone 
  archway covered in gargoyles. A heavy, iron 
  portcullis seals the archway, blocking your way 
  forward. The portcullis is far too thick and strong 
  for you to break your way through. All you see 
  beyond is darkness. With no way onwards, you 
  forced to retrace your steps. Will you:
  Climb back up the ladder, go back through the
  metal hatch and carry on along the passageway 
  (turn to 32)
  Climb back up the ladder, past the metal hatch, 
  and explore whatever is above (turn to 40)
  74
  Taking hold of the rope, you begin the laborious
  process of heaving your way back up the rope. 
  You soon work up a sweat and get into a rhythm 
  as you ascend. As you climb up, your foot slips; 
  accidentally hitting a silken strand from one of 
  the webs! The cobwebs quiver from the force of 
  the kick. You stare around anxiously, waiting for 
  a response. Unfortunately, you don’t have to wait 
  long! Within a few seconds you see a disgusting 
  creature materialize out of the dark, heading 
  directly for YOU! A huge spider is  advancing on 
  you; its body as big as an entire cow. Eight legs, 
  covered in sensitive black hairs extend in all 
  directs, making this loathsome monstrosity look 
  even more fearsome! On its head, multiple eyes 
  scan you hungrily and its clicking mandibles 
  make you turn away in revulsion. The GIANT 
  SPIDER moves in for the kill. You have no 
  choice but to fight it or end up its next meal! 
  Holding your lantern in your mouth, you wield
  your weapon in your free hand (minus 2 from 
  your Skill score for the duration of this battle 
  because of you precarious position of the rope).
  GIANT SPIDER - Skill: 7 Stamina: 8
  If you survive this encounter, you secure your 
  equipment and use your aching arms to climb 
  back up the rope and through the hole. Glad to be 
  free of the creature’s hellish lair, you retrace your 
  steps back to the junction. Will you:
  Walk down the short passageway and examine 
  the wooden door (turn to 77)
  Push the chain curtain aside and go through the 
  stone arch (turn to 67)
  75
  Tying the end of you Rope to the base of the 
  statue, you throw the coil down the shaft and hear 
  it splash loudly into the water far below. 
  Securing all you equipment, you slowly slide 
  down the rope, using you feet to stop you hitting 
  the shaft wall. Down and down you go. As you 
  approach the water, you struggle and pull your 
  boots off to keep them dry. The underground 
  river you find yourself in is only about a foot 
  deep, yet exceedingly cold! Unable to untie the 
  Rope, you’re forced to leave it behind. Walking 
  along, you realise you’re in a low tunnel. Up 
  ahead, the tunnel opens out into a large 
  passageway, forded by the flowing water. Test 
  your Luck. If you’re lucky, you reach the other 
  side of the ford without incident. If you’re 
  unlucky, you tread on a razor-sharp, metal spike 
  
  23
  that someone has deliberately concealed under 
  the surface of the water. Your foot is badly cut 
  (lose 1 Stamina point). Reaching the other side, 
  you put your boots back on and painfully hobble 
  off along the corridor. The passageway rises up 
  now and turns to the right while widening out to 
  twice and then three times its previous width and 
  height. Up ahead, the passageway terminates at 
  an impressive set of closed double doors the size 
  of a house! The wooden, ironbound doors are 
  covered with melodramatic carving of animals 
  and plants of all descriptions. Bears, wolves, 
  horses and dogs are expertly carved into the 
  wooden surface and painted in realistic colours. 
  Two burning torches are set into iron brackets, 
  either side of the massive portal, casting a dull 
  light. A dozen, stone steps lead upwards; their 
  edges stacked high with dozens of skulls of every 
  sort, size and shape! Carefully climbing up, you 
  approach the doors expectantly, sword in hand. 
  Tugging on the iron ring reveals your worst fears; 
  both are locked tight. You notice two bronze 
  keyholes at head height. Staring up at the giant 
  structure, you realise that no amount of battering 
  will allow you to continue. Do you have two 
  Bronze Keys in your backpack that you’ve 
  picked up on your journey so far? If so, add the 
  number of serpents on each Bronze Key together, 
  multiply the result by two and turn to the 
  corresponding reference number now. If you only 
  possess one or neither Bronze Key, there’s no 
  way onwards (turn to 98)
  76
  Grimbald bounds across the chamber, his huge 
  stride allowing him to move amazingly swiftly 
  for such a huge creature! You manage to parry 
  the first two blows, but the strength knocks you 
  off you feet each time! Struggling on, his third 
  blow smashes your weapon into pieces and sends 
  you flying backwards into the wall. You fall to 
  the ground, dazed and with broken ribs! 
  Painfully, you spit out the blood and force your 
  aching body to go on; knowing that the second 
  you give up, victory will be his and it’ll be the 
  end of you. Another powerful blow from the 
  Giant sends you sprawling across the floor in 
  front of the hearth. Broken and bleeding, the last 
  thing you see is the leering face of Grimbald as 
  his booted foot descends on your body to crush 
  the life out of you! After it’s all over, Grimbald 
  indeed gets to place your skull as a trophy over 
  his fireplace! You’ve failed the people of 
  Oakbridge, who’ll pay for your failure with you 
  in time. Your mission ends here…
  77
  You approach the wooden door and examine it in 
  detail. The wood is old and half rotten with splits 
  in some of the planks. An iron latch secures the 
  door closed. To your disgust, a severed head is 
  nailed by its hair to the centre of the door; dried 
  blood stains cover the floor! You wonder on the 
  significance of this; a warning not to proceed 
  perhaps! Peeping through the cracks in the wood, 
  you see nothing but darkness beyond. Listening 
  against the door, you hear a faint sound coming 
  from within. There it is again! Something on the 
  other side of the door is making a sound, like 
  stone scrapping against stone! You think about 
  what it could possibly be. Will you:
  Confidently lift the door latch and open the door, 
  ready to confront whatever lies on the other side 
  (turn to 29)
  Go back to the junction and go through the 
  archway covered by the chain curtain (turn to 67)
  Go back to the junction and go through the iron 
  grille (turn to 82)
  78
  Unbeknown to you, the Blue Flower is a very 
  rare and expensive type of hybrid orchid. The 
  flower is specially cultivated by the Troglodytes; 
  a subterranean race of creatures that live deep 
  underground all their lives. They harvest blue 
  orchids to produce lethal venom for their arrows. 
  Unfortunately, the perfume on this particular 
  species is a slow but deadly poison! As you walk 
  out into the sunlight, you finally succumb to its 
  effects. Slumping down on the ground, you fall 
  into a sleep from which you never awake! You 
  saved Oakbridge from the Giant’s ministrations, 
  but die here unnoticed and with nobody to mourn
  you…
  79
  You desperately search around for a hiding place, 
  but you’re too late! The doors at the far end of 
  the hall bursts open to reveal a sea of angry 
  guards. Upon seeing their master’s body, the 
  burning tapestries and you, they’re driven into a 
  frenzy of rage! Howling insanely, the chaotic 
  hoard advances on YOU! Placing your back to 
  the fireplace, you make a determined, if futile,
  last stand. Coming upon you from all sides, you 
  valiantly hack and slash left and right at your
  attackers. Wounded, you still fight on, your 
  heroic resistance driving them berserk with anger
  and frustration. Nine, ten, eleven of the foul 
  creatures are slain by your hand before you 
  finally fall under their blows. You’ve saved the 
  good folk of Oakbridge by slaying Grimbald, but 
  you end up paying for it with your life…
  80
  
  24
  You pull and push at the cork in the golden skull 
  with your fingers, slowly easing it out. Finally, it 
  comes free emitting a wisp of purple smoke. 
  Alarmed, you drop the golden skull and stumble 
  backwards! The smoke pours out faster and faster 
  in such a volume; it doesn’t seem possible that it 
  could all fit into the container! As you watch in 
  awe, the top of the smoke cloud collects together 
  and forms into the upper torso of a humanoid 
  while the bottom remains a formless cloud, 
  tapering down into the golden skull! The entity
  before you has a bare upper body. The head is 
  completely bald, except for a long, single plait of 
  hair at the back. It slowly surveys its
  surroundings before fixing its attention on you. 
  “My name is Aezetbur the Genie. Why have you 
  disturbed me?” he demands. You apologise and 
  tell him that it was an accident; you had no idea 
  that a Genie lived in the golden skull. He crosses 
  his arms, seemingly dissatisfied with you 
  explanation. “Well adventurer, I’ll give you one 
  chance to appease me. Answer me a riddle of my 
  choosing and I’ll help you on your way. Fail to 
  answer it and I’ll hinder you for disturbing me.”
  You open your mouth in protest, but he ignores 
  your pleas and continues regardless. A sly smile 
  spreads slowly across his face “Now listen 
  carefully adventurer!” He starts to tell you his 
  riddle. “A Fisherman wants to divide his catch of 
  eighty-four fish up among his seven sons. He 
  gives one quarter of a dozen fish to his seventh 
  son, three times as many to his fifth son. He gives
  twice as many fish to his second son, as he gives 
  to his fifth son. To his fourth son, the Fisherman 
  gives as many fish as he gave to his fifth and 
  seventh sons combined. He divides the remaining
  fish up amongst his first, third and sixth sons. My 
  question is this.” He pauses for effect. “How 
  many fish does the Fisherman give to his third 
  son?” Can you work out the correct answer to his 
  riddle? If so, multiply the number of fish the third 
  son receives by four and turn to that reference 
  now. If you don’t know (turn to 89)
  81
  As he finally dies, Grimbald falls backwards and 
  smashes into the ground with a terrific force that 
  makes the whole chamber tremble and dust fall 
  from the ceiling! An outreached hand dislodges 
  half-a-dozen logs from the fire which sets fire to 
  some of the tapestries! Exhausted from your epic 
  clash, you slump to you knees to rest for a 
  moment. When you’ve got your breath and wits 
  back, you realise the fire is spreading quickly out 
  of control! Also, you presume that Grimbald’s
  guards must’ve been alerted by the noise of 
  battle. With no time to celebrate your spectacular
  victory, you begin to make plans to escape 
  immediately. Will you:
  Take the opportunity to fill your pockets with 
  precious jewels from the treasure chest by the 
  wooden chair (turn to 37)
  Make good your escape through the stone 
  archway, covered by a thick, red curtain beside 
  the fireplace (turn to 52)
  82
  As you approach the iron grille, you see that it’s 
  very rusty. As the grille opens and swings inward 
  on rusty hinges it squeaks loudly. In front of you 
  is a narrow, rounded tunnel with bare earth walls. 
  Stumbling along it, you soon find it beginning to 
  descend at a steep angle. Digging your sword 
  into the earth to stop yourself plunging forwards 
  out of control, you follow it until you come upon 
  a wooden staircase. The wooden staircase bends 
  sharply to the right every dozen steps as it 
  descends. Eventually, you arrive at another earth 
  tunnel that terminates at a circular hole in the 
  ground. Above the hole is a rope, attached to the 
  ceiling of the tunnel by a metal hook, its length 
  dangling down the hole into the darkness.
  Peering down the hole, you can’t see anything 
  but blackness, the lantern illuminating the rope 
  until it disappears out of sight below. Dropping a 
  stone, you listen but don’t hear it hit the bottom! 
  Either the chamber below is very deep or has a 
  soft bottom of some sort. Will you:
  Climb down the rope and see where it goes (turn 
  to 15)
  Retrace your steps to the junction, walk down the 
  short passageway and examine the wooden door 
  (turn to 77)
  Retrace your steps to the junction, push the chain 
  curtain aside and go through the stone arch (turn 
  to 67)
  83
  You graciously accept the wretch’s gift. Leaning 
  forward, you allow him to slip the leather cord 
  over you head and pull it tight; a bit TOO tight 
  for comfort! Suddenly, you realize he’s pulling 
  the cord through the grille, pinning you to the 
  bars by your throat! You struggle, but more and 
  more of the demented prisoners grip the cord and 
  grab at your body. Driven insane by the torments 
  of their gaoler, they’re driven into a frenzy. You 
  squirm, red-faced, eyes bulging as they choke the 
  life out of you while laughing like madmen! One 
  of the fiends manages to steal your sword from 
  its scabbard and thrusts it through the bars into 
  your back killing you. Your trust has sealed your 
  fate and ultimately cost you your life here. 
  You’ve failed in your mission…
  84
  
  25
  Carrying 
  along 
  the 
  silent 
  corridor, 
  the 
  passageway dips down at a sharper angle and up 
  ahead you hear running water. Soon you come to 
  a shallow river crossing the passageway from left 
  to right. The river is only about a foot deep or so 
  and disappears through low archways on either 
  wall. Taking off your boots to keep them dry, 
  you’re forced to wade across the freezing cold 
  water, barefooted! Test your Luck. If you’re 
  lucky, you reach the other side of the ford 
  without incident. If you’re unlucky, you tread on 
  a razor-sharp, metal spike that someone has 
  deliberately concealed under the surface of the 
  water. Your foot is badly cut (lose 1 Stamina 
  point). Reaching the other side, you put your 
  boots back on and painfully hobble off along the 
  corridor. The passageway rises up now and turns 
  to the right while widening out to twice and then 
  three times its previous width and height. Up 
  ahead, 
  the 
  passageway 
  terminates 
  at 
  an 
  impressive set of closed double doors the size of 
  a house! The wooden, ironbound doors are 
  covered with melodramatic carving of animals 
  and plants of all descriptions. Bears, wolves, 
  horses and dogs are expertly carved into the 
  wooden surface and painted in realistic colours. 
  Two burning torches are set into iron brackets, 
  either side of the massive portal, casting a dull 
  light. A dozen, stone steps lead upwards; their 
  edges stacked high with dozens of skulls of every 
  sort, size and shape! Carefully climbing up, you 
  approach the doors expectantly, sword in hand. 
  Tugging on the iron ring reveals your worst fears; 
  both are locked tight. You notice two bronze 
  keyholes at head height. Staring up at the giant 
  structure, you realise that no amount of battering 
  will allow you to continue. Do you have two 
  Bronze Keys in your backpack that you’ve 
  picked up on your journey so far? If so, add the 
  number of serpents on each Bronze Key together, 
  multiply the result by two and turn to the 
  corresponding reference number now. If you only 
  possess one or neither Bronze Key, there’s no 
  way onwards (turn to 98)
  85
  The stone head remains silent and expressionless 
  as you say the name with as much authority and 
  confidence as you can (turn to 66)
  86
  You panic and thrash around with your sword, 
  but to no avail. The SNAPPERFISH close in on 
  all sides at once and furiously bite chunks of 
  flesh from your living body! In agony, you claw 
  frantically at the slippery stone bricks of the 
  walls, but the SNAPPERFISH assault in 
  relentless! Driven into a feeding frenzy, the fierce 
  carnivores tear you to piece in minutes; forcing 
  their way into your body cavity to gorge on your 
  internal organs! The water turns red with your 
  blood as you pass out and sink beneath the 
  surface to your doom! Soon, there’ll be a lonely 
  skeleton 
  at 
  the 
  bottom 
  of 
  Grimbald’s 
  SNAPPERFISH pit; picked clean of flesh. Your 
  life and adventure ends here…
  87
  You delicately lift up the leather cord and 
  skilfully untie it while hardly daring to breath. 
  The Black-Elf snorts, coughs and moves a few 
  times, but thankfully remains deep in sleep while 
  you relive him of his key. Holding it close to the 
  candle light, you examine it in detail. The Bronze 
  Key is truly crafted by a skilled locksmith. 
  Sixteen serpents wind around its surface, 
  interlocking with each other in an elaborate 
  design. You carefully put it in your backpack. 
  Turning you attention to the table, you scoop up 
  the coins and jewels. There are 18 Gold Pieces 
  and 12 precious diamonds, rubies, sapphires and 
  emeralds in total. You also pick up the playing 
  cards too. You may take these with you if you 
  wish. Looking around, you don’t discover 
  anything else of interest. Going back through the 
  iron door, you return to the leather curtain and 
  continue along the main corridor (turn to 35)
  88
  Although stunned and somewhat dazed by the 
  attack, you survive and recover your wits swiftly 
  thanks to the Metal Helmet you had on your 
  head. Hoots and howls of laughter come from 
  some creatures that imprisoned in small rooms 
  behind iron bars on the right-hand side of the 
  passageway. You turn you attention to a huge, 
  muscular creature standing in the corridor in 
  front of you. The beast is huge with warty, 
  disfigured, brown skin. The TROLL GOALER is 
  stripped to the waste and has an ugly face with a 
  big nose and vicious, tusk-like teeth sticking out 
  of its slavering mouth. You leap to your feet and 
  reach for your sword as it roars in anger and 
  rushes forward to finish you off with its 
  battleaxe.
  TROLL GAOLER – Skill: 9 Stamina: 9
  If you survive and manage to kill the creature 
  (turn to 6)
  89
  Aezetbur waits expectantly. However, after 
  struggling with the riddle, you’re unable to come 
  up with the answer. “Pah! You’ll need to do 
  better than that if you’re to survive in this place!”
  
  26
  he scowls contemptuously. With that, he uses his 
  powers to magic away all your possessions 
  except your sword, leather armour, lantern and 
  clothes (cross everything else off your Adventure 
  Sheet). The purple cloud becomes completely 
  formless again and is sucked back into the golden 
  skull. With Aezetbur’s laughter ringing in your 
  ears, you curse your bad luck for crossing the 
  path of such a mischievous being! Finding 
  nothing else of interest, you decide to go back the 
  way you came. Taking hold of the rope, you 
  begin the laborious process of hauling your way 
  back up. Test your Luck. If you’re lucky (turn to 
  38). If you’re unlucky, as you climb, your foot 
  hits a silken strand from one of the webs! Within 
  a few seconds you see a disgusting creature 
  materialize out of the gloom, heading directly for 
  YOU! A huge spider is  advancing on you; its 
  body as big as an entire cow. Eight legs, covered 
  in sensitive black hairs extend in all directs, 
  making this loathsome monstrosity look even 
  more fearsome! On its head, multiple eyes scan 
  you hungrily and its clicking mandibles make 
  you turn away in revulsion. The GIANT SPIDER 
  moves in for the kill. You have no choice but to 
  fight it or end up its next meal! Holding your 
  lantern in your mouth, you wield your weapon in 
  your free hand (minus 2 from your Skill score for 
  the duration of this battle because of you 
  precarious position of the rope).
  GIANT SPIDER - Skill: 7 Stamina: 8
  If you survive this encounter, you secure your 
  weapon and use you aching arms to climb back 
  up the rope and through the hole. Exhausted, you 
  retrace your steps back to the junction. Will you:
  Walk down the short passageway and examine 
  the wooden door (turn to 77)
  Push the chain curtain aside and go through the 
  stone arch (turn to 67)
  90
  Putting your lantern down, you grasp the iron 
  latch in your hand while holding your sword 
  ready in the other. You push the door open and
  take a look at what’s inside. Unexpectedly, you 
  trigger a booby-trap that swings a spiked iron ball 
  on a chain down into the doorway at head height! 
  Test your Luck. If you’re lucky (turn to 8). If 
  you’re unlucky (turn to 65).
  91
  The blow is so hard it caves in the side of your 
  skull and breaks your neck instantly with a 
  sickening crunch! In your last few seconds of 
  life, you hear howls of laughter from all around 
  in you ears. You taste the warm sensation of 
  blood in the back of your throat. Your vision 
  begins to fade as a hulking, silhouetted, figure 
  stands over you. Thankfully, you pass out just 
  before the second blow lands; crushing your head 
  completely. You’ve failed the villagers of 
  Oakbridge and you die here never having seen 
  the face of your attacker…
  92
  As you ponder on your next course of action, a 
  plan develops in your mind. You remember that 
  they mentioned that the meat soup in the 
  cauldron was for their master. This can only 
  mean the giant Grimbald himself; the tyrant who 
  you are here to kill! You’d certainly be doing the 
  good folk of Oakbridge a favour by poisoning 
  Grimbald’s meat soup. You hear footsteps; 
  they’re coming back! Reaching into your 
  backpack, you retrieve the bottle of Poison and 
  pop out the cork. Leaning over the bubbling 
  cauldron, you pour the contents into the meat 
  soup with a smile and stir it in with a giant spoon 
  from one of the tables. Satisfied, you replace the 
  spoon just they return. The ugly brutes add some 
  salt into the mix, completely ignorant of your 
  earlier handiwork. You watch as they then chop 
  up nine, oversized, onions which are dropped 
  into the cauldron too. You slip out of the door 
  without being noticed, thanks to your Cloak of 
  Invisibility. Heading back down the corridor; you 
  descend the stone steps (turn to 2)
  93
  Unluckily, you aim is off! Your spear misses 
  Grimbald’s throat but hits his shoulder instead! 
  Grimbald lets out a deafening bellow of pain as 
  the weapon pierces his flesh and buries itself in 
  his body! Gripping the end of the shaft, he 
  wrenches it out with shear force and snaps it like 
  a twig! Undaunted, you leap forward and attack 
  him with your sword. This’ll be an epic and bitter 
  battle to the death, where only one of you will 
  survive.
  GRIMBALD THE GIANT – Skill: 9 Stamina: 18
  If you survive and slay the tyrant (turn to 81)
  94
  Gasping for breath at your exertions, you wipe 
  the blood from your sword and lean on a chair for 
  support. Suddenly, a large, brutish creature 
  appears at the chamber doorway. It fills the 
  doorframe completely and is covered in thick 
  chain mail and plate armour. It has a dark grey, 
  leathery hide and the head of a Rhinoceros with 
  small, pig-like ears, tusks and small, beady, black 
  
  27
  eyes. Levelling its spear at you, it snorts with 
  contempt and lumbers across the chamber 
  towards you in a rage. You ready yourself to 
  fight the beast.
  RHINO-MAN GUARD - Skill: 8 Stamina: 9
  If you survive and slay the RHINO-MAN, you 
  fall to your knees exhausted (turn to 59)
  95
  The stone head remains expressionless as you say 
  the name with as much authority and confidence 
  as you can. “Wrong!” It hisses slowly (turn to 
  66)
  96
  Carefully taking out your Vial of Acid, you pull 
  out the cork and pour the entire contents over the 
  padlock. It fizzes and smokes profusely as the 
  strong acid swiftly dissolves the metal away, 
  releasing the chain and hatch. Taking hold of the 
  handle, you pull it open to reveal an unlit, narrow 
  shaft lined with stone bricks. There’s a wooden 
  ladder that runs up and down the inside of the 
  shaft, disappearing into the darkness. There isn’t 
  any light coming from either above or below.
  You decide which way to go. Will you:
  Ignore the metal hatch and carry on along the 
  passageway (turn to 32)
  Squeeze through the metal hatch and climb up 
  the ladder (turn to 40)
  Squeeze through the metal hatch and climb down 
  the ladder (turn to 73)
  97
  You approach the door and examine it closely; 
  it’s big and heavy with rows of large iron rivets 
  around the edges. Halfway up the door on the 
  right-hand side, just below the ring handle, is a 
  large keyhole. The door is most securely locked 
  and is so tough as to be impossible top break 
  down. Do you have an Iron Key (turn to 41). 
  Otherwise, you’re forced to abandon your 
  investigation of the iron door and continue up the 
  corridor (turn to 18)
  98
  You slump down on the cold stone steps in total 
  despair; burying your head in your hands. 
  There’s no way of advancing to achieve your 
  goal. As you can’t progress, you’ll have to turn 
  back and take your chances trying to find another 
  way out. Maybe you’ll be able to evade 
  Grimbald’s chaotic dungeon minions to survive 
  and try again tomorrow night. But that’s a 
  different story altogether. For the time being, 
  you’ve failed in your quest…
  99
  Searching the dusty chamber, you find many 
  weapons in a bad state of repair. Many are old, 
  rusty 
  and 
  broken! 
  After 
  a 
  determined 
  examination, you find only three objects that 
  could be of use to you. You find a Chain Mail 
  Coat (add 1 to your Attack Strength when in 
  battle), a Crossbow with four bolts (at the 
  beginning of a battle, you can fire one crossbow 
  bolt at one enemy by testing your Skill. Roll two 
  dice. If you role higher than your current Skill 
  score, you miss. If you role equal to or below 
  your current Skill score, you hit your opponent 
  with a crossbow bolt causing 3 Stamina points of 
  damage) and a Metal Helmet. You may take 
  some or all of these with you if you wish. Before 
  you go, your lantern light scans the wall 
  illuminating some writing. The words etched into 
  the stone wall read ‘To enter the Master’s inner 
  lair, seek out the Genie they call Aezetbur’. You 
  think about the significance of this for a few 
  moments before deciding to push on. Leaving the 
  armoury, you go back through the archway, 
  climb back up the ladder and go through the 
  metal hatch. Back in the corridor, you carry on 
  along the passageway (turn to 32)
  100
  Staggering out into the gorge beyond the cavern, 
  you allow yourself to relax after your trial. 
  Finding a small river in the hills, you take your
  time bathing and quenching your thirst before 
  bandaging your wounds. In high spirits, you set 
  off for Oakbridge to tell them about your victory. 
  Your journey is uneventful, except for a few 
  peasants travelling the country tracks. By the 
  time you reach Oakbridge, you’re tired and 
  hungry. The inhabitants are overjoyed at seeing 
  you again and rally around! As word spreads, 
  more down their ploughs and come running in 
  from the fields to see the local hero. They cheer 
  with relief when you tell them that Grimbald the
  Giant is no more! Showering you with applause, 
  they insist you stay with them. Food and drink is 
  brought in by the joyous townsfolk from the
  surrounding villages and you all celebrate
  heartily through the night. You amaze and 
  astound them long into the evening with stories; 
  your epic battles, escapes and daring adventures 
  underground. Grimbald’s golden signet ring 
  alone means you’ll live in comfort for many 
  years to come. As the merriment ends and you 
  slip into a soft bed for the night, you’re asleep as 
  soon as your head hits the pillow. You rest easy 
  after a job well done!
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Vault2.0.-.Fiction-and-audiobooks/Books/Fighting Fantasy/Fighting Fantasy Amateur Passages of Peril.pdf