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  BByy  
  K
  Keenn  SStt..  A
  Annddrree  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
   
    
    
    
  IInntteerriioorr  IIlllluussttrraattiioonnss  
  bbyy  D
  Daavviidd  A
  A..  U
  Ulllleerryy  
   
  Cover by Nicole Bresner 
   
  Edited by David A. Ullery 
    
  TTRROOLLLLHHAALLLLAA  PPRREESSSS
  
  3 
   
   
  Text  Copyright  July 2019 Ken St. Andre 
   
  Illustrations Copyright  July 2019 David A. Ullery 
   
  Cover Copyright  July 2019 Nicole Bresner 
   
  Maps Copyright  November 2018 David A. Ullery 
   
  All rights reserved. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
  4 
   
  Dragons Attack X'venn 
  by Ken St. Andre 
   
  Introduction 
   
  This is an introductory solo adventure set on the 
  new Peacock Continent on Trollworld, and the plan 
  is to give you an idea of what it is like to play 
  Tjouse characters. The Tjouse are an exotic semi-
  human race where the men are all wizards, and the 
  women are all warriors. Men are thin, effete, and 
  magically powerful. They wear flowing robes and 
  gowns, and they shine with a brilliance brighter 
  than torches in a darkened room. The older and 
  more powerful among them can outshine the mid-
  day sun if they wish, and cannot be looked at 
  directly with the unprotected eye. Women are 
  stocky, muscular, and completely lacking in 
  magical ability. To play this adventure, you may 
  play either as a man, a woman, or both at the same 
  time. 
   
  For the most part, you will be playing by the 
  standard rules of Tunnels and Trolls.  There is one 
  big exception--magic is paid for with points from 
  the Charisma attribute, not from the Wizardry 
  attribute.  In fact, The Tjouse may not even know 
  they have a Wizardry attribute. You will need one 
  
  5 
   
  or two beginning characters in order to play.  You 
  may either roll them up yourself, or use the sample 
  characters provided here. 
   
  Here is a chart to help you create characters if you 
  wish to make your own.  Roll 3D6 to generate each 
  attribute. Remember! Triples add and roll over. 
  (TARO) 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  Attributes Female   Male 
  STR 
   X 2 
    X .67 
  CON 
   X 1.5 
    X .67 
  DEX 
   X 1 
    X 1.5 
  SPD 
   X 1 
    X 1 
  INT 
   X 1 
    X 2 
  WIZ 
   X .67 
    X 1.5 
  LK 
   X 1.5 
    X 2 
  CHR 
   X .67 
    X 2 
  HT 
   X .8 
    X 1.2 
  WT 
   X 1.5 
    X 1 
  
  6 
   
  If you prefer you may use these characters instead. 
  They were generated from the same set of dice 
  rolls just to show you how different men and 
  women are from each other in the land of the 
  Peacock. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  You may, of course, name your characters anything 
  you wish, but to be consistent, names are generally 
  two to four syllables in length. Male names tend to 
  begin with the letters X, Z, K, and G , while female 
  names usually begin with a vowel.  
  Attributes  Female Male 
  STR 
   
  26 
  9 
  CON 
   
  18 
  8 
  DEX 
   
  12 
  18 
  SPD 
   
  11 
  11 
  INT 
   
  14 
  28 
  WIZ 
   
  8 
  17 
  LK 
   
  22 
  17 
  CHR 
   
  9 
  26 
  Adds 
   
  19 
  6 
  
  7 
   
  (If you are only playing a single character, you 
  need merely follow through the paragraphs in the 
  normal solitaire fashion. If you have chosen to play 
  both lines simultaneously, then get 2 bookmarks, 
  and start 2 lists of paragraphs to show where you 
  have been with each character. When you finish a 
  paragraph for one character and are sent to the 
  next, write it down and put a bookmark there, but 
  do not read the next paragraph in that line. Go back 
  and play the other character. When both 
  characters have been played, you may then read 
  the next paragraph for each one in sequence and 
  take the indicated actions.) 
   
  *************************** 
  As the adventure begins, your characters (or just 
  you) are drinking wine in a second-floor garden of 
  the Great Concourse of X'venn on a cloudless night 
  with the red moon full blazing, and the black moon 
  barely visible as a shadow against the stars.  You 
  are wearing light leisure clothing and are currently 
  unarmed, as there is no reason to carry weapons 
  within the city.  If you are playing just one 
  character, please ignore all references to the other 
  party, and assume that you take the action 
  appropriate to your gender. Suddenly you hear 
  shouts and panicked screaming.  Go to [1]. 
   
  
  8 
   
  [1] Perhaps you are dallying with your special 
  friend in the Garden of Blue Feathers on the 
  second floor of the X'venn Concourse (combination 
  Palace of Dueling Arena and city government--such 
  as it is--a city of wizards doesn't need much 
  government). Your companion's perfume fills your 
  aristocratic nostrils; the elven wine is superb and 
  intoxicating, soft music plays in the background, 
  and the light is dim and romantic.  Or, perhaps you 
  are sitting by yourself, drinking wine and 
  wondering why your life is so lonely. Suddenly you 
  hear screaming--shouts of panic and fear. A newt 
  comes into the garden, and shouts, "Run for your 
  lives, masters! Dragons are attacking the city!" The 
  woman in the pair leaps to her feet and starts for 
  the stairs leading to the roof, but the male grabs 
  her arm and stops her. "You are unarmed," he 
  reminds her. "Perhaps we should return to our 
  own palaces and get our best weapons and wands 
  before we join the fight." "You are a wizard!" she 
  counters. "Perhaps you should rush to the roof 
  with me and fight back against these evil 
  creatures!" Clearly a decision must be reached. 
   
  If you are female and wish to go to the roof and 
  fight, go to [4]; if you are female and wish to return 
  to your own palace and properly arm and armor 
  yourself before fighting; go to [9].  If you are male 
  
  9 
   
  and wish to go to the roof and fight dragons with 
  magic, go to [28]; if you are male and wish to 
  return to your own palace and properly equip 
  yourself for wizardly combat, go to [36]. 
   
  [2] Now that you are safely within your own home, 
  it is likely that you could simply sit tight and wait 
  for others to deal with the attackers.  Such action 
  won't gain much glory, but it could save your life, 
  and there are probably plenty of other wizards 
  following a similar strategy. After all, that is why 
  flameproof palaces were created in the first place.  
  Or, you could go to your study and arm yourself 
  with the magical weapons and armor of your 
  choice and return to the fight.  To sit tight, go to 
  [10]; to rejoin the battle, go to [17]. 
  
  10 
   
  [3]  You evade the falling dragon, but in order to do 
  so, you have to jump through the central opening 
  in the roof, and then find  yourself falling 50 feet 
  through open space toward the arena sand far 
  below. As you fall you see a couple of wizards 
  either levitating themselves up or down, and 
  manage to shout out a call for help.  Make a L2SR 
  on Luck. If you make it, go to [58]; if you fail go to 
  [66]. 
   
  [4] As you race for the stairs, you look around to 
  see if there is anything that you can use as a 
  weapon. Running with strides surprisingly long 
  and powerful for your relatively short legs, you 
  spot a flame-lance, a leaf-bladed sword made of 
  electrum, and a morning-star mace. The lance 
  might be the most effective weapon since it can 
  shoot either powerful gouts of flame, or miniature 
  lightning bolts, but that is only true if it is fully 
  charged. If it's simply meant to be an ornament, the 
  lance would just be a long sharp stick.  The leaf-
  bladed sword made from electrum, an alloy of gold 
  and silver might be a good weapon, as everyone 
  knows that dragons have a weakness for gold, but 
  in order to use it, you would have to get in really 
  close to the foe. The morning-star mace is simply 
  
  11 
   
  made of steel, but the spikes might penetrate 
  dragon-armor, and all such maces have been 
  enchanted to return to the wielder's hand after 
  being thrown, making it both good for close 
  combat and also an effective missile weapon.  All 
  three weapons are a bit unwieldy, and you can 
  really only manage to use one. If you choose to 
  take a weapon, write down which one you took 
  and continue up the stairs to the rooftop--go to  
  [44]. If you ignored them all, but hope to find 
  something on the rooftop, go to [67]. 
   
  [5]  How many uruks did you slay? You get 40 a.p. 
  for each uruk slain in this fashion.  After a short 
  time you are alone with the dead.  You leave the 
  room and go find your servants on the floor above.  
  You send several of them down to clean up the 
  mess, wall off the uruk tunnel, and guard it so that 
  you won’t be surprised again.  The rest of the night 
  passes without much excitement for you.  
  Eventually you feel safe enough to take off the 
  Robes of Gossamer and get some sleep.  In the 
  morning, the sun rises on a badly damaged city, but 
  one that has survived.  Go to AFTERWORD. 
  
  12 
   
   
  [6]  Roll 2D6 (DAR0) to see how many warriors 
  including  you are in the fight.  Then multiply that 
  number by 50 to see what your combined combat 
  total is.  The dragon has a monster rating of 500 
  (51D6 + 250). It buffets at you with mighty wings, 
  slashes with claws like scimitars, and bites with 
  great gnashing teeth.  Calculate 4 points of spite 
  damage for each warrior, but roll for the dragon's 
  spite damage.  Add 100 points of magical attack 
  
  13 
   
  from the men blasting away at it with their 
  sorceries. Do regular T&T combat.  If the dragon 
  has the higher total, it will slay 1 attacker for each 
  30 points of damage done. You, however, will not 
  die in this manner unless it slays everyone.  If   the 
  Tjouse have the higher total, then reduce the 
  dragon's monster rating by the appropriate 
  amount and continue the fight.  If the dragon takes 
  more than 100 points of damage--it will attempt to 
  flee--go to [38].  If more than half of the women 
  warriors are slain, then they will all retreat and 
  wait for reinforcements--go to [48].  Repeat the 
  combat as often as necessary until one of these 
  conditions is met, or the dragon is slain outright--if 
  that happens, go to [64]. 
   
  [7]  Having decided to return to the fight, you arm 
  yourself with your best weapon, a wand of 
  disintegration that  you call the Master Blaster.  
  You change into a functional hunting costume with 
  lots of pockets that you stock with various potions 
  (Healing, Strength, Invisibility, Speed--you never 
  know what you might need in the fight to come). 
  You summon your steward and give him 
  instructions to defend the palace until you return. 
  Then, as magically recharged and potent as your 
  available potions can make you (i.e. recover any 
  lost or spent attribute points), you return to the 
  
  14 
   
  great Concourse to help with the struggle.  As you 
  pass through the streets you encounter several 
  rampaging uruks who are making a general 
  nuisance of themselves, and these you slay in 
  passing with minor kill spells that cost you only 1 
  point of CHR each. Roll 2D6 (DARO) to see how 
  many uruks you slay on your journey. Each one is 
  worth 40 a.p.   
   
  Ironically, this is mostly a waste of time and effort. 
  By the time you get back to the Concourse rooftop, 
  the battle is over, and the dragons are retreating. 
  The wizard in charge of the defense commends you 
  for returning to help, and rewards you with a 
  Charisma blessing. (Your CHR is permanently 
  improved by 3 points.) For the rest of the night you 
  work on damage control along with the others who 
  are still actively engaged.  You put out fires, heal 
  the wounded, and dispatch any uruks still foolish 
  enough to be inside the city when the dragons 
  leave. (no a.p. for additional uruk slaying, but 50 
  a.p. for general damage control efforts).  When the 
  morning comes, the city is safe again, and you 
  return home to get some rest.  Go to AFTERWORD. 
   
  [8] A golden aura appears around you and the 
  dragonfire splashes off it--for a few seconds.  Then 
  the aura flickers, and you think, "this is it. I'm 
  
  15 
   
  dead."  But, the aura holds. The dragonfire ceases 
  as the mighty beast is hit by a barrage of spells 
  from your fellow wizards.  Mortally wounded, it 
  crashes to the ground beside the Concourse, 
  almost dead.  Heaving a sigh of relief, you join the 
  other wizards. In the skies above, the remaining 
  dragons are disheartened by the loss of another 
  comrade and decide this raid was a bad idea. One 
  by one they roar their defiance, send a final blast of 
  dragonflame at the defenders--held off by the 
  combined magical might of your wizard 
  companions--and fly off into the night.  After they 
  depart, it is simply a matter of mopping things up, 
  and doing damage control.  Go to AFTERWORD. 
   
  
  16 
   
  [9] You start for the main concourse going down, 
  but quickly see that it is jammed with panicked 
  newts, pushing, shoving, and screaming--no place 
  for a noble of the Tjouse.  You see 2 options to 
  avoid the mob.  You can either head for the back 
  stairs by going to [75] or leap over the balcony rail 
  and drop to the Concourse sand about 20 feet 
  below, counting on your muscular legs to absorb 
  the shock without injury by going to [85]. 
   
  [10]  Staying safely in your stronghold is the 
  prudent thing to do, though you can't help feeling a 
  little ashamed of making this decision.  Reduce 
  your CHR attribute by another point.  Increase 
  your INT attribute by that same one point.  Little 
  decisions in life such as this change everything and 
  you might not even notice.  You go to your study, 
  and bring out the scrying glass to watch the battle 
  outside.  The main battle seems to be taking place 
  on the roof of the Grand Concourse.  You are 
  watching that battle with interest when uruks 
  burst into your chamber and attack.  Go to [23]. 
  
  17 
   
  [11] Your lightning blast charred the dragon's 
  chest and knocked it from the sky, but did not 
  actually kill it. With a loud squawk that sounds like 
  the world's biggest chicken getting an unpleasant 
  surprise, the mighty reptile plummets into the 
  ground beside the Concourse, badly wounded.  
  Take 300 adventure points.  Then go to [78]. 
   
  [12]  By spending 3 CHR points, you swiftly levitate 
  yourself down to the floor of the Concourse, neatly 
  avoiding the crowded stairs.  Your personal glow 
  dims a little, and from there it's easy enough to 
  find an exit from the building.  As you emerge your 
  friend D'nyall arrives. Looks like he had the same 
  thought. You pause a moment to let him catch up. 
  Go to [98]. 
   
  [13]  It is a long drop to the ground, and may well 
  prove fatal. You may either trust your Luck to save 
  you from death, or trust your Intelligence to do so.  
  
  18 
   
  If you trust Luck, make a L2SR on Luck and go to 
  [20].  If you trust Intelligence, make a L2SR in INT 
  and go to [30]. 
   
  [14]  Your magical training and might is not 
  sufficient to control the demon you just 
  summoned.  It materializes in the form of a small 
  thundercloud shot through with bolts of lightning.  
  The cloud has eyes, a mouth, and teeth that drip 
  with some disgusting green fluid. The stench of 
  sulfur fills the air, and you gag from it.  "Puny 
  wizard," rumbles the demon cloud. "I defy your 
  commands, and I shall have your power."  The 
  cloud envelops you and tries to drain you of all 
  knowledge and power.  Make a L3SR on LK.  If you 
  make it, go to [97]; if  you fail, go to [43]. 
   
  
  19 
   
  [15] The roof is mostly flat, and there is no good 
  place on it to stand aside and watch. In just a few 
  seconds it becomes obvious to you that you should 
  either join the other warriors by going to [78], or 
  take shelter in the stairway by going to [31]. 
   
  [16] Hurt and angered by your blast, the dragon 
  crashes down on the roof, momentarily stunned, 
  but far from dead. Take 100 adventure points for 
  knocking the monster out of the sky. The shock of 
  the impact knocks almost everyone off their feet.  
  The women warriors of the Tjouse recover quickly 
  and many of them rush to attack the fallen 
  creature.  If you wish to join them, go to [26] with a 
  note that this dragon only has a monster rating of 
  300 (31D6 + 150) at this time. If you look around 
  for something else to do, go to [51]. 
   
  
  20 
   
  [17]  Leaving your servants behind, you pass 
  rapidly through several chambers, then into your 
  study, and then into your armory.  This room reeks 
  of concentrated magical power.  First you decide to 
  put on some armor.  You have two choices--the 
  Robes of Gossamer, which make the wearer 
  insubstantial, or the Eggshell Armor which provide 
  an armor stronger than steel.  If you choose the 
  robes, go to [29]; if you choose the armor, go to 
  [40].  
   
  [18]  Choose either Luck or Speed.  If you choose 
  Luck, go to [33]; if you choose Speed, go to [50]. 
   
  [19]  You have chosen to use your magic. The 
  question now is do you wish to slay them, capture 
  them, or chase them away.  If you choose to 
  murder them (because that's what it is since they 
  are helpless to resist your magic, and they would 
  cheerfully murder you), go to [41]; if  you wish to 
  capture them, go to [49]; if you wish to simply 
  chase them away, go to [55]. 
   
  [20] If you failed the saving roll, then nothing 
  happened to save you, and you hit the ground hard, 
  suffering tremendous impact damage.  Roll 5D6 
  and take that many hits to CON.  If that brings you 
  to -10 or greater, then you died. If you didn't die, 
  
  21 
   
  then you are knocked unconscious--go to [72]. If 
  you made the saving roll, then you may narrate 
  your own lucky escape.  You now find yourself on 
  the ground, and decide that the best thing to do is 
  try to get to your own palace.  Go to [45]. 
   
  [21] If you are attacking a dragon, you had better 
  use a weapon. If you attack with the flame lance, go 
  to [34]; if you attack with the sword or the 
  morningstar mace, go to [39]. 
   
  [22] The dragon flame misses you, but not by 
  much. Instead of standing still to contemplate your 
  lucky escape you quickly join forces with the other 
  women attacking the monster.  Go to [6]. 
   
  
  22 
   
  [23]  It is known that uruks and dragons have a 
  shaky alliance, mostly for purposes of fighting 
  elves and Tjouse.  Roll 2D6 (DARO) to determine 
  how many uruks wearing horrific demonic war-
  masks and light lizard-hide armor have arrived.   
  The uruks are armed with digging tools and 
  daggers, but even their picks and shovels are fierce 
  weapons worth 5D6 each.  If you are wearing the 
  Robes of Gossamer, go to [43]; if you are wearing 
  the Eggshell Armor, go to [65]. 
   
  
  23 
   
  [24]  Even under mental domination an uruk's 
  sense of survival and tribal unity will not permit 
  self-destruction.  One by one they shake off their 
  stupor and turn to look at you. With your magic 
  almost completely exhausted, you decide to run for 
  it. Fortunately, they are still too ensorcelled to stop 
  you.  By one means or another you evade them all 
  and make your way back to your sanctum--go to 
  [77]. 
   
  
  24 
   
  [25]  A bolt of magical energy strikes the dragon as 
  it falls, knocking it off course so that it hits the 
  ground. Your life has been saved.  Heaving a sigh of 
  relief, you look around to see what to do next, and 
  decide to join the other warriors. Your lance has 
  exhausted its charge, but it is still an effective 
  spear worth 5D6 in combat.  You quickly trot over 
  and join the main group of female fighters. They all 
  saw what you did, and there is much cheering as 
  you reach them.  Go to [78]. 
   
   
   
   
  [26] Your motion catches the dragon's eye. It turns 
  its head and snorts a quick blast of flame at you. 
  Make a L1SR on either Luck or Speed. If you make 
  it, go to [22]; if you fail then the dragonflame hits 
  you squarely, and you blaze up like a torch. It's a 
  glorious death in battle, but this is the end for you. 
   
  [27]  Knocking the uruks unconscious will require 
  a cloud of poisonous vapor that will immobilize 
  but not kill them, or perhaps an insubstantial 
  demon that can do the same thing--a cloud demon.  
  
  25 
   
  This requires improvisation upon your part. Make 
  a L5SR on IQ--if you make it, go to [61]; if you fail, 
  go to [74].  
   
  [28] You see a nearby stairway leading to the 
  rooftop crowded with women warriors and a few 
  mages better prepared than you with staff, wand 
  or magical dagger in hand.  You can join them by 
  going to [90].   There is also an open shaft leading 
  to the roof level. You could levitate to the coliseum 
  top--it is a minor spell and will only cost you 3 
  Charisma. To ascend magically, go to [99]. 
   
  [29]  Now that you are wearing the Robes of 
  Gossamer, you have become insubstantial and 
  ghost-like. You can no longer touch anything solid, 
  nor can solid objects touch you, but you can still 
  perceive energy and insubstantial things like light 
  and flame.  You cannot breathe, but you do not 
  need to. You can still do magic, and may take off 
  the robes whenever you wish. 
   
  [30] If you failed the saving roll, then you failed to 
  think of a way to save yourself, and you hit the 
  ground hard, suffering tremendous impact 
  
  26 
   
  damage.  Roll 5D6 and take that many hits to CON.  
  If that brings you to -10 or greater, then you died. 
  If you didn't die, then you are knocked 
  unconscious--go to [72]. If you made the saving 
  roll, then you may narrate your own brilliant 
  escape.  You now find yourself on the ground, and 
  decide that the best thing to do is try to get to your 
  own palace.  Go to [45]. 
   
  [31]  You duck back into the stairway. The rush to 
  escape the building has mostly abated. Since 
  fighting on the roof is suicide (in your opinion), 
  you quickly make your way to the street. 
  Rationalize it however you wish, this was an act of 
  cowardice--your CHR goes down by 1 point 
  permanently.  If you are female, go to [45]; if you 
  are male, go to [76]. 
   
  [32]  You summon your servants, especially the 
  beast-handlers and zookeepers among them.  They 
  make certain the uruks remain unconscious by 
  injecting them with a soporific drug--call it a 
  sleeping potion. They disarm them, bind them 
  securely, and finally drag them off to the cages 
  outside the palace on the private park behind it. It 
  takes a couple of hours to accomplish all this, but 
  you don't hang around to supervise--you head 
  
  27 
   
  back to your study to see how the battle with the 
  dragons is going.   
   
  Depending on how long all this has taken, the main 
  fight with the dragons may be over, or may still be 
  going on.  Make a L1SR on Luck.  If you succeed, 
  then you (the player) 
  decide if the fight is over 
  or not. If you fail the 
  saving roll, the fight is 
  definitely not over. If the 
  fight is over, go to [42]. If 
  it isn't over, go to [52]. 
   
  [33]  Make a L2SR on LK. If you succeed, one of the 
  higher level wizards noticed your danger and cast 
  a Benevolent Golden Aura on you in time to protect 
  you from the dragonflame.  It splashes all around 
  you, but you remain unharmed, and only slightly 
  warmed by it.  Mighty are the great wizards of the 
  Tjouse! When the danger passes, you join the rest 
  of the great wizards and continue the battle--go to 
  [53].  If you fail, go to [62]. 
   
  [34] You knew that the flame lance might not be 
  charged when you took it from its display position 
  on the wall. Make a L1SR on Luck.  If you make it, 
  go to [57]; if you fail, go to [63]. 
  
  28 
   
   
   [35]  You will always be remembered in X'venn as 
  the woman who single-handedly slew a dragon. 
  But the falling dragon landed right on top of you 
  and smashed you like a grape. SPLAT!  That is the 
  END of your story. 
   
  [36]  You start for the main concourse going down, 
  but quickly see that it is jammed with panicked 
  newts, pushing, shoving, screaming--no place for a 
  noble of the Tjouse.  You see 2 options to avoid the 
  mob.  You can either head for the back stairs by 
  going to [75] or leap over the balcony rail and float 
  down to the arena sand some 20 feet below. It is a 
  minor spell and will only cost you 3 
  Charisma. To descend 
  magically, go to [12]. 
   
  
  29 
   
  [37]  You concentrate and summon the Fires of the 
  Underworld to appear before you in the form of a 
  ball of blazing red energy.  You fling it into the 
  midst of the uruks, and it explodes with 
  devastating force, doing 100 points of damage to 
  every uruk and thing in the room.  All of the 
  magical toys, trinkets, and tools that you kept here 
  are destroyed, but the uruks have all been slain.  
  You are unaffected because you are insubstantial.   
  It will take years to replace all that you have lost 
  here tonight--go to [5]. 
   
  [38]  Badly hurt, the dragon decides to flee. With a 
  great effort it manages to lift off the roof and flap 
  away, hurling attackers in all directions. You are 
  one of the warriors dislodged.  Make a L2SR on 
  Luck.  If you fail, then you were hurled off the 
  building and are now falling about 60 feet to the 
  ground below--go to [13].  If you succeed, you are 
  thrown onto the stone-tiled rooftop and strike 
  your head, losing consciousness.  Go to [72].  
  
  30 
   
   
  [39] Screaming your war cry, you charge at the 
  dragon with weapon in hand. When the other 
  warriors see you charging at the dragon, several of 
  them break out of the group and also charge.  Go to 
  [26]. 
   
  [40] Now that you are wearing the Eggshell Armor 
  (ironic name--this is the toughest eggshell in the 
  world), you can take up to 200 points of impact 
  damage without harm.  (If you take more than 200 
  points of damage, the eggshell is broken, and the 
  enchantment dissipates leaving you without 
  protection and allowing the full damage to go 
  through.  That would probably be fatal.  However, 
  
  31 
   
  the armor does not protect you from magical 
  attacks or energy attacks such as dragonflame. As 
  you are deciding what to do next, uruks burst into 
  your chanber and attack.  Go to [23]. 
   
  [41]  How do you wish to slay these uruks?  One at 
  a time, or all at once?  Lightning bolts to the heart 
  will kill them one by one; a horrific explosion will 
  kill them all at once.  Neither set of spells will harm 
  you, of course.  If you choose lightning, go to [71]; 
  if you choose the kaboom, go to [37]. 
   
  [42] Inside your Sanctum Sorcerium, the place 
  where  you keep your books (mostly grimoires and 
  journals, but there are a few trashy romance 
  novels too--a guilty pleasure, but one shared by 
  many of the Tjouse men), you sit down at your 
  desk, pull the spidersilk cover off your scrying 
  crystal and think about observing the Grand 
  Concourse. Inside the crystal a picture forms. It 
  looks as if you are standing in the arena. As you 
  think about what you would actually do in the 
  situation, the point of view changes.  You think 
  about floating up to the rooftop of the building 
  through the open air shaft above the arena, and the 
  picture changes to show you ascending and finally 
  landing on the flat top of the huge building.   
  
  32 
   
  You see a large group of men and women standing 
  around the body of a dragon.  It looks dead. The 
  dragon's hide is charred in several places from 
  lightning strikes. Coagulated blood shows on 
  several wounds, and there is a large pool of dragon 
  blood spreading from beneath the body.  You see 
  the wizard G'Tarrg trying to collect some of the 
  blood into a goblet, apparently levitating the fluid 
  into the cup. You wonder why he wants a sample of 
  dragon blood, but that's his business. Some of the 
  women are climbing on the body, still hacking and 
  stabbing at it.  You think they are probably 
  counting coup.  No other dragons seem to be 
  
  33 
   
  attacking, and that makes you think the fight is 
  over. You're right. It is.  There is no reason for you 
  to return to the scene. You can watch it all much 
  more comfortably from where you are.  Go to 
  AFTERWORD. 
   
  [43]  The demon envelopes your helpless form and 
  begins sucking all the power and knowledge out of 
  you,  You quickly lose consciousness and drop to 
  the floor.  Most of the uruks are horrified by the 
  sight and flee back to their tunnel.  A few brave 
  ones attack the demon cloud--it incinerates them 
  with bolts of hellish lightning.  It drains your CHR 
  down to 0--you will recover it in time, but very 
  slowly at the rate of 1 point per day, and lowers 
  your INT to a permanent new score of 10--which is 
  not enough to understand Tjouse magic.  You lose 
  the ability and knowledge that made you a wizard.  
  
  34 
   
  Hours later your servants find you, unconscious, 
  and take you to your bed chamber.  When you 
  awaken your steward questions you as to what 
  happened, but you barely remember the 
  malevolent cloud, and a horrible odor that still 
  clings to your body.   
   
  You order a bath, a thorough cleansing, and 
  perfuming. Even so, your CHR is at 1, and a faintly 
  hellish scent clings to your body. You are cursed.  
  In the future, another wizard may try to restore 
  you (that is, you can use this character again if you 
  just make up a little story to explain how you 
  recovered).  For now, this adventure is over.  Go to 
  AFTERWORD. 
   
  [44] As you emerge on the flat roof you see that the 
  resistance has separated into 2 groups. The men 
  have gathered around one of the four spires that 
  rise above the central opening that looks down on 
  the arena below. The Great Net spreads across the 
  skylight with draperies of netting hanging down on 
  all four sides. That netting can be easily pulled 
  aside to allow flamebirds to fly into and out of the 
  arena through the roof. The men are the brightest 
  spot in sight, each of them glowing with their own 
  magical light. They are gathered in a ring around 
  the metal with their backs to the spire so that no 
  
  35 
   
  dragon can come up behind them. Some of them 
  are shooting bolts of lightning from their wands or 
  staves at the three dragons circling overhead.  The 
  women have gathered across the gap from the men 
  around another spire. Some of them are armed 
  with flame lances. As you head toward them, one 
  fires a bolt of green energy at the nearest dragon. 
  The green flame strikes the dragon full on, but 
  simply spatters off its mighty body. Dragons are 
  immune to flame and don't take much damage 
  from lightning either. Other warriors stand ready 
  with swords, maces, and in a few cases simply 
  cleavers.   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  As you watch, one of the dragons swoops down 
  and lands on the rooftop. The ceiling vibrates 
  beneath the mighty impact, but does not collapse. 
  
  36 
   
  An enormous scarlet monster, fully 50 feet from 
  head to tail, whips its head back and forth looking 
  first at the men, then at the women, trying to 
  decide which group to attack.  Several bolts of fire 
  and lightning strike it, but it does not seem to be 
  seriously hurt, staggering only a little from the 
  repeated shocks.  Then it decides, and lunges 
  toward the men.  A group of six warriors break 
  from their circle and run to intercept it--they are 
  all armed with swords and maces. The stairway 
  that you emerged from is actually closer to the 
  enormous beast than the women warriors, making 
  you the closest defender. If you leap to the attack, 
  go to [21]. If you circle around to join the main 
  group of women warriors, go to [26]. If you decide 
  that discretion is the better part of valor and duck 
  back into the stairwell, go to [15]. 
   
  [45] There are no streets in X'venn, just open park-
  like spaces between the various buildings.  This 
  part of the city is full of the palaces of the Tjouse.  
  Your mansion is about 3 circles back from the 
  Concourse.  As you make your way toward it, you 
  are repeatedly jostled by frightened newts surging 
  this way and that. In the distance you can see 
  flames--apparently the dragons have set the 
  wooden homes of the servant class afire, and they 
  have fled for safety to the stone-built estates of the 
  
  37 
   
  nobility.  Just as you reach the vicinity of your own 
  front door, a dragon makes a strafing run in your 
  direction. Your house servants have been watching 
  through peepholes, and now open the doors and 
  scream for you to get inside. If you are limping 
  along on a sprained ankle, go to [54]. If you are not 
  injured, go to [65]. 
   
  [47]  You evaded the dragonfire, but in order to do 
  so, you had to jump through the central opening in 
  the roof, and then find  yourself 
  falling 50 feet through open 
  space toward the arena 
  sand far below. As you 
  fall you see a couple 
  of wizards either 
  levitating 
  themselves up 
  or down, and 
  manage to 
  shout out a call for help.  Make a L2SR on Luck. If 
  you make it, go to [58]; if you fail go to [66]. 
   
  [46]  You are actually casting a form of Spirit 
  Mastery on unsubdued foes.  It will take 8 points of 
  CHR per uruk to bring them all under your control. 
  How many uruks are in the room?  If you have 
  enough CHR to subdue them all, then go to [88].  If 
  
  38 
   
  you don't have enough to subdue them all, then the 
  spell failed. Some of the uruks seemed to fall into a 
  daze, but those that were unaffected slapped them 
  awake.  You had a partial success and will gain 4 
  a.p. for each uruk affected, but on the whole, that 
  plan failed. You should escape now--go to [83]. 
   
  [47] if you fail then you are struck squarely by the 
  devastating breath of the dragon and blaze up like 
  a torch for a second only to fall to the rooftop as a 
  fire-blackened skeleton, all soft part of the body 
  totally destroyed by the fire. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
  [48]  While you are waiting for reinforcements, a 
  large blue dragon dives at the roof, but it is met 
  with such a concentrated barrage of magic and 
  
  39 
   
  energy blasts from flamelances that it is killed in 
  mid-air.  It crashes to the ground narrowly missing 
  the rooftop. When that happens the remaining 
  dragons decide to flee.  They turn and fly away.  
  That is the true end of the attack, although there is 
  still some mopping up to be done in the streets.  Go 
  to AFTERWORD. 
   
  [49]  The Tjouse seldom bother to capture their 
  foes, but occasionally some are taken to serve (and 
  usually die horribly) in the Arena.  Those 
  occasional wizards or warriors who capture foes 
  and bring them in alive gain considerable renown 
  by doing so.  But to capture them you need to 
  render them helpless. You could do that by putting 
  them all to sleep, or by knocking them all out, or by 
  making them all into brainwashed slaves who will 
  do anything you tell them to do, or by putting them 
  all in a cage.  If you choose sleep, go to [56]; if you 
  choose knock-outs, go to [27]; if you choose 
  brainwashing, go to [46]; if you choose a cage, go 
  to [59]. 
  
  40 
   
  [50] You watch the mighty dragon flying straight 
  at you with jaws agape, ready to incinerate you in a 
  blast of flame. Strangely enough, you feel no fear at 
  this moment--only a steely determination to do 
  your best to survive and protect your city. It occurs 
  to you to make yourself invisible, and then to 
  sprint as quickly as you can toward the wizards.  
  To those watching you it seems that you wink out 
  of existence just before the dragonflames engulf 
  the area where you were standing.  Make your 
  L1SR on SPD.  If you miss it, you were not quick 
  enough--go to [62].  If you made it, you evaded the 
  fiery immolation and reached the main group of 
  wizards safely, where you drop your invisibility 
  and join the fight--go to [53].  
   
  [51]  You choose to escape, but you do not wish to 
  lead the uruks up to a part of the palace where 
  
  41 
   
  your servants would be unprepared for them and 
  might get slaughtered.  Thus you take advantage of 
  your insubstantiality to pass through a wall to a 
  side chamber. This one has no uruks in it.  From 
  there you can float up through the ceiling, and 
  appear in one of your parlors where you will be 
  noticed by a servant. Deactivating the Robes of 
  Gossamer is merely a matter of pushing the hood 
  back to allow your head to become solid again. You 
  confer with your chief steward, and he comes up 
  with a plan to send a plague of scorpions to sting 
  them all into submission, death, or retreat.  These 
  are spirit scorpions and will require you to actually 
  summon them into existence, and to guide them to 
  their targets. That would require a CHR of at least 
  25.  If you don't have that much, go to [87] now 
  without reading any more of this paragraph.  
   
  In the meantime, all passages leading to the cellars 
  are closed, blocked, and reinforced to keep the 
  uruks down below.  Although Newts are not great 
  fighters, you station the toughest and strongest of 
  them as guards near the blocked entrances and 
  arm them with improvised poison darts that will 
  knock out or slay the uruks if they break through 
  the barriers.  This entire defense takes some time 
  to organize, and the uruks may actually attack 
  upwards before you are completely ready for 
  
  42 
   
  them.  Make a L2SR on Luck.  If you make it, go to 
  [84]; if you fail, go to [87].   
   
  [52] Inside  your Sanctum Sorcerium, the place 
  where  you keep your books (mostly grimoires and 
  journals, but there are a few trashy romance 
  novels too--a guilty pleasure, but one shared by 
  many of the Tjouse men), you sit down at your 
  desk, pull the spidersilk cover off your scrying 
  crystal and think about observing the Grand 
  Concourse. Inside the crystal a picture forms. It 
  looks as if you are standing in the arena. As you 
  think about what you would actually do in the 
  situation, the point of view changes.  You think 
  about floating up to the rooftop of the building 
  through the open air shaft above the arena, and  
  the picture changes to show you ascending and 
  finally landing on the flat top of the huge building.  
  The Tjouse men are clustered around one of the 
  spires that suspends the great net above the ceiling 
  portal, and the women are clustered around 
  another. Some of them are gesturing and blasting 
  lightning bolts into the sky. Others make protective 
  signs that maintain a golden shield of force around 
  them. As you watch a blast of dragonfire hits that 
  shield and dissipates without penetrating.  You feel 
  a momentary glow of pride in the sorcerous power 
  of your brother wizards.  Clearly the fight is not 
  
  43 
   
  over yet.  Now you have a decision to make.  Will 
  you take your best weapon and return to the fight, 
  or will you simply watch and see how it goes on 
  the crystal?  If you return, go to [7]. If you stay 
  home and watch, go to [53]. 
   
  [53]  The struggle continues for more than an hour, 
  but eventually the surviving dragons fly away.  The 
  older, more powerful mages turn their attention to 
  damage control.  On the morrow they will learn 
  that many of the Great Houses have been invaded 
  and looted by burrowing uruks. For the rest of the 
  night, they battle fires and heal the wounded.  Go 
  to AFTERWORD. 
   
  [54]  You appear to be a ghost to the 
  uruks in front of you. Nevertheless, the leader 
  leaps forward with war-shovel in hand, attempting 
  to strike you down.  His shovel passes through you 
  without doing any harm at all, and the uruk grunts 
  in disbelief, not fear, because uruks are practically 
  fearless. He jabbers something in urukish, and the 
  others spread out and start tearing your sanctum 
  
  44 
   
  apart, looking for treasures they can carry away. 
  You may either remain and smite them with your 
  magic, or calmly walk through them and a wall and 
  get away.  If you choose to fight, go to [19]; if you 
  choose to escape, go to [51]. 
   
  [55]  You choose to simply chase the uruks away. 
  That is very merciful on your part, and earns you a 
  reward. Roll 2D6 (DARO) and add that number to 
  your Charisma.  You may either choose to chase 
  them away one at a time, or all at once.  If you 
  choose one at a time, go to [73]; if you choose all at 
  once, go to [80]. 
  
  45 
   
   
  [56] Total your IQ, LK, and CHR. If the total is 
  greater than 40, and you have at least 11 CHR to 
  spend on the spell then the uruks all fall asleep, 
  dropping where they stand. You gain 11 times the 
  total number of uruks in the room in a.p. for doing 
  this spell. If don't have 11 or more CHR to spend on 
  the spell, go to [83].  In that case, the spell fizzled, 
  and you get no a.p. If you succeeded, go to [82].  
   
  [57] You're in luck. The lance is fully charged. 
  There are 2 control buttons on the grip--one turns 
  it on, and one chooses whether it shoots fire or 
  lightning.  If you choose fire, go to [68]; for 
  lightning, go to [79]. 
   
  
  46 
   
  [58]  A nearby wizard hears your shout, sees you 
  falling, and quickly snaps off a levitation spell to 
  save your life.  Your momentum has already 
  determined that you will levitate downwards.  A 
  few seconds later you hit the arena floor and land 
  lightly as the spell dissipates. You look upwards 
  and wave at the man who saved you, noting that it 
  is a middle-aged noble named K'zorg. You know 
  him on sight, but have never been close to him in 
  the past.  He rises in your estimation, and you 
  decide to look him up in the future sometime.  Now 
  that you are on the ground, you decide that the 
  best thing to do is head for your own palace, get 
  your own trusty weapons, and join the struggle 
  down below.  You head for the nearest exit. Go to 
  [45]. 
   
  [59]  You do not have enough magical power to 
  materialize a steel cage around all the uruks, but 
  you can summon a cage demon.  As demons can 
  take on virtually any form (it's mostly illusion), 
  there is no reason why one can't appear as an 
  animate cage with bars that would reach out like 
  tentacles and ensnare the uruks.  The real question 
  is do you have the mental prowess needed to cast 
  such a spell.  If your IQ is 50 or higher, then you 
  succeed--go to [95]; if you fail, go to [14]. 
   
  
  47 
   
  [60]  The uruks return to the tunnel that brought 
  them into  your house, and retreat through it back 
  to their staging point outside the city walls.  From 
  there they go back to their tribe, believing that 
  they have won a great victory against the evil 
  wizards of X'venn, whether they actually have or 
  not. You showed mercy in letting them go. The 
  gods approve--at least one goddess does, and your 
  CHR improves by 1D6 points permanently.   
  You decide to return to your Sanctum.  Go to [77] 
   
  [61] Your brilliant improvisation works.  The uruks 
  begin to gasp and wheeze as the demonic cloud 
  chokes them into unconsciousness. It would have 
  the same effect on you, but luckily you are 
  insubstantial.  When the last uruk falls, the cloud 
  dissipates, leaving them all at your mercy. Go to 
  [32]. 
   
  [62] Dragonfire engulfs you in a fiery inferno as 
  great as any volcano, and you are instantly reduced 
  to ashes and a few charred bones that would 
  
  48 
   
  crumble at a touch. It was so fast and hot that you 
  didn't feel a thing.  THE END. 
   
  [63]  There is a click and nothing happens. The 
  lance had no charge within it. Oh, well, it is still a 
  5D6 weapon with a sharp point that might pierce a 
  dragon's scales if you hit with enough force.  If you 
  decide to attack the dragon anyway, go to [39]. If 
  you wish to run over and join the other female 
  warriors, go to [26]. 
   
  [64]  The combination of spells and physical attack 
  is too much for this dragon--the peacocks have 
  triumphed and the dragon dies.  In its death throes, 
  the spasming dragon hurls you and the other 
  warriors swarming on it off like water from a 
  shaking dog.  Make a L2SR on Luck.  If you fail, then 
  you were hurled off the building and are now 
  falling about 60 feet to the ground below--go to 
  [13].  If you succeed, you are thrown onto the 
  stone-tiled rooftop and strike your head, losing 
  consciousness.  Go to [72]. 
   
  [65]  You know how many uruks are in the 
  chamber. They all wish to attack and slaughter you, 
  but there is only so much fighting space.  Roll 1D6 
  to see how many uruks attack you each combat 
  turn. They each have monster ratings of 40 and get 
  
  49 
   
  5D6 + 20 adds.  Your Eggshell Armor will protect 
  you from 200 points of damage each combat turn, 
  but cannot save you from Spite Damage.  Using 
  your Deathtouch spell, you may slay 2 of them each 
  combat turn by simply touching them. For each 
  uruk you slay, you lose 1 point of CHR.  When your 
  CHR is exhausted, you cannot work anymore 
  magic, and will have to fight physically.  Fight the 
  battle.  The uruks are fearless and will continue 
  attacking until they are down to one fighter. If 
  there is only one left, he will break and run to take 
  news back to the warren of what happened to their 
  fighters (standard orders for uruk warriors--the 
  
  50 
   
  last survivor must always escape and take news 
  back to the tribe).  They swing and flail away at 
  you with war shovels and stone-gougers and a few 
  daggers and uruk scimitars.  Beset on all sides, you 
  have no time for fear or any other magic.  You 
  simply reach out and touch them, and they drop 
  one by one. 
   
  Do the math and the combat. Remember, each 
  round you must face 1D6 worth of uruks, each of 
  which will deal 5D6+20 points of damage.  Your 
  armor will deflect up to 200 points of that damage, 
  but if you take more than 200 hits, it comes off 
  your CON.  Also, all Spite damage (each 6 rolled by 
  the uruk fighters counts as a point of damage to 
  your CON that the armor cannot deflect) comes 
  directly off your CON.  If your CON goes to zero 
  before you finish the uruks, you will be slain, and 
  that is the END for you.  If your CHR goes to zero, 
  you may pick up a dagger and fight with that as 
  normal T & T combat, but that is not likely to go 
  well for you, and spite damage will probably bring 
  an end to the combat sooner or later.  If you get 
  down to one uruk left alive, he will break and run 
  for it, and you will let him go as you are much too 
  tired to chase him. For each uruk slain, you get 40 
  a.p.  If you win the fight, go to [77]. 
   
  
  51 
   
  [66]  None of the floating wizards reacted quickly 
  enough to save you--they might not even have 
  noticed you at all. The only thing you can manage 
  to do is roll over in midair so that you will hit on 
  your back and shoulders and throw your arms 
  wide to brace for impact.  The ground hits you with 
  amazing force, and all goes black. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
  52 
   
  Make a L4SR on CON.  If you make it, go to [72]; if 
  you fail, then take damage to your CON equal to 
  whatever you missed it by. (Example, you needed 
  to roll a 24 to make it, and you only rolled 9, so you 
  missed by 15 and would take 15 points of CON 
  damage.)  If the damage reduced your CON to -10 
  or below, then the impact killed you, and this is the 
  end of your adventure. If you are still alive, go to 
  [72]. 
   
  [67]  When you open the door leading out of the 
  stairwell on the Concourse rooftop, you take in the 
  situation at a glance. The roof is a large oval with 
  the center open to the air, but protected by netting 
  that stretches from the four stone spires that jut 
  some ten feet into the air from four equidistant 
  points around it. Around one spire the male Tjouse 
  have gathered, glowing brightly against the 
  
  53 
   
  darkness of the night, and making them the main 
  point of the dragon's attack. As you watch, a large 
  blue dragon swoops down on them and unleashes 
  a mighty blast of dragonfire that should burn them 
  all to a crisp, but two of the older men make 
  shielding gestures with their staves and a golden 
  shell of light springs up around them all. The 
  dragonfire splatters harmlessly against it and 
  dissipates into the night air in a harmless shower 
  of sparks. The general temperature on the roof 
  increases slightly. Directly across from the men 
  and gathered around another spire are the women 
  of the Tjouse. Most of them seem to be armed with 
  swords, maces, and a few cleavers, but a couple do 
  have flame lances. As you look at them, one shoots 
  a bolt of purple lightning at the attacking blue 
  dragon. The impact makes the dragon roar--an ear 
  deafening sound, and it thrashes its head around 
  violently looking for the source of the attack, but 
  then pulls out of its dive and rejoins its four 
  companions circling above.  You see a fallen 
  warrior off to one side, more a blackened skeleton 
  than anything else, but with an electrum sword 
  nearby. 
    
   
   
  
  54 
   
  If you wish to try and claim that weapon for 
  yourself, go to [69]. Or, you could make a dash for 
  the spire where the main group of warriors are 
  and hope they have an extra weapon for you by 
  going to [78].  Or, maybe joining the defenders 
  here is not really that good of an idea. If you decide 
  that discretion is the better part of valor and duck 
  back into the stairwell, go to [15]. 
   
  [68] You aim your blast of fire at the dragon's 
  chest, hoping to penetrate its scaly armor and 
  scorch its heart.  Roll 10D6 and add your combat 
  adds, and go to [89]. 
   
   
  [69] You easily run over and pick up the sword.  
  This is one of the latest models with a super-keen 
  edge, (It's worth 6D6 in combat) although that 
  didn't seem to help the previous owner. Now you 
  have a weapon, and you feel a bit better.  The next 
  thing you want to do is join the other warriors.  Go 
  to [78].  
   
  
  55 
   
  [70] As you hasten toward the group of wizards, an 
  orange dragon swoops down toward the rooftop, 
  spraying dragonflame indiscriminately in all 
  directions. The most powerful 
  mages on the roof cast up 
  protective magical shields 
  over themselves and 
  over the group of 
  warriors across 
  the rooftop 
  opening from 
  them, but they 
  are much too 
  busy to worry 
  about unprotected individuals. Caught in the open, 
  you have only an instant to make your decision. Do 
  you count on your Luck or Speed to avoid the 
  dragonflame, or do you throw all of your magical 
  power into forming a shield to deflect the 
  dragonfire?  If you count on your attributes (Either 
  Luck or Speed, your choice), go to [18]. If you rely 
  on your own magical ability, go to [82]. 
   
  [71]  What is your Charisma rating right now?  For 
  each point of Charisma, you may strike one uruk 
  dead with an electrical shock.  You point at one 
  after another blasting, and they start falling down 
  either dead or dying as you stop their hearts with 
  
  56 
   
  your magic  At first they don't notice, but when half 
  of them are down, they realize that something is 
  happening, and they all turn to attack you. They 
  cannot harm you, of course, since you are 
  insubstantial, and wind up injuring each other.  
  Your sanctum quickly fills with blood and gore, 
  dead and dying uruks, smashed furniture, and 
  desecrated walls. So much for the idea of watching 
  other parts of the city and the attack--the scrying 
  stone also gets destroyed during the mayhem. 
   
  If there are more uruks than you have points of 
  CHR, then a few of them will get away, vanishing 
  back into their tunnel, carrying away some 
  baubles---mostly the fancier ones.  Go to [5]. 
   
  [72] You awaken in your own palace on the 
  following day.  If you took damage in the fall, then 
  you get 10 adventure points for each point of 
  damage suffered, and reduce your STR, CON, and 
  DEX base values by 3 points each.  Even with 
  magical healing available, it will take you some 
  time and effort to repair all the damage done by 
  the impact when you landed--bones were broken, 
  internal organs were damaged, you are lucky to 
  have survived.  If you were only knocked 
  unconscious by the fall, then no permanent 
  damage was done.  Take 100 adventure points for 
  
  57 
   
  having survived when the dragons attacked 
  X'venn.  The END. 
   
  [73]  Roll 1D6 and add 2 to see how many uruks 
  you must deal with.  Now total your INT, LK, and 
  CHR.  If the total is greater than 40, then your spell 
  worked, and each uruk sees something so 
  repulsive that they turn and run back to the 
  tunnels by which they entered your house. 
  However, for each uruk that turns and runs, reduce 
  your CHR by 5 points and recalculate to see if you 
  have enough power to continue chasing them 
  away.  If you succeed in chasing them all away go 
  to [60]. If your INT, LK, and CHR are not greater 
  than 40, then your spell fails--there is nothing you 
  can do but retreat--to to [82].  If you managed to 
  
  58 
   
  chase some of them away, but not all of them, go to 
  [96]. 
   
  [74]  The demonic cloud starts to form and then 
  fizzles away. The uruks howl with glee and attack 
  you wildly with their crude weapons.  You are 
  insubstantial, and they cannot harm you, but it 
  appears that you do not have enough magical 
  power left to harm them either.  In this case there 
  is nothing that you can do except retreat.  You will 
  yourself to move through the palace to reach your 
  Sanctum Sorcerium, passing through walls and 
  ceilings to make it impossible for the uruks to 
  follow you directly.  They will loot parts of your 
  palace and then happily retreat through the 
  tunnels they used to enter.  You will suffer the loss 
  of considerable wealth and a few servants unlucky 
  enough to be caught by the invaders. It is a 
  catastrophe, but nothing you can't recover from in 
  time.  Go to [84]. 
   
  [75] In a few moments you manage to reach the 
  back stairs--the servants' stairway.  This stairway 
  is only half as busy as the main concourse.  When 
  the newts see you coming they respectfully make 
  room. As you start downwards your friend D'nyall 
  arrives. Looks like he had the same thought. You 
  pause a moment to let him catch up. Go to [98]. 
  
  59 
   
  [76]  As you start downwards your friend D'nyall 
  arrives. Looks like he had the same thought. You 
  pause a moment to let him catch up. Go to [98]. 
   
  [77] Having disposed of the enemies within your 
  house to the best of your ability, you return to your 
  Sanctum where you have stashed a few healing 
  potions. These are sufficient to bring your CON 
  (health) back to its normal rating, but they do 
  nothing to improve your exhausted CHR.  That will 
  recover at the rate of 1 point per hour until it is 
  fully restored.  If any uruks remain in your palace, 
  they will ransack the lower levels and then depart 
  the way they came thinking that they have won a 
  great victory. In the meantime you can work no 
  magic, and you are still bone tired from the fight.  
  You tell the servants to seal the house, keep guard, 
  and admit no visitors for the next three days.  You 
  then fall into a deep, exhausted sleep.  Go to 
  AFTERWORD. 
  
  60 
   
  [78] You sprint to join the growing group of female 
  warrior women that have made it to the roof. As 
  you run, another dragon begins its dive at the roof, 
  spewing flame from its mouth as it approaches.  A 
  fusillade of spells and energy beams shoots up to 
  meet it and this time there is enough power to 
  instantly strike it dead. The controlled dive 
  becomes an uncontrolled fall, and it looks like it is 
  going to land directly on top of you.  Make a L3SR 
  on either Luck or Speed.  If you choose Luck and 
  succeed, go to [93]; if you choose Speed and 
  succeed, go to [3].  If you failed the saving roll, then 
  the great dead beast lands squarely on top of you, 
  and crushes you like a bug. That would be the end 
  of your adventure and your life. 
   
  
  61 
   
  [79] You aim your blast of lightning at the dragon's 
  chest, hoping to stop its mighty heart.  Roll 10D6 
  and go to [81]. 
   
  [80] Roll 1D6 and add 2 to see how many uruks 
  you must deal with.  Now total your INT, LK, and 
  CHR and multiply by your character level to obtain 
  your effective spell power.  Multiply the number of 
  uruks by 40 to determine how much wizardly 
  power is needed.  Compare your spell power to the 
  power needed.  If your spell power is greater, then 
  the  uruks all see and feel something so repulsive 
  that they flee screaming back to their tunnels--go 
  to [60].  If  your spell power is not great enough, 
  then the spell will fail and the uruks will laugh and 
  attack you.  They cannot harm you while you 
  remain intangible, but you cannot affect them 
  either. There is no choice but to retreat--go to [96]. 
   
  [81]  Dragons are far more vulnerable to electricity 
  than they are to flame.  Multiply your dice total by 
  10 and then add your combat adds . If the new 
  total is greater than 500, to to [48]; if it is between 
  300 and 500, go to [11]; if it is less than 300, go to 
  [16]. 
   
   
   
  
  62 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  [82]  When it looks like a blast of dragonfire will 
  hit you, you instinctively cast the Benevolent 
  Golden Aura spell that should protect you from all 
  damage.  However, dragonfire is extremely 
  powerful and magical--your magic may not be 
  enough to stop it.  Make a L4SR on CHR.  If you 
  make it, go to [8]; if you fail go to [96]. 
   
  [83]  You start the spell, but then realize you don't 
  have enough magical energy left in your body to 
  finish it.  Your CHR rating drops down to 1 point. 
  (It will recover, but very slowly at the rate of 1 
  point per day, but that won't matter since the 
  adventure will be over long before you regain your 
  magical might. Since you no longer have the ability 
  to do anything to the uruks by magic, you would 
  then logically choose to escape. Go to [51]. 
   
  
  63 
   
  [84]  You soon reach it--a large room on the top 
  floor of your palace.  You rush inside and lock the 
  door--activating the magical lock you had installed 
  years ago. You have placed such locks in many 
  rooms to guarantee your privacy for times when 
  you don't want to be interrupted by servants with 
  their petty concerns.  You are now as safe as your 
  palace can make you, surrounded by magical items, 
  and locked away from the outside world. 
  Exhausted by your efforts, you fall into a troubled 
  sleep in which you dream that you are still fighting 
  uruks and goblins and strange creatures no 
  one has ever seen before. The dream 
  becomes a total nightmare of 
  flight and fear. Eventually 
  you awaken to learn that 
  day has come and the 
  attack is over.  Go 
  to AFTERWORD.  
   
  [85]  Vaulting over the edge, you drop to the arena 
  sand 20 feet below.  Make a L2SR on STR.  If you 
  fail the saving roll, you land poorly, sprain an 
  ankle, and sprawl face first in the sand. Reduce 
  your CON by however much you missed the SR by 
  and cut your SPD rating in half. (This is a 
  temporary reduction--you get all your attribute 
  points back if you survive this adventure.) If you 
  
  64 
   
  make the saving roll, then you landed gracefully 
  and your mighty leg muscles did indeed take the 
  shock without much difficulty.  In either case, you 
  hobble or sprint to the nearest ground-level exit 
  and quickly find yourself outside the Concourse in 
  the open between buildings.  Go to [45]. 
   
  [86] A few of the panicked newts manage to 
  squeeze through the doorway with you, but when 
  you say the Word of Sealing, the electrum-
  reinforced gates slam shut. A greater wizard than 
  you might be able to reopen them, but it would 
  give even an Elder a hard time. Your palace, like 
  those of the other lords of the city, has stood for 
  millennia and has been enchanted and re-
  enchanted hundreds of times to meet every 
  conceivable need.  A determined dragon might be 
  able to force its way in, but it would have difficulty. 
  For the moment, you, and all inside with you, 
  appear to be safe.  Outside you hear screaming, and  
  the door glows with red-hot heat as dragonflame 
  splatters against the outer portals. The screaming 
  stops. 
   
  
  65 
   
  “Thank, Venn,” gabbles a newt.  "That was just in 
  time."  Your cold-hearted action may have saved 
  you and those around you, but it condemned 
  dozens of helpless people in the open outside to a 
  horrible death.  Roll 
  1D6 and add 1.  
  Subtract that number 
  from your current 
  Charisma value to find 
  your new permanent 
  Charisma attribute. (This is 
  the highest number your 
  CHR value can be until you 
  find some other way to 
  increase it, such as 
  spending adventure 
  points.)   Go to [2].  
   
  [87]  Unfortunately, you do not have enough 
  wizardly power left to perform the spirit 
  summoning spell. Now your servants don't know 
  what to do. You have never failed them before. If 
  the uruks get into the upper chambers, there will 
  be a massacre. You tell them to lock and barricade 
  every door that leads to a stairway to the cellars, 
  and to arm themselves.  Your chief steward starts 
  to organize all that.  Some of the lesser servants 
  simply run away, preferring to take their chances 
  
  66 
   
  in the streets rather than stay in the palace and be 
  slaughtered.  If any outsiders have taken refuge 
  with you, they will certainly prefer to run back into 
  the streets and seek shelter elsewhere. You can't 
  worry about them now. You need to protect 
  yourself. Your best chance is to barricade yourself 
  inside your Sanctum Sorcerium--your library and 
  study--the place where you keep your private 
  books and most powerful enchanted objects.  
  Leaving the servants to do whatever they wish, you 
  say something about going to the armory to get 
  your best weapon, and hurry off to the Sanctum.  
  You soon reach it--a large room on the top floor of 
  your palace.  You rush inside and lock the door--
  activating the magical lock you had installed years 
  ago. You have placed such locks in many rooms to 
  guarantee your privacy for times when you don't 
  want to be interrupted by servants with their petty 
  concerns.  You are now as safe as your palace can 
  make you, surrounded by magical items, and 
  locked away from the 
  outside world. You 
  wonder how the 
  battle is going back 
  at the Grand 
  Concourse, and 
  decide to check.  
  
  67 
   
  Make a L1SR on Luck.  If you succeed, go to [42]; if 
  you fail, go to [52]. 
   
  [88]  The uruks all seem to lose their focus and just 
  stand there drooling. The effort took more out of 
  you than you expected, and you have just a single 
  point of CHR left. They will obey the first command 
  they hear.  Three possibilities quickly occur to you: 
  (1) you could tell them to simply leave and go 
  home--go to [60], (2) you could tell them go to 
  sleep--go to [95]; or you could tell them to kill each 
  other--go to [24]. Choose one of those three and 
  see what happens. 
   
  [89] This dragon has a monster rating of 500. All 
  dragons are highly resistant to flame.  Divide your 
  
  68 
   
  combat damage by 10 and reduce the dragon's 
  monster rating by that amount. You succeeded in 
  annoying it. The great reptile looks at you and 
  smiles, the kind of evil grin that only dragons can 
  do.  You hear a rumble that might be a laugh.  Then 
  it opens its maw and shoots a blast of flame 
  directly at you. You have about 2 seconds to react.  
  If you hold onto your lance and stand there and 
  take it, go to [94]; If you drop the lance and try to 
  dodge the fiery blast, go to [100]. 
   
  [90]  When you open the door leading out of the 
  stairwell on the Concourse rooftop, you take in the 
  situation at a glance. The roof is a vast oval with 
  
  69 
   
  the center open to the air, but protected by netting 
  that stretches from the four conic spires that jut 
  some ten feet into the air from four equidistant 
  points around it. Around one spire the male Tjouse 
  have gathered, glowing brightly against the 
  darkness of the night, and making them the main 
  point of the dragon's attack. As you watch, a large 
  blue dragon swoops down on them and unleashes 
  a mighty blast of dragonfire that should burn them 
  all to a crisp, but two of the older men make 
  shielding gestures with their staves and a golden 
  shell of light springs up around them all. The 
  dragonfire splatters harmlessly against it and 
  dissipates into the night air in a harmless shower 
  of sparks. The general temperature on the roof 
  increases slightly. Directly across from the men 
  and gathered around another spire are the women 
  of the Tjouse. Most of them seem to be armed with 
  swords, maces, and a few cleavers, but a couple do 
  have flame lances. As you look at them, one shoots 
  a bolt of purple lightning at the attacking blue 
  dragon. The impact makes the dragon roar--an ear 
  deafening sound, and it thrashes its head around 
  violently looking for the source of the attack, but 
  then pulls out of its dive and rejoins its four 
  companions circling above.  You see a fallen 
  warrior off to one side, more a blackened skeleton 
  than anything else, but with an electrum sword 
  
  70 
   
  nearby. That is no weapon for a man, so you ignore 
  it.  You could make a dash for the spire where the 
  main group of wizards is and add your magical 
  might to theirs even without a focus object like a 
  staff by going to [70].  Or, maybe joining the 
  defenders here is not really that good of an idea. If 
  you decide that discretion is the better part of 
  valor and duck back into the stairwell, go to [31]. 
   
   
  [91]   More than 100 newts rush through the door 
  right behind you. You see your major domo, and 
  quickly bark out a command to it. "Divert them to 
  the Audience Chamber, and keep them there until 
  the emergency passes!" Your chief servant 
  immediately takes action to obey your command.  
  You step to one side and wait for the foyer to clear.  
  Your generous decision has saved many lives--roll 
  2D6 (DARO) and add that number to your CHR. Go 
  to [2]. 
   
  [92] Your blast had the desired effect--it stopped 
  the great beast's heart. Take 500 adventure points 
  right now.   A great charred hole appears in the 
  dragon's chest, and it drops like a stone from the 
  
  71 
   
  sky. More like a huge boulder, crashing down 
  directly towards you.  Make your L1SR on Luck. If 
  you make it, go to [25]; if you miss, go to [35]. 
   
  [93]  WHAMMM! The plummeting monster strikes 
  the stone of the rooftop with enough force to crack 
  the stone, but not quite enough to break it.  It 
  misses you by inches. You thought it was going to 
  hit you, but you were wrong--never so glad to be 
  mistaken in your life.  The impact sends you 
  staggering forward.  Then a strong hand grabs 
  your arm and pulls you into a hug. Your friend Arra 
  has you in her grip. She smiles and says, "You must 
  be the luckiest woman here tonight.  Come join us." 
  If you already had a weapon, you have lost it 
  somehow. Arra presses an enchanted morningstar 
  into your hands. 
   
  
  72 
   
  For a couple of minutes you simply stand with the 
  other warriors, trying to catch your breath. Then 
  you notice that the shouting and confusion seems 
  to be dying down.  Zarra punches you in the 
  shoulder and laughs. "Look!" she shouts and points 
  into the night sky. "The dragons are leaving!" You 
  look up, and it's true. The dragons are fading into 
  the darkness beyond the city walls.  It appears that 
  the attack is over. You heave a sigh of relief and sit 
  down abruptly. Several of the other warriors are 
  doing the same thing.  From the men's party on the 
  other side of the roof comes a great cheer--the 
  great cheer of the Tjouse. They are all shouting, 
  "VENN! VENN!  VENN!"  Go to AFTERWORD. 
   
  [94] Dragon flame envelops you--the world 
  disappears in a blast of fire . . . . . . . but then it 
  comes back.  You feel the pain, and it hurts--it 
  hurts like fire, but you do not burn, and you do not 
  die. The lance is one of the new models, enchanted 
  to be fireproof, and to make its wielder fireproof as 
  well. In fact, the dragonfire has made you stronger.  
  You may double your STR and CON attributes. The 
  great beast has no more time for you as your sister 
  warriors have now caught up with it and are 
  attacking it with swords and maces.  You cannot 
  fire the lance again for fear of killing your own 
  warriors. Still, the lance is a long piece of sharp and 
  
  73 
   
  magical steel.  You could possibly stab the monster 
  with it.  If you choose to join the fight, go to [6]. If 
  you step off to the side to watch and see what 
  happens, go to [22]. 
   
  [95]  The uruks all fall asleep and drop to the floor, 
  letting their weapons fall beside them.  Go to [32]. 
   
  [96]  A golden aura appears around you and the 
  dragonfire splashes off  of it--for a few seconds.  
  Then the aura flickers, weakens, and disappears.  
  Dragonfire engulfs you in a fiery inferno as great as 
  any volcano, and you are instantly reduced to 
  ashes and a few charred bones that would crumble 
  at a touch. It was so fast and hot that you didn't feel 
  a thing.  THE END.  
   
   
   
  
  74 
   
  [97]  Luckily, you are wearing the ring of unholy 
  protection given to you by the greatest wizard in 
  the city.  The demon finds itself unable to 
  penetrate your mind or soul. In complete 
  frustration, it takes out its anger on the uruks, and 
  incinerates them all with magical bolts of lightning. 
  It even tries to blast you, but the ring wards you 
  from the effect. Finally, when you are the only 
  thing left alive in the chamber, it returns to its own 
  special hell, leaving behind a putrid smell that will 
  persist for a hundred years.  Heaving a sigh of 
  relief--you return to your Sanctum Sorcerium.  Go 
  to [77] 
   
   
  [98] "Dragons attacking the city!" D'nyall snorts. 
  "How dare they!” you respond, “and me without 
  my anti-dragon amulet!" Your fellow wizard grins 
  
  75 
   
  ruefully as you continue, "At least you have an anti-
  dragon amulet, while the best I have at home is a 
  mega-blaster." "Ha!" laughs your friend. "That 
  thing can knock over a mastodon." "Well, I hope it's 
  enough to knock over a dragon," you pray.  
  Engaged in such banter you quickly reach ground 
  level. For a few steps you stride through the crowd 
  together, but your friend quickly splits off from 
  you when he reaches his own palace.  Your 
  domicile is only a little further along.  In the 
  distance you can see flames and smoke rising into 
  the night sky. Apparently the dragons have set 
  aflame some of the houses of the newts in the 
  poorer section of the city.  Your house servants see 
  you coming and throw open the front door.  At that 
  moment one of the dragons swoops down and 
  
  76 
   
  strafes the street with blasts of dragon fire.  The 
  newts scream and run for the nearest shelter 
  which happens to be your front door.  Your 
  servants move to shut the doors and block them 
  out as soon as you enter--strange newts are not 
  permitted to enter the palace.  "Please, master!" 
  one of them cries.  The dragonfire is getting closer.  
  Time for a decision--let them enter and find 
  shelter, or block them out--they are not your 
  concern.  If you let them enter, go to [91]; if you 
  shut them out, go to [86]. 
   
  [99]  You spend 3 CHR points to levitate yourself 
  through the open part of the building to the 
  rooftop. You don't go up too quickly, as you will 
  need to move yourself to the side and duck out 
  from under the netting when you reach the top. 
  You will also want to be alert for danger, and be 
  able to see where the defenders have positioned 
  themselves. 
   
  When you reach the roof, you take in the situation 
  at a glance. The top of the Concourse is a vast oval 
  with the center open to the air, but protected by 
  netting that stretches from the four conic spires 
  that jut some ten feet into the air from four 
  equidistant points around it. Around one spire the 
  male Tjouse have gathered, glowing brightly 
  
  77 
   
  against the darkness of the night, and making them 
  the main point of the dragon's attack. As you 
  watch, a large blue dragon swoops down on them 
  and unleashes a mighty blast of dragonfire that 
  should burn them all to a crisp, but two of the older 
  men make shielding gestures with their staves and 
  a golden shell of light springs up around them all.  
   
  
  78 
   
  The dragonfire splatters harmlessly against it and 
  dissipates into the night air in a harmless shower 
  of sparks. The general temperature on the roof 
  increases slightly. Directly across from the men 
  and gathered around another spire are the women 
  of the Tjouse. Most of them seem to be armed with 
  swords, maces, and a few cleavers, but a couple do 
  have flame lances. As you look at them, one shoots 
  a bolt of purple lightning at the attacking blue 
  dragon. The impact makes the dragon roar--an ear 
  deafening sound, and it thrashes its head around 
  violently looking for the source of the attack, but 
  then pulls out of its dive and rejoins its four 
  companions circling above.  You see a fallen 
  warrior off to one side, more a blackened skeleton 
  than anything else, but with an electrum sword 
  nearby. That is no weapon for a man, so you ignore 
  it.  You could make a dash for the spire where the 
  main group of wizards is and add your magical 
  might to theirs even without a focus object like a 
  staff by going to [70].  Or, maybe joining the 
  defenders here is not really that good of an idea. If 
  you decide that discretion is the better part of 
  valor and duck back into the stairwell, go to [31]. 
   
  [100]  You drop the lance and leap frantically away 
  from the blast of dragon fire.  Make a L1SR on SPD.  
  If you make it, go to [47]; if you fail then you are 
  
  79 
   
  struck squarely by the devastating breath of the 
  dragon and blaze up like a torch for a second only 
  to fall to the rooftop as a fire-blackened skeleton, 
  all soft parts of the body totally destroyed by the 
  fire.  THE END. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  AFTERWORD:  The combined dragon and uruk 
  attack on the Tjouse city of X'venn passed into 
  history as the second greatest threat the city ever 
  faced.  Those who lived through it told and retold 
  the stories of that night until the legend grew far 
  beyond the actual events. In time, when the 
  Peacock Continent established contact with the 
  other lands and people of Trollworld, it became 
  one of the great hero stories of the ages. The only 
  ones not pleased by the tale were dragons on other 
  continents, and thus was enmity between all 
  dragons and all peacocks formed.  You survived the 
  night, and for that you are awarded 500 adventure 
  points and a one point gain in Charisma.  THE END. 
   
   
  
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SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Tunnels & Trolls (osr)/Adventures & Settings/TnT - Dragons Attack Xvenn.pdf