Sorry, lost my internet access for the past 3 days.
Dropping the goggles so we now have 2 units of food.....
If you have SURVIVAL, turn to 58. If not but you have the codeword Enkidu, turn to 81.
Otherwise, turn to 103.
Gilgamesh to save the day again!
Gilgamesh stands rock-still beside you. You hear the soft whirr of a fan sucking air into his chest-plate. Then he announces that the air here is toxic.
‘How toxic? The trees seem to survive well enough.’ You brush midges away from your face. ‘And the insects.’
‘They are adapted to the conditions here,’ replies Gilgamesh in his abrupt mechanical voice. ‘Trace elements may cause cancer in higher life forms.’
‘After how long?’
‘Unknown. Even one day’s exposure is potentially hazardous. Recommend you take precautions to filter your air supply or leave the vicinity.’
If you have a gas mask, turn to 169. Otherwise, choose whether to stay and rest for a few days or depart as Gilgamesh suggests.
More blue options!
The air here is tolerable once filtered of volcanic fumes. You build a lean-to beside the bubbling pool in the shelter of the dwarf conifers. Although the water of the pool is undrinkable, you can easily collect snow from beyond the edge of the oasis and bring it back to camp to melt. For food, you catch insects and grubs and bake them on the hot rocks.
Recover 4 Life Points, then turn to 426 when you are ready to move on.
Back to full LP!
Surrounded by a limitless expanse of snow, you slog wearily towards your goal. The sun slides low in the sky, wavering like a blob of flame-orange oil against a sky of swirling violet. As it disappears in a scud of cloud lying along the horizon, you feel the dreary chill of day begin to yield to the frigid tyranny of night.
If you lack either a fur coat or a cold-weather suit, lose 4 Life Points. If you possess either of those items, lose only 2 Life Points. (Lose 1 less Life Point if you have SURVIVAL, and 1 less if you possess a burrek.)
Assuming you survive, turn to 444.
Back down to 7 LP (no coat/suit but we got our huggable burrek).
Hunger is a knot of ice inside your belly; weariness turns your feet to lead weights. Each daybreak you find it harder to shrug off the lassitude of sleep. Every effort costs intense concentration.
How do your rations stand? If you have two food packs, cross them off your Character Sheet and turn to 125.
If you have only one food pack, cross it off and turn to 37.
If you have no food left, turn to 147.
Can we just tell Gilgamesh to shoot Boche so we can
eat him steal his food too?
Whatever, we got our new bometh steak provided by our robot pal....and no, Boche, you're not getting any!
If we had no food earlier, we use the burrek's blood as the slave trader suggested......if we still don't have any for this last check, we slaughter the poor animal for meat out of desperation....and we still lose 2 LP.
At last you see a streak of dark rubble against the dazzling skyline. You fear it might just be a line of hills or even a trick of the light, but as you approach on quickened footsteps it is possible to make out the details of brooding towers, empty palaces and gargantuan snow-bound walls. You have arrived at the lost city of Du-En.
If you have the codeword Diamond, delete it and turn to 191. Otherwise, turn to 213.
Yes our useless human companion is still around.
The gates of Du-En stand open to the elements, leaving the wide avenues piled under deep snow-dunes. The buildings are monoliths of dark stone, desolate remnants of a civilization long gone. Their vast scale and pitiless geometric decoration make them seem out of proportion to the human soul. You find them tyrannical and depressing.
‘Impressive architecture, eh?’ says Boche, looking to a high black tower whose fretwork dome shows like a fleshless head against the bleak white sky.
You see a thin swirl of smoke rising from a campfire in the main plaza of the city. ‘It seems we’re not the only ones to heed Gaia’s message,’ you say dourly. ‘Come on, let’s introduce ourselves.’
Finally found your tongue, huh? What have you been doing this whole time? And I don't recall ever telling you that we came because of Gaia's message....
Passing under a broken arch, you enter the central plaza. This is a broad area of snowcovered flagstones, roughly three hundred metres across, enclosed by ruined palaces that gleam like lead in the white haze.
There are several campfires built up against a fallen colonnade. As you get closer you see antique furniture and splintered doors crackling in the flames: plunder from the once great city of Du-En, lost art treasures beyond price. In this desolate place, their only value is the warmth they give.
A man steps forward from the fireside and pulls off his glove to shake hands.
‘Greetings. I am Janus Gaunt.’
While Boche makes the introductions, you take stock of Gaunt. He is younger than his grey hair would suggest, with an open friendly manner. His servants stumble along behind him in the snow, but they wear only thin clothes and you guess they are past feeling the cold. Gaunt sees you looking at them and nods. ‘These are my xoms – reanimated cadavers, loyal and tireless.’
Others are now emerging from their tents along the colonnade. A wizened old man with no legs who comes drifting through the air like a ghost is introduced as Baron Siriasis, a psionic from Bezant. Next comes a woman who walks with long feline strides, eyes glittering like jade in the wan afternoon light. She gives you a single guarded look and then turns away. ‘That is Thadra Bey of al-Lat,’ says Gaunt. ‘And here is Commander Chaim Golgoth, an agent of United States Intelligence. The two strapping bronzed ladies behind him are Gargan XIII and Gargan XIV, sole survivors of a clone superwarrior group.’
Golgoth smiles and shakes hands. The Gargan twins watch you with a glare like Medusa’s sisters. ‘There’s also Vajra Singh,’ adds Golgoth, nodding towards a large scarlet-and-black pavilion across the plaza. ‘You’ll meet him soon enough.’
If you have the codeword Scythe, delete it and turn to 89. Otherwise turn to 111.
We've met Golgoth and the psychic baron before. It's also possible to either meet or at least hear about all the others during our journey (but not within the same playthrough/path).
And yes, if we reached here without Boche, he shows up here anyway.
After a cursory greeting, the others start to disperse back to their tents. Janus Gaunt tells you he has just brewed a pot of tea and invites you to join him. You are pleased enough to share the warmth of his fire, but when a xom hands you a teacup in its bloodless fingers you cannot suppress a shiver of dread.
‘Don’t bother about them,’ he says with a laugh. ‘They’re just robots, really, except that they’re made out of once-living tissue instead of plastic and metal. They’re powered by a small electrochemical implant in the chest cavity.’
‘They are an abomination against nature,’ says Boche flatly, draining his tea. ‘Where do we get firewood?’
Gaunt is taken aback by Boche’s rudeness, but replies courteously: ‘Take it from the buildings around the square. The mulberry window-shutters you are warming your hands over, for instance, date from tenth-century Persia. It is a pity to burn such artifacts as these, but the former owners have no more use for them.’
Boche rises with a grunt and trudges off, entering a narrow doorway. You follow to find him flashing his torch around. ‘Ah, here is some firewood already broken up for our convenience,’ he says.
‘It is mine,’ purrs a voice of menace from the doorway. Thadra Bey stands there, muscles coiled taut in pantherish grace, a lethal dart-projector in her hand.
‘Down!’ roars Boche, cannoning into you from behind and sending you flying into Thadra Bey. You and she go rolling out into the snow, her dart singing through the air and narrowly missing Chaim Golgoth, who responds at once by drawing his barysal gun. In seconds all hell has broken loose, as the uneasy truce splinters apart. Thadra Bey rakes her fingers across your face and leaps away, levelling her dart-projector, and you hear Gaunt yelling to his xoms, ‘Defend me! Slay any who attack!’
For a moment it seems that the struggle for power will be decided here and now. Then a voice rips like thunder across the square: ‘Stop this senseless fighting now!’ and, turning, you have your first view of the mighty Vajra Singh.
Vajra Singh stands like a demon in the snow, a great slab of a man with a darkly saturnine face and eyes like a lion’s. His silver anti-laser armour gleams in the weak sunshine. He watches you all for a moment, scanning you as he might size up a pack of hyenas. Then he raises his huge hand-cannon and touches the fire button. The air is riven by a sound like a volcano erupting as a torrent of blistering white plasma streams from the cannon, juddering across the walls above and scattering chunks of smouldering masonry far out into the square. Everyone dives for cover. Still unleashing the barrage of crackling energy, Vajra Singh turns and directs it at the foundations of a building across the square. The heavy stone walls burst apart, and slowly the whole façade collapses to leave only a burntout shell.
Vajra Singh touches a button on the side of the cannon and the blast cuts out. The roar dies to a low hum. You notice a small red light start to glow as the cannon powers down.
‘That weapon is the mantramukta,’ Janus Gaunt whispers in your ear.
‘This squabbling must cease!’ snarls Vajra Singh as the others come out from hiding.
‘We must work together in the short term or we stand little chance of penetrating as far as the Heart. Is that clear?’
On the side of the mantramukta cannon, a green light winks on. Now you know that it takes a few seconds to rebuild its power after each blast. You see that Chaim Golgoth has noticed this too.
Seeing that the only reply is sullen silence, Vajra Singh goes on, ‘Here in the main square we shall remain in a state of truce. While exploring beneath the ruins, this truce is not in force. Also, no underlings or servants are to be taken on expeditions. This is a contest to see which of us deserves the ultimate power, not who is able to hire the most bodyguards.’
Janus Gaunt glances from face to face, then takes it on himself to answer. ‘We agree to these terms.’
With a swirl of his majestic robes, Vajra Singh turns and strides off to his tent, where his three servants stand waiting.
If you have the codeword Hourglass, turn to 235. If not but you do possess a medical kit, turn to 257. (If you have a Manta sky-car, you will find a medical kit in the storage locker.) If you have neither Hourglass nor a medical kit, turn to 278.
We have the medkit....
Your fingers show signs of frostbite and you have a dozen small bruises and sores. You dose yourself with antibiotics and apply ointments and dressings from the medical kit. If injured, you can restore 1 Life Point.
That brings us up to 8 Life Points.
The sun lurches into view above the city walls – a disk as pale as watered milk. Out in the main square, the others are preparing to set off into the ruins. You see Golgoth clipping on his weapon-belt as he chats to the Gargan sisters. Apparently they have agreed to explore as a team. Surprisingly, Gaunt and Thadra Bey have also formed a group. Baron Siriasis and Vajra Singh both opt to search for the Heart alone.
Vajra Singh oversees the drawing of lots. ‘We shall set off into the ruins at fifteen minute intervals determined by the lots,’ he tells the others. ‘You can explore individually or in groups, as you prefer. Remember that the truce applies only here in the open. If groups encounter each other while in the catacombs below the city, they must negotiate or else do battle.’
If you wish to descend into the catacombs, turn to 385. If you think a day’s rest is in order, turn to 363.
Do we want to explore today?
Adventure Sheet:
Name: ??
Skills: AGILITY, CUNNING, PARADOXING and ROGUERY
Life Points: 8
Possessions:
1) Psionic focus
2) Little Gaia
3) Rope
4) Barysal Gun (2 charges)
5) Gas mask
6) Medical Kit
7)
8)
9) *Burrek
Money: 20 scads