About the Author

J.H. Brennan is one of those peculiar people who seem

to be living in several different worlds at once... some
of which you can enter via the GrailQuest series.
He has always been interested in magic, spells and
wizardry, and among his many books has written a
number on magic. He is also the author of two Fantasy
Role-Playing Games - Man, Myth & Magic and
Timeship, and of two other Solo Fantasy Gamebooks
in the 'Sagas of the Demonspawn': Book One -
Fire*Wolf, and Book Two - The Crypts of Terror.
He has used a computer system to help him keep track
of this book and others in the series and says that
anyone who adventures in them without keeping
careful notes of where they've been is asking to be sent
to Section 14.
J.H. Brennan
G R A I L
Q U E S T
BOOK FOU R
Voyage of Terror
Illustrated by
John Higgins
A n Armada Original
Scanned and compiled by Underdogs
Home of the Underdogs
http://www.the-underdogs.org/
Voyage of Terror was
first published in the UK in Armada
in 1985 by Fontana Paperbacks,
8 Grafton Street, London W1X 3LA.
J.H. Brennan l985
Illustrations John Higgins 1985
Printed in Great Britain by
William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd., Glasgow
Conditions of Sale
This book is sold subject to the condition
that is shall not, by way of trade or otherwise,
be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated
without the publisher's prior consent in any form of
binding or cover other than that in which it is
published and without a similar condition
including this condition being imposed
on the subsequent purchaser.
MERLIN CALLING
Gotcha!
Don't move. Not a muscle. I've been looking for
you all over, up hill and down dale. I need you
here, right now. Specifically, I need you in my
Time. You wouldn't believe the mess they've
gotten into and I need you to clear it up. So just
you collect up your belongings. You'll want a
couple of dice and pencil and paper and an eraser
and that's about it. Travel light is my motto.
Yours too since you'll be travelling through Time.
You know about time travel, don't you? Your
body stays where it is, but I get the use of your
head. What's inside it, anyway. Your mind. I'm
going to call it all the way from your Time to my
Time. I can do that because I'm a Welsh Druid.
My name is Merlin, as you may remember if
you've been to my Time before. I am Chief
Adviser and General Dogsbody to His Majesty
King Arthur, son of Uthur Pendragon and Liege
Lord of Avalon. They call me the Wizard Merlin
because of my magical powers.
But I can't sit here all day listening to you chatter-
ing. I have to take what's in your head and put it
into the head of a young person in my Time called
A Saxon ship approaching - forerunner of a full invasion!
Pip. Pip the Wicked Wizard Basher, Pip the
Dragonslayer, Pip the Ghastly Kingdom Gateway
Closer to give that young person all the titles
they've been bandying about lately.
Once you're in my Time you'll have control of
Pip. You'll decide what Pip should do. And we'd
better hurry because the Saxons are invading.
Thousands of them. Great hairy men in great
hairy ships. We need a hero to stand against them
single-handed if necessary. Which is where Pip
comes in. Which is where you come in.
You're not afraid to fight thousands of warlike
Saxons, are you? I didn't hear that.
You'd better collect your equipment quickly. I'm
going to cast the spell now.
If you've never been to my Time before, turn to
1. If you've know all about dice fights and LIFE
POINTS and spells and so forth, you can go
direct to 2. (Of course, you can always refresh
your memory with the cut-out rules card that's
included as a bookmark.)
New to this Time travel business, are you? Never
mind, you'll soon pick up the essentials.
L ife Points
To get your LIFE POINTS, all you do is roll two
dice and add the scores together. Then you
multiply the answer by 4. You'll find the final
figure is somewhere between 8 and 48. If you
1
1
think it looks a bit small, you can roll the dice
again. In fact, you can roll them three times
altogether and pick the highest figure you get.
When you've found your LIFE POINTS, write
them down on the card at the front of this book.
Combat
The first thing you do in a fight is to roll two dice
for yourself and for your opponent. Highest score
gets to strike first.
To strike a blow you roll two dice. You need to
score a 6 or better to hit, but if you're carrying
your magic sword, Excalibur Junior, then you only
need a 4. Anything you score above your hit figure
counts as damage against the enemy and comes
off his LIFE POINTS. Weapons give you extra
damage usually and some magical weapons give
you a lot of extra damage. EJ, for instance, gives
you 5 extra damage every time you hit something
successfully.
Once your enemy's LIFE POINTS come down to
zero, he is dead. If you're feeling benevolent, you
can always stop when you bring his LIFE POINTS
to 5: that only knocks him out. Your enemies
fight you in exactly the same way.
Healing
If you should lose some LIFE POINTS in combat,
you'll need to know how to get them back. One
way is with healing potions. If you find a bottle of
healing potion, you can usually reckon on six
doses. When you take a dose, you should roll two
dice to find out how many LIFE POINTS it res-
tored.
Another way to restore LIFE POINTS is salves. If
you find a jar of salve, it will usually have five
applications, each of which will give you back 3
LIFE POINTS.
Sleep
If you can't find potions or salves, you're just
going to have to Sleep. You can Sleep any time
during an adventure except in a fight. All you
have to do is roll one die. If you roll a 5 or a 6, then
you're safely asleep and you will restore LIFE
POINTS equal to a double dice roll. But if you
score anything else, you'll have to turn to the
section at the back of this book called
Dreamtime. You can get into a lot of trouble in
the Dreamtime. You can even get dead.
Friendly Reaction
One way to stop getting dead is to avoid fights.
This is sometimes possible through a Friendly
Reaction or Bribery. You can try for a Friendly
Reaction most times before a fight starts. All you
do is roll one die once for your enemy and one die
three times for yourself. If you manage to score
less on your three rolls than your enemy does on
one, he's friendly and you can proceed exactly as if
you'd fought him and won.
1 1
Bribery
You can only try Bribery in sections marked *.
The number of stars indicates the number of gold
pieces your enemy might accept as a bribe. One *
= 100 gold pieces. Two ** = 500 gold pieces.
Three *** = 1,000 gold pieces. Four **** =
10,000 gold pieces. (It doesn't actually have to be
gold: you can offer anything you have of equal or
greater value.)
Once you decide to offer a bribe, deduct the
amount from your current store of gold. (If you
don't have any, you can't offer.) Then roll two
dice. Score 8 to 12 and the bribe is accepted and
you can go on as if you'd won the fight. Score 2 to
7 and the bribe is refused: you've lost your money
and you have to fight anyway.
E xperience
That's about it except for Experience Points. You
earn 1 Experience Point for every fight won or
puzzle solved successfully. If you manage 20 Ex-
perience Points, you can cash them in for one
Permanent Life Point which is added to the total
you rolled up on the dice. (And you can take up to
40 Permanent Life Points with you into your next
GrailQuest adventure.)
Now turn to 2.
MERLIN'S
MIGHTIEST MAGIC
Invasions were never very much fun (unless, of
course, you happened to be the invading party.)
Saxon invasions were the least fun of all. The
great hairy men would pile out of their great hairy
ships, waving their swords and stringing their
bows and whooping all the way up the beaches.
Then, since nobody would have noticed their
arrival, they would swarm across the peaceful
fields of Avalon, looting, pillaging, burning down
whole villages and making a general nuisance of
themselves until King Arthur and his doughty
Knights of the Table Round gathered up sufficient
energy and armies to stop them.
Stopping Saxon invasions was never much fun
either. The great, brutal Saxons were fierce fight-
ers and had developed all sorts of nasty tricks with
their broadswords which were painful, not to
mention lethal, to their opponents. After several
invasions, some of the less courageous Knights
(Mordred, for example) began to advocate an
accommodation with the Saxons.
An accommodation, as Mordred defined it, meant
giving them huge chunks of prime English lands
and hoping they would be well enough satisfied to
1
2
leave everybody else's lands in peace. It was not
such a silly idea as it sounded, and King Arthur
was seriously considering it when the next Saxon
invasion started. He sent a messenger to the
leader, a great scruff named Entwhistla, outlining
the broad proposal, but Entwhistla sent the
messenger back minus his ears, which everybody
agreed was definitely a refusal - and a very rude
refusal at that.
Thus King Arthur and the Knights prepared, once
again, to fight. In the King's case, this meant
dusting off Excalibur.
A word about Excalibur may not go amiss here.
The great sword was not, as many people thought,
the one which young Arthur had pulled out of a
stone to lay claim to the throne of Avalon. That
particular sword had been purchased by the Druid
Wizard Merlin and accidentally imbedded when
one of his spells went wrong. Apart from the fact
that it helped make Arthur King, that particular
sword was a very ordinary example of the
blacksmith's art.
2
The sword Excalibur, by contrast, was a magical
weapon, a blade forged with spells so powerful
that it could cut an elephant in half at a single
blow. Since there were no elephants about in
Avalon, even in those distant days, Arthur very
sensibly used it against his enemies and the
enemies of Avalon, so that he won virtually every
battle he bothered to fight. More importantly,
news of the sword's magical qualities soon spread,
so that after a while, Arthur found he had less and
less enemies, less and less battles. Excalibur was a
peacekeeper.
Where the King got Excalibur was a bit of a
mystery. Merlin claimed he had made it, but
while he had undoubted talents as a wizard, those
who knew him well realized such a weapon was
far beyond his powers. (He had, admittedly, man-
aged a sawn-off version of Excalibur for the mys-
terious young warrior Pip, but that had stretched
his magical abilities to the limit. Excalibur Junior,
as Pip's sword was called, did +5 damage against
his enemies. (The original Excalibur was a +10.)
Arthur seldom discussed the matter with
anybody, but Queen Guinevere once let slip that
it had been given her husband by the Lady of the
Lake, a magical personage who was probably more
fairy than human.
When it was not in use on the field of battle.
Excalibur was kept in the Camelot Castle Trea-
sure Room, along with other important artifacts
like the orb and sceptre, the State Crown and the
Legion Eagles (the latter captured by Arthur's
3-6
father, Uther Pendragon, in the last days of the
Roman occupation of Avalon). It was to the Trea-
sure Room that Arthur went now, trailing a
motley collection of ministers, advisers and
pages. And it was in that room that Arthur dis-
covered Excalibur had been swiped.
Now turn to 15.
3
Bad news for somebody as curious as you are, Pip.
They're locked - all twelve of them. And though
you try to force them open, you get nowhere.
Nothing else for it but to try another section of
Plan 1.
4
That hassle was only worthwhile if you were
hungry. There's a lot of food here (most of it raw),
but nothing else of any great interest.
Try any other section of Plan 1.
5
There are wooden stairs here, going upwards.
If you take them, go to 113.
If not, you can explore any other section shown
on Plan 1.
6
It's a treasure room! What a start to an adventure,
eh? Booty galore. Whacking great chests of it all
over the place. Leather bags of gems. Gold pieces.
Jade ornaments. The works. Somebody did a lot of
2
6 Booty galore - and six savage guards!
looting to accumulate this lot. And now it's all
yours! Wealth beyond the dreams of avarice.
All you have to do now is get it out of this daft
place, past the six savage guards you disturbed
with all the noise you made opening the door.
Each Guard has 20 LIFE POINTS, is equipped
with 3 armour and a +2 sword. They all hit
on 5 or better, being trained soldiers.
If you can manage a Friendly Reaction on all
six (which seems unlikely, but stranger things
have happened on a GrailQuest adventure) you
may leave the room safely, but without any
treasure.
If you can manage a Friendly Reaction on
some, but not all, you will only have to fight
the ones who aren't friendly.
If you fight and die, go to 14.
If you fight and win, you'll find you can carry a
maximum of 500 gold pieces and 1,500 gold
pieces-worth of gems, which isn't so bad. Now
go to any other section shown on Plan 1.
7
Lucky old you! It always pays to be thorough in
adventures, doesn't it? You've found a roll of
parchment under a heap of pongy old clothes. You
unroll it at once, finding it is covered with spidery
handwriting, quite difficult to read, which gives
instructions for performing something called the
Wallbanger Ritual. Could this be some sort of
spell? You bet your life it could! The only problem
7
8
is that the scroll gives you no indication what-
soever of what the spell actually does. Worse still,
the scroll states that you can only use the spell
once just once -in an entire adventure!
You will find details of how to work the
Wallbanger Ritual Spell on Appendix, p.217.
Turn to it ONLY when you have decided to
work the spell, since reading this section uses it
up for the current adventure.
If you want to try the Wallbanger Ritual now,
turn to the special section. Otherwise keep the
scroll carefully and don't forget you have it.
If you want to try opening the skull and cross-
bones chest, go to 24.
If you want to try opening the new chest, go to
62.
If you want to try opening the battered chest,
go to 72.
If you feel you'd better get out of here while
your luck holds, try any other section on Plan
1.
8
It's open! Can you believe that? Here you were
thinking you were locked in a dungeon or in-
carcerated in an outhouse for the rabid and the
door was open all the time!
Still, it doesn't do to be careless, so you creep out
into a narrow, wood-walled, wood-floored
corridor (which is going up and down just like the
room you left).
9-10
If you turn to Plan 1 on Appendix, p.235 you can
see a bit more of where you are and where you can
go from here.
Well, well, well it seems to be a medicine chest!
There is a bottle of healing potion in here (enough
for six doses, restoring a double dice roll of LIFE
POINTS each). There is also a jar of salve (five
applications, restoring 3 LIFE POINTS per
application). And finally, there is a small bottle of
magical quinine which, according to the label,
will absolutely cure you of malaria. (What a pity
you don't have malaria at the moment. But keep
the bottle carefully - it could come in handy if
you're ever munched by a mosquito.)
If you want to open the new chest, go to 62.
If you want to open the battered chest, go to 72.
If you want to search the room, go to 7.
If you want to get out of here, go to any other
section shown on Plan 1.
10
Sometimes battles just aren't worth winning.
These idiots have elected you Captain (thus ex-
ercising the new-fangled Greek notion of demo-
cracy) and are gratefully insisting that they will
take you anywhere you want to go in your search
for this mysterious Avalon place of yours. None of
them has a bull's notion of where it might be, of
course, but they do have a chart of the immediate
maritime vicinity, which you may study inside
9
11-12
the back cover of this book in order to set your
course.
When you have decided where you want to go,
make a mental note of the section number, but
DO NOT TURN TO IT RIGHT AWAY. In
order to navigate your ship correctly to the des-
tination of your choice, you must first roll two
dice. Score above 4 and you navigate correctly.
But score 2, 3 or 4 and you must turn to the
special Cross-Eyed Navigation section on
Appendix, p.219. If you survive the instructions
that will be given to you there, you can go
directly to your chosen destination by the Sea
Chart.
11
There are wooden stairs here, going upwards.
If you take them, go to 113.
If not, you can explore any other section shown
on Plan 1.
12
This does not look like a South Sea Island para-
dise. No glistening beaches, no waving palms, no
hula dancers trying to avoid the lawnmower. In-
stead, your trusty vessel draws towards a desolate,
gloomy cliff-face with the barren, rock encrusted
sweep of land stretching out beyond it to a dark
horizon.
Far to the north, smoke and fumes are rising,
suggesting some form of volcanic activity and
casting a low, sullen pall across the entire island.
11 There are wooden
stairs, going
upwards
13
You skirt the cliff-face cautiously, looking for a
safe place to beach, but there is none. Eventually
you find two narrow inlets, one to the west, one to
the south, but depth soundings with a plumbline
soon convince you these are too shallow for the
ship to navigate. If you want to .investigate the
island, you must use the tiny rowboat stored on the
ship's upper deck; but this means going alone ...
If you decide to risk a solitary journey, turn to
19.
If you feel this gloomy place is best left alone,
try navigating to another island on the Sea
Chart.
13
Now there's posh! Well, sort of. This used to be a
very well-appointed room, but now it's in a bit of
a mess, as if you kept a pig in a boudoir. It's
sleeping quarters and living quarters combined;
and for only one person by the look of it, which
means somebody important, since it's a large
room.
Among the interesting contents are three chests.
One has a skull and crossbones on the lid. One is
well polished and new looking. One is pretty
battered.
If you want to search the room further, go to 7.
If you want to risk trying to open the skull and
crossbones chest, go to 24.
If you want to risk opening the new chest go to
62.
14-15
If you want to risk opening the battered chest,
go to 72.
If you figure you'd be better off elsewhere, go to
any other section shown on Plan 1.
14
That's it, Pip. Done for. Crushed beneath the re-
lentless heel of Fate. Clapped out. Wasted. Passed
on. In short, you are one very dead adventurer.
Being dead is quite fun, actually. You get to re-roll
your LIFE POINTS for one thing. Then you get to
start again, fresh as paint.
You've lost any gear, weapons, equipment, spells,
booty, loot, treasure you may have collected, of
course, which is a pity: but since you doubtless
remember where you found it, you can always zip
through the sections quickly and collect it up
again. Unlike earlier GrailQuest adventures, any
monsters you may have killed don't stay dead and
will be waiting to zap you in the relevant sections.
But second or subsequent times around, they will
only have half the LIFE POINTS they had first
time, which gives you a distinct edge.
Now don't hang about being dead. Zoom off and
roll up your new LIFE POINTS so you can get
back on the adventure trail.
15
The Court and Castle of Camelot was situated on
a hill overlooking the tiny market town of
Glastonbury. Like many similar towns in Avalon,
Glastonbury had grown up around a market
15
square. And like many similar squares, the
market square of Glastonbury had grown up
around a public well.
This well had a drystone wall surround and a
thatched roof supported by stout oakwood up-
rights which also held in place the winch, rope
and bucket people used to draw up the water.
At around 6 a.m. in summer (later in winter be-
cause of the dark mornings) the women of
Glastonbury used to gather at the well to draw the
day's supply of water and exchange the day's
supply of news. The men of the town remained in
their comfortable chauvinistic beds, idly waiting
for the women to return and make them breakfast.
As a result, the Glastonbury women were the only
ones who knew what was going on in the world,
while the men had to rely on a heavily censored
version of events passed on to them by their wives.
No man ever went to the well in the mornings,
partly because it was not the done thing, and partly
because men then, as now, were terrified of large
congregations of women.
But while no ordinary man ever went to the well
in the mornings, one rather special man was
frequently at, or near, the well at that time. That
man was Merlin, the Druid wizard. The reason he
was frequently at or near the well was that he
lived in it, a fact not known to many and not
known at all to the women of Glastonbury, who
would never have talked so freely amongst them-
selves if they had realized the old fool might be
listening. 15 Merlin passes through the surface of the well water .
15
Merlin, whose fearsome eccentricities sprang
from his Welsh nationality rather than the fact he
was a wizard, had several dwellings a log castle
in a forest, a crystal cave, an ancient, hollow,
lightning-blasted oak tree amongst them. The
well was a comparatively recent acquisition, pro-
mpted in part by a bubble-making spell he had
created. The spell was one of those spectacular
magical efforts which nonetheless appear totally
useless at first glance. Merlin, however, was a
man of great imagination and having discovered
how to generate magical bubbles, he went quietly
at midnight and generated one of immense pro-
portions in the water at the bottom of the well.
Then he tossed in a few sticks of furniture, several
spell books, various items of equipment and an
alchemical furnace. These passed through the
walls of the magical bubble without affecting its
structure and came to rest on the well bottom.
With a quick glance around to ensure he was not
observed, Merlin then held his nose and jumped.
He passed through the surface of the well water
(now risen appreciably since the bubble was
established) and emerged in the bubble itself.
Once he had the alchemical furnace going, both
he and his chattels soon dried out and he took up
comfortable residence.
In less than a week, Merlin discovered his new
home placed him at the centre of a most useful
information network. Every morning at six he
would be awakened by the sound of female voices,
magnified by the effect of the water around his
massive bubble and while at first he was silly
16
enough to try to ignore them, he soon found to his
amazement that the women of Glastonbury knew
absolutely everything there was to know about
anything (including, incidentally, those naughty
goings-on between Queen Guinevere and Sir
Lancelot which the Public Relations officers at
Camelot had taken such pains to hush up).
It was in this way that Merlin learned of the
Saxon invasion and decided, on his own initiative,
to call up the famous hero Pip to deal with it.
Now turn to 30.
16
The good news is that the chests are not locked.
The bad news is that there doesn't appear to be
anything of interest in them except old clothes
and worthless personal items. You go through
each systematically until, on opening the last
chest but one, you are bitten by a snake.
You stare at the reptile in horror as it slithers
away. What sort of idiot keeps a snake in his
chest? Then you stare in horror at the fang marks
on your arm. Your arm is beginning to burn, then
turn numb as the sensation creeps up towards
your shoulder. Your skin is turning brown, then
bluish as the venom creeps relentlessly towards
your loudly beating heart. You feel dizzy. You
sway. You are on the point of blacking out. You
are dying, poisoned by -
Oh, pull yourself together. The snake wasn't
venomous. All it's really done is bite off one silly
little LIFE POINT and even that's coming back as
17
the wound begins to heal.
Now, since you aren't really poisoned, better de-
cide what you're going to do.
If you want to examine the last chest, turn to
100.
If you've had enough of this room, try another
section of Plan 1.
17
It's empty! No, it's not - there's a false bottom.
Not very well made, so you discover it almost at
once. In a compartment beneath the false bottom
is a very nasty little weapon; a poison stiletto.
You examine this lethal horror very carefully. The
handle is hollow and filled with an oily liquid
poison. The blade is hollow, too, so that the liquid
flows down into it. When you score a hit with this
nasty, it does +1 damage by stabbing, but also
gives your opponent a dose of poison which will
cost him the automatic loss of 2 LIFE POINTS
every combat round thereafter. What's more, if
you successfully hit him again with the dagger, it
will cost him a further two automatic losses every
time. There is enough poison in the handle for
twelve hits, after which the stiletto reverts back
to being an ordinary +1 dagger (unless, of course,
you can find more poison somewhere).
If you want to search the room, go to 7.
If you want to open the new chest, go to 62.
If you want to open the skull and crossbones
chest, go to 24.
18-20
If you want to move on, go to any other section
shown on Plan 1.
18
This door's locked, which probably means there's
something interesting inside. Now how does a
seasoned young adventurer tackle a problem like
that?
Kick the door in? Go to 105.
Pick the lock? Go to 139.
You can, of course, always try any other section
on Plan 1.
19
A brave decision!' exclaims one of the Argonauts.
But which inlet will you take?'
Which is, of course, the $64,000 question (or will
be when dollars are invented).
If you decide on the western inlet, go to 23.
If you head for the southern inlet, go to 33.
20
This is a smallish room, so far as you can judge,
although judging is difficult on account of the fact
that it's absolutely jam-packed with wooden
casks and barrels.
If you want to find out what's in the barrels,
knock out a wooden bung and go to 77.
If you want to find out what's in the casks,
knock out a wooden bung and go to 125.
21-23
If you couldn't care less what's in the grotty
casks and barrels, leave the bungs alone and
move on to another section of Plan 1.
21
You awaken on a rocky shore. Your body is
bruised and aching and your head feels as if it has
been put through a mincer. The weapons and
equipment you brought with you are gone with
your boat. You try to stand and stagger weakly. It
is obvious you have lost LIFE POINTS. But how
many? And can you survive? Roll two dice. The
score indicates how many LIFE POINTS you have
lost.
If the loss kills you, go to 14.
If not, hunt around until you find a piece of
driftwood which you can use as a weapon (+2
damage) then stagger off to 38.
22
Okay, so you've made up your mind to jump. Roll
two dice.
Score 6 or more and go to 54.
Score under 6 and go to 35.
23
As you pull bravely towards the inlet, a sweep of
white water across its mouth catches your
attention, and while you're new to this seafaring
business, you suspect it indicates a line of reefs.
The problem now is can you navigate them safely.
And since you have no chart to guide you, it
20 A smallish room jam-packed with wooden casks and
barrels.
24
seems to be largely a question of luck.
You could always turn back, of course. But if
you do, your crew (a superstitious lot who be-
lieve in golden sheep) will insist you leave this
island alone from now on. But the choice is
yours and you have the option of selecting
another destination from your chart.
Alternatively, you may roll two dice. Score 2-4
and go to 53. Score 5-9 and go to 63. Score 10-
12 and go to 73.
24
A seasoned adventurer like yourself will not be
totally astounded to discover this chest is trapped.
Throw one dice to determine your present level of
LUCK. Now throw another. If your second throw
is lower than your first, your LUCK holds: you
25-26
have avoided the trap and can open the chest
safely at 9.
If your second throw is higher than your first,
then start sucking your thumb, which has just
been punctured by a poison needle. You will now
lose 2 LIFE POINTS every time you visit a new
section until you die or find an anti-poison potion.
(Healing potions and salves will renew LIFE
POINTS lost by poison but will NOT cure the
poison itself.)
If you want to search the room further, go to 7.
If you want to open the new chest, go to 62.
If you want to open the battered chest, go to 72.
If you want to get out of this room, go to any
other section shown on Plan 1.
25
For a moment it looks as though you are going to
make it. Then a foothold abruptly crumbles. You
scrabble desperately at the cliff-face with your
fingernails, momentarily teeter, then plunge
downwards to the rocky valley floor beneath.
The fall costs you 15 LIFE POINTS. If this kills
you, go to 14.
If not, your troubles are only starting: go to 92.
26
'Out!!!'
The greeting comes from a fat man with a meat
cleaver, who is (perhaps fortunately for you) all
alone in what appears to be an extremely large
27 Stalacmites and stalactites seal off the entrance like a
cage.
27
kitchen. He seems to be in the process of pre-
paring food for quite a lot of people. He also seems
to resent interruption.
'Excuse me, sir,' you begin politely.
But he does not let you finish. 'Out!' he says
again. 'Out! Out! I know what you young people
are like - always trying to scrump an extra share
of nosh. Well, I won't have it! Out!'
He speaks with a most peculiar accent, as if he
wasn't a native-born Englishman and his skin is
very deeply tanned, despite the fact he's stuck in
here cooking. Odd that.
But enough of these philosophical mysteries. If
you want to search this room, you're obviously
going to have to fight the fat man. Alternatively,
you can withdraw gracefully.
If you want to withdraw gracefully, simply go
to any other section shown on Plan 1.
If you want to fight the fat man, you should
know that cleaver will do you +3 damage and
despite his size, he can hit you successfully on
a roll of 5 or better. He has 30 LIFE POINTS. IF
you kill him (or better yet, render him uncon-
scious) you can search the place at 4. If he
hacks you up with the meat cleaver, go to 14.
(If he only renders you unconscious, you can
visit any other section on Plan 1 but this one.)
27
The narrow passageway runs north-west for only
a short distance before widening, then opening
28
out into a high-roofed cavern chock-a-block with
stalactites and stalacmites.
Although it's difficult to see any exit, you recall
from the diagram that there should be one to the
west somewhere and move in that direction. Sure
enough, you find the passage leading west. You
also find a problem. The passage may have been
open when the diagram was drawn, but it is now
neatly sealed off with stalacmites and stalactites
which have grown there in the interim to form
bars across the entrance like a cage.
If you want to try smashing them in with your
makeshift club, you may proceed as follows:
There are six of the natural pillars sealing the
entrance, but a slimly handsome adventurer like
yourself will need to demolish only one of them to
squeeze through. Each pillar has a natural
STRENGTH factor which you can determine by
rolling one die. When you have determined the
STRENGTH of each, select the weakest and see if
you can break it by rolling two dice. If you score at
least 8 points more than the STRENGTH of the
pillar then it will smash. You have only one chance
to test each, but you can, if you wish, test all six.
Should you manage to break through, go to 32.
If not, your only option is to return to 48, check
the diagram and try another direction.
28
You've found something! It was half buried in a
small heap of rubble in the corner and not at all
easy to see, but your eagle eye spotted it and now
29
you are scrabbling at the rubble to find out what it
is.
Strewth, it's a crossbow! It must have been left
here by a previous adventurer, since crossbows
certainly weren't invented in this Time. But it's
definitely a crossbow and it has six bolts buried
with it in the rubble.
The crossbow is a very useful weapon here for a
variety of reasons. First off, since you can fire it
before an enemy reaches you with his sword,
you will always get first strike. Next, it is
deadly accurate, so you only need to throw a
three of better to hit. Once you do hit, those
little metal bolts will score 15 damage, what-
ever the dice show. The only bad news is that
once you have used up all six bolts, the thing is
quite useless to you since you can't make any
more and it won't fire anything else.
If you wish to go east, go to 34.
If you wish to go north, go to 36.
If you wish to go north-east, go to 55.
If you wish to go back the way you came, re-
turn to 48.
29
Vulcan flexes his muscles and moves towards
you. 'Now then,' he says, 'the ground-rules. I have
100,000 LIFE POINTS and -'
Excuse me, sir,' you interrupt. 'How many LIFE
POINTS?'
30
'One hundred thousand. It's the active life I lead. I'm
also immune to damage from weapons, even magical
weapons, so you're going to have to use your fists. I
shall be using my hammer in the contest, of course:
it's not strictly a war-hammer, but it gives +50 on
damage so it will just have to do.'
Are you sure you want the armour this badly?
You may still go back to 32 and pick another
direction.
Alternatively, the great contest with Vulcan
will take place at 144.
30
Although the spell required to get young Pip into
heroic action was pretty complicated, Merlin
anticipated no difficulties with it. He had,, after
all, managed the trick very successfully oh three
previous occasions and saw no reason why the
fourth should give him any trouble now.
Pip's body was already in Avalon, of course,
wandering about in its usual daze on the small but
well-appointed farm run by Freeman John and
Goodwife Miriam a few miles outside
Glastonbury. Pip's mind was a different matter, of
course. It was currently attached to a young per-
son living in the distant future and required to be
netted by a magical Time Warp in order to take
control of the actions of Pip during an adventure.
Time Warps are extremely advanced magic, even
for a Druid, and require considerable con-
centration if they are to function effectively. Un-
fortunately for Merlin, he was right in the middle
31-32
of this difficult operation when a scatterbrained,
young woman named Ludmilla dropped a wooden
bucket down the well.
On which ominous note it is now time to turn
to 40.
31
This is an extremely large room, almost certainly
used as communal sleeping quarters to judge by
the hammocks slung from the rafters. The room is
empty of people, but there are twelve large and
interesting chests set at intervals around the
walls.
If you fancy investigating those chests, roll two
dice.
Score 2-4 and go to 3.
Score 5-8 and go to 16.
Score 9-12 and go to 135.
If you feel you'd better not, you may go directly
to any other section in Plan 1.
32
The passageway runs westwards for quite a dis-
tance before you see light at the end - real day-
light, that is, not the grotty fungus glow that
seems to be all over this place.
You race ahead and find yourself staring down a
sheer cliff-face: the tunnel you are in opens as a
small cave-mouth in the face. For a moment you
wonder why you bothered following this route
(and also wonder, no doubt, why the coded
message should have suggested it) but then you
33 A great head emerges from the water.
33
notice the narrow ledge path which clings to the
cliff-face and leads down to the valley below. You
take it, moving cautiously, and eventually find
yourself on the valley floor.
The valley itself runs north/south, more or less.
To the south you can see smoke of some sort
rising. To the north the valley seems to open out
on to a flat, if rocky, plane.
To go south, turn to 107.
To go north, try 68.
33
Drawing steadily on the oars you approach the
southern inlet. The stretch of still water points
like a finger inwards. Beyond you can see the
barren beach and sullen pall of this lonely,
menacing island. What will you find there? What
adventures await you? What
If you had been paying attention, you might have
noticed the great head emerging out of the water
directly in front of you. It is approximately the
size of the head of a horse; and somewhat similar
in shape, except that it has the most remarkable
fangs you ever saw, fully six inches long and
dripping green slime, and it is attached to a long,
sinuous neck.
Courageously you pull the boat around and try to
run for it, but the creature moves far too swiftly
for that manoeuvre. In a moment, it has reared up
and is towering high above you, poised to strike.
You hardly need telling this is trouble. What
34
we have here is undoubtedly a sea-serpent (and
a big one). These creatures, who enjoy a
breakfast of maritime adventurer, have never
been known to give a Friendly Reaction or
accept bribes of any sort. Thus it's fight or be
eaten. The Serpent has fully 80 LIFE POINTS,
strikes on 6 or better and does +4 damage with
those fangs.
If you get really lucky and kill it, you will lose
your boat, weapons and equipment in the fight,
but you will reach shore without further hassle.
There you can use a piece of driftwood to
fashion a +2 basher, then proceed to explore
Demondim Island at 38.
If it kills you, just zip off to 14.
34
This is not, by and large, the one place you would
naturally choose for a picnic. You are in a vast
natural amphitheatre, open to the sullen sky,
with rock terraces packed to capacity with De-
mondim. The noise is terrifying, since the
creatures continually call to one another in their
weird, high-pitched, trilling voices as they leap
from terrace to terrace before squatting to regard
you grimly with those huge black orbs of eyes.
On the floor of the amphitheatre itself, lonely as a
Roman gladiator, you stand prepared for the
worst, wondering vaguely why you ever let
Merlin talk you into these lunatic adventures -
especially since the old fool can't even get his
spells right. You look around you, desperately
searching for some means of escape. But there is
34
none. The entrance to the arena is now sealed by a
solid wall of Demondim fighters, grinning muscular
creatures armed with granite clubs that look as if
they could do +10,000 damage even on a near miss.
In the exact centre of the arena is a rectangular
granite slab, suspiciously like a sacrificial altar,
with a basalt pillar set at either end. Even in your
present extremity, those pillars intrigue you, for
they do not seem to be natural formations.
Embedded in each at intervals are tiny shards of
mica and both are topped by a multi-faceted block
of crystal.
But before you have much time to contemplate
the mystery of the pillars (or worry about the
sacrificial altar, come to that), the horde of De-
mondim fall abruptly silent. You swing round at a
35
tiny sound behind you to find the Demondim
fighter guards have parted to allow the entrance of
a tall robed figure, face totally hidden by a heavy
hood through slits in which two red eyes glitter
ferally as they lock on to your own.
The figure (which seems more human than De-
mondim from its posture) walks slowly towards
you, carrying an extremely nasty looking curved
and crystal-bladed knife.
Although the Demondim seem immune to
attack, you might like to try your luck at
slaughtering this hooded figure, in which case
go to 58.
Or you could try cunning by falling down on
the ground, drumming your heels, frothing at
the mouth and generally trying to convince
these creatures you are, essentially, a harmless
lunatic. If so, go to 71.
Or you can simply wait to see how things turn
out, in which case go to 45.
35
The pain! The pain! You've done in your ankle.
Sprained it good and proper. What a grotty start to
an adventure - and not even a bandage to support
it unless you start tearing up your linen tunic
(which is the only thing that stands between you
and indecent exposure).
This means you're slowed down for the next
twelve sections, Pip. (Sprained ankles take forever
to get better.) Should you get into a fight in any of
the next twelve sections you visit, your opponent
36-37
will get two bashes at you for every one you take
at him. Life can be very unfair when you have a
duff ankle.
Now pick carefully what you are going to do next.
Try the door at 8.
Search the room at 70.
Check yourself for rabies at 50.
36
The luminous fungus is growing on the floor here
as well as the walls, giving a better general level of
illumination than the other caves you have
visited. You step forward to search and find, to
your horror, the fungus growth has completely
concealed the mouth of a narrow shaft which
plunges down into the depths of the earth and
carries you, screaming horribly, all the way to 14.
37
The Argonauts stare at you dumbfounded.
'Not land?' asks Jason.
'Not land?' growls Telamon.
'Not land?' sings Orpheus.
You shake your head firmly. 'It's too dangerous,
my trusty companions,' you say.
At which one of your trusty Argonaut com-
panions biffs you from behind with a trusty be-
laying pin, cracking your skull and sending you
directly to 14.
38
38
After all the hassle getting here, you might be
wondering why you bothered. This is quite the
grottiest island you have ever visited. The
towering cliffs you noticed when you were trying
to find a way in with your boat aren't just con-
fined to the coastline. Towering cliffs are every-
where. The island itself is almost bare of
vegetation - no more, really, than a gigantic rock
which has lurched out of the seabed. But out of
the rock have been gouged craters and valleys so
that cliff-faces seem to rise around you wherever
you go. It's also quite chill here, which is peculiar
considering the overall climate.
Wonder why it's called Demondim Isle?
You begin a systematic search, although to be
honest, you aren't all that sure any more what you
are actually searching for. You need to get back to
King Arthur's time, of course, but how to do so is
another matter. Basically you are searching for
something that might come in useful.
You enter a valley (more towering cliffs on either
side) and travel westwards until, to your chagrin,
you discover you are in a dead end. The valley
simply stops at another towering cliff to the west.
Nothing else for it but to come back the way you
came.
You turn and discover why they call this Demon-
dim Isle. No more than 200 yards away are ranged
six Demondim. The creatures are about the size of
baboons (and not unlike them in general appear-
ance). They are hairless, black skinned and
38
fearsomely fanged, moving restlessly, sometimes
upright, sometimes on all fours, but always
quietly. Their faces are almost featureless, save
for the huge black orbs which presumably serve as
eyes.
One of them moves a little forward from the pack,
stands upright and gives vent to a high-pitched
wailing howl before dropping back on all fours
and moving restlessly to join his fellows. You are
painfully aware of the cliff wall at your back, the
cliffs to your sides (not to mention the fact that
the only weapon you have handy is that stupid
driftwood club). The pack moves towards you a
few yards, then halts, and this time all six emit
that eerie, high-pitched howl. The black orbs of
their eyes seem to stare hungrily into your very
soul. Isn't this chilling?
39
You grip your club more firmly and sensibly look
around you for some means of escape. At first
there seems to be none, then suddenly you notice
a cave mouth (little more than a crack really)
about thirty feet above you in the face of the
northern cliff. Climbing to it would not be easy -
especially with a Demondim pack snapping at
your heels - but your judgement is that it would
not be impossible either.
The Demondim pack wails again and starts for-
ward in your direction, a cautious, erratic, restless
movement that will nonetheless bring them on
you within moments. This is make-your-mind-
up-time.
You may move forward bravely to meet the
Demondim, in which case go to 86.
You might try climbing up to the cave in the
hope there is a way out of this mess, in which
case go to 131.
39
You climb aboard the ship's rowboat and after a
brief hassle with Jason about who should be stuck
with the rowing (guess who loses?) you pull on the
oars and move slowly in the direction of Ship-
wreck Isle.
At first your initial impressions seem well
founded: there does not appear to be a single safe
inlet for your craft. But as you draw closer, a
strange thing happens. The rotting wrecks,
clinging like smashed skeletons to the wicked
reefs, begin to shimmer slightly.
39
'Did you see that?' you ask Jason.
'See what?' asks the Argonaut.
'Nothing,' you tell him, realizing he won't be
paying much attention with his head full of
golden sheep and beautiful princesses. But you
watch the wrecks carefully and no more than a
dozen oar strokes later, you can see the nearest of
them suddenly disappear. Even more remarkable,
the reef on which it was broken disappears as
well, leaving a clear stretch of calm sea.
You shake your head to clear it, but the sea in that
direction is definitely calm. What's more, several
other more distant wrecks are fading out as well,
so that after a few moments, you are rowing
towards a delightful sunlit isle entirely
surrounded by calm, clear seas, with not a wreck
in sight. What is happening here? Everyone saw
the wrecks and now they are gone! But gone they
are, quite definitely. It is not your imagination for
you are now rowing through the stretch where the
reefs used to be and rowing with no trouble at all.
Eventually the boat grounds on a white sand beach.
'Oh good, you got us through the reefs,' remarks
Jason as you ship the oars. With a deep sigh, you
make the boat secure and look around you. This
really is a very pleasant island. Beyond the beach,
across some rocks, the fertile grasslands begin,
studded with copses of fine trees.
You climb with Jason on to the rocks and, with
the advantage of height, you can now see a
number of well-made roads within quite easy
reach. One wends its way to an imposing mansion
40
set almost on the shore a little further down.
Another leads to a grimly imposing castle set atop
one of the hills. Another passes close by a small
farm. Another leads directly into a village where,
so far as you can tell from this distance, some sort
of activity is going on. Paths branching from the
roadways lead towards a deserted cottage, a well
of some description and a still, dark lake.
What a choice. Have a little confab with Jason,
then decide where you will go.
To reach the mansion by the shore, go to 51.
To reach the castle, go to 61.
To reach the farm, go to 112.
To reach the village, go to 65.
To reach the cottage, go to 12b0.
To reach the well, go to 97.
To reach the lake, go to 88.
Alternatively, you may simply return to your
ship and pick another destination.
40
Something wrong here. You're lying on a heap of
filthy straw in a tiny little room with a single
round window. And you're dressed funny. None of
the highly polished armour that's de rigeur in
Camelot; not even a decent Dragonskin jacket.
Instead you have on a very light (and very greasy)
linen tunic that doesn't even cover up your
knobbly knees. You've no leggings either, or boots,
come to thatonly a pair of worn leather sandals.
41
You look around for old EJ, your magical sword
that's never very far from your side, but old EJ
isn't there. What on earth has happened? Where's
Merlin? Have the Saxons overrun Avalon before
he could get you into Pip's body? Have you been
cast into some smelly dungeon to rot?
Or are you simply crazy, imagining this whole
thing? You may have a fever: it's certainly very
hot in here, far hotter than you ever remember
Camelot, even in summer. And the room seems
to be going up and down, up and down, up and
down, up and dow -. Better stop thinking of the
movement, it's making you feel quite sick.
There's a door in one wooden wall. Wooden wall?
Who ever heard of a dungeon with wooden walls?
Maybe you've fallen ill and gone mad on the farm
of your adoptive parents; an attack of rabies,
perhaps, so that they locked you away in an out-
house. But wherever you are and whatever your
situation, you really should do something. The
problem is - what ?
Do you examine your mouth to see if it's
foaming with the rabies? If so, turn to 50.
Do you try to look out through that funny little
round window? Then turn to 60.
Do you search this grotty room thoroughly by
moving on to 70.
Do you try the door by going on to 8.
41
You stare down the narrow shaft beneath its
42-43
rotted canopy of thatch and note that while the
water level is high, the water itself is scummy,
oozing slow bubbles from somewhere deep be-
neath the surface. There is a small wooden con-
tainer on a frayed rope, so you can certainly draw
up some to drink. But do you really want to?
If you decide to drink the water, go to 56.
Alternatively, you may return to 39 and pick
another direction.
42
That sheep could still get away. Roll two dice to
determine the sheep's speed. Now roll two dice on
behalf of Jason and yourself. If you took more than
three combat rounds to kill the ram in the last
section, subtract 1 from your score for every
round above three that it took. Now compare your
final figure with the sheep's speed. If your roll is
higher, go to 75. If not, you have lost the sheep.
Should you lose the sheep, you have the option
of returning to 39 and trying another des-
tination, or risking another bout with the ram
at 59.
43
This is ridiculous. The boat won't move an
inch! You pull on the oars with all your might
and the stupid thing simply will not budge.
'You try,' you tell Jason. But though his muscles
bulge and strain, he is no more successful than
you were.
Looks as though the boat idea was a bummer.
Go back to 88 and try something else.
44-45
44
There's something right at the bottom. You hurl
away bits of rotting straw with gay abandon to
find a rusty +2 dagger. Not a great weapon; and
certainly not a patch on old EJ, but at least it's
something to use in a fight. Since it's not magic
like EJ, you will need to throw a 6 on two dice to
strike something successfully and the blade will
give you 2 extra over and above any damage the
dice might show, but that's about it. Still, beggars
can't be choosers.
Now you're armed to the teeth, you can:
Try looking through the window at 60.
Test yourself for rabies at 50.
Try the door at 8.
45
The hooded figure throws back its hood to reveal a
chalk-white face with glittering red eyes and
canine fangs protruding delicately over his lower
lip. With the hood back, the robe falls open at the
neck to give a glimpse of a high wing collar and
white tie over the ruffled opera shirt.
The once-hooded figure speaks:
'What a pickle you're in, my dear young
friend,
But fear not,
Nor get hot
Under the collar
For you can bet your bottom dollar
I will save you in the end!'
45
A huge cheer erupts from the terraces of Demon-
dim. It's the Poetic Fiend - famed to every
adventurer the length and breadth of Avalon as
the worst versifier in the history of the universe.
But what on earth is he doing here, in another
Time, on Demondim Isle?
Swiftly you compose a suitable reply:
'I shall not fear,
For you were here,
Right from the start,
Oh Master of the Poetic Art!'
Not very good, but at least it's flattering, which is
all that really counts with the Poetic Fiend; and
another cheer goes up from the terraces.
'Well said!' exclaims the Fiend delightedly. 'What
a great joy for me to meet a fellow Poet. And how
our audience loves us!' He turns and bows,
smiling, to the delirious Demondim. 'Really they
do so enjoy a good rhyme. I could scarcely believe
my luck when I found this island. No sooner had I
composed my first ode for them than they made
me King and High Priest all rolled into one. A
remarkable show of appreciation. But enough of
this nostalgia: we have to get you out of here. The
last I heard, the Saxons were invading Avalon,
Excalibur had been stolen, and Merlin was
suffering from concussion, so the sooner you find
your way back the better. I wonder if you'd mind
awfully stretching out on that sacrificial altar
stone.' And he gestures vaguely with that wicked
crystal-bladed knife.
46-47
Do you go quietly and lie on the altar stone at
148?
Or do you think, 'Blow this for a melodian
band,' and take another swing at the Poetic
Fiend in the hope of making your escape! If so,
go to 141.
46
Splud. .. crunch!!
That was you diving into the water, and as you
can gather from the sound, it was not exactly up
to Olympic standards. In fact it was positively
lethal as a dive. Instead of breaking water, you
seem to have broken your neck.
Maybe you'll find an aspirin at 14.
47
Now this is interesting. Not very useful, but inter-
esting. This room is full of provisions; sacks
mainly. And when you investigate, as you surely
do, you find they're full of grains, dried fruit,
vegetables and some utterly revolting leathery
stuff which might be dried meat (or then again
might be the remains of old boots). That's about all
there is in here, apart from the poisonous spider.
The Poisonous Spider? On your bike - this means
action!
The Spider has only 6 LIFE POINTS and, since
you were very, quick to notice it, you have first
strike. As against that, if the insect survives
your blow, it will strike successfully on 5 or
48
better and kill you outright. If you squash the
Spider, you may proceed to any other section
shown on Plan 1. If not, you may proceed only
to 14.
48
Below you, the Demondim are congregated, staring
upwards and wailing, but making no attempt to
emulate your climb. You reach the cave mouth and
squeeze through without a backwards glance.
You are in a rock fissure, narrow at the mouth,
but widening slightly as it penetrates northwards.
Ahead of you, strangely, is a dim, blue-green
luminescence which, as you move forward, you
discover originates from clumps of mould and
fungus on the walls. The light it gives off is low,
but as your eyes adjust, you find it gives you at
least an outline of your surroundings.
The fissure widens again, then branches, one nar-
48
row route going to the north-west, the other, more
open, leading north-east. Although still concerned
that the Demondim may yet follow, you
nonetheless take time to consider your
alternatives. The route to the north-west is so
confined that should you meet anything, you
would scarcely have room to swing your club. The
other route is definitely wider, but if there are
enemies here it is certainly the wider route they
would use. And, of course, you have no means of
knowing where either route leads.
Or have you? Scratched on the rock wall near the
divide is a diagram which might just might be
a plan of the caves you have entered.
Study the diagram below and make your
choice.
49
49
'A Golden Sheep, eh?' you nod, narrowing your
eyes shrewdly. You glance back towards the
wreck-surrounded island where the Golden Sheep
has now disappeared from sight. 'This wouldn't
have anything to do with the special Quest you
Argonauts set yourselves before I appeared on the
scene, would it?'
'It would! It would!' shout the Argonauts delight-
edly.
'In point of fact,' says Jason, 'it is our appointed
task to rescue the Golden Fleece - preferably with
the sheep still inside - from King Colchis, a fear-
some villain we all knew lived around here
somewhere, although we didn't quite know
where. We feel it our bounden Destiny to bring
the Fleece back to Greece.'
'Why?'you ask curiously.
The Argonauts begin to giggle. 'Why? He asks
why?' they mumble delightedly, one to another.
'Yes, why?' you ask again.
The giggling dies down to be replaced by growing
frowns. After a while, Jason says uncertainly, 'I'm
not quite sure. That's simply the way it has to be.
I think it has something to do with Media.'
'Media?'
'Princess Media. King Colchis's beautiful
daughter. You know how these Quests go. Hand-
some hero. Beautiful princess. Evil enemy. Golden
sheep. They all work themselves out eventually
50-51
and give the people something to talk about.' He
gives a shy grin. 'I'm the handsome hero, actually.
I suppose -' He blushes.'- the Gods have ordained
I shall marry the beautiful princess.'
You place a friendly arm around his shoulder. 'In
that case, Jason, we shall definitely have to get to
that island and catch the Golden Sheep. I don't
think we dare risk the ship any closer, but with
luck the rowboat may make it through. I am will-
ing to make the attempt and you, at least, shall
certainly come with me.'
'Thank you, Captain! Thank you! Thank you!'
And to your profound embarrassment, Argonaut
Jason kisses you on both cheeks.
'Save that for the princess,' you tell him
brusquely. 'Now let's get the boat launched and
see if there is some way on to that island.'
Which you do. But now you need to turn to 39
to find out if there is any practical means of
reaching the island.
50
Nope, no foam. So you aren't rabid (yet). But the
room's still going up and down and it's still hot.
Will you:
Try to look through the window at 60?
Try the door at 8?
Search the room at 70?
51
What an imposing edifice. Corinthian pillars,
flying buttresses, Grecian arches, bas reliefs, tiled
51 The building has a certain grandeur... but will you enter?
52-53
mosaics, fluted columns and baroque murals are
all featured in the structure, certain indication
that the architect was drunk. But drunk or not, it
has a certain grandeur and it must have cost a
fortune to erect.
There are no guards that you can see, nor is there
any sound from within. Should you enter?
If you decide to do so, turn to 96.
If not, you can always return to 39 and try
another destination.
52
A locked door, which presumably means some-
thing absolutely fascinating inside. Roll two dice
to find out if you can get through it.
Score 26 and the answer's no: you may never
enter this room - although you may, of course,
try any other room shown on Plan 1.
Score 712 and race off rejoicing to 6.
53
You have scarce made your decision when a
current seizes your little craft, carrying you swiftly
towards the white water and the reefs. Frantically
you pull on the oars, but it takes no more than an
instant to discover you are out of control. The
rowboat smashes into an underwater reef and
spins, miraculously escaping serious damage. But
no sooner are you congratulating yourself than it
strikes another. Still no serious damage, but now
you are in the midst of a churning maelstrom.
54-55
Craash! You are flung from your craft into the icy
torrent. You gasp and breathe water. Coughing,
you surface momentarily in time to see your boat
smash to pieces. For an instant you catch a glimpse
of the golden hull of the mother ship - alas, too
distant to give you aid. You sink again, lungs near
to bursting, but fight your way back to the surface.
Desperately you try to swim, to hit out for shore.
An errant wave seizes you and flings you bodily on
to a half-submerged rock. You strike your head a
fearsome blow and suddenly all noise and
movement ceases. There is only blackness . . .
Only one option here go to 21.
54
You catch a brief glimpse of clear blue sky and
bright sunshine before a splash of water catches
you in the eye.
Not much to go on and you can make of it what
you will. Now stop acting like a jack-in-the-box
and do something sensible.
Check yourself out for rabies at 50.
Search the room at 70.
Try the door at 8.
55
It's quite bright in here: very bright in fact. The
light is coming from what looks like a lava pool
bubbling in the very centre of this cavern.
Cautiously you approach the pool, half convinced
the heat will keep you from the edge. But in fact
56-57
the fiery surface of the pool lies some ten to
fifteen feet down a natural shaft, so that while you
are sweating profusely by the time you reach the
edge, you remain unburned.
You peer over curiously. At that precise instant,
the lava erupts, throwing an absolutely delightful
and spectacular fountain of fire upwards. You
appreciate the memory of this natural wonder all
the way to 14.
56
There's a turn-up: it's a healing draught! One good
swig and you have restored a double dice roll of
LIFE POINTS. Unfortunately the water loses its
power if you try to take it away from here, but if
you're prepared to risk the quicksand, you can
always come back via 39 while you remain on this
island.
Now better return, invigorated, to 39 and de-
cide where to go next.
57 B**
Here's trouble. One glance tells you instantly that
this is a guardroom. Another glance tells you in-
stantly there are twelve guards in here. A third
glance tells you instantly they are not at all
pleased to see you.
You're free to try Bribery, if you have any
money. Those who accept a bribe will not harm
you.
You're also free to try for a Friendly Reaction,
which may cut down the odds a bit.
58
You may decline to fight and pretend you've
simply lost your way, in which case the guards
will beat you up and throw you out for the loss
of 10 LIFE POINTS (which may kill you, of
course, in which case go to 14).
You may decide to fight, in which case you are
welcome to collect 10 gold pieces from every
Guard you slaughter; or, if you lose, you will be
equally welcome at 14. Each Guard has 15
LIFE POINTS, each hits on 5 or better with a
+2 sword and wears 2 leather armour. If you
win, return to your Plan.
58
'Ayah-splat!!' you shriek, using your best martial
arts warcry as you fling yourself upon the hooded
figure, who, however, dodges nimbly aside. An
excited trilling erupts from the Demondim
terraces, but the fighter guards (rather
surprisingly) make no move to interfere with you.
'Stop and desist, Adventurer Bold,' exclaims the
hooded figure. 'For though you find yourself in
days of old, this impetuous move may yet prove
not exactly worth its weight in gold.'
What an odd thing to say! But odd or not, will
you take the advice and stop attacking the
hooded figure? If so, go to 45.
If you prefer to continue with the attack, go to
143.
If you decide belatedly that you are going to
pretend to be a lunatic, go to 71.
59
59
Feeling like a complete idiot, you step on to the
surface of the dark and threatening lake. Reflex
action causes you to hold your nose and stiffen in
certain anticipation of being swallowed by the
waters. But nothing happens. The water feels as
firm underfoot as an English meadow.
Cautiously you step forward. It's still firm!
'Eeeeeyaaaa!' With an excited howl, Jason streaks
past you heading for the flock of sheep. With just
the barest hesitation, you race after him. As you
do so, the lake seems to fade and you are running
headlong over a grassy plain. The lake was a
magical illusion!
But the sheep are real enough; and now you are
racing closer, you can see there is definitely a
Golden Sheep in the centre of the flock.
Can you catch it? That excited cry of Jason's has
60
spooked the whole flock good and proper. They
are milling around a bit at the moment in the
stupid way sheep do, but they're bound to find
somebody to follow soon, in which case you
might never reach them.
Suddenly the flock divides. The Golden Sheep
bounds off towards a distant clump of trees. You
must head off the creature before it reaches them,
otherwise you might lose it forever.
But before you can even make the attempt,
you're going to have to do something about the
giant Ram which is now thundering towards
you, intent on guarding his flock. The Ram has
30 LIFE POINTS, strikes successfully on 5 and
can do ferocious +4 damage with his horns. As
against that, there are two of you to fight him.
If the Ram wins, go to 14. If you kill the Ram
between you in three rounds or less then you
can chase the Golden Sheep to 42. If it takes
you more than three rounds to kill the Ram,
you can still go on to 42, but you may find it
more difficult to catch the sheep.
(In this instance, your dice roll, Jason's dice roll
and the Ram's dice roll together count as one
round of combat.)
60
The window's a bit too high to see out. You could
try jumping, of course, although it could be tricky
with the room moving up and down.
Will you try jumping? If so go to 22.
Do you check yourself for rabies at 50?
61-62
Or try the door at 8?
Or search the room at 70?
61
The castle looms grimly over you as you
approach. It is solidly built from granite slabs, a
sinister collection of Gothic spires and turrets,
vaguely reminiscent of the Castle of Darkness
where you once put paid to the Wicked Wizard
Ansalom. The recollection makes you hesitate
momentarily, but where a lesser adventurer
might have run off screaming, you are made of
sterner stuff and press on stupidly.
Hiss-thud! It sounds as though an arrow has just
whizzed past your ear and buried itself in a tree.
But when you look round there is no sign of it.
You press on.
Hiss-thud! Another arrow? Again you turn, but
can see no sign of the missile. All the same, it
might be time to have second thoughts about this
place.
If you want to go on, turn to 126.
If you prefer to turn back, you can pick another
destination from 39.
62
Wow! Gold! There are 1,000 gold pieces in here!
All yours now. Heh! Heh! Heh!
If you want to open the skull and crossbones
chest, go to 24.
If you want to open the battered chest, go to 72.
63-65
If you want to search the room further, go to 7.
If you want to go somewhere else, go to any
section shown on Plan 1.
63
Swiftly, decisively, you turn your boat in the
direction of the reefs. Bravely you pull on the oars.
Terrifyingly your craft is seized by a current.
Closer and closer you race towards the white
water. . .
You really don't want a graphic description of
what happens next, do you? You just slip away
quietly to 14.
64
This place is full of foodstuffs - sacks of grain,
dried fruit, vegetables and what looks like dried
meat. Have a little munch on anything you fancy
before moving on to any other section shown on
Plan l.
65
What's going on here? You set out for a village and
you've ended up in a pigsty! No question about it.
The moment you set foot within the boundaries
of that pleasant little village, it turned into a
monumental pigsty. Full of pigs, too, although
they're nothing to worry about.
What you do have to worry about is the Boar. It
is ignoring Jason and attacking you. It has 35
LIFE POINTS, strikes on 5 and can gore you
with +3 tusks. If you kill the beast you may
return to 39 to pick a new destination or turn to
66-67
76 if you fancy searching the sty. If the beast
kills you, all you'll find is 14.
66
You negotiate the wider passage to the north-east
without incident until it opens abruptly into a
large cavern. Now that your eyes have become
accustomed to the fungus glow, you notice im-
mediately that this cavern has three exits a
passageway leading due east, a passageway
leading almost due north, and a third opening,
wider than the others, that seems to lead into a
second, smaller cavern to the north-east.
If you wish to go east, go to 34.
If you wish to go north, go to 36.
If you wish to go north-east, go to 55.
If you wish to search the cavern you are in, go
to 151.
67 B**
The door opens easily enough, but as you step
inside, you can see a series of three further barred
doors, with a villainous-looking Guard before
each.
If you want to find out what's behind those
barred doors, it looks as though you will have
to fight the Guards. Each has 25 LIFE POINTS
and carries a short sword which will do +2
damage and a shield which will save them 2
damage. Fortunately they're a bit arrogant and
will elect to fight you one at a time if you
attack, which could be their fatal mistake (or
67 The Guards will fight you one at a time.
68
yours). If you fight and lose, go to 14. If you fight
and win against all three, go to 95.
Alternatively you may Bribe the guards with a
bit of luck, if you happen to have any money.
Or you may tug your forelock, smile ing-
ratiatingly, cringe a little and back out to try
another section of Plan 1.
What you can't do is get a Friendly Reaction:
these three are too bad-tempered for that.
68
As you reach the rock-strewn plain at the head of
the valley, the glint of water catches your eye.
You move in that direction and find yourself on a
narrow strip of sandy shore.
Before you stretches the ocean with the great
golden ship standing at anchor near the horizon,
patiently awaiting your return. And before you
too is the most exciting find you could possibly
imagine: a rowboat, swept up on the beach!
Breathlessly you rush to the rowboat, half thinking
it might be holed. But a quick examination shows
it is intact. Even the oars are there, ready to take
you away from this dangerous isle.
You climb in delightedly and are just fitting the oars
to the rowlocks when your eye catches a scrap of
paper in the bottom of the boat. Curiously you pick it
up and read the writing scrawled on its surface:
Farewell, young friend! We should have
met
69
But we can meet yet
Should you pronounce the magic word
Which will let you fly like a bird
To somewhere never seen before -
The horrid 34.
Think well before you utter it:
The Word is called PRODUCTOVIT!
The note is unsigned, probably a forgery and
certainly very dangerous advice. However, the
choice is yours as always.
If you pronounce the magic word PRO-
DUCTOVIT go direct to 34.
If you feel you should get back to the Argonauts
and your ship, simply row away. When you have
reached the ship (which you will do in a very
short space of time) you may consult the Sea
Chart and navigate to a new destination.
The magic word PRODUCTOVIT works only
once, but it does work. This means that if you
decide NOT to use it straight away, you can
still use it once at any time during your adven-
ture even during combat to transport you
directly to the mysterious 34. This could be
worth remembering, so take a note of the word
and the section it leads to if you decide to row
back to your ship.
69
You just got lucky. There's one hidden in a clump
of bushes not more than a hundred yards from
where you were standing. And not even a dice roll
needed to find it.
70
You examine the boat carefully, convinced this
has been just too easy, but it seems sound enough:
all the timbers are intact and there are even two
oars stashed neatly inside.
There might be one small problem,'though: it
looks a fairly heavy boat and you are going to
have to carry it to the water's edge. Throw one
die to calculate the weight of the boat. Now
throw one die for yourself and one for Jason. If
your score plus Jason's score is higher than the
boat's score, then you can carry it between you
to 43. If not, you'll have to go back to 88 and
decide on another course of action.
70
It's not difficult to search, since there isn't a
single stick of furniture in the place. Not a chair,
not a couch, not a table, not a cupboard. In fact the
only place you can search is the filthy straw
you're lying on.
You scrabble about (feeling even sicker from the
smell of the straw) and discover a battered metal
goblet and a wooden plate, neither very clean. You
also discover a half-eaten jam butty, now a little
mouldy round the edges. Is it really worthwhile
searching through this rubbish tip?
If you continue searching, turn to 44.
Or check yourself for rabies at 50.
Or look through the window at 60.
Or try the door at 8.
71-73
71
You place a thumb in each ear and waggle your
hands. You jump up and down on the spot three
times. You wobble your lower lip with your fore-
finger while making a funny noise. You cross your
eyes while scratching underneath each armpit in
the manner of a monkey. You fall down on your
back and lie there rigid, staring up at the sky.
The hooded figure bends over you curiously. 'I say
there, are you all right?' he asks.
That voice sounds terribly familiar.
Go at once to 45.
72
This chest is locked. To find out if you have the
SKILL to open it, throw a die. Now throw another.
If your first roll is greater than your second, you
may open the chest at 17. If not, you'll have to
leave it.
If you want to search the room further, go to 7.
If you want to try opening the skull and cross-
bones chest, go to 24.
If you want to try opening the new chest, go to
62.
If you want to go elsewhere, go to any section
shown on Plan 1.
73
Your keen eyes spot an area of calm in the white
water. Struggling with the oars, you manage to
reach it. The going is easier now and soon you are
74
approaching the barren shore. High cliffs enclose
you on both sides. You strain at the oars, ex-
citement rising.
Suddenly your boat jars, splinters, overturns! Your
world changes in the instant. You are in the water,
fighting for your very life. A current seizes you and
sweeps you onward. High breakers carry you for-
ward and fling you breathless on the rocky shore.
You pick yourself up and find, to your surprise,
that you are uninjured. But your weapons and
equipment have been lost with your boat.
Cunningly you search around until you find a
piece of driftwood which will make a +2 club.
Then you set out to explore Demondim Island
at 38.
74
There's a whole lot of gear in here. A lot of it
could be quite useful to an adventurer like your-
self. You might reckon on carrying half a dozen
items before you collapse with exhaustion, so
pick carefully. In the room are:
Rope (50ft coil)
Grappling hook
Backpack
Flint and steel (for lighting fires)
Drinking horn
Blowing horn (i.e. a sort of trumpet)
Small, ornamentally carved rosewood box
(empty)
Packet of salt crystals
Bone needle and spool of rough thread
Cooking utensils
73 Sheer cliffs on either side and a narrow passage to
navigate.
75
Leather belt
Spare sandals
Spare tunic
Container of olive oil
Ceramic lamp
Wooden mallet
Bone saw (i.e. a saw made from bone, NOT a
saw for cutting bone)
Box of biscuits
Kite
Goosefeather quill and parchment
Small drum (musical variety)
When you've picked six, take them with you to
any other section of Plan 1.
75
'We've caught it!' Jason roars excitedly as he
brings down the sheep in a rugby tackle.
'Yes,' you agree with a little less enthusiasm since
you aren't quite so hung up on sheep as the
Argonaut.
'Well, now you've done your macho bit, perhaps
you could see your way to taking your great ugly
hands off me,' says the sheep coldly.
Jason leaps back as if stung. (And even you,
hardened adventurer though you are, are just a
little surprised.) 'You can talk!' Jason stammers.
'Of course I can talk!' snaps the sheep (which has
quite an upper-crust accent now you come to
listen carefully).
75
A thought suddenly occurs to you. That old fool
back in Avalon was always big into shape shifting.
'Excuse me,' you say, 'but you aren't Merlin, by
any chance?'
'Don't be ridiculous!' the sheep tells you shrilly.
'My name is Media.'
Jason falls back even further, a stricken look on
his handsome features. 'Princess Media?' he
gasps.
'Quite.'
'But what are you doing in the shape of a sheep?'
'I'm not in the shape of a sheep,' says Princess
Media. 'I merely look as though I'm in the shape
of a sheep. There's a big difference.'
'Is there?' Jason frowns stupidly.
'Of course there is. My father, King Colchis, is a
most remarkable illusionist a rather specialized
type of wizard, you appreciate. He has spells going
all over this island, so almost nothing is what it
seems to be. Pigsties look like villages, palaces
look like hovels, plains look like l akes. . . he's
even made the calm seas look like rocks around
the island: it stops people bothering us. You are
the first visitors we've had for nearly fifteen
years.'
But why has he made you look like a sheep?'
Jason asks, then adds as an afterthought, 'Your
Highness.'
Because I am stunningly beautiful,' says Princess
Media matter-of-factly. 'If men knew how
75
beautiful I was, we'd have invasions all the time,
illusionary rocks or not. Look what happened to
Troy, just because of Fair Helen.'
'But don't you mind looking like a sheep?' Jason
asks.
'Not in the least. Besides, I only look like a sheep
to outsiders. All the people who live here see me
as I really am. That ram you fought was my latest
boyfriend, actually: a young noble by the name of
Pericles.'
'I'm sorry,' says Jason, looking sheepish.
To divert this embarrassing turn in the con-
versation, you ask curiously, 'Why is your fleece
golden?'
'I'm wearing a yellow sweater,' says the Princess.
She sighs. 'Oh, I suppose I'd better break the illus-
ion and let you see me the way I really am or
you'll never be satisfied.' And with a wave of her
front hoof, she transforms into one of the most
stunningly beautiful young women you have ever
set eyes on.
Jason stares at her thunderstruck for a moment,
then asks,'Will you marry me?'
'Now, just a moment, Jason -' you begin, for in
truth you are not at all sure this Media would
make a good wife for Jason, Princess or not.
But Media is shaking her head in any case. 'Don't
be silly,' she tells him severely. 'I have no in-
tension of marrying anybody until I'm too old to
have fun any more. But you can have my sweater
as a keepsake, if you like. I have a tunic on under-
75
neath, so I shan't catch cold.' With which she
peels off the sweater and tosses it to him before
racing off towards a clump of trees which are
probably an illusionary herd of deer.
Jason stares after her open-mouthed, then turns to
you. 'What shall I do? She has stolen my heart
away.!'
'Pull yourself together, man!' you tell him firmly.
'Your life would be a misery married to her.
You've got the Golden Sweater now: be content
with that.'
'No no - I shall pursue her to the ends of the
Earth. I shall conquer lands for her. I shall fight
foes for her. I shall trek across deserts for her. I
shall battle through flames for her. I shall -'
'Not on my time you won't!' you snap, utterly fed
76-77
up with this lovesick lunatic. 'Right now, we
shall return to 39 and see if there is anything more
worth exploring on this stupid island; and if not,
we will return to the Argo.'
76
This is not a particularly pleasant place to search.
(But maybe you didn't think it would be.)
Nonetheless you do find something: a little
golden key, very small - like something you
would see on a charm bracelet.
Keep it carefully and return to 39 where you
can decide on somewhere else to go.
77
You knock out a wooden bung and a clear liquid
gushes out, splashing all over your legs. Within
seconds, you are standing in a widening pool,
trying desperately to stuff the bung back in and
wondering why you can't leave things alone.
What's this?' demands an angry voice behind
you. 'Wasting water, is it? Splice my mainbrace,
but you'll be in trouble for that!'
You turn to find yourself confronted by a grizzled
(and deeply tanned), villainous-looking old sea
dog. He is wearing a tunic much like your own,
sandals much like your own and a kerchief tied
around his forehead. More to the point, he is
carrying a nasty-looking club which would
certainly give him +1 on damage should he decide
to strike you with it.
'A quick bash with my club is what you need,
78-79
young 'un, to teach you a lesson,' he says and
leaps towards you.
If you want to fight this old sea dog to the
death, you are quite at liberty to do so. He has
25 LIFE POINTS and, as you suspected, does
+1 damage with his club. He strikes success-
fully on a 6 or better; and since he surprised
you messing about with the water barrel, he
will have first strike. If you kill him, or render
him unconscious, you may proceed to another
section of Plan 1: If he kills you, you may pro-
ceed to 14.
If you decide not to fight, he will bash you
once with his club, deducting exactly 4 of your
LIFE POINTS in the process, sling you out of
the water store into the corridor, lock the water
store behind him, then leave through the door
to 5. This leaves you free to go anywhere on
Plan 1 except 20.
78
Frowning, you step forward, your feet echoing on
the floor. At once the entire place caves in, giving
you a fleeting glimpse of a ramshackle, jerry-built
structure, not at all what you had been looking at,
before you plunge headlong to the dreaded 14.
79
If these islands were called the Five Toes instead
of the Five Fingers, this one would be the little
piggie who went 'wee-wee-wee' all the way home.
It's the Little Finger Island, or the Pinkie Island, or
whatever you want to call it. Which all suggests
79
correctly - that it's small. Too small for the
mother ship to dock, so you make your approach
by rowboat and alone, since there is no sense in
subjecting the crew to danger. Not that there is
much indication of danger. This speck in the
ocean looks as peaceful as a village green in
Avalon.
You beach and secure your boat carefully like the
trusty mariner you are learning to be. Then you
look around you. Tiny though it is, the island is
fertile. Apart from a narrow strip of sand, grass
and shrubs grow everywhere.
You climb on to a nearby height, the better to view
the whole. And, somewhat to your surprise, you
find this island is not uninhabited. Or at least it
wasn't. Set somewhere near the centre is a massive
trilithon: two standing stones with a third across
the top, rather like those ancient monuments of
the Giant's Dance on Salisbury Plain in Avalon. To
the north of this structure is another, a ring fort
earthwork with a single standing stone set central.
And unless it is a trick of the light, you can see a blue
light playing around the trilithon and a green light
dancing above the standing stone of the ring fort.
If you decide to investigate the ring fort, go to
179.
If you decide to investigate the trilithon, go to
91.
If you decide to investigate neither, you can
still return to your ship, consult your Sea Chart
and sail off somewhere else.
79 At the centre of the island is a massive trilithon.
80-81
80 B***(each)
This door opens into another hallway. There is
a door to the north to 110, a door to the west to
136, a door to the south to 160 and (heh, heh) a
broad flight of marble stairs leading upwards.
But before you go racing off to explore further,
there is the small matter of the two guards. They
are both quite massive women, dark haired, beetle
browed and armed with, of all things, +4
battleaxes. Each has 25 LIFE POINTS and strikes
successfully on 5 or better. They are standing, as
it happens, at the foot of the stairs, but they do not
seem disposed to let you go anywhere, let alone,
up them.
If you succeed in getting past these Amazons,
you may leave the hallway to any of the
sections mentioned: or, alternatively, climb
the stairs to 98.
If the Amazons kill you, go to 14.
Note Should you decide to return to this
section for any reason, you will find the guards
have been replaced.
81
Trudge trudge trudge... Northwards you go,
with no company other than the sound of the
birds in the branches, hassling interminably about
who owns the particular tree.
Trudge trudge trudge . . . Still nothing of interest.
This is the sort of place that could bore you to
death.
81
'I say, you down there!'
You stop abruptly and look around. There is no
one in sight.
Tip here,' calls the voice. 'Up above you.'
You look up into the branches of an overhanging
tree, but there is no one there. Frowning, you look
around you again.
'No, no - up here!' insists the voice.
You look up again, but there is no one in the
branches except a pair of small, dun-coloured
birds. You look around you again.
'I say, will you kindly have the decency to look at
me while I'm talking to you!'
It's one of the birds! One of the birds is talking to
you!
81
'I'm sorry,' you say, wondering if it could be an
oddly shaped parrot. 'I didn't realize it was you.'
'Quite all right, Old Thing. I was just wondering if
you could settle an argument between my col-
league and myself.'
'I'll certainly try,' you tell the little bird, bemused
by this turn of events.
'Well,' says the bird, 'we got tired of squabbling
about "who owns this stupid branch, so we set to
discussing classical mythology. (We're extremely
well-educated birds, you appreciate.) Specifically,
we set to discussing the Cyclops. You've heard of
the Cyclops, haven't you?'
'Yes,'you say, poker-faced.
'Most interesting chappie,' continues the little
bird, 'and quite an ornithologist in his own small
way. However, after we'd discussed the Cyclops
for a little while, we had a minor disagreement.
We could not decide how many eyes he has.' The
bird cocks its head to one side and regards you
beadily. 'Can you help us?'
'Yus,' puts in the second bird before you have
time to answer. 'Orl we want to know is 'ow
many eyes this Cyclist bloke 'as. If you can tell us
the right answer, we'll tell you 'ow to get yer
grubby little 'ands on sqmefing valuable.'
You stare at these two peculiar birds, trying to
remember all you ever learned about the Cyclops.
If you think the monster has one eye, go to 99.
If you think he has two, go to 157.
82-83
If you think he has three, go to 181.
82
You're in luck: the snake slithers away without
biting you. Unfortunately you're not in luck with
the chest, since, like the others, it contains only
old clothes and worthless belongings.
Better get out of here before any more snakes
turn up. You may go to any other section of
Plan 1.
83
You have entered a large, crystalline cavern,-
glinting blue sparkles from walls, floor, and high,
vaulting roof. As you move forward cautiously,
the sound of your footsteps, muted though they
are, echoes to set up a high, soft, musical
vibration which sings pleasantly in your ears.
Set in the centre of the cavern is a blue crystalline
slab, cut and polished like a giant gemstone. On
the slab is a transparent box, within which you
can see a massive blue-green egg. Inlaid in the lid
of the box are three coloured squares, one red, one
green, one blue. Something tells you that pressing
these squares will open the box. But in what
order?
If you press red, followed by green, followed by
blue, go to 164.
If you press green, followed by red then blue, go
to 175.
If you press blue, then red, then green go to 188.
84
If you press red, then blue, then green go to 121.
If you press green, blue, red, then go to 134.
If you press blue, green, red, then go to 108.
84
'Ahoy there!' you call. 'Don't think you can
frighten me with that ghostly bow. Your ghostly
arrows will go right through me without doing
any damage!'
'That's true,' agrees the Phantom Archer in
sepulchral tones. 'As against that, my ghostly
touch is so chilling that I can drain half your
present LIFE POINTS every time I get my hands
on you!' With which he drops his phantom bow
and launches himself upon you with bare (and
somewhat transparent) hands.
No getting out of this one. Your only con-
solation is that he can't actually kill you since
dividing your current LIFE POINTS in half,
however often it happens, will never reduce
them to zero. But he could render you uncon-
scious, in which case you will come to at 39
and be forever debarred from visiting the
ruined castle again. If, however, you kill the
ghost (in a manner of speaking) you are free to
explore the ruin at 173.
The Phantom Archer has 35 LIFE (?) POINTS and
hits successfully on 8 or better, removing half
your current LIFE POINTS on each successful
strike whatever the dice show.
84 The Archer launches himself upon you!
85-87
85
It's empty. What a swiz! You've searched every
inch of this stupid island and there's not a thing
on it. Some pleasant scenery, of course - glades,
brooks, waterfalls, that sort of thing, but no trea-
sure, no weapons, no magic, no monsters. Zilch.
Except for the well shaft in the north-west
segment. Somebody made that well at some time,
although there certainly isn't anybody about here
now. Still, it might be worth a look. Or then
again, it might be a waste of time.
If you want to examine the old well more
closely, go to 129.
If not, return to your ship and Sea Chart and
pick another destination.
86
The creatures hesitate at your brave move and for
a moment it seems as though they might actually
be considering a retreat. But they carefully count
how many of you there are and when they fail to
get higher than one, they break into a delighted
wailing and rush towards you swiftly.
Staunchly you grip your makeshift club and
prepare to do battle at 92.
87 B***(each)
With your eyes fixed firmly on the doorway
ahead, you can see there are no guards
approaching, so your decision seems sound.
Carefully, slowly, you cross the walkway, senses
alert, never taking your eyes off the doorway.
88
Which probably explains why you never noticed
the flying Harpies who are now swooping down
on you from above.
Harpies are not the most pleasant of monsters
since their talons cause +3 damage. There are
three of them altogether: more than enough
since each has 25 LIFE POINTS. Worse still,
they hit on 5 or better and, because they can
manoeuvre easily in three dimensions, they are
extremely difficult to hit - requiring you to roll
8 or better for a successful strike. Apart from
that and the fact you lost any chance of
surprise by watching that stupid door, you
have nothing to worry about.
If you survive the Harpies, you may proceed
recklessly to 160. If not, there are worse places
than 14. (Not much worse, of course...)
88
There is definitely something peculiar about this
place. As a seasoned adventurer, you've seen dark
stretches of water before - lots of them. You've
seen boats on them and birds on them and even
the occasional Loch Ness type monster on them,
but this is the first time you've ever seen one that
grazed a flock of sheep!
You blink twice and rub your eyes, but the sheep
are definitely there, calmly grazing on the surface
of the lake. You glance across at Jason, who is
staring slack-jawed, just as amazed as you are, so
presumably he is seeing the same thing.
The flock moves restlessly and from somewhere
89
in its centre the sun picks out a glint of gold.
Jason's jaw closes with an audible snap. 'The
Golden Fleece!' he hisses excitedly. He turns and
grips you by the lapels (or at least by where the
lapels would be if you weren't wearing a Grecian
tunic). 'You said we could go after the Fleece! You
did! You promised! You promised we could go
after the Golden Fleece!'
'Calm yourself, man,' you tell him sternly. 'Of
course we shall go after the Fleece.'
But how? That dark, water looks miles deep and
the flock is grazing so far out that swimming the
distance could be tricky. Maybe you could walk
across - the sheep seem to be doing all right. Or
perhaps it would make more sense to look around
for a boat.
If you decide to swim, dive in at 64.
If you want to try walking, stride forward to 59.
If you prefer to search for a boat, a good place to
look would be 69.
89
What a pleasant room - a private temple of some
sort to judge by its appearance. The walls are
painted light blue, as is the ceiling; and there is a
blue carpet on the floor.
Towards the centre of the room stands a twin pair
of blue crystalline pillars and behind them a blue
altar. Blue light shimmers between the pillars,
casting a pool of illumination on the carpet. On
89 On the altar stands a crystal chalice.
90
the altar stands a crystal chalice which contains
liquid of some description.
Interesting options here. You can, of course,
simply leave the way you came in without
doing anything, in which case turn to 110.
Alternatively, you can try drinking the liquid in
the chalice, in which case you have two further
options:
1. Approach the chalice through the pillars, which
means standing in the pool of blue light.
2. Reach the chalice by going around the pillars
and thus avoiding the blue light completely.
If you decide on the first course, go to 176.
If you decide on the second, go to 130.
90
This really is superb wine. Slips down like
lemonade (and in huge quantities, too, since
you've no chance of only sipping from the gushing
stream). You glug some more. Perhaps a
Montrachet '69, or possibly a Chateauneuf du
Pape '82 . . . or, indeed, a-
'Here, what do you thing you're at, young 'un?'
You turn (a little unsteadily) to confront a grizzled
(and deeply tanned) old sea dog wearing a tunic
much like your own, with a kerchief tied around
his forehead and carrying a club.
'Whosh yoush?' you ask him, slurring your words
just a little. 'Where sham I?'
'Drunken scoundrel!' roars the old sea dog.
91
'Should be ashamed of yourself at your age! What
you need is a clip round the earhole with my
trusty club!'
With which he approaches you menacingly.
If you want to fight this old man to the death,
you are quite at liberty to do so. He has 25 LIFE
POINTS and does +1 damage with his club. He
strikes successfully on a 6 or better; and since
he surprised you messing about with the wine
casks, he will have first strike. Furthermore,
since you are well gone with the drink, you will
miss every second strike whatever the dice
show. If you kill him, or render him uncon-
scious, you may proceed to another section of
Plan 1. If he kills you, you may proceed to 14.
If you decide not to fight, he will bash you once
with his club, deducting exactly 4 of your LIFE
POINTS in the process, sling you out of the
wine store into the corridor, lock the store be-
hind him, then leave through the door to 5.
This leaves you free to go anywhere on Plan 1
except 20
91
As you approach the trilithon, you can see the
blue light was no illusion: it dances over the en-
tire structure, forming a sheet of light between
the two uprights. The only thing is, are you pre-
pared to enter that blue light by passing through
the structure itself?
If you decide to enter the blue light, go to 185.
If not, you'll find little else of interest here, so
92-93
you may as well return to 79 and pick another
option.
92
You roll your dice, record a massive hit and swing
your club. A jarring shudder half paralyses your
arm as the club makes contact with a Demondim
head. But the creature only grins at you, un-
harmed.
Swiftly you swing again: and again the dice indi-
cate a hit with damage. But again the creature
only grins at you, obviously unhurt. You swing at
another and another, striking .successfully each
time, but scoring no damage whatsoever. These
Dim are absolutely immune to your attacks!
The six circle you, then close in efficiently,
calling out to one another in their eerie, high-
pitched voices.
With nothing better to do, you keep on
swinging, but the pack grab you with steely
fingers, lift you bodily from the ground and
carry you off to 34.
93
You seem to have been walking forever when you
reach the western coast. A bit of disappointment
that since there was absolutely nothing of interest
to you along the way.
All the same, there is a boat here, a trim little
vessel painted black (for some reason) and decor-
ated with curious symbols. You examine it
carefully, noting it has no sail or oars. It seems
94-95
seaworthy enough if you could find some means
of propelling it. Wonder who left it here?
If you decide to enter the black boat, go to 166.
If not, you'll have to trudge all the way back to
127 and pick another option.
94
You've found a little golden key! What a curious
place to hide it. There's no indication of what it
might be used for, but best to keep it carefully.
Now return to 160 and make your way from
there.
95
The cell behind the first of the three barred doors
is empty. Not a good start after all that hassle
with the guards. But wait - behind the second
door, squashed into the small space, are twelve
handsome, square-jawed, clean cut, fair-haired
men, muscular as athletes, but unarmed and fast
asleep. Nor are your attempts to wake them
(calling, shaking and the odd gentle kick) in any
way successful.
You proceed, for want of anything better to do, to
the third door. . .
Thank the gods!' exclaims the handsome, square-
jawed, clean-cut, dark haired man within. 'Have
you come to rescue my trusty crew and myself?'
'Well, yes, I suppose so,' you say hesitantly. 'But
who are you?'
'Jason,' replies the man. 'I am - or was - Captain
95
of this vessel until it was boarded by those
scumbags of pirates, three of whom I perceive you
have but recently slain. These villains drugged my
trusty Argonauts and thus seized the ship for their
own nefarious purposes, unconnected with the
noble quest for the Golden Fleece which we
perceived to be our destiny. Thus it was that those
of my Argonauts who were not killed were in-
carcerated (as was I) within the confines of these
miserable cells, fed but infrequently on pigswill,
deprived of all but bilgewater to drink, beaten
senseless each hour on the hour at the whim of
our brutish gaolers, tormented by vermin and lice,
deprived of sleep, threatened constantly with
death, tortured -'
'Yes, yes,' you put in quickly, having got the pic-
ture. 'I can appreciate your problems. My problem
is I cannot wake your men, and if we are to tackle
an entire pirate crew, then we are going to need
every man we can get.'
But even as you speak, your mind is reeling.
Jason? Argonauts? Golden Fleece? You'd
suspected you were on board a ship, of course, but
this isn't any ship of Avalon, or even of Saxon
invaders. You seem to have ended up somewhere
in ancient Greece! What a monumental screw-up
this has turned out to be! Merlin's fault, no doubt,
although you'll have to wait to find out all the
facts.
'Fear not on that score, Noble Rescuer!' exclaims
Jason 'For I have secreted in my sandal a magical
conch shell which, having one charge remaining,
will awaken my valiant followers on the instant
95
and, incidentally, completely cure anybody
within earshot from the effects of poison.'
So saying, he removed from his sandal a large
seashell (which must have been absolutely
crippling him), places it to his lips and blows a
penetrating blast.
At once the sleeping beauties in the other cell
wake up (and any poisoned misfortunate in the
area is instantly cured). Jason turns to you. 'We
are indebted to you for our freedom and perhaps
our lives, oh noble one. For this reason we will
follow you to death or glory, serve you to the very
ends of the universe, protect you from -'
'Yes, yes,' you say hurriedly. 'I appreciate all that,
but frankly what I really want is to get back to
Avalon. 'I don't suppose you know the way, do
you?'
'Avalon?' frowns Jason. Isn't that north of Crete?'
'No,' puts in one of his followers, a muscular
fellow called Hercules, 'it's a suburb of Troy.'
'You're thinking of Avala,' remarks another. 'Avalon
is twenty-five stadia north-east of Athens.'
'That's not Avalon,' exclaims a third. 'Avalon is
the local name for that chain of volcanic islands
beyond the Pillars of Hercules: the ones with the
goonybirds and vampire rabbits.'
That's the Avalonian Archipelago,' sneers a
fourth. 'Avalon is the underground necropolis
guarded by eighty-five pegasi and a tribe of harpies
to the south-west of -'
95
'It doesn't matter,' you put in, since it is patently
obvious these mariners couldn't sail their ship out
of a bottle if it got stuck in one. 'Our first job is to
get back in control of this vessel, which means
hacking up the pirates who took it over.'
'What a military strategist!' exclaims Jason in
admiration. 'What an instant grasp of the overall
situation. You shall lead us in this brave en-
deavour and even I, Captain Jason, shall do your
bidding!'
Which just shows what a big mouth can land
you into. Captain Jason will tell you that the
pirates are on the upper deck which you can
reach via 5 or 11. But before you launch your
suicide mission, you will need to find weapons
for the Argonauts. You will also need to know a
bit about their stats, which are as follows:
Jason has 25 LIFE POINTS and needs to roll 5 or
better to hit.
Hercules has 48 LIFE POINTS, needs a 6 to hit,
but scores a natural +4 damage (on top of any
weapon damage) by reason of his enormous
strength.
Ten of the remaining eleven Argonauts average
out at 20 LIFE POINTS and all require a 6 to hit.
The final Argonaut, Achilles, has 30 LIFE
POINTS, hits on only 2, scores a natural +1 dam-
age (on top of weapon damage) but has weak
ankles so that he can only get in a hit every sec-
ond round.
Equip them as best you can from whatever
96-97
source you can, then proceed to the upper deck
and the Battle Royal with the pirates.
96
As you step forward, the tiled floor beneath your
feet feels peculiar, as though it were far rougher
than it looks. Nonetheless you continue forward
to an arching doorway. You knock politely and
the door falls in. This is very peculiar.
You find yourself within a towering entrance hall
with a high, domed ceiling of such magnificently
sweeping proportions that it makes you slightly
dizzy. You lean on the wall to steady yourself and
the wall shakes.
There is something badly wrong with this struc-
ture, however fine it looks.
Are you sure you still want to investigate it? If
so, turn to 78.
If not you can still return to 39 and find a new
destination.
97
The approach to the well is not quite so easy as it
looked from a distance. In fact, it is positively
marshy.
Stay close to me,' you order Jason, who seems to
be in something of a daze, possibly due to marsh
gas. But as you press further towards your
objective, you realize these surroundings are not
merely difficult, but positively dangerous. The
marsh gives way to swamp and but for your eagle
97 To reach the well, you must somehow cross the
quicksand.
98
eye, you would certainly have slipped into that
small patch of quicksand.
But how long you can continue to avoid the
quicksand is a different matter. To reach the
well, you must throw two dice. Score 8-12 and
go to 41. Score less and you leap gaily into a
patch of quicksand.
Once trapped in the quicksand, there is a small
chance Jason may be able to pull you out. Roll
one die. Score 5 or 6 and you are safely rescued, -
in which case you may make another attempt
to reach the well if you wish. Score anything
else and you are sucked all the way down to 14.
If you decide not to bother with the grotty old
well, you can return to 39 and pick another
option.
98
You climb the stairs, weapon at the ready, taking
no chances now after your fight with the
Amazons, but the upper floor, when you reach it,
seems to be unguarded. A carpeted corridor has
several doors leading off it, but when you explore,
these turn out to be no more than empty
bedrooms. A door at the end looks more inter-
esting, however, since it is prominently labelled
'King's Bedchamber'. There are guard posts at
either side of it, but these are presently deserted.
Cautiously you try the door itself: it is locked.
To attempt to pick the lock, throw one die.
Score 5 or 6 and you succeed, in which case go
to 197. Score anything else and your only
99-100
option is to return to 80, where the Amazon
Guards will, unfortunately, have been re-
placed. (And even if you defeat them a second
time, you will still not be able to open the door
to the King's Bedchamber.)
99
'By George!' exclaims the little bird. 'That is pre-
cisely the correct answer.'
'Yus, says the other little bird. 'Yus, I fink it is.'
'You said something about telling me how to get
my grubby little hands on something valuable,'
you remind them.
'That is perfectly true as well,' says the first bird.
It turns to look at its companion. 'You have it,
don't you, Clarence?'
'Yes,' says Clarence. 'Yus, I do.' With which he
flies down from the branch and drops a small gold
key into your grubby little outstretched hand.
'Just a minute!' you call, as the other bird takes to
wing. 'What's this key for?'
But both birds are disappearing swiftly upwards
now. 'Can't stop. Got to migrate.'
Nothing else for it but to continue trudging,
which will take you in a circle to 127 where
you may pick another option.
100
There's a snake in this one too, Pip! You really are
a glutton for punishment.
Roll two dice.
101
Score 9-12 and go to 82.
Score 2-8 and go to 145.
101 B* Special
You can see you are in trouble the moment you
enter this cavern. (And you can guess what it was
that slaughtered those mining dwarves.) No
wonder they call this Dragon Island, for while the
creature is definitely not a dragon, it might easily
be mistaken for one by an adventurer less ex-
perienced than yourself. The body is fully
eighteen feet long, weighing perhaps thirty tons
and ending in a scaly tail. The head, small in
proportion, is nonetheless bigger than a horse's
head and the mouth is remarkably well equipped
with six-inch fangs. One glance is enough to tell
you that you are facing something quite imposs-
ible, a Tyrannosaurus Rex!
All the books insist this most vicious of all the
dinosaurs became extinct millions of years ago,
yet here this one is, large as life and twice as
nasty.
There is, however, a small chance that it might
be asleep when you enter, since even the large
lizards seem to kip a lot. Throw two dice. Score
9 or better and you can creep past (this time!)
without disturbing it. Score anything else and
your troubles are only starting.
The Tyrannosaurus Rex will not give a Friendly
Reaction in any circumstances, but it is open to
Bribery of a sort. You can offer everything you
have with the sole exception of any tiny golden
keys you may be carrying. This offer must in-
102
clude all weapons, booty, magical scrolls etc,
you have collected. If the Tyrannosaurus
accepts, you may leave its cavern by either of
the passages leading to 191 or 115. If it refuses,
you will have to fight it without magic or
weapons.
Should this disaster actually come to a fight,
you may as well know the Tyrannosaurus has
80 LIFE POINTS, strikes successfully on a roll
of 4 or better, causes + 7 damage on a success-
ful hit and has such a thick hide that it acts as
5 armour. Losing the fight will, of course,
send you to 14.
Note: If you do not succeed in killing this crea-
ture first time around, it will be waiting should
you return this way.
102
Since it's small, you decide you may as well ex-
plore this island alone and now you are wondering
if it was worth the bother. After covering just
about every inch of it, you can find absolutely
nothing of interest.
Eventually you head back to the beach off which
your ship is moored. As you do so, an errant glint
of sunlight catches your eye and you notice, half
hidden in a clump of grass, a tiny golden key.
Beside it lurks a multicoloured beetle.
If you decide to take this key as a keepsake, go
to 161.
If you decide to take the beetle as a keepsake,
go to 194.
101 You're not going to believe this - you have met a
dinosaur!
103-105
If you decide to leave them both alone, return to
your Sea Chart and pick another destination.
103
At once a huge, crackling, electrical arc leaps from
one crystal to the other and races down the pillars,
spitting and hissing with a distinct smell of ozone
until it reaches the altar stone where you are lying
prostrate.
You are enveloped in a flash of bright blue flame.
Your surroundings vanish. Momentarily all is
blackness. You look around, firmly expecting to
find yourself in 14, but are, in fact, back on board
the Argo, clutching your crystal-bladed knife and
little golden key.
When the Argonauts get over their surprise at
your sudden appearance, you may turn to the Sea
Chart and set sail for a new destination.
104
It's a fuel store. Wood mostly, neatly chopped and
stacked, with a mound of peat drying off in one
corner. There is an axe just inside the door, very
sharp, but too unwieldy to use as a weapon. You
can nick it if you like, although the chances are it
will weigh you down to no great benefit.
If you want to search further, turn to 94.
Alternatively, you can return to 160.
105
That hasn't done your foot any good. Didn't you
remember you were only wearing light little
106
sandals? Deduct 3 from your current LIFE
POINTS and limp a little. Meanwhile, there's still
the problem of the door, which is just as solid as it
ever was.
If you want to try to pick the lock now, go to
139.
If you want to leave the stupid door and limp
off somewhere else, you may turn to any
section shown on Plan 1.
106
'Are they back yet?'
The question comes from a small group of burly
cooks who, fortunately, seem to imagine you have
every right to be here in what are very obviously
the kitchens. There is not much cooking going on,
however, since the cooks are playing a game of
dice. (And losing a lot of their money at it as well.)
'Are who back yet?' you ask, frowning.
'The King's hunting party, of course. We can't get
on with the dinner until they bring us back a side
of venison.'
'No,' you say, 'they're not back yet.' (Guessing
there would be more people about if they were.)
'That's all right then,' says the cook. 'Want a
game of dice?'
If you decide to join in the dice game, all you
have to do is stake any number of gold pieces
above 10, then throw one die for the cook and
one for yourself. If you score higher than the
107
cook, you win back double what you staked. If
you don't, the cook wins and adds your stake
to his own money. The cook begins the game
with 5,000 gold pieces and is quite prepared to
keep playing until he loses them all or until you
decide to call it a day. The game must also stop
if you run out of gold.
If you decide not to bother, refer to your Plan
and move on to any allowed section.
107
This does not look particularly promising. The
smoke you saw is not smoke at all, but volcanic
fumes. They rise from craters in the rocks, filling
the air with a choking pall. All the same, your
choice of direction may not have been entirely
bad. From beyond a rise you can hear a peculiar
sound, like the hammering of metal. You move
forward cautiously to investigate, peer over the
rise half hidden by a rock, and find yourself
staring down at one of the most remarkable sights
you have ever seen.
You are undoubtedly staring into a shallow
volcanic crater. A lava pool bubbles in the centre
of the crater floor. Beside it, naked to the waist
and streaming sweat, is a bearded giant of a man,
toiling with a massive hammer as he beats out
what is undoubtedly a metal breastplate on an
armourer's anvil.
Fascinated, you watch as he dips the breastplate
into the lava pool to heat and soften the metal.
More fascinating still, he uses no tongs, but
handles the red-hot metal with bare hands and 107 The armour is yours if you can pass a simple test.
107
without any apparent injury. He works with re-
markable speed and skill, for you can see the
armour forming before your very eyes, moulded in
the Roman manner and finished with a
craftsman's delicacy.
'You there!' the man calls suddenly. 'Come
down!'
He has not looked round, nor is there any way he
could have heard you over the noise of his own
hammering, but all the same there can be no
doubt at all he is aware of your presence.
You emerge a little sheepishly from behind your
rock and move down the slope of the crater. As
you near him, he turns and throws the breastplate
at your feet. Even in this moment of surprise, you
note that the size and shape seem made for you.
He sets down the hammer and wipes the sweat
from is brow. 'There now: let it cool then you can
wear it.'
'Excuse me, Sir,' you say hesitantly, 'but is this
breastplate for me?'
'It is. Or it will be if you pass the test.'
Test? There's always a catch. All the same, it's a
fine breastplate. 'May I ask who you are, sir?' you
enquire politely.
'You may. And since I am in good humour I shall
answer. My name is Vulcan. I'm a smith by trade.'
'I see,' you nod. He is, of course, quite barmy.
Everybody knows Vulcan is a myth. The ancients
thought of him as the God of Blacksmiths, but
108
what did they know? All the same, it pays to
humour anybody as big as this, so you simply say
politely, 'Pleased to meet you, Mr Vulcan.'
'And I to meet you. I've heard quite a bit about
your adventures, although I never thought it
likely we'd actually meet. What do you think of
your breastplate?'
'It seems very well made.'
'It is very well made. It will stop the first two
blows delivered against you completely, whatever
the dice show. After that, it acts as 4 armour for
the rest of the combat. Cunning workmanship,
eh?'
'Very cunning, sir. But . . . ' you add hesitantly,
' . . . you said something about a t est . . . '
Vulcan shrugs. 'A small thing. You have only to
defeat me in unarmed combat.'
You stare at this muscular giant, wondering if you
dare. He looks as though he could break you in
half with one hand nailed behind his back. But it
is a very fine breastplate and you could certainly
do with some decent armour.
If you decide to accept the challenge, go to 29.
If not, Vulcan will allow you to return to 32
and pick another direction.
108
Looks like you did it - the box has opened! Or
maybe you didn't, since the egg inside is cracking
open too. And emerging from it is (you're not
109
going to believe this) a tiny Tyrannosaurus Rex!
If you think you're going to have an easy time
with the baby, you have another think coming.
New bom or not, this little horror stretches out
to almost six feet long, has 50 LIFE POINTS,
strikes on 5, does +4 damage, is never friendly
and is too young and innocent to accept bribes.
It has thinner skin than an adult Tyrannosaur,
but even so you will have to deduct 2 from any
damage scored against it.
If Babysaurus Rex kills you, go to 14.
If you kill it, you will find a tiny golden key in
the remnants of the eggshell and may leave the
cave by returning to Section 115.
109
It looks like you're on your own with this one.
(What else is new?) The Argonauts, intrepid
adventurers that they are, took one look at this
island and promptly threatened mutiny if you in-
sisted they should land.
And it is a daunting sight, admittedly. Small enough
to be sure, but almost totally devoid of vegetation
and with crawling rock formations stretching as far
as the eye can see. It's those formations which have
given the place its name probably. From a distance
they merge to give a perfect illusion that you are
sailing towards a gigantic skull rising out of the sea.
Of course it's only an illusion. Nobody in their right
mind could imagine there was anything really
sinister about this island. Just peculiar rock for-
mations, that's all.
109
Still, as you step ashore (alone) from the rowboat,
you can see why the Argonauts weren't too keen
on this place. The rocks throw peculiar shadows,
which seem to creep up on you. And the wind
moans and sighs incessantly. But of course this is
all perfectly natural: absolutely nothing to worry
about. Certainly nothing sinister.
You move inland, followed by those creeping
shadows, with the wind moaning all around you.
It's hard going over the rocks and soon they tower
around you, casting a perpetual gloom across your
surroundings. Nothing sinister, of course,
although the funny thing is the shadows are still
creeping after you despite the fact there is now
very little sunlight to make shadows. But there
must be a perfectly natural explanation for it all.
Certainly nothing -
110
A shadow has clutched your ankle! If there's a
perfectly natural explanation for that I'd like to
hear it!
You jerk your leg free and step back, only to find
another shadow reaching out from a rocky ledge
to grip your arm.
Quickly: roll one die to find out how many
shadows have crept up to hassle you.
Each Shadow will grip you firmly on a throw of
six or better on a double dice roll and absorb 6
of your LIFE POINTS every combat round. The
only way to break free is to kill the Shadow.
Unfortunately this is not so easy.
Shadows do not have LIFE POINTS since they
aren't alive. You can't hack at them with a
sword or bash them with a club. (At least you
can, but it won't do anything to them.) The
only way you can get rid of a Shadow is to zap
it with light. Which means you need a lamp or
a torch and something to light it. If you brought
the right equipment from the ship's store, you
should be okay. All you need do is light up and
throw a 4 or better for each Shadow that has
gripped you. If you haven't got a light source
with you, or if the Shadows absorb all your
LIFE POINTS before you can throw enough 4s
to kill them, then you've had it - it's off to 14.
If, however, you get out of this mess, you can
move on to 117.
110
You have entered a wide corridor running along
111-112
the centre of which is a series of glass-topped
cases. Inside are a variety of quite valuable-
looking ornaments in silver and jade.
If you decide to snaffle the ornaments, which
will involve breaking the glass, go to 198.
If not, check your Plan and continue to any
allowable section.
1l1
Boldly done. Now let's see if it was also wisely
done.
As you step ashore, you feel yourself compelled to
roll one die. If the score is 5 or 6, turn, directly to
116. If the score is anything else, turn to 127.
112
What a pleasantly bucolic scene! What a peaceful
rural setting! There are chickens pecking in the
yard and cattle grazing in the meadow. It reminds
you so much of home (your home in Avalon, that
is, on the farm of Freeman John and Goodwife
Mary near Glastonbury) that a nostalgic tear wells
up in your eye.
A rosy-cheeked woman in a green apron, who has
been scattering corn for the chickens from an
earthenware bowl glances up smiling at your
approach. 'My, oh my!' she says. 'Visitor, and me
with only my work clothes on! Will you come in
and have a bite to eat and drink?'
You glance at Jason, who nods enthusiastically,
doubtless thinking a bit of home cooking would
make a nice change from ship's rations.
113
All the same, something tells you this may not be
quite such an idyllic setting as it seems. Maybe it's
the way those chickens are eyeing you hungrily.
Maybe it's the glint in the rosy woman's eye. Or
maybe it's just the fact that everything you do
these days seems to end you up in big trouble.
Do you accept the woman's invitation? If so, go
to 132.
Do you refuse? If so go to 140.
113
You emerge on to the upper deck of a huge sailing
vessel, crafted from wood, the hull of which has
been finely plated in what looks suspiciously like
solid gold. Vast sails billow out above you against
a serene and cloudless sky. All around you,
stretching to the distant horizon, is the clear blue
sea.
This would be a great place for a pleasure cruise
were it not for the horde of cutthroats racing in
your direction, brandishing wicked Asiatic
swords (+3 damage) and shouting insults about
your parentage.
There are ten of these scoundrels, each with 25
LIFE POINTS, each hitting successfully on 6 or
better and each out to make a name for himself by
slaughtering yet another enemy.
If you are not alone at the moment, it might be
a good idea to be cautious, although you are
perfectly free to fight them all if you like.
Should you decide to retreat, roll two dice.
114
Score 5 or better and you are able to duck back
below decks, slamming the hold behind yon
and escape into any section of Plan 1. Score 2, 3
or 4 and you're going to have to fight them, in
which case you can save yourself a lot of bother
by going direct to 14.
If you are not alone, then let the Battle Royal
commence. If you are all slain, go to 14 with
your companions and bring them back with you
(having rerolled their LIFE POINTS) for another
sortie. If you personally are killed, wait
patiently in 14 to see how the rest of the battle
turns out. Should your companions win with
Jason still alive, he will blow his magic conch to
resurrect you with full LIFE POINTS, in which
case you can all proceed to 10. (Should both you
and Jason be killed, you can forget about resur-
rection.) If you survive your own fight and you
and your companions win the battle, the
survivors may stagger triumphantly to 10.
114
You are in a darkened cell, no more than 10'x 10'
in size. By dint of scrabbling around a bit you find
the only door, which is locked.
And you have one chance only to try to pick the
lock. Throw two dice to determine how
difficult the lock is to pick. Make a note of your
score. Now throw again. If you throw less on
your second throw than your first, then you are
unable to pick the lock. (This is bad news since
it means you will eventually starve all the way
to 14.) If your second throw is higher than your
115-117
first, then the door swings open allowing you to
nip off to 159. If your second throw is exactly
equal to your first then you may try a second
time.
115
You enter a smallish cavern, the walls of which
are covered in greenish moss, which smells
vaguely of apple-mint.
You can try nibbling a piece of the moss at 156.
There are two exits from this cavern, to 101 and
83.
You hear singing. It's quite the most beautiful
singing you have ever heard. Seductive. Hypnotic.
Charming. Thrilling. Compulsive. Irresistible.
And very bad news, since it will keep you rooted
to the spot, smiling inanely, until you starve to
death.
This is the most pleasant way to reach 14 in the
entire adventure.
117
Those Shadows may have gone, but the
surroundings haven't got any more pleasant. In
fact, the whole island seems to be composed of
nothing except these twisted, distorted rock for-
mations. After a couple of hours, you have man-
aged to explore almost all the island and the only
thing left to examine seems to be that sinister-
looking cave you've been avoiding - the one near
the centre.
117 An island totally composed of twisted rock formations.
116
118-119
The thing is, do you really want to go there? It
may have something in it that's harder to handle
than the Shadows.
If you want to explore the cave, go to 124.
If you'd prefer not to bother, try 172.
118
The island, it transpires, is ringed with deep
water; and there is even a deep water inlet to a
natural harbour, which means you can actually
bring the Argo to dock without messing around
with rowboats, long-distance swimming or any-
thing of that nature. The only problem is, your
crew refuse to go ashore.
'It be the women,' one of the older crewmen ex-
plains, adjusting his eyepatch and parrot
nervously. But when you ask him to enlarge on
this cryptic statement, he goes away muttering to
himself.
If you are prepared to risk a visit to the island
on your own, braving the women (whoever
they might be), turn to 111.
If not, you are free to return to your Sea Chart
and pick a new destination.
119
The tunnel you have entered slopes downwards
with an ever-increasing gradient until after only a
few hundred yards it has become so steep you are
having real difficulty in keeping your footing. Up
ahead, you notice the floor glistens slightly, as if
wet or possibly oily.
120-121
The thing is, do you want to keep going this
way? If so, move on cautiously to 192. If not,
you still have the option of returning the way
you came and following the green arrows to
196.
120
This cottage has a moat round it. No, seriously, it
has. Quite a wide one too, and while drawbridges
haven't yet been invented in this era, the
approach to the front door (over a narrow wooden
walkway) would be remarkably easy to defend if
an army decided to attack the cottage.
Puzzled, you look around for possible
men-at-arms, but there are none. Apart from the
moat, it looks like a perfectly ordinary cottage.
The point is, are you prepared to risk crossing
that narrow walkway? It's the only way in and
it takes you to 87.
If you decide the cottage isn't worth in-
vestigating, return to 39 and try another option.
121
Looks like you did it - the box has opened. Or
maybe you didn't, since the egg inside is cracking
open, too. And emerging from it is (you're not
going to believe this) a tiny Tyrannosaurus Rex!
If you think you're going to have an easy time
with the baby, you have another think coming.
New born or not, this little horror stretches out
to almost six feet long, has 50 LIFE POINTS,
strikes on 5, does +4 damage, is never friendly
121
and is too young and innocent to accept bribes.
It has thinner skin than an adult Tyrannosaur,
but even so you will have to deduct 2 from any
damage scored against it.
If Babysaurus Rex kills you, go to 14.
If you kill it, you will find a tiny golden key in
the remnants of the eggshell and may leave the
cave by returning to 115.
122
122
This island is impossible! You've sailed the Argo
all the way round it four times running and not
only are you unable to find a mooring, but neither
are you able to find even a yard of beach where
you could land a rowing boat. No wonder it's
called Lost Island.
It looked welcoming enough at a distance, but
now you are closer, you can see that it is a verit-
able bastion, its entire coastline enclosed by a
massively ancient stone wall, high as cliffs, and
built, to all appearances, by giants.
Your crew are not happy at this development. The
superstitious bunch are already muttering that
perhaps this place would be better left alone. You,
of course, are made of sterner stuff: but how to get
on to the island?
On your fifth circuit, your eagle eye catches sight
of what might just be an opening in the wall. It's
narrow indeed: even a single rowboat would have
trouble negotiating the inlet, but it might just be
possible. Ignoring the mutterings of the
Argonauts none of whom has volunteered to
accompany you - you set out in the little boat,
rowing strongly towards that narrow gap.
You reach it and experience a moment of panic as a
strong current seizes your craft and sweeps it in-
wards. Yet this might be a blessing in disguise, for
the current runs true, carrying you squarely between
the looming walls before slackening into still water
near what was obviously built as a mooring.
122
You look around. You are bobbing lightly in a
tiny, totally enclosed harbour, built, presumably,
when that great wall was constructed, aeons of
years ago. Before you is a dock, little more than a
ledge really, and beyond it, set into the wall, is a
gigantic door of solid bronze.
You tie up your craft and approach the door. It
towers above you as if it had been made for
someone at least four times your height. Ex-
perimentally, you press your hands against it, and
find, with no surprise at all, that it does not move.
There is a massive bronze handle, some distance
above your head and below it, just within reach,
no fewer than ten tiny keyholes.
Those keyholes intrigue you. They are totally out
of proportion with the door, yet something tells
you that they, and not the massive handle, hold
the secret of opening this portal.
If you happen to have ten tiny golden keys, you
may fit them in the keyholes and see what
happens at 153.
If you do not have all ten keys, your only option
is to return to the Argo and pick another des-
tination. Unfortunately this is not as easy as it
sounds, since the current running in the en-
trance passage will make the manoeuvre very
dangerous. Roll two dice. Score 2-4 and your
craft is dashed against the wall so that you sink
through the icy waters all the way to 14. Score
5-8 and you reach the Argo minus one third of
your LIFE POINTS due to exhaustion. Score 9-
12 and you reach the Argo without mishap.
123-124
123
Not an easy battle, but at least you now have the
farm to yourself. A little look round soon shows
you various goodies: a healing potion in the
kitchen, good for three doses, each restoring a
double dice roll of LIFE POINTS; an anti-poison
potion in the winecellar (wonder why she kept it
there?) which will completely cure one poisoning;
and. . .
And what's this? You find it in a back bedroom,
rolled up in a little leather pouch. It's a leathery
membrane of some sort, but not like anything
you've . . .
Hold on, there's a little note in here, telling you
what it is. A caul! Now there's a find for a seafarer
like yourself! If you hang on to it, it will save you
from drowning!
Once you have the caul, you may safely ignore
any indication that drowning sends you to 14
and proceed instead as if you had not drowned,
gone some other direction, or whatever may be
relevant in the specific case.
What's relevant in this case is that you can
now return to 39 and there select a different
option.
124
You enter the cave without managing to get your-
self killed . . . yet. Inside it smells of rubbish and
old socks. To the right of the entrance, somebody
has chiselled a message into the rock-face. The
message says:
'I have my eye on you.'
125-126
You move forward cautiously, trying to see into
the gloomy recesses of the cave. It seems to be a
habitation of some sort. Straw and bones are
scattered across the floor and a huge cooking pot
stands over the dead ashes of an old fire. Hanging
from the ceiling are salted carcasses of what
might be pigs. (And, admittedly, might not.)
To the back of the cave, two high-roofed tunnels
lead downwards. Near the mouth of one of them
(the one on the right to be exact) is a scrap of cloth
on which somebody has scrawled in blood the
single word 'Help.'
To take the right-hand tunnel, go to 167.
To take the left, go to 189.
Alternatively you can still leave this island and
return to your ship to chose another des-
tination.
125
You knock out the bung and a dark maroon-
coloured liquid spurts out, staining your tunic and
legs. It smells like wine (and a good class of wine
at that).
If you'd like to taste it, better hurry to 90 before
it all runs away.
If you decide to stay teetotal, you have the
option of investigating a barrel at 77 or moving
on to another section of Plan 1.
126
With a wary lookout for the hidden archer, you
move forward again. Then stop, bewildered.
126 Not just a ruin, but a haunted ruin, and the Phantom
Archer approaches.
127
The castle which was looming stoutly over you a
moment ago is now a crumbling ruin, roofless,
part overgrown - little more than a few walls
outlining what was once a proud building.
You step back in amazement - and the castle is
back, strongly build and sound as ever. You step
forward again, and again you are looking at a ruin.
It does not take you long to decide what is going
on here. Magic, that's what! There is some sort of
spell cast around this place so that it looks like a
castle at a distance, but dissolves into a ruin as
you approach closely.
You pull yourself together and kick a wall. It's
definitely a ruin: the ruin of an ancient castle. It's
also a haunted ruin. You can see right through the
archer who is approaching you, phantom arrow
notched in phantom bow.
Do yon stick around to deal with the spook? If
so, go to 84.
Or do you decide discretion is the better part of
valour, in which case return to 39 and pick
another destination.
127
Nothing much in the way of noticeable features
on this island, so there is little to choose when it
comes to deciding on a direction. Since you have
landed on the south coast, you can explore north
at 81, west at 93 or east at 170.
But remember that each time you wish to enter a
new section of this island, you will feel yourself
128-129
compelled to roll a die. If you score a 6, you must
turn to 116 instead of the section you had decided
on. (Score anything else and you can go to the
section of your choice.)
If all this seems too much of a hassle, you can
always return to your Sea Chart and pick
another destination.
128
Since the name of this island strikes terror into
the hearts of the Argonauts, you decide to explore
it alone. And as the great ship sails into the
natural harbour at the south of the island, you can
scarcely blame your crew for their trepidation.
Dragon Isle is a volcanic husk rising out of the
waters, without a single hint of vegetation. The
vast, contorted rock is honeycombed with caves
and fissures, clearly discernable even before you
dock.
You leave your ship to tearful (and rather
worrying) farewells from your crew and move to a
looming cave mouth which will give you entrance
to the honeycomb. To your surprise, you see signs
that others have been here before: a dried-out,
cracking water-sack and a rusty, useless dagger
both lie near the cave mouth. But you press on
grimly and eventually reach 199.
129
The well is a straight, narrow shaft, stone lined
and extremely deep. To climb down it with any
129
degree of safety, you will certainly need both a
rope and a grappling iron.
If you happen to have a rope and grappling iron,
you may climb down the well to 201.
If you don't, you can risk your neck by
throwing two dice. Score above six and you
climb down the well successfully to 201. Score
6 or below and you fall all the way to 14.
Alternatively, if you don't have a rope and
grappling iron, you can always return to your
ship to get them. Unfortunately you will have
to risk your usual Cross-Eyed Navigation to get
back to the island.
130-132
130
Yuuck! It tastes foul. What's more, the potion has
so weakened you that next time you fight, you
will automatically score only half the damage
shown each time you hit. Fortunately the effect
wears off after one combat.
This is not all bad news. If you take the rest of
the liquid with you and throw it at a monster
(which requires a 6 or better on the dice) it will
have the same effect on the monster during the
ensuing fight. Of course, if you try to throw and
miss, the monster will never give you a
Friendly Reaction since monsters generally
don't like liquid being thrown at them.
Check your plan to find out where you can go
when you leave the temple.
131
This will not be an easy climb. Especially since
the creatures are moving faster now and will
almost certainly be at the foot of the cliff before
you are even halfway up.
Throw two dice. Score below 9 and go to 25.
Score 9 or above and go to 48.
132
You begin to feel much more reassured as you
enter the farm kitchen. There is much scrubbed
pine furniture in evidence here and the smell of
newly baked scones hangs heavily in the summer
air.
The rosy-cheeked woman fusses around you in
133
that motherly fashion which is extremely
pleasant so long as you don't experience it very
often, sitting you down and producing a plate of
scones, some home-made cake and a jug of heady
purple wine, this being the local substitute for tea.
'Eat hearty! she invites. 'Eat hearty.'
Never one to resist a scone for long especially
the home-made type with little dried grapes in
them - you tuck in with a vengeance, taking a
deep draught of the purple wine to wash it down.
It's strong wine, for your head begins to spin
almost immediately.
'It's strong wine,' you remark to the woman, who
seems to be watching you closely as you sink
slowly into darkness.
Keep sinking until you reach the confines of
114.
133
This punch-up may not be quite so easy as you
imagine. Long John himself has 35 LIFE POINTS,
and a flintlock pistol which will do a fearsome 25
points of damage if he manages to shoot you with
it on a throw of 6 or better. Fortunately the pistol
may only be fired once, so that thereafter he will
fight with his crutch, which hits on 5 or better
and scores +3 damage.
But along with Captain Silver, you will have to
contend with his parrot, which is in fact a rare
example of the near extinct Pollyrotten breed.
Pollyrottens are fearsome fighters, having 50 LIFE
POINTS, striking successfully on 4 or better and
134-135
scoring +4 damage with their beaks. Silver and
the Pollyrotten will strike alternately at you
during this combat.
If they kill you, go to 14.
If you kill them (both) you will find 5,000 gold
pieces in the chest and a tiny golden key. You
may take your booty back to the ship and pick
a new destination on the Sea Chart.
134
Looks like you did it - the box has opened! Or
maybe you didn't, since the egg inside is cracking
open too. And emerging from it is (you're not
going to believe this) a tiny Tyrannosaurus Rex!
If you think you're going to have an easy time
with the baby, you have another thing coming.
New born or not, this little horror stretches out
to almost six feet long, has 50 LIFE POINTS,
strikes on 5, does +4 damage, is never friendly
and is too young and innocent to accept bribes.
It has thinner skin than an adult Tyrannosaur,
but even so you will have to deduct 2 from any
damage scored against it.
If Babysaurus Rex kills you, go to 14.
If you kill it, you will find a tiny golden key in
the remnants of the eggshell and may leave the
cave by returning to 115.
135
For a while it looked as though you were out of
luck there - most of the chests contained only old
clothes (many of them smelly). But in the last
136
chest, you come across a little leather purse
which contains 10 gold pieces. The funny thing is
they don't have King Arthur's head stamped on
them. But they're definitely gold pieces and well
worth snaffling as legitimate booty.
Now you can try any other section of Plan 1.
136
This is someone's study. The shelves around the
walls are full of parchment scrolls, quite possibly
containing the most powerful and useful spells in
the known universe.
Unfortunately there is someone in the study, a
rather feeble grey-haired, grey-bearded old man
with spindly legs, wearing a ridiculously short
Grecian tunic. He is studying one of those inter-
esting scrolls at a table as you enter.
He looks up short-sightedly. 'I'm afraid you're not
allowed in here, whoever you are,' he says in a
quavering voice. 'King Conchis only permits me
in here, so you'd better, ah, "shove off", as the
young people say nowadays, before you get into
trouble.'
You could possibly try for a Friendly Reaction,
although it hardly seems worth the bother
since this old idiot can't have more than 15
LIFE POINTS to his name. You can see im-
mediately that he would need an 8 or better to
hit you and is so short-sighted that he would
miss altogether every second blow. More to the
point, he is unarmed and so frail that he would
only score dice damage on a successful hit.
137
If you decide to try for a Friendly Reaction and
succeed, turn to 158.
If you decide to fight him and get it over with,
turn to 195.
If you decide to shove off, go to any allowable
section of your Plan.
137
It's easy to see how this island got its name. As
your golden vessel approaches, you can see the
rotting hulls of scores of sailing ships which have
run aground all along the rocky coastline. This is
a positive ship's graveyard.
Cautiously you sail around the entire island,
searching for a safe inlet. But everywhere seems to
be rocks and reefs, white water and smashing
137
waves. The island itself doesn't look too bad: in fact
it is positively appealing, with rolling grassland,
shady clumps of trees and the pleasant undulations
of low, soft hills. But getting to it is a different
matter. Getting to it is an invitation to disaster.
Sailing as close as you dare, you search for a pass-
age which, if it would not take your ship, might
still allow a rowboat to squeeze through. But
there does not seem to be even this. You are just
teetering on a decision to call this one quits and
seek out another island when the voice of an
Argonaut echoes down from the crow's nest:
'Sheep ahoy! Sheep ahoy!'
Sheep ahoy? Surely he means 'ship' ahoy?
'Sheep ahoy! Sheep ahoy!'
He definitely said 'sheep'. Maybe he's a Mexican
Argonaut. You scan the ocean, but there is no sign
of any ship.
'Sheep ahoy! Sheep ahoy!'
Suddenly you are surrounded by the remaining
Argonauts, all of whom seem extremely excited.
'Look, Captain - look there!' says one delightedly.
His name is Castor. Or possibly Pollux. It's im-
possible to say which, since both are on the crew
and both are identical twins.)
'What is it, Castor?' you ask.
'Pollux, actually, Captain. Look -' He points. You
follow his finger and see, atop one of the gentle
bills of Shipwreck Isle . . . a golden sheep!
138-140
It's definitely a golden sheep all right. Even at this
distance, its fleece glints with an unmistakable
metallic sheen in the bright sunshine. What a
remarkable animal. Heaven only knows what
must be in the grass there. But you have heavier
responsibilities than gawking at a gilded ewe. As
Captain, it is your decision to risk a landing on
this Isle or to search for safer havens.
If you decide to try to reach Shipwreck Isle, go
to 49.
If you feel it makes more sense to try another
destination, go to 37.
138
You have just time to note this looks like an
opulent living room before the Guard inside the
door biffs you on the head with a massive club,
knocking you unconscious.
Go to 114.
139
Lock-picking is a skilled job. Roll two dice and
we'll see if you have the knack.
Score 9-12 and go to 150.
Score anything else and the lock resists your
best efforts so you will have to pick another
section from Plan 1.
140
' I' m afraid,' you say politely, 'that due to pressing
engagements elsewhere, my friend and I must reg-
retfully decline your most gracious invitation.'
141
'The heck you will!' shrieks the rosy-cheeked
woman. 'Get him, girls!'
With which the twelve Chickens she Was feeding
launch themselves upon you.
These are not, as you may have imagined if you
have been on other GrailQuest adventures,
Savage Chickens. Savage Chickens can only do
1 LIFE POINT of damage. The twelve monsters
who have launched themselves upon you are,
in fact, giant Ferrets masquerading as
Chickens: a very different, and vastly more
dangerous, barrel of monkeys. Each Ferret has
only 4 LIFE POINTS but there are twelve of
them, all immune to Bribery or Friendly
Reaction. They strike on 6 or better and do +1
damage with their sharp little teeth. You and
Jason will have to fight six each. If either of you
is killed, you should go to 14 to reroll LIFE
POINTS and start again.
If you survive the Chickens, there is still the
woman to contend with a spell-user with the
ability to slay using the Evil Eye if she gets a 12
on double dice. She has 20 LIFE POINTS in
total and when not using the Evil Eye will
batter you with her fists on a roll of 6 or better
for full dice damage.
Lose out here and it's 14 for sure. Win through
and you may go to 123.
141
Dumb move. A seasoned adventurer like you
should know nobody takes a swing at the Fiend
142
and gets away with it. Leaping nimbly to one side,
he propounds a quick war ode ('Have at you, Tre-
acherous Former Friend, With this dumb move
you must meet your end!') and stabs at you with
the crystal knife. And though the blow seems
quite wild, the blade somehow reaches its mark.
You have just time to see the knife shatter before
a silent explosion carries you off to 14.
142
You step from the rowboat alone, since the island
is so small you have decided to explore it by your-
self, thus hogging any loot or glory that might be
going here.
You look around you. The island seems to be
almost entirely covered in sand, with only a few
clumps of trees here and there. It's the sort of
place you would be pretty sure must be deserted,
but your attention is attracted by some curious
marks in the sand.
Closer examination convinces you they are
footprints, but footprints of a very odd sort, as if
somebody was walking along hopping on one leg.
You follow the trail to where it disappears behind
a clump of trees and find yourself on a little rise
looking down to where somebody has been
digging a deep hole in the sand. You move closer
until you can see within the hole an oakwood
chest. You are still wondering what to do about
this interesting discovery when a heavy hand falls
on your shoulder.
'Ah-hahr, Jim-lad, I thought ye'd never get here!'
142
You turn to find yourself looking at a tall,
villainous-looking man with one leg, a crutch, an
eye-patch, a three-cornered hat and a parrot on his
shoulder.
He frowns at you in surprise. 'You bain't Jim-lad!'
he says.
'No, indeed, Villainous One-Eyed Sir,' you say
politely. 'My name is Pip.'
'Pieces of Eight!' remarks the parrot.
'Pip, is it, ahr?' asks the one-legged man. 'Well,
me hearty, I be Cap'n Silver.'
' Not . . . ' you ask hesitantly, ' not . . . Long John
Silver?'
'Shiver me timbers if ye ain't right at that!' ex-
claims Captain Silver. 'Long John is the name my
mother gave me to stop confusion with my
brother Short Sam. But what would you be doing
on Treasure Island, young sir?'
'But this isn't Treasure Island, Captain Silver,'
you say, considerably bemused. 'It's an entirely
different adventure in an entirely different Time.'
'Pieces of Nine!' remarks the parrot.
'Pieces of Nine?' you frown.
'Ignore him - he's allowing for inflation,' says
Captain Silver. He adjusts his crutch carefully and
sits down on the sand. 'But if what you say is true,
I be marooned!'
Indeed you be - indeed you are, Captain Silver.
142 This character seems to have wandered through a Time
Warp from another story.
142
You must have sailed through a Time Warp or
something similar.'
'Belay my breeches!' roars Long John Silver. 'But
this is a pretty tale to tell over a mug of grog!' He
looks at you shrewdly. 'Will 'e help an old sea dog
find his way back home?'
'I'm not sure I can,' you tell him. 'To be honest, I
think the only person I know who might help you
is a magician named Merlin and I haven't been
able to find him myself yet.'
'This Merlin swarb, would be open to a little bribe
of -' He rolls his good eye alarmingly.'- gold?'
'I'm certain he would,' you say, knowing how
greedy (and broke) Merlin usually is.
'Then ye must find the blackguard for me and
offer him a hunnerd pieces on my behalf to get me
out of here. Will 'e do that for an old sea dog?'
'Well, yes, of course,' you say. 'But I think he
might want to see the gold.'
'Oh ahr,' says Captain Silver, 'that be true.' With
which he jumps with remarkable alacrity for a
one-legged man into the hole and opens the chest.
It is chock-full of thousands of glittering gold
doubloons.
Which brings you to a decision. A quick fight
with Silver could earn you all that gold, not
just a miserly 100 pieces. If you feel like
chancing combat, go to 133.
If, on the other hand, you prefer to carry his
143-144
bribe to Merlin (assuming you can find the old
fool) go to 163.
143
'Never mind all that rhyming rubbish!' you cry
and launch yourself into the attack again.
Nonchalantly, the hooded figure pokes at you
with the crystal-bladed knife; and though it
shatters instantly against your chest, you are
seized by a silent deadly explosion and trans-
ported instantly to 14.
144
'Now I do appreciate,' Vulcan continues as you
stare at him wide-eyed and quaking (but
courageously standing your ground for all that),
'that a straight fight would be somewhat un-
balanced in my favour, so in order to make it
interesting, I propose that you wear the armour.
This will absolutely protect you from the first two
blows, even from a +50 hammer. Furthermore, I
neglected to mention that while strong, I am not
particularly skilled in fighting, so I require to roll
9 or better in order to score a hit. Finally, since I'm
not very good with pain, I shall surrender if you
manage to hack off 18 or more of my 100,000 LIFE
POINTS.' He smiles benignly. 'Now, why don't
you roll to see who gets first strike ?'
Well, why don't you? If Vulcan kills you in this
combat, go to 14. If you force him to surrender,
give the V for Victory sign and take your new
breastplate to 32 where you can pick a new
direction.
145-147
145
It's fanged you - and this time the Snake is
poisonous. You will now lose 10 LIFE POINTS
each time you move to a new section unless you
can find (a) a Healing Potion (which will restore
LIFE POINTS but will NOT cure the poison) or (b)
a cure for snakebite (which will not restore LIFE
POINTS, but will stop you losing any more).
Any section of Plan 1 is open to you.
146
Well, it's somewhere to hang your hat if you had
one (which presumably you don't). This is a
cloakroom.
What a bore. Go back to your Plan to find out
where you can go next.
147
Your rowboat beaches gently and you step out on
to the little island, pausing only to give a cheery
wave to the crew of the Argo which is standing to
offshore. Almost at once you hear a distinct call
for help from somewhere inland.
Quickly (but cautiously since you've been caught
out far too often on these adventures) you race in
the direction of the cry. After hacking your way
through some shrub, you burst into a clearing
then stop in amazement.
Tied to a stake in the middle of the clearing is the
ugliest brute you have ever seen, a villainous,
bald-headed giant of a warrior, his bulging
muscles straining vainly against the bonds.
147 Tied to a stake is the ugliest brute you have ever seen.
148
'What on earth happened to you?' you ask, not at
all sorry he's tied up.
'I was overpowered and captured by a beautiful
young Princess who wanted to marry me for the
sake of my muscles,' growls the warrior. 'When I
refused, she tied me to this stake and left me here
to perish from hunger and thirst if the wild
animals don't get me first. You must release me.'
Do you believe this story? If so you can release
the ugly great brute at 165.
If not, better turn to 182.
148
Meekly (stupidly?) you stretch out on the altar
stone. The Fiend bends over you, clutching the
wicked, crystal-bladed knife.
'Take that!' he exclaims, handing you the
weapon. 'It is, of course, a magical blade. It never
misses and will kill absolutely anything with a
single blow: the only thing you have to worry
about is getting in first strike. Unfortunately,
once it hits, it shatters, so you can only use it
once, but better than nothing, eh? Keep it
carefully and use it wisely. Now, one more thing.
You will need this as wel l . . . ' And he hands you a
tiny golden key, no bigger than the sort of thing
you would find on a charm bracelet. 'Keep that
carefully as well.'
'But what's it for?' you ask curiously.
'Never mind that now,' says the Fiend. 'Time is
pressing. Just don't lose it (which is actually quite
149-150
difficult to do since it will remain with you even
in 14). Now close your eyes and listen carefully. I
am about to compose another of my modestly
brilliant verses. It will be incomplete. Your job is
to think up a final line.'
He takes a deep breath, smiles at the waiting
Demondim, and intones:
'An adventurer bold named young Pip,
Was required to return to his ship.
But he never dreamed
With the help of the Fiend,
He pauses expectantly, waiting for you to com-
plete the limerick.
When you do so, but not before, turn to 103.
149
Somebody eats in style: this is a dining room and
a very impressive one at that. The table has been
laid as if for a banquet, although there are no signs
of any guests yet.
If you're peckish, you can sample some of the
goodies at 174.
If not, turn to your Plan and decide where to go
next.
150
Strewth, this is a find and no mistake. The place is
full of weapons. Good ones, too. Swords, spears,
javelins, daggers and arrows (no bows, unfor-
150
tunately, which is a bit of a disappointment).
There are also several pieces of armour: unusual
breastplates, helmets, leg-guards, arm-guards and
so forth. Greek design, by the look of them, which
is peculiar considering the fact you're in Avalon.
Since you don't have old EJ with you at the
moment and no armour whatsoever, you may feel
tempted to kit yourself out here. If so, the
following information may prove useful:
Swords
The swords here are not magical, but they are
extremely well made and unused, with a fine
edge. Any one of them will allow you to strike at
+3 damage in a fight. (But unlike EJ, you will have
to roll 6 or better to hit with them.)
S pears
Spears are funny things to fight with, especially if
you're not used to them. They can be used for
jabbing or throwing.
150
Since you've not really been trained to it, you will
need to roll 8 or better to throw a spear success-
fully. As against that, it will strike with a massive
+ 10 damage when you do succeed. Unfor-
tunately, once you've thrown it, successfully or
not, it will take you three combat rounds to get it
back.
Jabbing with a spear requires a 6 or better, exactly
like a sword, and does +5 damage, which is better
than the swords here and, in fact, as good as old EJ.
The drawback is that a spear is more unwieldy
than a sword, so you can only get in one jab for
every two swipes your opponent takes with a
sword. Of course, if your opponent is jabbing with
a spear as well, you're evens.
Daggers
These daggers only do +1 damage, but they have
certain other benefits. First they are extremely
well balanced and light, so you can get in two
strikes with a dagger for every one your opponent
might get with a sword (and three strikes for every
one if your opponent is jabbing with a spear).
A rmour
You can wear up to three different items of armour
in this heat. (Any more will leave you prostrate
before you walk a hundred yards.) Each item de-
ducts 2 points from any damage scored against you,
which means if you kit out fully, there is a 6 on
any damage scored by your opponent.
But before you start buckling the stuff on, you
151
need to know this isn't the world's greatest
armour. After the first strike in every combat, you
need to roll two dice to find out if it's going to last
the pace or shatter. (If it does shatter, it will do
you a straight 20 damage, which is not good news
and may quite possibly kill you.)
If you are wearing one piece of armour and throw
a 12 on the dice, the armour shatters. If you are
wearing two pieces, 11 or 12 on the dice shows it
shatters. If you are wearing three pieces, 9, 10, 11
or 12 on the dice shows it shatters. Armour is
tricky stuff, but it's up to you what you wear.
When you've made your decision about
weapons and armour, you may go on to any
other section of Plan 1.
151
Since this is quite a large cavern, you begin to
search methodically, mentally dividing it into
sections, visualizing mini longitude and latitude
lines criss-crossing the floor, allocating letters of
the alphabet to those running north/south and
numbers to those running east/west, correlating
these co-ordinates and memorizing segments you
have already searched by means of an ingenious
system of colour-coding.
While you are engaged in all this psychological
rubbish, you are attacked by an enraged Super-
lizard which was hiding in the shadows.
The Superlizard gets first strike by reason of
surprise. It requires a 9 or better to hit but
scores six times the damage shown by the dice
152-153
if the hit is successful. The Superlizard for-
tunately has only 18 LIFE POINTS.
If the Superlizard kills you, go to 14.
If not, you may continue searching at 28.
Alternatively, you may go east to 34, go north
to 36, or go north-east to 55.
152
This is a loo, but luckily it's empty so you didn't
embarrass anybody by bursting in the way you did.
All the same, you'd better consult your Plan
and hurry off somewhere else before any of the
Guards decide to come and use it.
153
You insert the keys one after another. As the tenth
is pushed home, there is a grinding of massive gears
and the huge door swings slowly open.
Behind it is a stone-lined corridor, as gigantic as
the door itself. Although gloomy and forbidding as
the door opened, the walls of the corridor quickly
begin to glow with a soft, warm, inviting light.
Encouraged, you step forward, wondering what
you will do if the great door slams shut behind
you, but nothing happens. You take a cautious
step forward.
The great door slams shut behind you.
For a moment you stand seized by panic, then,
with a gentle musical note, a luminous green
arrow appears in the floor almost beneath your
feet. Then another appears a short way ahead,
154-155
then another and another, making a trail. With
nowhere else to go, you follow.
The arrows continue to appear as you move for-
ward, taking you some two hundred yards along
the massive corridor until, quite suddenly, it
branches. The arrows continue to the right. To
your left, another corridor opens.
To continue following the arrow trail, turn to
196.
To turn left, go to 119.
154
Even your best friends wouldn't tell you how you
smell right now. Searching a heap of monster ma-
nure is not a bowl of cherries. You pong to high
heaven and your skin has turned the same
luminous green as the manure. All in all, you are
not a pretty sight. Worse still, the only thing you
found under the manure was more manure. Now
stop messing about and return to 162 where,
hopefully, you will make a more sensible decision
about what to do next.
155
Quickly you jerk the knots on the principle that if
you're into a fight, it will do no harm to have an
ally - even a great, ugly, musclebound ally like
the warrior. But no sooner has he been freed than
-the man races away as fast as his huge legs can
carry him, leaving you to face the beautiful young
princess alone.
'Now you've really made me mad!' she hisses,
155
raising one slim hand and pointing a finger in your
direction. Hurriedly you dive aside as a flare of
brilliant purple light erupts from her finger and
sweeps towards you.
This beautiful young female is obviously a
witch. But the important thing is whether you
have reacted quickly enough to dodge her
magic. Throw two dice separately. If the score
on your second throw is greater than the score
on your first, then go to 200. If it is less, then go
to 171.
156-157
156
It's restored your LIFE POINTS! What an inter-
esting find! The only problem is that however
much you eat, it will only do the trick once. But
still, it was a bit of a bonus and an unexpected one
at that.
Cavern exits lead to 101 and 83.
157
'There,' exclaims one of the little birds after you
have given your answer, 'I told you that's 'ow
many!'
'Rubbish!' says the other. 'It's patently obvious
this young person wouldn't know a Cyclops from
a sago pudding. Or you either for that matter.'
"Oo are yer calling a sago puddin'?' asks the first
little bird aggressively.
'No one,' says the other. 'I certainly wouldn't in-
sult the intelligence of a sago pudding by compar-
ing it with anything as essentially dimwitted as
yourself.'
With which, predictably, the squabble turns to
physical violence as the two little birds comm-
ence to balance on one leg while punching at each
other with the other.
'Just a minute!' you call. 'Stop that at once! Or at
least stop it until you tell me where I can get my
hands on the valuable item you mentioned.'
To your surprise they do stop, looking at each
other, then at you. 'Greedy little haggis, wouldn't
you say?' remarks the one with the Oxford accent.
157 Overhead, you hear the beat of powerful wings ..
158
'Gives us the wrong answer and then expects a
reward.'
' Yus,' agrees the other. 'Let's duff this one up!'
'Now just a minute!' you protest, 'You're only
very little birds. I'm certainly not going to fight
you.'
'Then maybe you'll fight our big sister!' snaps the
one with the East End accent, placing one clawed
foot in his beak and giving a piercing whistle.
'No really -' you begin. But before you can finish,
the air above your head is filled with the beat of
powerful wings. You look up with a sinking
feeling to see, swooping down on you, a huge
creature with the body of a bird and the face of an
angry woman.
This is a Harpy, one of the less pleasant
monsters to threaten adventurers in Ancient
Greece. She has 30 LIFE POINTS, hits on 5, does
+3 damage with those vicious claws and, being
airborne, is extremely difficult to hit so that any
dice roll you make is automatically 2.
If the Harpy kills you, go to 14. If you kill the
Harpy you may continue to explore, but will
find you have gone in a circle and ended up at
111.
158
On second thoughts,' says the frail old man, 'you
look like a nice person, so you can stay. But only
for a minute.'
Are these magical scrolls?' you ask curiously,
158
indicating the various parchments on the shelves.
'Good gracious no! They're just Palace Inventories
- lists of foodstuffs, contents, financial reports,
that sort of thing. Are you interested in magic?'
'Very,' you say, having had precious little of it to
use on this particular adventure.
'In that case,' says the old man drawing a small
leather pouch from inside his tunic, 'you might
find some use for these.'
You open the pouch to find it contains three
white objects which look vaguely like small
bones. 'What are they?' you frown.
'Dragon's teeth,' says the old man. 'Very rare, but
very useful. At least to anybody who isn't too old
to fight, like me. If it looks as if you are going to
get into trouble, you simply use your first strike
time to sow one or more of the Teeth in the
ground. You'll find you can sow them in anything,
even solid rock. By the time your opponent has
bashed you, germination will have started. All
you need do then is throw two dice and if you
score 6 or better, a warrior grows up out of the
ground for every Tooth you sowed. The warrior
will have 30 LIFE POINTS and comes fully
equipped with +3 sword and 3 armour. He will
fight to the death on your behalf.'
'Will the warriors stay with me after the fight?'
you ask delightedly.
'No,' the old man shakes his head. 'Once they
have been through a combat, Dragon Teeth
warriors turn into buttercups. But you have three
159-160
Teeth there, so you have one warrior for three
fights or three warriors for one fight if you can get
decent dice rolls.'
You thank the old man with genuine en-
thusiasm then politely leave jot another
section on your Plan.
159
Ah, freedom! There's nothing like a good escape
to get the old adrenalin flowing. You bound away
gaily to 39 where you may pick any of the options
given there.
160
This place is bigger inside than it is on the out-
side, like a Tardis or a Mini Minor. As you step
through the door, you find your footsteps echoing
in a marble-flagged, high-ceilinged hallway: not at
all what you'd expect to find in a little cottage,
even if there was room for it, which there
certainly shouldn't have been. There is a doorway
to your left and a doorway up ahead to your right,
but before you race off through either, your
attention is caught by a beautifully drawn plan of
the place, ornately framed and hanging on the
wall beside the door.
You will find that plan on Appendix, p.237. You
can use it to explore the building you have
entered, but note that you cannot, of course, go
directly to any section you fancy. You must
start from the hall and move through in
sequence.
When you have finished your explorations (or
161
before, if you wish) you can return to 39 to pick
a new destination.
161
It's bitten you! The multicoloured little brute has
bitten you, clinging to your finger with all six legs
and fanging you viciously with multicoloured
teeth.
You shake off the beetle which scurries away
giggling to itself and suck your finger which, you
notice, is turning a curious blend of red, white and
blue.
The bite itself is not particularly serious since you
162
have lost only 1 LIFE POINT (although if this kills
you, you should go to 14) but there is no doubt it
is making you feel most peculiar and turning your
entire skin surface multicoloured.
You pick up the key (which got you into this mess
in the first place) and stash it away carefully, but
as you head back to your ship, you can't help
feeling something pretty awful has happened to
you.
As indeed it has. Apart from turning your skin
multicoloured (which will cause the Argonauts
to talk a lot behind your back, although they
will be far too polite to say anything to your
face) the beetle bite has caused a subtle inner
change to occur in you. The next time you find
yourself in combat, you will quickly discover
you have taken on certain characteristics of the
multicoloured beetle itself. For one thing, you
will find you have only 25 LIFE POINTS and
strike successfully on 7 or better. As against
that, your new colouring is extremely con-
fusing to opponents and will make you so
difficult to hit that they will strike successfully
only every second round whatever the dice in-
dicates. This effect will last for the remainder
of your adventure or until you are killed,
whichever is the sooner.
Now better return to your ship and Sea Chart
to find another destination.
162
The smell in here is absolutely abominable and
the cause is not difficult to find: slap bang in the
163
middle of the floor is the largest heap of luminous
green monster manure you have ever seen. For-
tunately the monster which deposited it doesn't
seem to be about right now.
There are two exits from the cavern, one
leading north to 183, the other leading north-
east to 177. You may take either, or search the
manure heap by going to 154.
Alternatively, you may return the way you
came to 199.
163
Captain Silver carefully counts out 100 golden
pieces and hands them up to you. 'There ye go, me
hearty!' he says cheerfully. 'Use that to bribe the
blackguard Merlin and tell 'e to send old John
back to his rightful place with Jim-lad and his
shipmates. And for your trouble, young 'un, take
'e this little present from the Cap' n. . . ' With
which he draws from a pocket of his tattered
frockcoat a bottle of grog and a tiny golden key.
'Stole these from Blind Pew,' he murmurs. 'Old
fool never saw them go.'
'Thank you, sir,' you say politely, quietly vowing
to leave the grog alone, since you have a sneaking
suspicion it was what made Pew blind in the first
place.
'Hurry on now,' Silver says, 'and look sharp about
it, for until you find this Merlin swarb I am
marooned here with nobody to talk to but me
parrot.'
Nothing else for it but to return to the Argo as
164-165
quickly as possible, consult your Sea Chart and
find another destination.
164
Looks like you did it the box has opened!
Or maybe you didn't, since the egg inside is
cracking open too. And emerging from it is (you're
not going to believe this) a tiny Tyrannosaurus
Rex!
Or then again, maybe you did: the little terror
looks friendly. In fact, he gives your hand a lick
before bounding off to find a good cave to live in
where he can grow big enough to savage unwary
adventurers.
You will find a tiny golden key in the remnants
of the eggshell and may leave the cave by re-
turning to 115.
165
You move (a little reluctantly) to the stake and
begin to unknot the warrior's bonds.
Stop!'
You stop and turn to find a beautiful young
woman has entered the clearing. She stares at you
angrily. 'That is my future husband you are
messing around with! If you insist on releasing
him, it will be the worse for both of you!'
The warrior pales and slumps in a near faint. 'Save
me!' he moans. 'I'm far too young to marry!'
166
'I'm warning you . . . ' the beautiful young woman
threatens.
You do still have a choice. If you decide to
leave this ugly great brute to a fate worse than
death, you can slip away quietly and return to
your ship.
But if you insist on freeing him, the chances are
you will have a fight on your hands at 155.
166
No sooner have you stepped into the boat than it
pulls away from the shore at a truly alarming rate
of knots . . . so suddenly, in fact, that you sit down
in the stern on your stern quite painfully. By the
time you recover your composure, you are
heading for a fog bank, but you can see no way of
stopping your craft (let alone see what is pro-
pelling it at this fantastic rate).
Frantically you search about in the boat for the
secret of its controls and for a moment you think
you have found it in the shape of what might be a
piece of magical parchment stowed away under
the seat. But there is no spell written here,
although there is a very curious series of diagrams
drawn on it. Frowning as you try to make sense of
the diagrams, you unfold the parchment, but it
gets bigger and bigger until it is so big and flapping
so much that you are forced to fold it up again.
By the time you finish messing about with the
parchment, you have entered the fog bank; and
after a moment of mind-wrenching confusion find
167
yourself beached on a tiny rock almost too small
to be called an island and certainly not shown on
your Sea Chart. The black boat is nowhere to be
seen. Nor is anything else for that matter except
the folded parchment which is still clutched in
your hand.
If you're not very careful you could find your next
stop is 14. However, a seasoned young sea dog like
yourself is nothing if not resourceful. You con-
sider the situation carefully until curiosity impels
you to examine the parchment diagrams again. To
your intense delight, they are instructions for
making a boat. Complicated instructions, to be
sure, but in your present situation, anything that
gives you a boat is better than nothing.
Study the diagrams on Appendix, p.223 and if you
can follow them well enough to make yourself a
paper boat, you may return to the Argo and pick a
destination from your Sea Chart. Furthermore,
you may if you wish, take the folding boat with
you on any subsequent trip to an island and use it
to sail directly to the next nearest island when
you have finished without the need to check for
Cross-Eyed Navigation!
If you can't manage to make yourself a paper boat,
you will rot on this island until exposure, ex-
haustion and starvation carry your wasted corpse
to the gloomy depths of 14.
167
The tunnel leads downwards for almost a hundred
yards until it opens out into a smallish cave
168-169
sleeping in the centre of which is a large snake. As
you enter, it opens one eye blearily and murmurs,
'One step further and I'll fang you.'
Do you take one step further to 193?
Or will you return the way you came and take
the other tunnel to 189?
168
There's nothing in the casket except a very tiny
key
;
and though it is gold, it's really too small to
be of much value. Being a bit of a magpie, how-
ever, you stow it away carefully with the rest of
your possessions.
You now have the choice of investigating the
trilithon at 91 or returning to your ship and
picking a new destination on the Sea Chart.
169
You reach another cavern with all the signs of
having been cut out from the volcanic rock, or at
least artificially enlarged. The floor of the cavern
is strewn with rubble and rotting wooden props
support the ceiling in half a dozen places. It does
not, frankly, look terribly safe to cross.
Not is it. In fact, this particular cavern is trouble
all the way. As you step forward, a squat, heavily
muscled Rock Them emerges from the shadows
and skeeters aggressively towards you. This crea-
ture, which stands about as tall as an armadillo
(and looks vaguely like one) has only 15 LIFE
169 The Rock Them . . . slow, but dangerous!
170
POINTS, but heavy scales across its entire body
surface form a natural armour with subtracts 6
full points from any damage .caused by every blow
scored against it. The Rock Them is a slow
fighter, so you will get in two blows for every one
it can manage. As against that, it is extremely
strong with a natural +5 on any damage it man-
ages to score. The Thern hits successfully on 5.
As if all this were not bad enough, any fight in
here is very liable to bring down the roof. For each
blow struck, you should throw two dice. A score
above three indicates the fight can go ahead safely
(well, as safely as fights ever are). But a score of 2
or 3 indicates that you inadvertently knock out a
roof prop. The resultant cave-in will send both
you and the Thern to 14.
If you survive, the passage north leads to 191,
the passage east to 199.
170
You move eastwards, travelling for nearly twenty
minutes until you find yourself approaching a
huge stone statue, very similar in many respects,
to those found on Easter Island. As you move
closer, you discover that the mouth of this great
head has been cleverly articulated so that it
might, under certain circumstances, open and
close in a lifelike manner. (Well, comparatively
lifelike manner.)
As you move around to the back of the statue, you
notice three levers set near its base. Above the
levers a notice has been chiselled.
171
WARNING
ONLY ONE LEVER MAY BE
PULLED WITH SAFETY
Think on where you are, Wanderer. That which, if
multiplied by five, then ten, then the same added,
plus a further score, equates to your present
location, will gain you ample reward for your in-
sight. Aught else spells doom.
On closer inspection you find each lever has been
numbered 1 to 3.
But axe you prepared to risk pulling one on the
promise of 'ample reward'! Should you pull
Lever 1, go-to 202. Should you try Lever 2, go to
178. Should you reach for Lever 3, go to 186.
You may, of course, leave them all alone, in
which case you may return to 127 and pick
another direction, or return to your ship and
find a new island on your Sea Chart.
171
Not fast enough. The wave of purple light hits you
fair and square.
Oink!' you shout in panic.
*
Oink? The rotten sow has turned you into a pig!
This is the worst witch of them all, Hecate, who
has a reputation for turning Ancient Greek
adventurers into swine.
The pig you have now become has only 15 LIFE
POINTS, strikes on 6 and does no more than dice
damage, pigs generally being very poor fighters:
Not a lot to go on, but it's all you have now that.
Hecate is bearing down on you intent to cut you
into rashers. Hecate, in a straight fight, has 25
LIFE POINTS, hits on 4 or better and scores +2 on
damage on account of her long fingernails.
If you are killed in the ensuing hassle, go to 14.
If you manage to kill Hecate, your troubles axe
still far from over since you are stuck in the
form of a pig. Make your way back to the Argo
and explain the position to the Argonauts, who
will be very sympathetic but not particularly
172-173
helpful. You can use your Sea Chart to pick
your next destination, but you will remain a
pig, with a pig's LIFE POINTS and fighting
ability until you finish the adventure or are
killed off, whichever happens soonest.
172
You move away from the cave and begin to make
your way back to the rocky shoreline where you
left your boat. The problem is that all these
twisted rock formations are extremely
confusing,...
Better throw two dice. Score 8 to 12 and you
find your way back to the rowboat and may
return to your ship and Sea Chart to seek
another destination.
Score under 8 and you Wander in a circle
straight into the mouth of the cave at 117.
173
The ruins were well worth exploring. Beneath the
remains of a crumbling wall you find a smallish
casket and within the casket i s . . . A second
casket!
And inside this is another; and inside this another
still and so on, like Chinese boxes, until you are
down to a little weeny casket no larger than a
snuffbox. You open the final casket then step back
in alarm as something bright orange expands out
of it, growing larger and larger until it looms over
you like the side of a candy-striped house.
It's a balloon - a hot air balloon complete with
collapsible wicker basket! What a find! You can
use this balloon to fly direct to any of the other
sections on this island (although not, unfor-
tunately, to any other island.)
Your choices are 51, 112, 65, 120, 97 or 88.
174-176
174
What a stupid time to start stuffing your face! And
while you're doing it, you've been surprised by a
huge contingent of Guards.
You put up a brave fight, hacking at them with a
chicken drumstick and slashing viciously with a
stick of celery, but they quickly overpower you
and march you off to 114.
175
Looks like you did it - the box has opened! Or
maybe you didn't, since the egg inside is cracking
open too. And emerging from it is (you're not
going to believe this) a tiny Tyrannosaurus Rex!
If you think you're going to have an easy time
with the baby, you have another think coming.
New born or not, this little horror stretches out
to almost six feet long, has 50 LIFE POINTS,
strikes on 5, does +4 damage, is never friendly
and is too young and innocent to accept bribes.
It has thinner skin than an adult Tyrannosaur,
but even so you will have to deduct 2 from any
damage scored against it.
If Babysaurus Rex kills you, go to 14.
If you kill it, you will find a tiny golden key-in
the remnants of the eggshell and may leave the
cave, by returning to 115.
176
Tastes rather pleasant and has given you a very
177
invigorating tingling all up and down your spine.
Although this does not affect your LIFE POINTS,
you will find that next time you fight, your
opponent will only be able to score half the dam-
age shown on the dice. Unfortunately the effect
wears off after one combat.
Check your Plan to find out where you can go
when you leave the Temple.
177
A dead-end cavern - and empty by the looks of it.
What a long way to come for a grotty dead end.
Still, you weren't the only one. Somebody has
scrawled something on one of the walls.
You study the graffiti, frowning. It reads:
'The contents of the box are plain to see
But opening it requires great ingenuity.
Regard the rainbow. Note the order of its col-
ours
Then follow them to make your choice,
otherwise death
Awaits you.'
A dire warning and quite possibly helpful advice,
except there is no box here. Or anything else for
that matter.
Nothing else for it but to make your way back
to 162 and pick another direction.
178
178
With a grinding of hidden gears, the great mouth
opens, spilling out no less than 3,500 gold pieces
and a talisman which has the effect of subtracting
one from an opponent's first dice roll during com-
bat.
Pick up this interesting load of booty and re-
turn to 127 and pick another direction, or re-
turn to your ship and find a new island on your
Sea Chart.
179-180
179
Trouble, with, as they say, a capital ' T' (or in this
case, a capital 'H' since there is a Hydra lurking in
the ring fort). The huge seven-headed snake
appears to be guarding a very small casket, which
may or may not contain something of value.
Although not exactly pleased to see you, the
Hydra will not attack unless you make a move for
the casket. Should you decide to do so, it's best to
know the creature has 10 LIFE POINTS per head
and you will have to slaughter each of them separ-
ately before it becomes a late Hydra. In combat,
each head will strike one after the other, with all
seven striking before you get your turn. Each head
requires 6 or better to hit and scores +1 damage.
In other words, a very nasty monster unless you
happen to have a bit of magic that might work
against it.
Should you fight and successfully defeat the
Hydra, you may search the casket at 168. If the
monster kills you, the only thing you can
search is 14.
Should you decide to avoid the Hydra (and
who could blame you) then you may still in-
vestigate the trilithon at 91 or even return to
your ship and pick a new destination on the
Sea Chart.
180
This must be about the dumbest decision you've
ever made in any adventure. There are now so
many guards in the corridor that you've hardly
room to use a weapon. There are guards swinging
179 A Hydra lurks, guarding a small casket!
181
from the chandeliers and guards swarming up
from trapdoors in the floor and guards dropping
down from trapdoors in the ceiling. Outside, the
countryside reverberates with the sound of guard
armies moving. Overhead, huge flocks of birds are
carrying in more guards. Beyond the island, navies
of guards are in full sail. All converging on you!
All right, so it's a slight exaggeration. But there
are still an awful lot of guards. Probably your
best way to handle this situation is to throw a
single die six times. If you can manage to score
a 6 each and every time, then you've
slaughtered the guards. Climb over the corpses
and go to any other room on the Plan you can
reach from this corridor. If you fail to score six
6s, roll two dice. Score 2 to 6 and you're off to
14. Score 7 to 12 and you're overpowered and
flung into jail at 114.
181
'There,' exclaims one of the little birds after you
have given your answer, 'I told you that's 'ow
many!'
'Rubbish!
r
says the other. 'It's patently obvious
this young person wouldn't know a Cyclops from
a sago pudding. Or you either for that matter.'
"Oo are yer calling a sago puddin'?' asks the first
little bird aggressively.
No one,' says the other. 'I certainly wouldn't in-
sult the intelligence of a sago pudding by compar-
ing it with anything as essentially dimwitted as
yourself.'
180 The place is now so full of guards you have scarcely room
to draw your sword
181
With which, predictably, the squabble turns to
physical violence as the two little birds comm-
ence to balance on one leg while punching at each
other with the other.
'Just a minute!' you call. 'Stop that at once! Or at
least stop it until you tell me where I can get my
hands on the valuable item you mentioned.'
To your surprise they do stop, looking at each
other, then at you. 'Greedy little haggis, wouldn't
you say?' remarks the one with the Oxford accent.
'Gives us the wrong answer and then expects a
reward.'
'Yus,' agrees the other. 'Let's duff this one up!'
'Now just a minute!' you protest, 'You're only
very little birds. I'm certainly not going to fight
you.'
'Then maybe you'll fight our big sister!' snaps the
one with the East End accent, placing one clawed
foot in his beak and giving a piercing whistle.
'No really -' you begin. But before you can finish,
the air above your head is filled with the beat of
powerful wings. You look up with a sinking
feeling to see, swooping down on you, a huge
creature with the body of a bird and the face of an
. angry woman.
This is a Harpy, one of the less pleasant monsters
to threaten adventurers in Ancient Greece. She
has 30 LIFE POINTS, hits on 5, does +3 damage
with those vicious claws and, being airborne, is
extremely difficult to hit so that any dice roll you
make is automatically-2.
182
If the Harpy kills you, go to 14. If you kill the
Harpy you may continue to explore, but will
find you have gone in a circle and ended up at
111.
182
'If you think I'm dumb enough to believe that load
of old codswallop, you have another think com-
ing!' you tell the brutish warrior. 'It is so full of
logical inconsistencies that it is entirely laugh-
able.'
'Logical inconsistencies?' gasps the bound
warrior. 'Name me one! Go on - name me one!'
Well, the fact that a base-born oaf like yourself
wouldn't want to marry a beautiful young
princess, for one.'
'Have you ever been married?' he asks.
You shake your head.
'Well, there you are then. Neither have I, as it
happens, but I am saving myself for Miss Right
and have no intention of throwing myself away on
the first princess who happens to throw a glance
in my direction. Especially one who can't see
further than a man's muscles.'
'You can say what you like,' you tell him firmly,
' I' m afraid I just don't believe there really is a
beautiful young princess here at all.'
'Yes there is!' insists the warrior. 'In fact she is
creeping up behind you at this very minute.'
'Pull the other one - it's got bells on,' you tell him
183-184
smugly a split second before a wave of purple
magic hurled by a beautiful young princess who
has crept up behind you lifts you high into the air
and deposits you (magically) in a darkened cell on
another island altogether.
Go to Section 114.
183
The bad news is this cave leads nowhere. The
corridor you took brought you into a cavern with
the only exit being the way you came in.
The good news is that this cave was once mined
by somebody or other (perhaps the poor dwarves
slaughtered at 199) and there are rich nuggets of
gold lying all over the place.
Roll two dice and double the result to determine
how many nuggets you find. Now roll again and
multiply the result by 50 to find the value of each
nugget.
When you have collected up your booty, your
only option is to return to 162 and pick another
option.
184
You've found a tiny little golden key in the
bottom of the cooking pot (lying between a potato
and a carrot, to be exact). Apart from that, there's
nothing else here except the chewed bones of old
adventurers.
You can now return to 124 and, if you wish,
explore the bright-hand tunnel to 167.
Alternatively, you can simply leave the cave
and return to your ship and Sea Chart.
185-187
185
You've been teleported! No doubt about it, you're
back aboard the Argo, surrounded by a bemused
crowd of Argonauts.
Which means the only thing you can do is risk
Cross-Eyed Navigation trying to get back, or
alternatively pick another island altogether.
186
With a slow grinding of hidden gears the statue
slowly topples, threatening to crush you like a
gnat.
Throw two dice. If you score 10 or above, you
are definitely gnot a gnat and will escape the
falling statue, but at such a cost to your nerves
that you must return at once to your ship. If
you score below 10, you will find your
squashed remains at 14.
187
Ping!
A luminous green arrow has appeared on the floor
beneath your feet.
'Well done,' whispers the Voice. 'Now all you
have to do is follow the arrows.'
You step forward cautiously and another arrow
appears, then another.
'A word in your ear,' whispers the Voice. 'A word
of advice, since you've been clever enough to read
my thoughts. If you ever finish this adventure, be
sure to call on me again. I'm the only one who can
188-189
tell you where to find Excalibur.'
You stop in high excitement. Excalibur is King
Arthur's sword! 'What do you mean?' you ask,
quite forgetting to whisper in your excitement.
But there is no reply.
How irritating, but no use worrying about that
now. Follow the arrows out of the magical
darkness to 196.
188
Looks like you did it - the box has opened!
Or maybe you didn't, since the egg inside is cracking
open too. And emerging from it is (you're not going
to believe this) a tiny Tyrannosaurus Rex!
If you think you're going to have an easy time
with the baby, you have another think coming.
New born or not, this little horror stretches out to
almost six feet long, has 50 LIFE POINTS, strikes
on 5, does +4 damage, is never friendly and is too
young and innocent to accept bribes. It has
thinner skin than an adult Tyrannosaur, but even
so you will have to deduct 2 from any damage
scored against it.
If Babysaurus Rex kills you, go to 14.
If you kill it, you will find a tiny golden key in
the remnants of the eggshell and may leave the
cave by returning to 115.
189
There's a light up ahead.
You move towards it and emerge into a cavern lit
190-191
by the dancing flames of a huge bonfire. Hanging
over it is a cooking pot even larger than the one
you saw in the first cave. Standing before it is a
one-eyed giant.
He looks at you and licks his lips. 'Dinner time
already!' he remarks with satisfaction.
The bad news is that you have stumbled on the
lair of the Cyclops, a one-eyed giant whose fa-
vourite food is adventurers. Worse news is that he
has 50 LIFE POINTS, carries a huge club which
does +8 damage and strikes successfully on 5 or
better. The worst news is that he can't be bribed
and never gives a Friendly Reaction.
The good news is that the weather is still fine
outside.
If the Cyclops kills you, he will eat you and
throw the bones down to 14.
If you kill the Cyclops, you can search the cave
at 184.
190
Good thinking. Nobody in their right mind would
attempt to fight so many guards. -
They carry you off bodily and bundle you un-
ceremoniously into the cell at 114.
191
There is a curious echo in this cavern, as H some-
body was whispering to you: 'Go back. . . go
back. . . go back . . . '
The cavern is, however, empty, so you may well
192
decide to ignore the advice.
Exit tunnels from the cavern lead to 169 and
101.
192
It's slippery all right - so slippery that you can't
keep your feet. You're falling, and sliding. The
corridor becomes steeper and steeper until it's
practically a chute, hurtling you downwards
i nt o. . .
It's dark in here. (Not to mention a bit chilly.) And
the darkness must be magical since you find
within seconds that absolutely nothing will dispel
it. You begin to fumble round, hoping to find a
wall, but after nearly fifteen minutes you're still
fumbling with no sign of anything which will
help you get your bearings.
Pssst!
You stop fumbling to listen. 'Is anybody there?'
you ask a little nervously.
'No,' a voice whispers so close to your ear that
you nearly jump out of your skin.
When your heart stops thumping and you catch
your breath, you say bravely, 'If there's nobody
there, how come I can hear you talking to me?'
'A good question,' whispers the Voice. 'But I have
a better one. Pay close attention.'
'All right,' you whisper back. (Funny, isn't it, how
you always feel obliged to whisper back when
anybody whispers at you.)
193
'Good,' whispers the Voice.
After a while you whisper, 'You aren't saying any-
thing.'
'That's because I'm thinking,' whispers the Voice.
'Specifically, I'm thinking of a number. Can you
guess what it is?'
'Don't be -' you begin loudly. Then, remembering
your difficult situation, you whisper, 'Don't be
daft. How can I be expected to guess what number
you're thinking? It could be anything from 6 to
128,753,209!'
'No,' whispers the Voice, 'it isn't either of those. I
tell you what, I'll make it easier for you. I will add
five to the number I'm thinking of. Now I'll sub-
tract two. Now I'll add fifteen. And now I'll take
away the number I first thought of. Now I'll
multiply by two. Finally, I shall add one hundred
and fifty-one. Can you tell me the number I'm
thinking of now?'
Well, can you? If so, go to the section with the
number you have calculated.
193
Bravely you take one step further. The snake rears
to strike.
You leap forward to attack, but before you are
anywhere near the reptile, a small furry animal
appears as if from nowhere, chops with its fore-
paw, spins on one of its hindlegs and karate kicks
the snake in the throat with the other, knocking it
unconscious.
194
'I hate snakes,' remarks the small, furry animal in
a curious accent, dusting itself down. 'Don't you,
Sahib?'
'Well, yes, I do really,' you say uncertainly. 'But
who are you?'
'Gopi Krishna at your service. Late of the Third
Bengal Mongoose Lancers. Now available for
mercenary work. If you care to hire me, the fee is
10 gold pieces per section visited together.'
Which could mount up if you have a long way to
go. But while Gopi will avoid all other fights, if
you meet any sort of snake or serpent, he will put
paid to it at once without your having to strike a
single blow, which could come in very handy in
certain circumstances.
Should you decide to hire the Mongoose, deduct
10 gold pieces from your hoard for every new
section you visit together. Should you decide
against it, simply leave him here.
In either case, you have the option of returning
to 124 and taking the left-hand tunnel to 189 or
returning to your ship and picking a new des-
tination from your Sea Chart.
194
You return to your ship with the multicoloured
beetle, wondering vaguely if you made the right
decision.
But too late to worry now. Get out your Sea
Chart and pick a new destination.
195-196
195
'Have at you, you senile old fool!' you cry, leaping
towards him with a triumphant whoop.
But the senile old fool waves a senile old hand and
mutters, 'Scransion Azumopath Nectanebo
Dumkoff!' At which you find yourself seized by a
magical whirlwind, similar to those used by
Merlin for his teleportation spells.
You spin in dizzying darkness for what seems
like an eternity before you emerge to find your-
self transported back on board the Argo with
no option but to return to your Sea Chart.
Note: you may, if you wish, return to the island
you have just left, but you will have to risk
Cross-Eyed Navigation and begin the whole is-
land at the beginning if you succeed.
196
You follow the luminous green arrows as the
tunnel turns upwards and eventually emerge into
blinding sunlight.
When your eyes adjust, you can see you are
standing on a broad, flat, grassy plain, slap bang
centre of which stands a towering pyramid. And
hurrying towards you from the direction of the
pyramid is a very familiar white-robed figure
wearing his pointed wizard's hat over a thick
bandage round his head.
'Merlin!' you call excitedly. 'Merlin, it's you!'
196
'Of course it's me!' Merlin exclaims grumpily.
'Who else would it be? And what kept you?
Messing around with monsters, I'll be bound, like
all young adventurers now. No sense of pro-
portion. No, no indeed.'
'Excuse me, sir, but what happened to your head?'
'It collided with a bucket, 'Merlin tells you
irritably. 'But never mind that now. While you've
been amusing yourself and lolling about in the
sun, the Saxons have been invading Avalon.
Hordes of them. Great hairy men in ships. Worse
still, the King has lost his sword. Excalibur itself.
Mislaid it, or had it stolen or some such, so he
can't even fight. We have to get back. At least you
do. You're the only one who can stop the Saxons.
And find Excalibur, come to that, although that
will have to be later when you've dispatched the
Saxons. Quickly now.'
'I'm afraid I don't have my sword with me either,'
197
you tell him apologetically. 'I mean I haven't had
old EJ on this whole adventure.'
'Sword?' asks Merlin. 'Sword? Why are you
blathering about a sword? You can't see off a
whole army with just a sword, however good it is.
You need magic. Great magic. Superlative magic.
Magic of almost unimaginable potency.'
I' m afraid I don't have any of that either: nothing
that would put paid to an entire Saxon army.'
'Neither do I,' says Merlin, 'but there's something
suitable in the pyramid. All you have to do is get
it and we'll be off back to Avalon.' He hesitates,
almost imperceptibly, then adds, 'Watch out for
the Mummy.'
And since Merlin never gives you a choice
about anything, you'd better enter the pyramid
at 203.
197
The door swings open into an opulent chamber,
empty like the rest (which probably explains why it
was left unguarded). A curious tapestry hangs above
the heap of silken cushions which presumably serve
Colchis as a bed. The tapestry shows a large skull
with a single eye socket set centrally in place of the
usual two, while underneath has been ornately
embroidered the single word 'BEWARE'.
Which is all very nerve-wracking, but doesn't get
you anywhere. You begin methodically to search
the room. While there is some very fine clothing
(as you might expect in a king's room), nothing
else of value catches your attention until you
198
think to look beneath the cushions of the bed
itself. And there you find a scroll.
The penmanship is almost as bad as Merlin's,
which suggests it must be a magical scroll,
wizards generally having handwriting almost as
illegible as doctors. But after a few moments' con-
centration, you manage to read the wording.
And it's a nice find, too. The scroll is headed
ILLUSION SPELL and the instructions tell you
how to create a marvellous magical effect. The
spell itself is difficult since it requires you to
throw an 11 or a 12 on two dice: nothing else will
activate it. But if you do manage the proper score,
you create an illusion of a massive flamestorm so
powerful that it will destroy completely any
enemy or enemy group . . . but only provided they
believe it to be real. In order to check whether or
not the enemy believes the illusion, you must
throw a further one die. Score above 3 and the
enemy believes. (When thrown against a group,
you must make the belief check for each enemy
involved.) Casting the spell costs no LIFE POINTS
and you may use it as often as you wish; but once
an enemy disbelieves the illusion, the spell will
never again become effective against him.
Keep the scroll carefully and return to 80 where
you may like to try it out against the Amazon
Guards who will have been replaced at the foot
of the stairs.
198
Quietly you smash the glass.
199
All right: you smash the glass loudly, since that's
the only way you can smash glass. However, since
you didn't succeed, you have attracted just about
every guard in this entire building. They pour in a
great stream through doorways and along
corridors so that the whole place vibrates with the
sound of running feet. There are hundreds of
them.
If you're prepared to fight hundreds of guards,
go to 180.
If not, you can surrender by going to 190.
199
This is interesting. You have entered what
appears at first glance to be a natural cavern, but
strewn across the floor here are scores of broken
and rusted mining tools - spades, picks, chisels,
baskets and so forth. And scattered among them
are the shattered remnants of close on a hundred
dwarven skeletons.
The cavern is unnaturally quiet, like some vast
mausoleum, but everywhere you look, you can
see the signs of extreme violence which took
place sometime in the distant past. Your im-
agination begins to paint a grim picture. It is the
picture of a dwarven mining crew surprised at
work by some unimaginable creature which
slaughtered them wholesale where they stood.
But what sort of creature could do such damage?
And, more important, could it still be here,
lurking in the warren of interconnected caverns
you have entered?
200-201
You can, of course, still return to your ship and
pick a new destination.
But if you decide to go on, a tunnel leading east
from the cavern will take you to 162, while a
tunnel leading north-west will take you to 169.
200
Well done - she missed you with that purple light.
But now she's racing towards you, determined to
do you mischief.
'I'll teach you to mess around with Princess Hecate,'
she cries, aiming a karate kick at your head.
Hecate has 25 LIFE POINTS, hit on 4 or better
and scores +2 on damage on account of her long
fingernails.
If you are killed in the ensuing hassle, go to 14.
If you survive, you will find a small golden key
and a magical scroll on Hecate's person. The
scroll contains a once-only spell for changing a
single opponent into a pig with 15 LIFE
POINTS, hitting on 6 or better and doing only
dice damage. It's a nifty spell, but requires you
to throw a 4 or better on double dice to set it
going. And once you've used it, successfully or
not, it's gone forever.
Now return to the Argo and pick another des-
tination on the Sea Chart.
201
Something odd here. There is a huge bubble in the
water at the bottom of the well: so huge that you
202-203
can actually stand up and breathe inside it.
When you have recovered from your surprise, you
look around you. Pinned to the inner wall of the
bubble with a small ornamental brass dagger is a
scrap of parchment. Written on the parchment are
the words:
VZHSHMF ENQ XNT NM KNRS HRKZMC
RSNO RZWNM HMUZRHNM HLLHMDMS
RSNO BNLD ZS NMBD RSNO JDX
DMBKNRDC RSNO LDQKHM RSNO
Which might be Greek or just possibly code. On
the floor of the bubble beneath the note is a tiny
golden key.
Whether or not you can read the note, there's
nothing else here. Take your golden key and
climb out of the well so you can get back to
your ship and your Sea Chart.
202
With a slow grinding of hidden gears the statue
slowly topples, threatening to crush you like a
gnat.
Throw two dice. If you score 10 or above, you
are definitely gnot a gnat and will escape the
falling statue, but at such a cost to your nerves
that you must return at once to your ship. If
you score below 10, you will find your
squashed remains at 14.
203
You notice with growing alarm that Merlin is
ranging well back as you step into the gloomy
203
tunnel which plunges into the heart of the
towering pyramid. But there is nothing else for it
except to press on.
The tunnel runs level for about a hundred yards,
then ends in a flight of stone steps downwards.
You descend into what seems to be a cubical;
stone-lined crypt, in the centre of which is a
granite sarcophagus. There is nothing else at all
within the chamber; not even a hint of the super-
lative magic Merlin mentioned.
You move forward to examine the sarcophagus.
The lid has been beautifully carved and decorated
to resemble the reclining body of some ancient
Pharaoh. Egyptian hieroglyphics have been cut
into the sides. The workmanship is so perfect that
it takes you nearly five minutes to discover the
hidden clasp. But discover it you do and when you
release it, the lid of the great granite coffin swings
soundlessly open.
'Hello, Sucker!' says the Mummy within,
reaching for you with huge bandaged hands.
Although largely rotted away, this animated
corpse still retains 33 LIFE POINTS. Which may
not seem all that much until you realise it is
magically protected so that every dice roll you
make to hit is at 5. (Even magical weapons
which would normally hit automatically require a
roll of 5 or better to work against this horror.) The
Mummy, on the other hand, scores full dice dam-
age (no plusses) and hits successfully on four or
better. What's even worse, the Mummy's touch is
poison, so that after his first successful hit you 203 'Hello, Sucker!' says the Mummy, reaching for you.
203
will lose 5 additional LIFE POINTS during each
subsequent combat round (including your own
strikes) due to the poison eating away your in-
sides.
The only good news is that you manage to kill
the Mummy, the action of the poison stops.
Should you fail, it's off to 14, although you may
return directly to the island at 122 (with golden
keys intact) when you have rerolled your LIFE
POINTS. Should you manage to slaughter the
Mummy, you will find a black ebony staff in
the bottom of the sarcophagus. Take it quickly
and read o n . . .
THE SAXON INVASION
The sun glints on the armour of the massed
armies facing each other across the sweeping
plain. The only sound to be heard is the soft clink
of the harness for the great warhorses and the
occasional creak of armour binding as the knights
move restlessly, waiting for the signal.
On a rise above the battlefield, King Arthur leans
disconsolately on a large (but definitely un-
magical) broadsword. By his side is faithful Sir
Lancelot and the old warrior King Pellinore. The
faces of all three are deeply troubled.
'Many good men will be killed this day,' Arthur
remarks sadly. 'Whichever side emerges
victorious.'
'Mais oui,' agrees Sir Lancelot, who sometimes
reverts to his native tongue when he is particu-
larly nervous.
'Pity we couldn't find that old fool Merlin,' says
King Pellinore. 'A little magic would have gone a
long way in this situation.'
lie' s never around when you need him,' sighs the
King. 'I suppose I'd better give the battle signal.
However much I regret wars, we really can't have
the Saxons overrunning the whole country.'
You strike the ground with the heel of your ebony staff.
205
He turns away from his companions and raises his
sword high above his head. At once there is an
answering cheer from the men below (and a roar
of outrage from the warriors across the plain).
Like opposing tides, the two great armies begin to
sweep towards each other, weapons flashing, bent
on slaughter.
And a lightning flash of brilliant orange explodes
across the plain between them!
The leading cavalry on both sides rein in with
much plunging of the horses. On the instant, a
stunned silence falls across the plain. In the wake
of the gigantic lightning flash, a small figure
carrying an ebony staff (and very curiously dressed
in a Grecian-style tunic) has appeared between
the two opposing armies.
'Who is it?' asks Pellinore. 'I can't see from here.'
'The build looks familiar,' frowns Sir Lancelot.
'By George!' exclaims the King. 'I think it's Pip!'
The men of King Arthur's army seem to have
come to much the same conclusion, for a massive
cheer goes up, rolling to the heavens like a sudden
thunderclap.
The small figure takes three steps towards the
startled Saxons, then strikes once with the heel of
the ebon staff upon the ground.
For a moment, nothing more happens, then, softly
as distant thunder, a low rumble swells from
somewhere deep beneath the feet of the two
opposing armies. The noise grows louder, a rolling
206
vibration which shakes the very ground until the
land itself moves!
A fountain of brilliant violet light surges upwards
from the ebon staff, then curls down and spreads
swiftly to embrace the entire Saxon army. The
mighty warriors are limmed with a sparkling
violet aura, then it fades abruptly. For an instant
all is still.
Softly at first, but increasing, the low grumbling
begins again, like the approach of some gigantic
juggernaut. And this time the land surges up for
all the world as though it were a tidal wave at sea.
'Earthquake!' screams someone in the ranks
below the King. But the ground by Arthur's army
remains rock steady.
The wave begins to move, rushing forward at a
gesture from the small figure with the ebon staff.
The Saxon army erupts in noisy panic.
Howling with delight, King Arthur's men surge
forward and the Saxons break and run . . . pur-
sued by the great wave which, though it has
swelled to mountainous proportions yet passed
over Avalon without the slightest hint of damage.
'It's a rout!' exclaims King Pellinore. 'The in-
vasion has been halted with not a drop of blood
shed!'
'Pip has done it again!' roars the King and leaps
upon his horse to ride down and greet the greatest
hero his realm has ever seen.
APPENDIX
APPENDIX I
Dreamtime
This section is used ONLY when you decide to
SLEEP. If the dice direct you here, follow these
rules:
1. You enter the Dreamtime with your LIFE
POINTS at the exact level they were at when
you decided to Sleep.
2. You have no magic, weapons or armour, ex-
cept those which may be given you in a
Dreamtime encounter.
3. You may take nothing back from the
Dreamtime.
4. Any LIFE POINTS you lose in the Dreamtime
must be deducted from your actual LIFE
POINTS. If you are killed in the Dreamtime,
you are really killed and must go direct to the
dreaded 14.
Now enter the Dreamtime by throwing two dice
and going to the section indicated by your score.
If you survive, you should return to the section
where you decided to Sleep.
211
A vast waterfall plunges into the starry depths of space.
Dreamtime Sections
2. You are at the helm of a great ship on a voyage
of high adventure. Your lookout in the crow's
nest calls out a warning that your vessel is
approaching the edge of the world. Although
you know this is impossible since the world
is round, you can nonetheless see he is right:
a strong current is taking the ship directly to a
vast waterfall in the middle of the ocean, a
waterfall which plunges down into the starry
depths of space. You swing hard on the wheel,
but cannot divert the ship from its course. In
minutes, your vessel is plunging over the
edge. Roll one die. Score 1-3 and you plunge
to 14. Score 46 and you get lucky enough to
fall back into the section where you decided
to SLEEP without loss of LIFE POINTS.
3. You are standing before a broad mist-
enshrouded lake, and you know the only way
back to the section where you decided to
SLEEP is across its gloomy waters. The dis-
tance is too far to swim, but there is a chance
you may be able to call to the Ferryman on
the distant shore. As you are about to do so,
you are attacked suddenly by a Ragged Rogue
armed with a +1 dagger. You yourself are
unarmed, but you determine to put up a fight.
212
The Ragged Rogue has 12 LIFE POINTS. Both
of you strike successfully on a 6 or better; but
in your desperation you get first strike. If the
Rogue kills you, go to 14. If you kill the Rogue
in three strikes or less, you will be able to call
the Ferryman and return to the section where
you decided to SLEEP. If you take longer to
kill the Rogue, the Ferryman will have de-
parted and you can only return to your adven-
ture via 14.
4. Although this is totally out of character, you
are drunk as a newt and have just picked a
fight with a very large man with 25 LIFE
POINTS and a +3 club. Although you are
equipped with old EJ (thus hitting on 4 or
better and doing +5 damage) you are so un-
steady on your feet that you can only get in
one strike for every two bashes your opponent
gets in. What's more, you take so long getting
EJ out of his scabbard that your opponent gets
first strike. If you lose this silly fight, you're
off to 14. If you win, you may return to the
section where you decided to SLEEP.
5. At the lowest level of an horrendous dungeon,
you have found an ornate casket made from
transparent crystal. Within it is a glowing
blue-green gemstone which you know will
give you a double dice roll of LIFE POINTS (a
rare thing in the Dreamtime). Your problem
is to open the box safely. To attempt to do so,
you must roll one die. Score 5 or 6 and you
retrieve the gem safely and increase your LIFE
POINTS. Score anything else and the box
213
shatters, hacking away 10 of your present
LIFE POINTS. If this kills you, go to 14. If not,
return to the section where you decided to
SLEEP - minus 10 LIFE POINTS.
6. You have fallen through the floor of a ruined
castle into the pink marble Crypt of the Poe-
tic Fiend who, you discover, is in a foul mood
by reason of a bad toothache (or, more
correctly, fangache). He insists you must
write a Limerick beginning 'There once was a
Poet called Dan . . . ' If you can complete the
Limerick in less than fifteen minutes, you
may return safely to the section where you
decided to SLEEP. If not, he will fang you for
the loss of 5 LIFE POINTS. (If this kills you,
go to 14. If not, return minus 5 LIFE POINTS.)
7. A sorcerer has given you a scroll containing a
GNURLBASH spell. You have no idea what a
GNURLBASH spell does, but are determined
to find out. The instructions on the scroll
suggest you roll two dice. Score 2-6 and the
spell calls up a Gnurlbash Monster with 30
LIFE POINTS and +2 fangs which attacks
you viciously, getting first strike. If it kills
you, go to 14. If you can kill it with your bare
hands, go back to the section where you de-
cided to SLEEP. Score 7-10 and the
Gnurlbash Monster will appear but wander
off, allowing you to return safely to the
section where you decided to SLEEP. Score
11-12 and the Gnurlbash Monster will
actually accompany you out of the
Dreamtime and fight on your behalf against
214
one (but only one) monster in your adventure
before disappearing.
8. You have fallen into a gigantic bowl of sago
(which presumably means you've shrunk in
size alarmingly, or that you should stop
eating cheese butties before you go asleep).
Although the goo is so thick there is little
chance of your drowning, you do notice a fin
approaching across the surface. Throw a dice
quickly. Score 1 to 4 and you're safe: the fin is
only a floating cornflake. Throw 5 or 6 and
it's a floating cornflake with a shark under-
neath. The shark has 20 LIFE POINTS and
does +4 damage each time it bites you. Good
luck with the encounter.
9. Somebody has unscrewed your leg (the left
one) and thrown it down a deep well. You are
now in the process of climbing down the well
to get it back. Throw two dice. Score 9-12 and
you succeed. Score 2-8 and you fail. The
problem is that if you don't get your leg back
here, your real left leg will be numb for three
sections after you return to the section where
you decided to SLEEP. This means that if you
get into a fight, you will automatically miss
every third strike, whatever the dice show.
10. On your arrival at a strange village, the
peasants decide to burn you at the stake
having apparently mistaken you for a witch.
You are now bound and gagged, watching the
village elders approaching with lighted
torches. This worries you, since it is broad
daylight. If you can break your bonds, you
215
should be able to run back to the section
where you decided to SLEEP. Throw two dice
to decide the strength of your bonds. Then
throw two more to represent your effort in
breaking them. If the second roll is higher
than the first, you get free. If not, make your
singed way to 14.
11. You have been knocked unconscious during
combat, but Merlin, who is a bit short-
sighted, decides you are dead and arranges a
decent burial. You come to in an extremely
comfortable coffin as it is being lowered into
the grave. You have only a very short time to
attract everybody's attention before your air
runs out. You can attract their attention by
throwing a 6 on a single die. But unless you
manage to throw that six in five or fewer
attempts, you're dead from suffocation. Take
up your die . . .
12. You are lost in a dense fog which has com-
pletely disoriented you. You wander for
hours, trying to find your way back to the
section where you decided to SLEEP . . . while
at the same time trying to avoid wandering
into the dreaded 14. Throw one die. Score 1-2
and go to 14. Score 34 and you're back in the
section where you decided to SLEEP. Score
5-6 and you're back in the Dreamtime so that
you must roll two dice to find which
Dreamtime section awaits you this time.
APPENDIX II
The Wallbanger Ritual
DO NOT READ T HIS SE CT ION
U NT I L READY TO CA S T SPELL
WA R NI NG : R E A DING T HIS SE CT ION
USES SPELL FOR T HIS A DVE NT U R E
***
To perform the terrifying, arcane Wallbanger
Ritual, you will need a peaked cap, pencil, paper,
bowl of porridge (hot or cold) and a spade.
1. Put on a peaked cap.
2. Turn peaked cap round so that the peak is
sticking out the back.
3. Draw a five-pointed star on your paper with
your pencil.
4. Write inside the star the word WALL-
BANGER!
5. Bury the piece of paper in your garden (or
anywhere else you can).
6. Return home and eat the porridge.
Once you have completed the Ritual the spell is
activated. It works against a group of enemies of
218
any size or strength, paralysing them completely
for six consecutive combat rounds and allowing
them to strike only every second round thereafter
(assuming you haven't hacked them to bits while
they were paralysed).
This is one of the most powerful spells known and
will cost half your current LIFE POINTS to throw.
Even so, it can only be used once during an adven-
ture and must be used as soon as you have read
the instructions, otherwise the magic dissipates
harmlessly.
APPENDIX III
Cross-Eyed Navigation Section
Welcome to the Cross-Eyed Navigation Section.
The fact that you're here shows that (once again,
perhaps) you have made a complete mess of
guiding your ship where you want it to go.
But you have definitely ended up SOMEWHERE.
Throw one die to find out where .. . and what
hassles your cross-eyed navigation has got you
into.
Score
1. You have beached on a mist-enshrouded is-
land. It looks so spooky that none of your
trusty crew will disembark with you. Bravely
(and stupidly) you insist on going alone, since
you must find your present bearings.
You walk up the beach, get lost in the fog, fall
down a bog-hole, losing 3 LIFE POINTS in the
process, and eventually find yourself entering
a gloomy cave.
You know this is madness, but you press on
until you encounter the nest of the Greater
Spotted Pondoozlewazzle Bird, a short-legged
creature the approximate size of a double-
decker bus.
220
The Greater Spotted Pondoozlewazzle Bird is
a very aggressive creature which, fortunately,
does not fight very well, needing a 12 to strike
you. Or rather sit on you - that being the way
it fights. If it does manage to sit on you, how-
ever, you will be squashed so flat it can post
you directly to 14.
By reason of their great size, Pondoozle-
wazzles are extremely difficult to kill. This
one has 100 LIFE POINTS. You get first
strike. If you can kill it, you will find your
present bearings written on a massive egg it
was trying to hatch and may return to your
ship and your Chart.
2. You beach on a coral island with glistening
sands, waving palm trees, whispering breezes,
balmy sunshine and an equally barmy tribe of
cannibals.
Since the cannibals are stupid as well as
loony, they may not recognize you as human.
Throw two dice. Score above 6 and you're free
and clear to return to your ship and your
Chart. Score 6 or less and you have to fight
the cannibal chief's daughter.
This worthy Amazon has 35 LIFE POINTS
and hits successfully on 5 with her +3 club. If
she renders you unconscious, she will keep
you as a pet. If she kills you, she will serve
you (with yams, berries, and wild rice) at the
next tribal feast.
If you kill her; you still have to escape from
221
the remainder of the tribe (who don't know a
thing about fair fights) which you may
attempt to do by throwing two more dice.
Score above 4 and you're free to return to your
ship and your Chart. Score 4 or less and the
tribe will eat you raw - a process you may
watch from 14.
This is a nasty island: try to avoid it next
time.
3. You beach on a rocky island. You and your
trusty crew set out to explore and find it un-
inhabited except for seabirds and mosquitos,
one of which is fated to bite you. Throw two
dice. Score above 6 and you are bitten by a
seabird for the loss of 10 LIFE POINTS. (If this
kills you, go to 14.) Score 6 or below and you
are bitten by a mosquito for the loss of only 1
LIFE POINT, but the insect gives you malaria
which means you will henceforth shake so
much that you can only hit every second
round in a fight. The malaria will persist in-
definitely unless you take some magic
quinine or use up six full doses of Healing
Potion and one application of healing salve to
cure yourself.
4. You beach on a volcanic island and only when
you are well inland do you realize the volcano
is still active. You realize this because it
erupts. You have a small chance of out-
running the lava flow. Roll two dice. Score 7
or below and you're frizzled: go direct to 14.
Score 8, 9, or 10 and you're burned to the tune
222
of 15 LIFE POINTS, but if this doesn't kill
you, you can return to your ship and your
chart. Score 11 or 12 and you get back to your
ship intact.
5. You beach on a bird sanctuary, on which are
thousands of the forgetful Cricri birds. These
brightly plumaged creatures lay tiny blue eggs
and generally forget where they have laid
them. Each egg has the interesting property of
healing poison if eaten with purple spinach.
Throw one die to determine how many eggs
you find.
6. Just beyond the beach on this island is a patch
of the extremely rare purple spinach (which,
if eaten with a Cricri bird's egg will cure
poison). Between you and the patch is an
equally rare specimen of Zebra-Striped
Kimono Dragon with 30 LIFE POINTS and
+4 talons. The dragon will remain immobile
until you deliver the first blow, but thereafter
will fight very efficiently since it requires
only 4 or better to hit. Dragons of this species
never give a Friendly Reaction, but they can
sometimes be bribed with Cricri bird eggs. If
you have any to spare, roll two dice to see
how many the dragon will accept.
APPENDIX IV
Boat Building Diagrams
(Section 166)
1. Take a square sheet of paper and fold it so ..
(Fold along dotted lines.
2. Now fold the four
corners into the middle
(This is how it looks
when you have folded
three of the four comers)
224
(And this is how it looks
when you have folded all
four)
3. Now fold the bottom and top edges towards
the middle like this . . .
(Top edge folded)
(Both edges folded)
4. Turn the paper round so it
looks like this . . .
225
and take a deep breath because it gets com-
plicated from here.
5. Open up the bottom corners and fiddle with
them as follows
(Pull out corners)
6. Now fold the bottom edge upwards so you're
left with this:
(No it's not your boat -
don't be silly!)
7. Turn the whole thing round
again.
226
8. Open up the bottom corners and fold as in
steps 5 and 6 so your whole confusing mess
looks like t hi s. . .
9. Now turn it over so the back is facing you.
. . . And fold top to bottom as shown, leaving
it like this . . .
(No, it's still not your boat unless you want to
risk drowning.)
10. This is tricky. Look down on your folded
paper from above then reach in and take out
the corner (careful it tears easily).
227
(This is how it looks with one corner pulled
out)
(And this is how it looks with both. The
dotted lines are old folds.)
11. Now do this, both sides . . .
228
Which leaves you with
12. Fold in the sides . . .
(The ones still sticking out fold over to the
back the same way)
If you fool around long enough it will look
like this.
13. Now fold the top edges down, front and
back. . .
229
So it ends like this.
14. Open it out again from the bottom so it looks
like this . . .
Now turn it round this way
Pull these edges
15. And you'll end up with a funny sort of box!
Which looks like this from the top.
230
16. Now stop playing with boxes when you have
a boat to build and push it back the way it was
in step 14
And turn it over so the back is towards you.
17. Fold the two outside edges to the centre.
If you're lucky it will end up like this.
231
18. Turn it over again . . .
19. Now this is really tricky. Put your thumbs in
her e. . .
(Thumbs in here)
And pull the whole thing out and back on
itself like so.
When you've flattened it, it should look like
this
232
21. And fold the whole top edge to meet the
bottom edge.
233
20. Right, nearly there now. Turn it over again. 23. Now pull!!
And now you have your boat!!
(You can even pull up two sails.)
You'll be left with this*
22. Turn it over and grip firmly where shown.
Grip here And here
Plan 1
Room where you first appeared
Door
Plan 2
(S ection 160)
Moat
Wooden walkway
Q uest Journal
PI P'S LIFE POINT S
Current: Starting:
EXPERIENCE POI NT S :
(20 = 1 PERMANENT LIFE POINT)
CU R R E NT E Q U I PME NT
Shipboard:
I slands:
Demondim (12)
Skull (109)
Maiden's Call (118)
Lost (122)
Dragon (128)
Shipwreck (137)
Five Fingers
(79)
(85)
(102)
(142)
(147)
Enemy:
Section:
Enemy LIFE
POINTS:
Result:
Enemy:
Section:
Enemy LIFE
POINTS:
Result:
Enemy:
Section:
Enemy LIFE
POINTS:
Result:
Enemy:
Section:
Enemy LIFE
POINTS:
Result:
BATTLE SCORES
Enemy:
Section:
Enemy LIFE
POINTS:
Result:
Enemy:
Section:
Enemy LIFE
POINTS:
Result:
Enemy:
Section:
Enemy LIFE
POINTS:
Result:
Enemy:
Section:
Enemy LIFE
POINTS:
Result:
Enemy:
Section:
Enemy LIFE
POINTS:
Result:
Enemy:
Section:
Enemy LIFE
POINTS:
Result:
Enemy:
Section:
Enemy LIFE
POINTS:
Result:
Enemy:
Section:
Enemy LIFE
POINTS:
Result:
Enemy:
Section:
Enemy LIFE
POINTS:
Result:
Enemy:
Section:
Enemy LIFE
POINTS:
Result:
Enemy:
Section:
Enemy LIFE
POINTS:
Result:
Enemy:
Section:
Enemy LIFE
POINTS:
Result:
R ules of Combat
(see Section 1)
To Find Your Starting LIFE POINTS
1. Roll two dice and add the scores together.
2. Multiply the result by 4.
3. Add any PERMANENT LIFE POINTS gained in other
GrailQuest adventures.
To Strike an Enemy
1. Roll two dice for yourself and your enemy to see who
gets first strike. Highest score strikes first.
2. Roll a 6 or higher on two dice to strike a blow.
To Damage an Enemy
1. Check now many points you rolled above the number
needed to strike.
2. Subtract this from your enemy's LIFE POINTS.
To Knock Out an Enemy
Reduce his LIFE POINTS to 5.
To Kill an Enemy
Reduce his LIFE POINTS to 0.
Your enemies use the same method to attack you, as you
throw dice for them.
Armour & Weapons
1. Using armour subtracts from damage scored against
you.
2. Using weapons increases the damage you score.
Navigation
To navigate your ship, select any destination (section
number) shown on the Sea Chart (see inside back cover),
then throw two dice. If you score 5-12, you reach your
destination. If you score 2, 3 or 4, turn to the Cross-Eyed
Navigation section (Appendix HI) and follow its
instructions. If you survive, return to the Sea Chart and go
directly to your chosen destination.
Magic
Standard GrailQuest magic is not available in this
adventure. Various magical items and spells will be found
on the journey and usage is explained at the time of
finding. The most potent spell is The Wallbanger Ritual
which may be read and used once only.
T o A void Fights
a) To Test for a Friendly Reaction
Roll one die once for your enemy and one die three
times for yourself. If you score less than your enemy, he
is friendly. Proceed as if you had won a fight.
b) Bribery
1. Bribery is only possible in Sections marked *B. The
number of asterisks indicates the amount of Gold
Pieces (or object of equal or higher value) your enemy
will accept. *B = 100 GPs
;
* *B = 500 GPs
;
* * *B =
1,000 GPs
;
* * * *B = 10,000 GPs.
2. To offer a bribe, roll two dice. If you score 2-7, your
bribe is refused. If you score 8-12, proceed as if you
have won a fight.
3. Whether or not you are successful, subtract the bribe
amount from your gold store.
To Restore Lost LIFE POINTS
1. Sleep: You can sleep any time except when fighting.
Roll one die. If you score 1-4, turn to Dreamtime. If you
score 5 or 6, LIFE POINTS are restored equal to rolling
two dice.
2. Other LIFE-restoring methods are given through the
adventure.
LIFE POINTS cannot be restored to above your Starting
total - except through Experience.
EXPERIENCE POINTS
1. 1 EXPERIENCE POINT is gained for each fight or puzzle
won or solved.
2. 20 EXPERIENCE POINTS = 1 PERMANENT LIFE
POINT. 10 of these can be taken into future adventures.
Repeat Journeys %
In this adventure, enemies previously killed do not remain
dead in repeat journeys, but they have only half the LIFE
POINTS they had in your first encounter. Any items
collected are lost unless you are told otherwise.