### 195

A forge has been constructed in the centre of a massive circular chamber, its funnel-like chimney stretching up to the roof. The heat had become unbearable long ago, but now you feel as if you have walked straight into a raging furnace.

Two men, naked except for small loin-cloths, work the bellows that feed the forge. Sweat pours from their bodies, and they frequently stop to gulp ladlefuls of water from a trough set in the stone floor. An armourer hammers a strip of red-hot iron at an anvil close to the flames. He is massive; his huge, muscled shoulders and powerful chest are as wide as the other two men put together.

The bellows men stop work and leave the chamber; one by the door in the north wall, the other by the door in the west wall. The big man continues to hammer at the anvil.

If you wish to follow the man who left by the north door, turn to 11.

If you wish to follow the man who left by the west door, turn to 146.

If you wish to attack the armourer working at the anvil, turn to 190.

If you wish to leave the chamber and retrace your steps along the corridor to take the other passage, turn to 30.

Text copyright © 1985 Joe Dever.
Illustrations copyright © 1985 Gary Chalk.