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The door is unlocked, and for a moment your heart sinks; if this room is the Imperial Apothecary where the Oede herb is kept, why is the door not locked and guarded? Anxiously you slip inside and survey the interior.

It seems to be an apothecary. Glass retorts bubble and steam over jets of blue flame, and strange fluids pass back and forth through a crazy maze of tubes and tunnels. Hundreds of herb jars line the far wall, and ten large copper urns, each full of rainbow-coloured powder, hang suspended from the soot-blackened ceiling. You begin searching through the herb jars, and suddenly you discover why the door was left unlocked. Creeping slowly towards you is the cat-like creature that guards the apothecary. Its eyes glow with a vivid green luminescence as it prepares to strike.

Elix: COMBAT SKILL 17 ENDURANCE 32

If you have ever fought an Elix before, add 2 to your COMBAT SKILL for the duration of this fight. You cannot evade combat and must fight it to the death.

If you win the combat, turn to 2.

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