### 331

You have little sleep that night as you lie thinking about the quest that lies before you, haunted by the fear that the Darklords may already have found the Book of the Magnakai.

You rise before dawn and breakfast on a meal of sheep's butter and dried milk cake, before bidding farewell to Tipasa's wife. The trek back to the Skyrider passes uneventfully, and by noon you have reached the rocky crag where the craft is moored. Nolrim is the first to greet you, but he cannot hide his disappointment that you have returned unaccompanied.

'Do not worry--the answer lies here,' says Banedon, holding up Tipasa's diary. 'Prepare to set sail.'

As the Skyrider rises into the clear blue sky, Banedon hands over the helm to Nolrim and bids you follow him to his quarters at the prow. For three hours he pours over his charts, making calculations, checking instrument readings and racking his brain for the solution that will pinpoint the Tomb of the Majhan.

'It's no use,' he says, tired and exasperated. 'I cannot fathom these numbers.'

As you peer at the pages of Tipasa's diary, suddenly you realize that they are written in code. What Banedon had assumed to be positions of stars are a code to three numbers that give the precise location of the Tomb.

Consult the map to help you discover the location of the Tomb of the Majhan.

The first of the three numbers is equal to the number of oases on the trail between Ikaresh and Bir Rabalou. The second number is equal to the number of cities in Vassagonia. The third number is equal to the number of islands off the coast of Cape Kabar.

When you have broken the code, write the numbers in order and turn to the entry number that they indicate.19

[19] To solve this puzzle you will need to use the Map of the Empire of Vassagonia with the code instructions in mind before coming back to this section. The section corresponding to the correct answer will have a footnote confirming that it is indeed correct. If you do not see this footnote at the bottom, you have chosen the wrong section. Come back to this section, reconsider the code and make your selection again, repeating the process until you turn to the correct section. There is no alternate way to proceed through the adventure.

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