### 300

As you ride west along a wide avenue of weathered red stone, you take in the early morning sights of this magnificent city. Window shutters slam open as the Varettians awake to a new day and smells of breakfast and freshly ground jala waft from shop doorways.

At the centre of the city, you cross a square paved with crystal slabs and pass beneath an archway of polished green stone. Stately halls and public buildings give way to dust-worn shops and a park full of glistening flowers with huge leaves of red, gold and pink. Beyond the park, a street paved with white gravel leads to a fortified tower, the tallest in the city. It is the Tower of the King and marks the entrance to Brass Street.

Turning into Brass Street, the sound of bubbling water and quiet chanting drifts towards you on the still air. Old men in brown robes, their heads covered by hoods, glide silently across the white gravelled path. You ride under an archway and enter the enclosed courtyard of a grand building, a hall of learning. Suddenly, a tingle runs the length of your spine as you sense you are close to your goal.

At the door to the hall, there is a sign that indicates the location of three chambers: the observatory, the library and the temple.

If you wish to investigate the observatory, turn to 127.

If you wish to investigate the library, turn to 21.

If you wish to investigate the temple, turn to 320.

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