### 226

You spend a cold, wet, and thoroughly miserable night on the plain south of Tharro. A fresh storm rolls in from the west making it impossible to light a fire or dry your already damp clothing. It is dawn when the rain finally eases off, but the storm gives way to a biting wind that chills you to the bone (lose 3 ENDURANCE points). You must now eat a Meal or lose an additional 3 ENDURANCE points.

The garrison of Tharro still refuses to allow you into the town, so you are forced to set off towards a line of distant hills that fill the northern horizon. Grey-brown grasses brush your shins as you cross this wild, uncultivated plain, encroaching on the deserted track that leads to the frontier town of Syada. An eerie, unnatural silence accompanies your ride, broken only by the rare cawing of ravens, circling high overhead.

By midday you are deep among the hills. The terrain becomes increasingly rocky, undulating like a storm-tossed ocean. The tall plains grass has given way to sad little plants, scraggy and deformed, stunted by the winds that sweep down from the barren wastes of Ogia. The track passes through a narrow valley, where a small stone cabin stands beside the entrance to a disused mine. As you approach you see a face at the cabin window.

If you wish to stop at the cabin, turn to 85.

If you wish to investigate the mine, turn to 120.

If you choose to continue along the valley, turn to 152.

Text copyright © 1987 Joe Dever.
Illustrations copyright © 1987 Gary Chalk.