### 285

Silently, like a cat, you pad along the corridor towards a distant light. The promise of finding a laboratory has raised your hopes of a swift victory for perhaps it is here that you will find the Cenerese crafting their evil diseases.

The entrance to the laboratory is unguarded, so you slip inside its open door and hide behind one of the many stone pillars that support a cavernous roof. At the centre of the chamber you see two robed figures huddled over a stone table. Surrounding them are wooden racks filled with strange implements, scrolls, books, jars and other paraphernalia. They appear to be tending to a large frog-like creature which lies spread-eagled upon the table, its limbs secured by coarse ropes. It is not until you are two steps away from the table that you recognize the creature to be a sloat--a beast of burden much used to tow barges along the River Storn. Your stomach churns when you see that the poor creature is being dissected whilst alive and conscious.

If you have ever visited the town of Quarlen or the ruins of Maaken in a previous Lone Wolf adventure, turn to 109.

If you have never been to either of these locations, turn to 247.

Text copyright © 1990 Joe Dever.
Illustrations copyright © 1990 Brian Williams.