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The rumble and crack of repeated lightning ball strikes echo in your wake as you make your hurried escape along the river trail. It is not until you traverse a high pass, where the River Storn flows through the mountain foothills, that the sound eventually disappears. Your senses tingle with the conviction that the storm was no accident; you feel sure that a malevolent elemental force is at work here.

Shortly before dusk, you emerge from the pass and see Lake Vorndarol for the first time. You call on your Magnakai skill of Huntmastery to intensify your vision and, as your view of the lake grows sharper and clearer, you make out the ruins of Vorn on the southern shore. The hamlet is blackened and desolate, but it is not without signs of life. There are several pinpoints of light, camp fires judging by their colour, and you can see a square-rigged mainsail: there is a boat moored at the quay.

If you wish to attempt to reach Vorn before nightfall, turn to 203.

If you decide to try to spend the night in the hills and then approach the hamlet in the morning, turn to 117.

Text copyright © 1991 Joe Dever.
Illustrations copyright © 1991 Brian Williams.