88

Swallowing your fears of what may lie ahead, you descend the ridge and approach the great, frowning bastions of Kaag. Through the swirling dust you see a wide road that leads to the North Gate, its surface littered with Giak corpses, bleached bones, and rusted weapons. Crab-like scavengers scuttle among the debris, fighting for scraps to feed their young, which nest in thousands of empty skulls half-buried in the ground.

Shielded from detection by the storm and your Kai skills, you reach the breached wall unobserved. Swiftly you climb over the huge mound of rubble, which is all that remains of this section of the curtain-wall, and find yourself in a street lined with decaying hovels and ugly, squat towers. A dun pall of smoke hovers above this thoroughfare and the air reeks of iron and sulphurous smoke. At the far end of the street you see a ragged group of Giaks, led by two Drakkarim warriors, suddenly emerge from an alley. They stop for a few moments as if to catch their breath; then one of the Drakkarim barks an order and they take off at a lumbering pace, heading south. You notice that their tattered, orange-coloured uniforms all bear the emblem of a scythe with a bloodied blade.

If you wish to follow these troops, turn to 123.

If you choose to avoid them by heading in the opposite direction, turn to 327.