44

For an hour you trek through a swirling white oblivion of a blizzard, trusting solely to your keen survival instincts to keep you safe from rock falls and hidden crevasses. Yet, despite your skills, it proves to be a difficult and treacherous journey: lose 3 ENDURANCE points.

Gradually, the storm lifts its heavy yoke. Although snow continues to fall, the wind loses its angry intensity, and for the first time since you left the cave mouth, you are able to see more than a mile distant. As you crest an icy ridge, you stop to get your bearings. You look to the south and see the brooding, grey-black waters of the Tozaz Sea lapping at the ice-locked Ixian coastline. To the north and west you are surrounded by unfriendly mountains, and to the east, directly ahead, lies a pass which cuts between two viciously sharp peaks. Beyond the pass you catch your first tantalising glimpse of Xaagon—the city of the Deathlord.

You establish that you are less than three miles from the crystal walls and monstrous towers of Xaagon. You resolve to try to reach the city before the storm resumes but, as you enter the pass, the blizzard returns with malicious vigour. Finding it impossible to continue, you stop and use your Kai skills in order to seek sanctuary from the raging storm.

In this narrow pass you detect only two possibilities for shelter: a cave on the north side, and a circle of fallen rocks a few hundred yards away to the south.

If you wish to take shelter in the cave, turn to 253.

If you choose to seek shelter among the rocks, turn to 197.