49

Drawing upon your Grand Mastery, you are able eventually to haul yourself free from this sticky mire and reach the distant knoll (lose 2 ENDURANCE points due to fatigue).

The boughs of the thorny-barked trees of this swamp island are tightly intertwined and form a formidable barrier. Through a gap in their tortured branches you can see a clearing at the centre of this copse and, when you magnify your vision, you glimpse part of a crude stone hut. You unsheathe your weapon and cleave a path through the trees to the clearing where you discover that the hut is surrounded by a moat brim-full of gelatinous black mud, the surface of which is pitted with a myriad of animal tracks. Sensing that the hut is empty, you leap across the moat and take cover inside from the corrosive rain.

If you possess Telegnosis and have reached the rank of Grand Thane or higher, turn to 269.

If you do not possess this skill, or if you have yet to attain this level of Kai Mastery, turn to 348.