The Eye of Winter's Fury

by Michael J. Ward

  The transformation takes less than a few moments.

  The dead, red earth is gone. Ice sparkles now from every surface, reflecting the blue-white flames that dance from the pit.

  ‘The frost forge,’ whispers Skoll with reverence. He drops to one knee beside you, his head bowed. ‘The Titan magic lives again.’

  You crawl to its edge, scooping up part of the broken shield in your shaking hands. ‘Fimbulwinter,’ you gasp hoarsely.

  Skoll helps you to stand, his eyes carefully averted from the ruin of your face. He picks up the other pieces of the shield. ‘We need only hold them in the fires. The magic will remake what was broken.’

  A hand on your arm.

  You glance sideways, surprised to find even that small movement so difficult. Your eyes feel like lumps of grit, scraping in their sockets.

  Anise is at your shoulder, her own gaze focused on the flames. ‘We do this together.’

  Each of you holds a shard of the shield, extending them into the fire, pushing the pieces together and holding them. The cold heat from the flames licks around the dull metal, suffusing its broken, jagged edges with a soft glow of magic. It ripples across the surface, forming a network of thin veins meeting at its centre in a pale orb. An eye.

  ‘It is done.’

  You remove the shield from the fire. To your surprise it feels almost weightless, the metal now faded to a glass-like translucence.

  ‘Fimbulwinter,’ smiles Skoll. He removes his hand and Anise follows suit, leaving you holding the shield. ‘The Titans lend their aid to our cause.’

  Congratulations. You have forged the mythical Titan shield, Fimbulwinter. (Make a note of the keyword resolute on your hero sheet.) You have also gained access to the frost forge’s magic for the remainder of your adventure. Turn to 82.

  417

  The guard removes the one of stars from his hand and places it face down on the discard pile. He reaches into the pouch and takes another stone at random. He has now gained the four of stars:

  Next, the hooded ghost discards a stone from his own hand and takes another from the bag. A cold, cackling laughter comes from the shadows of his cowl as he studies his new hand.

  ‘What should I do now?’ whispers the guard. ‘I have a Queen’s Wave. This could win me the game.’

  Will you:

  Discard the one of hearts? 144

  Discard the two of moons? 259

  Show your current hand? 517

  418

  The tunnel opens up into a cavernous hollow. Thick vine-like roots hang like stalactites from the ceiling, dripping a steady stream of green-coloured ichor into a pool at its centre. The gloopy substance bubbles and smokes, occasionally belching clouds of toxic steam into the air.

  As you approach the edge of the pool, you notice a number of items trapped in the thick green slop. Your boot accidentally lands in a puddle. You draw it back quickly, watching with revulsion as the toxic liquid begins to eat away at the leather, filling your nostrils with an acrid stench.

  You back away from the pool, your eyes straying to the tunnel opening at the far side of the chamber. It offers a route onwards, winding away into the innards of the tree.

  Will you:

  Wade out into the toxic pool? 527

  Skirt its edges and continue onwards? 468

  419

  Legendary monster: Tekksertok the Terrible

  You skid down the slope, hoping the valley below will provide shelter from the coming storm. As the ground levels off you find yourself stepping between a myriad of alien shapes breaking out of the lowlying mist. At first you mistake them for ice sculptures, carved by the persistent wind. Then you realise they are bones. Hundreds of them, all resting in teetering structures, like tombstones in a graveyard.

  Nanuk pushes into your mind, warning you of danger.

  What is it? I don’t . . .

  Then you sight the creature between the cupped bones of an enormous ribcage. It moves slowly, the ground crunching beneath its weight. As the creature passes your position you can hear its laboured breathing, each exhalation rattling the surrounding structures and sending loose bones skittering across the ice.

  You ready your weapons, advancing cautiously towards the beast. The mammoth’s body reaches over four metres high, covered in long tresses of grey-black hair. The head is rounded, like a knight’s helm, its ridged plate sweeping down past two coiling tusks to form a long leathery trunk. The beast continues to snort great deep breaths as it strides ponderously through the graveyard.

  You creep closer, entranced by both the sadness and majesty of this ancient animal, wondering if it has come to this place to die – to finally re-join the spirits of its ancestors. Nanuk pulls at your mind once again, urging you to flee. You cannot understand the cause for such alarm . . .

  Until you are hit from behind and sent flying through the air, smashing through several mounds of bones before skidding across the ice. For a moment your vision is blurred, distorting the immense shape that towers above you.

  Tekksertok! The word burns in your mind, filled with impressions of pain and terror.

  Desperately, you scrabble to your feet, eyes fixed on the ghostly form of the giant mammoth – almost twice the size of the one you have already seen. You realise this behemoth must be a spirit guardian, a protector of this sacred site.

  The mammoth throws back its head, the long trunk raised to deliver a thunderous boom. Then the beast drops forward into a full-on charge, clearly intending to gore you with its enormous tusks. It is time to fight:

  Speed Brawn Armour Health

  Tekksertok 9 6 4 70

  Special abilities

  Tusk punch: If Tekksertok rolls a for his damage score, he performs a tusk punch. This adds a further two dice to his damage score (3 in total) and reduces your speed by 1 for the next combat round only.

  Trunk whack: If you roll a double for your attack speed (before or after a reroll), you are hit by the mammoth’s trunk. This causes 2 dice of damage, ignoring armour, and also lowers your armour by 1 (each time) for the duration of the combat.

  If you manage to defeat this monstrous mammoth, turn to 540.

  420

  You raise a hand to get the barman’s attention. He sidles over, tucking a scruffy looking cloth into his belt. ‘Well, ain’t you the pretty one?’ he smirks, admiring your armour and weapons. ‘A nice show . . . better calibre than the usual merc.’ His gaze shifts back to your face, mouth still twitching with amusement. ‘Shame about the looks, though – what happen, you try to chew the face off a glacier?’

  Will you:

  Ask about work? 469

  Ask what he knows about Ryker? 692

  Ask what he has for sale? 709

  Take a seat in one of the alcoves? 634

  Listen to the conversation at the bar? 534

  Leave? 426

  421

  The man fights with a berserk frenzy, shrieking and hollering like one of his birds – yet he is weak and malnourished, and easily overcome. As you stand over his ragged body, you catch sight of the dark blood oozing from a gash along your arm. To your surprise, there is no obvious pain.

  What am I becoming?

  You go to take a breath, but your chest remains tight and constricted. Instead you end up choking, your throat cutting like razors as you spit out a foul-smelling bile. You wipe it against your sleeve, trembling . . . frightened.

  It is some time before you are able to calm yourself – to focus on the matter at hand. Have to get back. Find the others.

  Kneeling next to the corpse, you search the body for anything of use. You may now take one of the following rewards:

  Feathered fronds Birdman’s hook Petrel pelmet

  (gloves) (main hand: dagger) (head)

  +1 brawn +1 magic +2 brawn +1 magic

  Ability: feint Ability: focus

  If you are wearing the tarred shoulders, turn to 149. Otherwise, turn to 114.

  422

  After navi
gating the ice humps, your sled drifts back in pursuit of the other racers. Suddenly you hear a deafening crack, then one of the other sleds disappears from view – plummeting through a break in the ice. You have only seconds to react, in order to lead your dog-team safely around the deadly fissure.

  You will need to take a challenge test using your speed racing attribute:

  Speed

  Ice breaker 10

  If you are successful, turn to 471. If you fail, turn to 198.

  423

  You cut bright ribbons from the spectral warrior, darting agilely around his slashing blades. With each blow you hear an ear-piercing screech rending the air – whether from the warrior or the moth itself, you cannot be sure. As the warrior weakens you step past his guard to deliver a killing blow, driving your weapons through the remains of his tattered body.

  The final death cry comes from above – an eldritch scream that echoes back from the gnarled walls of the room. You look up to see the moth’s body hardening and then crumbling, becoming a cloud of thick grey dust. The particles shower down through the dazzling haze, sparkling like yuletide glitter.

  Of the warrior, nothing now remains, save for a rainbow of light sparkling above a rare treasure. You may now help yourself to one of the following:

  Mother wing Rainbow raiment Colours of the wind

  (cloak) (chest) (feet)

  +1 speed +1 armour +1 speed +1 brawn +1 speed +1 armour

  Ability: heal Ability: blind Ability: sidestep

  If you are carrying the moth wing, turn to 704. Otherwise, the room offers nothing of further interest. Cautiously, you cross the beams of light and continue onwards. Turn to 509.

  424

  The guard removes the one of hearts from his hand and places it face down on the discard pile. He reaches into the pouch and takes another stone at random. He has now gained the two of stars:

  He can barely hide his excitement as he shows you the stones. A full house and two crowns is a strong hand. It is now time for his opponent to make his move. Turn to 555.

  425

  A shriek. A body tumbles past you. You try and grab it, but a sudden lurch of the creature’s body spoils your aim, your spectral hand closing round empty air. ‘Anise!’

  You watch helpless as she rolls along the beast’s snaking body, falling further and further away . . . Until she is suddenly snatched up by a giant fist. You follow a thickly knotted arm, muscles bulging as they tense, taking her weight – to find another figure clinging to the back of the demon, their other arm wrapped tightly around one of its spines. A burly Skard, blond hair whipped back behind his stone-grey helm. His face is bloodied, caked with filth and dust, and yet you can still make out the criss-crossed ridges of gnarly tissue that line his features.

  ‘Skoll!’ The word is barely given voice before it is ripped away by the roaring gale.

  The warrior’s brow creases as his eyes strain against the brightness and the blasting chill of the wind. ‘Luck of the ancestors,’ he calls back. ‘Together at the end.’

  He swings Anise, allowing her to grab a nearby spine. She hugs it tightly, gasping for breath, her eyes shut tight with fear.

  Skoll looks back at you and grins, cracking the filth that cakes his face. ‘Let us make this a fight worthy of the ballads.’ Turn to 777.

  426

  Torches flicker from sconces along the granite walls, their light trickling along the rivulets of filth and melted snow that run down the track. Here, the mood is solemn, your footfalls echoing back from the stony confines of the ravine. You feel eyes on you the whole time, not only from the occasional passer-by but also the groups of men and women skulking in the archways and alcoves.

  Buildings have been carved into the rock – some look little more than squats, with graffiti daubed on walls and refuse piling up outside their doors and windows. One structure is a little grander than the rest, its hollows echoing with music and laughter. A tattered bed-sheet hangs crookedly from an upper-storey balcony, painted with the smeared words ‘Jailhouse Rock’.

  To your left a sloping pathway tracks around the edge of the out-cropping, leading to its summit. A frost-coated skeleton sways back and forth from a noose, a wooden sign clutched in its frozen fingers. It points along the pathway, the scrawled letters spelling ‘Prison’.

  To your right, past the noise and light of the Jailhouse, the track narrows into a tight alley, reeking of decay and squalor. It leads down to the docks, where you can dimly make out the masts of ships silhouetted against the rust-stained sky.

  Will you:

  Head towards the prison? 557

  Enter ‘Jailhouse Rock’? 365

  Turn down the alley? 27

  Explore the compound? 106

  427

  The troll looms over you, hammers raised above its horned head. You doubt you will be able to move fast enough to avoid the incoming blow. But the hammers never fall. Instead the troll jerks round, staggering sideways. You notice a ragged shape hanging from its back by a pair of daggers.

  With a snorting growl the troll swings round again, trying to shake off its tormentor. Rook scrambles up onto the monster’s shoulders, then plunges his daggers into the nape of its neck. He somersaults away, leaving the beast to stumble woozily, blood fountaining across its back.

  For a moment, all eyes are focused on the beast – awaiting the inevitable, willing its end.

  The air is split by an agonised roar as the troll teeters forward, then begins to fall. You race out from beneath the widening shadow, hearing the rush of air getting stronger. There is a thunderous boom, followed by a wave of stinging grit. Once it has passed, you look back to see the immense creature lying sprawled at the centre of a ruined crater. Rook steps around its edge, brushing the grime from his clothing.

  ‘Another one bites the dust.’

  If you are a warrior or a rogue, turn to 470. If you are a mage, turn to 96.

  428

  You can use the forge to craft your own magical weapons. For each weapon, you will need one special backpack item. If you have the required item, you can make the associated weapon:

  Deathmist needle Warped edge

  (main hand: dagger) (left hand: sword)

  +2 speed +4 brawn +2 speed +4 brawn

  Ability: charm Ability: charm

  (requirement: Fenrir’s fang) (requirement: giant’s backbone)

  These weapons can then be improved using further items from your backpack. (Note: When an item is used, it must be removed from your hero sheet. Items can only be used once.) The bonuses include:

  Item Bonus (added to chosen weapon)

  Winter diamond special ability: ice edge

  Kraken oil special ability: agility

  Venomous ooze special ability: blind

  Maggorath’s rot special ability: decay

  You may return to the frost forge any time between quests, to craft items or add abilities (make a note of this entry number on your hero sheet). Return to the quest map to continue your adventure.

  429

  You push the stones aside, freeing the banner. As you lift it up, you see that the cloth is still bound to an iron cross-piece. Searching amongst the rest of the debris, you find a rusted support bolted to the stone. The wind continues to pound against you, making every effort twice as hard. It is several minutes before you are able to push the end of the pole into the support. Then you step away, gesturing for Anise to light the frayed edge of the banner using her torch. But, to your dismay, the magical fire does not catch. At first you assume it is just the wind, then you remember that the blue flames don’t give off any heat. ‘It’s no good,’ says Anise, stepping back from the banner, her shoulders slumped in defeat. ‘We failed.’ Turn to 580.

  430

  Seethe lies sprawled across the rocks, his breath rattling in his throat. The savage wounds he has sustained have finally taken their toll. You slip your mind free from Nidhogg, letting the dragon resume control of his own body – to deliver the final dea
th blow to his own brother, who chose to side with Melusine and let his kind be enslaved to her will.

  With the deed done, you jump down from the dragon’s back to re-join Anise and Skoll. Both are still speechless from the spectacle they have witnessed. You simply nod with exhaustion, sagging against the rocks to regain your power; feeling every inch of your heavy, dead weight.

  For defeating the elder dragon, you have gained the following special reward:

  Venomous ooze

  (backpack)

  Freshly squeezed from the

  glands of a corrupted dragon

  A narrow pathway zigzags up the side of the mountain, leading to an angular doorway carved into the rock. Anise and Skoll have already started towards it. You pause, turning back to the dragon. His wounds are extensive, much of his body raked and burnt. And yet, there is a semblance of a smile on the dragon’s face.

  Thank you. You have given me what I desired most.

  ‘Revenge.’ You nod. ‘I know its craving well.’

  The battle is far from over. When you have need of me . . .

  You pat the horn that hangs at your waist. ‘I know. We will fight again, my friend, I promise.’

  You share a parting nod before heading after the others, your eyes drawn to the glowing peak high above. (Return to the map to continue your journey.)

  431

  Claws leap from your fingertips as Nanuk guides your hands, urging you to a point to the right of the demon’s scaled back. You rip into the hard flesh, pulling apart bone and tissue to reach the frozen heart. Tearing it free, you hold the trophy aloft, its frosted blood dripping down your arms.

  If you wish, you may equip the demon’s heart and learn the valkryn career:

  Syn’s heart

  (left hand: unique)

  +2 speed +2 magic

  Ability: silver frost

  (requirement: mage)

  The valkryn has the following special abilities:

  Frost hound (dm): (requires Syn’s heart) When you defeat an opponent, you can transform the corpse into a frost hound. The hound will immediately attack another single opponent, inflicting 2 damage per round (ignoring armour) for the duration of the combat. You can only use this ability once per combat, to summon a single hound.