168
The smooth surface of the tower wall proves to be more difficult to climb than expected. You come to within an arm’s length of the window ledge before your fingers slip and you fall into the street, striking your head on the cobblestones as you land heavily on your back: lose 3 ENDURANCE points.
When the throbbing pain in your skull diminishes to a dull ache, you make a second attempt to reach the window. This time your efforts are rewarded. On reaching the window, you haul yourself through its open frame and drop down onto the steps of a stone stairway beyond. This circular staircase leads to the top of the tower and offers you a magnificent view of the city. Aided by your night vision, you are able to locate stables less than a mile to the north of the tower. You commit their location to memory and then hurriedly you descend the stairs and return to the window. Once more you use your climbing skills, this time to make a speedy descent to the street below.
Prince Karvas is delighted to hear that there are stables in the city, and he insists that you set off for them at once. He is leading the way out of the warehouse ruins when suddenly the tower bell begins to toll once more. Moments later, the temple doors swing open and the procession of black-clad figures file out into the street. Instinctively you take hold of Karvas by the arm and pull him back into the ruins to avoid being seen by the emerging soldiers. As they pass by, you peer around the edge of the crumbling warehouse doorway to watch them. A strange feeling of unease makes the skin on the back of your neck prickle, and immediately you sense that all is not what it seems. When you magnify your vision to take a closer look at the passing figures, you gasp with shock at what you see.
