Mydnight’s Hero

235

Your Kai senses lead you to believe that a storm is brewing, but it is unlike any you have encountered before. The blanket of cloud, which has been a constant feature of the voyage so far, is beginning to dissipate. As it thins out it reveals a stark landscape of black volcanic rock far below. This tortured landscape is scarred by deep chasms and fissures, some of which emit jets of steam that roar skywards to buffet the hull of the Starstrider as it flies past. Some of these colossal jets condense to form strange green-grey clouds which slowly drift and tumble back to the ground. One such cloud forms in the air and begins to fall on a collision course with the ship. Acraban sees the threat and he orders Kuo, his helmsman, to descend 300 feet in order to evade the falling cloud mass.

As the Starstrider begins its descent there is a startlingly loud explosion. From his nest atop the mainmast, the lookout shouts a warning and points frantically towards the ground. You rush to the rail and peer over the side, your stomach churning with fearful anticipation of what you will see. Deep within the fathomless reaches of the fissures and chasms passing below, you glimpse flashes of blue-white energy. These bolts are growing brighter and louder as they streak towards the surface. One bolt escapes from a vent in the middle distance and rips open the sky. It skewers a cluster of steam clouds and blows them apart in a loud and spectacular explosion of gas and flame. You urge Acraban to order his helmsman to ascend, to avoid the new and deadly danger that is striking at you from below. The wizard turns to Kuo, but before he can issue the order, there is a deafening Crack! from somewhere beneath the stern.

Pick a number from the Random Number Table.

If the number you have picked is 0–3, turn to 268.

If it is 4–6, turn to 149.

If it is 7–9, turn to 341.

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