103

Your bold gamble pays off, for you are able to scurry through the breached wall as your cloak and Backpack ignite. You come to the end of the fissure and quickly you drop to the dusty ground, rolling over several times in order to smother the flames that threaten to engulf you. You suffer no injuries, but when you examine your Backpack you soon discover that two items are fire-damaged beyond repair. (Erase the first and last items that you have recorded on your list of Backpack Items.)

You are elated that you have traversed the breach in the perimeter wall, but when the dust clears for a few moments, your heart sinks like a stone. Another wall looms before you. This second barrier has only recently been constructed to shield the stronghold’s inner buildings from the fiery heat of the fissure. Its rough-hewn blocks offer many handholds to assist a climb, but the scorched stone and mortar are very dry and they crumble under the slightest pressure. Your first attempt to scale the wall comes to an abrupt end when a toehold collapses and you are sent tumbling backwards to the ground: lose 1 ENDURANCE point.

If you possess Kai-alchemy, turn to 221.

If you do not, turn to 144.