120

As you trudge along the rutted trail, you become aware that the night sky is beginning to brighten. Somewhere high above the perpetual blanket of cloud that engulfs this hateful territory, day is breaking. At length, the trail arrives at a junction where another broad track joins it from the west. There are no signposts to mark the way, but your Kai sense of direction steers you towards the east where a long slope ascends to a treeless ridge. When you come to the crest of this ridge and look beyond, you catch your first glimpse of the imposing walls of Gazad Helkona.

The broad-based fortress squats in a basin of rock at the centre of the petrified forest. Its coal-black walls are cracked and crumbling like some fossilized relic that is riddled with decay. Within its curtain wall, with its decrepit watchtowers and great iron gate, there are scores of minarets and needle-spires that seem to scratch malevolently at the passing clouds. You magnify your vision and you see that the emblem of Darklord Chlanzor is still emblazoned upon the rust-red surface of the fortress gate. It resembles a great black spider perched upon the surface of a blazing sun. Chlanzor may no longer be the commander of this stronghold, but the legacy of his rule remains.

You observe the fortress for several minutes and take in every detail of its foul design. The great gate is secure and well guarded, but you note two places where you may be able to effect an entry without being seen. The first is a breach to the west of the gate, where the wall has been undermined by a fissure of lava. The second is a great mound of rubble to the east of the gate, the remains of the upper storeys of a collapsed watchtower. By climbing the mound you could gain access to the fortress through an arrow slit.

If you wish to enter Gazad Helkona by way of the breached wall, turn to 48.

If you decide to attempt an entry by scaling the mound of rubble at the base of the ruined watchtower, turn to 299.