129

You run blindly through the trees in your desperation to escape this deluge of fire. All around you, the tinder-dry wood is being ignited by droplets of red-hot lava. Trees crackle and explode, spreading the fire with alarming speed, but you dare not stop as you race ahead of the raging flames.

After what seems like hours, the tremors cease and the hungry flames recede. Gasping for breath, you collapse on the floor of a shallow rocky basin that is ringed by fallen trees. You must now eat a Meal or lose 3 ENDURANCE points (you cannot use Grand Huntmastery in this instance, for there are no flora or fauna that you can forage for in the petrified forest of Helkona).

Feeling revived after your brief rest, you decide to leave the basin and climb the tallest of the nearby trees in the hope that you can pinpoint your present location. Your effort is rewarded when you see the uppermost towers of Gazad Helkona rising above the tree-line less than fifteen miles to the northeast. With luck you should reach the fortress within four hours.

It is only an hour later when you happen upon a broad track through the forest. Its loose surface is rutted with wagon tracks, and when you look more closely, you discover evidence of traffic having passed this way recently in both directions. Bordering upon this trail are several prickly shrubs which are covered with tiny purple buds.

If you wish to examine the purple buds, turn to 81.

If you choose to ignore the shrubs and follow the trail northwards, turn to 120.