Let's Play Lone Wolf

[Auron 0]

I agree we dont really know where we are and should at least try to follow the path,

[pi4t 6]

46

You have covered about two miles when the trees ahead thin out. You can see a small wooden shack on the edge of a lake. A cloaked man approaches you and offers to row you and your horse across the lake for a fee of 2 Gold Crowns.

If you have the Kai Discipline of Sixth Sense, turn to 296.

If you accept the offer, turn to 246.

If you refuse and try to ride around the lake, turn to 90.

We have sixth sense! Yay! Note that as the text says 'if you have' rather than 'if you have and want to use'. If it had been the second option I'd have stopped and asked whether to use it or not, but the text makes it clear that we don't have a choice here. Often true of Sixth Sense.

296

You sense something is wrong. With fighting all around and the forces of the Darklords so near, why has this man stayed in the forest? You feel a strange aura of evil about him and decline his offer.

Turn to 90.

Go Sixth Sense!

90

Night falls and you are soon engulfed in total darkness. To press on would be useless, for you would be sure to lose your way. Tethering your horse to a tree, you pull your green Kai cloak about you and fall into a restless sleep.

Turn to 18.

And that's the end of the first day!

18

You are awoken by the sound of troops in the distance. Across the lake you see the black-cloaked figures of Drakkarim and a pack of Doomwolves and their riders. A Kraan appears from above the trees and lands on the roof of the small wooden shack.

It is ridden by a creature dressed in red. The Kraan takes off and begins to fly across the lake to where you are hidden.

If you wish to use the Kai Discipline of Camouflage, turn to 114.

If you wish to ride deeper in the forest, turn to 239.

If you wish to fight the creature, turn to 29.

Uh oh, guys, another combat! Or we could run...

[Auron 0]

I suggest we make a tactical retreat into the forest. 239

[Hiebe 2493]

239

[pi4t 6]

239

As you push on into the forest, you hear the wings of the Kraan pass above the trees and disappear northwards. You ride on for nearly an hour until you come to a clearing. On the far side is a track that leads off to the south.

If you wish to enter the clearing and take the south exit, turn to 34.

If you would rather skirt the edge of the clearing and pick up the track further on, turn to 118.

Another paragraph, another choice. Which do we choose?

[Auron 0]

Well we only just missed that kraan so i say we dont just assume there arent more but hide instead. 118

[Hiebe 2493]

118 Hide like a scared little cat.

[pi4t 6]

118

You spur your horse to a gallop and race down the long straight path. In the far distance you can just make out the silhouette of Holmgard on the horizon, its high walls and tall spires glinting in the morning sun. Your path joins a highway running from north to south. It is the main turnpike road between the northern port of Toran and the capital. You set off towards Holmgard, your eyes peeled for Kraan in the clear morning sky.

Turn to 224.

And on we go!

224

You have ridden several miles and have seen no sign of refugees or of the enemy. You race on towards a high ridge in the middle distance. You should be able to see the capital from there.

As you reach the peak, the sight that meets you on the far side is one of hope—but there is still one challenge you know you have to face.

Turn to 153.

Nearly there?

153

Before you are the tall grey-white walls and glimmering spires of Holmgard, the city's banners fluttering from the battlements in the fresh morning breeze. Stretching out towards the west, the River Eledil traces its course from the mountains of the Durncrag Range to the Holmgulf. But below the mountain peaks you can see a vast black army marching relentlessly on towards the capital.

To your right you can see the highway heading off over the rolling plain towards Holmgard. At a gallop you could make the outer fieldworks of the city's defences in less than an hour, but you would be in the open for most of the time and vulnerable to attack by Kraan. Directly ahead of you, a wide river drifts sluggishly towards the Eledil. If you abandoned your horse, you could swim towards the outer defences under cover of the river banks. Or there is a final alternative. To your left lies the Graveyard of the Ancients. These tombs and crumbling monuments to a forgotten age would conceal your approach but it is a forbidden area. Many are the unnamed horrors that lie there in restless sleep, waiting to consume the unwary trespasser.

If you will try your luck by the highway, turn to 202.

If you feel that you stand a better chance of reaching the capital via the river then turn to 135.

Or if you are brave enough to risk the unknown perils of the Graveyard of the Ancients, turn to 329.

Hurray! A meaningful choice!

[Hiebe 2493]

135 for me

[Auron 0]

Ohh a graveyard lets sail past it instead. 135

[pi4t 6]

135

Peering over the steep undercut of the river bank, you can see a tangle of driftwood along the water's edge. A large tree trunk has grounded on the clay bank next to a small canoe.

If you wish to use the log to float down the river, turn to 223.

If you wish to use the canoe, turn to 4.

So how are we approaching this one?

[Hiebe 2493]

USE THE LOG!

[Auron 0]

Well the canoe lost its rower and ended up washed up on this bank somehow so i dont trust it now the log thats to be expected so we can ride that with a saddle. 223

[pi4t 6]

Well, it looks to me from the picture as though the owner of the canoe had completed their journey, and pulled it onto the bank. Oh well, never mind.

223

After quite a struggle, you manage to free the heavy trunk from the river bank. Gathering your equipment in a bundle, you stow it on top of the log and then slowly wade out into the river. The current soon takes you and you drift slowly downstream.

After twenty minutes you hear the sound of horses along the left bank.

If you wish to hide behind the log, turn to 75.

If you wish to climb onto the log and prepare to catch the riders' attention, then turn to 175.

So, hide again, or attract our mysterious visitors' attention? This is an example where using the map to work out which side of the river Holmgard's on can give you extra information to base your choice on.

[Auron 0]

Well seems im not looking at a map i dont have lets hide.