You are a Kai Grand Master of the New Order of the Kai—the warrior élite of Sommerlund.
It is the year MS 5083 and thirty-three years have passed since the First Order of the Kai was almost wiped out by the Darklords of Helgedad. These champions of evil, who were sent by the Dark God Naar to destroy your fertile world of Magnamund, have since been destroyed. The leader of your illustrious fighting order—Lone Wolf—was the sole survivor of the massacre. As a young Kai initiate he stood amidst the burning wreckage of the old Kai Monastery and vowed to avenge the slaughter of his comrades. In the year MS 5070 he kept his pledge when alone he infiltrated the foul domain of the Darklords and destroyed the infernal city of Helgedad, the base of their evil power.
With the fall of Helgedad, chaos befell the Darkland armies who had, until then, been poised to conquer all Magnamund. Quickly their disorder escalated into a mutinous civil war which allowed the Freeland armies of Magnamund time in which to recover and launch a successful counter-offensive. Against all odds, a swift and total victory was secured over the feuding armies of evil.
Following the demise of the Darklords, peace reigned in your homeland of Sommerlund. Under the direction of Lone Wolf the ruined Monastery of the Kai was rebuilt and restored to its former glory, and the raising of a New Order of Kai warriors was swiftly established. You are one of this new generation of Kai recruits. You were born in Sommerlund in the year MS 5063, during the time of the war against the Darklords. When you were seven years old you were sent by your father to the Kai Monastery. There, under the tutelage of Lone Wolf, you developed your martial skills and honed the special Kai abilities which lay dormant within you. During the years that followed, your skills were nurtured and sharpened to perfection by long hours of study and rigorous training. Your exceptional talent helped you to master all of the Kai and Magnakai Disciplines and you rose swiftly through the ranks of the New Order to become one of only five who now hold the high rank of Kai Grand Master. It is an achievement which has brought great honour upon you and your family.
In the year MS 5077 your skill and courage were put to the test when an attack was launched upon the Kai Monastery during Lone Wolf’s absence. By means of a Shadow Gate (an astral corridor between the physical world of Magnamund and the many ethereal domains which lie beyond it) the Dark God Naar sent forth a host of dragon-creatures to besiege the monastery and lay waste of all Sommerlund. He had chosen his time well, yet his evil plan was thwarted by the tenacious defence that you and your brethren maintained until the siege was raised by Lone Wolf and the King’s Army of Sommerlund.
The defeat of his minions enraged Naar and inflamed his lust for vengeance. Three years later he created and sent to Sommerlund an evil champion called ‘Wolf’s Bane’ who was the very image of Lone Wolf. While your leader was engaged upon a quest overseas, this impostor terrorized your homeland in his guise and sought to destroy the reputation and the honour of the Kai. He would have succeeded had not Lone Wolf returned home and pursued this enemy to an ancient necropolis in the Sommlending city of Tyso. There, deep within a subterranean crypt, he and his evil alter-ego were drawn through a Shadow Gate to the Plane of Darkness—Naar’s stronghold—where a deadly duel ensued. Lone Wolf vanquished the foe and discovered that Naar had in his possession the fabled Moonstone of the Shianti. This wondrous artefact was created many thousands of years ago by the god-like Shianti, whose presence upon Magnamund heralded the dawn of humanity. This stone of power contains the combined might of all their magic and wisdom, the sum of all their knowledge. So significant was the creation of this stone that all time on Magnamund has since been measured from the date of its creation. It had long been held that the Moonstone’s location was a secret known only to the remnants of the Shianti, who dwell upon the mysterious Isle of Lorn in Southern Magnamund, yet the evidence of Lone Wolf’s eyes had told him that this mystical artefact had somehow fallen into the hands of Naar.
Lone Wolf realized that the Dark God had been using its legendary powers to generate Shadow Gates within the world of Magnamund, at locations and times of his own choosing. Such power had enabled him to send his loathsome champions to your home world while the force of the Gods of Good, Kai and Ishir, had been held at bay. Lone Wolf and the New Order Kai were all that stood against the onslaught of Naar’s agents following the demise of the Darklords.
Lone Wolf successfully escaped from the Plane of Darkness and returned to Sommerlund, yet he knew that the fight against Evil had not been won outright. He realised that he would have to return to the Plane of Darkness and retrieve the fabled Moonstone. Only by doing so would Magnamund truly be safe from an invasion by Naar’s legions of darkness. Two years ago, with the aid of his most trusted ally, Lord Rimoah of Dessi, Lone Wolf fulfilled his vow by journeying to the Dark God’s domain and retrieving the Moonstone of the Shianti. Upon his triumphant return, Lone Wolf placed the Moonstone in the Vault of the Sun—his personal chamber located deep below the fortified citadel of the Kai Monastery. He had hoped that the fabled artefact could remain there indefinitely, to be guarded by generations of Kai who would keep it secure from Naar’s minions. Retrieval of the Moonstone had denied the Dark God’s champions ready access to Magnamund, yet Lone Wolf knew that there were many lesser agents of Naar upon Magnamund waiting quietly in the shadows for the chance to do his evil bidding. Undoubtedly they would stop at nothing to retrieve the Moonstone for their fell master.
Within a year of his return home it became clear to Lone Wolf that his wish could not be fulfilled. At first the presence of the Moonstone seemed greatly beneficial to Sommerlund. Crops grew abundantly, incidence of disease and illness became increasingly rare, and the newly-born were uniformly healthy. Even the offspring of the impoverished who, in normal times, could expect only one in three of their infants to survive longer than a month beyond birth, were all in good health and exceptional in their physical and mental development. The Sommlending called this extraordinary period of providence the ‘Blessing of the Moonstone’, yet this time of good fortune could not last. The power of the Moonstone is a great force for Good, but it is also greatly disruptive of the natural order of Magnamund. Soon death itself became a rarity in Sommerlund, and the four seasons of the year were slowly transformed into one unending spring. Lone Wolf was deeply concerned at the changes wrought by the Moonstone and sought the counsel of his closest friend—Guildmaster Banedon, leader of Sommerlund’s Brotherhood of Magicians. Banedon entreated him to relinquish the Moonstone before the effects of its power became irreversible. To right the imbalance of nature the Moonstone would have to be taken to the Isle of Lorn, in the southernmost reaches of Magnamund, and delivered back into the hands of the Shianti. Only they, its creators, could prevent its powers from disrupting the natural order of your world.
Lone Wolf agreed with Banedon—the Moonstone would have to be returned to the Shianti. The physical effects of its presence were beginning to attract the unwelcome attentions of those who secretly desire to enact Naar’s revenge upon the Kai. When one of Naar’s agents was captured by a Kai patrol within a few miles of the monastery, Lone Wolf felt he could wait no longer. He resolved to act immediately. Preparations were made for a long journey and, especially among the lower ranks of the Kai, rumours were rife that your leader would personally take responsibility for returning the Moonstone to the Shianti. Indeed, this speculation seemed to be confirmed as fact when it was discovered that Lone Wolf had secured the use of Guildmaster Banedon’s famous flying ship—Cloud-dancer.
It therefore came as a shock when, early one morning, you were summoned unexpectedly to the Vault of the Sun. In strictest confidence, Supreme Master Lone Wolf informed you that he had decided to entrust you with the task of returning the Moonstone to the Shianti. His elaborate preparations were simply a diversion, a bluff designed to draw attention away from the vital mission that he wished you—the most talented and courageous of his five Kai Grand Masters—to undertake. It was with great pride and apprehension that you accepted the quest.
Lone Wolf gave you the precious Moonstone in a seemingly ordinary satchel, yet the lining of this plain leather bag was woven from korlinium, a special mineral that would hide the Moonstone’s powerful energies from the agents of Naar. In the guise of a Kai journeyman, you set sail from the Sommlending capital of Holmgard aboard a caravel that was to carry you south on the first leg of your journey, a voyage of 2,000 miles to Elzian, the capital of Dessi. This legendary city is home to Lord Rimoah and the Elder Magi. They are the last surviving members of Magnamund’s oldest race of magicians and they had promised Lone Wolf that they would help you reach your final destination. You had hoped and expected the voyage would be swift and uneventful; however fate and ill fortune decreed otherwise. Your ship was attacked by pirates off the coast of Vassagonia and badly damaged. It limped to the port of Cape Kabar where you were forced to continue the long journey by overland routes to Elzian. This trek was fraught with danger, yet you overcame the many perils ranged against you and eventually arrived at the Dessian capital, to the relief of Lord Rimoah and his anxious brother magicians who had feared the worst.
Now the final and most challenging part of your voyage to the Isle of Lorn lies ahead. And it is a journey that may prove more difficult than any you have undertaken so far, for it will lead you deep into the wild and lawless reaches of Southern Magnamund.
You keep a record of your adventure on the Action Chart.
During the years you have spent in training at the Kai Monastery, you have devoted yourself to further developing your fighting prowess (COMBAT SKILL) and physical stamina (ENDURANCE). Before you begin this New Order adventure you need to measure how effective your training has been. To do this take a pencil and, with your eyes closed, point the blunt end of it onto the Random Number Table. If you pick a 0 it counts as zero.
The first number that you pick from the Random Number Table in this way represents your COMBAT SKILL. Add 25 to the number you picked and write the total in the COMBAT SKILL section of your Action Chart (i.e. if your pencil fell on the number 7 in the Random Number Table you would write in a COMBAT SKILL of 32). When you fight, your COMBAT SKILL will be pitted against that of your enemy. A high score in this section is therefore desirable.
The second number that you pick from the Random Number Table represents your powers of ENDURANCE. Add 30 to this number and write the total in the ENDURANCE section of your Action Chart (i.e. if your pencil fell on the number 8 on the Random Number Table you would have 38 ENDURANCE points).
If you are wounded in combat you will lose ENDURANCE points. If at any time your ENDURANCE points fall to zero or below, you are dead and the adventure is over. Lost ENDURANCE points can be regained during the course of the adventure, but your number of ENDURANCE points cannot rise above the number you have when you start an adventure.
If you have successfully completed the previous adventure in the Lone Wolf New Order series (Book 21), you can carry your current scores of COMBAT SKILL and ENDURANCE points over to this adventure. You may also carry over any Special Items, Kai Weapon, normal Weapons, and Backpack Items you had in your possession at the end of your last adventure, and these should be entered on your new Action Chart. If you have completed the previous Lone Wolf New Order adventure, remember to choose an additional Grand Master Discipline and add +1 to your basic COMBAT SKILL and +2 to your basic ENDURANCE.
Playing Tip: You may use a 10-sided die instead of the Random Number Table if you find it more convenient.
It has long been the tradition of your élite warrior caste to bestow a new name upon each young novice when they complete their first year’s training at the Kai Monastery. Kai names are chosen by senior Kai Masters with the aim of reflecting the individual strengths and qualities of each novice.
You may create your own Kai name for yourself, or you can generate a Kai name at random using the name tables below. To generate a Kai name, pick a number from the Random Number Table and consult Table A. The name which corresponds to the number you have picked is the first part, or prefix, of your Kai name. Now pick a second number from the Random Number Table and consult Table B. The name which corresponds to the number you have picked is the second part, or suffix, of your Kai name. Put the prefix and the suffix together and you have your own personal Kai name.
| Table A | Table B | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Kai name prefix) | (Kai name suffix) | |||
| 0 = | Swift | 0 = | Blade | |
| 1 = | Sun | 1 = | Fire | |
| 2 = | True | 2 = | Hawk | |
| 3 = | Bold | 3 = | Heart | |
| 4 = | Moon | 4 = | Friend | |
| 5 = | Sword | 5 = | Star | |
| 6 = | Wise | 6 = | Dancer | |
| 7 = | Storm | 7 = | Helm | |
| 8 = | Rune | 8 = | Strider | |
| 9 = | Brave | 9 = | Shield | |
During your distinguished rise to the ranks of the New Order of Kai Grand Masters, you have become proficient in all of the basic Kai and Magnakai Disciplines. These Disciplines provide you with a formidable arsenal of natural abilities which will serve you well. A brief summary of your skills is given below:
After years of martial training and study at the Kai Monastery, and by the rigorous practice of the teachings of your illustrious mentor—Kai Supreme Master Lone Wolf—you have achieved the noble rank of Kai Grand Master Senior.
Following in the footsteps of Lone Wolf himself, you have vowed that one day you will become totally proficient in all 16 of the New Order Kai Grand Master Disciplines. By doing so successfully you will share with Lone Wolf the responsibility, the honour, and the future glory of leading the New Order Kai as a Supreme Master.
If this is the first New Order adventure you have undertaken, then your present rank is that of Kai Grand Master Senior. This means that you have mastered five of the New Order Grand Master Disciplines listed below. It is for you to decide which five Disciplines these are. As all of the New Order Grand Master Disciplines may be of use to you at some point during your mission, pick these five skills with care. The correct use of a New Order Grand Master Discipline at the right time could save your life. When you have chosen your five Disciplines, enter them in the Grand Master Disciplines section of your Action Chart.
![[illustration]](22/wpnmast.png)
This Discipline enables a New Order Grand Master to become supremely efficient in the use of all weapons. When you enter combat armed with one of your Grand Master weapons, you may add 5 points to your COMBAT SKILL. The rank of Kai Grand Master Senior, with which you begin the New Order series, means that you are skilled in the use of one of the weapons listed below.
![[illustration]](22/weapons.png)
For every adventure that you complete successfully in the New Order series while possessing the Discipline of Grand Weaponmastery, you will gain proficiency with one additional weapon.
If you have the Discipline of Grand Weaponmastery with Bow, you may add 5 points to any number you pick from the Random Number Table, when using the Bow.
![[illustration]](22/anmlmast.png)
New Order Grand Masters have considerable control over hostile, non-sentient creatures. Also, they have the ability to converse with birds and fishes, and use them as guides.
![[illustration]](22/delvrance.png)
New Order Grand Masters are able to use their healing power to repair serious battle-wounds. If, while in combat, their ENDURANCE is reduced to 8 points or less, they can draw upon their mastery to restore 20 ENDURANCE points. This emergency ability can only be used once every 20 days.
![[illustration]](22/assmlnce.png)
New Order Grand Masters are able to effect striking changes to their physical appearance, and maintain these changes over a period of one to three days. They have also mastered advanced camouflage techniques which make them virtually undetectable in an open landscape.
![[illustration]](22/huntmstr.png)
New Order Grand Masters are able to see in total darkness and they possess great natural speed and agility. They also have a superb sense of touch and taste. If you have chosen the Discipline of Grand Huntmastery as one of your skills, you will not need to tick off a Meal when instructed to eat.
![[illustration]](22/pathsmn.png)
New Order Grand Masters are able to resist entrapment by hostile plants. Also they have a super-awareness of ambush, or the threat of ambush, in woods and dense forests.
![[illustration]](22/ksurge.png)
When using their psychic ability to attack an enemy, New Order Grand Masters may add 8 points to their COMBAT SKILL. For every round in which Kai-surge is used, they need only deduct 1 ENDURANCE point. Grand Masters have the option of using a weaker form of psychic attack called Mindblast. When using this lesser attack, they may add 4 points to their COMBAT SKILL without loss of ENDURANCE points (Kai-surge and Mindblast cannot be used simultaneously). New Order Grand Masters cannot use Kai-surge if their ENDURANCE score falls to 6 points or below.
![[illustration]](22/kscreen.png)
During psychic combat, New Order Grand Masters are able to construct mind-fortresses capable of protecting themselves and others. The strength and capacity of these fortresses increase as a New Order Grand Master advances in rank.
![[illustration]](22/nexus.png)
New Order Grand Masters are able to withstand contact with harmful elements, such as flames and acids, for upwards of an hour in duration. This ability increases as a New Order Grand Master advances in rank.
![[illustration]](22/telegnss.png)
This Discipline enables a New Order Grand Master to spirit-walk for far greater lengths of time, and with far fewer ill effects. Duration of the spirit-walk and the protection afforded to his inanimate body increase as a New Order Grand Master advances in rank.
![[illustration]](22/magimagc.png)
Under the tutelage of Lone Wolf, you have been able to master the rudimentary skills of Old Kingdom battle-magic. These arcane skills include the use of basic Old Kingdom Spells, such as Shield, Power Word, and Invisible Fist. As you advance in rank, so will your knowledge and mastery of Old Kingdom magic increase.
![[illustration]](22/alchemy.png)
Under the tutelage of Lone Wolf and Guildmaster Banedon (the leader of Sommerlund’s Guild of Magicians), you have mastered the elementary spells of the Brotherhood of the Crystal Star. These spells include Lightning Hand, Levitation, and Mind Charm. As you advance in rank, so will your knowledge and mastery of Brotherhood magic increase.
![[illustration]](22/astrolgy.png)
The celestial bodies which occupy the skies above Magnamund have long been known to affect the lives of its inhabitants. Mastery of this Discipline enables a New Order Grand Master to predict and shape the future by studying the relative positions of the Sun, the Moon, and the myriad planets and stars. The number and accuracy of these predictions increase as a New Order Grand Master advances in rank.
![[illustration]](22/herblism.png)
Mastery of this New Order Discipline enables a Grand Master to identify readily any substance derived from living or growing organic material. He is aware of any secret uses to which an organic material may be put, and he is skilled in effecting the release of a substance’s medicinal and/or magical properties.
![[illustration]](22/elmntlsm.png)
This Discipline enables a New Order Grand Master to manipulate the four basic elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. By drawing upon individual elements that are available, or combinations thereof, he is able to detach, affix, increase, concentrate, intensify, remove, or accelerate this matter to fulfil a specific purpose, e.g. create a wall, hurl a rock, spray sand, remove air, intensify fire. The versatility of this Discipline increases as a New Order Grand Master advances in rank.
![[illustration]](22/bard.png)
Through mastery of this Discipline a Kai Grand Master of the New Order becomes a multi-talented performer, proficient in the use of any musical instrument. He is able to sing or chant, recite or compose tales of legend, mimic speech or dialect, and stimulate a wide range of emotions among sentient creatures. The effect and power of his bardic abilities will steadily increase as he advances through the Grand Master ranks.
If you successfully complete the mission as set in Book 22 of the Lone Wolf New Order series, you may add a further Grand Master Discipline of your choice to your Action Chart in Book 23. For every Grand Master Discipline you possess, in excess of the original five Disciplines you begin with, you may add 1 point to your basic COMBAT SKILL score and 2 points to your basic ENDURANCE points score. These bonus points, together with your extra Grand Master Discipline(s), your original five Grand Master Disciplines, your Kai Weapon, and any other Special Items and Backpack Items that you have found and been able to keep during your adventures, may then be carried over and used in the next New Order adventure, which is called: Mydnight’s Hero.
Before you leave Elzian and begin your long voyage south to the Isle of Lorn, you acquire a map of southeastern Magnamund and a pouch of gold. To find out how much money is in the pouch, pick a number from the Random Number Table and add 20 to the number you have picked. The total equals the number of Gold Crowns inside the pouch, and you should now enter this number in the ‘Gold Crowns’ section of your Action Chart.
If you have successfully completed the previous New Order adventure (Book 21), you may add this sum to the number of Crowns you already possess. Fifty is the maximum number of Gold Crowns you can carry in your pouch at any time. You may also select five items from the list below, only two of which may be weapons.
![[illustration]](22/qurtstff.png){kind=small}
![[illustration]](22/bow.png)
![[illustration]](22/quiver.png)
![[illustration]](22/flute.png)
![[illustration]](22/dagger.png)
![[illustration]](22/sword.png)
![[illustration]](22/food.png)
![[illustration]](22/rope.png)
![[illustration]](22/potion.png)
![[illustration]](22/axe.png)
List the five items that you have chosen on your Action Chart, under the appropriate headings, and make a note of any effect that they may have on your ENDURANCE points and/or COMBAT SKILL.
Upon reaching the ultimate rank of Kai Supreme Master, Lone Wolf received as a reward from the God Kai many new skills and abilities. One of these skills was Kai Weaponcraft. Using his newfound mastery, Lone Wolf forged ten weapons of magical power in the armoury furnaces of the Kai Monastery. These magical weapons are reserved for the élite of the New Order Kai who attain the rank of Grand Master.
In recognition of your rank and achievement, you may choose your own Kai Weapon from the table below or, if you prefer, you can generate one at random. To generate a Kai Weapon, pick a number from the Random Number Table and consult the first column. The magical Axe, Sword, or Broadsword which corresponds to the number you have picked will be your own personal Kai Weapon. Record this magical weapon and its unique properties in the Kai Weapon section of the Special Items List. If you have completed the previous Lone Wolf New Order adventure (Book 21), you already possess a Kai Weapon.
Example
Say you choose the number 8 from the Random Number Table, your Kai Weapon will be the Broadsword ‘Illuminatus’.
When using this Kai Weapon in normal combat you may add +5 points to your COMBAT SKILL. Each Kai Weapon has a unique property. When you use your Kai Weapon in combat against the type of enemy that matches its unique property, or use it at the optimum time or location, then you may add the higher bonus to your COMBAT SKILL (these bonuses are not cumulative).
Example
If you were to use ‘Illuminatus’ in combat against an enemy in an underground cavern, cave, or tunnel, you could add the higher bonus of 7 to your COMBAT SKILL. If you were to fight this enemy in any other location, the bonus to your COMBAT SKILL would remain at 5.
| Kai Weapon Table | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RN | Weapon Type | Weapon Name | CS | Unique Properties | CS |
| 0 | Axe | ‘Spawnsmite’ | +5 | versus reptilian enemies | +6 |
| 1 | Axe | ‘Alema’ | +5 | versus undead enemies | +7 |
| 2 | Axe | ‘Magnara’ | +5 | versus rock or stone | +8 |
| 3 | Sword | ‘Sunstrike’ | +5 | when used in daylight | +6 |
| 4 | Sword | ‘Kaistar’ | +5 | when used at night | +7 |
| 5 | Sword | ‘Valiance’ | +5 | when used against magicians or creatures born of magic | +8 |
| 6 | Sword | ‘Ulnarias’ | +5 | when used underwater | +9 |
| 7 | Broadsword | ‘Raumas’ | +5 | versus winged enemies | +6 |
| 8 | Broadsword | ‘Illuminatus’ | +5 | when used underground | +7 |
| 9 | Broadsword | ‘Firefall’ | +5 | versus fire-emitting enemies | +8 |
| RN = Random Number | CS = COMBAT SKILL | ||||
There will be occasions during your adventure when you will have to fight an enemy. The enemy’s COMBAT SKILL and ENDURANCE points are given in the text. Your aim in the combat is to kill the enemy by reducing his ENDURANCE points to zero while losing as few ENDURANCE points as possible yourself.
At the start of a combat, enter your own and the enemy’s ENDURANCE points in the appropriate boxes on the Combat Record section of your Action Chart.
The sequence for combat is as follows:
This process of combat continues until the ENDURANCE points of either your enemy or yourself are reduced to zero or below, at which point that combatant is declared dead. If you are declared dead, the adventure is over. If the enemy is dead, you can proceed but with your ENDURANCE points possibly reduced.
A summary of Combat Rules appears in the back of this book.
During your adventure you may be given the chance to evade combat. If you have already engaged in a round of combat and decide to evade, calculate the combat for that round in the usual manner. All points lost by the enemy as a result of that round are ignored, and you make your escape. Only you may lose ENDURANCE points during that round (such is the risk of turning tail and running away during combat!). You may only evade if the text of the particular section allows you to do so.
The following table is a guide to the ranks and titles you can achieve at each stage of your journey along the road of Kai Grand Mastership. As you successfully complete each adventure in the New Order series, you will gain an additional Grand Master Discipline and progress towards the pinnacle of Kai perfection—to become a Kai Supreme Master.
As you rise through the higher levels of Grand Mastery you will find that your Disciplines will steadily improve.
If you are a New Order Kai who has attained the rank of Kai Grand Master Superior, you will now benefit from improvements to the following Grand Master Disciplines:
The nature of additional improvements and how they affect your existing Grand Master Disciplines will be noted in the Improved Grand Master Disciplines section of future Lone Wolf New Order books.
You are about to embark upon the final stage of a vital mission to return the fabled Moonstone of the Shianti to its creators.
Some of the material items that you will encounter during your quest will be of use to you, while others may be red herrings of no real value at all. If you discover items, be selective in what you choose to keep.
Pick your five Grand Master Disciplines with care, for a wise choice will enable any player to complete the quest, no matter how weak their initial COMBAT SKILL and ENDURANCE scores may be. Completion of previous Lone Wolf adventures (Books 1–21) may be advantageous, but it is not essential for the successful completion of this New Order adventure.
May the light of the Gods Kai and Ishir guide you during your important quest.
For Sommerlund and the Kai!