You are a Grand Master of the New Order of the Kai—the warrior élite of Sommerlund.
It is autumn of the year MS 5083, thirty-three years after the First Order of the Kai was nearly 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. Lone Wolf, the leader of your illustrious fighting order, was the only 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 Alliance armies of Magnamund time enough 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 has 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 talents have helped you to master all of the Kai and Magnakai Disciplines, and you have risen 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), Naar sent forth a host of dragon-creatures to besiege the monastery and lay waste to 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.
During the six years that have elapsed since the defeat of his minions, Naar has endeavoured to enact his vengeance upon the Kai. He commands many agents of evil upon Magnamund, and they wait quietly in the shadows for the day when they may serve their fell master. One such agent was Lord Vandyan of Eldenora. Guided by Naar, Vandyan sought and found three ancient runes of evil. Empowered by his discoveries, Vandyan summoned a vast army of reptilian warriors—the Vorka—and he used them to conquer and occupy the lands of his peaceful neighbours. Emboldened by his martial successes, Vandyan then carried the war further afield.
By mid-summer of this year his army had overrun much of central Magnamund, including the realm of Lyris—one of Sommerlund’s oldest allies. From war-torn Lyris there arrived at the Kai Monastery an old man called Gwynian the Sage. He was a learned scholar and was revered by the Kai for he had aided Lone Wolf on many occasions in the past. He entreated your leader to help save his country from Vandyan’s horde. Without hesitation, Lone Wolf pledged to mount a Kai crusade to raise the siege of Varetta, its capital city.
The Vorka had been the key to Vandyan’s military successes and he had a seemingly endless supply of these reptilian fighters. In order to defeat Vandyan and save Lyris, Lone Wolf knew that he had to cut off Vandyan’s supply of Vorka reinforcements at their source. Gwynian had agents in Duadon, the capital of Eldenora, who had sent word that thousands of Vorka were being created inside the city. This was the source of the enemy’s horde.
Gwynian’s agents in Duadon had confirmed that Vandyan’s runes were being kept in the city’s stronghold, a daunting fortress called Skull-Tor. Lone Wolf asked you to travel alone to Duadon to make contact with Gwynian’s agents. They knew a secret route into the fortress and would help you to gain entry. Once inside, you were to find and destroy the runes as quickly as possible. Upon completion of the mission, the agents would assist you to evade Vandyan’s troops. The thought of venturing hundreds of miles behind enemy lines to undertake such a dangerous quest filled you with a sense of foreboding. Yet, you also felt greatly honoured to have been chosen for the mission and you did not flinch from your duty.
Your journey to Duadon was fraught with many perils, yet you overcame them all and made contact with Gwynian’s agents. With their help you gained entry to Vandyan’s stronghold of Skull-Tor and destroyed the evil runes, thereby extinguishing the source of the power by which the Vorka horde were permitted to exist. Vandyan’s army dissolved and the Kai were then able to enter Lyris and raise the siege of Varetta.
During your mission in Skull-Tor, you discovered that the Vorka were not the only creatures that Vandyan had summoned by the power of the runes. A demonic entity called Zorkaan the Soultaker had also been brought to Magnamund from his lair upon the Plane of Darkness—the ethereal domain of Naar. Having fought and defeated this creature, you believed that he had perished forever when subsequently you smashed the runes. Sadly, this was not so.
Following your victory at Skull-Tor you were met by Guildmaster Banedon, the leader of Sommerlund’s Guild of Magicians, who spirited you away from Duadon aboard his flying ship Cloud-dancer. Within minutes of your arrival aboard, a route was charted and a course set for the city of Varetta. The journey by air took little more than two hours and, although darkness had fallen, Banedon’s skilled crewmen had little difficulty locating the city. Its siege-damaged walls were ringed with beacons of fire that were visible for fifty miles. As you drew closer, you saw the lifeless remains of the Vorka horde spread out across the plain surrounding Varetta, and the regiments of the allied armies marching proudly towards its gates. The beacons guided Banedon’s craft towards the centre of the city where it was made to hover above the Halls of Learning, Gwynian’s home. Swiftly you were lowered by cage to the grounds of this magnificent building where the New Order Kai were encamped. There you were greeted by the thunderous cheer of your fellow kinsmen, and the proud embrace of Lone Wolf and Gwynian the Sage. It was a joyful and victorious reunion, one that will live forever in your memory and in the legends of the New Order Kai.
News of your arrival spread quickly through Varetta and you were fêted by its grateful citizens. By your brave action, the cruel siege of their city had been lifted. Following a night of celebration, Lone Wolf ordered you to return in triumph to the Kai Monastery aboard Cloud-dancer. He chose to ride home with the New Order and was expected to arrive in a week’s time. Gladly you obeyed your leader’s command, and shortly before noon you waved farewell to your proud brethren from the deck of Banedon’s magnificent flying ship.
Early the next day, you arrived at the Kai Monastery and delivered the glad news of your victory at Skull-Tor. Warmly the garrison praised your achievement and listened in awe when you recounted the details of your perilous mission. You informed them that Lone Wolf and the Kai crusaders were returning from Varetta and would arrive at the monastery in seven days’ time. You were the highest ranking Kai present at the monastery and so you took charge and oversaw preparations for their welcome home.
Five days passed and the preparations were completed ahead of schedule. Everyone was looking forward with eager anticipation to their return. It was late that afternoon when a Kai scout called Gold Rain arrived unexpectedly at the monastery. His face and clothes were badly travel-stained, and it was clear from his state of near-exhaustion that he had ridden hard without rest. You were hoping that he had glad tidings, but you soon heard to the contrary; Gold Rain had grave and shocking news to impart.
You learned that Lone Wolf had disappeared. During an overnight encampment on the outskirts of Ruanon, your leader had been abducted. Those who witnessed the abduction said that Lone Wolf was engulfed by a whirling black shadow that fell upon him from out of a stormy sky. So swift was the attack that your fellow Grand Masters were unable to prevent him from being carried away.
A cold chill ran down your spine as you listened to Gold Rain’s report. His description of the whirling black shadow was identical to the form adopted by Zorkaan the Soultaker. You were filled with a gnawing sense of doubt, a dire fear that the destruction of the rune used by Vandyan to summon Zorkaan did not bring about the fell creature’s demise. Instead, it had trapped Zorkaan upon Magnamund. Immediately you suspected that Lone Wolf’s abduction was an act of revenge. Your Kai Sixth Sense told you that Lone Wolf was still alive and present somewhere upon Magnamund, but you could not determine exactly where that place was.
You had achieved a great victory at Duadon, but the shocking news of Lone Wolf’s disappearance cast a deep shadow over your triumph there. You feared that the loss of your illustrious leader was too high a price to pay for the defeat of Vandyan and his Vorka hordes. Your natural instinct was to do everything in your power to find Lone Wolf and release him from his shadowy abductor, but you knew not where to look.
Hurriedly you dispatched a rider to Toran and summoned Guildmaster Banedon to an emergency council at the Kai Monastery. He responded swiftly to your summons and arrived within hours aboard Cloud-dancer. He was accompanied by Lord Rimoah of Dessi, an Elder Magi magician who is also Lone Wolf’s oldest friend and advisor.
Rimoah confirmed your suspicions that Zorkaan had been summoned to Magnamund by the power of the runes. When you smashed the runes, this entity could not return to the Plane of Darkness from whence it had come. Inadvertently, your action had trapped Zorkaan upon Magnamund. The arrival upon your world of this powerful creature of evil had not gone unnoticed by the Elder Magi. From afar they had sensed Zorkaan’s presence and, through the use of their Old Kingdom magic, Rimoah and his fellow elders had charted his movements. For a short while, following the destruction of the runes, the creature had roamed the planet freely. But his freedom was soon curtailed.
Lord Rimoah then told you of an evil sorcerer called Xaol. He is a necromancer who dwells in hiding in Gazad Helkona, a former Darklord city-fortress located in the desolate wastes of northern Skaror. Xaol is also an agent of Naar who, since the demise of the Darklords, has patiently awaited the chance to serve his fell master. During the days before Lone Wolf’s abduction, Rimoah and the Elder Magi detected streams of psychic communication coursing between Gazad Helkona and the Plane of Darkness.
‘Naar was transmitting to Xaol the secrets of a Ritual of Binding by which the freed spirit of Zorkaan could once again be enslaved,’ said Rimoah. ‘We now know that this ritual was enacted successfully by Xaol in the stronghold of Gazad Helkona.’
‘Naar’s insatiable thirst for revenge is a menace that Lone Wolf has had to live with since the day he destroyed the Dark God’s champions,’ said Guildmaster Banedon. ‘He maintains his vigilance against the constant threat of assassination by the agents of Naar, yet it seems he’s been caught off-guard during the long march home to Sommerlund.’
‘Through the ritual enacted by Xaol, Naar has gained control over Zorkaan,’ replied Rimoah. ‘He sent this creature to assassinate Lone Wolf at a Kai encampment near Ruanon, yet the attempt was unsuccessful. Zorkaan failed to kill Lone Wolf…but he was able to subdue and abduct him.’
‘So where is Lone Wolf now?’ you asked, anxiously.
‘He is imprisoned in Gazad Helkona,’ replied Rimoah, ‘and he is in great peril. Only his Supreme Master Disciplines and the power of the Sommerswerd, his magical blade, have spared him from death by the hand of Naar’s foul creation. Your leader is brave and resourceful, but I fear that Zorkaan’s frequent attacks will weaken and eventually destroy Lone Wolf unless he is rescued quickly.’
Selflessly you volunteered to attempt such a rescue. Rimoah and Banedon were impressed by your courage and your confidence, and readily they agreed to help you achieve this difficult task. Rimoah informed you that Gazad Helkona is occupied by Xaol and his cohorts, which comprise Hammerland bandits and remnants of the army of Darklord Chlanzor, the former ruler of this city-fortress.
‘The stronghold is located in a remote volcanic region, surrounded by a petrified forest from which it takes its name. It is a difficult place to reach and assault by force,’ said Rimoah.
‘But where an army may fail, a single Kai may triumph,’ interjected Banedon, wisely.
At length you discussed the rescue and agreed upon a plan of action. Banedon will transport you aboard his flying ship Cloud-dancer to a valley in the Shezar Hills, situated fifty miles to the south of Gazad Helkona. Here you will disembark and then approach the fortress on foot. Banedon will remain aboard his flying ship, safely out of sight of Xaol’s lookouts, where he will await a telepathic signal from Lone Wolf to confirm his rescue. Upon receiving this signal, he will bring Cloud-dancer into the centre of Gazad Helkona in order to collect you both. If you are unable to complete your mission to set Lone Wolf free, you must make your own way back to the flying ship.
During your mission, Lord Rimoah and the Elder Magi will use their combined powers to disrupt the channel of communication that exists between Naar and his agent Xaol. Rimoah is confident that this action will serve to prevent Xaol from detecting the arrival of Cloud-dancer, and it will also help to keep secret your approach to his grim stronghold.
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 previous adventures in the Lone Wolf New Order series (Books 21–24), 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.
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]](25/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]](25/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]](25/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]](25/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]](25/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]](25/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]](25/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]](25/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]](25/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]](25/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]](25/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]](25/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]](25/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]](25/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]](25/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]](25/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]](25/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 25 of the Lone Wolf New Order series, you may add a further Grand Master Discipline of your choice to your Action Chart in Book 26. 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: The Fall of Blood Mountain.
Before you leave the Kai Monastery and begin your journey to Gazad Helkona, you equip yourself with a map of that territory and a pouch of gold. To find out how much gold 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 previous New Order adventures (Books 21–24), 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]](25/axe.png)
![[illustration]](25/sword.png)
![[illustration]](25/quiver.png)
![[illustration]](25/flute.png)
![[illustration]](25/dagger.png)
![[illustration]](25/bow.png)
![[illustration]](25/food.png)
![[illustration]](25/rope.png)
![[illustration]](25/potion.png)
![[illustration]](25/bsword.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.
Example
Say you choose the number 1 from the Random Number Table, your Kai Weapon will be the Axe ‘Alema’.
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 ‘Alema’ in combat against an undead enemy, you could add the higher bonus of +7 to your COMBAT SKILL. If you were to fight a living enemy using this weapon then 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:
If you are a New Order Kai who has attained the rank of Kai Grand Sentinel, you will now benefit from improvements to the following Grand Master Disciplines:
If you are a New Order Kai who has attained the rank of Kai Grand Defender, you will now benefit from improvements to the following Grand Master Disciplines:
If you are a New Order Kai who has attained the rank of Kai Grand Guardian, 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.
The success of your mission to find and free your illustrious leader is one of vital importance. Lone Wolf’s abductor is a powerful and formidable adversary, and your search will be fraught with danger at every turn. Be wary and on your guard at all times during your exploration of Gazad Helkona.
During your search, some of the material items that you will encounter will be of use to you, but some may be red herrings of no real value at all. If you discover items during your mission, be selective in what you choose to keep. Pick your five Grand Master Disciplines with care for a wise choice will enable anyone to complete the quest, no matter how weak their initial COMBAT SKILL and ENDURANCE scores may be. Completion of previous Lone Wolf adventures (Books 1–24) may be advantageous, but it is not essential for the successful completion of this New Order adventure.
Grand Master—may the light of the Gods Kai and Ishir guide you safely during your mission.
For Sommerlund and the Kai!