Legion of Shadow Page 2

  * Passive (pa): Passive abilities are typically applied at the end of a combat round, once you or your opponent has taken health damage. Abilities such as venom and bleed are passive abilities. These abilities happen automatically, based on their description.

  Damage score and damage dice

  Some special abilities will refer to a damage score and others will refer to rolling damage dice. A damage score is when your hero rolls one die and adds their brawn or magic to the total (as in the previous combat example). This is the most common means of applying damage to your opponent.

  Some abilities allow you to roll damage dice instead. Damage dice are simply dice that are rolled for damage, but you do not add your brawn or magic score to the total. For example, the special ability cleave allows you to inflict 1 damage die to all your opponents, ignoring armour. You would simply roll 1 die and then deduct the result from each of your opponents’ health. You do not add your brawn or magic to this total.

  Using potions in combat

  The outcome of many a combat can be decided by the clever use of potions. From restoring lost health to boosting your speed, never underestimate how useful these items can be in turning the tide of battle. However, you can only use one potion per combat round so choose wisely! Also note that every potion has a number of uses. Once these have been used up, they are gone forever.

  Death is not the end

  When your hero dies, their adventure isn’t over. Simply make a note of the entry number where you died and then return to the quest map using the contents page. Your health is immediately restored back to full, however any consumable items that you used in the combat (such as potions and elixirs) remain lost.

  You can now do the following:

  1. Return to the entry number where you died and try it again. (NOTE: You must fight monsters using their full health and original attributes.)

  2. Explore a different location on the map, such as a town or another quest.

  You can return to the entry number where you died any time you wish. If you are having difficulty with a particular combat, then try a different quest or purchase some helpful potions from a local vendor. Then you can return to the entry number where you died and try it again.

  NOTE: In some quests, when your hero is defeated, there are special rules to follow. You will be given an entry number to turn to, where you can read on to see what happens to your hero.

  Taking challenge tests

  Occasionally, during your travels, you will be asked to take a challenge by testing one of your attributes (such as speed or brawn). Each challenge is given a number. For example:

  Speed

  Climb the cliff face

  9

  To take a challenge, simply roll 2 dice and add your hero’s attribute score to the result. If the total is the same as or higher than the given number, then you have succeeded. For example, if Sir Hugo has a speed of 4 and rolls aand a, then he would have a total of 9. This means he would have successfully completed the above challenge.

  Take your adventures online!

  Join the DestinyQuest community at www.destiny-quest.com for the latest information on DestinyQuest books, hints and tips, player forums and exclusive downloadable content (including printable hero sheets, hero vs. hero combat rules and extra bonus quests!).

  It’s time to begin

  Before you start your adventure, don’t forget to check that your hero sheet has been fully updated. It should display:

  * Your hero’s name

  * A zero score in the speed, brawn, magic, and armour boxes

  * A 30 in your hero’s health box

  * 10 gold crowns in your hero’s money pouch.

  Now, turn the page to begin your adventure . . .

  Prologue:

  The knight’s legacy

  You are thrown from the dream, kicking and flailing. It is some seconds before you can catch your breath, images of black-scaled monsters and sharp fangs still swimming before your vision.

  As your surroundings slowly come into focus, you find yourself lying on your back against the soggy ground, a steady patter of rain beating on the dead leaves and dirt. Above you, a full moon streams garish light through the treetops, picking out the charred, twisted remains that encircle you.

  Bodies.

  Corpses.

  Frantically, you scramble to your feet, the cold rain making the ground slippery with mud. As you stand, an angry pain causes you to stagger, thumping against the inside of your head. Putting a hand to the back of your scalp, you feel for a wound or bruise. To your surprise, you find nothing.

  All around you, the ground is scorched and smoking, forming a crater with you at its centre. Sprawled around its edge are over a dozen bodies – each one burnt beyond all recognition. You close your eyes, struggling to remember what happened . . . how you came to be here.

  You look down at your tattered clothing, rain soaked and smeared with mud. A splatter of blood covers one sleeve. Tentatively, you pull back the cloth, your eyes widening in surprise when you see the purple mark branded into the skin. The design is detailed and intricate, showing three diamond-bodied serpents intertwined in a dizzying pattern of spirals. Around them, a number of strange sigils glow with a soft purplish light.

  You hear a groan coming from the trees ahead. Covering the strange mark, you stagger through the mud towards the sound. Instinctively, your hand goes to your belt, looking for a weapon. But there is none there. You are unarmed. Scanning the mud, you find a rusty-looking dagger next to one of the scorched bodies. You crouch down and pick it up, before heading into the dark trees.

  A man is lying with his back against one of the trunks – no a boy, not much older than fifteen. He is clad in plate armour, his thick mud-spattered cloak bunched up around his shoulders. The shaft of an arrow protrudes from his lower chest, having pierced through the links between the metal plates.

  The boy looks up as you approach, his face deathly white and dripping with rainwater. A trickle of blood seeps from the corner of his mouth.

  ‘What . . . what happened?’ you ask, kneeling beside the wounded knight.

  The boy fixes his watery eyes on your own. ‘You don’t remember?’ he rasps hoarsely.

  You say nothing, your attention shifting to the black-fletched arrow. ‘Who did this? Who are those . . . people?’ You gesture back towards the clearing, where the scorched bodies lie in twisted repose.

  ‘Brigands. Thieves,’ gasps the boy, grimacing with pain. ‘They attacked our camp.’

  ‘Our camp?’ you ask. You close your eyes, struggling to remember what happened – to find that part of yourself, that corner of your mind where some memory or trace of who you are might still remain. There is nothing – only a chill darkness, as cold and impenetrable as the night. When you open your eyes, they are misted with angry tears. ‘I don’t remember . . . I don’t remember anything.’

  The boy gives a pained gasp as he struggles to raise one of his hands. With a trembling finger, he points to your head. ‘You took a blow. Right before you killed those men.’

  You draw back, inhaling sharply. ‘I . . . I did that . . . back there?’ Images of the charred, ruined bodies flash before your eyes. ‘How?’

  ‘Some magic,’ whispers the boy. ‘It came from the . . . that mark on your arm.’

  You flinch, clutching your arm protectively against your chest. The boy smirks at your reaction. ‘You never mentioned it. I guess it was something you didn’t want me to know about.’

  ‘And this?’ you ask, looking down at the black-fletched arrow.

  ‘Assassin spitted me,’ he grimaces. ‘He was the only one to get away. Their leader . . . I think.’ Where the arrow shaft meets the skin, you can see green poison bubbling out of the wound.

  The boy reads your fatal expression.

  ‘I know, it’s . . . too late for me.’

  Your shoulders sag. It is a grim thought – that this dying knight is the last remaining link to your past, to your pre
vious life that is now forgotten. ‘We know each other?’ you ask hesitantly.

  ‘We met yesterday,’ rasps the boy. ‘We were both travelling the same road . . . to Tithebury Cross.’

  You shake your head. The name means nothing to you.

  ‘I’m an academy knight,’ the boy wheezes. ‘Just graduated, top of my class. I was going to apprentice . . .’ He stops as a wave of pain forces him to shudder. You put out your hand, gripping his shoulder and willing him to go on. ‘I was going to apprentice with Avian Dale. The great Avian Dale . . .’ For a moment there is a flicker of life in his eyes, his pain forgotten as he stares wistfully up at the dark sky. ‘It was my instructor’s idea. He said I was the best in my year . . . Avian doesn’t accept just anyone. I was special . . .’ His face sours as he looks down at the arrow shaft. ‘Now that life is over.’

  Suddenly, from somewhere back in the forest, you hear a piercing shriek. You glance nervously over your shoulder.

  ‘Harpies,’ grimaces the boy. ‘They hunt in packs. The scent . . .’ He lifts his hands, revealing palms soaked with his own blood. ‘It will draw them here. You must go.’

  ‘But I can’t just leave you. I must find out . . .’

  ‘My pack. Fetch my pack.’

  The boy tilts his head. Following his gaze, you see a brown backpack lying at the base of one of the trees. You quickly retrieve it, surprised at its lightness as you lift it out of the mud. The boy gestures for you to open it. Inside, wedged between a bundle of clothes, is a rolled-up sheet of parchment.

  ‘Take it,’ whispers the boy. ‘It’s my letter from . . . the academy.’

  Unrolling the scroll, you see that it is covered in neat, flowing script. It is addressed to an Avian Dale, outlining the merits of a young academy knight. It ends in a green seal of wax, displaying the insignia of a winged dragon. ‘I can’t take this,’ you protest, shaking your head.

  The boy gives a wheezing cough, his body jerking painfully with the effort. ‘It is . . . no good to me. Take it. Start a new life. He’ll never know.’

  A screech draws your attention skywards. Black shapes are circling overhead, their spindly, feathered bodies silhouetted against the full moon. Harpies. Something inside you is urging you to flee . . . the mark along your arm tingles as if sensing the same danger.

  You roll up the scroll and stuff it into the pack. When you look over at the boy, you see that his head is now resting against his chest, his eyes closed. Death has finally taken him.

  ‘I will find the assassin that did this. I promise.’ You reach down and take the boy’s sword. It is a well-balanced blade, the hilt and pommel studded with gems.

  You have gained the following item (remember to add this item to your hero sheet, adding 1 to your brawn score):

  The apprentice

  (main hand: sword)

  +1 brawn

  Another bird-like screech tears through the night. There are answering calls from all around you, worryingly close. Quickly, you shoulder the knight’s pack and then start running.

  You find comfort in purpose, keeping to a fast pace as you weave between the withered trees of the dark forest. After what feels like an age of battling through the cloying mud and driving rain, you spy a cave in the hollow of a hill. Having found shelter, you sit and await the dawn, shivering with more than just the cold.

  * * *

  The wooden signpost points southwards, where the marshy forest gives way to green rolling hills. ‘Tithebury Cross. 3 miles.’ You take a deep breath of the warm, morning air. ‘A new life. A new start.’ Peeling back your sleeve, you look down at the purple mark, glowing beneath your skin. Does this strange mark hold the key to your past?

  And what of the future.

  You scan the letter of introduction once again; a letter recommending a talented knight to apprentice with one of the grand masters of the profession. ‘Avian Dale.’ It should have been the young boy – this was his future, his dream . . .

  ‘It is . . . no good to me . . . take it. Start a new life. He’ll never know . . .’

  No one will ever know. Carefully, you roll up the letter and return it to your pack, before setting off down the long, dusty road towards Tithebury.

  Choose your quest from the map and then click on the links provided after each map to jump to your chosen location.

  Act One – Tithebury

  Green Quest – 10

  Green Quest – 15

  Green Quest – 22

  Orange Quest – 4

  Orange Quest – 66

  Blue Quest – 25

  Blue Quest – 111

  Red Quest – 87

  Village, town or camp – 6

  Legendary Monster – 18

  Legendary Monster – 29

  Legendary Monster – 49

  Boss Monster – 97

  Act Two: Mistwood & Blackmarsh

  Green Quest – 305

  Orange Quest – 321

  Orange Quest – 326

  Blue Quest – 315

  Red Quest – 343

  Village, town or camp – 310

  Village, town or camp – 330

  Legendary Monster – 313

  Legendary Monster – 335

  Legendary Monster – 350

  Legendary Monster – 357

  Legendary Monster – 364

  Boss Monster – 419

  Act Three: The Bone Fields

  Green Quest – 575

  Orange Quest – 589

  Orange Quest – 864

  Blue Quest – 618

  Red Quest – 613

  Village, town or camp – 553

  Village, town or camp – 783

  Legendary Monster – 557

  Legendary Monster – 564

  Legendary Monster – 582

  Legendary Monster – 595

  Legendary Monster – 817

  Boss Monster – 635

  1

  The passageway ends in a square room filled with rubble and earth. Part of the left wall and ceiling has collapsed – pushed inwards by a series of enormous tree roots. Lodged between them is a small iron footlocker. Across the other side of the room is an archway, beyond which you can see a pale light falling on a stone tomb.

  Will you:

  Go through the archway? — 154

  Examine the footlocker? — 93

  2

  There is a cheer from the assembled villagers as you re-emerge from the darkness of the well – cheers that quickly trail off one by one, as the onlookers notice the body you are carrying. Two of the men offer to take it from you, lifting it over the side of the well and laying it gently on the grass. You are then helped out of the swaying bucket, relieved to be back on solid ground again.

  The white-robed priest walks over and kneels beside the body. With trembling hands he draws back the cloth and looks upon the face of his son.

  ‘What . . . what happened?’ asks one of the younger farmers, a tremor of fear in his voice.

  ‘Burrower wurms,’ says the priest solemnly. He rises to his feet, his expression grave. ‘That acid is what they use to eat away the rock. Something must have disturbed them – or drawn them here.’ He gives a heavy sigh, then reaches for the purse at his belt. ‘I offer you my thanks, adventurer. You brought my son home to me.’ He hands over the purse of money. (You have gained 10 gold crowns.) ‘Now we have a better understanding of the dangers that we face.’ He looks to each of the villagers in turn. ‘Together we will exterminate this threat to our village and repair our well.’

  The farmers look fearful but resolute. Your bravery has clearly served to bolster their spirits. You wish them luck in their task before returning to the village. (Return to the map to choose your next quest.)

  3

  ‘Excellent! We’ve not a moment to lose – come on!’ The bird takes to the air, heading south towards a cluster of rocky hills. You do your best to keep up, jogging across the broken, uneven ground. Soon, you are clambering over jagged rocks and bo
ulders to reach the top of a steep-sided mound.

  At its summit, you find yourself surrounded by a circle of tall, weather-beaten stones. A discarded backpack lies in the middle of the circle, its contents spilling out onto the grass.

  ‘Hurry! Hurry!’ squawks the bird, alighting on one of the stones. ‘I’m sure we don’t have much time. You need to find out what happened!’

  Will you:

  Search through the backpack? — 227

  Examine the stones? — 153

  4

  Quest: Rat extermination

  You take the dusty track that leads out of Tithebury Cross and follow it up into the hills. Before too long you are passing endless fields of corn – the sun-bleached crop drooping listlessly over the cracked, dried earth. Further along the track you spot a man, sheltering beneath a tree from the heat of the midday sun. Noticing you, he beckons you over. As you approach, you see that the man is little more than a vagrant, his skin black with dirt and his clothes ragged and torn. Clearly he hasn’t bathed for several days – possibly weeks – and the smell is almost overwhelming. You try and hide your revulsion as the man cracks open a smile.

  ‘Good day, me good sir. A stranger in these parts I wager. Don’t suppose I can be interesting you in a little work?’ He scratches his cheek with a dirt-blackened finger. ‘It’s bloomin’ rats,’ he says. ‘The blasted vermin have taken over me barn. They’re everywhere!’ He looks you over, his quick eyes darting back and forth between your weapons and your bulging backpack. ‘Could do with someone like you to exterminate those critters. What do you say?’

  Will you:

  Ask why he can’t do it himself? — 12