#LoneWolf

The stream wends its way sluggishly through a mossy glen to a thicket of red-leaved trees which stand in a semicircle around a pale grey, metallic monolith.

- Investigate the strange monolith
- Avoid it

#LoneWolf

You scan the horizon in the hope of discovering some form of habitation.

At length you abandon your observation: you are unable to see any sign of intelligent life in the surrounding landscape. You decide to follow a nearby stream in the hope that it will lead eventually to a river, where the chances of finding a village or settlement should be higher.

#LoneWolf

From the brow of a grassy hill you stare across a strange yet familiar landscape. Before you lies an expanse of verdant grassland, with clumps of woodlands and several winding streams.

The warm air smells fresh and clean and the distant sound of bird song is carried to you on the gentle breeze. Were it not for the grey, sunless skies above, it would be easy to believe that you had been returned to your home world.

A sudden wave of homesickness makes you feel heavy-hearted.

#LoneWolf

You close your eyes but the light penetrates your eyelids, growing ever brighter. It fills your head with a madness of colour and forces a silent scream of anguish from your lips: lose 3 ENDURANCE points.

A sudden lack of air leaves you gasping for breath, but it passes in an instant and when you blink open your eyes you discover that your journey is complete: you have arrived in Vhozada.

#LoneWolf

You sense that the Beholder is speaking the truth: the grey portal does lead to the realm of Vhozada. And so, with great trepidation, you bid him farewell and step into the void.

At the very moment you enter the Dimension Door a sensation of incredible speed assails you. A twirling spiral of light unfolds before your eyes and you hurtle towards its core, borne along in an envelope of grey cloud.

#LoneWolf

He wills his servant to carry him to another globe which stands close by. There he manipulates a bank of crystals and gradually a swirling circular grey shadow forms on the glassy surface of the vessel. It shimmers and you find that you cannot fully focus your eyes on it.

‘Step forward and enter,’ commands the Beholder. ‘The door to Vhozada is open.’

Your skin prickles and your stomach churns, but you fight to control your fear by relying solely on your Kai skills.

#LoneWolf

You stare in awe at the sun-like ball trapped within the vessel and try to comprehend the secret sorceries that enable such a thing to exist.

‘You will come to learn that the laws which govern my world are quite unlike those which shape Aon. Here, time and space can be manipulated by those with power enough to craft them to their needs,’ he says, in answer to your thoughts.

#LoneWolf

The Beholder senses your apprehension and tries to allay your fears by offering you a means of transportation to the realm of Vhozada. He promises that your passage will be swift, but, when you learn what the journey entails, your blood runs cold.

‘This device,’ says the Beholder, pointing with pride at the huge, fiery vessel that dominates the gallery, ‘is a Dimension Door. It will enable you to pass directly into the realm of Vhozada through a rent in the fabric of the Daziarn.’

#LoneWolf

‘This bodes well for you, human. Vhozada is a temperate and stable domain, rich in those elements necessary to sustain mortal life-forms.’

Also, there is one of great vision who has made this her home. Her name is Serocca. It would be wise to seek her help in finding these stones of power, for she is sure to know their whereabouts.’

Although his words revive your flagging hopes, you are still fearful that the Lorestones are beyond your recovery.

#LoneWolf

Slowly the symbols begin to disappear until just three remain. ‘Without knowing the precise Aon-time they entered the Shadow Gate I can find only an approximate location,’ he says, scrutinizing the symbols.

‘As reckoned by the time-scale of your planet, the Lorestones arrived on the Daziarn forty-one hours ago. They materialized together and intact in the forest of the Khat Trisect of Vhozada—a realm situated between the elemental strongholds of Earth and Water.’

#LoneWolf

You confirm this to be the case and watch with fascination as the symbols shift and change colour. ‘There are many channels within the Shadow Gate that are warped by the vagaries of time and space.

Usually it is an impossible task to predict where an object passing through to the Daziarn will materialize, but the coordinates of your arrival are known and this will help my calculations.’

#LoneWolf

The Beholder deactivates the light-picture and wills his servant to carry him back to the first gallery.

There, bathed in the shadowless glow of the fireball, stands a huge globe of silvery metal. At his approach it radiates an eerie phosphorescent light and symbols appear upon its surface.

‘The Lorestones entered the Shadow Gate some moments before you fell, is that not so?’ asks the Beholder, incisively.

#LoneWolf

‘I have looked into your mind and the reasons why you are here in the Daziarn are now known to me. The quests and struggles of Magnamund are of no significance to the Shining City, but there are those of this world who would rejoice to learn that the last of the Kai is here, if only to seek you out and destroy you. For this reason you must leave Yanis. But I shall not send you away without guidance, for you have my respect and I shall help you all I can.’

#LoneWolf

‘I perceive much in your character that pleases me, human. You possess inner strength, honour, and a fiery courage uncommon among the mortals of Aon. Were it not for these traits I would have no hesitation in ridding myself of you, for I will not tolerate the weak and untrustworthy in my realm.’

He pauses for a moment and gazes fixedly at the shapes swirling near the centre of the room.

#LoneWolf

The unexpected speed and intensity of the Beholder’s psychic intrusion leaves you fumbling for defence. You draw on your psychic reserves and manage to erect a thought-wall to protect your nervous system, but it is too late to prevent the Beholder from scanning your mind: lose 1 ENDURANCE point.

Then, with a blink of his eyes, he ceases his psychic probing and a smile spreads slowly across his withered grey face.

#LoneWolf

Coldly the Beholder stares into your eyes and you feel your body stiffen as he probes deep into your mind.

- use your Psi-screen
- allow him to probe your mind

#LoneWolf

‘Here, among the suns and stars of Aon, is the planet you know as Magnamund, and beyond it lies the Shadow Gate through which you fell into the Daziarn.’

Slowly the Yoacor moves towards you, bearing his master with care as he continues his monologue proudly. ‘And here, balanced between the elemental strongholds of Fire and Water, lies the Abaxial of Czenos. This is my realm. I have chosen to live here, to shape it as I wish and to populate it with beings who embody my ideals.’

#LoneWolf

… like the spokes of a gigantic wheel.

Between these beams are many areas of light and shade, some running parallel and some in isolation, but all of them connected by a pale, shimmering mist. ‘What you see before you is a tableau of our worlds, a light-painting that depicts the universe of Aon and the Daziarn Plane,’ says the Beholder, as his servant carries him to the dark centre of the floor.

#LoneWolf

‘For you will need to adapt if you are to survive here…for the rest of your life.’

The swirling light draws into focus upon the mirrored floor and you find yourself surrounded by a spectacular cosmic image. At the centre spins a shadow, as dark as deep space, populated with suns and stars and the myriad planets that revolve about them. This microscopic universe is in turn surrounded by a ring of total darkness, and beyond that radiate four beams of differing colour, …

#LoneWolf

‘Indeed had you not met with one of my hunting parties your bones would now lie bleaching upon the sands of that arid plain. It seems that you are by nature a survivor.’

Suddenly a swirling column of light appears, projected from the disc in the centre of the dome. It casts a pool of brilliance in the middle of the gallery and gradually widens until it encompasses the whole floor.

‘Come, observe, and perhaps you will learn the nature of your new world.’