### 123

Onward and upward, you claw your way through the wooded hillside. Your throat is dry and your heart is pounding as though it is about to burst, but you dare not slacken your pace. Four hours pass before you feel certain that you have outrun the enemy.

It is nearly dusk when you chance upon a narrow steep-sided valley, carved from the hillside to afford access to a mine tunnel. For hundreds of years, the ore of the Maaken Range has been the blessing and the bane of many who have ventured here to seek their fortune: men have found wealth beyond their wildest dreams, but also men have perished without trace in its labyrinth of cold dark tunnels.

You examine the mine entrance. You know that if you can find a major passage, you could trace your way to Ruanon itself. At the entrance, you find a discarded wooden crate, containing six Torches and a Tinderbox. The mines are dark and you will need to use at least one torch to light your way. You can take as many additional Torches as you wish, but remember each one counts as a Backpack Item, so be sure to make the appropriate changes to your Action Chart.3

Enter the mines by turning to 315.

#### Footnotes

[3] Unless you already possess an alternative means of relighting the torch later (e.g. another Tinderbox or a Kalte Firesphere), record this Tinderbox on your Action Chart as a Backpack Item. It is not necessary to record the one lit torch on your Action Chart.