### 284

As the Palace Guard advance majestically, their serried ranks of steel slowly change formation in preparation for the Prince’s order to charge. Heavy lances rise like the spines of a steel porcupine and their scarlet and yellow pennons unfurl to the wind. A wave of arrows comes flying towards you, sent by the Drakkarim standing behind their fence of stakes, but the range is long and the black shafts rattle harmlessly off Eruan armour and shields.

The first rank of horsemen reach the ditch to find the earth soft and waterlogged. The ruined temple lies 300 yards ahead, and before it a line of Drakkarim pikemen stand grimly silent on the slope of the hill. A war-horn blares its signal and suddenly all hell breaks loose. Arrows pour down on all sides: from the enemy archers to the right and from archers, previously unseen, lurking in the woods to the left. Many shafts find their way through the sides of helmets and between plates of polished armour. Still the Prince commands his men onwards and they force their horses across the ditch, braving the savage hail of death. You survive the arrows and steer your horse through the cloying mud, but you are knocked from the saddle by a riderless steed maddened by the pain of its wounds.

Pick a number from the Random Number Table. If you have the Magnakai Disciplines of Animal Control and Huntmastery, add 3 to the number you have picked.

If your total is now 0–4, turn to 236.

If it is 5 or more, turn to 183.