### 217

The glass orb explodes on impact with a loud bang and you are engulfed by a cloud of sickly grey gas. At once you feel your throat tighten and your stomach churn as the deadly bacteria-infested vapour penetrates deep into your lungs: lose 5 ENDURANCE points.

Coughing and retching, you stagger towards the entrance, your escape hidden by the cloud of poisonous gas. You have inhaled a deadly cocktail of plague viruses to which the Vazhag are naturally immune, a cocktail which would have killed an average human within seconds; only your Magnakai skills have saved you from an agonizing death.

In the ensuing chaos, you escape through the entrance unchallenged. For a moment you are blinded by the early morning sunlight which illuminates the surrounding hills but, as you stumble along the trail which leads away from the caverns, your vision clears and you catch sight of a vast expanse of forest away to the east. This sea of sickly grey-green trees gives off an unmistakable aura of evil that immediately identifies it as the Forest of Ruel.

Your escape is not pursued and, after a few minutes, you stop among a cluster of boulders in order to catch your breath. The surrounding land appears deserted, the only unusual feature being the track which wends its way eastward through the hills towards a gap at the edge of the unwelcoming forest.

You consult your map and conclude that this is the Skardos Trail, the secret route used by the Ceners which leads all the way to Mogaruith itself. You resolve to follow that trail, but first (unless you possess the Discipline of Grand Huntmastery) you must eat a Meal or lose 3 ENDURANCE points.

To continue, turn to 230.