### 8

Using your weapon you are able eventually to dig yourself free from this sticky mire. However, the physical exertion leaves you aching with fatigue: lose 5 ENDURANCE points. Also, due to the prolonged time you have spent in the open, the rain has taken a heavy toll on your clothing and equipment. Your cloak is in tatters and your Backpack is full of holes. When you reach the knoll you stop to repair your Backpack before the damage gets any worse and discover that three of the items contained within have been ruined. (Delete from your Action Chart the items which you have recorded in the first three sections of your Backpack Items list.)

The boughs of the thorny-barked trees of this swamp island are tightly intertwined and form a formidable barrier. Through a gap in their tortured branches you can see a clearing at the centre of this copse and, when you magnify your vision, you glimpse part of a crude stone hut. You raise your weapon and cleave a path through the trees to the clearing where you discover that the hut is surrounded by a moat brim-full of gelatinous black mud, the surface of which is pitted with a myriad animal tracks. Sensing that the hut is empty, you leap across the moat and take cover inside from the corrosive rain.

If you possess Telegnosis and have reached the rank of Grand Thane or higher, turn to 269.

If you do not possess this skill, or if you have yet to attain this level of Kai Mastery, turn to 348.