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It is dark when you finally bid farewell to Captain Raker and the crew of The Pride of Sommerlund. Ernan leads your party through the warm, lantern-lit streets of this fragrant coastal town and soon you arrive at the Barczak Stables. This grand establishment comprises a large single-storey building with arched windows and a clay-tiled roof, surrounded by numerous orchards, paddocks, and porticoes. The estate is shrouded in darkness and appears to be deserted, although your keen Kai senses detect that there are people asleep somewhere inside the main building.

Next to the main gate stands a wooden notice board displaying a dozen sun-yellowed parchments. A closer inspection reveals them to be a handwritten roster of all the horses that are for sale. You cannot help but notice just how expensive they are. If the five of you were all to pool every Gold Crown you possess, you would still not have enough to buy even the cheapest horse on this list.

In a paddock behind the main building you can see a dozen horses quietly enjoying the warm night air. Sligh points out that there is nobody around and he suggests that it would be easy for you to help yourselves to five of these fine steeds.

‘I’m not a horse thief,’ you retort, ‘and I’ve no wish to rob these stables.’

‘I respect your honesty, my lord,’ says Sligh, ‘but surely you don’t want to have to walk all the way to Bisutan? I’m not saying we steal five horses, I’m saying we just borrow them for a while. We can hire a rider to bring them back just as soon as we reach Bisutan.’

You are not entirely convinced that Sligh is sincere, yet you agree reluctantly to go along with his plan.

If you possess the Discipline of Animal Mastery, turn to 267.

If you do not possess this skill, turn to 325.