Hawkana is the central villainess and one of the two mightiest enemies of the Fighting Fantasy gamebook Talisman of Death, pilot to the gamebook series Way of the Tiger. She is the high priestess of the evil Warrior Goddess Fell Kyrinla, who stole the titular Talisman of Death from the playable character, tasked to take it away from the world of Orb and the God Death who needs it to destroy all life.
While at odds with Death's faction, and all in all one of the least evil antagonists of the series, Hawkana is the closest thing the book has to a main villain.
Worshippers of Fell Kyrinla[]
Hawkana is the widely respected and feared High Priestess of the Warrior Goddess Fell Kyrinla, the Swordsmistress of Heavens, one of the evil deities of the world of Orb, sworn enemy of Rocheval the Good, God of Paladins.
In this Fantasy world different from the world of Titan where most of the series takes place, deities of Good and Evil cohabit in the Castle of the Gods, seeking to one-up the other through their followers in a cold war of sorts. However, few evil deities seem bent on upending the cosmic order, and no deity can act in the temple of another.
Worshippers of Fell Kyrinla are organised in groups of highly trained Amazon-like warrior women, often serving as police forces. Men do not hold rank in their cult, though there are some guards and servants, seemingly holding them in low regards. Despite twisting the law to favour their goddess, they are always efficient – if harsh – peacekeepers.
Appearance[]
Hawkana is described as very tall and imposing, but beautiful and noble looking, quite like the bird she is named after. She is often compared to a tigress, being fast and deadly. She has very long, black, curly hair, and wears long, dark flowing robes and capes with armoured shoulder pads, or black battle-gowns of chainmail, and very little jewellery.
Personality[]
Hawkana is polite and respectful, especially in the line of duty, though she is confident, haughty, and can prove outright scornful. Such as when she listens to the hero's plight at first, seemingly willing to solve their case, but coldly orders them thrown in the street with disparaging insults, the second her warrior women find and steal the Talisman of Death.
While she takes her responsibilities of protecting the city very seriously, upholding the law without fail, she devoted to her goddess to the point of neglecting her duties or twisting the law to serve her. She is ruthless and violent, being outraged when interrupted in her prayers and killing any intruder. Still, she displays grudging respect towards worthy warriors.
Hawkana's reasons to antagonize the hero – tasked to prevent the apocalypse – is unclear. She fully opposes the God Death's goal to extinguish all life, but wants to keep the Talisman of Death for Fell Kyrinla, despite surely knowing that Death's followers will not relent until they get it back. She clearly counts on her goddess' protection in her temple, and likely wants to hijack the Talisman's power to control every undead and death-related being, to give her goddess leverage over other deities. It can be assumed that she acts on Fell Kyrinla's instructions.
Finally, she grows to hate the hero, enough for her spirit to linger after death, though mixed with respect for their skills.
Powers and Abilities[]
Hawkana at the altar, calling for her goddess.
Hawkana has no magic power, but as a priestess she can speak to Fell Kyrinla at her altar and call forth her might, directing her wrath on foes. Stranger still, her spirit manifests after her demise, haunting the dreams of the living.
More importantly, she is far and away the mightiest swordswoman in the series, as powerful as the Red Dragon serving as the final enemy. Also, she wears enchanted jewellery that only works in her temple.
Role in the Story[]
Introduction[]
The story begins when the playable character – a talented swordfighter from modern-day Earth – awakes in the deities' Flying Castle in the world of Orb, having been brought there by Time, the Eldest Father and Youngest Son, and Fate the Goddess Keeper of the Balance. The Fleshless King of the followers of the God Death are about to use the Talisman they forged to extinguish all life, so the gods need the hero to find it and bring it to Earth out of reach.
The hero finds themselves in the Rift, a dark chasm overflown by evil, and meet the last four survivors of a group of crusaders who managed to steal the Talisman. They give them the cursed artefact and teleport them outside, just as armies of monsters barge in to slaughter them all.
Death and the Fleshless King never appear in person, but their ghastly servants harass the hero, while other factions covet the Talisman. Should the hero die, the deities who recruited them send them back in time, first out of the Rift, then out of the city of Greyguilds-on-the-Moor. Unless their soul is lost.
Storming the Temple[]
Warrior women worshippers of Fell Kyrinla.
On their way to Greyguilds, the hero is found by warrior women, who might save them from Envoys of Death, and take them to the city. They steal the Talisman if they see it, and take it to the temple of Fell Kyrinla. If not, they escort the hero to Hawkana, who steals the Talisman, forcing them to find a way to get it back before the servants of Death.
Left to their own devices in Greyguilds, the hero can meet the scholar Apothecus, who provides priceless intel. He suggests them to ally with the Thieves' Guild, but warns that they cannot be trusted, and gives them a power-boosting ring. They can buy useful items, or gain them, for instance after saving the jeweller from thieves or helping mad scientists in their research. They can get a magic chainmail and precious indication from Lillantha, priestess of the All Mother.
The hero must avoid the Temple of Death, where Somnus the High Priest summons Death Wraiths – and an Angel of Death to kill the hero if they are spotted – and the Town Elder Mortphilio, a mighty Death-worshipping necromancer. At night, they might get attacked by a powerful Death Knight with 10 in skill (power-level) and 15 in stamina (life-points), and gain the holy sword of the Paladin who died the Rift, whose spirit guided them in their dreams.
The hero must find the Thieves' Guild in the Red Dragon Inn, but they give the way to their lair containing a trap. There, they meet and fight Tyutchev and his lover Cassandra, two very dangerous warriors and thieves.
- Tyutchev has 10 in skill and 12 in stamina, and Cassandra 9 in skill and 10 in stamina but her magic coldsword costs 3 in stamina per wound instead of the regular 2. They can be faced alone or together, but flee when their stamina drops below 4, Tyutchev calling for Anarchil the God of Chaos to cause a tremor and avoid pursuit.
Trying to enter the temple of Fell Kyrinla alone only leads the hero to be spotted, and reduced to ashes by divine fire conjured by Hawkana. Meeting with Vagrant the Guild Master, the hero must tell them about the Talisman of Death to enlist their help, but will get shot dead with crossbows if the thieves deem them useless. The thieves help the hero sneak undetected into the temple of Fell Kyrinla, up to Hawkana’s altar, but magic defences keep them away.
Hawkana conjures divine fire costing 3 or 6 in stamina depending on a dice roll. The high priestess is a very powerful enemy with 12 in skill (the normal maximum) and 14 in stamina. The hero can use a skill boosting Unicorn Amulet, or a Scroll of Agonizing Doom costing Hawkana 8 in stamina. Anything else is useless and Hawkana wounds them. After killing her, the hero must take her Ring – restoring 6 in stamina – lest it revives her, far weaker but still dangerous with 9 in skill and 6 in stamina. If they wear it outside the temple, it shrinks and severs their finger costing 1 in skill.
Fleeing from the warrior women, the hero foils the treacherous thieves' sneak attack. They are later ambushed by Tyutchev, Cassandra, and the mage Thaum who first summons a troll – in fact an illusion – then shoots a huge fireball costing 6 in stamina, 3 if the hero can dodge. Tyutchev and Cassandra attack to steal the Talisman, but Thaum's magic makes them invincible. The hero must pray to the All Mother to summon a white eagle and escape.
Returning to Earth[]
The hero must flee Greyguilds, tracked down by the warrior women who seek revenge. If they met Lillantha, the worshippers of the All Mother will let them pass the days they are on watch duty. If not, they can escape by the cemetery – running the risk of being overwhelmed by ghouls and buried alive, ending in a game over.
Hawkana's spirit haunts the hero's dreams.
The hero travel towards Mount Star-Reach, the highest peak of the country where a Dimensional Gate can take them back to Earth. On their way, they run the risk of seeing Hawkana in their dream, clad in funeral robes and wounds still bleeding, beckoning them to follow her in the Valley of the Dead, costing 2 in stamina.
If they do, next night the late high priestess fights them in the dream, with 10 in skill and 12 in stamina. When beaten the wounds she caused are healed and she vanishes for good. If she wins, she takes the hero with her in death to a game over.
Later, the hero can fight a mummy in its tomb and take its spear, in fact the powerful Dragonsbane Spear, and befriend a tribe of hog men. They learn that the Gate they are searching is guarded by a powerful and cunning Red Dragon. They must venture in the Dragon's cave as he sleeps to take some scales and assemble them into a shield that can withstand his flaming breath.
The Red Dragon refuses to let the hero pass through the Gate, no matter what, trying to appeal is useless. He tries to beguile them with his hypnotic voice, and must be fought. He is a very powerful enemy with 12 in skill and 20 in stamina, but the Dragonsbane Spear cost him 5 in stamina per wound inflicted. When his stamina drops below 5, he shape-shifts into an old man and pretends that the hero freed him from a curse. He must be struck down and finished off, lest he catches the hero and turns back to normal to devour them.
After killing the Dragon, the hero can finally return home in their world, taking one last moment to marvel at the beauty of the world they just saved. The two deities who brought them here appear to congratulate and thank them, and they depart with the satisfaction of the accomplished duty.
[]
 Villains
| ||
|
Dark Gods Demon Princes of Titan Allansia Khul Old World Others | ||