Behind the Scenes: Knights of Doom - the Celastrix

I was going through my old Fighting Fantasy files the other day and came across some of the notes for Knights of Doom, along with copies of some of Tony Hough's illustrations for the book.

Now, if you've not read this hard to get hold of FF adventure (Knights of Doom is the only one of my gamebooks that hasn't been re-printed by Wizard Books and is going for £35+ on Ebay) then you might not want to read on just yet.

WARNING - SPOILERS!

WARNING - SPOILERS!

WARNING - SPOILERS!

Still here? On your head be it then...

In the latter stages of the adventure you save the mythical Celastrix from a band of Beastmen. The Celastrix is a huge bird that glows with an ethereal light and its release is vital to your success in the mission, helping you in your quest to heal the land by ridding it of the foul influence of Chaos.

The Celastrix by Tony Hough

The Celastrix was directly inspired by the Caladrius of legend. It was an all-white bird that lived in the king's household. If it looked into the face of a sick man, this action predicted that the man would live. However, if the Caladrius looked away, the sick man was doomed to die of his illness. To cure the sick man, the Caladrius could look at hi, and draw the sickness into itself. The bird then flew towards the sun, where the disease was burned up and destroyed. The Caladrius was considered an unclean bird and as such must not be eaten.