Let's Play Fighting Fantasy #45: Spectral Stalkers

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Fri Nov 01, 2013 11:30 am

Once again you find yourself walking in near-darkness along a seemingly endless tunnel. At last you see light ahead and step out of the end of the tunnel into a square courtyard. Sunlight streams down the shaft made by the four walls and sparkles on the spouting waters of the fountain at the center of the courtyard. The fountain is a statue carved in the likeness of a muscular man with the horned head of a bull; the clear liquid shoots from his uplifted mouth, splashes down his athletic torso and collects in the stone basin in which he stands. You approach the fountain; the liquid is transparent, colorless and odorless—it seems to be pure water. Do you want to drink from the basin or not?

Omegonthesane · Post by **Omegonthesane** » Fri Nov 01, 2013 11:35 am

Drinking symbolic minotaur vomit can only end well.

Starmaker · Post by **Starmaker** » Fri Nov 01, 2013 11:39 am

^This.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Fri Nov 01, 2013 7:31 pm

You cup your hands and plunge them into the basin; you withdraw them and drink. The liquid is water; in fact, it is possibly the most refreshing water you have ever tasted, and you realize that it is doing more than merely quenching your thirst. Soon you feel fully fit and ready for anything. Restore your STAMINA to its Initial score.

There is nothing else of interest in the courtyard and you consider which of its four doorways you will leave through. There is a portal in each of the four walls; you turn to face the doorway which has the circle and triangle symbol carved above it. Which way will you go:

Through the door you are facing?
The door behind you?
The door to your right?
The door to your left?

(Left takes us back to where we just were; all the other areas are new.)

Adventure Sheet
G.I. Average Joe
SKILL 10/10
STAMINA 19/19
LUCK 9/9
TRAIL: 3
Equipment: Trusty Sword, Silver Dagger, Extinguisher
Provisions: 0 (+4 STAMINA each)
Gold Pieces: 5
Items: Jewel of Sleep, Blue Gem of Healing (restores 6 STAMINA at any time, one use), 2 Glowcandles, A God's Hunting-Horn, Pencil and Paper
Signs: Rune-Inscribed Wheel Hub, Circular Inn Sign, Clay Ball, Conjuror's Circular Calling Card, Engraved Bronze Plate, Spherical Map of Titan, Toy Clown in Glass Sphere

Starmaker · Post by **Starmaker** » Fri Nov 01, 2013 7:59 pm

Left Right.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Fri Nov 01, 2013 11:05 pm

This tunnel is very dark. You creep forwards, using your hands more than your eyes, and at last you reach - a dead end! There is a wall of rock in front of you. Then you hear a noise, an ominous sound of grinding rocks, and you feel the floor move slightly under your feet. If there is a way forward, the door must be concealed; but perhaps this cul-de-sac is simply a booby trap for unwary explorers.

If you want to remain here to search the walls
If you would rather return along the tunnel

EDIT: typo

Starmaker · Post by **Starmaker** » Sat Nov 02, 2013 3:34 am

Search!

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sat Nov 02, 2013 11:35 am

Your probing fingers encounter a carving in the center of the wall that blocks the tunnel. Peering in the dim light you make out a curious figure, something like an abstract representation of a face that is also a small maze (see the diagram). The 'mouth' of the design contains the word WELCOME, while each of the two 'eyes' consists of a depression within which there is a button that can be pressed inwards.

Will you press the button in the right 'eye', the one in the left 'eye', or will you do nothing and wait for something to happen?

Starmaker · Post by **Starmaker** » Sat Nov 02, 2013 11:57 am

Uhm. What.

Random hypothesis: the font and tree from the poem curl in the same direction. So one button matches the direction of the font and tree curl, and the other is mirrored. Except the IRL maze is a mirror image of the map, and, FWIW, this picture might be mirrored, too.

RNG says right.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sun Nov 03, 2013 4:58 pm

You press the button on the right-hand part of the design. Nothing happens—except that you are sure the floor shudders slightly.

If you want to remain here in the hope of trying the other button
If you decide to return along the tunnel

Starmaker · Post by **Starmaker** » Sun Nov 03, 2013 5:05 pm

Return, come back, try the left button.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sun Nov 03, 2013 6:31 pm

(I'm going to quickly churn out this update since I'm very busy today/tonight/tomorrow and am not sure when I can respond next. Lots of copypasta here but I think it's good.)

Once again you find yourself walking in near-darkness along a seemingly endless tunnel. At last you see light ahead and step out of the end of the tunnel into a square courtyard. Sunlight streams down the shaft made by the four walls and sparkles on the spouting waters of the fountain at the center of the courtyard. The fountain is a statue carved in the likeness of a muscular man with the horned head of a bull; the clear liquid shoots from his uplifted mouth, splashes down his athletic torso and collects in the stone basin in which he stands. You approach the fountain; the liquid is transparent, colorless and odorless—it seems to be pure water. Do you want to drink from the basin or not?

(Doesn't matter, we're at full)

There is nothing else of interest in the courtyard and you consider which of its four doorways you will leave through. There is a portal in each of the four walls; you turn to face the doorway which has the circle and triangle symbol carved above it. Which way will you go:

Through the door you are facing?
The door behind you?
The door to your right?
The door to your left?

(We go right.)

This tunnel is very dark. You creep forwards, using your hands more than your eyes, and at last you reach - a dead end! There is a wall of rock in front of you. Then you hear a noise, an ominous sound of grinding rocks, and you feel the floor move slightly under your feet. If there is a way forward, the door must be concealed; but perhaps this cul-de-sac is simply a booby trap for unwary explorers.

If you want to remain here to search the walls
If you would rather return along the tunnel

(We search.)

Your probing fingers encounter a carving in the center of the wall that blocks the tunnel. Peering in the dim light you make out a curious figure, something like an abstract representation of a face that is also a small maze (see the diagram). The 'mouth' of the design contains the word WELCOME, while each of the two 'eyes' consists of a depression within which there is a button that can be pressed inwards.

Will you press the button in the right 'eye', the one in the left 'eye', or will you do nothing and wait for something to happen?

(We press left this time.)

You press the button on the left-hand side of the design and the wall starts to move. The huge slab of rock rises slowly to reveal another square courtyard, but this one is much larger than any you have encountered in the maze so far. It is a garden, the lawns and trees separated by paths that appear as labyrinthine as the tunnels of the maze. The four sheer walls are covered, as far upwards as you can see, with balconies, windows and belvederes, all of them interconnected by stairways and ramps that baffle your sight and defy comprehension. Standing in front of you, its muscles quivering with suppressed energy, is a gigantic two-headed dog. You prepare to defend yourself, for the creature is clearly ready to pounce; but instead, from each of its fang-filled mouths, it speaks.

'I am the Logic Dog,' it growls, 'and my task is to protect the garden of my master Semeion from intruders. I could attack you, or I could let you pass. Which do you think I will do? Will I attack, or will I let you pass? For you see, if you guess correctly, I will let you pass; but if you guess wrongly, I will attack.' Will you tell the Logic Dog that you think it will attack you; or will you guess that the Dog will let you pass?

Starmaker · Post by **Starmaker** » Sun Nov 03, 2013 6:52 pm

Awww, this is awesome. Of course we say it's going to attack.

OgreBattle · Post by **OgreBattle** » Mon Nov 04, 2013 10:21 am

This is the first time in the history of the internet that the phrase "I am the logic dog" has been typed. Congratulations.

He's gonna attack

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Mon Nov 04, 2013 12:34 pm

'So you think I'll attack you, do you?' snarls the Logic Dog. 'Well, you're quite right; and therefore, because you have guessed correctly, I should let you pass. But if I let you pass, your guess will be wrong; and if your guess is wrong, as I have already promised, I will attack you. Therefore I have no choice but to attack!' With that, the huge beast prepares to launch itself at you. If you think there is a flaw in the Logic Dog's reasoning, and want to argue with it, you may do so; otherwise, prepare to defend yourself.

EDIT: Ogre, I am very pleased to hear that.

Starmaker · Post by **Starmaker** » Mon Nov 04, 2013 1:10 pm

No no no no no. Go for the second round. "If you attack, it means I guessed correctly, and you have to let me pass." It's puff time, doggy.

Starmaker · Post by **Starmaker** » Mon Nov 04, 2013 1:11 pm

No no no no no. Go for the second round. "If you attack, it means I guessed correctly, and you have to let me pass." It's puff time, doggy.

Dr_Noface · Post by **Dr_Noface** » Mon Nov 04, 2013 2:28 pm

i love this dog, but why does he have two heads?

MisterDee · Post by **MisterDee** » Mon Nov 04, 2013 3:00 pm

Empirically, it's because it is awesome.

Narratively, I guess it's because when we explain that he's really Paradox Dog, both heads will start arguing with each other while we pass.

OgreBattle · Post by **OgreBattle** » Mon Nov 04, 2013 5:07 pm

argue with this sicilian dog

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Tue Nov 05, 2013 6:05 am

Stepping backwards, you speak hurriedly as the Logic Dog advances on you. 'You're wrong,' you tell the dog. 'I guessed that you would attack me. If you attack me now, that will prove that I guessed correctly. And you promised that if I guessed correctly, you would let me pass. Therefore, now that you have announced that you are going to attack, you must let me pass.'

The Logic Dog stops in its tracks and its two heads turn to regard each other with dazed expressions. After a few moments of thought, both heads let out a howl of frustration—and the Dog disappears. A voice hails you from above: 'Bravo, stranger! You have done well: not only have you found the path through my labyrinth, but you have also defeated my faithful Logic Dog with its own weapon. I will come down and greet you.'

Across the courtyard an old man is leaning from a balcony. He waves to you. 'Greetings!' he calls. 'I am Semeion, known as Cryptoglyphos because I read the meanings of signs and symbols. You have done well to find my innermost courtyard. If you would speak with me, ascend the staircase below this balcony. The way is longer than it looks, for the stairs twist strangely, but I will await you here.' Do you accept his invitation? If you decide instead that you have had enough of Semeion's labyrinthine dwelling, you can use the Aleph to take you elsewhere: you take the sphere from your backpack, and lose yourself in its swirling images.

Dr_Noface · Post by **Dr_Noface** » Tue Nov 05, 2013 6:38 am

This book keeps offering us bizarre choices. Of course we talk to the dude.

Starmaker · Post by **Starmaker** » Tue Nov 05, 2013 7:43 am

Dr_Noface wrote:This book keeps offering us bizarre choices. Of course we talk to the dude.

It's not bizarre. There's a "fight the dog" branch, and it (most likely) also offers this choice. Now we're going to get some exposition. If the choice hadn't been implemented, the exposition would've had to be printed twice, in this paragraph and in the "wow, you sure suck at formal logic" paragraph.

@Darth: yes, of course we accept.

Dr_Noface · Post by **Dr_Noface** » Tue Nov 05, 2013 2:21 pm

oh i see

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Tue Nov 05, 2013 4:01 pm

You step through a doorway into the dark interior of the rock wall and climb the steep stairs. Turning a corner, you climb towards a window—and looking out of it you find that you are walking sideways: where the sky should be there is instead one of the inner walls of the courtyard! You stagger, seized with vertigo, but force yourself to continue up the stairs; turning another corner, you find that although you are still trudging upwards, when you lift your head you are walking towards the maze-like gardens. You round another corner, and are once again climbing into the dark interior of the rock. You turn another corner, into daylight, to find that the world has righted itself, and you are stepping up to the balcony where Semeion is seated at a stone table. 'The staircases in my house can be confusing at first,' he says with a smile, 'but here you are at last. Please be seated. After your difficult journey to reach me, the least I can do is try to answer any questions you may have.' You sit opposite Semeion. For some reason, you are sure that you can trust the wise old man. Without a word you withdraw the Aleph from your backpack and place it on the stone table.

Semeion stares in amazement at the teeming visions in the glowing sphere. 'It is the Aleph!' he whispers after a long silence. 'I have never known whether it was real or merely a legend. But this is undeniably it. It is beyond my powers to explain. It is, quite simply, everything—the entire Macrocosmos in this small ball. I have heard that its bearer can move into it and thus travel between worlds—but of course you know this. You carry a great burden, my friend.' You explain how you came by the Aleph: that the previous bearer entrusted it to you; that with his dying breath he mentioned the name Globus, whom you take to be the Aleph's owner; that the Spectral Stalkers are pursuing you. If you have collected some objects during your travels, you can ask Semeion if any of them have any special meaning. Alternatively, you can ask instead for information about Globus.

EDIT: typo