[LP] DestinyQuest 2: The Heart of Fire

[angelfromanotherpin]

My experience on the West Highland Way has conditioned me to follow symbols, so that's my vote.

[Omegonthesane]

Sure, symbols.

[Darth Rabbitt]

By following the markers you find yourself entering a sunlit clearing, carpeted with wildflowers. Clouds of butterflies swirl amongst the foliage, their gossamer wings catching the light streaming through the clouds. For the first time on this journey, you feel at ease—there is no sense of danger here.
At the far side of the clearing is a wedge-shaped promontory. It rises steeply, almost like a staircase, to end on a crumbling platform of stone. Another symbol is carved next to the slope—enticing you to its summit, where a white marble pedestal sparkles in the sunlight.
As you step onto the rock you feel a shock course through your body, followed by a smarting pain in your chest. You take another step—and stagger, suddenly feeling nauseous. Gritting your teeth, you slog further up the slope, each footfall bringing fresh waves of agony to your body. Eventually, you can take it no more. You drop to your knees, aware of the sulfurous smoke drifting up out of your clothes.
Then you see a vision—a woman's face, framed with soft curls of white hair. Despite her homely appearance, there is a stern anger to her cold blue eyes. 'Go back, demon!' she hisses. 'This is a holy place.
'No!' you spit angrily, clawing forwards on your hands and knees. 'I am not a demon!'
The vision wavers and then recedes, leaving you a clear view of the pedestal. You drag yourself towards it, crying out as some invisible force beats at your body, lancing hot fire from your scars. At last, whimpering, you grab hold of the pedestal, noticing a plaque affixed to its side. The inscription reads: 'Walk in the light. And faith will heal you.'
Using the pedestal for support you pull yourself up off the ground, slumping forward over its round top-stone. A circle of inscriptions swim into view, surrounding a shallow hollow filled with rocks and pebbles.
'I am not a demon.' You scowl angrily, beating your fists against the holy inscriptions. 'I walk in the light of the One God!'
Suddenly clear water starts to gurgle out from between the rocks in the hollow, bubbling up to fill the basin. The inscribed runes flash and then begin to glow with a soft white light.

Will you:
Drink the holy waters?
Leave the shrine and continue your journey?

[SGamerz]

Drink it in, man!

[maglag]

Enjoy sacred refreshment.

[Omegonthesane]

Chug chug chug.

[Darth Rabbitt]

You cup your hands and take a tentative sip of the waters. Immediately the pain subsides, as a cool and refreshing sensation shimmers through your body. You sense that these waters have powerful healing properties.
Reaching into your pack, you take out your empty water bottle and sink it into the basin of water. You have now gained:

Saint's blessing (1 use)
(backpack)
Use any time in combat to heal yourself to full health

(Mr. Patio is hexed)

By drinking the saint's blessing, you may also remove your hex. This will give you access to all of your abilities once again. However, if you are carrying the glaive of souls this weapon will automatically shatter and you will no longer be able to use it.

After bowing your head and offering a prayer to the One God, you leave the shrine and head back into the jungle.

You decide to make for the river, hoping it will provide an easier and more navigable route through this tangled forest. Thankfully, it isn't long before you find yourself crunching across its pebbled shore—the roiling, murky water rushing past at speed, carrying logs and other debris downstream.
As you head along the river, you see a ramshackle cabin at the edge of the treeline. Next to it is a raft and paddle, pulled up onto a bank of gravel. You approach, suddenly excited by the prospect of some friendly company. However, your steps soon falter when you hear angry mutterings coming from inside the cabin, punctuated by outbursts of high-pitched, manic laughter.

Will you:
Knock and enter the cabin?
Steal the raft and head downriver?
Sneak past and continue on land?

I assume we take the strict upgrade healing item that also has another use for us. (The "may" in the item description makes me assume that drinking it doesn't break the hex unless we want it to.) I don't know if we want to drink it to break the hex (and our glaive) either now or later (when we can either pick up our bramble blade again or replace it with another different weapon) or save it for combat (whether or not we decide to break the hex).

Name: Mr. Patio
Path: Rogue
Career: Pilgrim
Speed: +9, Brawn: +8, Magic: +3, Armor: +2
Health: 35

Slot	Item	Speed	Brawn	Magic	Armor	Ability
Head	Garland of Sacrifice	+1	+2			Atonement
Necklace	Providence		+1	+1		Faith
Cloak	Hair of the Wolf	+1	+1			Cunning
Main Hand	Glaive of Souls	+2	+2	+2		Vampirism
Left Hand	Falk's Firestarter	+1	+1			Headshot
Gloves	Fingerless Gloves	+1	+1			Crawlers
Chest	Green Blaze	+1			+1	Haste
Feet	Sailor's Sandals	+1				Surefooted
Talisman	Maker's Button	+1
Ring 1	Pins 'N' Needles					Thorns
Ring 2	Grieving Soul				+1	Fire Aura

Backpack	Item
1	Golden Mirror
2	Elixir of Invisibility
3	Gourd of Healing
4	Saint's Blessing
5	Rubrica's Cube

Locker	Item
1	Wishing Well Coin
2	Blood Iron Knot
3	Holy Water (2 uses)
4	Bramble Blade

Prophecy
bones
sure blade
calling
prevail
mixer
gatherer
meadowsweet, lemongrass, and white willow
raven
duty
Map of Carvel
Handy Herbalist's Spotter's Guide
can of oil
parchment
extra-sticky glue
blood debt
tower
household spirit
explorer
earth fist
wind guardian
infected wound
hexed
Book quest (reward at 471 when we have all 3 books)
Money Pouch: 581 Crowns

[Omegonthesane]

I say we save the saint's blessing for the purpose of breaking the hex, and that breaking the hex should only happen when we have a replacement for the long black rod.

I also say we knock and enter the cabin, it might have someone to loot.

[maglag]

Upgrade healing pot, keep evil stick, penetrate cabin.

[SGamerz]

Save blessing, enter cabin.

[Darth Rabbitt]

The cabin door creaks open, revealing a squalid space filled with rotten, moldy blankets, decaying fruit and the half-eaten remains of various animals—most of which are now riddled with flies and maggots. Sat on the edge of a bed is an elderly man, bone-thin and dressed in rags. As you enter he springs to his feet, pulling a rusty-looking knife from his belt.
'Leave me be! Leave me be!' he hisses. You note the ashen tone to his skin and the gaping wounds across his scalp, exposing torn flesh and hunks of brain. This man is clearly one of the undead—and also deranged. Before you have a chance to react to the man's protests he is upon you, his blackened teeth reaching for your jugular. You must fight:

	Speed	Brawn	Armor	Health
Mad man	7	-	3	40

Special Abilities
Maddened rage: If the mad man wins a combat round, he rolls four dice to determine his damage score.

4 dice of damage is a lot, but he also has no brawn score. Weird.

The abilities I'm bringing to this fight (since we're hexed we can only use 8 of them) are thorns, fire aura, headshot, vampirism, prophecy, haste, surefooted, and faith. Same as the cubes.
Round 1: Patio 10+9, Madman 6+7. Damage 6+8-3=11, Madman is at 29. *DoTs* He's at 27.
Round 2: Patio 11+9 (haste'd), Madman 8+7. Damage 1+8-3=6, Madman is at 21. *DoTs* He's at 19.
Round 3: Patio 9+9, Madman 4+7. Damage 1+8-3=6, Madman is at 13. *DoTs* He's at 11.
Round 4: Patio 3+9 (surefooted'd, 8+9), Madman 9+7. Damage 1+8-3=6, Madman is at 5. *Headshot* Madman is dead!

Headshot killed the zombie. Flawless and stylish.

The man puts up a fierce fight, but he is weak and malnourished. Your repeated blows soon silence his bestial snarls. Stepping over the body, you scan the contents of the cabin. Resting on the bed is a leather cord with a pendant attached to it, shaped like a boot. You lift it up, discovering that the boot contains a small inscription on one side: Walk proud. Forever. Yootha. If you wish to take the pendant, make a note of the word restless on your hero sheet.
You quickly scan the rest of the squalid mess, doubting there is anything here that would warrant your interest. However, as you move to leave, your foot knocks into a basket jutting out from under the bed. You stoop to examine it, finding a variety of brightly-colored mushrooms packed inside. They look freshly-picked and succulent.

Try the mushrooms?
Leave the cabin?

Also pick whether or not we take the pendant.

[SGamerz]

The pendant doesn't replace any equipment slot, does it? If it doesn't take it.

Try the mushroom.

[maglag]

Pick up pendant

Munch magic mushrooms.


Also unusual that a zombie would be weakened by hunger.

[Darth Rabbitt]

The pendant doesn't replace any equipment slot, does it? If it doesn't take it.

It doesn't.

Also unusual that a zombie would be weakened by hunger.

The zombie's weird in general. He both hits harder than Orgorath or Mortzilla (both supposedly nigh-invulnerable ancient monsters), since he does 4 dice of damage vs. their d6+5 and is faster than either (since he's Speed 7 and they're both Speed 5) so he's not exactly weak (although flavor/mechanics disconnect is a problem that this book shares with its predecessor, and to be completely fair both of those guys are harder relative to when you fight them than this guy is.) He's a bit of a glass jaw for Act 2 at 40 health, though, and he basically can't do anything to our build.

You take a bite out of one of the mushrooms, then wait tensely for any effects to become apparent. After several minutes, you conclude that it doesn't have any special properties. Then, suddenly, you feel a tingling race along your arms and legs as your muscles start to expand with a powerful surge of strength. Eagerly you taste one another of the mushrooms, discovering that this one heightens your already exceptional abilities, making you feel quick and alert. If you wish, you may now take any/all of the following:

Blood bonnet (2 uses) (backpack: Use any time in combat to raise your brawn by 2 for one round)
Fungal fingers (2 uses) (backpack: Use any time in combat to raise your speed by 2 for one round)

Pleased with your finds, you leave the cabin and continue your journey.

You must now decide if you want to take the raft and use it to navigate the fast-flowing river or whether you would prefer to keep to the river's banks, following the edge of the forest.

Also pick what shrooms (if any) we take and what backpack item(s) we're ditching for them (and if we want to stash whatever we ditch in our locker, and what from there we want to replace).

Name: Mr. Patio
Path: Rogue
Career: Pilgrim
Speed: +9, Brawn: +8, Magic: +3, Armor: +2
Health: 35

Slot	Item	Speed	Brawn	Magic	Armor	Ability
Head	Garland of Sacrifice	+1	+2			Atonement
Necklace	Providence		+1	+1		Faith
Cloak	Hair of the Wolf	+1	+1			Cunning
Main Hand	Glaive of Souls	+2	+2	+2		Vampirism
Left Hand	Falk's Firestarter	+1	+1			Headshot
Gloves	Fingerless Gloves	+1	+1			Crawlers
Chest	Green Blaze	+1			+1	Haste
Feet	Sailor's Sandals	+1				Surefooted
Talisman	Maker's Button	+1
Ring 1	Pins 'N' Needles					Thorns
Ring 2	Grieving Soul				+1	Fire Aura

Backpack	Item
1	Golden Mirror
2	Elixir of Invisibility
3	Gourd of Healing
4	Saint's Blessing
5	Rubrica's Cube

Locker	Item
1	Wishing Well Coin
2	Blood Iron Knot
3	Holy Water (2 uses)
4	Bramble Blade

Prophecy
bones
sure blade
calling
prevail
mixer
gatherer
meadowsweet, lemongrass, and white willow
raven
duty
Map of Carvel
Handy Herbalist's Spotter's Guide
can of oil
parchment
extra-sticky glue
blood debt
tower
household spirit
explorer
earth fist
wind guardian
infected wound
hexed
restless
Book quest (reward at 471 when we have all 3 books)
Money Pouch: 581 Crowns

[SGamerz]

Half a vote to replace Gourd with Fungal fingers. I'm not really sure +2 speed for 2 rounds of combat is worth 6 health though.

[maglag]

Full vote to replace healthy gourd with magic shrooms. Winners do drugs like Captain America always said.

[Darth Rabbitt]

OK, that's a majority vote for the fungal fingers.

You must now decide if you want to take the raft and use it to navigate the fast-flowing river or whether you would prefer to keep to the river's banks, following the edge of the forest.

Name: Mr. Patio
Path: Rogue
Career: Pilgrim
Speed: +9, Brawn: +8, Magic: +3, Armor: +2
Health: 35

Slot	Item	Speed	Brawn	Magic	Armor	Ability
Head	Garland of Sacrifice	+1	+2			Atonement
Necklace	Providence		+1	+1		Faith
Cloak	Hair of the Wolf	+1	+1			Cunning
Main Hand	Glaive of Souls	+2	+2	+2		Vampirism
Left Hand	Falk's Firestarter	+1	+1			Headshot
Gloves	Fingerless Gloves	+1	+1			Crawlers
Chest	Green Blaze	+1			+1	Haste
Feet	Sailor's Sandals	+1				Surefooted
Talisman	Maker's Button	+1
Ring 1	Pins 'N' Needles					Thorns
Ring 2	Grieving Soul				+1	Fire Aura

Backpack	Item
1	Golden Mirror
2	Elixir of Invisibility
3	Fungal Fingers (2 uses)
4	Saint's Blessing
5	Rubrica's Cube

Locker	Item
1	Wishing Well Coin
2	Blood Iron Knot
3	Holy Water (2 uses)
4	Bramble Blade

Prophecy
bones
sure blade
calling
prevail
mixer
gatherer
meadowsweet, lemongrass, and white willow
raven
duty
Map of Carvel
Handy Herbalist's Spotter's Guide
can of oil
parchment
extra-sticky glue
blood debt
tower
household spirit
explorer
earth fist
wind guardian
infected wound
hexed
restless
Book quest (reward at 471 when we have all 3 books)
Money Pouch: 581 Crowns

[Omegonthesane]

Take the raft.

[maglag]

Rapid raft ride.

[Darth Rabbitt]

You drag the raft into the river and clamber aboard. Within seconds the churning waters have swept you up, sending the raft bobbing and spinning crazily down the river. Desperately you try and steer the craft using the paddle, as sharp rocks and other snagged debris whip past at an alarming speed. You must take a speed challenge:

River rapids (Speed 13)

(9+9=18; success!)

The raft is buffeted through the chaotic tumult, but somehow you manage to keep it on course, avoiding the majority of the obstacles flung your way. Finally the river starts to slow, until you find yourself paddling through calmer waters, the thick forest rolling by on either side.
You start to relax, settling into a calm rhythm of strokes—until you spot the pair of yellow eyes glittering above the waterline. You draw in your paddle, leaving the raft to glide closer—hoping that you can pass unharmed. But as you near, the eyes dip below the surface.
A dark shadow flows quickly beneath your raft. A heartbeat. Then there is a thunderous crash as something drives up underneath you, smashing through the raft and sending you tumbling into the water. For several seconds you are blinded by air bubbles, then you see the huge reptilian body whipping towards you—its long jaws open wide. It is time to fight:

	Speed	Brawn	Armor	Health
Alligator	7	6	5	60

Special Abilities
Death roll: If the alligator rolls a 6 for its damage score, it goes into a death roll—spinning you wildly around in its powerful jaws. The alligator may roll another die to add further damage. If a 6 is rolled again, it may roll another die—and so on.
Drowning: At the end of every combat round you must automatically lose 2 health.

Going with the same ability loadout as the last 2 times.
Round 1: Patio 11+9 (haste'd), Gator 9+7. Damage 2+8-5=5, Gator is at 55. *DoTs* It's at 53, Patio is at 33.
Round 2: Patio 10+9, Gator 10+7. Damage 6+8-5=9, Gator is at 44. *DoTs* It's at 42, Patio is at 31.
Round 3: Patio 10+9 (faith'd, Patio is at 33), Gator 7+7. Damage 1+8-5=4, Gator is at 38. *DoTs* It's at 36, Patio is at 31.
Round 4: Patio 5+9, Gator 7+7. Tie. *DoTs* Gator is at 34, Patio is at 29.
Round 5: Patio 8+9 (faith'd, Patio is at 31), Gator 5+7. Damage 4+8-5=7, Gator is at 27 (Vampirism'd, Patio is at full.) *DoTs* Gator is at 25, Patio is at 33.
Round 6: Patio 10+9, Gator 8+7. Damage 5+8-5=8, Gator is at 17. *DoTs* It's at 15, Patio is at 31.
Round 7: Patio 5+9 (surefooted'd, 10+9; faith'd, Patio is at 33), Gator 7+7. Damage 6+8-5=9, Gator is at 6. *DoTs* It's at 4. *Headshot* It's dead!

Faith got a lot of use that fight, and we finally got to use Vampirism. I'm not sure how a flintlock can fire underwater, though.

Clouds of blood obscure your vision as you pummel away at the beast, until you feel its grip around your limbs ease. Then you frantically kick with your last remaining strength, breaking above the surface in a fit of coughing and choking. The carcass of the dead alligator bobs up beside you—a twenty-foot long giant, its aged body scarred by hundreds of previous encounters.
With this fearsome hunter defeated, you may now help yourself to one of the following rewards:

Gator aid (chest) +1 speed +2 armor ability: second skin (pa: you are immune to the piercing ability. If an opponent uses piercing, you may use armor as normal to absorb the damage.)
Brock's medallion (necklace) +1 brawn ability: fearless (sp: 1/combat, raise your speed by 2 for one combat round.)
Creek guard (left hand: shield) +2 speed +1 armor ability: retaliation (requirement: warrior)

You swim to the nearest bank, using the splayed roots of a tree to drag yourself up onto the sand. After taking a few minutes to attend to your wounds, you set off again—following the edge of the treeline.

After an hour you see the dim grey of the canyon wall looming above the treetops. Your journey is nearly at its end. Quickening your pace, you leave the river and plunge back into the forest, making for the canyon. Once again the going is slow and arduous, hacking your way across the muddy, uneven terrain, but at last—insect-bitten and smarting from a multitude of minor scrapes—you stumble out onto a boulder-strewn slope, the high canyon walls only meters away from you.
Now a fresh challenge presents itself—getting to the top. As you walk along the wall, you notice a few areas that look climbable, with hand- and foot-holds and a few crumbling ledges. You also spot a cave a little further ahead, with skulls and bone-charms hanging from poles either side of the opening.

Will you:
Enter the cave?
Climb the canyon wall?

Also pick a loot.

[SGamerz]

Gator aid and cave.

[Omegonthesane]

Yeah, gatorade and cave.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Your eyes sweep the length of the cave, passing over mounds of rotting meat and animal skins, to finally rest on the far wall, where flickering candles illuminate a line of cadavers. Some are animal, but most are human, dangling from vine ropes attached to a wooden beam.
Then a wet squelch drags your attention to a side chamber, where a fresher corpse is laid out on a flat-topped boulder. An old woman in tattered hides is hunched over the body, drawing out the entrails and studying them with cackling glee.
She spins around, sensing your presence, her gnarly hand snapping forward with lightning speed. You glimpse something whip through the air, clipping the side of your head. Before you have a chance to register what has happened, you see the woman holding a hooked tooth tied to a cord. She plucks something from its end, then lifts up her other hand, revealing a bone doll. Too late—you realize she has one of your hairs and is now wrapping it around the doll. As the witch yanks it tight, you give a gargling cry as pain crushes your ribs, stealing your breath away. She tugs it again, engulfing you in a fresh wave of agony. Angrily you lope forward, your cries turning to a roar of defiance as you seek to end this witch's dark magic. It is time to fight:

	Speed	Magic	Armor	Health
Cave witch	7	7	4	50

Special Abilities
Voodoo magic: At the end of each combat round, the witch twists the hair around her voodoo doll. This automatically inflicts 1 die of damage, ignoring armor.

Same abilities as last time, only we don't have haste anymore, so I'll swap that out for Crawlers.
Round 1: Patio 8+9, Witch 7+7. Damage 3+8-4=7, Witch is at 43. *DoTs* She's at 41, Patio's at 31.
Round 2: Patio 6+9, Witch 7+6 (crawlers'd). Damage 5+8-4=9 (vampirism'd, Patio is at 35,) Witch is at 32. *DoTs* She's at 30, Patio is at 31.
Round 3: Patio 3+9, Witch 5+6. Damage 4+8-4=8, Witch is at 22. *DoTs* She's at 20, Patio is at 29.
Round 4: Patio 5+9 (surefooted'd, 2+9; faith'd, Patio is at 31), Witch 8+7. (Prophecy'd, no damage). *DoTs* Witch is at 18, Patio is at 30.
Round 5: Patio 8+9 (faith'd, Patio is at 32), Witch 8+7. Damage 6+8-4=10, Witch is at 8. *DoTs* She's at 6, Patio is at 31.
Round 6: Patio 9+9, Witch 4+7. Damage 2+8-4=6, Witch is dead!

No chance to headshot her.

Kicking the doll from the witch's grasp you deliver a backhanded strike, knocking her to the ground. For a moment, mercy stays your hand, but as the witch starts to summon black flames to her gnarly fingers you bring your weapons down in a brutal arc—silencing her spell.
With the witch defeated, you may now help yourself to one of the following rewards:
Voodoo doll (main hand: doll) +2 speed +2 magic ability: curse (requirement: mage)
Bone shaker (left hand: wand) +2 speed +1 magic ability: fear (requirement: mage)
Bone bracelets (gloves) +1 speed +1 brawn ability: trickster (mo: once per combat, you can swap an opponent's die rolled for combat total with one of your own.)

Searching the rest of the caves, you find little of value save some gold coins scattered amongst the dirt. (You have gained 30 gold coins.) At the back of one of the smaller chambers is a tunnel that winds away into the earth.

Follow this tunnel?
Leave the cave and follow the canyon wall?

Also pick whether or not we want to take the bone bracelets.

Name: Mr. Patio
Path: Rogue
Career: Pilgrim
Speed: +9, Brawn: +8, Magic: +3, Armor: +3
Health: 35

Slot	Item	Speed	Brawn	Magic	Armor	Ability
Head	Garland of Sacrifice	+1	+2			Atonement
Necklace	Providence		+1	+1		Faith
Cloak	Hair of the Wolf	+1	+1			Cunning
Main Hand	Glaive of Souls	+2	+2	+2		Vampirism
Left Hand	Falk's Firestarter	+1	+1			Headshot
Gloves	Fingerless Gloves	+1	+1			Crawlers
Chest	Gator Aid	+1			+2	Second Skin
Feet	Sailor's Sandals	+1				Surefooted
Talisman	Maker's Button	+1
Ring 1	Pins 'N' Needles					Thorns
Ring 2	Grieving Soul				+1	Fire Aura

Backpack	Item
1	Golden Mirror
2	Elixir of Invisibility
3	Fungal Fingers (2 uses)
4	Saint's Blessing
5	Rubrica's Cube

Locker	Item
1	Green Blaze
2	Blood Iron Knot
3	Holy Water (2 uses)
4	Bramble Blade

Prophecy
bones
sure blade
calling
prevail
mixer
gatherer
meadowsweet, lemongrass, and white willow
raven
duty
Map of Carvel
Handy Herbalist's Spotter's Guide
can of oil
parchment
extra-sticky glue
blood debt
tower
household spirit
explorer
earth fist
wind guardian
infected wound
hexed
restless
Book quest (reward at 471 when we have all 3 books)
Money Pouch: 611 Crowns

[SGamerz]

I can't remember what crawler does. Can you recap that?

That's one of the things that cause me to lose interest after playing this series for a looooong period. Half the options is usually about equipment sorting, but often I find myself forgetting what old items were supposed to do.

Is there an Appendix in the book that lists all the possible bonus effects? If not that's something that can be considered adding in to future books as an improvement.

[angelfromanotherpin]

Is there an Appendix in the book that lists all the possible bonus effects?

Yes. I can't speak for book 2, but in book 1 that appendix was the only place the effects were listed. The plain text only ever gave you the name, and the parentheticals in the LP were my own device.