You open the door to a room containing three Gremlins; they comprise Chingiz's bodyguard. Suddenly, a fourth, which had been hiding behind the door, strikes you in the side with a shortsword, then runs off as the others attack. If you have the Power of Invulnerability to Sword-Strike, fight as normal. If not, then deduct 1 point from your SKILL. Fight each in turn.
First GREMLIN SKILL 4 STAMINA 4
Second GREMLIN SKILL 4 STAMINA 6
Third GREMLIN SKILL 4 STAMINA 6
If you win (mark off 2 Poison units on the Adventure Sheet), the fourth Gremlin has busied himself, locking a great door with a massive key and then, with difficulty, managing to swallow it. He now stands with his back to the door. If you have the Power of Persuasion, turn to 347. If not, turn to 54.
This guy employs Trolls, Orcs, Mamliks and undead Necromancers (and of course Kanaid humans too), and he uses
Gremlins as his bodyguard??
And weirdly, the sword-stab would have reduced SKILL and not STAMINA, although we don't have to worry about that either way because of our Invulnerability.
Unfortunately, since we still have to fight the other 3 normally, I guess this means they're armed with something else other than swords, although once again Luke Sharp neglects to mention details like what weapon they're using.
COMBAT LOG:
Gremlin#1 7, Qulan Gal 13. G1 is at 2.
G1 16, QG 18. G1 is killed.
Gremlin#2 8, QG 18. G2 is at 4.
G2 12, QG 17. G2 is at 2.
G2 12, QG 19. G2 is killed.
Gremlin#3 10, QG 16. G3 is at 4.
G3 13, QG 13. Tie.
G3 8, QG 19. G3 is at 2.
G3 8, QG 16. G3 is killed.
Qulan Gal disposes of the puny bodyguards with little problems....then keels over because his Poison unit goes up to 24! Right at the doorstep of his quarry, too! Fortunately, he still has some extra lives left to allow him to continue!
As mentioned earlier, I do believe there's a possibility that we're not supposed to gain Poison units during the encounters with the clan animals, so let's see if he can actually complete this if I keep it at 22 upon revival.
We don't have to Power of Persuasion, so we can't get the key, and have to do things the hard way:
You have to expend a lot of effort to smash open the door (deduct 4 points from your STAMINA). When finally you do enter the room, you come face to face with a woman holding a dagger. On seeing you, she rushes away through another door. You are just dashing after her when you spot a small statue of Segrek, lying in a corner of the room. You stoop to pick it up...and you hear the voice from the Heart of the Throne: "Brave adventurer, you have fought hard - but remember that it is not just the power of the sword that holds a kingdom together. Remember this when you mount the throne." You hurry on through the gleaming gold door in front of you.
We're down to our last 4 STAMINA (with 0 meals)! But I guess we should be thankful that Chingiz not only employs weak bodyguard but also uses mundane, breakable doors, unlike inconsiderate FF antagonists like Balthus Dire and Earl of Drumer who have the audacity to use magically-protected ones that require obscure numerical codes or numbered keys.
You open the door to a plush bedchamber. Sitting in the middle of a large fourposter bed is Chingiz. There is no one else in the room. With a rather strange look on his face, he murmurs in a weak voice: "So, you have made it, Select of Segrek...I suppose to you want to know where the Throne is?" He starts to keel over and puts out a hand to steady himself. Quick as a flash, you draw the Dagger of Darkness hidden from your boot, where it has been safely hidden throughout your journey, and put in in his hand! He looks at you and smiles. "You are clever...if you can defeat my deadly daughter, then..." He tips over and you see a large dagger sticking out of his back. He is dead. You suddenly feel much better (add 4 points to your STAMINA and do not mark off any more Poison units).
So, yeah, we were literally 2 steps away from success when we died to poison earlier!
I guess when you get stabbed in the back, you don't get the opportunity to save yourself by returning the dagger back to the stabber...but I wonder what happens if he'd died before we got here. Do we still get to break the spell by putting the dagger in his dead hand? If that won't work, then his daughter might have killed 2 birds with 1 stone by ensuring there's no way we can cure ourselves!
You open the next door, to find a woman sitting on the Throne of Sharrabbas, surrounded by four chained Ogres. The woman smiles. "Welcome, brave adventurer. My father and his Mamliks found you a difficult foe, but you shall not take possession of the Throne - it is mine! He wouldn't let me have it, so I had to kill him. Now I must kill YOU." She rushes towards you, dagger raised. You stop her arm and squeezes her wrist; the dagger drops to the floor and begins to burn. She collapses in a heap and calls out, "Go on then, sit on the Throne - and let my Ogres tear you limb from limb!" The Ogres are suddenly released from their chains and leap forward to attack you. Do you fight them or put your sword away and walk straight to the Throne?
Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: Qulan Gal
SKILL 10/10
STAMINA 8/18
LUCK 11/11
Poison: 22/24
Equipment: Sword, Leather Armor, Potion of Fortune (+1 to Initial LUCK, restores LUCK to new Initial value), Flower, Treffilli (2 sprigs)
Provisions: 0
Gold: 1 (sewn into boot, lucky piece)
Abilities: Darkfight, The Power of Stormbringing, Invulnerability to Sword-Strike
Medallions:
Extra Lives unlocked: 4/10 remaining
No. of deaths/failures: 6
[/spoiler]