[Let's Play] Fighting Fantazine Adventure 11: Ascent of Darkness

[Thaluikhain]

Hang around.

[Queen of Swords]

Agreed, hang around and try to find out more.

[Beroli]

You leave the palace, but instead of walking through the gardens to the gate, you skirt around the palace walls. You run straight into a patrol of guards, but when they see who you are and what you are doing, they let you go on your way. ‘I never trusted that Ikunum,’ mutters one guard. ‘His quarters are round the back of the palace on the ground floor.’ You thank the guards and continue on your way. When you get to Ikunum’s window, you peek inside in case there is anyone in the room. You could climb into the window to see if there is anything you can find.

You do have a bat amulet.

The talisman glows hot, and you whirl around to see a woman preparing to plunge a dagger into your back. You draw your sword and prepare to fight her. (If you had Achilles' Heel, and she rolled an 11 or a 12 and won the combat round, she would automatically kill you.)

ASSASSIN Skill 11 Stamina 11

Hermes Conrad Attack Strength: 19, ASSASSIN Attack Strength: 20. Stunt autosuccess. Assassin bleeds for 1. Hermes Conrad's Stamina is 22, Assassin's Stamina is 10.
Hermes Conrad Attack Strength: 17, ASSASSIN Attack Strength: 23. Stunt result 6, success. Assassin bleeds for 2. Hermes Conrad's Stamina is 20, Assassin's Stamina is 8.
Hermes Conrad Attack Strength: 22, ASSASSIN Attack Strength: 22. Stunt result 4, success. Assassin bleeds for 3. Assassin's Stamina is 5.
Hermes Conrad Attack Strength: 22, ASSASSIN Attack Strength: 21. Assassin is dead.

The sound of the battle attracts a dozen guards. They all look at the woman in bewilderment. You then search Ikunum’s rooms while the guards, who do not trust the priest, keep watch. You find letters to various people talking about the time of Elim, the old god of darkness, and also about bringing down the king. Armed with the evidence of treason, you lead the guards to Ikunum and declare that he is under arrest. Ikunum merely smiles and vanishes in a puff of smoke. You explain this all to the king who thanks you gravely. ‘I am indebted to you for revealing this traitor to me. For your mission, what is mine is yours – you have the use of my men if you wish.’

You now have a crew for your ship.

‘I have been suspicious of insidious goings on for some time. Powerful priests have sprung up from nowhere and have integrated themselves amongst the rich and powerful. I was always suspicious of Ikunum and sent spies to find anything out about him. Two of them were murdered. I see who did it now. If you can find out anything, please tell me. Now you must go, for I have the affairs of state to attend to.’ You thank the king, bow and return to the city.

Where would you like to go to now?

The docks?
The taverns?
The temple of Pangara?
The temple of Telak?
The temple of Logaan?
The temple of Ashra?
The temple of Vuh?

Name: Hermes Conrad
Sex: Male
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 20/24
Luck: 14/14
Cunning of Logann
Hubris
Inventory: Enchanted warhammer, spear, reflective shield (-1 to enemy Attack Strength), steel helmet, 200 Gold Pieces, food, 5 torches, flint and tinder, water skin, leather gloves covered in thorns (once per combat, you may either automatically win one combat round or automatically succeed at one heroic stunt), bracelet of green metal (immune to poison, regain 3 Stamina at the end of each combat), obsidian bat amulet (once per combat, you may either increase your Attack Strength by 2 for one round or, when you have hit an opponent, deal an extra 4 damage to them), ring of charm, magical silver throwing dagger (2 damage to enemy at the start of combat).

[JourneymanN00b]

I half vote for the taverns.

[Thaluikhain]

To the pubs.

(Also, that seems a bit abrupt for uncovering a conspiracy. I sorta like how the guards are immediately on our side)

[Queen of Swords]

Sure, try the taverns.

[pragma]

Taverns

[Beroli]

The taverns are full of sailors and adventurers enjoying a quiet drink between journeys and battles. This will be an excellent place to pick up crewmembers for your trireme if you wish.

But you no longer need to do that and you have no other reason to be at the taverns.

Where would you like to go to now?

The docks?
The temple of Pangara?
The temple of Telak?
The temple of Logaan?
The temple of Ashra?
The temple of Vuh?

Name: Hermes Conrad
Sex: Male
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 20/24
Luck: 14/14
Cunning of Logann
Hubris
Inventory: Enchanted warhammer, spear, reflective shield (-1 to enemy Attack Strength), steel helmet, 200 Gold Pieces, food, 5 torches, flint and tinder, water skin, leather gloves covered in thorns (once per combat, you may either automatically win one combat round or automatically succeed at one heroic stunt), bracelet of green metal (immune to poison, regain 3 Stamina at the end of each combat), obsidian bat amulet (once per combat, you may either increase your Attack Strength by 2 for one round or, when you have hit an opponent, deal an extra 4 damage to them), ring of charm, magical silver throwing dagger (2 damage to enemy at the start of combat).

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to visit the temple of Logaan.

[Thaluikhain]

May as well.

[Beroli]

The temple of Logaan looks like any other building, but all know of the strange goings on within its walls. Priests wearing multi-coloured robes enter and leave the building by the front door. You enter the building and are approached by the high priest. ‘Welcome to the temple of the tricksters my lord. How may we help you?’

You do have Cunning of Logann and used it to defeat the Caarth.

Upon seeing you, the priest’s jovial face turns serious. ‘I see you have undergone great trials, my lord, and I am glad that the cunning of the tricksters helped you. However, I still see that the balance has swung in the favour of chaos, and for this we must help you in order to restore the balance.’ The priest takes you to a room containing an Elvin hovering over a pool of water glowing with many colours. The priest whispers to the Elvin who dives into the water. After a few minutes, the Elvin surfaces and whispers to the priest. ‘There is a powerful and evil artefact of the Old Gods buried and forgotten in the Wizards’ Guild Archives. Those who upset the balance are searching for it. Find it first to save us.’

The priest gives you the blessing of the tricksters. Restore your Luck to its Initial level. You go on your way.

Go to:

The wizards' guild?
The temple of Pangara?
The temple of Telak?
The temple of Logaan?
The temple of Ashra?
The temple of Vuh?

Name: Hermes Conrad
Sex: Male
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 20/24
Luck: 14/14
Cunning of Logann
Hubris
Inventory: Enchanted warhammer, spear, reflective shield (-1 to enemy Attack Strength), steel helmet, 200 Gold Pieces, food, 5 torches, flint and tinder, water skin, leather gloves covered in thorns (once per combat, you may either automatically win one combat round or automatically succeed at one heroic stunt), bracelet of green metal (immune to poison, regain 3 Stamina at the end of each combat), obsidian bat amulet (once per combat, you may either increase your Attack Strength by 2 for one round or, when you have hit an opponent, deal an extra 4 damage to them), ring of charm, magical silver throwing dagger (2 damage to enemy at the start of combat).

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to go to the wizards' guild to get the artefact.

[pragma]

Yup, wizards guild

[Thaluikhain]

Wizard's guild for the quest object.

[Beroli]

You approach the large doors of the Wizards’ Guild and knock on the brass knocker. A young apprentice in blue robes answers the door and welcomes you to the guild. The apprentice asks you how he may be of help.

This time you're looking for something specific.

You ask the apprentice to show you to the archives. He takes you down several winding stairs into a huge cavernous room with shelves stretching for as far as you can see. Upon the shelves are scrolls, books and artefacts of all descriptions. You are looking for a needle in a haystack. Test your Luck; a 5 succeeds.

After several hours of fruitless searching, you are almost ready to give up, but then something catches your eye. It is a plain metal box. The metal has a blue sheen but it sticks out from the other artefacts because it is not decorated. If it were not for the strange colour of the metal, it would look like any other battered metal box. Cautiously, you open the box. As soon as you do, it seems that the lights dim. There is a dagger inside, made of black steel and surrounded by an aura of evil and darkness. You look upon it for barely a moment before there is a crash and you are engulfed in dust and smoke. When the dust clears, you see that a huge EARTH ELEMENTAL has broken its way through the floor and faces you, ready to crush you under its giant fists.

You do have an enchanted weapon.

It is an enchanted warhammer. You will deal 4 damage to the elemental per successful attack round (stunt damage remains unchanged).

The earth elemental deals 4 damage per successful attack round.

You must fight it!

EARTH ELEMENTAL Skill 12 Stamina 18

In light of its skill, stamina, and damage, pausing for votes on any variation in stunts, item use, or Luck use. A successful Luck test to do damage will mean your blow does a total of 6 damage in that Attack Round; a failed one will mean your blow does a total of 3 damage.

Name: Hermes Conrad
Sex: Male
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 20/24
Luck: 13/14
Cunning of Logann
Hubris
Inventory: Enchanted warhammer, spear, reflective shield (-1 to enemy Attack Strength), steel helmet, 200 Gold Pieces, food, 5 torches, flint and tinder, water skin, leather gloves covered in thorns (once per combat, you may either automatically win one combat round or automatically succeed at one heroic stunt), bracelet of green metal (immune to poison, regain 3 Stamina at the end of each combat), obsidian bat amulet (once per combat, you may either increase your Attack Strength by 2 for one round or, when you have hit an opponent, deal an extra 4 damage to them), ring of charm, magical silver throwing dagger (2 damage to enemy at the start of combat).

[pragma]

I think standard plan still holds here: use the dagger, 3x exploit weakness, bat for damage, gloves for stunt success. No luck.

[JourneymanN00b]

I also vote for the standard plan.

[Thaluikhain]

Makes sense.

[Beroli]

Hermes Conrad Attack Strength: 15, EARTH ELEMENTAL Attack Strength: 13. Stunt result autosuccess. Earth Elemental bleeds mud for 1. EARTH ELEMENTAL's Stamina is 7.
Hermes Conrad Attack Strength: 19, EARTH ELEMENTAL Attack Strength: 19. Stunt result 3, success. Earth Elemental bleeds mud for 2. EARTH ELEMENTAL's Stamina is 5.
Hermes Conrad Attack Strength: 16, EARTH ELEMENTAL Attack Strength: 20. Stunt result 3, success. Hermes Conrad's Stamina is 16. Earth Elemental bleeds mud for 3. EARTH ELEMENTAL's Stamina is 2.
Hermes Conrad Attack Strength: 15, EARTH ELEMENTAL Attack Strength: 18. Hermes Conrad's Stamina is 12. Earth Elemental is dead.

I'd just like to pause here to mention that the official stat generation rules for this adventure produce a Skill of 9 or 10, a Stamina of 14-18, and a Luck of 9 or 10. And then the boost from your chosen heroic ability, which I left unchanged (so if you rolled a 3 for a 9 Skill, and then chose Speed of Pangara, you'd have a Skill of 10). I did not change the elemental's stats in any way.

You last blow reduces the elemental to rubble. You have just enough time to see a blue robed wizard holding the dagger before he disappears into thin air. Dozens of wizards run to where you are, including Platonus, the guildmaster. You explain to him what happened and what was stolen. It transpires that the dagger’s thief was Erishum, a powerful wizard who had recently worked his way up the ranks of the guild. ‘I never trusted him,’ says Platonus. ‘We must discover exactly what he has stolen and what the consequences might be.’

You, Platonus and several other wizards pore through books for several hours. Eventually, Platonus finds what he is looking for, but he is not happy. Rather, he is very worried. ‘I’m afraid what Erishum stole was the dagger of Elim, a powerful weapon of the Old God of Darkness. If the church of Elim is regaining power, then we are all in grave danger. They will want to see the world returned to chaos and darkness.’

‘But where did he go? Do you know that?’ you ask.

‘Yes,’ replies Platonus, ‘my scryers have traced the teleport spell. It seems that Erishum is on Fire Island, off the Allansia coast. Maybe they are building a base there. You will have to go there to stop them. I’m afraid our resources will be spent protecting the city and detecting other magical spies, so we cannot help you. You will have to sail there. Good luck.’

You thank the wizards and continue your investigations.

Will you next go to:

The temple of Pangara?
The temple of Telak?
The temple of Logaan?
The temple of Ashra?
The temple of Vuh?

Name: Hermes Conrad
Sex: Male
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 12/24
Luck: 14/14
Cunning of Logann
Hubris
Inventory: Enchanted warhammer, spear, reflective shield (-1 to enemy Attack Strength), steel helmet, 200 Gold Pieces, food, 5 torches, flint and tinder, water skin, leather gloves covered in thorns (once per combat, you may either automatically win one combat round or automatically succeed at one heroic stunt), bracelet of green metal (immune to poison, regain 3 Stamina at the end of each combat), obsidian bat amulet (once per combat, you may either increase your Attack Strength by 2 for one round or, when you have hit an opponent, deal an extra 4 damage to them), ring of charm, magical silver throwing dagger (2 damage to enemy at the start of combat).

[JourneymanN00b]

I half vote to go to the temple of Ashra.

[Thaluikhain]

May as well

[Beroli]

The temple of Ashra is large, but it is starting to show the wear of age. The inside of the temple is almost empty. It seems that the Old Gods have fallen out of favour with the people. An old priest in white robes carrying a crystal-topped staff approaches you. ‘Welcome to the temple of Ashra, the light of the world. How may I help?’

Say you want to join the temple?
Leave and go somewhere else?

Name: Hermes Conrad
Sex: Male
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 12/24
Luck: 14/14
Cunning of Logann
Hubris
Inventory: Enchanted warhammer, spear, reflective shield (-1 to enemy Attack Strength), steel helmet, 200 Gold Pieces, food, 5 torches, flint and tinder, water skin, leather gloves covered in thorns (once per combat, you may either automatically win one combat round or automatically succeed at one heroic stunt), bracelet of green metal (immune to poison, regain 3 Stamina at the end of each combat), obsidian bat amulet (once per combat, you may either increase your Attack Strength by 2 for one round or, when you have hit an opponent, deal an extra 4 damage to them), ring of charm, magical silver throwing dagger (2 damage to enemy at the start of combat).

[JourneymanN00b]

I half vote to ask to join.

[Thaluikhain]

May as well.

[Beroli]

‘We are always looking for new acolytes, but only those who are close to the gods already.’

You have Cunning of Logann and did use it to defeat the Caarth.

‘It is good that you wish to become an acolyte of the god of light for few wish to follow the old gods nowadays. However, those who wish to become acolytes must still pass dangerous and gruelling tests.’

Say you still wish to become an acolyte?
Leave and go somewhere else?

Name: Hermes Conrad
Sex: Male
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 12/24
Luck: 14/14
Cunning of Logann
Hubris
Inventory: Enchanted warhammer, spear, reflective shield (-1 to enemy Attack Strength), steel helmet, 200 Gold Pieces, food, 5 torches, flint and tinder, water skin, leather gloves covered in thorns (once per combat, you may either automatically win one combat round or automatically succeed at one heroic stunt), bracelet of green metal (immune to poison, regain 3 Stamina at the end of each combat), obsidian bat amulet (once per combat, you may either increase your Attack Strength by 2 for one round or, when you have hit an opponent, deal an extra 4 damage to them), ring of charm, magical silver throwing dagger (2 damage to enemy at the start of combat).