A few dry branches set the fire well and truly ablaze. You plant a couple of flaming torches to either side of you and stand, your back to the fire and sword drawn, awaiting whatever is coming at you out of the night. The howling stops. In the darkness ahead you can make out several glowing pinpricks of reddish light: your would be assailants. Then, snarling, they burst out of the shadows and pause, unsure about the flames. There are three of them, and at first glance they look like over-large timber wolves. But they have long, lash-like tails lined with wicked-looking blades of horn., and their eyes are bright with cunning. They are Whipperwolves and you must fi8ht them. Because of the position you have taken up by the fire, they have to come at you one at a time.
First WHIPPERWOLF SKILL 7 STAMINA 8
Second WHIPPERWOLF SKILL 8 STAMINA 7
Third WHIPPERWOLI SKILL 8 STAMINA 9
If you roll 11 or 12 for a Whipperwolf's Attack Round, whether or not you beat its score, it lashes you with its tail for 1 point of damage. If you win, turn to 196.
Thrasher and Whipperwolves....the authors like their beasts-with-mutated-tails.
Anyway, since our shiny armour deducts 1 point from ALL damage taken.....we are immune to their tail-attacks!
COMBAT LOG:
Whipperwolf #1 18, Gonad 19. WW#1 is at 5. WW#1 also hits Gonad with its tail, but Gonad shrugs it off thanks to the armour!
WW#1 12, Gonad 14. WW#1 is at 2.
WW#1 15, Gonad 15. Tie.
WW#1 17, Gonad 17. Tie.
WW#1 15, Gonad 11. Gonad is at 15.
WW#1 14, Gonad 18. WW#1 is killed.
WW#2 14, Gonad 13. Gonad is at 14.
WW#2 16, Gonad 13. Gonad is at 13.
WW#2 16, Gonad 18. WW#2 is at 4.
WW#2 16, Gonad 18. WW#2 is at 1.
WW#2 11, Gonad 18. WW#2 is killed.
WW#3 10, Gonad 17. WW#3 is at 6.
WW#3 14, Gonad 15. WW#3 is at 3.
WW#3 19, Gonad 16. Gonad is at 12. WW#3 also hits Gonad with its tail, but Gonad shrugs it off thanks to the armour!
WW#3 14, Gonad 14. Tie.
WW#3 19, Gonad 15. Gonad is at 11. WW#3 also hits Gonad with its tail, but Gonad shrugs it off thanks to the armour!
WW#3 18, Gonad 17. Gonad is at 10.
WW#3 13, Gonad 16. WW#3 is killed.
Without our armour we would have been at 1 STAMINA at the end of that fight (including tail-inflicted damages)......and that's even with our sharpened sword taken into account!
The last Whipperwolf lies dead at your feet. You are able to pass the rest of the night in undisturbed sleep. Next day, you leave Shamdabag Wood without any further trouble, and you soon spot the tor, pointing like a finger at the sky, a short distance to the west.
The craggy rock, over five metres high, stands motionless before you like some primordial leviathan of stone. It is heavily eroded, pitted and scarred by wind and rain. You stand at its base and gaze up at the brooding, lifeless rock: it seems to exude an atmosphere of foreboding. Raising the whistle to your lips, you blow one short, shrill blast. For a moment a deathly silence falls across the land - and then suddenly everything changes. You find yourself standing on a broad, flat expanse of black and featureless sand. The sky is dark and threatening, filled with storm clouds. Lightning crashes and thunder booms. A deluge of rain lashes at your face. You are alone, save for the towering rock. A bolt of lightning strikes the rock with a flash and it begins to creak and sway ominously. Stepping back, you watch with growing panic as it starts to change before your eyes. The stone begins to move, and rocky limbs like crystal form around it. The shape resolves itself into a giant, four-armed, two-legged Rock Golem with eyes of coruscating blue plasma. A nimbus crackling energy plays about its body like fire. You must fight it.
ROCK COLEM SKILL 9 STAMINA 17
Each time you hit the Golem, deduct damage in the normal way and then roll another die. On a roll of 1, turn to 276. Otherwise, fight on. If you defeat the Rock Golem, turn to 316.
Our sharpened sword is so awesome that it can cut through rocks normally, apparently.
COMBAT LOG:
Golem 13, Gonad 14. Golem is at 14. Gonad rolls a 6 and nothing happens.
Golem 14, Gonad 15. Golem is at 11. Gonad rolls a 6 and nothing happens.
Golem 13, Gonad 18. Golem is at 8. Gonad rolls a 1!
The Golem gives a deafening bellow of rage and twin bolts of lightning leap from its eyes towards you. Test your Luck. If you are Lucky, tum to 236. If you are Unlucky, turn to 256.
Die roll: 6+3 =9 (Lucky!)
At the last moment you dodge to one side and the bolts of plasma crash into the sand behind you, fusing it into a sheet of glass. Return to 216 and fight on.
Let's hope it doesn't happen too many times, or our LUCK will be drained down even if we don't get hit.
And the fight continues!
COMBAT LOG:
Golem 9, Gonad 9. Tie.
Golem 19, Gonad 14. Gonad is at 9.
Golem 19, Gonad 15. Gonad is at 8.
Golem 16, Gonad 15. Gonad is at 7.
Golem 15, Gonad 13. Gonad is at 6.
Golem 17, Gonad 16. Gonad is at 5.
Golem 14, Gonad 18. Golem is at 5. Gonad rolls a 3 and nothing happens.
Golem 18, Gonad 12. Gonad is at 4.
Golem 17, Gonad 19. Golem is at 2. Gonad rolls a 1!
Golem fires his eye-beams, but Gonad rolls a 7 for his LUCK test and dodges them.
Golem 19, Gonad 12. Gonad is at 3.
Golem 19, Gonad 17. Gonad is at 2.
Golem 16, Gonad 16. Tie.
Golem 16, Gonad 20. Golem is defeated!
That eye-beams really put Gonad off balance, and he rolls really badly for the second portion of the fight, but thanks to all the stacked bonuses we made it!
The Golem totters and falls to the sand with an earth-shaking crash; you have defeated it . . . Then you are back at Staying Island. Beside you, the tor is nothing but a heap of shattered rubble. Suddenly and without any warning a cloud of blue energy rises from its remains and arcs towards you. Before you can do anything about it, you are bathed in an electrifying aura of energy. There is a moment of utter agony . . . and then it is gone, leaving you feeling stronger and mightier than before. Lhyss, the Goddess of Luck, has favoured you. Add 3 to your Initial and current LUCK, 1 to your SKILL and 4 to your STAMINA. You decide to continue with your trip to Keladon.
Unfortunately, it doesn't say the SKILL boost and go above out Initial.
Still, our Initial LUCK is now a whooping 15!
At last you can see the village of Keladon ahead. However, everything seems strangely quiet, save for the occasional faint sound of shouting. Plumes of black smoke spiral skyward from some areas of the village: it appears to be on fire. Black crow-like birds circle in the air, cawing desolately. As you draw nearer, no one comes out to challenge you and then you notice a couple of bodies by the wooden gate, slumped on the ground. The road branches here: one way leads to the village, the other down to the cove where Keladon's fishing vessels are usually tethered Will you enter the village or head for the cove to see if there is anyone at the quayside?
Village or cove?
Adventure Sheet:
Name: Gonad the Penetrator
SKILL 9/9
STAMINA 6/18
LUCK 12/15
RESOLVE: 10 (11 for next test)
Equipment: Sharpened Sword (+1 damage), Leather Armor, Ring of Communing (1 charge remaining), Spear of Qadarnai (double-damage when fighting undead), Golden Whistle, Elixir of Lhyss, Suit of Fine Armour (-1 to all damage taken), Ring of Fays, Polished Shield (-1 SKILL to 1 Undead opponent during combat at a time)
Provisions: 7 Meals (+4 STAMINA)
Gold: 35
Codeword: PIRATE
Misc Notes: 'Blow the whistle at the Finger of Lhyss to win great power'