The water is clear and refreshingly cool. You may add 2 STAMINA points. After drinking, you sit on the bank and gaze in wonder around you. Somewhat to your surprise, you find that your head is resting on the soft turf. You drift off to sleep.
Technically, bathing was the best option, but in this case we didn't too much. We missed an additional LUCK bonus (2 points, we could have used one of them), and also gets to remove a SKILL penalty from a specific encounter which we didn't pick up.
Not touching the water at all means we would miss this upcoming next section completely....
In your dreams, the fairy folk who tend this enchanted garden appear to you. They tell you that they are the secret children of Galana, goddess of plant and fertility. They dance and teach you many things about plants that even the Wood Elves do not know. Finally, they invite you to stay with them, to combat Evil by tending their Garden of Good. It is a sweet temptation, especially to a Wood Elf. Roll one die. If you roll 1-5, turn to 31; if you roll 6, turn to 296.
Galana isn't just the goddess of plant and fertility. She's also the creator of Elves in Titan. I'm pretty sure all Titan Elves are aware of that so it's surprising that it wasn't mentioned.
Die roll = 1.
You harden your resolve and spurn the offer of the fairies; your destiny lies in more direct action. You awaken from the dream and find that the glade has vanished. You are right on the border of the blighted land; all that is left of the enchanted glade is a single elder tree. The tree is obviously magical: your attention is drawn to its branches in particular, because of their regular arrangement. You notice that there are exactly twenty-two branches (note this on your Adventure Sheet). All but one are normal, leafy boughs; but the other is silver and gleams with its own inner light. You pluck it, stow it in your backpack, and take your first step into Ishtra's cruel kingdom.
That was, in fact, a 1/6 chance of Game Over that we just escaped from. If we rolled a 6, the PC gives in to the temptation and stays to tend the magical glade.....and gives up his important quest. Narrative-wise not exactly a bad ending (the text leaves it ambiguous on whether Ishtra succeeds in conquering Titan), but a definite fail in gameplay.
1/6 chance isn't too bad in itself, but the loot we just picked up makes it kind of a necessary gamble for PCs with low SKILL and really low POWER, since it's one of the required items that gives low-stat PCs an alternative way to beat the End Boss.
After only a few steps in the corrupt forest, you know that something is wrong. It is not just the sense of Evil, which you will get used to as you would to a bad smell which is not noticed after a while. There is something more...something within yourself.
You will find that from here on, in your adventure, you are unable to cast any spells. One of Ishtra's defences is to prevent any magic except his own being effective in his domain. You retain your POWER score, however: there may yet be some use for it!
As you walk forward, the evil mist which you saw from the hillside seethes around you, as if urging you to return. Lightning plays over to right; a tall pine, throttled by ivy which is wriggling even now, loom in your path. From your survey from the hillside, you know that this blighted part of the forest is almost circular in shape, spreading out from a centre which must be where the entrance lies to Ishtra's underground stronghold. All you have to do is follow the steady worsening of the blight and you will reach your goal.
One obstacle at a time, however. You have reached one of the patches of bare ground, where the trees have rotted away to nothingness. Will you cross the clearing or walk around it, keeping to the trees?
Yeah, I did mention in the very first post of this topic that the access to magic spells in this book doesn't last long..... >.>
The magic spell system is one of the things that just wasn't implemented well in this book. I don't think there's a single encounter in the book where casting spell is needed to get past any obstacle. Some are mildly helpful at best. On the whole, its a very marginal privilege for characters who have a lot of POWER to spare, but most of the time you're better off saving those POWER points for later when they become really important.
Adventure Sheet:
Name: Dickolaus Von Scrotunheim
SKILL 12/12
STAMINA 17/19
LUCK 9/10
POWER: 20
Equipment: Telessa (sword), Leather Armor, Backpack, Water Flask, Potion of Strength (restores STAMINA to Initial value), Wild Boar's tusks, Antler-horn (12 branches), Elder Tree Branch (22 branches in the tree)
Provisions: 6
