[LP] Fighting Fantasy: Creature of Havoc

[Starmaker]

I'm going to put in a late vote for leaving just in case anyone tries to #YOLO this game.
ಠ_ಠ

[angelfromanotherpin]

You turn back towards the crossroads. On the way back, you may stop to examine the orb, if you have not done so already. Otherwise, continue on to the crossroads and you may take either passage:

• To the west?
• To the east?

[Mr Shine]

West

[Darth Rabbitt]

Sure, why the hell not? Let's go west.

[Starmaker]

We're going back, so west is now Right.

[angelfromanotherpin]

You reach a dead end. The light is dim and it is difficult to see, so you grope around for a possible way onwards. There is none to be found. You turn round and return to the crossroads.

• Will you now continue north?
• Or east?

Okay, this is the (in)famous mislabeled secret door. Most people consider it to be a simple, if especially frustrating, error. Others consider it to be... something else.

See, the thing about gamebooks is that unlike some other related mediums, there's no room for any independence at all. You just look at the choices you are given, and take one. Some people think that Steve Jackson, intentionally or unintentionally, created a situation where the player, to succeed, has to break free of that convention, and try something that they are not specifically instructed to. Depending on the route you take to get here, it can be more or less clear that there's supposed to be a secret door in this dead end; but the section doesn't have either of the trigger phrases. If you go off the rails and try the amulet anyway... it works. Some people even consider it the crowning moment of the creature becoming rational and self-determinant.

I don't buy it at all, but it certainly sounds more impressive than 'editing error.'

While you are groping around the end of the passageway, you suddenly notice a slight humming coming from your pendant! It is vibrating and, as you move towards one particular spot, the vibration becomes stronger. You grasp the talisman and watch as the blue stone begins to glow. Finally, a beam of blue light shoots from the pendant and lights up an area of rocky wall. You feel around the area and your hand comes to rest on a small hidden catch. When you flick the catch, the dead end before you comes to life! Smoke hisses from the crevices around the wall, forcing you to step away from it. When the smoke clears, a gap has appeared in the rock-face; an eerie green light lights up a narrow passage beyond.

• Will you step through and explore the secret passage?
• Or would you rather return to the crossroads and take the way to the north?
• Or the way to the east?

[Starmaker]

Some people even consider it the crowning moment of the creature becoming rational and self-determinant.

I can tell it's wrong, because the actual crowning moment should necessarily be "oh fuck this book, I'm just going to flowchart the hell out of it".
I also can't help but wonder if it survived the app adaptation. If I were the dev, I'd make sure it did.

In we go.

[Mr Shine]

Explore

[angelfromanotherpin]

You step into the passage and your eyes adjust to the green light. You breathe cautiously as you progress, but it seems that the smoke is not harmful, though it smells a little pungent. The passage leads after only a few paces to impenetrable blackness; not even the green light is penetrating the dark. Your eyes strain to see anything of the surroundings, but without success.

Suddenly a light flickers to your left! A small flame lights up something: it is a human face! The face is motionless and its eyes are closed. The skin is old and withered and you cannot tell whether it is alive or dead. Another light flickers! Another sombre face lights up before you. And another! Eventually there are four faces, all dimly lit, around the chamber. An instant later, their eyes and mouths flick open wide and the silence is broken by a sharp voice which cuts through the darkness. The effect is terrifying!

'Ypvruprpg rfss ehbs ab ffne wbtchf def pvlucrfbtv r fep fodf str vctj pn. Spo fbray pv uhbvfe dpn fe wfll ethp vgh uypv uk np won pt ow hyo prow hbt. Bvtay pvo hbvfi cbv sfdatw pipf ath favbp pvrse tpebf ulpst. Zhbr rbd bnam brrah jms fl f ehbsa dfc rffdey pvr udfst jny. Yp vushbl lar fmb jn ijni hjsi dvng fpsno b nd adp omy objd djng. Fp roji bma db rrbm pvs suypv rumbs tfr.' Jfiy pvuc bna vn dfrs tbn dahj mi tv mut p orff frfn cf enj nfty. 'Y pvru fjrs ti prd frejsi th js. Rf pprtofp rodvt yubta thfe yfl lpwstp nfemj nfs. Lfb vfenpw ob ndahfbdath frfejm mfdjb tfly jiwjllibf ewbt chj ng.'

As the voice ceases, a rumbling sound comes from ahead of you. The same green light indicates another secret passageway, which the voice evidently wishes you to take.

• Leave through the new passage?
• Step up to one of the illuminated faces and crush it in your hand?

[Starmaker]

Your progress has been watched foul creature of destruction. So far you have done well though you know not why or what. But you have caused two of the vapours to be lost. Zharradan Marr himself has decreed your destiny. You shall remain in his dungeon and do my bidding. For I am Darramouss your master.' If you can understand him tu[rn] to reference ninety. 'Your first order is this. Report for duty at the yellowstone mines. Leave now and head there immediately I will be watching.'

Third option.

[Mr Shine]

Third option if we're allowed to use it. Otherwise passage.

[angelfromanotherpin]

You growl defiantly at the voice. The four lights flicker and extinguish. Almost immediately a background luminosity begins to light up the area and you can see where you are. The room you are in is large and appears to be quite important, judging by the rich drapes and gilt-framed paintings which hang on the walls. The scenes depicted in the paintings seem to be of Hell itself. The four faces you saw are elaborate carvings in a soft clay-like material. Standing before you is a tall, gruesome creature dressed in a flowing black cape. Two red eyes shine out from the depths of its hood. Darramouss turns to speak to you:

'You are a recent arrival in these dungeons,' he says. 'You are a fine specimen and are a credit to your creator, Zharradan Marr. Yes, this is so. You have been created by Marr and created for a purpose. Zharradan Marr and his physician Quimmel Bone, are obsessed with marrangha – the re-formation of life. They continually experiment with the effects of potions and spells on creatures. Some, they merely transform from one type into another. Others they create from preserved organs. Their experiments are not always successful, but when one does succeed, it is sent to me here for observation before its future is finally decided. A future has been decided for you, though I know not what it is. This is of no concern to me. But your immediate duty is my concern. You must be put to work in the Yellowstone Mines. But I will offer you one other alternative. If you do not wish to work in the mines until Marr calls for you, you may choose another future for yourself: Death!'

His final word turns into a chilling laugh which resounds around the room. You set your teeth and glare at the creature. You will not be ordered what to do! 'I take it, then, that you choose my second alternative!' he says, opening a book on the desk. He begins to read something from it aloud.

• Step over and grab him by his neck?
• Wait to see what happens next?
• Escape down the secret passage in the west wall?

[Starmaker]

We will not be ordered what to do. Choke the fucker.

[Mr Shine]

Grab the fool.

[MisterDee]

Wait, he can speak to us in our language now? What sorcery is this?

Choke him for his impertinence!

[angelfromanotherpin]

Wait, he can speak to us in our language now? What sorcery is this?

So, we actually missed the Vapour of Language, but apparently are proficient enough with the Vapour of Reason that we have managed to reason out language. Every instance of gibberish that we've encountered so far is something that you might understand or not depending on whether you had the key to the cipher. But you can only reach this point in the book if you had the key. So from now on, language is plainly spoken.

Your hand closes round his neck. As you tighten it, you can hear the grinding sound of bones being crushed. But Darramouss's expression is unchanging; he shows not the slightest concern. You release the neck and drop the limp body to the ground. But the instant you release him, his body snaps back to life and the incantation continues. You set your claws and bring them ripping across his chest. As soon as you make contact, the body goes limp and it flies through the air, in response to your blow, like an empty sack. But before it lands, it once more fills out and takes shape. As the life surges quickly back into it, the creature flips in the air and flies back to land where it was! This time, the creature opens one eye wide and glares at you. You are caught in a vice-like grip of agony! The pain is overwhelming and you sink to your knees whimpering in front of the desk. You must deduct 4 STAMINA points. While you writhe in agony, Darramouss finishes his incantation.

Darramouss picks up a jar while he reads from the book. He concentrates his thoughts and seems to focus them on the jar. Then he reaches inside, pulls out a handful of grains of rice and sprinkles them over you. Before you can react, his spell has taken effect. The grains of rice have formed into Death Maggots – small grubs with voracious appetites and sharp teeth which will rip even your tough scales to shreds! Scores of the tiny creatures are now feasting on you and you desperately try to swat them with your hands. Although you do succeed in killing many of them, many more have wedged themselves between your scales and even bored into your flesh. You look up in agony at the undead creature. But Darramouss will show no mercy. His hand reaches into the jar and he tosses another handful of rice over you...

Well, that's quite the downer. But, as it turns out, all three of the choices lead to the rice ending. Because we lost this play-through some time ago when we missed... something. Somewhere in the maze of blind direction choices.

In the morning, I'll take us back to before our 'error,' and see if we can do better the second time around.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Why bother with the "you lose 4 STAMINA" if next section you die anyways? Is it just UK Steve being a dick?

And Zharadan Marr has yet another guy in his Legion of Doom (I don't think that this Quimmel Bone fellow wasn't in the introduction, is he of any relation to Zanbar Bone)? I miss the days of Way of the Tiger where you just had two or three hardcore evil dudes to fight (a BBEG and a miniboss or two) because even with the extra sections in this book I'm worried that fighting four minibosses and one BBEG might not have enough space to be satisfying.

Unless this is one of these Fighting Fantasy scenarios where you can't fight them anyways because (for instance) UK Steve always has a few invincible dudes (and by being undefeatable inexplicably stronger than the BBEG) who just chill out in the middle of their lairs (the Leprechaun and Ganjees in Citadel of Chaos, the Vampire and surprise bears Four Horsemen of the Shitpocalypse four dudes in goat masks in House of Hell, and possibly even the middle-managing mage Darramouss here.)

[Starmaker]

It says Jfiy pvuc bna vn dfrs tbn dahj m. We can, because we're on the internets and google provides 2M results for letter frequency counter. Our ancestors could, because it was their umpteenth run and they knew the code from half a dozen attempts before.

Bsaj is bjdibs s hplf.

[angelfromanotherpin]

First, a recap...

The pain is unbearable! Summoning up all your energy, you open your eyes – first one, then the other. They narrow to slits as they adjust themselves to the strain of trying to see once more, then relax as they make out familiar shapes in the dim light: a dirt floor, rocky walls... then the pain takes over. Your head rocks, Your eyes submit and close tightly in an agonized grimace. Instinctively you raise your hands to cup your face, and a low moan mingles with the rasping sound as your rough fingers rub the scaly skin above your eyes.

After some time the pain begins to ease. You open your eyes once more and peer out from between your gnarled fingers. You seem to be at the dead end of a passageway. Your surroundings are barely visible, but a dull glow is coming from the northern extent of the passageway, which stretches before you. A sound is also coming from this direction – of irregular breathing. Something alive is up there! You heave your great bulky body to its feet. Along your back, the spines bristle. Swinging your heavy head slowly from side to side, your progress is decided: northwards is the only option open to you. Muscles strain and succeed in raising a lumbering foot, which thuds loudly down on the ground in front of you, first with one foot, then the other. After four steps the motion has become automatic. You are moving more quickly and more quietly up the passage. When you reach the end, your eyes are drawn to a huddled shape lying on the ground in front of you.

The small figure lies on its side, facing away from you. It is shrouded in a dirty brown cape tied around its neck and it lies in a puddle of thick red liquid. Its body rises and falls irregularly with each breath. Some unidentified feeling swells within you. Is it anger? Hate? Fear? Curiosity? Hunger? Or even sympathy? You bend down towards the little creature, uttering a meaningless grunt as you do so.

The sound rouses the figure, which rolls slowly over to face you. The creature's dirty face is light-skinned, though barely visible under the thick hair which shades its closed eyes and almost totally obscures its mouth. From its chin the hair rolls abundantly down its chest in a grey, unruly mass. Underneath the body, and now exposed by the creature's movement, is a sharp, shiny shaft and this catches your attention.

As you stand there staring, the creature's eyes flick open! They focus on your bulky shape and a look of terror streaks across the creature's face. In spite of its pain, it fumbles for and grasps the shiny shaft, holding its pointed end out towards you and baring its teeth.


The wounded Dwarf you have found is evidently in need of help.

• Show him you mean no harm?
• Try to talk to him?
• Bring your foot down heavily on his neck?

You reach down with your hand to help him to his feet. But as you move, the little creature strikes and his sword cuts into your forearm. Luckily the tough scales prevent it from doing any real harm, but you must still lose 2 STAMINA points. Considering your size in comparison to his, his action was understandable.

Now, instead of reaching for his arm, your hand opens and grips the Dwarf's neck. You struggle to control your actions, but to no avail. Your sharp talons dig into the unfortunate creature's flesh. His eyes bulge and he tries to scream. Frantically, he hits you again with the sword, but the blow lacks power. Deduct 1 more STAMINA point. Then his body goes limp.

Your tremendous strength put the poor creature out of its misery, but the incident has left you feeling very strange. Although you wished to help the Dwarf, you have helped him only to an early grave.

• Put these thoughts out of your mind and leave the area?
• Try to hide the body?
• Examine the body?

Your hands relax and the sharp claws retract into your fingers. You clumsily fumble through the Dwarf's dirty vestments. Your fingers will not fit into the pockets, but you do succeed in snapping the thongs of a large leather pouch which the creature has around its waist. As the ties break, the pouch spills its contents on the ground in front of you. It contained several circular pieces of shiny metal and a piece of hide, which unfolds as it drops out of the pouch. It is light in colour and has markings all over one side. You pick it up awkwardly and look at it, but it makes no sense at all. You become quite fascinated by this piece of leather. You turn it round, rub it with your hands and throw it in the air. You place it on your arm and on your head. You decide to take the leather with you. Unknown to you, the message on the hide may be useful later in your adventure.

As you may have realized by now, your own wishes have little effect on your reactions as a creature. You have only glimpses of what you are like and what you are capable of. Although this will change as the adventure progresses, at this stage you are at the mercy of your own whims and instincts. You are standing at a junction where you may go either east or west.

You travel west along a twisting passageway. Several times you bump clumsily into the walls and grunt in annoyance. But your tough scales protect you from damage. The temperature drops noticeably and each breath sends steamy snorts from your nostrils. After narrowing slightly, the passage widens as it leads towards a chamber. A sound from ahead and a flickering light warn you to take care. But rather than making you stop to listen, the prospect of an encounter seems to excite you! You bare your teeth and your claws and stride forward into the chamber.

Roaring like an enraged Demon, you rush into the open chamber, ready to take on whatever is inside. Terrified shrieks come from the small party of adventurers huddling round a makeshift campfire in the center of the area. Three figures are warming themselves by the fire. One wears shiny clothes that clink as he moves. Another is dressed in red and also grows long dark hair from his chin. The third is a tiny creature with polished hide on his chest. He has no hair on his chin, but has plenty on his feet, which he has been holding up to warm at the fire. Your eyes fix on the smallest of the three. Your breathing gets heavier and a feeling of pure hatred grips you. Without hesitating, you stomp across and grab the miserable Hobbit with your claws. The other two are caught off balance and are slow to react. The Hobbit has no weapon and should be an easy victim:

HOBBIT: SKILL 5, STAMINA 6

As the creature dies, you sink your teeth into its arm to taste its juicy flesh. But then you remember the other two adventurers. The red-robed figure is facing you, pointing the little finger of each hand at you and mumbling. The shiny human has grabbed a sword – similar, you remember, to the Dwarf's, but larger – and is shouting to the other: 'Cpn tr plojt simjn dishbmbn! Jtim by abfeb blfe tp olf bda vsu

Your reaction is immediate. The red-robed human is deep in thought and looks an easy target. You step forward and swipe viciously at him with you claws! He screams and fall to the ground, clutching at his face. You look down at the undefended wretch and prepare to deliver the death-blow. But at that moment, you feel a terrible sting in the back, which causes you to bellow and swing round. The remaining adventurer has lunged at you with his sword and succeeded in piercing the scales and flesh on your back! You must lose 2 STAMINA points for the wound, and then you can face the Knight in plate-armour.

ARMOURED KNIGHT: SKILL 8, STAMINA 9

You deliver the death-blow and the Knight drops to the ground. With the danger now over, your thoughts turn to food. The smell of the still-warm Hobbit reaches your nostrils and your mouth begins to water. You snatch the creature in one hand and eagerly sink your teeth into its sweet flesh. But this will merely provide a snack for you. Inside his armour, the Knight is an impossible meal, but the red-robed Wizard groaning on the floor may be a new taste for you to savour. You silence his miserable whimpers with a single deadly slash from your claws. For the tasty meal you may restore your STAMINA to its Initial level.

After you have eaten, you rummage through the adventurers' belongings. Their packs have little to interest you. The Hobbit carried a miniature sword and you find a rolled up piece of thin parchment in the Wizard's robe. All three humans carried odd-shaped lumps of a doughy substance – perhaps food, although it smells of nothing to you. They all also have small hide pouches containing round, flat objects of shiny metal. You cannot think what these may be for, so you toss them aside. You must now continue your journey. Passages lead off from the chamber to the north, east, and west.

You decide to take the passageway to the west. You leave the chamber, your way ahead lit by the flickering fire. Eventually, the fire's light becomes too distant to help and you are groping your way in pitch-blackness. Suddenly a high-pitched twittering sound comes from above you, followed by others. You have disturbed a group of flying creatures, which are now squeaking in alarm as they dart about around you! You swipe at them blindly and catch one or two of them as they dive at you and scratch you with sharp claws. But your scales protect you from any serious harm and you are soon further along the passage, where these creatures evidently do not venture. The passage turns north. You follow it around the bend to the right and stop in front of a wooden door. There is no other way forward. Will you heave at the door with your shoulder, or is there something else you wish to do?

The door cracks under the force of your blow. A hole appears and you rip the timbers away until it is large enough for you to pass through. Torches are mounted on the wall of the room inside and there are two doors, one to the east and one to the west. There is no furniture to speak of, but some remains – perhaps of a table and chair – litter the floor among a thin covering of dirty straw. The wood has been broken in what appears to have been a furious battle, the result of which lies before you.

In the centre of the room is a familiar sight. Casting your mind back to the battle you have just won, you recognize the figure of an armoured Knightlying face down in the straw. His face is hidden under an elegant helmet decorated with wings coming from above each ear. A dark-bladed sword has entered his body through a gap in his armour between his arm and shoulder. Lying next to the Knight are three other figures. One is similar in stature, but wears a tough leather tunic and helmet. A bloody stain around his belly indicates how this adventurer came to grief. The other two figures are not so familiar. They are shorter than the others, and are dressed in armour of scaly brown hide. They have gnarled, pug-nosed faces with vicious teeth set in their lower jaws. All four bodies are long dead.

You step forward to get a better look. Suddenly you hear a chomping sound coming from somewhere in the room – in fact several places – but you cannot see anything which might make such a noise. Your eyes pass over the adventurer in leather armour and you suddenly freeze: while you are watching, a chunk of flesh disappears from his thigh! You watch incredulously for a few moments more. Not only does more flesh disappear from the adventurer's leg, but you also notice the body of one of the pug-nosed creatures twitch as its forearm suddenly loses a fleshy lump. The scene is worrying and you must decide what to do next. Roll one die.

You approach the smaller of the two pug-nosed creatures and prod it with your foot. Its lifeless body shrugs and lies still. But a similar prod on the leather-armoured adventurer's leg produces a startlingly different result. A shrill screeching sound shocks you to attention! As if this were some kind of signal, something starts to happen in the room. Three shapes begin to materialize in front of you.

Your eyes widen as three scrawny creatures form before you. They are thin and angular and move in quick, jerky motions. Although their bodies are covered in a scraggy dark fur, their bony faces are bald, with tiny eyes. In the centre of each face is an oversized, protruding mouth, rimmed with sharp teeth. These vicious little Flesh-Feeders live on carrion. While feeding they make themselves invisible to avoid being caught unawares. But in between meals they are both visible and quick-tempered. They now face you, furious that their meals have been interrupted, and you must battle the creatures. They attack together:

First FLESH-FEEDER: SKILL 6, STAMINA 6
Second FLESH-FEEDER: SKILL 6, STAMINA 7
Third FLESH-FEEDER: SKILL 6, STAMINA 6

You rest for a few moments to catch your breath and then you survey the room. Your curiosity overcomes you, and you begin to investigate the seven bodies in the room. The pug-faced Orcs are dirty and smelly. You try a mouthful of flesh, but spit it out in disgust. Around their waists they carry small bags which, when ripped open send a shower of small bones flying across the room. The two adventurers are not much more interesting. Similar pouches contain those round pieces of shiny metal which you came across before. They scatter on the floor and you ignore them. The pack on the back of the adventurer in the winged helmet is decorated and attracts your attention. One of the straps breaks as you rip it off his back and grope clumsily inside: you feel something solid. As you fumble angrily with the rucksack, a hard wooden casket drops to the ground and falls open! Inside is a clear smooth flask which contains swirling purple gas. Your curiosity is captured and your huge clawed hand tries to grasp the delicate flask. But this turns out to be hopeless. Eventually, you pick up the casket and drop it on the ground. As luck would have it, the flask jumps in its cradle and lands in such a way that the stopper flips out of the flask! The purple gas within swirls tempestuously and its vapours seep slowly from the neck of the flask.

The gas drifts from the flask, but rather than spreading out, it pulls itself together into a purple cloud and billows up before you. You watch open-mouthed as a shape begins to form in the cloud, and eventually turns into a face, which stares deep into your eyes. The face is human-like, but thin and with jagged features. The pupils of its eyes are not round, but are instead serpent-like. Its thin-lipped mouth opens and speaks: 'Jib mar flfbsf defr pmo myorf st. Fpv lucrb tvrf ewhbtadpo ypv uk npwop fothfe fprcfsew jthi w hjchiy pvutb mpfr. Bvt unpnf thfl fssemye pvr ppsfe jsipr db jnfd. Jibfstpwop n oypv uthfe ppw frepfo rfbs pn. Frp monp wo pnoyp vubr fej nicp ntr plop foypvr upwnodfs tjny. Bnd anpwemby ajir ft vrn utp omyo pfbcf fv lurfste vntj lip ncfem prfethfeh fbv fnsetb kfeth fj ri ppsj tjpns.'

Your anger mounts and you swipe at the cloud. But your hand passes right through the gas without even disturbing it. The mysterious face blinks slowly and the colour of the cloud flashes momentarily from purple to white, and back to purple again. Then the face disappears and the cloud is sucked down back into its flask. Once safely inside the flask, the stopper replaces itself in the neck and the bottle settles into its cradle in the wooden casket. An instant later, the casket and its contents have faded to nothing!

You decide you have had enough of this room, but you may add 2 LUCK points for your find. Will you leave through:

• The door to the west?
• The door to the east?

You leave the room along a passageway which runs west, your thoughts still dwelling on the mysterious smoke creature. After a short time, you find that the passage is bending this way and that through the rocky earth. But your progress is aided by the strange blue glowstones which are set into the roof of the passage. As you progress, glowstones ahead of you light up and bathe the area in an eerie blue light. When you look behind, you can see that they magically turn themselves off. Suddenly a distant echo reaches your ears and you stop dead in your tracks. Again you hear the sound – and it is coming closer! Footsteps and muffled voices are heading towards you. You are fortunate in having the advantage that your own footsteps are virtually silent, so you continue ahead, ready for a fight with anything that may come along. You approach a bend...

A shrill scream pierces the air and for an instant you are not sure whether it came from your own throat or that of the terrified adventurer with whom you suddenly found yourself nose to nose, when you turned the bend! But you recover quickly and slash furiously at this hapless human, who is still trying to compose himself after his fright. You catch him across the skimpy leather armor he wears on his chest, and send him crashing into the rocky wall where he loses his grip on the sword he is carrying. His two companions are close behind, so you must finish off the Strongarm without delay:

STRONGARM: SKILL 7, STAMINA 8

As their leader falls, the other two adventurers rush to attack. One is a female warrior and one is a thief. Both are carrying shields and both attack you at the same time:

WARRIOR: SKILL 7, STAMINA 7
THIEF:SKILL 8, STAMINA 6

You poke around the bodies of the three dead ruffians. Something shining on the wrist of the third adventurer catches your attention. Clumsily you rip at the clothing of all three, eventually exposing three objects of interest. The leading adventurer wore, around his neck, a pendant made of a dull, dark metal on a leather thong. The third adventurer wore two wrist bracelets of a shining yellow metal. The other carried a pouch containing 12 small flat discs of a shiny metal. Which of these is of the most interest to you:

• The dull metal pendant?
• The two wrist bracelets?
• The pouch containing the discs?

You are fascinated by the ugly pendant. You carefully hook the leather thong with a claw and pull it free of the adventurer's head. You turn it over in your hand and can see that it is circular, with a dull blue stone set in the centre. You stare at the pendant for some time, wondering what to do with it. Then you remember how the adventurer wore it. You are just able to squeeze it over your head and you carry the pendant proudly around your neck. The pendant has a secret, which will be revealed in due course. If you reach a reference which begins: 'You cannot see a thing...' deduct 20 from the reference number you are on at the time and turn to that number instead. You may add 1 LUCK point for this find.

Before you finally leave the adventurers, you may decide to feed on them. If you do, you gain 4 STAMINA points. Then you continue. All is silent as you walk carefully along the passage. Eventually, your ears pick up the sound of running water, and the air becomes moist and cool. The sensation would be quite refreshing if it were not for an unpleasant smell, which gets stronger as the sound of the water becomes louder. Soon you find yourself on a ledge in the face of a rocky cliff. Looking out, you can see you are high over a vast cavern through which a river flows. Leading down from your ledge into the centre of the cavern is a flight of rough-cut stairs. This precarious staircase spans the river and is the only way onwards, but the thought of descending the stairs is not one which fills you with enthusiasm. The narrow steps have been made for human-sized feet and your large pads will make your descent awkward. The smell, which was unpleasant before, is now horrendous and seems to be coming from the river itself. Its waters are murky and brown and the smell of excrement and decay is overpowering. Nevertheless, your only way on is downwards, so down you must go. Test your Luck.

The descent is dangerous and several times you lose your footing and stumble on the slippery steps. But your luck holds out and you finally arrive at the foot of the staircase. The stench of the river is especially foul to your sensitive nostrils and your eyes search desperately for a way out of the cavern. You discover two openings in the rock-face ahead of you. One leads to the west and the other to the north.

• Continue north?
• Turn west?

A passage leads from the opening into the rock-face, and you follow it. But you find that, as you travel north, the light fades rapidly. There are no glow-stones in this passage and you must progress carefully, steadying yourself by running your hands along both walls. The ground underfoot is rocky and several times you stub your toes painfully on protruding stones. Later, you can no longer touch both walls at once. Although you are unable to see anything, you sense that you are entering a large chamber.

You cannot see a thing–

As you shuffle around the wall of the cavern, you suddenly notice a strange sensation coming from your neck. The pendant you picked up is beginning to vibrate slightly and is giving out a faint hum! But when you continue around the wall, the vibration fades until the pendant is once more still. You puzzle over this for a few moments and step back to where you were before. Again, the vibrations and humming come from the pendant and you pause to look at what is happening. The dull blue stone set in its centre is beginning to glow and you watch in amazement as its colour changes from blue to a living red, as though a fire were burning inside it! An instant later, a single beam of red light shoots from the stone to a point on the wall in front of you. Following its direction, you can see what seems to be a piece of rock hanging in mid-air! As if ordered by the pendant, you grasp the rock and pull. It is not hanging in mid-air, but is attached to a rope and your tug is answered by a rumble in the rock in front of you. A doorway is opening!

The pendant you have found is in fact a magic talisman which has a special power. It is able to detect hidden doorways. In future, it will warn you of the presence of secret doors, but you will have to watch for the warning signs! If you reach a reference which begins: 'You find yourself...' then you may look for a secret passage using the talisman's help. Add 20 to the reference you are on at the time and turn to this new reference. If a secret door is present, the new reference will make sense and the talisman will show you its secret (if the new reference makes no sense, then there is no secret door). If you are able to, you may add 1 LUCK point for finding the secret door.

• Enter the secret door?
• Not? (and continue the 'you cannot see a thing' reference)

You crouch low and squeeze through the narrow gap. As you pass through the doorway, a single glowstone flicks on to reveal the contents of the small chamber which you are now standing in. The room is completely bare except for a large chest against one of the walls. You step over and examine the chest. You push it, shove it and bash it, trying to break it open. Finally, a lucky push opens the lid. Inside, you find two mysterious objects. The first is a large circular plate made of strong metal. It has a sharp spike which protrudes from the centre on one side and two leather straps on the other. On the same side as the straps is attached a leather pouch which may be useful for carrying things. The other object is a piece of rough, coloured rock, about the size of your forearm. One end is wide and the other is much narrower. It is a dull green colour and glistens faintly in the light. But it appears very brittle. It may make a useful weapon gripped by the tapered end, but it would no doubt not last long in battle. You may take one of these items with you. Any metallic discs may be placed in the pouch on the plate if you choose this object.

• The plate?
• The rock?

You have chosen a crystal club. It is not valuable but, to your way of thinking, it is a beautiful trophy. However, it is quite brittle. If at some time in the future you wish to use it in battle, turn to reference 333 to find out what happens. But you must remember the number of the reference you are on at the time you choose to use the club, so you may return there afterwards. Now leave the chamber and continue your journey.

And here's the fateful branch where we went astray...

You cannot see a thing. Your feet shuffle noisily through the straw which covers the floor, as you grope around the walls for a way out. If this cavern is the lair of another creature, then you may well be walking straight towards it! But you hear no sounds other than your own and eventually you reach a hole in the rock, which is large enough for you to walk through and leads to a passageway. You continue slowly along the passage, still groping your way, but you stop when a blue light flicks on in front of you. The welcome hue of a glowstone makes you blink and turn away until your eyes become accustomed to the light. When you are finally able to take in your surroundings, you find that you are at a junction where you may turn either to the east or to the west.

• East?
• West?

We went east. The correct choice (obviously, amirite) was west.

The passage continues west, then turns sharply to the right. A few paces along the corridor you reach a junction where you can go either

• West?
• or North?

Oh yeah, that's much better.

SKILL: 10
STAMINA: 17
LUCK: 11

marked piece of hide
secret door pendant
crystal club

[Starmaker]

We went east. The correct choice (obviously, amirite) was west.

/facepalm
That was so dumb of us. We might as well curl up and shrivel in our ignorance.

LolIdunno. North?

[Darth Rabbitt]

Thank you for teaching us the error of our ways, Creature of Havoc.

We go North now, and avoid the East-West dichotomy that led us astray.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Thank you for teaching us the error of our ways, Creature of Havoc.

We go North now, and avoid the East-West dichotomy that led us astray.

[angelfromanotherpin]

The passage runs straight ahead until you reach a junction where you may:

• Continue north?
• Turn east?
• Alternately, return to the previous junction and turn west?

[Mr Shine]

So many reasons to choose one over the other..

East

[Starmaker]

Actually, yes, I remember this spot, this is where I tried to map. The choice where things started to go unwell was getting cut by that shadowy bsshplf. This is the second junction after that.

East.