[lets play] Fighting Fantasy (Scholastic 16): Assassins of Allansia.

[Dogopolis]

You slip over the side of the boat and grab hold of the rudder, keeping your head down as low to the water as possible to avoid being seen. The loose sail starts to flap around noisily in the wind. You hear voices coming from the pirate ship with the crew arguing about how the Blue Moon came to be drifting at sea with nobody on board

A gruff voice suddenly barks out an order: “Shut up, you dogs! One of you throw out a grappling hook and pull thatboat in! We’ll tow it to Port Blacksand and sell it.” You hear the iron hook land on the boat and catch under the bench seat on the foredeck. Your boat is pulled to the back of the pirate ship, where it is tied on before turning for Port Blacksand. You find yourself being dragged along at speed, and it is all you can do to hang on. Do you want to give yourself up to the pirates, or do you want to climb back on board the Blue Moon and hope you are not seen?

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to get back on board the Blue Moon, as surrendering is just asking for a Game Over.

[Queen of Swords]

Agreed.

[Dogopolis]

You climb over the side of the boat and lie down in the bottom. Test Your Luck.

5 is Lucky
------------------------------------------

There is nobody looking out to sea from the stern of the pirate ship, and you slip unseen on board the Blue Moon. It’s a bumpy ride, but you make great headway being towed along by the pirate ship. Do you want to continue being towed to Port Blacksand or do you want to cut the rope that is towing the Blue Moon?

[Beroli]

On the one hand, following enemies into hostile territory has a long tradition of being deadly in gamebooks. On the other hand it's giving us no clue how far we've come. On the third hand, we apparently have a perfectly seaworthy boat.

Cut the rope.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to cut the rope.

[Thaluikhain]

Yeah, ok, cut the rope.

[SGamerz]

Cut the rope.

[Queen of Swords]

I like the idea of being towed to Blacksand, so while I'll go along with the rope-cutting, at the end of the book, could you say what happens if we're towed?

[Dogopolis]

I like the idea of being towed to Blacksand, so while I'll go along with the rope-cutting, at the end of the book, could you say what happens if we're towed?

The captain of the pirate vessel eventually makes a hard right which causes you to bump your head (-1 Stamina), then you just cut the rope.

You cut through the rope with one swipe of your sword and watch the pirate ship sail away. Moments later a gigantic tentacle rises out of the sea no more than twenty metres away from the pirate ship. Another tentacle rises out of the sea, then another, and another, until there are eight of them towering high in the sky. The ship is about to be attacked by a KRAKEN, a giant sea monster with a colossal squid-like body, two huge eyes and a beaked mouth.

You hear booming explosions from the ship’s cannon as two cannonballs whistle through the air towards the Kraken, one of them finding its mark and taking a big chunk out of one of the tentacles. The sea monster retaliates by wrapping two of its giant tentacles around the ship’s mast. There is chaos on board when the Kraken starts pulling the ship over on to its side. Everything on deck that is not lashed down spills overboard. There is nothing the pirates can do to defeat the Kraken, and you hear them cry for help as they jump into the sea. You watch on in horror as the pirate ship rolls over and disappears below the waves, and the crew with it. Not wishing to be the Kraken’s next victim, you hurriedly trim the Blue Moon’s flapping sail to get underway to escape from the sea monster. Do you want to steer a course due east towards the Red River estuary or do you want to sail south-east to Port Blacksand?

[Queen of Swords]

The estuary. I feel like if we're given the choice to go there, there must be something useful on that route.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to go to Port Blacksand since that will probably allow our hero to get additional equipment against the assassins. I also vote to eat a Provision to provide our hero with decent Stamina going in.

[Thaluikhain]

Yeah, estuary and eat.

(I didn't know Blacksand had gunpowder technology)

[Beroli]

The estuary. Going to Port Blacksand to confront Lord Azzur may well be necessary for the plot but it sounds suicidally insane.

[SGamerz]

I vote to go to Port Blacksand, because Livingstone is just the kind of author to punish readers for not visiting all his nostalgia locales and we'll probably miss something vital by not going there.

[Dogopolis]

Apart from Blood Sharks circling you at one point, the voyage to the mainland passes without incident. A strong easterly breeze speeds up the journey, and a few hours later the rugged Allansian coastline comes into view. The cliffs are quite high, but you see an estuary directly ahead which you know to be the entrance to Red River. It’s not long before you are at the mouth of the river, where you see two wooden buildings on the northern bank. You steer the Blue Moon over to the bank, jump out, and tie it up to a small dock.

It feels good to be back on dry land, but you are also very aware that Lord Azzur will not rest until one of his assassins has delivered your head to him. If only Captain Crow had told you who the other assassins were before he died, you would be better prepared. Now you suspect everybody you meet could be one of Azzur’s assassins. But at least you should recognize Garanka Vassell when you see him, if not the other assassins. You walk towards the buildings, which you see are a boatyard and a general store. Thinking you might be able to get some gold by selling the Blue Moon, you decide to visit the boatyard first

-------------------------------------------------

You walk through the open gate of a high-fenced boatyard. There are several wooden boats propped up on wooden piles in the yard in various states of repair. Some are having holes in their hulls repaired and others are just being painted. You see a man in a green tunic standing on a ladder, leaning against a small fishing boat. He has a large brush in his hand and is busy varnishing the hull. On seeing you he climbs slowly down the ladder and lets out a high-pitched whistle, whereupon two vicious-looking dogs come bounding into the yard. They run over to the man and sit down at his feet, panting, their fierce eyes firmly fixed on you.

“How can I help?” the man asks casually. Do you want to ask him if he’s interested in buying a boat or do you want to ask him if he knows of a man called Garanka Vassell?

[Queen of Swords]

Sell the boat first, just in case the mention of the name leads to the man siccing the dogs on us.

[SGamerz]

Sell the boat.

[Dogopolis]

Forgot to mention last post: 2 votes for eating a meal, none against, so meal eaten.

The man looks at you intensely, as though trying to remember where he’s seen you before. He frowns and purses his lips in thought, and says, “I might be interested, it depends. You better show me the boat.” You lead the man to the Blue Moon. He jumps on board and inspects it briefly for seaworthiness. “She’s a fine boat, no doubt about it, but the last time I saw the Blue Moon, she belonged to Samuel Crow. I can’t imagine old Sam would ever sell her. How come you claim to be the owner?”

If you want to reply that Captain Crow died on Snake Island, turn to 136. If you want to reply that you won the boat from the captain playing cards, turn to 338.

[SGamerz]

Ninja honesty (Crow died).

[Queen of Swords]

Yes, tell the truth.

[Dogopolis]

You tell the man about the tragic events that led to Captain Crow’s death. He shakes his head and says, “Well, Sam didn’t have no family, so I guess it’s all right for you to sell his boat. But I’m not going to give you much for it mind, just in case you are making this story up. I’ll give you 20 Gold Pieces for her, take it or leave it.” Do you want to accept his offer or do you want to demand 30 Gold Pieces for the boat?

[SGamerz]

Accept the offer.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to accept the offer.

[Queen of Swords]

Yes, accept his offer.