[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy 32 - Slaves of the Abyss

[Thaluikhain]

Save them from the creepy horde.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to agree to her demands.

And thanks again for the well wishes, everyone!

[SGamerz]

A ragged cheer goes up from the villagers as you give your assent. You are led back to the hut, and more food is brought. The old woman advises you to prepare for the test which awaits you, but she seems unable to explain its nature. The more she speaks to you, the madder she seems, and you begin to doubt her prophecy. But who are you to complain? You settle back to rest, staring up through the smoke-hole at the bright moon.

Who are we to complain? One would have thought being named the prophesized Saviour of the village would have given us more privilege to have our voice heard!

Around you the muted noises of the village begin to subside, and the whirrs and chirrups of the river insects take over. As time wears on, you notice that a faint buzzing is growing louder. Soon the nearby insects' sounds are drowned out by thus unnatural rasping. You hear the screams of frightened villagers, and the moon is blotted out by the source of the terrible buzzing - directly above your hut! You run to the door, but it will not budge. You turn back to the hut in time to see a serpentine shape sliding down through the smoke-hole.

You prepare to battle this terrifying foe. Then you notice a pair of fancy boots poking down through the smoke-hole. The are followed by a gaudily dressed figure who spirals effotlessly down a coiling rope. His billowing, brightly coloured clothing is completely out of place in this grubby hut. The figure bows to you expansively, and hails you. "Greetings, traveller! I am called the Riddling Reaver, and, as luck would have it, I'm here to rescue you. I've been keeping an eye on you, and since you've made a complete pig's ear of things so far, I've decided to save your bacon. If you waste your time on ever peasant who begs you to wipe his nose, then Kallamehr has no chance." He twitches and giggles to himself. Pointing to the snake-like rope he says, "This is the end of the line. So hurry up and gets hold of it!" He spirals effortlessly up the rope, just as you hear the bar scape back from the door behind you. If you grab the rope, turn to 96. If not, turn 236.

The person who was last seen in Kallamehr committing murder on its former ruler now wants to help us save it! Do we accept that help?

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to grab the rope.

[Queen of Swords]

Grab the rope.

[Beroli]

Grab the rope.

[SGamerz]

No sooner have you grasped the end of the rope than you are jerked violently off your feet. You are swept upwards and out through the smoke-hole. Below you, the torches of the angry villagers dwindle, and their wails can just be heard through the din. The angry buzzing comes from above, but all you can see is a huge black shadow. You are carried through the air for some way, before being set down with a bump on solid ground. The Reaver spins down the rope and alights near you, and this time he is cradling a peculiarly shaped bottle in his arms. He holds it out to you, and you see that it is shaped like a particularly ugly fish. "You'll be needing this," says the Reaver, passing you the bottle. "In it is a sense of humour which I stole several years ago, in my impetuous youth. You'll be meeting its former owner soon, so you'd better give it back to him: there's nothing so soft as a villain with a sense of humour!" He winks knowingly at you and, without another word, shoots up the rope. The buzzing rises in pitch, and the black shadow drifts off. You are alone, lost, without your horse. Wearily, you settle down to wait out the rest of the night.

Well, here's 1 of the items we were checked for during the Bythos encounter. The Reaver chided us for getting distracted from our mission by every peasant that asks us for help...but ironically, if we'd remained goal-oriented and refused to stay at the village and help them, we'd have missed the encounter with him and thereby missed this important quest item.

In the cold light of morning you discover that you have spent the night by the side of the road. What's more, your horse is quietly grazing a short distance away. As you remount and prepare to continue, you notice a small roll of parchment tied to the pommel of your saddle. It reads:

Before you I stand, fair and square,
Yet once you spot me I won't be there,
Vanquished by a word yet kings I beat
And rounded of with a rhyme so sweet.
Who am I?

Add 2 LUCK points. Tick off the time box, then turn to 7.

I've never bothered solving this riddle since it's actually not essential to completing the book. But I also have no idea whether the riddle is just pure flavour or actually contains some sort of clue. If any of you knows or can guess what the solution might be, your input is more than welcome.

You are beginning to feel that you are going to spend the rest of your life in the saddle. The weather is strangely humid for the time of the year, and the occasional gusts of wind from the east bring little comfort; they are tainted by a fetid, sickly-sweet stench. The road passes through a jumble of massive boulders and a jagged scarp rises on your left. Ahead of you, another settlement huddles underneath a huge overhang of rock. Strangely, no smoke rises from it. As you approach, you notice several objects littering the road: shoes, bowls, and tools. You dismount and enter the village cautiously, finding a desolate street, empty of people and littered with debris. From one of the buildings to your right you can hear a faint knocking sound. Will you:

Follow the knocking?
Search the buildings to your left?
Hurry out of the village and press on?

And now we're back in familiar territory! I'm pretty sure we still wish to go and rescue Mema (although if you don't, feel free to shout out), but do we want to check the knocking this time round?

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: Dastan
SKILL 12/12
STAMINA 17/17
LUCK 10/10
Equipment: Sword of Fangthane steel, leather armour, Sige's Pomander, Reaver's bottle
Provisions: 5
Gold & Treasure: 22 GP
Time remaining: 15/20 (turn to 57 when crossing off 18th time unit, and to 326 when crossing off the last time unit)
[/spoiler]

[JourneymanN00b]

The solution is a riddle, if we follow the same reasoning as we did in Sword of the Samurai. I do not want to follow the knocking this time around, and vote to go ahead to rescue Mema. After that, I vote to ride to warn Kallamehr in order to complete our original goal instead of going to the forest. Maybe we can get another essential item by doing this.

[Queen of Swords]

If it's possible to both check out the knocking and get to Mema, I'd like to do this.

[Thaluikhain]

I second Queen of Swords.

(Also, the book knew that the Let's Play of The Riddling Reaver wouldn't end with him dealt with, though that book does recommend that)

[SGamerz]

The solution is a riddle, if we follow the same reasoning as we did in Sword of the Samurai.

Well, then I guess it's just the Reaver's signature instead of anything useful to the player.

Anyway, the Reaver's picture has been added to the earlier post...

Checking out the knocking...

The knocking sounds is coming from a large stone building which has a sign outside: 'Strangecan's Wine Emporium'. Cautiously, you open the door and enter, stepping carefully over broken bottles. The shop is wrecked from top to bottom, and the floor is puddled with spilled wine. A slow, regular thumping is coming from behind the counter. Peering over it, you see a trapdoor set into the floor. A cask is wedged between the counter and the wall, preventing the trapdoor from being opened. If you try to open the trapdoor, turn to 59. If you leave the shop and look in the other buildings, turn to 128.

The 'other buildings' options basically takes us back to Enthymesis' house.

[Queen of Swords]

Someone clearly tried to keep the trapdoor closed, so I'm not keen on opening it. Let's go to Enthymesis's house.

[Thaluikhain]

That sounds wise, but still, doing things is more interesting than not, so half vote to open.

[Beroli]

Back to Enthymesis' house.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to leave the shop and look in the other buildings.

[SGamerz]

You slip into one of the buildings near by and try to find some clue to explain the mystery of the abandoned village. You quickly realize that you have entered the house of wizard or herbalist. Fragrant drying herbs, arcane books and scrolls, and vials of coloured liquids litter a desk in the corner to your right. To your left sits a rune-carved table, on which lies a half-eaten knuckle of cured ham. Across the far wall you see a row of puppets, dangling on their strings from a high shelf above a cupboard. If you go to look at them, turn to 244. If you examine the wizard's paraphernalia, turn to 333.

We know the stuff here can be done in any order, so it doesn't matter what we choose first. Getting Mema out seem more straightforward, so I'll do that first this time:

As you approach the row of puppets, your left foot squelches in something and skids. You have trodden in a sticky green footprints, one of a line which leads from the cupboard to the table and back again. The cupboard before you is crudely daubed with a rune: the sign of a single arrow. If you open the cupboard with your sword, ready to strike, turn to 76. If you open it normally, turn to 37

We already know what's inside, so there's no point in drawing our sword and intimidating her.

You step back in revulsion at the sight of a slimy green form crouched within the cupboard. It holds a slender tube to its mouth, which it points at your face. Looking closer, you see frightened eyes fixed on you, This is no creature of evil, but a young girl, coated from head to foot in a sticky, foul-smelling mire. You smile at her encouragingly, and she lowers her makeshift blow-pipe as she realizes you mean her no harm. Gently, you hold out your hand and take the blow-pipe from her, pocketing it to keep it out of harm's way. "Who are you?" you ask her.

She tells you her name is Mema, and that she is the apprentice of the enchanter Enthymesis. She knows little more than you of the reason why the village is deserted. She has stayed hidden in the cupboard for the last couple of days, since her master left. Before going, he told her to remain hidden, and he coated her in the green paste, which he said would protect her. She tells you that, the evening before his departure, Enthymesis had been very worried by a divination he had performed. He had told her that he had to undertake a dangerous journey to seek guidance from Aletheia the Sage who dwells in a shifting forest in the mountains to the north. Then he had insisted that she had remained cowering in the cupboard while a terrible din came down upon the settlement. Terrified, she listened to the hideous shrieks of the townsfolk. "Finally silence descended on the village, then you came." If you have not already searched the wizard's desk, you may do so now. If you have already searched the desk, or if you don't wish to, you may leave the house with Mema.

And now we can search the desk again...

Rummaging among the vials and pieces of scrap paper on the desk, you come across a parchment stained green by a sticky syrup which has spilled from a cracked bottle. You hold up a soggy sheet, straining to read the scrawl which covers it. You can't make out all the words, just occasional snippets.

'...and do not leave the house until you are certain the danger is past...Under no circumstances allow...safe then you should make your way to your parents' village by...find yourself in the shifting forest you must follow the brush-bearer's gloves or be lost for ever...'

If you haven't already done so, you may go to examine the puppets and cupboard. Or you may continue rummaging on the desk.

We already got the necessary information from here. But we do need to get through this section first before we can examine it further for the potions:

You glance through the books and scrolls, but the rambling text means nothing to you. The vials look more promising. Though many are cracked and their content split, a few remain intact. Of these you salvage the three which seem the least noxious, each containing an unexciting, cloudy, brown liquid. Each is labelled in the same crabbed handwriting. You may risk drinking one or more of the liquids now, or you may take any or all of them with you. If you decide to take them with you, note down the name of each potion you take on your Adventure Sheet, together with the paragraph number which you should go to if you decide to drink it. You may drink one of these potions at any time that you would normally be able to drink a potion (that is, as long as you are not in battle). Remember: note down the number of the paragraph you are at before turning to the relevant paragraph for the potion you are about to drink; you should also make a note of the fact what you have drink that potion. Each vial contains only one mouthful - so, once you have drink a potion, it has gone.

If you drink the potion marked 'Ghulsh', turn to 258.
If you drink the potion marked 'Arahl', turn to 285.
'If you drink the potion marked 'Zazzaz', turn to 369.

Once you have finished checking the potions, turn to 270.

Pausing here to see if the players prefer to drink any of the potions on the spot or leave any of them behind this time...

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: Dastan
SKILL 12/12
STAMINA 17/17
LUCK 10/10
Equipment: Sword of Fangthane steel, leather armour, Sige's Pomander, Reaver's bottle, Blowpipe
Provisions: 5
Gold & Treasure: 22 GP
Time remaining: 15/20 (turn to 57 when crossing off 18th time unit, and to 326 when crossing off the last time unit)
[/spoiler]

[Beroli]

Leave the potions.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to take all of the potions, but not drink any of them.

[Thaluikhain]

Take and don't drink.

[SGamerz]

Dastan swipes all the potions again without drinking them.

If you have a blow-pipe, turn to 2. Otherwise, if you have not yet examined the puppets and cupboard closely, you may do so. Alternatively, you may leave the building and make your way out of the settlement.

Holding Mema's sticky hand, you make your way back to your horse. You will have to deliver her safely back to her parents, and she tells you that she knows the way to their village. It is back the way you have already come, but to leave her unprotected would not be the action of a hero. Meanwhile she is still covered in the green slime. If you decide to wash it off her, turn to 170. Otherwise, turn to 396.

There's good supporting reason from Enthyemsis note that suggests the slime is for protection, which everyone agreed last time, so we'll leave it on her again.

You leap up on to your horse's back, then hoist Mema up in front of you. Soon you are galloping back along the road which brought you here. You turn off the road leading back to Kallamehr and race along a narrow track which wind up the hillside. You can see the lands far about, and off to your left a lazy plume of smoke drifts into the sky from Mema's village. Tick off a time box, then turn to 95.

Your attention is drawn to the far end of the valley, way off to your right. You shiver involuntarily, and the hairs on the nape of your neck rise. Your horse shies and whinnies in terror. A thick stench fills your lungs. The sparse slopes are being slowly enveloped by an advancing wave of black lava...or so it seems. Your eyes adjust to the distance and you see that the oozing black mass is not liquid, but a seething ocean of people. Even as you watch, it seeps closer, spreading like a dark stain. You have found the invading army, but will you survive to make use of your knowledge? There are many more people in the horde below that in Kallamehr's entire army. If you ride down into the valley to take a closer look, turn to 153. If you gallop off to your left to try to reach the village, turn to 358.

Do we want to look closer at the army this time?

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: Dastan
SKILL 12/12
STAMINA 17/17
LUCK 10/10
Equipment: Sword of Fangthane steel, leather armour, Sige's Pomander, Reaver's bottle, Blowpipe, Ghulsh' potion (turn to 258 when drunk), 'Arahl' potion (turn to 285 when drunk), 'Zazzaz' potion (turn to 369 when drunk)
Provisions: 5
Gold & Treasure: 22 GP
Time remaining: 14/20 (turn to 57 when crossing off 18th time unit, and to 326 when crossing off the last time unit)
[/spoiler]

[Beroli]

Try to reach the village.

[JourneymanN00b]

My vote will again be to stand against fascism and try to reach the village.

[Queen of Swords]

Yes, try to reach the village.

[Thaluikhain]

To the village.

[SGamerz]

You spur your mare along the back of the ridge, desperate to reach the village in time to warn them of their peril. If Mema is with you, turn to 35. If not, turn to 125.

Mema clings on for dear life as you spur your horse towards the village. As you approach the palisade, the large gates swing open, and you are beckoned in by a worried villager. Mema slips down from the horse and rushes into the arms of her parents you waste no time in telling the people of the danger they are in. They grab what they can of their possessions and livestock before fleeing. Finally, you find yourself alone outside the deserted village. The huge black army is in sight now, steadily moving down the valley towards you. Is it time to make your own escape.

The black horde is behind you. It is still many miles from Kallamehr, yet it is engulfing everything in its path. Although you know of no weakness in the enemy, surely Kallamehr should be forewarned: evacuation may be the only means of survival. Tick off a time box. Will you:

Ride to warn Kallamehr?
Try to find out more about the enemy?
Search for Enthymesis the Enchanter (if you recognize the name)?

Do we want to do something different this time?

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: Dastan
SKILL 12/12
STAMINA 17/17
LUCK 10/10
Equipment: Sword of Fangthane steel, leather armour, Sige's Pomander, Reaver's bottle, Blowpipe, Ghulsh' potion (turn to 258 when drunk), 'Arahl' potion (turn to 285 when drunk), 'Zazzaz' potion (turn to 369 when drunk)
Provisions: 5
Gold & Treasure: 22 GP
Time remaining: 13/20 (turn to 57 when crossing off 18th time unit, and to 326 when crossing off the last time unit)
[/spoiler]