[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy 49 - Siege of Sardath

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to attack the figure to see if preemptively preventing a surprise attack against this classically evil figure will pay off.

[Beroli]

Talk to them.

[SGamerz]

You start to speak, but the figure interrupts. "How dare you speak to Thyra Migurn without kneeling before her!" A glowing light appears in the cowl, then a burst of lightning shoots out, hitting you in the chest. Roll one die and deduct that many points from your STAMINA. If you survive this blast, will you now kneel before Thyra, or do you refuse?

Die roll = 5. STAMINA is now at 10.

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: Quincey Stridemoore
SKILL 12/12
STAMINA 10/15
LUCK 10/10
Equipment: Sword, leather armour, bow, quiver, Council Signet Ring, 1: Dried Chameleonite Blood, 2: Condensed Mist from the Mithrir Forest, 7: Pickled Whole Shapechanger Brain, Four-leaf Clover, Sleeping Draught, Potion of Fortune, Seven-coiled Snake Ring, Brain Slayer Amulet (symbol 'IX' carved on its back, -2 SKILL when worn, currently not worn), Climbing rope, Brass Key, Fangnir's Encyclopedia of Subterranean Flora
Arrows: 6
Bundles of Herbs: 10
Gold: 6 GP
Companions: Istu (SKILL 12, STAMINA 12, can fight alongside us in combat, does not take damage from opponents, but lose 3 STAMINA per use)
Day of the Week:
Stormsday (3/3 extra lives remaining)
Moonsday (2/3 extra lives remaining)
Fireday (3/3 extra lives remaining)
Earthday (3/3 extra lives remaining)
Windsday (2/3 extra lives remaining)
Seaday (2/3 extra lives remaining)
Highday (3/3 extra lives remaining)
[/spoiler]

[Beroli]

Kneel. This is seeming like a code.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to kneel before Thyra, since attacking her is no longer an option.

[Queen of Swords]

Yeah, another couple of zaps like that will kill us. Kneel before Sparky.

[SGamerz]

Reluctantly you lower yourself to your knees.

"Now then, mortal," the creature says, "who are you and what do you want with Thyra Migurn?

You tell her that you are an adventurer from Grimmund in the Forest of Night.

"You should have stayed in the Forest where you belong." You can hear great fury in her voice, although she is trying to suppress it. If you apologize for trespassing on her mountain and leave immediately, she allows you to get back down to the path unharmed. If you persist in talking to her, will you ask her if there are any Dwarfs left alive in the mountains or ask her if she knows where the Black Flyers come from?

'
Strangely, no option to ask if she knows where Corianthus lives, especially since we came into the mountain to look for him.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to ask her if she knows where the Black Flyers come from, and to use an herb to restore 4 Stamina.

[Beroli]

Ask her about the Black Flyers, yes.

[Queen of Swords]

Agreed, Black Flyers.

[SGamerz]

"Dark Elves?" screams Thyra, her voice echoing round the mountain. There is a bright flash, followed by a crack of thunder, and you are momentarily blinded. "I loathe and detest these sorcerous delvers into the ground."

Test you Luck. If you are Unlucky, a bolt of lightning hits you (roll one die and deduct that many points form your STAMINA). If you are Lucky, it all misses. Once the fury has died down and your vision is restored, you see that everything she was wearing has been annihilated. Her body is now cloaked in a blaze of light; sparks fly from her, causing licks of lightning in the sky. She looks at you with menace.

"What do you want with Dark Elves?" she asks. You tell her about your mission. "You will need power," she says, and a small silver sphere appears in her hand; she gives it to you. "You may use the Lightning Sphere only against the darkest of the Dark Elves; the ball itself will tell you when." You open your mouth to thank her, but she holds up a fiery hand. "Go," she says. "for my temper is not to be trusted." Having seen her in full fury. you leave without delay.

A short time later, you find yourself at the path at the foot of the mountain, relived to have made it back alive.

Man, that woman needs therapy. At least she openly admitted that she has anger management issues. And the shiny (literally) new weapon is cool.

Luck test roll = 7 (lucky).

Nothing you have learned so far points either to the south or to the east, and the mountains lying to the north of here are impassable to someone of your inexperience, so you decide to follow the mountain trail south-west. This leads you down a gently descending valley, with the sheer mountains to the north and a long ridge to the south. After a long walk, your path crosses a track going north-west up a steep slope towards a mountain pass. It doesn't look like an east route, but it is not beyond your capabilities. If you carry on south-west, turn to 240. If you go north-west up to the pass, do you have a Red Gem (turn to 257) or not (turn to 108)?

Another familiar section. Do we want to change directions this time?

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: Quincey Stridemoore
SKILL 12/12
STAMINA 10/15
LUCK 9/10
Equipment: Sword, leather armour, bow, quiver, Council Signet Ring, 1: Dried Chameleonite Blood, 2: Condensed Mist from the Mithrir Forest, 7: Pickled Whole Shapechanger Brain, Four-leaf Clover, Sleeping Draught, Potion of Fortune, Seven-coiled Snake Ring, Brain Slayer Amulet (symbol 'IX' carved on its back, -2 SKILL when worn, currently not worn), Climbing rope, Brass Key, Fangnir's Encyclopedia of Subterranean Flora, Lightning Sphere
Arrows: 6
Bundles of Herbs: 10
Gold: 6 GP
Companions: Istu (SKILL 12, STAMINA 12, can fight alongside us in combat, does not take damage from opponents, but lose 3 STAMINA per use)
Day of the Week:
Stormsday (3/3 extra lives remaining)
Moonsday (2/3 extra lives remaining)
Fireday (3/3 extra lives remaining)
Earthday (3/3 extra lives remaining)
Windsday (2/3 extra lives remaining)
Seaday (2/3 extra lives remaining)
Highday (3/3 extra lives remaining)
[/spoiler]

[Queen of Swords]

Yes, let's try going north-west this time.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to go north-west this time, and to use an herb to restore 4 Stamina.

[Thaluikhain]

Test you Luck. If you are Unlucky, a bolt of lightning hits you (roll one die and deduct that many points form your STAMINA). If you are Lucky, it all misses. Once the fury has died down and your vision is restored, you see that everything she was wearing has been annihilated. Her body is now cloaked in a blaze of light; sparks fly from her, causing licks of lightning in the sky.

That seems like a bad pun on the word "flash", though I'm assuming that it was unintentionally.

[SGamerz]

Although the slope up to the mountain pass is steel, it is not dangerous. It is a hard slog to get to the top, but you accomplish it more quickly than you might have expected. While you are trying to take in the incredible grandeur of the of mountains, you notice a small cave on the eastern side of the pass and you walk cautiously across to investigate. You can't see anything in the cave, but there are several tracks on the ground outside, possibly those of Dwarfs, though it does seem as if inexperienced hands have tried to cover them up. If you follow the tracks into the cave, turn to 252. Otherwise, since the mountains on either side of the pass are too difficult for you to climb, you will have to descend again. If you go down the north-west side of the pass, turn to 133. If you go back down the south-east side of the pass, you eventually regain the main trail; will you now go north-east or south-west?

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to follow the tracks into the cave.

[Queen of Swords]

Agreed, follow the tracks.

[SGamerz]

I will have to update this later, because there's a picture that gives relevant information on your next option, and I don't have scanner access atm.

[SGamerz]

There are more roughly erased tracks in here, although they are more difficult to make out in the darkness. You follow them to the back of the cave, where you find a mine shaft descending deep into the ground. There are also several lanterns hanging on hooks on the wall, so you can now see a rickety wooden cage suspended above the shaft; a rope, used to pull it down into the mine, is probably attached to a counterweight. You step into the cage and pull on the rope.

At the bottom of the mine shaft, the trail heads off down a large tunnel leading eventually to a shallow pool of still water, where the footprints end. There are three tunnels on the far side of the pool, two of which are full of strange fungi. The third tunnel, which is empty, has more footprints, presumably the continuation of the trail. Which tunnel will you take:

The left-hand one?
The middle one?
The right-hand one?

[Queen of Swords]

The middle tunnel contains the deadly-to-Dark-Elves fungus that looks like a giant puffball, and according to the page about dangerous fungi, Dark Elves send their own kind into such fungi to punish them. So I vote for going down the middle tunnel to see if there are any Dark Elf corpses to loot.

[Thaluikhain]

Huh, thought you were going to go for "to be safe from Dark Elves" there. But either way, middle.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to go through the middle tunnel to see if there are any Dark Elf corpses to loot, as the fungi is not lethal to Quincey Stridemoore.

[SGamerz]

The fungi in this tunnel look like giant black puffballs. They are ominous-looking things, so you walk along trying not to touch them. However, when you have progressed only a few metres, several of them explode, engulfing you in a cloud of choking black spores. Roll two dice. if the total is less than or equal to your SKIL, turn to 223. If the total is greater than your SKILL, turn to 264.

We can't fail this roll with SKILL 12.

You slap your hand over your mouth an pinch your nostrils closed with your thumb and forefinger. Thus protected against the spores, you run down the tunnel. The fungus comes to an end after a short distance and you reach an area lit by torches. Two tough-looking Dwarf guards are standing there, but they don't seem at all aggressive. "Welcome, human," one of them says. "Would you please follow us. You are the first human we have seen for many days, so Lokimur is sure to want to see you immediately."

The Dwarfs lead you through the convoluted tunnels of what looks more like an underground settlement than a mine, eventually bringing you to a chamber where an important-looking Dwarf is sitting behind a large stone desk. "I am Lokimur, son of Bakulor, leader of this band of refugee Dwarfs in these dangerous and hasty times." He hands you a beautifully fashioned Red Gem. "A gift," he says, "to thank you for braving the mountains to come to us - whoever you are." Will you tell him only that you are an adventurer seeking help in finding and destroying the Black Flyers, or are you prepared to give him your name and tell him that you hail from Grimmund in the Forest of Night, travelling under orders from the Grimmund Council?

So here, the Red Gem - apparently, we were checked for it earlier to see whether we'd already had this encounter before.

Do we give him the long or short answer?

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: Quincey Stridemoore
SKILL 12/12
STAMINA 10/15
LUCK 9/10
Equipment: Sword, leather armour, bow, quiver, Council Signet Ring, 1: Dried Chameleonite Blood, 2: Condensed Mist from the Mithrir Forest, 7: Pickled Whole Shapechanger Brain, Four-leaf Clover, Sleeping Draught, Potion of Fortune, Seven-coiled Snake Ring, Brain Slayer Amulet (symbol 'IX' carved on its back, -2 SKILL when worn, currently not worn), Climbing rope, Brass Key, Fangnir's Encyclopedia of Subterranean Flora, Lightning Sphere, Red Gem
Arrows: 6
Bundles of Herbs: 10
Gold: 6 GP
Companions: Istu (SKILL 12, STAMINA 12, can fight alongside us in combat, does not take damage from opponents, but lose 3 STAMINA per use)
Day of the Week:
Stormsday (3/3 extra lives remaining)
Moonsday (2/3 extra lives remaining)
Fireday (3/3 extra lives remaining)
Earthday (3/3 extra lives remaining)
Windsday (2/3 extra lives remaining)
Seaday (2/3 extra lives remaining)
Highday (3/3 extra lives remaining)
[/spoiler]

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to give him Quincey's name and tell him that he hails from Grimmund in the Forest of Night, travelling under orders from the Grimmund Council, as they are clearly good guys who deserve as much information as possible.

[Queen of Swords]

Agreed, tell him who we are and where we're from.