[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy 72 – The Dungeon on Blood Island

[deaddmwalking]

Search the chamber next.

[Beroli]

Search the chamber.

[Dogopolis]

You open the cupboards and chests, but find nothing except for a piece of paper tucked away at the back of one of the drawers. There is tiny handwriting on the paper that is so small that you are unable to read it. Do you possess a magnifying glass?

We don't, because some idiot earlier in the thread wanted to open a bottle.

You try focusing on the words by holding the paper away from you, then closer to you, but still find it impossible to read. You put the paper in your pocket and look around the chamber. Do you want to examine the objects on display or do you want to walk over to the throne and pick up the Orb?

[deaddmwalking]

Look at objects.

Edit - Incidentally, a bottle often makes a decent magnifying glass.

[Beroli]

Examine the objects first.

[Dogopolis]

The statuettes are of demons and dragons, and the vases all contain bunches of long-stemmed black roses. The ornaments are of no use to you, but you open a small black-lacquered box on a side table and find a gold signet ring engraved with a dragon's head. Do you want to put the ring on your finger or would you rather put the ring back in the box and walk over to the throne to pick up the Orb?

[Beroli]

Put on the ring.

[Dogopolis]

As soon as you put the ring on your finger the Golden Dragon door begins to close. Do you want to back out of the chamber before it closes, remain in the chamber or walk over to the throne to pick up the Orb?

[Beroli]

Pick up the orb.

[Thaluikhain]

Orb.

[Dogopolis]

Fingers Foley finally succumbs to the temptation to grab the orb.

You pick up the Orb and discover that it's not made of solid gold. It's hollow and not as heavy as it looks. You shake it and hear something metallic rattle inside. You hold it up and admire the detail of the two dragons curved round it. Smoke suddenly shoots out from the nostrils of the dragons and swirls round your head. You step away from the throne, but the smoke continues to circle about your head, making it difficult to breathe. You drop the Orb and hear it smash on the floor. You run round the chamber, coughing uncontrollably, but are unable to rid yourself of the circle of smoke. You begin to choke as you inhale more smoke and drop to your knees. You slump forward, and, as you lose consciousness, you see that the Orb is nothing more than a gold-painted ceramic ball. There is a small bronze figure of Lord Carnuss lying among the pieces of broken pottery, pointing at you. It is the last thing you see before you lose consciousness forever. Your adventure is over.

OK, so do you want to stay in the room or leave before the doors shut?

[deaddmwalking]

Leave before the doors shut.

Sorry I was MIA today.

[Beroli]

Leave before the doors shut and we wind up inside a room in House of Hell instead..

[Dogopolis]

You dive through the doorway just in time, with the heavy door slamming shut behind you. You try the handle, but it is firmly locked, and you have no option but to walk back along the passageway to the fire pit. When you enter the cave, you see the Lava Demon standing in your way. It scoops up a huge fistful of molten lava and hurls it at you. Its aim is deadly accurate. Your adventure is over.

OK, so the only other option is "stay in the room"

You watch the heavy door slam shut. Do you want to walk over to the door to find out if it is locked, or do you want to walk over to the throne to pick up the Orb?

We already know what happens if you grab the orb

You reach out and grab the handle. It doesn't turn, but you notice some words etched in the tail of one of the dragon engravings on the back of the door. Do you want to read the words, or would you rather walk over to the throne to pick up the Orb?

He really wants you to grab that orb.

The words form a message that reads, 'To leave the chamber, touch the right eye of the right-hand dragon and the left eye of the left-hand dragon at the same time.'
Do you want to walk over to the throne to touch the eyes of the dragons, turn to 60 or do y want to pick up the Orb?

One last chance to grab the orb

You stand in front of the marble throne and press down gently on the dragon eyes. A section of the wall swings out to reveal a narrow passageway. Do you want to pick up the Orb or do you want to enter the passageway without the Orb?

I tell a lie, there's one more laster chance.

The passageway is well lit and has smooth walls and a mosaic floor with the small pieces of tile laid down in a pattern of flying dragons. You walk along it slowly, ever mindful of hidden traps. The passageway ends at a bronze door that opens into a small, tomb-like room with a pyramid-shaped ceiling. There is another bronze door in the wall opposite on which there is a large knocker cast in the shape of a dragon. In the centre of the room is a square stone plinth with a dragon's head carved on each face. The plinth is the base for a stone hand that is holding a Golden Orb in its palm. You can hardly believe your eyes and walk round the plinth, inspecting it carefully for traps. You don't find any and decide to lift the Orb out of the stone hand.

You breathe in deeply and put your hands slowly under the Golden Orb to lift it up. It is solid gold and heavy. You are convinced it is the fabled treasure. While you are busy packing it away in your backpack, one of the fingers drops off the stone hand and lands on top of the plinth. You hear a hissing sound and see gas escaping from where the finger broke off from the hand. You rush over to the bronze door and strike the knocker against the door. Long flames shoot out from the dragon's mouth and burn you. Roll one dice and reduce your STAMINA points by the number rolled.

We roll a 5, still alive.

The door swings open, and you find yourself in another narrow passageway. You hear the door close behind you, and you walk on until you come to another bronze door at the end of the passageway where you see a man wearing a dark blue coif cap and long robes sitting on a chair with his arms folded. When he sees you, he stands up and rubs his chin, and you notice that he has a large gemstone ring on his forefinger. 'Well, I never,' he says in a calm voice. 'Nobody was meant to survive this dungeon. But here you are. I presume you have the Golden Orb in your possession. I am the Gatekeeper, and I am obliged to authenticate the Orb before I can open the final door.' Do you want to show the Orb to the Gatekeeper or do you want to attack him?

[Beroli]

The constant "do you want to grab the orb?" with no "if you have not already" does, from a metagame perspective, give away "if you had previously grabbed the orb you wouldn't have reached this point."

Show him the Golden Orb.

[deaddmwalking]

Yeah. Show him.

[Dogopolis]

You take the Orb out of your backpack and hand it to the Gatekeeper. He holds it close to his face, admiring the workmanship in the dragons. 'Merciful Manticores, it is indeed the Golden Orb,' he exclaims, and lets out a long, low whistle. 'Your final task is to solve a simple puzzle. Answer it correctly, and you are free to go. Answer it incorrectly, and you must forfeit the Orb. Listen carefully. When Baron Sukumvit was twelve years old, Lord Carnuss was half his age. If Baron Sukumvit is now forty-eight years old, how old is Lord Carnuss?' Do you want to give him an answer or attack him?

[deaddmwalking]

So Lord Carnuss is 6 years younger. If the Baron is 48, Lord Carnuss would be 42.

Barring anyone being dead or magical aging, it seems pretty straightforward. Is it just that wording implies half, so you're supposed to think 24?

Well, 42 is the answer to life, the universe, and everything, so I feel it's the answer we need, here, too. I say give it to the Gatekeeper.

[Dogopolis]

I don't think I need to wait for anybody to confirm that.

The Gatekeeper nods his head and hands the Orb back to you. 'Congratulations,' he says with a wry smile. He takes a key out from under his robes, unlocks the bronze door and pushes it open. You breathe in deeply and walk out into bright sunshine to be met by a deafening roar.

You find yourself at the top of a flight of stone steps, staring down at a huge gathering of people standing at the bottom who are waving and cheering loudly. The sunlight is very bright, and it takes a few moments to get used to it. You hold the Golden Orb in the air, which makes the crowd cheer even louder. Suddenly the cheers turn to whispers. The crowd parts, and you see Lord Carnuss approach with his bodyguards at his side and his entourage walking behind him. He stops and looks up at the Gatekeeper who is standing next to you. The Gatekeeper nods once, and Lord Carnuss beckons you to join him. You walk down the steps to stand facing Lord Carnuss, who stares at you fiercely. 'Congratulations,' he says through gritted teeth. 'You have done well to survive my dungeon. You are a true champion. Your prize is one of the greatest treasures in Allansia.' He shakes your hand firmly and leans forward to whisper in your ear, 'I only hope you live long enough to enjoy it.' You smile and hand him the handwritten note from Baron Sukumvit. He looks stunned when he reads it. He looks up and says, 'I didn't expect anyone to win through today, but it is my good fortune that it was you who did. My brother must pay for his treachery with his life. You have proved yourself to be an elite Adventurer so might I interest you in a little assignment in Fang? I'm sure my brother would be delighted to see you. Give it some thought, but not for too long since I will not take no for an answer. But we can talk again tomorrow. This day belongs to you.' He smiles and waves to the happy crowd before leaving with his bodyguards and attendants. You are hoisted on to the shoulders of two tall men and carried through the throng of people, who cheer loudly as you pass through them. Your mind spins with thoughts of what destiny the Orb will bring you, but tonight will be a night of joy and celebration.

And that's the end. I was kind of surprised it was on the level, I expected Carnuss to try to weasel out of it.

Carnuss is a master architect given he has less than a year to hire 3 demons, a dragon just on standby on the off-chance someone only had one dragon ball, 2 powerful henchmen, a dinosaur and a legion of goons; also build an ancient library, a mass of intricate hallways and a full on magma pit all whilst keeping everything secret.

Cheers to JourneymanNoob for starting the thread, any questions I'm happy to answer.

[deaddmwalking]

The magma pit could have already been there, and a number of lava tubes might have laid out the basic framework for the intricate hallways. Summoning/Binding might explain the rest... But certainly he's been a busy boy.

[deaddmwalking]

@Dogopolis & @JourneymanN00b

Thank you both for running/finishing this. I definitely had fun.

[Thaluikhain]

Thanks for running.

[Beroli]

He's not on the level. The "prize" is to be forcibly entered into Deathtrap Dungeon.

Thanks for running the conclusion of this!