The Gaming Den

Yeah, try climbing.

I vote to climb the wall.

Sure, let's try climbing.

On the western side, the Baron's house runs very close to the wall for some distance; to the south, the garden may give you cover once you're in the grounds. Will you climb the western wall or the southern wall?

Which side do we climb in from?

I suspect that since there's more garden in the south, there'll be something in that garden - guard dogs or whatever they're called in this book, maybe. Try the western wall.

I vote the western wall to take a stance against the forces of fascism.

Test your Luck. If you are Lucky, you make it to the top of the wall unharmed. If you are Unlucky, you fall awkwardly and twist your ankle (deduct 1 STAMINA point), then start again and complete your climb. There is a dank, narrow path between the wall and the house. You can jump for an upper window-ledge of the house, or you can let yourself down into the passage, where you may go southwards towards the Baron's garden, to try to find a way into the house from there, or you can head north towards the front door of the house.

What, we don't even get checked for the rope?

At least the penalty for failure is just 1 STAMINA. I'm not even sure it's worth spending a LUCK point on a test to try a preserve it, but it looks like we have to.

Dice roll = 6 (Lucky). Waluigi makes the climb unscathed.

How do we get into the house now?

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: Waluigi
SKILL 9/9
STAMINA 15/16
LUCK 8/11
Equipment: Sword, leather armour, scarlet pearl, Potion of Fortune, King Jonthane's letter (number '88'), rope, fishing net
Provisions: 7
Gold: 6
Boons: Cape Feather (x2), Magic Mushroom (x1)
[/spoiler]

Upper window-ledge, probably safer than the front door or wandering through the garden.

Yeah, window ledge.

I vote to go to the upper window-ledge.

Your hands grasp the window ledge - and are lacerated by tiny slivers of glass which the Baron thoughtfully cemented there. You crash heavily to the ground; lose 2 STAMINA points, You can now make your way south towards the Baron's garden, to try to find a way into the house there, or you can head north towards the front door of the house.

That didn't go well...

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: Waluigi
SKILL 9/9
STAMINA 13/16
LUCK 8/11
Equipment: Sword, leather armour, scarlet pearl, Potion of Fortune, King Jonthane's letter (number '88'), rope, fishing net
Provisions: 7
Gold: 6
Boons: Cape Feather (x2), Magic Mushroom (x1)
[/spoiler]

Sheesh. OK, go north to the front door.

Half vote to go through the garden.

(I was afraid of something like that, after in appeared in Midnight Rogue)

Thaluikhain wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 05, 2023 2:34 pm

(I was afraid of something like that, after in appeared in Midnight Rogue)

I thought of Midnight Rogue as well, then said to myself, "nah, won't happen twice."

I vote to go to the Baron's garden.

The book keeps on bringing up the garden, though I'm not sure if that's because it's meant to be the "correct" option or because it's bait. It sounds more interesting than the front door, though, so go through the garden.

You reach the corner of the house and reconnoitre the whole expanse of the rear of the house. A smooth, well-trodden earth path runs along its length, bizarrely littered with the corpses of birds. You don't know what to make of this. The ground floor windows are all securely locked, so there are only two ways to enter the house here: you could climb up some old, sturdy ivy and break in through an upper window, or you could lift a hatch-door which appears to lead to a cellar.

Can the bird corpses be a hint to what the Baron's favourite pastime activity might be?

If anything, I think the Baron's favorite pasttime activity would be more like this.

(Missed opportunity to make that reference IMO.)

I vote to lift a hatch-door which appears to lead to a cellar, since climbing seems to be bad for this adventure.

Agreed, enter the cellar.

Do you have any sallow-seed oil? If you have, turn to 164, otherwise, turn to 229.

We didn't buy the oil!

As you cautiously lift one half of the double-doored hatch, the rusty hinges let out an awful creak. You wait a few moments, then a lamp flares in a downstairs window, bathing some of the garden in light. Will you run down the side passage or stay where you are?

In case the dead birds in the passage indicate that it's dangerous, I suggest staying where we are.

Stay here.

(I'm guessing poison gas as the reason for dead birds, but could very well be wrong)

Sure, I vote to stay where we are.

An Ogre sticks his head out of the window; he spots you standing like a frozen rabbit in the light, and tumbles out of the window. You get one strike in while he is in the course of doing this, but then he picks himself up and comes at you, wielding a double-headed axe.

OGRE SKILL 7 STAMINA 8

If you win, will you stop to search the body, scramble through the open window, or go on through the hatch?

The free strike we got in is already reflected in the STAMINA score (we could have encountered him on another route at STAMINA 10).

COMBAT LOG:
Ogre 11, Waluigi 14. Ogre is at 6.
Ogre 16, Waluigi 13. Waluigi is at 11.
Ogre 18, Waluigi 11. Waluigi is at 9.
Ogre 15, Waluigi 19. Ogre is at 4.
Ogre 15, Waluigi 15. Tie.
Ogre 19, Waluigi 20. Ogre is at 2.
Ogre 13, Waluigi 15. Ogre is killed.

Wauigi emerges victorious after taking a couple of wounds.

Do we want to search the body? If not, which way do we enter?

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: Waluigi
SKILL 9/9
STAMINA 9/16
LUCK 8/11
Equipment: Sword, leather armour, scarlet pearl, Potion of Fortune, King Jonthane's letter (number '88'), rope, fishing net
Provisions: 7
Gold: 6
Boons: Cape Feather (x2), Magic Mushroom (x1)
[/spoiler]

Search the body.

And that seems a wimpy ogre we just offed, even with the free hit.