[Let's Play] Fighting Fantazine Adventure 9: Return to the Icefinger Mountains

[Beroli]

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Snow Witch 2.5.PNG (158.57 KiB) Viewed 3155 times

[Beroli]

Snow Witch Third.jpg (103.57 KiB) Viewed 3155 times

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The passage leads into a small chamber, and you come to a dead halt when the light from your lantern falls on the object in its centre. On a low pedestal is a transparent coffin of ice, which contains the body of the Snow Witch. A body which crumbled to dust thirty years ago, yet has somehow been reconstituted and lies as if asleep, clad in a scarlet robe. Is it still waiting to receive the vile spirit that once inhabited it, or are you already too late?

You can just make out a few lines of Cyrantian script carved into the lid of the coffin. Denati pushes past you in order to look more closely at the inscription, and the contact breaks the hold that dread had on you, enabling you to walk over to the coffin and more closely inspect its contents. The occupant looks very similar to the way she appeared in your dreams of late, but her eyelids are unmoving, and the malicious smile is not so pronounced. You may yet have time to prevent her from rising.

“How long is it since she was killed?” asks the scholar. You tell him that it has been around thirty years, and he gulps loudly. “Then we don’t have much time. This says, ‘The one who lies here shall rise with great power after thirty years have passed...’”

You look back from him to the figure in the coffin, half expecting to see that she is now exactly like your nightmare vision, but she remains motionless, her hands folded over her stomach.

“Wait, the rest of the inscription is better news,” Denati adds. “Yes, it says she will rise again, but it goes on to specify that that’s ‘unless her heart is pierced with an icicle.’ We’re not too late!”

You do know a means by which Denati can make icicles fall.

Suggest Denati use his ring?
Look for an icicle you can reach in a more prosaic way?

Name: Edmund Pevensie
Sex: Male
Skill: 11/11
Stamina: 14/19
Luck: 10/11
Inventory: Sword, Bone club, Winter clothing, Rucksack, Lantern, Blankets, 2 circular discs, Page from book, Bone die
Provisions: 2

[Thaluikhain]

More prosaic way.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote for the more prosaic way, as I do not want to take the risk of our hero getting hit by icicles.

[Queen of Swords]

Agreed, prosaic way sounds safer.

[Beroli]

You raise your lantern, hoping to be able to find an icicle here, rather than having to cross that bridge again. Unless you could hack a sliver of ice from the bridge itself and use that as a weapon. Or would that not count as an icicle?

The light reveals a few hanging from the cavern ceiling, high up above the coffin, out of easy reach, and you start thinking of plans to help you get to them. Could you throw something up and knock one down? Would Denati be able to reach if you lifted him up? Might the coffin bear your weight and enable you to leap up and grab an icicle?

“There are some over there,” points out the scholar. Turning, you see that he is right. The ceiling slopes down behind you, and several fat icicles are, if not within easy reach, at least much more accessible. You hurry over to try and fetch one down. Test your Skill; a 6 succeeds.

It is not enough just to be able to reach an icicle: you must find one that is long and strong enough to destroy the cold heart of the evil being at repose in the ice coffin, and get a grip sufficiently close to its base that you can break the whole thing off rather than just snapping it in two. This takes a couple of attempts, but at last you have the weapon you need. Aware that it will melt if you hold on to it for too long, you hasten back to the coffin to use it.

While you have been fetching an icicle, Denati has raised the lid of the coffin, which is held in place by intricately carved hinges of ice on one side. He steps back to give you access to its contents. You raise the icicle, and then stab down towards the Snow Witch’s heart.

You half expect the Snow Witch to open her eyes at the last moment, to move with inhuman speed to grasp your wrist and halt the descent of the icicle before its sharp tip can touch her, but she remains immobile as you bury your icy blade in her chest.

“It is done!” cries Denati.

Without warning, a freezing cold wave of energy erupts from within the coffin, knocking you off your feet. Test your Stamina on five dice; a 14 barely succeeds.

Take 4 damage. As you struggle to your feet again, a horrifying sight meets your eyes. The Snow Witch is sitting up in her coffin, stretching as if just awoken from a restful sleep. She turns her head to look at you, baring her fangs in a smile that makes the one from your nightmares look friendly by comparison.

Filled with a fury you would never have imagined yourself capable of, you draw a weapon and stagger towards the coffin. Your hated enemy may have somehow cheated death, but you will do everything you can to ensure that her new life will not last for long.

Your weapon is not the Flame Sword.

With a contemptuous sneer, the Snow Witch reaches out to grab your weapon, casually snapping it in half. You cry out in agony as a searing cold welds the remaining stump to your hand. Dropping the part she broke off, which shatters on the floor, she then grips your arm just below the shoulder, and the chill which spreads through your body makes it difficult to even breathe, let alone resist.

“You have spirit,” observes the Snow Witch. “It will not survive, but that is unimportant. I require only obedience.”

The moment her fangs sink into your neck, you are transformed into a mindless being more ice than flesh, the first of many Ice Ghouls with which she plans to subjugate all Allansia, and beyond.

[Beroli]

Rewinding...








The passage leads into a small chamber, and you come to a dead halt when the light from your lantern falls on the object in its centre. On a low pedestal is a transparent coffin of ice, which contains the body of the Snow Witch. A body which crumbled to dust thirty years ago, yet has somehow been reconstituted and lies as if asleep, clad in a scarlet robe. Is it still waiting to receive the vile spirit that once inhabited it, or are you already too late?

You can just make out a few lines of Cyrantian script carved into the lid of the coffin. Denati pushes past you in order to look more closely at the inscription, and the contact breaks the hold that dread had on you, enabling you to walk over to the coffin and more closely inspect its contents. The occupant looks very similar to the way she appeared in your dreams of late, but her eyelids are unmoving, and the malicious smile is not so pronounced. You may yet have time to prevent her from rising.

“How long is it since she was killed?” asks the scholar. You tell him that it has been around thirty years, and he gulps loudly. “Then we don’t have much time. This says, ‘The one who lies here shall rise with great power after thirty years have passed...’”

You look back from him to the figure in the coffin, half expecting to see that she is now exactly like your nightmare vision, but she remains motionless, her hands folded over her stomach.

“Wait, the rest of the inscription is better news,” Denati adds. “Yes, it says she will rise again, but it goes on to specify that that’s ‘unless her heart is pierced with an icicle.’ We’re not too late!”

You do know a means by which Denati can make icicles fall.

Suggest Denati use his ring?
Look for an icicle you can reach in a more prosaic way?

Name: Edmund Pevensie
Sex: Male
Skill: 11/11
Stamina: 14/19
Luck: 10/11
Inventory: Sword, Bone club, Winter clothing, Rucksack, Lantern, Blankets, 2 circular discs, Page from book, Bone die
Provisions: 2
Deaths: Turned into an Ice Ghoul by the Snow Witch

[JourneymanN00b]

Ok, I vote to use the ring this time.

[Thaluikhain]

In lieu of a better option, looks like we have to, yeah.

[Beroli]

Holding up your lantern, you are able to see the roof of the cavern. Fortuitously, there is a cluster of three or four icicles hanging directly above the coffin, out of your reach, but if Denati could do the trick with the ring again...

You suggest this to him, and he bites his lower lip. “It might work, but there’s no way of knowing exactly where they’d hit her if they fell, and we don’t know exactly how this thing works. For all we know, a non-fatal wound might even wake her up!”

Noting your displeased expression, he adds, “Besides, there are some other icicles much closer to the ground over there,” and points behind you. You turn to see that he is right: the chamber’s ceiling slopes downwards, and a couple of icicles dangle from it at a point little more than two metres above the floor. You hurry over to get one of them. Test your Skill; a 9 succeeds.

It is not enough just to be able to reach an icicle: you must find one that is long and strong enough to destroy the cold heart of the evil being at repose in the ice coffin, and get a grip sufficiently close to its base that you can break the whole thing off rather than just snapping it in two. This takes a couple of attempts, but at last you have the weapon you need. Aware that it will melt if you hold on to it for too long, you hasten back to the coffin to use it.

While you have been fetching an icicle, Denati has raised the lid of the coffin, which is held in place by intricately carved hinges of ice on one side. He steps back to give you access to its contents. You raise the icicle, and then stab down towards the Snow Witch’s heart.

You half expect the Snow Witch to open her eyes at the last moment, to move with inhuman speed to grasp your wrist and halt the descent of the icicle before its sharp tip can touch her, but she remains immobile as you bury your icy blade in her chest.

“It is done!” cries Denati.

Without warning, a freezing cold wave of energy erupts from within the coffin, knocking you off your feet. Test your Stamina on five dice; an 18 fails.

You try to get up again, but the cold has sapped your strength, and you find yourself unable to do more than slump on the floor. Something red fills your vision, and with difficulty you raise your head to see the Snow Witch standing over you. A momentary surge of fear and hatred provokes you into attempting to struggle to your feet once more, but then despair washes over you and you sag to the ground again.

A taloned hand grips your shoulder, a numbing cold radiating out from it, and you are hauled upright to receive a kiss that freezes the blood within your veins and turns your heart to a block of ice. You have become the first recruit in the army of Ice Ghouls with which the Snow Witch intends to bring the whole of Titan under her control.


The author of this mini-gamebook described it as having two ways of succeeding: one inspired by Ian Livingstone's gamebooks, the other by Paul Mason's. As it seems impossible to prevent the Snow Witch from rising, we rewind to where we stepped off the Ian Livingstone path, the path on which it is possible to defeat her after she rises.

[Beroli]

You choose to leave Reniso's body alone.

You turn round, pull the door open, and cry out in startled fear at the sight of a strange man just outside, his right hand raised in a fist. He too gives a cry, and stumbles backwards, his other hand clutching at his chest.

“Sorry!” he gasps. “I didn’t mean to startle you. I was just about to knock at the door when you opened it.”

As you catch your breath, you study the stranger. He is quite old, probably in his sixties, and wears a purple cloak. He returns your gaze, and a puzzled frown creeps upon his brow.

“But you can’t be Reniso, not so young. This is the right house, isn’t it? I’m sure it’s the one the warden said.”

This is a problematic situation. If you let the stranger in, he will see the body, and might well draw the wrong conclusions, but if you try to send him away, sooner or later somebody will direct him back here, and your actions will seem even more suspicious. Uncertain of what to do, you buy yourself a few more moments by asking him who he is.

The stranger is a little taken aback at your question, but answers, “My...my name’s Denati. I’ve travelled up from Salamonis to see Reniso, so we can discuss... certain archaeological matters of mutual interest.”

His vagueness is encouraging, suggesting that he is aware of the threat posed by the Snow Witch’s cultists, and thus more likely to accept that you had nothing to do with Reniso’s murder. Dropping your voice a little, you ask him if he’s talking about the city beneath the Crystal Caves.

His eyes light up. “Oh! So you know as well.” He extends a hand to you in greeting, a carved jade ring catching the pale sunlight.

You clasp the proffered hand, and quietly tell Denati that you have some bad news for him. Warning him to prepare for a shock, you open the door wide enough to allow him in. He steps inside, and his eyes widen as he sees what has been done to the hut’s owner and contents.

“I found it like this a minute ago,” you explain. “Her followers must have got to him.”

He looks around at the corpse and the surrounding debris. “Poor man. And whatever he’d found, whatever he’d learned, lost in all this carnage. These are evil days.”

You tell him of the plans you and Reniso were making last night, and ask if he would be willing to accompany you to the caves.

“Mountaineering at my age?” He shakes his head, then seems to reconsider. “Oh, but to have the opportunity of seeing the city of Cyrantis myself, to set foot in the Arena of Contests...”

“And maybe bring the people who did this to justice,” you add.

Abashed, he nods. “Forgive me for getting carried away. Cyrantis has been a passion of mine for many years, and I’m afraid studying in the abstract can lead to a little too much...detachment.”

He straightens his back. “You are right. Despite the dangers, I must go. And that,” he indicates the message written in blood, “holds out some hope that we might yet have time to avert disaster.”

The words do not look encouraging to you, and you ask Denati what he means.

“It says, ‘will return’, not ‘has returned’. If she hasn’t yet come back, there’s still the possibility that it can be averted. But we may not have a lot of time. How soon can we leave?”

You explain that you have yet to acquire suitable equipment for the expedition, and after a moment’s reflection Denati opens out his cape and takes a pouch of coins from a pocket sewn into its bright green inner lining. He hands you the money, commenting, “I’m sure you have a much better idea than I of what we shall need. You can probably drive a harder bargain with the local traders, too.”

Proceeding to the market, you are able to acquire two sets of winter clothing, a length of rope, two lanterns, several blankets, and enough food for seven meals for each of you. You may only eat Provisions when the option to do so is given in the text, and may only ever eat one meal at a time. On occasion you will be told that you have to eat Provisions: these compulsory meals restore Stamina just like the optional ones.

Head off north?
Report Reniso's death to the village wardens before you leave?

Name: Edmund Pevensie
Sex: Male
Skill: 11/11
Stamina: 19/19
Luck: 11/11
Inventory: Sword, Winter clothing, Rucksack, Lantern, Rope, Blankets
Provisions: 7
Deaths: Turned into an Ice Ghoul by the Snow Witch, turned into an Ice Ghoul by the Snow Witch

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to head north this time.

[Queen of Swords]

Head north.

[Thaluikhain]

Head north

And so ever since this point we've been wasting our time because we've fallen off the true path? Bah!

[Beroli]

That's not quite what I said.

At this time of year, bandit raids are common enough that there are always a couple of village wardens on guard at the north gate. While they generally have no good reason to trouble anyone leaving the village, some of the wardens like to exploit what little authority they have to relieve the boredom of guard duty. You are unfortunate enough to have to deal with one such warden, a lout named Colpas, who once made the mistake of trying to bully you when you were a recent arrival in the village.

You do not have a balled-up piece of paper.

Colpas pesters you and Denati with unnecessary questions for several minutes, then tires of his ‘fun’ and allows the two of you past.

Despite his age, Denati is able to maintain a good pace, and you reach the trading post at the foot of the Icefinger Mountains before dusk. Food and shelter are available for a small price, so you choose to spend the night there and save your own supplies for the days ahead. It also provides you with an opportunity to ask about other people who are heading up into the mountains, but if Reniso’s killers passed through the trading post, they did so without rousing any suspicion.

During the night you are troubled by further nightmares, the monstrous visages of the Snow Witch and her minions now joined by the sight of Reniso’s dead body. They cause you to cry out in your sleep, attracting complaints and the occasional thrown boot from other travellers spending the night at the trading post. The following morning you are up with the sun, and quickly resume your northward journey.

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It is a cold but clear day, and despite the snow underfoot, you and Denati make good progress. A little after midday, you are making your way up a large dune when you faintly hear animalistic grunts and snarls from up ahead. Motioning to Denati to keep quiet, you continue upwards as stealthily as you are able, then cautiously peer over the brow to see what is on the other side.

The dune slopes down into a valley, currently being traversed by around a dozen fearsome beasts and five or six Snow Wolves. The larger creatures are hulking bipeds with shaggy white fur, vaguely reminiscent of Hobgoblins despite their great size: each is a couple of metres tall. While you have never seen the like of them before, you have heard trappers’ tales of the dread Toa-Suo, and these brutes match the descriptions given in such stories.

Judging by what the trappers say, it is rare for the Toa-Suo to come this far south, but on occasion all of the tribes come together for some monstrous purpose, and judging by the purposeful manner in which this party is heading through the valley, you suspect that they are heading for just such a gathering.

The crunching of snow at your side indicates that Denati has caught up with you, and you turn to see him standing on the top of the dune. The breath catches in his throat as he catches sight of the dangerous menagerie below. Luckily for you, the sounds pass unnoticed by the passing pack, which continues on its way, and you motion to your companion to get down beside you where he is less likely to be seen.

Stay where you are until they have moved out of sight?
Risk being seen for a lesser delay, and try to sneak across the valley behind their backs?

Name: Edmund Pevensie
Sex: Male
Skill: 11/11
Stamina: 19/19
Luck: 11/11
Inventory: Sword, Winter clothing, Rucksack, Lantern, Rope, Blankets
Provisions: 7
Deaths: Turned into an Ice Ghoul by the Snow Witch, turned into an Ice Ghoul by the Snow Witch

[Thaluikhain]

Stay where we are until they have gone.

(Oh right, misread you there)

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to try to sneak across.

[Queen of Swords]

Stay where we are.

[Beroli]

(For the record: I will never rewind into a walking dead state. If I've just rewound there, there is some way to win from there.)

Staying where you are wins 2-1.

Crouching as low as you can while still keeping an eye on the Toa-Suo and the Wolves, you settle down for what could be a long wait. Test your Luck; a 4 succeeds.

For what seems like hours you watch the multitude of beasts moving away along the valley. At one point a chorus of excited yelping from the Wolves startles you, and you momentarily fear that they have scented you, but the pack converges on some other, less fortunate creature on the far side. The sound of the Wolves and their Toa-Suo masters tearing their prey apart convinces you of the need for caution, and you remain where you are, restricting your movements to what is necessary to keep you from freezing or losing the circulation in your extremities, until some time after it becomes difficult to distinguish the creatures’ white fur from the snow around them. Then you and Denati hurry across the valley as quickly as your stiff limbs will permit.

A few hundred metres beyond the valley you find your way blocked by a crevasse a little too wide for you to be certain that you could leap it in safety. You have no real choice but to follow the edge of the rift until the gap narrows sufficiently that both you and Denati can get across it, a detour that takes the best part of an hour.

Beyond the crevasse, the best way onwards is a shadowy defile that slopes upwards. The snow crunches beneath your feet as you make your way up the incline. After a while you pause for breath, and it is then that you first become aware of a faint rhythmic trembling of the ground. Alarmed at the possibility that an avalanche could be imminent, you stare with dismay at the sheer rocky walls to both sides.

A narrow opening in the rock wall to your right, about a metre above your head, offers a slim hope of shelter if mounds of snow should come sweeping through the defile, but getting up there will not be easy.

Denati catches up to you and catches sight of your concerned expression. “Is there something wrong?”

“Don’t you feel the shaking?” you ask. Surely he must do, for it is growing in intensity.

“Now you come to mention it...What’s that noise?”

You hear it too, a pounding sound, in time with the tremors. They must be connected somehow.

Then the explanation looms up at the far end of the defile. A Frost Giant is running down the slope, the ground shaking with each heavy footfall. He bellows incoherently upon catching sight of you.

Try and get out of his way?
Draw your sword and stand your ground?

Name: Edmund Pevensie
Sex: Male
Skill: 11/11
Stamina: 19/19
Luck: 10/11
Inventory: Sword, Winter clothing, Rucksack, Lantern, Rope, Blankets
Provisions: 7
Deaths: Turned into an Ice Ghoul by the Snow Witch, turned into an Ice Ghoul by the Snow Witch

[JourneymanN00b]

Let’s see if standing against the frost giant pays off this time.

[Queen of Swords]

Yes, let’s try that.

[Beroli]

No oversized thug is going to intimidate you into turning back now you have come this far. You lash out with your sword the moment the Giant comes into striking range.

FROST GIANT Skill 10 Stamina 10

Fight one round against this opponent.

Round one: Edmund Pevensie Attack Strength 18, Frost Giant Attack Strength 17. Frost Giant Stamina 8.

The force of your blow sends the Giant off balance, causing him to collide with the wall of the gorge. Then, recovering his wits, he lunges at you with a roar, swinging his mighty fists at your head. Continue your fight against the Giant.

Pausing for votes on how to use Luck here, as his Skill is only one point lower than yours.

Name: Edmund Pevensie
Sex: Male
Skill: 11/11
Stamina: 19/19
Luck: 10/11
Inventory: Sword, Winter clothing, Rucksack, Lantern, Rope, Blankets
Provisions: 7
Deaths: Turned into an Ice Ghoul by the Snow Witch, turned into an Ice Ghoul by the Snow Witch

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote not to use Luck here.

[Thaluikhain]

Yeah, we've got plenty of provisions, save our luck.

[Queen of Swords]

Thirded.