Let's Play Fighting Fantasy #5: City of Thieves

[Darth Rabbitt]

The stairs lead down into the ship's cargo hold. It is empty. Opposite you a corridor leads from the hold to two closed doors. You walk along the corridor and listen at the doors. From the door on your left you hear loud snoring. From the door on your right you hear nothing.

Do you wish to open the door to your left or open the door to your right?

[Endovior]

Left. Someone behind that door needs their face stabbed.

[OgreBattle]

left

[Darth Rabbitt]

Asleep in their bunks are three pirates. Their room is small and contains only clothing and a few personal possessions. It looks as if the pirates have been drinking and gambling - there is an uncorked bottle of rum, a mug and a pack of cards on top of a barrel in the center of the room. You see that one of the pirates is wearing a small leather pouch around his neck.

Do you wish to creep up and try to cut it loose, or rather close the door again and not take any risks?

(Why would they ask if Dirk von Stabbington III wouldn't take risks? Danger is his middle name. But I guess that technically there's a choice here...)

[Korgan0]

Cut it off, we can take them.

[Prak]

I'm growing more and more sad that the choices are all so binary. I would say "Take he rum, take the cards, take the pouch, and anything else that looks valuable, amusing, or of personal significance."

As it is, cut it off.

[Darth Rabbitt]

(Keep in mind it's kind of a limited medium, being a 400-section book from the days of old text-based computer adventure games, compared to which this was ridiculously cheaper and also more open-ended.)

Test your Luck. (2, 1 =3. Lucky!) You manage to cut the pouch loose without waking the pirates.

You tiptoe quietly out of the room and close the door. In the corridor you open the pouch and find six black pearls. Add 2 LUCK points. If you have not already done so, you may open the other door, or leave the ship to continue your search of Port Blacksand by walking north up Harbor Street.

Dirk Von Facestabber III
SKILL: 12/12
STAMINA: 21/24
LUCK: 12/12
Equipment: Broadsword, Leather Armor, Magnificent Shield (+1 Attack)
Potions: None
Provisions: 10 meals
Keys: None
Misc: Throwing Knife, Climbing Rope, Butcher's Meat Hook, Iron Spike, Lantern
Quest Items: Black Pearls (6)
Gold Pieces: 67

[Whatever]

Open the other door. Maybe there are explosives.

[Darth Rabbitt]

The door opens into a small room, in the center of which stands a steaming tub of hot water.

Do you wish to hide behind the door to see who is about to take a bath or would you rather close the door?

(And the book gets a whole lot sexier.)

[Prak]

Dirk Von Facestabber III only hides with good reason. This is one of those reasons.

[Darth Rabbitt]

After a few minutes you hear footsteps coming down the corridor. The door opens and a man walks into the room wearing nothing but a towel around his fat stomach. You watch as he drops the towel and lowers himself gently into the tub with a loud sigh.

Do you wish to surprise him by drawing your sword and uttering a loud "Ahem!", or would you rather creep out of the room back into the corridor while he submerges himself?

[Prak]

Well, of course we're going to facestab the guy in the bath.

[Darth Rabbitt]

You tell the worried bather that, despite your hatred for pirates, you will not harm him if he cooperates with you. You ask him if he has any of the items that you are searching for, but he replies that as captain of a pirate ship he does not need such things. You press the blade of your sword against his fat neck to make sure he is not lying. He looks terrified and assures you that he is telling the truth. Then he says, "But I do know where you can get a silver arrow. Ben Borryman the silversmith will make anything in silver at a price. You will find him in Clog Street." Making a mental note of the information you leave the shivering captain alone in his room, locking the door behind you. You leave the ship and continue your search of Port Blacksand by walking north up Harbor Street.

(We hate pirates so much that we let them all live. Although we did kill two ninjas earlier, so perhaps we filled our quota, as pirates are ninjas of the sea?)

The street runs north along the quayside for a few hundred meters before arriving at a junction.

Do you wish to continue north up Harbor Street or walk east along Clog Street?

[angelfromanotherpin]

I think the bit about hating pirates was probably a bluff.

Mostly we trust pirates; at least the naked ones. Let it be Clog Street!

[Darth Rabbitt]

Clog Street is very narrow and lined with terraced cottages and the occasional shop. To your left you see what looks like a small boy lying face down on the cobblestones, groaning loudly. A hood is pulled over his head and you cannot see his face. A wooden hoop and stick lie by his side.

Do you wish to stop to help or rather walk on?

[OgreBattle]

Its's obviously a halfling pickpocket, ignore it

[Prak]

But it could lead to face stabbing, stop to help. If nothing else, we can inspire another youth to take up the noble profession of Facestabbing and Murderhoboing.

[OgreBattle]

sure then, approach the small figure on the ground in the hopes that its not a child so we can stab it

hopefully not a pile of snakes in the shape of a little kid.

[Darth Rabbitt]

As you bend down to help the injured boy, he suddenly rolls over and you see the flashing blade of a dagger before your eyes. The boy is in fact a GOBLIN thief and you must fight him for your life.

GOBLIN SKILL 5 STAMINA 4

Combat Log:

Goblin 12, Dirk 17. Goblin is at 2.
Goblin 11, Dirk 24. The Goblin is dead.

The Goblin's pockets contain 2 Gold Pieces, a clove of garlic and some old knucklebones. Take what you want and head east again along Clog Street.

(I'm assuming we take all of those.)

One of the shops to your left is a candle-maker's. There are many different colored candles burning brightly in the window.

Do you wish to enter the shop or continue east?

Dirk Von Facestabber III
SKILL: 12/12
STAMINA: 21/24
LUCK: 12/12
Equipment: Broadsword, Leather Armor, Magnificent Shield (+1 Attack)
Potions: None
Provisions: 10 meals
Keys: None
Misc: Throwing Knife, Climbing Rope, Butcher's Meat Hook, Iron Spike, Lantern, Clove of Garlic, Old Knucklebones
Quest Items: Black Pearls (6)
Gold Pieces: 69 (best number of Gold Pieces)

[Dr_Noface]

Lets buy some candles!

[Darth Rabbitt]

Inside the shop you see a tall, thin man with pointed ears and fair hair, pouring hot wax from an iron pan into a mold. The candle maker is an Elf. As he turns to you to speak, you notice his slanted eyes, which are ice blue. For some reason they appear very cold to you. He tells you that all his colored candles cost 1 Gold Piece each. You may buy as many as you wish. He then asks if you would to like to see one of his magic candles in the back room.

(As tempted to say that we should buy 69 candles, I'm assuming we don't blow all our gold on them. How many? Also the book got a whole lot sexier again.)

Do you want to see one or rather leave the shop and head east?

[Dr_Noface]

Let's see the elf's candle.

[Darth Rabbitt]

The Elf leads you into a room lit by purple candles, which give a strange glow. You stand and stare blankly at the candles and drift off into a world of vivid dreams. While you are in this trance, the Elf takes two items and 5 Gold Pieces from your backpack (if you have them.) When you awake you have no recollection of the theft and leave the shop thanking the Elf for showing you his beautiful candles. Outside you head east again.

(I'm saying we lose our old knucklebones and our iron spike as our two items, unless anyone has a different suggestion. Also how many candles did we buy?)

Further along the street to the left is another shop. A sign outside reads "Ben Borryman, Silversmith."

Do you wish to enter the shop or rather keep going east?

Dirk Von Facestabber III
SKILL: 12/12
STAMINA: 21/24
LUCK: 12/12
Equipment: Broadsword, Leather Armor, Magnificent Shield (+1 Attack)
Potions: None
Provisions: 10 meals
Keys: None
Misc: Throwing Knife, Climbing Rope, Butcher's Meat Hook, Iron Spike, Lantern, Clove of Garlic, Old Knucklebones, Candles (some indeterminate amount)
Quest Items: Black Pearls (6)
Gold Pieces: 64 (or less, depending on how many candles we bought)

[Red_Rob]

I say we bought five candles, and let him steal two. Maybe he really, really likes them and couldn't bear to let those two go.

And of course we enter the shop, we need that arrow, dammit!

[Darth Rabbitt]

YES

A man wearing a white apron is sitting at a bench busy polishing a silver goblet. There are several silver objects in a glass cupboard secured by an iron grill at the back of the shop. You may:

Talk to the silversmith
Attack him with your sword
Leave the shop and continue east

(EDIT: This should be obvious.)

Dirk Von Facestabber III
SKILL: 12/12
STAMINA: 21/24
LUCK: 12/12
Equipment: Broadsword, Leather Armor, Magnificent Shield (+1 Attack)
Potions: None
Provisions: 10 meals
Keys: None
Misc: Throwing Knife, Climbing Rope, Butcher's Meat Hook, Iron Spike, Lantern, Clove of Garlic, Old Knucklebones, Candles (3)
Quest Items: Black Pearls (6)
Gold Pieces: 59