[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy #54 - Legend of Zagor!

[Sirocco]

Tough battle. Gobble up another meal (how are we not dead from eating so much yet???) before opening the shield door.

We can restore our MAGIC with the wand, but let's wait until it's gone down to 0.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Agreed, but wash the food down with one of our stamina potions. That still leaves us with a lot of healing items.

[Sirocco]

Sure, why not.

[SlyJohnny]

Damn. I remember what that staff is, but not that it was gated behind a skill 12 have-a-magic-weapon-or-die enemy. I kind of assumed that maybe this gamebook was almost a "one true path" book with the staff, but it's just brutal.

[SGamerz]

Before we get to healing, I need to make a few corrections: I left out 2 LUCK tests in that last combat. I've inserted them in and made the necessary changes to the Attack Strengths in the succeeding rounds as well. Thankfully, they're not sufficient to alter the result of the fight, as we still came out on top in the same round....but we do come out of it in even worse shape: 1 STAMINA, 5 LUCK!

Yeah we definitely need that Potion of STAMINA.

After a quick meal and a quaff, our STAMINA is up to 16!

Now we check out the next door:

Behind the door with the shield inlay on it is a barracks complex, a network of small parade chambers, dormitories and the like. At the northern end of this network of rooms is a broad east-west passage with two doors, one with a lacquered blue coating and the other with a similar coating of yellow lacquer. Will you now:

Search the barracks thoroughly?
Open the blue door?
Open the yellow door?
Leave and search elsewhere?

More colour coding...

Where do we start?

Adventure Sheet:

Name: Jallarial
SKILL 11/11 (+1 from Ebony Wand)
STAMINA 16/23
LUCK 5/9
MAGIC: 3/9 (+2 from Ebony Wand)
Equipment: Staff, Leather Armor, Shield, Lantern, knife, Potion of Stamina(restores half your Initial STAMINA), rope, Iron rod (-1 to Die roll when opening doors via Skill Test), Flask of Herbal Restorative (+4 STAMINA), Golden Talisman (x2), Silver Dagger (x4), Magical Oil of Enchantment (enchants non-magical weapons for one combat), Jailor Keys (70), Wand of the Hawk, Vials of Acid (x2, does 4 STAMINA damage if used during combat), Lava Sphere (does 1D6 damage to all opponents in a room when used in combat), Onyx Staff
Provisions: 4 Meals
Treasure: 30 GP, Fine Silk Tapestry (worth 4 GP)
No. of Deaths: 1

Additional bonus from Wand of the Hawk: 1) +2 Attack Strength once Jallarial's entered Great Tower, 2) enchants weapons, 3) restore Magic OR STAMINA to full once

[Sirocco]

Open the doors first (blue, yellow), then search the barracks.

[Mr Shine]

Sounds fine to me.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Yeah, same.

[SGamerz]

Pushing open the blue door, you find yourself in the Royal Statuary: great, life-sized statues of the kings of Amarillia once lined the grand, blue-flecked marbled walls here. They are shattered now - possibly by magic, you suspect: fiery blast-marks pepper the walls behind the remains of the statues. However, there is one statue here that remains intact: it is several metres high, and it comes to life with a very threatening gesture as you enter. An expressionless warrior in shape, the enormous statue has a massive, spiked stone club in one stone fist and a long, slender whip in the other. It is clearly a formidable enemy. Behind it you can see a wooden chest, decorated with a small heraldic symbol of some kind, so it's guarding something which may be valuable. If you decide to fight it, you must do so immediately, turn to 126. Alternatively, you can flee by closing the door here; in that case, will you:

Open the yellow door, if you haven't done so already?
Search the barracks thoroughly, if you haven't done so?
Leave the barracks and explore elsewhere?

Fight or proceed to the next door? (The text indicates that there's no time for any other preparatory action if we choose to fight)

[Sirocco]

Break it into little pieces.

[Darth Rabbitt]

I'd rather run and open the yellow door.

[SlyJohnny]

Smash it. I think we want/need that heraldic symbol.

[SGamerz]

The Stone Colossus swings its club, each time it hits you, you must roll one dice, on a 5 or 6, you lose 3 points of STAMINA rather than the usual 2. If, at any time when you roll dice to determine the Attack Strength for the Colossus, you roll a total of 11 or 12, turn at once to 170.

STONE COLOSSUS SKILL 8 STAMINA 18

If you win, turn lo 293.

Seems like every combat in this place have their own special rules...

COMBAT LOG:

Stone Colossus 13, Jallarial 20. SC is at 16.
SC 14, Jallarial 21. SC is at 14.
SC 17, Jallarial 20. SC is at 12.
SC 15, Jallarial 20. SC is at 10.
SC 16, Jallarial 17. SC is at 8.
SC 18, Jallarial 18. Tie.
SC 14, Jallarial 16. SC is at 6.
SC 15, Jallarial 22. SC is at 4.
SC 18, Jallarial 18. Tie.
SC 14, Jallarial 22. SC is at 2.
SC rolls 11 for its Attack Strength!

Its special ability is triggered just before we can deal a death blow!

The Colossus also strikes you with its whip, which is made of enchanted Basilisk leather! You must spend 1 Magic Point to avoid its magical effects. If you have at least 1 Magic Point, return to 126 to continue the fight. If you haven't, then you are turned to stone, and your adventure ends here!

Basilisk's skin petrifies?! I always thought it was the gaze....

Fortunately we still have enough Magic to withstand that. Not only that but we also roll a 9 for our Attack Strength in the same round, which is just enough to deal the final blow to take down this creature!

The Colossus collapses at last! Weary with the effort, you drag yourself over to the wooden chest and examine it carefully. The small shield design on its lid shows a pair of yellow goblets on a blue background. Inside the chest you find 3 Gold Pieces, a Magic Ring and a scroll with the Skill Spell written on it. Gain 1 LUCK point! Now it's time to search elsewhere. If you haven't explored everything in the barracks area, you can open the yellow door or search the dormitories and parade rooms thoroughly; alternatively, you can leave the barracks and explore elsewhere.

At least we're getting back the Magic point that we were forced to spend. LUCK bonus is nice, too.

I'll be using the ring now unless they're objections.

So far, there's something to fight behind every coloured door. Do we want to prepare anything before we enter the yellow one?

Adventure Sheet:

Name: Jallarial
SKILL 11/11 (+1 from Ebony Wand)
STAMINA 16/23
LUCK 6/9
MAGIC: 3/9 (+2 from Ebony Wand)
Equipment: Staff, Leather Armor, Shield, Lantern, knife, Potion of Stamina(restores half your Initial STAMINA), rope, Iron rod (-1 to Die roll when opening doors via Skill Test), Flask of Herbal Restorative (+4 STAMINA), Golden Talisman (x2), Silver Dagger (x4), Magical Oil of Enchantment (enchants non-magical weapons for one combat), Jailor Keys (70), Wand of the Hawk, Vials of Acid (x2, does 4 STAMINA damage if used during combat), Lava Sphere (does 1D6 damage to all opponents in a room when used in combat), Onyx Staff
Provisions: 4 Meals
Treasure: 33 GP, Fine Silk Tapestry (worth 4 GP)
No. of Deaths: 1

Additional bonus from Wand of the Hawk: 1) +2 Attack Strength once Jallarial's entered Great Tower, 2) enchants weapons, 3) restore Magic OR STAMINA to full once

[Sirocco]

I don't think we have anything to prepare. Do we?

Yellow door.

[SGamerz]

To you delight, the room beyond the yellow door contains a Tower Chest - and a pair of guards: two suits of lacquered yellow plate mail carrying heavy pikes in there gauntleted hands. The magically animated suits of armour attack at once. If you choose to flee, they will chase you out of the barracks as far as the passageway outside; turn to 64. If you wish to fight, you can back into a comer and fight these magical guardians one at a time.

First ANIMATED ARMOUR SKILL 8 STAMINA 10
Second ANIMATED ARMOUR SKILL 8 STAMINA 10

If you win, the Tower Chest here has a small shield on its lid, showing eight green stars on a yellow background. When you have opened it, you leave here; you can open the blue door, if you haven't done so, search the many barracks rooms thoroughly, if you haven't bothered before, or leave the barracks and head south.

At least this is just a basic combat with no special rules, for once...

COMBAT LOG:

Animated Armour #1 13, Jallarial 17. AA1 is at 8.
AA1 14, Jallarial 21. AA1 is at 6.
AA1 17, Jallarial 16. Jallarial is at 14.
AA1 14, Jallarial 20. AA1 is at 4.
AA1 17, Jallarial 15. Jallarial is at 12.
AA1 15, Jallarial 19. AA1 is at 2.
AA1 17, Jallarial 18. AA1 is defeated.
AA2 17, Jallarial 20. AA2 is at 8.
AA2 10, Jallarial 14. AA2 is at 6.
AA2 10, Jallarial 15. AA2 is at 4.
AA2 13, Jallarial 15. AA2 is at 2.
AA2 19, Jallarial 17. Jallarial is at 10.
AA2 15, Jallarial 20. AA2 is defeated.

The only reward here is the Tower Chest. Our LUCK is still low, though, so it might be hard to get it open without taking damage....

Dice roll = 8 (Unlucky). Jallarial's STAMINA is now at 7.

Die roll = 4. We get another Silver Dagger.

Now, we proceed to search the barracks:

It takes a long time to search the many dormitory rooms thoroughly, so you must eat 2 meals here. However, in a sealed tin carefully hidden behind a shield hanging on one wall you find two flasks of herbal liqueur, each of which will restore 4 points of STAMINA when drunk (which you can do at any time except during a combat). You also find three thick slabs of oatmeal, magically crafted survival rations for soldiers, each of which is enough for a whole meal; these are so light you can carry them in addition to your usual food, so they don't count towards your Provisions limit. Gain 1 LUCK point. Unfortunately, your extended search means that you fall foul of a truly ghastly prowler. As you are about to leave, a shambling, rotting corpse in rags lurches towards you and a miasma of flies buzzes about its suppurating flesh. You have no chance to flee, and you sense that this creature is extremely dangerous!

PLAGUE BEARER SKILL 5 STAMINA 4

lf the Plague Bearer strikes you even once, turn to 45. If you win, you can open one of the coloured doors here if you haven't done so before: you may choose the blue door or the yellow door, or leave the barracks area and explore elsewhere.

The oatmeal don't count towards our Provisions total, so I'll list them separately in the Adventure Sheet instead.

This new opponent is weak, but something bad probably happens if it hits us. Do we want to do anything to help make sure it doesn't hit us? (LUCK test? Spell?)

Adventure Sheet:

Name: Jallarial
SKILL 11/11 (+1 from Ebony Wand)
STAMINA 7/23
LUCK 7/9
MAGIC: 3/9 (+2 from Ebony Wand)
Equipment: Staff, Leather Armor, Shield, Lantern, knife, Potion of Stamina(restores half your Initial STAMINA), rope, Iron rod (-1 to Die roll when opening doors via Skill Test), Flask of Herbal Restorative/Liquer x3 (+4 STAMINA), Golden Talisman (x2), Silver Dagger (x5), Magical Oil of Enchantment (enchants non-magical weapons for one combat), Jailor Keys (70), Wand of the Hawk, Vials of Acid (x2, does 4 STAMINA damage if used during combat), Lava Sphere (does 1D6 damage to all opponents in a room when used in combat), Onyx Staff, Oatmeal x3 (counts as 1 meal each)
Provisions: 2 Meals
Treasure: 33 GP, Fine Silk Tapestry (worth 4 GP)
No. of Deaths: 1

Additional bonus from Wand of the Hawk: 1) +2 Attack Strength once Jallarial's entered Great Tower, 2) enchants weapons, 3) restore Magic OR STAMINA to full once

[Darth Rabbitt]

Throw a vial of acid at it.

[Mr Shine]

It only hits is on a +7 differential and dies after 2 rounds. I say just smack it and hope.

[Sirocco]

This "extremely dangerous" bit doesn't bode well. Throw a vial of acid to maximize our chances.

[SGamerz]

We try to give the rotting dude a makeover in the form of a vial of acid to the face.

COMBAT LOG:

Plague Bearer 13, Jallarial 20. PB is destroyed.

And it's a wrap!

Getting hit by this thing even once transforms us into a Plague Bearer: an immediate game over. This monster also appeared in FF50 (Zagor loves this particular creation, it seems....or maybe Ian does) and has the exact same attributes.

I think we've explored every other mini-hub areas on this level, so it's time to head back to the PoH and then go to 92....

Standing at the crossroads, you see that the passageway going east has no doors. To the north, there is one door on either side of the passageway, which terminates in another east-west passage. To the south, there are two doors in the east side of the passage, which then turns westwards, back to the area where you entered this castle level. If you want to return south and west to where you have entered this castle level, turn to 399. To the west, the Passage of Hawks continues for some distance; if you want lo head this way, turn to 5. Otherwise, you must open a door you haven't opened before; will this be:

Ether of the doors to the north?
The first door to the south?
The second door to the south?

There isn't much options left here, either. The first door to the south leads to the gallery, the second to the Dwarves' room, both of which we've already been to. That leaves us with the doors to the north, which presumably will move the plot on:

Looking northwards, it is obvious that the passageway here is littered with traps. There are visible tripwires on the floor and wall-mounted crossbows are perched, ready lo deliver a nasty volley of shots at you. Clearly, getting past this stretch of corridor to the doors and passages in the distance will not be simple. If you do not want to enter this trapped area just yet, but prefer to explore an area you haven't visited yet, go west to the mid-way point of the Passage of Hawks; turn to 5. Because the trapped area of corridor is some 10 metres in length, a Jump spell will take you only part of the way along; if you can, and wish to use this spell, turn to 268. If your only option is to stride forward and hope for the best, turn to 354.

There's no point turning back here since we've fully explore all the other areas behind us. Use the spell or not?

[Mr Shine]

Eat a provision and stride forward.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Agreed, although I suspect we'll have to down our other stamina potion afterwards.

[Sirocco]

Thirded.

[SlyJohnny]

I think we should eat a meal and down the STAMINA potion now, just in case this is a "roll to see how many times you get hit" thing, and the damage we take is utterly murderous.

[SGamerz]

We don't yet know if Jallarial will go down as the greatest wizard in Amarillia, but we can be certain that she'll go down as the one with the biggest appetite.

One meal later, STAMINA up to 11.

You avoid the obvious tripwires, but they are merely decoys for the very fine and almost transparent bleached Orc-gut tripwires! You must Test your Luck (If you have a thief hireling with you, you may subtract 2 from the dice roll). If you are Lucky, you get just over half-way along the trapped passage in safety. If you fail, a volley of crossbolts is shot at you. Since these are aimed at head height, you must lose 6 STAMINA points unless you are Stubble, in which case all but one sholt flies overhead (you lose 2 STAMINA points).

Dice roll = 6 (Lucky!) Thankfully our STAMINA stays at the same level. LUCK is back down t 6, though.

The Jump spell basically just skips this section...but the nasty apart isn't over even then!

And Orc-gut tripwires? All the little trivia flavor stuff I'm gathering from this book have been way more intriguing than the adventure itself thus far. Not that it's necessarily a bad thing....

You have landed on a concealed pit trap! Below you the ground simply gives way and opens up to reveal a deep pit filled with spikes. You must leap forward to avoid this. Test your Skill (add 2 to the dice roll if you are Stubble). If you are successful, turn to 26. If you fail, turn to 191.

Dice roll = 8 (Success!)

A very deep pit behind you now blocks your safe passage southwards as you clamber painfully out. Unfortunately, the entire length of the passage to the south, as far as the Passage of Hawks, has opened up as a second pit hap is belatedly triggered! Returning that way won't be easy unless you can find some way of resetting the pit trap, it's too far for even a Jump spell to get you across. So, you are now faced with a wooden door to your right, another one directly opposite on your left with a ceramic plaque showing a silver crown on it, and ahead of you an east-west passage in the distance. You should explore an area you haven't entered before. Will you:

Open the door to your right?
Open the door to your left?
Make for the junction between the two passages?

A little glitch in the text describing how we "clamber painfully out" of the pit when it's possible that we had just managed to leap over it.

New hub area! Where random door/passage now?

[Darth Rabbitt]

Jallarial.

Take the middle.