[Let's Play] GrailQuest 4: Voyage of Terror

RogueOne · Post by **RogueOne** » Fri Apr 27, 2018 3:33 pm

Enter the boat.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Sat Apr 28, 2018 2:04 am

No sooner have you stepped into the boat than it pulls away from the shore at a truly alarming rate of knots... so suddenly, in fact, that you sit down in the stern on your stern quite painfully. By the time you recover your composure, you are heading for a fog bank, but you can see no way of stopping your craft (let alone see what is propelling it at this fantastic rate).

Frantically you search about in the boat for the secret of its controls and for a moment you think you have found it in the shape of what might be a piece of magical parchment stowed away under the seat. But there is no spell written here, although there is a very curious series of diagrams drawn on it. Frowning as you try to make sense of the diagrams, you unfold the parchment, but it gets bigger and bigger until it is so big and flapping so much that you are forced to fold it up again.

By the time you finish messing about with the parchment, you have entered the fog bank: and after a moment of mind-wrenching confusion find yourself beached on a tiny rock almost to small to be called an island and certainly not shown on your Sea Chart. The black boat is nowhere to be seen. Nor is anything else for that matter except the folded parchment which is still clutched in your hand.

If you're not very careful you could find your next stop is 14. However, a seasoned young sea dog like yourself is nothing if not resourceful. You consider the situation carefully until curiosity impels you to examine the parchment diagrams again. To your intense delight, they are instructions for making a boat. Complicated instructions, to be sure, but in your present situation, anything that gives you a boat is better than nothing.

Study the diagrams on Appendix, p.223 and if you can follow them well enough to make yourself a paper boat, you may return to the Argo and pick a destination from your Sea Chart. Furthermore, you may if you wish, take the folding boat with you on any subsequent trip to an island and use it to sail directly to the next nearest island when you have finished without the need to check for Cross-Eyed Navigation!

If you can't manage to make yourself a paper boat, you will rot on this island until exposure, exhaustion and starvation carry your wasted corpse to the gloomy depths of 14.

Here're the instructions:

Okay, I'm not going to make the players fold a paper boat before I proceed. We'll just take it that Pip makes it back to the Argo either way. But if any of you has the free time and actually and makes a paper boat according to the instructions, post a picture here, and I'll award Pip the Puzzle/Exp point for this and he can also forgo the next Cross-eyed navigation roll!

In the meantime, whether you make the boat or not, please vote on which island to visit next (since we haven't explored the entire Maiden Call island, you can pick that again.....if you're willing to risk the mysterious 116).

Starmaker · Post by **Starmaker** » Sun Apr 29, 2018 6:21 pm

There you go:

Two things:
1. Office paper is not particularly suitable as boat-building material.
2. I made two of them and I have no idea how to pull the sails out, so tough shit, Pip, looks like you'll have to row.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Mon Apr 30, 2018 11:29 am

Great!

As said before, I was actually more waiting for vote on where to go next than for the making of the boat, but thanks to Starmaker's contribution Pip not only gains the puzzle point, but can now also sail safely to his next destination without going through Cross-eyed navigation roll!

He still needs a direction on where to sail next, though (let me know whether you want to use his new boat on his next destination or save it for later)....

If there's no new vote by tomorrow, I guess we'll head right back to Maiden Call and explore the rest of the island as per previous votes.

Omegonthesane · Post by **Omegonthesane** » Mon Apr 30, 2018 2:41 pm

Active vote to return to Maiden Call and finish exploring it.

RogueOne · Post by **RogueOne** » Mon Apr 30, 2018 3:50 pm

Nice, Starmaker! (or perhaps that should be *Boatmaker?)

Agreed with Omegon, let's discover all the secrets of Maiden Call.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Tue May 01, 2018 2:16 am

Pip sails back to Maiden Call on his new boat, bypassing the Cross-eyed navigation roll.....but still needs to make another mysterious roll as he sets foot on the island:

Die roll = 3. No 116 for now....

Pip then heads north, but has to make another roll:

Die roll 4.

Trudge trudge trudge... Northwards you go, with no company other than the sound of the birds in the branches, hassling interminably about who owns a particular tree.

Trudge trudge trudge... Still nothing of interest. This is the sort of place that could bore you to death.

'I say, you down there!'

You stop abruptly and look around. There is no one in sight.

'Up here,' calls the voice. 'Up above you.'

You look up into the branches of an overhanging tree, but there is no one there. Frowning, you look around you again.

'No, no--up here!' insists the voice.

You look up again, but there is no one in the branches except a pair of small, dun-coloured birds. You look around you again.

'I say, will you kindly have the decency to look at me while I'm talking to you!'

It's one of the birds! One of the birds is talking to you!

'I'm sorry,' you say, wondering if it could be an oddly shaped parrot. 'I didn't realize it was you.'

'Quite all right, Old Thing. I was just wondering if you could settle an argument between my colleague and myself.'

'I'll certainly try,' you tell the birds, bemused by this turn of events.

'Well,' says the bird, 'we got tired of squabbling about who owns this stupid branch, so we set to discussing classical mythology. (We're extremely well-educated birds, you appreciate.) Specifically, we set to discussing the Cyclops. You've heard of the Cyclops, haven't you?'

'Yes,' you say, poker-faced.

'Most interesting chappie,' continues the little bird, 'and quite an ornithologist in his own small way. However, after we'd discussed the Cyclops for a little while, we had a minor disagreement. We could not decide how many eyes he has.' The bird cocks its head to one side and regards you beadily. 'Can you help us?'

'Yus,' puts in the second bird before you have time to answer. 'Orl we want to know is 'ow many eyes this Cyclist bloke 'as. If you can tell us the right answer, we'll tell you 'ow to get yer grubby little 'ands on somefing valuable.'

You stare at these two peculiar birds, trying to remember all you ever learned about the Cyclops.

If you think the monster has one eye, go to 99.

If you think he has two, go to 157.

If you think he has three, go to 181.

How will Pip show off his knowledge of classic mythology to the birds?

Omegonthesane · Post by **Omegonthesane** » Tue May 01, 2018 6:58 am

One eye

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Tue May 01, 2018 9:18 am

Before he can give an answer, Pip is compelled to roll another die:

Die roll = 5.

'By George!' exclaims the little bird. 'That is precisely the correct answer.'

'Yus,' says the other little bird. 'Yus, I fink it is.'

'You said something about telling me how to get my grubby little hands on something valuable,' you remind them.

'That is perfectly true as well,' says the first bird. It turns to look at its companion. 'You have it, don't you, Clarence?'

'Yus,' says Clarence. 'Yus, I do.' With which he flies down from the branch and drops a small gold key into your grubby little outstretched hand.

'Just a minute!' you call, as the other bird takes to wing. 'What's this key for?'

But both birds are disappearing swiftly upwards now. 'Can't stop. Got to migrate.'

Nothing else for it but to continue trudging, which will take you in a circle to 127 where you may pick another option.

One more puzzle point earned by Pip for his knowledge of mythological monster anatomy!

That's the second golden key Pip's found (although he lost the first one when he got chomped up by that T-Rex).

Pip heads back to 127 and then explores the last area which he hadn't checked (he doesn't have to roll for going back to 127, since the text said he does so for each "new section" he goes to), pausing to roll the die once more:

Die roll = 1.

Now, Pip goes east to section 170:

You move eastwards, travelling for nearly twenty minutes until you find yourself approaching a huge stone statue, very similar in many respects, to those found on Easter Island. As you move closer, you discover that the mouth of this great head has been cleverly articulated so that it might, under certain circumstances, open and close in a lifelike manner. (Well, comparatively lifelike manner.)

As you move around to the back of the statue, you notice three levers set near its base. Above the levers a notice has been chiselled.

***

WARNING
ONLY ONE LEVER MAY BE
PULLED WITH SAFETY

Think on where you are, Wanderer. That which, if multiplied by five, then ten, then the same added, plus a further score, equates to your present location, will gain you ample reward for your insight. Aught else spells doom.

***

On closer inspection you find each lever has been numbered--1 to 3.

But are you prepared to risk pulling one on the promise of 'ample reward'? Should you pull Lever 1, go to 202. Should you try Lever 2, go to 186. Should you reach for Lever 3, go to 178.

You may, of course, leave them all alone, in which case you may return to 127 and pick another direction, or return to your ship and find a new island on your Sea Chart.

Maiden Call is basically puzzle island.

Which lever do we pull? Or do we play safe and go to another island?

Thaluikhain · Post by **Thaluikhain** » Tue May 01, 2018 1:36 pm

I must be parsing that wrong, I'm reading that as Nx5x10+N+20=170. Which gives me almost, but not quite, 3.

Starmaker · Post by **Starmaker** » Tue May 01, 2018 1:51 pm

Thaluikhain wrote:I must be parsing that wrong, I'm reading that as Nx5x10+N+20=170. Which gives me almost, but not quite, 3.

Yeah I don't either.
Nx5x10 + 10 + 20 = nope
Nx5x10 + (5+10) + 20 = nope
Nx5x10 + Nx5x10 + 20 = nope
Nx5x10 + (5x10) + 20 is the only reading that gives an integer N, but it's a massive stretch.

MisterDee · Post by **MisterDee** » Tue May 01, 2018 8:08 pm

Pretty much the only answer I can come up with is 2 - that is if we interpret "then the same added" to be "Add fifty".

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Wed May 02, 2018 11:48 am

If there's no consensus on the right answer, there's the option to take the safe option and ignore all the levers.

But if you prefer to do that, please let me know which island you wish to visit next.

Omegonthesane · Post by **Omegonthesane** » Wed May 02, 2018 11:55 am

I think it's lever 2.

MisterDee · Post by **MisterDee** » Wed May 02, 2018 1:19 pm

I think 2 is likely enough to be the answer that I want to risk it. Might be a Meteor of Dinosaur Extinction +2 in it.

I'll be really pissed if it only contains gold.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Thu May 03, 2018 12:10 pm

I'm going to make a controversial decision here: according to the book, the correct answer is 3.

However, even with the vagueness/ambiguity of the words "the same added" there doesn't seem to be any way where '3' fits the puzzle. If N =3, then there shouldn't be anything added to the number beyond Nx5x10 + score (20), so I'm inclined to think this was an editorial error. Unfortunately, there's no way to ascertain this. I was unable to find any "official" solution for this series online. What makes it worse is that the vagueness of the words also means that we can't really prove for certain that 2 is right answer.

However, I'm going to make the executive decision to take 2 as the correct answer. It doesn't look like a perfect answer but it makes more sense than the other 2. This book has enough ways to arbitrarily insta-kill you off without adding another ambiguous and poorly-worded puzzle to the list (getting the wrong answer means that Pip gets sent to 14 unless he rolls 10 or higher).

MisterDee wrote:I'll be really pissed if it only contains gold.

Well.....

With a grinding of hidden gears, the great mouth opens, spilling out no less than 3,500 gold pieces and a talisman which has the effect of subtracting one from an opponent's first dice roll during combat.

Pick up this interesting load of booty and return to 127 and pick another direction, or return to your ship and find a new island on your Sea Chart.

It was mostly gold, but you also get a nice talisman. Is that satisfactory?

Anyway, that's the whole island explored. Where do we go next?

SEA CHART:

QUEST JOURNAL:

Pip's LIFE POINTS: 36/54
Permanent Life Points: 14

EQUIPMENT CARRIED:
Rusty Dagger (+2 damage)
Sword (hits on 6, damage +3)
Spear (hits on 6/thrown 8, damage +5/thrown +10, only attack once every 2 rounds/thrown once every 3 rounds)
New Dagger (hits on 6, damage +1, attack twice per round)
One-piece armour (worn) (damage -2, shatters on 12 after taking the 1st hit in every combat)
Spare armor x2 (damage -2, shatters on 12 after taking the 1st hit in every combat)
Rope (50ft coil)
Grappling hook
Backpack
Flint and steel (for lighting fires)
Ceramic lamp
Box of biscuits
Poison Stiletto (damage +1, poison causes 2 LP loss every combat round, additional hits are cumulative, 12/12 doses)
Golden Key
Talisman (opponent gets -1 on his first attack during combat)

MONEY: 4500 GP

EXPERIENCE POINTS: 19
ENEMIES DEFEATED:
Old Sea Dog (2x)
Poisonous Spider
Ship's Cook (2x)
19 Guards
10 Scoundrels (3x)
Rock Thern
PUZZLES SOLVES: 1

No. of Deaths:
1) LP drained by Shadows on Skull Island
2) Devoured by a T-Rex on Dragon Island

RogueOne · Post by **RogueOne** » Fri May 11, 2018 3:39 pm

Ugh.

Against my better instincts, I'll vote we go to Demondim next.

Thaluikhain · Post by **Thaluikhain** » Fri May 11, 2018 4:02 pm

In lieu of knowing where we should be going, yeah that.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Sun May 13, 2018 2:22 am

Updates will be irregular for the next 4-5 days while I finish off an important RL project.

Cross-eyed navigation roll = 11. Pip makes it to Demondim....or does he?

This does not look like a South Sea Island paradise. No glistening beaches, no waving palms, no hula dancers trying to avoid the lawnmower. Instead, your trusty vessel draws towards a desolate, gloomy cliff-face with the barren, rock-encrusted sweep of land stretching out beyond it to a dark horizon.

Far to the north, smoke and fumes are rising, suggesting some form of volcanic activity and casting a low, sullen pall across the entire island.

You skirt the cliff-face cautiously, looking for a safe place to beach, but there is none. Eventually you find two narrow inlets, one to the west, one to the south, but depth soundings with a plumbline soon convince you these are too shallow for the ship to navigate. If you want to investigate the island, you must use the tiny rowboat stored on the ship's upper deck; but this means going alone...

If you decide to risk a solitary journey, turn to 19.

If you feel this gloomy place is best left alone, try navigating to another island on the Sea Chart.

Pip went through all that trouble to win himself an army only to find out that the army is really just a sailing crew that can't follow him anywhere on land.

Anyway, this wouldn't be the first time Pip has to go explore alone, so let's proceed:

'A brave decision!' exclaims one of the Argonauts. 'But which inlet will you take?'

Which is, of course, the $64,000 question (or will be when dollars are invented).

If you decide on the western inlet, go to 23.

If you head for the southern inlet, go to 33.

And which way to we proceed?

Omegonthesane · Post by **Omegonthesane** » Sun May 13, 2018 7:21 am

sounds like a blind choice to me but ok

West inlet.

RogueOne · Post by **RogueOne** » Mon May 14, 2018 2:43 pm

Agreed.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Tue May 15, 2018 2:07 am

As you pull bravely towards the inlet, a sweep of white water across its mouth catches your attention, and while you're new to this seafaring business, you suspect it indicates a line of reefs. The problem now is can you navigate them safely. And since you have no chart to guide you, it seems to be largely a question of luck.

You could always turn back, of course. But if you do, your crew (a superstitious lot who believe in golden sheep) will insist you leave this island alone from now on. But the choice is yours and you have the option of selecting another destination from your chart.

Alternatively, you may roll two dice. Score 2-4 and go to 53. Score 5-9 and go to 63. Score 10-12 and go to 73.

Doesn't seem to be any benefit in turning back now, let's just press on:

Dice roll = 3.

You have scarce made your decision when a current seizes your little craft, carrying you swiftly towards the white water and the reefs. Frantically you pull on the oars, but it takes no more than an instant to discover you are out of control. The rowboat smashes into an underwater reef and spins, miraculously escaping serious damage. But no sooner are you congratulating yourself than it strikes another. Still no serious damage, but now you are in the midst of a churning maelstrom.

Craash! You are flung from your craft into the icy torrent. You gasp and breathe water. Coughing, you surface momentarily in time to see your boat smash to pieces. For an instant you catch a glimpse of the golden hull of the mother ship--alas, too distant to give you aid. You sink again, lungs near to bursting, but fight your way back to the surface. Desperately you try to swim, to hit out for the shore. An errant wave seizes you and flings you bodily on to a half-submerged rock. You strike your head a fearsome blow and suddenly all noise and movement ceases. There is only blackness...

Only one option here: go to 21.

You awaken on a rocky shore. Your body is bruised and aching and your head feels as if it has been put through a mincer. The weapons and equipment you brought with you are gone with your boat. You try to stand and stagger weakly. It is obvious you have lost LIFE POINTS. But how many? And can you survive? Roll two dice. The score indicates how many LIFE POINTS you have lost.

If the loss kills you, go to 14.

If not, hunt around until you find a piece of driftwood which you can use as a weapon (+2 damage) then stagger off to 38.

Dice roll = 5. Pip is now at 31/54 LP.

And this is not even the worst outcome. One of the 3 random outcomes leads to 14.

The loss of loot is annoying, but we can regain all the weapons/armour and generic equipment once we get back on the ship. The only unique items we lost are the poison stiletto, the old rusty dagger in our prison room, and the new talisman we picked up on Maiden Call.

I'm going to rule that the Golden Key doesn't count as "equipment" and therefore isn't lost here because:

1) This adventure is like Trial of Champions in Fighting Fantasy. You need to collect the exact amount of one item type (in this case the keys) to complete the book. We can't afford to lose even 1.
2) There's no way to avoid losing items here.

Since you pretty much have to explore all the islands and you also can't avoid losing stuff here, that means if you successfully visited and survived all the island before only to visit this one last, you hit a dead end with no way to proceed other than intentionally getting yourself killed and starting over to "re-generate" the keys, which is a level of bullsh*t way over the usual you encounter even for this series.)

After all the hassle getting here, you might be wondering why you bothered. This is quite the grottiest island you have ever visited. The towering cliffs you noticed when you were trying to find a way in with your boat aren't just confined to the coastline. Towering cliffs are everywhere. The island itself is almost bare of vegetation--no more, really, then a gigantic rock which has lurched out of the seabed. But out of the rock have been gouged craters and valleys so that cliff-faces seem to rise around you wherever you go. It's also quite chill here, which is peculiar considering the overall climate.

Wonder why it's called Demondim Isle?

You begin a systematic search, although to be honest, you aren't all that sure any more what you are actually searching for. You need to get back to King Arthur's time, of course, but how to do so is another matter. Basically you are searching for something that might come in useful.

You enter a valley (more towering cliffs on either side) and travel westwards until, to your chagrin, you discover you are in a dead end. The valley simply stops at another towering cliff to the west. Nothing else for it but to come back the way you came.

You turn and discover why they call this Demondim Isle. No more than 200 yards away are ranged six Demondim. The creatures are about the size of baboons (and not unlike them in general appearance). They are hairless, black-skinned and fearsomely-faced, moving restlessly, sometimes upright, sometimes on all fours, but always quietly. Their faces are almost featureless, save for the huge black orbs which presumably serve as eyes.

One of them moves a little forward from the pack, stands upright and gives vent to a high-pitched wailing howl before dropping back on all fours and moving restlessly to join his fellows. You are painfully aware of the cliff wall at your back, the cliffs to your sides (not to mention the fact that the only weapon you have handy is that stupid driftwood club). The pack moves towards you a few yards, then halts, and this time all six emit that eerie, high-pitched howl. The black orbs of their eyes seem to stare hungrily into your very soul. Isn't this chilling?

You grip your club more firmly and sensibly look around you for some means of escape. At first there seems to be none, then suddenly you notice a cave mouth (little more than a crack really) about thirty feet above you in the face of the northern cliff. Climbing to it would not be easy--especially with a Demondim pack snapping at your heels--but your judgement is that it would not be impossible either.

The Demondim pack wails again and starts forward in your direction, a cautious, erratic, restless movement that will nonetheless bring them on you within moments. This is make-your-mind-up-time.

You may move forward bravely to meet the Demondim, in which case go to 86.

You might try climbing up to the cave in the hope there is a way out of this mess, in which case go to 131.

Do we greet or avoid the Demondim?

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Wed May 16, 2018 4:05 am

The monkey men can probably climb faster than us, so greet them and hope that they're friendly.

Omegonthesane · Post by **Omegonthesane** » Wed May 16, 2018 5:27 am

Agreed

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Thu May 17, 2018 11:29 am

The creatures hesitate at your brave move and for a moment it seems as though they might actually be considering a retreat. But they carefully count how many of you there are and when they fail to get higher than one, they break into a delighted wailing and rush towards you swiftly.

Staunchly you grip your makeshift club and prepare to do battle at 92.

*Prepares dice

You roll your dice, record a massive hit and swing your club. A jarring shudder half paralyses your arm as the club makes contact with a Demondim head. But the creature only grins at you, unharmed.

Swiftly you swing again: and again the dice indicate a hit with damage. But again the creature only grins at you, obviously unhurt. You swing at another and another, striking successfully each time, but scoring no damage whatsoever. These Dim are absolutely immune to your attacks!

The six circle you, then close in efficiently, calling out to one another in their eerie, high-pitched voices.

With nothing better to do, you keep on swinging, but the pack grab you with steely fingers, lift you bodily from the ground and carry you off to 34.

.....oh.

*puts away dice

This is not, by and large, the one place you would naturally choose for a picnic. You are in a vast natural amphitheatre, open to the sullen sky, with rock terraces packed to capacity with Demondim. The noise is terrifying, since the creatures continually call to one another in their weird, high-pitched, trilling voices as they leap from terrace to terrace before squatting to regard you grimly with those huge black orbs of eyes.

On the floor of the amphitheatre itself, lonely as a Roman gladiator, you stand prepared for the worst, wondering vaguely why you ever let Merlin talk you into these lunatic adventures--especially since the old fool can't even get his spells right. You look around you, desperately searching for some means of escape. But there is none. The entrance to the arena is now sealed by a solid wall of Demondim fighters, grinning muscular creatures armed with granite clubs that look as if they could do +10,000 damage even on a near miss.

In the exact centre of the arena is a rectangular granite slab, suspiciously like a sacrificial altar, with a basalt pillar set at either end. Even in your present extremity, those pillars intrigue you, for they do not seem to be natural formations. Embedded in each at intervals are tiny shards of mica and both are topped by a multi-faceted block of crystal.

But before you have much time to contemplate the mystery of the pillars (or worry about the sacrificial altar, come to that), the horde of Demondim fall abruptly silent. You swing round at a tiny sound behind you to find the Demondim fighter guards have parted to allow the entrance of a tall robed figure, face totally hidden by a heavy hood through slits in which two red eyes glitter ferally as they lock on to your own.

The figure (which seems more human than Demondim from its posture) walks slowly towards you, carrying an extremely nasty looking curved and crystal-bladed knife.

Although the Demondim seem immune to attack, you might like to try your luck at slaughtering this hooded figure, in which case go to 58.

Or you could try cunning by falling down on the ground, drumming your heels, frothing at the mouth and generally trying to convince these creatures you are, essentially, a harmless lunatic. If so, go to 71.

Or you can simply wait to see how things turn out, in which case go to 45.

How do we deal with this mysterious hooded thing?