[Let's Play] Fighting Fantazine Adventure 11: Ascent of Darkness

[pragma]

We need the bracelet of green metal for the upcoming poison check. 1 full vote for those.

I thought the gloves and bat amulet worked nicely, but I'm not opposed to exploring new fun items. Maybe the pebble is better than it appears? half vote each for pebble and wooden ring.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote for the bracelet of green metal and leather gloves covered in thorns. I would like to make a half vote for the copper ring for the third item.

[Beroli]

Bracelet of green metal: 6 points.
Pebble: 1 point.
Wooden ring: 0.5 points.
Leather gloves covered in thorns: 2 points.
Copper ring: 0.5 points.

You take the bracelet of green metal, the leather gloves covered in thorns, and the pebble.

These gloves will guide your hands in combat and ensure that your foes will feel the sting of the thorns. Once per combat, you may either automatically win one combat round or automatically succeed at one heroic stunt.

The bracelet has healing powers and it will make you immune to any poisons. At the end of each combat, the bracelet will restore 3 stamina points.

‘This pebble is carried by our rangers. It confers skill in battle and in hunting to them.’ From now on whenever you use a stunt in combat, you may add 1 to the number rolled to see if you succeed. Also as long as you own this stone you may spend 3 Luck points at the beginning of a combat in order to increase your attack strength by 1 for that combat.

You have a joyful time at the dance and feast. The druids tend to your wounds (restore your Stamina to its Initial level). In the morning, you bid Atalanta and the rest of the tribe goodbye and continue your journey. You make good time through the woods and plains. You journey for several days until one morning when the sky is red from the dawn sun. As the first light spreads across the land, you see the shining city of Carsepolis in the distance. You are almost home.

You are sitting on a rock, eating the last of your rations when you see movement some distance away. You look in the direction of the movement to see a man in a leather jerkin aiming an arrow at you. He looses it. Before you can move, it hits you in the shoulder.

Throw your spear at him?
Chase him?

Name: Hermes Conrad
Sex: Male
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 24/24
Luck: 14/14
Cunning of Logann
Hubris
Inventory: Sword, spear, shield (-1 to enemy Attack Strength), Steel helmet, 50 Gold Pieces, food, 5 torches, flint and tinder, water skin, leather gloves covered in thorns (once per combat, you may either automatically win one combat round or automatically succeed at one heroic stunt), bracelet of green metal (immune to poison, regain 3 Stamina at the end of each combat), hunting pebble (+1 to all Stunt use; at the beginning of each combat, you can choose to spend 3 Luck points to get a +1 Attack Strength bonus for that combat), bronze apple of prowess (Speed of Pangara or Strength of Telak once).
Deaths: Shot full of arrows by an archer

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to throw the spear this time.

[Thaluikhain]

May as well.

[pragma]

Throw spear

[Beroli]

Your spear flies through the air and hits the man in the arm. You hear him yelp in pain before he runs off, and you give chase.

You briefly feel dizzy. The arrow was poisoned and you would die now if you did not have the bracelet.

You pull the arrow out of your arm and look around for the archer that ambushed you, but he is nowhere to be seen.

You did throw your spear at him.

Your spear is now on a rocky outcrop and it will require some climbing to get to.

Recover your spear?
Head on as quickly as possible, planning to get a new spear in Carsepolis?

Name: Hermes Conrad
Sex: Male
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 24/24
Luck: 14/14
Cunning of Logann
Hubris
Inventory: Sword, spear, shield (-1 to enemy Attack Strength), Steel helmet, 50 Gold Pieces, food, 5 torches, flint and tinder, water skin, leather gloves covered in thorns (once per combat, you may either automatically win one combat round or automatically succeed at one heroic stunt), bracelet of green metal (immune to poison, regain 3 Stamina at the end of each combat), hunting pebble (+1 to all Stunt use; at the beginning of each combat, you can choose to spend 3 Luck points to get a +1 Attack Strength bonus for that combat), bronze apple of prowess (Speed of Pangara or Strength of Telak once).
Deaths: Shot full of arrows by an archer

[Thaluikhain]

Half vote to recover spear.

[Queen of Swords]

Agreed, recover spear.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to recover the spear.

[Beroli]

You climb the outcrop but as you do, you graze your leg on a sharp rock (lose 1 Stamina point). Once you have recovered your spear, you continue your journey. Wary of further ambushes, you climb onto higher ground for the final leg of your journey.

Eventually, you come to the gates of Caresepolis. The guards stand to attention and salute as you approach them. You walk through the gates and along the streets to where your house can be found. The atmosphere in the city is glum – it seems that a cloud has descended upon the people here. You walk up the stairs to your mansion where your steward is standing at the door, a look of melancholy upon his face. Upon seeing you, his face brightens.

‘My Lord…’ he says.

‘Greetings, Stelios. I will greet you properly when I have dealt with the infestation in my house.’ You stride down the corridors, following the sound of raucous merriment until you come to the banquet room. Your mother sits at the head of the long table bedecked with a glorious repast which is being torn apart by a score of drunk and uncouth courtiers like pigs feasting on caviar. Upon seeing you, the merriment stops. ‘I am the master of this house and you will all leave.’

‘Oh yeah?’ says one of the drunken courtiers, almost falling over as he gets up. ‘You won’t be ordering me about when I’m your daddy.’ Roars of laughter go up from the diners.

You remain stone faced. ‘If that’s the case, then you’re going to have to kill me.’

The young men all get up and draw short swords, eager for combat in the hope that you might kill some of their rivals. They all advance upon you with a drunken overconfidence. Once they are ten paces away, you draw your own sword and prepare your shield. You are going to enjoy teaching these men a lesson. Fight the courtiers as a single creature. As long as the courtiers’ Stamina is 10 or more, you must lose 1 Stamina point at the end of every combat round as you cannot block all of their blows.

COURTIERS Skill 8 Stamina 18

Pause to vote on a policy for using your pebble--both under what circumstances to spend Luck, and whether they change to stunts means any change to your policy of attempting three stunts in the first three rounds.

Name: Hermes Conrad
Sex: Male
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 23/24
Luck: 14/14
Cunning of Logann
Hubris
Inventory: Sword, spear, shield (-1 to enemy Attack Strength), Steel helmet, 50 Gold Pieces, food, 5 torches, flint and tinder, water skin, leather gloves covered in thorns (once per combat, you may either automatically win one combat round or automatically succeed at one heroic stunt), bracelet of green metal (immune to poison, regain 3 Stamina at the end of each combat), hunting pebble (+1 to all Stunt use; at the beginning of each combat, you can choose to spend 3 Luck points to get a +1 Attack Strength bonus for that combat), bronze apple of prowess (Speed of Pangara or Strength of Telak once).
Deaths: Shot full of arrows by an archer

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote only to spend Luck if the opponent’s attack strength is at least 2 greater than our hero’s and to keep the policy otherwise.

[pragma]

I agree with Noob's luck policy.

I think we should explore weakness every round (unless next round is a guaranteed bleed out) because the pebble halves our chance of failure.

[Beroli]

Okay, going to need a tiebreaker on stunt policy before your next fight; for now, I'll go with pragma's suggestion for this fight (and probably alternate between them, if no one else votes).

Hermes Conrad Attack Strength: 23, COURTIERS Attack Strength: 17. Stunt result autosuccess. Hermes Conrad's Stamina is 22, Courtiers bleed for 1. COURTIERS's Stamina is 15.
Hermes Conrad Attack Strength: 19, COURTIERS Attack Strength: 17. Stunt result 3, success. Hermes Conrad's Stamina is 21, Courtiers bleed for 2. COURTIERS's Stamina is 11.
Hermes Conrad Attack Strength: 18, COURTIERS Attack Strength: 13. Stunt result 3, success. Hermes Conrad's Stamina is 20, Courtiers bleed for 3. COURTIERS's Stamina is 6.
Hermes Conrad Attack Strength: 22, COURTIERS Attack Strength: 18. Stunt result 6, success. Courtiers bleed for 4 and die.

Your blows fell the courtiers easily. Some flee upon seeing your skill, but you chase them down and finish them off. Such is the penalty for being so disrespectful towards your house and your mother. You chase one man to his room and burst through the door. He is curled up on the floor. ‘Mercy!’ he shouts. When he sees the look on your face, he tries another tactic ‘I am the Crown Prince of Salamonis! Kill me and you may bring war upon Carsepolis. We might be too weak to fight you now, but think of how my murder will sound amongst the city-states. Spare me and I won’t hold it against you.’

You do not have Rage.

Spare him?
Execute him?

Name: Hermes Conrad
Sex: Male
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 20/24
Luck: 14/14
Cunning of Logann
Hubris
Inventory: Sword, spear, shield (-1 to enemy Attack Strength), Steel helmet, 50 Gold Pieces, food, 5 torches, flint and tinder, water skin, leather gloves covered in thorns (once per combat, you may either automatically win one combat round or automatically succeed at one heroic stunt), bracelet of green metal (immune to poison, regain 3 Stamina at the end of each combat), hunting pebble (+1 to all Stunt use; at the beginning of each combat, you can choose to spend 3 Luck points to get a +1 Attack Strength bonus for that combat), bronze apple of prowess (Speed of Pangara or Strength of Telak once).
Deaths: Shot full of arrows by an archer

[JourneymanN00b]

I again vote to spare him.

[Thaluikhain]

Spare him again.

[pragma]

Spare him

[Beroli]

You let the courtier go, and he thanks you profusely. He offers you a gift for sparing his life. It is a ring of charm – wearing it will make people react more favourably towards you. Obviously, it does not work on people who are enraged with you. You take the ring and tell the courtier that you never want to see him again.

Your mother is in the dining room, ordering the servants to clear up the mess that both the courtiers and yourself have made. When she sees you, she runs to embrace you. As she does, she cries with joy.

‘I am so glad to see you again. I cannot thank you enough for ridding me of those disgusting men,’ she says. ‘But now you must avenge your father. Search the city, find those responsible and kill them.’

You swear that you will not rest until your father’s murderers are dead. Once your house has been cleaned up, you and your mother enjoy a fine meal, and healers tend to your wounds. You feel blessed for ridding your house of a poisonous element. Restore your stamina to its Initial level and restore 1 Luck point. Your mother also gives you part of your inheritance – several hundred gold pieces in coins, gems and jewellery. Note that you have 1000 Gold Pieces. You also have a trireme which is moored at the docks, but you must find a new crew as your mother dismissed the old one when your father died. Also, if you lost your spear, you may take a new one (you didn't).

Once you have finished, you set out into the city to find out who killed your father. Where will you enquire first?

The markets?
The docks?
The taverns?
The Wizards’ Guild?
The palace?
The temple of Pangara?
The temple of Telak?
The temple of Logaan?
The temple of Ashra?
The temple of Vuh?

Name: Hermes Conrad
Sex: Male
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 20/24
Luck: 14/14
Cunning of Logann
Hubris
Inventory: Sword, spear, shield (-1 to enemy Attack Strength), Steel helmet, 1050 Gold Pieces, food, 5 torches, flint and tinder, water skin, leather gloves covered in thorns (once per combat, you may either automatically win one combat round or automatically succeed at one heroic stunt), bracelet of green metal (immune to poison, regain 3 Stamina at the end of each combat), hunting pebble (+1 to all Stunt use; at the beginning of each combat, you can choose to spend 3 Luck points to get a +1 Attack Strength bonus for that combat), bronze apple of prowess (Speed of Pangara or Strength of Telak once), ring of charm.
Deaths: Shot full of arrows by an archer

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to go to the markets and buy the warhammer and spear, drop the sword, and do everything else we did before heading off of the docks, excluding the actions that resulted in nothing, of course.

[Thaluikhain]

Do we want to see about joining a different temple this time? Not saying we necessarily do, but it's an option.

[pragma]

I'm fine repeating actions.

I'm not sure about booth Warhammer and Spear. I think we could get through the earth elemental encounter with no hammer, but we may get checked for rock breaking later on. The shiny shield screams "Medusa encounter" to me, so if kind of like it.

Consider my inventory musings a half vote so we don't allow down the game.

[Beroli]

The markets sell all kinds of goods for the people of Carsepolis. There are no common items that you need, for you can get them all at your mansion, but there are several rare and magical items being sold at the market.

A potion of healing (100 Gold Pieces).
A lucky charm (150 Gold Pieces).
A silver throwing dagger (250 Gold Pieces).
A masterfully crafted shiny shield (100 Gold Pieces).
A finely wrought sword (500 Gold Pieces).
A spear with a metal haft which is as light as wood (500 Gold Pieces).
A warhammer made from a metal with a blue sheen (500 Gold Pieces).

You buy the warhammer and the spear.

The warhammer is enchanted and can be used to crush rocks with ease. However, you cannot carry both it and your sword.

This spear is enchanted to deal extra damage to reptiles and their ilk. You discard your previous spear for it (any traits that spear had no longer matter).

You do not go to the wizards' guild or the docks as those accomplished nothing previously.

You approach the large doors of the palace and request to see the king on a matter of the utmost urgency. The guards let you in with a salute but they leave you waiting in the antechamber. You are getting very irritated by the time a priest in white robes appears. He introduces himself as High Priest Ikunum. You have never heard of this man before and you thought you knew everybody ‘I am sorry that the king cannot see you my lord, but is there anything I can help with?’ You tell him that you have a message of utmost importance and that it is for the king’s ears only. ‘Then you will have to return another time for the king is indisposed with the affairs of state.’ Ikunum asks the guards to escort you from the palace. Six heavily armed guards approach you. You do not want to fight the king’s men so you leave.

You hang around the palace to see who this Ikunum is and what he is up to.

You leave the palace, but instead of walking through the gardens to the gate, you skirt around the palace walls. You run straight into a patrol of guards, but when they see who you are and what you are doing, they let you go on your way. ‘I never trusted that Ikunum,’ mutters one guard. ‘His quarters are round the back of the palace on the ground floor.’ You thank the guards and continue on your way. When you get to Ikunum’s window, you peek inside in case there is anyone in the room. You could climb into the window to see if there is anything you can find.

You do not have a bat amulet.

However, you never get the chance to climb in as you feel the agonizing pain of something being thrust into your back. You whirl round to see the masked face of your assassin as she plunges her dagger into your chest. It is the last thing you see.

Possibly you missed an important different choice from your previous playthrough when you voted to do all the same things in Carsepolis. Rewinding...

[Beroli]

Your journey takes you through a land which gets more and more wooded as you travel it. Eventually, you must force your way through the undergrowth in order to continue. At dusk, you stop to rest, but, anxious to get home and save your mother, you press onwards. When it gets dark, you light a torch, but this brings little comfort as the fire pinpoints your location to beasts and bandits. After several hours of walking, you come to a clearing. At the centre of the clearing is a very tall tree bearing beautiful apples. These are not just any apples, as they have metallic colourings: gold, silver and bronze. You have heard of the remarkable power of such apples, and they are much sought after.

You want to get some apples.

You try to knock them out of the tree.

You throw stones, branches and anything you can find at the apples. Test your Luck, at a -4 penalty if you do not have the Cunning of Logann. (You do and so you cannot fail this.)

You manage to knock three apples out of the tree. You inspect your prizes. You have found a silver apple of healing (You may eat the silver apple at any time when you are not in combat. It will restore your Stamina to its Initial level), a bronze apple of prowess (One time, when you are asked if you have the Speed of Pangara or the Strength of Telak, you can eat the Bronze Apple of Prowess and answer "yes.") and a golden apple of the gods (you may eat this apple to increase your Initial Luck score by 1 and then restore your Luck score to its new Initial level).

Just as you have finished with your first attempt, you hear a rustling in the leaves behind you. You turn around and you are amazed to see a tree moving towards you. It is a TREEMAN. ‘You shouldn’t be trying to take my apples,’ it says in a slow booming voice.

Tell the Treeman your story?
Fight the Treeman?
Run?

Name: Hermes Conrad
Sex: Male
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 24/24
Luck: 13/14
Cunning of Logann
Hubris
Inventory: Sword, spear, shield (-1 to enemy Attack Strength), Steel helmet, 50 Gold Pieces, food, 5 torches, flint and tinder, water skin, bronze apple of prowess (Speed of Pangara or Strength of Telak once), silver apple of healing (restore Stamina to Initial score once, not usable in combat), golden apple of the gods (increase Initial Luck by 1 and then restore Luck to Initial score once).
Deaths: Shot full of arrows by an archer, stabbed in the back by an assassin

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to tell the Treeman our hero’s story.

[Thaluikhain]

Tell story!