Let's Play The Gates of Death: Fighting Fantasy (Sch#12)

SlyJohnny · Post by **SlyJohnny** » Thu Dec 06, 2018 7:58 am

Surrender to this big unit. I'm sure things will improve once we talk to Lord Azzur, who's always been a reasonable fellow

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Thu Dec 06, 2018 11:25 am

Personally, I think the right choice earlier should have been to use the smoke-oil to cure the merchant.

Oh well.....this is Blacksand, don't expect any justice from the local authorities. Fight!

Thaluikhain · Post by **Thaluikhain** » Thu Dec 06, 2018 12:24 pm

A unit of several guards, including one ogre?

Go quietly.

MisterDee · Post by **MisterDee** » Thu Dec 06, 2018 2:44 pm

I'm 90% certain fighting is an autodeath or disguised autodeath (especially with the lose weapon first then get the choice to fight)

So fight to confirm that, and if it's an autodeath as expected rewind and surrender.

maglag · Post by **maglag** » Fri Dec 07, 2018 8:31 am

I suspect fight will be "they beat you up, lose some stamina then get dragged to the next section anyway", so go quietly to save HP.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Fri Dec 07, 2018 2:08 pm

So factoring out curiosity, it sounds like votes are slightly in favor of surrender?

Fighting these guys is an autodeath. And as SGamerz guessed, using the smoke-oil would have given us a chance to avoid them.

The guards march you and Brother Tobyn through town. Ahead you can see massive walls looming above the streets, and behind them a heavy, solid building that rises up like some great dark mountain. Two towers pierce the sky, and from the taller of them a standard flaps in the wind, depicting a pirate ship and a dragon. This must be Lord Azzur's standard. You've heard tales of Varek Azzur, the ex-pirate who rules the city—nightmare tales—and you'd hoped to pass through Port Blacksand without having any dealings with him. But now you're being taken to his palace.

You and Brother Tobyn walk miserably along Palace Street, a guard on either side of you, the captain in front and the Ogre plodding along behind.

'Azzur don't like outsiders,' says the captain. 'Azzur don't like Guardians. Azzur don't like short people...Azzur don't like anyone.' He laughts. 'What d'you s'pose he'll do with them, Borgor?'

'Boil 'em in Troll's wee,' says the Ogre.

'Make 'em eat their own feet,' says another guard.

'Use their guts to make strings for his musicians and then play a merry jig as he feeds them to his pigs,' says the last guard.

The guards are still chuckling and suggesting ever more horrible punishments when you arrive at the immense iron gates in the wall of Lord Azzur's palace. They creak open and you pass into the shadows on the other side. There are formal gardens here and a carriageway leading to Lord Azzur's palace, but the guards don't take you up the wide stone steps to the main entrance; instead they take you round to a side door and then down a winding staircase lit by flaming torches.

'If I could only speak to Lord Azzur,' says Brother Tobyn. 'We are here to help the people of Allansia. I bring smoke-oil to cure the plague. We are on a mission to reach the High Priestess at the temple for healing...'

'Is that right?' says the captain. 'I'll be sure to tell my master, he'll be absolutely fascinated, but in the meantime you can make yourselves comfortable in here...'

So saying, he takes your backpack and pushes you and Brother Tobyn into a dungeon, before slamming the door shut behind you.

Until you get your pack back, none of the items on your list that you have collected so far are available to you—including the smoke-oil.

You have been put into a large cell. The only light comes in through a barred window in an iron-studded door, creating a small pool around you and Brother Tobyn. In the gloom nearby you can see a pile of human bones and skulls, You can hear scuttling in the darkness, low moans and the drip, drip, drip of water. You take a step outside the circle of light and pause. Part of you wants to explore the rest of the dungeon to see who, or what, you are sharing the space with, but a larger part of you tells you to stay with Brother Tobyn and not risk finding out what hides in the darkness.

Explore the cell?
Stay put and protect Brother Tobyn?

Adventure Sheet
Colin Hunt
SKILL: 11/11
STAMINA: 11/18
LUCK: 11/11
Equipment: Traveling Clothes, Lucky Anchor Charm
Vials of Smoke-Oil: 10
Gold Pieces: 6
Weapons: None
Items: Jar of Healing Ointment (+4 STAMINA), Fishhook, Brass Compass

MisterDee · Post by **MisterDee** » Fri Dec 07, 2018 2:47 pm

Goddammit Tobyn, keep your mouth shut and don't tell the evil assholes that we have irreplaceable medicine in our packs.

Explore. With any luck Tobyn will be dead when we come back and we won't have to deal with his "help" anymore.

SlyJohnny · Post by **SlyJohnny** » Fri Dec 07, 2018 3:53 pm

Yeah, right? We let some innocent merchant die on the street just to keep our cover, and then he goes and tells a minion of Lord Evilman exactly what we have.

Explore. I've wanted to know what's in these dungeons since I read Blacksand!

maglag · Post by **maglag** » Fri Dec 07, 2018 4:51 pm

Explore darkest dungeon.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Fri Dec 07, 2018 11:29 pm

Carefully, your heart seemingly stuck in your throat, you venture deeper into the darkness. Shuffling forward, your arms stretched out in front of you, your fingers probe the gloom. Further, further...Nothing. The cell is much bigger than you imagined. You grow bold and move faster, all the while expecting your fingers to touch cold, damp, stone. And now you hear a voice whispering in the darkness.

'Come here. I want to help you...'

Go towards the voice?
Hurry back to Brother Tobyn?

maglag · Post by **maglag** » Sat Dec 08, 2018 1:09 am

Go towards trustworthy voice.

Thaluikhain · Post by **Thaluikhain** » Sat Dec 08, 2018 2:15 am

That's probably a bad idea, so see what the voice wants.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sat Dec 08, 2018 2:43 am

Your situation is desperate. You'll take all the help you can get. You inch forward until your hands touch skin...hair...an ear... You freeze and hear a chuckle in the darkness.

'It's all right.' The voice is so weak that you can hardly hear it. 'I'm not going to hurt you. We're all in the stew together. I have something for you...'

You hear a hiss of breath and then see a patch of greenish-blue light start to glow on the wall. It looks like it's coming from a patch of fungus. There's another hiss of breath and the fungus grows brighter.

'It's glow-mold,' says the voice. 'It feeds on your breath.'

As the fungus glows slowly brighter you are gradually able to make out the figure of a man chained to the wall. He's terribly thin, his skin covered in sores and blisters and there's an awful rotting smell coming off him.

'I haven't got long to live,' he whispers, and his chest rattles as he draws in another breath. 'I've kept a treasure with me here. The gaolers never found it...but I'm dying now and have to pass it on to someone...You might be able to use it...'

'What is it?'

'A special key...left here by an adventurer from the Icefinger Mountains. Hidden in one of my boots... It's yours now...'

'What's it for?' you ask. 'Where can I use it? Which boot?' But the man is silent and the fungus is losing its glow. The poor prisoner has breathed his last.

You can just see a pair of boots standing next to him. You're going to have to search them. But can you trust the prisoner? Perhaps he wanted to play a trick on you.

Try the right boot?
Try the left boot?
Hurry back to Brother Tobyn?

MisterDee · Post by **MisterDee** » Sat Dec 08, 2018 3:00 am

Blind choice is blind.

Left.

maglag · Post by **maglag** » Sat Dec 08, 2018 4:04 am

Sure, left boot.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sat Dec 08, 2018 4:38 am

You are cautious. There could be anything in the boot. You pick it up, turn it upside down and shake it. There's a tinkling sound and the glint of metal. You scrabble in the dirt and pick up the Icefinger Key and hide it in your own boot. Perhaps the prisoner had more hidden treasure?

Add the Icefinger Key to your equipment List. If you haven't already done so, do you want to try your luck with the right boot? Or do you want to hurry back to Brother Tobyn?

Adventure Sheet
Colin Hunt
SKILL: 11/11
STAMINA: 11/18
LUCK: 11/11
Equipment: Traveling Clothes, Lucky Anchor Charm
Vials of Smoke-Oil: 10
Gold Pieces: 6
Weapons: None
Items: Jar of Healing Ointment (+4 STAMINA), Fishhook, Brass Compass
Keys: Icefinger Key

maglag · Post by **maglag** » Sat Dec 08, 2018 4:44 am

The text implies that the other boot is non-lethal, but it may have something nasty like some biting bug and we already got the special key so I vote to return to Tobyn instead of pushing our luck too much, in particular since the late prisioner explicitly said he only had one shiny for us.

SlyJohnny · Post by **SlyJohnny** » Sat Dec 08, 2018 7:43 am

Yeah, the other boot is probably negative. Let's take our treasure back to Tobyn.

Thaluikhain · Post by **Thaluikhain** » Sat Dec 08, 2018 11:32 am

Go back to Tobyn, yeah.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sat Dec 08, 2018 3:56 pm

(maglag was right. The other boot contains a bug that bites you for 3 STAMINA and 2 SKILL.)

You hurry back into the circle of light. You feel safe here with Brother Tobyn, but it's clear that he's not well. The wound that the monstrous merchant gave him has become infected and is starting to fester. The old Guardian is feverish and you can't get him to talk to you. Without the items in your backpack, there's nothing you can do for him, so you make him as comfortable as you can and settle down for the night.

The hours pass slowly. You think you'll never get to sleep but at some point you must do because the next thing you know you're being jolted awake by a movement. You open your eyes and see a terrible sight.

A hideous, ancient demon is looming over you. Completely bald, with rough, warty skin and the same horrible dark eyes as the possessed merchant. It's clearly not as strong as that other demon, but it still has long claws and sharp teeth. It snarls at you, dropping spittle on to your face, and raises a hand to strike.

It's then that you realize it's Brother Tobyn. The infected wound has turned him into a monster of the night. You throw him off and just manage to scuttle away towards the cell door.

The demon thing comes after you on all fours, teeth bared, ready to strike. You get to the door and try to open it.

Cry out for help?
Turn and fight the demon with your bare hands?
If you have a key (we do), do you want to try it?

SlyJohnny · Post by **SlyJohnny** » Sat Dec 08, 2018 5:28 pm

Crying out for help is a non-starter. I think the key isn't a universal skeleton key, or he'd have escaped before he got sick. We have to fight.

Omegonthesane · Post by **Omegonthesane** » Sat Dec 08, 2018 6:41 pm

Try the key, it's a blue option so can't possibly make things even worse.

MisterDee · Post by **MisterDee** » Sat Dec 08, 2018 7:31 pm

Finally, we can take our revenge on Tobyn! Strike with all our might!

maglag · Post by **maglag** » Sun Dec 09, 2018 12:22 am

Try the blue option key. If you wonder why the prisioner didn't try it, it's because NPCs never remember to use their special items he was too afraid to be caught by the guards but we both are experienced adventurers and have the advantage of a demon on the loose to serve as distraction.

Plus fighting unarmed just doesn't have very good odds, and even if we win we're still locked.

SlyJohnny · Post by **SlyJohnny** » Sun Dec 09, 2018 1:07 am

maglag wrote:Try the blue option key. If you wonder why the prisioner didn't try it, it's because NPCs never remember to use their special items he was too afraid to be caught by the guards but we both are experienced adventurers and have the advantage of a demon on the loose to serve as distraction.

Plus fighting unarmed just doesn't have very good odds, and even if we win we're still locked.

Changing my vote to this, it's possible I was overthinking earlier, and "the demon gets a free hit on you, lose 3 stamina points and a serum potion later" consequence wouldn't be as bad as an unnecessary unarmed fight.

Though Tobyn was an old man and so might be a pushover.