[Let's Play] Virtual Reality Gamebooks: Necklace of Skulls

[Thaluikhain]

Changing my vote to a half vote to avoid tie

[Darth Rabbitt]

Travelling on, you see a group of small children gazing longingly at the fruit growing in the orchard beside the causeway. One of them finds a stick and goes over to prod at a bunch of juicy plums. In the light of your recent experience, you wonder if they might be in danger from tarantulas.

Give them some food from your own pack?
Stand by and watch them pick the fruit?

[SGamerz]

They are locals, I think they might even show us how to deal with the tarantulas. Watch.

[Darth Rabbitt]

They succeed in dislodging several fat plums without disturbing any spiders. You watch as they squabble happily over the distribution of their spoils. Apparently you were just unlucky in finding a tarantula in the fruit you tried to pick, but the incident has deadened your appetite and you continue on your way without stopping to collect any of the plums for yourself.

You get your first glimpse of Yashuna on the afternoon of the following day. Like Koba, the tall temple pyramids of the city are visible for miles across the rolling countryside. As you approach the poorer dwellings at the outskirts of the city, you notice a large number of people milling towards the raised central complex which houses the temples and the palaces of the rich.
It seems to be market day.

Pay a visit to the market?
Head north out of the city?
Take the southern road towards the forest?

[SGamerz]

Market, for the obligatory shopping list.

[Thaluikhain]

Yeah, try the market.

[Darth Rabbitt]

You are surprised to find the market almost deserted. Contrary to your assumption, most of the populace are not headed here, but are streaming to the causeway that leads north out of the city.
The stalls are set up under awnings whose cool shade is welcoming after the dusty heat of the road.
You stand back and examine the wares on offer. The traders are doing so little business that you should have the chance of some real bargains. You make a show of strolling casually past a number of stalls, careful not to give any sign of interest in the items you want most. This will help you when the haggling starts.
You find the following on sale:  
A waterskin 1 cacao
A coil of rope 2 cacao
A terracotta effigy 3 cacao
A blowgun 3 cacao
A jar of incense 3 cacao  
After deciding your purchases, cross off the money and note your new possessions on your Character Sheet.

Since our inventory is full, we'll also have to drop stuff to make room for our new purchases, so let me know what we want to drop (assuming we buy anything).

[SGamerz]

Since our inventory is full, we'll also have to drop stuff to make room for our new purchases, so let me know what we want to drop (assuming we buy anything).

This is one of the reasons 3 of the 4 skills I voted for don't require any starting equipment. I thought it'd be good to reduce starting equipment and free up more space. As it is we're limited to 5 slots from the start.

I think we should buy the incense, but I don't really see anything that's good to drop. If I have to choose one, I'd say maize cake. I'm sure they'll be checked at some point, but it'll probably be a minor HP loss when we're checked for food.

[Thaluikhain]

I don't particularly want to drop anything (though, in retrospect, picking skills without items would have been a good idea, didn't spot that).

[Darth Rabbitt]

I'm fine starting over if people want to pick new skills (or just changing them but not any choices since only two skills so far have been checked.) Else I'll just flip a coin to break the tie.

This is one of the reasons 3 of the 4 skills I voted for don't require any starting equipment. I thought it'd be good to reduce starting equipment and free up more space. As it is we're limited to 5 slots from the start.

There's actually an item we could have picked up that counts as the item needed for two of our skills, but only takes up one slot.

[SGamerz]

Okay, just leave without buying anything. Although I'm interested in the incense I don't want it THAT badly to warrant holding this game up for so long.

[Darth Rabbitt]

As you leave the market, a tall fellow emerges from the portico bordering on the temple plaza and stands surveying the deserted marketplace. He is carrying pots that mark him as a fisherman, presumably from one of the coastal towns to the north. ‘Huh!’ he mutters, half to himself. ‘Is there no demand for good fish these days?’
‘Probably not when it is several days old,’ you remark, grimacing at the smell wafting from his goods. He fixes you with a stare of outrage. ‘Then buy one of my pots and take up fishing yourself!’ he cries, thrusting a lobster pot towards you. ‘There! Destroy my livelihood, if you wish! I will sell you this pot for only two cacao.’
If you wish to buy the lobster pot, cross off 2 cacao and note it on your Character Sheet. As you turn to go, he adds: ‘I would give anything for a taste of decent bread. I have been on the road for two days with nothing but my own fish to sustain me — and, as you so tersely put it, they are no longer of the best quality.’
If you have a parcel of maize cakes and wish to trade them. Otherwise, decide if you will go north or south.

Do we want to buy the lobster pot and/or trade the maize cakes to the man?

[Thaluikhain]

Trade the maize cakes and buy the pot.

[SGamerz]

What are we trading the cake for? The pot? If we trade doesn't that mean we don't have to pay the money for the pot anymore?

If yes, trade the cake for the pot.

[Thaluikhain]

I think it's buy the pot and give him stuff afterwards, which seems odd now that I think of it.

[SGamerz]

Just trade the cake. Whatever we're trading it for, it'll probably be useful.

If it's not the pot, though, I don't particularly want to drop any item for it, so no to buying.

[Darth Rabbitt]

You offer to sell him your maize cakes, but he protests that his wife would not be happy if he returned home with no money to show for his journey. ‘On the other hand, I could give you this parcel of salt,’ he suggests, taking a bundle of oiled cloth from his backpack. ‘It is worth nothing to me on the way back to Balak, but you may be able to get a good price for it.’
If you agree to exchange your maize cakes for the parcel of salt, alter your list of possessions accordingly. Then decide whether to make your way north out of the city or go south towards the forest.

Do we want either the lobster pot for 2 cacao (presumably dropping the maize cakes) or to trade the maize cakes for the parcel of salt?

[Omegonthesane]

Maize for salt. Then south towards the forest unless there's a specific reason to go north.

[SGamerz]

unless there's a specific reason to go north.

Balak lies to the north which is where we can pick up that companion you wanted.

And yes, trade for the salt.

[Omegonthesane]

Go north then.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Following the crowds, you pass under an archway at the north edge of the city. People go milling past and you find yourself carried by the surge of bodies along a plaster-paved causeway that leads through light woodland. You are surprised to see no buildings on this side of the city. The crowds are all eagerly discussing some great spectacle that lies in store, and you catch snatches of conversation as you are borne along. ‘Now the Rain God will no longer forsake us,’ says one man. A woman who is carrying two squalling brats shouts back over her shoulder: ‘Just so long as the sacrifice pleases him! Don’t forget that.’
Then the trees give way to an immense clearing. At first you cannot tell what lies ahead, but by pushing your way forward you reach the front of the crowd. Your breath escapes from your lungs in a gasp of awe. The clearing is formed by a gigantic hole in the ground. It looks as though the crust of the earth has simply crumbled away to reveal an entrance into the underworld. The sinkhole is more than twenty metres deep and even a strong man could never hope to cast a spear right across to the far side. The sides of the pit are raw limestone clothed in a dry tangled mass of roots and creepers, dropping right down to the murky lake that occupies the bottom of this vast cavernous gulf.
‘What is it?’ you ask a priest standing beside you.
When he answers, you discover that your first wild impression was correct. ‘This is the sacred well of Yashuna,’ he replies in a stately voice. ‘It is the mouth of the underworld.’
(Evening Star does not possess a serpent bracelet.)

We could have gotten that from the old man on the way to the market.

A young man and woman are brought forward by the priests and led to a shrine at the western edge of the hole. A steep flight of steps descends from the shrine towards a platform covered with sacred glyphs. As golden pectorals are placed over the couple’s shoulders, it becomes clear that they are going to be sacrificed. They have been chosen to jump into the sinkhole, carrying the people’s prayers to the Rain God who dwells under the world.
(We do not have the keyword Cenote.)

You get that keyword from visiting one of the priests.

You turn away and push your way out of the crowd. There are those who say it is a great honour to be chosen for sacrifice, but you have no desire to witness the death of the two young people so soon after your own bereavement.
You journey north until the causeway ends. Dusty tracks fringed with scrubland carry you the rest of the way to the coast. A farmer directs you to the village of Balak. You pass through the streets, pace quickening as you catch the enticing smell of salt spray on the air. You emerge from between two high-roofed houses and there is the sea spread out in front of you, glittering under a cloudless blue sky.
(Evening Star does have a letter of introduction.)

Midnight Bloom proves to be a briskly efficient young woman with a vivacious smile. A jade necklace inlaid with flecks of gold sets off her deep coppery tan to good effect. She reads the letter given to you by the Matriarch and nods, saying, ‘Many traders are reluctant to go as far as Tahil now, because the collapse of the Great City has left bands of brigands roaming unchecked in the region. But luckily I shall be sailing there in a week’s time, to tie up some loose ends in the clan’s business.’
You spend a restful week in Balak at the house of your relatives here, and if injured you can restore your Life Points score to normal. At last Midnight Bloom comes to tell you that preparations are complete. Tomorrow you set sail for Tahil.
Note the codeword Sakbe on your Character Sheet.

It's not specified, but I assume that the letter is given to Midnight Bloom (and thus crossed off our sheet).

It isn't checked anywhere else.

It is early in the morning when you make ready to sail. The sky is a shimmering pane of jade on which the last stars sparkle like dewdrops that are swiftly burnt away when the trembling red disc of the sun lurches up from the east.
Along with the half dozen other crewmen, you push the ship out through the cool grey waves and then jump aboard. Paddles are used to move out from the shores until the sail catches the breeze. Its triangular shape puts you in mind of an elegant bird unfolding its wings to soar.
The day passes pleasantly as you sail on keeping the shore in sight, but towards evening a cloud looms on the horizon. It indicates a storm blowing from out at sea. ‘We must put out from the coastline,’ says one of the crew as you feel the wind rising. ‘Otherwise we run the risk of being blown onto the reefs.’
As the storm rolls over you, it turns the twilight to night and blots out any sign of the shore. Rain sweeps into your face, stinging your eyes with its force. The sailors cling to the mast and mutter prayers to the gods through chattering teeth. Their prayers go unheeded: the sea lifts your vessel like a toy and flings it far out into unknown ocean.

The storm blows itself out towards dawn, leaving you all shaking with exhaustion. You look around. Unbroken sea surrounds you. The only clue to your course is the sun boiling its way through a bank of low cloud across the horizon, but the sight of circling gulls tells you that land is near. You know that it cannot be the mainland. As a green swathe of foliage appears in the distance, you realize you have found the fabled Isle of the Iguana.
Getting closer, you find a coast of high cliffs which the sea has pounded into fanciful shapes. You sail under an arch of white rock and around a headland that reminds you of a serpent’s mouth, arriving at last at a stretch of pebble-strewn beach.
‘The ship was badly damaged in the storm,’ says one of the sailors, pointing to the water collecting in the bottom of the hull. ‘We must put in here for repairs.’
Note the codeword Eb.

Cowering under the trees at the back of the beach you find a very old man. His clothing is ragged, but the few scraps of adornment that he retains indicate a person of wealth and prestige. This impression is confirmed when he opens his mouth, saying, ‘If you have come to kill me, I pray that you do so quickly, at least.’
‘We haven’t come to kill you,’ you reply, extending your hand in friendship.
He returns a hopeful smile. ‘I am Jade Thunder, once a great wizard. A contest with my arch-rival brought me to this desolate spot, and here we fought our last battle. I slew him, but with his dying breath he sealed my wand within a barrier of fire and now I cannot use my magic to return home.’
You go with him to a spot further up the beach. Great magic has obviously been at work here, impossibly warping the trees and leaving the coconuts with silent staring faces. The sand underfoot has a dozen colours. In the centre of the clearing, a circle of crackling green flame surrounds a wand.
To help Jade Thunder recover his wand you can try CUNNING, cast SPELLS with your own wand, use the Man of Gold if you have it, or just walk boldly into the flames.
Or you can decide against helping him.

Adventure Sheet:

Name: Evening Star
Skills: CHARMS, FOLKLORE, SPELLS and SWORDPLAY
Life Points: 10/10
Possessions:
1) Magic Amulet
2) Magic Wand
3) Sword
4)
5) Waterskin
6) Rope
7) Parcel of Salt
8) Jade Bead
Money: 5 cacao
Codewords: Sakbe, Eb

[SGamerz]

Passing skill checks are seldom ever bad in this series. Use SPELLS.

[Darth Rabbitt]

You cast a negation spell, causing the flames to peter out. Jade Thunder scrabbles forward across the sand and snatches up his wand with a great shout of joy. ‘At last!’ he cries. ‘Now let me show you what can be achieved by a Grand Adept of our most potent art.’

Jade Thunder goes down to the water’s edge and sweeps his wand in a grand magical gesture. The water immediately in front of him becomes as smooth and flat as a sheet of glass. You blink in amazement as the effect stretches off into the distance, leaving a glassy causeway through the waves.
You test your weight on the causeway. It is solid. ‘Neat trick,’ you say, impressed.
‘I used to be quite famous in my heyday.’ Jade Thunder starts out along the causeway.
‘Can’t I join you?’ you call after him.
‘Not on this path. But if you care to sail south to the mainland, look along the coast for a giant who’s buried up to his neck in the sand. He has been counting stars since the dawn of time. Tell him the true number, which is one hundred thousand million and seven, and he will grant you one wish.’
You watch him walk off towards the horizon, then go to rejoin the others at the ship. You are amazed to discover that instead of the flimsy vessel in which you set sail, you now have a magnificent craft of green-lacquered kikche wood with magical sails that can never lose the wind. You climb aboard and put out to sea, but now you must decide whether to go east to Tahil, or south as the wizard suggested.

[Omegonthesane]

Do we note a code word for the magic ship?

Half a vote to go looking for Santa giants.

[SGamerz]

We opened a side quest, let's go do the side quest.