[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy 49 - Siege of Sardath

[JourneymanN00b]

I will vote to use Queen of Swords' order to make the potion found in paragraph 317.

[Beroli]

Yes, 317, as Queen of Swords said.

[SGamerz]

The apparatus bubbles furiously for a few minutes and some parts of its complex tubing rattle and shake. Eventually a clear liquid drips out of the end into a small phial. Feeling some trepidation, you drink the potion. You immediately experience an itching sensation and a tightness in your muscles. Various parts of your body warp and twist, as if trying to transform into something else, but no definite shape takes hold. Perhaps this is the very magic that the Dark Elves have been using to impersonate other species. Suddenly you have have an idea. Without wasting another second, you run back through the Library and Observatory into the Games Room. As soon as you see the body of the Dark Elf, you feel a great pressure being released. You are now one of them (whenever you come to the phrase 'because you are human' do not read on: deduct 10 from the number of the paragraph with that number). However, for your disguise to work, you will have to hide your twin's body, so you decide to leave it in the Library. If the Dark Elves haven't got in there so far, it must be impregnable. As you leave the Games Room and enter the Observatory, the sunlight feels very hot on your skin, but you are essentially a human, so you reach the Library door unharmed.

So it looks like we also inherit a tiny per cent of the Dark Elves' vulnerability to sunlight (does that mean Elf bane also becomes more dangerous to us too?). I wonder if it also means a Dark Elf who shape-shifts into human/other surface creatures would be less vulnerable to it (we encountered all the imposters during night time)?

Anyway, this puzzle to concoct the potion is one that I really like. The small pieces of clues are collected from various logical places (the book, the paper in the library, the ingredients themselves) and form a logical picture overall. We know from the letter that the apparatus was originally put together to make a shapeshifting potion, so the 3 ingredients we need also makes sense. Lycanthropes and Shapechangers are both well-known to have shape-shifting powers (and the fact that Lycanthropy is spread through bites like rabies also makes saliva a logical ingredient). Chameleonite blood was featured in FF26 and known to have camouflaging powers, so they make the most sense as ingredients for this potion. The other 2 possible ingredients we could have picked up (condensed mist and powdered Pegasus feathers) don't have such connections. The way the clues are put together are also far less jarring than randomly getting a number reference from an item for a piece of note that you picked in a random location or being thrown a random maths puzzle of riddle. One of my favourites in the series.

We are now back in the Library. Please decide whether you want to:

1) Go back to the Laboratory and enter the tunnel there?
or
2) Go back to the Observatory and open the unmarked door?

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: Quincey Stridemoore
SKILL 12/12
STAMINA 11/15
LUCK 10/10
Equipment: Sword, leather armour, bow, quiver, Council Signet Ring, 2: Condensed Mist from the Mithrir Forest, Four-leaf Clover, Sleeping Draught, Potion of Fortune, SevenFourteen-coiled Snake Ring, Brain Slayer Amulet (symbol 'IX' carved on its back, 'XX' carved on its front, -2 SKILL when worn, currently not worn), Climbing rope, Brass Key, Fangnir's Encyclopedia of Subterranean Flora, Lightning Sphere, Red Gem, Small Crystal Ball (when looking at Dark Elf architecture, automatically Lucky from resulting Luck test, and does not need to spend LUCK point)
Arrows: 6
Bundles of Herbs: 10
Gold: 6 GP
Companions: Istu (SKILL 12, STAMINA 12, can fight alongside us in combat, does not take damage from opponents, but lose 3 STAMINA per use)
Notes: Currently disguised as Dark Elf, subtract 10 from section number when encountering the phrase 'because you are human'.
Day of the Week:
Stormsday (3/3 extra lives remaining)
Moonsday (2/3 extra lives remaining)
Fireday (3/3 extra lives remaining)
Earthday (3/3 extra lives remaining)
Windsday (2/3 extra lives remaining)
Seaday (2/3 extra lives remaining)
Highday (3/3 extra lives remaining)
[/spoiler]

[Queen of Swords]

I don't like the idea of going down a tunnel. Try the unmarked door instead.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to go back to the Laboratory and enter the tunnel there. I think that the tunnel leads underground, and I feel that Quincey Stridemoore can get to places that his human form cannot get to there, since Dark Elves are all about being underground.

[SGamerz]

Somehow, I forgot to insert the picture of the potion-concoction apparatus during yesterday's update. It's now been added in.

[SGamerz]

Tie will be resolved by randomizer program if there's no more vote by tomorrow.

[Beroli]

Try the unmarked door.

[SGamerz]

When you open the door, you suddenly realize your terrible mistake: there are at least ten Dark Elf warriors in here and they are still furious at being tricked by the Eagle. Because you are human, they attack without hesitation. You defend yourself with great fury, bringing all your resources to bear, but there are just too many of them. Your adventure is over.

But will our new disguise save us?

The Dark Elves snap to attention. "Lord Chaugh," one of them says, "we were..." His voice trails off. "How did you get past the sunlight?" he asks. You rack your brains for a plausible reply but, before you get a chance to tell your story, he starts to gabble at you in some unintelligible language - probably Dark Elf. You try to answer in Allansian, but he is not convinced. "Take the imposter," he shouts. You fight the Dark Elves with great fury, bringing all you resources to bear, but there are just too many of them. Your adventure is over.

Sadly, these group of Dark Elves are apparently not "dark" enough for our Lightning Sphere to activate...

(If we'd chosen to peek in earlier after the Giant Eagle opened the skylight, we'd have seen that most of the Dark Elves ran into this room (while 1 ran into the room opposite, the one we already killed). While it not exactly a complete giveaway, it does hint that this room would be more dangerous, so it wasn't supposed to be a completely blind choice, although I guess some players might have hoped to get something out of here after gaining their disguise.)

You know the drill by now. Do we want to simply rewind by 1 option and go into the Laboratory tunnel? Or would you prefer to rewind to an earlier point (and whether to spend more lives to determine find out whether we missed anything important)?

[JourneymanN00b]

Sigh, I told you guys so that the laboratory tunnel was a better option, as I said that Dark Elves are all about being underground and that our disguise would be better put to good use there. I vote to rewind and go into the Laboratory tunnel.

[Queen of Swords]

Yes, you were right. Tunnel it is.

[SGamerz]

You walk down the torch-lit tunnel, tensely excited at the possibility of encountering a Dark Elf in this gloom. After a few hundred metres, you come to a junction, with one tunnel going up to the right and another going down the left. While you are standing here, trying to decide which way to go, you hear two sets of footsteps, one approaching from each direction. You could run back to the Laboratory, but they might follow you. However, there is a small, dark niche on the opposite side of the tunnel, where even Dark Elves may not be able to see you. If you decide to hide in here, turn to 335. If you would prefer to stand and face the Dark Elves, turn to 287.

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: Quincey Stridemoore
SKILL 12/12
STAMINA 11/15
LUCK 10/10
Equipment: Sword, leather armour, bow, quiver, Council Signet Ring, 2: Condensed Mist from the Mithrir Forest, Four-leaf Clover, Sleeping Draught, Potion of Fortune, SevenFourteen-coiled Snake Ring, Brain Slayer Amulet (symbol 'IX' carved on its back, 'XX' carved on its front, -2 SKILL when worn, currently not worn), Climbing rope, Brass Key, Fangnir's Encyclopedia of Subterranean Flora, Lightning Sphere, Red Gem, Small Crystal Ball (when looking at Dark Elf architecture, automatically Lucky from resulting Luck test, and does not need to spend LUCK point)
Arrows: 6
Bundles of Herbs: 10
Gold: 6 GP
Companions: Istu (SKILL 12, STAMINA 12, can fight alongside us in combat, does not take damage from opponents, but lose 3 STAMINA per use)
Notes: Currently disguised as Dark Elf, subtract 10 from section number when encountering the phrase 'because you are human'.
Day of the Week:
Stormsday (3/3 extra lives remaining)
Moonsday (2/3 extra lives remaining)
Fireday (3/3 extra lives remaining)
Earthday (3/3 extra lives remaining)
Windsday (2/3 extra lives remaining)
Seaday (2/3 extra lives remaining)
Highday (2/3 extra lives remaining)
[/spoiler]

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to stand and face the Dark Elves, as Quincey Stridemoore's disguise should work here.

[Queen of Swords]

I'd rather hide and see what happens.

[Beroli]

Hide. The disguise will only work if the dark elves ask no awkward questions and no questions at all in what they expect to be our first language, as we just learned the hard way.

[Thaluikhain]

Hide, though if we are spotted, trying to hide just makes us look more suspicious.

[SGamerz]

When he reaches the junction, the Dark Elf coming from the left stops, waiting for the other to arrive. Thankfully he doesn't see you. "Valethion, Clasyar," he says when the other reaches him.

"Hello, Dernath," the other answers. "We were ordered to practise our Allansian, remember."

"Yes," says Dernath. "I forgot." Then he looks puzzled. "But where are you going? I was just coming to join the Cohort."

"That self-righteous Eagle has opened the Observatory roof again, and Lord Chaugh got himself trapped in the Games Room. I was sent to try and get him out. Why don't you come with me? It's a futile assignment, so we can forget it and play Wrist-Dagger."

"That suits me," says Dernath, and they both set off up the tunnel.

You wait for a few minutes, then climb out of the niche. It sounds as if there are a lot of Dark Elf warriors in the tunnel to the right, and you can't afford any unnecessary combat, so you decide to go to the left.

So, apparently, the Dark Elves have orders to communicate in the common Allansian tongue (most likely to practise for being sent on impersonation missions), which is no doubt convenient for us (and also explains why the Elves behind the unmarked door only switched to his own language after he got suspicious).

The tunnel twists and turns, leaving dark shadows in the corners, and you proceed very warily, half expecting something sinister to leap out at any moment. After several hundred metres, you reach a heavy stone door with a huge iron knocker set in the centre. If Istu is with you, turn immediately to 256. If you are alone, you pish the door but it is as form as the rock all around you. If you know the knocking sequence, add the numbers together and turn to the paragraph with that number. If you do not, turn to 374.

We don't know about any knocking sequence, but will the companion check make it unneccessary?

A huge booming voice comes from nowhere: "Istu! So you are released. You were to remain in your puzzle until I was returned to the Abyss." Istu roars and raises his talons. "If you want to fight," says the voice, "so be it! I, Pnea, the Eleventh Veiled Guardian, will destroy you and damn you to another period of imprisonment in the mortal world." Istu lashes out; the two demons fight.

PNEA SKILL 11 STAMINA 17

Resolve the battle remembering to deduct points from Istu's STAMINA score since he is directly engaged in combat. If Istu wins the battle, turn to 363. If Pnea wins, he will turn on you, rending you to pieces in seconds since you do not have a magical weapon.

The Eleventh Veiled Guardian sounds like it might be a rank higher than Istu, but then it also only has 11 SKILL, which is 1 lower, so maybe bigger numbers indicate higher ranking? On that, assumption, First Veiled Guardian may be weaker than a child (although I guess they'd still kill any normal humans with no magical weapons).

So, Istu has a slight SKILL advantage but also a deficit of 5 STAMINA points, so this fight can go either way (and unfortunately I don't think we can our LUCK to help Istu increase damage output when we're not directly in the fight ourselves).

COMBAT LOG:
Pnea 22, Istu 15. Istu is at 10.
Pnea 21, Istu 18. Istu is at 8.
Pnea 22, Istu 19. Istu is at 6.
Pnea 18, Istu 19. Pnea is at 15.
Pnea 17, Istu 20. Pnea is at 13.
Pnea 21, Istu 18. Istu is at 4.
Pnea 19, Istu 20. Pnea is at 11.
Pnea 18, Istu 19. Pnea is at 9.
Pnea 20, Istu 16. Istu is at 2.
Pnea 18, Istu 20. Pnea is at 7.
Pnea 15, Istu 19. Pnea is at 5.
Pnea 15, Istu 21. Pnea is at 3.
Pnea 19, Istu 23. Pnea is at 1.
Pnea 17, Istu 16. Istu is defeated!

Damn, Istu made a valiant comeback in the second half, but just falls short!

Do we re-roll the fight? Or would you prefer to rewind to an earlier point?

[Queen of Swords]

Let's rewind so we stand and face the Dark Elves. There's only two of them from the sound of it, and they have to speak Allansian, so maybe we could bluff.

[SGamerz]

Because you are human, the Dark Elf coming up from the left shouts a warning as soon as he reaches the junction. You both draw your swords, and a fierce battle ensues. This Dark Elf is a strong and skillful warrior and, by the time you have gained the upper hand ten or eleven more Dark Elf warriors have arrived. You fight valiantly but there are just too many. Your adventure is over.

Once again, it appears that normal Dark Elf warriors aren't quite dark enough to make our Lightning Sphere useful...

Fortunately, we do have a disguise.

When the Dark Elf coming up from the right reaches the junction, he stops and salutes you. You copy his action. "Valethion, Chaugh," he says, but then stops himself. "I apologize," he says, "I forgot we must speak Allansian."

Quite severely, you tell him that a slip like that could cost him his life, and that it is not enough to look human, you must also act and speak like one. By this time the other Dark Elf has arrived. "Lord Chaugh," he says, saluting you. You return the gesture. "How did you get out of the Games Room?" he asks. Thinking very quickly, you tell him that you discovered a secret door into the Laboratory by manipulating one of the puzzles.

"We should report back with this information," says the first Dark Elf. "I nearly forgot, the knocking sequence has been changed. It's no six, one, five, seven, eight." They both salute you and set off up the tunnel to the right. It sounds as if there are a lot of Dark Elf warriors in the tunnel to the right and you can't afford to take part in any unnecessary combat, so you decide to go to the left.

We do in fact gain the knocking sequence that was referenced earlier. However...

The tunnel twists and turns, leaving dark shadows in the corners, and you proceed very warily, half expecting something sinister to leap out at any moment. After several hundred metres, you reach a heavy stone door with a huge iron knocker set in the centre. If Istu is with you, turn immediately to 256. If you are alone, you push the door but it is as form as the rock all around you. If you know the knocking sequence, add the numbers together and turn to the paragraph with that number. If you do not, turn to 374.

...the check for Istu still takes precedence, so we still need to risk the demon combat!

A huge booming voice comes from nowhere: "Istu! So you are released. You were to remain in your puzzle until I was returned to the Abyss." Istu roars and raises his talons. "If you want to fight," says the voice, "so be it! I, Pnea, the Eleventh Veiled Guardian, will destroy you and damn you to another period of imprisonment in the mortal world." Istu lashes out; the two demons fight.

PNEA SKILL 11 STAMINA 17

Resolve the battle remembering to deduct points from Istu's STAMINA score since he is directly engaged in combat. If Istu wins the battle, turn to 363. If Pnea wins, he will turn on you, rending you to pieces in seconds since you do not have a magical weapon.

COMBAT LOG:
Pnea 22, Istu 19. Istu is at 10.
Pnea 17, Istu 16. Istu is at 8.
Pnea 17, Istu 21. Pnea is at 15.
Pnea 19, Istu 19. Tie.
Pnea 19, Istu 19. Tie.
Pnea 15, Istu 20. Pnea is at 13.
Pnea 17, Istu 16. Istu is at 6.
Pnea 18, Istu 19. Pnea is at 11.
Pnea 18, Istu 15. Istu is at 4.
Pnea 14, Istu 18. Pnea is at 9.
Pnea 18, Istu 16. Istu is at 2.
Pnea 16, Istu 16. Tie.
Pnea 13, Istu 16. Pnea is at 7.
Pnea 19, Istu 19. Tie.
Pnea 17, Istu 21. Pnea is at 5.
Pnea 16, Istu 19. Pnea is at 3.
Pnea 18, Istu 20. Pnea is at 1.
Pnea 15, Istu 16. Pnea is defeated!

Another tough contest where Istu makes a late comeback, but this time just manages get through by the skin of his teeth!

(The optimal strategy is to try and use Istu in combat at every opportunity after the Mirror Demon encounter (in some cases by looking for extra fights where necessary, like joining the Dwarven axemen to fight the Toa-Suo up close) so that we can "use him up" before this encounter, and therefore won't trigger this combat. In such a case, the knocking sequence would be sufficient to get past this encounter. Of course, that's very hard to do without the advantage of hindsight or a lot of luck.)

You walk towards the stone door, but Istu stops you. "There is a Warding," he says. "Written in a magical form that only Demons can see is a symbol which prevents me from passing through, but you may go on." He walks up to he door and heaves it open, using his supernatural strength. "I will stay here and pretend to be the door's Guardian. Since no one can see me, they will think that the voice is Pnea's." You thank the Demon for his help, then step through the door into a narrow tunnel.

Because you are human, the Dark Elves' lair will become very dangerous. The first time you are spoken to by a Dark Elf, you should ignore what the text says and turn immediately to 328 (make a clear note of this on your Adventure Sheet)....

Cutting out the rest since it's the same as what we'll read in the new section anyway...

You follow the tunnel for about fifty metres until it emerges into a seemingly bottomless cavern. For a moment, you are seized by an unexpected attack of vertigo, but in soon passes and you see that you are standing on a long narrow walkway. You glance across the cavern to find out where it goes, and you catch a terrifying glimpse of the Dark Elf lair. It is of such a wild geometry and architecture that it makes you flinch and avert your gaze. Will you force yourself to look at the lair or go along the walkway, keeping your eyes down.

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: Quincey Stridemoore
SKILL 12/12
STAMINA 11/15
LUCK 10/10
Equipment: Sword, leather armour, bow, quiver, Council Signet Ring, 2: Condensed Mist from the Mithrir Forest, Four-leaf Clover, Sleeping Draught, Potion of Fortune, SevenFourteen-coiled Snake Ring, Brain Slayer Amulet (symbol 'IX' carved on its back, 'XX' carved on its front, -2 SKILL when worn, currently not worn), Climbing rope, Brass Key, Fangnir's Encyclopedia of Subterranean Flora, Lightning Sphere, Red Gem, Small Crystal Ball (when looking at Dark Elf architecture, automatically Lucky from resulting Luck test, and does not need to spend LUCK point)
Arrows: 6
Bundles of Herbs: 10
Gold: 6 GP
Companions: Istu (SKILL 12, STAMINA 1, can fight alongside us in combat, does not take damage from opponents, but lose 3 STAMINA per use)
Notes: Currently disguised as Dark Elf, subtract 10 from section number when encountering the phrase 'because you are human'.
Day of the Week:
Stormsday (3/3 extra lives remaining)
Moonsday (2/3 extra lives remaining)
Fireday (3/3 extra lives remaining)
Earthday (3/3 extra lives remaining)
Windsday (2/3 extra lives remaining)
Seaday (2/3 extra lives remaining)
Highday (1/3 extra lives remaining)
[/spoiler]

[Beroli]

We're protected from looking at Dark Elf architecture and it seems far-fetched that we could even hope to get through the whole place without seeing it. Look at the lair.

[Queen of Swords]

Go along the walkway, keeping our eyes down.

ETA : Actually, I forgot that we have the crystal sphere. So let's look at the Dark Elf architecture with that.

[SGamerz]

Test your Luck twice. If you are Lucky both times, turn to 124. If you are Unlucky either time, turn to 395.

If this sort of thing can happen multiple times, it can be a really significant LUCK drain even if we have high LUCK. Thankfully, Lokimur's family heirloom protects us from having to risk that at all.

The architecture is more than wild - it is completely illogical! The elements of the lair are as you might expect: walkways, stairs and archway: but the way they are put together is insane; it seems to defy all the laws of nature. Perhaps what you see is not the reality of the place but the only way in which your logical mind can interpret it. You stand there for a moment, entranced by its strangeness, feeling yourself becoming lost, your mind chasing through endless paths of unreason. But your will is strong and you are able to draw yourself away at last. Convinced that it would be too dangerous to look again, you decide to rely on what you have see already to guide you through the alien world, so you walk tentatively along the walkway, keeping your eyes on the path just in front of you. It is unnerving not knowing where you are going, but you force yourself to walk on. Eventually the walkway meets another. Will you go left or right?

I hope none of you go insane from seeing that picture of Dark Elf architecture!

[Queen of Swords]

No wonder the Dark Elves have wings. They'd need to be able to fly to navigate all that.

Go left.

[JourneymanN00b]

Since we are in an evil lair, I vote to go right since our hero needs to act like a fascist to fit in.

[Queen of Swords]

I'll change my vote to right to break the tie.