[Let's Play] Fighting Fantazine Adventure 7: Queen of Shades

[Beroli]

A galley from the Earth End coast is moored on the waterfront. Her captain, a swarthy elf with a black beard and a gold armlet, stands on the quay, watching as she is unloaded. The crew, a mixture of humanoid races, deposit the casks and bales on the quayside, where a steady stream of Worker Mants is going to and fro, carrying the goods across to the house on their backs. The insect men are engrossed in their work and pay you no attention.

A portcullis gate gives access to a storeroom beneath the house; the portcullis is raised, but the entrance is guarded by two Soldier Mants. Next to them hovers Enno the Minimite, Shar-kali-Sharri’s steward, who is busy checking off the goods. You need to get past the Minimite and his guards without attracting their attention.

The first thought that occurs to you is to pick up one of the bales on the quayside and join the column of Worker Mants. If you carry the bale on your shoulder, you can use it to hide your face from the Minimite and simply walk into the the house.

Another possibility would be to bribe the Black Elf captain to smuggle you into the house. If he lets you hide in an empty cask, the Worker Mants would carry you into the storeroom as cargo.

‘Or, we could create a diversion,’ Jardakka grins. She blinks and you get a momentary glimpse of the fire behind her closed eyes.

Which plan will you go with?

[spoiler=Adventure Sheet]
Name: Rey Ulthran
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 14/16
Luck: 10/11

Gold Pieces: 13
Bone bracelet (not worn)
Jardakka has the Sword of Glantanka
[/spoiler]

[Queen of Swords]

Pretend to be a Worker Mant.

[SGamerz]

Mants are insects, right? Do we have enough limbs to impersonate them? I don't think the text mentioned how many of those they have.

Half a vote for bribery.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote for a diversion. It is not a guarantee that we have enough gold to bribe the captain, and there is too much risk of being identified as not a Mant due to the limb difference.

[SGamerz]

Change my vote to diversion to resolve the tie.

[Thaluikhain]

Yeah, diversion.

[Beroli]

Jardakka opens her eyes and stares intently at the ship. You can see the cold night air in front of her face crackle with heat. On board the galley, a small flame is kindled. The fire spreads to a tarred rope and races up the mast.

A great cry of alarm leaves the captain’s lips. His crew have seen the flames and hasten to dowse them but the tar burns fiercely; soon one side of the ship is ablaze. Now the main concern is to save the valuable cargo. The Worker Mants set down their burdens and rush as one to the ship. Enno the Minimite flies quickly across to join them, flapping his wings in agitation. His squeaky voice can barely be heard above the general commotion and he succeeds only in adding to the panic.

You run over to the house. The two Soldier Mants have not left their post and cross their weapons to bar the entrance. You hear a succession of angry clicks.

In a breathless voice, you tell the insect men that you must rouse the rest of the household; buckets to fetch water and extra hands to carry them are needed. The insect men look at you suspiciously, unsure whether to believe you.

You Test your Luck; 9 succeeds.

The insect men stand aside and allow you past. You pass under the arch and enter the house. Directly ahead of you, a second archway opens onto a vast undercroft. The spaces between the stone pillars are piled high with crates and barrels, storage jars and bales of cloth. Just before the arch, a flight of stone steps leads upwards.

On one side of the entrance is the winch that raises and lowers the portcullis gate. Jardakka draws her scimitar and cuts through the rope with a single stroke, causing the gate to crash down. The Soldier Mants turn and click angrily but they cannot pursue you. You race up the steps and pull open the door at the top.

You find yourself in a lighted corridor on the ground floor of the house. There are doors to either side of the one through which you have just entered, and double doors in the wall opposite.

There are entrances at both ends of the corridor and doors in the walls on either side. The mirror must be somewhere in the house, you just have to find it without waking Shar-kali-Sharri and the rest of his household. There are ornate double doors in the centre of one wall; opposite these are three plainer doors, arranged in a row. The only noise is a rattling sound, which seems to come from behind the first of these doors, the door to the left.

Go through the double doors?
In the wall opposite, go through the left door?
The centre door?
Or the right door?

[spoiler=Adventure Sheet]
Name: Rey Ulthran
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 14/16
Luck: 9/11

Gold Pieces: 13
Bone bracelet (not worn)
Jardakka has the Sword of Glantanka
[/spoiler]

[Queen of Swords]

Right door.

[SGamerz]

I'm thinking double doors. If the mirror is with the girl, she probably has it in the bedroom, which ought to be upstairs, and I think the stairs should probably be somewhere in the main room. We can in from some back entrance, so the individual doorways are likely to lead to places like kitchen or cellar.

[Queen of Swords]

That's a good point, but I'd like to see what other stuff we can get from the house while we're inside.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to go through the center door in the wall opposite.

[Beroli]

Three votes and none of them agree.

[Queen of Swords]

I'll change my vote to center door.

[Beroli]

The door is unlocked and opens onto a flight of stone steps leading downwards. At the bottom, you find yourself in the undercroft beneath the house, where an archway opens onto a vast storeroom. The spaces between the stone pillars are piled high with crates and barrels, storage jars and bales of cloth. On the other side an arch opens directly onto the waterfront by the river Jabaji but it is sealed by a portcullis gate. Several Mants stand outside on the quay and click in agitation when they see you but the portcullis can only be raised from the inside. You run back up the steps to the corridor on the ground floor.

Go through the double doors?
In the wall opposite, go through the left door?
The centre door?
Or the right door?

[spoiler=Adventure Sheet]
Name: Rey Ulthran
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 14/16
Luck: 9/11

Gold Pieces: 13
Bone bracelet (not worn)
Jardakka has the Sword of Glantanka
[/spoiler]

[Queen of Swords]

Okay, now that they've seen us, I vote for the double doors.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to go through the double doors as well.

[Beroli]

The doors open onto the great hall of the house. It is in darkness, the only light coming from a large window in the wall to your left, through which the full moon is visible. Figures loom up out of the shadows and you are so tense that you are ready to cut them down until you realise that they are only statues, part of Shar-kali-Sharri’s extensive art collection.

There are two ways out of the great hall; a pair of double doors in the far wall, opposite those through which you entered, and a second, smaller door in the far left-hand corner. A glow beneath the double doors indicates that there is light in the room beyond.

Search the great hall for the mirror?
Go through the double doors?
Go through the small door to your left?

[spoiler=Adventure Sheet]
Name: Rey Ulthran
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 14/16
Luck: 9/11

Gold Pieces: 13
Bone bracelet (not worn)
Jardakka has the Sword of Glantanka
[/spoiler]

[Queen of Swords]

I doubt the mirror will be in the great hall. Go through the small door to the left.

[SGamerz]

Yeah, that's probably the stairway room. Left.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to go through the small door to the left.

[Beroli]

The door opens onto a wooden staircase leading upwards. Although the staircase itself is dark, there is a faint glow coming from the floor above.

Since that is explicitly what you were looking for, skipping the "Go upstairs, Y/N?" vote.

You are in a darkened corridor on the first floor of the house. There is a closed and shuttered window in the middle of the wall to your left and another at the far end of the corridor. The only light comes from a lamp burning outside a door immediately to your right; further along the same wall are two similar doors. You cannot hear any noise from any of them.

Go through the first door?
Go through the second door?
Go through the third door?
Go back downstairs?

[spoiler=Adventure Sheet]
Name: Rey Ulthran
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 14/16
Luck: 9/11

Gold Pieces: 13
Bone bracelet (not worn)
Jardakka has the Sword of Glantanka
[/spoiler]

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to go through the second door (which I assume is the one at the far end of the corridor?).

[Beroli]

Far end of the corridor has a WINDOW, not a door. Y'could theoretically jump out of it if you want, the Soldier Mants would be pleased, but the gamebook doesn't allow for it.

[Queen of Swords]

Sure, let's try the second door.

[JourneymanN00b]

Ack! I read the paragraph wrong. My vote will still be the second door however, since it does not have a burning lamp outside.