[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy 36 – Armies of Death

[SGamerz]

How does knowing this prove anything? I know Balthus Dire's father's name; does that mean I'm evil?

Evil characters ask more sophisticated questions like "how old was Razaak's Dad when he died", or "how much does a warhammer cost in Port Blacksand".

(Or it's basically Ian Livingstone progressing from "I will reward players who read through every section in this book" to "I will reward players who read all of the earlier FF works, too".)

****

Yes, the answer is Yaztromo.

[Thaluikhain]

No Monty Python and the Holy Grail references? Boo!

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes registered, Zen-Kut-Sedatche will reply Yaztromo as the answer to the question.

174
‘Correct,’ the Knight says cheerfully. ‘Now tell us why you are marching through this infernal forest.’ You tell the Knights about your mission to destroy Agglax. They reply that they would be honoured to join your army, and you readily accept their offer. They also tell you that they know a quick and safe route out of the forest. With the mounted Knights leading the way, you cross over the bridge. By the time you reach the eastern edge of the forest it is getting dark, so you decide to set up camp under the cover of the trees. Looking up at the night sky which is, at last, visible again, you see that the moon is full. You decide to post extra soldiers on watch, ever wary of the presence of were-creatures. Turn to 278.

278
[spoiler][/spoiler]

Not long after midnight, you are woken by the eerie sound of howling wolves. Unable to sleep, you decide to go and find out if the guards have observed any wolves. You can see some way ahead of you in the moonlit forest and suddenly catch sight of a dark figure moving through the bushes. Creeping up on a guard from behind, the Werewolf raises its head and howls at the dark sky before leaping at the surprised guard. Drawing your sword, you run to his aid. If you are wearing the tooth of the Yeti, turn to 70. If you are not wearing this charm, turn to 374.

Zen-Kut-Sedatche is wearing the tooth of the Yeti.

70
The Werewolf catches sight of your charm and becomes frozen to the spot, rigid with fear. Without any struggle, you are able to dispose of the Werewolf with one thrust of your sword. But you find that the guard is dead. The rest of the night passes without further incident and in the morning you lead your army out of the forest, across the new plain. Turn to 323.

[spoiler][/spoiler]

323
[spoiler][/spoiler]

The morning passes uneventfully, except for the sighting of a young Dragon with a Goblin on its back. Flying above the range of your arrows, the Dragon circles above your army for a few minutes and then flies back east, no doubt to report your presence to Agglax. You march on, and it is late afternoon when you see smoke rising up into the sky from a burning temple which is under attack from hordes of Chaos Warriors. But as you turn your army towards the temple, you realize that somebody or something doesn’t want you to stop the carnage. A small black cloud of flying creatures moves quickly towards you and, as they swoop down to attack your army, you see that they are Fire Imps. No more than three feet in length, they are red in colour and have a pair of horns protruding from their heads and a small tail trailing behind them as they fly. Spitting fire from their wide-open mouths, they are ferocious creatures. They number fifty in total. If you have any Elven Archers left alive, turn to 4. If you do not have any Archers, turn to 386.

Zen-Kut-Sedatche does have Elven Archers left alive.

4
Each Elf fires two arrows at the fifty Fire Imps. To determine how many Fire Imps are shot out of the sky, multiply the number of Elves in your army by two, then deduct the total of two dice, rolled for the number of misses. Against the remaining Fire Imps, you must fight a Skirmish Battle with thirty Warriors. If you win, turn to 316.

Rolling the two dice yielded a 7, which gave a total of 93 Fire Imps to shoot down (assuming that the soldier killed by the Werewolf was not an Elven Archer). Since there were only 50 Fire Imps that attacked Zen-Kut-Sedatche’s army, there were no more Fire Imps to engage in a Skirmish Battle with his Warriors.

316
The forces of Agglax have had time to regroup while you were engaged in the battle against the Fire Imps. Marching towards you is a long line of Chaos Warriors, their black spiked armour adorned with gruesome treasures from previous battles. Banners flutter above them in the breeze, their red dragon symbol signifying allegiance to Evil. Huge Trolls march behind the Chaos Warriors, with Orcs and Goblins on both flanks, although there is no sign of Agglax himself. The advancing army suddenly stops and the plain falls deathly quiet. Then a small hunchbacked Gremlin steps in front of the waiting forces of Evil and begins to dance and chant. Ending with a piercing scream, he drops to the ground. The Chaos Warriors move forward, treading the Gremlin underfoot. They quicken their pace to a rhythmic trot; the stamp of their feet is an unnerving sound for your troops to hear. Brandishing all manner of axes, spears, spiked clubs and maces, they advance towards you, screaming their war-chants. Arrows will not stop them and you must decide how to fight them. If you wish to lead your Knights into battle, turn to 359. If you would rather send in your Dwarfs to fight the Chaos Warriors while you wait to see how the battle progresses, turn to 91.

[spoiler][/spoiler]

Please make your votes on how to begin the battle and what type of soldier was killed by the Werewolf before 6:00 PM PDT to guarantee that they will be counted.

Adventure Sheet
[spoiler]Zen-Kut-Sedatche
SKILL: 10 Initial Skill = 10
STAMINA: 11 Initial Stamina = 17
LUCK: 3 Initial Luck = 7
SOLIDERS:
WARRIORS: 95
DWARFS: 52
ELVES: 50
KNIGHTS: 20
RIVER RAIDERS: 10
NORTHMEN: 10
MARAUDERS: 10
WHITE KNIGHTS: 5
GOLD PIECES: 110
TREASURE:
Shield
Key with the number ‘222’
Yeti tooth
Axe
Ring with the number ‘45’
Hopper (Say “One, one, one” to turn invisible if hopper is sitting on shoulder)
Copper lantern
Helmet
Ivory box
Obigee’s sword
Gold seal with the number ‘332’
Gold necklace
War-banner
BOONS:
3 Restorations
2 Item Wishes[/spoiler]

[Beroli]

Chaos Warriors sounds like a better "opposite" for Knights than for Dwarves, who sound likely to go with the Trolls or the Orcs and Goblins. Lead the Knights into battle against them.

[Queen of Swords]

Agree with Beroli.

I also realized we didn't find the Crystal of Light that the Oracle told us about, so hopefully we can use an item wish to get it.

[SGamerz]

Yes, send the knights.

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes registered, Zen-Kut-Sedatche will lead his Knights into battle. Since nobody voted on what type of soldier was killed by the Werewolf, I will have the soldier be a Warrior.

359
The Chaos Warriors are vicious fighters and they also outnumber your Knights by two to one. If your Knights include five White Knights, turn to 118. If there are no White Knights in your army, turn to 317.

Zen-Kut-Sedatche’s Knights does include five White Knights among them.

118
Wielding their flaming swords through the air, the White Knights cut down the Chaos Warriors, despite being heavily outnumbered. When half their number have fallen, the Chaos Warriors turn and flee. Seizing the initiative, you call the rest of your army to join the Knights and march on the front line of Trolls. Turn to 178.

178
[spoiler][/spoiler]

As you close in on the front line of Trolls, they suddenly part to allow four wooden wagons to roll forward, each one pushed by crews of shouting Goblins. Your heart sinks when you see the Goblins load large pointed poles into their firing positions, ready to be catapulted at your advancing troops. But there is no going back and you urge your troops on into the mouths of the Goblin war-machines. When you are well within range, you hear their order to fire, and watch the missiles fly towards you. Roll four dice for the number of your troops who are cut down by the war-machines’ deadly missiles. Still fifty yards away from the enemy line, your own troops falter in the face of another salvo. In need of urgent rallying, you run ahead of your army to lead them into battle. When you are just twenty yards away from their line, the war-machines are fired again. Roll four dice again and deduct this total from your army. If you now have fewer than one hundred troops in total, turn to 59. If you have one hundred or more troops, turn to 13.

[spoiler][/spoiler]

Rolling the dice yielded a 17 for the first wave of missile deaths, and a 12 for the second wave of casualties.

After the 29 deaths, Zen-Kut-Sedatche has 222 troops.

13
There is a loud sound of clashing steel as the two armies meet. The fighting is fierce and bloody and, although heavily outnumbered, you gain a little ground. In the centre of the fighting, you find yourself battling it out with one of the largest Trolls of all, the fearsome Hill Troll.

HILL TROLL SKILL 9 STAMINA 10

If you win, turn to 142.


The fight:
[spoiler]Round 1: Hill Troll Attack Strength: 20, Player Attack Strength: 17;
Hill Troll Stamina: 10, Player Stamina: 9
Round 2: Hill Troll Attack Strength: 17, Player Attack Strength: 16;
Hill Troll Stamina: 10, Player Stamina: 7
Round 3: Hill Troll Attack Strength: 21, Player Attack Strength: 18;
Hill Troll Stamina: 10, Player Stamina: 5[/spoiler]

So Zen-Kut-Sedatche got unlucky and went down to 5 Stamina without landing a single blow. Should Luck be used for the rest of the fight? If so, should it be used to reduce the damage that our hero takes or to inflict additional damage?

The first choice to receive two votes (or two votes over all other choices) will be used to resolve the rest of the battles. If no option has a winning margin before 9:00 AM PDT, I will make the choice based on which votes are cast. I also need votes on which type of troops were lost out of the 29 that died to the war-machines’ deadly missiles.

Adventure Sheet
[spoiler]Zen-Kut-Sedatche
SKILL: 10 Initial Skill = 10
STAMINA: 11 Initial Stamina = 17
LUCK: 3 Initial Luck = 7
SOLIDERS:
WARRIORS: 94
DWARFS: 52
ELVES: 50
KNIGHTS: 20
RIVER RAIDERS: 10
NORTHMEN: 10
MARAUDERS: 10
WHITE KNIGHTS: 5
GOLD PIECES: 110
TREASURE:
Shield
Key with the number ‘222’
Yeti tooth
Axe
Ring with the number ‘45’
Hopper (Say “One, one, one” to turn invisible if hopper is sitting on shoulder)
Copper lantern
Helmet
Ivory box
Obigee’s sword
Gold seal with the number ‘332’
Gold necklace
War-banner
BOONS:
3 Restorations
2 Item Wishes[/spoiler]

[SGamerz]

Our LUCK is so low that it's pointless to use it, and will probably do us more harm. Just keep fighting and burn a Restoration if we need to. And lose 29 expendable generic Warriors. The others have all been checked for some "special task force" purpose, so leave them alive.

[Thaluikhain]

Yeah, we'd be better off trying to use our luck to try to lose the fight, but as that isn't an option, just fight normally.

Agreed on sacrificing warriors.

(Kinda like the simple, but effective mass combat stuff here)

[JourneymanN00b]

Thank you for your votes. Luck will not be used during the rest of the battles, and the 29 deaths will come from the Warriors.

The fight, continued:
[spoiler]Round 4: Hill Troll Attack Strength: 14, Player Attack Strength: 20;
Hill Troll Stamina: 8, Player Stamina: 5
Round 5: Hill Troll Attack Strength: 15, Player Attack Strength: 17;
Hill Troll Stamina: 6, Player Stamina: 5
Round 6: Hill Troll Attack Strength: 18, Player Attack Strength: 21;
Hill Troll Stamina: 4, Player Stamina: 5
Round 7: Hill Troll Attack Strength: 18, Player Attack Strength: 12;
Hill Troll Stamina: 4, Player Stamina: 3
Round 8: Hill Troll Attack Strength: 14, Player Attack Strength: 16;
Hill Troll Stamina: 2, Player Stamina: 3
Round 9: Hill Troll Attack Strength: 16, Player Attack Strength: 18;
Hill Troll Stamina: 0, Player Stamina: 3[/spoiler]

Fortune was much better to Zen-Kut-Sedatche, and he manages to kill the Hill Troll after only taking 2 more Stamina points of damage.

142
The raging battle continues, but still there is no sign of Agglax himself. No sooner have you drawn your bloody sword from the chest of the Hill Troll, than a heavily armoured Mountain Orc jumps over the corpse to fight you.

MOUNTAIN ORC SKILL 8 STAMINA 7

If you win, turn to 208.

[spoiler][/spoiler]

The fight:
[spoiler]Round 1: Mountain Orc Attack Strength: 15, Player Attack Strength: 17;
Mountain Orc Stamina: 5, Player Stamina: 3
Round 2: Mountain Orc Attack Strength: 16, Player Attack Strength: 18;
Mountain Orc Stamina: 3, Player Stamina: 3
Round 3: Mountain Orc Attack Strength: 18, Player Attack Strength: 13;
Mountain Orc Stamina: 3, Player Stamina: 1
Round 4: Mountain Orc Attack Strength: 18, Player Attack Strength: 20;
Mountain Orc Stamina: 1, Player Stamina: 1
Round 5: Mountain Orc Attack Strength: 20, Player Attack Strength: 15;
Mountain Orc Stamina: 1, Player Stamina: -1

Player is killed, restoration used to restore Stamina to 15. Initial Stamina is now 15.

Round 6: Mountain Orc Attack Strength: 12, Player Attack Strength: 18;
Mountain Orc Stamina: -1, Player Stamina: 15[/spoiler]

The Mountain Orc kills Zen-Kut-Sedatche, who manages to dispatch it shortly after using a restoration.

208
The noise of battle rings in your ears as you look round to see how your army is coping against the odds. Roll one die. If you roll 1 or 2, turn to 106. If you roll 3 or 4, turn to 216. If you roll 5 or 6, turn to 356.

[spoiler][/spoiler]

Rolling the die yields a 3.

216
Thirty of your valiant troops lie dead or dying on the battlefield. (Reduce the size of your army by this amount on the Adventure Sheet.) Trolls try to push the brave survivors back, while Goblins and Orcs attack the flanks remorselessly. Berserk with battle-lust, some of the Goblins and Orcs at the back are fighting among themselves, so eager are they to experience the clash of steel. To your right you see a Warrior being attacked from both sides by two Goblins. To your left, another Warrior is being clubbed to the ground by a Hill Troll. If you wish to help the Warrior on your left, turn to 269. If you wish to help the Warrior on your right, turn to 62.

[spoiler][/spoiler]

Please make your votes on which Warrior to help and what type of soldiers died out of the 30 casualties before 9:00 AM PDT or a 3-vote majority is reached on either decision to guarantee that they will be counted.

Adventure Sheet
[spoiler]Zen-Kut-Sedatche
SKILL: 10 Initial Skill = 10
STAMINA: 15 Initial Stamina = 15
LUCK: 3 Initial Luck = 7
SOLIDERS:
WARRIORS: 65
DWARFS: 52
ELVES: 50
KNIGHTS: 20
RIVER RAIDERS: 10
NORTHMEN: 10
MARAUDERS: 10
WHITE KNIGHTS: 5
GOLD PIECES: 110
TREASURE:
Shield
Key with the number ‘222’
Yeti tooth
Axe
Ring with the number ‘45’
Hopper (Say “One, one, one” to turn invisible if hopper is sitting on shoulder)
Copper lantern
Helmet
Ivory box
Obigee’s sword
Gold seal with the number ‘332’
Gold necklace
War-banner
BOONS:
2 Restorations
2 Item Wishes[/spoiler]

[SGamerz]

I personally doubt that this particular decision will affect the grand scheme of things, so I suspect the only different it makes is who we'll be fighting next. So I vote to help the warrior on the right, because fighting goblins (even 2 of them) is probably easier than fighting another troll.

[Thaluikhain]

Makes sense, fight the goblins.

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes registered, Zen-Kut-Sedatche will help the Warrior on the right. Since nobody voted on death allocation, the 30 deaths will come from the Warriors.

62
Another Goblin sees you move towards the embattled Warrior. Recognizing you as the leader, the Goblin points its crossbow at you, takes careful aim and fires. If you hired Max’s Marauders in Zengis, turn to 153. If you did not hire the warrior woman’s fighters, turn to 339.

[spoiler][/spoiler]

Zen-Kut-Sedatche hired Max’s Marauders in Zengis.

153
Standing close by, the warrior woman sees the Goblin just as it is about to fire its crossbow. She dives headlong at you to push you out of the path of the flying bolt. You are knocked to the ground and, when you get up, you see that Max is dead, the Goblin’s bolt protruding from her chest. Swearing revenge, you leap to attack the Goblins who are still fighting the surrounded Warrior.

First GOBLIN SKILL 5 STAMINA 5
Second GOBLIN SKILL 5 STAMINA 6

Fight them one at a time. If you win, turn to 379.

The fights:
[spoiler](First Goblin)
Round 1: First Goblin Attack Strength: 9, Player Attack Strength: 16;
First Goblin Stamina: 3, Player Stamina: 15
Round 2: First Goblin Attack Strength: 10, Player Attack Strength: 18;
First Goblin Stamina: 1, Player Stamina: 15
Round 3: First Goblin Attack Strength: 11, Player Attack Strength: 17;
First Goblin Stamina: -1, Player Stamina: 15

(Second Goblin)
Round 1: Second Goblin Attack Strength: 14, Player Attack Strength: 18;
Second Goblin Stamina: 4, Player Stamina: 15
Round 2: Second Goblin Attack Strength: 13, Player Attack Strength: 14;
Second Goblin Stamina: 2, Player Stamina: 15
Round 3: Second Goblin Attack Strength: 12, Player Attack Strength: 20;
Second Goblin Stamina: 0, Player Stamina: 15[/spoiler]

As expected, Zen-Kut-Sedatche flawlessly killed the two Goblins.

379
No sooner have you drawn your sword from your adversary’s body than another moves forward to take its place. If you wish to continue fighting, turn to 193. If you would rather try to distract the enemy by throwing all your gold into the air, turn to 394.

Please make your votes before 12:00 PM PDT to guarantee that they will be counted.

Adventure Sheet
[spoiler]Zen-Kut-Sedatche
SKILL: 10 Initial Skill = 10
STAMINA: 15 Initial Stamina = 15
LUCK: 3 Initial Luck = 7
SOLIDERS:
WARRIORS: 35
DWARFS: 52
ELVES: 50
KNIGHTS: 20
RIVER RAIDERS: 10
NORTHMEN: 10
MARAUDERS: 9
WHITE KNIGHTS: 5
GOLD PIECES: 110
TREASURE:
Shield
Key with the number ‘222’
Yeti tooth
Axe
Ring with the number ‘45’
Hopper (Say “One, one, one” to turn invisible if hopper is sitting on shoulder)
Copper lantern
Helmet
Ivory box
Obigee’s sword
Gold seal with the number ‘332’
Gold necklace
War-banner
BOONS:
2 Restorations
2 Item Wishes[/spoiler]

[Queen of Swords]

Seems really stupid for even our enemies to be distracted by gold in the middle of a deadly battle, but sure, let's try that.

[JourneymanN00b]

Vote registered, Zen-Kut-Sedatche will try to distract the enemy by throwing all his gold into the air.

394
[spoiler][/spoiler]

The Gold Pieces fall through the air like huge golden droplets of rain. Confusion immediately takes hold of the enemy, as the Trolls and Goblins scramble to pick up the gold they so love. Oblivious to the main battle, the fight one another ferociously to claim the fallen treasure. You seize your opportunity and break through the disorganized ranks. Suddenly you see the Demon you have been hunting. Sitting calmly in a sedan chair supported by four hideous Zombies, Agglax watches you approach through blood-red eyes. He makes no move as you get nearer. Only his vile head and taloned hands show from his black robes, a sight which sends a terrible shiver down your back. Sensing danger at Agglax’s calmness, you wonder how you should attack him. Will you:

Use a pendant (if you have one)? Turn to 236
Use a crystal (if you have one)? Turn to 39
Use your sword? Turn to 31

Zen-Kut-Sedatche does not have a pendant or crystal. Please make your votes on whether to use an item wish for either of them and what to use before 2:00 PM PDT to guarantee that they will be counted.

Adventure Sheet
[spoiler]Zen-Kut-Sedatche
SKILL: 10 Initial Skill = 10
STAMINA: 15 Initial Stamina = 15
LUCK: 3 Initial Luck = 7
SOLIDERS:
WARRIORS: 35
DWARFS: 52
ELVES: 50
KNIGHTS: 20
RIVER RAIDERS: 10
NORTHMEN: 10
MARAUDERS: 9
WHITE KNIGHTS: 5
GOLD PIECES: 0
TREASURE:
Shield
Key with the number ‘222’
Yeti tooth
Axe
Ring with the number ‘45’
Hopper (Say “One, one, one” to turn invisible if hopper is sitting on shoulder)
Copper lantern
Helmet
Ivory box
Obigee’s sword
Gold seal with the number ‘332’
Gold necklace
War-banner
BOONS:
2 Restorations
2 Item Wishes[/spoiler]

[Queen of Swords]

We need the Crystal of Light, so let's use an item wish to get that.

[Beroli]

Seems really stupid for even our enemies to be distracted by gold in the middle of a deadly battle, but sure, let's try that.

Well, I have it on good authority that having a greater chance of good items is a good enough reason to start down the fascist path.

[JourneymanN00b]

Vote registered, Zen-Kut-Sedatche will spend an item wish to get the Crystal of light and use it.

39
[spoiler][/spoiler]

Agglax shrinks back in his chair when he sees the Crystal of Light in your hands. Covering his face with his hands, he suddenly jumps down from the chair and runs away, hissing orders at a group of his black-robed Elite Fanatics standing close by. One blocks your way to Agglax; his curved sword held in both hands above his head, the grim assassin is more than willing to die to save his master. ‘Tanaka San say you die!’ he shrieks as he darts forward to cut you down where you stand.

ELITE FANATIC SKILL 10 STAMINA 10

If you win, turn to 254.

The fight:
[spoiler]Round 1: Elite Fanatic Attack Strength: 19, Player Attack Strength: 20;
Elite Fanatic Stamina: 8, Player Stamina: 15
Round 2: Elite Fanatic Attack Strength: 19, Player Attack Strength: 16;
Elite Fanatic Stamina: 8, Player Stamina: 13
Round 3: Elite Fanatic Attack Strength: 16, Player Attack Strength: 16;
Elite Fanatic Stamina: 8, Player Stamina: 13
Round 4: Elite Fanatic Attack Strength: 16, Player Attack Strength: 16;
Elite Fanatic Stamina: 8, Player Stamina: 13
Round 5: Elite Fanatic Attack Strength: 21, Player Attack Strength: 19;
Elite Fanatic Stamina: 8, Player Stamina: 11
Round 6: Elite Fanatic Attack Strength: 19, Player Attack Strength: 16;
Elite Fanatic Stamina: 8, Player Stamina: 9
Round 7: Elite Fanatic Attack Strength: 16, Player Attack Strength: 17;
Elite Fanatic Stamina: 6, Player Stamina: 9
Round 8: Elite Fanatic Attack Strength: 19, Player Attack Strength: 18;
Elite Fanatic Stamina: 6, Player Stamina: 7
Round 9: Elite Fanatic Attack Strength: 18, Player Attack Strength: 15;
Elite Fanatic Stamina: 6, Player Stamina: 5[/spoiler]

Okay, so Zen-Kut-Sedatche got Unlucky again in the fight. The Elite Fanatic is at 6 Stamina, while our hero is at 5 Stamina. Should Luck be used for the rest of the fight? If so, should it be used to reduce the damage that our hero takes or to inflict additional damage?

The first choice to receive two votes (or two votes over all other choices) will be used to resolve the rest of the battles. If no option has a winning margin before 4:00 PM PDT, I will make the choice based on which votes are cast.

Adventure Sheet
[spoiler]Zen-Kut-Sedatche
SKILL: 10 Initial Skill = 10
STAMINA: 5 Initial Stamina = 15
LUCK: 3 Initial Luck = 7
SOLIDERS:
WARRIORS: 35
DWARFS: 52
ELVES: 50
KNIGHTS: 20
RIVER RAIDERS: 10
NORTHMEN: 10
MARAUDERS: 9
WHITE KNIGHTS: 5
GOLD PIECES: 0
TREASURE:
Shield
Key with the number ‘222’
Yeti tooth
Axe
Ring with the number ‘45’
Hopper (Say “One, one, one” to turn invisible if hopper is sitting on shoulder)
Copper lantern
Helmet
Ivory box
Obigee’s sword
Gold seal with the number ‘332’
Gold necklace
War-banner
Crystal of light
BOONS:
2 Restorations
1 Item Wish[/spoiler]

[Queen of Swords]

No point in using Luck when it's so low. Keep fighting and use a restoration if necessary.

[Beroli]

Luck is too low to use it. Just keep fighting.

[JourneymanN00b]

Thank you for your votes. Luck will not be used during the rest of the battle, as both votes were for that choice.

The fight, continued:
[spoiler]Round 10: Elite Fanatic Attack Strength: 13, Player Attack Strength: 20;
Elite Fanatic Stamina: 4, Player Stamina: 5
Round 11: Elite Fanatic Attack Strength: 22, Player Attack Strength: 20;
Elite Fanatic Stamina: 4, Player Stamina: 3
Round 12: Elite Fanatic Attack Strength: 14, Player Attack Strength: 19;
Elite Fanatic Stamina: 2, Player Stamina: 3
Round 13: Elite Fanatic Attack Strength: 16, Player Attack Strength: 17;
Elite Fanatic Stamina: 0, Player Stamina: 3[/spoiler]

Zen-Kut-Sedatche barely manages to kill the Elite Fanatic with only 3 Stamina keeping him from another death.

254
You run after Agglax and soon catch him up as he scrambles awkwardly across the body-strewn ground in his long robes. You call to him and he suddenly stops and looks at you piercingly in the eyes. You must chant the rhyme to activate the crystal. Turn to the number spoken in the rhyme. If you do not know it or have forgotten it, turn to 79.

Zen-Kut-Sedatche does know the rhyme, which is “Three, two, one – begone.” So we will turn to section 321.

321
A howling scream erupts from the wide-open mouth of the Shadow Demon. White smoke starts to billow from his robes as Agglax stoops in tortured pain. Still screaming, he shrinks to the floor until there is nothing left of him but a smoking robe. Banished to the Outer Planes, never to threaten Allansia again, Agglax is defeated. Turn to 400.

400
[spoiler][/spoiler]

On witnessing Agglax’s destruction, the creatures of the Army of Death go berserk. The various tribes attack one another, each blaming the others for the loss of their leader. You try to get them to surrender, but they are hell-bent on self-destruction. In the end you leave the Goblins, Orcs, Hill Trolls, Zombies and Elite Fanatics to encompass their own annihilation, while you march your army back to Fang in triumph. But how long will it be before a new peril threatens your beloved Allansia?

Bonus victory entry:
Upon returning to Fang, Zen-Kut-Sedatche is greeted with throngs of cheering people. The eastern warlord is treated like a king, as the townspeople shower him with gifts, accolades, and beautiful women. Eventually, Fang’s people demand that Zen-Kut-Sedatche be their king, and he accepts the honor with swelling pride. He then returns to his castle on the south bank of the River Kok, and his soldiers become his standing Royal Army. Max and all of the others who fell in the Army of Death battles are buried in the battlefield grounds, which soon becomes a large memorial visited by countless citizens of Fang, Zengis, and Karn. Zen-Kut-Sedatche’s Royal Army grows to unprecedented numbers due to the massive amount of wealth and fame that the eastern warlord now has in light of the victory. He soon prepares his army with another goal: To conquer all of Allansia. In the morning of the start of his new campaign, he shouts out to his army,

“Forward march, soldiers! To victory, peace, stability, and glory!”

Even though we used quite a few boons to accomplish this, we managed to finish this adventure to the end, just like we did for Sky Lord. Give yourselves a good round of applause, as completing this Fighting Fantasy gamebook was no mean feat!

For those of you that are curious, getting the golden brooch required us to sit with the drunken rogue as soon as we entered The Black Dragon tavern in Zengis and challenging him to a bet. By sitting with the three vagabonds as soon as Zen-Kut-Sedatche entered the tavern, we closed that option for good. And getting the Crystal of Light required us to go south along the path after rescuing the two Dwarves, which was the one path that was not voted on. We would have needed to use the shield, axe, and gold ring in that path in order to get the Crystal of Light.

I will start a new thread for the next book that I acquired later today. Thank you all for playing, and I hope to see all of you in my next Let’s Play. The next book is very reasonable in difficulty, so I hope that everyone here is interested in participating!

Adventure Sheet
[spoiler]Zen-Kut-Sedatche
SKILL: 10 Initial Skill = 10
STAMINA: 3 Initial Stamina = 15
LUCK: 3 Initial Luck = 7
SOLIDERS:
WARRIORS: 35
DWARFS: 52
ELVES: 50
KNIGHTS: 20
RIVER RAIDERS: 10
NORTHMEN: 10
MARAUDERS: 9
WHITE KNIGHTS: 5
GOLD PIECES: 0
TREASURE:
Shield
Key with the number ‘222’
Yeti tooth
Axe
Ring with the number ‘45’
Hopper (Say “One, one, one” to turn invisible if hopper is sitting on shoulder)
Copper lantern
Helmet
Ivory box
Obigee’s sword
Gold seal with the number ‘332’
Gold necklace
War-banner
Crystal of light
BOONS:
2 Restorations
1 Item Wish[/spoiler]

[Beroli]

Thanks for running this, JourneymanN00b.

[Thaluikhain]

Thanks for hosting.

[SGamerz]

And getting the Crystal of Light required us to go south along the path after rescuing the two Dwarves, which was the one path that was not voted on. We would have needed to use the shield, axe, and gold ring in that path in order to get the Crystal of Light.

That path also contains more potential fights and hazards than the one we took. Going east makes survival easier since there was only the trap dolls and the Rock Man. There was no danger of the Rock Man actually killing us in normal combat, since the moment it wins an attack round, it triggers an event where it either auto-kills us if we have no Dwarfs with us or our Dwarfs auto-kill it if we do. So the doll was the only thing we had to be careful about. Since we still had 2 Item Wish boons to spare and only 1 more mandatory quest token left (the Crystal), going east was the safer option.

I think we also get to use the numbered golden key on that path too. It unlocks a lair with an aggressive Nandibear inside and nothing else. Yeah, this is the book where Livingstone progressed from "we need to find all the numbered items" to "we need to differentiate between which are the useful numbered items to pick up and which are the trap/red herring ones". There were at least 2 more of the latter in the book, although they're not on the optimal path anyway.

[Queen of Swords]

Thank you for hosting this (and for giving us item wishes without which we'd never have made it to the end).