[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy 50 – Return to Firetop Mountain

[SGamerz]

Give him the toy to play with.

[JigokuBosatsu]

It's brickin' time

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes registered, Dick Cocksmith will give the wooden brick to the boy.

116
The boy’s face lights up when you give him the wooden brick. He jumps up and runs off, returning in a few minutes with a rather tubby old man who is chewing on a chicken leg; he is wearing a white apron and seems to be a jolly old soul. ‘Shop’s closed this afternoon,’ he says with a smile, ‘but seeing as you gave a present to Deep Sea Junior here, I don’t mind opening up specially for you.’ He opens the door and you follow him into the rather dinger shop; obviously many of the objects have stood there for hears, as they are thickly coated with dust. There’s a stuffed bear, some juggling clubs, hoops, large vases, shields, lanterns, boxes, carvings, statues, paintings, bottles, urns, jars, books, maps, clocks, wigs, games; boots and hanks and hanks of different-coloured rope.

‘Excuse the mess,’ says Deep Sea, ‘I must get around to clearing the place up one day. But people usually find what they are after in Deep Sea’s Store, that they do. The King of String, they call me! Now, how much have you got to spend and what do you want?’

You open Yaztromo’s pouch and empty the contents on to the counter top. You count out 15 Gold Pieces, and you decide to keep back five and spend ten. You ask what might be useful for dungeon exploration and Deep Sea replies, ‘Here’s my list of equipment for that kind of foolhardiness. Everything costs 2 Gold Pieces. Choose what you like.’

He shows you a slate on which the following items are listed in chalk:

     Lantern
     Rope
     Hammer and Iron Spikes
     Garlic
     Mirror
     Axe
     Water Bottle
     Magnifying Glass
     Quill, Ink and Paper
     Silver Dagger
     Leather Gloves
     Healing Balm

You choose five items (make a note of your selection on your Adventure Sheet) and hand over 10 Gold Pieces to Deep Sea. He thanks you for your custom and you leave the store with directions on how to find Zoot Zimmer. Turn to 309.

309
You find Hobnail Street without much difficulty. Your knock on the door of Number 36 is answered by a tall, thin man whose ears are slightly pointed and who is wearing bright red trousers.

‘Hello,’ he says in a slow, calm voice. ‘My name is Zoot Zimmer and you must be the person who wants to get to Firetop Mountain in a hurry. I can see by your expression that you are wondering how I know that. Well, I heard you talking to Yaztromo – I’ve got rather good hearing, you see. I’m a Half-Elf. Please come in.’

You follow Zoot into his house, the rooms of which are decorated to resemble a forest. All the walls have trees, bushes, plants, small animals and insects painted all over them from floor to ceiling and all in incredible detail, giving a very realistic effect. ‘It’s the Elf in me!’ laughs Zoot. ‘My mother was from the Vale of Willow; she lived with me here until she died of the plague. The decorations made her feel at home. She never did like living in a town.’ His face suddenly loses its happiness and a deep frown takes over. ‘Would you like some of my herbal tea before we set off,’ Zoot asks.

If you would like some tea to drink, turn to 213. If you prefer to decline his offer and demand that you set off immediately, turn to 361.

Please make your votes on what to buy from Deep Sea Dowland and whether to have some tea before 9:00 AM PDT or a 3-vote majority is reached to guarantee that they will be counted.

Adventure Sheet
[spoiler]Dick Cocksmith
SKILL: 12 Initial Skill = 12
STAMINA: 17 Initial Stamina = 17
LUCK: 9 Initial Luck = 11
WEAPONS:
Sword
3 Steel Daggers
ARMOUR:
Shield
TREASURE:
3 Gold Pieces Stamped With “Z”
5 Gold Pieces
EQUIPMENT:
Backpack
Lantern
Mushroom
Ring of Invisibility
Iron Key With “142” Stamped
Wooden Ball
Leather Pouch
BOONS:
1 Restoration
2 Item Wishes[/spoiler]

[Queen of Swords]

I always end up wanting to buy way more things than we can afford.

But here's my selection. Magnifying Glass, Quill and Ink and Paper, Lantern, Rope, Hammer and Iron Spikes.

And let's have tea.

[SGamerz]

After Armies of Death, Livingstone now tries to prevent players from brute-forcing their way to getting key items by buying everything in sight and now arbitrarily impose limit the number of items we can buy.

Rope - useful 98% of the time in these books whenever available as an item.
Mirror - likewise, when this item is available, there's likely to be some enemy that can be defeated by its own reflection in the same book.
Magnifying Glass - I expect some vital clue or information that may be missed without it.
Silver Dagger - to kill potentially unkillable undead stuff.
Leather Globes - protects our hands from potentially crippling SKILL-draining damage to our hands, which can almost be as much as a death sentence in the meatrginder-style books that this author is usually fond of.

[Thaluikhain]

Gloves and Rope, definitely.

The spikes and rope probably go together, so take the hammer and spikes as well

Silver dagger seems useful.

I'd also want the lantern.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Lantern, Rope, Mirror, Leather Gloves, Silver Dagger.

If we weren't arbitrarily limited to 5 items I'd suggest buying the Magnifying Glass and spikes and rope, too, but it is what it is.

[JourneymanN00b]

So, after counting up the votes, it looks like Dick Cocksmith will be buying a rope (as that received all 4 votes), a lantern, a silver dagger, and a pair of leather gloves (as these remaining items received 3 votes). I will break the tie between the magnifying glass, mirror, and hammer and iron spikes (which received 2 votes each) by having Dick Cocksmith buy the mirror as that item is generally more useful in survival situations than the other two items. Granted, the magnifying glass is a close second, but our hero presumably has a means of starting a fire already. Dick Cocksmith will also ask Zoot Zimmer for some tea to drink.

213
The green tea has a distinctive peppermint flavour, and a warm glow runs through your body. It also has secret healing properties. Regain 2 STAMINA points. After drinking up your tea, you follow Zoot into a courtyard at the back of the house. You watch him crane his neck into the sky and let out a high-pitched whistle. Movements later you make out a speck in the sky; it grows bigger as it glides down effortlessly towards you. It is a huge, beautiful eagle, its feathers magnificent shades of golden brown. With its wings still outstretched, it lands unconcernedly in the courtyard. Turn to 71.

71
The giant eagle appears to be completely unperturbed when Zoot fixes a harness and a two-man saddle across its back. When he has finished the job, Zoot turns to you and says, ‘Don’t even think about offering me payment for this trip. I just want my mother to be avenged, as I am convinced that this terrible plague which is destroying Kaad is of Zagor’s doing. Come on, climb aboard!’ You do as Zoot asks and, with a flutter of its massive wings, the eagle carries you high into the sky.

Kaad is soon left behind and it becomes just another small feature of the landscape beneath you. The sensation of flying is exhilarating and for a moment you forget the dangerous task that awaits you. Zoot steers the great bird northeastwards, high above the Pagan Plains.

For half an hour you see no other creatures in the sky, but then your luck runs out. Zoot suddenly points towards the distant horizon, where another flying creature is coming into view. If you want to instruct him to land, turn to 240. If you would rather order him to fly on towards Firetop Mountain, turn to 131.

Please make your votes before 6:00 PM PDT to guarantee that they will be counted.

Adventure Sheet
[spoiler]Dick Cocksmith
SKILL: 12 Initial Skill = 12
STAMINA: 17 Initial Stamina = 17
LUCK: 9 Initial Luck = 11
WEAPONS:
Sword
3 Steel Daggers
ARMOUR:
Shield
TREASURE:
3 Gold Pieces Stamped With “Z”
5 Gold Pieces
EQUIPMENT:
Backpack
Lantern
Mushroom
Ring of Invisibility
Iron Key With “142” Stamped
Wooden Ball
Leather Pouch
Rope
Lantern
Silver Dagger
Leather Gloves
Mirror
BOONS:
1 Restoration
2 Item Wishes[/spoiler]

[Queen of Swords]

Instruct him to land, just so we don't risk fighting an aerial battle.

[SGamerz]

Yeah, I can't imagine there being any harm in landing for a bit, since it's not like this book has a time limit mechanism. Instruct him to land.

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes registered, Dick Cocksmith will instruct him to land.

240
The big bird glides down to earth and lands on top of a large boulder that stands alone on the open plain. Meanwhile the flying creature passes by overhead, seemingly not interested in what is happening on the ground. After five minutes you judge it safe to continue and recommence your flight to Firetop Mountain. Turn to 166.

166
It is late in the afternoon when Firetop Mountain at last comes into view, its former fiery-red peak now a deathly black. You tell Zoot to make the eagle land as close as possible to the cave entrance which lies at the foot of the south face of the mountain. The giant bird glides down and lands in a clearing. From the ground, Firetop Mountain looks menacing: the steep face in front of you looks as if it has been savaged by the claws of some gargantuan beast. Across the clearing is the dark cave entrance you hope will lead you to Zagor. Few words are spoken as Zoot holds out his hand to bid you farewell. Soon he is in the air again, turning west for Kaad. You walk up to the cave entrance and peer into the gloom. At the back of the cave there is a tunnel which is lit by burning torches. The walls of the cave are dripping with water and there are stagnant pools on the floor. The air is cold and dank. You hear the sound of tiny feet scurrying across the floor. You take a deep breath, enter the cave and walk on into a tunnel, soon coming to a junction. If you want to turn left here, turn to 281. If you want to turn right, turn to 140.

Please make your votes before 9:00 AM PDT or a 3-vote majority is reached to guarantee that they will be counted.

[SGamerz]

Blind choice, so I guess left.

[Queen of Swords]

Sure, let's try left.

[Thaluikhain]

May as well go left.

[JourneymanN00b]

Turning left received 3 votes, so Dick Cocksmith will make a stand against fascism as his first choice upon entering Firetop Mountain.

281
You soon arrive at a stretch of the tunnel where it curves to the right, and you come across a short, humanoid skeleton propped up in a recess in the wall. The skeleton is wearing leather armour which is dusty and cracked; there are cobwebs over its face and its jaw hangs open. It must have stood here, undisturbed, for years. You walk on round the corner and see three doors in a row along the left-hand wall. All three doors are heavily padlocked and iron bars are bolted across them; they do not appear to have been opened for years. You soon come to a junction. Looking left, you see that in a further ten metres the tunnel ends at a wall. You turn right and come to another junction. If you wish to turn left here, turn to 37. If you prefer to keep going straight on, turn to 152.

Please make your votes before 9:00 AM PDT or a 3-vote majority is reached to guarantee that they will be counted.

[Darth Rabbitt]

We’re following the left hand rule so far, might as well keep at it.

[SGamerz]

I prefer the non-extreme path when given the option, so I vote straight.

[Queen of Swords]

Straight seems okay to me.

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes tallied, Dick Cocksmith will keep going straight on, as that won over going left by a 2-1 vote.

152
The tunnel ends at a solid wooden door with metal hinges; it does not appear to be locked. You listen at the door and hear a noise like that of clinking bones. If you want to open the door, turn to 210. If you would rather retrace your steps back to the last junction and turn right, turn to 37.

Please make your votes before 6:00 PM PDT to guarantee that they will be counted.

[Queen of Swords]

Open the door.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Open the door, because doing things is more fun than not doing things.

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes registered, Dick Cocksmith will open the door.

210
[spoiler][/spoiler]

The door opens into a large room which has plainly not been cleaned in years. There is rubbish all over the floor and everything is thick with dust. The smell in the room is unbelievably bad: a mixture of rotten eggs and an Orc’s armpit! The room may once have been a dining room, judging by the crockery, cutlery, pots and pans that are strewn all over the place. There is a large table in the middle of the room, around which five seated skeletons are squabbling over some rat bones they have found in a cauldron. Your presence has not yet been detected by them. If you want to enter the room, turn to 296. If you would rather close the door, walk back to the last junction and turn right, turn to 37.

Please make your votes before 9:00 AM PDT or a 3-vote majority is reached to guarantee that they will be counted.

[SGamerz]

Enter.

[Queen of Swords]

That was unexpected. Sure, let's enter and see what happens.

[Darth Rabbitt]

This is honestly the most interesting the book has been so far. Enter the room.