[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy 59 - Curse of the Mummy

[Thaluikhain]

There used to be a tradition of saying "Penetrate the hole", and side things are usually worthwhile, so go there.

[SGamerz]

Boris loves a good penetration as much as the next guy. Or rather, the previous guys.

You squeeze through the small hole and crawl along a tunnel on your belly for a few metres. The tunnel suddenly slopes steeply downwards and you find yourself sliding into the depths of the temple. The tunnel eventually opens into a bare chamber and you are deposited on the hard stone floor. An archway leads out of this chamber and further into the temple, so this is the way you will have to go.

You find yourself in a long entrance hall. In front of you is a tall archway and on either side of it is a carved relief of Sithera, Goddess of Evil, ten metres high! Two cultists, their red robes bearing the motif of a rearing golden cobra suddenly run through the archway, their curved swords drawn. As you prepare to fight, you feel something strike you in the back and the world goes black...

Slowly you come to and take in your predicament. You are chained between two great pillars, your arms stretched out on either side of your body. You have been captured by the Cult of the Cobra! You have no idea how long you have been unconscious, but you have recovered in time to witness the ritual that will end in Akharis's resurrection! You are being held prisoner at one end of a vast chamber inside the Temple of Sithera. At the other end is a huge, ten-metre tall statue of the snake-headed goddess, her four taloned arms raised menacingly. Beneith the statue, on a raised dais, lies a large stone sarcophagus in side which is the mummified body of Akharisi The Mummy is huge and wears an ornate death-mask which covers most of the dead king's rotting face. At the base of the dais stand two large braziers, the magical fires of which fill the chamber with an unearthly glow. Standing between the braziers is a strikinglyy beautiful woman with black hair cut in the style of the ancient Diaratians. She is dressed in the robes of a Djaratian priestess, and in one hand she holds a staff, the top of which is carved to resemble a cobra's head. She is chanting an incantation in ancient Djaratian, and it is repeated by the crowd of cultists who stand between you and the dais. You are also horrified to see that a mass of Mummies, in various states of decay, are blocking the way to the High Priestess. These must be the Mummies of those loyal to Akharis, returned to life by the evil cult. You must stop this ritual! Standing slightly in front of you, on either side, are two cultists who are totally caught up by the ceremony in front of you. One holds your sword and the other has your backpack. But how are you to get free? In desperation you drag at the chains and feel one give slightly. The chains must have been here for centuries and they have weakened over time. If only you are strong enough...Roll three dice. If the total rolled is less than or equal to your STAMINA, turn to 289. If it is greater, turn to 388.

Good thing our STAMINA is now close to full!

Dice roll = 9 (Success).

With one mighty wrench you snap the chains free from the pillars. Before the two cultists can react, you swing the chains at them and knock them both out! Then you grab your sword and backpack. Most of the cultists are still unaware of what is going on. Do you want to attack them, or would you rather attack the Mummies in order to reach the High Priestess and stop the ritual?

[Queen of Swords]

I'll go for stopping the ritual.

And that is the most badass thing we've done in the book. Snap our chains like Samson and then knock people out with them.

[Thaluikhain]

Stop ritual, I guess.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to attack the Mummies in order to reach the High Priestess, of course.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Attack the mummies to stop the ritual.

[SGamerz]

Mummies cannot move quickly because of their constricting bandages, so will you run at them with your sword drawn or, if you can, will you use something else against them first?

[Darth Rabbitt]

Use something else. I think this is where we use our Firepowder.

[Queen of Swords]

We have so much stuff we've been carrying around, so let's try to use some of it.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to use something else, preferably our Firepowder, first.

[Queen of Swords]

I hope the Firepowder takes out more than a single mummy, as we were told it would do when we were exploring the tombs.

[Thaluikhain]

Yeah, we have loads of junk, some we've been carrying for ages. may as well use.

[SGamerz]

What will you use against the Mummies: fire or any charms you may have? If you have none of these, you will have to use your sword.

Firepower isn't specified here, although it's of course more likely to be classified under fire instead of charms, but I'm pausing for votes again since it's not an exact check for Firepowder.

Fire or charms?

[Queen of Swords]

Can we see what choices we have regarding charms?

[Darth Rabbitt]

I'll go with Charms because Firepowder seems more likely to be be single target (though it sounds like a more open space than the tombs so maybe it's not and we can burn more mummies with it?)

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to use charms.

[SGamerz]

If you are wearing a Sun Talisman, multiply the number of light rays projecting from it by eight, then turn to the paragraph with the same number as the total. Anything else you may have has no effect on these undead; so will you fight them with fire or with your sword?

The talisman starts to feel hot. Holding it up by its chain, you see that the sun is glowing brightly. There is a sudden flash, then a blazing beam of light shoots from the amulet into the undead horde with devastating effect. Several of the Mummies immediately burst into flames as their bone-dry wrappings ignite under the heat of the beam. Roll one dice and add 2. Make a note that this is the number of Mummies you have already destroyed. The talisman's power is expended, but Akharis's servants have already suffered the wrath of the sun god! Now will you attack the remaining undead with fire or your sword?

Number of mummies destroyed = 2 (+2) = 4.

Annoying, we're still not told how many of them there were to begin with.

Do we still want to use fire?

[Queen of Swords]

"Several of the Mummies" = 4.



This is the endgame, so I think we might as well use up our lantern.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to use Firepowder and the lantern to improve our odds.

[Thaluikhain]

Makes sense, and shame not to use them.

[SGamerz]

There are two ways you can use fire as a weapon. The first is to fight using a torch, if you have one. If you do this, tum to 138 and fight as normal, but with your Attack Strength reduced by 1 point; if you win an Attack Round, you will cause 4 points of damage to the Mummy's STAMINA rather than the usual 2, since your weapon ignites its bone-dry bandages. The second method is to throw a fire source, such as a lamp, a Yokka Egg or a burning skin of oil at the Mummy. For each one you attack in this way you must Test your Skill; if you succeed, the Mummy bursts into flames and is destroyed. You may try this method as many times as you have fire sources to use. Once you have used up all your fire sources, or when you give up this method of attack, note down how many of the Mummies you have already killed and tum to 138.

Ugh, it still doesn't tell us how many mummies we have to fight overall.

The fire sources work exactly as they would have in the earlier scenario. At least with our high SKILL we don't actually have to roll for tests each time.

Are we sure we want to use up our last skin of lantern oil AND the Firepowder?

[Queen of Swords]

I'd rather use the Firepowder on the priestess or on Akharis.

[JourneymanN00b]

Okay, I will change my vote to just using the last skin of lantern oil in light of the warning.

[SGamerz]

Another mummy goes up in flames as Boris tosses his lantern and last skin of oil over it.

The Mummy horde numbers fifteen in total. With their atrophying hands outstretched in front of them, the powerful undead advance towards you. Fortunately, because Mummies are slow-moving, you can fight them one at a time. Each Mummy has SKILL 9 and STAMINA 12. (Remember to reduce the total by any you may have already destroyed.) If any individual battle lasts longer than nine Attack Rounds, tum to 236. If you manage to overcome all the shambling undead, turn to 367.

We're left with 10 opponents...so, yeah, even if we'd been lucky and scored the maximum hits with the Sun Talisman, we'd still have about half of them left. The only way this (mandatory) encounter could have been made easier is for us to abuse the Gold resource to the full at the beginning to really stock up on oil skins (torches were limited to 3, and Yokka Eggs are more expensive while mostly serving similar functions most of the time).

This is basically a harder version of the mummy gauntlet back at the tombs. There were only 7 back there, and their overall stats were lower on average, and they still took us to the limit. And they also trigger a special event if they last more than 9 rounds individually.

Pausing for votes on LUCK use (and please indicate whether to use for increasing damage to opponent or reduce it for ourselves) for this next gauntlet.

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: Boris O’Connell
SKILL 12/12
STAMINA 16/18
LUCK 10/12
Poison: 4/18
Equipment: Sword, backpack, Rope and Grapple, Firepowder (can be thrown at opponent at start of combat, hit after successful Skill test for 1D6 damage), Crystal Pyramid, Papyrus Scroll (subtract 20 from section number to translate hieroglyphic script), Statuette of Assamarra, God of the Sand, Ankh (Key of Life, set with 12 precious stones), Jet Cat, Earthenware jar (x4), Gold statue of Cracca, Lord of Rivers and Ferryman of the Gods, Dajaratian Book of the Dead, Falcon Breastplate (60 feathers), Golden Key ('34' inscribed on it), Malachite Amulet, Eye Amulet, Iron Wand, Sun Talisman (24 rays of light projecting from it), Waters of Life (can be drunk at any time outside combat, turn to 355 for effect when drunk)
Provisions: 5
Gold: 3
Extra Lives remaining: 2
Notes: We received Cranno's Warning. "And all those who would despoil the shrine of Cracca, Lord of Rivers and Ferryman of the Gods, beware the wrath of the crocodile-headed one." We gained the Wisdom of Khunam (understanding of ancient Djaratian speech - add 30 to section number when spoken to in that language). Dajaratian dead making their journey through the underworld must face thirteen hazards. Akharis gains strength from his coffin.
[/spoiler]

[Thaluikhain]

We've got decent luck, I suggest using it to increase damage to hurry things along if it looks like a fight with a mummy is going to take 9 rounds, but not sure on the exact mechanics for that.