[Let's Play] Fighting Fantazine Adventure #2 - Shrine of the Salamander

[SGamerz]

You open your money pouch and begin counting out Gold Pieces. The priest's eyes light up.

"Let it not be said that Throff's servants turn away those willing to make the proper donations," he intones. "My name is Zhiamle the Under-Priest, and I believe we may be able to come to an agreement."

Roll one die. This is the number of Gold Pieces that Zhiamle will accept to allow you to enter the temple. However, if you previously cast the HUF or PEP spells you must roll two dice to pa for the damage you have caused.

If you cannot afford to, or do not wish to pay the bribe, you can either fight the priest, or leave this area and try somewhere else.

If you can afford to and wish to pay the bribe, cross the amount of Gold Pieces off your Adventure Sheet. "Welcome to the Under-Temple of Throff!" says Zhiamle. You can visit the Library of Throff, or the Holy Pool.

Die roll = 2! We only have to pay the minimum 1 Gold Piece.

Do we want to spend the Gold Piece? If we do, where do we go after that, Library or Holy Pool?

If not, do we want to attack the priest or leave?

[Queen of Swords]

Spend the gold piece, then go to the library.

[JourneymanN00b]

I also vote to spend the gold piece and head to the LIbrary of Throff.

[SGamerz]

John Constantine pays the bribe and enters the library.

To get to the Library of Throff, Zhiamle leads you past numerous empty cells cut into the rock.

"Most of the priests have left here to help rebuild Shalla's Temple out on the Klatta-Bak Steppes," says Zhiamle, watching you looking at the derelict living quarters. "Just myself and old Kasmanti remain to hold the fort, so to speak."

Kasmanti turns out to be the Arch-Librarian - another ancient priest with a beard longer than that of Zhiamle, and a staff topped with a weird star-shaped crystal. The library is a small, cramped cave, with books and scrolls jammed into shelves carved into the rock, and piled up on the floor in stacks.

"A visitor, seeking lore!" says Zhiamle to the librarian.

"It's not cheap," says Kasmanti gruffly. "It will cost you 2 Gold Pieces per consultation."

What are you interested in?

Horntoads
Salamanders
Other denizens of Daddu-Yadu

Oh dear, we only have enough gold to pay for one consultation.

What do we want to learn about?

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: John Constantine
SKILL 9/9
STAMINA 19/23
LUCK 10/10
Equipment: Warhammer, Lantern, Cloth SkullCap, Small Pebbles (x6), Sand, Rope, Galehorn, Lumps of coal (x5), Crystal Jar, Stone Dust
Provisions: 4
Gold: 2
Boons: Galehorn, SkullCap, Giant's Tooth, Potion of Firewater
Notes:
1) Anyone entering the maze of tunnels that forms the mine itself, must first turn left and then travel in a clockwise direction if they wish to remain safe.
[/spoiler]

[JourneymanN00b]

I half vote for Salamanders.

[Queen of Swords]

Sure, salamanders.

[SGamerz]

You hand over 2 Gold Pieces to Kasmanti (and don't forget to cross them off your Adventure Sheet). He passes you an old tome bound in scaly reptilian hide of iridescent hue that is somewhat blackened and charred about the edges.

The Life Cycle of the Salamander, by Incendiare the Pyromancer, contains everything you need to know about these strange creatures. Originally denizens of the Elemental Planes of Fire, Salamanders have successfully established themselves in warmer areas across Titan. Their life cycle consists of three distinct stages. The first is a small, supposedly harmless, orange-coloured larval stage that resembles their lizard-like amphibian namesakes. The intermediate form is a much larger sulphur-yellow lizard-creature over a metre long, with weird gill structures and the ability to breathe fire at its foes. The adult stage is a fiery reptilian humanoid, around two to three metres in height, with cruel intelligence and a tendency to use black iron tridents in battle when not breathing out sheets of flame.

Like most supernatural creatures, Salamanders can be banished back to their home plane by speaking aloud their true name. On this page in the book someone has scrawled: "Is Xak the name of the Croaking Caves Salamander?" This is important lore! If in future you have the chance to speak the name Xak, add twenty to the paragraph number you have turned to, and consult this new paragraph number instead.

You return the tome to Kasmanti. What else do you wish to do here? Consult more books on the following, remembering it will cost you 2 Gold Pieces per consultation?

Horntoads (Turn to 60)
Other denizens of Daddu-Yadu (Turn to 94)

If you do not wish to, or cannot afford to pay, you can either visit the Holy Pool if you have not done so already, or leave this area.

We can't afford further consultations at the library. Do we want to visit the Holy Pool, or leave?

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: John Constantine
SKILL 9/9
STAMINA 19/23
LUCK 10/10
Equipment: Warhammer, Lantern, Cloth SkullCap, Small Pebbles (x6), Sand, Rope, Galehorn, Lumps of coal (x5), Crystal Jar, Stone Dust
Provisions: 4
Gold: 0
Boons: Galehorn, SkullCap, Giant's Tooth, Potion of Firewater
Notes:
1) Anyone entering the maze of tunnels that forms the mine itself, must first turn left and then travel in a clockwise direction if they wish to remain safe.
2) Xak may be the name of the Croaking Caves Salamander? If in future we have the chance to speak the name Xak, add twenty to the paragraph number we have turned to, and consult this new paragraph number instead.
[/spoiler]

[Thaluikhain]

To the Holy Pool.

[Queen of Swords]

Agreed, pool.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to check out the Holy Pool.

[SGamerz]

The Holy Pool of Throff is found in a large natural cavern whose walls and ceiling are covered in wavelike rock formations. The pool itself is a still body of pale green water, like a sheet of pure jade.

"Unbelievers are not allowed to bathe in the Holy Pool, " says Zhiamle. "However, you can purchase potions distilled from the water's sacred essence."

There are two potions available to buy here. If you wish to purchase one, simply cross off the relevant number of Gold Pieces and record the potion's details on your Adventure Sheet. You can drink a potion at any time except during combat. The potions are:

Potion of Healing (Cost: 4 Gold Pieces): Drinking this potion will restore your STAMINA to its Initial level. It contains Essence of Blimberry and will also cure you of any diseases and their effects that you may be suffering from.

Potion of Transformation (Cost: 6 Gold Pieces): Drinking this potion will enable you to transform into any roughly humanoid creature of approximately the same size and build. It is thus useful for infiltrating gatherings of hostile creatures but it must be used carefully as its effects only last for a short time.

When you have finished any business here, you can either visit the Library of Throff if you have not done so already, or leave this area.

Everything in this temple involves money, it seems. Actually, I don't think it's quite appropriate to call us "unbelievers" considering our god (Verlang) is supposed to be Throff's son. Pretty sure we do believe in Throff. We just don't worship her.

Of course, it's a moot point for us, since we don't have the gold to purchase anything here, and given how the priests here have been behaving, they probably would have charged us for bathing in the pool even if we are a believer.

Nothing left to do except leave...

Once again you find yourself standing on the sands of the Earth End Coastline, pondering a way onwards. You also notice plenty of material here that is useful for casting spells. Add any of the following to your Adventure Sheet if you wish: three small pebbles, stone dust, and some sand. Then, choose - where will you go? Bear in mind you cannot return to any place you have already visited, no matter how briefly.

The Under-Temple of Throff
The Crystal Mines
The Tunnels of Ooze
The Croaking Caves

And once again we pick up some spell components, now having more than one use of each since we didn't cast any spells besides TEL back in the Under-Temple.

Where do we go next?

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: John Constantine
SKILL 9/9
STAMINA 19/23
LUCK 10/10
Equipment: Warhammer, Lantern, Cloth SkullCap, Small Pebbles (x9), Sand (x2), Rope, Galehorn, Lumps of coal (x5), Crystal Jar, Stone Dust (x2)
Provisions: 4
Gold: 3
Boons: Galehorn, SkullCap, Giant's Tooth, Potion of Firewater
Notes:
1) Anyone entering the maze of tunnels that forms the mine itself, must first turn left and then travel in a clockwise direction if they wish to remain safe.
[/spoiler]

[JourneymanN00b]

I half vote to head to the tunnels of ooze.

[Queen of Swords]

I'll go with the tunnels as well.

[Thaluikhain]

May as well.

[SGamerz]

The Tunnels of Ooze are a series of caves on the northern fringes of Daddu-Yadu that lie right at the base of the cliffs. The whole area is quite damp and probably submerged at high tide. Marine life is everywhere: large crabs waving their pincers menacingly, beds of mussels and other shellfish, and blue starfish clinging to the rocks. The calls of seabirds fill the air. You have a choice of three ways onwards. A small cave from which comes a humming noise, a much larger cavern entrance marked by broken bones and skulls, or a narrow tunnel that is half-underwater and will require you to wade in.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to check out the small cave, as the broken bones and skulls in the larger cavern is a bad sign, and the half-underwater tunnel carries the risk of damaging inventory items if our hero trips.

[Thaluikhain]

That makes sense, to the humming cave.

[Queen of Swords]

Small cave, with humming.

[SGamerz]

You enter the small humid cave overgrown with clumps of ash-coloured salt moss. The humming noise is much louder here and you can barely hear yourself think. Looking up, you notice large bees swarming around a beehive high in a crack on the western wall. There is also an exit at the back of the cave, where you see a low tunnel leading away to the north. You can climb up to investigate the beehive, or leave this cave and head northwards.

[Queen of Swords]

Let's get some honey.

[JourneymanN00b]

I also vote to investigate the beehive.

[SGamerz]

To get to the beehive will require a tricky climb up the cave wall. Roll two dice and Test your Skill. If you have some Rope, which you can use to help you make the climb, deduct 2 from the dice roll. If you are successful, you clamber up the rocky vertical surface to the hive. If you are unsuccessful, turn instead to 10.

Dice roll = (8-2) = 6 (Success)!

You reach the beehive. The bees swarm around you but you are powerless to defend yourself as you must use your hands to hold onto the rocky cavern wall. Roll one die. If you roll 1 to 4, then this is the number of STAMINA points you lose as the bees sting you. If you roll a 5 or 6, you are lucky and avoid being stung. You knock the hive to the ground, and clamber down after it. Cutting open the hive provides you with enough honey for one Provision (don't forget to record it on your Adventure Sheet). You leave the humming cave, not full of agitated bees, via the northern tunnel.

Die roll = 3....well, technically it means our net gain is 1 STAMINA, since we gain a meal that restores 4 STAMINA out of this action.

The tunnel arrives at a junction, where a dark, bone-strewn passage leads away to the east. If you want to continue following the northern tunnel, turn to 24. If you want to head down the eastern passage, turn to 66.

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: John Constantine
SKILL 9/9
STAMINA 16/23
LUCK 10/10
Equipment: Warhammer, Lantern, Cloth SkullCap, Small Pebbles (x9), Sand (x2), Rope, Galehorn, Lumps of coal (x5), Crystal Jar, Stone Dust (x2)
Provisions: 5
Gold: 0
Boons: Galehorn, SkullCap, Giant's Tooth, Potion of Firewater
Notes:
1) Anyone entering the maze of tunnels that forms the mine itself, must first turn left and then travel in a clockwise direction if they wish to remain safe.
2) Xak may be the name of the Croaking Caves Salamander? If in future we have the chance to speak the name Xak, add twenty to the paragraph number we have turned to, and consult this new paragraph number instead.
[/spoiler]

[SGamerz]

I just realized I made a blunder when setting the Initial stats. It turns out that, as a priest, we're actually supposed to be similar to a spellcaster in the Sorcery series: with lower SKILL ceiling than a warrior. So our SKILL actually should have been 7.

HOWEVER, we've only been through 1 fight and 1 SKILL test throughout this playthrough. Having edited my post to adjust our Attack Strengths by -2 in the combat against those Dark Goblins earlier, as you can see, we would still have won every round, and we would still have (narrowly) passed the SKILL test to reach the beehive, so we can still proceed with this LP with no further adjustments. Just keep in mind of our lower SKILL from now. Apologies for overlooking this previously.

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: John Constantine
SKILL 7/7
STAMINA 16/23
LUCK 10/10
Equipment: Warhammer, Lantern, Cloth SkullCap, Small Pebbles (x9), Sand (x2), Rope, Galehorn, Lumps of coal (x5), Crystal Jar, Stone Dust (x2)
Provisions: 5
Gold: 0
Boons: Galehorn, SkullCap, Giant's Tooth, Potion of Firewater
Notes:
1) Anyone entering the maze of tunnels that forms the mine itself, must first turn left and then travel in a clockwise direction if they wish to remain safe.
2) Xak may be the name of the Croaking Caves Salamander? If in future we have the chance to speak the name Xak, add twenty to the paragraph number we have turned to, and consult this new paragraph number instead.
[/spoiler]

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to eat a provision and head north to avoid the temptations of fascism.

[Thaluikhain]

Eat the honey and go north.