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

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to grab the 2 Provisions (instead of our hero's weapon), eat them, and then allow John Constantine to be tied to the spit and talk his way out.

[SGamerz]

"Wrong, wrong, wrong!" you tell the creature. "If you want to cook me properly, you'll need garlic and lost of it."

"Really?" it says with interest, putting you to one side so it can hear more.

The creature is a GREMOLL - a giant carnivorous humanoid newt, and this one is feeling especially sorry for itself. It explains to you that it used to be held in high esteem by the Horntoads as a master hunter, but the arrival of the Salamander in the halls of the Frog God has put paid to that.

"Curse Xak and all his doings!" it says with feeling. Apparently Xak is the Salamander's name. This is important lore! Like more supernatural creatures, Salamanders can be banished back to their home plane by speaking aloud their true name. If in future you have the chance to speak the name Xak, add twenty to the paragraph you have turned to, and consult this new paragraph number instead.

Meanwhile, the Gremoll is interested in learning more about your recipes for cooking human flesh. You tell it to go to the kitchen of the Horntoads and retrieve some garlic and a lot of other herbs and spices, You solemnly assure the creature you will still be here when it returns. Of course, once the Gremoll has stalked off down the tunnel and out of sight, you rapidly free yourself from your loosened bonds.

This has to be the "grem-" thing that the ferry boat captain tried to warn us about. And apparently, this is a second opportunity to find out the Salamander's name, so experienced players will be able to save 2 Gold Pieces at Throff;s temple library. Although one wonders why, if the Gremoll hates the Salamander and knows its name, hasn't the former banished the latter already. Or maybe it takes a priest to do it, but that text says nothing about that.

Hurriedly, you grab all your equipment and leave the lair of the Gremoll, down a long tunnel that opens, via a hidden entrance, onto the northern banks of the underground river that you came to before. Nearby is the other passage that you spied from the southern shore, before you were strangled by the Gremoll. The beast must have captured you and carried you across the river, thus saving you the trouble of fording it yourself. Suddenly, you hear weird booming cries coming from the river! Knowing that the Gremoll often live in small groups, you quickly enter the adjacent passage and head north.

After a short walk you come to yet another intersection of tunnels, again marked by the primitive runes of the Horntoads. Where will you go next? Bear in mind you cannot return to any place you have already visited, no matter how briefly.

The four vertical bars symbol
The squirming lizard symbol
The frog with a crown symbol

[JourneymanN00b]

I half vote for the four vertical bars symbol to see if the jail has anything for our hero, and fully vote to eat the two Provisions.

[Queen of Swords]

Agreed.

[Thaluikhain]

Makes sense to check the vertical bar, definitely eat twice.

[SGamerz]

Meals taken, STAMINA restored to 11.

The tunnel arrives at a circular chamber that functions as the Horntoads' gaol. Small doorways barred with iron gates look into several tiny prisoners' cells, most of which are empty. There doesn't seem to be any sign of a gaoler.

Suddenly, a ruckus starts up in one of the cells. "Let me out! Let me out!" You peer through the bars and see a Black Elf maiden, clad in spiked armour, striking the ground with a scimitar. On seeing you, she rushes to the door of her cells and shakes it violently.

"Please! You've got to let me out of here!" she begs. Unfortunately, the cell is securely locked, and you have no key. You can cast a magic spell:

PEP
POP
YOB

Or you can abandon her to her fate, and return to the junction.

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: John Constantine
SKILL 7/7
STAMINA 11/23
LUCK 10/10
Equipment: Warhammer, Lantern, Cloth SkullCap, Small Pebbles (x15), Sand (x5), Stone Dust (x3), Rope (x2), Galehorn, Lumps of coal (x5), Jar of Bees, Potion of Healing (restores STAMINA to initial value), Potion of Transformation, Giant Tooth, Enchanted War-Hammer (+1 Attack Strength, but cannot Escape if wielded in combat)
Provisions: 0
Gold: 11
Boons: Galehorn, SkullCap, Giant's Tooth, Potion of Firewater
Notes:
1) Anyone entering the maze of tunnels that forms the Crystal Mine itself, must first turn left and then travel in a clockwise direction if they wish to remain safe.
2) The Horntoads' favourite food is the humble bee. If in future we find ourselves in the presence of a beehive and wish to try and catch some, deduct twenty to the paragraph number we have turned to, and consult this new paragraph number instead.
3) 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.
4) Zared the sage dwells in a cavern full of giant fungi. If in future we find ourselves in such a place and wish to contact Zared, add fifty to the paragraph number we are on at the time, and consult this new paragraph number instead.
5) Caught a Wasting Disease - must lose 1 STAMINA every time we are involved in combat, whether we win or flee from it.
[/spoiler]

[Queen of Swords]

Try POP.

[JourneymanN00b]

Sure, I also vote to cast POP.

[SGamerz]

We've been collecting all these stones and haven't used any. They're getting heavy, time to use some!

Deduct 1 STAMINA point. Do you have a pebble with you? If not, return to 96 and choose again. if you have a pebble, you cast the spell upon it. Telling the Black Elf to stand back, you throw the pebble at the iron bars of the cell. There is a loud bang, and the door of the cell is blown off its hinges and on to the floor. Don't forget to cross the pebble off your Adventure Sheet.

The Black Elf steps free from her cell, and thanks you for freeing her. Suddenly, her eyes narrow in alarm, and she points her scimitar at you.

"How do I know I can trust you?" she says.

You attempt to convince the warrior maiden as to the worthiness of your quest. Roll two dice and Test your Luck. if you are Lucky, turn to 108. if you are Unlucky, turn to 115.

Come to think about it, how do we know we can trust her? It actually looks rather suspicious that the Horntoads would have let their prisoner keep their weapon and full armour.

Dice roll = 9 (Lucky).

To your relief, the Black Elf lowers her weapon, convinced by your story.

"Sorry," she says. "Going a bit paranoid in here. Know what I mean? My name is Verrema. I'm a thief, I mean, an adventurer. well, I was until I got caught by those Horntoads. How about I help you get out of here?"

Verrema will accompany you for the rest of the adventure. While she is with you, watch the paragraph numbers. If there is an asterisk (*) next to the number, substract 15 from that reference and turn to the new paragraph number to see what Verrema has to tell you. Verrema will also join in any battles you face in the caves. Her attributes are SKILL 8, STAMINA 8. If you face only one opponent, you will gain two Attacks (yours and Verrema's), both of which can injure your opponent. If your opponent causes a wound, roll a die: on a 1-3, you are wounded, and on a 4-6 Verrema is wounded (this also applies to Escape penalties if the two of you decide to flee). If you face multiple opponents which you fight one at a time, then you can either attack alternate creatures, or you can both gang up on each opponent as you work your way through the battle-order. Keep a careful check on Verrema's STAMINA score as if she dies then you must continue alone (obviously losing any benefits gained by having the Black Elf accompany you). You can however give Verrema Provisions or a Potion of Healing to restore her STAMINA score if you wish.

For now, you return to the junction, along with your new companion.

Not particularly impressive stats...but she's already more SKILLed than us, and we're currently only barely more resilient than her, so we can't really complain. I mean, she may actually beat us up if we do...

Where do we go next?

The four vertical bars symbol
The squirming lizard symbol
The frog with a crown symbol

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: John Constantine
SKILL 7/7
STAMINA 10/23
LUCK 9/10
Equipment: Warhammer, Lantern, Cloth SkullCap, Small Pebbles (x15), Sand (x5), Stone Dust (x3), Rope (x2), Galehorn, Lumps of coal (x5), Jar of Bees, Potion of Healing (restores STAMINA to initial value), Potion of Transformation, Giant Tooth, Enchanted War-Hammer (+1 Attack Strength, but cannot Escape if wielded in combat)
Provisions: 0
Gold: 11
Boons: Galehorn, SkullCap, Giant's Tooth, Potion of Firewater
Notes:
1) Anyone entering the maze of tunnels that forms the Crystal Mine itself, must first turn left and then travel in a clockwise direction if they wish to remain safe.
2) The Horntoads' favourite food is the humble bee. If in future we find ourselves in the presence of a beehive and wish to try and catch some, deduct twenty to the paragraph number we have turned to, and consult this new paragraph number instead.
3) 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.
4) Zared the sage dwells in a cavern full of giant fungi. If in future we find ourselves in such a place and wish to contact Zared, add fifty to the paragraph number we are on at the time, and consult this new paragraph number instead.
5) Caught a Wasting Disease - must lose 1 STAMINA every time we are involved in combat, whether we win or flee from it.
6) New Companion: Verrema the Black Elf (SKILL 8, STAMINA 8), If there is an asterisk (*) next to the section number we're at, substract 15 from that reference and turn to the new paragraph number to see what Verrema has to tell us. Verrema will also join in any battles we face in the caves.
[/spoiler]

[Thaluikhain]

Squirming lizard to leave king toad for later.

(How do you draw a symbol of a squirming lizard?)

[Queen of Swords]

I feel that if vertical bars resulted in a benefit, squirming lizard is probably not good. So, half a vote to go to crowned frog.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to go challenge this story's version of Wart by heading for his symbol.

[SGamerz]

*

You follow a wide tunnel that opens up into a huge chamber that can only be the shrine of Furlakk the Frog God, Lord of Amphibians. An immense stone statue of Furlakk - in his guise as a Horntoad, obviously - stares down balefully from an altar that has been piled high with skulls. The vaulted ceiling is supported by crooked pillars inscribed with the carvings of fanged demons and horned toads. There are smoking braziers and burning candles everywhere, and the air is so thick with the sweet stench of incense your eyes start watering.

There! You spy it! At the foot of the altar lies the plain and simple, yet utterly sacred Idol of Verlang, a bearded, helmeted smith with a hammer and an anvil. You move towards it but are brought up short by the sound of an ancient voice, rich in evil, which booms out across the shrine.

"Not so fast!" The speaker is none other than the SALAMANDER of Daddu-Yadu, stalking out across the floor of the shrine. It stands three metres tall on its back legs, with a long tail trailing behind, and its skin is a mixture of black, yellow, and red, all wreathed in fire. Great dark eyes regards you inscrutably from a broad wedge-shaped head, and in its hands it holds a flaming iron trident of outlandish design.

"You have done well to make it this far, blacksmith!" says the Salamander contemptuously. "But now you face no croaking Horntoad, no Gremoll newtling. You face me, and I cannot allow you to take the idol. My people made it eons ago, at the behest of Verlang, before you humans stole it from us, and now I am taking it back to its rightful place in the City of Brass."

"This is sacrilege," you yell at the Salamander. "The idol is ours, and I have come to collect it."

"Well, smith," says the Salamander quietly, dabbing at its eyelids with a long pink tongue. "Come and get it then."

Will you fight the Salamander of Daddu-Yadu or will you cast a magic spell:

XAK
WOK
YOB

But before we make our decision, there's an * for this section, so let's see what Verrema does or say here:

"Oh, flippin' heck, not you again!" says Verrema upon seeing the Salamander. "Of all the rotten luck..."

The Salamander laughs. "So priest, you have joined forces with the renegade Black Elf? I was going to devour her later, but you brining her here no has saved me the trouble! Much obliged!"

"Shut it, lizard!" shouts the Black Elf maiden. "The only thing you'll be devouring here is your own tail, when we force-feed it down your throat after cutting you into pieces!"

It seems these two have history! Return to 188 and choose as to whether you will fight the Salamander or cast a magic spell.

Well, turns out that was just flavour content, mostly.

What do we do here?

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to speak Xak and banish the Salamander to oblivion.

[Queen of Swords]

Yes, XAK.

[SGamerz]

There is no such spell as this! Return to 188 and choose again.

But we already know that, of course. What we should really be turning to is...

"Xak!" you howl at the Salamander. "Xak, I speak your true name and banish back to the Plane of Fire forthwith! Begone fiend, and trouble these lands no more!"

The Salamander utters a low drawn-out scream of horror, but it is too late! A jagged tear in the fabric of space and time rips open behind the beast and engulfs it in a black void. Still screaming, Xak the Salamander is dragged back to the flaming plains of its homeland on the Elemental Plane of Fire. Just as suddenly, the hole in reality seals itself back up and winks out of existence, leaving behind only the Salamander's trident, which clatters harmlessly to the floor of the shrine. Add 1 LUCK point for your victory here, turn to 137.

But this not the end, somehow?...

*

You have defeated the Salamander of the Croaking Caves! You rush over to the altar and pick up the sacred idol. You have retrieved the Idol of Verlang! Your quest is over.

Suddenly and completely unexpectedly, there is an agonizing pain in your back, as if you have been stabbed with a giant flaming spear! And again! And again! Blood is already pouring from from your gaping wounds, as you turn around to confront your assailant. It is none other than the Salamander's trident, now hovering in the air of its own accord, like some horrific metal hornet. Again it strikes, wounding you grievously in the stomach this time, and you collapse to the now blood-stained temple floor, cradling the idol protectively to your chest. There no mercy from the flying trident however, for it stabs downwards repeatedly until your brutalized corpse is as still as the idol you were carrying...

But wait, there's an asterisk here, too! Can Verrema save us?

Even as you lay there dying on the floor of the shrine, you manage to turn and try to glimpse what fate as befallen Verrema the Black Elf. You see her run from the chamber, the trident flying along behind her, and then you hear a scream, and another, and another. Your last sight is of the trident returning to the shrine, now covered in even more blood and descending in a sharp arc in with with your unprotected throat...THUNK! Your adventure (and Verrema's) is over...

Unfortunately, that just means one more victim for the trident.

(Well, remember after our first failure, I rewound us all the way back to the Crystal Mines because we needed all the extra gold from there to purchase the vital information at the Under-Temple? The fact that we have reached endgame without using any of those information should have been a hint that we missed something important.)

Our only remaining chance is to use the Galehorn boon to rewind us back once again. Please vote on which spot you wish to rewind to.

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: John Constantine
SKILL 7/7
STAMINA 10/23
LUCK 10/10
Equipment: Warhammer, Lantern, Cloth SkullCap, Small Pebbles (x14), Sand (x5), Stone Dust (x3), Rope (x2), Galehorn, Lumps of coal (x5), Jar of Bees, Potion of Healing (restores STAMINA to initial value), Potion of Transformation, Giant Tooth, Enchanted War-Hammer (+1 Attack Strength, but cannot Escape if wielded in combat)
Provisions: 0
Gold: 11
Boons: Galehorn, SkullCap, Giant's Tooth, Potion of Firewater
Notes:
1) Anyone entering the maze of tunnels that forms the Crystal Mine itself, must first turn left and then travel in a clockwise direction if they wish to remain safe.
2) The Horntoads' favourite food is the humble bee. If in future we find ourselves in the presence of a beehive and wish to try and catch some, deduct twenty to the paragraph number we have turned to, and consult this new paragraph number instead.
3) 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.
4) Zared the sage dwells in a cavern full of giant fungi. If in future we find ourselves in such a place and wish to contact Zared, add fifty to the paragraph number we are on at the time, and consult this new paragraph number instead.
5) Caught a Wasting Disease - must lose 1 STAMINA every time we are involved in combat, whether we win or flee from it.
6) New Companion: Verrema the Black Elf (SKILL 8, STAMINA 8), If there is an asterisk (*) next to the section number we're at, substract 15 from that reference and turn to the new paragraph number to see what Verrema has to tell us. Verrema will also join in any battles we face in the caves.
[/spoiler]

[Queen of Swords]

Damn, what an ending, and after we came all that way.

Go back to the aftermath of the fight with the Baddu-Beetle and hope we roll less than our skill so we don't fall down the sinkhole.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to go north instead of west to the Baddu-Beetle encounter to see if our hero can avoid the battle outright.

[SGamerz]

Normally, I'd use a randomizer program to determine the tie break, but since we're doing a rewind after a failure, I'd just break the tie in favour of the better option, which is to head north from the Tarator's liar:

The tunnel you have been following enters a circular chamber whose sandy floor is completely flat and featureless. Three other corridors, all similar to the one you have been trekking down, also enter this chamber, but on the northern wall, looking rather incongruous amidst these shadowy caverns, is a door fashioned from driftwood. You stride across the chamber towards it and immediately realize your mistake. The floor is a treacherous stretch of quicksand, and you have already started sinking up to your knees! Quickly, what will you do? Use some Rope (if you have some), and turn to 136. Or cast a magic spell:

HUF
ROK
MUD

If you do not have any Rope, and cannot cast a spell, then you perish here in the Tunnels of Ooze, sucked beneath the quicksand to suffer a horrible fate. Your adventure is over...

Hey, a familiar section! This means we skip the encounters with both the Baddu-Beetle and the Skurashi.

Do we want to use the rope again, or try one of the spells this time?

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: John Constantine
SKILL 7/7
STAMINA 20/23
LUCK 10/10
Equipment: Warhammer, Lantern, Cloth SkullCap, Small Pebbles (x11), Sand (x4), Stone Dust (x3), Rope (x2), Galehorn, Lumps of coal (x5), Jar of Bees, Potion of Healing (restores STAMINA to initial value), Potion of Transformation, Giant Tooth
Provisions: 7
Gold: 10
Boons: Galehorn, SkullCap, Giant's Tooth, Potion of Firewater
Notes:
1) Anyone entering the maze of tunnels that forms the Crystal Mine itself, must first turn left and then travel in a clockwise direction if they wish to remain safe.
2) The Horntoads' favourite food is the humble bee. If in future we find ourselves in the presence of a beehive and wish to try and catch some, deduct twenty to the paragraph number we have turned to, and consult this new paragraph number instead.
3) 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.
4) Zared the sage dwells in a cavern full of giant fungi. If in future we find ourselves in such a place and wish to contact Zared, add fifty to the paragraph number we are on at the time, and consult this new paragraph number instead.
[/spoiler]

[Queen of Swords]

Use the rope.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to use the rope.

[Thaluikhain]

Yeah, rope should be ok.

[SGamerz]

Even though you are sinking slowly but surely into the depths, you calmly fashion your Rope into a lasso of sorts, and attempt to snare the door-handle on the northern wall, so that you can clamber up the rope to safety. Roll two dice and Test your Skill. Add two to the result if you are wearing or carrying a Chainmail Hauberk. If you are successful, you manage this feat; reach the door, open it and step through. If you are unsuccessful, turn to 88.

Dice roll = 3. This time we succeed at the first attempt.

Beyond the quicksand room is another large chamber, though this one contains a broad pool of limpid black water surrounded on all sides by a sandy beach. The rest of the cavern is completely full with all kinds of weird subterranean fungi - mushrooms, toadstools, puffballs, and the like. Before you can do anything however, a surprisingly cold wind blows in from nowhere, swirling the sand from the beach all around you. As you watch, the spiralling current of air becomes a focused column and forms a recognizable shape. Standing on the underground beach in front of you is a two-metre tall humanoid composed entirely of sand. With great clenched fists and a malevolent red glow in its eyes, the SAND GOLEM advances on you!

You can fight this magical guardian, or cast a spell:

HOT
HUF
MUD

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to cast HUF again.

[Queen of Swords]

Yes, HUF.