[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy 63 - Stormslayer

[SGamerz]

All of the Puffin publications have been done, and with only 1 book left in the Wizard publications, it's time for the last gap here to be filled as well! (EDIT: I realized I completely forgot about Blood of Zombies)



Was going to run this one next, but with how slowly the Island of Undead is going, I thought I'd get this one out too while I still have the time for multiple updates a day (which may not be the case about 2 months later).

Jonathan Green's newer contributions in the relaunch of the FF series have generally gotten relatively positive reviews, and this one is no exception. Certainly, just like Howl of the Werewolf and Night of the Necromancer, the difficulty level and playability, and the variety of paths to victory, are all definite improvements over his older books.

On to the rules, and of course, we have the usual fare to begin with...

Standard FF Boilerplate Rules:

Skill, Stamina, & Luck
[spoiler]SKILL score: Roll one die. Add 6 to the result.

STAMINA score: Roll two dice. Add 12 points to the result.

LUCK score: Roll one die. Add 6 to the result.

SKILL score reflects your expertise in combat, your ability with weapons, and your dexterity. STAMINA is your general constitution and "Life points". LUCK score shows how lucky you are. None of them may exceed their Initial score unless specifically stated.

Testing your Luck: When instructed by the book to Test your Luck, roll two dice. If the result is equal to or less than your current LUCK score, you are Lucky. If the result exceeds your current LUCK score, you are Unlucky. Whatever the outcome, you must deduct one point from your current LUCK score every time you Test your Luck. The more you use your LUCK, the less likely you are to be Lucky.[/spoiler]

Combat:
[spoiler]SKILL and STAMINA scores are given in the text for each adversary that you face.

The combat sequence is then:
1. Roll two dice for your opponent. Add the total rolled to its SKILL score. This is the Attack Strength of your enemy.
2. Roll two dice and add the total to your own current SKILL score. This is your Attack Strength.
3. If your Attack Strength is the higher, you have wounded your opponent: deduct 2 points from your opponent's STAMINA..
If your opponent's Attack Strength is higher, it has wounded you: deduct 2 points from your own STAMINA.
If both Attack Strengths are equal, you have avoided each other's blows.
4. Begin the next Combat Round, starting again at step 1. This procedure continues until either you or your opponent has a STAMINA score of zero. If your opponent's STAMINA score reaches zero, you have killed it and can continue with your adventure. If your own STAMINA score reaches zero, you are dead.

Using Luck in Combat

You can use your LUCK in combat to inflict a particularly serious wound, or to minimize a wound that has been inflicted on you.

Whenever you wound an opponent, you may Test your Luck. If you are Lucky, you have inflicted a severe wound: deduct an extra 2 points from your opponent's STAMINA. If you are Unlucky, you have merely grazed it, and you deduct 1 point less than normal from its STAMINA.

If you have been wounded, you can Test your Luck in exactly the same way. If you are Lucky, the wound upon you was only a glancing blow and you can deduct 1 less point of STAMINA than usual. If you are Unlucky, the wound is serious: deduct 1 extra point from your STAMINA.[/spoiler]

I won't be rolling for the stats yet, because there are pre-generated characters to choose from, and the first thing we'd vote on is whether to use any of them. But before that, let's get the rest of the rules out of the way:

Day of the Week:
Like our mundane world, there are seven days in a Titan week, but with different names. The names also correspond to different elemental types. We need to keep track of the days as they pass. It's NOT a time limit mechanism. What matters is which day of the week we are on during certain encounters, as certain creatures are more powerful during the days that match their element type (for example, a fire-type monster will have higher stats on Fireday).

For a newly-generated character, the day on which we start the adventure is determined by random die roll, using the number the corresponds with the day of the week (which means we will never start on Highday, which is listed as the last day of the week).

1. Stormsday
2. Moonsday
3. Fireday
4. Earthday
5. Windsday
6. Seaday
7. Highday

However, once again I won't be rolling the die just yet, because again, each of the pre-generated character will start on a specific day listed for them if we choose them. More on that later

Equupment:

We start with the traditional leather armour, backpack, lantern and enough provisions for 10 meals (which is the maximum amount we can carry). We also start with an enchanted weapon named the Wyrmbiter, which doesn't give any combat bonuses during normal battles, but will give us +2 Attack Strength and +1 damage when fighting any dragon-type opponent (which includes drakes, wyverns, and of course, wyrms), And can damage magical creatures that are normally immune to most other weapons (like Elementals). Our starting gold, if we're playing self-generated characters, will be 2D6+12, but pre-generated characters start with fixed amount of cash.

We can also choose 2 out of 4 additional items to start. Here, again, for pre-generated characters, they will each start with 2 of the items be default, but self-generated characters get to choose which 2 to take. These are supposedly trophies from the PC's past adventures (he's an accomplished hero of some fame) None of them have any specific special properties that we know of to begin with, but each may be useful for specific encounter during the adventure. We'd just have to find out which when we get to them!

Dragon Tattoo

Covering almost all of your back is a magnificent tattoo of a mighty Red Dragon, with wings outstretched, something you had done on a whim during a stopover at the port of Harabnab.

Hunting Horn

Made form the curling horn of some fabulous beast or other, you won this valuable artefact from a renegade duke of Gallantaria, after pursuing him for the bounty on his head.

Sabretooth Fang

As long as a dagger, and just as sharp, you wear this fang on a leather cord around your neck, a memento of a battle you fought with a Carnodon in the mountains of Mauristatia.

Sun Talisman

You wear this small golden talisman, which you recovered from a ruined tomb you stumbled upon on the borders of Kakhabad, on a chain around your neck.

There are other boxes on the Adventure Sheet (Time track, Codewords, Damage), but those are for recording attributes that only apply in certain parts of the adventure, and are not explain in the rules section, and will only be explained when our adventure reaches those specific parts.

Pre-generated Characters:

Gorrin Silverblade

SKILL: 11
STAMINA: 18
LUCK: 9
Equipment: Hunting Horn and Sun Talisman
Gold: 16
Day of the Week: start on Seaday

Tomb-robber to some, bold adventurer to others, Gorrin Silverblade combines the skills of a thief with the strength of the warrior. The son of a blacksmith from Tannatown, he was a cunning mind and a strong right arm, both of which have served him well on many occasions, particularly when he's been up to his neck in trouble down some half-forgotten hole in the ground.

Gorrin has a happy-go-lucky temperament, his natural charm coming to his aid now and again on some rather tricky situations. Also skill with a sword is surpassed by only a few.

Aldar Ravenwolf

SKILL: 9
STAMINA: 22
LUCK: 7
Equipment: Dragon Tattoo and Hunting Horn
Gold: 23
Day of the Week: start on Stormsday

Aldar Ravenwolf gre up an orphan on the streets of Pollua, Lendleland, after his merchant-trader parents were slain by Hobgoblins while crossing the Howling Plains. He eventually fled the city after killing the local gang-lord in a bar-fight and has wandered the Old World ever since finding work as a mercenary, protecting merchant caravans.

Aldar has always been careful with money, a habit instilled in him by both his parents and his destitute childhood, which means that he can always equip himself well in preparation for any adventure. His hardy constitution means that he can keep on fighting when others would have already given up the ghost.

Erien Stormchild

SKILL: 10
STAMINA: 16
LUCK: 12
Equipment: Sabretooth Fang and Sun Tallisman
Gold: 19
Day of the Week: start on Fireday

Originally from a nomadic tribe of fur-trappers from the icy mountain passes of the Witchtooth Line, Erien Stormchild left her tribal lands for the plains of Femphrey in search of hold and adventure long ago. Blessed by Cheelah, goddess of luck, she succeeded in finding plenty of both.

Where others might rely on strength of arms, Erien puts her faith in magical charms and the absolute trust that her guardian deity will always watch out for her.

Do any of the pre-generated characters appeal to you? Or would you prefer to generate a completely new character?

[JourneymanN00b]

Oooh, Stormslayer is definitely one of the better books to play, from what I have heard.

I am going to vote for a completely new character, as I do feel that maximizing our choices is the best way to go. If that is the consensus, I will elect to take the Hunting Horn and Dragon Tattoo. If not, I vote to pick Gorrin Silverblade out of the pre-generated characters.

[Dogopolis]

I vote for Erien.

A randomer is not likely to be as good as Gorrin or Erien, and although skill is the most important attribute, I think Erien's overall stats are better.

If we do go random, I'd guess we want to take the tattoo and the horn, as that's what JG gave the worst statted character, I'm guessing some form of balance.

[Dogopolis]

Given the lack of other votes, I will rescind mine and double up on JourneymanNoob's suggestion of random selection with Horn and Tattoo

[SGamerz]

So we'll be generating a new character. This means you can also start thinking of a new name. In the meantime...

SKILL: Die roll = 3+6 = 9.
STAMINA: Dice roll = 6+1+12 = 19
LUCK: Die roll = 2+6 = 8

Gold: Die roll = 1+6+12 = 19
Starting Day of the Week: Die roll = 6. We start on Seaday

Sadly, we indeed seem to have rolled up a character that's weaker than the 3 pre-gens. Fortunately, this isn't one of those meatgrinders that require double-digit stats to win. SKILL 9 will be hard but not impossible.

For the extra chances mechanism, I will be using something similar to what was used in the Siege of Sardath LP: each new day of the week gives us an extra chance. Unlike SoS, this adventure isn't limited to 1 week, and sometimes we move forward more than 1 day at a time, but we only gain a new "life" for each new day we "land on" for the first time, so the maximum we can get is 7, and we may end up getting less than that. Let's hope that will be enough for us to beat this!

Since we start on a day of the week by default, it means we start with 1 extra life. As usual, using 1 extra life gives a full regen and/or rewinding back one option, using 2 of them allows you to pick a specific rewind spot. This book doesn't have a single narrow true path, so I won't be implementing my usual "spend 3 lives and I'd tell you where you stepped off the true path" mechanism.

With that, we can start the story:

STORM WARNING:

"And that's how I bested Gog Magog, chief of the Giant tribe, and rescued Duke Ervane's daughter," you say, concluding your tale and downing the rest of your flagon of ale.

For a moment The Traveller's Rest is silent and then its gathered clientale burst into a spontaneous round of applause, whoops and cheers ringing in your ears.

"Another story!" someone shouts from the other side of the bar.

"Yes, tell us another story!" an eager barmaid enthuses, obviously awed by being in the presence of a genuine hero such as yourself.

"Very well then," you reply and gradually an expectant hush descends over the packed pub again. "But which one do you want to hear?"

You have been adventuring throughout the Old World for more years than you care to remember. In that time you have faced countless perils and completed numerous quests. You have built up quite a reputation in the process, earning yourself the title Hero of Tannatown after you saved the town from the Crimson Witch and her vampiric swarm.

"Tell us again how you found the fabled sword Wyrmbiter," a mop-haired youth calls out, suddenly finding the courage to speak up. Unconsciously, you put a hand to the wonderous weapon sheathed in the scabbard hanging from your sword-belt.

"No!" someone else overrules him. "I want to know how you snared the Basilisk of Bonebarrow."

"I want to hear how you recovered the Wraith Dragon's hoard!" a grey-bearded Dwarf bellows, his voice drowning out all the others.

"The Wraith Dragon's hoard it is then," you accept.

You are about to begin your next tale when the door of the tavern bangs open and Varick Oathbreaker - who you know of old - enters the Traveller's Rest, followed by his band of cut-throats. He scowls on catching sight of you, the livid purple scar that splits his face in two - the memory of an injury you once dealt him - curls his top lip into an ugly sneer.

Picking up your flagon of ale - that someone has seen fit to refill for you without you noticing - you toast your rival's latest defeat. "Bad luck, Varick, but you just weren't quick enough - again. Better luck next time, eh?"

"You want to keep an eye out behind you," the bounty hunter warns you with a snarl. "There's a storm coming. Mark my words, there's a storm heading your way!" Your rival turns ot the bar, the ruffians accompanying him throwing you what you supposed are meant to be intimidating glances, but you're not bothered. It takes a lot to intimidate the Hero of Tannatown.

It seems that for as long as you have been adventuring, Varick Oathbreaker has been there at your heel, trying to beat you to the next bounty and yet never quite managing to get there first. The two of you are bitter rivals and there is no love lost on either side.

Most recently you beat him to the reward put up by Duke Ervane for the safe return of his daughter whose cavalcade had been ambushed by a tribe of Hill Giants led by the infamous Gog Magog. You came away from that escapade richer by one princess's ransom and with another story to share in that old adventurers' haunt, The Traveller's Rest in the village of Vastarin on Femphrey's southern border. Varick came away with nothing to show for his troubles.

That was some days ago now and much of the money has gone already as you celebrated your recent success with your friends and rook some time to recover from your latest wearying adventure, hiring the best room at the inn for the duration of your stay. The place is even busier than usual, crowded with visitors who have come from far and wide to see the travelling Menagerie of Monsters that has stopped off here for a few days.

"I'm sorry," you say, addressing your admiring audience, "where was I, before I was so rudely interrupted?"

"You were going to tell us the tale of how you recovered the Wraith Dragon's hoard," the adoring barmaid begins when her words are suddenly cut short by a crash of thunder that explodes right over the pub.

There is a second clap of thunder that shakes the Traveller's Rest to its very foundations and a glaring flash of lightning bathes the tavern in its searing light. The barmaid screams in panic and joins other members of the inn's clientele in taking cover under the tables.

"What, in Sukh's name, was that?" you hear Varick Oathbreaker swear in shock and surprise.

What indeed? The sound of the storm breaking overhead seemed to come from nowhere. One minute outside it was a pleasant, sunny day, the next a storm, the like of which you have never witnessed in all your days as an adventurer, is taring the sky apart and turning day to night.

The smashing of tiles joins the roar of the storm as a hailstorm, the like you which you have never known before either, lashes the roof of the tavern.

Turn to paragraph 1.

Unlike most FF books, section 1 of this book is not accompanied by a picture.

You fling open the door of the tavern and gaze upon the mayhem engulfing the village of Vastarin. The sky is black with threatening thunderheads and gale-force winds are racing over the rooftops of the village, tearing the thatch from houses and sweeping helpless villagers off their feet. At the same time, forked lightning streaks down from the heavens, leaving smouldering scorch marks wherever it hits, while hailstones the size of grapefruit bombard the panicking Vastariners.

On the other side of the village square, the carriages and caged wagons of the Menagerie of Monsters stand parked. The roars and screeching cries of the fabulous beasts that make up the travelling zoo echo around the square as lightning lashes the tethered wagons too.

What can possibly causing such a bizarre storm? Where one moment there was a calm and pleasant day, there are now howling winds, vicious lightning strikes and a devastating hailstorm.

People are in trouble out there, but how can you fight the elements themselves? Will you:

Stay inside the inn to shelter from the storm?
Run to help those people under siege from the lightning strikes in the middle of the square?
Make for where the storm appears to be worst, in the thick of the hailstorm?

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: ???
SKILL 9/9
STAMINA 19/19
LUCK 8/8
Equipment: Backpack, Leather Armour, Lantern and Tinderbox, Wyrmbiter (+2 Attack Strength & +1 damage against dragonkind), Dragon Tattoo, Hunting Horn
Provisions: 10/10
Gold: 19
Day of the Week:
Stormsday
Moonsday
Fireday
Earthday
Windsday
Seaday
Highday
Codewords:
Time Track:
Damage:
Extra Lives remaining: 1/1
[/spoiler]

[JourneymanN00b]

For a book like this, I vote to name our hero Ororo Munroe. I will also vote to make for where the storm appears to be the worst to see if we can stop the source.

[Queen of Swords]

Half a vote for helping the people.

[SGamerz]

For a book like this, I vote to name our hero Ororo Munroe.

But if we end up being the Stormslayer, wouldn't we be killing ourselves?

[Dogopolis]

Go to where the storm is worst.

[JourneymanN00b]

For a book like this, I vote to name our hero Ororo Munroe.

But if we end up being the Stormslayer, wouldn't we be killing ourselves?

To answer this philosophical question, no. Ororo Munroe would simply be exercising her ability to control the weather, if we follow Marvel conventions.

[SGamerz]

For a book like this, I vote to name our hero Ororo Munroe.

But if we end up being the Stormslayer, wouldn't we be killing ourselves?

To answer this philosophical question, no. Ororo Munroe would simply be exercising her ability to control the weather, if we follow Marvel conventions.

But she's also literally named "Storm".

****

You spring across the square into the thick of the fantastical storm and right into the path of the hurtling hailstones. Test your Luck. If you are Lucky, turn to 100. If you are Unlucky, turn to 87.

Dice roll = 12 (Unlucky). LUCK was always our weakest point, but this would have failed most characters. Would we have cause to regret not picking Erien Stormchild?

Your body is bombarded by hailstones as heavy and hard as rocks. One hits you on the top of your head and sends you reeling. Lose 2 STAMINA points and for the duration of your next battle, reduce your Attack Strength by 1 point.

1 point in Attack Strength can sometimes make all the difference. Will this bad luck doom us?

For a moment you are caught in a total whiteout as a blizzard of stinging ice flakes surround you. Then you break through into the eyes of the whirling ice storm. There, at the very centre of the disturbance is a creature that appears to be entirely composed of ice. It stands one-and-a-half times as tall as a man, its humanoid body formed from slabs of blue-white ice. One arm ends in a huge fist of frozen water while its other hand bristles with spiky icicles. The Ice Elemental opens a frosted maw packed with frozen fangs and howls at you with a voice like the winter wind. Drawing Wyrmbiter, you prepare to battle the Ice Elemental. If you are wearing a Sun Talisman, turn to 43.

ICE ELEMENTAL SKILL 8 STAMINA 9

(If today is Fireday, reduce the Ice Elemental's SKILL score by 1 point and its STAMINA by 2 point.) If you lose an Attack Round roll one die and then consult the table below to see what damage you suffer. (You may use LUCK to reduce any damage caused in the usual way.)

Dice Roll - Attack and Damage
1-2 - Blizzard Breath - the creature hits you with a blast of its freezing beath. Lose 2 STAMINA points.
3-5 - Ice Hammer - the Elemental clubs you with its huge right fist. Lose 3 STAMINA points.
6 - Icicle Strike - the Elemental fires icy darts from its left fist. Roll 1 dice to see how many hit you and lose that many STAMINA points.

If you manage to defeat the Ice Elemental, turn to 62.

The stats are actually much lower than the average Elementals listed in Out of the Pit, but that might be due to it being just a sub-type and not one of the major 4 elements (Earth, Air, Fire, Water). Unfortunately, we didn't start with a Sun Talisman or on a Fireday, and our recent bad luck means we're effective at the same SKILL for this battle. We have a higher STAMINA, but it has a higher damage output on average. This is close to 50/50.

Do we want to use LUCK for this battle? How do we use it if we do?

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: ???
SKILL 9/9
STAMINA 17/19
LUCK 7/8
Equipment: Backpack, Leather Armour, Lantern and Tinderbox, Wyrmbiter (+2 Attack Strength & +1 damage against dragonkind), Dragon Tattoo, Hunting Horn
Provisions: 10/10
Gold: 19
Day of the Week:
Stormsday
Moonsday
Fireday
Earthday
Windsday
Seaday
Highday
Codewords:
Time Track:
Damage:
Extra Lives remaining: 1/1
[/spoiler]

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote not to use Luck, since our hero will probably need it for future Luck tests.

[Thaluikhain]

Yeah, save luck for later, though the variable damage thing makes it nasty for a first fight.

[SGamerz]

COMBAT LOG:
Ice Elemental 16, PC 18. IE is at 7.
IE 13, PC 14. IE is at 5.
IE 20, PC 17. Die roll = 1. PC is at 15.
IE 13, PC 13. Tie.
IE 18, PC 19. IE is at 3.
IE 14, PC 17. IE is at 1.
IE 15, PC 17. IE is defeated.

We're in luck this time, and the Ice Elemental only got in one hit, and only inflicted the minimum damage.

At your killing blow, the Ice Elemental shatters into a million tiny shards of ice which are then carried away by the howling wind. A moment later the wind dies too, the lightning strikes cease and the pounding hail peters out. The storm has moved on. As you look to the skies, watching as the thunderheads drift away to the north, you fancy you glimpse a flash of gold - or is it brass? - within the departing storm clouds. There it is again. It looks just like...no, it can't be. You shake your head and look again, but the object is gone.

For a moment there you were convinced you saw a bizarre craft amidst the clouds, shaped like some huge brass fish! You can't shake the feeling that the bizarre vessel had something to do with the sudden appearance of the storm either.

The people of Vastarin start to emerge from all those places where they had sheltered from the storm, staring at you in awe. "What happened here?" one woman asks in bewilderment. Much of the village is now little more than a storm-ravaged ruin.

"Have no fear," you say addressing not only the woman but all of the gathered villagers, "I shall discover who was behind this attack and make them pay. I swear it on you my honour as the Hero of Tannatown."

This meets with whoops and cheers from the people of Vastarin. You return to The Traveller's Rest to collect your backpack and set off soon after with their good wishes ringing in your ears. But where will you go? According to eye-witnesses the storm blew in suddenly from the south and, when it left, moved on again northwards, in the direction of the capital of Chalannabrad.

Having had some dealings with the College of Mages in the past, you could travel to Chalannabrad to find out if your contacts there know anything about this erratic weather or the curious fish-shaped flying machine. Alternatively you could retrace the path of the storm to see where it blew up from, in the hope that that night provide you with some answers.

So, what's it to be? Will you travel north, towards Chalannabrad, or south, following the path of devastation left by the storm to its point of origin?

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: ???
SKILL 9/9
STAMINA 15/19
LUCK 7/8
Equipment: Backpack, Leather Armour, Lantern and Tinderbox, Wyrmbiter (+2 Attack Strength & +1 damage against dragonkind), Dragon Tattoo, Hunting Horn
Provisions: 10/10
Gold: 19
Day of the Week:
Stormsday
Moonsday
Fireday
Earthday
Windsday
Seaday
Highday
Codewords:
Time Track:
Damage:
Extra Lives remaining: 1/1
[/spoiler]

[Thaluikhain]

I vote north, to chase whatever it is, and maybe find info from magicians in that area.

[JourneymanN00b]

I also vote north to go to Chalannabrad.

[Dogopolis]

Follow the storm.

As for name, how about Lisbeth Salander, the girl who plays with fire and has a dragon tattoo? (Ororo Salander, Lisbeth Munroe?)

[Queen of Swords]

Sure, go north.

[SGamerz]

Two days of hard walking brings you within sight of the walls of the capital city of Femphrey - Chalannabrad! (Move the Day of the Wek on 2.) You have been here several times before, but the sight of the city's open, tree-lined avenues, stunning parks and monumental public buildings never ceases to amaze. But you're not here to see the sights on this occasion - you have a job to do. You waste no time in making your way to the ancient and impressive College of Mages - a building of soaring spires, sparkling crystal domes and myriad labyrinthine passageways hiding who knows what sorcerous secrets. Being known to the Mages already - having completed a number of missions at their behest in the past - you are soon granted an audience with the High Council of Sorcerers, Spellcasters and Sages...

Less than half an hour later, you are leaving the Council Chamber feeling furious and frustrated.

It was as if the Council didn't want to know about the potential threat to Femphrey, making it quite clear that they thought you were at best exaggerating and at worst making the whole thing up. But why were they so opposed to the idea of somebody manipulating the weather to further their own evil ambitions? Well let them think what they like; it's not going to stop you getting to the bottom of this threat to the kingdom.

As you stride away from the Council Chamber the door to the chamber opens and a youthful-looking mage with a neatly-trimmed goatee beard and wearing voluminous red robes embroidered with swirling golden comets steps out into the corridor after you. You recognise him at once. It is Matteus Charm-weaver, a mage who you have worked with in the past - the last time, battling the Ogre Shamen of the southern Lendleland.

"I am so sorry, my friend," he apologises. "I can't believe the Council would treat you like that, after all that you have done for the College in the past. But it's because they're embarrassed. You see, they know who's behind the attack on Vastarin, but they don't know what to do to stop him."

"Who is it, then?" you ask.

"His name is Balthezar Sturm, and he used to be a member of the College of Mages," Matteus explains. "He practised the path of the Elementalist, focusing particularly on meteorological magic, until he was thrown out for carrying irresponsible sorcerous experiments, trying to combine magic and machinery. You might say that he left under a dark cloud, swearing revenge not just on the College, but also Chalannabrad and the whole kingdom. The truth is, from what you have told them and their own magical scrying, the Council suspect that Sturm is behind the attack on Vastarin, which means he's back and has begun to exact his revenge."

"So how can he be stopped?" you press.

"Come with me," Matteus says, mysteriously.

The mage leads you to his private quarters within the College where stands a stone bowl containing a pool of water, its surface as smooth and reflective as a mirror. Matteus intones an incantation and stares, unblinkingly, into the mirror-pool. You fancy you see images swirl and change within the water but you cannot clearly make out what they are. Eventually the pool clears again and Matteus looks up.

"There is no time to waste," he states with cold finality. "Sturm has created a weather-altering flying machine, and has bound four Greater Elementals within it to provide it with its means of sorcerous power. It is this craft that you saw within the eye of the storm. If you are to have any hope of standing against Sturm and stopping his Weather Machine, you are going to have to find the means to overcome these Elementals. You will need to search in places where the four elements of earth, air, fire and water are in their greatest concentrations."

"And where's that?" you ask.

"Deep beneath the mountains of the Witchtooth Line, on the wind-swept Howling Plains, at the heart of Mount Pyre, the volcano that stands within the mountainous borders of Mauristatia, and deep beneath the Eelsea. I can offer you a little magical aid to help you on your quest, but there is precious little time to waste. The whole of Femphrey is in danger and you must be on your way as soon as possible."

You can ask Matteus for help with one of the four elements, but which will it be? Will you choose:

Earth?
Air?
Fire?
Water?

Or alternatively, will you tell Matteus that, as there's no time to waste, you're ready to set off straightaway?

At this point, it's a little reminiscent of Return to Firetop Mountain, where the villain has gained control of the Greater Elementals and the PC must find the appropriate counters to each of them. Except in this case, each element is actually located in the appropriate region rather than randomly scattered around within the villain's lair for convoluted reasons.

Anyway, we've officially "hit" Stormsday for the first time, and unlocked a second extra chance.

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: ???
SKILL 9/9
STAMINA 15/19
LUCK 7/8
Equipment: Backpack, Leather Armour, Lantern and Tinderbox, Wyrmbiter (+2 Attack Strength & +1 damage against dragonkind), Dragon Tattoo, Hunting Horn
Provisions: 10/10
Gold: 19
Day of the Week:
Stormsday
Moonsday
Fireday
Earthday
Windsday
Seaday
Highday
Codewords:
Time Track:
Damage:
Extra Lives remaining: 2/2
[/spoiler]

[Dogopolis]

Help with Earth please, (no particular reason, except I think Fire is too obvious)

[Queen of Swords]

I’d prefer help with Eelsea so half a vote for this.

[JourneymanN00b]

I second the Earth choice, as the Witchtooth Line seems ominous.

[SGamerz]

Matteus takes an earthenware bottle from a shelf and hands it to you saying, "This is a Potion of Giant Strength. Earth Elementals are the most belligerent and strongest of all Elemental-kind. If you ever come up against one, you'll be glad you had this about you, but use it only in the most extreme circumstances."

If you wish, you may drink the Potion of Giant Strength before any battle. It will raise your SKILL score by 2 for that one battle and the damage you cause by 1 point. Add the Potion of Giant Strength to your Adventure Sheet and turn to 193.

That's going to be handy no matter what!

t's time you were on your way," Matteus Charm-weaver informs you. "I will petition the Council to work what magicks they can to lessen the impact of Sturm's weather attacks but it will not be enough to stop him and his craft - that will be up to you! May the gods smile upon your endeavours."

And with that you depart the College of Mages. But where will you travel to first in your quest to find the means to defeat Balthazar Sturm's bound Elementals?

The Eelsea?
The Witchtooth Line?
Mount Pyre?
The Howling Plains?

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: ???
SKILL 9/9
STAMINA 15/19
LUCK 7/8
Equipment: Backpack, Leather Armour, Lantern and Tinderbox, Wyrmbiter (+2 Attack Strength & +1 damage against dragonkind), Dragon Tattoo, Hunting Horn, Potion of Giant Strength (+2 SKILL and 1 damage when drink before battle)
Provisions: 10/10
Gold: 19
Day of the Week:
Stormsday
Moonsday
Fireday
Earthday
Windsday
Seaday
Highday
Codewords:
Time Track:
Damage:
Extra Lives remaining: 2/2
[/spoiler]

[JourneymanN00b]

I say we go to the Witchtooth Line, since we received help for that.

[Thaluikhain]

If we are doing them all, doesn't seem to matter much the order (excepting we might pick up items or damage that might affect how well we do the next one), so may as well.