[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy 69 – Crystal of Storms

[deaddmwalking]

Kitchens.

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes counted; going to the kitchens won over trying the Great Hall door by a 2-1 vote.

9
You head towards the kitchen. You listen at the big iron-studded door, and hear a dull moaning coming from inside. Another creature, perhaps? A terrible monster? The walking dead? You shove open the door forcefully, reading yourself to meet whatever horrors await you on the other side. Turn to 188.

188
You walk in on your commanding Officer throwing up into his own helmet. It’s quite the sight. You’ve entered the Citadel kitchens by a side door and can see Captain Halleck pinned under some debris, near a cupboard, not far from the main kitchen entrance. He is surrounded by food remains. He looks at you with bleary eyes.
     “You! Wait… I don’t remember you being at the Citadel. I sent you back for my hovers. How did you get here?” You explain everything that has happened since you parted company, as succinctly as you can.
     “By Zephyrus’s hurricane heart, you’ve had quite an adventure! You’ve done the Sky Watch proud. Er, you couldn’t help me with this, could you? It was quite painful to start with, but now I can’t really feel my legs any more.” He points at the debris pinning him down.
     “After Nimbus crashed, I found myself in here. I thought I’d get a bite to eat before searching for survivors, but part of the roof fell in on me.”
     He points to the ceiling above. There’s a big hole in it.
     You need to move the debris off Halleck.
     Test Your Stamina. If you are Successful, turn to 113. If you are Unsuccessful, turn to 386.

Rolling the dice yielded a 9, which means that Icarus Morningstar’s first Stamina test was Successful.

113
You easily manage to summon the strength to pull the last of the debris from Captain Halleck’s legs. They are so badly damaged he can hardly walk, so you find him a more comfortable place to rest. Turn to 148.

148
After you settle Halleck, you search the kitchen for supplies and find a large cleaver and some pumpkin pie. (Add these to your Adventure Sheet; the pie will restore up to 3 STAMINA points when eaten.)
     You look up at the hole in the ceiling. You can see various table and pieces of equipment through it. The room appears to be a workshop. You ask Halleck what was kept in the room above.
     “That was Engineer Krazic’s private workshop. Most of Pangaria’s prototype technomancy was made there.”
     If you want to climb up to the room above, turn to 212. If you want to go back to the bathysphere, turn to 152. If you want to leave via the main door, turn to 378.

Please make your votes before 7:00 PM PDT or a choice receives 3 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

Adventure Sheet
Icarus Morningstar
SKILL: 11 INITIAL SKILL: 12
Bathysphere SKILL: 11
STAMINA: 12 INITIAL STAMINA: 20
Bathysphere STAMINA: 2
LUCK: 10 INITIAL LUCK: 12
ITEMS:
Clothes
Backpack
Lantern
Hovers
Calming Potion
Coin Bag
Methedus’s Shard
Aeronaut’s Helmet (+1 SKILL, can go above Initial level, -1 damage taken on a roll of 5 or 6)
Hand Axe
Incus Ledger Page
Fire Oil (3 STAMINA damage to opponent if used at start of battle)
Corrosive Grapes
Strange Brass Rod
Potion of Power (+2 Attack Strength for one combat, +3 STAMINA)
Waterproof Firesticks
Conch
2 Potions of Might (+2 Attack Strength for one combat)
Stinger (+1 Damage dealt for one combat)
Greater Healing Potion (+5 STAMINA)
Large Cleaver
GOLD: 13
PROVISONS:
Pumpkin Pie (+3 STAMINA)
WEAPONS:
Short Sword
Ornate Dagger (+1 Attack Strength)
War-Hammer (-1 Attack Strength, +1 Damage dealt)
Crab Pincer (-1 Attack Strength, +1 Damage dealt)
CODEWORDS:
Hazi
Bubble
Nimbi
HOME ISLAND: Cumulus
RESURRECTION USED: No

[Thaluikhain]

Penetrate the hole!

[deaddmwalking]

Climb into the room above and play with mysterious technologies we can't even begin to understand!

[morgan13]

Climbing in the room above!

[Beroli]

Eat the pie and then climb up to the room above.

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes registered; climbing up to the room above, and also eating the pumpkin pie as requested.

212
You climb as high as you can in the kitchen and attempt a jump to the hole in the ceiling.
     Test Your Skill. If you are Successful, turn to 360. If you are Unsuccessful, turn to 159.

Rolling the dice yielded a 9, which means that Icarus Morningstar is Successful, to nobody’s surprise.

360
You successfully make the jump and easily pull yourself up into the room above. Turn to 313.

313
You look around the room. It’s not just one room but several knocked into one. There are various workbenches and metalworking tools and pieces of equipment all over the place. It looks like the floor of the rooms above have been removed to create an extra high ceiling. Nearby are metal frames and ladders, suggesting that something very big was being worked on in here. There is also what looks like a large central platform, and from the lever nearby it looks like it could have been raised and lowered.
     You start scavenging. You find a black candle and a Potion of Proficiency. (Add these to your Adventure Sheet. When you drink the potion, you may ignore any penalties you suffer from using your weapon of choice and add 2 points to your Attack Strength for the duration of one battle only.)
     You wonder what to do next.
     To climb back down to Halleck in the room below, turn to 43. To test the lever, turn to 143.

Please make your votes before 9:00 AM PDT or a choice receives 3 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

Adventure Sheet
Icarus Morningstar
SKILL: 11 INITIAL SKILL: 12
Bathysphere SKILL: 11
STAMINA: 15 INITIAL STAMINA: 20
Bathysphere STAMINA: 2
LUCK: 10 INITIAL LUCK: 12
ITEMS:
Clothes
Backpack
Lantern
Hovers
Calming Potion
Coin Bag
Methedus’s Shard
Aeronaut’s Helmet (+1 SKILL, can go above Initial level, -1 damage taken on a roll of 5 or 6)
Hand Axe
Incus Ledger Page
Fire Oil (3 STAMINA damage to opponent if used at start of battle)
Corrosive Grapes
Strange Brass Rod
Potion of Power (+2 Attack Strength for one combat, +3 STAMINA)
Waterproof Firesticks
Conch
2 Potions of Might (+2 Attack Strength for one combat)
Stinger (+1 Damage dealt for one combat)
Greater Healing Potion (+5 STAMINA)
Large Cleaver
Black Candle
Potion of Proficiency (Ignore weapon penalties and +2 Attack Strength for one combat)
GOLD: 13
PROVISONS:
None
WEAPONS:
Short Sword
Ornate Dagger (+1 Attack Strength)
War-Hammer (-1 Attack Strength, +1 Damage dealt)
Crab Pincer (-1 Attack Strength, +1 Damage dealt)
CODEWORDS:
Hazi
Bubble
Nimbi
HOME ISLAND: Cumulus
RESURRECTION USED: No

[Thaluikhain]

Test random levers.

[morgan13]

Testing the random levers

[deaddmwalking]

I'd prefer to turn the black candle quest item in immediately, but I think I'm outvoted.

Random lever pushing always makes me think of Mystery Men.

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes tallied; testing the lever won over climb back down to Halleck in the room below by a 2-1 vote.

143
You try the lever. Nothing happens. It’s been disengaged. You wonder what’s happened to whatever was in this room. Turn to 43.

43
You return to Halleck in the room below. You don’t want to alarm him, so you make sure he’s comfortable and tell him you’re going to continue searching the Citadel.
     “Good work, Officer!” Halleck says, saluting you.
     If you have the codeword Nimbi on your Adventure Sheet, turn to 92. If not, turn to 347.



Important Note: Icarus Morningstar has the codeword Nimbi on his Adventure Sheet, which would take him back to the Nimbiferous Chamber. However, section 92’s choices put him in an endless loop because he has already ventured down the half-flooded hallway. Due to the lack of playtesting that went into this book (which I suspect the pandemic being one of the main causes for this), our hero can get stuck in several loops if certain things aren’t done in the right way. After taking a detailed look at the books sections and figuring out the author’s probable intent to place our hero under his current situation, I will send our hero back to section 194 instead.

In section 194, Icarus Morningstar has already gone to the kitchens, leaving with the options to either try the Great Hall door, go back to the half-flooded area near the library, go to the bathysphere, or return to Vizigg. Please make your votes before 7:00 PM PDT or a choice receives 3 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

[Beroli]

Back to Vizigg with the candle.

[deaddmwalking]

That was my intention, yes. Bring Vizigg the Candle.

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes acknowledged; returning to Vizigg.

52
You return to Vizigg.
     “Ah, it’s you,” he wheezes. “What do you have for me?”
     If you have the copper ring for him, turn to 228. If you have the silver goblet for him, turn to 115. If you have the black candle for him, turn to 6. If you want to leave the Under-Library to keep looking for any missing items, turn to 26.

Icarus Morningstar has the black candle for him.

6
You give Vizigg the black candle. “Hmm, it’s more of a dark grey colour, but it’ll do,’ he says, taking it from you.
     If you have a copper ring, turn to 228. If you have a silver goblet, turn to 115. If you want to leave the Under-Library and go in search of these items, turn to 26. If you have given Vizigg all the requested items, turn to 206.

Icarus Morningstar has given Vizigg all the requested items.

206
You have found everything that Vizigg asked for (regain 1 LUCK point), but the old Goblin is getting weaker by the minute. He shuffles round the room, placing the items around the edge of the ritual circle. Nothing happens. He scratches his head. “There’s something missing … now what is it? Damn, it’s a storm crystal. Needs to be intact, though. And of course, I destroyed all the ones in the vicinity. Stupid, stupid, stupid!”
     To give Vizigg your hovers, turn to 63. If you would rather leave the library and go exploring, turn to 26.

Please make your votes before 9:00 AM PDT or a choice receives 3 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

Adventure Sheet
Icarus Morningstar
SKILL: 11 INITIAL SKILL: 12
Bathysphere SKILL: 11
STAMINA: 15 INITIAL STAMINA: 20
Bathysphere STAMINA: 2
LUCK: 11 INITIAL LUCK: 12
ITEMS:
Clothes
Backpack
Lantern
Hovers
Calming Potion
Coin Bag
Methedus’s Shard
Aeronaut’s Helmet (+1 SKILL, can go above Initial level, -1 damage taken on a roll of 5 or 6)
Hand Axe
Incus Ledger Page
Fire Oil (3 STAMINA damage to opponent if used at start of battle)
Corrosive Grapes
Strange Brass Rod
Potion of Power (+2 Attack Strength for one combat, +3 STAMINA)
Waterproof Firesticks
Conch
2 Potions of Might (+2 Attack Strength for one combat)
Stinger (+1 Damage dealt for one combat)
Greater Healing Potion (+5 STAMINA)
Large Cleaver
Potion of Proficiency (Ignore weapon penalties and +2 Attack Strength for one combat)
GOLD: 13
PROVISONS:
None
WEAPONS:
Short Sword
Ornate Dagger (+1 Attack Strength)
War-Hammer (-1 Attack Strength, +1 Damage dealt)
Crab Pincer (-1 Attack Strength, +1 Damage dealt)
CODEWORDS:
Hazi
Bubble
Nimbi
HOME ISLAND: Cumulus
RESURRECTION USED: No

[deaddmwalking]

I think giving him the hovers is the only meaningful way to move forward.

[Thaluikhain]

Second that.

[Beroli]

Give him the hovers.

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes acknowledged; giving Vizigg Icarus Morningstar’s hovers.

63
They’ve served you well, but now it’s time to put your hovers to greater use. You pass them to Vizigg and ask if the storm crystal in them will suffice.
     The Technomancer takes the crystal out of the hovers. “Yes! Yes! I think this will work!”
     You watch him reassemble the items, adjusting their positions and angles carefully.
     “Right!” he says. “Let’s get this island moving! Better hold on to something. I’m not entirely sure what’s going to happen!”
     He steps into the middle of the circle, holds up his leathery Goblin hands and begins to chant. The objects rise into the air and begin to spin around Vizigg. Eventually the broken storm crystals rise too, and the circle of spinning objects opens out, enveloping them.
     “It’s working!” Vizigg shouts, before returning to his chanting.
     You watch with amazement as the broken storm crystals become whole again, and in each one a speck of green light begins to grow until there is a miniature tempest enclosed within.
     Now the storm crystals are restored, the Nimbus begins to shake. It’s starting to move upwards. Some rubble dislodges and falls towards Vizigg.
     Test Your Skill. If you are Successful, turn to 28. If you are Unsuccessful, turn to 286.

Rolling the dice yielded a 9, which means that Icarus Morningstar successfully passed the Skill test, to nobody’s surprise.

28
You run forward and sweep up the elderly Goblin, managing to save both of you from the falling debris. Turn to 216.

216
Vizigg smiles at you weakly. “That was a kind act, Officer.”
     You place him down gently, but he drops to the floor. You try to hold him up, but his body seems to have grown heavier with the weight of inevitability.
     “We did it,” he says weakly. “I’m fading fast, my friend. The rest is up to you now. When I die, the ward around the Great Hall will be broken. You must deal with whatever is left in there. Its existence is too dangerous for it to be allowed to continue; for Pangaria and the world outside. Do you understand me?”
     You nod and say you’ll do whatever it takes to keep Pangaria safe.
     He grasps your collar. “You need to … know … the … Stormborn … Boreas. He was there … he’s dangerous … mad … but not as dangerous as …”
     His voice falters and his eyes go glassy. You feel the old Goblin’s small body go limp in your arms. He’s gone on to the next world.
     There’s a loud thrumming noise, which you realize must be the sound of the ward around the Great Hall breaking. There’s nothing for it but to venture forth and face whatever’s in there.
     You approach the Great Hall door, half expecting it to be flung open by some terrible monster. Instead everything is eerily quiet.
     The Nimbus shakes as it slowly travels upwards towards the surface of the ocean.
     Taking a torch from the wall nearby, you enter the Great Hall. Turn to 224.



224
The first thing you notice in the Great Hall is that there is rubble everywhere. Half the ceiling has collapsed and so has part of the walls. There’s not a piece of furniture intact. You see the occasional body of a Sky Watch Officer and curse Krazic and his vile creation, whatever its true nature may be.
     You hear a groan come from one of the bodies and run over to help. It’s a young woman; battered and bruised, but still alive. You help her to sit up.
     “I have to get home,” she mutters. “My mother will be worried. The dragon fruit will need harvesting soon.” She seems very disorientated.
     You find a strip of cloth and dip it in a nearby puddle of water, so that you can clean the blood and dirt from the woman’s face. The cold water seems to bring her to her senses.
     “Is it over?” she asks, looking at you with fear in her eyes. “Has it gone?”
     You reassure the woman, who tells you her name is Malia, and tell her that now Nimbus is rising you will soon be safely back in Pangaria.
     The room shakes with the turbulence of the ascent, which dislodges some of the piles of rubble. The Sky Watch Officer gasps as a large metal face is exposed, along with part of a chest and further down part of a leg and a huge metal foot. It’s some kind of metal giant, that is thankfully inert.
     You move closer. So, this is what Krazic was working on – a hulking war golem to take to Khul and sell to whichever warlord would pay the highest price. It both saddens and angers you that Pangarian technomancy could be used for such warmongering ends.
     You can see from a cavity in the chest where the storm crystal that powered it was once located, but thankfully it now lies broken. You can’t imagine the kind of destruction this monstrosity would wreak if it were fully powered up.
     There’s a creak and high up you see a small hatch open in the face of the giant. The hatch is just big enough for an angry Goblin face to poke out of. Turn to 370.

370

“He’s coming! He’s coming! Oh, you’re in trouble now!”

You realize now that the great metal face isn’t human. It’s a giant metal Goblin. It seems that although they are adept at technomancy, they’re not particularly imaginative.
     The small Goblin face screeches down from the large metal one: “Get me out of here! Don’t you know who I am?”
     It’s Krazic, the Chief Engineer. Without the power of the storm crystal, he’s trapped inside the Golem. In fact, you realize when you look at the joints of the metal beast that you can see eyes blinking back. There are other Goblins inside the Golem, all now prisoners.
     You shout back up that you know what he did, and he will be brought to justice when Nimbus reaches Pangaria. This enrages Krazic. “No! We Goblins have been constrained too long by Pangaria’s so-called justice, by her rules. Our skills should not be hidden away. They should be shown to the world!”
     Given there’s nothing Krazic can do to hurt you, his furious outbursts from the prison of his own creation are almost comical.
     That feeling quickly passes when you feel a wind spring up; odd, considering where you are and the fact that the island is still not out of the water yet. The wind becomes more intense. Krazic yells excitedly. “He’s coming! He’s coming! Oh, you’re in trouble now!”
     You pull back behind a pile of rubble with Malia as an ethereal figure appears in the middle of the storm. It’s Boreas the Stormborn and he’s extremely angry.
     He conjures a whirlwind, which draws lumps of rubble towards him, and then flings the deadly mess in your direction.
     Test your Skill. If you are Successful, turn to 165. If you are Unsuccessful, turn to 128.

Rolling the dice yielded an 8, which means that Icarus Morningstar successfully passed the Skill test, to nobody’s surprise.

165
You dive for cover and just make it in time. The rubble crashes down beside you, leaving you only lightly dusted. Turn to 208.



208
Boreas floats in mid-air whilst the storm whirls around him.
     “Thank you for freeing our creation and for restoring the Nimbus, Officer,” says Boreas smugly. “When you turned up, poking around, I though you were merely a nuisance I would have to dispatch, or that you would simply die alongside your pathetic Sky Watch friends. But you have proved to be most useful.
     “Once we reach Pangaria, Krazic and I will subdue the rest of the islands and continue with our plans. There is great wealth and power to be had out there in the world and it’s time to take full advantage of it!”
     You tell him that it’s over; that the golem is merely a prison for traitorous Goblins now.
     “We’ll see about that,” he sneers.
     He begins chanting and a pool of water appears on the floor and from it clambers…
     Roll one die. If you roll a 1 or 2, turn to 78. If you roll a 3 or 4, turn to 175. If you roll a 5 or 6, turn to 391.

Rolling the die yields a 4.

175
There’s a ululating cry and two scaly-skinned Kokomokoa emerge from the pool, nets and bamboo spears at the ready. From the confused look on Boreas’s face, he was clearly hoping for something a bit more threatening. However, you must fight the amphibious humanoids at the same time.

First KOKOMOKOA     SKILL 5     STAMINA 5
Second KOKOMOKOA     SKILL 5     STAMINA 5

The first time a Kokomokoa hits you successfully, the creature will snare you with its net; do not deduct any STAMINA points, but you must reduce your Attack Strength by 2 points for the duration of the battle.
     If you win, turn to 392.

The fights:
(First and Second Kokomokoa)
Round 1: First Kokomokoa Attack Strength: 9, Player Attack Strength: 22, Second Kokomokoa Attack Strength: 9, Player Attack Strength: 15
First Kokomokoa Stamina: 2, Player Stamina: 15
Round 2: First Kokomokoa Attack Strength: 12, Player Attack Strength: 17, Second Kokomokoa Attack Strength: 14, Player Attack Strength: 16
First Kokomokoa Stamina: -1, Player Stamina: 15

(Second Kokomokoa)
Round 1: Second Kokomokoa Attack Strength: 12, Player Attack Strength: 21
Second Kokomokoa Stamina: 2, Player Stamina: 15
Round 2: Second Kokomokoa Attack Strength: 8, Player Attack Strength: 23
Second Kokomokoa Stamina: -1, Player Stamina: 15

As expected, Icarus Morningstar flawlessly kills the two Kokomokoa.

392

You feel your heart sink and your blood run cold

As you lay the killing blow, Boreas looks at you with eyes of wrath.
     “Clearly there is only one last thing I need to do,” he says in a tone that chills you.
     And with that the Stormborn dives into the chest of the Golem, fusing himself with the remains of the fractured crystal. His energy flows through the creation as he turns himself into a living storm crystal.
     You feel your heart sink and your blood run cold as the Goblin War Golem lumbers into life, pulling itself from the rubble. You know that you can’t fight it on your own. You’re going to have to call in a favour.
     Whilst the Golem is righting itself, you quickly get Malia to safety and tell her to head for the kitchens.
     You hate to wake up a sleeping Sea Giant a second time, but it’s urgent. You press the conch shell to your lips and blow.
     A low mournful sound echoes around the Citadel. In the distance you hear thumping, and crashing, and then there is a knocking sound at the Great Hall door. It takes you a moment to realize that it’s a kicking sound. You run to open the door, but Tideus, not one to be tied down by convention, decides to crash through the wall next to it instead.
     He eyes up the Golem. “Ho! Ho! Ho! A nice big fight for Tideus? Hooman, you is spoiling Tideus! Just wish Tideus was at full strength.”

TIDEUS     SKILL 9     STAMINA 10

Make a note of the stats that Tideus currently has on your Adventure Sheet. It seems he’s still not completely recovered from the last battle with you. Then you remember that many potions are unaffected by the size of the creature consuming them and realize you might have a few things that could give Tideus a boost for the fight ahead.
     If you want to give Tideus a Healing Potion or a Greater Healing Potion, then turn to 99. If you want to give Tideus a Potion of Might, turn to 114. If you want to give Tideus a Potion of Power, turn to 324.
     If you have none of these potions, or do not want to give any of them to the Sea Giant, turn to 129.



Icarus Morningstar has a Greater Healing Potion, a Potion of Might, and a Potion of Power to give to the Giant. Please make your votes on which one of these potions to give him, if any, before 7:00 PM PDT or a choice receives 3 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

Adventure Sheet
Icarus Morningstar
SKILL: 11 INITIAL SKILL: 12
Bathysphere SKILL: 11
STAMINA: 15 INITIAL STAMINA: 20
Bathysphere STAMINA: 2
LUCK: 11 INITIAL LUCK: 12
TIDEUS SKILL: 9
TIDEUS STAMINA: 10
ITEMS:
Clothes
Backpack
Lantern
Calming Potion
Coin Bag
Methedus’s Shard
Aeronaut’s Helmet (+1 SKILL, can go above Initial level, -1 damage taken on a roll of 5 or 6)
Hand Axe
Incus Ledger Page
Fire Oil (3 STAMINA damage to opponent if used at start of battle)
Corrosive Grapes
Strange Brass Rod
Potion of Power (+2 Attack Strength for one combat, +3 STAMINA)
Waterproof Firesticks
Conch
2 Potions of Might (+2 Attack Strength for one combat)
Stinger (+1 Damage dealt for one combat)
Greater Healing Potion (+5 STAMINA)
Large Cleaver
Potion of Proficiency (Ignore weapon penalties and +2 Attack Strength for one combat)
GOLD: 13
PROVISONS:
None
WEAPONS:
Short Sword
Ornate Dagger (+1 Attack Strength)
War-Hammer (-1 Attack Strength, +1 Damage dealt)
Crab Pincer (-1 Attack Strength, +1 Damage dealt)
CODEWORDS:
Hazi
Bubble
Nimbi
HOME ISLAND: Cumulus
RESURRECTION USED: No

[deaddmwalking]

I think we should use the Potion of Power for Tideus (+2 Attack +3 Stamina). This is probably the last battle, so we should use the Greater Healing Potion (+5 Stamina) for ourselves, as well as one of the Potions of Power (+2 Attack). Finally, if we can, we should use Fire Oil (3 stamina damage) on our opponent if that's possible.

[Beroli]

I'll second all of those.

[Thaluikhain]

Second that, yeah.

[JourneymanN00b]

Giving Tideus a Potion of Power and having Icarus Morningstar quaff the Greater Healing Potion and a Potion of Might all received 3 votes, so our hero will proceed to do this.

324
You toss Tideus the Potion of Power. He catches it in his mouth and swallows it down. He looks down at his enormous blue hands and balls his fists excitedly.
     (Increase both Tideus’s SKILL score by 1 point and his STAMINA score by 3 points, and make a note of these adjustments on your Adventure Sheet.)
     “Tideus feel mor powerful! Wot else yous gots?”
     If you want to give Tideus a Healing Potion or a Greater Healing Potion (and you haven’t already), turn to 99. If you want to give Tideus a Potion of Might (and haven’t already), turn to 114. If you’ve given him everything you can, turn to 129.

Icarus Morningstar does not have a Healing Potion or a Greater Healing Potion to give Tideus, but he has a Potion of Might that he has not already given Tideus, which I assume Icarus Morningstar will now give him.

114
You throw Tideus the Potion of Might. He gulps it down.
     (Increase both Tideus’s SKILL score and his STAMINA score by 2 points, and make a note of these alterations on your Adventure Sheet.)
     “Ah yes! Tideus is indeed mighty! Yous gots more?”
     If you want to give Tideus a Healing Potion or a Greater Healing Potion (and you haven’t already), then turn to 99. If you want to give Tideus a Potion of Power (and you haven’t already), then turn to 324. If you’ve given him everything you can, turn to 129.

Icarus Morningstar has now given him everything he can.

129

The War Golem strides forward

You’ve prepared Tideus for the battle ahead as well as you can.
     “Now dis is a proper fight, hooman!”
     And it will be, because although the Goblin War Golem is taller than Tideus, the Sea Giant is broader and built like a green granite cliff.
     “Yous not missing out on dis, hooman!” Tideus bellows, picking you up and placing you on his shoulder, like some kind of human parrot. “Yous can get some hits in too!”
     “Ha!” shrieks Krazic. “You think that mound of blubber is going to stop me?”
     The War Golem strides forward. It is missing one hand but has replaced it with a large piece of masonry, to use as a makeshift club. In the other hand it wields a huge axe.
     The fight is on!

GOBLIN WAR GOLEM     SKILL 11     STAMINA 30

Tideus will have whatever SKILL and STAMINA you have managed to grant him with your potions, or not, as the case may be. Because you are assisting him in this battle, you may add 2 points when calculating the Sea Giant’s Attack Strength, and you may increase any damage he causes by 1 point. However, if Tideus is killed in his battle against the War Golem, you will die too!
     If you and Tideus are the first to win two of the first three Attack Rounds, turn to 222. If the Goblin War Golem is the first to win two of the first three Attack Rounds, turn to 174.



Because of the way that Goblin War Golem fight is set up, I will not be applying the bonuses or penalties from any weapons, items, or the Potion of Might that would be granted to Icarus Morningstar. I will, however have the Fire Oil deal 3 Stamina damage as normal, which puts the Goblin War Golem’s starting Stamina at 27.

The fight:
Round 1: Goblin War Golem Attack Strength: 22, Tideus Attack Strength: 20
Goblin War Golem Stamina: 27, Tideus Stamina: 13
Round 2: Goblin War Golem Attack Strength: 18, Tideus Attack Strength: 26
Goblin War Golem Stamina: 24, Tideus Stamina: 13
Round 3: Goblin War Golem Attack Strength: 18, Tideus Attack Strength: 18
Goblin War Golem Stamina: 24, Tideus Stamina: 13

Because the third round ended in a tie while nobody won two Attack Rounds yet, another attack round will therefore take place to determine which section to turn to next.

Round 4: Goblin War Golem Attack Strength: 15, Tideus Attack Strength: 19
Goblin War Golem Stamina: 21, Tideus Stamina: 13

Icarus Morningstar and Tideus are now the first to win two Attack Rounds.

222
Krazic is enraged by your success. The Goblin War Golem smashes its stone club into the wall, bringing wood and masonry down on top of you.
     Test Your Skill. If you are Successful, turn to 155. If you are Unsuccessful, turn to 201.



Rolling the dice yielded a 4, which means that Icarus Morningstar successfully passed the Skill test, to no one’s surprise.

155
You yell in Tideus’s ear to “Move!” and he manages to leap out of the way of the falling rubble, meaning you’re both unharmed. Tideus even manages to hurl some of the rubble back towards the Goblin War Golem (causing it to lose 3 STAMINA points and 1 SKILL point).
     The Golem launches itself towards the Sea Giant.
     Continue the battle between the two colossi. If you and Tideus win two of the next three Attack Rounds, turn to 388. If the Goblin War Golem wins two of the next three Attack Rounds, turn to 167.



The fight, continued:
Round 5: Goblin War Golem Attack Strength: 16, Tideus Attack Strength: 20
Goblin War Golem Stamina: 15, Tideus Stamina: 13
Round 6: Goblin War Golem Attack Strength: 22, Tideus Attack Strength: 20
Goblin War Golem Stamina: 15, Tideus Stamina: 11
Round 7: Goblin War Golem Attack Strength: 16, Tideus Attack Strength: 26
Goblin War Golem Stamina: 12, Tideus Stamina: 11

Icarus Morningstar and Tideus again wins two of the next three Attack Rounds.

388
The battle is almost yours; you can feel it. You can see that the Goblins controlling the Golem’s legs are weakening. You leap off Tideus’s shoulder and run circles around the construct’s legs, slashing at them with your weapon.
     Test Your Stamina. If you are Successful, turn to 300. If you are Unsuccessful, turn to 192.

Rolling the dice yielded a 12, meaning that Icarus Morningstar has successfully passed the Stamina test, to nobody’s surprise.

300
You disorientate and weaken the Goblins controlling the legs. The War Golem topples to the ground.
     (Deduct half the War Golem’s remaining STAMINA points, rounding halves up.) Turn to 100.

100
You, Tideus and the Goblin War Golem are flagging. The fight is almost over for one of you. Continue the battle until either the Sea Giant or the War Golem is beaten.
     If you and Tideus win the battle, turn to 69. If the War Golem wins the battle, turn to 334.

The fight, continued:
Round 8: Goblin War Golem Attack Strength: 15, Tideus Attack Strength: 16
Goblin War Golem Stamina: 3, Tideus Stamina: 11
Round 9: Goblin War Golem Attack Strength: 17, Tideus Attack Strength: 20
Goblin War Golem Stamina: 0, Tideus Stamina: 11

As expected, Icarus Morningstar and Tideus win the battle.

69
With an almighty crash, the Goblin War Golem finally topples. Metal body parts clang to the ground, the sound of the construct’s destruction echoing around the Great Hall. Boreas emerges from the chest cavity, severely weakened and defeated.
     “What? Come back, you bag of wind!” Krazic screams from his seat inside the Golem’s head, a prisoner once again. “What are you doing? Get back in here at once!”
     But Boreas isn’t listening anymore; he’s more concerned with the winds that are springing up around him. His weakened state has destroyed the Stormborn ward surrounding Nimbus and now his elemental brethren are coming for him.
     As the winds pick up, a dozen Stormborn appear around Boreas. He looks terrified as they descend on him. The storm grows to a crescendo and then abruptly dies back, leaving the Great Hall in silence, save for the odd Goblin cuss. The Stormborn have gone.
     Halleck hobbles into the Great Hall, supported by Malia.
     “Well done, Officer!” he says proudly. “You’re a credit to the Sky Watch! Don’t worry, we’ll bring Krazic and his traitorous cronies to justice back in Pangaria.”
     You look out of the window to see that Nimbus is breaking the ocean’s surface and taking to the skies once more. The water starts to drain from the Citadel, pouring back into the sea in beautiful salty waterfalls. And as it does so, the remaining survivors of the crash climb, hobble and crawl out of their hiding places, amazed at how you have saved them from a terrible fate. Turn to 400.

400
The sun is starting to rise as Nimbus takes its rightful place in the centre of the Pangarian archipelago. You can hear the faint sound of cheering from the nearest islands and the Goblin flyers come out to greet you. Peace has been restored.
     The rest of the world may never know how close it came to disaster and what you did to save it. But there are plenty on Pangaria who will know. Songs will be sung about you and poems written. Your deeds will not be forgotten.
     But with Commander Matias Talliman still on the loose somewhere in Khul, his head full of Pangaria’s technomancy secrets, Captain Halleck tasks you with journeying there to bring the rogue to justice.
     This adventure might be over, but there will be many more to come…

Bonus victory entry:
Just as Icarus Morningstar sets off to Khul to begin his hunt for Matias Talliman, Captain Halleck stops him for a moment with a package in his hand.

“This is for you,” Captain Halleck says as he presents the package to Icarus Morningstar. “Inside is your very own hovers. Some Officers might feel that you are still too junior to have your own set, but I believe that you have more than proven yourself worthy for the responsibility, as using my old ones to save yourself are a good reason why the Nimbus crisis was averted in the first place.”

“Th-Thank you… Captain,” Icarus Morningstar says with humility. He then takes the package with a gravity and replies. “I will bring Talliman to Pangaria, and I will relish when the full might of justice is brought down on his head.” Icarus Morningstar then departs Pangaria to Khul, looking forward to the newness and excitement that awaits him there in his search for Pangaria’s most wanted criminal.

Whew! That certainly was one of the longer gamebooks, but we managed to successfully complete it. The achievement is even greater from the fact that a resurrection did not need to be used for this adventure, so a good dose of applause is in order here! Thank you to everyone who participated in this Let’s Play.

As of now, it is somewhat difficult for me to access the In the Trenches forum due to getting error messages whenever I visit it. Right now, I seem to have better luck when Google Chrome is used, as I actually managed to successfully access the main index page for it, while the forum is somehow still not cooperative at all for Microsoft Edge. In any case, I will be taking a short break, and if things will clear up in the next several days, I will see if I can get a new thread up for the next book, which I just acquired today. If I get the chance to host it, I hope that everyone will be able to participate in it, as I believe that it has a much higher quality in design than this gamebook had.

Adventure Sheet
Icarus Morningstar
SKILL: 11 INITIAL SKILL: 12
Bathysphere SKILL: 11
STAMINA: 20 INITIAL STAMINA: 20
Bathysphere STAMINA: 2
LUCK: 11 INITIAL LUCK: 12
TIDEUS SKILL: 12
TIDEUS STAMINA: 11
ITEMS:
Clothes
Backpack
Lantern
Calming Potion
Coin Bag
Methedus’s Shard
Aeronaut’s Helmet (+1 SKILL, can go above Initial level, -1 damage taken on a roll of 5 or 6)
Hand Axe
Incus Ledger Page
Corrosive Grapes
Strange Brass Rod
Waterproof Firesticks
Conch
Stinger (+1 Damage dealt for one combat)
Large Cleaver
Potion of Proficiency (Ignore weapon penalties and +2 Attack Strength for one combat)
GOLD: 13
PROVISONS:
None
WEAPONS:
Short Sword
Ornate Dagger (+1 Attack Strength)
War-Hammer (-1 Attack Strength, +1 Damage dealt)
Crab Pincer (-1 Attack Strength, +1 Damage dealt)
CODEWORDS:
Hazi
Bubble
Nimbi
HOME ISLAND: Cumulus
RESURRECTION USED: No

[deaddmwalking]

Are you able to answer questions about the book for sections we didn't explore? I'm most curious - if we hadn't paid the giant in food it would have been a more difficult fight but he would have agreed to a favor if defeated him (ie whether we bribed him or not had no bearing on his willingness to help or his stats when he arrived?)

[JourneymanN00b]

If Tideus was not fed, we would have to face him at 9 Skill and 16 Stamina, but he would not give up until he reached 6 Stamina points or fewer, which meant that feeding him resulted in Icarus Morningstar needing to deal 2 less Stamina points of damage overall to win the fight. Tideus still would have agreed to help him if he was beaten either way, and his starting stats would have still been the same.

[Thaluikhain]

Thanks for running this.

Ok, my initial impression that the story was just bad holds out. OTOH, there were some nice mechanics. The end battle being fought by an ally you give buffs to, in particular, was a good idea, good end battle, and there were some other good bits. A bit too much padding, though, they could have listed the things we give to Tideus and their benefits (since we already knew them) in one section, for example.