Let's Play: Challenge of the Magi: Mage2

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Mr Shine
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Post by Mr Shine »

Upwards to the state rooms.
Thaluikhain
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Post by Thaluikhain »

116
The long climb through the sweltering heat of the Palace of Flames soon has you dripping with sweat. You are about to mount yet another grand staircase when a strange bubbling and hissing attracts your attention in a large vestibule nearby.

You may wish to investigate the sounds. If instead you prefer to leave the Palace you may Invoke the Portals. Where will you adventure next: the Garden of Contemplation, the Citadel of the Skull, the Rainbow Inn or the Sea of Glass? WAIT(11) first.
Mr Shine
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Post by Mr Shine »

Examine the sounds.
Thaluikhain
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Post by Thaluikhain »

156
The stench becomes almost overpowering as you enter the vestibule. You gag and then vomit. Then freeze in fear. The floor is a heaving mass of pus. You are standing on it and it is sticking to your boots. Two great red eyes float towards you in the mass of yellow slime and a column of congealed pus rears up to engulf you. In the middle of the room is a bed of glowing coals. Nestling amonst the red-hot coals are three strangely shaped brown and green rocks covered in red spots, the Bones of the Earth. The slimy creature threatens to engulf you. You are standing on Origob, Demonlord of Slime, from whom everything that is rank and corrupt, blasphemies of nature, were engendered. You remember the teachings of the old sages, but which is the Word of Power, the true name of this demon which will allow you to command it to your will? You have time to cry aloud just once before you are engulfed. Will you cry Mamaal, Barack, or Ashmodel?

There is a picture here
Mr Shine
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Post by Mr Shine »

Mamaal
Thaluikhain
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Post by Thaluikhain »

You cry aloud but the demon Origob takes no heed. A wave of pus breaks over you and you are swept out of the room. You pick yourself up and run down to the courtyard as fast as you can, but you have suffered the touch of Origob, Demonlord of Slime. Your skin erupts into pus-filled voils and the inside of your lungs begin to fill with slime in which you will soon drown. Lose 1 LP. You will lose one Life Point fpr every WAIT that you are forced to make as time passes. You haven't forgotten all of the advice of the old sages concerning demonology, however, for you remember that the flames of the phoenix can cure you of the vile pestilence. You Invoke the Portals without more ado.

WAIT(12) and lose another Life Point.

If you are still alive, where will you travel on your quest for the phoenix: the Garden of Contemplation, the Citadel of the Skull, the Rainbow Inn, or the Sea of Glass?

(Ouch! By my count you are on 13 LPs at the moment.)
Mr Shine
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Post by Mr Shine »

Ouch. Well, hopefully the clue as to the Phoenix's location is in one of the zone names, and it's not a red herring...

Heal and head to Rainbow Inn.

(Assuming that my opponent doesn't interrupt me in any way, you can automatically make my next move to heal again and head for Forest of Arden)
Thaluikhain
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Post by Thaluikhain »

The portal flickers behind you and you are facing the Rainbow Inn, a brick and wood building with stables attached, standing at a crossroads near the river Weir. There is a well nearby and beyond it a black door hangs in the air, just off the ground, the sign outside the Inn shows not the natural colours of the rainbow but the five colours of magic in the Land, blue, red, green, white and black. You may fill your water bottle in the river if it is empty.

WAIT(13) (and lose another life point, but 2 Heal spells bring you back up to 20)

Will you go to the well, try the black door in the air, or walk towards the Inn? If instead you wish to Invoke the Portals, you must choose from the following destinations: the Silvered Spires, the Forest of Arden, the Citadel of the Skull, the Palace of Flames or the Sea of Glass.

(As your opponent hasn't interrupted you, you can go to the Forest of Arden)

The portal disappears behind you and you find yourself surrounded by trees at the centre of a small clearing. The sun beats down but within the trees is a dark gloom. It is silent in the clearing and you feel alone, far from the security of your fellow men and their dwellings. Although you can hear nothing the Forest feels full of lie, full of unseen eyes spying on you. This is a place enchanted with green magic, a place where nature is untouched by man.

(But you've been interrupted now)

108
Suddenly, everything goes dark around you and you find yourself standing in a clearing beneath ferns and tall elms. Just yards away from you is your opponent. A flock of pretty coloured songbirds take flight and leave you to settle your battle alone. You may describe your appearance to your opponent now, the colour of your robes and your class. You should also tell your opponent what artefacts you are carrying. You may also exchange insults and epithets such as "Prepare to eat dirt, you megalomaniac centipede."

Your opponent is "The Explosive Wand" the sorceror. They have a magic sword.

You will go first (decided randomly)

DECISIONS

This is an area of green magic, and no other. You may choose from Tanglevines or Creeping Doom. Or you may flee.

(The wording for physical combat is that you can't try that if you are able to use magic instead)
Mr Shine
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Post by Mr Shine »

"You're on my turf now, sorceror. Prepare to eat your greens." BWHAHAHAHAHA snerk.

Tanglevines
Last edited by Mr Shine on Thu May 18, 2017 2:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Thaluikhain
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Post by Thaluikhain »

Summoning all your reserves of concentration you cast the terrible spell known as Tanglevines. There is no counterspell known even to the most puissant mages that can bar the effects of this spell. Read the following to your opponent:

"My arms are spread wide as I cast the direst dweomer from which there is no protection. The vines that festoon the tree behind you come to life and grow until they are entwined around you. You struggle but there is nothing you can do and I shall do with you whatever I desire. You are pinned helplessly."

You may now either attack your opponent with your weapon, in which case you will automatically inflict 6 LPs of damage before he is freed. Or you may cast another spell (you can cast Creeping Doom), in which case they will not be able to use any counterspell to ward off your magic because they cannot move their arms.

(It doesn't say you lose 3 CPs, but that's how much the spell costs in the rules at the front of the book, so it should)
Mr Shine
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Post by Mr Shine »

Creeping Doom.
Thaluikhain
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Post by Thaluikhain »

Your brow is knitted with the concentration it takes to cast this infamous spell. You pour yourself heart and soul into the summoning of the Creeping Doom. Read the following to your opponent:

"I speak the Ritual of Summoning and before you can do anything a dark mass of insects pours out of the grass and trees from all sides. Soldier ants, cockroaches, poisonous spiders and scimitar beetles crawl over you within seconds."

Being entwined in vines they can't use the counterspell (if they have it):

"Stumbling back in a hopeless attempt to avoid the horde of insects, I am engulfed, covered in a mass of crawling insects. They bite continuously, causing me great pain."

(Oh, and it doesn't how much it costs to cast the spell. The main rules say it costs 2 CPs, so I'm going with that, though there's another place that does specify how much it costs, and it's 1 CP there)
Last edited by Thaluikhain on Sat May 20, 2017 3:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Thaluikhain
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Post by Thaluikhain »

"My arms are spread wide as I cast the direst dweomer from which there is no protection. The vines that festoon the tree behind you come to life and grow until they are entwined around you. You struggle but there is nothing you can do and I shall do with you whatever I desire. You are pinned helplessly."

And then you get magic sworded for 6 LPs, leaving you with 14 LPs and 9 CPs.

You may attempt to flee, or run at your opponent in an attempt to engage in physical combat, braving whatever magics may be flung at you.
Mr Shine
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Post by Mr Shine »

Well that was a surprise.

I think I must have made an assumption that the extra spell wasn't from his barred school although since that wasn't actually spelled out anywhere that was obviously unwarranted.

In any case bravely run away to the Phoenix Crags.
Thaluikhain
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Post by Thaluikhain »

The rules are a bit vague on that, though in the sorceror's case it makes sense that green magic isn't so much restricted as they've there are four other types of magic they can choose their 3 not-blue spells from, so one colour got missed out initially. At least that is my reading.

"Aha, so you realise you cannot stand against my awesome might, worm. I take from my pack a phial of acid and hurl it towards your vanishing back. The phial smashes and the vitriol courses down your back as you step through the portal, burning you horribly.

When you emerge in the next land you find terrible burns and weals mar your skin. Roll one dice to find out how many Life Points you have lost. If you still live, you must decide which avenue of retreat you have taken: to the Citadel of the Skull, the Phoenix Crags, the Silvered Spires, or the Rainbow Inn."

For some reason you have to WAIT(14) before you get to the next land, so if your opponent follows you they get there first.

(You lost 4 LPs due to the acid. And you lose another LP due to the WAIT. Leaving you with 9.)
Last edited by Thaluikhain on Sun May 21, 2017 4:55 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Thaluikhain
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Post by Thaluikhain »

You are at the Phoenix Crags. You step out onto a ledge at the side of a great mountain. You can sense the presence of magic here. Red and blue spells may be cast in this area. Below you a chasm yawns, a thin sliver of blue marking the distant river at the bottom. Up above tower magnificent, awe-inspiring crags, clawing at the yellow skies with gnarled fingers. It makes your head spin to look up or down.

A path leads from the ledge to an easily accessible mountain slop on which rests a hut. Another goat trail winds up a great crag directly above you. This crag is also accessible by a straight climb upward. Behind you, a cave mouth opens invitingly.

You can investigate the hut, follow the goat track, climb directly upwards or enter the cave, but you must WAIT(15) before you do so.
Mr Shine
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Post by Mr Shine »

Heal and climb
Thaluikhain
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Post by Thaluikhain »

686
You begin the difficult and exhausting ascent of the sheer face of the crag, searching for meagre handholds.

WAIT(16) (lose another LP, you are on 11) and turn to 726
Thaluikhain
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Post by Thaluikhain »

To your horror, an outcrop of rock crumbles beneath your feet and you topple off the steep face. You crash painfully against a boulder, before bouncing out into midair. Lose 3 LPs. If you still live, you begin to panic as you plummet towards the ground far below you. But you control yourself and Invoke the Portals, thus saving your life. From the Nexus, you may go to the Scorched Sands of Akhneton, the House of Mausolus or the Forest of Arden, but you must WAIT(17) before doing so.

Down to 7 LPs.

(In the previous section, it was a 50-50 chance of getting to here, or another section, this result isn't the only one that can happen. I didn't mention it before because I was expecting you to be able to reach the top, just with something random along the way, rather than having to give up and lose LPs)
Mr Shine
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Post by Mr Shine »

Screw it, heal and house of mouse.
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Post by Thaluikhain »

You find yourself in a tall dark room of cold black marble. You know immediately that this is a place without magic. White pillars march around the edge and the middle of the room is taken up with row upon row of stone slabs. On the slabs rest naked corpses, cold and still. You have arrived in the House of Mausolus, the place of the dead, where heroes and people of import in the Rainbow Land lie preserved in death for ever. Beside you stairs lead down to the crypt. Will you go down into the crypt, investigate the bodies, examine the small shrine dedicated to some god or other nearby, or Invoke the Portals and go either to the Caverns of Perdition or the Phoenix Crags. In any case you must WAIT(18) before you do so.

Heal brings you back to 11 LPs, minus another for the wait to 10 LPs. You have 1 heal spell left.
Mr Shine
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Post by Mr Shine »

Heal and shrine
Thaluikhain
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Post by Thaluikhain »

It appears to be a shrine dedicated to the sorceror mage Emeritus, the very one who is said to have created the Rainbow Land. Some say his powers rivaled those of the gods. As you stand there, a low quit laughter fills the air and a voice, ancient yet strong, sounds in your head.

"A duelist, well, well. It is some time since I have witnessed a good duel and I grow bored. Come, entertain me, mortal." With that, you suddenly find yourself transported to an area of magic, with your opponent before you. Emeritus has brought you together to fight for his own amusement.

Suddenly, everything grows dark around you and you find yourself standing inside the circle of standing stones. Just yards away from you is your opponent. The druids of the Sacred Grove realize that an important battle in the quest to find a new Duelmaster is to be fought here and they will not hinder you in any way. Within moments they have disappeared into the trees.

You may describe your appearance to your opponent now, the colour of your robes and your class. You should also tell your opponent what artefacts you are carrying. You may exchange insults and epithets now such as 'Durst thou dare to stand against my puissant might, thou impotent gadfly.'

Your opponent is "The Explosive Wand" the sorceror. They have a magic sword. They also have the Diadem of Rulership.

You will go first (decided randomly)

DECISIONS:
This is an area where the currents of green and white magic mix and interweave. You may cast Tanglevines, Creeping Down, The Holy Fires of Judgement or Archangel. Or you may flee.

EDIt: You have 13 LPs and 9CPs, by my count.
Last edited by Thaluikhain on Wed May 24, 2017 1:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Mr Shine
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Post by Mr Shine »

Tanglevines then Archangel

BOOM!

Image
Mr Shine
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Post by Mr Shine »

Although Explosive wand can be happy that 13 WAITs later the new Duelmaster probably falls over dead.
Last edited by Mr Shine on Wed May 24, 2017 3:26 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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