[LP] Fighting Fantasy 46 - Tower of Destruction (Take 2!)

[Thaluikhain]

Fight.

Also: "Another one on a quest," mutters one of them, "like the one last week". FF books getting a bit samey by then?

[Darth Rabbitt]

We got a stamina refill and still have a SKILL boost from the flask we drank, go fight some wolves!

[SGamerz]

You round the comer just in time to see a huge polar bear's claws giving the final blow to an unfortunate trapper, while a bunch of snarling huskies remains at a safe distance, snarling and yapping. The enormous bear looks round at you and comes loping across the snow, blood dripping from its massive paws. You can't outrun it, so you have to fight.

POLAR BEAR SKILL 9 STAMINA 14

If you win, turn to 396.

It turns out that the enemy are not wolves, but a bear, and the sound we heard are actually dogs. Still, we shouldn't have any problems with this fight.

COMBAT LOG:

Polar Bear 19, Tallpipe 19. Tie. (We would have lost this round w/o the akvavit bonus!)
PB 15, Tallpipe 20. PB is at 12.
PB 17, Tallpipe 19. PB is at 10.
PB 17, Tallpipe 16. Tallpipe is at 22.
PB 19, Tallpipe 22. PB is at 8.
PB 21, Tallpipe 19. Tallpipe is at 20.
PB 21, Tallpipe 24. PB is at 6.
PB 17, Tallpipe 19. PB is at 4.
PB 17, Tallpipe 22. PB is at 2.
PB 13, Tallpipe 18. OB is killed.

When you kill the bear, the carcass lowly changes back into the form of a barbarian! Cursed with were-bear form, the poor wretch was a victim of a form of lycanthropy. What other curses may these lands hold?

You check through the trapper's possessions. He has a pile of furs, which you scarcely need, a pouch with 6 Gold Pieces, which you may take if you wish, enough food for 3 meals, which you may carry on his sled as extra Provisions, and a pile of snares and traps, ugly, cruel things. There is also a heavy bag of salt which you can carry on the sled for now; but if you leave the sled, you must carry this as a Possession if you want to take it with you. You harness the dogs and set off, glad to have some help on your journey at last.

So we could have gotten the salt here for free...but at least it didn't cost us much. I'm not sure why the text makes a point of telling us we'd need to carry the salt ourselves once we leave the sled, since there are no encumbrance rules in this book anyway, and no maximum carrying capacity other than Provisions.

And this time we can carry the 3 extra meals thanks to the sled!

At the end of the day you finally find somewhere to lay down your blanket and get some sleep. Sleepy as you are, however, your eyes are drawn to the plateau, which is now below you. For a moment you believe you saw the Ice Palace itself, a huge building of astounding beauty - and sinister atmosphere. It wasn't just the cold which caused a shiver to run along your spine. But then it was gone; was it just a mirage? In the pit of your stomach you know it was real but must be hidden by illusion, so that you cannot see it if you look for it.

You must eat a meal before you sleep, and another in the morning. If you have dogs with you, they will not go any further, they whine and cringe away from the plateau ahead, so you must leave them (and the sled) behind. You begin the descent on to the plateau of ice.

You walk for most of the day until you are tired and your eyes are stinging from the glare of the sun on snow. You can hardly think straight because of fatigue and the bitter cold, which is perhaps why you finally see the Ice Palace looming up only a few score metres in front of you. It takes your breath away: magnificent spire-shaped towers rise into the azure sky, a dome of rainbow-swirled ice rises into the air behind the walls, and intricate guttering, roofwork and sculpted details everywhere catch the eye. Before you is a stout gatehouse with grates of ice; will you try to gain entry here or scout around, looking for another way in?

While the sled may have lasted only 1 section, it did save us 2 meals (and actually we'd have had to eat more if we didn't choose to stop and fight the Polar Bear/loot the sled). And there's still 1 left, so we might as well eat that before we continue to restore our STAMINA to full again!

Do we want to enter via the gatehouse?

Adventure Sheet:

Name: Jefferson Tallpipe
SKILL 12/12
STAMINA 24/24
LUCK 10/12
Honour: 8
Equipment: Sword, Leather Armor, Lantern, Backpack, Blanket, Climbing Gear, Tasrin's Ring, Potion of Stamina x2 (restores 1/2 of Initial STAMINA), Crowbar, Bag of Salt, Crossbow (w/ 10 bolts), Magic Sword
Gold: 9
Provisions: 10/10

[angelfromanotherpin]

Too obvious, scout around.

[Thaluikhain]

Scout around.

[SGamerz]

Walking round the Ice Palace, you find that it is rectangular, with a tower at each of the four comers, the gatehouse in the middle of one of the long walls, and a huge tower in the middle of the other long wall. There appears to be a door at the base of that big central tower, so you can enter there or go in through the gatehouse.

There seems to be another minor bug in terms of section numbers (which I'd left out) in the last section. The section for entering through the central tower door in this section is actually the same as entering through the gatehouse in the last section, while entering via the gatehouse in this section leads to a different section number. Upon checking, the ones in this section are the correct ones.

Which entrance do we use?

[angelfromanotherpin]

Go in through the 'gatehouse,' by which I mean use the reference we didn't have access to from the previous entry.

[Thaluikhain]

Second that.

[SGamerz]

Approaching the gatehouse, you force the huge ice gates slightly apart, when you spot a figure on top of the gatehouse, and you duck just as a crossbow bolt whizzes past your head. If you have a crossbow and bolts and you wish to fire back, turn to 160. If you want to draw your sword and try to get closer to the archer, turn to 292.

Do we want to shoot our load back at that guy?

[angelfromanotherpin]

Huh. Ordinarily I'd take the blue option, but he's elevated and has cover. On the other hand, most FF items don't have multiple chances to be used. Half a vote to fire back.

[Thaluikhain]

We bought those, better use them.

[SGamerz]

You draw your crossbow and loose off a bolt at the archer, who you can now see is a Dark Elf. Conduct combat as normal; your enemy has a SKILL score of 8. After three Attack Rounds and the expenditure of three of your crossbow bolts, however, the Elf will duck out of sight and you will have to draw a sword and try to meet him in hand-to-hand combat. No time to drink or eat anything either! Make a note of how much damage to his STAMINA the Dark Elf has suffered then turn to 292.

COMBAT LOG:

Dark Elf 14, Tallpipe 19.
DE 15, Tallpipe 17.
DE 14, Tallpipe 20.

We won all 3 rounds, dealing a total of 6 damage.

You enter the gatehouse proper and race up the steps. At their top you meet not just one enemy, but two - Dark Elves! You must fight them one after the other as they stand at the top of the stairs. If you wounded one earlier with bowfire, he will be the second Dark Elf, and you should alter his STAMINA score accordingly.

First DARK ELF SKILL 8 STAMINA 6
Second DARK ELF SKILL 8 STAMINA 7 1

If you win, you can search the Dark Elves and the rest of the gatehouse, but there is nothing of value here save for a little food (add 1 to your Provisions). Dark Elf crossbows are too light for you to use effectively. There is no clue as to what Dark Elves are doing here, so far from their usual hones. You head outside and into the main courtyard of the Ice Palace. Tum to 23.

The second elf is only 1 blow away from dropping dead!

COMBAT LOG:

Dark Elf#1 11, Tallpipe 20. DE1 is at 4.
DE1 16. Tallpipe 19. DE1 is at 2.
DE1 15. Tallpipe 21. DE1 is killed.
Dark Elf#2 12, Tallpipe 22. DE2 is killed.

Would you believe this is actually our very first flawless combat with this OP character?

We didn't get hurt at all, so we have no use for this extra Provision. Moving on...

The Ice Palace is huge, a majestic structure composed in a myriad forms and colours of ice. Looking around as you stand before the gatehoue, to your right is a tower with a heraldic shield above its entrance: the Tower of Shielding. To your left is a tower covered on all surfaces with beautiful, multicoloured icicles: the Tower of Rainbow Ice. In the distance, to your left, is a Tower of Black Ice, and opposite is a tower which looks only half real, impossibly light and delicate: the Tower of Airy Light. Directly opposite you, in the distance, is a huge central tower, the Great Tower. All the towers have ice doors at their bases but no other obvious portals. Within the ice walls and towers surrounding the Palace are a number of buildings. There are homes, workshops, stores and warehouses, varied and splendid in design; dominating them stands the glory of the domed Ice Cathedral with its silent, sealed ice doors.

You can only enter each location once in your sojourn here, unless the text specifically states otherwise, so you must keep a careful record of where you have been within the Ice Palace. If you don't find what you're looking for the first time, a return visit! won't help. However, if you try to enter a location and for some reason cannot do so (you have no keys and it is locked, for example), you may return if you find the correct method of entry. So, now, will you go to:

The Tower of Shielding?
The Ice Cathedral?
The Tower of Black Ice?
The Tower of Airy Light?
The Tower of Rainbow Ice?
The Great Tower?
The workshops?
The stores?
The homes?

Where do we start our search?

Adventure Sheet:

Name: Jefferson Tallpipe
SKILL 12/12
STAMINA 24/24
LUCK 10/12
Honour: 8
Equipment: Sword, Leather Armor, Lantern, Backpack, Blanket, Climbing Gear, Tasrin's Ring, Potion of Stamina x2 (restores 1/2 of Initial STAMINA), Crowbar, Bag of Salt, Crossbow (w/ 7 bolts), Magic Sword
Gold: 9
Provisions: 10/10

[angelfromanotherpin]

This is a bit overwhelming. Top to bottom until we find some better clue. Tower of Shielding.

[SGamerz]

Your boots crunch across the permafrost as you stride past the homes of the Ice Elves, heading for the well-built Tower of Shielding with its crenellated outline. As you get close to it, a crossbow bolt goes whizzing past your head; you look up and see another Dark Elf archer on top of the Tower letting fly at you. Why won't these cowards fight hand-to-hand like an honourable warrior? What will you do now?

Return missile fire with a crossbow, if you can?
Head for the door at the base of the Tower?
Run away and search elsewhere in the Ice Palace?

Another chance to use the same item!

[Thaluikhain]

Cross bow again (oh, what happens if you try attacking the previous DE in HTH?)

[SGamerz]

what happens if you try attacking the previous DE in HTH?

Nothing special. You just go straight to the section where you fight both DE inside the gatehouse. So the option to shoot is neither good nor bad....well, it does use up bolts, so I guess you can say there's a slight cost attached to it.

Your opponent has a SKILL of 8. When you first win an Attack Round, tum to 256. When the Dark Elf first wins an Attack Round, tum to 316. If you run out of bolts and you haven't killed the Dark Elf (or if you decide you want to use a sword anyway), you will have to head for the door at the base of the Tower, so tum to 196. If you hit him three times, he ducks out of sight, so now you must get into the Tower to finish him; turn to 196.

COMBAT LOG:

Dark Elf 14, Tallpipe 19.

We won the first round...

Roll two dice. If you roll 8 or below, turn to 338. If you roll 9 or above. your bolt does 2 points of damage to the STAMINA of the Dark Ell so turn back to 47.

Dice roll = 7.

Your bolt whirs through the air towards the Dark Elf - and then is deflected harmlessly to one side of him! He suffers no damage at all. Will you:

Continue to trade crossbow fire?
Head for the door of the Tower of Shielding?
Run away and find somewhere else to search?

Choosing to continue shooting actually takes us back to the original section where we chose to use the crossbow, so we simply just continue rolling for bow combat normally (except, again, there's another section to turn to if he wins an attack round for the first time). Since we were specifically told to do the dice roll we did earlier the first time we win, that should imply that what just happened (our bolt being deflected) won't happen again when we win subsequent rounds.

Do we want to continue?

[Thaluikhain]

Eh, bored of that, to the Tower of Shielding.

[SGamerz]

You burst open the door of the Tower and race up the stairs to where the Dark Elf sniper is lurking. You have to push open a trapdoor at the top of the winding stairs to get into the open air, and the Dark Elf is able to fire one bolt at you at point blank range; you lose 4 points from your STAMINA. He draws a sword and flies at you, grinning madly, his ebony skin and dark leather armour a stark contrast to the whiteness of the ice and fhe cloudy, snow-filled sky overhead. If you have already inflicted any damage on the Dark Elf with a crossbow, you can subtract this from his STAMINA score given below.

DARK ELF SKILL 8 STAMINA 7

If you win, tum to 229.

COMBAT LOG:

Dark Elf 16, Tallpipe 19. DE is at 5.
DE 12, Tallpipe 18. DE is at 3.
DE 16, Tallpipe 16. Tie.
DE 13, Tallpipe 18. DE is at 1.
DE 12, Tallpipe 18. DE is killed.

It's another flawless (even though he scored a cheap shot on us before the fight started). Looks like Tallpipe is the expert Dark Elf killer, since he hasn't lost any attack rounds to one thus far.

The Dark Elf has something which you decide to take: a beautifully decorated Shield of Warding, a magical shield. This will often deflect missiles - crossbow bolts, rocks, thrown spears and the like - away from the user of the shield so that these attacks cause no damage. This applies even to magical missiles conjured by spells which have the word 'bolt' in their name - you should make a note of this in case you get hit by one at some time in the future! If you use the shield, you may roll two dice when such an attack is used against you. If you roll 2-8, the shield will deflect the attack and you will suffer no damage. lf you roll 9 or above, the shield will not deflect the attack and you will suffer damage as instructed in the relevant paragraph.

You find that the rooms in the Tower itself have obviously been looted. Doors are knocked down. and ice decorations and sculptures smashed and defaced. Searching the Tower, you discover a sealed ice door at the base of the Tower which b€ar6 some Elven runes you cannot read. This seems to be the only part of the place that hasn't been desecrated; there s a periodic groaning sound coming from the other side of the door. Do you want to try opening this door or do you think better of it and find somewhere else to search?

Now, this shield actually gives us a reason to want to choose ranged combat in the future! Although the last combat was a little puzzling, since if we go strictly by the text instruction the shield only protected the Dark Elf the very first time he's hit, but apparently we can try to use this every time we get hit by a missile, which is much more useful.

Do we want to open the door? Note that "find somewhere else to search" will take us back to the "hub" section outside, to if you choose that, please pick the next location to go as well!

Adventure Sheet:

Name: Jefferson Tallpipe
SKILL 12/12
STAMINA 20/24
LUCK 10/12
Honour: 8
Equipment: Sword, Leather Armor, Lantern, Backpack, Blanket, Climbing Gear, Tasrin's Ring, Potion of Stamina x2 (restores 1/2 of Initial STAMINA), Crowbar, Bag of Salt, Crossbow (w/ 6 bolts), Magic Sword, Shield of Warding (deflects missile attacks on roll of 2-8 on 2D6)
Gold: 9
Provisions: 10/10

[Whiysper]

Given we can't return unless we discover that door is locked with a McGuffin we don't have, I'd say check the door .

[angelfromanotherpin]

Try the door.

[SGamerz]

You push the door and it gives way - but not because of your pushing, you realize too late!' Beyond is a series of small tombs of translucent ice, with tiny Elven forms visible within them The air is full of hanging snowflakes, suspended in mid air, gently swirling round a central stalactite shrouded in icicles. The guardian of this mausoleum has opened the door to admit you, and his aim is to kill you for entering this burial place. The Elf-Ghost, appearing as an Elf of great age in a shroud which falls away into nothingness, reaches out for you with its spectral hands. You must fight it here.

ELF-GHOST SKILL 8 STAMINA 9

Each time the Elf-Ghost strikes you, you must roll one die. If you roll 1-3, the blow drains you of the usual 2 points of STAMINA. lf you roll 4-6, the blow also drains you of 1 SKILL point! An Elf-Ghost is a very dangerous enemy indeed! If you want to flee from this combat, you can do so; tum to 144. If you win, turn to 214.

The SKILL-draining is a pretty nasty penalty. Do we want to use LUCK to speed this up?

[Whiysper]

Takes 5 rounds down to 3, so I'd press our luck and spend some luck .

[angelfromanotherpin]

Spending 3 LUCK means we need 2 fewer hits, but we can get half that benefit for 1/3 the cost. Use LUCK one time.

[Whiysper]

Bowing to Angels being-bothered-to-do-real-maths-Fu .

[SGamerz]

Spending 3 LUCK means we need 2 fewer hits, but we can get half that benefit for 1/3 the cost.

We definitely won't need to spend 3 LUCK. At most, 2 is all we need to kill it in 3 rounds, and using more won't make it better. So using your method we're getting half the benefit for half the cost.

COMBAT LOG:

Elf-Ghost 15, Tallpipe 19. LUCK test roll = 8 (Lucky!). EG is at 5.
EG 12, Tallpipe 17. EG is at 3.
EG 12, Tallpipe 22. EG is at 1.
EG 13, Tallpipe 19. EG is defeated.

We're starting to get on a roll with the flawlesses.

After fighting the guardian, you look around and inspect the serried ranks of dead young Elves in their frozen resting-places. There isn't anything of value here, and you're not sure whether you'd want to take anything from the icy tombs of these sad-looking young Elves anyway. You leave and search elsewhere in the Ice Palace.

Unfortunately, no reward for the last fight.

Where do we explore next?

The Tower of Shielding?
The Ice Cathedral?
The Tower of Black Ice?
The Tower of Airy Light?
The Tower of Rainbow Ice?
The Great Tower?
The workshops?
The stores?
The homes?

Adventure Sheet:

Name: Jefferson Tallpipe
SKILL 12/12
STAMINA 20/24
LUCK 9/12
Honour: 8
Equipment: Sword, Leather Armor, Lantern, Backpack, Blanket, Climbing Gear, Tasrin's Ring, Potion of Stamina x2 (restores 1/2 of Initial STAMINA), Crowbar, Bag of Salt, Crossbow (w/ 6 bolts), Magic Sword, Shield of Warding (deflects missile attacks on roll of 2-8 on 2D6)
Gold: 9
Provisions: 10/10