[lets play] Fighting Fantasy (Scholastic 16): Assassins of Allansia.

[Beroli]

Jump into the burrow.

[SGamerz]

Even if we can fit inside the burrow, fire can travel down a burrow just as easily and we'd be more vulnerable to been roasted (or suffocated by smoke) in confined areas. Keep running.

[Queen of Swords]

Unless the burrow leads to a cave system, it’s more likely to be our grave. Keep running.

[Dogopolis]

The Dragon loses sight of you under the cover of the thick foliage of the trees and starts blasting the ground randomly with balls of fire, hoping to hit you. But it soon tires and flies off east in search of prey elsewhere. With the coast clear, you head west back to your hut on the other side of the island.

================================

You hack your way through the undergrowth, being careful not to brush against the poison-tipped creepers. You hear the sound of buzzing overhead and look up to see a swarm of bees fly out of their hive high up in a tree. Do you want to climb the tree to see if you can find some honey, or would you rather press on to get back to your hut?

[SGamerz]

Climb the tree.

[Queen of Swords]

Try to get some honey.

[JourneymanN00b]

Sure I also vote to climb the tree to see if Finella can get honey.

[Dogopolis]

You climb carefully up the tree to where the hive is hanging from a branch. You hear a faint buzzing sound, but you are fairly certain there can only be a few bees inside the hive. You poke the tip of your sword inside and break off a piece of honeycomb. You reach into the hive and pull out the honeycomb, which is dripping with thick golden honey. Slavering in anticipation, you cram a chunk of the honeycomb into your mouth, sucking out the deliciously sweet nectar and feeling instantly energized.

Add 2 STAMINA points. You are about to break off another piece of honeycomb when you hear the ominous buzzing sound of the swarm of bees returning to the hive. Do you want to reach for the honeycomb or would you rather climb quickly down the tree and run back to your hut?

[Queen of Swords]

Run back to the hut.

[JourneymanN00b]

I also vote to run back to the hut to not tempt fate.

[Thaluikhain]

Run away!

[Dogopolis]

You manage to trace your path back to the beach on the west side of Snake Island and are quite relieved to see your hut again. You are about to go inside when you see a boat moored up on the beach. It’s the Blue Moon, the same boat that brought you to the island. Captain Crow is on board, standing on deck. He looks anxious when you approach him but says nothing. When you call out to him, he doesn’t reply, but his eyes dart right several times, as though he is trying to warn you about something. A quick glance left solves the mystery. Crouched down in the shadows of a large rock is a hooded figure in leather armour holding a loaded bow aimed straight at you. You hear a faint twang as the arrow is released from the bow.

Finella is carrying a shield
=======================================

You raise your arm just in time as the piercing arrow clatters into your shield and ricochets away. Your assailant reloads and fires again, but you manage to deflect the second arrow. With your sword drawn, you charge at your attacker, who throws back her hood to reveal the unmistakable features of a DARK ELF PRIESTESS. Her neck is covered with tattoos of writhing serpents and her long ice-white hair is tied up high on her head. She is wearing studded leather armour with iron-plated shoulder pads. Staring at you with cold, amethyst-blue eyes, she draws her long sword slowly from its scabbard, a shimmering blade made of the finest Salamonian steel enveloped in a swirling mist of vivid colours. Swinging it skilfully above her head, the Dark Elf advances towards you, meeting your sword with a clash of steel, her chilling war cry sending a shiver down
your spine.

DARK ELF PRIESTESS SKILL-8 STAMINA 8

Code: Select all

F 17 P 17: Draw
F 12 P 15: F at 15
F 17 P 15: P at 6
F 20 P 18: P at 4
F 17 P 18 F at 13
F 17 P 15 P at 2
F 20 P 16 P dead

If you win

=================

With blood trickling from her mouth, the Dark Elf still manages a contemptuous smile, and says in her dying breath, “I might have failed ... but one of our guild will see you dead.” With that, her head slumps to one side, and she falls silent. You notice that she is wearing the same silver necklace and scorpion pendant as the bearded man who tried to kill you the previous night. You snatch it from her neck and put it in your pocket. “Bravo!” you hear a voice call out cheerfully. You turn and walk over to the Blue Moon, where you find Captain Crow chained to the mast. “That was impressive. I never thought you would get the better of Oleander Redfly. Now, if you don’t mind, would you please release me from these wretched chains? The key is in there,” he says, pointing at a wooden box on the foredeck.

After freeing the captain, you ask him why people are trying to kill you. You show him the pendants and tell him about last night’s attempt on your life. “That would have been Tarrak Kazan. He’s an assassin,” he says matter-of-factly. “Kazan won the right to have the first chance to assassinate you.” The captain sees the puzzled expression on your face and begins a detailed account of what happened to him since he left you to fend for yourself on Snake Island. He recounts how he sailed back to Port Blacksand, where he saw “Wanted” posters plastered all over the city with a drawing of your face on them and a bounty of 1,000 Gold Pieces being offered by Lord Azzur for your head. The captain foolishly told the innkeeper at the Rusty Anchor Inn, where he was staying, that you had been sailing with him earlier that day. The innkeeper grunted as though uninterested, but the next morning the captain was hauled away by Imperial Guards to Lord Azzur’s palace to face his cruel interrogators.

“Threatened with torture,” he says, “I had no option but to tell the pig-faced brutes that I knew where you were. As soon as Lord Azzur found out, he stormed into the room and started screaming at me and kicking me for helping a prime suspect leave Port Blacksand. Whether or not it was true, his spies had told him that you had killed his master, Zanbar Bone. Now, I’m no fan of Zanbar Bone, and I say good riddance to the Demon Prince, but what was I supposed to do? I had no choice but to tell him that I had taken you to Snake Island. When he finished kicking me, Azzur sent for his best assassins from the notorious Scorpion Guild of Assassins to hunt you down. Kazan and Redfly might be dead, but there will be more assassins coming after you, I’m afraid. I watched them coolly draw straws to decide who would go first to hunt you down. Tarrak Kazan drew the longest straw and set off immediately. As we know, he didn’t return with your head!

" The next day I was forced to sail back to Snake Island with Oleander Redfly on board, the next assassin in line to kill you. She boasted that she had assassinated many hapless victims and you would be next, but clearly she was wrong!” the captain says with gusto. “The problem we now have is that since Redfly will not return to the palace with your head this evening, Azzur will send out his next assassin to claim the bounty. He might be impatient enough to send them all out at once to huntyou down! On our voyage here, Redfly said that she was lucky to go second, as the assassins following her were the meanest, cruellest and most brutal assassins in all Allansia. I really feared for your life when she told me about a couple of them, particularly an ex-mercenary fighter called Garanka Vassell. His speciality is removing a victim’s head from their shoulders with one swipe of his two-handed sword. I’ve never seen a more mean-looking brute. He had a dent in his skull caused by a war-hammer blow, and he also had a mouthful of gold teeth. We should leave Snake Island soon before Vassell pays us a visit!

"But I don’t think right now is the time to be going to sea. Look, there’s a storm brewing,” the captain says, pointing at the darkening sky. “What do you want to do?” Do you want to spend another night on the island, or do you want to tell Captain Crow to set sail immediately?

"But I'm a woman!" exclaims Finella. "Can't those scurvy idiots tell me apart from the man who killed Zanbar Bone?"

[Thaluikhain]

Leave immediately.

(Also, Lord Azzur was openly working for Zanbar Bone? Didn't the adventurer that killed Bone also break some laws in Blacksand they could be wanted for?)

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to stay on the island for another night, as I do not want Finella to get shipwrecked in the storm. See: Lone Wolf in Fire in the Water and Link in Link’s Awakening.

[Beroli]

Stay on the island.

[Queen of Swords]

Stay on the island.

And this book really undercuts Lord Azzur for me. When I first read about him in City of Thieves and Blacksand, I thought he was a cool villain, dangerous and mysterious. But here, after he storms into a room and starts screaming and kicking a prisoner, he reminds me of a toddler who's missed his afternoon nap.

[Dogopolis]

The captain helps you gather wood to make a fire and produces some salted beef and dried fruit from his boat. “Just in case you are hungry,” he says with a grin, handing you the food. You enjoy a fine meal keeping warm by the fire and talking to the captain about Lord Azzur. Add 2 STAMINA points. It begins to rain hard, and with a cold wind whipping up, you retire to the hut for the night, taking it in turns to be on watch in case of unexpected visitors.

You wake early the next morning to find the sun shining through the window to the sound of waves gently lapping on the beach. The captain is already on his boat, checking his gear and filling a barrel with fresh rainwater. A good breeze and a calm sea bodes well for a quick passage to the mainland. “I’m just going to see if I can find a piece of wood to make a new tiller for the rudder,” the captain says on seeing you. “The old one is split, and we don’t want to be out at sea without being able to steer the boat! I’ll be back soon.”

The captain heads off, leaving you to gather up your possessions, including Oleander Redfly’s bow and quiver of arrows, which all have flights made of black feathers. You also take Redfly’s prized weapon, her shimmering Astral Sword. Add 1 SKILL point. An hour passes, but the captain has still not returned, so you decide to go in search of him. You follow his footprints deep into the undergrowth and it isn’t long before you find him.

His limbs are held fast by thick vines, and the poor man is in terrible pain caused by a long tendril thrust down his throat. He has fallen foul of Hell’s Bloodwort, a giant carnivorous plant. The Bloodwort snares its victims with its long vines which wrap around limbs like giant snakes, making escape virtually impossible. With its prey unable to move, a Bloodwort will force its long, proboscis-like tendril down a victim’s throat to suck their blood from inside their body. The terrified captain appears doomed, and his muffled screams turn your blood cold. Do you want to attack the Bloodwort to rescue the captain or would you rather run back to the beach?

Again, treating sword as +1 Attack strength. Will not help in rolls against skill, but not bound by initial skill in combat

Finella Noland
Skill 9/9
Stamina 15/21
Luck 11/11

Potion of Strength
Provisions:10
Silver necklaces: 2
Dagger
Skeleton key (44)
2 diamonds.
12 Gold, 1 Silver
Rusty Knife
Shield of the Sentinels. (+1 Attack strength)
Astral Sword. (+1 Attack strength)
Bow and arrows

[Beroli]

Attack the Bloodwort.

[Queen of Swords]

Yes, attack the Bloodwort. (And is this guy the most doomed companion or what?)

[SGamerz]

Save the captain.

(Well, Livingstone was the one who started the trend of doomed companions in FF, so I guess this is apt.)

[Dogopolis]

You draw your sword and launch yourself at the giant carnivorous plant, hacking furiously at its proboscis. The fibrous texture is tough to cut through, and poor Captain Crow howls in agony each time you strike it. You finally manage to cleave through it, causing the vines to loosen their iron-like grip on the captain. You extract the proboscis from the captain’s throat, but there is nothing you can do to save him. Whilst burying the captain, you see the proboscis of another Bloodwort creeping towards you, which you skewer with your sword. You walk back to the beach deep in thought and inadvertently step on a nest of Giant Fire Ants. Hundreds of ants swarm up your legs and sting you multiple times, injecting you with poisonous venom. Lose 2 STAMINA points. You run back to the beach as fast as you can, picking up a piece of wood on the way to replace the broken tiller. Still covered in ants, you wade straight out to sea to wash them off before jumping on board the Blue Moon. It doesn’t take long to repair the broken tiller and, job done, you let out the mainsail and cast off

-----------------------------------------------

You soon get used to sailing the Blue Moon, and with a calm sea and a good breeze, you make good headway. Snake Island is soon no more than a speck behind you on the horizon. The sun is shining brightly and feels good on your face. The Blue Moon carves its way gently through the blue waters, and you feel like there’s nowhere else you’d rather be. Whilst enjoying the moment, you know that you need to make a plan and decide your destination. Should you sail east to Red River to escape from the assassins? Or should you sail back to Port Blacksand to confront Lord Azzur?

Your thinking is interrupted when you see a large wooden ship sailing towards you from the east. As it draws closer, you see it has a single mast supporting a large square-rigged sail with cannons sticking out on both sides of the hull. A black flag on its stern confirms your fear that a pirate ship is heading your way. There is no way you can outrun the ship, and you have to think quickly how best to avoid being captured. Do you want to let your mainsail go loose and lie down on the deck, pretending to be dead in the hope the pirates will have no interest in you, or do you want to jump into the sea and hide behind the boat?

[SGamerz]

Jump into the sea and hide behind the boat

(Man, he really is a doomed companion.)

[Queen of Swords]

Agreed, the pirates will probably check for deadness by putting an arrow through us, so hide behind the boat.

[JourneymanN00b]

I also vote to jump into the sea and hide behind the boat, as playing dead is just asking to get killed by pirates who will make sure that there are no surprises their way.

[Thaluikhain]

Makes sense.