[LP] The Way of the Tiger. (Complete)

[Dr_Noface]

I say just sneak. With only two arms our disguise may suck.

[Omegonthesane]

Just sneak, we can't dress up as something with four arms. We don't even have a pair of prop arms that we can quickly attach.

[Mr Shine]

Sneak, Avenger is not an insect.

[angelfromanotherpin]

You push the body into the shadows against the stone wall, out of the light of the crystals. You creep from shadow to shadow onward, checking that the patrol of insect guards along the wall remains undisturbed. You reach the top of the stone steps just as an insect warrior begins to emerge. You hang over the outside of the wall until he passes, and then pull yourself up and garrotte him from behind too, easing the body to the floor.

Then you are down to the gate, removing the metal bar and opening the gates just enough for someone to pass through. You look for any sign that you are discovered as you wait, and Doré steps through the gate first, followed by the others.

You hasten forward, guided by the Torch of Lumen to pick the right-hand lava tube beyond the wall. Behind you, you hear the urgent sound of clicking – presumably they have found the dead bodies, but you are long gone.

The lava tube is a long channel crusted with minerals, and the sounds of your group's footfalls and armor echo along it. Still, your sensitive hearing picks up a noise along the tunnel from the way you just came. You barely have a moment to throw yourself to the ground and shout out a warning as hundreds of small white bat-like creatures fly past you along the tunnel, releasing ear-splitting screeches as they go. The noise of their passing fades, although your ears still ring. You get back to your feet, as do your companions.

'Of all the encounters in this place,' Taflwr says, 'that was surprisingly one of the more pleasant.'

'They may portend a deadly outcome,' Glaivas replies. 'They must have been released by the gatecastle, perhaps to warn whatever lies ahead of our presence, or to inform the Black Widow. Either way, we had best hurry.'

You continue on at a brisk pace.

(Avenger has gained revenge against Tyutchev and Thaum.)

You walk along the lava tube for some time to emerge into a rocky chamber which has three exits on the far side. You grip the darkened Torch of Lumen and it mentally guides you that the one on the right is the way to the cave of Fortuna.

In the center of the ground, an aperture opens to reveal a mouth with fangs and a long forked tongue. Doré hacks at the tongue, but it darts away too quickly, lashing like a whip, leaving him tottering over the fanged mouth. You must intervene, performing a Cobra Strike with your lightning reflexes to try and catch the forked tongue. Its Defense is 6. if you fail, it will lash you for 1 Endurance point of damage so fast that you cannot defend yourself. You can retry with another Cobra Strike if you survive.

If you succeed, you catch it and wrestle to hold it as your companions all hurry along the side of the chamber and on in to the right-hand tunnel for the cave of Fortuna. Then, after a final yank of the tongue, you race past it to join the others.

First try gets it, no loss. This is a weirdly pissant encounter, and I wonder what the rationale for it was.

The tunnel slithers on, sometimes turning back on itself, sometimes running almost perfectly straight, but eventually it leads out into a cavern unlike any you have seen before. On the open expanse next to a chasm, illuminated only by the red light from a cave entrance at the distant far side, are enormous petrified worms, their sinuous bodies protruding at intervals from the stony ground. Emerging from the chasm are horse-sized spiders each ridden by a red-robed Dark Elf. The vanguard of the Black Widow's forces arriving to try to cut you off.

As your group maneuvers, you launch a kick to try and hurl back your nearest foe, keen to keep moving and avoid getting pinned. If Thybault and Eris are with you, you may deduct 6 from you enemy's Endurance to reflect Eris blasting it with a lightning spell upon its approach.

SPIDER RIDER
Defense against Leaping Tiger: 5
Endurance: 18 12
Damage: 1 Die +2 (spider)
Damage: 1 Die (rider)

• If you have defeated the Spider Rider...

If not, then you face an attack from the spider, and then another from the rider. Your Defense against the spider's slashing legs is 9, and your Defense against the rider's scimitar is 8. You may attempt to block only one of the attacks. If you are still alive, you may perform another Leaping Tiger kick.

Kick 7+1, hit! 4+2 damage, enemy at 6. Spider 5, miss. Rider 6, miss.
Kick 4+1, miss. Spider 8, miss. Rider 8, miss.
Kick 9+1, hit! 2+2 damage, enemy at 2. Spider 9, miss. Rider 8 miss.
Kick 5+1 hit! 3+2 damage, enemy down!

You have no time to rest after defeating the mounted foes, as you see the monstrous, heaving form of the Black Widow crawling up out of the chasm like a dark nightmare. Her chelicerae clack together in her mouth, and more Spider Riders scuttle forth from the chasm to attack.

(Glaivas has a weapon)

Your group race onward for the distant cave mouth, passing underneath an arch created by a petrified worm.

(Avenger has not gained revenge against Cassandra.)

Cassandra steps out from behind a broken stone worm body, a crossbow leveled in her hands, the left side of her face caked with dried blood from a head wound.

'This is tipped with the Blood of Nil,' she says. 'Give me the Sceptre, and I will leave you be. Be quick about it!'

• Use Flash Powder? (if you have it and wish to use it.)
• Use the skill of Poison Needles? (if you have it and wish to use it.)
• Otherwise you must rush Cassandra as she fires the crossbow at you.

[Avarice]

Whats wrong there Eris - ran out of cloudkills to cast on the party?

Anyway, flash powder needs to be ignited to work and cassandra knows enough about avenger tools not to let that happen.

I vote for a needle spittake

[Darth Rabbitt]

Also Flash Powder has the potential to blind our allies, which is kind of a bad idea when we're already on the run from an enemy. So Poison Needle her.

[MisterDee]

Clearly, "Eris" is a doppleganger.

I'm kind of pissed that we have to kill Cassandra. Of the trio she's the one I saw as redeemable. But Flash Powder is such a terrible idea here that needling her is the best call.

[Mr Shine]

Fire needle, see if we can kill at least one of the followers of Anarchil

[Omegonthesane]

Fire needle, see if we can kill at least one of the followers of Anarchil

We personally anyway, Thaum and Tyuchev got dark elf'd.

Poison Needle.

[angelfromanotherpin]

You hold your hands up as a gesture of supplication, but in doing so you slip a dart into your mouth. You move slowly closer to Cassandra, and then suddenly spit at her. At the last moment she recognizes your ninja trick, but it is too late for her to react in her current state, and the dart strikes her on her right cheek. She releases her crossbow bolt with a yell before staggering back amongst some broken rocks that obscure her from you.

Make a Fate Roll.

5+1, Fate turns her back!

The bolt will graze you unless you have the skill of Arrow Cutting in which case you can deflect it wide. If you are hit by the bolt, you must lose 2 Endurance from the bolt itself, then one further die of Endurance from the poison tip unless you have Immunity to Poisons. It seems Cassandra lied about the Blood of Nil being the Poison used, and it is more likely some poison of Nullaq.

If you live, you have no time to pursue, as more Spider Riders scuttle towards you, and the Black Widow creeps up and scuttles along one of the giant petrified worms. The cave mouth still appears clear ahead.

(Avenger has gained revenge against Tyutchev and Thaum.)

The damage is 2+2=4.

A jet shoots out to cover the mouth of the cave in webbing before you can run inside. You whirl to see that it was caused by the Black Widow who is perched on the head of one of the giant petrified worms. Doré covers the retreat of your party, cutting down a Spider Rider that gets too close. Then a giant raven glides over from the darkness to land near you beside the cave mouth. A mysterious figure in black robes steps from the raven.

'I can get you beyond this webbing, but first I need the Sceptre to secure my position as the new Keeper of the Forbidden Sanctuary.' The hood is drawn back slightly to reveal the speaker is Foxglove. 'Since you killed the previous Keeper, the Black Widow's rulership of the Dark Elves is in doubt. Perhaps one of the two other Mother-Spiders will now try to seize power. Either way, I intend to profit. Not even death can release me from the Black Widow's blood curse, but with the power of the Sceptre I will be free of her geas.'
(Glaivas does not have the Sceptre.)
(Taflwr was not enchanted by Foxglove.)
(You are not enchanted by Foxglove.)

Wait, there are three arachnarok beasts? Also, I'm curious to see how what I presume is the wrap-up of the Foxglove content is handled. Apparently she shows up even if she previously ran off or was killed, so that geas is crazy big juju.

Foxglove is silent, waiting for your response as time ticks away.

(Avenger does not carry an Onyx Spider Token.)
(This is the first time Avenger has encountered Foxglove in this book, and Foxglove was either exiled or separated from him in INFERNO!)

You ask Foxglove how she came to be here since she journeyed her own separate way.

'The Black Widow placed me under a terrible curse,' she says, 'that bade me return here regardless of where else I might wish to go. I am under her geas to serve her, and only your Sceptre can free me from it.'

Foxglove casts a nervous glance back at the Black Widow.

'I heard of your Paladin's misfortune,' she says. 'As a show of good faith against the Black Widow, here is something that was taken from one of his crusader brethren a long time ago. The gauntlet will function exactly like a hand, the bearer has simply to will it.' She tosses a silver gauntlet to you.

• Pass the gauntlet to Doré?
• Throw the gauntlet away into the chasm?

Avenger I, Overlord of Irsmuncast-nigh-Edge, Grandmaster of the Five Winds
Modifiers: Kick +1, Throw +1, Fortune +1
Inner Force: 1/4
Endurance: 12/20
Techniques: Acrobatics, Climbing, Disable Device, Poison Needles, Kwon's Flail, ShinRen.
Shuriken: *****-*****-*****-***
Ninja Tools: Ninja Costume, Breathing Tube, Iron Sleeves, Garotte, Flash Powder, Flint & Tinder, Spiderfish, Blood of Nil.
Special Items: Opal Ring, Pouch with 34 Gold Pieces, Locket with Saint's Hair, Silver Shuriken, Statuette of Dama, Coronation Day Coin, Ruby Circlet, Scorpion Ring, several gems, Amulet of Nullaq, the Orb (in eye), the Sceptre.

[Darth Rabbitt]

I figured Cassandra was lying, since if she was telling the truth it would be odd that she didn't just fire when she had the element of surprise. More importantly, now all of the CE adventuring party is dead! Other than Honoric (and to a lesser extent Mandrake), they were the only truly recurring villains in the series. This book really is wrapping shit up.

I don't trust Foxglove's claim that the suspicious magical artificial hand is safe, especially given that she's an enchantress and gifted liar who's literally working for the demon spider that wants to kill us.

[Dr_Noface]

The image of tossing the hand into the chasm is too good to pass up.

[Avarice]

Weird. I always used to have that useless turncoat executed in my book 6 plays, and now she waltzes in without explanation.

Did the authors think no one would take the execution route? Thats a pretty ballsy assumption.

As for the arm...id think she wouldnt try a deception so early, makes more sense to try and win our trust with a positive gesture, but the backstory behind the item is too coincidental: there was ANOTHER one armed paladin and this was taken from him and given to foxglove why now?

Anyway, she openly admited she needs the sceptre, and we are havin' none of it.

Im dissapointed there is no variable for when she stabs you in the stomach while you sleep and rides of. How do you imagine that conversation going down? "OK now I know I tried to kill you in your sleep with a poison dagger, but if can you help me out here? That'd be neat"

toss it in the chasm and kick her in too for good measure

[Mr Shine]

More importantly, now all of the CE adventuring party is dead!

T+T were attacked by a group of Dark Elves one would presume they could handle. Cassandra got hit in the cheek rather than the throat, to a poison much less virulent than the one that failed to kill Honoric with a full dose. None of them were explicitly shown to die so by the rule of drama for recurring villains I presume they're all still alive even if they make no further appearance in this book.

Throw the hand away.

[angelfromanotherpin]

You throw the silver gauntlet away into the chasm, and turn to face Foxglove who looks nonplussed. Doré's gaze follows the arc you threw the gauntlet down the chasm, but his face betrays no emotion. Foxglove asks again for the Sceptre as dozens of Spider Riders form a semi-circle around you and start to close in under the emotionless gaze of the Black Widow. You must act quickly, or all your escape has been for nothing.

• If you travel with Eris, prompt him to cast something?
• Try to burn the webbing with a torch?
• Surrender the Sceptre in exchange for your escape?

[Mr Shine]

Blue option. (Kwon help us...)

[Darth Rabbitt]

Even given that Eris is a fuck up we also had to go back to rescue him, so I suspect his blue option will give us something good.

[SGamerz]

I'm giving Eris this one chance to redeem himself.....

[Dr_Noface]

true blue

[Avarice]

Cmon Eris.
Burn that last cloudkill you've been itching to use.
I believe in you.

[angelfromanotherpin]

Eris swallows nervously and steps in to whisper to you. 'Would that I could burn through the web, but I have no magic left save for a simple artifice spell.'

'That is all we need,' you say, and hide the Sceptre under your clothing. He speaks a few words of magic and the Torch of Lumen changes shape into a likeness of the Sceptre, which you lay on the ground near the giant raven.

Apparently oblivious to the deception, Foxglove reaches into her robe to produce an onyx and diamond spider token, which she touches to the webbing; the web melts away. Then she grabs the false Sceptre from the ground and with a triumphant laugh mounts her giant raven.

'We have outplayed the gods, Avenger. I bid you farewell.' Her raven speeds her away.

With a nervous glance over your shoulder at the army of Spider Riders, your group hurry on into the cave, hoping it will prove to be your final salvation against the forces of the Black Widow.

Blue option or not, I really wish this was a test of pattern recognition and Eris remained a fuck-up. Oh well.

You are surrounded by a red glow, and when it fades your companions have all seemingly disappeared. You are in a cave lit by glowing red crystals. Before you stands a pale blindfolded woman, dressed in bizarre raiment of red and gold, and carrying a golden sword behind her back. Around her neck are numerous brass neck rings, and her smooth head is hairless. Behind her, a circle of shimmering multi-colored crystals is on the ground.

This is the quality of art I have not felt bad about not sharing.

'Welcome, Avenger,' she says, 'I am Fortuna, Fate's chosen guardian in this blighted place. Do not fear, not even the Black Widow can enter here against my will.'

You start to ask about your friends and she holds up her left hand.

'They too stood where you do now and have cast aside the physical world to walk their own journey. All are bound to their own fate. My mistress offers the hope of a return to the surface, although your path will be beset by challenges. Unfortunately for you, even good fortune has a price.'

You ask is anyone has used this route successfully.

'Indeed. The last was the Dark Elf Shadazar when she left to attack Irsmuncast. Fate deals with both good and evil. None may understand the workings of fate but Fate herself.'

'I am ready,' you say.

'That remains to be seen,' Fortuna says, 'for you have not yet outmaneuvered all the deities of evil and chaos who oppose your own god. I regret that I can provide you no solace from the obscenity that even now seeks to befoul your path along the spirit plane. Damnation or salvation, death or redemption, your fate awaits...'

A moment later, you step forward into the crystal circle.

You stand under a dark sky beneath the nacreous glow of a washed out moon that comes and goes as if by divine whimsy. Along a path before you is a great edifice of dark crystal, its walls slanting at bizarre incomprehensible angles, the whole structure twisting as you watch. Its gate lies open, illuminated in shifting colors. Around you is a countryside landscape of bamboo groves. From somewhere in the forest you can just hear the Catechism of the Redeemer being sung by a male voice. You look down at your hands to see that they seem shadowy and wraithlike, and as you scrutinize your surroundings they take on an ethereal quality.

You must add your current Endurance and Inner Force: your total becomes your Spirit score which you should record on your Character Sheet. If your Spirit Score ever reaches 0 or less, your adventure ends. There is no maximum to your Spirit score and you may raise it above its starting value should you find a way. For the duration of your time in this domain of Fate, you will not be able to use any ninja skills, items, or Modifiers besides your Fate modifier. You must add or subtract your Fate Modifier whenever you try to punch, kick, or throw someone.

• Make your way into the bamboo grove towards the singing?
• Make your way towards the open gate of the edifice?

Fate Modifier: +1
Spirit: 13

[Starmaker]

This is the quality of art I have not felt bad about not sharing.

The art quality is all over the place. This chick is amateurish even clean and in color:

But some pieces are actually quite good:

[Darth Rabbitt]

I suspect the singing is a trap, so ignore it.

[Dr_Noface]

singing

[Mr Shine]

Find out what the singing is about.