[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy 29 - Midnight Rogue

[Queen of Swords]

I'm curious about the house now, so I'd like to check that out first (and fingers crossed it's not a game over situation).

[SGamerz]

Barrow wins by 3-2 votes.

Your hair bristles as you approach the barrow - you can almost feet the ancient power flowing around you. The trees silhouetted against the dark sky suddenly seem threatening, their branches reaching out to seize you...you shake your head to clear out these wild ideas, and concentrate on what you have to do. You walk right round the barrow, looking for a way in, but as far as you can see it is just a plain grassy mount. There is a standing stone on one side of the barrow, but you can't find any kind of entrance. If you have SPOT HIDDEN skill, turn to 132. If you don't, turn to 206.

Bingo!

You hunt all round the barrow, but can't find any way in, it seems to be no more than a featureless grassy mount. You are about to give up when you notice something scratched faintly into the standing stone which stands to one side of the barrow. Turn to 100 if you have the SECRET SIGNS skill, 344 if you don't.

Oh dear, we found the clue but lack the skill to decipher it!

You can't make out the symbol. Since there seems to be no way into the barrow itself, you conclude that the Eye of the Basilisk is hidden somewhere else. Turn to 77 and look around the rest of the garden.

This re-directs us to the section where we'd go if we check the house, so I guess all the voters got what they asked for!

The garden is old and overgrown, more like a jungle these days, but in places you can still see traces of a flower-bed, proving that it used to be a garden. Heading towards the blackened clearing when the house once stood, you see what looks like a statue a few yards to your left. Will you inspect the statue or go straight across what was once the lawn to the site of the house?

[Beroli]

Huh, there was a lot of content that we missed getting up to this part, including 2 times that having the Climb skill wasn't such a great thing.

"Content that we missed" is such an odd way to phrase "we got here without dying instead of aimlessly wandering around."

Inspect the statue.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to inspect the statue.

[Queen of Swords]

Yes, inspect the statue.

[pragma]

Inspect statue

[SGamerz]

As you push through the undergrowth that surrounds the statue, you realize that it is set on a plinth in the middle of a small walled pond. The statue, of an archer about to loose an arrow, is made of bronze, and is green with age. On the base of the statue is an inscription of some kind, obscured by dead leaves. Will you wade across the pond to read the inscription, or jump across?

There's a picture here, but I don't have access to a scanner at the moment, will post it later.

[Queen of Swords]

Jump across, in case something's lurking in the pool.

[JourneymanN00b]

Yes, I also vote to jump across to avoid any pond complications.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Jump across.

[SGamerz]

As mentioned earlier, here's the picture of the statue we're looking at:

Roll 2 dice. If the result is equal to your SKILL or less, turn to 8. If not, you fail to make the jump and fall in - turn to 2.

Dice roll = 6 (Success).

You reach the plinth safely, and stand clutching the statue for a moment, catching your breath before you look at the inscription. Brushing the dead leaves and other rubbish away, you reveal the following words:

My enemy's a heart of stone,
My arrow never flies,
Yet when my arrow heads for home,
The gate of death yawns wide.

You puzzle for a while, wondering what to do. As you lean against the statue, it shifts slightly, making you jump. You push it, and it shifts again - the whole thing is made to swivel back and forth. The arrow must likely be the key to getting into the barrow. What will you do?

Point it at the barrow?
Point it at the site of the house?
Point it at the standing stone by the barrow?

[Beroli]

Point it at the (heart of) standing stone.

Abg gung vg gehyl znggref. Bar guvat V qb pyrneyl erzrzore sebz urer vf gung rvgure jebat nafjre whfg trgf lbh, "Abguvat unccraf. Pubbfr ntnva."

[JourneymanN00b]

I also vote to point it at the standing stone by the barrow, since that is the enemy referred to in the poem.

[SGamerz]

You pull the statue round so that the archer's arrow points at the standing stone beside the barrow. There is a grating noise, and part of the featureless grassy mound falls inward, revealing a small stone doorway. You go cautiously inside, pausing only to light a torch, your hand-lantern isn't bright enough for these conditions.

You go down a short passage, and come to a set of steps leading downwards into the darkness. This seems to be the only way onwarrd, so you start cautiously down the steps. If you have SPOT HIDDEN skill, turn to 286. If you do not, turn to 267.

We do...

Pausing to examine the steps, you notice a loose flagstone. You prise it up, and find a small lever underneath, obviously the trigger for a trap. You avoid the trap, and carry on down the steps tp 240.

A low passage leads away from the foot of the steps, ending in a huge stone slab. You have to stoop to move along the passage. You have only gone a little way when you hear scuffling and chittering noises ahead of you. You raise your torch to see what's there, and suddenly the air is full of small, sharp-toothed bats. If you have a silver whistle, turn to 363. If not, turn to 280.

Your torch has panicked the Bats, and some attack you as they mill about. Fight them as one creature, subtracting 2 points from your Attack Strength because of the cramped conditions.

BATS SKILL 5 STAMINA 12

If you win, turn to 43.

Even with the AS penalty, this shouldn't be too hard.

Hopefully they don't carry rabies...

COMBAT LOG:
Bats 15, Carmen Garrett 16. Bats are at 10.
Bats 12, CG 21. Bats are at 8.
Bats 16, CG 19. Bats are at 6.
Bats 11, CG 14. Bats are at 4.
Bats 9, CG 21. Bats are at 2.
Bats 13, CG 17. Bats are defeated.

And a flawless!

You reach the great stone slab at the end of the passage. It is immense, filling the height and width of the passage, and it appears to be at least a couple of feet thick. Will you try to force it open, look for some hidden mechanism (only if you have SPOT HIDDEN skill), or look for a way around the slab?

[pragma]

Look for hidden mechanism

[JourneymanN00b]

I also vote to look for the hidden mechanism.

[Beroli]

Look for hidden mechanism.

[Queen of Swords]

Blue option.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Spot hidden is mvp so far. Use the gift that keeps on giving.

[SGamerz]

Spot hidden is mvp so far.

If you mean the skills we picked at the start, yes. If you include the ones made accessible by items, PICK LOCK has been more important by far.

You look all around the slab, trying to find some means of shifting it. After a few seconds' searching, you find a hand-size gap between the slab and the wall on one side, just the right size for a hidden catch. Will you feel for the catch with your hand or use a dagger instead, if you have one?

[JourneymanN00b]

I definitely vote to use a dagger, as the catch could be coated with acid or contact poison.

[Queen of Swords]

Agreed, use a dagger.

[SGamerz]

You can't reach with your dagger - the blade is too rigid. Will you put your hand in the gap, or try something else?

Note that "try something else" redirects to the earlier section, so if you don't want to put your hand in the gap, please specify whether you wish to use force on the slab or look for a way around it.

[pragma]

I don't trust this gap, look for a way around it.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Yeah, this gap seems like a trap. Try something else.