Re: [Let's Play] Fighting Fantazine Adventure #2 - Shrine of the Salamander
Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2023 12:07 pm
Agreed, wavy lines.
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As you wander down the corridor you hear the sound of running water, and soon enough you reach a cave on the banks of the subterranean stream. On the other side of the water is a beach, and from there a tunnel leading northwards. You are just pondering how best to cross the stream, when you are suddenly aware of something huge standing behind you. Too late, you try to turn around but a great clammy hand grab you around the throat and throttle you until you lose consciousness...
Do we take the exact same actions as last time for this whole encounter?You awaken in a small cave at the end of a long tunnel. In the distance you can see a faint bluish light. Your throat is bruised and tender - deduct 1 STAMINA point for the effects of being strangled. Your equipment lies in a neat pile to one side, and your hands are tightly bound, so you cannot cast any magic spells. There is a large fire in the centre of the cave, and a thick wooden roasting spit that looks uncomfortably like it has been designed to bear your weight. You hear a sudden sound and look up to see something big and nonhuman stalking down the tunnel towards you. If you have a Knife as part of your equipment and wish to use it to cut yourself free, turn to 11. If you do not have a knife and wish to try and break your bonds using just your own strength, turn to 46. If you want to wait and see what's coming, turn to 134.
A giant lizard-like creature with rubbery skin and a great crest enters the cave, grabs the spit from the fire, and begins to tie you to it. All the while it talks partly to itself and partly to you about how you will die. "First, I'm going to roast the human slowly, till all its outside is black and crispy, but it's still alive. Then I'm going to chop its legs off and eat them, and then I'll suck its eyes out with my tongue. Then..."
For a brief moment, your bonds come free. Will you grab your weapon and attack the creature, or will you allow yourself to be tied to the spit and engage the creature in conversation?
"Wrong, wrong, wrong!" you tell the creature. "If you want to cook me properly, you'll need garlic and lost of it."
"Really?" it says with interest, putting you to one side so it can hear more.
The creature is a GREMOLL - a giant carnivorous humanoid newt, and this one is feeling especially sorry for itself. It explains to you that it used to be held in high esteem by the Horntoads as a master hunter, but the arrival of the Salamander in the halls of the Frog God has put paid to that.
"Curse Xak and all his doings!" it says with feeling. Apparently Xak is the Salamander's name. This is important lore! Like more supernatural creatures, Salamanders can be banished back to their home plane by speaking aloud their true name. If in future you have the chance to speak the name Xak, add twenty to the paragraph you have turned to, and consult this new paragraph number instead.
Meanwhile, the Gremoll is interested in learning more about your recipes for cooking human flesh. You tell it to go to the kitchen of the Horntoads and retrieve some garlic and a lot of other herbs and spices, You solemnly assure the creature you will still be here when it returns. Of course, once the Gremoll has stalked off down the tunnel and out of sight, you rapidly free yourself from your loosened bonds.
Hurriedly, you grab all your equipment and leave the lair of the Gremoll, down a long tunnel that opens, via a hidden entrance, onto the northern banks of the underground river that you came to before. Nearby is the other passage that you spied from the southern shore, before you were strangled by the Gremoll. The beast must have captured you and carried you across the river, thus saving you the trouble of fording it yourself. Suddenly, you hear weird booming cries coming from the river! Knowing that the Gremoll often live in small groups, you quickly enter the adjacent passage and head north.
After a short walk you come to yet another intersection of tunnels, again marked by the primitive runes of the Horntoads. Where will you go next? Bear in mind you cannot return to any place you have already visited, no matter how briefly.
The four vertical bars symbol
The squirming lizard symbol
The frog with a crown symbol
"POP!"The tunnel arrives at a circular chamber that functions as the Horntoads' gaol. Small doorways barred with iron gates look into several tiny prisoners' cells, most of which are empty. There doesn't seem to be any sign of a gaoler.
Suddenly, a ruckus starts up in one of the cells. "Let me out! Let me out!" You peer through the bars and see a Black Elf maiden, clad in spiked armour, striking the ground with a scimitar. On seeing you, she rushes to the door of her cells and shakes it violently.
"Please! You've got to let me out of here!" she begs. Unfortunately, the cell is securely locked, and you have no key. You can cast a magic spell:
PEP
POP
YOB
Or you can abandon her to her fate, and return to the junction.
Dice roll = 6 (Lucky).Deduct 1 STAMINA point. Do you have a pebble with you? If not, return to 96 and choose again. if you have a pebble, you cast the spell upon it. Telling the Black Elf to stand back, you throw the pebble at the iron bars of the cell. There is a loud bang, and the door of the cell is blown off its hinges and on to the floor. Don't forget to cross the pebble off your Adventure Sheet.
The Black Elf steps free from her cell, and thanks you for freeing her. Suddenly, her eyes narrow in alarm, and she points her scimitar at you.
"How do I know I can trust you?" she says.
You attempt to convince the warrior maiden as to the worthiness of your quest. Roll two dice and Test your Luck. if you are Lucky, turn to 108. if you are Unlucky, turn to 115.
Where do we go next?To your relief, the Black Elf lowers her weapon, convinced by your story.
"Sorry," she says. "Going a bit paranoid in here. Know what I mean? My name is Verrema. I'm a thief, I mean, an adventurer. well, I was until I got caught by those Horntoads. How about I help you get out of here?"
Verrema will accompany you for the rest of the adventure. While she is with you, watch the paragraph numbers. If there is an asterisk (*) next to the number, substract 15 from that reference and turn to the new paragraph number to see what Verrema has to tell you. Verrema will also join in any battles you face in the caves. Her attributes are SKILL 8, STAMINA 8. If you face only one opponent, you will gain two Attacks (yours and Verrema's), both of which can injure your opponent. If your opponent causes a wound, roll a die: on a 1-3, you are wounded, and on a 4-6 Verrema is wounded (this also applies to Escape penalties if the two of you decide to flee). If you face multiple opponents which you fight one at a time, then you can either attack alternate creatures, or you can both gang up on each opponent as you work your way through the battle-order. Keep a careful check on Verrema's STAMINA score as if she dies then you must continue alone (obviously losing any benefits gained by having the Black Elf accompany you). You can however give Verrema Provisions or a Potion of Healing to restore her STAMINA score if you wish.
For now, you return to the junction, along with your new companion.
Adventure Sheet:The four vertical bars symbol
The squirming lizard symbol
The frog with a crown symbol
Verrema gives her input:*
You follow a wide tunnel that opens up into a huge chamber that can only be the shrine of Furlakk the Frog God, Lord of Amphibians. An immense stone statue of Furlakk - in his guise as a Horntoad, obviously - stares down balefully from an altar that has been piled high with skulls. The vaulted ceiling is supported by crooked pillars inscribed with the carvings of fanged demons and horned toads. There are smoking braziers and burning candles everywhere, and the air is so thick with the sweet stench of incense your eyes start watering.
There! You spy it! At the foot of the altar lies the plain and simple, yet utterly sacred Idol of Verlang, a bearded, helmeted smith with a hammer and an anvil. You move towards it but are brought up short by the sound of an ancient voice, rich in evil, which booms out across the shrine.
"Not so fast!" The speaker is none other than the SALAMANDER of Daddu-Yadu, stalking out across the floor of the shrine. It stands three metres tall on its back legs, with a long tail trailing behind, and its skin is a mixture of black, yellow, and red, all wreathed in fire. Great dark eyes regards you inscrutably from a broad wedge-shaped head, and in its hands it holds a flaming iron trident of outlandish design.
"You have done well to make it this far, blacksmith!" says the Salamander contemptuously. "But now you face no croaking Horntoad, no Gremoll newtling. You face me, and I cannot allow you to take the idol. My people made it eons ago, at the behest of Verlang, before you humans stole it from us, and now I am taking it back to its rightful place in the City of Brass."
"This is sacrilege," you yell at the Salamander. "The idol is ours, and I have come to collect it."
"Well, smith," says the Salamander quietly, dabbing at its eyelids with a long pink tongue. "Come and get it then."
Will you fight the Salamander of Daddu-Yadu or will you cast a magic spell:
XAK
WOK
YOB
I think I can safely assume that we use the Salamander's real name to banish it again:"Oh, flippin' heck, not you again!" says Verrema upon seeing the Salamander. "Of all the rotten luck..."
The Salamander laughs. "So priest, you have joined forces with the renegade Black Elf? I was going to devour her later, but you brining her here no has saved me the trouble! Much obliged!"
"Shut it, lizard!" shouts the Black Elf maiden. "The only thing you'll be devouring here is your own tail, when we force-feed it down your throat after cutting you into pieces!"
It seems these two have history! Return to 188 and choose as to whether you will fight the Salamander or cast a magic spell.
But we know it's not yet over..."Xak!" you howl at the Salamander. "Xak, I speak your true name and banish back to the Plane of Fire forthwith! Begone fiend, and trouble these lands no more!"
The Salamander utters a low drawn-out scream of horror, but it is too late! A jagged tear in the fabric of space and time rips open behind the beast and engulfs it in a black void. Still screaming, Xak the Salamander is dragged back to the flaming plains of its homeland on the Elemental Plane of Fire. Just as suddenly, the hole in reality seals itself back up and winks out of existence, leaving behind only the Salamander's trident, which clatters harmlessly to the floor of the shrine. Add 1 LUCK point for your victory here, turn to 137.
But this time we've been forewarned!*
You have defeated the Salamander of the Croaking Caves! You rush over to the altar and pick up the sacred idol. You have retrieved the Idol of Verlang! Your quest is over.
Suddenly and completely unexpectedly, there is an agonizing pain in your back, as if you have been stabbed with a giant flaming spear! And again! And again! Blood is already pouring from from your gaping wounds, as you turn around to confront your assailant. It is none other than the Salamander's trident, now hovering in the air of its own accord, like some horrific metal hornet. Again it strikes, wounding you grievously in the stomach this time, and you collapse to the now blood-stained temple floor, cradling the idol protectively to your chest. There no mercy from the flying trident however, for it stabs downwards repeatedly until your brutalized corpse is as still as the idol you were carrying...
There's actually a minor problem with the opening text of the section: we got here because we were told to subtract 30 from the previous section after seeing the opening text "You have defeated the Salamander of the Croaking Caves!", but since this section also open with the exact same sentence, theoretically we should subtract yet another 30 from this section, but I'm pretty sure that's not what the author intends here.You have defeated the Salamander of the Croaking Caves! But you also remember the warning of Zared the Hermit, and spin around just in time to see the Salamander's trident rise up off the floor and streak towards you like some horrific metal hornet. It is extremely fast, but if you can hit it a couple of times then you will break the enchantment that animates it and render it inert. Defend yourself one last time!
TRIDENT OF DOOM SKILL 10 STAMINA 4
There is no Escape from here! If you destroy the demonic Trident, turn to 200.
I think that qualifies as a successful ending, even though the text implies some doubt about whether the PC will make his escape successfully. The good ending for The Citadel of Chaos (FF2) had a similar undertone if the PC doesn't have any Levitation spells remaining, and it's clear that this author enjoys Steve Jackson's works.*
Now you really have completed the quest entrusted to you by High Priest Gulanti of the Copperstone Caves. You step forward and claim the sacred Idol of Verlang, the holiest treasure of your order, and place it carefully in your backpack. You have also destroyed its demonic trident accomplice. It will be some time, if at all, before the Horntoads of the Croaking Caves rise to power in these parts again. Well done, and congratulations! Upon your return, your rapid promotion through the ranks of the priests of Verlang (not that you have far to go of course!) is assured!
Ah...about your return to Daddu-Ley. You remember the words of Captain Unzana of the good ship Schoolfish. You are to leave the caves, climb to the top of the cliffs, and light a signal-beacon. The ship will then return for you, and pluck you off the beaches before sailing away to safety. Leaving the caves may be a problem however. You are tired and exhausted, and there's an army of Horntoads between you and the exit. Whether or not you make it back through the Croaking Caves and light the beacon to be rescued us a tale for another time. Perhaps you should have a rest here first, in the shrine of the Salamander...
THE END?
The author even marks the completeness of this ending with an exclamation mark instead of the question mark that he used for the earlier ending. So congratulations on reaching the most successful ending!"Well, priest," says Verrema the Black Elf who has been searching the dark alcoves at the back of Furlakk's shrine. "You can rest here and recuperate and whatnot, but I've found me a secret staircase leading upwards, so I guess I'll be lighting that secret signal-beacon you keep banging on about. Unless of course, you want to join me?"
You rush to investigate whether she is telling the truth. There, behind a secret panel of carven friezes, is a rickety iron staircase leading upwards in a tight spiral to the top of the cliffs. You can even glimpse the faint smudge of daylight right at the summit of the hidden shaft. Both you and Verrema immediately begin ascending the stairs.
Some time and a ridiculous number of steps later, the two of you are standing at the top of the great jagged cliffs that form the Earth End Coastline warming your hands against a blazing fire, and waiting for the telltale light of a ship bobbing up and down on the darkening waters. Seabirds glide and call on a strong brine-scented breeze that ruffles through the grass and snaps about your robes. The sun has set over the lands of Kakhabad, the velvet night sky above the sea is studded with a thousand gleaming stars, and this well and truly is
THE END!
I wondered why she was wearing "spiked armour" if she claimed to be a thief.Thaluikhain wrote: ↑Fri Sep 08, 2023 2:50 pmExcept maybe for an companion with annoying dialogue who beat the odds and didn't die.
The Salamander's hatchery. There's nothing important there, but a bunch of Salamander spawnlings to fight (one young Salamander and several hatchlings). If we kill them all, we destroy the rest of the eggs and get 2 LUCK bonus for it. The young Salamander is SK 6 ST 7, and the hatchlings are about the same level as the Horntoad tadpoles, so the fight shouldn't be too hard (especially if you have Verrema helping you).Queen of Swords wrote: ↑Fri Sep 08, 2023 2:44 amWhere would we have ended up if we'd tried the squirming lizard symbol?
What was the combat loop?SGamerz wrote: ↑Sat Sep 09, 2023 8:04 amI have stated before that the author seems to be a fan of Steve Jackson's work: the magic system from Sorcery, the companion and hidden section reference mechanisms similar to Creatures of Havoc, the similar undertone to the successful ending of Citadel of Chaos...even the combat loop (which we thankfully avoided) similar to the ones employed in Creature of Havoc all seem to indicate that.
If we fail the second item check for the Transformation Potion or Jar of Bees, we get stuck in an endless combat loop against one Horntoad after another. (And therefore, if we have only one of those 2 items, we need to not use it on the first check with the 2 guards outside and save it for this second check instead.)Thaluikhain wrote: ↑Sat Sep 09, 2023 5:43 pmWhat was the combat loop?SGamerz wrote: ↑Sat Sep 09, 2023 8:04 amI have stated before that the author seems to be a fan of Steve Jackson's work: the magic system from Sorcery, the companion and hidden section reference mechanisms similar to Creatures of Havoc, the similar undertone to the successful ending of Citadel of Chaos...even the combat loop (which we thankfully avoided) similar to the ones employed in Creature of Havoc all seem to indicate that.
(Oh, and just noticed that it seems after the rewind due to dying you sometimes had us back at Skill 9. Not that I'm criticising, especially as I didn't notice that myself until now.)