[Let's Play] Blood Sword III - The Demon's Claw

[Shiritai]

We did take the most direct path; if this is doable without an enchanter's prediction then we should be safe with just opening that door; might be extra goodies, and we know it's not an instant game over!

So, one vote for checking that door.

[Starmaker]

I'm curious, we know it's not fatal, and we have almost half the worst-case reserve of ticks. Open it.

[SGamerz]

Write down the codeword NEXUS with any others you have recorded.

Opening the door, you are confronted with a haze of jumbled shapes and dizzying perspectives. You strain to focus your eyes, but what lies beyond the door is a place of unearthly geometry. You can discern no pattern or logic in the drifting lines, most of which disregard the normal rules of shape and space. This must be a dimensional portal allowing Hunguk to range across the many planes of reality and unreality.

Record another tick.

If you have not yet done so, you can search through the objects on the shelves or look at the charts. If you are ready to leave, turn to 185.

Sadly, there's no option to try using the portal, so it seems to be just another time-wasting option.

Nothing else to do here, let's go.....

A sense of impending disaster quickens your pace as you make your way back to the deck.

Something whizzes past, just missing you, as you emerge from the companion-way. Strange objects - creatures? - like conjoined trapezoids are flitting through the air all around. Whenever they touch the hull or the rigging, they explode in a fountain of red sparks. Gusts of wind thunder across the deck, parting the mist with sheets of freezing drizzle. Ahead you can see only a black void. You turn. The view aft is like peering out of a tunnel: you see the island, and the waters of the Gulf tinged by the afterglow of sunset, but they are receding with alarming speed. The Devil's Runner is leaving the earthly plane!

If you arrived on the ship by means of a flying horse, turn to 352. If you came in a boat, turn to 369. If you swam across, turn to 225.

No fancy departures for us....

You dive over the side and swim powerfully away from the ship.

The means of departure makes zero difference whatsoever, anyway.

Reaching the shore of the island, you turn to watch the departure of Hunguk's ship. The fog thickens about its sides until it is only visible as a blur of shadow inside the pink sunset-lit cloud. Then a wind seems to catch the fog - though you can feel no breeze - and sucks it away into thin air. Only a few strands of mist are left, trailing across an empty sea. There is no sign of The Devil's Runner. The last waves from its wake lap at the shingle by your feet and, when those are gone, the ocean all around lies still and silent under a canopy of awakening stars.

As you might expect, running out of 'ticks' means that Hunguk returns. However, as long as we managed to find the emeralds before time expires, we're safe, because we automatically bail once we see Hunguk returning. If we didn't manage to find the gems but did make it to Hunguk's cabin, we'd have to fight the 100-END bastard.

If we took a wrong turn earlier and didn't even make it to the cabin, then it's Game Over altogether.

You enjoy a good sleep and get up some time after sunrise. Each wounded player can restore Endurance points equal to half his or her rank for the rest (rounding fractions up), plus one additional point for your breakfast of fruit.

If you left your armour here before visiting Hunguk's ship you can now put it back on. Now you must turn your thoughts to getting off this island ...

If you were brought here by the Roc and know the word that commands it, turn to 125. If you arrived in a boat, turn to 306. If you came on the flying horse or carpet, or were shipwrecked here, turn to 201.

The Warrior regains 3 END....which means she's just 1 END short of full.

You decide against trying the same trick as before. The Roc might decide to fly off in any direction, and knowing the word to make it descend would do you no good if it chose to head west along the Azure coast or south-east towards the endless Silent Sea. No - you must think of some other way to get to Hakbad...

And again, the means of arrival means nothing here since it's all just flavor text explaining why you can't go by the same route again.

A stroll along the shore turns up a fortuitous find: a bottle made of yellow copper, sealed with a lead bung which bears a curious glyph. Shrugging, you unstopper it to see what it contains.

This book really like filler sections...

A thick column of black smoke boils out of the mouth of the bottle. This spreads along the length of the shore and rises up until it touches the clouds. As it begins to coalesce, you see features gradually emerging until finally a huge jinni appears. His head touches the sky while his legs, knotted with cords of muscle each as thick as a tree, reach to the ground. When he stretches out his arms, you have to turn your head to look from one giant hand to the other. He is clothed only in the long dusty strands of his unkempt hair and beard, which reach right down to his knees like ivy covering a massive block of stone. His mouth opens to reveal snaggled black teeth and, above this cavernous maw, his eyes burn like torches.

Simple dread deprives you of your strength, and it is all you can do not to drop to your knees in front of the menacing jinni. Peering down at the tiny island on which he is standing, he catches sight of you and booms: 'Where and when, how and why? Tell me your tale, you who have freed me.'

You have managed to recover your composure after the initial shock. 'It would indeed be pleasant to linger awhile and exchange our stories,' you tell the jinni, 'but events are moving at a pace that will not allow us such leisure. Your first command is as follows: create a winged chariot -'

'My first command?' leers the jinni, interrupting you. 'Aha, I sense you have misunderstood the situation. To spare you further embarrassment, perhaps I should explain that there will be no commands. Pleas for mercy might be more appropriate, though equally useless. When I lift my foot in a moment, it will be to crush the life from you!'

You protest. 'Where is the logic in this? Perhaps your long imprisonment has addled your brains. It is generally considered proper to reward someone who frees you from captivity. Lambasting them with threats of violence ignores all the rules of gratitude and etiquette.'

'Not so!' growls the jinni. 'Consider how long you left me trapped in that bottle. For the first hundred years I was resolved to bestow staggering riches on the one who set me free. But did you free me then? Very well - for the next two hundred years, I swore each day that the one who freed me would receive all of the treasures and honours of the world. But did you free me then? As the next four hundred years dawned, I pledged to grant the one who rescued me the three wishes of his heart, to elevate him to wealth and power undreamed of in mortal history, to create for him a kingdom where his own word was the only law, and to render to him the gift of eternal youth so that he could enjoy these rewards to the end of time. But did you free me then?

'No! So ... you find me now in an entirely different mind. In bitterness, I decided that the only reward for the one to free me would be a quick death. If you have no further words, prepare to receive that reward ...'

If the Trickster is here and wishes to do something, he or she should turn to 572. If the Enchanter wants to do something, he or she should turn to 135. If the Warrior wants to do something, he or she should turn to 272. If the Sage wants to act, he or she should turn to 420.

On the plus side, this book also seems to like equal-opportunity between the character classes. Another rare case where everyone has a chance to show their stuff.

Who wants to deal with the genie?

[angelfromanotherpin]

Ordinarily, I'd say this is clearly the Trickster's job. But since a solo Warrior has to be able to deal with this, I'd like to seize one of my rare chances to shine.

[Starmaker]

"Thus begins the reign of Simon the Legless."

I'd welcome the opportunity to sit this one out.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Yeah, now's the Warrior's time to shine!

[SGamerz]

WARRIOR:

'Hold!' you bellow up at the jinni. I have fought with all manner of creatures, foul and fell, that the Evil One put upon this earth. I do not intend to submit without a struggle now, not even to one as mighty as you.'

'What do you suggest?' asks the jinni, restraining his laughter.

Folding your arms, you give him a defiant look. 'A wrestling contest in the Emphidian style. The first of us to fall is the loser, and must submit to the victor's will.'

The jinni shakes in merriment. 'Now whose brains are addled? You cannot have failed to notice the discrepancy in our heights and weights.'

'It is counterbalanced by the huge discrepancy in our intelligence,' you reply, turning to run.

The jinni, with a bellow of rage, steps after you as you scramble up the cliff beside the shoreline. Each step he takes covers fifty of your strides - but he moves slowly and, after a millennium's imprisonment, clumsily.

If you have a sword, turn to 401. If you are without a weapon, turn to 138.

Not only does the Warrior has a sword, she has the only enchanted one in the group.

WARRIOR:

The jinni is treading right behind you. 'You cannot escape me!' he booms. But escape is the last thing on your mind. Suddenly wheeling round, you draw your sword and plunge it up to the hilt in his toe, just under the nail!

The ensuing scream of rage and pain makes the very rocks of the island shudder. Clutching his injured foot, the jinni hops backwards. His torrent of curses, obscenities and threats is quite awe-inspiring, and the ground shakes with each hop he takes, but you remain calm and alert. You are waiting for his other foot to come down on a certain large boulder which you have noticed - a boulder very precariously balanced on the cliff's edge. As soon as the opportunity arrives, you seize it. Dashing forward, you throw your whole weight against the boulder as the jinni's foot descends. The effort nearly snaps your sinews, but you manage to dislodge it. It slides away from under the jinni's foot and his anger evaporates into simple dismay as, arms flailing comically, he overbalances and falls flat on his back in the sea ...

You are knocked down by the resulting deluge of water. When you scramble to your feet, drenched, you see a very abashed jinni kneeling in the surf.

'Well, who is the victor?' you demand, almost laughing out loud as he wrings the salt water from his beard.

'It is you,' he admits, handing back your sword. 'Now I am yours to command.'

As mentioned before, although he doesn't get much chance to do anything besides standing at the front getting hit in battles, the few chances where he do get to act are usually really cool.....when it works.

The Trickster, as you can probably guess, would have done the classic "I don't believe you can fit in that little bottle, prove it!" trick. The Sage, more boringly (but very effectively), simply knows the magic words that bind the genie.

The Warrior option had a minor risk in that if she didn't have a sword, she gets squashed.

The Enchanter is the worst option of the lot. On the surface he seemed to have the most options (three items and three spells) but only 1 of the items works (and we don't have any of them in any case), and only 1 of the spells have a high chance of working (even with Reed's super-enhanced stat).

As a precaution, you pick up the copper bottle in which the jinni was imprisoned. If you wish to keep this item, one player must record it on his or her Character Sheet. In a multi-player party, note that it is the player who has commanded the jinni's obeisance who decides on any wishes to be granted. Other players can make suggestions, but the jinni will only take his orders from his new master or mistress.

'You have only to say something for me to make it so,' he says. 'But choose carefully, for after I have granted three wishes I am free to depart.'

You protest at this. 'Already we are haggling over terms. Let us say that the first wish is that you should grant a thousand more wishes, and that will preclude any further argument.'

The jinni twines his fingers obsequiously. You found him less objectionable when he was full of boasts and threats. 'Ah, if only that could be so,' he simpers. 'But a greater authority than I has shown that such a notion quickly leads to a logical paradox which, if carried to its conclusion, would make a mockery of the whole wish-fulfilment procedure. I cannot remember the reasoning in detail, but I can vouch that it is sound and true.'

This is an annoyance, but you accept it. After all you only really need to make one wish. You tell the jinni to bring you the blade of the Sword of Life.

'That is not within my power!' he answers, shaken. 'Some things can only be achieved by dint of heroic effort, and I am surely not destined to be one of the world's heroes! In any case, though I can bestow large sums of money on you and so forth, and even equip you in magical harness, it is simply impossible that I should locate a specific object among all the millions of things scattered across the earth's face. I am bound by the flow of Time just as you are, and before I had completed a search of half the civilised lands you would have crumbled to bones and dust waiting for my return. And this assumes that I encountered no mythic or magic barriers to thwart me! No, what you ask is disallowed by legend and by logic.'

'What exactly can you do?' you yell at the jinni. 'If every wish turns out to be beyond you, the whole pleasure of wishing will be rather soured!'

'If I set out the general ways in which I can serve,' suggests the jinni, 'that should help you to order your thoughts. I am able to employ several different powers: that of Enrichment, which is the bestowal of vast sums of money; of Invigoration, which is the gift of perfect health; of Restoration, which is the renewal and improvement of your arms and armour; of Potentiation, which involves enhancing your natural strength to superhuman pitch; and of Transportation, which is the simple act of carrying you in my hands across a great distance.'

The last of these is obviously the answer to one problem. The jinni can carry you to Hakbad, presumably in a space of hours rather than the days it would take by any other means. But since you have only three wishes, you must be careful how you use the other two.

The Warrior, being the one who defeated the genie, has the final say on what wishes to use, but the copper bottle doesn't have to be carried by him. If any of you want to take it, let me know what you want to drop to free up equipment slot.

You must keep track of how many wishes you are using. Draw three boxes on a sheet of paper (or on the back of your Character Sheet), and put a tick in one of the boxes each time you give the jinni a command.

If you now wish to make use of any of the jinni's powers except Transportation, turn to the entry corresponding to your wish:

To wish for riches, turn to 15. To wish for renewed health, turn to 275. To wish for your arms and armour to be restored, turn to 558. To wish for your strength to be enhanced, turn to 540. (Remember that it is up to the player who originally commanded the jinni to decide on any wishes.)

If you choose not to make any other wishes yet, but just tell the jinni to take you to Hakbad, turn to 290.

Just a note: the Enhancement wish only applies the character making the wish (Warrior), while the other 2 wishes do affect the whole party (although nobody except the Warrior will benefit from healing at the moment, and she's only missing 1 END).

Also note that you need to leave at least one wish free for the travelling.

And of course, Kiki gets to cast the deciding vote!

Adventure Sheets:

WARRIOR:

NAME: Dame Caecilia Wither-Stoat
RANK: 4th

Battle Order: 1

Fighting Prowess: 12 (+1 from Enchanted Sword)
Psychic Ability: 6
Awareness: 7
Endurance: 22/23
Damage: 2 Dice

Items:
1 Enchanted Sword (+1 FP)
2 Chainmail armour (Armour Rating three)
3 Money pouch (98 gold pieces)
4 Silver crucifix (with finger-bone of St Ashanax)
5 Iron Bell
6 Bedroll
7 Shielding Charm (+1 AR)
8 Blood Sword Scabbard
9 Blood Sword Hilt
10 Eyes of the Hatuli

TRICKSTER:

NAME: Benedict of the Crimson Spires, Honourable Duelist
RANK: 4th

Battle Order: 2

Fighting Prowess: 7
Psychic Ability: 7
Awareness: 8
Endurance: 25/25
Damage: 1 Die+2

Items:
1 Sword
2 Studded Leather Armour (Armour Rating two)
3 Golden Snuffbox
4 Jug of Milk
5 Gloves
6 Bow
7 Harp
8 Quiver (6 arrow)
9 Fur Cloak
10 Gilt-edged scroll
*11 Screebo the Raven

SAGE:

NAME: "Pepito" Cascadero, Master of the Mystic Way
RANK: 4th

Battle Order: 3

Fighting Prowess: 7
Psychic Ability: 8
Awareness: 7
Endurance: 21/21
Damage: 1 Die+1

Items:
1 Quarterstaff
2 Ringmail Armour (Armour Rating two)
3 Seafaring Charts from Hunguk's ship
4 Bedroll
5 Magic Bow (Damage 1 Die+1)
6 Quiver (4 arrow)
7 Skull Amulet
8 Blue Crystal Eyes
9 Money pouch (100 gold pieces)
10 Silver key to Fatima's garden

ENCHANTER:

NAME: Enchanter Reed, Ninth of the Inverted Tower
RANK: 4th

Battle Order: 4

Fighting Prowess: 1
Psychic Ability: 15 (+1 from Ring of Sorcery)
Awareness: 7
Endurance: 21/21
Damage: 1 Die +1

Items:
1 Brazier
2 Silver armour (Armour Rating two)
3 Bedroll
4 Magical Bread Crust of Infinity
5 Fur Cloak
6 Money pouch (88 gold pieces)
7 Ring of Sorcery (+1 PA)
8 Gloves
9 Amber Tinderbox
10 Iron rations (7 days)

[angelfromanotherpin]

Potentiation and Restoration sound pretty swank, but I think the odds are good that we're going to need at least one wish later in the book. Thoughts?

[Starmaker]

I strongly suggest you get the stat increase right now, before the genie delivers its obligatory plotline content and disappears.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Agreed.

Who carries the bottle?

[angelfromanotherpin]

Actually, screw it. While there might very well be wish-triggers later on, there might not be. Even if there are, there's no guarantee that we can't handle them with our own prowess. And of course the jinn could always be fiat'd away from us in the meantime. So unless there's strong objection, I'll take Potentiation, Restoration, and then Translocation to Hakbad.

[Shiritai]

Sounds good to me, and I can drop my gloves and pick up that bottle.

[SGamerz]

The Warrior opts to use all her wishes! Potentiation, first:

WISHING PLAYER (WARRIOR):

You turn to give the jinni your command. 'With your power of Potentiation, endow me with superhuman strength and skill.' (Cross off one of the boxes you are using to keep track of your wishes.)

He crosses his eyes, incanting an ancient spell, and green globules of light float along his gaze to envelop you. As they sink into your body, you feel an intoxicating surge of raw power run along every nerve.

[The glow fades, but you are changed forever into something more than human. Your flesh is strong as iron mesh now, and adds one to your Armour Rating. Your naked fists can strike with the force of sledge-hammers, so you do not need to reduce your Fighting Prowess and damage rolls when fighting without a weapon. Your strength, dexterity and intuition are all increased: add one to your Fighting Prowess, Awareness and Psychic Ability scores. Your Endurance score is permanently increased by ten points.]

The jinni surveys his handiwork. 'Excellent. You now have an aura of power which I respectfully suggest you lacked before ...'

'Enough of your impertinence!' you snarl at him. New intensities of emotion have accompanied the change, and it may take some time to get used to them.

Wishes remaining: 2

If you have just used up your third wish, the jinni disappears in a clap of thunder. Since this leaves you stranded on the island in just the same situation as you were before you found the copper bottle, your adventure ends here!

If you still have wishes left, you now have the opportunity to make another. You may not wish again for something you have already wished for, incidentally.

To wish for riches, turn to 15. To wish for renewed health, turn to 275. To wish for your arms and armour to be restored, turn to 558. To wish for your strength to be enhanced, turn to 540.

If you choose not to make any other wishes yet, but just tell the jinni to take you to Hakbad, turn to 290.

Now Restoration:

'Employ your power of Restoration,' you order the jinni. This is one of your three wishes, so cross off one of the boxes you are using to keep track of them.

He spreads his arms wide, then brings his huge hands together to produce a thunderclap that makes your teeth rattle in your skull. Momentarily dazzled by the burst of blue light accompanying this, you are pleasantly surprised to find that when your vision clears you are arrayed in splendid new armour. This is enchanted and gives an Armour Rating of two points more than the unenchanted version would. (Thus, if you are the Warrior, for instance, you now have an Armour Rating of 5.)

You also have a magnificent sword or, if you prefer, a steel-shod quarterstaff. This is also magical, and adds +3 to your damage rolls. (So if you would normally inflict three Dice +1 on a successful blow, you inflict three Dice +4 when striking with this weapon.)

If you are the Sage or the Trickster, the jinni also supplies you with a new bow and a quiverful of arrows. These are not magical, but are of the most marvellous craftsmanship you have ever seen.

Your companions, if any, are not forgotten. If they are lacking any weaponry or armour, the jinni supplies them with a replacement. These items are simply replacements for the items they lost, and are not magical.

The Warrior will probably want to give up one of her swords (probably the one with +1 FP, since she doesn't really need any extra boosts in that area, but she can always do with extra damage) to the Trickster (the Enchanter doesn't have much use for one, and the Sage uses a different weapon type), but I'll let her decide.

The other characters are not lacking anything besides the Enchanter's sword (which again he can re-claim if he wants to but will have to drop something else for it), although the Sage does get to re-fill his quiver.

The next section just takes us back to the one where we choose our wish again, so I'll just skip to the Transportation.

You command the jinni to convey you to Hakbad. This constitutes one of your three wishes, so cross off one of the boxes you are using to keep track of them.

'Ah, the City of Jade Stars,' he says as he lifts you in the palm of his hand. 'It was well known even before my imprisonment in that accursed bottle. The Sassanians founded it after seizing the western territories of Kaikuhuru from the Selentine Empire. They were two sick dogs fighting over a rancid bone by then. History has dispensed with them by now, I shouldn't wonder. At any rate, I shall enjoy the chance to see Hakbad again - those majestic spires and patterned domes, the terraced palace gardens, the palm-lined avenues ...'

'Rather than allow another seven centuries to elapse,' you say sharply, 'let us set off at once.'

All day the jinni wades through the sea, which in the shallow waters at the head of the Gulf is no deeper to him than a stream is to a mortal man. As he goes, storm clouds gather and churn around him, sweeping out from his shoulders like a cloak until the sun is blotted out and the sky turns a violent grey-black. Talons of lightning shudder across the heavens, and the jinni cups his hands to shelter you from the rain.

It suddenly occurs to you that off at the edge of the storm there might be ships, even now being tossed from wave to wave as the jinni strides across their horizon. If sailors on board were to look towards the eye of the storm, would they really see an ugly bearded giant wading waist-deep in the ocean? It seems too fantastic to be possible. You ask the jinni about this.

'Such things depend on one's perspective,' he bellows above the roar of the gale. 'You know that you are being carried to Hakbad in a jinni's hands, so you see my form and features with the same clear certainty that you see your own. But for one who did not know what he beheld, it would be different. A sailor looking up from the deck of a ship some distance off, if he had a fanciful eye, might imagine he saw a storm cloud with some resemblance to a wild and ragged giant. That is all. Most are not gifted with the senses to sniff out the magic in their mundane world, and I think only a sorcerer would be likely to glance up and see me for what I am. And we will encounter no sorcerers on our route - save perhaps for Sa'aknathur, if he still lives.'

Hunguk the Pirate-King slew Sa'aknathur more than four centuries ago. 'No, he is dead,' you tell the jinni.

'Ah,' he replies. 'Even Sa'aknathur, eh? I was imprisoned for so long.'

Feeling a twinge of pity at the jinni's melancholy tone, you ask him what a sailor might make of spotting you, borne aloft in a massive hand. 'Surely this is a reality that does not depend on perspective,' you point out. 'A storm-tossed wave may appear to be a jinni's beard, and one may sometimes see a cloud very like a dragon - but a human is a human, and that fact is true and absolute.'

'Our hypothetical sailor - God preserve him from shipwreck! If he sees you, what will he think? He will think he is seeing an unfortunate mortal who has been caught up in the teeth of a storm and who is being flung helplessly across the heavens. He will think he sees a hapless mortal in the grip of unrelenting Fate.' He booms with laughter. 'Are you so sure that he is wrong? Truth, as I have said, has more facets than all the jewels of the Orient.'

The Warrior's new armour replaces her old one, but like I said before she should probably give away one of the swords, because her equipment slots are full. Slight pause here for her to make the necessary adjustments...

I've listed the Warrior's new stats (without weapon bonus) below. I will adjust them when Kiki decides which weapon she prefers to use.

Adventure Sheets:

WARRIOR:

NAME: Dame Caecilia Wither-Stoat
RANK: 4th

Battle Order: 1

Fighting Prowess: 12
Psychic Ability: 7
Awareness: 8
Endurance: 32/33
Damage: 2 Dice

Items:
*1 Enchanted Sword#1 (+1 FP)/ Enchanted Sword #2 (+3 Damage)
2 Enchanted Chainmail armour (Armour Rating five)
3 Money pouch (98 gold pieces)
4 Silver crucifix (with finger-bone of St Ashanax)
5 Iron Bell
6 Bedroll
7 Shielding Charm (+1 AR)
8 Blood Sword Scabbard
9 Blood Sword Hilt
10 Eyes of the Hatuli

TRICKSTER:

NAME: Benedict of the Crimson Spires, Honourable Duelist
RANK: 4th

Battle Order: 2

Fighting Prowess: 7
Psychic Ability: 7
Awareness: 8
Endurance: 25/25
Damage: 1 Die+2

Items:
1 Sword
2 Studded Leather Armour (Armour Rating two)
3 Golden Snuffbox
4 Jug of Milk
5 Gloves
6 Bow
7 Harp
8 Quiver (6 arrow)
9 Fur Cloak
10 Gilt-edged scroll
*11 Screebo the Raven

SAGE:

NAME: "Pepito" Cascadero, Master of the Mystic Way
RANK: 4th

Battle Order: 3

Fighting Prowess: 7
Psychic Ability: 8
Awareness: 7
Endurance: 21/21
Damage: 1 Die+1

Items:
1 Quarterstaff
2 Ringmail Armour (Armour Rating two)
3 Seafaring Charts from Hunguk's ship
4 Bedroll
5 Magic Bow (Damage 1 Die+1)
6 Quiver (6 arrow)
7 Skull Amulet
8 Blue Crystal Eyes
9 Money pouch (100 gold pieces)
10 Silver key to Fatima's garden

ENCHANTER:

NAME: Enchanter Reed, Ninth of the Inverted Tower
RANK: 4th

Battle Order: 4

Fighting Prowess: 1
Psychic Ability: 15 (+1 from Ring of Sorcery)
Awareness: 7
Endurance: 21/21
Damage: 1 Die +1

Items:
1 Brazier
2 Silver armour (Armour Rating two)
3 Bedroll
4 Magical Bread Crust of Infinity
5 Fur Cloak
6 Money pouch (88 gold pieces)
7 Ring of Sorcery (+1 PA)
8 Copper Bottle
9 Amber Tinderbox
10 Iron rations (7 days)

[Darth Rabbitt]

It's angel's call but I'd suggest that Kiki (now a killing machine) use her shiny new sword and give the old one to Benedict.

[angelfromanotherpin]

Holy balls, superhuman indeed! Armor rating seriously worthwhile! I am now super-paranoid about needing the wishes later on. Oh well, I guess it'll be a fun ride while it lasts.

Yes, Kiki will use the damage weapon, and give the accuracy weapon to Benedict.

[SGamerz]

Although the Trickster hasn't spoken, I assume he has no objections against dropping his normal sword for Kiki's enchanted one.

Close to evening, the storm around you dies down little by little until there is only a spray of warm rain falling out of an overcast sky. Ahead you see a narrow spire of rock that juts vertically upwards from the sea. Its peak is level with the jinni's head. You realise that this must be the famous Grey Rock, atop which Sa'aknathur the Wizard had his all-but-impregnable fortress. The ruins of that fortress are still visible. As you pass by, the weathered shells of buildings can be seen clinging like ancient barnacles to the peak.

Then you see a light - 'Stop!' you tell the jinni.

He halts and holds up his hand to squint at you. 'What is the matter? Is our journey too slow for your liking? Or is it too fast, perhaps, and you are becoming nauseated? Speak the will of your heart; I live only to oblige you!'

'This is not a wish in the absolute contractual sense,' you reply, 'but it would be pleasant if you gave up your sarcasm. Our association is only brief, and when we reach Hakbad there will be a parting of the ways. Let us try not to antagonise each other in that time.'

'Agreed. Why did you ask to stop?'

You point to the light among the ruins. 'Someone has taken up residence at Sa'aknathur's palace. This may require investigation.'

'By us? On the basis of our newly established friendship, allow me to advise against any investigation. Anything that dwells in the remains of Sa'aknathur's palace is unlikely to want company. Curiosity can be very dangerous - or are you unfamiliar with the Tale of the Vizier and the Four Dwarves ...?'

You wave him to silence before he can launch into this undoubtedly tedious tale.

But you must decide now whether you want to investigate the light or continue straight to Hakbad.

Shall we investigate?

Updated Adventure Sheet:

WARRIOR:

NAME: Dame Caecilia Wither-Stoat
RANK: 4th

Battle Order: 1

Fighting Prowess: 12
Psychic Ability: 7
Awareness: 8
Endurance: 32/33
Damage: 2 Dice +3 (+3 from Enchanted Sword)

*Extra Notes: Takes no FP/damage penalty when fighting unarmed, +1 Armour Rating from Potentiation on top of normal armour bonus

Items:
1 Enchanted Sword (+3 Damage)
2 Enchanted Chainmail armour (Armour Rating five)
3 Money pouch (98 gold pieces)
4 Silver crucifix (with finger-bone of St Ashanax)
5 Iron Bell
6 Bedroll
7 Shielding Charm (+1 AR)
8 Blood Sword Scabbard
9 Blood Sword Hilt
10 Eyes of the Hatuli

TRICKSTER:

NAME: Benedict of the Crimson Spires, Honourable Duelist
RANK: 4th

Battle Order: 2

Fighting Prowess: 8 (+1 from Enchanted Sword)
Psychic Ability: 7
Awareness: 8
Endurance: 25/25
Damage: 1 Die+2

Items:
1 Enchanted Sword (+1 FP)
2 Studded Leather Armour (Armour Rating two)
3 Golden Snuffbox
4 Jug of Milk
5 Gloves
6 Bow
7 Harp
8 Quiver (6 arrow)
9 Fur Cloak
10 Gilt-edged scroll
*11 Screebo the Raven

SAGE:

NAME: "Pepito" Cascadero, Master of the Mystic Way
RANK: 4th

Battle Order: 3

Fighting Prowess: 7
Psychic Ability: 8
Awareness: 7
Endurance: 21/21
Damage: 1 Die+1

Items:
1 Quarterstaff
2 Ringmail Armour (Armour Rating two)
3 Seafaring Charts from Hunguk's ship
4 Bedroll
5 Magic Bow (Damage 1 Die+1)
6 Quiver (6 arrow)
7 Skull Amulet
8 Blue Crystal Eyes
9 Money pouch (100 gold pieces)
10 Silver key to Fatima's garden

ENCHANTER:

NAME: Enchanter Reed, Ninth of the Inverted Tower
RANK: 4th

Battle Order: 4

Fighting Prowess: 1
Psychic Ability: 15 (+1 from Ring of Sorcery)
Awareness: 7
Endurance: 21/21
Damage: 1 Die +1

Items:
1 Brazier
2 Silver armour (Armour Rating two)
3 Bedroll
4 Magical Bread Crust of Infinity
5 Fur Cloak
6 Money pouch (88 gold pieces)
7 Ring of Sorcery (+1 PA)
8 Copper Bottle
9 Amber Tinderbox
10 Iron rations (7 days)

[angelfromanotherpin]

Investigate.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Agreed.

[SGamerz]

You put it to the jinni that if he agrees to stop here for a while, and does not charge you another wish to resume the journey, you will let him stay out of the exploration.

'I am too big to enter the ruins in any case,' he points out. 'But, very well, I shall wait here until midnight. If you are back by then we will continue on to Hakbad. If not, I can assume that you have no further need of me and I am free to be on my way. Is it agreed?'

You have every intention of being back long before midnight. 'It is agreed,' you say, stepping from his hand onto a marble terrace whose balustrade is still intact in places. The light you saw is coming from beyond a colonnade. Stepping closer, you pass through an archway and enter a large hall.

You are just advancing along the hall when the setting sun emerges from behind a cloud and throws a shaft of blood-coloured light through a high window at the far end. There it mingles with the glow of a dying fire, and in this lurid illumination you see a strange sight. A giant woman, as tall as a palm tree and with coal-black skin, sits with a large iron pot between her knees, occasionally scooping gobbets of greasy stew out of it with her bare hands. Although her size is bizarre in itself, the most striking thing about her is that she has only one eye - a large yellow-green orb in the centre of her forehead.

Beside her is an iron cage. It has one occupant: an old man with a long beard. He is dressed in tunic and leggings of grey cotton and has an overrobe of scuffed blue velvet. He is holding onto the bars of the cage and staring at the giant woman miserably as she consumes her meal.

If you wish to advance and announce your presence, turn to 584. If you wish to back out of the hall and resume your journey to Hakbad, turn to 498. If you decide to attack the giant woman, turn to 183. If you stay hidden in the shadows and listen to what the two of them are saying, turn to 379.

What to do here?

[Starmaker]

Hide and wait until Reed prepares spells. I'm not really eager to find out how many dice of damage a giant does.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Hide and listen. And prepare spells, of course.

[SGamerz]

The man in the cage utters a soft moan. The giantess turns her head, putting up a huge hand to shield her eye from the sunset.

'What is it, little man?' she says scornfully. 'Would you like to share my meal?'

'Ah, you fiend!' you hear him say. 'May it clog in your entrails and cause you unendurable pain.'

She scowls, then gives an unpleasant bark of laughter. 'On the contrary, all of your companions have provided me with most appetising meals.' She hurls the empty pot aside and it clangs against the hearth behind her. 'Now I am going to take a little nap. When I wake up it will be your turn ...'

She goes over to the hearth and slings a few pieces of wood into it. They look like the broken timbers of a ship. She uses an anchor as her poker, prodding the hot embers to make the new wood catch alight.

What will you do now? Attack her?; back out and go?; use an item?; or bide your time?.

To save you the trouble and time, I'm going to show you the list of items that can be used here....

Which item will you use? A black satin cushion; the orb of fire; or a gold mirror?

If you do not have any of these items, or decide against using them, go back to 379 and choose a different option.

.....of which we don't have any.

So it has to be one of the other three options.

[angelfromanotherpin]

This is totally an Odysseus and Polyphemus rip. Bide our time; sleeping evildoers are the best evildoers.

[Shiritai]

Agreed, and I have Nemesis Bolt auto-prepped, though I doubt I'll use it in this case.

[SGamerz]

After stoking the fire, the giantess goes to lie down on a pile of fallen rubble. Though this bed looks most uncomfortable, she is soon snoring deeply.

Stepping out from the shadows, you tiptoe past her sleeping bulk and approach the man in the cage. He is on the point of crying out from sheer relief at being rescued, but you motion him to keep quiet. You had not reckoned on the rusty hinges of the cage door, however. As you open it to release him, there is a harsh screak -

You wince. The old man stares aghast, paralysed with dread. The giantess has stopped snoring. You turn to find her awake, rising to her feet with the gaze of her single eye fixed balefully on you.

Looks like we're gonna have to put that Nemesis Bolt to use, after all....

The one-eyed giantess screeches with rage and swings her fists - each of which is as large and as hard as a warhammer.



Giantess
Fighting Prowess: 6 Damage per blow: 5 Dice-1
Psychic Ability: 8 Awareness: 7
Armour Rating: 1
Endurance: 65

Note: If the Enchanter is here and Enthrals her, he or she should note down the number of this entry and then turn to 139.

If you win, turn to 467. If you flee, turn to 498.

Strategies?