[LP] Lesser-Known Gamebooks: The Cretan Chronicles.

angelfromanotherpin · Post by **angelfromanotherpin** » Fri Jun 20, 2014 5:12 pm

You call upon Apollo for aid against these men desecrating the plain.

• Are you in Disfavour with Apollo? x

The god fills the bull with a divine frenzy, and it sets upon the men. Suddenly afraid at the charging of the beast, they drop their javelins and rush back to Cirrha and beyond, as the farmer who has trodden upon a snake unawares recoils and is afraid, runs away, and leaves his plough untended, and his corn for the black crows to pick at. You may pick up one of the javelins for yourself. It is normally Might 1, Protection 0, but you may, as your first action in a combat, throw it, and then engage in normal combat, still having the first strike, if you want it. So long as you defeat your opponent, you retrieve the javelin. You carry on into Cirrha.

Oh hell yes. With the very short condition track, a pre-first strike attack is super nice, even if it's not very strong. Also, at least one of these writers is either poorly mimicking or successfully parodying the Homeric style of simile, but I can't decide which.

Eventually you come to a pilgrim's hostel, and there, as it is now completely dark, you decide you must stay for the night. You sleep fitfully, and have strange pains in your arms and legs. Many times you think you see your patron, but as you try to speak, the vision disappears. Are the gods trying to tell you something? You can only hope that the oracle has the answer. In the morning you rise and set off quickly for Delphi, eager to unravel the mystery.

• Proceed?
• Take a hint?

Mr Shine · Post by **Mr Shine** » Fri Jun 20, 2014 6:55 pm

I can't see any reason we'd need a hint here. No hint.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Fri Jun 20, 2014 8:39 pm

No hints for us.

angelfromanotherpin · Post by **angelfromanotherpin** » Sat Jun 21, 2014 4:24 am

As the morning mists clear you see Delphi for the first time. Behind it Mount Parnassus rises, its snow-capped peak rising almost to heaven, its slopes thickly wooded, the haunt of dryads and their nymphly kin. All around to the north the rocky mountains imprison the temple in its deep-set valley, cleft in the centre by two great cliffs. From this issues the Castalian spring, its clear waters flowing down the slopes, past the Nauplian rock, from which forbidding crag by custom criminals are cast. You go on up the slope to Delphi.

The climb is hard and takes its toll from your wearied limbs. You pass the outbuildings of the great temple, almost unnoticed in your eagerness to hear the words of the living god.

The white-marbled shrine is awesome indeed; crowds of pilgrims throng around the temple steps, like bees around the honey-pot unaware of the danger that lurks near by. You ascend the steps, pushing through the mob, and enter the temple itself through high-arched gates decorated in huge gems with the deeds of the god. You leave your weapons outside and enter.

• Proceed?
• Take a hint?

Mr Shine · Post by **Mr Shine** » Sat Jun 21, 2014 7:25 am

Nothing here suggests a hint to me. No hint.

Sirocco · Post by **Sirocco** » Sat Jun 21, 2014 8:10 am

Yeah, let's not screw this up inside the temple.

angelfromanotherpin · Post by **angelfromanotherpin** » Sat Jun 21, 2014 1:22 pm

The temple walls are bare; there are none of the tapestries that decorate the temple at Torezen. The only ornaments are the thousands of gifts heaped in front of the sanctuary of the Pythian priestess. A dull white curtain edged in gold conceals the Pythia from prying eyes.

You see a white-robed priest approach you. He stops in front of you and waits expectantly, and then impatiently.

• Proceed?
• Take a hint?

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sat Jun 21, 2014 3:19 pm

A hint seems reasonable now.

Sirocco · Post by **Sirocco** » Sat Jun 21, 2014 6:46 pm

It's quite obvious he's expecting the gift we bought from the pilgrims.

If we have to take a hint to realize it, so be it.

angelfromanotherpin · Post by **angelfromanotherpin** » Sat Jun 21, 2014 9:21 pm

You realize that the priest is waiting for a gift for Apollo.

• If you have the statuette and wish to offer it...
• If you wish to offer your mother's gem...
• If you offer him money...
• If you choose not to offer him any of these...

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sat Jun 21, 2014 9:32 pm

Offer the statuette.

Sirocco · Post by **Sirocco** » Sun Jun 22, 2014 8:56 am

The statuette.

angelfromanotherpin · Sun Jun 22, 2014 11:44 am

The priest takes the golden figure and gazes at it as if entranced. He looks up with a start and leads you to a spot in front of the sanctuary. He tells you to wait for a while, and then he will interpret the Pythian priestess' moan. If you were in Disfavour with Apollo, he is now Neutral to you.

• Proceed?
• Take a hint?

Mr Shine · Post by **Mr Shine** » Sun Jun 22, 2014 1:13 pm

No hint. It'd probably just Shame us for being too impatient.

Starmaker · Post by **Starmaker** » Sun Jun 22, 2014 1:16 pm

Mr Shine wrote:No hint. It'd probably just Shame us for being too impatient.

angelfromanotherpin · Post by **angelfromanotherpin** » Sun Jun 22, 2014 1:19 pm

A low moaning noise issues from behind the curtain. The Pythian priestess has begun to utter the words of Apollo. You notice that a small withered man, dressed in a rich tunic, has pulled aside a corner of the curtain, and seems to be looking at what lies behind.

• Investigate and look behind the curtain?
• Take no action at all?
• Pull him away?

Starmaker · Post by **Starmaker** » Sun Jun 22, 2014 1:31 pm

Pull him away.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sun Jun 22, 2014 1:58 pm

Pull him away. This isn't the Wizard of Oz; people can't just look behind the curtain.

angelfromanotherpin · Post by **angelfromanotherpin** » Mon Jun 23, 2014 2:53 am

You pull the old man away from the curtain. No one notices, but you feel the favour of the god come upon you.

No indication that this comes with specific Favour, just that he, y'know, approves of our action.

The priestess, no longer gripped by the power of the god, falls silent. The priest approaches you once more and says, 'I must interpret for you the words of the prophet god. Thus speaks Apollo:

"Go to the daughter of a far-off king,
And put your trust in the sheep's offspring."

He grins knowingly, and, having thanked him for the help he has given, you turn, collect your armour and set out down the road to Thebes.

As you walk down the hillside from the temple of the god, an unearthly cry freezes your blood. You look up, startled. From the high crag a man plummets, like the eagle's egg, dislodged from the lofty eyrie, falls, and its life's majesty is done before it starts.

You stand in silence for a moment, wondering at the fate of the dead man, and then carry on towards Thebes.

No idea who that is, though it's clearly meant to be a reference. Kind of a haunting thing to inflict on a fairly young target audience, though.

The road is tree-lined now, and you think you see satyrs and fauns in the glades, but whenever you investigate they have gone. You carry on, and the milky-white moon filters through the swaying trees. The wind caresses your face, but all else is strangely silent.

Suddenly, out of the bushes a snow-white hart leaps, gazes at you for a moment with frightened eyes, and then bounds into the forest on the opposite of the path.

Ahead the road forks.

• Go to the left?
• Go to the right?
• Take a hint?

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Mon Jun 23, 2014 3:17 am

Blind choice means it's hint time.

Sirocco · Post by **Sirocco** » Mon Jun 23, 2014 6:49 am

Yes, take a hint this time around.

angelfromanotherpin · Mon Jun 23, 2014 10:02 am

You follow the hart into the bushes and you find yourself tiring as the animal darts elusively to and fro ahead of you. Now its speed outstrips your failing limbs entirely, and you fall to the ground to recover.

After a few minutes you rouse yourself. You are lost, and it is nearing dark. The moon barely penetrates the leafy canopy. From afar you can hear the strains of flutes, and high-pitched giggling. You move cautiously towards the apparent source of the noise. A moonlit clearing opens out in front of you, and you pause at the edge. You gaze in wonder at the scene before you. Nymphs and satyrs frolic in wild abandon.

• Proceed?
• Take a hint?

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Mon Jun 23, 2014 11:19 am

Hm, wasn't expecting that. Our patron is Aphrodite, so we should be safe in the orgy revelry.

EDIT: Shame we don't have the favor of Dionysus or Pan, though. That'd make this party much safer.

Starmaker · Post by **Starmaker** » Mon Jun 23, 2014 11:38 am

Take a hint.

Sirocco · Post by **Sirocco** » Mon Jun 23, 2014 12:56 pm

Well, the satyrs are more Dionysian creatures, but we should be OK I guess.