[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy 43 - The Keep of the Lich-Lord

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Fri Feb 13, 2015 12:24 am

Well, seems like half a vote is all we have to go with so....

For a moment he looks suspicious. . . and then he seems to accept your story.' Well, good luck,' he says before leaving.

You retire to your room and bed down for the night. You notice that your window is already barred and surrounded by a wreath of wild garlic flowers; so is the door, both inside and out. Puzzled, you lie down. You are just drifting off to sleep when a sound coming from outside your door alerts you. You leap up and draw your sword just as the door slowly opens, revealing the black-cowled figure, who starts in surprise to see you ready and waiting. Will you attack immediately or wait a few seconds to see what will happen?

How eager are we to stab someone?

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Fri Feb 13, 2015 2:44 am

I'd have voted for Ninja Honesty, but whatever. I suspect the hooded guy is an evil wizard so let's attack him.

SlyJohnny · Post by **SlyJohnny** » Fri Feb 13, 2015 3:50 am

If the other guy was a plant, this guy might be good. Plus, if he's not human, he might not be able to cross the garlic unless we lunge across to attack him.

I vote wait.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Fri Feb 13, 2015 2:54 pm

Good point. Changing my vote to not attacking.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Sat Feb 14, 2015 2:02 am

I bet no one would vote to attack this mysterious person if they see what's under the hood

Let's take a look:

Hurriedly, the figure pulls back the cowl - it is a female Elf! Her skin is like moonlight, her large eyes like liquid emeralds, and her brown hair is bound in a circlet of white flowers, a picture of beauty. In a lilting voice she says, 'Please, listen to me. My name is Elindora, and I am one of the few Elves who still live in Shamdabag Wood. We are worshippers of the goddess Iatro, She who Heals and Succours. The goddess loathes the Undead as abominable travesties of life and has commanded us to help the people to defeat Mortis. I have been forced to travel in disguise, for his spies are everywhere, but when I saw you I knew your mission was as ours, to destroy the Undead. Tell me, is this true?'

You explain patiently that you are not a worshipper of Iatro and that you have come here as a mercenary adventurer to slay Mortis - for the money, not for the people.

'Thank the heavens some action is being taken at last. But there is good in you - I can feel it,' she insists. You shrug resignedly. 'l have come to beg for your aid,' she implores. 'The cemetery holds the tomb of Lady Lotmora, once the wife of Mortis. Now that Mortis has returned, he has used his foul necromancy to return her to the world as a Vampire. Now she terrorizes the area; she has already built up a small coven of Vampires out of the local population - or what remains of it. The priestess of Iatro has sent me to destroy her, but I cannot succeed alone. Help me, and I will aid you in your quest to kill Mortis.'

Will you agree to help her; or do you decide that your prime mission is to kill Mortis himself and say that you cannot help?

Help the Elven Babe?

SlyJohnny · Post by **SlyJohnny** » Sat Feb 14, 2015 3:09 am

This opportunity was well-hidden enough that it must be profitable. Help the cute elf chick.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sat Feb 14, 2015 4:21 am

Agreed.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Sat Feb 14, 2015 4:55 am

'Excellent! Tomorrow we must search the cemetery for the crypt of Lady Lotmora and attempt to destroy the Vampires during the hours of daylight - if we attack at night they may well prove too powerful. I will meet you downstairs at daybreak.'

You meet Elindora outside the inn just as the sun rises over the horizon the next morning, rays of rosy light spread like fingers across the sky. She bids you good day and adds, 'If you allow me, I will use my magic to strengthen your power to resist the powers of the Undead.' If you allow Elindora to cast a spell upon you, turn to 108. If you refuse, turn to 129.

Do we trust her enough?

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sat Feb 14, 2015 12:29 pm

Let her cast the spell. If Gonad can't trust women he finds in hotel rooms who he talks to solely based off of their attractiveness, who can he trust?

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Sat Feb 14, 2015 4:36 pm

Elindora stares deeply into your eyes, and you feel a hypnotic trance creeping over you. You snap out of it, moments later, with no memory of what happened, However, now you feel more determined and vigorous. Add 1 to your RESOLVE permanently.

The cemetery divides up into roughly four main areas which you can search. Will you go to the northwest corner, the southwest corner, the northeast corner or the southeast corner?

Since we're going after the wife of the Big Boss, I suspect it might not be an easy fight, so I'm going to use up a meal here to restore some STAMINA. Of course, if you object, let me know.

Adventure Sheet:

Name: Gonad the Penetrator
SKILL 9/9
STAMINA 16/18
LUCK 11/12
RESOLVE: 9 (10 for next test)
Equipment: Sharpened Sword (+1 damage), Leather Armor, Ring of Communing (1 charge remaining), Spear of Qadarnai (double-damage when fighting undead), Golden Whistle, Elixir of Lhyss, Suit of Fine Armour (-1 to all damage taken)
Provisions: 7 Meals (+4 STAMINA)
Gold: 35
Codeword: PIRATE
Misc Notes: 'Blow the whistle at the Finger of Lhyss to win great power'

Omegonthesane · Post by **Omegonthesane** » Sun Feb 15, 2015 5:05 pm

Blind choices ahoy! Northwest.

Shiritai · Post by **Shiritai** » Sun Feb 15, 2015 5:05 pm

Another blind choice? Well the dice say... northeast. And I agree to taking a meal first.

SlyJohnny · Post by **SlyJohnny** » Sun Feb 15, 2015 11:09 pm

Northwest to break the tie, and sure, eat a meal.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Mon Feb 16, 2015 12:24 am

Northwest it is!

You search the northwest area of the cermetery The rows of graves, tombstones and small crypts seem endless, and after an hour or two of searching you begin to feel the way some forsaken traveller must, lost in hell. Broken headstones and untended graves lend a sense of desolation to the bleak and grim landscape. Some graves have been opened and defiled; others look as if the occupants have dug their own way out.

It is past midday now. Elindora sighs with frustration. Will you search the southeast comer, the southwest or the northeast?

If you guys prefer you may list out the order of direction you wish to search to save time, since it looks like we may have to go through each section in turn until we find the vampires.

Omegonthesane · Post by **Omegonthesane** » Mon Feb 16, 2015 11:59 pm

Clockwise.

So, NE->SE->SW.

Shiritai · Post by **Shiritai** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 1:26 am

Sounds good to me.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 3:13 am

I just realized something: we never paid for sleeping at the Dead Man Inn. The innkeeper told us that lodgings cost a Gold Piece, but we were never actually told that we pay (nor did the text ask if we even had the money...we started with none and could possibly have skipped all the side quests that acquired them).

I'm just going to assume that Elindora helped us foot the bill out of gratitude.

That or the innkeeper ran away this morning.

You stumble across the entrance to an ornate crypt in the northeast corner of the cemetery. Elated, Elindora tells you it is the tomb of Lady Lotmora and, full of trepidation, you both descend into the yawning darkness of the portal. Below, you find five open coffins and, further back, a large stone sarcophagus - All are open and seem to be inhabited by sleeping people - or so you think until you see their deathly white faces, their pointed white fangs jutting over ruby-red lips, and their taloned hands crossed over cold, unmoving breasts. Vampires! With a grim face you set about the unwelcome task of driving wooden stakes through their hearts. In full daylight these creatures of evil are helpless - even Lady Lotmora, though at the last moment her eyes flick open. Elindora is satisfied: you have destroyed all the Vampires. Gain 1 RESOLVE and turn to 366.

And just like that we're 2 points away from reaching max RESOLVE (and our next test will be at 11 due to passing our previous one). If we're been strictly following the original rules we'd already be at max RESOLVE.

We basically had 2 chances to find the vampires before nightfall and destroy them without a fight. If we only find them on our 3rd location search, they'd have woken up and we'd have to fight them....although they won't quite be at full powers yet, so it should still be doable.

If we failed to find them 3 times, they will come for us.....with much higher stats. We'd have to pass a RESOLVE test with a +2 to the dice roll to avoid falling under Lotmora's spell, after which we'd have to fight Lotmora and 2 of her Vampires simultaneously (Elindora fights 2 others). Lotmora herself will be at SKILL 11, STAMINA 18, and has a 1/3 chance of temporarily reducing our SKILL further whenever she hits us! Nasty.

Things is though, here's actually where we can see how generous this book is, because this fight might still just be doable for us with some luck, even given this disadvantage, thanks to our newly-acquired armour and the Spear that gives us a double-damage bonus against the vampires.

After burning the bodies to make sure that they are properly destroyed, you and Elindora leave the cemetery. Elindora says that it is time for you to part, as she must report back to the Elves. She thanks you solemnly, saying that she could not have succeeded without you. She then gives you a ring of pale silver, with a strange pattern cut into it. 'This is the Ring of Fays; it is rich with Elven sorcery and will aid you according to your needs at the time you summon forth its power. You may call upon it once only, so use it wisely. Farewell, brave warrior.' She waves once and leaves.

You also have a mission to complete, Will you go northeastwards on the road to Port Borgos, southeast towards Shamdabag Wood and then on to the village of Keladon, or is this time to use the Ring of Communing to consult with General Chaideshu?

While this isn't exactly our main quest, we did just offed Mortis' wife. Do we think this is relevant enough to warrant a report? If not, where do we go next?

Actually, I think you can go ahead and vote where to go next even if you want to report, since I suspect we'll be given the same option of routes after the report anyway.

Adventure Sheet:

Name: Gonad the Penetrator
SKILL 9/9
STAMINA 16/18
LUCK 11/12
RESOLVE: 10 (11 for next test)
Equipment: Sharpened Sword (+1 damage), Leather Armor, Ring of Communing (1 charge remaining), Spear of Qadarnai (double-damage when fighting undead), Golden Whistle, Elixir of Lhyss, Suit of Fine Armour (-1 to all damage taken), Ring of Fays
Provisions: 7 Meals (+4 STAMINA)
Gold: 35
Codeword: PIRATE
Misc Notes: 'Blow the whistle at the Finger of Lhyss to win great power'

MisterDee · Post by **MisterDee** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 2:46 pm

Seeing that we only have one ring charge left, I figure we probably ought to keep it just in case we run into a "have a charge or autofail" situation.

EDIT: and head to the woods. Port Borgos sounds like a shopping opportunity, so let's farm some money killing bears first.

Shiritai · Post by **Shiritai** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 2:56 pm

I concur.

SlyJohnny · Post by **SlyJohnny** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 3:03 pm

Shamdabag Wood is where the elf chick comes from, right? And there are only "a few" of them left there? Does it explicitly say their numbers are thin because undead are stalking it, or will we get a good welcome because we have the ring?

I agree with the wood plan.

SlyJohnny · Post by **SlyJohnny** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 3:03 pm

Shamdabag Wood is where the elf chick comes from, right? And there are only "a few" of them left there? Does it explicitly say their numbers are thin because undead are stalking it, or will we get a good welcome because we have the ring?

I agree with the wood plan.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 8:04 pm

Go to the woods. Gonad's always up for more wood.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Wed Feb 18, 2015 12:46 am

Into the woods,
It's time to go,
We have to leave,
We have to go.
Into the woods-
It's time, and so
We must begin our jour-ney!

Into the woods,
Without delay,
But careful not
To lose the way.
Into the woods,
Who knows what may
Be lurking on the journey?

Into the woods
To kill some bears
Or greet some elves
Or find some cash
Never can tell
What lies ahead.
For all that we know,
They're all Undead.

So into the woods,
Into the woods,
Into the woods
Then out of the woods....
And home before dark!

You set off on the road that leads to the village of Keladon, through Shamdabag Wood. After a while, the trees of the forest loom ahead of you; the road snakes among the thick and ancient oaks, dimly lit by a sun that struggles to penetrate their heavy branches. By late afternoon you are well into the wood, when you hear sounds coming from your left. Through the trees you can Just make out some kind of a clearing with, in its centre, a large fire. Voices, some singing, waft towards you, together with the smell of roasting food. Will you investigate the clearing or continue on towards Keladon?

Investigate?

SlyJohnny · Post by **SlyJohnny** » Wed Feb 18, 2015 12:58 am

Nothing singing is ever evil except for a bunch of evil stuff what sings. Investigate!

Shiritai · Post by **Shiritai** » Wed Feb 18, 2015 1:11 am

Examine the clearing. Maybe we'll find the narrator!