We hand over all the Treasure we have to the old man. We're now
broke!
Asking about the library first:
The Sage whips out a Silver Key from a waistcoat pocket after taking your fee. You notice that the key has the number 378 engraved on it. 'That'll get you in,' he says. 'Back down the corridor to the west, turn right, and open the north door with this.'
We know where the library is, we've tried going there earlier!
Now, the girl:
The Sage ponders. 'Ah yes, a young woman was dragged in recently, and the Count had her taekn down to the Crypt. He keeps people prisoner down there, and then either drinks their blood or hands them over to Katarina. Funny creature, Katarina, can be very charming at times!' He looks almost fond at the thought of Katarina.
We saw Katarina's portrait earlier. Sounds like the Count has at least one family member who shares his bloodthirsty habit.
Now for the Crypt:
The Sage looks very serious and says that you don't want to go down there. The Count keeps prisoners in the Crypt, and it is protected by a particularly horrible enchanted monster made out of bones. 'Anyway it's locked, and the Count has the key in his rooms; the lock is magical, and only that key will get you in. It's a great iron key, I've seen the Count carrying it - but, as I say, you really don't want to go down there. Oh no!'
Of course, that probably means we
will be going down there at some point.....after finding the key in the Count's own room.
Back to the section where we're presented our info-shopping list:
After you have finished paying for information (and reduced the amount of your Treasure accordingly), you leave the Sage to his musty books and manuscripts. If the Sage has given you an item, you follow his directions...
This brings us back to the library door section from earlier, which I won't bother typing up again. Instead, we'll go straight to 378 (the number on the Silver Key):
You enter the library lit by a golden globe of soft magical light, hanging in the air. There are hundreds of books on the bookshelves, but one particular shelf is full of works concerned with the history of Mortvania and the Heydrich family, and you look quickly through some of them. You read of the time when Siegfried was Count and the land flourished, until Siegfried disappeared mysteriously and Reiner became Count. Since that time, misery and fear have been the people's lot. It seems that many Heydrichs have been cruel and despotic tyrants; of Reiner's great-great-grandfather Eckhart you read a small text, which states that 'the folke saye he is Vampyre'. On the frontispiece is written in elegant, sloping writing, 'and now I have attained that blessed state'. Since Reiner's Heydrich's signature is on the flyleaf, you know what this means!
Just as you feel that you have spent too much time here, you come across a small, untitled book with many illustrations of weapons. One page, page 188, has a slight magical glow which draws you to it. This leaf of the book is a beautiful illuminated etching of a sword, covered in runes and held to the sky by a powerful, muscular bronzed arm. You take this book; add the Book of Swords to your Possessions, and make a not of thw number of the magical page. Now you leave, and youi search in the eastern side-passage for the stars which will lead you to the floor above.
It's rather weird that Siegfried's reign have already been recorded as 'history', considering even our ranger friend (who hadn't been described as old by any means) remembers it. It also doesn't make much sense that there would be records in the castle describing the
current ruler as despotic while he's still in power. Oh well, exposition dump there.
Since we saw the Zombies (through a peep-hole earlier) guarding the secret room and stairs that we're now looking for, I think it's a fair assumption that we'll make some preparation before this next encounter: namely, we eat a mean and restore some STAMINA before the next fight (up to 19):
After careful searching, you find a secret door in the passage on the north wall, some ten feet from the door at the end of the passage. You open it and enter a bare chamber with a half-open door in the east wall. Standing guard here are two Zombies bearing pole-arms - yuor FAITH will not protect you against these mindless but thoroughly trained guards! Fight the Zombies one at a time in the doorway.
First Zombie SKILL 6 STAMINA 6
Second Zombie SKILL 7 STAMINA 6
Not too bad, although there are 2 of them. And this is the last fight before we recover our lost SKILL points from the Baobhan Sith's spell!
COMBAT LOG:
Zombie#1 16, Blade 13. Blade is at 17.
Zombie#1 12, Blade 18. Zombie#1 is at 4.
Zombie#1 13, Blade 14. Zombie#1 is at 2.
Zombie#1 15, Blade 15. Tie.
Zombie#1 12, Blade 16. Zombie#1 is destroyed.
Zombie#2 12, Blade 16. Zombie#2 is at 4.
Zombie#2 16, Blade 13. Blade is at 15.
Zombie#2 14, Blade 10. Blade is at 13.
Zombie#2 16, Blade 14. Blade is at 11.
Zombie#2 16, Blade 15. Blade is at 9.
Zombie#2 14, Blade 12. Blade is at 7.
Zombie#2 15, Blade 19. Zombie#2 is at 2.
Zombie#2 15, Blade 18. Zombie#2 is destroyed.
Zombie#2 hurt us pretty bad here!
You search the Zombies, but they have nothing of value. You past through the half-open door in the east wall and enter another bare chamber. Here there is a flight of stone steps leading up, and the walls are lit with torches in the scone. You climb the steps, and when you get to the top you are standing under a shaft of moonlight from a tiny circular window high on the north wall. If you have the Lycanthropy Affliction, turn to 297. If you have the Major Lycantrophy Affliction, turn to 204. If you have neither, turn to 154.
That particular Affliction sure gets checked a lot in this book!
We eat another meal before proceeding, since we're pretty beat up. On the bright side, our SKILL is now
finally back up to 9!
There are two doors in this bare chamber, so you decide to open one of them. Will it be:
The door in the south corner of the west wall?
Or the silver-handled door in the middle of the south wall?
Adventure Sheet:
Name: Blade Belmont von Alucard
SKILL 9/10
STAMINA 11/21
LUCK 7/8
Faith: 9
Possessions: Sword, Leather Armor, Shield, Lantern, Garlic, Magic Sword, Shield of Faith, Decanter of Brandy (1 measure left, +4 STAMINA), Silver Mirror, Book of Healers, Silver Key, Book of Swords
Provisions: 4 Meals (+4 STAMINA)
Afflictions:
Gold Pieces: 0
Treasure: we are broke!
