Long Dong's a Peeping Tom....
You hide the jollyboat and lie in wait until the next morning, when Skarvench comes ashore in a rowboat with five other men: his quartermaster - the whippet-thin villain named Curshaw, his lumbering first mate Porbuck, Borograve the master gunner, and two seamen carrying spades.
You crouch in the cover of the bushes and watch this sinister band making their way purposefully through the trees, with Skarvench striding ahead, pacing out distances and from time to time referring to a map he is carrying. Blutz gives a muffled gasp. 'They've come to dig up some treasure!' he realizes.
Oakley narrows his eyes. It is all he can do not to leap up from your hiding place and charge at Skarvench, so filled with hatred are his memories. But much as you yearn for revenge on the evil pirate captain, you know that to attack him now in your weakened state would mean almost certain death. It would be wiser to bide your time.
If you have a monkey, turn to 99. If not, you can either stay in hiding and spy on Skarvench (turn to 4) or else give the go-ahead for attacking him (turn to 267).
Would our animal-loving nature serve us well...?
Recognizing its former master, the little animal suddenly slips out of your grasp, bursts from the undergrowth and goes scampering towards him. Skarvench and his men leap up and seize their weapons, instantly alert. Standing rigid with a snarl stamped on his cruel face, he scans the jungle and then his eyes lock on yours despite the cover of foliage. You realize the game is up - he's spotted you. You rise to your feet with a defiant battle-cry as he levels his pistol. Thirty paces separate you - a distance you might cover in six seconds, from a standing start. A bullet can cross it in an instant...
Just as Skarvench squeezes the trigger, the monkey leaps up and gives his wrist a painful nip. He bellows in rage and the shot goes wide, whistling past your ear to embed itself in the bole of a tree. But you have no time to give thanks; within moments the pirates have closed in. The battle is joined, and you and your comrades are fighting for your lives.
If you have both SWORDPLAY and MARKSMANSHIP (and the necessary weapons) lose 7 Life Points. If you have BRAWLING and MARKSMANSHIP, but not SWORDPLAY, lose 8 Life Points. Any other combination of skills is insufficient to save you, and you are quickly slain. If you are still alive, turn to 23.
This is an example of how combats usually go in this book. We would lose Life points, but the amount we lose will depend on what combat skills we have. Normally, we only need 1 of the 3 combat-type Skills to fare well in a fight, and SWORDPLAY or MARKSMANSHIP tend to fare slightly better (but not always) than BRAAWLING. As long as we survive the loss of said Life points (even without a combat Skill), we are generally presumed to have won the fight.
However, there's one thing different about this particular fight, because even though we do have SWORDPLAY and have just enough Life points to bear the loss, this is what happens:
Who can say how long the carnage lasts? Amid explosive gunshots, hoarse yells and the clang of steel blades, your ragged but valiant band struggles to the death against Skarvench and his murderous henchmen.
Eventually the battle shrinks to just you and Skarvench. Crouching behind his cutlass, he weaves and lunges and parries - cocksure and vicious at first, his sneering smile only gradually fading as he realizes you are the better fighter. Then his taunts turn to weary gasps as he struggles desperately to defend himself against you.
You are exhausted too. You gulp at the air like a drowning man, each swing plumbing the last dregs of your strength. But at last the red rage fades. Your enemy lies dying at your feet. Looking up at you as the evil light fades from his eyes, he musters a mad grin and shrieks with laughter. 'So that's your victory, is it, mate? A bitter triumph, I'd say!'
You look around, and now you see what he means. The forest floor is like a scene from a slaughterhouse, your friends lying dead along with the pirates. You stagger, sick at heart. You wanted revenge, but not at this high price.
Skarvench gives a last laugh. 'See you in hell,' he croaks.
He is dead. Your adventure ends here.
...Yep, perhaps we should have just eaten the monkey.
In all fairness to the monkey, trying to spy on them wasn't a wise option in the first place, since we have neither the stealth to get close to them (ROGUERY) or the magical ability to eavesdrop from afar (SPELLS), so we wouldn't have gained anything.
So....rewinding back to the previous option, try to leave ourselves, or hide till they leave?
EDIT: Okay, I totally misread that second-last paragraph. Apparently, having SWORDPLAY alone doesn't help so we don't even get to kill Skarvench. Either way, though we're dead, so we're still rewinding back to the same option.....unless most of you want to rewind even further?
