Let's Play: Challenge of the Magi: Mage1

Stories about games that you run and/or have played in.

Moderator: Moderators

User avatar
SlyJohnny
Duke
Posts: 1418
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2012 4:35 pm

Post by SlyJohnny »

Is fleeing now a different paragraph to fleeing after an opponent engages? I've fought someone in this location before, so I should know. If so, flee now for probable less damage.

If not, engage so he at least burns an imp familiar.
Thaluikhain
King
Posts: 6153
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 3:30 pm

Post by Thaluikhain »

Only one section for fleeing, no matter when in the combat you do.

Lavan summons a fire imp
Boner rolls 2 (+1 for zombie), Lavan rolls 5 (+1 for magic shield, +1 for fire imp), Boner takes 1 (+1 for magic shield, +1 for fire imp), 3 LPs in total

You are on 8 LPs. You may flee now.
Last edited by Thaluikhain on Sat Jul 01, 2017 4:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
SlyJohnny
Duke
Posts: 1418
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2012 4:35 pm

Post by SlyJohnny »

Flee to Sea of Glass.
Thaluikhain
King
Posts: 6153
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 3:30 pm

Post by Thaluikhain »

'You run for your life, preparing to Invoke the Portals, but you lose your footing on the uneven slabs of the Tower's floor and collapse in a heap. I dart forward and cut at you with a dagger even as you Invoke and fade into the Nexus. Lost three Life Points.'

The portal vanishes behind you and you slip on the smooth reflective surface of the Sea of Glass. As far as the eye can see stretches a dead, flat plain of blue crystal like a sea frozen in time. The only breaks on the uniform landscape is a series of openings of caves, and a magnificent range of spiky mountains stretching towards the blue sky like pillars of frost. Underfoot your gaze can penetrate the glare to see several fathoms down into the clear blue crystal. Invisible currents of blue magic stir the air, the sorcerous magic of the mind.

WAIT(1, resetting WAIT count again)

You may set out towards the Frost Peaks or the Crystal Caves.

If you prefer to Invoke the Portals and leave the Sea of Glass you may. Will you visit the Tower of Immutable Paradox, the Silvered Spires, the Palace of Flame or the Rainbow Inn?

You are on 5 LPs.
User avatar
SlyJohnny
Duke
Posts: 1418
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2012 4:35 pm

Post by SlyJohnny »

Move on immediately. Rainbow Inn.
Thaluikhain
King
Posts: 6153
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 3:30 pm

Post by Thaluikhain »

The portal flickers behind you and you are facing the Rainbow Inn, a brick and wood building with stables attached, standing at a crossroads near the river Weir. There is a well nearby and beyond it a black door hangs in the air, just off the ground, the sign outside the Inn shows not the natural colours of the rainbow but the five colours of magic in the Land, blue, red, green, white and black. You may fill your water bottle in the river if it is empty.

WAIT(2)

Will you go to the well, try the black door in the air, or walk towards the Inn? If instead you wish to Invoke the Portals, you must choose from the following destinations: the Silvered Spires, the Forest of Arden, the Citadel of the Skull, the Palace of Flames or the Sea of Glass.
User avatar
SlyJohnny
Duke
Posts: 1418
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2012 4:35 pm

Post by SlyJohnny »

Black door.
Thaluikhain
King
Posts: 6153
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 3:30 pm

Post by Thaluikhain »

The black door has a large, even blacker keyhole in it. You cannot push it open. WAIT(3) and choose again.
User avatar
SlyJohnny
Duke
Posts: 1418
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2012 4:35 pm

Post by SlyJohnny »

Inn.
Thaluikhain
King
Posts: 6153
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 3:30 pm

Post by Thaluikhain »

729
Outside the Inn, tethered to a water trough is a magnificent black warhorse, caparisoned in black with polished barding lined with velvet. You may steal this magnificent war-steed or walk straight to the Inn.
User avatar
SlyJohnny
Duke
Posts: 1418
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2012 4:35 pm

Post by SlyJohnny »

Nah. Go inside.
Thaluikhain
King
Posts: 6153
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 3:30 pm

Post by Thaluikhain »

789
Inside the Inn is warm and smoky. The familiar smells of wine mean and pipeweed mingle agreeably. The innkeeper is a sallow-faced man in late middle age, wearing a robe of many colours in the colour of the five magics. The usual motley array of merchants, farmers and their wives and assorted tradesmen make up the clientele. There is silence as all eyes re turned towards you, a stranger here. Three of the patrons stand out because they are sitting alone at their tables. One is a shifty-looking character dressed all in grey, with a slim sword at his side. Another is a man dressed like a wizard peering at a scroll through a curious piece of round glass that makes one of his eyes seem almost as large as his face. The third is a large man dressed in full plate armour, as black as night, with a great two-handed sword on the table in front of him. His insignia, a red dragon and a black mace match those on the warhorse tethered outside. All of the tables next to his have been pulled as far away by their occupants as space will allow. Will you walk up to the bar, sit opposite the man in grey, sit beside the man reading the scroll, or opposite the Black Knight?

There is a picture here
User avatar
SlyJohnny
Duke
Posts: 1418
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2012 4:35 pm

Post by SlyJohnny »

I probably don't have enough to pay for anything, but on a hunch, let's try the shifty-thiefy-looking guy.
Thaluikhain
King
Posts: 6153
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 3:30 pm

Post by Thaluikhain »

653
The shifty-looking character in grey sizes you up and then introduces himself as Mercutio, the thief. He asks you if you have any need of his services, telling you he is famous for having stolen, amongst other things, the dinner from underneath the nose of the Caliph of the Palace of Flames. If you don't wish to hire his services you had best leave the Inn straight away before he practices his stealthy craft on you. If you would like to try and hire him to steal something from your opponent decide how much gold you will offer him. You may offer him one or two bags of gold. If you have no gold or wish to leave anyway you quit the Inn and Invoke the Portals.

WAIT(4)

Where to next: the Sea of Glass, the Forest of Arden, the Silvered Spires, the Citadel of the Skull or the Palace of Flames?

(There's a different paragraph if you offer him one bag to if you offer him two. This character also appears in the Arena of Death Duelmaster books)
User avatar
SlyJohnny
Duke
Posts: 1418
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2012 4:35 pm

Post by SlyJohnny »

Well, I don't think it'll do anything good with only one, but why not try. One bag of gold/the ring.
Last edited by SlyJohnny on Mon Jul 03, 2017 5:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Thaluikhain
King
Posts: 6153
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 3:30 pm

Post by Thaluikhain »

Mercutio takes your bag of gold gold ring and throws it in your face. 'You think you can hire the services of a master thief such as I for a paltry bag of gold? Think again.' He leaves the table and goes up to the bar. The Innkeeper then comes over to you and orders you to leave, saying 'We don't want troublesome types like you in here.' You take a look around at the rough-looking patrons of the Rainbow Inn and decide to do as the Innkeeper suggests.

WAIT(5)

Where to next: the Sea of Glass, the Forest of Arden, the Silvered Spires, the Citadel of the Skull or the Palace of Flames?
User avatar
SlyJohnny
Duke
Posts: 1418
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2012 4:35 pm

Post by SlyJohnny »

Well, that could've been worse.

Let's try the Citadel of the Skull and hit up my sanctum.
Thaluikhain
King
Posts: 6153
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 3:30 pm

Post by Thaluikhain »

As the portal disappears you find yourself looking into the maw of an enormous skull. The Citadel of the Skull stretches towards dark skies above you, the red flicker of torches lending the hollow eye sockets an infernal glow. The citadel is black obsidian, reflecting dully the half-light of this region. Beyond it a grey plain stretches as far as the eye can see but a thin mist obscures the horizon. There is no gate but inside the skull mouth a great fire blazes lighting a broad black staircase which climbs to a landing from which a second passageway leads off to the left. This place is an area of black magic and no other.

WAIT(6)

There is a picture here

You can see a concealed doorway behind the skull's back teeth which leads to your Inner Sanctum which you may visit. Otherwise you may continue on up the main stairway or take the passageway to the left. If instead you want to quit this place where black magic alone infuses the air you may Invoke the Portals. Will you adventure next to the Sacred Grove, the Forest of Arden, the Palace of Flames or the Rainbow Inn?
User avatar
SlyJohnny
Duke
Posts: 1418
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2012 4:35 pm

Post by SlyJohnny »

Concealed doorway, inner sanctum.
Thaluikhain
King
Posts: 6153
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 3:30 pm

Post by Thaluikhain »

As you walk towards the seemingly blank wall of blackest obsidian, the rock becomes insubstantial allowing you to pass through into a dark mazy corridor's torturous windings whichm though never the same, are always familiar. Soon you are seated on your ebony throne, in a room scattered with scrolls and wax drippings from the black candles which give off tje sombre half-light in which you feel most at home. You arms curl around the shrunken skulls on the throne's arms and you relax, idly clacking some unfortunate's knuckle bones. You may regain one Life Point and one Concentration Point for every WAIT you spend here. If this is the first time you have visited your Inner Sanctum, unscrewing the bones at the back of your bureau yields an Ambuscade scroll enabling you to cast the spell once.

WAIT(7)

When you are ready to go back out into the Rainbow Land you may Invoke the Portals. Where will you explore next: the Sacred Grove, the Forest of Arden, the Palace of Flames or the Rainbow Inn?

(From my reading, the WAIT you have to take would regain LP and CP, s you are on 6LPs and 3CPs, and also have a new scroll)
User avatar
SlyJohnny
Duke
Posts: 1418
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2012 4:35 pm

Post by SlyJohnny »

Wait three more times. Then let's risk it for a biscuit, and cut through the Forest of Arden.
Thaluikhain
King
Posts: 6153
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 3:30 pm

Post by Thaluikhain »

So, that'd be WAITs 8, 9 and 10, bringing you to 9LPs and 6CPs

The portal disappears behind you and you find yourself surrounded by trees at the centre of a small clearing. The sun beats down but within the trees is a dark gloom. It is silent in the clearing and you feel alone, far from the security of your fellow men and their dwellings. Although you can hear nothing the Forest feels full of lie, full of unseen eyes spying on you. This is a place enchanted with green magic, a place where nature is untouched by man.

The tinkling of bells and piping of flutes reaches you, strangely bright and clear through the trees. Two muddy tracks leave the clearing. One leads off in the direction from which you think the music is coming from, the other disappears into the gloom in the opposite direction.

WAIT(11)

Will you take the path towards the sound of music, the gloomier path, or Invoke the Portals and go to the Citadel of the Skull, the Rainbow Inn, the Silvered Spires or the Phoenix Crags?

(You can also use your new Ambuscade spell here)
Last edited by Thaluikhain on Wed Jul 05, 2017 4:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
SlyJohnny
Duke
Posts: 1418
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2012 4:35 pm

Post by SlyJohnny »

Ambuscade here, sure. Leave immediately for Phoenix Crags.
Thaluikhain
King
Posts: 6153
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 3:30 pm

Post by Thaluikhain »

You are at the Phoenix Crags. You step out onto a ledge at the side of a great mountain. You can sense the presence of magic here. Red and blue spells may be cast in this area. Below you a chasm yawns, a thin sliver of blue marking the distant river at the bottom. Up above tower magnificent, awe-inspiring crags, clawing at the yellow skies with gnarled fingers. It makes your head spin to look up or down.

A path leads from the ledge to an easily accessible mountain slop on which rests a hut. Another goat trail winds up a great crag directly above you. This crag is also accessible by a straight climb upward. Behind you, a cave mouth opens invitingly.

You can investigate the hut, follow the goat track, climb directly upwards or enter the cave, but you must WAIT(12) before you do so.
User avatar
SlyJohnny
Duke
Posts: 1418
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2012 4:35 pm

Post by SlyJohnny »

Goat trail.
Post Reply