[Let's Play] Virtual Reality Gamebooks: Twist of Fate

[SGamerz]

Talk to the mangy old man.

[Darth Rabbitt]

You explain to the old man that there has been a mistake. You are not the one who stole the Sultan’s ruby.
Surprisingly, his answer to this is a thin wheeze of laughter. ‘Not the Shadow, eh? I thought not. I doubt they’ll ever catch that one.’
‘Who is the Shadow?’
‘The most daring of knaves. The rogue who purloined the jinn ring of Ala al-Din and the flying rug once owned by the Emir of Cordoba, as well as the crown of the infidel ruler Shah al Ma’in. He – or she, for the Shadow is a figure veiled in mystery – has vowed next to steal the diamond egg of the rokh.’ (D'Arcy does not have the codeword Kismet.)

You cannot help grinning at the old man. ‘Well, you certainly seem to have a fund of strange stories.’
‘You doubt them?’ he leaps to his scrawny feet, eyes flashing. ‘Watch, as I prove the truth of all I’ve said. You see my cat, Shahrazad? She has heard my words, yet you’ll note her tail is not an inch longer than before.’
You bite your lip and take half a step backwards. The old man is undeniably mad. ‘Incontrovertible proof,’ you say to humour him. ‘I no longer doubt you at all.’
‘Don’t talk to me like I’m daft, you young sprat. Now watch the cat’s tail while I tell her a few lies. Shahrazad, it’s my birthday today and I’m just ten years old. This morning the gaoler gave me a fine confection of dates, saffron rice, spiced mutton and buttermilk for breakfast. I ate so much my belly ached! The Caliph is my second cousin and I myself heard the Prophet’s last sermon, peace be upon him.’
You blink and rub your eyes, but there can be no doubt. With each lie, the cat’s tail grows a couple of inches, then after a few seconds it returns to its normal length.
‘What a miraculous animal,’ is all you can say.
‘She’s a sure indicator of when people are telling the truth,’ agrees the old man. (D'Arcy does not possess a coil of Indian rope, but she does possess a pair of magic slippers.)

The old man studies your slippers intently. ‘Such intricate embroidery,’ he says. ‘I don’t think I have ever seen finer workmanship. Surely these slippers are no ordinary footwear?’

Tell him about the magic slippers or not?

[angelfromanotherpin]

Tell.

[SlyJohnny]

I feel like he'll just jack the slippers if we do. Let's wait until the thief comes, and use the slippers to escape with him.

[Thaluikhain]

Yeah, wait til the next person comes along.

[SGamerz]

I feel like he'll just jack the slippers if we do. Let's wait until the thief comes, and use the slippers to escape with him.

Agreed

[Darth Rabbitt]

The old man does indeed steal the slippers, but he leaves his long tailed cat behind (which is how you get that item), which can also be used to escape.

The oubliette is a bell-shaped chamber lined with muck and straw. There are several other prisoners here. Seeing you pacing around, one of them sighs and points to the grille in the middle of the ceiling. ‘Some of us have been here for years,’ he says. ‘Food is thrown down every day or so, if we’re lucky. Other than that we’re forgotten here. There’s no escape.’
‘What about water?’
‘You must lick what you can off the walls.’ He shows you his tongue – black and covered with sores.
You position yourself directly below the grille and stare up. A distance of almost twenty feet. The walls funnel in towards it, so there is no chance of climbing up.
If you possess either magic slippers or Indian rope and wish to use them now... Majority vote is to wait for the thief.

A week later, the grille is hauled up and another prisoner is lowered into the oubliette. ‘Here is the real Shadow!’ calls down a guard. ‘Now you worthless wretches have got some distinguished company for a change.’
The grille drops back into place with a clang. ‘What about me?’ you shout up. ‘If you’ve got the real Shadow, you must know I’m innocent!’
The guard’s face reappears at the top. He has a broad smirk as he says, ‘Innocent? You can’t be innocent if you’re in gaol, can you? So maybe you didn’t steal the Sultan’s ruby – who cares? No doubt there’s some other crime we can mark down to you.’
‘This is rank injustice!’ you call back, but he has gone.
The newcomer places a hand on your shoulder. ‘I too am the victim of injustice, my friend, for I am not the Shadow. I thought you were. In fact, I got myself caught in order to meet you. My name is Azenomei.’
You turn and look at him: a handsome beardless young man with sparkling gaze. He has a small scar across the bridge of his nose.
‘In that case, you’re in for a big disappointment. And why are you smiling? Don’t you know we’ll probably stay here till we die?’
His grin grows all the wider as he brings out a huge bunch of keys. ‘Here I have the answer to nine hundred and ninety-nine locks. All we need is a way to reach the grille.’ (D'Arcy has a pair of magic slippers.)

In the still silence of midnight, with everyone else asleep, you crouch beside Azenomei and make your plans for escaping from this dark hole.
‘One of my keys will certainly fit the lock,’ he whispers. ‘Give me your magic slippers so that I can get up there. Once I’m out, I’ll drop them back down.’

Trust him?
Insist on being the one to go first?

[SGamerz]

Insist on going first.

[Whiysper]

'Trust but Verify'. This pit has killed us once, I'm all for not having that happen again - apologize, but gently insist.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Azenomei lends you his bunch of keys. Donning the slippers, you rise up to the grille and soon have it unlocked. Perched on the edge of the pit, you take a gulp of clean air – your first in over a week.
‘Come on!’ hisses Azenomei’s voice from the darkness of the pit. ‘Toss the slippers down.’

Do as he asks?
Leave him where he is?

[angelfromanotherpin]

Throw 'em. He may be untrustworthy, but we shouldn't be.

[Thaluikhain]

Yes, toss him our shoes.

[SlyJohnny]

I have a feeling he won't give them back, but let's toss them.

[Darth Rabbitt]

The two of you manage to slip out of the city the next morning on the back of an ox-cart. The owner is startled when the sacks of grain on the back of his cart are suddenly thrown aside to reveal two scruffy young vagabonds.
Azenomei gazes back at the city and gives a hearty laugh. ‘A pox on that place. I’ll never go there again, I can tell you.’ He turns to you. ‘And where are you bound now, my friend?’
‘I left Baghdad in search of fame and fortune. But I was accused of being an infamous thief, and now I have no money.’
‘You could do worse than throw in your lot with me,’ declares Azenomei. ‘I’m heading across the desert to rescue my sister. She was spirited away by a jinni who imprisoned her in a bronze citadel. I can promise you as much adventure as you can take.’
If someone had said that to you just a few months ago, you would have assumed they were mad. Now you have seen many marvels with your own eyes. But you have not learned to be careless of risk.
‘A jinni’s citadel, you say? That may be a little more adventure than I can take.’
Azenomei waits for your decision.

Go with him across the desert?
Go your own way?

No idea why D'Arcy would have assumed a jinni imprisoning someone in a bronze citadel is madness even a few months ago, since she probably had her magic ring for longer than that.

[angelfromanotherpin]

Desert crossing sounds dangerous, and also we have a date with a Rukh. But then again, Az is our comrade now, and if the Rukh thing is truly the will of heaven, it'll happen no matter what. So half a vote for going with him.

[SlyJohnny]

I wish I knew whether he'd have thrown the shoes back before we agreed to this, but follow the call of adventure.

[Thaluikhain]

Yeah, to the desert with the old man, don't desert the old man.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Azenomei leads you into the wasteland, where the hot air rasps your throat and each footstep raises a cloud of acrid dust. For days you travel without seeing any sign of life. From dawn to dusk you feel as though your flesh is being dried on your bones. Night makes the rocks colder than ice.
Lose 2 Life Points unless you have WILDERNESS LORE or a water bottle. If you use a bottle, note that it is now empty.
If you are still able to go on, you see a gleam of burnished metal in the thickening dusk. ‘It is the jinni’s citadel,’ breathes Azenomei. Taking your arm, he hurries on until you stand below the walls. The battlements and turrets are all of polished bronze, flickering like fire in the red sunset.
You find the doors – a huge double portal of ebony studded with iron. Putting your shoulders against the doors, you slowly push them open. Beyond lies a great hall with many passages leading off it.
‘Let’s split up and look for my sister,’ says Azenomei. ‘We’ll have to hurry, because the jinni might return at any moment.’
You gaze along the hall. ‘But there may be hundreds of rooms in the citadel. How will we find her?’
‘There are a thousand doors,’ says Azenomei, starting off down one of the passages. ‘Just be sure not to try and open any that are locked.’
Choosing a passage at random, you start to explore. Doorway after doorway leads to empty rooms. At last you find a door that will not open. You thought there was a muffled shout from the other side, but when you press your ear to the door you can hear nothing.

Break the door down?
Go looking for Azenomei?

Adventure Sheet:

Name: D'Arcy Windblade
Gender: Female
Skills: CUNNING, LUCK, MAGIC and SWORDPLAY
Life Points: 10
Possessions:
1) Ring
2) Sword
3) Water Bottle (empty)
4) Whistle
5) Gloves
6) Magic slippers
7) Veil
8) Candle
Money: 0 dinars

[SlyJohnny]

We were instructed not to open any locked doors. Move on and regroup with Aze.

[angelfromanotherpin]

Move along.

[Darth Rabbitt]

You find Azenomei reclining on a divan in one of the citadel’s many rooms. ‘I thought you said we had to hurry,’ you say. ‘Come on – what if the jinni should return and find us here?’
He rises languidly to his feet. ‘He has returned. I am the jinni whose palace this is.’

Note the codeword Fabric. Azenomei looks different now. His eyes are gold-flecked, and a cast of evil shadows his features. He moves closer with the drowsy menace of a snake. ‘So, here I have you at last,’ he murmurs. ‘The infamous Shadow is more gullible than I’d have thought.’
‘What are you talking about?’ you reply angrily. ‘You know I’m not the Shadow!’
He shakes his head. ‘Of course you are. That’s why I allowed myself to be caught and put in the oubliette with you. I’ve pursued you for more than a year. Ever since you stole the gem from my citadel here.’
‘Gem? What gem? You’re talking nonsense. I’ve never been here before.’
He ignores your protests. ‘The gem – a ruby almost as big as the egg of the rokh that perches in its eyrie atop the Isle of Palms – had been given to me for safekeeping by the King of the Sea. If he learns I have lost it, he will sunder me into atoms and constrain my soul within a sealed copper jar for all time. So, here is your chance to save yourself. Tell me where you hid the ruby.’
‘For the last time,’ you reply between gritted teeth, ‘this is a case of mistaken identity. I never stole anything from you.’
‘You greedy fool,’ hisses Azenomei, raising his hands to weave a spell. ‘Now you will die!’ (D'Arcy does not possess a black jewel).

Cold tongues of magical flame blast from his fingers. They lick around your limbs and you feel as though shards of ice are being hammered into your bones. Lose 6 Life Points unless you have AGILITY, in which case you dodge the worst of the spell and need lose only 3 Life Points. (D'Arcy does not have the codeword Harem.)

You can use MAGIC and a ring, the Jericho horn if you have it, or you must fight.

Adventure Sheet:

Name: D'Arcy Windblade
Gender: Female
Skills: CUNNING, LUCK, MAGIC and SWORDPLAY
Life Points: 4
Possessions:
1) Ring
2) Sword
3) Water Bottle (empty)
4) Whistle
5) Gloves
6) Magic slippers
7) Veil
8) Candle
Money: 0 dinars
Codewords: Fabric

[angelfromanotherpin]

Time for some Jinn-on-Jinn violence. Unless maybe our skill with magic will let us cram this jerk into a copper jar.

[SlyJohnny]

Let's see if our jinn is useful.

[Darth Rabbitt]

A swirl of vapour emerges from the ring, clotting in midair into the shape of your jinni. He looks across the chamber with a groan of dread.
‘Azenomei al-Umara!’ Turning to you, he mutters, ‘This is one of the lords of the jinn. He is far mightier than I. If you send me forth to battle him, it may mean my death.’
‘Your life’s purpose is to serve me,’ you retort. ‘Attack!’
Taking the form of a shaggy black lion, he leaps on Azenomei. The tumult of roars, shrieks and bone-crunching blows is enough to freeze your blood. It is soon clear that your jinni was right – he’s no match for Azenomei.

Recall the jinni and attack Azenomei yourself?
Watch to see how the fight goes?

[SlyJohnny]

Is attacking him ourselves the same reference as fighting him before?