[Let's Play] Virtual Reality Gamebooks: Green Blood

Omegonthesane · Post by **Omegonthesane** » Thu May 07, 2020 8:06 pm

my instinct is that "wise men rule well" but I feel like that might be a game over.

Thaluikhain · Post by **Thaluikhain** » Fri May 08, 2020 3:45 am

Knowledge is power, guard it well

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Sat May 09, 2020 6:16 am

I don't really agree with the theory that knowledge must be kept secret from men, but I'm afraid that's what Elanor believes, given how the conversation has gone till now. Guard the secret.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sat May 09, 2020 11:46 pm

'You pass the test. I know you to be of true heart. You care about living things. You are the saviour of the forest. I will do all in my power to aid you, but you will need the elves on your side. They are the real masters of the forest.'
Elanor fills two cups of elderflower nectar and offers you one. Taking the drink, you raise the cup in thanks before putting it to your lips. The nectar is marvellously refreshing, sweet but not cloying to the taste.
'The Westermen have cut great swathes through the forest. They are settling the land, but without the trees the soil will be carried away by the wind and this region will become a terrible desert. These men don't know what they are doing, and they care nothing for life. You must stop them.'
'How am I to stop them?' you ask. 'How many are they?'
'Tens of thousands. They came from the western plains like columns of ants and devoured everything in their path.'

'But how am I to stop them? I am a stranger here in the forest.'
'Make the elves fight them. Kill the Westermen's leader. Wake the mighty dragon and send him forth to destroy them. If the forest perishes the whole world will die.'
'Which of these three should I do?' you ask. 'Or is not as simple as that, and I must do two or even all three of these things?
'I do not know.'
'Can't you talk to the elves?'
'The elves will talk to men only on Midsummer's Day. On that day, you must find them and convince them to help you save the forest. I can never talk with mankind except on Midsummer's Day.'
There are so many questions you would like to ask Elanor, but the elderflower nectar seems to be going to your head and you feel too drowsy to continue.
'Sleep now, and awake a hero.'
As Elanor says the word sleep, your eyes shut and you sink gently down on the straw mattress, already deep in slumber.

When you awake you are wonderfully restored to healthy vitality: restore any Life Points you have lost.
Elanor is nowhere to be seen. On the third finger of your right hand, however, is an emerald ring with the stone set in a furled sliver leaf. It fits perfectly. You get up, stretch your limbs, and, deep in thought, rub the gem.
You feel in your bones that it is your destiny to save the forest and that you will risk your life to do so. You suffer a moment's unease as you worry about the dangers ahead, an unease that turns to deep-rooted fear. Once more you look at the ring. Is it magical? Is the ring causing you to feel the reckless courage of a hero? Or did the blood of a hero always run in your veins?
Note the emerald ring among the possessions listed on your Adventure Sheet.
Do you want to take off the ring, or do you trust Elanor and leave the ring on?

Adventure Sheet:

Name: ??
Skills: CUNNING, FOLKLORE, SPELLS and WILDERNESS LORE
Life Points: 10
Possessions:
1) Magic Wand
2) Maple Flute
3) Emerald Ring
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
Money: 9 gold pieces

SlyJohnny · Post by **SlyJohnny** » Sat May 09, 2020 11:59 pm

The original mission is to "learn the knowledge of ages and return to the lands of men as a saviour", not this eco-terrorist crap. Also, "No one who sees the elves lives to tell of it." Let's take the ring off, in the hopes that we'll be able to make our own decisions going forward.

Thaluikhain · Post by **Thaluikhain** » Sun May 10, 2020 3:33 am

Half for for keeping the ring.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Sun May 10, 2020 4:45 am

SlyJohnny wrote: Also, "No one who sees the elves lives to tell of it." Let's take the ring off, in the hopes that we'll be able to make our own decisions going forward.

The trouble is, not having the ring might be the exact event that causes the elves to kill us offhand if we meet them.

Omegonthesane · Post by **Omegonthesane** » Sun May 10, 2020 9:54 am

Wear the ring.

And who knows, perhaps all who see the elves decide their homeland can fuck off and settle with the elves.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Mon May 11, 2020 12:53 am

So that's either 1 1/2 or 2 1/2 for keeping the ring on vs. 1 for removing it.

Elanor, today dressed in a silver gown of gossamer silk, turns to look at you searchingly as you walk underneath the hawthorn arch. She smiles and asks if you are feeling brave today.
You sense a somber urgency behind her words and, imitating a courtly bow, you reply, 'My lady, I have never felt more heroic!'
'Good. Do you dare to glimpse your future, my hero?'
You have always avoided fortune-tellers. You have noticed that if a fortune-teller gives good news, people go away happy and expect good fortune to turn up on a plate without them lifting a finger. If the soothsayer prophesies misfortune a sense of helplessness comes over people and they all too often sink into a despairing inactivity which leads to their downfall through sloth. Thus their prophesy is self-fulfilling. It is a well-known fact in Godorno that those soothsayers who always give good auguries are never short of custom, leading you to concluded that they often lie, pretending to see happy events when they should be giving bad news, good fortune when they should be giving bad tidings.
Your worry on this score, however, is soon gone. Looking in the basin of smooth clear water it seems as though an artist is hurriedly painting a picture of ghoulish horror.
'The water shows what will come to pass if you do not succeed in your quest.'
The picture is complete now in terrible detail, as if you were actually looking at the burnt remains of the forest. The trees have been chopped down as far as the eye can see. An infernal engine of some kind belches black smoke. Two hundred paces away you see a forge where a gigantic cauldron is suspended over a bonfire; six men constantly feed the fire with wood and charcoal. All the men working there have very pale skins, their faces long and thin, like hatchets. They shout to each other over the din of the engine in a language you don't understand.
Teams of horses harnessed together pull logs to where groups of men cut them up ready for burning. A row of children sit nearby; they are darker skinned than the men and have been set to toil over sharpening the saws.
Where the trees have been felled and stripped, men are torching the underbrush. They seem intent on killing everything that lives in the forest. A pall of smoke hangs like a storm-cloud over the scene.
Then the vision shifts and the men have gone, leaving behind nothing but the grey ashes of death. All that remains of the forest is a few blackened stumps.
Note the codeword Crabclaw on your Adventure Sheet.

'You have seen what will come to pass if you fail in your quest: death and nothing but death. Now let us see whether your future holds something different in store.'
Elanor takes your hand and brushes the surface of the water with your fingertips. A new picture forms and your eyes grow round with wonder. Something that looks like a hill set between tall dark trees is stirring and turning to look at you. It is a dragon, the oldest of the ancient beasts, not quite immortal. Its red eyes contrast horribly with the smooth jade green scales of its body. It snorts and a cloud of green gas rolls towards you. You jerk back from the vision in horror, before you remember it is just a picture on the water. You see yourself darting away from the cloud. Later, the vision shows you riding astride the creature's back while it flexes its wings in flight.
'You must win over the dragon, the most powerful of all the forest's denizens,' says Elanor. 'Then it will fight for you against the Westermen.'

Elanor takes your hand once more and brushes the surface of the water again. The water is icy to your touch this time. A shiver of indefinable apprehension runs through you.
A new picture forms. Elves with bows throng the depths of the forest. They have pale green skin and hair the colour of rich red wine. They are sniping at the Westermen, unseen. Men fall in swathes, pierced by the elves' arrows, but the Westermen come on and on, advancing towards some unseen goal. The elves fall bavck; it seems they are looking to you to do something decisive.
A terrible figure stalks into view. You can't tell whether it is a man or some infernal magical machine. It looks like a full suit of armour, large enough for a giant of a man, that hisses steam at the joints. It bears a great sword which whistles through the air as it strides mechanically towards you.
The vision fades.
`Your moment of truth, hero. You must be prepared to fight the smoking man. Remember this vision, saviour, it shows the way to success in your quest,' she says.
She pauses before continuing. 'Tomorrow will be Midsummer's Day. It is time for you to go in search of the elves. But, my hero, you must be careful. Tell them you are a friend of mine and they might not kill you, for they sometimes shoot a man dead with a single arrow before the hapless wanderer knows he is being watched. Harm neither hide nor leaf of the forest. Only by your feelings for nature will the elves judge you. Aside from that they are impartial. You could be a saint or a murderer among men, yet it would count for nothing among the elves.'
When she is sure you know the way she bids you farewell with one last warning. "The flute will be of no use to you, for I cannot save you from the elves if you anger them. Farewell.'

(We have neither the Waterbearer nor the Bullhorn keywords.)

The hairs on the nape of your neck begin to bristle as you step quietly between the Greenbark trees. You sense you are being watched.
You can hide, stop and look about you, or call out that you are Elanor's friend come in search of the immortal elves.

Adventure Sheet:

Name: ??
Skills: CUNNING, FOLKLORE, SPELLS and WILDERNESS LORE
Life Points: 10
Possessions:
1) Magic Wand
2) Maple Flute
3) Emerald Ring
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
Money: 9 gold pieces
Codewords: Crabclaw

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Mon May 11, 2020 1:54 am

Probably the elves. Name-drop Elanor. It'll probably check us for the ring.

Omegonthesane · Post by **Omegonthesane** » Mon May 11, 2020 7:12 am

Call out Elanor's name. We were never going to sneak through elf land anyway.

I wonder if elvish realpolitik could be so absolutist about treating eco-fascists with exactly the same respect as actual environmental activists.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Tue May 12, 2020 3:05 am

You call out loudly. 'I am a friend of Elanor, the Lady of the Forest. I come in search of the immortal elves.'
You feel rather unheroic, calling out like this when you don't know whether anyone can hear you. There is also the nasty feeling that you might be struck by an arrow at any moment.
You call out a second time and this time, to your relief, you are answered.

You are surrounded by a circle of elves, all of whom seem to have appeared as if by magic. They look solemn but not hostile. Their faces have the perfect beauty of unsullied youth but their green almond-shaped eyes are like windows onto the wisdom of the centuries. Their skin is flawless pale green with a silvery bloom like grape bloom. Their long straight hair is the color of rich red wine. They seem not in the least surprised to see you.
You wait for them to say something, but they seem in no hurry, so you tell them you are a friend of the forest and an enemy of the burners.

Your words seem to make no difference: the elves just stare at you. Their childlike faces belie the threat they present. A few of them carry slender longbows but these are slung over their shoulders., The elves are not trying to frighten you but the eeriness of those young old faces, silent and quizzical, is unnerving. For all you know each one of them was born before man came into existence.
You repeat that you are no friend of the Westermen and that you want to save the forest. Your words are met by a stony silence. Rattled by this lack of communication, you end up by saying that not all men are evil. You then decide to keep your mouth shut.
'I have met many men,' says a voice. 'Seven this very millennium have found me here in the greenwood. On the whole, taken for what they were, summing the sinews of their spirit and the canopy of their souls, they were bad; not evil, just bad. We came here to avoid the prattling of men. It is hard for us to be near those we must pity.'
At the mention of the word pity, many of the elves turn their faces away for a moment, as if to spare you. You will have to win their respect.
Will you apologize for making them uncomfortable by disturbing them in the greenwood? Or will you tell them it is they who are to be pitied, for the Westermen are destroying their forest as surely as night follows day?

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Tue May 12, 2020 3:10 am

Return the pity.

Thaluikhain · Post by **Thaluikhain** » Tue May 12, 2020 1:07 pm

Half a vote for warning about the Westermen.

Omegonthesane · Post by **Omegonthesane** » Wed May 13, 2020 11:56 am

Return the pity, and not just bcos it's a package deal with telling them about the Westermen.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sat May 16, 2020 7:50 pm

There is no mistaking the expression in the elves' eyes this time. You have angered them.
'We are older than the forest. We were alive before the forest grew and we will live on after it is gone.'
'But it has been your home for so long. Does it not anger you to see the burners destroying its beauty?' you ask. 'And where will you live? Where will you find a place where there are no men to be pitied?'
'Have you come here to taunt us? It is the coming of the time of men. All things must pass and we with them.'
Taunt them to goad them into action?
Humble yourself and beg them to let you see the wonders of their homes in the greenwood before it is lost forever?

(The elves certainly jumped quickly from "we will live on after the forest is gone" to "all things must pass and we with them".)

Omegonthesane · Post by **Omegonthesane** » Sat May 16, 2020 7:58 pm

Humility time - because it's not the elves we need to convince to act, it's the dragon.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Sun May 17, 2020 4:16 am

Beg to see their home. Might actually bring us into contact with someone important whom we can persuade to get them to help.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sat May 23, 2020 3:17 am

Something in what you have said has struck a chord with them.
'For thousands of years we have guarded our secret homes from the eyes of men. Now we must leave them and no one but us and the beasts of the woods will know or tell of the splendour that is Elvenhame. We grant you this, a sight of Elvenhame.'
You walk with them, they slow their pace for you, but they seem remarkably lacking in curiosity about you. It is as if they already know all they need to about the race of beings called man. It is a walk of several hours through several ways and tunnels before the most beautiful sight in the world opens up before you.

Taunting the elves results in a Game Over where they blind you and leave you to die.

The Greenbark trees here in Elvenhame are the biggest in the world. Their branches intermingle and there are walkways, galleries and towers perched on them. Elvenhame is a town in the trees. There are always flowers in bloom here, no matter what the season. Many coloured humming birds hover and dart from one soft spray of flowers to the next. The sound of their wings is like the soft music of a monk's chant. White hinds and black panthers lie together happily in the dappled sunlight beneath the trees.
Tree-houses spanning the gaps between the Greenbarks' great branches are decked with hanging violets and ivy. The bark of the tree shines like polished jade where it has been worn smooth by the passage of elven feet. There are hundreds of elves here, congregating quietly, astonished that a mortal has been brought to Elvenhame.

You are led to the clearing in the centre of the city of trees and there sat down on the ground. The elves sit in tiers around you, perching on branches; more stand on the walkways and lean out from the towers between the trees. You cannot hide your awe at the natural beauty which surrounds you. When you say that you could never have imagined such an idyll they seem pleased.
'Never have we risked everything by sharing the beauty of our home with mortals. But now we realize that this beauty will soon be lost. In the time of men no one but you will tell tales of the splendours that were once Elvenhame.' There is a brooding melancholy in the faces of all the elves.
'But if you fight you can drive the men out of the forest.'
'Do you, a mortal, counsel us to slay your fellow men?'
What will you answer? That the men of the west are not your fellows or that the men are killing the forest which keeps the air pure for everyone?

Omegonthesane · Post by **Omegonthesane** » Sat May 23, 2020 2:22 pm

"The men are killing the forest which keeps the air pure for everyone" plays more to the elvish biases.

Thaluikhain · Post by **Thaluikhain** » Sat May 23, 2020 2:31 pm

They're killing the forest, yeah.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sat May 23, 2020 4:39 pm

'The mortal speaks the truth. If the forest is killed, the whole world will die. It will not be the time of men but the time of death and desolation, the end of all things.'
'But what can we do? We number thousands but the Westermen come in hundreds of thousands.'
'Would you rather fight bravely, and show that you value the beauty that is your home? Or will you stand idly by and let the time of death and desolation come to the forest? I beg you to take up your bows and fight these cruel Westermen, not just for your own sake, but for all the world. We all need the forest in order to live.'

'What would you have us do? They outnumber us a hundred to one. Must we give battle? We have no swords.'
The elves know nothing of warfare. You will have to guide them. Many of them don't seem to believe the forest is really threatened.
Will you say that their bows alone are enough to guarantee victory, but first set out alone for the camp of the Westermen to find out what you can about your foes? Or will you suggest an expedition to capture swords from forges?

Omegonthesane · Post by **Omegonthesane** » Sat May 23, 2020 5:51 pm

I'm not sure there's any armour that blocks arrows and not swords, but I also don't like the thought of leaving the forest without a dragon. Half a vote that their bows are enough, since they don't seem to acknowledge siege scale weapons.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Sun May 24, 2020 2:05 am

Set out for the camp to spy. We'd probably need to do that at some point, and it's certainly better to do it before any kind of expedition that will alert them about enemies.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Mon May 25, 2020 3:29 pm

Searching for the camp of the Westermen in the great forest takes several days. On the morning of the sixth day, breaking from the cover of orange-berried rowan trees, you see a steep-sided valley, charred and dead. The vegetation has been burned or dissolved away. In places bare rock has been exposed by heavy scuffing and here and there are smooth basins etched into the rock by strong chemicals. At the centre of the valley is a smooth green hillock about twenty feet high. At the far end is a strange, bare hill of some grey-white rock, looking like a mound of bone. An egret pecks at the green turf of the hillock for worms. The grass is lightly wreathed in mist.
Will you walk down into the dead valley past the blackened tree stumps? Or skirt around the valley to the east?

The Gaming Den

[Let's Play] Virtual Reality Gamebooks: Green Blood

What book should I run next?