[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy 32 - Slaves of the Abyss

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to go to the far left wall in order to completely reject the fascist options, and to return to our quarters after that to avoid going to paragraph 25, which I also feel is a bad place to go to.

[SGamerz]

You lower yourself slowly down the wall until you are level with the window. Then you crane your head round to peer in. The room is dimly lit, and you strain to see the stark features of the Lady Sige, which seem to be staring back at you. You wait breathlessly for her to challenge you, and then realize that she is deep in meditation. She sits at a small table, upon which lie a board and counters. With her fingertips she gently moves the tokens across its surface. Pressing your face to the glass, you see that the board is a map of Kallamehr. You wait a while to see if Sige stirs, but finally you give up and return to the keep's roof. If this is the third window you have looked in, turn to 25. Otherwise, you may return to your quarters, or investigate any of the following if you have not done so already:

The far left wall
The left centre wall
The right centre wall

If we choose to take another peek, we will trigger and unknown event...

[Thaluikhain]

Return to quarters to avoid triggering whatever it is.

[Beroli]

Return to quarters.

So, Judge Albudur either talks to actual ghosts or has schizophrenia, and Sige sees Kallemehr as her game board.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to return to our quarters to avoid triggering the unknown event.

[Queen of Swords]

Agreed, let's return to our room.

[SGamerz]

You slip down the rope to the courtyard and, keeping in the shadows around its edge, begin to make your way back to the servants' quarters. You notice a guardsman marching along the walkway on the walls. If you had remained on the roof of the keep he would probably have spotted you.

Suddenly you hear the sound of grating metal near by, Behind you is a small metal door which leads into one of the outbuildings of the palace. A key is turning in the lock. You flatten yourself against the wall by the side of the door. It is flung outward, nearly crushing you. From your hiding place behind the door you hear several voices. You recognize one as that of Luthaur, the traitorous adventurer who embarrassed you in front of Dunyazad. "Put up quite a struggle, eh, lads?" he says. "Yes, Luthaur, they don't call him Ramedes the Invincible for nothing - even with enough brew inside him to drop a dragon, he fought like a dozen men." "Don't worry, the other one'll be a lot easier."

Do they mean you? The voices reach the other end of the courtyard and you hear a door slam. For some reason, they've left this door open. If you creep cautiously down the passage the men came out of, turn to 363. If you slip back to your pallet in the servants' quarters, turn to 165. If you wish to spend the rest of the night hidden in the stables, turn to 137.

[Queen of Swords]

Slip back to the pallet = they seize and kill us. Spend the rest of the night hidden = we don't find out what's going on. So let's try creeping cautiously down the passage.

[Beroli]

Sure, creep down the passage.

[JourneymanN00b]

I also vote to creep cautiously down the passage the men came out of.

[SGamerz]

The passage is very dark, and after a few yards you nearly tumble down a steep flight of stairs. After a tortuous descent the passage widens out, and you see the warm glow of torchlight ahead. You make your way past a row of empty cells into a rough-hewn cavern, full of shadowed niches and alcoves. Your attention is drawn to the large metal grille set into the floor. At its centre is a trapdoor of thinner bars. A few feet from them, you make out a pair of hands gripping the grille tightly. Stepping closer, you see that a man is hanging from the grille, while below him a huge shape moves in the darkness, making foul sucking and gurgling noises. If you have a crossbow and wish to shoot the creature which lurks below, turn to 51. If you leave the chamber, turn to 126. If you rush to open the trapdoor, turn to 162.

[Queen of Swords]

Open the trapdoor and release the man.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to rush to open the trapdoor.

[Thaluikhain]

Open the trapdoor, possibly saving the man, possibly releasing a monster to eat our enemies.

[Beroli]

Open the trapdoor.

[SGamerz]

You cross to the barred trapdoor. It has a lock on it but, when you grasp the bars, you find it has been left unlocked. You lift it easily with both hands and reach through to see whether you can grasp the man's hand. Unfortunately he is too far away, so you call to him to edge closer. From his muscular build, you guess that this is Ramades the Invincible, Lady Carolina's champion. He starts to make painful progress towards you, one hand at a time. Then you are aware of somebody behind you - just as they kick you violently in the back, sending you headlong into the gurgling darkness.

I remember wondering why there wasn't any options to check for guards the first time I was reading this. The fact that what was clearly meant to be a prison was left completely unlocked and apparently unguarded should have been downright suspicious.

You land painfully on the soft floor of the pit. To one side you can make out a single luminous eye regarding you from amid a bulky, shifting mass of mottled grey flesh. Beneath the eye is a gaping black maw, from which come ghastly sucking noises. It is a Quagrant, a horror bred by only the most loathsome and warped sorcerers. You have only a moment in which to act. Will you:

Use a blowpipe, if you have one which has not been used?
Use the Spitting Fly, if you know it?
Fight the horror with your sword?
Flee up the rough walls of the pit?

All 4 options available to us, and 2 of them are blue! Which one is best for us?

[Thaluikhain]

Only one eye...Spitting Fly it in the face.

[Beroli]

Use the blowpipe. Throwing away our sword sounds like a disastrously bad idea.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to use the blowpipe, as I would rather not give up our sword unless we need to.

[Queen of Swords]

Use the blowpipe. Throwing away our sword sounds like a disastrously bad idea.

Good point, use the blowpipe.

[SGamerz]

As the Quagrant lumbers in your direction, you draw Mema's blow-pipe from your pocket and point the slender tube at the creature. It begins to suck at you, and you struggle to keep your footing. At the last possible moment, you blow hard down the tube. A cloud of fine powder billows forth is instantly sucked into the creature's gaping mouth. With a convulsive shudder it collapses backwards, choking and wheezing asthmatically. Seizing your opportunity, you draw your sword and leap in to attack.

QUAGRNT SKILL 6 STAMINA 8

If you lose an attack to the Quagrant, it sucks you into its mouth. From then on, you will lose 2 points of STAMINA per Attack Round as it begins to suck the flesh off your bones even if you win the attack against it. If you defeat the Quagrant, turn to 64.

YEAH CHOKE ON THAT...LITERALLY!

In case you're wondering, this thing would have been at SKILL 8 STAMINA 14 without the blowpipe. This was the best weapon against it, and it makes sense considering its form and attack style. Against a sucker, clearly the ideal way to deal with it is to blow it.

(The book also made a point of specifying that it needs to be a blowpipe that hasn't been used before, because if we'd frightened Mema by opening the cupboard with our sword drawn, she'd have blown that powder into our face, and while it wouldn't hurt us as much as it affects the Quagrant, it would still not have been a pleasant experience.)

COMBAT LOG:
Quagrant 8, Dastan 22. Quagrant is at 6.
Quagrant 14, Dastan 16. Quagrant is at 4.
Quagrant 12, Dastan 18. Quagrant is at 2.
Quagrant 14, Dastan 16. Quagrant is defeated.

On the grille above you stands the spindly jailor, cackling and dangling the keys from his fingers. You must find a way of killing him quickly if you are to get out of this accursed pit. If you know the Spitting Fly and wish to use it, turn to 259. If you have a crossbow and wish to use it, turn to 186. If you have a blow-pipe which has not been used before and wish to use it, turn to 197. Otherwise, turn to 352.

The blow-piper is no longer a choice since it's been used. Do we want to throw our sword at him?

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: Dastan
SKILL 12/12
STAMINA 17/17
LUCK 10/10
Equipment: Sword of Fangthane steel, leather armour, Sige's Pomander, Reaver's bottle, Blowpipe (used), Ghulsh' potion (turn to 258 when drunk), 'Zazzaz' potion (turn to 369 when drunk), Barolo's buckler (+1 SKILL during combat)
Provisions: 5
Gold & Treasure: 9 GP
Time remaining: 9/20 (turn to 57 when crossing off 18th time unit, and to 326 when crossing off the last time unit)
Notes: Learned the Spitting Fly from Barolo
[/spoiler]

[Beroli]

This time, it appears the choice is between: risk losing the sword, or almost definitely stay in this pit until we starve. Throw the sword.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to use the Spitting Fly, as this is a scenario where we have to risk losing our sword in order to get the keys.

[Queen of Swords]

Agreed, Spitting Fly.

[SGamerz]

You hurl your sword at the jeering jailor, prating that it will pass between the bars of the grille. Sure enough, it finds its mark, impaling the evil man in mid-cackle. He slumps on to the grille, the trapdoor keys dangling from his twitching hands. You scramble up the rough walls of the pit, observing as you do that Ramedes has swung over to below the jailor's body, reached through the grille and grasped the keys. Soon you are both out of the pit, recovering from your ordeal.

And presumably we also recover our sword.

And since there are no detailed descriptions, my headcanon is that our Spitting Fly skewered that bastard up the ass.

As you lie panting, Ramedes grunts and flexes his broad shoulders. "I just can't understand it," he says, shaking his head. "Three months ago I was sent by my Lady on a journey - a mission to retrieve a mighty relic. I braved perils beyond description to find the artefact...and my reward? Drugged, beaten and abandoned to that creature by some cowardly pretenders. By the Graces of Castis, I had already hidden my prize safely. Now I must deliver it to the Lady Carolina." With a shock you realize that Ramedes has not learnt of the death of the Lady. You gently explain the truth to him. He clenches his fists and stifles a cry. "I will have my revenge!" he hisses, "and I will take it now!" He jumps to his feet and makes his way out of the chamber, grabbing a torch from the wall to light his way along the dark passage. You follow him out of the building and into the courtyard, where he strides over to the water-trough by the stables. He reaches into the scummy water and retrieves a leather pouch. "I believe I can trust you," he says, tossing the pouch over to you. "I go now to root out the traitor who has slain my Lady. Keep this well and, if I should die, give it to Kallamehr's new ruler." He whirls the flaming brand about his head and charges towards the gate of the keep. If you follow Ramedes, turn to 224. If you hide in the stables and wait to see what happens, turn to 359.