Votes tallied; Belushi Jackson will keep the Flame shield, since that won over keeping the Rampant Lion shield by a 2-1.5 vote. Belushi Jackson will also drop the Assassin’s Dagger to make room for Aelfgar, as that won over dropping the Magic Sword by a 2.5-1 vote.
186
Kneeling before the altar, you feel a surge of energy pass clean through you. Regain up to 4 STAMINA points, 1 SKILL point and 1 LUCK point. For a moment your hands are surrounded by fire but you feel no heat; then the flames vanish. You have been granted Khrizat’s Gift: you may conjure a small magical ball of fire which will do 4 STAMINA points of damage when aimed against an enemy. However, you may use this gift only once. Having been blessed, you leave the shrine. Turn to 23.
23
For much of the day you ride west and south through the Banarask Hills without seeing another soul in the desolate terrain. It is late afternoon when you come to the bottom of a sheer-sided incline. As you start to climb the path to the top, a huge silhouette appears on the horizon. Standing at the top of the incline is an ugly brute, at least six metres tall. The Hill Giant is covered in hair and is dressed in tatty animal furs, while in its massive hands it holds a small tree as a club. Next to it is a pile of tree-trunks. On seeing you the Giant gives the pile a mighty kick, sending the tree-trunks rolling down the valley, directly towards you. The sides of the path are too steep and there is no time for you to get out of the way of the speeding logs, so you prepare to jump them with your mount.
Test your Skill four times, subtracting 2 from the dice roll if you have the
Ride Special Skill. If you succeed on every roll, turn to 10. If you fail at all, turn to 88.
Belushi Jackson has the
Ride Special Skill. Rolling the dice four times and applying the modification for each roll yielded an 8, 9, 1, and 5, all of which are obviously less than Belushi Jackson’s Skill.
10
The Giant roars in fury at you for having avoided his hazards. Bellowing, it swings its club at you. Drawing your own weapon, you engage in single combat.
HILL GIANT SKILL 9 STAMINA 11
If you defeat the brute, turn to 173.
The fight:
[spoiler]Round 1: Hill Giant Attack Strength: 17, Player Attack Strength: 18;
Hill Giant Stamina: 9, Player Stamina: 18
Round 2: Hill Giant Attack Strength: 13, Player Attack Strength: 16;
Hill Giant Stamina: 7, Player Stamina: 18
Round 3: Hill Giant Attack Strength: 16, Player Attack Strength: 24;
Hill Giant Stamina: 5, Player Stamina: 18
Round 4: Hill Giant Attack Strength: 13, Player Attack Strength: 17;
Hill Giant Stamina: 3, Player Stamina: 18
Round 5: Hill Giant Attack Strength: 13, Player Attack Strength: 20;
Hill Giant Stamina: 1, Player Stamina: 18
Round 6: Hill Giant Attack Strength: 15, Player Attack Strength: 20;
Hill Giant Stamina: -1, Player Stamina: 18[/spoiler]
As expected, Belushi Jackson flawlessly kills the Hill Giant.
173
Quickly searching the body of the Giant, you find nothing of interest or value, so you spur Firemane onwards. If you have the word ‘Ecrof’ written down on your
Adventure Sheet, turn to 306. If you do not, turn to 2.
Belushi Jackson has the word ‘Ecrof’ written down on his
Adventure Sheet.
306
It is not far from here to the ruined outpost of Harnwatch, where you have arranged to meet your army. The outpost has been deserted since the Crusade against Chaos, a century ago. All that remains of it now is a crumbling stone stockade. Waiting, hidden inside its walls, is your force of brave warriors. Before you engage the enemy in battle, you must determine your army’s Battle Strength, which at present is zero. Consult the table below and total up the points given for each fighting unit you have comprising your army:
Lord Varen of Cleeve Manor’s soldiers 4 points
Nasra Stronn’s Mercenaries from Havalok 5 points
The villagers of Assart 3 points
Carass’s Town Militia 4 points
This total is your Battle Strength. If you have the
Battle Tactics Special Skill, you may add 2 more points to your Battle Strength.
There is no time to lose, so, your army ready, you set off into the Banarask Hills towards the Fortress of the Skull. If you have taken more than six days to get this far, turn to 355. If you have taken six days or less, turn to 184.
Belushi Jackson’s army contains Lord Varen of Cleeve Manor’s soldiers, Nastra Stronn’s Mercenaries from Havalok, and the villagers of Assart. Belushi Jackson also has the
Battle Tactics Special Skill, so his army’s Battle Strength is 14 points.
Important Note: Paragraph 355 leads to a death. Because getting the essential items within six days is excessively difficult, I will be lifting this time requirement and allow our hero to proceed to paragraph 184.
184
Dusk falls as you come in sight of the smouldering remains of a ransacked village. In the twilight haze you can just see that a hastily erected wooden stockade stands at its centre. However, as you near the site you hear a terrible din. Coming over the hill towards you a mass of beast-headed creatures suddenly appears. The noise is made by them banging weapons against shields and making animal hootings, grunts and bellows. Firemane snorts in excitement at the prospect of battle. Driven by a maniacal bloodlust, the bestial warriors charge your small force. The Beast Men’s Battle Strength is 10. (If you took four days or less to get this far, deduct 2 points from the Beast Men’s Battle Strength.)
Now
Engage in Battle. To do this, roll two dice and add your army’s Battle Strength. Now roll two dice and add the Beast Men’s Battle Strength. If the totals are the same, deduct 1 point both from your army’s Battle Strength and from that of your opponents, then
Engage in Battle again. If the totals are not the same, the side which is at a disadvantage (has the lower total) must deduct 2 points from its Battle Strength, then you return to the top of this paragraph. If your Battle Strength ever falls to zero or below, turn at once to 207 (make a note of this). If your enemy’s Battle Strength ever falls to 2 or below, turn at once to 149. For now, however, if your force has the advantage, turn to 149. If your force has the disadvantage, turn to 67.
Belushi Jackson took more than four days to get this far.
The Battle Engagement round resulted in a total of 18 for Belushi Jackson’s force, and 17 for the Beast Men. The Beast Men’s Battle Strength is now at 8, and Belushi Jackson’s force has the advantage.
149
[spoiler]
[/spoiler]
Hacking your way among the enemy, you suddenly break through their lines and are confronted by a scene that makes your blood boil with fury! The bodies of your companions litter the ground in front of one of the Beast Man warriors. The creature is almost three metres tall, with a wolf-like head, dagger-length fangs and a row of long spines projecting from the top of its skull and down its back. It has huge muscular arms that end in great clawed hands; in one of them it is gripping the broken axle-shaft of a war-chariot with one wheel still attached and ending in a vicious curved blade. Iron chains are bound round the Beast Man’s torso, and hanging from a belt are the heads of previous opponents. In the midst of its battle-frenzy, the foul Chaos spawn swings its weapon at you.
BEAST MAN CHAMPION SKILL 12 STAMINA 14
If the Champion hits you with the sickle-blade from the war-chariot, the implement will inflict 3 points of damage to your STAMINA. If you defeat this terrifying adversary, turn to 236.
The fight:
[spoiler]Round 1: Beast Man Champion Attack Strength: 19, Player Attack Strength: 18;
Beast Man Champion Stamina: 14, Player Stamina: 15
Round 2: Beast Man Champion Attack Strength: 16, Player Attack Strength: 18;
Beast Man Champion Stamina: 12, Player Stamina: 15
Round 3: Beast Man Champion Attack Strength: 18, Player Attack Strength: 17;
Beast Man Champion Stamina: 12, Player Stamina: 12
Round 4: Beast Man Champion Attack Strength: 19, Player Attack Strength: 21;
Beast Man Champion Stamina: 10, Player Stamina: 12
Round 5: Beast Man Champion Attack Strength: 14, Player Attack Strength: 20;
Beast Man Champion Stamina: 8, Player Stamina: 12
Round 6: Beast Man Champion Attack Strength: 13, Player Attack Strength: 18;
Beast Man Champion Stamina: 6, Player Stamina: 12
Round 7: Beast Man Champion Attack Strength: 22, Player Attack Strength: 21;
Beast Man Champion Stamina: 6, Player Stamina: 9
Round 8: Beast Man Champion Attack Strength: 12, Player Attack Strength: 22;
Beast Man Champion Stamina: 4, Player Stamina: 9
Round 9: Beast Man Champion Attack Strength: 18, Player Attack Strength: 15;
Beast Man Champion Stamina: 4, Player Stamina: 6[/spoiler]
So, the fight has progressed to the point where the Beast Man Champion is at 4 Stamina, while Belushi Jackson is at 6 Stamina. Should Khrizat’s Gift or Luck be used here? If Luck is to be used, should it be used to reduce the damage that our hero takes or to inflict additional damage?
The first choice to receive two votes (or two votes over all other choices) will be used to resolve the rest of the battles. If no option has a winning margin before 6:00 PM PST, I will make the choice based on which votes are cast.
Adventure Sheet
[spoiler]Belushi Jackson
SKILL: 12 Initial Skill = 12
STAMINA: 6 Initial Stamina = 24
LUCK: 12 Initial Luck = 12
SPECIAL SKILLS:
Battle Tactics
Ride
Tracking
Arcane Lore
Banish Spirit
HONOUR: 11
TIME ELAPSED: 7 days
WEAPON: Magic Sword (can harm undead and Demons)
GOLD PIECES: 22
EQUIPMENT AND NOTES:
Chainmail Coat
Horse named Firemane
Backpack
5 Provisions
Lantern
Tinderbox
2 Purses
Aranandus’s Restorative Potion (one tot, restores STAMINA to
Initial level)
Helmet of Ventarc
Ironbane (Roll 1 die against armored opponent before combat, 1-2 destroys enemy armor, 3-4 reduces enemy SKILL by 3 if enemy has an iron weapon, 5-6 destroys enemy armor and reduces enemy SKILL by 3 if enemy has an iron weapon)
Great Boar’s Tusks
Nroht
Ecrof
Cleric’s Talisman
Raven Charm
Ecrof
Twisted Staff
Enorc
Encountered Banshee On Paragraph 175
Eehsnab
Reduce the Skill of any undead creature in Myrton by 1 point
When at the Door of Skulls, convert Necromage’s name using the code A=1, B=2, C=3 … Z = 26, total the numbers, multiply the total by 5, and turn to that number
Necromage’s name is Cadaver
Shield Ring (-1 to enemy Attack Strength)
Ronnoc
Bottle of Forest of Lein Sap
Elven Amulet
Flame Shield (-1 to enemy Attack Strength)
Aelfgar (weapon in Firemane’s saddle, can harm undead and Demons)
Khrizat’s Gift: Can conjure a small magical ball of fire which will do 4 STAMINA points of damage when aimed against an enemy, can use only once
RESURRECTIONS: 2[/spoiler]