[Let's Play] Lone Wolf - Kai Series

[SGamerz]

Continue

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes registered; Lone Wolf will resist the urge to get drunk once again and continue along the street towards the Dougga Market.

202

You pass beneath an arch where two brass-gilded conical towers gleam like gold. Beyond the arch you discover a marketplace crowded with squabbling merchants. Exotic carpets, brightly colored cloth, and all manner of foods are being bought, sold, and haggled over. The north side of the marketplace is devoted to the auction of Douggas. The sleek but noisy desert beasts are being paraded, for the benefit of the bidders, around a paddock adjoining their green-tiled stables. Just past the stables, a street vanishes away into the Carpet-weavers’ Quarter of Ikaresh.
     If you choose to investigate the stables, turn to 309.
     If you want to ask one of the merchants if they know where Tipasa lives, turn to 248.
     If you decide to leave the marketplace, you can continue along the adjoining street by turning to 386.

Please make your votes on where to head to next before 9:00 AM PDT to guarantee that they will be counted.

[SGamerz]

Check the stables. Maybe the we can communicate with the horses for information using Animal Kinship.

[Thaluikhain]

Half vote for talking to merchants.

[SGamerz]

Yeah, that works too, no strong objections if there's a tie. I just voted stables because merchants are more likely to ask for payment than horses.

[Beroli]

Ask a merchant about Tipasa.

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes counted; asking one of the merchants won over checking the stables by a 1.5-1 vote.

248

A small, heavy-set merchant is hawking his wares from a stall set close to the archway, his eyes twinkling from beneath his turban. As you approach he launches a flood of wild claims to persuade you to buy his clearly inferior goods. He looks surprised when you interrupt him with your question.
     ‘Tipasa?’ he answers. ‘Yes, yes, I do know where he lives.’
     He holds up a gaudy waistcoat of pink and orange sackcloth and offers it to you.
     ‘It would make a worthy gift for your esteemed friend,’ he suggests. ‘And only 5 Gold Crowns.’
     Clearly the merchant expects you to purchase this shoddy garment before he will tell you where Tipasa lives.
     If you decide to buy the Waistcoat, pay the man 5 Gold Crowns and turn to 328.
     If you refuse to buy the Waistcoat, or if you cannot afford to pay him 5 Gold Crowns, turn instead to 274.

Lone Wolf can afford to pay the merchant 5 Gold Crowns. Please make your votes on whether to give in to the merchant’s extortion attempt before 9:00 AM PDT to guarantee that they will be counted.

[Beroli]

Buy the Waistcoat.

[SGamerz]

See, of course merchants are going to ask for money! But what makes it worse is that they try to pass off junk on us at the same time. Turn down the ugly waistcoat. We're wearing something with bonus and this thing is not worth drop another item from the backpack for. There has to be better sources of information. Like that Soushilla we were told about.

[Thaluikhain]

I might have considered it if we'd not have to drop an item for it, but yeah, no waistcoat.

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes tallied; not buying the Waistcoat won over buying it by a 2-1 vote.

274

Banedon holds a gleaming ring of silver beneath the merchant’s nose and says, in a quietly persuasive tone: ‘This is yours, my friend, if you will kindly tell us where Tipasa can be found.’
     The merchant snatches the ring from the wizard’s hand and his eyes widen. He stammers,
     ‘The… the first alley on the left… p…past the stables. He lives at the house with the b… blue door.’
     You hurry across the crowded marketplace towards the stables and enter the street beyond. As you turn into the alley, you hear the merchant’s shriek of dismay above the noise of the crowd. The ring has just dissolved on his finger. Banedon laughs and taps the side of his nose with his index finger.
     ’A little trick I learned in Palmyrion,’ he says, with an impish grin.



     At the end of the alley you find what you are looking for: the house with the blue door.
     To continue, turn to 206.

206

There is no reply to your first knock. You are about to knock again when the door opens a few inches and the red-rimmed eyes of an old woman stare out from the darkness.
     ‘Banedon!’ she exclaims, her voice hoarse and shaky. ‘Thank the gods it is you.’
     She ushers you both inside and quickly locks the door. The house is sparsely furnished and what little is there is either damaged or completely destroyed.
     ‘They have taken him, Banedon, they have taken my husband… the men with the faces of the dead. Ten days ago. They came like shadows in the night.’
     She breaks down, her frail body wracked by sobs. Banedon comforts her as best he can but you sense that he shares her bitter loss. The Drakkarim have taken Tipasa, of that there is little doubt. By now they will have made him tell everything he knows about the Tomb of the Majhan.
     ‘We will find him, I promise,’ says Banedon, wiping the tears from the old woman’s face. ‘But you must try to help us if you can. Tipasa always kept a diary of his travels. Do you have it still?’
     A flicker of hope shines in the old woman’s eyes. ‘Yes, it is here. He told me to hide it in case the evil men came for him.’
     She kneels at an empty fireplace and prizes a loose brick from the chimney. A leather-bound book drops from its hiding place into her hand. She gives it to Banedon who studies its yellowed pages, his face lined in thought.
     You notice that the book is full of cryptic symbols, numbers, calculations and pictograms.



     ‘They are drawn by the night stars,’ says Banedon, tracing his finger along the astronomical drawings. ‘They hold the secret, I know, but without my star charts we cannot hope to find the tomb. We must return to the Skyrider at first light. There I shall be able to make some sense of this book.’
     To continue, turn to 331.

331

You get only a little sleep this night. Your mind is filled with the challenges of the quest that lies before you, and you are haunted by fears that Darklord Haakon may already have beaten you to the Tomb of the Majhan and found the Book of the Magnakai.
     You rise before dawn and breakfast on a meal of sheep’s butter and dry milk cake before bidding farewell to Tipasa’s wife. The trek back to the Skyrider passes uneventfully and by noon you have reached the rocky crag where the craft is moored. Nolrim is the first to greet you, but he cannot hide his disappointment that you have returned unaccompanied.
     ‘Do not worry, Nolrim. The answer lies here,’ says Banedon, holding up Tipasa’s diary. ‘Prepare to set sail.’
     As the Skyrider rises into the blue desert sky, Banedon hands over the helm to Nolrim and bids you follow him to his quarters at the prow. For three hours he pores over his charts, making calculations, checking instrument readings and racking his brain for the solution that will pinpoint the Tomb of the Majhan.
     ‘It’s no use,’ he says, tired and exasperated. ‘I just cannot fathom these numbers.’
     As you peer at the pages of Tipasa’s diary, suddenly you realize that they are written in code. What Banedon assumes to be positions of stars is in fact a code to three numbers that give the precise location of the Tomb.
     Consult the Map at the front of the book to help you discover the location of the Tomb of the Majhan.
     The first of the three numbers is equal to the number of oases on the trail between Ikaresh and Bir Rabalou.
     The second number is equal to the number of cities in Vassagonia.
     The third number is equal to the number of islands off the coast of Cape Kabar.
     When you think you have broken the code, write the numbers in order and turn to the section that they indicate.
     (To solve this puzzle correctly, you will need to use the Map with the above code instructions in mind before coming back to this section. You may have noted the number of cities already in this adventure. The three-digit section corresponding to the correct answer will state that it is the correct solution to this puzzle. If you do not see this note, you have chosen the wrong section, in which case you should return to this section and reconsider the code before making your section again.)

Here's the recap: Lone Wolf and Banedon trick the extorting merchant into giving the communists Tipasa the Wanderer’s house without paying any Gold Crowns. Upon arriving at house, they find out that the Tipasa the Wanderer has been kidnapped by the fascists ten days ago. Fortunately, Tipasa the Wanderer’s wife gives them his diary. Lone Wolf and Banedon return to the airship, where Banedon fails to decipher the location of the Tomb of the Majhan. So now it is up to Lone Wolf to solve the puzzle that will give our hero the Tomb’s precise location. Please make your votes on which section to turn to next before 9:00 AM PDT to guarantee that they will be counted.

[SGamerz]

Should be 373.

The third number is clearly 3, from the map.

The second number was given in the poster proclaiming the change of Zakhan ("through the unity of the Seven cities").

The number of oases is actually a bit confusing at first looking at the map because of the way pages were scanned (some parts of the left page seems to be duplicated on the right side and vice versa), but I'm still pretty sure of the answer, since the first number can only be between 1-3 (Lone Wolf books aren't THAT long), and we'd already seen 173 (which is impossible anyway since it's in Part One) and 273 earlier (we didn't go to the section itself, but we saw the section that can lead to it).

[JourneymanN00b]

Vote registered; turning to section 373.

373

‘That’s it!’ exclaims Banedon, stabbing his finger at a map of the Dry Main that covers his chart table. ‘One hundred and fifteen miles due west of Bir Rabalou; one hundred and fifteen miles due south of the oasis of Bal-loftan.’ He picks up a quill pen and marks the spot. ‘The Tomb of the Majhan.’ (This section is the correct answer to the code puzzle posed in section 331.)
     You study the map and ponder the miles of desolation separating you from your goal. Banedon notices your look of dismay and quickly tries to put your mind at ease.
     ‘Fear not, Lone Wolf. We’ll be there before the dawn.’
     You smile at his confidence, but it is not the actual journey that worries you. Your concern is what you may or may not find upon your arrival.
     To continue, turn to 320.

320

Dawn is breaking on the horizon of a low hill that is blurred and dotted with small tufted trees. Swiftly the Skyrider has voyaged through the night to arrive at the foothills of the Koneshi Mountains, in whose folds the skyship is safely tucked away from watchful eyes. Twenty-five miles to the north, across a landscape of barren rock and dry brush, lies the Tomb of the Majhan.
     You set off with Banedon before the dawn, anxious to waste neither time nor the protective cover of the darkness. Now, as the great golden disc of the sun climbs in the sky, for the first time you are able to see your goal. A massive excavation has exposed the heart of this scorched land, delving deep around the tombs of its forgotten ancestors.
     Thousands of Giaks, spiteful and malicious servants of the Darklords, labor unceasingly to remove rock and sand from this quarry. They are forced by Drakkarim to drag their backbreaking loads up ramps to the rim of the crater. Close to the edge of the crater, an encampment of black tents surrounds a large domed canopy. Lying in the shade of this construction is a huge flying creature – an Imperial Zlanbeast. Its presence here can only mean one thing: Darklord Haakon has arrived. The thought of the Darklord’s presence here chills your blood, but you draw some comfort from the labor of his Giaks. That they continue to labor is a sign that their mission has yet to be completed; the Book of the Magnakai has yet to be found.
     It is impossible to approach the crater unseen. You will have to wait for darkness before you dare make your approach and attempt to enter the Tomb. During the long wait, it is agreed that Banedon should try to find Tipasa. It is likely that he is being held captive somewhere inside the encampment. It seems improbable that Haakon would have killed him before discovering the treasure he has traveled so far to secure.
     During the day, you must eat a Meal or lose 3 ENDURANCE points (or 2 if you have a Canteen of Water if you choose to drink now). If you possess the Kai discipline of Hunting, you are unable to make use of it in this desert wasteland to satisfy your requirement for food. Remember to make any necessary adjustments to your Action Chart.
     As night falls, so your desperate quest begins. The Giaks pose few problems that you cannot overcome with your basic warrior skills, for these creatures have been overworked to the brink of complete exhaustion. Only the Drakkarim show any sign of vigilance, but even so, there are less than a dozen patrolling the rim of the entire crater. Not until you reach the main entrance to the Tomb do you encounter any real challenge.



     A Drakkar stands on guard by the entrance, his cruel eyes glinting behind his twisted iron death-mask. Occasionally, he diverts his attention from the watch to take a drink from a water flask.
     If you have the Kai Discipline of Mind Over Matter, turn to 214.
     If you do not possess this skill, turn instead to 239.

Lone Wolf has the Kai Discipline of Mind Over Matter.

214

You focus your skill on a nearby spade, willing the handle to rattle against the wheelbarrow in which it rests. It only takes a few seconds for the vigilant Drakkar sentry to leave his post and investigate the suspicious noise. By the time he returns, you have entered the Tomb of the Majhan.
     To continue, turn to 395.

395

For as far as your eye can see, a perfectly straight sandstone corridor slopes away into the distance. Torches crackle and sputter on the walls, illuminating pictograms engraved in the yellow stone.
     At regular intervals, rough-edged slabs protrude into the main corridor. You stop to take a close look at one of these slabs and the floor beneath it and come to a frightening conclusion. They are traps, set off no doubt by the Giaks when they cleared this corridor of sand. Rather than instructing the Giaks to avoid them, the Darklords must have deliberately used their slaves to trigger them. Once the traps had been sprung, the squashed bodies were cleared away and the slabs chiseled through to the next section. Pit traps in the floors seem to have been neutralized in the same way. Set off by luckless Giaks, they have been filled in with their dead bodies and leveled off with sand. The thought of this heartless barbarity fills you with a sense of renewed revulsion for the Darklords and their kind.
     Just over a mile along the corridor, eventually you arrive at a large stone door. The stone surround bears evidence of recent chisel-work, but the door itself is rock solid. You notice a faint beam of light descending from a hole in the ceiling. It creates a small circular pool of light, a little to one side of a similar hole in the floor. In the wall near to the door there is a triangular indentation. It is about the same size as a Gold Crown.
     If you possess a Prism, turn to 233.
     If you possess a Blue Stone Triangle, turn to 245.
     If you possess neither of these items, turn to 298.

Lone Wolf possesses a Prism and a Blue Stone Triangle. To resolve the book’s logic, I will have Lone Wolf use the Prism.

233

Holding the Prism in the center of the beam, you divert the light towards the hole in the floor. There is a sound of stone grating on stone as slowly the door opens to reveal a large chamber. It is dimly lit, but in the dust that covers its marble floor you can see footprints too numerous to count. As you enter, you catch sight of a rough stone throne that is facing the wall on the far side of the chamber. Behind you, the door slides shut with unnerving speed.
     To continue, turn to 289.

289

The throne begins to revolve. As it turns, a terrible howling fills your ears. It changes and transforms into the growling of a harsh guttural language, the likes of which you have never heard before. Words and sounds that the mouths of men could never be shaped to speak roll through the chamber like thunder. It is the dark tongue, spoken by Haakon, Lord of Aarnak, Darklord of Helgedad.
     He rises from the throne, the ghastly voice still echoing from his unnatural mouth. A spiked fist opens to reveal a glowing stone. Blue flame smolders around its surface and you can feel currents of power radiating from its core. Suddenly, his words change and now you hear a tongue you know well. He is speaking Sommlending.
     ‘Look on your doom, Kai whelp!’
     There is a deafening crack, a sudden surge of power, and a fireball of blue flame leaps from the stone and comes hurtling towards your face.
     If you possess the Sommerswerd, turn to 311.
     If you do not possess this Special Item, turn to 219.

Lone Wolf possesses the Sommerswerd.

311

You raise your golden sword just in time to deflect the bolt of raw energy. It screams from your blade and explodes into the chamber wall, gouging a hole several feet deep in the steel-hard rock. The impact jars the Sommerswerd from your hand. The blade arcs through the dust-choked air and embeds itself, upright, in the stone floor. Hurriedly, you roll across the floor and take cover behind a pillar.
     ‘Your doom, Kai whelp,’ spits Haakon, ‘is but seconds away.’
     If you wish to try to retrieve the Sommerswerd, turn to 278.
     If you choose to move to a new hiding place, under cover of the swirling dust, turn to 350.
     If you decide to stay hidden where you are, turn to 230.

Here’s the recap: Lone Wolf and Banedon arrives at the Tomb of the Majhan. Once there, they agree that Banedon should split off to rescue Tipasa the Wanderer while Lone Wolf sneaks into the Tomb. Thanks to his Mind over Matter Kai Discipline, Lone Wolf achieves this without any problems. After passing through a corridor filled with triggered traps and their Giak victims, Lone Wolf uses his Prism to open a door to a throne room. To his horror, the throne is occupied by Darklord Haakon, who shoots a fireball of blue flame of Lone Wolf. His Master Sword fortunately deflects the Hadouken, but Lone Wolf drops it from the resulting impact. Please make your votes on whether to try to get the Master Sword, run, or hide before 9:00 AM PDT to guarantee that they will be counted.

ACTION CHART
KAI DISCIPLINES:
1. Sixth Sense
2. Healing: +1 ENDURANCE point for each section without combat
3. Hunting: no need for a Meal when instructed to eat
4. Mindblast: +2 COMBAT SKILL points
5. Mindshield: no points lost when attacked by Mindblast
6. Animal Kinship
7. Mind Over Matter
8. Tracking
9. Camouflage
WEAPONS:
1. Jeweled Mace (+1 COMBAT SKILL or +3 COMBAT SKILL against summoned foes)
2. Sommerswerd (In sections where it is specifically mentioned, +8 COMBAT SKILL and double damage against undead)
BACKPACK:
1. Bottle of Kourshah (+4 ENDURANCE)
2. Alether Concentrate (+4 COMBAT SKILL for one fight)
3. Rope
4. Brass Whistle
5. Concentrated Laumspur Potion (+5 ENDURANCE)
6.
7. Rendalim’s Elixir (+6 ENDURANCE)
8. Prism
SPECIAL ITEMS:
• Kai Shield (+2 COMBAT SKILL when used in combat)
• Kai Gold Key
• Crystal Star Pendant (Reroll one number per adventure, unused)
• Silver Helm (+2 COMBAT SKILL)
• Ticket
• Red Pass
• Padded Leather Waistcoat (+2 ENDURANCE)
• Firesphere
• Blue Stone Triangle
• Scroll
• Dagger of Vashna (+3 COMBAT SKILL, -3 ENDURANCE)
• Sash (does not count towards 12 item limit)
• Copper Key
BELT POUCH: 20 Gold Crowns
COMBAT SKILL: 15
ENDURANCE POINTS: 21/21
RULES:
• When in combat, stop to ask whether to use any items or abilities if ENDURANCE is less than 11 or Combat Ratio is less than -4
FASCIST KILL COUNT: 47
RESURRECTIONS USED: 1
NOTES:
• Visited the Ruins of Raumas
• Survived the perils of the Graveyard of the Ancients
• Visited Gorn Cove
• Bridge password is ‘sunset’
• Applied Baknar oil
• Visited a hut on ‘Raider’s Road’
• Visited the Ruins of Maaken
• Read the Barakeesh proclamation

[SGamerz]

He'll expect us to go for the swerd, move to new hiding place instead.

[Beroli]

Get the Sommerswerd.

[Thaluikhain]

Half vote to new hiding place.

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes counted; moving to a new hiding place won over trying to retrieve the Sommerswerd by a 1.5-1 vote.

350

When you break from cover, another burst of energy leaps from the Darklord’s fist. It explodes into the base of the pillar and severs it completely from the floor. With a tremendous roar, parts of the roof begin to collapse. (Erase the Sommerswerd temporarily from your Action Chart. You may restore it to your inventory once the adventure is over.)
     The resulting shock wave of destruction throws you to the floor, flattening you against its cold marble flagstones (lose 3 ENDURANCE points). Haakon’s laugh can still be heard above the crash of falling stone. It rises in pitch and volume until it fills your head with agonizing pain.
     If you have the Kai Discipline of Mindshield, turn to 253.
     If you do not possess this Kai skill, turn instead to 369.

Lone Wolf has the Kai Discipline of Mindshield.

253

Rapidly the pain subsides, but a new horror is taking shape before your eyes. Out of the darkness, a green whorl of vapor is forming slowly into the shape of a glistening, serpent-like monster. A grey mist issues forth from the Darklord’s mouth, floating towards the core of this horror, infusing it with the power of death. The serpent writhes and convulses as the grey mist fills its body, changing it from a dream-like illusion into a living nightmare. Two pinpoints of crimson fire glow in its eyes as it slithers towards you.
     If you possess the Dagger of Vashna, and if you want to use this accursed Special Item, turn immediately to 302.
     If not, you must fight this nightmarish entity to the death!

Dhorgaan:
COMBAT SKILL 20       ENDURANCE 40

     If you wield a Jeweled Mace, you may add 3 to your COMBAT SKILL for the duration of the combat instead of 1. This enchanted weapon is especially effective against summoned creatures such as this.
     If you win the combat, turn to 335.


253. A green whorl of vapor is forming slowly into the shape of a glistening, serpent-like monster.

Lone Wolf has the Dagger of Vashna. Please make your votes on whether to use it or not before 9:00 AM PDT to guarantee that they will be counted.

ACTION CHART
KAI DISCIPLINES:
1. Sixth Sense
2. Healing: +1 ENDURANCE point for each section without combat
3. Hunting: no need for a Meal when instructed to eat
4. Mindblast: +2 COMBAT SKILL points
5. Mindshield: no points lost when attacked by Mindblast
6. Animal Kinship
7. Mind Over Matter
8. Tracking
9. Camouflage
WEAPONS:
1. Jeweled Mace (+1 COMBAT SKILL or +3 COMBAT SKILL against summoned foes)
2.
BACKPACK:
1. Bottle of Kourshah (+4 ENDURANCE)
2. Alether Concentrate (+4 COMBAT SKILL for one fight)
3. Rope
4. Brass Whistle
5. Concentrated Laumspur Potion (+5 ENDURANCE)
6.
7. Rendalim’s Elixir (+6 ENDURANCE)
8. Prism
SPECIAL ITEMS:
• Kai Shield (+2 COMBAT SKILL when used in combat)
• Kai Gold Key
• Crystal Star Pendant (Reroll one number per adventure, unused)
• Silver Helm (+2 COMBAT SKILL)
• Ticket
• Red Pass
• Padded Leather Waistcoat (+2 ENDURANCE)
• Firesphere
• Blue Stone Triangle
• Scroll
• Dagger of Vashna (+3 COMBAT SKILL, -3 ENDURANCE)
• Sash (does not count towards 12 item limit)
• Copper Key
BELT POUCH: 20 Gold Crowns
COMBAT SKILL: 15
ENDURANCE POINTS: 19/21
RULES:
• When in combat, stop to ask whether to use any items or abilities if ENDURANCE is less than 11 or Combat Ratio is less than -4
FASCIST KILL COUNT: 47
RESURRECTIONS USED: 1
NOTES:
• Visited the Ruins of Raumas
• Survived the perils of the Graveyard of the Ancients
• Visited Gorn Cove
• Bridge password is ‘sunset’
• Applied Baknar oil
• Visited a hut on ‘Raider’s Road’
• Visited the Ruins of Maaken
• Read the Barakeesh proclamation

[Beroli]

Use the Dagger of Vashna.

[Thaluikhain]

Use the Dagger.

[SGamerz]

Use Dagger

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes registered; using the Dagger of Vashna.

302

A blue flame courses the length of its twisted blade the moment you draw the Dagger of Vashna from your belt. As if blown out by the dagger’s unholy flame, the Dhorgaan shimmers and winks out of existence. Darklord Haakon reels back as if weakened by the sudden loss of his creation. He stands in awe, unable to accept that you are brandishing the weapon of an entity who dominated him centuries ago. Freed from the threat of his loathsome summonation, you now boldly advance upon the shocked Darklord, now convinced you possess a weapon which can destroy him.
     Haakon screams in anger, a terrible cry that shakes the floor. A beam of blue flame is growing from the stone in his hand, forming a fiery blade that crackles and spits as it cuts through the dust-choked air. The stench of death and decay fills your nostrils as the Darklord prepares to attack.

Darklord Haakon
COMBAT SKILL 28       ENDURANCE 45

     Unless you have the Kai Discipline of Mindshield, reduce your COMBAT SKILL by 2 for the duration of this combat. Haakon himself is immune to Mindblast. You may add 7 points (or only 4 if you play using the ‘Veteran Mode’ of the Sommerswerd) to your COMBAT SKILL for the duration of the fight, owing to the power of the Dagger of Vashna when used against a Darklord of Helgedad.
     If you win the combat, turn to 400.

Lone Wolf has the Kai Discipline of Mindshield, and we are not playing the Veteran Mode of the Sommerswerd.

The combat:
Combat Ratio: 15 + 3 (Dagger of Vashna) + 7 (Dagger of Vashna’s bonus against Darklords) + 2 (Kai Shield) + 2 (Silver Helm) – 28 = 1
Round 1 Roll: 3
Player Endurance: 19 – 3 = 16
Darklord Haakon Endurance: 45 – 6 = 39
Round 2 Roll: 7
Player Endurance: 16 – 1 = 15
Darklord Haakon Endurance: 39 – 10 = 29
Round 3 Roll: 0
Player Endurance: 15 – 0 = 15
Darklord Haakon Endurance: 29 – 14 = 15
Round 4 Roll: 8
Player Endurance: 15 – 0 = 15
Darklord Haakon Endurance: 15 – 11 = 4
Round 5 Roll: 5
Player Endurance: 15 – 2 = 13
Darklord Haakon Endurance: 4 – 8 = -4

Thanks to some decent rolls, Lone Wolf kills the big bad fascist in 5 rounds while taking 6 ENDURANCE points of damage in the process.

400

You examine the floor where Darklord Haakon fell, but there are no signs of his body to be found. The atmosphere is strangely calm and peaceful, as if a great and evil shadow has been lifted from this place. (If you lost the Sommerswerd in the confrontation with the Darklord, you may now retrieve it.)
     You turn and walk to the throne where Haakon sat waiting for you to appear. Beyond it lies a portal, an ancient inscription carved deep into the blood-red stone. Below the carving is set the impression of a human hand. Instinct and intuition guide your hand to the door. The carving fits around it like a glove.
     Silently the portal slides back to reveal your destiny – the Book of the Magnakai. Set upon a pedestal, the book lies open, its secrets revealed to your eyes alone. As you lift the sacred book, the very air throbs with the vibration of the force locked within its sun-gold cover. With a pounding heart you take the book and hurry from the chamber.
     By the time you reach the foothills of the Koneshi, Banedon has successfully completed his mission. He and Tipasa are waiting for you. When they first see you appear, clutching the Book of the Magnakai, they can barely contain their excitement.
     ‘This night of triumph,’ says Banedon jubilantly, ‘will herald a new dawn of hope for Sommerlund. The Kai shall be reborn.’
     Your quest is now completed. You have found the legendary Book of the Magnakai and freed Magnamund from the evil shadow of Darklord Haakon. But for you, Kai Master Lone Wolf, the story has only just begun...
     Your destiny lies along the path of the Grand Masters. Master their secrets and attempt to fulfill the first exciting quest of the Magnakai, in the first book of the Magnakai Series:

The Kingdoms of Terror

Congratulations for exterminating this adventure’s big bad fascist and completing this adventure without using a single resurrection once again, as that is an impressive feat to achieve. In fact, give yourselves *huge* amounts of cheers for completing the Kai series and making Lone Wolf a Kai Master by using only one resurrection! Our hero killed a grand total of 48 fascists throughout the series, which will certainly make Magnamund a safer place in the meantime while the remaining pro-despotism supporters attempt to recover from Lone Wolf’s assaults against them.

So now that we have completed all five books of the Kai series, I believe this is a good stopping point for the Lone Wolf series for several reasons. First and foremost, Definitive Edition versions are only available for 5 of the 7 books of the Magnakai series right now, with the last two books having a ship date in October at the earliest. Given the track record of Holmgard Press as well the fact that there are currently issues between Holmgard Press and their distributors, I expect that it will be at least another month before the problems are resolved. Even so, these books will only be available in hardcover formats, which makes getting these 7 books an expensive task that I cannot fulfill right now. And finally, I think the community is quite tired from over six months of playing the Kai series, and a break from Lone Wolf’s crusade against fascism is currently in order.

As always, I will answer any questions about Book 5 to the best of my ability, and provide details about any the following encyclopedic entries that this book contains upon request:

• The Magnamund Archives (there is a picture and two short paragraphs under this heading)
• Vassagonia
• Barrakeesh
• Sharnazim
• Drakkarim
• Haakon
• Tipasa Edarouk
• Itikar
• Kwaraz
• Crypt Spawn
• Oede
• Skyships
• The Giak Glossary

Thank you to everyone who participated in this Let’s Play of the Lone Wolf Kai series. I plan to return to hosting Fighting Fantasy books in the near future while the community recovers from the Lone Wolf saturation. The first book in this new lineup will be Eye of the Dragon, which is admittedly substandard in quality, but a part of Fighting Fantasy history that I am bound to fill. I hope to see all of you in the Let’s Play for it, which I will have up very soon!

ACTION CHART
KAI DISCIPLINES:
1. Sixth Sense
2. Healing: +1 ENDURANCE point for each section without combat
3. Hunting: no need for a Meal when instructed to eat
4. Mindblast: +2 COMBAT SKILL points
5. Mindshield: no points lost when attacked by Mindblast
6. Animal Kinship
7. Mind Over Matter
8. Tracking
9. Camouflage
WEAPONS:
1. Jeweled Mace (+1 COMBAT SKILL or +3 COMBAT SKILL against summoned foes)
2. Sommerswerd (In sections where it is specifically mentioned, +8 COMBAT SKILL and double damage against undead)
BACKPACK:
1. Bottle of Kourshah (+4 ENDURANCE)
2. Alether Concentrate (+4 COMBAT SKILL for one fight)
3. Rope
4. Brass Whistle
5. Concentrated Laumspur Potion (+5 ENDURANCE)
6.
7. Rendalim’s Elixir (+6 ENDURANCE)
8. Prism
SPECIAL ITEMS:
• Kai Shield (+2 COMBAT SKILL when used in combat)
• Kai Gold Key
• Crystal Star Pendant (Reroll one number per adventure, unused)
• Silver Helm (+2 COMBAT SKILL)
• Ticket
• Red Pass
• Padded Leather Waistcoat (+2 ENDURANCE)
• Firesphere
• Blue Stone Triangle
• Scroll
• Dagger of Vashna (+3 COMBAT SKILL, -3 ENDURANCE)
• Sash (does not count towards 12 item limit)
• Copper Key
BELT POUCH: 20 Gold Crowns
COMBAT SKILL: 15
ENDURANCE POINTS: 14/21
RULES:
• When in combat, stop to ask whether to use any items or abilities if ENDURANCE is less than 11 or Combat Ratio is less than -4
FASCIST KILL COUNT: 48
RESURRECTIONS USED: 1
NOTES:
• Visited the Ruins of Raumas
• Survived the perils of the Graveyard of the Ancients
• Visited Gorn Cove
• Bridge password is ‘sunset’
• Applied Baknar oil
• Visited a hut on ‘Raider’s Road’
• Visited the Ruins of Maaken
• Read the Barakeesh proclamation

[Beroli]

Thanks for running this, JourneymanN00b.

[Thaluikhain]

I know we all say thanks for running, but really, thanks. This is the only way I (and I suspect others) have of experiencing the Kai books, so thank you for 30 posts and 5 books of Kai stuff.

[SGamerz]

The use of the Dagger of Vashna is a cool addition in the new publication.

What happens if we don't use the dagger, though, is it the same as the old version where Haakon drops his weapon and we pick it up and defeat him without a fight?

And thanks for running this.

[JourneymanN00b]

Appreciate the thanks that everyone has given me. It makes me feel that running Let's Plays here, especially those as long as a Lone Wolf series, is worthwhile.

To clarify things, I will definitely consider running the Magnakai series once Holmgard Press distribution issues and my financial situation are resolved. I plan to take another look at the current state of affairs in a couple of months.

To answer SGamerz's question, if Lone Wolf does not use the Dagger of Vashna, Haakon does drop his stone like in the old version, which Lone Wolf must grab and use against him to defeat him. No additional fight takes place after killing the Dhorgaan.