[lets play] Fighting Fantasy (Scholastic 16): Assassins of Allansia.

[Queen of Swords]

So this guy must be some distant relative of Dungheap Dan the Mushroom Man, right?

I was thinking of Dungheap Dan as well, except his song was shorter and therefore less annoying.

See what he has for sale.

[Dogopolis]

The Monk drops his sack on the ground, and says:

“The sack is certainly very full
But it’s mostly balls of orange wool
A woolly jumper I will knit
To keep me warm through the wintry bit
The only thing I have to sell
Is a map leading to the Wishing Well.”

He stares at you fiercely with one eyebrow raised and demands 5 Gold Pieces for his map. Do you wish to buy the map or not?

Finella Noland
Skill 9/9
Stamina 13/21
Luck 11/11

Potion of Strength, 9 provisions, 6 silver necklaces, Dagger, Skeleton key (44), 2 diamonds, 14 Gold, 1 Silver, Rusty Knife, Shield of the Sentinels. (+1 Attack strength), Astral Sword. (+1 Attack strength), Bow and arrows, Food (+4 Stamina), Bag of Holding, Elven Boots, Bracelet of Power (+3 SKILL when used), Healing ring (+6 stamina), Scroll of Invisibility, Magic Flute, Chainmail (+1 Attack strength), Box belonging to Balthazar Whittle, Headband, Warp Ring, Bone Dice, Armband

Deaths:
1 by Gretta Morg's Death Hand

[Beroli]

Buy the map.

[Thaluikhain]

Buy the map.

[Queen of Swords]

Yes, buy the map.

[SGamerz]

Buy map.

[Dogopolis]

The Monk’s eyes light up when you produce the 5 Gold Pieces. He rummages around in his sack and hands you a rolled-up piece of yellowed paper tied with a piece of string. After taking the coins from you, he rubs his hands together with glee and says:

“Five Gold Pieces, my oh my
Think of all the cheese I’ll buy
Thanks again and I wish you well
Especially at the Wishing Well!”

He picks up his sack, throws it over his shoulder and walks off at a brisk pace. You untie the string and unroll the paper scroll and see that it is a map, but not one which requires you to travel very far. The Wishing Well is marked with an “X” in the Public Gardens in Fountain Street in Kaad! You are annoyed with yourself for paying so much for the map and wonder if it will be worthwhile going to the well. Do you want to follow the map to Fountain Street or do you want to walk across the market square to Clock Street?

[Thaluikhain]

To Fountain Street!

[Queen of Swords]

Follow the map.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to follow the map.

[Dogopolis]

Following the map, you leave the market square via a narrow alleyway to your left which leads into Spice Street, then turn right on to Boot Street, where you see a group of scruffy urchins throwing stones in a puddle. One of them runs over to you and says, “Do you want to buy a catapult? You can’t miss with it. Only 1 Gold Piece. A bargain. Go on, buy it.” Do you want to buy the boy’s catapult or do you want to ignore him and walk on?

[JourneymanN00b]

Sigh, buy the catapult. Let’s see how it becomes an essential item.

[Thaluikhain]

Second that.

[Queen of Swords]

Buy the catapult, although now I’m regretting my vote to go to Kaad.

[Dogopolis]

You give the urchin a Gold Piece, which he bites to make sure it’s real. His friends walk over, and an argument breaks out about who should keep the coin. They start pushing each other and the squabble turns into a fight. While you are distracted by the commotion, one of the urchins deftly slips his hand inside your pocket and helps himself to your possessions. His thieving done, the pickpocket whistles to his friends, and all the urchins run off down an alleyway together, laughing loudly. You have been robbed. Lose three of the items in your pockets. You also discover the catapult is broken. Lose 1 LUCK point. There is little point in wasting time chasing the urchins, so you continue your walk to the Wishing Well.

------------------------------------------

You follow the map past a junction with Brick Street into Quiet Street where, strangely, all the people are tiptoeing along in bare feet with their shoes tucked under their arms. Everybody is communicating by gesture and nobody is making a sound. An old woman wearing a headscarf looks fiercely at you and puts her index finger to her lips and points at your boots. Do you want to take off your boots or you want to keep them on?

OK items not worn and small enough to fit in a pocket
1-6 silver necklaces
7 dagger
8 key
9-10 diamonds
11-18 gold
19 silver
20 knife
21 food
22 bracelet
23 ring healing
24 scroll
25 flute
26 warp ring
27 dice
28 map

3 numbers from random.org 20 23 25
lose knife, ring of healing and the flute.

[Beroli]

Take the boots off.

[SGamerz]

Take off boots

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to take off the boots. And wow, I thought that buying the catapult was a waste of money, but *that* was a punishing robbery.

[Queen of Swords]

Sheesh. I wish we could go all Beneath Nightmare Castle on the urchins.

Take boots off.

[Dogopolis]

The old woman nods enthusiastically when you take off your boots and signals her approval by giving you a thumbs up. You wave back at her and walk on barefooted, following the map down Quiet Street to where it ends at a T-junction. You put your boots back on and turn right into Fountain Street to walk to the Public Gardens up ahead on the left.

---------------------------------

You enter the hedge-lined gardens and walk along a gravel path to a white marble fountain where water is pouring from four serpent-headed spouts into a large pool which contains hundreds of coins. There is a short, stocky man with long hair, tanned skin and narrow eyes standing on the other side of the fountain. He is wearing a red silk neckerchief and sleeveless leather jerkin over his collarless shirt. His sleeves are rolled up and you see his arms are completely covered in snake tattoos. He is holding a black stick in one hand and casually tosses a coin into the fountain with his free hand. He watches the coin sink to the bottom and then turns to you, smiles and says, “I think my wish has just come true!” He suddenly puts the stick to his lips and exhales sharply. A small dart shoots out and hits you in the neck. His stick is a blowpipe. If you are wearing a Snakefang earring.....

We are not wearing one.

-----------------------------------

The tip of the dart is coated in toxic snake venom and
you immediately start to shake uncontrollably. Lose 10
STAMINA points. If you are still alive...

--------------------------------------

The partial paralysis is short-lived and you somehow manage to clear your head. You draw your sword and stagger forward to fight Tunku Yang, the notorious Poisoner of Kay-Pong. He curses, annoyed that you have survived his poisoned dart, and lunges at you armed with only a dagger.

TUNKU YANG SK LLL 5. STAMINA 6

If you lose an Attack Round......
If you win without losing an Attack Round....

Code: Select all

f 18 t 10 t at 4
f 22 t 11 t at 2
f 20 t 13 t dead

We win without losing
------------------------------------

You reach down to loosen your attacker’s silk neckerchief, and your suspicions are quickly confirmed when you see the silver necklace and scorpion pendant around his neck. You break the chain and place the pendant in your pocket. A search of the assassin’s pockets yields 1 Gold Piece and a small bottle of deadly poison which you decide to keep. You leave the gardens and walk left along Fountain Street as far as the junction with Bell Street.
There is a large group of people up ahead, some of them armed with clubs and pitchforks, who you suspect might be looking for you. Your time in Kaad has been a battle for survival, and rather than risk getting into any more fights, you turn right into Bell Street and head for the main gates, trying to avoid attention as you hurry along. Bell Street runs into Clock Street, which leads you to the market square and on down Crown Street and the main gates. There aren’t many people about other than a few merchants leaving town after a long day at the market.

As you walk out through the gates, a mean-looking man in a hooded black cloak and a bow and quiver of arrows slung over his shoulder rides past you on a black horse. He glances down at you as he passes by and spits on the ground. Do you want to ask him for a ride or do you want to carry on walking?

We're down to 3 stamina now also, do you want to do anything to restore?

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to eat 4 Provisions. Oh, and ask him for a ride.

[Queen of Swords]

Sure, eat provisions. And half a vote to ask the man for a ride, just because we've done everything else wrong in Kaad, so might as well risk this too.

[SGamerz]

At least the fact that we got an assassin in Kaad implies that coming here wasn't a totally bad decision.

But yes, try to hitch a ride.

[Dogopolis]

The man brings his horse to a halt. He looks you up and down and says in a gruff voice, “I’m headed north-east. For 2 Gold Pieces Ill take you to the log cabin that’s about an hour’s ride from here. Yes or no?” Do you want to ride with the horseman or do you want to decline his offer and set off on foot?

[SGamerz]

Ride with him.