[Let's Play] Fighting Fantazine Adventure 11: Ascent of Darkness

[Thaluikhain]

Yeah, that logic seems sound, attack.

[Beroli]

You run into the hut and strike the wizard, who falls over. However, he gets up wielding a wand. A buzzing red shaft of light emerges from it. The wizard wields it like a sword. You must fight the Elimite wizard Erishum. If you have the Staff of Ashra (you do), it glows with a white light. If you fight him with the Staff of Ashra you will kill him as soon as you win an attack round (stunt damage remains the same).

WIZARD ERISHUM (with wand-sword) Skill 11 Stamina 8

Under the circumstances, Hermes uses the bat amulet for +2 attack strength rather than +4 damage, and doesn't use a stunt.

Round One: Hermes Conrad 21, Wizard Erishum 18. Wizard Erishum is instantly killed by the Staff of Ashra.

The wizard is dead. You search his hut to find several scrolls, books and glass orbs containing strange liquids and gases. You cannot make head or tail of the writing in the books, but if you wish, you could experiment with the glass orbs. There are two of each orb. You could smash one of them to see what happens.

Smash an orb containing black liquid?
Smash an orb containing white smoke?
Smash an orb containing green smoke?
Leave the orbs and carry on?

Name: Hermes Conrad
Sex: Male
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 10/26
Luck: 14/14
Cunning of Logann
Hubris
Inventory: Sword, spear, shield (-1 to enemy Attack Strength), Steel helmet, 450 Gold Pieces, food, 4 torches, flint and tinder, water skin, silver apple of healing (restore Stamina to Initial score once, not usable in combat), golden apple of the gods (increase Initial Luck by 1 and then restore Luck to Initial score once), obsidian bat amulet (once per combat, you may either increase your Attack Strength by 2 for one round or, when you have hit an opponent, deal an extra 4 damage to them), bracelet of green metal (immune to poison, regain 3 Stamina at the end of each combat), wooden ring (+2 Initial Stamina, +1 damage), father's letter, father's ring, Staff of Ashra.
Deaths: Shot full of arrows by an archer, stabbed in the back by an assassin, shot full of arrows by an archer

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote not to touch any orbs, as black liquid sounds dangerous, and any smoke doesn’t feel right.

[pragma]

I'll agree not to mess with the orbs. At least one is probably good, but let it slide for now

[Thaluikhain]

Yeah, I want to see what happens, but we've not done great on this adventure so far, leave alone.

[Beroli]

The jungle gradually gives way to hills. When the area becomes clearer, you see a white temple in the distance. The central building is complete but there are unfinished surrounding buildings that have yet to be built. That is where your enemies are. It is where you will avenge your father. You make good time through the hills without meeting a soul. Then, when you are picking your way through a valley, you hear a shout. ‘So this is the greatest hero of Carsepolis? If this is the best that the gods of life and light have to offer then darkness will surely descend upon Titan!’ You look up to see a muscular man holding a spear. He looks down upon you with contempt before hurling the spear at you.

You do not have Achilles' Heel.

The spear flies through the air with speed but you are able to raise your shield to block the blow.

‘So you can survive my spears, but I’m still going to stick you like the pig you are,’ shouts the man.

You do not have Rage.

You do have Hubris.

You do have an obsidian bat amulet.

You are about to hurl insults back at the Elimite, but then the bat amulet starts to feel hot. You whirl round to see a woman dressed in black advancing upon you with a dagger. The Elimite was trying to distract you so this assassin could kill you. You face the assassin in a fair fight. If you had Achilles' Heel, she would automatically kill you if she rolled an 11 or 12 and won the combat round, but you do not.

ASSASSIN Skill 10 Stamina 12

Hermes Conrad Attack Strength: 22, ASSASSIN Attack Strength: 19. Stunt result 3, success. Bat amulet does +4 damage. Assassin bleeds for 1. ASSASSIN's Stamina is 4
Hermes Conrad Attack Strength: 14, ASSASSIN Attack Strength: 15. Stunt result 4, success. Assassin bleeds for 2. Hermes Conrad's Stamina is 8
Hermes Conrad Attack Strength: 24, ASSASSIN Attack Strength: 12. Assassin is dead.

With no more ruses, the ELIMITE CHAMPION leaps down from his position on the hill, avoiding a spiked pit which you might have charged into if you were enraged, and draws a sword, ready to face you in single combat. As long as the Elimite champion’s Stamina is 10 or more, he will try a stunt after the Attack Strengths are decided. Roll 1 die. If you roll a 3-6, you lose 2 extra Stamina points. If you roll a 1 or 2, the champion loses 2 extra Stamina points. You may try your own stunts after the champion.

ELIMITE CHAMPION Skill 12 Stamina 19

Pause to vote on whether you wish to use Luck, do anything differently than usual, or do anything else before combat.

Name: Hermes Conrad
Sex: Male
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 11/26
Luck: 14/14
Cunning of Logann
Hubris
Inventory: Sword, spear, shield (-1 to enemy Attack Strength), Steel helmet, 450 Gold Pieces, food, 4 torches, flint and tinder, water skin, silver apple of healing (restore Stamina to Initial score once, not usable in combat), golden apple of the gods (increase Initial Luck by 1 and then restore Luck to Initial score once), obsidian bat amulet (once per combat, you may either increase your Attack Strength by 2 for one round or, when you have hit an opponent, deal an extra 4 damage to them), bracelet of green metal (immune to poison, regain 3 Stamina at the end of each combat), wooden ring (+2 Initial Stamina, +1 damage), father's letter, father's ring, Staff of Ashra.
Deaths: Shot full of arrows by an archer, stabbed in the back by an assassin, shot full of arrows by an archer

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to use Luck to deal extra damage until the Elimite Champion's Stamina is at 9 or lower.

[pragma]

Yeah, we're going to need the luck on this one. Use luck for damage three times.

[Beroli]

Hermes Conrad Attack Strength: 19, ELIMITE CHAMPION Attack Strength: 18. Elimite Champion Stunt result 1, failure. Hermes Conrad Stunt result 4, success. Luck Test Succeeded with a 12. 4 extra damage from bat amulet, total damage (2 default+1 from ring+2 from luck+2 from failed stunt+1 from bleeding+4 from bat amulet). ELIMITE CHAMPION's Stamina is 7
Hermes Conrad Attack Strength: 22, ELIMITE CHAMPION Attack Strength: 20. Stunt result 6, success. Luck Test Succeeded with a 9. ELIMITE CHAMPION is dead.

The champion goes down, bleeding from many wounds. Now the path to the temple is clear. You prepare yourself for the final confrontation.

You climb the steps of the temple and enter it without hindrance. Inside, you see a single old white robed man holding a black steel dagger. ‘Your coming was prophesised, young one, as was your sacrifice, but not by me. Here is the one that will offer you up to Elim.’ A man walks out from behind a pillar. You gasp in surprise as you realise that it is your father! ‘You all thought he was dead, but the poison merely put him in a death-like state, enough for me to control him. He will return to Carsepolis where he will do my bidding and tighten my grip on the royal family there. Now kill your child!’ Your father slowly advances upon you, sword drawn. His blank face does not show any acknowledgement of your pleas. There might be some way you can stop him without killing him.

You do have your father's ring.

Just as he is upon you, you show your father his ring. He stops. Something has been evoked from his memory. He cannot break the spell, but his inner struggle makes him collapse to the floor, unconscious. The priest curses as you run past your father.

You charge at Ikunum, the priest, but he points the dagger at you and black fire flies towards you. You do not have the Shroud of Vuh. The black fire burns your skin and sears your flesh. Lose 6 Stamina points. Desperately, you advance upon the priest, ready to destroy him and avenge your family. He wields the dagger of Elim, a powerful artefact of the dark god. If he wins a single Attack Round, he will automatically kill an acolyte of Ashra or Vuh--which you are.

However, you have the Staff of Ashra; if you win a single Attack Round, he is destroyed by the light of Ashra.

You do not have the Shroud of Vuh.

IKUNUM Skill 11 Stamina 15

Having joined the temple of Ashra means there is nothing Luck or stunts, and almost nothing any of your items can do here; it will all come down to who wins the first Attack Round. You use the bat amulet for +2 Attack Strength.

Round One: Hermes Conrad 19, IKUNUM 17.

The priest screams as you land your final blow upon him. He then crumbles away as if he is made of dust. Soon, there is nothing left but the glowing black dagger.

Take the dagger?
Leave it?

Name: Hermes Conrad
Sex: Male
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 8/26
Luck: 12/14
Cunning of Logann
Hubris
Inventory: Sword, spear, shield (-1 to enemy Attack Strength), Steel helmet, 450 Gold Pieces, food, 4 torches, flint and tinder, water skin, silver apple of healing (restore Stamina to Initial score once, not usable in combat), golden apple of the gods (increase Initial Luck by 1 and then restore Luck to Initial score once), obsidian bat amulet (once per combat, you may either increase your Attack Strength by 2 for one round or, when you have hit an opponent, deal an extra 4 damage to them), bracelet of green metal (immune to poison, regain 3 Stamina at the end of each combat), wooden ring (+2 Initial Stamina, +1 damage), father's letter, father's ring, Staff of Ashra.
Deaths: Shot full of arrows by an archer, stabbed in the back by an assassin, shot full of arrows by an archer

[Thaluikhain]

Leave evil dagger.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to leave the dagger, as the dagger is obviously hostile to an acolyte of Ashra.

[pragma]

Leaving the dagger where bad guys can find it seems bad, but being brainwashed seems worse. Leave the dagger.

[Beroli]

You did not kill your father.

Your father wakes up with a start and you embrace each other joyfully. You both return to the shore where you see the slaves chasing the few remaining lizard men into the jungle. When they see you, they cheer and lead you to a dock where there are a fleet of triremes moored. You and your father lead the slaves back to Carsepolis where you immediately plan a feast. Your mother, upon seeing your father alive, weeps with joy. You all enjoy a wonderful feast where there is much laughter and dancing. The king promises that he will purge the agents of Elim from the city and thanks you for destroying their leadership.

As the feast goes on into the night, you look forward to the dawn of a new age for your family and for the whole of Carsepolis. Thanks to you, evil has been purged from the city and your father has been restored as rightful ruler of the house. You have established yourself as a courageous and formidable warrior with a bright future. Anything seems possible. You feel as if you could turn back the Caarth singlehandedly. Maybe you will. As the Sun sets on Carsepolis, you think about the glorious days to come and what a brilliant year 1998 will be.

Best ending! Let me know if you have any questions.

[pragma]

Is killing the last noble the right move in the adventure? Weird that it asks for a rage check, but it seems to help us.

Are any items from the market other than the magic weapons useful?

What are all the rad druid items, and it's it possible to bypass the first assassin archer without the green bracelet?

[Beroli]

Is killing the last noble the right move in the adventure?

Yes. The gamebook explicitly tells you that the penalty for invading your house and trying to force your mother to marry him is death. And it's not sloppy writing that the so-called ring of charm was never, ever checked for when you were trying to convince anyone of anything. If you had reached the end without your father's ring and also without a globe of white knockout gas from Erishum's hut, you would have needed to kill your father and gotten a much less cheerful ending.

Weird that it asks for a rage check, but it seems to help us.

That's why the flaw's called Rage, not Guaranteed Wrongness.

Are any items from the market other than the magic weapons useful?

Every one of them has a use. For example, both times you died at the dock, you would have been fine if you'd chosen to charge instead of throwing the spear; it checks for if you have Speed of Pangara, but if you don't, it checks if you have a special reflective shield which you can use to reflect the sunlight into his eyes and blind him as you approach.

What are all the rad druid items, and it's it possible to bypass the first assassin archer without the green bracelet?

It's not possible to bypass him without immunity to poison, and if you chose to go through the forest, that means the green bracelet; there are three different ways to get immunity to poison, one for each path home. Other than that, there are at least two ways to handle every situation you encounter up until the "if you don't have the correct item your flaw will kill you" check at the end. If you have Hubris and don't have the bat amulet, you get into an insult contest with the Elimite Champion which ends when the assassin stabs you in the back of the neck. If you have Rage and don't have a sedative which you can only get on the mountain path, then when he calls you a pig, you charge into the spiked pit in front of him and die. If you have Achilles' Heel and don't have the Shroud of Vuh which you can only get if you took the coastal path, the spear he throws kills you.

The copper ring is a ring of the sun (automatic light source, can also do 6 damage to an enemy and 3 damage to you at the start of any fight where you choose for this to happen). The wooden sword is enchanted: +1 to Attack Strength, doubles Luck damage increases (so if you Test your Luck to do added damage, it does +4, not +2). All the other druid items, you took at one time or another.

[JourneymanN00b]

Thank you for running this, Beroli.

[pragma]

Yeah, thanks a bunch! Great theme and more intricate combat options than most.

[Thaluikhain]

As the Sun sets on Carsepolis, you think about the glorious days to come and what a brilliant year 1998 will be.

Ouch. For people who don't know, in 1998, the "Chaos War" (also known by various other names) begins in Titan, big battles across the entire world, hordes of Chaos besiege and destroy Carsepolis in 1999.

It's later rebuilt by pirates after about 120 years, and becomes known as Port Blacksand. Lord Azzur takes over about 130 years after that.

[Beroli]

I appreciate the thanks!

I prefer to think that that's only what happens if you fail, and in the continuity you just established, Port Blacksand will never exist. But this is absolutely something the author here did not intend; "Ouch" is exactly what he was going for.

[Thaluikhain]

I prefer to think that that's only what happens if you fail, and in the continuity you just established, Port Blacksand will never exist.

I like that idea.

And thanks for running.