The Keep of the Lich Lord (Fighting Fantasy 43)

[Thaluikhain]

I was going to vote to at the bodies to maybe fight more zombies, though I seem to be outvoted.

[deaddmwalking]

335

Most are just ashes and embers, revealing nothing of interest. However, in the remains of one building you spot a trapdoor set into the floor. Will you lift it and go down (turn to 80) or decide to leave the village (tum to 116)?

[Thaluikhain]

Lift it up.

[deaddmwalking]

I'm going to try to aim for 2/day updates (or more when we have 2+ votes). I'm at the end of my work day so Seelah will open the trap door since there is a vote to do so.

80

The trapdoor lifts up easily. A ladder descends in to darkness. As you climb down, a voice addresses you from the shadows below. "Who are you, and what do you want?" someone demands. Will you give your name and assure the unknown speaker that you come in peace (turn to 25) or carry on down the ladder without replying (turn to 16)?

[Thaluikhain]

Give name and claim to come in peace.

[Beroli]

Give our name and say we come in peace.

[deaddmwalking]

That was surprisingly fast to get two votes.

25
"Aha!" says the voice. "You are not undead - thank the gods!" A torch flares up and in the light you can see where you are - in an underground chamber. A desk and chair are the only furniture, and lots of alchemical apparatus is scattered about. At the far end of the room, three tunnels lead off into the darkness. A man dressed in a dark-blue robe covered in strange symbols is seated at the desk. He is an old greybeard, and looks rather frightened. "My name is Hlassamon and I was the village alchemist here at Benari. When Mortis sent his Undead to destroy us, I fled to my cellar retreat; indeed the very sight of the living dead filled me with dread. Now I have brewed a Potion of Resolve so that I could get up the courage to try and escape. But I realize that the Undead must all have left, for how else could one such as you get here?"

You tell him that this is indeed the case and that he should be fairly safe now - so long as he heads straight for Siltport and takes a boat to get him off the island . . . if any remain to be had.

"Thank you for that good advice, my noble friend." Then a look of pure greed crosses his features for a moment. "Now that l no longer need it, perhaps you would be interested in purchasing this potion," he says, reaching into his robe and drawing out a vial full of a bright blue liquid. "I will accept 35 Gold Pieces and not a piece less. Or some special item, if you have one that would interest me." Will you pay him the gold for the potion, if you have that much (turn to 225), show him the items you have collected (turn to 173), attack him and try to take the potion
(turn to 200) or decline his offer and leave Benari (turn to 116)?

[Beroli]

Show greedy ungrateful alchemist the items we have collected.

If I am not mistaken, we have 15 gold and thus "pay him" is not an actual option.

[Thaluikhain]

Second to show the items, we've got a bit of junk.

[deaddmwalking]

You are correct that you don't have enough to buy it for the asking price. Also, please note that your current RESOLVE is 11. If you fail a RESOLVE test it will drop, but in no case (at least not unless later countermanded by the book) your RESOLVE can never exceed 12.

173

He is not interested in the slightest in anything you may have - except an Amulet of Ages. If you have one, turn to 130; otherwise, turn to 87.

Seelah does not have an Amulet of Ages.

87

"You have nothing to trade. It's simple then: 35 Gold Pieces of the deal's off," he says rudely. Will you pay over the gold for the potion if you have that much (turn to 225), attack him and try to take the potion from him (turn to 200) or decline his offer and leave Benari (turn to 116)?

[Beroli]

Decline the offer and leave.

[Thaluikhain]

Decline and leave.

[deaddmwalking]

116

From Benad you can head northeast to Port Borgos (turn to 85) or eastwards across country to the site of the ancient battle marked on your map (turn to 370).

[Beroli]

Go to the site of the ancient battle.

[Thaluikhain]

I agree with going to ancient battle site.

[deaddmwalking]

370

The cross-country walk to the old battle-site is almost pleasant. You arrive at last in a wide green meadow with an old standing stone near by, inscribed with the history of this ancient battle. Looking around, you see that in all directions the earth is churned up as if by hundreds of laborers digging for treasure. The few named graves that you find are all open and empty. It is as if the dead had woken from their sleep to do battle once more. You examine the plaque on the standing stone. It reads:

Here was fought a great battle between the hero Qadarnai and his knights against the necromancer Mortis and his undead servants. Amongst the servants of Morfis were the Battalion of Ancient Bones, skeletal warriors wirhout number, and the dreaded Knights of Alptraum, the honor guard of Mortis, summoned to him from other worlds. Terrible in battle are they, for they can never be fully laid to rest. Their power is great and the fear of them is all encompassing. Yet the great hero, aided by the White Queen, did overcome them and their master, although he lost his own life in doing so.

There is nothing else of interest here on the old site. Will you now head north for Port Borgos (turn to 85) or northeast into the hills and thence to Bloodrise Keep (turn to 2)?

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to go to Port Borgos.

[Thaluikhain]

To Port Borgos.

[deaddmwalking]

85

By the time you reach the outskirts of Port Borgos it is late afternoon. It is unnaturally quiet here and no smoke rises from the chimneys of the dwellings. Not a soul stirs. There is a pathway down to the beach near by. Ahead, the gates of Borgos lie splintered and broken. To the east, the road winds on, following the River Scort up into the hills and thence to Bloodrise Keep. Will you now enter Borgos (turn to 30), take the path to the beach (turn to 193), or camp out here and head for Bloodrise Keep tomorrow morning (turn to 329)?

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to take the path to the beach.

[Beroli]

Enter Borgos.

[Thaluikhain]

Half vote to go to the beacj.

[deaddmwalking]

Beach wins 1.5-1.

193
As you follow the path to the seashore, you have an uncanny feeling that you are being followed. You turn to look behind you, but there is nothing there. Dusk is falling; in the failing light you notice some faint shapes that seem to be floating on the surface of the roaring breakers of the sea that crash on to the beach. The sound of the rolling waves and the sharp call of a seagull seem to pierce your heart with a sense of lonely desolation. For a moment you feel as if you were the last person left alive. But then your heart begins to pound and an adrenalin rush of fear fills your blood, for the faint shapes are gliding toward you, and you can see them more clearly now: they are the spectral shadows of the drowned. Ghostly forms, pallid white and wreathed in seaweed, fill your mind with dread. The Spirits of the Drowned are calling to you with whispered words like the surging sea. Test your Resolve. If you succeed, turn to 57. If you fail, turn to 82.

Seelah rolls an 8. Her resolve before the test was an 11, so she passes, and her resolve increases to the maximum allowed of 12.

57
You manage to control the terror that threatens to overwhelm your mind. The spirits draw near, and then you can hear their voices in your head, speaking to you. You realize they are trying to tell you something:

Like one, that on a lonesome road
Doth walk in fear and dread,
And having once turned round walks on,
And turns no more his head;
Because he knows, a frightful fiend
Doth close behind him tread.

Having relayed their strange message, the Spirits begin to drift slowly out to sea once more. Will you walk on (turn to 89), turn round (turn to 109) or wait (turn to 179).

[Thaluikhain]

Half vote for turning around.

(That's from the Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the bit that gets quoted a lot and the one bit I'd recognise)

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote for turning around as well.