Let's Play the Grailquest series! (If this kills you, go to 14.)

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inflatablefish: Oct 24, 2010

I don't think we're going to need the boots anymore, can we drop them?

As for the fight itself, fireball early, fireball often.

# ? Aug 14, 2015 23:50

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# ? Jun 8, 2024 02:33

Explosions: Apr 20, 2015

If we're at the end, we'd might as well go full Mage Knight. Pip's Armor, Pip's Wallop, Pip's Immunity, pound a health potion or two to get back our HP, then charge in like the unstoppable magic juggernaut that we totally are.

Drop the weed killer - we already have an anti-plant spell if the Black Knight turns out to be some kind of disagreeable tulip.

# ? Aug 15, 2015 00:30

Selachian: Oct 9, 2012

Don't forget to light the magic lamp too.

# ? Aug 15, 2015 01:23

Mikl: Nov 8, 2009; Vote shit sandwich or the shit sandwich gets it!

Alright, lamp's lighted, polish applied, and we'll cast the spells as soon as we're actually in battle (according to the rules we have to be in the actual Section for the spells to apply).

Also I've dropped the Weed-Killer, since I'd ruled that the boots are weightless (since we're wearing them).

And going over our supplies I've realized something: I'd forgotten 1. to restore the Fireball we'd used up after we'd gotten killed by the Vampires (I've done so now) and 2. all about the collapsible shield. Would that have helped against the Vampires? Probably not, there were a lot of them and each hit for five damage, no matter what. We'd have lasted longer, but honestly we were doomed as soon as I rolled an eleven on the "how many are there" roll.

To recap our current stats: with EJ we hit on a roll of four for plus twelve damage (five from EJ himself, five from the Magic Coin, and two from the Polish); also, we have a minus seven to damage against us, four from our Dragonskin Jacket and three from the Magic Lamp. Those stats will change as soon as we begin casting spells, but they're still very nice.

Now let's go politely knock on the Black Knight's door.

Section 200 posted:

Despite the vast size of this chamber, the first thing you notice is that there are no doors leading out of it. But that hardly matters, since standing in the centre of the chamber, black armour glistening in the light of a massive chandelier above his head, is a burly figure carrying a sinister broadsword in one hand and an equally sinister mace in the other. Ranged in front of him are seven Military Dwarves. Ranged in front of them are seven Slime Monsters (and sickening they look). Ranged in front of them are seven Djinns.

'Welcome, Pip,' says the black armoured figure heartily. 'I am, you will instantly realize, King Pellinore, bosom friend of King Arthur.'

Pellinore, my man, so good to see you! What are you doing WAIT A SECOND :catstare:

Section 200 posted:

'No, you're not,' you reply promptly, having made that mistake too many times before. 'You are the dreaded Black Knight of Avalon and I am going to do you fearful mischief in order than I may shut the Gateway to this Ghastly Kingdom.'

This is the conclusion of a running joke in the first three Grailquest books, in that since Pellinore also wears black armour every time we met him we'd have the possibility to mistake him for the Black Knight and attack him.

Section 200 posted:

'Well, if you're going to be like that, we'd better get on with it,' says the Black Knight huffily. 'Sic him, Monsters!'

At which the various monsters move slowly towards you.

This may not be quite so bad as it looks. If you have already met, befriended or defeated the Seven Dwarves and the Djinns, the only things that will actually attack you are the Slime Monsters. But if you haven't met them before, the Dwarves and Djinns will attack you as well.

Hey guys, how's it hanging? Do you mind if I smack your boss silly?
:psydwarf:

Not at all, friend. Go for it.
:v:

What about you, Djinns? Remember what happened last time we met?
:ghost:

...you may pass.

Aren't you glad you decided to keep exploring level III after we found a passage to 200?

Section 200 posted:

Each dwarf has 20 LIFE POINTS, strikes on 5 and scores +3 damage.

Each Djinn has 30 LIFE POINTS, hits on 5 and does +2 damage with the scimitar. All are open to Bribery, but only at the special rate of two precious stones and 500 gold pieces each, so it may prove expensive. If, however, you are wearing a Tinglering, any damage scored against you by a Djinn is automatically halved.

The Slime Monsters are bad news all the way. Each has 10 LIFE POINTS, needs 6 to strike and scores only dice damage. But they poison you on their first successful strike, causing you to lose 2 LIFE POINTS every time you make a hit until you cure yourself if you can. (And curing yourself takes up a round, so the monster gets a free strike against you while you're doing it.)

Finally, there's the dreaded Black Knight himself. He has 80 LIFE POINTS, which could be worse, but both his sword and armour are magic. The armour will stop 12 points of damage the first time it's hit, 6 points the second and 4 points regularly thereafter. His sword allows him to strike on 4 and does +4 damage.

If you get out of this mess with a whole skin, go on to 201.
If not, it's a long way back to 14.

That's nice armour the Black Knight has.

Threat analysis: the Slime Monsters can't hurt us with dice damage (they can do six damage at most, and we already have a minus seven), but they can poison us. The Black Knight, on the other hand, will damage us if he rolls eight or more.

So, here's the battle plan: on our first action we'll cast PiRsquared to get more actions; then on the second we're casting PIP, to immunize ourselves against poison (even if we're already poisoned, since that will protect us against getting poisoned again after we heal); then, if we're poisoned, we're going to heal and then cast PANIC, if not we're just casting PANIC. Then let's Fireball the Black Knight with all the fireballs we have, and if that's not enough it's stabbin' time. Then we mop up the Slime Monsters.

Roll initiative... let's do this.

Pip's initiative roll: 2 + 4 = 6.
Black Knight's initiative roll: 2 + 1 = 3.
Slime Monsters' initiative rolls: 6 + 1 = 7, 4 + 6 = 10, 5 + 4 = 9, 3 + 1 = 4, 2 + 4 = 6, 6 + 4 = 10, 5 + 1 = 6.
Tie-breaker for Pip and two Slime Monsters: 2 + 3 = 5, 2 + 1 = 3, 2 + 6 = 8.

So the order is: five Slime Monsters, then Pip, then the two remaining Slime Monsters, then the Black Knight.

Slime Monster 1 attacks! 5 + 4 = 9, Pip is poisoned.
(Skipped: four Slime Monsters' attacks, since we can't get any more poisoned than that.)
Pip casts PiRsquared! 4 + 2 = 6, a fizzle, we lose three LIFE POINTS plus two for poison and we're down to 32.
(Skipped: two Slime Monsters' attacks.)
Black Knight attacks! 3 + 1 = 4, Pip is hit for 0 + 4 - 7 = NO LIFE POINTS.

(Skipped: five Slime Monsters' attacks.)
Pip casts PiRsquared! 2 + 3 = 5, another fizzle, and we're down to 27 LIFE POINTS.
(Skipped: two Slime Monsters' attacks.)
Black Knight attacks! 5 + 5 = 10, Pip is hit for 6 + 4 - 7 = 3 LIFE POINT and is down to 24.

(Skipped: five Slime Monsters' attacks.)
Pip casts PiRsquared! 1 + 5 = 6, another fizzle. We're down to 19 LIFE POINTS and we'll have to do this without speeding up.
(Skipped: two Slime Monsters' attacks.)
Black Knight attacks! 6 + 1 = 7, Pip is hit for 3 + 4 - 7 = 0 LIFE POINTS.

(Skipped: five Slime Monsters' attacks.)
Pip casts PIP! 2 + 5 = 7, we're down to 14 LIFE POINTS but we're immunized against poison.
(Skipped: two Slime Monsters' attacks.)
Black Knight attacks! 6 + 6 = 12, Pip is hit for 8 + 4 - 7 = 5 LIFE POINTS and is down to 9.

(Skipped: five Slime Monsters' attacks.)
Pip pops a poison antidote and recovers from poison.
(Skipped: two Slime Monsters' attacks, since they can't hurt us anymore, not even with poison.)
Black Knight attacks! 5 + 2 = 7, Pip is hit for 3 + 4 - 7 = 0 LIFE POINTS.

(Skipped: Five Slime Monsters' attacks.)
Pip casts PANIC! 6 + 3 = 9, we're down to 6 LIFE POINTS but we get +4 to armour, now the Black Knight can only hurt us if he rolls a twelve, for one LIFE POINT.
(Skipped: two Slime Monsters' attacks.)
Black Knight attacks! 6 + 2 = 8, no damage.

(Skipped: five Slime Monsters' attacks.)
Pip casts Fireball! 1 + 3 = 4, the Fireball explodes harmlessly in the back of the room.
(Skipped: two Slime Monsters' attacks.)
Black Knight attacks! 4 + 5 = 9, no damage.

(Skipped: five Slime Monsters' attacks.)
Pip casts Fireball! 2 + 3 = 5, the Fireball grazes the Black Knight but it's yet another miss.
(Skipped: two Slime Monsters' attacks.)
Black Knight attacks! 1 + 4 = 5, no damage.

(Skipped: five Slime Monsters' attacks.)
Pip uses Fireball Wand! 3 + 5 = 8, that's better. Black Knight is struck for 75 - 12 = 63 LIFE POINTS and is down to 17.
(Skipped: two Slime Monsters' attacks.)
Black Knight attacks! 1 + 3 = 4, no damage.

(Skipped: five Slime Monsters' attacks.)
Pip uses Fireball Wand! 1 + 1 = 2, yet another miss (what is it with magic rolls today? :argh:

).
(Skipped: two Slime Monsters' attacks.)
Black Knight attacks! 5 + 4 = 9, no damage.

(Skipped: five Slime Monsters' attacks.)
Pip casts Lightning Bolt! Black Knight is thunderstruck for 10 - 6 = 4 LIFE POINTS and is down to 13.
(Skipped: two Slime Monsters' attacks.)
Black Knight attacks! 2 + 4 = 6, no damage.

(Skipped: five Slime Monsters' attacks.)
Pip casts Lightning Bolt! Black Knight is zapped for 10 - 4 = 6 LIFE POINTS and is down to 7.
(Skipped: two Slime Monsters' attacks.)
Black Knight attacks! 4 + 5 = 9, no damage.

(Skipped: five Slime Monsters' attacks.)
Pip attacks (might as well finish it the old-fashioned way)! 5 + 5 = 10, Black Knight is hit for 6 + 5 + 5 + 2 - 4 = 14 LIFE POINTS and is dead.

This could have gone better, but we still won. Curse those three fizzles on PiRsquared.

Since we have eight Lightning Bolts left and there are seven Slime Monsters (who can't hurt us, no matter how hard they try), let's zap them to death.

Now what awaits us at 201?

Section 201 posted:

The Black Knight sinks to the floor, clutching his wounds.

'Rotter!' he gasps, this being an ancient expression meant to convey the very depths of insult.

But you ignore him, except for the token gesture of placing your boot lightly on his back and beating your chest. Then you search the huge chamber carefully until, at your agile touch, a secret panel opens in the ceiling, allowing you to climb out into the muted sunlight.

You look around and sure enough, the open Gateway is a mere hundred yards away to the south. Faster than a speeding arrow (despite the various bits of booty you've collected) you zip through, slamming it tight shut behind you. Quickly you turn the key you found in the Little Old Lady Monster's chest.

The bolt slides home with a satisfying click and you turn away to seek the road to Camelot.

(Which, when you find it, will take you to the section headed PIP TRIUMPHANT. )

Epilogue posted:

PIP TRIUMPHANT

If the Monday morning meetings of the Table Round were bad, the Friday afternoon meetings of the Table Round were usually much worse. Even at the best of times, the Knights were restless, anxious to get shot of business so they could spend their weekends wassailing and carousing.

But in the middle of this particular Friday afternoon meeting, something very peculiar happened. The Knights suddenly began to act politely towards one another, so that it was, 'After you, Sir Percival,' and, 'No, no, my dear Galahad, what were you going to say?' and, 'No, I insist you speak first, Sir Percival,' and general sweetness and light all round.

King Arthur studied this interesting development for nearly an hour before he rapped the table for silence.

'Have you noticed,' he said seriously, 'how benevolent we have all become to one another? There has not been one serious threat voiced for the past sixty minutes.'

The Knights looked at each other in amazement, realizing that, of course, their King was right.

'What does it mean?' cried Sir Bevedere, who had a flair for histrionics.

'I think,' said the King slowly, 'it must mean somebody has managed to close the Gateway to the Ghastly Kingdom of the Dead.'

'Pip?' asked Sir Lancelot.

King Arthur nodded. 'Who else?'

'I have a proposal,' said King Pellinore, seated in one comer. He glanced around grinning. 'I expect you all know what it is.'

'A knighthood?' asked Sir Lancelot, also grinning.

'Precisely,' King Pellinore confirmed.

'A knighthood!' roared the excited members of the Table Round. A knighthood for Pip!!'

Even the King was smiling. In the circumstances, Sir Pip sounded good to him.

And with this, we're done with The Gateway of Doom!

...Almost. I'll do a post of after-book commentary showing the things we missed (there aren't many, you guys were thorough), and then we'll have a brief pause before we start with the next book. See you in a few!

Pip's Stat Block posted:

LIFE POINTS: 6/36+1
SPEED: 9/18
EXPERIENCE POINTS: 7
INVENTORY:
E.J. (hits on a 4 or higher, +5 damage, +10 damage against dragons), dragonskin jacket (-4 damage), Healing Potion x30 (heals two dice rolls' worth of LIFE POINTS), bookworm x1, blue powder x1, container of oil x1, torch x1, pair of old boots x1, Poison Antidote x6, key to the Gateway of the Ghastly Kingdom of the Dead x1, ~~Scruffy Old Sir's Patent Weed-Killer x3 (double damage for one hit versus plant enemies)~~ Spit'n'Polish (+2 damage, five uses) , Magic Collapsible Shield (weightless, stops every third blow), Magic Lamp (+3 defense, must be used before an encounter, enough oil for five uses), "HONORARY MEMBER: GHOUL MENSA" locket, Teleport Amulet (teleport: three charges, anti-teleport: six charges), See Invisible Spectacles, Wand of Fireball ( zero charges)
MAGIC:
Pip's First Spellbook and Pip's Second Spellbook (costs 3 LIFE POINTS per spell, maximum 3 uses per spell, need roll 7 or higher on two dice or spell doesn't work, used: PANIC x2, PIP x1, PiRsquared x3 ), Lightning Bolt x10 (10 damage, automatic hit), Fireball x2 (75 damage, hits on a 6 or higher), Resurrection (need roll 10 or above, can only be cast after death, seals magic for three sections or until sleep)
MONEY AND VALUABLES:
0 Gold Pieces
STATUS EFFECTS:
Magic coin: +5 damage in battle

Roll of the dead posted:

Death the first: (poisonous) smoke inhalation
Death the second: sucked dry by thirsty Vampires

# ? Aug 15, 2015 14:27

Junpei Hyde: Mar 15, 2013

Man, Pip's aim sucks.

# ? Aug 15, 2015 15:16

Ratatozsk: Mar 6, 2007; Had we turned left instead, we may have encountered something like this...

I handed off my LP of this series at this point and if memory serves, it fizzled early in the next book. As such, I'm looking forward to seeing most of that for the first time!

# ? Aug 15, 2015 15:19

Russ L: Feb 26, 2011

Hooray! Thanks for all that, Mikl.

Pip should definitely get on with a bit of target practice before the next adventure starts.

# ? Aug 15, 2015 18:53

FredMSloniker: Jan 2, 2008; Why, yes, I do like Kirby games.

I can't wait to see how Pip fails to get rewarded this time. Perhaps the neighbor kid will steal his knighthood between books. :allears:

# ? Aug 15, 2015 19:10

Ghostwoods: May 9, 2013; Say "Cheese!"

Huzzah for Pip! Huzzah, I say!

# ? Aug 15, 2015 22:21

Mikl: Nov 8, 2009; Vote shit sandwich or the shit sandwich gets it!

The Gateway of Doom post-book commentary, or: what we missed during our way through the book

Waaaaaaay at the beginning of the book, if you'll remember, Merlin sent us to a small village with a teleportation spell. However, he admitted that his aim isn't really perfect, and there's a chance that instead of ending up at Section 25, the village, we would end up at 45. What's at 45?

Section 45 posted:

Here's trouble and no mistake. Merlin's sense of direction must have slipped up badly. You are on a tiny, barren island in the middle of an ornamental lake, its still surface smooth as glass. There are two other things on the island (which is only a few yards across at best, incidentally). One is a leafless tree. The other is a gorilla.

A gorilla? Has the old fool sent you to Africa? No time to worry about that now: the gorilla is lumbering towards you. Better make up your mind fast what to do - he's HUGE. Will you climb the tree to escape? Go to 5. Will you dive into the lake and swim for shore (it isn't very far)? Go to 11. Dare you try for a friendly reaction? If you do and succeed, turn to 26. Will you fight the beast? Turn to 51.

Four choices! However, the book doesn't really branch out into that many paths. If we choose to dive into the lake...

Section 11 posted:

You make a spectacular swallow dive into the still, smooth glassy waters of the lake. Keeruuunchhh!

Keeruuunchhh? Surely that should be Splaaash or something of that nature? No, indeed. The bad news is the glassy surface of the lake is real glass. Solid glass all the way through. The really bad news is that this glass is harder than your head.

Go to 14.

If we choose to climb up the tree, Section 5 says, summing up: "You dumbass, gorillas can climb trees too. In fact, there's a second gorilla in the tree, and the first one is climbing up after you. Do you try for a friendly reaction at 26, fight at 51, or wait and see what happens at 56?"

And section 26 is "You rolled for a friendly reaction, but the gorilla looks really mean. You sure you want to wait and see what happens? If so go to 56, if not fight the gorilla at 51."

Everything is pushing for a fight. Let's fight the gorilla, then!

Section 51 posted:

Splat!

That's the sound of you losing a fight with a Gorilla.

Go to 14.

So yeah, we're basically railroaded into going to 56.

Section 56 posted:

You (gulp!) throw down your sword -

'Here, what do you think you're doing?' asks Excalibur Junior, but you ignore him.

- and stand in mute, helpless appeal, hoping your youthful charm will be sufficient to calm the fury of a gorilla. (Are you sure you really want to do this?) You stand still, head bowed, waiting, totally defenceless, feeling the ground tremble beneath your feet as something huge approaches.

Two massive muscular arms enfold you. A great ugly fanged face bears down towards' your own.

Smack!

You have just been kissed by a gorilla, Pip!

Collect your wits and go to 64.

Section 64 posted:

Sometimes you get yourself into the oddest situations. You are sitting on a tiny island in the
middle of a glassy lake, trying to establish some sort of understanding with two Gorillas, the second having climbed down from a nest in the solitary tree.

You point to your chest. 'I am Pip,' you say. Then, since you know the sort of thing that impresses Gorillas, you add, 'Lord of the Jungle.'

EJ sniggers slightly in his scabbard.

'Uungh!' says the first Gorilla.

'Uungh-ungh!' says the second Gorilla.

As an intellectual discussion, this cannot be said to be going well.

But at least you're not being eaten by Gorillas. Will you try sign language? If so, go to 31. Or will you give the whole thing up as a bad job, dive into the lake and swim for shore, leaving the Gorillas to get on with their coconut bashing or whatever they do on the little island? If so, turn to 11.

Section 11 is "you smack your head on the glassy lake and die, so let's try 31.

Section 31 posted:

The two Gorillas watch you curiously. You thump your chest. 'I,' you say. You fall on your knees, adopting an attitude of supplication. 'Want,' you say. You hold up two fingers, taking great care not to make it a rude sign, Gorillas being notoriously sensitive about such things. 'To,' you say. You circle the little island, peering closely at the ground before whooping with joy and picking up an imaginary object. 'Find,' you say. You throw your arms wide, as if opening a huge portal. 'The Gateway,' you say. You pull a horrible face then fall down flat. 'Of the Ghastly Kingdom of the Dead,' you say.

One Gorilla looks at the other and taps its forehead lightly with its finger, as if trying to make a point. But then it leans forward and draws something in the sand.

Look at the picture of what the Gorilla draws, and see if you can figure out where to go from here.

The solution should be obvious: it's "go to 16", 16 being the number of candles on the cake.

Section 16 posted:

This is the Gorillas' nest. What a strange place to send you. It looks even bigger now it's empty, with the two Gorillas down below waving encouragement. Why would they want you in their nest?

There is an old-fashioned spinning top in the nest, a spinning top with a whip. You know the sort. You wrap the cord of the whip round the top and snap the whip to spin it, then you whip the top from time to time to keep it spinning.

You reach into the nest and take out the top and whip, holding it up so the Gorillas can see what you are doing. They jump up and down and wave in encouragement. One of them even smiles, which is a sight you wouldn't want to see again in a hurry. They obviously want you to play with the top.

Stupid Gorillas. Or are they? It's your choice, Pip. You can try spinning the top, in which case go to 36. Or you can dive into the glassy lake from the top of the tree and swim for shore, in which case go to 11.

The book really wants us to smack our head on the fake lake.

Section 36 posted:

This is real kid's stuff, but rather fun. You climb down out of the tree and look for a flat bit of stone since no way will the top spin on sand. The Gorillas, who are very excited by now, are grunting and jumping and scratching themselves and pointing to a flat rock.

You wrap the cord of the whip around the top and snap the whip so the top spins on the flat rock. Except it doesn't. The top drops on the rock, but stands quite still. You stare at it for a moment in disbelief before you start to spin. Faster and faster, so that the Gorillas and the island and the lake and just about everything else becomes a total blur and you feel you must be on the point of losing consciousness completely.

Spin your way to 25.

And with that we're back at 25, which is where we land if Merlin aims his teleport spell right.

------

From 25, we have several choices: going into the village at 4, taking the road west at 10, going east into the woods at 42, or playing ~~murderball~~ pogolfit at 58. Playing pogolfit brings us to the Ghastly Kingdom of the Dead, and we've explored most of the village. If you'll remember, we went down into the church's crypt, and found our old pal the Fiend, then went through a gloomy corridor which eventually led us to the Ghastly Kingdom of the Dead. There's one Section we didn't explore, but that contains only three Ghouls and the resulting loot (a ruby worth 500 Gold Pieces).

So now let's try venturing out of the village. First let's go west to 10: this leads us to a fork in the road, turning south to 15 and north-west to 32. Let's try south.

Section 15 posted:

You know the funny thing about this road, Pip? It doesn't feel like a road in Avalon.

It's not the road itself. The road itself is pretty grotty (which is probably why you picked it, eh?) but there are lots of grotty roads in Arthur's kingdom. (Including the one to your home, to be honest.) No, it's the whole feel of the road and the countryside around it.

There's a lot of dust for one thing. And the weather's hot. Surely it wasn't this hot - and this dry - earlier? Is the Ghastly Kingdom of the Dead a hot place? The trouble is, nobody's ever told you anything about it: not even Merlin. But it could be hot. And if it is, maybe this hot road is leading directly to it.

It certainly is strange countryside. The further you travel along this road, the odder it gets. No more of Avalon's little pocket cornfields. No more familiar peasant cottages with their thatch dripping with good, honest British rain. Just this barren, dusty dirt-track of a road and a broad savannah sweeping away to the distant jungle.

Jungle?

Has that old fool magicked you right out of the country by mistake? This isn't Avalon, Pip - it's Africa!! That was a parrot that flew overhead. And that's definitely a herd of elephant grazing over by the water-hole. And

Groowllll!

that's definitely a lion creeping up behind you!

Well, you can always run. Throw two dice for the lion and two dice for yourself. If the lion scores higher or equal, then it catches up with you at 38. If you score higher, then you escape to 52.

Well that was unexpected. If we roll to escape we leave the lion behind, run several miles, and end up back into the village at 4. What if we don't make the roll? Section 38 says "you barely dodge the lion, go to 35 to fight it." And 35, well...

Section 35 posted:

'What do you think you're doing?' roars the lion, as you launch yourself upon it, swinging EJ in an arc above your head.

You halt your charge in surprise.

'And more to the point, where do you think you're going?' asks the lion, now shape shifting into the horribly familiar figure of the Wizard Merlin. 'I thought I told you to look for the Gateway to the Ghastly Kingdom of the Dead? What? What?'

You lower EJ and your head, much at the same time. 'Yes, sir, you did.'

'Then what are you doing here?'

'Looking for it.'

'But this is Africa!' exclaims Merlin in exasperation. 'Heaven alone knows how you managed to wander so far off course. Messing about, I'll be bound. Chasing butterflies and so forth, as young people are wont to do. But you can't stay here, you know, however warm the weather. There's a job to be done and I certainly haven't time to come chasing after you every time you decide to go off globe-trotting.'

And in his annoyance, Merlin does a terrible thing. He waves his arms in the air and casts a transportation spell.

Roll a single die, Pip. Score 1-3 and go to 4. Score 4-6 and go to 45.

Merlin status: still a jerk. Not only does he chew us up for something that's not our fault, but he casts a spell that has a 50/50 chance of getting us even more lost :argh:

Let's get back to the fork in the road, and this time let's go north-west.

Section 32 posted:

North West it is, and heavy going since the road deteriorates into a track and the track climbs upwards into those mountains so that fit and youthful as you are, you become quite breathless and have to stop frequently to rest.

It is difficult to determine whether the direction you are going in is more grotty than the one from which you have come. It is grotty all right, but perhaps not really more grotty, although when you're talking grot it's quite difficult to judge.

But you persevere anyway until, near the top of the mountain, you reach a deserted shack.

A deserted shack? Who in their right mind would live up here on the top of a mountain? (Nobody. Maybe that's why it's deserted.) And since you could never resist a puzzle, you go in.

The place is a shambles. It looks as though one of Merlin's whirlwinds has hit it. Although the real cause of the shambles might just be the bear which is lumbering towards you, arms outstretched in a fond embrace.

If you think it might be a Dancing Bear inviting you to waltz, you are sadly mistaken. This is an extremely savage Brown Bear of the type which used to keep down the dragon population in the realm of Avalon. A vastly
dangerous creature with 50 LIFE POINTS which does +2 damage with its claws and hugs you every third round of combat for +4 damage. You have just time to whip out EJ and your dice before it falls upon you, rending, biting, crushing and so forth. Determine the outcome of the combat. If the bear wins, leave it in peace and go to 14. If you win, you may as well search the shack by moving on to 43.

The scan of the bear's illustration didn't come out very good. Oh well. Let's assume we win this one and check out 43: at that Section we search the shack and find... :siren:

a tinglering :siren:

I told you there was one we'd missed in this very book, didn't I?

After finding that thing, however, we get sent back to the village at 4.

This time let's try going east into the woods at 42. That section says "It's a really creepy wood, complete with cackling birds, maybe you're on the right path! Continue to 19", so let's do that.

Section 19 posted:

No wonder the birds are cackling - they're hens! The path you took wound deeper and deeper into the gloomy, strangled wood, then suddenly emerged into this place, a clearing, in the centre of which is a huge, high wooden stockade with a securely closed gate from behind which, unmistakably, comes the sound of a very large number of hens.

Is this some sort of chicken farm?

You like chickens, of course, having had the job of looking after the chickens on the farm of your adoptive parents, Freeman John and Goodwife Mary. But why the huge stockade? And what's that notice on the gate which says,

EXPERIMENTAL AREA: KEEP OUT

There's an insignia on the notice.

If (and only if) you have already adventured through the first Grail Quest book, the CASTLE OF DARKNESS, you can turn to 23 for information on the insignia. If you haven't, you've the option of entering the stockade - which is barred on the outside, but not locked - by going to 33. Or you can press on further into the wood (39). Or you can go back to the village (4) and pick any available option there.

Checking the insigna (which we can do, since we played CASTLE OF DARKNESS) tells us "this is the insigna of the wicked Wizard Ansalom, which you sent to 14 some time ago. Do you remember anything about him and chickens?"

I'm sure you goons do, and indeed if we enter the stockade we find it's the breeding ground for the Savage Chickens we'd encountered back in book one. At 33 we get to roll two dice, and on a roll of 12 we manage to slam the door, otherwise we're pecked to death.

Going deeper into the woods at 39 is no help either, since we flounder around a bit and find ourselves back at the village.

------

Now that we've explored everything that we can explore aboveground, let's find out what we missed in the Ghastly Kingdom itself. Frankly speaking, not much: just two Sections, one in level II and one in level III.

In level II, you chose not to try and cross the room with the ~~tribbles~~ minches, lest we risk being smothered to death by their affection. If we'd done that, we could have gotten to Section 126.

Section 126 posted:

As you step in, the door of the huge chamber slams shut behind you.

And locks !

You can always blow a few LIFE POINTS on a lock-picking spell, of course, but if you don't, you have an intriguing and complicated problem. There are five Bota-Botas in this chamber, black, sparkling and deadly, one in each of the five southernmost squares of the room. Like Bota-Botas everywhere, they move in unison, one square north at a time. According to the ancient lore, if a contingent of Bota-Botas manages to make six moves forward, they will have accumulated enough earth energy to let loose their lethal war-cry ('BOTA-BOTA!') which kills anything within earshot outright.

Fortunately, they have no other form of attack, so you can hack at them as much as you like without getting damage back. Unfortunately, it only needs one Bota-Bota to give the war-cry and you're dead.

Hanging on the wall behind the row of Bota-Botas is a key and a scroll. The Bota-Botas (those which remain alive) will make one move forward in the time it takes you to strike one. Each has 5 LIFE POINTS and so isn't too difficult to kill, but you're going to have to be pretty efficient to kill all five before they move six squares forward.

If you decide to pick the lock and leave (providing you can manage the spell before the Botas move six forward) go to 102.

If any Bota makes six moves and thus manages its war-cry, go to 14.

If you waste the Botas before any of them shouts, go to 146.

This section is a crapshoot, literally. We have to attack the Bota-Botas, and we can miss at most once or we're dead. Not fun. The reward isn't even that much: the key is used only to get out, and the scroll is a one-shot healing spell. But at least we get an amulet which paralyzes Minches, so we can get through the Minch room without any more trouble.

Finally, you chose not to go into the zone of darkness just below section 200 on the map. Had we done that...

Section 155 posted:

Dark in here.

Very dark, in fact.

So dark you can hear yourself breathing.

That is you breathing, isn't it?

Hold your breath a minute and listen.

How unpleasant. You're holding your breath, but you can still hear breathing.

Yeeek! Something nasty is hacking at you with a bladed instrument.

Forget surprise, Pip, this Thing (whatever it is) has the first strile against you and no mistake. It also has 40 LIFE POINTS and a +3 blade of some sort. Fortunately it requires a 7 or better to hit because of the darkness. Unfortunately, so do you.

If you kill it, go to 159. If not, try 14.

If we kill the Thing we fumble around in the darkness, and find 500 Gold Pieces. Not bad.

------

Finally, I mentioned that the Dreamtime sections in this book are brand-new. Let's check them out.

Dreamtime Sections posted:

2. You are at the helm of a great ship on a voyage of high adventure. Your look-out in the crow's nest calls out a warning that your vessel is approaching the edge of the world. Although you know this is impossible since the world is round, you can nonetheless see he is right: a strong current is taking the ship directly to a vast waterfall in the middle of the ocean, a waterfall which plunges down into the starry depths of Space. You swing hard on the wheel, but cannot divert the ship from its course. In minutes, your vessel is plunging over the edge. Roll one die. Score 1-3 and you plunge to 14. Score 4-6 artd you get lucky enough to fall back to the section where you decided to SLEEP without loss of LIFE POINTS.

3. You are standing before a broad mist-enshrouded lake, and you know the only way back to the section where you decided to SLEEP is across its gloomy waters. The distance is too far to swim, but there is a chance you may be able to call to the Ferryman on the distant shore. As you are about to do so, you are attacked suddenly by a Ragged Rogue armed with a +1 dagger. You yourself are unarmed, but you determine to put up a fight. The Ragged Rogue has 12 LIFE POINTS. Both of you strike successfully on a 6 or better; but in your desperation you get first strike. If the Rogue kills you, go to 14. If you kill the Rogue in three strikes or less, you will be able to call the Ferryman and return to the section where you decided to SLEEP. If you take longer to kill the Rogue, the Ferryman will have departed and you can only return to your adventure via 14.

4. Although this is totally out of character, you are drunk as a newt and have just picked a fight with a very large man with 25 LIFE POINTS and a +3 club. Although you are equipped with old EJ (thus hitting on 4 or better and doing +5 damage) you are so unsteady on your feet that you can only get in one strike for every two bashes your opponent gets in. What's more, you take so long getting EJ out of his scabbard that your opponent gets first strike. If you lose this silly fight, you're off to 14. If you win, you may return to the section where you decided to SLEEP.

5. At the lowest level of a horrendous dungeon, you have found an ornate casket made from transparent crystal. Within it is a glowing blue-green gemstone which you know will give you a double dice roll of LIFE POINTS (a rare thing in the Dreamtime). Your problem is to open the box safely. To attempt to do so, you must roll one die. Score 5 or 6 and you retrieve the gem safely and increase your LIFE POINTS. Score anything else and the box shatters, hacking away 10 of your present LIFE POINTS. If this kills you, go to 14. If not, return to the section where you decided to SLEEP - minus 10 LIFE POINTS.

6. You have fallen through the floor of a ruined castle into the pink marble Crypt of the Poetic Fiend who, you discover, is in a foul mood by reason of a bad toothache (or, more correctly, fangache). He insists you must write a Limerick beginning 'There once was a Poet called Dan...' If you can complete the Limerick in less than fifteen minutes, you may return safely to the section where you decided to SLEEP. If not, he will fang you for the loss of 5 LIFE POINTS. (If this kills you, go to 14. If not, return minus 5 LIFE POINTS.)

7. A sorcerer has given you a scroll containing a GNURLBASH spell. You have no idea what a GNURLBASH spell does, but are determined to find out. The instructions on the scroll suggest you roll two dice. Score 2-6 and the spell calls up a Gnurlbash Monster with 30 LIFE POINTS and +2 fangs which attack you viciously, getting first strike. If it kills you, go to 14. If you can kill it with your bare hands, go back to the section where you decided to SLEEP. Score 7 - 10 and the Gnurlbash Monster will appear but wander off, allowing you to return safely to the section where you decided to SLEEP. Score 11-12 and the Gnurlbash Monster will actually accompany you out of the Dreamtime and fight on your behalf against one (but only one) monster in your adventure before disappearing.

8. You have fallen into a gigantic bowl of sago (which presumably means you've shrunk in size alarmingly, or that you should stop eating cheese butties before you go asleep). Although the goo is so thick there is little chance of your drowning, you do notice a fin approaching across the surface. Throw a dice quickly. Score 1 to 4 and you're safe: the fin is only a floating cornflake. Throw 5 or 6 and it's a floating cornflake with a shark underneath. The shark has 20 LIFE POINTS and does +4 damage each time it bites you. Good luck with the encounter.

9. Somebody has unscrewed your leg (the left one) and thrown it down a deep well. You are now in the process of climbing down the well to get it back. Throw two dice. Score 9-12 and you succeed. Score 2-8 and you fail. The problem is that if you don't get your leg back here, your real left leg will be numb for three sections after you return to the section where you decided to SLEEP. This means that if you get into a fight, you will automatically miss every third strike, whatever the dice show.

10. On your arrival at a strange village, the peasants decide to burn you at the stake having apparently mistaken you for a witch. You are now bound and gagged, watching the village elders approaching with lighted torches. This worries you, since it is broad daylight. If you can break your bonds, you should be able to run back to the section where you decided to SLEEP. Throw two dice to decide the strength of your bonds. Then throw two more to represent your effort in breaking them. If the second roll is higher than the first, you get free. If not, make your singed way to 14.

11 . You have been knocked unconscious during combat, but Merlin, who is a bit short-sighted, decides you are dead and arranges a decent burial. You come to in an extremely comfortable coffin as it is being lowered into the grave. You have only a very short time to attract everybody's attention before our air runs out. You can attract their attention by throwing a 6 on a single die. But unless you manage to throw that six in five or fewer attempts, you're dead from suffocation. Take up your die ...

12. You are lost in a dense fog, which has completely disorientated you. You wander for hours, trying to find your way back to the section where you decided to SLEEP . .. while at the same time trying to avoid wandering into the dreaded 14. Throw one die. Score 1-2 and go to 14. Score 3-4 and you're back in the section where you decided to SLEEP. Score 5-6 and you're back in the Dreamtime so that you must roll two dice to find which Dreamtime section awaits you this time.

------

And that's it! Now I'm going to take a small break, but join me again sometime next week for the beginning of the next book in the Grailquest series: Voyage of Terror.

# ? Aug 15, 2015 22:30

Ghostwoods: May 9, 2013; Say "Cheese!"

Nice to see the chickens of doom again

I don't really understand why anyone would voluntarily SLEEP. It seems like a pretty good chance of death for precious little reason...

Looking forward to the next book!

# ? Aug 15, 2015 23:40

idonotlikepeas: May 29, 2010; This reasoning is possible for forums user idonotlikepeas!

How many more of these have we got to go? I hope it's a lot.

# ? Aug 16, 2015 01:42

FredMSloniker: Jan 2, 2008; Why, yes, I do like Kirby games.

I've noticed this particular scanner failure in a lot of old gamebook images. Anyone know the technical reason for it?

# ? Aug 16, 2015 01:42

Jazzimus Prime: May 16, 2002; The Brothers Autobot

idonotlikepeas posted:

How many more of these have we got to go? I hope it's a lot.

There were eight GrailQuest books published, so if Mikl has all of them there would be five more.

# ? Aug 16, 2015 03:09

Carbon dioxide: Oct 9, 2012

FredMSloniker posted:

I've noticed this particular scanner failure in a lot of old gamebook images. Anyone know the technical reason for it?

All I can guess is that those pen drawings with the large amount of black/white lines somehow 'overload' the scanner's processing. Looks like the scanner processes the image in square blocks, and where the overload happens, they just turn white (with some noise at the edges, which might be caused by anti-aliasing).

# ? Aug 16, 2015 11:54

Russ L: Feb 26, 2011

There's nothing wrong the image. The poor bear has alopecia.

That's why he's so angry.

# ? Aug 16, 2015 13:26

Mister Perky: Aug 2, 2010

Grailquest is probably my favorite gamebook series ever, and it's all due to the humorous approach of the writing.

Searched in vain for years to find all the books until I managed to find them used via the wonder of the internet.

Except apparently I didn't because there's 8 instead of 6? Were the last two not ever published in the U.S.?

Anyway, looks like I'm just in time to join in with the 4th book which, for whatever reason, seems to have been the most widely printed of the series, since for a long time it was the only one I could ever find anywhere.

Which amused me then as now, since as we're about to see, it's "different" from the rest of the series and thus rather unrepresentative, but I'll leave further detail on that front to Mikl.

Ratatozsk posted:

I handed off my LP of this series at this point and if memory serves, it fizzled early in the next book. As such, I'm looking forward to seeing most of that for the first time!

I remember that! (and you). Yeah, I was disappointed that one never ended up finishing. Happy to see someone else taking another shot at LPing these books.

# ? Aug 16, 2015 20:02

Selachian: Oct 9, 2012

Mister Perky posted:

Except apparently I didn't because there's 8 instead of 6? Were the last two not ever published in the U.S.?

Correct. The final two books never crossed the pond.

# ? Aug 17, 2015 01:58

Glazius: Jul 22, 2007; Hail all those who are able,
any mouse can,
any mouse will,
but the Guard prevail.; Clapping Larry

We cannot escape the death chickens.

# ? Aug 18, 2015 08:55

Russ L: Feb 26, 2011

J.H. Brennan communicates entirely in death chickens and pit traps.

# ? Aug 19, 2015 07:11

Mikl: Nov 8, 2009; Vote shit sandwich or the shit sandwich gets it!

Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen, to the Let's Play the Grailquest series thread! Last time we braved the depths of the Ghastly Kingdom of the Dead to close its Gateway, and in the process we kicked that jerk Black Knight's teeth in, and for our trouble we were rewarded with a knighthood. This time, we're going on a trip!

Let's Set Sail on the Voyage of Terror!

Prologue posted:

MERLIN CALLING

Gotcha!

Don't move. Not a muscle. I've been looking for you all over, up hill and down dale. I need you here, right now. Specifically, I need you in my Time. You wouldn't believe the mess they've gotten into and I need you to clear it up. So just you collect up your belongings. You'll want a couple of dice and pencil and paper and an eraser and that's about it. Travel light is my motto. Yours too since you'll be travelhng through Time.

You know about time travel, don't you? Your body stays where it is, but I get the use of your head. What's inside it, anyway. Your mind. I'm going to call it all the way from your Time to my Time. I can do that because I'm a Welsh Druid. My name is Merlin, as you may remember if you've been to my Time before. I am Chief Adviser and General Dogsbody to His Majesty King Arthur, son of Uthur Pendragon and Liege Lord of Avalon. They call me the Wizard Merlin because of my magical powers.

But I can't sit here all day listening to you chattering. I have to take what's in your head and put it into the head of a young person in my Time called Pip. Pip the Wicked Wizard Basher, Pip the Dragonslayer, Pip the Ghastly Kingdom Gateway Closer to give that young person all the titles they've been bandying about lately.

Once you're in my Time you'll have control of Pip. You'll decide what Pip should do. And we'd better hurry because the Saxons are invading. Thousands of them. Great hairy men in great hairy ships. We need a hero to stand against them - single-handed if necessary. Which is where Pip comes in. Which is where you come in.

You're not afraid to fight thousands of warlike Saxons, are you? I didn't hear that.

You'd better collect your equipment quickly. I'm going to cast the spell now.

If you've never been to my Time before, turn to 1. If you've know all about dice fights and LIFE POINTS and spells and so forth, you can go direct to 2. ( Of course, you can always refresh your memory with the cut-out rules card that's included as a bookmark.)

Section 1 is just a refresher on the rules: LIFE POINTS, combat, healing, and the like. (Curiosly, it doesn't make any mention of magic. And also, the SPEED mechanic appears to have been scrapped.) Since we're here, we might as well roll for LIFE POINTS now.

Roll: 6 + 6 = 12 :woop:

we have the full set of 48 LIFE POINTS! 49, actually, since we have one PERMANENT LIFE POINT from our previous adventure.

Now let's turn to 2.

Section 2 posted:

MERLIN'S GREATEST MAGIC

Invasions were never very much fun (unless, of course, you happened to be the invading party.) Saxon invasions were the least fiin of all. The great hairy men would pile out of their great hairy ships, waving their swords and stringing their bows and whooping all the way up the beaches. Then, since nobody would have noticed their arrival, they would swarm across the peaceful fields of Avalon, looting, pillaging, burning down whole villages and making a general nuisance of themselves until King Arthur and his doughty Knights of the Table Round gathered up sufficient energy and armies to stop them.

Stopping Saxon invasions was never much fun either. The great, brutal Saxons were fierce fighters and had developed all sorts of nasty tricks with their broadswords which were painful, not to mention lethal, to their opponents. After several invasions, some of the less courageous Knights (Mordred, for example) began to advocate an accommodation with the Saxons.

An accommodation, as Mordred defined it, meant giving them huge chunks of prime English lands and hoping they would be well enough satisfied to leave everybody else's lands in peace. It was not such a silly idea as it sounded, and King Arthur was seriously considering it when the next Saxon invasion started. He sent a messenger to the leader, a great scruff named Entwhistla, outlining the broad proposal, but Entwhistla sent the
messenger back minus his ears, which everybody agreed was definitely a refusal - and a very rude refusal at that.

Thus King Arthur and the Knights prepared, once again, to fight. In the King's case, this meant dusting off Excalibur.

A word about Excalibur may not go amiss here. The great sword was not, as many people thought, the one which young Arthur had pulled out of a stone to lay claim to the throne of Avalon. That particular sword had been purchased by the Druid Wizard Merlin and accidentally imbedded when one of his spells went wrong. Apart from the fact that it helped make Arthur King, that particular sword was a very ordinary example of the blacksmith's art.

The sword Excalibur, by contrast, was a magical weapon, a blade forged with spells so powerful that it could cut an elephant in half at a single blow. Since there were no elephants about in Avalon, even in those distant days, Arthur very sensibly used it against his enemies and the enemies of Avalon, so that he won virtually every battle he bothered to fight. More importantly, news of the sword's magical qualities soon spread, so that after a while, Arthur found he had less and less enemies, less and less battles. Excalibur was a peacekeeper.

Where the King got Excalibur was a bit of a mystery. Merlin claimed he had made it, but while he had undoubted talents as a wizard, those who knew him well realized such a weapon was far beyond his powers. (He had, admittedly, managed a sawn-off version of Excalibur for the mysterious young warrior Pip, but that had stretched his magical abilities to the limit. Excalibur Junior, as Pip's sword was called, did +5 damage against his enemies. (The original Excalibur was a +10.)

Arthur seldom discussed the matter with anybody, but Queen Guinevere once let shp that it had been given her husband by the Lady of the Lake, a magical personage who was probably more fairy than human.

When it was not in use on the field of battle. Excalibur was kept in the Camelot Castle Treasure Room, along with other important artifacts like the orb and sceptre, the State Crown and the Legion Eagles (the latter captured by Arthur's father, Uther Pendragon, in the last days of the Roman occupation of Avalon). It was to the Treasure Room that Arthur went now, trailing a motley collection of ministers, advisers and pages. And it was in that room that Arthur discovered Excalibur had been swiped.

Now turn to 15.

Well then, this isn't good.

Section 15 posted:

The Court and Castle of Camelot was situated on a hill overlooking the tiny market town of Glastonbury. Like many similar towns in Avalon, Glastonbury had grown up around a market square. And like many similar squares, the market square of Glastonbury had grown up around a public well.

This well had a drystone wall surround and a thatched roof supported by stout oakwood uprights which also held in place the winch, rope and bucket people used to draw up the water.

At around 6 a.m. in summer (later in winter because of the dark mornings) the women of Glastonbury used to gather at the well to draw the day's supply of water and exchange the day's supply of news. The men of the town remained in their comfortable chauvinistic beds, idly waiting for the women to return and make them breakfast. As a result, the Glastonbury women were the only ones who knew what was going on in the world, while the men had to rely on a heavily censored version of events passed on to them by their wives. No man ever went to the well in the mornings, partly because it was not the done thing, and partly because men then, as now, were terrified of large congregations of women.

But while no ordinary man ever went to the well in the mornings, one rather special man was frequently at, or near, the well at that time. That man was Merlin, the Druid wizard. The reason he was frequently at or near the well was that he lived in it, a fact not known to many and not known at all to the women of Glastonbury, who would never have talked so freely amongst themselves if they had reahzed the old fool might be listening.

Merlin, whose fearsome eccentricities sprang from his Welsh nationality rather than the fact he was a wizard, had several dwellings - a log castle in a forest, a crystal cave, an ancient, hollow, lightning-blasted oak tree amongst them. The well was a comparatively recent acquisition, prompted in part by a bubble-making spell he had created. The spell was one of those spectacular magical efforts which nonetheless appear totally useless at first glance. Merlin, however, was a man of great imagination and having discovered how to generate magical bubbles, he went quietly at midnight and generated one of immense proportions in the water at the bottom of the well. Then he tossed in a few sticks of furniture, several spell books, various items of equipment and an alchemical fumace. These passed through the walls of the magical bubble without affecting its structure and came to rest on the well bottom.

With a quick glance around to ensure he was not observed. Merlin then held his nose and jumped. He passed through the surface of the well water (now risen appreciably since the bubble was established) and emerged in the bubble itself. Once he had the alchemical furnace going, both he and his chattels soon dried out and he took up comfortable residence.

In less than a week. Merlin discovered his new home placed him at the centre of a most useful information network. Every morning at six he would be awakened by the sound of female voices, magnified by the effect of the water around his massive bubble and while at first he was silly enough to try to ignore them, he soon found to his amazement that the women of Glastonbury knew absolutely everything there was to know about anything (including, incidentally, those naughty goings-on between Queen Guinevere and Sir Lancelot which the Public Relations officers at Camelot had taken such pains to hush up).

It was in this way that Merlin learned of the Saxon invasion and decided, on his own initiative, to call up the famous hero Pip to deal with it.

Now turn to 30.

Section 30 posted:

Although the spell required to get young Pip into heroic action was pretty complicated. Merlin anticipated no difficulties with it. He had, after all, managed the trick very successfully oh three previous occasions and saw no reason why the fourth should give him any trouble now.

Pip's body was already in Avalon, of course, wandering about in its usual daze on the small but well-appointed farm run by Freeman John and Goodwife Miriam a few miles outside Glastonbury. Pip's mind was a different matter, of course. It was currently attached to a young person living in the distant future and required to be netted by a magical Time Warp in order to take control of the actions of Pip during an adventure.

Time Warps are extremely advanced magic, even for a Druid, and require considerable concentration if they are to function effectively. Unfortunately for Merhn, he was right in the middle of this difficult operation when a scatterbrained, young woman named Ludmilla dropped a wooden bucket down the well.

On which ominous note it is now time to turn to 40.

This could be bad. Let's hope the spell works and doesn't leave us stranded halfway.

Section 40 posted:

Something wrong here. You're lying on a heap of filthy straw in a tiny little room with a single round window. And you're dressed funny. None of the highly polished armour that's de rigeur in Camelot; not even a decent Dragonskin jacket. Instead you have on a very light (and very greasy) linen tunic that doesn't even cover up your knobbly knees. You've no leggings either, or boots, come to that - only a pair of worn leather sandals.

You look around for old EJ, your magical sword that's never very far from your side, but old EJ isn't there. What on earth has happened? Where's Merlin? Have the Saxons overrun Avalon before he could get you into Pip's body? Have you been cast into some smelly dungeon to rot?

Or are you simply crazy, imagining this whole thing? You may have a fever: it's certainly very hot in here, far hotter than you ever remember Camelot, even in summer. And the room seems to be going up and down, up and down, up and down, up and dow -. Better stop thinking of the movement, it's making you feel quite sick.

There's a door in one wooden wall. Wooden wall? Who ever heard of a dungeon with wooden walls? Maybe you've fallen ill and gone mad on the farm of your adoptive parents; an attack of rabies, perhaps, so that they locked you away in an outhouse. But wherever you are and whatever your situation, you really should do something. The problem is - what ?

Do you examine your mouth to see if it's foaming with the rabies? If so, turn to 50.

Do you try to look out through that funny little round window ? Then turn to 60.

Do you search this grotty room thoroughly by moving on to 70.

Do you try the door by going on to 8.

Welp, Merlin hosed up :smithicide:

Most of these either are fake choices or open up more options, so let's go through them.

Section 50 posted:

Nope, no foam. So you aren't rabid (yet). But the room's still going up and down and it's still hot. Will you:

Try to look through the window at 60?

Try the door at 8?

Search the room at 70?

At least we're not sick. Let's try the window next.

Section 60 posted:

The window's a bit too high to see out. You could try jumping, of course, although it could be tricky with the room going up and down.

Will you try jumping? If so, go to 22.

~~Do you check yourself for rabies at 50?~~

Or try the door at 8?

Or search the room at 70?

Section 70 posted:

It's not difficult to search, since there isn't a single stick of furniture in the place. Not a chair, not a couch, not a table, not a cupboard. In fact the only place you can search is the filthy straw you're lying on.

You scrabble about (feeling even sicker from the smell of the straw) and discovered a battered metal goblet and a wooden plate, neither very clean. You also discover a half-eaten jam butty, now a little mouldy round the edges. Is it really worthwile searching through this rubbish tip?

If you continue searching, turn to 44.

~~Or check yourself for rabies at 50.~~

~~Or look through the window at 60.~~

Or try the door at 8.

As you might guess, 8 is the way out, but before that we have two things to decide: do we keep searching the straw pile, and do we try to jump to see out of the window?

Pip's Stat Block posted:

LIFE POINTS: 49 / 48+1
EXPERIENCE POINTS: 0
INVENTORY: nothing.

# ? Aug 19, 2015 20:39

Ghostwoods: May 9, 2013; Say "Cheese!"

Always with the searching!

# ? Aug 19, 2015 21:56

Comstar: Apr 20, 2007; Are you happy now?

Search

# ? Aug 19, 2015 22:46

Mikl: Nov 8, 2009; Vote shit sandwich or the shit sandwich gets it!

OK, first we'll search the straw pile, and then we'll try to jump to see out of the window. Maybe we'll find out why the room keeps swaying.

Section 44 posted:

There's something right at the bottom. You hurl away bits of rotting straw with gay abandon to find a rusty +2 dagger. Not a great weapon; and certainly not a patch on old EJ, but at least it's something to use in a fight. Since it's not magic like EJ, you will need to throw a 6 on two dice to strike something successfully and the blade will give you 2 extra over and above any damage the dice might show, but that's about it. Still, beggars can't be choosers.

Now you're armed to the teeth, you can:

Try looking through the window at 60.
Test yourself for rabies at 50.
Try the door at 8.

Now at least we can shank anything that comes at us. Whether that'll stop them is another story entirely.

Section 22 posted:

Okay, so you've made up your mind to jump. Roll two dice.

Score 6 or more and go to 54.
Score under 6 and go to 35.

Roll: 2 + 1 = 3.

Section 35 posted:

The pain! The pain! You've done in your ankle. Sprained it good and proper. What a grotty start to an adventure - and not even a bandage to support it unless you start tearing up your linen tunic (which is the only thing that stands between you and indecent exposure).

This means you're slowed down for the next twelve sections, Pip. (Sprained ankles take forever to get better.) Should you get into a fight in any of the next twelve sections you visit, your opponent will get two bashes at you for every one you take at him. life can be very unfair when you have a duff ankle.

Now pick carefully what you are going to do next.

Try the door at 8.
Search the room at 70.
Check yourself for rabies at 50.

Welp, that went badly. We've tried everything we can in here except the door, so let's do that now.

Section 8 posted:

It's open! Can you believe that? Here you were thinking you were locked in a dungeon or incarcerated in an outhouse for the rabid and the door was open all the time!

Still, it doesn't do to be careless, so you creep out into a narrow, wood-walled, wood-floored corridor (which is going up and down just like the room you left).

If you turn to Plan 1 on Appendix, p.235 you can see a bit more of where you are and where you can go from here.

Alright, let's go to Plan 1!

We're... on a boat? :raise:

Curioser and curioser...

Pip's Stat Block posted:

LIFE POINTS: 49 / 48+1
EXPERIENCE POINTS: 0
INVENTORY: Rusty dagger (hits on a 6, +2 damage)
STATUS EFFECTS: Sprained ankle (half combat speed for 12 Sections, 11 remaining)

# ? Aug 20, 2015 17:25

Russ L: Feb 26, 2011

It goes without saying, but we're really going to need to pick our fights carefully now that Pip is without his gear and therefore no longer some close combat monster who can easily truck through anything short of eleven vampires.

Room 47, I suppose, and then just work through them all.

# ? Aug 20, 2015 18:43

Mikl: Nov 8, 2009; Vote shit sandwich or the shit sandwich gets it!

Alright, time's a-wasting. Let's do a grand tour of the ship, clockwise starting with 47 and ending up in the poop cabin. Of course I'll stop and ask you guys if something plot-relevant happens.

Section 47 posted:

Now this is interesting. Not very useful, but interesting. This room is full of provisions; sacks mainly. And when you investigate, as you surely do, you find they're full of grains, dried fruit, vegetables and some utterly revolting leathery stuff which might be dried meat (or then again might be the remains of old boots). That's about all there is in here, apart from the poisonous spider.

_'sup?

The Poisonous Spider? On your bike - this means action!

The Spider has only 6 LIFE POINTS and, since you were very, quick to notice it, you have first strike. As against that, if the insect survives your blow, it will strike successfully on 5 or better and kill you outright. If you squash the Spider, you may proceed to any other section shown on Plan I. If not, you may proceed only to 14.

Pip attacks! 4 + 3 = 7, Poisonous Spider is hit for 1 + 2 = 3 LIFE POINTS, is down to 3 and is unconcious.

That could have been very bad. I'm getting flashbacks to a certain snake back in book one...

Onwards with our tour, next stop is 18.

Section 18 posted:

This door's locked, which probably means there's something interesting inside. Now how does a seasoned young adventurer tackle a problem like that?

Kick the door in ? Go to 105.

Pick the lock? Go to 139.

You can, of course, always try any other section on Plan 1.

We'll come back to this Section later to let you guys decide what to do with the door. For now let's move on to 57.

Section 57 **B posted:

Here's trouble. One glance tells you instantly that this is a guardroom. Another glance tells you instantly there are twelve guards in here. A third glance tells you instantly they are not at all pleased to see you.

You're free to try Bribery, if you have any money. Those who accept a bribe will not harm you.

You're also free to try for a Friendly Reaction, which may cut down the odds a bit.

You may decline to fight and pretend you 've simply lost your way, in which case the guards will beat you up and throw you out for the loss of 10 LIFE POINTS (which may kill you, of course, in which case go to 14).

You may decide to fight, in which case you are welcome to collect 10 gold pieces from every Guard you slaughter; or, if you lose, you will be equally welcome at 14. Each Guard has 15 LIFE POINTS, each hits on 5 or better with a +2 sword and wears - 2 leather armour. If you win, return to your Plan.

Aaaaaand let's stop here, since we can't go any further without dealing with these dudes first. How do we handle the situation? (We've no gold, so Bribery is out, but all other options are open to us.)

Also, since we're already stopped, decide what to do about the door at 18: kick in, pick the lock, or leave it alone?

Pip's Stat Block posted:

LIFE POINTS: 49 / 48+1
EXPERIENCE POINTS: 1
INVENTORY: Rusty dagger (hits on a 6, +2 damage)
STATUS EFFECTS: Sprained ankle (half combat speed for 12 Sections, 8 remaining)

# ? Aug 20, 2015 19:59

Selachian: Oct 9, 2012

Without Pip's usual overload of magic items and spells, we have zero chance of taking these guys. Even if we didn't have the ankle slowing us down.

Take the 10-LP beating and move on to 67.

# ? Aug 20, 2015 20:17

Mister Perky: Aug 2, 2010

Selachian posted:

Without Pip's usual overload of magic items and spells, we have zero chance of taking these guys. Even if we didn't have the ankle slowing us down.

Take the 10-LP beating and move on to 67.

On the contrary, I say we :black101:

FIGHT.

When they inevitably kill us we'll respawn with both ankles at 100%.

# ? Aug 20, 2015 20:27

Carbon dioxide: Oct 9, 2012

Always fight.

# ? Aug 20, 2015 21:27

Jazzimus Prime: May 16, 2002; The Brothers Autobot

If we respawn we won't have max LIFE POINTS anymore.

Take the beating.

# ? Aug 20, 2015 22:16

Ghostwoods: May 9, 2013; Say "Cheese!"

Jazzimus Prime posted:

If we respawn we won't have max LIFE POINTS anymore.

Take the beating.

Yeah.

# ? Aug 20, 2015 22:35

idonotlikepeas: May 29, 2010; This reasoning is possible for forums user idonotlikepeas!

Take the beating. Maybe we can find some upgraded gear and come back to this room later for sweet, sweet vengeance.

# ? Aug 20, 2015 23:17

Russ L: Feb 26, 2011

Take the beating but remember their faces. They haven't seen the last of Pip.

Also, maybe try to pick the lock on the other door? Presumably with the blade of our dagger, since it's an option at all. Or maybe Pip is wearing a hairpin.

# ? Aug 21, 2015 07:19

Mikl: Nov 8, 2009; Vote shit sandwich or the shit sandwich gets it!

Well, that hurt. We got beaten black and blue, but at least we've escaped with our lives. We'll be back to deal with these guys later, assuming we find some armour and a decent weapon.

Also, let's pick the lock on the door to 18 and see what's behind it.

Section 139 posted:

Lock-picking is a skilled job. Roll two dice and we'll see if you have the knack.

Score 9-12 and go to 150.

Score anything else and the lock resists your best efforts so you will have to pick another section from Plan 1.

Roll: 3 + 3 = 6 :argh:

Looks like we won't be going into this room after all. (If we try to kick it all we get is three LIFE POINTS of damage from bruising our foot, so I'll spare you that.)

Now, what's next door in section 67?

Section 67 **B posted:

The door opens easily enough, but as you step inside, you can see a series of three further barred doors, with a villainous-looking Guard before each.

If you want to find out what's behind those barred doors, it looks as though you will have to fight the Guards. Each has 25 LIFE POINTS and carries a short sword which will do +2 damage and a shield which will save them � 2 damage. Fortunately they 're a bit arrogant and will elect to fight you one at a time if you attack, which could be their fatal mistake ( or yours). If you fight and lose, go to 14. If you fight and win against all three, go to 95.

Alternatively you may Bribe the guards with a bit of luck, if you happen to have any money.

Or you may tug your forelock, smile ingratiatingly, cringe a little and back out to try another section of Plan 1.

What you can't do is get a Friendly Reaction: these three are too bad-tempered for that.

We'll come back to these guys later, since they're letting us get away. Let's move to the next door at 52.

Section 52 posted:

A locked door, which presumably means something absolutely fascinating inside. Roll two dice to find out if you can get through it.

Score 2 � 6 and the answer's no: you may never enter this room - although you may, of course, try any other room shown on Plan 1.

Score 7 � 12 and race off rejoicing to 6.

Roll: 2 + 2 = 4, what IS IT with dice today? :sigh:

Onwards, to 13.

Section 13 posted:

Now there's posh! Well, sort of This used to be a very well-appointed room, but now it's in a bit of a mess, as if you kept a pig in a boudoir. It's sleeping quarters and hving quarters combined; and for only one person by the look of it, which means somebody important, since it's a large room.

Among the interesting contents are three chests. One has a skull and crossbones on the lid. One is well polished and new looking. One is pretty battered.

If you want to search the room further, go to 7.

If you want to risk trying to open the skull and crossbones chest, go to 24.

If you want to risk opening the new chest go to 62.

If you want to risk opening the battered chest, go to 72.

If you figure you'd be better off elsewhere, go to any other section shown on Plan 1.

Another room we'll come back to later. For now, let's explore 11.

Section 11 posted:

There are wooden stairs here, going upwards.

If you take them, go to 113.

If not, you can explore any other section shown on Plan 1.

As you've probably guessed, this is the way forward. We'll be taking this later on, for now let's keep going down this. 32 is the next room.

Section 31 posted:

This is an extremely large room, almost certainly used as communal sleeping quarters to judge by the hammocks slung from the rafters. The room is empty of people, but there are twelve large and interesting chests set at intervals around the walls.

If you fancy investigating those chests, roll two dice.

Score 2-4 and go to 3.
Score 5-8 and go to 16.
Score 9-12 and go to 135.

If you feel you'd better not, you may go directly to any other section in Plan 1.

Yet another decision to make. Should we loot? _{You know you want to.}

Next room's 74.

Section 74 posted:

There's a whole lot of gear in here. A lot of it could be quite useful to an adventurer like yourself. You might reckon on carrying half a dozen items before you collapse with exhaustion, so pick carefully. In the room are:

Rope (50ft coil)
Grappling hook
Backpack
Flint and steel (for lighting fires)
Drinking horn
Blowing horn (i.e. a sort of trumpet)
Small, ornamentally carved rosewood box (empty)
Packet of salt crystals
Bone needle and spool of rough thread
Cooking utensils
Leather belt
Spare sandals
Spare tunic
Container of olive oil
Ceramic lamp
Wooden mallet
Bone saw (i.e. a saw made from bone, NOT a saw for cutting bone)
Box of biscuits
Kite
Goosefeather quill and parchment
Small drum (musical variety)

When you've picked six, take them with you to any other section of Plan 1.

Score! Apparently we've found the storeroom :dance:

One more thing for the to-do pile: pick six items to carry with us. Since I have clairvoyance in the form of being able to read forward in the book, I'll carry on with the exploration since we won't need the items before we've finished exploring this ship. Onwards to 26!

Section 26 posted:

'Out!!!'

The greeting comes from a fat man with a meat cleaver, who is (perhaps fortunately for you) all alone in what appears to be an extremely large kitchen. He seems to be in the process of preparing food for quite a lot of people. He also seems to resent interruption.

"Excuse me, sir,' you begin politely.

But he does not let you finish. 'Out!' he says again. 'Out! Out! I know what you young people are like - always trying to scrump an extra share of nosh. Well, I won't have it ! Out ! '

He speaks with a most pecuhar accent, as if he wasn't a native-bom Englishman and his skin is very deeply tanned, despite the fact he's stuck in here cooking. Odd that.

But enough of these philosophical mysteries. If you want to search this room, you're obviously going to have to fight the fat man. Altematively, you can withdraw gracefully.

If you want to withdraw gracefully, simply go to any other section shown on Plan 1.

If you want to fight the fat man, you should latow that cleaver will do you +3 damage and despite his size, he can hit you successfully on a roll of 5 or better. He has 30 LIFE POINTS. If you kill him (or better yet, render him unconscious) you can search the place at 4. If he hacks you up with the meat cleaver, go to 14. (If he only renders you unconscious, you can visit any other section on Plan 1 but this one.)

Another thing to decide: do we fight the cook?

For now, let's check what's in section 64.

Section 64 posted:

This place is full of foodstuffs - sacks of grain, dried fruit, vegetables and what looks like dried meat. Have a little munch on anything you fancy before moving on to any other section shown on Plan 1.

The pantry. What's the pantry doing right next to the kitchen, I wonder :iiam:

Now we only have 20 and the poop cabin, 5, to explore.

Section 20 posted:

This is a smallish room, so far as you can judge, although judging is difficult on account of the fact that it's absolutely jam-packed with wooden casks and barrels.

If you want to find out what's in the barrels, knock out a wooden bung and go to 11.

If you want to find out what's in the casks, knock out a wooden bung and go to 125.

If you couldn't care less what's in the grotty casks and barrels, leave the bungs alone and move on to another section of Plan 1.

This is where you decide whether to open the casks and barrel.

And now for the final room:

Section 5 posted:

There are wooden stairs here, going upwards.

If you take them, go to 113.

If not, you can explore any other section shown on Plan 1.

Which is the other way forward.

So now we've explored everything we can, and we have several decisions to make:

1. Do we fight the three guards at 67?
2. Which (if any) of the chests at 13 do we open? ("All of them" is a perfectly valid answer.)
3. Do we loot the chests at 31?
4. Do we fight the cook?
5. Do we open the casks and/or barrels at 20?

And finally,

6. What six items to we take from the storeroom to carry along?

Pip's Stat Block posted:

LIFE POINTS: 39 / 48+1
EXPERIENCE POINTS: 1
INVENTORY: Rusty dagger (hits on a 6, +2 damage)
STATUS EFFECTS: ~~Sprained ankle (half combat speed for 12 Sections, 8 remaining)~~

Mikl fucked around with this message at 16:48 on Aug 21, 2015

# ? Aug 21, 2015 13:28

Russ L: Feb 26, 2011

I would recommend leaving questions one and four in abeyance until we know what great gear we've been able to obtain from the other rooms.

So:

2) Open all of the chests at 13.
3) Loot all of the chests at 31.
5) Open casks then barrels at 20 (booze!).
6) We absolutely definitely want the rope and the grappling hook, since these books have proved themselves to be lousy with pit traps time and again. After those, I'd say the lamp, flint & steel, quill & parchment, and drinking horn (booze!).

# ? Aug 21, 2015 17:13

Selachian: Oct 9, 2012

I agree on the rope and hook, lamp, and flint and steel, but I'd substitute the oil and saw for the last two items.

As for 13, search the room first (7) before opening the chests. If order is important, open the battered chest first.

Go ahead and loot the chests at 31, and the casks and barrels at 20.

# ? Aug 22, 2015 14:40

Mikl: Nov 8, 2009; Vote shit sandwich or the shit sandwich gets it!

Alright, our inventory so far is rope, grappling hook, lamp, and flint and steel. I'll hold out on the last two items until we can reach a consensus.

Meanwhile, time to loot.

Searching the room at 13 yields:

Section 7 posted:

Lucky old you! It always pays to be thorough in adventures, doesn't it? You've found a roll of parchment under a heap of pongy old clothes. You unroll it at once, finding it is covered with spidery handwriting, quite difficult to read, which gives instructions for performing something called the Wallbanger Ritual. Could this be some sort of spell? You bet your life it could! The only problem is that the scroll gives you no indication whatsoever of what the spell actually does. Worse still, the scroll states that you can only use the spell once - just once - in an entire adventure!

You will find details of how to work the Wallbanger Ritual Spell on Appendix, p. 217. Turn to it ONLY when you have decided to work the spell, since reading this section uses it up for the current adventure.

If you want to try the Wallbanger Ritual now, turn to the special section. Otherwise keep the scroll carefully and don't forget you have it.

If you want to try opening the skull and crossbones chest, go to 24.

If you want to try opening the new chest, go to 62.

If you want to try opening the battered chest, go to 72.

If you feel you'd better get out of here while your luck holds, try any other section on Plan 1.

...excuse me, what? :raise:

I'll just write this down, but I'm not clear on this at all.

Let's open some chests!

Section 72 posted:

This chest is locked. To find out if you have the SKILL to open it, throw a die. Now throw another. If your first roll is greater than your second, you may open the chest at 17. If not, you'll have to leave it.

Difficulty roll: 3
Skill roll: 5

Section 17 posted:

It's empty! No, it's not - there's a false bottom. Not very well made, so you discover it almost at once. In a compartment beneath the false bottom is a very nasty little weapon; a poison stiletto.

You examine this lethal horror very carefully. The handle is hollow and filled with an oily liquid poison. The blade is hollow, too, so that the liquid flows down into it. When you score a hit with this nasty, it does +1 damage by stabbing, but also gives your opponent a dose of poison which will cost him the automatic loss of 2 LIFE POINTS every combat round thereafter. What's more, if you successfully hit him again with the dagger, it will cost him a further two automatic losses every time. There is enough poison in the handle for twelve hits, after which the stiletto reverts back to being an ordinary +1 dagger (unless, of course, you can find more poison somewhere).

Should come in handy. Let's open the new chest now.

Section 62 posted:

Wow! Gold! There are 1,000 gold pieces in here! All yours now. Heh! Heh! Heh!

Last up, the skull and crossbones chest.

Section 24 posted:

A seasoned adventurer like yourself will not be totally astounded to discover this chest is trapped. Throw one dice to determine your present level of LUCK. Now throw another. If your second throw is lower than your first, your LUCK holds: you have avoided the trap and can open the chest safely at 9.

If your second throw is higher than your first, then start sucking your thumb, which has just been punctured by a poison needle. You will now lose 2 LIFE POINTS every time you visit a new section until you die or find an anti-poison potion. (Healing potions and salves will renew LIFE POINTS lost by poison but will NOT cure the poison itself.)

LUCK roll: 6
Trap roll: 6

LUCK re-roll: 5
Trap re-roll: 1

This time we were lucky. What's in the box?

Section 9 posted:

Well, well, well - it seems to be a medicine chest! There is a bottle of healing potion in here (enough for six doses, restoring a double dice roll of life POINTS each). There is also a jar of salve (five applications, restoring 3 LIFE POINTS per application). And finally, there is a small bottle of magical quinine which, according to the label, will absolutely cure you of malaria. (What a pity you don't have malaria at the moment. But keep the bottle carefully - it could come in handy if you're ever munched by a mosquito.)

These should come in handy too.

We're all done with this room, so let's go and loot 31 now! For that we had to roll two dice and check the corresponding section.

Roll: 1 + 4 = 5, we're going to 16.

Section 16 posted:

The good news is that the chests are not locked. The bad news is that there doesn't appear to be anything of interest in them except old clothes and worthless personal items. You go through each systematically until, on opening the last chest but one, you are bitten by a snake.

Secton 16 posted:

You stare at the reptile in horror as it slithers away. What sort of idiot keeps a snake in his chest? Then you stare in horror at the fang marks on your arm. Your arm is beginning to burn, then turn numb as the sensation creeps up towards your shoulder. Your skin is turning brown, then bluish as the venom creeps relentlessly towards your loudly beating heart. You feel dizzy. You sway. You are on the point of blacking out. You are dying, poisoned by -

Oh, pull yourself together. The snake wasn't venomous. All it's really done is bite oif one silly little LIFE POINT and even that's coming back as the wound begins to heal.

Now, since you aren't really poisoned, better decide what you're going to do.

If you want to examine the last chest, turn to 100.

If you've had enough of this room, try another section of Plan 1.

The choice regarding this is yours, goons: do we keep searching, even after encountering a snake?

Before that, let us check the casks and barrels in room 20. First the barrels.

Section 77 posted:

You knock out a wooden bung and a clear liquid gushes out, splashing all over your legs. Within seconds, you are standing in a widening pool, trying desperately to stuff the bung back in and wondering why you can't leave things alone.

What's this?' demands an angry voice behind you. 'Wasting water, is it? Splice my mainbrace, but you'll be in trouble for that!'

You turn to find yourself confronted by a grizzled (and deeply tanned), villainous-looking old sea dog. He is wearing a tunic much like your own, sandals much like your own and a kerchief tied around his forehead. More to the point, he is carrying a nasty-looking club which would certainly give him + 1 on damage should he ecide
to strike you with it.

'A quick bash with my club is what you need, young 'un, to teach you a lesson,' he says and leaps towards you.

If you want to fight this old sea dog to the death, you are quite at liberty to do so. He has 25 LIFE POINTS and, as you suspected, does +1 damage with his club. He strikes successfully on a 6 or better; and since he surprised you messing about with the water barrel, he will have first strike. If you kill him, or render him unconscious, you may proceed to another section of Plan 1: If he kills you, you may proceed to 14.

If you decide not to fight, he will bash you once with his club, deducting exactly 4 of your LIFE POINTS in the process, sling you out of the water store into the corridor, lock the water store behind him, then leave through the door to 5. This leaves you free to go anywhere on Plan 1 except 20.

And here's another problem: do we fight this guy, or do we let him bash us?

So here's the questions for today:

1. Do we search the final chest, even though the last one we looked into held a (non-poisonous) snake?
2. Do we fight the old sea dog?
3. After the above, do we fight the three guards and/or the cook? In what order? Or do we just leave them be and go upstairs?

As always, the choice is yours, goons.

Pip's Stat Block posted:

LIFE POINTS: 39 / 48+1
EXPERIENCE POINTS: 1
INVENTORY: Rusty dagger (hits on a 6, +2 damage), rope, grappling hook, lamp, flint and steel, WALLBANGER RITUAL scroll, poison stiletto (+1 damage, 12 doses of 2-damage-per-round poison), healing potion x6 (restores two dice rolls' worth of LIFE POINTS), healing salve x5 (restores 3 LIFE POINTS), magical quinine (heals malaria) can carry two more items from the storeroom
STATUS EFFECTS: none
TREASURE: 1,000 gold pieces

# ? Aug 22, 2015 22:09

Ghostwoods: May 9, 2013; Say "Cheese!"

Mikl posted:

1. Do we search the final chest, even though the last one we looked into held a (non-poisonous) snake?
2. Do we fight the old sea dog?
3. After the above, do we fight the three guards and/or the cook? In what order? Or do we just leave them be and go upstairs?

Yes, no, and no.

# ? Aug 22, 2015 22:16

Comstar: Apr 20, 2007; Are you happy now?

Yes, No, NO.

# ? Aug 23, 2015 01:00

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Jun 8, 2024 02:33

Russ L: Feb 26, 2011

Yes, no, no.

Although I do think that it feels as though we probably should've acquired more gear and power-ups (armour? Maybe it'll be in this last chest) from the starting area before moving on to what I assume is the next level. I bet the good stuff is guarded.

Ah well. If Pip gets eaten by a sea monster after going up on deck, we can take a more disciplinarian line with the catering staff next time around.

# ? Aug 23, 2015 09:48

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > Let's Play the Grailquest series! (If this kills you, go to 14.)

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