gegi posted:

... wait, is this one of those books that only has one good end?

Page 62 posted:

The innkeeper's daughter is overjoyed to see her father returned. The innkeeper is as good as his word and he kills a fatted pig to give you a banquet fit for a king.

All too soon, however, you have to leave their pleasant hospitality behind and return to your quest. Yet you are already too late. As you journey back towards the Sirion river the Westermen have found the Tree of Life and cut it down. The forest is doomed and so, in the end, is all mankind. You have failed: the long winter is beginning.

Page 378 posted:

You have moved to the edge of the trees now and look out over the grisly devastation. The innkeeper tells you his name is Pozzo and also reveals what he knows about the Westermen. Their leader has a huge scarlet and black pavilion tent beyond the forges where he plans how to despoil the forest. Pozzo offers to take you there.

Will you be guided by the innkeeper (turn to 428) or return to the safety of the deep forest (turn to 282)?

Character Sheet posted:

Jay 'Lanky' Sherman the Starveling

Skills: CUNNING, ROGUERY, UNARMED COMBAT, STREETWISE

Life Points: 10/10

Gold: 9/15

Possessions: None

Codewords: Speculum

Kills: Embracer, a guard

Failures: Rooted to death, despair!ed, swallowed and digested by a Colossus beetle, ate a pig and failed to avert an ecological cataclysm

Page 428 posted:

Pozzo takes you through the trees until you come to a large clearing. Noticing a steady stream of messengers riding post-haste to a point beyond the furnaces, you skirt round through the forest until, peering out between the branches of a Servis tree, you see a magnificent silk pavilion large enough to seat a hundred knights at a banquet. There are guards at each corner of the pavilion and two guards with halberds flank the silk porch which leads into the main tent. They are all dressed in rare steel armour and all have the sly look of the Westermen about them. It is a hundred paces across burned ground from the Servis tree to the tent.

If you have SPELLS and a wand, you can cast Vanish and sneak unseen into the pavilion (turn to 266) or you can cast Friendship to charm your way past the guards and into their chief's confidence (turn to 231).
Otherwise, you can sneak up to the tent as a spy (turn to 350).

Page 350 posted:

Beyond the black silk pavilion there are many smaller canvas tents roped to the few trees which have been allowed to stay standing. There is a regular bustle of people coming and going between the tents and the pavilion or riding in to report from scattered forges and slave encampments.

Will you try to get to the silk pavilion right away before you are spotted (turn to 239) or stay hidden until dusk (turn to 217)?

Character Sheet posted:

Jay 'Lanky' Sherman the Starveling

Skills: CUNNING, ROGUERY, UNARMED COMBAT, STREETWISE

Life Points: 10/10

Gold: 9/15

Possessions: None

Codewords: Speculum

Kills: Embracer, a guard

Failures: Rooted to death, despair!ed, swallowed and digested by a Colossus beetle, ate a pig and failed to avert an ecological cataclysm

Page 239 posted:

You manage to creep to within twenty paces of the silk pavilion before one of the guards sees you and raises the alarm. You run back towards the forest edge but a detachment of soldiers issues from the trees; they fan out and surround you. Fearing the worst you are relieved when they only take you prisoner.

Turn to 151.

Page 151 posted:

You surrender yourself up to the Westermen guards and are taken before a man who is clearly their chief. The Chief of the Westermen is a balding corpulent man whose eyes seem to gleam with greed. He appraises your worth in a quick glance. 'Hmm, you look - strong and fit - doubtless you'll make a fine log-puller.'

Without even asking who you are or where you have come from the Westermen chain you to a yoke beside a man who reminds you of the girl in the inn at Burg. It must be her father.

If you have SPELLS, turn to 229.

Otherwise you begin a life of back-breaking work, pulling tree trunks from the fellers to the sawyers for week after week, year after year. Your pitiful existence is dominated by thoughts of how you might make a desperate escape before the toil kills you. There is no escape. You live only to see the utter destruction of the Forest of Arden.

Page 229 posted:

You bide your time until you are roughly unhooked from the coffle chain and set to work digging a hole for the Westermen to use as a latrine. When the guard looks away you cast a Vanish spell and make good your escape. The guard has just returned to the pit you had begun to dig and is looking around for you. If he doesn't want to call attention to the fact he has let you escape he may do nothing. On the other hand he may sound the alarm.

Will you try to free the innkeeper, which you must surely do if you promised his daughter you would try to find him (turn to 264).

Or will you abandon him to the Westermen's tender mercies (turn to 279)?

Page 217 posted:

You wait, concealed in the trees, for nightfall. You have not been waiting and watching long when Valerian the Moon Druid, who you saw at the inn at Burg, pays a visit to the black and scarlet pavilion. He is still wearing the all-enveloping black robe but the hood is back to reveal the hatchet-like features and black goatee beard.

He leaves an hour later, looking smugly satisfied. Other men come and go with reports or to suit for some privilege or to settle disputes.

The day fades into a dark and moonless night, ideal for what you have in mind.

If you have SPELLS and a wand and want to use magic to enter the pavilion, turn to 452.
Or you can rely on natural stealth: turn to 462.

Page 462 posted:

Using the cover provided by darkness, you creep slowly round to the porch of the pavilion and, waiting to make sure there is no one coming, you creep into the tent.

Inside, you see the chief himself is sleeping on silken cushions of rich purple; his corpulent form is surrounded by the somnolent forms of his personal guards. Your keen senses also detect a faint shimmering in the air around these men - a magical disturbance in the air that can only be some kind of warding. You had best be careful, for if you disturb it the guards could be on you in a trice.

Quietly you move to the table where the chief's maps are laid out in full view. The master map shows the Forest of Arden in its entirety. A broad swathe of brown has recently been painted across the green of the forest and a red point marks each of the Westermen encampments that are eating into the forest. Right in the centre of the triangle made by the Bonehill, the bower of the Lady of the Forest and the geysers, a small pool with an ancient-looking Greenbark tree drawn on it has been carefully painted in. Inked in by the tree is a simple note: 'Destroy the Tree of Life and the forest dies. The Steamer shall do the work.'

Dispatches lying ready for signing indicate the pincer movement that the Westermen will make on the tree - a cunning plan that could take any unwary defenders by surprise.

Write the codeword Bullhorn on your Adventure Sheet.

You risk discovery the longer you remain here, so carefully considering what you have learned, you leave as soon as the coast is clear.

Turn to 95.

Page 95 posted:

You jump nimbly and quietly over a stack of books and slink out between the chief's advisers. The guards at the porch don't notice you pass between them and you are soon safe back in the forest. The awful sights and sounds of the Westerman camp are soon far behind.

You can head west (turn to 43), east (turn to 427), south-west (turn to 70), or south (turn to 78).

Character Sheet posted:

Jay 'Lanky' Sherman the Starveling

Skills: CUNNING, ROGUERY, UNARMED COMBAT, STREETWISE

Life Points: 10/10

Gold: 9/15

Possessions: None

Codewords: Speculum, Bullhorn

Kills: Embracer, a guard

Failures: Root'd to death, despair!ed, swallowed and digested by a Colossus beetle, ate a pig and failed to avert an ecological cataclysm, slave'd and toil'd to death

Page 70 posted:

If you have both the Waterbearer and Bullhorn codewords, turn to 256.
If you have only Waterbearer, turn to 42.
If you have neither codeword, or only Bullhorn, turn to 60.

Page 60 posted:

The hairs on the nape of your neck begin to bristle as you step quietly between the Greenbark trees. You sense you are being watched.

You can hide (turn to 80), stop and look about you (turn to 90), or call out that you are Elanor's friend come in search of the immortal elves (turn to 109).

Character Sheet posted:

Jay 'Lanky' Sherman the Starveling

Skills: CUNNING, ROGUERY, UNARMED COMBAT, STREETWISE

Life Points: 10/10

Gold: 9/15

Possessions: None

Codewords: Speculum, Bullhorn

Kills: Embracer, a guard

Failures: Root'd to death, despair!ed, swallowed and digested by a Colossus beetle, ate a pig and failed to avert an ecological cataclysm, slave'd and toil'd to death

Page 80 posted:

You hide underneath a clump of bushes for what seems an age. Here in the deepest part of the forest you can only guess that it is still daytime. When you are certain that you can hear and see nothing, you emerge from your hiding place and decide to journey on.

You have walked but half a mile further when the feeling of being watched returns.

If you wish to hide again, turn to 129.
If you would like to stop and look around you, turn to 90.
If you walk on, seemingly unaware, turn to 150.
Or you could try calling out that you are Elanor's friend come in search of the immortal elves: turn to 109.

Page 90 posted:

You stop still in your tracks and start to stare about, thinking to catch an elf slyly peeking at you from behind a tree.

There is the rushing whine of an arrow and a stabbing pain between your shoulder-blades. The force of the shot spins you round enabling you to see your assailant.

It is a tall, proud elf, who stands between two great Greenbark trees, his legs apart. He lets his bow fall to his side as your legs buckle under you. Your nameless attacker is a fine shot: his arrow has pierced your lung. Slowly you begin to drown in your own blood.

Page 109 posted:

You call out loudly. 'I am a friend of Elanor, the Lady of the Forest. I come in search of the immortal elves.'

You feel rather unheroic, calling out like this when you don't know whether anyone can hear you. But there is also the nasty feeling that you might be struck by an arrow at any moment.

You call out a second time and this time, to your relief, you are answered.

Turn to 120.

Page 120 posted:

You are surrounded by a circle of elves, all of whom seem to have appeared as if by magic. They look solemn but not hostile. Their faces have the perfect beauty of unsullied youth but their green almond-shaped eyes are like windows onto the wisdom of the centuries. Their skin is flawless pale green with a silvery bloom like grape bloom. Their long straight hair is the color of rich red wine. They seem not in the least surprised to see you.



You wait for them to say something but they seem in no hurry, so you tell them you are a friend of the forest and an enemy of the burners.

Turn to 180.

Page 180 posted:

Your words seem to make no difference: the elves just stare at you. Their childlike faces belie the threat they present. A few of them carry slender longbows but these are slung over their shoulders. The elves are not trying to frighten you but the eeriness of those young old faces, silent and quizzical, is unnerving. For all you know each one of them was born before man came into existence.

You repeat that you are no friend of the Westermen and that you want to save the forest. Your words are met by a stony silence. Rattled by this lack of communication, you end up by saying that not all men are evil. You then decide to keep your mouth shut.

'I have met many men,' says a voice. 'Seven this very millennium have found me here in the greenwood. On the whole, taken for what they were, summing the sinews of their spirit and the canopy of their souls, they were bad; not evil, just bad. We came here to avoid the prattling of men. It is hard for us to be near those we must pity.'

At the mention of the word pity, many of the elves turn their faces away for a moment, as if to spare you. You will have to win their respect.

Will you apologize for making them feel uncomfortable by disturbing them in the greenwood (turn to 209)?
Or will you tell them it is they who are to be pitied, for the Westermen are destroying their forest as surely as night follows day (turn to 219)?

Character Sheet posted:

Jay 'Lanky' Sherman the Starveling

Skills: CUNNING, ROGUERY, UNARMED COMBAT, STREETWISE

Life Points: 10/10

Gold: 9/15

Possessions: None

Codewords: Speculum, Bullhorn

Kills: Embracer, a guard

Failures: Root'd to death, despair!ed, swallowed and digested by a Colossus beetle, ate a pig and failed to avert an ecological cataclysm, slave'd and toil'd to death, pulmonary arrownation

Page 219 posted:

There is no mistaking the expression in the elves' eyes this time. You have angered them.

'We are older than the forest. We were alive before the forest grew and we will live on after it is gone.'

'But it has been your home for so long. Does it not anger you to see the burners destroying its beauty?' you ask. 'And where will you live? Where will you find a place where there are no men to be pitied?'

'Have you come here to taunt us? It is the coming of the time of men. All things must pass and we with them.'

If you taunt them to goad them into action, turn to 426.
If you humble yourself and beg them to let you see the wonders of their homes in the greenwood before it is lost for ever, turn to 436.

Character Sheet posted:

Jay 'Lanky' Sherman the Starveling

Skills: CUNNING, ROGUERY, UNARMED COMBAT, STREETWISE

Life Points: 10/10

Gold: 9/15

Possessions: None

Codewords: Speculum, Bullhorn

Kills: Embracer, a guard

Failures: Root'd to death, despair!ed, swallowed and digested by a Colossus beetle, ate a pig and failed to avert an ecological cataclysm, slave'd and toil'd to death, pulmonary arrownation

legoman727 posted:

Goad them further. gently caress elves.

Page 426 posted:

You say that long life has worn out their spirit. 'Is that all there is to immortality, a long slide into the grey of uncaring? Look at the beauty all around you. Are your eyes worn out? Have you become blind to the glory of this forest? I've never seen anything like it.'

'Its glories are wasted on you, mortal.' The elf's voice cracks harshly and as he speaks your eyes fill with blood. Now it is you who is blind. You will never find your way out of the forest. Without sight you cannot even find food, and will surely perish in the forest.

Page 436 posted:

Something in what you have said has struck a chord with them.

'For thousands of years we have guarded our secret homes from the eyes of men. Now we must leave them and no one but us and the beasts of the woods will know or tell of the splendour that is Elvenhame. We grant you this, a sight of Elvenhame.'

You walk with them, they slow their pace for you, but they seem remarkably lacking in curiosity about you. It is as if they already know all they need to about the race of beings called man. It is a walk of several hours through secret ways and tunnels before the most beautiful sight in the world opens up before you.

Turn to 402.

Page 402 posted:

The Greenbark trees here in Elvenhame are the biggest in the world. Their branches intermingle and there are walkways, galleries and towers perched on them. Elvenhame is a town in the trees. There are always flowers in bloom here, no matter what the season. Many colored humming birds hover and dart from one soft spray of flowers to the next. The sound of their wings is like the soft music of a monk's chant. White hinds and black panthers lie together happily in the dappled sunlight beneath the trees.

Tree-houses spanning the gaps between the Greenbarks' great branches are decked with hanging violets and ivy. The bark of the trees shines like polished jade where it has been worn smooth by the passage of elven feet. There are hundreds of elves here, congregating quietly, astonished that a mortal has been brought to Elvenhame.

Turn to 386.

Page 386 posted:

You are led to the clearing in the center of the city of trees and there sat down on the ground. The elves sit in tiers around you, perching on branches; more stand on the walkways and lean out from the towers between the trees. You cannot hide your awe at the natural beauty which surrounds you. When you say that you could never have imagined such an idyll they seem pleased.

'Never have we risked everything by sharing the beauty of our home with mortals. But now we realize that this beauty will soon be lost. In the time of men no one but you will tell tales of the splendors that were once Elvenhame.' There is a brooding melancholy in the faces of all the elves.

'But if you fight you can drive the men out of the forest.'

'Do you, a mortal, counsel us to slay your fellow men?'

What will you answer?

That the men of the west are not your fellows (turn to 345) or that the men are killing the forest which keeps the air pure for everyone to breathe (turn to 332)?

Character Sheet posted:

Jay 'Lanky' Sherman the Starveling

Skills: CUNNING, ROGUERY, UNARMED COMBAT, STREETWISE

Life Points: 10/10

Gold: 9/15

Possessions: None

Codewords: Speculum, Bullhorn

Kills: Embracer, a guard

Failures: Root'd to death, despair!ed, swallowed and digested by a Colossus beetle, ate a pig and failed to avert an ecological cataclysm, slave'd and toil'd to death, pulmonary arrownation, stabbed in the eyes and left to "live" off the land

Ghostwoods posted:

Uh, the men are killing the forest? I mean, it's 50/50 death/not-death, I assume...

Page 332 posted:

'The mortal speaks the truth. If the forest is killed the whole world will die. It will not be the time of men but the time of death and desolation, the end of all things.'

'But what can we do? We number thousands but the Westermen come in hundreds of thousands.'

'Would you rather fight bravely, and show that you value the beauty that is your home? Or will you stand idly by and let the time of death and desolation come to the forest? I beg you to take up your bows and fight these cruel Westermen, not just for your own sake, but for all the world. We all need the forest in order to live.'



Turn to 317.

Page 317 posted:

'What would you have us do? They outnumber us a hundred to one. Must we give battle? We have no swords.'

The elves know nothing of warfare. You will have to guide them. Many of them don't seem to believe the forest is really threatened.

Will you say that their bows alone are enough to guarantee victory, but first set out alone for the camp of the Westermen to find out what you can about your foes (turn to 307)?
Or will you suggest an expedition to capture swords from the forges (turn to 325).

Character Sheet posted:

Jay 'Lanky' Sherman the Starveling

Skills: CUNNING, ROGUERY, UNARMED COMBAT, STREETWISE

Life Points: 10/10

Gold: 9/15

Possessions: None

Codewords: Speculum, Bullhorn

Kills: Embracer, a guard

Failures: Root'd to death, despair!ed, swallowed and digested by a Colossus beetle, ate a pig and failed to avert an ecological cataclysm, slave'd and toil'd to death, pulmonary arrownation, stabbed in the eyes and left to "live" off the land

Page 307 posted:

Searching for the camp of the Westermen in the great forest takes several days. On the morning of the sixth day, breaking from the cover of orange-berried rowan trees, you see a steep-sided valley, charred and dead. The vegetation has been burned or dissolved away. In places bare rock has been exposed by heavy scuffing and here and there are smooth basins etched into the rock by strong chemicals. At the center of the valley is a smooth green hillock about twenty feet high. At the far end is a strange, bare hill of some grey-white rock, looking like a mound of bone. An egret pecks at the green turf of the hillock for worms. The grass is lightly wreathed in mist.



Will you walk down into the dead valley past the blackened tree stumps (turn to 439)?
Or skirt around the valley to the east (turn to 429)?

Character Sheet posted:

Jay 'Lanky' Sherman the Starveling

Skills: CUNNING, ROGUERY, UNARMED COMBAT, STREETWISE

Life Points: 10/10

Gold: 9/15

Possessions: None

Codewords: Speculum, Bullhorn

Kills: Embracer, a guard

Failures: Root'd to death, despair!ed, swallowed and digested by a Colossus beetle, ate a pig and failed to avert an ecological cataclysm, slave'd and toil'd to death, pulmonary arrownation, stabbed in the eyes and left to "live" off the land

Page 439 posted:

As you descend towards the bright green hillock the white egret starts to cackle and jumps up and down on the grass. As you approach it flies over the crest of the hillock but you can still hear it cackling on the other side. You look about warily in case the calls of the white bird have attracted any nearby men or elves. The valley is quiet.

If you would like to try to silence the egret, turn to 366.
If you simply walk to the top of the hillock to see what you can see, turn to 314.
If you leave the valley and skirt around it to the east, turn to 429.
If you have WILDERNESS LORE you can turn to 212.

Jay 'Lanky' Sherman the Starveling

Skills: CUNNING, ROGUERY, UNARMED COMBAT, STREETWISE

Life Points: 10/10

Gold: 9/15

Possessions: None

[i]Codewords: Speculum, Bullhorn

Kills: Embracer, a guard

Failures: Root'd to death, despair!ed, swallowed and digested by a Colossus beetle, ate a pig and failed to avert an ecological cataclysm, slave'd and toil'd to death, pulmonary arrownation, stabbed in the eyes and left to "live" off the land

Page 314 posted:

As you set foot on the hillock you are surprised at how hard the ground feels, yet it yields slightly, as if a layer of hard rock was resting on mud. The ground is smooth and has a sheen. It only looked like grass.

You climb on up the hillock and reaching the summit, look down on its far side which is ribbed and ridged in the most unusual way. It dawns on you that the thing you are standing on is a gargantuan dragon. You can see its head, the size of a cart, curled up next to its feet as it slumbers. It seems not to have noticed you crawling like a fly over its great body.

Will you climb down to its head and slay it (turn to 74)?
Or will you attempt to wake it up and perhaps talk with it, for they say some dragons can talk (turn to 178)?

Character Sheet posted:

Jay 'Lanky' Sherman the Starveling

Skills: CUNNING, ROGUERY, UNARMED COMBAT, STREETWISE

Life Points: 10/10

Gold: 9/15

Possessions: None

Codewords: Speculum, Bullhorn

Kills: Embracer, a guard

Failures: Root'd to death, despair!ed, swallowed and digested by a Colossus beetle, ate a pig and failed to avert an ecological cataclysm, slave'd and toil'd to death, pulmonary arrownation, stabbed in the eyes and left to "live" off the land

Page 178 posted:

The dragon's nostrils smoulder as it looks down its long nose at you.

'You are brave, O impudent man,' it booms. Its voice has the timbre of thunder in a summer storm.

'Aye, when I have to be,' you reply, recoiling at the beast's terrifying voice. All thoughts of brave action and heroism desert you.

'What is it you want with me? Do you hanker to call yourself dragon-slayer and have your name bruited about the land? Have you perhaps heard that dragons sleep on vast hoards of treasure? Or perhaps you want me to teach you magic?'

If you say you wish to be taught the wonders of magic, turn to 185.
If you say that you would like a tenth part of the dragon's hoard, turn to 194.
If you say you want the dragon's help, turn to 205.
If you say you don't want anything from the dragon, turn to 10.

Character Sheet posted:

Jay 'Lanky' Sherman the Starveling

Skills: CUNNING, ROGUERY, UNARMED COMBAT, STREETWISE

Life Points: 10/10

Gold: 9/15

Possessions: None

Codewords: Speculum, Bullhorn

Kills: Embracer, a guard

Failures: Root'd to death, despair!ed, swallowed and digested by a Colossus beetle, ate a pig and failed to avert an ecological cataclysm, slave'd and toil'd to death, pulmonary arrownation, stabbed in the eyes and left to "live" off the land