Once Upon a Time in [CYOA]rabia

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > Once Upon a Time in [CYOA]rabia

«‹›7 »

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

Wouldn't that be Chekov's cloak.

# ? Jul 31, 2016 08:58

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 3, 2024 06:57

Parenthesis: Jan 3, 2013

Use the cloak.

# ? Jul 31, 2016 09:38

TheGreatEvilKing: Mar 28, 2016

Cloaking field activated

# ? Jul 31, 2016 17:04

Snorb: Nov 19, 2010

I said way back on page 2 to dump the cloak ASAP, and guess what? Here's our opportunity to do so!

# ? Aug 1, 2016 01:38

MysticalMachineGun: Apr 5, 2005

Cloak!

# ? Aug 1, 2016 02:06

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

Page 273 posted:

As Jafar makes his throw, you sweep the cloak around, sweeping the deadly blade out of the air before it reaches its target.

The Caliph, recovering from his shock, calls for his guards. Jafar turns and flees.

Turn to 339.

Having ARCHERY here is pretty badass, we'll hit that in the post-book.

Page 339 posted:

Despite the commotion behind you, there is no time to wait for the palace guards to arrive on the scene. You are determined not to let Jafar get away. You chase him down a wide staircase and on through an empty hall that echoes to the sound of his ragged breath as he struggles along in his heavy robes. Crossing a small courtyard, he glances back to see you gaining on him. You pursue him the length of a covered passage, emerging onto a parade ground which abuts the royal stables. And here you skid to a halt, for Jafar has turned to wait for you.

He takes a jar from his robes and raises it, saying a few words in the tongue of the idolaters who held sway in this land before the coming of the Prophet. Then he casts the jar down. It shatters on the cobblestones at his feet.

A swirl of smoke rises, thickening into solid form. The creature Jafar has conjured has long limbs ending in extravagant talons. Its body gleams like old earthenware in the moonlight. Its eyes are brighter than the stars. Strangest of all are its wings � translucent panes with a filigree of silver, like some huge insect�s.

Jafar says, �I�ll leave you now to enjoy my demon�s embrace.�

If you have FOLKLORE, turn to 490.
~~If not, turn to 216.~~

: OH FOR THE LOVE OF-

: Don't sweat it man, you struck gold with your skillset this run.

Page 490 posted:

You have heard a tale which described just such a creature as this. In the tale, it proved an unbeatable foe because of its ability to regenerate. Every time the hero injured it, it rose into the air and hovered until its wounds had healed.

You can think of one way to prevent it doing that here. You back off into the covered passage just behind you.

Turn to 46.

: Man, I've certainly got a lot of tales!

Page 46 posted:

The demon pursues you into the covered passage. It realizes its mistake when you leap on it. Here it cannot retreat into the air every few seconds to recuperate from its wounds. �Bad move, devil,� you snarl as you pound it with heavy blows, �now you�ve got to fight fair.�

The demon�s talons scrape you to the bone, but you give two blows for every one that it inflicts. Lose 2 Life Points � unless you have SWORDPLAY (and a sword) or WRESTLING, in which case lose only 1 Life Point.

If you survive, turn to 275.

: Now he's dead AND covered in fleas. That's a bit of a low blow, isn't it?

Page 275 posted:

Casting the limp carcass of the demon to one side, you race across the parade ground in search of Jafar. He can�t have got far, the fat waddling toad. Then you see him, crouching by the wall as he unrolls a long carpet embroidered with mystic sigils.

He looks up, shakes his head with mock pity, and steps onto the carpet. �Too late,� he calls. �But don�t worry. I�ll make sure our paths cross again.�

So saying, he gives an imperious gesture and the carpet starts to rise from the ground. As it rises, your heart sinks. You can�t possibly get to Jafar before he is out of reach.

There is a crack like wood being hit with a hammer. One of the stable doors flies open and bangs against the wall. You see Jafar�s head shoot round in astonishment, and you follow his gaze to see your white stallion Antar rearing fiercely in the open doorway. With a proud whinny, he gallops over and you pull yourself up by his mane.

To the end of your days, you will never quite be sure of what happens next. You could have sworn Antar�s hoofs strike sparks off thin air as, with a breathtaking leap, he carries you up beside Jafar on the flying carpet.

Jafar�s mouth drops open � whether to cast a spell or simply to curse you, you will never know. Antar rears, plunges, and clubs him with his hoof. Jafar topples and falls, and the carpet slowly drifts back to the ground. Dismounting, you lift Jafar�s wrist and search for a pulse. Nothing. The traitor is dead.

~~If you have the codeword Iris, turn to 403.~~
If not, turn to 120.

: THAT WAS INSANELY AWESOME!

: Hey, for all the utility I got out of FOLKLORE, it doesn't really lead to kickass moments in quite the same way.

Page 120 posted:

The Caliph lavishes gifts on you: gold, jewels and splendid robes of honour. �This is not all,� he says. �Now I need a new Grand Vizier.�

�Me, lord?� You bow to keep him from seeing the look of shock on your face. �But I am not wise or worthy enough.�

He laughs. �What you mean to say is, you�re not a fat, spoiled court popinjay.�

�Prince of Princes, I would never say such � �

�Then you are diplomatic enough for the job. Also, you have proved wise where it matters, which is not in academic affairs but in affairs of the human heart. Moreover, you have seen much of the world. I shall enjoy hearing your tales.�

And so, from humble origins, you suddenly find yourself the Grand Vizier to the Caliph of Baghdad. You are rich and respected. Nobles and courtiers flock to hear your advice. The Prophet warned against intoxication, but you had always thought that referred only to wine. Now you know that destiny, too, can be a heady draught.

Turn to 496.

Page 496 posted:

At dusk some days later, outside the Great Mosque, you spot the dervish whose words set you on your quest. �Ah, it�s you,� he says. �I remember you.�

�I�m Grand Vizier now,� you tell him, indicating your robe of honor.

�It�s all the same to me.� He moves to go past you into the mosque.

�Wait, I didn�t mean to boast. I�m just curious to know what you meant all those months ago. Did you intend that my life was governed by the stars, or to advise me to navigate across the ocean, or did you foresee other fabulous adventures?�

�None of those,� says the dervish with a delighted laugh. �Did you think I could see the future, when God alone knows all that has happened or ever will happen?�

�Then what..?�

He points, and you look up at the canopy of stars emerging from the jade-green twilight.

�I meant only that when you reside in the City of Peace, under this glorious heaven, in the comfort and majesty of the Law � why, then you dwell always in an age of miracles. That is all.�

He goes through the door and then looks back, smiling at your dumbstruck face, and adds, �Whatever you heard in my remarks, you put there yourself. Everyone makes their own destiny, everyone finds their own truth. When others look at you, they see a noble person dressed in fine robes of honor. But only you know whether those robes clothe the Grand Vizier � or merely the wiliest thief of Baghdad.�

And, with a wink, he turns and hobbles off.

THE END

That ended on a pretty up note for this series! Thanks for sticking with us through the main run - we've got a fair amount of back coverage to do so please feel free to drop requests in the thread of things you'd hoped to see.

Character Sheet posted:

Jay Sherifman the Nomad

Skills: AGILITY, FOLKLORE, MAGIC, WILDERNESS LORE

Life Points: 8

Dinars: 0

Possessions: Ring , mirror, everfull bottle (full), black jewel x1, antidote, cat, sword, candelabrum +1 of braining, a flea-ridden cloak, jeweled key

Codewords: Hajji, ~~Kismet~~, Fabric, Harem

Kills: Embracer, a guard, an Infernal Machine and the tiny man inside it, a pointy-toothed native, Ejada, the Moon Dog, Skarvench, our credibility as a tactician, any chance of furthering whatever the gently caress kind of relationship we had with Lucie, some unlucky guard, an enormous ceiling spider, a particularly punitive yet otherwise non-descript Judain, the physical manifestation of Hate, a nightcrawler, a particularly bulbous cactus, Necklace of Skulls, a necklace of skulls, some jerk vines, a troupe of post-apocalyptic hell-puppets, a weird future ghost thing, embroyonic cyber-spider mech, pretty much every conceivable thing (x2), the post-apocalyptic speed limit, a second weird future ghost thing (albeit vicariously), the bestest robofriendship we're likely to come across this side of godhood, two traitorous Bocheii, whatever remained of the concept of privacy, Vajra Singh, our last (probably) shot at godhood, the ghoul bros, mamaghoul, approximately one crew of pirates, a jerk jinni, a damned demon, Jafar!

Failures: Root'd to death, despair!'d, 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, lightly dragon'd, tree'd from a great height x2, Countless Swords of the Westermen'd, gale'd, yardam'd, rack'd, pulp'd, flatten'd, eat'd (nobley), rubble'd, cul-de-sac'd, what-once-used-to-be-the-harbor'd, three magical bodyguards'd, orgy'd, bitter life-sucking cold'd, cascade of rubble'd, cold'd, celestial darkness'd, mutant plant'd, second shot'd, hypnotic trance'd, reality ripped right out from under us'd, Volent'd, pit'd but not grille'd, dreadful wounds'd, frantic gambit'd

# ? Aug 2, 2016 03:05

Tuxedo Ted: Apr 24, 2007

That was neat. I'm glad we went with the starting class we did. It feels like in these books the combat skills only ever serve to mitigate some stamina damage, never really giving you a new solution to a problem.

# ? Aug 2, 2016 04:43

Brerose: Jun 10, 2016

Can we see what Iris is? I want to know what would have happened with Jafar. Also, of course, Archery fight!

# ? Aug 3, 2016 08:57

MysticalMachineGun: Apr 5, 2005

Another call for Iris.

And that horse needs to be Grand Vizier, that was :krad:

# ? Aug 4, 2016 06:56

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

Page 317 posted:

Jafar hurls the knife. The Caliph gives a groan and starts to crumple across his silk cushions like a flower wilting in the sun. Jafar hardly waits to celebrate his evil deed. Seeing the look in your eyes, he flees out of the room.

Note the codeword Iris and turn to 339.

Followed by this after we've trounced the demon:

Page 403 posted:

If you have the codeword Harem, turn to 4.

Page 4 posted:
If not for Ayisha�s magic, Jafar would have achieved a last act of villainy from beyond the grave, for the venom on his knife was lethal and even an antidote would not save any ordinary man. But, weaving her fingers over the wound, she calls the poison out in the form of green vapour which the Caliph�s servants catch in a bottle.

The Caliph sits up, amazed to be alive.

�As long as the bottle remains stoppered, father, you are safe.�

�Then place it in our deepest vaults,� he commands the captain of the guard. �God is merciful to return my daughter to me, and surely it is by His hand that she saved my life.�

Ayisha glances at you. �I had help, O my father.�

The Caliph nods and beckons you closer.

Turn to 120.

If not, turn to 19.

Page 19 posted:
You return to the throne room to find a scene of deep sorrow. The Caliph�s wives are weeping over his body. Even from beyond the grave, Jafar managed a last act of treachery when the poison on his knife reached the Caliph�s heart.

The royal court is in chaos. No one knows who is in charge. In circumstances like this people often look for a scapegoat, so you do not wait around in the hope of a reward. Slipping off in the confusion, you fetch your horse and leave Baghdad that very night. No doubt there are other adventures awaiting you in the far corners of the world.

Could be worse, but could be much better too. On to ARCHERY!

Page 494 posted:

Even if you still have your bow, there is no time to string and draw it. Instead, you whip an arrow out of the quiver on your back and cast it at the evil vizier.

Your aim is true. The arrow impales Jafar�s wrist and with a yelp of pain he drops the knife. As the Caliph shouts for guards, Jafar runs out through an arch at the back of the room.

Turn to 339.

Having the antidote allows us to avoid a 5 Life Point hit if we throw ourselves in harm's way as an alternative.

Next up, revisiting the pirates and where the hell did that cave come from?

# ? Aug 6, 2016 02:08

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

So let's talk pirates. If you'll recall from hereabouts, we had the option to immediately engage or scram. If we push forward, we can use SEAFARING to trick the pirates into running into a sandbar or ARCHERY to rain down flaming arrows on their ship, both with the effect of defeating the pirates with no loss of Life Points. Delaying led us to that non-sequitir stone door, but either a hawk (picked up from going straight to the caliph at the start) or LUCK/SEAFARING leads us to:

Page 285 posted:

Guided either by intuition or long experience, you stick to the course the pirates were on when last seen.

�Surely they must be trickier than that?� complains the first mate.

You shake your head. �Not at all. Remember that no other vessel has been able to track them. They�re confident of their ability to vanish into thin air, so why would they worry about pursuit?� �

At dusk you arrive at high cliffs rising at the edge of the sea. Carved into the side of the cliff are two ancient colossi with heads of lions. Between them is a vast stone slab.

�It may be a door,� says the first mate, �but I can�t see any way of getting it open.�

If you have FOLKLORE or the codeword Sesame, turn to 437.
If not but you possess the Jericho horn, turn to 457.
If you want to use MAGIC and a ring, turn to 440.
Otherwise turn to 415.

So 415 was where we got dumped off before, which is annoying because we had MAGIC and a ring as well as FOLKLORE, but whatever. Given that we had almost all these options available, I'll leave the course from here up to you.

Page 440 posted:

The jinni unfurls himself smokily from your ring, congealing like a blot of shadow in the low glancing rays of the setting sun. �When you speak, I hear the voice of command,� he says with careful courtesy.

�This door deters us. Open it.�

The jinni looks at the portal, then turns a dubious glance from one massive statue to the other. Uncoiling his limbs in a long leap, he clings to the cliff beside one of the statues� ears and whispers something to it. When he springs back down to the deck, you glare at him and say, �Well? You�ve heard my wish. Treat it as a command!�

The jinni presses his hands together and gives an embarrassed half-bow. �It is not so easy as that, O conjurer of marvels. The lion-headed sentinels will take umbrage if I break their door. Still, perhaps there is another way.�

The first mate taps you on the shoulder. �Do you mean to let this impertinent jinni tell you what you may wish for?� he says. �Show him who�s in charge!�

If you order the jinni to open the door, turn to 460.
If you ask him what else he can suggest, turn to 196.
If you dismiss him, you can use ~~the Jericho horn if you have it (turn to 457)~~, FOLKLORE or the codeword Sesame (turn to 437), or try to find another way to open the door (turn to 415).

# ? Aug 11, 2016 02:12

Thuryl: Mar 14, 2007; My postillion has been struck by lightning.

Folklore has been a surprisingly solid option for us this book, but this time I kinda want to hear the jinni's suggestion.

# ? Aug 11, 2016 04:54

Darkest Auer: Dec 30, 2006; They're silly; Ramrod XTreme

Our protagonist isn't very friendly to the poor jinni, is he? Let's use Folklore instead.

# ? Aug 11, 2016 05:27

Snorb: Nov 19, 2010

We got the djinni killed fighting Azenomei; this time let's hear him out.

# ? Aug 11, 2016 15:57

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

Page 196 posted:

The jinni lays a finger along his nose and gives a sly wink. �Remember the story of Mount Safa and the Prophet? When commanded to come to him, the mountain did not move. But the Prophet knew that if it had it would have brought disaster, so he set out to go to it.�

�Your parable is too oblique for me,� you say, shaking your head.

He booms out a laugh that sends blue sparks flying through the rigging. �Then watch and learn!�

Dissolving into a cloud of pungent gas, the jinni floats down into the water. A thick dark patch of bubbling miasma goes snaking through the depths. A faint tinge of ammonia pervades the air.

Minutes pass. Suddenly the stone door grates open and the pirates come swimming out, gasping and coughing. A strong stench billows after them. Even at this distance it is enough to make you dizzy. As the pirates are taken aboard and put in irons, the jinni leaps back into your ring in the form of a black fish.

Turn to 372.

All other solutions do open the door but there's a gradiated Life Point loss mitigated by SWORDPLAY or WRESTLING.

I think that this last break in update is a good indicator that this is a good time to bring the LP to a close, barring any lingering questions that might be out there. Thanks again for sticking around for this book and for those few of you who endured the entire VIRTUAL REALITY ADVENTURES series. I initially set out to have an excuse to share Coils of Hate and all the lunacy that entails, but was pleasantly surprised to find several well written, innovative CYOAs as well. There's a good amount of territory we didn't cover in this book, so if you enjoyed it check out the OP for links to purchase and support David Morris and his writing.

I don't have another project on deck at the moment, and again the recent gap in posting makes me want to wait until I'm ready to regularly update and keep the steam up for the duration of the book. But I'm sure it's only a matter of time before another project is up and running, so we'll see what bubbles up. I hope to see some of you there when it starts, and thanks again for sharing this series!

# ? Aug 22, 2016 01:18

dscruffy1: Nov 22, 2007; Look out!; Nap Ghost

Cheers for another book well finished. I always have a lot of fun following these.

# ? Aug 22, 2016 09:00

Odysseus S. Grant: Oct 12, 2011; Cats is the oldest and strongest emotion
of mankind

I've been mostly quiet, but reading these threads have been a real treat. If you do happen to make any new threads, I'm guaranteed to follow.

# ? Aug 22, 2016 10:39

Decoy Badger: May 16, 2009

Thanks for running another great CYOA thread!

# ? Aug 22, 2016 16:10

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 3, 2024 06:57

MysticalMachineGun: Apr 5, 2005

I'm always down for more CYOA threads. Thanks very much for running these ones.

# ? Sep 1, 2016 06:12

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > Once Upon a Time in [CYOA]rabia

«‹›7 »