Let's Play Lone Wolf: Book 29 and beyond!

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > Let's Play Lone Wolf: Book 29 and beyond!

«‹›400 »

nelson: Apr 12, 2009; College Slice

Take a ride on the waterwheel!

# ? Mar 18, 2024 02:52

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Apr 29, 2024 19:48

Black Robe: Sep 12, 2017; Generic Magic User

nelson posted:

Take a ride on the waterwheel!

# ? Mar 18, 2024 06:21

Wafflecopper: Nov 27, 2004; I am a mouth, and I must scream

nelson posted:

Take a ride on the waterwheel!

This better not lead to an iron maiden on wheels that will eat us and teleport us to a volcano dungeon

# ? Mar 18, 2024 06:37

Guy Fawkes: Aug 1, 2014; Lvl 62, +5 meadow defense

nelson posted:

Take a ride on the waterwheel!

# ? Mar 18, 2024 20:18

Tiggum: Oct 24, 2007; Your life and your quest end here.

Marked for Death posted:

You attach the lantern to your Backpack and leap onto the paddle, nearly slipping and falling. The sound of the roaring water drowns out even the shouts of the Red Cowls but out of the corner of your eye you see them running around the catwalks that fill the cavern, trying to get into a position to shoot you down with the crossbows they wield.

Forty feet up you leap from the wheel onto a wooden walkway with a rotten railing. Standing on the walkway fifteen feet away is a Red Cowl with a hunched back. In his hands he holds a loaded crossbow. The cowl covers his features but you can sense the smile behind it as he prepares to pull the trigger.

You spin around, using your Backpack to shield yourself from the crossbow bolt. The first two items in your Backpack are destroyed and you lose 2 ENDURANCE. You shove aside the Red Cowl and sprint down the walkway.

Lost Thieves' Lockpicks and Packet of Boom Powder. Endurance: 18/25

Rope ladders unfurl from above and down each comes a Red Cowl, dropping onto the walkway behind you as you race along it. Their hisses chase you as you follow the catwalk deeper into the cavern. You are just feeling like you will outrun your pursuers when there is a roar and an explosion of water falls from an unseen source, crashing down onto the catwalk and washing you over its edge.

You fall into open air for a long time until at last you hit what feels like soft earth. You bounce once and the wind is knocked from you but otherwise you are unhurt. Even your lantern is unbroken. You raise it up and stare in astonishment at the new world you have fallen into.

All around is a forest, but not of trees. It is a forest of giant mushrooms, with caps the size of roofs. You have landed on one of these caps. Its soft spongy surface has saved your life. You slide off of it to fall to a floor which is not hard stone but marshy and full of the buzz of insects. Mushrooms with stalks thick as tree trunks tower above you, their caps spread out to make a canopy from which fall iridescent spores that light the space like stars falling from the sky. When the spores touch the surface of the bog they silently explode, filling the puddles with bright colors. You start hiking through the knee-deep, multi-hued mud.

You are deep under Toran in unmapped subterranean lands that few in Magnamund have ever explored. Yet it is hard not to believe you are outdoors. The cavern is so vast you cannot see its roof, nor any walls. You can hear in the distance the sound of rushing water and you make for it as it is your only beacon in this strange world.

Eventually you come to a place where a wide stream cuts through the forest. The water is clear here. The thought of slaking your thirst in the cool water of the stream is overwhelming.

Should we drink some water, or lose 3 Endurance and: climb a mushroom to look around; or continue walking?

# ? Mar 19, 2024 03:54

nelson: Apr 12, 2009; College Slice

Drink the water and climb the shoom.

# ? Mar 19, 2024 04:41

Black Robe: Sep 12, 2017; Generic Magic User

nelson posted:

Drink the water and climb the shroom.

# ? Mar 19, 2024 06:35

Wafflecopper: Nov 27, 2004; I am a mouth, and I must scream

The water feels like a trap but what the hell

nelson posted:

Drink the water and climb the shoom.

# ? Mar 19, 2024 08:10

Decoy Badger: May 16, 2009

Drink the spore water and get high.

# ? Mar 19, 2024 14:46

Guy Fawkes: Aug 1, 2014; Lvl 62, +5 meadow defense

nelson posted:

Drink the water and climb the shoom.

# ? Mar 19, 2024 20:29

Tiggum: Oct 24, 2007; Your life and your quest end here.

Marked for Death posted:

You drink deeply of the waters and though the stream is icy cold, you soon feel a wonderful warmth spread throughout your body.

We roll: 4 Endurance: 22/25

Examining the stalks you find one that grows taller than the others. It has many knobby protrusions that could work as hand and footholds but the stalk is also slimy and difficult to maintain a grip on.

We roll: 1

You nearly make it to the top before slipping and falling. The muck saves you from dying outright, but still it is a high fall and you lose 3 ENDURANCE. Not willing to try a second time, you gather your belongings and limp away from the area.

Endurance: 19/25

Time has been difficult to measure since entering the underground. It feels as though weeks could have passed since you knocked on Sindra's Haert's door. And yet nowhere has this feeling of timelessness been more present than now in this bizarre forest. The mud sucks at your boots with every footstep, sending ripples of color through it. The odd light of the spores makes a world of shadows, any one of which could conceal danger.

You have lost all sense of direction.

We roll: 7

Vines drape across your path, hanging down from the mushroom stalks and running through the mud at your feet. While you are pushing a curtain of them aside, you cut yourself on a thorn the size of a tiger's claw. Blood runs from the wound to pitter pat into the mud. A moment later the mud erupts with snake-like tendrils and vines. Thorn-lined, some whip at your exposed face and hands, while others seek to wrap around your limbs.

Whip Vines: ENDURANCE 7
Grip Vines: ENDURANCE 12
Trip Vines: ENDURANCE 8
The vines are immune to Poisons. This combat is fought with a Combat Ratio of +3. If you have the Art of Salas-Zan and are wielding the Axe two-handed deal +2 damage every time you deal damage. You can only attack one vine each combat round (choose which before you pick your random number). Each vine adds a special effect to the combat as listed below. Combat begins with all effects simultaneously in play. Once a vine is reduced to 0 ENDURANCE, that particular effect no longer functions.

Whip vine: +2 damage to the Huntress at the beginning of each round.

Grip vine: -3 to the Combat Ratio each round (i.e. until defeated combat is fought at Combat Ratio of +0).

Trip vine: if you pick a 1-2 as your random number, then ignore the combat result and turn instead to 238.

Obviously it's best to focus on one vine at a time so as to eliminate its detrimental effect for the remainder of the fight, but which one should we take out first, which second, and which third?

# ? Mar 20, 2024 02:04

Wafflecopper: Nov 27, 2004; I am a mouth, and I must scream

The turn to x if you pick 1-2 sounds like it�ll be something really bad so kill trip vine first, then whip vine since it has low enough hp we might one shot it with a good roll and our axe bonus, then grip vine last

# ? Mar 20, 2024 03:12

nelson: Apr 12, 2009; College Slice

Grip, then trip, then whip

# ? Mar 20, 2024 03:32

Black Robe: Sep 12, 2017; Generic Magic User

Whip first because we'll probably one-shot it

Grip second and trip third because I kind of want to see what happens if we roll 1-2.

# ? Mar 20, 2024 09:33

Guy Fawkes: Aug 1, 2014; Lvl 62, +5 meadow defense

Trip, then Grip, then finally Whip

The possible sudden death is probably our greatest danger, and Grip could left us powerless.

# ? Mar 20, 2024 20:18

Tiggum: Oct 24, 2007; Your life and your quest end here.

nelson posted:

Grip

Guy Fawkes posted:

Trip

Wafflecopper posted:

Whip

Huntress: 19 Grip Vines: ENDURANCE 12 Trip Vines: ENDURANCE 8 Whip Vines: ENDURANCE 7 We roll: 5 Huntress: 15 Grip Vines: ENDURANCE 3 Trip Vines: ENDURANCE 8 Whip Vines: ENDURANCE 7 We roll: 1

Marked for Death posted:

A tendril snakes out of the mud like a serpent, snaring your ankle. Three more vines follow. You are yanked off your feet and dragged with unnerving speed towards a space between two giant mushroom stalks. In the gloom you see a huge mouth opening, eager to receive you.

Desperately you try to think of anything in your pack that would be able to save you.

No matter how much you struggle you cannot break free of the vines. Your scream of terror is cut off abruptly as you disappear between the mushrooms. Silence returns to the jungle.

Your life and your hunt end here.

# ? Mar 21, 2024 01:58

Tiggum: Oct 24, 2007; Your life and your quest end here.

Here's what we did in this run:

How shall we proceed?

Try the fight again but prioritise the Trip Vines;
Cheat the fight by ignoring the Trip Vines' effect;
Cheat by pretending we have some Gallowbrush;
Skip the fight and proceed as though we won;
Go back to section 218 and cheat to roll an even number;
Go back to section 97 and cheat to successfully climb the mushroom; or
Go back to section 150 and get on the boat?

Tiggum fucked around with this message at 02:06 on Mar 21, 2024

# ? Mar 21, 2024 02:03

nelson: Apr 12, 2009; College Slice

1 Try again, prioritize trip.

# ? Mar 21, 2024 02:25

Wafflecopper: Nov 27, 2004; I am a mouth, and I must scream

nelson posted:

1 Try again, prioritize trip.

# ? Mar 21, 2024 07:45

Toplowtech: Aug 31, 2004

nelson posted:

1 Try again, prioritize trip.

# ? Mar 21, 2024 10:47

Xarn: Jun 26, 2015

1 - geek the ~~mage~~ trip vine first.

# ? Mar 21, 2024 10:51

Guy Fawkes: Aug 1, 2014; Lvl 62, +5 meadow defense

nelson posted:

1 Try again, prioritize trip.

# ? Mar 21, 2024 20:06

Tiggum: Oct 24, 2007; Your life and your quest end here.

Huntress: 19 Trip Vines: ENDURANCE 8 Grip Vines: ENDURANCE 12 Whip Vines: ENDURANCE 7 We roll: 5 Huntress: 15 Trip Vines: ENDURANCE 0 Grip Vines: ENDURANCE 12 Whip Vines: ENDURANCE 7 We roll: 7 Huntress: 12 Trip Vines: ENDURANCE 0 Grip Vines: ENDURANCE 1 Whip Vines: ENDURANCE 7 We roll: 1 Huntress: 5 Trip Vines: ENDURANCE 0 Grip Vines: ENDURANCE 0 Whip Vines: ENDURANCE 7 We roll: 4 Huntress: 1 Trip Vines: ENDURANCE 0 Grip Vines: ENDURANCE 0 Whip Vines: ENDURANCE 0

Marked for Death posted:

At last the vines pull away from you, whipping wildly in the air, spraying green sap across your cloak. A roar comes from between the mushrooms and something of enormous bulk shifts in the shadows. You scramble back through the mud and flee the area before the creature can recover.

Distance is as difficult to measure as time here but it feels like you must have traveled at least a mile before the swamp and the mushrooms grow sparse. You may use a Healer's Kit during this time.

After a time, you find a circle of standing stones arranged so evenly that it could not have been unintentional, though it would have taken giants to move them. In the center of this a fire pit has been dug and a fire left unattended. There is no sign of who might have lit it but it must have been recent, for the fire is freshly kindled and there is a knapsack set by it. Watching for an ambush, you approach and open the knapsack to find it contains a series of old journals written in a spidery cursive.

We haven't used our Healer's Kit at all yet so we still have the full 10 points available: how much will we heal (0-10)?

# ? Mar 22, 2024 02:30

nelson: Apr 12, 2009; College Slice

Use 10 doses of the healer�s kit.

# ? Mar 22, 2024 03:18

Wafflecopper: Nov 27, 2004; I am a mouth, and I must scream

Let�s just use 1, better save the rest for later

Actual serious vote:

nelson posted:

Use 10 doses of the healer�s kit.

# ? Mar 22, 2024 05:52

Guy Fawkes: Aug 1, 2014; Lvl 62, +5 meadow defense

nelson posted:

Use 10 doses of the healer�s kit.

# ? Mar 22, 2024 20:45

Tiggum: Oct 24, 2007; Your life and your quest end here.

Endurance: 11/25 Healer's Kit (used 10/10)

Marked for Death posted:

Shadows move around the edges of the fires in mesmerizing patterns. They lull you, reminding you of other campfires, shared with comrades in arms on the road to war. Then you notice that the shadows do not obey the light: they move on their own and have a deep quality to them, like sheets of velvet. When you see the barest of movement you react instinctively, dodging to one side, avoiding the sickle which comes flying out of the dark to embed itself in the rocky ground. A chain is attached to its base, leading to the hand of the horrible creature which now emerges into the firelight.

Like a shark surfacing from deep waters, from out of a patch of darkness rises a figure. If it had not already been recognizable by the huge grin and bloated body, you would know him by his immense height. The Tall Man rises to face you once again. He yanks on the chain and the sickle flies back to his hand. He lifts it to throw again.

A loud voice cries out and there is a terrific crash and boom as a bolt of lightning strikes the Tall Man, blasting him backwards against the pillar. It does not come from the sky, however. It comes from the outstretched hand of a sandy-haired man standing behind you. He wears the sky-blue, star-studded robes of the Brotherhood of the Crystal Star.

The Tall Man's shadow cloak has caught fire from the strength of the magical bolt and he lets out an ear-splitting cry as he beats at it with his rotted hands. The magician steps forward and energy begins to gather again at his fingertips. The Tall Man hisses and pulls his cloak about him, drawing back. Once more the shadows swallow him and he disappears.

You lower your weapon and extend your hand in friendship. "Thank you," you say. "Your timing is incredible."

The man is no grizzled wizard but rather young, probably just out of his teenage years. He does not take your offered hand but instead stares at his own in astonishment.

"I've never cast that one before. I don't even know that one," he says, gripping his arm as if it has been burned. You recall that the magic of the Brotherhood is powered by their own life force. The masters are said to be able to manage and even hide the pain but it takes years of practice and a strong willpower.

"Have you been with the Brotherhood long?" you ask.

"Oh yes, for quite some time," the young mage says happily "See, I know that was Lightning Hand I just cast because the are trying to teach it to me, or at least they were until last week when I set the classroom on fire � not that I'm a bad magician � I mean, I'm an apprentice � I mean, I've been an apprentice for quite a bit longer than maybe is normal but I've learned a lot and the Elders say I'm like an encyclopedia, just with its pages all out of order."

All of this is presented to you in a breathless run-on sentence that leaves your head spinning trying to catch up. The young man finally takes your hand and enthusiastically pumps it up and down.

"That's all to say that I'm Brother Cathar and I'm at your service," he says. "Although you can just call me Cathar, everyone does - except my actual brother, that is, but he's in Durenor, not in Toran at all, and as you're not him, Cathar will do just fine, unless you want to call me Brother."

"People call me the Huntress," you say, head still spinning.

"I assume you aren't a researcher," Cathar says, eyeing your equipment.

"I assume you are," you say.

Cathar grins. "Every year, the Brotherhood has magical waste, the majority of which ends up in the sewers. We're careful to not let it get recycled into the drinking water but it must go somewhere."

You look around at the giant mushrooms. "You think it's that magical run-off which made all this?"

"I wouldn't be surprised," Cathar says. "Like last month, when Jezebel kept trying to make a stronger alkaline base for use in her levitation potions. The by-product had no weight and yet it had mass � that shouldn't be possible, but we are working with magic, after all. The potions didn't work, by the way they cured constipation and had the interesting side effect of causing pimples to show up on your�"

"So you are here on the Brotherhood's orders," you interrupt. Cathar flushes and looks embarrassed. "Ah, sort of. The proposal I made to explore the sewers is under consideration, they, uh... just haven't gotten to it yet. I followed a map I found in these." Cathar kneels and picks up one of the journals you had been looking at when the Tall Man attacked. "Nearly a hundred years ago, one of our order, a brilliant man named Morden, explored these caverns. He built machinery mixed with magic to excavate the caverns and even found a way to use waterwheels to generate light � did I already mention he was a genius? But then he disappeared. His journals are all that remain of his story."

"And the Brotherhood has you studying the journals," you conclude.

Again, Cathar flushes. "Ahh, they don't know I have these either. You see I'm not what you would call a very skilled magician, unless � as my mentor says � someone can be skilled in disasters. Those, I'm afraid, I'm rather good at."

"So you stole the journals," you say.

"They aren't technically stolen, not until they discover I did it � which I don't think they will for another few hours. I'd like to be back in Toran by then."

Cathar's guilt is so refreshingly comical that you cannot help but laugh.

"We have a similar goal, then," you say, clapping him on the shoulder. "Do you know the way back?"

He runs a hand sheepishly through his mess of blonde hair and his grin returns. "As long as no more creatures like that attack us. By Ishir's light, what was that thing?"

You are about to answer when a loud screech cuts you off. Beyond the light of the fire you can see squat, dog-sized shapes running towards the circle of stones. Only they are not dogs, but rats with spiky fur and whip-like tails, eyes blood-red and their incisors huge and pointed, jaws overgrown to stretch past where skin can contain them.

Should we call out to Cathar to stand our ground or fight our way through them?

# ? Mar 23, 2024 01:59

Wafflecopper: Nov 27, 2004; I am a mouth, and I must scream

Stay close to the fire. Stand our ground

# ? Mar 23, 2024 02:20

nelson: Apr 12, 2009; College Slice

Wafflecopper posted:

Stay close to the fire. Stand our ground

Sounds reasonable.

# ? Mar 23, 2024 03:07

Guy Fawkes: Aug 1, 2014; Lvl 62, +5 meadow defense

Wafflecopper posted:

Stay close to the fire. Stand our ground

# ? Mar 23, 2024 22:42

Tiggum: Oct 24, 2007; Your life and your quest end here.

Marked for Death posted:

"Back to back and stay near the fire!" you call to Cathar. "Stand your ground and drive them off!" You do not have time to see if he follows your command before the first of the rats rushes you, its brethren close behind.

Sewer Rat Mutants: ENDURANCE 28

Fight this combat at a Combat Ratio of +5. At the end of every round, if the rats are still alive, more replace those you have cut down, adding 4 ENDURANCE to their total. ~~If you have the Art of Denthasi-Kar you can erase any number of Daggers (unless it leaves you Weaponless) and deal damage before combat begins. For each Dagger you erase, deal 4 damage.~~

Huntress: 11 Sewer Rat Mutants: 28 We roll: 3 Huntress: 8 Sewer Rat Mutants: 24 We roll: 8 Huntress: 8 Sewer Rat Mutants: 14 We roll: 8 Huntress: 8 Sewer Rat Mutants: 0

Marked for Death posted:

The rats swarm in through the gaps in the pillars, far too many to kill. You cut two down - then four - then eight... your arm will tire long before their numbers run out.

Cathar's voice rises above the shrieking of the rats. He shouts an arcane phrase and extends his hands. There is a sudden rush of heat and a low roar as the fire pit explodes in a fiery blast. The entire clearing is engulfed in flame, flame that is spreading to the mushroom forest beyond. The rats scream, their fur set ablaze.

"I didn't mean to do that!" Cathar shouts. "I don't even know that spell, I was trying to cast Lightning Hand again. This is just like that time in Master Dervin's classroom, only with more rats and less screaming students."

The fire has burned away a thorn-bush at the base of one of the pillars. Under its blackening brambles you see a square- shaped hole, too uniform to be anything but man-made. Grabbing Cathar's arm you pull him towards it and jump down.

You and Cathar land in an untidy but uninjured heap in an unlit tunnel. Beady red eyes peer through the opening ten feet above but the rats do not give chase. By the time you have relit your lantern they have disappeared.

"This construction is of human make," Cathar exclaims, staring around at the straight stone walls. "This predates Toran by... well, by a long bit!"

"Speak softly," you warn. "You never know what you might awaken in such places."

A thick layer of grime clings to the floor but when you rub it away you reveal colored tiles underneath. Cathar points out that the tiles are more dominated by red in one direction and by blue in another.

"Not that I have any idea what that means," he admits. "I've always been partial to the color red, though. I tried to dye my robes red once but they turned out more of a brown. Elder Randall was not pleased."

You are hungry and must ~~eat a meal now or~~ lose 3 ENDURANCE from your current and maximum ENDURANCE.

Endurance: 5/22

Your keen senses pick out a patch on the wall that is curiously smoother than other areas. When you and Cathar push on it together, the wall tums on a hidden hinge, granting access into a small room filled with alchemical equipment. Cathar lets out a cry of joy and rushes inside, examining the bottles and instruments. "These are old," he says, "but in remarkable condition! There's even enough ingredients here for me to make you a special potion." He sees your hesitation and hurries to add, "No, no, not special like what usually happens with my magic. If there's one thing that I'm good at, it's potion making. Well, that and disasters. But I'm good at them both separately."

Cathar can make you either one of the following:

Cathar's Ambrosia: Drink at the start of combat. Allows you to re-pick your Random Number once to determine combat results in this combat (using either result).

Taan-spider Venom: Apply this Poison to your Weapon at the start of combat. Double the damage you deal the first time you deal damage. Gone after one use.
~~In addition, if you have the Alchemy Art, you can make a Potion/Poison now.~~

Other than this equipment, there is nothing else of value in the room and no other exit. You still have to choose a hallway to follow.

Do we want the Ambrosia or the Venom?
Shall we follow the red tiles or the blue tiles?

# ? Mar 25, 2024 02:12

Wafflecopper: Nov 27, 2004; I am a mouth, and I must scream

Ambrosia and Red

# ? Mar 25, 2024 04:17

nelson: Apr 12, 2009; College Slice

Ambrosia and Blue

# ? Mar 25, 2024 13:58

Decoy Badger: May 16, 2009

nelson posted:

Ambrosia and Blue

Since blue was mentioned about five times during the start of this sequence.

# ? Mar 25, 2024 19:30

Guy Fawkes: Aug 1, 2014; Lvl 62, +5 meadow defense

nelson posted:

Ambrosia and Blue

# ? Mar 25, 2024 19:57

Tiggum: Oct 24, 2007; Your life and your quest end here.

Wafflecopper posted:

Ambrosia and Red

Marked for Death posted:

The red tiles spread from the floor to the walls and ceiling making it feel like you walk down the fiery throat of a gargantung beast. At last you come to a dusty room whose floor is made up of dozens of hexagonal blocks. In the center of each is carved a rune.

"They're numbers in an archaic form of Durenese, Cathar says. "See, here? This one is a nine..."

Cathar strides into the room, pointing. As he does, one of the hexagonal tiles that he steps on makes a crunching sound and sinks under his weight. A large stone door begins to fall over the entrance.

"Get out of there!" you call and dive into the room to grab Cathar but you are too late. The door closes with a resounding boom.

Cathar grimaces. "I'm sorry. This is just like that time at the Guildhall when Elder Corvallis brought in all those doves-"

But before he can finish there is another loud grinding as the walls of the room begin to slowly move towards each other.

"There has to be some way out," you say, rushing towards the walls to search for a secret door. As you do, more of the stones depress under your feet.

"I think I understand!" Cathar shouts, pointing at the floor. "I think it's a code. I think we have to step on the correct three numbers."

"But which are they?" you ask.

"Uh... I don't know. You haven't come across any magic numbers, have you?" Cathar asks hopefully.

Cathar and you try several different combinations of numbers but none of them do anything. Finally, you turn your attention back to the walls and here you find a glimmer of hope: a thin crack that is too even and too long to be coincidence. It must be the outline of a door. However, the crack is so small that only a very fine instrument could fit in it.

Cathar holds out his hands and cries the words to a powerful spell of opening. Instead a wall of flame explodes from between his hands. It does not save your lives, but it does spare you the pain of being crushed to death by the walls a moment later.

# ? Mar 26, 2024 01:57

Tiggum: Oct 24, 2007; Your life and your quest end here.

This is the "how many demons" puzzle and (as Wafflecopper speculated) the human posing the puzzle is not a demon but it asks "least how many gathered to greet the Dark One", not "how many demons", so the human is included. The answer is 13.

Marked for Death posted:

You step on a zero and Cathar, by stretching out his legs, is able to stand on both a one and a three. As the third tile sinks into the ground, a secret door slides open across from where you entered. You dart for the opening and pull Cathar through, making it just before you would have been crushed.

Cathar wipes the sweat from his brow. "How did you know which number to press?" he asks. You tell him about the demonic riddle on the scroll you found.

"The trick was remembering to add in the summoner at the end," you say. "That's how you reach thirteen."

"I'm glad you thought of that," Cathar says. Then he frowns.

"But why was the code for an underground temple found in those chambers? Whose chambers were they?"

You shake your head, you have no answer for that particular riddle. Not yet.

The room you find yourselves in is empty, save for eight pillars, each labeled with a one foot tall number in old Durenese (or so Cathar tells you). A hook hangs below each number. Seven of these hooks have nothing upon them, but the first supports a curious mask. Designed to look like a stoic demon with nearly human features, aside from the red skin and the fangs revealed by the slightly parted smiling lips, it was constructed so cleverly that you almost think it a disembodied head. It is made of a material that is smooth and cool to the touch, like porcelain, yet it smells like iron and feels like it could withstand an axe- blow. Silver hair has been used to make arching eyebrows, adding a decrepit realism to the mask. When you run a finger over it you are surprised that it is too fine to be horse hair - it is instead human hair. The eye sockets beneath the brows seem to be watching you and you feel a presence there, as if the mask is not empty.

You cannot say exactly what it is that compels you to take the mask. Add the Demonic Mask to your Action Chart. It is a Special Item that you hang on the outside of your Backpack. You also think there is something important about the numbers, though it is just a whisper of intuition and may mean nothing. Still, you may wish to make note that this mask was hanging from a pillar marked "100."

"Uh, so you have a use for such a thing?" Cathar asks, looking rather dubious.

"I don't even know what this is," you say. "But it was guarded well. That must mean it has some value."

"Or it's dangerous," Cathar points out.

You ignore him, pointing the way forward, an exit beyond the pedestals.

Your path takes many twists and turns. However, no matter which choices you make, your steps always take you downward and always you hear a noise getting louder. It is the sound of old metal clanking, grinding, and crying out for oil. Eventually you turn a corner and see a round multi-storied chamber dominated by a massive contraption: a rotating diorama of spinning circular shapes.

"This is incredible," Cathar exclaims. "This is an Astrodel."

He pauses dramatically until he sees your blank stare. "Morden wrote of it in his journals. It's a device for tracking the movement of stars and other heavenly bodies," he explains, eagerly striding around and beneath the device, pointing at various aspects of it as he talks, ducking around one of the spinning circles as it swoops towards him.

"The idea is that Magnamund actually is just one of many worlds, floating in a sort of void, surrounded - at great distance, mind you by other worlds with the sun at the center of it all. Of course it's all theoretical, but if true and if you could track the movements of these worlds, you could pinpoint times of great astrological power. For instance, this device seems to be tracking-" "Dawn," you finish. "Tomorrow's dawn."

Cathar mumbles some calculations under his breath then nods. "Yes. Precisely. How did you know that?"

At last you tell Cathar about your hunt, ending by pulling out the Sindarin Vessel and showing it to him. He takes it carefully in his hands, turning it every which way.

"I've seen this before," he says. "The same place I've seen the Astrodel described and blueprinted. It's in Morden's journals. He spoke of it as containing great power. But if what you're saying is true, then this doesn't contain power - it contains evil."

"It contains both," a cold voice says, echoing throughout the chamber.

"...and at precisely the moment when all the planets align, that power shall at last be freed," the voice continues.

A figure steps out of the shadows. The first thing you see is his face, for it is demonic, gleaming red and horrible in your lantern light. It is a mask but so realistically made it takes a moment for you to recognize it as such. The ceramic grin that spreads across it is knowing and cruel. The man raises his hands and you see energy crackle at his fingertips. You shove Cathar aside as a bolt of red lightning leaps from the hands to strike the ground where you stood.

"That's a Brotherhood spell!" Cathar cries. "How came you to know it?"

"Because I am Morden, of the Brotherhood of the Crystal Star," the man proclaims. "My ancestors built this temple long ago for a singular purpose, to channel the power of a demon. Our demon.

Realization dawns on you at these words. "You were one of the Haerts," you say.

Morden turns his head to stare at you. You see bright green eyes hiding in the shadows of the mask's eyeholes. "Yes," he says. "I stole the Sindarin Vessel in order to correct the mistake of my ancestor, Sindra the Generous."

"No," Cathar says. "That's impossible. You disappeared seventy years ago."

"Eighty three, to be exact," Morden agrees. "I was dead. Fatally wounded at the moment of my triumph by a meddling Kai Lord. I took the fool's life, but was grievously wounded, too wounded to summon my master. I had to use my necromantic magic to place myself in a healing stasis. My loyal followers were not as fortunate but still I was able to bring them back to serve, as you've seen."

"You failed once," you say. "You will fail again."

"Do you know the ritual to entrap my master, then?" Morden asks, and you can hear the mockery in the question. He is right: you do not know the ritual. But you may have another option. You turn to Cathar. "Cathar, I need you to cast a spell on that box to continue binding the demon that it holds imprisoned."

"But I don't know any spell like that," Cathar protests. "Well not exactly like that, there was the one time I needed to banish that unfortunate tomato stain off of Mistress Davra's cloak after I spilled my lunch on her. But this is different. What do you want me to do?"

You smile encouragingly at him. "What only you can do. Something disastrous.'

Cathar pauses, then retreats to the far end of the room with the Vessel and your lantern (remove both from your Action Chart). Morden moves to follow but you step forward. "Not without going through me," you say.

"Very well," Morden says and lifts his arms. You tense, expecting a magical attack, but instead the shadows around Morden thicken until they are like pools of water. Out of them emerges the blind, bloated Tall Man, sickle at the ready, cloak of darkness hanging around him.

"Kill her," Morden says to the Tall Man.

When you lift the Demonic Mask to your face, Morden gasps. You hear the rage in his voice when he next speaks: "How dare you. That is not for you."

You cannot answer. The moment you placed the mask over your face you lost control of your body. But you have also gained understanding and insight. The masks are more than decorative They are conduits to the power of the chained demon. It is through them that Morden was able to cast the spell to put himself to sleep for one hundred years and also how he was able to raise an army of undead servants. Likewise, it is this power which gives him control over the Tall Man. However, you now have the opportunity to wield this same power. Morden senses your realization and hisses a command again to the Tall Man to kill you. You whisper a counter command: kill Morden. Caught between two masters, the Tall Man turns back and forth, waiting for one of your wills to win out over the other. It is an internal battle, one that is costing you both greatly in terms of energy, as the demon's power feeds on your very lifeforce.

Morden: ENDURANCE 30

This combat is fought at a Combat Ratio of -3. As this is a battle of wills, you cannot benefit from bonuses from Potions, Poisons, or items, including Weapons. However, for each of the following you have, add 2 damage to the damage you deal: Mark of the Agarashi, Art of Wordcraft, the Necklace of Teeth. You may also feed your lifeforce to the Demonic Mask, permanently reducing your maximum ENDURANCE by 1 to re-pick a number from the Random Number Table, using either result. You may do this any number of times, paying the cost each time.

Huntress: 5 Morden: 30 We roll: 6 Huntress: 2 Morden: 20 We roll: 5 Huntress: 0 Morden: 11

This fight is theoretically winnable as a roll of 9 or 10 results in no damage to us, but it's certainly tough. Shall we retry till we win, skip it and proceed with the 5 Endurance we had, or play it out and carry on with negative Endurance? Or some other option?

# ? Mar 26, 2024 02:28

nelson: Apr 12, 2009; College Slice

~~Use the ambrosia and try till we win.~~

Edit: Actually let Cathar�s incineration of us be the canonical ending for this character and start over from the beginning.

quote:

Cathar holds out his hands and cries the words to a powerful spell of opening. Instead a wall of flame explodes from between his hands. It does not save your lives, but it does spare you the pain of being crushed to death by the walls a moment later.

nelson fucked around with this message at 21:24 on Mar 26, 2024

# ? Mar 26, 2024 03:08

Tiggum: Oct 24, 2007; Your life and your quest end here.

nelson posted:

Use the ambrosia

Marked for Death posted:

As this is a battle of wills, you cannot benefit from bonuses from Potions, Poisons, or items, including Weapons.

# ? Mar 26, 2024 03:10

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Apr 29, 2024 19:48

Wafflecopper: Nov 27, 2004; I am a mouth, and I must scream

Retry and sacrifice max endurance to reroll any rolls that will kill us. It only mentions spening max EP, not current, so it might be doable?

e: oh it's only two choices per roll. Retry anyway and go negative if necessary

# ? Mar 26, 2024 04:49

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > Let's Play Lone Wolf: Book 29 and beyond!

«‹›400 »