Castle Death – Attempt 2, Part 3

Aside :  Carrying on the theme from the multiple comments made on the blog’s last entry (and after exhaustive review of the Project Aon FAQ) I hereby make the following retrospective ruling(s) :

1. There are certain items which are designated as Special Items for the purpose of the rules, but may also be used as Weapons at Lone Wolf’s discretion.  They do not count towards your ‘2 weapon’ limit.  These include the Sommerswerd, the Dagger of Vashna, the Jewelled Mace and the Silver Bow of Duadon.
2. When Lone Wolf is told to ‘discard a weapon’, the player may prioritise an ‘ordinary’ weapon over one of these ‘Weapon-like Special Items’  ONLY IF AN ORDINARY WEAPON IS BEING CARRIED AT THE TIME.
3. If Lone Wolf has no ‘ordinary’ weapons, the player must, in the alternative, discard a ‘Weapon-like Special Item’.
4. The Silver Bow of Duadon is recorded (Kingdoms of Terror, section 252) on the Adventure Sheet as a ‘Special Item’. Further, the Project Aon Readers Handbook specifically describes it as a ‘Special Item, not a Weapon’ in this section.

Therefore, I can retrospectively ‘lose’ my Jewelled Mace, and restore the Silver Bow to my Adventure Sheet (as a Special Item, and not a Weapon.)

Gee – legal arguments, statutory interpretations and gamebooks?

Right up my alley, baby!

 

Back to the cliffhanger problem – how many triangles?

Quickly : 9 small triangles + 3 medium-sized triangles + 1 triangle of the entire plaque = 13.

The portcullis shrieks and groans but, does, triumphantly, open!

Sorry – what was that, again?

I trot quickly down the passage before reaching a staircase, heading down…..

Just as things were going comparatively well, I disturb a colony of bats on the way down.

Project Aon link – Bats

The bats are stirred to a frenzy by the scent of….

WARM.

HUMAN.

BLOOD…..

Yeah…. even by my standard, that pun’s pretty bad.

In any event – a fight is on!

Vampire Bats – CS : 19, E : 32

Lone Wolf : CS : 33, E : 27

I also lose double Endurance in the fight, due to the ‘poisonous saliva’.

Humph.

I manage to slice the bats in half (or smaller fractions) with my MEGASWORD, but with the doubling of Endurance loss, lose 10 Endurance, reducing me to 18.

Hmm.

I reach the room at the bottom of the stairs, empty except for a Weapons rack.  Alert to avoid repeating the same mistake as before, I take a (non-magical) Spear and Broadsword.

There are non-descript exits from this room, leading to the north and east.

I guess my choice in this situation will have to be completely random.  If only I had the Magnakai skill of Pathmanship!

 

 

I totally have Pathmanship!  It’ll help me through this dungeon crawl!

The north path has numerous tracks of small creatures such as rats and insects.  The east path is completely smooth and unmarked.

Because (a) this is a fantasy adventure, and (b) I have actually watched the Empire Strikes Back, I’m pretty confident that the east path IS NO CAVE.

I move down the (well-travelled) north passageway, before emerging into a (very) vaguely described cavern that apparently has a walkway across it with a (naturally) (dark, yawning) fall on either side.  Of course, I also get the atmospheric description of spirals of ‘yellow smoke’.

While I’m admiring the scenery, a warrior with a sword and leather armour emerges from one of the side passages and advances towards me.

Divination – do your stuff!

My Divination skill lets me know that the man is ‘petrified with fear’, but there is a growing aura of evil that prevents further use of my skill.  It seems probable that this man is fleeing from something, which is about to emerge.  With the choices of (1) Firing an arrow at the warrior (2) Fleeing and (3) Drawing a weapon and preparing to defend myself, option (3) seems the most palatable.

 

 

Three creatures with ‘black’ and ‘shiny’ skins emerge from the archway and seem determined to have me for lunch, with the warrior acting as an appetizer.

Because I’m a foolhardy idiot, I let the warrior pass and face these creatures (collectively) alone.

Aside : 5 Endurance has been restored since the last battle through my basic healing skill.

Project Aon link – Dhax

Further Aside : The illustration seems to make it clear that the creatures are large hounds of some evil description.

Dhax – CS : 27, E : 35

Lone Wolf – CS : 33, E : 23

I triumph, but my Endurance is reduced back to 16.

Interestingly, there is a ‘Silver Sceptre’ lying on the pathway.  If I had the ‘Lore-Circle of Spirit’ this would tell me more about it, but I don’t have the 4 out of 4 Disciplines for which this would be necessary.  (For the record, if you were randomly picking disciplines, this would only be a 4/10 x 3/9 x 2/8 x 1/7 chance = 0.0047619).

I assume that there is no way the book would punish me by an insta-death for not having such an unlikely Lore-Circle, so, like a sucker I pick up the sceptre and…..

See flashing lights before collapsing unconscious.

 

 

 

 

 

Base Stats : CS : 18, E : 22 [28 with armour], GC 31

Final Stats : CS : 33, E : 18

Weapons :  Spear, Broadsword

Weapon-like Special Items : Sommerswerd (+8 CS), Dagger of Vashna, Silver Bow of Duadon (+3)

Backpack : Potion of Laumspur (+4E), Meal, Red Robe, Alether Berries (3) (+2 CS), Lantern

Special Items : Brass Whistle, Copper Key, Map, Crystal Star, Shield (+2 CS), Padded Waistcoat (+2 E), Chainmail Waistcoat (+4 E) Blue Stone Triangle Pendant, Diamond, Ornate Silver Key, Quiver (6 arrows), Boat Ticket, Power Key, Fireseeds (3)

Kai Monastery storage : Map of Tekaro, Potion of Laumspur (+4E)

Magnakai Rank : Primate

Magnakai Disciplines : Weaponmastery (+3 CS in Sword, Bow, Mace, Dagger), Pathmanship, Huntmastery, Divination

Lore-Circles : Fire (+1 CS, +2 E)

Kai Disciplines : Camouflage, Animal Kinship, Tracking, Hunting, Sixth Sense, Healing, Mind Over Matter, Mindblast (+2CS), Mindshield, Weaponskill (+2 CS in Short Sword)

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