Castle Death – Attempt 3, Part 4

Aside : Welcome back lghr!  May you continue to snipe at my left-wing politics and also laugh at Donald Trump!

2nd Aside : One of our frequent commenters, fenrir, has implied that the ‘end is in sight’ – I’ll tell you what, if I don’t get my MEGASWORD back before the end of this adventure there’s going to be trouble, and no mistake.

After taking out the crossbow-wielding foe from our previous instalment, I hear further footsteps ‘on the stairs’.  Once more given the option of standing and fighting, I am wary of what I now intend to call the cannon-fodder option and firmly resolve myself against such a course.

I’m one of those weird guys that actually, you know, doesn’t enjoy getting shot in the gut by dog-man hybrids in the middle of the underground beneath ‘Castle Death’.

Strange, huh?

The alternatives are to open the doors before me or to ‘examine the tapestries’.  The latter is such a mind-bogglingly strange option that it almost has to be right, so naturally I take it.

Obvious, yes?

Wouldn’t you know it – there’s a secret door behind the tapestries, with an easily detected button that opens same.

I nip through into a corridor of gleaming steel, and am both relieved and disconcerted when the secret door slides shut behind me.

Moving along this cylinder OF DOOM, I spy a door on the left side, which I promptly open.

There is a room full of various magic accessories, including potions, spells books, scrolls, and whatnot.

And…

And….

And…

THERE IS A TABLE WITH MY MEGASWORD AND MEGABOW AND OTHER SIMILIAR ITEMS WOW I LOVE LIFE ONCE AGAIN.

Ahem.

[Regains calm, with some difficulty.]

Interestingly, I also collect for myself a Jar of Laumspur (+8E) and Platinum Amulet which will (although how I know this is no-one’s guess) protect me from extreme temperatures.  So that will stand me in good stead if I run into the very hottest kind of heat…..

NOT THAT HEAT LONE WOLF, DON’T LET JULIE DELPY BACK INTO YOUR HEAD

I return to the corridor and presumably skip all the way, only to slow down as the corridor becomes hotter and hotter, until my feet are almost aflame!

Most convenient that I just snaffled a bracelet to protect me against such problems, wasn’t it!

My bracelet protects me, and the corridor eventually opens into a small chamber, with a staircase leading upwards.

And then – wouldn’t you know it! – the door at the top of the staircase leads into what seems to be Zahda’s throne room, where I can see in front of me (1) the back of Zahda’s throne (2) the Lorestone of Herdos (3) a crystal which ‘glows darkly with black fire’.

My options are to check out the throne more closely, to ‘attack’ the black crystal or to grasp the Lorestone.

Remembering the comments about how the stones are, presently, linked, I don’t think grasping the Lorestone immediately is the way to go (unlike the end of Book 6).

I decide to examine the throne and, as I walk around it, I am unsurprised to see that Zahda is sitting on it, all aggressive and snarly  (its a word – don’t make me come over there) and decidedly ready to try and change my state of being from ‘alive’ to ‘dead’.

I say this in response :

Zahda tries to shoot a bolt of flame from his staff, but my trusty Sommerswerd deflects it handily.

And IT IS ON.

Lord Zahda – CS : 33, E : 45

Lone Wolf – Cs : 33, E : 28

And in a series of R10 checks like YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE  (seriously – three 8s and a 0), I take out Zahda for the loss of only 7 Endurance points (down to 21)!!

Zahda dies a suitably melodramatic (but final) death, and, like all good Bond films, the whole place starts to shudder and collapse.

My (somewhat interesting) choice is whether to nip back down the back door (and into the steel corridor) or to seek some other form of escape from the room.

Given that venturing back into the dungeon complex hardly seems like the preferable method for escape, I make sure to snaffle the Lorestone (and shatter the dark gem) before seeking some other form of egress.

Then, in a series of developments which only seem to take place near the end of fantasy-action movies (or gamebooks) :

• I grab the Lorestone, increasing my Endurance to maximum;
• I search the throne (and the stone on which it rests) and discover a pentacle of gold.
• Ignoring the rumours of the 1980s which suggested that such a thing ‘must’ be evidence of a Satanic cult (or, alternatively, sexual repression) I trace it with my finger (!?) and a column of shimmering blue light forms before me.
• The knowledge and wisdom of the Lorestone somehow allows me to sense that this light is a magical transporter which will take me to the surface (!!)

I step into the shimmering light, and hope my Lorestone-enhanced Kai senses aren’t about to lead me astray….

Base Stats : CS : 18, E : 22, GC 33

Final Stats : CS : 33, E : 23

Weapons : Sword, Dagger

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

Backpack : Red Robe, Potion of Laumspur (+4E), Rope, Jar of Laumspur (+8E), 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 (3), Ornate Silver Key, Quiver (6 arrows), Boat Ticket, Power Key, Fireseeds (2), P;atinum Amulet.

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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