When we left you, things weren’t looking good.
Shamath, the 20-foot-high demon (not that her height is the main concern in this instance) has spotted me, and has promptly used her electrical / magical powers to send a bolt of energy towards Lone Wolf and imprison him in a cage of raw power.
Oh, get over it blondie, you’ve obviously never confronted the Chaos-Master during an expedition to the Daziarn…..
Slacker.
In any event, while peering through the bars of my (energy-created) prison, I see a number of Shamath’s attendants dashing towards me, with mayhem on their mind.
I confirm to the book that I hold the Dagger of Vashna, and the good news is that I thrust it into the energy fields holding me prisoner, and cause them to vanish.
The bad news is that this unique and historic relic then simply…..vanishes.
Moreover, the charging attendants / killers barely pause before closing for battle :
Aside : All psychic bonuses are halved due to their ‘strong psychic defences’. I turn on Kai-surge, and get +4 to my ‘base’ of 39, and a further +4 for the extra Sommerswerd bonus :
Lone Wolf : CS 47, E : 34
Cheghath : CS : 37, E : 40
Round 1!
R10 of 4!
LW : 34-2-1=31. C : 40-11=29
Round 2!
R10 of 0!
LW : 31-0-1=30, C=……
Over the dead bodies of my foes, I ‘stare defiantly’ at the ‘towering’ form of the Demoness.
The bigger they are….
….or something like that.
Just as Lone Wolf tries to overcome his natural revulsion for, you know, women, the demoness transforms into some kind of ‘worm’. I’m just going to quote Mr Dever’s own description here :
“Her slimy flanks are studded with a multitude of tiny tendrils, and her head is equipped with a sphincter-like maw which drips loathsome green saliva. She slithers closer and, in the half-light, you catch sight of her ghastly face. It is like that of an infant, wholly black, save for the eyes which are aglow with a hellish red fire.”
Before I even have a chance to be properly disgusted, I see that the new face of the demoness is that.
of.
my.
dead.
brother.
Jem.
Oh, this is so on.
My Kai-screen protects me from the full effect of the shock at this development, meaning that I lose only (!) 2 Endurance points.
The demoness then resumes her ‘normal’ face, and, after some hollow boasting, challenges me to a ‘duel of intellect’ (!) aka a battle of wits!
I’ll reproduce the riddle asked by the demoness in full here :
————————
‘I possess two Dwellers of the Abyss. My loyal servants are equal in number to the months in a Magnamund year, less the number of my Dwellers of the Abyss.’
‘When the loyal servants and the Dwellers of the Abyss were counted together, their total number was doubled when my Lieutenants of Night arrived.’
‘But when my Lieutenants of Night arrived, the Dwellers of the Abyss had to leave.’
‘Exactly half of the remaining number also departed, for they were beholden to the Dwellers.’
‘From the remainder I picked the loyal servants to guard my throne of power. I chose them all, except for one who was known to me as a traitor. I executed the traitor before I set my loyal servants to guard my throne.’
‘So, mortal, answer my question: while I am here to do Naar’s bidding, how many loyal servants guard my throne of power?’
————————————————–
Aside : A footnote confirms that a Magnamund year has 12 months.
Step #1 : The number of loyal servants is 12-2=10
Step #2 : (10+2)x2=24
Step #3 : 24-2=22
Step #4 : 22-11=11
Step #5 : 11-1=10
Upon hearing the correct answer of 10….
[Aside : what was that, Oprah?
…..in what is a fairly stunning over-reaction, the demoness recoils, whimpers and vanishes after being burned by a sudden geyser of flame (!!)
I should challenge final bosses to trivia contests more often….
I spoke too soon, as Shamath reappears with a dozen warriors and twenty or so attendants, who start to dress her in black armour (!!)
Project Aon link – Shamath (again) and attendants
As the robotic-esque soldiers approach, a bit of lateral thinking gives me the idea of evading them and grabbing the (now abandoned) Deathstaff, which lies (comparatively) unguarded at the base of the dais.
I need to make an R10 check. Due to Discipline and rank-related bonuses, anything but a 0 will give me a successful result….
And…..after typing that line, I naturally get a 0…..
To be honest, I instantly assumed that the result of this disaster would be an instadeath, but rather I simply have to fight the oncoming ‘Automatons’. I activate Kai-blast!
Lone Wolf – CS : 51, E : 32
Shamath Automatons – CS : 38, E : 60 (!)
Round 1!
My R10 of 9 means a satisfactory instadeath, for the mere cost of 1 Endurance due to Kai-blast….
And after momentarily savouring my victory, I leave my loyal readers for another few days.
Pop culture!
I had a number of ideas for today, but had to embed this, for all those who haven’t seen it:
Prince’s original studio rehearsal recording of ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ from 1984 :
Amazing.
Basic Stats : CS : 25, E : 37, GC 40
Final Stats : CS : 43/43, E : 31/38 (6 damage not healable)
Weapons : —-
Weapon-Like Special Items : Silver Bow of Duadon (+3), Sommerswerd (+8 CS),
Backpack : Lantern, Rope, Hammer, Jar Sabito x1 (Underwater breathing), Potion of Laumspur (+4 E), Spyglass, Ruby Ring, Potion of Alether (+2CS), Bowstring, Bottle of Wine,
Special Items :
1. Sommerswerd (+8 CS) (with Korlinium scabbard) 2. Crystal Star Pendant , 3. EMPTY 4. Quiver (5 arrows), 5. Statuette of Zagarna, 6. EMPTY 7. Silver Rod 8. Jadin Amulet (+1 to dodging) 9. Jewelled Mace, 10. Silver Bracers (+2 CS, +1 E) (6), 11. Golden Key 12. Silver Bow of Duadon.
Extra Special Items – Platinum Amulet, Scroll with Invitation
Kai Monastery storage :
- Gold Crowns : 3
- Backpack Items : Sack of Silver (3), Brass Key, Black Key, Jar Laumspur x5 (+4E), Jar Alether x4 (+2CS), Jar Gallowbrush x2 (Sleep and -2 Endurance), Jar Sabito x1 (Underwater breathing), Jar Laumwort x3 (+2 Endurance), Arrows (1), Whistle, Ball of String
- Special Items :
Grand Master Rank : Sun Lord
Grand Master Disciplines : Kai-surge, Kai-screen, Grand Huntmastery, Grand Pathsmanship, Kai-Alchemy, Assimilance, Grand Nexus.
Magnakai Disciplines : Weaponmastery (+4 CS in Sword, Bow, Mace, Dagger, Spear, Quarterstaff, Broadsword, Warhammer, Axe, Short Sword), Pathmanship, Huntmastery, Divination, Invisibility, Nexus, Psi-Screen, Psi-Surge, Curing, Animal Control
Lore-Circles : Fire (+1 CS, +2 E), Light (+3 E), Solaris (+1 CS, +3 E), Spirit (+3 CS, +3 E)
Kai Disciplines : Camouflage, Animal Kinship, Tracking, Hunting, Sixth Sense, Healing, Mind Over Matter, Mindblast (+3CS), Mindshield, Weaponskill (+2 CS in Short Sword)
Current paragraph : 334
LONE WOLF PLAYTHROUGH 
The “Project Aon link – Shamath (again) and attendants” link is not exactly what you intended, I believe…
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Thanks. Think I’ve fixed the link now.
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I think you mean Kai-surge rather than Kai-blast at the end, there. Kai-blast costs 4 Endurance per attack round and does . . . nothing remotely useful in this situation.
Also, I will remind you what millions of Warhammer players have known for years: you must never, ever say “anything but a” 0. It should always be, “I need a 1 or more” to avoid the worst result. You may or may not believe in a divine being that created the universe, but the dice gods are both undeniable and vengeful.
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“never, ever say “anything but a” 0. It should always be, “I need a 1 or more” to avoid the worst result”
Now THAT’S the sort of thing that ought to be taught in school. I’ll remember that.
“the dice gods are both undeniable and vengeful.”
And that’s the sort of thing that should be taught in Religious Education. (They’re also capricious, don’t ever forget that they’re capricious).
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Not that it makes a difference since you won the battle anyway with barely a scratch, but shouldn’t you have passed the R10 check automatically? The way I read the section, you get a +2 for Assimilance, +1 for Grand Pathsmanship, and +3 for being 3 levels above Kai Grand Defender. (Though honestly, since LW made up the Grand Master levels himself, he should be able to call himself whatever he wants and therefore be entitled to an unlimited bonus.)
Anyway, that should add up to a +6 modifier, and you need a 6 or better to pass the check…
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“I confirm to the book that I hold the Dagger of Vashna”
But how do you know to use the Dagger? It’s just assumed that if you have it you’ll use it. Personally I think Joe Dever was just trying to reduce some of the legacy of previous books. Ironically you can have the Sommerswerd but not the Dagger (I suppose you leave it for safekeeping) in which case you can get a nice description of slaughtering over a hundred of Shamath’s attendents (which you’d probably dismiss with a bullet point).
https://goo.gl/images/Vo2DM7
“you catch sight of her ghastly face.”
I then see you’ve posted a picture of Paris Hilton. Just saying…
“challenges me to a ‘duel of intellect’ (!) aka a battle of wits”
Appropriately enough I’m reading The Hobbit to my son at night now and we’re on the Chapter Riddles in the Dark. (Straight up, it started with his obsessing on Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory and repeatedly asking why the Oompa Lumpa’s keep singing about the children dying so in the end I read him the Dwarfs Crack the Cups song at which point he wanted the whole book read to him. This proves that Willy Wonka A.T.C.F. is a Gateway Drug).
“anything but a 0 will give me a successful result….
And…..after typing that line, I naturally get a 0…..”
Which is an interesting insight into how you write your walkthroughs. BTW I agree with Justsomeguy’s maths above.
“Pop culture! Prince”
Within a few days its declared noone will be charged over Prince’s death and this video is released. Rather bittersweet for his fans but you have to take what you can get.
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Huh. So Project Aon fixed that.
When I last read this book, the first paragraph of the riddle you gave was “In addition to the loyal servants, there are two Dwellers of the Abyss.” She never told you what the number of loyal servants was, thus rendering the riddle logically unsolvable. There was some disagreement on whether this was “an obvious flaw, you’re supposed to have access to the information that there are ten, it wouldn’t give you an unsolvable riddle” or “of course Shamath would give you an unsolvable riddle; why would she give you a solvable one? It makes perfect sense that she does the equivalent of smirking at you and asking ‘What do I have in my pocket?’ especially since failing to answer the riddle only takes you to the ‘fight her’ page.”
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