The Deathlord of Ixia

The Deathlord of Ixia – Attempt 2, Part 1

Aussiesmurf

Lone Wolf is back in the sequel – Lone Wolf 2 : Prepared For The Worst!

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With a little bit of meta-knowledge concerning my task, I make a careful revision to the items which I will be taking with me.

I put my Spyglass, Bowstring and Underwater-Breathing Potion into storage (noting in particular that the latter shouldn’t be needed, given my Kai-alchemy skill).  Instead I take the Jars of Laumspur, Alether and Laumwort.

My backpack is now a treasure trove of drugs, basically.  I certainly don’t think there were any border checks on my first run-through….

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Shady as heck!

As I then begin my adventure, I am reminded of the fact that there is no meaningful choice of any kind to be made until Lone Wolf reaches Fort Azgad and uses Huntmastery to detect the approaching evil.

Last time I followed Captain Prarg up to the roof, and fire an ineffective blast at the zombie invaders.  This time I sprint behind Lanza directly towards the battle!

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Essentially we emerge into a pitched battle, where a line of Lencians are being forced back by a line of battling undead, as lead by a Cabalah (!!)

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This monstrosity is immune to all psychic attacks except Kai-blast (!) and my only comfort is that I can escape from this combat after three rounds :

Lone Wolf – CS : 40, E : 40

Cabalah – CS : 47. E : 45

Project Aon link – Attacking Cabalah

I have decided in advance that I’ll flee after three rounds, so its just a matter of seeing how much Endurance I’m going to lose (there’s thankfully no chance of an instakill).

R10 checks of 1,0 and 4 leave me with a total Endurance loss of 14.

After evading the Cabalah, the story then continues along the same line as my last incarnation, where I jump onto the ship in an attempt to prevent the ice zombies from scuttling it.

I deflect the blast from the hideous monster, and once more try to swing across on the rigging.  Needing anything bar a 0 to succeed, I naturally (sigh) get a……0, meaning :

  • I crash into the water, losing 3 Endurance
  • I have to fight a bunch of the undead, with a penalty of 5 Combat Skill as I am trying to haul myself out of the water….

I turn on Kai-surge, and remember that I get to double the damage inflicted due to my MEGASWORD.

Lone Wolf – CS : 43, E : 29

Ixian Undead – CS : 41, E : 46

Round 1!

R10 of 4!

LW – E : 29-3-1=25, IU : 46-14=32

Round 2!

R10 of 0!

LW – E : 25-0-1=24, IU : 32-28=4

Round 3!

R10 of 2!

LW – E : 24-4-1=19, IU : 4-10=

200

I win the individual battle, and then our forces as a whole also triumph over the undead.

I search the ship, decide to leave the seemingly useless items that I find, and set off with some DOOOMED crew-members supplied by Lanza.

Seems like SOMEONE’S getting revenge on all those minions who laughed behind his back for being posted to this hell-hole….

As we set off, my Discipline of Deliverance helps me to detect the EEEEVIL coming from the glowing green sphere which is onboard the ship.

Pleasingly, I (again) use my said Discipline to exorcise the evil from the sphere, and restore my Endurance to initial level!

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I take the wheel after the lookout warns of icebergs ahead, and my (modified) result of 6 gives the ‘medium’ result.

The ship survives, although one lurch as we scrape past an iceberg causes the loss of 2 Endurance.

I guess Rose and Jack won’t have to fight over space on that floating door this time…

The submarine again emerges to try and ‘swallow’ our ship, and the undead surge onto our deck :

I activate Kai-surge, and remember that it helps if I can knock these guys off in 5 rounds or less :

Drakkarim Marines (undead) – CS : 42, E : 42

Lone Wolf – CS : 48, E : 40

Round 1!

R10 of 6!

LW – E : 40-1-1=38, DM – E : 42-(11×2)=20

Round 2!

LW – E : 40-2-1=35. EM – E : 20-(10×2)=0!

After winning the combat, we’ll just fast-forward through the whole next sequence of paragraphs where I basically skulk in the hold of the ship (which is in turn inside the submarine) until we reach the coast.

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This time, rather than diving into the water, I use my Camouflage ability to sneak across the jetty, with the pleasing result of not losing any backpack items.

Project Aon link – Tunnel entrance

I manage to find my way through the cave and start fighting my way through the blizzard towards the Xaagon (double a!) fortress…

Presented with the choice of sheltering in either a cave or behind some rocks, I take the counter-intuitive choice of going for the rocks….

In an interesting result, instead of being struck by lightning, this choice results in an avalanche gathering steam towards me!

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As I try to bravely shelter under a ledge, I need to make an R10 check, with Grand Huntmastery and Grand Nexus each adding 2 to my total.

My result of 6 gets me to the best result, although I do have to wearily dig myself out of a ton of ice and snow, presumably with the Sommerswerd.

Having pretty much reached the place right before the big battles start, I leave you, with Lone Wolf certainly in a healthier place for his assault on the stronghold….

Pop culture!

 

The 1994 Oscars were absolutely LOADED.  The year of Forrest Gump, Pulp Fiction and The Shawshank Redemption inspired passion in a LOT of movie-lovers.

There was another film that got (slightly) lost in the shuffle.  Directed by Robert Redford, and telling the true story of a scandal from the 50s, ‘Quiz Show’ told the almost Shakespearean tragedy of Charles Van Doren….

A beautifully acted and directed movie, its well worth a look…

Basic Stats : CS : 26, E : 39, GC 50

Current Stats : CS : 44/44, E : 40/40

Weapons : Sword

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

Backpack :  Lantern, Rope, Jar Laumwort x3 (+2 Endurance), Ruby Ring, Potion of Alether (+2CS), Hammer, Laumspur (x2) (+4 E), Jar Laumspur x4 (+4E), Jar Alether x4 (+2CS)

Special Items :

1. Sommerswerd (+8 CS) (with Korlinium scabbard) 2. Crystal Star Pendant , 3. EMPTY 4. Quiver (6 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 : 13
  • Backpack Items : Sack of Silver (3), Brass Key, Black Key, Jar Gallowbrush x2 (Sleep and -2 Endurance), Jar Sabito x2 (Underwater breathing), Spyglass, Arrows (1), Whistle, Ball of String, Bottle of Wine, Bowstring.
  • Special Items :

Grand Master Rank : Sun Thane

Grand Master Disciplines : Kai-surge, Kai-screen, Grand Huntmastery, Grand Pathsmanship, Kai-Alchemy, Assimilance, Grand Nexus, Deliverance.

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 : 179

19 thoughts on “The Deathlord of Ixia – Attempt 2, Part 1”

  1. Quiz Show was a great movie! I’m glad someone else remembers it. Though really, the first thing that comes to mind when I think of that movie will always be King Baudouin.

    Incidentally, Richard Goodwin just died 3 weeks ago at the age of 86.

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  2. Me During the reading of the above.

    Yeah, Yeah, get rid of the useless stuff and pile on the Health and Combat stuff.

    Drugs??? LOL Yeah, Just like Fallout

    Aarghh!!! NO NO NO! Don’t go down I SAID to Galantor “the Pantard scene. It saves a newbie player from the most dangerous fight of the battle.” and now … Oh Boy that things tough … Whew he beat it,… Water isn’t so … oh ooops. Oh! He survived but way to weak, Don’t use your drugs yet Tim you’ll need them later… Ah! He’s back up to full health again.

    Rose and Jack??? Oh Yeah! Ha Ha! Remember he showed us the photo proving there was enough space for two on the door. Aargh! Drakkarim! Whew that wasn’t so bad.

    Oh Good! He’s not getting wet again. NOOO! Go for the cave not the! Oh Boy! AVALAUNCH. (Aside, Yes, that picture exactly sums up my feelings at seeing the Avalaunch coming to sweep you away). Whew he survived it.

    Well! What can I say! That was a tense Rollercoaster and then some. Hope you enjoyed the playing as much as I enjoyed the reading and Looking forward to the next installment (remember, there’s a time to Stand and Fight and a time to flee like all the hounds of Hell are after you (especially when they are)).

    Pop Culture.

    One of the things I liked about that trailer was that you could see that Van Doran was intelligent, well knowledgable, and reading about him (Wikipedia) shows that he did go on to do many other things (including being an Editor on Encyclopedia Britannica) which he couldn’t do just by cheating.

    Actually when my dad was a youngish lad still in his family home his family would listen to quiz shows on the radio and he’d get all the answers right. But when his mother suggested he go on one of them he refused saying “It wouldn’t be fair” (that is he’d win it too easily). Later with programmes like Who Wants to be a Millionaire he’d get all the answers right but would refuse for the same reason (he was terrible to play against in Trivial Pursuits, he’d basically get every answer right until he’d decide to let others play). The thought that I could have inherited a fortune from his Quiz Shows winnings occasionally occurs to me but he was happy where his family was before he died and I guess that’s the main thing.

    On another note did you see the cheater who tried winning the UK Who Wants to be a Millionaire with a coughing accomplise? His wife’s facial expressions are enough on their own to convict him.

    Till next time.

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    1. I think it makes sense to try different choices each time you play until you find the safest route. Even though this attempt was considerably more dangerous than the first, the chances are that there will be a few more before Lone Wolf vanquishes the Deathlord and on his next go, the better path will be obvious. Of course, there are still a few other options to be explored (such as when the enemy initially attacks on the ship), but it should only take a couple more attempts to try everything up to entering Xaagon.

      “Having pretty much reached the place right before the big battles start”
      I would say it’s more “the medium battles” than “the big battles” but I suppose all the battles in this book are fairly big.

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      1. @ Gloccus
        “on his next go, the better path will be obvious. ”

        Way to go on instilling confidence in our Esteemed Authors chances of survival in the next few attempts. You know, we could at least pretend that we think he has a chance this time.

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    2. I did see that clip, and that guy was an idiot. Rather than bide his time and blather on while waiting for the signals from the confederate, he would talk about how answer ‘x’ was right, before inexplicably shifting to answer ‘y’!!

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      1. Reading that story all the time associated with the Quiz Show and its aftereffects seem really … sad. On the other hand its a good example of the maxim “Keep on plugging, you’ll survive”. Thanks for that.

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    4. What I remember most from Quiz Show was John Turturro’s three-dimensional character who, while a patsy in the scandal and a victim of anti-Semitism, was also kind of a self-absorbed, fame-obsessed ass.

      Fenrir, I wish your dad had tried out for the quiz shows, because he could have been competing against others who would have won too easily, at least against people with normal amounts of trivia knowledge. He, and the audience, might have enjoyed such a battle of wits.

      I took the train down to Chicago years ago to try out for Jeopardy in person (the Internet was still very newish, so no online tests yet). And I PASSED, which amazed even a know-it-all like me, because that test was. Hard. As. Balls. They showed us questions on a screen, read by a Trebeck-ish voice. We had to write down our answers for the Jeopardy reps to grade and no, they did not want them in the form of a question, thank you very much, since they’d get so tired of that crap. To their credit, if you skipped a question, but forgot about skipping it on paper so that all your remaining answers would be written one row off, they accounted for that without penalty. You had to get at least 40 out of 50 I think, on a wide variety of subjects. I never was asked on the show, and I could have used the possible prize money, but it was still a great experience.

      I do remember one great question that they asked, and in discussing it with others afterwards, I might have been the only one to get it right. I’ll put it to you, Tim. See if you can answer it without Google. And I do want it in the form of a question.

      “This widow of a rock star sang in one of her own songs ‘Someday you will ache like I ache.”

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      2. Well done, and I will check out ‘Dying’, since I only had the ‘Live Through This’ album. One of the applicants had written ‘Yoko Ono’, which I thought was a very good guess. One of the most famous widows of one of the most famous died-too-young rock stars, who many knew had her own music career even though only a few noise-rock aficionados actually knew the music. Another had made the more desperate guess of ‘Cher’, and even though Sonny Bono had a surprisingly varied music career, he was never a rock star.

        I remember it had taken me a few seconds to answer the question, even though I knew ‘Doll Parts’ very well. If the lyric had been sung, I would’ve gotten it instantly. But the lyric was read plainly, so my mind couldn’t make the connection right away. A local classic-rock station had a fun game where they read a first line and had you guess the famous song it began. The DJ always read it slowly, and you could tell how he had to fight singing this line to a melody he’d heard hundreds of times, giving the game away before it even started.

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      3. I rate Celebrity Skin above Live Through This, partly due to Billy Corgan’s songwriting contributions.

        I absolutely love good song lyrics, and endlessly quote ones from people like [REDACTED SO YOU DON’T GET A CLUE]

        Here you go : what songs are these from?

        “In between the moon and you, angels get a better view, of the crumbling difference between wrong and right”

        “Don’t mean to push, but I’m being shoved!”

        “There are two paths you can go by, but in the long run, there’s still time to change the road you’re on”

        “When you bleed just to know you’re alive.”

        “And now I hear you’ve found somebody new, and that I never meant that much to you.”

        “I got my head checked by a jumbo jet.”

        “When I feel down, I want you above me.”

        “If I’m not blind why can’t I see, that a circle can’t fit where a square should be?”

        “You gotta make a decision. leave tonight or live and die this way.”

        “You’re an all-night generator wrapped in stockings and a dress”

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      5. “if you skipped a question, but forgot about skipping it on paper so that all your remaining answers would be written one row off, they accounted for that without penalty.”

        Wow! That is actually an amazing act of reasonableness. Seriously impressed.

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      6. Counting Crows “Round Here”
        ?
        ?
        Goo Goo Dolls “Iris”
        Poison “Every Road Has Its Thorn”
        Blur “Song 2”
        ?
        ?
        Tracy Chapman “Fast Car”
        Bon Jovi “Bad Medicine”

        One of my favorite lyrics comes from a song Hole covered, “Gold Dust Woman”. “Rulers make bad lovers. You better put your kingdom up for sale.” It came to mind as I read about Meghan Markle marrying Prince Harry. But since the royal family are figurative, ceremonial heads of state, they should be fine.

        I’m doing the monster quiz that I inspired you to post. I got about 50 very soon after first reading them, then got a bunch more as time went on. I might be at 85, the 50% mark, with 3 or 4 nagging at me. I know I know them but can’t think of them. I didn’t read the comments of the post itself, since others posted their answers. I’ll let you know my final results and thoughts tomorrow. Excellent quiz.

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      7. 1. Correct 2. Whipping – Pearl Jam 3. Stairway to Heaven – Led Zeppelin 4-6 Correct. 7. I Touch Myself – The Divinyls 8. Hole Hearted – Extreme. 9-10 – Correct. And thank you for the compliment. The ‘monster’ quiz is actually a compilation of 17 ten question quizzes that I put together one at a time.

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      9. Well I know Extreme and Pearl Jam, but don’t know those songs well enough. Of course the “Two paths..” line is Stairway to Heaven. I was wondering what kind of unwieldly song had that lyric, and as great as Stairway is, it is unwieldly. I actually got the “I Touch myself” line in the big quiz, though it took a while, but not here.

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