The Deathlord of Ixia

The Deathlord of Ixia – Attempt 2, Part 3

Aussiesmurf

Aside : You want to know the definition of true love?

2001

Last night :

  1. Australia played France in their initial World Cup match, for which I’ve waited four years.
  2. Hawthorn played Adelaide in a vital home match that could well decide our chance of making the finals.
  3. The Australian cricket team played their archrivals England in a one-day match.
  4. The Australian rugby union team had a match.

And where was I?

At Robert Blackwood Hall, watching my daughter’s choir recital.

giphy-downsized

Ahem.

Lone Wolf had just grabbed a plot token, also known as an Onyx Key.

Pushing my luck, I insert said key in the lock and gently turn it.

Worryingly, I am now asked to make an R10 check.  If this has a chance of an Instadeath, I will NOT be happy.  Interestingly, my result of 3 is enough that I don’t have to worry about tempting fate.

The door quietly opens, and I stride into a room made entirely of black mirrored crystal, although this doesn’t distract me for long from the three undead guards (!) armed with barbed tridents…

Oh, its on.

my6p4

My quickly-fired arrow has no effect, so I draw my NOTMEGASWORD and grit my teeth!

Activate Kai-surge! Gulp an Alether potion! Remember that damage is doubled! Then remind yourself that, because you aren’t using the Sommerswerd, damage isn’t doubled after all!

Lone Wolf – CS : 42, E : 40

3 Kajarda – CS : 48, E : 42

Round 1!

R10 of 9!

LW – E : 40-1-0=39, 3K – E : 42-8=34

Round 2!

R10 of 3!

LW – E : 39-5-1=33, 3K – E : 34-2=32

Round 4!

R10 of 2!

LW – E : 33-6-1=26, 3K : 32-1=31

Round 5!

R10 of 7!

LW – E : 26-3-1=22, 3K : 31-6=25

Round 6!

R10 of 3!

LW – E : 22-5-1=16, 3K : 25-2=23

Round 7!

R10 of 1(!!!)

LW – E : 16-6-1=9, 3K : 23-0=23

Round 8!

R10 of 8!

LW – E : 9-1-2=6, 3K : 23-7=16

At this point I use my ‘restore 20 Endurance’ power, bringing me back to 26.

Round 9!

R10 of 4!

LW – 26-5-1=20, 3K : 16-3=13

Round 10!

R10 of 0!

LW – 20-1-0=19. 3K : 13-9=4

Round 11!

R10 of 7

LW  – 19-3-1=15, 3K = 3 even undeader bodies…

tenor9

As I stand over their dead (deader?) corpses, I see that the archway which they were guarding is sealed with a psychic lock which requires me to project, with my mind (?!), two numbers to open the lock.

I have to once more check the map and answer the following two questions :

1. How many islands are within 150 miles to the west of Xaagon?

2. How many cities (and towns!) are in the Shegtar Peaks?

 

 

 

 

SPOILER SPACE

 

 

 

I didn’t think it was possible to be easier than the last map problem, but I was wrong!

Answer = 10!

And, because I will admit when I stuff up, I find out that 10 was…..the wrong answer….

giphy7

I can only surmise that the ‘island’ within the pack-ice, to the north-west of Xaagon, constitutes an island for the purposes of the riddle.

In any event, my Onyx Key seems to save my bacon, as I insert it into a conveeeenient keyhole, opening the archway.

Project Aon link – Open archway

I pass into the next room, noting a crackling electrical barrier blocking my way onwards.  However, in usual gamebook fashion, there is, in fact, a possible path forward – being a gap of about two feet between the electrical field and the ceiling….

tenor10

I use my Kai-alchemy spell of Levitation and float over the electrical field, at the regrettable electrical damage cost of 3 Endurance….

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My Slow Fall spell at least allows me to gently sink to the ground without further damage..

I stroll casually into a further chamber, disconcertingly adorned with a Shadow Gate (!!) and various empty coffins.

Using my basic Sixth Sense discipline, I get a vision of the recent past, where the Deathstaff (!) came through the gate and, effectively set the Deathlord free from its prison….

Project Aon link – Darklord Ixiataaga

More imminently, I see that ominous black smoke is curling around from the edges of the Shadow Gate….

Thinking quickly, I use my advanced Kai-screen Discipline to erect a Mindfort around my psyche, which protects me from the psychic attack launched against me by the wisps of smoke (!)

What was that, Karen?

I’m not naive enough to think that will be the end of it, and I warily observe the wisps of smoke solidify into six insectoid creatures that seem eager to introduce themselves to the interior of my body….

I fire an arrow without effect and them interestingly, get asked if I possess the Sommerswerd.

I am nervous about the fact that the question is not ‘do you wish to use the….’ but rather ‘do you possess the….’, giving my legal mind no option in this matter….

Luckily, the next paragraph reveals that my MEGASWORD, even in its scabbard, leeches the strength of the insectoids and renders them useless, although, before I can celebrate, a ‘new horror’ emerges from the floor….

There’s your floorhanger….!

Pop culture!

So-called ‘Old Hollywood’ is sadly neglected among so-called ‘movie fans’.  Apart from the obvious classics such as Casablanca, Gone With the Wind etc, people are wary about checking out any movie made before 1970…

Well, they’re missing out!

For instance, for those who enjoy black-as-night examinations of the seedy side of human nature, I give you ‘The Sweet Smell as Success’.

Featuring career-best performances by Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis, this depiction of the seamier side of publicists, gossip columnists is brilliantly scripted and directed.  The trailer doesn’t really do it justice but is is a stone-cold masterpiece.

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

Current Stats : CS : 44/44, E : 21/40

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 x3(+2CS)

Special Items :

1. Sommerswerd (+8 CS) (with Korlinium scabbard) 2. Crystal Star Pendant , 3. EMPTY 4. Quiver (5 arrows),  5. Statuette of Zagarna, 6. Onyx Key 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 : 160

6 thoughts on “The Deathlord of Ixia – Attempt 2, Part 3”

  1. Apparently, this is something you can see at the Melbourne Arts Center, though only a miniature version. This article is by my favorite internet writer (you’re in the top ten, with many being fantasy football experts). You can find me in the comments. I have a Futurama name and avatar and make a Simpsons reference, because that’s how I roll.

    https://news.avclub.com/nick-cave-to-get-half-naked-homoerotic-statue-in-his-h-1827022535

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    1. Fenrir mutters “Stupid Simpsons reference.”

      K.B. “Kent Brockman here, Fenrir, was that REALLY the best you could come up with?”

      Fenrir “Yes it was Kent”.

      Lisa rolls eyes “If anyone wants me I’ll be in my room”.

      For anyone offended, “Don’t have a cow man”

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      2. I’ll just add that after Lisa, who HAD to roll her eyes at my comment, saying she was going to her room I had Mr. Burns touching his fingers and saying “Excellent ” which was fine in my head but in print??? AY Carumba!

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  2. That tale of True Love really melted my heart. It made watching you getting beaten up by the Three Kajarda’s all the more painful. When that fight was on I was going “Ouch, Ooch, 1??? Oh, Come on, Ouch, He’ll need that 20 EP later, YAH a 0, Wheh he won”. That was … lethal. (Aside, on the subject of Lethality I assume you recorded the matches, I really hope that you saw the Australia match BEFORE reading my comment on it, and if you didn’t I apologise for the spoiler).

    Credit where its due on admitting you miscounted the number of Islands because of the Pack Ice. But you should know, even when someone’s assets are frozen they still count as assets. While Lone Wolf was (to reference The Matrix Reloaded) “doing his Superman thing” did he sing “I believe I can fly”? (That is a song reference that people don’t have to be ashamed of getting).

    You then have a vision “where the Deathstaff (!) came through the gate and, effectively set the Deathlord free from its prison….”

    Your political biases are coming through again Aussiesmurf. You TOTALLY passed over the point that the peace loving Elder Magi had been keeping the Deathlord imprisoned. And yet, even after thousands of years when he finally gets released do we found that he’s now reformed and no longer a threat to society? No, we do not! He immediately set out on a life (or unlife) of despoiling and pillaging again. The message is clear! Sometimes you just HAVE to have the Death Penalty! (Partly Political Rant Over)

    Can you really have a floorhanger? Anyone who’s tried to pick up a cat that doesn’t want to be picked up knows that you can :/

    Pop Culture.

    “Apart from the obvious classics such as Casablanca, Gone With the Wind etc, people are wary about checking out any movie made before 1970…”

    Aye, the technology may change but the ability to tell a story has always been there as can be seen whether its Marx Brothers, Some Like it Hot, Errol Flynn’s Robin hood, Shakespear’s plays etc etc. Frankly, every generation produces a lot of trash which is well forgotten, but every generation also produces a variety of gems which shouldn’t be.

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