Well!
Continuing an adventure that, as time goes on, seems suspiciously similiar to a traditional ‘dungeon crawl’!
But is it a dungeon crawl CLASSIC??
Only time will tell.
Any description of mine can’t possibly add to the Dungeons & Dragons-esque goodness of the following paragraph, which portrays the hall into which I have walked :
“The dark tunnel descends to a titanic circular hall which is lit by a lava-filled vent at its centre. Tunnels radiate from this hall in every direction, like the spokes of an infernal wheel, their destinations mere pinpoints of flame in the far distance. The air here is thick and cloying. It is choked by sulphur and other foul discharges of noisy engines located deep in the bowels of Kaag. The pressure of this tainted atmosphere is forever changing, causing you momentarily to lose your balance and stumble when first you enter the central hall.”
Awesome!
And, speaking of D & D, I recommend the book (which I have just read), Empire of Imagination, a fascinating biography of Gary Gygax, the founder (co-founder?) of Dungeons and Dragons.
As I make my way through the hall, I note an enormous idol which, knowing the way these things go, will probably come to life and try to squash me underfoot.
Project Aon link – Massive idol
There’s a number of tunnels leading off from this central hall, like spokes on a wheel. Surveying the different options, I use my advanced senses to observe that at the end of one tunnel, the Nadziranim are harvesting Giak spawn (!) In a display of lost nerve that seems strange, given what Lone Wolf has already observed, I immediately dash, in horror, down the opposite corridor.
And, after all that build-up…..I have a simple left-right choice at the end of the corridor.
I go left….because I’m left-handed, and we are an oppressed minority dammit!!
The corridor slopes upward, and I can tell the temperature is becoming cooler. Is it because this guy is around?
Aside : IMHO the song is from the point of view of the devil….
I follow the corridor until it opens out into a chamber notable for dung, dried blood and wood shavings.
So either this is the setting for a cheap version of the Passion Play, or it is going to be very, very bad news….
Sure enough, out of the shadows of this room come three Egorghs. With my luck, they intend to kill anyone who can’t pronounce their name correctly on the first try….
These creatures approach, apparently ready to make an attack with ‘fang and claw’.
My ‘primitive’ Magnakai disciplines don’t help, as these ‘bear-like’ creatures close for the kill!
On a slightly better note, all psychic ‘bonuses’ are doubled. In my interpretation, that means that ‘basic’ Mindblast gives me a +8 rather than +4 bonus!
3 Egorghs – CS : 37, E : 42
Lone Wolf (with Mindblast x2) – CS : 45, E : 21
Round 1!
R10 of 9!
LW : 21-0=21, Eg : 42-18=24
Round 2!
R10 of 9! (yes, really)
LW : 21-0=21, Eg : 24-18=6
Round 3!
R10 of 7
LW : 21-0=21, Eg : 6-14 = …..bye, bye.
In a narrative development that is very, very different from the aforementioned Dungeons & Dragons, I am given no choice other than to dash down a particular corridor, and nervously climb up a ladder which I find in the resulting chamber.
After taking no more than ‘a dozen’ steps through a bone-strewn room, I am horrified to see a multitude of creatures, doubtless who have watched a marathon of Two and a Half Men episodes….
Well, either that or they’ve been subjected to a battery of experiments from the evil wizards….
I then get a delightful illustration of these poor souls :
Project Aon link – Humans after torture and suffering
Using my Kai skills, I probe the mind of one of these poor individuals. At the cost of 2 Endurance, I get a vague message that Banedon is in Zagarna’s courtroom, which is ‘many levels above’.
Filled with anger (as if I didn’t already have enough, due to Hawthorn’s performance over the last two years) I charge onward.
After effortlessly picking the lock of a door which stands in my way (!!) I am confronted by an old-school left-right choice.
Left!! Of course!
After casually walking past some descriptive passages, Lone Wolf reaches a dining hall (!!) where, for unknown reasons, thirty or more Drakkarim, eating their fill don’t notice Lone Wolf (!!!!!!)
That is almost as unbelievable as the 1.83m Edward Norton being able to do a double-handed dunk in American History X….
In any event! I manage to eavesdrop on their conversations and learn two facts which may be important :
- These factions are battling for control of the Giak spawning vats located in the lower levels.
- Because the vats are the key to unlimited troops and food / supplies, they are the key to power in this citadel.
As I try to creep out of the dining hall there is now (!!) a slim chance that I might get noticed.
R10 Check (adding 2 because of my possession of Grand Huntmastery…)
4+2=6, which is more than enough to creep out unnoticed.
Aside : Lone Wolf notes this ability, if he ever has to creep out of the bedroom of a one-night stand without waking her….
Till next time….
Just because, here’s one of the most (IMO) heartbreakng songs of all time, literally written after the (now, sadly, deceased) singer / songwriter walked in on his fiance and best friend….
I heard it and literally bought the cassingle (!!!) the next day.
Basic Stats : CS : 23, E : 33, GC 0
Current Stats : CS : 41/41, E : 26/34
Weapons : Sword, Dagger
Weapon-Like Special Items : Silver Bow of Duadon (+3), Sommerswerd (+8 CS), Dagger of Vashna
Backpack : Lantern, Potions of Laumspur (+4E) (3), Meals (3)
Special Items :
1. Sommerswerd (+8 CS) (with Korlinium scabbard) 2. Crystal Star Pendant , 3. Dagger of Vashna 4. Quiver (4 arrows), 5. Statuette of Zagarna, 6. Green Key 7. EMPTY 8. EMPTY 9. Jewelled Mace, 10. Silver Bracers (+2 CS, +1 E) (6), 11. Golden Key 12. Silver Bow of Duadon.
Kai Monastery storage :
- Backpack Items : Sack of Silver (3), Black Key, Jar Laumspur x5 (+4E), Jar Alether x4 (+2CS), Jar Gallowbrush x2 (Sleep and -2 Endurance), Jar Sabito x2 (Underwater breathing), Jar Laumwort x3 (+2 Endurance), Oede (+10E)
- Special Items :
Grand Master Rank : Kai Grand Guardian
Grand Master Disciplines : Kai-surge, Kai-screen, Grand Huntmastery, Grand Pathsmanship, Kai-Alchemy.
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), 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 : 256
LONE WOLF PLAYTHROUGH 
Oh, I see the massive idol is holding a large spiked club in his hand, ready to do battle. That’s the first thing I thought it was, and the only possible thing one can see.
Warrant just played my casino a week ago. I’d seen ads for the show on our screens, and wondered “how do they carry on without Jani Lane?” Turns out, Lane wasn’t an original member, but within three years, the classic lineup was locked down. Thirty years later, four out of those five are still present, which is really impressive. And “Heaven”, besides still being a killer power ballad, is also worthy of our very ’80s video collection, hair-metal edition. It’s the concert shots of the band on their knees, tossing their long hair in sync, in slow motion, that puts it over the top. So ridiculous, so good.
LikeLiked by 2 people
“Hmm”, I thought. “Dungeon Crawl, Dungeon’s and Dragons-esqu, our author is following a theme here”.
“speaking of D & D, I recommend the book (which I have just read), Empire of Imagination”
Ah!
“The dark tunnel descends to a titanic circular hall which is lit by a lava-filled vent”
So, first you’re offered to go up stairs, then you’re offered to climb up vines, then you’re offered to be beamed up (but not by Scotty OR Spotty) and when you refuse all these subtle hints you’re punished by having to clear a path through a shattered statue of Zagarna costing you precious EP’s (through having to do an honest day’s work for a change). And after all this Joe Dever has you go DOWN to the Lava Level??? I think he just wanted to be sure you got the scenic route.
“I note an enormous idol which, knowing the way these things go, will probably come to life and try to squash me underfoot”
Yeah, Squash you like a bug. I went looking for a gif for squashing like a bug but my darling wife spotted a spider that I have to use instead.
I’ll claim it symbolises you as the bug escaping to wreck fear and havoc in the Citadel. I’ll also add that at the moment my toes are all curled up totally over that (shudder) spider.
“the Nadziranim are harvesting Giak spawn (!) In a display of lost nerve that seems strange, given what Lone Wolf has already observed, I immediately dash, in horror, down the opposite corridor.”
Going on his dating history this is probably the closest he’s come to finding out where little boys and girls come from….
“I’m left-handed, and we are an oppressed minority dammit!!”
Says the internationally acclaimed Lawyer. I also used to do Sword Fencing
https://jimsworldandwelcometoit.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/thurber-touche.jpg?w=500&h=430
and the Left-Handers have the definite advantage there (recognized since at least the sixteenth century), and yes, to be a top fencer we are talking about SKILL, not just not being as common as right-hander’s.
I know that the Egorgh’s are fearsome and dangerous but everytime we meet them I just think of Igor. And the picture of the poor souls forced to watch Two and A Half Men has been with me for years.
“where, for unknown reasons, thirty or more Drakkarim, eating their fill don’t notice Lone Wolf (!!!!!!)”
Um, they’re (1) “eating their fill” as well as (2) drinking wine in (3) a large room lit by torches which are nowhere near as good as electric lights. As a (4) you previously pointed out discipline has deteriorated severely since the demise of the Darklords.
Sidenote on torches/candle’s versus lights. When my wife’s best mate married an Irish man (this being part of what let to our being introduced to each other) they had to go to New Delhi to get a Visa for her to enter Ireland so he decided to give her a real treat by taking her to a candle lit restaurant. She wasn’t used to using knives and forks and she thought the candle’s were all lit because it was a low class restaurant and they were expecting the power to be cut. We men make the romantic gestures, often they go right over our wives heads 😦
“the (Giak spawning) vats are the key to unlimited troops and food / supplies,”
Which at least answers the question how people are surviving in a city in a toxic wilderness. Its probably not the answer we’d like but at least its an answer.
“Aside : Lone Wolf notes this ability, if he ever has to creep out of the bedroom of a one-night stand without waking her….”
For that to happen he’d have to first, you know, actually TALK to a woman.
https://media1.tenor.com/images/f17103b179b3409532e1e414c9e0659c/tenor.gif?itemid=4655461
Till next time. You’ve gotten far enough it would be a shame if you had to start all over again, here’s hoping I haven’t jinxed you. Roll on next time.
p.s. Toes still curled up over spider. I may not be able to look at this post again.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ehi Fenrir! Answered in the last entrance the one with the red Bandana! 😁
LikeLiked by 2 people
Jani Lane….and not Justin Biber…anyway, “I saw red” is one of the best songs i’ve ever heard (can’t play with my band because we are “bad ass two kicking axe men”, with no keyboard player). Warrant is a great band. Back to LW, where did you pick up the golden key (Special Items)? i think is a misprint from the Mogaruith adventure.
LikeLiked by 1 person