The Dervish Stone - Attempts 5 & 6

Another weekend, another couple of cracks at The Dervish Stone, Paul Struth's adventure from Warlock #4.  To be honest, these failures are starting to get to me.  I mean, I finished Caverns of the Snow Witch on my first go, and I can't beat this thing?  It's an embarrassment is what it is.

ATTEMPT 5

Speaking of embarrassments, let's get on with Attempt 5.  I rolled a Skill of 10, a Stamina of 18, and a Luck of 8.  I chose the Potion of Fortune, but none of this is important because this adventurer was incredibly ill-fated.  I went through the usual routine in Alasiyan, avoiding trouble and buying a magic sword, until I had to camp for the night outside.  The Night Ghoul attacked me as I slept, and just as he had in Attempt 1 the bastard hit me four times and paralysed me.  All this despite it having a Skill of 8, and me having an effective Skill of 11.  Now, if I was being pedantic I could point out that the adventure simply says you're paralysed after four hits, but it doesn't say what happens after that.  It doesn't give you those dreaded words "your adventure ends here" or "your quest is over".  Maybe the Night Ghoul wanders off and lets you live?  It's possible.  Maybe it curls up asleep next to your paralysed form, like a dog?  Maybe it transforms into a beautiful woman and... nah.  This is Fighting Fantasy.  It totally just ate me alive, and no pedantry can change that fact.  Bugger it.

ATTEMPT 6

Okay, let's try that again.  This time I rolled a Skill of 11, a Stamina of 17, and a Luck of 12.  It doesn't get much better than that.  With such a high Luck, I opted for the Potion of Strength instead.  The book has plenty of Luck bonuses, so I decided to go for a Stamina boost instead.

Starting off, I found the Potion of Human Control and used it to make my way into Alasiyan without being bothered by the guards.  I bought some items from the dwarf nomad (a magic sword, a glass eye, and a gas capsule) and made my way through the town ignoring pretty much everything else.  When the Night Ghoul attacked me I made short work of it, and it was time for the adventure proper to begin.  (At this point I had been reduced to 14 Stamina, and had 2 gold pieces remaining.)

I chose the flat path into the desert rather than the rise, and soon came across ten nomads struggling to control a giant centipede-like creature that they called a sandcrawler.  I offered my help, and together we were able to stop it from burrowing away.  (This required a roll of two dice totalling less than my Stamina, which was impossible for me to fail.)  The nomads were grateful, and rewarded me with 5 gold pieces, bringing my total to 7.  They warned me not to go further into the desert, so I followed the sandcrawler's tracks.

Soon I came to a road, where I could see a cart approaching.  Three lizard-men were driving the cart, but rather than hide I decided to hail them with a friendly greeting.  I ought to have known better: the Lizard Men attacked!  Luckily for me they attacked one at a time, and despite a pair of wounds I was able to kill them (with my Stamina now reduced to 10).

Inside the cart were four humans and a goblin, chained together as slaves.  I freed them, and asked if they knew anything about the Stone of Shanhara.  None of them had heard of it, but an old man said that I should seek the advice of Kuperan the Fire Giant - provided I could survive his castle and courtiers.  Thanks for nothing, geezer!

I made my way through a gully, avoiding a nomad ambush due to my glass eye, and soon came to a castle.  At this point night was falling, and I had lost a lot of strength due to extreme hunger.  (My Stamina dropped from 10 to 5 here, because I had forgotten to eat after leaving Alasiyan.  I'm not sure when I should allow myself to eat provisions.  The rules at the start say you can do it whenever you want, as long as it's not in the middle of battle.  The adventure, however, tells you when you can eat provisions, much as in The Warlock of Firetop Mountain.  In that book, you could only eat when instructed.  So which is it in The Dervish Stone?  I guess the rules and the instructions on when you can eat aren't mutually exclusive, I just find it a little odd to have them both.  I'd been waiting for the book to tell me when to eat, but from now on I'm just going to let myself eat whenever.  In this instance, I used a dose from my Potion of Strength to return to my initial Stamina of 17.)

I entered the castle, and was confronted by a pair of bugbear guards.  One of them wounded me (reducing my Stamina to 15), but with some deft swordplay I was able to kill them both.  (Strictly speaking, I was probably meant to take the option here that asks if I have a gas capsule.  I didn't notice it until after I'd fought the bugbears already.)

Walking down some stairs, I came to a rowdy hall filled with monsters.  A fire giant introduced himself as Kuperan, monarch of the sands.  Feeling somewhat cornered, I whipped out a gas capsule and threatened to kill everyone in the room if they didn't answer my questions.  Kuperan claimed to know nothing about the stone, or the Lost Cave of the Dervishes, but he suggested that the Hermit of the Hills might.  He also politely invited me to stay for the night, and I told him to sod off because monsters can't be trusted.  No wait, I... stayed the night?!?  (Seriously, why would I do this?  Maybe the desert is dangerous at night, but it still seems like a ridiculous decision, and not one I would have opted for if I'd been given a choice.)

Rather then going to sleep among the monsters, or investigating a nearby bronze statue, I decided to assassinate Kuperan in his sleep.  Unfortunately I failed to follow Assassination Rule #1: Don't Trip Over a Bloody Lizard Man.  The Lizard Man died quickly, but not before the other monsters were woken up.  Kuperan summoned Talus, his personal Bronze Golem, and I had another fight for my life on my hands.  For every blow I struck I would be sprayed with its molten blood, but luck was on my side, and I was able to destroy the golem with but a few wounds and burns.  (Every time I wounded the golem, I also took 1 point of damage, so I used my Luck score to kill him as quickly as possible.  It still dropped me to 8 Stamina before I beat it, but a post-battle bonus brought my Luck back up to 12.)

I was dragged off to a cell, where I ate one of my provisions (restoring my Stamina to 12).  Then I went to sleep, but while I did some "hellrats" ate another of my meals.  (What's a hellrat anyway?)  In the morning I was dragged outside, where some guards awaited with a pack of griffin mounts.  I was going to be sacrificed to an Earth Demon, apparently.  I was placed on my own griffin before we took off, with Kuperan riding a blue dragon (!) in the rear.  (Pretty sure I would have noticed that dragon before we took off.  Also, does anyone else get really annoyed by the spelling of griffin?  It's a GRIFFON!  With an O!  There shall be no variance in the spellings of mythological beasts!)

I stayed on my griffin, and eventually we reached a pit in the sand, with a huge mouth at the bottom.  (Oi, I thought I told you to stop it with the Star Wars references, Struth!)  My griffin dived and tried to fling me off, but I was able to hold on (with a successful Luck test that reduced my score to 11).  A cat-like guard flew in to attack me, but I was able to pull him from his saddle and fling him into the maw of the Earth Demon.  (This was a weird one.  I had to roll two dice, with success being a result equal to or less than my Skill.  The failure result, though, was a result higher than my Stamina.  It was probably just a typo, but which way?  Should it have been a roll against Skill or Stamina?  The former seems more likely, and that's what I went with.)

Tim Sell really didn't want to draw the body of that Griffin.

The cat-man's griffin fled out across the desert, and I decided to follow it.  At that point Kuperan's dragon breathed a bolt of lightning right at me, and I was burned to a crisp without warning.  My adventure was over!

THE POST-GAME

Ugh.  Both of those deaths were pretty annoying, and out of my control.  The first one I don't mind too much: dying in combat is a part of the FF experience, and bad dice rolls are bound to happen at one point or another.  I couldn't even tell you what I did wrong in the last game though.  I was given the choice of going after the griffin or not, and there wasn't a lot of context given aside from that.  Instant death paragraphs are also a part of the FF experience, but I feel like there should be at least some sort of warning or sign of danger.  I didn't realise I was fleeing, or I wouldn't have done it.  The only other option I had was seemingly "do nothing", and that didn't seem worthwhile at all.  Ah well, I guess I have to play this stupid gamebook again.  Curses!

The Dervish Stone - Attempts 3 & 4

To be honest, I had assumed that The Dervish Stone would be a one post job.  A short adventure in a spin-off magazine, from an author I'd never heard of?  Easy pickings, I figured.  After a couple of attempts, I still don't feel like it's too difficult, but it's apparent that when you play by the rules even the simplest FF gamebooks can be difficult.

ATTEMPT 3

Which brings me to my third go at the adventure.  I scores were Skill 10, Stamina 21 and Luck 10, a very capable and well-rounded character.  I chose the Potion of Fortune, and it was off to the races.  My goal this time was to explore some different avenues in the town of Alasiyan, and to that end I was going to be a bit more belligerent and, quite frankly, a bit more stupid.

After finding Jakor One-Eye's note, I ignored his hidden potion and walked down to Alasiyan.  When a pair of guards came up to me asking to look in my backpack, I refused, and they drew steel.  I made short work of the two, and made my way into town.

While in town I bought three items from a dwarf nomad: a magic sword, a glass eye and a gas capsule.  This left me with 2 gold pieces.

Further along I saw a building guarded by a pair of hobgoblins.  I tried to enter, but the guards told me I'd need an invitation from the governor.  Still confident from the spot of guard-murdering I'd done earlier, and newly armed with a magic sword, I attacked.  One of the hobgoblins wounded me (reducing my Stamina to 19), but I was able to defeat them with ease.  One of them had a bronze key, which I used to unlock the door.

I think this goes here, but it's hard to tell with so many paragraph entries per page.

I entered the building, and found a hallway with stairs leading up.  There was also a door, with the sounds of raucous partying coming from behind, but I decided to take the stairs instead.  In a room at the top of the stairs I saw a fat man in rich robes, with another hobgoblin at his side.  As soon as I did, the man pointed at me, blasting me with a lightning bolt from his finger (and leaving me with 15 Stamina).  Then his bodyguard attacked me, and was revealed not as a hobgoblin, but as a Thoul, a strange hybrid of Troll, Hobgoblin and Ghoul.  (How does that even happen?)  Had he wounded me four times, I would have been paralysed.  Because I'm amazing he wounded me no times, and I was able to lay this abomination to rest.

The man introduced himself as Gumpas, Sorcerer-Governer of Alasiyan, and then immediately shot a fireball at me.  (That's some Ric Flair heel shit right there.)  I was able to dodge (with a successful Luck test), but he turned invisible and attacked me.  I was able to strike him one with a lucky blow, but the invisible sorcerer proved to much for me.  Perhaps I should have stuck to my quest instead of getting in fights with wizards.

THE POST-GAME

What I just said.  Maybe this encounter gives me some awesome treasure or something, but I have the suspicion that it's a pointless side-track.  Gumpas has a Skill of 10, but Paul Struth pulls his favourite weird trick of giving the enemy an Attack Strength bonus (due to invisibility) that give him an effective Skill of 12.  My Skill was 11, so I should have been competitive, but it was a rout.  Even using my Luck heavily, I was beaten with ease.

ATTEMPT 4

This time I rolled Skill 10, Stamina 18 and Luck 7.  There was no doubt about taking the Potion of Fortune this time.

Once again I ignored the potion, but when the guards came up to me I happily let them look in my bag.  Upon seeing my Potion of Fortune, they asked me to accompany them to their office while they talked to their master.  I was ushered into a building, where a scribe took one look at my potion and had me thrown in a cell.

In the cell with me was an "elfin-like young man", who I had a good long chat to.  He told me I'd be released soon, but my potion would be confiscated.  Apparently the governor of the town was a sorcerer (REALLY?), who had already taken the young man's potion of longevity.  He offered to help me steal it back later if I met him at the Den of Thieves that night.  I thanked him and waited for half an hour until I was released (losing my potion, which left me with a Luck of 6).

In Alasiyan I bought a magic sword and a glass eye from a dwarf nomad, leaving myself with the 5 gold I knew I'd need later.  I also ignored a building guarded by some hobgoblins, and made my way to the One Safe Wall Inn.  There I took a seat by myself, and was confronted by a goblin who wanted to know if my name was Snurd Hideflayer.  I said that it wasn't, and he walked away cursing this Snurd, whoever he was.  After a short time I left the inn and walked out of town.

By this time night was falling, so I made my way to the surprisingly-easy-to-find Den of Thieves.  The young man stole my potion back, and returned it to me in exchange for 5 gold pieces.  (I have to say that I'm a little disappointed with this section.  I was hoping this burglary would be a little more involved.  Anyway, this left me with 0 gold, but restored my Luck to 7.)

I went to sleep in some huts outside of town, and had to kill a Night Ghoul in order to get some rest.  The next morning I went out into the desert, taking the flatter path.  After I time I encountered ten nomads, who were struggling with a giant centipede-like creature that was trying to burrow away and escape.  I stopped to offer my help, and the nomads explained that the creature was a sandcrawler.  Rather than trust the nomads I tried to talk to the creature, but it could not understand me.  It got away from the nomads, and they eyed me with disgust as I left.  (I had a number of misconceptions in this encounter.  First, I thought the nomads were fighting the centipede, which I was wrong about.  Then I thought that maybe the centipede would be an intelligent creature, and that if I spoke to it and helped it escape it would help me in turn.  Nope, it was a dumb animal, and I couldn't talk to it without a magic ring. This reduced my Luck to 6.)

I decided to follow the sandcrawler's tracks, and they led me to a road where I could see a cart approaching.  I hid from the cart, and it passed by.  (In actual fact, I threw a gas capsule that I forgot I didn't have.  Earlier, I bought the capsule, not remembering that I'd need the money for the thief.  When I met the thief it was assumed that I had the money, so I did a retcon and crossed the capsule off my equipment list.  For whatever reason, I then forgot that I didn't have it, and used it to indiscriminately murder the occupants of the cart: three lizard-men, and four humans chained together with a goblin.   I found some stuff in the cart, but none of it was used later on, so I'm just going to retcon it again and say that I hid from the cart.  I'm really not with it today.)

Soon I came to a gully, but using my glass eye I was able to spot some ambushers and avoid them.  Beyond the gully I saw a castle, but rather than approach it I decided to sleep for the night in some rocks.  I lost a lot of my strength due to hunger and exposure to the cold.  (I'd forgotten to eat since leaving Alasiyan, and lost a whopping 5 Stamina.  Instead of, you know, just pulling out a meal and eating it then and there.  I lost a further 2 due to exposure, which left me with 11.)

During the night I was attacked by a huge Rock Toad.  In terms of pure combat prowess I was more than a match for it, but the creature kept pulling me in with its tongue and biting me with its vicious teeth.  There was nothing I could do, and the Rock Toad killed me.

THE POST-GAME

So I fell prey to my biggest weakness when playing gamebooks for the blog: the desire to explore new pathways.  Some of them, like being thrown in a cell in Alasiyan, were fun, and gave the book a little more texture.  Others, like sleeping in the desert, were deadly.  That Rock Toad fight is brutal: every round it has a 50/50 chance of drawing you in with its tongue, dealing 4 points of damage.  It only takes a few failures to die, and I copped three in a row.  In a straight fight I would have won, but that's not what I was up against.  Next time, I think it's time to knuckle down and take a serious crack at finishing this thing.

The Dervish Stone - Attempt 1 & 2

Only one skull? This looks way safer than most FF adventures.

The Dervish Stone is an adventure from the back half of Warlock magazine #4, the first of a number that I'll be covering as the blog progresses.  It's written by Paul Struth, and illustrated by Tim Sell.  We know Tim Sell's work from House of Hell, but Struth is new to me.  I'm pretty sure that this is his only contribution to the franchise, but he did have an unofficial adventure published in Fighting Fantazine #7.  By my timeline, he gets the distinction of being the first person not named Steve Jackson or Ian Livingstone to write an FF adventure.

The background to The Dervish Stone is a simple one: a diamond known as the Stone of Shanhara has been lost for centuries, but YOU have found a parchment that says the stone is located in Twin Sun Desert.

You have to respect a guy who uses "whomever" while on the verge of death.

The rules are similarly basic, with no deviations from standard Fighting Fantasy game-play.  Like most adventurers on Titan, you begin with a sword, leather armor and a backpack, as well as 20 gold pieces.  This being half-length adventure, you only begin with 5 provisions, but you still get to choose between a Potion of Skill, Strength or Fortune.  The potions have two doses, which seems generous.

ATTEMPT 1

I rolled the following stats: Skill 10, Stamina 20 and Luck 8.  With such a low Luck score, I opted for the Potion of Fortune.  Having never played this adventure before, I have no idea whether these stats will be good enough.  For the first time in the history of the blog, I'm genuinely flying blind here.

At the beginning of the adventure, I was on my way to the town of Alasiyan, on the edge of Twin Sun Desert.  As I slid down a hill, I found the partially buried body of a fellow named Jakor One-Eye, and upon unearthing it I found 20 gold pieces and a piece of parchment (the aforementioned note from the background).  Being a customarily treasure-hungry and foolhardy adventurer, I determined to hunt for the Stone of Shanhara, risking my own life in the process.  (Obviously these 20 gold pieces are the sum mentioned in your equipment list at the beginning, but you could count it as extra if you're feeling pedantic.)

I decided to search for Jakor's potion, eventually finding it in a cleft as the note indicated.  The label read "CONTROL HUMAN".  While I was pocketing it a small lizard bit me on the hand (reducing my Stamina to 19); the "guardian" that the noted warned of had obviously died or wandered off long ago  (To be honest, I had thought that the guardian in the note would be guarding the Stone of Shanhara, not the potion.)

I approached Alasiyan, and some town guards accosted me and asked to have a look in my backpack.  This sort of situation never ends well for backpack owners, so I popped open my Potion of Human Control and used it to charm the guards into letting me pass by freely.  (I'm sensing a strong Star Wars, jedi mind-trick vibe.  This would have increased my Luck if I wasn't already at maximum.  I'm not sure it's even possible lose any Luck by this point.)

As I walked through Alasiyan, I noticed a crowd surrounding a dwarf nomad, who was tattooed with the mark of the Twin Sun.  He was telling stories about life in the desert, so I moved closer to listen.  Upon seeing me, he declared that I was a "man of the world", and that I'd need to buy some items from him if I was going into the desert.  I had a look at his wares: gas capsules, a glass eye, a sword, and a knife.  I bought the capsules, the eye and the knife, which left me with 5 gold pieces.

The capsules released a poisonous gas on impact, but I only bought one of them.  The glass eye was "fashioned by a Master Mage of Alasiyan called Ylaruam", and allowed me to see objects that were far away.  The knife was magical, and could be used in battle only once to automatically inflict a wound.  Pleased with my new gear, I moved on.  (Miraculously, everything I bought was useful.  Normally there's a dud or cursed item in every FF shopping list.  I should also mention that Ylaruam is a country in the Dungeons & Dragons setting known as Mystara.  I'm not sure which came first, but it seems far more likely that Paul Struth nicked the name from D&D than the other way round.)

Soon I passed a large house with a pair of hobgoblin guards.  I approached them, but they told me that there was no seeing the governor without an appointment.  Not wishing to start any trouble, I took my leave.

On the outskirts of town, I saw the 'One Safe Wall Inn'.  Weighing the danger inherent in the name against a stiff drink, I chose to enter the bar, but had second thoughts when a goblin went flying past me into the wall.  (The one safe wall, I assume.)  A sign at bar read 'Humanoids Welcome', so I approached.  (The book hasn't specified that I'm humanoid, though, so this could be dangerous if I'm a talking dog or an amoeba or something.)

I'm still trying to figure out if that goblin's head has been twisted the wrong way round.

At the bar I bought a glass of "spliced liquor".  (Spliced? Does it taste like cricket bats?)  I took my drink to a table, where I was approached by a goblin who asked if my name was Snurd Hideflayer.  Having heard it, I suddenly wished my name really was Snurd Hideflayer, so I answered yes.  He drew a sword from his "belt of death weapons" and attacked.  The battle was vicious, and the goblin wounded me four times before I could kill it.  Wherever Snurd Hideflayer was, I just saved his ass.  (This left me with 11 Stamina.  Due to his ferocity this goblin got a +2 bonus to his Attack Strength, which I can't really see the point of.  Why not just give him a Skill of 9, it amounts to the same thing as far as monsters are concerned.  Either way, that's a damn tough goblin.)

I left the inn (presumably leaving my cricket-bat-flavoured drink behind), and walked out of Alasiyan just as the sun was setting.  Not wishing to sleep in the lawless town, I sought refuge in some beehive buildings nearby.  Lawlessness, however, is probably preferable to lifelessness; as I lay sleeping a rotting Night Ghoul crept up on me.  I woke up just in time to defend myself.

That defense proved inadequate, though, as the ghoul struck me four times.  Paralysis set in, and I resigned myself to the horrible fate of being eaten alive.  My adventure was over before I even made it to the desert!

THE POST-GAME
Well, there wasn't much I could do about that.  The ghoul only had a Skill of 8, while my Skill was 10, but the dice betrayed me.  I could have avoided the battle if I'd gained an invitation to the 'den of thieves', so I'll have to look out for that next time.

ATTEMPT 2

I was disappointed with such a short adventure, so I decided to have another crack at it straight away.  This time I rolled a Skill of 10, a Stamina of 18 and a Luck of 11.  Despite my high Luck, I still chose the Potion of Fortune, because I just love using it to jack my score up over 12.

Once again I claimed the Potion of Human Control and used it to get into Alasiyan without being searched by the guards.  From the dwarf nomad, I bought the glass eye, and a magic sword, which left me with 5 gold pieces.  (The sword granted a +1 bonus to my Attack Strength, which is absolutely the right way for an FF adventure to handle magic weapons.  Give Paul Struth a medal, he gets it.)

I ignored the house guarded by the hobgoblins, and went to the tavern.  This time, after buying another spliced liquor, I stayed at the bar.  (Maybe it tastes like the delicious icy pole/ice cream?  The red ones are the best.)  A gnoll and a lizard-man started hassling me.  "He doesn't like you," said the gnoll.  "I don't like you either."  I knows fightin' words when I hears 'em, so I drew my sword and - despite each of them wounding me once - slaughtered the both of them.  (This left me with 14 Stamina, and a fervent hope that this adventure might stop quoting Star Wars at me.)

I left the inn, sought refuge in a hut, and was attacked by the Night Ghoul.  This time it only wounded me once before my enchanted sword sent it shrieking back to its grave.  After a fitful night's sleep, it was time to head out into the desert.

I chose to go up a rise rather than continue along the flat ground, and at the top I spied some tents.  Using my magic glass eye I had a closer look, and saw a bunch of cat-man hybrids.  I should have been watching my back, though, because another of them had snuck up behind me intending to crack my head open.  I avoided the blow (with a successful Luck test), but dropped my glass eye.  The creature was a Lauper, and it was accompanied by a vicious war-cat.  Miraculously, I was able to fight back and kill them at the cost of but a single wound.  (This left me with a Stamina of 12, and a Luck of 9.  Also, more bloody Star Wars.  Hey, Paul Struth!  Star Wars wasn't cool in 1985!)

A loin-cloth shot for the furries.

Searching the bodies of my foes, I found a Ring of Animal Control and a pair of iron war claws.  I stopped to eat a provision (restoring my Stamina to 16) before moving on along the rise.  Soon the rise sloped down and came to a road, where I could hear the sound of cartwheels.  Three lizard-men were riding in the cart, so I hid and let them pass by.

Lizard-men with horses weirds me out.

The road soon came to a gully.  Without the magic glass eye, I was taken by surprise by a trio of nomads, who shot me with blowdarts.  One of the darts hit me (as I failed one of a series of Luck tests), and I was knocked out.  When I woke up, they had stolen my sword, my Ring of Animal Control, and my war claws.  I drank my Potion of Fortune in order to restore my luck.  (This raised my Luck score to 12.  I got to choose which three items the nomads stole, so I rather cheekily had them nick my regular, non-magical sword.  It counts!)

Night was falling as I came to a weird castle.  (At this point, I was told to lose 5 Stamina if I hadn't eaten since leaving Alasiyan.  Outside of Sorcery!, where they don't restore Stamina, this isn't how provisions usually work in FF.  This adventure combines the Stamina boost for eating one with a Stamina loss for not eating, which I take issue with for no other reason than traditionalism.  It's one or the other, Struth!)

If I made a castle out of clay,it would look a lot like this.

I walked up to the castle, and decided to light my lantern and step through the open gates.  (I have a lantern now?)  Suddenly the gates shut behind me, and out of the dark loomed two huge Bugbears.  Wielding my magic sword I cut them down, though one of them was able to wound me (leaving me with 12 Stamina).

Tim Sell needs to learn what plate mail looks like.

The corridor continued, ending at some stairs that led down to a chamber full of Nomads, Bugbears, Laupers, and the like.  I was caught by a Bugbear and dragged in front of a Fire Giant who named himself Kuperan, Monarch of the Sands.  Beside the Giant was an Orc Mercenary.  I drew my sword, but rather than fight me himself, the Giant summoned Talus, his Bronze Golem.  The Golem was filled with liquid fire, and every time I wounded it the spraying blood burned me.  It only struck me once, but I was badly hurt by the time I had defeated Talus.  (My Stamina was reduced to 5.  Winning the fight would have granted me 3 Luck points, but I was already at maximum.)

What is with that Orc?  I don't even know where to begin.

The enraged Giant told me that I'd be given as a tribute to the Earth Demon tomorrow, and I was marched off to a cell.  The guards took my sword, but left my other gear, so I ate a meal (restoring my Stamina to 9.)  I tried to escape, but was unable to find a way out, and was greatly fatigued when the guards came to fetch me in the morning (leaving me with 7 Stamina).

I was dragged outside, where a pack of griffons was waiting.  Rather than go peacefully, I tried to make a run for it.  A guard fired an arrow at me, but it missed (due to a successful Luck test).  Now I was lost in the desert though.  My water dried up, and my food went bad.  Luckily (another successful Luck test) a merchant caravan crossed my path, and offered to take me back to Alasiyan for 5 gold pieces.  I didn't have that much gold, so presumably the buggers left me to die.  Regardless, my adventure would have been over either way.

THE POST-GAME
Well, that was a lot of stumbling around with no particular idea of what exactly I'm looking for.  I know I need to find a cave, but I have no idea if I was on the right track or not.  Hopefully next time I'll make more progress, or get a better idea of where I'm meant to go. I suspect that maybe I shouldn't have escaped at the end there, but I can test that next time around.