As a reminder, I had the following initial stats: a Skill of 12, a Stamina of 20, and a Luck of 9. The Gods had restored me with 15 Stamina, and my Luck was currently at 8. I was carrying a sword, leather armour, a backpack, flint & tinder, five torches, a golden apple, chainmail armour, a ring of skill, 15 gold pieces, and 5 provisions.
I was also in possession of the Talisman of Death, which I was trying to take away from the world of Orb by entering a portal to my home-world of Earth. The aforementioned Dragon was the guardian of said portal, so I was going to have to find a way to defeat it. Nothing obvious had presented itself in my last attempt, and the final encounter was an instant death that gave me no chance to avoid being killed. Whatever the solution is, I have no clue. I'll just have to try a different path and hope for the best.
* * *
I woke up from my demise outside of Greyguilds, and promptly set off towards Mount Star-Reach. After a night's sleep in a hay-rick (restoring my Stamina to 17) I was faced with three paths: south-east across the moors; south along an old trade road; or east towards some hills. Recalling that my path east had led to a disastrous flight on Griffin-back, I decided to head directly for my goal across the moors.
The Talisman grew heavier with every step, and I was glad when I was able to make camp for the night. Rest was not to come, though, as I was awakened by the wild neighing of a black horse, bearing a spectral rider.
I lit one of my torches and stood my ground. The Wraith reined in its hell-steed, warned me that he would return with reinforcements, and rode away. My sleep was troubled for the rest of the night (and my Stamina was only restored to 18).
The Talisman grew even heavier the next day, so I took it out to examine it. Upon the Talisman was a glowing inscription: "I am Death's Talisman. I am protected by the Faceless Ones who serve my wielder." When night fell, I built a large fire, ringed my camp with lit torches, and waited. Six mounted Wraiths appeared, demanding the Talisman. Rather than give it up, I held it aloft and tried to use its power to banish the creatures. The Wraiths were dispersed, and I was finally able to sleep easily (restoring my Stamina to 20).
I arrived at the plateau at the base of Mount Star-Reach, and climbed some steps carved into the rock. Some way up I came to a waterfall, and decided to investigate. Behind the waterfall was a cave entrance, and I decided to enter.
At the back of the cave was a door, with a frieze depicting a red dragon and an ivory spear. The door opened easily, and I soon came to a junction with three paths onward. I chose the left-hand path, which soon turned right and came to a chamber with a rectangular pillar. An inscription on the pillar read as follow: "Put yourself in the place of the monkey. To the left is danger; the idle shall act."
As I was reading, a trickle of sand alerted me to the imminent collapse of the roof above. A slab of rock was closing off the far exit, but I was able to hurl myself through the narrowing gap just in time (with a successful Skill check).
The tunnel beyond led to an iron door, with a message painted in shimmering letters: "One only can be read". Through the door was a chamber with three pillars, and three more doors leading onward. One pillar was rectangular, one was square, and one was circular. I approached the square pillar and read the message inscribed on it: "Furthest from the poison of the scarab beetle, You will find a venom more deadly than dragon fire". The pillars disappeared.
Only one of the doors opened, so I went through it into a wide hall. In the middle of the hall was a hideous idol.
On the opposite wall were four doors, each with a symbol: a serpent door, a monkey door, a scarab beetle door, and a dragon door. Based on the clues I had found, I figured that the serpent door would be deadly: it was left of the monkey door, and also furthest from the scarab door. The scarab had also been described as poison, so I ruled it out as well. That left the dragon and the monkey doors, and I chose the monkey.
There was nothing beyond but a blank wall, so I went to the dragon door. No sooner had I entered than a portcullis crashed down behind me, sealing the exit. The passage led to a dank crypt, where I found a sarcophagus with a mummified warrior inside. Clutched in the warrior's grasp were a sword and a spear. I decided to take the spear. It was well made, and I saw the word 'Dragonsbane' carved on the shaft.
Before I could leave, the dead warrior shambled to its feet, and I was being attacked by a Mummy (Skill 8, Stamina 10). It struck me one blow (reducing my Stamina to 17), but with my spear I was able to make short work of it. At the base of the sarcophagus I found a secret tunnel, and followed a winding path that led back to the top of the waterfall.
I continued climbing the steps, but as I neared the top several boulders came crashing down. I was able to dodge them (with a successful Skill check), and when I finally reached the top of the plateau I found the culprits: a group of Hogmen! I tried to show them that I meant no harm, and when they gave no reaction I offered them some dried meat. The Hogmen took the meat (leaving me with 4 provisions), but it turned out that I had given them salted pork, and they were highly offended. They demanded that I go with them, and I decided not to resist.
They took me to their village, a collection of huts and a two-storey building of stone. Sitting on a throne nearby was the chief of the Hogmen.
He demanded to know my reason for being on the plateau. I told him that I was searching for the portal on Mount Star-Reach, and the head-hog said that he would help me, as they were eager to be rid of the portal's dragon guardian. Apparently the only way to survive the dragon's fire was with a shield made from its own scales, so the Hogmen gave me the gum of an amber pine that I could use to bind them together. After a meal of nuts and fruit (restoring my Stamina to 19) I took my leave and entered the dragon's lair.
Aided by memories of my last foray into this place, I chose to take a narrow side tunnel rather than the main tunnel. It led around the side of the dragon, and I was able to grab some of its scales. Ignoring the dragon's treasure, I high-tailed it back outside, where I was able to use the gum that the Hogmen had given me to fashion a dragon-scale shield.
Once again I reached the top of Mount Star-Reach, and stood before the portal leading back to Earth. Alas, once again the dragon swooped down to confront me.
I tried to explain that the God of Death was a threat to the world, but the dragon was uninterested, claiming to be above death. I told it about the Talisman, and for some reason that shook the Dragon more. It said that weapons could not be taken through the portal, and that I would have to discard all my arms and armour before stepping through.
I was no fool, and I told the dragon as much. Still, it insisted, and its persuasive voice almost convinced me (I was able to make a successful Luck test to avoid being charmed, leaving my Luck score at 7). It was time for battle.
The dragon breathed, but I was able to survive the blaze behind my shield. It tried to swipe the shield away from me with a claw, but I was too swift, and retaliated with my spear. The dragon (Skill 12, Stamina 20) was tough, and dealt me many grievous wounds (reducing my Stamina all the way to 9). But the spear was a mighty weapon, and with only three strikes I was able to beat the creature into submission. (The spear deals 5 points of damage per hit, meaning that I only had to win three Attack Rounds before it surrendered.)
Before I could kill the dragon, its form changed to that of an old man. The old man explained that he had been cursed into the form of a dragon upon entering the portal, but that now he was free, and small enough to return to his home-world. I didn't trust him, and besides, one dead old man was small potatoes next to getting rid of the Talisman. I stabbed the old man with my spear, and instantly he transformed back into a dragon, showing his true form.
I stepped through the portal, and found myself in a ring of standing stones on Earth. The two gods who had summoned me - Fate and Time - gave me their thanks. I had taken the Talisman from Orb, and become the savior of that world! Never mind that the portal was there, and servants of Death would be able to come through whenever they liked. Everything was completely fine, and nothing could possibly go wrong.
THE POST-GAME
That wasn't too hard! All I had to do was take a more direct path to my goal and everything I needed was pretty much given to me. Most of the time this book is very forgiving, and takes great pains to ensure that its various paths all lead to victory. It's weird that one of the three choices after Greyguilds leads to certain death; it's essentially a "walking dead" scenario, where you have to play through a bunch of tough fights only to find that you had no hope of winning. A lot of other books do it as well, but it feels out of whack with the rest of Talisman of Death.
The next post will give my final thoughts on the book. I won't be doing an Exploring Titan-style post for this one, mostly because it's not set on Titan but also because it's so richly detailed that such a post would take forever. So there's one post to go, and then it's on to the majesty that is Space Assassin.
Bravo! Good stuff. Fate & Time - it doesn't get bigger than that
ReplyDeleteWell done! As an aside I find it interesting both the dragon and (more weirdly) the griffin are illustrated as bipeds. Some unusual art choices in this book.
ReplyDelete