Sorcery! Attempt 10 - Book 4: The Crown of Kings

And so at last, I have come to the final book of Steve Jackson's Sorcery! epic. I've only played through this book once, and that was about 15 years ago, so my memories are very hazy. I remember it being pretty difficult, which is not at all encouraging.

While I'm on the subject of hazy memories, here's my last post on The Seven Serpents, the third Sorcery! book. I posted about it all the way back in September 2016, almost three whole years ago, and it's safe to say that I remembered very little about the status of my character. Before I could begin my epic quest to retrieve the Crown of Kings, I had to undertake another epic quest to find the exercise book containing my old Adventure Sheet. Luckily for me it was right on top of my pile of old notebooks, and I was able to get going without too much of a hassle.  Here's what my guy looks like currently:

SKILL: 7
STAMINA 22
LUCK: 11

GOLD PIECES: 1
PROVISIONS: 0

CLUES: Beware Mucalytic Breath

EQUIPMENT: Sword (-1 AS), Large Backpack, Broadsword (+1 AS), Bamboo Pipe, Silver Key '111', Armband of Swordmastery (+2 AS), Skullcap, Green Wig, Lucky Talisman (no Luck lost when unlucky), Serpent Ring '130', Galehorn, Hewing Axe (-2 AS), Orb (Skill roll to hit before combat, breaks on an odd number), Pearl Ring (worth 10gp), Snake-Bite Antidote, Sham's Vial, Serpent Staff (-2 Skill for Serpents), Whistle '199', Lycky Charm (restores Luck)

All of my stats were at maximum, because I had prayed to Libra at the end of Book 3. A look at my last post showed that I had defeated four out of seven Serpents. All told, my guy was doing pretty well. The lack of gold and food was worrying, but perhaps not so bad now that most of my journey was done.

I considered giving myself a refresher on the spells, since it's been such a long gap between books, but in the interests of adhering to the rules I decided not to. If I was going to defeat the Archmage of Mampang and win back the Crown of Kings, I was going to do it completely by the rules.

ATTEMPT 10 CONTINUES!

I was at the base of the Zanzunu Peaks, loking up at my goal: the mist-shrouded Mampang Fortress. I figured that the journey would take about a day, but it was already evening so I set off up the trail looking for a place to take shelter from an imminent storm.  Soon enough, I came to three caverns.

I chose to enter the nearest cave, because it was smaller than the rest and I figured that any monster living inside would also have to be small. As I poked my head in, I was startled by a demonic howling from deep within. I soon got over my shock, and steeled my nerves to go inside.

I entered a larger cavern with my sword at the ready, but what awaited me was not a fierce demon, but a Jib-Jib, a small furry creature that defended itself from predators with its terrible voice. I watched in amusement as the harmless creature scurried away.

With the Jib-Jib gone I searched the shadowy recesses of the cave, and found an old bottle with a parchment inside. I couldn't read it, but I put it in my pack in case I met somebody later who might be able to do so. (I was told to subtract 20 from my current paragraph immediately upon meeting someone who might be able to help me with the parchment.)

The cave was definitely safe, so I settled down to sleep without a meal. I woke up hungry (reducing my Stamina to 19) and set off once again.

Further up the mountains, the trail split in two. To the right it continued climbing, but to the left it led to a gorge with a swaying bridge. Figuring that nobody builds a bridge in the mountains for no reason, I chose the left path, The bridge was tricky to cross, but I managed it safely (with a Luck test that reduced my score to 10).

Further along, I saw the nest of some creature in the crags overlooking the path. I climbed up for a look, and decided to ignore my fears about the inhabitants of the nest to look for treasure. Something glinting took my eye, and I retrieved a gold-backed mirror. But while I was stowing it away, some Birdmen swooped down. One of the grabbed me by the shoulder with its sharp talons, and flew me into the sky. Then it let go, and I was dashed to my death on the rocks below. My adventure was over - very quickly!

THE POST-GAME

After a three-year hiatus, I hilariously died in about five minutes. I'm pretty sure I spent more time looking for my old notes and writing my Adventure Sheet than I spent playing. Ah well, Steve did try to warn me that I should be focused on my mission rather than looking for treasure. Actually, I was hoping for some eggs so I could have more provisions. I'm not particularly looking forward to going back to the start, but perhaps it's for the best. I'd like another crack at defeating all the serpents in the previous book.