Temple of Terror - Attempt 7

So I'm back with my seventh attempt at Ian Livingstone's Temple of Terror.  But wait, I hear my small cadre of loyal readers ask, what happened to Attempt 6?  Unfortunately, that was a quick one, and barely worth writing up.  I rolled good stats (Skill 11, Stamina 19, Luck 11), and went into it with a lot of confidence, but around the time I made it into the desert I got into some trouble.  First, I rolled a double 6 on my Luck test when I was caught in a sandstorm; this resulted in my Skill being reduced to 10.  Not long after that, I had to fight the Giant Sandworm, and it didn't go so well.  Our Skill scores were even, but the Sandworm's higher Stamina won out in the end.  It was a promising character, but sometimes there's nothing you can do when the dice turn against you.

I was having good luck rolling my stats though, and that luck continued into Attempt 7: I rolled a Skill of 11, a Stamina of 23, and a Luck of 12.  With stats like those, I definitely had a good shot of making it all the way to the end of the book.  For my spells I chose Open Door, Read Symbols, Fire, and Detect Trap.  In Attempt 6 I'd taken Magic Arrow to see if it could get me around the tedious fight with the trio of Needle Flies; it did, but at the cost of a whopping 6 Stamina.  So I decided not to bother with Magic Arrow any longer, and focus on spells that would protect me from danger.

I took my usual route through Port Blacksand, heading south via pirate ship and dwarven warship.  Once I was dropped off in the desert I killed the Needle Flies with my sword, found a golden key on the body of a dead man, traded a silver button to a traveller for a canister of water, and found a brass handbell after weathering a sandstorm.  From the nomad merchant Abjul I purchased an onyx egg, a crystal key, a bone flute, and an ivory beetle charm.  By this point I had a Stamina of 21, a Luck of 11, 9 provisions remaining, and 1 gold piece.

Following that, I was attacked by the Giant Sandworm (Skill 10, Stamina 20); this time I made short work of it, taking but a single wound before I killed it (leaving me with 19 Stamina).  I took one of its teeth as a souvenir.

I used a Fire spell to shelter from the overnight cold (reducing my Stamina to 18), ignored an oasis, and suffered from heatstroke (leaving me with a Skill of 10), but eventually made it to the lost city of Vatos.  The above sequence (further embellished in previous entries) is pretty much what I'll be doing in every game from now on.  I won't bother going over it again in future posts, unless something out of the ordinary happens because of dice rolls.

I gained entrance to Vatos using an Open Door spell (reducing my Stamina to 16), crossed a courtyard and went down some stairs. At the bottom of the stairs I found an iron helmet (restoring my Skill back to 11).  I should note at this point that I'm changing the way I record my Skill score.  Rather than applying bonuses from items directly to the score, I'm recording them separately, and using them where appropriate. In the case of this helmet, the bonus would apply in battle but not when jumping a pit, for instance.  I'm still adhering to the rule that I can't exceed my initial Skill score, but this does allow me to mitigate some Skill penalties when I have multiple Skill-boosting items.  It's my way of fighting against the bone-headed decision many FF writers make to have these items boost Skill and not Attack Strength; adhering to the latter would solve a lot of game balance issues that the series has.

Anyway, after an eerie encounter with the Messenger of Death, I was faced with a T-junction and some drapes.  I pulled back the drapes, exposing a door, and went inside.  There I found a bare room with a bucket hanging from the ceiling, but before I could examine the bucket I was attacked by a Giant Centipede (Skill 9, Stamina 7).  It struck me twice (reducing my Stamina to 12) before I could kill it.  Cutting down the bucket, I found a pile of bones, one of which was carved into the shape of a dragon. I had found the first of the dragon artefacts that I was looking for.

Leaving the room through a door in the opposite wall, I made my way down a corridor until I reached the edge of a deep pit.  Without a Jump spell I was forced to leap across, and I managed to do so with a good run-up. (This required a roll against my Skill, which was effectively 10 in this case; remember, no bonus from that helmet.)

Further north I encountered an Eye Stinger, a floating spiny ball with a single hypnotic eye.  Not wishing to get close to its poisoned spines, I rummaged through my pack for an object to use against it. My hand closed on the onyx egg I had purchased from Abjul, and when I brought it forth the Eye Stinger stopped in mid-air with its eye closed. I ran past while it was immobilised.

Further north was an iron grille, which I decided to ignore (because looking at it reveals one of the letters left by the Messenger of Death).  At the next junction, I turned left, and followed the corridor until it turned sharply to the right.

In the distance, I could see a Lizard Man with a curved sword guarding some sacks piled against the wall. With no Creature Sleep spell to use against it, I had no choice but to attack with my sword.  The Lizard Man (Skill 9, Stamina 8) was easy enough to kill, but the sacks it was guarding contained only spices and grain.  In its clothes, though, I found an iron key, which I pocketed before moving on to another junction, where I turned left.

The corridor ended at a ladder, which led up through a hole in the ceiling.  I climbed up into a small, cluttered room lit by a single candle.  A gnome sprung up from the corner, warding me off with a wooden pole.

I talked to the gnome to calm him down, and we chatted for a while.  He told me that he had stumbled across Vatos years ago, and decided to stay, living as a scavenger.  At first Vatos had been mostly empty, but gradually people were drawn to it, and now there was a High Priestess living here, who would occasionally send her slaves to raid passing merchant caravans.  I asked him about Malbordus, but he knew nothing.  Instead, he offered to trade with me, asking if I had "one of those fancy things you look through to make other things seem a lot closer than they really are".  I gave him my brass telescope (which I had taken from some robbers in Port Blacksand), and in return he gave me a crystal dragon. I had now found two of the five artefacts I was looking for.

Leaving the gnome, I climbed down the ladder and made my way back to the  junction, heading right this time.  The passage opened into a dungy room, where two Rat Men were chewing on the carcass of a goblin. They immediately snatched up swords and attacked me, and I had no choice but to fight back.  The Rat Men (Skill 5, Stamina 5 and Skill 5, Stamina 4) were weak enemies, and I killed them with ease.  In their pockets I found 3 gold pieces (raising my total to 4) and a monkey's tail.

There were two arches leading from the room. I chose the one to the right, and immediately an inner voice told me to cast my Detect Traps spell. I did so (reducing my Stamina to 10), and discovered that the archway was an illusion hiding a pit.  I took the left archway instead.  (If knowing the spell gives me a warning of when I need to cast the spell, why do I need to cast the spell at all?  Couldn't I just back off when the warning sounds in my head?  Or is the spell-casting an involuntary reflex?)  Before moving on I ate two provisions (leaving me with 8, and a Stamina of 18).

The corridor through the arch soon joined up with another. Looking left I could see that the floor was covered with glass (the result of a prankster who loves hurling cursed scrolls in bottles at people, who I'd encountered in an earlier game), so I went left. I came to another T-junction, and turned right.  I was soon confronted by a pair of Skeleton Warriors (Skill 7, Stamina 5 and Skill 6, Stamina 6), the second of which managed to wound me a couple of times (reducing my Stamina to 14).  I took a shield from one of the Skeletons (giving me a +1 Skill bonus that I couldn't yet take advantage of).  The corridor ended at a wooden door, which I was able to unlock with an iron key.  Inside was a room with some empty caskets, and a clay goblet which I took with me.

Returning to the junction and heading left, I came to an ornate door in the right wall.  It opened into a room with scratched up walls, and I didn't have long to explore before a Death Dog bounded in from an arch in the far wall.  The Death Dog (Skill 9, Stamina 10) was tough, and wounded me three times before I could kill it (leaving me with a Stamina of 8).  After the battle I ate three provisions to restore my strength (leaving me with 5, and bringing my Stamina back up to 20).

In the Death Dog's lair I found a dark tunnel, which I decided to explore (not using my lantern for some reason).  I continued crawling in the dark, until my instincts warned me to cast a Detect Trap spell (reducing my Stamina to 18); the tunnel was trapped with a crossbow and a tripwire.  I was able to avoid them both and continue along the tunnel.

It opened into a dusty room, with a door on the opposite side.  As I crossed the room my head was filled with nightmarish images of my own burning flesh, and I lapsed into unconsciousness. When I later woke up, I found that my hands were trembling, and I had lost much of my courage.  (This reduced my Skill by 3, leaving me with a Skill of 7; with my helmet and shield, that made my Skill in combat a 9.)

Leaving the room into a corridor, I saw some dancing lights to the right and went to investigate.  They were Giant Fireflies (Skill 5, Stamina 4, Skill 5, Stamina 5, and Skill 4, Stamina 6), which buzzed in to attack me as I approached.  One of them gave me an electric shock during the battle (reducing me to 14 Stamina), but I was still able to kill them all.  (On any hit, a Giant Firefly had a 50/50 shot of zapping me and delivering an extra 2 points of damage.)

The corridor opened into a large chamber, with a bronze idol in the middle.  The idol was shaped like a man, with a warhammer raised over its left shoulder.  I passed the idol on the side where the hammer was raised, and passed through the room safely.

The tunnel started to slope downwards, until it ended at the edge of a flooded room.  There was a tunnel continuing on the far side, so I waded into the water to cross the room. As soon as I was waist-deep, a pair of tentacles burst from the water and tried to drag me down. The Tentacled Thing (Skill 8, Stamina 10) hit me once (reducing my Stamina to 12), but with a lot of luck I was able to kill it before I was dragged under.  (I had to kill this creature in a number of rounds less than my current Skill. With my current Skill being 7 I knew I'd be cutting it fine, so I used my Luck twice in the battle to increase my damage. This left me with a Luck of 9.)

The water started to turn black and vaporous, so I left quickly.  I ignored a corridor to the left, and kept going straight. I came to a dead end, with a single candle in an alcove, and something glistening behind it.  That something was a silver boxed etched with a dragon motif, and inside was a small silver dragon statuette. I had found the third of the artefacts.  Happy with my find, I returned to the junction and turned right.

In the distance was a cloaked figure carrying a lantern.  It didn't respond to my calls, and as I drew nearer it pulled back its hood to reveal a gaunt face and sunken, blood-red eyes: a Phantom!  I survived its powerful stare (by rolling less than my Skill on two dice), and decided to look through my backpack for an object to use against it.  I pulled forth a silver button and hurled it at the Phantom, which shriveled away to dust (restoring my Luck to 10).

At the next junction, I turned right along a corridor lined with tapestries.  I took one of them with me, which depicted a phoenix rising from the ashes.  Soon I came to a chair carved in the shape of a sphinx, and decided to take a seat.  The chair apparently had mysterious powers, but I was fortunate (due to a Luck test that reduced my score to 9); the chair's vibrations restored my strength (and brought my Stamina back to 16).

The corridor ended at a crescent-shaped pool, full of herbal-scented liquid.  A sign written in unfamiliar runes was on the wall, which I deciphered with a Read Symbols spell (reducing my Stamina to 15): it said DO NOT DRINK. Rather than drinking, I decided to bathe my wounds in the pool, and found it greatly soothing (restoring my Stamina to 19).

Walking back to the junction and heading left, I found myself in a corridor lined with murals.  One of them depicted a great battle between an army of undead and an army of men and dwarves; the leader of the undead was drawing away the souls of the opposing kings with a magical casket. While I studied the mural I was approached by a man who asked me if I liked his work. I replied that I did, and the artist - whose name was Murkegg - was pleased. He told me that the High Priestess Leesha was holding an art contest, with the winner earning 300 gold pieces, and the losers being put to death.  Murkegg didn't know anything about Malbordus, but he did tell me that Leesha's inner temple could be reached by walking through a curtain of golden rain. I shook Murkegg's hand, and we parted on good terms.

The corridor turned to the right, and I soon came to a door from which I could hear agonised screams.  I opened the door to investigate, and entered a torture chamber where a man was hanging from the ceiling by his wrists, being prodded by another man with a branding iron.  I leaped in to face the Torturer (Skill 8, Stamina 8), and at first the battle went in my favour.  But when he was at death's door the Torturer went into a frenzy, and became a nigh-unstoppable killing machine.  Only when my own strength was nearly spent was I finally able to land a blow that brought him down.  (Seriously, I got this guy down to 2 Stamina and then he just went berserk; in the next 11 Attack Rounds he wounded me 8 times, and we drew three times. My Stamina was a mere 3 by the end; I ate 3 provisions to bring it back up to 15.)

I set the torture victim free, and he introduced himself as Thitta, a former servant of Leesha who was being punished for trying to escape from Vatos.  He knew nothing of Malbordus, but when I mentioned the Messenger of Death he warned me that he had seen an evil figure place something in a casket in Leesha's treasure room. I thanked him for the warning before moving on.

Further along the passage was another door, which I opened with a golden key.  In the room was the bronze head of a beautiful woman, which spoke when I entered, telling me that I must answer its question or die.  It then asked me how much Leesha was offering to the winner of the art competition. I gave the answer as 300, and as a reward it issued forth a red smoke that increased my power. (This restored my Skill to 9 (11 in combat), and my Luck to 11.)

The passageway ended at a room with two doors leading forward.  I opened the left door, and entered a room with a mosaic floor.  The floor pattern was random, except near the door on the far wall, where it resembled the head of a Medusa.  The door had a box with a slot on the top, so I decided to cross the room and drop a gold piece inside.  When I did so, a panel in the door flipped open to reveal a letter T scratched into it: the Messenger of Death had struck! (This reduced my Stamina to 11.)

The room beyond was dark (that lantern is useless once again), so I had no choice but to step forward into the darkness.  As I made my way along a dark tunnel, I stumbled into a blade that cut my shin .(This reduced my Stamina to 9 and my Luck to 10. I should probably have been warned about this by my Detect Trap spell.  I ate a provision, leaving me with one remaining and restoring my Stamina to 13.)

The door at the end of the corridor opened into a musty room littered with bones and debris. As soon as I entered I was confronted by a one-eyed mutant, who shot a bolt of white light from a silver rod that burned a black patch on the floor near my feet. This was a Night Horror, stalking the corridors of Vatos for prey after dark.  Reaching into my backpack (and avoiding another bolt with a Luck test), I pulled forth a brass handbell and rang it; the resultant noise caused the Night Horror to clutch its head in pain and collapse. But when it dropped the rod, the ceiling began to lower, threatening to crush me.  I was able to unlock the door with a crystal key and escape (which required another Luck test, reducing my score to 8).

In the room beyond the floor was covered with wood shavings, and there was an elaborate carving of Vatos being menaced by Giant Sandworms.  I took a closer look, and in one of the carved buildings I found a dragon artefact made of ebony. I had found four of the artefacts I required (and my Luck was restored to 9).

The next room was lined with armour and weapons, and I interrupted a group of men ceremoniously dressing themselves in brown robes. They approached me with sickles when I entered, but I told them that I had come bearing a gift for the High Priestess Leesha.  Luckily they believed me (due to a Luck test that reduced my score to 8), but the Dark Disciples refused to allow me to take my gift to her personally. I gave them my onyx egg, and continued on.  (I got to choose which item I had to sacrifice here, so I went with one I'd already used.)

At the end of the corridor beyond I could see a shimmering golden curtain, but barring the way were four stone arms wielding curved swords.  I had no choice but to hack my way through the Swords (all with Skill 6, Stamina 6), which proved to be more tedious than it was dangerous.

The curtain was actually a shower of golden rain. There was a passage heading off to the left, but I decided to walk through the golden rain and into Leesha's inner temple.  The room beyond was opulently decorated, and guarded by a huge, bare-chested man in silk pants.  The Slave Guard (Skill 8, Stamina 8) wounded me once before I could kill him (reducing my Stamina to 11).

I was suddenly tired, and had no choice but to slump in some cushions in the corner of the room.  I refused to let myself sleep though, and soon I heard a noise coming from the corridor behind the golden rain.  I hid behind some drapes, and a white robed man entered the room. Upon seeing the dead Slave Guard he fled, and I decided it was time to move on. There was a locked door, but when I tried to cast an Open Door spell I discovered that the golden rain had robbed me of my magical abilities (it still dropped my Stamina to 9 though; I ate my last provision to restore it to 13).  I was forced to hack the lock open with my sword.

The room beyond had two doors, one with the symbol of a sun, and the other with the symbol of a moon. Each of them had writing underneath, but without the ability to cast spells I was unable to read it.  I chose the moon door at random, and continued on.

In the next room I found three clay pots, one white, one black, and one red.  I broke open the white pot and found a copper ring engraved with a lightning bolt. I put it on my finger, and suffered no untoward effects.  Feeling lucky, I opened the black pot, and inside I found a monkey's paw.  As soon as I touched the paw it grasped my wrist, and I was unable to pull away in time (due to a failed Luck test that reduced my score to 7).  The paw was cursed, and before I could prise it away it had drained my spirit (reducing my Skill to 7).

Figuring that I'd found the worst of the three options, I opened the final pot, and was shocked to see the letter E written in charcoal inside.  The Messenger of Death had struck again (reducing my Luck to 6 and my Stamina to 9).

The next room was empty, with a trapdoor in the floor.  I opened it up, and climbed down to investigate the dark room below (again not using the lantern right there in my backpack).  I could hear something dripping, and unfortunately it landed right on my head (due to a failed Luck test that reduced my score to 5).  It was an Iron Eater, and it dissolved my helmet. (This reduced my effective Skill in combat to 8.)

Climbing back up and continuing on, I came to a room filled with treasure: coins, gems, a golden casket, and a golden skeleton statuette.  I ignored the casket, remembering Thitta's warning. I did try to take some gems, but (due to a failed Luck test that reduced my score to 4) they burned my sword hand (reducing my Skill to 5 and my Stamina to 8).  Deciding that green would do me no good, I left the treasure room without further investigation.

In the corridor beyond I came to a junction, and went right. Along the way I found a bowl of grapes, which I ate (restoring my Stamina to 12).  The corridor ended at an antechamber, which was guarded by two warriors with human bodies and skeletal heads.  One of them demanded that I give good reason for intruding on the domain of Leesha.  I responded that I had brought her a Sandworm's tooth, and one of the Skeleton Men demanded that I hand it over.  I had second thoughts about this (having vague memories that I'd need it later on), so I decided to fight them.

The Skeleton Men (Skill 9, Stamina 6 and Skill 9, Stamina 8) weren't overwhelmingly powerful, but in my weakened state I was no match for them.  I managed to kill one of them, but the second eventually wore me down, and my adventure was over.

THE POST-GAME

I feel like I was pretty close to the end there, but my curiosity got the best of me.  I kept trying things that whittled down my Skill and Luck scores, and by the time I had to fight the Skeleton Men I was in a pretty bad state.  That said, I did manage to find four of the dragon statues, and I discovered a whole lot of things I need to avoid.  Next time around I'll have much better knowledge of what not to do, and I think I stand a good chance of winning the whole thing.