Talisman of Death - Attempt 1

Cover by Peter Andrew Jones

The once-peaceful world of Orb is in terrible danger. Dark forces are at work to unleash the awesome might of the Evil One - and only YOU can stop them. YOUR mission is to destroy the Talisman of Death before the dark lord's minions reach you. But beware! Time is running out...

With the first ten Fighting Fantasy books behind me, I've come to a whole new era. Previously, Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone had been the major creative forces behind the series, writing nine out of ten books and firmly establishing the tone and style. From this point onward, however, books written by those two gentlemen will be few and far between. There are plenty of good authors to come, and plenty of great books, but the quality varies a lot more going forward than it did in the past.

Thankfully, Talisman of Death is helmed by two of the most reliable gamebook writers out there: Jamie Thomson and Mark Smith.  They'll pop up again in the future of FF, and their work outside of the series - most notably the Way of the Tiger gamebooks - is also great. There are some stinkers on the way, but for now we're in safe hands.

The background to this one is a bit unusual, in that it's a fantasy adventure that's definitely not set on Titan. Nor do you play the typical adventurer. No, in this book you hail from modern day Earth, and have been whisked away by the gods of Orb to aid them in their time of need. You awaken in the Garden of the Gods, where you are met by a pale female, with a robe of many colours and an eyeless face, and a man who is at one moment old and wise, and the next an infant. The gods explain that they've brought you to Orb to stop a "fatal upset in the balance of nature", and that you of everyone on Earth have the best chance of fighting "him who would bring Chaos to Orb". With little else in the way of explanation, they send you down to the surface to get on with things. It's okay, you have a sword and somehow you know how to use it.

(As an aside, I've sometimes played this book as a sequel to House of Hell.  After all, what Earth resident would be better equipped for this quest than the one who took down the Master of the House of Drumer?)

For my first attempt at Talisman of Death, I rolled a Skill of 9, a Stamina of 16 and a Luck of 7.  Not a promising start, to be honest. My inventory included a sword, leather armour, a backpack, 10 provisions, flint & tinder, and five torches. I also had the option of one of three potions, and chose the potion of Fortune, hoping to offset my terrible Luck score. A quick skim of the rules showed that this was standard FF, with nary a rules variant to be found.

ATTEMPT 1

I awoke in a huge chamber, deep underground, and before I could get my bearings an infernal howling filled the air. I heard running footsteps approaching, and decided to hide in a nearby archway. As I neared it there was a click and a rumbling sound ahead, and a trembling beneath my feet. I stopped my headlong flight just in time, as a slab of rock crashed down from the ceiling, covering the archway completely. I drew my sword to face whatever was coming.

A shieldmaiden in chainmail burst into the room, followed by a paladin, a priest, and a wizard in a smiling golden mask. They were obviously fleeing from whatever it was that made the howls. The woman demanded to know what I was doing in the Rift, the "spawning place of all evil". I told them that I was on a quest against evil, but the priest was able to tell that I was lying with a spell. (I'm not sure why this is a lie, I thought the gods made it pretty clear.) Once again, the shieldmaiden demanded the truth, but I told them to sod off and mind their own business. After all, I didn't know who they were either.

After some deliberation, the adventurers decided to use me in their own schemes, and the masked wizard cast a spell that hypnotised me (and dropped my Luck to 6). While I was hypnotised, they had time to do some exposition at me, and I learned what was up on Orb. The minions of the god of death had long ago fashioned the Talisman of Death, which would allow them to summon their god when the time was right. That time was coming, and so the Loremasters of Serakub had sent a band of crusaders into the Rift to recover the talisman. Only these four remained, but they had succeeded. With the story over, the wizard handed me the talisman, and tasked me with returning it to my own world, out of the reach of Death's minions. The hypnotic spell forced me to accept, but I would have done it anyway, as getting home was the number one thing on my mind.

The wizard told me to head west for Greyguilds-on-the-Moor, where I might discover a way of getting home. He also gave me a pouch containing 10 gold pieces. Finally he cast a spell, and I was transported out of the Rift, but not before seeing the four adventurers overwhelmed by an onslaught of Trolls and Dark Elves. Serves them right, the hypnotising gits.

I materialised on the edge of a huge chasm; the Rift, no doubt. To my left I could see some hills, and to my right a forest that extended all the way to the hills. Reasoning that I might be pursued, I decided to get under the cover of the trees.

In the forest I soon came to a clearing, where a huge, white she-wolf was suckling two cubs. She growled at me, but I offered her some dried meat to placate her (leaving me with 9 provisions). As soon as I did, a green-robed figure stepped into the clearing, announcing that he was Wodeman, Guardian Druid of the Sacred Grove.

He gave me a blessing (which restored my Luck to 7), and also gave me a golden apple. Thanking the druid, I took my leave. (Does this encounter actually accomplish anything? The golden apple can restore 4 Stamina, but that's of equal effectiveness to the provision I just lost feeding the wolf. I guess there's a Luck bonus, but unless that golden apple is used for something else it's not really that helpful.)

For some time I forced my way through the undergrowth, reaching the hills, until I rounded a corner and saw a brown lizard with eight legs basking in the sun. Armed with an exhaustive knowledge of the AD&D Monster Manual, I realised that this was a Basilisk and left the path to find a way around it before it could turn me to stone. (This is supposed to be me, right? From Earth, with all of my knowledge? Knowing about monster stuff is pretty much all I'd be able to bring to the table here.)  The going was heavy, and I was forced to eat a provision to restore my strength (leaving me with 8).

Eventually the hills gave way to a desolate moor, where I was accosted by a band of warrior-women on horseback, who demanded to know what I was doing out here alone. Not wishing to give away my quest, I told them that I was the last survivor of an ambushed caravan, and when pressed on the caravan's departure point I told them it was Serakub.  This seemed to satisfy their captain, and she agreed to escort me to Greyguilds.

I was dropped off in Greyguilds, and soon came to the junction of Store Street and Smith Street. Continuing down Store Street, I was interrupted by a woman in green robes who wanted to know who I was and where I came from. Again not wanting to give myself away, I told her I was just passing through and hurried on.

I noticed that the stores were closing, and people were hurrying home. A carriage pulled by black mares reined in beside me, and inside I saw an empty coffin with my own name on it. The carriage door opened, and a man stepped out and introduced himself as the Envoy of Death, saying that he had come for the Talisman. As he spoke, his handsome features transformed, and he became a skeletal figure grasping a rapier.

I denied having the talisman, but the Envoy wasn't fooled. He stabbed me with his rapier, and my life felt as though it was draining away (reducing my Stamina to 14, and my Skill to 8).  I had a fight on my hands against the Envoy of Death (Skill 8, Stamina 6). We were on equal terms, but I was able to defeat him without suffering another wound (which would have drained me of Skill as well as Stamina; all but 1 would have been restored at the end of the battle).

Store Street soon turned into Booker's Walk, where I saw two grand buildings. Some young people in blue togas were entering one, and the other appeared to be a library. I entered the library, and asked to read something about the Gods. I learned about Fell-Kyrinla, swordsmistress of the Heavens (and patron of the warrior-women who had escorted me to Greyguilds); her opposite Rocheval, God of Paladins; the All-Mother, preserver of life; Anarchil, breaker of edifices, who spurns order; and Avatar the One, essence of light. (None of these seem to match the two gods I met at the beginning of the book.) By that time night was falling, so I took my leave and went back into the streets.

While searching for an inn along Booker's Walk, I stepped on an inexplicably placed man-trap, which snapped shut on my leg (reducing my Stamina to 12). Black robed figures emerged from the shadows, declaring themselves as Priests of Death, and one of them took the Talisman. Just then a group of warrior-women also appeared, and a fight broke out. One of the women beheaded the bearer of the Talisman and rode away with it. I was left to rot, my leg still caught in the man-trap.

After some time a man came along and helped me get free. He offered me a place to sleep for the night, and I accepted, having had little success with mistrusting everyone. He took me back to his bungalow, and I got a good night's sleep (restoring my Stamina to 16).

I awoke to find the man sitting, watching me. (Creep.) His name was Apothecus, and he was a sage of history. Apparently I had talked in my sleep, so I decided to tell him everything. He said that the Talisman would be in the Temple of Fell-Kyrinla, in possession of the high priestess Hawkana. I would need to steal it back at all costs, and to do that Apothecus recommended that I contact the thieves at the Red Dragon Inn. He also gave me 5 gold pieces and a ring that would increase my skill at arms (restoring my Skill to 9). Finally he invited me to dinner later that day, giving me a jade rose that I could show him as proof that I'm not a shape-changer.

I headed for the inn, and on the way passed two students in blue togas fighting. One of them dropped a brass tiger charm, but I ignored them and kept going until I reached the Red Dragon.

I paid the barman for an ale (leaving me with 14 gold), and looked around. Aside from the barman there was an old man cleaning tables, and a group of six surly men who "looked like thieves". I tried to befriend the barman, and he told me a story about a man named Heimdol, and how he was embarrassed and killed by a warrior named Tyutchev, a follower of Anarchil. Doubting the relevance of this tale, I decided to approach the thieves.

They were not welcoming, but I told them I needed help with some unfinished business which might prove profitable to them. They told me to meet them at midday tomorrow at the Thieves' Guild, via the disguised coal-hole on Hornbeam Road.

Two newcomers entered the inn, a warrior named Tyutchev and an armoured woman named Cassandra. Tyutchev went to order a drink while Cassandra sat opposite me. The thieves all scattered.

I introduced myself, and they asked what brought me to the Red Dragon. While I was thinking, Cassandra decided to throw a knife at the table right near my hand, which I'm sure was a perfectly friendly gesture. I told them I had just come for a drink, then I apologised and left. (I got a Luck bonus for surviving the Red Dragon, so I gather that the whole scene could have gone much worse.)

I decided to return for dinner with Apothecus, ignoring an offer from a young boy to make some money by helping a scholar. After showing the jade rose I was let in, and introduced to Diodorus, a friend of Apothecus. He was an expert on inter-planar travel, and told me that I could find a portal at the top of Mount Star-reach, southeast of Greyguilds. Apothecus told me that I could call on the All-Mother for aid at the time of my greatest need, so long as I was not in the temple of another god.

The next day I set off for the guild, ignoring a street magician who was performing for the crowd. I found the coal-hole on Hornbeam Road, and entered the Thieves' Guild, where I was introduced to Vagrant, the Guildmaster (and his awesome mustache).

I told Vagrant that I needed his help to steal something. He asked me what it was, and I told him that it was in the temple of Fell-Kyrinla, but I didn't want to reveal that I was after the Talisman. Vagrant thanked me, and I was suddenly shot dead by a volley of arrows.

My spirit drifted towards the Valley of Death, but I was intercepted by the two gods who had summoned me at the beginning. They offered to wind back time, placing me back on the lip of the Rift. I accepted the offer, and I was back at the start of my quest. (My stats were all restored, and my inventory was back to where it started, with the Talisman of Death back in my possession.)

This time I ignored the forest, and decided to make straight for the hills over the open plains. This was a terrible idea, as I was pursued by a band of Orcs from the south, and a band of Dark Elves from the north. I decided to hide in a sulfurous crack, hoping the vapours would conceal me. I was spotted however, and as I was drawing my sword one of the Orcs grabbed my belt pouch. The Orcs fought over the gold that spilled out, and I was able to make my escape just as the Dark Elves arrived to restore order. (I now had no gold, though.)

I came to a pool and a gnarled old willow, and felt suddenly sleepy. Unfortunately I succumbed to the suggestion to fall asleep (failing a Luck test that reduced my score to 6), and sank into the waters. I had been charmed by a Willow Weird (Skill 8, Stamina 12), which was now pummeling me as I drowned (reducing my Stamina to 12). The pain shocked me awake, and I was able to defeat the Willow Weird after a hard-fought battle (which further reduced my Stamina to 6).

I beat a hasty retreat, only to find that I was still being pursued by Dark Elves that were sniffing out my trail. I plunged into a shallow river to throw off the scent, and after a time scrambled up the opposite bank, and this seemed to throw them off. (The strain of the chase reduced my Stamina to 4.)

I had reached the moors beyond the hills, and was once again accosted by the warrior-women. This time I explained my quest to them in full. The captain demanded my sword, which I refused to give, but it was taken from me by force (reducing my Skill to 7). I was unable to resist, and so I was taken as a captive to Greyguilds.

In Greyguilds I was told that I would be taken to Hawkana. I sat quietly to see what would happen, and I was taken to the watch-house. There I met Hawkana, a striking woman who was High Priestess of Fell-Kyrinla and Marshal of the Watch. She stripped me of the Talisman and had me thrown into the street.

Out in the street I decided to go down the Street of Seven Sins. I found the Red Dragon Inn, but it was closed. Suddenly I saw footsteps appearing in a pile of sawdust. I scooped up some dirt and flung it in that direction, revealing a man-like form moving towards me. It was an Unseen Stalker (Skill 7, Stamina 8), and I would have to fight it. The Stalker wounded me once (reducing my Stamina to 2) before I could kill it with my bare hands. (I probably should have died here, but I forgot that my Skill had been reduced to do not having a sword.)

I searched for a stable to spend the night, and soon found one with an inviting bed of straw. I wolfed down three provisions (restoring my Stamina to 14) before going to sleep. In my dreams I saw the paladin from the Rift, who said that I should seek the help of the Thieves Guild. (Really? Because the buggers already killed me once.) He then told me to wake up, which was just as well, because I was about to be murdered by an armored Death Knight (Skill 10, Stamina 15).

The Death Knight was more than a match for me, and quickly had me at death's door (reducing my Stamina to 6 after I dealt him a single blow). To my amazement, the Paladin appeared, cutting the Death Knight in two with his Holy Sword. He disappeared, but the sword remained, and I was glad to claim it. (Picking it up restored my Stamina to 12, and gave me a +1 bonus to Skill).

After sleeping the rest of the night, I found a gold piece in the straw before heading off to find the thieves at the Red Dragon Inn. Once again I passed the quarreling students, and this time I decided to return their brass tiger charm. They thanked me, then kept on fighting (and my Luck was restored to 7).

At the Red Dragon, I bought a drink with my last gold piece and decided to talk to the old man cleaning tables. He warned me that the inn was dangerous, which was hardly news, and I went to talk to the thieves again. After organising a meeting I once again met Tyutchev and Cassandra. I tried to leave immediately, but Tyutchev told me to stay. I did so, and then told him I was looking for some thieves. Tyutchev told me he was a thief, but was needed at his temple and wasn't interested in helping me. I took this as an opportunity to get the hell out of there (and restored my Luck to 7).

With no invitation from Apothecus this time, I took a walk down Merchant Street. I saw an Alchemist Shop, but had no gold to buy anything. Heading down Carriage Street I came to an inn called the Silver Trinket. It looked much nicer than the Red Dragon, so I went inside, and was allowed to eat and rest as long as I did the washing up (restoring my Stamina to 16).

The next day I went to the Thieves' Guild, and this time I told Vagrant all about the Talisman of Death. He was intrigued, and after a few hours I was ready to sneak into the temple of Fell-Kyrinla with a posse at my back.

The thieves and I made our way inside the temple, and while one of them was disarming a trap I saw an old serving-man passing by. I decided to spare him, hoping he hadn't seen us, but I was wrong. Soon enough the alarm sounded, and my "comrades" had scattered. I bolted down some stairs, hiding behind a tapestry as a group of guards went by (this required a Luck test that reduced my score to 6; I drank my potion to bump it back up to 8).

At the bottom of the stairs another guard was on duty (Skill 7, Stamina 8). I tried to dispatch her quickly, but even with my holy sword I was too slow. The other guards came back down the stairs and overwhelmed me.

Once again my soul was winging its way to the Valley of Death, and I was given the option of turning back time.  My spirit was weary though, and I declined. My adventure was over!

THE POST-GAME
I did okay, I think, even though I made some stupid decisions that hindered me in recovering the Talisman. Too many times I was distrustful when I shouldn't have been, and as usual I did some dumb things just to see what would happen. This book does have a way of funneling you onto the right track, though, which is refreshingly forgiving. I also wonder how many times you can be resurrected; there's no means of tracking it, so it might be unlimited. It's possible that I could have just kept trying over and over, and knocked this book off in one go. This post is already mammoth enough, though, I don't need it getting any bigger.

Exploring Titan 10: The Dervish Stone

Before I get into dissecting the setting of The Dervish Stone, there's one question that needs to be answered: does it belong on Titan?  After all, it's just a mini-adventure from a spin-off magazine.  It's not written by Steve Jackson or Ian Livingstone (or even Fake Steve Jackson).  More pertinently, it features a setting with two suns, something that no other book set on Titan before or since has ever depicted.  Surely that last piece of evidence should be enough to rule it out completely?

Despite these points, I'm still inclined to consider it a part of Titan.  It's published in an official Fighting Fantasy product after all, one that's edited by Ian.  It's far from the only adventure that the two founders didn't write.  Finally, it's set in the Twin Sun Desert; on a world where there are two suns, why would any one geographical feature be singled out with that name?  None of these are ironclad reasons to set The Dervish Stone in Titan, but it has the right vibe, the ineffable feel of that setting.  It's D&D-style fantasy written under the FF rules, of course it's going to feel right.  So in it goes, at least in my head-canon.  Titan's a patchwork world, and one more patch is always welcome.

Alasiyan
This town, squatting on the edge of the deadly Twin Sun Desert, is a lawless place.  Gnolls, Lizard Men, Goblins and Hobgoblins walk the streets in plain view, and the guards seem to pay more attention to the belongings of those entering the town than the criminals inside.  It's a melting pot, where thugs, ruffians, and merchants mix with the Nomads of the Twin Sun Desert.

The place is ruled over by Gumpas, with the odd title of "Sorcerer-Governor".  He's moderately powerful, able to cast fireballs and lightning bolts, shield himself from projectiles, and turn invisible, and it seems that he craves even more power: his guards are under orders to search everyone who enters Alasiyan, and to confiscate every item of magic found.  He rules from a large house near the centre of town, where he is guarded by a troop of Hobgoblins and a Thoul (more on this creature later).  Despite this association with monsters, Gumpas's guards aren't particularly cruel when arresting people for the possession of magic items; the items are taken, and the prisoner released after half an hour or so.

The other major figure of interest in Alasiyan is never named, but he is a young man with elfin features who claims to be 379 years old.  This is apparently due to the frequent use of potions of longevity, with the implication being that he's in prison due to being discovered in possession of them. He's also a thief, operating out of a "den of thieves", and is able to steal back confiscated magic items with little difficulty.

Inside the walls, there is a prison, a market square, the aforementioned mansion and den of thieves, and the One Safe Wall Inn.  On the outskirts closest to the desert there are a collection of beehive-shaped buildings, that seem to be tombs (the Night Ghoul prowling around them would suggest as much).

Twin Sun Desert
The desert is deadly, and easy to become lost in if you venture far from well-trodden paths.  About a day's travel from Alasiyan can be found the castle of Kuperan, Monarch of the Sands.  Somewhere beyond that are some hills where a hermit dwells, and further still is the Lost Cave of the Dervishes.

There are two peoples who seem to be the main inhabitants of the desert.  The first of these are the Nomads, who are all tattooed with the mark of a twin sun.  The Nomads can be found trading goods in Alasiyan, but even so they can be dangerous; some of them wait in the rocky desert passes to ambush travellers with poison blowdarts and rob them.  They use giant centipedes called Sand-Crawlers, though whether as steeds or pack animals it's unclear.  One of the Nomads encountered is said to be "dwarfish", but I don't think that means he's actually a Dwarf; all of the other Nomads are human, so I'm assuming that this one particular Nomad is just a very small man.

The second of these people are the Laupers, a race of cat-like men who fight with vicious, trained war-cats, and wield iron claws.  Little else is known about them, except that they are hostile, and not found within Alasiyan.  It's possible that they have a special hatred for Dervishes, as the Lauper encampment holds a dagger especially enchanted for killing them.

How these two groups interact is unclear, but both of them can be found in the court of Kuperan, the Monarch of the Sands.  Kuperan is a Fire Giant, and seemingly the ruler of the desert.  He delights in forcing visitors to his castle to do battle with his personal Bronze Golem.  Those that survive, he takes into the desert to be eaten by his "Earth Demon".

There are also slavers operating in the desert, possibly affiliated with Kuperan; the track they are encountered on leads right to his castle.

The Dervishes are a mystery.  All we learn about them is that one of their priests found the Stone of Shanhara ages ago, and that they are still guarding the cave in which the diamond was hidden.

The Hermit of the Hills is the last denizen of note, and he's another cipher, mostly.  He lives alone in the hills, is known to Kuperan, and although he doesn't know where the Lost Cave of the Dervishes is, he does know where the map is located.  For no discernible reason, he won't give up this information without first making the hero stick his hand in a hole that might have a scorpion inside. 

Of the desert's geographical features, the most interesting is the Valley of Diamonds.  The floor of this valley is indeed littered with diamonds, but it has very steep walls, and a giant Roc nests on the cliffs nearby, a sure deterrent to would-be thieves.  I wonder, could the Stone of Shanhara itself come from this valley?

The Stone of Shanhara
This diamond was discovered ages ago by a wizard named Shanhara, a dervish priest.  Many people coveted it, so Shanhara hid it away in a trap-filled cave.  The location of this cave was eventually lost, although it seems that the dervishes still know where it is; one of them guards it still.  The cave was recently discovered by a man named Jakor One-Eye, although how long ago is unclear; it has to be at least long enough for Jakor's corpse to be stripped down to its skeleton.

Monsters
The area surrounding Twin Sun Desert is home to a number of the mainstays of the standard D&D/FF menagerie (hobgoblins, goblins, lizard-men), but what's interesting is that it also features a number of D&D staples that are rarely seen in FF: gnolls (men with hyena heads), bugbears (big, hairy goblins), and kobolds (smaller dog-men) are some of them, as is the Bronze Golem and its ability to spray molten metal from its wounds.  Dragons are nothing new in FF, but the Blue Dragon with its lightning breath is distinctly D&D, as are Fire Giants, and the Crab Spiders that guard the Lost Cave of the Dervishes.

Thouls are from D&D, and are a very odd combination of hobgoblin, troll and ghoul.  How they got this way is unclear; it's not even known whether they are alive or undead.  They do retain the Ghoul's ability to paralyse their enemies, however.

A Night Ghoul prowls the tombs near Alasiyan, but it's unknown whether it's any different to a regular Ghoul.  It has no abilities beyond those of the regular Ghoul, so it's probably just a slightly different name for the same creature.

The giant Rock Toad that lurks near Kuperan's castle seems to be nocturnal, and devours its prey by pulling it in with its tongue.  There have been giant toads in FF before, notably the Spit Toad from Island of the Lizard King, but nothing quite so deadly as this variety.

While sleeping in Kuperan's castle your provisions will be eaten by Hellrats, whatever those are.  Nothing is said about them that would differentiate them from regular rats.

Surprisingly, the Griffin is making its first FF appearance here.  I would have thought such a well-known mythological beast would have appeared before this.  Here, they are the standard eagle-headed/lion-bodied variety, and serve as flying steeds for Kuperan's forces.

Also making its first appearance here is the Roc.  It's basically a really, really big bird which just happens to have the map to the Stone of Shanhara woven into its nest.  There's a Giant Hawk in this adventure as well, which might just be one too many big birds.

The other monsters debuting here are the Sandcrawler, the Laupers, and their trained War-Cats.  All of these are described in more detail above, under the Twin Sun Desert.  The Sandcrawler is a Giant Centipede, and given no more description than that.  A Catwoman appeared in Forest of Doom, and may be of the same race, but Laupers are much more cat-like in appearance.  It's not clear what species the War-Cat is, but they're big enough that a Lauper can ride one.

Finally, there's the Earth Demon, which is little more than a big mouth in the desert into which Kuperan likes to throw prisoners.  This creature seems to have little connection to the Earth Demon that first appeared in Warlock magazine #1, a spirit that dwells in the ground and draws its strength from contact with the earth.  We'll just say that this version is basically the Sarlacc from Return of the Jedi, and Kuperan gave it a not-entirely-accurate name.

Other Details

There's a magic sword that was forged by Dwarves of the Copper Mountains.  Wherever they are, they're not on any of my maps of Titan.

Ylaruam was a "master mage" who lived long ago in Alasiyan.  He created the magical glass eye that can be obtained in this adventure.

Someone named Snurd Hideflayer must be a regular visitor to Alasiyan, with a knack for getting Goblins murderously angry at him.

So that's it for The Dervish Stone, after far too long a hiatus.  This was a difficult entry to write, because so few of the elements of this adventure connect in meaningful ways, and much of it is detailed only sparingly.  It introduces a few new monsters and other things to Titan, but pretty much none of it is picked up on later.  Most of the fan-sites place it in the Chaos Wastes of Khul, the Dark Continent, saying that the remnants of chaos magic make it seem as though there are two suns.  That that does seem like the best place for it: Khul really is the dumping ground for stuff that doesn't fit anywhere else.

NEXT

It's time to get back to the main series, with Talisman of Death.

The Dervish Stone: Final Thoughts

So, I'm not dead.  Nor am I maimed, ill, discomforted, or otherwise incapable of blogging.  Thus I have returned, keyboard at the ready, to continue blogging through the Fighting Fantasy series in exhaustive detail.  Rejoice, despair, or shrug apathetically.  Whichever you prefer.

When I left off I'd just completed The Dervish Stone, the adventure from Warlock #4, so I still have to do a couple of wrap-up posts to finish it off completely.  Needless to say I'm working off memories that are almost a year old here, so my recollections may be somewhat hazy.  I'll do the best I can, but this probably won't be as comprehensive as usual.

The Dervish Stone, written by Paul Struth, was a fan competition entry, with the winner of said competition awarded with publication in the magazine.  I'm not sure how old Struth was at the time, bit it's probably not a stretch to say that he was pretty young.  It's important to remember this context when reviewing the Dervish Stone, because its flaws and strengths are pretty much what you'd expect given the circumstances.

Firstly, there's no escaping it: this thing is derivative as hell.  References to Star Wars abound, from the Sarlacc to the cantina to the Stormtroopers that "don't need to see your identification".  There's even more than those three examples, sadly.  Not only that, but the last portion of the adventure - a labyrinth filled with traps guarding a large jewel - cribs shamelessly from Indiana Jones.  There's even a bit where you have to stick your hand in one of three holes, one of which contain a deadly scorpion, which is probably taken from Flash Gordon.

It's not just movies either; Struth has raided the D&D manuals for his monster roster.  Bugbears, Blue Dragons and Fire Giants are right out of D&D, while Thouls and Bronze Golems are very specifically from Basic D&D.  It's a hard thing to criticise, as Steve and Ian did much the same thing when writing The Warlock of Firetop Mountain.  Still, they had the sense to avoid some of D&D's more idiosyncratic monsters, which made it feel like a bit less of a rip-off.

There's also a slight lack of polish.  The plot - a search for a lost diamond - is right off the shelf, and doesn't really progress in a way that makes sense.  The hero finds a note that mentions the diamond, goes into town to buy some gear, then just wanders into the desert and stumbles onto the correct path.  Some more clues or guidance would really have helped here.  There's also some hiccups and strange choices going on mechanically, though perhaps those should have been picked up by the editor as well.

What the adventure does have going for it, though, is a certain level of enthusiasm.  This is particularly on display in its most thrilling encounter, a battle in the skies over a hungry Earth Demon, which sees you riding Griffons, throwing orcs to their demise, and fighting on the back of a dragon (or poisoning it with a gas capsule, as I did).  It's a lot of fun, even if finding the right path can be frustrating.

So while The Dervish Stone has its flaws, it's fairly well done in context.  It's never going to be anyone's favourite Fighting Fantasy, and it's not exactly what I'd call a hidden gem, but it is a reasonably fun adventure that a lot of FF fans probably haven't played before.  It's worth a look, so long as you can stomach all of the Star Wars references.

COOL STUFF I MISSED

I think I covered most of what this adventure has to offer in my dozen attempts.  About the only thing I didn't do was defeat the Sorcerer-Governor of Alasiyan, but as I suspected it's a pointless battle with a reward that's hardly worth the danger.

MISTAKES AND RED HERRINGS

There are a couple of instances where Skill and Stamina are mixed up, and a number of paragraphs that are almost impossible to get to, because you'll always have the Boots of Levitation by the time you reach them.  Otherwise there are no glaring errors, and no items that serve no purpose as far as I could tell.

BEST DEATH

There are 19 instant death passages in The Dervish Stone, which is a whopping number for such a small adventure.  For comparison, House of Hell only as 16 (although given the way that book loops around on itself I suspect there are many, many ways to reach those passages).  Anyway, this means I had plenty to choose from.  Most of the best ones were from the gauntlet at the end, and I chose the following:

Yep, it was the dangling corpse that got it over the line.

S.T.A.M.I.N.A. RATING

Story and Setting: For such a small adventure, the setting is quite well thought out and evocative, with the lawless town of Alasiyan perched on the edge of the deadly Twin Suns Desert.  The story's elementary stuff, though; Fighting Fantasy had already moved past simple treasure hunts by its second book.  It also lacks a little focus, as it's not clear how you should progress, or whether you're on the right track until the very end.  Even so, the set-piece battle in the skies against Kuperan's forces is very impressive.  Rating: 3 out of 7.

Toughness: The Dervish Stone was surprisingly difficult in numerous ways; I feel like I was about even on being killed by the dice versus dying due to making the wrong decision.  Still, too many of those deaths felt like I wasn't given fair warning, and once again we have an adventure that's unkind to characters with low stats.  A dozen attempts feels about right for completing a full-length FF, but for a short adventure it's too much, so I'll have to mark this one down.  Rating: 3 out of 7.

Aesthetics: I liked Tim Sell's artwork for House of Hell, but it's lacking in polish here.  The magazine format does it no favours either.  Rating: 2 out of 7.

Mechanics: This one could go either way, as for every moment where Paul Struth uses the rules well, there's another where he cocks it up.  On the whole, though, there are no glaring errors, mostly points of ambiguity, so I'm going to be generous.  Rating: 3 out of 7.

Innovation and Influence: This adventure gets a minor point for being one of the first to not be written by Jackson, Jackson or Livingstone, and another minor point for beating Temple of Terror to the desert setting by a few months.  It should probably lose a bit for ripping off George Lucas so shamelessly, though.  Rating: 2 out of 7.

NPCs and Monsters: There's actually a decent selection of monsters in this adventure, albeit ripped right out of D&D.  (Basic D&D to be precise, whereas regular FF seems to draw more from Advanced D&D.)  The characters here are pretty thin, but Kuperan and his fleet do serve as a satisfying major antagonist.  It's just too bad that so few of the encounters have anything at all to do with the Stone of Shanhara.  Rating: 3 out of 7.

Amusement: This one was decent fun to begin with, but it had certainly worn out its welcome by the end.  It's also overly linear, and if it wasn't for the battle with Kuperan I'd be marking it even lower.  Rating: 2 out of 7.

No bonus point for The Dervish Stone.  The above scores add up to 18, which doubled gives a S.T.A.M.I.N.A. Rating of 36.  This puts it equal last with the preview of Caverns of the Snow Witch, which I'm perfectly happy with.

Next week (theoretically) I'll be back to dig deeper into this adventure, with an Exploring Titan post.  Then it's back to the main series for Talisman of Death.

The Dervish Stone - Attempts 10, 11 & 12

I'm back, with another post about the inexplicably difficult adventure, The Dervish Stone.  Is it really that hard?  Is fate against me?  Or do I just really suck at Fighting Fantasy?  I don't know.  What I do know is that I am heartily sick of searching for the Stone of Shanhara in the Twin Suns Desert, and it's well past time to finish this up.

ATTEMPT 10

For this depressingly high-numbered attempt, I rolled a Skill of 10, a Stamina of 16, and a Luck of 7.  I was happy about the Skill score, but that Luck score was sure to be a killer.  I chose the Potion of Fortune and immediately drank both doses, raising my Initial score to 11.  (As an aside, how much more playable would Fighting Fantasy be if the Skill and Stamina potions allowed for raising the initial scores as well?)

I ran through this adventure with my usual routine: a quick trip through Alasiyan (buying the sword, the eyeglass and a gas capsule), fighting the Night Ghoul, helping the desert nomads with their sandcrawler, and making my way to the castle of Kuperan.  After being captured, I was seated on a griffin and flown out to become lunch for the Earth Demon.  At which point I failed a Luck test, resulting in the griffin dumping me right into the Earth Demon's maw.  I guess I was right about that Luck score, huh?

ATTEMPT 11

With a Skill of 9, a Stamina of 16, and a Luck of 10, I had a much more well-rounded character at my disposal.  I chose the Potion of Strength, and went through my usual routine up to the aerial battle with Kuperan's forces.  This time I made the required Luck test, and was able to save myself from falling into the Earth Demon.  The battle was on!

As another Griffin flew past, I managed to hurl its rider into the Demon's mouth below (with a successful Skill test).  An Orc mercenary (Kuperan's right-hand man) made a prodigious leap from the back of Kuperan's blue dragon onto my steed, and I was forced to fight him with no weapon.  The battle went poorly for me, and the Orc wounded me five times before I could knock him out (reducing my Stamina to 5).  I quickly took his sword, and also his boots (which took another Skill test).

Some Goblin archers took aim at my Griffin.  The Orc tried to leap to safety, and I took great satisfaction in watching him drop right into the Earth Demon's mouth.  My own leap, powered by the Orc's magic boots, was more successful.  Safely on the ground, I took a swig from my Potion of Strength (restoring my Stamina back to 16).  Now I had a choice: jump on the griffin carrying the goblin archers, or jump on the back of Kuperan's blue dragon?

I chose the archers, and was able to quickly dispatch them and take control of their Griffin.  Contrary to my fears, the dragon didn't then blast me with its lightning breath, and I was able to pull my Griffin alongside it and leap onto its back.

Kuperan ordered his minions to attack, and was locked in battle with two Nomads and a Hobgoblin.  The first Nomad wounded me twice, but the second I was able to kill with no trouble.  (My Stamina was now 12.)  The Bugbear was more problematic, as we were equal in prowess.  I struck the first blow, and we traded wounds until he was on death's door.  Then out of nowhere he found some sort of berserker fury, and hit me with a flurry of five wounding blows.  Not even luck could save me, as the Bugbear killed me and threw my corpse to the Earth Demon.  My adventure was over!

THE POST-GAME

Losing five attack rounds in a row is always annoying, but aside from learning some tricky dice rolling techniques there wasn't much to be done about it.  It did bring up a wrinkle in the rules though: when can you drink a potion?  The rules say you can drink them anywhere.  I tend to follow the same rules for provisions, which state you can use them at any time except when in battle.  I still had a dose of my Potion of Strength so technically - by the letter of the rules - I should have been able to pop the cork on that bad-boy and restore my Stamina back to full.  I chose not to, and will probably continue with that interpretation of the rules in the future, but I might change my mind in the future if I hit some gamebooks that are really statistically unfair.

ATTEMPT 12

Attempt 12 gave me exactly what I'd been looking for: Skill 12, Stamina 21 and Luck 9.  Knowing that there's at least one critical Luck test in the adventure, I took the Potion of Fortune.

Insanity has been defined as taking the same actions over and over again with the same negative results, so I thought I'd switch it up this time.  Rather than buying the magic sword, the glass eye and a gas capsule in Alasiyan, I bought the magic sword and three gas capsules.  There are a number of options involving the gas capsules in the adventure that I hadn't been able to try, and I wanted to check them out.

The first deviation came just before I reached Kuperan's castle.  With the glass eye you can avoid an ambush, but this time I didn't have it, and was shot at by three Nomads with blowpipes.  I had to make three Luck tests, and I failed the second one.  Poison on the dart paralysed me, and the Nomads made off with three items from my backpack.  I got to choose which, so I opted for my regular sword, one provision, and a gas capsule.  It was perhaps not within the spirit of the rules, but I'd already interpreted things to my disfavour in the last game, so it was time for things to go my way for once.

In Kuperan's castle, I was able to bluff the giant by pulling out my last remaining capsule and threatening to let it off.  I demanded information about my quest, and although Kuperan had no idea where the Lost Cave of the Dervishes was, he told me to seek out the Hermit of the Hills.  Kuperan invited me to stay the night, and I pocketed my gas capsule as his various minions went to sleep.

With the whole castle asleep, I decided to take the chance to assassinate Kuperan.  Unfortunately, I tripped on a sleeping Lizard Man, who jumped up to fight me.  He was little match for my unparalleled skill, but the battle woke up the rest of the monsters.  Kuperan forced me to fight his Bronze Golem, and I was back on the regular path leading to my capture and the Earth Demon battle. (I'd hoped to avoid the Bronze Golem fight by taking this path, but I suspect that it might be inevitable.)

I followed the same path through that battle as I had earlier, but this time, after killing the Goblin archers, I had a gas capsule.  Rather than boarding the Blue Dragon, I threw the capsule at his head.  The choking dragon banked over, tipping Kuperan and his minions into the Earth Demon's maw.  The battle was over, and I could finally get past this entirely-too-difficult section of the adventure.

(At this point I had scores of Skill 12, Stamina 13, and Luck 11.  I had 6 gold pieces, two provisions, a sword, a backpack, a lantern, leather armour and some boots of leaping.)

The blue dragon retreated to Kuperan's castle, and I flew in the opposite direction.  Eventually my Griffin grew too tired to go on, so I landed and continued on foot.  To the north I could see some hills, but there was also an obvious track heading through the desert.  Recalling Kuperan's advice about the Hermit of the Hills, I headed north.

As I reached the hills, a shriek alerted me to the attack of a Giant Hawk.  The Hawk's talons scratched my face, but I was otherwise able to kill it with ease.  (This reduced my Stamina to 11.  Before this battle, I had to roll a die, and something would have happened if I'd rolled a 6.  I have no idea if this would have been good or bad, but I suspect the latter.)

Further into the hills I came to a cave, and I decided to light my lantern and enter.  Inside I found the Hermit of the Hills, who informed me that I'd need to pass the "Test of the Scorpion" before he'd tell me anything about the Stone of Shanhara.  I agreed, and he pulled out a jar with three holes in it.  One of the holes contained a scorpion, and I had to place my hand inside one.  If I wasn't stung, I would pass.  I placed my hand inside the third hole, was not stung, and passed the test.

I'm just guessing that this is the hermit, but none of the paragraphs about him are near this image.

The Hermit didn't know where the Lost Cave of Dervishes was, but he knew where to find the map leading to it: in a nest overlooking the Valley of Diamonds.  It was getting dark at that point, so I decided to stay the night with the Hermit and set off in the morning.

In the morning I followed the Hermit's directions, finding a nest with three eggs inside.  With luck (and a Luck test that reduced my score to 10), I was able to enter the nest without breaking the eggs, and there I found the map I was looking for woven into the nest's lining.  I followed the map through some thorn bushes, and I had found the Lost Cave of the Dervishes.

That eyebrow/beard combination is serious business.

Guarding the cave was (of course) a Dervish, who I wasted no time in killing. On his body I found 3 gold pieces, a silver crucifix and a bag of sand.  For some reason I could only take two of these items, so I chose the crucifix and the sand before entering the cave. (I guess this is a trick to catch out greedy players, but I knew at this point gold pieces would be useless to me.)

The cave was home to a pair of giant Crab Spiders, which I made short work of.  Further in, I came to a place where light shone through a crack in the roof, making a pool of light on the floor.  I walked around the light, possibly avoiding some sort of trap.

Soon I came to a chasm, with a rope hanging down for convenient swinging.  I distrusted the rope, so instead I jumped across the chasm using my magic boots of leaping.  (Is it even possible to get here without the boots?) Only a few yards beyond was the chamber that housed the Stone of Shanhara.

The stone stood on a pedestal at the centre of the room.  On the far walls was a line of statues, all holding bows nocked with arrows.  The floor was made up of black and white tiles.

I made my way forward, stepping only on white tiles, and made it to the stone safely.  I could see that the pedestal was trapped, and would be set off if the weight upon it lessened.  I was able to avoid the trap by switching the diamond for my bag of sand.  With the stone in hand, I was able to safely leave the room.

When I reached the chasm again, a wall on the far side started to close, threatening to trap me inside.  I quickly jumped across with my Boots of Leaping, and (with a successful Skill test) was able to slide through the closing door.

There was no time to rest, though, as a giant boulder was rolling at me from somewhere near the cave entrance.  With luck I was able to avoid the boulder, and with more skill I was able to dodge it on the rebound (a Luck test and a Skill test, respectively).  I had finally escaped the cave, and the legendary Stone of Shanhara was in my possession.  I had won!

Uh, did I just drop it in the desert?

THE POST-GAME

Thank fuck for that.  As I had suspected, it was all fairly smooth sailing once I defeated Kuperan's forces, though it's likely that the Test of the Scorpion was a one-in-three chance of instant death, and any of those Skill or Luck tests at the end there could have done me in.  The important thing is that The Dervish Stone is beaten and I can move on.

NEXT

I'll do a Final Thoughts on The Dervish Stone, as well as an Exploring Titan, even though I'm pretty sure it's not set on Titan at all.  After that, it's back to the main series as I tackle Talisman of Death.

The Dervish Stone - Attempts 7, 8 & 9

Due to a lack of posts around here, one commenter has asked whether I've been swallowed up and lost in my quest for the Dervish Stone.  Nothing like that I'm afraid.  What I have been lost in is moving house, and some other pretty significant life changes.  The move means that I now spend about five hours a day travelling back and forth to work, so blogging time has gotten scarce.  I'll still be sticking with it, but perhaps a bit less frequently than I have in the past.  So, without further preamble, here are my next three attempts at beating The Dervish Stone.

ATTEMPT 7

For this game I rolled Skill 7, Stamina 23 and Luck 11.  A fortunate fellow, but as most readers will know there's only so much that Luck can do to offset having the lowest possible Skill.  I had little hope for this particular adventurer.

I've settled into a routine for the early stages of The Dervish Stone: find the potion of human control, use it to get past the guards into Alasiyan, buy some things from the Dwarf Nomad (the magic sword, the glass eye and a gas capsule), and ignore everything else in town.  The only thing I haven't done in Alasiyan that I'm aware of is defeat Gumpas, the sorcerer-governer.  For the moment, I've decided that he's not a crucial encounter.  Maybe if I roll a Skill of 12 I'll go back and give him what for.

Once out of Alasiyan I camped for the night, only to be attacked by a Night Ghoul.  I almost died right here; the creature hit me three times, and only through extensive use of my Luck was I able to scrape through without being paralysed.

The next morning I headed into the desert, and chose to take a rise rather than the flat path.  Eventually I could see a camp of cat-men named Laupers below, but while spying on it with my glass eye I was ambushed by another Lauper and a War-Cat.  Luck couldn't help me here.  I killed the War-Cat, but the Lauper killed me in return.

THE POST-GAME

That Skill of 7 was a guaranteed death-sentence.  That said, I should have taken the flat path.  It has no difficult encounters, and I don't think either path gets me anything useful.

ATTEMPT 8

With a Skill of 9, a Stamina of 16 and a Luck of 9, I had a somewhat more viable character.  I chose the Potion of Fortune and was off.

As before I blasted quickly through Alasiyan, and fared a bit better against the Night Ghoul: by the end of that battle I was left with a Stamina of 11, which I raised back up to 15 by eating a provision.

I chose the flat path through the desert, encountering some Nomads struggling to corral their Sandcrawler.  I helped them out, and was rewarded with 5 gold pieces (raising my total to 7).

Following the tracks of the Sandcrawler, I came to a road where I could see a wagon approaching.  I hid from the wagon until it passed. Further along, I used my glass eye to avoid some bandits, and eventually came to a castle which I grimly entered.

Two Bugbear guards accosted me, but I killed them both with a gas capsule.  I pushed on, coming to the court of the giant Kuperan, Monarch of the Sands, who forced me to do battle with his Bronze Golem, Talus.

The Bronze Golem was a strong foe, whose molten blood was a danger I could not avoid if I hoped to win.  With a great deal of luck, I was able to prevail (leaving me with 10 Stamina; my Luck would have been reduced to 6, but a bonus after the fight brought me back up to 9).  Kuperan had me dragged away to a cell, declaring that I'd be food for the Earth Demon tomorrow.

In the cell I ate a provision (restoring my Stamina to 14) and went to sleep.  While I slept, "hellrats" ate another of my provisions.  (I'm starting to think that losing Stamina by staying awake may be better than losing a provision.)

The next morning I was taken outside and loaded onto a Griffin.  Other guards were riding Griffins, and Kuperan was there mounted on a Blue Dragon.  The lot of us took to the skies, heading for the Earth Demon, a huge mouth in the ground with a tongue snaking out from it.  I decided to play along for a while until I could make my escape.

My chance came when my Griffin dived toward the Earth Demon and tried to throw me off.  Luckily (requiring a Luck test that reduced my score to 8), I was able to catch the Griffin's wing and pull myself back into the saddle.  A Griffin-mounted Lauper flew in to attack me, but I flung him from his saddle as he passed.  (I'm still unsure of the correct rule here.  Success is a roll under my Skill, but failure is a roll over my Stamina?  One of those is incorrect.  Currently, I'm doing it as a Skill roll.)

The Lauper's Griffin went shrieking out across the desert, but I ignored it.  As I pulled my own Griffin around, an Orc leaped a full 25 feet from the back of the Blue Dragon to attack me.  I was unarmed, and the Orc struck me five blows before I could knock him unconscious (leaving me with 4 Stamina).  While my Griffin flew erratically, I took the time to loot the Orc of his sword and boots.  (This required a roll against my Skill.  Why I'm taking the Orc's boots, I have no idea, but doing so restored my Luck to 9.)

Another Griffin flew by, carrying two Goblin archers who peppered my mount with arrows.  The Orc chose that moment to wake up, and make an attempt to leap to safety.  With a confused look on his face, he tumbled down into the maw of the Earth Demon.  I decided to try to make my own leap to safety, as it was pretty obvious that my Griffin was done for.  Much to my surprise, I made the jump to safety; the Orc's boots were actually Boots of Leaping.  Armed with these magic boots, I made a bold leap onto the back of the Blue Dragon, reasoning that the Goblins wouldn't risk firing at their own leader.

Three of Kuperan's guards attacked me as I landed: two Nomads and a Bugbear.  I took care of the Nomads with ease, but the Bugbear was too much for me in my weakened state, and my adventure was over.

THE POST-GAME

That's the furthest I've gotten so far, but once again the dice killed me.  I'm starting to think that I should be taking the Potion of Strength rather than Fortune, as the book has plenty of Luck bonuses throughout.  With that, I might stand a better chance of getting through the gauntlet of battles against Kuperan's forces.  Also, I'm a little worried that I made the wrong choice by jumping onto the Dragon's back, but either choice seems bad to me.  Riddled with arrows, or blasted with dragon breath?  Those are the risks I'm choosing between.

ATTEMPT 9

This time I rolled Skill 8, Stamina 16, and Luck 9.  I chose the Potion of Strength.

I'm going to skim over this game pretty quickly, because I made pretty much all the same choices as in Attempt 8.  I killed the Night Ghoul without being wounded.  The Bronze Golem was a real pain, and I was left with only 1 point of Stamina at the end of that.  I used a dose from my Potion of Strength to restore my Stamina, and stayed awake for the night.  Staying awake reduced my Stamina to 16, but it stopped the hellrats from eating one of my provisions, so it's probably a better choice.

During the battle over the Earth Demon I was doing well, until the Orc leaped onto my Griffin.  Without a sword, my Skill against him was 5, compared to his Skill of 7.  What resulted was a massacre, as he dropped me from 16 Stamina to 0 without me landing a single blow.  I tried to use my Luck to survive longer, but it did no good.  My Skill was against me, the die was against me, and possible fate itself was against me.

THE POST-GAME

Not much I could do about that, I'm sorry to say.  It's becoming apparent that I need a decent Skill score to have a chance.

I'm getting a little sick of The Dervish Stone: it's far too linear for its own good.  That said, the fight in the skies is rather exciting and well done, and reminds of the sort of set-piece battles that Joe Dever excels at in his Lone Wolf series.  Hopefully next time I'll get past it, and put this adventure to bed.

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.