Sorcery! Attempt 6 - Book 1: The Shamutanti Hills

Despite multiple failures and some very cheap tactics on the part of writer Steve Jackson, I have returned to once more tackle the Sorcery! epic.  More specifically, I'm tackling the first book, which has proven surprisingly difficult.  Or I have proven surprisingly inept.  One of the two.

My character for Attempt 6 had a Skill of 10, a Stamina of 16 and a Luck of 10.  With scores like those, I had no excuse for failure.

I'll skim over the early stages here, because I've covered them extensively in earlier posts.  All you need to know is that I bought Glandragor's Axe, the pipes and the Blimberry Juice at the village, was given a spellbook page by the old man, and took some honey and beeswax from a beehive.

At the first junction I headed down into the valley (as there were some things I wanted to investigate in the Elvin village).  I ate a meal along the way, but pushed on through the night (leaving me with 14 Stamina), but eventually I came to the village, a ring of tents surrounding a bonfire.  There were three huts to investigate: red, green and brown.  I had already been inside the green hut in an earlier adventure, so this time I chose the red hut.

There were two boxes on a table, and no self-respecting adventurer can resist opening unattended boxes.  I tried the box on the left, but when I opened it smoke poured forth to form a thin, elf-like face.  "Stranger," it said, "you tamper with forces you know nothing of. I am aware of your quest. You cannot succeed!"

There was no way that this was good news.  Suspecting some sort of magical assault, I cast a MAG spell to protect myself (reducing my Stamina to 12).  My instincts were correct, and "Mananka" (as it called itself) was banished back into its box.

I'm fully aware that, when faced with two boxes in FF, one will be good and one will be bad.  I had already opened the bad one, so I had no hesitation in opening the other.  I was half right: inside was a key, and 5 gold pieces, but there was also a scorpion.  I grabbed for the key, and had to successfully Test My Luck to avoid being stung.  I made the roll (reducing my Luck to 9), and was able to take the key without being hurt.  The key was stamped with the number 54; I placed it in my pouch with satisfaction.  I could have tried to take the coins as well, one at a time, but the risk wasn't worth the reward.  I was happy enough with the key, so I left the village.

Soon I came to a bridge. but as I crossed a pair of Elvins started pelting me with acorns.  I didn't bother to protect myself; they were only acorns after all.  Nevertheless, the acorns were quite painful, and caused me to lose 3 Stamina (leaving me with 9).

The next village was Kristatanti, where I went to the ale-house and had a drink with an old man (which left me with 8 gold pieces).  After some good advice, he gave me a Bomba Fruit, and restored my Luck back to 10.  I bid the fellow goodnight and went to the inn, where 5 gold pieces bought me a meal and a bed for the night (restoring my Stamina to 16).

In the morning I followed the path leading past the house of Alianna, the witch.  Rescuing her from the cage proved simpler than usual, because I had found the correct key in the Elvin village (it makes sense, as the little buggers were the ones who locked her up).  Normally I would take the reward of magic items from her, but this time I opted to enhance my combat prowess.  She rewarded me with Ragnar's Armband of Swordmastery, which would grant me a +2 bonus to Attack Strength when using a sword.  She also gave me 7 gold pieces, raising my total to 10.

Not one to ruin her reputation, however, Alianna sicced a Wood Golem on me.  I wanted to try out my new armband, so I fought it rather than cast a spell.  The Golem hit me once (reducing my Stamina to 14), but with me newfound skill I was able to quickly reduce my foe to kindling.

I continued on to Dhumpus, where I ignored the villagers who wanted me to abandon my sword.  I bought  a skullcap at a local market (leaving me with 6gp) and continued on. I decided to stay at the inn, which cost me 3gp (leaving me with 3), and restored my Stamina back to 16.

Resting at the inn was a good move, because it opened up a path that I hadn't been shown before.  I could still take the path towards the plague village, but instead I took the new path into the woods.  Later I came to a bridge between two hills.  When I tried to cross it, an old man stepped out and confronted me.

The man's name was Vancass, and in the form of a rhyme he demanded that I answer two questions before he would let me pass.  I decided to try my luck.  His first question was easy: what is the name of the witch I had encountered earlier?  I answered Alianna, which was of course correct.  The next question asked me to name three villages I had passed through, in the order I came to them.  Luckily I had been mapping, so I had all of their names written down.  He allowed me to pass and also told me another rhyme, that warned me against turning right in the Manticore's maze.  (I could have used this advice in my last game...)

Further on at the next village is where Jann the Minimite hooked up with me, and I returned Glandragor's Axe to its owner.  One quick trip to the Crystal Waterfall, and all of my scores were back to their initial levels.

I camped outside for the night before continuing on (and lost Stamina due to not eating, reducing my score to 13), turning to the west at the next junction.  I was ambushed by the assassin Flanker, quickly beat him, and spared his life to gain his help in the next book.  Then I passed the hut with the old witch, and got her to get rid of Jann for me.

I soon came to the Svinn village, where the villagers held me captive and forced me in to rescuing the chieftain's daughter from the Manticore in some nearby caves.  Now that I knew not to take any right turns, this was simple.  I just kept turning left, found the chieftain's daughter, and met the Manticore in battle.  One FOF spell to block its tail, one HOT spell to burn it with fire, and one WAL spell to keep it contained, and I was able to escape.  Finally, I had completed The Shamutanti Hills.

I haven't quite explored everything in this book yet, but I'm getting there.  There's another tent in the Elvin village, a cave in the realm of the Giants, the forest in the area near Vancass's bridge...  I'm sure there are other things I've forgotten about.  But I feel like I've sussed out the best path through this book.  In the future I'll be glossing over it quickly, unless I discover something new.  It's time to pick up the pace so that I can get through the second book.