It's been a couple of months since I tackled the first half of the revised version of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, as found in Warlock Magazine #1. Now that I'm covering Warlock #2, it's time to resume my quest. Have I found the right keys to unlock the Warlock's chest and claim his treasure? There's only one way to find out I suppose.
But first, here is my character as he was at the end of the first part:
SKILL: Initial - 10, Current - 10
STAMINA: Initial - 19, Current - 13
LUCK: Initial - 9, Current - 9
GOLD: 7
POTIONS: Potion of Fortune (2 doses)
PROVISIONS: 7
EQUIPMENT: Sword, Leather Armour, Backpack, Lantern, Key '125', Bow, Silver Arrow, Key '9', Boat House Keys, Key '111', Silver Dart (used before combat, hits for 2 damage on d6 roll of 1-4)
At the end of my last post on this adventure I had just fought a Wight, and I was standing at the top of a flight of stairs, which I descended to find myself in a room with three corpses. (One of which, I knew, was the Ghoul whose illustration had so terrified me as a young tacker.) I initiated a thorough search of the bodies, because in this new version of the book there could be keys anywhere, and I didn't want to miss one. I wasn't surprised when the Ghoul sat up to attack me, but nevertheless I failed my Luck test, and it scratched me with its nails (dropping my Stamina to 12 and my Luck to 8).
The battle that followed was surprisingly close, and the Ghoul managed to hit me three times before I could kill it (reducing my Stamina to 6). A fourth hit would have resulted in my paralysis, and the Ghoul eating me alive (starting with the buttocks, I kid you not). This raises the question: if it wounded me after I failed the Luck test, then hit me three more times during the battle, should I consider myself paralysed? A strict interpretation of the book's text says no, but the spirit of the rules says that I probably should. I usually rule these things based on the exact wording of the text, so I let myself live. Besides, the first scratch only did 1 point of damage, so it wasn't a full blow. I'll keep telling myself that so I feel better about rules-lawyering my way out of an instant death.
After the battle I ate a meal (leaving me with 6, and restoring my Stamina to 10). A full search of the corpses netted me 13 gold pieces, a pair of earrings worth 1gp, a piece of parchment and some holy water. The holy water restored my Stamina to 17 and my Luck to 9 (and it would have restored my Skill had I lost any). The parchment was a faded map of the Maze of Zagor, with a few cryptic notations. (I don't need a map of the Maze of Zagor. The Maze of Zagor is an intrinsic part of my psyche. I'll forget the names of my family before I forget how to navigate the Maze.)
Before continuing, I quaffed both doses of my Potion of Fortune. I didn't need it to restore my Luck, I just wanted the bonus to my Initial score. Said bonus bumped me up to 11; I really do love the double-dose potions of Warlock, and there are later books that could really use them.
After the encounter with the Ghoul I entered said Maze, and set about hitting the high points. The card-playing Dwarves were as friendly as ever, and the Mazemaster just as cowardly. I also fought the Minotaur, who proved to be surprisingly tough. He hit me five times before I could kill him, and I had to burn a Luck point to knock him off faster. After the battle I ate a meal, and search of his room turned up 8 gold pieces and key marked with the number '111'. (It's a little disappointing, to be honest, that this key is in the exact same place here as in the original. In fact, I didn't notice any changes at all in this half of the adventure. After this encounter, my Stamina was 11, and a Luck bonus had bumped that score back up to 11 as well.)
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| A new illustration of the Mazemaster from Russ Nicholson |
With the Maze behind me, I encountered the Warlock's Dragon, which I quickly dispatched with Farrigo Dimaggio's Dragonfire spell. Along the way I ate two more provisions, meaning that I would be fully refreshed for my battle with the Warlock.
Said battle proved to be quite simple. He looked impressive, but after a Luck test (reducing my score to 10) I spotted his magic cards, and burned them. With his power reduced, I was able to kill him without being hit at all (burning a Luck point in the process to get the fight over with faster). (I also remembered to use my silver dart in this battle, which I had been neglecting to do. It can be thrown before any battle, and on a die roll of 1-4 it wounds the enemy for 2 Stamina. Pretty handy.)
The Warlock was dead, and I had but to test my keys on his treasure chest. I had found four keys, marked with the following numbers: 125, 9, and two marked with 111.
The first combination I tested was 111, 111 and 125. Two of the keys worked, but the third didn't, and I was injured by a jet of acid (reducing my Stamina to 17).
The second combination I tried was 111, 111 and 9. Again, only two keys worked, and the jet of acid reduced my Stamina to 15.
The final combination I could try was 111, 125 and 9. This time only one key worked, and a pair of darts flew from the chest towards me. I dodged them with a Luck test (reducing my score to 8), but was knocked unconscious when I hit my head on the floor (reducing my Stamina to 15).
I might as well not have woken up, because those were the only keys I had. Our Hero had no recourse but to sit on the Warlock's treasure chest and have a big sook. Looks like I'll have to crack into this one again...
THE POST-GAME
Looking at the combinations above, the two correct keys I had were the ones marked with '111'. One of those was found with the Boat House keys (guarded by the Werewolf and his Dog), and the other was found in the Minotaur's room. Again, I'm disappointed that one of the correct keys is in an identical location to the original. I have a sinking feeling that the other might be the same as well, so in my next game I'll be fighting the Iron Cyclops just to find out. Be there!
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