Exploring Titan 15: Temple of Terror

It's odd to think that the fourteenth Fighting Fantasy gamebook, Temple of Terror, is just the second to be specifically written with Allansia as an established setting.  Previous books such as Deathtrap Dungeon and Island of the Lizard King had minor bits of connective tissue, but it wasn't until book 9 - Caverns of the Snow Witch - that Allansia was named and things were really stitched together into a unified whole. Since that book the series has veered off into all sorts of weird places: modern-day horror, the fantasy world of Orb, vast spaceships, Mad Max post-apocalypse.  It's been a while since the series has been to Allansia, and Ian Livingstone uses that chance to revisit some previously established favourites.  I'll check in with those before I get to the new elements that Temple of Terror introduces.

(Also, it's possible this entry might not be as thorough as the ones I've written in the past. I didn't take notes during my read-through of the book, so I'm doing most of this from memory.)

YAZTROMO

Yaztromo is described in the Background section as an eccentric wizard living alone in his tower on the edge of Darkwood Forest, practising simple magic and communicating with animals. His penchant for selling magic items - literally his entire purpose for being included in The Forest of Doom - is reiterated, and here we learn what he does with the money: he buys delicious cakes from all over Allansia. This is described as pretty much his entire contact with the outside world, but after his pet crow overhears a conversation between some Dark Elves and Malbordus he's quick to rush to the village of Stonebridge to find someone to undertake the quest.

Yaztromo just about recognises the hero of Temple of Terror, implying that it's the same character from Forest of Doom.  Given the level of their interaction, it's not unreasonable that Yaztromo would only half-remember an adventurer who stopped by for a few minutes to buy some magic items.  It's perhaps a little weirder if said adventurer made multiple visits to Yaztromo, as is possible during that adventure, but it's hardly the biggest logical problem that looping back to the start of Forest of Doom presents.

Aside from being the tale's primary quest-giver, Yaztromo also serves to teach the player some spells. This is one of the most jarring things in this book. In most fantasy fiction the learning of magic is a rigorous task, requiring years of painstaking research, but here Yaztromo teaches the hero a handful of spells in what seems like a matter of hours.  This has got to be the only instance in FF where the learning of magic is treated so flippantly. For the sake of consistency, it would have been better for Yaztromo to have offered the hero a selection of magic items, much as he did in his previous appearance.  In my head I've chalked this up as a trick Yaztromo can do, a sort of temporary bestowal of magical power on someone else.

All told, I feel like Yaztromo has been greatly softened as a character here. In his previous appearance he was quite a bit less friendly, and much more prone to transforming people that annoyed him into animals. His "crotchety wizard who just wants to be left alone" bit kind of got co-opted by Nicodemus from City of Thieves, and I guess the setting does need an active wizardly quest-giver. The Grand Wizard of Yore from Citadel of Chaos might have fit the bill, but he's a Steve Jackson creation. Of Ian Livingstone's characters, Yaztromo was probably the best bet to transition into this role.

Speaking of Nicodemus, Yaztromo steals a little personality back from him by showing some absent-minded tendencies.  In City of Thieves, Nicodemus famously gives you too many ingredients for a protection spell, then can't remember which of them you should use.  Yaztromo's blunder in this book isn't quite so bad, but having him send the Hammer of Gillibran - a weapon you need to destroy the dragon artefacts sought by Malbordus - after you've been sent on your quest is not the smartest. Being charitable, I'll say that he didn't know you'd need it beforehand, and only figured that out while doing some more research.

STONEBRIDGE, DARKWOOD FOREST AND VARIOUS RIVERS

Darkwood Forest and the dwarf village of Stonebridge are presented pretty much as they were in Forest of Doom, although the forest as depicted here is a lot less dangerous than it was. That's chalked up to the hero being accompanied by Yaztromo, but it does feel a little odd for such a previously dangerous place to be reduced to a paragraph in the Background section.

Darkwood Forest is said here to be the home of the "darkside elves" that raised Malbordus (more on them later).  They must be well hidden, because there wasn't a sign of them in Forest of Doom.

Catfish River, a few hours travel south of Darkwood Forest, made it's debut in City of Thieves. I don't believe it was ever named in that book, but I could be wrong about that. It was definitely named on the map of Allansia presented in Warlock #1, where it's shown flowing from the Moonstone Hills, south past Darkwood Forest and out to the ocean. In Temple of Terror the hero can buy passage on a trade barge heading down Catfish River to Port Blacksand.

Red River was similarly named and located on that same map. I'd always assumed it was the same river that bisects Darkwood Forest in Forest of Doom, but on the map it's shown as being much closer to Stonebridge.  I guess the river in Forest of Doom is a smaller tributary.

PORT BLACKSAND

Port Blacksand is a pretty quick stop-over in this adventure, although there's still the chance to be ambushed by cutthroats or get into a barfight with a pirate. Of particular note is that this is the first book to really feature the Black Lobster Tavern. It's become one of the more famous fixtures of Blacksand, and yet in that city's most famous outing - City of Thieves - the tavern barely featured at all. It did get a full-page illustration, but the hero of that book never went inside. The hero of Temple of Terror does get to enter, but nothing particularly out of the ordinary happens. (I'd consider being stabbed in the face by  a pirate with a broken bottle to be pretty par for the course for Port Blacksand.)

THE DESERT OF SKULLS

Like the rivers mentioned above, the Desert of Skulls first appeared on that map from Warlock #1. In this book, it's very much a mash-up of desert tropes from the real-world and adventure stories, with some fantasy monsters thrown in for good measure.

The most notable inhabitants are the Nomads the hero encounters. One of them is riding a camel on his way to join a merchant caravan, and will sell the hero a canteen of water. The other is a merchant named Abjul, who sells his exotic wares from his tent. The nomads aren't given much in the way of explanation, with an Arabian flavour being pretty much their only defining characteristic.

THE LOST CITY OF VATOS

This is the where most of the action of the adventure takes place, although it's more accurate to say that the action takes place beneath the city. Vatos being a "lost city" seems a little dubious in the context of the book. Yes, it's situated in a large desert, but the hero of the book makes a direct beeline for it without ever having to learn its location.  It's possible that Yaztromo knew the location and told the hero, but none of that's in the actual story.

Concrete information about the city is pretty scarce in Temple of Terror, but it's apparently supposed to be an abandoned ruin. It's true that it doesn't seem to have much of a population, but the buildings and the surrounding wall appear to be pretty much intact. Whatever happened to Vatos that caused people to abandon it, it went easy on the infrastructure.

There are a couple of possibilities that the book presents as to cataclysmic events that might have destroyed Vatos. The first is a mural, the description of which I'll lift wholesale: "A mass of Undead, whipped by vile Orcs, are pushing back an army of men and Dwarfs. The leader of the Undead is hidden by dark robes, apart from his fleshless, reptilian skull. His cold, evil, green eyes stare threateningly from the mural. He appears to be holding a casket which is drawing in the spirit of the king of the men and Dwarfs, for whom the battle seems lost." This could be a more general scene, or it could be a depiction of the downfall of Vatos. It's a mural painted by a visiting artist, so it really could go either way. (I've pretty much always thought of this as a reference to Ian Livingstone's Casket of Souls, but having never had access to that book I had no way of knowing. Doing a little research, I see that book is set in the world of Amarillia, so it seems unlikely.)

The second of the two options comes from another piece of artwork, an intricate wooden carving of Vatos being attacked by Giant Sandworms. Given that this one specifically depicts the city, it's much more likely to be something with historical precedent. Whether it happened before or after Vatos became a ruin, or if it even happened at all, is left up in the air. This book isn't big on explanations.

Currently, the city isn't completely abandoned, and is mostly home to those who have wandered in seeking shelter and decided to stay for various reasons. There's no law or organisation in the city, with the most powerful getting their way. At present, the most powerful faction seems to be the priesthood led by Leesha.

LEESHA AND THE PRIESTHOOD

As I just mentioned above, Leesha and her priests are the current strongest faction in Vatos. (There may not be any others, as there are no other groups mentioned in the book.)  They are said to raid passing caravans for food. I do wonder where these caravans are going. Are they simply raiding from the aforementioned Nomads, or is there trade going back and forth from the lands north and south of the desert?

Described as a beautiful young woman, Leesha appears to live a life of luxury, tended to by slaves and servants. She has some considerable magical power, at least in terms of her protection magic: the only thing that can harm her is the jagged edge of a Sandworm tooth. This protective power is displayed as she holds aloft a "black, crescent-shaped object", so it's possible that her power comes from this item rather than any magical ability on her part. She's very quick to flee once the hero pulls out the Sandworm tooth, so it might be that she doesn't have any tricks aside from that one.

Aside from general cruelty and evil, Leesha's main personality trait is a love of art. Once a year she secretly invites artists to the city to perform for her. The one she likes best is awarded 300 gold pieces, while the others are sacrificed to "the Dark One".

The question of who this Dark One is is up in the air, as the book never says. One of the Demon Princes is a possibility, but the books haven't established them as a thing yet, and specific evil gods haven't been named outside of the Sorcery! epic.  One thing we do know is that one of Leesha's priests will acknowledge your authority if you show him a tapestry with a phoenix on it.  The phoenix as a mythological creature isn't usually connected to evil, so it all seems like a weird fit and makes me wonder if Leesha has hoodwinked an already existing religion and perverted it into unwitting worship of the Dark One.

One thing we do know is that she's helping Malbordus. No doubt one of the first things he did on his quest was to get in the good graces of the most powerful person in Vatos, and get their help in finding the dragon statuettes. The true extent of their relationship is never fleshed out, but I doubt it continues much beyond Malbordus' stay in Vatos, as Leesha seems pretty content with her current power base.

THE DRAGON STATUETTES

These statuettes could each be transformed into a powerful dragon with a simple incantation. There are five of them, each made from a different material: bone, crystal, silver, wood and gold. It doesn't seem as though these materials correspond to different varieties of dragon: no matter which of them you're missing at the final encounter, the dragon that Malbordus is riding is large and black.

The main question these statuettes raise is who put them there.  My first instinct is to say that they've been there since the city fell into ruin, but I'm not sure that adds up.  They're a little thematically incongruous with the trappings of the city, for starters.  Plus their hiding places don't suggest that they've been lost there for hundreds of years.  I mean, one of them's just hanging in a wooden bucket.

It seems more plausible to me that the Dark Elves placed them there for Malbordus to find. The whole thing has been set up to test his worthiness, so why not just assume that they placed the statuettes deliberately?  It does seem a little odd to make Malbordus go and find these powerful statuettes that they already had in their possession, though. It is explained that the elf magic they want to teach him kills those unworthy to use it, so it does make sense that they want to test him first.  Whichever of these possibilities you go with there are some logical problems, but I think the second scenario works a little better.

MALBORDUS

I've mentioned before that I love Malbordus' origin. He was born during a full moon with wolves howling around his mother's forest hut, and many have used this to explain his evil nature. After his mother abandoned him, he was raised by the Dark Elves of Darkwood Forest, and discovered that he had a natural talent for wicked magic. In him the Dark Elves saw great potential, and urged his magical training so that he would one day be worthy to be taught the arcane and evil magic of the ancient Elf Lords. This magic would kill the unworthy, and so they devised a test for Malbordus to prove himself.

After that intro, there's little to be said for the guy. He does leave a trap behind for you at one point, and sends some assassins to do you in, which points to a certain ruthless pragmatism. His alliance with Leesha is an intelligent one.  His confrontation with the hero is quite brief, and the only magic he displays is a thunderclap that drains the hero's skill. Following that he relies on his swordplay, and one wonders just how extensive his powers are at this point. He's said to be able to make plants wither and die by snapping his fingers, and make animals obey his piercing gaze. He obviously knows how to awaken the dragon statuettes.  Is it possible that he doesn't know much more magic than this, prior to receiving the ancient magic of the Elf Lords?

Aside from lacking in personality traits compared to other FF villains, Malbordus is also something of a fashion victim.  Check out the ornate gear being rocked by Zagor and Balthus Dire, and compare that to the drab smock that Malbordus is stuck with.  Lift your wardrobe game Malbordus!

OTHER MONSTERS

In terms of monsters that have been seen in FF before, there's a Lizard Man, a Harpy, an Air Elemental, a Giant Eagle, a Pterodactyl, a Giant Firefly, a Giant Sandworm and a Cave Troll. There was a Basilisk in Talisman of Death, but I'm pretty sure that this is the first one appearing in a book set on Titan.  The Skeleton Warriors don't appear to be at all different from regular Skeletons.  The Giant Sandworm isn't new, but it is much, much larger than those we've seen before.

Dwarves

Dwarves aren't an unusual sight in FF, but these ones are a little odd in that they comprise the crew of a ship sailing the western coast of Allansia. They're well aware of Stonebridge and King Gillibran, though it's not clear if they are his subjects. It's difficult to see who else they'd be working for, and certainly they're far too friendly to be from the other named Dwarf village of Mirewater.  It's possible they're on their own business, or working for some human power, but the book doesn't elaborate.

Dark Elves

Dark Elves have appeared in the books before, but I believe this might be the first time they've been featured. They are said to dwell in Darkwood Forest, and to possess great elven magic. I gather that later books will make them closer to their Dungeons & Dragons version (dark-skinned and dwelling underground), but here they just seem to be elves who are evil, with nothing else to distinguish them. And as I mentioned above, their powers of stealth are so great that the hero of Forest of Doom didn't catch sight of a single one.

Tentacled Thing

This creature lives in a room submerged in murky water, and has many tentacles that it uses to try to drag the hero to their doom. It's repelled by mermaid scales, and when it's blood mixes with water it becomes an acrid, poisonous vapour. It might be some kind of Octopus, but your guess is as good as mine.

Needle Fly

Giant, wasp-like insects that can be found along the coast west of the Desert of Skulls. They don't seem to have any special abilities aside from being large and pointy.

Phantom

This undead creature roams Vatos carrying a lantern. It has gaunt, skeletal features and its blood-red gaze can paralyze the unwary and drain some of their strength. Oddly enough, the Phantom doesn't do anything to its victim once they are paralyzed; it just slinks away, allowing them to eventually recover. The Phantom can be repelled by an item made from silver, but given that it doesn't follow through on its abilities it hardly seems worth the effort.

Night Horror

A deformed, one-eyed mutant that stalks the corridors of Vatos for prey after dark. It brandishes a silver rod that can shoot bolts of deadly white light. It's described as undead at one point.  For some reason, the ringing of a brass handbell causes it great agony. Whether that's due to the noise or some magical quality of the handbell is unclear. It's tempting to say that the Night Horror is some sort of undead Cyclops that found a magic staff, but who knows? It's not going to be seen in Out of the Pit, which leads me to believe that it's probably a unique creature rather than a member of an entire race.

Death Dog

As far as I can tell, it's just a big vicious dog. That's scary enough for me.

Iron-Eater

A creature made of slime that is harmless to flesh but eats through metal. From what I gather, it tends to lurk on ceilings and drop on those passing by to devour their armour, weapons, or other metallic accoutrements.

Messenger of Death

The most memorable part of the adventure by far. The Messenger of Death is a thin, horrifying creature with ragged clothes, and thick slime filling its mouth and eye sockets. It's described as an assassin, and a sadistic killer that likes to play games with its victims. In this case, it has hidden the letters of the the word DEATH around Vatos, and if you find them all it will show up and drain away your life force. It seems a little silly, but taken in context it just about works. Malbordus uses more than one assassin, and in addition to maybe killing you this one discourages you in your search for the dragon statuettes. There's a logic to it, in a dumb fantasy gamebook kind of way.

Not a lot else is said about the creature, but I'd say it must be demonic or otherwise extraplanar in nature, bound to serve the wizard that summons it. That's pure conjecture on my part though.

Eye Stinger

A round, floating creature with scaly green skin and a single eye in its centre. It's covered in venomous spines, and it uses its gaze to paralyze victims and then sting them to death. (What it does afterwards with no mouth is anyone's guess.) It seems that a single sword blow is enough to kill one, provided the wielder avoids the spines. An onyx egg will cause it close its eye and become dormant, but as with the handbell above it's not clear if this is a due to the physical properties of the egg or some magical power it might possess.

Serpent Guard

Cool-looking enough to make it onto the cover, the Serpent Guard is a snake/man hybrid that guards the gate into Vatos. Who put it there and why is a mystery that the book doesn't answer. Leesha seems like the only answer, but she's not really into the snake motif. We don't know how long Serpent Guards live, so it could have been set there centuries ago.

Skeleton Man

Undead guardians with skeletal heads and the bodies of men. They are stronger and far more intelligent than regular Skeletons. They are described as fanatics who always fight to the death, so it's not entirely clear if they're under Leesha's control or just insanely devoted to her of their own accord. Either way, ever since I was a child who loved Skeletor I've had mad respect for any Jacked Skeletons.

Fiend

This fire-breathing creature resembles a demon or devil, and guards the storerooms of the temple. The oddest thing about it to me is that it seems to live in an urn.

Mutant Orc

This is the other assassin that Malbordus sends, a large, muscular Orc that dual-wields vicious knives.  I have no idea what makes it a mutant, but it does have a much higher Skill and Stamina than your average variety of Orc.

Rat Man

We've had a Wererat in the books before, but these guys do the rat/human hybrid thing without the transformation bit. They're just big, bipedal rat dudes that live in Vatos as scavengers, and they will happily chow down on dead goblins and dead adventurers alike.

Sand Snapper

Screw this thing. It's like a Crocodile that lives beneath the desert sands and has grabbing tentacles that it uses to try and pull you into its mouth. I'm rarely grateful to Ian Livingstone for his adventure design, but in this case I extend my thanks to him for putting this creature on the non-critical path of this book. Oddly enough, the Snapper's tentacles carry its two main nerves, and when those are severed it can no longer function and falls dead. I question this biologically, and also logically: why would a creature have its vital nerves in the appendages it uses to attack?

So, that's it for my analysis of the various setting elements of Temple of Terror.  Hopefully it met with my usual standards; I think I had enough of the book in my head to do a decent job without my usual amount of notes. For the adventures going forward I'll be back to my normal, note-taking self.

NEXT: I'll take a look at the contents Warlock #5 before delving into its solo adventure.

Temple of Terror - Final Thoughts

Covers by Chris Achilleos (Puffin edition) and
Martin McKenna (Wizard edition)

When Temple of Terror was released in 1985, the series was three years old. This isn't a particularly long stretch, but in that time Ian Livingstone produced seven different gamebooks (on top of his editorial duties for White Dwarf and whatever other things he was working on).  This is a prodigious amount of work, so it's no surprise that Temple of Terror doesn't quite feel as fresh as his earlier books.

That's not necessarily a bad thing. Livingstone's obviously enjoying bringing back characters and places from previous instalments (Yaztromo and Port Blacksand chief among them), and his knack for devious tricks and traps is not yet exhausted. From a personal perspective, I've always enjoyed the familiarity of Ian's work, and consider it the core identity and voice of the series.

Some of it's a little too familiar though.  The plot, with it's dungeon treasure hunt culminating in a battle against an evil wizard, is probably the most over-used in the series (and possibly the most over-used in gamebooks in general). It was practically the plot of the first book: just replace the warlock Zagor with Malbordus and the treasure chest keys with some dragon statuettes, garnish it with some Egyptian trappings, and you're done. The dungeon setting that comprises the bulk of the adventure isn't remarkably different from Ian's past dungeon delves, and suffers in comparison to his more inspired works such as Deathtrap Dungeon.  The desert setting is novel, but is really only a short stretch of the adventure.

There's an attempt to liven things up by giving the player the ability to cast spells, but it all feels a bit half-hearted. Most of the spells are only useful in two or three situations, and one of them never even comes up as an option. It's a far cry from Citadel of Chaos and the Sorcery! epic, where the spell-casting was a central element. The end battle of the book is technically wizard vs. wizard, but you wouldn't know it, as it pretty much comes down to a standard combat. It all feels like a missed opportunity.

The evil wizard in question, one Malbordus, gets a great backstory that's full of promise. He gets very little to do in the adventure itself though, and never displays much in the way of personality. The same goes for the priestess Leesha, who serves as a sort of sub-boss towards the end. She gets even less backstory and personality than Malbordus, and their connection (if they even have one) is never made clear.

To be honest the most memorable villain of the book, and its most inspired element, is the Messenger of Death, a horrific assassin sent by Malbordus to stalk the player. Its method of killing - a scavenger hunt where the player dies if they uncover all five letters of the word DEATH - is absurdly inefficient, but that hardly matters when you see the illustration with its oozing mouth and eye-sockets. As far as I'm concerned FF is at its best when mentally traumatising young children, and the Messenger of Death gets an A+ in that category.

In terms of design, this is very much an Ian Livingstone book with all the flaws that entails: a very linear path to victory with multiple unavoidable battles against high-Skill opponents. The fight with the Giant Sandworm is particularly annoying, especially because it couples that high Skill with a ridiculously high Stamina: even if you're good enough to beat it the fight is going to last for ages, and there's no way around it.

Reading over what I've written so far, I feel like I've been overly negative (a trait I've been accused of in real life my many). It's not a bad gamebook, but it does come across a bit like Ian Livingstone on autopilot, or more charitably like Ian has already used up his best ideas on earlier books. There's a lot to complain about when you break Ian's work down and analyse the structure and design, and the complaints I make have been pretty consistent across his books. Where he shines is in setting and details, with tricks and traps and monsters, and the sort of just-macabre-enough elements that get a 10-year-old's juices flowing. Those elements aren't shining quite as brightly here as they were in books like City of Thieves and Deathtrap Dungeon, but there's just enough of the old magic to make Temple of Terror worth a read, Even on autopilot, Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy books are still pretty good.

SPELL ANALYSIS

I went through the spells in Sorcery! to figure out which are the most useful, so I thought I might as well do the same for this book.  After all, with only ten spells and one book it's a much less daunting task.

Magic Arrow:

• Kills the Harpy
• Wounds the Pterodactyl
• Kills all three Needle Flies (albeit at a whopping cost of 6 Stamina)

Create Water:

• On the path through Port Blacksand, allows you to avoid Stamina loss due to thirst on two occasions.
• On the overland path, allows you to avoid Stamina loss due to thirst on three occasions.

Fire:

• Allows you to avoid the Basilisk.
• Negates Stamina loss due to the cold desert night.
• Lets you escape from the crushing ceiling in the Night Horror's room.

Read Symbols:

• Warns you about the demon of the beach.
• Allows you to read a cursed parchment, incurring a large Luck penalty.
• Warns you not to drink from the pool.
• In a roundabout way, if you've translated the "do not drink" sign it also lets you translate the signs on the sun and moon doors, which can help you avoid certain death.

Detect Trap:

• Warns you about the pit in the Rat Men lair.
• Warns you about the crossbow trap in the dark tunnel.

Light:

• Lets you avoid the crossbow trap in the dark tunnel.
• Lets you avoid the blade trap in the dark room, but at the cost of revealing a letter left by the Messenger of Death.

Open Door:

• Opens the door into Vatos, letting you avoid the Serpent Guard.
• Opens the door to the room with the empty caskets.
• Opens the door to the room with the bronze head that rewards you for answering a question.
• Helps you to escape from the crushing ceiling in the Night Horror's room 

Creature Sleep:

• Puts the Lizard Man to sleep.
• Puts the Disciples to sleep.

Jump:

• Allows you to jump the walls of Vatos, and avoid the Serpent Guard.
• Allows you to jump the pit after the Giant Centipede's room.

Language:

• This spell is not used even once. The option to use it never even comes up.

COOL STUFF I MISSED

Given how long and linear this book is, and the number of times I replayed it, I don't think I missed much at all.

MISTAKES AND RED HERRINGS

The only significant error in Temple of Terror involves the hammer-wielding stone statue, that animates as a Stone Golem if you pass it on the wrong side.  When you first see it, it's described as being made out of bronze. This would be a trivial mistake, except that the dying warrior you encounter shortly beforehand warns you to "beware the shadow of the stone".  I believe that warning is about the Stone Golem, but it's pretty useless when the thing it's warning you about isn't even described correctly.

There are a bunch of items that never get used.  From Abjul's stock, the Sealing-Wax, Ivory Beetle Charm, Silver Mirror, Ebony Facemask and Bone Flute are all worthless.  The Monkey's Tail that you find after defeating the Rat Men serves no purpose, which is fairly predictable.  The Clay Goblet has no use, and neither does the Knife you take from the Mutant Orc.  The one that's most irritating, though, is the Lantern.  The instructions say you have one, but whenever it would come in handy the book acts as though you're not carrying any kind of light source.  No doubt the instructions are in error here, and you're probably not supposed to have a lantern with you.

BEST DEATH

There are 24 instant death passages in Temple of Terror, and although some of them are satisfyingly gruesome there are few that are genuinely inspired.  I've gone with the Messenger of Death, partially because it's one of the best aspects of the book, but also because this death is almost impossible to get.  

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

Story & Setting: The plot involving Malbordus is standard FF fare, and the treasure hunt nature of things is already well-worn territory for the series. The setting, a ruined desert city occupied by a religious cult, had the potential to be great, but in practice it amounts to little more than another Ian Livingstone dungeon crawl. That's not necessarily a bad thing - I do love me some Livingstone - but it's hard to rate it all that highly. Rating: 3 out of 7.

Toughness: For most of the adventure Livingstone gets it about right, but the path to victory is very narrow, and I have to mark it down for that damn unavoidable Giant Sandworm fight. Rating: 3 out of 7.

Aesthetics: The writing here has Ian's usual style, which is just about atmospheric enough to get by. The original cover is great, but the interior illustrations by Bill Houston are a little patchy. Some, like the Messenger of Death, are all time greats, but there are others I'm not so fond of (although I do like that they have an appropriately gritty texture, almost like sand).  Rating: 4 out of 7.

Mechanics: Ian, as usual, doesn't rock the boat too much here, and sticks with the tried-and-true FF basics. He does try to liven things up a bit by letting you cast spells, but they don't get used nearly enough. It's tempting to knock a point off for having a spell that never gets used, but it's really not a big enough deal. Rating: 4 out of 7.

Innovation & Influence: The desert setting is novel, but other than that pretty much everything this book is doing has been done better somewhere else. Rating: 2 out of 7.

NPCs & Monsters: There are quite a number of excellent monsters to be found in this book, with the Messenger of Death being chief among them. Where Temple of Terror really falls down, though, is with its villains. The religious cult led by the priestess Leesha is intriguing, but never gets delved into much at all. Malbordus gets a great introduction, but the confrontation with him is so perfunctory that he ends up with almost no character at all.  Rating: 3 out of 7.

Amusement: This book is about as middle-of-the-road FF as it gets, but I happen to enjoy that sort of thing. Temple of Terror has never been a particular favourite, but it gets the job done well enough. Take out the Sandworm and I would have rated it a little higher. Rating: 3 out of 7.

Bonus Points: No bonus points for Temple of Terror.

The above scores total 22, for a S.T.A.M.I.N.A. Rating of 44. That puts it 18th out of the 23 adventures I've rated so far: of the main series, only Starship Traveller and Space Assassin are below it.  That's perhaps a little unfair, as it's not a bad adventure at all, but it's part of the nature of ratings like this for mediocrity to rate lower the further in you get.

NEXT: The next post will be an Exploring Titan where I dig into Temple of Terror's details (assuming I remember them after my long hiatus), and then it's on to Warlock #5.

Temple of Terror - Attempt 10

Another post, another attempt to find the five dragon artefacts and keep them out of the hands of the evil wizard Malbordus.  Once again, I've skipped ahead because Attempts 8 and 9 were both complete busts.  For Attempt 8 I rolled a Skill of 10 and a Luck of 7, but despite not being all that confident about my chances I gave it a good crack anyway. Predictably, I got killed by the Giant Sandworm; I knew things weren't going my way in the first combat round when I rolled a double 6 for it and a double 1 for me.  For Attempt 9, I rolled a Skill of 9 and just decided to chuck it in.  I skipped through Port Blacksand as quickly as possible, not engaging in any encounters, and when the dwarf warship picked me up I gave the wrong answer when they asked me the identity of their king.  As I suspected, they flogged me and threw me overboard, and my adventure was over.  I do appreciate a quick spot near the start of a book that I can use to kill off weaker characters.

For Attempt 10, I rolled a Skill of 11, a Stamina of 14, and a Luck of 8.  Those were not the most encouraging scores, aside from Skill, but I felt like I had a good knowledge of the adventure now, perhaps good enough to avoid encounters that would needlessly lower my stats.  I just had to hope that there weren't any mission critical Luck tests involved. For my spells, as usual, I chose Read Symbols, Open Door, Detect Trap and Fire.

I had little trouble on the road to Vatos, taking the route through Port Blacksand that I've outlined in previous posts.  Even the Giant Sandworm didn't give me much trouble, as the dice were falling in my favour for a change.  From the Merchant, I bought the Onyx Egg, the Crystal Key, the Bone Flute and Bracelet of Mermaid Scales; I know that three of those are useful during the adventure, and I took a gamble on the Bone Flute.

After my encounter with the Messenger of Death, my stats were as follows: Skill 10 (with a +1 bonus from wearing an Iron Helmet); Stamina 7; Luck 7; no gold, 10 provisions; also carrying: sword, backpack, leather armour, lantern, brass telescope, 2 silver buttons, pearl, golden key, water canister, brass handbell, onyx egg, bracelet of mermaid scales, crystal key, bone flute, sandworm tooth, iron helmet (+1 skill).

I've covered much of the dungeons beneath Vatos before, so I'll go over them as quickly as possible in point form:

• Opened some drapes, revealing a door leading to a room with a bucket hanging from the ceiling. Killed a Giant Centipede (Skill 9, Stamina 7), had my own Stamina reduced to 5, and found a Bone Dragon Artefact in the bucket.  Ate two provisions, Stamina restored to 13.
• Jumped a pit in the corridor by rolling under my Skill (10) on two dice.
• Got past the Eye Stinger by holding up my Onyx Egg.
• Ignored the iron grille (it's part of the Messenger of Death's trap, featuring the letter H).
• Turned left at the next junction, fought and killed a Lizard Man (9/8).  Found an Iron Key.
• Turned left at another junction, traded my Brass Telescope to a Gnome scavenger for a Crystal Dragon Artefact.
• Back past the junction, fought and killed two Rat Men. Found 3 gold pieces and a monkey's tail. Exited room through left arch (ignoring trapped right arch).
• Turned left at T-junction, then right at another junction. Fought and killed two Skeleton Warriors (Stamina reduced to 9). Took a shield (+1 Skill).  Found a clay goblet in a crypt - unlocked with my Iron Key - at the end of the corridor.
• Back past the junction, ignored the door leading into the Death Dog's lair.  The corridor turned right, and I saw a wounded warrior on the floor, reaching for his sword. The man was dying, and I listened as he gasped out his final words: he was apparently a treasure-hunter, seeking a golden skeleton. He also warned me to "beware the shadow of the stone".
• The corridor turned right again, and I ignored a door leading into a room where I'd had nightmarish visions in a previous game. I continued down the corridor and fought some Giant Fireflies.
• Walked past a statue with a raised hammer, with no ill effects.
• Entered the flooded room with the Tentacled Thing, but because I was carrying the Bracelet of Mermaid Scales it fled instead of attacking me.
• Continued forward at the next junction, found a Silver Dragon Artefact in a dead end alcove.
• Encountered a Phantom, and survived its stare with a roll of two dice under my Skill. Killed the Phantom by throwing a silver button at it. Luck restored to 8.
• Turned right at next junction, took a tapestry depicting a Phoenix from the wall. Ignored the Sphinx chair.  Bathed my wounds in a crescent-shaped pool, restoring Stamina to 13.
• Back past the junction, met Murkegg the artist, who told me about the High Priestess Leesha and her art competition.
• Corridor turned right, and I ignored the screams coming from the torture chamber. (I don't think this encounter gives anything useful.)  In another room, unlocked with a golden key, I successfully answered the question posed by an ancient idol, and got a +2 bonus to both Skill and Luck (restoring my Luck to 8).
• With two doors forward, I picked the one on the right. It opened into a storeroom full of rugs, vases, urns and other containers. A red-skinned, horned figure climbed out of one of the urns, breathing fire at me. It was a Fiend (6/8), but despite its fire breath I killed it easily.  It had a 2-in-6 chance of burning me every round, but I managed to avoid it completely.  In a box I found a necklace engraved with a heart, and decided to wear it. Unbeknownst to me it was a necklace for sacrificial victims, and wearing it reduced my Luck to 7.

• Going through the left door, I was faced with a door with a coin box attached. I declined to put a coin in the slot (because doing so exposes one of the Messenger of Death's letters) and continued on.
• In the dark corridor beyond I stumbled into a blade at shin height, dropping my Stamina to 11 and my Luck to 6.
• Disabled a Night Horror with my Brass Handbell (requiring a successful Luck test that reduced my score to 5). Picked up its Silver Rod to stop the ceiling from lowering and killing me. Unlocked the door onward with my Crystal Key.
• Found an Ebony Dragon Artefact in a carving of Vatos. Luck restored to 6.
• Challenged by a trio of Dark Disciples. I tried to convince them that I had a gift for Leesha, but the necklace I was wearing made them think that I was a sacrificial victim. They started chanting, and I was compelled to walk towards their altar. I was able to resist their influence (with a roll of two dice under my Skill), and had to fight all three Disciples (9/5, 8/6, 9/5). Only the last one wounded me, leaving me with a Stamina of 9. I took one of their sacrificial daggers with me.
• Fought my way through four stone arms wielding swords.
• Turned left rather than walk through the curtain of golden rain. The tunnel led to a dead end, where I was confronted by a Mutant Orc Assassin who had been sent by Malbordus. The Orc was wielding two long knives, and I would have had to reduce my Attack Strength by 2 if I wasn't also carrying a dagger. I whipped out my Sacrificial Dagger in my off-hand to fight the Mutant Orc (11/11). It struck me once, reducing my Stamina to 7. I took one of its knives and went through the arch with the golden rain.

• Fought a Slave Guard (8/8). Stamina reduced to 5.  Sat down on some cushions, but refused to sleep. Ate two provisions (6 left, Stamina restored to 13).
• A priest entered the room, and I confronted him rather than hide behind the drapes. Seeing me standing over the dead body of the slave guard, the priest summoned an Air Elemental, which buffeted me against the wall (reducing my Stamina to 11).  It buffeted me again as I looked through my pack (further reducing my Stamina to 9).  I pulled out my Phoenix Tapestry, and the priest - apparently recognising the significance of the Phoenix - dismissed his Elemental. I explained that the Slave Guard had been killed for trying to assassinate Leesha.  (I'm not quite sure what's going on here.  Does this priest think I'm one of the artists?  Or does the Phoenix have religious significance, and grant me immunity? It's not all that well explained.) Ate another provision (5 left, Stamina restored to 13).

• Hacked open locked door, faced with Sun Door and Moon Door. Exited room through Moon Door.  (I did a translation on the doors this time, using the key from the "DO NOT DRINK" pool I had bathed my wounds in earlier.  The Sun Door has writing that says DOOM and the Moon Door has writing that says DESTINY.)
• Found three coloured pots. Opened the white pot, found a copper ring. Ignored the other two.
• Ignored the trapdoor in the next room. (I'd been down there in the dark in an earlier game, and been dropped on by an Iron Eater, so I figured I shouldn't go down there. I was a little worried that I might miss something vital by skipping it, though.)
• In the treasure room, I ignored the casket and the gems, but took the golden skeleton to honour the fallen warrior that I'd encountered earlier. It was greatly valuable, which restored my Luck to 7.
• Turned left at a junction. The corridor ended at the bottom of a flight of stairs. I climbed up, opened a door that led outside into the Desert of Skulls. There were footprints leading away, around the city wall, but I thought better of following them and returned to the junction.
• Found a bowl of grapes, and ate some. Stamina restored to 14.
• Confronted by two Skeleton Men (9/6 and 9/8). Killed both, Stamina reduced to 8.  This is the furthest point I've yet reached in this adventure.

Taking no time to search the Skeleton Men, I ran through an arch and up a flight of stairs.  In an opulent room lined with marble pillars, a beautiful woman lay on a couch strewn with satin cushions. It was Leesha, the High Priestess of Vatos. A muscular man with milky-white eyes stood behind the couch, fanning her. At a snap of her finger, the muscular Servant moved to attack me.

The Servant (8/8) was no match for me, and I cut him down with ease. Leesha rose from her couch, and held aloft a black, crescent-shaped object.  Rather than attack with my sword, I pulled out my Giant Sandworm Tooth. This was a lucky coincidence, as this was the only weapon that could harm her. (I'm not sure that the book ever clues you in to this weakness, or if it's just pure chance that the hero chooses this moment to use the tooth.)  With a look of horror, she fled from the temple.  Before giving chase, I decided to take a look in a chest near her couch. Written in gold dust on the bottom of the chest was the letter D - left there by the Messenger of Death.  It drained my strength (leaving me with 4 Stamina), but I was glad to have fully avoided the assassin's trap.  (I should have scoffed some Provisions here, but given that the book describes me as trying to chase down Leesha I decided that it would break the narrative.)

I chased after Leesha, in time to see her disappear through a door at the end of a hallway.  A bronze idol shaped like a dog was in the hallway, and I stopped to quickly investigate.  Inside the idol's mouth I found a Gold Dragon Artefact, the last of the five I needed.

Giving chase again, I entered a passage where I could see Leesha running through a door to the left.  To the right, a Dwarf was crawling towards me, delirious with sunstroke.  He called out to me, and I gave up my chase to help him.  He was an envoy from Stonebridge, and had been sent by the wizard Yaztromo to deliver me the legendary Hammer of Gillibran.  Apparently, this warhammer was the only thing capable of destroying the dragon artefacts, and it was vital that I destroyed the one closest to the entrance of Vatos' catacombs first.  The dwarf then died in my arms.  Figuring that my chances of catching Leesha were now gone, I took the time to eat two provisions (restoring my Stamina to 12).

Entering the door I had seen Leesha disappear through, I found myself in a cold room with a high-vaulted ceiling.  There was a circular hole in the floor.  Figuring that my time was running short, I pulled out the five dragon artefacts, and set about smashing the one I had found near the entrance to the catacombs: the Bone Dragon.  It shattered under a single blow from the warhammer.  (This is set up like a test of the player's memory, but it's really not that difficult. You just destroy the artefact that's written down first on your equipment list.)

A thunderous sound came from the circular pit, and a gaunt man with malevolent features rose up through the floor. Malbordus demanded that I give him the artefacts, but I refused.  He clapped his hands together, and I was staggered by a deafening thunderbolt.  It quickly dissipated, though, as the copper ring I had found earlier was a ring of protection.  Realising that his magic could not harm me, Malbordus drew his sword and advanced.

Malbordus was a skilled swordsman (Skill 10, Stamina 18), and our battle was long.  He wounded me several times (reducing my Stamina to 6), until I felled him with a final lucky blow.  (I used a Luck test to kill him a little faster, even though I probably didn't need to.)

With Malbordus dead, I smashed the rest of the dragon artefacts so that no other evil wizard could ever use their power.  Now I could return to Stonebridge, take the warhammer back to Gillibran, and perhaps learn some more magic from Yaztromo.  My adventure was a success.  (It seems more likely to me that Leesha would round up her Disciples and kill me before I could escape, but the book doesn't acknowledge that possibility.)

THE POST-GAME

Success, finally!  Ten attempts seems like a lot for a book that I never remembered as being particularly difficult, but death is much more likely in Fighting Fantasy when you explore every possible option.  My general tactic with FF is to check out everything I encounter, and gradually whittle down the options to the ones that are most beneficial.  It results in a lot of early failures (especially in books that I didn't read a lot as a kid), but it gets me there in the end.

I'll be back soon enough with my Final Thoughts on Temple of Terror, followed by an Exploring Titan post.  After that, it's on to Warlock magazine #5. which features "Search for the Mungies' Gold", a multi-player adventure from Steve Jackson, and "Dungeon of Justice", a solo adventure by Jonathan Ford.

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.