142 replies to this topic

[Hypnotic13]

DUCKPOND!!! *quack quack quack*

[Showsni]

Nope, the six item limit was just for picking initial items - we can now carry anything we like! (Must get out pockets at the same place Link and Guybrish Threepwood do...)

So, that's kind of two votes each for well and duckpond, and a vote for stockyard? Hey, I didn't say which number on the map was the stockyard! Well, I guess we'll explore the square first.

30

A familiar enough sight, Pip, since your adoptive father, Freeman John, used to bring you here on the back of his cart when you were a child. Those were the days when he came to sell farm produce in Glastonbury Market, for this is the market square.

It's empty now, which is odd, considering the time of day. You would normally expect to find somebody hanging around, even if it was only a tinker mending pots or a beggar trying to extract a few pennies from the passers-by. But now there is only the empty square with the well (marked 5 on your map) at the centre.

The Curse, it seems, has been very bad for business.

Now you'd better try to find yourself a more interesting destination.

So I guess we'll peek at the well and the duckpond...

5

It's the village well.

Generally, the women come here in the early mornings to draw water and exchange news. But there are no women about now, nor men either, come to that. This is normally the very heart of village activity, and now (thanks to the Curse, presumably) it's as silent as the tomb.

You walk tot he stone wall and peer over into the well-shaft itself. Thirty-eight feet deep, dug by hand and stone-lined by some patient mason in days long before you were born. You can;t see the water surface, of course - that's too far down.

But you can see...

Yes, quite definitely, there are steps cut into the stonework! How odd nobody noticed them before. They look, if not exactly brand new, at least fairly recently cut.

Who on earth whould want to cut steps into a well? And where do they lead?

You can always try to find out by climbing down those steps at 64. But they look a bit slippery and dangerous, so you may prefer to return to your map and select a different destination.

And the pond...

20

You are standing on the edge of the village duckpond, a scummy little stretch of water sometimes used for throwing bullies into. There are three ducks on it at the moment, swimming backwards for some reason. Near the middle you can see bubbles rising as if somebody had fallen in and was drowning.

If you want to investigate those bubbles, you're going to have to get your feet wet... all the way up to your head! But if that's what you want, you may leap into the pond at 3.

If you prefer to stay dry, you can always pass they time by feeding the ducks at 63 or selecting a new destination from your map.

Well, there it is. Choices, choices! You can pick a new destination from the map on the previous page, beat up the monks, climb down the well, feed the ducks or jump in the pond!

(There's a picture of the duckpond in the book, but I can't be bothered to upload it. Here's the duckpond near my house instead.)

[frogmonkeys]

Ooh! I say let's go down the well! Then jump in the pond? Lol

Edit: or feed the ducks... That might be a little cleaner...

Edited by frogmonkeys, 05 August 2012 - 07:32 PM.

[canas is back]

well it's probably a monster but let's see what's in the pond

[Sir Deimos]

The bubbles have me quite curious as well.

CHECK ALL THE POND!

[Showsni]

You... you all want to jump in the pond? Really? Well, okay... (Not necessarily the best decision ever...)

3

Splash!

Now you're in the water, it seems a good time to find out if you can swim. Roll one die. Score 4 or better and go to 40.

Score less than 4 and turn to 28.

Drumroll, please... We rolled a...

2!

28

You sink like a stone all the way to 14.

Well, that was a quick adventure. I think that's the fastest way you can game over in this adventure.

14

Well, that's it, isn't it? Killed stone dead by something or other. But there's no need to stay that way. Just grab your dice, reroll your LIFE POINTS and you can get back into your adventure faster than it takes you to say antidisestablishmentarianism (which is supposed to be the longest word in the English language, incidentally).

What's more, you don't have to go back to the beginning, unless you particularly want to, but only to the start of the particular sequence where you were killed. If, for example, you were slaughtered in Glastonbury Village, you can restart back there. If you were killed in the Castle, you can begin again at the Castle. This saves a lot of time and may even be a help to you in the long run since it gives you a second chance to investigate things you may have missed first time around.

Fine lot of adventurers you lot are - fancy jumping into a pond when you couldn't swim! Okay, since we basically hadn't got anywhere, the only thing we need to do from the start of the vilalge to get back to the same position is to get the Key again, so I'll just assume you do that. And since we haven't even lost any LIFE POINTS I'll just keep them as they are.

But really...

I guess, then, there's no real penalty against continually jumping in this pond until we learn how to swim! Let's see how our rolls go!

1
6

Third time's the charm...

40

Swimming like a fish (or duck, if you prefer) you make your way with lightning speed to the spot where the bubbles are emerging, wondering the while what is causing them. But before you actually reach the bubbles, you find out the hard way.

Emerging out of the water is a long, scaly head, attached to a long, equally scaly neck, which in turn is attached to a long, scaly body just visible beneath the surface of the pond.

Congratulations! You have just solved the mystery of the origin of the Loch Ness Monster! But right now, you'd better decide what to do about it. Big though it is, the creature is not fully grown (there being less room in Glastonbury duckpond than in Lock Ness) but it still sports 30 LIFE POINTS and can savage you at +5 damage on a throw of 6 or better. If it savages you successfully, turn to the dreaded 14.

If, however, you savage it, 6 would be a better destination.

I'd cehck for a friendly reaction, but I think it's pretty cheesed off with the way you've been pseudo cheating to learn how to swim, so it's going to attack you regardless. To battle!

Roll for initiative!
Pip rolls 5 + 6 = 11
Nessie rolls 1 + 3 = 4

Pip strikes first!
Attack: 4 + 1 = 5. Hit! 6 damage!

PIP***NESSIE
44*******24

Nessie strrikes!
Attack: 5 + 3 = 8. Hit! 3 damage!

PIP***NESSIE
41*******24

Pip strikes!
Attack: 1 + 4 = 5. Hit! 6 damage!

PIP***NESSIE
41*******18

Nessie strikes!
Attack: 3 + 3 = 6. Hit! 1 damage!

PIP***NESSIE
40*******18

Pip strikes!
Attack: 3 + 3 = 6. Hit! 7 damage!

PIP***NESSIE
40*******11

Nessie strikes!
Attack: 4 + 3 = 7. Hit! 2 damage!

PIP***NESSIE
38*******11

Pip strikes!
Attack: 6 + 2 = 8. Hit! 9 damage!

PIP***NESSIE
38*******2

Nessie falls unconscious!

Pip strikes!
Attack: 5 + 1 = 6. Hit! 7 damage!

Nessie is dead! Pip wins.

Huzzah!

6

Swimming mightily, you drag the huge corpse of the Loch Duckpond Monster to the edge for examination. It is an awful-looking creature, slimy and scaly and quite terrifying even now it's dead.

And since there's not much the outside of a monster can tell you, you may decide to do a quick postmortem by cutting it open at 39. Or you may not, in which case turn to 16.

And here's our updated character sheet:

PIP's LIFE POINTS 38 Starting: 44

EXPERIENCE POINTS: 1

EQUIPMENT

EJ: hits on roll of 4+, causes 5 extra damage
Dragonskin jacket: Deducts 4 from damage done to you
Axe
Boots
Fishing Rod
Knife
Rope (50' coil)
Rations (1 week's supply)
Stockyard Key

Healing Potions: 1 Potion, 1 Salve
Gold Pieces: None
Deaths: 2 (drowned in the duckpond twice)

So, shall we cut the monster open or not?

[Steel Samurai]

DISEMBOWEL IT.

[frogmonkeys]

I totally second that.

[frogmonkeys]

I totally second that.

Ugh. La freaked out on my phone. Hence the multiple posts.

Edited by frogmonkeys, 06 August 2012 - 07:44 PM.

[frogmonkeys]

I totally second that.


I guess my phone really wants that monster cut open?

Edited by frogmonkeys, 06 August 2012 - 07:44 PM.

[Sir Deimos]

I guess I fifth that? Hahaha. CUT IT OPEN.

[Showsni]

Sorry guys, I'm going to have to put this on hold for a bit, due to my international Pokémon career. See you in a week! (Assuming, that is, America doesn't have internet yet. Who knows, perhaps I'll find some wifi or something...)

[canas is back]

FLAY IT OPEN! keep it's hide

[Showsni]

Who wouldn't want to cut it open?

Well, I guess the cutting implement...

39

"Here, you're not going to use me on that thing, are you?" asks EJ in alarm, having guessed you are about to cut up the monster.

"I used you to kill it," you point out reasonably.

"Yes, but that's my job," EJ says. "Cutting up dead things is very infra dig for a sword."

"Do be quiet," you tell him, abandoning reasonableness. And with one swing of your protesting sword, you lay open the monster. Inside it is a collection of the most amazing rubbish - old horse shoes, rusting daggers, bits of armour, leather boots and so forth, all that remains, presumably, of the people (and horses) it has eaten.

Rummaging through, you come across a bottle with a piece of parchment inside. Even through the glass you can read the writing on the parchment. It says simply: "There's a secret entrance to Camelot at 60."

Interesting information if it's true. You can turn to 60 to find out, ot alternatively keep the parchment for later and continue investigating Glastonbury from your map.

PIP's LIFE POINTS 38 Starting: 44

EXPERIENCE POINTS: 1

EQUIPMENT

EJ: hits on roll of 4+, causes 5 extra damage
Dragonskin jacket: Deducts 4 from damage done to you
Axe
Boots
Fishing Rod
Knife
Rope (50' coil)
Rations (1 week's supply)
Stockyard Key
Parchment in a bottle - "There's a secret entrance to Camelot at 60."

Healing Potions: 1 Potion, 1 Salve
Gold Pieces: None
Deaths: 2 (drowned in the duckpond twice)

Okay! So, we can turn to 60 for the secret entrance, keep exploring Glastonbury by picking a number from the map, try the more normal entrance to Camelot, beat up the monks, climb down the well or feed the ducks! Actually, the ducks have probably flown off in all the excitement, so maybe not that last one.

[Sir Deimos]

DOWN THE WELL!

[canas is back]

Down the well we go

[frogmonkeys]

I agree! To the well!

[Showsni]

The well it is! You guys have a death wish. Roll to see if we can climb down ladders...

64

Climbing down, are you? Better check to make sure you don't slip and break your neck. Roll two dice. Score 4 or below and go to 45.

Score 5 or more and turn to 37.

We roll... 6 and 1 = 7. Phew.

37

This is crazy! You're in a room at the bottom of the well! A room of sorts, that is: it's a sort of gigantic bubble really, but it has been furnished with a bed, an easy chair, several leather-bound books, a gozalow (which gozalow the bed), a wardrobe, an alchemist's furnace, a -

Wait a minute - an alchemist's furnace? There's only one soul in the whole of Avalon who would take the trouble of installing an alchemist's furnace! Quickly you grab one of the leather-bound books. Sure enough, there is the familiar spidery writing on the title page: "This tome belongs to Merlin." You've found another of Merlin's blasted houses! He has them all over the place in the most eccentric situations.

Quickly you flick through the remaining books in the hope they might contain useful spells, bt they turn out to be utter rubbish - a work on astronomy which proves the sun goes round the earth backwards every seven years, two adventure game books about some idiot called Fire*Wolf, a book on stock-breeding, a book of crossword puzzles and a fisherman's handbook.

Throwing the volumes aside in disgust, you make to go back to the steps when a thought strikes you and you look inside the alchemical furnace. A green stone lies half hidden in the dead ashes.

It could be something ghastly, of course, since Merlin concocts the most appalling artifacts sometimes, but you may, if you wish, take the stone at 56. Or you can leave it alone and climb out of the well to seek a new destination from your map.

So, choose to take the stone, or to head somewhere else in Glastonbury.

[Sir Deimos]

... GRAB THAT SHIT!

[frogmonkeys]

I agree. Loot!

[canas is back]

Be cautious though it might be trapped

[Sir Deimos]

It's probably not a good idea. But hell. I wanna know what it is. It's not like we have the "poke it with a stick" option though. Pick that fucker up!

[Showsni]

Well, no other reason to come to the bottom of this well, right?

56

"Don't touch it!" a voice hisses urgently, if somewhat muffled by a scabbard. It is, of course, your talking sword EJ.

"Why not?" you hiss back.

"I think it's cursed!" EJ tells you.

"Why do you think that?"

"It's green, isn't it? Green stones are always cursed. Once you touch it, you will never be able to put it down until you're dead - perhaps not even then. And it may drain your LIFE POINTS or give you boils or transport you instantly into some ghastly place, or call up some horrendous monster, or..."

"Oh, shut up, EJ - I need to think!"

Take all the time you need. And take the green stone, if you still want it, by turning to 73. But if you've changed your mind, you can still climb the steps and find a new destination on your map.

tl;dr - the book is asking Are you sure you want to do that?

[frogmonkeys]

Why not?

What is it gonna kill us? I think we already learned we'll just restart.... Right?

[Showsni]

Unless you get sent to the page that forces you into an infinite loop!

73

Your hand (shaking a little) closes on the green stone.

"Yeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaach!"

"Do be quiet, EJ!" you tell him firmly since, in fact, nothing very much has happened beyond a slight magical tingle from the stone.

"Is it cursed?" he gasps.

"No, of course it isn't" you assure him.

And you may even be right, although you will never know until you decide to rub the stone. You can do that right now, if you wish, buy turning to 12. But before you go rushing off, you should consider the possibility that you can only use the magic in it once and it might be wasted at this point.

Your other possibility is to keep the stone (without rubbing it) AND ONLY TURN TO 12 WHEN YOU ACTUALLY WANT TO USE IT... although in that case you should make a note of the section number you were in so you can return to it easily. Meanwhile, climb the steps and look for anew destination on the map.

PIP's LIFE POINTS 38 Starting: 44

EXPERIENCE POINTS: 2

EQUIPMENT

EJ: hits on roll of 4+, causes 5 extra damage
Dragonskin jacket: Deducts 4 from damage done to you
Axe
Boots
Fishing Rod
Knife
Rope (50' coil)
Rations (1 week's supply)
Stockyard Key
Parchment in a bottle - "There's a secret entrance to Camelot at 60."
Green Stone - use at page 12

Healing Potions: 1 Potion, 1 Salve
Gold Pieces: None
Deaths: 2 (drowned in the duckpond twice)

Alright, so we've picked up another action we can do at any time - rub the stone and see what happens. Don't forget, we can also attempt to sleep and recover health at any time at all. (Except when you're in a fight).

So, for now we need to pick a new destination from the map on the earlier page, or else go to Camelot, rub the stone or attack the monks.



I should probably give you an experience point for finding the stone, too.

Edited by Showsni, 30 August 2012 - 03:19 PM.

[canas is back]

Take the secret passageway

[Sir Deimos]

I'm angry with those monks. Let's go beat them up.

[frogmonkeys]

Oooh! I say let's rub the stone! or sleep then rub it! That sounds better.... Sleep. Rub the stone! Then if we don't die go fight the monks!

Edited by frogmonkeys, 30 August 2012 - 03:38 PM.

[Showsni]

1 vote for secret passage, 1 for monks and 1 for sleep and then rub the stone? :\

How am I supposed to break dead ties? I'll give a few hours for anyone else to post (come on, people!) and if not... guess I'll roll a die.

[frogmonkeys]

I'm not ready for Camelot yet so if it comes down to it I say monks over secret passage. As long as we rub the stone sometime!