Let's Play Lone Wolf

[pi4t 6]

I was, and am quite happy to continue. Unfortunately we seemed to somehow stop a bit under a month ago, with only Cows responding to the last message. I sort of sat there waiting for other people to post...

Now, I guess we've had two votes and can carry on!

We drop a diamond.

We gain the Dagger of Vashna

We gain Mind over Matter

We also get a new map:

1

For twenty-five days, the Vassagonian galley sails on a steady course

for its home port of Barrakeesh, with only a brief stop at the Durenese

harbour of Port Bax to break a safe but monotonous voyage.

You use your time aboard the ship to good purpose, learning the

Vassagonian language from the ship’s crew. They are only too eager to

teach you, asking only in return tales of your adventures in the

Lastlands—for many of the sailors, these are the most exciting stories

they have ever heard. By the time you reach Barrakeesh, you have both

mastered their language and won their respect.

It is early afternoon when the ramparts of the desert capital are

first sighted on the horizon. You push your way through the cheering

crew, and join the envoy at the prow of the ship. Beaming with pride, he

hands you a telescope and invites you to view the land of his birth.

The sight is indeed breathtaking. You stare in fascination at the golden

domes, minarets, and green-tiled roofs shimmering beneath the desert

sun, and marvel at the splendour of the Grand Palace, which dominates

this magnificent city. Then you notice that from every golden turret of

the palace flutters a long, black pennant. You ask the envoy of the

meaning of the black flags. Horror floods across his face as he snatches

the telescope from your hands. ‘By the spirit of the Majhan! He is

dead … The Zakhan is dead!’

As the bad news spreads through the ship, you pray that the peace

treaty will be signed and honoured by the Zakhan’s successor. However,

the envoy is less than hopeful.

The harbour of Barrakeesh is deserted save for a handful of citizens

clad in black, and the only sound that greets you is the toll of a

funeral bell, echoing through the harbour on this day of mourning. Then a

horse-drawn carriage enters the harbour square, escorted by the cavalry

of the Palace Guard. It halts, and a dour man in turquoise robes steps

out to meet you.

‘A thousand greetings, Lone Wolf, I am Maouk, and I welcome you to

our city on behalf of my master, his most sublime magnificence, Zakhan

Kimah.’

The envoy gasps upon hearing the name of the new Zakhan. He turns to speak, his eyes wild with fear. ‘It is a trap, you must … ’

His warning is cut short by the blade of Maouk’s dagger. Suddenly,

scores of black-clad warriors emerge from the shadows; they are

Sharnazim, élite Vassagonian bodyguards. They close in, surrounding you

on every side. You must act quickly if you are to survive this deadly

trap.

If you wish to stand and fight against these overwhelming odds, turn to 36.

If you wish to surrender to Maouk and his warriors, turn to 176.

If you wish to run back to the galley, turn to 104.

Not...ideal. So much for the diplomatic mission!

Run, fight, or curl up in a ball and plead for mercy?

[CowsGoMoo 267]

Oh! It's back!

Yeah. I was wondering where everyone ran off to, and could only watch helplessly as this thread was buried by all the other threads.

Running- Not good. We'll be seen as COWARDLY to these nice people in the crowd.
Surrendering- Also cowardly, but if done with STYLE, we will win back the citizen's approval, and perhaps they will help us escape! We can flick our hair, and give a wink as we surrender. Or, we can smile broadly, as if he just asked us out for a nice dinner. Yes.
MURDER- Well. It's pretty god damn badass, but we'll die. I mean, sure, we're LONE FUDGING WOLF and all invincible and everything, but we're also allergic to stab wounds. Tragic, I know.

I vote for surrendering with style. What would be pretty cool if we broke out in dance or something, and just started to rock the whole crowd. Too bad this isn't High School Musical. Even if it was, it would be called Vassgonian Kingdom Musical or something. I don't even know.

[James Undercroft 129]

As much as I want to do the whole: fighting against incredible odds, I think that I'm going to have to go with Cow's suggestion on this one.

 

It could be that something happens while we are fighting to make it easier, but this is a rather unforgiving game so I doubt it.

 

Surrender with style! :D

[argonian 14254]

I'd say surrender. And by the way, what happens if the Lone Wolf dies in this?

[CowsGoMoo 267]

I'd say surrender. And by the way, what happens if the Lone Wolf dies in this?

 

He doesn't.

 

LONE WOLF /never/ DIES!

 

BWAHAHAHAHA!

 

We just rewind, and go to the point in which he was still alive, and continue on.

 

Of course, when we die, we feel sad, because we have failed Pi4t, and added another death to the death count.

[pi4t 6]

Welcome, James2k! Yes, if we die, we rollback and add a point to the dreaded death count. Currently we've had more deaths than books completed, so let's try not to die in this one, right? Right.

 

We surrender! Don't hurt us!

 

176

You are stripped of your Backpack, your Weapons, your Gold Crowns,
and all of your Special Items. (Make all the necessary adjustments to
your Action Chart,
but note your lost possessions elsewhere in case you find them again
later.) Your hands are tied behind your back and you are pushed
head-first into the waiting carriage. ‘Back to the palace!’ commands
Maouk as he climbs aboard and slams the door. ‘The Zakhan awaits his
prize.’

You fight to free the cords that bind you, but Maouk is quick to see
the danger. He grabs your arm and forces a dart into your skin. As sleep
engulfs your senses, you hear Maouk’s wicked laughter fading into the
silence.

Make a necessary adjustments to your Action Chart,
and list all the items that you have had confiscated on a separate
piece of paper, for reference in case you should discover them later in
your adventure.

Turn to 69.

 

 

We lose: EVERYTHING!

 

Great.

 

There
were two ways the adventure could ultimately have gone here, depending on whether we were captured or not. We chose very...quickly.

 

 

69

You wake up in great discomfort; every muscle of your body feels
knotted and bruised. You force open eyelids clogged with dried sweat,
and look with dread at your wretched surroundings. You are lying on the
hard stone floor of a prison cell. Over by the far wall, beneath a
window criss-crossed with iron bars, is a low wooden bunk covered in
filthy rags. Cockroaches, some the size of field mice, scuttle along a
foul-smelling gutter that disappears into a grating in the floor. (Erase
from your Action Chart
all Weapons, Special Items, Gold Crowns, and your Backpack and all its
contents, but note them down elsewhere in case you should find them
again later.)

You discover that your hands are free and slowly pull yourself
upright into a sitting position, resting your back against the cell
door. A faint draught from the corridor outside provides the only relief
from the stifling heat and bad air of the cell. In the distance you can
hear footsteps approaching. Then there is a jangle of keys and the
creak of hinges. A door closes with a dull thud. More footsteps; they
are getting louder. They come to halt outside the cell door and a loud
voice bellows out: ‘Sleeping on duty, Sefrou? You’ll wake up on the
other side of this door if the captain catches you!’

The chair scrapes along the ground, and a startled voice, full of
indignation, replies: ‘Curse you, Hadj! The Zakhan doesn’t want the
Northlander taken to the Grand Hall until sunset. You’ve cheated me of
two hours sleep.’

‘Shut up, Sefrou,’ snarls the first voice, ‘and listen hard. I’ve
just come from the armoury. Some interesting trinkets were found on the
Northlander, worth a great deal of gold I’d say. Seems a pity to let
them go to waste, eh?’

The two guards chuckle greedily and discuss at length the good time
they will be able to have in the city, once they have sold your
equipment.

‘I’ll take a peek at our friend,’ says one of the guards. ‘I wonder if he’s enjoying our hospitality.’

A spy-hole slides open above your head and you hear a gasp of shock.
‘He’s gone! He’s gone! By the Majhan, we’ll lose our heads!’ You
suddenly realize that you cannot be seen so close to the door.

‘Let me see,’ hisses the other guard, eager to see for himself. You hear the click of a key in the lock; this could be your chance to escape.

If you wish to attack the guards as soon as the door opens, turn to 138.

If you wish to move away from the door and stand in the middle of the cell, turn to 85.

 

 

Well, we're in prison now, but may be able to change that. Remember that we have no weapons, and will take a penalty if we attack them unarmed. Do we?

[CowsGoMoo 267]

Well geez. That was definitely not a stylish surrender. 

 

I am disappoint, Lone Wolf. So very disappoint.

 

Screw it. Let's just murder the guards.

MURDER TIME I SAY! 

NO MORE BACKING AWAY. Look how that ended up for us just now! 

 

Every single chance to fight, I''ll take it from now on.

[hammer01 29]

i say stand in the middle... it will confuse the guards and you can make a break for it...

[argonian 14254]

By stand in the middle, does it mean, "Just let them know you are in the cell and not escape"? If it does, then DEFINITELY fight them. 

[pi4t 6]

Well, they have unlocked the door already...

 

No, it wasn't stylish. If we'd tried to run we could have heroically surrendered after Maouk threatened to kill the crews' families, and it would have sent us to the same section, but with a bit more of a glow of pride. And a chance of an instant death.

 

We murder the guards!

 

 38

 

The guards pull open the door, and you spring into action. Your
clenched fist strikes the first man beneath his bearded jaw, lifting him
from the floor with the power of the blow. His sword drops from his
hand and clatters to the ground close to your feet.

If you wish to pick up the sword, turn to 4.

If you wish to ignore the sword and attack the second guard with your bare hands, turn to 91.

 

Well, this post was faster than I expected. Tactical or berserker?

[CowsGoMoo 267]

Basically it's asking...

Sissy fight, with slaps.

 

Or a bad-ass masculinity fight with GODDAMN MOTHERFLUDGING swords!

 

 

TAKE THE SWORD! Why is that even a question? WE'RE LONE FRIGGEN WOLF, we got this!

[hammer01 29]

take the sword... definitely...

[argonian 14254]

Take the sword

[pi4t 6]

Sorry, I've been away from my computer for a few days. We take the sword!
 

4

You stoop to grasp the sword, but as your fingers close around the hilt, the second guard attacks.

Palace Gaoler: COMBAT SKILL 14 ENDURANCE 21

Ignore all ENDURANCE points lost by the enemy in the first round of combat, for you can only attempt to parry his blow.

If you win and the fight lasts for 4 rounds of combat or less, turn to 165.

If you win and the fight lasts longer than 4 rounds of combat, turn to 180.

Combat Ratio = 16*-14 = 2
Our E total = 20/20
Palace Gaoler's E total = 21/21
*We don't have the Sommerswerd any more, remember!

Round 1
Random number = 6
We take 2 damage = 18/20
Palace Gaoler is immune to damage = 21/21

Round 2
Random number = 6
We take 2 damage = 16/20
Palace Gaoler takes 8 damage = 13/21

Round 3
Random number = 6
We take 3 damage = 13/20
Palace Gaoler takes 7 damage = 6/21

Round 4
Random number = 0
We take 0 damage = 13/20
Palace Gaoler takes 14 damage = Dead!

That wasn't so hard. We killed him just in time, though.

We get a sword.

 

165

The guard clutches at his wounds and drops lifeless to the ground.
You see that the other man is recovering from your blow and is clawing
at the cell door to try to pull himself to his feet.

If you wish to attack this guard, turn to 78.

If you wish to overpower him and capture him alive, turn to 199.

Another fairly basic question: capture or kill?

 

H+1 14/20

[CowsGoMoo 267]

CAPTURE.

 

We shall turn him into our "FUN-TIMES" slave!

 

BWEHEHEHE... BWEHEHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHAHA!

 

But really, we should capture him. He probably has some good information on the exits, and other things that might be essential for our escape!