Let's Play Lone Wolf

[argonian 14254]

Lone Wolf has a lot of very different split personalities.

[Damperstorm 3]

We have a sniper, a sword, a spinning waffle...

[hammer01 29]

im hungry. shall we eat our other personality?

[pi4t 6]

Don't forget the invisible personality who keeps telling the others what's happening!

 

We get all kinds of stuff, while dropping some weapons and a blue stone triangle from book 3. That won't be useful again, will it?

 

131

 

You sift through the vast number of items that litter the dais,
separating the following articles, which may or may not be of use:

• Silver Comb
• Hourglass
• Dagger
• Healing Potion of Laumspur (restores 4 ENDURANCE points if swallowed after combat)
• Prism
• Enough food for 3 Meals (each Meal counts as 1 Backpack Item)

Remember to make the necessary changes to your Action Chart before leaving the chamber.

Turn to 58.

 

Well, do we replace anything with this lot? I think you know what our weapons are, but these are our backpack items (which we'd need to replace with the other items):

 

Pickaxe

Potent Laumspur Potion (+5E)

Meal
Rope

Potion of Laumspur (+4E)

Meal of Larnuma (+3E)

Laumspur Potion (+4E)

Meal

 

58

You follow a straight passage of pale, rose-coloured stone, which
soon ends at an empty vestibule. In its north wall is set a great wooden
door, covered with engraved bronze plaques and studded with bronze
nails. There is a curious lock set into the middle of this door,
encircled by a beautiful carving of a long-tailed scorpion. A closer
look at the lock reveals a series of Vassagonian numerals, numbered 1 to
200, engraved in the lock. You recognize the design: it is a Cloeasian
combination lock.

If you know the correct number that will open the bronze door, turn to that section number.

If you do not know the number that will open the door, turn to 156.

 

We...err...don't know the code.

 

156

After concentrating on the lock for several minutes, you realize that
it is connected to an alarm. If you turn the lock to the wrong number,
the alarm will be triggered, alerting the entire palace guard.

If you possess the Kai Disciplines of Mind Over Matter and Sixth Sense, turn to 8.

If you do not have both of these skills, turn to 98.

 

We have both of them! And every other discipline, barring tracking.

 

8

You channel all your Kai skill into detecting the number that will
open the door; it is a strenuous task, and one that demands great
concentration. Gradually, the image of two numbers—six and seven—begin
to form in your mind. The image is hazy, and you’re not sure if the
number is sixty-seven or seventy-six. You are exhausted by your efforts,
and they have cost you 2 ENDURANCE points. Deduct these from your current ENDURANCE points total before choosing between the two possibilities.

If you decide to choose sixty-seven, turn to 67.

If you decide to choose seventy-six, turn to 76.

 

 

We lose 2E = 24/26

 

So, 67? Or 76?

 

I'm sure it's 67. Wait, no, 76. No, it's 67. No, 97! I have no idea!

 

Split personalities, work it out between you.

 

H+1 25/26

[Damperstorm 3]

Sniper says 67 because it looks better!

[hammer01 29]

76 all the way... dont ask me why....

[argonian 14254]

67

[hammer01 29]

dont listen to the other voices....

[pi4t 6]

Ok, I won't listen to the other voice calling itself hammer01, and  go with the majority instead :)

 

67

You hear a faint click followed by a soft whirring sound; the
bronze door slides open. As you hurry through, the door clicks shut
behind your back, as softly as it had opened.

Instinct tells you that you have entered the chambers of the upper
palace, the sumptuous private enclave of the Zakhan. You walk upon
glistening tiles of opal and platinum, past sculptures and statues of
pure gold. The door of solid amethyst ahead seems plain in comparison to
the breathtaking splendour of this private world. Beyond the door lies
another unique and startlingly beautiful world: the arboretum. A
circular, cathedral-like arena spreads out below you, the green velvet
canopy alive with the sound of bird song. Trees of every colour, shape,
and size flourish in the deep, dark soil of the floor. The Zakhan’s
arboretum houses a specimen of every tree that grows in Magnamund, and
many species that are now extinct elsewhere. As you walk the wrought
iron balcony which encircles the arboretum, you recognize the leaves of a
Sommlending oak. You feel a sudden wave of homesickness, but it does
not make you despair; rather it renews your determination to escape from
this hostile, sun-bleached land.

At one of the exits from the arboretum, you discover a Quarterstaff
propped against the wall. (If you wish to take this, remember to mark it
on your Action Chart.)
The desire to escape urges you on as you leave the arboretum and hurry
through a network of lavish corridors and empty, deserted vestibules.
You reach a landing where a broad staircase descends to a massive room
that occupies most of the lower palace.

From the top of the staircase, hidden by the shadow of a pilaster,
you stare down on a sight that freezes your blood with terror.

Turn to 200.

 

We were right! Wait, 200? That's the end of the first half of the book!

 

H+1 26/26

 

200

Upon a raised platform, carpeted with scarlet fur, sits the
Vassagonian Emperor, Zakhan Kimah. He is robed in gold but devoid of all
ornamentation. In his hand is an orb of black metal, and in his eye an
ice-cold cruelty that chills your spine. The Zakhan is a man of awesome
countenance, but he pales in the shadow of his companion.

Before him stands the cause of your terror. A helm as black as death
itself hides the face, but the stench of decay and a hideous sepulchral
voice betray the identity.

‘Give me Lone Wolf!’

It is the fell voice of a mortal enemy—a Darklord of Helgedad. As the
Zakhan rises to his feet, you notice a flicker of doubt, or perhaps of
fear, dim his cruel gaze, but he is quick to mask it. ‘He will be
brought to you at sunset in exchange for the Orb of Death. It is
agreed.’

‘You have the Orb,’ echoes the chilling voice. ‘Give me Lone Wolf!’

The Zakhan hides his fear well, but time is not on his side. The game
of bluff he is playing is deadly. However, the fact that he has not yet
been discovered is evidence of his powerful will, for you sense the
Darklord is persistently clawing and probing at his mind.

‘You will get your Northlander, Lord Haakon,’ says the Zakhan, his
voice curt with anger, ‘when you tell me why your servants defile the
Tomb of the Majhan. You claim to have no need for gold and jewels—why
then do you plunder the graves of our ancestors?’

A deathly quiet fills the hall; only the unnatural hiss of the
Darklord’s breath disturbs the silence. ‘This land, this insignificant
speck of sand, harbours two small thorns that prick our skin. We seek to
remove them both—forever. The fledgling Kai, Lone Wolf, is the thorn
that denies us Sommerlund. The Tomb of the Majhan hides the other thorn
that threatens us—the accursed Book of the Magnakai.’

Your heart pounds as the words echo in your head. The Book of the Magnakai! Suddenly, the reason why you have been enticed into a deadly trap becomes clear, and the sinister truth is revealed.

The Book of the Magnakai is one of the oldest legends of
Sommerlund. With the wisdom of the Magnakai, Sun Eagle, the first Kai
Grand Master, instilled the disciplines into the warriors of the House
of Ulnar, the bloodline of your king, that were to save your land from
devastation at the hands of the Darklords. The Book of the Magnakai
was lost hundreds of years ago, but its wisdom was kept alive, handed
down through generations of Sommlending warriors so that they could
share the strength to resist their eternal enemies, the Darklords of
Helgedad.

If the Darklords discover and destroy the Book of the Magnakai, the secrets will be lost forever, and when you die, the Kai will become extinct. However, if you discover the Book of the Magnakai
first and deny the Darklords their prize, all the wisdom of the
Magnakai will be revealed to you. Through its wisdom you will become
strong, strong enough to reach the ultimate achievement for a
Sommlending warrior—to become a Kai Grand Master.

However, the peril and the glory of the quest that lies ahead are
distracting you from more immediate danger. To discover this danger and
to begin the quest for the Book of the Magnakai, turn to Part Two of Shadow on the Sand.

Begin your adventure at 201.

 

Hooray, we can get Magnakai disciplines! We just have to get out of the palace of a ruler who's already captured us once successfully, while avoiding the darklord who's just turned up, then locate the resting place of an ancient book, in a tomb somewhere in the vast desert, and get there before either of the aforementioned enemies who already know its location. Simple!

 

After we've done that, we can begin to reconcile our tomb robbing to the Kai's rules, and worry about what this orb is...

 

Let's get started by leaving quietly, without being spotted.

 

201

Suddenly, you catch sight of two warriors creeping towards you from a
passage to your right. They are clad in jet-black armour and scarlet
robes, and their hideous death-masks identify them as Drakkarim
warriors. They are men, but they are evil men, as evil as the Darklords
whom they serve.

One of them holds a razor-fanged Akataz, a creeping leathery war-dog,
straining on a chain leash. The Drakkar hisses and the Akataz springs
towards your throat.

If you wish to fight this creature, turn to 273.

If you wish to try to evade the attack and escape, turn to 285.

 

...Lone Wolf, which part of 'without being spotted' did you miss?

 

Fight or (nonliteral) flight?

[hammer01 29]

Flight! no way we will beat that thing...

[argonian 14254]

Flight, a fight could make tons of noise and the Darlord could hear. Running, less so, and we'd already be gone by the time he could get upstairs.

[CowsGoMoo 267]

. . .

 

Jump out of the window straight into a lake! Make sure to do a double back flip, and land with your hands pointing down to avoid injury. The judges shall rank us a 10-10-10 for that stunning display of diving!

 

Then, we'll be sent to the Olympics and... we'll win a billion gold medals! Whooo! Go Lone Wolf!

 

See, running away wins you medals. The more you know!

[Damperstorm 3]

And knowing is half the battle. G.I. LONE WOLF!

[pi4t 6]

Run away!

 

 

285

 

As you turn and sprint along the passage, a terrible roar of hatred and rage fills the hall: ‘Kill him!’

You glance back. The Drakkarim are unsheathing their black swords,
eager to obey their master’s command. You race down some stairs, through
a silver archway, and along a balcony that overlooks the lower palace.

The Akataz is nearly upon you; you feel its fetid breath on your
legs. Instinctively you dodge aside at the very second it leaps. It
crashes muzzle first into a marble pillar. A howl of pain leaves its
broken mouth as you step forward and strike a death-blow; it will never
attack again.

You glimpse the grim silhouette of Darklord Haakon in the hall below,
his spiked fist raised. A Drakkar appears as if from nowhere and
advances, a sword held high above his skull-like helm. There is a
deafening crack as a bolt of blue lightning streaks from a stone in the
Darklord’s hand and comes hurtling towards you. The Drakkar lunges and
wounds your arm (you lose 2 ENDURANCE
points), but he now stands in the path of the bolt. In a flash of light,
the Drakkar is gone, leaving only cinders and the rotten odour of
scorched flesh behind.

 

 

At the end of the balcony are another arch and a staircase.

If you wish to escape through the arch, turn to 381.

If you wish to escape by the stairs, turn to 317.

 

Panic running to where?

[CowsGoMoo 267]

Panic running to the ARCH!

 

Mainly because I'm not quite sure what an arch is. What exactly is an arch?

 

Whatever it is, it sounds safe. It also sounds like it turns to a safe page. 381 is a very nice number. If you add it together, you get 12! A perfectly even and dividable number.

 

See, if you add up 317, you get 11. An imperfectly odd and a prime indivisible number. If it's prime, it's probably a mime!

And I HATE mimes.