[AD&D Gamebook] The Sorcerer's Crown (Kingdom of Sorcery, book 2 of 3)

[Joshua Randall]

2

We tell the captain to make for Delmer because we used to live near there and know the area. He nods and points the ship in that direction.

Dalris points out that we told her that our mother's people refused to let us enter Delmer, even when Marla was dying. We acknowledge the truth of that statement, but "that was a long time ago, and it was just my cousin Ulrik and his superstitious friends". (Well, them and the angry mob of the ENTIRE VILLAGE that briefly killed us when we tried to sneak out of town.)

We say that we are sure that "old Wendel" will help us -- "if" he's still alive. [Aaaaargh!]

An hour later, the fishing boatmaster points to the glow of the town in the southern sky. He says we have to take a dinghy from here because "we don't dare get closer. The cliffs are too steep to land anywhere else on this section of coast, so you'll have to sneak into the harbor."

We do so. "It's a moonless, cloudy night and the shadows of the sleeping vessels loom menacingly in the harbor." [Morris Simon writes great, evocative prose at times.]

We notice "large dark shapes" passing in front of the lanterns on the docks. Guards, and big ones.

"Probably gnolls -- good sword practice," Dalris murmurs. [We] can't see the bard's face, but [we] suspect that her eyes are dancing with excitement.

[When did Dalris become so bloodthirsty?]

We can
(30) try to slip undetected into Delmer, or
(144) openly confront the guards.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

After discovering that Landor was much older than initially thought, I think we should question Thayne's age. He didn't strike me as young based on the description you shared. More like a middle-aged elf. And Estla is both his AUNT (one generation earlier) and blind, which is often the sign of being old. Following the link, you mentionned that Estla is his "grand-aunt". A sibling of Thayne's grandfather. There is a strong chance she was around 500 years ago.

She is just out of young adulthood for elfs, and young adults typically don't have grand-nephews. Sure, Thayne mentionned her to be more "more than 200 years old". While a human can be said to be more than 20 years old when he's 54, it's an odd way of presenting things. Here, however, we're confronted with an elven culture that might have a different relationship with age. First, Thayne could be 200 years old and just mention that aunt Estla has always been around. Especially since counting years might not be something useful for extremely long living races. As a human, when your 6, you NEVER fail to mention that you're 6 and 3 month or 6 and a half. Because it's important. When you're over 40, you tend not to care about whole years...

Finally, there is the Tolkien cop-out that the Years of the Trees were ten times longer than the year of the Sun, and elves don't count years the same as we do.

Anyway, I won't force you to reread book 1, but the combination of wise + great-aunt of a middle-aged character + blind lead me to think she's in firmly in the middle-aged side of her lifespan. It is something we must be on the lookout if we drop by her village in another reality, not the reality of OUR Carr.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

Dalris points out that we told her that our mother's people refused to let us enter Delmer, even when Marla was dying. We acknowledge the truth of that statement, but "that was a long time ago, and it was just my cousin Ulrik and his superstitious friends". (Well, them and the angry mob of the ENTIRE VILLAGE that briefly killed us when we tried to sneak out of town.)

Can't we just aknowledge that we want to torch those bastard? They tried to push Mum off a cliff! I may be a little oversensitive, but I think it's reasonable to hold a grudge...

We say that we are sure that "old Wendel" will help us -- "if" he's still alive. [Aaaaargh!]

There is a strong chance he was killed by the rest of the village...

An hour later, the fishing boatmaster points to the glow of the town in the southern sky. He says we have to take a dinghy from here because "we don't dare get closer. The cliffs are too steep to land anywhere else on this section of coast, so you'll have to sneak into the harbor."

OK, so it's a fishing village with a harbour... where our ship can't go. Why did we mention that we might be unwelcome to the fisherman? He could just dock to say hi and try to sell fish, as fishermen are wont to do...

We do so. "It's a moonless, cloudy night and the shadows of the sleeping vessels loom menacingly in the harbor." [Morris Simon writes great, evocative prose at times.]

Our fireball will be all the more festive!

We notice "large dark shapes" passing in front of the lanterns on the docks. Guards, and big ones.

"Probably gnolls -- good sword practice," Dalris murmurs. [We] can't see the bard's face, but [we] suspect that her eyes are dancing with excitement.

[When did Dalris become so bloodthirsty?]

She's very 80s. Nowaday, the gnollpersons would default to be integrated member of society, and just doing their rightful job of being part of the law-enforcement.

I start to suspect that the population was enslaved by gnoll while we were away and they are suffering a lot from the oppression. Can we advise the gnoll on providing more oppression?

We can
(30) try to slip undetected into Delmer, or
(144) openly confront the guards.

I remember being Grey Star... and after being advised to be quiet in the port of Shun, start a religious revolt and torch several Shadakine chariots on the docks (before stepping away while your grassroot movement is mowed down by the Shadakine war chariot, because if you make a stand for too long Your Quest Ends Here and I liked being some sort of self-centered jerk on a power trip "Soon you'll regret Shasarak" Grey Star ).

However, as Grey Star, we had plenty of powers, here we're a measly magic-user, so we might try the stealthy approach. After all, we need to get into Wendel's hut to discuss things, and it would be complicated to do that while fighting the guards.

 

[Joshua Randall]

the combination of wise + great-aunt of a middle-aged character + blind lead me to think she's [Estla] in firmly in the middle-aged side of her lifespan. It is something we must be on the lookout if we drop by her village in another reality, not the reality of OUR Carr.

In Sceptre of Power, section (5), Carr's interior monologue remarks, "If she were a human, you'd estimate her age to be no more than thirty years rather than two centuries!" So take "30 in human years" for whatever it's worth!

 

[Joshua Randall]

30

The entire premise of this expedition is that we are SNEAKING, so let's do that. We whisper to Dalris that if we can get beneath the pier we can stay in its shadows and get past the gnolls.

Dalris, her bloodthirsty desire for sword practice instantly abated, nods. We paddle silently towards the wharf. Above our heads we hear the creak of boards as the gnolls patrol the pier, knocking loose sand down between the slats and onto us.

Roll 2 dice and add the result to your charisma score.
(13) if 19 or more
(130) if less

---

Commentary:

Why is this a Charisma test? According to the gamebook intro, "Your charisma skill score will determine whether you can convince others to follow your advice, believe in you, or simply to 'like' you."

None of that applies when rowing quietly past gnoll patrols. What does apply is "success or failure at tasks involving agility, climbing, speed, dodging, or throwing" -- which is Dexterity.

I rant here because OUR Carr Delling has a lower DEX 11 than his CHA 13. So I don't want anyone to accuse me of cheating in my own favor.

---

We roll 3 & 4 for a total of 7. Added to CHA 13 this would be a 20 which would be a success. But CHA makes no sense as the ability to row sneakily past gnolls.

7 added to DEX 11 is 18 which is a failure.

We turn to (130).

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

In Sceptre of Power, section (5), Carr's interior monologue remarks, "If she were a human, you'd estimate her age to be no more than thirty years rather than two centuries!" So take "30 in human years" for whatever it's worth!

I think it means she looks 30. But then again, Galadriel looks 35ish (both Morfydd Clark and Cate Blanchett at the age of filming) but she's been around for 7,000 years. But we remark that elves are better looking than average (and even taunt late Thayne for being ugly despite being half-elf). They can stay at peak age for long, as I don't remember grey-haired elves being common. So, looking thirty is already showing some sign of old age (compared to the peak reached at 20ish). If she looks like a mid-mature human, she must be at least a mid-mature elf, which should be halfway between 150 and 500 (325). But she could probably look 30 until she reach what a human would be old age, so she could be anywere from 325 to 800.

At the very least, her parents were there when Bukhod fell. I kind of think such a continent-spanning event would be passed on to their children. Parents can tell their children of the time before mobile phone, and I don't think it's as ground breaking as the fall of civilization.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

Why is this a Charisma test? According to the gamebook intro, "Your charisma skill score will determine whether you can convince others to follow your advice, believe in you, or simply to 'like' you."

Dalris (eye bright with a mad psychotic frenzy): let's kill some gnoll!
Carr: we'll sneak under the pontoon instead of causing useless bloodshed.
Dalris (doing a finger gesture behind her back I've seen in US kid movie to mean the character is lying): OK, sure, we'll be sneaky...
Carr: Cool! We're on the same page...
Dalris *proceeds to walk on every single creaky woodplank and hush a loud "sorry" each time, with a mad grin and her hand on her sword's hilt.
Carr, eyerolling because he can see even with his WIS 3 that she isn't doing her best: "NOW PLEASE!"

Roll Charisma.

It's legit.

(I envision OUR Dalris as a totally unhinged girl, who really thinks she is an elven princess and actually believe Rufyl is real (honestly, an invisible magical servant? She fell for that?) and WIS 3 as we got it from our father's side.)

 

[Joshua Randall]

I think it means she looks 30. But then again, Galadriel looks 35ish (both Morfydd Clark and Cate Blanchett at the age of filming) but she's been around for 7,000 years.

Fair point.

Also, I would break my marriage vows for 55-year-old Cate Blanchett now, never mind how she looked 24 years ago.

At the very least, her parents were there when Bukhod fell. I kind of think such a continent-spanning event would be passed on to their children.

Right! As I ranted in the previous there, long-lived fantasy races break plots. There can’t be any mystery about what happened to Bhukod. It should be common knowledge.

(I envision OUR Dalris as a totally unhinged girl, who really thinks she is an elven princess and actually believe Rufyl is real

Works for me!

And I now totally want to play a gamebook series as Dalris. Not THIS series, but how about what she was up to before that fateful night on the grounds of the College Arcane?

 

[Joshua Randall]

130

We've paddled past the pilings of the pier when our oar slaps the water. Even that tiny sound is enough to alert the keen-eared gnolls.

"Hawdip! Come quick! Humans is leaving island!" one of them shouts.

Before we can do anything to get away, two more guards emerge from a large sail shed and join the four on the pier. Facing the six of them, we "don't dare try to fight", but we can "probably" cast a spell. Although we're not sure if we should reveal ourselves as a magic-user.

(163) if we want to cast a spell or if the Sceptre of Bhukod is with us
(115) if we'd rather talk our way out of this situation

---

163

We "try" to concentrate on our memorized spells to cast the most effective one. But just as we feel energy growing within us, "an eerie blue aura springs all around you, as if you, along with Dalris and Rufyl and the entire boat, have been painted with some phosphorus marker. The strange dweomer is so bright that it illuminates the entire waterfront."

A frightened Dalris asks if we did that.

"I don't know!" we reply, our magic forgotten.

Then, we immediately follow that up with: "I didn't do it. Arno must have trapped the port somehow with a permanent Detect Magic which is picking up our own dweomers!"

Dalris shields her eyes from the glare and points out we are sitting ducks in the light.

"Kill sorcerer!" a gnoll yells.

Just before the rain of heavy iron spears descends upon the illuminated targets of your helpless bodies, you realize that Arno's power must be even greater than anyone imagined at the start of your adventure. ✠

---

DEATH COUNT: 1

[I'll keep a separate tally for this book. I can later total up all deaths across all books at the end of the series.]

 

[Joshua Randall]

Commentary:

Facing the six of them, we "don't dare try to fight"...

Why the heck not? We are going to face far, far worse odds on other paths of this book and be offered the chance to fight.

---

… but we can "probably" cast a spell.

Aaaaargh!!!!! We are a bloody magic-user. Casting spells is what we do.

---

(163) if we want to cast a spell or if the Sceptre of Bhukod is with us

Ohhhhh snap. Now you see the downside of carrying our artifact on this journey.

The way this gamebook passage is written, we bring about our own demise if we're carrying the sceptre or if we try to cast a spell. So the death scene doesn't single out the sceptre as the cause as much as some other -- y'know what? You'll see.

---

A frightened Dalris asks if we did that.
"I don't know!" we reply, our magic forgotten.
Then, we immediately follow that up with: "I didn't do it."

In the span of two sentences we go from not knowing if we did something (WIS 3 at work) to forgetting our own magic (INT 19 not at work) to knowing that we didn't do something (gamebook logic at work).

---

"Arno must have trapped the port somehow with a permanent Detect Magic which is picking up our own dweomers!"

As discussed previously, Permanency is an 8th level spell. So if Arno can cast Permanency, he is 15th level compared to our 6th level and we are way, way outclassed.

Detect Magic is a valid target for a Permanency spell.

However, by-the-book Detect Magic does not cause things to glow blue. It simply allows the caster to "detect magical radiations" on a 1" path, 6" long (so that's 10 yards wide X 60 yards long outdoors). Put another way: the Detect Magic originates from the spellcaster. It doesn't blanket an entire area and stay there.

Of course, this was AD&D, when your entire gameplan was to convince your DM to go along with whatever nonsense you cooked up. Especially if said nonsense allowed you to bypass the character-hostile rules as written in favor of some DM fiat in your favor.

Arno, being the manipulative psychopath that he is, convinced his DM that a Permanent Detect Magic ought to function as stationary radar emplacement with a make-dweomers-glow-blindingly-bright-blue effect.

---

"an eerie blue aura springs all around you, as if you, along with Dalris and Rufyl and the entire boat, have been painted with some phosphorus marker."

The entire boat glows blue? Cool! Nice to know the fishermen lent us their magic boat.

---

Overall I find this gamebook death deeply unsatisfying. Not only does the ability score we are asked to roll not make any sense, we are then railroaded directly into death with no opportunity to save ourselves, despite an entire array of spells that might help here.

• Light, reversed to Darkness (which OUR Carr Delling did in book 1), to cover the blue glow.
• Friends or Suggestion to convince the gnolls that yeah, we're glowing blue, but we're buddies of Arno's.
• Armor to not die to some dumb spears.
• Dispel Magic to shut off the blue glow.
• Or any of our offensive spells to blast the gnolls.

But nope! Instead we die like chumps while shielding our eyes.