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

[Joshua Randall]

[if we learned from Shanif about "a pair of adamantite crowns"]

213

We don't know what "that thing" was, but we "think" we understand how Arno "summoned it" [aieeeee!] and "perhaps" how to send it back. We ask Dalris if she remembers what the marshy marid told us, because in addition to WIS 3, everyone in Tikandia has the memory of a goldfish.

Dalris exclaims that the "tiara" on Arno's head must be one of the crowns. (Sadly we are not able to reply, "Nahhhhh, rilly?")

Garn wants to know what the heck we're talking about, because apparently on this path, Dalris did not spend the previous several hours regaling the paladin with swamp sojourn stories.

We smile at Dalris and ask her to do her bard stuff regarding "fantastic tales and magical items". She dazzles with her dramatic retelling to such an extent that "Garn's eyes become bright with mystery and excitement" and "for a moment, [we] can even smell the stench of sulfur."

After Dalris completes her tale, Garn asks if we think "the adamantite tiara Arno was wearing in the sanctuary was Lolth's crown?" (Again, sadly we are not able to facepalm at this obvious deduction.)

We say that "our only chance to stop Arno is to discover its twin, the one known in ancient Bhukod as the Sorcerer's Crown." [take a shot]

Dalris wants to know why Aerdrie's crown wasn't stored in the crypt with the thing (from book 1), given that Landor found Aerdrie's crown in the same place he found the sceptre. We can't answer that, but there's someone here who can: Rufyl.

Every human eye in the room focuses hopefully on the little pseudodragon, Garn still a bit astonished at finding a small red dragon in his home. Rufyl fades a shade or two in alarm at the attention, but he sends the same mental message to everyone.

"I observed my old master handling many crowns during our long association. What does this one look like?"

Dalris uses her bard powers to give "a rapid but very accurate description of the gleaming tiara." Rufyl grows excited and telepathically says he remembers that crown well. "Landor presented it to a blind queen on Seagate Island in honor of her descent from elven royalty."

We immediately intuit this is Estla and state that there's no other way to stop "Arno and his mob of perverted paladins. We've got to leave for Seagate Island immediately. The sooner we find the Sorcerer's Crown [take a shot], the sooner we can fight Arno on equal terms."

Dalris is concerned that if we go to the island, we'll be leaving Saven in Arno's control. She wants to stay here to offer some resistance.

Turn to (98).

 

[Joshua Randall]

Commentary:

Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner. This numbered section saves us from the drawn-out death sentence that is a trip to College Arcane.

However, even with our meta-game(book) hat on, there was no way we could know for certain which of the two reasonable questions to ask Shanif: the source of Arno's power or how to stop him. Asking about Landor's greatest secret is not a reasonable choice, although it does give us some critical background that will become relevant in book 3. (cue mysterious music)

I suppose one might give a slight edge to "how do we stop the bad thing?" over "tell us the nature of the bad thing." Particularly if one knows in advance that the information we get about the nature of the bad thing will be mostly useless; to wit: we learn from Shanif that Pazuz(e)u(s) is a demon who can take any shape it pleases. That’s… not helpful at all.

So if you want to get through this gamebook alive, you need to visit Yellow Marsh, use impotent magic on Shanif (or whack him with your staff), and then know to ask about how to stop the bad thing.

---

We can't answer that, but there's someone here who can [answer some questions]: Rufyl.

Freakin' FINALLY! It’s about damn time that SOMEONE remembers that Rufyl knows everything that Landor knew due to a combination of being with Landor during critical events and reading Landor's mind.

Every human eye in the room focuses hopefully on the little pseudodragon…. Rufyl fades a shade or two in alarm at the attention.

This is SUCH a cute detail. I can imagine this perfectly in a D&D cartoon style scene.

"I observed my old master handling many crowns during our long association."

Ummmm… what?! Why did Landor handle so many crowns? Where did all those crowns come from?

"Landor presented [the crown of Aerdie] to a blind queen on Seagate Island in honor of her descent from elven royalty."

Estla was never a "queen" until this sentence. But of course she's descended from elven royalty, because every named Good Guy character is descended from elven royalty.

"Arno and his mob of perverted paladins…"

… are opening for the band Sybaritic Abandon at next month's concert.

 

[Joshua Randall]

We turn up the gameplay speed again and zip past (98) where Garn offers to lead a resistance movement and onto the ship at (106).

At the bottom of that section, our path is determined based on what we learned from Shanif:

(2) if “a marid” told us a tale about a demon named ‘Pazuzeus’;
(80) if we know a tale about a matched pair of crowns; or
(57) to consult with our father’s fellow wizards at College Arcane.

---

Let's continue to cheat. Our fingers are firmly planted between the pages of the book so we can flip back to prior sections when we die.

---

[a marid told us a tale about a demon named Pazuzeus]

2

We tell the boat captain to land us at Delmer because we used to live near there and we know the area. Dalris wonders why Delmer, when we had told her in the past that Marla wasn’t welcome in the village even when dying. We say it was a long time ago, it was “just Ulrik and his superstitious friends” [still not true], and that surely old Wendel will be happy to help.

The fishing boat captain puts us in a dinghy, we row quietly past some gnolls using Charisma (rolled 3, 4 plus minimum CHA 13 = 20 vs. DC 19), enter Delmer at (206), and wake up Wendel.

If you've come to Delmer from Wealwood, turn to 69. If you've come by way of Saven, turn to 75.

Technically we always come to Delmer from Wealwood because we always start our journey in Wealwood. But what the book means is if we come to Delmer DIRECTLY from Wealwood; i.e., if we bypass Yellow Marsh. If we do, we're off to (69) with Dalris… err, wait, that sounds wrong. If we bypass Yellow Marsh en route to Delmer, then we turn to the section number that is seventy-minus-one and end up stuck in a nonlethal failure scenario because we can't possibly overcome the six gnolls at the docks.

Fortunately, on this path, we did come by way of Saven so we get to turn to (75).

 

[Joshua Randall]

75

Jackpot! This is a two page info dump which I’ll sum up.

• Wendel informs us that the paladins “who were guarding the vicious humanoids in Seagate’s old prison colony” are now officers and organizers of “an evil horde of gnolls, goblins, and other dregs of Tikandian society.”
• Dalris tells Wendel everything that has happened to us until now.
• Wendel jumps up and gets a thick leather bound book written in High Elvish: Some Notes on Denizens of Foreign Planes of Existence, by Landor, Archmagus.
• We flip through the section on "Daemons, Demons, and Devils" until we reach the entry for “Pazuzeus, or ‘Pazuzu’, Demon Prince of the Lower Aerial Kingdoms” wherein Landor writes how the creature loves to corrupt paladins by tricking them into reciting its name three times in succession.
• The only way to get rid of Pazuzeus is with “the combined power of light and dark, of sky and abyss”. That would be a cool oblique reference, but Landor knew that his offspring would be a simpleton, so he spells it out: “Such power may only be wielded jointly by wearers of the twin adamantite crowns of Lolth and Aerdrie.”
• Dalris activates her bard knowledge to recognize that Lolth is the goddess of the dark elves and that Aerdie is the goddess “of light and sky”. She says we could learn more in the library of College Arcane.
• Wendel warns us "that would be dangerous" and “perhaps it would be better to ask Thayne’s elven kin about their goddesses and these mysterious adamantite crowns.”

(4) to consult the library at College Arcane, or
(145) to visit Thayne’s elven clan in the mountains.

---

Commentary:

… the paladins “who were guarding the vicious humanoids in Seagate’s old prison colony…"

So now it's a prison colony, that's in a swamp, that isn't the same swamp as the barren yellow wasteland marsh, that was ravaged by The Tarrasque until a bunch of elven wizard-sorcerers fed themselves to it.

… "an evil horde of gnolls, goblins, and other dregs of Tikandian society."

Hey! This is Seagate Island, which is populated solely by pirates and lions. How dare you insult the great cats by calling them dregs of society!

We flip through the section on "Daemons, Demons, and Devils"...

The 3 Ds of the AD&D lower planes. Demons and Devils were present in the first Monster Manual while Daemons were added in Monster Manual II.

The only way to get rid of Pazuzeus is with "the combined power of light and dark, of sky and abyss".

We're eventually going to have to work in cooperation with Arno, aren't we?

Dalris activates her bard powers to know that Lolth is the goddess of the dark elves and that Aerdie is the goddess “of light and sky”. She says we could learn more in the library of College Arcane.

Wendel warns us that would be dangerous and “perhaps it would be better to ask Thayne’s elven kin about their goddesses and these mysterious adamantite crowns.”

(4) to consult the library at College Arcane, or
(145) to visit Thayne’s elven clan in the mountains.

Surprisingly, this is a chance to get off a failure path and onto the One Truth Path, if we heed Wendel's warning instead of Dalris's advice. Given that the word "dangerous" is used in one case and not the other, the meta-game play is to ignore Dalris. Which is also the petulant teenager play, so that tracks.

---

But we have a few more digits on our hand so let's stick them in between yet more pages of the book and pretend we go to the College Arcane, because this is a cool section.

 

[Joshua Randall]

4

We tread the same mountain trail we remember from the last time we used it when we were "a ragged orphan knowing nothing of magic." A couple of times we have to hide from wagons full of filthy wounded gnolls coming from the "rugged interior" where Thayne's people dwell.

Dalris comments that "it looks as if" Pazuzu doesn't have total control over Seagate: only the coastline is firmly under the thumb of "the evil horde." We nod and state that Thayne's people won't surrender without a fight and that "their resistance might spread to the ports" if encouraged.

We near "Seagate's largest city" [i.e., Freeton] "in the early morning hours of [our] fifth day on the road." Monsters are everywhere. The only tradesmen are "orcish halfbreeds and prostitutes allowed to cater to the bestial gnolls." We don't see any paladins, and Dalris says they must be fighting in the hills.

We lead Dalris and Rufyl "past the rubble and garbage" to College Arcane at (92).

---

Commentary:

Thayne's people won't surrender without a fight and that "their resistance might spread to the ports" if encouraged.

Too bad we left our budding resistance leader back in Saven.

We near "Seagate's largest city" [i.e., Freeton] "in the early morning hours of [our] fifth day on the road."

In book 1 it took us "nearly a week" to get from Delmer to Freeton, when we were younger, in better shape, and didn't have to hide from gnolls. In book 2 it takes us fewer than five days, yet we're older, feebler, and forced to get off the trail a few times.

The only tradesmen are "orcish halfbreeds and prostitutes allowed to cater to the bestial gnolls."

I checked the infamous prostitute table in the AD&D DMG (technically, it's the Harlot sub-table from the CITY/TOWN ENCOUNTERS MATRIX) but did not find "orcish halfbreed" among the entries such as "typical streetwalker" and "saucy tart". Too bad!

We lead Dalris and Rufyl "past the rubble and garbage" to College Arcane…

I'm surprised we don't have to check our Intelligence to see if we can lift a heavy rock out of the way.

---

Mockery aside, this section shows how things have changed for the worse. A year of growing eeeeevil will do that!

 

[Joshua Randall]

We pause at (92) long enough to wax poetic about the spirit of collaboration among academ -- no; sorry. I still can't type that with a straight face.

This time we came to College Arcane by way of Delmer, so at least we don't die stupidly to a Fire Trap. Instead we comment that we know that "Pazuzu's great power has infested all of Seagate, including College Arcane. If it were just a matter of Arno's evil designs, the other magic-users would have kept him under control. I suspect they did do just that, until old Haslum vanished a year ago."

Dalris says that must be when Arno summoned Pazuzu, "if he didn't summon himself." Either way, "the combined talents of every magic-user in College Arcane would not have sufficed to contain the awesome powers of a demon prince."

Dalris advises that we "suspect anything and everything" and suggests we avoid the front door. We scale the tower with Spider Climb [*and die on a low roll, but this isn't our real path*], end up inside, pass a rot-grub infested corpse, go to the scrollery, read about the Crown of Aerdie and learn that Estla has it, and then die because we can't get out of the tower.

---

Commentary:

"Pazuzu's great power has infested all of Seagate, including College Arcane."

Has it, though? College Arcane is sealed with one Fire Trap and one Wizard Lock. No matter who cast those spells, I wouldn't say the college is "infested". Unless this means "infested with rats and rot grubs".

"I suspect they did do just that…"

Ouch. That is one seriously tortured phrase. How about: "They did exactly that." This avoids both tedious uncertainty and the awkward doubled verb.

"... until old Haslum vanished a year ago."

When he read a scroll of Gate and chose to bring in a demon rather than something nice.

---

If we do NOT heed Wendel's warning about the dangers of College Arcane, we're dead no matter what. The only thing that remains to determine is whether we die by muffing our Spider Climb spell or die from thirst and starvation inside the tower.

If we DO heed Wendel's warning, then we get back on the One Truth Path towards Thayne's people.

However… we should untangle our fingers from the book and go all the way back to the boat to follow the path where we asked Shanif the One True Question and learned about the royal hats.

 

[Joshua Randall]

106, redux

At the bottom of this section, our path is determined based on what we learned from Shanif:

(2) if “a marid” told us a tale about a demon named ‘Pazuzeus’;
(80) if we know a tale about a matched pair of crowns; or
(57) to consult with our father’s fellow wizards at College Arcane.

---

[if we know a tale about a matched pair of crowns]

80

We reason that we don't want to risk detection, so rather than land at Freeton, we should "slip in by the southern coast and try to join Thayne's people in the mountains."

On this path we don't have to sneak past any gnolls. We simply row our dinghy through the surf, land on "the warm sand", and hide the boat in "a patch of reeds". Dalris and Rufyl scout the area and return with more geographic nonsense:

They quickly locate an animal trail used by the wild goats and deer that come to the beach nightly for salt. It's a steep path leading abruptly from the beach into the coastal cliffs that edge Seagate's eastern plateau. Your former home in the mountains above Delmer, on the other side of the island, was part of this same crescent-shaped ridge….

The rough terrain is hard on our "tender hands and unused muscles" as we turn to (37).

---

Commentary:

… land on "the warm sand" and hide the boat in "a patch of reeds".

When we sail from Wealwood to Saven, the water is freezing cold. When we sail from Wealwood to Seagate Island just across Pirates' Alley, the sand of the beach is "warm". We also somehow discover some "reeds", which are grasses that grow in swamps and marshes, not on rocky coastlines.

… we should "slip in by the southern coast" …
…a steep path leading abruptly from the beach into the coastal cliffs that edge Seagate's eastern plateau…

From the southern coast we arrive at the eastern plateau. Where one finds the warm cliff-marshes full of reeds.

Your former home in the mountains above Delmer, on the other side of the island…

That would be either the northern or northwestern side of the island depending upon how we squint at the map.

 

[Joshua Randall]

37

We follow the trail inland and upward for "several miles" until we reach "a highland desert, a desolate region of scrub, broken boulders, and numerous fallen trees that rot where they lie. As [we] move through the darkness [we] see no signs of life other than cactus and desert grass."

Dalris exclaims this is a strange place and that she never knew of a "high desert" on Seagate Island. We reply that Thayne mentioned it once and named it 'Meldingrathwon', the 'Graveyard of Trees'.

Rufyl doesn' like it here and asks if we can leave. We "smile at the pseudodragon's anxious snout and pat his scaly head." It will take "several days" to reach "Thayne's clan territory in the mountains", so Rufyl should try to relax.

Turn to (145).

---

Commentary:

We follow the trail inland and upward for "several miles"...

We arrive at a high desert full of cacti mere miles from the warm cliff-marshes full of reeds. Seagate Island, like much of D&D-landia, is chock full of biomes right next to each other.

The high desert may also be where the rocs nest, if we assume the rocs retain their Middle Eastern terrain preferences.

… a desolate region of scrub, broken boulders, and numerous fallen trees …

THIS is what the area ravaged by The Tarrasque should look like.

… Thayne mentioned it once and named it 'Meldingrathwon', the 'Graveyard of Trees'.

And out of nowhere, BAM! Tolkien-style elven word. Which is never mentioned again.

It will take "several days" to reach "Thayne's clan territory in the mountains"...

In book 1 it took about a week to get from Delmer to Freeton, then less than the rest of our day of arrival to get from Freeton to Thayne's village. In book 2 if we land on the southern coast near the eastern cliffs, we're only a few miles from the high desert from which it will take several days to reach Thayne's village.

If I were to construct a model of Seagate Island, could it be done within a 3-space like what we inhabit in the real world, or would it have to be some kind of N-dimensional hypercube?

 

[Joshua Randall]

145

[We've arrived here either from our trek across Seagate Island's southern coast or from Delmer after we spoke with Wendel.]

Our trek into "the rugged highlands of Seagate's interior plateau" takes us "nearly a week". Along the way we encounter wagons of wounded gnolls and "orcish halfbreeds", but Rufyl's telepathic warnings give us ample time to hide off the trail.

Dalris comments that fighting must be fierce, and we respond that we knew Thayne's people wouldn't give up easily because "they're much too proud of the High Elvish heritage."

Mid-morning of the sixth day, Rufyl once again warns us about trouble ahead. We take cover in the thick forest and peer out to see a "strange drama".

A mounted paladin wearing "glimmering plate armor with visored helm" trots along, "unsuspecting". His scarlet surcoat "bears the crossed-logs insignia of Blessed Dyan."

Lying in ambush in the bushes by the trail is a short, gnarled demihuman, dressed in a black leather tunic guarded by overlapping rings of bluish-white metal. The small creature's ugly head is completely bald except for bushy gray eyebrows which contrast vividly with his dark brown skin. The gnarled little fighter's only weapon is a war-dart held poised in his hand.

Dalris wants to know what kind of creature it is. We don't know, but we think he must be either brave or stupid to confront an armored paladin with a single war-dart.

(184) to intervene in the ambush;
(212) to wait and see what happens.

---

Commentary:

Our trek into "the rugged highlands of Seagate's interior plateau" takes us "nearly a week".

I'll assume this "nearly a week" includes the time it took to get from the coast to the high desert. Either that or I'll add another tesseract to my map.

Thayne's people wouldn't give up easily because "they're much too proud of the High Elvish heritage."

They were Wood Elves in the previous book. And yes, those are distinctly different races in AD&D.

Lying in ambush in the bushes by the trail is a short, gnarled demihuman…

… with a description so lovingly detailed, he MUST be someone important.

(184) to intervene in the ambush;
(212) to wait and see what happens.

I am torn: in book 1 we were taught not to intervene (it gets us killed by a mob when we try to save Wendel and it gets us dragged into a swordfight when we try to save a sailor from being press-ganged). But this NPC is clearly relevant to our interests.

Oh, heck: the series won't KEEP punishing us for intervening, will it?

 

[Joshua Randall]

184

We tell Dalris this "might" be our chance to talk to one of the renegade paladins to "learn more about Arno's power over them." We'll warn the paladin about the "foolish ambush" and then he "might" drop his guard and trust us.

Dalris nods and, together with Rufyl, we step onto the trail. The paladin's "huge destrier" rears and paws the air. We urge the cavalier to have caution as we point out the "ugly ambusher's hiding spot." The gnarled creature stands up, dart still at hand. But instead of running away, he utters a startling phrase.

"CARR! DALRIS! I thought you were dead!"

We're stunned at the sound of our names from this "stunted demihuman" we have never seen before, especially because the voice is familiar. But we're even more shocked when Rufyl speaks into our minds:

"It's your friend Thayne, Master!"

(Cue ‘surprise’ music.)

(169) if we landed on Seagate at either Delmer or Freeton, or
(196) if we landed somewhere else.

---

Commentary:

… our chance to talk to one of the renegade paladins to "learn more about Arno's power over them."

The gamebook threads get away from Morris Simon here: on several paths to this section, we already know about Pazuz(e)u(s) and/or have already been inside the cathedral in Saven. What more could we hope to learn from a brainwashed paladin?

The paladin's "huge destrier"...

'Destrier' is one of those words that is only used in RPGs or in swords-and-horses fantasy fiction.

… the voice is familiar.

Without even knowing WTF is going on here: why would Thayne's voice from a "stunted demihuman" body sound anything like Thayne's voice from his half-elf body? Neo-Thayne’s word choice and inflection might be similar, but the voice wouldn't be "familiar". It would be like if I had one of my friends shout out the names "CARR! DALRIS!" and then asked if that sounded like me. Why would it?

(169) if we landed on Seagate at either Delmer or Freeton, or
(196) if we landed somewhere else.

The printed book has an error where the second choice is marked as (232). This book ends at (220). Given that most gamebooks are longer than 220 sections -- book 1 in this series is 244 and the classic Fighting Fantasy books are 400 -- I think the instruction to turn to (232) is yet more evidence of a rewrite. In other words: I think there used to be more sections of this gamebook, The Sorcerer’s Crown, such that an instruction to turn to (232) originally made sense. But at some point the book was condensed and shortened.

Also, there’s no way to get from Freeton to here. (Any trip to Freeton always ends in death via College Arcane.) Maybe there used to be a path from Freeton to “stunted demihuman ambush” prior to my hypothesized rewrite.