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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Joshua Randall" data-source="post: 9566883" data-attributes="member: 7737">Once again, if we let Beldon into the room that only leads to our inevitable demise. Also we would like the book to stop second-guessing our original decision not to let him in.Thus, we turn to (32) where we can literally feel the energy radiating off the scrolls, "as if their contents were trying to spring into [our] brain." We contemplate which one to open first:(206) red ribbon,(89) blue ribbon, or(192) black ribbon.[Landor sure did like his black-blue-red color organization system.]---192If we open the scrolls in what we assume to be the intended order based on the wizards' robe colors (first black, then blue, then red), it turns out the black-ribboned one is the scroll of Summon Rufyl at (192). If we do that, and once again refuse to let Beldon into the room, we go to section (21) where Rufyl appears and telepathically communicates with us about the Sceptre and its hiding place with the crypt thing, which leads directly to the crypt itself and the final showdown with Beldon.This means we never get a chance to read Landor's letter to us, which is hugely disappointing once we know that letter exists. So let’s open something else first.---89The blue-ribboned scroll's first few lines read, "To guard yourself against all spoken spells…."We can keep reading at (111) or tie it back up for later (161). Weirdly, the appropriately cautious save-for-later approach [an approach that AD&D play in the 1980s very strongly incentivized] leads to death because instead of actually saving the scroll for later, we open the door to Beldon, who grabs the scroll and BOOM.---111We keep reading the scroll of protection. It's written in a magical script but somehow the letters change into those of the Common tongue. "[Our] father must have designed the scroll so that [we] could read it without magical assistance." [Hahahahaha! Dad knew his son would be an idiot.][Alternatively: this is a missed opportunity if we actually learned the Read Magic spell. Although I don’t believe there is any way to get from “learned Read Magic” to “open blue-ribboned scroll”, for some reason!]To guard against all spoken spells, I, Landor of College Arcane, do anoint this parchment with iron and silver in the manner prescribed by Bhukodian sorcerers to protect my son, Carr, from all evil powers and entities for as long as this magical dweomer does glow.A purple light glows from the scroll, shoots into our body, and leaves us covered in a "magenta haze".[The material components -- powdered iron and silver -- are taken directly from the AD&D Players Handbook spell description for Protection From Evil. The duration of the magic-user version is 2 rounds per level (clerics get 3 rounds per level). If Landor's title "Archmagus of Saven" is meant to match the level title of "Arch-Mage" from the PH, he was 18th level! So the Protection From Evil will last for 18 rounds. The combat round in AD&D was 1 minute long, so we'd have 18 minutes of protection. If we are reasonably efficient with the Rufyl summoning and conversation, then the Protection from Evil should still be in effect during the endgame… yet it’s never mentioned again, no matter what choices we make. Weird!]At this point we can read one of the other two scrolls.---206The red-ribboned scroll is the letter from Landor. This time I will emphasize this passage:"Beldon will seek to use you to discover my secrets. Then he will seek to destroy you, my sole offspring, because of the Kandian blood in your veins."So Beldon is a racist now?From this point we can (24) read another scroll now [but we’ve already explored all those paths], or(64) wait until we have more privacy.</blockquote>

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