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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Joshua Randall" data-source="post: 9590481" data-attributes="member: 7737">Commentary:So. Much. Wishy-washy. Language.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">"If" Arno is in Saven, we can face him there.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Arno's power "may" not be as strong in Saven as it is on Seagate Island.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">After we see the paladins then we can "guess" the source of magic Arno used on them.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">"Perhaps" we can mingle with the Knights of Dyan.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The main road "might" be guarded by paladins.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">"If" those paladins are under Arno's control, then we "could" run into trouble.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Yellow Marsh "is reputed to be" full of dangerous monsters.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">We "could" detour around the marsh.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">After Rufyl panics, we tell him that we will "try" to detour around the marsh ("if" we go that way!).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">We contemplate "if" Arno is "really" in control of Saven.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Getting into the city "may" be difficult.</li> </ul>Bleh! This writing saps any tension and urgency out of the story. As a reader-slash-player, I can't get excited about any of these possibilities, because the characters in the story can't definitively state what is happening. I understand that some of this is meant to reflect those characters' uncertainty about the facts on the ground, but the gamebook author has taken that uncertainty way too far.---Dalris notes that her father is still chanting over Thayne, which is a good sign because Perth would've given up if there was no hope of "resurrecting" him.Dalris's use of the term "resurrecting" made me second guess my remembrance of the AD&D druid spell list. But my memory was fine in this case. The only spell on the druid list that can bring a dead person back to life is Reincarnate, a 7th level spell.Resurrection is the cleric equivalent at 7th level. (Clerics also had Raise Dead at 5th level.)So for Dalris to use the term "resurrecting" in reference to Perth's druid magic is sloppy terminology.Unless Perth turns out to be a dual-classed Druid-Cleric because why not.---Rufyl telepathically asks why we're leaving the grove.Well, Rufyl, if you had attended last night's meeting that you instead blew off to frolic in the woods, you'd know why we are leaving the grove.---We ask Dalris what's wrong with Rufyl….Rufyl is standing right there and he can communicate telepathically. We can ask Rufyl directly.Maybe this is supposed to be one of those quote-unquote funny scenes in a movie where the group discusses plans, someone objects to the plan for a petty reason, and the viewpoint character hooks a thumb at his sidekick and asks, "What's wrong with that guy?"rimshot, laugh track[Rufyl] telepathically sounds "petulant"....Rufyl being petulant is absolutely an "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-Elr5K2Vuo" target="_blank">I learned it by watching you, dad!</a>" moment.---Dalris sketches a rough map in the dirt. … because apparently it would be too much to ask for parchment and a quill from the magic-user.Also, welcome to one of the main sources for my childhood map. Except as I read this today, I cannot make head nor tails of the geography of Tikandia.We're in Wealwood. There's a main road that leads to Saven. There's also a network of trails [plural] or maybe only "the" trail [singular] along the coast to Saven. The trail(s) go through a forest and also near a swamp. Given the main road is faster, this implies the coastal trail(s) must go through rough terrain and/or be the long arc of a circle, as opposed to the main road which cuts across the diameter. That sort of makes sense, except for the part where there are both multiple coastal trails and only one coastal trail. But such quantum nonsense is par for the course in this gamebook series, so we'll let it slide.If we take the coastal trail(s), we'll pass near Yellow Marsh, which is only a few miles from Wealwood, which is a forest. To be a marsh you need a water source, except that Yellow Marsh is a "barren wasteland" instead. Sure. Why not.Thus there is some kind of geographical relationship among forest, barren swampy wasteland marsh, coastline, coastal trail(s), and main road. Draw whatever map you want!Speaking of the coastal trail(s): if we take the coastal trail(s), we will "enter" the Yellow Marsh only "a few miles" from Wealwood. Unless we detour off the coastal trail(s) back to the main road, which is the faster different route to Saven. Which implies the main road and the coastal trail(s) don't follow the same route, except they must be close enough together that we can leave the coastal trail(s) where it/they enter(s) the Yellow Marsh, get onto the main road for an hour, then get off the main road back to the coastal trail(s), then end up in Saven either way.How the HECK did I get past this insanity to draw a map of this as a kid?!---Rufyl's suddenly panicky thoughts invade our mind to state that anything is better than Yellow Marsh. He went there once with Landor and doesn't want to go again.Gosh, Rufyl, that sounds traumatic. Would you like to share with us why Landor went to Yellow Marsh? No? You want to keep that information to yourself, because you don't share plot-relevant information with your master? Even though there is something super eeeeevil going on that threatens all of Tikandia and your information might be critical to our success?Still no?OK! Keep your secrets, Rufyl. Totally fine.---"If Arno's in Saven as Thayne said…."If? IF?!?! Enough with the ifs! IF Arno is NOT in Saven, then WHY ARE WE GOING THERE?!?!"And if [the paladins are] somehow under Arno's control, we could run into trouble."If? IF?!?! Enough with the ifs! IF the paladins are NOT under Arno's control, then WHY DID THEY LEAVE THEIR POSTS IN THE SWAMPS?!?!---Speaking of swamps: is the swamp that the paladins were guarding before they got magicked by Arno, the same as the barren Yellow wasteland Marsh swamp? Or are these different swamps? If it's the same swamp, are the "bloodthirsty humanoids such as gnolls and orcs" mentioned in the plot-dump, that are now free to escape due to lack of paladin guards, the same as the "giant monsters from Tikandia's primordial past" that live in Yellow Marsh? Because those seem like not the same kind of monsters to me. The two different types of monsters must mean there are two different swamps on Tikandia, one of which is a barren Yellow wasteland Marsh swamp that is full of Land of the Lost style primordial monsters, and the other of which is a regular boring swamp (formerly guarded by paladins) that is full of regular monsters like gnolls and orcs.Of course.---Y'know what? I cannot participate in land-based travel on Tikandia because there is too much risk to my already fragile sanity. So screw it. We're taking a boat.</blockquote>

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