Let's play Bloodsword, book 3/5

[Jfdlsjfd]

We're now starting with our team of 4 heroes having defeated the Warlock-King of Wyrd and recovered both the scabbard and the hilt of the Bloodsword. The events were recounted in this thread and then this thread.

English title: The Demon's Claw.
French title, translated: The Assassin's Harbour.

I don't know which title is more accurate with regard to what happens in the book. To be honest from my recollection of what happens in the third part of this pentalogy, none of them has anything to do with the adventure content.


We're cured of all ailments between the books. The character creation chapter indicates that each heroes has gained 25 gp since the end of the last book.

Our stats & inventory at the start of this book's quest are therefore the following:



Winny rank 4, FP 11, PA (psychic ability) 6, Awareness 7, Damage 2d6+1, HP 25

1. Armour AR3
2. Bludgetranker (+1 FP, +1d6 damage vs Giants)
3. A healing salve (2 dose, +2d6 HP, that we can use whenever we want, including a fight)
4. The Sommermulet (+7 damage and AR against undead)
5. Dagger of Vislet
6. Golden Snuff-Box
7. A St-Ashanax reliquary
8. A fire orb
9. A cloak fur who took from the body of a dead girl warning us of the danger ahead with her dying breath
10. An amber tinderbox

Trixie rank 4, FP 8, PA 7, Awareness 8, Damage 1d6+3, HP 25

1. Armour AR3
2. Sword of Redundancy +1
3. An empty spot
4. Money pouch with 205 gp
5. Bow +1
6. Quiver (6 arrows)
7. A falchion called Shadowcleaver
8. An empty spot
9. An empty spot
10. A silver clasp representing a wolf

Salvia rank 3, FP 7, PA 8, Awareness 7, Damage 1d6+2, HP 21

1. Armour AR2
2. Quarterstaff
3. The blade of the Blood Sword
4. Bow
5. Quiver (6 arrows)
6. An empty spot
7. An empty spot
8. An empty spot
9. A lute we took from our former friend, the bard with which we played music before he got gored to death
10. Two blue gems that were the eye of a creature

Esmeralda rank 4, FP 7, PA 13/16, Awareness 6, damage 1d6+1, HP 15
(accompanied by a pet raven possibly sent by Odin)
(She memorize Nemesis Bolt, Sheet Lightning and Servile Enthrallment, which she succeeds casting on a roll of 8, 9 and 8 respectively)

1. Obsolete Sword of Uselessness +0
2. Armour AR2
3. The hilt of the Blood Sword
4. 1 scroll of Time Blink (to rewind a fight)
5. A charm of Shielding AR +1
6. A ring of Sorcery PA +1
7. A magic carpet (1/3)
8. A magic carpet (2/3)
9. A magic carpet (3/3)
10. A white amulet

The foreword includes a very nice rule... "The name of this game is enjoyment. If rules and numbers are not your taste then you are at perfect liberty to ignore them. The book is, after all, a text from which you can draw one hundred and one different stories."

But tactical challenge is one of the nicer elements of the series, so let's use those rules anyway.

We're also given a map:

I have included a key for easier-reading:

Over the last two years, we have travelled the northen continent to find clues about the location of the blade of the Bloodsword. An old woman (therefore right) told us the blade is in the Crusader states. We've set sail for Crescentium, the southern outpost of civilization.

Its mighty port is protected by unassailable walls. It is from there that the first Crusaders of the True Faith launched their wars against the Ta'ashim heathens. Jeweled minarets shimmer in the dusty haze as we sail into the magnificent harbour. The scent of exotic spices, incense and hashish fills the air as we set foot ashore.

The last book took excruciating pain to avoid mentionning tobacco. People were smoking herbs, and at some point we were told about tahac that people love to fill their pipes with, but no tabacco smoking in a children book. Apparently, hashish is A-OK.

As we stroll in the magnificent street, we're surrounded by beggars. As befits our classist view, we tell them that we have no charity to spare for men who choose to live like leeches, with a snarl of distaste.

We really didn't change in two years, still behaving like lords.

We're wondering where we will stay for the night, and each character has an opinion about it.

Esmeralda has heard of Psyche the Sorceress, who villes in the outskirts of the town. We have mutual acquaintances, but we're not sure she would welcome us, but there is a tradition of solidarity among wizards that might play in our favour.

Salvia has a firm friend, Emeritus, who was an acolyte in the same monastery as her, made a holy pilgrimage and stayed in Crescentium. He would welcome us with open arms.

Trixie has heard about Jablo the Knife, an unprincipled rogue who is selling false jewels near the jewellers' market, and of Lagrestin, who is a spice dealer. We can choose to meet either of them.

Winny has a letter of introduction the the commander of the local knight chapter, and she's certain we would be welcome as honoured guests.

 

[Joshua Randall]

We're now starting with our team of 4 heroes having defeated the Warlock-King of Wyrd and recovered both the scabbard and the hilt of the Bloodsword.

HECK YEAH!

We're cured of all ailments between the books.

I'm curious -- do these books consider something like "lost 1 PA because of your frontal lobotomy" an "ailment" that gets cured? Obviously an extreme example, but I guess what I wonder is -- can you ever go from book N to book N+1 with a FP/PA/Awareness that got worse?

Sword of Redundancy +1

Clearly the most critical piece of equipment we own.

"The name of this game is enjoyment. If rules and numbers are not your taste then you are at perfect liberty to ignore them. "

"And besides, we know you are going to cheat by putting a bunch of fingers / bookmarks / dog-eared pages throughout the book so you can roll back to any section, if you ever end up at Your Quest Ends Here."

We're also given a map:

Like all gamebook maps, it is a blend of imaginative names (Zhenir! Murgoda! Kaikuhuran!) and we-obviously-ran-out-of-imagination (Crescentium, which is probably near Squareville and Port Pentagram).

no tabacco smoking in a children book. Apparently, hashish is A-OK.

Things that are OK in gamebooks marketed to teenage children:

• arson
• murder
• jaywalking
• drug use
• theft
• larceny
• burglary
• lovingly detailed descriptions of bodily harm

Things that are NOT OK NOT NOT NOT OK in gamebooks marketed to teenage children:

• tobacco use

Esmeralda has heard of Psyche the Sorceress

Greek mythical name. Has a dweomer. Solid pick.

Salvia has a firm friend, Emeritus

Latinus Namus. Possibly works in academia. Solid pick.

Winny has a letter of introduction the the commander of the local knight chapter,

No name, but is a knight, and literate. Solid pick.

Trixie has heard about Jablo the Knife, an unprincipled rogue

TEH WINNER!

and of Lagrestin, who is a spice dealer

Ask if he has any hashish.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

HECK YEAH!

I'm curious -- do these books consider something like "lost 1 PA because of your frontal lobotomy" an "ailment" that gets cured? Obviously an extreme example, but I guess what I wonder is -- can you ever go from book N to book N+1 with a FP/PA/Awareness that got worse?

I am assuming so, since there is a difference between the penalty one can gain and some when we're told that we lose permanently in italics. The stat swap from the scolls in book 1 were described as permanent, the frostbite in book 2 were not. There are opportunity to lose stat permanently, for example if you're stupid enough to try to slow your fall by grabing the wall when the description just told they were covered with razor-sharp blades. Then you lose a finger and 1 FP permanently. Same if you took another path and lost your memories, you would lose a whole rank permanently. The consistant use of the word in italics makes me think those are not ailments that are supposed to be cured at the beginning of the next book.

Also, if you're dead, you're not allowed to be resurrected between book, the team is supposed to continue to book 5 without the complete number of characters.

Also, apparently, in the last book, we missed a periapt of resurrection (probably somewhere near the weird ritual involving the executioner and the raising from the dead...). Just saying.

Like all gamebook maps, it is a blend of imaginative names (Zhenir! Murgoda! Kaikuhuran!) and we-obviously-ran-out-of-imagination (Crescentium, which is probably near Squareville and Port Pentagram).

These parts of the map are places that were present on the map of the world book for the RPG, but much less detailed than Not-England and Not-France, where most of the game was supposed to take place. They had the good taste to write the book in rather untouched areas, so as not to spoil anything and serve as a "ambiance sourcebook".

Things that are OK in gamebooks marketed to teenage children:

• arson

Check. We can put a whaler boat on fire.

• murder

Countless occurrences, starting within three section of the first book when we can murder an innocent guard who is patrolling the market.

• jaywalking

I am sure we can make this work!

• drug use

I am pretty sure the concotion of the witches can count. If not, we can drug sailors and abandon them to die in a dinghy during a storm.

• theft
• larceny
• burglary

Larceny is possible in the second section of book 1 (failing it, you get your first opportunity to commit the aforementionned murder!). Theft we did when we looted the house of the nice old lady of her amber tinderbox (she invited us in, so it wasn't burglary). Burglary... we can do to Augustus if we land at this manor (he might have invited us if we hadn't killed him before).

• lovingly detailed descriptions of bodily harm

Many, many times.

Things that are NOT OK NOT NOT NOT OK in gamebooks marketed to teenage children:

• tobacco use

Admittedly, this would be beyond the pale.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

Gamebook logic commands that all the path will end up at the same place, since we're not guaranteed to have all the options to explore, depending on which character class we're playing.

Despite that, there is a narrow path that allow us to explore... ALL of them. It just requires irritating most people we meet, which is something our team is known to excel at (Magus Vyl, Magus Takes-1,000-Years-To-Devise-Same-Failed-Plan, the chess playing merchants, the pressganger, the nice and upfront captain who suggest we enroll as sailorwomen, the dying girl we looted after she died of exposure...) You think I am overdoing it, but just wait. I promise my paraphrase will never, ever, worsen what dialogue options we're given. Well, at some time, maybe, but I'll keep the exact quote then, so you can judge. It's rare that a book offers the opportunity to be complete jerks.

Let's start with the Sorcerer, Psyche, first.

Enquiring from a militiaman about the path to Psyche's villa, we engage on a road wending its way through the orange groves.

It looks like the last book was about dealing with the inconvience of freezing temperature, here it's the contrary. I suggest we don't try to save money if we're offered the chance to buy waterskins, umbrellas, sunscreen...) especially if there is nothing in the book indicating we're about to cross a desert.

The road is long, and the night falls when we meet a group of three veiled Tahashim women. We decide to speak with them... and suddenly, language matters! "Vill! Vill! Vill! Psyche itlahet vill.". Fortunately, we have a Sage in our group, whom we are told is fluent in the Nascerine tongue, so Salvia can inform us that the women are telling us:

"God preserves you if your journey there! Turn back as you value your living flesh, for this Psyche is a ghoul who feast on mortal men."

The Nascerine tongue is extremely synthetic.

Of course, there is no cause to worry in this warning. They must be simple superstititous commoner, mustn't they? Also, we're an all-female group.

As we get closer from the villa, a low moan draws our attention. A man who seem to be standing inside a hollow rock, quite handsome, with an expression of woe, is responsible.

As we get closer to investigate, he explains that he is a pilgrim who wandered from the True Faith by dabbling into magical arts. Hearing of the wondrous power of Lady Psyche, he sought an appointment and fell in love. She wasn't interested, so he decided stalking her day and night, each time she exited her villa to stroll in the orange orchard and following her when she walked to Crescentium, despite her repeated mentions that she the love wasn't shared and hopeless.

Even in the 80s, this was supposed to be yucky, I guess.

After numerous warning, Psyche petrified the bottom half of his body, and left. Ever since he's been moaning in despair.

He just ask us for a small service, to pick a few oranges for him in Psyche's orchard to quench his thirst. Will we?

 

[Joshua Randall]

there is a narrow path that allow us to explore... ALL of them. It just requires irritating most people we meet

Sounds like just the job for this crew.

The Nascerine tongue is extremely synthetic.

Hah! It's the classic fantasy genre gibberish language (when they didn't bother to hire a language consultant, which is quite rare):

"Random blather random blather PROPER NOUN random blather." -- can mean everything from:

• "PROPER NOUN is your friend."
• "There once was a woman named PROPER NOUN / who assets did surely abound / She heard us make rhymes, / which sounded like crimes, / so stones upon our head she'd pound."
• "My hovercraft is full of eels."

After numerous warning, Psyche petrified the bottom half of his body, and left. Ever since he's been moaning in despair.

He just ask us for a small service, to pick a few oranges for him in Psyche's orchard to quench his thirst. Will we?

On the one hand, the guy didn't take no for an answer.
On the other hand, Psyche's punishment seems a little severe for the crime.
On the gripping hand, she might be a ghoul and therefor worth thwarting.

I say yeah, get him some oranges.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

While our inner jerk wanted to berate this guy about his toxic masculinty and leave him to rot there, a more gentle and compassionate voice told us that pissing off a ghoul could be cool too...

We gladly agree to help, and while we are all busy to gather some fruit, we don't notice two important things. First, that the Half-Man is chanting an occult word, second that Psyche had written, in very small script, at the base of the rock, a warning: "Waste no pity on this half-a-man, his heart is a vessel of lies".

We wonder why she couldn't have written this on a billboard, or fenced the area. She's obviously high INT, but WIS 3. Maybe we could match her with Carr on Tinder?
Anyway, the occult bolt creates a blast of searing red light engulfing the first player in marching order, which is Winny. Yes, I didn't elect to change the default marching order in this book, since I had forgotten it, so we're still using the default as the rules states that until we agree to change in a multiple character party, the order is set as Warrior-Trickster-Sage-Enchanter. I might shuffle the order after this battle but since we're no longer in a dungeon with the need to have someone in the back to protect us from attack by the rear, I might just switch Trixie and Winny if anything...

So Winny takes 7d6+7 damage. A roll of 20 makes it 27, thankfully reduced to 24 with armour. She's now at 1 HP.

And we still have to deal with the chanting half-man, half-statue.

The good news is that is damage value won't matter for the fight.
The bad news is that it's because he'll now alternate between recalling and casting Mist of Death, an area spell that requires every foe to roll Psychic Ability or take 2d6 damage.

This damage will be fatal to Winny if she fails, since there is no way to roll less than 1 on 2d6.

Since the Half-Man has an Awareness of 7, he'll act just after Trixie, at the same time as Winny and Salvia. We are not adjacent to him, so can't afford to lose one round to close.

This battle will therefore be won by our trusty... ranged weapons.

Unless I am tactically wrong.

[The easiest way would be to flee, which is an enticing possibilty since it takes one action, but the fight ends when everyone has taken that action, so on the beginning on round 2, when Trixies act before the Half-man. But there is no guarantee we won't be the target of a long range spell as we depart the fight].

But this won't rid the world of this scum.

Round 1:

Trixie fires an arrow (8) and hits thanks to the use of her magic bow, inflicting 3 damage to the wretch.
Winny uses her Dagger of Wislet (yay! we kept it since book 1) and hits (9) for 1 damage.
Salvia fires an arrow (6) and hits for 4 damage with her mundane bow.
Esmeralda casts Nemesis Bolt and rolls 8 (pfew...) for a solid 34 damage.

The stalker won't stalk again.

After the end of fight, which was pointless and gives us no satisfaction from victory -- the gamebook is trying to tell us that there was no loot to be had -- we hear a woman approaching.

Metal jewellery clatters softly like wind chimes, and we're noticing she's slim, beautiful, and while draped in pyjamas of gold and flame-red style, she's not covering her face (or arms) like Tahashim women. Her skin is milky white and from her accent, we estimate she might be from Yamato (not-Japan, but I am sure everyone will have gotten this one).

She explains that she's sorry, that the creature lied, in truth she sculpted a rock into a statue, then cast a spell to give him a semblance of life, but realizing that the spirit of the stone was an evil spirit so she stopped her spell halfway and left a note to warn passer-bys in her orange orchard. Her name is Psyche and she invites us for the night in her villa to compensate from the harm we have all incurred.

Meanwhile, Salvia spends 3 HP to heal, and restores herself to full and Winny to 4. The healing will be a long one, as we go to 121.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

We spend some time relaxing on cushions while puffing on a certainly tobacco-free hookah while we discuss with Psyche. She's a delightful host and as soon as we explain our quest, she mentions that she's an authority on divination magic and scrying and can help us locate the blade of the Blood Sword.

So , if I understand correctly, we are now just spilling the beans to every random NPC about our secret quest. Because, outside of providing hospitality, she didn't prove exactly trustworthy so far...
She tries some divining, but somehow fails as she isn't connected to the item we're looking for, but she has an idea: she could put the holder of the scabbard and hilt of the Bloodsword into a trance with a potion to use as a conduit.

We have been very specific about our quest if she knows what parts of the sword we hold...

Are we ok to drink an unknown potion from a stranger?

Put it this way, it makes the choice quite obvious...

Let's be a jerk and refuse her help.

She momentarily twists her mouth in a scowl and her beautiful face looks frightening for a moment. Then she shrugs and says she understand our lack of trust, since it's often met with malice these days... Still, she only wanted to help.

She then summons her Mungodan slave, Buko, to show us to our rooms on the other side of the courtyard and bid us good night.

We settle in the lavish suites, and our cast of intrepid, if socially inept, heroes start to think something is off.

We do have an Enchanter in the group, and we're offered the opportunity to cast severall spells, among which is Prediction and Detect Magic. Let's not pass an opportunity to get free loot, especially magical loot.

Unfortunately, Detect Magic doesn't work like in D&D. We do get the feeling that a potent spell is being cast on the other side of the courtyard, though. And in the future, we see ourselves gored by a demon during the night.

Trixie, thinking something is off after this vision was shared, decides to ninja out of her room to the courtyard. She notices that there is light coming from Psyche's bedroom. We won't pass the opportunity to look through the shutters.

We'll, she used ot be stalked, but this seem a tad problematic put this way.

Trixie spy on Psyche chanting and dancing around a pentagram, and while our Rogue don't understand the lilting song, it is undoubtedly a summoning spell being cast .

Well, I misinterpreted the inteiton of the looking through the shutter into the pretty girl's window. I guess I read the section in a way no pure-minded 15 years old boy reading the book at the time would have.

Armed with our knowledge of a summoning spell being cast, what will we do?

Well, nothing of course. We'll gladly go to sleep, until we're awaken in the stifling heat by the sound of jackals in the nearby orange grove (Exoticism!) and we decide to wait doing nothing about the current situation, since the alternative choice is to get out of our room while Psyche is asleep to snoop -- and we know she isn't asleep.

A few moments later, the door explodes, a two-headed demon with antlers, mostly made of shadows, charges in while we hear Psyche's voice telling him to be careful not to ruin the room as it's expensive.

The lady has servants for housekeeping, though, so she probably won't care about our blood covering the carpet... but she's nonetheless very careful about her assets.

BTW, Salvia used the last three sections to heal Winny for 18 HP (6, 1, 4, 1, 6).

On the plus side, we got an interim section between knowing we'd get attacked and the actual fight section, so we have a chance to revisit Esmeralda's spell list.

Honestly, we do have an item that would be very useful in this case, the Crucifix of St Ashanax, but we failed in the last book to discover its power (outside of pointing the way if we're lost).

Tough fight to come!

 

[Joshua Randall]

Part of the gamebook shtick is that you have to play like a complete ingenue (regardless of your character’s age or sex). Everything is just as it seems, everyone is honest, and you are shocked and surprised when the unexpected happens.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

Part of the gamebook shtick is that you have to play like a complete ingenue (regardless of your character’s age or sex). Everything is just as it seems, everyone is honest, and you are shocked and surprised when the unexpected happens.

This is especially true as the real reason why Psyche is after us is not revealed unless you die (in which case she comes gloating over your dead body).

 

[Joshua Randall]

Gamebooks do illustrate a quite esoteric occult belief system in which true and complete knowledge is only possible after one’s own death!