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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jfdlsjfd" data-source="post: 9599258" data-attributes="member: 42856">[spoiler]Let's shift our equipment around.Winny rank 4, FP 11, PA (psychic ability) 6, Awareness 7, Damage 2d6+1, HP 25<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Armour AR3</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Bludgetranker (+1 FP, +1d6 damage vs Giants)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">A healing salve (2 dose, +2d6 HP, that we can use whenever we want, including a fight)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">The Sommermulet (+7 damage and AR against undead)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Dagger of Vislet</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">A brooch of Shielding AR +1</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">A St-Ashanax reliquary crucifix</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">A fire orb</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">A cloak fur who took from the body of a dead girl warning us of the danger ahead with her dying breath</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">An amber tinderbox</li> </ol>Trixie rank 4, FP 8, PA 7, Awareness 8, Damage 1d6+3, HP 25<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Armour AR3</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Sword of Redundancy +1</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">An empty spot</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Money pouch with 217 gp</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Bow +1</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Quiver (6 arrows)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">A falchion called Shadowcleaver</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">A ruby brooch of Iblis, Lord of Jinni</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">A golden mirror</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">A silver clasp representing a wolf</li> </ol>Salvia rank 3, FP 7, PA 8, Awareness 7, Damage 1d6+2, HP 21<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Armour AR2</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Quarterstaff</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">The blade of the Blood Sword</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Bow</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Quiver (6 arrows)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">A replacement sword</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Another replacement sword</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Provisions for a week</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">A lute we took from our former friend, the bard with which we played music before he got gored to death</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Two blue gems that were the eye of a creature</li> </ol>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)<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Obsolete Sword of Uselessness +0</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Armour AR2</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">The hilt of the Blood Sword</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">1 scroll of Time Blink (to rewind a fight)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">A Golden Snuff-Box</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">A ring of Sorcery PA +1</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">A magic carpet (1/3)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">A magic carpet (2/3)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">A magic carpet (3/3)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">A white amulet</li> </ol>We're running at full inventory, butu there are a few item that seems discardable: the Golden Snuff Box (we never used it once), the blue gems, the lute and the amber tinderbox (which seemed items of use in book 2, maybe not having future use), the fur cloack (we're in a desert-themed adventure, but if we're going back to krarth to kill the Magi, maybe it will save us some gold)...These items are next on the line to be discarded.[/spoiler]We continue walking to Prince Sussrien's house. He's currently renting a flat about a butcher's house.Quite noisy and smelly and bloody for a prince on the move to live, but hey... The encounter is deliciously creepy:You enter and look toward a stone slab where a bearded giant of a man is dismembering a carcass. His cleaver strikes the raw flesh with remorseless whacks. As he sees you, his eyes betray no emotion - but the cleaver slips, striking the stone of the slab and giving a metallic shriek. The bearded man glowers at his chipped cleaver, then nods toward the stairs. Still, no word has been spoken. You pass him and begin to ascend. After a few moments, you hear him start to hack at the meat once more.I find this quite evocative. It's just ambiant description, but I feel it's nice. The book is littered with descriptions of things of little consequeunces that makes it a nice read. TBH, the French version was shortened, despite translation often being longer than the original, and many of these moments were absent (but still, enough were present that I liked reading them back then). Prince Sussurien lives in a plain room. He uses incense to cover the odour coming from the shop downstairs -- why he chose to live here is still puzzling. He's obviously not poor: he wears a richly embroidered tunic, a golden turban with a limpid red gem as an adornment, and his many jewelleries catch the morning sunlight.Honestly, this man could rent a room in an inn, couldn't he?He is swarthily handsome, has sharp, bright, white teeth, an intense stare... He beckons us to sit on cushions."I knew you'd come" he says with a deep, soft voice. "You seek the sword of Life, I seek the sword of Death. By uniting, we shall attain what we desire.I know fully anticipate that our team of heroic jackasses will hate him: he's rich, handsome, smart and reasonable.You don't pretend to like the idea, but there is no alternative, says the book. It's coming...I have here a Hatuli, litteraly "the Bring-Hither", he says pointing to a mannikin. It was constructed by the great wizard Saaknathur, and my agents found it in the ruins of his fortress, he adds.Unfortunately, it's broken, because it lacks eyes, that were stolen several centuries ago by the pirate Hunguk, and if we can bring back the eyes, he'll gladly help us.We try to object that Hunguk died 500 years ago, but he points out that his ghost ship still appears, mentionning that while the common folk since it's a ghost ship condemned to roam the world for the sin of her captains until the End of Time (that's a few year down the line if you've followed the story, since a great catastrophe heralded by the coming of the True Magi will end the world in year 1,000), he prefers to think Hunguk was too great a man for Heaven or Hell. Sussurien has observed the sky to determine the next place where the ghost ship will appear, sixty miles offshore in the Gulf of Marazid, in two days.He suggest that we use this information to acquire the eyes, then bring him back in the city of Hakbad, where he'll be waiting for us at the House of the Desert Breeze.We ask if he has suggestion on how to get there, and he answers that it is our problem, not his, as it's in our part of the bargain.We take our leave.Wow, I fullly expected the scene to end in a fight, or us insulting Sussurien.We make our way to the outskirts of the city, looking for a small fishing village to find a boat. But the city is large, and we found ourselves still navigating the streets during mid-afternoon, when the sun is scorching hot. Fortunately, in a back alley, a nice fellow is offering us do join him in drinking a flask of wine.As accepting unlabelled drink from a stranger in a back alley can never go wrong for a group of young women in gamebook logic, we gladly accept his offer. He strikes a conversation and we get the opportunity to tell him about our secret quest. Which we do, because we're trusting fellows. He introduces himself as Galor the Grave-Robber, and he delighted for us that we spoke to him. He explains that a great marine beast scours the Gulf and no sane person would offer a boat to our destination, but he might have a solution for us. It involves tying a tight rope around us and attaching it to a sleeping Roc he has seen in the hills, earlier at lunch time when he was looking for gull's eggs for an omelette, and saw the Roc by happenstance. By doing so, we could fly to our destination as the Roc will take to the skies and fly over the Gulf of Mazarid.This is delightfully Vancian, I can totally envision Galor as Cugel trying to trick some trusty oaf...(314)</blockquote>

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