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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jfdlsjfd" data-source="post: 9632294" data-attributes="member: 42856">As we flee, Sussurien mentions that the shadow creatures are tireless and will follow us endlessly, so there is no point in fleeing.We emerge in the courtyard and even as we're soundly defeated, the book continues to entice us to be snarky toward Sussurien, saying "You're now out of earshot of Susurrien's ranting, which is something to be thankful for." There are two escape routes, one in a narrow archway, another through the main gate by which we came from.Since we're fleeing, the idea of being trapped in a small, narrow courtyard is certainly not a good one. Sometimes, the book rewards actual reading... Though technically, making a stand in the side alley is a good solution if one missed the 8% chance of Enthraling Azidahaka and would try again, for now a 16% chance of success.In the still empty streets of the early morning, at sunrise, we flee... There are two deserted direction in which to flee, right or left.Sometimes, the book rewards luck, too...We arrive on a large avenue with an ornemental pool and a grove of palm tree. Several narrow alleys leave from here... will we choose the tiled path with dull green ceramic or the narrow alcove with high walls on either side, in which we can see a small ape playing before loping off...A small ape... that was the non-subtle advice Fatima gave us earlier.And since, yes, we have Fatima's key, we're able to open the door at which the small ape is pointing while making frantic sounds and jumping. A good description of us panicking and fumbling with the key (because we can't be cool under pressure...) ends with us entering Fatima's garden, filled with scents of jasmine.Fatima is here, saying that her garden is perfectly safe from outside influence.I hate when all-powerful NPCs take all the credit. But at least, she's helping us because we, for once, tried to be decent human beings earlier. We refresh ourselves, eat a few sweet pastries from a silver dish, enjoy the morning sun... until we're interrupted by another adventurer, who rush into the garden by a so-far-unseen door and casually say "I hope you don't mind me taking a shortcut through your garden". He explains that he is in a hurry because he's tracking Prince Susurrien.So basically, we're in a pocket dimensions people can access by entering any door, as long as the door is open with a Silver Key of Fatima. And they can leave through a door leading to... whatever door is closest to the place they want to do. Which is immensely cool. Because we play RPGs and have an extensive background in fantasy. I am not sure, given the absolute lack of explanation, what a reader discovering fantasy through early gamebooks would make with this sequence, that sounds totally nonsensical, with the princess we saved earlier having a garden that conventiently can harbour us (ok...) for overpowered titanic creatures (wut?), that is barged in by random people opening doors out of nowhere (???) and who conviently expect the door at the other side of the garden to lead to where they happen to want to go? (that author is drunk...) Especially if the player also expected a sudden death section if failing to take the right turn outside Susurrien's palace and read the other section... It is the same, functionally, since it leads to the same "you're trapped, you must fight the idols" section or "you can follow the ape" section, except that the description is different. So the puzzled reader would wonder the meaning of having this choice, since the location to the garden is obviously not clear in the author's mind... and it is at both opposite side of the road...We interrupt and ask if the stranger knows Susurrien -- I suppose he could be tracking people whose name he randomly determine by shuffling Scrabble tokens, after all -- and he answers positively, saying he's intent to kill him before the sun has risen, which is in less than one hour, top.We challenge him saying he must wait in line because we want to kill him to. We open the door only to be very surprised since we arrive in a small cobbled plaza with a well in the middle, and despite we taking the door right after Hasan (the adventurer's name), he's nowhere to be seen. And behind us, the door as disappeared.We're once again asked if we exchanged the Hatuli, and once again we must confess that we fail to achieve this feat of daredevil.Suddenly, we see the little mannikin darting forward, crouching and sniffing the air, then darting again. It's closely followed by... none other than Prince Susurrien.The Hatuli stop at the edge of the well and points downward. Prince Sussurien arrives, observes around, pick up the Hatuli and dies, his throat sliced by our dashing rogue... Err no.Actually, despite our arrogance against him, despite our boast that we'll take him down, we're offered the opportunity to do nothing, absolutely NOTHING, while he stores the Hathuli, determines that it is an entrance to the Underworld (how we get this information is untold, I'd rather expect the well is connected to the phreatic stream... or the sewers...) Then Prince Sussurien casts a short-range teleportation spell to get at the bottom of the well, because he's cool.The other person that is totally cool and has a short-range teleportation spell called Immediate Deliverance, which we already used once to be cool... just stand there and can't do anything.We wait a little (probably doing some groceries since we are not on a schedule) and run to the well. It is dark and uninviting but at least seems to be dry. You swing over the lip of the well and being to climb down. The trouble is that Susurrien is ahead of you -- and has a guide.Thanks, book. We arrive at the damp bottom of the well. There is mud on the floor. We make a makeshift torch out of some conveniently-placed drywood -- it makes a sputtering, uneven light, but it will do. It frightens a little serpent, slithering away into the tunnel at our left.Three tunnels go from the bottom of the well. the right-hand one has a regular, dripping sound coming from it, and the two other are silent. Which way will we explore: the right-hand one (445), the central one (502) or the left-hand one (206)?</blockquote>

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