OK. I’m going to keep going here until I make it. Let’s go.
ATTEMPT 7
I dodge the first rock thrown by the Horned Cyclops, and get hit by the second.
ATTEMPT 8
I dodge the first rock thrown by the Horned Cyclops, and get hit (again) by the second.
ATTEMPT 9
- I dodge both rocks
- I kill the Horned Cyclops, while suffering 4 damage (16 endurance left).
- I get the Scorpion Ring, and therefore reach the valley containing the lair.
- I detect the trapdoor, and kill the ninja guarding it with a poison needle.
- I throw a Shuriken at the wax dummy, and kill the ninja hiding near it, without suffering damage.
- I refuse to be fooled by the mirror, and kill the Priest behind same, although I suffer 7 damage (9 Endurance left).
- I face the Grandmaster of Scorpions.
- I refuse to be fooled by either the ring or the blade, and strike him with a kick.
- I use Arrow Cutting to stop the sword thrown at me, and land an inner force kick, and kill him with the follow-up.
- I get the necessary info and again have my eye put out by his blade.
- I retrieve healing potion (5 points).
- I set off on my next journey, restore Endurance through rest at two points (3) and (2). Giving me 14.
- I land at the Isle of Thieves, and get the local gossip about the Temple of Nullaq.
I’ll give a slightly more detailed description here, as I’m going to delve into this section in a bit more detail. Rather than turn into an amateur mugger, I decide to embrace my ninja side, and sneak into the temple with the crowd during a mass / ceremony.
In a scene fresh out of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom I watch as this ‘ceremony’ consists of a young elf lowered (in a cage) through a trap-door, following which the cage re-emerges, empty.
I stand at the edge of the congregation, near a small corridor which leads away from the main chamber. As these idiots all fall to their knees, apparently worshipping an empty cage, I slip into the corridor and try to get ‘back-stage’.
At the end of the corridor there is another room, which contains another Elf-maiden in chains (obviously the main course), along with a Priestess of Nullaq, with an Amulet around her neck.
She starts asking how I ‘dare’ to come into the sacred area. Lady, you just participated in a rite of human (elven) sacrifice, so don’t try to seize the moral high ground, mmmkay?
What skill of mine could possibly help in this situation? If you said Poison Needles, congratulations! You’ve been reading this playthrough!
My poison needle brings the priestess down, I snaffle the Amulet (-1 Inner Force) and I pause for a second, hoping that the book won’t insist on me leaving the next sacrifice behind. Luckily, Avenger does have a moral compass, and I disguise both the Elf-maiden and myself and stroll out through the congregation, presumably whistling all the time.
My new friend asks my story, and I, being a sucker for a pretty face, explain my background. Although she doesn’t heal me or give me any impressive artifacts, she does name me an ‘Elf-friend’ and wish me well.
Back to bullet points!
- I steal another boat and make for the harbour.
- My boat again crashes and i reach the Forest of Fables.
- I meet the unicorn, leave it alone and run into the Elves.
- They notice that I am an elf-friend and offer me a boat.
- I cleverly pass through the left side of the fangs of nadir
- I have an Amulet of Nullaq and therefore avoid the kraken
- I take my potion – restore 5 points of endurance
Alright. I’m facing the Devil-Beast again. But this time – 19 Endurance!!
Let’s go.
The Devil Beast once again fire its eye-beams (TM Superman) at me. I need a six or less to dodge, and get a…..3!
Awesome!
I’m going for a Forked Lightning Strike kick, and using Inner Force.
I need to roll a 7 or more.
Round 1
I get a….3. The Devil Beast hits (of course), I fail to block (yikes) and does 8 damage!
Round 2
I miss (again). the Devil Beast hits (again), I fail to block (sigh), and it does 6 damage. Only 5 left.
Round 3
I use my last point of Inner Force, connect (!) and do (7 doubled) 14 damage!
This should kill the Devil-Beast, since it only starts with 14, but the book instead directs me to another paragraph for when I have reduced it to ‘4 Endurance or less’,
Hoping it will surrender, I am instead told that it uses magic to create an Animated Skeleton.
I manage to defeat this Skeleton without suffering a blow.
The Devil-Beast is now dying, and it unleashes a last attack with the whole eye-beam thing.
Aside : I know from previous experience that the eye-beam does 6 damage, and that I only have 5 left. I also know that if I survive this die roll, then it is the end of the book, in triumph!
I need to roll a 6 or less on two dice to dodge.
I get a 4 and a…….
…….
3.
Totalling 7.
Alright, a promise is a promise. For each further attempt, I’m just going to tell you how (if) I die.
ATTEMPT 10
I’m not going to lie. I got all the way to the Devil-Beast again, and then just kept missing. I’ll spare you the language which I used.
ATTEMPT 11
I actually managed to get to the Devil-Beast with 20 Endurance. The dice just kept on favouring me.
I got hit with the initial laser-burst, but used a point of Inner Force to keep myself in the battle, wiped the Skeleton off the map, and then actually managed to dodge the final laser ray, even thought I would have survived it!
As the Devil-Beast collapses into a pile of ashes, I see that a Sceptre and small Orb (about the size of an eye – hint, hint) rest atop the pile of remains. As I grab them, the world around me turns misty, and I am transported away.
When my vision clears, I realise that I am atop the palace back at Irsmuncast! Before I can celebrate, I see that what I thought was mist around me is in fact smoke from various fires. Dark Elves and Orcs teem through the streets, and it looks as if the city is, at best, on the bad end of a siege.
Just as I’m admiring the strength of this sequel hook, a raven conveeeeniently lands next to me, bearing a paper message. It reads (and I quote, because its awesome in its dread) :
“Avenger – an old score shall be settled. The Legion of the Sword of Doom shall conquer the city of Irsmuncast and bring its people into slavery. I swear by Sorcerak to kill you with my own hands –
Honoric”
Oh, its on now.
Final Stats (including -1 due to eye) : Endurance : 14, Punch Modifier : +1, Kick Modifier: +2, Throw Modifier : -1, Fate Modifier : +1, Inner Force : 1
THE WAY OF THE TIGER PLAYTHROUGH 
Glad you finally made it!
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That was not fair! Fair play to you for keeping your promise and for rescuing the Elf maiden ( Avenger is Lawful Good, of course he’s got a moral compass).
You haven’t played Warbringer and I know what you’re thinking about the orb, I prefer when I don’t do anything about it straight away but either option is good, the important point is that you HAVE options, now go kick some shapely Dark Elf Butt (in the face if you really prefer).
“Defeat is a temporary condition, giving up makes it permanent”. You didn’t give up, WHO’S DA MAN.? YOU’RE THE MAN.
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Eleven tries! I’ve been though it several already, and so far have not been enjoying it much.
The governance stuff is just boring, though I admit it’s novel. Sort of like the Senate scenes in Star Wars Episode I, but in RPG format. Then Avenger gets bored and the real adventure begins!
And it’s brutal! The Grandmaster of Shadows of the Scorpions, gets me down to 5 Endurance and pokes out an eye so I get a -1 penalty. There’s not a lot more combat after that, but so far it’s gotten the better of me time and again. It’s encouraging to hear that you’ve made it, though — I’ll keep trying.
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As I say in my comments during the book, I found the governance stuff fascinating, but with a lack of dice rolls, once you knew the way through, there was little drama, unless you wished to role-play as a different ‘type’ of leader.
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