 |
| No description of the doors dimensions or anything. I can't tell something like size by looking. That'd be silly. |
Well, my usual rule is 'go West', but Henrietta is curious about the door. Especially since... well, I'll let her tell it...
I shake like a newborn lamb trying to stand. My clothes are all sodden, and even without wind it is right chilly this far from the Sun. I could use a fire something fierce. Well, someone must have made the door. Maybe they made a fireplace, too.
Oh, and if you're wondering about the 'third option on overleaf', it's because the picture of the Ferry was on the page between the two parts of this section. Though, frankly, 'overleaf' is a new one on me.
Choice: Door: 104
I hold my breath as I turn the knob. This has so often gone wrong.
Choice: Open the Door: 49
 |
| Oh, c'mon! "Shuffling" is not a good word for something too fast to react to! |
How senseless? Is Henrietta unconscious?
Henrietta: 19-2=17
Choice: Get Hit: 122
122 is a full page, so let's take some time reading it.
Oh, hey, she was unconscious. That can't be good. Concussions ahoy!
 |
| There is air in the room. These things are all made of matter. |
I know, I know, the whole work is in English. A translational convention may be in place that gives me the figure in meters, but it just seems so scientific and modern for a pre Enlightenment setting.
The matter of fat way the room is described has the advantages of being clear, direct and short, but is bland to the point of robotic.
 |
| Of course, the ceiling is never described. Probably a plasma screen up there. |
 |
| "Ceiling pretty..." |
This has been a problem with all the art, but I really think the way the detailing works makes the monochrome lines blur together. This might be less of a problem in the print book, but it's frustrating in the scan.
At this point, I have that feeling of very specific self-imposed doom. If you've ever roleplayed you may be familiar with the feeling. The feeling of knowing exactly what the right move is, but the steadfast certainty your character doesn't know... and they're about to die from it. Or at least get maimed.
See, I recognize these are almost certainly zombies. But, Henrietta doesn't realize that. As far as she can tell she's been captured by some very strange, very sick men.
 |
| Uh... look at the ceiling. Ain't she a beaut? |
Okay, time to get into character...
I look at the creature looking down at me. Knowing well the cruelty of this place, I lower my hand to my sword, but I hardly wish to fight against four of them.
"Hail," I say to them in a loud clear voice. "If you seek a ransom for my freedom, I'm afraid I only have three gold pieces to my name, and I shall need those for the ferry home. Perhaps we can come to another arrangement?"
Choice: Talk: 268
 |
| I would like to go back to faking dead, actually. |
"I'm sorry, I don't quite follow," I say, hoping that there's some kind of actual speech I'm just not hearing right. They continue to moan and grumble. I nod as though hearing a most intriguing point and... dash for the door like I'm after a loose hen!
Choice: Go for the Door: 13
 |
| Tweet! Foul on the Book, false choice. 2 Page penalty! |
I actually really dig this section. It's tense, it makes me feel like the mythic 'YOU' is weak and vulnerable, and fallible. Admittedly, it's a bit frustrating to have a choice that literally means nothing. It seems preferable to me for this to actually hurt me or otherwise punish the choice, rather than go back to 282 with no change. At least a wrong choice is a choice.
Literally every choice in this scene leads to the Fight, no exceptions. Kind of annoying.
"Choice": Fight: 282
 |
| Ah, so this is how Henrietta dies. |
I don't think I've talked about the little sword image yet. It shows up from time to time in the book, usually when there's a fight, but not at every fight. I wouldn't mind so much as a quick visual indicator of a fight, but the inconsistency irks me.
I 'sense' I am not the only one who knows? Is Henrietta psychic? I suppose it's one way to drop hints, but it seems awfully flimsy as a storytelling move. Like saying characters can feel they're being watched. People think they can feel people watching them, but it's mostly just confirmation bias.
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait... wait.
Well, now I feel a fool for overthinking things.
Oh, so you do get to investigate both. I really thought the choice of which you picked first was going to do something weird. Like picking the gold would get you cursed for being greedy or something.
You know, that sword was probably magic. Probably increased initial skill and everything.
This loop is a really round about way to program a basic sorting loop. They could have saved a section by just saying on 221 to go to both pages that match yours, then go to 81. Instead, they program this weird if/then loop, like they think the player is a robot that needs exact direction at each stage. I love it.
There's the reason!
Henrietta may not actually be as doomed as I suspected earlier. I've got 17 Stamina, and need to get through a total of 23... but 3 of them have 1 less Skill than Henrietta's pitiful 7. And I can still Test Luck in combat. Hell, I definitely should Test my Luck against the first Zombie, since he'll refund 2 Luck.
Round 1
Zombie: 6-4=2
Luck: 11-1=10
My head is swimming, but I strike out at the creature all the same. To my surprise, the solid blow I land on its pelvis causes the whole being to fall into two pieces. The legs kick uselessly at the ground. The top half squirms and struggles like a fish on a hook.
Curiously, there's no blood from the wound.
Round 2
Zombie: 2
Henrietta: 17-1=16
Luck: 10-1=9
Had to check the Test your Luck rules for hitting the value. Lucky me it's in my favor.
I try to step over the downed foe, hoping to get myself in a bit more heartening a position to face the next one. To my alarm, the creature grips my leg with an awful hand and I go tumbling down. The hard stone floor sheers skin from my elbows.
Round 3
Zombie: 2-2=0
Henrietta: 16
Luck: 9+2=11
I strike out with the leg the creature is holding. I kick at its head like I stomping on a cockroach. After a few blows the whole head snaps off and rolls across the room.
"Eeek!" I scream in surprise. Then the next is upon me, with that quite poorly kept scythe.
Round 4
Hm... 9... I think I'm pretty deep into the book now. I've crossed the river, after all. Going to spend some luck on this fight, since I'll probably want to swig the potion and get it up to 12 before the next time I need it anyways.
Zombie: 6-4=2
Henrietta: 16
Luck: 11-1=10
The thing about scythes is that it's an awful lot easier to hurt yourself with them than someone else. By the time the creature reached me, it was already down a leg and hopping about. I took a swing at its shoulder, and got halfway through the torso.
Round 5
Zombie: 2-2=0
Henrietta: 16
Luck: 10
I keep pushing, and the blade goes right through the pitiful creature. The spine gives out like a rotted branch before the blade.
Round 6
Zombie: 6
Henrietta: 16
Luck: 10
The fiend with the axe proves a fairer combatant, if only by the metric of a lack of self injury. I have to scramble back and away from his furiously swinging axe-blade.
Round 7
Zombie: 6-1=5
Henrietta: 16
Luck: 10-1=9
I get a handle on the rhythm of its swings after a moment, and I lunge forward into a gap. My sword does have a bit of reach over the old chopper, but my foot slips on another loose stone and I'm afraid I missed the mark somewhat. The blade sticks into his chest, which he doesn't seem to mind overmuch.
Round 8
Zombie: 5
Henrietta: 16
Luck: 9
I pull on my sword. It doesn't come out. I redden slightly. "Oh, sorry about this, hang on,,,." With no sign of annoyance or impatience, the creature reaches up and shoves me, giving just the boost I need to dislodge the weapon from its crusty ribcage. I stagger back, my head still aching, my footing loose, but my sword ready.
Round 9
Zombie: 5-4=1
Henrietta: 16
Luck: 9-1=8
The creature begins swinging its axe in the same mindless pattern. This time I judge the opening just right, and skewer the creature through the spine. Like the others, it practically falls apart right on contact. It even drops the axe as its top half begins to scramble about the floor.
Round 10
Zombie: 1-2=-1
Henrietta: 16
Luck: 8
I slice off the creature's head in a spray of old dusty flesh. This is so invigorating!
Round 11
Zombie: 5-4=1
Henrietta: 16
Luck 8-1=7
The fiend with the pick tries to rush me, pick overhead for a mighty downward swing. I kick the head of its downed foe right up into its face. It loses its forward momentum, and staggers. I side step it and with a forceful two handed swing, sever one of its arms. It topples back, all the weight of the pick now in one feeble arm.
Round 12
Zombie: 1
Henrietta: 16
Luck: 7
I dance nimbly back as that pick comes forward in a wide, wild swing. The creature groans pitiably.
"Don't worry," I tell it soothingly, "This will all be over soon."
Round 13
Zombie: 1
Henrietta: 16-2=14
Luck: 7
Perhaps my pity is misplaced. As I move forward, past the pick's outer reach and in close, the creature surprises me by clasping its blunt teeth around my shoulder and biting with great force.
"OW!"
Round 14
Zombie: 1-2=-1
Henrietta: 14
Luck: 7
Even as the creature tries to worry its teeth into me, like a puppy fastened to a slipper, I drive my blade up and into him. I cleave him upwards from the sternum, the point of my blade coming up through the skull, and skewering it upon the blade as I rip it from the body.
"Ew," I pull the head from the blade and wipe the whole thing down.
I stand amidst the carnage of the fight, but this is different. Maybe it's the lack of blood. Maybe it's the certainty these fiends had no thought of their own in the cadaverous bodies, but I feel good in a way I never have after a fight.
I breathe deep my victory. This turns out to be a mistake, as the smell is bad enough to cause me to chunder in the corner. The life of an adventurer.
Okay... Test Your Luck mechanic is pretty impactful in a fight. I think on defense it's still a bit weak, 1 damage isn't the biggest deal when you have over 10 Health. But on offense? Yeah, it's the difference between needing three hits and two. And turns out you take less damage when you finish fights quickly.
I did genuinely think those four were going to be the end of Henrietta, so that went surprisingly well.
Choice: Victory: 115
 |
| Oh, look at them rotting like little angels.. |
The relief on the wretches eases much of the excitement of battle. I have done genuine good here, with this sword.
"I think I understand now, Marcus."
Wary of the seemingly dead beasts I just fought, I investigate the body.
Choice: Body: 313
 |
| He also has a 'Take only 2' sign, like a Trick or Treat bowl. |
A crucifix?
There's a Jesus in this vague fantasy world? I'll remind you that the crucifix is the one that actually depicts Jesus, not just the cross. So, Jesus died on the cross here too. Wow. I mean, even in Narnia he at least died on an altar as a lion.
Okay, I'm going to go find my disbelief so I can suspend it above that.
Okay, I've taken some time, had a nice refreshing nap. Let's move along.
I find it very odd I can only take two things. Especially since I appear to have already given up the opportunity to investigate the barrels and weapons on the ground, despite there being no reason I can't do all three. Well, that might be premature. Maybe 221 will tell me something interrupts my rummage. If so, it really should have put that at the end here.
I quite like the idea of a shield. Keep me a little safer. I try it out, but realize quickly I can't reasonably hold it and the lantern at the same time. The steel blade is of no real interest. I have Marcus's sword, that'll see me through. I'm here hunting treasure, so I might as well grab it where I can, so I put the 8 coins into my burse inside my haversack. I take the silver crucifix, too. It may not have served this poor man well, but I hate to think of such a beautiful piece of craftsmanship tarnishing away in this pit.
"Thank you sir. If ever I find my way out and risk no more lives to do so, I shall come back to put you to proper burial," I promise him. It isn't much.
Choice: Gold and Silver: 221
I... huh...
I'll be honest, I hadn't predicted a question about the order I wrote stuff in. I had not, in fact, written down my choices in my equipment list. I suppose I would have written gold pieces first, since it was replacing the previous number and that was it.
I did say I'd take the gold first, but in my mind the crucifix was actually the first choice. I put the crucifix later in the description because it flowed better.
Ugh... I really don't want to sway things or cheat, but I want to say crucifix just because the moment it appeared on the page I went "well I'm definitely taking that", whereas the gold was pretty much the "this is what's left" choice.
Choice: Crucifix: 170
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| Self inflicted agony well spent |
Probably this was a way of keeping players from knowing what did what too early. Part of the whole 'pick only 2' arbitrary choice.
Choice: Recorded: 319
 |
| Well... I'm a dumbass... |
Well, back to 221.
Choice: Investigate: 221
 |
| This seems familiar... |
Choice: Gold: 110
 |
| So, investigating Gold is the choice for investigating the boot. |
But, it isn't Marcus's.
Choice: Boot Gold!: 319
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| Can someone stop the ride? I feel dizzy. |
Choice: Already done: 81
 |
| Oh, it's just the dungeon settling. Settling for this adventure. |
Got to be honest, but a vague, completely undefined, noise seems like small potatoes when I'm standing over four dead zombies in a room full of my rightful loot.
But, the game is the game.
Choice: Scamper: 205
Henrietta Chalk
Skill: 7/7
Stamina: 14/19
Luck: 8/11
1 Fortune Potion (2 Measures)
7 Meals of Provisions
"99" Key
13 Gold Pieces
Silk Glove
1 Potion Invisibility (1 Dose)
1 Sweet Smelling Cheese
Silver Crucifix (4 GP)
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