The Warlock of Firetop Mountain: 303, 128, 210, 225, 63, 281, 10

Trial and error gameplay at its finest.

     I think I've adequately established that Henrietta's left hand is holding the lantern, so she pulls the right lever, it being more convenient.

Choice: Right Lever: 128

Obstacle solved!

     I suppose let's just continue the tradition of turning West.

So glad we used one of the images on a door.

     Not a terribly enthralling image, I must say. At least I saw it this time.

     I recognize this would be torn past rather quickly in a non-Blog setting. Right now it's tedious. Perhaps on the next book I'll revisit questions of formatting.

     Regardless, ever West.
Choice: Westwards: 225

     WEST!

Choice: Still West: 63

     "Hello?" I call to the darkness. My voice echoes weirdly. Where is that laugh coming from? It's all rather vexing. I stoop down and keep going.

Well, that accomplished a lot.

      "What an odd hallway..." I shuffle back around, feeling like a kid who just wasted an afternoon working up the courage to open a forbidden room that turned out to be empty. "Who would dig this out?"

Clearly my, "Well that accomplished a lot" was premature.

     I like the attention to detail here. Not in the prose, but in the structure. The authors could have just put 'Turn to 77' at 63 and 281, and not wasted 10 here. But, if they had, I would have known at the first offer to turn around that it was safe to do so. I'd already seen 77 as an option back on 225, so if I saw it again when asked if I wanted to turn around, I'd have known turning around was perfectly safe. Introducing 10 as a way-stop adds uncertainty. 10 could have been the creepy laugher right behind me with a knife, or some awful spell, or, well, anything. It's a canny move to obfuscate it. It really effectively creates suspense.

     Now that I've given due compliments, the Hell was the point of that tunnel?

     I know it generated some suspense and uncertainty, and that's not bad, but we just saw all options for going down the incredible shrinking hallway and not one of them does anything for the larger game or story. These choices don't really matter. Was this filler? Was the brief suspense worth it?

     I can't decide if I love this bizarre and unsettling dead end precisely because it offers nothing, or hate it for wasting time and page space that could have had a purpose.

     I think... yeah, let's side with flavor and enjoy the chilling laugh and the creepy uncertainty over nothing at all. No reason to get all moody over a lack of game mechanics where they weren't needed.

Choice: Northwards: 77

Henrietta Chalk

Skill: 7/7

Stamina: 11/19

Luck: 10/11

1 Fortune Potion (2 Measures)

9 Meals of Provisions

"99" Key

25 Gold Pieces

Silk Glove

1 Potion Invisibility (1 Dose)

1 Sweet Smelling Cheese