I rolled up a new character… again. The last two, one highly competent and accomplished and the other mediocre, ran afoul of some truly unfortunate dice rolls in combat, dying on their first few steps into the Caverns of Kalte.
This fella though, made it largely through a combination of dumb luck.
Starting off: a 19 combat, weaponskill and I’m picking my damn weapon skill to match the weapons I can get, and some food. My favorite skillset of tracking and sixth sense too. And 27 endurance; not bad… let’s supplement that with the overpowered Healing skill.
We set off across the icy plains, again. Encounter the wumpas and this time get some outrageously lucky dice rolls, killing it in two hits. Smear myself in wumpa juice to keep warm (I thought they smelled bad… on the outside!) and off we go.
Meet some of the unfriendly locals, and this time I don’t get dragged into a lengthy combat but instead knock the guy down and finish him off while he’s down. I grab his kid as a hostage and take off. (our hero, ladies and gentlemen!)
The Healing skill being as overpowered as it is, I find my way into the cave in full health. Aww yeah.
I jump nimbly over the water this time, then kill some cave dwellers and steal their food. (wow, this guy’s a jerk!) I also steal a blue triangle I find on them, because we know how gamebooks work.
By this time I’m remembering, that in Flight From The Dark I won on my first playthrough by being a coward: flee from everyone, don’t touch anything. I’ve had good luck so far this play, but we know it can’t last.
Find my way into a large chamber and the entrance to the fortress. When some of the ice comes to life and turns into a snake, I take the better part of discretion and run for it. Turns out the blue triangle is a RFID card, and I’m out of there and into the fortress!
Strangely, the first room of the fortress is the trash compactor, followed by a T junction! I go this way and that, find some potions and ignore them, find a chest and ignore it, find some stairs and a temple but keep running any time it allows me the option not to pick a fight.
I find myself in a hallway with a pair of windows into cells down below me, like a jail or something? One guy is a wizard in a pentacle and I’d just as soon skip that. The other is an old man, and despite my newfound love for cowardice I decide to help.
Turns out he’s a wizard, and he’s been taken prisoner, and he’ll lead me to Vonotar. I’m dubious, but the book doesn’t let me back out now. The guy heals me up, I kill some barbarians while they wait for dinner and help him poison another one (so heroic!). And then… holy cow, it’s Vonotar.
Vonotar goes all HP Lovecraft on me, summoning some hideous tentacle-monster beast-creature thing from another world, a place where things ain’t as they be here… and the thing’s tough! And… I only have five combat rounds to finish it. (I don’t know what happens if I don’t finish it off, but nothing good ever comes of that)
Phenomenal luck plays its role, as I get two 9s and a 0 and kill the thing with ease. The wizard meanwhile, has been psychically attacking Vonotar, and casting entangling vines. I don’t even have to fight Vonotar; he’s brought down by magically enhanced salad!
And victory.
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