Let's Play Lone Wolf Book Two: Fire on the Water - Episode 4

For the story so far, see Book One or prior episodes of Book Two: 1, 2, 3


You scour the nearby area for the rogue, but he is no where to be seen. At last, you are forced to assume that he has made good his escape.

Feeling uneasy that your enemies have caught up to you so soon in your adventures, you make your way back to the harbor, untie a little boat, and paddle yourself out to the Green Sceptre, watching your back the whole time.

The sailor on deck scowls and begins to pull up the ladder, but you shout to him who you are, and his eyes widen and he lowers the rope ladder again. At the top, you are met by a man in a gold-braided uniform who introduces himself as the Captain.

"Haul anchor!" he cries, as soon as you are on board, and the crew spring to life, guiding the sleek vessel out of the harbor.

The Captain takes you to his quarters, where he pours two glasses of wanlo, a strong spirit, and you discuss your troubles.

‘There is evil treachery at work and the enemy already has plans afoot to thwart your quest,’ he begins when you’ve told your tale. ‘It seems that you have lost the element of surprise—and I have lost a courageous first mate. Let us only hope that the voyage to Durenor be swift and safe.’

You leave him to go up on deck just in time to see the outline of Holmgard on the horizon. With mixed feelings of pride and apprehension, you descend the stairway to your cabin as the last spire of the capital disappears from view.

[Alright folks, random encounter time! Someone roll me a d10. First one in wins... um... well, theirs will be the number I use. That counts as a prize, right? Save point: 300]

Lone Wolf Let's Play, Book Two: Fire on the Water - Episode 3

If you're a fresh face joining in, check out the backstory in Book One or in prior episodes of Book Two: 1, 2

You jerk free from the hand that grabbed your shirt, reflexively reaching for your sword--but a gasp of fear stops you in your tracks. Looking over, you see a young man, pale and shaking.

"Forgive me, my lord," he says. "I did not mean to startle you!" He holds out one hand, slightly trembling, and invites you to sit with him. Settling your nerves, you look cautiously around the tavern, but you see nothing except a couple of mice chewing on a large hunk of cheese in the corner. You seat yourself.

The man sits across from you and licks his lips nervously. He says, "I have been instructed to bring you to the Green Sceptre, but only if you can prove your identity as the Kai Lord. Can you? Prove your identity, I mean?"

You lift one eyebrow, then turn your eye back to the mice in the corner. Using your skill of Animal Kinship, you whistle to the mice and they come running. The mice deposit the block of cheese at your feet, chirping excitedly, and then scamper off.

You place the cheese on the table between you and the young man and ask, "Feeling hungry?"

‘You are indeed a Kai Lord,’ says the sailor, but the astonishment on his face quickly changes to an unpleasant sneer.

‘Or should I say you were!’

As he speaks, a door crashes open behind you and you turn to see three harbour thugs advancing towards you. Each is armed with a scimitar and you have no choice but to fight all three as one enemy.

Harbour Thugs: COMBAT SKILL 16   ENDURANCE 25

You leap to your feet, your sword whistling from its scabbard, and prepare to face the thugs. [Our combat skill is 23 now, between the Weapon Mastery and the Shield. This should be easy.]

The three men move to surround you. With one swift movement, you step in, knock one of their weapons aside and shove him down. Whirling around, you slice open the belly of the second. He gasps in pain and falls. [First roll: 8. Does 16 damage to them.]

The third man cries out in rage and comes at you, but he's far too slow. You catch the blow on your shield, step in and slash off his head with one clean stroke. The sound of a boot stepping in blood behind you alerts you to the first assailant having risen. Without looking, you kneel and thrust your blade behind you with an upward motion--and feel it enter his soft belly and pierce up under the ribcage to the heart. [Second roll: 8. Does another 16 damage, finishing it.]

You stand. The inn is empty, and silent save for the sounds of blood leaking from the dying. The man who pretended to be the first mate, Ronan, is no where to be seen.

You check the bodies, and find nothing of value. Although you do notice that each of them has a tattoo of a serpent on their left wrist. It's worth remembering.

You leave the tavern by the side door and discover the dead body of a sailor lying beneath some stairs. Inside the collar of his bloodstained jacket is a tag bearing the name ‘Ronan’. This must be the real Ronan. He has been murdered. You cover the body and turn towards the quay, where the Green Sceptre is anchored about three hundred yards from the harbour wall.

If you wish to use one of the many small boats or coracles that are roped to the quayside, turn to 300.

If you wish to hunt down the impostor who pretended to be Ronan, turn to 67.

[Save point: 333]

Welcome, Jake Care!

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming today to bring you an announcement of a new participant entering our little sphere of gamebook hobbyists: Jake Care is a mathematician and a gamebook enthusiast. He's got a new blog set up over at http://jakecaregamebooks.blogspot.ca/, and he's kicked things off with a very exciting post about linearity in gamebooks.

I think, for myself at least, his terms for categorizing gamebooks by linearity, "Linear," "Convergent," "Divergent," and "Free Roaming," will likely enter my personal vocabulary pretty promptly. The only thing I would add to that discussion is that I think these are not mutually exclusive. A single gamebook can have aspects of each of these. For example, I (like Jake) really like Free Roaming, and I often try to include at least a section that's free roaming, even if the whole book can't be.

If you haven't checked out Jake's website yet, please do. Welcome to the club, man :)

Lone Wolf Book 2: Fire on the Water - Episode 2

Sorry for the delays everyone! Been a busy week. Another thing I'm going hoping to do is actually start posting some more thoughtful and interesting blog posts as well. My goal is to do one real blog post a week, on Fridays, and two Lone Wolf posts a week, on Monday and Wednesday. We'll see how well I can stick to that!

Anyway, everybody seemed to like Hunting last time for our new Kai Discipline, and I have to say I was kind of leaning toward that myself. So this episode we will begin... Fire on the Water!

If you're joining us new, check out Book One or prior episodes: 1

After you have bowed to the King and sworn to return with the Seal of Hammerdal or die trying, Guard Captain D'Val leads you to the Royal Armory to pick out equipment for your perilous journey. He gives you a coin with 16 Gold Crown in it [bringing our total to 40, if we can hold on to it.]

You cheerfully trade in the trusty axe that saw you this far for a finely forged Broadsword that catches your eye. The blade's gleaming silver lines, sharp edges and heft suit you much better. [We will now get the +2 bonus from our Weaponskill.] In addition to that, the Guard Captain allows you to claim two additional items so that you will be well equipped. After some thought, you decide upon a Shield and a shirt of Chain Mail, figuring that the best defense is a good defense. [The Shield gives us another +2 in combat, just to be ridiculous, and the Chain Mail gives us +4 Endurance. I figured that was better than the Healing Potion; they both give us +4 Endurance, but we could potentially get the +4 from the Chain Mail multiple times, if we ever get to heal back up to full. This does mean we still have no food, but hey, what did we take Hunting for, anyway?]

Captain D'Val bids you good luck once you have made your selection, and shows you out of the castle, where a coach awaits to take you to the docks.

You let your eyes close as the coach jostles along the cobblestone streets of Holmgard. You are injured and exhausted from your journey so far, yet you are only just beginning. If it is true the Darklords themselves have returned, the fate of all Sommerlund may depend upon your quest. You suddenly feel very small, and very alone, yearning for the wisdom of your elders--elders who all perished in the sneak attack upon the Kai Monastery.

There is no one else, it must be you.

The coach comes to a stop, and the driver says in a street accent, ‘This is the quay, my lord. There is your ship, the Green Sceptre.’ As he speaks the driver points across the quay to a sleek trade caravel anchored near to the harbour wall.

‘The first mate’s name is Ronan. You will find him waiting for you across the square at the Good Cheer Inn.’ Then the driver bids you farewell and quickly disappears into the teeming crowds.

You reach the inn to find the front doors locked and the window shutters barred. You are trying to decide what to do next when a hand grabs your arm and you are pulled into the darkness.

If you wish to draw your weapon and attack your unknown assailant, turn to 273.

If you wish to try to pull free of his grasp, turn to 160.

[The adventure begins! Save point Page 1]

Lone Wolf Book 2: Fire on the Water - Episode 1

As promised, we here begin book two of our Let's Play game of Lone Wolf, Fire on the Water. For book one, click here.

The Story So Far


In olden times, during the Age of the Black Moon, the Darklords waged war on Sommerlund. The conflict was a long and bitter trial of strength that ended in victory for the Sommlending at the great battle of Maakengorge. King Ulnar and the allies of Durenor broke the Darklord armies at the pass of Moytura and forced them back into the bottomless abyss of Maakengorge. Vashna, mightiest of the Darklords, was slain upon the sword of King Ulnar, called ‘Sommerswerd’, the sword of the sun. Since that age, the Darklords have vowed vengeance upon Sommerlund and the House of Ulnar.

Now, the Darklords have returned, and bitter war rages across the lands of Sommerlund. The Kai Lords have long stood as a bastion against the darkness, but all of the Kai Lords were slain in a terrible surprise attack upon their monastery--except you.

Having survived the fall of your monastery and your friends, you alone were forced to journey across the war-torn land to bring word to the King of the assault. You arrived at the capital city of Holmgard to find the forces of the Darklords already reaching the heart of Sommerlund. There is no time to waste.

Now you alone must undertake the greatest challenge of your life. You must journey across the lands of Magnamund to distant Durenor to retrieve the Sommerswerd, the same sword which was used to slay Vashna during the Age of the Black Moon.

After the defeat of Vashna, the Sommerswerd had been bestowed upon the allies of Durenor as a mark of trust and allegiance that exists between the two kingdoms. In return, King Alin of Durenor gave Sommerlund a magnificent golden ring bearing the royal arms of Durenor. This ring is known as the Seal of Hammerdal. At that time, King Alin vowed that if ever the shadow of the west should rise again to threaten Sommerlund, Durenor would come to the aid of her ally.

The King has given you the Seal of Hammerdal. Your quest is to travel to Durenor to fetch the Sommerswerd back. But meanwhile the enemy have broken through the outer defences to the capital and are preparing to besiege the city wall. As Captain D’Val of the King’s Guard leads you to the Royal Armoury to equip you for your mission, the King’s words keep coming back to you:

‘Forty days, Lone Wolf. We have strength to stand against them for only forty days.’

***

Before heading out to save the world, we do get one benefit from having completed book 1 already. The experience of our travels has allowed us to master one more of the awesome Kai Disciplines.

The question is, which one?

We already have five:
Healing: Kai power heals your wounds at an accelerated rate.
Sixth Sense: Mental intuition alerts you to danger, and the true intentions of others.
Animal Kinship: Befriend and even communicate with animals.
Mindshield: Mental training defends you from psionic attacks of the Darklord's minions.
Weapon Skill: Mastery of the Broadsword (+2 Weapon Skill when fighting with a broadsword)

There are five others that we get to choose from:
Camouflage: Blend in with your surroundings, either in the wild or city.
Hunting: Stealth and traps let you procure your own food in the wild.
Tracking: Follow tracks and find your way in the wild.
Mind Blast: Attack your enemies with psychic power.
Mind over Matter: Move small objects with the power of your mind.

Choose wisely, for the fate of Magnamund may lie in your hands...

Update

After much consideration (and advice from at least one published author! Thanks Tawna Fenske ^^) I have decided to keep my author life and my business life separate online. So I will be starting up a new website with information about gamification soon. As soon as I have it up, I'll let you all know, in case one of you fine folks is interested ;)

Meanwhile, starting next Monday we'll jump in to Book Two of Lone Wolf, Fire on the Water (my personal favorite!)