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Started by Funt Solo, 19 October, 2021, 02:40:32 AM

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Barrington Boots

I've just finished book 2 - I had a paperback copy of that and a quiet day at work, and it's quite a short book so went for that over a FF book and flew through it.
There's a couple of very difficult fights at the start, but after that reasonably straightforward if you don't do anything daft, although the steady drip of willpower is alarming as you get near the end as there's very little in place to recover it. If you've played book 1 you get +10 willpower which helps, if you didn't have this I'm not sure the book would be winnable.

It's much in the same nature of the first with some pretty interesting encounters and three travelling companions this time - a bit stereotyped but still feel fleshed out with dialogue and actually useful. And a good revelation at the end about someone from book 1.
Books 3 & 4 look expensive but I can play them online, so I'll probably do those next. I did take notes so if I get a chance I'll write this one up.
You're a dark horse, Boots.

Richard

I hope you do, I'm interested in that one.

I started Nightshift a week ago, although I've not had time to keep it up since then. It's pretty good though. I'll do a review when I've finished it. It might not be suitable for a full playthrough though, because it's largely puzzle-oriented so it would be quite spoilery!

Barrington Boots

Nightshift is cool! Glad you're enjoying it and would love a review!
And as you asked, sir:

Grey Star Book 2: The Forbidden City

Richard's great writeup covers book 1 where Grey Star finally discovers the lost tribe of the Kundi who know the location of the Shadow Gate, an evil portal beyond which lies the Moonstone, a magic macguffin that will enable the defeat of the Wytch-King Shasarak. Standard fantasy setup there! This book starts with Grey Star solving the Kundi riddle and the Kundi agreeing to help him. They're down to smash Shasarak, but the problem is that the Shadow Gate is a portal that moves about (a bit like the fortress in Krull) and it will next appear in the dead lands of Desolation Valley. I've got two weeks to reach this charming spot.
The Kundi are full of noble-savage stereotype and volunteer their shaman, Urik, to accompany me. He's a mix of native American / old nutter type characters who is prone to speaking wisdom is broken diction and cackling at odd times, but he does actually chat a fair bit during the adventure, and you get quite attached to the old chap. Anyway, there is no time to waste so we set off out into the rainforest whilst he tells me how daft I am for carrying provisions.

(I should note that having played book 1 already I have a big willpower boost, and also an extra magic power. I chose Sorcery, as it seems to be one you're constantly prompted about, and one I avoided in book 1 as its supposed to be willpower-draining but now I have tons of that)

Eventually we get out of the forest and Urik uses some cool Kundi technique to call a giant bird which starts flying us, by means of some harnesses he makes out of vines, across the impassable terrain below and to its nesting grounds in a swamp. En route we get shot at by some soldiers, but I use my new Sorcerous powers to shield us against the arrows. Our completely conspicuous means of travel means the Shadakine are now hunting us through the waterways of the swamp however, so we keep low and quiet through the undergrowth as we try to avoid their patrols.
Sneaking through the swamp we hear an animal in pain and move to investigate. The creature is a young Chaksu, a sort of giant lizard much prized for its tough hide and also slightly telepathic (which makes hunting it for its hide pretty messed up). Urik immediately moves to tend its wounds, but by now the Shadakine have arrived. We choose to take a stand rather than flee and abandon the Chaksu and Urik unleashes some razor-edged boomerangs as we take on the search party. Which the first bunch defeated the second wave, wary of our attacks, send in their deadly giant hounds. These fights are surprisingly nasty for the first ones in a book and the first time I tried this I was killed by the dogs due to some unlucky rolls. Second time around I won through, battered and bleeding, only to find a third wave now surrounding us. Things look totally banjaxed and the Shadakine are having a gloat when suddenly a pair of adult Chaksu burst into the clearing and smash them all up. Saved! The giant Chaksu give me some wooden pipes and say they will come help me when called and Urik is impressed.

After a breakfast of delicious scavenged fungus (Urik again) we have a choice of two routes through the swamp: one slow and safe, one direct and perilous. I take a chance here and go for the slow route - I'm pretty beat up, and I imagine the Shadakine will be on the direct route (and there's quicksand and stuff, apparently). This takes us a couple of days, but between my alchemy skills and Urik's bushcraft we avoid any perils and emerge near the city of Karnali. On the road here a long line of enslaved people are trudging along under Shadakine whips. We're observing when out of the foliage a bunch of guys charge out and attack the Shadakine and Urik just goes for it and rushes in too. The Shadakine move to place the slaves between them and the attackers, using them as shields, but I can see that their chains are all linked together if I can break the end of the link they'll be free and the bad guys exposed. The key link is protected by the slave master and as I approach him he uses his magic mind-control gem to bring up a gigantic slave with a huge sword to protect him. Thinking quickly I channel my sorcerous powers to block the mind-gems control and the big guy turns and kills the slavemaster, enabling me to break the chains, free the other slaves, and bring about the Shadakine's defeat. I also pinch the mind gem!
With the slaves free the leader of the rebels, a dude called Sado the Long Knife whose name makes him sound incredibly dodgy, asks me to help attack Karnali as otherwise the Shadakine there will come out and exact terrible revenge for his raid. Urik is well up for this so I am too! Sado's got tunnels under Karnali and that's where we go. He says the city is under the control of a guy called Kiro, a war-ward whose garrison has the city under its heel and any disobedience sees cruel retribution against the citizens. He reckons I could swing the battle in their favour. Whilst we're talking some guy tries to pick my pocket! Sado apologises and explains his army is made up mainly of convicted criminals and other ne'er do-wells but he's confident we can strike a blow here with my aid.

I think Sado is hoping I'll blast the garrison with my magic, but I have a better idea: I take the Chaksu pipes and give them a play at the swamp edge. Sure enough a load of Chaksu come out, and I direct them to attack the gates. The gates are duly subjected to giant lizard attack, and whilst the main garrison is so occupied, Sado, Urik and I lead their troops up through the tunnels in a guerilla warfare strike against Kiro's base of operations. On arrival it's quickly evident that the Shadakine are boosted by magic: their ragged lines begin to form up with autonotom-like efficiency and I detect the power  a Shadakine wytch. Using my sorcerous powers I'm able to pinpoint the witchcraft and through the astral plane I can see the wytch hunched over a Kazim stone, no less, as used by the villains of book 1 - the wytch straining to use the power of the stone over so many minds below. There is another in the room: Kiro himself, looking nervous in the presence of foul sorcery. I've a couple of options here but decide to use my own powers to amplify the mind stone and mess things up. The wytch looks a bit powerful for me so I go after Kiro. His mind is weak and I fill his brain with murderous urgings, causing him to strangle the wytch before she can react. With their magical backup gone the Shadakine quickly capitulate and the garrison falls to Sado.

With the occupiers dead or banged up, Karnali is in full on party mode. I tell Sado of my plan to head into the Deadlands and he is horrified but offers me his good wishes and some gear to take along. Urik is a bit contemptuous of our efforts: he says the Shadakine will simple come and take this city back, which only makes our mission more important, I suppose. We leave the city the next morning, and soon have a new friend in tow - the giant slave I freed with the mind-stone back on the road. His name is Samu and like Urik he's a bit stereotypical, being a big noble tribal warrior dude, but he's also awesome. He tells me how his people got crushed and enslaved by the Shadakine and now he is out for blood - and the best way to achieve this is to help me on my quest.

Second part to follow as Urik, Samu and I brave Desolation Valley and the titular Forbidden City. It's all been plain sailing so far - only one death, and no mistakes or errors that I can see.  But already my flagrant use of magic is starting to put a dent in my willpower....
You're a dark horse, Boots.

Richard

That sounds like a fun book actually. You have some pretty fancy magic powers! I like the bit where you get one if your enemies to strangle the other one. Looking forward to seeing what happens next!

Barrington Boots

Grey Star Book 2, Part 2

So Grey Star, with Urik and Samu in tow, is off to Desolation Valley, beyond the fearsome Mountains of Morn. Our journey will be long and the going arduous, and it's not long before Urik and Samu both realise we're being followed (I'm presumably too bookish / not wilderness savvy enough to notice this)
Samu cheerfully hangs back to ambush the follower and brings in a scrawny little dude in leathers and red trousers with his arms wrapped around his neck. He gives his name (once I have stopped him being throttled) as Hugi and i recognise him as the guy who tried to rob me back in Sado's base camp. He admits to being a thief and a rogue who spied on us to discover our location and wants to follow us to the Forbidden City because its supposed to be full of treasure. This is my third companion. He's smarmy and arrogant and quite a contrast to Samu and Urik, the former of whom keeps asking if he can kill him (Urik suggests just breaking his legs if he steps out of line). He's definitely a dick, but he might come in handy.

Before long then, the four of us are into the Deadlands which as you can imagine is devoid of any life, plant or animal. Hugi is going on about treasure and exposition when we encounter something that IS in the Deadlands - a horrible ghost. Using my powers of Evocation I'm able to protect my little gang inside a pentagram until it wanders off, and that night I have a dream message from Shasarak taunting me about how doomed I am and my mates will end up dead like they did in the previous book. The next day I'm weak and feverish from the dream attack and things get worse when we encounter three more ghosts, sent by Shasarak to stop us. This time it is Urik who drives them away, but I'm starting to look a bit low on willpower through all these exertions and with my endurance also dripping away through night terrors I'm not in the best of shape by the time we reach the mountains and the Forbidden City, which nestles at their base. It's all in ruins and very gloomy looking, and only accessible via a very decrepit looking bridge over a fast flowing river of black water. Hugi reckons the bridge will bear our weight but then refuses to go first: it is left to Urik, snorting at Hugi's cowardice, to go first. Seeing the bridge is safe, Hugi then crosses, then me, but when Samu goes last (at his request, for he is the heaviest) the bridge collapses and despite our efforts he is swept away to his doom.
Tearfully head to the city and are about to pass through an archway when we are challenged by a crazed, starving looking old man claiming to need a password to open the non-existent city gate. It soon becomes clear that the city is not abandoned but instead full of lunatics. These madmen harass us at every turn, soon turning aggressive, and eventually we are chased by a mob through the broken city streets, captured (after I foolishly try to get to high ground and fall off a rotten platform) and thrown into a prison to await a grisly fate.

But all is not lost! As we sit in glum contemplation, there is a terrific amount of noise outside and who should burst into the cell but Samu! The big tribesman, having survived the river, has tracked us here and cuts a swathe through the crazies to save us. Eventually, with Hugi's skills, we are able to get through a door and into miles of winding passages under the city that eventually bring us into a vast hall where we find the 'king' of the city, clad in ragged robes and attended by courtiers and soldiers in dirty finery and rusted armour, dancing to non-existent music. There's no way out of here so I decide to brazen it out, and when he sees me the king welcomes me and invites me to dine with them at the royal banquet - which, horrible, turns out to be piles of human limbs on a rat infested table off filthy silverware. I'm able to sit through this in mounting horror until the king and his court depart and we are free to explore.
At this point we realise Hugi has done a runner, but we track him down in the now-empty throne room where he discovers a hidden passage into the mountain and eventually a vast treasure chamber, which to his huge disappointment contains only piles of mouldering books.
Whilst Hugi is weeping and Samu is thinking about laying him out, I scour the books and discover that Shasarak is also a Shianti - couldn't see that coming - and avail myself of a weird black rod of magic bearing his emblem which proves immediately useful as it allows us to open a magic door and get out of here.

More passages beyond, and Urik tells us the Shadow Gate is close. My willpower is totally pathetic by now but I risk using some for Prophecy to guide me through the tunnels and we come out in Desolation Valley which is indeed desolate. It's also riddled with holes. Urik says the gate is below ground, and we're considering climbing down a hole when a massive blind worm monster pops out of one. Urik and I try to run but Samu wants to fight and I end up going back to help him: with my aid he chops its head off and boots it down the hole it came from. Eventually Urik finds the right hole and with Samu standing guard (Hugi has vanished at this point, not sure when he left or if he is just keeping quiet) Urik and I descend. I lost my rope earlier trying to help Samu out the river, so its a long drop for me but Urik just clambers down with ease.
Urik was on the money: I was expecting more tunnels here but instead we're right by the shadow gate. It's a big pool of inky darkness, and there's two shocks here: first the giant shadow demon that absolutely destroys you in book one, standing guard. Second, within the gate itself is none other than Tanith! I thought her dead but instead she is imprisoned within the gate, a tormented prisoner of Shasarak's realm.
I do NOT want to fight this demon, as my will and endurance are by now single figures. I do have the option of using the rod, and in a fit of inspiration I take the option to hand it over the demon. This frees it from its servitude to Shasarak and it immediately bogs off. Anticlimatic yet awesome victory! I'm always a fan of being able to avoid the final fight by being clever (or as here, lucky).
With the demon gone, the shadow gate rises before me. On the other side I can see Tanith, a prisoner. Without hesitation I step through... and that's the end of the book.

Enjoyed this a lot! Tons of lore, good writing, more companions who were not Mungos, and not very hard if you make smart decisions - although I was very, very close to death at the end. Recommended!
You're a dark horse, Boots.

Barrington Boots

I've also played Book 3 - Beyond the Nightmare Gate - on Project Aeon. Sadly I didn't enjoy this one anywhere near as much: I'm not sure if the online play aspect of it was a big factor, as it certainly is a different experience to an actual book and feels a lot less involved and a lot more transient. However, the book also featured a lot of auto-death paragraphs, something that's been missing from the series so far. At one point you need to make three random number tests and any failure means game over and there's another bit where of four choices, I think three kill you (I died a lot in this book)
These factors led me to eventually stop rolling for things and I finished the book very quickly after that as it's actually got a very straightforward story and although there's a twist at the end, it's pretty easy to see what it is and what to do (in fact, you're told a couple of times by Tanith). I'm definitely playing book 4 to see how it finishes though. You recover the Moonstone at the end of book 3 so hopefully with GS kicking Shasarak back to whatever evil wizard pit he came out of.
You're a dark horse, Boots.

Richard

Great write-up! The mad king's banquet sounds like a very cool scene, was there an illustration?

Do let us know how the fourth book goes.

Barrington Boots

There absolutely was! I'll try and get a snap of it and put it up here.
You're a dark horse, Boots.

Barrington Boots

I've finished book 4 now as well. Again, playing online has felt like the less than ideal way to enjoy the book but it did mean I didn't have to track down an expensive copy of it!

Anyway, not many spoilers, but its a good one and far better than book 3: Grey Star and Tanith return to the material plane to discover seven years have passed. Shasarak has both his Shadakine horde and an army of demons at his disposal. I quickly reunite with Samu, who is now king of his tribe and fighting a valiant resistance against the demons, then lead them to link up with the rebellion, led by Sado for some epic battles. Eventually finding a very novel way to counter the power of the Wytch's Kazim stones, Sado, Samu and I lead the rebellion to the gates of Shasarak's fortress where I teleport in for a final battle with the villain.
It's a lot of fun, although the final battle is INSANE in its difficulty. The Moonstone from book 3 gives Grey Star a huge power boost with a number of new magical powers and a vast increase in willpower meaning you can throw magic around like confetti which is a lot of fun!
Tanith is a bit sidelined, although its possible I missed a bit of her plot, only appearing at the start and then popping up at the end for a happy ending. Lots of Samu though. The battles are fun - less detailed than Way of the Tiger as you rarely take the field yourself although I had a good bit fighting some chariots.

Definitely recommend these, and given you can play them all free online, why not.
You're a dark horse, Boots.

Barrington Boots

I played through Dead of Night a little while ago - I wasn't excited to get to this one, because frankly the title and cover art are totally boring, but had loads of fun playing it which shouldn't have been a surprise because it's written by Jm Bambra and Stephen Hand who know a few things about rpgs!
You play a paladin-type holy warrior on a mission to defeat your demonic arch-rival and rescue your parents into the bargain, travelling through a corrupted, Warhammer roleplay esque low fantasy world where demons and horrors lurk at every turn. Everything here is down at heel, dirty and broken: there's a element of being a witchfinder about it, as corruption could (and often is) lurking in most locations, although your character is very much a hero and not a cruel witchburner type - keeping your own goodness up by doing the right thing is a major plot point. There's some nasty little tricks in it to trip you up along the way as things aren't always what they seem, as well as a dose of body horror with a living demonic factory, plenty of undead and superstition, and multiple paths to the ending that reward good play and decisions. Gorgeous artwork from Martin McKenna only enhance the dirty, Oldhammer-y atmosphere.

No playthrough on this one from me, but here's how I bit the dust (repeatedly):

  • Killed by the possessed corpse of a necromancer I'd previously dispatched, having failed to prevent a ritual from summoning something horrible and tentacled into his body.
  • Dissolved by a pool of sentient sludge after foolishly wading into it.
  • Battered to death by an ogre after some bad dice rolls.
  • Eaten by the huge demon on the cover as, instead of running away I wasted my turn using my 'demon sense' power to see if it was real and not an illusion (it was indeed real)
  • Stabbed by a bazillion floating knives trying to nab some magic armour

Despite all this, loved it.

I'm now playing, on and off, the new Huntress books from Magnamund which are a Lone Wolf prequel of sorts.
You're a dark horse, Boots.