Stackman's Adventures (Chapter thirteen)

[bsftcs]

Tunneling the rock

Being the thirteenth chapter of Stackman’s adventures

In which one or two legendary beasts of the Gael Serran fauna become extinct and in which the valkyrie acts indignant.

The party retraced their steps back to the caste building and found their way back into the tower of rite (room A on the Rites Tower & Haleabus map at Xignal’s Site). Placing the evil elements on the five claws surrounding the circle of rite and placing the evil masque on the mannequin head in the middle produced a magical energy sprouting from the elements to the masque.

With the masque in hand the valkyrie led the party back to the entrance hall, where she unlocked the door leading to Haleabus’s room (room E on the Ground Floor map). The oversized demon was quite obnoxious, believing that he could not be harmed. And he was right… At least for a second or two more. The valkyrie stepped up to him and touched him with the masque. (Some parties have experienced that the mask needs to be “given” to Haleabus rather than “used” on him). Haleabus shouted in agony, knowing he was no longer immortal. Very little so indeed. The bard sent him back to his domain with an ice storm spell.

On the thone situated in the room appeared the ghost of the knight D’Soto. He told them of his plight and of the whereabouts of the Mavin. The party knew of the importance of asking the knight about the sacred word, because once he had told them the word Elseramavin it would appear in the party’s vocabulary (obviously they alerady knew the word from previous games), and some parties have experinced problems with getting the third watcher, Erathsmedor, to accept the word when it is typed in instead of “clicked in” from the vocabulary.

In a treasure box to the left of D’Soto’s Ghost the bard found the fabled Shroud of Elsera, which could be equipped as a shield. He took it with him. The party then reentered the catacombs on the bard’s request. He wanted to give back the evil element to Lysandra. She would probably be all exited about it, now that it was vibrating with magical energy. She accepted the evil element, but strangely it never left the bard’s inventory.

The party left the castle. It was dark night, and it was raining. The warlock cast the create portal spell and then the call of home spell. Weary and worn the party rested at the inn of Ishad N’ha. The next day they went to the armoury, where they received aknowledgments for having completed the Gliebott quest. They then undertook the “invite Stouts” quest. Thus ended the first of three quests given by the warrior guild of Ishad N’ha. In the magic shoppe they received a few experience points for having found Ardibren’s keepsake. They then undertook the “Idol of Aku” quest. Thus ended the first of three quests given by the wizard guild of Ishad N’ha. In the pawn shop they were rewarded for retrieving Ardibren’s Journal. They then undertook the “Band of Boars” quest. Thus ended the second of three quests given by the thief guild of Ishad N’ha. In the temple they were rewarded for finding Galian’s scroll. They then undertook the “Jathil” quest. Thus ended the second of three quests given by the priest guild of Ishad N’ha.

By noon they left Ishad N’ha again. They quickly teleported back to Shurugeon Castle. There they followed a path leading from the west side of the moat always keeping to the left. Before long they came upon a group of swamp mucks taking a sun bath trying to catch a tan. They never knew what hit them before it hit them. By nightfall the party had covered a great distance.

Shortly after daybreak the next day the path veered south. After passing through a narrow passage, the path widened, and in the middle of the wide area was a semicircle of trees in which lay a hidden coppice. Shortly before entering the coppice, the party noticed a man-beast prowling around. It was the legendary werewolf. Two incinerate spells turned it to cinder. The wolves of the forest howled, but the party walked on. Scanthril had been right. Grundel HAD run into Erathsmedor. His burnt remains lay on the ground of the coppice. His miner’s permit had not been damaged, however. The valkyrie picked it up. (The map of where exactly to find the hidden coppice is provided by Sazerac on Page four of the Best Tips).

By nightfall the party had come to a place, where the path turned west. They camped for the night. In the morning they broke up again and followed the path westward. Soon they were attacked by a massive winged beast. It was a bloodstone griffin. These were believed to be extinct. And… Well… Now they were. Five high level spellcasters and one heavily armed barbarian under attack have a tendency to cause extinction.

The path led them westward for many kilometres yet, and suddenly it turned a bit to the north. It was almost dark when the party came to the entrance of the old Stout Mines. There had been discussions about whether to go to the mines or visit the boogres after having completed Shurugeon Castle. One reason to go to the Boogre Caves first would be to get a cask of boogre brew which would be crucial in order to gain access to the mines if Grundel’s writ had not been found. One reason to go to the Stout Mines first would be the fact that the warrior guild of Ishad N’ha gives the “stout invitation” quest before the “Doshi Gin” quest which requires access via the Boogre Caves. The party already had a writ so they camped for the night just inside the mine tunnel.

The following morning the party entered the mines. Just inside they met Signeur Pastollio at the counter. He told them he could… Hmmm… Incidentally find a miner’s permit for the party in exchange for some alcoholic beverage. Believing one should not drink whilst on duty, the valkyrie put on her most indignant expression and gave him the writ they had already. Knowing the writ procedure could be buggy (the multiple writ bug and ways to circumvent it are explained in the thread requesting help started by Misanthrop and in the discussion started by Wutang) the party crossed their fingers. But everything went according to plan, and soon they were inside the mines.

They took the elevator down. Several miners were down there toiling to hew the gemstones from the rock. There were some ore piles that the party could mine themselves with a pick axe. While they were working the miners sang their working songs which did not have the most profound poetic lyrics. The safety level of the mines did not appear very high. A good thing the Factories Inspectorate was not around. Furthest to the south on that level a second elevator (C on the level 0 map at Xignal’s Site)took them further down.

Following the right path on the next level, the party came across the treasury. It was not accessible without a key. The party then took the left path and followed it – always keeping to the left – until they came to the throne room (room D on the level 1 map). Here they met King Freyedies. He told the party of his dream, of the dragon armour, and of Kraokendon, his hammer. He also told them, that they needed to head down to the abandoned mines. The king had the key to the vault (and to his personal vault room just to his left side), but the party did not need all the riches therein. And neither did they need Kraokendon (which “used” on an enemy would produce lightning spells and as an attack weapon would serve as a hurled weapon that would always return to the hand of the thrower (this would furthermore often cause the game to crash). Knowing that the king would have to be kept alive (an experiment concerning the Stout King is posted on Page eight of the Best Tips) the party members delivered their clan invitations to the guards and set off for the trolley tracks that would take them to the sealed off parts of the mines.

NPCs encountered:

D’Soto’s Ghost reacts to following words:

Mavin, Sacred Oath, Watcher, Holy Signet, Ruins, Face Of Death, D’Soto, Prophecy, Familiar, Spirit, Masque, Shurugeon Castle, Erathsmedor, Shurugeon Ruins, Ardibren, Haleabus, Blade, Fiend, Elseramavin, Sacred Word, Shroud, Elsera.

With “Sacred Word” being the word that triggers the important action (the addition of the word “Elseramavin” to the party’s vocabulary).

Signeur Pastollio reacts to following words:

Stout, Stout Mine, Brinbath, Stout Mines, Freyedies, Dragon, Mine, Writ, Erathsmedor, Stouts, Mines, Vault, Treasure Vault, Town, Drink, Anything, Brew, King, Abandoned Mines, Crazies, Boogre Brew.

With “Anything” being the word that triggers the important action (the promise of exchanging a writ for brew).

Freyedies reacts to following words:

Cemetery, Stout Kingdom, Graveyard, Stout, Stout Mine, Brinbath, Stout Mines, Freyedies, Mavin, Help, Fate, Dragon, Writ, Erathsmedor, Fire, Burial Ground, Vault, King, Treasury, Invitation, Dream, Abandoned Mines, Crazies, Dragon Armor, Burning Cavern, Dragon Ore, Kraokendon, Mine Trolley, Old Tracks, Living Stone, Spare Parts, Raskalion, Ore, Vision.

With “Help” being the word that triggers the important action (the promise of forging dragon armour).

[Wyvern]

Yet another great chapter!!

Really excellent how you have been including the links and possible problem spots along the way!!

Great job, bsftcs!!!!

Wyv

[whiteknight]

wtg bsftcs!!roll on the next series....


whiteknight