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THE WALLS OF SPYTE
It is Midwinter's Eve of the year 1000. The Great Fear sweeps across the civilised world. Everyone knows that the Day of Judgement is at hand. It is seven hours to Doomsday. An arctic wind freezes your bones, but ahead of you lies a smoking chasm that goes right down to the glimmering fires of hell. You stand at the lip of the abyss which surrounds Spyte, the ruined fortress of the lords of Krarth. In the darkening sky above, five ominous stars have come into conjunction for the first time in two hundred years. Out of the vault of the sky they cast their baleful influence across the frozen landscape - unearthly objects, but far from heavenly ones. They are the disembodied spirits of the last of the Magi, seeking to return to the mortal world at midnight and usher in a new era of terror.
You wield the sole force in the world capable of destroying the Magi. The Sword of Life is mankind's only hope - but it is no guarantee of victory. The Magi have had two centuries of exile to plan their reincarnation. Their power has grown immeasurably since they last walked upon Middle-Earth. You will need greater courage and strength than ever before, but you are determined to succeed in your sworn quest. You will prevent the Magi from bringing their unholy force back into the world - even at the cost of your own life!
RULES COMPENDIUM
This section holds the rules of the game. They are to be told as listed in the book, with modifications necessary for running the game in this medium. Those modifications shall be found beneath the horizontal lines. In addition, I have added all other information that would be fitting, such as the glossary normally found at the end of the book.
All references to "the DM" in the following texts refer to me.
The usual role-playing abbreviation is used to indicate different Dice rolls. This uses the basic format of
For all intents and purposes, the DM is to roll all dice, unless otherwise specified. For brevity, I shall also use a more modern "Xd6 + Y" format instead of "X Dice + Y".
X Dice + Y
meaning that X Dice are rolled and Y is added to the total. As an example, 2 Dice + 3 means 'roll two Dice and add three' – giving a number from five to fifteen. Taking another case, 1 Die - 1 means 'roll one Die and subtract one' – negative numbers count as zero unless otherwise stated, so this would give a score from zero to five.For all intents and purposes, the DM is to roll all dice, unless otherwise specified. For brevity, I shall also use a more modern "Xd6 + Y" format instead of "X Dice + Y".
Each character is described by four attributes. These are:
* Fighting Prowess: a measure of how powerful a fighter the character is;
* Psychic Ability: an indicator of the character's resistance to attack spells and (in the case of an Enchanter) his or her aptitude for magic;
* Awareness: a difficult concept, as it encompasses quickness of thought, dexterity and general nous;
* Endurance: the attribute measuring the character's state of health; wounds are deducted from Endurance, and if it reaches zero then the character dies.
According to the rules of the book, death is permanent and final. In our run, especially considering the DM will be doing all the maths behind the combat, that would be far from interesting. Therefore, whenever a character's Endurance is reduced to zero, the character will be considered unconsious until the end of the encounter.
If the entire party gets "wiped" in an encounter, no penalties shall be applied, and the best course of action for the specific situation shall be taken -- perhaps treating it as if the party fled from the encounter instead.
* Fighting Prowess: a measure of how powerful a fighter the character is;
* Psychic Ability: an indicator of the character's resistance to attack spells and (in the case of an Enchanter) his or her aptitude for magic;
* Awareness: a difficult concept, as it encompasses quickness of thought, dexterity and general nous;
* Endurance: the attribute measuring the character's state of health; wounds are deducted from Endurance, and if it reaches zero then the character dies.
According to the rules of the book, death is permanent and final. In our run, especially considering the DM will be doing all the maths behind the combat, that would be far from interesting. Therefore, whenever a character's Endurance is reduced to zero, the character will be considered unconsious until the end of the encounter.
If the entire party gets "wiped" in an encounter, no penalties shall be applied, and the best course of action for the specific situation shall be taken -- perhaps treating it as if the party fled from the encounter instead.
Experience points are a measure of a character's skill and power. If you complete The Battlepits of Krarth successfully, you will be awarded a number of experience points to be divided among all surviving characters. At the same time you add up any special bonus awards (or penalties) you were given during the adventure. The total experience points a character accumulates will enable him or her to rise in rank. The overall experience points needed for each rank are set out below.
In short, you start with 250 XP. XP rewards are equally divided amongst the party.
After successfully completing the adventure and totting up your experience points, keep the Character Sheet. Characters who emerge alive from the Battlepits are eligible for Blood Sword 2: The Kingdom of Wyrd.
| Rank | Experience points |
| first | less than 250 |
| second | 250-499 |
| third | 500-749 |
| fourth | 750-999 |
| fifth | 1000-1249 |
| sixth | 1250-1499 |
| seventh | 1500-1749 |
| eighth | 1750-1999 |
| ninth | 2000-2249 |
| tenth | 2250-2499 |
| eleventh | 2500-2749 |
| twelfth | 2750-2999 |
| thirteenth | 3000-3249 |
In short, you start with 250 XP. XP rewards are equally divided amongst the party.
After successfully completing the adventure and totting up your experience points, keep the Character Sheet. Characters who emerge alive from the Battlepits are eligible for Blood Sword 2: The Kingdom of Wyrd.
(Straight from the book
In other words, the combat rules are a little convoluted. I don't see a good way of translating this turn-based combat to forum-play, (un)fortunately, so the best course of action, in my opinion, is to let me handle the dice rolling completely. I'm a fair DM, and you have my word that I have no interest in killing you.
We can make use of the tactical maps though. Here's how combat is going to work. When happening upon an encounter, I give you all the relevant information, as well as all choices that can be made. If the party chooses to fight, then I'd like to be given a "battle order" for the encounter, as well as a general strategy of what every character wants to do ("shoot only 3 arrows at most, then go in melee"), which foe should be targeted first, or whether the party would prefer to flee, etc. I'll handle the combat with those stipulations in mind. This should allow you, as players, to have at least some form of interaction with the combat encounters.
Combat takes place in Rounds, each of which represents about ten seconds of action. Each Round, everyone who is taking part in the combat gets the opportunity to perform one action if he or she wishes: to attack, cast a spell, or whatever. Actions are taken in sequence based on each combatant's Awareness score. The combatant with the highest Awareness acts first, then the combatant with the next highest Awareness, and so on. Combatants with equal Awareness scores act simultaneously. A combatant who is killed (reduced to zero Endurance) before his turn does not get to act!
These are the possible combat options and the circumstances in which they may be used. A character may choose any option for which he or she is eligible as his or her action for the Round:
* MOVE: This action allows the character to close and fight an enemy, or to move to an exit (if any). If you take the move option while an opponent is fighting you, then (unless your Awareness is higher than the opponent's) you take an automatic wound. Once all surviving characters in the party have moved to an exit, the party may flee at the start of the next Round.
* FIGHT: The character must have previously chosen the move option in order to be close enough to an opponent to fight. (But there are exceptions to this rule; sometimes the tactical maps in the text will show that your opponents are directly adjacent to you at the start of the combat, in which case an immediate attack is possible.)
* DEFEND: You cannot attack in the Round in which you choose this option, but it has the advantage of making you harder to hit. This is explained more fully below.
* SHOOT: This is an option for Sages and Tricksters only. You fire an arrow at any one opponent. Unlike the fight option you do not have to move first because (of course) arrows are long-range weapons. You cannot choose to shoot if an opponent is striking at you in the same Round – that is, you must dispose of any opponents who have closed to attack you before picking off others with your bow.
* FLEE: Sometimes the text will give your party the option to flee from a fight. All surviving Adventurers must have made a move before the party can flee. When this option is taken, the entire party flees at the start of the Round, so their opponents get no chance to hack at them or cast spells as they run off.
* CALL A SPELL TO MIND/CAST A SPELL IN MIND: These are options for Enchanters only. They are explained in the special section on Enchanters.
You can perform one of these actions in each Round. (Tricksters sometimes get the opportunity for two actions in a Round, though, as explained later in their special rules.)
The rules for combat are designed for ease of play but require a short explanation. When striking at an opponent (that is, when you take the fight option for a Round), you roll two Dice. A score of equal to or lower than your Fighting Prowess means that your blow has hit. If you hit, you roll a damage Die (or Dice, at higher ranks) to see how much of an Endurance loss you have inflicted. If your opponent has an Armour Rating, you must reduce your Die roll for damage by this amount, and the result (if greater than zero) is deducted from the opponent's Endurance.
Take an example. You have a Fighting Prowess of seven and a damage roll of one Die. You are attacking a Troll whose Fighting Prowess is six and which also rolls one Die for damage. You have the higher Awareness, so you get first blow. Rolling two Dice, you score a three; this is less than your Fighting Prowess score, so you have succeeded in hitting it. Next you roll one Die for the damage your blow inflicts. You get a six, but the Troll has an Armour Rating of two so only four points are deducted from its Endurance. If still alive (that is, if it hasn't yet been reduced to zero Endurance) the Troll now gets to hack back at you. It rolls six on two Dice - equal to its Fighting Prowess, so good enough to hit you (though only just!). For its damage Die roll it scores a one; because you have an Armour Rating of two this means that you lose no Endurance. The Troll's claws hit you, but scrape harmlessly off your studded leather jerkin. The battle rages on for another Round . . .
Two other factors need to be considered. If you defend, then your opponent must roll equal to or less than his Fighting Prowess on three Dice in order to hit you. You do not get to strike a blow yourself in the Round you are defending.
The other point concerns the move option. If you have a high Awareness and can move away from an opponent before that opponent gets his or her action for that Round, all well and good. If you try to move away from an opponent who has already attacked you earlier in the Round, however, then he or she immediately gets a second strike at you - and this is an automatic hit. For this reason it is usually best to dispose of one opponent before you move to engage another.
These are the possible combat options and the circumstances in which they may be used. A character may choose any option for which he or she is eligible as his or her action for the Round:
* MOVE: This action allows the character to close and fight an enemy, or to move to an exit (if any). If you take the move option while an opponent is fighting you, then (unless your Awareness is higher than the opponent's) you take an automatic wound. Once all surviving characters in the party have moved to an exit, the party may flee at the start of the next Round.
* FIGHT: The character must have previously chosen the move option in order to be close enough to an opponent to fight. (But there are exceptions to this rule; sometimes the tactical maps in the text will show that your opponents are directly adjacent to you at the start of the combat, in which case an immediate attack is possible.)
* DEFEND: You cannot attack in the Round in which you choose this option, but it has the advantage of making you harder to hit. This is explained more fully below.
* SHOOT: This is an option for Sages and Tricksters only. You fire an arrow at any one opponent. Unlike the fight option you do not have to move first because (of course) arrows are long-range weapons. You cannot choose to shoot if an opponent is striking at you in the same Round – that is, you must dispose of any opponents who have closed to attack you before picking off others with your bow.
* FLEE: Sometimes the text will give your party the option to flee from a fight. All surviving Adventurers must have made a move before the party can flee. When this option is taken, the entire party flees at the start of the Round, so their opponents get no chance to hack at them or cast spells as they run off.
* CALL A SPELL TO MIND/CAST A SPELL IN MIND: These are options for Enchanters only. They are explained in the special section on Enchanters.
You can perform one of these actions in each Round. (Tricksters sometimes get the opportunity for two actions in a Round, though, as explained later in their special rules.)
The rules for combat are designed for ease of play but require a short explanation. When striking at an opponent (that is, when you take the fight option for a Round), you roll two Dice. A score of equal to or lower than your Fighting Prowess means that your blow has hit. If you hit, you roll a damage Die (or Dice, at higher ranks) to see how much of an Endurance loss you have inflicted. If your opponent has an Armour Rating, you must reduce your Die roll for damage by this amount, and the result (if greater than zero) is deducted from the opponent's Endurance.
Take an example. You have a Fighting Prowess of seven and a damage roll of one Die. You are attacking a Troll whose Fighting Prowess is six and which also rolls one Die for damage. You have the higher Awareness, so you get first blow. Rolling two Dice, you score a three; this is less than your Fighting Prowess score, so you have succeeded in hitting it. Next you roll one Die for the damage your blow inflicts. You get a six, but the Troll has an Armour Rating of two so only four points are deducted from its Endurance. If still alive (that is, if it hasn't yet been reduced to zero Endurance) the Troll now gets to hack back at you. It rolls six on two Dice - equal to its Fighting Prowess, so good enough to hit you (though only just!). For its damage Die roll it scores a one; because you have an Armour Rating of two this means that you lose no Endurance. The Troll's claws hit you, but scrape harmlessly off your studded leather jerkin. The battle rages on for another Round . . .
Two other factors need to be considered. If you defend, then your opponent must roll equal to or less than his Fighting Prowess on three Dice in order to hit you. You do not get to strike a blow yourself in the Round you are defending.
The other point concerns the move option. If you have a high Awareness and can move away from an opponent before that opponent gets his or her action for that Round, all well and good. If you try to move away from an opponent who has already attacked you earlier in the Round, however, then he or she immediately gets a second strike at you - and this is an automatic hit. For this reason it is usually best to dispose of one opponent before you move to engage another.
At all times players must specify their battle order. The best way is to prepare two, three or four card counters labelled 'first player', 'second player', etc. Each player then holds the counter referring to him or her. Battle order may be changed, that is, the counters exchanged, at any time except when in combat.
Obviously, battle order makes no difference when only one person is playing (he or she must be the 'first player'), but in parties of two or more it may be crucial. Generally (but not always!) the first player, being at the front, will be the one to get hit by surprise attacks and so on. If players cannot agree on a battle order then they must adopt the following standard arrangement: first Warrior, then Sage, then Enchanter, then Trickster.
Encounters (fights, that is) are almost always played out on a tactical display of the room, corridor or what-have-you. An example is shown here:
The numbers on this tactical map show where the Adventurers are standing when the combat starts. The Ms refer to the monsters' starting locations.
It is possible to fight a monster only in an adjacent square, not across a diagonal, and it is not possible to move on to a square already occupied by a monster or another player. When a monster or character is slain, remove the counter from the map; in other words, you can step over or even stand on a fallen foe. You cannot move where there are no squares, nor on to a blacked-out square, which represents an obstacle such as (in the map above) a pillar or a large statue. Shaded squares can be moved through by monsters but not by players. In the map above, for instance, the shaded squares indicate a bed of coals which the monsters are immune to.
Unless otherwise stated, a monster will always move to attack the nearest Adventurer. To find out who the nearest Adventurer is, count the number of squares the monster would have to pass through (using straight-line moves, not diagonals) to reach a position where it could fight. In the diagram below, Adventurer 1 is closer to the monster than Adventurer 2 and the same distance as Adventurer 3. If several Adventurers are equidistant from the monster, roll Dice to see which player the monster will go for - the lowest roll is the unfortunate target of its attention! A similar roll must also be made when a monster is adjacent to more than one Adventurer to see which of them it will fight.
Before starting the adventure, prepare a few card counters to represent Adventurers and monsters. You don't need many, as you will rarely encounter more than three or four monsters at a time.
Always make a note of a monster's remaining Endurance if you flee from it. Monsters sometimes give chase, and if they catch up with you then you'll need to know how many wounds you've already inflicted.
Obviously, battle order makes no difference when only one person is playing (he or she must be the 'first player'), but in parties of two or more it may be crucial. Generally (but not always!) the first player, being at the front, will be the one to get hit by surprise attacks and so on. If players cannot agree on a battle order then they must adopt the following standard arrangement: first Warrior, then Sage, then Enchanter, then Trickster.
Encounters (fights, that is) are almost always played out on a tactical display of the room, corridor or what-have-you. An example is shown here:
It is possible to fight a monster only in an adjacent square, not across a diagonal, and it is not possible to move on to a square already occupied by a monster or another player. When a monster or character is slain, remove the counter from the map; in other words, you can step over or even stand on a fallen foe. You cannot move where there are no squares, nor on to a blacked-out square, which represents an obstacle such as (in the map above) a pillar or a large statue. Shaded squares can be moved through by monsters but not by players. In the map above, for instance, the shaded squares indicate a bed of coals which the monsters are immune to.
Unless otherwise stated, a monster will always move to attack the nearest Adventurer. To find out who the nearest Adventurer is, count the number of squares the monster would have to pass through (using straight-line moves, not diagonals) to reach a position where it could fight. In the diagram below, Adventurer 1 is closer to the monster than Adventurer 2 and the same distance as Adventurer 3. If several Adventurers are equidistant from the monster, roll Dice to see which player the monster will go for - the lowest roll is the unfortunate target of its attention! A similar roll must also be made when a monster is adjacent to more than one Adventurer to see which of them it will fight.
Always make a note of a monster's remaining Endurance if you flee from it. Monsters sometimes give chase, and if they catch up with you then you'll need to know how many wounds you've already inflicted.
In other words, the combat rules are a little convoluted. I don't see a good way of translating this turn-based combat to forum-play, (un)fortunately, so the best course of action, in my opinion, is to let me handle the dice rolling completely. I'm a fair DM, and you have my word that I have no interest in killing you.
We can make use of the tactical maps though. Here's how combat is going to work. When happening upon an encounter, I give you all the relevant information, as well as all choices that can be made. If the party chooses to fight, then I'd like to be given a "battle order" for the encounter, as well as a general strategy of what every character wants to do ("shoot only 3 arrows at most, then go in melee"), which foe should be targeted first, or whether the party would prefer to flee, etc. I'll handle the combat with those stipulations in mind. This should allow you, as players, to have at least some form of interaction with the combat encounters.
Magic is the special province of Enchanters and, to a much lesser extent, Sages. The way in which magic functions for these classes is fully set out in their special sections, but there is one thing that every Adventurer must know about magic.
There are two types of magic. BLASTING spells simply inflict damage when they are cast, and if you happen to be the target there is not much you can do about it! You deduct the damage the spell does (less your Armour Rating) from your Endurance score. The other sort of spells are PSYCHIC spells, and these you can try to resist. To resist a PSYCHIC spell you must roll two Dice and obtain a score equal to or less than your Psychic Ability score. If you make this roll, the spell fails to work against you.
You will always be told whether a spell is of the Psychic or Blasting variety.
Sometimes there will be the option for a character of a given class to act - for example, 'If there is a Trickster in the party, turn to ...'. If such an option is taken, only the player concerned looks at the appropriate section. He or she will usually read out the section to the other players, but sometimes part 11 of a section will be 'restricted' and printed in [bracketed italics]. This means that the player can, if he or she wishes, keep that part of the information withheld from the other players. For instance, there might be the option for a Sage to read an ancient piece of parchment. The book passes to the Sage player, who reads in his 'restricted' section:
'(SAGE) You decipher the faded runes on the parchment. [It tells you that the safe route to the Emblem of Victory lies beyond the gold door.] Turn to 559 .'
The player must tell his or her companions that he or she is reading the parchment, but he or she is not obliged to tell them what it says.
In a situation where two or more players are both given the chance for individual action (say, the Sage could speak to a demon or the Trickster could shoot it with an arrow), the players roll Dice and the highest score decides who acts.
NOTE that class-based interactions will work a little differently. All players who can do something may participate, not just one; all "public" information will be revealed to the party, but all "private" information will be sent in a PM. The player may choose to withhold it if they will.
There are two types of magic. BLASTING spells simply inflict damage when they are cast, and if you happen to be the target there is not much you can do about it! You deduct the damage the spell does (less your Armour Rating) from your Endurance score. The other sort of spells are PSYCHIC spells, and these you can try to resist. To resist a PSYCHIC spell you must roll two Dice and obtain a score equal to or less than your Psychic Ability score. If you make this roll, the spell fails to work against you.
You will always be told whether a spell is of the Psychic or Blasting variety.
Sometimes there will be the option for a character of a given class to act - for example, 'If there is a Trickster in the party, turn to ...'. If such an option is taken, only the player concerned looks at the appropriate section. He or she will usually read out the section to the other players, but sometimes part 11 of a section will be 'restricted' and printed in [bracketed italics]. This means that the player can, if he or she wishes, keep that part of the information withheld from the other players. For instance, there might be the option for a Sage to read an ancient piece of parchment. The book passes to the Sage player, who reads in his 'restricted' section:
'(SAGE) You decipher the faded runes on the parchment. [It tells you that the safe route to the Emblem of Victory lies beyond the gold door.] Turn to 559 .'
The player must tell his or her companions that he or she is reading the parchment, but he or she is not obliged to tell them what it says.
In a situation where two or more players are both given the chance for individual action (say, the Sage could speak to a demon or the Trickster could shoot it with an arrow), the players roll Dice and the highest score decides who acts.
NOTE that class-based interactions will work a little differently. All players who can do something may participate, not just one; all "public" information will be revealed to the party, but all "private" information will be sent in a PM. The player may choose to withhold it if they will.
You will start your adventure with a suit of armour. This gives an Armour Rating of three if you are a Warrior or of two if you belong to one of the other adventuring types.
Your armour protects you in combat by absorbing its Armour Rating from any damage you would otherwise take. For instance, if a monster rolls 2 Dice+1 for damage and gets a total of thirteen, 10 that is the number of Endurance points you would lose if you were not armoured. If you are wearing armour with an Armour Rating of two, you would take only eleven (that is, thirteen minus two) points of damage.
You cannot wear two suits of armour in combination. Thus, if you were to lose your armour and later come across two breastplates of Armour Rating one, say, then you could put on one breastplate - but you could not put on both and claim a total Armour Rating of two.
WEAPONS: If you lose your weapon, you must reduce your Fighting Prowess and damage Dice rolls by two until you find a replacement. An eighth-rank Warrior normally has a Fighting Prowess of nine and rolls 3 Dice+1 for damage when he or she hits an opponent. If he or she were to lose his or her sword and be forced to fight bare handed, he or she would have a Fighting Prowess of seven, and 3 Dice-1 for damage rolls.
ENCUMBRANCE: There is a limit to how much you can carry. As shown on the Character Sheets, you can usually have ten items at a time. If you are fully encumbered and find another item you want, you must discard one of the items you're already carrying (or give it to another player) in order to make space for it in your backpack.
Two special points need to be made. A quiver (available to Sages and Tricksters) will hold up to six arrows. The quiver counts as one item for encumbrance purposes regardless of the number of arrows it contains. That is, if you have a quiver containing six arrows then it still counts as only one item and not as seven items.
Your money-pouch counts as one item, too. As with the quiver, the contents are not relevant. The money-pouch will hold a maximum of a hundred coins (of any type), but whether it is full or empty it counts as only one item.
Your armour protects you in combat by absorbing its Armour Rating from any damage you would otherwise take. For instance, if a monster rolls 2 Dice+1 for damage and gets a total of thirteen, 10 that is the number of Endurance points you would lose if you were not armoured. If you are wearing armour with an Armour Rating of two, you would take only eleven (that is, thirteen minus two) points of damage.
You cannot wear two suits of armour in combination. Thus, if you were to lose your armour and later come across two breastplates of Armour Rating one, say, then you could put on one breastplate - but you could not put on both and claim a total Armour Rating of two.
WEAPONS: If you lose your weapon, you must reduce your Fighting Prowess and damage Dice rolls by two until you find a replacement. An eighth-rank Warrior normally has a Fighting Prowess of nine and rolls 3 Dice+1 for damage when he or she hits an opponent. If he or she were to lose his or her sword and be forced to fight bare handed, he or she would have a Fighting Prowess of seven, and 3 Dice-1 for damage rolls.
ENCUMBRANCE: There is a limit to how much you can carry. As shown on the Character Sheets, you can usually have ten items at a time. If you are fully encumbered and find another item you want, you must discard one of the items you're already carrying (or give it to another player) in order to make space for it in your backpack.
Two special points need to be made. A quiver (available to Sages and Tricksters) will hold up to six arrows. The quiver counts as one item for encumbrance purposes regardless of the number of arrows it contains. That is, if you have a quiver containing six arrows then it still counts as only one item and not as seven items.
Your money-pouch counts as one item, too. As with the quiver, the contents are not relevant. The money-pouch will hold a maximum of a hundred coins (of any type), but whether it is full or empty it counts as only one item.
| Akaabah | ' The Illuminate'. In the Ta'ashim faith, Akaabah was chosen by God to preach His message to the world. (Gatanades, the Saviour of the True Faith, is recognised in Ta'ashim as one of Akaabah's forerunners - making the two religions closer than most people will admit.) |
| Azrael | An archangel who is the personification of Death. He rules the country of Sheol. Other times and other cultures have called him by various names, including Pluto, Hades, Arawn and Osiris |
| Blue Moon | One of the spirits of the magi, the others being White Light, Red Death, Gift Star and Plague Star. In astrology, Blue Moon stands for mystery, paradox, illusion; also the boundary between life and death, and hence it can represent mystical wisdom. |
| Coradian Sea | The sea around whose shores are located the richest ports and cities of the world. Coradian is also used as a collective adjective for the countries of the True Faith - Algandy, Chaubrette, Kurland, the New Selentine Empire, Asmuly and Emphidor - which surround this sea. |
| Coradians | In Outremer, a blanket term used for anyone of northern blood to distinguish them from the native Ta'ashim. |
| Ferromaine | The richest port on the Coradian coast. |
| Gift Star | One of the spirits of the magi, the others being White Light, Red Death, Plague Star and Blue Moon. The significance of Gift Star in astrology is as a symbol of luck (both good and bad) and the oracle. |
| Icon | Lord Aiken of the Sugensiki family of Utayama Province, in Yamato. He was a warlock with a fearsome reputation, but was cast down into Sheol via the Death Focus shortly after the recovery of the Blood Sword. The name 'Icon' is merely a result of catachresis; his real name, Aiken, has a meaning roughly equivalent to 'Sharp of Spirit'. |
| Krarth | A large country in the far north of Legend, divided into several dozen separate states each of which is ruled over by a Magus. It is divided from the civilised lands around the Coradian Sea by a deep rift valley which cuts through the Coradian continent from eastern to western shore. A cold, inhospitable country full of ancient and xenophobic traditions, Krarth is avoided by most merchants from the southern lands. |
| Legend | The mortal world; Midgard, or Middle-Earth. |
| Outremer | [pronounced oo-tre mair] The Principalities of the Crusade, being those areas of Ta'ashim territory which have been captured by the armies of the True Faith. |
| Plague Star | One of the spirits of the magi, the others being White Light, Red Death, Gift Star and Blue Moon. Seen in astrology as indicative of illness, Plague Star is interpreted in another sense as the decay and corruption that must inevitably follow any act of creation. |
| Red Death | One of the spirits of the magi, the others being White Light, Gift Star, Plague Star and Blue Moon. In astrology, Red Death is generally taken as the symbol of wanton carnage and terror. Others see it as conflict in a general sense - perhaps within an individual's psyche - which, if resolved, leads to enlightenment. |
| Selentium | The capital of the Old Selentine Empire which once took in most of the western world. After the fall of the Old Empire seven hundred years ago, Selentium has risen to a new importance as the centre of the True Faith. |
| Sheol | The Afterworld, where souls go when they die. It is overseen by Death. |
| Spyte | The "holy city" of the True Magi, who convened there every seven years in order to commune with the gods of Krarth. Today it stands in ruin, atop a pinnacle of rock in the middle of a vast rift in the earth ("the Cauldron"). |
| Ta'ashim | The name given to the religion and peoples of the southern lands, in the area that was once the empire of Kaikuhuru. The countries of Ta'ashim are Marazid, Zhenir, Harogarn and Opalar. |
| White Light | One of the spirits of the magi, the others being Red Death, Gift Star, Plague Star and Blue Moon. The meaning of White Light in astrological terms is as knowledge and consciousness - absolute and positive action which brings about permanent change. |
| Wyrd | An island kingdom situated in the Mistral Sea, east of Krarth. It is ruled by the Warlock-King, who was a vassal of the True Magi until the Blasting. |
| the Battlepits | The name of a large underground complex of tunnels and chambers, located beneath the plains of Krarth. Also used as the name of the contest staged by the Magi of Krarth every thirteen lunar months, wherein a group of champions are sent down into the Battlepits to vie with each other. The aim of the contest is to get through a succession of magical opponents and problems to the Emblem of Victory. The magi bet among themselves on the outcome, of course, and sometimes a Magus will intervene covertly to assist his champions or hinder the progress of those sponsored by a rival. |
| the Blasting | The demon-spawned disaster in which Spyte was laid to ruin and the True Magi were killed. After this holocaust, which lasted for three days and nights, Spyte was left isolated by a deep chasm which many believe goes right down to the fires of Hell. |
| the Blood Sword | The Sword of Life. One of a pair of ancient swords created by the Archangel Abdiel as icons of the parting of Life and Death. It was broken into several parts but has now been restored. The only artefact capable of conquering the power of the True Magi, it was stolen by Icon and is now somewhere in Sheol. |
| the Cauldron | The name by which peasants and travellers know the deep gorge surrounding the ruins of Spyte. Steam rises in sulphurous clouds from this, thickening in the chill air so that the ruins are rarely visible. The only way across is by flying, as the Cauldron is too wide even for spells such as Immediate Deliverance. |
| the Crusade | The war against the Ta'ashim, waged by the Coradians ostensibly for religious reasons. Certain parties (the merchants of Ferromaine, the Selentine Church, etc) have found the Crusade very profitable, however, and are active in trying to whip up religious fervour in the north in order to further their own ends. |
| the Death Focus | A shaft leading directly from Legend to the hinterlands of Sheol. Icon of Yamato fell into this shaft, but used magic to snatch the Blood Sword so that he could carry it down with him. |
| the Magi | The lords of Krarth. There are some thirty magi, each essentially a local despot with absolute dominion over his territories. Since the country cannot support a standing army of any size, disputes are settled by means of the Battlepits contest - and sometimes by assassination. |
| the Marijah Sect | A society of assassins who follow an unorthodox branch of Ta'ashim. The Marijahs have a secret fortress in the wilderness east of the Harogam Mountains and are thought to use 'astral gates' to come and go as they please. |
| the Old Man of the Mountains | The leader of the Marijah Sect. He is mentioned in documents dating back at least a hundred years. If these accounts all refer to the same individual then he must be one of the long-lived Adepts of Ta'ashim mysticism. |
| the Spirits of the Magi | Five small luminous objects which are sometimes visible in the northern skies at night. Each appears about a fifth the size of the moon's face. According to the popular superstition of Krarth, these objects are the apotheosised spirits of the five greatest wizards among the True Magi. They appear frequently in folk tales (usually as malevolent entities constantly plotting and dreaming of their return to the land of men). Less sinisterly, they are potent symbols in astrology. |
| the True Faith | The principal religion of modern Legend. |
| the True Magi | The original rulers of Krarth, wizards of unimaginable power, who were all slain in the Blasting of Spyte centuries ago. The present magi are for the most part the descendants of seneschals or apprentices who seized power in the ensuing confusion. |
| the Warlock-King | The centuries-old ruler of Wyrd. He has the power to shape reality within the boundaries of his kingdom, and can enter the dreams of his subjects to question or to punish them. |
FORUM-BASED GAMEPLAY
You're free to roleplay or not to roleplay as much as you like. This includes character names.
The game will be played as follows: I shall post all relevant episodes, and highlight choices to be made. They will be posted in BOLD ALL-CAPS. The players are then free to discuss whatever they want to do next; once the majority of the party reaches a consensus, this action will be executed.
Since this is a gamebook, taking one of these options is likely to irrevocably lock you out of the previous choices.
Options that may provide extra information, or allow you to otherwise engage in a situation, but which will NOT lock you out of the current Episode, will be posted in Bold without all-caps. All options like these, as well as all individual options, will be processed before a regular option, so as to allow the party to gather as much information as possible (or have the broadest array of options at their disposal).
Please submit commands using the Werewolf-style Bold lime-green format, at least sufficiently so to attract my attention.
(Or maybe don't: it works without them some of the time, but it's nice to see a command once the party has reached a consensus for a course of action.)
Whenever a character would like to use an ability not covered by one of the OPTIONS that the episode presents, such as the Sage's Healing out of combat, submit that as a command, and it shall be processed accordingly.
In combat, I shall post the description the episode provides, as well as the tactical map. The players are to establish a "battle order" (i.e. placement order; if not, the default one will be used), outline any particular strategy they want me to use in combat (as well as what they'd like to do next, if e.g. they have to choose between exiting through one of two doors),
Since this is a gamebook, it may not allow for room backtracking and the likes. I won't allow that either, but I will make some changes -- for an example, allowing all "special" interactions in a given episode instead of just one.
And finally, please don't look up the adventure ahead of time. It's certainly possible, but even I haven't completed it yet. Let's keep it intriguing for everyone.
But it's for the Greater Good.