Shamutanti Hills… Again, Day 1 and 2

Before I logged these last two plays, I had played several times. I’ve gotten to the manticore boss fight, starved to death, and been eaten by a werewolf. But this time, I feel lucky!

Wizard. Skill 5. Stamina 17. Luck 8. … Sigh.

Clearly I was chosen not as the hero we need, but as the expendable town idiot that they could send to their death. I wonder if the Crown of Kings even exists!

My first stop in Cantopani is a merchant, so I can buy a +1 sword (yay, skill 6) and some brimberry potion so I can heal myself with DOC later. Inexplicably, the book won’t let me then also buy food, so onward I go.

At the fork in the road, I run into the old man again and he gives me Gaza Moon’s spell book page.  Takes all kinds, am I right? I head left, up the hills, because I know that’s an easier path, and walk until dusk. I have a pleasant meal and sleep soundly overnight.

The next morning, I come across heads on pikes, clearly how the locals communicate “Private Property, No Trespassing” I appreciate and respect that, and head away from it and into the hills. Nearing the top of the mountain, I see a mine being worked by goblins. Interesting.

I sneak into the mine, and turn into a passage, which ends at a door. I FOP the door open, and inside find an ogre running a rock crushing machine. I, our brave hero, leap to the attack, casting a WOK spell to make a magical shield and reducing both of us to an effective Attack Strength of 6. With some lucky rolls, I take only light damage before dispatching the beast (down to 12 Stamina). I can’t help but feel bad, though, that this ogre was working a productive job producing coal and ore for the community… Oh look, loot! I find a couple of gems worth a modicum of money, so see the ogre is helping with a greater cause now: funding my adventure to save the world.

I sneak out of the cave, and make my way past the goblins, and back down the hill. That evening as the sun reaches the horizon, I arrive at the village of Kristatanti.

I head into the tavern to unwind with a mug of ale, and make the acquaintance of a nice old man who gives me a dietary supplement. Sure, why wouldn’t I trust a random stranger handing out fruit? The good news is that the fruit enhances my healing when I eat my next meal, and my next meal is at the inn. Result: I’m back to peak health (17 stamina) by dinner time. After a fitful night’s sleep under the stars, I pick up my kit and hit the road.

I know from prior lives that there’s a witch who lives west of here and that she has phat loot, so I head that way. Yep, there she is locked in a cage. I DOP it open, lose 2 stamina, and am rewarded with an armband of +2 sword mastery. Being a wizard, I should have gone with the reagents but with a 5 Skill, my +1 sword and this armband finally bring me up to “pitiful” level: an 8 basic attack strength.

That witch! Just to feel better about giving away loot, she transforms a chair into a golem and it comes at me! That’s gratitude for you! I throw a HOT at it though, and the thing is instantly wrecked, while I take 4 points of damage. Ow, magic hurts!

As the witch goes to fetch some water before her house burns down, I sneak off into the woods and back onto the trail. Another job well done.

The rest of the day is uneventful walking, to the village of Dhumpus.