Spellbreaker, the final showdown – Part 4, danger in the fen

Ah, Spellbreaker – We are still at it. After twenty failed playthroughs, I think I know what I need to survive the town of Tallow and to finally proceed on my quest. And with only a little bit of cheating, I now have everything I need – at least, everything that I know I will need.

I have made my way to the village of Fenford, and it’s time to stop for the evening. It’s been a long day – I survived Aryll, got Gwythain’s blessed shield from his tomb, killed a bandit leader that has been terrorizing the roads around here and found Gwythain’s blessed sword in the hands of said bandits. It’s Miller Time!

Yes, Miller Time. I’m that old.

I stop in Fenford at the Brindled Cat tavern. It’s a cite little place, not like the raucous joints I usually prefer. The clientele are some farmers, a friar, and a mysterious man in black. The tavernkeeper says that the man in black is a witch hunter, so that sounds like a promising lead. I chat him up and prove that I’m not evil, and he opens up after a while. And get this: Nazek runs a coven in Claybury, and that coven is to be raided tomorrow night by the witch hunters. Looking at the map, I see that Claybury is at the furthest end of the map from where I started, and it’s past Tallow where I keep dying, so that sounds about right. He gives me some handcuffs and a passphrase, and we part company until tomorrow.

I have two ways to continue: the road to Selwick, or through the Darkmire. Obviously I have to take the dangerous swamp, because that’s always where they always hide the treasure.

The swamp is mucky and wet, of course, but I guess I got lucky because I didn’t get injured or anything. I found my way to a river, and a very nice person (of some weird-looking species, imagine Gollum but the size of an adult human) who can brew potions with the herbs I have collected. I happen to know from previous plays, that the salamander potion is absolutely required once I get to Tallow, and then I can finally get to a new part of the book. So we chill for a bit while he grinds herbs and does his thing.

He then leads me to the tomb where Enthus lies. Surprisingly, there’s no fight or traps or anything. I pray and Enthus’s ghost gives me the spell to imprison the demon thing that Nazek is trying to summon. Then an evil spirit invades the tomb and I’m attacked by reanimated corpses – of course, there it is. Anyway, now that I have an effective Skill of 13 the fight is pretty easy and soon I’m back on the road to Selwick.

The people of Selwick are friendly and make a pretty decent stew for dinner. But then of course there’s a catch: they’re being harassed by a witch named Mistress Crowfoot, so if maybe I could just help them out? Sigh. Of course I have to do it – most of the time, if you pass up an errand like this you miss some vital piece of loot, or lose 1 Luck for not being heroic. The witch lives across the way, in a hut that stands raised 20 feet up on a giant chicken foot. Awesome, I gotta give her points for style, though I must remark that her name is Crowfoot so it’s unfortunate she couldn’t get a matching foot for her house. Unfortunately the chicken foot won’t just let me in, so I have to stab it repeatedly before I can clamber inside. Once I’m inside, I’m attacked by a small horde of bats, cats, and rats who serve the witch. It’s an easy fight but since the witch got away, I lose 1 Luck anyway. That leaves me with only 7, and I’m not looking forward to future TYL rolls, especially once I get to the boss fight.

The next morning, I hit the road out of Selwick, and into Tallow.

And that, is as far as I have ever made it in Spellbreaker. So tomorrow’s adventure will be new to me.