The fourth original-to-Scholastic Fighting Fantasy gamebook was the first (and, to date, only) ‘official’ FF adventure penned by a woman: Rhianna Pratchett, better known as a journalist and writer of computer games and comics (and, in some circles, even better known as the daughter of Sir Terry, creator of Discworld).
Some concerns were raised within fandom following the revelation of the cover illustration to her book, Crystal of Storms, which makes it look as if the target audience is a lot younger than standard for FF. Still, the actual adventure is not as ‘for kids’ as the picture suggests. It’s a bit more whimsical in tone, but there’s plenty of death and mayhem, and the odd macabre moment, and both times I played it for a forum challenge, my character failed to survive, so it’s got more bite to it than some gamebooks I could mention.
In this adventure I am a native of Pangaria, an archipelago of airborne islands floating in the calm at the eye of the greatest storm in the Ocean of Tempests. Being the adventurous sort, I’ve recently joined the Sky Watch, the local guardians of law and order, but until now my duties have been pretty unexciting, as the surrounding storm generally isolates us from the monsters and villains that enliven the existence of most of Titan’s peoples. Even the Goblins are benign here, more focused on the part-magical, part-engineering art of technomancy than on warfare, anthropophagy, torture, or any of the other antisocial pursuits generally favoured by their lower-dwelling kin.
Things look set to become more interesting, though, as the entire Sky Watch has been summoned to an emergency meeting in the Citadel on the central island of Nimbus. My excitement is initially tempered by the fact that the head of my Watchhouse, Captain Halleck, sends me off to fetch a couple of things he forgot to bring with him, but this unwelcome errand turns out to have favourable consequences for me. Firstly, the delay caused by this detour means that I’ve only just arrived on Nimbus when an explosion destroys the Citadel and sends the whole island crashing into the waters below. Secondly, what I was bringing the Captain included part of his regalia, a pair of 'hovers' - mechanical wings that enable the wearer to fly - which I am able to don and activate mid-plummet, thereby avoiding the carnage resulting from the fall of Nimbus.
Less positively, while collecting the hovers I noticed that they were a little low on power, but didn’t have time to recharge them, so they’re not going to keep me airborne for long. Somewhat traumatised by the calamity I’ve just witnessed, I head for the familiar territory of the island where I grew up – and as I get to choose that specific detail of my origins, now seems like a good time to take care of the rest of character creation.
My second attempt at the adventure made it clear that I’m not likely to last long with a low Skill, so I was intending to allocate dice, but they fell as I would have distributed them anyway, giving me:
Skill 12
Stamina 19
Luck 12
The other item for which the Captain sent me was his coin bag, so my starting inventory includes some money (if he's dead, he no longer has any need for it, and if he wasn't killed, I doubt that he'd object to my using some of the cash in the course of my efforts to investigate the incident and potentially rescue survivors), but I have no Provisions.
The other significant discovery I made when playing Crystal for the second time was that the island of Altos is not a good choice for home, as I kept getting asked if I had items that could only be acquired on other islands. That still leaves two to choose from, and I think I’ll go with Cumulus, the archipelago’s hub of trade. Which, my gamebook manager reveals, is also where I started my first try at the book.
As I head for home, I wonder if it is likely to suffer the same fate as Nimbus – and then become aware that right now I am in more danger of plunging into the depths, as the hovers are about to completely run out of power. A Skill check determines whether or not I can glide to safety before I crash, and there’s no way I can fail this roll, so I make a soft landing in a convenient haystack.
Proceeding to the market, which is still doing some trade in spite of the destruction that just took place, I encounter an old friend – a Goblin named Dav, who works at a local bakery, and gives me a free sample of fresh confectionery to help settle my nerves. This also provides a redundant Stamina bonus, but I imagine that I’d have sustained some damage if I failed that Skill roll, so I don’t think this is Port of Peril-style authorial sloppiness.
There are a couple of local leads
I could follow up, but since I’m at the market, I might as well see if there’s
any useful equipment to be acquired here. Options are limited, but I get a
little food and a Calming Potion – between the explosion and the consequent
release of elemental energies, a lot of the local fauna are in an agitated
state (as are some of the flora), and on my second try at Crystal I repeatedly hit obstacles on account of not having a
potion to help quieten things down.
Time to get investigating. A
Goblin who lives near here used to work in the Citadel on Nimbus, and there’s a
Stormborn working at the mill. Either of them may be able to provide some
insight into what happened, and I decide to start by finding out if Hazi the
Goblin has any theories about the cause of the explosion.
As I traverse the market, I get
asked about the situation, and tell everyone that an investigation is under
way, keeping quiet about the fact that right now I’m possibly the only
surviving member of the Sky Watch. No point in exacerbating the existing alarm
and panic.
A dog-sized cockroach steals the
money I didn’t spend at the market. Dav grabs a purple tuber from a nearby
market stall and throws it at the pilfering insect, scoring a hit and causing
the thieving arthropod to drop one coin, which I recover. Still, I’m liable to
need more than that, so I give chase.
The noxious atmosphere in the
drains causes me a little Stamina damage, but I see tracks in the muck, and
follow them, catching sight of the cockroach scurrying up a pipe with its
ill-gotten gains. I throw my sword at it, and an inevitably successful Skill
roll has me commit insecticide. While recovering the coin pouch I spot a couple
of additional coins that the bug must have pilfered before now. My character
doesn’t ponder any of the questions raised by the creature’s actions, but I can’t
help but speculate. Why was it collecting money? Did somebody train it to steal,
was it operating on some bizarre instinct, or was it a rational being that
turned to crime for unknown reasons? What would a giant cockroach feel the need to
save money for?
Still, there are more important
matters to look into. Returning to the market, I encounter a troubled-looking
Goblin, who turns out to be Hazi. He’s concerned about a Technomancer named
Vizzig, to whom he used to be apprenticed. They had arranged to have breakfast
together today, but Vizzig never showed up. I agree to check up on him if my
investigations take me to his home island, and ask Hazi what he thinks could
have happened on Nimbus. He thinks it must have been sabotage. That’s as much
as I can learn from Hazi, though I would be able to solicit his opinion on a
certain item if I’d already been to Cirrus and found it there. Before I proceed
towards the mill, he gives me a little food and a dagger that carries an Attack
Strength bonus, so this hasn’t been a fruitless line of inquiry, even if I didn’t
learn quite as much as I potentially could have.
I’m about to head away from the
market when a rumbling sound issues from the ground underfoot, prompting almost
everyone in the vicinity to flee. Dav, anticipating trouble, throws me a potion
for immediate consumption. It provides a Stamina boost that can (and does)
bring me above my Initial score, and adds an Attack Strength bonus in the
impending combat.
Moments after I down the potion,
a creature something like a multi-fanged graboid erupts from the ground and
attacks. Between my already impressive Skill and all the different Attack
Strength bonuses in play, the fight doesn’t last long. Crowds return to the
marketplace, speculating on the edibility of the dead beast, and one of the
market stallholders gives me some silk and fruit as a reward for enabling him
to resume trading.
Proceeding towards the mill, I am
surprised by a miniature cyclone which erupts from the structure and bears me
up into the air. Before any serious harm can come to me, the Stormborn (an
intelligent wind spirit) I was seeking takes control of the storm and has it
set me back on the ground.
I explain that I’m investigating
what happened on Nimbus, and Methedus the Stormborn reveals that many of his
kind tried to go to the aid of the disaster victims, only to find a magical
barrier keeping them out. Again my not yet having been to Cirrus prevents me
from asking about whatever clue I might have found there, but before I leave, Methedus
gives me a crystal shard that can be used to extract harmful elemental energies
from afflicted animals.
With the flyer a wreck on the sea
bed, I can’t use it to travel, but the pilot is able to charge the hovers
enough for a trip to Altos or Cirrus. Or, if I’m prepared to try and deal with
the ‘unnatural disturbances’ that have caused the closure of the land bridge to
Cirrus, I could take that route. The pilot mentions that her best aeronaut’s helmet
fell onto the bridge when she lost control of the flyer, and if I find it, I’m
welcome to make use of it. Investigating what’s afoot on the bridge sounds like
the sort of thing that a member of the Sky Watch should be doing anyway, and if
there’s potentially useful loot to be gained along the way, so much the better.
Dav will not accompany me off the
island, so I say my goodbyes and set off along the bridge. It sways slightly
underfoot, and part of its span is wreathed in cloud. As I advance, I catch
sight of something scaly lurking in the mist, and draw the dagger. Not the best
weapon for fighting the Lightning Serpent which is blocking the way, as there’s
a risk of taking electrocution damage every time I wound it, but I lack a
non-conductive weapon, and the dagger’s Attack Strength bonus hastens the end
of the battle, with me only taking one shock along the way.
Killing the Serpent causes the
mist to disperse, making it easy to find the helmet, which provides a Skill
bonus unaffected by the standard restrictions on exceeding Initial scores, and
has a chance of reducing damage taken in combat. With the bridge now safe to
cross, I continue on my way to Cirrus.
The local Watchhouse isn’t far
from the Cirrus end of the bridge, but as I set foot on the island I catch
sight of a plume of bluey-green smoke, and decide that investigating that
should take precedence. As in the market on Cumulus, I get asked about the
situation by concerned locals – mostly farmers here – and do my best to reassure
them.
The smoke turns out to be mist,
seeping from a large shard of storm crystal, possibly debris from Nimbus, that
has landed in a cabbage field. I think this is what I could have shown Hazi and
Methedus if I’d done things in a different order, and there may be further
opportunities to have experts comment on it, so I’d better take a closer look.
The only way to do so is to try using it to recharge the hovers, which strikes
me as a potentially hazardous course of action, but risk is part of my job, so…
A discharge of energy sends me
flying, and somehow the helmet doesn’t keep me from taking damage when my head
hits a rock. Still, I’m able to retain a fragment of the shard, and close examination
reveals that the damage done to the crystal appears to have started internally,
while an unfamiliar black deposit has accumulated on its surface. Not sure what
that means, but if I meet anyone else who knows technomancy, they may be able
to make some helpful inferences.
There’s a shed at the side of the
field, and I decide to check that out next. As I approach the door, an animated
scarecrow comes out from behind the shed and starts throwing cabbages at me.
Not sure if that’s sinister or silly, but the scarecrow’s low Skill means that
it’s not a serious threat either way. After shredding my straw-based opponent
like a dishonest debater, I help myself to a couple of cabbage leaves and
proceed to the shed, in which I find another Calming Potion and a hand axe,
both of which I add to my inventory.
Having established that the
source of the ‘smoke’ isn’t actively imperilling anyone, I now head for the
Watchhouse, along the way having to fight off a horde of Corn Rats that have
turned hostile owing to energies emitted by the explosion on Nimbus. They take
longer to kill than the scarecrow did, but fail to harm me, and I add a couple
of ears of corn to my motley assortment of Provisions before going on my way.
The building is deserted, and it
strikes me that the grapevines growing nearby are rather closer to it than they
were on my last visit. A quick search of the building reveals an unlocked
chest, which I risk opening. Fans of the Discworld
novels starring the character Rincewind may not be entirely surprised to learn
that the chest is actually alive, and gives me a nasty bite. Once I’ve subdued
it, I am able to check its contents, finding a flask of fire oil and a page
from a ledger, on which one specific name, Commander Matthias Talliman, has been circled, with an appended
note asking about his whereabouts.
