This Ain't No Technological Breakdown

Returning to my ongoing attempt at Rhianna Pratchett's Crystal of Storms, I now embark on my hunt for a Thingie and either a Doobry or a Wotsit. It appears that if I’d been more successful in dealing with the spying device I encountered on Cirrus, I would have acquired a Strange Metal Object that might be of use here, but as it is, I shall have to search further afield. Indeed, I need to head for the technomancers’ island, Asperitas, which means that I must recharge the hovers if I want to make any further progress in the adventure. There is a charger close by - coin-operated, like the one I used on Cirrus, so this is another opportunity to fail through lack of funds, but I still have some money, and can thus power up the hovers and get going.

Not far from my destination, I get attacked by a couple of Harpies. The fight is not particularly challenging, but it feels like an ambush, making me suspect that whoever was responsible for the fall of Nimbus is aware of my investigation and seeks to bring it to an end.

Close by, several Goblins are arguing. Some want to head down to Nimbus, others think it’s still too dangerous, and they can’t agree on who should take charge. I introduce myself to a young Goblin who’s cleaning glassware outside a workshop, and he’s so startled at being addressed by an officer of the Sky Watch that he drops and breaks the vial he was holding, babbling that he’s innocent, and implicating Paxlo and Pox.

Hoping to calm him and get him to open up, I help pick up the broken glass. He introduces himself as Yurik, and says that he’s been on edge of late, and is likely to start getting charged for all the breakages he’s been causing. He blames the fall of Nimbus for his nervousness, and when I ask why he thought I might suspect him, he claims that the Goblin brothers he previously mentioned have had it in for him ever since he turned down their invitation to join in with a secret project on Nimbus. I ask what he knows about the project, and he refuses to say any more, scurrying into the workshop and operating a complex-sounding mechanical lock behind him.

Attempting to break the door down might trigger some kind of trap, so I get back to seeking the items that Matix requires. For now I’ll stick in the quarter where the workshops and laboratories are located. While wandering around the warren of streets and alleys, I hear talk of a mysterious metal item that dropped onto a workshop in the east, and head off to investigate that.

A crowd has gathered around the site of the incident, and I’m slightly surprised to see that the object is around the size and shape of a boulder. It appears to be some kind of technomantic artefact, but nobody here has seen its like before. Nix, the owner of the workshop that it partially demolished, is currently attempting to attach a power source to the thing, and I’m torn between thinking that that may be a really dangerous idea and wondering if seeing what the device does will give me any clues as to what’s afoot.

I advise against powering up the unknown contraption, but Nix won’t be deterred. He attaches the charger, turning it up when nothing happens, and then the mechanism activates. Springing into the air, it unfolds what I briefly take for limbs before realising that they’re digits. This thing was no metal boulder: it was a giant robotic fist - and it’s a fighting hand.

The crowd disperses as the hand scuttles to the attack. When I score a hit on the thing, it tries striking back at me with its fingers and thumb, but some lucky rolls mean that I deflect them all, doing extra damage to each appendage. I fare less well against the next such retaliatory strike, and get wounded by three fingers, but in the course of fending off the fourth and thumb, I inflict sufficient bonus damage to put the hand out of action.

A dead Goblin falls out of it, and I see that his belt buckle has a ‘P’ engraved on it. Could this be Paxlo or Pox? Very probably, as a Goblin with a similar belt rushes over to the body, bewailing the fact that the deceased ignored his warnings. After allowing him a moment to grieve, I approach him, seeking information, and he throws some powder in my face, causing me to black out.

By the time I recover, the dead Goblin and his rueful brother are both gone. The metal hand is still there, though, and dangling from it is a component which I tentatively identify as a Thingie. Not sure what leads me to that conclusion - maybe it’s shaped like a turnip.

Now I head west to the residential area. There are many people out on the streets, discussing what happened to Nimbus. The Goblin contingent are particularly agitated, as the fall of the island might be due to a technomantic failure, for which they would be held responsible.

While traversing an alley, I hear a buzzing noise which alerts me to the presence of a mechanical eye like the one I encountered on Cirrus (well, it could even be the same one, but as this would still be happening even if I’d done some proper damage to the one I previously found spying on me, it’s probably supposed to be another one). It flies off, and I try to follow it, the outcome being decided by the whim of the die. On this occasion the thing suddenly spins round, and I duck into the shadows, hoping that the device won’t realise I’m tailing it. My Luck holds out, and after a moment the flying spying thing resumes its travels and I continue to follow.

Eventually it flies through a hatch leading into a house. Knocking on the front door is not likely to get me anywhere, so I head round the back in search of an alternative entrance. There is a back door, which is unlocked, so I go through that, startling a Goblin - most likely the one who threw powder in my face earlier, judging by his belt buckle. He yells words I don’t understand, summoning a couple of Wheelies, and flees through the front door while I’m fighting off the discoid thugs.

The house is cluttered, and most of the gubbins lying around seems unlikely to be of use to me. A leather bag with the name ‘Paxlo’ on it hangs on a hook, and inside that I find some money, a Potion of fire oil, and some dried fruit, which I eat in order to regain some of the Stamina I’ve lost on Asperitas.

The house has two floors, so I head up the stairs, finding a couple of beds and a cage that houses three mechanical eyes, in a dormant state and making a sound like snoring. There’s also a crystal ball, and strewn around are many sheets of paper with writing and drawings on. A closer look at the eyes reveals them to be powered by storm crystals, and currently recharging, while the papers provide ample evidence that I’ve been under surveillance for some time. I wonder if the surviving Goblin is the elder of the two siblings - after all, Big Brother has most definitely been watching me.

Observing that there are controls for regulating the charge being supplied to the eyes, I turn it up to maximum, overloading the mecha-snoops and causing them to explode in a shower of components, taking negligible damage from the shrapnel. From the debris I am able to salvage a Wotsit, so I think my work here is done. It’s time to head to the nearest hovers charging point, power up again, and return to Matix.

The flight back to Incus is uneventful, and the sound of hammering and invective helps me to home in on Matix’ workshop without difficulty. She is more than satisfied with the Thingie and Wotsit I obtained, and advises me to get some rest while she finishes repairing the bathysphere. Settling down in a mound of blankets, I doze off.

A while later Matix wakes me with the news that the bathysphere, named the Barnacle, is now ready. It’s equipped with various devices that are sure to come in handy during my underwater explorations: mechanical arms with pincers for self-defence, an attachment that uses suction to retrieve items from the surrounding waters, and a gadget that transmits sound from outside.

Boarding the Barnacle, I commence my aquatic exploration. While inside the bathysphere, I must use its stats - a Skill slightly lower than my Initial score, and a predetermined Stamina - and I don’t get to use the bonuses provided by the weapons and helmet I have acquired.

First I must decide whether to check out the surface waters or immediately descend into the depths. I know that boats have been active in the area since the disaster, so there’s a good chance that anything or anyone that was floating will already have been found. Plus, while my destruction of the mechanical eyes should have reduced my enemies’ capability to spy on me, being on the surface would leave me that bit more vulnerable to further airborne attacks, so I think I’ll dive.

Of course, being submerged doesn’t provide any kind of protection from underwater enemies, and I haven’t been in the sea for long before a creature combining attributes of squid and shark swims to the attack. The Barnacle’s armaments don’t have much trouble dealing with the Great White Squark, but the vessel does take a little damage, and I can’t heal its Stamina like I can my own.

Scanning the surrounding area, I detect a cave system and a large object that could be Nimbus. Exploration of sunken caves in FF adventures doesn’t always end well, so I take a closer look at the unknown shape.

It is Nimbus. Now to find out whether it’s just full of corpses, or if there are survivors in air pockets. As I approach, I catch sight of something else in the water close by - a big air bubble with somebody in it. A codeword check leads to the realisation that it’s Methedus, still unable to get through the wards that are blocking the Stormborn from accessing the sunken island. Using another bubble, he sends me a potion that will help me in one combat, and then he heads for the surface since there’s nothing more that he can do down here at the moment.

The wards don’t seem to be impeding the Barnacle, so I continue towards the sunken island. As I approach, I catch sight of a damaged bathysphere close by. The fishermen I rescued from the giant crab mentioned that collateral damage from the fall of Nimbus included several boats and a bathysphere, so I figure that this must be the one lost in the crash. I decide to take a closer look - while it’s probably too late to save anyone who was inside, there may be something of use that can be salvaged from the wreck. Indeed, I find some waterproof firesticks and a Greater Healing Potion.

Plus an implicit homage to a classic cinematic jumpscare.

Proceeding to the Citadel on Nimbus, I find my way blocked by a sea giant. Cordial relations are not out of the question here, as the people of Pangaria have been trading with his kind for some time, but the giants can be a bit volatile at the best of times, and the recent disturbances have agitated a lot of the local life, so things could get a bit unpleasant.

As it turns out, this giant doesn’t seem to have been upset by Nimbus’ falling from the sky. Having his sleep disturbed when a freshly deceased Great White Squark landed on him a short time ago, well, that’s a different matter. Despite having breakfasted on seafood, Tideus the giant is hungry, and in the mood for a wrestle. I give him the fruit I’ve collected, which takes the edge off his appetite, but he’s still determined to have a bout of grappling with the Barnacle. I do manage to subdue him, but the bathysphere takes more damage in the course of the fight.

Having been bested, Tideus agrees to do me a favour at some future point, and gives me a conch with which to summon him. Having a Giant at my side could come in handy if I wind up having to confront a body that goes with the giant mechanical hand I fought on Asperitas, so I’m hoping that future benefits will outweigh the harm sustained by my vessel.

Tideus opens the Citadel door for me and settles down for a nap, and I pilot the Barnacle inside. Navigating past the bodies of drowned Sky Watch members, not looking too closely in case I should recognise any friends, I reach an air pocket, and surface in a chamber with two exits: a water-filled passageway and a flight of steps up to another unflooded area.

I’ll start by checking where there’s still air. That’s not what I did the last time I got this far, as my gamebook manager hasn’t yet had anything relating to that path entered into it. I remember that my first attempt at this book ended when the Barnacle was wrecked by a Shark-Kin, so I guess that encounter must take place in or beyond the flooded passage. I may end up having to go that way eventually, but for now there are other areas to explore.

As soon as I emerge from the Barnacle, a couple of survivors head my way, one of them wounded and supported by the other. They are being pursued by a trio of Amphibious Spinefish, which I must fight off, and the rules are unhelpfully imprecise about how the combat is to be conducted. There’s more than one approach to fighting multiple opponents simultaneously in FF, so telling me to fight ‘two at a time’ and not going into any more detail really isn’t that helpful.

My gamebook manager is currently only properly set up to handle one of those combat models, so I’ll use that one. It feels slightly riskier than the only alternative worth considering, but the Skill lead I have here is enough that I should be all right. Indeed, I only take one wound, which I’d have sustained no matter how I chose to handle the fight. Randomness determines that I take double damage thanks to venom, but that’s still nowhere near enough to kill me, and now I’m out of the bathysphere, healing is back on the menu.

Sooner or later I’m going to get the urge to tinker with code some more and properly program in the other standard variants, and then when writers neglect to specify, I’ll have to give the matter that bit more thought. Still, that’s a concern for another day.

The unharmed Sky Watch officer asks me a stupid question. Okay, he has no way of knowing that I’ve only just arrived here by bathysphere, but when you’re in a building that’s fallen into the sea and sunk, there’s little point in wondering whether another presumed survivor fell victim to the same disaster or was stranded here as a consequence of some separate, unrelated misfortune. I get to ask a (hopefully) smarter question in return, and I think I’m going to have to prioritise investigation. All indications are that the surviving Goblin brother and his associates haven’t yet finished causing havoc. Besides, I don’t think the Barnacle has anywhere near the capacity required for evacuating the Citadel, but if I can identify the source of the wards and deal with it, I open the way for a better-resourced and larger-scale rescue mission.

Identifying himself as Ferris, the officer says that there was a stomping sound, followed by screams, and he saw something big that might have been a giant. Then there was an explosion, and Nimbus fell. Ferris also claims to have passed out a couple of times, and his manner leads me to infer that either he’s embarrassed about such an unheroic response to the incident or he’s trying to cover something up. Further questioning is permissible, though the presence and placing of an ‘if you haven’t already’ implies that only one of the questions I’ve not yet asked will continue to keep this dialogue open.

I might as well try to find out as much as I can before I have to move on, so I ask what happened to the injured officer. The wounded man indicates that he can speak for himself, says his name is Bal, and explains that one of the Spinefish got him in the leg. He asks if I have any spare healing, and I let him have a potion, consequently receiving a Luck bonus.

In view of the number of variables brought into play by that interaction, I think it less likely that the last question I have the option of asking will trigger some perfidious response from Ferris, and thus enquire about other survivors. The officers have heard cries for help, but flooded passageways are an obstacle to proper investigation, and it appears that a ward has been placed on the door to the Great Hall.

Advising Bal and Ferris to keep out of trouble, I head further into the Citadel, noting that the air quality is deteriorating. It’s still breathable by the time I reach the Nimbiferous Hall, one of the central hubs of the Citadel. The hallway to the right is partially collapsed and flooded, the one to the left leads to the kitchens if I remember rightly, and straight ahead is a door to the Great Hall.

If the officers were right about the door having a ward on it, I’m not going to achieve anything by trying to open it, and the text frames heading for the kitchens as allowing my stomach to override all other concerns, so the flooded hallway actually seems like the best way to go right now.

I wade until the water gets so deep I have to swim, and randomness determines what happens next. A middling roll has the chill prompt morbid musings, but nothing worse. Emerging on the far side of the flooded area, I take a little Stamina damage from the cold, but there are papers and broken furniture scattered about, so I could use those firesticks or some fire oil to start a fire and warm myself up. It’s also possible that I’ll spot some useful evidence while gathering up burnable scraps, so I shall emulate the Prodigy rather than Billy Joel.

None of the papers have any pertinent information on, but the heat of the fire restores more Stamina than I lost to the cold. After extinguishing the fire I go on my way, recognising the library entrance up ahead. There’s more water between me and the doors, and this pool turns out to be inhabited by a saltwater crocodile. The fight is not particularly challenging, and once the crocodile is dead, I have the option of cutting it open to see if it’s eaten anything unusual. Checking, I find no alarm clocks or license plates, but there is a copper ring and a Potion that’ll provide a temporary Attack Strength bonus in there.

Some water has got into the library itself, which has done nothing good to the books on the lower shelves. Strange noises draw my attention to one specific area in the upper level, where I hear chanting coming from behind a bookshelf. Dotted around the shelves are four books with similar spines and distinctive titles. I wonder if the more ominous-looking ones (one mentions ‘Death From Above’, and another purports to contain ‘Unexpected Endings’) are traps, or just designed to deter people from touching them. If the latter is the case, the one helpful-looking title (apparently a guide to killing aquatic beasts) may be booby-trapped.

Hedging my bets, I’ll take the one on ‘Fights to the Death’. If these titles do hint at what the books do to their readers, a potentially survivable threat ought to give me more to work with than an Instant Death, and my Skill is high enough that I should be in with a fair chance if the book summons up something to attack me.

A Clawbeast erupts from the pages, wounding me a few times before I subdue it. Okay, let’s try checking out the one that suggests it might inform rather than injure… No, it teaches via practical demonstration, leaking water onto the floor until a Sea Troll emerges from the depths and attacks. At least this enemy fails to harm me.

Does this library contain nothing but traps? Or could it be a War Games-esque set-up where the only way to progress is not to read? I’ll risk one more book, and hope that an unexpected ending need not be fatal. Well, taking that book seems to activate something, but there’s a sting. Which comes attached to a Giant Scorpion. Despite having a higher Skill than the Clawbeast, this enemy doesn’t hit me as often, but I do take damage, so once the fight is over I down the healing potion I didn’t give away.

After helping myself to the Scorpion’s stinger, which I can use to envenom my weapon and do extra damage in one fight (though I doubt that it’ll do much against mechanical enemies), I find that the bookcase doubles as a secret door, which has now opened to reveal a staircase ‘spirally downwards’. Not sure about the grammar there.

Descending, I reach a torchlit tunnel, and a whooshing noise suggests an attack or a trap. And it’s a trap, but my Skill enables me to dodge the blade. There’s no way of dodging the small fireball which a statue spits at me a little further along, but the damage done is negligible. Nevertheless, it is clear that somebody doesn’t want strangers wandering around here.

Green light illuminates an area which appears to have been used for some dark technomantic ritual. Broken storm crystals mark the cardinal compass points of a circle on the floor, which is filled with runic inscriptions and clutter. At the centre of the circle stands Elder Technomancer Vizzig, who appears to be seriously injured, and is also risking a lawsuit from Spiderman’s copyright-holders, as he uses a wrist-mounted device to ensnare me in a net. I tell him why I’m here, and he starts laughing.

Unexpectedly, his laughter is not villainous cackling. While he did bring about the fall of Nimbus, he is actually working against my enemies. Since Vizzig’s retirement, his rank of Elder Technomancer has been little more than an honorary title, and the real power is in the hands of his successor Krazic, who has been working with the shipwreck survivor Talliman to create technomantic WMDs. I speak of my own findings regarding the matter, and Vizzig is sufficiently impressed that he releases me from the net, evidently concluding that I’ll be of more use as an ally than a captive.

A codeword check establishes that there is some information that I missed in the course of my investigations, so I hope that it’s not too important. I now have the opportunity to ask Vizzig some questions, and as I don’t know how many of the available options I’ll be able to pick, I think I should be more concerned about the present and the immediate future than the past. Thus, I start by asking what he’s planning to do with the set-up he’s created here. It turns out that he’s trying to bodge together a Ritual of Repair, despite the scarcity of necessary resources in the sunken Citadel.

Further questioning is permissible, so I ask about the ward on the Great Hall doors. Vizzig placed it there to stop something nasty from getting out - but it’ll only last as long as he does, and he’s dying.

It looks as if I’m going to be able to ask every question on the list after all. The fall of Nimbus was apparently collateral damage: when Vizzig attempted to assemble the Sky Watch to oppose Krazic’s plot, the villainous Engineer turned one of his war machines on them, so Vizzig overloaded the storm crystals to try and destroy it, thereby denying the island the powers that kept it aloft. And the injuries that will probably cost him his life were sustained as a consequence of the fall.

Vizzig then asks me what happened to Samuel, his pet Giant Scorpion. Awk-ward! I ask what I can do to help Vizzig, and after initially trying to dissuade me on the grounds that, being responsible for the destruction, he should be the one to fix it, the retired Technomancer concedes that I’m probably better able to find the artefacts he still needs than he would be, and accepts my assistance.

He needs a copper ring, a black candle and a silver goblet. I have one of them already, so I give that to him, but I will need to search the Citadel for the other two items. And with the end of the month imminent, this seems like another good point at which to pronounce the incantation ‘To be continued…’ and suspend the narrative until a later date.