Well, I'm Back

It's taken a while, but I've finally reached the last of the Magnakai Lone Wolf books, The Masters of Darkness (unless you're looking at the spine of the Mongoose reissue, which omits the first 's', with bizarre implications). Traces of glue from a price label on the spine of my original copy suggest that, like The Dungeons of Torgar, I got it from Ballard's. Possibly even at the same time - that could help explain why I have no memories of reading any of Masters until the climax of my playthrough of the entire series back in the early 1990s. If simultaneously buying two books in a series with an ongoing plotline, I would most likely have opted to focus on the earlier one. Indeed, I might well have chosen to leave Masters unopened until after I’d played through the intervening title, The Prisoners of Time.

The narrative and the rules are somewhat out of sync right now: though I have collected all the Lorestones that I needed in order to become a Kai Grand Master, and thus ought to know all ten Magnakai Disciplines and have completed the four Lore-Circles, having completed Prisoners only permits me to add one of the two Disciplines I’m missing. I guess it’s possible that Animal Control might come in helpful at some point during this adventure, but Curing is more obviously beneficial: it lacks the ‘cannot restore Endurance lost outside of combat’ limitation of Healing. As I took a significant amount of non-combat damage shortly before the end of the previous book, was denied the restoration of Endurance that usually accompanies the acquisition of a Lorestone, and am about to incur further Healing-proof damage, I could potentially be stuck at around 60% of maximum Endurance for a hefty chunk of the adventure if I don’t upgrade from Healing to Curing.

At the end of Prisoners I entered the Shadow Gate that would take me back to Magnamund. The opening section of Masters describes my passage through the void, and the text has been polished a little for the Mongoose Publishing reissue. I’m not sure that most of the changes are necessary, but they’re nowhere near the worst of the alterations I’ve seen.

At last I find myself in familiar surroundings, and randomness establishes that I lost 8 points of Endurance in transit, so I’m very glad I went for Curing. Given that I do still have wounds sustained during the climactic battles in Prisoners, I would in any case be regaining Endurance throughout the decision-free chain of expository sections with which this book is front-loaded, but my new Discipline means that I shall probably still be getting better rather than as healed as I’m going to get by the time I next get to make a choice.

Let the info-dumping commence: I’m back in Sommerlund, in a chamber beneath the Guildhall of the sorcerous brotherhood to which my surviving friend Banedon belongs. He is present, as is Lord Rimoah of the Elder Magi, having been notified by prophecy that this is where and when I would return. The Mongoose edits start over-clarifying - is anybody really going to need it pointed out that my having survived means that I’m alive? Or that Rimoah is not happy at the prospect of being defeated by the forces of evil?

Thanks to trans-dimensional weirdness, while my adventures in other realms only took a few days, over eight years have passed on Magnamund since Darklord Gnaag dropped me through the Shadow Gate. Gnaag claimed to have killed me, which demoralised my allies (the loss of the wielder of the only weapon known to be able to kill the enemy leaders is liable to be a tad discouraging), and the Darklords have been spreading out across the world ever since. They used to be unable to survive for long outside of their home territories, but have now developed technology that makes it possible for them to thrive anywhere. Sommerlund has not yet fallen to their armies, but a naval blockade has cut off support from the allied forces of Durenor, so our defeat is inevitable unless I can save the world. Again.

The location of the Darklords’ naval base has had its name changed slightly in the Mongoose edition, ‘Helgenag’ becoming ‘Helenag’. This alteration is present on the frontispiece map as well as in the text, so I don’t think it’s just a typo. Perhaps someone at Mongoose felt that an acquaintance named Helen was complaining too much…

Anyway, the devices that sustain the Darklords in the field could also be the means of their defeat, as they depend on a power source based in the Darklords’ capital city of Helgedad (not renamed Heledad in the Mongoose text). If some valiant hero (i.e. muggins here) were to infiltrate Helgedad with an explosive device such as the one Rimoah now hands me, and blow up the Transfusor that keeps the Darklord life support network functional, the forces of evil would suffer a blow severe enough that Joe Dever wouldn’t have to write another Lone Wolf gamebook for at least a year.

There is more to the plan than that, of course. A small ship will run the blockade after night falls, transporting me to Darklord territory, where I am to contact an undercover ally who will take me the rest of the way to Helgedad. Most of the Darklords are currently causing bother in other parts of the world, so there won’t be many of them in the city. Just hordes of mooks, minions, mutants and monstrosities.

Oh, and for the bulk of this mission I need to avoid using the Sommerswerd, my Darklord-slaying blade, because Gnaag and his buddies would be able to sense it. Rimoah gives me a scabbard that blocks its emanations, which doesn’t count towards the limit on how many items I can carry because the author has realised that he kinda painted himself into a corner when he introduced that restriction a few books back. A similar loophole applies to the amulet that Banedon gives me to protect me from the noxious atmosphere of the Darklands.

At the harbour I am also given an envelope for Borse, the Captain of the Intrepid, the ship on which I will be travelling. It turns out that, to guard against leaks, the mission briefing he’s received is incomplete and misleading, and only when we’re through the blockade am I to let him know that, rather than going out for ice cream like he was originally told, we actually have to head for the heart of enemy territory.

Once Banedon and Rimoah have said their farewells, we set off, aiming to build up as much speed as possible before we reach the blockade. I head up onto deck to see if I can be of any assistance, and the enhanced night vision provided by Huntmastery at my level of proficiency enables me to spot that there are five ships patrolling up ahead, powered by something other than sail, and we’re on a collision course with the middle one. I point this out to the Captain, and randomness (with a bonus provided by one of my Lore-circles) determines how he responds.

I score just too low to be able to convince him of the danger, and while his own look-out does confirm the accuracy of my warning a short time later, that doesn't happen until we’re close enough to the Darklord ship to be seen and fired upon. What happens next is also randomised, and now that a low score is preferable, I get a higher one. The missile explodes above the Intrepid, and I take severe damage from the shrapnel (the RNG really has it in for me today).

The crew of the Intrepid prove competent and efficient in their response to the attack, extinguishing the fires and bringing the ship back under control. While the Darklord vessels are awkwardly manoeuvring with a view to pressing their attack, we slip through them and hasten on our way.

After warning his crew to be on the alert in case there’s a second line of Darklord vessels on the look-out for ships that run the blockade, the Captain heads for his cabin and instructs the first mate to show me to my quarters. While the possibility of a back-up blockade adds an element of ambiguity, I don’t like the idea of having the ship sail in the wrong direction all night, so I hand over the envelope from Banedon. Borse says he’ll look at it in the morning, and will not be persuaded of the need to read it immediately.

I can turn in for the night, or go back up on deck, and I think I’d rather be on hand to alert the crew to any further potential hazards. Not that that’s how things pan out: I wind up briefly conversing with the crew, learning that the Darklords have laid waste to their homelands, and then head for my cabin anyway. Still, it does provide me with another section’s worth of Endurance recovery, and right now I need to do a lot of healing.

My cabin is cramped and stinks of fish, but this does not prevent me from getting to sleep. In the morning the Captain finally reads his new orders and instructs the crew to change course, which they do without question. A quick peek reveals that things would have gone the same way if I’d chosen to hang on to the envelope until morning - I’d just have passed through fewer sections. Thanks to Healing and Curing, that does still make a small difference, but even so, the first proper decision in the book borders on irrelevant.

Our voyage is uneventful for the first couple of days, and then a thick fog descends, becalming the Intrepid and making the crew jittery. The sudden appearance of a shoal of red-finned fish alarms the sailors. Animal Control would now come into play if I had it, but I’ve just passed the point at which Curing starts to restore Endurance that Healing wouldn’t affect, and I doubt that whatever inconvenience may arise from my being unable to influence fish will be worse than being stuck at less than half of my potential Endurance.

A vast serpentine behemoth known as a Xargath attacks the ship, seriously damaging it and seizing several crewmen. I don’t know if we’re yet close enough to Darklord territory for the Sommerswerd to betray my presence if I draw it, but I’d rather not take that risk, so I’ll try and see if an arrow in the eye will discourage the beast.

Regrettably, my character seems rather more clueless than I, and wastes time scanning the monster’s scales in search of a vulnerability. A combination of Divination and Animal Control would help with identifying a weak spot, but I haven’t gained the latter Discipline since the previous check. A blast of Xargath halitosis blows me across the deck, doing a little damage but not causing me to lose my grip on the bow. I now get a choice of targets, and I’ll stick with my original plan. Regrettably, it turns out that Xargath have unusually hard eyeballs, and the arrow has no effect.

The Xargath lunges at me, but I dodge. It tries again, I evade it once more, and it smashes through part of the ship and gets stuck in the debris. So, do I attack it while it’s trapped, or whine ‘Go away!’ in the hope that that will discourage the massive aquatic predator? No, sorry, the second of those options is a strategy employed by a character in Jaws 2 rather than a choice offered in the text, but the actual alternative to combat looks like a similarly futile recourse to wishful thinking.

Leaping onto the creature’s scaly neck, I draw the Dagger of Vashna (the text doesn’t go into detail about my choice of weapon, but I’m not risking the Sommerswerd, and the magic spear that is my only other weapon would be a bit awkward under the circumstances) and stab away. Though the Xargath does its best bucking bronco impersonation, it’s a pretty underwhelming opponent stats-wise, and a single blow suffices to mortally wound it.

In its death throes, the Xargath manages to pull free of the ship’s superstructure, and the corpse sinks into the depths of the sea. The surviving crewmen who are still fit start tending to the wounds of their injured shipmates, and I assist.

Captain Borse is still alive, but his legs are broken, and without Curing I would be unable to help him. Even with it, I can only help stabilise him, but that enables him to remain conscious for long enough to pass command of the Intrepid to Davan, the first mate, and to invite me to help myself to the contents of the chest in his cabin. These turn out to be fancy armour, which add to both Combat Skill and Endurance, and I do have to discard items to make space for them, so I think I’ll ditch the blue stone triangle that opened locks in Kalte and Vassagonia, along with my last remaining Fireseed.

The Captain then passes out, and Davan and I go back out on deck. Only around half the ship’s crew are still fit for duty, and the Intrepid sustained a lot of damage in the attack, but it is still seaworthy. Davan observes that we’ll be doomed if a storm should hit, which is right up there with ‘What could possibly go wrong?’ and ‘I’ll be fine as long as I don’t roll a double six’ for inviting disaster.

Fate refuses the bait, and by the time the fog has dispersed and a breeze starts blowing, much of the damage has been put right. To reduce the risk of getting caught in a squall, we head for the coastline, but this does increase the likelihood of our encountering another Darklord vessel - which happens shortly after we sight land.

Two warships sight us and come after us, and we are unable to outrun them. The crew and I prepare to repel boarders as Drakkar warriors leap from the first ship to catch up, and I take down my first opponent with one stab of my spear.

Observing that Davan is outnumbered, I move to improve his odds, not even needing to use the Combat Results Table to carve up enough of his attackers that he can deal with the remainder. Then I see that enemy troops are attempting to seize control of the helm, and head astern to interfere with their plan (I was going to say ‘thwart’, but then I’d feel obligated to come up with a pun based on the nautical meaning of the word). A Drakkar Sergeant intercepts me, uttering underwhelming threats in Giak. If I spoke his language, I might respond, “Raz zuk!” but as it is, I get my message across with actions rather than words, taking negligible damage in the course of repeatedly impaling him.

His troops are a little demoralised by this, and I fight my way through them towards the helm. Davan warns me of an archer in the rigging, but I am unable to prevent the Drakkar from firing an arrow. Randomness determines the outcome of his shot, modified by my having Huntmastery and the most impressive Lore-circle, so there’s no way I can get the worst possible result. Good thing too, as I get a rubbish number, but the bonuses turn what would have been Instant Death into a scalp wound. I dodge his next shot altogether, and then a couple of glory-hungry allies of his blunder into his line of fire, hoping to carve me up, but getting perforated before they can land a blow on me.

I then show off, grabbing a dagger from the belt of one of the warriors I just killed, and hurling it at the archer with lethal accuracy. Observing the second ironclad approaching, intent on crushing the Intrepid between itself and its sister ship, I attempt to steer clear. Again the random factor comes into play, though I’d have no chance of getting the better outcome if I were playing this without having completed any of the preceding adventures. As I’ve made it through the other half-dozen in this sub-series, I have a 60% shot at getting the good result. That does, of course, leave a 40% chance of faring poorly regardless, but on this occasion I score highly enough that we avoid getting caught, and start to pull away from the enemy ships.

The text mentions that an unexpected attack is about to occur, somewhat diminishing the unexpectedness. Okay, I don’t yet know precisely what is about to happen, but I am now aware that something is imminent.

Oh. It’s a flaming projectile fired by one of the ironclads. A large piece of burning sail falls onto me, but I have Nexus and sufficient experience that I can extinguish it and take no damage from the fumes.

The others aboard the Intrepid can’t treat fires so lightly, and start to abandon ship. A Discipline check follows, and my old nemesis, the use of ‘or’ when it should be ‘and/or’, is back. Yes, I have all of the Disciplines that could help me here, and can thus sense that one of the surviving boarders is about to try and knife me in the back. I dodge, and retaliate with a lethal blow.

One of the ironclads has almost caught up, so I decide to leap overboard myself. As I’m preparing to jump, the ships collide, and I lose my balance and fall into unmodified randomness. I land on the ironclad’s deck, taking a little damage, and a Drakkar attacks me. He only just lasts long enough to regret his action.

Incidentally, the accumulation of non-combat damage means that if I hadn’t gone for Curing, I wouldn’t be able to heal above 3 Endurance without the help of potions or other restoratives. Actually, in view of damage sustained as a consequence of not having Animal Control, the healing ceiling might be 5, which is still woefully low. Oh, and armour provides another 4 points’ worth, but being stuck in single figures would not bode well.

My killing blow sends the body flying, and it knocks overboard the only other Drakkar who’d noticed me. Obscured by smoke, I sneak over to the wheelhouse. Three more Drakkarim come through a doorway, but (in slightly sloppily worded text that is not changed in the Mongoose edition) I casually slaughter them. Divination warns me that reinforcements are close behind them, so I slam the door shut and scurry off in search of a hiding place.

Drawing near to what may be the gun that fired the incendiary device at the Intrepid, I see the Drakkar Captain urging a trio of subordinates to load it and target the foundering caravel. Or possibly casting aspersions upon their parents: the word ‘muzar’ looks very French Taunter to me. No, a combination of Disciplines allows me to grasp that he’s preparing to commit an atrocity so sickening that a section transition is required to build apprehension.

The surviving members of the Intrepid’s crew are hanging on to floating bits of debris, and the Drakkar Captain intends to set them on fire. I have the option of trying to put an arrow through his head, and it’s not clear whether choosing not to do so means endeavouring to remain unnoticed or choosing a more ‘up close and personal’ means of dissuading him. No, I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to take action either way, so I shoot. The book has me put the arrow into his spine - a bigger target, but that’s rather nasty, even considering that he’s intent on immolating castaways.

A couple of the gun crew turn their attention to me. I have enough arrows for them as well. Except that one of them is protected by a steel breastplate, so I have to fight him mano a mano. The duration of the fight matters, but my Combat Skill advantage ensures that I’ll win within the optimal time frame regardless. The randomiser is unfavourable, so I take a fair bit of damage, but not even those lousy numbers can keep me from killing the Drakkar in the nick of time.

Though visibility is poor, the smoke doesn’t muffle sound very well, so other Drakkarim have heard the fighting, and I can hear them heading my way. Rapidly seizing control of the big gun, I rotate it in the direction of the approaching mob. They get close enough to see me, and I am not impressed at the far-from-pithy line the text has me utter before opening fire.

For the most part I’ve refrained from commenting on the Mongoose edits, most of which just simplify text that wasn’t that complex in the first place, but here the Mongoose edition omits the first digit of the section number to which readers are now directed to turn, and that is too serious a blunder to overlook.

The projectile tears through the Drakkarim and the ironclad’s deck, and continues until it reaches the store of armaments not currently in use, detonating the lot.

Somehow Lone Wolf survived. Without even losing any Endurance. I imagine a certain fan-unfavourite character from the novels and the next sub-series of gamebooks would take the credit for that, but it’ll be a while before I have to acknowledge her existence, so let’s say no more on the subject for now.

Anyway, I regain consciousness in a surprisingly buoyant fragment of the ironclad, and see that I have drifted some way from the site of the explosion. Indeed, I’m only around a hundred yards from the shore. Observing movement, I use my Huntmastery-derived enhanced vision, and am able to make out that a patrol of Giaks is helping survivors out of the water, and further assisting any of Borse’s crew out of this life. Not wishing to join the ranks of the skewered, I make for a less busy part of the coastline.

What with the end of the month and all that, I’ll leave it there for now. I have something else lined up for the end of October, so if I can finish Masters in just two or three weeks, the conclusion will follow. Otherwise there will be a brief interruption before I get back to Lone Wolf’s adventures.