Previously in Night of the Necromancer.
Following the incineration of my ghost, I find myself back at the Black Gate. A thunderous voice tells me that there are no second chances, and I find myself being drawn towards the Gate. Just as I'm about to pass into the Void beyond, a million lost souls cry out, begging for me to be released so that, as Champion of the Dead, I might avenge them. Am I right in thinking that some of those televised talent shows have a thing where a contestant can get poor marks from the panel of judges but be saved from elimination by a phone-in vote? If so, it's a bit like that. Only with more fighting undead monstrosities and less singing and dancing.
My randomly-generated stats are back at maximum, my Will has been increased again, and I'm back in the Inner Ward. Annoyingly, I'm not allowed to go back to the chapel where I re-died, so I must miss out on what I might have encountered there. If I want to check out the catacombs (which I do), my only option is to see if there's any truth to the rumour that there's a secret entrance to them in the well.
That's not the only thing said about the well. It is also claimed that, after my ancestor Agravain fatally wounded the monstrous Sourstone Worm, it slithered into the well to die, and the family had to call in a priestess to cast a cleansing spell on the waters. The illustration on the facing page makes it pretty obvious that that's not just a myth. And that it's a pity nobody thought to try removing the corpse back then.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Before I start to descend into the well, the text indicates that if I have my faithful hound with me, he'll have to stay up top. Which leads me to reflect that the text really ought to have said something about needing to part company with the dog if I were, for instance, to levitate away from an impending battle and descend on the far side of a gatehouse. Or possibly to have my spectral form immolated, then reconstituted in a slightly different location*.
Despite being able to levitate, I use the hand-and-footholds carved into the side of the well shaft, and descend to a natural cavern, which is littered with bones. Lots of bones, of an assortment of species. Human, canine, bovine, equine... serpentine. And it is the skull of the Giant Snake (or possibly Basilisk) formerly known as the Sourstone Worm that constitutes the head of the skeletal agglomeration that now attacks me.
While the Skeletal Serpent's Skill is slightly higher than mine, I hit it almost as often as it hits me. My opponent manages to make one use of its special attack, which turns out to be a bite that does double damage and taints my spirit with a Will-weakening corruption, but I use Luck every time I win a round, enhancing the damage I inflict sufficiently that I manage to win the fight. Perhaps a bit wasteful, but by now I don't think I have any chance of beating the book on this try, so burning Luck to delay my defeat gives me that bit more time in which to learn things that could help on future attempts. And if one of the things I learn turns out to be 'Don't waste Luck, as you'll need a ton of it for a later encounter', well, that's still more useful to know than 'Getting killed by a superior opponent makes you dead'.
So, the Worm has turned into a mass of no longer animated bones, and I enter the passageway leading out of the cavern. It does take me into the catacombs, and before long I reach a crossroads, from which I can see two doors, one straight ahead, the other to the left. Opting for a systematic approach, I start with the door down the left turning, and a rhyming inscription on it suggests that this is where I'll find the ghostly wizard mentioned by the gravedigger. Provided I can solve the riddle with which the verse concludes, that is, but it's not the books' most challenging puzzle.
As I expected, this is the tomb of deceased court wizard Aramanthus, whose spectre is glad to see mine, as the clumsy homunculus that was interred with him isn't a great conversationalist. As in my conversation with Yorrick, I only get to ask one question, so I decide to find out if he knows anything helpful about the evil infesting the castle. Beyond the fact that there's something afoot in the Keep, he has nothing useful to say.
The interruption to this conversation takes the form of a banshee wail. Before I leave, Aramanthus says to take Fizzgig the homunculus with me, as he may be of assistance. It turns out that Fizzgig has a repertoire of four magic spells (though only enough power to cast three of them before departing via a slightly incongruous Douglas Adams in-joke). One can be used to banish something undead, the others all restore attributes. Having lost almost half of my Stamina to the Skeletal Serpent, I anticipate needing one of the restorative ones before long. But I can take a bit more damage before I'm at existence-threatening levels, and I vaguely recall something liable to cause further Stamina loss not far from here, so I'll wait until the need for healing gets a little more serious before taking advantage of my new companion's capabilities.
Back to the crossroads, and on to the next door. This one turns out to have been ghost-proofed, and inflicts the 'further Stamina loss' I mentioned a paragraph ago. I'm not going to be able to get through it until I find a way to counteract the spells bound into it. Had to take that hit, though, as I won't be able to get back to the door after obtaining suitable protection unless I get the codeword acquired at the same time as I incur that damage.
Returning to the crossroads again, I take the turning I have yet to investigate. Sometimes in a place like this, one of the options is just bad news, other times it's advisable to check out everywhere, and I don't know which situation I'm in here, so the (probable) doomedness of my character makes this an ideal opportunity to try and find out.
My gamebook manager reveals that the only other time I got this far in this book I did explore the third turning, so I must have forgotten what happened back then. And I'm not going to find out now, because randomness determines what occurs, and today I roll a different number. Oh, that's not good. I encounter a cloaked figure with nothing but darkness beneath its hood. This Nightshade is intimidating enough to cost me a point of Will, and its stats and Stamina-draining abilities make this a fight that I have little chance of winning. Still, I see no reason why I shouldn't be able to use Fizzgig's 'Banish Spirit' spell here - the text definitely states that the Nightshade is undead, and doesn't say that it's immune to magic, so if Mr Green didn't intend the spell to be usable here, he should have made that clearer. The ambiguity regarding the usability of the spell also leaves me wondering if banishing the Nightshade denies me the Stamina bonus that can be gained by defeating it. Well, between the Will penalty, the tough fight and the need for clarification, I'm probably better off not coming this way on future attempts. Unless the other randomised outcome from taking this turning is very desirable, but I'm pretty sure that by the time he wrote this book, Jonathan Green had given up on that sort of unfairness.
And after all that unpleasantness, I just wind up back at the crossroads where I started, so I have no alternative but to return to the Inner Ward. From there I decide to head to the kitchens, where my character is inexplicably surprised to find preparations for a banquet in full swing. Was I not paying attention when the hermit told me about the feast, or when Captain Cador said that Chamberlain Unthank had decided not to cancel it even after news of my death reached the castle?
The description of Inglenook the Cook makes him sound more like the Gormenghast trilogy's Swelter than Gordon Ramsay. I didn't get on well with him while alive, and I doubt that my death will have made him any more sympathetic to me, so I turn invisible before entering. This enables me to see which underling is currently on the receiving end of the Cook's wrath, but not much else. If I'm to achieve anything here, I will need to reveal my presence. And that proves to be a bad idea after all: panic ensues, Inglenook summons guards, and I depart rather than get drawn into a fight with people who don't deserve to get killed.
On previous attempts at this book, going to the feast hall has always ended badly for me, and I won't survive another loss of existence this time round, so I think I'll try and find out a bit more about what's afoot in the gatehouse between here and the Keep.
There are no guards present, and the portcullis is up. Looks safe to me. I could try flying again, but I'll stay at ground level this time. I do not have the codeword for which I am asked, which means I suddenly find my way blocked by a fire-breathing mechanical behemoth that I somehow failed to spot. Another codeword check ensues, and again I have nothing relevant, leaving me with a choice between attacking this Golem, trying to dodge past it, turning invisible or taking to the air. I have a vague recollection of having been unable to inflict damage on this opponent the last time I reached this stage, and it wouldn't surprise me if this encounter makes use of Dead of Night's 'guardian against which neither of the special abilities listed will actually help' trick, so I try dodging. This requires a Skill roll, at which I succeed (just), so I make it to the door. Which turns out to be like the one I couldn't pass in the catacombs. Unable to get through it, I am forced to abandon my attempts at investigating and avenging my murder, and wind up having to haunt my old home for the rest of time. Mind you, given the hints that there's some major-league unpleasantness due to occur before the night is over, that might not actually take very long.
So, failed again. But I've learned a few things that should be helpful the next time I try this book, so it's been a more successful failure than a few I could mention.
*Other methods of being parted from your pet are also available.
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