The Value of Not Being Seen

As I write this, those who expressed an opinion on how I should interpret the outcome of the fight against the Chaos-master in Lone Wolf book 11 have unanimously been in favour of Lone Wolf's narrowly surviving the battle and continuing his quest. I shall, consequently, resume my playthrough of The Prisoners of Time, and if there are any further differences in opponent stats between the original and revised texts, I shall go with the Mongoose variant.

I'm glad that the book's claim that the Chaos-master's dying shriek is 'loud enough to wake the dead' is not literally true, as I'm in no fit state to deal with a bunch of undead Ironheart ancestors shambling out of the Sepulchre to complain about my recent visit. The Chaos-master's corpse vanishes, which is probably good news for the locals, as hygienically disposing of a 30ft-tall cadaver would not have been a straightforward task.

Ironheart's troops are delighted that the Chaos-master is dead, and start organising victory celebrations. I don't stick around, mainly because I need to get a move on and recover the final Lorestone, but also just in case the Meledorians have a tradition of honouring military champions by summarily executing them. Ironheart understands my need for haste, and offers to appoint another scout to accompany me on my way. Probably the trooper who most gets on his nerves; with fewer opportunities for friendly fire incidents following the defeat of the enemy leader, the high fatality rate among my companions is liable to be the best way of discreetly eliminating an annoyance.

My uncertainty about what to do here is all a bit metagamey. If travelling unaccompanied results in my passing through more sections before the next encounter, it's the better option because I'll recover more Endurance through Healing. If it just means I get to run into trouble sooner, accepting the guide would be preferable. Well, if I choose poorly, I'm sure someone who knows Lone Wolf better will post a comment berating me for avoiding the optimal route through the book. It's also possible (though unlikely, given the lack of opportunity to ask the late Odel about that lichen) that accepting the guide will take me through more sections. Right now my character is in such poor health that I'd almost welcome one of those lengthy strings of decision-free exposition that contributed to the burdensome nature of the first half of this adventure.

I'll accept the guide. His name is Arke, and he helps me to evade the remnants of the Chaos-master's army between Tolakos and the Plain of Guakor, through which I must pass on my way to the city from which the Lorestone-thief came. Probably a wise choice, then. Along the way we find plenty that's edible in the forest, and I collect a few Meals' worth of excess food. Wonder if that means the Plain (or the Wasteland that follows it) will be Huntmastery-proofed.

Once we get to the Plain, we part company, and the still-living Arke heads back east to disappoint Ironheart. I set out across the plain, and randomness dictates what happens next. For a while I trudge across the desolate region, reflecting that this is how Sommerlund will end up if I don't get home and defeat the Darklords, and then I spot something in the sky. For some reason I don't get to use my telescopic vision, and must wait for the flying creature to get much closer before I can see that it's a dragon-like beast known as a Zhengha. My Endurance is still pretty low, so I shall try to hide.

The cover available is negligible, but Invisibility and my experience help, so I have no more chance of being detected than of being crushed by a falling mast, getting a Vassagonian sniper's arrow through the skull, plummeting to my doom on a dying Itikar or failing to hit Zakhan Kimah with the Dagger of Vashna. Oh dear. Still, as long as I get 1 or above, I should be okay.

And where was that 0 during the Chaos-master fight, when it would have done me some good? Back then I got lots of 3s, and a 3 would have been great here, but no, I had to get the mediocre results in combat, and then conceal myself about as effectively as a blue whale in a photo booth. The Zhengha spots me and lands nearby, and further randomness determines what happens as the brute prepares to breathe fire. Huntmastery or Nexus will improve my odds, and the Mongoose text suggests that some fans may have been creatively misinterpreting the text, as there's an edit to specify that you don't get to claim the bonus twice over if you have both Disciplines. Still, applying it just the once does narrowly suffice to get me the less unfavourable outcome. Which is zero damage, rather than the reduced-but-not-necessarily-lethal damage I was expecting.

I still have to fight, though. My Combat Skill is slightly higher, but the Endurance difference means I'll have to be luckier than I have been of late to survive long enough to kill the Zhengha. In the first round of the fight I get the worst possible result. In the second round I do as badly as I could without actually getting killed outright. Things do not improve in the third round, after which I'm too dead to go on.