While Ian Livingstone has written several new FF books to mark noteworthy anniversaries of the original publication of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, Steve Jackson didn’t contribute any similarly celebratory titles to the range until 2022’s Secrets of Salamonis. This book came out at the same time as Ian Livingstone’s Shadow of the Giants, but series numbering places Secrets before Shadow.
I purchased both books online, from separate sellers as it worked out cheaper that way, and actually received Shadow first. Still, in the forum challenge for which I made my first attempts at both books, the randomiser selected Secrets first, so I did play them in the ‘correct’ order.
Character creation is handled differently from usual – no rolling, just a set of baseline stats that start out lower than what is normally the minimum, and will be increased at a later stage (as long as I make it that far). This is because my character is not yet a seasoned adventurer, and spends the early stages of Secrets attempting to learn suitable skills and acquire a quality known as Amonour, which can be converted into additional points of Skill, Stamina and Luck when I have completed my training.
Amonour was introduced in the short-lived series of FF novels that came out in the late eighties and early nineties. Protagonist Chadda Darkmane, one of the least likeable fictional heroes I’ve ever encountered in a book, was obsessed with it. It’s to do with reputation, and the rules suggest that it measures how heroically and honourably the player has behaved, though actually playing Secrets showed that to be misleading. Indeed, avoiding obviously ignoble and disreputable courses of action during my first attempt at the book led to my gaining so little Amonour that even after boosting my stats, my character was still far too puny to survive for long.
That’s enough reminiscing for now: time to get started on this attempt at the adventure. When it commences, I find myself in a cave, overhearing discussion about what is to be done with me. Cautiously investigating, I discover that I am in the lair of a two-headed Ogre. Well, Ogre/Ogress, as one of its heads is female. The two heads disagree about whether or not to eat me, start insulting each other, and get into a full-blown domestic argument.
My captor(s) is/are between me and the cave mouth, but there is a wooden door set into one wall. I know from my second attempt at the book that beyond the door is the squabbling couple’s child (which raises some questions best left unasked), so I think on this occasion I’ll leave it alone and wait to see what happens if I just left the argument run its course.
A slap-fight breaks out. The male head attempts to go for a weapon, but it appears that both heads exert an equal amount of control over the legs, and their conflicting mental instructions cause a lot of stumbling around until, worn out, the whole creature falls asleep.
I could leave now, but I’m going to risk searching the cave just in case there’s anything to be gained here. And it turns out that the debris cluttering the cave does include a treasure chest, but inside the chest is only a human skull. Discouraged, I make for the exit, and tread on the inevitable dry twig. Thanks to my sub-par Luck, the Ogre wakes up (which is a bit sloppy, as I know from my first attempt at the book that attempting to sneak out of the cave while the heads are arguing leads to the same Luck roll, and it is thus possible to wake the Ogre even when it’s not sleeping).
In the ensuing fight I’m at a Skill disadvantage even before the Attack Strength penalty for having somehow misplaced my sword comes into play. I do manage to strike one blow against my foe before sustaining enough damage that the book has me flee. At the cave entrance I pass a small, pointy-eared man with orange hair and green clothes, who grins disconcertingly and waves to me.
Outside the cave is a forest. I hear a distant screeching, and the little man warns of approaching danger (using a quote from Macbeth). The sound draws closer, and I ask the man for clarification, but he has disappeared. As the volume of the screeching continues to intensify, I am overcome by fear, and start running again, hitting my head on a low branch like a pre-Mongoose Kai novice.
Regaining consciousness, I find myself on a boat, and realise that the whole business with the two-headed Ogre was a dream (though the Stamina and Luck I lost in the encounter are still gone), and the collision with a branch was inspired by my having been hit on the head by an oar. Memories return: I am on the final stages of a journey to the city of Salamonis, seeking to train as an adventurer and find fame and fortune. So far things haven’t gone particularly well for me: my backpack, containing everything I own bar the clothes I’m wearing, went missing when I boarded the boat, and I’ve not been able to afford food for days.
The boat reaches its destination mid-afternoon, mooring at a busy port. I disembark along with my fellow passengers: a barbarian named Nanoc and a herbalist who calls himself Healing Hans. A man in robes approaches and offers to sell me a map of the city, and I explain that I have no money. He takes pity on me, introduces himself as Ruznik Ulsen, and offers information free of charge. The book provides a choice of five questions to ask, and I know from my previous attempts that I’ll get to pose two of them.
I start by asking where I might find work, and Ulsen recommends checking out the Adventurers’ Guild, also advising me to try and avoid the tax collector, Odious Pinchpenny, who has a habit of overcharging people in order to supplement his wages. My second question is about local centres of learning, and I’m a little surprised to realise that I never raised this question on either of my previous attempts at the book. Ulsen tells me of Salamonis’ renowned library, and goes on to mention the school of magic in the Forest of Yore, and the Training Ground reputed to be in the Forest of Spiders (slightly stretching the definition of ‘local’, as they’re both a fair distance from the city). He also suggests that signing on to protect a merchant caravan should provide opportunities to learn fighting skills from the Strongarms, and casually reveals that he could teach me some basic magic.
An unexpected consequence of finishing with that question is that I am directed to a different section from the one to which I turned after asking my second question on my earlier attempts at Secrets. Both times I played before, Ulsen gifted me a map and mentioned a place where I could get some (rather disgusting) work and earn a little money (and some Amonour), but on this occasion he just moves on in search of a paying customer.
I could now proceed into the city, but for the moment I’ll stick around at the dock and see if there’s any way of raising a little cash here. While wandering around, I catch sight of an urchin carrying a backpack that looks a lot like my own, and pursue him, but run into a couple of guards. They warn me to watch where I’m going, and I try telling them about my pack. As usual in gamebooks, reporting stuff to the authorities doesn’t really help, but on this occasion there is an indirect benefit to be gained. After one guard expresses his apathy for my loss, the other one pushes me over, and I find a trinket on the ground. I also see assorted feral cats and dogs fighting over scraps. A wounded dog swears as it runs away and, my character evidently being a bit clueless about some aspects of this world, I assume that I only imagined that I heard the mangy cur speaking.
Nanoc the Barbarian speaks disparagingly of the guards, and we get into conversation for a bit. He’s been working as a Strongarm for the past five years, and now intends to settle down with his wife. He asks if I’m heading for the Adventurers’ Guild, and I confirm my intent to join them. The two of us head into the city together until we encounter Nanoc’s wife Tabatha and a young lad whom she introduces as his son. As the three of them head off, I hear the boy telling Nanoc that he’s four years old. I guess it’s possible that he was conceived just before Nanoc commenced his tour of duty - or maybe… Regardless, I gain a point of Amonour for having associated with an adventurous type.
Heading along the main street, I observe the decorative statues and fancy shops, and think about the amazing innovation of having the sewers underground. Either that’s another indication of how much of a hick my character is, or everybody involved in the creation of this book forgot that even the urban abscess that is Port Blacksand has a subterranean sewage network.
Catching sight of a man with a backpack like mine, I opt not to go after him, as I know from my first try at the book that nothing good would come of it. Instead, I continue on my way to the Bazaar, which is now closing for the day. One of the buildings on the outskirts is the headquarters of the Adventurers’ Guild, and outside it I see a board advertising available quests, along with a warning that only registered Guild members may undertake any of these quests, and registration costs 2 gold pieces - 2 more than I currently have.
Though a sign on the door indicates the place to be closed, I knock, attracting the attention of a stallholder who advises me to seek employment at the Slime and Swine Guttery - the same place that Ulsen would have mentioned if he’d given me a map. He also tells me where the Guttery is, so I decide to go there.
Along the way I check with passers-by that I am heading in the right direction, and am puzzled that they are so amused to learn where I’m going. Then the wind changes direction, alerting me to the fact that the place absolutely stinks. Nevertheless, I keep going, and the proprietor, a porcine-looking man named Snouter, asks if I want a job. I agree, and discover that work at the Guttery involves processing the decaying innards of dead animals to produce a foul slime that is considered a delicacy some way over to the west.
Randomness determines how well I get on with the work, and on this occasion the nausea induced by the stench of the fish guts I’m sorting is mild enough that I’m able to persevere until the end of my shift. Snouter pays me and asks if I’m looking for long-term employment here. When I decline, he comments that he needs more staff to help with a big order, and offers a small finders’ fee for anyone I manage to recruit for him. I also gain a couple of points of Amonour for doing work that even a third-assistant-rabbit-skinner would consider beneath him.
Returning to the city centre, I have the option of returning to the docks or to the Guild HQ. Going to the docks would put me into a loop, so I head back to the Guild, thereby discovering another lapse of internal continuity, as the text has me leave the docks even though I wasn’t at them.
I then get asked if I have a trinket, though not because of anything to do with the item itself. It’s just a tried-and-trusted gamebook mechanism for determining whether or not the player has had a specific encounter without making it obvious to readers who haven’t. In this instance, possession of the trinket confirms that I heard a dog speak - and now that same dog wants to talk to me.
He tells me that, despite appearances, he is in fact not a dog. He’s a human, transformed into a dog by a short-sighted Cursewitch whom his brother had insulted, and trying (with some difficulty) to raise funds to have the curse lifted. I tell him that I have no money myself, and he suggests that we work together to scam somebody. He will menace an approaching mother and children, I ‘rescue’ them from him, and we split the reward. I agree, because I need as much Amonour as I can get, and somehow trying to con a few innocent females can net me a couple of points.
The dog tells me his name is Dog before circling round to not-quite-attack the woman and her daughters. I rush in, accidentally wound Dog while pretending to fight him off, and his ‘victims’ repeatedly thank me but give nothing more tangible. Asking for money would be a bit obvious, so I mention my lost backpack as a less blatant way of indicating my reduced circumstances. The woman gives her sympathies and her name, and goes on her way. Dog comes back to tell me that our partnership is not working out, and then departs once more, and this shambolic and slightly sleazy affair costs me a point of Luck but nets me two Amonour.
Again I see and ignore the man with the backpack, and then find myself back at the Bazaar at closing time. That’s a bit of a structural error, as the text again has me knock in vain on the Guild door before receiving the same advice as before from the merchant with whom I spoke previously. Still, at this point I’m only permitted to pick a decision I haven’t previously made, so further looping is not an option, and I have no choice but to ask the stallholder if he’s looking for workers. He explains that I’d need authorisation from the Tradesmen’s Guild to get hired here, so I leave, none too happy at the way things are going.
As I walk away, I am addressed by a man in faded finery, who asks if I’m interested in doing a little grifting. Introducing himself as Rodriguez, he suggests that we enter a nearby inn and entertain some of the clientele at the expense of someone tipsy enough to have an impaired sense of judgement, and I choose to accompany him.
Proceeding to a hostelry known as the Half-Darned Sock, we find the place packed with sailors. A brawl almost breaks out between a couple of patrons, but the intervention of a Strongarm bouncer quietens things down. Rodriguez bids me find a seat while he gets in the drinks, and I find and pocket a coin, slightly scratched, so the depicted King appears to have a scar.
Rodriguez brings a couple of mugs of mead, and explains that he intends to get some free drinks and possibly a room for the night with the help of a card trick. This turns out to be a proper card trick, not a scam involving sleight of hand, and after Rodriguez puts on a bit of a show to impress the landlord and the crowd around him, thereby securing the board and lodging he sought, he passes the deck on to me to see if I’ve figured out the trick and can emulate him.
Finding a group of Dwarf miners in a corner of the bar, I get them to agree to a wager, and by correctly identifying the cards picked by my ‘mark’ I win the equivalent of a gold piece and gain another 2 points of Amonour. The cash could cover the expense of a room for the night, but in view of what I've learned from previous attempts at the book, I can think of a better use for the money. Sleeping rough costs me a point of Stamina, but I survive the night.
This seems like a good point at which to pause the narrative, so I can more or less maintain my current rate of posting here.
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