My rota of shorter gamebook series has cycled back to Dave Morris’ Knightmare tie-ins. If the previous book in the series is anything to go by, the title The Sorcerer’s Isle will apply only to the novelette that takes up a little over half of the book, and the actual adventure is unlikely to take me outside of the castle dungeons.
For this venture into non-interactive fiction Dave Morris has, like Alan Garner in The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, drawn inspiration from the legend of the Wizard of Alderley Edge, though he takes things in a very different direction (geographically as well as plot-wise: the story is set in the Middle East rather than Cheshire). Treguard, residing in the city of Acre between the Fourth and Fifth Crusades, is sought out to assist with the quest for the Holy Grail after one of the sleeping knights is awakened. There are other interested parties, of course, and Treguard experiences various losses, hardships, perils and twists along the way.
The adventure includes a spoiler for the story, as I wouldn’t be being sent into the dungeons beneath Knightmare Castle in search of the Holy Grail if Treguard hadn’t already brought it here. Still, anyone who was planning on reading the novelette would probably have done so prior to making a start on the adventure, because the stories sometimes provide information that helps with solving puzzles within the gamebook.
There’s a small amount of character creation to be done, as I start with an Armour score of 1 and a Dexterity of 6, but can increase the former by decreasing the latter – the more protective gear I wear, the more restricted my mobility becomes. There is a third stat, Chivalry, but that always starts at a set total, and will change according to how I conduct myself over the course of the adventure. Obviously I need to aim for a high score, as an insufficiently chivalrous knight will have no chance of getting anywhere near the Grail.
I’ll start off as:
Armour 2
Dexterity 5
Chivalry 3
Unless I fare particularly poorly, playing the adventure should at least give some indication of what degree of balance between Armour and Dexterity works best.
It turns out that this might not be quite the dungeon-crawl I expected. While I will be starting under the castle, I may be transported by ley lines to all manner of different locations. As I prepare to set off, Treguard’s fae assistant Pickle discreetly hands me a bar of chocolate, which presumably constitutes an item of food that can be used to restore lost health when the text indicates that I can eat.
From the entrance I proceed to a pentagonal chamber, from which four doors lead on. Each door is marked with a different symbol, and in view of the object of my quest, I think it wisest to choose the door bearing the sign of the cup. After I step through, Treguard’s voice rings out, telling me it’s not that obvious, but I have chosen a path as good – and as hazardous – as any other.
A short distance along the passage, I espy a door in the left wall, and risk checking to see what’s behind it. It opens into a chamber containing a curtained podium and a white-haired hunchback, who asks for a favour. Refusal may be considered unchivalrous, so I allow him to lead me to the podium. It then transpires that he wants someone to act as judge in his mistresses’ annual Ugliness Contest. There are three candidates: the conventionally attractive but sinister-seeming Lilith, the significantly less good-looking Mildread, and the positively grotesque Alison Gross. So, do I pick the obvious candidate, choose one of the others, or refuse to pass judgement?
It may be a cop-out, but I’m not going to select anyone. This earns me a point of Chivalry, and gets me called a variety of rude names by everyone in the room. I absent myself before any of them thinks to progress to more puissant curses.
The next section provides an opportunity to eat, which suggests that I could have taken some damage if I’d named a name and caused more serious offence to the wrong woman. As I got away unscathed, I can just move on to the next choice.
Suddenly transported to a garden with high hedges, I wander around until it dawns on me that I’m in a maze and have got myself lost. At a fountain I pause to rest, and a woman beneath the water offers a challenge. If I can solve her three conundrums, she will teach me some magic. Two correct answers will buy me freedom from the maze, while one will provide only a clue. Should I get all of them wrong, I will be trapped here forever. Risky, especially as Dave Morris can be a bit sneaky with puzzles, but the sorcerous ability could prove essential later on, so I’ll chance it.
They’re all true or false questions, with tricky aspects, and having read the novelette provides no assistance with any of them. I get two of them right (one for a reason other than the one specified, as I was looking for deviousness in the wrong place, but in this instance being correct is all that matters), so a gate appears in one of the hedges. Hastening on my way, I find thick, thorny vegetation on the other side of the gate, and an Armour check determines whether or not I get through uninjured. Owing to my low score, I do take a little damage, so it might be worth eating that chocolate when the book next indicates that I may do so – which turns out to be almost immediately. While I’m still two wounds from death, there is precedent for taking double damage in a single incident, so I heal up while I know I can.
Beyond the thorns is a stream, and at its edge I find a fishing rod and bait. Stealing the rod would obviously be a bad idea, but catching a fish and leaving it for the absent angler might constitute a chivalrous act. A Dexterity roll determines how I fare at this endeavour, and even though the odds are much more favourable than they were for the previous roll, I still fail, and thus catch nothing, not even the discarded footwear that traditionally signifies an unsuccessful session of fishing.
Resuming my travels, I head down a road until dusk begins to fall. Someone approaches from the other direction, and the clanging of a bell indicates them to be a leper. Shunning him because of his illness strikes me as being a pretty unchivalrous course of action, so I don’t go out of my way to avoid him. He asks for alms, but I have no money, and recently ate the only food I had, so I can give only my apologies.
Up ahead is the Forest of Freneville (I’m not sure how I can identify it quite so specifically, but apparently I am able to discern its name). Cautiously I enter, and before long I hear indications that someone or something is following close behind me. For a moment the moonlight illuminates a face, the mouth fanged, and then a cloud plunges my surroundings into complete darkness. While there are, it seems, a few different ways in which I might escape this peril, I’ve acquired no items or spells, nor (so far as I can tell) did I encounter the individual who could be of assistance, so my only hope is to try running away from the Vampire. Can I at least succeed at this Dexterity check?
Yes, I can. He manages to wound me, but I escape with my life. The lateness of the hour prompts thoughts of getting some rest, and a failed item check leaves me with no alternative to climbing a tree and wedging myself into the fork between two branches. Following another check for an object I lack, I doze off and dream of a confrontation with the revenants of all the knights who attempted and failed this quest before me. They prick me with their lances, and I wake to hints that I have been preyed upon by a flock of vampire bats.
Nope, it turns out that the winged predators which sucked my blood while I slept are mythical birds known as striges. Regardless of my Armour rating, they were able to find unprotected patches of flesh into which they could stick their probosces, and a roll of the die will determine whether I’m merely near death or already carrion. I narrowly survive, and spend the rest of the night awake and filled with dread, my hair turning white from the experience.
In the morning I descend and find my way through to the other side of the forest, where a new trial awaits me. A fast-flowing river cuts across my path, the only visible bridge being guarded by one of those knights who won’t let anyone across unless they lop off all of his limbs best him in friendly combat. That’s ‘friendly’ as in ‘not liable to end in death unless one of the combatants is already in as pitiful a condition as I am’.
So, do I chivalrously engage in a play-fight that probably has a 2 in 3 chance of killing me, or trudge along the river bank in search of another way of crossing, doubtless with its own risks? I seek an alternative, and find only a boatman who charges a price I cannot afford. Well, then, I must fight the knight.
Unexpectedly, my low Armour score may prove advantageous. The knight finds me too unimpressive a potential opponent to be worth fighting, and scornfully returns to the pavilion in which he sits out the periods when nobody sufficiently imposing wants to make use of the bridge. I cross before he can change his mind.
Up ahead is a snow-clad moor, its only noteworthy feature a circle of standing stones that must date back centuries at least. At its centre is an altar stone, upon which I see the Grail. Before I can draw near, white-robed Ladies of Avalon block my way, checking to see if I am sufficiently chivalrous. It all hinges on one last roll of the die, and I get the best score I’ve had all adventure. With no further obstacles in my way, I reach for the Grail…
…and find myself back in Knightmare Castle with Treguard. He reassures me that I did succeed in my quest, having lived up to the ideals represented by the Grail, thereby proving myself worthy. As victories go, that's a little anticlimactic, but not unpredictable, all things considered.
So, I’ve finally won a Knightmare gamebook, though not in a particularly heroic or impressive manner. At the start Treguard indicated that there were many routes to the Grail, so it might be worth playing again at some point, to see if I can have more of an adventurous experience along the way. Still, an end to this latest losing streak is a good thing, however underwhelming the manner in which I achieved it.
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