(December 14th, 2019, 08:54)Herman Gigglethorpe Wrote: I don't think the term "mercat" ever occurred in the book. The characters were too busy making the usual cat puns to think of something that inspired. Maybe you should propose a new Merfolk/Felid hybrid species for Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup's next Trunk update.
Heh - thanks. But I take it that my not-close-enough-to-be-a-good parody of the weaker YSWW offerings was not exactly inspired. I kind of intended that, because (though I should have posted this sooner) I wanted to compare it with the likes of this:
Page 1: The orcish host of Let's Make a Deal shows you two doors and tells you your adventure lies through whichever one you choose! To go through the one on the left, with steam escaping from around the edges and water trickling out from beneath it, turn to Page 2. To go through the one on the right, made of reinforced steel, with roars and loud banging coming from the inside, turn to Page 3. If this isn't really a Let's Make a Deal choice since there's way more information to go on here even in like three sentences than most CYOAs ever give you about a set of possible doors, remember that we're still taking it for granted that it is completely impossible to get any more information about where either door leads without entering and entangling yourself with whatever may lie beyond!
Page 2: You find yourself beside a natural hotspring! You breathe in the relaxing steam, watch the shimmering bubbles rising through the water from near the geothermal vent, and finally continue up the tunnel that leads up through the mountain. It goes on for quite a while, then passes an underground stream from which no steam is rising. You see light ahead through the rising steadily-rising tunnel, but the stream continues further down beneath the earth. To continue up the tunnel, turn to Page 4. To wade down the stream and see where it goes, turn to Page 5.
Page 3: There's a furious ogre in here, roaring and slamming its club into the door and walls! When it sees you, it swings its club right at your head, but you duck out of the way, and it roars in frustration just long enough for you to escape into a tunnel too narrow for it to follow! To flee up the tunnel turn to Page 4. To try to fight the ogre with your trusty toenail clippers, turn to Page 6.
Page 4: The tunnel emerges in a hidden spot near a small castle. You wonder how many other hidden tunnels might emerge from the mountain right around here, but you definitely aren't going to look for them! When you arrive at the castle, the guard at the gate won't let you in because he's afraid you're the Terrible Wizard in disguise. To head into the forest nearby and try to live off the land, turn to Page 7. To go see if the wizard will offer you better hospitality than the castle did, turn to Page 8.
Page 5: You slip again and again on the slick rock, have to duck under low ceilings quite often, and nearly fall down a steep waterfall, but you catch yourself at the last minute and climb down a rocky shelf beside an amazing underground sea lit by phosphorescent mushrooms growing around its border and eerily-lit sea creatures swimming in its depths. Beside you, a winding tunnel leads away toward the surface. To follow the tunnel, turn to Page 4. To dive into the water, turn to Page 9.
Page 6: The ogre roars and swings its club at you over and over again, with growing frustration and fury, while you duck and dodge and roll and flee, coming a hairsbreadth away from death repeatedly, clicking your tonenail clippers in the most irritating fashion you can. Finally the ogre is so blind with rage, it swings its club hard enough to cause a cave-in, and again you just barely leap clear as the ogre is buried in rubble! As the dust clears, you can see the now-collapsed wall was the only thing between you and the outside world! You're now at the mouth of a cave overlooking a tower that's glowing with obvious magic, and not far off, you see a stream that seems to flow back underground. To visit the tower, turn to Page 8. To follow the stream into the mountain, turn to page 5.
Page 7: You find some herbs and berries in the woods and even catch some small game, then make camp beside a deep, swift-flowing river. All night long, even through the woods, you can see the eerie glow of the wizard's tower in the distance. Come morning, you follow the river to the beach, but when night falls, it's still back there, glowing, tempting you with the power that magic can offer. To give in and visit the wizard, turn to Page 8. To run down the beach to see if a swim in the ocean will clear your head, go to Page 9.
Page 8: You get to the wizard's tower and knock on the door, and an old man with a thick white beard lets you in and offers to teach you magic! Of course you remember that Herman Gigglethorpe warned you never to trust a wizard though, so before he can "teach" you or turn you into anything with more eyes than legs, you take your first opportunity to kill him off! The lords of the nearby castle celebrate and give you wealth and land, and you are rich and comfortable all the rest of your life. The End.
Page 9: You dive deep into the water, and suddenly find yourself meeting a pair of beautiful eyes. Swimming before you is an attractive merperson of a gender of your choice, wearing phosphorescent seaweed for clothes! It's love at first sight, and you kiss, which is even better, because the kiss magically conveys upon you the ability to breathe underwater, and you're taken through secret tunnels to the merpeople's deep-water city of gigantic seashells, where you and your true love are married and live happily ever after. Best of all, there are no doors in the shell city, so you never again have to play a game of Let's Make a Deal! The End.
Ignoring the details of the stories for now, each of these two stories has the same number of scenes, and the same number of Endings. This one has more CHOICEs, with more complicated possible paths as a result, but they're all alternate routes to the same outcomes anyway. But I think this one is much better than the one I posted above, because the outcomes of your choices actually relate to what you choose, and because you have more choices. And I would argue that even having only two endings, even with both of them "good," isn't intrinsically a problem. The choices you make during the story can matter (even in this story's silly way) not only by selecing one The End or the other, but by affecting the path by which you get there.
(December 31st, 2019, 02:19)RefSteel Wrote: Ignoring the details of the stories for now, each of these two stories has the same number of scenes, and the same number of Endings. This one has more CHOICEs, with more complicated possible paths as a result, but they're all alternate routes to the same outcomes anyway. But I think this one is much better than the one I posted above, because the outcomes of your choices actually relate to what you choose, and because you have more choices. And I would argue that even having only two endings, even with both of them "good," isn't intrinsically a problem. The choices you make during the story can matter (even in this story's silly way) not only by selecing one The End or the other, but by affecting the path by which you get there.
I appreciate the references both to "Let's Make a Deal" random doors and scheming wizards! Not too long ago, I was trying out Final Fantasy Adventure. In the first dungeon, a mysterious wizard that looked sort of like a Red Mage offered to help, and he even helped with the boss fight. For a minute, I thought that I finally found a wizard who wasn't bad news for once. Then he took off his disguise, revealing himself as one of the major villains.
The wizard joke partially comes from playing too much Tales of Maj'Eyal a few years ago. 90% of the world's problems in that game are magic related. Eyal's backstory involves an event called the Spellblaze that ravaged the landscape, turned a previously peaceful alien species into "demons", broke the space-time continuum in a way that made time travel possible, and created the "blight" element used by Defilers.
Even more "sympathetic" wizards like the residents of Angolwen do things like send Level 1 player characters to stop meteors from crashing into the planet even when much stronger NPCs are available, or activate unknown magical artifacts in an attempt to become godlike.
My tastes in CYOAs are more morbid than yours, perhaps. But the Deaths at least have to have some clue beforehand so you don't feel cheated. La Prisión was good about that. A bad example would be The Lost Jewels of Nabooti where going to meet the African king in Paris means being thrown onto the electric 3rd rail by random terrorists without warning. I don't mind Good Endings, though. (But if you put "Danger" in the title, you have to deliver.)
"I wonder what that even looks like, a robot body with six or seven CatClaw daggers sticking out of it and nothing else, and zooming around at crazy agility speed."
Ultimate Ending: Treasures of the Forgotten City Part 1
"You are DONOVAN YOUNG, entrepreneur, explorer, and most recently, would-be treasure hunter. For the past six weeks you've been working hard to fulfill your grand-uncle's unrealized dream; finding ATRAHARSIS-the legendary city beneath the sands".
The Atraharsis reference in Strange Physics of the Heisenberg Heidelberg Laboratory must mean that it occurs after this book. And Rescue from the Valley of Chaos is a direct sequel to Treasures of the Forgotten City. Don't know if any other installments take place in this continuity, or if Secret of the Aurora Hotel and its sequel Tower of Never There are in a different timeline.
Anyway, I always listened to my grand-uncle's stories of Atraharsis, although I never bothered to learn his name. The clues to finding this ancient city in the Arabian Desert are the diary of the explorer Robert Murdoch, and a "thick piece of triangular sandstone, carved in glyphs". The anonymous grand-uncle was wealthy, but I squandered most of the estate on expeditions. My only hope is to find the "three priceless star jewels, once gifted to the city's greatest monarchs".
I hide from a sandstorm in my tent one night, and suddenly a "scrawny" man "covered from head to toe in dust and sand" appears. He isn't part of the crew who deserted me, and instead worked for my rival Sullivan. He introduces himself as Renn, but tells me everyone calls him Waif. "In truth I was cast out. Mr. Sullivan would not listen to me. He digs too far to the north, and he operates under dangerously foolish conditions".
A "large, four-sided obelisk" rose out of the sands since yesterday. It has a hole that's conveniently the same size as my stone tablet. A riddle in the journal provides CHOICE #1:
NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, WEST
ONE BRINGS LIFE, THE OTHERS DEATH
SUN AND MOON AND STARS BEREFT
THE ONE RIGHT WAY IS NOT THE LEFT
There's a picture below the riddle, but I can't post it here. It looks like there are 2 stylized stars, a crescent moon, and a crown. Waif asks what "bereft" means, and our hero gives the definition. The options are to turn the key clockwise and go to Page 47, or counter-clockwise and move to Page 153 instead.
THE ONE RIGHT WAY IS NOT THE LEFT makes counter-clockwise sound like a bad idea. So clockwise it is.
"Without warning you feel the ground shift beneath you. There's a tremendous crack-like the biggest thunderclap you ever heard, but somewhere muffled and very far away. The noise is followed by what sounds like rushing water".
Atraharsis appears when "millions of tons" of sand fall into the abyss. The sound is described as being like loud TV static. "Atraharsis's walls barely stand. Its temples and palaces are a crumbled ruin, blocks of stone and masonry scattered like hundreds of yellowed dice. Even as you watch, more sand drains away. Piles of it still line the cobbled streets, but for the most part the city is revealed".
A map is on the next page. Perhaps Atraharsis is meant to be based on Mesopotamian cities, since one building is labeled "The Ziggurat". And "Atrahasis" happens to be the name of the Akkadian version of the Great Flood story. One jewel seems to be there, one is in the "Temple of Luus", and the final gem is in the "Queen's Tower". Other locations include "Ruins?", "Necropolis", and "Grand Plaza".
Waif claims that the journal is incorrect, because it's really the "Grand Gate", not the "Great Gate". Does Atraharsi make that distinction? The Spanish word "gran" can mean both. The journal's riddle gave instructions to find the city in the first place, so chances are Murdoch knew more about Atraharsis than Waif does.
CHOICE #2 is based on another riddle:
THREE STAR JEWELS, THREE DEADLY TRIALS
BEFORE THE WALLS WILL SING
IT TAKES NINE LIVES
FROM SIX LESS FIVE
TO FIND THE HALL OF KINGS
Waif says "Well, we only have two lives, so that may be a problem". If we were platformer heroes, we could make that requirement without having to find more people. I can enter through the Grand Gate on page 109, or "skirt the city and look for the East Gate". The problem is that the East Gate region goes off the map, while the Great Gate goes directly into Atraharsis. But is it a setup for a trap because it seems so easy?
We enter the city, and hear "strange cracking sounds come from an unknown origin". Waif pulls out a torch, not a flashlight. He asks what my grandfather's journal says, and I have to correct him and say it was my grand-uncle, and the journal belonged to someone else originally. Yet DONOVAN YOUNG still never mentions his relative's name.
A "massive, violent tremor" occurs, and "the walls of Atraharsis shake to their very foundations". Buildings fall down, and a dust cloud almost overtakes me when Waif pulls me into a "hovel". When the earthquake ends, CHOICE #3 prompts me to "check out the open area" on Page 112, or investigate the "crumbling palace" on Page 69. Waif warns me that Sullivan's crew might come, but then again we need more "lives" if he has the right idea about the riddle. And being in an open area might prevent rubble from conking me on the head if there are aftershocks.
Entering the open area may give us a clue. Smooth tiles, fountains, and "statues of birds and fish" indicates that this was once an "oasis" supplied by an aquifer. According to the stories, the Hall of Kings is underneath Atraharsis, so we must find a way to descend. One statue of a woman looks like it is pointing somewhere. Following it in CHOICE #4 goes to Page 40. Looking around the oasis some more is the path to Page 84. To "continue onward" is Page 102.
"This alley is empty, nondescript. Other than sand, it contains nothing. As you continue along, the buildings seem to creep closer in on both sides". But in the area that the statue pointed to, there is a pile of bones that may have come from a camel. DONOVAN YOUNG has an "ominous feeling" and a "shudder of despair", while Waif "makes a sign in the air, presumably to ward off evil". Maybe it's a side effect of Causality Neutrino experiments? CHOICE #5 is to rummage around the bones on Page 31, or to leave the alley on Page 102.
Page 102 being a result of both CHOICE #4 and CHOICE #5 is a hint that it's not the way to the ULTIMATE ENDING. And bravery tends to pay off in this series. If nothing else, there may be a mummy Death to look forward to.
Apparently, the characters were just superstitious. A "symbol of a horse" underneath the bones is a clue. We hear a "clicking sound. . .from somewhere not far in the distance". Off to page 102 anyway.
Atraharsis was built at least "four and a half thousand years ago". Most of the buildings around here have collapsed, and a pack of jackals is about to attack. CHOICE #6 offers the options of running from the jackals on Page 57, "make a stand" on Page 11, or hide on Page 87. The only defense this party appears to have is Waif's torch.
"I wonder what that even looks like, a robot body with six or seven CatClaw daggers sticking out of it and nothing else, and zooming around at crazy agility speed."
Ultimate Ending: Treasures of the Forgotten City Part 2
Let's hide from the jackals in CHOICE #6. They can probably run faster than Waif and DONOVAN YOUNG, and fighting unarmed also sounds like a bad idea.
"You turn just in time to see Waif kicking one of the mutts in the face. Of course they sniffed you out. . .like all dogs, they have an exceptional sense of smell. You should've known!"
The book then goes to Page 57 as if I had chosen to run in CHOICE #6. "Waif?' you call back blindly. A grunt over your shoulder tells you he's still there. But you can hear the dogs too, and you're not entirely sure you can outrun them".
CHOICE #7 is a 1d6 roll, a common feature in Ultimate Ending books. One result on Page 118 is for a 1, 2, 3, or 5 roll. The other outcome, which is probably a Death, occurs if I get a 4 or 6. I happened to find a real die for a chance, and got a 2.
"The sound of barking and braying eventually fades into the distance. The jackals are gone!"
I read another excerpt from the journal: THE GREATEST TREASURES LIE WITHIN. We run inside a low building that turns out to be a library "packed with thousands of scrolls and scroll cases of yellowed bone". DONOVAN YOUNG asks "Where are the treasures?", apparently not realizing the value of rare texts. The authors at first say the texts are papyrus, as appropriate for the time period, but then we get this line: "You frown as the fragile paper turns to dust between your fingers".
CHOICE #8 is to override DONOVAN YOUNG and make him look inside the library some more on Page 30, or go elsewhere to Page 124.
A chest underneath what's left of a table contains a map of Atraharsis's catacombs. However, when I reach for the jade bookends, I'm prompted with a 2d6 roll! One result is for "10 or greater" on Page 76, and the other is for "9 or less" on Page 94. First roll is a 6, second roll is a 1.
Waif slaps my hand away as a POIsonous snake draws near: "An asp slithers out from beneath the ruined chest. It looks long and black and very deadly. The snake's head strikes the air where, only a split second before, your hand had rested". I give Waif the bookends as a reward for saving my life and turn to Page 124, as if we had abandoned the library instead of investigating it further.
We arrive at the Necropolis, which does NOT frighten Waif. Even the narration points out that is odd, considering his "superstitious" behavior earlier in the story. Waif sees a "diamond-shaped amulet of pure silver" on a grave marker, with a charcoal message in English:
A KEY TO USE IN DISTANT THUNDER
BEFORE THE WATERS PULL YOU UNDER
DONOVAN YOUNG notices that the handwriting is just like the journal, so it must be from Murdoch. The characters dismiss the idea of water being a danger because Atraharsis is so dry, but the player and Peanut Gallery know better.
A fork in the road to the east is CHOICE #10. Left is Page 103, and Right is Page 18. I'll follow THE ONE RIGHT WAY IS NOT THE LEFT advice once again. It must have been the correct decision, because the Ziggurat is nearby. It's made of "a darker stone than the rest of the city", and one of the star jewels is placed there on the journal's map.
The climb is difficult, and we have to dodge small rock slides occasionally. I notice an opening, but see "nothing but blackness". CHOICE #11 is whether to call Waif and enter this hole on Page 114, or "take a chance with those last few steps" on Page 73. The latter sounds like certain Death to anyone who's played too many CYOAs.
Waif's torch provides just enough light to see, at least until we see a chamber "with a light of its own. A red light". This "crimson chamber" has some footholds and handholds to climb to the top of the Ziggurat. The "star ruby", one of the 3 star jewels, is illuminating the Ziggurat. To get to it, however, we have to figure out a lever puzzle. Stone blocks prevent us from checking both doors. Waif asks what my "uncle's" journal says, and I insist that he was my "grand-uncle", complete with a "smirk". DONOVAN YOUNG has still refused to mention his deceased relative's name.
This time, the journal says IN DARKNESS ALL WILL BE REVEALED". CHOICE #12 is whether to pull the east lever on Page 120, or the west lever on page 148.
"I wonder what that even looks like, a robot body with six or seven CatClaw daggers sticking out of it and nothing else, and zooming around at crazy agility speed."
Ultimate Ending: Treasures of the Forgotten City Part 3
Which lever to pull in CHOICE #12? Does THE ONE RIGHT WAY IS NOT THE LEFT apply to this puzzle? If I pull the east lever, the east door will probably close. And the west lever would leave the east door open. So let's try the west lever. . .
"Something large and dark leaps from the top of the ancient counterweight. Disturbed from its resting place, a huge spider lunges at Waif!"
CHOICE #13 is a 1d6 roll punishment for guessing wrong in the previous CHOICE. Rolling 1 or 6 on Page 108 is probably Death, while 2-5 on Page 70 continues the story. And I roll a 6. . .
"Waif!' You move to push your friend out of the way, but not before the spider sinks its fangs into his neck. Waif screams. You reach for his torch, but he's flailing too hard. Eventually, he drops it, the torch instantly going out in a large pile of sand. As Waif falls, clutching his neck, the spider turns to face you.
You reach back into your rucksack and your fingers close over your camping hatchet. Unfortunately, this time it's stuck. As hard as you pull, it just won't come free. In the meantime, Waif is moaning as his body fights whatever toxin the spider just injected into him. You glance back and the creature is almost on you.
At the last second you kick it. The crunch of its body is oddly satisfying, even through the fear. But joy turns to terror as you watch the spider's underbelly break ripely open. Hundreds of smaller spiders come pouring from their mother's body, swarming in your direction. And they're not happy. What's worse than a venomous spider bite? A hundred spider bites. Sorry to say it, but this is THE END".
Since when did DONOVAN YOUNG have a hatchet? *Checks with Kindle search* It appears once on Page 11 during a scene that probably occurs when opting to fight the jackals, and once on Page 145. The authors never mention it before CHOICE #1. It's almost as bad as La Isla de los Dodos where the protagonist has a retroactive life preserver.
I assumed that fighting the jackals in CHOICE #6 was a bad idea because it was suggested that Waif's torch was the only defense these adventurers had, but the book was concealing information from the player that the characters would have. If I had known that our hero had a hatchet, I probably would have selected a different option.
Results So Far
0 Good Endings
1 Deaths
0 Bad Non-Death Endings
0 Neutral Endings
0 Inconclusive Endings
0 ULTIMATE ENDING
"I wonder what that even looks like, a robot body with six or seven CatClaw daggers sticking out of it and nothing else, and zooming around at crazy agility speed."
Ultimate Ending: Treasures of the Forgotten City Alternate Endings Part 1
Let's rig the 1d6 roll in CHOICE #13 to advance the plot!
"You act without thinking. With one hand you shove Waif out of the way. With the other, you grab his torch. The spider misses your friend by mere inches. It lands, turns, and begins scurrying straight in Waif's direction. Sweeping your arm downward, you set the torch to it. The creature rears back as it catches fire and begins screeching like a wounded animal".
Waif hugs me and we try the east lever instead. There is a justification for this, as the sun rises in the east and therefore to darken the room we should close that door. Now that the only illumination comes from the star ruby, we can see "small depressions cleverly cut into the wall and ceiling". Waif climbs 30 feet into the air and grabs the gem, and now we're done with the Ziggurat.
We enter the Grand Plaza, home to "dozens of palaces". Would any city from 4500 years ago have enough of an economy to support that many? Anyway, we find "smooth, clean stone" leading to the undercity. Apparently, we're not stopping to grab the other star jewels for some reason.
"The light of your partner's torch illuminates a long hall, which runs north and south. Both directions look identical in every way". It's time for Let's Make a Deal in CHOICE #14. North is Page 65 and South is Page 81. Might as well try North first.
"This was their quarry', you say. 'They took stone from down here to build up Atraharsis.' 'Wouldn't that weaken the city's foundation?' Waif asks. 'I don't know. I'm not an engineer". Well, Waif probably has a point. Atraharsis doesn't have Inca earthquake preparation architecture, and the town is in shambles because of it.
"A distant roar reaches your ears as the passage widens into a system of caves. The roar grows louder as you approach the far wall. The wall is damp! It's even weeping in some places". Remember that A KEY TO USE IN DISTANT THUNDER BEFORE THE WATERS PULL YOU UNDER riddle? This is probably where that clue is relevant. Meanwhile, Waif is distracted by a blue gem that's as large as his head.
CHOICE #15 is a temptation. "If you'd like to be filthy rich, help Waif pry loose the big jewel OVER ON PAGE 22". Or I could heed the warnings in the narration and ignore the gem on Page 89.
"Set into the chiseled rock wall, a series of crude levers and switches are set up. Most are rotted completely away, but a few of the wooden artifacts still carry some weight to them. By holding the torch close, you can see each lever is painted with a differently-colored band".
It seems these levers control the underground rivers, and are linked to the obelisk that kept Atraharsis beneath the Arabian Desert sands. CHOICE #16 is whether to pull the black and blue levers on Page 121, the gold and red levers on page 28, or abandon the control panel and visit a "shadow-filled corridor" on Page 44.
Note that the book does NOT mention what directions the levers correspond to at all. Pulling the correct set is probably required for the ULTIMATE ENDING, though I must have missed a clue somewhere. If there were a silver lever, it would be an obvious fit for the silver amulet riddle. Since I'm a reader rather than a person trapped in this book, I can just pull levers randomly and see what happens!
"Here', you tell Waif. 'Help me with these. Ready? One. . .two. . .' Simultaneously you pull down on the black and blue levers. They move smoothly, but with the feeling of a heavy weight somewhere behind them. There's a loud CLICK deep within the wall, followed by a few long seconds of nothingness. Then. . .
WHOOSH!
A puff of wind swirls up from behind the panel, blowing all the hair away from your face. The rushing of water gets louder. And louder. . .
'Switch it back!' Waif yells. He's shoving on the levers with all his might. 'Switch it back!' Quickly you grab hold of the sticks alongside him. You heave forward, putting all your weight behind it, when suddenly. . .SNAP. Both levers break off in your hands!
Your partner looks back at you in growing horror. He opens his mouth to say something, but before he can get anything out the room dissolves in an icy explosion of water and stone. . .
As the unstoppable force of the underground river sweeps you under, you realize with dismal certainty this must be THE END".
Well, it makes sense for the authors to have the "black and blue" levers kill you! It makes me wonder if Atraharsis sent down convicts to operate the control panel, since it's guaranteed to kill its users under specific circumstances.
Results So Far
0 Good Endings
2 Deaths
0 Bad Non-Death Endings
0 Neutral Endings
0 Inconclusive Endings
0 ULTIMATE ENDING
"I wonder what that even looks like, a robot body with six or seven CatClaw daggers sticking out of it and nothing else, and zooming around at crazy agility speed."
Ultimate Ending: Treasures of the Forgotten City Alternate Endings Part 2
Turns out the control room is pointless. Pulling the gold and red levers opens a room with diagrams of Atraharsis's plumbing, but nothing about the Hall of Kings or the star jewels. There isn't even a picture to go along with this page. I'm redirected to Page 44 as if I had ignored the levers in the first place.
After we cross the dark corridor, we notice a dais with 3 prongs designed for each of the star jewels. CHOICE #17 checks for the RUBY, SAPPHIRE, or EMERALD with the Ultimate Ending tradition of adding up letters in a word and using it as a page number. Since Waif and DONOVAN YOUNG cleared the Ziggurat in this timeline, they have the RUBY and must take Page 66.
"Waif yanks you backward as three large stone columns slam down from the ceiling. Little more than a foot apart they act as a crude stone portcullis, cutting you off from the alcove. Your gemstone gleams red behind them, even in the shadows."
Waif tries to get the RUBY back, but his delay nearly kills him. He slides under the door before it closes, though his shirt is torn up "as it gets cut between several tons of grinding sandstone".
The floor retracts, and we're about to fall into the underground river. The options for CHOICE #18 are to either use a certain object as a key on a "small-diamond-shaped depression", or jump and roll 2d6 to survive. To use the item, I have to add up the letters. ODD 2d6 rolls go to Page 144 and EVEN 2d6 rolls move to Page 45.
The line "Beneath you, not far down, a portion of the underground river thunders past" is a direct reference to the amulet riddle A KEY TO USE IN DISTANT THUNDER BEFORE THE WATERS PULL YOU UNDER. AMULET is Page 72.
"There's another shift as the floor begins grinding back to its original position. If you hadn't been ready for it, it might have jarred you over the ledge! Waif lets out a long breath as you're slowly returned to the opposite side of the chamber. When you finally step into the hallway with him, he throws you into a bone-crushing hug".
We don't have much time to recover when "the floor drops out beneath you" and dumps us into "yet another large chamber". CHOICE #19 takes place in a hexagonal room with glyphs corresponding to different exits. There are many options here:
I saw the HORSE symbol underneath the pile of bones, but the CHOICE #1 puzzle made a reference to the CROWN. The CROWN sounds too obvious to be the correct option for the Hall of Kings, and that's what the authors want you to think. . .
"You look up at the crown. It's the only symbol that's not an animal. It's also the only symbol that's regal. The Hall of Kings. . .
'It's gotta be the crown', you tell Waif. 'Come on, let's go!' Waif follows dutifully. The only hint of skepticism on his part is a small backward glance as you make your way through the shadowy exit. Almost immediately things change. The floor is polished. The walls take on a more finished feel. Everything seems nicer, more beautifully designed. Then the hall opens into another chamber, this time a throne room!
'This is it!' you cry. 'The Hall of Kings!' You stop, the smile fading from your face. Something is wrong. There's something soft, almost spongy beneath your feet. Waif swings his torch low, and that's when you realize you're standing in a mushroom patch. 'What the--'
Your feet are stuck. These aren't any mushrooms you've ever seen. The strange grey fungus is everywhere, all dry and powdery. It covers the walls, the floor, the ancient throne itself. You're able to pull your feet free, but every movement sends up clouds of powder. It gets in your eyes, your nose, your mouth. . .
All of a sudden, you're very, very tired. Your legs weigh a thousand pounds each. Your arms hang like tree trunks at your sides. You open your mouth to say something but all you can manage is a bone-cracking yawn. You look over at Waif and he's already laid down, right in the middle of the mushrooms.
'Waif. . .' Your voice is slurred and far away. 'We can't. . .we have to. . .' Now your eyelids are heavy too. They droop closed, and a wonderful sense of peace steals over you. Maybe you just need to sit down and rest a minute. Or maybe, just maybe, this is THE END".
Little did DONOVAN YOUNG know that he found the ruins of the Mushroomy Kingdom stage in Super Smash Bros.
That last sentence tried to fool me into thinking this is an Inconclusive Ending, but it's clearly a Death.
Results So Far
0 Good Endings
3 Deaths
0 Bad Non-Death Endings
0 Neutral Endings
0 Inconclusive Endings
0 ULTIMATE ENDING
"I wonder what that even looks like, a robot body with six or seven CatClaw daggers sticking out of it and nothing else, and zooming around at crazy agility speed."
Ultimate Ending: Treasures of the Forgotten City Alternate Endings Part 3
The HORSE symbol from the pile of bones is a red herring, and leads back into the CHOICE #19 hexagon room. Its exit has the SERPENT above it, so neither animal is the solution. Our last ending for tonight will be the DOG exit.
"You look at the glyph shaped like a dog. Innocent and pure. Man's best friend. 'The dog looks good', you say. After all, what could go wrong? Together you pass beneath the glyph and enter a dark corridor. You haven't gone more than a few dozen steps when, suddenly-
'The floor!' Waif cries. 'It's rising up behind us!' You whirl around. The floor you just crossed is tilting upward, turning the entire corridor into a steep incline. By the time you turn back it's already too late-your legs buckle. The torch goes out. Waif lets out a scream and you find yourself sliding downward, into the oblivion of utter darkness.
'Unnffff!' You fall and fall, yet somehow when you land you're still alive. Waif re-ignites the torch and you find yourselves in a high-slung cavern, sprawled across an enormous pile of sand. The walls are rough-hewn, scarred by the blades of a thousand primitive tools. The ceiling stretches high overhead.
'The quarry', Waif says. You notice an ominous tone in his voice. 'The founders excavated here to build the city. These tunnels. . .they go on for miles and miles'. There must be a dozen exits from this room alone. All of them are pitch black. As if reading your mind, Waif follows your gaze to the torch. How many hours of light are left? How much water is still in your canteens?
There are thousands of tunnels that make up the maze down here. Maybe you'll be able to navigate them. Maybe you'll be able to make it out. Or maybe all the exits collapsed in on themselves thousands of years ago. You don't know the answers to these questions, but ultimately you'll find out. For now, however, this appears to be THE END".
Our first Inconclusive Ending is a bleak one, but still gives some false hope. Given the Atraharsi lack of regard for workplace safety in the control room, I doubt Waif and DONOVAN YOUNG will make it out alive.
Results So Far
0 Good Endings
3 Deaths
0 Bad Non-Death Endings
0 Neutral Endings
1 Inconclusive Endings
0 ULTIMATE ENDING
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"I wonder what that even looks like, a robot body with six or seven CatClaw daggers sticking out of it and nothing else, and zooming around at crazy agility speed."
Ultimate Ending: Treasures of the Forgotten City Alternate Endings Part 4
The correct answer to the hexagon room puzzle is so obvious in retrospect that I may have to put a special PENALTY on the unofficial score for not figuring it out.
Remember the lines IT TAKES NINE LIVES FROM SIX LESS FIVE TO FIND THE HALL OF KINGS? I sure didn't while I was playing this part! Since Atraharsis operates on Bubsy logic, the CAT is the correct exit. This puzzle would have to be altered if the book is translated into other languages, since in Spanish cats only have 7 lives.
According to Waif, the glyphs on the next door are the names of Atraharsis's rulers, but we don't get to see any of them. "The room is enormous. It goes on for as far as you can see. Light flares as Waif ignites a second torch from his pack. Suddenly the illumination is reflected everywhere. . .by polished shields, glimmering jewels, and long stacks of gleaming gold! You found it! The Hall of Kings!"
Treasure is scattered around the statue of each historical figure, and mosaics tell of their deeds. A pedestal written in Atraharsi says "Place here man's greatest treasure". DONOVAN YOUNG thinks it's water, and Waif thinks it's life. CHOICE #20 demands that I add up the letters of the right answer, or offer another treasure on Page 165.
THE GREATEST TREASURES LIE WITHIN from the journal is a reference to the library, so maybe it's KNOWLEDGE, BOOK, or SCROLL. KNOWLEDGE is Page 96, a plausible number, and knowledge is italicized when Waif talks about its value in the library scene.
DONOVAN YOUNG interprets "knowledge" as "put Murdoch's journal on the pedestal", because a foreign object created thousands of years later is of course the key to the scroll room. Would any book-shaped object have sufficed? We're forced to abandon some of the jewels to put all the scrolls into the rucksack, but we already have enough riches. Good to know that our heroes can actually take some of the loot, unlike the House on Hollow Hill cast that had to ignore it all, only to find old love letters at the end!
Waif and DONOVAN YOUNG are archaeologists so destructive that Lord Elgin would be envious:
"Long, sweeping dunes collapse around it as the city is sucked beneath the desert floor. You watch it all go-every wall, every stone, every shattered home and palace. As the last of the broken towers are swalloed a great cloud forms in the air overhead. It looks like the sandstorm you encountered last night, only much thicker and a lot more concentrated".
Our rival finally makes an appearance:
"You whirl at the sound of a gruff voice. Standing between you and your tent is the hulking, mustached form of John Sullivan. 'What was all that?' he demands. The big adventurer is flanked by another two men. They're both as sun-bronzed as him, but not nearly as huge. 'What was that?' His face goes sour. 'Don't give me that! The rumbling! The shaking! All those tremors-don't tell me you didn't hear any of that!'
Slowly you turn toward Waif. His face is the picture of innocence. 'Did you hear anything?' you ask him. 'No', Waif says. 'Not that I recall'. Sullivan goes red. He scans your campsite, which at this point is nothing more than a few smoldering coals and single tent shredded by last night's storm. 'Well what the heck have you been doing up here?'
You give a casual shrug. 'We were going to have a breakfast, actually', you say. 'A bit late, but if you wanted to-' 'Forget it!' Sullivan cries. His mouth curls into a snarl. 'Looks like you're done here anyway. Have been for a while'. He turns to stomp off. Before he does, his eyes shift to your partner.
'C'mon Waif', he spits. 'We need every man today, so I guess you're-' 'No'. The word is firm. Unmistakable. But from the look of confusion on Sullivan's face, you'd think Waif was speaking an entirely different language. 'Did you just say no?'
'Yeah', you say, stepping forward. 'He did'. You stand tall now, beside your friend. 'Oh, and one more thing. His name's not 'Waif'. It's Renn'. Sullivan's eyes flare. He almost says something. . .almost, but not quite. Then he shakes his head and storms away. You watch silently until he and his men disappear over the next ridge.
'Thanks', Waif says. His voice is low now. Choked up and full of emotion. But you shake your head at him. 'No', you tell him. 'I should be the one thanking you. None of this would've happened without your help. I would've never found Atraharsis, or the Hall of Kings. I would've never recovered the star jewel. Or rather, almost recovered it. . .'
Waif smiles. You can't help but notice it's a weird smile, though. 'Yeah. . .' he says. 'About that. . .' One hand fishes into his pocket. When it comes out, he's holding the star jewel. It's even more beautiful in the sun. Blinding, even. You just stand there. Dumbstruck. 'What! I. . .I. . .HOW?'
Waif holds out the jewel and drops it into your hand. It takes up your entire palm. He turns sideways, gesturing with one hand to accentuate how small and thin he actually is. 'You're right', he says. 'I am Renn. But sometimes, it's good to be Waif too. . .'
You found gold, gems, treasure. You located the Hall of Kings, won a star jewel, and recovered the long-lost knowledge of Atraharsis. CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE REACHED THE ULTIMATE ENDING! In recognition for taking up the gauntlet, let it be known to fellow adventurers that you are hereby granted the title of:
Adventurer Extraordinaire!"
I certainly didn't deserve the Adventurer Extraordinaire title! Some Deaths were rookie mistakes, particularly forgetting about the NINE LIVES line. Maybe playing RA Montgomery CYOAs has killled too many brain cells.
The use of the generic "star jewel" in the ending suggests that the SAPPHIRE and EMERALD are valid paths to the ULTIMATE ENDING as well, much like how the Tower of Never There has several endgame puzzles based on the items you find.
Atraharsis itself is a "generic pulp adventure ancient city", disappointing compared to the weirder Tower of Never There or the Aurora Hotel. I can't say how fair some of the CHOICEs are without further Alternate Endings context, but at least the major puzzles can be solved with sufficient analysis.
DONOVAN YOUNG's emphasis on calling his companion Renn falls flat when the narration uses Waif for most of the story. "Renn" is only mentioned when he introduces himself, and during the ULTIMATE ENDING. I checked that with the power of the Kindle search engine.
Sullivan will be much more important in Rescue from the Valley of Chaos, where the goal is to look for him.
Results So Far
0 Good Endings
3 Deaths
0 Bad Non-Death Endings
0 Neutral Endings
1 Inconclusive Endings
1 ULTIMATE ENDING
The numerator in the "score fraction" will be 5.
"I wonder what that even looks like, a robot body with six or seven CatClaw daggers sticking out of it and nothing else, and zooming around at crazy agility speed."
Ultimate Ending: Treasures of the Forgotten City Alternate Endings Part 5
This conclusion is a consolation prize for players who either didn't find the library, or didn't realize that KNOWLEDGE was the correct answer for CHOICE #20. DONOVAN YOUNG places a "magnificent scepter of gold, studded with sapphires, rubies, and emeralds" on the altar instead of the journal. After the party escapes:
"You look up and are surprised to find yourself beyond the city walls. Sand rushes down from two different hillsides in an avalanche of movement. It feels like the entire desert is shaking. 'Look!' Waif cries. 'The city!'
Not far behind you, Atraharsis is sinking. You watch the buildings go, then the walls, then the broken minarets. You continue to scramble backward, throwing one arm over your eyes as the last tower is covered in sand. A swirling cloud of dust rolls over you, very much like the sandstorm that started it all. When the smoke clears, there's nothing left where a city once stood.
Waif doubles over in a fit of coughing. He looks grey from head to toe-you're both totally caked with dirt and dust. 'The city beneath the sands', he finally says. 'Gone again'. You heft your rucksack with one hand. It's pleasantly heavy. 'Gone but not forgotten', you chime in. Waif laughs, and together you turn in the direction of your camp.
A smile paints its way across your face as you walk back. Aside from a few scrapes and bruises, you made it out virtually unscathed. Best of all you fulfilled your grand-uncle's lifelong dream. His estate will be safe now, his legacy secured for generations to come.
'You know', Waif says, pointing at the distant obelisk. 'I wouldn't mind trying for one of those star gems again. Not right now', he adds hastily, 'but you know. . .someday. . .' The obelisk key is a five-pound lump pressed into the small of your back. 'Yeah, maybe', you say with a grin. 'Someday. . .' THE END".
How does Atraharsis have "minarets"? Minarets are specifically Islamic architecture, and Atraharsis is 4500 years old. Perhaps the authors thought they were just another word for "towers" or something? Reading too much of The Columbian Exchange by Alfred Crosby in school has made me sensitive to anachronisms.
Our narrator is being optimistic about the "generations to come". There's no fortune so large that it's immune to heirs squandering it. And nobody cares about the grand-uncle enough to introduce his name.
Results So Far
1 Good Endings
3 Deaths
0 Bad Non-Death Endings
0 Neutral Endings
1 Inconclusive Endings
1 ULTIMATE ENDING
EDIT: For those who are curious (i.e. RefSteel and maybe Gustaran), the cover claims there are 17 Perils and 26 Conclusions. I have yet to figure out what qualifies as a Peril in spite of having exhaustively documented several of these books.
"I wonder what that even looks like, a robot body with six or seven CatClaw daggers sticking out of it and nothing else, and zooming around at crazy agility speed."
