Gamebooks (Choose Your Own Adventure Style)

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Ultimate Ending:  Treasures of the Forgotten City Alternate Endings Part 6


Only one more ending for the CHOICE #19 hexagon room, so let's pick the HAWK.


"For some reason you have a good feeling about the hawk glyph.  'Let's take that one.'  Passing beneath the great bird you walk a dark corridor for what seems like a very long time.  The floor feels like it slopes upward in the darkness, or maybe it's just your imagination.


'This doesn't seem right', you wonder aloud.  'I think-'  You're rocked as the ground beneath you suddenly shakes.  Dust and debris crumble from the ceiling, filling your eyes, shrouding your vision as the rumble grows to an almost deafening roar.


Waif points frantically upward.  'Light!'  Sure enough, sunlight streams in from several cracks in the masonry above.  Then a tremendous rushing sound drowns out everything else, and you're being flung down the corridor by a torrent of icy cold water.  'The river!'


Darkness swallows you as the torch is snuffed out.  You can't fight it.  There's nothing to do but keep your head up as you roll with the churning, swirling rapids.  Thankfully, the river isn't pulling you down.  It's pushing you up instead, faster and faster, until you crash hard against the ceiling and break through, into the blinding light of the desert sun.


Atraharsis is behind you. . .but the city is sinking!  A cloud of dust swirls high into the air as the broken walls and towers are once again swallowed beneath the sands.  You and Waif are deposited on the bank of a temporary oasis, by waters that recede even as you stumble to your feet.  Eventually you're left standing at the edge of a rubble-strewn field.  Only a few scattered pieces of marble and sandstone give the slightest indication that a city once stood here.


Waif is the first to break the silence.  'I wonder if we've made the right choice?'  You think of the lost star gem, and the other star jewels that you missed.  About all the treasures hidden throughout the city, and of course, the Hall of Kings.  'No', you tell him.  'I'm pretty sure we messed up'.


Lying in the sand nearby you notice your rucksack.  At least you still have that, and whatever other valuables you may have found.  It might not be enough to save your grand-uncle's estate, but you also have the most important treasure of all:  your life.


As you lift your pack the obelisk key rolls out.  It stares up at you playfully from the sand.  'Come on Waif', you smile.  'Looks like Atraharsis is done with us. . .for today at least.  THE END".


A rare Neutral Ending as the result of failing one of the final puzzles.  In this timeline, the sequel would be a book about how DONOVAN YOUNG actually has to work for a living.


Results So Far


1 Good Endings

3 Deaths

0 Bad Non-Death Endings

1 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

1 ULTIMATE ENDING

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Ultimate Ending:  Treasures of the Forgotten City Alternate Endings Part 7


Now for the conclusion that everyone wants to see.  What happens if Waif and DONOVAN YOUNG try to become "filthy rich" in CHOICE #15 when they dig the jewel out of the wall holding back the water?


"The giant jewel sparkles in the torchlight.  Waif sets to it with his knife.  'Hey.  Um. . .'  He already has it loose!  It's the biggest, most amazing jewel you've ever seen.  You step forward to help him. . .BOOM!  The wall collapses outward.  It knocks Waif to the ground, but then he's swept up in a torrent of rushing water!


'The river!' you exclaim as icy water rapidly fills the room.  'The underground aquifer that once fed the ci-'  Your sentence is never finished as your mouth fills with water.  It surges into the room, thousands upon thousands of gallons, filling the cave in mere seconds.


'Waif!'  Your scream is little more than a gurgle.  But it's too late.  He's already gone.  You try to fight the current, but the river drags you along the cave with unrelenting force.  It pins you against the ceiling. . .As the water keeps rising, you realize this must be THE END".


Not so different from Sullivan now, are you DONOVAN YOUNG?  You called him "Waif" instead of "Renn" this time.



Waif and DONOVAN YOUNG become the unknown heroes of the Arab countries, as the newly discovered underground river ends their water shortage.


Results So Far


1 Good Endings

4 Deaths

0 Bad Non-Death Endings

1 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

1 ULTIMATE ENDING

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Ultimate Ending:  Treasures of the Forgotten City Alternate Endings Part 8


Failing the 2d6 roll against the library asp in CHOICE #9 has this result.  It has a 1/4 chance of occurring.


"You don't even see the asp.  Sleek and black, it strikes you before you have any chance to react.  Two red dots blossom on the back of your hand.  They glisten like jewels in the sun.  Waif kicks the snake across the room, but by then it's already too late.  The asp's neurotoxin kicks in, and you feel your body going rigid as your muscles involuntarily contract.  Your vision blurs.  Your mouth feels numb.


'Donovan!' Waif cries out.  He's shaking you now.  'D-o-n-o-o-o-o-v-a-a-a-a-a-n. . .'  Waif's voice is the last thing you remember as the darkness closes in.  For you, this is THE END".


Snake?  Snake?  SNAAKE!


The player learns the KNOWLEDGE keyword for the ULTIMATE ENDING just before CHOICE #9, so searching the library further is an unnecessary risk.


Results So Far


1 Good Endings

5 Deaths

0 Bad Non-Death Endings

1 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

1 ULTIMATE ENDING

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Ultimate Ending:  Treasures of the Forgotten City Alternate Endings Part 9


Rolling a 4 or 6 in CHOICE #7 while attempting to run from the jackals makes this ending happen.


"It's no use!  No matter how hard you run, the jackals run faster.  They've got more legs.  More endurance.  More-'  'Aarrgh!'  Waif screams as one of the creature's teeth tears into his calf.  Enough is enough!  You stop instantly and move to stand guard over your fallen friend.  If they want to get to him they'll have to get through you first!


Between Waif's torch and you screaming your head off, you manage to keep the jackals at bay.  Eventually they get tired of trying to find an opening.  Slinking away, they head back down the avenue to find easier prey.  'Thank you', Waif says through gritted teeth.  You can see he's in obvious pain, clutching his leg tightly with both hands.  Gently you pry his fingers away from the wound.


'It's bad', you tell him.  'I can stop the bleeding, but you need a doctor.  Pronto'.  Waif nods, grateful for the help.  The good news is you'll both be okay.  But your adventure, unfortunately, has to be cut short.  It's a shame, but for now this is THE END".


The real hero of the story has been injured, so I'll call this a Bad Non-Death Ending.  Conclusions in that category don't necessarily have to be "worse than Death", just as long as the characters leave the adventure worse off than when they started.



Results So Far


1 Good Endings

5 Deaths

1 Bad Non-Death Endings

1 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

1 ULTIMATE ENDING

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Ultimate Ending:  Treasures of the Forgotten City Alternate Endings Part 10


CHOICE #1 is irrelevant to the story.  This probably shouldn't have come as a surprise, considering that the authors would make the first 2 CHOICEs illusory in the "sequel" Strange Physics of the Heidelberg Laboratory.  If you try to turn the obelisk key counterclockwise, Waif slaps your wrist to prevent you from making the wrong decision, and then you move to CHOICE #2.


Confronting the jackals in CHOICE #6 makes our heroes shout at them while Waif waves the torch.  Then Waif throws a haunch of "spiced goat" to distract them.  Advance to CHOICE #8, just like what would happen if you succeed in the dice roll to flee from the jackals.


Climbing the "last few steps" instead of entering the Ziggurat via the hole in CHOICE #11 is punished with a "flip two coins" CHOICE #22.  DONOVAN YOUNG is hanging by one arm onto the Ziggurat.  2 HEADS goes to Page 126, 2 TAILS is Page 62, and 1 of both HEADS and TAILS flips to Page 12.


The mixed coin result sends DONOVAN YOUNG and Waif tumbling down the Ziggurat, sliding down the "jagged rock".  But they are safe, and can enter the hole and CHOICE #12.  Flipping 2 TAILS is also safe, except this time Waif pulls you up to the top.  2 HEADS isn't fatal, but there's no way DONOVAN YOUNG can continue the quest. . .


"Waif!  Hel--'  Your friend reaches out for you, but just a moment too late.  You drop through the air a good fifteen feet, bounce off the stone beneath you, and instantly begin rolling down the face of the Ziggurat.  Sharp, jagged stone claws at you from every direction.  Cuts and scrapes, however, are the least of your concerns right now. . .


Acting quickly, you splay your arms and legs outward in order to slow your roll.  It helps, but it also leaves you vulnerable.  At one point your left leg is bent backward at a disturbing angle.  There's a muffled pop that originates from somewhere behind your kneecap, and you find yourself screaming in agony.


The wind is knocked from your lungs as your back slams into one of the stone slabs.  Lifting your head groggily you take stock of the situation.  You've fallen about halfway down the Ziggurat, and your leg is most certainly broken.


The good news is that you'll live.  Everything but your pride will eventually heal.  But as Waif scrambles down to help carry you back through the gates of Atraharsis, you come to the solemn realization that this is THE END".


DONOVAN YOUNG should be thankful he didn't receive the embarrassing coconut head injury from La Isla de los Dodos.


Results So Far


1 Good Endings

5 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

1 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

1 ULTIMATE ENDING

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Ultimate Ending:  Treasures of the Forgotten City Alternate Endings Part 11


Rolling an ODD number in CHOICE #18 allows DONOVAN YOUNG to jump off the retracting floor into the CHOICE #19 hexagon room.  EVEN numbers are lethal.


"You're out time.  [sic]  Out of room!  As much as you hate the idea of making the attempt, the floor retracts more with every second that goes by.  Flattening yourself against the wall, you take three lunging steps.  On the fourth one you jump. . .But the distance is too far.


Even with Waif reaching out for you, you fall woefully short of the other hallway.  Your arms pinwheel through the air as you drop helplessly into the cold, dark waters of the raging river.  Oh, man!  You came so close!  Not for a lack of trying, but this is obviously THE END!"


Waif is taking bets on whether DONOVAN YOUNG's cause of death is surface tension, drowning, or hypothermia.  There's a surprising amount of water-related fatalities for a book set in a desert.


Results So Far


1 Good Endings

6 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

1 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

1 ULTIMATE ENDING

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Ultimate Ending:  Treasures of the Forgotten City Alternate Endings Part 12


Turning south instead of north in CHOICE #14 descends to a quarry.  The only light available is from Waif's torch, and there's no turning back once a "portcullis" closes off the entrance.  Waif can fit through the bars, but not the player character. 


CHOICE #22 is an intentional joke, rather than the jokes I've been making at the book's expense.  "You can continue on into the blackness by TURNING TO PAGE 154.  Or you can venture on into the darkness by TURNING TO PAGE 154".


This room is filled with a pile of tapestries that rotted long ago.  It's not empty, however:  "Like something out of a living nightmare, an enormous subterranean slug looms over you.  Somehow, down here in the darkness, the creature has grown to gargantuan proportions.  Its tentacles probe the air blindly, reaching for something.  Anything. . ."


I blame the Causality Neutrino.  CHOICE #23 includes an "add up letters to use an item" option on the appropriate page.  Otherwise you'll have to roll 2d6 and go to Page 35 if the roll is below 8, or Page 168 if it's at least 8.


Page 35 is the result you want.  DONOVAN YOUNG orders Waif to burn the ruined tapestries, and the heat lights up the chamber and scares the slug.  Advance to CHOICE #17 where you use the RUBY you picked up back in the Ziggurat.


Page 168 is Death, as you may have guessed.


"Waif!' you shout.  'Ummm. . .your torch!'  Your partner is already waving the firebrand at the slug's massive body.  It might feel the heat, but being down here for its entire life has rendered the creature totally blind.


Retreating along the corridor you came from is not an option.  You'd only be trapped against the stone portcullis.  All you can do is look for another exit, so you circle along the outer wall of the chamber.  Waif keeps the slug at bay as your fingers dance in the darkness, searching for any kind of opening.  Then. . .


'Waif. . .stop!  Look OUT!'  You forgot about the tapestries!  As you trip backward over the moldering pile, the slug shifts in your direction.  The dust-caked fabric breaks your fall, but the last thing you see is the enormous slime-coated monstrosity slamming down on you.  A bit gross, but this is definitely THE END".


The weird part about CHOICE #23's 2d6 dice roll is that it isn't about reflexes, unlike most Ultimate Ending luck CHOICEs.  On both the success and failure pages, DONOVAN YOUNG shouts at Waif so he will use his torch.  The difference is that the survival page depends on DONOVAN YOUNG pointing at the tapestries.


Results So Far


1 Good Endings

7 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

1 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

1 ULTIMATE ENDING

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Ultimate Ending:  Treasures of the Forgotten City Alternate Endings Part 13


THE ONE RIGHT WAY IS NOT THE LEFT riddle doesn't apply to CHOICE #10.


Left is the path to the SAPPHIRE, in case you're tired of playing the Ziggurat RUBY route.  DONOVAN YOUNG and the real hero Waif reach the Temple of Luus.  What does Luus mean?  The characters think it could be a god, since Atraharsis was a polytheistic city.  Some murals are still legible.  They depict people "prostrate before the temple, all heads turned toward the sky". 


The inner sanctum contains the SAPPHIRE glowing with a blue light.  But a "giant block of granite" blocks the exit, since traps still work 4500 years later like in all pulp adventures.  A new passage from Murdoch's journal appears here:


WHEN DROWNING IN A SEA OF BLUE
ONLY ROYALS MAY PASS THROUGH


A dais with 3 unbroken colored lenses is the puzzle for CHOICE #24.  Red is Page 26, Yellow is Page 37, and Green is Page 74.  If my knowledge of ancient history is correct, the right answer is Red because it would make Purple, associated with royalty and aristocracy because its dye was expensive.


But this is an Alternate Endings post, so let's try the other colors first!


Selecting Yellow turns the light into "a sickly green", and creates a "loud hissing sound".  A cloud of diamond dust enters the sanctum, and DONOVAN YOUNG tells Waif to hold his breath.  CHOICE #25 is a 1d6, where a roll of at least 5 goes to Page 54, and 1-4 advances to Page 14.


Since the scenario is so dire, the 1/3 chance is required to survive.  Rolling 5 or 6 allows DONOVAN YOUNG and Waif to endure long enough for the dust to settle.  You then get another chance at CHOICE #24 minus the Green lens.


If you were unfortunate enough to botch the 1d6 roll after failing the SAPPHIRE puzzle, then this will occur.


"The dust envelops you, despite your best attempts at avoiding it.  It shimmers.  It glimmers.  It's horridly beautiful. . .at least until you blink, and your eyes suddenly feel like they're being sliced by a thousand tiny razors.


'Waif!' you scream, but it's already too late.  Your friend is face down on the floor, unmoving.  Malevolent green light continues streaming down into the chamber, reminding you of your failure.  It's the last thing you see before your eyesight is taken away, signifying that this is indeed THE END".


A gruesome Death that I'd expect from some of the Spanish books rather than Ultimate Ending.  That's the thrill of reading these silly stories.  Choose Your Own Adventure law demands that "the last thing you see" must be included before publication.


The reason this is a Death instead of a Bad Non-Death Ending is that DONOVAN YOUNG is also breathing in the diamond dust.  If it slices his eyes open, then it must do something similar to his lungs.  And even if it doesn't do that, he's not going to survive for long while blind in Atraharsis.


Results So Far


1 Good Endings

8 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

1 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

1 ULTIMATE ENDING

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Ultimate Ending:  Treasures of the Forgotten City Alternate Endings Part 14


Now that I've tried one incorrect color for the SAPPHIRE puzzle, let's pick the Green lens in CHOICE #24. 


"The room goes from bright blue to a deep turquoise or even sea green".  A scorpion comes out of a "small square aperture" that opens, and jumps onto Waif's hand.  CHOICE #26 is an unusual coin toss that asks you to flip it from your left hand and catch it in your right.  HEADS is Page 29 and TAILS is Page 138. 


There's also a line to mock your clumsiness:  "If you drop the coin, hang your head in shame and flip it until you do catch it!  Even if it takes several tries, that's fine.  We can wait all day".


With TAILS you smack Waif's forearm and knock the scorpion away.  Another try at CHOICE #24 ensues.  HEADS is a critical failure.


"With the reflexes of a hockey goalie you reach out and smack Waif's wrist.  The scorpion goes flying across the room.  It scurries away, ending the danger.  But when your friend's arm returns to its prior position, there's a tiny red dot on the back of his hand.  'It stung me'.  Waif's voice is sad, melancholy.  You don't like the sound of it.  There's too much resignation.


'Maybe it wasn't poisonous?' you say hopefully.  'No', he tells you calmly.  'It was'.  You reach for his hand.  Maybe if you act fast enough you can squeeze the poison from the wound.  But Waif pulls away as if reading your mind.  'You can't.  It doesn't work like that.'


His face goes pale and his knees buckle.  You catch him as he falls, but not before Waif knocks over the other two lenses.  In slow motion you watch as they shatter against the stone floor of the temple.  With Waif sick, and the two of you trapped in the inner sanctum, you slowly come to the grim realization that this is probably THE END".


DONOVAN YOUNG isn't an NHL goalie, that's for sure.  Is this Ultimate Ending book meant to be set in the past?  The characters don't seem to have modern first aid kits, cell phones, or even a flashlight.  Yet the introduction doesn't specify a time period.


This ending is a Death because the party will die of thirst before anyone can rescue them.  And you know Sullivan isn't going to help!



Results So Far


1 Good Endings

9 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

1 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

1 ULTIMATE ENDING

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

This isn't a full post, but I just realized that The House on Hollow Hill is also in the same continuity as Treasures of the Forgotten City, Strange Physics of the Heidelberg Laboratory, and Rescue from the Valley of Chaos.  A plant that attacks the player character of House on Hollow Hill is an "Atraharsi Weeping Vine" that Mr. Goosen had somehow collected.


Could Mr. Goosen be Waif?  As far as I can tell, his first name is never mentioned.  Not many people could have retrieved plants from Atraharsis given that the ruins are destroyed at the end of Treasures of the Forgotten City.  Maybe the companion from this book becomes the guy who forces you to retrieve his love letters from his haunted mansion. . .