Gamebooks (Choose Your Own Adventure Style)

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Ultimate Ending:  The Tower of Never There Alternate Endings Part 13


Giving the Lotus Blossom or the Jeweled Pin to the angel boots you back to the beginning of CHOICE #23, as she just slaps them away.


For this ending, I'll face the soapstone dragon trial, which I could have done in the CANONICAL ENDING route if I had wanted to.


"There's dirt beneath your feet.  Shimmering waves of grass brush past your ankles.  And above, high overhead, a star-filled sky. . .The dragon stretches.  It sniffs the air a few times, then turns in your direction.  Its piercing yellow eyes drill into your own.  The creature roars!  Slowly, deliberately, it cranes its neck downward in your direction. . ."


CHOICE #31 offers the same items to use as the angel trial, but with one new option.  If you petted the iguana-like Saspernink in CHOICE #5 like I did, you have another option.  The dragon is allergic to the Saspernink's musk and "rears back in utter disgust" before fleeing.  You then go to CHOICE #24.


The Snow Globe does nothing except for restarting CHOICE #31, as does the Bone Horn.


The Lotus Blossom, however, works.  "Ever so gently, the dragon takes it between its teeth.  Its eyes bore into your own, and you see warmth there.  Understanding".  This is a CHOICE #24 path.


USE JEWELED PIN ON DRAGON is the one path that makes you fail outright apart from not having anything at all.


"The dragon hovers over you!  But what does it want?  Gold?  Jewels?  Thinking fast, you remove the exquisite jeweled pin Kara gave you earlier.  The colorful gemstones sparkle, even in the dim light.  The dragon pauses.  It leans in to consider your offering, so close to your face that its breath nearly knocks you over!  Scaled lips peel back over jagged, razor-sharp teeth.  The creature shifts forward, claws digging deeply into the soft earth. . .


Perhaps deciding you'd be good to have around, the dragon sweeps you up with one arm!  There's no chance to struggle as it springs into the night sky, flapping powerful wings as it flies far and away from wherever you happened to be.


Know what dragons like even better than treasure?  Playmates.  Squatting around in a lair all day can get extremely boring!  Looks like you're stuck as one, at least for now.  Which makes this THE END".


The "for now" makes the dragon playmate ending Inconclusive.


Results So Far


0 Good Endings

3 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

2 Neutral Endings

6 Inconclusive Endings

1 ULTIMATE ENDING

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Ultimate Ending:  The Tower of Never There Alternate Endings Part 14


It's likely the clue the sphinx offers after solving its riddle is meant for the Lotus Blossom in the dragon trial.


Anyway, having no item in the dragon trial gives the player this ending, which I'll add to the Death column.


"You have nothing to offer the dragon.  Nothing to dissuade its attention from you.  All you can do is stiffen.  Freeze motionless, and hope for the best.  The creature shifts forward, its great bulk flowing with unnatural finesse.  The dragon's arms end in taloned claws.  Its teeth are jagged, two-foot stilettos dripping with saliva.  The dragon sniffs you.  Curls itself around you.  You can feel the scales rubbing against your body.  The tip of its tail resting just beneath your chin.  You don't move.  You don't speak.  You don't even dare to breathe. . .


'YON. . .' you whisper finally.  'YON!'  But there's no answer.  There is no longer anyone around to help you.  You don't even know where you are, or how you'll ever get back to where you were before.  All you know is that you're completely at the serpent's mercy.


Maybe you should've explored more of the tower, took a few more chances.  If so, you might've at least had something to try.  Sometimes bad luck is better than no luck at all.  Especially in this case, where it happens to be THE END".


Results So Far


0 Good Endings

4 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

2 Neutral Endings

6 Inconclusive Endings

1 ULTIMATE ENDING

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Ultimate Ending:  The Tower of Never There Alternate Endings Part 15


To obtain the ebony soldier figurine, you must press the crossed swords button in CHOICE #19. 


"There's the clink of metal.  The scent of oil and steel.  You whirl, trying to pick up the source of the noise, and that's when the soldier steps into view.  The man's features are obscured by shadow, but you can see he's helmeted.  The man is tall.  Strong.  In one hand he holds a steel-grey broadsword, while strapped to the other is a rounded shield".


He's about to charge.  CHOICE #32 is the usual selection of trial items.


USE LOTUS BLOSSOM ON EBONY SOLDER creates this ending.


"You pull out the lotus blossom Kara gave you in the indoor garden.  Maybe it will help.  Maybe it will. . .Whoosh!  The soldier's latest attack narrowly misses you!  You drop the flower and back up.  There's nothing to do but run. . .'YON!' you scream.  But there's no answer.  With the warrior hot on your heels, you flee into the darkness.  Shadows rush past you.  Objects. . .people. . .are those trees?  WHAM!


You awaken, shivering in the darkness.  The chamber is empty.  No one is around.  Rubbing your head, you crawl to one of the windows.  The snow-covered mountains are gone.  In their place is nothing but a flat horizon.  A vast, reaching desert that stretches in every direction. . .The tower!


You look up.  Three differently-sized moons dominate the sky.  One of them is blood red.  It's the strangest thing you've ever seen, and in the last hour or so, you've seen some pretty strange things!  It blinked. . .Wherever you are now, it's no longer here.  Or there.  It's someplace else.  Which of course makes this THE END".


Marooned on another planet, but with no idea what will happen next.


Results So Far


0 Good Endings

4 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

2 Neutral Endings

7 Inconclusive Endings

1 ULTIMATE ENDING

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Ultimate Ending:  The Tower of Never There Alternate Endings Part 16


The Jeweled Pin and the Snow Globe do nothing to stop the ebony soldier.  He just bashes you with his shield or swipes at you with his sword before giving you another shot at CHOICE #32.  The Bone Horn makes the warrior retreat "as if answering some unseen call".  Go to CHOICE #24 like all trial victories.


If you have no item to stop the ebony soldier, you get another "stranded on another planet" ending.


"The soldier keeps coming.  You search your pockets. . .but you've got nothing!  'YON!' you cry.  'HELP!'  You scan the darkness, but there's no sign of your glowing friend.  The soldier swings again.  You duck under it.  He thrusts the shield at you, but you dodge that too.  In a last ditch effort you look for the exit.  Maybe the archway is still there.  Maybe you can backtrack. . .CLANG!


You wake up in the center of the domed chamber, between the four naked pedestals.  Everything hurts.  Your body, your spirit. . .and especially your head.  Gingerly you touch the back of your skull, already knowing there's going to be a shield-sized lump there.  'Hello?'  Your voice echoes strangely through the empty chamber.  Moving stiffly, you make your way over to one of the high-flung windows and peer outside. . .


Dawn.  Oh no.  The light in the sky is oddly different.  The landscape, even stranger.  Tall, twisted trees rise out of a thick mist, stretching high into a bright orange sky.  It looks like the cover of some old, heavy metal album.


The tower blinked, you realize.  I'm somewhere else. . .Head in your hands, you slump to the floor in defeat.  You got far.  Really, really far!  Almost all the way, actually.  But alas, still not far enough.  Your adventure has reached THE END".



Results So Far


0 Good Endings

4 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

2 Neutral Endings

8 Inconclusive Endings

1 ULTIMATE ENDING

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Ultimate Ending:  The Tower of Never There Alternate Endings Part 17


The final CHOICE #22 trial is the ivory ballerina.  "Soon you can no longer follow her movements.  She spins faster and faster, until your eyes hurt.  Your head hurts.  The entire room is spinning!  The dancer accelerates even more.  Her movements are impossibly quick.  She's spinning right toward you!"


The Jeweled Pin is the correct item, and the Snow Globe and Lotus Blossom do nothing.  But blowing the Bone Horn in CHOICE #33 has fatal results.


"The ballerina is almost upon you.  You're desperate to stop her!  Reaching into your things, you pull out the carved bone horn.  Taking the deepest possible breath, you put it to your lips and blow.  The sound is low, deep, even haunting.  Immediately you realize it was the wrong move.  The dancer becomes enraged!  (How dare you so rudely interrupt her routine!)  She spins into you at full force, intentionally knocking you backward. . .CRASH!


One of the tall windows-which has miraculously re-appeared behind you-shatters beneath your impact.  Falling through it, you tumble out of the tower!  Down. . .Down. . .Down. . .It's a long way to go, but you'll eventually reach THE END".


Do your best impersonation of the professor from the Mystery Science Theater 3000 movie The Mole People when you read the "Down. . .Down. . .Down. . ." part.


Results So Far


0 Good Endings

5 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

2 Neutral Endings

8 Inconclusive Endings

1 ULTIMATE ENDING

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Ultimate Ending:  The Tower of Never There Alternate Endings Part 18


This will be the final trial ending.  The ivory ballerina shows no more mercy than other trial masters when you have no item to use against her.


"The crazy ballerina is still coming. . .but you have nothing to fend her off with!  Moving quickly, you side-step.  The dancer whirls past you, turns, and adjusts her trajectory again.  No matter how much you try to avoid her, she just keeps coming.  It's like she has it in for you!  'Stop!'  You try calling out to her, but there's no response.  No change in her behavior.  She crashes toward you again.  Once more you spin out of the way.  There's a humming sound.  A thrumming.  It's coming from beneath you.  A vibration that feels like it did when you were back in the clearing. . .The tower!  Suddenly you look up.  You forgot all about the ballerina!  WHAM!


You wake up dizzy and light-headed.  Light streams in from the windows of the upper chamber.  The dancer is gone.  So is YON.  But outside, you can see everything else is radically different. . .Hesistantly, you edge your way over to one of the window panes.  The original landscape is gone.  There's nothing now but ocean and whitecaps and strange rock formations that form little islands all around you.  Even the color of the water is all wrong.


The tower blinked.  The knowledge is crushing.  You have no way home.  Nothing to do now but accept that this is THE END".


Unlike the other endings where TYLER PAULSEN is stranded on another planet, this one doesn't have potable water, unless he's lucky enough that the wrong color is due to some harmless chemical.



Results So Far


0 Good Endings

5 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

2 Neutral Endings

9 Inconclusive Endings

1 ULTIMATE ENDING

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Ultimate Ending:  The Tower of Never There Alternate Endings Part 19


If forced to bet your life on a dragon, a soldier, an angel, or a ballerina, always pick the dragon.  You get 2 chances to survive instead of 1.


Now that the figurine trials are over, let's find out what happens if you don't say TYLER as your answer for the master of the tower question in CHOICE #24.  "The tower has no master".


The flawed diamond turns into a "small, glowing sun", and I dive at it.  The jewel is now inert.  YON praises me for stopping the tower from teleporting.  He couldn't come to this chamber without my help.  YON will try to fix the focus jewel, but his attempts aren't guaranteed to succeed.  As thanks, he agrees to send me home.


"Ten minutes later you're staring into a strange glowing gateway, produced when YON touched the focus jewel to one of the room's many mirrors.  Everything inside looks very. . .orange.  'Are you sure about this?'  YON nods.  'It will take you back', he assures you.  'Beyond the tower, to where you need to be'.  You shrug, thinking you might as well accept it.  Traversing a magical orange portal wouldn't be the strangest thing that happened to you today.  'Uh, thanks YON', you say.  'I appreciate--'  'Please', your friend says with the wave of a hand.  'Because of your bravery, the denizens of the tower may all eventually go home.  It is we who should be thanking you. . .'


Back at the campsite, your fire is nearly gone.  The tower blinked away minutes ago, off to wherever YON took it next.  As you think back to your adventure, a few lingering questions remain.  Was there really a master of the tower?  And the even bigger, more nagging mystery:  who wrote the letters?  Some things, you realize, are better left unknown.  You conquered the Tower of Never There, and returned to tell the tale!  That itself is a very successful way to say THE END".


One of the few Good Endings in this book is a consolation prize for not figuring out the final riddle.



Results So Far


1 Good Endings

5 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

2 Neutral Endings

9 Inconclusive Endings

1 ULTIMATE ENDING

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Ultimate Ending:  The Tower of Never There Alternate Endings Part 20


To make any more progress, I'll have to go back and cross the bridge with Finnegan instead of making a suicide jump with him in CHOICE #13.


We see an ordinary looking man on a ledge.  But Finnegan has other ideas about him.  "Forget about all that.  He's not looking.  We can get the jump on him!'  Your friend rubs his hands together.  'Oh, I got you where I want you now, big guy".


Finnegan assumes this man is the "boss man.  The guy in charge".  CHOICE #34 is to either tackle him like my Chaotic Stupid companion wants me to do, or get more information.  If I pick the latter, TYLER PAULSEN says "I'm not jumping some strange guy just because you have a vendetta!"  This goes to CHOICE #14.


But if I go along with Finnegan, the DM becomes exasperated and makes me roll 2d6 to attack the man.  I get a 2 from Random.org.  Finny says "You missed him, eh?", and we move on to CHOICE #14.


Getting 9 or over is a critical failure instead of a normal failure.


"Scrambling to catch your balance, you pitch forward along the outside ledge.  The chill night air bites your skin.  The sky around you is a giant, reaching dome of stars.  At the very last second you catch yourself.  You're going to be okay!  But then you go to put your foot down. . .and realize you're out of ledge.  'TYLER!'


Finnegan's voice grows further and further away as you tumble into the darkness.  As the side of the tower rushes by to a blur of stone, you have just enough time to realize this is THE END".


How did Finnegan survive so long in the Tower of Never There if he thinks it's a good idea to jump into pits?  Oh well, at least he knows how to say my name in ALL CAPS like the first page recommends.


Results So Far


1 Good Endings

6 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

2 Neutral Endings

9 Inconclusive Endings

1 ULTIMATE ENDING

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Ultimate Ending:  The Tower of Never There Alternate Endings Part 21


Roll to act with Kavalgyth the minotaur in CHOICE #36 after it smashes a stool against the floor.  Trying to reason with it has failed.  Two heads!  Go to page 158.


"You lean your shoulder into the minotaur's night table.  Pushing with every last ounce of strength, you manage to topple it.  It lands directly in front of the creature, tripping it!"


After this victory, the player gets the soapstone dragon and heads to CHOICE #13.


Getting one heads and one tails is another path to CHOICE #13, but Finnegan threatens to destroy one of Kavalgyth's glass orbs if he doesn't let us get away.  "I'll smash it!  Don't think I won't!  I'll shatter it into a million pieces!"  The soapstone dragon isn't mentioned in this route.


If you're unlucky enough to have both coin flips turn up tails, this happens.


"Again the minotaur comes at you!  But this time you're not so lucky.  You zig when you should have zagged, and you end up stepping right into the creature's attack.  WHAM!


You wake up groggy, in total darkness.  It feels like someone opened the top of your head and poured a bag of sand in there!  Tentatively you reach up. . .and find a bump the size of an orange on the back of your skull.  Slowly you crawl your way across the cold, stone floor.  You're in a cell.  Thick steel bars keep you trapped in one corner of the room, with no hope of escape.


A quick check of your pockets shows all your things are gone.  You have no idea how much time has passed.  But it doesn't matter.  You're stuck in the tower now, and that means you've reached THE END".


This imprisonment ending isn't YON toying with TYLER PAULSEN for a while.  No, this is the player in a cell for life.



Results So Far


1 Good Endings

6 Deaths

3 Bad Non-Death Endings

2 Neutral Endings

9 Inconclusive Endings

1 ULTIMATE ENDING

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Ultimate Ending:  The Tower of Never There Alternate Endings Part 22


This ending will be "roll to push the nightstand onto the minotaur" in CHOICE #37.  It's a 2d6 chance.  If the result is 5-9, it goes to CHOICE #13 with the soapstone dragon in your inventory.  Rolls of 3-4 or 10-11 are critical failures.


"The minotaur is just too fast!  It scoops you up, holding you to dangle before it as easily as you might pick up a small child.  'Finnegan!  Help!'  The creature roars directly into your face.  Hot, putrid bull-breath washes over you in a nauseating wave.  You're woozy. . .dizzy. . .


You come to and find yourself in a large iron cage, in another part of the tower.  Kavalgyth is pacing back and forth nearby.  He's grunting and snorting fiercely as he argues with Finnegan.  'I know, I know. . .' Finnegan says.  'But it's not his fault.  You can't-'  The bull-creature roars, blowing Finnegan's hair back from his face.  Your friend lowers his shoulders dejectedly.


Cautiously you move to the edge of your cell.  'Wh-what does he want?' you ask.  You're standing there, gripping the bars.  Finny sighs.  'Well the good news is I got you off easy.  He's not going to eat you.'  'He's not. . .what?'  After the blood finishes draining from your face, you let out a long, relieved breath.


'The bad news is you're gonna be here a while', Finny continues.  'Maybe a month.  Not more than two.'  The minotaur, who has been listening to all of this, grunts twice.  'Oh yeah', Finnegan adds, 'and he wants to know if you can cook.'


A MONTH OR TWO?  Your legs go limp as you allow yourself to sink to the cold stone floor.  It would seem that your adventure has reached THE END".


Another "indentured servant to a mythical creature" ending.  Though Kavalgyth the minotaur demands a shorter term of servitude than the math problem sphinx.


Results So Far


1 Good Endings

6 Deaths

4 Bad Non-Death Endings

2 Neutral Endings

9 Inconclusive Endings

1 ULTIMATE ENDING