Ultimate Ending: The Tower of Never There Alternate Endings Part 23
Another Kavalgyth the minotaur ending happens when you roll a 2 or 12 in CHOICE #13.
"Shoving with all your might, you unseat the enormous nightstand from its position beside the bed. It rocks forward. . .but then it tilts back! The momentum sends the giant piece of furniture crashing downward, directly on top of you! The wind goes out of your lungs as you're pinned to the floor. With your arms and legs trapped at your sides, you can't even move!
The last thing you feel is the heat of the great beast's breath as it bends down and goes face-to-snout with you. As Kavalgyth's lips curl back in a snarl, you're hoping this isn't THE END".
TYLER PAULSEN must be an optimistic fellow. He still has just enough hope to turn a Death into an Inconclusive Ending.
Results So Far
1 Good Endings
6 Deaths
4 Bad Non-Death Endings
2 Neutral Endings
10 Inconclusive Endings
1 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."
It's interesting seeing how complex CYOA's have gotten--I remember reading some back in school, but I had no clue there were so many.
Have you played many video game adventure games/visual novels? The puzzles required in the Ultimate Ending series along with the multitude of paths reminds me of the Zero Escape series.
(July 29th, 2019, 21:56)Cheater Hater Wrote: It's interesting seeing how complex CYOA's have gotten--I remember reading some back in school, but I had no clue there were so many.
Have you played many video game adventure games/visual novels? The puzzles required in the Ultimate Ending series along with the multitude of paths reminds me of the Zero Escape series.
Choose Your Own Adventures had a revival after e-readers became widespread. Some of this comeback is probably due to nostalgia from 80s kids as well. (DM Potter of You Say Which Way admitted that in Writing Interactive Fiction.)
There were more complex CYOA books even before Generación Kindle. Some series I haven't covered here, such as Fabled Lands and Fighting Fantasy, have stats like a tabletop RPG. Crónicas de Térragom is a recent Spanish example.
But it's not all that hard to navigate a CYOA if you follow my CHOICE system. (Except for 22 Minutos: Tibicenas because that book is both long and poorly edited.) I'll upload the unfinished Tower of Never There "map" so you can see how it works.
I also thought of point and click adventure games when I started playing The Tower of Never There. CHOICEs sometimes give you items that will only take effect much later in the story, similar to a Sierra game, except more merciful because you don't waste hours of progress wandering around. The inventory system and the dice rolls make it a different experience from the more conservative CYOA The House on Hollow Hill.
I've played some of the King's Quest remakes by AGD, and a few short freeware games, but most other knowledge I have of the genre is through Let's Plays. Haven't played console or handheld ones like the Telltale games, Life is Strange, Zero Escape, etc. I have, however, played Choice of the Dragon, and that was fun.
"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: The Tower of Never There Alternate Endings Part 24
It's time for some more fun with Finnegan. Let's go to CHOICE #11 and pick the oak door.
The oak door doesn't open into a new CHOICE, but it is an alternate path to the top for readers who want to try something slightly different. Finnegan and I enter a chamber of mirrors. My companion has this to say when he looks at himself: "It happened again.' 'What did?' Finny smiles as he takes a step back. 'I got better lookin'!"
My reflection laughs independently of me and winks. This is a clue for CHOICE #25, but taking this route costs you the soapstone dragon because you skip the minotaur encounter. Proceed to CHOICE #13 from here.
Now I'll open the pine door. Finnegan starts eating "what looks like a starfish covered in coconut", which I refuse when he offers me a piece.
Finnegan tells me this is "the three-holed room", though he doesn't know more than that. Like always, he wants me to take unnecessary risks and poke one of the holes with a stick. Each hole has a different phrase before telling me to go to the particular page, which are probably taunts by the authors rather than hints. Hole ONE is "good luck", Hole TWO is "hold your breath", and Hole THREE is "suffer the consequences". There's also an option to refuse Finnegan's dare, which results in a 1d6 CHOICE where he makes you pick one of them anyway.
It's Let's Make a Deal!
Hole ONE is most likely a latrine. "A torrent of liquid rushes forth from the hole, showering you with smelly water. It gets on your arms, your chest, your clothes. . .it's vile and disgusting". This goes to CHOICE #34 where Finnegan asks you to tackle the man on the ledge.
Hole TWO has the same result in terms of game mechanics, except you hear someone shouting "OWWW!" instead of having nasty water dropped on you.
Hole THREE gives me "a beautifully carved horn of bone. A hunting, or maybe a battle horn." Yes, this is the way to get the Bone Horn for the ivory soldier trial.
Finnegan doesn't think finding an item like this is weird, because this happens to him all the time. One thing he has is a "small brass plate with four tiny screws. The number on it reads 113 3/4". Finnegan says it's from a hotel room door. "Real weird place, even for me!" One Ultimate Ending book is named The Secret of the Aurora Hotel. Does Finnegan prove that several entries in the series are related? Very little information about the Ultimate Ending books can be found in a quick Google search. My posts on Realms Beyond about the series may be the only detailed sources available. The only way to find out about a possible Aurora Hotel connection may be to play through it myself.
Finding the Bone Horn goes to CHOICE #34 like the other Hole decisions do.
The next stop on our tour is the elevator in CHOICE #10. Finnegan says he likes the Tower of Never There because "It's kooky. . .like me!" The doors open, but there's a staircase behind it instead of the elevator. He tells me to be grateful that we even have this option, because "Some days it goes sideways!"
At the top, there's a room empty except for a table with 4 cards resembling Tarot. CHOICE #39 options are the REAPER, the SNAKE, the EYE, and the SHADOWY FIGURE.
The REAPER does NOT kill the player, as nonsensical as that sounds. "The card with the reaper on it looks very menacing. For that reason you decide it must be the safest choice". Even Finnegan is alarmed. "He squeezes his eyes shut and claps his hands over his ears". A hidden door opens with a dusty hallway behind it. "Whew! Good job!' He claps you on the shoulder. 'That's exactly the card I would have picked, too!"
Finnegan's also scared of the next room, which is a red and black chamber with a statue of a person. "Tall and twisted, it has an eerie, otherworldly feel to it. It also looks impossibly smooth, almost like liquid".
CHOICE #40 is to either climb this menacing statue to read something on it, or leave and go to CHOICE #34 like Finnegan suggests. The former option also leads to CHOICE #34, but you get this hint from the statue.
ICE CAN REACH
WHERE ANGELS SOAR
FROSTED WINGS
DRAWN TO THE FLOOR
That's the hint for the angel figurine trial. As I go further back into the book to examine branches I didn't take in my CANONICAL ENDING, the more I realize I blundered my way to victory. I only used the Snow Globe on the angel because it was the only trial item I had at the time.
Selecting the EYE card moves us into the "collection room", a place with terrariums and aquariums. I don't recognize many of the animals because they're from other planets. I ask what a "beautiful-looking beetle that shimmers in all different metallic colors" is, and Finnegan tells me it's a Mymerrian, a carnivorous insect. He insists that it eats "other animals" when I try to "correct" him and say that it only eats insects. There are no stingers, barbs, or pincers visible, and there are uncut gemstones in its terrarium. CHOICE #41 is to either foolishly swipe the gems from the Mymerrian, or go to CHOICE #13.
Trying to steal gemstones that are irrelevant to my quest goes as well as you'd expect.
"The gems are too tempting. And the beetle looks harmless! Being cautious is one thing, but in this case you'd be stupid not to grab them. Before Finnegan can say another word you jam your hand in the tank. . .Uh oh. The beetle's head explodes! Or rather, its head blows up to five times normal size in the span of half a second. This leaves you no time to move, no time to react as the insect's jaws flap open, revealing row after row of razor-sharp teeth!
Your hand isn't just bitten-it's consumed. It disappears entirely into the creature's maw, straight up to the thorax, and that's where you get the unique experience of being punctured with a thousand serrated needles all at once. Thankfully, unconsciousness sets in way before the debilitating pain of the poison does. . .
You wake up in what has to be Finnegan's room-a mismoshed, multi-world collection of the most gaudy and colorful furnishings ever conceived. Your hand-if it's even still in there-is swaddled in a thick mountain of bandages. 'Hey', Finny smiles merrily. 'Welcome back'. Your attention is drawn to the window, where a strange landscape of molten green rock flows by. There are rivers of the stuff moving in every direction, stretching as far as the eye can see.
'The tower blinked, didn't it?' you say sullenly. 'Yes, but cheer up', Finnegan says. 'The tower blinks a lot. We'll be back in your neck of the woods before you know it. No time at all, really.' 'Really?' 'Well, no, not really', Finny admits. 'But one day. . .maybe eventually. . .'
Whoops. Greed hurts. Sometimes even more than a thousand needles. Looks like this is THE END".
Can the Tower of Never There go to Final Fantasy worlds? It would explain why the Mymerrian knows 1000 Needles.
Results So Far
1 Good Endings
6 Deaths
5 Bad Non-Death Endings
2 Neutral Endings
10 Inconclusive Endings
1 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: The Tower of Never There Alternate Endings Part 25
The SHADOWY FIGURE card is more difficult than the others so far. "All of a sudden, you're outdoors again! A cold, steady rain streams down from the sky. Lightning flashes, silhouetting something dark and ominous just beside you. That something is also gigantic. . ."
Finnegan isn't there, and lightning is about to strike. CHOICE #42 reveals two doorways, YELLOW and BLUE. There are no hints that I can identify, unless you count the vague "jump through" for YELLOW and "stumble through" for BLUE. One problem with The Tower of Never There is that many of the CHOICEs feel like you're going in blind.
YELLOW sends you to CHOICE #41 with the terrarium. The BLUE doorway creates this ending.
"You rush forward, knifing through the storm. You're half blind from the rain. Half dead from the thunder. Trembling all over, you fall through the blue door. . .Brightness. Light.
You glance around and find yourself back at your campsite! The sun is high in the sky now-it's the middle of the day. You're not sure how much time has passed, but the remnants of your campfire have gone utterly cold. As you turn to look down at the clearing, you already know what you're going to see. The tower is gone. The entire area is now barren, flattened. As if something tremendous came along and just stomped a giant blank spot in the earth.
You start shivering uncontrollably, suddenly remembering you're still wet from the rain. Numbly you move to restart your fire, but it's only your body that goes through the motions. Your mind is somewhere else. What was that place? Why was I there? These are questions you'll ask yourself for the rest of your life. Unfortunately there won't be many answers. Your time in the tower has reached THE END".
A Neutral Ending occurs when TYLER is booted out of the quest, forced to contemplate his failure for the rest of his life.
This one suggests that the Tower of Never There destroys any previously existing landscape within a certain radius when it teleports there. Has it razed towns on other worlds without anyone inside realizing it?
Results So Far
1 Good Endings
6 Deaths
5 Bad Non-Death Endings
3 Neutral Endings
10 Inconclusive Endings
1 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: The Tower of Never There Alternate Endings Part 26
Going up the stairs instead of down in CHOICE #9 goes to CHOICE #43 as a consequence of failing the riddle. I'm now in the basement with an orange pulsating light that beckons me. "COME. Your foot twitches. One of your knees bends. COME". My feet are moving on my own, and only extreme willpower can make me stop to ponder what to do next.
I can either enter the light or try to snap out of the trance. Resisting the orange glow is another way to resolve the CHOICE #9 riddle and move on to CHOICE #10. "You focus all of your energy on jumping backward. It's like breaking two magnets apart".
Enter the orange light, and this happens.
"All the letters you received said 'come alone'. Well, this voice is telling you to come. And right now, you're certainly alone. You take another step forward. Then another. Finally realizing you could no longer resist if you wanted to, you give in and succumb to the forces drawing you in. Light floods you, orange and warm. It goes through you. Into you. And with the light comes knowledge. This is the core. The source of all power.
In your mind's eye you see it all. The tower. . .it's purpose. . .every corridor, every hallway, every mortared stone and hidden secret. You know nothing. You know everything. You are everything.
A booming laugh echoes across the basement, all menacing and hollow. The laughter is a chorus of a thousand voices. One of them is your own. This is the power source for the Tower of Never There. Congratulations. You are now one of the batteries.
For the being you've just become, this is a new beginning. But for the person formerly known as Tyler Paulsen, this is unequivocally THE END".
The past couple of endings reveal sinister secrets about the Tower of Never There that I never found out in the ULTIMATE ENDING path. First, it levels the landscape of any region it teleports to, yet somehow it always manages to avoid warping into lava. And now, we know the Tower of Never There's magic is powered by human sacrifice. (Possibly intelligent aliens too.) The diamond is only there to control where the tower teleports.
Results So Far
1 Good Endings
6 Deaths
6 Bad Non-Death Endings
3 Neutral Endings
10 Inconclusive Endings
1 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: The Tower of Never There Alternate Endings Part 27
Wading into the pond in CHOICE #7 forces the player to make a 2d6 saving throw against "mud tentacles", which Kara inconveniently "forgot" about. But there's a mistake in the book. Among the numbers listed for the first option that goes to page 84 is 1, which is impossible to get with 2d6.
Random.org finally gave me a high number this time: 10. This leads to the 2nd option on page 26. Kara tells me to stay perfectly still, and then the tentacles leave. She says "I, uh. . .I might've run into these things once or twice". I don't even have an hour to go before time's up in the tower, so I tell Kara and Una to stop arguing and move on. Kara hands me the Lotus Blossom for the soapstone dragon trial as a reward for surviving. I move on to CHOICE #8 with the item I wouldn't have gotten if I avoided the pond like a reasonable person.
Failing the saving throw by getting 2, 6, 8, or 11 results in this ending.
"You grab at the mud tentacles, but there's nothing to hold onto! The mud is soft, slippery. It glides through your hands and squishes out between your fingers. Yet somehow, somewhere within each tendril, there's enough strength and tension to keep you pinned. Kara is shouting something, but you don't know what. One of the larger tentacles is wrapped around your head now. Your ears are covered. Your eyes. The harder you fight, the worse it gets. You're sinking fast. . .
You're almost up to your neck when the pulling stops. The tendrils release you, but by then you're planted firmly in the mud, arms pinned at your sides. 'We're going to be okay', Kara says faintly. There's barely any air in her lungs. You're all so constricted by the mud it's tough to speak. 'They're done with us for now.' 'Done with us?' you grunt. 'How do you know?'
'Well. . .this might've happened to me once before', the blue-eyed sister admits. 'This happened to you once before?' Una groans. You can see she's pinned deepest of all, practically up to her chin. 'Okay, maybe twice', Kara relents. 'They're not malicious, really. I think they just like us here.' She spits a piece of mud out before continuing. 'Eventually everything will get soft enough that we can wiggle our way free.' 'How long?' you and Una both say in stereo. 'Not long', Kara says. 'Two, three hours tops.'
Hours? Your body isn't the only thing sunk, because now your heart sinks too. You always thought getting home would be a foregone conclusion. But now you're realizing this might be THE END".
I guess this is another Inconclusive Ending, because even the text admits it in the penultimate sentence.
You'd think Kara would remember the mud tentacles before going in the pond again, but no. Maybe the tower has an effect on her memory?
EDIT: This result means going for the Lotus Blossom is quite risky, along with the chance to lose to the bat while trying to get the angel figurine.
Results So Far
1 Good Endings
6 Deaths
6 Bad Non-Death Endings
3 Neutral Endings
11 Inconclusive Endings
1 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: The Tower of Never There Alternate Endings Part 28
Going left instead of right in CHOICE #6 goes to CHOICE #45. A hornet's nest is hanging from a branch. Ordinarily, we'd avoid it, but Kara notices "something white and delicate has been woven into the nest". Una insists that I rub mint leaves on myself as a repellent "If you're going near that nest-which I highly advise against". Kara recommends peach leaves. There's also an option to leave the hornet's nest and move on.
Ignoring the hornet's nest and using Una's mint leaves both go to CHOICE #46, which will be revealed in the next post. The latter option gives you the ivory ballerina figurine.
But listening to Kara is once again a bad idea.
"Peach leaves, huh?' Kara nods happily. She offers you a bite of peach, but you decline. For the next minute you crush up the peach leaves and rub them all over you. It smells nice. Sweet. As stealthily as possible, you approach the nest. 'Here goes nothing. . .'
The hornets swarm! They're all over you! Quickly you turn and run away. Electric shocks shoot up the back of your legs as you're stung three, four, maybe five times. 'Ow ow ow ow!' All of a sudden your voice doesn't work. Kara and Una are standing beside you, looking very sad. When you glance down, your legs are gone! Then your torso, your arms. . .'Don't struggle', Una warns. She lets out a long sigh. 'It'll only make it slower.'
Your body is disappearing! Everything is turning invisible, as if you're dissolving away! Kara is in tears now. 'Don't worry!' she cries apologetically. 'You'll come back! I promise!' Come back? What does she mean by 'come back'? 'The tower won't let you go!' Finally there's nothing left of your body. Your neck disappears, your head. . .you experience the most incredible sensation of weightlessness, and then-
You wake up in a field of flowers, sneezing. Everything seems fine. You check your arms, your legs, you even stick out your tongue. Everything's there again! 'You feeling okay?' Una asks. 'I think so', you tell her. 'My body tingles a little, but otherwise, yeah'. Kara is smiling again. 'The tower remade you', she says. 'Now you're a part of it!'
Una's mouth twists. She bumps her sister. 'Tell him the rest.' 'Oh yeah', Kara says. 'But now you can't leave.' She frowns. 'Like us'. Well, at least now you have all the time in the world to explore the tower. Unfortunately though, this is THE END".
Besides sacrificing people to gain more batteries and devastating large areas of land, the Tower of Never There can also force people to live inside it forever if they "die" while they're a designated guest.
Which of the companions is worse, you think? Incompetent Kara, or the outright hostile GOLD orb YON?
Results So Far
1 Good Endings
6 Deaths
7 Bad Non-Death Endings
3 Neutral Endings
11 Inconclusive Endings
1 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: The Tower of Never There Alternate Endings Part 29
CHOICE #46, caused by either listening to Una's advice and getting the ivory ballerina, or ignoring the hornet's nest altogether, will be revealed in this update. A green snake is slithering towards us, and I'm supposed to either swing a branch at it, or "Wait!" as Kara wants me to do.
Swinging at the snake moves the player to CHOICE #9 after Kara insists "Stop it! Stop it right now! This is my friend. He wouldn't hurt a soul".
If I take the correct option of waiting, the snake's name is revealed to be Sammy. This is relevant in CHOICE #39 when I draw the SNAKE card and see a suspiciously familiar "jade green" color. If I add up the letters in Sammy's name and go to page 71, I move on to CHOICE #40 with the angel hint statue after amazing Finnegan. "You know this snake?" Sammy licks my face like a dog would.
Failing the SNAKE test gives the player this ending.
"I. . .I don't know what to do!' you shout. The snake is nearly upon you. 'Quick', Finnegan says. 'In here!' Your friend has thrown open a door. Which makes no sense, because just a minute ago there wasn't a single door leading out of the room. With the serpent bearing down on you, you allow Finnegan to push you through the door. He follows you in and slams it closed, blanketing you in total darkness. 'Uh oh. Darn. This room again.' You don't like the sound of any of that. 'Darn? What room?'
'This one', Finny replies, as if the answer is plain as day. 'The one with the disappearing door.' 'Disappearing door?' You reach past him in the darkness, feeling for the opening you just came through. Sure enough the wall is smooth. There's nothing there. 'Yeah', Finny says apologetically. 'The last time this happened I was stuck in here for two days.' 'TWO DAYS?'
'Yes, but don't worry', he says hurriedly. 'It'll go fast. I've got tons of great stories to help pass the time.' You place your back against the wall and sink slowly to the floor. Two days! 'Wanna hear some good ones?' Finny asks merrily. 'Well, once, back when I was downstairs. . .'
Yikes. Looks like you're in for a treat! At least you'll be out eventually. Whether or not you'll maintain your sanity is another issue. For now, you've arrived at THE END".
Who would have thought that a kid's Choose Your Own Adventure turns out to be the setup for No Exit? Although I might get out of the room eventually, listening to Finnegan's stories for at least 48 hours straight has to count as a Bad Non-Death Ending.
Results So Far
1 Good Endings
6 Deaths
8 Bad Non-Death Endings
3 Neutral Endings
11 Inconclusive Endings
1 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: The Tower of Never There Alternate Endings Part 30
Saying that the sign says DANGER instead of ANGERED in CHOICE #5 makes Una wonder about the 2nd E. TYLER responds "Maybe they had leftovers. You know, from the last time they changed the sign".
Kara wants me to grab a rainbow orchid for her, but Una is uneasy about her sister's ideas like always. CHOICE #48 offers an option to either ignore the flower ("crush a girl's dreams, why don't you?"), or roll 2d6 to grab the flower. ODD and EVEN results go to different pages. My first Random.org roll is 8. This gives me the Jeweled Pin as a reward! It seems the Jeweled Pin and the Saspernink are mutually exclusive.
Going for the Jeweled Pin is also a risky way to play, because if you roll an ODD number. . .
"Kara's eyes are too sad and convincing. You can't resist. Reaching up, you pluck the beautiful flower. 'Here you go', you say, presenting her with the rainbow blossom. Kara squeals with joy. She tucks the flower into her hair, pinning it behind one ear. 'Umm. . .Tyler', Una says. There's something very unsettling about her voice. She points to your wrist. 'Look.'
A tiny droplet of blood is running down your forearm. You glance back at the vine and notice it's covered with strangely hooked thorns. Kara's smile dissolves instantly away. Her face is painted with worry. 'It's just a scratch', you tell them, smiling to show everything's okay. 'It's not. . .anything. . .to be worr. . .'
You feel sick. Dizzy. Nauseous. 'The thorns!' cries Una. A cold, icy sensation inches along your veins as the flower's toxin takes hold. Your extremities begin to tingle. Your legs feel like they're no longer there, and suddenly you're looking up from the ground. 'Tyler!'
The last thing you see are the two girls standing over you, arguing about whose fault this is. Then you fade into unconsciousness, making this THE END".
TYLER's newest Death obeys the CYOA tradition of including "the last thing you see".
Why doesn't the tower remake me this time? It did in another ending where I died within the structure.
Results So Far
1 Good Endings
7 Deaths
8 Bad Non-Death Endings
3 Neutral Endings
11 Inconclusive Endings
1 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."
