Gamebooks (Choose Your Own Adventure Style)

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  The Lost Jewels of Nabooti Alternate Endings Part 19


Sitting with my back to the wall instead of near the door in the Paris cafe in CHOICE #3 has significant consequences.  And not in the La Prisión way where who you sit with determines political alliances.  No, Molotawa changes his appearance and backstory.


He has 2 rows of "tribal scars on his cheeks" this time, and he's a sort of exiled prince.  He doesn't request via email that I should pay him to "smuggle money out of the country".  Instead, he has this to say:


"I am a prince of the ancient Nabooti tribe.  We ruled a large region of Africa for many, many years before Africa was taken by European countries.  We were fair and just.  The jewels are a powerful symbol of our leadership.  They have magic powers.  They can confuse the evildoers and stop the bad.  We must have them back to continue our work".


These magic of the jewels must have been weak, or else they could have at least stopped the French from conquering them.  I specify the French because Molotawa wants me to either see his father in Paris or visit the Nabooti tribe in Senegal.  The former option will kill you without any foreshadowing that this may be the wrong thing to do.



"Unfortunately, you never meet with Molotawa's father.  While waiting for the Metro (subway) to take you across Paris to the king, two men posing as street musicians push you off the platform.  You fall onto the third rail.  Electrocuted.  It's all over for you.  Too bad!  The End".


Several members of the Run For Your Life band were charged with the first degree murder of [REDACTED].  Their motive was that they were sick of being used as a cheap gag by random Moroccan organ grinders and decided to live up to their threatening name and get some notoriety.


Results So Far


2 Good Endings

5 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

3 Neutral Endings

2 Inconclusive Endings

5 Wait, This Isn't an Ending!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  The Lost Jewels of Nabooti Alternate Endings Part 20


Flying to Senegal may be the way to continue the quest and get a proper ending for a change.  It's described as "relatively peaceful with a healthy economy".  When Molotawa and I enter the Grand Hotel in Dakar, a car without a driver crashes into the lobby.  We barely avoid it, and CHOICE #24 is whether or not to believe this is an "accident".


According to the Chooseco flowchart on the back of the book, there is only 1 non-branching CHOICE, represented as a curved dotted line from one option to the other.  Therefore I can determine CHOICE #24's direction relative to CHOICE #1:


Right
Right
Left
Right


I get one extra scene by knowing the "accident" is a murder attempt.  The Senegalese cops say it was a police car, and the driver stepped out of the vehicle without breaking.  Are they fake officers?  This lie is debunked when I see a note on the car's steering wheel with my nonexistent name on it saying "WE WON'T GIVE UP.  GO BACK WHERE YOU BELONG."  For an extra flourish, there are 2 crosses signed on the bottom of the note.


The real Senegalese police accuse me of stealing a car from them and take me to headquarters.  Unlike the CHOICE #16 American police, these cops believe my story about the Jewels of Nabooti because it seems everyone in Senegal knows about them.  The chief of police introduces me to his aide Oubessa Soul-One.  Please tell me that's a codename and not his real surname!


CHOICE #25 is whether to "consult a shaman", talk to the Nabooti tribe directly, or look around in Dakar.


"A shaman is another word for a witch doctor".  Ouobessa and I ride a Land Rover into an area with "deep, red claylike earth so characteristic of equatorial Africa".  This is only 20 kilometers away from Dakar.  Does 14'40 N count as "equatorial"? 


Anyway, Ouobessa is kind enough to give me papaya juice.  We reach a village with huts where the local shaman wears khaki clothes, but no shoes.  He doesn't look at us, and gives us "a black cup with six chicken bones, two parrot feathers, and the tooth of a hyena".  He orders us to throw them on the floor.  Once we do so, he opens his eyes to tell us to look either in the Mountains of the Moon or the upper waters of the Zaire River.  "Look for the sign of the snake and the mask of the crocodile".  CHOICE #25 is where to go next.  The Zaire River path is shorter, so I'll do that one first.


We fly to Kinshasa in what would today be called the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  The river is also the Congo River today, since the Zaire name was the product of the Mobutu dictatorship in power during the time The Lost Jewels of Nabooti was first printed.  The ships traveling on the river are steamers with paddle wheels.  It wouldn't be the Congo without a Heart of Darkness reference, so a man named Kurtz is believed to have the Jewels of Nabooti.


"Master Kurtz?  He's dead.  A penny for the old guy.'  It is an African man talking.  You stare at a ramshackle building surrounded by the jungle.  He continues, 'But he left a package for people he said would one day come.  It is there.  Perhaps you are the ones.'


The package contains the Jewels of Nabooti.  Wrapped in old newspapers are the four stones.  They glow with an inner warmth that makes you feel good inside.  There is beauty and power in these stones.  They are symbols of strength and peace.  The End".


I never could stand reading Heart of Darkness in school, so I'm annoyed when I see references to it elsewhere.  But I'll rate this as a Good Ending because you know you can give them to Molotawa.  It doesn't seem like any more adventures follow from here.


Results So Far


3 Good Endings

5 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

3 Neutral Endings

2 Inconclusive Endings

5 Wait, This Isn't an Ending!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  The Lost Jewels of Nabooti Alternate Endings Part 21


In CHOICE #26, the Mountains of the Moon are enticing.  If this were written by a typical CYOA author, this would be the final destination for your quest.  But this is an RA Montgomery book, and only Death awaits those who climb them.  Although this is unusually fair for The Lost Jewels of Nabooti, because the hint the shaman gives about crocodiles should lead you to the Zaire River.


The Mountains of the Moon are part of the Rwenzori mountain range, on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  "Only a few years ago, these high peaks were snow-covered, a truly rare sight in tropical Africa.  But now with the climate warming, sub-Saharan Africa is losing the snow that once crowned its highest peaks".  That quote is probably a Chooseco addition; global warming probably wasn't often discussed in 1982.  (And even in the 1990s I remember reading more about the ozone layer, acid rain, and general pollution than global warming.)


A map inside an uninhabited hut shows us a route up the mountain and "a crude line drawing of four jewels".  What follows is a mountain climbing preparation scene familiar to The Abominable Snowman readers where we get ice axes, crampons, and ropes.  "How weird to have to prepare for an alpine climb in Africa!"  Ever heard of the snows of Kilimanjaro, narrator?  Ouobessa and I are roped together, but I slip and cut open my knuckles.  The light reflecting off the snow blinds me, just like in The Abominable Snowman.  RA Montgomery was fond of mountain climbing.


Ouobessa warns me not to enter an aluminum hut because he sees "three chicken bones and two dead mice".  He says "This is magic.  It is a curse and a warning.  It means it is death to enter".  This is superstition, right?


"You cross the threshold.  Nothing happens.  Your eyes grow accustomed to the gloom.  It is a small hut with enough room for six people in sleeping bags-a typical high-altitude mountaineering hut.  There is a low table in the center.  You and Ouobessa approach it.  There they are.  The fabled Jewels of Nabooti, two rubies as red as the glistening tongue of a cobra and two diamonds that shimmer like sunlight reflecting on a mirror.


You and Ouobessa stare in disbelief.  You reach out to touch them.  ZONK!  You are hit with a bolt of lightning.  The energy in the lightning momentarily paralyzes you.  The Jewels of Nabooti vanish.  The sky is clear of clouds.  You will never lay hands on the jewels.  The End".


In this timeline, the Jewels of Nabooti are as deadly as the Ark of the Covenant.  The illustration doesn't show an aluminum hut.  It looks more like it's made of wood and cobblestone.  The 4 jewels are lying on a table, and no one is in the room.


Results So Far


3 Good Endings

6 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

3 Neutral Endings

2 Inconclusive Endings

5 Wait, This Isn't an Ending!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  The Lost Jewels of Nabooti Alternate Endings Part 22


Did you really think you could survive if you heeded Ouobessa's warning about the hut being cursed in CHOICE #27?


"Ouobessa says, 'It is not good.  A curse like this means that we are still being followed.  One of us will go for help.  One of us will stay here.'  You hesitate but finally agree.  With the flip of a coin, you decide who stays watch and who goes down for more help.


You win.  You go down the mountain, but you slip on an ice pitch and tumble into a deep crevasse.  There is no way out.  Ouobessa sits alone and waits for you.  The End".


How long does Ouobessa sit there before realizing you're too clumsy to climb a mountain by yourself?


Results So Far


3 Good Endings

7 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

3 Neutral Endings

2 Inconclusive Endings

5 Wait, This Isn't an Ending!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  The Lost Jewels of Nabooti Alternate Endings Part 23


Instead of consulting the witch doctor, I'll try to get in touch with the Nabooti tribe in CHOICE #25.


"There isn't any listing in the phone directory, no fax number, no e-mail address, not even a website.  They are a nomadic tribe that wanders from the northern part of Senegal to Chad to the edge of the Sahara".  Have you checked in the 555 numbers, narrator?  As for the lack of e-mail and websites, that's because it's 1982 poorly disguised as 2006, not because the Nabooti are nomads.  (And if they are, why does their king spend so much time in Paris?)


One newspaper article says the Nabooti tribe is moving to Lake Chad.  We rent a "twin-engine light plane" shown in an illustration and we stop just as some flamingos fly away.  My guidebook has this to say:


"DON'T SWIM IN THIS LAKE.  IT IS FILLED WITH PARASITES THAT CAN KILL YOU!"


Not that there is much swimming to be done in Lake Chad.  It's shrunk dramatically over the last few decades, and that is perhaps one of the reasons behind the rise of terrorism in northern Nigeria in the 2000s.  (Though Lake Chad was diminishing even in the late 19th century according to colonial sources like Winston Churchill.)


Unfortunately, we're in airspace "held by a revolutionary guerrilla group".  No, it's not who you think it would be in 2006, or the player character would definitely face Death no matter what.  CHOICE #28 is to either take off again, or hold my hand out "as a signal of peace".


Let's fly out of here!


"Release the brakes!  Kick the rudder pedals hard left!  Push the throttles full forward!  Bump down the strip.  Bullets rip through the thin metal skin of the plane.  You make it into the air and dash for the border away from Chad.  But your plane runs out of fuel and you land in a desolate, almost desert area.  You have very little water, no food, and no little prince to help you.  The End".


The despair in the narration suggests a Death to me, not an Inconclusive Ending. 


Reading this terrible CYOA makes me want to study some West African history instead.



Results So Far


3 Good Endings

8 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

3 Neutral Endings

2 Inconclusive Endings

5 Wait, This Isn't an Ending!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  The Lost Jewels of Nabooti Alternate Endings Part 24


I neglected to mention that there is an illustration for the previous ending, but it's just a shoe trying to press on a brake.  No picture for what should be an ULTIMATE ENDING!


"You strike a bargain with the leader of this band of cutthroats.  They lead you to the Nabooti tribe camped peacefully on the shores of Lake Chad.  The jewels have been returned.  The power of peace is flowing in the world.  Congratulations on a job well done.  The End".


How does "the power of peace flow" on Earth?  Does war and terrorism suddenly stop because an obscure African tribe gets its magic diamonds and rubies back?  Don't expect RA Montgomery to explain this!  


One harsh review of Beyond Escape! on Gamebooks.org by Stockton says "What the heck is going on?  I don't know, but no matter what he tries, RA Montgomery writes like a fifth grader".  After reading several of his CYOAs, I'd probably agree.  (Several Peanut Gallery members may have other opinions.)


Results So Far


4 Good Endings

8 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

3 Neutral Endings

2 Inconclusive Endings

5 Wait, This Isn't an Ending!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  The Lost Jewels of Nabooti Alternate Endings Part 25


Staying in Dakar in CHOICE #25 leads to a branch with 2 new endings.  "You begin at the university by examining the index cards in the library catalog files.  Nabooti is listed as a tribe, a religion, a man, a region, and a place".  This would reconcile some of the inconsistencies if it turned out there were competing claims for the name of Nabooti, but you'll soon learn the book isn't even that coherent.


CHOICE #29 is whether to "take a trip" to the beach and Club Nabooti, or rent a car to go to Club Nabooti.  Taking a trip generates a Neutral Ending where my readers will agree with the last line.


"Club Nabooti is jammed.  People from Brazil, Germany, Japan, Canada, and other countries, large and small, crowd the gigantic swimming pool, occupy all the tables in the outdoor restaurant, fill the tennis courts, and cover the beach.  The flash of credit cards and the jingle of change on the gaming tables underline that this place is for the very rich.


A man invites you into his office.  When you mention the Jewels of Nabooti, he laughs, slaps you on the back, and says, 'Sure we had them, but we sold them to pay for the new addition to the club.'  You don't think that's very funny.  The End".


The Lost Jewels of Nabooti complies with "Canadian content" regulations.


To whom did they sell the Jewels of Nabooti?  You'll never know!


Results So Far


4 Good Endings

8 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

4 Neutral Endings

2 Inconclusive Endings

5 Wait, This Isn't an Ending!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  The Lost Jewels of Nabooti Alternate Endings Part 26


Unlike the previous ending, the other Club Nabooti ending in CHOICE #29 has a drawing.  It features two men reading books on a beach while facing the ocean.


"Club Nabooti is a front for the headquarters of the Nabooti Peace Group.  Since people from all over the world vacation here, it is not difficult to carry on their worldwide campaign for peace.  People pretending to be vacationers are really secret agents who are trained here for missions all over the world.  This lush resort is really the headquarters and training camp of the world's most powerful peace group.


You are welcomed, asked to join the search team, and given the secret codes used by all members of the Nabooti group to ward off danger.  Your efforts so far have earned you respect and a membership in a peace team.  It is a great honor.  The End".


A Good Ending that has some description of what happens next?  Unusual for this book. 


Results So Far


5 Good Endings

8 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

4 Neutral Endings

2 Inconclusive Endings

5 Wait, This Isn't an Ending!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  The Lost Jewels of Nabooti Alternate Endings Part 27


The only branch left to climb is making excuses and refusing help instead of taking the taxi in CHOICE #2.  But this doesn't stop rival Nabooti adventurers from noticing me.  "You spin around.  Standing there is a tall woman with intense eyes and a muscular little person in a tracksuit.  He has a small laptop with him".  How much do you want to bet that line said "muscular midget" in the 1982 version?  It has alliteration and everything.  And the guy in the tracksuit probably didn't have a laptop either.  Never trust anyone shorter than 5 feet in an RA Montgomery thriller.  (Or a Harry Stephen Keeler novel.)


The woman says she wants to help me find the Jewels of Nabooti and gives me "a small sliver of ivory with a design on it".  Is she a poacher?  Anything made of ivory would probably come under more scrutiny in 2006. 


As for the "muscular midget", he grins "in an evil way".  He doesn't have a laptop.  That's a carrying case for a dagger.  If this were set in 2023, he could have both a submachine gun and a laptop in the same device! 


"The dagger sends a different kind of message than the kind you get over the Internet.  A very different message".  Are you really going to say 2006 revision CYOA protagonists haven't received death threats on forums for not liking the Xbox 360 or something?  And this quote sounds more like an abysmal 1990s cyberpunk story than anything a modern 5th grader would write.  Sorry, Stockton of Gamebooks.org! 


CHOICE #30 is whether to go on the jet with them, or tell them there's a mistake and try to blend in with the crowd.  The former sounds more interesting, so I'll save that for later and try the latter first.


The woman blows a dog whistle, which summons the. . .French police?  I know what Montgomery is trying to say here, but it's funnier for me to assume that the French in The Lost Jewels of Nabooti can hear higher frequencies than other nationalities.  It makes about as much sense as any plot in this CYOA.


French cops accuse me of being a smuggler, and apparently the man and the woman from before planted a diamond in my jacket.  The police tell me that smuggling diamonds from Africa is an international crime, so I'm presented with CHOICE #31:  Tell them about the Jewels of Nabooti, or call the United States embassy.  Asking for American help reveals this ending with no illustration.


"The American embassy sends over a member of the legal staff.  You tell her the long, complicated story.  Her advice is to return to the United States as quickly as possible.  She will do her best to get the French police to release you.  'The Jewels of Nabooti are too dangerous for you to retrieve alone.  Let them be.'


You feel depressed, but you are also convinced that there are too many people involved for you to handle.  You follow her advice, give up the chase, and return to the United States.  The End".


Decisions like this may be more realistic, but don't make for entertaining thrillers.  Perhaps it may be better for aspiring gamebook writers to trap their protagonists in the plot.  Ramón Díez Galán does this well in La Prisión.  The player can't simply serve their time because the "sentence" only lasts as long as the ARTUS conspiracy doesn't come up with a way to quietly kill off the protagonist.  Stranding your character on a spaceship, island, or other remote hostile environment is an easy way to avoid the "Why don't you just go home?" problem.



Results So Far


5 Good Endings

8 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

5 Neutral Endings

2 Inconclusive Endings

5 Wait, This Isn't an Ending!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  The Lost Jewels of Nabooti Alternate Endings Part 28


Telling the French police about the Jewels of Nabooti in CHOICE #31 does work, unlike the American ones who seem to think no crime related to African gems can occur.  They offer me either a "plainclothes detective" companion or a "special phone number" once Interpol confirms my story.  This is CHOICE #32.


I'd love to know how the "special phone number" is handled in the reprint.  In 1982, you'd have to find a landline, but here, maybe there are cell phone jammers.  Accepting the phone number goes to a page where the narration says I'd rather have Anson, Ramsey, or Beech Muzzwell to help.  None of them were useful in the other paths.


My contact's address in Morocco has a chain-link window that looks like it has eyes staring at me.  The door opens when I ring the bell, but nobody greets me.  CHOICE #33 is either to ring the doorbell again, or enter "a long corridor of whitewashed walls hung with beautifully patterned red and blue rugs."  The smell of incense is everywhere.  Sangee, is that you again with your cryptic tests?


Going in the room is fatal, which is at least hinted at with the dodgy behavior mentioned earlier.


"You take a cautious step into the hallway.  It is noticeably cooler inside.  Another step, then two more.  There is only the sound of your shoes on the red tiles of the floor and the whirring of the fan.  The door behind you closes on oiled hinges.  You stop, look about, and then peer into a room off to the side.


Then it happens!  The floor falls away under you, and you spin dizzily down and down, coming to a nasty crash on a sodden, damp earthen floor.  It is pitch-black.  There are not exits, there is no food, no water.  You are doomed.  The End".


Results So Far


5 Good Endings

9 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

5 Neutral Endings

2 Inconclusive Endings

5 Wait, This Isn't an Ending!